Wolf's Blood, Sweat and Tears - New Beginnings

by bturrell316

After the devastating attack that turned her, Clarke and her mother move to a new town to try and deal with her... condition. Clarke gets quite a shock though when she learns that not only are werewolves more common than she thought, but far more attractive as well. Can she balance her new life with her old one though, as she discovers that her old friends aren't willing to give up

2. Chapter 2

Lexa drove a bit distractedly, and probably far too fast for the winding rural road on her way back to her pack's home. The entire time she struggled to keep her mind focused on what needed to be done. She had a location now to begin their search for the rogue wolf, and she had promised Clarke she would find him. So why couldn't she keep her mind on the goals ahead?

Her first instinct was to blame her oncoming heat, looming imminently in the days ahead. 'One day... two maybe...?' She wasn't sure. The truth was, when it came to Clarke and the amount of distraction she felt though, she wasn't sure anymore if her heat was more of a cause or an effect.

She made it back to her house in near record time, not slowing down until she turned off the main road. She left the pavement behind as she headed down the gravel service road, and then turned again, heading deeper into the woods as she made her way down the long driveway.

Pulling to a gentle stop in front of her house, Lexa gave pause, tilting her head back against the headrest, closing her eyes for a moment to try and focus on quieting her mind. It took several minutes, but she finally managed to compose herself before heading inside.

She found the four other members of her pack, Lincoln and Echo were in the kitchen, and followed to where Gustus and Indra were waiting in the den. There was a large table in the middle of the room, which Lexa approached even before addressing anyone. Shuffling several things around, she pulled out a large surveying map, and unrolled it on the table.

She paused then, regarding her pack to make sure she had their undivided attention before finally speaking.

"According to Clarke, the attack happened here." She said, placing a finger on the map. "Mt. Weather Regional Park. Her, her father and two family friends were camping there. They had planned to make a long weekend out of it, but they were attacked on the first night. It was last month, May 3rd." She turned to Lincoln. "Lincoln, I want you to reach out to your contacts at the Arkadia Precinct, see if you can get any reports of the attack, also animal control companies, see if there were any other wolf sightings reported during both the month leading up to the attack, and this month after the attack. Call Anya if you have to." Lincoln nodded, and left the room to make some calls.

Lexa paused, taking a breath. Her gaze steady on the map before her. "Maybe we'll get lucky and be able to establish a timeline of movement, or an area that he's sticking close to." Lexa said. "Once we do, it will be up to you two to canvas the area." She told Gustus and Indra. "You can take Echo, we'll get Nyko out of work, and call in Niylah too, if we have to."

Gustus nodded, with little more than a grunt and left the room. Echo gave a brief nod of respect to Lexa and then followed. Indra stayed behind.

Lexa had yet to take her eyes from the maps in front of her. "Speak your mind, Indra."

"Commander..." Indra began, stepping forward. When only silence followed, Lexa finally brought her gaze up to meet Indra's, but by her expression, it appeared Indra was looking for the proper words to use. "Gustus has been... grumbling."

"If Gustus has a problem, he knows to bring it to me himself." Lexa said cooly.

"But he's not." Indra said.

"And that makes you worry?" Lexa said, her brow twitching with consideration as she asked the question. Indra was silent returning Lexa's gaze, knowing that it was not her place to make assumptions, or jump to conclusions.

"Thank you, Indra." Lexa said finally. "I'm sure it's nothing, but I'll keep an eye on Gustus." Indra gave a curt nod and left. Lexa let out a sigh. Gustus had been a part of this pack since before she had been born. Lexa was sure that there was no reason to be suspicious of him, but Indra did have unusually keen insights into people. Maybe she shouldn't disregard Indra's suspicions too quickly.

"Holy crap." Octavia said. "Its like driving into a scene from Gilmore Girls."

They had just passed the medical center and were headed down Main Street, reaching the town square moments later.

"Okay, Rey. Where we headed?" Bellamy asked, more focused on maneuvering the over-sized truck through the small town's streets, than the small town itself.

"Turn right, up here." Raven replied, double checking the route displayed on her phone's GPS. "There." She said, pointing up ahead, as Bellamy made a wide sweeping turn. He gave an apologetic wave to the person in the car coming the opposite way, that had stopped to let him through, then looked up ahead to see where Raven was pointing.

Bellamy eyed the old brick building wearily, trying to look as excited as Raven was. It wasn't easy. The yellow paint was peeling like third degree sunburn, the large letters mounted over the entrance just said, 'GARAGE.' Whatever word had been before that, long since had either been removed or fallen down on its own. At least it was set back off the street a ways, providing room for about six cars to park out front. There was only one garage bay though, and what looked like the entrance for a small office up front. The first moving truck was already parked out front, seemingly taking up as much space as possible, but luckily there was an alleyway next to the garage, that offered just enough room so that Bellamy's truck wasn't blocking the street.

"Hey Bell, nice parking job." Wick said, checking his watch. Bellamy knew, he was mocking him for how long it took him to maneuver the truck backwards into the alley without hitting anything, but Bellamy simply ignored him. Raven didn't have as much self control.

"Yeah, you too, Dick." She said.

"Gee" Wick said. "I'm sorry you guys rented such a large truck. Maybe if you didn't have so much crap, you could have rented smaller trucks. You know you could do the same job with half as many tools, right?" Raven took a step closer, but Octavia stopped her before she could do anything violent.

"Woah, calm down, Reyes. Remember if you kill him, there won't be anyone to run your shop in Arkadia." Octavia said. Raven backed down, but was still shaking her head and grinding her teeth. She muttered something insulting under her breath as she unlocked the door to the front office.

Wick was still standing against his truck, a smug smirk of his face. Octavia turned to him with a withering glare, and he just raised both his hands in a placating gesture. He loved to get under people's skin, but he had heard what Octavia said about the garage in Arkadia as well, and it must have struck something, because he mostly behaved himself for the rest of the day.

Thinking it a better idea to keep Raven and Wick separated, Octavia decided that she and Wick could unload the truck with their personal items, and take them upstairs, while Bellamy helped Raven unload the other truck of all her tools and equipment for the garage.

The entrance to the stairs that led up to the apartments was around the side of the building, ending on the second floor at a small, dark landing. Octavia took her time fishing the keys from her pocket as Wick stood behind her on the stairs, awkwardly gripping a box he'd grabbed from the truck. The box was heavier than he had initially thought, and she was having fun throwing it back in his face. Honestly, she had stalled for less than a whole minute, smirking as he entered behind her muttering something under his breath.

Most of the afternoon was spent like that, until both trucks were empty. Pretty much as soon as they were sure they didn't need him anymore they let Wick leave, and he was only too eager to get out of there too.

"Should we feel bad..." Bellamy started, as he watched Wick's truck pull away and head out of town. Both girls turned and gave him a hard glare. He shook his head. "Never mind."

Raven spent most of the evening in the garage, organizing and arranging her tools, so that they would be just the way she wanted them. Octavia and Bellamy tag-teamed the office area. It really needed some drywall work and repainting, okay and maybe some new flooring, and lighting too. A new window wouldn't hurt either. Bellamy stood in the middle of the office, looking around, scratching his forehead unimpressed.

He got a swat on the arm from the rag that his sister was using to dust. "You wanna help me bro, or not?" She said.

"Right, sorry." He said.

"I know." She said, already knowing what he had been thinking. "Baby steps though, right?"

"Sure." He said, giving his sister half a smile. A couple hours later Raven came in. She was hot and sweaty, and had her sweatshirt tied off around her waist, but she had the biggest smile either Octavia or Bellamy had ever seen on her.

"So guys, what do you think?" She asked.

"It's awesome, Raven." Bellamy said, sounding completely genuine. Not even a hint of his own doubt showed through. Sure the place needed some work, but this was Raven's dream. Who was he to shit on it? "Are either of you hungry?" He asked. "I think I saw a pizza place on the corner."

Both girls agreed eagerly, and pitched in some money. Then they let him know they'd be upstairs unpacking when he got back. Raven locked up the office, and pulled down the overhead door. There was a separate door at the back of the garage, that opened up into the bottom of the stairwell too, which meant Raven didn't need to walk outside and halfway around the building to go upstairs to her apartment.

Bellamy had been right about the pizza place, and the realization that he lived less than a block away made him unreasonably excited. Glancing both ways, he quickly crossed the street and ducked into the shop, a small bell jingling over the door. Looking around, he noticed a few small tables, a counter top with stools facing the windows, and a couple booths against the side wall. A young woman, who looked to be about Bellamy's age came out to the counter from the kitchen. She had light brown hair falling in gentle curls to her shoulders. She smiled when she saw him, wiping her flour covered hands on her apron, before asking what she could get for him.

