I did what he told me to do. I flashed my teeth, growled, courtesy of my wolf, and turned my back and walked away. I headed purposefully into my kitchen. What I needed was a bottle of whiskey, but I settled for a glass of water instead.

My brother headed back to my bedroom. I heard him open my closet doors, and he came back to the living room a minute later carrying a big navy blue canvas duffel I used for carting my dirty laundry. I followed him into the living room.

“We can cram him in here,” he told James. “Then we toss it off the balcony. It isn’t body-shaped, and if anybody asks, we’re headed to the Laundromat.”

Everyone was moving around like normal. I pointed to the body. “He’s not going to fit in there. He’s twice as long as that.” I ran my eyes over the shrouded shape on the floor to make sure I hadn’t missed anything.

“Not for long.” Tyler grinned.

Right. I excused myself and went back to my bedroom to change out of my dirty, bloodstained clothes. Hacking up bodies and tossing them off balconies was hardcore. Life as a wolf was going to take some getting used to.

After I changed, I headed back to the living room slightly more refreshed, just as James and Nick stepped in from the balcony empty-handed. The deed was done.

Time to clean up. That was something I could do.

I grabbed a mop and bucket from my kitchen closet and went to work. Even though I was still trying to calm myself down, my limbs hummed with adrenaline, which made me jittery. The endorphins in my system nipped at my nerve endings in quick, staccato beats. There was nothing I could do about it. I had too much buildup between my fight with Drake and the rogue. I was hopped up with no place to go.

Half an hour later, with more muscle than necessary, the room appeared spotless to the naked eye. The smell of blood and werewolves still permeated the air, but to a human the scene would look and smell normal.

Tyler had already left with the body. Danny had gone to tighten security around my building. Nick had left, taking my bloodied bag of clothes and shoes with him, presumably to burn. He’d also bolted my front door back into place with a toolkit I kept for emergencies. The door wasn’t going to keep anything of substance out, but I had a big wolf with me for the night to help me maintain order.

My father had ordered James to stay with me, which was fine by me. If anything else happened tonight, I wasn’t sure I could physically handle it, and having company was nice.

“Here, let me get that,” James said as he plucked the bucket, along with the rags I’d been using, and walked them out onto the balcony.

I rested my back against the brick wall and ran my hands through my hair. It’d been a long night. One of the longest of my life.

James stepped back into my apartment empty-handed. He was wearing almost the same thing I’d seen him in yesterday, a black T-shirt and a pair of faded green cargo pants. I’d never really seen him in anything else. Both pieces of clothing were stretched tightly across his body, producing the maximum effect of powerful man. He had no clue how good he looked.

My wolf’s ears perked and I shifted slightly.

James stopped midstride, his gaze snapping to mine.

My breath hitched without my permission. I stared back. There, just below the surface, a hint of yellow danced across his irises.

Hmm.

When wolves fought, adrenaline raged through their veins, as it did through mine now. With the excess buildup from all the stress and excitement, they often ran for hours to get their systems back to normal.

Or sometimes they just had sex.

I dropped my eyes and fiddled with the hem of the tank top I’d changed into. “So, here we are,” I said quietly.

He growled in response.

My skin pricked and lust shot to the surface, hot and fierce. My wolf let out a long agonized howl, ending in a series of short, frantic barks as a dam inside me ruptured. Everything ached at once. My fingertips gripped the wall tightly so I didn’t fall down as the lust wrapped around me, tugging at my body, pouring through me with its urgent craving.

James stayed where he was. Waiting.

I didn’t dare look at him again. I knew his eyes would be blazing.

My wolf whined. She wanted this. There was no question.

But did I?

I knew feeling lusty was part of the newborn deal; add in all the chaos of the night and nobody had to spell it out to me. I needed a release. I also knew wolves had sex a lot. They didn’t view it as humans did. It was something to be fulfilled. A base urge. No emotional ties needed.

But I hadn’t grown up a wolf, I’d grown up human.

Hold on, Jezebel, I told my wolf. I’m not sure if I can do this— check that—if we can do this. I’m not interested in becoming a slutty werewolf, no matter how good it sounds right now. Being the only female wolf around, we’re going to have to watch it. And James is not our mate.

Don’t ask me how I knew that fact, because the man could fit the bill, there was no question about it, but James was not ours. I’d always heard finding your true mate was a gift, something rare. It didn’t mean James and I couldn’t sleep together, it just meant there was a slim to none chance we would ever pair up permanently.

