Flash Back- Right after end of first semester finals
I stood there, looking into the mirror at someone that I barely even recognized as me. My hair was all done in perfect curls, not anything like my usual curls. Those were more messy, natural. This, this entire person was different. I was never one to wear much make-up, just never saw the use in it. Then when Lydia got older, every time she was around me, she would always do my make-up for me. I started wearing more, just real natural colors. Tonight though, I channeled my sister's ways with beauty. I even had her go shopping with me for a dress while Derek was out with his sister. I must have tried on twenty dresses, and if it was up to me I wouldn't have tried on but maybe three. Tonight was making me nervous though. Apparently every year the grad students host a huge ball for the engineering school. This time it was around Christmas, but it was a black and white attire party. Lydia helped me find a gorgeous white dress with black lace coming up from my navel and covering my chest. The dress was shorter and came to right above my knees, but it had pockets so I was happy with it.
Derek had offered to come as my date. I was asked by a handful of guys, most two immature for my taste. But I decided to go with Derek because I was afraid I was really going to need his support tonight. I was up for an award and internship. If I got it, it would be a huge advance in my career plan.
"You look...well, I'd say gorgeous but that would be an understatement. Let's go with..." Derek was standing in my doorway, tapping his finger on his chin. "Ravishing." He smiled at me, and it put some ease in my heart.
I turned back to the mirror and tried to pull my dress up some. "I feel like my boobs are falling out of this dress." When I turned back to him, I caught him staring. "And I just can never get into these ball/dance things."
"I figured your little prep school would have had many school dances." He came over and started to tie his bow tie, but I could see he was clearly having trouble.
When I first told Derek about me spending my life in a prep boarding school, he had assumed I was an only child and a troublesome one at that. Most kids that go to boarding schools either acted up badly, or they had parents that couldn't be bothered with them going to a regular school. I, on the other hand, saw it as a perfect opportunity to set up all the right connections I would need. Plus it was a top school with the best teachers and best testing scores. I had begged my parents to let me go, and of course they said yes. It was one less child to worry about.
"They did. But I didn't really go to them." I walked over and grabbed the bow tie out of his hand. "Let me do this."
"Couldn't get a date?" He raised an eyebrow and I swatted at his arm, causing him to laugh.
"I guess I could have. I just never really worried about all that stuff you know. That has always been Lydia's department. Even when she was young, she had all the guys wanting to come and play in her tree house. I always had more important thing to do." I finished the bow tie and turned him around to see it.
"Studying. You're always studying. The only time I see you have fun is when you are working on your little projects. That is a sure sign that you should probably get out more." I knew he was right, but I couldn't focus on fun while I was here.
"What are you talking about? I'm out with you all the time. We're even going out tonight." I smirked and then turned around to get my jacket from the closet. "Speaking of which, are you ready? Because I really don't want to be late."
"The award. I know." He held the door open for me and we left to go to the ball.
When we arrived, the place was packed and it seemed as if everyone stared at us as we walked in. Everyone was taking their seats for the award ceremony and speeches. Derek led me to a table with a few of our friends. When the speeches began, I had the program in my hands. By the third speech, the program was in tiny little pieces all over my lap. Derek must have noticed too because he reached over and grabbed my hand.
He lean in and whispered, "Relax...you'll get that award and internship." I squeezed his hand and held on tight. I tried to hide the shiver that ran through my body from his breath on my neck when he whispered in my ear. We had been dancing around that line of be friends and being more than friends for about a month now. And neither one of us had pushed the other over that line, but now things were just getting too blurry.
They called my name up for the award and internship. I was giving my speech while looking at Derek the whole time. He was smiling at me, and that's when I realized that I couldn't just let him go. I knew that he had been burned by a girl a while ago, and she broke his heart. No wonder he was always dating around, he is protecting himself. I had finished my speech and they opened the dance floor in the other room. I walked down to Derek and took his hand to lead him to the dance floor.
"Come and dance with me." He smiled and took the lead.
"Would never turn down that offer." He winked at me. He pulled me in for a slow dance and kissed my cheek. "Congratulations."
"Well, thank you." I smiled up at him. "Can I ask you something?" After tonight, or more so after this conversation I would either pull him in closer or push him away. I was hoping it was the former.
