Morning came early for Mercer, bright and hot, much too soon after everything else that happened the previous day. As Mercer thought about yesterday, he realized that there wasn't anything better to do than spend some time with the beautiful women he now called his wives. But before he could, he thought he had heard a rustling in his tent. Shooting up and reaching for his weapon, a dagger met his throat and stopped him.
"Shhhhhhh..." the little goblin revealed herself. "I take some things for me and go, no one need die." she threatened. "Where are valuables and don't dare yell or I..." There was a certain desperation in her voice, one that endeared Mercer far more than it frightened him.
"My coin purse is right over there," he whispered. "However, I have something even more valuable here." Mercer reached under his shirt and pulled out the gemstone, which now hung around his neck. The goblin immediately reached for it but she suddenly froze as it caught the light. Then she started to panic, immediately dropping her dagger and falling to her knees (which put her eye level with the still-sitting Mercer).
"I'm sorry! I didn't know! Please don't hurt Hectate!" she begged, pointing to her heart. Her reaction confused him a bit, she was practically throwing herself at his feet for forgiveness.
"It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you." He reached his hand out to take hers. "I'm Mercer, Chief of these orcs."
"I am called Hectate." She raised her head and wiped tears away from her face.
"It's lovely to meet you, Hectate. You don't need to steal from us, you know. We'd be happy to give you food, water, and even some money for your travels. I'm sure you're anxious to get home." Mercer smiled, groaning as he sat up fully, still sore from the previous days.
"No home for Hectate. Evil goblin men tried to kill her for thieving. Had to run. Living in the woods when these humans take her. Evil men for Hectate, always. Evil except for Mercer." she nodded fervently.
Mercer chuckled at Hectate's enthusiasm. "You are more than welcome to come with us to our home if you want to. We'd love to have you."
Hectate's eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly in shock. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cried, rushing to grab Mercer's arm and pulling on it excitedly. "Come, let's go now! Today! Yes?"
Mercer laughed at how eager Hectate was to leave this place. He admired her spirit, even if it was a little bit much for him right now. "I promise we'll leave today, it's a few day's walk as well mind you.."
"That's okay," Hectate said, waving off his comment, already beginning to pack up Mercer's things for him.

After getting dressed, Mercer made his way outside of the tent he started Sorana, who looked like she had fallen asleep just outside his door. She shot to her feet to stand at attention, but Mercer gently took her hand and brushed her shoulder to reassure her it was alright. With a nod, Sorana fell back to the ground and continued her nap. Mercer greeted a few others who were already awake. They had set out some beds for the wounded, of which Vo and Rasha were currently resting. Elia was at their bedside and looked like she hadn't slept, tending to their wounds. Walking over, Mercer could tell her magical healing had certainly saved their lives, but they were still very worn from their ordeal.
"How are they?" he asked, startling her.
"They're doing okay. Slept through the entire night with no issues. Their burns should heal okay too." Elia sighed, rubbing her eyes.
"How are the babies?" Mercer held his breath.
Elia shook her head. "Too soon to tell. Vo's will be fine I think, her wolf form took most of the stress. Rasha though.. her body has been through a lot of stress." Noting the worry on her Chief's face, she continued. "She's strong, Mercer. Don't give up hope."
Mercer sighed and nodded. "Thank you, Elia. You should get some sleep before we head out," he suggested. "They'll be fine, I promise. An hour or so's rest won't hurt them, I'll fetch you if they need anything."
Elia did not need much convincing. She walked over to an empty bed next to the girls and wrapped herself in blankets. Mercer sat beside them, stroked their heads, and thanked his sleeping brides softly.

After a while, Mercer got started on breakfast for everyone using some of the scraps he could salvage from the slavers. It wasn't the most memorable meal, but it would get everyone fed and ready for the journey. He ensured there was enough for everyone, and ensured that Vo and Rasha would have a plate set aside for them. The other Guardians were awake already, and getting ready to head out as soon as they had eaten. Whereas Kotane had only just woken because of the smell of food. Mercer walked up to her in the middle of her gorge.
"Food alright?" he teased.
Kotane couldn't even speak, she just nodded her head and moaned, it was their first real meal in days.
"Where is that tiefling by the way?" Mercer took a look around his immediate area before Kotane gestured to the tree line where a makeshift stray tent was erected.
Mercer walked over to it to check on her as well, intending to thank her for saving his life and to bring her a plate. He found her curled up in the corner of the small enclosure. The fact that she was still sporting her burned-off scraps of clothing from her last night and snoring like a bear indicated that she had probably collapsed here the night prior and hadn't moved much since. Leaving briefly, he gathered some assorted articles of clothing that he could from the camp for her. He settled on a light purple dress amongst the sorceress' things that might fit her well enough. He returned, set the clothes by her feet with her plate of food, and then tried to wake her.
"Excuse me, miss," he said softly, "how are you feeling?"
"Ugghh..." the woman groaned as she pulled her blankets over her face. "Why are you all awake?" she asked annoyedly.
Mercer rolled his eyes. "I brought you some clothes, miss."
"Stop calling me Miss, my name is Jasmine," she said, reluctantly tossing the blanket away from her, sitting up to face the morning light. A dreamy smile crossed her lips, and she stretched her arms overhead to stretch, letting out a long yawn. "Ah, that feels good. How long was I asleep?" Mercer hadn't had the chance to notice before, but her eyes were completely black and pupilless. Her double C cup breasts were also hard to ignore as what little coverings she had fallen off her. Her nipple studs didn't help his attempt to not stare.
"Maybe 10 hours, Miss Jasmine." Mercer cleared his throat
"Just. Jasmine." she snapped irritably, crossing her arms over her breasts and rolling her eyes. "Didn't get a good view last night or something?"
Mercer laughed nervously to himself before continuing, "We're planning on moving here shortly back to our village. If you want you are more than welcome to travel with us until you need to divert home."
"Fine," she hissed. "Just hand me those clothes, I'll be ready to go when you are."

