Chapter Four – Nothing Like an Awkward Introduction
Startled, Bo stepped back, hand flying instinctively to her waist only to freeze – cursing under her breath when she realized that she was entirely unarmed.
The sound instantly awoke the unidentified woman, who pushed herself up from the floor in a flash, crouching defensively. The movement brought her face into view for the first time and the succubus was mesmerized for a moment by the beautiful angular features revealed from behind a curtain of silky golden hair before she noticed the swirling emerald eyes and the bruised, shredded skin around the woman's long neck and her stumbling mind finally put two and two together. The woman in front of her was the wolf they had found! Was she a shifter? Why hadn't she shifted earlier then? Why hadn't she spoken to them, or left once she had been freed?
"Who are you?"
The woman didn't answer, but instead bared her blunt human teeth in threat, eyes flicking from Bo to around the room and back again rapidly. Seeing her focus on the door and boarded-up windows the succubus moved quickly, putting herself firmly between the woman and any possible escape routes. She wanted answers. Predictably, the stranger didn't react well to this, growling low in her throat and backing up further, fingers of her right hand curling as though to form claws. Her left arm she pulled tightly to her chest, inadvertently revealing the swollen dark purple and black bruising that spread from her wrist to just under her elbow. Bo tensed expecting her to shift back to a wolf, or into a half form like Dyson often did, but nothing happened.
The blonde frowned, looking down at her clawed – but still human – hand. "Damn it."
She had a beautiful voice as well, Bo thought, though it was husky from lack of use, and possibly damage from her injuries...the reminder of which just brought more questions to her mind. "Why were you in your wolf form in the forest? And why were you chained up? Why didn't you shift back and talk to us when I rescued you?!"
The woman paused in her shuffling around and looked at Bo suspiciously. "You don't know?"
The succubus stared blankly at her and she relaxed slightly, eyes fading to a more natural but no less beautiful glittering honey-brown.
"You don't know what I am?"
"You're a shifter, aren't you?"
At this the woman snorted, rolling her eyes in bemusement. "A half-ling? Well, I suppose I've been called worse." She bent down and carefully picked up the blanket she had been sleeping soundly on until she was so rudely awakened, wrapping it around her like a particularly long towel, using her injured arm to hold it in place and inadvertently drawing Bo's attention back to her body. 'Ah yes, definitely a succubus this one.' Much to her amusement the brunette quickly blushed and looked away. 'A virtuous succubus? How curious.' She shook her head, scolding herself for allowing herself to relax in this situation before remembering that she was supposed to be following her instincts, and that much to her surprise none of them were screaming at her in warning. Well, the woman had freed her she supposed, and even if she was fae, she owed her for that. She shuddered to think of what the consequences could have been if the druids had returned, or if she had been found by someone or something else while she was chained in that clearing. Besides, she and the other woman had been nothing but kind to her even when they had thought she was no more than an underfae or strange wild animal, and she hadn't smelt any deception when the succubus had asked what she was.
With this in mind she finally stepped towards the brunette, meeting her gaze openly with her own. "My name is Lauren, and I owe you a great debt for saving me."
The brunette faltered slightly, thrown totally off guard by the strangers abrupt change in temperament.
"Bo. My name I mean. I'm Bo." She winced to herself. 'Oh yeah, that was smooth.'She finally felt her pounding heart beginning to slow, but her brain still swirled with questions and confusion. Setting her jaw, she meet Lauren's gaze firmly.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier? Why did you pretend to be a wolf the whole time?"
The woman sighed, running her fingers through the tangles in her long blonde hair. "I wasn't pretending anything." She raised her hand when the succubus went to argue. "I did not know who you were or if I could trust you, this is true, but I couldn't have spoken to you even if I tried. Though I attempted too several times, I was unable to change into my human form."
Bo seemed to be genuinely taken aback by this. "What do you mean 'unable'? Did you suddenly forget how or something?"
A slight grin tugged at the blondes lips. "No, I didn't forget how. The chains from which you released me are of ancient construction, and were forged using powerful dark magic." Her free hand drifted up to her throat unconsciously, long fingers tracing the marred flesh left behind by the unforgiving metal. "They are intended specifically for holding the most powerful of supernatural beings, and binding them as they are. I was unable to break free or shift once I was caught in them, and I suspect that it was a result of two weeks imprisonment that left enough traces of the enchantments on my skin and in my bloodstream to have a lingering effect. I seem to have changed back unwittingly while I was asleep, though I now appear to be unable to access my wolf form."
