1Okay, I've had a lot of people ask me if later in the story I'm going to make them older, and since it's such a popular demand, I probably will. But it probs won't be until, like, chapter 8 or somewhere around there. For now they're still 8 and 7. For a recap, yes Derek did realize Chloe was his mate, but no, there's no talk about her being a necromancer yet. Chloe does have her mothers' necklace, so that hasn't changed.

DPOV

After about an hour and a half of lifting weights, doing push up, sit ups, jumping rope, and hitting a punching bag, I was finally cooled down enough to go upstairs without ripping someone's head off. I was sitting against the wall next to the mats Chloe was still sleeping on. I was breathing deeply, but I wasn't gasping for air like other kids would. But I get hotter and sweatier than other kids. About a half hour into the session I shucked off my t-shirt, and still haven't put it back on. I need a shower, bad, but I don't want to let Chloe out of my sight until she wakes up. That way I'll be able to hear her if anything goes wrong.

Dad's still convinced he did the right thing last night. Says that the pills were prescribed to her and she deserved to get some sleep after the things she had to endure in the past week. If everything else she's gone through was anything like what she told me happened at the hospital, I will agree that she's had a helluva week, but drugging her is not the proper solution. He tried to come down and talk to me about 45 minutes ago, but I didn't unlock the door for him. He also tried talking-or as he put it, 'reasoning'- with me through the door, but it was a one sided conversation, I refused to respond, afraid of what I'd say.

Now that I've cleared my head, I realized that I can't be mad at him. He really thought he was doing the right thing, and even though he couldn't have been more wrong, his intentions were good. He was concerned about her and truly believed that it was the only option. So no, I can't be mad at him, but I can be disappointed. There were plenty of alternative solutions; he just didn't take the time to think of any of them. This wasn't going to happen again, I'd make sure of it. I could stay with her, watch over her while she slept. Or maybe I could watch Dad and make sure that he didn't go near her when she couldn't defend herself. I could take him; he's no match a werewolf, even if I am only eight. Of course there are other ways, there's always an answer to every problem. And I was determined to find the answer to this one.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard Chloe's breathing hitch. She was finally awake. She sat up slowly rubbing her hands over her face. She groggily looked around the room swallowing loudly. When she narrowed her eyes curiously and cocked her head to the side. She tried to speak but her throat was dry and she just ended up coughing. Probably a side affect from those stupid pills. I pushed aside the anger that came with that thought and I went over to the mini fridge filled with waters. I handed her one and she gave me a small smile that made my heart skip. She struggled to unscrew the cap and I could smell her getting frustrated. I laughed softly and took it from her. She glared at the bottle and crossed her arms over her chest. I bit back the laugh that threatened to come out, she'd probably think I was laughing at her. I undid the cap for her and handed back to her. She took a big gulp and cleared her throat.

"Th-thanks." I nodded.

We sat there in an uncomfortable silence while she surveyed the room, taking in every detail. Finally she turned back to me. "Wh-where a-are w-w-we?"

"Basement... well home gym I guess."

"W-why?"

I just shrugged. I felt guilty for not telling her, but she's got too much baggage, it would only make things more complicated for her. She looked at me like I was crazy.

"W-well then h-how did I g-get h-here?" You know, her stutter is really cute.

"I carried you," I said without thinking. By the look on her face I knew I had just made a big mistake.

"Wh-what? Y-you carried m-me? But your l-like eight, th-there's no w-way y-you're st-strong e-enough. I w-weigh l-like s-seventy p-pounds!" Ha, I doubt it.

I let my breath hiss out of my nose. I sauntered over to the weight shelf. I looked at the weight on all of them until I found one that read 80 pounds. I picked it up in one hand with little effort and went back over to Chloe, who was staring at me quizzically. I held it up the side that said the weight in front of her face. Her eyes widened in shock. She defenately has no idea what we are.

"Believe I could carry you now?"

She seemed to snap out of a daze and her eyes snapped to meet mine. She shook her head. "N-nope. A w-weight is d-different fr-from a person."

"Oh really? So you think I'm lying?" I teased.

"Uh-huh." She looked at me with defiance set in her stare and crossed her arms over her chest smiling.

