Disclaimer: Do not own Marvel, DC or The 100
Warnings for self-hatred and child abandonment and violence against animals, specifically, bears.
What the wolf found in the woods
It was a sad tragedy that Clarke was a werewolf, in the eyes of the young woman who was cursed with lycanthropy, even if it was perfectly naturally for her to be a werewolf, since her parents clearly were werewolves.
The reason for this being a tragedy?
Because Clarke was a werewolf that loved having reptiles as pets.
Back when Clarke and her lovers had started getting serious and as Clarke eventually told them about her lycanthropy, she always had wanted to live in a place where she was surrounded by reptiles.
One of her girlfriends, Shayera, had almost said, "Well, then maybe you should live with lawyers." But she had stopped herself.
Clarke already had a few reptiles when she'd explained that for the first time. A few iguanas, a few bearded dragons and a blue-tongued skink.
This had been before Clarke had more or less rescued the Chinese water dragon, Aqua, from the piece of shit siblings that neglected the water dragon, Octavia and Bellamy Blake.
And back then, all of her girlfriends and lovers were just as empathetic to her then as they were now, years later.
It was perhaps why, even after Clarke had told them, or rather, "forbade them" not to, they had begun construction on making their new home, an actual house, rather than the apartment that they'd previously lived in, more spacious and to space out the living quarters, so that the reptiles would have plenty of heating and Clarke and her lovers, could live separately in whatever temperature they wanted.
The house that they were helping build, was technically massive. Because of their various connections? They had pulled many strings and gone through many loopholes, to make sure that the mortgage on the house was more or less dirt cheap. It naturally, meant that should they ever sell the house? It would be ridiculously cheap, however, they knew how to raise the value of the house, should it be necessary for a time to come to sell the house.
But at the moment?
They were making said house as wide and vast as possible for the eventual many more reptiles they were going to get for Clarke.
And should Clarke ever worry about them not being around to take care of the reptiles? There would be no need to worry.
They had people that they'd send in to look after the reptiles, while they were off on whatever trips and while Clarke was out at night during the full moon, going through the woods and staying there out of human sight.
They had already made a bunch of enclosed spaces around the house, and turned up the temperature, so that the three bearded dragons could walk around freely in their own respective space, as could the two iguanas and the blue-tongued skink.
There were large, smooth rocks, husks and heat lamps all over the place.
The Chinese water dragon, Aqua, was set down near several small artificial lakes.
They were planning on showing Clarke this later, after she got back tonight. Clarke had started early, running to the forest, hours and hours before the sun went down and the full moon emerged from behind the clouds.
Clarke tended to avoid them a great deal, fearing for her lovers' safety. But her lovers knew that Clarke would never hurt them.
Well, they'd show her this sanctuary, watch as she stared at everything.
And they'd remind her that she could get more reptiles. If she wanted.
They'd see her looking up search results for loads of reptiles. Turtles, tortoises-tortoises more than turtles, since tortoises could sometimes be very friendly, iguanas, frilled lizards-amongst many other types of reptiles.
They knew better than even to suggest a monitor lizard.
Monitor lizards were one of the few lizards, besides the Gila monster, that Clarke stayed away from.
A monitor lizard's temperament could sometimes be ornery and unpredictable.
And while true, that could describe a great many of animals, including humans' temperament, but monitor lizards had seriously injured some of their owners in the past.
And Clarke was not going to risk her lovers handling such a creature. It was the exact same reason why she stayed away from the venomous Gila monster and from venomous snakes.
Clarke had never tested to see if she was immune to venom, but she imagined she'd heal up very fast. But she knew that her lovers had no such protection.
However, all of Clarke's lovers knew that Clarke adored tegus. Tegus, apparently, had an extremely sweet temperament and were like scaly dogs.
There was a big, wide pit, surrounded by a short, squat, cement wall that they had constructed in a huge circle, and had filled with clean sand. They'd soon put a few husks and rocks in the pit and add some heat lamps. That was where they would offer Clarke a place to put any prospective tortoises in, in the future.