"Oh. Well I guess that makes sense. But..." Bo trailed off, uncertain of how to phrase the question she so desperately wanted to ask.
"What?" Though still cautious, Lauren was curious now.
"I just wanted to know why you followed us? Why did you let us take you back to the city?"
'Ah.'Now that would be a lot easier to respond to if she knew the answer herself. Since being open and honest seemed to be her tactic so far, she decided she might as well continue with it.
"I don't know."
The succubus stared at her blankly, clearly unimpressed with the non-answer.
"I mean...I followed you because my instincts were telling me that I should." Lauren shrugged her shoulders. "I really can't give you any other explanation, but that my instincts are a critical part of what I am, and that I've only lived as long as I have by following them. When you approached me in that clearing I was expecting the worst, but something told me I could trust you. Once you had freed me, I knew I should run, but I at the same time I felt like I should stay. It's the same reason I got into your car, came back to the city – it just felt right." The blonde shook her head slightly, a look of frustration crossing her face. "I can't really explain it to you Bo, but believe me, it was not a decision I made lightly or on a whim."
"I believe you." Judging from the widening of her eyes, the succubus's words had surprised herself as well. "I would probably normally think you were nuts or a stalker or something, but I guess I kind of felt the same way."
Lauren's hand twitched, eyes becoming unreadable for a moment. "What do you mean by that? You felt a compulsion? In the clearing?"
"No. Well, I guess? Sort of. I know I definitely felt compelled to help you, which lets face it is not a typical response that most people would have when faced with a big scary wolf." The blonde chuckled and nodded, indicating for her to continue. "And afterwards...I don't know, it was like I was drawn to you, like I felt as though I had to protect you or something." Her cheeks coloured, shaking her head at herself. "Annnd now I sound like a crazy person or a stalker."
"No." Lauren's words were firm, though her face was still shadowed. "I don't think you're crazy." She took a deep breath and opened her mouth, before thinking better of it and falling into silence again. The two remained staring at each other for several long minutes, the air tense with unspoken questions, until Bo finally shook herself mentally out of her awkwardness and cleared her throat.
"Would you, um, like to borrow some clothes?"
The other woman blinked, having completely forgotten about her state of undress. Nudity didn't particularly bother her (it was after all how she spent a significant portion of her time) but she knew that it did tend to have a variety of amusing effects on those who were not of her kind, and she couldn't really walk around in nothing but a blanket for however long she was here. "That would be good, thank you."
Bo nodded. "Come with me then." She turned and headed back up the stairs, curious to note that the woman following her made no sound with her movements, even as she stepped across the creaky old floorboards. 'What is she, some kind of freaky wolf ninja?'The little voice in her head sounded suspiciously like Kenzi and she found herself smiling as she lead Lauren into her bedroom.
The blonde looked around with interest, appreciating the simple but beautiful furnishings. The most noticeable exception of luxury was the massive four poster bed, tall columns of fluted marble meeting two wooden beams that came together in an 'X' and were draped with silky pink and purple fabrics that matched the covers. It looked utterly inviting and totally decadent, and Lauren found herself unable to look away as she imagined the young succubus lying in it, sleeping in it, naked in it, silk sheets caressing her bare skin as she writhed and- 'woah...where the hell did that come from?!'She close her eyes and took a deep slow breath, centering herself before she continued into the room. 'Focus Lauren. What are you, a fourteen year old boy?'
Bo turned in just time to catch a tantalizing glimpse of the blondes blazing aura, the beautiful sight making her breath catch in her throat before all of a sudden it seemed to retreat back into the woman like a receding tide, vanishing entirely apart from a faint silvery glow that clung tightly to her form. This stunned her even more than the previous light display. She had never known anyone who could control their aura like that before, let alone make it disappear. Now she thought about it though, she hadn't noticed any aura at all around Lauren downstairs – how was that even possible?
Lauren had caught the changing expressions on her face and was cursing herself for her stupidity. She had forgotten that succubi could read auras, surely Bo would be curious when she noticed hers. She saw the woman open her mouth to speak and interrupted her quickly, hoping a distraction would buy her some time to figure out if she could truly trust her enough to honestly answer the questions that she was bound to ask sooner or later.
