CHAPTER SIX
Summary: Hermione Granger, one of the brightest minds of her generation, makes a decision that will ultimately change her future plans. At twenty-three, she finds herself moving to a strange town that's a hell-mouth for supernatural beings, pregnant, and in way over her head. And the father of her unborn child? The tall, dark and handsome werewolf, Derek Hale. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and the creators of Teen Wolf and MTV. This is purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making a profit from the posting of this. This is set after Season 3, and everything from season 4 onwards doesn't happen; so no deadpool, Beast, Dread Doctors, Wild Hunt or Hunters. Allison still died, Liam will still be appearing, and there is no Kira or Malia. Derek is 22 and Hermione is 23. I'm fudging the time line a bit, too.
Page count: 13
Four days after the vampire incident in the woods found Hermione trudging into her kitchen half asleep, clad in her pyjamas and with Magic and Crookshanks following at her heels.
The last few days had been strange for her, and all because of Derek Hale.
It seemed that the vampire incident had totally freaked him out and he'd become more protective over her since it'd happened, and it'd been driving her insane.
After waking from her nap a few hours later on that day, she'd done so to discover that not only were Magic and Crookshanks asleep and curled up against each other at the end of her bed, but that Derek had fallen asleep too, and he'd apparently wrapped himself around her. She'd woken on her side facing away from him and he'd been behind her, his chest pressed up against her back with his arm thrown over her waist and his hand pressed intimately against her stomach underneath her pyjamas, holding him to her possessively. His face had been buried against her neck, his nose pressed against her skin and his breathing unsettling a fallen curl.
She'd been more than surprised at their intimate position and she'd tried to pull away from him several times, but each time had been a failure as he'd just pull her back to him and his hold on her would tighten. In the end she'd given up and just laid in silence waiting for him to wake, and when she heard the change in his breathing, she forcibly slowed down her own and pretended to be asleep so she wouldn't have to face him.
Her breath had almost hitched in surprise when the first thing he'd done was nuzzle at her skin, breathing in her scent and a sigh of content left him, his warm breath ticking her. She'd held still and forced herself to remain calm as to not give herself away. It had taken all but eight seconds –she knew, she'd counted- for him to realise what he was doing and where he was and his body stiffened against hers, before he let out another sigh and he released his hold on her, silently climbing out of bed and leaving the room. She'd waited another twenty minutes before giving up her ruse of her sleep, thinking she'd been faking long enough and it was no longer suspicious of her to leave her room not long after he had.
She'd headed to the bathroom before making her way to the kitchen, her intentions being to make a start on dinner seeing as they'd both sleep through lunch and she was starving. She'd found Derek sitting at the kitchen table, flipping through one of her text books on the history of magic in Britain, sipping at a glass of water and snacking on a bag of crisps. He'd glanced at her for all but a second, giving her a nod of greeting before returning to his book in silence. The rest of the evening was much the same, silence and reading.
The days that followed were different; he was no longer silent, rather it seemed to be the exact opposite. He pulled her into conversation as often as possible. He always seemed to be behind her, following after her, but he did his best to hide it. If she stood to go to the bathroom, he'd follow after her and duck into his own room, and when she exited, he'd leave his bedroom with a book in his hand and follow her back to the living room. If she went into the kitchen to make herself something to eat, he'd follow her with the excuse that he wanted a drink.
He'd follow her to the library and choose a book, sitting down opposite her but he never once looked at the words in front of him, his eyes were always on her. When they went for a walk through the woods, he barely left her side and he was always ready to catch her when she tripped, which she did often. He wouldn't allow her anywhere near where they'd found the body and he seemed to be determined to keep her as far away from the area as possible. He got antsy if they were out for more than an hour and they always had to return to the cottage. When night fell and Hermione retired to bed, she knew he was standing outside her door until she fell asleep and he returned to his own room.
He wouldn't let her out of his sight, and it was driving her insane, which is why she was surprised that morning when he entered the kitchen a few minutes after she did, and he sat at the table, watching her as she prepared breakfast and he spoke his first words of the day.
"I have something I need to do today," he said.
