Off to a Good Start
As the muffled sounds of punches being thrown and deflected at the front of the tent continued, Clarke tensed as she expected Lexa to jump out of bed growling, snarling, and yelling protectively like she had that morning. She wasn’t sure if she was ready to have Lexa’s comfort and strength ripped from her just yet, not after such an emotionally intense conversation. Plus she could tell that she would soon be in need of another dose of suppressants because her emotions were beginning to feel slightly, uncontrollably explosive just under the surface of her skin, like carbonated water, so losing the close protection and calming force of the Alpha might hurt her more than she was prepared for at the moment. But, she tensed her muscles and steadied herself as best she could while she surrendered herself to the inevitability of Lexa’s actions.
As soon as Lexa heard the sound coming from outside, her protective instincts flared into overdrive again as she prepared herself to leap from the bed and defend her mate. However, the instincts for the comforting and care of a mate in pain, that Clarke’s confession and emotional distress had caused moments ago, were still running rampant in Lexa’s system, making her hyper aware of Clarke’s every move and breath.
So, when Clarke tensed, held her breath slightly, and leaned a bit away from where she had been resting pressed up against Lexa’s chest, Lexa knew that Clarke expected her to leave her, but didn’t want her to go. She could also tell that Clarke wasn’t going to say anything about her reluctance, most likely in fear of being a burden on her, which was a fear Lexa still wished she could quell in Clarke as soon as possible. To do so, she knew that she needed to remain with Clarke and make sure she was okay instead of leaving the bed. She needed Clarke to know that being there for her would always be most important, even if that meant letting her guards defend her territory for her sometimes, no matter how much her inner Alpha hated not defending it herself.
Tightening her arms around the blond to pull her closer again as she listened to the dying sounds of a scuffle not far away, she only let herself produce a low warning growl to satisfy some of her territorial instincts. Clarke immediately relaxed into the renewed embrace and basked in the protective growl. This was exactly what she needed right now, to feel loved, cared about, protected, all at the same time. She couldn’t hold back a low purr in response to how amazing this Alpha was being to her. Encouraged by her response, Lexa began to whisper comforting, encouraging words of love into Clarke’s ear as they waited for her guards to take care of whatever problem was at her tent entrance.
A minute or two later, the sounds dissipated as whoever was causing problems was restrained and forced to give up their fight, most likely not permanently, but that depended on who it was. Sighing in relief, Clarke raised her head and smiled at Lexa in thanks for staying with her just as footsteps could be heard entering the main room of the tent. Clarke’s smile turned worried again and she looked into Lexa’s eyes for reassurance. The Alpha gave her a small smile to tell her that she was safe. She knew those footsteps and the faint Beta smell that came with them as well as she knew her own. It was just Indra.
Clarke, however, was still in the dark and slightly afraid of who was in the tent and those feelings were enhanced by the bubbling emotions that were starting to fizz within her, until Lexa leaned forward and gave her a small, comforting kiss of reassurance on her forehead before calling out, “Indra. Stop there and speak your purpose.” There was no way Lexa was leaving Clarke or letting anyone see her until she was absolutely certain the Omega was alright. Clarke relaxed again upon learning who it was and just waited with Lexa for Indra’s response.
The footsteps halted and Indra’s voice called out, “Heda. I apologize for disturbing you and the Sky Girl, but there is a problem that demands your attention.”
“What problem?” Lexa snapped back, frustrated at the idea of anything taking her away from her Omega.
“The Sky Chancellor is here and demands to speak with you both immediately,” Indra replied promptly. “She will not take no for an answer. She tried to fight her way in. The guards have restrained her but she still refuses to leave.”
Clarke’s head snapped up at the mention of her mother. Without thinking, she called out, “Is she hurt?”
At the exact same time, Lexa called out in a frustrated growl, “What does she wish to discuss?”
Clarke cringed slightly when she realized she’d spoken over a clearly irritated Alpha, but she didn’t apologize as she waited for her answer. Indra was prompt to reply once again, clearly detecting the dangerous situation she was in, “I believe it involves your situation with the Sky Girl, Heda” And then she added, almost as an afterthought, “She is unharmed apart from a few scrapes and bruises.”
