Disclaimer- Do not own Young Justice or any of its characters
Wow long time no post. Er, sorry about that. I got really really insecure about the last chapters and it took me a long ass time to work myself up to editing them. But you should largely thank Lizzieonawhim for the continuing of this fic, she was kind enough to beta it and help me fix all the horrible kinks in the old version.
So anyway... it's been a long time, but last we left off with Zatanna and Artemis scheming to write a werewolf mythology book based on the real deal.
But Artemis is dealing with the full moon now!
This is the point where shit starts hitting the fan, so enjoy the first rock in the landslide!
Enjoy this long chapter as a way of apology!
o.o.o.o
Chapter Length: 6,029 words
o.o.o.o
Three days later, writing a book about werewolves was the last thing on Artemis Crock's mind.
The blonde had tried everything she could think of to lessen the moon's influence on her hormones, as she did each full moon; unfortunately, none of Zatanna's books had so far revealed any new, secret remedies for such a thing, so there had only been the usual human relaxation techniques to try.
For that particular month, Artemis could cross warm jasmine tea, hot showers, and eucalyptus body wash off her growing list of possible alleviations.
She paced her room in a persistent circle, her muscles twitching and jumping beneath her skin from the energy trapped inside them. Her whole body was coiled tightly like a spring ready for release, and her blood was pounding in her ears as her feet took her around the room on an aimless journey.
Artemis stopped and caught sight of herself in the mirror hanging from the back of her door more than once, could see that her pupils were blown wide and gleamed silver. Her skin was flushed in several places; her cheeks, her chest, her stomach. All of it combined to give her a wild appearance that she admired in a roundabout way, even with her stringy blonde hair wetly framing her features.
In her relentless pacing, sweat had beaded up and clung to her naked body despite the cool air blowing in from her opened window. The blonde walked over to it, sticking her head out into the night and taking in all the smells. The Gotham pollution wasn't enough to overpower the combined scent of hundreds of werewolves with heightened hormones running about freely; their howls filled the air as they ran amok under the tantalizing pull of the moon power.
Artemis grinned to herself, her fingers clenching on the window sill. Her own hormones were bubbling without cease inside of her, making her hot, horny, and restless. They became more prominent, until her legs ached and she was giving into a deep breath, and threw her head back to howl. She didn't worry that the sound might wake her mother up; Paula had grown accustomed to the monthly disturbances over the years, and had started sleeping with earplugs each full moon.
Which meant she could sing to her heart's content.
Artemis howled until her lungs ached, loving the way it echoed off the alley walls, the way it made other werewolves call back to her even though she was sure they recognized it as her unique voice. She may not have been especially popular within the pack, but the full moon was one night that status mattered little against the mutual need to be wild and let loose in the lunar madness; tonight she wasn't recognized as the outcast daughter of the alpha, she was just another wolf looking for an outlet for all that extra energy.
The blonde released one last howl that strained her vocal chords, leaving her voice more husky than it already was. She poured her emotions into the ringing sound, letting it carry her love for Wally, and the moon, and herself. Being a werewolf really wasn't so bad, not when she got to sing in a way that let her tell a story without anyone knowing the characters. At the end of the final note she ended it in a low, meaningful pitch before pushing away from the window sill, chest heaving.
Fenrir, she wanted Wally there with her. She wanted to be near him right then, she didn't even know why. All she knew was she loved him and her heart was full from her thoughts of him all of a sudden. Her flushed breasts rose and fell, the tingling sensations rolling across her flesh filling her with a longing for Wally's company. She had been with him earlier that day, but she wanted him to be with her now.
Was it so bad to want to spend her full moon with him instead of other werewolves? She at least needed someone to talk to, someone to distract her, someone who could maybe keep her grounded tonight.
Could a human keep up with her distracted thoughts and constant movements? There was only one way for her to find out.
So she picked her phone up, texting Wally with trembling fingers.
Artemis:
Babe, are you still up? I can't sleep, is it okay if I come over?