She stopped stirring her tea and turned her head to look over her shoulder at him. "Okay," she said confused, wondering why he was telling her that. He didn't need her permission to do whatever he wished to do.
"I just thought I'd let you know," he said.
She frowned and turned around, leaning back against the counter with her arms folded over her chest and his eyes darted down to her stomach when her t-shirt rode up slightly, revealing a small amount of her pale skin.
"You don't need my permission to leave, Derek. You're a big werewolf and you can take care of yourself. I'd never dream of telling you what to do."
He snorted at her for her comment and he clasped his hands on top of the kitchen table and leaned forward, his dark eyes refusing to break their stare.
"I know that, I'm just letting you know that I won't be around for most of the day."
His eyes fell down to her stomach and she sighed, bringing her hand up to pinch the bridge of her nose, understanding dawning on her. What he meant was 'he wouldn't be around to protect her.'
"I'm a big witch, Derek, I can take care of myself, pregnant or not," she rolled her eyes, before turning back around to add a little milk to her tea and doing the same to his coffee.
"I didn't say you couldn't, but I don't want you traipsing through the woods by yourself whilst I'm gone."
"Like I said, I'm a big witch and I can take care of myself. If I want to go traipsing through the woods, then I will. I'm not stupid, my instincts are better than most given what I've gone through in my life, and I'd have Magic with me. He'd alert me to something I might have missed."
"Hermione, I'm being serious, I don't want you in the woods alone," he said, his voice deepening in a way that reminded her of an Alpha.
She gripped the spoon in her hand tightly and she took a deep, calming breath, centring her magic to prevent her from having an emotional magical outburst in her anger and annoyance. There's a reason a witch's magic's so volatile when they're pregnant. Her body's the conductor of two different magical signatures and they often clash and react when they come into contact, resulting in accidental and emotional magical outbursts.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
She took a final deep breath and exhaled, feeling her magic settling back down.
"Nothing," she lied, once more stirring her tea and removing the tea bag, throwing it into the bin.
She placed both mugs on the kitchen table and went back over to the counter to remove the toast from the toaster and she buttered it, placing it on the plates with the bacon and scrambled eggs she'd already made.
"Hermione, I don't want you in the woods on your own," he repeated.
"Yes, Mr. Repetitive, I heard the first time you said it, and for the sake of avoiding an argument you will undoubtedly lose, I promise to not go hiking today, but I'm not promising that I'll stay in the cottage. I haven't actually been into town yet and I need some supplies, so I may go for a visit and Magic needs his walk, too." He narrowed his dark eyes on her suspiciously. "My word is my bond, Derek. If I make a promise, I keep it."
She sipped at her cup of tea and then picked up her toast, nibbling on the end of it. He nodded, apparently satisfied that she wasn't lying to him and he took a swig of his coffee and also made a start on his toast.
"Aren't you going to ask where it is I'm going?" He asked her with a cocked eyebrow.
"No, it's none of my business. I might be curious but you're entitled to your privacy as well as I am. Should you want to share it with me, then I'll listen, otherwise I'll keep my nose to myself."
He snorted at her. "You're not like other women, are you?"
"Just now figuring that out, are you? What part of I'm a magical witch that works with imaginary creatures and is pregnant with a werewolf-wizarding baby do you not understand?" She asked with raised eyebrow.
His mouth pulled into a smile. "To be honest with you, most of it." She snorted at him and sipped at her tea. "It's been two weeks and I'm still trying to wrap my head around the direction my life has taken."
"Welcome to the club," she said, lifting her mug in cheers and he chuckled at her, shaking his head.
"Well, seeing as you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you."
"How very generous, Mr. Hale," she said.
"I'm heading out of town to meet with a friend, a fellow werewolf from another pack. Our families have been allies for as long as I can remember, probably even before my birth. We meet once a year to confirm that our allegiance remains with each other, but, we've already had that meeting this year."
"Alright, now I'm intrigued," she said, putting down her mug and giving him her full attention.
An amused smile pulled at his mouth. "We only meet more than once when there's trouble brewing and we need help with a problem."
