"My whole life, waiting for the right time, to tell you how I feel." - Hurts, Stay

Derek climbed the stairs to his loft. He was exhausted. He had spent the last five hours tracking... something. When he finally caught up to it, Derek was only able to chase it for twenty miles before the thing gave him the slip. I just want to crawl into bed and sleep for a thousand years.

It wasn't until Derek was on the landing that he heard the arguing. Two male voices echoing down the hall... from inside Derek's apartment. Derek sighed. He did not want to deal with any crazy theories that Stiles had come with and that Scott would fully support.

"I knew this was a bad idea but this!" Scott's muffled voice shouted.

"It's not my fault. If he had just agreed to come with us-"

Stiles retort was int interrupted by Scott, "There had to be a better way!"

The sliding creak of the loft door silenced their argument. Both boys stared at Derek with horrified eyes as the alpha stepped inside his home. "What the hell are you two doing here?" Derek asked calmly, anger edged in his voice. They just stood there, deer in headlights. "Tell me what's going on here," Derek prompted. Their eyes drifted over to the bed.

Derek hadn't noticed at first, too distracted by the annoying teenagers, that someone was lying in his bed. His heart stopped a moment when he realized it was Isaac. Isaac, the boy Derek had been talking with for weeks. The boy Derek was trying to warm up to. The boy Derek wanted in his pack. The boy who had no idea knowledge of werewolves what so ever was now lying in Derek's bed in Derek's loft.

Derek didn't know if he should worried or angry. Isaac could be unconscious after be attacked by something supernatural. Problem was that Scott would have taken him to Deaton first. Whatever happened to Isaac had something to do with the two guilt ridden teens standing before Derek.

Slowly, Derek turned his eyes to the boys in front of him. Crossing his arms, Derek stated calmly, "Explain."

"Um... Well..." Scott struggled for words.

"It's a really funny story." Stiles tried, not wanting to explain.

Derek's stoic expression told the boys they needed to explain and fast if they wanted to leave the loft in one piece.

"Stiles sorta noticed that most of the wolves' anchors were loved ones." Scott scratched his head.

"And I figured maybe that would be a better anchor for you," Stiles stepped in. When he started, he couldn't stop. "I thought that since Peter's anchor was anger and he went crazy with anger and rage and power that that might happen to you... Not right now or tomorrow or anything like that, but it was a possibility... So I figured we needed to find someone for you... even if only temporarily... That way you get a new anchor... And I've seen you talking with Isaac a few times and figuring since wasn't a werewolf then maybe... Maybe he was something different... And that you actually liked... I thought if we could get him over here and actually talk about win-win. You get a boy-toy and we get a slightly less angry alpha."

Derek stared at Stiles as the boy caught his breath. "That still doesn't explain why he's unconscious." Derek didn't like the fact that Stiles and Scott were messing in his business, he didn't like Stiles calling Isaac a "boy-toy" either, but that was for a later time.

"Well," Scott spoke-up, "when we tried to convince Isaac to come over here, he wasn't really into the idea. As I was trying to convince him that we were only coming here to get a few books we left here... Stiles sorta of... kinda... Knocked him out with chloroform."

"WHAT!?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time." Stiles sheepishly looked away.

"AND YOU WENT ALONG WITH THIS!?"

Scott through his hands up, "I didn't know chloroform would be involved."

"GET OUT!"

The teens were all to happy to go. Derek shook his head, he'll have to deal with them later.

Derek walked over to the bed. He pulled the blanket over the sleeping teen. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Derek watched over the boy as he slept. Derek will admit that he had wanted to get the shy boy into his bed. He just never thought it would end up like this. I'm so sorry, Isaac.

When Deaton returned a few minutes later, Isaac had thanked the doctor for letting him come by. Then he left, but not before saying a quick goodbye to Derek.

Deaton turned to Derek with the potion to help his healing get back on track. As he incerted the needle into Derek's arm, the vet commented, "You should really look somewhere better than a vet's office for betas, Derek."

Derek huffed, "I wasn't trying to recruit him, Deaton."

Deaton looked up at him. "Which I find surprising. You do realize you have to put a pack together."

"Yeah, I know. Just hard to wrap my head around the idea still." Derek glanced away. He didn't want to mention how drawn he felt to Isaac. He didn't want to seem like a madman.

As always, Deaton seemed to know what was going through Derek's head. "I suspect there is more to this little meeting than just two strangers having a friendly chat in a vet clinic." Deaton pulled the empty syringe from Derek's arm. "There, healing should return soon enough." Derek had been shot with an arrow lanced with wolf's bane. This breed stopped all effects of healing. Even after digging his claws into his own flesh, Derek was unable to heal.

Though the reason for why Derek had come here was done, Deaton didn't seem keen on letting him just walk out without talking about what happened with Isaac. "Tell me, Derek, did you feel any strong desire or instinct related to Isaac."

"I felt like I wanted throw him down on the table, take him, claim him, and change him. I felt like he belonged to me."

"Hm... Though unusual, it is not unheard of for an alpha's mate to human."

Derek looked-up at the calm doctor. "My... mate?"

"Yes, Derek. Those instincts you just experienced are common for most alphas. It is perfectly normal."

"Doubt Isaac would see it that way."

"Well, there are things you can do to help with the urges." After a pause, Deaton continued. "Now that you've found your mate, you'll be drawn to him. Don't try to stay away from him, your instincts will just become stronger until the full moon. Many alphas have been known to go into a frenzy looking for their mates on full moons."

"Will that happen to me?"

"Only if you deny yourself of seeing Isaac and interacting with him. Though it might be best to explain to him as soon as he's comfortable around you. Isaac will feel drawn to you, too. His just won't be as strong since he human." Deaton turned away and began cleaning the syringe.

Derek got off the table and headed for the door. Just as he was about to leave, he paused. "Deaton? Since Isaac is my mate, if I were to give him the bite, would he turn?"

Deaton turned to Derek, who's worried, pleading eyes watched him carefully. "He may have a better chance, but know not of certainty. I can research if there are any cases on the matter."

"Please," Derek disappeared out the door. Thoughts clouded Derek's mind as he made his way home, I can't loose someone else to the bite. Especially, Isaac. I can't go through that again.