I luff you guys! I have never had this many reviews for one chapter in this story. Eek! Yay!

Sorry…

Anyway, thanks for those reviews and all that. I'm glad there are more people out there who like it than I thought. Obviously in this chapter Chloe is going to find out what Derek really is…says so in mah preview. And I'm glad I'm not the only nut who went out and didn't even wait until they got home to start The Reckoning…even though that was a while ago. I bought my own copy and four or five of my friends were fighting with me on who got to read it after me…it was SAD. I just got the book back like a week ago.

But you know how sometimes when you see a preview for something you only get like little pieces of what's going to happen? Well that's what happened with the last preview, you can see he's going to Change but that isn't a little chunk of the story like the other preview(s)? have been.

Enjoy.

Disclaimer: DP is Kelley Armstrong's wonderful idea. I just like to play with the characters.

Chloe POV

The next morning when we woke up Derek looked even worse. I doubt he'd gotten anymore sleep last night. He told Simon that he was fine and Simon believed him! Though I'm not sure whether it was because he didn't want Derek to get irritated with him for worrying or because he truly believed him.

Either way, it was obvious that there was something wrong with him. The fact that he was sweating like crazy would have tipped me off. But I am certainly not Simon so I don't know what is going on in his head where Derek is concerned.

Then Derek sent Simon off to find something to eat from, well, somewhere. He tried to get me to go with Simon but I refused to leave Derek when he looked so bad. So I just sat next to him and waited for Simon to return.

"Derek, what is wrong with you?"

He hissed then shifted so he could scratch his back. "It's nothing you need to worry about. I already told you that."

"But you look horrible."

"And I feel horrible. But don't worry about it."

"How can I not worry about you?" I reached to touch his forehead. I knew because he was sweating he had a fever but how hot was he to the touch?

He reached up and wrapped his hand around my wrist, preventing me from touching him.

"Chloe just stop. Just let me rest so that when Simon comes back we can eat and leave."

"You really shouldn't go anywhere today Derek. We should just stay here and let you rest."

This time he ignored me. I mumbled something about him being stubborn. Then we just sat in silence until Simon came back with breakfast.

That was the longest silence of my life. Or at least it felt like it.

When Simon finally returned Derek was no more sociable and of course, still no better.

I moved away from Derek and sat next to Simon. At least I felt more welcome on this side of the alley.

Simon bit into his apple then pulled out his sketch pad and a pencil. He wrote: Still being a jerk?

I glanced over at Derek. His eyes were closed, the back of his head resting against the wall.

I nodded yes to Simon and momentarily felt guilty because of the state Derek was in.

Anything I can do? He wrote.

I shook my head and reached for his pencil. I can get over him being a jerk for now. Or just not talk to him. I handed his pencil back.

I would go with option A. He would notice you ignoring him. But he should be a little better in a day or two.

You know something is wrong with him! What is it? Tell me!

He stiffened and grabbed the pencil back from me.

"Simon!" I accidentally said out loud. Derek's head shot forward, his eyes flying open.

"What's going on?" he asked

"N-nothing."

"Yeah bro. Nothing. I was just showing Chloe some drawings and she really liked one."

I doubt that Derek truly bought that but he acted like he did. Whatever was wrong with him was messing with him mentally.

But I couldn't believe Simon knew what was wrong with him and wasn't doing anything! Derek clearly needed a real bed to sleep in, in a building that had plumbing and heating. Last time I checked sick people shouldn't be sleeping outside where you are subject to Mother Nature's whims. But both of them kept moving on like there was nothing wrong with Derek, when clearly there was.

It was irritating enough to make me want to smack them both. Simon for not helping his brother and Derek for being so stubborn as to not try and help himself.

"We-" Derek stood up. "Should be going."

"Lead the way." Simon said.

I looked at him like he had completely lost his mind but then I noticed that when he looked over to Derek he looked worried too. So, he knew what was going on but maybe he didn't know all the details? I wasn't sure why he had that look in his eyes but at least he seemed to care about what his brother was going through.

