Feeling a little less tired this week and was able to knock out a bit more of the story! Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated. -V

Chapter 34: Lightning

Derek tossed and turned in his sleep.

He was running a perimeter around Beacon Hills with Isaac. The Alpha Pack had been in Beacon Hills for weeks, leaving their pack symbol anywhere they went as a warning. Derek knew what it meant. They wanted him in the pack, and time was running out.

They also had Erica and Boyd. Where, Derek had no clue, but he would find them and save them if it was the last thing he did.

The rain increased, pounding urgently on each blade of grass as he approached the main road, but a car was close - too close for him to cross. He waited impatiently as the vehicle crawled up the hill and picked up speed on its descent. Then he felt it. A heartbeat - fluttering softly in the car as it approached rapidly.

Lightning struck in that moment, though not from the storm. A white heat coursed through him, sending him sprawling to the ground. The air grew thick, and he began to taste every trace of scent in the air in a way he never had before, but only one mattered. Wolfsbane. It was everywhere, perfused with the rain well beyond its normal reach.

He tried to lift his hands to rise from the ground, but paws sat where hands had once been. In horror he recalled Deaton's warning about evolved wolves, and he knew was going to suffocate in the rain if he didn't find shelter soon.

As he strained to find his footing he lifted his gaze toward the approaching vehicle. The headlights blazed into his eyes, and the driver panicked, unable to find traction on the slippery surface of the road.

Painted steel sailed into his transformed body, and Derek felt the cracks in his bones straining to fuse and heal as quickly as possible as the sinews knit together around them.

"No!" A girl cried from inside her vehicle. "Oh, no, no, no…"

She ran out toward him without hesitation and began to check his limbs for injuries.

"I need to find someone who can help you."

The girl led him carefully to her SUV, somehow hoisting him upward into the trunk with the strength a girl of her stature shouldn't have possessed. Then with an almost ethereal, delicate touch she dried his fur with a towel.

Had he been saved by an angel? She wrapped her arms around his fur clad chest, and the air entered his lungs more easily. Derek had never cared much about the afterlife or what it held in store for his kind, but as the girl held him through the night - he knew it couldn't be so bad if someone sent an angel to save him.

Derek opened his eyes within a darkened room, and he remembered where he was. He and Daria had slept together, consummating their relationship with more passion than he'd ever felt in his entire life. He felt everything the empath had felt as their bodies moved in tandem, until that pinnacle moment when he felt it...

Lightning.

The same as he'd felt the night he met Daria for the first time. And the same as the night he evolved in La Iglesia. Daria was the common denominator in all three events, but what did it mean?

He felt her move beside him, and something tickled his arm. Peering down, he spotted a tuft of fur. Fur? Derek flipped on the light of one of the lamps beside him, and to his astonishment, a white wolf slept peacefully beside him.

Still recalling the dream, Derek wrapped an arm around Daria's wolf form and held her gently. The wolf stirred and opened her eyes. Then she looked at her paws, and with a screeching yowl promptly fell out of bed.

Derek laughed. "I didn't mean to wake you."

He heard Daria's growls shift to human grumbles and she peeked up from the edge of the bed. "How long was I a wolf?!"

He chuckled, pulling her toward him until they were together under the blankets. "I woke up a few minutes ago, and you," he kissed her shoulder, "looked adorable."

Daria grumbled again, "I suppose I am pretty cute."

"Mm hm." He sucked on the base of her neck lightly.

"Nnnn, you make it hard to be mad," she bit down a grin.

"Good."

She was projecting her emotions again, and he felt her happiness and desire so powerfully that he couldn't help but kiss her without reserve. Their bodies quickly matched one another's rhythm, and it inflamed his senses. Like lightning.

Dr. Deaton was in the back of the Animal Clinic treating a sick dog when the phone began to ring around lunch time.

"Scott, could you answer that?"

Deaton was preoccupied, filling a syringe with an Enrofloxacin to treat his patient.

"Uh, yeah, sure." Scott put down the rag he was using to clean out the cage of a previous occupant and picked up the phone. "Beacon Hills Animal Clinic."

"Mister McCall. A pleasure as always."

Scott stiffened in surprise. "Deucalion? What are you calling here for?"

"Ah, that's my fault, Scott." Deaton quickly joined him in the front and offered a tight lipped smile of assurance. "Why don't you go ahead and take off early."

"But I just got here." He'd been at the high school all morning, helping the lacrosse team as assistant coach.

"It shouldn't be too busy today. Go ahead and take the day off."

