My walk home was not one of shame, despite the soreness between my legs and the pounding of my head. Instead, it was a walk of reflection, introspection, and absolute fucking confusion.

I knew the Alpha was going to be a dangerous line to cross, but he made my blood sing and my body ache. My core still pulsed at the memory of what his touch alone could bring to the surface, of what beast lay in wait within me, ready and willing to answer his...

To have my runed thigh wrapped around his waist while that matching brow of his pressed against mine, those amber eyes gazing into my own dark stare as he spread my legs, pressed into me, the wood creaking behind us as I let out a gasp as he filled me for that first, but not last, time...

I groaned as if I could still feel him inside of me, like an imprint not only on my body, but my very soul. And if just one night with the Alpha was going to do this to me, what would a lifetime be like? It made sense why witches were popular mates for shifters— the mundanes would never be able to handle their constant desires and unrelenting stamina.

When— not if— I ever saw him again. Knowing he followed me to that bar, knowing he watched me leave, and even now something told me he was still aware of where I was going, I knew the Alpha would be as desperate to see me again as I would be him.

And I wanted to hate him for it. I wanted to dig my nails beneath his skin and tears...

But like me, he would enjoy it too much and the efforts would be counterproductive.

I groaned as I returned to my apartment, a second level one bedroom in a colonial brownstone converted to condominiums when the market was good and now exceptionally overpriced because the market sucks. But brick doesn't burn, I continued to remind myself with each mortgage payment, and if you can't burn it from the outside, you can't burn the witch inside.

I fought with my front door key for longer than my sex-drugged mind wanted to deal with and kicked the door shut behind me as soon as it decided to agree with me. Honestly, sometimes I don't know why I bothered locking it in the first place, with the number of protection wards I had surrounding the apartment and even more so around my unit. There would be no chance anyone would be able to get into the condo undetected, and if the initial spell didn't deter them, the ones within my personal space would have had them curled up in the fetal position crying for their mother. A witch's space is sacred, with only those invited in and out, and if an intruder can't understand that, then they deserve what's coming to them.

I believe in the Rule of Three, but generally, it meant three times the pain if you touch my shit.

My keys were tossed into the ceramic bowl next to the door while I worked on kicking off my heels. I had debated whether or not to put them back on after my encounter under the bridge, but I was also tetanus free and preferred to remain that way. Blood witch I may be, but I can still contract bacterial infections.

But no sleep was going to come for me, at least not yet anyway.

Not after that Alpha crossed my path. Not after I could still feel his touch on my skin and his scent in my nose.

Cards. Runes. Bones. No divination mattered anymore. I didn't need this fortune to be told.

Fate had dealt its hand.

Even if I didn't know his name, I knew who he was, and I was going to need answers, not suggestions.

But first, there was only one thing for me to do...

I needed a fucking shower.

I made sure the water was as hot as I could get before I stepped in, and I may have released a moan as loud as the one under the bridge once the droplets began pelting my skin. I avoided touching the spot where the Alpha had bit my neck... or looking down at the run on along the inside of my thigh that still ran warm. The moment was about getting clean, not about reminiscing about the evening's events. Again.

Because it was all I could think about, on the walk home, in the shower, as I dressed in my coziest, unsexiest pajamas and climbed into bed. Even as sleep still avoided me and I brought my hand between my legs to relieve the pressure that seemed to continue to build with every damn thought of the Alpha's dick between my legs. Even then my sleep was restless and desire-filled...

And all because I didn't know his damn name.