My wolf gave a frustrated huff and threw a picture in my mind of an Alpha wolf taking his pick of females.

We are not the Alpha!

Huff.

Another flash of an Alpha wolf choosing a female, and—Helllooo, that’s enough of that! I get it. You want him.

A fierce growl.

It was a little too late to argue with her. The scent we were leaking into the air was pure, unadulterated sex, fueled for the most part by my horny wolf. It was so thick, I could almost see it. Geez, can you tone it down a few notches?

I inhaled and caught a new smell.

A wild, earthy scent flooded my senses like a sweet, inviting offer. All the cells in my body simultaneously popped and everything that was already aching started pulsing with a new, delicious heartbeat. My skin erupted in a million inviting tingles. I tightened my hands into fists, my regular nails pricking my palms.

I was losing myself to the overwhelming sensations.

And I liked it.

James moved, taking a single step closer. I lifted my head slowly and pinned him with a heated gaze. He was a warrior, his irises locking on mine, blazing full gold. A new tide of desire ran through me, his eyes triggering something deep inside me. His hands were fisted, his body tight with strain, his wolf at the very forefront. I’d never in my life noticed him like this before, but no one could deny he was a beautiful man. His olive skin shone, his dark hair just long enough to be deliciously tousled, his jawline strong and masculine. He looked thirty at the most, all of us destined to stay young forever.

I opened my mouth and a growl-laced purr came out.

My consent.

One step and he had me pressed up hard against the bricks. He snarled, his lips taking my neck, his tongue ran along my shoulder blade, his wolf seeking my taste. I groaned at his rich scent, pressing my nose and lips into him as far as they would go, inhaling deeply. His wolf sang directly to mine.

He pulled away and I mewed at the loss of contact. He brought his hands down and with one fierce tug my shirt was off. He stripped his away in the next motion, and my hands immediately found his chest, my fingers stroking the defined grooves, caressing the soft skin. I licked my lips in anticipation. My wolf yipped. James growled and put his head down in front of me, snapping my bra with his teeth. I dropped my arms and it fell to the floor.

His head was still bent, and I writhed on him like a drunken siren, dragging my hands through his hair, grabbing fistfuls, pulling him closer. My wolf howled in ecstasy.

His lips sought my nipples. He took one into his mouth with a fierceness that made me shudder. My head rolled back and I moaned. He lapped and pulled on the sensitive peak, making the sensations inside me strum and heighten at an exhilarating rate. I’d never experienced anything like this before. Everything as a wolf was more amplified, each touch a greater flood of sensation than the next.

He broke the seal on my breast and slid his lips slowly up my body, his mouth and lips running over my neck, growling in my ear, “This is it, Jessica. I won’t be able to stop myself if we go forward. So say your piece now.”

I couldn’t answer. Instead, my nails raked up his back and into his thick hair then traced back down to his backside, urging him closer.

He took his delightful lips off my skin and cupped his hand around my neck, tilting my face up to meet his, his thumb languidly caressing my jaw.

It took me a second to focus on him.

“Jessica … my wolf is too far gone.” His voice gruff with need. “You must tell me right now if you want this. I won’t be able to stop otherwise. If you don’t want this, all you have to do is tell me and I will leave your apartment and return in an hour.”

The adrenaline pounded in my veins, demanding a release. It was either this or change and run for hours with him.

“I want this,” I said simply.

He bent his head, his mouth finding mine. I opened myself to him, tasting, pulling, sucking. His lips were hot, firm, and lusciously soft, but there would be no sweetness between us, no wooing. This was going to be exactly what it needed to be.

I rubbed against him, lost to the delicious lust. He nipped my lips, my neck, and my breasts over and over. His body was so hard, so full of strong angles. The only thing keeping him out of me was the fact that we were both still wearing our pants.

I reached down between us and yanked blindly at his buttons. I buried my tongue in his warm mouth again, lapping at him while I eased the soft cotton down around his hips.

He gave me a throaty growl as I freed him. My hand ran along the smoothness, and he moaned into my lips. I rubbed my fist along the length as his hands slid around to my back, his thumbs dipping into my waistband. He flexed once and the flimsy yoga pants I’d chosen ripped apart at their seams, dropping around me in a pool of material.

He guided my hips forward, my shoulders tilted back against the wall, and entered me in one smooth motion.

I arched to meet him, taking his fullness deeply. I was more than ready and the pressure of him was delicious and intense. He stroked in and out, his hands pressed tightly into my hips, gripping me, guiding us together faster with each meeting.