Vek walked down the corridor beside Mia, and realized he felt happy and calm.

Everything was right in his world.

He gripped Mia’s slender fingers more tightly. He was in love with his mate, and she loved him. Just a few short months ago, he’d never, ever imagined he’d have Mia in his life.

He could hardly believe that he’d gone from prisoner, slave, and killer, to a free man and the mate of a beautiful woman who had agreed to be his.

“Come on.” Mia led him toward a doorway. “I’m eager to see if they found anything about Dayna in the records Ryan stole from the Srinar.”

They were deep in the bowels of the House of Galen, having just passed some maintenance workers fixing pieces of equipment. They continued through a doorway, and ahead, he saw Ryan sitting behind a bank of computers, with Rory at her shoulder. The two were muttering about things Vek had no clue about.

Ryan looked better. She looked rested, and well-fed, her dark, shiny hair brushing her shoulders.

Suddenly Rory looked at the screen and let out a loud laugh. “Oh, Zhim will hate that.”

“What?” Mia asked.

The women looked up at them. Ryan smiled, and Rory looked at their joined hands and winked.

Rory rubbed her big belly. “Ryan just hung up on Zhim. He was being an ass and deserved it. He decoded some of the information that Ryan sent him from the Srinar hunting grounds, but—”

“Decided he wasn’t going to share it,” Ryan said, incensed.

“So while Ryan was verbally ripping him a new one, she snuck into his system, copied the data, and then deleted it off his system.” Rory threw her head back and laughed again. “Then she hung up on him.”

Vek didn’t know Zhim all that well, but he knew that the information merchant would not like having someone break into his system, or having information taken away.

Ryan gave them a satisfied smile. “Oh, knowing him, I’m sure he will have made multiple backup copies.”

Rory patted her belly. “It’s still priceless.”

Ryan grinned smugly. “True.”

“Ryan, how are you?” Mia asked.

The woman tilted her head, a hint of resignation in her expression. “I’m free, so I’m good. I know we can’t go back to Earth, but I’m planning to send a message home to let them know I’m okay, even if I have to work with Zhim to do it.”

“You have family?” Vek asked.

Ryan nodded. “My parents, and one overprotective brother. David’s probably lost his mind since I went missing.” She cleared her throat. “And I have a fiancé. Sort-of.”

“Sort of?” Rory’s eyebrows rose. “I’m pretty sure being engaged is like being pregnant. You either are, or you aren’t.”

A flush of pink filled Ryan’s cheeks. “Charlie and I have known each other a long time. It was sort of more assumed than official…”

Rory snorted.

“Leave her alone,” Mia said. “Is your room okay?”

“It’s a great room,” Ryan said. “A huge bed, loads of clothes. After months of wearing the same freaking outfit, it is nice to have choices. And scary Galen and Rory set me up with this.” She waved at the comp system.

“Galen’s got an ulterior motive,” Rory said. “If you can do the work he needs done, he won’t have to hire Zhim, who costs a ton of money.” Rory reached for a bowl resting beside the comp screen and fished out a handful of some sort of nuts. She started popping them into her mouth.

“Did I hear my name?” Galen entered the room, a tight, black shirt covering his chest and his black cloak falling behind him. Kace was with him, and the tall gladiator moved instantly to his woman, pulling Rory in for a kiss. His big hands covered her belly protectively.

Vek studied the couple. Kace did not show much emotion, while Rory let everything show on her face. But now that Vek had Mia, he could recognize the looks on their faces. Love.

He suspected it was exactly the same look he wore when he looked at Mia. He pulled her in close to his side.

“You’ve recovered?” Galen asked Vek.

He nodded. “Thank you. For everything you have done.”

Galen inclined his head.

Mia smiled. “By the way, Vek and I have made it official.” She beamed at them all. “We’re mated.”

“Congratulations!” Rory hurried over to hug Mia, and then threw her arms around Vek.

He stilled, the hard mound of her belly a curious pressure against him. Then he felt a definite kick and he jerked.

“Sorry.” Rory stepped back, rubbing her belly. “This mini gladiator has a kick like an enraged mule trying out for the NFL.”

Vek had no idea what a mule or the NFL was. However, he saw Kace was smiling with pride, so he figured it was a good thing.

But then Mia’s gaze moved back to Ryan and her smile dissolved. “Any luck locating Dayna? Or tracking Neve?”

Ryan’s face fell. “Nothing, I’m sorry. I’m still combing through all the Srinar data. There has to be something in there about Dayna.” Ryan’s tone hardened. “But I won’t stop looking. We won’t abandon her.”

“And Neve?” Mia asked.

Ryan shook her head. “The woman is a ghost.”

When Mia leaned into him, Vek sensed her sadness. Instantly, he wanted to ease it. He spun her into his arms. “I promised you that we’d find them. We won’t give up.”