Artemis waited impatiently for his response, her toes curling into the rug that stretched between her bed and Jade's. At last, when her fingers had begun clenching in the sheets in agony from sitting still for so long, the phone vibrated and she snatched it up.
Fire Head:
Yeah, I'm up. Isn't it a little late though? It's two in the morning…
Time was irrelevant tonight; the text was all the invitation the blonde needed.
Artemis finally gave in and let the change overcome her.
Instead of feeling the usual tinges of pain, she felt only a sweet sense of ecstasy wrack her body as the muscles that had been straining so hard to shift her the entire night finally broke loose. It felt good enough that she groaned a little when her body stretched higher, her face elongating into a snout with a black nose that began twitching instantly at the rawer sense of smell. Her ears swiveled, picking up her mother's soft snores in the other room, as well as a couple making love vigorously several floors below. They were werewolves no doubt, getting together spontaneously, just long enough to relieve their increased sex drive before they'd part ways and probably never mention it in passing.
Artemis knew, she'd done it more than a time or two.
But that wasn't on her list of activities tonight.
Seeing Wally was her number one priority, even if it might have been the most reckless, stupid decision she'd ever made in her life. She knew that if she was seen as a werewolf in the city proper, not only would it incur the wrath of her father, it would put Wally in danger and cause panic in the city.
Right now that risk seemed worth it.
Artemis climbed out her window, using her powerful hind legs to propel herself onto the brick wall of the apartment complex beside hers. She dug her strong claws into the clay stones, hauling herself up and up until she stood on the rooftop in full view, watching other wolves run about in the distance. How in the world they could stay secret when they got like this once a month, Artemis would never know, but she figured her kind was too quick for most people to catch like this late at night, especially when Lawrence had placed strict rules that no wolf was permitted below on the streets during the moon's lust.
Citizens most likely assumed the howling came from unruly fighting dogs; close to home, but just far enough off the mark that it kept their existence safe.
The golden she-wolf moved along the roofs at a moderate pace, letting the wind glide through her fur, cooling the sweating skin underneath. She hardly felt more alive than at the full moon, it was sad to say; it was the only time she felt truly herself, and it scared her. She didn't like feeling like this was her at her core, this monster inside her that fought it's way out and had the nerve to make her feel good about herself.
It wasn't right. But she loved it.
Artemis reached the roof of Wally's building, staying out of sight of the streets below. She skidded to a stop on the night-cooled concrete of the familiar building. She edged to the side of it, peering down into the alley between the two buildings, which housed the fire escape she needed to use.
Glancing sideways out onto the street, Artemis was delighted to see the street lamp had blown, plunging the alley into a darkness that would cover her descent and subsequent entry into Wally's living room. Unable to believe her luck, she climbed expertly down the groaning, rusted black metal until the familiar window came into view.
Artemis dug her claws underneath the sill, lifting it up expertly. The problem she encountered there, however, was that Wally's window was not quite large enough for an eight foot tall werewolf to squeeze through. Her shoulders became lodged in the frame, making her panic and struggle because any minute someone might look just hard enough into the alleyway to see a giant furry ass dangling off the fire escape.
"Wally," she rasped, struggling both to squeeze herself in, and to get back into human form.
The redhead had been sitting on his couch. The living room was lit only by a single desk lamp that washed the coffee table with enough light for the scientist to work by; there were loads of papers spread across the surface, some half-filled already and some blank. She could see them all even from where she was stuck, and felt a pang of sympathy for his unfortunate luck with paperwork.
Wally started at her voice, turning to look over the couch. He yelped in mild alarm at the sight of her, before recollecting himself and scrambling up from the sofa. Artemis was happy to see he was clad in only a pair of boxers, which showed off all of his delicious freckled skin very nicely.
She tried to shake herself into a more agreeable state of mind, because now was not the time to be letting her hormones take her down that route, not when she needed to focus on more important matters.
"Artemis? Einstein, someone's going to see you, babe, change back!" he gasped, running over and tugging uselessly on her forearm.