That made me feel better.

But at the same time it made me feel like an idiot. How could I question whether he was worried or not? They're brothers for crying out loud. Closer than any blood related brothers could ever be.

We walked for almost two hours, going absolutely no where. At least it seemed that way. Derek lead us where we were supposed to be going. That's just how it went. But he seemed like he was having a hard time focusing long enough to get us somewhere.

Around noon he sent Simon into a convenience store to grab something to eat. But the food wasn't for Derek and it wasn't for me. Derek only seemed to care that Simon got something. Not that it mattered to me since I wasn't even hungry.

Simon came out of the store carrying a bag. He pulled out some fruit, which I noticed seemed to be the only thing he ate, then he handed the bag to Derek. Derek stuck it in his backpack.

A few hours later, Mother Nature threw a temper tantrum. The sky clouded over and I swear the temperature dropped twenty degrees. Derek told me there was no way it dropped that much but it definitely felt a lot colder. He handed me his sweatshirt. The very same sweatshirt he was pulling off last night when I woke up.

When I tried to hand it back to him, he told me that I needed it more than him. Then I realized he hadn't even put it back on after last night. So I said thank you, shrugged off my backpack and pulled the sweatshirt on.

I was struck by how strong Derek's scent was. I'd never really noticed it before, but he smelled almost woodsy. I pulled the hood over my head and held the sleeves up to my face, pretending to be shielding myself from the cold but really inhaling the smell. When I realized the full extent of what I was doing I dropped my hands, my face turning red. Thankfully neither one of the guys noticed.

I glanced up at Derek.

What is it about you? I thought before all of us lapsed into silence for a few more hours.

The sun was still up when we stopped. Wherever we had wandered to, the whole area was abandoned, or at least it seemed that way. That was actually quite convenient for us but just to be safe Derek found us an alley that was connected to several buildings on the street we were on, and he led us to the very back.

Derek slumped against the wall opposite Simon and I. I wanted to ask him if he was alright but I already knew how he would answer. 'Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

The problem was that I was worrying. A lot.

Simon spent a little while trying to distract me. He would start to draw something, making me guess what it was. Everything he drew was pretty easy to guess, except for this really intense dragon. He'd started with it's tail and the tail had kind of looked like a big snake until he added details. But the body was huge, the four feet had rather large talons and it's tail wrapped around one of it's back legs. The coolest part? The dragon was breathing fire. After I guessed what it was I wouldn't let him move on until he finished that drawing.

Once he did, he pulled it out of his sketch book and folded it in half then unzipped my backpack and slipped the drawing in the back where it, hopefully, wouldn't be destroyed.

"Thanks." I said yawning.

"Why don't you sleep? It doesn't seem like we are going anywhere else tonight. Might as well get as much sleep as you can."

"Very true." I said getting as comfortable as I could. When I fell asleep the first time Derek was still awake.

When I awoke a few hours later Derek was lying down on his back on the ground. I doubted that he was asleep though. I drifted back off to sleep a few minutes later.

The next time when I woke up it was dark, Simon was sleeping and someone or something was rustling around in the alley. I opened one eye and noticed Derek was walking away from where Simon and I were.

As quietly as I could I stood up and followed him through the maze that was the alleyway we had as our home for tonight. Since there was no more light than the light from the full moon it was kind of difficult to follow him.

So when he got further ahead of me and the alley split in two separate directions I had to guess where I was going. I stopped, hoping for some sort of sound that would tell me which way he went because from where I was standing both the left way and the right one were too dark to see too far down the alley.

I heard what sounded like something hitting a dumpster then someone throwing up. That nasty heaving sound, that sounds gross when you are doing it but is almost worse when you hear it coming from someone else, especially when it's from a friend. The noise was faint but it gave me enough of a hint as to where he went.

