50. Sea

Sea

"Wild should take back what he said about you City Wolves being useless. You did a bang-up job with the shopping. It's been donkey's years since I've had a Curly Wurly."

I pulled the 5-pack of chocolate-coated caramel bars out of the Dunne's tote and set them next to the box of Barry's Gold I'd already cracked open for a mid-morning tea. "No grocery stores in the secret kingdom, and our castle chef only knows how to bake fancy pastries."

"Sorry, are you saying you'd take processed Cadbury over freshly baked pastries?" Dublin turned to look at me from the kitchen's only window, which was positioned kitty corner to the stove's alcove. Thanks to our four-way mate bond, I could both feel and hear the skepticism in his voice — along with his worry about the row happening outside on the lake path.

"What's that saying?" I moved over to the vintage cast iron stove built into the kitchen's alcove to put on a kettle. "Is glas iad na cnoic i bhfad uainn . The faraway hills are greener. "

"So, no grocery stores, but you've got a castle? An actual stone and turret job?"

"Sure, and a couple of dragons to guard it."

"Dragons?" Dublin dipped his chin down to ask, "Are you serious?"

"No, of course, I'm not completely serious." I turned the knob on the stove's burner, then returned to fishing through the Dunne's tote of goodies. "Haven't seen a dragon about in years and years — hey now, Tayto's cheese and onion crisps! You're a legend, Dublin."

"Wait, Sea, are you tryin' to tell me dragons are real?"

A jolt of horror sank both our stomachs before I could answer. Mairinua .

I abandoned the tote and rushed to join Dublin at the window. She and Wild were standing only a few meters from the house, and neither of them was shouting anymore. In fact, Mairinua stood there, listening to what Wild was telling her, with a look on her face that matched the horror thrumming through our bond.

Apparently, we could still feel what she was feeling over our mate bond, even through a thick brick wall. If the emotion was strong enough.

"He must be telling her the whole story now," I said.

"Yes, that's precisely what Wild's on about," Dublin agreed, his agitation rising in tune with our mate's. "Do you think we ought to go out there and, I don't know, offer some support?"

"You mean, instead of scarpering off and leaving two children to deal with the fallout from their parents' affairs?"

Dublin's face reddened, his eyes flicking to the floor as he shifted awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Sea. Truly. I can't imagine what it was like for you and Wild to go through that alone."

"No, you can't," I agreed, thinking of all the sleepless nights after I was abruptly thrust into the role of boy king. The struggles with my wolf started soon after.

But the beast inside of me was calm now. It had retreated and stayed where it belonged the moment I'd knotted inside our mate. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt such peace.

"And you were only ten," I found myself saying, my voice softening with a new sense of benevolence. "It wasn't your fault what your father did. None of what our fathers did was our fault, and that's the truth of it."

"No, but I still wish…" Dublin turned back to the window, watching as Wild pressed on, telling our Mairinua about the Terrible Belfast Mess despite her horror. "I wish things had gone differently. That's all."

"My uncle says regrets are like stones at the bottom of the ocean," I answered with a sideways glance. "You'll drown before you reach them."

"Yes, I understand, and he's not wrong. It's best to let it go and move on, but…" Dublin stared out beyond the window, his gaze unfocused, no longer on Wild and Mairinua. "My father spent nearly my entire life trying to turn me against the prophecy. It's still hard to believe I'm here with the two of you… and her."

"Your father was wrong. Mine was right. This was always how things were meant to go." I clasped my hands behind me, falling back into my usual True King stance. "Do you regret giving in?"

Confusion and shame rippled through his bond, but he answered, "No. She was suffering. If anything, I feel guilty for holding out as long as I did. Guilty and foolish. I mean, like you said, it all worked out. And it's over now. We won't have to worry about going through that again."

This time, I didn't just glance — I turned to look at him properly. "Do you City Wolves not have heat moons, then?"

"Oh, we do. Norwolf even gives our workers an extra week of PTO — bloody tax nightmare for the lads in accounting," he muttered. "Not that anyone's needed it this year."

"You will need it," I reminded him, unclasping my hands. "Here, with us, before I return to the secret kingdom."

Terror spiked through his side of the bond, but he quickly squashed it, pointing out, "Her heat's over, and with what Wild just confessed, do you really think she'll be in the mood for…" He hesitated, obviously searching for the right words to describe our new sexual dynamic. "… any of that?"

I paused, a sharp, thorny thought prickling at me. "City King, have you still not accepted that you're meant to share your queen?"

"No, of course, I understand," he insisted, though his caught-out look directly contradicted his words. "I'm only saying it's doubtful we'll have a heat moon under the circumstances."

"The circumstances." I folded my arms. "So, what do you think the next steps are for the four of us?"

Dublin hesitated again, but then his answer came out like something prepared for a test. "You and Wild should probably plan to return to the secret kingdom sooner rather than later, and I'll stay here in Belfast House with her until it's safe for us to move back to Dublin."

"Are we sharing custody, then?" My voice grew colder than the wind outside. "Will you deign to let me have her for the summers and the occasional weekend, City King?"

"Sea." Dublin exhaled a weary breath. "I'm not trying to insult you, and yes, maybe we can work out an arrangement for the summer if she's amenable to that. Between her juggling three newborns and most likely enrolling at University College Dublin, it's doubtful she'll have time to…"

He trailed off under the thunder of my icy glare, and gave up pretending this was about her busy schedule.

"Look, Sea, I'm not like you and Wild." He ran a hand through that city flop he called hair and huffed. "Culturally. I wasn't raised to share."

"Sure, sure." I nodded and walked back over to Dunne's tote. "I understand that you were raised to believe differently from us."

Relief started to flow over his side of the bond.

But then I pulled the last item out of the grocery tote he'd set down on the counter. "I'm only wondering about this purchase, then."

"Oh, that's…" The blood drained from Dublin's face as he stumbled over an explanation for the 100ml cylindrical bottle of Durex Feel Play Lube in my hand. "Just in case…"

I arched an eyebrow at him. "Just in case you get the chance to claim the only hole Wild and I haven't already been inside for yourself when you get her alone? Or just in case I offer you the opportunity the next time I'm inside her?"

Another jolt of terror. Then Dublin's side of the bond abruptly clicked off, like something on a switch. "Her heat's over," he answered, drawing up to his full height. "Whatever that was upstairs is over. "

"Is it?" It was my turn to send a hefty parcel of skepticism down the bond. "That proper panicked feeling you just muted? Are you afraid to share with your fellow kings? Or scared you'll like it?"

Dublin opened his mouth to answer — only to cut off with a "Fucking hell!"

Fucking hell was right. I nearly cursed out loud myself when a sudden, overwhelming wave of lust hit me. Along with deeper feelings.

Ravenous hunger. Fear so jagged, it made Dublin's terror seem like a wee heart blip. This was obsession — bone deep and manic. Hoping to have sex with our Mairinua again suddenly wasn't enough.

I became rock hard in an instant, and a desperate, ill feeling gnawed at my gut. I was sick… sickwith the need to ride her, to have her until there was nothing left of me. Until every dark thing inside of me was healed. Until I stopped breathing.

Not yours. The small bit of my brain still capable of reason realized these feelings weren't mine. They belonged to someone else.

Wild…

This was every intense emotion he was feeling, every unhinged thought, let loose over the four-way bond. All at once.

As if to confirm it, Wild and Mairinua came crashing through the kitchen's back door. Already kissing and tearing off clothes.

Despite the chaos of three other sets of thoughts in my head — one of them blaring louder than a city pub at Christmas — I smiled.

Looked like Dublin was wrong.

The four of us would be having a heat moon after all.