Next chapter, I wrote this in the middle of the night. I just woke up around 3am, somehow inspired and figured I had to use that so here it is. As always, thank you for all the feedback, please tell me what you think about this one as well I'm always waiting impatiently for your comments. Enjoy!
four days later...
Kenzi was sitting on one of the bigger rocks near the clearing behind Sulpicia's mansion. She had sat there for almost half an hour and had almost given up waiting for Lauren, thinking she wouldn't show this time but just when she was ready to slip down back onto the ground she noticed a few specks of gold shimmering through the trees. It was hard to make out as fall was starting to take its toll on the trees, painting the leaves from red to yellow to every shade of brown. Still, Kenzi knew she saw something and, keeping her eyes on the same spot she was rewarded with the huge golden tigress slipping through the trees towards her. She couldn't help but feel the same tingle of fear she always felt when Lauren approached her like this, amber eyes fixed onto her, shoulder blades moving elegantly up and down, back and forth, making the black stripes in her fur move like in a rehearsed dance, heavy paws padded across fallen leaves and small branches but didn't make a single sound. It didn't help that this time, the usually white fur around Lauren's mouth was tinted red, dried blood making the hairs stick together. Once she stood directly in front of Kenzi, who unconsciously had curled up on the rock, Lauren stood up, pulling her hair out of her jacket and shaking it out. It made the human lose a bit of her fear but the dried blood was still around the blonde's mouth, making Kenzi shudder slightly.
"I'm sorry you had to wait Kenzi. I was eating." Lauren said with a smile, her glance apologetic as she sat down on a rock slightly bigger than the one Kenzi was sitting on just a few feet away.
"I see that." was the human's dry response. Only then did Lauren realize the blood still on her face, making an attempt to scrub it off with the sleeve of her jacket and doing a pretty good job. "Sorry." She half-smiled.
"It's ok, Lo. You're a tiger and you basically live out here now. I know wild animals don't cook, especially not the ones as big and predatory as you." Kenzi joked, trying to lighten the mood which was something both of them could use right now. Three days. That's how long it had been since Bo had last willingly talked to her mate, two days since she last saw her. The succubus was refusing any kind of the talk Lauren was trying to have with her, to let them try and solve their problems. Eventually the blonde had stopped trying, retreating into the forest. From what she had told Kenzi she mostly lay down somewhere sunny and communicated with her tiger counterpart. The small Goth had snuck out the first night she was able to again, wanting to tell the doctor how grateful but also how incredibly sorry she was. She had told Lauren about what Vassily and Svenja did to her, about Tamsin forcing her to help her kidnap her. To her surprise, the Bai-Ze hadn't been mad at all, she had listened carefully, expressing her regret for pulling Kenzi into this mess over and over.
"I'm so sorry." Kenzi whispered.
"Kenz, how many times do I have to tell you not to apologize any longer." Lauren's voice was lightly scolding but the human shook her head. "Not for that. If you hadn't come after me I could have been dead, yes. But you and Bo-Bo would have been ok. Not like this. I mean she's not even talking to you although I know she misses you terribly."
Now it was Lauren's turn to shake her head. "Don't ever say that. I wouldn't have left you there to suffer. Bo and I would have had this fight over something sooner or later. Sadly, we don't need anybody else to fuck up royally." Her voice was sad, almost bitter.
Kenzi was a bit taken aback. She had never heard Lauren curse, even if it was just a bit. "Hey, Lo." The small human crossed the small distance between her and the blonde, putting a comforting hand on her knee. "Bo will come around. It will be ok." Lauren looked at her with tears in her eyes and it broke Kenzi's heart a bit to see her like that. Even though she once hadn't liked her much, she had come to care about her deeply, too.
"But it's not. Kenz, this is more than just some random fight. I should have never gone in there on my own, at least I should have told someone but I just couldn't. I was too afraid for you. And Bo.. well she has her part in this, too, obviously. If she keeps blocking me out like this I don't know what I'll do." Lauren did something she rarely, if ever did before. She leaned into Kenzi, searching for comfort which the human granted her immediately, if somewhat confused.
"I'm going to talk to her, Lo. You guys can't keep this up I mean for God's sake you two are bonded. We didn't go through all this shit for nothing. I see how she misses you, she stares out here when she thinks no one is looking. She's just as sad as you are but she's still our stubborn Succubitch." They shared a dry chuckle together and fell silent for a while.
"You should get back, it's not safe for you out here once it gets dark." Lauren said, pulling back and looking up at the last rays of the sun shimmering through the trees. Kenzi smiled, keeping her snarky reply inside for once and nodded. After all, she needed to talk to Bo.
