A/N: As always the first thing I want to do is thank you all for following and/or favoriting my story. A special thank you to those that have left reviews! Not only do I enjoy hearing back from you all, but it helps inspire me to keep writing. All the feedback I've gotten is greatly appreciated.

Shell8bee gets a special shout out for giving me feedback on how she felt I handled Derek's voice in chapter two. And since no one has come back and told me I completely missed the mark on capturing his flow, I figured I'd try it again. :-O

I will be falling into a more standard weekly update. I may at times do two updates a week but that depends greatly on what time I have to write. When I can I'll certainly do two.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and please review! It really does help my creative juices since your reviews feed me like French fries and ice cream, but with none of the calories and guilt.

POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT FOR EPISODE 1

Chapter 4 – Panic Attacked

They rode the distance to his loft in silence.

Not uncomfortable, but definitely stuffy. Holly's consciousness resided in a different world. On the occasions when he glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, or turned to watch her while idling at a stoplight she stared out the passenger window. Her left had held the drinks on her lap and kept them from spilling, while she propped her right elbow on the arm rest and tugged her bottom lip with her thumb and forefinger. Another of her tells. Holly was talkative, always had been. In the past, they'd carried on complete conversations where he only contributed a handful of words. Something bothered her to the point of silence. Silence usually meant she was upset.

Something bothered her. Which meant something bothered him.

It had been the second thing he noticed when he walked into the restaurant and his eyes found her. The first had been her.

He couldn't define the difference. Six years ago she'd been Holly. The sweet, if not slightly awkward girl, five months his junior, who spent more time at his house than hers because of her father. Mr. Williams mistakenly thought daughters were for pushing around, bullying and hitting, not protecting. And Mrs. Williams couldn't see past her own gilded cage to protect her daughter.

Since neither of her parents were up to the task, Holly became his to protect.

As they grew closer he grew more protective, but this felt different. Less duty bound and more instinctual, but that didn't make sense. She wasn't one of his wolves, she wasn't even a wolf, she was just Holly. With great legs that he found himself focusing on more often than he should. And she smelled amazing. Like the lilacs that used to grow outside his bedroom window on the trestle and something spicier… cinnamon or something… something driving him crazy and making his pulse beat faster.

Derek pushed the button to lower his window, gripped the steering wheel tighter and focused on the road instead of the bare thigh in the seat next to him. He dismissed the rousing desire as primal need. He'd been celibate for too long and something about her stimulated the wolf's craving to mate.

Would she let him if he tried? He pondered the question, glanced at her legs, and mentally chastised himself. Derek knew he didn't have time for the distraction, just as surely as he knew he needed the distraction. His problems were multiplying and becoming more complicated and difficult and his lack of answers to the mounting questions set him on edge. He needed to give his mind a break. Focus it on something else so he could come back clearer. Of course, that didn't mean focusing it on Holly's scent.

Slowing down, Derek turned off the street and into a short alley way. A few feet in he made another turn into the open first floor area that served as his garage.

"This is kinda shady, Derek."

"What?" Turning the motor off, Derek looked over at Holly as she spoke for the first time since getting into his car.

"This," she made a vague gesture out the windshield. "I'm just saying, the only reason I'm not about to ask why brought me to rape central is because I know you."

Derek started to reply only to quickly snap his mouth shut and stare at their surroundings.

"I live here."

The words finally left his mouth as he climbed out. With a quick motion to Holly, she followed him onto the lift. Two heartbeats echoed in the loft space they rose towards. One belonged to Isaac. He left the young wolf to finish recuperating. The other heartbeat belonged to his uncle. He hadn't been there when he left and he hadn't called. Which meant he came over uninvited.

Typical Peter Hale.

Except Derek really didn't feel like dealing with Peter's bullshit, not now. Especially not tonight.

"You live in an abandon warehouse?" Holly asked as they rode upward.

"I like the quiet and the open space."

"Derek Hale a squatter."

The amusement in her voice pushed a smile across his lips. As the elevator came to a stop he leaned in with his lips close to her ear, whispering, "Who says I'm squatting?"

