Page 42 of Alien Prince's Fated Mate

In that moment, I understood him completely. His moral compass pointed only toward me - everything else was negotiable. And somehow, that made my choice clearer.

“Help me find another way,” I whispered. “Not for them. For me. Because I don’t want to become what the Temple tried to make me - someone who sacrifices others for the greater good.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Then we find another way.”

THARON

Niam’s cropped hair brushed my chin as I held her. The metallic tang of the pod’s recycled air mingled with her scent - clean sweat and determination.

Her heart thundered against my palm, strong despite her delicate frame. My beast urged me to bundle her in my cloak and whisk her far from this cursed place with its artificial heartbeat and stale air. But she'd chosen to stay and fight. As always, her fierceness surprised me.

My claws flexed against her skin, careful not to break it. Such fragile beings, these humans. Yet she’d survived horrors that would break most Shakai warriors. Pride and rage twisted in my gut.

“I promise you this,” I repeated. “Whatever path you choose, I walk it with you.”

Niam took a deep breath, her shoulders straightening. The sweet curve of her neck drew my gaze as she tilted her head back to meet my eyes.

“You're right.” Her fingers traced the curve of my ear, sending tingles of pleasure through my entire body. “We'll make this work.”

Before I could capture her hand, she pulled away and returned to the glowing console. The loss of contact left me cold.

I watched her work, fascinated despite my discomfort. The screens lit up at her touch, responding to commands I couldn’t begin to understand. Such a contrast - my fierce little mate, so at home among this dead technology.

Her movements grew more animated as new patterns appeared on the display. “Wait... yes!” She pressed another sequence of symbols. “Look at this.”

I stepped closer, though the proximity to the controls made my skin crawl. “What am I looking at?”

“The priests of the Temple modified everything over the centuries since the crash.” Her fingers flew faster. “But underneath it all, the core programming remains intact. If I can access that...”

Understanding dawned in her expression. My Valti stirred at the flash of triumph in her eyes.

“I can do it.” She spun to face me. “I should be able to use the pod’s systems to disable the Temple’s integration protocols without destroying the city.”

Her brilliance filled me with pride. “Then we-”

“But I need to be inside Terr to do it.”

The words hit like a physical blow. My hands clenched at my sides as the beast roared to life. “No.”

“Tharon-”

“Absolutely not.” I moved between her and the console, blocking her view of the screens. “You’re not going back there.”

She planted her hands on her hips. “I have to. The Temple’s modifications mean the pod can’t interface properly from this distance. I need to be inside the Temple.”

“Then I’ll go.” The words tasted like ash, but better than sending her into danger.

“How are you going to pass for human?” She argued. “You don’t even speak Terran,” Niam pointed out, her fingers tracing one of the pod’s glowing symbols. “I can only speak Shakai because of a malfunction in the Temple’s language protocols during the lightning strike.”

My beast snarled at the reminder. Of course she spoke our language - she belonged with us, with me. But she made a valid point. The guttural sounds of human speech would mark me as an outsider instantly.

“There must be another solution.” I paced the confines of the pod, the artificial environment making my skin crawl. Every instinct screamed to grab her and run far from here, not closer to the danger.

“The Temple has to be stopped,” she said softly. “You know what they’ll do.”

My claws extended at the thought. Yes, I knew. The scars on her skull told that story clearly enough.

“Besides, you don’t know how to work the systems. And you’ll never be able to pass for human.”

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