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Alik takes my hand and we leave his mother’s room for his. Ours?

“Will you stay with me?” he asks.

“Of course, if that’s what you want.”

“Always.”

In a few short minutes, we reach what I assume is Alik’s wing of the palace. It resembles Janik and Olivia’s, but flip-flopped. The wall decor and furnishings are entirely different, though. I’ve only known the Alik locked away in the pit, not Alik as he was before or this new version of him.

While richly appointed, each room is as bland as the one before it, lacking personality. They are the rooms of a prince. Of royalty. I can’t get a sense for who Alik is as a person in any room he guides me through.

“Your suite is beautiful.” It’s the truth despite the glaring lack of identity.

“Thank you,” he says. “It feels like a dream being here again. I worry I may wake up to discover I’ve never left the pit.”

I hold his hand tighter and move closer so my shoulder brushes his upper arm. I love how much taller than me he is, because I’m not short by human standards. “I’ll make sure to remind you every day that you’re no longer down there.”

“The gods truly blessed me when they made you my heart’s fire.” Alik leans down for a kiss that I happily give him. “Come, let me show you to our bed chamber. I’ll send a few staff members to the female’s dormitory to pack up and bring all your things here.”

“Actually, if you don’t mind, I’d like to pack and sort my stuff. But I won’t turn down the offer of help to transport it all here.”

“Whatever you wish, Devon.” Alik kisses me again.

“I like how you say my name.” My face heats at my lack of filter, but if I can’t say whatever’s on my mind to him—or my friends—who can I say it to? I mean, this is who I am. The one I’ve hidden for so long by overthinking and analyzing every word before speaking so I don’t word vomit and appear weird.

Alik grins, flashing the tips of his fangs. “Then I will make sure to say it multiple times a day.”

“Good.”

He leads me through a set of double doors, and I come to such an abrupt halt he collides with my back. His hands grip my hips to keep me steady.

“Holy shit.” I stare in awe at the massive bedroom and even more massive bed that sits against the far wall. And here I thought my flat back in the women’s complex was big.

Alik wraps his arms around me and tugs me closer to nuzzle the crease of my neck. “What?”

I laugh. “I’m just admiring how damn huge this room is. I was already feeling myself about my sweet digs, but this is on a whole new level. You sometimes feel like you’re dreaming and are going to wake up still in the pit? Well, I have nights where I think I’ll wake up back on Earth. Once again in the bottom tier, working twelve to fourteen hour days at the sanitation facility surrounded by shit and garbage. I can’t tell you how long after we arrived here that I was still smelling it.”

Alik turns me to face him and my breasts press against his chest. “We will wake each morning and reassure the other that none of this is a dream. We are here—on Bohna—as mates, and we will never have to return to those hated places.”

I lace my fingers behind his neck and rise up on the balls of my feet to press my lips to his. “Promise?”

“You have my vow.”

I rest my head on the firm muscles that protect his heart and listen to the way it beats. Alik’s scent is intoxicating, and I savor every note. I absorb his body heat that I suspect is from his mating fever.

“Come on, baby. Let’s get you tucked into bed so you can get some rest.”

Alik’s heated gaze bores into mine. “Will my mate be joining me in this rest?”

“If you’d like, but no funny business.” I lightly poke his chest. “You’ve had an emotional day and need some recovery time.”

“I promise to rest,” he says. “The ‘funny business’ can happen when I wake.”

I can’t stop from snorting. “Who knew you had a sense of humor?”

Alik gets serious. “I remember asking Horek something similar to that the night of the first welcome banquet, not knowing he had a sense of humor. Before the madness took over, I was often quick to find amusement in things. The fact that it is now in question is strange to me.”

God, this male is going to break my heart. “Alik, baby, you’ve gone through some bonkers shit the last few months—hell, the last few years. People can’t expect you to always be this charming, laughing guy who lets nothing ever bother him or who isn’t allowed to sag under the weight of his responsibilities. You’ve been dealing with some fucked up things that would have made anyone throw in the towel. But not you. So be kind to yourself.”