Knight spent the rest of his day putting a “just in case” plan together. Taking a pay-as-you-go phone out of his stash and placing it in a manila envelope, just in case. Covering the envelope with enough federal Forever stamps to get the thing to Timbuktu, just in case, before writing down an address deep in the panhandle of Oklahoma.

He almost wrote his fake name across the fake return address he’d put on the envelope, but no…he couldn’t risk them throwing the phone out, seeing as how there wasn’t any kind of note inside.

So just in case, he wrote his real name above the fake address.

Then he drove all the way down to Braman, Oklahoma. A little nothing town with a population of 300. But it did have a solitary USPS office going for it, and a gas station so that the very few people who still drove gas-powered manual cars could fill up on their way to places that actually mattered. Knight took advantage of both, filling up at the gas station before sliding the yellow-orange envelope across the blue laminate post office counter.

“Wolf Haven,” the old guy behind the counter read. “Never heard of it.”

Yeah, most humans hadn’t. And despite the fact that Oklahoma had risen quite a bit in status since it’s mange state days, it’s kingdom town still had a “no humans allowed” policy on the books.

“Where’s it at?” asked the old timer.

“Deep in the pan-handle,” Knight answered.

“No wonder I haven’t heard of it. They probably don’t have many more people than we do.”

Wolf Haven was up to 2,000 people these days, but Knight didn’t bother answering because the mail clerk would likely be surprised and ask questions. This was a just in case mission, which meant everything should be kept capital NTK.

But the old timer kept reading the envelope like it was the most interesting thing he’d come across in years.

“Knud…” the man said, pronouncing it all wrong, like nude. “Well, isn’t that an interesting name...”

Knight didn’t hear the rest of the comment because he was already pushing open the door without bothering to say good-bye.

He was surprised when his pay-as-you-go phone dinged just as he got back in his truck. And his wolf sat forward, wanting to know if the message was from the woman it desperately wanted to hear from.

It was—which made this the first time Hot Social Worker had ever initiated contact.

“Thank you for dealing with the poor furbaby last night. May I come over this evening around 9pm, so we might hit it and quit it?”

He didn’t laugh, but his mouth quirked up as he typed back. “Yeah. Come over if you wanna.” He kept his language casual, even though his wolf’s tail was at full wag.

She arrived at 20:58 with a sheet of old-fashioned paper in her hand.

“Hello, Buddy, thank you for having me over,” she said as she walked in. “You’ll be happy to know I followed up on our boundaries conversation from last night.”

“That wasn’t really a conversation…” He inhaled deeply. Her scent had a weird undertone tonight. He picked out the smells: heightened adrenalin and cortisol. Acrid and bitter. Upset. She was upset about something and it had happened recently. “What’s going on?” he asked carefully.

“Great question, Buddy. I’ve been doing some research on sex buddy boundaries, and as it turns out the internet has quite a lot to say on the subject. Taking that into account, I’ve made a list of governing rules for our arrangement—do you by chance have any tape?”

He startled, not understanding the question at first. “You mean like tape-tape?”

“Yes, scotch tape. We should post this on the wall,” she said, flapping the sheet of paper in her hand.

“I mean, maybe I’ve got some tape at the office.”

She frowned at the piece of paper, then at the wall she wanted to post it on. “I suppose we could use a tack or a hammer and nail. Do you have anything like that…?”

But then she trailed off, looking around the apartment. “I’ve just now realized you don’t have anything posted on your walls, not even a poster.”

“I’m only doing my residency here,” he pointed out, feeling a little defensive. “Who knows where I’ll end up next.”

She peeped up at him. “You’ll be leaving Kansas soon, then?”

“No, not that soon. But yeah, I’ll get my new placement around June or July. You too, right?”

“Yes…maybe. I don’t know. I’ve been offered a full-time position at DWCS. I might stay. I like it in Kansas. I feel free, and like I’m a true benefit to the community I serve here.”

Okay… so maybe they could keep this thing going for another few months. But before he could ask a follow up question, she rushed to ask, “Are you sure you don’t have anything we could use to hang this piece of paper? Perhaps one of those stickers you hand out to children?”

“I don’t hand out stickers.”

“Of course you don’t,” she answered with a teasing smile. “That would mean you have a bedside manner suited to working with children.”

He shrugged. “My job’s mostly running tech. Unless something goes wrong, usually it’s only the nurses who deal directly with the kids. It’s not like on those hospital shows. Plus, nobody cares about my bedside manner when I’m saving kids’ lives.”

“Yes, but you’re Jandro’s primary, so you do occasionally see patients face to face.”

Mine field. But he avoided it by pointing out, “I see you remember that kid’s name even though you don’t remember mine.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, I remembered his name, because he’s a deaf child with a tragic backstory. You’re a lothario doctor who doesn’t care about anyone but himself. Trust me, it was easy to forget your name as soon as I walked out of the building.”

She was still smiling. But wow…his second big silence of the day. And this time he got to be the one to stare at the other person in the argument like she’d lost her damn mind.

