I am a feral wolf, wild and hungry. I snack on the innocent, and devour the corrupt just like the ones before me. I don't know my pack, I've only heard of their existence. The alpha reveals it's prey to me and I go in for the kill without a second thought finishing the job. He hands me the scraps for payment as he reaps the benefits of my slaughter, chewing on the good parts, as he lives the life I so desperately want, and I eat what's leftover. He leaves me enough to survive on, and only enough to keep me here. It's his way, so to speak, of keeping me under control and in his jaws. My next kill though, will gain me my leave to a new life. I will disappear, this lone feral wolf will be gone, not leaving even a scent for him to sniff out.

I am his best wolf, his go to, his beast to command, but each slaughter is killing me inside and I need to get out before I end up jumping off this fucking balcony.

11pm, I'm at home sitting in my usual spot, drinking my usual beer, listening to the city daydreaming of a better place. I replay the look on Katy's before I left Nowadays, she looked so angry, so disappointed. I hate that look, I always have, it was so demeaning...

Disappointed; I've heard that too many times in my life, I am what I am there is no changing that. Or is there? Can a feral wolf be domesticated? Is it possible that one person can change something so wild and dangerous into something tame and harmless?

A knock on the front door.

I slip off the railing and grab my pistol, I'm not expecting anyone, I never am.

I slink up to the door and peek out the peephole. Green eyes. I put my gun down and lean my forehead against the door. Why is she here? Another knock.

"What is it Katy?" I ask through the door.

"Ethan I just want to talk, can I please come in?"

I sigh, I don't want to talk, but I know stubborn Katy won't leave until she gets her way. Fuck sake.

"Alright." I reply and open the door for her.

She's changed into some casual clothes now, a white cropped T-shirt and some shorts with thigh high socks. She fake smiles at me. I open the door further and she skirts by me heading into the living room. I watch her sit down on my couch in the very spot I had her almost naked before and shudder thinking about how hard I was on her. I follow her to the living room but stop at the dining table to my left and pull out a chair.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I ask.

She sits on the couch ahead of me fiddling with the laces on her shorts. She glances at me.

"Katy?"

"What you did to those men was....unbelievable. I've never seen anyone do what you did, well maybe in movies. But not in real life...."

"Well, I quite enjoyed it. Do you want a beer?" I ask, getting up.

"Sure." She says.

I grab two from the fridge and open them, I walk over to her handing her one. She gasps at me as I turn my back to her and go sit back down at the dining table.

"What?" I ask.

"Ethan! Your back is covered in blood? Let me see!" She comes around to the back of me and examines the blood stain on my shirt.

"Oh my God! Your head!" She pushes my hair to the side as she starts to panic. "Ethan! The back of your head is bleeding! There's a huge gash."

"It's fine Katy! I'm fine! Just leave it alone, I've had worse done to me." I explain.

"No! I'm not going to leave it alone! You need to go to the hospital!" She snaps back. "I think you need stitches!"

"No hospitals Katy, those are the rules."

"The rules? Who's fucking rules are those?"

"Katy I didn't ask you to come here, if you don't like what you see then leave! I can take care of myself." I snap back.

Silence.

"Obviously you're struggling with that concept, there isn't a day that goes by without a drink in your hand. If you won't go to the hospital then let me take care of you." Her voice was sincere this time. She walks around in front of me. My eyes follow her body up to her lips, then to the stern look on her face.

"Stand up please.." She says and pulls on my hands. I obey.

She starts to unbutton my shirt. The air gets thicker with each button she undoes. She opens my shirt and slides it off my shoulders using the palm of her hands. I watch her eyes search my body as she runs her hands down my chest. She stops at a large scar on my right side just below my ribs.

"What happened here?" She asks.

I stare at her eyes when I respond to analyze her reaction.
"I was stabbed with a six inch knife." Her eyes widen and she looks up at me.

"On a job?"

"No."

"Who would have done such a thing?"

I take a deep breath in as the memory comes back to me. Half of it was dark with just voices and the other half was the part leading up to the where the knife was pushed deep into my skin.

I look at her blankly.
"My father." I reply.

"Jesus Christ Ethan." She whispers and leans her forehead on my chest. I feel a drop of water run down the front of me. I take her shoulders and make her look at me.

"Don't cry for me, This is my shit not yours." I wipe off her wet cheeks.

Her brows furrow. "Take off your shirt and sit on the chair backwards please." I do as she says, pulling my shirt off the rest of the way and sit down. She goes to the kitchen and grabs a small hand towel and soaks it in coldwater from the tap before wrapping some ice in it from the freezer. I'm hating every minute of this, I feel weak and broken. I'm supposed to be this strong, fierce man in front of her but here I am doing as I'm told while she tends to my wounds.

She comes before me and gently pushes my head down putting the ice cloth on the back of my head.
"Hold this here." She says, I obey.

She gets another cloth and wets it with warm water.

"I spoke with security, about what happened. He assured me that if there were any issues between you and someone else, that there was a good reason for it. So what happened?" She asks and comes back over to me.

She pulls me up straight, as I hold the ice on my head, then she begins to wipe me down slowly. Starting at the base of my neck and across my shoulders then down my back. She takes extra time over my shoulders and biceps, sending small shivers down my spine.

"Well, I was just doing my job. Which was to protect Samantha even if I had to use force. If I didn't do what I did she would have probably overdosed from the GHB they dropped in her drink, and I would be dead by now." I reply.

She gasps. "I can't believe those assholes. I wished I didn't stop you."

I chuckle. "It was a good thing you did, I was seeing red at that point and wasn't going to stop until they were all unconscious. So thank you, I guess...I don't recall anyone else being able to stop me before...."

"Well, don't I feel special." She says, finishing my wipe down. "I think I got most of the blood off you but your head looks pretty bad. Are you sure you don't want any medical attention?"

"Nah, I'm ok, what's another scar?" I laugh. She doesn't.

"Katy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about ...the other night. That wasn't my intention, I ...was really drunk...and...." She stops me.

"Don't be sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I knew what I was getting myself into and besides...you gave me fair warning."

I get up taking my beer with me and go sit down on the couch to relax. Her wipe down was very "zenful" putting me in a calm mood. I put the ice cloth on the table and lean back letting out a big breath of tension release.

"Hey! Let's watch a movie!" She says, skipping over. She sits beside me and snuggles up into my left side, grabs my arm and wraps it around her waist.

"I don't have cable." I say dampening her excitement.

"What? That's weird! Why not?" She giggles.

"I don't know, I just didn't think I needed it."

"Alright then." She says and gets up. Grabbing my hand she pulls me up. "Let's go to my house!"

"Uhhh....I don't know if that's a good idea." I reply.

"What? Why not?"

"I.." I had no answer to that. Well not one I wanted to admit to. Picturing myself cuddling up with her in her house, was like being in a foreign place with no clothes on. I felt vulnerable and unsure of what could happen or what would happen.

"Come on! I don't bite." She winks.

Big sigh...
And here I am obeying this temptress as she walks me out of my apartment and into hers. I'm so weak.