His words punctuated by a gentle but quick pinch to her side as he brushed past her. Damnit he was flirting. Unintentionally, but still flirting. Derek gave a soft internal sigh and slid the heavy metal door open. Two sets of eyes turned to watch him and Holly enter. Isaac lay sprawled on the couch almost exact where he left him while Peter stood, arms folded, body half turned from the large bay window that overlooked the street. He probably watched them drive up.

"Well, well," Peter began as he turned fully to face them. "Look what the cat dragged in."

"Hi Mr. Hale."

"Oh, no… please. I insist all lovely young ladies call me, Peter."

Derek pressed his lips together and gave Peter his best, back the hell off look. In the event his uncle didn't get the interpretation, Derek moved to physically block Holly from his uncle's line of sight. It wouldn't last but hopefully Peter got that point. He gave his uncle a look that said one word loud and clear.

Mine.

"Who is she?" Isaac questioned studying Holly.

Despite her entering with Derek, he watched his pack mate trying to determine if she was friend or foe. Once he pulled one of the containers out of the bag he watched his pack mate struggle with which he was more interested in. Knowing the woman's identity, or the burgers. The burgers won, though Derek decided to satisfy his curiosity.

"This is, Holly. A childhood friend."

"Derek and Holly used to roll around in the grass together," Peter added with an amused smirk.

Derek narrowed his eyes and gave his uncle a warning look. "Holly, Isaac is a new friend."

Holly offered a smile and extended her hand to Isaac. "Nice meeting you."

"Likewise," his attention remained on her for long enough to shake her hand and quickly returned to the shopping bag.

"Brought you some dinner," Derek answered the unasked question.

Derek handed Isaac two of the five containers and gestured for him to take one of the cups from the holder Holly still held onto. The younger wolf regarded Holly again, and then gave another questioning look to Derek, who gave a subtle shake of his head. No, she didn't know about werewolves. No, she definitely didn't know he was a werewolf. Yes, he wanted to keep it that way.

"Little Holly, all grown up," Peter strolled around Derek and gave Holly a welcoming hug. "You grew up pretty. Just like your mother."

Derek didn't miss it. Hell none of the wolves in the room missed the quick uptick of Holly's heartbeat.

"Well I'm not her. My mother, that is. She's dead. She died, six years ago actually."

"I'm sorry to hear that. She was… a lovely woman."

Derek looked down, busying his fingers with laying out the other food. Her heard it again, a quickening of her pulse. Accompanied by strong feelings of anger

"Don't you have some research you're supposed to be doing, Peter?"

"Sounds like I've overstayed my welcome," Peter stated in mock secrecy to Holly.

"I'm gonna eat this upstairs," Isaac collected his meal and headed to the spiral steps. "Thanks Derek."

"Remember to practice safe sex kids," Peter offered on his way to the elevator.

Derek glared at his uncle's back before he disappeared behind the closed metal door. His impulse was to grab him by the back of the neck, toss him through the window and watch his body fall to the ground below. But he still needed Peter. Besides, he already killed him once. The man just refused to stay dead.

"I'm sorry about that," he offered to Holly once he heard the elevator engage and gestured for her to have a seat on the couch.

"No it's okay, considering all he's been through I guess he's bound to be…"

Derek smirked a bit. "…a bastard?" he supplied as she seemed to search for the right word.

"I was thinking eccentric."

"Bastard fits better."

"He um…" she gestured to her face where Peter's burn scars once rested. "He healed miraculously well."

"You saw him after the fire?"

"I went with my mother to visit him, almost every day for almost a month."

He knew he was frowning as he stared at Holly but he couldn't help it. "Why was your mother visiting Peter?"

"You didn't know either, huh?"

He took a bite of his first burger and shook his head.

"Your uncle and my mother had been having an affair."

The words triggered a quick spasm of his throat which nearly caused him to choke.

"Yeah that was pretty much my reaction when I found out. Apparently they'd been seeing each other for three years or something before the fire."

