A/N: Thank you so much for clicking! This is Promises Made. There are four prequels to this that I highly encourage you to read (it isn't necessary, but it helps set the scene and the backstory), they are: Like Magic, Do No Harm, Casting Eyes, and Abracadabra. You can find all of these listed on my profile.

Edit: There are more prequels! The order, as of 7/2014 is: Like Magic, Do No Harm, New Order, Casting Eyes, Guiding Light, Dark Ways Return, and Abracadabra.

For those of you who are familiar with the grander universe of Women of the Otherworld, you will see familiar faces! If you're not, don't fret. Since our characters are also meeting them for the first time, you'll be properly introduced. If you haven't read them, I suggest that you do! It is a massive series (filled with both books and novellas/short stories – check out Kelley's website for the proper order) that I read simply because I wanted to tell a bigger Darkest Powers story.

This story is sticking as close to the books and novellas/short stories (the stories in the Darkest Powers Bonus Pack and Bonus Pack 2) as I can. So everything that has happened up to The Rising is included in the Darkest Powers/Rising series. In regard to timeline of Women of the Otherworld, it does go up to and involve Kelley's latest release, Brazen. I imagine it'll be considered AU once Kelley posts her new Chloe story this May, but there is no shame in having some fun until then.

A huge shout out to random-k for going over this chapter and tolerating my love of improper usage of dashes. Check out her stories!

Be sure to check out my note at the bottom!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers, Darkness Rising, or Women of the Otherworld series.

Chapter 1: Promises

Badger Lake: our oasis in a seemingly never ending desert. A small town, if it could even be called that, filled with people like us; supernaturals and those aware of the supernatural. Isolated from society, it provided a safe haven for maturing teens that might have an odd quirk, such as: casting spells when it turns out they bombed a history test, turning into a werewolf under extreme stress, or raising the dead when they try to grab a quick nap. We had it made, literally. Badger Lake? It was founded for us.

It was a rough journey to get there and even now, still defies reason as to why we even agreed to it. We agreed to live in Badger Lake as part of a deal – a deal that transferred the responsibility of us from one Cabal to another.

We were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

We had been on the run for months from the Edison Group when we had a much unexpected run in with a group of teenage supernaturals from Project Phoenix. Together, we had become an even larger target for the Cabals and I'm sure a few others in-between.

We couldn't run forever. It sure was tempting to try – especially considering that the Edison Group had stepped up from using tranquilizer darts to bullets in our last few run-ins. We had made a significant hit to the Edison Group a few months prior when we had our series of captured, escape, re-captured, and escape- again-but-eliminating-key-upper-Edison-Group personnel-en-route adventure. The only problem was that the Edison Group was just the first level. We weren't ready to go past that. We needed time, experience, and more supernaturals.

But, Badger Lake was supposed to be different. It was to right all of the wrongs that had been done to us by the St. Cloud Cabal, and inspire us to continue to cooperate with the Nast Cabal. In an ideal situation, we would work for the Nast Cabal – doing exactly what was a mystery.

"Chloe?"

Her head looked up from her pen and paper, dark circles under her eyes. She looked as though it had been weeks since she had a good night's sleep.

"What are you doing?"

Her eyes flitted back to the paper. There was so much to put down, so much information to preserve, to ensure that it was not forgotten or even worse, distorted. It was important to get everything out in the open, documented, to make sure that the truth did not become twisted should their side not prevail. So much had changed in the past few years of her – their – lives. From learning about being a supernatural, to a genetically modified supernatural, having trouble keeping track of who can trust whom, to the most recent betrayal, to who the bad guys where when compared to other bad guys. It just kept spiraling downward, becoming more and more complex.

"Pet project," she smiled. She knew that the voice wouldn't accept that as an answer. Maybe it would have worked years ago when they had first met, but that felt like five lifetimes ago.

"Care to share?" The words asked the questions whereas the tone demanded answers. He walked from the doorway into the room, walking towards her.

"I just," she started. She paused and bit the bottom of her lip. How to explain this? "I j-j-just thought that it would be a good idea to put everything down on paper. I think it's important that we can look at everything objectively, you know? Sometimes memories can get confusing and with everything…," she drifted off again.

He nodded. It would be a good idea to have everything written down. It would also be an extremely dangerous one if it should ever be misplaced.

