Thanks for your reviews Kelly & EC Brenway!

Kelly - Hope you like who figures it out!

EC - We do love territorial WolfElly! Ooh Chloe's getting bravery to stand up to pierce due to her growing attachment with Elly? Love that! Gotta find the humour in Elly's embarrassment of being treated like a dog! I hope I can make it interesting if and when Chloe finds out Elly's a werewolf! Maybe Bea, maybe pierce - let's find out!

The Chemistry In Darkness

Chapter Fifty-One

Monday 16th December 2024 – The Night After The Full Moon

As the full moon had shone high in the sky the previous night, WolfElly had lucked out and after Chloe's kindness to let her spend the night at her place away from the unexpected rain that had fallen, found herself able to curl up into Chloe's arms next to her in Chloe's bed. With Pierce refusing to sleep in the bed with the wolf, he'd been relegated to the couch.

With the decision to lie in Chloe's arms for a few hours then sneak off into the night, WolfElly didn't anticipate having the best night's sleep as a wolf since she'd been turned over four years ago.

As the sun began to creep up into the sky, WolfElly laid fast asleep in Chloe's arms. The blonde just as comfortable sleeping deeply.

With the sun moving inch by inch into the sky and the moon falling deeper behind the horizon, WolfElly stretched out in Chloe's arms before slowly but surely transforming back into her human formation.

Elly groaned gently before falling back asleep where she was.

With Chloe's arm wrapped around her torso.

Elly's naked body been spooned by Chloe from behind.

About half an hour later, the sunlight from outside Chloe's bedroom was peeking through the edge of the curtains. Chloe's eyelids fluttered gently, her breathing slow and controlled, before closing her eyes again.

Chloe yawned, stretching her arm around the body she was holding, her fingers stroking the skin beneath them until they suddenly paused.

That doesn't feel like Pierce's abs… Whose hair is in my face?

Chloe paused for a moment, afraid to open her eyes as the rest of her body reacted to the feeling of spooning a very naked person whom was decidedly not her husband.

A woman…her skin is so soft…it feels right to be holding her…what is wrong with me? I'm married. To Pierce!

Chloe slowly blinked her eyelids open until they fell upon the woman she was spooning.

Elly! What the hell! Why is Elly curled up in my bed? Lying here with my arm wrapped around her body? Naked! Elly's naked! I'm not naked…that's one good thing…is it good? Argh! Of course, it is cause your married…not to Elly! And…wait…wasn't there a dog here last night? A dog that curled up in my arms under the sheets and wanted to share the bed and all but kicked Pierce out of our bed? Why is Elly here…naked…where the dog was? What if Pierce wakes up and sees me lying in bed with a naked Elly?

Chloe gently pushed her body forwards against Elly's but upon hearing the brunette moan gently at the contact her eyes widened in horror at the position she was in. And yet, on some level, it felt right to have Elly sleeping peacefully in her arms.

But that level couldn't be dealt with now because Chloe was more scared of her husband walking in on them then dealing with her feelings for the woman in her arms.

Or the fact that the previous night Chloe had fallen asleep with a dog curled up against her yet had woken up with a naked woman in its place.

"Elly?" Chloe whispered anxiously.

"Mmm," Elly mumbled in response.

"Elly!" Chloe said with a sharper tone.

"Feels good, Chlo," Elly murmured.

What feels good? Me?

"Elly!" Chloe stated again and when Elly still didn't rustle except for some mumbled breathing, Chloe finally gritted her teeth before pinching her fingers into Elly's side as gently yet firmly as she could, "Elly, wake up."

Elly finally began rousing, stretching her arm above her head and her legs out.

"Elly, what are you doing here?" Chloe whispered sharply.

For a brief moment, Elly reveled in the feeling of Chloe embracing her as they laid together in the blonde's bed, "Don't wake me, babe."

Babe?

"Elly, you need to get up now! Why are you in my bed?" Chloe asked quietly.

Naked…? I really want to ask why Elly's naked…

Elly finally opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings, then feeling Chloe's body behind her, realized she wasn't meant to be there. Turning her head gently to look up at Chloe whom was leaning over her, "Chloe?"