I fake sighed and dramatically looked away from her and throwing the weight into the corner."I was hoping I didn't have to do this, but..." I turned towards her and swiftly picked her up bridal style. She let out a yelp and rapped her arms around my neck. I smiled smugly and gave her a look that said, 'I told you so.' But she didn't see it because her eyes were squeezed shut. I chuckled. She hesitantly cracked open one eye, then the other. The corners of my lips twitched up in a smile. How did I get lucky enough to have such an adorable mate?

"Oh y-yeah, well... y-your just holding me now. Running up and d-down stairs is totally d-different."

"Is that a challenge?" Yeah, I'm being cocky, I know it. But this girl makes me that way. Her response was a look that said everything. She didn't believe me and wanted proof. Well, she did ask for it...

I raced up the steps of the stairs while Chloe squealed and tightened her grip on my neck, afraid that I would drop her. That was the last thing I planned on doing. After a second she realized I had everything undercontrol and she stopped having mini spazz-attacks with every step I took. It was quite amusing actually. When we finally made it to the kitchen I sat her down on the circle table we have next to the island. She was facing me and had a death grip on my shoulders. I was standing in between her legs with my hands still on her lower back. Her face was identical to one you would have after going on your first upside-down-roller-coaster. Her beautiful blue eyes were wide, she was breathing heavily and her heart was hammering loudly in her chest.

I was suddenly aware of just how this might look to anyone who came into the room. They'd, of course, assume the worst-or at least the worst that an eight year old boy can do with a seven year old girl- and then we'd both blush and be thoroughly embarrassed. I took a second to really look at Chloe. She was wearing an orange shirt that was tied at the end with a rubber band so that it didn't drag on the floor when she walked. I was going to guess that it was her Dads' because the sleeves went to her elbows, but were stitched to be short sleeved on some one who was actually the right size for it. One of the sleeves had fallen down her shoulder and I reached up and gently put it back., finger lightly grazing her skin. I saw goose bumps on her arms but figured that she must be cold, it was the end of fall.

My emerald green eyes were captured by her big blues ones. I knew that I should look away from her eyes, but I didn't. I knew that I should pull away from her before Dad or Simon came and saw us, but I couldn't. I wanted nothing more than to give into what the wolf was urging me to do, but I knew I shouldn't.

Kiss her. No ones around, she isn't pulling away, and most of all, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO! So just do it, not like you're really doing anything wrong.

No, it's wrong. You don't meet people and then carry them up some stairs and try to kiss them the next day. It just doesn't work that way. Sure, I wanna kiss her, but it's wrong.

The wolf growled in frustration and sent me an image of what we would look like to some one else if we were kissing right here, right now. I felt myself get 'excited,' as Dad put it, but thankfully the table hid it. Her hands were still on my shoulders, but not holding onto them for dear life, just more like she... wanted them to be there.She licked her lips and my breath caught in my throat. Just like that, my resolve shattered as did all chances of reasonable thinking. I tightened my grip on her. She smelt confused, but not afraid. Like she had no idea what was going on, but she liked where it was going. I was about 3 inches from her face...

...when I heard Simon coming down the stairs.

I sucked in a deep breath and pulled myself away from Chloe with great difficulty. I held my breath and looked anywhere but at her. If I smelt her, I'd go back to her and... pick up where we left off(or rather where I left off.) And if I looked at her I'd do the same thing. I'd breath again once Simon came in, then, and only then, would I be able to keep myself in check.

A moment later my prays were answered and Simon came into the kitchen. When he saw Chloe he smiled, which made my insides twist. I didn't like the way he was smiling at her, it was too friendly. However, she was just smiling politely at him, it was friendly, but nothing more. Good. When Simon saw me, his smiled faltered and he regarded me curiously.

"D, where's your shirt? And your pants are doing that weird thing again." Oh god, I forgot it in the basement! And I totally forgot about my 'excitement.' Well, this isn't awkward... not!

"Basement,"I grunted, "I gunna go take a shower."

I made my way up the stairs and turned on the shower, cold water of course. I'm probably going to be taking a lot of cold showers while Chloe's here. Unfortunately, the kitchen was directly under the upstairs bathroom, so I could hear Simon strike up a conversation with my Chloe.

'Do you have any idea why he didn't have a shirt on?' Simon asked. Of course he'd think of that first. There wasn't a reply.

'Well, where have you-'

'Wh-wh-when's l-lunch? I-I'm hungry.' interrupted Chloe. Thank God.

'Uh, I don't know. I'd have to ask Dad. What do you want?'

'Hmm... p-pasta?' It came out as more of a question than a statement.

