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Derek's POV

My change was finally starting to set in when Kit called me back. My muscles ached and twitched. The worst ones were in my back. I paced around trying to work through them.

I answered the phone after a few rings, "Hello."

"Hey kid," Kit said. I rolled my eyes angrily I hated being called kid. "I talked to some friends of mine and I sort of have an answer."

"Sort of?"

"Yeah. So they said that it's not uncommon for a werewolf's shifting to change after major loss. Werewolves are often driven by emotion as you know, so when something truly major happens to them, like the loss of their mate, they may stop changing from the grief until they've moved on. I know that's not exactly what you said was going on but it got me thinking that if you went through that, maybe you started again because you found a new mate?"

My heart ached every time I looked at Chloe's necklace. There was no way I'd moved on from her and saw Avril as 'the one.' Chloe was the only one.

"Derek?" Kit asked when I hadn't responded.

"That can't be it," I argued. "There's nobody."

Kit sighed, "I'll keep digging around then. Hang in there you've made it through before you can do it again."

I hung up. How could Kit think I'd moved on from Chloe? I thought back to all the times Kit and Lauren had tried to break things up. He never really understood the dynamic of our little group. I missed them every day. But I needed to keep this distance to give myself a chance to heal and move on.

I liked Avril a lot but still there was nothing I wanted more than to see Chloe one more time.

Chloe's POV

Elijah wanted us to keep close to him. He said it was to keep an eye on us and make sure our stitches were fine, and I believed him. But I think the more specific reason was to keep an eye on me. Every time I started to think about the wolf dying in the woods I would start to panic and cry or almost pass out. Jeremy did his best to distract me but it kept crossing my mind.

Jeremy and I sat down in the grass at one point while Elijah helped the wounded get fixed up. At this distance he could still see us and I was far enough away from all the blood.

"You gotta relax Chloe," Jeremy said. "You don't want to force yourself to change with all those stitches. You said it yourself that changing with an injury is hellish so don't put yourself through that."

I took a deep breath in.

"I didn't mean for it to happen," I said. "It was an accident. I can't get his eyes out of my head. The look he gave me as he fell to the ground."

"Well… I mean you could apologize?" Jeremy hesitantly suggested. "You can talk to ghosts after all."

I shook my head, "No I can't piss him off by raising him after that."

"How can I help distract you?" Jeremy asked.

"Talk about anything," I shrugged and watched people walk by. I got the occasional odd glance because people didn't know who I was but for the most part, people were just worried about checking on their loved ones and ignored everyone else.

"How about," he paused then continued. "Are you excited for whenever we get ahold of Derek?"

I rolled my eyes.

"What?" He asked.

"Why did you have to go straight there," I shook my head and smirked. "You know he doesn't care anymore. He won't pick up the phone."

"Don't say that."

I shrugged, "Why shouldn't I? How many dozens of calls have we done and no answer. What other conclusion do I come to?"

Jeremy opened his mouth then closed it. I knew he wanted to say something like 'that he's busy' or 'that he lost his phone' but we both knew that it wasn't the case.

"I'll be okay," I said. "Just give me time."

Jeremy's response was interrupted by Elijah coming over. He wiped his hands off on his pants as he spoke.

"Everything okay over here?"

I nodded. Jeremy nodded too and said, "Yeah. We're just talking about Derek."

"Sorry I meant to ask about that. Where is he? He's not off in the woods is he?"

"Don't apologize, you were fighting for your lives out there. We don't expect you to check in on our friends," Jeremy spoke since I wouldn't look up from the grass. "He isn't here though no."

Elijah looked surprised. "Really? I would've expected him to be glued to you if- I mean when- you came back."

Jeremy looked at me before continuing. "We don't actually know where he is. He took off and no ones been able to get ahold of him."

Elijah sat down on the grass with us. "I heard about him taking off last year but I would've thought Simon could get ahold of him."

I picked at the grass to distract myself. Couldn't we talk about anything else besides Derek? I didn't want to hear about this anymore.

"He tried dozens of times. Derek wouldn't answer and we don't know where he is to be able to go talk in person."

"Has Kit tried calling him or tracking him?"

"Derek's got some sort of cloaking spell on him, no one can track him. I don't think anyone's told Kit about Chloe yet though. Simon hasn't mentioned talking to his dad in a while."

"Can I borrow your phone again Chloe? Kit can get ahold of him I bet."

I handed my phone over.

"Are you okay?" He asked me. It must've been apparent on my face that I didn't want to hear Jeremy explain this.

I sighed, "I'm just done with talking about this. He's gone and that's that. There's no more point in going over this again and again."

"Put up with it for just a few more minutes Chloe. I bet Kit can get him."

"I'd rather stretch my legs," I said standing up.

Elijah looked hesitant but said, "Please don't go too far. It's not safe to wander around here yet."

I nodded and walked away while taking a deep breath. I just didn't want Elijah getting my hopes up. I was better off accepting how things were now.

Jeremy's POV

Chloe walked off and I looked at Elijah.

"You're really okay with her going off on her own with everything going on here?"

Elijah opened Chloe's phone to the contact list while saying, "No I'm not okay with it but given what she just did in those woods and the fact she survived a demonic apocalyptic world, I don't think I have much right to tell her what to do. She knows how to be safe."

He clicked on a name. It rang a few times before Tess answered.

"Everything ok?" She asked.

"Yeah," he said. "I need a favor though. Chloe doesn't have Kit's number in her phone and I need it. Can you give it to me?"

"Sure. What for? You haven't spoken to him in years now."

"You had to see the look on Chloe's face at the mention of Derek. She's lost all hope. Apparently he's not answering Simon's calls but I'd bet he'd answer Kit's. There's no reason he'd cut Kit out of his life."

Tess paused before responding.

"That makes more sense now. I don't know why I didn't put it together. I was on the phone with him, he was asking werewolf questions. He must be trying to help Derek. I thought maybe he was just researching because he wouldn't get too specific."

"You've been sleep deprived from Oliver being sick. Don't put that on yourself. What was he asking about?"

"He was asking weird questions about changing. I didn't grow up in a pack, I didn't have an explanation so he rushed off the phone to call someone else."

"Changing problems?" I chimed in. "I'm not the only one?"

Tess must've been able to hear my question.

"Was that Jeremy? I figured Chloe's questions were about you."

"Fill me in please," Elijah was lost.

"Chloe asked me if it were normal for a werewolf to completely stop changing. Kit asked me if I knew any reasons why a werewolf would basically start over the changing process like they were going through the first time again."

Elijah scratched his chin as he thought out loud.

"Assuming he was asking on behalf of Derek, he probably stopped because of Chloe's disappearance. Traumatic experiences will do that. And if he went long enough without it, then yeah it could be like starting all over again because his body isn't used to it anymore."

"Why would he be starting again?" I asked.

"Because his mate came back," Elijah said. "Werewolf instinct can be an incredible thing. It senses she's back even though he doesn't know it yet."

The phone buzzed.

"I sent you his number," Tess said. "Sounds like you know the answers he's looking for. Tell him to get Derek back over here."