He ordered three large pizzas, figuring any leftovers would bee eaten for breakfast. He got a pepperoni for himself, sausage for Octavia, and Hawaiian for Raven. He also got two 2-liter bottles of soda, one Diet Coke and one regular. The girl rang up his total, and he paid.

"It'll be about a thirty minute wait." She said. He noticed her name tag said, 'Gina.'

"That's fine." He replied, giving her his most charming smile. She returned it with a pleasant smile of her own, before she turned and headed back to the kitchen. Bellamy waited, pulling out a chair at one of the tables closest the register.

"Here you go." She said after awhile, placing the pizza boxes stacked three-high on the counter next to the register.

"Wow, thirty minutes already?" He said, standing and pushing his chair back in. She smiled, but didn't say anything as she reached into the cooler under the counter and pulled out his two bottles of soda. She double bagged them to make sure the plastic wouldn't rip while he was carrying them.

"Uh, can I get some extra napkins too?" He asked, thinking about it. "I don't know if we'll have our dishes unpacked yet."

"Oh, sure." She said. "So you just move here?" She asked.

"Yup, just up the street." He said. "Above the old garage."

"Oh yeah," She replied. "I had heard someone had finally bought that place."

Bellamy nodded. "Yeah that was my friend, Raven. She moved into the one apartment, my sister and I moved into the other."

"Nice," Gina said. "So I guess I'll be seeing you guys around then."

"Yup, probably pretty often, knowing Raven and pizza."

Gina smiled. "Good to know," she said. "Have a good night."

"You too." Bellamy replied. He carried the bag in one hand, underneath one side of the pizza boxes, and grabbed the other side of the pizza boxes with his other hand. Gina was nice enough to come around the counter and hold the door open for him as he left, and he was really glad that he lived less than a block away.

Clarke woke up, staring at the ceiling, sprawled languidly across her bed. She'd kicked away the blankets, and her sheet was tangled around one leg as the morning sun filled and warmed her room through the full height glass. She was seriously considering getting one of those sleep masks so she wasn't woken up right at sunrise every morning.

She crawled out of bed and walked over to her easel. After Lexa had left yesterday, Clarke had spent most of the afternoon in her room painting, figuring it would help clear her head. It had started as just a landscape, using the view outside her bedroom windows as a direct reference. At some point while she worked though, Lexa had managed to burrow her way back in, and firmly plant herself in Clarke's thoughts. She was struck by an image she recalled from the day they had first met. At one point when she took a seat on that rock, Lexa was looking out over the forest, chin slightly raised, with her hands clasped behind her back. Between her impeccable posture, and the sharp, attractive lines of her profile, she just looked so fucking regal. Clarke worked the semi-transparent portrait into her landscape, layering it almost perfectly overtop. She was very happy with it, even looking at it the next morning.

By the time she padded downstairs that morning, her mom had already left for work. She made herself a large breakfast, as usual, today it was a stack of pancakes. A big stack of pancakes, with a side of sausage links. She was nearly done eating, when she heard her phone going off upstairs. Rushing back up to her room, she reached it just in time, not bothering to check the caller ID before answering.

"Hello." She said.

"Heya, Princess." Raven's voice answered.

"Hey, did you guys get all settled in yesterday?" Clarke asked.

"Not really." Raven replied. "I mean I got the garage set up the way I want it, but everything in my apartment is still in boxes. I think the Blakes did a little better, but not by much. Once all their boxes were upstairs, they really helped me out by getting the front office ready."

"You should thank them." Clarke reminded her, making her way back downstairs, to finish eating as she talked to Raven.

"I was gonna." Raven said defensively. "I'm not a total ass. I'll treat 'em to dinner tonight or something, since Bellamy paid for most of it last night"

Clarke laughed. It wasn't that her friend was necessarily rude. She just got going so fast, and so wrapped up in her own things, that common courtesies sometimes slipped her mind. "The fact that you had all of yesterday and most of last night to think about it, and you haven't yet, should tell you something."

"Shut up, Griffin." Raven said. Clarke laughed again. She could practically hear Raven's eyes rolling.

"So are you like open for business now?" Clarke said, changing the subject as she took a bite of sausage link from her fork.

"Tomorrow." Raven said. "It's Sunday, and I don't think I'll be open on Sundays."

"The benefits of being self-employed." Clarke said.

"Yeah, we'll see how business goes. If I'm busy enough I might work Sundays too. Today though, I just still have to much unpacking to do."

"Right." Clarke nodded.

"So, you coming over tonight?" Raven asked. "We gotta have like a proper housewarming party ya know."

Clarke thought about it briefly. Her mom would be home, and she should be able to convince her mom to let her borrow the car. "Yeah," Clarke said, getting excited. "I'll definitely be there." It had been a long time since she'd really had the chance to hang out with all her friends. Since before her father's death.

"Great. I'll see ya tonight then." Raven said.

"Yeah, see ya." She got off the phone, and quickly finished what little was left of her breakfast, before cleaning up and heading back up to her room to figure out what she was going to do with the rest of her day.

Raven hung up with Clarke, just as she heard the apartment door open across the hall. She hurried to the front door, calling out to Bellamy. He was halfway down the stairs already, but stopped, looking over his shoulder.

"The housewarming party, will it be in your place or mine?" She asked.

"We're having a housewarming party?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Blake." She said with an exaggerated attitude. "Don't worry, maybe you can make some friends at work to invite, since I know you don't have any."

"That's funny." He deadpanned back at her.

She smirked. "Well, I already invited Clarke, so it's up to you and O who you wanna invite."

Bellamy's straight face faltered a bit at the mention of Clarke, and Raven just seemed to smirk harder, obviously feeling rather good about herself. There were times to this day that he regretted ever opening his mouth. He'd made the mistake once of telling Raven that he liked Clarke, back when they were all in middle school. Of course Raven had told Clarke, and things got really awkward. Clarke spoke with him about it, telling him that she really liked him as a friend, but that was it. Eventually the awkwardness faded, but Raven never let him live it down.

Finally, Bellamy just shook his head and continued down the stairs and out the door. "Yeah, alright." He said, waving over his shoulder without looking back.

"Hey wait. So your place or mine?" She yelled after him, but he was already outside and gone.

Bellamy left the apartment and headed towards the square. The police station was behind town hall, on the right side of the street. He wore a pair of Dickies work pants, and a blue button-down shirt, neither of which had been properly ironed. Luckily, it wasn't his official first day, more of an orientation to meet his new boss and partner and get to know the local department's system.

There was a parking lot around the side of the station that was nearly empty, and a single cruiser was parked on the street out front. The front doors were wooden, dark and heavy.

"Hi there." Bellamy said, greeting a slightly overweight woman, with blueish-gray curls. She sat in a small, stuffy reception area behind a large desk with a counter top at standing height. "I was told to report to Sheriff Kane."

"What's your name, darling?" She said, flipping open a notebook on her desk.

"Bellamy Blake." He replied.

"Blake, Blake, Blake... Ah yes, here you are. Please go in. Straight through, his office is at the back." She said, indicating the door to her left.

"Thank you." He said. Bellamy stepped through the door into what he pictured every small town police bullpen looked like. It was just as hot an stuffy as the reception area, despite the constant whir of the A/C units set in the windows along the right side of the room. The desks were set up in pairs, facing each other. Two sets of two on the right side, two sets of two on the left. Between the two sets of desks, on the left hand side was a set of double doors, which Bellamy figured led to the town hall and courthouse.

He continued down the middle of the room, pausing to knock on the door to the only office. He noticed the letters stenciled on the glass just said 'Sheriff,' without a name or anything. Bellamy suspected that made it easier when they were fired or got a new one. The walls of the office where only partial height partitions, with large, smoky glass windows, that didn't even reach all the way to the ceiling.

"Come in." A voice called out from the other side of the door. Bellamy's hand was already on the handle and he entered. The man he presumed to be the Sheriff stood behind the desk, and another officer sat in a chair facing the desk.

"Ah, you must be Office Blake." The sheriff said. "This is Lincoln Woods, you're going to partnered up with him for now."

"Lincoln" Bellamy said, holding out his hand professionally. Lincoln stood, accepting and returning the gesture.

"Nice to meet you." Lincoln said. When he stood he was a good four or five inches taller than Bellamy, solid muscle, with a clean shaven head.

"Great." Kane said. "Lincoln, why don't you give him a brief tour. When you are done, Bellamy would you come back to see me?"

"Yessir." Bellamy said.

"So this is the bullpen, which you've obviously seen already." Lincoln said, as they left the sheriff's office. "Not much more I can show you here." They walked over by the set of desks along the windows, closest to Kane's office. "This'll be your desk though, from now on." He said. "Of course, the desks are grouped by partners, so I'm right across from you here."

"Okay." Bellamy said.

"Next why don't we get you your uniform."

Bellamy nodded, and followed along as Lincoln led him through the set of doors towards the courthouse.

