Hawk-eye-33 -Yes, it does! Hehe, Derek's being the 'Dad' of the pack :P Yay, all the ships are coming up, some a lot slower than others! Thank you so much!
momentum123 - Here's some more :) Hmm.. We will see..
Mischief goddess - All my readers seem to think the same thing, but I'll see where I go with it! Thank you kindly :) Sorry for the wait, here's another chapter!
I have to say, even though I update not too often, I've been jumping ahead and thinking of things for future chapters and I've had a lot of dramatic things come to mind, even some smut if my readers want that, I don't know! I just thought I'd let you know that even though I don't update every day or every week, I'm still planning and drafting and everything, I haven't forgotten about you or this story!
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Tuesday 24th May - Morning
Ashlyn awakens with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She sits up, frowning. The first thing she does is check on Tyson, rushing over to her nephew and checking him over. But he's fast asleep. And he's fine. Absolutely fine. She's glad, she's relieved, but she still feels that sinking feeling, so she leaves the room to check on the ours. She bumps right into Derek like she almost did the day before. He steadies her, and her skin tingles under his surprising touch. "Sorry." She says.
He takes his hand off of her, and nods. "It's fine." He says. He looks at her, really looks at her. He knows something's off, she looks much too alert for someone who just woke up. "What's going on?" He asks her.
"I don't know." She says honestly. "I woke up with this.. I don't know."
"You feel it too?" Derek asks her, his own eyebrows pulled into a light frown. She meets his eyes now, her eyebrows raising a little. "That bad feeling? Like something's wrong?"
Ashlyn nods. "Yeah. How'd you know?"
"Because I woke up with the same thing." The Alpha tells her. "Something's happened. I'm going out to find out what. I've already checked in with everyone, I was just coming to check on you and Tyson."
"Oh.. Well, we're fine." Ashlyn says, surprised again by what he's said. He was coming to check on them? That's..nice, sweet even.
"Okay." He nods. "I'll be back later, Issac already knows so-"
"I'm coming with you." Ashlyn blurts out. Derek pauses, his eyebrows raising a little this time. "I'm.. You can't go alone, it's too dangerous. I'm coming with you." She says. "Will Isaac watch Tyson?"
Derek nods, it's his turn to be surprised. "Yeah. I'll just let him know."
"Okay. Good." Ashlyn nods.
"Yeah." He nods back. "Give me a second, then we'll head out."
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Later
Stiles swings absent-mindedly on the park swing, his left foot dragging in the bark as he stares anxiously down at it, waiting for Jessie's arrival. She said 10. She did say 10, right? He's sure. Stiles brings his phone out, going back through the messages, just to be sure. Yes, he was right. He sighs, slipping his phone back into his pocket. Maybe she just forgot? Or maybe she doesn't want to see him. Maybe.. He stops his mind from running crazy when he looks up and sees the very girl walking over, her hands tucked into her jean pockets. Stiles puts both feet to the bark steadily to stop himself, then rises up out of the swing. "Jess." He calls out.
Jessie hears his voice, and she looks up. She sees Stiles, and keeps walking until there's only a meter between them. "Hey, Stiles." She says.
Stiles' eyes dart between both of hers, searching for something, anything, to soothe his anxiety. "Is everything okay?" He asks her, because he cares about her, and their text conversation from yesterday has had him worried and still worried right now. He hasn't heard from her again since then so that makes it even worse. "Is Derek okay? Isaac? Ashlyn? Tyson? Are you-"
"Stiles." Jessie stops, stopping his rambling.
Stiles clears his throat, trying to calm his racing heart. "What's going on, Jessie? Why are we here?" He asks her as calmly as he can manage.
She exhales out her nose and goes over to the swing next to the one he was just on. She sits down in it and starts to softly swing back and forth. Stiles frowns with uncertainty. "Sit. Swing with me." She says. He doesn't object, he doesn't question it, but his confusion is clear by the look on his face as he sits back in the swing from before and swings a little like she is. "We're here because I want to talk to you, just us, where no person or wolf will be listening in." She says.
