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Sadie

Only Declan accompanied me to St. Ailbe.

The Shadow King had taken a separate car, rented under a secret name, to the hotel where we’d meet him after I confronted my mother.

Declan and I drove another rental to the sign just outside St. Ailbe.

“You’ll have to pull…” I started to say, only to trail off as he cranked the wheel to the left, already reading my thoughts about technology not being allowed past the town limits.

I once again wondered if I would ever…

“You will,” Declan assured me before the thought could finish.

“Twenty years from now, our kids won’t even know how much we’re gossiping about them behind their backs.”

I laughed as we stowed our phones and digital watches in the glove box, which he locked with a click.

To my surprise, I felt much more relaxed than I’d expected as we walked the rest of the way into town on technology-free foot.

Not Declan, though. He looked like he was about to come out of his skin.

“I don’t think I’ve intentionally been without a phone or some other piece of tech since my school days in the Secret Kingdom. Feels like I left my right hand in the car.”

“Don’t worry, it’s still here.” I took hold of his right hand to prove it.

“That’s not what I meant….”

“I know.” Now it was my turn to interrupt.

“I just wanted an excuse to hold your hand.”

We exchanged a grin, and his mood lightened considerably as we turned onto the dirt road that wound through our small Wolfennite village.

No. Their small village.

I’d never felt more like a bear than I did walking through the quiet Wolfennite community.

Where I used to live was a rough sketch made with dull crayons.

This place had nothing on the Secret Kingdom—or the full-blown work of extremely fine art walking next to me.

Declan threw me a sly smile.

“I’m glad you appreciate the, ah… vibrancy of our home.”

Home .

I already couldn’t wait to get back after I finally got my answers.

But the empty landscape told me I wouldn’t find my mother in the sad, tiny, boarded-up house I used to live in near the community horse pasture.

Everyone was likely still in the weekday morning service.

“Do you want to go to the church or wait at the house for your mother?” Declan asked, reading my thoughts.

“Church,” I answered, leading the way.

I was ready to get this over with.

But when we arrived, I stopped us walking before we made it to the door.

“Do you mind waiting over there?” I pointed at a tree, half-hidden behind the church’s side corner.

“Even me, showing up out of the blue in casual clothes, will be less jarring than a stranger in a suit.”

Declan absolutely minded.

Male bears weren’t huge fans of standing outside without full visuals on their pregnant mates.

But the High King kept those thoughts unspoken and went with a clenched jaw to wait by the tree I’d pointed to.

“I’ll be right back out,” I promised.

He didn’t reply. Just watched me intently as I turned and headed toward the steps of the humble little church that used to be the center of my universe.

Not anymore.

As I walked up, it struck me: I’d learned more in a few months in the Secret Kingdom than I had in a lifetime in St. Ailbe.

“Sadie? Is that you?”

The scent of sweat and construction materials hit my nose, and I looked up to find Reuben coming out the church’s front door, though I could still hear that familiar monotone singing echoing inside.

He must’ve been assigned usher duty, which included propping open the door before the end of service.

It was surreal, remembering how my whole life used to revolve around assignments like that.

Reuben didn’t seem particularly committed to his post.

He jogged down the steps toward me without so much as glancing at the sanded wood prop he was supposed to be using to hold the door open.

“What are you doing here?” His entire face lit up.

“I never thought I’d see you again. And goodness, you smell amazing! Did you finally see a doctor about your odd scent?”

“She got several injections to alter it,” another voice answered before I could.

Declan.

His rhubarb scent wafted through the air just before he looped an arm around my waist, stepping in like a High King of yore to look down his nose at Reuben.

“Oh, hallo, I’m—I’m Reuben Yoderwulf.” He straightened up as much as he could, pushing his shoulders back.

“Sadie’s probably told you about me.”

My eyes flared slightly.

Was he really going there?

Yes. Yes, he was.

When Declan stared down at him blankly, Reuben clarified, “We were together a few times.”

Declan just squinted at him.

For so long Reuben began to visibly squirm under his hard stare.

“I’m sorry if she didn’t tell you,” Reuben added quickly.

