Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of its characters, I only own my original character Tahlia, her family and my villains, as well as anything else that seems out of place.
I'm sooooooo sorry for the incredibly long time in between chapters. I have wanted this story to be amazing to not disappoint. I have had a horrible case of writers block with this story. But my muses are now firing on all cylinders, so I'm back in the game.
Thank you to NicoleR85 for her review of chapter 11. This is the final chapter, I hope it does not disappoint.
1 month later
The pack was lost, Tahlia was gone, they had lost the anchor that was holding them all together. Each of them were dealing with her departure in their own way.
The young teens were spending their time together, Scott becoming their anchor like Tahlia had been theirs. Scott felt the worse out of them all, he being the one who had bit her. He had let the huntress down, Derek, hell he had let them all down. In the one moment Tahlia truly needed him, he had failed her.
Allison was taking comfort in the love of her friends, while Stiles seemed to be trapped inside his head. Her family had taken her body and returned to Texas, with the promise that if the pack needed them, they would return.
As the days passed the pack began to come to terms with their loss, eventually regaining some sort of semblance to their lives. But there was one of them that no matter how they tried, would never be the same again.
Derek was lost, he had never dealt with pain and loss well. Paige and his family, those deaths hurt him deeply, Erica and Boyd he still felt their loss everyday, but the pain he felt from the void Tahlia's death caused was nearly crippling the Beta. After her family had taken her body back to Texas, Derek had retreated into the forest, to the one place he could be alone with all the grief that consumed his every waking moment. The Hale house. The place where every shred of pain he had ever felt stemmed from.
The house was dark, everything covered in nearly a decades worth of dust, but the blackened scorched wood underneath was still visible. The forest had claimed the house, plants grew up uncontrolled through the wooden floors and snaked in through cracks in the walls. The floor creaked and protested his every step as he crossed the living room and walked up the stairs, the boards groaning under his weight. Once inside what was left of his room he picked up the bottle of whiskey resting on the windowsill. Holding it in his hand he gave a grim smile as he remembered the day he gave it to her.
He cracked open the top, lifted it to his lips and took a long pull from the bottle. The liquid scorched his throat as it traveled to his abdomen where it pooled in his empty stomach. Hearing the slosh of the alcohol in his belly made him think and he couldn't remember the last time he had eaten. For most normal people drinking on an empty stomach was something you rarely did, unless you truly wanted to get drunk faster. But that came with a price, mainly becoming sick and vomiting up every ounce of liquor you had consumed, along with dry heaves that racked your body after there was nothing left to puke up.
But being a werewolf Derek wasn't effected by the alcohol like a human was, it would take the entire bottle before Derek would even remotely start to feel it. And that was his goal as he took another long drink from the bottle. He wanted to be numb, to not feel anything at all, and he planned to drink until he was empty inside.
He walked back downstairs the bottle clutched in his right hand. He reached for the front door knob with a shaking hand and opened the door, he closed his eyes taking a deep breath and stepped out onto the porch. He took no more than two steps before he felt his legs give out underneath him, he managed to make it to the steps before he crumpled to the concrete. He sat there drinking some more from the bottle, nearly half of it gone by now, as his eyes avoided the dark patch on the porch just to his left.
But no matter how he tried he couldn't stop himself from turning his head and immediately finding the dried patch of blood beside him. This was where it had happened. This was the exact spot where Tahlia, his huntress, the woman he loved, had taken her last breath.
She laid dying, wrapped in Derek's arms, Scott kneeling beside them, blood dripping from his lips as they stared at the bite mark on the lower right side of her abdomen. The Beta remembered how he had begged and pleaded with the Alpha to give her the bite, to turn her, to heal her. It was a long shot they all knew that, there was always a chance that it wouldn't work, that she would die anyway. But Derek believed it would work, he had to, because the thought of living without her was one thing he couldn't bare the thought of. So Scott had bit her. But within minutes they realized it had been too late.
Derek let silent tears drip down his face as he pictured her face in his mind. The way she had raised her hand and laid it gently on his cheek, he had grabbed it instantly and held it there, desperate to hold on to her touch till the last second. The smile on her face that made Derek's heart soar every time he saw it was there, and the sparkle in her blue eyes, the one she got any time she looked at him was there too.
"I win." She whispered.
This brought the tears welling in Derek's eyes cascading down his face as he gave a hollow laugh. Leave it to her to take this moment and try to make him feel better.
"This is one time I wish you would've lost."
"I always win." She says before a bought of heavy coughing racks her body, blood spattering on her free hand as she covered her mouth. "I told you I would die for you and I meant it. I have no regrets, Derek."
He nodded swallowing the lump caught in his throat, he gently wiped the blood from her lips. "I don't wanna live my life without you, Tahlia."