"I'm trying," she grit out, closing her eyes tight. She concentrated hard on being human again, on forcing her protesting muscles to take her back to her natural state, her human state, the one she needed to be in right now so she didn't cause a massive scene that would wind up in the newspaper tomorrow. Her entire body felt like it was on fire from trying to fight the mental order back, but eventually she cried out and toppled through the window. She landed on top of Wally, who had chosen that exact moment to tug harshly on her.
They both laid there for a moment, stunned at her sudden departure from the window. Artemis's breath was heavy, pressing her naked breasts painfully into Wally's equally bare chest with each greedily gulped in breath of air. She felt prickly and uncomfortable after her feat, and that twitching impatience had returned to her, urging her to be a wolf again.
She ignored it.
"Wally," she murmured, lifting herself up on her palms, looking down at him with silver eyes. The redhead was flushed in the low light, staring up at her breasts, then at her face. He cleared his throat, gently pushing her shoulders to lift her off of him, removing the hot skin on skin contact of their stomachs and legs. Artemis felt disappointment; there was still an ache of lust boiling underneath her skin, but she had told herself that wasn't why she was coming here. "Sorry."
"It's okay," he mumbled, clearing his throat again and smiling. He held out a hand for her to take hold of, and she accepted it, letting him pull her to her feet. "Why couldn't you change back?" he puzzled.
"Full moon," she rasped. "It's hard to stay human."
"Oh…"
There was a moment's silence as he digested the information.
"Wally, I wanted you to be with me tonight," Artemis blurted out with no finesse, rubbing her quivering biceps. "But I have to run off all this energy. So will you come with me?"
Wally's brows raised.
"What, you mean like… you really want me with you on the full moon?" he asked slowly, as if unsure of himself. "You do realize I'm not a werewolf, babe."
"I know that," she laughed, her hormones rampant inside her, urging her to get back out the window and start running again. She winced at the unpleasant sensations wracking her body, which prompted Wally to place a hand on her shoulder in concern.
"Are you alright, Artemis? Are you sure about this?"
"Fine. Oh, I'm sure," she growled out through clenched teeth, suppressing a rolling wave of tremors up her spinal column. "I need this, Wally. I can't… not run, but I really want to spend time with you tonight. I'm in a bit of a bind, as you can see. Besides, I have something I want to share with you."
Wally contemplated her for a second, casting a glance at his work on the table, then back at her. He smiled, nodding his head.
"Alright, babe, just give me a minute so I can throw some clothes on."
Clothes, Artemis thought scathingly. All they do is suffocate the body.
Tonight she loathed them, especially when Wally came back out of his room, his beautiful skin hidden from her by tight blue jeans and a plain red t-shirt. Tonight of all nights clothes just didn't make sense to her; the thought of trapping herself in them made her feel suffocated. Still, she kept her thoughts to herself and led the red head out onto his fire escape, where he peered into the darkness with squinted eyes.
"Uh, now what?"
"Now? You get on my back," Artemis said simply, letting herself shift into a werewolf for the second time that night. Each change on a full moon felt like that kind of satisfied feeling one got when they stretched luxuriously from head to toe first thing in the morning.
The fire escape groaned with the sudden weight increase, making Wally grab onto the ladder with uncertain fingers.
"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked. Artemis rolled her eyes, stomping one of her massive footpads down on the metal to prove that it was structurally sound. It screeched in protest, but held itself together under the pressure. Wally glared at her. "Let's just get out of here, I probably need fresh air anyway. Not that there is any in Gotham City."
"Mm, I might know of a place," Artemis smirked, the spot already clear in her mind's eye.
Wally apologized several times for pulling her fur as he climbed his way up awkwardly, but the weight was honestly so insignificant that she didn't register it as more than a prickle of discomfort; a mosquito bite.
"Are you holding on tight? I'd rather not have to scrape you up off the pavement, Wallman," she told him, already curling her hands around the metal of the next fire escape level.
