Orc's Pretend Mate

He claimed I was his fated mate to save my life.

We were supposed to pretend.

My heart did not get the message.

Phoebe volunteered for an undercover mission inside the Urr'ki city because ending the war on Tajss will require understanding the enemy.

Instead, the Shaman's Maulavi drag her from one apathetic guardian to another, beat her for speaking, and promise that their master will come for her soon.

Vapas has spent years waiting for the world to end.

The grieving widower lost his wife, his child, and every reason he once had to keep fighting. He survives by keeping his home orderly, selling his wares, and ignoring the slow collapse of his people.

Then the Maulavi strike Phoebe in front of him.

The last ember of Vapas's honor catches fire.

He cannot smuggle her out of the guarded city. He cannot defeat the Shaman's forces alone. He has only one desperate protection left to offer.

He claims Phoebe is his dragoste.

His fated mate.

The bond is a lie, but it must look real enough to fool the Maulavi. That means sharing his home, touching in public, and convincing every suspicious watcher that the frightened human belongs at his side.

Pretending should be simple.

It is not.

Phoebe sees the kindness beneath Vapas's grief and the warrior hidden beneath his surrender. Vapas sees echoes of the mate he lost in Phoebe's touch, her cooking, and the fierce heart she does not yet recognize in herself.

Their staged affection becomes real desire. Their protection bargain becomes trust. And the widower who had accepted death begins imagining a future again.

The Maulavi are not fooled for long.

Hunted through the crumbling city, Phoebe and Vapas turn to the underground resistance for help. The resistance uses them as bait, the Shaman's warriors capture them, and their cells may become the last place they ever see each other alive.

Phoebe has spent years waiting for someone stronger to save her.

This time, she fights back.

Escaping the prison is only the beginning. Vapas learns that Phoebe entered the city with secrets of her own, and the resistance gives them a mission that could change the fate of both their peoples. They must cross enemy territory, reach the Zmaj alive, and convince ancient enemies to unite before the Shaman destroys everything that remains.

To survive, Phoebe must trust the warrior who taught her that protection does not have to mean control.

To claim a future with her, Vapas must stop waiting to reunite with the dead and choose the woman who brought him back to life.

Their bond began as a lie.

Their love may be the one truth powerful enough to save them.

Orc's Pretend Mate is a steamy fake-mates alien orc romance featuring a grieving widower hero, a frightened captive heroine who discovers her courage, pretend fated mates, forced proximity, a protective claim, he-falls-first devotion, public pretending, emotional healing, love after loss, resistance intrigue, prison escape, found family, and a guaranteed happily ever after while the larger Red Planet Dragons of Tajss saga continues.