"If it's to accompany you to another one of these things. The answer is no. I hate getting dressed up, this was a one time thing." I couldn't tell if he was joking or serious. I assumed it was a bit of both. "You okay?"
"I'm good. I just was wondering something." I looked up at him. "Why don't you ever go on a second date with girls?" I could see the shock in his eyes, but he had a hard line pressed with his lips.
He quickly replaced the line with a grin. "I like variety, keeping things changed up all the time."
"I'm being serious Derek." I wasn't willing to deal with his bullshit, I needed a straight answer.
He nodded his head once, and looked directly into my eyes. "I don't trust girls." There was that ghost of heartbreak again. I've seen it several times, but as quickly as it appeared it disappeared the same.
"Do you think you can ever trust them again?" A small smile formed on his lips.
"I trust two." I looked up and was confused. "My sister, Laura, and you." I was even more surprised when he said me. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Because I needed to know that there was hope that you could care for someone again." This time he looked confused and I didn't give him a chance to ask another question.
I leaned up on my toes to press my lips against his, I felt his surprise when his lips were a little stiff. But only seconds later did his lips begin to curve around mine. It wasn't a very long kiss, but I knew that it was the best kiss of my life.
"I get that someone broke you. And from the look that appears in your eyes when you think about it, it was pretty ugly. You mean a lot to me Derek Hale, and if you let me, I want to help prove that not all girls are like that." I knew that there was a chance he might pull away, but my bet was on the fact that he felt the same way about me that I did about him.
Present Day- In the old burned down Hale house
"How'd you find me?" I looked at him like he was a complete imbecile.
"How did I find you? You leave without saying when you will be back. I come home after graduation, and find that my sister has just been attacked by you. Or at least that is what the cops are saying. And here you are, standing in front of me, and all you can say is 'How did you find me?'" I tried to mimic his deeper voice, but I'm sure I failed.
"Home? Your sister?" He hadn't moved, but I had his full attention.
"Yes, home. And Lydia Martin. She's my baby sister, and a werewolf attacked her!" I couldn't handle the fact that he seemed so calm right now.
"I can promise you that it wasn't me Jules." He went to step towards me but stopped a few feet away.
"I know it wasn't you. And you've got two minutes to tell me what is going before I walk out of here and call the cops." I would never do that and he probably knew that but I didn't care.
He stepped forward those last few steps and was now standing right in front of me, a ghost of a smile on his lips. "You haven't changed at all. Same dark red curls, beautiful smile, and fiery passion of hate for those who betray you."
"So you are admitting that you betrayed me?" He wouldn't do that even on his best day.
"No. I'm admitting that I made the worst decision of my life when I left you. Have you been crying?" There must have been lines down my cheeks from where the tears ran down. His reached out and brushed his thumb over my cheek. When I pulled back I saw the hurt in his eyes, but he deserved that. He deserved at least that.
"I'm not going to ask again. What the hell is going on Derek?" I needed to know. I needed to hear him say that he wasn't the one that attacked Lydia and the rest of those kids.
"I came back because Laura died. Whoever killed her became the new alpha. And that's who attacked your sister." He walked over and sat on the dissipating stairs.
"Do you know who the alpha is?" I asked the question, but I could tell that he didn't know even before he shook his head no. "I'm terribly sorry about your sister." I was wanting to cry, I was wanting to hold him, and I was wanting to kiss him. However, I did none of those things.
"I have no idea who it is. But my plan is to find him and kill him." I started to walk to the front door but decided to turn around and face him just one more time before I left.
"I want you to stay away from Lydia." He looked up at me and shock was still on his face. Probably from the fact that Lydia was my sister. "As a matter of fact stay away from all of those kids. That includes Jackson as well." He raised an eyebrow at the mention of Jackson's name.
"What about you? Am I to stay away from you too?" I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say yes so badly, but I had to get out of there.
"I don't know yet." And so, I decided to be completely honest.
"I didn't ever want to hurt you!" He called after me.
"I know." I said before I got in the car and drove off.
