I nodded at my fellow king, and thank the three gods, Mairinuadidn’t fight me when I took her by the hand and hauled her off in the direction of the habitat.
It was a long, silent, and awkward walk back. I suspected she was processing what she’d just done, coming to terms with having feelings other than antipathy for Wild and me.
Brilliant. I wanted her to think long and hard about her actions this eve.
Still, as I doored the glass to the empty habitat where she’d be forced to live alone until we got the heated she-wolves sorted, her words from earlier haunted me.
Prison, sweet prison.
"Mairinua…" I caught her hand before she could walk inside.“I don’t… I don’t want this to be your prison.”
Our formerly reluctant queen didn’t speak, but she lifted her eyes to meet mine, making my heart catch.
I'd thought her pure feek from the first moment I spotted her. But now that I'd gotten to know her, her beauty came even more into focus. The intelligence in her sharp, brown eyes, the full mouth more than willing to drip acid when she thought I was full of shite.
“I have to get back and help Wild and the elders manage. There will be a lot of domicile assigning and sorting when this is all done — especially for the triads with males from two different kingdoms,"I explained, resisting the urge to run a thumb over her pillowy bottom lip. "But after I’m done with all that, I’ll come here straight away, and you know, Mairinua…"
My shy wolf tucked his head down under his paws, trembling in fear of the rejection my proposal might bring forth. But I mademyself push out the next words, "I could bring you to the castle. Give you free rein even. But you'd have to promise not touse any of the tech you find to contact your sister or any of the Scottish Wolves.”
"Free rein?" She cast her eyes to the side, her expression thoughtful. Then to my shock, she looked right back up at me to say,“Okay, I agree not to use any of the tech in the castle to contact anyone outside the secret kingdom. You have my word.”
I didn’t realize I was holding my breath until my chest just about caved in with relief. And joy.
It was technically still night, but it felt like a brand new day.
“I’ll be back by tomorrow morning,” I reluctantly released her hand but let her know, “You won’t be in here too long. I promise you."
She nodded. "Okay."
I grinned. "Alright."
For once, we were in full agreement, but when I tried to step back to let her go inside, she caught my arm. “Sea, wait…”
I didn’t have time for further conversation. As the True King, I should be back at the encampment overseeing thenext steps now that so many of the captive she-wolves had gone into heat, and I'd already spent considerable time dealing with this side quest.
But I learned in an instant how impossible it was for me to deny her when I answered, “Yes?” Without a moment of hesitation.
"Sea, I…" That was all the warning she gave me before curling her hand around the back of my neck and pulling me down to her lesser height.
Her mouth touched mine.
And suddenly, after twenty-nine long years, it was happening…
My first kiss.
Wild
Truth was,I'd never had a formal education. My mother taught me and the rest of the young Wild Wolves our letters and necessary numbers before she left us after the Terrible Belfast Mess.
But to my eye, Sea had the look of a schoolboy about him when he tracked me down in the encampment right after dropping our queen back at the habitat.
"She kissed me before I left!"
I was in the midst of dragging yet another Wild Wolf who'd had to be forcibly sedated toward the cart Sea's uncle, Darragh, had parked at the edge of the encampment. I paused, scrunching my brow. "Who? Flower?"
"Yes, Mairinua," Sea answered, picking up the wolf's legs to help me with my haul. "Shekissedmebefore I left her in the habitat."
"Another trick to distract ye?" I asked after a cynical beat.
