Tennessee

"Please tell me that you're at least being careful Derek." Damon Salvatore was an enormous mother hen to the man who was practically his own son. Derek Salvatore sighed upon hearing the worry coming from the other end of the phone. Knowing that it was well intended he let the statement slide because he knew that his father was just worried about him, and it was well-founded.

"Dad, I'm being safe don't worry. I'm keeping well ahead of the two terror twins. The fact that these wolf packs are not hiding in less obvious places such as the woods makes me ashamed. Luckily I'm not the same breed as these guys so I have an upper hand." Derek was pulling into the parking lot of a bar which was where the two girls from earlier had said that Ray frequented. First, he would find Ray and then he would locate the wolf pack so that he could warn them of the impending terror twins.

"Look I'm not saying that you're not being safe. It's just that both Klaus and Stefan have been pretty much right on your tail. You just need to pick up the pace so that they don't end up catching up to you." Derek smiled as he turned off the Camaro, the fact was that if it had not been for Damon then he would have been probably cast off as an omega by his own family, they had still visited him sure but Damon was his real family. The bad part about his biological family's choice was that Derek hadn't known what to feel when they died because he had grown up being raised by a vampire. Because he had felt close to them but it hadn't hurt him as much as if Damon or even Stefan to an extent had died.

"I'll be careful I promise. I just have to talk to this Ray guy and then I'll be headed to the very next wolf pack. Besides the last I heard was that Klaus and Stefan were located a good few states away from me." Damon scoffed over the phone at what Derek had just said, there was no doubt that Derek had been raised by him. The fact made him proud but there was also the worry because Derek even though he was not the same type of werewolf that Lockmutt was he was still just a werewolf and could be killed by a broken neck.

"Keep me updated." With this the phone call was over and Derek laughed quietly to himself knowing that the last comment had been the closest thing to I love you that Damon was going to give. Immediately after climbing out of the car Derek was hit with the smell of alcohol, urine, and sex, the first was not that bad but the other two was somewhat unpleasant. "Well, here goes nothing."

Derek looked around the bar upon entering and upon not noticing anyone who could possibly fit the description of Ray, or the scent which the girls had allowed him to get off one of Ray's shirts Derek walked up to the bar. Asking for a whiskey he waited for the barman to return and after swallowing the alcohol and letting it burn on the way down his throat he looked to the man. "Do you know where a man called Ray could be?" The alarm which appeared in the man's eyes made it easily evident that he obviously knew where the man was. Looking around quickly so that he could check if anyone was looking he quickly grabbed the arm of the man who was about finished typing in something on his phone. Derek quickly got the man's attention before the fear and panic which he was expressing became evident to everyone in the bar.

"Hey, look. Don't freak out. Look at me." The man upon looking at Derek's face instantly calmed down upon seeing the momentary flash of cobalt blue eyes which Derek flashed his way. "I'm here to help don't worry. I just need to know exactly where the pack is." After the man nodded Derek let go of the man's arm, knowing that he would not be making any panicked decisions.

"Ray's at work right now because he always comes by here after work. I don't have his number, so I can't get you to him. I only know that his name is Ray because I'm the one who serves him his whiskey." Derek rolled his eyes upon hearing the bartender talk, this had basically been a waste of a trip. As soon as Derek started to walk away though the bartender called him back over to the bar, and the glare that Derek sent the man's way made the man quickly get to the point.

"I know where you can find the wolf pack though. They're located up somewhere in the nature preserve. They all go camping up there around that time of the month if you get what I'm trying to say. I don't know anything else though, I swear." Derek glared at the man for another moment longer, to ensure that the man wasn't holding out on him before smirking and patting the man on the cheek. "I'll be back if you are. I don't appreciate liars." Damon was rubbing off on him to much he thought internally as he walked away trying not to look as if he was in a rush. He sent off a quick text to Damon telling him that he had located where the latest pack and was in Memphis, Tennessee in the more likely case that he wasn't going to get reception up in the nature reserve. Upon getting a response he looked down and smirked upon seeing the response.

Damon: Don't get cocky.
Derek: Hello pot have you met the kettle?
Damon: Smartass
Derek: I miss you too

With that he cranked up the Camaro and started the drive towards the nature preserve, hoping that he would be able to find these wolves easier than the last pack, and that he wouldn't risk getting his head ripped off like with the last pack.

Mystic Falls

"And how is Derek?" Damon looked up from his phone which he had been using to text Derek, loving how much of himself had rubbed off on the younger werewolf.