There were several large tanks that they were getting set up around the various rooms, where Clarke could fill with water and put the more aquatic turtles in, too.
The main greenhouse they were setting up for the rest of the lizards, would be full of plants and water and heat lamps soon too.
In the meantime, Clarke was slowly going to transform into her werewolf form and spend the night out, roaming about the forest.
Clarke and her lovers had changed location about a year ago. Clarke kept worrying about possibly running into a human and hurting them and her lovers wanted some time away from the city. Honestly, all of them were glad to be away from the city for a while.
New Jersey was a state full of suburbs and cities, like all states of the United States of America, but it was full of forests and national parks.
The forested location they had selected, which was not far from Princeton, gave them enough space that Clarke most likely, in her most primal mindset, wouldn't go running off into the campus or any city, but instead would find a nice, tempting, wild smelling forest and run right into it, instead, and not risk running into any human beings.
At the moment, Clarke's lovers knew that Clarke was likely somewhere in a huge mass of trees, probably near a lake or something for water.
As Yelena dropped a bucketful of sand into what was to be the prospective tortoise pit, and Felicia adjusted the heat lamps, which of course, were not yet switched on, as there were no animals to keep warm, as of yet, Wanda asked, leaning back against the wall, glancing occasionally at some of the tanks, which were occupied by Clarke's current reptilian pets, "Clarke will be back soon, won't she?"
She checked the clock, worried about how long Clarke had been out so far.
Natasha chuckled as she sat on the cement wall that surrounded the tortoise pit, regarding Wanda. She knew that Wanda worried about Clarke severely sometimes. Then again, they all did, technically.
Right now, it was night time and the full moon was out, and Clarke had already been out for a few hours.
The problem with Clarke going out early, hoping not to risk changing while she was still at the house, was that she'd be out much longer than usual.
"Wanda," Diana reasoned with Wanda softly, "It's only been two hours since the moon came out."
"I know," Wanda, said, looking dour, "It doesn't change that I'm worried."
Diana sighed, "We know."
And they did. They all did.
It wouldn't be after another four or five hours, when Clarke came back, crawling in through one window or another.
Physically, after several hours as a werewolf, Clarke could change back into her human form. But for the first few hours of the full moon, Clarke would not be in control of her instincts.
Hopefully she had eaten something that got her under control by now. Hunted and killed a deer, a mountain lion or a bear or something.
Clarke and her lovers had a limited knowledge about werewolves. Clarke's pack and family most likely had been killed, however, they learned what they could about lycanthropy.
And from what Clarke's lovers had seen of Clarke's werewolf form, her family's line must have been extremely powerful for Clarke to be as strong as she was.
What few books they could find on the subject, that were actually considered credible, and not written by some paranoid crackpots, traced a history of werewolf families all throughout the United States, and one werewolf family, that Clarke's lovers were sure, were Clarke's deceased family, the Stone Fang pack, were descended from werewolves from somewhere in France.
Clarke personally, had stopped feeling that much interest in finding out more about her family. And now, just wanted to find a way of living with her werewolf nature and controlling it, so that she didn't hurt anyone.
That was all she cared about by now.
Clarke's lovers, on the other hand, knew it was important for her to have a connection to her family and their past, even if her biological family was now dead.
"Don't worry about her, Wanda," Felicia said, smirking, "Who or what would be dumb enough to go near Clarke while she was in her werewolf form?"
Many, many miles from the house where Clarke and her fourteen lovers lived, was a patch of multiple tall, broad trees of all sorts-white fir trees, apple trees, sweetbay magnolia trees, black gum trees and ginko trees, and at the base of the stump of one of the black gum trees, was a hulking figure, bigger than any full-grown human man, fur the color of snow, eyes gold and dark all at the same time, snout protruding outwards, mouth full of gleaming, sharp teeth, ears pointed like knives, huge hands and feet, claws on both feet and on both hands, arms and legs cords of muscle and a big, wide, towering frame.
