It's midnight, but the full moon is so luminescent tonight that even a human could see to pick their way through the forest. Derek scowls. This isn't the best light for tracking – sure, it can be easy to spot someone, but it's also easy to get caught. He tries to keep under cover as best he can but it makes following the trail slow work.
He's been attempting to corner one of the alphas. Derek thinks – hopes – that if he can get one of them on their own, it'll be easier to get some information out of them without being torn to shreds. All he wants now is a light at the end of the tunnel. Some sign that Erica and Boyd are okay, and that he might get them back. He doesn't understand why the Alpha Pack is holding them but not doing anything. No demands, no proposals. It's exhausting.
But finally luck's on his side – well, as much as luck is ever on Derek Hale's side. He's managed to pick up an unfamiliar scent in the woods tonight. He knows the scent of all his betas and Scott, so he figures it has to be one of the alphas. He feels like he's been right on top of the other wolf's trail for hours, but somehow it keeps managing to slip his sight. Derek is growing quickly impatient.
He pauses for a moment, trying to re-evaluate his plan. The scent is still strong, but for some reason he can't identify a solid direction to go in. Derek is beginning to feel like he's chasing a ghost. He breathes in heavily, thinking about giving up, when suddenly there is a hand against his throat and he's being shoved up against the tree behind him.
When he focuses his gaze, he's looking down on a woman with dark hair, her red lips pulled back into a snarl over pristine white teeth. Though she's smaller she's managed to catch him by surprise and use that to pin him. The bark of the tree scrapes roughly against his back through his cotton shirt and Derek growls.
"Why are you following me?" She spits out, fury etched into the lines of her pretty mouth.
"Why did you take my betas?" Derek snaps in return, and his hand comes up to grip her arm, tearing it away from his throat. She steps back, looking momentarily confused. Her brow is furrowed, eyes clearly suspicious, but she refrains from attacking again.
"What are you talking about?" She asks, causing Derek to narrow his eyes.
"I know it was your pack who took them." He accuses, but he's a bit put off by her denial. He hadn't expected a deceptive tactic out of the alphas.
"I don't have a pack." The dark-haired woman says, sounding bitter.
"Look, you may all be alphas, but you're still a pack – and you still have Erica and Boyd. I'm not playing your games anymore. What do you want?"
"Wrong again." She replies. She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest, looking impatient. "I'm not an alpha, either. You've got the wrong girl."
"Stop screwing with me –"
She growls and launches at him again. This time he catches her by her wrists before she can pin him, but her eyes are glowing. They're unmistakably yellow.
"Who are you?" Derek asks, momentarily bewildered. If she's not an alpha, then what is she doing in Beacon Hills? His grip around her wrists loosens, but he still holds her. She doesn't struggle.
"Don't you think you ought to ask a girl that before getting so familiar?" She tilts her head, just the hint of a wry smirk on her lips, watching him.
"This is my territory. I have every right to be familiar." Derek grits out. He flashes red eyes. He doesn't know what it is, but something about this woman gets under his skin. It's the beautiful and feisty thing, he thinks, because that's definitely his type.
"Ooh, alpha eyes." She teases, practically laughs in his face. "That's cute. Sorry for trespassing, sweetheart." When he glares back, her face softens. "Really. Thought it was abandoned territory after Talia Hale passed. I was just trying to find a semi-familiar place to stay for awhile…"
Derek's jaw clenches. He drops her wrists. "You knew my mother?"
"You're a Hale?" Her eyebrows go up and he wonders if he's imagining the spark of hope in her eyes. "A Hale alpha…" The smile on her face is so genuine he's momentarily silenced. Derek had known that his mother was special, revered – but he never expected the ghost of her name to inspire such wonder in a stranger.
"My name is Derek Hale." He confirms after a moment. He feels the need to add, "I'm a new alpha."
"How is this even possible?" Her eyes search his, questioning, but he can tell she believes him. "Sorry. Jennifer. That's my name. Jennifer Blake." She steps forward, apparently unconcerned for the concept of personal space. Most wolves aren't, really, and Derek figures they've already broken that barrier anyway. But he's surprised when she reached out to touch his cheek gently. "You look like her."
