I hope you all enjoy this chapter! This is in correlation with my other two stories, Scars and Awake and Alive, so please go read and review those as well for everything to make sense. Some bits intertwine with each other but they're all told at different viewpoints.
Anabelle had been depressed since that night her apartment caught on fire. While she never said how she was feeling, Derek could see it in her demeanor. She became more soft spoken, even when he acted like a grumpy old man. The corners of her lips when she smiled never quite reached her eyes whenever she talked to the betas. And those kids usually knew how to get her to laugh.
Just when Derek thought he was finally getting through to Anabelle and getting her to open up to him, the fire seemed to have shut her down again. It was very tough for him to watch his mate go through this. Especially because he knew that Anabelle was blaming herself for them having to go into hiding since Gerard was trying to get to the omega first. Now the teenagers were in danger as well, but that was mostly due to being in Derek's pack. Imagine if any of them were actually in the apartment when it burned down. Anabelle never would have forgiven herself if those kids got hurt.
So now the pack was hiding in the old Hale and Fierro house. It was the last place the older werewolves wanted to be, but what other choice did they have? The teenagers haven't been at school since spring break ended and weren't allowed to leave the house, give and take a few exceptions. Derek wouldn't let Anabelle leave at all though. It was way too risky to send her out there. For once, she didn't fight back on his order, she just said okay and moved on.
That was how Derek knew that she was really upset.
She hadn't been at work either which Harvey understood when Derek called him and explained why. That was another thing that bothered Anabelle since music was her escape. Derek did catch her humming to herself every once in a while but it just wasn't the same. It was sad and melancholy.
She tried to pretend that she was okay. Or at least she refused to talk about that night. For the most part Anabelle didn't know what to say or what to do if they ever do come out of hiding. Deaton had called the day after the fire and told her that he was planning on adopting Delilah. They had just gone to the courthouse a few days ago and took care of all they needed to for him to become her legal guardian but Delilah had to stay with the pack for a little longer while Deaton was getting everything set up for her to move in. Anabelle was relieved for the girl now that she was going to get some proper care. But that still left her with Isaac under her supervision. How was she going to afford to take care of him with no place to go once this whole thing hopefully blows over?
Everything was just so uncertain and out of her control… out of all of their control. It was frightening. But Derek and Anabelle had to stay strong for the betas.
And for each other.
They had been up all night. Derek had allowed Boyd and Erica to go out but had to be back at sunrise. Isaac was upstairs with Delilah doing who knows what. So that left Derek and Anabelle to go through their old library to see if they could find anything on the kanima's legend. They weren't having any luck so far, of course.
"You would have thought our families would have our own bestiary," Derek grumbled as he tossed another useless book to the side.
"Yeah, no kidding," Anabelle agreed, "But why make our lives easy for once?"
Derek let out a small snort. "True."
He looked up from his book and at the she-wolf from across the table. She was staring down at her book but it didn't look like she was reading anymore. She was tired but not from lack of sleep. Tired of running. Tired of being afraid. And tired of these fucking Argents trying to ruin their lives.
"Hey," Derek said softly so Anabelle would look up at him, "you okay?"
"Yeah," she sighed, faking a smile, "I'm fine."
"You know, you always say that but every time you do it's getting harder to believe you," Derek told her, "Plus I heard your heartbeat jump. And read your mind."
Raising her eyebrows, Anabelle said, "Not only are you creepy, but you're an asshole too."
"I'm just gonna ignore that. But Anabelle, if you want to talk about it-"
"To be honest with you, Derek, I really don't. Unless it's about defeating Gerard and the kanima, we don't really have time for talking."
"It's funny how you always give me shit for being stubborn when you're exactly the same way," Derek said lightheartedly.
"I guess that means we're meant to be," Anabelle joked.
And Derek knew she was joking but the comment still made him drop the book that was in his hands. Anabelle chuckled in confusion.
"Maybe I should be the one asking if you're okay, Mr. Alpha."
"Better than ever," Derek rolled his eyes as he picked up his book.
Stiles and Natalie were right. He really was losing his cool when it came to his mate. And it was just getting worse as the days went on. How obnoxious.
But to see her smile when she looked at him was what made it worth it.
