Hi guys. Sorry I know I haven't updated in a while! It's just been a busy week. I've also had trouble trying to figure out how I wanted this chapter to play out. Warning, it does switch viewpoints quite a bit, :x sorry! Anyways please REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW! Enjoy my loves (: 3

"Where is it?" Derek asked in a husky voice as I helped him across the apartment towards the kitchen with Scott following behind.

"I have it," he answered as Derek grabbed onto the edge of the kitchen island for support. Scott pulled out a large, bronze bullet from his pocket and handed it to Derek who inspected it closely. "Well?" Scott asked impatiently. "Is it the right one?" At this point, Derek was having trouble keeping his eyes open. He had deep purple bruises under his eyes and his pale skin was damp with beads of sweat.

"We're about to find out," Derek panted as he bit off the end of the bullet and poured out the powder on top of the granite counter top. Out of nowhere he took out a lighter and ignited the powder – he hesitated. Suddenly he looked up at Scott and I who were standing across the island staring at him. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought I might have passed out. "Take her into the room," he directed at Scott, his eyes stern. Scott wasted no time as he obeyed and quickly turned to grab my arm.

"No!" I refused, pushing him away but Scott was too strong to fight. "Stop it, Scott!" He picked me up and quickly hustled to the closest room before closing the door, however, not before I heard the painful screams of Derek from the kitchen.

• •

Scott's Point of View

"Stay in here," I cautioned Karaline. "It's for your own safety." Surprisingly, she nodded in agreement. I slowly crept around the corner and closed the bedroom door behind me – I heard nothing but silence from the kitchen.

"Derek?" I called out. I entered the kitchen to find no one. "Where are you?" No answer.

"I'm here," he answered suddenly, pulling himself up off the ground using the kitchen counter. Despite his cries of pain just a few minutes ago, his voice was back to its bitter tone. His complexion had gained back color and the dark bags under his eyes had disappeared.

"Well are you okay?" I asked.

"Except for the agonizing pain?" he replied with his signature sarcasm as he rolled his eyes.

I hated his sarcasm. "Well if you're fine, then will you just leave us alone now?" I shot back. Derek's body tensed as his eyes hardened. "I helped you out. Now please will you just leave us alone?"

"You don't get it do you," he said in a low voice.

"Get what?" I asked confused. "Look I can take care of Karaline myself. She doesn't need you." Derek's eyes shifted to the door behind me, where Karaline was.

He lowered his voice even more, making sure that only I could hear him. "She thinks she was bitten." My body went cold, suddenly.

I blinked up at him. "What?"

"Sh!" Derek hushed.

"Was she bitten?" I whispered in an alarmed tone.

"No," he stated, again in his low voice. I breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Well then," I shook my head. "Then there's no reason for her to be here!" I paused, hesitantly. "Right?" Derek's eyes drifted for a moment before coming back to me. Fear washed over me. "What aren't you telling me?" I asked nervously.

Derek's jaw clenched as he took a deep breath. "I don't know why," he began, "but the Alpha is after her."

At that moment, my heart dropped as my worst nightmare started to build right in front of me. Being wanted by the Alpha myself was bad enough, however, my family getting involved was far worse. Even before all of this happened, I was very protective of my family, especially Karaline. Though she was older than me, I looked after her like she was my little sister – I was her protector and knowing that I almost lost her to the Alpha made me feel like a failure.

"I ruled out the possibility that she was bitten because the scratches on her neck aren't deep enough. And when I was hunting for the Alpha last night, it was like…" Derek paused, reminiscing on the incident with a look of frustration on his face. He shook his head. "It was like he sent me some sort of… non-verbal message… like a vision." His face was twisted in deep state of stress.

"What the hell are you talking about? A vision?" I asked. He finally looked at me.

"Yes. Instead of a message, it was like he sent me a picture," he answered. His eyes were clouded with confusion.

"Well what was the picture of?" I questioned, nervously.

Derek's face hardened as he clenched his jaw. "Karaline."

• •

My mind was racing along with my heart as I helplessly curled into a ball at the edge of Derek's bed. His agonizing screaming was on replay in my head. Scott had warned me to stay inside until he checked it if was safe and Derek was in control of himself – or even alive. However, it had been five minutes since he locked me in here, and it was dead quiet outside – so quiet, I could hear my own heart beating a mile a minute. It took every bit of physical and mental energy to keep myself from breaking down the door and finding out what was going on. Was Derek okay? Did he lose control and transform? Did the bullet work? Is he alive?

