31. Naomi

Naomi

I hadn't even noticed that Wild's wolf had slipped away from my side, where he'd been all night, and my breath caught at his transformation.

He now wore an ivory and gold tunic, just like Sea and the other guys who'd decided to attend the wedding in human form. But he had a fur stole draped over his shoulders. It wasn't as long as Sea's cape, but it was fastened with the same intricate knotted wolf clasps, giving him that same regal vibe.

Most surprising of all, he now wore a crown on top of his closely cropped hair. But unlike Sea's black and silver crown with amethysts, Wild's crown was made from dusky gold, the same material as his earrings, and painted with green details that reminded me of Ireland's endless emerald fields.

As it turned out, Wild's wolf cleaned up into a surprisingly dashing king. I might have even complimented him on his royal glow-up — if not for the way he was glaring down at me.

"What, did ye think I'd stay on all fours for the entire wedding?" Wild's lip curled with a decidedly less friendly sneer than his wolf. " Figured ye'd throw me a piece of cake like a doggie treat, shove Sea into the fire, then use the distraction to take off for the tower again?"

That actually wasn't a terrible plan. Especially with so many of the males having drunk plentifully from the bronze chalices of alcohol also being passed around with the food.

But the truth was, I hadn't been thinking about the tower. Like, at all.

With a sinking heart, I realized that a new escape plan hadn't even crossed my mind since seeing the second tower with the red door; it hadn't entered my mind since the start of the reception. Not even once. Because the night felt enjoyable.

I found that truth way more disturbing than Wild's false accusations.

Wild mistook my upset look for the answer he'd already assumed.

"Ye can certainly try it, but ye're aware Sea could have stopped me a week ago before I got my head between yer legs? Did he tell ye that in all them ‘please like me' letters he was writing ye?"

My belly fluttered at the thought of Sea watching me — watching us like that.

"It's true. He watched me take my first taste of ye, and he had a right hell of a time controlling his wolf after he dropped ye back at the habitat," Wild informed me with a dark smirk before leaning forward to ask, "So imagine what he'll let me do — what we'll do to ye together if you try that shite again? No, don't look for him, Flower. Keep yer eyes right here on me. Come now…"

I jolted. I didn't even realize on a conscious level that I'd tried to look away to seek out Sea in the crowd until I found myself locked back on to Wild's electric blue stare .

"I need ye to understand that if ye run again, there will be no further obeisance to the Heat Laws." The smirk was gone now, replaced by a steely expression. "I will track ye down like prey, and Sea and I will take the turns we've been miserably waiting for since we first laid eyes on ye back in Scotland. Imagine how devastated that self-righteous ego of yers'll be when ye beg us to keep going?"

A cold shiver ran down my spine, and my body tensed.

Actually, I did have titles. The One with the Prickly Temper. Not Nice Naomi. That Hamilton Sister with the Sharp-Tongue. That was what they used to call me behind my back in St. Ailbe.

But where was that she-wolf now? My heart thundered in my ears, and my brain jumbled with no idea what to do with Wild's threat — his extremely carnal threat that sounded more like a promise.

"Wild, I didn't know you'd decided to shift back or else I would have fetched a piece of this for you, too."

Sea chose that moment to return with two pieces of cake on woven plates, reminding me why he had left. Just as Wild had reminded me why I had no business making future plans to further discover this kingdom.

"Obviously, I wanted to make sure I was in human form for the big show," Wild answered Sea while grinning at me. "Besides, cake tastes better in human form. Wouldn't ye agree, Flower?"

Okay, I was more naive than most twenty-three-year-olds when it came to sex, but even I could hear the double entendre in his answer. Suddenly, Wild's pet name no longer struck me as sweet.

I snatched the plate from Sea without a thank you and asked, "How much longer are we required to stay on this group date?"

Sea cocked his head, his eyes widening slightly at my abrupt question. "There's just the performance to go. It'll be starting any moment now."

"Then we can go home?" The perma-harsh note I'd let slip out of my voice during the reception returned with full vengeance. "Or, in our case, back to the prison where you're keeping us locked up?"

Sea stared at me for a long beat, then turned to Wild. "Alright, then, what did you say to her?"

Wild shrugged with the impudence of a lion who could do whatever he wanted. "Caught her eyeing the tower with the red door like it was fresh meat and gave her a warning, is all."

"The tower with the red door!" Sea's face fell. Then, his voice took on a much harder note. "Tell me you're not even thinking of attempting that."

