Nelly’s POV
I was surprised—no, stunned—to learn that I actually had a mate. Not just any mate, but a royal second in command. Fated mates are incredibly rare among our kind. Most werelions end up taking chosen mates, forming unions built on duty or convenience rather than the mysterious pull of fate. I should be grateful to the goddess for blessing me with one. But instead of feeling blessed, I felt an ache of uncertainty twisting inside my chest.
How was I even supposed to tell him? He probably had no idea that I was one of them. To him, I was just another girl—human, ordinary, unremarkable. If we were back in my own kingdom, I could shift and show him what I truly was. But here, with my lioness masked so tightly within me, that wasn’t an option.
Will he believe me if I tell him the t
