8. Naomi

Naomi

There were so many things that I didn't know, thanks to my upbringing.

I'd spent thousands of hours on the forbidden internet and watched countless videos and reels depicting life outside of my hidden community. But there was stuff I had to experience for myself to fully comprehend — stuff even my secret love, the World Wide Web, never could have prepared me for.

Like the constant sway of boats, even when they've come to a stop.

And kings who kidnap… and lick… and make dark promises that you feel in your stomach.

And the difference between jumping fully clothed into a summer lake and jumping fully clothed into a freezing cold ocean.

The water hit me with an icy blast. If not for my wolf, no doubt I would have been introduced to another concept I only knew about because of the forbidden internet: hypothermia.

Right before I drowned because I didn't have the physical strength to fight some unseen force that seemed intent on crashing me back into the boat.

No, the sea was not a lake. The freezing water was a living thing, somehow both shoving and clinging to me as I navigated toward the shore as best I could with a combination of freestyle and breaststrokes.

Thank goodness I'd taught myself to swim just in case I was invited to a pool party in the new life I'd been planning before the Irish Wolves crashed my sister's wedding. And thank goodness the shore was close.

I staggered onto a beach covered in rocks and pebbles instead of marsh and sand. A first, and it sent my body into a rare conflict with the wolf inside of me.

An array of intriguing new scents hit my nose, but the modest blue dress clung in a freezing, wet hug.

So, while my wolf hankered to investigate all the new smells, my human swayed dangerously, wanting nothing more than to collapse on top of the smooth rocks.

But then I spotted the boat, half-hidden by the jut of the low cliff that stood between the beach and the dock where they'd dropped anchor. No one in the ocean, though. So that meant those kidnapping kings hadn't been crazy enough to jump in after me.

But something told me that didn't mean they wouldn't give chase. The Pirate's vow whispered through my head.

We will never let you go.

I had to get to the house I'd spied from the deck of the boat.

That goal and the thought of Sadie in that glass box clarified my next steps.

Teeth chattering, I shoved one foot in front of the other toward a set of steps carved into the low cliff's rock wall.

Several minutes later, I stumbled across more rocks — this time in the form of gravel in front of the residence's back door.

The house was much, much larger than it had appeared from the coastline — almost as big as the Scottish kingdom castle. Another forbidden internet word poked into my mind. Is this what a mansion looks like in real life? I wondered.

Then, my stomach cramped with another thought. Or maybe this is the Irish Wolves' version of a castle?

Instead of knocking, I tried the door's handle to see if it was locked. Wolves never locked their doors. From what I understood, that was a human compulsion, most likely born out of a fear of not being able to either smell or easily out-muscle any threat that could come your way.

With a single push, the handle yielded, clicking the door openwith an ominous creak. Oh no! I recoiled and snatched my hand away like someone scalded.

Was this why none of the wolves had followed me into the ocean? Had I run straight to their kingdom's keep? What had that one wolf called it? Their secret castle?

I turned tail to run towards the road I could hear off in the distance.

"What in the…? You're drenched to the bone! Did you fall out of a boat or something?"

A giant male stood in the doorway. He looked to be in his early thirties. Maybe younger. It was hard to tell with the thick beard. He was covered in some man-made scent. A perfume, maybe? Like the kind Barbara, my patron forbidden technology and book saint, often wore. However, instead of flowers, his perfume put me in mind of burning wood and crushed pine needles.

Most of all, the man had kind eyes behind a set of metal-rimmed glasses — glasses that wolves didn't ever have to wear, thanks to their perfect vision.

"Oh, thank goodness!" My shoulders caved, and my heart just about exploded with relief when I saw that the large guy who'd opened the door wasn't a wolf.

"Are you alright there, love?" The kind-eyed giant eyed me nervously, then called over his shoulder, "Keeann, be a good lad and bring some towels! We've got a woman at our door in need of help. I think she might have tumbled into the ocean."

The "woman" let me know he most definitely wasn't a wolf. Shifters never referred to themselves by human monikers. We didn't consider ourselves men or women, but males and females or wolves and she-wolves. Kind of like how I referred to myself as Black despite having a White mother.

"Here, here, come inside." Despite my wet dress, he beckoned me into what turned out to be a toasty kitchen with what looked like a full tea service, complete with tiny sandwiches, cakes, and even a couple of glasses of bubbly champagne.

My stomach rumbled at the sight of the food.

"Sorry, don't stop there," the kind giant instructed. "I'll fetch you something after we get you situated. We've an armchair right next to a warm fire with your name on it. Come! Come!"

He opened a swinging door to reveal a high-ceilinged sitting room, large and cozy with, just as he promised, an armchair situated right next to a roaring fire.

For some reason, my teeth started chattering at the sight of it. As if my body didn't remember it was encased in an icy, wet dress until it sighted something that was the opposite of that.