"That's…" he rubbed a hand back and forth over his hair, "Mildly disturbing."

She shrugged slightly. "It's really not that surprising. One thing I learned from living in Beacon Hill? Towns tend to have all types of twisted turns and skeletons in the closets."

Taking another bite of his burger, Derek opted to fill his mouth with food instead of words. Holly was of course right, but he doubted she had an inkling of just how many secrets were in Beacon Hill. Or how deeply they ran.

Holly finished eating first and settled back into the corner of the couch. He wished she would go back to her talkative self. He needed her to talk. It gave him something to focus on other than her scent, or her legs, or the spiral pattern her fingers made on the arm of the couch. Derek reminded himself she was a distraction from the larger problem at hand. A very pretty, soft, fleshy distraction… with the sweetest smile he'd ever seen from the Atlantic to the Pacific and all the spaces in between.

And she was terrified again. He smelled the spike of pheromones in the air.

Acting as civilized as possible he wiped his mouth with a napkin and piled the empty containers together. Holly gazed into the dark room across from the couch but he doubted she was looking at anything. She her mind drifted away from him again to someplace darker.

"Holly," he called her name softly and traced her ear with the tip of his index finger. "What is it?"

"It's a long story," she taunted with a half smirk despite the fear surrounding her.

"There's that smart ass again," Derek replied, raising both eyebrows as he regarded her with his own smile.

Holly left her sandals on the floor and pulled her legs up, tucking them under her body as she shifted on the couch to face Derek.

"I found a body at the school today."

"The school?" Derek tilted his head to the side slightly. "What school?"

"The high school."

"Beacon Hill High School?"

Holly rolled her eye and uncurled her left leg long enough to deliver a kick to Derek's thigh. "You know of another high school in Beacon Hill?"

Reflex caused Derek's hand to fly out, and his fingers to wrap around her ankle. The contact was fleeting. His fingers releasing almost as soon as they touched her skin as if they'd been seared by fire. But even the brief contact seemed enough to trigger a biological response.

"Really Derek?"

His eyes locked with hers, alarmed, surprised, and slightly embarrassed. He could feel his face turning flush. How the hell had she noticed that quick? Unless she'd been focusing on that area.

"Your take away from that sentence is the school?"

Relief flooded through his body. "I'm sorry, you just threw me being at the school." He decided to change tactics when Holly continued to stare at him as if she just caught him raising a crack pipe to his lips. "Did they identify her?"

"No," the stress levels returned to her voice. "By the time the police got there she was gone."

"What do you mean, gone?"

"I mean it in the traditional definition of the word. Body on the floor when I left. No body when I got back."

"Are you sure she was dead?"

"Yes," she nodded and held his gaze. "Half her throat was missing."

"But when the police arrived…"

"…Someone had taken her. So the police think it was a prank by one of the students. Or that I hallucinated or made it up or something."

Derek tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. Something else was there, something missing. Holly had been resilient as a teenager, and if last night was any indication she didn't shed the trait as she passed into adulthood. Derek didn't believe for one second seeing a body, even one as badly shredded as she described would scare her to the point of physically shaking. Which mean something else happened that she hadn't shared.

"What else happened? What are you not telling me?"

"First I need to know that you believe me."

"I believe you."

"Derek, I'm not making… wait… what?"

"I believe you," he repeated.

"You do?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"No one else does."

"Maybe because you didn't tell them what you're about to tell me."

She rolled her eyes and stood. She wandered to the window and wrapped her hands around her body. Rubbing her arms as if it would chase the chill away. Or maybe it was the memory she vigorously tried to get rid of. Derek managed to wait ten whole seconds before he pursued her. She was trembling again, and as he closed the space between them he wanted to touch her. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and promise he'd keep her safe. Promise that he would protect her and wouldn't let anything happen to her.

Instead he shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans.

"Holly?" he urged softly.

"Claws."

"What?"

"I saw claws," she repeated with more conviction. "I heard something, and when I looked up I saw four claws reach around from behind the locker. They were drumming, like…like they were waiting for something. Like they knew I was there."

