Page 9 of Tamed By the Alpha Wolf

“Do you remember me?” I asked, proud of how steady my voice sounded. “Do you remember my name?”

His throat worked, throat bobbing as he swallowed. When he spoke, his voice was a rusty rasp. “Elise.”

Something in me loosened at the sound of my name on his lips. He remembered. That had to count for something, right?

I nodded toward the supplies. “Clean yourself up. You look like shit.”

Nico’s silver eyes flashed, and a low growl rumbled in his chest. But he listened, reaching for the bag with shaking hands.

I chewed my bottom lip as he struggled with the zipper. He pulled out the razor, but it slipped from his fingers and clattered to the ground.

“Fuck,” he growled, reaching for the blade again.

The vulnerability in that small action hit me like a punch to the gut. This wasn’t the fierce, feral creature who’d fucked me senseless by the stream. This was a broken man, struggling to remember how to be human.

Before I could think better of it, I crossed the room and took the razor from him.

“Here,” I said, gentler this time. “I’ll do it.”

Nico shot me a wary look, but his hand fell back to his side. His jaw clenched, and I could practically see his pride warring with practicality. But then he nodded, a sharp jerk of his chin, and settled with his legs stretched out in front of him.

I hesitated, then reached for the scissors. Up close and without the fog of lust, I could see just how matted and tangled his hair and beard had become. Best to cut them first, then deal with the scraping and scrubbing.

“Hold still,” I murmured, tilting his chin up with my free hand. His scent enveloped me—cedar and espresso and wild things. It made my head spin and my wolf howl.

He didn’t answer, but I hadn’t really expected him to. I set to work, carefully trimming away the worst of the tangles.

“How long have you been...” I trailed off, unsure how to finish that sentence. Feral? Insane? Running from a cabal of evil hairdressers?

He was quiet for so long, I thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, so softly I almost missed it: “Don’t know. Lost track.”

I knew that feeling all too well. The way minutes could stretch into hours, days blurring together in a haze of fur and fang. But to lose yourself so completely...

My nails raked across his scalp as I worked, and his eyelids fluttered shut. A shiver rippled down his spine, and I couldn’t resist sliding my palm along his bare skin. Warmth spread through me at the contact, chasing away the chill that had settled in my bones.

Tension melted from his body, and his breathing grew slow and steady. For a moment, we could’ve been anywhere else in the world, just two people sharing space.

The steady snip of scissors filled the air between us. “Where are you from?”

Another long pause. “North. I think.”

Well, that narrowed it down to about half the continent. Still, it was more than I’d had before.

I moved to his front, lifting his chin so I could start on his beard. Haunted eyes cracked open to meet mine before I could make the first snip.

I’d never done this for anyone before, never been trusted with something so... vulnerable. One slip, and I could open his jugular.

But Nico’s eyes never left mine as I worked, steady and unblinking. Like he knew I’d rather cut off my own arm than hurt him.

He lifted his hand to rest lightly on my hip. His thumb slipped under my shirt and traced a slow circle over my skin. I tried to ignore how right it felt to have my hands on him, to care for him like this, but it was near impossible to deny with my wolf watching with rapt attention.

His scent filled my nose and made my mouth water for another taste of him. I held back—just. There was still half a beard to trim down, and whatever cleanup he wanted for his shag cut.

And about a thousand more who, what, and wheres.

“Any pack?” I asked in the silence.

That got a reaction. Nico’s entire body went rigid, a low growl rumbling in his chest. I paused, waiting to see if he’d lash out. But after a moment, he relaxed marginally.

---