“Remember the Irish Wolves,” Malcolm called out in the same tone our Wölfennite bishop used to talk about walking through valleys of death.
“Remember the Irish Wolves,” Gavin repeated, his tone just as grave.
“Now I feel scared.” Amanda’s voice shook, and though touching a member of the opposite sex was against our Ordnung, she grasped Malcolm’s arm, visibly trembling.
“Dinnae fash yourself, lass. You’ve me to protect you.” Malcolm crooked his arm under her hold and started them walking again. “And, I would never let anything happen to you.”
“Also, it was over five hundred years ago.” Gavin jogged to fall into step on the other side of Amanda.
Leaving me to trail behind as he assured her, “We’re even foregoing our weapons for tomorrow’s wedding reception to stay in line with your pacifism mandates.”
“You’ve naethin to worry about, I promise you.” Suddenly, Malcolm’s voice became light and cheery, as if he weren’t just scaring Amanda to death with his historical horror tale of lascivious Irish Wolves a few moments ago. “We say ‘Remember the Irish Wolves,’ but I highly doubt that lot would try it with us again in these modern times.”
I doubted it, too. Recalling the cameras and security we had to go through at the airports to get here made me certain history wouldn’t repeat itself. It would be like modern-day France deciding to try and claim Canadian territory again. Thepossibility of the Irish Wolves returning to steal all the females from this small Scottish kingdom felt just as improbable.
There is probably less chance of that happening than me actually finding someone here in this Scottish village willing to mate with an oversized she-wolf whose scent seems to turn them off at a biological level.
That sobering thought sat heavy as a stone in my belly as I followed behind Amanda onhercourting walk.
Little did I know then that, in less than 48 hours, finding a Scottish Wolf to mate with would be the least of my worries.
Cloudy with a Chance of Alban
After that disaster of a “courting walk,”I practically collapsed into bed and slept for what turned out to be literal days.
Yet, when I woke up the morning of Tara’s wedding to King Magnus, I was still exhausted—and ravenous. Muffled voices of chattering Wölfennites and the smell of freshly baked bread and savory breakfast meats drifting up through the floorboards of the second floor room I shared with Naomi let me know breakfast was already well on its way. Along with the Winter Sloth.
Yes, it was easy for a wolf to turn off their need to eat. I could only guess that Amanda had never used this particular ability or else she wouldn’t have been so baffled when I brought it up.
But for some reason, I always felt hungrier and sleepier as fall wound down. My mother had derisively called it my Winter Curse and had often shaken me awake with greetings like, “None of this sloth business, Sadie girl. Do I look like an alarm clock? Next wake up call’s going to be a bucket of water, you gluttonous, sleepy, good-for-nothing but causing me extra work.”
Mama…
A picture of her at the stove, warning me not to indulge my Winter Curse, even while making triple the usual portion for breakfast, drifted into my mind as I got dressed to join the others downstairs.
Would she ever forgive me? Understand why I did what I did? Ever be willing to talk to me again, even if I had to return to St. Ailbe at the end of the exchange year because none of the wolves in Faoiltiarn wanted me, either?
All versions of my future hung like a dark cloud above my head as I made my way down the wooden stairs. Then were promptly forgotten when I saw the breakfast buffet of baked breads, meats, and fried potatoes waiting for me.
It had been days since I last ate. I doubt I could have turned off my hunger switch if I’d wanted to. And I definitely didn’t want to. Something grumbled happily inside of me as I stacked a plate high with scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, fluffy pancakes, and heaps of fried potatoes.
The food would probably be cold after being left out for so long, but I didn’t care. I all but skipped to the communal table with my overflowing plate… until I saw Naomi and most of the other Wölfennites were gone.
Only Amanda, Priscilla, and the Schmidt sisters remained.
A glance toward the communal room’s front windows revealed that many of the other Wölfennites had already left for a pre-wedding ceremony game of baseball.
I’d been politely asked not to participate in baseball games for the crimes of hitting the ball too hard yet running too slow. AndNaomi had stopped playing with the other Wölfennites as soon as the would-be Scottish grooms had started coming around to watch the games like it was, in her words, “some kind of bridal pageant.”
Unfortunately, Naomi must have decided to head over to the castle early to assist her sister. She was nowhere to be seen, and that meant there was no shadow for me to sit in. No buffer between me and the other four Wölfennites when I sat down at the communal table.
Thankfully, Amanda was in the middle of one of her lectures and didn’t even seem to notice my arrival.
“Oh, my goodness. There are just so many males who wish to take me to wife here. I’m not sure what to do. But of course, I will judge them on the quality of their devotion, and I’ll only accept a proposal from a wolf who agrees to come back with me to therealSt. Ailbe and live under our much stricter Ordnung. I promised my father that was what I’d do. And I encourage all of you to think about making that a condition of your marriage agreements, too. Oh, goodness, Sadie Schaduw, do you truly need so much food?”
Amanda broke off her lecture after catching a glimpse of my plate, piled high with as much food as I could fit on it.
“You know gluttony goes against the original St. Ailbe Ordnung, which we should really still be adhering to—even Naomi insisted on making the new one unnecessarily less restrictive. Perhaps showing more restraint would help the males of Faoiltiarn overcome your many...” She paused, probably nixing several words that would have made her come off like a non-pious she-wolf before settling on “...differences.”
