The woods surrounding his family's home seemed to call out to Derek, enticing him to go and explore. It was only because his mother…his Alpha, had ordered him to stay put until she was ready that he hadn't moved from his spot sitting on the front porch, his older sister Laura sitting beside him with only a little more patience than Derek had.
Derek huffed, and lay down on his belly, stretching his front legs out in front of him. He'd only just started learning how to fully shift into his wolf form when it wasn't the full moon, and the novelty of seeing himself in his wolf form hadn't yet worn off.
After what seemed like forever his mother finally walked through the front door and out onto the Porch, his father close at her heels, with little Cora in his arms, too young to join her older siblings in their romp. Derek listened carefully to his parents as they spoke to one another, knowing that once he was older, once his mom was gone, he'd be expected to help Laura run the pack, and by being her eyes and ears was a good start…and the fact this his eyesight and hearing were so much better when he was like this. Derek loved being a werewolf.
"You sure you'll be okay…and you'll keep an ear out for the pups?" Talia asked. Derek's dad nodded, "Yeah, I'll just be going over that stuff that David Whittmore sent over. I'm glad we made him our new Lawyer, he's good, from what I've seen."
Talia nodded, "I am too. I often see he and his wife, Louise out together when I pick up Laura from dance practice. Their son is just under a year younger than Cora. They look happy together as a family. What was it that happened to their son…before they adopted him?"
"His biological family…the Millers, I think, they died in a car crash somewhere overseas…South Africa from memory."
"Oh, that's right. They were there on business and happened across him in an orphanage and fell in love and brought him back here to Beacon Hills to start their new life as a family. Speaking of…I think the pups are getting restless." Talia let out a soft laugh and looked down happily at Laura and Derek, who had both sat up, looking pleadingly up at their parents.
Derek heard his father's snort, "God, look at those puppy dog expressions. We're doomed, we're never going to be able to say no to anything now," he complained jestingly. Talia laughed before she shed her shirt and shifted into her wolf form. Instinctively Derek tilted his head, exposing his neck and submitting to his mother, who licked the top of his head lovingly.
"Come on, my pups," she growled, leading them way from the house and into the woods, while Laura and Derek bounded after her, playfully pushing and shoving at one another and chasing their mother's tail as they moved deeper and deeper into the woods until they reached an area that was so isolated it was barely ever visited by humans. Talia lay down, relaxed on a rock, enjoying the sunlight that streamed through the canopy, while leaving Laura and Derek to play and explore. They were safe here from prying eyes, so Talia didn't have to be on her guard from passing hikers or anything like that. It was one of the few places Derek and Laura could run around shifted without being worried about being found or seen by humans.
Derek immediately left the clearing and went exploring, his nose pressed to the ground as he sniffed, trying to detect all of the different animals that had crossed the area. Laura was ignoring him, instead pouncing at the butterflies that fluttered between the flowers that had begun to bloom with the arrival of spring. Even though Laura was two years older than him Derek had to intention of joining her…chasing butterflies was a babyish game anyway.
Much more appealing was the scents and sounds of the woods. Derek tilted his head to the side and listened, his keen ears picking up the sounds of lots of smaller animals moving around the forest around them…Squirrels chattering in their trees, and rabbits running around in the distance. He could hear worms and ants under the ground, digging through the dirt, made soft by the rain they'd been having lately.
A rustling in the foliage brought Derek into a crouch, his ears perked up and his eyes scanning his surroundings for the source, although he could clearly hear the racing heartbeat of the rabbit that had strayed far too close to the young wolf. Sure enough, the rabbit bolted through the trees just in front of him, and Derek gave chase, his instincts surging as he impulsively raced after the rabbit. Derek had no intention of actually killing the rabbit, or even pouncing on the rabbit, his own compassionate side making the urge to kill easier to control, but chasing something at was moving so quickly was too much of a temptation to him.
Derek ran and ran, chasing the rabbit through the undergrowth, dodging around trees and jumping over rocks, until finally the rabbit disappeared down a hole at the base of a tree. Derek sniffed around the hole, listening as the rabbits racing heartbeat became more and more distant as it travelled through the burrow, safe and sound. Derek huffed, his breaths coming in soft pants after the run, his tail wagging happily as his tongue lolled out happily.
Hearing the tricking of a stream nearby, Derek walked towards it, giving it a precautionary sniff to determine the water was safe before having a drink. His uncle Peter had told him a story about when Peter had been young and had drunk polluted water. Despite being a werewolf it had still been enough to get Peter sick and earn him a few days of bed rest. Derek hated being confined more than anything, so he was very careful to make sure that the water didn't smell unusual before drinking.
Once Derek had drunk his fill from the swollen stream, he looked around curiously. He didn't immediately recognize the woods around him, although the faint scent of his mother still reassured him he was within Hale Pack territory. It was obvious, however, that Derek had strayed far from the area of the woods his mother had deemed safe, and for a moment Derek was frightened, not quite sure on how he could get back to his mother and sister.
The moment, however was fleeting. Derek knew that if he howled his mother would come and find him, and he hadn't been gone for that long. The spring sun was still high in the sky, and nothing in the preserve would dare attack the son of the Alpha werewolf.
