Author Notes:
There is tons of dialogue in this chapter. No crossover just yet, this was mostly a support/building chapter. This is gonna fill in some of those open questions and spaces for you.
Next chapter will be back to True Blood and the Chapter 5 will give you the long awaited crossover.
Chapter 3: The Beta Becomes The Alpha
Derek pulled off the interstate into the rest stop in Lordsburg, New Mexico. Interstate 10-E seemed to stretch out in front of Derek Hale's Camaro forever. They had been driving for over 600 miles and there seemed to be no end to this stretch of interstate. Surely, things would be moving a little faster if Derek had any idea where he was heading. Derek hadn't told anyone where they were heading, simply because he had no clue. The only piece of this elaborate escape plan Derek had settled was getting out of Beacon Hills and away from danger.
"Derek, where the hell are you taking us?" Scott was getting restless with this impromptu road trip. Scott listened closely to Derek's heartbeat.
"Don't worry Scott. You will know once we get there." Derek's heartbeat didn't spike and Scott couldn't tell if Derek was lying.
"Everyone is getting tired. We have to decide what we are doing for the night. You can't keep driving." Scott was fishing for info and knew Derek would catch on to his concern. Unlike Derek, Scott's heartbeat did betray him.
"Still can't control your heartbeat, can you Scott?" Derek Smirked. "Let's find a place to stop for the night."
The pack pulled off into a Motel 8. Derek clenched his teeth. Images of Kate Argent flashed through his head. He remembered the Motel 8 just outside Beacon Hills Kate used to drag him to when he was 16; the long nights when she promised she would love him forever. Derek's heart constricted; he could feel it stop pumping inside his chest. Other than his family, Derek Hale only ever trusted one woman. Kate Argent tore Derek's world apart and he knew he was to blame. He knew he let Kate get to his family through their connection. Derek shook his head and tried to push the image from his mind. He felt a small hand squeeze his. He opened his eyes and looked up.
"Are you okay?" Lydia was staring at Derek's pained face in the most angelic style; her perfectly pink lips resting together waiting to speak, her gentle green eyes staring back into Derek's, and her burning red hair, which was tousled in the most unbelievably adorable way from sleeping the whole ride, falling perfectly around her face.
This time, Derek's heartbeat did betray him. His heart jumped just enough to alert the pack and six sets of eyes turned to see where the spike came from. Scott saw Lydia holding Derek's hand and chuckled just enough for Derek to hear. "Can't control that heartbeat can you Derek?" The whisper shot into Derek's ear and he couldn't contain the smile that graced his face.
"I'm fine Lydia." Lydia's eyes changed tone. She rolled her eyes and Derek could tell she was aggravated by his lack of appreciation. If only she knew just how much he appreciated her; if she only knew that Derek's heart swelled with an emotion he never quite felt for Kate – Love.
"I'm sorry Lydia. Thank you. I needed that." Derek tried to smile, but Lydia chuckled and just batted her eyelashes. Lydia's heart popped to life. Derek felt her reaction, as if her heart was beating within his. She was filled with pride. Derek smiled. He heard each extra beat her heart produced. It was like his own personal music box.
Chris Argent argued with the man at the front desk of the motel. "You are not understanding. I. Need. Six. Rooms. Three with two beds and three with one bed. I want to pay cash up front."
"Okay. What about four rooms with two beds? It will be cheaper for you, sir."
"Please, just book me the six rooms like I asked. I have driven over 600 miles and I just want to sleep."
The desk clerk rolled his eyes and turned around to make keys. He handed each member of the pack a key and they headed to their respective rooms. Scott, Allison, Lydia, and Stiles all chose to room together. Erica and Isaac asked for a room to share with Boyd.
Jackson and Derek eyed each other hastily as they entered their private rooms. Each wolf chose privacy rather than a sleepover.
Derek slammed the door behind him and leaned against it for a moment. He couldn't shake the electricity out of his hand. He closed his eyes and could still faintly hear Lydia's heart beating two rooms down.
"What am I doing? Lydia martin is seventeen. Seventeen and human!" Derek shook his head. He couldn't quite understand it. The whole anchored feeling had Derek at a loss for words. He could feel Lydia with him, as if she were his companion. Derek knew better. Lydia loved Jackson; Lydia saved Jackson out of pure love.