"So, what am I going to be wearing? Unless of course you would rather I just stayed in the blanket?"
Yep, that did the trick. The brunette's mouth closed with a stunned 'click', her eyes dropping straight to Lauren's bare shoulders before drifting down the length of her frame, pausing at the slope of her revealed calf. Perfect white teeth snagged a full lower lip and she swallowed visibly before spinning back to her oak dresser.
"No, no! You can take off the blanket – and put on some clothes, I mean!" Bo hurriedly tossed a white tank-top and a pair of sleep shorts over her shoulder, not ready to turn and face the statuesque blonde until she was properly covered. Her hand hesitated over a pair of underwear. Would Lauren want to borrow some? She wasn't wearing...any...oh my. Her mind had taken the opportunity to helpfully supply the detailed memory of the woman as she had slept, unaware of her presence...a smooth, strong back leading down to a firm, perfect- 'NOPE.' She cut the image of and picked up a mental crowbar, using it to beat her rising succubus back down. 'So not thinking about that now...although...she hadn't had any tan lines on that beautiful golden skin, had she? Hmm, she obviously wandered around the woods naked a lot. Oooh, now there was a delicious mental image...maybe I should take up hiking as a hobby?'
Bo suddenly realized that she had been standing in front of her open drawer with her back to her guest fiddling idly with a pair of her own underwear for the past several minutes, and spun back to face Lauren, hoping she had taken the opportunity to put on some clothes. She hadn't as it turned out, but rather seemed to be deeply focused on using her good hand to awkwardly separate the knots that had formed in her hair where blood had matted it. That couldn't be good. And neither could the thin layer of sweat and dirt that coated her skin, something Bo honestly couldn't believe she hadn't noticed before. "Would you like a shower?"
"Goddess yes!" A flush bloomed across the blonde's cheeks as she realized how loud and quickly that had come out. "I mean, if you don't mind, that would be fantastic."
"Not at all. Follow me.." Throwing the tamest set of lingerie she could find onto the small pile of clothes on the floor before scooping it into her arms to keep her hands under control, the succubus lead Lauren through to the Crack-shack's somewhat dilapidated but fully functional bathroom. "Um, the shower works, well, just like a shower. The soap and shampoo and stuff in the blue basket over there is mine – feel free to use whatever you want." Flashing a smile at her guests sincere 'thank you', she put the clothing down next to the basin and backed quickly out of the room, not trusting her ability to keep from imaging the way the steaming water would caress it's way down her body if she stayed in the bathroom with the woman much longer.
For her part, the shower was something of absolute pleasure for Lauren as well. It felt incredible to be clean again, and though the soap and shampoo tinged hot water burned like hell-fire when it touched the open wound around her neck it also offered beautiful relief to her cramped and aching muscles. She took her time to scrub away all the traces of her time spent restrained in the forest, drying herself with a soft towel once she was done (though only after just barely resisting the annoyingly well ingrained urge to shake). Pulling on the clothes Bo had been kind enough to lend her, Lauren was caught unprepared for the effect the succubus's scent had when it surrounded her senses. The urge to take quick, greedy breaths was quickly squashed but she made a mental note of yet another oddity the fae she had just met seemed to be having on her before heading back in to face the other woman.
Bo turned quickly from where she had been waiting by the bed, and only just kept herself from making what was sure to be a very embarrassing sound. It seemed she had finally put some clothes on instead of just wandering around in a blanket, but Bo wasn't convinced that it was a change for the better – at least as far as her sanity was concerned.
The succubus's tank-top may not have clung to her chest the same way it did on Bo (sadly? Thankfully?), but it did serve to highlight the impressive definition in her arms and shoulders – 'god she must be strong' – and those shorts...sweet Jesus those shorts. They normally came to just above the knee on her, but on Lauren? Upper thigh. Very high upper thigh. Bo was vaguely aware that she was staring at the woman's legs, but she couldn't seem to help herself. Long, toned...'so smooth..I wonder what they'd feel like wrapped tightly around my- dammit, mental crowbar, mental crowbar!'
A glimpse of Lauren's left arm, however, quickly re-diverted her attention to the other matter at hand. "That must hurt."
"Hm? Oh, my arm?"
The succubus nodded. "And your neck. I imagine that was done by the chain, but what happened to your arm?"