Suddenly, I snapped my head up as I heard the door opening. My heart skipped a beat as I saw the tall figure standing before me. At that moment, I lost control as I leaped off the bed, ran, and jumped to encircle my arms around him.

"Derek!" I shrieked, almost in tears. Surprisingly, I felt his strong arms tighten around my waist. "You're okay!" My entire body relaxed as he held me. I didn't want to let go – however he pulled back first. I took a step back to look up at him. His skin had gained back its color and his gorgeous green eyes were staring down at me. Suddenly I felt self-conscious as I felt his gaze on me.

I cleared my throat. "Where's Scott?" I asked.

"He left," Derek answered simply.

"Oh," I said. His face stone and I couldn't read his eyes. I hesitated. "What's wrong? I know you're not telling me something." Derek's eyebrows pulled together as I folded my arms. "Are you okay? Did something happen with Scott?" I questioned, starting to get a little frantic.

Derek looked away from me for a moment in deliberation. "Sit down. I need to tell you something, Karaline," he said. I gulped, bracing myself for whatever he was about to say.

• •

She hadn't moved for a very long time after I had told her everything. Karaline just sat on my bed with her knees curled up to her chest and stared off into space. Her expression was blank and her heartbeat told me nothing. I honestly was started to worry about her.

I started off telling her about hunting the Alpha the night before and carried on to the vision that I received before I was shot – after that, I proceeded to tell her that her "bite mark" wasn't something to worry about anymore… however, even though I didn't know why, the Alpha was after her.

At that point, she turned away and curled into a ball on my bed. I wasn't sure if what she was feeling at the moment – relieved, scared, surprised, angry… She was difficult to read, which frightened me.

"What are you thinking?" I finally spoke up. I crossed my arms and waited as I was perched against the dresser across the room from her. After a moment she glanced towards me, still with unreadable eyes.

"A lot," she said quietly.

"Well would you like to tell me one of the things that's on your mind?" I asked. Her eyebrows pulled together as she looked down slightly.

She hesitated for a minute. "You're not hunting for the Alpha again," she stated. I blinked at her in disbelief. Her eyes were serious as she stared at me.

"What?"

"I don't want you hunting for the Alpha anymore," she repeated, this time with more emphasis. I shook my head.

"I just told you that the Alpha is still on the hunt for you, yet you only care about the part where I went out and hunted for him?" I questioned in amusement.

Her beautiful blue eyes narrowed at me for a second before they regained composure. "I didn't say that it was the only thing I cared about. Yes, I'm very relieved to know that I wasn't bitten. But the way I see it is, if the Alpha really is after me, then he could just take me any time he wants." She looked away as her face clouded with concentration. "He's waiting."

"Waiting for what?" I asked, considering her theory.

She looked up at me with assertive blue eyes. "For something to happen. And when it does, he will take me." Fear washed over her face as she turned her head away slightly. I fell silent as I comprehended all of this information – frankly, it actually made sense. Suddenly I heard a sniffle as Karaline started shaking her head. "I'm sorry that I'm putting you through all of this," she said in a shaky voice. "You don't need to do this."

I glared down at her. "What are you talking about, Karaline?"

Karaline's Point of View

"If the Alpha is after me, then I should be dealing with it on my own. I don't want to force you to protect me." Derek's body tensed as I started to push myself off of the bed and onto my feet.

"Stop it, Karaline!" he ordered, his voice rising. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"No, Derek! Now that we know I was not bitten, you don't need to watch over me. I know you don't want to. The Alpha is my problem now!" I felt heat radiating off of his body as I started to walk towards the door.

"No he is not! He is everyone's problem!" he shot back.

I shook my head in refusal. "Well I know that you don't want me around. I don't want to be an inconvenience to you, anymo-" Suddenly I got the wind knocked out of me as I felt a strong arm pull me by the waist away from the door. In a split second I found myself under his gorgeous gaze, inches away from his face.

His green eyes narrowed down at me, "Why are you so difficult?" he said in a low, menacing tone. I was speechless. All I could manage to do was stare at his perfect eyes and lips as I used every ounce of my energy to keep myself from moving closer. My heart began to beat faster. "I will protect you, Karaline. Not because I feel like I have to and not because of the Alpha. It's because I want to," his green gaze was intoxicating as he stared down at me with a look that I had never seen on him before. Slowly he lifted his hand and entangled his fingers through my hair to lightly grab hold of my head. "Even though you annoy the hell out of me, you're not leaving, Karaline." With that, he bent down and his soft lips met mine. As he pulled me closer against his strong body, my body grew numb while my mind began to swirl into a state of bliss.