Chapter 6

Later that day, excitement bubbled within me as we traipsed around the city. Krogal was a fantastic tour guide, showing me various landmarks, the best shops, his favorite cafes and restaurants—including dish recommendations—and the must-see hangout places. The warm sun and fantastic weather made it an all-the-more agreeable experience. It was the perfect blend of warmth, soft breeze, and total absence of humidity that made you want to stay outside forever.

Although bustling with activity, the streets didn't feel overwhelming or overcrowded. People were courteous and the vehicles driving down the streets showed proper restraint and deference to pedestrians.

"This is the museum," Krogal said as we walked past a massive building, with the same symmetrical and simplistic lines as everything else in this city. "An entire section is now dedicated to Belle. Many of her pieces feature my cousin in various combat situations, including the famous painting of him comforting the Atreall Queen after he rescued her from the monster trying to eat her. As you can imagine, that has Bayron showing off even more than before."

The false air of despair with which he spoke that last sentence made me laugh.

"Your cousin sounds like quite the braggart," I said teasingly.

He chuckled. "Bayron most certainly is, but it's warranted," he replied, his voice dripping with affection. "In truth, he's more of a brother to me than my own."

"You have many siblings?" I asked with genuine curiosity as we kept walking past the entrance of the museum, which stood next to one of the city's three art academies.

"I only have one younger brother," he replied, a sliver of tension creeping onto his handsome face. "Zamorian families rarely have more than two or three offspring. You'll meet my family soon enough."

"Hmm, it sounds like there are some tensions there," I said carefully.

He heaved a sigh. "That's sadly an accurate assessment. Do you remember when I told you that I understand what it feels like when people try to keep you from following your dreams?"

I nodded, struggling to admit this conversation was headed where I thought it was.

"I was referring to my parents, and especially my mother," Krogal said dejectedly. "She has very definite ideas as to the type of life and ambitions her sons should have. My brother Demar is more than happy to snugly fit in the mold she has set for him. Me, not so much."

My mind reeled at that revelation. "I don't get it. How are you lacking? What more could your parents possibly expect from you? You're a freaking veterinarian!"

"Exactly," he replied, bitterness oozing out of his voice. "According to my mother, it's not a virile enough career, especially for a male my size and with my strength."

"Fuck that!" I exclaimed, feeling outraged on his behalf. "I love that you're a vet. In fact, that made me want to further listen to what Kayog had to say when he first brought up a potential match between us. I was not in the mood for romance at all. But it takes a certain type of person with a very big heart—like first responders and firefighters—to take on this career. Someone who would devote his life to care for the helpless creatures without a voice to express their pain and distress could only be a good man. And you've got two hearts. That makes you extra devoted," I added teasingly.

My throat tightened seeing the powerful emotion settling over his face. In that instant, I realized how much his parents' disapproval had been eating him inside. Had he expected me to share their views? By the way he shifted his arms and rolled his shoulders, I strongly suspected he wanted to hug me. I almost did it for him, but a stupid shyness took me over. The fact that we were standing outside, with so many passersby casting discreet glances our way made me even more self-conscious.

Instead, I found myself grabbing his primary right hand. He slightly stiffened with surprise, his four eyes widening before filling with an air of pure adoration that had my stomach doing a series of backflips. Never in a million years would I have expected such a beast of a man to be so hungry for such simple displays of affection.

Something wonderful settled in my chest. While I never would have even considered dating a guy like him, getting a glimpse of the snuggly teddy bear behind that intimidating fa?ade had me starting to believe he was indeed my perfect match.

I almost opened up about my own strained relationship with my mother. Sadly, she had passed away in the third year of my involvement with Liam. A hit and run had taken her away from me before we could patch things up—not that my ex would have ever allowed it. To think the very relationship she never condoned caused that rift… I should have listened to her, focused on my education, and not allowed myself to be lured by the glamour of being the girlfriend of a rich, handsome, and powerful guy.

There would be plenty of time for us to go over my less-than-brilliant past, riddled with stupid decisions. But today, it was all about discovering my new home and getting to know my new man.

Correction, my forever man.

Walking hand in hand, we entered the town square. The place was immense with various sitting spots with exotic flower beds and vegetation. Clusters of people hung out in the multiple open areas, one of which had many impressive women performing what I could only interpret as the Zamorian version of tai chi. It was even more mesmerizing watching the graceful movement of their four arms.

After one year of being single, it felt wonderful to get back in the saddle with someone so gentle and patient. I had dreaded what it would be like, constantly casting out any such considerations. But this romantic stroll, no pressure, no expectations, in this fantastic new world was exactly what I needed. I almost felt like a teenager on her first date when he led me to an ice cream stand on the east side of the square.

