A/N: Okay some more Derek/Wolf bonding time… but will it be enough to change Derek's mind about kicking her out once she's better? Read to find out more.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
The next morning, Derek awoke to the cool touch of something wet… he opened his eyes slowly to see a fuzzy shape in front of him. He groaned and rolled back over, he didn't want to wake up, at least not yet.
But then he could feel the notorious touch of Lexi's touch on the back of his neck. "Stop it," he mumbled, as he tried to shoo her away.
She snorted, and seemed to take the hint. But then he felt the covers moving, and in one fell swoop Lexi had taken the covers off of him.
"Lexi!" Derek whined, not really in the mood. But when he got up to see what she was doing with his covers, he saw that she had wrapped herself up in them.
He forcefully let his head hit the pillow, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Really?"
Lexi barked, knowing that Derek was now awake.
"Oh fine…" Derek said as he got up out of bed, and put on another pair of dark jeans. He slipped on his socks and shoes, and walked over to the wolf-in-a-blanket.
Lexi began to roll around in the blanket, getting her white fur everywhere. Derek just shook his head, and let her have fun for a few more moments.
"Alright, that's enough," Derek said, and Lexi obeyed almost immediately. "Come on give me back the covers."
Lexi looked at Derek with her piercing dual colored eyes, and one ear flopped to one side.
Derek rolled his eyes, and pondering whether he would let her play a while longer, or if he should take his blanket back. He reached out to grab the blanket, when Lexi simply took them and covered herself with them.
So Derek did what he thought was best… picked the whole pile up and plopped them down onto the bed. "There," he said triumphantly as Lexi wiggled her head out of the covers.
"Well come on, it's time for breakfast," Derek said motioning to the door.
Lexi just rolled onto her back, and playfully looked at Derek.
"Well come on," Derek said as he headed for the door.
Derek turned at the door to see Lexi quickly rolled over and wriggled her way out of the covers. She tried to stand on the bed, but fell over in her haste. So she crawled her way to the edge of the bed, and slid off the end of the bed. She then hopped over to Derek, stopped, and looked up at him.
"Well go on," Derek said as he ushered her out the door.
Lexi seemed to walk semi-normally, but stopped when she reached the stairs. Derek wondered what was wrong, but then he realized she was debating on whether or not she could make it down the stairs. Derek wondered if he should help, but remembered how stubborn Lexi was, and decided against it.
Five minutes passed, and Lexi was still debating, but she was getting more fidgety. Finally it appeared she had made a decision, she looked up at Derek, and barked once.
"What?" Derek asked confused.
Lexi barked again. This time pawing the air above the first step.
Derek was so confused at this point, so he started guessing, "You… can't get down."
Lexi barked.
"Okay, I'll take that as a yes."
Lexi barked.
"Okay? So now what, you won't let me carry you?" Derek said gesturing towards Lexi.
Lexi seemed to sigh, and she turned to face Derek, raising her right paw into the air.
"What?" Derek said taking her paw in his hand.
Lexi looked over at the staircase and then back at Derek.
Derek paused, contemplating what that could mean, and then it hit him, like a freight train. "Oh! You want me to carry you down?"
Lexi barked in approval.
"So nowyou want to be carried?" Derek asked sarcastically.
Lexi just glared at him.
"Sorry, sorry. It was a joke," Derek said a little afraid. He bent down to pick up Lexi, and made sure he didn't bump her bad leg as he wrapped his arms around her legs. "On the count of three, one… two… three," Derek said lifting Lexi, who struggled a little at first, but then settled down after a few seconds.
Derek was careful not to trip down the stairs with his careful package. Near the bottom of the stairs, Lexi began to get anxious, "Calm down, calm down. We are almost there," Derek said trying to keep Lexi relaxed.
Finally at the bottom, he sets Lexi down onto the floor and she hops away. "You're welcome," Derek said after her.
Derek walked into the kitchen to find Lexi already trying to open the fridge door. She must be able to smell the food Derek thought with a smile. She's smart, but also very stubborn, she couldn't even wait for him to get there and open the fridge door for her. All Derek could do was shake his head and smile, Lexi keeps finding more and more ways to make him laugh.
She kept biting the fridge door, trying to get a good grip on the handle. Unfortunately she was just chipping the paint and not actually getting anywhere with opening the door.
"Lexi," Derek said letting her know he was there, if she wanted his help. She stopped chewing the door handle, and just sat down with a thud, her injured leg at an awkward angle. She stared at that fridge door like she was trying to open it with her mind… then turned her head and peered into Derek's eyes. It was like she was trying to say 'are you gonna open this damn door or what?'.
He laughed to himself, and walked to the fridge. He touched the fridge door, only to remember that Lexi had been licking it earlier. He opened the fridge anyway, but when he pulled his hand away, he quick grabbed a towel and wiped his slobbery hand off.
Lexi, in the meantime, had started rooting through the fridge already. But she quickly backed away, and Derek wondered why… then he realized he had nothing that she would like… he had no raw meat, only take out from a few nights ago.
