Hey guys…I'm super sorry that it took so long to update. I've been swamped with school and million other things. THANK YOU for all the lovely reviews! They motivated me to finish this chapter for ya'll :) So…enjoy and review- I appreciate your input and I promise that everything will start to make sense soon. First POV is Chloe, and it switches over to Derek's POV.
When Derek ran back to change and get dressed, I pulled the leaves and twigs out of my hair. My right foot felt cold- I glanced down to see one foot, shoeless, covered only in a muddy sock. It made a squelching noise as I walked towards the log and retrieved the shoe I'd put there earlier.
Even though I was cold and messy, I couldn't help grinning.
Playing hide and seek with Derek was tricky- he was a lot faster than me, and with his wolf-y tracking abilities I needed to get pretty creative. Fortunately I'd scouted out areas during his last change, so I knew in advance where I wanted to go.
I dashed as quickly as I could towards a small clearing, not worrying about noise. In the middle there was a hollowed out log. I pulled off one of my shoes and threw it inside the log, then quietly dashed a few hundred yards ahead. Just in case Derek wasn't fooled by my diversion, I grabbed the lowest limb of a nearby tree, then scrambled up its branches until I was high enough to see the clearing.
By now Derek was probably sprinting along the trail I'd laid.
I focused as hard as I could, and a familiar blonde popped out of thin air.
"Now?" she asked, her face bright with excitement. I'd filled her in on the plan earlier this morning.
I nodded and she disappeared.
Now all I had to do was sit back and watch.
I saw Derek burst into the clearing, heading straight towards the log, head low to the ground as he sniffed out the trail. He growled a bit, pawing at the bark, then leaned down to sniff a little more closely.
C'mon Liz…
As soon as Derek seemed to figure out he'd been tricked, Liz appeared and tied the spare blanket around his head.
I finally let out the laughter I'd been holding back, watching as he tried to get it off. Liz was laughing just as hard. She shot me a thumbs up, then disappeared. I took that as my cue to climb down and head back. I jogged towards a series of snarls and growls (that I was sure would've been some pretty furious cursing if Derek had been in human form).
Only when I entered the clearing did I notice how quiet it was.
Even though I knew Derek would never hurt me, my heart leaped into my throat when I saw the shredded blanket. There was a flash of black fur, lightning fast, and then I fell backwards. Any anxiety I might've had disappeared when he crawled over my torso, nose nudging against my neck, fur tickling my skin until I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.
It might've been counted as a tie, but I personally considered this change as a win.
Just as I managed to pull my shoe back on, Liz appeared in front of me.
"Ohmygod did you see his face? Or, um..what's it called- muzzle? Whatever, that was totally worth it! Can we do that again? Like a different plan of course, but you know-" Liz said, speaking so fast it made my head spin. I laughed and was about to share another plan with her, when she started to shift- cutting me off mid sentence- blurring so that it seemed like she was disappearing, but then her form started to change. I caught a glimpse of her eyes, terrified, rolling backwards then glowing red hot. I shouted, but she didn't seem to hear me.
She shifted, changing into an all-too-familiar demi demon.
"M-messages?" Chloe asked, stuttering for the first time in months. Her obvious discomfort made me anxious, and I bit back a growl as it formed in the back of my throat. When I stepped closer, placing a hand against the small of her back, I could feel her relax a bit. It didn't silence the wolf, but it made it easier to control those instincts, which right now were screaming: Defend. Protect.
The woman, Diriel, smiled a bit. "I know that communication via dreams is horribly inefficient, but surely some of my warnings seeped through," she replied lightly, pausing to gauge Chloe's reaction.
"You've been causing those nightmares?" Chloe asked, letting anger override her fear. Despite her size, she could be intimidating when she wanted to be. I knew from first-hand experience. Diriel however, seemed unfazed.
"If that's what you want to call them-yes. I needed to get your attention, and unfortunately it was the only means of communication at my disposal," Diriel answered, then glanced around the clearing. "Speaking of which," she wrinkled her nose in obvious disapproval as she took in her surroundings, "I wouldn't have chosen this particular location to meet if I had any other options."
She sighed disdainfully, then resigned herself to sitting primly on the log. The way she talked and the way she moved reminded me of a very old, very strict English teacher.
"Warnings about what exactly," I asked, voice rough and nerves still on edge. Whenever dealing with something supernatural, they were first and foremost a threat until proven otherwise.
The way Diriel looked at me didn't help. She looked…delighted. As if she'd stumbled across an old friend at the supermarket or something.
"And I see you've brought along the wolf-boy…You've grown up quite nicely by the way," she said, giving me a very obvious look-over.
Between discomfort and confusion, confusion won. "Do I know you?"
"No. I don't think you do," Diriel replied, then fixed her gaze on Chloe, "Not like our dear little necromancer here."
My head was still spinning, but at least one thing was clear- Chloe had met Diriel before. She knew what Chloe was- she knew what I was…And she knew something that we didn't know. Something dangerous.
Our only option was to listen.
I ignored the way my gut twisted at the thought that Chloe hadn't trusted me with this information, because whatever the hell it was, it seemed important.
"Is it about the demon?" Chloe asked, snapping my focus back to the matter at hand.
Diriel waved off her concern, "Baalthazar? Oh, no- you won't need to worry about him for a couple more years. Technically you'll remain a minor until you reach twenty years of age-"
Again, what the fuck. Hearing that was worse than before, when I had been completely confused, because Diriel's words reminded me of something. I dimly remembered some information from a demonology text I'd read years ago. If she was referring to the particular clause that it seemed like she was talking about…the one that addressed situations where full-demons were…interested in a human…
My fists clenched subconsciously at the thought.
"Honestly- there's no need to give yourself an aneurism boy- when the time comes Chloe will be more than capable of taking care of the situation herself," Diriel chided, then muttered under her breath, "Werewolves. Always so overly protective. You don't see real wolves acting as guard dogs…"
Somehow her words didn't help. My breathing was still uneven, fists clenched, the wolf growling those same words: Defend. Protect. Claim what's yours…
"Derek," Chloe asked softly. At some point she'd turned around, fingers lightly touching my arm, brows furrowed slightly in concern.
I jumped back from her touch, like she'd prodded me with a branding iron, and felt my control snap as I shouted at her.
"Just- Just can you please tell me what the hell is going on Chloe? Can you fill me in on whatever this-" I gestured wildly at Diriel, "is? Because it's pretty clear that you know something I don't. "
Chloe flinched, and I felt a little bit sorry, but not much. She should have told me about this- trusted me with whatever had happened. She should have trusted me like I had trusted her. She was the one person that it felt like I didn't need to hide anything from.
But she obviously didn't feel the same way.
"Teenagers," Diriel sighed, rolling her eyes. "Well if you want a full introduction and backstory we might as well go someplace more comfortable…I trust that you don't live in the woods?"
"Y-yeah. We can go to our house," Chloe whispered, then looked at me, "Derek- she owes me- I'll explain everything later but for now…just trust me on this one. Okay?"
I wanted to say no. I started to say it, then swallowed my words, feeling the muscles in my jaw clench uncomfortably.
Dad always said that I needed to be patient with people. Right now it felt like my patience was at its breaking point.
I knew if I said something now, I'd regret it later. So I didn't say anything. I just fished my keys from my jean pockets, silently fuming, then gestured at Diriel to follow as we headed back to my Jeep.
Eeep! I really hate writing angsty-Derek…Lemme know whatcha thought- REVIEW!