Authors Note: HELLO! Okay so were starting to get the background of this story now, we know Thalia is a Keeper her family is Italian decent, we know her and Derek have had two encounters, we know her family heritage protects wolves, let's start meeting more characters and her social environment and testing her own abilities and intelligence. Enjoy, and please Review what you like, what you can't stand, what's your favorite moments, some idea's you'd like to see added to the Fanfic? Onto Chapter 3!
Chapter Three
Nathalia POV
She'd waited three days, listened, observed her classmates, and waited for the alpha's next move. She waited for Derek's next move. She was impatient, and still just as confused as to what was going on in Beacon Hills. However she went to her classes, she lived her normal life. Everything seemed normal.
She even had group date planned for tomorrow evening with Allison, Scott, Lydia, Jackson, and Stiles. She was looking forward to it, she just hoped that Stiles didn't think anything into it. She just wanted to make friends. He was a goofy kid, but brilliant when it came to school and piecing things together.
Tonight was the night she'd planned to do what she needed to do. The alpha had been laying low, but she knew with it being so close to the full moon that he'd be out tonight to let off some of the steam that the moon amplified.
He'd be less focused, more animalistic, easier to watch, and possibly capture. She had a plan, well an idea for a plan. She just hoped it would go alright, and if not, that she could get to her safe point fast enough.
School went by quickly. Before she knew it she was at home, rummaging through her room, grabbing knives, guns, netting, and rope before her parents got home. She loaded up the trunk of her car.
She headed to the furthest end of the woods, knowing It was furthest away from people, and she hoped that that's where the wolf would be tonight. She picked a location near where the deer was killed. He'd smell her scent here, and hopefully follow it.
She began setting up trip wires, netting, noise amplifiers, and mountain ash. She ventured about half a mile back towards her car, setting another trap there as her plan B if she was running. And then she ventured another forth a mile and set up another distraction, all the way until she got to her car. She headed home again, knowing she had another few hours until the sun set and the moon was at it's apex.
Thalia ate dinner with her family normally. She told them that she had a lot of homework and would be in her room the rest of the night. They let her go wordlessly. She was happy that they weren't as hovering as they'd been when they lived in SanFran, here she felt like she had a little bit of privacy and respect form her parents.
She undressed from her casual clothes, and pulled on her black skinny jeans, black combat boots, and a tight black shirt. She knew that the alpha would be able to find her heat signature easily and see her, but that didn't mean that other people wondering in the woods tonight would be able to.
Nathalia pushed her long and loose strands of hair out of her face and tucked them behind her ear, and pulled on a black stocking cap on. She grabbed her night vision glasses, clicking the switch on the side to make sure they still worked, she much preferred these over the googles. She felt comfortable wearing glasses. However they were still her cousins proto-type and the video surveillance in the lens would crap out and lose signal from her computer or phone every now and then.
She noticed the sun had sunken low in the sky, and let out a breathy sigh. She could do this. She'd captured and understood wolves plenty of times, she could do this. Granted she'd never been alone before, she still knew that she had to try.
Grabbing extra knives, and her three different medications to lace her weapons with, she made her way to crawl out the window.
Getting out of the house was becoming easier and easier. She'd parked her car down the street earlier that morning, to avoid her parents noticing if her car was directly in the drive way or not.
If her timing was correct, she had exactly an hour and a half until the moon pulled at the werewolves and tempted them to shift. So she drove through the town and kept driving to the furthest possible location from the towns population in the woods.
Thalia parked her car as far away from the road as the woods would permit. She didn't think her car would draw too much attention or reveal her location. Once she was confident in her cars positioning and covered with a cameo tarp and sprinkled with mountain ash, she left.
She hiked through the booby trapped area she'd set up earlier, wanting to keep her scent fresh so that the wolf wouldn't be able to tell which way she'd actually gone, since she'd walked through the are three times now, taking different paths and tracks in different directions but passing all the same traps.
Once she got to her selected spot, she clung to the coverage the tree's offered her. She listened to the forest, so far the animals still moved and bugs still crawled, meaning a predator wasn't near or stilling the forest.
