The bad news was that I had to wait until January to be able to join classes and take a bunch of intro courses I could do in my sleep.
The good news was that I’d gotten one of the two older sisters I’d never thought I’d see again back a year ago.
The bad news was that in order to attend her wedding, I had to sign up for an absurd Bridal Exchange and take a side trip toScotland — where I and a bunch of my fellow unmated Wölfennites were subsequently kidnapped by the Irish Wolves.
The good news was that the Irish Kings had sworn to return any captured she-wolf who did not go into heat to Scotland so that we could proceed with our lives as originally planned by spring.
The bad news was that all the imprisoned, unheated she-wolves were having a dangerous amount of fun at Amanda's wedding reception. Including me.
You asked how I could love two strangers I only met a week ago. The answer is, how could I not?
What Amanda had suggested about us choosing the Irish Wolves who had kidnapped us over returning to Scotland had been crazy.
But her words seemed to drift through the nighttime wedding along with rollicking Irish music as woven plates of roasted meats, cheeses, and delicious bread rolls were passed around by the milling guests.
The Wölfennites did not dance, and unlike Amanda and the Scottish she-wolves, they refused to disobey that part of the Ordnung to do anything resembling gyrating to the lively music.
But that somehow didn’t stop them from fully enjoying the festivities and all the attention they were getting from Irish Wolves in male and beast form. I spotted Orpah setting a plate of meat in front of the two wolves and Miriam having a lively conversation with a Sea Wolf who appeared delighted to be in her company. His side-shaven locks only reached his shoulders and he sported no tattoos. But he had the same rust-colored hair as Sea and a similarly long nose and wide mouth.
“Is that a relative of yours?” I asked Sea, since he still hadn’t let go of my hand — just like Wild had refused to leave my side.
“My younger cousin, Thorin.” Sea sounded pleasantly surprised that I made the connection. “He’s the product of the trimate relationship my uncle moved on to after my mother died, but he oversaw my care when he became King Regent. Of course, he had his own family to attend to, but he made sure to visit me every day until I reached adulthood and could rule on my own.”
A pang of sympathy pierced the heart I was trying to keep hard. I hated thinking about a young Sea living mostly alone in his castle, with only daily visits from an uncle who’d moved on to another relationship that didn’t include his nephew. “Why didn’t he bring his new family to live with you in the castle?”
“I had… a few issues… after my father’s departure, especially during my teenage years.” Sea looked at the ground. “It wouldn’t have been a good idea to expose Thorin, who was still a young boy at the time to my struggles to adapt to my new role as a too young ruler.”
“It’s hard to imagine you ever having a hard time ruling,” I told him. “You seem so at home in your role.”
“You can put that down to all the extra years of practice,” he answered with a careless grin. But I noticed his smile didn’t quite reach his amber eyes.
“Sea…” I started to reach out to touch his arm with my free hand.
But then a sharp trill of laughter made me pull back my hand.
I looked over to find that Miriam had thrown back her head, laughing overly hard at something Thorin said.
Actually, this party was at peak glee, I noticed, glancing around. Laughter washed across the outdoor gathering like waves as the Wölfennites talked with, petted, and in some cases, scratched the Irish Wolves, behind the ears.
“Come,” Sea said in that authoritative “I’ve been kinging forever” way of his. “We’ve a few people we’d like you to meet.”
Wild led the way as Sea escorted me around the wedding, introducing me to various elders in Gaelic I couldn’t understand.
Apparently, his and Wild's insane rule about males not being allowed to talk to me didn’t count if they were already mated. One of the first things Lorcan and Ronan did after kissing their bride was run up to Sea, Wild, and me, place their fists upon their chests and make a somber declaration in unison — also in Gaelic.
Sea let me know it was the “lifelong vow that every warrior owed their banreen” before saying something back to them that I also didn’t understand.
So, I had just enough information to feel like a big old fraud as older warrior after warrior made the same vow as soon as Sea introduced me to their triad.
To be clear, I tried telling them they didn’t have to swear me any kind of fealty — especially since I’d be gone in the spring.
But I gave up protesting after the first three warriors pretended not to hear me say that.
Luckily, after the formal introductions, all the elders answered in English and appeared delighted to meet me.
Even when I responded to their friendly questions like “Howya farin’ then?” and “What did you think of our secret kingdom?” with “About as well as anyone who was ruthlessly kidnapped and is currently being held captive” and “It’s the prettiest, most insane prison I’ve ever laid eyes on.”
In fact, my honest answers were often met with eruptions of laughter and odd compliments like, “Oh, you’re pure clever, aren'tyou?” and to Sea and Wild, “The gods have truly blessed you with a banreen of worth.”