"You won't. I will always be with you, Derek. Right here." She laid her free hand over his heart. "So long as you don't forget me."
"I could never forget you, I will never forget you, Tahlia." Derek stated shaking his head.
"I love it when you say my name." She admitted with a smile. "I love everything about you. I love you, Derek Hale."
"I love you, Tahlia Argent."
He could see her breaths becoming shallower, hear her heart slowing down, he knew they only had minutes left.
"Promise me that you'll move on. Don't spend your life alone. Don't mourn me forever. Find a woman who will love you just as much as I did."
"No woman could ever love me as much or love me like you do."
She smiled her eyes drifting closed for a moment before opening again. "Promise me that you'll try, that you'll live your life. Promise me, Derek."
"I promise." He choked out.
"No regrets, Derek."
"No regrets, Lia."
And with his final words her eyes slid shut and her last breath fell from her lips. Derek wiped an arm across his face smearing the tears down his cheeks as he took another long pull from the bottle. Only a few more and it would be empty.
Just as he raised the bottle to his lips he heard something that knocked the wind from his chest.
"Deeeeerrrrreeeeeek."
It was Tahlia, it was her voice calling to him, singing his name like a child would while playing. His eyes scanned the forest around him, nothing, all that was out there was darkness.
"Deeeeerrrrreeeeeek."
There is was again to his left this time accompanied by her laugh, he threw the bottle down and jumped off the porch chasing the sound. Back and forth he chased the voice through the trees around the house, it was like he was playing hide-and-seek with a ghost.
A ghost. That thought gave him pause, he stopped in his tracks. He knew then his mind was playing tricks on him, Tahlia was dead, this was his mind not wanting to let her go. He sighed as he turned and walked back towards the house, but as he neared the front of the house the voice came again.
"Derek."
This time however there was no drawn out syllables, no laughter. The voice was crisp and clear like she was standing before him. His eyes swept across the front porch and the sight that greeted him damn near knocked him off his feet. There leaning against the pillar on the right side was Tahlia. Her long red hair flowing behind her like a velvet curtain, strands blowing wistfully in the light breeze. Her blue eyes shimmered in the beams of moonlight that filtered through the trees and she wore the smile that took his breath away. She was dressed much like she had been when he had seen her last, black leather pants, a red tank top and a black leather under-bust corset with four chains hanging across the front, her favorite black boots adorned her feet. He could see her Triskele necklace hanging around her neck, one thing he knew she never took off.
"Tahlia."
She smiled as she stepped down from the porch, she looked real but Derek knew that couldn't be. Tahlia was dead, this was his mind again playing tricks on him. He closed his eyes and opened them again, she was still there. He had to be dreaming, he held his hands up staring down at them, no sixth finger like Stiles had spoke of.
She laughed as she saw him hold up his hands. "You're not dreaming, Derek." When she stopped before him she reached out and took his hands into her own. "It's really me."
Her hands were warm as they gripped his own, he stared down at her still not believing she was standing before him. "This can't be. I watched you die."
"I did die, but I got a second chance."
Derek shakes his head, he wants to believe but doesn't understand how this is possible. "How? How can you be alive?"
"Because you believed, Derek."
"Believed what?"
"You made me believe that the bite of an Alpha, could save my life."
She lowered her head for a moment and when she looked back up at him Derek was stunned. There staring back at him were the beautiful yellow eyes of a Beta.
"You made me believe that I was worthy of the bite, that I wasn't a monster, and when I believed that, my body accepted the bite. I'm alive Derek and it's all thanks to you."
Derek couldn't speak, he had no words. He quickly pulled her to him crushing his lips against hers, he kissed her pouring in every ounce of passion he possessed.
When they parted several very long minutes later Derek kept his arms locked around her waist, he didn't want to let her go. "So where have you been?"
"Texas with my family. I wanted to get a handle on this before I came back to you." She laid her head on his chest, listening to the gentle thumping of his heart. "I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner."
"It's okay. You're here now, and I'm never letting you leave." He says pulling back to smile at her.
"There's nowhere else I would rather be than here with you, Derek."
Derek texted the pack telling them to meet him at Tahlia's house, he had something to show them. When the two arrived Tahlia's family was already there awaiting them, greeting the couple with hugs and smiles.
When the pack arrived, it was safe to say they were speechless at seeing Tahlia standing in the living room. The first person to move was Allison, who rushed over grasping her cousin in a hug, tears streaming down her face. Followed by her Uncle Chris, Stiles, Scott and Peter, until Tahlia was at the center of a giant group hug, all of them laughing as they surround the new Beta so thankful that she was alive.