Stiles looks at her, looking for more of an explanation, but she's looking straight ahead. "Okay." He nods. "What do you wanna talk about?" He asks her.
Jessie glances at him now, but looks back out over the horizon again. "Me. You. Me and.. Me and you. You and I, however we're supposed to say it.. I don't know, I don't pay much attention in English." Jessie finds herself rambling, becoming nervous.
Stiles does too, because he swallows loudly, it's almost a gulp. "Me and-and you?" He repeats, hating how he stutters a little and his hands start to feel sweaty as he latches to the swing chains on either side of his head. "What about us?" He asks her.
Jessie looks back at him, stopping her swinging. She lets out a nervous breath, and then inhales a deep breath to calm herself. "Well.."
.
"What are we looking for-"
Derek puts his finger to his mouth, eyes snapping to Ashlyn. The girl doesn't finish her question. "Stay quiet. Use your senses." He says in a quiet mumble. "We don't know what could be out here." He says before he turns back around and continues to creep through the trees, keeping them concealed in the shadows, something Derek's become quite good at.
The two continue on, and Ashlyn hears something in the distance. She grabs the shoulder of Derek's jacket, making him stop. "There's something.. A lot of people." She says to him in the same very low voice he used earlier.
"Humans? Are you sure?" He asks her, already sniffing the air himself.
Ashlyn nods. "Something's going on ahead. C'mon." She walks past him, leading the way.
The Alpha and the Were-jaguar venture on, coming to a pass where they stick to the shadows, but find police cars all around, an ambulance, and lots of people. There's flashing lights, cameras, microphones, whatever's going on here, the media want to know. Ashlyn looks at Derek, and he looks at her, the two sharing a look. The media.. This can't be good. They need to stay off the radar, before the hunters decide to get involved even more than they have been. They need to stay off the radar before the hunters decide to thin down the pack. Derek turns back to face forward when a strong scent hits his nose. Both were-animals watch as a full body bag is carried away, the cameramen trying their best to get a shot, the reporters trying their best to get a story. Derek frowns, watching as Sheriff Stilinski struggles to keep everyone at bay with his deputies, as he struggles to get the media away from a crime scene they shouldn't even have known about yet. "It's another dead body." Derek sighs.
Ashlyn looks at him, and she can see the same stress on his face as she sees in the Sheriff's, two men both trying to save their town, both knowing things other people don't. "We'll figure this out, Derek." Ashlyn says, trying to make him feel even just a little bit better.
Derek nods. "We don't have a choice, we have too." He says. "C'mon, let's get back. I'll have Stiles talk to his Dad, see what he can get us on the murder." Ashlyn nods and backs up, turning around and following Derek. They walk in silence for a couple minutes. Ashlyn glances over her shoulder, looking back at the crime scene at the bottom of the hill. Then suddenly, the worst pain imaginable. Derek spins around when a low growl passes Ashlyn's lips. By the sound of it, it sounds almost as if she's turned on him, and is about to attack, but that isn't what he finds at all. He finds the girl gritting her teeth, now fangs, trying not to cry out in pain. He rushes over to her, and kneels down beside her because she's stumbled. He looks at her, the girl's eyes are watery. "What is it? What happened?" He asks her. Ashlyn can't say anything, she's trying to keep quiet as not to draw attention to them. She just nods down, but doesn't look down, she just grips his jacket tightly in her fist, holding herself upright. Derek frowns and looks down, his eyes widening when he sees it. Sharp metal teeth wrap around her ankle, tearing through her skin and keeping her in place. "..bear trap." Derek says under his breath. He looks back up at Ashlyn, and there's actually a tear rolling down her cheek. She's trying so hard not to make any loud sound but he can imagine the pain she's in right now, were-creature or not. He takes her other hand in his and starts draining away some of that pain, trying to figure out the easiest and less painful way to get this thing off of her. "Okay.. I have to break it." He tells her.
