Pride and love filled Minthe’s heart. She studied Rhoetus, her mate, and saw the desperation in his eyes for her acceptance.

The son of a god. Of Zeus, no less.

How difficult it must have been for him to have shared this. Especially when it meant he might have to give up his throne.

Or that his family might hate him for the lies and secrets.

But not me.

She squeezed his hand and raised her other to his face, caressing his cheek while he nuzzled into her palm. “Oh, Rhoetus. I would love you no matter whose blood flowed in your veins. There is more than a man’s lineage which makes him a King.”

“Minthe.” He bent and feathered his lips across hers, a thousand emotions in his kiss.

“I wholeheartedly agree.” Cheiron’s booming voice interrupted them. He cleared his throat and swept his arm across the crowd. “I believe they do as well. Rhoetus, you may not be descended from the line of centaur Kings, but your blood is noble, and even more importantly, so are your hearts. Never doubt why the Fates put you upon this path. It is your true course, and you have lived the hardest lesson any sovereign will have to learn. To sacrifice everything for your people, even when the choices you must make will haunt you. If anyone here is in need of forgiveness, it is I.” With that, he knelt, bowing his head before Rhoetus. “I never should have abandoned your people in their hour of need.”

“My Lord Cheiron, please, this is not necessary.” Rhoetus touched the King’s arm and bade him rise. “We are together, united, and that is what matters. We can mend the past, but we must always look to the future. In this instance, I would request your famed wisdom.” He pointed toward Minos, who was now held between his brothers, the vile former King glowering in distaste.

“Hmm.” Cheiron scratched his jaw and spoke amongst his kin before turning back to Rhoetus. “Aye, indeed.” He bobbed his head. “My allies have informed me they have squelched the minotaur threat. Apparently, a forgotten automaton by the name of Talos proved most useful in conquering them and holds them prisoner. Its inanimate mind cannot be manipulated. It is our understanding the minotaurs also seek revenge on Minos for his betrayal against them. Let us see if we can’t grant their wish.”

Rhoetus chuckled softly and angled his head. “Aye, the arrangement would suit me just fine.” He swung his perusal back to Minthe. “For I’ve learned there’s more room in one’s hearts if vengeance surrenders to love.”

Minthe beamed, so proud and full of adoration for this male. How far he’d come and how much he’d grown. He’d finally learned to trust in his true path.

And in their love.

“There’s just one thing left to do.” He extended his hand toward her, and as she slipped her palm against his, he lowered to his knees. “Minthe of the Asteriae, starlight of my soul, would you do me the greatest honor of accepting my hearts, my love, my devotion, and my trust, and become my mate, my wife, and my Queen?”

She clamped her other hand over her mouth, muffling her gasp and, with tears brimming in her eyes, dropped to the ground in front of him. Lifting her hand free, she murmured, “Yes,” and smothered her reply with his kiss.

* * *

Rolling cheers echoed in Rhoetus’s ears. All he’d ever longed for, a home, a family, and a bright future for his people, he now possessed.

Everyone had helped to scour the castle of any remnants reminding them of King Minos’s residency here. This morning, he awakened in his bed. The King’s bed. The chamber his parents had occupied so long ago.

He glanced to the side, running his hands across the silk sheets. Tonight, he’d share this bed with his mate. The Thessaly centaurs had agreed to stay for the wedding and celebration. Because, truly, no one was going to miss out on all that.

They had so many victories to celebrate.

It would take more than one night to erase the darkness in their past, but with hundreds of hands helping, they could soon polish away the grime and reveal the sunny cheer in their futures.

Even more, his siblings had already begun the wondrous task of repopulating their Isle, breeding new heirs to their legacies. All four of them were expecting babes in the next few months. He’d be damned if he didn’t claim his mate and follow in their steps.

He grinned and stretched in his human form, then rose from bed and forced himself not to head through the adjoining doors toward the Queen’s chambers. That would have to wait for tonight.

Rubbing his hands, he shook out the tension from his limbs, and then dressed. He strode to his door, stretching for the knob.

A clicking sounded from the corner of his chamber. The door pushed open and a certain flame-haired nymph popped inside. “Are you sure we have to wait?” she murmured, her body covered by only the thinnest slip of silk.

He stood frozen, yet his hearts were having no trouble ramming inside his throat.

“Love,” he managed, tilting his head.

She twirled her fingers through the air and sashayed toward him. Rising onto her toes, she blew a kiss onto his lips. “Oh, you didn’t think I was offering, did you?” Her brow arched playfully, she placed a saucy kiss on his mouth before strolling back through the door.

Rhoetus exhaled, hard, and concentrated on making the rest of his body not as rigid.

Damn, his female held his reins so perfectly in her grasp.