Later on while the pack was hanging out in the backyard Tahlia sat down at the pool's edge next to Scott. He looked up as she bumped his shoulder with her own.
"Thank you Scott. You saved my life."
"You're welcome Lia. I'm glad it worked." Scott admitted honestly giving her a hug.
"Me too." The two laughed as they hugged, before Tahlia was drug into the pool by Derek who had snuck up to her underwater and pulled her in by her foot.
The huntress burst up out of the water, smoothing her hair back out of her face she glared at her boyfriend who smiled innocently from the other side of the pool. Behind her she could hear Scott laughing, she turned fully prepared to wrestle the Alpha into the pool, but she paused seeing someone else with their eyes on the wolf. She crossed her arms over her chest, smirking at Scott, who was trying to figure out why she was giving him the evil eye. He figured it out quickly as he was shoved from behind into the water. He broke the surface to hear Tahlia laughing along with Allison, he turned to find them both sitting on the edge of the pool, Allison smiling at her boyfriend.
"Sorry Scott, but you mess with one Argent and you get us all." Allison laughed high-fiving her older cousin.
The Alpha growled eyeing his girlfriend who shrieked shoving herself to her feet and rushing into the house followed by the very wet Scott as he chased after her.
Tahlia turned back to the pool to find Derek swimming over to her, he stood up placing his arms around her waist. "See what you started?" She smiled.
"Well, I'm pretty sure you hunters can handle us little ol' werewolves."
She threw her head back laughing at his attempt at a southern voice. When she calmed down she leveled her gaze on him. "I think I can do more than handle you."
"Oh, really?"
"Mmhmm. Remember Derek, I was a hunter before I became a wolf, that makes me twice as deadly."
"Well, I definitely won't argue with you there." He said smiling and he was being serious. He knew how deadly she was as a hunter, and he could only imagine how much more she would be with wolf blood flowing through her veins.
He found himself looking around the backyard at the members of their pack. It was funny to him that while it was a pack, they really had no definitive leader. Yes, Scott was the Alpha so technically that title fell to him, but they all had strengths that made them leaders. He believed in his heart that Tahlia was their leader and he believed that the rest of them agreed. They didn't need to delegate a leader, this was the way their pack was, and it worked.
As his eyes drifted over the group he saw nothing but smiles, no ill will towards anyone, not even Peter who was currently standing by the grill with Stilinski, Chris and Malcolm having a drink and sharing some laughs.
On the patio sat Mama McCall and Mama Argent, sipping on cocktails and completely indiscreetly having a conversation about Tahlia and himself, he knew this when they saw him looking and waved.
He waved back shaking his head just before Allison came running out of the house laughing and jumped into the pool, Scott hot on her trail as he jumped, cannonballing into the water. The two teens swam over to the cave where they joined the rest of their friends; Stiles, Nico, Danny and Ethan, Lydia and Aiden in the hot tub inside.
For the first time since the fire that claimed the lives of almost everyone he had ever loved, Derek was happy. He had a pack, a home that truly felt like his, and a girlfriend he loved so much it hurt. But more than those things which were great, Derek realized he had the one thing he had been wanting for the last near decade, a family.
"Tahlia!"
The huntress looked over her shoulder to find her mother crooking a finger at her. She gave Derek a light kiss, "I'll be right back." Getting to her feet she walked across the grass to her mother's side.
"It's ready." Natalya told her.
Tahlia smiled looking back over to her boyfriend in the pool. "Derek!" The Beta looks up at her, she nods her head towards the house. "Come on."
Confused but slightly intrigued at what was going on, Derek hauled his muscular body out of the pool and followed his girlfriend into the house amid secret smiles from the pack.
Upstairs in the bedroom he stripped out of his swim trunks hanging them in the bathroom before toweling off his wet body and pulling on a pair of blue jeans and a red long sleeved Henley over a black tank. As he was tying up his boots he heard Tahlia come out of the bathroom and pass in front of him as she headed for the closet. As he finished tying his last boot he looked up just in time to catch her completely naked form disappearing behind the closet door.
Immediately his pulse quickened and his breathing became shallow, he could smell her arousal even through the wall separating them and it only served to further excite him. His muscles tensed and a flush ran through his body. He closed his eyes trying to control his breathing and bring himself back under control. He heard Tahlia giggle from inside the closet and he growled.
So she wanted to play that way. Oh, he would play.
He walked into the closet to find her leaning against the far wall, she was still naked save for her Triskele necklace hanging down between her breasts. She was obviously waiting for him as she looked up smiling as he walked in, her blue eyes flashing yellow in the darkness.
"You're playing with fire, Lia." Derek chuckled as he stood in the doorway.