"Through that door there is a set of stairs." Lincoln explained, pointing out the mentioned door as they walked past. "We have our holding cells and our armory down there. I know," He said without prompting. "Having those two so close together didn't really make sense to me either." He smiled, showing perfectly white teeth which contrasted with his bronze skin.

Bellamy smirked, because that was exactly what he had been thinking. Lincoln led Bellamy to another door, this time they went through, finding another open office bullpen. This one appeared to have been renovated more recently, as they had carpet, ceiling tiles, and what looked like a nearly fresh coat of white paint on the walls.

"Hi, Rita." Lincoln said, approaching a woman who had her back turned to them as they entered.

"Well hellooo." She said. "And where might you have been? Why don't I see you more often, sugar?"

"What can I say, someone's gotta be out there catching the bad guys." Lincoln replied.

"What bad guys? This is TonDC. I'm not even sure why we have a police department."

"Because if we didn't have a police department, then I'd never get to see you, now would I?"

"Guess you got a point there." She said. Lincoln smiled and turned her attention to Bellamy.

"Rita, I'd like to introduce you to my knew new partner." Lincoln said.

"Hi there," He said. "Bellamy Blake."

"My my," Rita said with wink. "It's about time the department recruited someone who can compete with this one." Lincoln just rolled his eyes. "What can I do for you sugar?"

"We need to get him fitted up for a uniform." Lincoln said.

"Ohhhh." Rita said. "Now I see how it is. So you're really only comin' to see me 'cause you need somethin' is that it? Is that what our relationship has been reduced to."

"Aw, come on now Rita, don't be like that." Lincoln said. "You know you're my favorite."

"Uh-huh, sure." She said, turning back to Bellamy. "What size shirt are you?"

"Medium." He said, unable to wipe the little half-smile he'd had since the conversation had first started.

"Okay." She said, jotting an 'M' down on a post-it note. "And pants? Waist and length?"

Bellamy shrugged. "Thirty-two for both I guess." She wrote that down as well, and took the post-it with her.

"Alright, sweetie. I'll be right back with these." She stood from her desk and headed across the bullpen.

Lincoln let out a sigh, his gaze following. "Ah, she's great isn't she." Bellamy looked at him, quirking an eyebrow, and Lincoln couldn't keep the corner of his mouth from twitching as he tried to hide his smile.

"Favorite person I've met so far." Bellamy replied with a shrug, giving Lincoln a pointed glance.

"Oh, now that's just hurtful." Lincoln, pretending to be really offended.

Rita returned a moment later with Bellamy's all black uniform. The shirt and pants were both folded, wrapped up in clear plastic bags.

"There you go, handsome." Rita said. "There's a bathroom in the hall for you to change in. Why don't you go take care of that, and when you come back we'll get your photo taken for your badge."

Bellamy nodded and left them, kind of relieved that he had no idea what they were talking about while he was gone.

Most of the day went like that. Lincoln led Bellamy from one part of the station, or courthouse, to another. The armory was their last stop, where Bellamy picked up his weapon and holster. He'd received his uniform, his own badge with photo ID in a leather wallet, a uniform jacket, a police-issue duffel bag, and now his belt with cuffs, mace, holster for his sidearm, and a collapsable baton.

"For a city with no crime, you guys sure are outfitted pretty well." Bellamy said, as they made their way back upstairs from the armory.

Lincoln nodded. "Tell me about it. It's a little overkill in my opinion, which is why I normally don't where the whole belt getup, but I guess its an effective deterrent too." They were back in the bullpen, and Lincoln took a seat at his desk. "Don't forget." He said. "Kane wanted to see you before you left."

"Right." Bellamy said, stepping over to the office door, it was propped open now, and Bellamy knocked on the door frame.

"Ah, Blake, come on in." He said. "That uniform suits you."

"Thank you, Sir." Bellamy said.

"Please have a seat." Kane said, indicating the chair facing his desk. Bellamy sat. "So I assume Lincoln showed you everything? It's not a terribly large precinct."

Bellamy let himself give a little half a smile. "Yeah, I think he got me all sorted out."

"Good." Kane said. He sat back, picking up a file off his desk. "You received impressive marks from the academy, Blake. Marksmanship. Interrogation. Sounds like you're potential detective material."

"Thank you, Sir."

"So what are you doing here?" Kane said, closing the file and tossing it onto his desk.

"Sir?" Bellamy asked, not sure where this was going.

"We have one active case right now, Blake, and that's to figure who vandalized Ms. Hudson's yard gnomes. Occasionally we catch one of the high school kids with some pot, or perhaps some underage drinking at a party." Kane continued. "Sometimes we get reports of Billy, the town drunk urinating on the gazebo in town square. These are the kinds of cases we deal with. So what are you doing here?"

"Sir, I asked to transfer here." Bellamy said. "I have a very close group of friends that just moved here," it wasn't entirely true, but it was close enough. "All I want to do is protect and serve, and I want to do that protecting the people I care about. That's why I chose here."

Kane was silent, regarding his new officer closely. He watched as Blake set his jaw and he swallowed nervously, but he held Kane's gaze.

"Fair enough." Kane said finally. He stood, and Bellamy followed his example. Bellamy was surprised next by Kane's outstretched hand. "Welcome to TonDC PD." He said.

"Thank you, Sir." Bellamy said, shaking the sheriff's hand, and allowing himself to relax finally.

"I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning for your first official day. You're dismissed, Officer Blake."

Bellamy nodded and left Kane's office, stopping by Lincoln's desk on the way out to say goodbye. He waited, while his new partner finished up on a phone call.

"You sure?... yeah... yeah, okay... Alright, thanks Anya. Send those reports as soon as you can."

After Lincoln hung up, Bellamy made sure he knew that he was leaving.

"Alright, man. I'll see you tomorrow." Lincoln said.

"Yup. Bright and early." Bellamy said, repeating the Sheriff's words as he walked away. "Hey Lincoln," He said before getting to far.

"Yo." Lincoln replied, turning in his chair.

"You doing anything tonight?"

"Woah Blake, I like you and all, but you're moving a little fast for me." Lincoln said.

Bellamy just shook his head, unable to hide his grin. If he had to work with a partner, he figured he could do a lot worse than Lincoln. "We're having a kind of housewarming party tonight I guess." Bellamy shrugged. "Just casual, a few friends, a couple beers, and probably pizza."

Lincoln thought about it, then nodded. "Yeah why not." He said. "I've never been one to turn down pizza and beer. What time?"

Bellamy shrugged. "Whenever you're done here." He said. "We live in Unit #2, above the garage just off the square."

"Oh yeah, I'd heard someone had moved in there." Lincoln replied. "Alright, I'll be there around eight probably."

"Cool, see you then." Bellamy said.

"Oh my God." Octavia groaned at the ceiling, loud enough to make sure Raven could hear her. "Make it stop." She was on her knees in her room unpacking the last of her boxes. 'All About That bass' could be heard thumping through the paper-thin walls, coming from Raven's apartment. Of course it didn't help that both apartment doors were standing open; they couldn't really help it though. The apartments had been sitting closed up for way too long apparently, the air had become stale and musty. One of the first things Octavia had done was go around and open every single door and window, and turned on the ceiling fans in the living room and bedrooms to get some air circulating.

Just then Raven burst in, singing and dancing. "But I can shake it, shake it..." She spun out of the way as a pillow was flung at her face, laughing as it bounced off the wall and she danced back out of the room.

"Pretty quick for someone with a bum leg." Octavia muttered herself.

About an hour later Octavia was finally finished, coming out of her room to find Raven sitting on the kitchen counter.

"Did you actually do any work today?" Octavia asked, narrowing her gaze on her friend.

"Yes." Raven replied, sounding a bit put off. "I unpacked the clothes I'm wearing right now and my shampoo. I hid all the other boxes in the spare bedroom where no one would see them."

"God, its so unfair that you get an extra room for your shit." Octavia said.

"What can I say? I'm awesome." Raven said.

"If by awesome, you mean lonely." Octavia just managed to dodge the back of Raven's hand aimed at her shoulder. Raven tried a second time, but had to lean too far, and gave up instead of risking falling on off the counter and landing on her face.

"Dammit, Blake. I'm gonna get you back, you little shit." Raven growled.

It was that exact point that Bellamy entered. He was still dressed in his uniform, and had his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He was about to say something accusatory, to his little sister, when he was interrupted by a low wolf-whistle from Raven.

"Look out everybody, five-oh is here." Raven said.

Bellamy shot Raven a dirty look, then looked back at his sister. "I'm just gonna assume that whatever you did to make her call you a 'little shit,' she probably deserved."

"Oh nice, Blake. You best keep your distance tonight. I'll take off this brace and beat you to death with it."

Bellamy ignored her, dropping his bag on the couch, and letting out a sigh.