"Same way as always?" The human asked, her smile turning to a grin. Lauren laughed. It was a good thing to hear. "Well, I suppose it is faster and safer." She got up from the rock and elegantly as always, fell to all fours, shaking her golden fur and laying down. The tigress exposed her fangs, her whiskers vibrating as she nodded her head for Kenzi to get up. Kenzi guessed, if there was a way for tigers to smile, Lauren was doing it right now.
She climbed onto the muscled frame of the tigress' long body, grabbing the fur at her neck and adjusting her positing so she was lying almost flat. "Ok." She said and Lauren carefully got back up on all fours, lightly padding through the forest. Kenzi was once again fascinated by the lack of sound the huge cat created. She inhaled the scent of Laurens fur as she looked at the passing trees. The first day they had done this Lauren still smelled like a human, for the lack of a better description, but as the days passed she smelled more and more like the forest and of blood, more like the predator Kenzi knew she was and secretly loved to be. The small Goth grinned as the golden cat gained speed, leaping through the woods and over fallen trees in giant bounds, Kenzi holding on for dear life.
It didn't take long for Lauren to reach the mansion. It was almost dark now but the tigress could still see everything very clearly. She didn't miss Bo standing just in front of the glass door that led back into the large building as Kenzi slowly got down from her back, smiling at her. Lauren smiled back with her fanged, more or less frightening, tiger-grin and Kenzi even dared to scratch her behind the ears, earning her both, a snarl and a contented purr. The little Goth smiled as the tigress nudged her hand one more time to say goodbye but that smile faded as Lauren turned, facing in the direction of Bo who Kenzi hadn't noticed yet and lowered her head to the ground as a greeting. She stood back up, waiting a small amount of time for Bo to respond but the succubus was staring at the ground to her own feet, eyebrows furrowed and eyes bright blue. Lauren gave a sound that almost sounded like a yelp before she finally turned, her eyes shining like two amber stars in the darkness of the beginning night and with another big leap she was back into the woods, engulfing the mansion in almost deafening silence and not leaving so much as a trace that she had been there moments ago.
-x-
Lauren mindlessly wandered the huge areal that belonged to Sulpicia. She had no idea why the succubus had made all of this land her own but the golden cat was grateful she did. It was a whole new experience to be in her tiger-form this long. The last three days she had only changed back to talk to some people, mostly Kenzi. Once, Sulpicia came and asked about her conversation with Vassily, which Lauren recounted to her in every detail, leaving the older succubus obviously concerned but Vassily was far from Laurens mind right now. She was living by her instincts, wandering back and forth through the territory that she had now claimed as her own. The tigress loved how the colors of the leaves hid her even better from view, how she could sneak up to her helpless prey which was mostly deer. Lauren still didn't take pride in the fact she could kill so easily but she accepted it as a part of the predator she was.
Right now, she had stopped moving. She heard water running nearby, and a tongue lapping greedily at it. Lauren smelled the air, it was almost morning and the sun would be rising soon. She had to be quick. Melting into the colors of the forest, crouching slightly as she made her way to where she located the sound, one careful step at a time. She stopped behind some of the last trees before she would reach her goal as searched the small clearing in front of her for the source of the lapping noise. What she saw made her almost snarl. A snow leopard was the one drinking, not the deer Lauren had hoped it to be. She knew by the way the other cat moved that it was Irina and the tigress wondered what she was doing here. She silently stepped out of the forest and onto the clearing, giving a small growl to alert Irina to her presence. The snow leopard whipped around, crouching down instantly and baring her fangs. She recognized Lauren quickly, her expression softening. She turned motioning with her head for the tigress to follow her which Lauren did without questioning.
They eventually came to the same small clearing where Lauren met Kenzi almost every day. Irina went over to the rocks and jumped up on the one the small human usually sat on. Once she was sitting on the rock she shifted into the tall beautiful woman she normally was. As usual she was absolutely stunning in a white summer dress with a black belt and black heels, hair flowing down over her shoulders in shimmering blonde waves. Lauren shifted before she got onto the rock, her hair once again stuck in her jacket but this time she didn't care.
"Cub, you can't keep doing this." Irina's voice was caring, gentle.
"What?" Lauren asked, slightly confused by the tone of the tall woman's voice.
"Not talking to your mate. You will lose her, lose each other."
"I know. But Bo won't talk to me."
"She's hurt. She has a right to be that, but only for so long. She has to grow up and face the problems you two have, otherwise it will end badly."
"But I practically betrayed her!" Lauren fought her tears but was losing the battle quickly.