The blonde winced. "The same actually. The druids you were tracking had been hunting me. They finally caught up to me and attacked, and I was running towards them to return the favour when they suddenly shot at me. I was so busy dodging a relatively harmless bullet that I didn't notice one of them appear to my left and fire a crossbow until it was too late. It was loaded with the chain, which wrapped around my leg and brought me down." She didn't mention that the snap of the chain had only bruised her, that the real damage had been done as she tried to flee once more, and – severely weakened by the onset of the cursed metal tightening around her flesh – had stumbled straight into a modified bear-trap. She had realized in a fraction of a second what was about to happen when her paw touched metal and her ears detected that dreaded 'click', but by then it was too late, and the mechanism had slammed shut on her leg with enough force to bend six inches of steel. Thankfully the limb had remained attached but it had been effectively shattered it in three places, the crunch audible for a hundred yards.
"Oh god." Bo looked genuinely upset. "That must of really hurt." It certainly had, though at the time she had been so furious that she had barely even noticed the pain. "Is it broken?"
"It was, yes." The brunette looked at Lauren in concern. "In three places – but" she quickly reassured the now horrified looking woman, "It is healing. My body repairs itself quickly, the breaks are already properly realigned and have healed up to just cracks. Now that I am no longer bound by that damn chain – and so long as I rest my arm – it should be as good as new in a few days."
"Well that's a relief. I still really think I should bandage it up for you though, is that okay?"
Lauren was taken-aback. This young fae was indeed very different from most that she had met. "If it is not too much trouble, that would be much appreciated, thank you."
"No problem, just wait here a second."
Bo practically ran to the bathroom for their sizable first-aid kit (her and Kenzi had learnt early on that medical supplies were something they needed to keep well stocked), pausing only to grab a clean wash-cloth and fill the empty jug by her bed with hot water. It didn't take her long to expertly wrap a thickly padded bandage securely around Lauren's arm, impressed with the way she didn't flinch throughout the process despite the fact that it had to be causing her a significant amount of discomfort. After she was done the blonde refused to take any kind of pain killers, but finally caved to her gentle insistence and allowed the succubus to examine her neck. Up close to the blonde in her human state, Bo noticed that all around the ring of marred flesh her veins were blackened as though with a spreading poison, the colour fading out as they trailed away from it. The wounds cut a jagged, unbroken circle around the woman's slender neck, ripping deep into delicate looking skin. The tears were pitted with dirt and grains of rock that had been forced deep into them as she struggled to free herself, and Bo cleaned them as carefully as she could before thoroughly disinfecting them and coating them with a soothing wound salve, Lauren fending off all offers to cover them with gauze or any more than a single flimsy layer of cotton bandaging.
"They need to be left mostly open," She had explained, "so that my body can flush out any elements of the magic still embedded into them."
Bo had been worried, but the other woman had assured her that it would eventually heal itself up nicely, though not as quickly as her arm, and that what she had already done was all that could help. The succubus had simply nodded, her gaze and most of her attention fixed on the silken skin beneath her fingertips, unable to help wondering if she was that soft all over.
Conveniently, Lauren chose that moment to let out a wide yawn, distracting Bo from her lecherous thoughts and reminding her of the ordeal the other woman had been through. Though she had been obviously reluctant to share many details, she had already hinted at the way she had been roughly captured and then chained up in the distant clearing for nearly two weeks, unable to get comfortable, and presumably unfed. What she really needed to do was rest, not have some horny succubus taking advantage of the fact that she didn't have any clothes with her.
"Sorry." Lauren was embarrassed by her body's growing insistence that she returned to sleep, even more so when she was unable to stifle a second yawn.
"It's all right, I'm pretty tired myself, so I can't imagine how exhausted you must be. We can talk more in the morning, yeah?"
"That would be good, thank you Bo." She was a little nervous about just what that talk would probably entail, but couldn't deny that she owed it to the brunette to be at least a little honest with her.
"Um." Bo had suddenly realised that she didn't know where to send Lauren for bed. There was no way she was going to make the poor woman sleep on the floor now that it had been revealed she was human, and she really should be put somewhere where she would be able to rest comfortably. "You can take my bed if you like, I'll sleep on the couch." She was already pulling out sheets and a duvet when the other woman grabbed her arm to stop her.
