32. Sea

Sea

I was completely unprepared for the running dive that knocked me to the ground. The impact was jarring, and the breath rushed out of my lungs as a desperate heat scent filled my nose.

But it was the wrong scent.

I blinked as the spinning world came back into focus, and I found myself staring at the sharp-featured, red-haired W?lfennite I'd noticed my cousin talking to earlier — the one who reminded me of a fox.

She yanked my tunic down the middle, breaking the fastening chain that held my cloak together and exposing my bare chest.

"You need a queen," she declared, pressing her naked breasts into my naked chest. "And I am more than ready to serve."

The foxy W?lfennite lowered her face to mine for a kiss. The first one I'd ever received after years of saving myself for my fated mate.

Tear off her face !

Without the scent of our Mairinua foremost in my nose, my wolf surged forward. Primal rage burned through my veins, my face muzzled with fur, and my slipping control clawed at my shifting vocal cords as my worst fears started to come true.

Keep your nose in the air. For the time of Mairinua will soon come.

I never saw my father again after that fateful meeting. But his last instructions echoed in my chest as I fought to keep my head.

Twenty-nine years. My entire adult life, I'd waited for our Mairinua. Saved myself for her.

And now, another she-wolf was trying to claim my first kiss.

"Do not– grrrr !" My vocal cords shifted before I could warn off the she-wolf who'd jumped on top of me, giving way to a low growl.

Harming a female went against everything I believed, but the vicious beast inside me wouldn't hesitate to kill her before letting her steal this long-held milestone. It wasn't just about causing harm — this unwanted she-wolf who had thrown herself at me would die by my hands if my wolf had its way.

And then Mairinua, the only captive who hadn't gone into heat, would discover my ugly truth: the calm and charming king who'd wooed her through letters, who she'd spent a delightful eve with was nothing but a fa?ade, hiding the vicious, out-of-control wolf lurking beneath.

I tried to clamp down on the incoming head shift, but my fangs sharpened with the instinct to tear out the cheeky she-wolf's throat. Everything. This would ruin every —

One moment, the unwanted she-wolf was there, and the next, she was… gone.

Relief hit me like a train as my face unmuzzled. Thank the three gods . I sat up on my forearms, thinking Wild must have intervened before it was too late.

It wasn't Wild who'd saved me from involuntarily slaughtering the unwanted she-wolf, though.

"Not today, Satan!" Mairinua cried.

Shock rolled back the incoming head shift, and my fangs receded as I watched our reluctant queen pull the naked she-wolf off of me — then grab her by the wrist and ankle and toss her across the encampment dirt like someone throwing a bale of hay.

Or like a she-wolf queen refusing to let another claim her Sea King.

"Argh! You said you didn't want him!" the unwanted she-wolf shrieked from the ground. "What changed?"

I wondered the same thing.

Mairinua didn't answer the indignant she-wolf she'd thrown. But as my uncle often said when trying to teach me during my formative years that my actions would always speak louder than whatever words I spoke, "Is fearr tobar ná mar a deirtear." Loosely translated: a well done is better than a well said .

My heart raced with the realization that despite Mairinua's initial vow to hate me forever, she was defending me from being taken by another she-wolf — a she-wolf who immediately scrambled to her feet and tried to come at me again.

But she only managed a couple of steps before our queen stepped in front of her, blocking her path to me with a growl. "Don't even try it, bitch."

Granted, I hadn't bothered to read this Ordnung the W?lfennites kept going on and on about, but I was fairly sure that particular word was probably forbidden.

Suddenly, instead of battling my wolf, I was fighting to keep a smug grin off my face as I climbed to my feet with zero effort required to stay in my human form.

The red-haired W?lfennite backed down with another frustrated shriek. But then she looked around desperately. And set her sights on Wild.

It seemed the heated she-wolf had just enough reasoning left to realize that if she couldn't have me, there was another Irish King at her avail. The she-wolf veered toward where Wild stood — like a fox who'd just found another chicken to eat.

My heart dropped into my stomach.

Obviously, our Mairinua had gone back on her vow to despise me forever. But I remembered the scathing tone she'd used to tell Wild that she'd returned to hating him. Just a few minutes ago.

I tensed, expecting to have to intervene, even if it meant risking my wolf coming out again.

But before the covetous female could even make it a few steps, Mairinua planted her boot on the she-wolf's chest and kicked her back, like something straight out of a martial arts movie.