"Yes, you did and like I said, she has a right to be mad but so do you. Your little human friend went to talk to Ysabeau after she came back yesterday. I had a little chat with her before, she told me that while our young succubus often accused you of cheating or spying on her, she was not all that saintly herself, which really wasn't a big surprise. I knew something was up with the mongrel the first time I saw him." Irina shook her head, her face showing disgust. "Kenzi told me you took it without much fight, you simply let her hurt you over and over."
"I love her. I always did." Lauren's tears were flowing freely down her face by now but she didn't sob, still trying to be strong.
"I know what you mean, cub." Irina's voice was sad for a moment but she quickly got it back to a neutral tone again. "You have to talk to her, sort out your differences because you are great when you're together."
"Why are you telling me this, Ira?" Lauren used the nickname the tall Russian only allowed very few to use, trying to get her to open up. The older Bai-Ze took a deep breath. "I learned the hard way that family is the most important thing in the world. I barely knew my father, not because he didn't love me or my mother, but because they fought. After a particularly big one he left, much like you did, to clear his head. He didn't come back. We never found out what happened to him but my mother felt his death. She was never the same again, the caring, kind woman she once was. She became bitter, blaming herself for what happened to my father."
Irina reached for a small locket around her neck that Lauren never realized had been there. She opened it, and gave it to the younger Bai-Ze. Inside the locket was a picture of a painting. It was small but it was very detailed, showing a small but stunningly beautiful woman who was standing next to a tall, very handsome ash-blonde man. It was obvious that these were Irina's parents. She was as beautiful as her mother but in a totally different way. Where the small woman in the picture exuded kindness and happiness, Irina was tall and strong, a warrior. Lauren could clearly see that was the influence of her father. He had the aura of a leader, his long lean body with the broad shoulders the mirror image of his daughter's.
Lauren gave the locket back to Irina, who carefully closed it and placed it back around her neck. "Were they Bai-Ze, like you?" the doctor asked carefully. Irina nodded. "My mother always told me I was the best of both of them. She was a Cheetah, small and fast. My father, he.." She looked directly at Lauren. "was a Siberian Tiger, like you."
It shocked Lauren but thinking back to the aura her father exuded even on the small picture, she shouldn't be very surprised. Irina sighed. "It's another reason why I try to protect you the best I can, you remind me of him. I don't want you or Ysabeau to go through what my mother had to, so please, talk to each other and sort this out. You are bonded mates, you are meant to be."
-x-
Bo was sitting on her bed, deep in thought. Kenzi had left to go to bed, stating how exhausted she was from the day. Her best friend had come to her, a little over an hour ago. Bo knew she couldn't keep this up very long and Kenzi had made a point of telling her how immature this whole silent treatment was. The succubus knew that herself and told the human Lauren had broken her heart with what she did, not only going to Vassily alone but lying to her about it. That had been the point where Kenzi had snapped.
And you didn't break hers, a million times over? You know I love you and you guys both share a blame on this one but could you try and get off your high horse for a moment and listen? You're not as saintly as you would like to think sometimes, either Bo-Bo. You fucked up royally in the past and I don't think I ever heard you apologizing over and over the way Lo did whenever you accused her of being the reason why your relationship failed again and again. You're both so stupid when it comes to this I have no idea how you even made it this long without ripping each other's heads off! You need to talk, work on it, not growl at each other from different sides of the room. I know you miss her, just as much as she misses you. Why do you keep torturing yourself for absolutely nothing?
That had gotten Bo thinking. Kenzi went after a while, leaving her to cry on her bed as she realized just how stupid they both really were. It was true, Lauren fucked up when she lied to Bo but the succubus herself had done the exact same thing again and again. They were bound to just have it happen over and over until it broke them, because they were still thinking as individuals. They were bonded now, two parts of a whole. They couldn't go on like this. Bo got up, wiping her eyes and pulling on her leather attire. It was almost morning by the time she slipped out of her room and bounded down the stairs to find her mate, to make this right again, once and for all.
In her room, Kenzi heard Bo's footsteps and a huge weight felt like it was lifted from her. Mission accomplished, she thought and turned to her side, snuggling into the soft bed to finally get some sleep.
I had a lot of people telling me they would like to know more about Irina and I figured it would be a good time to reveal something about her now as it fits the story and maybe gives a few of the reasons for her animosity towards Bo (which was one of your main questions, as well). :) I know this one had a lot of dialogues in it, and the next one will have a big one, too. I mean it's bound to right? :) So like I already said at the top, keep leaving comments, I can't wait to hear them. Until next time!