The other physical traits, which one might only notice if they were foolish enough to stick around and take a closer look at, marked the hulking creature as biologically female. Lining down the creature's stomach, were ten nipples, and between the creature's legs, was a patch with a cleft there. No penile genitalia to speak of.
The creature stayed by the black gum tree, her eyes taking in the sight of the woods around her.
Most dogs didn't have that good of eyesight. The species that she was, on the other hand, had excellent eyesight.
And superb hearing and sense of smell.
The creature was known in human stories, as a "werewolf."
But when she was in her human form? The werewolf went by an actual human name.
Clarke Griffin.
In her human form, she was far from being as tall as she was now in her werewolf form.
She barely went past five feet and three inches. She was white with blonde hair and blue eyes.
In her honest and humble opinion, she, in her human form, appeared remarkable in absolutely every single way.
It was one of the many reasons why she wasn't sure she'd ever understand how she had ended up in a romantic and sexual relationship with her fourteen utterly beautiful and frankly amazing lovers.
She had no idea what they saw in her. Even without finding out that she was a werewolf. But they were with her and at the moment, the werewolf was staying away from the house, trying to keep herself under control.
The werewolf, Clarke Griffin, sniffed the air, growling as she detected the scents of several black bears.
Black bears. Near her territory. Near her den.
A snarl left the werewolf's mouth and she lowered herself to her hands and began loping through the woods, in the direction of the scent of the bears.
She didn't smell any cubs. That was good. Even in her werewolf form, Clarke wasn't sure she could kill cubs.
But she smelled a few male bears and one female bear. And that was dangerous enough.
If she had smelled brown bears of any sort? She would have killed the cubs, without a second thought.
Brown bears, especially the type that were grizzly bears, were much more dangerous than black bears.
It would be difficult for her to deal with as a human, should she ever find out. But as a werewolf? Her instincts always guided her. By instinct, as soon as she came across a brown bear, she would kill it, immediately, regardless of the brown bear's age.
Black bear cubs, even in her primal werewolf state, she'd feel something bordering on maternal affection.
Good thing there was no scent of any black bear cub, then, right?
Clarke galloped through the many patches of trees, reaching an overlook slope, near a small lake, where she spotted three black bears, walking around, grunting every now and then.
Clarke's lips curled back and her fangs flashed in a terrifying wolf's grin. Her tongue darted out and she licked her lips, hungry.
Well, she found her late dinner tonight, hadn't she?
Lowering herself down against the ground, she compacted her strength and energy, and in a flash, she threw herself forward, claws raised and mouth open, full of sharp fangs as she made a lunge for the biggest of the three black bears.
An hour later, the werewolf that was Clarke Griffin, pushed her face into the surface of the lake, gulping down some freshwater, the water cleaning off at least some of the blood and dried meat on the werewolf's maw.
Near the lake, were three torn open and bloody masses where most of the meat had been torn from and was now absent from.
The majority of the meat that had used to be on those three bloody masses, was currently in the stomach of the werewolf near the lake.
The werewolf gulped down a great deal of the water, then turned its large head to the masses of blood, grinning that same gruesome grin, before turning and running back into the forest, galloping wildly through the woods, doing as she wished, as she had before.
Several miles away from where the werewolf had decimated the three black bears, a new scent entered her nostrils.
It was a scent she knew, but was not that of any bear or any animal that frequented this area.
Her paws rammed against the soil, making herself come to an almost violent stop.
She knew that scent. A young scent. And recognized the crying she heard.
A child. A human pup. Crying. Lost. Alone. Afraid.
The werewolf slowly turned around on her hands and feet, smelling the direction the scent was coming from.
The child, a small girl, was somewhere in that direction, far past where Clarke had destroyed and eaten the black bears by the lake.
Clarke, regardless of what her instincts told her, that she'd be safer away from humans, and regardless of what her insecurities were, that people would get scared of her, she knew what she heard and smelled. And that was a small pup on their own, without adult supervision.
