Authors Note-

Sorry guys. The way my manager is making me work should be illegal. I'm so tired and school has officially started. But I needed to get this chapter out to you guys. I started writing for Unexpected Masterpiece again after like three months... so my Naruto fans are happy too.

But I plan to see this story through to the end, and I still want to do the sequil. I just want to warn everyone that some chapters may be delayed. And I apologize ahead of time for it. But life happens, so we all have to get over it.

Enjoy happy readers!

Chapter 25-

"I used to beg my dad for a dog, you know?"

Derek blinked, exhaling air that he wasn't aware of holding in the first place. He wasn't quite sure if in reality, he had just seen Chloe's lips move and heard her voice, or was wishing and hoping so much for something like that to happen that he was imagining it. But then her lips pulled back just a little in a small smile, her eyes tightened, then slowly peaked open revieling their blue glory.

This time Derek's released breath and whines were of pure relief. He dipped his head, frantically nuzzling his nose beneathe her chin and pressing his cheek against her neck. A noise escaped her lips, something like a choked laugh. It sounded forced, full with relief too, perhaps. But Derek continued to whimper and prod at her, wanting her to give him a confirmation that she was okay. She didn't say anything, except she wrapped her arms around his large neck and tangled her fingers into his fur. That was almost enough, in un-spoken words, to soothe him.

She was awake, a very good sign.

"Derek... I-I'm so sorry." He could hear the tears in her voice... even in the danger they were in at that moment, Derek couldn't bring himself to worry about it. What used to hold him rooted and on gaurd didn't exist anymore. His quick judgement to sense any threat was overlapped with the relief to know that his mate was alright. It was like nothing else mattered, their confined space in the back of the crop plane only seemed to enhance the effect of the world slipping from beneathe them.

At the moment it was only them, and Derek didn't want Chloe's apologies. Especially over something that was his fault in the first place.

He should have never left Chloe's side.

He gave a curt growl. It's fine, I don't care.

Chloe was able to read enough, so she just tightened her arms around him.

They stayed that way for what seemed like hours. Quiet, except for the occasional whine that escaped Derek's throat, and tangled in each other. They calmed each other with the sound of the other's heart. Both beats steady in synchronization.

Actually our heart can only beat at the tempo of hers. She's in the lead.

That was the first thing his wolf had said since he had gotten on the plane hours ago. Derek thought the information on how the entire mate thing was important, but he really didn't care at the moment. The wolf seemed to hum in agreement.

This would be a lot easier if we were human, don't you think?

Derek stiffened, he could feel Chloe pull back a little, her aura of worry was easy for Derek to read without even looking into her eyes.

"Derek?"

Said wolf, released a sharp bark of pain as his muscles convulsed.

'Are you serious, right now?'

Yup.

"You're changing back," Chloe squeaked. She still wasn't aware of where they were exactly. But their current surroundings were enough to let her know that wherever they were, it wasn't the best place and time for the grueling change process.

Don't worry Chloe.

Derek felt the wolf's longing to reassure her that everything would be okay. He could feel the wolf's draw to her, that gravity that attached it to her... that attached him to her.

He wanted to reassure her.

Once a werewolf has made the connection, changing comes smoother and faster. Just let it wash over you, and it will be over before you know it.

Another bark escaped his lips, a low one that he tried to keep as quiet as possible, as his spine shot up into the air, bones started to break and re-adjust. Chloe calmly gave reassurances, and soothing shushes. She stroked the spot between his shoulder blades, always acknowledging her physical company.

Going through the change without her was the worst thing Derek could ever go through. With his wolf guiding him the last time it wasn't as bad as the time he had changed on his way to rescue her from the Edison group. Only because something was there and he didn't feel like he had to endure the missery alone.

But that didn't, and would never, compare to having Chloe at his side. Her aura was serene, her words were a relaxing hum that created music in Derek's ears. Her lack of hesitation to touch him, to speak to him, to look at him... was something new to Derek every time he had this experience. And the way that she looked at him...

There was no pity, sympathy perhaps, worry of course... there was no possible way for her to comprehend the pain he went through, and there was no way for her to understand just how scary this actually was to him. But Chloe understood Derek without even understanding what was happening to him.

He saw that the first time he went through the change. The look in her eyes... she didn't see a hideous freak. A monster. She saw him, in nearly unbearable pain... and because of that, the pain was bearable.

All Derek needed was to see that look in her eyes... and when he wasn't able to, he went through a world of hell as he spiraled out of control in fear and uncertainty.

Derek's frame shook, he was halfway through his change and his body was giving him a slight break to breathe evenly. Like that was actually possible before the change was actually over.

He kept his face turned away from Chloe. Not that she hasn't seen it before, or was even horified by how it morphed... but it was Derek's own insecurities to keep the sight from her. He knew in time he wouldn't care, he knew now he shouldn't. But their relationship, their connection was still so new to him, he really rather keep Chloe in the dark against werewolves just a little longer. She had had enough to endure on her own in the past month.

"You're almost there Derek, just a little mor-" Chloe cut off with a muffled catch of her voice as the plane gave a violent jerk. She was jostled back and slammed against a crate, where as Derek didn't budge an inch. He clenched his teeth against the on going pain that rolled through his body and limply dragged himself towards her.

"Turbulance, we're going down." He was able to speak at this point in the change, but it came out hoarse and dry. His throat burned in the effort. Chloe balanced herself, but stiffened at Derek's words, eyes widening into large blue saucers.

"We're in a plane," she squeaked. Right. She still wasn't aware as to where they were exacly... and what danger they were in.