"Babe, if I fall off at this point I'll be taking your fur with me," he snorted. "Hey, by the way, do you shed? Could make a nice rug…" he mused, tugging on some thick strands and laughing when she shrugged her shoulders violently enough to jar him. "I'm just kidding!" There was a slight waver to his voice despite his joking words, and she could sense this whole thing was fraying his nerves a little. He was taking this whole werewolf thing remarkably well, considering how he'd behaved about them just around a month ago. She could imagine that right now he was wondering how on earth his life had gotten to the point of hanging onto the back of an honest to goodness mythological creature. "Oh, Einstein, this is crazy, I'm riding my girlfriend."
Artemis smirked, but kept her perverted remark to herself, beginning her ascent back onto the rooftops. She'd like to tell him he could go ahead and ride her if he wanted, but that would probably be her heightened hormones talking. Not that she hadn't thought about having sex with him already. Feeling around a bit while making out was becoming a practice that left them more uncomfortable than satisfied, but neither of them had made the move to take things further.
Artemis sorely wished they had already.
Upon reaching the top of the building, she shrugged her shoulders more loosely to make sure Wally was centered, then the blonde werewolf took off yet again, starting off slow and gaining speed. Her scientist yelped loudly in fear the first two times she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, but by the time she was half across the city he was watching every little thing she did, muttering to himself about it all.
It just made her laugh with exhilaration and run faster.
There was one scary moment when another werewolf came running a little too close for comfort. Artemis growled low in her throat, veering direction slightly to the east, the growl intensifying as the werewolf seemed to be following in her direction; probably looking for sex or a running partner. Artemis increased the volume and viciousness of her growls, warning him she wasn't interested in anything. Luckily it seemed to sink in because he moved off in the opposite direction shortly after.
The close call had her a little shaken, but she could see the border of the forest now and it would be silly to turn back.
"What just happened?" Wally choked, his head still turned, watching the other wolf move away. Artemis realized that was technically the second werewolf he had ever seen in person. It was one thing for him to accept her and their existence, but seeing another seemed to have shaken him to his core. His fingers had tightened in her fur.
"Pack dynamics," Artemis said simply, leaping off the last building and landing on the grass with a thud.
"That explains everything," Wally yelled sarcastically over the wind.
Artemis ignored him, plunging into the forest. The trees were thick, and she had to slow herself considerably to ensure no injury to herself or Wally. The scents of werewolves flooded her nose for a couple of miles, then started to fade out as they got closer to her spot on the opposite end of the trees. She picked up the pace, filling with excitement as her own smell reached her flaring nostrils, letting her know they were close.
They arrived sooner than she would have liked; running was half the fun.
The she-wolf skidded to a long, sliding halt in an open clearing surrounded by bushes and trees. She kicked up a mighty dirt cloud, scattering loose earth and bits of grass that dislodged from the ground with the force of her paws. Her tongue lolled out in massive pants, and she laughed loudly into the night as she shifted back into a human with less effort than back at Wally's window, with Wally still clinging to her neck.
She could feel a sliver of his bare stomach against her back and moaned, the noise enough to bring him back to reality and pull away.
"Well," Wally said, running his hand over his hair in an attempt to remove the wind blown look; it didn't work, much to her delight. "That was terrifying and fun."
"Yeah?" she asked. If he truly liked this, she would bring him with her every time. Having Wally with her, bringing him to this special place and letting him experience the run with her, it meant more to her than words could ever say. He had shown her so many of his favorite things in the last few months, this was her way of returning the favour tenfold. Her place of solitude in the forest had been her one and only escape from the pack before she'd stumbled upon Wally, and it had never been enough.
Now she had someone with her. If he liked this, it wouldn't just be her spot anymore, it could be theirs.
"Definitely," he confirmed. The redhead turned in a circle, surveying the dark pine trees that surrounded them, the dead log stretched out at the far end of the clearing, and the deep, deep green grass that she liked to wiggle her toes in when she was frustrated. "Man, Artemis, how'd you find this place?" he asked.
She snorted. "Easy; I ran until I couldn't smell my pack anymore, and this was it."
"Yep, that sounds about right," Wally laughed.
The sounds of crickets chirping, owls hooting softly, and the faint sound of a trickling creek were the only noises they could make out in this place; no cars, no sirens… at least probably not for Wally. Artemis could hear them, but at least they were far off.
