AN: Okay so really sorry for the long wait but school, finals, blah. But it's SUMMER now and I thought I'd go ahead and give you guys this chapter right now and start writing the next right now, probably stay up late and finish it tomorrow to try and make up. I promised Derek would be introduced in this chapter and I wasn't lying! Enjoy and thanks for reading! (:
The next day we were showered and dressed and I was waiting by my car as Keneth ran back in the apartment for his wallet. He always seemed to forget it in his pants pocket. I rolled my eyes. No matter how many times I reminded him to get it, he never seemed to.
When he came back out I cranked my car, grinning at him as it roared. He just shook his head and my grin widened into a smirk. Today was going to be a pretty uneventful day of shopping. We needed a serious amount of groceries and I wanted to stop by the mall to- well come on who wouldn't want to drop by the mall?
When we arrived at the mall while later, my eyes instantly rested on the light blue jeep I recognized as the boys' from the school. Was it too much to hope he'd brought his werewolf buddy along?
I parked a respectful distance away and cut the engine, glancing to Keneth. "You see that?" I asked, nodding towards the old jeep.
He nodded and gave me a smile. "Maybe we'll actually get to do work instead of shop." I rolled my eyes at that comment, not bothering to give a response. Instead, I opened my door and stepped from the car, walking across the parking lot and right through the front doors as he hurried to keep up. We were going to spend a little bit of time shopping whether he liked it or not. Besides, it's not like we could just lurk around the mall and not get noticed.
I made my way easily through the crowd, Keneth hot on my heels, occasionally touching my hip to let me know he was still there. I kept getting little tingles of awareness but when I looked around, there were too many people to locate the reason for them. Finally, we stopped in a store and I browsed as Keneth walked around to access everyone in the store and to, most likely, keep himself occupied.
It was a couple hours later and a few bags of clothes to show for it when I heard a loud crackling noise from the sound system then a voice came on. "Whoever owns the black 2012 camaro out front, it's about to be towed. I felt a moment of panic. A lot of people mistake my dark blue camaro as black. And I was in a parking space! They couldn't tow me!
It could be someone else's, a voice of reason spoke in me but I still wanted to be sure. Turning on my heel, I started towards the entrance only to be stopped by a hand on my wrist. "Yours isn't black." Keneth said, brows furrowed.
"Yes, but many mistake it for black. I'm just going to be sure. You go ahead and order us some food. I'll be back a minute." I told him, smiling and urging him towards the food quart.
"I don't think that's the best idea. We should stay together." He said, obviously reluctant. I gave him a reassuring smile and nudged him in that direction.
"I'll be fine. Just going to check then I'll be right back." I told him and without waiting for his reply or argument, turned and walked to the doors. Pushing through them, I stepped outside and squinted, blinking rapidly as the sun blinded me. I took a few steps towards the outline of a tow truck I could barely make out and ran straight into a wall of muscle. Staggering back a step, I thought I was going to lose my balance but swift hands caught my arms and steadied me before immediately dropping away.
I blinked again, my vision clearing slightly as I looked up at the man I'd literally stumbled into. "Sorry." I said, cursing myself for being so clumsy. Now that I could see his face, I studied his features, feeling some sort of de ja vu or something. Those striking green eyes and dark hair. Even the scowl set on his lips seemed familiar. But that was crazy! I'd never met the guy before. And speaking of that scowl... Damn, had I upset him that much?
He just stared at me for a moment before grunting and turning around, stalking towards two vehicles. One was a camaro. Ah, yes! Wow, had I already forgotten about that? I tried to get a good look at the camaro but my vision was kind of tinted and blotchy from the sun so I stepped closer.
"What are you doing?" The man before said irritably and I leveled my gaze with his. Was he this annoyed because I'd just bumped into him or was this his car?
"I'm making sure it's not mine." I said curtly, taking the last short step to the car and peering inside the darkened window. Nope, not mine.
"I can assure you, it's not. This is my car and as soon as that asshole gets back, he's going to unhook it." He grounded out and I came to the conclusion it wasn't my fault he was pissed and I had no need to stick around.
"Well good luck with that." I said with a snort. Maybe when hell froze over, buddy. His eyes snapped to mine and he looked me over, accessing me. I straightened my spine slightly and lifted my chin. I thought I saw the corner of his mouth quirk up but it was too fast to be sure.
His gaze roamed over the parking lot before glancing back in my direction. "That your car?" He asked, nodding towards the side of the parking lot where my car sat.
"Yep. And now that my vision is clear, I can easily see this is not." I said, the sleek black camaro in front of me nice, but clearly different from my own.
"Yours is blue. They said a black one was being towed. Why'd you come out here?" He asked just a little too gruffly to be friendly and I huffed, annoyed his attitude was back.
"A lot of people mistake it for black. I wanted to be sure." I explained in exasperation, folding my arms across my chest with a look of annoyance on my face.
"Well it's not yours, so..." He trailed off rudely and I narrowed my eyes into a glare. Asshole.
"So I'll just be leaving." I snapped, turning around and muttering under my breath as I walked back into the mall and towards the food court.
Keneth looked up from the table he sat at, a smile automatically lighting his face before seeing my expression and standing, on high alert. "It wasn't your car, was it?" he asked and I shook my head as I sat down.
