Chapter Ten

WAAAPAAAA. Here ya are people, new chappie.

Yeah, I haven't updated in almost a whole month! xD Damn, I'm sorry guys. Quite a few people PM'd me with update begging that spanned several hundred words, and I got reviews like that too! Have no fear, I will never abandon a story.

But this was actually not my fault at all. Blame resinswhy, seriously. I started talking to her and she distracted me. It was a welcome distraction but I veered off my usually awesome update schedule in favor of playing MC and Tumblr-surfing. xD No hate on her though, because I kind of lost my mojo for a bit, and writing was a struggle. But now I'm back! Things are gonna get juicy people, be ready.

It's really short, but I'm trying!

Now, on with the exciting chappie!

Lexa placed an arm in front of Clarke, stopping the shorter woman in her tracks. "Clarke," Lexa said softly, yet with an urgency Clarke hadn't heard in her voice in weeks. "Remember how I compared you to Hawal Pauna? And how you didn't believe me?" Clarke nodded gently, "Yes, well now you will view the beast I told you of."

Clarke tensed, a strangled gasp leaving her lips. "Don't let her kill my mother, or Bellamy." A small snarl grew on Lexa's lips at the boy's name, and Clarke pushed herself against the taller girl, taking the time for a small, quick kiss. "I know you are not his biggest fan right now, but please, he was like a brother to me."

Lexa gave one of those nods Clarke used to get, where she closed her eyes and dipped her chin barely a centimeter, and she signaled with a lifted hand for two guards to hang back and guide the two Sky People. "We must be careful, Clarke. Hawal Pauna is here to hunt, and she never misses out on a meal." Lexa inhaled the forest air deeply, eyes closed as she said next, "Her mate is here as well. He will be black with wisps of dark brown, and his eyes will be neon dark green if he has mutated like his mate has. Stay behind me."

Clarke gulped, clutching Lexa's hand tight her own clammy one as tension pooled in her stomach.

"Lexa I lo-"

The beast leapt from between two thick trees, crashing in between the two pairs of people, separating Lexa and Clarke from Abby and Bellamy. It was a massive, golden furred wolf. She stood six feet at the shoulder, and Clarke could see the ropes of muscle that flexed beneath priceless, soft-looking golden fur that glistened in the scraps of sunlight that fought past thick leaves. The beasts head was curled down, and suddenly, she raised it, golden eyelids snapping open to reveal neon electric blue eyes, the pupils small and the promises within them deadly. Hawal Pauna let loose a loud, vicious howl, lifting her front foot up as she threw her head back. She was the true epitome of elegance and grace, the small movements she made completed smoothly, as though she were water flowing across smooth stones.

Bellamy stared up in awe at the massive beast, the reflection of the gold of her fur glistening in his dark brown eyes. He was content to marvel at the mutated beast, but scrambled back with a yelp, falling on his ass as another larger beast leapt into the area, reducing a fallen tree to toothpicks as it landed upon it with massive dark paws.

Just as Lexa said he would, Hawal Pauna's mate was black, with wisps of brown, and it was mutated, its dark neon green eyes giving it away. His fur, though mottled with brown, looked to be the sky at midnight, the brown wisps like dark stars scattered about his body. He stood at six and a half feet at the shoulder, and his movements were graceful like his mates, but he was stacked with larger muscles, and his soft fur was marred with a few impressive scars here and there. He protected his mate, royalty among wolves as she was.

The pair stood side by side, their massive heads swinging back and forth to view the small humans. They were treasure-furred and midnight-blurred beasts, together in a harmonious relationship. They recognized the one with brown hair and tan skin, she had been a regular in the forests for years. The golden beast huffed, teeth slightly bared in what could almost be considered a smile. The little brown haired one with the tan skin used to toddle around these forests, tripping over damn-near everything in her path, but as she grew, she almost glided across the forest floor, and she weaved about the trees. She had no desire to kill the brown one with tan skin, no, but the black haired male could be satisfactory...

Hawal took a sniff, and her upper lip curled into a distasteful snarl. He would not do. But, as the graceful beast took another sniff, she noticed the anger coming off the black haired one, and her massive head swung back and forth. She took in the small glares passed between the black haired one and the brown haired one, shared even in such a dangerous and possibly fatal moment.

The massive beasts took singular steps toward the pair closest to them, heads held high as their ears flattened against their skulls.

Bellamy panicked, took aim, and fired.

The moment the bullets struck golden fur, Bellamy's fate was sealed.

Hawal's mate let out a vicious howl, and he lunged for the small human, crushing fallen trees and branches beneath his massive feet. A Grounder guard stepped in front of Bellamy, daring to raise his sword as he stared death in the face up his Commanders orders.

"Back!" Lexa shouted. Such defiance was futile against such a massive, wise and experienced beast. She didn't want her loyal guard to die for nothing, especially not for Bellamy.

