Chapter 5: Will protect you.

"Derek, it's so nice of you to join us."

Uncle Peter is just behind the front door to welcome him when Derek gets to his house, a soft smile on his handsome face, hands behind his back. Derek merely acknowledges his presence, searching for Danny's heartbeat, his scent, anything that might point him to the right direction. He starts walking towards the stairs but his uncle blocks his way.

"Ta ta ta," Peter says. "Not so fast young man, let's have a little chat first."

"I want to see him," Derek glares at his uncle, the urge to snap his neck right there getting pretty strong. Though not as strong as the need to see Danny, to touch him, to gather him in his arms and never let go.

"Why, of course you do," Peter walks around him, putting his hands on Derek's shoulders from behind and leaning close to his ear. "He is your mate, after all."

Mate? What does he mean by that?

"You were never taught about the mating process of our species, you and Laura, were you?" Peter says as he puts his arm around Derek's shoulder. Derek's mind freezes on the spot, his feet stuck to the old wooden floor. Danny…his actual mate? Could it be? Derek has been inexplicably attracted to Danny, has gotten attached fast. He doesn't know nearly enough about wolf mates to understand this. No, they never were taught about werewolves mates, their parents never got the chance to and you can't exactly learn this in textbooks. And his uncle bringing up his sister only infuriates him even more. His uncle killed his sister and Derek still hasn't gotten over that fact.

"All right, I suppose your mind won't be at rest until you see him, will it? Let's go see your boy toy, shall we?"

"Stop calling him that," Derek hisses as his uncle takes him up the stairs, arm still securely wrapped around his shoulders, apparently not planning on letting him go any time soon. Derek is wary of his uncle, the latter does want to kill him, after all. They walk into Derek's old bedroom, where he's set up since his come back into town and the sight before Derek strikes him hard. Danny is unconscious, metal bars plucked in each of his shoulder joints, pinning him to Derek's poor excuse of a bed consisting of sheets and covers he arranged on the floor. The blood worries him the most, there's so much blood; dried blood and fresh sharp red blood still oozing out of Danny. It looked so bad Derek wanted to cry, he's about to rush to the boy's side, antsy to remove the bars from Danny, when his uncle puts a firm hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place.

"Relax, it's not as bad as it looks."

His uncle's last words set Derek off-not as bad as it looks. Right. Fuck him. Derek changes into his wolf state, grabbing his uncle's forearm and throwing his body like a dead weight into the nearest wall, watching it explode in pieces because of the impact. It surprises him how he managed to summon that much strength but he doesn't care, he just runs to Danny's side and quickly plucks the bars from the boy's shoulders, causing him to cry in pain and wake up from his unconscious state.

"I'm so sorry," Derek whispers, feeling tears shedding down his cheeks as his hands frame Danny's face. Thankfully, Danny falls back into unconsciousness, his body probably too weak from the blood loss. Derek's scared, forcing himself to focus on Danny's steady heartbeat to reassure himself. "I'm so sorry."

"That wasn't nice."

Derek turns around and looks back up at his uncle. He looks expectedly annoyed and Derek stands up, bracing himself for a fight.

"I don't want to fight you, Derek," Peter heaves a tired sigh and walks past him, making a move to sit on the mattress but Derek is on full alert and moves in front of Danny, fretting his uncle attacking the boy again.

"Don't even think of getting anywhere near him, back off," Derek growls, satisfied when his uncle does step back, hands risen in the air.

"Look at him, he's already healing," his uncle points at the wounds he made, shifting Derek's attention back to Danny. Taking a closer look, sitting down beside Danny, Derek can see that the wounds actually are healing. What should have been deep holes in the shoulder joints are actually more shallow than expected. It's healing fast, unnaturally fast.

"How is that possible?" Derek wonders out loud, the bleeding having now stopped. His gaze trails up to Danny's face and he can't help but reach out once again, stroking Danny's cheek.

"This young man is a hybrid," his uncle answers him, gaining his attention back. Derek looks at him with a questioning look, urging him to go on. "He wasn't born from two werewolves, just one, making him half werewolf, half human. Hybrids are even rarer than us, the first change in hybrid occurs at maturity so up until then, most of them don't even know what they are. They can't change at will, only under the influence of the full moon. Their physiology is half way between human and werewolves, they are stronger than human but not stronger than a full blooded werewolf; the same goes for the other senses enhancements."

"How do you know all that stuff?" Derek asks his uncle; still processing all the information he's been given. It all sounds so unreal. Danny…a hybrid? A half blooded werewolf. Is his uncle just messing with him? How could Derek not notice it? "How do you even know Danny's a hybrid?"

"I'm an alpha, Derek, I'm the only one who could pick up on that before the first change," his uncle replies and crouches down beside him. "I actually didn't know until I approached the kid."

"Wait, this means that there's another werewolf in this town? One of Danny's parents?" the realization strikes him all of a sudden. He always thought his family were the only werewolves in town, never bothered looking for others.