"And this problem is?" She questioned.
"I don't know; that's what I'm going to find out today."
"Well, that was disappointing, I was hoping for a bit of gossip," she said and he snorted at her. "Well, whatever it is, be careful, I won't be there to protect you."
He snorted once more. "Whatever you say, Witch," he replied amused.
He stood from the table and walked over to the counter to retrieve the tomato sauce from the cupboard above, before he retook his seat and covered his eggs and bacon in the sauce. The moment the smell hit Hermione, she darted from her chair, out of the kitchen and to the bathroom, where she fell to the floor and threw up into the toilet.
Footsteps followed behind her, she briefly heard the door creaking as it was pushed open and she felt one hand pull her hair back from her face, while the other rubbed circles on her back as Derek crouched behind her.
"You alright?" He asked softly.
She went to reply only to throw up once more, feeling his presence surrounding her comfortingly.
"You should leave, I can't imagine the smell being pleasant for you, hell, it's making me feel worse," she muttered, pressing her forehead against the arm that was flung over the toilet seat.
"I said I'd be here for you and I meant it," he replied. "Actually, this is the first time I've seen your morning sickness make an appearance since moving in with you," she could hear the frown in his voice. "I thought you said you get it bad."
"I do," she sighed, holding her breath when another wave of nausea hit her. "But I haven't had any bad episodes since you moved in. I've still been getting morning sickness nearly every day, it's just been happening before breakfast when you're still asleep. The tomato sauce seems to have been the trigger."
"Sorry," he apologised guiltily.
"Don't be," she waved him off with her other hand. "It's not your fault; you didn't know it would happen and neither did I. At any rate, I'm feeling better now," she said, lifting her head from her arm to look at him over her shoulder.
"You're sure?"
"Yes...No," she shook her head, before she threw up once more. His hand didn't stop rubbing comforting circles on her back nor did he let go of her hair.
She groaned and held her forehead against her arm once more, and she felt his hands leave her body and she snuck a peek to see him reaching over to the sink where he retrieved a stray bobble that was left on the side. He took it and pulled Hermione's hair back and he tied it up into a pony tail for her, keeping her hair out of her face.
Feeling better, she reached over to the flush the toilet and Derek disappeared from her side only to return with a glass of water. She took it gratefully and swilled out her mouth.
"Feeling better?" He asked with concern in his voice.
"I think it's over," she nodded tiredly and leaned back into the wall beside her.
He took the glass from her before she squeaked in surprise when she found herself being hauled off the ground and into his arms. He stood and held her against his chest and her hands quickly wound around his neck out of instinct, as he made the short distance from the bathroom to her bedroom at the end of the hallway.
"What are you doing?" She asked him. "I'm perfectly capable of walking."
"I'm not risking it," he told her.
"That wasn't even a bad case of morning sickness."
"That makes me feel a lot better, thank you," he said sarcastically as he pushed her bedroom door open with his foot and he stepped inside, depositing Hermione on the bed and covering her with the blanket. "You're going to stay in bed until you're sure you're feeling better," he told her.
"Oh, am I now?" She questioned with a narrowed gaze.
"Yes, you are, no room for argument," he replied.
He gave a sudden whistle and Hermione scowled when Magic bounded into the room and jumped up onto the bed, draping himself over her lap so she wouldn't be able to get up even if she wanted to.
"Make sure she doesn't leave for at least an hour, you got that, Magic?" Derek said to her puppy.
The boisterous puppy barked loudly and reached over to lick at his hand. Derek's mouth pulled into a smile and he scratched Magic behind the ears.
"I'm not sure I like this new camaraderie between you and my dog," she told him, crossing her arms in a sulk.
He chuckled at her and her moody pout. "Tough, he recognises me as his Alpha and he'll do anything I tell him."
"Even keeping me prisoner?"
"Especially keeping you prisoner," he confirmed, amused at her huff of indignation. "It's the pack mentality. Protect the female and the pup at all costs."
"Well I don't like it," she huffed.
"Tough luck, it's for your health."
"You're a furry pain in the arse," she scowled.