"That truly isn't necessary." The succubus went to argue and Lauren shook her head. "I mean it Bo, I'm used of sleeping out in the wild, so the couch is more than okay. Hell – I'd even be happy to take the floor. "
That was true – it had been months since she had last had an opportunity to use an actual bed. She continually moved across vast distances through forests, rivers and fields, stopping to rest only when she needed to. She often slept under the stars, curled on beds of moss or ferns in her wolf form, sheltering in hollows and caves when winter moved in and the weather turned particularly brutal. She'd even spent nights on frozen, rocky ground, tucked into as tight a ball as she could manage as the temperature plummeted well below freezing and coated her in a thick blanket of snow. Compared to that, a floor under an actual roof, with a blanket and a pillow, sounded fantastic.
A fully made up couch sounded like heaven.
Not waiting to give Bo a chance to protest again, she scooped the bedding out of her arms, smiling at her softly.
"It's fine. Go to sleep Bo. I'll still be here in the morning, I promise."
Relived by the answer to a question she had been too afraid to ask, the succubus finally conceded. "If you insist. But don't hesitate to yell out or come and get me if you need anything.
"I won't." And with one last captivating smile, Lauren turned and headed silently back down the stairs.
Thanks to a long day and an eventful night, it was well after ten am before Bo woke up again. Her sleep had been filled with strange, vivid dreams of blurring through a forest. Of striking sounds and colours that had morphed into an overwhelming sense of urgency and desperation. Greens and browns had distorted into reds and blacks and the soothing, rhythmic thump of feet flying over softened ground had become the frantic pounding of a heartbeat echoing in her ears before the scene had once again shifted – this time evolving into an all-consuming feeling of pride and protection. Of wind dancing amongst leaves and the sound of water racing over time-smoothed stones and lapping at distant shorelines.
She had woken up with an overwhelming sense of loss and a strong urge that she needed to be somewhere, and it had taken her a few minutes to regain a sense of balance before she was able to notice the glimmers of watery light fighting their way valiantly through her thick purple curtains and decide that it was probably time to pull herself out of bed.
Only then did her sluggish brain reboot itself enough to remind her of why she had been tired enough to sleep in so long, and the memory of the wolf-turned-beautiful-woman in her living room was enough to chase the remaining cobwebs out of her head and spur her into action. She leapt out of bed and quickly threw on a sinfully tight pair of jeans (because her others were all mostly in the wash, of course), a sufficiently cleavage accentuating black top (well it wasn't like most things didn't emphasize her impressive chest anyway), and her favourite leather jacket (it was cold, after all, it wasn't like she was trying to impress the woman or anything). That sorted, she ran a brush speedily through the tangles in her hair and headed nervously down the stairs, hoping beyond hope that Lauren had kept her word and not left during the night.
It came as a great relief then when she descend into the living room to find the blonde still sound asleep on the lumpy old couch in the middle of a nest of blankets and pillows, her graceful features lit by the dull glow leaking through the boarded-up windows. Though Bo walked as quietly a possible, soft chocolate eyes flickered open as she moved further into the room, the woman giving her a warm smile in greeting.
"Good morning morning Bo."
"Hey Lauren. Did you sleep okay?" It certainly looked like she had, all snuggled up in a ball, but Bo knew from experience that their couch wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world. God only knows how Kenzi managed to spend so much time sprawled on it, even with the assistance of copious amounts of alcohol.
"Wonderfully." The blonde rolled her neck carefully from side to side and stretched her good arm out above her sleep-rumpled head, almost causing the succubus to swallow her tongue as muscles rippled beneath sun-kissed skin. "Thank you again for letting me stay here. And for everything else."
"You're kidding right? I'm hardly going to kick you out, where else would you go even if I wanted to? You are welcome here Lauren." Suddenly feeling the need to come off as a little less desperate, Bo smirked, shooting her a wink. "Let's face it, if I was willing to keep you as a five hundred pounds of toothy wolf, then I'm sure I can handle you as a mysterious human. Just as long as you don't have fleas. I may be open minded but I draw the line at any excessive scratching."
Lauren's eyes narrowed playfully, feigning offence. "I don't know about you, but I'll have you know I've never had fleas in my life, woman. And that's a three hundred pound wolf thank you very bloody much...although probably a lot less now."
"Well we'll just have to fix that then, won't we?" Ducking away from that captivating gaze, Bo headed for the dirty-dishes and fast-food packet covered kitchen, wishing that she had cleaned the place up a bit before heading out yesterday. She quickly dumped the towers of cups and plates into the sink, throwing the junk hastily into the rubbish bag and swiping a wet soapy cloth over all the reachable surfaces before opening the cupboards.