The alphas. Derek swore internally. It had to be. And unless he completely missed his guess, the girl had been the one that helped Isaac. They'd gone to the school looking for the girl, but why had the girl gone to the school? What or who had she been looking for? Derek swore internally again when the answer hit him. She'd been looking for the only werewolf that currently went to Beacon Hill High. Scott McCall.

"Someone else was in that locker room. And they know that I was in there. And they know that I saw the girl."

"Did they see you?"

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Did you see them?"

"No, I just saw the claws, and I know, I know they couldn't have been claws because that would mean it was an it, not a he or a she, and I know it wasn't an animal because animals don't go around drum their fingers because they don't have fingers, and… they don't… go roaming… schools… or hiding… in… locker rooms after killing… girls…"

"Holly?"

Derek pressed his palms against her shoulders as her breathing grew staggered and erratic until the point of hyperventilation.

"Calm down. Holly."

He caught her as her knees buckled and eased her to the ground. She sat back on her knees, palms pressing against the floor as she panted and struggled to regain her breath. A struggle she seemed to be losing as her hyperventilation turned to ragged, desperate gasps for air.

"She's having a panic attack."

Derek snapped his attention to Isaac, barefooted and sitting at the top of the steps with his arms resting on his knees. He looked defeated as he watched them, as he watched Holly.

"I used to get them when my dad locked me in the deep freezer. Just get her to focus on something other than what triggered it."

"I don't know what trigger it," Derek bit the words out. "Holly? Holly?"

His impulse was to shake her but instinct told him that was probably the worst possible thing he could do. Shaking someone having a panic attack would hardly settle them down. Bending down behind her, Derek wrapped both arms around her waist and hoisted her up. He turned her body midair so he could cradle his arm behind her knees while he carried her to the bed.

She clung to him as she continued to breathe erratically. Arms tightly around his shoulders and neck, face pressed against his chest… even her body felt like she curled it against his. She refused to let go, even after he made it the short distance to the bed she continued holding onto him like sea star suctioned to the side of an aquarium.

"Comfort her, Derek," Isaac instructed, unmoved from his position. "You have to let her know she's gonna be all right. Even if she's not," he added softly.

With Holly subconsciously or consciously refusing to release him, Derek positioned himself in the middle of the bed, with his back resting against the headboard, and Holly curled on his lap. He rest one hand against her back and used the fingers of his other to smooth her curls away from her forehead and cheek.

"This is your safe zone," he heard her mutter softly, though the words were muddled against his chest. "Nothing can hurt you in your safe zone."

"That's right," he agreed softly. "I won't let anything hurt you."

The three of them sat there for a while.

Isaac on the steps with his head resting against the brick wall and his eyes fixed on the nearly full moon out the window.

Derek with his back against the headboard, legs stretched out in front and crossed at the ankles. Occasionally he whispered reassuring words to her, but as the minutes passed and she slowly relaxed more and more his words gave way to silence and he used his touch to convey her safety. He continued to cradle her on his lap, his right hand resting with his fingers lightly curled against her hip. His left thumb under her hair, lazily moving in a circular pattern.

And Holly. She started off with every muscle bunched and coiled, clinging to Derek as if he were the last life preserver, and holding onto him meant the difference between living and drowning. Slowly the tension left her body until she reclined limply against him.

He could tell she wasn't sleep, her breathing lacked the deep patterns indicative of slumber, but she hadn't moved. Not that Derek cared. He could have sat there all night holding her, standing, or sitting guard as it were. She felt warm. She felt comforting. Everything about holding her felt right. Like it was the most natural thing in the world to do. Derek realized for the first time in years, he felt… content.

"What time is it?"

Holly's voice finally broke the silence in a whisper. The question caused the first stir of motion since he settled them on the bed as he fished the phone from his back pocket.

"Almost eleven."

"It's late," she spoke after a resigned sigh. "I should go home."

"Stay here."

