The pretty, light brown she-wolf with crescent-shaped eyes seemed interested in the idea at first but then asked, “Am I going to be king-blocked there, too?”
She was understanding but not necessarily happy about some random nobody Canadian somehow snagging all three of Ireland’s kings. And she’d been even less enthusiastic about arranging potential brides for Scottish Wolves when I had to let her know that, yes, their king was already married. To my older sister.
In the end, Eoin, with our advisement, let Astrid and Frey return to Belfast and then take a side trip to Spain to visit Astrid’s three parents.
If there was anything that let me know how lucky I was to have been fated to Eoin and Wild, it was watching how much they both cared about their little sister’s long-term happiness despite all the pain her parents had caused them.
However, lifting the ban on their two exiled parents was still a no-go subject.
The one time I’d brought it up, they’d both closed down their mate bonds, and even my ever-diplomatic True King had informed me out loud, “This subject is never up for discussion.”
“Just promise to come back before all these secret kingdom babies are born,” I said after hugging Astrid goodbye.
“Oh, I promise,” Astrid answered. “Maybe being around a bunch of crying multiples will cure Frey of her baby hunger. She and our new wife have been talking rather seriously about getting Priscilla wolf-mated in Italy, she’s so desperate for one of our own.”
Well, that was a discussion I’m sure would be coming up again.
Other than Astrid’s departure, the only other sad event of the new year was Wild having to leave for two entire weeks to oversee the Imbolc ritual — a sex-laden spring fertility festival that took place at the very beginning of February, for reasons probably lost to the annals of climate change and time.
Wild invited me along, as it would be especially important this year with so many pregnant she-wolves. “I promise to ensure my Wild Queen enjoys every single second of the festivities,” he promised with a heated look when he told us he’d have to depart fairly soon over breakfast in late January.
“Oh, I wouldn’t want to take the spotlight from Amanda,” I answered, rubbing a hand over my rounded belly.
And pretending that Aidan and Eoin hadn’t shut down their links to Wild to warn me against going. I was only three months pregnant, but with triplets — I was already heavily swollen with the royals who would arrive before the summer solstice — which Wild had already told his wolves he’d have to skip.
Because of his Irish Queen’s curse, of course.
Speaking of… “Comeright back.Don’t make me come tackle you again,” I said, kissing Wild goodbye the morning after we spent the night in the tent he’d set up just outside the castle.
Aidan and Eoin hated that we’d made a new tradition of spending the night outside without them whenever Wild had to leave to oversee a fating stones ritual or festival as the Wild King.
But they loved having nearly two weeks of what Eoin called “nice,standardtrimate copulation.”
“Without your unhinged third husband in our heads,” Aidan added with a grumble.
The Dublin King had never been happier. But it would probably take us all years to get used to the insane sex thralls Wild still occasionally threw us into — like when he returned to the secret kingdom right before Valentine’s Day, and we lost an entire week and a couple of kilos to the celebration that followed.
We might still be there if the castle hadn’t suddenly alerted us while my most unhinged King was patiently talking me through taking Sea’s giant, thick, and heavily lube length up my —
“Incoming communication! Incoming communication! From…” The near-sentient computer — of which the castle itself seemed to be made — piped in a familiar voice.“Naomi’s friend Sadie.”
On the insanely large hexagon bed Eoin had built as a Christmas present, I let Dublin’s erection fall out of my mouth to say, “Sadie?”
“Yes,” the castle answered. “Would you like me to reroute the call to your bedroom?”
“No!” Wild, who was beneath me, and Sea, who was partially lodged in my back hole, shouted at the same time.
But we got dressed in record time and rushed to Eoin’s office to take the call on a wall that wouldn’t give my best friend a view of our… ah,funbedroom, which featured a swing, a saddle, and a few other toys we weren’t ready to share with the world.
I was afraid a mistake had been made. But sure enough, my sweet friend’s face filled the screen.
“Nay! Is that you?”
“Oh my God, Sadie. We’ve been trying to get in touch with you. Did you finally get our messages?”
“No,” she answered, her face falling. “We’ve been — like, a lot has happened.”
“Who you telling!” I answered with a laugh. “Are you alright? Is it true what my husbands told me about —”
