AN 1:
Welcome to the first entry in 'Tales from the World of Teen Wolf'. This series will be comprised mostly of a series on One-shots that tell some of the background and off-screen stories of Teen Wolf. The first couple of installments will explain how most of the characters that return in 6B end up where they do, while also explaining where some characters who didn't return are.
Without further ado, enjoy!
A Death in the Family
Derek let go of Chris, allowing the former hunter t step away from the wall that he'd just been slammed into. Pausing to give the hunter one more questioning gaze, Derek took a breath before turning to head back into the building, another loft it appeared to be, and sat down on a couch in the middle of the room, motioning for Chris to sit in the chair across form him. Accepting the invitation, he took the time to take in Derek's appearance. On the surface, it looked as though the werewolf had changed little in the year and a half since they'd seen each other, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was different, something significant.
"What brings you to the east coast Chris?"
"Tracking you of course." The journey here was a long and tedious one. Having narrowly avoided getting shot when the McCall house was attacked, Chris knew that they were going to need help if they were going to stop Gerard, and Derek was the help they needed. His search started in South America, where he caught wind that Derek was implicated in the deaths of a dozen people.
A dozen werewolf's he would come to find out, obviously killed on the orders of his father. His search eventually led him to North Carolina, Derek's last known location.
"We need your help Derek. Beacon Hills needs your help."
Derek's gaze was unreadable, "Sorry if I'm not so willing to jump back into saving people again, especially since it nearly killed me last time."
"It didn't seem to be a problem tracking those hunters that killed that pack?" Derek visibly stiffened, most likely because his excuse was pushed aside. "We're all in way over our heads this time. We need all the help we can get."
The man across from him closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Look, I owe Scott a lot, and in any other circumstance, I would be charging back there to help if I felt he really needed it, but right now, I've got other things to deal with." Without another word, Derek got up from his seat and walked to the other side of the room. The more time Chris spent in his presence, the clearer it became that something had happened that rattled the former Alpha. He watched Derek's back as he crouched in front of a safe and pulled something from it. He couldn't get a good look at whatever it was before Derek pocketed it and began walking to the door. "I'm sorry I can't help. Tell Scott as much."
Chris was out of his seat as soon as Derek walked out the door. He didn't come this far just for Derek to brush him off. He had to keep trying.
"What could be more important than helping your pack?"
The question didn't seem to faze Derek. "That has nothing to do with this. And if you must know, I'm dealing with a mass murder."
"That's what my contact in Brazil told me. What I don't understand is what was so special about those 12 victims that brought you out of hiding."
There was silence for several moments as the pair continued walking. Derek led him farther away from the collection of sheds, no discernable markings telling him where Derek was leading him.
"13." Derek's response was so quiet that Chris nearly missed it.
"Come again?"
"There were 13 bodies, not 12. I moved her so that I could bury her like my family has done for generations."
Chris's eyes widened as he realized why Derek was so adamant on pursuing those hunters. "Someone you knew was there, weren't they?"
The other man stopped and looked at him for a moment, before taking another deep breath and nodding his head in thanks. "I last spoke to her a few days before it happened…"
"Who?"
Derek looked away for a few seconds before uttering a single word, "Cora."
Flashback
Braeden phone rang, interrupting the steady silence that had fallen between the two of them as they returned to South America. She pulled her phone out quickly, and scoffed at the name that popped up on the screen. Without taking her eyes off the road, she passed her phone to Derek, a smirk on her face. He looked down to see who was calling and saw his sister's name, before he finally answered.
"Yes Cora?"
"Derek, I hope whatever little adventure you and your girlfriend were on went well."
Derek groaned, Cora was always quick to tease him for his relationship with Braeden, despite his efforts to convince her that they weren't together. "Yes, we tracked the Dessert Wolf near Ship Rock and turned her over to the authorities."
"Well, good, because we need you here back in Brazil Der."
"What is Rogelio out of town again. I'm not going to keep playing the part of interim Alpha every time he decides that he needs to go on another one of his soul-searching trips."
"That's not it," the panic in her voice caught Derek's attention. Whatever was happening, it must've been something significant. "Something's happening around here Derek. Other packs are disappearing."
"What do you mean disappearing?"
"Something scaring them enough to make them leave." The fear was clear as day in the voice of his usually calm and collected sister, which startled Derek. His sister wasn't afraid of anything.
"Then convince Rogelio that you guys should as well. He's the alpha, it's his job to make sure the pack survives."
"I've tried Derek he won't listen. He keeps saying that his family has defended this area for generations and he's not about to abandon it."