Chloe unwrapped her arm from Elly's body, "You need to get out of here before Pierce finds you! He'll think we cheated!"

We did cheat, Chlo, we kissed two nights ago!

I mean more than our kiss two nights ago!

Before Elly could react, she sighed as Chloe pulled her body back away from hers, dragging the bed sheets with her, exposing some of Elly's body, "How did I get here?"

Play dumb, why don't you!

"Last I checked, I fell asleep with a dog cuddling up to me! And I woke up to you in its place!" Chloe answered with confusion, then shook her head, "We don't have time. You need to leave now. We can talk about the rest later when Pierce doesn't find out I had another woman in our bed!"

Not just any woman! Elly! Pierce will think we cheated without doubt! We did, but not like this!

"What dog? There was a dog here?" Elly feigned innocence, before adding, "Okay, okay, I'm going."

Elly groaned before yawning and taking her time to get herself up.

Chloe was about to bring up the dog that she'd let sleep in her bed that night again but got distracted as she blushed as Elly stood up, leaving the bed sheets on the bed. Elly's carelessness to her nakedness left Chloe looking down at the floor when Elly turned back to face her, "Um…I've got some… Why don't you grab some of my clothes from the middle draw in the chest over…there?"

Wow, Chloe's doing anything possible to look anywhere but at me…let's see if I can tease her a little bit more.

"No, thanks, I'm good," Elly declared, before turning around and headed out to the hallway.

Chloe looked back up at Elly, her eyes widening as she saw Elly's naked body from behind but more so for the fact that Elly was about to walk around her house naked when Pierce could be about. Chloe threw the bed sheets off of her, rushing to get out of bed and follow the brunette, "Elly, get back here!"

Elly padded down the hallway barefoot, calling back to Chloe quietly, "Thought you wanted me gone."

"Well, yes, but not walking around my house like that…when Pierce could be up," Chloe pointed out.

Elly smirked at the blonde, "Like what?"

As Elly stepped out into the main area of the house, Chloe blushed heavily at Elly's confidence to pretend she didn't know what she was talking about nor care about how blasé she was being in front of her.

Then Chloe remembered her husband had gone to sleep on the couch and rushed out after Elly quicker, trying to think of an explanation she could possibly give Pierce for the naked ex-girlfriend exiting their bedroom.

What explanation? I don't even understand what happened! I swear there was a dog sleeping next to me last night! Did I get drunk and imagine that part? Or am I drunk now imagining waking up with my arms around a naked Elly?

As Chloe stepped out to the living room, she was relieved to see Elly standing over the couch as the sound of Pierce's snoring cut through the air loudly, confirming he was still fast asleep. Chloe's relief that he wasn't about to catch his wife with her ex-girlfriend was a weight off her shoulders but she was still bewildered by what had happened the previous night.

Chloe watched as Elly stepped towards the front door, "Here I'll get you a blanket, just give me three seconds."

"I told you I'm good, Chlo," Elly turned to the blonde, smirking as Chloe avoided looking at her body once more, "See you around, maybe tomorrow or the day after."

Tomorrow? The day after!? Oh, hell no, I need answers now as to what Elly was doing in my bed! Wait…Elly's not walking out my front door…naked!

Chloe rushed over to the front door as Elly had opened it and taken off towards the stairs, "Elly, put some clothes or a blanket on! You can't walk out of my house like that!"

But it was too late.

Elly was already descending the stairs and was just about at the bottom one when Chloe had called out to her. Chloe placed her hands at the back of her head, watching in pure anxiousness as Elly confidently strode across the road to the Kennedy's stark naked. Her heart pumping rapidly at the mere thought of any of their neighbours spotting the naked woman leaving her house.

I don't know what's worse…Pierce finding Elly in our house like that or one of the neighbours seeing Elly leaving my house naked because that would get back to Pierce within minutes. Even my brothers wouldn't be able to keep that from Pierce.