Mia nodded, pressing her cheek to his chest. “It just feels so wrong to be so happy when I know they’re out there, somewhere, all alone.”

“We will continue, no matter what,” Vek murmured. “As will they.”

“Vek,” Galen said.

Vek lifted his head and looked at the imperator.

“The healers tell me that the drug cravings and aggressive bursts in your system have eased. They believe that the mating frenzy caused some biological response that helped cleanse your body.”

Mia made a small sound and the faintest flush crept into her cheeks.

“You’re more likely still prone to aggression, but you’ll be able to control your responses and channel them. When you are ready, I’d like to invite you to train with my gladiators. You’re House of Galen, now.”

Vek went still, and sensed Mia holding her breath. Something in his chest tightened. He’d never belonged anywhere before.

He turned the offer over in his head. He’d been wondering what he was going to do with himself. This was a chance for him to contribute to the House of Galen, and to make something of himself. To use the skills that he’d so abhorred for something else…and to never have to fight to the death again.

He nodded at Galen. “It will be my honor to wear the House of Galen colors.”

Mia’s hands tightened on him, her face glowing with happiness.

Galen reached out an arm, and Vek pressed his forearm to the other man’s. A warrior’s clasp.

Then the imperator looked at Mia. “I’ve also been fielding several calls from Rillian for you, Mia.”

Vek growled and she shot him an exasperated look before looking back at Galen. “What does Rillian want with me?”

“He heard you sing on the shuttle, and he discovered that you write your own songs. He’d like to talk to you about performing at the Dark Nebula Casino.” Galen’s lips quirked. “I believe he mentioned something about me being a greedy imperator for keeping such an incredible gift within the House of Galen and not sharing it. And also something about paying you a small fortune for your talents.”

Mia’s mouth dropped open. “He wants me to perform? And pay me for it?”

“Pay you an obscene amount of money for it.”

She blinked and Vek sensed her stunned disbelief. He looked at her with pride, their gazes meeting. Mia had such talent and he knew it would be wrong to hold her back from sharing it.

She swallowed. “Um, tell Rillian I’ll think about it.”

“One more thing, Vek,” Ryan said, standing. “I found your species listed in the Srinar database.”

Mia gasped and Vek felt his stomach jump.

“The Nerium were the ones to take you from your homeworld.”

That meant the vague fragments of memories of being snatched by Nerium were real. Now his heart started beating hard against his ribs. Mia reached out and grabbed his hand.

“You’re a Solokhian,” Ryan said.

The name settled inside him. He didn’t recognize it, consciously, but it felt right.

“I’m sorry, but the exact location of your planet isn’t listed in the data, but it does seem that it’s a long way from here,” Ryan added. “It is listed as orbiting a large, very bright blue star and was dominated by blue vegetation. Makes sense. If the sun is brighter and blue, the vegetation would have a blue tint to reflect the light.”

“I knew it,” Mia murmured.

“There is a record of the Nerium stealing several children from Solokh. They were viciously pursued by Solokhian ships, and barely made it out alive. The Solokhian ships were not designed for long-range space travel and the Nerium never went back.”

A tumble of different feelings washed through Vek. He hadn’t been abandoned or thrown out like trash.

“Vek?” Mia’s quiet voice.

He looked down at her. It was nice to have answers to questions that he’d always wondered about, but it didn’t change things. His past was his past, and Mia was his life now.

“I’m okay,” he said. “It is good that I have a name to give to our children.”

Mia smiled.

“Speaking of children,” Ryan continued. “I see some notes in here on the Solokhian species. They mate for life, and have a chemical reaction in their bodies that binds them to their mate.”

Chemical reaction or not, Mia was his, and Vek would never let her go.

“And, uh, they give birth to three or four babies at once,” Ryan said.

Mia straightened like she’d been struck. “What?”

“A litter.” Rory elbowed Kace. “Glad your super sperm only made one alien bub.”

Vek pulled Mia closer. “Mia is far too small to be pregnant with three or four younglings at once.”

“One day we’re going to have babies.” Mia’s face turned dreamy. “They’ll be gorgeous, with blue skin and golden eyes—”

“No.” He wouldn’t risk his Mia. “No babies.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Yes.”

“No.”

Mia crossed her arms. “We’ll discuss this later.”

“My money’s on Mia,” Rory whispered, but Vek had no trouble hearing it.

Galen cleared his throat. “One thing I’ve learned is that Earth women somehow seem to always get their own way.”

Vek felt a spurt of fear, but then Mia reached up and cupped his cheeks. She pulled him down for a kiss. She laughed against his lips and everything else fell away.

“You and me, babe,” she murmured. “We’ll make it all work. Together.”

Right here in his arms was his everything. The past that had scarred him for so long, was now just something that had led him to Mia.

And the future was laid out ahead of them, filled with freedom and bright shining opportunities. But most of all, it would be filled with love.

* * *