The sun had long been up and Derek and Anabelle were still flipping through every single book. Now they were getting annoyed the longer they were going at it and not receiving any sort of answers. Books were flying, pages were being torn, and the two wolves were starting to get snappy with each other. Anabelle was about two seconds from going at his throat when Erica and Boyd came downstairs. Isaac had left not too long before, going to see Delilah at the animal clinic where she was helping Deaton and Scott. Erica and Boyd both had hesitant looks on their faces, confirming a concern that had been expressed over the past few days. Anabelle nodded at Derek.
"You decided," Derek said. He turned around to face the two betas. "When?"
"Tonight," Erica answered.
"Everyone's gonna be at the game," Boyd added, "We figured it was the best time."
"It's not like we want to," Erica said.
"What do you guys want?" Anabelle asked.
"Since I just turned sixteen a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license," Erica told her, "I can't do that if I'm dead, you know."
"Well, I told you there was a price," Derek said.
"Yeah, but you didn't say it would be like this," Boyd countered.
Anabelle tried hard not to scoff. "We warned you what was out there. You can't deny that."
"Yeah, and we told you how to survive," Derek said, "You do it as a pack. And you're not a pack without an alpha."
"We know," Boyd said.
When he and Erica got quiet and looked away from the older wolves, Anabelle couldn't hold back the humorless laugh. Unbelievable.
"You wanna look for another pack?" Derek asked, "How are you even gonna find one?"
"We think we already did," Boyd told him.
Derek and Anabelle exchanged glances. "What do you mean, you already did?" Anabelle asked.
Boyd sighed. "When we were walking through the woods to come back here, I heard something so we stopped. We weren't sure if it was a coyote or a wolf, even there aren't any wolves in California."
"Then, like all of a sudden we heard all this howling," Erica continued in awe, "It was unbelievable."
"There must have been a dozen of them."
"Maybe more."
"Yeah, or maybe only two," Derek said, "You know what the Beau Geste effect is?If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone, two wolves can sound like twenty."
"Look, that doesn't matter, okay?" Erica said, "There's another pack out there. There's got to be. We've made up our minds."
"It's not that easy," Anabelle shook her head, "You don't know what you're doing."
"We lost, Anabelle," Boyd said apologetically, "And it's over. We're leaving."
Shaking his own head, Derek pointed at the betas. "No. No, you're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running."
That still wasn't enough to change their minds. Erica just grabbed Boyd's hand and they left.
It was one of Derek's biggest nightmares coming true- he was failing as an alpha. He was slowly losing his pack at the time he needed them the most. And now he didn't know how to fix it.
"You were right," Derek said to Anabelle, "I couldn't do it."
"No, Derek, we can't give up yet," Anabelle told him, "It's not over. It can't be."
"They left, Anabelle."
"But we still have Isaac and Delilah."
The alpha scoffed. "Be real. Isaac will leave with them and I'm sure Delilah's going to end up joining Scott. Face it, it's done."
"What happened to the big bad alpha calling all the shots?" Anabelle said, "That man's not a quitter. I refuse to let you give up and I absolutely refuse to let Gerard and his hunters win."
"They already have!" Derek snapped, "They set your fucking apartment on fire. If that was just a warning, who knows what Gerard is going to do once he finds us? Once he finds you? He'll kill you just so he can get to me. Maybe you should leave and go back to San Diego before I put you in even more danger."
He turned away and placed his hands on the desk. His shoulders were slumped as he let out a deep sigh. This was the first time Anabelle was finally seeing him crack under pressure. It bothered her to see him this way. It reminded her of when Paige died. Derek had beaten himself up so bad after that night. That's what happens when trying to do the right thing ends up blowing up in your face. Derek probably expected Anabelle to say that she told him so, but what good was that going to do?
It wasn't like Anabelle wanted to be right. Sometimes Derek could be an idiot and she would be the first to say that he did not approach the whole alpha thing probably in the beginning. But along the way, Anabelle was starting to believe in him. She wanted to see Derek succeed. If the circumstances were different, she thought that he could have been a really good alpha. But his stubbornness and pride and just bad timing got in the way. And Derek was now suffering the consequences. It was hard for Anabelle to watch now that her heart had started forming a soft spot for him for some reason.
Derek might be giving up on himself, but that doesn't mean Anabelle will.
Gently, she gripped his chin and turned his head so he was looking at her. Derek appreciated how far his mate had come from always flinching at his touch to being the one initiating contact with him.
"I'm not going anywhere," Anabelle promised him, "We're in this together. Dynamic Duo, remember?"
"You could have left, you know," Derek said, "Not even just now. Back when all this started. Why did you choose to stay?"
