A Wolf's Heart

Chapter 13

After sleeping for several hours, they woke to see the red light had turned off. Sighing in relief, they readied themselves and left the safety of the bunker. The sun shone brightly, and both girls took a moment to adjust to it. With a sigh, Dani pulled out her compass to orientate themselves before trudging further into the forest. Clarke shifted her smaller pack across her shoulders and silently followed.

They had been walking for some time when Clarke broke the silence, "We never really talked last night."

"There's nothing to talk about," Dani countered, unwilling to revisit what happened.

"Ignoring what happened won't make it go away," Clarke argued, taking Dani's bandaged hand in her own. Examining it, she found some blood had seeped through.

Dani looked and saw the same. With a gentle huff, she pulled her hand out of Clarke's and flexed it, feeling the pull of scabs. "I'm not ignoring it, Clarke. I simply don't want to talk about it."

Hearing the unspoken words, Clarke frowned, "You don't want to talk about it with me, you mean."

Dani shrugged, "So what if I don't. We're not friends, Clarke. We're ex-lovers with baggage. Our relationship wasn't built on anything but physical needs. We don't do talking. At least, about nothing serious."

The blonde flinched at the brunette's hurtful words. "I'm trying to change that," Clarke softly replied, dropping her head to watch her feet.

Dani leaned her head back, closing her eyes, and taking a few slow breaths. "Words are shallow, Clarke. They don't mean shit." Lowering her head, she glanced at Clarke. "You want to change? Show me, Clarke. Show me that this isn't another attempt to get me to do what you want. Show me you're different from that shallow, hateful person you were."

"I wasn't hateful," the blonde countered, looking over at the brunette.

"Indifferent, then," Dani shrugged. "We were friends when we were kids, Clarke. Then, like a lot of people, you stood back and watched. You watched me get bullied and beaten bloody. Yet, you did nothing. I was nothing but your dirty little secret. Then I was a monster. Even now, you still don't believe I'm innocent."

"The council wouldn't sentence an innocent person, Dani," Clarke argued.

"Are you fucking kidding me," Dani stopped in her tracks to stare incredulously at the blonde? "Was your father guilty of treason? Were you?"

"It's not the same thing," Clarke countered, turning to face the brunette.

"Not the sa—" Dani shook her head in disbelief. "Oh, right. My father getting rid of someone he considered a problem isn't the same. Like they were trying to keep your father from telling the truth. From being a problem for them or a threat to their power. It's not like they haven't done it before."

Clarke frowned, "Why were you a problem for your father?"

Dani frustratedly threw her hands up in the air, "That's the million-dollar question, Clarke. No one fucking knows, especially me. Only he does, and he's not sharing."

"But the evidence," Clarke tried to argue.

"What evidence," Dani retorted. "There wasn't any. All evidence pointed to my innocence. But apparently, I'm so damn smart I can hack into any and every system. Including closed systems monitored 24/7. Oh, and then there's my mental instability. I'm supposedly crazy. So, there's that. But it's not the same, right? I'm still guilty of murdering innocent pregnant women because I'm crazy."

"I never knew," Clarke quietly replied.

"Of course not," Dani scoffed and started walking again. "Why would you care? I was nothing but a bed warmer to you."