I didn't even make it a minute without the tears filling up my eyes. That was not the reunion I was wanting or thought I would get. I honestly didn't know what I expecting. I wanted to punch him for leaving me heartbroken and I wanted to know why he never called.
I was about ten minutes down the road when Derek came out of nowhere and cut me off in his car. I had to think fast to keep from losing control of the wheel. The car drifted about fifteen more fifteen before it came to a screeching halt. I got out of the car and went over to knock Derek back down on his butt.
"Are you insane? You nearly made me wreck!" My palms slapped hard on his chest as he stumbled backwards a few steps. "What the hell were you thinking?"
"That I couldn't let you drive off down the road. That I couldn't just stand there like an idiot and watch you walk away." He held out his hands and grabbed my wrists to stop me from hitting him.
"You should have had those thoughts when you left me four months ago." I yanked my wrists out of his grasp. "You should have called me!" My voice was a little crackly and I hated that.
"I wanted to. You've got to believe that I wanted to." I didn't know what to say, so I just stood there and stared at him. "I've never missed someone so badly as I have missed you these past few months Jules. And I would never have imagined you would show up in Beacon Hills."
"If you had stayed around, like we planned, then you would have." Before I was too in shock to say what I really had on my mind and heart, but now I was seeing through a lens of anger.
"I'm so sorry... I had to come back. And I've stayed because...because..." He needed to catch his sister's killer.
"I know why you stayed. I understand that part. I don't understand why you kept it all from me, and why you didn't come back for me. I know you want to catch this alpha. I can help you." Something changed in his eyes, and I knew that this conversation was about to change.
"I don't want you anywhere near this thing Jules. I'm not strong enough to face it on my own, and if I'm not strong enough then I can't risk you being involved."
"Well, as long as Lydia is involved then I am involved. This thing came after her, which means I am going to find it. With or with out your help."
"No." I felt my eyes widen and my mouth drop. "You heard me. No. I can't let you do that Julie. This thing is dangerous. I have a plan, and that doesn't include you getting yourself killed."
"You can't tell me 'no' about anything. And last time I checked, I had an entire case of wolf weapons that you made me create. What is your plan anyway? Go in, claws and teeth bared and just hope you win?" He dropped his head, and I knew I was right. Derek has never been one to think things through. But when he looked back up, he refused to look me in the eye. He was hiding something else. "What aren't you telling me?" He looked back down and kept his mouth shut. "You're unbelievable. You nearly run me off the road, tell me that I need to mind my own business, and when I ask you to tell me the truth, you decided to keep it from me."
"Julie..." I held up my hand and started walking back to my car.
"I don't know what happened to the sweet Derek that never lied to me. But I want him back." I got into my car and shut the door. Derek jogged over and was now standing outside of my window.
"Wait. We need to talk Jules!" I spun the wheels and sped off down the road. I wasn't exactly heartbroken anymore, I was more pissed. And that could be scary.
I set out to go after the alpha. I had went home and packed up more weapons. I was driving down the road that led to a clearing in the woods. If he was out, odds were he was going to be in the woods. I figured Derek would have came after me, try and stop me. So I wasn't surprised when I saw his car speeding down the road, but what did surprise me was the fact that there was another car literally chasing after him. I slammed on my breaks and pulled out my phone to call Derek's. It kept ringing, so it was turned on, but there was no answer. I turned my car around to go and follow whatever the hell he had gotten himself into.
That's when I saw the blue lights ahead of me on the road. I pulled off the road and pulled out my police scanner.
"Suspect heading on foot, right down..." I heard the road name and knew he was by the school. I decided to hang back and listen to see what was going on. I couldn't risk the police knowing I knew Derek personally.
I jumped when my phone vibrated in the cup holder.
Where are you? I hope you aren't out looking for Derek. -L
Lydia had been the one to text me. And with reading her text, I figured it was time to return home. I knew Derek was right when he said it was too dangerous to go alpha hunting, but I also felt the need to prove a point to him. Prove that I could do it without him. Plus I had a big day ahead of me tomorrow. I had found a small house on the outskirts of town, a little secluded so I couldn't be that bothered, with a rather large basement for all my grant work. The Realtor told me that I could start moving my stuff in tomorrow. And honestly the sooner I was out of my parent's house the better. And I had a check-up with my doctor first thing in the morning.