I slipped down the left alley where the noises were coming from. I felt like a total fool. I'd seen enough movies to know that this was a bad idea. Just follow the sounds that go bump in the night little girl, everything will be alright. And yet here I was, following the sounds in a dark alley.

I just hoped they led me to Derek and not some homicidal maniac.

You have seen one to many horror films, haven't you?

Ignoring that inner voice that was both A, making fun of me and B, telling me to turn around, I rounded the next corner and came upon what had to be the biggest alley I'd ever seen. You could have parked two or three cars in between the buildings that were here. For all I knew that's people had done before this area became too run down to live in.

There was a shuffling on the opposite side of the alley/miniature parking lot. Unfortunately, it was too dark for me to see that far away. I was hoping this was Derek making that noise. When something smacked the dumpster on that side I was hoping that it was Derek too.

I stepped closer and the horrible acidic stench of vomit hit me.

Then I noticed a dark shape on the opposite side of the dumpster I was closest too.

"D-Derek? Is that you?"

I stepped closer, trying to get a better picture of what I was looking at. But it was difficult with only the pale light from the moon. There appeared to be an odd shadow over Derek's skin that would come then go but upon further inspection, I realized it was very short hairs. Like a fur coat growing and receding.

I heard a whimper that sounded more animal than human. Maybe it was just because he sounded like he was in a lot of pain.

"Derek? Are…are you alright?"

Another whimper and then a small snap. Another small snap. It sounded like someone was cracking their knuckles.

I knew I saw Derek come back here but if this was Derek…

That thought was cut short when I heard him speak, or try to, the sound was the one thing that for sure let me know I was looking at Derek. It also ensured that I was not going to leave him here alone.

"Chloe." he rasped.

"Oh my gosh, Derek." I moved to kneel next to him, frantically thinking of something I could do to help him even though I wasn't entirely sure of what was going on.

"You can't-" he let out a painful sigh. "Stay here."

"Sure I can. And you can't make me leave. You're in no position to do so."

"Chloe." He almost growled my name but I wasn't going to back down. I couldn't leave him here. "You have to-" he was interrupted by what I was guessing was a sharp pain. His back arched and he emptied his stomach onto the pavement in front of him. I cringed in sympathy for him even though he probably couldn't see my face.

"Please." He croaked.

"Please? If you are asking me to go I'm-"

"No. Stay." The words came out in a rush of air.

I sighed in relief. "Is there anything I can do?"

I thought I saw him shake his head. "Just-" he groaned. "Don't leave me."

I placed my hand on his arm and watched his fingers shift, shrinking into little nubs that kind of made his hands look like paws…what I thought was small hairs before I discovered were just that. Or fur.

I swallowed as I put all the little pieces together. This event, for lack of a better word, all the little jokes I'd unknowingly made that Simon wouldn't really say much too, that fact that he answered that he wasn't sure about werewolves existing. Of course he would say that.

He was protecting his brother.

Then that made Derek a werewolf. Funny how I should be afraid of this new found fact, but I wasn't. Maybe it's because it was Derek here in front of me. The guy had taken a bullet for me, granted it only grazed him, but I doubt that if he did that much to keep me safe, that he would hurt me now.

I sat there for another minute or so listening to his dry heaves that were painful to hear. Then suddenly, it stopped. The starting of his fur that had been under my fingers receded and didn't grow back out again. It took a little longer for his fingers to return to normal and he kept his face hidden from me so I was guessing that his face had changed some too.

But I still sat with him while he shook and panted, waiting for his body to return to normal.

Derek sat back against the dumpster and stared at me. "You aren't going to run away screaming or anything right?"

I shook my head.

"Okay. Just wanted to make sure since that isn't an everyday occurrence in the normal world."

I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to keep the heat in.

Derek, of course, noticed. "Cold?"

I nodded. "After the, I don't really want to call it an adrenaline rush but-"

"I know what you mean."

"Yeah. Well, I'm cold now."