"I checked the area – you're okay," he said. A nightly ritual that lately had not been too much use. Chloe barely slept these days. She was usually chasing some idea or another, something to keep the dreams at bay. "Can you at least try to sleep tonight?"

She turned around to look at him. She didn't need to use words to communicate with him. It didn't matter that he checked the area, there were some things that he couldn't feel, couldn't sense. While there may not be any fresh, or not-that-fresh bodies lying about, there were always spirits. It wasn't a matter of location; it was a matter of her. Her glow was too strong to be fully masked. They had tried different ways of hiding it but it was never enough. Even a slight glow would catch the attention of someone and once they were close enough, they could sometimes sense that the glow was being repressed. There had been instances where it had turned out very poorly for Chloe. No matter how hard she tried, she would have to face the spirit and do something about it.

"Please?"

She ran her hands through her hair – a nervous habit she had picked up from him. She was tired, she could feel her body wanting to give up and rest. She knew that under normal circumstances, he wouldn't be as patient. Instead of asking, it would be barking orders. Instead of asking her to go somewhere, if she protested too much, he'd simply pick her up and take her there.

"I want too," she whispered, her eyes flitting up at him, asking him not to press the issue any further. "You know we can't risk it."

"We can't risk you passing out either," he argued, tone firming. His body language was tensing, anticipating resistance.

She turned back around and looked at her paper. There was so much more work to do before all of the facts were out in the open. Would there be enough time? They had been living on borrowed time for so long, it seemed like any minute the other shoe could drop and it would all be over. Rest – it was tempting.

"A few hours," she relented, her body sagging as she gave up the fight. "Everything is in place?" He nodded. "Just a few hours, you need to sleep too."

Chloe stood up and steadied herself on the chair. She closed her eyes and took in a breath. What time was it? Two? Three? Noon? She composed herself and left the room, walking towards the bedroom. She eyed the floor, walls, ceiling – all of the proper runes were there. She clutched her pendant instinctively. It was her final barrier of defense, the one thing of hers' that she still had. It wasn't the same necklace that her mother gave her – not really. She had replaced the chain and the pendant had gone from a ruby red, to purple, to blue, and finally to a light blue. No one had been able to explain it.

She lowered herself onto the bed, not bothering changing out of her clothes. She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.

He followed her into the room and grinned slyly to see that she was asleep. It was quickly replaced by a look of worry and concern. They both knew that she needed rest. The only problem was that sleep was never guaranteed to be restful for her. He clenched his jaw, not liking the helpless situation he was in. He definitely preferred a problem that he could take action against and to an extent, he could with this. He could check out the area, ensure the proper runes were in place, continue to do more research, but he couldn't fight an enemy he couldn't see.

He left the room to continue his patrol. He had switched out one concern for a bigger worry.

Chloe opened her eyes. Her body ached, stiff from being in one position too long. She looked around the room. It was empty. She grinned and yawned, it had been a long time since that happened. She sat up and stretched, catching a glimpse of herself in the mirror.

She desperately needed to clean up.

She raffled through a pile of clothes, examining a few to check for smells and if there were any major rips or tears. She grabbed some that passed the test and headed towards the bathroom.

She showered quickly and got dressed. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when there was a knock. She opened the door, not missing a brushstroke. She raised her eyebrow, letting her face do the questioning.

"I was just checking to make sure you were almost done," he said. "Breakfast is ready, so whenever you're ready."

She turned back to the sink to spit out the toothpaste and rolled her eyes. Cereal rarely took long to prepare.

She went into the kitchen and sat down. She eyed the room and looked into the connecting living room. It was by all means a nice house. It was much nicer than what she expected when they left Badger Lake. Their previous time on the run involved run down motels, houses that the wind cut through, not to mention unreliable power and water. This was definitely a step up in that aspect, but she would have traded the luxuries if it meant everyone was together.

She went through it, and still felt like a blur to her.

Derek had roughly woken her up, telling her that she needed to grab only the true essentials and they needed to get out of Badger Lake. She had started to ask about the others, Tori, Maya, Daniel, Simon and Kit, but Derek just grimaced and urged her to focus on what was going on right now.