"O–kay…" Scott handed him the phone hesitantly. Then he grabbed his keys and jacket and headed out to his motorcycle. But he had other plans than to go home. Riding a block over, he parked his bike and jogged back to the side of the clinic

A thick overcast crept across the sky, and the wind of an approaching storm made it difficult to hear, but Scott trained his ears carefully on the sounds inside.

"Are you certain?" he heard Deaton say.

"Not entirely, but my instincts say yes."

"Fascinating. I'd wondered if there could be more to it than my initial hypothesis."

Scott had no idea what was so fascinating, but he couldn't but feel as though he'd just missed a crucial detail.

"I came to ask advice from the druid, not a gossiping veterinarian. Do you think it poses any danger to her?"

Scott heard his mentor shuffle nervously inside, and he frowned. Who would Deaton and Deucalion be discussing this intently?

"If it continues to happen by accident, there could be risk, especially if either of them are being pursued at the time."

"She's chosen to accompany him for the time being. If I'm not mistaken, it will mitigate any risk her abilities may pose."

"Yes. That's for the best. Her amplified abilities won't create a hindrance to either of them if they stay in each other's direct presence."

Thunder rumbled overhead, and he missed whatever Deucalion replied next.

Deaton hummed in affirmation. "I don't believe there is risk as far as amplified abilities go on his end. He was able to evolve as a Beta while she channeled him from thousands of miles away. Do you know how unheard of that is?"

Derek… and Daria? Scott's eyes widened, and his mind spun. Were they in danger? And what did they mean by amplified abilities?

"I'm aware of the unlikelihood of his evolution as a beta. But if used properly, their dual amplification makes them quite the formidable duo."

"Indeed," Deaton agreed. "Thank you again for returning my call, Deucalion."

"When it comes to Miss Stilinski, there is little I wouldn't do for her welfare."

There was a brief pause before Deaton replied. "It is surprising how devoted you are to Daria. I can't help but wonder why."

Scott had also wondered the same thing. Even Stiles didn't know why.

"Let's just say the timing of her transformation into an empath saved more lives than her own that day."

"What do you mean?"

Deucalion chuckled on his end of the line. "Another mystery for another day, Deaton. I'll be sure to call again if I discover more."

Lightning struck a patch of grass several feet away, bringing Scott's attention back to the weather. Rain began to pour, but he stood unmoving, unable to wrap his head around whatever information he'd just gathered.

Daria and Derek were together, and something was amplifying their abilities - so much so that Deaton and Deucalion were both concerned that it might put them in danger, but Scott didn't understand the danger or the cause. He thought about confronting Deaton directly, but his boss had gone out of his way to make sure Scott left. Frowning, he started to walk toward his bike when the back door of the clinic swung open. There stood Deaton with a towel and an unsurprised expression adorning his face.

"Deaton! I, uh, just, uh… forgot something."

"I had the feeling you'd find your way back here," his boss simply smiled.

"I'm sorry," Scott dropped his gaze to the ground. "I shouldn't have eavesdropped."

"Why don't you come back in and tell me what you heard."

Scott followed Deaton back inside, taking the towel gratefully. "That Daria and Derek are with each other, and… that something made them really powerful, but maybe being too powerful could put them in danger somehow?"

"Essentially, yes."

"But… as long as they stay together they'll be okay? Is that why she's with him now?"

Deaton chuckled lightly. "While I can't be certain, I suspect Daria and Derek are together now for a much different reason."

"Oh." Scott felt his cheeks burn as he realized what his boss was insinuating. "Well, that's great. They always had feelings for each other. And he was her anchor."

"Really," Deaton lifted a contemplative finger to his lips.

"Yeah, Peter realized it before any of us." Scott spouted. "When Mister Douglas was able to control her when she was channeling Parrish, mentioning Derek was the only thing to get her to snap out of it."

"Interesting," the vet replied, his thoughts drifting deeper. "Why don't you go ahead and bring your bike back. Then I have a few more things I'd like to ask you about Daria."

"Honestly, I'm just glad you're not upset with me for not going home."

"Well, who says I'm not upset," Deaton smiled with a hint of mischief. "It just so happens I've found a few more used crates that need cleaning."

"Great…" Scott shook his head, and his boss laughed.

While he still didn't fully understand what was going on with Derek and Daria, he was glad to know they were back together.

Walking back to his bike, Scott could have sworn he saw lightning strike the same spot of grass he'd seen earlier, but the chances of that were nearly impossible. Then again, it was Beacon Hills. The town had proven time and time again that it could defy impossibility.