Here we are! The last chapter of Season 2! There will be one more filler chapter before we get into season 3 but this is where everything starts to heat up and I am so excited! I hope you guys are too! Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, read, followed, and favorited this story as well as the other ones in the Teen Wolf Saga so far. You guys are awesome and I can't wait to continue this with you. PLEASE go check out my other two stories, Scars and Awake and Alive as they coincide with this one. These stories to intertwine quite often and you will see some repeated stuff, but they will be told in other POV's so I highly encourage you to read the others.
The three of them were now in Derek's car and driving to the school. Earlier was the lacrosse championship game and knowing Gerard, the fucker had something up his sleeve for Jackson. Derek had told Anabelle about the conversation he overheard Gerard and Scott having about Scott doing whatever the old man wanted him to do. It sounded like they had formed some alliance but Anabelle didn't want Derek jumping to conclusions and told him to actually talk to Scott about it. The alpha was apprehensive about it but decided to listen to his mate.
However he was starting to regret having Peter join them for the ride.
"No, really, Anabelle," he was saying to her, "I bet if you really wanted to, you can land yourself a nice young man who makes a lot of money so you can just sit at home and become a housewife. What a life that would be, am I right?"
"I really wish your uncle had a mute button," Anabelle groaned, rubbing her temples.
"Yeah, I think you've done enough talking for the night," Derek snapped at Peter.
"Oh come on, Derek, wouldn't you agree that Anabelle grew up to be a beautiful woman?" Peter pressed on, "She could even land herself a sugar daddy. Any kind of man she wanted, really. I'm surprised you're not snatched up already."
Derek knew his uncle was trying to get a rise out of him. What his angle was, he didn't know. Maybe it was just him being the asshole he always had been. Peter knew that they weren't allowed to say anything to Anabelle about the mates thing until she realizes the truth for herself. It was probably just his way to egg her on into finding out. As much as Derek wanted to tell her so they can finally solidify their bond, they had to do it the proper way. Even if that meant it would take days. Weeks. Months. Hopefully not, but maybe even years.
So in order to keep Peter's mouth shut, Derek drove over a pothole so the man would hit his head on the top of the car. He grunted and rubbed the sore spot.
"Well that was uncalled for," Peter said with a small pout.
"Maybe that'll teach you to put your seatbelt on," Derek told him. Anabelle let out a laugh, making the alpha smirk to himself.
He pulled up to the school and the three of them got out. No one was out on the field anymore and judging by the lack of cars in the parking lot, almost everybody seemed to have left already. But Stiles's jeep was there so that had to have meant Scott was too, even though they had no idea that Stiles and Natalie were missing.
They found their way to the boys locker room. Anabelle had to refrain herself from holding her nose at the stench. She forgot just how gross teenage boys were, let alone athletes. Just another reason for her to hate sports. But she shoved that feeling to the side as she stood next to Derek with her arms crossed in front of her chest and waited for Scott, Isaac, and Delilah to notice them. It didn't take them that long to at all.
"We need to talk," Derek said.
In true Peter fashion, said man stepped out from behind the lockers. "All of us."
"Holy shit," Scott said in shock when he saw his former alpha. He backed up slowly. "What the hell is this?"
"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station," Derek said.
"Okay, hold on," Scott told him, "He- he threatened to kill my mom. And I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?"
"I'm gonna go with Scott on this one," the man said. Anabelle rolled her eyes as she turned to him along with everyone else. "Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous."
"Shut up," Scott, Derek, and Anabelle snapped at him in unison. He rolled his eyes.
"Who is he?" Isaac asked Scott.
"That's Peter, Derek's uncle," the teen wolf explained, "Little while back, he tried to kill us all, and then we set him on fire, and Derek slashed his throat."
Peter waved at the young couple. "Hi."
"That's good to know," Isaac nodded awkwardly.
Delilah tilted her head to the side as it seemed that she realized something. "Wait. I know you."
Anabelle raised an eyebrow. "You do?"
"You do?" Isaac echoed.
"Yeah." The hybrid pointed at Peter. "You're the guy from the mall. When I went to buy my dress for the winter formal. You were in the fitting room."
While this wasn't surprising that Peter did something like that, it still made Derek and Anabelle embarrassed to even know him.
