Next chapter, finally! Sorry about the long wait, October was a crazy month for my family. Here's the next chapter, enjoy! :)

Ch. 14

Getting in Derek's car to head to the game Ruthie takes out her cell phone wanting to check in with her family. Putting the phone on speaker, she calls the house and listens to her mom's excitement at hearing from her. Trying to answer all the questions being thrown at her Ruthie just rolls her eyes at Derek, knowing that he knows how her mom can be. "Mom, stop," Ruthie says laughing at her mother's fast talking. Looking over at Derek and seeing him shake his head, she leans over and kisses his cheek as he grabs her hand and holds it. "Everything is fine and things are great! I love my job and the apartment is nice and you'll never guess who I ran into," she says, holding her breath and knowing she needed her family to know she ran into 'Martin' again.

"Who dear," Mrs. Camden asks.

"Hi Mrs. Camden," Derek says, giving Ruthie's hand a gentle squeeze.

There's a stretch of silence over the line and then 'Martin' is shouted through the line in happiness. "Oh sweetheart how are you? I didn't know you were down in Beacon Hills," she says excitedly. "You have a lot of explaining to do you know that," she continued.

"Yes ma'am," Derek says, smiling at Ruthie. "I was thinking Ruthie and I could come visit in a few weeks and I can catch up with everyone."

"That would be great!" she exclaims. "Oh Martin you have to come, everyone will be so excited to see you! We've all missed you so much," she sighs through the phone, and both could tell she was getting teary-eyed by the sound of her voice. "Promise you guys will come visit soon," she begs.

Both agreed and continued to talk while they drove to the high school. Derek, knowing he couldn't tell her his story over the phone, kept the conversation mostly about the Camden family, only talking about the renovations on the house and glossing over his uncle Peter. Pulling into a parking space, Derek and Ruthie said goodbye with the promise of calling again soon. Hanging up Ruthie looked over at Derek and started laughing.

"What?" he asked smiling at her.

"It's just, she still thinks your name is Martin," she said still laughing. "My whole family does."

"They'll find out the truth about me eventually. Well not the werewolf part, but the other stuff I'll tell them. About my family and the fire," he said quietly.

Ruthie's mood sobered instantly. "Hey," she said seeing him go quiet and become serious. Knowing he was worried that her family wouldn't accept him anymore Ruthie wanted to get that notion out of his head right away. "Baby, my family loves you. They always have. Nothing you say can change that," she said trying to reassure him and smiling at him when he looked over at her. "Okay?"

"Okay," he said, giving her hand a squeeze and smiling slightly at her.

Getting out of the car, Derek came around and met Ruthie at her door. Wrapping his arm around her waist he led her towards the field, locking his car as they walked away. "So, are you ready for your first lacrosse game?" he asked her as they walked towards the bleachers where the pack was sitting.

"Sure," she said. "I hope we win."

Derek chuckled and agreed with her. Getting to the pack in the bleachers was difficult with the full crowd but they managed. When they finally got to the others Derek sat next to Peter and Ruthie sat in between his legs on the bench below him with the girls. Feeling Derek's hands brushing her hair back from her shoulders, she smiled and leaned back, meeting his lips for a quick kiss.

"Enough of that you guys, the game's about to start," Erica chastised. "And my man looks sexy!" she yelled the last part and grinned when Boyd turned and waved at her before running on to the field. Laughing at Erica's antics everyone got situated to watch the game. Ruthie picked up on the game quickly and only asked Peter a few questions when a certain call was made or why a specific play was used in the game. She was happy to see the boys play and hear everyone in the bleachers cheering them on. Thinking about it reminded her of her family cheering on Mary at all of her basketball games. My family would love this she thought. Catching Peter looking at her with a knowing smirk, she smiled when he leaned down and whispered 'family' in her ear and grinned even more as Derek gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Watching as the final play was made, Ruthie jumped up with all the girls as the Beacon Hills team won the game. Seeing all the players get rushed on the field by the crowd, the girls joined in and ran for their pack members. Seeing Erica jump on Boyd and Allison and Lydia do the same with Scott and Stiles, Ruthie ran for Isaac and pulled him into a hug.

"I'm so glad you came," he said when they pulled back. "What did you think about your first game?"

"It was awesome, you guys were awesome," she said excitedly over the roar of the crowd. "Congratulations on winning!"

