He'd left the opera hall early in order to avoid a confrontation with Fenrir but it seemed Fenrir had anticipated that because when he reached home, Fenrir was already there to ambush him. He didn't even get a chance to take off his suit jacket before Fenrir was grabbing him and growling,

"What did he do to you?"

Harry closed his eyes sighed. The manic possessiveness in Fenrir's eyes was too much to behold and right now, he was in no mood to deal with it,

"Nothing."

He felt Fenrir's warm breath on his cheek as he snarled,

"Do not lie to me, Harry."

Harry opened his eyes and met Fenrir's demanding gaze,

"What do you want me to say?"

Fenrir roared in rage,

"TELL ME WHAT HE DID TO YOU"

Harry pursed his lips as he pulled away from Fenrir's grip,

"How about I just show you?"

He shrugged out of his jacket and began undoing the buttons of his blood soaked shirt. He'd rather fancied the suit. It seemed like such a shame that it had been wasted like that, but he'd needed to kill. He pulled off the shirt and watched the way Fenrir's gaze fixated on the bruises that covered his neck like a macabre choker.

Fenrir's features distorted with rage as he howled,

"HOW DARE HE? I WILL RIP HIM TO SHREDS!"

Harry leaned back against the wall casually and spoke,

"What do you think he did to me?"

Fenrir stepped closer to him and ran his fingers over the bruises tenderly,

"He tried to strangle you…"

Harry grinned softly as he took Fenrir's hand in his and stopped his exploring fingers,

"He kissed me too…"

Fenrir's jaw dropped open in puzzlement before it reverted back to the enraged scowl and his eyes conveyed his possessiveness perfectly,

"And you let him?"

Harry pulled Fenrir's hand up and pressed a kiss to his fingers one by one,

"It seemed like the reasonable thing to do in circumstances."

Fenrir expression instantly grew concerned,

"What circumstances?"

Harry released Fenrir's hand before admitting,

"He knows who I am."

Fenrir's eyes widened in shock and he was a silent for a moment before inquiring,

"Does he know you as Harry or James?"

Harry rested the back of his head against the wall and spoke,

"James… He knows that I'm Mr. J…He knows I work for you… He knows I killed his men…"

Fenrir's hands fisted as his entire being trembled with rage,

"You should have cried out for help when he was doing this to you… Mark and his men would have been there in the blink of an eye…I would have been there and torn him from limb to limb…"

Harry let out an amused chuckle,

"You're painting me as a damsel in distress… Do you really believe that he'd had me overpowered? Do you really believe that I couldn't have killed him or maimed him if I'd so desired it?"

Fenrir eyed him speechlessly and Harry pushed away from the wall and took a step closer to Fenrir,

"There are subtle and far more powerful means to establish dominance than violence… He believes he subdued me tonight but that is not the case… There will be a time in the near future when I'll be holding his reins and he'll be a slave to my whims."

Fenrir's eyebrows furrowed and Harry smoothed his fingers over the creases on his forehead,

"Don't worry, Fen…"

Fenrir made an annoyed sound and spoke,

"How can I not worry? Look at what he did to you…. What if he does it again?"

Harry smoothed his fingers through Fenrir's hair gently,

"He won't…"

Fenrir didn't look convinced,

"What if he does?"

Harry rested his forehead against Fenrir's and spoke,

"Trust me, Fen… I can handle this…"

Fenrir closed his eyes and Harry cupped his cheeks,

"I still don't understand why you allowed him to do this…"

Harry pressed a brief kiss to his lips,

"You don't need to understand that… All you need to know is that everything is under control."

Fenrir nodded after a brief pause and Harry pressed another kiss to his lips before pulling away,

"Go to bed, Fen… You've had a long day."

Fenrir looked at him,

"What about you?"

Harry picked up his discarded shirt and suit jacket and spoke,

"I've got some things to take care of."

Fenrir shook his head,

"You need to rest."

Harry was about to argue when Fenrir cut him off,

"I'm not going to listen to any arguments."

Harry sighed out,

"Fine."

He made his way to his room and dumped his shirt and jacket by the door. After pulling out his phone from the pockets of his pants, he discarded them as well and stepped in front of the mirror, dressed only in his black briefs. For a split second, he imagined Tom's fingers running over his body and a wave of arousal scorched through his blood. Shaking his head, he rid himself of the fantasy and pressed down on one of the bruises around his neck to get rid of any remnants of pleasure. Tom was his enemy. Tom had broken the truce. He was his rival. But the thing that was truly unforgivable was that Tom had rendered him weak and helpless. He could tolerate anything, but he was not going to tolerate that. He began removing the makeup and prosthetics he'd been wearing before pulling off his briefs and making his way to the bathroom. A shower was definitely in order.

He filled up the tub with warm water and then dumped all his favorite bath salts into it before stepping in. He slid down into the water, letting it block out everything around him and cocooning him in a blanket of wonderfully potent scents. Closing his eyes, he allowed his head to sink under the water and held his breath for as long as he could…

There was a certain peace that came with that because in that moment he didn't exist…His soul felt free of its bodily prison and he could see things… think things… visualize things that he otherwise couldn't when he was surrounded by worldly distractions.

When he emerged from the water, he felt Fenrir's presence in the bathroom. Harry kept his eyes closed as he leaned his head back against the edge of the tub and spoke,

"Why are you here?"

Fenrir's voice was husky with arousal as he spoke,

"I…I thought I'd bring you some salve for the bruises."

Harry hummed in appreciation before murmuring,

"Thanks…Leave it by the sink… I'll put it on later."

He knew Fenrir was desperate to touch him, hold him, feel him…And after what had taken place tonight, he was certain that Fenrir's alpha wolf instincts would be on high alert for the next couple of days and dodging him was going to be extremely difficult.