Monkey Meets Wolf

Chapter Twenty-One: Revelations

Yes, revelations, and no, not the shitty Assassin's Creed game, I actually enjoyed this epiphany

That night – Derek and I didn't really fuck like crazy like we usually do. That was honestly probably the most passionate and intense bonk I've ever experienced. It was truly the first time I had "made love" since James died, and I sorely missed it. Missed the passion, the pure love and adoration, and, honestly, Derek was the last person I expected it from.

I woke up the next day, his arms wrapped tight around me, his warmth enveloping me as it always did, and I couldn't've been happier in that exact moment. Being careful not to wake him, I rolled over and nuzzled into his chest, glad for the few moments we had before everything came crashing down on us again. Speaking from experience, when you think you've found the love of your life and then he's suddenly taken from you, you become doubtful that you'll ever love like that again.

Maybe – maybe I was on my way there.

Who would've thought, right? Why would anyone with any common decency fall for a brooding asshole like Derek Hale? Sure, he's lickably sexy and undeniably ripped, but looks can only carry a relationship so far. So, maybe I'm a masochist. Developing feelings for a guy who hates more than he breathes. Whoops, my bad. Maybe I should get some common decency.

Thinking back to last night, I remembered something a bit odd, something I'd definitely bring up to my multiple-night-stand when he woke up. The fact that I could half hear his thoughts was – odd, to say the least. Come to think of it, the only other time that happened was when the Alpha was whispering in my head. I was pretty sure the sleazy monster was able to do that only because he'd bitten me, and I was part of his pack.

Derek though? He and I were – not connected like that. He's a werewolf, I'm a werewolf, sure, but I can't hear Scott's thoughts and he's in the same precarious life state as we are. Several options rolled through my head, magical werewolf telepathy being one of them, and Derek being the grand wielder of those powers. My other ideas involved radioactive spiders and other such things so I'll keep those to myself, because I'm pretty sure all of my theories are way off the mark.

Suddenly, Derek started to fidget. He rolled back onto his back and removed one arm from me to rub his eyes and yawn. I still stayed cuddled up to him because I was feeling that afterglow real hard. He squeezed me tighter to his side briefly before relaxing his arm and looking down at me.

"How'd you sleep?" I asked innocently, drawing patterns on his forearm.

He chuckled a bit. "I slept fine, thanks for asking. What are you doing over there."

"Shut up, I'm swimming in pheromones, leave me be." I protested, pursing my lips.

"Is that all?" He continued, his amusement clear in his tone.

I sat up, slapping him lightly on the chest. "Where the hell did this playful side come from? For the longest time you've been frowns and bad moods, what has gotten into you?"

He shrugged, avoiding the question entirely.

I couldn't help but laugh. "No way are you shrugging your way out of this one. I'm going to get to the bottom of this pickle barrel."

"Pickle barrel?" He smirked. "Where do you come up with this crap?"

I rolled my eyes and pulled Derek's jacket on to keep myself warm. "From the crap that's residing in my head. Now, serious talk time, what the hell was that last night?"

"What was what?" He disregarded, playing dumb.

And doing a very poor job at it.

"You know what I'm talking about, that little voice in my head last night that sounded a lot like you!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. "It was so weird, like you were taking a nice leisurely scroll over my brain!"

Finally, Derek sighed and sat up, giving in to my questioning. "You really want to know?"

I laughed. "Of course I want to know, it was sort of weird!"

"You said you don't want to know about the kissing thing." He decided to bring up.

Confused, I tilted my head to the side. "They're related?"

He nodded, putting a hand behind his head. "Yeah. A lot."

I returned the gesture, trying to keep a level head. "Cool, cool. I guess that means it's about time for me to learn about that too. I'm a big girl, I can handle it."

"You're something, alright." He probably tried to mutter under his breath. He failed miserably.

"Oh hush." I protested. "Just – just start explaining."

Derek, he sighed for the umpteenth time, and began his tale of woe. "There's this – thing. Something that werewolves sometimes do to become more powerful. It's a bond that's both spiritual and physical –"

"This is getting pretty trippy." I interceded just a little. I'm no good with serious talks.

There was suddenly a hand over my mouth. "It's called mating."

Sort of glad he literally shut my trap for me, because I just started laughing like crazy as I pulled his hand away. "Wait, what?"

"Mating." He reiterated. "It's obviously –"

"Werewolves fucking like rabbits?" I chuckled. "We've been doing that for a while Derek, surely we've –"

He put his hand over my mouth again, effectively shutting me up. "Interrupt me again and I won't tell you anything."

I groaned loudly through his big meaty paws, but I obviously relented. The need to know about this whole deal was far more important than the need to insert my sarcastic comments after every word. Seems like this conversation was actually plenty overdue, I just happen to be a big wuss who likes to run away from her problems. My bad.