Wally yawned, flopping down onto the grass unceremoniously, resting his head on arms and staring up at the less light polluted sky.
"You know, I've never cared a whole lot for outdoorsy stuff, but the stars… that's another story," he said, lifting one hand up and tracing some with his fingers. Artemis watched him with a smile, until he felt her eyes and looked up at her, grinning crookedly. He patted the grass near him, and she padded over, fighting down her urge to be doing something so that she could lie next to him instead.
They held hands between them while he pointed out a few constellations. Artemis paid attention for as long as she could, but she grew properly restless and cupped one side of his adorable freckled cheek, pulling him to her for a kiss.
"Mmm," he hummed against her mouth, slowly dropping the hand he'd been pointing stars out with and letting it rest on her stomach. The heat radiating from his hand felt good on her skin, and she deepened the kiss further, pressing her tongue passed chapped lips and rubbing her leg against his.
"Wally…" she murmured between kisses, smiling. The blonde rolled herself over, straddling his waist with her legs, not breaking their contact for a single second. Her body was buzzing with energy; she was flushed and horny for him as the heat increased between them.
"Einstein, you're so beautiful, Artemis," Wally breathed, pulling away from her enough to admire her more in the milky moonlight. "This doesn't even feel real."
Oh, but it was.
Artemis kissed him. She kissed him and kissed him and kissed him. She controlled the pace of it, making it fast and hungry, daring him to nibble her lips with his teeth after she'd nicked his with her sharper canines. He groaned, tongue darting out to lap the dot of blood off his lip before he went after hers with fervor, his blunt nails digging into her hips.
The blonde's blood was singing in her veins. The scent of her own unique arousal, coupled with Wally's, filled her nostrils. Their aromas mixed and permeated the clearing, masking them in a musky haze that unfortunately only Artemis could partake of. It drove her wild.
Wally looked up at her in a trance.
"Artemis," he whispered, breathing heavily. He reached up, cupping her cheek. She leaned into the touch briefly before nipping his palm, then licking the spot to sooth it.
"Wally, I love you," Artemis rasped, leaning down to kiss his mouth roughly. And not a bit of it was the moon talking. The blonde had contemplated scenarios such as this for a while now, though she couldn't deny the moon was helping gently nudge her into this step of their relationship. Wally looked so perfect and love-hazed underneath her that she wondered if humans weren't secretly affected by the full moon, too.
"I love you, too," he panted back, watching as her fingers feathered down his stomach toward his jeans.
They made love right there in Artemis's clearing. They took their time, caressing, touching, moving in a sweet frictional tandem that satisfied them both. She couldn't believe how handsome he looked below her, with his hair illuminated in moonlight, his green eyes shining with it as he watched her the entire time. Her long, blonde hair brushed his chest with their movements, and his hands were a steady guide on her waist.
At times it was hard for her to maintain her form. Her body buzzed and responded to the actions so intensely that her body quivered dangerously with the threat of bursting right out of her skin. But she held herself together, focusing as much as she could on the motions, on his green eyes that caught hers and kept her grounded.
When it was over, the two collapsed together, spent. They smiled at each other in soft satisfaction, and spent the next half hour kissing tenderly: slow, lingering kisses that their lips didn't want to let go of. Artemis kissed his freckles, the ones on his face, his shoulders, his collarbone.
After a time, she felt Wally drifting off in her arms, she buried her face into his neck to lick his hot skin languidly. She wouldn't get tired and fall asleep like he had; the only thing she had accomplished was momentarily depleting her energy. In an hour or so she'd be itching to run again, but she would let him rest for a while.
The blonde whiled away her time tracing every bit of freckles she could reach with her tongue, imagining they held actual flavour aside from his sweat. But most of all she thought about what had just happened, and it made her smile to herself before she latched her lips to the area where his chin met his neck and sucked gently enough that it did not wake him.