Both girls nodded slightly to themselves from their positions on the bed before turning to look at each other. “Wait for a moment,” Lexa called out to Indra. Then, without waiting to hear confirmation that Indra had followed orders, she asked Clarke in an undertone, “Are you alright? Do you wish to speak with her?”
Clarke bit her lip and let out a heavy sigh. “I think I need another dose of suppressants, but yes, I’m fine for now. We should speak with her or she’ll do something stupid to get her way.”
Lexa nodded once before slowly extracting herself from underneath Clarke, who let out a soft groan of loss, which Lexa tried her best to calm by placing a soft hand on Clarke’s side as she moved. Kneeling down, Lexa used the hand not gently stroking Clarke’s side to grab the bottle of suppressants from where she had left it on the floor earlier. Carefully, she poured the proper amount and held it out to Clarke.
Clarke accepted the cup gratefully, but grimaced again when she swallowed the strange tasting liquid. Lexa’s hand found its way to Clarke’s face to smooth away the traces of discomfort, caressing her cheek and forehead with the gentlest of touches. Clarke closed her eyes and leaned into the hands on her body and face. Sighing, she whispered, “I wish we could just stay here, like this.”
Clarke felt it as the muscles in Lexa’s hands and arms tightened slightly before the Alpha whispered back, “Ask it and it shall happen. I can have your mother locked away until you are ready.”
Sighing again, Clarke opened her eyes and said, “Thank you, Lexa, but we should see what she wants. She is still the Chancellor of my people. I don’t want to risk the alliance. And I’m sure you have other responsibilities to tend to. I know you’re too busy to just lock yourself away with me.” Clarke clenched her jaw when she realized that Lexa might use this as an opportunity to send Clarke back to her people in order to remove the temptation and distraction that Clarke’s heat obviously caused.
“I could still make it happen, no matter what,” Lexa whispered to her while leaning closer to the blond in an attempt to relax the sudden stress in the girl’s face.
Clarke’s breath hitched slightly as the Alpha’s face came within a few inches of her own. They hadn’t kissed since the night before, which in all honestly Clarke didn’t really remember, but the little she did remember in combination with the memories of the first kiss they had shared so long ago made the urge to close the distance and take Lexa’s lips with her own almost completely overwhelming. But, she managed to hold back and give her a smile instead as she breathed out, “I have no doubt about that, Lexa, but we have responsibilities. I’ll be fine doing this as long as I get to come back here with you… after….”
Clarke’s last sentence sounded a bit questioning and uncertain to Lexa and she suddenly realized that the Omega might be afraid that Lexa was going to make her go home with Abby once this talk was done. Thinking quickly before acting, Lexa wanted to make sure she did and said the exact right thing to rid Clarke of this needless worry. Looking Clarke in the eyes, she whispered, “I will be counting the seconds until our return,” as she slowly leaned forward to capture Clarke’s lips in a kiss just as slow and loving as their first kiss had been all that time ago.
Clarke responded quickly to the kiss, moving her lips in a counterpoint to Lexa’s, sucking on her bottom lip for a moment, and leaning forward in an attempt to get closer to the Alpha. The feel of it, the emotion, the tender care, it was all just as amazing as Clarke remembered it being and she wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of her life kissing Lexa like this. But, when she reached both of her hands up to cradle Lexa’s face and deepen the kiss, Lexa pulled back just enough to stop the kiss before she tilted her head forward to rest against Clarke’s.
The Commander was slightly breathless as she said, “We should get going, Clarke. Indra is in the other room waiting for us. But we can come back here later. I promise.”
Humming in agreement, even if it was reluctant agreement, Clarke nodded her head slightly and pulled back, relieved she would in fact be allowed to stay with her Alpha later. Taking courage from that knowledge, she pulled her hands from Lexa’s face slowly, as if memorizing every second of her fingers on Lexa’s skin, before she placed her hands on her knees and made to stand up.
Lexa stood the moment Clarke’s hands were no longer on her so that she could offer Clarke a hand up when the girl was ready. A moment later they were both standing, chest to chest, staring into each other’s eyes and wishing beyond anything that they could curl back up in bed and ignore the world around them once more. After a few more seconds, they both sighed and made their way toward the main room of the tent.
