A/N: I would once again like to say that I'm still using only WordPad because I don't have Microsoft Office on my new computer yet. I hope to get it sometime this week or next. I'm also very happy with the reviews that I've gotten so far. 7 of them in 1 day as well as 4 favorites and 12 alerts.
Seeing as I'm currently sick with a cold, I found myself feeling just that much better to see the good reviews that I have recieved! Thank you everyone who reviewed!
To Teen Wolf Chick: Thank you so much for your enthusiasm for my story! If you like my work then I think you should check out the story Slow Burn by Boy On Strings, or pretty much anything written by them! They're great!
As I have said, I'm really excited about all of the positive reviews! Thank you so much! And without further ado, On To Chapter TWO!
Chapter 2
Where'd You Go?
Being the only 'out' gay teen at Beacon Hills High School came with it's downsides. It wasn't exactly 'cool' to hang out with the gay kid. The other guys were almost worried that it might rub off on them or that they might be labled as gay simply by being seen with him. Danny used to be okay with that. He had Jackson after all. But Jackson had been distant this past month. Phone calls would go straight to voice mail, and text messages would never be returned.
As if that wasn't painful enough, Jackson was avoiding him at school as well. Jackson didn't come looking for him in the halls. He didn't look at him during practice or talk to him in the locker room. Perhaps the most startling was that every day, by the time he got to lunch, Jackson was surrounded by team mates and the seat that was normally reserved for him was occupied either by Stilinski or McCall. In fact, there were no seats open anywhere near the guy; so Danny was forced to sit at the end of the table with the second string losers that had absolutly no interest in any form of conversation with the gay kid.
Danny's heart was breaking. It had nothing to do with his crush on his best friend...he had leared that nothing would come of that a very long time ago. No, it had everything to do with the fact that his best friend since preschool had suddenly begun to act as if he didn't even exist.
Danny almost felt like the halls of the school were compleatly empty and that he was the only one walking through the dark passages alone...
The pain of it constricted around his heart like an ice cold fist and at times it became nearly impossible to breathe.
What had happened to Jackson? Where'd he go? Well, the young hacker was going to find out!
It wasn't difficult to sneak his cell phone into Jackson's car. The GPS device built into the phone meant that he could track it using his phone's internet account. He called the company saying that he had lost his phone, and the gladly turned on the GPS for him.
A few months ago Jackson had been obsessed with McCall, following him around and trying to find out some secret that Danny was convinced came only from his friend's imagination. Well, now it was Danny's turn to find out Jackson's secret.
He started by simply tracking Jackson's movements. His friend went to the normal places, but for some reason there was one location in the middle of the woods that he just couldn't understand the reason for. It was the middle of the night when he drove out to the location on the GPS map. Jackson was home now, that was what the map said, but he needed to understand the reason for his friend coming so far out into the forest.
He finally pulled his car up beside a sleek black Camero and got out, using his flash light to illuminate the dark ground around him.
He had parked outside of a burned out mess of a house. If his memory served him correctly, this was where the Hale family had burned to death. He shuddered and told himself that it was from the cold air, not because he was afraid.
He slowly made his way up the front steps and into the entrance of the house. He turned quickly when he heard a low growl behind him, but the beam of his flashlight didn't pick up any signs of movement.
The sudden sensation of eyes on the back of his neck caused him to whirl around and jump nearly a foot in the air when he came face to face with another man who had been standing just inches away from him. He grabbed his chest over his heart, trying to calm down the frantic beating.
"Miguel! You scared me. God, you can't just do that to a guy man. Not cool, not cool at all."
He slowly removed his hand from his heart and brought the beam of the flashlight to Miguel's chest so that it could illuminate some of his face. Danny's face scrunched up in concentration. Why would Stilinski's cousin be out at the old Hale property? A sudden feeling of cold dread began to build inside of him.
"You're name isn't Miguel...is it?"
The head of the man in front of him slowly shook from side to side, telling him that the answer was 'no'.
"You're Derek Hale...arn't you."
A slow nod told him that he had hit the nail right on the head.