When I reached the top of the stairs, I saw Lydia sitting on her bed studying. Probably Latin, which was something she insisted on knowing because I learned three different types of Latin, classical, ecclesiastical, medieval. Anything I have learned, Lydia felt the need to learn as well and apply it in more ways. It was a personal problem she developed in middle school.
"Hey sis. Bye sis. Going to bed sis. Night sis." I wasn't in the mood to talk or argue with her, so I just walked right pass her room and went into mine.
I woke up super early that morning for my doctor's appointment. I needed to get all things physical cleared before I could start my grant work, prove that I was perfectly healthy and I could be around all the equipment I would be working with.
I pulled up to the doctor office and noticed that Jackson's car was in the parking lot. I pulled up next to his car, and walked inside. I gave the nurse my information and sat in the waiting room. I was hoping that Jackson would walk out before I went back so I could make sure he was alright. That kid was fit as a fiddle, and I'm sure that he already had his physical done because tonight was there first game.
"Ms. Martin." I looked up at the nurse, a shorter and petite blonde. "If you want to follow me on back, we'll put you in a room to see the doctor." She smiled at me as I walked past her and into the hallway.
I looked up as she began leading me to a room and saw Jackson coming out. He looked healthy, no broken limbs or anything. Maybe he was just here for a check up as well. That's when I noticed him holding the back of his neck. He looked up and saw me, eyes widened a little bit, but then that familiar grin broke out across his lips.
"I get the feeling that you're stalking me Velma." I let out a fake laugh, but then I saw concern enter his eyes. "You're not sick or anything are you?"
I shook my head no and said, "Nah..just getting passed to work all my equipment. I found a small house so I can get my stuff set up and going in the next few days." I pointed to his neck where he was stick holding his hand. "Everything alright with you?" He looked down at the ground and stumbled on his words. He never stumbled on his words, unless he was lying.
"Yeah. Everything is great. Just needed a shot update." He started to walk away but turned back around. "You're coming to the game tonight right? It's a pretty big game, and I'd love to see you cheering me on in the stands. Holding a poster maybe that says 'Jackson Jackson he's my man. He wins when no one else can.'" He winked at me.
"How about 'Golden Boy, still an ass.'" He laughed, but I was being serious. Don't get me wrong, I loved the kid, but he was still a jerk. "I'll be there." I smiled at him reassuringly.
"I'll be looking for my sign." He pointed at me before he turned on his heels and walked away. As he walked down the hallway, I saw them. Scratches, no, scabbed over deep cuts on the back of his neck. They looked like...claw marks. And for Derek's sake, he had better hope that they weren't caused by him.
The doctor cleared me to be fit for duty. I drove back to my house and started to immediately pack up my stuff. My phone started to vibrate on my dresser and when I saw who it was on the screen, anger infiltrated my body once again.
"Did you hurt Jackson?" I blurted out the words before he even had a chance to speak.
"Are you home?" He sounded like he was running.
"You didn't answer my question Derek."
"Julie!"
"Yes. I'm home." I didn't understand what it mattered if I was home or not. Just when I was going to ask him about it, he came through my window. Literally, he rolled through my window. "What the hell...are you doing?" He stood up and looked at me. He didn't even need to be out in the open with the cops after him.
"I need you to stay home tonight." He had to be kidding me.
I looked at him like he was an idiot. Telling me what to do never worked well for him in the past, so why does he think it would right now. "No."
He nearly growled when he sighed. "Now is not the time to be stubborn Jules."
"And now is not the time to try and tell me what to do. You're still hiding something from me, and until you decided to be honest. I'm going after this thing myself." I pulled out the case and showed him my weapons. "As you can see, I'm completely prepared."
"The alpha is relentless. Do you understand that? He will rip apart anything that gets in his way." And yet he was still not giving up any information about what he is hiding.
"I can take care of myself." I looked down and closed the case. "I had a pretty good teacher." I thought back to the days that Derek taught me how to fight and smiled. As much as I wanted to just forget everything and close the few feet and wrap my arms around him, I just couldn't.