"Woah, Blake what are you doing?" Raven asked.

Bellamy gave her a confused look.

"We've got company coming remember?"

"Here?" Bellamy asked.

"Yeah," Octavia said. "Raven said that you offered."

"I bet she did." Bellamy said, shooting Raven another look.

"Hey, I asked, 'your place or mine.' You never answered."

Bellamy grabbed up is bag, and took it back to his room, shaking his head.

"Oh by the way." Raven said, finally hoping down from the counter, as carefully as she could, but without appearing to. "Pizza's on me tonight. You know... as a thank you... for your help yesterday with the shop."

"See." Bellamy said turning and looking at her incredulously. "Next time why don't you open with that?"

Raven gave him a look that said, 'yeah right,' then headed towards the door. "You wanna come with?" She asked Octavia.

"Sure." Octavia said with a shrug.

"Hey Blake." Raven stopped suddenly, calling out from the front door.

"Yeah." She heard him respond from his room.

"You make any friends today that I gotta worry about crashing this party."

"Yeah actually, make sure you get enough for one more."

"Aww. My brother has a plus-one." Octavia cooed. "They grow up so fast these days, don't they?"

Even from back in his room he could hear both girls laughing hysterically as they headed down the stairs, but all he could do at that point was shake his head and roll his eyes.

Clarke stood in front of her closet. It was the first time she'd been out in a long time, but she had no idea why she was stressing so much. 'It's just them.' She thought, picturing her group of friends, the same group of friends she'd known since sixth grade.

She shook her head, feeling ridiculous standing in the middle of her room in just her underwear. Finally making up her mind, she chose a black pair of jeans and white t-shirt. She wore a long-sleeve flannel over top of it of blue, black and gray, deciding to tie the bottom at her bellybutton, instead of buttoning it up. She sat on the edge of her bed and pulled on a pair of black boots to complete the outfit, lacing them, tying them and checking herself one last time in the mirror before heading downstairs.

Clarke's mom was sitting in the living, sipping her evening decaf coffee, and reading a book. Clarke stopped and actually paused for a minute. It was strange to see her mom so relaxed. It was something she never had time to do, back when they lived in Arkadia.

Feeling her daughter's presence in the room, Abby looked up from her book.

"You headed out now, honey?" Abby asked.

"Yeah." Clarke replied. She'd of course informed her mom that her friends had moved to town the day before, as soon as her mom had gotten home, and today with nothing else to do, she had texted her mom to make sure it was alright if she borrowed the car, as soon as she had gotten off the phone with Raven.

"Alright, keys are in my purse, on the kitchen counter." Abby said. Clarke turned to the kitchen and grabbed them, pausing again as she reached the living room.

"Hey mom," She said. "I was thinking today, well, you know I'm not so sure about the med school thing anymore, but I was thinking of signing up for some online gen. ed courses in the fall, see if I can figure out something to focus on between now and then."

"I think thats a great idea, sweetie." Abby said. "What brought this on?"

Clarke shrugged. "Whatever happened," she said, waving her hand in a way that indicated she was talking about the past. "It's a part of me now, and I can't just hide up here in the woods for the rest of my life feeling sorry for myself. I guess I realized that when everyone stopped by yesterday, ya know? I miss them."

"Good for you." Abby said. Clarke smiled and quickly said goodbye.

"Have a good night dear." Abby said, as Clarke said good night and left, closing the door behind her.

Raven and Octavia were still laughing when they entered the pizza joint. Raven noticed the brunette behind the counter with curly hair.

She gave a casual upwards jerk of her chin. "Hey, what's up?" She said.

"Hi, there." Gina replied, amused by Raven's outwardness. "What can I get for you?"

"Let's see." Raven said, she looked over to Octavia. Theirs were the easiest to remember, so she ordered a pepperoni, a sausage, and her Hawaiian pizza first.

"Ugh, I still don't know how you can eat that, Raven." Octavia said.

"Uh... it's delicious." Raven replied. "What else? What does Clarke like again?"

Octavia shrugged. "Clarke's not really picky, she'll probably eat anything."

Raven's face lit up with mischief. "Should we get anchovies and cauliflower?" She asked.

Octavia's face lit up too. "Yeah!" She said, nodding her head up and down excitedly for a moment, before instantly shaking her head with a frown. "What? No. Are you nuts?"

Raven who had been completely pulled into Octavia's trap was suddenly caught off guard. "What? Why not?"

Octavia looked at Raven like she was actually was nuts then. "We haven't hung out with Clarke in over a month, no way am I letting you scare her off. You're lucky I'm letting you get your nasty pineapple crap."

"Whatever." Raven said, "I'm the one whose paying." Raven turned her attention to the girl behind the counter. "Sorry 'bout that."

The girl, who was trying very hard not to laugh, simply shook her head. "It's fine." She said. "Take your time." While Raven was staring up at the menu with her mouth quirked to one side as she tried to think, the girl gave her a surreptitious glance. Her dark hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She wore a red hoodie, and blue jeans, and she had a medical brace on her left leg. Careful to make sure she wasn't caught staring, Gina's gaze quickly flicked down to the monitor when something struck her about the order she'd typed in so far.

"You guys don't live above that garage across the street, do you?" Gina asked.

"Yeah." Raven said, puzzled.

"A guy came in yesterday." Gina explained. "He ordered the same exact three pizzas."

"Oh yeah," Octavia said. "That was my brother, Bellamy. I'm Octavia. This is Raven. We'll probably be your most frequent customers now."

Even though she wasn't saying anything Raven nodded in agreement.

"So have you made up your mind yet?" Octavia asked, turning back to Raven who had seemed to have zoned out. "Hello. Earth to Raven." Octavia snapped her fingers in front of Raven's face. Raven jerked back from the hand in her face.

"What? Geez, what's wrong with you?" Raven said. "Yeah, I've made up my mind." Raven shook her head, gently pushing Octavia away from her. Gina chuckled softly and Raven gave her a small smile. "I'll also take one plain cheese, and one supreme, please." Gina punched them into the register with the others.

"Would you guys like any sodas as well?" She asked.

Raven looked to Octavia, Octavia shrugged. "Yeah," Raven said. "Might as well, same as last night. Also is there anywhere we can pick up some beer in this town?"

"Yeah," Gina said. "There's a general store, about a block from your place, in the opposite direction, by the gas station."

"Wait, there's actually a general store. Oh my god, this town is adorable." Raven laughed.

Five pizzas ended up taking a good amount of time longer than the night before. So they decided that Octavia would wait for the pizzas and Raven would go get the beer. Raven made sure to give her the money to pay for them, and assured her friend that she'd be back to help her carry them all. She then walked up to the general store bought a couple twelve packs, and carried them back, stopping off at the apartment to put them in the fridge to make sure they'd be cold for the night ahead. Then she hurried back to meet Octavia before the pizzas were done.

When Raven returned to the pizza place, she saw Octavia suddenly stand up straight from where she had been leaning over the counter. Gina flushed slightly and appeared uncomfortable making direct eye contact with Raven, and Raven was pretty sure they were enjoying themselves at her expense. The last of the pizzas finished a couple minutes later, and Octavia paid with Raven's money.

"See ya." Raven said, waving goodbye to Gina.

"Yeah, see ya." Said Octavia. "And remember what I said." Again Gina blushed slightly, but she smiled and nodded and returned Raven's wave.

"Alright, what the hell was that about?" Raven asked, once they were back out on the street.

"What was what about?" Octavia said, sounding perfectly oblivious.

"With you and Gina? What was going on between you two?"

"I'm positive that I have no idea what you're talking about." Said Octavia.

"Oh, you're not getting off that easy." Raven said, her irritation clearly growing as they crossed the street back towards the apartment.

The garage was easy enough to find, right where Raven said it would be. Clarke was still a little late though, thanks to her indecisive tendencies when it came to picking out clothes. She parked right out front, next to a dark red Nissan Xterra, and walked around to the side of the building like Raven had told her. Even from outside, her heightened senses of hearing could pick up on the rowdy conversations going on inside. She could also caught the scents of both pizza and beer. The stairwell when she entered was dark and smelled heavily of mothballs, even in the near pitch-black though, Clarke could still make out the steps without any difficulty.

Just as she reached the top landing, she heard an unfamiliar voice from inside.

"I think someone's at the door." He said. Clarke paused her fist raised to knock. 'That's weird.' She thought.

Just then the door opened and Raven was standing there. "Princess!" She squealed, wrapping her up in a tight hug. Clarke's was caught off guard, because Raven never squealed like that when she got excited, but then Clarke noticed the beer in Raven's hand and caught the heavy scent of it on her breath, and it started making a little more sense.

"Hey guys." Raven called out to the room, draping her arm over Clarke's shoulder, as she led her inside. "Look who's here." Octavia and Bellamy both came up and gave her big hugs, seeming to restrain themselves only slightly more than Raven had, and they weren't even drunk.