That fuzzy feeling quickly faded when I spotted a trio of young women—likely in their late teens or early twenties—standing near the stand and chatting away. The way they ogled Krogal with appreciative smiles instantly had my hackles up. I felt disrespected as they could clearly see we were a couple. By all accounts, they'd likely also heard about their Matriarch's nephew—and temporarily adopted son—finding himself a human mate.

I couldn't tell whether Krogal was ignoring them or simply oblivious, but his focus remained on me. Refusing to feed the trolls, I decided to do the same and ignore the obnoxious females. He walked up to the ice cream cart with a boyish grin.

"I'm going to get you a sampler bowl," he said with enthusiasm. "Topi makes the best frozen treats on all of Xoccoris. This will allow you to taste the most popular flavors. I'm curious to see which one will be your favorite."

"I'm eager and willing to try it all," I replied.

The merchant called Topi—an older male likely in his seventies or eighties—beamed proudly at me. I returned his grin then let my eyes flick greedily over the colorful crates filled with a variety of ice creams, some of them smooth, and others overflowing with goodies. I was a sucker for anything that had some kind of crunchiness and sweetness. Fruits and nuts, crushed chocolate bars, and other such mixes were always a huge success with me.

Topi filled an edible, waffle-looking bowl with nine different scoops, each one generous enough to be a portion in and of itself. He handed me a little spoon, the handle wrapped in paper. Only then did I realize that it, too, was edible. Krogal got one for himself as well and paid the vendor.

Just as I was about to bring the first spoon full to my lips, a frightened shout escaped me at the sound of a savage roar behind us. In my fright, I dropped the bowl. With dizzying speed for a male this big and muscular, Krogal caught it with his primary left hand and gently wrapped his secondary left arm around my waist in a protective fashion.

I jerked my head to the right to see what had scared the living daylights out of me. To my shock, a large male was roaring at the cutest brown-haired Zamorian female who had been apparently coming to get some ice cream as well. An older version of herself—who I presumed to be her mother—was standing by her side, giving the roaring male an assessing once-over.

To my dismay, the male just carried on shouting, slapping his chest and making threatening moves in front of the two females. My innards twisted, and I nearly felt nauseous at the thought he was going to strike them. On instinct, I pressed myself against Krogal, even as my brain demanded that he should intervene and protect them. Although maybe only a few seconds had lapsed, it felt like an eternity had gone by before I finally caught on.

No one was intervening, most people even looking amused if not downright impressed. He wasn't actually threatening those females.

"Oh my God! Is he flirting?" I asked, horrified.

Krogal chuckled, his arm tightening around my waist while he handed me my sampler bowl back. "Yes, he is. And doing a rather impressive job of it for someone only seventeen."

"That's terrifying!" I said with a shudder.

"That's the whole point," he replied, sounding amused.

As much as it freaked me out, I remained glued there, observing the whole thing with morbid fascination. The poor girl looked genuinely scared. I wanted to go over there, hug her, and chastise her mother for allowing this to go on. But to my shock, the cutie brown-haired girl suddenly ran her fingers over her locks and cast an appreciative look his way. She then tapped something on her bracer.

With a victorious roar, the male slapped both his palms on his broad chest, and also tapped something on his bracer. Once done, he grinned at her then politely bowed his head at her mother. To my surprise, she gave him a slight nod, as if to grant him her blessing to woo her daughter. The women then continued on their way, not stopping at the ice cream cart as I first thought had been their destination.

Pushing out his chest and strutting like a peacock, her suitor left the square in a different direction under the cheers of the crowd and interested glances of the bitchy trio that had been ogling my man.

"What just happened?" I asked, bewildered.

"She likes him, and her mother approves. Therefore, she gave him her contact information," Krogal said with a chuckle.

"Wow! So all he had to do was to act like a rabid gorilla?"

He snorted. "Yes, pretty much."

"And that's what you guys did to Belle?" I exclaimed.

He laughed. "Yes, at least seven or eight of us back-to-back."

"And she didn't pass out?!"

"Not quite, but almost. Bayron was not amused," he said with a shit-eating grin. "But fear not. Like Feidin said, it won't happen to you. I've already warned everyone that I will crack their skulls if they frighten you like that."

"Thank God!" I said with genuine relief. "But I'm still baffled that this was all it took for him to win her over."

Krogal shook his head. "He didn't win her. She just gave him permission to court her. In her stead, I would beware if she's truly interested."

"Why do you say that?" I asked with curiosity.

