23. Naomi

Naomi

Dearest Mairinua,

Circumstances prevent me from visiting you in person, but perhaps this letter can be a small bridge between us — a way to get to know one another despite the distance.

My mother hailed from Belfast, you know. Da visited her kingdom when he was a young king of twenty-two, the usual age when many Sea Kings gained our thrones. The number holds a special meaning for us, as it's also when males choose their seconds for taking a she-wolf to trimate. It wasn't quite like that for me, but that's a story for another letter.

Today, I'll tell you about my parents' romance. My father first laid eyes on my mother during a diplomatic visit to the Belfast Kingdom in honor of his recent coronation. He'd already been celebrating all day, as Irishmen are wont to do. He spotted her and asked if he could take her picture with a disposable camera he happened to have on hand. When my mother asked him why, he said it was important his brother know what she looked like when he returned to our kingdom and told him he'd found their future wife .

My mother, of course, didn't take him seriously. But Da wrote her every week after that, sending a Wild Wolf back and forth between our kingdoms with the letters. Lucky for him, the Wild Wolves happened to be near Belfast at the Giant's Ring for Imbolc that year. The Wild Wolf would deliver his letter and bring one back from my mother to my father.

However, my mother only received five of the six letters Da wrote her. When the fellow returned for the sixth letter, he brought her with him instead. Less than three days later, she went into heat. By all accounts, she, my father, and my uncle lived happily together here in the castle until she died giving birth to me. After her death, my uncle moved onto a new trimateship. Then my father left when I was twelve, leaving me to rule over the secret kingdom with my uncle serving as my King Regent until I reached the age of eighteen.

I'm sorry this story doesn't have a happy ending, Mairinua. Irish tales often take such turns. But enough about my parents. Tell me, what is it you dreamed of before finding yourself here?

Astrid has brought some paper and a pen for you. Perhaps you'll write me back, as my mother did my father? I know now how Da must have felt, longing to know everything about the she-wolf he knew for certain would become his queen.

Until then, Your Sea King

I read the letter. Scoffed. Then read it again, despite myself. A pang of sadness for the motherless king lingered, but I pushed it into the farthest corner of my mind.

He co-led the contingent that had kidnapped me.

Of course, I did not write back to the male who had stolen me from the life I intended.

However, the next day, when Astrid handed me another letter from Sea, I tried to play it off. But my fingers moved faster than my doubts, reaching eagerly for the thick white envelope sealed in wax.

"Do you have anything you'd like me to deliver back to the castle?" Astrid asked, one eyebrow raised in silent judgement.

It was the same look Sea had given me when he asked why I made promises I couldn't keep — a look that saw too much.

"No," I answered. "And if that changes whether he wants to write me, I'm okay with that."

Another raised eyebrow, but Astrid left without comment after knocking on the glass for whoever was there to let her out.

Most likely Wild. I recalled Sea tapping on the wolf knot fasteners that appeared to do everything from opening doors in glass to transporting us from the stone circle back into the secret kingdom.

That probably wasn't the kind of power one gave just anybody to wield.

A tap on my shoulder drew me out of my thoughts, and I turned to find Priscilla standing right behind me, her hands primly clasped.

"We're gathering for prayer time now as Amanda would have wanted."

Somehow, I managed not to roll my eyes. Priscilla had become the most dedicated W?lfennite ever in the wake of losing her best friend to "those horrible heathen beasts."

"Sure," I said, to keep the peace.

As soon as we were done, I found myself rushing upstairs, weirdly excited to read Sea's letter — even though I knew I shouldn't be.

Coincidentally, it turned out to be about power .

Dearest Mairinua,

While I await your letter, hopefully full of details about how and where you grew up, I thought I might tell you more about the wolves over whom you'll reign after we are joined as mates.

The Irish Wolves' power structure isn't quite arranged in the same way as the North American Lupine Association, where every state and province has a king. Or even England and Scotland.

The Scottish Wolves are purely descended from the Norwegian Viking wolves who, like their counterparts, raided and eventually settled in the British Isles.

The Sea Wolves are also the descendants of those Viking wolves, and our settlements were founded around the same time in the late 8th and early 9th centuries.

