He took a breath. Squared his shoulders. His posture shifted, became more commanding, more regal, like he was bracing himself for battle.
“I’m not from Australia,” he said. “Or any other place on this Earth.”
I blinked. Then blinked again.
“I’m from a realm called Lytopia. A place connected to your world through portals that opened several years ago.”
“Portals,” I repeated, my voice hollow, my body feeling numb.
“Yes. My kingdom is called Duskmere.”
“Your kingdom,” I echoed like a damn broken doll.
“That’s right.”
“YourKINGDOM?” I officially lost my shit. “You have akingdom?!”
“I’m the Alpha Prince.” He said it simply, factually, like he was telling me his middle name. “My family rules Duskmere. And you...” He stepped closer, his eyes intense, that commanding presence rolling off him in waves. “You are my fated mate.”
I opened my mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. My brain was doing its best impression of a computer that had just been asked to reboot.
“I’m your what.”
“My fated mate. The goddess who created my kind, she binds us to our other halves. Our perfect match. The one person in all the realms we’re meant to be with.” His voice softened, but didn’t lose that edge of authority. “You’re mine, Riley. And I’m yours. That’s not a choice. It’s fate.”
I stared at him.
He stared back.
He was beautiful and earnest and standing naked in an alley next to an unconscious man, explaining wolf goddess magic like he was giving me directions to the grocery store. I had really liked him so damn much, only to discover he was fucking insane. Life had its ways to punch you in the face when you least expected it. Maybe I should’ve called an ambulance. Or a psychiatrist. What if he had escaped from some psychiatric ward?
“Let me see if I understand this correctly,” I said slowly, as if talking with a toddler. “You’re a werewolf.”
“Yes.”
“A prince.”
“Yes.”
“From another dimension.”
“Realm, technically, but close enough.”
“And I’m your... fated mate. Your destined soulmate, chosen by a goddess.”
“The Moon Goddess, specifically. She created werewolves and...”
“I don’t need the mythology right now!”
“Right. Sorry.”
I pressed my hands to my temples. My head was pounding. My throat was aching. My entire understanding of reality was crumbling around me like wet sand. Could he be insane? Ihadseen him shifting into a literal beast. Was I hallucinating? Was it staged? Maybe a hidden costume somewhere?
“Okay,” I said finally. “Okay. You got me.”
His brow furrowed. “What?”
“The prank. The joke. Whatever this is.” I was nodding now, a manic edge to the movement. “Did you put some mushrooms in my soup? Was that the secret ingredient? Because I have to say, this is very elaborate, but I’m done now. You can stop.”
