The truth of Jackson's past and birth parents finally comes to light after being kept secret for years. Everyone in Beacon Hills will be stunned and none more so than Jackson and Derek. How will they react and how will the truth change the dynamics of how Derek and Jackson behave towards each other?

A/N: This idea had been stuck in my head pretty much since episode 4 of season 1 when they revealed that Jackson was adopted. Then it just kept growing…and now after the events of S2 Ep7, I finally thought I'd get it out before the real truth came out. I'm pretty sure that my thoughts are not what TPTB for the show have in mind for Jackson, but I'm gonna go with this and hope I can finish before the big reveal on the show. If I don't, then I'll just roll with it and it won't match show canon. It picks up pretty much from the events after S2 E7.

Disclaimer: Don't own Teen Wolf or anyone in it. If I did, I'd be busy having way to much fun doing other stuff. ^_~


Bonded by Fate

Chapter 1

Derek was running through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him. He was desperate to expel some of the stress and tension of the last few weeks. He had thought that once he became the alpha, nothing would be able to touch him. But he didn't realize how much more difficult it actually would be. And now he was not only responsible for himself, but also for three more lives that were bonded to him forever.

If he only had to deal with the appearance of Gerard Argent and his horde of werewolf hunting minions, he would be able to handle it, but this new creature was something else entirely.

The Kanima. It was like the boogeyman in the closet that kept little kids in bed at night. Some nightmarish creature people told stories about but never thought really existed. Until now. And Derek couldn't help but feel afraid. This creature was strong, fast and secreted a toxin that rendered its victims helpless within seconds. So far nothing had worked to try to stop or even contain it. It... not it – him… Jackson.

Derek had been so sure it had been Lydia – hoped it had been Lydia. Because then it was something that Peter had caused. Because then he, Derek, wouldn't have been the one responsible.

As he kept running, his mind went back to the night he bit Jackson. Why did he do it? He had never wanted Jackson as part of his pack. Why did he take the chance? Part of him had wanted rid of Jackson because he couldn't stand him and to keep him from revealing the truth about what Derek and Scott were. And while Derek would never take a life outright, he figured that by giving Jackson what he clearly wanted so badly, it wouldn't have been on him if the spoiled brat bit it.

But Jackson survived. Derek wasn't sure if he was surprised or not when he saw Jackson for the first time after, but he was definitely surprised to feel the intense panic and racing emotions Jackson emitted that day at school that proved to Derek they were now irrevocably bonded. But then the black blood started oozing out of Jackson. His body was rejecting the bite. And by the time the next full moon rolled around, Derek couldn't feel him anymore.

He had told himself that he didn't care, that he had successfully created three wolves to form his pack. He didn't need Jackson, but he could never shake the niggling thought in the back of his head that kept asking why Jackson lived when his body refused the bite.

Now they knew and Derek knew that he was responsible. There was something in Jackson that had laid dormant his entire life until Derek bit him. And when Derek finally stopped in the middle of the woods, he asked himself, pointlessly, the question he's asked himself thousands of times: Why did he give in to his emotions and bite that jackass?

After Derek realized it was Jackson, he knew it was his mess to clean up. And killing him was the first thought that came to mind, never mind that it turns out that some mystery person was actually controlling the kanima and by extension, Jackson. But when his emotions settled, he realized that Scott had a point. He couldn't kill Jackson, not when everything he did wasn't technically his fault. And if he hadn't bit Jackson in the first place, there wouldn't even be a kanima to catch.

But there was one silver lining to this whole mess. Scott was joining his pack. Even if temporarily, it would make Derek that much stronger. Derek smiled a humorless smile and headed back to the underground hideout he'd been using after the Argents took over his house.


Jackson jolted awake for the sixth time that night. He looked at the clock on his nightstand. 4:37. It was almost morning and in a little over an hour he could go downstairs and have some much needed coffee without his parents questioning him whether everything was alright or not.

He had been having blackouts more and more frequently as the last few weeks passed by. Jackson wasn't just changing late at night anymore. He was shifting during the day. Whoever was controlling him was either getting careless or desperate as he or she didn't seem to care who was around to witness the transformation. So Jackson had resolved to stay awake until whatever this was passed from his system or he somehow got control of his body back. It was a futile act, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. It wasn't like there was anyone he could or would go to for help.

None of Jackson's friends knew about him and if any of them did know, they wouldn't exactly be his friends anymore. Danny might have been the exception, but look at what happened to him. Out of everything Jackson knew he did as the kanima, even though he had no control, hurting Danny was the only thing he was truly sorry for.

And even though Derek was the one that bit him, it was definitely out of the question to look for help there. Especially after what happened at the pool and then with Erica. Jackson still didn't really get why Derek gave him the bite when Derek had wanted to kill him since before he became the alpha. Derek had even tried when he brought Jackson to the abandoned house that first time. If Scott hadn't shown up, Jackson probably wouldn't have gotten out alive.

It occurred to Jackson that if he just went to Scott and asked for help, that Scott and by extension Stiles and Alison would be more than willing to help him. But pride kept getting in the way.

So Jackson just resolved to handle it alone. And who knows, maybe the person behind everything would show him or herself to him soon and make some send of everything.

Thinking back to the bite, Jackson was really starting to regret it. He still put up a front to Scott and everyone else, but behind his façade, he was wishing it had never happened. He didn't even really understand why he wanted it so bad other than the fact that Scott had it and it made Scott faster and stronger than him. Was being faster and stronger really worth all the other troubles Scott had? He could probably have gotten some similar results if he started taking steroids, but at the time, Jackson answered yes without hesitation because he couldn't really grasp what the troubles really entailed. He just knew that he wanted the bite and nothing else would do.

Unfortunately, his own troubles now seem to make Scott's pale in comparison. Jackson had unwittingly made himself a target for the Argents and Derek alike. And all for things he didn't even remember doing and had no control over.

It wasn't fair! Why him? Why did he out of everyone end up being the killer scaly lizard freak puppet? Was it like Derek said? That he was a snake? Jackson knew he wasn't the nicest person and sometimes he regretted saying or doing things, but he couldn't apologize or take it back. What would people think of him if he did? He wouldn't be the most popular guy in school if he was some pushover like Scott. So he shoved that thought aside. Maybe it was because he had gotten some of Lydia's DNA in him like he had first thought? And then another thought stuck him. Maybe it was already in him all along. Something in his own DNA that clashed with Derek's bite.

Jackson started getting worked up again. He always got worked up when he thought about his birth parents. He had no recollection of them and no idea what they were like or why they gave him up. Questions of self doubt and thoughts of unworthiness bubbled up again. Why did they give him up? There must have been something wrong with him for them to reject him. The fact that he had two parents who chose and adopted him and loved and cared for him for 10 years didn't seem to offer much comfort.

Maybe his birth parents were some kind of lizard people. Jackson shook his head and squeezed his eyes closed as images or creatures from V flashed through his mind. His adopted parents claimed to know nothing about them and that they got Jackson from an orphanage when he was a little kid. Jackson had believed them, but lately he had been feeling that maybe they knew more than they were sharing with him.

Jackson looked back to the clock. 6:02. He had managed to stay up for the night and hadn't had any blackouts. He got out of bed and got ready to go to school.

Whatever the truth was, Jackson now had a new resolve. He would find out everything about his birth parents. No matter what the consequences were.


I wanted to just jump into the story, but I wanted to write a bit on Derek and Jackson's current frame of mind, etc first…I just didn't think it would be so long… -_- Next chapter will be more exciting…I promise!

Reviews would be greatly appreciated. =)