Disclaimer: All Lunar Chronicles characters belong to Marissa Meyer.

Restless Nights

It was the first time Scarlet had felt truly safe in ages.

She had forgotten the power that Wolf had over her. But being tucked in the little nook formed by his arms, surrounding by his massive body, she remembered just how content she was with him. He could be vicious, yes, and sure, he had probably murdered a lot of people, but Scarlet had never felt safer in anyone else's embrace.

If only she could sleep.

It wasn't that she was uncomfortable. She was the exact opposite, actually. She wanted to stay curled up with Wolf forever. But the adrenaline rush she had gotten while escaping the palace with Winter and then flying all the way over here and being reunited with Wolf and seeing Cinder and Thorne again and actually becoming actively involved in the revolution was keeping her from sleeping. She was a pent-up ball of energy that could barely keep still.

She shifted yet again in Wolf's arms, just slowly enough as not to wake him. She almost jumped three feet in the air, however, when she felt his arms tighten around her and his breath warm the back of her neck. "Can't sleep?" he whispered, careful not to wake the rest of their team who slept peacefully a mere three feet away from them. Scarlet had tried not to be annoyed by that fact. She knew they had no choice but to all sleep together, but it didn't dull her desire to have Wolf alone.

Slowly and quietly, she shimmied in his arms until she was facing him, their faces three inches apart. "No," she admitted.

Wolf nodded and kissed her forehead. The gesture was so sweet and tender that Scarlet wanted to cry. "Neither can I," he agreed. "Too excited to have you back, I guess."

Scarlet blushed at his confession and her heart began beating faster. She prayed that Wolf didn't feel it. That would just be embarrassing. "I'm excited to be back," she replied, pressing her body against Wolf's and resting her head in the spot between his shoulder and neck. She closed her eyes. Yes, she was glad to be back. So, so glad.

Wolf was silent for a moment before whispering, "What did they do to you?"

Scarlet tensed. She had purposefully avoided giving him the details of her time in captivity simply because she knew that he would wreak havoc on the world if he knew what she had been put through. She was half tempted to lie and say nothing terrible, but that wouldn't have been the truth. And Wolf was laying there so patiently and Scarlet could feel his desperation to know what she had gone through. To know so he could help her cope with it.

So Scarlet told him. She told him every gory, gruesome detail, shuddering at some parts and crying at others. All the while, Wolf listened, doing what he knew he needed to do to comfort her. (Which, more often than not, involved running a hand through her hair or kissing her forehead.) And when she was finished, he just stared at her before closing the gap between them and giving her the most gentle and tender kiss she had ever received from him.

"I'm sorry," he murmured against her lips, so quietly that Scarlet barely heard him. "I'm so sorry. What you went through . . . what they did to you . . . it's all my fault."

Scarlet rolled her eyes, though she didn't think the action had the desired effect since she still had tears in her eyes and was breathless from Wolf's kiss. "How is it your fault?" she questioned. "You were being controlled when I was taken. You couldn't have done anything about it."

"I should have protected you, like I promised I would."

"How could you have protected me when the Sybil was controlling you?"

Wolf was silent for a moment, searching Scarlet's eyes. He brought a hand up and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "You're my alpha," he whispered. His voice sounded so lost and broken and defeated that Scarlet almost felt guilty for burdening him with her nightmares.

"Hey." Scarlet brought her hand up and ran it through Wolf's messy hair, resting it on the back of his neck. She scooted forward, pressing her forehead against his. "None of this is your fault," she murmured. "None of it. Everything that has happened to me, everything that's happened to you and Cinder and Thorne and Cress and everyone else – everything is Levana's fault. She's the one who's done this to me. Not you. Never you." She paused, rubbing the back of his neck with her thumb. "I trust you with my life, Wolf. I . . ." She faltered, the words suddenly stuck in her throat, refusing to come out.

I love you.

She did. She knew she did. She loved him with every fiber of her being. She loved him so much, it hurt. She loved him even though he was made to be a ruthless killing machine. She loved him even though he had once tried to kill her. None of it mattered.

And yet.

The words just wouldn't come out. She wasn't sure why. Maybe fear. Probably fear. After all, everything she'd ever loved had been taken from her. She'd been beaten and tortured and taunted and caged up in a zoo to be just another animal on display. And to love someone in that cruel of a world, when she knew that someone hurting him the same way they had hurt her would destroy her, seemed like the scariest and most dangerous thing imaginable.

That's when she realized.

Wolf had felt the same way. He had known exactly what they were doing to Scarlet during their separation. He knew exactly how cruel and wicked the Lunars could be and he'd had to sit around and do nothing while he knew she was being tortured in unimaginable ways. And he was still here. Still allowing himself to be vulnerable. Still loving her.

Scarlet leaned forward and kissed Wolf, her hand sliding away from his neck to cup his face. Wolf eagerly returned the kiss, rolling her onto her back and hovering just above her on his elbows as a means not to crush her small, frail body. His hands wove into her hair, grasping at her curls, as he kissed her more passionately, as if he was marking his territory. Scarlet didn't mind one bit. She would allow herself to be marked a thousand times as long as it was only Wolf doing it.

Wolf pulled away for a second, allowing both of them to inhale much needed oxygen, before going back in for a second kiss. Scarlet placed a hand on his chest, a nervous giggle bubbling up in her throat. Wolf froze at her touch. "Sorry," Scarlet apologized, "but don't you think it's odd that we're kissing with your mother in the same room as us?"

Both of them glanced over to where Maha Kesley laid on the other side of the room, sleeping peacefully, completely oblivious to the going-ons of her son and Scarlet.

Wolf nodded. "I agree," he whispered. He looked back down at Scarlet and his gaze was so tender and loving that Scarlet was frozen underneath it. He brought up a hand and traced her cheekbones, her nose, her jaw, the outline of her lips. "We'll continue this later," he promised and Scarlet found that she couldn't wait for "later" to come.

They fell back down into their previous positions with Scarlet curled up in Wolf's arms, their bodies tangled together. She fisted his shirt in her hands right over his heart. She found that there was an odd comfort in feeling Wolf's heartbeat. He was alive. He was still a man. He still loved her.

Wolf brushed a light kiss on her forehead. "Sleep," he told her.

Scarlet closed her eyes and did just that.

Review, please!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11