Disclaimer: The Darkest Powers trilogy belongs to Kelley Armstrong. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: I want you all to know that when I got my first reviews I called three different people shrieking with excitement. I want to thank Punkrockdiva for being my first reviewer ever. I spent my lunch hour at work the next day scribbling on receipt paper so I could have something for you guys. I'll try to be quicker with the updates in future; I just got a job and the hours are hectic right now. I really appreciate you guys taking the time to review :)

This will have less chapters than the book, because in some places it just doesn't make sense to make a chapter split in Derek's POV where there is one in the book. Hence, this will be the first two chapters of the book all rolled into one for Derek :)

Italicized AND underlined means thoughts in a flashback

Chapter 1

Derek POV

It seemed like we had been running for months, though in actuality it was only a few days. We had finally found somewhere to rest and let our guard down. Somewhere the Edison Group couldn't find us. So obviously I had passed out hard and wasn't moving for at least 10 hours right? Wrong.

I couldn't relax. I was still anxious, and I was going to have to Change soon; I felt feverish and irritable. I wasn't getting any good sleep.

I sighed and rolled over, listening enviously to Simon's deep snores. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to let go of all this tenseness? You don't want that. Who was I kidding? I would do anything for Simon and my dad...my pack. Two people I would gladly, instinctively die to protect. It killed me not knowing where dad was. Now I only had Simon to look out for...and Chloe. Ever since that night at the bus station, I've slowly realized that my wolf considers her pack, too.

My mind went back to that playground. Back to Liam and Ramon...

"It's okay," I breathed to her. "It's okay." I rubbed Chloe's shoulder, my heart pounding. How could I have let this happen? I should have smelled them before we came over here. How were we going to get out of this? They could hear any plan I tried to arrange and they were faster than her. Much faster.

"Sure," said Liam. "It'll be just fine. The Pack aren't complete monsters. This poor orphanied kid just screwed up. He'll never do it again. They'll understand. He's probably got a–" he broke off and looked at Ramon. "Fifty-fifty?"

Ramon looked thoughtful, then nodded.

Liam looked back. "Fifty-fifty chance of surviving. And even if he doesn't, they'll make it quick. No chain saws for you."

"Why are you telling us this?" Chloe asked. She had a point, although I wasn't complaining. I needed time to think. Here's the problem. You have all the variables in front of you. Find the correct solution. If we ran, they would catch us. If they caught us...I couldn't fight both of them.

"Good question, cutie." I tensed. "Why not just grab him, tie him up, toss him in our truck, and deliver him to the wolves up in Syracuse? Because the Alpha isn't stupid. If we throw him a kid who's screaming he didn't do it, he might listen. See, there's only one way this can work. If your boyfriend comes along voluntarily and confesses."

I snorted. "Yeah." Like that was all they wanted to do.

"You don't like that plan?"

I looked at him. You expect me to believe that?

Liam sighed. "All right then. Option two it is. We kill you and have some fun with your girl."

I froze. No.

"I'll do the killing," Ramon was saying. "You can take the girl. She's a little young for me."

Liam gave a lazy grin. "I like them young."

He looked up Chloe and down and I tightened my grip on her shoulders. No no no no–

"Leave her out of this," I snarled.

"Never." He bared his teeth at me. "I was almost hoping you'd say no. Sure, I'd love a scapegoat to feed the Pack. But a little cutie like that, who already knows who I am? That's..." He smiled. "Sweet."

He moved his attention to Chloe and stepped forward. My arm shot around her, a growl ripping up my throat. Liam reached towards her and I tensed, heart racing wildly. He won't TOUCH her. I won't let him. I can't let him. She's MINE.

He pulled back and I eased slightly, watching him. He reached out again and I reacted instantly. Liam started to laugh, testing me to see if I would do it again. I couldn't help it. I did. He kept at it until Ramon started laughing, too.

"Check this out," Liam mused. "I think the pup's got himself a mate. Isn't that the cutest thing?" He leaned towards me, lowering his voice. "It won't work out. It never does. Why don't you just give her to me now, let me help you get over it. Painful, but quick. It's the best way."

I shifted Chloe behind me, trying desperately to figure out what to do. Think, think. My heart hammered in my chest.

They both howled with laughter.

"I think he's saying no," Ramon said.

"Leave her out of this," I growled.

Liam shook his head, shifting his eyes back to Chloe. "How can I do that? Look at her. So tiny and cute, big blue eyes all wide and scared." He leered toward her. "Irresistible." He lunged forward abruptly and I jumped to meet him but was too slow. I watched in agony as Chloe screamed, Ramon's laughter echoing in the background...

I woke up abruptly, tangled in my sheets. It was only a dream. I lay there, getting my breathing back under control. Thankfully we had gotten away that night without any serious harm being done.

God this fever...I couldn't think straight. I drifted on the edge of consciousness. Was that a creak in the hallway? Or was I dreaming again?

"They'd like to talk to you, too."

Where did that come from? It sounded like...Chloe. But she wasn't talking to me or Simon, because she would have knocked on the door. She was right outside though. A ghost. Maybe she had walked out in the hall so she wouldn't wake Tori up. I thought I heard her walk away.

Huh.

I scratched absently at my arm. I hoped that we would be able to stay here. Chloe and Simon really needed to stop moving for awhile. Regroup. I had a nagging feeling that I couldn't shake that we weren't as safe here as we thought. Maybe I was just used to moving. I felt...cooped up. Being on the run shouldn't be better than being safe and sound, but at least out there I could expect the unexpected. Nothing was hiding what it was. Here we had to consider that maybe we couldn't trust what we saw, maybe the safety was a lie.

This house wasn't helping. Old and creepy, most of it hadn't seen human life in years. Our hallway was on the second floor with a staircase towards the back of the house and another towards the front.

The front stairs led downstairs to the main part of the house, which had an odd design that made little sense. Lots of rooms couldn't be accessed without going through another room, and everything seemed like it had been thrown together. The kitchen was situated at the back of the house with a door opening into the backyard. The yard was fenced in by trees––the edge of a large forest.

Andrew had mentioned that the back stairs led up to an attic. I wondered if there was any information about the house up there. Maybe we could figure out why this place was being used as a safehouse for us. This wasn't where we used to go visit Andrew with dad––

I was jolted further awake as someone pounded on a door upstairs. I crept to the door an opened it, sniffing to see where Chloe had gone. Her trail led toward the back staircase. There was a crash above me and I sprinted up the stairs to a door on the landing, across from the one I assumed led to the attic.

I quickly unlocked it and flung it open to see Chloe clutching a rusty railing on the rooftop.

"Chloe!" I shouted, striding towards her. She trembled slightly.

"Don't move."

A/N: Not really a cliffhanger since we all know what's going to happen, but a good stopping point for this chapter. I'm not going to make you guys wait though, I'm getting started on the next one now. Also, I've been brainstorming titles. Does "In His Eyes" sound good to you guys? I was worried it was too cheesy but it fits, too. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading and please review!