Sunlight streamed through the window, outlining her reflection in gold while she stared into the mirror, dimly aware of Colton turning on the shower to warm the water. She looked exhausted, puffy-eyed. Her hair had fallen out of its sloppy bun, and stains dappled the sleek, red dress she'd gotten from Adair. There was even a lingering smudge of ash on her jaw—her ash. Her remains.

At the sound of footsteps, she looked over and managed to smile at Colton, feeling fresh tears run down her raw cheeks just from seeing him. Even as he moved with a predator's silence, his scent seethed with concern for her. The lingering hints of violence—a feral gleam in his eyes, blood drying beneath his clothes—were the only signs he'd been beserk for days. That horrible emptiness she'd sensed had gone.

She hadn't asked where he'd found the clothes or the apartment they were now in. For once, questions and their answers didn't matter. All that mattered was him, and the savage attention of his gaze, and the power and heat of his hands as he pulled her close.

"I heard you howling," she murmured, turning her head until her cheek pressed against his heartbeat. "I thought I was trapped and alone against the coven, but then I heard you."

His rage sharpened the air around them, but his touch remained soothing. "Tell me as much as you want. Or as little."

She understood the implications behind those terse words. The room where she'd died had remained a tableau of smells and stains. He knew terrible things had happened there but wouldn't pressure her to reveal them. She also understood why—despite his hunger intensifying each moment from feeling her against him—he kept himself from ripping off her clothes and covering her in his scent.

"The hag king didn't do anything to me," she murmured, and watched a muscle jump in his jaw. "I bit him as soon as he tried."

"They killed you for it," said Colton, his voice very flat. His eyes looked as wild as when he was a wolf.

"Yes, but I don't remember too much of what the witches did to me afterward. I don't think I want to. It all feels very raw, like it hasn't yet sunk in. All I really want to know is whether we're safe."

"It's safe. Not all of the coven is dead, but I've done enough to keep everyone away. You can take as long as you want to rest and recover."

She nodded. The part of her that howled with fury whenever she thought of what the witches had done to her now panted in glee over the chance to hunt the ones who remained. Later, though. When she better understood what she'd become. When she could think of anything besides Colton.

"Rest is the last thing on my mind," she said, and then licked at the callused thumb still against her lips.

His eyes darkened. "I can't be gentle. Not after four days of believing you were dead."

She smiled while reaching for the sleeves of her dress. "Good."

Too slow for his need. He grabbed the low neckline of her dress and tore it off with one jerk of his hand. She gasped at the rush of cold air on her skin, and then at the teeth at her throat, hips already working against the rough denim of his jeans.

By the time they reached the shower, her neck throbbed on both sides, as intense as pain but so much sweeter. The hot water felt almost as good as his hands running over her body, rough and insatiable. Digging into her hips, squeezing her ass. Following the line of her back up to her shoulders and pulling her ever closer. Even with water spraying over them, she could feel the slipperiness of precum against her lower stomach.

Then he caught her chin, raising her mouth to his. His other hand snarled deep in her hair, keeping her still through their jaw-cracking kiss. Her heart felt like it was on fire.

This was the kind of hunger she loved, a hunger that devoured without demanding anything in return. A hunger that freed instead of smothered. A hunger that left her wild and unafraid.

Just as she grew dizzy from lack of air, he broke off and licked her earlobe, distracting her from how his hand had released her chin and now skimmed past the sensitive skin of her stomach. Then his fingers slid between her legs, igniting hot pressure against her clit.

She gasped, and when his fingers flexed again, bit his shoulder in a frenzy. At the smell of his blood, she grew breathless for a different reason. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. I—"

He laughed against her ear. "Fuck apologies. I like your teeth."

Then his fingers pushed deep into her cunt, and the rest of her words washed away with the last of the ash on her skin.

Her climax left her jerking against his hand, ready to collapse then and there. Instead, she found herself bracing against the tiled wall, arching her back as he grabbed her hips from behind. She was panting even before his cock pressed into her slick folds, turning the afterburn of his touch into fresh heat.

He moved hard and fast, shaking water droplets from her skin, but his thumbs stroked the dimples in her lower back with surprising gentleness, intensifying the power in his thrusts. She felt like she was about to come undone in the most glorious way possible.

She came before he did, voice rising above the steam and water, sweat trickling down her neck and breasts. Only his grip kept her standing. Then he growled against her and pushed in so deep she nearly climaxed again, shuddering as he bit her neck and finished.

They stayed in the shower long enough to wash off their sweat. Her previous exhaustion had sweetened into something cleaner, softer, but her hands still shook as she settled on the bed and started drying her hair. When he noticed, he pulled her onto his lap and did it for her, combing fingers through the long strands to check for snarls.