He walked over a few feet and closed the rest of the distance between us. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were so filled with worry and love. "Can you at least promise me one thing." I continued to look at him. "Call me, if you get into any trouble. I won't be far away from you." I nodded my head and just like that he was walking out of my door.
"Where are you going?" I called after him.
"I've some things to get taken care of. I'll find you." Find me? What was that supposed to mean?
I heard the doors slam open and voices. I ran down the stairs, thinking Derek had let someone in. "I thought you had left..." I reached the bottom of the stairs, and saw Lydia. Crying her eyes out. "Lyds? What's wrong?" I rushed over, making sure she wasn't physically hurt.
"That...asshat...broke up with me. Well, if he thinks that he is moving on to greater things and I'm less than those, he is sadly mistaken. He'll regret breaking up with me." Greater things? What does that mean? I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that Jackson had broken up with her. I wrapped my arms around her and just let her cry into my shoulder.
"You're right about one thing. He is an asshat, along with others." Like Derek. I pulled her in tighter before I held her at arms length. "But we are still going to that game. You have to go and show him that this hasn't broken you, and I have to go and support a new friend." Stiles was starting tonight, his first game as a starter. I wanted to be there to support him. "Now why don't you go upstairs and raid my wardrobe." She nodded her head once before going up the stairs.
A small knock on the door came startled me. "Will you get that? I think it's Allison!" Lydia called down to me.
I walked over and opened the door to sure enough find Lydia standing in my doorway, in work out clothes. "Hey. Is she okay?"
"She will be. She's got tough skin." I motioned for her to come in.
"Yeah, I know." She said with a half laugh. "Mind if I just go up to talk to her?" She asked nicely, but there was something about her that I just didn't trust.
"Sure. She's upstairs in my room." I motioned for her to go up the stairs.
A few minutes later, after fixing me something to drink and grabbing an apple I headed up the stairs to join Lydia and her friend. See what outfit she had decided to steal from me now. When I turned to go into my room, I was greeted with the sight of Allison drawing back my bow.
"In most households it is considered rude to snoop through the belongings of the people that live there." She turned her head to face me, but she slowly released the string back to it's original place of rest.
"I'm sorry, it was just such a wonderful bow. Do you hunt?" Not tonight.
"No. It was a gift from a friend. He was the one that taught me how to shoot actually." Derek didn't want to take any chances of me getting hurt. He taught me every way he knew how to protect me.
"Well, it's a beautiful bow. He must have been some friend." She raised an eyebrow at me.
"What about you? Do you hunt?" I watched her reactions when she shook her head no. It didn't seem like a lie. "Forgive me, but Lydia failed to mention your last name. Is your family from Beacon Hills?" I couldn't place my finger on what it was about her, but I just didn't trust her.
"Oh, no. We moved here a few months ago. My aunt grew up here though. Kate Argent. Maybe you know her?" I knew of her. She was the snake that broke Derek's heart. It took me two years to get him to trust me enough to talk about her. She did quite a number on him. And if she was Allison's aunt...then that would make Allison a hunter as well. No wonder I didn't trust her, she'd kill the man I loved in a heartbeat with no hesitation.
"Never heard of her." I smiled at her. "Will you be going to the game?"
"Of course. It's a big deal for the school. I'm going with my dad and Aunt Kate. You can meet her there."
"I would love to."
If there were a family of hunters here, then that meant that they knew about the alpha. And if that knew about the alpha, then that means the alpha must be trying to grow his pack. My mind wondered back to the deep cuts I saw on Jackson's neck. I didn't want to believe he was the beta, but it would make sense. He fit the profile for the erratic behavior, and he was already fit and healthy. The perfect candidate. I was sitting on the bleachers and trying to steal some glances at Allison and her family. More specifically her aunt. I pulled out the whistle I had made a year ago. Derek said that I should make something that would help me single out the werewolves. So I made a high frequency emitter, much like a dog whistle. It blew at such a high frequency that only the werewolves would be affected.
I brought it to the game, because I was sure that what Derek had been keeping from me was that there was another werewolf. A beta. That's why the alpha attacked Lydia and her group of friends. The beta was one of them, and the only one that fit the ideal person for the job was Jackson. Just to make sure I was right thought, I brought the emitter. I planned on blowing it when the game was going, so when the player dropped to the ground, it wouldn't bring much attention.