She sat for an hour, just waiting, listening, her anticipation grew as her instinct told her that something was going to happen. The forest slowly stilled. She readjusted her glasses, knowing that the alpha would sense her and see her before she would physically lay eyes on him.
She breathed, trying to keep her heart rate down. The long anticipated wait came to an end, when she heard the forest floor creak as animals within a few miles of her scurried to safety, and birds relocated. She knew he was her.
Knowing the trees wouldn't cover her, she fearlessly moved into the tiny clearing she'd found. Letting the wolf know exactly where she was.
She hoped to God that her plan would pull through. She stilled as she saw two red eyes staring at her. She knew his exact location, it was go time. Nathalia dashed behind a tree, zigging in and out of trees. She reappeared in the clearing again, the alpha took a step forward out of the trees.
His eyes piercing one of the mirrors she'd set up in the clearing, so she could keep his location. Thankfully she'd covered the mirrors in her strong perfume, and the alpha seemed too content on the kill to look for other sources of her true location, like heat, or heart beat.
The alpha leaped, and was met with two silver arrows into his sides, as he came down on the mirror. He let out a howl of agony. She moved yet again, knowing he'd be more careful this time. The arrows, blossomed inside his sides; like four fish hooks kept the silver arrow and ropes in his sides, pulling him in both directions.
Although he was in pain, his eyes watched her carefully. This time as she moved, she activated the shrill high pitched noise that only the wolf could hear. The wolf shook it's head in pain, he could no longer hear her heartbeat or accurately target her heat signature.
The wolf growled menacingly, not liking the games Thalia was playing. As he fought against the arrows, and ropes that rooted him in one place, he striked another mirror that showed her reflection. Seeing as she stood behind the other mirror closest to him, to get that reflection to show.
He growled as the mirror fell and another arrow lodged itself into his front shoulder.
Dashing around again, she didn't try another mirror trick thinking that he'd catched on now. Instead Thalia tripped her own trip wire with a silver knife, letting a net fall over the irritated wolf in the middle of the small clearing. The silver and mountain ash netting falling over the alpha and rooting him to the ground.
Now all she had to do was wait until morning to see him shift back, then she could get answers. The shrill high pitched sound continued, and the alpha howled in pain, calling to his pack of two beta's.
For nearly an hour she sat behind a tree in wait. She did this, until she heard four-wheelers.
Her gut ached, and she instinctively got up, running to the alpha. The hunters would kill her and then kill him, and although she knew this wolf wasn't right, she needed answer's and he didn't deserve to die.
She worked quickly. Pulling off the net, keeping herself away from his claws, teeth, and eyes. The mountain ash still surrounded him, however she didn't want to take her chances. With her silver knife, she cut the rope on the left, taking the pressure off his left leg. And then did the same with the right. The alpha stood, growling at her.
She now thanked herself for setting up those milestones of traps, she was going to have to outrun the alpha.
"Look, I wanted answer's, I was waiting for you too shift back. But Hunters are here. I won't let them kill you." Thalia said quietly, hoping he could understand her but doubting it herself.
She broke the mountain ash with her foot, and then took off as fast as she could, feeling the alpha only a few meters behind her. He avoided her first trap that released a net, but fell short to her second trap another half mile. Nathalia sprinted for her life, knowing that he wouldn't take long to follow her. However he never seemed to come, maybe because she was going the way the hunters four wheelers were.
She knew getting around them was going to be a life threatening and challenging task in itself. If they would have just stayed away a few hours more, she would have had answers. Saying she was disappointed was an understatement. She was so proud she'd captured the moon-crazed alpha, she was so close.
'Here goes nothing.' She thought as she took a deep breathe, and sneakily ran through the tree's.
Thankfully the hunters were preoccupied with chasing the furious alpha that they didn't notice the black figure sneaking in between trees and pre-set traps.
It didn't take Thalia long to get away and back to her car. She felt exhausted and disappointed as she slipped in the sleek car. She groaned and pulled away, not taking her chances in the woods any longer.
Getting home was easy, sneaking back in had been more difficult and had left her lightly bruised. Laying in bed Thalia rethought everything she knew. How would she catch him again? How would she get away unscathed again?
