"That's totally fine," she assured me. "Probably even better. That way, we won't have to navigate any messy co-working situations if things don't pan out. I just got out of one of those myself."
Her voice took on a self-deprecating note. "That's why I'm calling an Irish King out of the blue to spearhead a program that would allow me to move to Dublin."
I stilled. "Wait, you'd be moving to Ireland, too?"
"Well, my father's determined to marry at least one of his daughters off to another royal, so I guess this would be my way of killing two birds with one stone?" Her voice lifted in that American way again.
"Oh, you want to marry a king?" I sounded like an eejit, but my mind was struggling to catch up with all this new information.
"I mean, I'd be open to marrying a king," she replied, her voice turning awkward. "But one step at a time. We should probably meet first, right?"
"Right…" I agreed, trailing off. So, the Colorado princess’s idea wouldn’t just give Dublin wolves a chance to find mates — it wouldgive me a chance, too.
Silence gathered on my side of the line. I knew I should say something, anything. But for some reason, I was struggling to form words.
"Are you not available?" Lis asked, breaking the silence.
"Yes, I’m…" My voice trailed off again before I could finish the sentence. "I'm just surprised, is all. I wasn't expecting this call."
"Well, I hope it's a pleasant surprise."
It was. Or it should have been.
This Colorado princess was open to marrying another royal, and I was, in fact, eligible and available for mateship.
I should have been over the moon — pun fully intended.
But instead of howling for joy, a strange guilt twisted in my stomach as Wild's words echoed in my head.
We saved our kingdoms from ruin and found our queen. Now the only question is, when will ye get yer head out of yer arse and join us as the prophecy intended?
"So, do we have a deal?" Lis asked on the other side of the line.
I didn’t believe in the prophecy. It was nonsense made up hundreds of years ago to justify kidnapping foreign she-wolves if you asked me.
But instead of leaping at Lis Nightwolf's idea, I hesitated. "Can I, um… call you back? It's late here, and I should probably think about this before I give you a firm yes or no."
"Oh… okay." Some of the cheer had gone out of the princess's voice.
"I'll let you know in a few days," I promised, gripping the phone.
"Sure. Take your time," Lis said after a slight hesitation. "It's a big decision."
It wasn't. The right choice was obvious.
But I didn't say yes. I couldn’t say yes.
And instead of hashing out the details, I ended the call.
What the hell is wrong with me?
That question plagued me as I tore out of the house with the vintage lantern I'd found under the kitchen sink and set off around the lake to clear my head. Because obviously, I wasn't thinking straight if I was even considering not taking the Colorado princess up on every aspect of her offer.
It was a new moon night. Having grown up in the city, the only moon I tracked was the full one, which made it necessary to drive out to the country or hide away in specially made rooms and cells for our incoming shifts. But from what little I knew of the Wild Wolves, they traveled from stone circle to stone circle in an ancient pattern, and I vaguely remembered my father telling me they only got married on new moon nights.
Had Sea and Wild married their queen tonight, then? The one that had supposedly been prophesied for all three of us eons a…
A fierce wind slapped me in the face, and I stopped in my tracks. Not because I realized how ridiculous it was to dwell on whatever poor she-wolf Sea and Wild had kidnapped into submission — though it was.
