2

Marie was sitting on the couch in the vacant living room when Derek entered with two beers in his hands. She took the beer anxiously and drained a third of the bottle. Derek's eyebrows shot up, but he took a sip of his own drink as well.

"So, this is your place?"

"Yeah," he replied in a flat tone. 'Well, he's not very talkative.'

"Isaac and your uncle live here too?"

"Peter is just a temporary, unwanted house guest."

"Oh," she responded with a quiet voice. The dead silence began to grow awkward, and Marie wondered if the man she was sent off to be mated with would ever have a significant conversation with her. Was she doomed to a life of quiet awkwardness? That was the exact opposite of her personality. Ever since she could remember, her brother Matt always made fun of her for talking so much. She was known for rambling on, being loud, and always getting the last word. It was something she knew would never change, and she always thought her mate would be accepting of her flamboyant personality. Derek on the other hand, was quiet, spoke short sentences, and wasn't exactly easy to read.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Derek setting his now empty beer bottle on the small coffee table. "Listen," he started, "I think we should talk about our...situation," he finally said. 'He speaks!'

"Alright, shoot," she encouraged him. She was giving him the opportunity to continue the conversation. To be entirely honest, she was having a hard time keeping her mouth shut and not saying every question that was racing through her mind about their situation.

"I think we can both agree that the council's laws and practices are pretty outdated, but we can't ignore them. I've known your brother Matt for a long time, and I know he trusts me. I don't expect you to trust me, but if you trust your brother, you can be assured I'm not a bad guy." She nodded at his words, and gestured for him to continue. "I'm sure being mated to a random werewolf wasn't your 'picture-perfect' future you probably imagined, but I can promise you one thing. I will not abandon you. We can make the best of this situation, and keep you safe. I know it's awkward, believe me, but without a mate you'll be sacrificed within the week. And I promised myself a long time ago I wouldn't let that happen to anyone I know ever again." She looked at his serious facial expression, and began to wonder what experience he'd had with the council and their sacrifices in the past.

"Thank you," she told him in an honest voice. Her eyes searched his face for any type of clue to hint at what he meant by his last words, but his face remained emotionless. "For the record, anyone my brother trusts has my trust as well," she added.

Setting her bottle down, she decided they'd had enough serious talk for one night. They still had time to get to know each other before needing to worry about the council. As Derek stood, she followed him into the kitchen for another round of drinks. "So, tell me something about yourself. All I know is that you liked the lemonade I made when my brother moved to his new house," she laughed at the memory.

Smirking, Derek handed her another beer. "Well, what do you want to know?"

"Where did you grow up?" She started with an easy question.

"Here in Beacon Hills."

"Siblings?"

"Not anymore," she saw a scowl make its way to his face at the mention of family.

"I'm sorry, what happened?" She was generally curious.

"It's really not something I want to bombard you with tonight. A story for a different day," he answered in a finalized tone.

"Okay, what about the pack? Who will be inheriting me into group?" She asked in a light tone with a smile. Very rarely did she drop subjects like that, but she could tell that family was a sensitive topic.

"Well you've met Isaac," he rolled his eyes and the teenager's first impression he had on Marie, "and then there's Boyd and Erica. They're not around as much lately; things have been tough for them at home with keeping the secret and everything."

"Isaac, Boyd, and Erica. Sounds manageable," she nodded and winked at him. He smirked back and waltzed towards the living room once more. Her playful personality shining through, she was starting to feel slightly more comfortable around him.

"There will be more. We'll need more to be a strong enough pack," Derek said more to himself than her.

Derek watched his soon-to-be mate toy with the label on her beer bottle. "What about you? I don't know much about you either," he said in attempt to bring her out of her shell more. He knew that he wasn't very talkative, but he used to be.

"Well, I've got my brother Matt and my niece, Claire. She's my world. When Claire's mom passed away, I stepped in and helped out the best I could with raising her. I miss them already," she said with a sigh.

"I'm sure they'll come visit," he tried to reassure her.

"Yes. I know Matt will bring her to visit. Or we could go there." She shifted on the couch before saying, "I tried going to college, but wasn't able to keep up with the school work and help take care of Claire. Kids are a full time job, let me tell you." For a split second the thought of a child flashed through Derek's mind. It was expected, or at least the social norm, that mates were the source for expansion of packs. He quickly dismissed the thought before he became too focused on it. When he became an alpha, he inherited certain instincts he didn't have before. The importance of a mate was one of those instincts.

"Maybe you'll have time to go back and try again," he encouraged. He wasn't one for school. In fact, at the mere mention of college applications during his senior year of high school, he ran out of the guidance counselor's office.

"Maybe," she agreed with a small smile. "You know, I'm actually really hungry. What do you have to eat in this place?" He pulled out his phone and handed it to her. Displayed on the screen was a number to the local Chinese takeout restaurant. "Okay, that works for tonight," she said with wide eyes and a nod.

Thirty minutes later the couple was eating Chinese food in the living room while watching TV. It seemed oddly domestic of them, and Marie couldn't help but smile every so often. She had switched the channel to the local news for them to watch. It was her routine. In the mornings while eating breakfast or getting ready she always had the news on. She also fell asleep with the TV on, and often times had a news channel playing. On nights that she'd stay up later, she'd have the TV switched to a movie station or something different. As she sat in thought about how different her routine would be at Derek's, the door opened into the loft. It was a rather large living space, and the door almost echoed throughout the apartment.