More importantly, she acknowledged how she felt, she felt different. She started to genuinely believe her family heritage. She needed to know more to understand the strange feeling. The only person that would understand how she felt would be her grandmother. San Francisco was only a few hours drive, figuring that she could take a day trip up there this weekend, she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning she found herself watching the news, another rabid animal attack. A hunters face that looked familiar flashed across the Television screen. Thalia didn't feel sorry for the guy, he'd been an ass when he'd followed Kates demands. But she did grow concerned, anyone that targeted the alpha faced consequences. She just hoped she could keep her head above the water a little longer and get answers about herself, this town, and the beast.
She turned her TV off, grabbing her headphones and heading out the front door for an early morning jog. She found her comfortable route in the woods, being careful to stay clear of where the body had been found the night before.
Her peaceful jog came to a close as the forest stilled. Her stomach churned, something was terribly wrong. Thalia took her earbuds out and listened closely. In the distance she could hear ragged breath that sounded like intense panting. Tightening her fists as her heart lurched in fear, she turned around. She saw two red eyes angrily peering at her. It was daylight for heavens sake.
Every part of her being screamed at her to run. So she did. Knowing not to count her luck anymore than she already had. Her dash was cut short as a large wolfs hand grabbed her ankle angrily and violently yanked her to the ground. She tried to catch herself, but the wolf dragged her, not allowing her hands to stop the impact of the ground, so instead she violently hit her chest and chin against the rough terrain.
Thalia kicked out at the alpha, trying to give herself some time and space. She managed a nice blow to his muzzle and crawled forward quickly, trying to distance herself. She sat on her butt looking at the angrily beast as he towered above her.
"D-diferende." She whispered to herself rubbing her bracelet. The silver and gold sprang to life, pooling around her body, ready to use.
She crawled back again as the wolf leap forward, seeing this new movement. She flashed her wrist in front of herself, the whip following, and snapping directly in front of the wolfs nose, pushing him back. She didn't relent, instead she swiped the sparkling whip towards him, she staggered to her feet as the alpha watched her whip and growled when it snagged his front limbs or shoulders.
The alpha leaped towards her viciously, She coined the whip around his torso, the silver burning into his skin. He still landed on top of her though, his arms pinning her down, sharp canine's dripping blood and spit on her face. She tried to turn away, not wanting to look into his evil eyes. However when she did look into his eyes, a sensation consumed her.
Her presence from the moment disappeared, and she stood inside the alpha's mind, she saw fire, tremendous amounts of fire, consuming bodies, people's screams, she felt helpless, wanting to help the people, but unable to touch them. She saw children, and wives, families. Next a symbol flashed in her mind, two infinity signs looped together. And finally she saw a spiral, which she knew meant revenge.
She breathed deeply, blinking a few times, to see that no time passed at all, and that the alpha was still glaring into her soul. She was confused and terrified. Did he want her to see those memories? Did he share them with her, did he even know she saw them? By the way time only stayed still for her, she assumed he didn't even know.
Seeing her whip still laced around his body, she gave a hard tug of her wrist, sending the alpha off of her and into a near by tree. Thalia quickly got up, getting a few paces away. The alpha wasn't far behind. She barely had time to dunk and roll away before he crashed down.
However as he leap again, she knew she couldn't move fast enough, she stared up knowing she was dead. His claws hovered down, getting closer and closer to tearing her chest apart. However as his claw scraped her chest, the sharp nails were removed from her body as another low growl took place in the clearing.
Derek had transformed into his wolf form and tackled the alpha off of her. She took a few seconds to catch her breath, seeing her clothing torn about an inch from her shoulder, barely over her right breast. She felt the sting of air rushing to meet the blood that was seeping out.
She watched as Derek and the alpha circled each other. She knew this still wasn't going to end well, Derek may have bought her a few more seconds, but she was still going to die.
She could feel the heaviness in her stomach, the feeling of something terrible about to happen. She readied her whip once again, hoping to get a few hits in when convenient. She moved around the two, behind the alpha's back. As he and Derek rolled around and broke apart, she'd dart the whip, hearing the silver slash through his fur and skin.