"Don't worry, I made it clear just how bad an idea that would be for her," Wild answered for me while taking Sea's piece of cake for himself.

"Alright, I get your point." Sea sighed. "But you clearly could have been nicer explaining things to her."

"Could I have, though?" Wild took a bite of the cake and added with a full mouth, "Wouldn't want her missing tomorrow's little field trip to the secret kingdom's control room after ye and yer third-in-law did such a tip-top job pitching it to her."

The sweet cake turned to ash in my mouth.

"So, this has all been a setup?" I asked Sea. "Including luring me in with the control room details?"

Sea's guilty look in another direction was all the answer I needed to those questions .

How could I have been so naive? I kicked myself for being lulled into a false sense of camaraderie by Sea's offer to show me the control room.

"Five minutes." Sea turned on Wild, his expression thunderous. "I left you alone with her for five minutes, and you just decided to undo all the work we've done?"

"She was back to eye-fucking the tower as soon as you stepped away," Wild pointed out on a growl. "And the thing is, my friendly eejit of a wolf might have given her the wrong impression. Needed to disabuse her of any notion about me being kind."

Wild bared his cake-filled teeth at me. "Especially when it comes to she-wolves who run from me."

"You're right." A bitter fury surged through me. "Your wolf gave me way too favorable an impression of you. But don't worry," I assured him, "that's all done now, and I'm back to loathing you."

Wild just grinned in the face of my abject loathing. "Ah, well then. We'll see how ye feel about things after the Irish Wolves perform." He grinned over to Sea. "That's another reason I shifted back along with the lads taking part in the show."

What did he even mean by that? I frowned, hating that I'd gone from finally getting some questions answered to being confused again.

"Eyes on us, Friends, Family, and Future Brides!" Lorcan's suddenly amplified voice called out. "Eyes on us now!"

The murmur of the crowd immediately died down, and we all turned to face the communal fire pit, where what looked to be most — if not all — the unmated males outside of Sea and Wild had gathered behind the grooms and beaming bride .

Lorcan, who held a mike, announced, "Obviously, Ronan and I could not be happier with how this new moon has set. But our Amanda has told us that the only thing that would make her happier than becoming our wife is if at least a few of her W?lfennite sisters joined her in her new life as part of the Wild Wolves pack. Hopefully, she'll get her wish tonight. So ladies, without any further chin-wagging from me, here are your unmated Irish Wolves!"

With that, Ronan and Lorcan cleared the way, and a weird but catchy German song started playing from a sound source I couldn't see.

"Amadeus by Falco," Sea explained in one ear. "It was the only German song we could get to work for our traditional Bride Appeal routine."

Bride Appeal?

Before I could ask the next obvious question, the unmated males started tap dancing in perfect sync.

I mean, I suppose you could call it tap dancing. Only their legs moved from the waist down as their shoes clicked against two large pieces of flooring that definitely weren't there when the wedding started. They must have been dragged out just for this performance.

Okay … I frowned, trying to figure out why Sea and Wild thought a tap-dancing performance would sway the she-wolves who hadn't yet gone into —

A cry of pain suddenly broke out over the catchy German song, interrupting my thoughts.

Was someone hurt ?

I started to move forward, but Sea caught me by the arm. "Not a good idea, Mairinua. You need to stay right here between us."

"But —"

Another cry of pain cut off my protest. Then another and another.

Then came the scent — the disturbingly familiar scent. Except, this time, it was ten times worse. At least. And that was when I realized…

It wasn't pain the she-wolves who'd cried out were in…

Heat .

Someone — more than one someones — had gone into heat.

That was the last coherent thought I got to have before Fiona suddenly appeared out of nowhere on the stage and took the tall, skinny castle cook she'd been talking to earlier down in a full-body tackle.

After that, several W?lfennites leaped onto the stage to do the same. A disturbing number of them had already stripped naked.

It was like watching a nightmare unfold in not-at-all slow motion. But instead of zombies or any other of the monsters I'd seen on the forbidden internet, it was captive she-wolves who'd sworn they wouldn't go into heat before next spring.

I was still standing, fully clothed, between Sea and Wild.

But before the German hybrid rap-pop song was even done, what appeared to be nearly all of the other captured she-wolves were on the stage, moaning and writhing like an oil painting of an ancient bacchanal.

Wait, not all .

A naked Miriam appeared out of nowhere, her eyes crazed with intent and the space between her legs dripping with heat.

"Miriam —" I began to say.

Only to break off when she leaped forward and tackled Sea to the ground.