"Peter went to his place for the night," Isaac announced. Marie could hear Derek breathe a sigh of relief.

"Good," he mumbled.

"Smells good," Isaac commented as he sat between Derek and Marie to grab a white carton of Lo Mein noodles. A quick growl from Derek had his beta immediately moving to sit on the adjacent couch instead of theirs.

"Help yourself," Marie encouraged. They'd ordered much more than they could eat, and would still have leftovers. The teenager smiled at her and inhaled his dinner.

"Well it's been a pretty overwhelming day for me, I think I'm going to get ready for bed," she stated and gave both guys a smile before retreating down the hallway.

First, she set about grabbing all of her toiletries from her hastily packed bags. She knew that the guys probably weren't used to having a woman around, and were going to learn to share bathroom space. While still at her brother's packing, she was surprised by the amount of "stuff" she needed. She definitely did not travel light.

She set her bathing supplies in the shower, and found a spot for her toothbrush and hair products. Looking around the spacious bathroom, she decided a bath would help calm her nerves after an exhausting day. A lot of big life changes happened in a short period of time. The sound of running water filled the bathroom, and Marie began getting undressed. Grabbing her favorite shower gel, she hopped into the tub and relaxed in the warm water. Every muscle in her back began to relax, and her mind became less frantic and nervous. Finally alone, she was able to digest being sent to live with Derek to be his mate. Her pulse increased at the thought of completing the process of becoming his mate, and she knew the guys could probably hear her racing heart from the other room.

Derek sat with Isaac in the living room. "So what's she like?" Isaac questioned.

"Nice," he responded.

"Nice? That's it?" Isaac pushed.

"It's not really your business," Derek said with an eye-roll. He knew the young beta was just curious, but didn't feel like spilling his thoughts like a dramatic teenager.

"So she's your mate now?" Isaac continued. Since he was turned, he'd become a lot more talkative. Becoming a werewolf had brought him confidence.

"Not yet," Derek answered. He could hear water running in the bathroom, and heard Marie entering the bathtub.

"What do you mean, not yet? I thought you and Matt made an agreement?"

"Two alphas making a verbal agreement doesn't make her and I mates."

"Then what does?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Derek responded as he set his Chinese carton on the table. Looking at Isaac, Derek knew his beta wasn't going to leave him alone until he explained himself. "To become mates with someone, there are...rituals...that take place."

"Rituals?"

"Yes. For one, both subjects need to be consenting. Similar to a marriage. And then there's the sex," Derek couldn't help the small smirk that danced across his face. He'd heard stories about how much more intense sex was with a mate versus random one night stands. "The bond between mates intensifies everything. To form the bond, you need to consummate the relationship. However, for alphas it doesn't end there." Isaac looked at him with a confused but intrigued expression. "If a female is mated to an alpha, she needs to be marked." Isaac looked towards the hallway that Marie had disappeared down.
"Marked?"

"Yeah, marked. A bite that doesn't ever completely disappear."

"Why don't betas have to mark their mates? Do betas even have mates?" Isaac was completely new to the werewolf community, and couldn't help himself from wanting to learn more.

"Yes, betas have mates," Derek sounded tired. Standing up, he started to gather the leftover Chinese food and bring it to the refrigerator. "Think of beta mates like a husband and wife. If things don't work out, they can get divorced. Betas can have different mates throughout their lives. Alphas can't get 'divorced.' Once they mate, it's for life. It's also a much stronger bond than the beta mates though." Isaac nodded his head at his alpha's words. "Alphas are also more possessive. That's where the marking comes in. Not only is there an instinct to mark your mate so other werewolves know to stay away, there's also just this possessive urge to mark them as yours." Derek seemed unfocused while speaking because he had tuned in to Marie's heartbeat in the bathroom.

"That sounds, complicated."

"It is," Derek agreed. He returned once more to the living room to watch TV. He wanted to give Marie some privacy and let her get settled in.

About an hour later, he heard her breathing even out and knew she was sleeping. He and Isaac had been up watching a show on TV, and had spoke with Boyd on the phone briefly. Without a word, Derek stood up and retreated to his bedroom. He knew sleeping in the same bed for the first time together would probably be uncomfortable for her, so he'd waited until she'd had time to relax and fall asleep. His TV was on with the volume low. Scenes from an old black and white movie danced across the screen. Looking around, he saw that she'd made herself at home and found a place for most of her things.

Her long, chestnut hair was scattered over the extra pillow he'd made sure to grab. She truly was beautiful, and Derek found himself smiling. A real smile. He knew that they're situation wasn't exactly ideal, but he was determined to make the best of it. As quietly as he could, he slipped into a pair of sweatpants and crawled in the vacant spot on his bed. Marie sighed and turned onto her side facing away from him. With a steady heartbeat and even breathing, he knew she was still asleep. Sighing in relief, he reached for the remote to turn the TV off. The second the screen went black, Derek jumped as she said, "leave the TV on," in a warning voice. With widened eyes, he used the remote to power the TV back on. Missing the smirk briefly make its way to Marie's face, Derek gently set the remote down on the nightstand once more.
"Thank you," she mumbled before appearing asleep again.

'Note to self, don't touch the remote,' Derek thought to himself before letting his mind go to sleep.