Chloe's POV

I woke up when the boys got back from their vampire hunt. Matt must have just woken them up from the car ride because neither of the two cared about being quiet as they came in. They plopped down on the bed I was laying on, Derek to my right, Simon to my left. Simon smelled like blood but he wasn't acting hurt. He must have gotten some on him during the fight.

"How'd it go?" I asked them.

"In the morning," Derek mumbled already falling back asleep.

He wrapped an arm around me and held me close. I looked over at Simon; he was fast asleep already too. Matt was leaning against the television stand smirking at them.

"What on earth did you have them do?" I asked.

Matt chuckled, "They fought a nest of five and then had to lug the dead weight around. I didn't feel like doing it."

I rolled my eyes and laughed.

I dreamt of fighting vampires that night. Killing them and raising their dead bodies to kill the others. I was resourceful and increasing the numbers on our side. Matt was proud of me and told me he wanted me to come on more missions with him.

I woke in the morning to the smell of coffee. Liz was wrapped in a blanket, leaning against the wall where she could reach the outlet, sipping a cup and playing on her phone as it charged. I sat up.

"What game are you playing?" I asked her.

She showed me her screen.

"It's this puzzle game where you have to move the pieces around to get a specific piece out of the box."

Liz and I spent the morning teaching me the game until everyone else got up. Matt was the last one to wake up and he only woke up because of the noise level. He must have been up late after they got back, making plans or keeping watch or something. I really hoped that today was the day I got to go with him on a hunt.

Matt gripped his cup of coffee as he yawned and turned on the news. The anchor was talking about the grand opening of a pet adoption center in town.

"Matt," I interrupted. "When is it my turn?"

"Soon," he said.

"When is soon?" I asked impatiently. "You guys took down two nests in like a day but there's none today?"

"Chloe," Derek said. "He knows what he's doing."

"I'm not saying that he doesn't know what he's doing," I said. "I just want to have my turn."

I could hear Tori snicker at my admission of feeling left out but I refused to acknowledge her.

"You will," Matt said and sipped his coffee. "I'm reaching out to more contacts today. We'll have a new nest by tomorrow."

"So we're hitting the road again?" Derek asked.

Matt nodded, "Before dinner."

He spent most of the early afternoon on the phone saying cryptic messages. Finally around noon he pulled Derek away from our game of cards.

"Nobody look at my cards," Derek warned.

We all nodded but as soon as Derek stepped into the hall with Matt, Simon took a peek.

Third Person POV

Matt walked out to the car with Derek.

"Are we going somewhere?" Derek asked.

Matt nodded, "I needed to talk to you someplace more private."

They got into the car and Matt pulled out onto the road.

"Why? I don't have anything to hide from them," Derek said. "Especially from Chloe."

"I know, but I thought this conversation was best had alone. Derek, you're a werewolf. And werewolves have the basic instinct to protect their loved ones. Their pack."

Derek nodded; this wasn't new information obviously.

"You need to learn to suppress that instinct. You will put someone in dangers way."

"Excuse me?"

"I know it's not something easy to hear, believe me. But you will. It's only a matter of time. Unless you learn to control that instinct."

"What's so bad about me caring about my pack?"

"Because it can make werewolves irrational Derek. What're you going to do when I take Chloe out for her first hunt? Are you going to insist you come with to make sure she's safe? Are you going to fight all the vampires so none of them can hurt her? So she doesn't have to fight any? Which will put you in harms way because you can't fight all the nest on your own. And it doesn't allow her to learn to fight for herself. What if I insist you stay behind for her to be able to learn? You'll likely do one of two things. Freak out thinking of all the bad things that could happen and start changing and expose us to the humans at the motel. Or you'll find a way to come along with anyway and do everything I said before."

Derek was very insulted. Both hands clenched trying to control himself. "Who do you think you are Telling me how I'm going to behave."

Matt glanced over at him as he waited for the stoplight to turn green.

"Please," he said. "Tell me where I'm wrong then."

"I am not an irrational animal just because I care about protecting her," Derek growled.

"Tell me what assumptions I made of your actions was wrong," Matt repeated.

Derek didn't say anything right away, he just glared at Matt.

"Exactly," Matt said. "So you need to learn to control your protective instinct before I can take her out on a hunt."

Chloe's POV

Matt and Derek came back in with food from the nearby McDonalds. I could immediately tell that Derek was unhappy about something, every muscle in his shoulders were tensed and his expression was dark.

"What's wrong?" I asked Derek as everyone was distracted by the food.

"Nothing."

"Derek, I can tell that there is something. Talk to me."

I set my hand on his.

"I'm the reason you can't go out on a hunt," Derek growled. "Because I give a damn about something happening to you."

"What?" I didn't understand where this came from.

"You can't go on the hunt until I learn to stop being so protective. Matt knows I'll go crazy if something happens to you."

Derek twitched angrily.

"Derek," I hugged him. "Calm down. Things happen to me all the time if you haven't noticed. I'll be fine no matter what. We always pull through."