My heart once again rushed with delight while Wild cackled and cheered like someone whose team had just scored. "That's right, Flower! Show her who yer kings belong to!"

This time, the fox didn't scramble back to her feet. She coughed several times before making a weak, shaky climb into a standing position. Getting the wind knocked out of her must have been enough to convince her not to try again.

Instead, she looked around and shuffled toward my cousin, clutching her chest.

Which I'll admit left me feeling triumphant for more reasons than one.

But, alas, there was no time to gloat.

For the most part, Wild's scheme had worked. The heat scent, multiplied several times over, had risen like a cloud above the gathering. And, as we'd discussed before the wedding festivities, the Sea elders had mobilized to ensure that the matings proceeded fairly, with the she-wolves' choices being respected — whether they opted for one mate or two.

However, even with a mostly two-to-one ratio, the numbers of she-wolves to eligible wolves still didn't add up.

Our queen had fought for us, but she still hadn't gone into heat like the rest of the captives, and I didn't want her here when the rest of the unmated males realized they wouldn't be gaining a bride like many of their compatriots this eve.

"We've got to get her back to the habitat," I said to Wild, bending down to pick up the cloak that had come unfastened when Miriam tore my tunic down the front.

No surprise there — the fastening chain was ancient. The story was that it was made for the first True King shortly after the original Cursed King ceded the secret kingdom to the Sea Wolves. But where had my wolf knots gone? I searched the ground underneath the cloak I'd picked up but failed to find either of the brooches that would "door" the habitat's glass.

"Here, take mine." Wild yanked off the chain, fastening his fur stole, and handed it to me. "We can look for your openers later. Get her back to the habitat before the unmated lads have too much heat in their noses to obey orders."

I nodded at my fellow king, and thank the three gods, Mairinua didn't fight me when I took her by the hand and hauled her off in the direction of the habitat.

It was a long, silent, and awkward walk back. I suspected she was processing what she'd just done, coming to terms with having feelings other than antipathy for Wild and me.

Brilliant . I wanted her to think long and hard about her actions this eve.

Still, as I doored the glass to the empty habitat where she'd be forced to live alone until we got the heated she-wolves sorted, her words from earlier haunted me.

Prison, sweet prison.

"Mairinua…" I caught her hand before she could walk inside."I don't… I don't want this to be your prison."

Our formerly reluctant queen didn't speak, but she lifted her eyes to meet mine, making my heart catch.

I'd thought her pure feek from the first moment I spotted her. But now that I'd gotten to know her, her beauty came even more into focus. The intelligence in her sharp, brown eyes, the full mouth more than willing to drip acid when she thought I was full of shite.

"I have to get back and help Wild and the elders manage. There will be a lot of domicile assigning and sorting when this is all done — especially for the triads with males from two different kingdoms,"I explained, resisting the urge to run a thumb over her pillowy bottom lip. "But after I'm done with all that, I'll come here straight away, and you know, Mairinua…"

My shy wolf tucked his head down under his paws, trembling in fear of the rejection my proposal might bring forth. But I made myself push out the next words, "I could bring you to the castle. Give you free rein even. But you'd have to promise not touse any of the tech you find to contact your sister or any of the Scottish Wolves."

"Free rein?" She cast her eyes to the side, her expression thoughtful. Then to my shock, she looked right back up at me to say,"Okay, I agree not to use any of the tech in the castle to contact anyone outside the secret kingdom. You have my word."

I didn't realize I was holding my breath until my chest just about caved in with relief. And joy.

It was technically still night, but it felt like a brand new day.

"I'll be back by tomorrow morning," I reluctantly released her hand but let her know, "You won't be in here too long. I promise you."

She nodded. "Okay."

I grinned. "Alright."

For once, we were in full agreement, but when I tried to step back to let her go inside, she caught my arm. "Sea, wait…"

I didn't have time for further conversation. As the True King, I should be back at the encampment overseeing thenext steps now that so many of the captive she-wolves had gone into heat, and I'd already spent considerable time dealing with this side quest.

But I learned in an instant how impossible it was for me to deny her when I answered, "Yes?" Without a moment of hesitation.

"Sea, I…" That was all the warning she gave me before curling her hand around the back of my neck and pulling me down to her lesser height.

Her mouth touched mine.

And suddenly, after twenty-nine long years, it was happening…

My first kiss.