36. Dublin

Dublin

"I thought the Bridal Exchange program was on hold." I set aside my laptop and walked over to the office window, which looked out onto the vast expanse of what the cashier at the local SuperValu had called Three Gods Lake.

"It is. The North American Lupine Association has been swamped with applications," she assured me with a wry chuckle. "But I'm calling you about a possible exception. See, we're getting a lot of interest, but you're the only king who oversees a tech hub, and I think that makes your situation especially appealing to those of us she-wolves who prefer cities and modern industry. So when the NASL decided to deny your application, I decided to take matters into my own hands and give you a call."

"Sorry, who am I speaking with?"

"Oh…" She let out a nervous laugh. "I can't believe I forgot to introduce myself!"

Her name was Lis Nightwolf. The USA divided their kingdoms by state, and she was one of the twin princesses of Colorado, which explained how she'd managed to pull my application from the NASL's discard pile.

Her idea was to pitch her parents and several relatives who ruled other states on forming a special contingent of she-wolves in the tech industry willing to move to Dublin for at least a year as part of what she called a "Lunar Partnership Initiative."

It wasn't a bad idea, and I mentioned that I had plenty of human friends in the tech sector who could help American she-wolves secure jobs and internships. But before I got too hopeful, I had to warn her, "We have male wolves who work in tech, sure. But most of them work under me at Norwolf."

"That's totally fine," she assured me. "Probably even better. That way, we won't have to navigate any messy co-working situations if things don't pan out. I just got out of one of those myself."

Her voice took on a self-deprecating note. "That's why I'm calling an Irish King out of the blue to spearhead a program that would allow me to move to Dublin."

I stilled. "Wait, you'd be moving to Ireland, too?"

"Well, my father's determined to marry at least one of his daughters off to another royal, so I guess this would be my way of killing two birds with one stone?" Her voice lifted in that American way again.

"Oh, you want to marry a king?" I sounded like an eejit, but my mind was struggling to catch up with all this new information.

"I mean, I'd be open to marrying a king," she replied, her voice turning awkward. "But one step at a time. We should probably meet first, right?"

"Right…" I agreed, trailing off. So, the Colorado princess's idea wouldn't just give Dublin wolves a chance to find mates — it would give me a chance, too.

Silence gathered on my side of the line. I knew I should say something, anything. But for some reason, I was struggling to form words.

"Are you not available?" Lis asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, I'm…" My voice trailed off again before I could finish the sentence. "I'm just surprised, is all. I wasn't expecting this call."

"Well, I hope it's a pleasant surprise."

It was. Or it should have been.

This Colorado princess was open to marrying another royal, and I was, in fact, eligible and available for mateship.

I should have been over the moon — pun fully intended.

But instead of howling for joy, a strange guilt twisted in my stomach as Wild's words echoed in my head.

We saved our kingdoms from ruin and found our queen. Now the only question is, when will ye get yer head out of yer arse and join us as the prophecy intended?

"So, do we have a deal?" Lis asked on the other side of the line.

I didn't believe in the prophecy. It was nonsense made up hundreds of years ago to justify kidnapping foreign she-wolves if you asked me.

But instead of leaping at Lis Nightwolf's idea, I hesitated. "Can I, um… call you back? It's late here, and I should probably think about this before I give you a firm yes or no."

"Oh… okay." Some of the cheer had gone out of the princess's voice.

"I'll let you know in a few days," I promised, gripping the phone .

"Sure. Take your time," Lis said after a slight hesitation. "It's a big decision."

It wasn't. The right choice was obvious.

But I didn't say yes. I couldn't say yes.

And instead of hashing out the details, I ended the call.

What the hell is wrong with me?

That question plagued me as I tore out of the house with the vintage lantern I'd found under the kitchen sink and set off around the lake to clear my head. Because obviously, I wasn't thinking straight if I was even considering not taking the Colorado princess up on every aspect of her offer.

It was a new moon night. Having grown up in the city, the only moon I tracked was the full one, which made it necessary to drive out to the country or hide away in specially made rooms and cells for our incoming shifts. But from what little I knew of the Wild Wolves, they traveled from stone circle to stone circle in an ancient pattern, and I vaguely remembered my father telling me they only got married on new moon nights.

Had Sea and Wild married their queen tonight, then? The one that had supposedly been prophesied for all three of us eons a…

A fierce wind slapped me in the face, and I stopped in my tracks. Not because I realized how ridiculous it was to dwell on whatever poor she-wolf Sea and Wild had kidnapped into submission — though it was.

No, what froze me in place was the new scent the wind carried to my nose.

I wasn't out here alone on this dark and near-moonless night, it turned out .

There was someone else.

It felt as if my normally reserved wolf was suddenly standing up inside of me, at complete primal alert as I sniffed deeper, just to make sure my admittedly citified nose wasn't mistaken. But the scent hit me even more powerfully, telling me it was a she-wolf.

One who smelled strongly of the lake but also of those trees that produce sap. What were they called again? Maples — yes, whoever was out there had an unbelievable scent — like syrup and crisp leaves.

"MINE!!!!"

My wolf roared to life inside of me, telling me this wasn't just any she-wolf but the she-wolf.

"Mate! Mate! Mate!" It growled inside my chest, even though I didn't believe in things like fated mates.

However, this part of Western Ireland was littered with what the Wild Wolves called "the fating stones."

I thought of all those ancient Celtic wolf walker tales about fated mates using special spells to travel through space and time to find the wolf they were meant to be with. But those were just fantastical legends.

Weren't they?

I shook off the notion. There was most likely a scientific reason for this reaction from my wolf. Pheromones alerting me to a compatible foreign she-wolf who might make for a good match. Something like that.

"Hello!" I called out, raising the vintage lantern to peer down the road. "Is someone there? "

No answer. But the wind picked up again, confirming the unidentified she-wolf was still out there. Close enough to smell.

Maybe she was afraid. I'd seen enough rhetoric online to know many, if not most, females wouldn't necessarily volunteer that they were out in the dark alone when some random male called out to them.

So, I braced myself for what I'd find when I followed my nose to reach her.