“Oh, my gosh,” she said, scrubbing a hand over her eyes. “I’m sorry....”

“So we’re fighting about stickers now?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, we’re not fighting about stickers. I shouldn’t have said that to you. I was trying to make a joke in the same vein as you often do, but it came off as incredibly mean and I’m terribly sorry. Please forgive my appalling lack of manners.”

She smiled at him and it seemed sincere, but he could still smell how upset she was about…something—not this conversation, but something else. And it made his wolf want to dig.

Instead, he said, “Why don’t you let me see these rules of yours?”

He took the piece of paper out of her hand and then whistled when he saw the ten rules listed in a clean serif font. “Damn, this is like a real list. Like, a typed-out list.” He glanced over at her. “You were one of those kids, weren’t you? The kind who didn’t just do your homework, but liked doing it and asked for extra credit homework on top.”

With a glaring smile, she answered, “If we were sharing personal info I’d tell you yes, I certainly was that type of kid because one - homework is an incredible tool for learning, and two - there aren’t a lot of stories going around about people who regret being too prepared for college.”

“Okay, tell yourself that instead of admitting you didn’t have a life in high school.”

Another glaring smile. “I suppose you were one of those quote-unquote bad boys who always farmed out your homework to your adoring fans.”

“No, not always,” he answered. “Had to stop doing it in med school because the restrictions on testing software got too tight.”

“Never more than 48-hour notice unless you’re drunk,” he read out loud before she could respond.

He looked over at her. “I don’t drink.”

“I know, but I added the drunk part for me,” she told him proudly. “Women often drunk dial my cousin Grace. It’s very cute.”

“Cute,” he grunted, because that was the opposite of how Knight felt about it, and precisely why he never gave out his number to human women—well, at least not until he met the one standing next to him now.

But he said, “Okay, I’ll sign off on that one. I’ve got this theory that people become who they really are deep down inside when they’re drunk, and I want to see if you shoot rainbows out your ass.”

“Ooh, I’ve never been truly drunk before but if I were, I bet I’d definitely do that,” she answered with a laughing smile.

Liking that she was slowly coming back to her usual wackjob base setting, he read the next rule out loud, “’No meeting each other’s family or friends.’ Copy that.”

Even if she wasn’t human, he’d never introduce her to anyone in his family. But his wolf stirred inside his chest with the notion that his mother would love this woman. She was strong and funny with a huge dose of silly that Alisha would appreciate.

“You like Michael Jackson music?” Knight asked her.

She gave him a quizzical look. “Yes, I am a human being living on planet Earth,” she answered. “Why do you ask?”

Yeah, Mom would definitely love her, his wolf practically sighed.

Ignoring it, Knight skimmed through the remainder of the list. No sharing of personal details. No cuddling. No taking vacations together. No meals other than a very occasional brunch. No sleeping over more than two nights in a row. Always use protection. No fighting. Ever. No falling in love. Ever.

He paused, tripping over those last words. An image of her carrying a cub she didn’t know was Jandro went off in his head for some reason.

And she asked, “What?”

“Protection…” he mumbled, grabbing onto the list item like a get out of jail card. “I’m not planning on seeing anybody else until we’re done with this arrangement. So maybe we could think about both getting tested and losing the wrappers?”

There was also the fact that wolves were incapable of catching or passing on STDs, or getting any woman pregnant outside of heat. In fact, the only reason he bothered with wrappers in the first place is because they added an extra layer of “we ain’t making love here” to one-night stands. But obviously he couldn’t throw that argument into the ring.

She tilted her head with a gentle smile of apology. “I’m sorry, but no. While it wasn’t specifically listed, I don’t think it’s wise for us to trust each other like that. Also, I do plan to eventually have children and I wouldn’t want to risk anything unfortunate that might interfere with my future fertility. Therefore, I think we should go on as we were before, safely, without risk of either of us getting hurt.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Boundaries. Probably for the best,” he agreed, even as his wolf did something weird inside his chest at the thought of her protecting her fertility for the future family, she’d be starting with someone else. “I’ll um…bring some tape home tomorrow and hang it on the wall.”

“Thank you very much,” she said, her tone as gracious as ever. “I appreciate it.”

“Hey, Hot Social Worker?”

“Yes, Buddy?”

He tilted his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

She visibly swallowed. And for a moment he thought she just might tell him because her smile disappeared.

But then like a grey cloud rolling away, it came back and she answered, “Personal details.”

Yeah, he got it. Yeah…

But then he spoke-signed, “L-heart?”

“Yes?”

“I’m gonna kiss you.”

And she nodded, the smile she seemed to barely be holding onto turning grateful as she said, “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

So, he did, smoothing her perfect curls back with one hand so he wouldn’t get hair in his mouth as he captured her lips in a soft kiss. That was a lesson he’d learned the hard way the first time he tried to kiss her when she hadn’t straightened her hair.

Getting to know her. Even as they set firm boundaries, he was getting to know her.

He nipped at her sadness, sucking on her lips, drinking it down as if it could be extracted with a kiss.

“Take the dress off,” he murmured against her lips. “Panties, too.”

