Chapter 6: Howl
Things were changing, and Derek knew it, but it wasn't really his life that was changing, at least not for a while. He was 8 years old, and as far as he remembered, his life wasn't much different than the first time he had lived it. Peter though, was a lot different. In his previous life, Derek's uncle had barely managed to graduate high school, probably because of his depression following Sarah's betrayal, and had gone to the local community college only to drop out a few months later. This time, Peter had graduated with honors and, in a few weeks, he would be starting his freshman year at Berkeley. Not only that, but he was still dating his high school sweetheart, Winifred, who was also going to attend Berkeley. But none of that had any kind of influence on Derek's own life. Until that day.
Peter was reading under a tree at the edge of the forest and Derek had been allowed to play outside as long as he stayed within his uncle's hearing range. It wasn't often that he was allowed to go in the forest alone, he could barely remember doing that in his previous life, so Derek ran and jumped around like he used to do with Boyd, Erica and Isaac. He was so caught up in the memories of his pack, he didn't realize how far he went. When he finally stopped, he was nowhere near Peter or the house. He was about to turn back when something exploded on the tree next to him, blinding him with flashes of light.
He tried to cover his eyes but it was too late; he couldn't see anything but shapes, his ears where ringing because of the explosion and he could smell 2 strangers around him. There was nothing he could do, he was trapped. Before he could react, one of the strangers grabbed his arms from behind and dragged him until his back hit a tree. His vision started to come back in time to see the other man walking toward him with a chain. A few seconds later he was tied to the tree.
That never happened before, I would've remembered. And at that moment he remembered why as a child, he never went in the forest, especially alone: because of Peter. His uncle used to tell him scary stories about the forest and the hunters. He'd told him hunters cut werewolves in two (which was actually true) but also that hunters ate werewolves for breakfast and that young werewolves tasted better. After a few of those stories, young Derek had been too scared to go anywhere near the forest alone, at least until he grew old enough to figure out that Peter was just being a dick.
When Derek managed to snap out of his trip down memory lane, he heard the strangers, probably hunters, whispering to each other. One of them seemed younger, maybe 20, while the other looked old enough to be a grandfather.
"He's just a kid! We can't just kill him!" said the younger one.
"He's a beast! Just like the rest of them, if we don't kill him now, who knows how many he will kill in a few years? Do you want that blood on your hands?"
This doesn't sound good. The fight between the hunters kept going and Derek was getting more and more anxious by the minute…until he heard something; a howl. Peter. He sounded too far to be able to find them by sent but Derek knew there was a way to get him on the right path. Before the hunters could react, the young werewolf concentrated hard on what little werewolf power he had and tried as hard as he could to remember what it felt like to be a full-grown shape-shifter before howling back. At first he thought it was too weak but, for the first time since he had come back, he felt his face shifting. His claws and fangs were out and he could see a tiny bit better which meant that his eyes were glowing.
The young hunter looked terrified while his companion came running toward Derek before hitting him in the chest with the butt of his rifle. By the time the werewolf got his breath back, Peter appeared out of nowhere with fangs, claws and yellow glowing eyes. The old man aimed his rifle at him but a fraction of second before he fired; Peter grabbed the barrel and pointed it at the other hunter. The shot destroyed the young man's throat, killing him almost instantly. The man holding the rifle froze, his eyes staring at his companion's lifeless body. Peter, who was still holding the barrel, growled before jumping on him. A second shot sounded when they fell on the ground followed only by the animalistic noises Peter was making as he violently and repeatedly slashed the hunter's face and throat.
Derek knew what Peter was capable of, he had seen it before, but this was supposed to be a different Peter. This Peter was never supposed to have the glowing blue eyes that were now looking up at him.
