Disclaimer: See Ch.1
A/N: Holy Jesus Chirst on a Bicycle, I've been busy!! I never realized how busy college could get until this year. I'm so sorry at all of you who have been waiting patiently, or not so patiently, and nagging me to get this out. I know its short, but I want to get a chappie in about Sevvie brooding before Rems and Ards have their morning after talk.
~*Lycurgus*~
Chapter 6: Kindred Wolves
It was the soft click of the door closing that caused Arduinna to wake from her shocked state; wake and bolt for the comforts of her bedroom.
Pulling the blanket tightly around her shoulders, not remembering quite how it got there, she burst through the door to her chambers and frantically locked it behind her.
With a noise that was combination sob and sigh, she dove under the comforting covers of her bed and buried her face in the squishiness of her favorite pillow.
Remus turned in the bed abruptly at the unexpected intrusion upon his resting space.
"Arduinna?" Remus called softly, eyes wide as his hand hovered over the woman's shoulder. "Ards?" His voice was shaky. There was a long pause of silence.
The white-haired woman turned her face to the side, greeting Remus with a defeated sigh. "Fate's irony is not wasted upon me. She looks to drive me insane with her humor."
Confusion only slightly marred the concern of Remus's face. "What? Arduinna, what happened? Where's Severus?"
With a bark of a laugh Arduinna turned over onto her back. "No doubt cursing Fate as I... down in the dank, dark, dreary depths of the dungeons where he belongs."
"Excuse me?" Remus was startled, looking as if he had just been slapped in the face. Where in the world had that come from?
"Fucking bloody Death Eaters..." Arduinna growled, teeth clenched and eyes bright as she slammed a fist onto the mattress. "Fucking Voldemort." Her voice turned mocking. "Oh look, a female werewolf. Here, my followers, have a gift, from your Lord to you. Go, have fun." She let out a strangled sob. "Some fucking definition of fun!!" Tears began to flow freely again as she latched on to Remus tightly.
It was only then that Remus realized that his friend was nude and clinging tightly to his bare chest. He cursed and congratulated himself for taking his shirt off to get more comfortable, for such contact was not eliciting the pure concern Remus would have like to given to his friend.
Thankfully, Arduinna seemed not to notice as she continued crying on her good friend's shoulder.
This also gave Remus time to think, his arms automatically wrapping around her as his mouth went to autopilot 'comfort mode' whispering soft words into her hair. But, more to the point, pieces were starting to come together in Remus's head.
It was after Arduinna had disappeared for a few days that Remus found her body battered, bloody, and naked in the snow, left for dead. It had taken months for her to recover enough, physically and emotionally, to tell Remus what had happened, and even then only in a single sentence, eyes never meeting his. "I was captured and raped by a group of Death Eaters."
That was so many years ago. But the time was right for before Severus turned spy.
Oh Gods.
With renewed attention to his friend, Remus hugged Arduinna tightly, noticing that her sobs had subsided. Wiping her cheeks with her hand, she looked up to Remus, studying his face and only reading a map of concern.
"Remus..." She started, voice and expression unsure. "You remember what happened... when you found me... in the snow..." Remus only nodded, more for her to continue than in agreement. "Severus was... he was..." She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, knowing well that she had to say it if she was ever going to get through this. "Severus was one of the Death Eaters there that night."
Remus closed his eyes, almost damning himself for being so perceptive; somewhere in his mind he had hoped he was wrong. "Oh, Ards..." He cooed, pulling her to his body once more. "I'm sorry."
Starting to cry again, Arduinna buried her face in the curve of Remus's neck and her arms wrapped about his waist.
Remembering how Arduinna had comforted him after many a tragedy, Remus began rocking her softly, humming a song he didn't know the words to, but it comforted him none the less. And minutes later he noticed that it seemed to be working on Arduinna as well.
"Remus..." She called softly, voice sleepy and thick. He moved his head to look into her eyes and she smiled up at him. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He said even softer, bringing a hand to her face and stroking her cheek lovingly.