"Oh my god, it runs in the family," she groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Ah yes, Delilah," Peter smiled, ignoring the she-wolf's comment, "the seductive and wily temptress. It's nice to see you've joined our little troupe."
"Okay, I think we're done with the introductions now," Isaac said, pushing Delilah behind him.
"How is he alive?" Scott asked.
"Look, the short version is he knows how to stop Jackson," Derek told him, "And maybe how to save him."
"Well, that's very helpful except Jackson's dead," Isaac said.
Fuck.
"What?"
"Yeah, Jackson's dead," Scott confirmed, "It just happened on the field."
Derek and Anabelle looked at each other first and then back at Peter. This was no coincidence. Something deeper was behind this incident. The three teenagers, however, seemed confused at the reaction.
"Isn't that what you wanted in the first place?" Delilah asked her alpha.
"Yeah, why is no one taking this as good news?" Isaac questioned.
"Because if Jackson is dead, then it didn't just happen," Peter said, "Gerard wanted it to happen."
"But why?" Derek asked.
"Well that's exactly what we need to figure out." Peter stepped forward. "And something tells me that the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly."
They drove back to the Hale and Fierro house to search for any information they could find on what's happening to Jackson and the kanima in general. Derek and Anabelle kept telling Peter that they already tried every book they could get their hands on but found nothing. Peter, of course, refused to accept that answer.
With Scott, Isaac, and Delilah in tow, they walked inside the house. Scott's phone chimed as he got a text. He sighed in relief.
"Oh," he breathed out, "Oh, they found Stiles and Natalie." He furrowed his eyebrows. "And Zach?"
"I told you, we looked everywhere," Derek told Peter once again.
"You didn't look here," his uncle said, pulling a case out from underneath the staircase.
"What is that, a book?" Derek asked.
Peter gave him a look, wondering if he was serious. "No, it's a laptop. What century are you living in?"
Anabelle actually snorted, causing Derek to glare at her. "I'm sorry," she tried to stifle her laughter but failed, "but you kind of walked into that one."
"I'm glad my wit is finally appreciated," Peter smirked. His nephew rolled his eyes. "As I was saying, a few days after I got out of the coma, I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records."
The three older werewolves walked into the other room as Scott got a phone call. Anabelle's own phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket.
"Shit."
"Everything alright?" Derek asked.
"It's the sheriff's station," Anabelle told him, "They said they would call me if they found anything salvageable in my apartment. I'm gonna go take this real quick."
"While I'm at it, I'm going to set you up on a dating site," Peter called after her, opening his laptop, "It's time we find you a husband."
"Get bent, Peter," Anabelle yelled back before disappearing into the other room.
"Ah, banter with her was always fun," Peter chuckled to himself, "I'll tell you, Derek. You got yourself a real good mate there. You better claim her before someone else sweeps her off her feet."
However the alpha wasn't so amused. "I don't know what the hell you're trying to do but you need to knock it off before she figures something's up," Derek seethed.
"That's kind of the point," Peter said in a 'duh' tone, "I'm just trying to speed up the process."
"I'm not really sure talking about her dating other people is really helping the case here. In fact, it's making me want to slash your throat again."
"Someone's very possessive, isn't he? Maybe that's why you should just tell her."
"You know I can't. You know that's part of the rules."
"Rules are meant to be broken, Derek," Peter told him.
Derek furrowed his eyebrows. There had to be something up Peter's sleeve. "Why are you pushing this? What's your catch?"
"Why do you always assume there's a catch?" Peter asked innocently, "Can't a man just want to see his nephew and his mate be happy?"
"Coming from the same man that killed his own niece to become alpha?" Derek shot back.
"Fair enough. But really, Derek. Anabelle is a special young woman, you know that. I'm certain other men have noticed too. If you don't claim her soon, it's only going to be a matter of time until she accepts another man's offer. And I'm sure the last thing you want to see is her with someone else."
God, Derek's uncle can be such a conniving prick. Although he did have a point. Derek's not stupid, he sees Anabelle get hit on or asked out almost every single time he's out in public with her. Sure, she always says no, but there may come a time where she actually does say yes. The wolf inside went crazy at the thought of her with another man. Derek didn't want to sound possessive like Peter thought he was, that wasn't the type of mate he wanted to be for Anabelle. But fuck, she did belong to him, whether she knew it or not. He'd be damned if someone else wormed her way into heart, especially when he was struggling to do so himself.