"Julie, here's my aunt I was telling you so much about, Kate." I brought my attention to the very physically fit, curly haired, brunette in front of me.
"Allison here tells me you have quite the arsenal in your home." Although her tone was friendly, there was a venom edge to it.
"I like to build stuff. It's kind of my thing." I smiled at her.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, and I hope you enjoy the game." I watched her walk off and it took everything I had with it me to not put a knife in her back.
The refs blew the starting whistles and the game began. I took my chance and blew my whistle. But my hold body felt paralyzed when it wasn't Jackson who fell, but Scott. I turned around to find Stiles. If Scott was a werewolf, then a sure thing would be that Stiles knew about it. I couldn't find Stiles anywhere, and something Derek once told me rang through my ears.
When an alpha finds a beta, they will do anything to get that beta to be fully committed to them and the pack. Even if that means killing anyone in it's life that could stand in the way of the pack.
I pulled out my phone and dialed Derek's number. "Please tell me you are with Stiles."
"How did you know..."
"Are you with him or not?" If Derek was with Stiles, then I knew he was safe.
"Yeah I'm with him. I guess you figured it out then." He sounded impressed, but worried at the same time.
"Scott's a beta. But who's the alpha?"
"I don't know. That's what we are trying to figure out. I didn't want to drag you into this any further Jules. I didn't want to lie to you, but I knew that you wouldn't leave it alone if I told you the truth." Now he just sounded sad.
"Oh and I know about the Argents and that your crazy ass ex is in town. Had the pleasure of meeting her actually. She's gorgeous." I knew he would be able to hear the jealousy in my voice, but I didn't care.
He voice started to come through and then the phone went dead. "Derek? Derek?" I took off to get into my car and find them. Derek wouldn't have just hung up on me, not without saying something first. Which meant something was wrong, terribly wrong.
I rushed off down the road and frantically started searching for his car. It took me about ten minutes to find his car, outside of the hospital. I let my breaks come to a screeching halt. I reached for the bag in the back where I had stashed some of my weapons. I pulled out the gloves that I created to send electromagnetic waves through a body, along with blades at the tips that extract and are laced with wolfsbane. Then I grabbed my blade and a mountain ash grenade. I ran inside just in time to see Derek facing off with some guy. Then I saw Stiles sitting on the ground.
"Oh my goodness. Are you okay?" I called out to him, but he turned to me and was completely shocked.
Derek turned around and saw me and threw his hands up. "You've got to be kidding me. How did you find us?"
"Don't be rude, nephew. Introduce me to your ravishingly beautiful girlfriend here." The guy at other end of the hall had burns down one side of his face and was smirking.
"Nephew? And I'm not his girlfriend. Not anymore." I looked over at Derek and expected some answers.
"Julie, let me introduce you to my uncle, Peter. He's the alpha." Derek radiated heartbreak, and that's when it clicked. If Peter was the alpha, that means he killed Derek's sister.
"You are a disgrace of a man. And we will kill you." Peter laughed out so loudly that it rang through the hallways. I gripped the point of the knife in my fingertips and through it at him. It was a direct hit in the arm.
"Oh sweetheart...did Derek not teach you anything? You can't kill an alpha with something so small as a knife." He pulled it out and dropped it.
"No, but I can wound you. That dagger was laced with wolfs-bane." I could see the strength start to drain, but I knew it wouldn't be no where near enough.
I ran at him and stabbed the make-shift claws form my glove into his ribs and let the electricity flow through. Peter dropped to his knees and I went to get Stiles.
"You know Derek?" I helped him stand up, and I heard Derek go after Peter. "You date Derek?" Then I heard Derek and Peter begin to fight. I knew that I needed to get Stiles out. I knew that Derek was strong enough to go up against Peter. "You know about the werewolves?"
"Yes Stiles. I know about everything. But right now, we need to get you out of here." He was in shock, but I got him to safety. I turned around to go inside when Derek came out of the doors.
Here you go guys! I really hope you like it. :) Please take the time to review and let me know what you think. And of course if you have specific questions,,, then please feel free to PM me! Much Love to you all!
