CHAPTER 19

Home Invasion

Mars walked back into her house, poking her head in Ahmir's room before heading back downstairs. The day had somehow felt entirely too short, like she had somehow been cheated out of a few hours of her life. Dad hadn't called yet, but she wasn't so sure she wanted him to- nor did she think he would.

At least Teta would be coming back with him, Teta had a way to make everything better, no matter what it was. The only hope Mars had was that her husband's death didn't change her drastically. Here's to hoping.

A hot shower sounded nice. Mars stripped down and turned on the hot water in the bathroom adjacent to her bedroom. She jumped in and scrubbed down, taking her sweet time getting out. Not like anyone was up to yell at her to get out.

Unlike the majority, Mars never used her time in the shower to think. Rather, she would sit down in the tub and close her eyes. Water always soothed her, calmed her down, made her feel like she was somewhere else, someone else. It was about a half hour of nothingness before she got out and dried off.

Shutting off her bedroom lights, Mars dropped her towel on the floor and crawled into bed, Doc slept on the pillow to her right.

Just as she neared the brink of sleep, her window slid open. If she wasn't so tired, she would've cared at least a little. "I'm tired, Stiles love. Come sleep." Mars waved who she'd assumed to be Stiles to her. Whatever he wanted to talk about could wait till the morning.

A tight voice she didn't recognize spoke; "Not Stiles." Mars rubbed her eyes and turned around, shooting up when she saw the dark shadow of a man in her room. She didn't care about her own nudity, she didn't care if they saw, she just wanted to figure out who it was. The man grabbed a shirt off the floor and threw it at her, waiting for her to be covered before flicking on the light.

Derek Hale.

Freaking out was an understatement. How did he even know where she lived, let alone know what room was hers- had he been here before? …No, he'd been in jail… where she'd put him… I'm fucked.

"I'm here to talk, I'm not going to hurt you." Derek held out his arms to say that he came in peace.

Mars kept her eyes glued to him like a hawk. Stiles had said they'd met before- but she couldn't remember that- as far as she knew this was their first meeting. Oh god. she thought. What if I brought him here. It wasn't an entirely unrealistic theory.

The night she couldn't remember, maybe she brought him home and screwed him and that's how he knew right where to go. Of course, she hadn't, but she didn't know that for sure. "Are you going to turn me, too?" Was all she could come up with, it was a rare thing to be caught so off guard.

Derek very nearly rolled his eyes. "I didn't turn Scott." He defended, "And you might want to be a little more careful, never know when a robber is going to break in." He was a little surprised by the lack of care between Scott and his friends. Especially the non-werewolf girl with a room on the first floor. "Maybe lock it."

"Then how would Stiles get in?" She replied without hesitation. The way it just rolled off the tongue, how she didn't have to think about it startled Derek. He looked at her in confusion while he thought about the implications… but ultimately couldn't see it. Then again, she had invited him to bed when she thought he was Stiles, and she'd been naked… maybe there was something there? He stopped his thoughts, reminding himself that he didn't give a fuck.

"That's not what I am here about."

"Well if you're not here to kill me, or turn me into one of you- then what are you doing here?" Mars shut down, lying back with her hands behind her head. "You're not even dangerous, are you?"

"You really think that it's wise to antagonize someone that just a few minutes ago, you were convinced was here to murder you?" Mars shrugged. "I'm here about your boyfriend." Mars propped herself up on her elbows and raised an eyebrow. She didn't have a boyfriend. "The Argent boy."

"Don?" She resisted laughter and then realized Derek had just broken into her house- this was probably important. "Is he okay?"

"He's more than okay." Derek was cranky, Mars again almost laughed at him, but did her damnedest not to. Cranky Derek was kind of funny, the frustration over his handsome features seemed misplaced. "In fact, he was giddy with delight after he smashed in my car's window." The deadpan tone, again, made what he was saying was hilarious.

"And why would he do that?" Mars sat up fully and raised an eyebrow; Doc hissed at Derek and curled up in Mars' lap on top of the covers.

"Have you really not put it together yet, Moss?" Derek questioned. She had, but she was pretending that she'd never learned he was Allison's cousin and therefore, he couldn't be… well... "He's a hunter."

"Then why are you talking to me and not Scott?" She snapped, she didn't want to be involved in this. Scott was enough, she was enough. Another issue on her plate was literally the last thing she needed.

"I need you to keep an eye on him."

"And why would I do that?" Getting in deeper with Don really wasn't on her agenda. She'd just told him off a few days ago, told him he would never have a chance with her. That her intentions were really rather shit. It's not like she could just go back on that even if she was willing to help.

"I heard about your blackouts," Derek taunted, a cunning curve on his lips.

Mars began to panic before she even heard the words that would follow. He'd figured it out, he'd confirmed her suspicions. There was something wrong, really, really wrong with her. She was like them, if not one of them. But she couldn't remember being bit or anything that would have caused all the changes that were happening to her. She looked up at Derek, trying desperately not to let him know that she needed answers from him. "Might want to watch your back."

"Is that a threat?" Mars asked, crossing her arms over her chest. She was sure that she wasn't afraid of Derek, but she didn't take too kindly to threats. Also, it provided a good mask. If Derek thought that she was just going to sit and wait for him to kill her, he had another thing coming to him.

"It's a warning," He answered in a flat tone, not giving any hints to his meaning or what knowledge he held. "Lock your window."

With that, Derek Hale left in the same way he'd came. Silent and with the upper hand.