“Before we reach Eire,” Lorcan clarified.
“Before they go into heat,” the Sea King insisted. “The Heat Laws apply here thesame as at home, and if this scheme works, you’ll be wanting your hands and micks later on.”
My wolves quieted down after that gentle reminder that their kings wouldn’t hesitate to cut off both their hands and privateparts if they so much as pressed up against a she-wolf who hadn’t gone into mating heat.
We all waited in the dark of the forest. Too excited to be bored, even though there was still a bit of time until the no-weapons reception started, and we’d be free to make our move with minimum violence.
I silently hummed a war song of auld as we bided our time until we could fulfill the Second Reaping.
However, that song came to an abrupt halt when the door to the Prince’s house opened without warning. A head covered by the strange Wölfennite bonnet poked out, and I could hear its wearer audibly sniff as she turned her head both ways before carefully stepping out of the cabin when she saw no one.
My heart gave a violentthudinside my chest at the sight of her, then froze like something suspended in space and time.
She pulled an object out of her pocket. Black and shiny and covered in a protective case.
“Hold on, is that aphone?” One of the wolves whispered behind me. I couldn’t distinguish if he was on of the Sea or Wild Wolves. Couldn’t even form the words to tell him to shut his gob.
Because everything inside me had stilled.
By the three gods.
My wolf. My breath. Every single nerve. Hell, I don’t think even my heart dared to pump blood in the presence of this female.
Time and everything else stopped as I watched the she-wolf check a phone she shouldn’t have had, according to the intel about this Wölfennite lot eschewing all technology, including motorized cars.
Something wretched twisted inside me as I watched her. I had somehow already missed and never wanted to introduce myself to somebody more.
Prophecy.
An image of the soft flowers, growing wild and free beside the road suddenly appeared in my mind. Yes, that was what she was. A flower bloomed to life. Like foxglove, sea thrift, meadow buttercups, and that tough roadside gorse rolled into one she-wolf with silky light brown skin covered in freckles.
A few strands of her sun-flecked brown curls hung from her strange bonnet. My hand opened and closed reflexively with the need to touch that hair, wrap it around my fist, and make her hold still while I knotted her from behind. My gut clenched, and ripples of heat coasted over my cock.
She was the prophesied queen. I knew that in an instant.
Ours…
Despite my curse, the word blew across my mind fiercer than the wind upon the Cliffs of Aillte.
“Is that…?” the Sea King began to choke out beside me, his tone low, almost warped.
“Shhh!” one of the wolves hissed behind us.
The hissing wolf was right. I wanted nothing more than to grab ahold of her and never let go. But… “Reaping her early will lead to disaster,” I warned the Sea King in as low a voice as I could manage.
The Sea King nodded, his face tight with resolve — until he suddenly jerked forward, and his nose and mouth snouted with fur.
Holy fuck, his wolf was trying to tear out of him!
I barely managed to get on top of him and slapped a hand over his snout as I held him down with all my weight. That was enough to force his wolf back down into his human body.
But I didn’t get to him soon enough for our presence to go unnoticed.
“Hello,” the voice of our Flower said in the distance. “Who’s there?”
Fuckin' hell.
Naomi
