Re-upload attempt 1. Thank you for your patience with my uploading issues. The song is "Something Just Like This" by The Chainsmokers and I have wanted to use it for ages.

Chapter 31: "Something Just Like This"

"She said 'Where'd you wanna go?

How much you wanna risk?

I'm not looking for somebody

With some superhuman gifts

Some superhero

Some fairytale bliss

Just something I can turn to

Somebody I can kiss'"

Yellow eyes narrowed as they focused in on the target in front of him, closing one incorrectly, they returned to a green color before he pulled the trigger. The kickback startled him, and he grunted in response before his muscles reacted by tensing up to prevent the gun from bruising his right cheek. "I told you to keep both eyes open." A harsh female voice scolded him, and he whirled around gun still pointed forwards earning him a frown and furrowed brow. "Derek, weapons stay pointed down or put the safety on." His green eyes glared back at her as he pointedly took his time pointing the gun's muzzle towards the ground, finger still tight on the trigger. "You'll shoot yourself in the foot if you're not careful." The same feminine voice added as she moved forward and pulled the gun from his hands before carefully putting the safety on and putting the gun in her holster. "That's all gun safety 101." She finished placing a calloused mocha hand on his shoulder which he shrugged away angrily. "Wolves hate guns." He grunted as he stepped forward to search the target for where the bullet had landed, and the woman followed him at a safe distance.

Despite his annoyance, it was taking everything in her not to point out that the bullet had missed the target entirely and was imbedded in the wood beside it: a complete miss. "Guns are stupid." She heard him mutter under his breath as he realized where the bullet had landed, and she stepped forwards placing a hand on his shoulder and tightening her grip this time so that he couldn't shake her off so easily. "So are supernaturals." Derek glared back at her at that comment and she smiled back with a grin that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Isaac learned, so can you." The girl added in a gentler tone and felt Derek's muscles tense in response and she mentally signed, nobody liked to find themselves growing weaker. The man before her was a survivor, not that unlike her, that had fought tooth and claw to ensure his survival and the survival of those he pulled into his pack.

"It's unnatural for wolves to carry a gun Braeden!" Derek snarled as he pulled away and Braeden thanked anyone listening that he didn't have the gun now. As much as she had learned about him, she did not truly know what Derek would do if he felt cornered. He was, in part, a wild animal and they found change difficult to say the least. Although, in retrospect, the gun was not what Derek would have chosen, he would rather use his claws and teeth. "It's all you have right now. Not until your strength comes back." The mercenary reminded him in the gentlest manner that she could. Lacking bedside manner aside, Braeden truly was trying her best in the only way that she knew how. "What if it doesn't?" He whispered with a voice that sounded like that of a scared child not a former Alpha werewolf.

His six-foot frame was caving in on itself in anxiety and fear of what could happen, his shoulders sagged, and his green eyes gazed downwards. All the anxiety that he'd been feeling since his powers had stagnated was finally boiling over and he could not process it. "Who am I without the wolf?" He finally sighed out in a breath that was barely audible and the hardened hunter's gaze grew soft as she stepped towards the scared young man and gently turned him around to face her. Without pausing she pulled him into a hug and held him tight as he shook striving to hold back the tears and the fear and the pain. Even without supernatural hearing, she could feel how fast his heart beat was going as she held him close and could still hear his final whispered confession into her dark ebony hair, "Who could love me without my powers?"

Now, Braeden was no romantic in the traditional sense, hell they weren't even officially dating she simply had a soft spot for the Hale family and was working on credit during this time of need. She found him intriguing and mysterious and strong despite all the setbacks that he had faced in life, but was it love? Probably not, but he needed someone, and she was more than strong enough for them both right now. Pulling away from the embrace, she looked at the broken man and tried to fathom the best way to put him back together. "Am I more than my gun?" She queried him, and he looked at her quizzically not understanding where she was going with this before nodding while still looking confused. "Than you are more than your claws." The hunter added as she unbuckled the holster from her hip and laid it down on the ground in front of her. Similarly, she held up her old US Marshall badge, a memento of a prior life working for the law, "Am I more than this badge?" Looking annoyed now but still listening, Derek nodded, and Braeden placed it too on the ground adding, "Than you are more than your past."

Picking up his pale hand she forced him to touch the 3 long scars that marred her face and neck and continued with a shaky voice, "Am I more than this scar?" Derek looked ready to refuse to answer, at this point having figured out where she was going with this, but she refused to let go until he acknowledged her question. The scar on her face was a remnant of a fight gone wrong, a moment of weakness and loss that she wished oh so desperately to forget but life didn't have an undo button. Therefore, she bared her scarred face with pride and the knowledge that next time she wasn't guaranteed to be so lucky; no one was. She was damn sure that she would be ready though.

"Answer me Derek, am I more than my scar?" She ordered, and he growled slightly under his breath before finally grunting out an affirmation. Dropping his hand, she finished her point in a soft voice, "Then you are more than a werewolf. That is part of you, yes, but you still are you without it." Stepping forward as he processed this she placed her calloused hands gently on his checks and cradled them before leaning in slowly, giving him time to pull away if he was not ready. He felt tense, but he allowed her to place a gentle chaste kiss on his lips before she pulled away. "I cannot speak about love, it's far too soon for that." Derek did smile a bit at that confession as Braeden breezed through the awkwardness as quickly as he could. This truly was not her area of expertise, as she pushed the words out past the lump in her throat as quickly as she could. "But I don't need a Superman, just someone who I can trust to have my back and who isn't the worst kisser in the world."

"Not the worst kisser?" The boy asked as he took the backhand compliment in stride and smiled in relief at her confession and attempt at support. "You're not the best pep talker in the world either but thanks." Rolling her eyes at him, she cocked an eyebrow upwards with the hint of a smirk and a glint in her eyes. "Don't I get a kiss for my trouble?" Derek pulled her into him, flush against his body, and caught her lips in a passionate kiss that contained enough heat and want to make her slightly dizzy and tug him closer to stabilize herself. Blushing deeply, she pulled him closer still and enjoyed every second of warmth that his body brought back to her. It had been too long since she had last been loved and this felt too right and safe and warm to waste all at once.

Pausing for air, she grinned at him as they both took deep breaths and she breathlessly smiled at him. "What?" He asked confused by the smile as she pulled back and bent over to return her firearm and badge to her waist and, in doing so, showing off a body that Derek was craving. "Since you're much better than the worst kisser in the world," She began, and he grinned hoping that she would pull him back to the apartment as badly as he wanted her to, "I guess I'll have to amend my statement to worst shot in the world." Groaning at the missed opportunity, Derek took the gun that she handed to him and she smiled at him as she turned him to the face the target. "Now prove me wrong again." Braeden ordered as she blushed again at the reminder of the warmth and safety that being cared for brought. Smiling slightly himself, competitive streak kicking in hard and fast, Derek turned the safety off and leveled the gun at the target with both green eyes open and fired; this time he did not miss.