"Who are you?" He repeats, this time a softer question. Jennifer smiles. It is utterly charming: bright and innocent as no wolf should ever look.
"I visited Beacon Hills years ago with – with my alpha at the time…" Her expression closes off momentarily, but quickly flickers back to cheerfulness. "I was just a kid, really. Seventeen. But I remember Talia. She was incredible."
Derek nods. "She was."
"I'm sorry you lost her." The gentle, almost-pitying, tone in her voice would normally piss Derek off. But Jennifer sounds absolutely sincere. She sounds…understanding. He doesn't want to thank her, can't get the words out, but he nods again and clears his throat.
"You…said you don't have a pack?"
A flash of anger runs through Jennifer's expression.
"Not anymore. I'm an omega." Her lips curl downwards, and she drops her hand from his face. "Do you mind if I stay in town? Just a night or two. I promise I won't make trouble."
Derek pauses, considering.
"Are you looking for a pack?"
"You don't even know me. Don't offer something you can't give me." Jennifer warns him, understanding what he's asking.
She's right. But he wants her to stay, somehow. "Then just hang around for awhile. And…we'll see how you fit in."
Jennifer smiles, cautious. Then, "Okay."
They end up stumbling through his loft doors an hour later, kissing desperately, and battling each other for dominance with their lips and tongues and teeth.
Derek guides her blindly towards the bed and they crash together into it. The moonlight casts a wide swath of light across his white sheets, illuminating Jennifer's pale skin as she strips off her shirt. She's grinning and her hair falls curly and wild around her shoulders. Derek thinks he's never seen anything quite so attractive.
She straddles him as he lies on the bed, and bends down just until her curls tickle his chest, smirking gloriously. Jennifer looks at him through thick lashes, pupils blown wide in the midst a yellow gleam. She runs her hands down his chest with claws out, slicing his shirt into tatters. Derek can't bring himself to care.
He wraps a hand around her neck and cradles the base of her skull with his fingers tangled in her hair. She lets him draw her down for a kiss, slow and deep. Jennifer flattens herself against him. Between the two of them, there's so much heat in their skin that Derek feels a bit like he's burning up. He flips them around and they roll so that he's on top, holding himself up slightly on his arms. Jennifer laughs, and she sounds so happy that he kisses her again just to stop from grinning like an idiot.
Jennifer's hands wrap around his back, grip hard as they continue to kiss. It's passionate, but they're still taking their time, learning each other like this isn't some one night stand but a real thing. He hopes it is. They've only just met, but Derek could see himself falling for someone like her. And, if he's honest, he could use another adult in his pack. He could use…a mate.
But that's too far ahead to think of. Derek knows he needs to learn to focus on the present: not dwell in the past or worry about the future. He'll start with her; he'll start with this moment. He lays himself on his side next to her, runs a hand down her side and pulls her close, tangling their limbs together. In response, Jennifer moves forward. Their noses touch and she pauses there, lingering in that gentle in-between moment.
"Derek," She says his name so quietly he needs his heightened senses to pick it up. "I'm glad you found me."
"Me too." He says, and dives forward to seal the kiss. They return to the clash of teeth and tongue, letting the energy between them build and skyrocket. It doesn't take long after that for them to get rid of their remaining clothes. The moon is peaking in the sky and it drives them forward. Derek has never had sex under the full moon, but he's heard it can be incredible for two wolves. He wants to experience that, he wants to drink Jennifer in and climb inside her skin. The wolf in him wants to claim her: mine, but he knows he can't do that. Not yet.
Instead he wraps himself around her and slips inside her, Jennifer clutching his back and arching into him with reckless abandon. Derek forgets everything but this feeling. It is the ecstasy of the two of them together, not holding back, and it consumes him. She is full of wild energy beneath him. The sounds she makes set his blood on fire and her touch – Derek feels drunk and high and so, so full of clarity all at once.
When it is over they lay together comfortably entwined. It feels as though they've known each other for years. Derek admires the sight of her hair fanning out over his pillow, and the curve of her body as it disappears under his sheets. He wraps a protective arm over her and Jennifer folds into him, closing her eyes.
"You know," He begins softly, "I think you'll fit in around here just fine."
Jennifer laughs. It sounds like…pack. It sounds like hope.