He snorted at her. "Well, I've been called worse."
"Oh, I have plenty of insults lined up," she promised.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't," he said amused.
"You want to hear them? I assure you, I don't mind sharing," she glared at him.
"Maybe later, right now I have to get going otherwise I'll be late." He petted Magic one last time before heading for the door. "I mean it, you're to stay in bed for at least an hour," he said, looking at her over his shoulder.
"Yes, Sir," she said, mock saluting him and he smirked as he heard the insults that followed once he'd left the room. He had to admit, she certainly was creative.
"I can hear you," he called back.
"I know, I said it out loud, you were meant to hear it!" She shouted.
He chuckled as he grabbed his leather jacket from his bedroom and left the cottage, making his way to the edge of the woods were his car was hidden.
~000~000~000~
Much to Hermione's annoyance, Magic didn't once budge from her lap until well after an hour and when she was finally free, she made her way back to the bathroom in a huff, before stripping off her pyjamas and stepping into the hot spray of the shower.
A sudden zing of heat shot down to her nether region when she caught the smell of Derek's shower gel perched on the windowsill by her own wash products, and she was forced to take a calming breath.
She'd lied to Derek when he'd asked her if she'd been having any other symptoms and he made sure to ask her every other day just to be sure. From the moment she'd laid eyes on him again at his old house, her hormones had taken hold of her, driving her crazy as the craving for sex suddenly became an issue.
As soon as she'd set eyes on him, she'd been reminded of their night together and all the things he'd done to her body. He'd made her purr like a bloody kitten; he'd made her sing like a hummingbird; he'd made her whimper like a wounded puppy, and she couldn't stop thinking about it.
There was no denying she was attracted to him, she wouldn't have slept with him if she wasn't, but being around him constantly was only making the situation worse. She could always smell the scent of his shower gel after he'd used the shower, she could always smell his scent of nature and outdoors lingering in the air. His proximity raised her body temperature and she always felt as though she were on fire. His voice sent shivers down her spine and his dark eyes made her weak in the knees, and her hormones certainly weren't helping matters.
She'd almost died when she found him pressed against her so tightly and intimately that day she'd woken up to him holding her, his body to hers, feeling the heat of him and his muscled frame even through clothing.
She wanted him again, and she wanted it badly. She didn't know how he hadn't picked up on her pheromones, especially when he walked around without a shirt on, leaving his sculpted torso free to her gaze. Maybe he had noticed but was too polite to broach the subject; she shook her head at the thought. If he'd noticed he'd definitely say something.
So the only other option had to be she was successfully hiding it from him, which she was thankful for. She did her best to control her breathing and heart beat whenever he was nearby, she did her best not to stare when he was shirtless. She always squeezed her thighs together tightly when she felt a tingling and she willed it away with everything she had in her.
She'd been doing so well, too, up until earlier on when he'd picked her up and he'd carried her back to her room. His scent invaded her nose making her feel lightheaded, his voice had reverberated in his chest and she'd felt it as she was pressed so closely against him. His hands had been touching her bare skin, one of them the small of her back and the other her upper thigh where her shorts hadn't covered.
He was the reason she wore shorts to bed in the first place, having dreams of him touching her body and the heat it brought her making it difficult to sleep. She wasn't sure how much longer she'd be able to take the torture that was Derek Bloody Hale and his unnatural handsome self.
She squeezed her thighs together when another zing of heat shot through her and she gritted her teeth in annoyance. Bloody hell, she had to do something to relieve herself or she'd burst!
She sighed, residing herself to the fact she'd just have to deal with it herself, and if she were being honest, it wouldn't be the first time she'd done so, especially since she'd met Derek. She'd lost count of how many times she'd fantasised about him when needing to give herself a little bit of stress relief, as it was, she already knew how it felt to be with him, to be touched by him, to be the centre of his attention, and that just made her fantasies all the more vivid.
Stepping further under the heat of the shower spray and allowing it to soak through her hair and warm her body, her hand slipped down her stomach and moved south towards the place that needed attention the most, thoughts of the handsome, pain in the arse werewolf filling her mind.