The Irish Wolves, however, are sourced from three different groups. According to our lore, the Wild Wolves were the first wolf walkers, made and placed here by the three gods sometime between the early to middle Stone Age.

However, the Wild Wolves were split into two factions in the early 5th century (over 300 years before the Viking Wolves' arrival in Ireland) by what the Wild Wolves still call "That Patrick Nonsense."

We can't be sure if the 5th-century wolves actually encountered St. Patrick, the (human?) missionary who is widely credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. But after the now-venerated man's arrival, the Wild Wolves remained nomadic and continued to worship the old gods.

Meanwhile, the converted wolves settled near one of the henges — or stone fating gates, as we call them — to the north near the area that would eventually come to be known as Belfast. Interestingly, these other wolves chose to forego having a king, instead uniting under a figure they called The Belfast Priest until recently when the last Belfast Priest lost his position, and his wolves were merged with the kingdom of Dublin.

Anyhow, this was not an inherited appointment but one that was intuited, like the Dalai Lama or the Avatar from The Last Airbender — not sure if you know either of those references though. So, I'll stop there.

I am eagerly awaiting a letter from you, Mairinua. Please, tell me more.

I hope it's not too forward of me to say, but I haven't been able to sleep since your arrival. I lie awake, staring at the ceiling, thoughts of you running through my mind like the tides that shape our shores.

What dreams did you hold close when you agreed to the Bridal Exchange? What kind of mate did you envision before your queen fate took you by the hand and led you here? You're a clever bird, aren't you? Not at all what I expected, and yet more than I could have imagined.

When you write me back, share your stories with me — every detail, every moment. I long to know everything about the W?lfennite who hides a phone in her dress pocket.

Since I was twelve, I have been alone, tasked with ruling a kingdom after my father was stripped of his titles and exiled. And even in those long years of solitude, I dreamed of you. I imagined holding hands with my queen as we oversaw important rites like holidays and weddings.

But by the three gods, in person, you are even better than my faceless vision.

You are a queen born and cleverer than a den of foxes. Even as I recover from what happened in my castle, I find myself wondering how a parentless wolf like me got so lucky. The Irish Wolves are beyond fortunate to have gained you as a ruler.

You, my Mairinua, are the happy ending I have longed for — the answer to years of waiting.

In the modified words of the British boy band, The Wanted: I am so very glad you came.

Yours,

Sea

My chest ached in a way I did not want to acknowledge. This letter was much longer than the first one, but somehow still too short. I lowered my gaze to that line again.

You, my Mairinua, are the happy ending I have longed for — the answer to years of waiting.

So it wasn't just about want to breed me because I was the most aesthetic she-wolf in the lot he'd kidnapped. For the first time ever with a male who'd showed interest in me, I didn't feel like some she-wolf shaped trophy some dude was trying claim to show off to his pack.

A wholly unfamiliar feeling bloomed inside of me… to tell the truth… to explain everything… to open myself to Sea bloomed.

Also, I had so many questions.

What happened to the Belfast Priest, and why were the Belfast wolves merged with the Dublin ones? Why was Sea's father stripped of his titles and exiled? Who took care of and nurtured Sea after he was named king at the super young age of twelve? What did this song by the British boy band I'd never heard of sound like?

I eyed the letter paper, sitting on top of the room's built-in desk, but…

No, no , I wouldn't write to him. In fact, it was a good and wise thing that I hadn't sent a letter back with Astrid that morning because I refused to encourage him any further. Sea was a monster — a contradictory, heavily tattooed monster who wrote letters in gorgeous cursive that made my heart pound — but a monster first and foremost.

If I never heard from him again, it would be a good thing, I insisted to myself…

… until I found myself eagerly snatching his third letter out of Astrid's hand the next morning.

"Naomi, will you join us for morning prayer —" Priscilla started to ask as I rushed by her.

"Sorry! I've got to clean my toilet!" I threw the poor excuse over my shoulder while running up the stairs and disappeared into my room before she could argue with me.

My hands trembled slightly as I unsealed the letter and pulled out several sheets of speckled cloth-like paper. My heart raced, a mix of excitement and dread bubbling in my chest.

Dearest Mairinua,

It saddens me, though it comes as no surprise, that you did not write back, my Mairinua. After the way we met, I understand that it will take time for you to disassociate your Sea King from the male who took you from Scotland.