Something happened, something that only Derek knew and had not shared. She knew that if Simon, Kit, and Tori – Derek's family – weren't there, it was really bad. She knew that something definitely unexpected must have happened; otherwise she figured that Derek would have stopped it. A twinge of guilt went through her. She knew that he wasn't superman, he was indeed bone and flesh, but Derek was more than that too. He was a werewolf – a genetically modified, super strong, super smart werewolf. He wouldn't have abandoned his brother, his sister, his dad – his pack – if it hadn't been under extreme circumstances. Chloe still couldn't believe that it was just the two of them. Another twinge of guilt – even though she knew she was part of the pack, part of her questioned if the reason they had been able to get away was because of how things had been changing. Was it because she was now 'ranked higher' in his pack? Or was his pack primarily just the two of them now? She knew that things had been shifting; they had been together for several years now. Things seemed to escalate once everyone else went off to their respective universities and Derek decided to stay behind with her.

Was it possible that Derek let something happen to his family in order to get them – her – away?

"How did you sleep," Derek asked, snapping her out of her mind. He too looked tired. His hair was lanky, face slightly tense. She knew that he was listening, smelling, trying to engage all his senses to know instantly if something changed.

"I," she started, smiling, "slept great. I guess the trick is to go without sleep as long as you'll let me."

Derek grunted, clearly not impressed with her reasoning.

Her eyes wandered back to the house. It was a scar from the great real estate bubble burst. This had been a high end luxury home with amenities that Chloe had never seen, not even in the penthouses and apartments she grew up in. Somehow, the power company never turned off the electricity and neither the city the water. Or maybe it was still in foreclosure or stuck between banks? She never really paid that much attention to things of that nature when she had the option. She was lost in her own teenage world much like most teenagers. Movies – now that was where her heart truly was – old movies new movies, good movies, and especially the bad movies. There was nothing like watching a bad movie with a tub of popcorn and good friends. Was that only a handful of years ago?

"You know what I miss?"

Derek paused, spoon in midair. His eyebrows shot up, disappearing behind his bangs.

"Halloween, Halloween movies, monster movies, especially bad monster movie," Chloe blurted out.

Derek shifted uneasily, still taken by surprise. "Well," he started, "I can't say I get it. But it'll be late October soon enough. Maybe you'll run into the big bad wolf."

Chloe laughed. Of course Derek wouldn't understand, not really. He had spent the first five years of his life in a laboratory. Kit Bae took him in and raised him as his own, along with his own son Simon. They never lived in a place for very long. Kit and Simon were sorcerers and with Derek being a werewolf, Kit deemed it best that they never stayed in a place too long. Kit had his own reasons for moving too, he had left the Edison Group on less than stellar terms. He and Simon had grown up knowing what they were – a werewolf and sorcerer respectively. Growing up knowing that and then having a holiday where people dressed up as versions of "you" didn't seem the best way to endear someone to enjoying

Halloween.

Derek smiled; it had been a long time since he was able to make her laugh. Way too long.

"I imagine I'll see him before that. I used to wish that I could disappear into movies," she trailed off, still smiling. "Although I guess I should have been a bit more specific on what kind of movie. Our lives – Halloween all day every day."

Derek shook his head, noting that her jovial tone had turned somber. "So, you won't dress up as little red riding hood?"

"Only if it's the Grimms Brothers' version."

Derek shrugged.

"Well then – I'll request that you make sure you keep your muscles stretched out. I'd hate to have chewy meat."

Derek whipped his head to look at her. Man-eating? Chloe? Under normal circumstances, the joking between two people of cannibalizing the other would be a bit twisted. With a werewolf in question, it could lead to a very messy end for both parties.

"I thought you had read that as part of your werewolf folklore. You know, don't trust girls in woods that wear a red cape unless you want to turn into stew."

Derek shrugged. Suddenly he turned his head, focusing on something off in the distance. Chloe watched him, pausing her breakfast. Her heart rate picked up, not knowing if this was it or if they would have time to grab what little that they had and still make a getaway. All of the tension that had been slowly evaporating from the room came crashing back in.

"False alarm," he exhaled.

Chloe ran her fingers through her hair, waiting an explanation.

"Just people headed to work. I thought the house three doors down was temporarily empty, like they were on vacation but I guess they just turn in early."

They finished the rest of their breakfast in silence.

Chloe re-read her notes from last night. Why it had never occurred to her to put everything down on paper before escaped her. It would have made certain things much easier, wouldn't it? Would they have been able to see potential allies better? Traitors? Would any of this make sense?

Derek was somewhere else in the house, probably checking all of the locks and finding new escape routes from each room.