He will have to go out and get something. "I'm gonna have to go out and get you something," Derek told Lexi.
To which she quickly got up and started to make her way to the door. By the time Derek had run upstairs, gotten dressed, Lexi was waiting at the door, scratching it. "Alright, alright. I'm coming," Derek said grabbing his leather jacket from its hook.
Derek opened the door, but when Lexi moved Derek shut the door again.
"You're not coming with Lexi," Derek said sternly. It hadn't even been 24 hours since she was shot with a crossbow.
Lexi whined at Derek, and looked up at him with sad eyes. Don't let her get to you, Derek thought to himself. No, Derek needed to be firm with Lexi. "Lexi, you wouldn't be able to keep up in your condition. Just stay here, and I promise I will be back."
Lexi lowered her eyes, and finally laid down on her side, just to the right of the stairs. She wasn't lying on her bad leg, so she at least looked somewhat comfortable.
"Be right back Lexi," Derek said as he opened the door, and rushed out into the cool morning air.
Lexi had let her eyes close, her breathing slow, relaxing, waiting for Derek to return. She soon fell asleep, and twitched, presumably dreaming, perhaps about chasing the rabbit Derek was getting her.
A noise disturbed her from her slumber, it was a soft step on the porch outside. The door opened slowly, and Lexi jumped in surprise.
"Sorry! Sorry. Lexi it's me," Derek said as he walked through the door, dead rabbit carcass in hand. "Come on Lexi," Derek said motioning for Lexi to follow him.
"Alright, so how do you want this?" Derek asked holding up the rabbit carcass as Lexi hobbled in.
She just walked over to him, and began to try and eat the rabbit right from his hand.
"Raw?" Derek said a little surprised. But realizing that he was talking with a, well what should be, a wild wolf, he said "Right, forgot who I was talking to."
Derek was watching Lexi eat when he decided not to hold the rabbit anymore. He moved for a plate, but noticed Lexi followed the rabbit wherever it went. He set the bloody carcass on the plate and looked at his blood stained hand. He hadn't meant to mutilate the bunny, but he had let himself loose, he had let the animal take over. It had been a while since he had fully turned, and the rabbit just smelled too good. He was going to need to work on that if he was ever going to take on the Alpha.
Derek took off his leather jacket and set it on the counter. He scrubbed the blood stain off with a dish towel, never really getting all of it off.
He watched Lexi devour the rabbit, ripping it to shreds, but all the while not being very messy. Derek opened the drawer next to the fridge and grabbed a fork. He then pulled the two day old stir fry from the fridge and began to eat it.
By the time he had his fill of breakfast, he noticed that Lexi was done and licking her chops. She looked satisfied. Derek put down his cold stir fry and went to take the plate and bones, only to see that Lexi had eaten the entire rabbit. Every single piece of the rabbit was eaten, nothing was left. Lexi had even licked the blood off of the plate.
"Hungry were we?" Derek said putting the dirty dish in the sink.
When he turned back he noticed there was some blood stains around Lexi's mouth, but she licked them away quickly.
"Come on, let's try and make you comfortable," Derek said motioning for Lexi to head for the living room.
Once in the living room, Lexi headed right for the couch, and amazingly jumped right up. But Derek noticed, as Lexi laid down, that her bandage was just starting to turn red.
"Lexi," Derek said exasperatedly. "Now look at what you've done."
Derek, concerned, walked over, and felt the small circle of blood that had appeared on the bandages. It was fresh, and a little bit of blood was left on his fingers.
"Shit," Derek said realizing Lexi needed a change of bandage. "Okay, stay here. I'll be right back."
Derek sprinted from the room, and grabbed the extra bandages that Scott had given him yesterday. He ran back into the living room and Lexi was still waiting for him.
"Good girl," He said petting her head before starting to take off the old bandage. He unwrapped Lexi's leg ever so carefully, trying to be as gentle as possible. With each layer of the bandage he unraveled, Derek saw a larger and larger spot of blood. Derek saw that the gauze pad which covered the wound was completely soaked with blood. He removed the gauze pad slowly, but no blood came gushing out, and Derek wondered if she had agitated it last night, or earlier this morning.
Derek tried to wipe up some of the blood that had now stained Lexi's pure white coat. She twitched a little when he first touched near the wound, but she didn't squirm. He got most of the blood off, but there was still some left that was dried on. Derek decided he could leave it until the would healed better and he could scrub a little bit harder.
Derek replaced the gauze pad and he wrapped the leg up, trying to keep it the same as Scott's bandage.
"There," Derek said in triumph, looking at his patch job. It actually wasn't that bad, it seemed to be holding and it should keep that leg well immobilized.
Derek got up, realizing that it was around the time he would be watching Scott to make sure he didn't do anything stupid. He didn't want to leave Lexi all alone in the house by herself, but what was he supposed to do. She just sort of fell into his lap, he wasn't prepared to be taking care of a pet.