In the middle of Peter's research, Anabelle had came back into the room. Her lips were turned into a frown as she pushed her hair back.
"Did they find anything?" Derek asked her.
"Not much," Anabelle said, "Only a box full of stuff. They just told me to pick it up whenever I could."
"I'll take you to the station tomorrow," Derek offered.
"No, that's okay," Anabelle shook her head, "I can go by myself."
But of course Derek wouldn't accept that. "I insist."
When she saw in Derek's green eyes that he wasn't going to back off, Anabelle just simply said, "Thank you."
"Yes, how gentleman-like of you, Derek," Peter teased. As much as Derek wanted to hit him, he just rolled his eyes and snarled.
"You find anything yet?" Anabelle asked Peter, peering at the laptop over his shoulder.
"I'm still working on it," Peter told her, "Geesh, both of you are so impatient. You two really are made for each other. Ah!" He shook his hand after Derek stabbed it with his claw.
"Okay, seriously, what the hell is up with you-"
The phone rang again. Geez, the sounds of all of these ringtones were going to drive Anabelle crazy. Her lips pursed in confusion when she saw Scott's name on the screen.
"Scott?" she said when she answered the phone. She peered over at the other room. "I didn't realize you left. Where are you?"
"At the hospital," Scott answered, sounding a little freaked out, "Derek's there, right?"
"Yeah, he's here." Anabelle held her phone out to Derek. He took it from her.
"What's happening to Jackson?" he asked the teen wolf. He listened to the response before addressing Anabelle and Peter. "They say he's in some kind of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws."
"That sounds sufficiently terrifying," Peter said, eyes still fixated on his laptop.
"They also say he's starting to move," Derek added.
"Okay, look, I think I found something. Looks like what we've seen from Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape."
Jaw dropping, Anabelle questioned, "I'm sorry, did you just say his beta shape?"
"I did."
The two mates looked at each other before leaning over to get a better look of the laptop. "Well, meaning what?" Derek asked, "It can turn into something bigger?"
"Bigger and badder," Peter specified.
And just when Anabelle thought the kanima was already freaky enough, the picture in front of her was proven to be ten times worse.
"He's turning into that?" Derek asked in bewilderment, "That has wings."
"I can see that," his uncle stated.
"Maybe dragons really do exist," Anabelle mumbled to herself.
"Scott, bring him to us," Derek ordered the teen wolf when he brought the phone back up to his ear.
"I'm not sure if we have time for that," Scott said on the other end.
"Look, someone actually made an animation of it," Peter pointed out, "Maybe it's less frightening if we-"
Right when he tapped the play button, a loud screech filled their ears, making them jump back. Anabelle even grabbed Derek's hand out of instinct.
"Nope, not at all," the oldest werewolf said, quickly shutting the laptop, "We should probably meet them halfway."
It finally clicked in the mates' brains that they were still holding hands. They looked down at their joined hands and then at each other. Both of Derek and Anabelle's bodies grew hot and tingly at the touch like static electricity. The she-wolf quickly withdrew her hand and looked away. Derek would have felt more rejected if it wasn't for the faint red hue on Anabelle's cheeks that you had to look real closely to see. But there was no time to relish in that small progression.
"Scott, get him out of there now," Derek demanded, he and Anabelle already starting to make their way to the front door, "Go now." He tossed the phone back to Anabelle and she caught it with one hand.
As they reached the door, Peter stopped them. "Derek, we need Lydia."
"There's no time for-"
Peter raised a finger. "That's the problem. We're rushing. We're moving too fast. And while everybody knows that a moving target is harder to hit, here we are, racing right into Gerard's crosshairs."
"If I get the chance to kill Jackson," the alpha said, "I'm taking it."
He walked out the door, leaving Anabelle and Peter standing there. The she-wolf looked conflicted on choosing what to do- find Lydia or follow her best friend's instincts.
"You know we need her, Anabelle," Peter said.
"I know," she admitted, "But we're also running out of time. And it's not my call."