"She didn't lay claim to him or agree to be his," he explained. "By the number of females impressed by his performance, one of them could make a move soon. To lay claim, the girl should have given him some sort of commitment token, like a band or a ribbon from her hair to put in his own. A male without any form of adornment in his hair indicates that he is single or available. The exception is if he has his mate's brand on his chest."

"Like your tattoo?" I asked.

He shook his head. "That's merely decorative. The day you and I formally bond, you will choose a symbol that represents you and permanently mark it on me. If you look around at the males without shirts, you will see all the married ones have a unique symbol over their left heart."

I glanced around us and indeed noticed all the men with adorned braids also had a symbol on their chests. A frown creased my forehead as I glanced back at my man. As I had not yet done anything for his hair, and he obviously was not bearing my mark, no wonder that little trio was looking at him the way they did.

"So those chicks think you're available?" I asked in a clipped tone while casting a less-than-subtle look in their direction.

Krogal followed my gaze before huffing. "Technically, yes, they could assume that."

Without thinking, I removed one of the golden rings from my right braid and clipped it around Krogal's, Just below his shoulder. It matched perfectly with the golden earring in his left ear. As soon as I finished, I turned back to glare at the white-haired chick that seemed to be the leader of the little trio. She scrunched her face at me then turned around with her little clique and walked away.

As good as that had felt, my stomach knotted at the thought Krogal might not approve of that course of action. I cast a nervous glance his way only to find him beaming at me. He pulled his braid in front of his chest as if to make it even more obvious to everyone he was officially claimed.

That had my stomach doing a couple of very pleasant backflips. His arm still possessively wrapped around my waist, Krogal led me across the massive plaza as we both devoured our respective sampler bowls and casually chatted. He showed me the parts of the square where street performers and occasional events entertained the crowds. It eventually took us to the equivalent of their downtown area. I finished eating my ice cream—my stomach feeling on the verge of bursting—just as we were walking past a series of shops and cafes.

A few moments later, we entered what I believed to be a bank. He took us straight to some sort of automated banking machine. I meant to step away to grant him some privacy, but he held my hand before leaning forward to get both of his right eyes scanned by the biometric scanner. He tapped a few instructions on the interface then tugged on my hand to make me stand in front of the machine.

Although I instinctively complied, I glanced at him questioningly. "What are you doing?"

"Setting up your bank access," he replied, matter-of-factly.

"Oh!" I said, unsure how I felt about it.

This reminded me of far too many bad memories of how Liam had taken control of my finances, making certain he could oversee all the ways in which I spent money. That also allowed him to block access to my funds the day I ran.

After the device finished scanning my right eye, Krogal tapped a few more instructions. Then an A.I. voice resonated, startling me.

"Please confirm full account ownership transfer from Krogalsenyiek Skortheatis to Farah Toussaint," the voice said.

"I confirm," Krogal replied firmly, before getting his right eyes scanned again.

"Ownership transfer complete," the A.I. said.

My brain froze as I tried to process what I just heard.

Krogal turned to look at me with a gentle expression. "This is now your bank account. Press your thumb here to enable your signature."

Heart pounding, I once again complied.

"Signature for Farah Toussaint enabled," the A.I. said.

Seconds later, the screen displayed the account information. My jaw dropped, and my knees wobbled when I stared at the balance of fifty thousand credits. I jerked my head towards Krogal and gaped at him in disbelief.

"This is your account alone, my Farah," he said in a soft voice. "I no longer have access to it or any control over it. I cannot check its balance or how you spend the funds. It is yours, and only yours."

My lips quivered, and tears pricked my eyes. Less than two weeks ago, I was on the verge of getting evicted from the shelter with no hope and nowhere to go. And now, all this—beyond any dream I could have hoped for—was sweeping me away.

"Every month, I will deposit an additional allowance for you until you finish whatever studies you settle on and find a job with a salary that will match or exceed that allowance," he continued before taking on a sheepish expression. "In truth, I'll likely continue regardless of whatever wages you end up earning."

"That's too much!" I whispered, still too shocked to fully process what was happening.

"No, Farah, it is not," he said firmly but gently. "It's just enough so that you will never feel stranded or trapped. I want you to stay here with me because that is your desire, not because you feel like you have no other choice."

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I thank God that Kayog led me to you," I said in a shaky voice before throwing myself into his arms.

He returned my embrace with a gentleness that wrecked me inside. By giving me the means and option to leave if I wished, Krogal confirmed there was nowhere else I would rather be. We may not be in love with each other just yet, and it would probably take a while for us to get there, but I didn't doubt we would.

I was home, and he was my soulmate.