The she-wolf smirked as she gracefully crossed to him, closing the short distance between the couple. "Some women are destroyed by the fire… Some are built from it." She grasped him by the back of his neck and crushed his lips to hers in a searing kiss that drew a deep throaty moan from Derek.
As his hands slid down her sides to rest on her naked hips she giggled, pulling back she smiled at him. "Hold that thought. I've got something to show you."
Tahlia turned from him, quickly pulling on a set of black lace undergarments, followed by a deep blue skater dress with a low v-cut neckline and a pair of black ankle boots.
While she looked beautiful wearing nothing, Derek found himself even more attracted to her when she was wearing clothes. He felt a rush of pride knowing that what was under the clothes belonged to him and was privy to his eyes only.
The two went back downstairs and bid goodbye to their pack, who were all too happy for the couple. Tahlia slid into the driver's seat of Derek's Camaro and pulled out of the drive, heading across town. When they parked in the garage of the building where Derek's loft was the wolf glanced curiously at his girlfriend. When she simply smiled he got out of the car and walked around the back, opening her door he held out his hand and helped her out of the car.
Still holding his hand, Tahlia lead the way up to the loft where she motioned for Derek to open the door. Grasping the handle Derek tugged the steel door open and stepped inside, he was impressed by what he saw awaiting him. All of his old furniture was gone, replaced with new furniture made out of handcrafted wood. What he saw first was the California King sized bed, with a four poster canopy wood frame, covered in black lace curtains. It was centered directly in the middle of the large window, a nightstand on either side of it.
Where his old tattered couch had been, was now a black velvet couch with a chaise lounge on the far end and two black velvet sitting chairs across from it. A black granite topped table sat in between them. To his right where his bed had been previously was a new black granite topped desk and black leather chair.
Derek was blown away, even though he had been here so many times, it now felt like an entirely new place. He smiled as Tahlia stepped up beside him and asked, "Do you like it?"
He was almost without words. "I love it, it's amazing." He turned to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "And I love you."
"I love you too." She smiled as he leaned down and kissed her.
As Derek heard a small moan elicit from her throat as he ravaged her mouth, he drew back with a smile. "So how much longer do I have to hold that thought?"
Tahlia laughed out loud as she wound her arms up around his neck. "I think you've held it long enough. Now that this is all over, you can have me, anyway you want me."
Derek smiled brightly and Tahlia let out a squeal as he swung her up into his arms, carrying her bridal style over to the bed where he gently laid her down. Covering her body with his own he smiled down at her, "Every way, every day, for the rest of my life, Tahlia."
Derek woke up several hours later, alone, but before panic could set in her glanced to his right and found Tahlia standing by the bed gazing out the window. He took a moment to stare at her, the way the moon made her skin glow, the black silk sheet wrapped loosely around her body, her long red hair shimmering like it had a life of its own, reminding him of flames dancing in a fire.
She was right when she had said that she was built from the fire, she had been burned down by death, but just as a phoenix does, she had risen, reborn from the ashes.
A smile graced Tahlia's face as she felt Derek come up behind her, wrapping his arms around her neck and covering her eyes with his hands.
"Guess who?" He asked.
And she thought, how silly, it was to think that she would not know him by the feeling of his heartbeat against her back. She turned in his embrace, smiling up into the face of the man that had changed her every opinion of what a werewolf was, of what a good man was.
"I love you, Derek." She said softly, "You have changed every thought I have ever had about what love truly is. It isn't about finding a person who is perfect… but about finding the person who is perfect for you. Being able to survive through the worst of times, to stand by one another in the face of everything that tries to tear you apart. To love someone for their strengths, but also for their weaknesses. To love them unconditionally, flaws and all. You believed in me, when I didn't believe in myself. You gave me a reason to fight, to live. I am alive because of you, and I will spend the rest of my life showing how grateful I am that you chose to love me."
Derek had never heard words like that spoken to him before, for a moment he couldn't speak. Swallowing the lump of emotion lodged in his throat he raised his left hand placing it on her cheek. "Tahlia, if anyone is grateful, it is me. I have done horrible things in the past years, and yet you stayed. You trusted me, believed in me, when no one else did. I never believed that I could find a woman like you. Strong, independent. A fighter. You have put yourself in danger for me, given your life for our friends, with no second thought. You have shown me what it means to be a protector, to love others, to trust them. Everything that you are, is what I want to be. You are my heartbeat Tahlia, the reason I breath. As long as you are by my side, there is nothing that I fear. I will protect you with my life, and I will die to keep you safe. I love you, Tahlia. Whatever I am… I am yours always. No regrets, Lia."
Tahlia smiled up at her boyfriend, not believing that God had blessed her with a love that could withstand time and all its trials.
"No regrets, Derek."
THE END