"You also know you're the only Derek will listen to."
Anabelle scoffed. "That's really not saying much. Look, normally I'm against the idea of killing a teenager, but I have no choice but to put my trust in Derek right now. We can't afford to think about our options. Gerard wants Derek dead and he's going to use Jackson to do it. And I'm going to make sure that doesn't happen." She walked out as well, not checking to see if Peter was following her or not.
That might have been the first time Anabelle had confidently said out loud that she trusted Derek. It took her a while to get to this point, but she meant it. And the urge to protect him was very strong. Not just because he was the alpha. No, because she realized that she really did care about Derek deeply and wanted him to be safe.
Damn. Talk about progression.
Getting back in the car, they made their way to the iron works downtown to meet up with Scott, Isaac, and Delilah where they had secured Jackson. Peter decided to stay hidden, which was probably for the best anyway, while Derek and Anabelle walked throughout the area to find the teenagers.
"Do you see them?" Derek asked Anabelle.
She squinted her eyes. "I think so. But that's not Delilah's car."
"It's Argent's," Derek realized, "Fuck."
"So what do we do now?" Anabelle asked.
"Follow my lead." The alpha bent down and his eyes turned red. Anabelle furrowed her eyebrows.
"Uh, what are you-"
Then Derek began to run, but like he was an actual wolf on all fours. No way was he serious. It was almost an insult to the actual pure wolf. Deciding to just act normal for once, Anabelle rolled her eyes and simply walked over to the other group. Derek flipped over Chris's car and landed in a crouch like he was some fucking superhero.
"I thought I was supposed to be the dramatic one here," Anabelle said when she stood next to him. Derek rolled his own eyes and stood up straight. The she-wolf glared at the hunter. "What's he doing here?"
"I'm here for Jackson," Chris told them, "Not you two."
"Somehow I don't find that comforting," Derek said. He nodded towards the building. "Get him inside."
Scott and Isaac got Jackson out of the car and carried him into the building with everyone else following them. They set him down on the floor and surrounded him.
"Where are they?" Scott asked.
"Who?" Derek asked.
"Peter and Lydia." Derek didn't answer. Instead he looked at Anabelle, who hesitantly nodded her head. He then stood over Jackson and started unzipping the bag. "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him."
"We're past that," Derek told him.
The teen wolf turned to Anabelle. "You're actually gonna let him do this?"
"Scott, you know I normally wouldn't," Anabelle said apologetically, "I can't explain it but I have to stand by him."
"What about-"
"Think about it, Scott," Derek said, "Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog. And he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful."
Chris refused to believe that. "No. No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."
"Of course not."
Speak of the devil. They all turned to the entrance and saw Gerard standing there, pleased with how his plan was turning out.
"Anything that dangerous, that out of control… is better off dead."
Derek raised his claws to slash Jackson's throat but the kanima was now conscious and stabbed his own claws into the alpha's stomach. Anabelle stared in horror at her best friend being raised in the air, possibly dying. But before she could run over to help him, Jackson threw Derek, make him crash into Anabelle, sending them both flying through the plastic flaps into the other room of the building.
She landed on top of him, making him groan at the impact and the wound on his stomach.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked, wincing.
"You just got stabbed and you're asking me if I'm the one that's okay?!" Anabelle exclaimed.
"Just trying to be courteous," Derek told her, "But I am healing."
"Good." Anabelle began swiftly stripping out of her clothes, "because I don't know about you, but I'm ready to fight."
Cracking her neck, she let out a growl and started shifting into the white wolf. Derek had shifted as well. With one last look at each other, they nodded and ran into the other room. They both jumped over a crate and growled at the fully shifted kanima and it hissed back. The teenagers had also shifted.
It was time to take this thing down for good.
The kanima went for Derek first. It swiped at him but he was quick to block its arm and he punched it in the face. This didn't seem to phase the kanima. Instead it scratched Derek's chest, making him fall back. Scott and Anabelle came behind it, the teen stabbing its back while the white wolf bit down on its tail. Screeching, the kanima threw them off of it. Now it was Isaac's turn to fight. He grabbed its neck and tried to choke it out, but of course the kanima pushed his hands away and pushed him so hard that he flew back into plywood.