Artemis felt giddy about their actions. She should never be so happy, but she was, and she was pretty sure she was stuck with the snoozing man in her arms until she was old and gray. This thing they had together, it was special and it was theirs. It was hers and he was hers, and she loved him, and he loved her somehow, and Fenrir if she had known all this she would have done it far sooner.
This wasn't a one night stand with a werewolf just to soothe her lust; this was something tangible and lasting and she wished they weren't living in the middle of a city full of werewolves and crime.
She wished she and Wally were somewhere else. Anywhere else together. She also wished for a moment she were a coward that ran away from her problems. But Artemis Crock wouldn't and couldn't leave her mother or the slums of Gotham until her kind's power was whittled down to nothing, no matter how much part of her longed for otherwise.
Artemis sighed quietly and nuzzled her face into Wally's neck.
A twig snapped.
Artemis came alert at the sound, lifting herself up on Wally's chest with her palms, her body stiff above him. She listened intently, swiveling her head in every direction, her steel gray eyes narrow and searching the dark wilderness that shielded them.
An animal? Artemis wondered, her eyes flicking from tree to tree. Or a werewolf?
Another snap, and the rush of a new scent straight into her nose.
Definitely another werewolf. Shit...shit shit shit!
Artemis growled into the clearing, handing herself over to the beast inside her. She took several steps over Wally's unconscious form with the hope that he nor his scent would go noticed by whatever threat was looming, but nothing short of dipping the scientist in a vat of acid could remove his powerful chemical odor. They were screwed, and she knew it.
"Well, well," came an amused voice. Pine needles scattered down into the clearing, then seconds later a werewolf dropped out of a tree. His fur was stark white even in the darkness, and he was as tall as he was gangly; scrawny for a wolf, but towering over even Artemis by a couple of inches. He leered at her with piercing ice blue eyes, then put on a show of standing to his full height, brushing the outrageously spiked fur between his ears back coolly. "If it isn't my future mate."
"Cameron," Artemis rumbled, recognizing his weak frame. It was laughable if he meant to attack her; she'd swat him right out of the clearing if he so much as took two more steps toward her or Wally.
"Artemis," he answered back, eyes darting down to Wally's sleeping form, which he could see rather clearly from the angle he'd dropped in at. His eyes flicked back to her face and he grinned at her lecherously, making her blood boil with anger. "I see you've taken to fucking humans; I thought I smelled sex. Figured I'd be more jealous but it just makes me want you more. I like a little kink."
Artemis bared her teeth threateningly at him, her nose scrunching up in distaste. "You're a sick bastard. What are you doing here, how did you even find this place?" Artemis demanded, shifting her weight over to the right to block Wally from his sight. Not that it would do any good now; Cameron had seen him, had probably seen everything as much as it made her shudder to imagine. Whatever the sleaze decided to do about it, Artemis had no doubt it wouldn't create a happy ending for her or Wally.
She'd fucked up big time.
"I'm so glad you asked! Remember that male you growled at on the rooftops earlier this fine night? That was me," he told her, pretending to buff his claws on his fur. Oh Fenrir, he had been downwind of her and she hadn't smelled his irritating hair gel scent; she knew she should have listened to her gut and turned back when she'd had the chance. Cameron grinned at her, licking his lips with a salivating tongue. "Fenrir, was I ready to corner and mount you somewhere, way you smelled."
"I'd like to see you try, runt!" she hissed out. "Way I hear it you're pretty disappointing, it's no wonder you're so desperate all the time."
"I am not a runt!" he fumed, teeth clenching together. Artemis smirked at his discomfort; boys were so easy, all you had to do was make fun of their size and they wilted like flowers.
Cam calmed himself by whirling around and slashing his claws through the trunk of a tree. He looked at her with unadulterated hate burning in his irises, and Artemis returned the favour with full fervor. His anger shifted abruptly back to a calm, relaxed state, and he stood back up to his full height as if in compensation for her comment. He knew he had the upper hand in this situation; so, unfortunately, did Artemis.