"What do you want for breakfast? We have Cap'n Crunch, available in berry, chocolate or slightly stale plain, thick bread for toast...wait..." A rustling sound. "Yep, bread for toast."
The cupboard slammed, replaced with a low electric hum as a refrigerator door was pulled open. "Um, plenty of milk - that's a surprise - cold pizza, some leftover macaroni, oooh, some orange juice!" A sniff. "Wait...nope, that's got vodka in it, never mind. Oh sweet, bacon...and a carton of eggs!"
Excited by the surprising discovery of actual food (Kenzi must have been planning on bullying her into cooking for them both after her next big night out), Bo stuck her head around the empty door-frame, almost head butting the statuesque blonde in the chin as she wandered around the corner. "How do you feel about French toast and bacon?"
"You don't have to go to any trouble for me, Bo. I'm perfectly happy with anything I don't have to catch myself." Lauren took a seat on one of the stools in front of the kitchen island and smirked, tilting her head. "Unless you'd like me to silence some of those starlings on the roof? I hear they're quite tasty fried up with bread and a bit of salt."
The succubus laughed out loud, almost dropping the frying pan she had been scrubbing at the mental picture of a massive shaggy wolf crawling across their leaky roof, stalking a flock of tiny birds. She pretended to think about it for a moment, even going as far as to stroke an imaginary beard, loving the laugh that tinkled from Lauren in response. "As tempting as that sounds, I think we'll stick with French toast today. It's one of the few things I can cook reliably, and Kenzi has been hassling me for some for a while."
Bo pulled a clean bowl from a cupboard and began mixing the eggs and milk, swearing when she had to fish a piece of eggshell out of the mixture. 'Every bloody time.'
"If you really want to help though, feel free to start frying up that bacon. There's another pan under the sink."
"How much do you want me to cook? Um..." Lauren lit the stove and threw the first three pieces in, turning to find Bo laying out over a dozen slices of bread for toasting and becoming nervous. "Are we expecting people?"
The succubus snorted. "Nope, this is just for us. Kenzi will finish it all, trust me."
She was met with an incredulous stare. "You really think the skinny little human will eat that much food?"
"I don't think, I know. Cook up the whole packet, trust me, it will be needed.
Right on cue, Lauren's sensitive ears tuned in on the sound of movement upstairs. It came as a relief actually, the fact that Bo had been able to walk in on her while she was asleep – not just once but twice – had been worrying her. Nobody should be able to get within half a mile of her without her sensing them, and until now nobody ever had. She was drawn out of her musings when the succubus's said room-mate chose that moment to stumble into the kitchen in her red skull and crossbones pajamas, lured out of her bed by the enticing scent of her favourite miracle-food sizzling. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes blearily, Kenzi flopped down onto the stool Lauren had vacated, almost falling of the back of it when she finally looked up and noticed the stranger in front of the stove.
"Um, hello blondie. Late night trip out Bobo?" She arched a dark eyebrow at the entirely too relaxed looking succubus. "Are you sure that's a good idea with the..er, thing, from yesterday?"
To her surprise Bo seemed to find that funny, clapping a hand over her mouth to stop her laughing. "Yeeeah, about that, uh, 'thing'..."
"WHAT? NO. WHERE IS SHE? Don't tell me you changed your mind! It was your idea to keep her in the first place!" The succubus was so stunned by Kenzi's dismayed outburst that all she could do was stand and gape at her across the table like a fish out of water. 'And to think she hadn't even wanted me to free Lauren in that clearing.'
Wanting to let her host handle this by herself, but sensing that it wasn't going to happen any time soon, Lauren stepped in. "Yes, and I will be forever grateful for that fact."
Now it was Kenzi's turn to be stumped. "Huh?" She turned to peer at the unknown woman again, this time giving her her full attention (such as it was this early in the morning anyway). In her newly awake state it didn't take long for her sharp eyes to spot the vicious lesions circling the lower half of the blonde's long neck. "What..."
Several things happened in the next few seconds, all of which were triggered by the innocent brush of Bo's hand against the bare skin of Lauren's knee as she moved to set the first plate of steaming French Toast on the table.
