I really want to thank everyone who has left me a review. You guys are so great, and it really helps me get past my writers block knowing that people don't think I suck. Or at least, you don't say I do, so that's good enough for me. If I were I real author, I would have a dedication at the beginning of my story, which I didn't. So, this whole fanfic is for all the Derek and Chloe fans out there who think Kelley is taking too long in getting Chloe and Derek together.
Before we could say anything to each other, Derek's pocket started ringing. He pulled out one of the pre-paid phones we had purchased last week.
"Hello?" He smiled, and mouthed, "Simon!" to me. He held up a finger to me, so I walked away, giving him privacy.
After a couple of minutes, he jogged over to me, and pocketed his phone.
Derek recounted his conversation with Simon for me. Simon and Tori left Andrew's that morning. They were at a bus terminal in Syracuse right now, only about forty-five minutes away. I felt guilty enough for forgetting about them all day, so I insisted we talk to Jeremy right away. We went inside, and found him still sitting at the kitchen table with Jaime. The kids were nowhere too be seen.
We explained the situation. They told us to call Simon back and tell him someone would be there to pick them up in a few minutes. The only thing they were upset about was the fact that it had taken us all morning to tell them.
"I know I said not to disclose this location, but I didn't mean you had to leave your brother out on the streets," Jeremy chided. "I'll call Nick and have him swing by to get them." At our looks, Jeremy went on, "Nick is a Pack brother. He's Clay's best friend, and a very trustworthy person. We can postpone our trip into town for dinner if you want. That way you can help them get settled in."
He then left to make his call and find Elena. Derek went outside to return Simon's call, and I was left in the kitchen with Jaime.
"So, Chloe, how long have you and Derek been together?" She asked me with a grin. "As a fellow necromancer with a werewolf boyfriend, I'll tell you, you could do a lot worse." I blushed, but that warm feeling I always go when I though of Derek surfaced, and before I knew it, the words were tumbling out of my mouth.
"We just…well, yesterday. I mean, it's not like it's official or anything, but, he says he loves me, so I guess I can say we've been together since yesterday," I blurted out in a rush.
"That's great, kiddo. But there's something that Jeremy thinks I should talk to you about."
"What?" I asked, the warm feeling evaporating. I looked out the window. Derek was still talking on the phone with Simon, but he was far away, so I doubted he could hear us.
"Don't worry, it's nothing bad. I mean, you might not be thrilled when you hear it, but it won't be the end of the world or anything like that." At my blank stare, she continued. "Your relationship with Derek is… surprising. From what Jeremy says, Derek is really protective of you, right?" I nodded hesitantly, not really sure where this was going. "It's just that Derek is a little young to have found a mate already."
My face heated up.
"M-mate? W-we h-haven't," I slowed down, calming myself. "I'm only fifteen years old! He's my first boyfriend. I don't think we're going to be doing any… mating anytime soon. Why do people keep saying I'm his mate?"
"Who else has called you that?" She asked calmly.
"Liam did…" I said sullenly. I was starting to get angry. I barely even knew this woman, and she was trying to have "the talk" with me. She must have known my mother was dead, and assumed that I was starving for the guidance of a surrogate-mother-figure or something. I was pretty sure that even if my mother had been alive, we would not have been talking about having sex with my werewolf boyfriend.
"I really don't feel comfortable talking about sex with you," I said, hoping she would drop it.
She blushed, and her eyes widened with genuine shock.
"Oh, God, Chloe, I wasn't saying-" She broke off, and took a deep breath. "I wasn't talking about sex. I'm just trying to explain to you what the whole mate thing means. You know, to you."
I was opening my mouth to protest, but shut it quickly. I had to admit, I was curious. I told her to go on, so she did.
Apparently, Pack werewolves are raised by their fathers. The gene only carries through the male line, so the sons are taken from their mothers soon after they were born. She didn't understand why exactly they kept their secret from the mothers, but they did. Until Clay bit Elena. Their children were obviously being raised by both parents. Apparently, the twins were special. Not only was Kate a werewolf too, (they could tell by smell when she was born) but they were the first full-blooded werewolves in recorded history. Until Kate, the Elena was the only female werewolf in North America.