The alpha would angrily turn towards her but Derek would be back at throwing the alpha around as much as possible. However Derek was getting tired, and the moments in between Derek getting back up to attack were becoming longer and longer, leaving the alpha with more time to respond to me. We were barely keeping the other and ourselves alive.
I got another slash in between the alpha's shoulder blades. The alpha seemingly landed a good blow against Derek, his nails raking across the beta's back. Surprisingly, the alpha didn't finish Derek off when he had the chance, no instead he growled, making Derek's wolf subdue.
I worried, seeing Derek forced to submit, it was so unlike him, so vulnerable. We'd both got our asses kicked. Instead of taking the final blow at the beta, the alpha sniffed the air, turning to me and growling, then turning to Derek's groaning form. When the alpha lifted his claws to Derek's chest I hissed angrily, drawing it's attention, however not able to stop the motion.
Or so I thought, my wrist worked on its own, tangling around the alpha's descending hand, and with a forceful tug, the wolf was pulled away from Derek's body. The alpha yelped in pain as the silver dug into it's skin, and then dashed out of the clearing. I quickly helped Derek, not wanting to stick around for the werewolf to come back.
"How deep is it?" Thalia asked with concern.
"I'll live." He grunted and unwillingly let me support some of his weight.
"I smell your blood." Derek growled, his icy blue eyes looking at my light slashes.
"I'll live." Nathalia said throwing his words back at him. He growled.
"You don't understand. Your blood, makes it hard to control the wolf." He bit at the brunette carrying him, he sounded angry and frustrated, she could understand, herself being exhausted, in pain, and having gotten her ass kicked wasn't exactly in the bests of moods either.
"I can'-t" Thalia was cut off as a strong stinging pain overcame her entire body. She dropped to the ground on her knee. Derek leaning against a tree not understanding why she fell. The scratches weren't that deep?
The brunette withered in pain and pulled at her shirt, staring down at her shoulder in pain. Her skin was pulling itself together, a healing process that would normally take months to heal, happened in seconds. It burned, it hurt, but when it was finished, the creamy skin shinned in the daylight, unscarred.
Thalia's green eyes flashed to Derek's. She stared at him with horror in her eyes, no longer pain, but fear. Derek watched her carefully not understanding what happened. She wreaked of human, her heart beat like a human, she was human, he was sure of that.
So why did she just heal faster than any supernatural creature he'd ever seen heal before. Why did her normal scent of grapefruit and woodsy pine needles smelled different to him right now. She smelled of ashes, dirt, and power. He felt the strong essence of power coming from her in the clearing, she obviously had no clue. But he felt the connection, and the strength.
The brunette slowly got up from the ground, to him she looked like she'd been reborn, into who she was supposed to be. Stronger and Thriving. However, her doe eyes, and insecure look cast towards her shaking hands, made him realize how terrified she was.
"Nathalia..." Derek said quietly, not to scare her. Her green eyes flashed up to him, fearing him instantly, she took a small step back. He saw across her face that she was worried he'd kill her. "We need to get out of these woods." Derek said and leaned off the tree, putting an arm out to the scared girl.
"Wha-what's happening to me?" She stuttered, not taking his arm.
"I don't know, you're human. That's all I know." He told her honestly, "But I've never seen a human heal like that." He spoke quietly.
"Are you going to kill me?" She asked quietly, her body instinctivly moving backwards. The recent trauma causing her to be skittish and weak, she was confused, she was scared, she wasn't... normal. Her eyes never met his as her mind swirled through what was happening.
"No, I'm not going to hurt you." Derek said, he wasn't sure if he was being honest, if she turned out to be a threat, he would have to eliminate said threat, but right now, he had no intention of harming the girl.
"People hurt and kill things they don't understand..." She spoke silently, rationalizing her fear to him. She was right, he knew it, people didn't accept what society said wasn't normal, and she certainly wasn't normal in the mundane world or in the supernatural world.
She slowly walked closer to him, and cautiously took his arm again, helping him trudge through the forest. Her mind was a wind-whirl of thoughts and emotions and concerns.
Of course this was what the Council of Keepers had been waiting for, had been hoping for. Specialized Keepers, like her Great Grandmother, and Grandmother. It was in her blood line, she'd just never truly experienced it, or even thought of herself as gifted when she'd grown up and trained with other Keeper's her age, she'd always been behind and uninterested.
