My birthday. Oh joy. I swear my parents enjoyed my birthday more than I did. They got to embarrass me to no end and they had an excuse to tell lame jokes and puns all day. Starting with first thing in the morning when they burst in my room with balloons and streamers singing 'Happy Birthday.' I had been having such a wonderful dream, then it was rudely interrupted by the birthday brigade.

I fought through the balloons and tripped over streamers on my way to the bathroom. The balloons and streamers continued down the stairs and into the living room.

"I made your favorite monkey bread!" My mom said. "But first I want you to open your present."

My dad handed me a small box wrapped in wrapping paper. I tore at it like a rabid dog, expecting something like jewelry, but instead I found...

"Car keys?" I held up the key ring with the keys attached.

"First thing tomorrow I'm taking you to the DMV to take your drivers test. And then you can drive yourself to school. Do you want to see it?"

"Yes!" I shot out the door to where a new Subaru Crosstrek was sitting in the driveway. I hugged both my parents jumping up and down in excitement, thanking them over and over.

"Come on, lets take it for a spin."

"Richard..." My mom gave him a look.

"It's practice for tomorrow. Though I think she'll do fine."

After a quick drive around the neighborhood we went back inside, gorged ourselves on monkey bread and eggs and bacon. Then we all sat around and watched movies and ate junk food like we usually did to celebrate birthdays. Then we ended the night going out to dinner at a local diner and ate lots of cake and almost made ourselves sick. Overall it was a good birthday.

I went upstairs later that evening, after my sister was in bed, hoping to sleep before tomorrow, but I really couldn't count on anything after all that sugar I ate.

I closed my door, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up. Something was off. Something was definitely-

A hand shot out of the dark, clamping itself over my mouth, pulling my body back into a large, muscular chest. I struggled against the man, even as he shushed me, his warm breath fanning over my ear.

"Hey, hey. I'm not going to hurt you." I knew that voice.

I looked up to see familiar dark hair and green eyes. I started struggling even more, thinking he was going to kill me too.

"I didn't kill anyone. I was released last night because it was an animal that killed her. And you know who it was that was killed? My sister."

I stopped struggling. His pulse was steady from where it beat against my fingers on his wrist. I slowed my breathing down, relaxing in his hold. He moved his hand away slowly, testing to see if I'd scream. When I didn't he moved away from me so quickly I almost fell over.

"Why are you here?" I asked him quietly as he stood near my dresser that still had boxes on top of it.

"I have to explain some things to you. Like what I am."

"I know what you are. Witches aren't exactly sheltered from the supernatural. And I'm also having a hard time believing it was just an animal that killed your sister."

"It was an alpha. I don't know who it is yet, but it's already bit one person in Beacon Hills, Scott McCall."

I sucked in a breath. "That explains a lot." I murmured knowing he could probably hear me.

He stepped closer to me, so close I could feel the warmth coming off him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and bury myself in his warmth. He inhaled deeply, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment.

"And you should know about us." He murmured. "I did some research last night after I was released from custody and I found something." He pulled a piece of paper from his jacket pocket. He unfolded it and handed it to me.

My heart dropped to my feet. My stomach tightened and I thought I would pass out. My hand was shaking and I had to sit on my bed before I fell over. Derek stood in front of me, arms crossed as he stared down at me. I knew he could hear my heart racing and could smell the anxiety coming off me. Tears prickled behind my eyes as I looked down at the words written sloppily on the piece of paper.

Habitabit lupus alterum luna puerum suum