Delilah scratched the kanima's Achilles heel in attempt to make it fall. It did and the hybrid straddled it so she could go for the neck. But it headbutted her, making her fall back and it dominate her. It tried to swipe her neck but Derek jumped down from a railing and hit its back. It fell off of Delilah and stood up to face the alpha. He swung at it and it caught his arm. When it tried to pull him down, Derek just used this to flip off a piece of metal. He tried to swing for a second time but the kanima grabbed his shirt and threw him against the metal, making him hit his back hard and fall down. Scott kicked its back and it kicked his chest even harder. Derek had crouched down so Anabelle could run off him and pounce on the kanima. She sunk her claws into its skin and it hissed loudly. She tried to grip onto its neck with her teeth but it was able to throw her off of itself and at that same metal with ease.
Derek grew even angrier when his mate didn't get up right away. So he went to attack again. Like always, the kanima was faster and it slashed his stomach again. This made the alpha stumble and fall. Anabelle let out a whine and ran to Derek as the fight continued, this time including Allison.
"Come on, Derek," Anabelle communicated telepathically. She pushed at him with her nose. "Get up."
"I can't," Derek gritted out, feeling weaker.
"Yes, you can," Anabelle urged, "Please get up. I need you to get up."
Her whines began to sound more panicky when Derek wouldn't move. The cries coming from his mate were motivating him to at least try to stand, but he still couldn't do it. Anabelle looked up to see Allison charging at them, anger and revenge in the young huntress's eyes as she twirled her daggers. Quick to protect her best friend, the white wolf stepped over him and growled.
"No, Allison!" Scott yelled, but his love ignored him as her eyes remained on the prize.
Allison was getting closer but Delilah jumped on her back and started fighting with her. The hybrid was actually overpowering the human and would have won if the kanima hadn't nicked the back of Delilah's neck. As she fell, it wrapped its hand around Allison's neck.
"Not yet, sweetheart," Gerard said as he appeared from the shadows.
"What are you doing?" Allison breathed out.
"He's doing what he came here to do," Scott said in realization.
This seemed to surprise Gerard. "Then you know."
"What's he talking about?" Allison asked her grandfather.
His attention turned back to Scott. "It was the night outside the hospital, wasn't it, when I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could just smell it, couldn't you?"
"He's dying," Isaac realized after he caught Gerard's scent.
"I am," Gerard confirmed, "I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does." Anabelle growled when he looked down at the mates. He then nodded at Delilah. "I was even going to get your caladrius to cure me, but I figured using the kanima would be much more… effective."
"You monster," Chris seethed.
"Not yet," the eldest Argent smirked.
"What are you doing?" Allison cried out. With one look from her grandfather, the kanima squeezed her neck tighter.
"You'll kill her too?" Chris asked in disgust.
"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" Gerard told him. He looked at the teen wolf. "Scott."
The boy looked around the room as he debated what the right move would be. Everyone watched in fear when he slowly walked towards Derek. Anabelle whimpered and tried to shield her best friend as much as she could. Scott looked at her and mouthed that he was sorry as he knew about their bond.
But that still didn't stop him from digging his claws into the back of Derek's neck and making him stand up. Anabelle wanted to scream out for Scott to let him go, but all that came out were whines.
"Scott, don't," Derek begged, growling, "You know that he's gonna kill me right after. And if I die, Anabelle dies too. He'll be an alpha."
"That's true," Gerard admitted, "But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love." He took off his jacket.
"Scott, don't!" Derek growled, "Don't!"
"I'm sorry," Scott said, "But I have to."
He yanked Derek's head back, making his mouth open wide. Anabelle watched helplessly as Gerard lowered his bare arm into Derek's mouth. His fangs sank into the old man's arm and he yelled out. It was a quick process. When Gerard drew his arm away, Derek fell back onto the floor and Anabelle was right back by his side. She nudged him with her snout. Gerard held his arm up, admiring the bite mark like it was his prized possession. The sick bastard actually started laughing. Anabelle wanted nothing more than to tear him up limb from limb.
Then the strangest thing happened. Black blood trickled down his arm. Gerard noticed everyone staring at him weirdly.
"What?" he asked. He looked back down at his arm and noticed the blood. "What is this? What did you do?"