"It's good to see you." Bellamy said, as he pulled away.

"Yeah, you too." Replied Clarke. Then she noticed the impressive man standing slightly behind Bellamy. He was taller, with broader shoulders and a shaved bald head.

"Clarke, this is Lincoln, my new partner." Introduced Bellamy. "Lincoln, this is my friend, Clarke."

"Clarke?" He said. "Wait? You're Clarke?"

Clarke was both surprised and confused. She'd never seen him before, but he seemed to recognize her somehow. Also, considering Lincoln was indeed impressive, almost imposing in stature, when he extended his hand for Clarke to shake it, he kept his head lowered and his gaze averted. No one else seemed to notice this though.

"Wait. Do you two know each other already?" Bellamy asked. Clarke shook her head.

"No." Lincoln answered, "but we have a mutual friend, Lexa." He explained to Clarke, before turning back to Bellamy. "Lexa gave me a heads up that Clarke had a friend that was joining the force, said to make sure I kept an eye out, just as a favor for a friend kind of thing."

"Well that was nice of her." Bellamy said. "What are the odds we'd be assigned as partners, huh?"

"It's a small department." Lincoln reminded him. "The odds were literally one out of seven."

"Shut up and have another beer." Bellamy said shaking his head, and slapping Lincoln on the back. "You want one, princess?" Bellamy asked.

She wasn't twenty-one yet, and she wasn't sure about drinking around two cop, even if they were her friends, especially if she was driving home, but she figured she could always crash on the couch if she really had to, and even Octavia had a beer in her hand, so she figured 'what the hell?'

"Yeah, why not?" She said, finally. She deserved to cut loose and have some fun, she resolved.

"That's the spirit." Octavia said, stepping over to the iPod dock where she had her phone plugged in. She hit play and pulled Clarke over to dance with her, Raven joining in almost immediately.

Bellamy came back with her beer, she opened up and they all cheered each other. Clarke was caught a bit off guard, when Bellamy raised his drink and said. "To Clarke." Everyone else though followed his lead enthusiastically, raising their beer cans. Drunk Raven wrapped her up in another tight hug.

"It's so good to have you back." She said. Clarke returned her hug, and she realized just how out of it she had been since her father's funeral, and how long she'd gone without seeing any of them with the move and everything.

"Thanks." Clarke said. "But I never went anywhere, not really. It is really good to see all you guys though." They all hugged her again, and Clarke was afraid she'd end up getting emotional. That is until she spotted the pizza sitting on the coffee table, and it reminded her how hungry she was.

She took a seat, and devoured the whole supreme pizza over the course of an hour, while watching the party go on around her. She took another big sip of, what she believed was her third beer as Lincoln came over to her, standing next to the couch.

"You realize that those don't work on us, right?" He said.

"What?" She said, trying to gracefully separate herself from the piece of pizza she was working on, as strands of cheese stretched from her mouth.

"Beer." He said. "You would need to drink about fifteen, or twenty before you even start feeling the buzz."

She managed to finally chew and swallow, and was about to ask him what exactly he meant, but he was already gone, moving along behind the couch to talk to the others.

"Heyy." Raven said, collapsing on the couch next to her just then. "You thinkin' of gettin' yourself that big ole hunk 'o man-meat?"

"No." Clarke laughed. "He's not really my type." She said. Raven looked from Clarke, to where Lincoln was standing, and then back to Clarke.

"Yeah, mine either." Raven said. "Octavia on the other hand..."

"Yes, Raven. We know Octavia is your type." Clarke said. "It's too bad she's straight."

"That's not what I meant." Raven's slurred speech exaggerated her exasperated tone in a way that was almost cute. "I think Tarzan over there might be her type."

Clarke laughed. She had forgotten how much fun Raven could be when she was drunk. Hell, Clarke forgot how much fun Raven was when she was sober too. She was reminded once again, just how much she had missed hanging out with all her friends. Sure, she'd only been MIA for about a month, but they all had hung out literally almost everyday, since sixth grade. No wonder the last month had felt so empty for Clarke. The only highlight that she could find, thinking back in it, was meeting Lexa.

Lexa. Just the thought of her made Clarke's pulse stutter. Unfortunately that's as far as her thoughts got in that moment, as she was suddenly startled by the movement of Raven shooting up to her feet.

She watched curiously as Raven made her way quickly to the door. This time Clarke caught the sound of a knock coming through, which she must have been too distracted to hear the first time. Raven opened the door to reveal a nice-looking brunette girl that Clarke didn't recognize.

"Gina?" Raven said, when she realized who it was.

"Oh hey Gina, you made it." Octavia said stepping over beside Raven. "Come on in."

Clarke stood to meet the new girl, as Bellamy and Lincoln came over too.

"Gina, this is Clarke and that's Lincoln." Octavia introduced. "I believe you know my brother already."

"Hi there." Bellamy said.

"Everyone. This is Gina." Octavia announced.

Gina seemed nice. She was from TonDC, born and raised, and Clarke found out that she worked at the pizza place, which the others apparently already knew.

"So that's what you two were laughing about." Raven realized. Gina blushed slightly. "When you and O were talking earlier.

Gina nodded. "Octavia invited me, but told me not to say anything." She smiled at Raven. "I got to say, it was worth it to see your face."

Raven felt her cheeks get hot, and she shook her head pursing her lips. "I'm gonna..."

"Hey now," Gina said, her fingers innocently brushing along Raven's forearm. "Don't be too hard on her. She was just having a bit of fun."

Somehow, when Gina told Raven not to be mad, it was like she suddenly wasn't anymore. There was a gently flutter in her chest, and Raven realized that she might be in a lot of trouble.

For the rest of the night Raven and Gina were pretty much the only people either of them talked to, except in passing. Octavia spent the rest of the night with a slightly smug smile on her face, glad she'd been right about the chemistry she thought she'd spotted when those two had first met.

A couple hours and a few beers later, the two of them were sitting close. Raven was leaning back against the arm of the couch and had her legs draped over Gina's lap. Gina chewed her bottom lip slightly, having wanted to ask Raven something all night. It took her until now though to find the courage.

During one of their infrequent pauses in conversation, Gina carefully posed the question. "Can I ask, what happened to your leg?"

Raven was quiet for a moment, letting out a careful breath. "A jack failed, pinned me beneath a car that I was working on last summer." She said.

Gina visibly winced. Taking Raven's hand in her own.

"Yeah... it sucks," Raven continued. "Thirty-five hundred pounds of '66 Chevelle SS ended up crushing my leg, hip and lower spine. Doctors say I may never be able to wiggle my toes again." Her dark eyes were wet with tears, but Gina leaned over and kissed her very gently, just at the corner of her lips.

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Gina said.

Raven nodded, blinking away the tears, sniffling slightly. "Yeah... and that's why I don't use other people's equipment anymore." She said, trying to force a smile.

Clarke had heard the story once before, but knew how hard it was for Raven to tell it. She was starting to feel guilty about eavesdropping on Raven and Gina, so she quietly stood and went to get herself another beer. Lincoln was in the kitchen too, so Clarke approached him, hoping they could talk.

"Can I ask you something?" Clarke said, trying to be discreet.

Lincoln's friendly, perfectly white smile vanished in an instant. "No." He said, catching Clarke off guard.

"Uh... wait, what?"

"Not here." Lincoln explained, speaking in a hushed tone. "Come to Forrest Glenn Manor. Tomorrow afternoon."

Just as he finished, Octavia came barreling around the corner into the kitchen.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey..." She said, physically running into Lincoln and almost bouncing off him. Apparently Octavia had taken liberties with the beer, and Clarke wasn't sure anyone had been monitoring how many she had. She would've lost her balance completely had it not been for Lincoln's powerful arms wrapped around her. "Hands off him, Princess." She slurred. "This one's mine."

"Okeydokey, Octavia." Clarke laughed. "Good luck with that." She said to Lincoln, patting him sympathetically on the shoulder. She walked past him and made her way back out to the living room. She found that Raven and her new friend Gina had moved, now standing suspiciously close to each other, and seemed to be slowly making their way towards the door. Instead Bellamy was now the one sitting on the couch, slouching back against the armrest. He was holding his beer in one hand, and just seemed to be watching everything.

Clarke walked over to the couch, pushing his one leg out of the way, forcing him to change the angle at which he was sitting. She sat down next to him, letting out a content sigh.

"You look good, Princess." He said.

She quirked an eyebrow at him, smirking. "Thanks." She said.

"Not like that." He started. "Well, yeah okay, like that too... but that's not what I meant." He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "I just meant, since the last time I saw you I mean." He said, then lowered his tone. "After the funeral."