"Anyway, when I was after you, this other smell hit me, you know? I thought it was kind of a strange one. Reminded me of that night months ago, when we sniffed you out in the alley. You see, smell like that human," he nodded at where Wally rested behind her,"doesn't just slip from a werewolf's memory. I thought maybe you were going to bring him out here to hunt for fun or something. But boy was I wrong! You came out here to have a good fuck with him! Thanks for the show, by the way." He leered at her.
Artemis snarled, lunging for him, but the asshole was far quicker than her. He was back between the trees before she could land a hit on him, much to her chagrin. He poked his head out through some leaves to her right, grinning as wickedly as she'd ever seen him.
"Don't worry, Sugar Tits, I'll be sure to let your daddy know all about your funky smelling human toy there, and how you revealed what you are to him," he crooned. Then he tsked sadly, shaking his head. "And to think this all could have been avoided if you'd have just let me fuck you a few times."
Then he was gone.
The clock had started ticking.
Artemis ran back to Wally, her heart pounding. She shook him awake with no finesse, throwing him over her shoulder while he groggily came to at a pace she found unacceptable for the danger they were in. Running through the forest with one arm was slow and tiring, but luckily the rushing wind woke him up properly.
"Wuh- woah!" he yelped, seeing all the trees fly past his vision. "Artemis! Artemis what's going on!"
"Just get on my back and hold on!" she shouted, giving him a boost up. He struggled, nearly sliding off her from the jarring blows of her hands and paws hitting the packed earth, but he dug in like a vice, twisting some of her fur around his fingers so tightly it hurt.
"Artemis!?" he demanded again. She ignored him as she went on a furious flight back through the trees, zig-zagging, spiraling, doubling back over and over. She did the same when she reached Gotham, taking him in a long, wide loop out to the west side of the city before closing back in on his apartment in the east.
She spread his scent everywhere she could, hoping that the wide, twisting trail would lead them on a wild goose chase. Or, if she was lucky enough cars would smog up the place and mask it over long before anyone could get to him.
"Artemis, tell me what the hell is going on!" Wally shouted over the wind.
"Another werewolf saw us, he's going to tell my dad! I'm throwing your scent off."
Wally went quiet then.
Artemis wanted to kill herself in that moment; just hurl herself from the tallest skyscraper she could find and take Wally with her, because that'd probably be best for the both of them. She couldn't believe how reckless she'd been, how stupid and idiotic and careless of Wally's life. All because she'd let the moon get too far under her skin, all because she'd just had to share her favorite place with him. All because she'd fallen in love with him and made love with him. All because she'd trusted him enough to show him her true form.
If Wally got hurt, it would be her fault and nobody else's.
At last Artemis arrived on Wally's fire escape, dropping him off on the rusting metal that buckled dangerously from her hard landing. He slid off, breathing heavily like he was the one that had just run her miles and miles across the city on his back.
Artemis pushed him towards the window, just wanting to see him get there safe; she could sense he wanted to argue, to ask questions, but there wasn't any time. Artemis had to act fast if she had even the smallest hope of setting things right for him.
The quicker she left, the better chances he had of surviving whatever wrath got brought down on the two of them.
The wrath of death, most likely. Artemis hadn't just been fraternizing with a human, something her father had made very clear he didn't have time to be worrying about. She'd broken the most sacred rule of her pack, and that was to never, ever, under any circumstance reveal your true form to a human. Never let them see you change. They only saw you as either a human or a werewolf before they died. Not both. Never both.
"Wally, stay in your apartment for a few days, do you understand?" Artemis breathed out hastily as he climbed over the sill. "Don't go to work, don't open your windows, just stay. Put. If they can't sniff you out, you'll be fine. It'll blow over for you."
"Wait!" he insisted, reaching out to grab her furry forearm as she started to leave. She looked back at him, her silver eyes sad. "What about you?" he ordered, his green eyes blazing. "What the hell are you going to do?"
She smirked.
"I'll be fine, don't worry about anyone else but you. I'll take care of it. I'm… sorry I brought you out tonight, Wally. Can you forgive me?"
"Artemis-"
She left.
She wondered if maybe she should have told him she loved him again, just in case.
o.o.o.o
I'M BACK BITCHES.