"A chip off the old block." The scoff which came from Andy nearly concealed the sound of the front door opening which meant only one thing, Elena. Groaning he climbed out of his bathtub laughing lightly as he heard Andy mention the fact that he was dripping all over the floor. It's not like it wasn't anything that she had never seen before. The look which would obviously appear on Elena's face would be totally worth it, and it so was. The look which she had on her face was the best thing other than talking to Derek all day, honestly it was so easy getting a reaction from Elena that he barely even had to try. The joy that he had upon seeing her reaction was short lived upon hearing that the next lead was in Memphis, Derek was in Tennessee.

"Look I would love to argue the point which you are going to try and make but I have better things to do than focus on the fact that you're reaching for straws." The look on the teenage girls face upon hearing the obvious disregard from Damon was one of shock, and then anger at being ignored. Damon never looked back to see the look which was on her face because he was more focused on the fact that Klaus could possibly be right on top of Derek. The werewolf could be walking to his own death and he wouldn't know until it was too late.

"I need you to get me an address for that place in Memphis immediately, Derek could be walking into the lion's den." Andy nodded immediately calling the office on her phone and asking for the information which would be there for her when she got into work. "Derek will be alright don't worry Damon." But Damon wasn't listening in the slightest, he was listening to the dial tone tapping his foot impatiently waiting for Alaric to answer his phone. When his friend picked up the phone he didn't even give the man the time to even comment before talking over him.

"We need to go to Memphis, now. Andy is getting us an address, be ready when I get to the house." Hanging up he immediately called Derek listening as the phone went to voice mail. This was not good, this was really not good. The vampire wasted no time in getting dressed he then rushed out of the house leaving his own car so that he would be able to reach Alaric faster.

Tennessee Nature Preserve

Derek thanked every single deity available as he started to hear the noise of people moving around and talking to each other, he had finally found the wolf pack. Now the hard part which would be the convincing them to leave the very camp and safe haven so that they could evade a hypothetical hybrid that most of the supernatural world still did not believe in. Derek had to admit the fact that the story sounded as if it had been made up by a child, honestly the sun and moon curse was something that was obviously fake, he just thanked God that he wasn't forced to break every bone in his body to turn.

Making sure to walk up on the pack so that he would be noticed easily he scoffed slightly at how these people did not even notice him until he was practically right on top of them.

"What're you doing here?" Derek rolled his eyes at the question. Honestly could no one come up with anything more original than that question each time. The fact that almost every single wolf pack had asked him this question each time he located them was beginning to get on his nerves.

"The more important question is how quickly can you pack up camp and find a new area to have your full moon get together." The looks which he received gave him all the answer which he needed, which was that it would take at least a day for them to be able to pack up camp and leave. The main factor would probably be that these wolves would delay just so that they could have Ray come with them, which he understood because leaving another wolf behind was unheard of. The factor of Ray though was somewhat problematic in this very special set of circumstances though.

"Why would we move our entire camp? There better be a very good reason as to why some idiotic man dressed in a leather jacket is up in the nature preserve." It took every amount of self-control not to groan aloud at the stupidity which the man was displaying, and this man wasn't even a werewolf.

"You've heard of Klaus Mikaelson, correct?" The blank look on these people's faces made him actually groan audibly this time. "Honestly your packs need to get out more, the fact that the man is hunting each and every one of you down is getting on my last nerve. You all are making it so easy for him because of the fact that you all choose wooded areas." The man who had spoken earlier was replaced by a brunette who was obviously a wolf unlike the other man and she was clearly the alpha.

"The next insult which comes from your mouth will cost you your tongue. Now tell us what exactly you are here for." The growl which came from the woman's mouth made him want to roll his eyes, but he was trying to gain the cooperation of the pack, but damn they were making it hard for him. "Look. You need to pack up and get out of here before Klaus Mikaelson ends up finding your pack. The man has been going up and down the eastern seaboard trying to turn werewolves into hybrids. I've been helping other packs get away, but we need to move out before you end up being next."

"You cannot be serious. The fact that you are actually talking about the man who has been under a curse for over a thousand years makes me very unwilling to believe you. The supposed original hybrid which has been unable to break the curse which he has been under for over a thousand years. I will need a very good reason as to why I am expected to believe you." This was very quickly getting old, the fact that these wolves were unwilling to change locations on full moons was probably one of the main reasons as to why they were going out like the dodo bird.