She picked up her pen again.

Despite our initial reservations about working with the Nasts, we relaxed. It took a while, but once a year rolled by without any one being "exterminated" or "taken care of", it seemed like it might be true. We had others come to us – a few more late bloomers from Project Phoenix, and a few that weren't part of the experiments at all. Just teenagers that happened to have a bit of extraordinary DNA.

Part of the deal was that in the village, we would have access to mentors, books, and a chance to experiment. We needed to know what the Edison Group had done and how that had manifested in us. Once we turned 18, we would be free to go, to stay, to seek employment if we so wished. Some of us had more knowledge than others. Tori had a file that was easily five times the size of anyone else's. Her mother had been a key person in the Edison Group and thus, she had a detailed summary when something even remotely magical happened around her. Derek's file was the closest in size – although his ended when he was five. If Kit had kept notes as tedious as the ones in his first few years, it would have easily been doubled Tori's.

As our group finished schooling, virtually all went to the university of their choice.

Not all.

I had to stay behind. Derek had already waited a year for me to finish my schooling. He decided he wouldn't leave until I was able too.

Lots of promises were made.

I don't know how many they kept.

Chloe looked at the sheet again. If she knew what kind of ending she was writing for this, it would make things easier. Would it be clearer if she knew why Derek had them flee in the middle of the night?

She called for Derek, asking him to come and talk to her.

"I need to know what is going on."

Derek sank into the couch, looking over at the table where Chloe sat.

"Are you sure?"

Silence.

"They backed out of the deal," Derek said quietly.

When they first arrived to Badger Lake, they – Simon, Derek, Tori and Chloe – made a deal. If something seemed off to one of them, the rest of them would agree to take off, no questions asked. The first six months had been especially tense. They were looking at everything, listening to what was being said and more importantly, what wasn't. They went over every interaction they were a part of and were witness too. In all of their vigilance, they never found something that set off their internal alarms. Their guards went down slowly. They began having longer chats with the Phoenix group, being more truthful with the doctors or trainers. Emergency bags were taken back from different hiding spots around the town. Chloe didn't unpack the bag she kept in the back of her closet. She couldn't – she knew that if she did, it would hurt Derek.

"I don't understand."

"I don't either," his voice lowered, taking on a gruff sound. "Simon didn't even keep one bag packed. Not one. Tori was the same – only, she waited a little longer."

"Yeah, but they could have thrown something –"

"No," Derek harshly interrupted. "They couldn't, I mean they didn't want to. They said that they wanted to stay. They've been out in the world; they've been away from all of this for too long. Said I was paranoid, overreacting, and looking for a reason to bolt."

Chloe sat there in stunned silence. Finally her brain jolted back into action. "Why did we leave? Why did they think it wasn't a big deal to stay? What about Kit? I can't imagine he'd be okay with you and Simon splitting up, or you and him splitting up, or anyone splitting up like this. We've all been through so much together."

Derek nodded, his eyes transfixed to the hardwood floor.

"What was it? I mean, we really haven't talked much the past . . . beyond the essentials."

There hadn't been much talking going on between them lately. There simply had been too much to do; getting out of reach of the Nasts, making sure they weren't being tracked, going from town to town, trying to find a spot that would let them rest. Looking at the different bus routes and not having an end destination, made the stress even worse. What if they chose the wrong way to go? What if they were going towards a trap? Ultimately, they ended on a bus going to Beaupré, a small town located in eastern Quebec. Derek had found the house on the outskirts of the town, with a national park not too far from their backyard. It was a gamble. It would provide a great escape route, but it could also lead to them being trapped or being ambushed. It was the better option than being stuck in town, surrounded by people who were blissfully unaware of what creatures lived amongst them.

"Sean is dead. They don't want word getting out about it and they've made him up into such a figure that people wouldn't believe he was dead anyway. But he's dead – I know he is – I smelt him, rotting. He was coming here – I mean, there – to check on the progress of everyone; I think. My guess is that either another Cabal finally found the opening they were looking for, or someone in the family wanted to get rid of him. That is what makes sense to me – but it might be something else, something entirely different. Like," he paused, weighing his words heavily before venomously spitting out, "the Edison Group wanting their toys back."

What little color she had in her face drained out quickly. Her breath quickened, her chest picking up speed rising and falling.