So, Danny was now standing right in front of one Derek Hale, suspected murderer...even if his name had been cleared. Furthermore, this extreamly dangerous looking young man had known that he was checking him out back at Stilinski's house all that time ago. Danny gulped and slowly began taking steps backwards. He didn't seem to realize that he was on a porch, he just needed to slowly walk away and get into his car. He didn't realize that he was at a broken bit of railing for the porch until he started to fall backwards.
Danny winced, knowing that he was in for quite a bit of pain, but his downward motion stopped as something grasped his shirt and pulled him back upwards and onto his feet.
Danny slowly opened eyes that he hadn't known he had closed and looked up at Derek Hale.
"You...you caught me."
Derek simply shrugged before moving to lean against the side of his house.
"Why are you here Danny?"
Why was he here? A swell of bravery rose in his chest, nearly causing him to puff it out as he took steps closer to the last living Hale.
"Jackson has been acting strange lately. He dosn't return my calls or texts. He dosn't talk to me at school. It's like he's compleatly avoiding me. I tracked him for the past couple of days. He comes here a lot. Do you happen to know why? Or what is going on with him?"
Danny wasn't so sure he liked the way Derek Hale grinned at him. He was pretty sure that no one should have quite that many teeth.
Danny was still in shock when school started the next day. The night before, Derek had decided to tell him everything. He spoke of how his family had been burned to death by Kate Argent for being werewolves. He told of how Scott McCall had been bitten by his uncle Peter and turned into a wolf, and how a month before he had bitten Jackson when the teen had come to demand the bite.
That had been the day that Jackson had started pulling away from him.
When asked for proof. Derek had taken his beta form and explained that Scott and Jackson were betas while he was the alpha. From Beta form he had taken Alpha form and them smoothly made his way back to human. Derek had offered him the bite, saying that he would willingly turn him if he so desired.
Danny had run. He had called over his shoulder to the alpha that he wouldnt' tell anyone what he had been told, but he had needed to get out of there. It was too much to take in.
Danny had been looking into his locker for a few minutes, lost in the memory of what had happened the night before. When he shut it, he found himself jumping for the second time in twenty four hours when he saw his friend had been standing there the entire time, hidden behid the open locker door.
"Damnit Jackson!"
Danny punched the locker and rested his head against the cool metal as he tried to get his breathing back under control.
"Derek told me. I'm sorry Danny. I was afraid. You're the only constant I really have. My only true friend. I don't have...full control yet. I couldn't risk hurting you."
Jackson pulled Danny's phone from his pocket and handed it over to his friend before pulling Danny into a tight hug. He hated that he had caused Danny so much pain, but Derek had said that Danny would be able to help keep him grounded. The connection the two shared as best friends was so strong that Danny would be able to help sooth the beast. Of course, that was just Derek's guess, but it had been enough for Jackson.
"So this is real. You're a..." Danny looked around the hall to make sure that no one could hear before he loudly whispered the word that had been on his mind ever since the night before, "werewolf".
Jackson gave him a slow nod before sighing.
"All I had was you. You know I don't feel like I belong with the Whittemores. You know I don't feel like I'm one of them. A pack is family Danny. Real family even if you're not blood. I needed it. Now that I'm a wolf, now that I have a pack...I don't feel so tense anymore. I feel like I finally belong somewhere."
Danny knew well how Jackson had felt about his adoptive parents. The Whittemores had never pretended that he was theirs by blood. They had always made sure that he knew that he was adopted, that they had chosen him above all the rest. It was their way of showing that they loved him no matter what. But for Jackson, it just made him feel like he needed to prove himself worthy of their affection. Jackson had confided in him that he often had nightmares where they would bring him back to the adoption agency to choose a new, more worthy child to be theirs.
In a way, Danny had similar fears. His father had walked out when Danny came out as being gay. Then there was his mothers parents who also did not agree with his 'choice' in lifestyle. His mother was the only one to support him and sometimes he felt like she might just give him up so that she could have the rest of her family back.
He still cried himself to sleep at night from time to time.
Maybe what Derek offered would be a good thing. Derek knew he was gay but still offered the bite, the place in the pack. Danny hadn't even been considering it before, but now the thought of that sense of belonging...it made him wonder if perhaps the bite would truly be a gift.