~000~000~000~
Derek had spent the last hour and a half driving towards the meeting point which was to be a busy cafe with lots of witnesses, as his friend had instructed. Thankfully the location was closer to Beacon Hills than it was his friend, as Derek knew he had a three hour drive ahead of him.
The drive had been quiet with the radio being the only sound in the car and he was glad when he parked his car and stepped out of it, finally having the opportunity to stretch out his legs after what seemed like a long drive.
He quickly caught sight of the one he was meeting, sitting at a table in front of the window with two cups of coffee sat on the table. He observed him for a moment, seeing his blonde shaggy hair looking in need of a haircut, or at the very least, being brushed. His skin looked paler than usual, almost sickly in fact, and his blue eyes looked weary and tired. He fidgeted in his seat, his eyes darting about as though he were expecting someone to attack him at any moment. His clothes looked rumpled, as though he'd fallen asleep in them and just woken up.
Derek frowned; this wasn't the James he knew, this was someone else entirely. The James he knew was so optimistic and happy that he gave you a headache if you were around him for too long. The James he knew was always well put together, never a hair out of place or a crease in sight. The James he knew was easy going and worriless. It certainly wasn't the person he was watching now, which instantly put him on edge. Something was wrong.
He locked up the car and slipped his keys into jacket pocket before heading to the cafe and over to James. A look of relief crossed his friend's face, some of the anxiety melting away and he gave him a small smile as he stood to greet him. They shared a quick hug before Derek took the only chair available across from his friend and he took the coffee gratefully.
"Alright, what's the problem?" He said, seeing no point in beating around the bush. "You look like hell."
James snorted. "Thanks, that's just what I needed to hear," he said.
Derek shrugged his shoulders and took a swig from his coffee. "I've never lied to you before; I see no point in starting now."
"You've always been brutally honest," he said amused, before his shook his head. "I need your help."
"I thought you might," Derek nodded. "What's the problem?"
James ran a hand through his hair. "About a month ago, my cousin Robbie disappeared." Derek nodded, showing that he remembered him. "We thought nothing of it, he disappears all the time, but he usually turns up after a few days and when it hit a week later, we began to worry. A few days later, Robbie's sister, Ronnie disappeared, and it's out of character for her. She's only fourteen and didn't come home from school."
Alarm bells were ringing in Derek's head; he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"A week ago, Robbie's body was found twenty miles from his house. I was sent to give the site a quick once over, see if I could find anything the police had missed, and I did, I found this." He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a silver bullet which he placed on the table. "From what I can tell, it contains mountain ash and I found it embedded in a tree a quarter mile from the crime scene. There's signs of torture and him being held somewhere else, but he was killed where he was found. Obviously he tried to escape but didn't manage it. You know what this means?"
Derek nodded and sighed, he knew were all the points led to. "Hunters," he spoke.
"Hunters," James confirmed. "Not only is Ronnie still unaccounted for, we received word a few days ago that another of my cousins, Connor, has also gone missing. He didn't come home from work. He's got a wife and kid waiting for him. Whoever this is, they obviously know who we are and they're deliberately targeting my family for reasons we don't know. As far as we're aware, not a single member of the pack has harmed a human, nor have they revealed their identity to anyone that isn't already in the know."
"And you need my help in tracking this hunter down and finding Ronnie and Connor?" Derek said.
James nodded. "You've the most experience with hunters, you know how they think."
"Don't remind me," he muttered.
He ran a hand through his hair, feeling himself growing agitated, but it wasn't for himself or what he was about to walk into, no, it was for Hermione. He was likely to be away from her for a few days at least, and he didn't like the thought of leaving her alone, leaving her unprotected. The wolf in him couldn't allow it but they had no choice. He'd been called by an ally and if he didn't do everything he could to help, the allegiance between the packs would be severed.
He knew she could more than handle herself, she'd proved that when she'd taken on the vampire and won, even when he hadn't been able to keep up with the vampire's speed, but still, he didn't want to leave her alone, and he admitted to himself that it wasn't just because of his fear for her safety or the baby.