Holly sat up abruptly. Her gaze locked with his and less than six inches away. The request surprised her as much as it surprised him.

"I'll sleep on the couch," he added after they continued to stare at each other for what felt like another hour.

"I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"All right, fine. I shouldn't."

"Why?"

"We can start with how completely embarrassed I am after freaking out in front of you and Isaac."

"You saw a girl with her throat ripped out, and you're scared whoever killed her saw you and they might try to kill you because they think you can identify them. How am I doing so far?" he asked in a faux whisper.

"The nail's flush against the wall."

"I'm pretty sure freaking out is a normal reaction."

"Thanks," she pulled back and made a crawling transition from his lap to the bed. "And your bed is pretty huge, you don't have to sleep on the couch. Besides, I trust you."

He missed the warmth of her body as soon as she moved. Resisting the urge to pull her back only became possible once he stood.

"Stay here while we figure something out. Tomorrow you can pick up a few things from your place."

He leaned down and cupped her cheek with his hand and pressed a kiss to her forehead. He told himself the only reason he touched her face was to keep her still for the duration of the kiss. Not so his thumb could stroke her skin

"I'll get you something to sleep in."

Holly began reclining against the bed but soon sat back up. "I need to get my car."

"Where are you keys?"

"In my purse."

"I'll take Isaac. He can drive it back."

"And suddenly I'm glad it's a rental. No offense, Isaac," she offered the teenager a smile.

Isaac tried, but his look of reassurance left plenty to be desired.

"Who is she again?" Isaac questioned as soon as the elevator was in motion.

"I told you. A friend."

"What kind of a friend?"

"And old friend."

"What kind of an old friend?"

"One that's not new."

"Do you trust her?"

"With my life."

"Does she know about you?" he continued the questions as they walked from the elevator toward the Camaro.

"Nope."

"Is it a good idea to have her staying here?"

"Probably not."

"Then why—"

"—Because she's my friend, Isaac." Derek stopped and faced the kid over the roof of his car. "When we were kids I promised her I'd be there for her, that I'd always protect her. When my family was murdered I broke that promise. Now she's back, I'm back, and I plan to do everything in my power to make sure she stays safe and I can't do that if she's on the other side of the city."

Isaac stared at him as slow realization sunk in. "You think the murdered girl she saw is the one I told you about."

"You're thinking the same thing."

"Which means the alphas killed her."

Derek pressed his lips together grimly and gave a nod. He knew the subject of the girl was touchy for Isaac. She'd saved his life and he hadn't been able to return the favor. Guilt ate away at him. Guilt was a very familiar feeling.

"You think they were still in the locker room? That they were the ones that Holly saw?"

"And that they saw her."

His young pack mate finally relented with twenty questions long enough to get into the car. Once behind the wheel, Derek headed out but his destination wasn't downtown to Holly's car. At least not right away.

"Where are we going?"

"The school."

"Why?" Isaac asked as he shifted uncomfortably.

The kid was scared and he had good reason to be. Isaac went up against the alphas and barely made it back. He had no recollection of what happened before the girl showed up and helped him escape. His memories muddled and removed. Derek hoped his plan worked, otherwise he might have to resort to more drastic measures.

"You're the only one that has a connection with the girl," he began as he pulled his car into the school parking lot. "If you're at the place she died, there's a chance you might be able to pick up something."

"Like what?" Isaac looked at him questioningly.

"Like maybe see the last moments before she was killed."

Isaac frowned but followed Derek around the back of the school. Derek liked Isaac, could feel himself getting attached to the young man. When he first bit him, it had been mostly selfish reasons, though Isaac had been carefully selected because of his father. Derek needed to build his pack, but more than anything he considered the bite a gift. And like all gifts, the more deserving the person the more they appreciated it. He thought they would be grateful, he thought they would be loyal, he'd been wrong.

Derek couldn't ignore the fact that Boyd and Erica had been captured in the midst of deserting their pack. If they hadn't left him, they wouldn't have been in the woods. If they hadn't been in the woods, the alphas wouldn't have had the chance to grab them. Unfortunately, Derek realized something else as well. They deserted because of him.