Her eyes turned a bit cloudy, and perhaps that was the warning signal Remus should have caught, but he was taken by surprise when Arduinna moved upwards to place a soft kiss on his lips.
"Goodnight Remus." She smiled, looking into his confused eyes one last time before snuggling down between him and the softness of her bed.
"Goodnight." Remus choked out, closing his eyes as to restrain himself. For a moment lust blazed through him and it took almost all his will to push it away and cage it once again, to make sure that he wouldn't try to take a kiss, or anything else, from Arduinna this night.
But he wrapped an arm protectively around her as he lay down to sleep, and she sighed, a smile playing across her face.
***Time Elapsed: about 10 hours***
"Remus?" Arudinna called, smiling down at him and shaking his shoulder softly. "Remus, get up."
"HnN." Remus grunted and buried his face into the pillow.
Arduinna bit her lip and stifled a giggle. "Come now Remus, you can't sleep ALL day..."
Smiling and looking up at her with one eye he laughed. "Unlike you..."
"Hey!" She shoved his shoulder playfully, rolling him backwards a bit so that his whole face was now visible. "My sleeping patterns are perfectly fine..." She blushed knowing she was lying. "...for a cat..." she added softly.
Remus snorted his laughter. "An insult to werewolves everywhere!"
She stuck her tongue out and mock-glared at her best friend. "Am not! Few werewolves are as beautiful and intelligent as me." Turning her face upwards haughtily, Arduinna ran a hand though her long hair.
Remus grinned and propped himself up on one elbow. "Or as modest."
Intending to bat at Remus playfully once more, but missing as he rolled away, Arduinna's hand ran up his muscular chest diagonally. It was as if the action was in slow motion as she watched her hand and felt every inch of his skin glide under hers. Arduinna fell silent at this, eyes wide as she followed the path of her hand.
Stretched over him slightly now, her hand resting on Remus's far shoulder, Arduinna's ice blue eyes traveled up his body to his face where her looked upon her with a strange mix of emotions.
Remus's amber eyes dilated rapidly, liquid color of the irises almost disappearing as his eyes left Arduinna's face to once again notice that she was completely nude and in bed with him.
Attention caught by the near instant change in Remus's expression, Arduinna barely registered the low growl that rumbled from her friend's throat.
Arduinna barely registered the noise... but the wolf within her had no doubt as to what it heard. And what it meant.
Taking in a deep breath through her nose, she let the feral corners of her brain analyze each sent, defining each separate pheromone coming from Remus, and from herself.
And then Arduinna growled her own deep response.
At the sound Remus's head shot up from where it had been staring at her exposed chest to meet eyes pitch black yet filled with fire.
Perhaps it was the lingering effects of the past evenings' events, Arduinna's unsatisfied id, or perhaps it was the fact that Remus, for the first time to her knowledge, was posturing like the wolf inside him compelled him to, but what looked through her eyes now, down at the man beneath her, was most certainly a lustful bitch werewolf.
Just as Arduinna's human reason had gone, so had Remus's rationality fled; there was only one thing that was truly important right now: getting himself inside the female wolf who was now reeking of pheromones and pawing at one of his shoulders in earnest.
There was a long silence as the two just stared at one another, breathing becoming heavy even before they touched each other. And then in a moment so quick it almost didn't exist, Remus had reached up and fiercely pulled Arduinna down into a kiss.
Everything from that point on was frantic, wild, and uncontrolled. Clawing, biting, scratching, licking, snarling, and whimpering sounds all echoed off the stone walls of the bedroom. Sweat-sticky flesh hit against sweat-sticky flesh as an ancient dance of giving and taking took place.
And two kindred wolf spirits, who had long waited for the right moment to confront one another, who had long been the alpha male and female in a pack with no pups, who had wanted this since their first encounter finally took what they believed was rightfully theirs.