Tonight. He chanted. Just get through this day and after, he’d seize the sweetest revenge on the nymph.

* * *

Minthe smiled across the table from Rhoetus. He reclined at the opposite end of the massively long oak table that filled most of this dining hall. A crowd of their friends occupied every seat. Her heart lightened and warmed. This was the vision of the future she never dreamed they’d have.

She blew another kiss at Rhoetus, which only made his cheeks burn deeper and his nostrils flare. His fingers laced together on the tabletop. Oh yes, she’d suffer the full extent of his retribution this eve.

First, they had serious matters to attend.

After dining, they joined their friends and his siblings in the great hall to discuss Minos’s fate. He was to be handed to the captured minotaurs today. Some wedding gift. She snorted. Many of the centaurs were uneasy about allowing even a single minotaur to live.

She didn’t disagree. Those brutish beasts had caused so much harm. Such pain. It didn’t seem fair to bestow them mercy when they didn’t even comprehend the word.

She linked her arm through Rhoetus’s and met his gaze. Concern furrowed his brow. He must be pondering the same as she.

When their army had gone to round up Minos’s soldiers yesterday, they’d discovered most of the humans had fled. They’d abandoned their stolen homes. Taken their ships and sailed off.

Perhaps that was better. Now Krete could be theirs once more.

“What does your heart tell you?” she whispered into Rhoetus’s ear.

He sighed heavily. “Vengeance left me without hope. Also, their crimes cannot go unpunished, nor can they be left to harm again.”

“So, a prison then?” she murmured, but silence condensed around her.

Everyone in the hall turned toward her, and at once, they chattered their opinions. Of course, they were all different.

“You imprison them and what will stop them from breaking free someday?” Demoleon pounded his fist on a side table.

“Mayhap we should ship them off like the humans,” Arctus bellowed. “Good riddance.”

“And what, send them straight into the fold of our enemies?” one of Cheiron’s sons, Agrius, snarled.

“No,” a regal lady glided forward, a centauress of pure white. Queen Atalante, Cheiron’s wife. “We do better. Imprison yes, but not in a realm they can ever break free from.” She held up a luminescent crystal. “We trap them in here, for eternity, and then we shatter it.” Her lips curved in satisfaction.

Minthe blinked, gaping at the crystal. “But that’s…”

“Yes. An amethyst. The source of my powers.”

“Is everyone in agreement?” Rhoetus tipped his head at those in the room. “If yes, then let’s pay our enemies a visit.”

* * *

Mercy. Rhoetus snorted. The last favor he wished to offer any of his enemies, and certainly not the ones responsible for such savagery. Yet the majority had agreed. This was the best course.

The right path.

If he’d learned nothing, it was that his hooves must always stay on this course and never stray. He owed as much to Minthe and to his people.

They gathered around the base of Mount Ida, where Arsenius and Kyme had offered to guard the entrance to the prison. At their arrival, Rhoetus had explained their decision.

The two warriors hadn’t behaved as though pleased, but they were built for war.

A King must choose other paths.

Rhoetus bade Queen Atalante step forward while the giant automaton Talos herded the remaining dozen minotaurs and a cowering Minos to the surface. So it was true. Whatever vengeance the minotaurs had in store for Minos, it wasn’t physical.

Yet, by the way he sniveled and cowered, his mind appeared bruised and beaten.

Queen Atalante held up the crystal and a shimmering glow illuminated across her arms.

He braced his forearm over his eyes, shielding them from the radiance, but an even brighter glow blasted from the far side of the prisoners.

Rhoetus squinted, his gaze drifting upward. “Father?”

Zeus beamed down upon him, the god’s radiant face full of pride. “My son. You have done well. I’m afraid I cannot allow you to pursue this course. The gods have convened and our decision is firm. Step aside, Rhoetus.”

He glanced at the others, who shrugged and shuffled backward. What in Hades was going on? “Of course, Father.” He dipped his head, seized Minthe’s hand, and led her a few paces away.

“For your crimes, your punishment has been sealed,” the god’s voice boomed, thunderous as a summer storm. Then he raised his arm, a thunderbolt sizzling in his clasped hand and, before any of the prisoners protested as they realized their fate, Zeus launched his bolt, delivering it into their midst. A crackling blaze engulfed them, turning their bodies to vapor. An instant later, the smoke and ash vanished, and nothing remained of their enemies save for the burnt embers blown across the ground.

“Be well, my son, and rule with a steady hand.” Zeus vanished from his view, leaving Rhoetus gawking and grappling for something to utter.

“Well, that was efficient.” Arctus chuckled.

They shook their heads at each other and headed back to the castle. Minthe rode upon Rhoetus’s back and he deposited her at her chamber door. “Next time I lay eyes on you, nymph, you’d better be my wife.”