Clarke shifted slightly in her seat, but nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't in a good place back then." She said. She swallowed the lump in her throat, before bringing her gaze up to meet his. "I'm better now though." She said. "And I'm really glad you guys are here. It's awesome. I've really missed you."

Bellamy gave her his typical charming, crooked smile, and brought his fist up to her shoulder giving her gentle shove. "Missed you too, princess."

Bellamy then stood, paused to make sure the room wasn't spinning too bad, and then headed towards the kitchen.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing, O?" Bellamy's voice suddenly carried from the other room. There were some muffled, but clearly argumentative words exchanged, and then Octavia's voice could be heard, louder.

"Back off, Bellamy." Octavia said.

'Uh-oh.' Clarke thought. Clarke rushed to the kitchen, followed shortly by Raven and Gina.

"Listen, Blake. It's not like that, man." Lincoln said.

"Oh its not, huh?" Octavia said, turning on Lincoln, slapping him hard against his chest. Needless to say Lincoln was a little nonplussed by Octavia's aggressive and confrontational behavior, since less than a minute ago, she could barely stand.

"Octavia, calm down." Lincoln said.

"Fuck you. Don't tell me to calm down" She shouted. Bellamy reached for her arm, but she jerked away harshly. "Fuck you, too." She told her brother, then stormed out of the kitchen, down the hall to her room, where she slammed the door.

Lincoln attempted to follow after her, but it was Raven who stepped in front of him, putting her hand up to his chest, shaking her head.

"Nu-huh, you should probably just let it go for now." She said.

Lincoln turned to Bellamy. "Look Blake, this was a total misunderstanding, alright?" Bellamy pursed his lips, just staring down the hall after his sister.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow." Bellamy said, giving him a curt nod, then walked back to his room too, slamming the door behind him too.

"Well, that was awesome." Lincoln said. "It was nice meeting you guys. I guess I'll see you all later." It was pretty clear that he still had no idea what exactly had happened, and neither did anyone else who was still there.

"Yeah, uh... see you around." Clarke said.

"Bye." Said Raven.

Clarke, Raven and Gina stood around in silence for only a moment, before they decided that the party was officially over, and said their goodbyes too. Raven went to the fridge and took the four or five remaining beers with her back to her apartment. The last thing Clarke saw from the bottom of the steps as she left the building, was Gina following Raven across the hall into her apartment.

Clarke woke up with a small flood of relief, discovering the fact that because alcohol didn't effect her when she drank, it meant that she didn't get hangovers anymore either. She climbed out of bed and went to her closet, pulling out a pair of white denim cut-offs and a thin, pale-blue denim shirt, with pearl snaps.

Taking a seat back on her bed after she dressed, Clarke picked up her phone and googled, 'Forrest Glenn Manor.' She found an address online, and copied and pasted it into her Maps function. The phone searched for a moment as her data connection worked to pull up an answer, before dropping her a pin in what looked like the middle of the forest.

It took her a good two minutes of zooming out, scrolling to find the nearest named street, dropping a pin there, and getting directions to that pin from her current location. It was a good two hour walk according to Maps, but if she cut through the woods, Clarke figured she could cut that down to about forty-five minutes.

Lincoln had said in the afternoon. Clarke wondered if that meant twelve-oh-one, or four o'clock. Lexa had said, 'call or text anytime,' so Clarke figured she should text her to double check.

'Hey Lexa, it's Clarke. Met Lincoln last night. He suggested I come over today to Forrest Glenn. You around?'

Clarke spent the rest of the morning in her room, she started several sketches, but had too much on her mind to be able to concentrate on what she was doing.

By twelve-thirty, Lexa still hadn't texted her back. Clarke considered maybe not going, but Lincoln had been the one to invite her this time, not Lexa. Hell, he hadn't asked, 'hey, you wanna come over?' He had told her outright to, 'come over tomorrow.' Clarke finally decided, 'screw it.' The worst they could do is turn her away when she showed up at their door.

Making up her mind, Clarke went out onto the balcony. She slid the door closed behind her, and with one hand on the railing vaulted over the side of the house. She fell two stories, landing in a slight crouch, gently on the balls of her feet, then she was on the move, sprinting through the woods once more.

Early that same morning Bellamy walked into the police station, his head was killing him, but he was surprised that he was actually two minutes early. He tensed when he saw Lincoln sitting at his desk already, but luckily Lincoln had his back to him. Bellamy took a deep breath, and continued. He stepped around, taking a seat at his own desk.

"Hey." Bellamy said, running a hand through his dark hair. "Look, I'm sorry about last night." He said. "You're a good guy, and I trust you. Octavia... Octavia's a big girl, and I trust her too. She's smart, and she deserves a good guy."

Lincoln nodded. "I can totally appreciate that man." Lincoln said. "Your sister seems really nice, but we literally just met, last night wasn't like that. There's no reason for you to worry, alright. Give me the chance to get to know a bit first at least. If anything comes out of that, I'll be sure to let you know."

Bellamy nodded and smiled, glad that he and his partner were still on good terms. "Till then I think it'd be best if O didn't drink anymore."

Lincoln chuckled. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Lincoln's phone buzzed in is pocket, and her dug it out to answer. "This is Lincoln." He answered. "Yeah." He turned to his computer, pulling up his email. "Yeah, I got it... are you sure? Yeah, okay... alright, thanks." He hung up, placing his phone on his desk, opening up the email that he had received from Anya.

"What was that about?" Bellamy asked.

"Oh, that was nothing." Lincoln said, glancing at his phone. "Just a colleague emailing me some files for follow up."

The email Anya had sent him had a listing of all the wolf sightings with dates, times and locations from the last two months.

"Ah, shit." Lincoln muttered under his breath.

"What's up?" Asked Bellamy.

"I took home a part of a file yesterday, and forgot it at the house." Lincoln lied. "You mind covering me, I'll be back in like a half hour."

"Uh, sure, I guess" Bellamy said.

"Thanks. If Kane asks, just tell him I ran to the gas station up the road to get a decent coffee." Lincoln said. "I do that normally anyways."

"Yeah, alright." Said Bellamy.

Lincoln printed off the attachment to the email he received from Anya, and grabbed it off the printer, as he hurriedly made his way out of the building.

His dark red Xterra sprayed gravel as he skidded to a stop in front of Forrest Glenn Manor, and he hurried into the den, where Lexa had unrolled the map on the table just a couple days earlier.

Having heard him enter in a hurry, Indra came downstairs a moment later and followed him into the den to see what the trouble was.

He was busy marking the locations of the wolf sightings, and writing the corresponding dates next to them.

"It looks like the first sighting was here." He said, before Indra had even had a chance to ask anything. "That was three weeks before the attack on Clarke and her father at Mt. Weather."

Indra nodded to indicate that he had her attention.

"The next sighting was here." He said, pointing out the second location he'd already marked. "And Clarke was here, when the attack happened." There was already an 'x' marked at the Mt. Weather Campground with the time and date of the attack written next to it. "Over the next four weeks, there were three separate sightings." Lincoln explained. Then he marked them in order on the map. "Here, here, and then here." He said, standing up straight and looking to Indra.

"He headed straight back to Azgeda territory." She said. Lincoln nodded.

"I think this may not have been a rogue at all." He said.

"What have you found?" A deep voice asked from behind them. Lincoln turned to see Gustus enter, the man nearly had to duck through the doorway to get into the room. Lincoln was just about to explain what Anya's reports had revealed, when there was a knock at the door.

Clarke steeled herself, set her jaw, and walked up the stone steps to the large wooden door. She gave it three hard raps with the back of her knuckles. The door opened to reveal a man, about half the size of a school bus. He had a thick black beard, and long black hair. He glared down at Clarke without a word, but Clarke's gaze held steady.

"Gustus." A familiar voice spoke from behind the man. "It's okay." With a hand on Gustus' shoulder, Lincoln stepped around him to greet Clarke.

"Hey," Lincoln said. "Come on in."

Clarke nodded and followed, as Lincoln led Clarke into the den. Gustus followed closely behind Clarke, and Clarke could feel the hair standing up on the back of her neck. She recognized the threat response from Gustus for what it was, but didn't let herself falter.

Clarke noticed another woman in the den, just before Lincoln spoke again. "Clarke, this is Indra."

"Hi." Clarke said. She extended her hand, but Indra didn't take it. Clarke let her hand fall back to her side, but still somehow maintained her composure. "Is Lexa here?"

"Yeah, where is Lexa?" Lincoln asked.

"She's at the cabin." Indra said.

"The cabin?" Lincoln asked puzzled, but then his eyes widened slightly. Clarke noticed before he could cover it up though, and she looked from him to Indra, and back to him.

"Clarke, I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Indra said. "Why don't you go see Lexa? I'm sure she's expecting you." Her face was a perfect mask, but something in her tone, made Clarke feel like they were setting her up for something. Lincoln was still regarding Indra questioningly, but Indra gave him a slight almost imperceptible nod.