"Everyone always said Gerard had a plan," Scott said, "I had a plan too."
Gerard pulled a small case out of his pocket and opened it to reveal his blue and white pills. He dumped them onto his hand. "No. No." Angrily, he curled his fist and crushed the pills. Black smoke appeared. "Mountain ash!"
He fell onto his knees as black blood ran down his nose, mouth, and eyes. When he tilted his head back, even more blood projected from his mouth. Anabelle had to look away as her own stomach became queasy. Gerard then fell over. He wasn't dead, but there was no way he would survive this.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Derek asked Scott.
"Because you might be an alpha," Scott told him, "but you're not mine."
Like a cockroach that couldn't be killed, Gerard pushed himself up. He spat out more blood. "Kill them! Kill them all!" Then was out cold. Anabelle didn't hear a heartbeat, so she assumed that he was finally dead.
The kanima finally removed his hand from Allison's neck. She elbowed it in the face and it just pushed her down. Suddenly, the familiar blue jeep drove straight through the building and crashed into the kanima, knocking it over. Stiles opened his eyes.
"Did I get him?" he asked. Scott chuckled.
"Oh, nice going, Stiles!" Zach exclaimed, "Now he's dead!"
"Hey, once you get your license in two years then you can question my driving skills," Stiles snapped back.
Then the two started bickering. Natalie tried to get them to shut up when the kanima jumped on the hood of the jeep, making everyone stop. It hissed at them and everyone screamed and scrambled out of the car. Stiles, Natalie, and Zach ran over to Scott but Lydia stayed standing next to the jeep.
"Jackson!" she exclaimed to try to get his attention, "Jackson."
"Lydia!" Zach yelled, trying to get to her.
But Scott stopped him. "Wait."
Just as the kanima raised its claws to swipe, it noticed Lydia holding up a key. But what everyone didn't know that it was actually the key Jackson had given to her to his house back when they were together. The kanima eyed the object curiously. Nobody really understood what was happening, but whatever it was actually seemed to be working. Jackson was finally starting to turn back into himself. He took the key from Lydia and stared at her like she was with him. He then started backing up slowly.
Derek locked eyes with Peter, who had been hiding in the background this entire time, and they both ran towards Jackson. They stabbed his claws into him, Derek at his stomach and Peter from his back. Lydia gasped as she saw the boy she loved being raised in the air, choking on his own blood. She wanted to run towards him but her eyes widened when the white wolf stood in front of her. Seeing an actual wolf seemed to scare the girl, but Anabelle just nodded her head to let her know that this was supposed to happen.
The werewolves holding Jackson up retracted their claws, letting him down. Anabelle finally stepped aside and let Lydia run towards Jackson to catch him. Derek had finally went back to his human self and stood next to Anabelle. She started to shift back as well, not caring that she was nude for all to see. The sight of Lydia crying broke her heart. She felt Derek's hand rest on her shoulder and she placed her own hand on top of his, appreciating the contact.
"Do you…" Jackson choked out, "Do you still-"
"I do," Lydia cried, nodding her head, "I do still love you. I do, I do still love you. I do. I do. I do still love you, I do."
Jackson slowly leaned towards Lydia, his head resting on her shoulder as he finally passed away. The poor girl was now sobbing over the loss. Anabelle squeezed Derek's hand and they both looked at each other. It was hard to read her eyes, but the way she looked at him with such emotion made him realize how deeply he felt for her, bond or no bond. It took everything in his power to not pull her closer towards him.
Once Lydia laid Jackson to rest, he had fully shifted back into his normal self. She stood up and faced everyone with teary eyes. Now what was she to do without the boy she fell in love with? Natalie was about to go comfort her friend when everyone looked down at Jackson in shock.
His long claws scraped along the cement floor, drawing Lydia's attention to him. His eyes snapped open, the same electric blue as Derek and Anabelle's. Slowly, Jackson stood up with his back hunched over. Once his back was straightened and head tilted back, his face had become one of a werewolf. He flashed his claws and roared at the sky.
Looks like he got what he wanted after all.
As soon as Jackson shifted back into his human self, Lydia threw herself at him and he caught her. They embraced each other, letting each other know that the love was still there. Derek saw the small smile on Anabelle's face and it made his own heart skip a beat. She looked down at her naked body and cleared her throat.