Her long-sleeved pink number disappeared a moment later, tossed to the floor like it didn’t cost more than the rent on his apartment. His mysterious rich girl was careless with her clothes. Another thing he’d discovered about her in their unprecedented two months of fucking.

But after her panties joined the dress, instead of tossing her onto the bed as he usually did, he laid her back and pulled her legs up one by one to take off those ridiculous cowboy boots.

“This doesn’t feel like level ten,” she said, her voice husky.

“That’s because it’s not. We’re on level five tonight.”

The leg he held stiffened. “I’d prefer level ten.”

And he got the feeling this was true. She wanted the mean, do what I say, punishing version of him tonight. Had come here for it as an antidote to whatever had upset her.

“Yeah, I get that.” Then he said, “And I don’t care what you want. Tonight it’s about what I want. And I want to make you feel good.”

“Why?” she asked.

Because he didn’t know how else to help her with whatever was upsetting her without talking about it. Because his wolf was too fucking sensitive when it came to her, and would never let his human take her at level ten in this state.

But aloud he merely said, “Because I can.”

Then he gently pushed her thighs open. And instead of diving right in like he usually did, he let himself openly admire what he saw. The flared hips, the soft pussy, the breasts he suddenly realized he’d never taken in his mouth.

That was a mistake that needed to be corrected right now, he decided. He leaned over her, snaking his tongue around one dark nipple before pulling it into his mouth.

No response at first. He could sense her resisting, wanting something else.

“Please don’t be nice to me,” she whimpered. “I can’t take it. Not tonight.”

He ignored her and trailed kisses over her tight belly, not stopping until he came to the place he was most familiar with on her body.

Contrary to his wolf’s wishes, he’d never let her come on his mouth. At level ten, oral sex was all about the edge. Eating her out until she almost came. Holding her down until she calmed. Then eating her out again.

But tonight he let his wolf have its way with her. Licking at her sweet slit, tongue delving in. Lapping at her for as long as it wanted. Until he became hypnotized by the nub at the top of her vagina, sucking on it a little too long. The wolf didn’t heed her cries of, “please don’t be nice to me,” didn’t feel the hands tearing at his shirt, begging him to stop because she was going to—

He didn’t hear anything but her long moan as her acrid scent shifted. Her emotional pain lifting like something exorcised.

Then, and only then, did the wolf give her back to his human who coolly grabbed a wrapper from the box on the nightstand before covering her with his body. But as much as he wanted inside her, his heartrate actually slowed as soon as he pushed in.

And instead of taking her brutally as he usually did, he took his time. Bracing himself on bent arms he enjoyed the feel of her clenching around his dick while he moved his hips in slow, lazy circles between her legs. Reveled in the feel of the warm gasps in his ear as he took her quietly. No words. No commands. Just him slow grinding inside her.

And instead of telling her to shut-up, he listened to her softly beg him not to be nice to her until her words eventually turned to babbling.

Hot Social Worker had come into this arrangement clear-eyed, but he could tell she was the opposite of him when it came to dating. One of those women who held on to guys for months, if not years. Addicted to the long-term just like his younger triplet brother, Nago.

Yet as she fell apart beneath him, he knew: no guy had done this for her. Slow burned her until all that High Media-gloss fell off and she completely unraveled.

This sex was different. For her, but also for him. What he was feeling now was the opposite of the wired weirdness that overtook him when he just needed to fuck somebody. The opposite of how he felt when he stalked the clubs, looking for the right vessel to dump all that angry adrenaline into.

Knight watched her, wanting her enjoyment more than his own. And he relished seeing her lose coherence. “What…you…doing. Oh…Oh! Good…good…feel…so good. Don’t…don’t.”

“Your favorite TV show growing up,” he said quietly, reminding her to fall back on the Thunderpuffs safe word if she was serious about her “don’t.”

But she didn’t say the safe word, didn’t make him stop.

Instead, she held on to him tightly as he slowly burned her up. Until her breath caught on a sharp intake and she turned her head to look up at him, her eyes softening with awe. As if she were seeing him, really seeing him, for the first time.

Right before she exploded around him, her sex squeezing so sudden and hard that it felt like she was yanking a simultaneous orgasm out of him. Whether he’d been ready to come or not.

Yeah, tonight was different in all ways. He’d never felt so calm, so centered as he did in the moments when they floated down together, her legs trembling around his waist, her breath panting in his ear, the smell of her sex-soaked sweat now free of anger and sadness.

His wolf lolled around his chest in a happy daze because he’d made this woman forget whatever had upset her. At least for a little while.

And his human found himself asking her, “You feel better?” Voice soft in the dark.

“Yes, I do feel better,” she whispered. She then carefully rolled out from underneath him.

He almost said “don’t go,” but stopped himself when she criss-crossed her legs and hand-parted her hair. Braids. A signal that she’d be spend the night.

“Thank you. I needed that,” she said, glancing at him a bit shyly, as she started plaiting her huge curls.

“Me too,” he agreed, not realizing how true that statement was until he said it out loud.