Probably somewhat reluctant of my compliance, Derek removed his hand and looked at me expectantly. "Do we have a deal?"

"Yes." I conceded. "No more blundering interruptions from one moronic grease monkey."

Of course, that didn't satisfy him.

"I, Brooke-Lynn Sophia Winston Summers, solemnly swear that I am up to no good, but will keep my ungodly lopsided mouth shut for the duration of this discussion." I swore with my hand crossed over my heart. "There, happy?"

He smirked. "Never.

"Now, to mate with a werewolf is to essentially bind your soul to another. A mated werewolf's strength is amplified, so is their healing, senses, endurance, everything. Mating prevents you from having sexual or romantic feelings for another, it's pretty much a lifelong thing. So, obviously, only werewolves who are in love make that pact. Unless – unless it's for the power. Then, it's usually forced on a Beta by their Alpha. It's – usually not consensual."

"Like what the Alpha's trying to pull on me." I mumbled. It was more like – a horrifying realization that spilled from my lips.

Then, completely uncharacteristically, Derek reached over and took my hand in his. "I will never let him get his hands on you. Especially not like that."

That is – incredibly sweet. "Thank you, Derek. I appreciate that. Sorry for interrupting you."

He smirked sadly. "I'll let it slide."

"My oh my, Derek Hale." I teased, falling back into his side. "You're goin' soft on me."

You could practically hear him roll his eyes. "You wish."

I giggled, glad to be on his good side, but then I stopped. "Wait, what's this have to do with us?"

With that, we got back down to business. To defeat – the Huns.

"There's – another piece of it." He admitted quite reluctantly. "The connection isn't just physical, like I said, spiritual. Mental. You can practically hear each other's thoughts, sense their pain, actually feel where they are."

Hold the phone. "That's – that's you and me down to a T. But we haven't done the – haven't actually –"

"That's where it gets – complicated." He lamented.

"I don't like how that sounds." I admitted without stopping to think whether or not I should.

He cast me a side glance. "There's a level beyond mating. One that's – how do I explain this."

"How about you just start going, pretend I'm not here, and hope I don't freak out?" I asked with a shrug of the shoulders. "Because you're making is sound like I'm going to freak out."

"You always freak out." He said while shaking his head.

"Do not!" I protested loudly. "Only when I get turned into a werewolf against my will!"

He chuckled just before his face fell. "True mates. That's the level beyond mating."

"What's that entail, exactly?" I asked innocently.

"A true mate is someone a werewolf is absolutely meant to be with. Even without mating they have the same sort of connections, the enhanced strength just by being near them, healing, endurance, senses, etcetera. But – honestly, it's supposed to be so rare that most werewolves don't even believe in it anymore. Including myself. My mother told me about it when I was younger, it sounds like a fairytale still."

I looked up at him. "What made you change your mind on it?"

Now, I'm going to tell you something that you're probably not going to believe. Derek, big tough emotionless Derek, he, hand to God, blushed up a freaking storm. It was – it was absolutely adorable. His cheeks got all pink and he looked away and I just – I wish I took a picture because honestly no one believes me when I tell them. It's way too far-fetched. Of course, with the next bit of news, I was doing pretty much the same damn thing.

"You." He muttered as he stared intently out the window. "I'm pretty sure that – are you going to make me say it? Because I don't think –"

Impulsively, I sat up quickly and covered his mouth with both of my hands. "Please – please don't. I don't think I can handle that."

With my head bowed and my hair dangling in my face, I desperately hid the fact that my face was warm like his chest and red as the devil's butthole. Of course, being "true mates", or whatever Derek was going on about, he just pulled my hands off his mouth and tilted my chin up. Unbeknownst to me, I was tearing up like crazy. There was something – nostalgic about this feeling.

I'm going to say it, I was falling in love. Maybe already in love – well, at least in the early stages of it. Derek, he used his thumb to wipe away the wetness dripping down my face, then he leaned in and kissed me gently, pressing his forehead against mine and practically washing away any bad feeling I've ever had. This – true mate crap, with Derek Hale, it was a lot to wrap my head around. But – I knew I could handle it. As long as I had him, everything would be okay.

Author's Note: Slight delay, here we are, this is so gross and fluffy and romancey and - yeah, all that. Anyways, for anyone still confused on the whole hunter named "Jim" where Chris Argent would be, Brooke is not apart of the main werewolf drama, running from hunters or anything like that, so she actually does not know about any of the hunters, who they are, or what their names are. She's actually not even going to meet Chris Argent before the end of the season, and therefore she's given him her own name. That is all! Winding down to the end people, let's get to a dead Alpha and a happy Brooke!