WILD [JENLISA]

38

Lisa startled awake, opening her eyes to stare at a painted white ceiling. Jennie's familiar warmth at her side provided a strange juxtaposition with the moon hangover that left her feeling slightly disconnected from reality. Her whole body ached. She was naked. Turning her head to the side, she exhaled shakily as she processed what it meant that she was in bed with Jennie and not lashed to the steel table in her guest room. Confusion turned to horror when Jennie rolled over to reveal a battered face and bruised neck. Lisa gasped out loud at the long, ugly slice across Jennie's cheek held together by small, neat stitches.

Sitting up quickly, Lisa threw the covers off Jennie's pajama-clad body and scanned her for further injuries. Last night she would have been capable of tremendous violence. If Jennie had gotten away with only a few cuts and bruises, they were both lucky. But why Jennie had stayed after being attacked was beyond Lisa's comprehension.

"You didn't do this." Suddenly wide-awake, Jennie sat and grasped Lisa's arm, staring into her eyes. "Don't panic. This wasn't you."

That didn't exactly make Lisa feel better. But it did stop her hyperventilation, which had threatened to send her into an emotional tailspin that would no doubt end in an uncontrolled shift. That was the last thing she wanted after the night she imagined they'd just had.

"What happened? Did I get loose?"

"In a manner of speaking." Jennie patted the mattress beside her, projecting a calm strength that brought Lisa's tumultuous mood further under control. "Jiyong came here looking for you right as I was getting ready to leave. He... had intended to murder you, to punish me, I guess. He pushed his way inside and we struggled, and at one point I managed to break free and run into the guest room. I started to undo your cuffs but could only release one of your arms before he shot you. So then I tackled him and he started choking me. That's when you broke free. Right in time to save me."

Lisa swallowed hard. On the one hand she was thrilled that her beast-self had acted instinctively to protect Jennie, especially when Jennie had trusted her enough to intentionally try to set her free. But on the other, she had a sense that Jennie had witnessed unchecked brutality last night. It must have been a horrific sight, what she had undoubtedly done to the man who was hurting the woman she loved. Yet Jennie still slept beside her, perhaps even when she'd been her beast-self. "Did I kill him?"

"Yes," Jennie said plainly. "I don't think you had much choice. He was about to kill me. He'd already shot you. You acted in self-defense, to protect me, and you have no reason to feel ashamed about any of it."

Truthfully, Lisa didn't feel half as guilty as she'd have expected.

Maybe it'd hit her later. Right now she was just relieved that her beast-self had been cognizant enough of their connection to protect Jennie, not harm her. Lisa scanned Jennie's body again, less frantically this time. Besides the wicked cut on her cheek, her throat was covered with finger-shaped bruises, the skin below one eye was swollen and purple, and her right hand was bandaged.

"I didn't do any of that?" Lisa met Jennie's eyes. "You swear?"

"That was all Jiyong, trust me." A small smile broke across Jennie's battered face, seemingly genuine. "Darling, you've seriously misjudged yourself. Last night you were a giant, fiercely protective wolf-puppy who followed me everywhere I went."

Lisa blushed at the characterization, strangely embarrassed that what she'd always assumed to be a ferocious, murderous creature was really so docile. It seemed too good to be true. "I don't believe you."

"Well..." Jennie's good humor faltered and she exhaled, clearly nervous about what she was about to say. "Ask Irene. She can confirm that the only time you were anything close to threatening was when you thought I was in danger."