"You poor woman. Sit here." He waved me toward a cushy armchair that carried the faint scent of a sheep shorn and hided centuries ago before accepting a stack of towels from someone outside of my periphery with a quick. "Obliged, Keeann. Maybe pour her a cup of tea from that pot I was brewing up when I heard her at the door? And you…"

The giant turned back to thrust the stack of towels at me. "Get these wrapped around you quick, won't you? Your teeth are chattering like castanets.

I did as instructed but had to warn him. "L-lock the door! B-bad m-males are af-after me. T-took m-my fr-friends. M-must h-help th-th-them."

"What's she on about, then?"

A voice suddenly asked behind me. It was nowhere near as warm as the guy who'd welcomed me inside.

"Not sure," the large one I could see answered. "But I can tell she's distressed. So, don't start."

They didn't understand. I had to make them understand. I locked my teeth to stop them from chattering.

"There's a boat parked at the closest dock to this house. It has a bunch of females in it. We're being…" I scraped my mind for the right internet word that would make humans take me seriously. "Trafficked! We're being trafficked . You've got to call the authorities. You have to help us!"

Silence .

Then, the kind giant's face lit up, and footsteps sounded behind me. "Perfect, Keeann! Yes, a nice cuppa. That's exactly what she needs."

He thrust a saucer with a delicate tea cup, a little sandwich, and a delicious-looking cakey biscuit into my face. "This tea'll warm you right up, won't it?"

Both my human and my wolf heartily agreed, but I couldn't take his offering. "I'm not going to sit here sipping tea while nearly everyone I know is trapped on that boat outside! You've got to help me. You've got to help us ."

The giant's expression melted.

"Listen —" he started to say, only to freeze at the sound ofa doorbell trilling in the distance.

"Keeann, go get that, will you?" the cold voice said behind me. "That will be our package."

"No! Don't answer it!" Panic shredded my chest, and I rose from the seat to stop this Keeann guy from answering the door.

Only to be gently pushed back down into it. By the kind giant.

"Relax," he said, pinning me to the chair with just a hand on my shoulder. "Everything will be okay."

"No, it won't be. You don't understand." I struggled to get back up but to no avail.

The man with the kind eyes kept me pinned in the seat even though I was a wolf and supposed to be stronger than any human male. Even one that was twice my size.

What was happening? Had the ocean sapped my strength? Or…

"What are you?" I demanded, realizing that while he wasn't a wolf, he definitely wasn't human either.

He pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Everything will be all right. I promise you that."

"Don't go making their she-wolf promises you can't keep," the much darker voice behind the chair warned.

Their she-wolf.

My heart dropped into my stomach, and dread curled around me. These males weren't wolves, but they somehow knew I was one.

"Get yer hands off her!" Wild's voice suddenly growled out from behind the no-longer-friendly giant. "Ye shouldn't be touching her!"

The large male lifted his hands as if he'd been caught stealing more than his share of meat from the icehouse. The most repugnant crime back in St. Ailbe.

"Sorry about that, Wild King. Was afraid she'd pull another runner before you could secure her."

The giant moved out of the way, and Wild appeared in front of me, his eyes nearly frantic with worry. "Ye crazy girl! What were ye thinking, jumping into the sea like that? Should I hug ye or strangle ye?"

Despite his harsh tone, he cupped my face with a tender smile. "Have ye any idea what ye did to my wolf when ye pulled that trick?

He sounded so worried about me, and I was so confused and cold. My eyes fluttered closed, and I leaned into his warm hand, almost forgetting he was the enemy. But no…

"Where am I?" I asked him, jerking away from his touch. "Who are these people? "

"None of yer concern." Wild lowered his hand, and his expression became hard as stone."This is just a stopover to pay our debt before we take the rest of you on home."

… the rest of you.

His words tugged at some suspicion I couldn't quite name. "What do you mean?"

Wild looked away and stood up to his full height. "C'mon then, ye psycho. Let's get ye to a washroom. I'm a fan of cozy fireside tea myself, but C's got some clothes for ye to change into before we push on."

He helped me up from the chair and started escorting me back toward a foyer located beyond an arch on the other side of the sitting room.

Cold and defeated, I let him pull me along.

Until I saw the other Irish king standing with the giant who'd given me the towels. Along with two other extremely tall and wide males. They were all looking down at something on the floor.

No, not something. Someone , I realized when a glint of the clear casing caught the light.

Sadie! They were all looking down at Sadie in her clear Snow White coffin.

"Sadie," I screamed. "Oh, my wolf! Sadie!" I leaped forward. "What are you doing with her? Let her out of that box!"

The three giants didn't even look up as I charged toward them.

Only the other Irish king, who simply said, "Wild."

"Already on it," Wild answered. Right before he stopped me mid-charge with a hand banded around my waist.

No! No!

"Sadie!" I screamed. "Sadie! Let her go! Let her — mmmph !"

I cut off when Wild's cloth-covered hand once again clapped over my mouth.

And the world turned to black.