"Okay, I'll be back in a few days, keep trying to convince him to leave, and if you're still there when I get there, I'll help however I can."
"Thanks Der."
"Be safe Cora."
Flashback End
"I arrived back there in 2 days, but I was too late."
"God..."
Derek seemed to not hear him, as he stared, unseeing along the road they were traveling. "When I got there, the smell was still fresh. They couldn't have been dead more than a few hours. I saw Rogelio first, having apparently stood between his pack and the hunters and got shot countless times because of it. I only recognized them from their scent, they were burned so badly."
"I can't imagine what that must've been like for you. To have more of your family burned…"
"Cora's body wasn't among them…"
Flashback
He was shaking in anger as he gazed at the dozen or so bodies in front of him. Some of them had been shot before they were burned, while others weren't so lucky, causing memories from when his own family had burned to flash through his mind. He hadn't been this angry in forever and all he wanted to do was track down these bastards and rip them to shreds.
He turned to leave when he heard a pained gasp come from outside the building. He sprinted out there, hoping against hope that his sister had somehow made it out alive. Sure enough, he found her crawling painfully away from the building, but his happiness quickly evaporated away. From his position above her, he could see numerous bullet holes littering her back, each emanating yellow smoke from the wound. Wolf's Bane,
"Cora!"
"Derek?" her voice sounded pained and hoarse. He quickly leaped over to her and picked her up into his arms. No sooner had he started to lift, she cried out in agony. Deciding that moving her was a bad idea, he decided to simply hold her as he tried to take away her pain.
"Cora? Stay with me. You're going to be alright."
She tried to give a humorless laugh, but it only came out as a coughing fit, blood soaking into Derek's shirt. "The Wolfs Bane has been in my system for nearly an hour, we both know what that means."
"I won't let you die. I'll give you some of my spark again."
"No Derek!" her voice sounding strong despite her weakened state, "They're not stopping with us. I overheard them saying that the other packs didn't leave, they were rounded up and slaughtered. You need to stop them."
"I'm not leaving you!" He was close to tears now. Even though he and Cora had gotten off to a rocky start, they were finally a family again, and he didn't think he could handle losing more family.
"It's okay."
Even though he loathed to admit it, he knew she was right. Whoever these hunters were, they obviously weren't going to stop here. He brushed a stray lock of her hair from her face and met her eyes once more. She looked resigned to her fate but there was also a courage and determination there that both made him proud and broke his heart.
"I love you Cora."
"I love you too Der."
He reluctantly took her forearm in his own and watched as the black tendrils of pain traveled from her arm onto his. As he took her pain, he saw relief flood across her face, her eyes slowly closing and her breathing coming to a halt.
He finally allowed himself to break down, sobs escaping his mouth as he held his sister's body close as he shook from the pain. How long he stayed there, he didn't know, but the sound of approaching sirens told him that he needed to leave, so with much effort, he carried his sister in his arms, and left.
Flashback End
"After that I met up with Braeden. She helped me find where Cora hid after the fire. We buried her there, next to a lake and a small forest."
"So, you tracked the hunters' to their hideout. Considering what they had done, I'm surprised you didn't kill them."
"I wanted to. Every fiber of my being wanted me to rip everyone of them limb from limb."
"Why didn't you."
With another great sigh, he continued the path forward. "Because Cora wouldn't have wanted me to do it. Besides, if I killed them, I wouldn't have found out who was responsible."
Chris ears perked up at this. Even though he knew what the answer was, he couldn't stop the question. "Who was it?"
"Gerard."
"So that's what you're doing back in the states. You're hunting him."
They were approaching a fenced off area, and judging by Derek's slight increase of pace, that was exactly where they were headed. "That was the plan, but either no none knows where he is or they refuse to give him up."
Chris readied himself. It was time to put all the cards on the table. "He's in Beacon Hills"
Derek stiffens for a brief second, but continues towards the building. It wasn't much of a reaction, but it was enough to convince himself that he might've found the help that they all need.
AN:
If the ending of this one seems weird or abrupt, I tried to write it so that it begins immediately after Argent finds Derek and ends right before Kate attacks them.
I wanted to explain why Derek was so intent on going after that group of hunters. Them killing Cora serves two purposes, it gives Derek a good motivation and it explains why her character was absent. Hopefully, you all enjoyed this as much as I did writing it. Next, I plan on doing Jackson and Ethan, and after that…well, we'll see what happens.
One last thing. I'm trying to decide whether to include all the installment of this series in one posting, or make them all their own individual stories. Let me know what you think the best option is in the review section.
Thanks for reading!