Lexa's warning was no use, as the guard was snatched up in Pauna's massive jaws. With a quick snap, his spine was broken and his hip bones reduced to slivers of white bone that stuck out from his body, piercing through even his leather armor. His mouth was open in a silent scream as his eyes bulged in their sockets, before he went limp, his spirit leaving his body, soaking into the dirt beneath the Pauna's feet to await reincarnation.

The dark Pauna threw the Grounders corpse away to the side before swinging his massive head back to Bellamy. He let out a rumbling growl, eyes glowing from the adrenaline that coursed through his veins, spurred by his desire to kill the one who threatened his mate. The Pauna took a single, large step forward, and angled his beastly head down so that his snout was a mere foot from Bellamy's face. Another growl was ripped from the Pauna's throat, and the second Grounder guard pushed Abby behind a thick oak tree, his sword unsheathed and angled toward the beast.

Bellamy's eyes flicked to those of the guard, fear clear in his brown eyes. The guard looked back apologetically, but remorse was absent in his gray-eyed gaze. He could do nothing for the one called Bellamy.

Lexa had pushed Clarke behind her as they faced down the golden Pauna, and a snarl would be ever-present on her lips as she glared deeply into neon blue eyes. The Pauna stared back, her face equally morphed into an equally terrifying snarl. A growl was ripped from the throat of the golden beast, and soon, one was ripped from Lexa's own throat, her body quivering as crouched slightly, ready to pounce.

No life was worth more than another's own, but Lexa needed to defend her people, and Clarke was her people now.

So Lexa withdrew her most prized dagger, the blade a dark, glistening emerald color. She gripped it tightly in her calloused palm, and her expression hardened. She nudged Clarke back before she dashed to the side, drawing the attention of the treasure-furred beast away from her beloved. The golden Pauna's head swung to follow the brown haired human, and she soon stumbled back as Lexa leapt up onto her neck with a war cry.

The Pauna howled as Lexa attempted to hack at her neck, her sharp emerald blade only shrieking against thick, armor-like skin and soft fur. The Pauna shook her head, as though ridding herself of water, and forced Lexa to grip her neck tighter, her arms barely able to wrap around her thick furred neck. The Commander desperately gripped at golden fur, struggling to hold onto the fatal Pauna. Another shake shook Lexa to the side, and the she shoved her dagger into a soft spot, drawing fresh red blood from the beasts shoulder. This, however, left her arm exposed, within reach of dangerous jaws coated in dagger-like teeth.

Lexa's eyes widened, realizing her mistake. Everything appeared to happen in slow motion for Lexa. She saw the massive jaws grip her bicep and shoulder, felt teeth slowly sink into her left arm, having desperately switched hands to hold on moments before. She felt herself be jerked from her partial riding position atop the Pauna, and she could hear the air whooshing past her ears as she was thrown like a ragdoll out into the forest.

When Lexa landed, the air was unforgivingly shoved from her lungs, and a sharp pain bloomed in her hip, where a large root lay high above the ground, forcing her hips up at an awkward, painful angle. She had tumbled for almost a dozen feet, and her landing spot was anything but comfortable. She stared, dazed, up at the sky, glancing at the scraps of soft blue that had fought through the army of thick green leaves. She vaguely heard Clarke screaming her name, but she couldn't bring herself to rise. Even when golden fur obstructed her view of the largest scrap of blue sky, she was unable to force herself to move.

She was so tired, and so cold, even with warmth trickling around different parts of her body, making her feel as though thick, warm water was coating her limbs in odd spots. Maybe she could just close her eyes for a moment, and then she would wake up and her and Clarke could go for a picnic at that spot by the lake. She could tell her about the house they would build there, and the hot springs and all of the wildlife they could observe. Then, a few months or maybe a year down the line, they would build that house, build a stable, and get a bunch of those puppies the Horse Clan often cared for and offered her. No, they would get only one puppy, and shower it with the affection Lexa could never show in public.

Golden light danced behind Lexa's eyelids, and she vaguely heard Costia within her mind, calling her name softly, telling her to wake up. But wasn't she awake? She felt awake, she felt the sun on her face, a comforting, dry warmth. The scattered, wet warmth around her body made her shudder, and she stopped fighting the closing of her eyelids.

The massive Pauna looked down at the unmoving body of the brown haired one. She had not wanted this outcome, but she could not change the past. She would put the brown haired one out of her misery. The Pauna leaned down, prepared to snap Lexa's neck, and end the suffering that could continue for hours, not knowing that the Commander was partially unconscious. The Pauna possessed the mercy Clarke did, but Lexa was too unaware to take notice of such a gesture.

The Pauna was moving slowly, as though she were hoping Lexa would stand to fight once more. Her jaws, coated in Lexa's blood already, were inches from her neck.

Clarke screamed.

Fin.

I'm so evil.