“Or if she let you think she was pure before you got her.”

Another long, long beat of silence.

Then Declan turned to me and asked, completely deadpan, “Is this the boy with the small penis who was so bad at sex you ran away from St. Ailbe just to find anyone else?”

Reuben’s gotcha expression turned tomato red.

“It is,” I confirmed, turning fully to Declan as well.

“But the truth is…”

I cupped a hand to the side of my mouth and lowered my voice to a confessional whisper that Reuben could still clearly hear.

“I kind of forgot he existed after meeting you and getting to experience what actual pleasure is.”

I tutted.

“His poor wife. I feel so sorry for Mara. The way she must be suffering .”

“My queen, you remain ever thoughtful,” Declan added pity and consternation to his expression to match mine.

“Would you like to offer her refuge in our kingdom?”

“Kingdom?” Reuben repeated, his voice squeaking.

“Queen?”

“I mean, it would be the right thing to do, my king,” I continued on as if I hadn’t heard Reuben’s questions.

“Hopefully, we can convince her there’s a better life out there than being married to this sad, sad—and did I mention incredibly bad at sex?—little male. But you know… conditioning. She’d probably find it hard to leave.”

Declan considered this dilemma with a grave look.

“I could kill him and hide his body somewhere no one would ever find it. Then she’d be free. A widow.”

“What?!” Reuben yelped with a sound that put me in mind of a puppy, not a full-grown wolf.

“That’s a brilliant idea!” I clasped my hands and gazed up at Declan with genuine adoration.

“Then we’ll offer her a one-way ticket to a new husband who actually gives a fig about her pleasure—and is able to hold an erection for more than sixty seconds. Do you have a weapon, though?”

“Look at him,” Declan answered without actually bothering to look at the Wolfennite male.

“I can snap his neck with just my bare hands. Easy.”

“We’re not married!” Reuben protested, holding up his hands.

“Mara found somebody else and immediately went into heat because she never forgave me for what I did with?—”

Before he could finish referring to that humiliating time in my life when I actually deigned to give Reuben even an ounce of attention he didn’t deserve, Declan turned back to him.

“In that case,” he said, “why don’t I just kill you anyway? Save any future she-wolves from suffering through your terrible sex.”

He leaned forward.

Mawed his teeth. His eyes glowed silver, and his voice dropped into an ursine growl.

“For fun.”

Reuben blinked up at Declan.

Then took off running.

Apparently, there were some conditions under which you could run from bears.

Declan just laughed and threw an arm around my shoulders.

“So, we’re done with that request for me to stand more than a meter away at that tree.”

I could have wondered if that was a question.

But the authority in his voice and the possessive waves rolling across our bond made it clear it wasn’t.

Also, that was the exact moment the entire congregation of St. Ailbe came spilling out of the church.

We were immediately bombarded with questions.

“Sadie?! Is that you? I thought you were in Scotland! And what are you wearing?”

Strange.

I’d always thought myself invisible here, despite my size.

But standing next to Declan, I suddenly felt like some kind of hometown celebrity.

The much smaller wolves gathered around us, peppering me with questions and throwing nervous glances at Declan, who stood there calmly with his arm around my shoulders—his ring catching the midday sun like it had a message to deliver.

And I guess you really could take all the dutiful out of a St. Ailbe girl.

I ignored every question and announced, “I’m here to see my mother. Is she staying behind to give the bishop her notes on his sermon?”

The wolves exchanged confused looks before an elderly female, whom my mother had helped recover from a fall a couple of winters ago, told me, “She disappeared several weeks ago. No one’s seen her since. She didn’t even leave a note as to when she’d be back!”

“What?”

I couldn’t imagine my mother going to the next town, much less fully disappearing from the community she'd called home for twenty-three years.

But Leader Daniel himself confirmed it. “We’re pretty baffled ourselves. It’s been quite a hardship not having her here to tend to our elderly and sick.”

I squinted at him. “My mother disappeared without a word, and not only did you not bother looking for her, but your only concern is how it affected you ?”