Without waiting another second, the large werewolf went bounding off in the direction in which she had come from.
She reached a small outcrop of black gum trees, where there was a small girl, sitting by a large rock, crying into her hands.
Clarke inched closer, looking at the small girl. The girl had dark hair and was wearing dark brown clothing.
Clarke, before she could think about it, made a whining sound that anyone could hear, causing the girl to lift her head and snap it in the werewolf's direction.
The girl's eyes became huge and she backed up against the rock, gasping and shaking.
Clarke scuttled down the slope, getting closer to the girl. The girl shook, shaking her head, tears falling from her eyes, clearly certain that she was about to be eaten by some sort of monster.
Werewolves were not known to each children. In fact, it was a rarity.
Clarke climbed down the slope and got closer to the small child. She leaned in close when the child was shaking, pushed her head closer, her muzzle going against the girl's face and nuzzling her, and let out soothing rumbling sounds.
The crying quieted and became smaller sniffles.
When the girl stopped crying, the werewolf pulled away, and started acting in the playful manner that her instincts told her would make the pup more likely to be happy than sad, stood up enough and wagged her tail, making sure that even in the dark, the pup could see her tail wagging.
Clarke let out several panting sounds as she wagged her tail, then lowered herself, and shifted, so that she rolled onto her back, wagging her tail still, her belly exposed.
This finally, got a quiet giggle from the girl.
"You're-you're like a dog, aren't you?" The girl asked, staring at the werewolf.
Clarke shifted her head so that her jaws were aimed at the child, but in a way that it was like a dog showing its belly, and being playful.
The girl inched closer, and Clarke still smelled the stench of the child's fear, but less so than she had a few minutes ago.
The girl reached out and hesitantly touched Clarke's fur.
"Wh…..what are you, anyway?" The five or six-year-old child asked, confused.
Clarke slowly rolled onto her side, and lifted herself up to her feet and hands, and she gently pushed the child away from her with her snout, causing the child to look at her, confused. Clarke's instincts told her where to take the pup. To her den, where her mates were. Her mates would know what to do about the pup.
Clarke knew how to calm pups down, but she didn't know what else to do.
Surely one of her mates would know best.
The small girl didn't resist as Clarke gently herded her in the direction of the werewolf's lair.
The girl actually started talking to Clarke, now calmer, since she had realized that Clarke was likely not going to harm her.
The girl would make chit chat every now and then.
Asking what type of animal Clarke was, asking if she was a type of bear or a new species. Asking if Clarke could talk. Goodness, the girl had a lot of questions.
When the werewolf had gotten the girl to her den, about to show the pup to her mates, in order to figure out what to do, the pup revealed that her name was Madi.
The werewolf, by instinct, wished to get to her mates, but she knew better than to. The remnants of her human mind forbade her from doing such a thing, small as it was.
So, the wolf stayed with the child, the child, "Madi," giggling and telling Clarke that Clarke was a very, very "strange dog."
The werewolf snorted, as she leaned her head down and let Madi pet her large head.
If she was a "strange dog," then the girl was a bizarre child.
The werewolf allowed the child to pet her and let her rub her ears.
The ear rubbing felt good.
Werewolves had a lot in common with dogs. After all, dogs were offshoots of wolves.
And werewolves had a lot in common with wolves.
So, scratching behind the ears, made Clarke very pleased.
Madi smiled at the happy doglike sounds the "big wolf," as she called Clarke, made.
An hour passed, and the moon began to be concealed by dark clouds.
Clarke could feel her mind begin to catch up with the rest of herself.
She became aware of a young child, a "pup" right next to her, smiling up at her.
The child was seated on a medium sized, smooth rock, reaching up and touching Clarke gently, curiously.
Clarke let out a gasp, which must have sounded like a growl to Madi, because her eyes widened and she withdrew her hands.
Clarke stumbled back, stunned.
Why was there a small human child here?
Clarke stepped back, frightened for the small girl.