Indra was standing in the middle of the room with her head held high. Once the two emerged, she only allowed herself a moment to let her eyes scan their appearances before she turned to the side, allowing the two young leaders to see the front entrance of the tent. Once she did, Clarke noticed a figure kneeling between two larger figures just at the threshold to the tent, barely inside the flaps. Gasping at her mother’s appearance, Clarke took a few rushed steps forward to stop by Indra, followed quickly by a very tense Lexa.
At the sound of Clarke’s gasp, Abby’s head shot up from the forced position of submission the guards had made her hold when they originally hauled her to the tent flaps. Clarke watched as her mother scanned her appearance, nodding slightly once she realized she seemed relatively unharmed, before she shifted her gaze to Lexa. Once she caught sight of Lexa, however, Clarke watched as the indignant anger flared in her mother’s face. She immediately began fighting the guards holding her again as she snarled at Lexa, “So the rumors are true. You bred my daughter. Lured her to your tent and forced her to mate with you. I’ll kill you for this. Is this what all your people want mine for?”
“No! Mom, she didn’t!” Clarke tried to yell, flustered and confused. Abby didn’t listen. She was too caught up in her anger and distrust of the grounders to listen to her Omega daughter about something so important. Instead, she continued on her rant of threats and false accusations.
Wide eyed, Clarke turned to Lexa, who looked just as confused as Clarke was, only Lexa was also clearly very insulted and angry as well. Lexa took as step forward to threaten Abby and demand to know what made her think such terrible things when Clarke was clearly just as happy and healthy as she was the last time her mother had seen her, if not more so. She was about to take another when the action failed to make the weaker Alpha submit, when she suddenly felt a cooler breeze on the middle of her chest and stomach than she was used to.
Glancing down, she realized what had caused Abby’s assumption. She was still wearing the jacket she had thrown on early that morning when she threatened that other warrior. There was nothing underneath and she hadn’t bothered to button it when it was just Clarke, but then she’d forgotten about it and now the sides were hanging open and barely covering her beasts and sides, leaving the rest of her chest and stomach bare to all. Even she had to admit that the situation looked bad. It would certainly be difficult to convince Abby she had not at least had sex with Clarke.
She turned to Clarke and discretely gestured to her own torso to clue Clarke in on her revelation. Clarke’s eyes had been trained on Lexa the whole time, so when the girl turned back to her she immediately noticed the gesture and, after a moment, realized exactly what Lexa had. She cursed herself because hadn’t noticed Lexa’s attire either. Although, she realized, she really should have because Lexa looked damn sexy with her abs exposed and the sides of her breasts peeking out. After a second of staring, Clarke had to forcefully turn her head away from the sight before her because she could already feel herself getting aroused and that would be no help in this situation. Lexa’s chest puffed out a bit once she realized what had happened and she made a mental note to try this outfit again in the future if she ever did get the chance to bed Clarke in the way she craved so dearly.
Once Clarke had turned her head back to her mother, who had luckily stopped threatening the Commander and devolved into simply growling and snarling at her as she fought the men restraining her, Clarke was able to think more clearly and decide what to do. Sighing, she walked closer to her mother, got directly in front of her eyesight, positioning herself between her and Lexa, so that Abby would have no choice but to look at her, and yelled directly in her face, “Calm down, mom! She didn’t mate me! Give it a rest!”
Blinking, Abby stopped growling as she shifted her attention to Clarke for the first time since her initial glance at her. She was still very hostile when she asked sharply, “What?”
“She didn’t mate me, mom,” Clarke said, lowering her voice now that her mom was finally listening. “I promise nothing happened last night. If you’ll just calm down we can talk about this.”
Abby ground her teeth for a few seconds before she tilted her head to look at Lexa over Clarke’s shoulder. Clarke glanced back too and was relieved, and disappointed for a reason completely unrelated to this situation, to see that Lexa had buttoned her coat up to create a much more respectable and less incriminating appearance. Letting out a short burst of air, Abby said, “Fine. But they have to let me up and leave.” As she gestured to the guards and Indra with her head.
“Very well,” Lexa said after Clarke had turned again to make eye contact over her shoulder and nod her assent to the agreement. “Leave us,” the Alpha commanded to the others in the room. The guards released Abby immediately and left without hesitation. Indra only dared to remain long enough to receive a nod from Lexa before she left as well. Then, it was just the three of them standing in the middle of the Commander’s tent, Clarke in the middle and Abby and Lexa glaring at each other intensely from across the room.