Ashlyn shakes her head, another tear slipping from her eyes, staining her other cheek. "No.. It-It hurts t-too much." She says with a watery hiccup.
"I have to get it off." He says. "It's going to hurt worse, but.. But, it's the only way to get it off."
She shakes her head again, squeezing the leather of his jacket even tighter. "No. No.."
Derek sighs, she's being stubborn, but he understands why. She's in extreme pain right now, and with the trap still jawed around her ankle, she can't heal. "Ashlyn?" He says, trying to convince her. She just shakes her head again, trying to think of something else. Breaking it means tearing the metal teeth back out of her skin. She doesn't like the thought of doing it like a bandaid for something like this. "Ashlyn.." But she only shakes her head again. She leans her forehead against his shoulder, trying to ignore the immense pain she's in. Derek sighs heavily, knowing he has to do what he has to do. He brings his arm around her back like he's hugging her, and she frowns in confusion. He lets her hand go, reaching down. "I'm sorry." He says to her quietly. She doesn't even get to question why he's saying he's sorry, because the Alpha, the bastard, goes ahead and shatters the metal with his hand anyway. As soon as it's done, he throws his hand over her mouth because this time a pained scream does pass her lips, and the police are right over the hill. Too many questions and suspicions would come up if they saw Ashlyn like this, especially once she healed. "Shhh, shhh, shhh." He hushes her, holding his hand over her mouth as the girl cries out against it. Suddenly, the girl's eyes roll back and she falls limp in his arms. Derek frowns, and takes his hand away from her mouth, bringing it to her pulse.
Thump, thump. Thump, thump.
She's fine, she's just passed out. Most probably from the pain. Derek exhales in relief, not minding how she practically falls against him, unable to control her body in her unconsciousness. He looks down at the metal pieces laying around them, blood covering most of them. He looks away, because it's not the nicest image. He stands up, lifting her up with him, bridal style. He begins walking back the way they came, heading back through the woods in the shadows of the trees to get back to the loft where he can tend to Ashlyn a lot easier.
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Later
Her eyes move beneath her eyelids as she slowly drifts back to consciousness. Voices, mumbled voices, around her. "How bad is it?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know as much about her kind as I do about yours, Derek."
Ashlyn's eyes flutter open lazily, hearing a familiar but not completely recognizable voice. She grunts gently, the blacking out taking away her motor skills momentarily. Both Derek and Deaton turn to her. It's Derek that gets to her first. "Ashlyn?" He says, sitting down in the chair beside the bed, the one Deaton pulled over to check her over in. She makes a sound of recognition. "She's awake." Derek says, looking back over at Deaton.
Deaton moves over to her, to her other side. Ashlyn's eyelids droop dangerously, but she forces them to stay open. She looks over at the door, to see the familiar faces of the household trying to peek into the room. "Kids, give us some space." Deaton says, speaking to Isaac and Jessie that are trying to get a look without getting in trouble.
"Go on. Take Tyson as well." Derek says to them.
Isaac sighs. "C'mon." He says.
Ashlyn sees the two teenagers move, and she fuzzily sees a much smaller person with them. "..Ty..Tyson." She gets out, her throat far too dry.
Tyson hears his name pass her lips, and the young boy realizes she's awake. He turns to her with wide eyes. "Ashy? Ash!" He races between Jessie and Isaac and into the room, darting over to the bed. He jumps up on it before Derek or Deaton can warn him otherwise.
A pained sound leaves Ashlyn's mouth, and her face screws up, but it's worth it when Tyson hugs around her neck tightly, happy to see she's back and she's okay. She swallows, wetting her throat. "It's okay." She croaks, looking at Derek and Deaton, holding a hand out to them to tell them not to try and pry the boy away from her.
Jessie and Isaac migrate back to the door, standing in the doorway more bravely now, looking at Ashlyn. Derek turns to them, but doesn't tell them to leave this time. "Is she okay?" Jessie asks him.
Derek nods. "She'll be fine." He tells her.