“And you’d best make good on those promises to devour me,” she hummed, sashaying inside.

* * *

Twinkling candles and shimmering dust provided by dozens of nymphs illuminated Minthe’s path. All she need do was walk down this corridor, straight toward her future.

Rhoetus.

She beamed at her handsome mate, dressed in a simple ivory shirt that accentuated his robust centaur form, and barely acknowledged the hundreds of attendants who’d gathered to witness their union. This moment was about them. About the long struggle they’d had in finally coming together and saving each other’s souls.

That they’d saved their world, too, only made this sweeter.

This marriage would begin a new era for Krete, with King and Queen ruling benevolently over the centaur race. And yes, not only centaurs. Many of the nymphs who’d been displaced by the vile King Philaeus had chosen to start new lives here on Krete.

A similar boundary ward to the one which stretched across centaur lands on Thessaly now fell across Krete, too. Queen Atalante had instructed Minthe on how to create one here, so all of Krete was protected. Minthe had joined together with the other mates and they’d employed their gifts, along with Queen Atalante’s, to fashion a ward sealing Krete from the outside world.

They were safe, protected, and free to live their happy endings.

Hers would begin now.

The intricate gold stitching of her billowing ivory skirts blazed in the starlight, this ornate gown making her feel like the Queen she was about to become. She strolled down the aisle and met Rhoetus, linking her arm through his. He stared down at her with every ounce of devotion she’d never dreamed to possess in another.

Her smile shot wider, and she returned the same adoration.

They were more than mates destined by the Fates to be together.

Indeed, they had the rest of their lives to discover exactly what that meant.

Rhoetus faced her, his vows rumbling proudly from his chest. “The Fates have brought us together. The gods have passed favor over us. From this moment, I join my life with yours. My body to honor you. My hearts to cherish you. My soul forever yours. I give myself to you.”

Smiling kindly, Cheiron placed a gleaming gold crown upon his head.

Then she repeated the vows, and Cheiron bestowed her with a delicate crown of gold, as well.

Rhoetus slipped his hands around the back of her neck and kissed her passionately, sealing their twined destinies as mates and sovereign rulers of Krete.

* * *

Rhoetus had enjoyed the wedding, and certainly the libations afterward were pleasant, but the second everyone’s stares had passed off him and his new bride, he stole her away, scooped her over his shoulder, and carted her off to their chamber.

“You wicked centaur.” She pounded a playful fist on his shoulder. “Our guests will miss us.”

“Nay, I believe we have at least three minutes before they’ll notice.”

“Three minutes.” She glared, scrunching her nose so endearingly. “You’d better hope you last longer than that.”

After shifting into his human form, he winked at her. “Well, you said you wanted to get back.”

“Not that badly,” she grated.

Grinning broadly, he plopped onto a chair and towed her to his lap. “I doubt we have time to undress, heh?”

She scoffed and patted a hand down the voluminous skirts of her wedding dress. “Do you have any idea how long it took to get me into this?”

“Nay,” he nipped at her shoulder, baring her skin, “but it should only take me a moment to get you out of it.”

“Don’t you dare.” She slapped aside his hand snaring around her back. “If you tear even one button, I swear—”

“What? Hmm? How will my nymph punish me?” He cocked his brow, enjoying this far too much. Ah, that blush of hers. He snaked his hand around her neck, crushing her mouth onto his.

“You have two and a half minutes left, centaur,” she intoned against his mouth, “and you’re wasting them.”

“Bloody hell,” he snarled and reached for his dagger. “If that’s all we have, I’m going to make you mine, mate.”

He placed the hilt in her grasp, closing his fist tightly over hers. “No need to worry. I’ll guide you every step.”

She smiled down upon him, but her hands were already freeing his thick erection from his breeches. Straddling atop him, she sank onto his length, making them both moan.

Swiftly, he drew their hands to his left arm, to the bonding mark begging to be freed.

“Ready, lass?”

“You know that I am.” She kissed him fervently and, together, they sliced the blade around, bonding them. For eternity.

He roared, pumping ferociously into her, and spilled his seed, inside his mate. Fulfillment crashed through him and he growled at the deep satisfaction. She cried out and bit his shoulder, riding him until the last panting breaths of ecstasy exhaled from her lungs.

Together, they swung their gazes to his arm, and she traced her fingertips along the thin black band marking their bonding. Above it rested her name in Old Centaurion, etched into his arm.

“Mine, love,” he purred. “Now that I have found and caught you, never will I let you go.”

“Oh,” she squeezed around him, making him irresistibly lustful for her again, “I think you mean, I’m never letting you go.”

“Didn’t you say our time was finished?” He winked, nipping at her lips.

“No, my sweet Rhoetus. When your love is written in the stars, time is as endless as the starlight.”