It was because he knew he'd miss her. He'd been around her constantly for over a week now and he'd grown used to her intoxicating smell – her scent being that of nature, of the fruity shampoo she used, and most of all, him. She smelled like him!
He'd grown used to her calming voice, to her infectious laughter and her smart arse, witty comments, and he was sure she'd be able to give Stiles a run for his money. In fact, he'd happily bet his entire fortune on it. He'd grown used to her noises of irritation, to her snorts of amusement and her squeaks of surprise when she was startled or when she tripped over and he was forced to step in and prevent her from falling. He'd grown used to their easy conversations and the reading in silence until she fell asleep in the arm chair, her even breathing and relaxed facial expression making him feel calm and peaceful in a way he hadn't before.
He'd grown used to Hermione Granger, and he would definitely miss her. Who'd have thought his life would've taken the direction it had? For him to have a one night stand with a woman –a freaking witch- that happened to be moving to the place he called home and for her to fall pregnant before doing so? For her to track him down and completely turn his life upside down, but also giving him a second chance at having a family, a pack? For her to actually be kind and understanding and completely unaffected by his dark past, as she had a past herself that was equally as troubling? For him to actually grow to like her?
He blinked at that and shook his head slightly, before realising that it was true. He liked her. Not just as a person, not as a friend, but as a potential romantic interest. After all, she was already carrying a child they'd created together, and what fun that had been, he thought with his mouth twitching.
He'd never met someone like her before. As far as he could tell, she didn't care what others thought of her. She didn't mind poking fun at herself –or him for that matter- and as far as he knew, she'd been dealing with the pregnancy and him being in her life quite well. After all, not only had his life changed, but so had hers. He knew her to have a new job and that had been jeopardised the moment she'd discovered she was pregnant. Yet she'd taken the news like a trooper and she was getting on with her life, not letting her change in circumstances hold her back.
He was attracted her, of course he was. He wouldn't have slept with her if he hadn't been and in all honesty, despite there having been a few beautiful women at the bar that night, she'd caught his attention the moment she'd walked into the bar. Her scent of honey and strawberries invading his nose, even from the distance between them, even before she'd entered the bar actually. He'd caught the scent of her long before she'd entered the bar, having smelt it in the elevator, and when she did walk in, dressed in a simple black dress, her hair being pulled back into a wild bun and her makeup being minimal, he'd been floored by her beauty. He'd meant what he'd said to her that day at the house, she was beautiful, even with muddy clothing, dirty hands and messy hair.
God! Her hair! He'd loved having his hands in it and he'd been hard pressed to remove them from the soft, long strands curling around his fingers as he'd kissed her into a tizzy. And don't even get him started on her lips, they'd been soft and warm and inviting, and her body the same. Crushed beneath him she'd been small and had fit against him perfectly and her nails had dug into his shoulders and raked at his back, whilst she'd nipped and bit at him with her teeth. Yes, he was definitely attracted to her.
Living with her had been driving him insane. Her smell always swarmed the air, surrounding him. Her voice and laughter was always ringing in his ears. Her touch set his body on fire and had his wolf practically purring in delight. It was difficult to stop himself from just grabbing her and holding her to him, and he'd done so a few times being unable to stop himself. The most memorable time being when he'd fallen asleep with her little body held tightly against his own and he'd woken up to her in his arms. He couldn't remember a time he'd felt so at ease.
He wanted her, he really wanted her, but she'd shown no signs of being interested in him other than her kindness and understanding of his wolf being the protective pain in the arse he was. And he knew he was a pain in the arse, which only made him respect her more for putting up with him. He'd deliberately walk around without a shirt on, hoping to catch her staring at him, but he never did. He deliberately invaded her personal space in hopes he would gain a reaction from her, but he never did.
As a result, he'd taken to giving himself a helping hand in the shower, being as quiet as possible not to alert her to what he was doing. It wasn't hard to come up with something to visualise, after all, it was always her he was thinking about. And since he'd been with her, since he knew what she felt like, how soft and responsive she'd been to his touch, his thoughts were more vivid than that of someone thinking about a crush or celebrity.
