Chapter Two: Claws.

"Leave the past behind.

Just walk away.

When it's over and my heart breaks.
And the cracks begin to show."

Cracks - Freestylers

A random teenager was shoved in the backseat while Derek put my bags in the trunk of the onyx Camaro. The kid wasn't one of the original teenagers, those two dipped as soon as possible. This one had curly dirty blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. I slid into the passenger side reluctantly. Why in the world was this random teenager down in the basement with Derek? And why was this "Derek Hale" offering random teenagers rides?

"Hi," the teen greeted me with a sheepish grin. His hazy sky eyes scanned my face analytically. "Who are you?"

Pursing my lips, I almost didn't want to answer. These people were getting on my nerves with all their questions. I had questions that I needed answers too, and nobody has been able to answer a single one. Why should I answer theirs? "Lilly... what's your name?"

A wicked smile replaced the meek grin. "Isaac."

"Nice to meet you Isaac."

"The pleasure is all mine Lilly."

"Shut your mouth Isaac," Derek grunted as he buckled himself into the leather interior of the drivers seat. He glanced at me momentarily. "Pretend he's not here."

"Um all right." I briefly looked at Isaac, who in turn winked from the backseat. With a frown I let my eyes fall on Derek. He bore an unamused scowl as he started the vehicle.

"Lillian," Derek peered at me cautiously, his eyes the palest shade of green I had ever seen. Even paler than mine, and my eyes were pretty light, but more of an olive color in comparison.

"Call me Lilly please."

He nodded. "Your father has passed?"

My stomach clenched tightly. "Yeah..." I exhaled sharply. "Yesterday."

He raised a dark brow. "Yesterday?"

"I came home from school... and he..." Gripping the seatbelt, I shook my head. I didn't want to discuss it. There was so much... so much of everything I didn't want to remember. "He was dying. I-I tried to call for an ambulance, but he told me not to. He said I needed to leave. That they were coming for me."

"Who was coming for you?"

Unsurely, I shrugged. "I didn't get an answer. He told me to pack bags and find this box. By the time I managed he was..." my fists clenched tightly. "He was gone."

Derek's eyes were unwavering as he continued to stare at the road ahead. Voice placate as he muttered, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Me too," I sighed. "Who is this person that might be able to help?"

"My uncle."

Isaac hissed, "Peter, really?"

"We need him for other things too," Derek snipped. His knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. "He's already on his way."

All the boy did was grunt in return. Derek eyed me once more. His eyes scanning my profile, full on staring. Not ogling, thank goodness. That might have been creepy because I'm pretty sure we were related. It was more curious.

"Lilly..." The way he pronounced my name was as if it was stuck on his tongue. "Where were you living?"

"Oregon."

"Just you and your dad?"

"I never met my mom, no siblings."

Derek nodded slowly, his eyes trailing my face once more. The car ride was silent from then on. I toyed with the hem of my dirty shirt while Derek focused more on asking Isaac if he remembered anything about the Alpha's.

We pulled up to a warehouse type of building and I really thought maybe this guy was going to kill me. I was stupid to trust someone so easily right after my dad had been murdered in my own home.

Gulping, I peeled myself out of the seat of the fancy vehicle. My heartbeat thumped wildly in my chest. This was it, I was going to die before I got any answers. A hand gripped my shoulder gently and a squeal escaped me. Whipping to my side, Derek gazed down at me trying to give what I assumed was a gentle smile, but it came off more of a grimace.

"Calm down. This is where I live." He nudged his chin at the building. "It doesn't look like much from the outside, but I own the entire building."

I averted my gaze to glance at Isaac, who was now leaning against the Camaro with a look of interest. "Are you guys going to rape and murder me?"

Isaac scoffed, "Does it look like I'm going to rape and murder you?"

"Well... you did bring me to a weird building... far from civilization."

"We are in the middle of a city," Isaac motioned to the towering buildings that surrounded Derek's home.

"Isaac grab her things. And no, I am not going to rape and murder you. I promise," Derek said, his tone slightly amused. I followed closely behind Derek into the "house." We waited for Isaac on an elevator patiently, well Derek seemed pretty impatient. Isaac shot me another wink and whistled happily all the way up.