Mercer returned to the main camp and took stock of what they might be able to bring with them. He and the Guardians started stocking the cart with supplies, as well as wrangling the horses. Before they had even finished, everyone was awake, mostly packed, and ready to head home. Hectate had even haphazardly bundled all of Mercer's things for him. Vo came walking out of the medic tent during this as well. She was bandaged slightly from a few wounds here and there but seemed to be walking okay. Her eyes met Mercer's and she broke out into a sprint to get to him, damn near tackling him into a hug.
"Thank you. I don't know how else to say, but thank you," her grip tightened around him as she teared up. Mercer hugged her back, trying to ignore the fresh burn on his side as he did.
Mercer broke from the hug to look her directly in the eye. "There was no way in the world I was going to let them take you two, or any of my girls for that matter. You are my strength, I couldn't do this without you." He smiled at Vo warmly before kissing her deeply. This kiss lingered much longer, twining their tongues together gently until they both had to break away suddenly when Rasha walked through the doorway.
Rasha did not look as good as Vo. She was limping and dizzy, needing to lean on Vo's staff to keep from falling. Bandages covered much of her body, and she winced as they tightened around her body with every step. Mercer and Vo hurried over to her to help but Rasha waved them both off.
"I've been through worse, don't mind me." She was smiling but trying to hide her pain. It looked painful for her just standing there so Mercer guided them to some seats. "You're man-hair is singed." Rasha tried to laugh, winching as she did.
Mercer realized the fires from last night must have burned away his recent growth as his hand reached his face, it was patchy at best. Vo and Rasha looked amused and seeing them happy and alive after days of never knowing if he was going to see them again made him tear up. Mercer cleared his throat and tried to rub his eyes discreetly.
"Alright, it's probably best if you two get in the cart," he sighed. "You can rest on the way back."
"I can push past it for now," Rasha grunted, "I'm not getting back in that cart."
"Me either." Vo's tone was far more serious than Rasha's, but there was no way he was going to change their mind, stubborn as they were. As the group began to head home, Vo and Rasha needed to be helped onto their horses. Once on, and ignoring the bandaging, you couldn't tell either was even hurt.

A few hours into their journey home, Jasmine was looking a lot less irritable than she was this morning so he tried approaching her again.
"You are more than welcome to stay at our village for as long as you like, Jasmine. The orc I lead are a friendly people." Mercer offered her a piece of dried meat to snack on.
"Hmm, I guess we'll see. It's not like I need to be somewhere important," she shrugged, taking a bite of the jerky.
"No place to call home?"
"Nope. Well... I do have a dad. He likes to bring in stray kids which is how he found me. But I'm kinda just doing my own thing now. The lords nearby didn't want me as a guard because I'm "too violent" and "overly aggressive", whatever that means." She scoffed. "Can I ask you something?" Mercer nodded, taking a sip of his water. "You got a big dick or something?"
Mercer nearly choked at the question, sending Jasmine rolling with laughter. "What kind of question is that?"
Still laughing, Jasmine wiped a tear from her eye, "I'm sorry, it's just weird. Never seen an orc tribe with a human leader is all. Lucky you..."
"Yeah well I've had a lot of luck so far," he chuckled, joining her in her mirth.
In the days that followed, Mercer noted Kotane and Jasmine seemed to be talking a lot, almost flirtatiously, but couldn't tell if he was imagining things. Knowing Kotane, Mercer figured if she was flirting it would be a lot more obvious about it. Even still it didn't bother him too much, he was just happy everything was finally feeling normal again.
Well, normal except for Hectate. The little goblin was a lot, which wasn't always a problem. When the group was camped and winding down, she was incredible. Her stories were hilarious, she helped make food and complete chores after, and she even got along with everybody pretty well. She just wouldn't stop! Mercer could hear her scampering about in the middle of the night sometimes, doing gods knows what. When they were on the move, he would often find her just looking for ways to get energy out and occupy her attention, such as going off on her own for small periods or tinkering with things. One such incident lead to a small fire and some startled horses that delayed them a bit. Mercer had never even heard of a sort of people that were anything like this; so much talking and energy in such a small package.
Those couple of oddities aside, the journey home was rather uneventful, thank the gods. The horses expedited things allowing them to take it easy and get plenty of rest on the way back. Their arrival home was met with immediate celebration from the entire tribe, who welcomed their chief and his women back, celebrating them all as heroes. Jasmine and Hectate were properly introduced and given a place to stay, many exchanged stories of this ordeal and others of the past over drink that night.