"Derek?"
"What?" He shook out of his thoughts. "What?" He repeated, seeing James staring at him with a narrowed gaze.
"You zoned out on me. Obviously your mind's elsewhere, so out with it," he said.
"I'm fine," he brushed him off.
"No, you're not, if you were you wouldn't have been ignoring me for the last five minutes. Something's obviously on your mind and I know you're not going to be able to focus until you deal with it, so tell me. Once you do we can focus on tracking down these hunters."
Derek sighed and ran his hand through his hair once more, before leaning back into his chair and crossing his arms over his chest. He wasn't getting out of it; James was like a wolf with a bone when it came to these things.
"Fine, I've got someone back home waiting for me and I don't like the thought of leaving her."
A true smile lit James' face in a way that it did before he was under the stress of hunters targeting his family.
"Oh yeah?" He wriggled his eyebrows and Derek snorted at him.
"It's not what you think, well, maybe it is," he sighed.
"I'm confused," his friend frowned.
"Alright, listen, you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you." James nodded and sat forward, a sign of his curiosity. "A few months ago I met this woman at a bar in Washington D.C and we slept together, but a couple of weeks ago, I discovered that not only had she been transferred in her job to Beacon Hills before we'd even met, but she was pregnant."
"Right?" James said slowly.
Derek rolled his eyes. "She's pregnant, with my baby."
James' eyes widened and his mouth dropped open, showing his shock. "Holy shit!" He whispered in surprise, before shaking his head. "You sure it's yours?"
James shrank back at the dark glare Derek sent his way, a slight growl rumbling in the back of his throat at the other werewolf's insinuations.
"Yes, I'm sure," he spoke, his voice deepening in warning. "She told me she'd only slept with two people in her life, her ex-boyfriend who'd she'd been with for five years, and me. And not only does the time frame match up perfectly, but my scent's all over her. I can smell the baby's mine."
"Okay, sorry," James apologised. "I didn't mean anything by it, but given how protective you were of her just then, I'm going to say there's more to the story of her just being your baby momma."
Derek sent him a withering look and James just sniggered in reply. "Fine, I like her, I admit it. She's different to other women. She's beautiful and smart and witty, and hell, I've never heard someone make fun of me the way she does, especially of my wolf."
"She knows?" He said, his eyes widening once more.
He nodded. "It turns out she's known about werewolves since she was a child. Despite being human, when she was a child she was part of a wolf pack but when her Alpha died the pack bond was severed. She knew what I was even before she found me and told me about the pregnancy. I admit, I'm a pain in the arse..."
"Don't I know it," James muttered, and Derek childishly kicked him in the shin under the table.
"My point is she's understanding of my wolf needing to keep her in my line of sight, of my wolf needing to keep her safe and she even allowed me to move into her house without complaint so I can watch over her. She's got more werewolf related jokes than I don't know what. She's made jokes about her mood swings being worse than mine at the full moon, and when I told her that I thought her cat wanted to bite me, she told me to bite him back, not to mention she threatens to bite me at least twice a day."
James snorted in amusement. "Alright, I think I like this chick." Derek glared at him. "Calm down, I said I liked her, not that I wanted her for myself especially when you've so clearly got a thing for her and she's carrying your baby," he held his hands up in surrender. "So, how far along is she? Is she showing yet? Do you think the baby will be like us?"
"She's eleven weeks along and she's not showing yet, and she's convinced the baby will be like me, but I think so, too. Every day her scent's getting stronger and she's smelling more and more like me, like a wolf."
"You've got a pack again," James spoke, a smile pulling at his mouth.
"I've got a pack again and it's all because of her."
"Well, you seem to be happy so I'm happy for you. And now that I know what's got you so wrapped up in your thoughts, let's get this over with so you can get back to her."
Derek nodded, before he frowned. He had to contact Hermione to let her know what was happening so she wouldn't worry, but how was he going to do that?
The only thought that came to mind was to contact Scott and ask him to deliver a message. If there was one person he could count on to do that, it was him. Without thought, he pulled his cell from his pocket and dialled Scott's number.