Then Chloe's stuttering word vomit errupted, her squeaks raising a few octaves, making Derek's head spin due to sensitive hearing... and emense pain half way through a change.

"W-what happened? Where a-are w-we? What's g-going o-on-" She was speaking a few hundred miles a minute.

"Chloe!"

"Huh?" She stopped, eyes falling upon Derek's situation a focussing on the current issue. She swallowed.

"Right, not a good time."

Derek nodded, moving back to his hands and knees to finish. He bowed his head, letting his locks curtian his face as he attempted to breathe evenly. He was in the finishing stages now, his face formed back into place with painful stretches and readjustments of his jaw. His skin felt dry as it brushed the metal floor of the plane. His face and neck was drentched in sweat, sticking strands of hair to his cheeks and eyelids.

With a last few cracks that seemed to echo off the shallow walls of the plane, a few more muscles twisting back into a natural position, and a few more groans and whimpers that escaped Derek's lips, he collapsed on his side releasing a string of heavy pants.

"You okay?" Chloe coughed up a struggled laugh at Derek's, Derek-like, remark. Of course he would be asking if she was okay... when he was the one that he should be worried about.

"Shouldn't that be my quest-"

"I'm serious Chloe." Derek was pushing himself up now, the effort was shakey and he swayed. Chloe had her own arms wrapped around his single, large, right arm to help him up... not that she was much help in strength but definetly in comfort. She pulled off her light jacket and handed it to him. He took it wordlessly and wrapped it around his waist before he turned back to her and took her chin in between his fingers.

His hard green eyes scanned across her face as he tilted her head in different directions. She sighed in exaserbation and released her tension, knowing if she spoke or gave any reassurances of being okay that Derek would instantly turn them down and investigate her condition anyways.

He tilted her head upward, lightly running his fingers along her jaw. The feeling sent a warm thrill down her spine and her sigh was more relaxed than frustrated. He noticed and smirked, his finger trailing to the back of her neck, and then.

"Ow!"

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Derek said monotoniously. The more Chloe focussed on it the more her head throbbed. A pain that jackhammered its way from the back of her head to her temples, pulsing in a dizzifying effect. She hissed as Derek's fingers prodded what she knew to be a large goose-egg on the back of her skull. She lifted her hands to cradle her own head.

"What happened to- Why are we in a plane Derek? What's going on?"

"It's the Edison group, well, it's more like a last desperate attempt to save their own skins from that St. Cloude guy. And Davidoff has some par-"

"Jackson! That's who was possessing him! He isn't the bad guy Derek I-"

"I already know. And that's beside the point at the moment." Derek's features were stone, and he no longer looked at Chloe. Instead his head was hung slightly, his sweat matted bangs covered his eyes. "I- I shouldn't have left you in the first place. It was stupid and irresponsible, I just got so-"

"You aren't responsible for me Derek. Not me, or Simon, or anyone else but yourself."

"Yes I am Chloe. " Chloe stuck out her lower lip stubbornly, making Derek's insides twist with an odd mixture frustration and fondness. " You just don't get it."

"You say that a lot," Chloe said with a bit of a bite to her tone as she recalled several other times she recieved this explanation to Derek's instinct complicity. She would never understand the tangled web in the existance of a werewolf, but Derek wouldn't even let her try.

"Because it's true Chloe," Derek snapped. The frustration seeping over the fondness now. He wasn't mad at her, he was just so tired of that wall between them. The one that kept them from being mates like they were supposed to be, like they were meant to be. That wall of not knowing whether she would accept that commitment. The wall of her not knowing what she was to him.

"You don't understand exactly what you are to me. It's different, way different," Derek was experiencing that word vomit again. Where he just looked at her, looked into her eyes, saw the questions line themselves up just waiting to be answered, and he would just spill with out worrying about the fact that he wasn't really good at communicating or being social. With Chloe it didn't matter, and against his wolf istincts Derek didn't care.

"It's on a completely different level than if you were to have wound up with Simon. It would have been just a fling, something short term. But to me, it can't and won't ever be that way. You aren't just some girl I'm interested in, you aren't just another teenage cliche romance to me. You are my mate. And you can't be anything less. I will never experience anything the same as the way I do with you. My whole world revolves around you. It's like the strings that held me down were cut, like my gravity doesn't belong here anymore. As soon as I accepted this, this werewolf instinct I have to you it was like new strings were tied, but to you."

"Everything I do or think about, it just morphs into a thought or action that involves Chloe. If I eat, I think of you and whether you ate enough. If I'm training, I'm thinking about the best way to get you out of whatever it is I'm training for. If I feel the change coming on, I'm thinking about whether you can handle seeing me go through it again. And there is no one else to replace that spot you fill."

"I have been trying to tell you this so many times... but-" Derek buried his face into his hands, releaseing a sigh of defeat. Chloe always left him feeling this way, and she never had to do anything to make him experience this whipped feeling he had. Until the end he had looked her straight in the eye. He watched as her blue orbs grew larger and larger, her lower lip fell limp and dropped only a fraction of an inch. Her previously shaking form had stilled, and Derek couldn't bare to look anymore. He didn't want her to selflessly comply to his instincts, even if she was meant to be with him. Even if she was made to be with him. She had a choice where he did not... If only she would choose-

"I love you too."

Ok this has been gradually growing over the past month. In four weeks this is how much time I actually had. It is one of the shorter chapters, but its a big one before the grand finale. I hope you guys enjoyed it, and this was strained from a mega writers block so it is a bit forced.

I'll do my best to update sooner!

I love you all for the reviews, and thanks to those who checked in on me.