Author's note: Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews! :)

ENJOY!

"Isaac, I need you to take Aurora upstairs to Lydia's room." Derek growled in the darkness.

"I can fight." Isaac protested.

"I need you to keep Aurora and Lydia safe. Please Isaac." Derek asked still not taking his eyes away from the door.

"Yeah, go take care of my girl. Please buddy?" Jackson added sincerely.

Isaac didn't reply but Aurora felt his hand find her own. He guided her up the stairs making sure she didn't trip. When they got to Lydia's room Isaac opened the door and led Aurora inside.

"Jacks? Please tell me that's you?" Lydia's voice trembled.

"He's downstairs helping Derek. It's me and Isaac." Aurora told her.

Isaac took Aurora over to Lydia who was bundled up in her bed. Lydia's hand soon found Aurora's arm and she pulled her close. Aurora curled up next to her without thinking twice.

"Isaac? Come sit next to me before I have a panic attack." Lydia said frantically.

Aurora felt the bed dip under Isaac's weight as he crawled between her and Lydia. He put his arm around Aurora and she assumed he did the same for Lydia.

"It will be okay. Derek will handle it." Isaac said trying to comfort Lydia.

Aurora couldn't speak let alone express how terrified she was.

She knew Isaac was aware though.

"Aurora, you are safe with me. I would never let anyone hurt you or Lydia." Isaac cooed.

Aurora pressed her head into Isaac's shoulder and took a deep breath. Suddenly there was a loud crash followed by an even louder snarl.

Isaac bolted up.

"Isaac no! Derek said to stay here." Aurora cried.

"They are in the house!" Isaac growled his voice a tone Aurora had never heard.

It was animalistic.

"Stay here and lock the door. I'll be back for you. I just need to make sure everyone is okay." He said and disappeared from the room.

Aurora couldn't blame him. She didn't want to sit there helplessly while Derek and the others were in danger.

There was some shuffling and it sounded like someone was rooting around in a drawer. All of a sudden Aurora was blinded by a bright light.

"Lydia!" Aurora scolded hiding her eyes from the flashlight.

"Sorry! At least we can see now." Lydia said shining the light around the room.

Another loud noise came from downstairs and Aurora heard a howl.

"Is there anything we can defend ourselves with?" Aurora asked hopefully.

"There is a shot gun in Derek's room. But it's for show." Lydia told her.

"It won't affect a werewolf?" Aurora inquired.

"It might slow one down." Lydia mused.

Aurora took the flashlight from Lydia and got out of the bed.

"What are you doing?!" Lydia cried.

"I'm not going to sit here and wait for a werewolf to rip out my jugular." Aurora spat walking toward the door.

Lydia scrambled over to her.

"I'm coming with you." She said firmly.

Aurora really didn't want to argue.

"You'll have to show me where the gun is. I can take it from there." Aurora whispered before they dashed to Derek's room.

Once safely inside Aurora handed Lydia the flashlight and turned to shut and lock the door behind her. She knew it wouldn't do much good against a werewolf but it might prolong her death a little bit.

"Here." Lydia said shining a light at the closet door.

It didn't take Aurora long to find the shot gun Derek had hidden in the back of the closet.

"You know how to use that?" Lydia asked.

Aurora checked to see if the gun was loaded. It was. She cocked the gun and looked at Lydia.

"I'm southern. Of course I do." Aurora teased.

She saw Lydia give her a weak smile.

"All right. Let's do this." Aurora said steadying her breath.

Lydia opened the door for her and she walked out first. Lydia walked behind Aurora, the light from the flashlight illuminating the hallway.

Once downstairs Aurora noticed the front door had been busted open. Splinters of wood were everywhere and it looked like a struggle had ensued.

"Aurora." Lydia said somberly nudging her arm.

Aurora looked over to the hallway that led to the kitchen to see a huge blood stain on the carpet.

Before she had time to think Aurora heard Lydia scream.

She jerked her attention back to the front door to see a large white wolf standing in the doorway. It's teeth were bared and it looked angry. Aurora had just enough time to aim the gun before the wolf lunged. She fired the shot gun hitting the wolf in the chest.