"I should, uh, I should go find my clothes," she said awkwardly, "Yeah." She walked away, not noticing her best friend staring after her.
Derek had kept his word and accompanied Anabelle to the sheriff's station the next day. They leaned against the front desk as they waited for one of the younger deputies to come back with her belongings. Or whatever was left of them. Anabelle looked anxious. She didn't have any high hopes of anything valuable surviving the fire. Especially when the deputy came back holding a small box.
"Alright, here you are," he said, placing the box on the desk, "We did our best to find anything we could, Mrs. Fierro."
"It's Miss," Anabelle corrected, "I'm not married."
"Really?" The deputy looked back and forth between the two wolves. "In that case, are you free on Friday night?"
"That doesn't mean she's available either," Derek snapped, almost growling at the guy.
"My apologies," he said defensively. He turned to Anabelle. "You're free to go, ma'am."
"Thank you," the she-wolf said, "I appreciate it." When the deputy walked away, Anabelle chuckled. "Just like high school, huh, Derek?"
"I just think you could do better than that kid," said alpha told her as he picked up the box for her.
Anabelle shook her head. "That's fine. I've got more important things to worry about than going on dates anyway."
They walked back to Derek's car and got in. But they didn't leave right away. Instead Anabelle started looking through the box. She let out a huff in disappointment.
"Just as I thought," she said, "Nothing. Just some clothes and bathroom stuff. Everything else is gone. And I have to get Isaac and Delilah new clothes."
"I'm sorry," Derek said sincerely, "I know that's not exactly what you wanna hear."
"Oh well," Anabelle sighed. She put the box in the backseat. "What can you do?"
"Yeah." Derek drummed his fingers on his steering wheel. "What are you going to do now?"
Shrugging, Anabelle replied, "I don't know. Maybe I should go back to San Diego. But then there's Isaac and I can't take him away from Delilah. I also can't afford to get a new apartment and replace everything and…" She groaned as she rubbed her forehead. "I don't know what to do."
Seeing his mate in distress put Derek in discomfort. Anabelle couldn't leave Beacon Hills. Not when he was finally starting to get her to warm up to him. There had to be something he could do. He remembered the papers Natalie had given him on mating. The dominant party in the bond was supposed to provide. So that's what Derek was going to do.
"You don't have to leave," he told her, "You can stay with me."
Anabelle raised her eyebrows. "I can't take care of a teenage boy in a subway station."
"No," Derek agreed, "but I am looking for a place out here. Something more stable. I'll find a place big enough for us. And you can bring Isaac with you."
"I… are you sure?"
"Yes. You know how much these kids look up to you, Anabelle. You mean a lot to them." And too Derek but he wasn't going to bring that up right now. "Also… I need you around to keep me in check."
This made Anabelle chuckle. She looked at Derek's face and realized that he was serious about his offer. And the longer she stared at him, the more she knew that she wasn't ready to leave Beacon Hills yet. She wasn't ready to leave him yet.
"I don't know how I could ever thank you," Anabelle said softly.
"Just staying is all that you need to do," Derek told her.
A week later, Isaac and Delilah were riding with Derek, Anabelle, and Peter in the Camaro. Derek stopped the car once they got to the front of the old Hale and Fierro house. They got out of the car and walked up to the house to see some sort of symbol etched on the front of the door.
"You haven't told him everything yet, have you?" Peter asked Derek and Anabelle.
"We haven't gotten to it quite yet," the she-wolf told him.
"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.
"Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack?," Peter said to the teenagers, "So eager to strengthen his power and his number? When there's a new alpha, people take notice."
"People like who?"
Delilah walked up the front porch as she stared at the door. "What is this?" she asked, "What does this mean?"
"It's their symbol," Derek explained, "And it means they're coming."
"Who?"
"Alphas," Anabelle answered.
"More than one?" Isaac questioned.
"A pack of them," Derek specified.
"An alpha pack," Peter said, stepping forward, "And they're not coming. They're already here."
There you have it! I am so excited to see Derek and Anabelle's relationship progress in season 3! It's gonna be so dramatic but amazing. PLEASE review this and my other stories in the saga. I'll be sure to update soon! Xoxo, Maddie