"I found you because of the two women that know Ray." The look which he received from the alpha was one of disbelief. Derek sighed before trying to think of something which would help his case as to finding them so easily, apart from the fact that these wolves chose to hide in a damn nature preserve. "The women, the blond and the dark brunette, they have a little dog named Rudy."

"We have to wait for Ray. I won't leave one of my own pack to get captured by this Klaus Mikaelson." More than likely killed by Klaus Mikaelson but so be it, he needed to get the wolves out of here and if he had to remain an extra day just so that he would be able to get them to a more secure location which he had already mapped out close to here. "Do you have a sleeping bag that I could borrow?" The question seemed to catch the other wolves off guard, apparently not expecting him to actually remain so that he would be able to help them out. The human member of the pack motioned to the pile of sleeping bags which had been placed on the ground so as to distribute them evenly. "Everything else needs to be ready. No tents, no campfires. Anything that doesn't have to be used will not be used, we need to be ready to go as soon as Ray gets here. Understood?" The female alpha nodded in understanding before looking to Derek with a look which he took as her evaluating him and trying to decide what his own motive here was. "Why exactly are you doing this? You have nothing overall to gain from our own safe escape from this man." Derek revealed his own werewolf features causing shock to run throughout the camp.

"Don't worry about it. The fact that I'm helping you out should be enough."

"What are you?" Derek rolled his own eyes hearing the question which had been asked more often than not. "I'm a werewolf same as you, just a different breed. Now stop asking questions so that we can get everything packed up and ready to go for tomorrow." Taking off his own leather jacket he began to help the rest of the pack in taking down the tents and getting everything, which would need to be packed up together.

House in Memphis

"Fuck everything!" Alaric looked over to Damon after he had parked the car in front of the house which had was where the address that Andy had given had led them to. "Derek still not answering?" Damon was silent for a moment before simply climbing out of the car, choosing to not even answer the question which Alaric had asked him. "The fact that Derek is not answering is driving me up the wall. Mainly due to the fact that Klaus and Stefan went all the way from Florida to Tennessee and we thought that he would have more time."

"Maybe he has already reached the wolf pack which is why Derek isn't answering? And give me the reason as to why I have not met this surrogate son of yours yet?" Damon looked to his phone once more before looking to Alaric with a smirk. "Rick are you upset because you have yet to meet my son?" The look which he received made it so that he almost forgot about the fact that he was annoyed by how the werewolf was not answering his phone. "The fact that none of us have actually met the guy, along with the fact that only Andy and I know about the man makes me curious as to why you continually hide him." The smell of blood was overwhelming as the two men reached the house and the sight was even worse which made him groan. Stefan needed to learn restraint, the fact that he had never managed to properly learn restraint even truly in his human life did not help.

"Derek is not a secret. I just don't tell that many people about Derek because then he would have to come and meet the people which I have no inclination to impress other than you. And he's not my surrogate son Rick, he is my son. What?" There was an enormous grin on Rick's face which was extremely out of place in relation as to where they were. "You just don't want people to know that you care enough to have raised another human being during your time as a so-called heartless vampire." Damon refused to answer this question but only because of the fact that he refused to answer, not because any of what Rick had said could have been in the slightest bit true.

Using his senses to reach out he received the very thing which he had been hoping that he would not find. There was a trace of Derek in the house, so he had obviously been here. "We need to search the house now. Look for any sign of another body, he'd be male, about my age with black hair and green eyes." The two of them quickly searched the house and to Damon's relief they found no trace other than the scent which he had gotten earlier in the initial search. "He's not here Damon, hopefully Derek was gone before both Klaus and Stefan arrived." Damon was barely listening as he began to quickly pour gasoline on the women's bodies and lighting a match to get the fire started.

As they reached the car Damon tried one more time to call Derek, leaving another message in the hope that the man would get his warning about Klaus before it was too late. "We need to get back to Mystic Falls as quickly as possible so that we can figure out exactly where the next wolf pack is. And if Stefan kills Derek I will reign down a punishment that will make Klaus Mikaelson seem like a puppy." Rick chose not to answer as the two of them headed back towards Mystic Falls, Alaric hoping inwardly that this was not going to end badly for his friend.

"If Derek was raised by you then he will have some semblance of survival instincts Damon. He'll be fine." The nod which he received reassured him slightly, but he was nervous as to what Damon would do should Klaus or even more unlikely Stefan kill the Derek Salvatore that Damon had told him all about.

Bar in Tennessee

"You can end this Ray! Just tell me where your pack is."