Thankfully Derek had been telling somewhat of the truth. The interior was slightly furnished and rather comfortable looking compared to the outside. However, there was dust all over and the floors were cemented and cold. There was also a busted out brick wall in the corner of the room. Totally normal and not creepy in the slightest bit.

Derek led me upstairs to an empty bedroom, Isaac and him set my things on the floor. His eyes darted around the room warily. It was more furnished then the downstairs. With printed bedsheets and random girly things around the room. "This is Erica's room. You can stay in here until she comes back. We will deal with getting you situated in your own room then."

"Where is she?" I asked, because there is no way I felt comfortable just invading someones space.

His shoulders tensed. "She is around. Let me show you where the shower is."

I think that was a nice way of him telling me I looked like shit.

Derek guided me to the bathroom and provided me a towel. Much to my relief, he left me alone, letting me know that Isaac and him would be in the kitchen waiting. I let my eyes linger on the wide mirror, a scowl resting on my lips. The girl looking back at me was unrecognizable... broken. There were purple bags under my eyes, which were in all puffier and pink from all the crying. My usually olive orbs were empty and bloodshot. There was a dusty hue in my hazelnut locks from the floor of the house. I looked absolutely terrible. Pink lips chapped, hints of blood on them from biting on them so damn much. No wonder Derek kept staring at me.

Stripping off my dirty clothes I stepped into the shower. Turning the knob, I squeaked when a burst of hard cold water jutted down on my exhausted body. Definitely woke my ass up. After playing around with the knob I was able to get it to an almost boiling temperature. It felt heavenly. I braced my palms against the wall angling my back so the water cascading down my spine, it took some of the tension off my sore muscles.

I closed my eyes letting my mind close up, just focusing on the sound of the water bouncing off my skin. And then it hit me all over again, like last night. I flipped around so that my back was braced against the tiled wall, but my legs were weak with exhaustion. Sliding down to the floor, I choked down my sobs. Everything was fine. Yeah, we were struggling with money, but we were happy. Dad would go to work and I would go to school. He would pick me up if I didn't work at my stupid dead end job and we would spend all night cooking. We would dance around to oldies songs and complain about all the people that pissed us off that day. So what! Our jobs sucked. Who the hell wanted to work at a movie theater when they could be hanging out with their friends? Going to parties! Having a normal teenage life instead of trying to pick up more shifts at their shitty job and do homework? Was all the money and bank accounts some sort of illegal thing? Drug smuggling? Not that my dad went anywhere to smuggle drugs. I just didn't understand why and what happened. Why would anyone want to kill my dad? He was the sweetest most genuine man in the world. He loved me and he... he was dead.

Forcing myself to calm down, I wobbly got to my feet. There was some peach shampoo and body wash that I scrubbed myself down with multiple times. I felt so grimy. Grabbing the towel, I wrapped myself securely and tip toed out of the bathroom. From the top floor I could hear a few voices as I sprinted to the bedroom.

Derek's voice float upstairs before I closed the bedroom door. "We don't like you. Now shut up and help us."

If it were any other time I would probably laugh, but everything was so awkward and uncomfortable. I hurriedly tugged on a fresh set of gray panties and a bra, fitted skinny jeans (which I had to roll at the bottoms because I was so unbelievably short), and a plain black tee. I made sure I put on deodorant and brushed out my tangled hair before I started my journey downstairs.

The first thing I saw was a handsome older gentleman. Older than Derek by years, but he had a persona about him that was slightly condescending. I hadn't even heard the man speak and that's the vibe he radiated. Assuming this is the "uncle" Derek was referring to, I could understand why Isaac might not have wanted him here. But his eyes were a gorgeous shade of blue that sparkled in the dark.

Next thing I noticed was Isaac sitting in a chair, the new man standing behind him grinning brightly. Which, okay everything so far had been absolutely bizarre since my fathers murder, but this was the strangest thing I had seen so far. The hand not holding his neck... his nails were claws. And not just oddly long nails either. They were claws, animal claws. I backed up into the railing of the stairs as my eyes narrowed in on his fingers.

The man cocked his head to the side, a dazzling smirk played on his lips. "Ah, hello there Lillian. Nice to see you again." And then he wrapped an arm around Isaac's throat and dug his nails into the base of his neck.

Then I fainted.