She'd believed her Grandmother and the family journals about the special abilities, but she'd never imagined them happening to her. Let alone how she was supposed to control them and use them.
Although she wanted to be excited for her family and the Council, she felt her stomach fill with dread, She'd never have a normal life, she'd be whisked back to the Council for years of training, for observation, and "the greater good." They'd pair her with the next strongest Keeper, hoping to "breed" another specialized heir. The thought disgusted her.
"You can't tell anyone about what just happened." Derek said quietly. She nodded repetitively. She knew he was right, at least for now, until she better understood what was going on, maybe it was a one time thing. She doubted it, knowing since she'd arrived in Beacon Hills that she'd felt different, stimulated, powerful, and hyper-in-tuned to her environment since she'd stepped foot in the vast California woods.
"If this is my family legacy they'll know how to help me, they'll know what's going on." Thalia said with a little bit more hope in her parents not to sell her out to the Council right away.
"They might, but you should try to figure it out on your own first, sometimes family and blood don't protect you, power changes people." Derek said looking at Thalia seriously, he out of everyone knew how titles and power could change people, wolves, and humans.
"Maybe it was a one time thing." Thalia said quietly with a huff as she helped pull him under a low hanging tree limb. He didn't say anything back to her, both of them knowing the statement was a lie, but neither wanting to confront it.
They didn't talk as she settled him in his car, he refused to let her drive, so she found him driving her to her house. He came inside with her when he listened and told her that her family was gone.
She wouldn't admit it but she didn't want to be alone right now.
He wouldn't admit it, but having someone to clean out his wound and mend him back together and a place to stay would benefit him greatly, and deep down he didn't want to leave Nathalia alone with her new found secret.
He followed her inside her house, she lead the way upstairs to her bedroom, it was large, and cozy, and surprisingly mature. He'd expected stuffed animals or punk rock bands. Instead he was met with three soft teal walls, and a striking tan fourth wall to contrast the coloring. He glanced over her picture board, her desk, her queen sized bed clad in a deep royal blue bed spread and the formal set of pillows and throws to complete the set.
Her closet was large, and her bathroom was connected to her bedroom, and surprisingly big and kept completely clean. The girls room was in order, he assumed her parents were strict or she'd just cleaned it.
"You can sit on the bed." Thalia commented off handedly, as she went into her large bathroom and grabbed four black towels, and a large first aid kit. She began wetting one towel under warm water. When she came back, she set up a towel behind his back on the bed, and two on his sides, and kept the half wet towel in her hand.
The brunette girl kneeled in front of him, opening the first aid kit and readying the sterilizing spray for the needle, wire thread, and the clamps. She prepared the rubbing alcohol, and then looked up for permission to proceed.
Derek peeled his shirt from his body. Holding it in his hands for a moment, before the girl took the clothing item and discarded of it in the trash, he rolled her eyes, but neverless agreed that the shirt was no longer of use to him.
Nathalia bit her lip, looking away from his tanned and naked torso for a moment. He assumed she was gathering her composure, and he nearly smirked at her reaction. However he soon noticed it wasn't that she was flustered by his nakedness, so much as embarrassed and nervous.
He wanted to roll his eyes at this girls innocence. She'd hunted hunters, and helped werewolf packs to survive and regroup, yet she'd never been in the same room of a shirtless male? Despite the pain ripping through his wounds, he made a snarky comment.
"You're pretty sheltered aren't you." His comment drew her attention back, however her eyes remained locked with his.
"I'm not as sheltered as you think." She retorted, and seemed to have gathered the confidence and stubbornness to set her sites on fixing his bloodied flesh.
Despite the harshness of her voice seconds before, she used extreme gentle movements to clean his tender skin of the blood. Letting the warmth of the water trail his skin as she wiped and smudge the blood away.
As he lay, letting a complete stranger care for his wounds, he thought of the strange power she'd admitted in the woods, and the instant healing she'd gone through. He'd seen the look she had when the wolf was on top of her, her eyes dazed out, and back in just as quickly.