"Fuck you!" The insult was made less severe though because of how Stefan was listening into the conversation between Klaus and a woman which he had compelled earlier were having. "The brother of your friend was at the farmhouse earlier. The one which the guy in the leather jacket came from earlier." Stefan saw the immediate interest in Klaus upon hearing about the other man who had paid a visit to the farmhouse. "Do tell Claudine." The girl smiled upon receiving the man's attention, making Stefan want to groan at how desperate the woman was for even the slightest bit of attention.

"There was a man earlier who came in earlier. Sexy guy with a leather jacket, dark hair, a bit taller than you. Didn't stay very long, had a bit of whiskey and then he left after talking to the bartender for maybe five minutes if even that." The grin which appeared on the hybrid's face made Stefan nervous, especially due to the fact that Klaus would be able to question the guy and possibly find the wolf pack easier. "Where is this man Claudine?" The girl looked to the floor where there was a man who Stefan had made a snack of earlier and Stefan hoped that the man was the bartender.

"Your friend made a good snack of him earlier." The joy which had been on Klaus' face vanished upon seeing the dead bartender. "Well that is slightly annoying, but not more so than the older brother who seems to enjoy following you around Stefan. I'm going to go and deal with that while you continue talking to Ray." Panic was the first emotion which he felt upon hearing what exactly Klaus had said.

"Let me handle it Klaus. You know that I'll come back because I owe you for saving my brother's life. I'll make that he understands that he has no choice but to stop following us." Stefan did not have to look back to know that Klaus was smirking at how he was reacting to the situation. Damon needed to stop following them though, because he didn't even know if he would be able to come back from this because of all the blood that he had shed with Klaus.

Boarding House

Damon did not care in the slightest that Elena was annoyed at him for not escorting her down to her own party, but it did not matter. Her life was not in danger, the fact that it had been hours since he had last heard from Derek was concerning. The two of them did not always constantly talk but when either one of them was in danger each of them kept constant contact. Alaric who was next to him researching all of the information which they had gained over the past two months along with trying to keep him calm was comforting. Rick always had that ability to calm him down though when he felt as if he was spiraling out of control. When his own phone went off signaling that he had gotten a text he nearly ignored the stupid device but then Rick convinced him to look.

"Damon, I found another connection to Tennessee in Memphis. It could be your own wolf pack." Telling Rick what was going on before leaving the other man with instructions not to let any stupid teenagers kill themselves he left for the news station. Rick followed the other man down the stairs so that he would be able to keep an eye on Elena who was the best trouble magnet that he had ever encountered he watched as Damon walked out the front door.

Damon's Bedroom

"This room's off limits!" Caroline said nothing else upon realizing that Elena was the one who had walked into the bedroom. "Elena are you hiding from your own party?" The fake smile which Elena had on her face was all that Caroline needed to get the answer to that question, so she tried to change the subject.

"So who's the sexy guy in the picture with Damon over here?" Elena looked confused at what Caroline had said and even more so when she saw the picture of Damon and some other guy. Damon had never shown any of them that picture, even her which made her incredibly confused because Damon tended to not have many keepsakes unlike Stefan. "I have no idea. But they're obviously close enough that Damon would take a picture with the guy. There's even one with Damon, Stefan and the mysterious sexy guy. So he's important enough to make Damon and Stefan take a picture together." Caroline turned the picture over obviously looking for a name or some kind of clue as to who exactly this guy was when Elena turned around and saw the closet door which was cracked open. Approaching the door, she was confused at all of the maps and information on the walls until she noticed that Damon had written the word Klaus and had other information about vampire attacks on the wall. "I can't believe that he has been hunting Klaus without me." Just as she was about to turn around she saw a name on the wall which was in all caps. DEREK LAST LOCATION and had an arrow pointing to the area in Tennessee which Sheriff Forbes had given her earlier today. The anger though at being left in the dark overcame the curiosity as to who Derek could possibly be.

News Station

Damon ignored the call from Elena as he walked into the station which was where Andy was supposed to be only to see his brother standing like some evil villain in the middle of the room. "Stefan, you need to get a better friend. I mean since you began hanging out you don't call you don't write. I mean I hear more from Derek than I hear from you." His brother chose not to take the bait which annoyed him to no end, he was even more annoyed by how Stefan seemed to know that Rick and he had been following them. There had been no mention of Derek yet though which made Damon less worried than he had been earlier.

"You need to stop following us and helping the wolves escape before we can reach them. Klaus is getting angrier and angrier each time Damon and if he had come then he probably would have killed you for interfering so much."