As Elly reached the Kennedy's and walked inside the house, Chloe still stood there at the top of the stairs outside the entrance of her own house. For about five minutes she stood there, holding her breath, just waiting for someone to pop up and ask her why Elly was naked at her place.

Chloe suddenly got her breath back when Pierce walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Jesus Christ, Pierce! You scared me half to fucking death!"

Pierce smiled down at the woman in his arms, completely oblivious to what he could've caught Chloe doing less than five minutes earlier had he awoken then, "Sorry, babe! I'm just glad to see the wolf didn't eat you last night. Where is the thing? I should call animal services now to-"

"She's gone," Chloe swallowed hard, still staring off at the Kennedy's house, "Opened the door for fresh air and she bolted out of here. You won't catch her."

"Glad to hear it. I'm still going to call them. Wolf roaming the streets of Erinsborough needs to be reported. I might even go after it tonight if I see it in this area again," Pierce decided, then realizing Chloe wasn't listening to him, "Did you sleep okay, last night?"

Best nights' sleep I've had in years…

"It was a bit weird…having an animal curled up on the bed…and you not there," Chloe lied.

"Well, it's a good thing that everything will go back to normal tonight," Pierce whispered, holding Chloe closely to him.

"Right…normal," Chloe whispered.

So…should I give Elly like five minutes or an hour before I go ask for answers from her…? You can wait a few hours at least…right?

Over at the Kennedy's, Elly was glad the front door was unlocked, yet knew that meant at least one family member was already up and she hoped it had been Karl whom had already left for a shift at the hospital with the rest of the house empty.

As luck would have it, it wasn't in Elly's favour.

Sitting at the dining table, with a newspaper propped up in front of her face, about to take a sip of her coffee, Yashvi froze in her place when Elly wandered into the house naked.

Yashvi's mouth was hanging open as above the newspaper she could see Elly's upper body before she closed her mouth and went to open it again to speak.

But before she could, Elly closed the door behind her, strolled past Yashvi with a firm, "Don't ask."

Then as she walked down the hallway towards her bedroom, Bea was wandering down from the other direction. Her look of shock at Elly's state prompted Elly to say to Bea too, "Don't ask."

With Bea staring at her sister as she walked into her bedroom, she then looked at Yashvi sitting at the table, finally taking a swig of her coffee, "Did my sister just…?"

"Yep," Yashvi confirmed without being asked that Elly had indeed wandered into the house nude, then raised her eyebrow, "Your sister has a nice set of boo-" then as Bea stared at her wide-eyed, Yashvi cleared her throat, "Shoulders. Great set of shoulders. Hey, you should read this article, it's a great read."

"What is going on with Elly?" Bea demanded, even though she knew Yashvi knew as much as she did.

"You suspected Elly slept outside in the backyard two nights ago, she was changing into clothes she'd taken from the clothes line when you caught her, she slept somewhere else last night and rocked up naked this morning…only one thing it could be," Yashvi mused.

Bea placed her hands on her hips when Yashvi didn't finish her musing, "I'm waiting."

Yashvi blushed, "Oh, sorry, babe, thought we were having one of those couple moments where we know what the other is thinking. The only thing it could be is…Elly's joined a nudist colony."

"What?" Bea asked in surprise.

"I mean, what do we really know about this family that took Elly and Aster in? They live out at some cabin in the woods…keep to themselves…their nudists and sleep out in nature. Moon's been full the last few nights. Plus, Elly was meant to go back to spend time with the family yet never managed to so it ended up probably still being a good time for Elly to get back to her…nudist lifestyle," Yashvi decided.

"Should I like…talk to Elly about this?" Bea wondered, bewildered that Elly would hide something like that from her or think she would judge her lifestyle choices.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Bring it up next time you're having a casual convo with Elly, just don't push it or force the issue," Yashvi advised, "So, Elly's got a secret life as a nudist. There are worse things your sister could be lying to you about, babe."

Bea stared back at the direction of the hallway, "Guess that's true."

So close, Yashvi, so close! Well it wasn't the right secret but the cop had her instincts about Elly's secret

Next time - What instincts will Chloe have next time when she confronts Elly about their kiss and what's going on with them?