She sighed against him, ready to pass out. "You're very sweet."

"Not many would agree with that."

The words drew a grin out of her. Memories of the bloody chamber and its terrible feast far beneath a crumbling church already seemed so far away, and so did Adair's obvious dread. But she did remember those stiff, strange knights surrounding him, and the sound of his snarl as he fought back. "You know how to use a sword."

He seemed unsurprised by the jump in subject. "For a while, you had to."

"What other weapons can you use?"

"Anything that doesn't need a horse. Even trained ones were too scared to stay near me."

Her smile faded as she thought about riding with Fleur on that fateful day, and how much had changed since then. "I guess that'll now be my problem, too. God, I haven't even thought about what all this means. What type of attention will I bring to us?"

"Alice." His voice brushed against her temple. "It's all right."

"Are you sure? It doesn't seem like new vargr appear very often."

He shrugged. "Not very. The last one turned up during the First World War."

"So, I might be the newest one for a while."

She chewed on her lip until he stopped her with a kiss, his tongue soothing the teeth marks left behind. Then he said, "You'll handle it better than most. You're already used to changing into a wolf, and you have me."

She thought of Adair's open panic and then of Giove's shock and fear. She also thought of the freedom of running effortlessly through the night, each stride filling her with joy. She never felt so comfortable in her body as when she was in her fur and he was there beside her, chasing the moon together.

When she nodded, he added, "It's true that some vargr like to fuck with the younger ones, especially when they're still confused about what they are. Others are fine with a few fights to decide territory and dominance. And then there's the older fuckers like me who don't care at all."

"Is that how they are with female vargr, too?" Her worry had faded to the edge of her thoughts, chased away by the sensation of his hand stroking along her back. He always made her feel so safe.

"Don't know. You're the first one known."

When she spoke again, she couldn't keep the shyness from her voice. "Is my scent really different? Now that I'm a vargr?"

At that, the brush of his fingers coaxed her to look up again. Then the nightmare creature that was her lover kissed her slowly, fiercely, thrilling her with his teeth as much as his tongue. "You're still my Alice."

The words left her eyes burning, and she closed them as his mouth remained hot against hers, the weight of his body pressing her back against the bed.

She felt inflamed even before he eased her legs apart. Her senses narrowed to him and him alone, taking in everything. The hard muscles in his arms as he braced hands on either side of her. The clean musk of his skin. The scrape of his unshaven jaw as he licked at the suck marks he'd left earlier. Her breath quickened at the heaviness of his cock against her thigh.

"Again?" she murmured, stroking along his shaft and then finding his thick sack. His balls constricted at her touch, feeling heavy, overfull.

His growl sounded amused, but he held back until he caught the rising lust in her scent, until her legs wrapped around him. He pushed in slowly, making sure she felt every inch. Teasing her. She sighed at the delicious burn and teased back. Arching until her nipples brushed him. Running fingers along his broad shoulders and back.

In response, he began thrusting hard, deep, and slow, never looking away from her face. The green in his eyes had darkened with a tenderness he never trusted to words.

After her first climax, his rhythm grew relentless, jolting her until the bed creaked. When she arched again, past words, he nearly smiled before shifting position enough to hook her legs over his shoulders, changing the angle of his thrusts. Her nails ripped at the sheets in fresh bliss as he snarled through his own climax.

For several breaths, she remained desperate and shaking, calming only when he stroked her feverish skin, his touch now feather-light and soothing. After he eased her down to a warm afterglow, he shifted his weight enough to settle beside her. She curled against him, feeling delicious.

He was already breathing easily, already back in control while tracing aimless patterns along her back. Eyes clear and intent as he watched her. She felt ready to pass out but managed to say, "You still outlast me."

All his tension had bled away, and the rasp in his voice sounded almost teasing as his hand slid over her hip and between her legs, drawing another shiver out of her. "You're exhausted. Settling back into yourself. It's normal when your body has to rebuild itself."

She made a humming noise, his warmth lulling her close to sleep. She wasn't sure she had another orgasm in her, but she was greedy enough to hope so. "I'm going to have so many questions when I wake back up. I don't even know where we are."

"One of the cliffside villages of Agerola. About an hour from Naples." His thumb pushed in, and the sweet pressure against her clit made her gasp. He licked her open mouth before adding, "I know the area well. You're safe here."

Then those rough fingers coaxed her into a final release, a frantic twitch of her hips that took the last of her energy. As she let herself sink toward sleep, she murmured, "Do you remember the first night we slept in the same bed? I don't even feel like that girl anymore."

His response sank deep into her heart, soothing scars old and new. "You are. You've just found your teeth."