Simon noticed this too and laughed softly. 'Pasta sounds great. But may I ask why you picked pasta?'

'O-oh, w-well m-my mommy and I u-use to m-make it t-t-together...' she said weakly.

I heard her start to cry suddenly and decided that I didn't need to condition my hair anymore. I turned off the shower and hastily dried my self off with my towel. I looked around for my clothes, then remembered I forgot to grab some. Ugh! Stupid! She let out another sob and I heard Simon go over to her.

'Hey, don't cry.' I heard Simon say.

Oh no, he's trying to comfort her! The thought was enough to make me growl-something I've been doing a lot lately. It should be me, not him.

How dare he, she's our mate. Go and stop him idiot!

I wrapped the towel around my waist and started for my room.

'Come on, tell me what's wrong.'

I could practically see him pulling her into a hug while she cried on his shoulder.

Forget the clothes, just go now.

I agree with you on a lot of things, but clothes are kind of important, so no, I will not forget my clothes.

'I-I-I d-d-don't w-want to t-t-t-talk ab-bout it.'

'Are you sure, might make you feel better?'

Okay, maybe I'll only put on some boxers.

Thought so. Now hurry, he's trying to take our mate.

The wolf supplied various images of Simon holding Chloe tightly, Chloe's head on his chest, his hands in her hair... I growled. Throwing on some boxers I made my way downstairs. But before I could go down more than two stairs I ran into some one, literally. My arms shot out and around the person on instinct and we both fell towards the stop, landing with me on the bottom so that I absorbed the blow of the fall. Tears hit my face and I looked up to see Chloe to see with tears running down her face. She looked awful, broken. Her eyes were blood shot and she was sobbing horrible body shaking heaves.

I brought us up into sitting position and held her like I did last night. She leaned against me and held onto one of my arms. I looked down at her, she was so vulnerable, but I'd never let anything hurt her. It made me angry and upset that she was so torn up about something and I had no idea how to fix it. One minute she's talking to Simon, the next she's running up the stairs crying. Her arms were cold and felt like an ice pack against my warm skin. I may have just taken a cold shower, but I'm a werewolf, I'm always hot.

I put my fingers lightly under her chin and turned her head to face me, though it was difficult seeing how she refused to open her eyes. I spoke to her softly.

"Chloe? Will you look at me, please?" Reluctantly, she opened her eyes and looked at mine. Tears still silently flowed down her face while her bottom lip trembled. I moved my hands so that they were on either side of her face, thumbs wiping away the wetness on her cheeks.

"Why are you crying?" I whispered.

She sniffed then took a deep breath and started talking.

"D-d-do y-you kn-kn-kn-know wh-why I-I'm h-h-here?" I shook my head. Now that I thought of it, Dad had been pretty mysterious about her staying here. Why was she here? I know that her Dad is in the hospital, but what about her Mom? Or other family members?

"I-I... m-me a-and my p-p-parents, w-we got into a c-c-car c-crash. M-m-my m-m-m-m-mommy d-died..." She broke down into another fit of sobs buried her face in her neck. Her mother had died in a crash, her Dad was in the hospital because of it, but what about her? She didn't seem to be hurt. Sure, she had a couple of cuts and scrapes on her legs and face, but I figured that she was just playing around in the yard and fell or something. Never once had I thought she'd been in a car crash. The thought of her getting hurt made me furious and small red spots danced around the edges of my vision.

"Were... were you hurt?" I managed to choke out. She nodded, not taking her face away from my neck. I put my arms around her in a tight hug. She winced. I loosened my grip quickly. Had I hurt her? It was possible, I have no idea exactly how strong I am, Dad advised me not to test it.

She looked up at me sharply. "I-it's n-not y-y-your f-fault. Th-that's w-w-where I g-got h-hurt." She started to lift up her shirt and my eyes went wide. It didn't look like she was wearing any pants underneath her shirt...

She lifted it up so that I could see her ribs-and that she was wearing shorts underneath the shirt. (Thank God, who knows how I would've reacted if she wasn't. This would have been a bad time for that.) I gasped. Chloe had a big purple bruise on her stomach and ribs the size of a football. I gulped.

"Wow," a voice said.

Ohhhh, who caught them! How come Mr. Bae never told them about the car crash? Who knows? ... Oh yeah, I do. Too bad you have to wait until the next chapter to find out. :P Love you guys! Review!