Derek felt a burning streak on his face. When he reached up to touch it, he felt a single tear. One tear, showing Derek Hale his own humanity.
A knock on the door snap Derek back into alpha mode. Derek could hear Scott's heartbeat and relaxed a little. "Hold on Scott." Derek wiped his face and opened the door.
"How did you know it was me?" Scott stalked in and slumped down in a chair.
"Scott, I have had your heart beat memorized for a long time." Derek looked at Scott as if he should already know this.
"But you didn't change me. I didn't think an alpha by death had that strong of a connection to a beta." Scott sounded proud that he knew so much.
"Scott, it is not the alpha-beta bond that made me memorize your heartbeat. You were the first around Beacon Hills like me after I lost my family. You are like a brother to me." Derek turned away from Scott knowing he would still hear the slowing of his heart and pain seared through it.
"Wow. I didn't know." Scott chose to ignore the pain he felt in Derek's heartbeat.
Derek recovered a little. "Anyway, did you need something? I'm all for a werewolf sleepover, but I assume that is not why you came down here."
"I could hear your heartbeat slowing down and then speeding up from my room, the others figured you needed someone to talk to." Scott waited for the anger he had always seen when anyone pitied Derek.
"It's that loud?" Derek sat across from Scott with a defeated heart. He was losing his self control little-by-little.
"Derek, to any werewolf in New Mexico, your heartbeat is like a giant radio tower broadcasting our location. What's going on?" Scott's concern fell hard on Derek.
"I can't control my heartbeat. I can't get her out of my head. It's like my heartbeat moves faster and slower at the same time; I can't explain it."
Scott chuckled. "I get it. You don't know which way your heart is gonna react. It's up, it's down. Sometimes and very often, it skips a beat. It's tough to control when you don't know where it is going to be at. It gets easier. As for thinking about her, that won't ever stop. It's like – your mother. You won't ever stop thinking about your mother. Even though she isn't here physically, she is still with you. Lydia hit that part of you, and chances are, you won't ever get rid of that."
"Scott, I cannot stay in control like this. How in the hell do you do it?" Derek never asked for help, even when he needed it. Derek liked figuring things out on his own, but his heartbeat was a different story. Masking his heartbeat was the only way to mask his emotions.
"You have to channel her emotions. Use her happiness to quiet your heart, and her anger to intensify it. It is the most amazing thing you will ever feel. Okay, close your eyes. Listen for her heartbeat, only hers. Got it?" Scott waited for Derek to find Lydia's heart.
"Got it!" Derek smiled. Lydia's heartbeat was playing in his heart like a bass drum. Deep and soft. It relaxed him and his heart slowed and the beats of his own heart stopped making any noise, only to mirror Lydia's. Derek understood now. The heartbeat he heard from Scott was never Scott's heartbeat at all. Derek only heard Allison's heartbeat reflected inside Scott. "Shit. And the Beta becomes the Alpha. Why didn't you explain this before?"
"You cannot explain it with just words. You have to feel it." Scott had never seen Derek's face so peaceful.
Another knock on Derek's door pulled Derek back into reality. Lydia's heartbeat escaped him and his own heartbeat fell silent.
"Derek, open the door. This bromance is killing us; we are trying to sleep and you two are over here running a private drum solo workshop." Peter's voice spat sarcasm.
Derek opened the door and Peter pushed his way in.
"I would be pissed at you for your sarcastic attitude, but you have got to hear this." Derek was like a little kid in a candy store. Derek was always learning and teaching new werewolf things to the pack, but he seldom got to be taught new things; even more seldom, being able to teach his Uncle Peter new things.
"Peter, have you figured out anchoring yet?" Scott was not sure he could show Peter the things him and Derek knew without the anchoring they had found.
"Anchoring? Like stopping a ship with a metal hook? Yeah, you toss it over the side." Peter's lips turned up in a smirk. He knew Scott was not talking about ships, but if Peter couldn't have fun, who could?
"No!" Derek and Scott simultaneously shot down Peter's attempt at comedy.
"Okay, I get it. The way Scott uses Allison's heartbeat as his own, echo's it, per se." Peter was not impressed with the whole anchoring thing. He saw it as a sign of weakness.
"Yeah, but think of the advantage you would have if the whole pack knew how to anchor freely." Derek's eyes were glistening with delight.