Just a mile away, one of Clarke's lovers, Shayera, had wandered out of the house and further into the forest, getting some rocks at last minute, thinking they might be good for the tanks that she and the others were helping to design. As she walked further and further into the forest, even with what few slivers of light there was? Shayera saw the two figures to her right, several feet away.
One of these figures, was very distinct. A massive, humanoid wolf.
A werewolf.
A werewolf that Shayera knew very well.
And a small figure sitting on a rock, in front of that same werewolf.
"Clarke?" Shayera whispered.
No human would have heard Shayera's whisper.
But a werewolf, on the other hand?
The big wolf turned her head and spotted Shayera standing there.
Shayera looked at the werewolf and the spooked looking werewolf saw Shayera.
"Clarke," Shayera said softly, raising her hands carefully, "It's alright, my love. It's alright."
The figure that had been sitting down on the rock, got up and Shayera's eyes widened at the small size of the figure, that it was most likely a child.
"Clarke, it's alright, love," Shayera repeated, and she moved closer.
She knew Clarke feared hurting her and the others, but she could practically feel Clarke's distress, so, Shayera stepped closer, stretching her right hand up, offering, and said in a tone she doubted Clarke would be able to refuse, even the way Clarke was right now, "Clarke, you're coming back with me to the house right now, okay?"
Clarke growled quietly, looking nervously at Shayera's proffered hand, but slowly stumbled forward.
The werewolf lowered herself, so that her muzzle went up against Shayera's hand and Shayera smiled.
"Come on, love," she said, then looking past Clarke, at the small figure, who was walking over.
It was a girl.
"Hi," The girl said nervously.
"Hello," Shayera said, nodding to the girl, "Are you lost?"
It seemed to be a bizarre conversation to be having with someone after they had just seen a werewolf, and what was more, a werewolf that Shayera was interacting with. But Shayera couldn't help but ask the question.
Because while these were far from very secluded woods? These still weren't the types of woods where children would ideally be wandering around on their own. They'd have adults with them in these woods.
Because there were all types of predators running around these woods.
Not just Clarke, who honestly, was the tamest creature in these woods when it came to human beings, especially when it came to children.
Bears, mountain lions, coyotes, even the occasional wolf-the regular sort of wolf and rattlesnakes.
The girl nodded.
"Yes," she said quietly, "My…my mommy and daddy took me out here and told me we were going to play hide and seek. And I would be the seeker. I covered my eyes and counted to ten. When I went to find them, they were gone. I looked for the car and it was gone."
Tears were now streaming down the girl's face.
Shayera's jaw tightened.
It sounded like this poor girl's parents had abandoned her. If Clarke's deep growl was anything to go by? Clarke realized that too.
"Come with me to our house, sweetie," Shayera said, looking at the girl, "We'll figure something out, okay?"
The girl nodded.
Shayera pulled a willing werewolf Clarke all the way to the house and the small girl followed, honestly unsure of what was going to happen, but feeling safer than she had in the past several hours.
Shayera walked in through the doorway of her and Clarke and Clarke's other lovers' house, an obedient werewolf following her and young Madi also following her.
As soon as all three of them entered the house, Clarke's other lovers turned their attention to the three figures, they looked at each other, looking back to Clarke, their expressions softening, and looked at the small child, not understanding what was happening, but nevertheless, they would hear out what Shayera had to say, comfort the clearly docile Clarke, and help this small girl.
Wanda and Natasha both moved away from some of the tanks and got closer to Clarke.
Wanda took Clarke's lupine face into her hands, stroking Clarke's head.
Natasha lowered herself, wrapping her right arm around Clarke's neck, gently whispering in Clarke's ear, "Clarke, love, what have you found in the woods? Come back to us and tell us, malen'kiy."
Clarke whined, her primal mind making way for the gentle command, and finding room to obey and slowly transformed back to human form, ready to give Wanda, Natasha, Shayera and the others what they wanted to know, young Madi watching, confused.
Note
Wanted to include Madi in the story, wasn't sure how to. So, this was a weird and uninventive way of doing it.