It fell to the floor.

Aurora held her breath and step toward the wolf that lay motionless on the ground. She immediately took a huge step back when she heard a growl.

Lydia let out another blood chilling scream as the wolf got up. Aurora noticed that the wound had already healed. The wolf narrowed its eyes and got ready to pounce.

"Run!" Aurora screamed to Lydia who listened and ran to the sitting room.

The wolf was too fast for Aurora and caught her by the leg. It's claws sank deep into her left thigh as she struggled to crawl away. Aurora let out a painfully cry. The wolf was about to go for her throat when she heard a deep, wall shaking growl. The white wolf was distracted by the sound long enough to be ambushed by Derek. He went straight for the wolf's throat ripping it open with his sharp teeth. The white wolf whimpered and struggled to get free clawing at Derek. If it wasn't for the dark gray wolf that bit Derek's back, Aurora was sure he would have killed the white wolf. Derek turned quickly and attacked the dark gray wolf, clawing at its face. Derek was twice the size of both wolves but he was out numbered. Aurora crawled her way over to the shot gun that she had slung across the floor when the wolf had attacked her. She aimed for the white wolf and shot again. This time the shot had an effect. Aurora figured it was probably because of the profusely bleeding neck wound the wolf had. When the bullet hit the wolf it dropped to its side and whined. Disengaging with Derek the dark gray wolf backed away making sure he didn't turn his back to the alpha. He went over a nudged the white wolf with his nose. She whimpered.

Aurora sat up with some effort and looked at the wound on her leg. She was bleeding extremely bad and she felt lightheaded. Derek backed over to her, also making sure he didn't turn his back to the other wolves. He sat beside Aurora and licked her face whimpering at the sight of the claw marks.

"I'm okay Der." Aurora said weakly.

Just then the dark gray wolf shifted. It was Randal.

"Derek. We are here because of our alpha's orders. I am willing to stop this fight before someone ends up dead. I know Alex would want me to retreat if it meant saving the life of his mate." Randal said motioning to the white wolf.

Tara.

"Your mate is injured as well. Let us leave so you can tend to her." Randal continued his negotiation.

He spoke as if he were a soldier on a battlefield trying to save his troops.

Derek snarled.

"Derek," Aurora whispered scratching him behind his ear, "Let them go. They aren't worth you having their blood on your hands."

Derek looked at her. He was contemplating what she had said. After a few minutes Derek nodded at Randal. Randal nodded back in gratitude and shifted back to a wolf. He nudged Tara to her feet and helped her limp out the front door. Once they were outside, Aurora saw another wolf run up to help Tara. It must have been Arthur. Soon they were out of sight cloaked by the darkness of the woods. Lydia ran up to Aurora and kneeled beside her.

"That looks deep." Lydia said hoarsely.

Aurora fought to remain conscious.

"Go make sure everyone else is okay. Lydia will stay with me until you get back." Aurora told Derek with a light pat on his head.

Derek didn't budge.

"Derek. Make sure your pack is okay." Aurora said more firmly.

He licked her face and gave her an agitated huff before trotting outside.

"You need to get to a hospital." Lydia told her. "Can you stand up?"

"I can barely put a sentence together." Aurora teased trying desperately not to blackout.

She had lost a lot of blood.

"You told Derek you were okay!" Lydia scolded.

"I didn't want him to worry." Aurora shrugged.

Lydia gave her a 'you're an idiot' look but stayed silent.

"Aurora!"

It was Isaac.

"It's okay, Isaac." Aurora tried to reassure him as he rushed to her side.

"I should have never left. I'm so so sorry." He said in a miserable tone.

"Isaac. Your pack needed your help. It's really okay." Aurora told him.

"You are my pack too." He said.

Aurora smiled at him before she lost consciousness.

XXXX

When she woke up Aurora was in a hospital bed. Her eyesight was fogging and she had a massive headache. Aurora could feel someone holding her hand. She looked slightly to her right to see Derek, his forehead resting on the bed. His fingers were laced with her own and he looked like he was asleep.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Laura's voice asked from the other side of the bed. She was sitting in a chair alongside Isaac.