"No, someone else's." I said, starting to eat the food he'd ordered.
"Then what's wrong? You're pissed. Why?" He asked and this was one of those times I hated he knew me so well. He also looked concerned and that annoyed me further for some reason. I didn't know why the man had gotten such a rise out of me and it was frustrating. Normally, I was so controlled and didn't let my emotions show, especially not around strangers. Yet this man had someone gotten me pissed and that only infuriated me more.
"Nothing." I snapped and saw the hurt look flash over his face. I sighed, feeling bad. "I'm sorry. I'm just annoyed is all. It doesn't matter though. I'm probably just PMSing." I said, biting back a smile as I watched him squirm. I knew he wouldn't question me after that.
He quickly changed the subject. "Alright so I saw the boy from the school." He said, instantly catching my attention. My emotions cast aside, I was back to being professional.
"Where? When?" I asked as my eyes automatically swept the area for him. My search came back negative and I frowned, looking back to Keneth for answers.
"Behind you. Right now." He said, a smile in his voice though his face was serious. I rolled my eyes at him and got up to throw our trash away, casually looking over the crowd and catching the kid's face. He was carrying a large tray of food over to a crowded table. I scanned over the faces. Allison Argent, Scott McCall, Lydia- who I was having a rough time not calling Redhead, and Isaac Lahey all sat at the table. Erica and Boyd weren't present. That was fine though, I'd take the two werewolves presented to observe.
Keneth and I took turns casually observing them and without letting it on for the next half hour, getting ice cream as a cover. They all seemed relatively friendly towards each other but I could sense an underlying tension between the teens. From what I gathered, Scott seemed to be a sort of leader of the group, Stiles just seemed to make funny faces and spastic gestures though looked thoughtful. Lydia was mostly silent, added a few sassy looking comments while Allison gave her warning looks. Isaac was a bit of an odd ball. He didn't seem to fit as well with the others but was accepted enough. He looked too young and innocent to be a werewolf and it almost made me feel bad for the kid. Almost.
Soon they got up and left and we gave them a couple minutes head start before following behind, the group now easy to pick out amongst the crowd. We only spent about an hour walking around, keeping them mostly in sight but still not learning much besides clothing choices, how the lanky human boy would do anything Redhead asked, and that Scott was head-over-heels for Allison and the puppy-love looks they gave each other were absolutely nauseating.
We loaded the bags into the trunk of my camaro and as Keneth slipped into the passenger seat, a particular man in a leather jacket caught my eye across the parking lot. He was leaning against the black camaro and I felt my jaw drop. It was the guy from earlier. How in the world had he convinced the tow truck man to unhook his car. I'd never seen that happen before. He must really be a force of nature.
As if feeling my gaze, he looked over, gaze intense, more so than I had expected and I felt myself slightly thrown by the look. His eyes narrowed for a moment then a smirk graced his lips and I felt my pulse quicken. Quickly, I averted my gaze and practically threw myself into the driver's seat of my car, willing my heart to calm. Keneth gave me a confused look and I forced myself to act calm. I cranked the engine without the urgency I wished to and pulled out at a normal speed though more than anything, I wanted to put distance between myself and the mysterious man as fast as possible.
The ride was quiet and I was fine with that. I cranked the music and let that clear my thoughts until we were back at the apartments and started unloading the car.
I sighed as I sat down at the table, laptop set in front of me. I tucked my legs underneath me and got to work. Research was probably the worst part of the job but necessary. By the time I was done, I knew Lydia Martin was an academic genius and her family was very well off. She also had be admitted to the hospital after an animal attack and had ran, naked, for days in the woods until stumbling upon a crime scene that the Sheriff had happened to be at. I mulled this over. If she'd been attacked by a werewolf- and I was pretty sure this was the case, there was really no way she'd be alive. But if she'd just been bitten, well then there was a possibility she was also a werewolf and the Argents weren't aware of it. That seemed odd though. If the girl was Allison's friend, surely they'd have Allison keep tabs on her. Maybe Allison had kept it from her parents to protect her friend. It seemed likely but my gut was saying otherwise.
Sighing, I moved onto the what else I'd found out. Scott's friend, Stiles Stilinski, was well... with my research, I couldn't seem to find a word that would accurately describe him. He was the Sheriff's son. Meaning he probably got all the inside information to tell his werewolf friend. He was just about as smart as Lydia though his disipline record was rough. Countless detentions and principle office visits. He also seemed to show up at crime scenes. Go figure. He'd lost his mother. This bit of information was difficult to read. I just couldn't imagine that kind of pain and didn't want to so I quickly read over this area and moved on.
There wasn't much after that and I resigned to my bed where Keneth was sitting, sorting through files and trying to find any information he could on where the alpha could be living. By his frustrated expression, I'd say it wasn't going so well. After a while he grumbled and cast the files aside, cutting the light so both of us could sleep. Tomorrow would not be spent slaving over the computer and straining my eyes. The action would start tomorrow and I was sure of it.
AN: I know it's short but I promise the next one will be longer and much more interesting. More Derek, perhaps? We'll see. (; Don't forget to review! Thanks!
