Wolf's Wife (Monstrous Hearts #1)

Epilogue

The air felt cold and crisp against her cheeks as Alice stepped outside, her hand still trembling against the plastic cup of water the sheriff had given her to wash out her mouth with. News of the strange death of a Pulitzer winner would already be lighting up Twitter, she knew. Reporters would come. She tried to examine how she felt about that and found, strangely, relief.

It's over.

The thought rang through her mind like a tolling bell, clear and sweet and painful in its strength.

She stopped at a drive thru, the only thing still open at two in the morning, and ordered a large soda, hoping the twin hits of sugar and caffeine would keep her awake long enough to make the four-hour drive home.

A figure waited by the driveway out of the parking lot, shapeless and faceless in the battered winter coat it wore. But something about the way the figure stood so still convinced Alice to stop the car and unlock the doors. Her heart pounded as the figure slipped into the front passenger seat as casually as if it had been waiting for her all along. A gust of wind and rain entered the car with it, and then the slam of the door separated them from the rest of the world.

As Alice steered the car onto the road, the figure pushed back its hood. Her hands jerked on the wheel as Colton shook his head to shed the rain drops that had slipped past the protection of the coat. When she saw a deserted place to pull off to the side, she took it, turning off the engine and headlights to leave them in gloom broken only by the dim yellow flashing of a distant sign.

When Alice looked over, Colton met her gaze with a slight lift of his eyebrows and then glanced ahead.

"You're leaving," he said, his voice its usual dark monotone.

Her response was to tug his wrists free of his coat pockets, heart pounding in her throat as she felt two warm hands clasp her own. The violent, thrashing anguish eased from her heart as she kissed those rough fingers. "You're alive. But she said..."

Then Alice shook her head. "It doesn't matter. The pelt was destroyed. Magdalene threw it into the fire."

"I saw it."

She lifted her face from his hands only to feel his thumbs wipe away the fresh tears running down her cheeks. "Then you were at the cabin. And you were the one who killed her."

He shrugged, touch tender despite his brusque tone. "Want an apology?"

The yellow flashes of light turned his eyes into something wilder than usual, if that was possible. His clothes were scruffy, ill-fitting on his long, lean frame, and his beard already appeared shaggier, rasping against her fingers as she brushed his chin. He didn't move, but something in his gaze flickered when her thumb slid over his lips.

"She wanted to trap you." His hot tongue flicked against her fingertips.

Alice felt her shoulders sag, and she leaned forward to rest her forehead against his, hand pushing at the worn plaid shirt beneath his coat until it found the hot skin of his chest. "Didn't she? The pelt is gone."

And so you will be, too. Those were the words Alice couldn't bring herself to speak.

Colton shifted against her. "So you can't live among wolves. I can live among men."

Impossible to keep the hope out of her voice. "For how long?"

"Until we tire of each other."

Alice took in a deep breath, remembering how Magdalene had sworn to hold her love like a second heart. Remembering what it had turned into. Then she looked into his eyes again, finding flashes of the nights they had run together, moonlight on fur and breath steaming. The firelit hours spent with him rising above her huge and powerful, kissing her like she was nothing he'd ever tasted before. He was offering her his company without asking for her freedom.

"I'd like that," she said, and meant it. Then she leaned in to kiss him, unafraid even with the memories of what she'd seen in the morgue fresh in her mind.

To take a beast as a lover means to accept teeth along with tongue, and delight in both.

As Alice pulled out into the road, Colton's hand settled on her thigh, both comfort and a promise of what was to come. Even though her eyes felt puffy and sore from tears, and doubtless would again, Alice found herself smiling. Her heart would be her own again.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

And that's it, you fine gentlefolk; Alice's story has come to an end. A hearty thank you for reading, commenting, and voting; it gives me the warm fuzzies to know people have enjoyed my weird little novella. 

EDIT: I'm now posting the sequel, Wolf's Bane! Read it here, if you're so inclined: https://www.wattpad.com/story/86797997-wolf%27s-bane-monstrous-hearts-2

Cheers!