"Yes, but that's not important," his uncle says, standing up. He's right, it's really not important right now. What's important is Danny's well being and Derek's endangered life. "We still have things to discuss, you and I."

"I'm not letting you kill me until I know for sure that Danny will be safe," Derek takes a protective stance over the unconscious boy as he holds his uncle's gaze.

"I have no intention of killing you, Derek," his uncle sighs again, rubbing his face tiredly. "You're the only family I have left; you're part of my pack, why would I kill you?"

"You said so yesterday and the family thing didn't stop you from killing Laura or almost ripping me in half, twice," Derek spats at him.

"I wasn't conscious of my actions when I attacked Laura, and besides, you know how it is when you tap into the animal in you, you don't have a great control over it, especially when you're an alpha still in convalescence!" his uncle shoots back, anger showing in his voice for the first time. He takes a deep breath to calm down and continues, "I love you kids like my own, Derek, you know that. I loved her like my own daughter; don't you think it killed me when I realized what I'd done to her?"

"You still threatened to finish the job and kill me," Derek reminds him, not forgetting his uncle's explanation from last night. Something to do with Derek and Laura holding their father's legacy as an alpha, his uncle not being able to enjoy fully his rights as the new alpha as long as his dead brother's children still lived.

"You misunderstood me," Peter says. "I did say killing you would make me stronger but you drew quick conclusions without making me finish. Having you in my pack makes me much stronger than having you dead, especially now that you've found your mate."

"Well, you'll have to excuse me, Uncle Peter, but it's sort of hard for me to trust you right now," Derek tells him, looking back at Danny to make his point. Danny who is still unconscious, only wearing his bloodied tank top and his boxers. Jesus, his uncle really abducted him right out of his bed. He gathers Danny in his arms, wrapping them around Danny's upper body, resting him on his lap. He feels better holding Danny close to him, his hand stroking Danny's cheek so naturally it feels like he's been doing that his entire life.

"I understand that perfectly," Peter replies, his eyes studying them. "But try and put yourself in my shoes, what other choice did I have to bring you here?"

"Anything but hurting him," Derek replies matter-of-factly.

"Ah, but see, that's exactly why I did it, what better leverage could I get other than your mate, mhh?"

"I don't understand," Derek murmurs, all his questions about wolf mates still unanswered. "What do you mean by mate anyways?"

"What do you know about werewolf mates?" His uncle asks Derek as he grabs the only chair present in the room and takes a sit by the window.

"Not much, that's why I'm asking you," Derek replies with disdain.

"Werewolves are said to have one unique mate that they keep for life, a strong bond linking them from the day they are born," Peter starts explaining, sounding the least interested in what he's saying. "Once they meet, it's love at first sight or some crap like that, the bond is awaken and they just can't stay away from one another. It's something that you can feel, this bond, Derek."

"All right," Derek mutters more to himself than to acknowledge what his uncle just said to him. "Let's say everything you just said is true, how would you know about me and Danny when I didn't even have a clue?"

"I didn't," his uncle replies. "I didn't know for sure until I saw you break down on the phone like a girl and run all the way here to get to your boy toy."

"You hurt him...to get to me," Derek says slowly, "when he could have been a simple stranger to me with no significance whatsoever?"

"Come on now, Derek, do you really think my comatose years have rendered me mentally defective?" his uncle looks amused and somehow Derek finds the sight of his uncle smiling just a little bit disturbing. "I followed your trail last night, saw you sleeping with the kid and watched you get all territorial on his ass, anyone could've picked up on that with a behavior like yours."

Derek remains silent after hearing his uncle's last words, not sure what to think now. Danny being his mate does explain a lot of things. That first time they met, from the moment he inhaled Danny's scent, Derek lost control and jumped him despite himself. And he hasn't been able to keep Danny out of his mind ever since.

"Now, that's all very fine, but we still have some things to discuss you and I," his uncle interrupts his train of thoughts. "Namely, the revenge those damn hunters are waiting for."

"What about it?" Derek asks carefully.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you to help me kill those sons of bitches, avenge our family," his uncle replies, putting his hands on his knees to stand up from his seat on the rotten chair, his eyes never leaving Derek's.

It doesn't take Derek long to respond. "I'm in."

He wants those hunters to burn.

tbc...

So this chapter took forever to write. I've been pretty lazy, insomnia has messed up my sleeping cycle. And writing a chapter like this where there's just explanation, it's never inspiring. But it's necessary. Tell me what you think! I know I'm taking a lot of liberties with this story, especially about Danny being...you know. Didn't see it coming tbh.7I'm pretty mad at the show, past Derek/Kate, really? It's repulsive, poor Derek, he looked so hurt in that episode :( I want to write fic to make it all better. Next chapter, I promise!

As usual, I appreciate your reviews and am very grateful for them, keep them coming! Any ideas as to what might be coming next?