Derek got to his feet and kneeled in front of her. He took her hands and rubbed them with his thumbs. "Chloe, please, you need to slow your breathing down. You ready? It'll be just like before. Take a deep breath in," he paused as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "and I want you to visualize the movie theater. You're sitting next to me, we're holding hands, and the lights are starting to dim. The movie is about to start, and now breathe out."

Her eyes remained closed, as she exhaled; expelling the carbon dioxide from her chest. Without prompting, she took in a few more deep breaths, each time holding them a little less. She opened her eyes, her eyelids feeling heavy even though it was only mid-afternoon. She gave him a weak smile, showing that she was okay.

"You did great," he muttered, still rubbing her hands with his thumbs. "Everything is fine. Everything worked just like it was supposed to." He smiled up at her, noting that what energy she had a few minutes ago had evaporated. "I'm sorry; I should have said it differently. Its just I – I'm still grappling with everything and I should have known better."

He tucked a strand of strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. He stood, picked her up, and carefully took her back to the bedroom. He set her down on the bed and went over to her bag and pulled out a tea bag. He grabbed a mug from the bedside table and went into the bathroom to fill it up. Going back to the kitchen would take too much time; she needed the tea as soon as he could get it into her.

He hurried back to the bed; Chloe had pushed herself up into a sitting position. She gave a nod of thanks as she eagerly drank the contents of the mug. He took it back from her once she was done and she slid down the bed, the tea making her drowsy.

He watched her, as her eyes stopped fluttering and finally stayed shut, and her breath settled into a regular pattern. He headed towards the door, mug in tow, when she suddenly called to him.

"Stay with me," she said, no louder than a whisper but to him it was as though she was shouting it from the rooftops for all to hear.

He turned around to look at her; he could see the tension in her face, as she fought to keep her eyes open. He wordlessly turned back, put the mug back on the stand and got into bed beside her. He pulled her close to him, burying his face in her hair.

It had been a long time since they were this close. It wasn't a matter of them not wanting to be close, but they had to be careful and mindful of what could happen. Chloe's powers still were volatile; they never evened out like the Nasts predicted they would. She needed to be quiet and calm. They could handle the quiet, but they never really could quite master the calm when they were in close proximity. The first time it happened, Derek would swear to the day that he died, that the amount of spirits and whatever else was so loud that he could hear it; he could feel the electricity, he could feel the temperature of the room dropping, the air circulation increasing.

The doctors came, along with several necromancers, witches, and sorcerers in tow. He didn't know how long it took – too long – for all of them to remove the spirits that Chloe had summoned in an instant. Since then, their interactions were heavily monitored. They had tried a few times in a controlled setting – a lab in one of the medical facilities with staff on standby should there be a repeat – but while it wasn't as severe as the first, it was still uncontrollable. He noticed that her pendant had changed color again – it had been stable for years up until that point. He didn't mention it to the doctors. His gut told him that would be something he would have to find out on his own.

The first time had been the last time that he had kissed her – really kissed her. In the months that passed, occasionally he'd be bold enough to ever so quickly give her a quick peck on the cheek, but nothing more.

He remembered how strange it was; sitting in the office, listening to how volatile and dangerous someone was and the subject was not him. He should have been the danger – he was the 6 foot 4 inch, 220 pound werewolf – someone people mistook as some sort of professional football player or a guy on steroids. He looked, or he assumed, like a guy that was into less than legal activities based on how people reacted to him. How could Chloe be the dangerous one? She was a foot shorter and a hundred pounds lighter than him, not to mention the innocent big blue eyes and blonde hair. On a windy day, she could be in danger of flying away. The biggest danger she should present to anyone was annoying them or maybe being underfoot.

He remembered how she looked as though she wasn't hearing anything, as though she was in a daze. His logical and fact seeking brain wouldn't let him escape the situation. He had to listen how they just could not work as a couple, how –given time – they might be able to reconsider being friends, but only meeting in large groups. They doubted that they could have any safe, meaningful time alone. Ever. The meeting lasted an eternity; listening to how everything he had envisioned for the two of them, go up in smoke. They would be lucky to someday become friends?

That was three years ago.

They didn't believe the doctors. It just didn't make sense. It was a fluke – things had simply been exaggerated – and the doctors weren't sure of their powers so they wanted to cap them off where they felt comfortable dealing with them. They continued to see each other and even continued to date, despite repeated meetings urging Derek to break it off. They tried once with Chloe and it did not end well. She spent the next week asleep.