Boyd and Erica left because they were scared, because they didn't feel safe. Because he didn't make them feel safe. If he'd been a stronger leader, a better leader, Boyd and Erica might not be missing. Derek wanted so much to be like his father, strong, noble, the kind of man that others looked up to. But he found the harder he tried to be that man, the shorter he fell from his goal.

"She was here," Isaac confirmed once they were inside.

The beta moved quickly pausing long enough to pick up the scent again before jogging up the steps.

"Hey Derek?"

"Yes."

"Can I ask you something?"

"If I say no are you going to ask anyway?"

"Probably," Isaac offered an apologetic look and Derek made a vague continue gesture as they moved down the hallway. "Well, see I was just thinking…"

"Just ask whatever it is you're want to ask, Isaac."

"Why would Deucalion care if Holly saw him? He doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that really gives a rat's ass about witnesses."

"He wouldn't hurt her because she saw him. He would hurt her because of me."

"I don't get it. How would he know she's a friend of yours?"

"Remember I told you I got away from the alphas because I got hit by a car last night?"

"Yeah."

"Holly's the one that hit me."

For some reason, that amused Isaac to the point of laughter. "No way… oh… um…" the laughter died away in the face of Derek's stony stare.

"Deucalion's smart enough to put it together. And he's psychotic and fanatical enough to use her to get to me."

"Right," Isaac nodded and cleared his throat as they approached the locker room.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah."

The smell of blood and bleach assaulted Derek's nose as soon as he pushed the door open. Isaac peaked over his shoulder and followed behind him, both wolves entering the locker room. Someone had definitely died inside the room.

"What am I supposed to do?" Isaac questioned timidly stepping around his alpha.

Derek gestured for Isaac to have a seat on the wooden bench, positioning himself behind the beta.

"Use your senses," he instructed. "Hear her. Smell her. Pick up her vibrations.

As he spoke he stepped back, distancing himself from Isaac, from potentially interrupting the pattern. Chances were it wouldn't work, at least he'd never heard of a bitten wolf connecting with the dead the way birth wolves could. But the worst thing that would happen… it wouldn't work.

"She was hear," Isaac confirmed. "She was afraid."

Derek continued to stand back, arms folded over his chest. So far, Isaac told him nothing they didn't already know. Holly's story confirmed she'd been there, and only a fool wouldn't have been afraid of Deucalion.

"Concentrate, Isaac. Listen, what do you hear?"

"I… I…"

Eyes closed, Isaac stood and moved closer to a set of lockers. The closer he got, the slower he moved as if reluctant to finish the journey but driven to complete it. He stopped less than three feet away and slowly sank to his knees, his hand reaching up at the same time, reaching out to brush his fingers against the wall.

The terrified scream ripped from his throat at the moment of contact.

Derek leapt into action, grabbing Isaac around the shoulders and yanking him back. But even then the wolf continued screaming. His irises glowing yellow as the wolf fought to come to the surface.

"Isaac!"

Derek pushed his beta to the ground and let his own wolf up to the surface. Just enough to color his eyes. Just enough to put that growl of authority into his voice and pull Isaac from the embrace of the ghost and back to the present.

Terrified, he blinked and stared up at Derek with a petrified expression.

"It's okay."

"I didn't see anything," Isaac confessed. "I didn't see anything I just felt pain."

Careful to keep anything that resembled emotion from bleeding into his face, Derek stood and reached a hand down to his beta. Isaac hadn't gotten an impression, he gotten a death possession. Interesting but not particularly helpful.

"It's okay, Isaac," he repeated. "There's something else we can try."

"Yeah?" he looked doubtful, but his voice sounded hopeful.

"There might be a way to access the memories they stole from you last night."

"How's it work?"

"I don't really know."

"Then how are you gonna do it?"

"I'm not."

Derek made his way back to the door, pulled it open and gestured for Isaac to exit.

"The who is?"

"Peter."

For a moment, Isaac looked like he might start screaming all over again.