Derek's head shot up at the mention of Aurora's consciousness.

"Aurora." He whispered. His voice was thankful.

"Der, it's okay. I'm fine." Aurora said putting her free on his left cheek.

"I was so worried." Derek told her leaning forward to kiss her softly. "You lost a lot of blood. The doctor said you were lucky your femoral artery wasn't torn."

Aurora looked over at her left arm to see an IV.

"Oh gross! I hate needles!" She exclaimed turning her head to face Derek.

"It's okay baby. Just don't think about it." Derek said trying to comfort her.

"I have an irrational fear of needles." Aurora told him trying not to cry.

Derek got up from the chair he was sitting in. He climbed into the hospital bed and snuggled next to Aurora. There wasn't much room for him but he lay on his side pulling Aurora close. She nuzzled her face into his neck.

"I've got you." He whispered.

Aurora took a deep breath and relaxed.

"What hospital are we in?" Aurora asked.

"The one in Glendale. We knew if we took you to the one in Maricopa they would ask a lot more questions." Laura said.

"Yeah. And the sheriff himself would personally interrogate each one of you." Aurora giggled.

"We should have just dealt with the consequences. You could have died because of the extra time it took to get you here." Derek said darkly.

Aurora had a feeling he wasn't the one who suggested taking her across the county line.

"Well look on the bright side little brother, Aurora's not dead and you aren't in jail." Laura told him sourly.

"Seriously Der. I told my parents I was staying at Lydia's house with no mention of you, obviously. If Mr. Walker would have shown up he would have hauled your ass to jail no questions asked." Aurora said looking at Derek's face.

Derek sighed but didn't argue. Aurora had a feeling he was too tired to care at this point.

"What did you guys say happened to me?" Aurora asked curiously.

"We said you were attacked by a wolf." Isaac chuckled. "We just failed to mention it was a werewolf."

"We told them we were camping when it happened. They gave you a rabies shot." Laura told her.

"Probably needed it." Aurora laughed. "Tara is a nasty bitch."

Laura and Isaac chuckled at her joke but Derek was furious. Aurora wanted to ask him what he intended to do about Alex and his pack but she wasn't sure she would like the answer. Aurora wanted Alex out of her life, but she didn't want Derek to deal with him. She had seen first had how Alex didn't play fair. Aurora wouldn't be able to live with herself if Derek got hurt or worse trying to get rid of Alex.

'Is it too much to ask to just make Alex disappear no questions asked?' Aurora thought to herself.

She could see the rage in Derek's eyes and she knew this time he wasn't just going to let Alex's actions go.

"Well visiting hours were over a long time ago but the doctor said we could stay until you were conscious. We should probably go before they kick us out." Laura stated seeing her brother's shoulders tense.

"Did they say how long I have to stay here?" Aurora asked holding onto Derek as tight as she could.

She didn't want him to leave.

"Until tomorrow. But that is with the promise of bed rest and no activity whatsoever." Laura said as if it had been repeated to her multiple times.

"I'll will come get you tomorrow as early as possible." Derek told her with a kiss to her forehead.

Reluctantly he got up from the bed with a huge protest from Aurora.

"Do you have to go?" Aurora pouted.

Derek looked pained.

"Please don't make me feel any worse than I already do. You know I would stay if I could." He said in a defeated tone.

Aurora held out her arms. Derek immediately embraced her leaning over the bed to squeeze her tight.

"I love you Derek." Aurora whispered in his ear.

"I love you too Aurora. So much." He replied.

When he released her from the hug he kissed her lips. It was sweet and beautiful.

Enough so to make Laura and Isaac groan in disgust.

"You two are so cute I want to puke rainbows." Laura taunted.

"I just want to puke." Isaac joked.

Derek gave them a hand gesture.

"Thanks Der. I know I'm number one." Isaac teased his signature adorable smile across his face.

After the three said their final goodbyes Aurora's nurse came in the room.

"I'm going to give you something for the pain. It should help you sleep." The nurse said with a kind smile.

"Thank you." Aurora told her turning to her right so she didn't have a clear view of the needle in her left arm.

About five minutes after the nurse left the medicine kicked in and Aurora fell asleep.