Even Kit had started giving nudging hints a year after the incident. Talking about how the future held so many different possibilities, that he shouldn't limit himself to the first girl that ever expressed interest in him, how it wasn't fair to either of them. Fair: that was a loaded word that Derek knew didn't apply to any of them. None of them had signed up to be part of a genetic experiment; the entire blame lay with their parents. Kit suggesting that Derek simply move on stung. They had talked a lot about werewolves and their traits. Moving on simply wasn't an option for Derek, there would be no other girls; there simply couldn't. Sure, he could try and see where things went with someone else, but even considering it made him nauseated. It wasn't unheard of a werewolf finding a non-werewolf mate, according to their so-called werewolf expert. There were a handful of records indicating that it was possible, especially since up until a handful of years ago, there was only one female werewolf in existence. Most of the records suggested that it didn't end well, mostly because it was a werewolf-human relationship. Their expert didn't have any sort of record about a relationship with another supernatural. Derek didn't think much about their "expert". The only new knowledge that Derek had received from him was about the "werewolf mate" concept – and he suspected that the only reason he was able to get that was because of the incident. Just another voice making the suggestion that they were doomed and he should throw in the towel.

Derek still wasn't one hundred percent convinced that such a mate concept existed in the first place. If it did, it certainly would have trouble logically since typically mates are the same – for example, two penguins, two swans, two gibbons, two humans. Since female werewolves were virtually non-existent, it did call into question how a werewolf could find a 'mate' in something that was unlike itself. It made sense that werewolves had tried to make relationships work with humans – especially considering the lack of female werewolves – and similarly, he reasoned that the relationships ending could be chalked up to anything that would be typical in a strictly human relationship. It sounded like something that they thought sounded legitimate enough, much like how they initially stressed that he should only Change on a monthly basis. That didn't go over very well. He had given it two attempts, but by the end of a week and a half, his body forced it. He found that at minimum he should Change once a week, but ideally twice. He used to be fine with the weekly, but like so many other things three years ago, things had to be accommodated.

And logically, why would they tell him about the concept and then tell him that he needed to start seeing other people? If the concept was correct, did that mean Chloe was his mate? Or was she not? Or did it not matter at all and things were still subject to free will? Or was he trying to will it to be true? It simply didn't make sense – unless perhaps they never intended to tell him about it. Perhaps he was never supposed to find out about it.

He wrestled with it for a few months before giving up. Free will is what he decided. He couldn't hold himself or Chloe to a concept that might not be true. Even if it was true, he didn't know how it could be proven. How could it be tested? Should they have simply broken up three years ago and see how they felt afterwards? Heartache was heartache. He had seen Simon and Tori go through it multiple times. Sometimes their heartache lingered for weeks; other times it lingered for months. Breaking up to see how long it hurt could be some sort of test. Bu wouldn't it defeat the whole purpose of the test? What good are the results if they can't be replicated? How many times would they have to break up? Wouldn't breaking up for the sake of breaking up defeat the whole purpose of seeing how long the pain lasted, knowing it was all just temporary?

It was too complicated. Mythology had its place in their world, but surely they had control over their emotions. Free will. It had to come down to that. If they couldn't make choices concerning that, what type of decisions could they make? It had to be due to free will, independent choices. Despite his urgency to believe it, his gut still tugged that it was something more than that.

Chloe didn't know about the concept. Derek had kept it to himself and planned on keeping it to himself.

Despite this, they ignored the doctors' orders – even Chloe's Aunt Lauren's. That had been another eventful day. Aunt Lauren had reminded Chloe again of the situation and how it would just be better for everyone if Derek was no longer in their lives. Lauren had never particularly cared for Derek and this cemented her feelings. The last time Chloe and Lauren talked, it ended very badly. Chloe was given her own residence, away from the rest of the town. Lauren stayed in the house that they once shared but did not go and visit her formerly beloved niece. Derek wasn't even sure when the last time they had any sort of meaningful interaction. He had never been able to get her to talk to him about that last fight.

