WILD [JENLISA]

Epilogue

Dr. Kim Jennie chuckled. This close to the full moon, it was a wonder Lisa hadn't asked three hours ago. Being trapped in a car was never easy for her shape-shifting girlfriend, but it seemed especially difficult around Lisa's time of the month. A little over forty-eight hours out, the moon was already starting to turn Lisa wild, she squirmed in her seat, radiating a curious mixture of desire and nervous energy.

Jennie raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking because you want to know where I'm taking you, or because you're horny?"

"Both." Lisa fidgeted and Jennie caught a hint of a grimace in her peripheral vision. "I also have to pee."

"Think you can hold it fifteen minutes?"

"Yes." Lisa folded her arms over her chest, clearly satisfied. "So we are close." Her amusement faded quickly, drawing Jennie's attention away from the road.

"What else is wrong?" Jennie asked.

Lisa radiated grim resignation as she gazed out at the passing redwood trees. "We're in the middle of nowhere, darling, and you're so nervous it makes my stomach hurt. You've been on edge for the past week. Please tell me what's going on?"

Jennie exhaled. Hiding things from Lisa was impossible. With their empathetic bond, Lisa would have known Jennie was keeping a secret almost immediately, and yet she hadn't asked, though she'd obviously wanted to. Jennie had expected to have this conversation days ago and had been rehearsing what to say for weeks.

Humbled, Jennie opted for total honesty. "I wanted us to go away for the weekend. I know you don't like being far from home during the full moon, but I think it's time we change up your routine."

"My routine exists for a reason—"

"A reason we debunked as unfounded two months ago when you, as the wolf, saved my life." Jennie chanced a sidelong glance at Lisa, watching her react to the words. "I'm not going to lash you to that steel table anymore. I know you're worried that night was a fluke, which is why I agreed to follow your routine last month. But you're not dangerous. You're not a monster, and I won't treat you like one anymore."

Worry, fear, and mild relief emanated from Lisa's tense frame, a complex tangle of emotions. "I know I didn't hurt you that night, but—"

"No buts." Jennie kept her tone firm, trying not to dwell on her memories of that night. The first time she'd witnessed Lisa's lunar transformation had been during a life-or-death struggle with a crazed killer. Wolf-Lisa had saved her life, belying her lover's lifelong fear that the moon reduced her to a bloodthirsty, remorseless killer. Jennie had imagined that the news that wolf-Lisa was nothing more than a giant, fiercely loyal puppy would liberate Lisa from her monthly ritual. Yet Lisa still seemed too frightened to accept that she wasn't the monster she'd always feared. "This weekend is about unshackling you, literally and figuratively. I love you, everything about you. Even the wolf. More importantly, I trust you. So no more restraints. Okay?"

Lisa's palpable fear hung over them like a dense fog, making it hard to breathe. Jennie rested a calming hand on her tense thigh.

"If I ever hurt you..." Lisa's voice caught. Her face tightened with her obvious effort not to cry. "I wouldn't forgive myself."

"You won't hurt me." Calling up a little of her own ferocity, Jennie launched into her familiar, passionate defense of Lisa's nature. "You have to trust me, Lily. I met the wolf. I know her. She won't hurt me."

Because Lisa viewed her full-moon incarnation as entirely distinct from her human self, Jennie talked about her that way, too. But she knew better than to believe that Lisa was not the wolf and the wolf was not Lisa, they were one and the same, and both very much devoted to Jennie.