Page 24 of Reveal Me
She didn’t run. She sat. At the farthest end of the table from me. But she was still in my sight, and that settled my beast. Had she run, I would have chased. There was no way I was letting her get away. Now I just needed to figure out how to bring her back to me.
I watched her from across the dining room. Her fingers trembled as she signaled for her wineglass to be refilled. There was a tightness to her smile as she made small talk with the guests on either side of her. She was not looking at me at all. Not as I moved around the room to areas that would put me directly within her line of sight. Not when I settled myself directly across from her.
I hadn’t taken the head of the table. It wasn’t my celebration. It was Oz and Stella’s.
Stella shot daggers at me from her seat, her gaze full of judgment. Oz, on the other hand, just shook his head at the whole situation. It wasn’t fair. They weren’t blaming her. But shewas the one who’d hid the truth. Not me. I had been ready to face fate… eventually.
A woman slid closer to my side. Her scent was an anathema next to Niamh’s. These past couple of days that she’d been beyond my reach, any scent that didn’t have the bite of poison turned my nose. Flowers were cloying. Cream too sweet.
The other woman shifted in her seat, offering me a hot pepper from a serving tray. In my peripheral, I caught a coy smile on her lips. I didn’t hear a word she said as her lips moved. My eyes remained glued to Niamh and the man she was chatting with.
A low growl rumbled in my chest first, rising from deep inside me before it made its way out into the room. The man sitting across from Niamh shifted uncomfortably. He looked from me to Niamh, then down. I didn’t catch the excuse he gave before he moved hurriedly away from her.
The woman next to me coughed violently. Her hand flew up to her throat. She was clearly in distress, and as her sovereign, it was my duty to see to her needs. I was a second too late as I waited to make sure Niamh’s unwanted guest found himself another chair at the far end of the table. My table companion collapsed to the floor with a thud.
“She’s been poisoned!”
All eyes darted toward Niamh. Of course. Because everyone in this room believed her to be the culprit. I leaned back in my chair, half-expecting my mate to break her calm façade. She didn’t. Instead, she shrugged, completely unconcerned.
“Looks like she couldn’t handle a little heat.” Niamh indicated the half-eaten pepper covered in herbs and spices that lay on the floor next to the unconscious woman. “She’ll be fine by morning.”
Most guests gave her a wide berth after that. A few looked at her with respect. This was the animal kingdom, and you had todefend your territory. Which meant Niamh regarded me as her territory.
I’d promised myself I was going to wait until after the wedding to speak my piece to my fated mate. But I couldn’t wait any longer. I refilled my glass. The rich crimson liquid settled on the bottom like a new promise — one I knew I could keep.
“A toast,” I started, my voice carrying across the room. The court quieted instantly. “To Oz and Stella. I had a vision of this day. When I was just a cub, I saw that my best friend would find the lost princess of Panthera. I saw tomorrow, the day that they will wed. But that’s not the only thing I saw. I also saw my fated mate. The one I was meant to share my throne, my heart, and my life with. I saw her when I was just a cub. But as a man, I’ve been a coward.”
I was finally saying it. Finally admitting what I’d known all along. “For years, I bedded everything that moved because I didn’t want to face the reality of it. The reality that I would have no choice, that my life would be decided the moment I met her. And I was right. The moment I caught her scent, I knew. There would be no other woman for me. Not ever.”
I took a long sip, my eyes never leaving Niamh, feeling the weight of the silence pressing down on me like the weight of a thousand expectations.
“But as you heard, she rejected me. That choice never occurred to me. I thought it was a guarantee, a sure thing. But my mate is full of surprises. She knows her own mind. And I’ll have to work my hardest to change it.”
Niamh hadn’t raised her glass. Her arms were crossed over her chest protectively. She was so damn beautiful it hurt to look at her. She held my gaze for a second longer. She was the first to look away.
I finished the glass and set it down with a soft clink. I had said the words I needed to say. Now all I could do was wait for her to respond.
Chapter 17
Niamh
The sheets twisted beneath me like a battlefield of restless limbs. Each turn and toss was more frantic than the last. My mind raced, replaying Dion’s words, that toast, over and over in my head. His confession, the rawness in his voice, the way he looked at me, like there was no one else in the room.
Could I trust him? I wanted to. But I’d rejected him. Because he’d lied. Hadn’t he?
“Niamh? Can we talk?” Stella’s voice came from the open door. I was so distracted by my thoughts that I hadn’t heard her knock, if she had.
“You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”
She shook her head with a smile on her face. “I love Oz with everything I have, but... becoming his wife tomorrow? It feels so real. More real than it did when we became mates.” Her hands nervously adjusted the sheets on the bed, as if doing so could ground her in this moment. “Mating is private. It was just between us. Marriage is public. It’s a real live contract with the world.”
“Are you saying you want to elope?”
“The wedding planner would kill me. Besides, the people need to see a good spectacle. There’s been so much hurt and pain in this realm. I want to give Panthera something to smile about.”
I nodded, letting the weight of her words settle on me.
She tilted her head, studying me. “The people would love to see their king married.”
