The book opens with the (female) protagonist arriving to murder a (male) serial rapist and killer. She finds him already dead. His crimes, and the crimes of similar perpetrators, are repeatedly mentioned throughout the book– never in detail. At one point the protagonist startles a male character by enthusiastically kissing him (without consent) as a distraction. He gropes her while surprised. They later refer to both of these incidents as sexual assault within the context of witty banter. She decides that she has feelings for him and makes ongoing repeated jokes about "claiming" him as her own, regardless of his opinion (this is perhaps mitigated somewhat by his revelation that he already had a crush on her when she set her sights on him). It is casually mentioned that a lycanthrope's bite inherently creates a lifelong mutual romantic and pheremonal bond.