Please say that she knew about their bond. Or at least give some indication that she actually felt something for him back. Because the longer Derek looked into her eyes, the more he was falling into whatever spell this bond had casted on him. There was no way Anabelle was not starting to feel the same way. How could she not? Especially when she touched him so softly and was so close to him that if Derek even slightly leaned forward he could feel her lips on hers.
Instead, Anabelle shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't figured that part out just yet."
While Derek wasn't surprised, the answer still let him down.
He reached around her, Anabelle's breath slightly hitching as she felt his hand brush her waist. But then he grabbed the shard of broken glass that was on the desk. He spun around and hurled it. Peter ended up catching it just before it could go through his throat.
That sneaky bastard.
"I expected a slightly warmer welcome," Peter said, "But point taken." He tossed the glass on the floor. "It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town."
"What do you want?" Derek asked hastily.
"And please don't try to bullshit us," Anabelle said.
"Well, I want to help," Peter said, walking towards the two. Derek grabbed onto Anabelle's arm out of instinct and pulled her back behind him. "You're my nephew. And you're my nephew's…"
Peter looked at Derek, who shook his head to let him know not to say anything about the bond in front of Anabelle. The she-wolf didn't miss this exchange.
"Best friend," Peter continued, "who I've always considered to be like a niece. The only family I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach you both. Can we just talk?"
He placed his hand on his shoulder. Derek looked down at the hand and then back at Anabelle. His mate nodded her head, giving him permission to do what he was about to do next.
"Sure," Derek said, "Let's talk."
The next thing Peter knew, he was being thrown at the staircase. He groaned as he fell on the floor.
From then on Derek went on a full on ass-kicking spree. It must have went on for hours because the moon was starting to rise. Derek had dragged Peter up and down the stairs and beat him up in every single room of the house. And it didn't seem like he was slowing down any time soon.
Anabelle had to admit, this was kind of entertaining. She even pulled up a chair, kicked back, and watched Derek kick his uncle's ass. All she was missing was some popcorn and she could properly call this a show.
Call her strange, but the she-wolf was actually finding this kind of… arousing. Never did she think she would ever associate Derek with arousal. She didn't know why. Maybe it was watching Derek get heated and fight someone that did it for her. That might have made her sound a little sadistic. Hell, Anabelle never thought she would be into that sort of thing. Or even him… was she?
No. She wasn't. It was just the frustrations of the past few days getting to her. Nothing to do with Derek's muscles or stubbled chiseled face.
Okay, time to put an end to all those thoughts now.
The sight of a bleeding Peter rolling down the stairs and landing with a grunt was what finally brought Anabelle's attention back to reality. Derek descended down the stairs, grabbed his uncle by the front of his shirt, and punched him in the face. Then he kicked him in the stomach when he tried to get up.
"You don't actually think that I want to be the alpha again, do you?" Peter coughed, "That wasn't my finest performance, considering it ended in my death. I mean, I'm usually more-" Derek grabbed his shirt again and raised his fist up. "Okay, go ahead! Come on, do it. Hit me, hit me. I can see that it's cathartic for you." His tone became more sly and cunning, what Peter was best known for. "You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. So, go ahead. Hit me if it will make you feel better. After all, I did say that I wanted to help."
As much as Derek wanted to hit the man again, he couldn't. Not when he knew that he was actually right. So he just let go of him. "You can't help me."
When he stepped away, Anabelle held out her hand and helped Peter stand up.
"Thank you, Anabelle," he smiled, "You've always been so-"
The punch in the nose he received from Anabelle quickly shut him up. She walked away with a huff and went to go stand beside Derek who was now sitting at the bottom of the stairs, flexing his hand to ease the soreness from hitting Peter repeatedly. His uncle cleaned up the blood on his face and checked himself in the piece of glass from earlier.
"See?" he said, "Prime example right here. I'm not healing as fast. Coming back from the dead isn't easy, you know. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I need a pack. An Alpha like you. I need you as much as you need me."
Derek scoffed. "Why would I want help from a total psycho?"
"First of all, I'm not a total psycho," Peter said, "And by the way, you're the one that slashed my throat wide open. But we're all works in progress, right? So, we need each other. Sometimes when you need help, you turn to people you'd never expect."
"I'm pretty sure we could find someone a little more reliable than you," Anabelle quipped.
