ALICE<br/><br/>Alice turned back and looked at Talton briefly, but shook her head and walked with Vincent in the woods. She sighed when he asked the questions, and looked confused.<br/><br/>"I'm not sure why you're asking, but I'll explain everything when you're dressed, recovering and I'm clean."<br/><br/>She realized all of the sudden that she was in a torn and ratty dress, dirty, injured and barefoot. She didn't have any money, nor anywhere to go. Suddenly going back to the campground didn't seem like too bad of an idea. After all, Rich had gone through a lot of trouble for her...but now Rich was gone. And she didn't trust a pack of male lycans. She'd just have to make due.<br/><br/>When they reached the edge of town, she nodded at his plan and walked into the hotel with an embarrassed look. After all, she didn't look much better than Vincent. Still, the hotel clerk believed her and she was able to go up and get him clothes. Walking back down, she took him his clothes and turned away to let him dress. Sighing, they went back to the hotel room and stood awkwardly. Instead of explaining right away, she got a washcloth with soap, some ice and a sewing kit from the front desk. Asking him to lay down, she carefully washed the wound as she leaned over him and threaded the needle.<br/><br/>"I'm so sorry. This is going to hurt, but you need stitches."<br/><br/>She was so used to not being able to go to the hospital or doctor, that she was the nurse for her old pack. Of course, Louis always had to be there if she was helping another man, so the fact that she didn't have her abusive ex-mate over her shoulder was rather freeing. She numbed the area as much as she could with ice and washed her hands before carefully stitching up the wound and grabbing a whiskey from the mini-bar to help with the pain for him. When she was done, she got a bandage from the front desk as well and put it over the gash. Finally, she was able to take care of his other scratches and soon was done...well, as much as she could do.<br/><br/>Before they began speaking, she needed to take a shower and recover herself a bit.<br/><br/>"I hope you don't mind, but can I use your shower?"<br/><br/>She took a bit longer than usual, as she had to be careful of her healing surgical wound, and she was fairly grimy from the days in the forest. When she emerged, she was clean, smelling good and had even brushed her teeth with one of the other free supplies she'd gotten from the front desk (these also included deoderant, a razor and shaving cream, and some antibacterial cream). Instead of putting on her old dress, she washed it as well as she could in the sink...although it was barely worth washing...and hung it up to dry. When she came out, she was fresh, clean and wrapped in one of the provided bathrobes. Blushing at her intimate state, she went over and sat on the bed as she took a deep breath.<br/><br/>"Alright. The only explanation that I can come up with is that you have amnesia or something of the sort. I hope you get better soon, but either way, I'll explain what I know. I found you beaten in the woods, and I can tell by your smell that you're Lycan...or a Werewolf. I'm not sure what happened last night, but because you were nude and confused, I'd say you shifted and injured yourself while you were in wolf form. All the men you saw in the forest are Lycan as well, although that new wolf...the one who growled...is unknown to me. I'm Alice, and I recently escaped a massacre of my old pack by superstitious werewolf hunters. I was the Alpha, Louis', mate, and I'm the only one left. I was shot and injured when Talton and his pack found me, and their previous Alpha...Rich...gave me a surgery to get all the silver poisoning out. I came upon Talton and Rich fighting, apparently over the fact that Rich had claimed me as his mate...and was not allowing the pack to breed with humans. Instead of being forced into mating again, I ran, and stumbled across you. The fact that Talton...the big one...was acting like a king, and had blood on his hands, probably means that Rich was defeated and Talton is Alpha now. I don't have any intention of ever living with a pack, nor mating again...so I was more than happy to help you."<br/><br/>She paused and looked up into his eyes. Her pale face and wet hair in stark contrast to each other.<br/><br/>"I'll just wait for my dress to dry, and then I can get out of your hair. I assume you have a pack out looking for you."<br/><br/>She cleared her throat awkwardly and began combing through her hair with her fingers...although she couldn't forget the sight of his nude body, even now...