However, Mercer felt a wave of inexplicable melancholy fall over him and excused himself to his tent and fell onto his bed. After several minutes in the darkness, an awkward throat clearing came from the darkness, and Sorana stepped forward revealing herself. Her face was flushed red.
"Sorry.. I didn't think you'd be coming in any time soon. I just.. um." Sorana averted her gaze, speaking in an uncharacteristic embarrassment that Mercer had never seen on her before.
"It's fine. Really." Mercer replied looking up at her. It was comforting having her close. "Speak freely."
Sorana blushed and nodded. "I.. um.." she seemed suddenly flustered and unable to find words. "I have never found a mate I liked. Maldor used me when he wanted to but I never enjoyed it, I just did my due diligence." She rubbed the back of her neck. "And when you became Chief, I was happy that I wouldn't have to pretend anymore. That I could be a warrior without being used like that. But... when we were running after those humans, the look in your eyes was just... I've never felt..." Sorana was never a woman of many words, and Mercer could tell she was struggling.
He beckoned her over to sit with him, which she slowly and hesitantly did. "Just tell me what's on your mind, Sorana." He looked directly into her eyes, only inches from her face. Her heart rate began to quicken with him so close.
"I... had never seen you this way before, my Chief. Your determination, your compassion, and loyalty, how strong you were being." She paused again, unable to speak past the lump in her throat. "It makes me feel... feelings for you."
Mercer needed nothing further. He leaned forward and kissed her softly, before guiding her onto her back. The two furiously began to remove each other's clothes as they explored each other's bodies for the first time. Sorana had taken off her pants to reveal a dripping wet orc pussy waiting for him. Mercer could not help himself and dove in to begin eating her out, licking slowly at first up the entire length of her cunt before his lips formed a seal around her clit as he suckled her gently.
Sorana had never experienced oral before, and moaned uncontrollably at this new sensation, digging her fingers into his hair and pulling him even closer. Sorana screamed more words of pleasure here in the bedroom than Mercer had ever heard her say normally. Her dirty talk was only briefly interrupted by little yelps and moans or her catching her breath, and Mercer was loving every second of it. After what seemed like an hour, Sorana shouted for the whole camp to hear that she was close. She cried out in pleasure, cumming hard and shaking violently on the blanket beneath them.
Sorana was spent and looked as though she was about to drift off into sleep, but Mercer was far from done with her. He quickly moved up her body and squeezed onto her lovely breasts, waking her once more. Kissing her deeply, his cock, rock hard with anticipation, entered her seamlessly. She was tight but welcoming, and her walls wrapped around him like a warm glove. She moaned as he began to thrust gently into her while his hands ran down her back and along her sides. His mouth captured her nipple and sucked hard, and when he let it go she smiled dreamily at him.
"More, Chief. Please suck on my tits more," she whimpered.
Mercer obliged, letting his teeth bite into her sensitive flesh. "I love how you taste."
Sorana smiled, her eyelids fluttering shut as her orgasm began to wash over her again. "Oh yes! Keep going!"
She had barely finished speaking when she came again, screaming into the air as she climaxed yet again. Mercer did not slow down even a little bit, pumping his cock into her with increasing fervor. She screamed out again and bucked wildly beneath him, her hands twitching as if she wanted to push him away. But Mercer would not be denied, and his thrusts grew faster and harder until suddenly Sorana began to scream again louder this time. Her eyes flew open wide and she looked up at him, panting hard.
Mercer was close, and he could deny himself no longer. As Sorana's pussy continued to milk him for all he had, Mercer finally erupted inside her. He convulsed with the force of his orgasm, accidentally pulling out of her and unable to do anything but let loose as he shot ropes of cum onto her torso. It took several moments before he could move again. Finally, he pulled out of her, and Sorana groaned in satisfaction as he rolled onto his side.
"Fuck, that was amazing," Mercer murmured, feeling completely drained. He fell back onto the bed next to her and lay there for several moments just enjoying how warm she felt. "How are you feeling?"
Sorana snuggled closer to him. "Like I need a nap."
Mercer chuckled. "That doesn't sound like a bad idea."
"Mmm... yes it does," Sorana replied, yawning widely as she shifted on the bed, leaning against Mercer's chest. "You should get back to the celebration. It's important for everyone to see you."
Mercer thought about it for a second. "I have a feeling, if we spend enough time in here, the celebration will come to us."
"Ooohhh..." Sorana hummed, pressing herself even closer to him. She shivered as his lips grazed her neck. "I guess we could stay a little longer."
Mercer kissed her neck, teasing her sensitive skin. "I think I might like that."
"Good..." Sorana moaned happily. "Because I don't want this night to end."