Page 5 of Reveal Me
There was peace in the realm. There was no one to fight. The monsters were all slain. The restless god who had wreaked havocon the world had found his fated mate and was now soothed by her touch day and night.
There was still healing taking place. Families had been torn apart by Pan’s madness. Lives cut short. Power had shifted in the wrong direction. My father had set as much right as he could before he went to the ancestors. I’d picked up the mantel and continued his work.
The people of Panthera were thriving. But there was danger lurking in the corner, eager to catch up to me in the light of day. This danger had nothing to do with my people. It had to do with one person. A woman I had never met.
My fated mate.
After saving my best friend’s life that day in the Forbidden Forest, it had felt like I’d signed my own death warrant. My time was running out. The day that would mark the end was finally on the calendar, a big red circle drawn around it: Oz’s wedding day was a week away.
Once Pan regained his sanity and the portals reopened, Oz and I had gone on a diplomatic meeting to Earth. Shortly after coming through the portal, the vision slapped me in the face and I saw her. Not my fated mate—Oz’s. Stella was my long-lost cousin, and a princess of Panthera. She had more of a claim to the throne than I did, but it was more important to me that she lay claim to my best friend’s heart.
When I saw her in that vision, Oz was with me. He shielded me from our new allies as my sick-sense took over and I got dizzy. When I came to, I sent Oz after her. I may have forgotten to tell Oz that Stella was for him. He’d thought she was mine. So when the bond slapped him in the face at his first sight of her, my best friend and second-in-command had one hell of a time fighting his feelings for the witch-pantheress hybrid.
When the three of us finally came face to face, the tension was delicious. I may have been an ass and pretended I was intoStella just to rile up my all too serious brother-in-arms. Oz had fallen so hard for her, so fast, that he was willing to turn on me, his best friend and king, for the woman he loved.
I didn’t let him suffer that long—I wasn’t a complete dick. The look on his face when I told him the truth was worth the bruises he put on mine. And now they were getting married in just a few days.
I’d tried to delay the inevitable, to stall Oz and Stella’s wedding for as long as possible. But now, with the date fast approaching, I could no longer ignore the truth. The day my friend would be happily shackled, the manacles would fall down on me as well. My fated mate would be in attendance at his mating ceremony.
Luckily, I still had a week before my fate was sealed. And I planned to make use of every moment. Fuck every willing body I hadn’t gotten around to and a few who had given me the highest pleasure. Because I knew there would be no fighting it when I saw her. I would become something I couldn’t fathom: a one-woman man.
I gave myself a full-body shake. It did nothing to free me from the inevitability of my fate. And so I prepared for the day ahead.
Leaving the comfort of my bedchamber, I stepped into the expansive closet that housed my wardrobe. Each garment was meticulously chosen to accentuate my physique. I selected a fitted white shirt. White was my best color. It showed off my golden skin tone and hair. The shirt’s fabric clung to my strong chest and broad shoulders, emphasizing the contours of my physique. Paired with tailored trousers that skimmed over my narrow hips, the ensemble created a silhouette that would draw women to me.
Not that my title and confirmed rumors of my substantial endowment didn’t already do that.
As I dressed, I took pleasure in the way the fabric molded to my body, accentuating my finer points and drawing attention to the attributes that had captivated so many before. I knew the effect my appearance had on others, the way women’s eyes lingered on my form, drawn to the promise of strength and sensuality that radiated from me.
Making my way down to breakfast, I found Stella and Oz seated closely together. I pressed a kiss to Stella’s forehead in greeting. As expected, Oz emitted a low growl in response to the display of affection, his territorial instincts flaring at my actions.
“Stop teasing him,” Stella warned, but she was all smiles.
Stella was devoted to Oz, preparing to marry him, yet I couldn’t resist riling my best friend, especially when it came to matters of the heart. Stella was as much mine as she was his. She had quickly become one of my favorite people to engage with. Her genuine friendship was a rare and cherished bond. I just hoped she’d remember that bond when she discovered that it was one of her closest friends who was fated to be my mate. For now, I relished the warmth of our friendship, hoping that it would endure even in the face of such profound revelations.
“I have to head out,” Stella said, dabbing a cloth at the corner of her mouth.
“Where are you off to? Last-minute dress alterations? A bouquet debacle?” I asked as I piled my plate.
I started with the steak—thick and charred on the outside but pink and tender on the inside. A stack of scrambled eggs slid easily onto the plate. The crispy bacon crackled as I dumped a couple of strips on top of the eggs. I topped off my stack with a hunk of buttered bread, torn from the loaf. Picking up the serving fork, I debated the fried potatoes.
“No, I’m headed to the portal to pick up a friend.”
The serving fork clattered to the serving dish. The ticking clock on the wall sounded like bombs going off in my head. The walls in the expansive dining area felt like they were closing off.
“You’re picking up a friend?” I managed to ask, though my throat felt constricted. The wedding was still a week off. Guests shouldn’t be arriving for days. I was supposed to have days.
“I had a vision.”
Like me and my mother, Stella also had a sixth sense. Just like when I was a kid and my visions made me dizzy, Stella’s revelation made it feel more like a sick-sense. Because I knew what she was going to say next before the words came out.
“My friend Niamh just arrived. You’re going to love her.”
Chapter 3
Niamh
My head pounded in a dull throb that had me squinting against the sharp sunlight filtering through the trees above. I tried to push myself up, feeling the crunch of leaves and twigs beneath me, but everything around me was unfamiliar. The woods stretched on endlessly, a dense expanse of trees like I had never seen before.