"Okay." Lincoln said finally. "Come with me. I'll show you the way." Lincoln led Clarke through the house, and out through the back doors. They stood for a moment on a large patio of gray stone pavers, looking out over a sprawling, perfectly manicured green lawn, dotted occasionally by small decorative trees, and surrounded on all sides by thick forrest.

"The cabin is that way." Lincoln said, pointing in the general direction of the far corner of the lawn, with his whole hand. "At the edge of the woods you'll find a trail. You can't miss it. That trail will lead you to the cabin at the north edge of the property."

Clarke nodded. "Um... okay." She said. "Wait, where are you going?"

"I have to get back to work." He said, indicating his police uniform. Then Lincoln turned and went back into the house, leaving her standing there by herself. Something weird was going on, but Clarke couldn't figure out what. She figured Lexa would be the best person to explain things to her though, so she set off across the yard, heading for the corner of the woods, where Lincoln had indicated.

Lincoln had been right. The path was well-worn and easy to find. It also appeared regularly maintained, as rocks lined both sides, with virtually zero undergrowth encroaching on it. The property of Forrest Glenn Manor extended for acres and acres though, and the walk was far further than Clarke would have thought.

It was a long way, but an easy walk, and in time Clarke came over a small rise, where she spotted the cabin down below her. At first she only smelled the wood smoke, rising languidly out from the top of the chimney, but then a gentle breeze picked up. It rustled the leaves around her, and ruffled through Clarke's hair. It also carried a thick heady aroma from the direction of the cabin. Clarke was standing downwind, and immediately identified Lexa's scent, only it had a certain edge to it now, a potency that made Clarke's mouth water and lips feel dry at the same time. It made her breathing hitch and her pulse race, and made her knees feel like they might collapse beneath her.

Her feet led her down the hill towards the cabin without even thinking about it, the undeniable pull she felt, leading her along. There was no way she could have turned around now, even if she had wanted to. The closer she got to the cabin the stronger the scent got and the stronger its effects. An intense and almost painful swelling sensation, was felt between Clarke's legs. She groaned as the intensity increased with every hot, throbbing beat of her pulse.

Clarke was nearly staggering as she closed the last ten feet or so, intoxicated with lust by the time she finally reached the cabin. She raised her fist to knock, but the door swung open before she had a chance, and there stood Lexa to greet her. She was completely naked. Her bronze skin already glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, almost making her appear to be glowing, as she was illuminated by the golden sun descending behind the mountains at Clarke's back. Clarke licked her lips hungrily, her black pupils swallowing up the endless sea of blue within her eyes as they raked tauntingly over every inch of Lexa's body. Without a single thought, Clarke closed the remaining distance between them. Momentum carried them deeper into the warm, safe shadows of the cabin, one of them somehow managing to swing the door shut behind them. As their lips came together with bruising intensity, Clarke's arms wrapped tightly around Lexa, bringing their bodies flush together, her fingers attempting to trace every curve and contour of Lexa's hard, toned body.

Lexa's hands came up, tangling her fingers in Clarke's thick golden mane. Her lips parted. She whimpered as her tongue snaked out of her mouth, eagerly seeking permission to play with Clarke's. The soft, warm, wet flesh of Lexa's tongue caressed the soft, warm, wet flesh of her own, as Clarke accepted it and sucked it gently into her mouth, drawing a whine from Lexa. The noise in turn drawing a low rumbling growl, from somewhere deep within Clarke.

There was still so much that Clarke didn't know about herself. Still so many things that she had to learn. Every alpha instinct she had though, was telling Clarke that this was absolutely right. Lexa tried to pull Clarke even closer, her grip on Clarke's scalp intensifying, as she pressed her body hard against Clarke's.

The growing pressure in Clarke's tight shorts was growing nearly unbearable, and as if Lexa was reading her mind, one of her hands untangled itself from her blonde locks and reached down, deftly popping the metal snap and carefully dragging down the zip. Clarke let out a gasp at the immediate relief she felt. The pressing discomfort was gone, but the urging internal pressure remained, and in fact only grew stronger. She reached with one of her own hands, down into her open shorts, feeling her hard, throbbing clit, pulsing against the palm of her hand through her panties. It had grown and swelled to nearly the size of her thumb. Just beneath that, her fingers felt that the wet heat of her sex had already thoroughly soaked through her underwear. A gentle growl grew in Clarke's chest as she caressed herself, but it was torn from her throat, heavier, louder, and before she had expected, as she felt Lexa's hand cover and then replace her own.

'What the fuck?' Clarke thought. She was pretty sure that this wasn't part of any werewolf lore she'd heard of before, but Lexa not only didn't seem surprised, but if her actions said anything, was quite excited by the unexpected growth of Clarke's clit. The fingers of Clarke's displaced hand dug firmly into the soft flesh of Lexa's hip, gripping her tightly, as she pressed herself hard against Lexa's hand.

As one of Lexa's hands fondled Clarke between her thighs, her other hand grabbed at the collar of her denim shirt. The snaps easily pulled apart with one good yank, and with just a bit of maneuvering, Clarke was able to shrug out of it and let it drop to the floor. Still their mouths pressed together, Clarke's teeth occasionally catching hold of Lexa's bottom lip.

Finally their kiss broke. Lexa let out a soft whimper, her bottom lip visibly trembling. She radiated sensuality, cast in the heavy shadows from the dim light from the fireplace. Clarke traced her fingertips ever so lightly up Lexa's sides, over her ribs. She passed over, barely grazing the sides of Lexa's breasts, before bringing her hands up to tenderly cup Lexa's face. The whole time theirs eyes stayed locked. Both sets dark and heavy with arousal, both wholly focused on the other. There was no additional response, this time. No rush of adrenaline. Both of them were wound so tightly and so acutely in that moment there was no further response that pheromones alone could excite. The room was already saturated with the scents of Clarke, and Lexa, and their need, and sex.

Still holding onto her, Clarke pulled Lexa close. They shared another kiss, this one more tender, but it spoke to both of them on a far deeper level. As they separated, they retained eye contact, until Lexa bowed her head, placing her lips at the swell of Clarke's breast. Her chest rose and fell with heavy breaths beneath Lexa's soft lips, her eyes fluttering shut as Lexa rained dozens of kisses over her chest, along her collar bone, and up over the pulse of her throat.

Lexa felt the soft rumbling growl beneath her loving mouth. It made Clarke's skin come alive with minute vibrations. As she reached the crux of Clarke's jaw, where the scent emanating from her glans was the strongest, Lexa allowed her teeth to graze over the tender, tempting flesh. There was no way she could get herself to bite down though. To claim what she so desperately wanted. She couldn't do that to Clarke, and she couldn't let Clarke do that to her, no matter how badly she wished for Clarke to claim her. To take her and mark her as her own. She couldn't let that happen, not before she had the chance to fully explain to Clarke exactly what that would entail. The weight of what they were doing tried to build upon her, threatening to crush her, her own arousal and need fought it back. Just once could she let herself have this? Let herself be selfish?

An impatient growl, brought Lexa back to the moment, as one of Clarke's hands reached behind her back in order to unhook the catch of her bra. Clarke's other hand stroked through Lexa's thick, dark hair, and guided her head to one of Clarke's breasts. Allowing Clarke to take control, Lexa found the answer to her questions. Yes. This was what she wanted, and she there was no way she could give up on this opportunity.

Clarke chewed her bottom lip into her mouth, as Lexa eagerly took Clarke's nipple into hers. Lexa expertly used her tongue, lips and teeth to tease the hard, sensitive nub of flesh, causing Clarke to let her head drop back, eyes shut, as she let out an aroused moan.

After several moments of teasing first one nipple, and then the other, Lexa bowed slowly to her knees before Clarke. Her green eyes glistening in the low light. Her soft lips trailing butterfly kisses down over Clarke's ribs and stomach. Clarke's breath hitched in her throat as she felt Lexa's teeth graze her hipbone.

Lexa's hands came up, hooking her fingers into the waistband of Clarke's shorts, and slowly pulled them down Clarke's legs. The throbbing between Clarke's legs had only gotten worse, and the swelling bulge in her panties was now embarrassingly large. Lexa though, just eyed it hungrily, lips parting with heavy desirous breaths.

A shiver coursed through Clarke's body as she felt Lexa's fingers trailing up her thighs. Lexa leaned in, bathing Clarke's groin with the warmth of her breath. Clarke felt a bead of arousal seep from the tip of her cock, soaking into her panties. The thin, delicate material was gripped at the waistband by Lexa's fingers, as she pulled it down over Clarke, exposing her stiff throbbing need.

Clarke's sweet, yet musky aroma flooded Lexa's senses. She smelled of summer storms and rain and damp earth, but those were all just the undertones that were the scent of Clarke, threatening to wash all that away was the ever growing scent of lust and desire.