When a young werewolf is around sixteen, his body starts preparing him for his Changes, like Derek. The partial Changes Derek had been going through were normal, apparently. Good to know.
One of the many changes a new werewolf has to face is overcoming his instincts. One of the most powerful instincts was of course, the mating instinct. It wasn't like with a normal teenage guy at all. They didn't want to have sex with every single attractive woman they came into contact with. They pretty much were looking for The One he would spend the rest of his life with. If she wasn't The One, it was a waste of time. Most of the werewolves who couldn't control that part of their… condition avoided intimacy with women, except to reproduce. After they had their sons, they stopped all contact with the woman.
Jaime didn't understand how Pack wolves fought against that instinct by taking their sons from the mothers. From what she had been told, once a werewolf chooses a mate, it's almost like they are linked. He will always know how to find her. He will always know if she is safe, or is she is in danger. He was very protective of her.
She theorized that a werewolf could have sex with a woman who was not indeed his mate, but that wasn't how they did things anymore. All of those rule had only applied when the Pack thought werewolves were the only type of supernatural. Upon finding out, they had changed the rules. Now, if a werewolf's mate was a supernatural, there was no reason not to tell her. They could raise any babies together, boy or girl.
I started to panic. I couldn't hear what Jaime was saying through the rush of blood in my ears and the pounding of my heart. I mumbled some excuse, and hurried from the kitchen, out the back door.
I was barely fifteen. I mean, I wasn't even a sophomore yet. Derek, was my first boyfriend, for God's sake, and I had only known him for little over a month. In the movies, when the girl gets the guy at our age, you always assume they are together forever. But how often in real life does that happen? Not very. We don't get to see the part where they go to different colleges and break up five months later.
But he would never break up with me, not unless he though he was putting me in danger. My heart stopped pounding, and my blood ran cold.
As freaked out as I was about the whole mate thing, I was positively terrified of the thought of him not being in my life anymore. I tried to imagine him with someone else.
The bile rose in my throat, and I walked over to some bushes and threw up. Well, that answered that question.
"Chloe! What's wrong?" Derek ran over to me. I hadn't even noticed him across the yard, that's how upset I had been. I looked away from him, and brushed off my knees.
"I'm fine," I said, not meeting his eyes. "I'm going to go inside for a minute, then when I come out, we can go for a walk. I need to clear my head." I finally lifted my eyes to his.
"Are you sure?" His eyes were full of concern, and I felt a twinge of guilt. If I was his mate, it wasn't his fault. I was his first girlfriend, too. And really, who said I was his mate? Did he? No. Maybe Jaime was just jumping the gun. I bet if I had asked him, he'd say the same thing, and scoff at me for even considering the idea. Really, the idea of Derek pining away for anybody -let alone me- was ludicrous. Like he would ever do that. Really. We hadn't even been out on a date yet, and here I was, freaking out over something that might not even be true. Ridiculous.
I ran inside and up to my bathroom, brushed my teeth, and was back outside within five minutes.
"Better?" He asked me, still oviously concerned.
I reassured him I was, then hesitantly told him what Jaime had talked to me about.
"What, that whole, wolves-mate-for-life thing?" He scoffed. He turned me so I was facing him. "My dad said that whole thing is crap, and I'm inclined to believe him. I think it's just an excuse that werewolves have come up with to explain what science calls hormones. It's not like I never noticed girls before you." His tone was light, but his face was saying a different story all together. His eyes kept darting around me, like he didn't trust himself to make eye contact.
He was lying.
I was the only girl he had ever noticed. Ever cared about. Even if he hadn't just completely given himself away, I already had known the truth from what Simon had said in the past.
But I didn't let on that I disbelieved him. I just smiled at him, and asked him about his talk with Jeremy and Clay. We walked around the grounds for a few minutes before Jeremy called us back. He said that Nick was on his way with Simon and Tori.
Fifteen minutes later, we greeted them at the front door.