He stood and motioned for me to follow him. I did, not really sure where he was going. He went back into the dark alley that I had come out of not too long before now. Then he sat against the wall.

"There's less wind coming back here so you should be warmer." He patted the ground next to him a few times. "Sit."

I moved to sit a few feet away from him.

"You aren't going to be any warmer over there Chloe."

I glanced at him and blushed. He had laid that offer down on the table; move closer to be warm. The only thing was the idea of moving closer made my stomach all fluttery. I mean this was Derek. Derek. We're just friends. That's all.

I just wish there was someway to convince my stomach of that.

But I moved anyway because I was too cold to care anymore. And Derek was hot, like human space heater kind of hot, so I was glad I moved.

"Better?"

I nodded.

"So, I take it you figured out what I am, right?"

I nodded again.

"Still not going to run screaming?"

"No. Why? Should I?"

Derek looked away. He got this distant look to his eyes and I knew that if he was going to answer me he would say that I should run away screaming. But he didn't answer and I got this feeling that he didn't want to talk about it so I changed the subject.

"So…how often does this happen?" I looked up at the sky and pointed at the moon. "Anything to do with the fact that it's a full moon tonight."

He snorted. "That's a myth. No, it has nothing to do with the moon and unfortunately I have no idea how often this is going to happen." He glanced down at me and I noticed that despite his calm words, the fact that he didn't know scared him.

I searched my brain for another subject change and came up blank until I pulled the sleeves of his sweatshirt over my hands.

"Do you want this back?" I asked waving the too long sweatshirt sleeve in the air.

"No."

"I didn't mean right now. I know you don't want it now. But-"

"You can keep it Chloe."

"Oh. Well, thanks."

We sat in silence for a few minutes until Derek spoke again.

"You shouldn't have come with us."

"What?" I asked him in disbelief.

"All this-" he gestured at nothing but I understood what he meant. Everything we've been through so far and what's to come. "It's too dangerous."

"But you and Simon are doing this. If it's dangerous then why are you doing this too?"

He didn't answer. I didn't know what to say to get him to talk so I gave up on that. The only thing I could think of that would be a good reason for them was finding their dad.

"You don't know anything about the supernatural world though Chloe. Which makes it's more dangerous for you. You shouldn't have taken that risk."

"Well inform me on the world you live in Derek."

"Not tonight."

"You can't do that."

"What?"

"You can't say it's too dangerous then not give me a good reason why. Not explain anything to me."

Again, Derek didn't say anything.

I sighed and started to stand.

"Wait." he reached up, fingers wrapping around my wrist preventing me from going anywhere.

"What?"

"I…" He swallowed. "Never mind." he let go of me and let his hand fall into his lap.

I sighed then walked back down the alley and turned to where Simon was still sleeping. A few minutes later I was lying down trying to sleep when Derek returned too. He unzipped his backpack and pulled out a few things that I couldn't see in the dim light. He paused and looked over at me.

"Good night Derek." I whispered softly. I didn't know if he heard me though. Then I closed my eyes.

Chapter 8 Preview

Derek looked away from me. He had that faraway, lost child look in his eyes again and I felt bad for bringing this up.

"Whatever happened Derek, you don't have to tell me. Just tell me about everything else." I said softly.

"No, Chloe. I want to tell you this…I need to. And I need to tell you now, before Simon comes back. It might change your opinion of me and make you regret coming with us though. That's why I'm having such a hard time with it."

The Change might be a lot like the one in The Summoning…I haven't read that far into the book in six months or so, so I don't remember it all. Sorry.

People please show me some love. (I'm so much happier in my beginning authors note. Reason: I wrote that like two weeks ago.) The only thing good about this week was my 4H meeting on Tuesday…like I'm really bummed about something that happened on Sunday (Yes, it's Thursday and I'm still not happy about it)…so please? Reviews would be a pick me up, even if only for a little while.

I'm hoping for at least five. That's an easy number right?

(=^_^=)