Isaac smiled and threw his arm around her as they all made their way over to Derek and Peter. Getting high fives and a round of 'great game' the boys all went to shower and change while everyone else waited in the parking lot by the cars. Seeing the parking lot slowly empty, the pack stood still in the silence waiting for their other members. Ruthie, leaning against Derek, jumped in his arms as a shrill scream pierced the night. Feeling his arms tighten around her briefly Ruthie flinched hearing his hard alpha tone giving directions and knew something wasn't right. Hearing Derek split everyone up into search parties Ruthie felt him grab her hand and pull her close as he started to lead her away. Walking towards the far side of the school with Derek and Peter close to her side Ruthie shivered in fear as she remembered the shrieking scream she had heard only moments before. I hope the others are okay, she thought, thinking of Scott, Allison, Stiles and Lydia who went back towards the field and Boyd, Erica and Isaac who went around the other side of the school. Rounding a corner Derek suddenly stops in front of her making her run into him and Peter stop right behind her. She can tell both of them are tense and sees Derek look back at Peter. Peter sniffs the air for a minute and a grim look passes over his face. Catching Derek's eyes on him, he nods his head and frowns as Derek mutters a curse.

"What?" she asks, seeing the look that passed between them.

"Ruthie you need to stay here with Peter while I go check this out," he tells her, not wanting to inform her yet of what happened.

"No Derek I'm staying with you," she says, feeling a stab of pain and fear go through her at the thought of being away from him right now.

"Baby I'll be fine," he says softly. "I'll be right back." Kissing her cheek he starts jogging away from them and Peter has to physically hold Ruthie back from following him.

Starting to get frustrated and not being able to yell since Peter covered her mouth, Ruthie panics even more, feeling her fear intensify. Kicking her legs out and trying to break his grip Ruthie calms when she sees the others coming towards them. Seeing Scott, Stiles, and Erica make their way to follow Derek, the others stay with Ruthie and Peter to keep watch. Isaac goes over to Ruthie, who is now slumped against Peter's chest, and takes one of her hands in his.

"He's fine Ruthie," he says trying to reassure her. "The others are with him and he's safe. They're just on the other side of the building trying to figure some stuff out." Seeing Ruthie smile slightly in acknowledgement at his words, he drops her hand and steps back as Peter smiles slightly and nods at him over her head. Peter pulls Ruthie tighter against him, knowing she must be hating the mating bond right now. Rubbing her back gently he smiles as he feels her relax slightly. Leaning down he whispers that there's no danger, that Derek and the others are just checking the scene now that the perimeter is secure. Feeling Ruthie turn into his chest, Peter strokes her hair and keeps one arm securely around her waist. A few minutes later Derek and the others come back to join them and Derek smiles in thanks to Peter seeing Ruthie holding on to him tightly.

"We need to get home," he says, voice full of authority. "Now."

Motioning to Ruthie, he takes her hand as she walks over to him and starts to lead her back to the parking lot. Sensing her tension Derek squeezes her hand gently and smiles at her as she slides into his car. Walking to the driver's side Derek sees the others all getting into cars and driving out of the parking lot towards the house. Looking over at Ruthie as he starts the car, he sees that she is quiet and lost in thought. Reaching over he takes her hand out of her lap and laces his fingers with hers, bringing their joined hands up to kiss her knuckles.

"What happened Derek?" Ruthie asks him as he starts to drive toward the house.

"We'll talk about it at home," he tells her, tracing his triskelion symbol on her hand.

Ruthie just nods, knowing that now isn't the time to push him.

Sitting quietly in the car and holding onto his hand, Ruthie can only imagine what he is going to tell everyone at the house. Someone is dead she thought. Someone's life ended tonight. Pulling into the drive Ruthie lets go of his hand to get out of the car. Closing her door she is pushed back against it with her lips fused to Derek's. Feeling his anxiety and fear Ruthie lets him control the kiss and runs her hands through his hair to soothe his nerves. The kiss becomes gentle and slow and Ruthie knows Derek is coming back to himself. Slowly breaking away she leans her forehead against his and looks into his glowing red eyes.

"Baby, it's okay. We're all okay," she whispers quietly in the cold night air. Scraping her nails against the back of his neck gently she sees his eyes close and hears him sigh.

"I'm sorry for leaving you earlier, but I didn't want you to see that," he tells her looking back at her eyes to see her worry for him shining through.

"Someone died," she says more than asks him. Seeing his gaze break from her and look to the ground, she knows she's right. Feeling him gently put her back on the ground, Ruthie grabs his hand and starts to walk to the house. Feeling his grip on her hand tighten Ruthie squeezes back gently letting him know that she's here. Walking into the living room they see everyone sitting around on the couches waiting for them. Waiting for Derek she thinks. Looking up at the man beside her as well, she notices how tired he looks.

"The man that died tonight was a werewolf. An omega. And Peter recognized the scent." At this he turns to look at Ruthie. Ruthie looks around the room and notices everyone looking at her as well. Looking back at Derek she feels herself grow dizzy at his next words. "Peter recognized the scent from the barn at the Jacobs farm. The man was tortured there and killed in the loft. Peter also smelled the scent of Mr. Jacobs on him."

Ruthie didn't hear anything, just the complete ringing silence that followed Derek's statement.

We knew there was something off about the Jacobs. Again, sorry about the long wait! Next chapter up soon!