"Anchor freely?" Peter and Scott looked at each other as if they had no idea where Derek's thoughts had run off to.
"Yes, freely. What if our whole pack was able to find a heartbeat in an enemy and mirror it; when the enemy listens for our heartbeat to give us away, they will simply hear their own."
"Derek, you're starting to scare me. You are actually starting to think like Peter."
"No Scott, Derek is right. If we can keep our heartbeats masked with another's there is no give away on our next move. It's genius. I've never been more proud of the psychopath my sister created." Peter sat slowly clapping his hands and wiped away a pretend tear.
"Seeing as we are already on the subject of enemies, tell me what it is that the Alpha Pack wants." Peter cocked an eyebrow and waited for Derek's answer.
"Not now Peter. I don't want to involve the pack." Derek was aggravated. He knew it was only a matter of seconds before Scott and Peter tried to pry the info out of him.
"Derek, we need to know." Scott looked at him suspiciously. "It's not fair to keep us in the dark. I want to know."
"Not here. The whole pack can hear everything we say."
"Well, let's find a place to talk quietly." Peter stood and motioned towards the door.
The low beep of the motel alarm clock stomped through Derek's ear drum. 7am came all too fast for Derek. After a full night of learning and explaining what the Alpha Pack was after, Derek wanted to sleep in. Derek scanned the heartbeats around him for Lydia's, but couldn't find it.
Derek shot out of bed and to the door. Within seconds he was outside Scott's room knocking on the door.
Scott dragged himself out of bed and to the door. Scott swung the door open and looked at Derek.
"Where is she?" Derek's eyes flashed red and Scott knew exactly who was missing.
"Umm. I don't know. She left the room first thing this morning. I figured she was getting breakfast or looking for Jackson." Scott was just barely awake and the severity of Derek's concern had not hit him yet.
Derek scanned the noise around him to see if anyone else was missing...
"She is with Peter." Allison walked out of the bathroom and with little surprise blurted out the info Derek needed.
"What is she doing with Peter?"
"I don't know. She said she was fine. I let her go. They are in the lobby having breakfast." Allison's level of concern was far less than Derek's.
Derek turned to leave and ran straight into Lydia walking through the door.
"What is with all the noise? It sounds like a Spanish soap opera in here." Lydia wore a 100 watt smile that knocked Derek on his feet.
Derek allowed his heart to mirror Lydia's. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Lydia dismissed Derek's concern. "Are we going to get this show on the road? Wouldn't want crazy alphas showing up here to kidnap me for my voodoo magic now would we?"
Derek swallowed hard. He knew Peter had told Lydia what the Alpha Pack was after and it pained him to know she would have to live with such a burden for no reason. "Let's get going."
"Do you have any idea where we are going?" Lydia was not impressed with the way things were being handled.
"Actually, I do." Derek smirked.
"Are you going to tell us?" Lydia waited impatiently for the information she requested.
"Of course. Bon Temps, Louisiana. Peter has a friend in Shreveport he was able to call and get the scoop on the small town; apparently it's chaotic, but safe. And Peter's friend Alcide says there are some people there who can help us." Derek relaxed a little. They finally had a set destination. Derek wasn't sure how this would all play out, but they had to at least try.
"What is Alcide? Human? Wolf?" Lydia was curious for the first time during this stupid road trip she was on.
"Alcide is a werewolf. A shifter werewolf. He is like us in many ways, but his pack shifts into full wolf, we only take on characteristics and still maintain certain human qualities. He is the pack master of the Long Tooth Pack, he will be able to help us."
Lydia reached out and put her hand on Derek's shoulder. "Then let's get moving alpha." Lydia winked at Derek and started carrying her bags to the car.
With the pack reassembled in the parking lot, Derek and Chris Argent got the cars situated again and Lordsburg, New Mexico became but a fleeting memory on the way to freedom.
Woah baby...this chapter took off like a crazy train. Sorry it has taken so long to update, real life has certainly gotten in my way of writing and updating. I promise not to keep you guys waiting 2 weeks once the crossover happens.
Just hang with me for the next chapter or so and I will give you the Eric/Derek crossover I have been promising. :)
Please review and let me know what you guys are thinking. I love the reviews and I love hearing your ideas. Thanks for the reviews thus far and the story followers. I hope you guys like where you see this heading.