“No, no, we were just expecting her to come back, is all,” Abel Flosswulf, the St. Ailbe pack’s former leader who’d appointed Daniel, insisted. “Of course we’re worried about her.”

Right .

“Great. Then point me toward the person in charge of searching for a longtime resident who’s vanished without a trace.”

Both leaders—and the entire crowd—went quiet. Suddenly, they didn’t seem nearly as excited to ask me questions about my unexpected visit.

“Wow,” I said. “You’re all a bunch of hypocrites. Not to mention users. You took and took from us without ever bothering to know us or make us feel like we belonged.”

Leader Daniel’s face reddened. “Now, Sadie Ellis. I don’t know what you’ve gotten up to in Scotland, but a good Wolfennite?—”

“I’m not a good Wolfennite,” I cut in. “I never was. Because I’m a bear . You might’ve figured that out if you’d actually practiced what you preached and gave my mother and me any consideration beyond what we could do for you.”

A collective gasp went up.

“You’re a bear ?” one woman called out, clutching her chest.

“A bear queen , actually. And I’m her husband, the bear king,” Declan added, stepping forward. “I’d say it was nice to meet you all, but that would be a lie. From what I’ve seen and heard, you’re a pretty shitty and judgmental excuse for a shifter pack.”

This time, they choked. The crowd didn’t even have enough air to gasp dramatically.

And on that note, I announced, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to my mother’s house to look for clues about where she might’ve gone.”

“That’s just an excuse to exit,” I explained over our mind link to Declan as we strode away with a strut that felt like we were walking in dramatic slow-motion. “ I’m pretty sure she got a passport somehow and tried to follow me to Scotland.”

“No problem,” Declan answered inside my head. “As long as you know I’m fucking you against the first surface I see as soon as we get wherever we’re going.”

So, I didn’t lie about going to the house to the Wolfennites. And Declan really didn’t lie about what he planned to do to me.

I was thrown up against a wall as soon as the door to my mother’s house closed behind us.

“Holy shite,” Declan growled against my neck. “Watching my wife tell off those villagers unlocked a new level of turned on.”

He ran his mouth up my throat and yanked up my skirt. “Let me in, my queen. We’re going to christen this last-ever hometown visit with the fuck it deserves.”

I was all for that.

But first, I had to tell him.

“I forgive him. The Mountain King. I forgive him.”

Declan stopped kissing me.

And even though he could clearly see my reasoning through our mate bond, I still needed to say it out loud.

“He made a mistake. But before that, all he ever did was support me. He never used me. And even though I haven’t seen him in weeks, I know he cares. He’s the opposite of a user. He’d do anything for me. Including the scariest thing.”

“Let you in,” Declan said.

“Let me in.” I shook my head, still stunned that I was just now realizing, “All I have to do is ask him.”

A slow, wicked smile spread across Declan’s face. “Now we really have a reason to christen this trip with?—”

There was a whistle of sound.

And suddenly, Declan jerked forward—his gray eyes widening with shock.

Right before he crumpled to the ground, revealing the thick dart sticking out of his back.

And Gavin and Malcolm, the Scottish wolves I’d gone on that disastrous walk with, standing behind him in the dark.

They were dressed like Wolfennites, in pants and suspenders instead of kilts. They were also wearing some sort of scent blocker. But why…?

Oh goodness! That was when I remembered a word I hadn’t paid much attention to because I’d been so focused on getting myself to Scotland.

Exchange…

The exchange with Scotland hadn’t gone just one way. The Scots had sent people over here, too.

And they might have sent even more males over to join the St. Ailbe sect as some kind of diplomatic gesture after all the Wolfennite brides were stolen by the Irish Wolves.

The last horrific puzzle piece fell into place right before another whistling sound rent the air.

And an immediate blackness overtook me.

I should have turned the plane around. I should have asked Declan to take me straight back to Tadhg.

That was my last thought before everything disappeared.

When I woke up next, I found myself chained to a small twin bed with heavy-duty shackles.

And my mother was standing over me.

Not in a dream this time.

For real.

I knew because her peppered yams scent filled my nose as she said. “Sadie, girl! What have you done?”