It was in that moment that Derek, for a split second thought about going to the local pet shop… the local freakin pet shop! No, he told himself, he couldn't get attached. He knew he had already grown fond of the wolf, and her company… hell even given her a name, but it couldn't go any farther.
He decided right there that this was it. No more. She was never going to sleep in his bed, he wasn't going to go out and catch her dinner.
But as he looked into her multicolored eyes, he felt his heart begin to melt. Alright, so he would catch her meals, but that was it. He would change her bandage if she desperately needed it, but he was going to try and sever the bond that had grown slowly but surely. And it had to start now.
"Stay," Derek said sternly to Lexi. He turned on his heel, grabbed his jacket from the kitchen, and quickly left the house. He didn't know exactly where he was going to go at this point, but he was not staying with Lexi.
When Derek returned that night with a small dinner, another rabbit, he expected to find Lexi had moved. But she had remained exactly where he told her to 'Stay'. What a good girl, Derek thought to himself. Wait, no, he couldn't do this again, he said he was going to get rid of her once she able to run, he had to keep his word. He set the rabbit down on the floor of the living room, and grabbed the gas station sandwich from his pocket. He proceeded to the kitchen, pulled up a chair and ate alone.
Without another word to Lexi, he walked right by her, not even looking at her, and walked up the stairs to his bed room. He undressed, fixed the balled up covers from this morning, and lay in bed pondering if he was doing the right thing.
No, he was certain. He had made the right choice. He began to doze off when he heard a loud thud. Annoyed he tried to go back to sleep, thinking it was a onetime thing. He shut his eyes again only to hear another thud.
"What now!" Derek yelled as he jumped out of bed in fury and stomped to the stairs. Then he saw what the noise was, Lexi was trying to make it up the stairs again. She had made it up about half way without serious problems, but then she slipped, and that caused the thud.
"What the hell Lexi?" Derek yelled at her, noticing her ears perked up with joy when she saw Derek was coming. "Go back to the couch!" Derek finished, and stormed off back to his room, hoping Lexi got the message.
He had just gotten comfortable again when another thud rang through the previously silent house.
"God Damn it Lexi!" Derek yelled again, running to the stairs. "Go back down stairs now! I told you one night and one night only! You are not sleeping with me tonight and that's final!"
Derek noticed Lexi slump onto the stairs obviously hurt by his words. Her ears were drooping now, and her eyes never met his. Lexi laid her head onto the stairs in defeat.
Turn around Derek, he thought to himself. It's not worth it, don't give in, he kept telling himself as he returned to his bedroom. He didn't even get into bed, his mind was telling him to go to sleep, while his heart and soul were telling him to go help Lexi.
Derek sighed, "I am sooo going to regret this," he muttered under his breath as he returned to the stair case.
Lexi had gotten up and tried to continue up the stairs, but hadn't made it more than a step higher. Derek climbed down the stairs to meet her, and lifted her without any warning. Lexi didn't squirm, but her body seemed more limp than usual, like she had given up. Her head rested on Derek's arm, she wasn't looking where he was taking her, and it seemed as though she didn't really care. That was until he stepped into his bedroom. She lifted her head and looked around the room, almost as if in disbelief.
"There," Derek said setting Lexi down on the floor below the end of his bed.
Lexi just stood their staring at Derek in either confusion or utter shock. "What?" Derek said accusingly. "Can't a man change his mind? Jeez."
Derek sat on his bed, and watched as Lexi looked around her. She then walked over to the bed and stood at the end, her head propped up by the mattress.
Realizing that Lexi wanted to sleep with him… again, he rolled his eyes and got up.
"Ready?" Derek said standing behind Lexi. "One… two… three." Derek lifted Lexi onto his bed and watched as she fidgeted again, spinning round and round. Then plop, right at the end of bed in a nice little ball of fur, except her awkwardly extended injured leg.
Derek got under the covers, thinking this was definitely going to be the last night she spends in his bed. He thought about how tomorrow he was going to take the couch and bring it into his room so she could sleep on that instead. He yawned, turned out the light, and fell asleep without another thought.
A/N 2: Thanks to all reviewers: Cmusiclover92, Murasaki Tsuki, Kira Tsumi, Andraya TheLat, Pein's Kids, and InsomniaticActs.
And Thanks to all new followers: Sun-MoonGoddess, Ava the Bird, KaylsaWrtinxD, SweetFedora, cuteliddleme143, HaikuForYou, AuraLight999, Kira Tsumi, Andraya TheLat, Pein's InsomniaticActs, kAsS3695, mmec4ever, MasonJ, and jessica luv's lutzie.
And lastly, to all of those who came before: kamikorosuXP, Writteninthestars08, xEmmaPevensiePendragonx, Cmusiclover92, rivierlina, AlainnRain, SweetFedora, Beppa, DontLikeBooks, suntan140, Derek., WackyDucky, Tinker178, blehblehblah, lightning8star, MaRiEl CulleN, omfgthisisgay321, and Murasaki Tsuki..