An electric jolt seemed to radiate from the point of contact, spreading up the succubus's arm and through her chest and causing her to let out a loud gasp, almost dropping the dish she was holding in her hands. Lauren felt the spark too, seeming to shoot straight through her and settle warmly in her chest. The flare drew out the previously bound spirit of her wolf, allowing it's power to once again flood through her veins, and causing her eyes to automatically change to their glittering viridian.
Kenzi, who had been in the process of staring at her in wary bewilderment, yelped in shock and leapt back up off her chair. "YOU! YOU'RE THE WOLF?!" Pivoting back to face Bo for confirmation. "THE WOLF WAS A SHIFTER?!"
The succubus was still so far in shock from the resonance of what she had just felt to even hear her best friend's outcry. 'What the ever loving hell was that? Did Lauren feel it too? Surely she must have!'
Upon not receiving any reply from Bo she returned her scrutiny to the blonde, who (having had much more experience with unusual and shocking turns of events), had managed to recover enough from the latest one to provide answers.
"Yes Kenzi, I am the wolf you found by the cabin. I am...not exactly a shifter, at least not as you would know of, but I do have the ability to take on the form of one."
Having totally forgotten about her remaining lethargy, the enigmatic girl was almost bouncing on the spot, pale blue eyes studying her with thinly veiled suspicion. "So what, you just decided to fuck with us or something?"
That got Bo's attention. "KENZI!"
"What?! It's true! Why the hell didn't she turn human earlier? Would have saved a lot of trouble."
"Because she couldn't!"
"What, she need a kiss from a frog-prince style succubus or something?" Dead silence. "Oh come on, my genius is wasted here."
Slightly baffled, Lauren cleared her throat to catch her attention before replying with an earnest, "I've never heard of a frog-prince succubus before, but I assure you my transformative abilities have nothing to do with one."
Kenzi shot her best friend a look that said 'is this chick for real?' and, sensing an imminent mess, Bo decided it was probably best to intervene now before the Russian really got a chance to get going.
"Long story cut very short, the chain was magic, Lauren was caught and restrained with it, and it messed her up. Satisfied?"
"Well clearly not as much as you are-OW" She pouted and rubbed her elbow.
Bo placed the fork she had just poked her best friend with onto the table in front of her with a flourish, slamming a plate piled high with steaming French Toast and bacon down with it. "Eat. Be polite."
"I'll let you get away with that uncalled for abuse on account of the cooked breakfast, but politeness before midday just ain't happening suckyface." She snatched the bottle of maple-sauce off the table and doused every inch of her plate with it.
Lauren's eyebrows migrated almost to her hairline as she watched the tiny woman devour the sticky stack of food with an eagerness that almost rivaled her own the previous day. "Huh, and you thought I could eat."
Kenzi blinked in surprise at the cheeky mirror of her own statement from the previous day. "Well excuuuuse me, pawed princess. Just cause I haven't been starved doesn't mean I'm not starving."
"Well we can't have that, can we? More bacon?" The blonde smiled as she flicked another two freshly cooked pieces in her direction, where they landed neatly in the center of her plate.
"I take back my earlier protests Bobo, you can totally keep her." Kenzi hummed in delight as she swallowed another mouthful of food. "As long as she doesn't have fleas."
Bo's response was interrupted by an incredulous - "I don't have fleas! What is with you two?! Do I look like I'm scratching? DO I?!"
"Umm..no?" The succubus set another towering plate in front of her. "I am starting to think I probably should have fed you earlier though."
Lauren blushed as she began eating. The smell of food had been slowly driving her insane, and setting setting her newly re-emerged wolf on edge. "Sorry." She resisted the urge to moan as the heavenly taste of the first prepared meal she'd had in decades (not counting the previous day's glut of steak and sausages) melted into her tongue. "I didn't mean to overreact. Fleas are just a thing for me."
Seeing the questioning looks she was receiving from the two women across the table, the blonde sighed. "It's just something that always seems to be joked about. 'I hope you don't have fleas', 'got any lice wolf?', 'try not to leave fur everywhere'. You know, things that people can't seem to help themselves with."
Bo winced in sympathy. "I guess you must get that kind of hilarious teasing all the time. Very well. No flea comments." Her eyes glinted wickedly. "Just so long as you don't shed any fur on the couch."
An outraged gasp and a stray crust of sugary toast flying across to lodge itself firmly in her generously displayed cleavage was the only reply, and the three of them dissolved into giggling.
"I think I'm gonna like you fangs – what is your real name anyway?"