He felt an overwhelming need to protect her when he saw the alpha hovering over her. The part that couldn't rationalize why he felt a need to follow her through the woods and protect her told himself it was because he'd be blamed if her body came up missing and she had DNA all over his house. The other part of him, knew it was a supernatural connection, that he was drawn to her, he was drawn to her power, even if she or he didn't know what it was.
He felt the connection spark avidly between them right after her shoulder healed, when her green iris's latched onto his, he felt the connection draw him closer. He felt genuine concern for the scared girl standing before him. He didn't know her, he didn't know anything about her, but he felt a pull of attachment and protectiveness over her.
He knew she didn't understand it, maybe she felt it too, but didn't know enough about the supernatural world to read into it, but he was sure she'd acknowledged something happened that drew them together in the woods and even now after. He felt the needle pinching in and out of his skin, as her warm hands worked the needle into tight and small stitches, to heal his wounds faster.
He couldn't pin point the strange feeling he got when she was around, he noticed it the night directly after their run in with Kate. He'd felt it, but easily ignored it as physical appreciation and attraction. However after today, he couldn't ignore it, when he saw her stand like a newborn phoenix, he felt her power radiate from her, into the woods, warming him with waves of energy and strength. He'd never felt anything like it, she was a hot spot, radiating heat, power, and strength.
He felt a growing connection to the selfless and too curious for her own good girl, he couldn't describe what the connection was, but he'd felt it the other night when she'd helped with the Hunter's, he'd felt himself drawn to her on the full moon, and especially found himself drawn to her today when she entered the woods.
Derek knew he'd use this time to understand what a Keeper really was. He'd observe her, she was selfless and careful not to hurt him any further, which war far kinder than anyone he'd interacted with the past two years. She was soft when focused, and strong and fierce when she had incentive. He understood parts of her personality, but he saw no amplified abilities or characteristics that showed signs of a supernatural resident.
She looked up at him when she'd felt his long stare, Derek didn't move his eyes or pretend to look away, instead he stared harder, trying to get a judge of her abilities, and understand her heritage.
"You've lost a lot of blood, werewolf or not, you should get some rest." She told him and moved to clean over his wounds with warm water one last time, finishing the stiches and sterilizing. He handed her the towels back and wouldn't admit it, but when he stood he felt light headed.
"I'll make you some protein to eat, and then you can sleep on the bed, I'll take the pull out." Nathalia rambled nervously, under any other situation he might have laughed that a girl picked the spare and small bed over sleeping next to him.
"I'll take the pull out." Derek commented leaving no room for debate.
She moved towards the window, and pulled apart the cushions on her window seat, and extended a twin sized pull out bed, she moved to the top of her closet grabbing a sheet and another comforter along with two pillows. She set up the bed, while Derek stood in the bathroom, looking at his chest and back, and the tender pink flesh that angrily protested his movement.
She wordlessly left the room to go downstairs and heat up last nights left over steak fajita's, while preparing some queso and salsa, and a huge cup of water, along with four ibuprofen.
She appeared in her bedroom about ten minutes later, skillfully carrying everything, handing him the food and drink.
"I'm gonna shower really quick." She murmured more to herself than him, he didn't give any implication he heard her, but she knew he had. She pealed her shirt off, and happily disposed of it in her laundry bin, she didn't notice the door cracked slightly or the werewolf sitting on her pull out bed slyly staring as she took off her tight leggings and stood in only her sports bra and underwear.
She disappeared from view as she moved towards the shower. He finished eating and drinking the water, and slowly let the exhaustion of blood loss and major defeat from the alpha claim him. He vaguely remembered hearing her get out of the shower and bathroom, but didn't pay much attention, just knowing her presence was near and he could feel a small powerful hum emitting from inside her. Something had woken up inside of her, something strong. He was too tired to care at the moment.
Chapter Three Done, boom OUT!
I hope you're enjoying, as always please read and review, please let me know what you like or don't like, what you want me to elaborate on, or character's I should focus on? I'm so excited with where this story is going, I really have some amazing idea's, it's just getting through the explanations and background to get it to the thrive of the actions, the thrive of their growing friendship, and the thrive of the plot!
Again please Read and Review! I write about 6,000 words each chapter and like to know how I do! Or what I can do better at!