Jessie gives a small smile, but she's not feeling too hot herself right now. Her talk with Stiles didn't go as well as she hoped. "C'mon, Isaac." She says, because it seems Tyson isn't letting go for awhile.
Derek watches as Jessie and Isaac leave again, this time willingly. He frowns a little, reminding himself to sit down with Jessie when he can get her alone, because she seems a little down. He turns back to Ashlyn, finding Tyson's still hugging her tightly. He shares a look with Deaton, both almost admiring how even though she's barely holding onto consciousness, she can still soothe Tyson as he's quite upset because he was so scared and worried for his Aunt. They look back at Tyson, and find he's brushing his fingertips down her nose gently. "My Puddy Tat." He whispers with a hiccup, tears down his face. They find Ashlyn's slowly slipping back to sleep again, the action calming her.
Derek wonders if they should stop him, and keep her awake. "No." Deaton says to him, as if he can read Derek's mind. "Let her rest. She needs it. Her body can wait another few hours for sustenance." Deaton advises, even though she's been out cold for hours, no water, no food, no wonder she's dizzy as all hell. "C'mon, let's leave them both to get some sleep."
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That Evening
As the sun beings to go down, Jessie seeks out her brother. Deaton's returned to his own home, leaving behind directions to help with Ashlyn's recovery. Jessie already knows where Derek will be, he's been in the same place all day, ever since he carried Ashlyn through the door, her ankle and foot covered with her blood, the girl herself unconscious. As much as Jessie and Isaac offered their help, Derek put them to ask on looking after Tyson while he and Deaton looked after Ashlyn. Jessie goes into Tyson and Ashlyn's room, and she finds Derek in the exact same spot as earlier, since Deaton left. He looks up at her as she comes in the door, and takes the seat beside his. "Hey."
"Hey." Derek says, and his voice sounds tired. Between the new murder and what happened to Ashlyn, it's been a hectic day. And he's been sitting here, sitting with the she-jaguar, and there's been a thousand and one things running through his mind. He wonders what it'd be like if she left, he wonders what it'd be like if anything worse had happened to her today, he wonders what it'd be like if Tyson wasn't around. He just.. He wonders how much this girl and her nephew have changed his and the pack's lives. Derek's eyes fall to Ashlyn's ankle, which is wrapped up and propped up a little to help the healing process along, which is going painfully slow as she's unconscious and the metal trap tore through much more than just her skin. Deaton's set an ice pack on it as well, to help with the swelling. Derek finds it odd, it's almost like she's human, it's almost like she's fragile. He doesn't really know why he's so worried about her, but he finds Ashlyn's harder to get off his mind than he thought, and maybe that's why he's sat here with her this whole time. Is it because she's more than just a housemate to him? Maybe they're friends? Maybe they're pack even, who knows, right? Derek certainly doesn't.
"Has she woken up again yet?" Jessie asks him, both keeping their voices low as not to wake Ashlyn or Tyson, who sleeps curled up with his sister, his hand rested on her cheek.
His sister's voice snaps him back out of his thoughts. Derek shakes his head. "No. Not yet." He says. "Deaton thinks she might even sleep through the night."
"She's gonna be starving when she wakes up." Jessie comments.
"Yeah." Derek nods, looking down at his hands.
Jessie frowns, looking at him. "Hey." She says, but gets nothing back. "Hey." She nudges him with her elbow this time. He looks to his side at her. "What's wrong with you?" She asks him.
Derek exhales out his nose, and looks back at Ashlyn. "I should've seen it." He says.
"Seen what?"
"The trap, before she stepped on it." He says, not looking at his sister. He should have spotted the trap long before Ashlyn stood on it, then she'd be fine, she wouldn't be on bedrest like this, she wouldn't be injured like this.