With Chloe's residence being on the opposite side of town – and not by accident, Derek supposed as the house he shared with his family was on the edge of the forest – their time was limited. Derek didn't sleep well the first few months – he'd wake up periodically in the night to walk to Chloe's house and check the woods. Chloe had been furious with him the first time she caught him. She had suspected that he simply wasn't sleeping well; he always seemed tired, a little distant, and not quite as alert as he normally was. When she went out in the deck – during a mild snowstorm too – and saw him walking on the edge of the trees, she was furious at him. After the fifth time she caught him, she proposed a solution. While he officially lived with Kit, Simon and Tori, he would spend the nights at her house. He had his own bedroom next to Chloe's. While it wasn't ideal for their preferences, it seemed to be the best that they could manage. Even with a wall separating them, she was close enough that he found that he didn't need to patrol the woods multiple times a night. Chloe seemed to sleep better too, if only for the fact that if she heard something in the night, it was now more likely Derek grabbing a snack in the kitchen instead of wondering what undead creature was skulking outside her window.

While they were sure it was probably one of the town's worst kept secrets, they were never approached by one of the doctors or staff members about stopping their sleeping arrangements. At that point, they seemed more than happy to be as hands off as possible. They never brought it up when going over their notes and they never offered it up. It was a delicate truce as Derek knew that if something happened, it would all come down on their heads and the immensely likelihood of one of them being removed and placed in a different community or worse.

Chloe seemed to stabilize with this new arrangement. She made up her lost progress with her training and seemed to be their rising star again. She listened to her senses, knowing the days that she needed to simply rest and days where she pushed her limits. She wanted to become better at determining who was alive and who was a ghost. The doctors did not think it was wise – probably because they didn't want to lose control over the training, or fearing what the ghosts might tell or warn her.

Derek wasn't allowed to watch her while she trained. No one was: not Simon, Tori, or even Kit. They rationalized it by explaining that every scenario still had an unknown and dangerous element. They simply didn't want anyone to become hurt. Derek had wondered if it really wasn't Chloe's idea – that she didn't want them to see what she could do. Reanimating corpuses were far from a cheery image. It was possible that she didn't want them to watch something that was so disturbing.

The rest of the training they would occasionally drop by and watch. Tori's were always amusing to watch. She – more often than not – would go off script and do something that took her trainer off guard. If they wanted her to light a fire in a certain shape and she wasn't in the most cooperative of moods, she'd do something else – summon a swarm of locusts, create a mini-swamp – anything to remind them that she was in charge of the lessons.

Derek's training was a straightforward as expected – learning how to Change more efficiently, faster; learning how to track as a human; it was all things that he expected. Despite their promises, he still had not been introduced to the Pack. He wasn't sure if it was a lack of interest on their part, the doctors' reasoning, or if it was something entirely else. It bugged at him that he was still the only werewolf. Chloe had other necromancers, Simon had other sorcerers, and Tori had access to sorcerers and witches. It bugged at him they had others that could directly relate to. Instead of Simon complaining about the pronunciation to him, he'd complain to the other sorcerers. Even Chloe had confided less about her ghoulish encounters to him until he had pointed it out.

It made him anxious.

They were all developing and growing and he was not a part of that. They had their own repertoire and he could only try to follow along. They were developing ties to the others, to the town. Was that what the Nasts wanted? Derek could only remind himself that they had all agreed to the deal and that if the time came, they all would abide by it.

The time came and they didn't.

He had been on his usual run route, trying to work off some restless energy. He was on his second lap when he had smelled it. It was distinctly not quite human and very dead. He stopped. Was this some sort of training they were setting him up for? Or was it for Chloe? He didn't think that they were comfortable with her reanimating a human corpse when they seemed more content with the animals in the forest.

He stopped and smelt the air again. He followed the smell into the forest, keeping an eye out to see if there were any trainers lurking in the trees. He didn't hear or see anything that suggested this was a trap. He kept going, carefully.

He saw it – the ground had been disturbed here – and something felt off about it. He looked around, his instincts on high alert. He started moving the dirt on one end. He started slow, unsure, but as the smell increased in strength, his mind started to recognize that he had smelled this scent before. He sped up, not taking care to be neat.

He sat back on his heels.

"Oh fuck me."

Sean's scent wasn't the only one he recognized.

A/N: Thanks for reading the chapter! Like it? Hate it? Please give me your thoughts! As a bonus to the first ten reviewers, I'll give something extra. Please post a short story idea or a concept and I'll post a drabble involving it! The drabbles will be posted as their own story before I upload chapter two. :)