The laughter leapt from her crimson lips like a torrent of dammed up river water that had lain cold and still for far too long. The woman scrambled from the bed and to Thad in an instant, naked as she was but for the art that was as much a part of her as the crimson hair, bed-tangled and wild, and the beating heart in her chest.

[i]"Thad![/i] What in the world - " she laughed as she snatched at his hand, the door opening by inches before she pressed his hand swiftly to close it again, playfully shaking her head as the latch clicked back into place. 

Veti caught her breath - and then caught the scent wafting through that small opening, a whiff of ancient wilds, feral and venerable and... [i]A wolf.[/i] There was another wolf among her friends in the hall. Not Mr. Hoyle, but another, so... [i]Familiar[/i]... Her eyes widened at the sudden realization. The confidence the ancient werewolf had shared with her nearly a year ago, was no small thing to Veti, who had never known a kind word from her own kind. There was only one other of his pack who survived the purge of the Lupus Naturae, and that wolf was [i]here.[/i] Now.

As sweet as these stolen moments had been, Veti knew they could not linger. A sudden chill tripped up her spine and she shivered for a moment, the holy ash tree Yggdrasil etched into her right leg, ankle to thigh, beginning to shake. The rippling of the corded muscle beneath her painted skin caused the eagle in its branches scream, and the wyrm to sink its teeth further into the roots.

A sudden, icy wave of dread began to wash over her, but... No, Veti shook it off, wrapping her arms around Thad's waist as she looked up into those deep blue eyes, pressing herself against him entirely. And as she savored the warmth, the feel of his skin, his scent, the lithe muscle beneath her fingers again, some small part of her thoughts began to laugh at her silliness. For heaven's sake, she was only chilled from their mingled sweat and the regretful departure made from that warm, inviting bed. No need to add melodramatic portents of doom to the mix.

"Max didn't go anywhere, did he? Or not very damn far! But you'd best get this through your head right now," she added with a wicked grin, the sharp retort of a one handed swat to his bare bottom ringing through the air, "I'm not sharing this much of you with [i]anyone.[/i]"

The werewolf chuckled warmly, never moving her gaze from his face. She had spent years of her life, searching for this one singular visage. And now that she found him, Veti wondered if it were even possible, to tire of looking at him. Her voice lowered softly, the hand that had just swatted his bum snaking up his side, tracing the lines of his chest to tenderly cradle his cheek. "I can't give you forever Thad. It's not in my power. But what I do have is yours, if you wish it... "

The wolf in the woman looked into Thad's face now, sapphire eyes shifting to a golden amber, the canine teeth behind those crimson lips lengthening to an unnatural sharpness. "No moment is guaranteed in this life. You of [i]all[/i] people would know this, better than most any man alive. But if the moments of my life aren't shortened? I have [i]centuries[/i] ahead of me - years and years of time you gave me, that would turn grey, colorless, [i]meaningless[/i] without you in them."

"I love you, Thad. And... I want you to come [i]with[/i] me. Run with me under the full moon, when her song is simply too irresistible. See the world - taste it, smell it, know it as you could have never imagined it would be. Come with me, [i]all[/i] of me, even the wolf you set free." Veti stood to her bare tiptoes, a warm, soft kiss that still held a heartfelt plea, but she would say no more. 

"There's no need to make up your mind now," she added, the wolf receding, the woman returning now as she took his hand in hers, entwining her fingers in his with a gentle squeeze. 

"Yes... Anyway, yeah I'm hungry too - and we already know you're just [i]starving.[/i] But a quick shower first - I'll even soap up your back, love. Your front... However you like. And then, you know... [i]Clothing[/i]," she added, nodding meaningfully toward the wardrobe with a wide grin, before pulling him toward the bathroom. "Yes yes, I know - [i]clothes.[/i] I hear all the cool kids are wearing them. Oh now, don't look so disappointed. I promise, the minute we're alone again, they won't stay on long... "