A/N: Thank you for your reviews, follows, and faves folks! Much appreciated :)

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Chapter Two: Deal

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Megan came to with a yelp and furiously blinked away the ice-cold water thrown in her face. She saw a blonde girl saunter away with an empty bucket in her perfectly manicured hand, crimson lips curled in a smirk. Before Megan could do much more than scowl at her, the dark-haired hunter who'd shot her with the tranq stepped forward.

"What's your name?"

Megan felt her hackles rise and inhaled deeply, fighting back the predatory urge to rip his throat out. "No 'sorry for knocking you out, kidnapping you, then chaining you to a wall'?" She jingled her wrists for emphasis.

The hunter's face remained infuriatingly neutral. What was worse, he completely ignored the comment.

"I'm Derek. Erica." He indicated the bitchy blonde. "Isaac." The other hunter. "And Boyd." The quiet yet intimidating black boy standing with his arms crossed in the far corner.

"Megan," she said grudgingly.

"What are you doing in Beacon Hills?" asked Derek, evidently leading the interrogation.

Megan bit back a sigh of frustration. "I told you I was just passing through."

"Okay, let me rephrase that. What are you doing so far away from home?"

"Running away from hunters like you," she spat. "And for the record, I've never killed anyone."

The blonde – Erica – snorted in disbelief.

"It's true," said Derek, shooting the girl a quelling look. "Her eyes are gold."

Erica sniffed like she wasn't convinced but didn't make to argue. Derek returned his attention to Megan.

"You were born a were?"

She understood where the question came from. Those born with it could control their urges better. "No. I was bitten when I was sixteen."

Derek nodded in understanding. "So you were taught."

She changed the subject. "I don't think you're really interested in my past, so let's stop beating about the bush, shall we? What do you really want to know?"

His lips twitched ever so slightly upwards. Had Megan blinked, she'd have missed it. "There's a new pack in town." He crossed his arms, biceps rippling beneath the rolled-up sleeves of his grey sweater. "Seems too much of a coincidence that you show up at the same time."

"I'm omega," said Megan defensively.

"Doesn't mean you don't want a pack. That's were instinct, right?"

Megan sighed, defeated. "Alright, fine. But honestly, I was only passing through. Then I caught the scent and…" She made a sound of frustration. "Do you know how hard it is? Trying to pass an alpha by when all your instincts scream at you to submit yourself to them?"

Derek stepped closer until she could feel his breath wash over her face. His eyes focused on hers, searching. She suppressed the urge to look away with not a little difficulty.

"You don't know the pack?" Before she could answer he had her chin in a vice-like grip. "Don't lie to me."

"I swear I don't. Haven't encountered any of the members while I've been here."

He kept looking at her for a long, tense moment, then abruptly released her chin. "Here's the deal. You do something for me, and I promise to let you go. I'll let you leave town, no trouble."

Megan watched him carefully. "I'm supposed to take your word on this?"

He met her gaze squarely. "I don't break my promises." His heartbeat remained even. He wasn't lying.

She paused before answering. "What do you want me to do?"

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If the situation wasn't so dire, Derek might have laughed at Megan's incredulous expression.

"You're joking."

"Not one bit," he said. "So, deal?"

She scowled at him. "I thought I told you before. I don't want to run with this alpha. Besides, when I throw myself at his mercy like you want me to, he'll smell you on me."

Derek shrugged, unconcerned. "You were caught. You escaped."

Megan snorted, pointedly letting her eyes scan the basement. There were no windows and the only door was metal, as thick as the width of Derek's palm, adorned on the outside with more latches and locks than he could count. "A likely story."

"We could chase you," said Derek seriously, taking a step towards her. It was a casual move but with an underlying threat. "Make it more believable. Maybe shoot you in the arm."

"Do you know, this is sounding more and more pleasant," she said, voice laced with sarcasm.

"There's an alternative." He gave a curt nod and Isaac crossed to a cabinet against the far wall.

"What kind of alternative?" asked Megan uneasily.

Derek saw in her face the exact instant when Isaac opened the drawer. She cried out, squeezing her eyes shut as her features shifted, slowly sharpening.

"No! No, please!" She trembled, flattening herself against the wall like she was trying to disappear through it.

Derek accepted the small envelope Isaac passed to him, emptying its contents into the palm of his hand. The pressed purple flowers stood out starkly against his skin.

"Wolfsbane," said Derek dispassionately. "It has a few uses. It can kill. It can heal. But I have a particular use in mind for you." He moved closer, raising his hand so that it hovered just shy of her face. "How does it feel, Megan? Like your animal side's tearing you up inside?"

She was crying, tears falling thick and fast from behind her closed eyelids. "I'll do anything." Her voice was part-growl. "Please. Just don't…"

He waited a moment before stepping back, pouring the flowers back into their sleeve. Isaac took it from him as he went to wash his hands in the old square sink near the door.

"Thank you for your cooperation, Megan. I appreciate it."

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TBC