Let me share with you the truth of your friend's fate, and why, in the grand design, she is destined to be with the Tríbéirríthe who saw her picture and knew, in that instant, she was meant for them.

My eyes widened as I read Sea's shocking — yet not completely unbelievable explanation for why my best friend had been chosen as "the potential" of a mega-rich triad of Irish tech titans he called the Tríbéirríthe.

I know this doesn't erase your pain over losing your best friend. But I hope you can take some solace in knowing that your deep friendship with her will keep Ireland united in ways that go beyond the prophecy.

The prophecy. I frowned at yet another mention of this so-called destiny, which both he and Wild kept referencing as if it were a scientific fact.

Technically, I didn't care. I wanted no part of any prophecy that told them that they needed to kidnap innocent she-wolves in order to satisfy it.

Still, I hoped he might explain that next like he explained about Sadie, but sadly no…

What followed were several pages about the challenges of ruling the secret kingdom at such a young age, his favorite music (*my playlists are 10% hardcore rap, 10% The Script's greatest hits, and 80% traditional Irish folk music*), his favorite TV shows, and a bunch of other random personal details that somehow made me feel like I actually knew him by the time I got to the last page, where he got somewhat reflective.

I wonder, does any of this reach your heart, or do my words fall away like waves upon the shore, unable to touch the depths of you?

I won't lie. There have been many she-wolves who offered themselves to me in hopes of becoming the Sea Queen. Even so, I saved myself for you and only you, knowing that the time of our Mairinua was coming. My wolf has starved while waiting for you and the true connection we will share outside of all titles.

And now you are here.

Never has my longing been so fierce, nor my hope so bright. You are the light I have waited for, the solace in my hunger.

I understand why you have refused to write back, but this will be the last letter.

The next time you see me, it will be in person.

Yours,

Sea

I would never have guessed that under all those tats and reserve, the king who kidnapped me had such a dramatic, poetic side. That stupid ache in my chest increased. It was strange, almost disarming, to receive words like this… to be complimented… to be asked about in ways it would never occur to any of the Scottish or W?lfennite males to court me. An overwhelming urge to write back rocked my chest.

Because you have absolutely nothing to do but oversee the W?lfennites , I viciously reminded myself.

In the end, I clenched my right hand into a fist and made myself drop it back down to my side.

No, I wouldn't write back. Writing back would mean handing a piece of myself over to my kidnapper — one I wouldn't be able to get back.

I was fine, I told myself, completely fine with Sea not writing me again.

However, my heart leaped when Astrid showed up the next morning with a huge announcement .

"I've got mail from our Sea King!!" she trilled, waving a white envelope in the air as she came to stand in the middle of our communal space where we were just finishing breakfast.

The W?lfennites gasped, exchanging a mix of confused and concerned glances. Some whispered excitedly, others seemed wary, but all eyes eventually turned to me, waiting for my reaction.

I'd kept my letters from Sea secret, but for some reason, they all expected me to take the lead on this unexpected turn of events.

Then, instead of pulling me aside, she handed me the letter in front of everyone. My face burned as I took it. But then curiosity set in when I noticed this sealed envelope felt much lighter than all the others.

As it turned out, this letter wasn't for me — at least not just for me.

I pulled out a single notecard announcing that we were all cordially invited to celebrate the wedding of Lorcan and Ronan of the Wild Wolves to Amanda of the W?lfennites on the night of the new moon.

"Despite that terrible delay, Amanda has successfully completed her heat cycle," Astrid explained to the rest of the group as I silently read over the invitation. "And guess what! You're all invited to her wedding!"

I pushed away the piercing disappointment of not getting another personal letter from Sea again to protest, "But —"

That was when Astrid pulled me aside. But not to secretly hand me another letter.

She lowered her voice to inform me: "Sea's commanding you all to come, and he's saying that his and Wild's wolves will escort you — basically a group date. "

Of course, I opened my mouth to argue, but before I could, Astrid added, "Oh! And Wild told me to tell you ‘no arguments unless you want further education' — not sure what that means."

Heat flushed over my body, and my heart quickened. She wasn't sure, but I knew exactly what he meant.

His ominous warning clamped my mouth shut. It looked like me and the other she-wolves were going on a group date.