"Like who? In case you haven't noticed, Anabelle, no one is really rushing over to be on his side. Not even with you with him and everybody likes you more." Peter placed his hands on both sides of the staircase and stood in front of Derek. "You tried to build your pack. You tried to prepare for the worst. You weren't ready. Because of it, Gerard is winning. He's taking his time. He's toying with Scott. He's going after your wolves, one by one. He's relishing in his victory."
"Okay, I think he gets it," Anabelle snapped.
"Yeah, how about you tell me something I don't know?" Derek said.
"Oh, I'm going to," Peter told him, "And it's gonna prove why you should trust me. Why you need to trust me. Because I'm going to tell you how to stop Jackson."
"What do you mean?" Derek asked, "Know how to kill him?"
"Actually, how to save him."
The mates looked at each other, unsure of where this was going and whether or not they should buy into whatever Peter was going to say. But they let him proceed.
"There's a myth that you can cure a werewolf simply by calling out its Christian name."
"I thought that was just a myth," Anabelle said.
"Sometimes myths and legends bear a hint of truth," Peter told her, "Our name is a symbol of who we are. The kanima has no identity. That's why it doesn't seek a pack."
"It seeks a master," Derek specified.
"And who else grows up with no pack?" Peter asked, "No identity?"
"An orphan," Anabelle answered.
"Like Jackson. And right now, his identity is disappearing beneath a reptilian skin and you need to bring him back."
"How?" Derek asked.
Peter started to get snappy. "Through his heart! How else?"
"You know, in case you hadn't noticed," Derek said, "Jackson doesn't really have too much of a heart to begin with."
"Not true." Peter shook his head. "He'd never admit it, but there is one person. One young lady with whom Jackson shared a real bond. One person who can reach him. Who can save him."
"Lydia," the alpha realized.
"Your best ally has always been anger, Derek, but what you lack most is a heart,"Peter told him. He looked at Anabelle. "Even though things may be slightly different now. That's why you've always known that you need Scott more than anyone. Even more than Anabelle. And even somebody as burned and dead on the inside as me knows better than to underestimate the simple yet undeniable power of human love."
That made Derek pause. Would he be crazy to actually believe his psychotic uncle? Quite possibly. But what he was saying was true? Surely it couldn't be that easy. Stranger things have happened. If something as simple as love could actually save Jackson, then maybe it was worth giving it a try.
However, Anabelle wasn't so convinced.
"Derek, can I have a word with you?" she asked him. She glared at Peter. "Alone?"
He put his hands up. "I'll just excuse myself."
After he walked into the other room, Anabelle knelt down in front of Derek. He still seemed to be in his own head.
"Don't tell me that you're actually considering accepting his help," Anabelle said.
"I don't think we really have much of a choice here," Derek told her.
"Are you forgetting about the part where he killed your sister and then tried to kill all of us afterwards?" Anabelle questioned.
"Trust me, I hate the guy just as much as you do, Anabelle. But we might just need to take all of the help we could get."
"Surely we could do better than the one that should be locked up in an insane asylum."
"I'm offended by that," they heard Peter say from the other room.
"No one cares!" Derek and Anabelle said in unison.
Sighing, Anabelle turned her attention back to Derek. "There just has to be another way. I mean, do you really think that love is the answer here?"
"We've already tried everything else," Derek said, "It might sound ridiculous, but what else do we have right now? Besides, you're the one that always roots for young love."
Normally Derek would have been agreeing with her and quick to tell Peter to fuck off. But maybe the bond with Anabelle was making him see certain things in a different light. Derek tried to imagine if they were the ones in that situation. If there was ever a time where Anabelle could love him, he would like to think that could save him if his life depended on it. It's not like he was completely heartless. At least when it came to her.
Maybe it was time he started feeling that same way towards everyone else too. They might actually survive in this town if he started thinking that way.
"Do you trust me?" Derek asked.
"I think so," Anabelle said after a long pause.
"Then we might just have to go along with what he says."
Anabelle saw that he wasn't going to change his mind on the situation. "I really hope you know what you're doing, Derek."
"I think we both know at this point I kind of don't," Derek admitted, "but I think it's time we both learn."
"I guess so."
I hope you all enjoyed it! We're almost at the end of season 2 and beginning of season 3 and that's where all of the drama starts to happen for all of my stories so you don't wanna miss it!
PLEASE review, favorite, and follow all of my stories in my Teen Wolf Saga! These stories are my babies so I appreciate all of the love and support I have received on all of them so thank you very much for joining me! I'll be sure to update soon! Xoxo, Maddie