It took me a few seconds after she turned around before I could breathe right again.

They always told me that cinnamon bears were the lesser of our kind, but this woman, who was now my mate, was nothing lesser in my book.

I needed to know her better. The problem with getting to know her was that soon she would be gone, either by her own choice, or by me sending her away. She was a pawn in this game and didn’t deserve to be included in the checkmate. It would be brutal when it all went down, one way or the other.

I might not have wanted this marriage, but I wouldn’t see her hurt. With my hand on the small of her back, we listened to the congratulations all evening, and I purposefully steered her away from those who I knew opposed our marriage. They gave us death stares, especially Atlas, but I shielded her as best as I could from them when she was near me.

The split in the crowd was deep and obvious. Atlas spoke to the lesser, who were courteously invited, while I spoke to those I knew. The silly girl even took to having conversations with the servants who were also lessers. There were very few black bear servants among our employees. Further proof of the divide my father favored.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for us to let the newly mated couple have their time together.” My father’s announcement wasn’t embarrassing at all.

I caught a glance of Atlas’s eyes growing wide. I glided through the crowd and pulled her closer, under my arm, in an attempt to calm her. She nodded slightly, and I took it to mean that it worked.

This wasn’t fair to her, in this enormous marble-floored room with few others of her kind and her mother, who looked to have enjoyed the bar a little too much. She didn’t even wish her daughter goodbye as my father announced our departure.

“Are you ready to go?” I asked her, bending to whisper in her ear.

“You have no idea,” she said through a clenched jaw.

We waved and smiled like we were supposed to, but as soon as the doors to the great hall closed behind us, we both let out a loud and emotion-filled sigh.

Atlas spoke, still in a whisper. “Please tell me you have somewhere quieter to go. I think my eardrums are ready to burst.”

“I have a whole wing to myself—to ourselves.”

“Oh.”

I grabbed her hand, and as fast as I could make my legs move, I took shortcuts and secret turns until we reached my side of the castle.

“We have the entire wing. Upstairs is the bedroom and downstairs is the semi-private common rooms. The servants won’t come up here unless summoned. I can’t say the same about my father. I want you to think of this place as your home while you are here. I’m assuming you have plans to stick this thing out for ninety days and then split.” I led her into the bedroom. The furnishings were sparser than my father’s side of the castle, but the level of luxury made me squirm. Even my platform bed was California king-sized, and the threads of gold weaved into the comforter were maddening. She would think that I was made of nothing but extravagance.

“Your clothes are in that closet over there. You have a separate bathroom. My mother set that up. We did some remodeling before you came. I’m not sure why she wants her own bathroom, but I imagine it’s to get away from my father, but maybe she just likes some privacy. Now you can get away too.” I laughed, but it wasn’t sincere. My mother detested my father.

“I thought mates wanted to be together all the time,” Atlas chimed in at my side now.

“True mates.”

“Mates who are in love.”

I corrected her. “Mates who are each half of the same person. Mates whose hearts are made for each other. Mates whose souls connect.”

Why in the hell was I saying all of this? I sounded like a pathetic sap.

“Well, good thing you only have to put up with me for a while and then you can find that female. I’m sure she’s out there.”

“I don’t even know how old you are, and yet I’m supposed to mark you tonight. Seems a little backwards.”

“Well, we can fix that. You just have to mark me before the morning, right?”

“Right.”

This time, my female took me by the hand and led me to the sofa, where she patted the place next to her.

“Hold on.” I went into my closet and discarded the stiff tux, changing into a pair of gray sweatpants and a T-shirt with the logo of the Colorado Avalanche, my favorite hockey team.

When I walked back into the room, she squealed. “No fair. I’m stripping out of this lace-fest.”

She stomped to her own closet and faster than I could’ve imagined, she returned, having changed into some black tight pants and a shirt that partially exposed her right shoulder.

She was too tempting for her own good.

“Better?” I asked as she plopped down beside me, pulling her feet under her legs with one swift movement. It was like she was in her element again.

“Can I say something?” Atlas blurted as my mouth opened to begin our mini-interrogation.

“Of course.”

She scooted closer and leaned forward, her eyes on my lips. Waves of warmth were trailing from her to me so intensely that I held my breath.

“I’m starving. Please tell me there’s a kitchen in this place. For shifters, you people sure don’t eat much.”

A laugh burst from my mouth before I could stop it. It sounded like me—a me I hadn’t heard in years.

“Of course. I have a magic phone and everything. What’s your poison?” I reached for the phone behind the sofa and dialed the kitchen. “Yo, Oscar, hook us up with some snacks. My female is hungry.”