DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Teen Wolf, I only own my OC, Violet.
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Seven
The loft was completely silent when we got back and Derek didn't make any effort to change that. He walked in and dumped a pile of old newspaper articles and documents onto the dining table and sat down with a sigh as he started reading through the first one. I stood awkwardly in the middle of the room and glanced around, after a few minutes I could feel Derek's eyes on me and I looked back to where he was sat.
"Feel free to chip in whenever you feel like it," He quipped.
"Sorry…" I hurriedly walked over and sat opposite him. He threw half the pile of articles towards me and I started to scan my eyes over the page, just as my stomach started to grumble. I folded my arms around my abdomen and tried to ignore it, but the second growl was a hell of a lot louder than the first.
Derek slapped the paper he was reading down onto the table and let out a long, slow breath, "Even your stomach is irritating."
"I'm sorry, I don't know about you werewolves but humans need to eat, and nothing has passed these lips in what feel like a decade. I'm starving." Derek pushed himself up out of his chair and he stormed off out of the room I could have sworn that he growled, like, actually growled. The very thought provoked fear deep within me, but it also stirred something else in the pit of my stomach...but I did my best to ignore my hormonal reactions to Derek's somewhat animalistic gestures.
I started reading through the articles as quickly as I could without getting lazy about it, my eyes were straining against the words - if only I'd remembered to pick up my glasses. A loud thump caused me to jump and I glanced up to see Derek stood there, having just put a plate down in front of me with two sandwiches on it.
I raised my eyebrows in surprise, "Seriously?" My lips twisted into a smile and Derek looked embarrassed for a second.
"You either eat that or you starve, it's pretty simple," He grunted and I silently took a large bite out of the sandwich, revelling in the sweet and salty mix of jelly and peanut butter.
"I didn't take you to be a peanut butter and jelly sandwich kinda guy," I said lightheartedly as I continued eating.
"Yeah, well," Derek mumbled in return.
"Can I ask you something?"
Derek groaned and looked over towards me, "You can ask, can't guarantee I'll answer."
"Why do you care so much if this primal thing kills me or not? Surely you've got bigger werewolf fish of your own to fry," I paused, "On second thought, werewolf fish don't exist, right? Because they sound terrifying."
Derek let out a long, frustrated sounding sigh, "As irritating as you are, I'm pretty sure you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. There's enough of us caught up in this mess, a relatively nice girl like you shouldn't be forced to deal with it too." His answer caught me off guard and I raised my eyebrows in surprise.
"You think I'm nice?" I asked with a grin and Derek just shook his head.
"I also said irritating," He clarified.
"Yeah, but you also said nice," I pointed out with a somewhat cheesy wink.
"Can I ask you a question now?"
I shrugged, "It's only fair, I guess."
"What's the deal with you? Are you like a teenaged mutant hermit or something? Seems to me you've barely been let outdoors." I averted my eyes and examined the table closely, running my fingertips over the wood and chewing on my cheeks.
"I don't know," I said quietly, my guard going up a little, "My mom's pretty protective. Until this happened I guess I didn't even know I was that different."
"What's the story with your mom?" Derek frowned, his eyes finally leaving the pieces of paper in front of him.
"She's...she's fragile," I muttered, "She's always kept me pretty separate from everyone else but, my dad died a few years ago and since then she's just gotten worse. She didn't have a lot of faith in this world when he was still around so, when he died I think that last piece of trust just faded away." Derek's brow furrowed and he lifted his chin in a nod of acknowledgment.
"Why didn't you just leave?" He asked.
"I never had a reason to leave...I might be sheltered but I'm comfortable, I was comfortable." My eyes glanced down to the floor, it was as if Derek knew that I was lying to myself and I could feel his eyes burying themselves into me.
"Comfortable isn't happy," Derek remarked.
"I guess it isn't," I smiled but the expression was laced with sadness and I had a feeling Derek could tell he'd broached upon a subject that was a little delicate.
"Eat the sandwich," He motioned towards the plate and resumed his reading. A few minutes of silence followed before Derek's voice broke through the tension once again.
"What was your father's name?"
"Rhodes...Rhodes Whitcomb."
"How did he die?" He asked, and I had a feeling there was more to his question than meets the eye.
"Suicide," I replied quietly, the word was thick in my throat and it made me feel sick to my stomach.
"Where?" Derek asked, his tone was even more serious than it had been previously.
I frowned, "He was found in the woods outside our house...what does it matter? What's with all the questions all of a sudden, this is the chattiest you've been since I met you and quite frankly it's creeping me out."
"You didn't think to mention that?" Derek slapped the article he had been reading down on the table in front of me, his huge frame towered above me and the frustration was clear on his face. I looked down at the piece of paper, it was an autopsy report - my father's. Derek's finger was pointing directly towards a close up of a large spiral, painted in dark ink on my father's pale forehead. I averted my eyes, clenching them shut.
"Why are you showing me this?" I asked, my voice a mere whisper.
"Did your mother ever explain to you why she wanted to keep you inside all these years? Why she kept you out of the town and away from people, closed off?"
"No, she never told me, I never asked, I didn't see the point," My voice was growing louder and angrier and I stood up from my seat.
Derek's jaw was tense as he looked off to the side, clearly in deep thought.
"That spiral is the symbol for revenge amongst werewolf packs," Derek stated, "I'm willing to put money on the fact that it wasn't your mom's loss of trust in humanity that made her lock you up all this time."
"What are you talking about?" I yelled, stomping my foot on the ground below me. I had barely even noticed how close I was standing to Derek, my arms folded over my chest and my stance was strong.
"Come on," Derek's hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me out of the loft and down the stairs, he was walking so fast that my feet were tripping over themselves trying to keep up.
"What the hell?!" I shouted as he threw me roughly into the car.
"If this primal has a pack and they're looking for revenge on your family, I need to know, because if there's one thing worse than a pack of those things - it's a pack of them looking for revenge." With that statement, Derek's foot hit the accelerator.
Sorry it's a little shorter than usual, but it felt like a good place to finish the chapter. If you've got the time, leave me a quick review!