Lexa paused for only a moment, the corner of her lips curling gently into a smile, as Clarke's cock twitched in response to Lexa's hot breath washing over her bare flesh. Then she leaned forward, her lips forming an airtight seal around the swollen head of Clarke's cock, and her lips slid slowly down the length of her shaft. Clarke felt herself instantly grow larger, both longer and thicker, within the warm, wet confines of Lexa's talented mouth.

"Oh fuck, Lexa." Clarke groaned, her voice a throaty whisper. She brought her head back to look down at Lexa, and watch as she took her into her mouth again and again. Lexa slid one of her hands up Clarke's thigh again, letting it dip down further between Clarke's legs, below the point where her cock jutted obscenely from her groin; where her lips were puffy and red with need, and slick with arousal. Lexa's fingers stroked over her lips, barely parting them at first, before gently dipping a finger inside.

Clarke's hips moved on their own, withdrawing from Lexa's mouth, only to push down further on the invading digit, and in reverse, sliding up off Lexa's finger, only to plunge deeper into her mouth. Clarke's fingers stroked through Lexa's silky brown hair.

"Lexa." Clarke breathed. At the sound of her name, Lexa's eyes flicked up to meet Clarke's, her cheeks hollowed as sucked Clarke deeper, her tongue sliding down the underside of her shaft. She added a second finger, sliding in and out of Clarke's smooth, slick wetness, curling her fingers slightly, to rub against the inside of Clarke in just the right spot.

"Oh shit, Lexa." Clarke didn't know how much more of this she could fucking take. This was... this was... Clarke didn't even have the words to describe what she was feeling in that moment.

Clarke's mind may not have been capable of knowing what she was feeling, but the alpha in her did. As she the thrumming pressure building her loins. She let out a sharp growl, lifting Lexa off her cock and pulling her back up to her feet.

Lexa, puzzled by Clarke's actions stood and locked eyes with her, but after a moment it became clear that there would not be that typical threat response. Lexa could no longer challenge Clarke, even if she wanted to. Claimed or not, Clarke would be her alpha.

Lexa swallowed a lump in her throat with the realization, and averted her gaze. She let her head fell back and to one side, exposing at much of her throat as possible. Clarke pulled her close with an arm wrapped tightly around Lexa's waist. Her teeth clamped down on Lexa's throat. Alpha instincts coursed through Clarke's body, buzzing in her head. She wanted so badly to clamp her teeth down as hard as she could, but that would hurt Lexa. Somehow she knew, not just physically, but in other ways as well. She couldn't describe it, but she knew she couldn't do that yet.

Somehow Clarke, managed to think through the haze, her attention instead drawn to the pulsing heat, as her hard cock had nestled itself between Lexa's thighs. Clarke let a deep rumbling growl slip past her lips, reverberating over Lexa's throat, as she replaced her teeth with her hot, wet tongue. With one hand still around Lexa's waist, her other came up, gently caressing and fondling Lexa's breasts, as her hips began grinding against Lexa's body.

For several long moments, all that was heard was the heavy breathing of the two of them, as their bodies, slick with perspiration, pressed and slid against each other. Finally, several more moments after that, Lexa pulled herself away slowly. Clarke gave her a warning growl of protest, but Lexa turned away, smiling over her shoulder as she led Clarke by the hand over to the fireplace. Just in front of the stone hearth, a thick bed of furs were laid upon the floor. There, she sank back down to the ground, lying back in a supine position. She brought her knees up, letting her legs fall open, before pulling Clarke gently down to lie on top of her.

As their naked bodies came together again, Lexa reached her hand down between them, her fingers tenderly wrapping around Clarke and guiding Clarke to her entrance. Clarke allowed herself to press against the slick, swollen lips. She felt the tight ring of muscle, and slowly pushed the head of her cock through, feeling a fresh surge of wet heat release within the channel of tense inner muscles. Clarke laid her forehead down, resting it on Lexa's, giving her a chance to adjust to the insertion. She fought the animalistic urge to plunge inside in one hard thrust, instead placing kisses on Lexa's forehead, eyelids and the tip of her nose.

Lexa craned her neck slightly, her lips questing and finding Clarke's as her nails raked down Clarke's back and her legs wrapped around her hips. Lexa pushed up slowly with her own hips, and inch by torturous inch, Clarke sank deeper into her silken heat. Clarke growled through grinding teeth as she fought the desire to bury herself fully. Finally Lexa let out a loud gasp, feeling Clarke's entire length inside of her, her inner muscles twitching, as she reveled in the amazing sensations of fullness.

Ever so slowly, Clarke began screwing her hips in a gentle rolling motion. More fresh wetness filled Lexa's quivering core, easing the friction as Clarke started sliding in and out. Their lips locked passionately, arms wrapped around each other, breasts pressed against each other. Their hips moved in sync now as Clarke's long, smooth movements, grew quicker and shorter.

Lexa broke the kiss with a sudden gasp. "Clarke." Her name on Lexa's tongue, set off something deep inside her. Clarke fucked into Lexa harder, as she buried her face in the crook of Lexa's neck. Once again the smooth, delicate flesh of Lexa's throat trembled beneath her teeth, but then she felt Lexa's teeth on her throat as well. The growing pressure, built up in Clarke's shaft and drove her to distraction. Her knot swelled and pressed against Lexa's red, puffy lips with every thrust of Clarke's hips.

With every thrust, Lexa felt herself losing more and more control. While Clarke's shaft filled her just right on the inside, with every thrust Clarke's knot hit her clit just right on the outside. Her breathing grew ragged. Every muscle in her body grew tense. Her teeth clamped down on Clarke's neck, before she could even realize it. A flash of terror at what she was doing blazed through her head, but then she felt Clarke's teeth clamp down on her as well. Reflexively, her inner muscles clamped down as well. Spasms rocked her chest, her hips jerked, and her heels dug into the backs of Clarke's thighs, as her toes curled uncontrollably.

The silken muscles on Lexa's inner walls gripped Clarke like a vice, a wave of heat spilled out around Clarke's cock and splashed over her knot, soaking their thighs, and running down Lexa's ass. The spasms rippling over the length of her shaft, and sensation of Lexa's teeth digging into her neck, were too much to take at the same time. She felt the roiling pressure surging up her shaft. Her cock gave a violent jerk, and with a final thrust, Clarke buried herself inside of Lexa as deep as she could.

Lexa felt the pulsing of Clarke's hard, hot cock and the wet ropes of come splashing against her inner walls, filling her to overflowing. For an instant it was as if time froze, their tense bodies spasmed together, muscles rhythmically seizing and relaxing as they held onto each other as if their very lives depended on it. Then as if on queue, they both went limp.

For an undeterminable amount of time, they laid there. Neither said a thing, they just remained still until their breathing returned to a somewhat normal cadence. Finally Clarke slid out from Lexa, a a messy cocktail of their juices spilling out after her, though it wasn't as much as there would have been if Clarke had successfully knotted. Clarke slid over, so that she was lying only half on top of Lexa instead of fully on top of her. Lexa let out a sigh, that was somehow equal parts relief and disappointment at the same time. She reached up to her throat, feeling the bite mark that Clarke had left. She hadn't broken the skin, but the bruising she left behind would last for days.

Lexa looked down at Clarke, who was resting her head on Lexa's chest. Her brilliant blue eyes catching the glint from the embers still smoldering in the fireplace.

"Did I hurt you?" Clarke asked. Lexa smiled and shook her head. Her fingers then tracing a nearly identical bruise on Clarke's throat. "I'm fine." Clarke said softly. "Better than fine."

Clarke and Lexa smiled at each other in silence for a long time after that, Lexa's face a perfect mask of contentment and satisfaction. Inside the roiling turmoil ate away at her though. Her stomach twisted at the thought of what would have happened to Clarke, if her bite had broken the skin and they had bonded. On the other hand, her stomach twisted at the thought of what was most likely going to happen to her, considering her bite didn't break skin, and she was still an omega without leading a pack without being bound to an alpha.

She was distracted by the sensation of Clarke's lips, showering her shoulder and the top of her breast with tiny kisses.

"Clarke." She hummed, letting her troubling thoughts slip from her mind. "Clarke?" She said again when there wasn't any response.

"Shhh." Clarke said. "I wanna make the most out of my night with you."

Lexa laughed. It was glorious sound, like the giggle of an innocent child.

"Clarke, my heat will last for at least three or four more days." Lexa said. "We have plenty of time. Why don't you rest?" They shared a tender smile with each other, and Clarke craned her neck up. Lexa craned her neck down, and they met with a long, tender kiss. Their lips separated, and they began to drift off. As Clarke's breath evened, washing warmth over Lexa's neck. Lexa refused to let her useless worries bother her, and moments later, drifted off into contented sleep as well.