Jessie sighs, rubbing her eyes. "It's really sweet that you wanna put all the blame on yourself, but Jesus, Derek.. When does it stop?" She asks him. He looks at her, confused, because she sounded sarcastic, but he isn't sure. "Everything that happens to us, everything that happens to people in this town, it's not all your fault." Jessie says. Derek looks back at Ashlyn, not saying anything back. "I get it, it's because you're the Alpha, right? That means it all lands on your back?" She asks, leaning forward so she can look him in the face, but he's purposely avoiding looking at hers. "That's not true. You have to know it's not true, it can't all be on you."
"Yeah, I'm sure Mom would think the same thing if she were here." It leaves Derek's lips sarcastically before he can stop himself.
"That's different." Jessie says, and Derek's surprised they didn't just fall into dead silence. "Things aren't the same as they used to be. There's nothing we've been able to do, so there's nothing we can do right now." She says. "She took action because she knew what she was doing. You don't know what you're doing." Derek looks at her now, a frown on his face. "I mean that with respect." She adds. "You're a kid, Derek, like me. You have to stop comparing yourself to her." She says gently, because she knows how her brother has always tried to be just like their Mom when she was their Alpha, but things were very different in that time. Wolves and hunters could live in peace, they can barely do that now. There weren't murders left and right like this, that was rare, and when it did happen, there were numerous packs that helped Tahlia's pack get to the bottom of it. That woman never stood alone, or only with her own pack, but things aren't like that anymore. Other packs are vindictive, they're dangerous. Packs don't mix like they used too. "She lived many years before we were even a thought. She knows more than we ever could. It's why we research, it's why we read her books, her diaries, her notes. The time Mom lived in wasn't like this. Things like this didn't happen, only very rarely, and there was always a reason. There's no good reason for what's happening in our town. We have nothing. But that's not your fault." She tells him. "When are you gonna stop living in Mom's shadow, and start being Derek the Alpha?" She asks him.
He listens to her, of course he listens. And he processes what she's saying. But for the life of him, because she's always been able to read him like a book, he has nothing to say back to her. "What's wrong with you today?" So he changes the subject.
She leans back in the chair. She knows what she's said has gotten through to him because he didn't brush her off or make a snarky remark, he thought about it and he switched subjects because he doesn't have the answer she needs right now. "What do you mean?"
"You're upset. I can smell it." He says. She scoffs, like he's completely wrong. Derek turns to her now, locking eyes with the girl. "I can see it." He says more seriously. He can read Jessie too, without any wolf abilities, because she's his baby sister. Jessie swallows, and looks at Ashlyn and Tyson now, it's her turn to avoid his gaze. "What happened to you today?" He asks her.
"..I don't want to talk about it." She says quietly. He opens his mouth to ask again, but then she looks up at him, and her eyes are watery as she remembers earlier on with Stiles. "Can we please not talk about it?" She asks him. "Just this once? Please?"
Derek nods, because he doesn't want to upset her anymore than she seems to be. Yes, he will get to bottom of it, but not right now. He moves his chair closer to hers and looks at her. "I know I've made it hard in the past, but I am here for you, Jessie." He tells her.
Jessie nods. "Okay." She sniffles.
"Okay?"
"Yeah." She nods.
"C'mere." He says. Jessie looks at him in confusion, because they're sitting right next to each other. "C'mere." He says again. She moves closer to him and is pleasantly, but still very surprised, welcomed with a warm hug. She moves into his embrace, because she's needed this, she's needed to be hugged in a way that assures her she isn't alone, and that she's okay. "You want me to kill him, and hide the body?" Derek teases with hopes of her lightening up, because he knows it does have something to do with her mystery 'friend', he isn't stupid.
Jessie chuckles a little. "Not right now, no. But maybe a raincheck." She teases back. Derek's lips twitch upwards, at least she's not in tears and still has a sense of humor.
.
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Hmm.. What happened with Jessie and Stiles, huh? Cliffhanger on that, I know, I'm evil :P Don't fret, Ashlyn's fine, that wasn't the close death/death I was talking about, they just ran into an obstacle. But, damn, Derek..what's all these things he's feeling and thinking about, hmm? ;)
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