Impulsively Derek splashed through the swollen stream and climbed the steep bank on the other side, shaking to get rid of the water in his fur, before he sniffed around some more, before he ran through the trees, exploring this new territory, and inhaling the smells that it brought.
Derek was having a great time; right up until a new smell reached his nose. He stiffened, remembering how one of his classmates, Beth, had smelled like that just before she died a few months ago. His mother had told him it was the scent of death, and that someone who smelled like that often couldn't be saved, even if you wanted them to stay alive. It had been a solemn lesson for Derek, and for Laura too. It had been the first time they'd had to deal with death. Beth had been sick for ages, she had cancer, Derek and his classmates had been told, although most of them hadn't really understood what that had meant. Some of the more stupid members of his class would sneeze a few times and then panic because they thought they had cancer and were going to die, when really they just had a cold and would be fine again in a few days.
Beth had been one of Derek's friends, although his mother had forbidden him from trying to take away the girl's obvious pain, a trick that Derek had only just started to learn at that point, and Derek had been really sad when she'd died. His mother and father had taken him to Beth's funeral so he'd been able to say goodbye. Most of his classmates had been there too, accompanied by one or both of their parents.
Curious about the poor creature who smelt like it was about to die, Derek cautiously followed the scent, scrambling over the rough terrain and the large boulders that blocked his way to the source of the scent. Far in the distance Derek could hear cars on the main road into Beacon Hills, but he could tell that, really, the road was still over 3 miles away, so it wasn't like someone was going to be able to see him, and if they did, from a distance they'd just think he was a wild dog. Derek was far too young for his wolf form to be big enough to be obviously not normal to a passing motorist at a distance, or even up close.
Drawing closer to the smell, Derek wrinkled his nose as it got stronger, and he wondered if whatever it was had already died and was being eaten by maggots and worms. He began to pick up other smells too. A couple of humans had passed this way not to long ago, a day or two at least, although Derek wasn't good at judging how old scents were. Laura was a lot better at it than he was, but his mother was even better.
Perking up his ears, Derek listened cautiously; checking to make sure the humans had actually left the woods. He couldn't pick up their heartbeats, although he could hear the soft pattering of the heart of the poor creature he was approaching. Obviously they weren't dead, but Derek was fairly sure that heartbeats weren't supposed to sound like this. It sounded like Beth's had, in those last few days at school before she'd gone to hospital for the last time. Unless something happened Derek was fairly sure that whatever it was would be dead within a few hours.
Derek hesitated mid stride, knowing that, if he wasn't in wolf form, he'd probably have started crying at that thought. Maybe he could save them. His uncle Peter was always talking about how wolves were natural predators, killing machines at the top of the food chain. He only ever talked like that when Derek's parents weren't around, but it was enough for the idea to seep into Derek's head.
One night Derek had been consumed by the thought, and had dreamed of killing everyone who wasn't a werewolf around him…his classmates at school, the human members of the pack, his teacher, and the few human adults he'd been introduced to. He'd woken up screaming from the nightmare, and his mother had rushed to his bedside, holding him for the rest of the night, taking him into his parent's bed, and letting him scent her as he tried to calm down.
"Just because you're a predator doesn't mean that you have to be a killer as well," she'd told him gently that night, holding him close as she tried to sooth him
Since that night his mother's words had become a mantra, an anchor, just as much as the familiar words of Alpha Beta Omega. Maybe, instead of being a killer, he could be the hero and save whatever poor creature was dying out in the woods, alone.
As he began moving again, Derek wondered what sort of creature it would be. A rabbit seemed the most likely option, or a squirrel, judging from the heartbeat. A fox or a deer were also possibilities, although they were less likely.
As Derek climbed a hill and walked into a clearing, however, nothing prepared him for the sight of the creature as he finally laid eyes on it. His nose flared as he finally found the source of the smell that he had followed for almost a mile. The baby was lying on the ground, looking like it was sleeping, although it's breathing was uneven and strained.
Derek cautiously approached the sleeping baby. It looked like the baby was a little younger than Cora, although Derek guessed that he or she would probably be old enough to walk a little, if they weren't lying in the woods sleeping. Derek sniffed, cringing at the smell of a very dirty diaper, before he crouched beside the baby, touching his nose to the baby's hand gingerly. The baby didn't respond, although Derek could feel how cool the baby's skin had been. He sat back upright, suddenly unsure of himself. He didn't know anything about babies, except for what he learned when Cora was born, and she was a werewolf. This baby was human, and therefore completely different.
Throwing his head back, Derek howled for his mother, knowing that she would know what to do. Immediately he heard the responding howl from his mother, and knew that she had heard him and was on her way. Now all Derek had to do was keep the baby alive until his mother came. He shuffled as close to the baby as he could, lying down on the ground until he was curled around it, his furry tail draped over the baby as a sort of blanket. He felt tiny fingers curl around his fur weakly, and turned his head so he could see the baby's face.
Bleary amber eyes looked at him, curious, despite the exhaustion and pain written across the baby's features. Derek licked the baby's cheek comfortingly, and the baby gave him the barest hint of a smile, before he succumbed to exhaustion once again. Derek curled around the sleeping baby a little tighter, praying that his mother reached them in time.