"Lauren. By my friends I am called Lauren."
Bo swallowed a mouthful of food and nodded. It suited her somehow. "Do you have a last name?"
A shadow seemed to pass over the blonde's face. "No. It's just Lauren."
The other two women's curiosity was definitely piqued, but Bo sensed that it was not a good time to push, and sent a warning look across the table to Kenzi to drop it. The trio descended into a comfortable silence as they steadily worked their way through the appetizing army-sized meal, Kenzi eating almost double of what Bo did, and Lauren (reassured several times by them both that there was plenty of food and to have as much as she needed), outdoing even her.
"So newbie...light or dark?"
Well, so much for easy, comfortable silence.
Lauren weighed her options carefully for a moment. The answer to such a question would only end up raising a lot more, but so would refusing to answer it. Bo sensed the rise in tension and less-than-subtly kicked her best friend under the table. "Kenzi!" She hissed, before turning a much softer gaze to Lauren. "You don't have to answer that."
"Why not? I for one would like to know if we have a dark fae psycho or a stuck-up light fae snob in our house. Being Unaligned may mean it doesn't matter to you, but it'd still be nice to know."
"You're Unaligned?! No...that's not...how?" But wait. Whispers of a strange newcomer had reached even her ears, rumours of an Unaligned succubus of unknown but powerful origin. A game-changer for their world. "You. Of course. I should have realized"
"Me?" Bo's suspicion was raised. "What about me, what should you have realized?"
"Who you are. I felt that...it doesn't matter, but you are well known to much of our world. I can't believe I didn't put it together." Lauren rolled her eyes, unable to believe her own blindness.
"And what are you?" Unlike Kenzi the succubus's question held nothing but open curiosity, and had she been thinking clearly Lauren would have been alarmed at just how compelled she felt to answer her honestly.
"I am unaffiliated with either the Light or Dark."
"You're Unaligned?! But – they told me it was forbidden! Unheard of!" Bo seemed to flick rapidly between shock, anger, awe, and curiosity before settling on something that was a mix of all four. "How do you get away with not picking a side? Are there more like you?"
"That, I'm afraid, is rather complicated. No, I am not aligned to either side. No, for fae that is neither allowed nor practised. Yes, there are a rare few individuals around the world who are like me."
"I don't -" Bo was just about to unleash her multitude of questions when she was cut off by a snarl.
Lauren felt her hackles go up, a low growl bubbling in her throat.
Someone was approaching the house.
'Fae. Unknown. Wolf-shifter. Male. Middle of his lifespan. Solitary.' The snippets of information rocketed through her brain as they were picked up, all of her senses on full alert as her own primal side pushed itself towards the surface, ready for a fight. A shifter, any fae really, wouldn't be much of a threat at all...but if he knew what she was - if he had been sent for her...'we cannot be found. Kill him. Run.'
"Lauren? What's wrong?" Alarm bells were ringing in the succubus's head as she watched the woman in front of her freeze, every muscle in her body tensing beneath her skin. When she heard her growl and saw her eyes change she leapt up, about to rush over to her when the a heavy knock on the door made her blood run cold. 'Uh oh.'
Bo grabbed the longest, sharpest, kitchen knife she could find and stalked towards the entryway of the clubhouse, indicating for Kenzi to stay put. She was aware of Lauren following behind her, and felt some comfort from the fact that whatever was now pounding on their door was going to get a very rude shock if things turned violent. Reaching slowly for the door-handle, she turned to the woman behind her, and, receiving a brief nod, flung it open to find...
"Dyson?"
"Hi Bo. What's with the -"
Confusion and relief rushed through her, though it was short lived when the friendly smile dropped off of the shifter's face when he caught sight of the blonde standing in the hall.
"Who are you?" The words were spoken with hostility. Something about the stranger standing in Bo's home set Dyson on edge, his natural instincts clamoring that she was a danger. He sniffed the air, confused when he realized that she had no discernible scent, and took a threatening step forward.
"What are you?" Still she didn't answer him, instead staring him down as though he was dirt beneath her feet, and his wolf surged at the perceived challenge. "Answer me!"
"Dyson! What the hell, stop it!"
Bo's anger had no effect on him and he felt his claws and teeth descend. "Last chance."
For a heartbeat there was nothing but silence as the two glared at each other, then - with a guttural snarl from Dyson – all hell broke loose.