"What Klaus thinks means less than nothing to me Stefan."

"You need to let me go Damon, that is what you are supposed to do. I don't need your blood on my hands because of how Klaus will kill you if you warn another wolf pack of our purpose." The mention of what had gone down in Tennessee seemed to get a reaction from his younger brother who laughed slightly which Damon knew meant that Stefan was nervous about being unable to come back to his old life. "We both know that Elena is not going to allow me to do that."

"Maybe I haven't made my point Damon. Why don't we test your resolve? Andy you can move now." Looking around quickly for Andy Damon was shocked to see Andy who was standing up on the catwalk terrified as she put one foot out into open air. The attempt that he made to save her was meaningless as Stefan kept him from saving Andy who fell to her death. Damon expected Stefan to be gone by the time he got to Andy's lifeless form but was shocked when he turned around to see the form of his little brother still there. "Damon you and Alaric need to stop whatever it is that you're doing. Let me go. Because if I see the other guy who was at the farmhouse before Klaus and me, I'll rip him to shreds just to get my point across even more. And I'll send you the pieces one by one in the mail." Anger which had been at bay came surging up as Damon took Stefan down to the ground, tacking his brother like it was nothing. Because even though his brother was now running on human blood he lacked the pure white-hot fury that Damon possessed right now.

"YOU TOUCH A HAIR ON HIS HEAD AND I WILL LOCK YOU IN THE CRYPT AND POUR VERVAIN DOWN YOUR THROAT FOR A THOUSAND YEARS! YOU LEAVE HIM OUT OF THIS!" Stefan instantly upon witnessing how angry Damon was stopped struggling, tricking his brother into letting down his guard so that he could get out from underneath the elder Salvatore. Standing on the other side of the room Stefan had obviously come to a realization if his facial expression was anything to go by.

"Derek's blood is on your hands Damon. Klaus will rip him to shreds when he finds out." Damon moved to attack Stefan, but he was gone in the next instant. Damon felt as if he was going to be sick, this was entirely his fault. Derek was going to end up being killed by Klaus and he had no idea where to search except for Memphis,Tennessee.

Boarding House

Damon felt detached as he walked through all of the partying and drinking which was going on in the boarding house as he headed up towards his room, Damon instantly regretted it when he saw Elena standing with all of the information on Klaus and Stefan.

"Why did you not tell me that you have been searching for Klaus and Stefan all summer Damon? Why did you let me feel like an idiot?"

"Because I was more worried about my own brother and another person who is very close to me than about your teenage drama Elena! I have someone very close to me who is possibly going to be Klaus or Stefan's next victim and I'm wasting time arguing with you! Stefan will more than likely not be back during your lifetime!" With this Damon left the room slamming the door with a loud thud as he went off in search of Alaric who was the only person he could possibly imagine not killing right now.

Bar in Tennessee

"Ray, I want more than the pack. I want to know exactly who the man in the leather jacket is that you are protecting. The fact that this man has been able to rescue a good many wolf packs from my grasp is impressive in the least."

"I don't know, the last time I was with the pack was earlier today and whoever the person is was not there when I was." Klaus seemed to take this in before feeding Ray his blood and then breaking his neck, smiling afterwards upon seeing Stefan had returned to the bar. "I didn't doubt for a second that you would return to this very bar Stefan because you still care enough about your brother, about your family and old life that you wouldn't risk me taking my anger out on them." Klaus laughed when Stefan tried to act as if he did not care for his family in the slightest.

"I extremely enjoy the fact that you are trying to pretend that you care nothing for the fact that I would rip your brother to shreds just to prove a point. Keep that in mind if you ever decide to betray me. Hopefully we will find the man that has been making my life so difficult for these past two months, and then I'll be able to deal with him." Stefan used every bit of restraint to make sure that he showed no type of emotion upon hearing the mention of Derek. The chances of Derek coming out of this alive were slim to none, and he knew that Damon was never going to forgive him when Klaus managed to kill Derek. Derek was Damon's son in every possible way, and the fact that Damon was going to raise heaven and hell to get revenge terrified him.

Talia had been wrong to drop Derek off with any of the Salvatore's he thought to himself relative or no, because all that Damon and he brought was death to everyone around them. The fact was that Derek would have been safer anywhere but with Damon and Stefan, his mother should done anything other than having him live with Damon. Because Derek being associated with the two of them brought the one thing that he had feared would always happen. That he would eventually die because of them, and it seemed that it was going to happen sooner rather than later.