New chapter! Thanks for the reading! Thinking I shall be updating Monday instead of Sunday and Thursday of course! Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

Entering the grounds outside Rowan's house, Derek moved to his car. "Stiles' get the door." Derek nodded at the car. He turned to the teenager, watching him hurry forward to comply. "I'll drop you and Scott off on the way to the hospital."

"N-no," Becca mumbled, pushing against his chest. "I don't wa— need to go to the hospital." Derek set her down, crossing his arms and staring her down.

"Becca, you're bleeding."

"He dug his claws into me. It's hardly life threatening. It doesn't even need stitches it needs some antiseptic and a bandage," she replied dismissively. "Bring your friends home, I can take care of it myself."

Derek wasn't fooled by her bravado. He could smell her lingering fear and could hear her forcing even breaths as she walked slowly up to the house. "I'll take care of your wounds then bring them home." Looking back, he was glad to see Stiles and Scott following. The last thing he needed was for his attention to be divided.

"Where are you going?" Derek called after Becca as he entered and saw her heading up the stairs.

"There's a first aid kit in my bathroom." Becca paused in her ascent and turned to look at him. "I'm going to tend to this…scratch." Though she was playing it down, Derek noticed she was still hugging her side. "Honestly, I've got this. Go bring your friends home," she assured, continuing up the stairs as Stiles and Scott entered the house behind him.

"Stay," Derek ordered the two teenagers, hurrying up the stairs after her.

"Right here, on this spot?" Stiles called after him.

Becca sighed when he entered her room. "You don't give up, do you?" she asked, easing off her jacket. "Are you always this much of a mother hen, or is it just for my benefit?"

"Definitely for your benefit." Derek chuckled, slipping out of his jacket and tossing it on the bed.

Becca shook her head, suppressing a smile and moving into the bathroom. She pulled the first aid kit from the cabinet and handed it to him. "Where do you want to do this?"

Derek motioned to the foot of the bed and Becca took a seat, looking away as he lifted her bloodied shirt away to expose the wound. "What? Are you squeamish?" He teased, opening the kit on the bed beside him and preparing what he would need.

Becca shook her head and closed her eyes. "It hurts less if I don't watch."

Derek worked quietly, listening to Stiles and Scott talking downstairs.

"Do you think there's something going on between them?" Scott asked and Derek wondered if the younger wolf had been listening in on him and Becca.

"What, like, BETWEEN them?" Derek could imagine Stiles doing some kind of hand gesture as he spoke.

"Well, she brought him up to her room and they sound pretty—"

"So you think she brought Derek up there for some sexual healin'?" A small chuckle slipped from Derek's lips at Stiles' words. "That's where the first aid kit is. Besides, she's a hunter."

"Wouldn't be the first time Derek's fallen for the enemy."

"Says the guy, who was dating the heir to the Argent family hunters club."

"Ow," Becca hissed, pulling Derek back to what he was doing.

"Sorry," he murmured, realising he'd applied too much pressure to one of the wounds as he cleaned it.

"It doesn't make any sense," she mumbled, her eyebrows pulling together over her closed eyes. "It's not the full moon, how could it be in wolf form?" Derek wondered if she was speaking to him or simply thinking out loud, but before he could respond, she opened her eyes and glanced over her shoulder at him. "Basic werewolf one-o-one: Werewolves are slaves to the moon. The afflicted person turns at the full moon and the wolf takes over. The human part of the creature rarely, if ever knows about the wolf and they don't remember what happened when they were the wolf."

Derek wondered how a hunter could have such a misleading view of werewolves. True, some alphas only asserted control over their Betas when the wolf emerged on the full moon, keeping them in the dark about their dual nature. And sometimes if a person was bitten and their maker orphaned them for whatever reason, it was possible they may never realize what they were, assuming they were sleep walking when they woke up in the forest the day after a full moon and never making the connection.

"There are some humans strong enough to control the wolf and bend it to their will. Then they can control when they shift and use the wolf to their advantage."

"You seem to know a lot about werewolves." Becca pulled away from him and turned to regard him. He could see the distrust in her eyes.

"Which is why Rowan called me to help with your problem." He motioned for her to move back to where she'd been and prepared the gauze to bandage her wound. "Done." He patted her shoulder and moved to the bathroom to return the first aid kit.

He leaned against the doorjamb and regarded her for a long moment. His mind kept circling back to why the werewolf was targeting her and more importantly why it hadn't killed her earlier. Why was it waiting? "Why is this werewolf after you?"

Becca glanced up at him, looking almost surprised at the question. "Well, I'm a hunter and it's a werewolf. The math is pretty simple." Tugging at her stained shirt, she pushed up from the bed and moved her dresser.

"So, why didn't it just kill you tonight?" Becca absently shuffled through her drawer, but didn't respond. "Seemed like he was toying with you from where I—"

"Maybe he just gets off on it," Becca interrupted, shutting her drawer without choosing a shirt.

"Maybe," Derek conceded, "But it seemed pretty personal for it not to be more than that."

Becca was quiet for a long moment, her back to him as she looked out into the darkness beyond her window the way she had the first night they'd met. "We killed his mate."

"We?" Derek repeated, she nodded, but didn't look his way. "Should we warn them."

Becca shook her head, her shoulders falling. "There was only one other person on that hunt."

"But he might go after them if he can't get to you."

"He already did," she clarified her voice was hoarse with emotion.

Silence stretched between them as Becca continued to stare out the window. He moved to stand behind her. "I'm sorry," he whispered finally, his gaze drifting to the ring on her night stand.

She took a shaky breath, scrubbing her hands over her face and he knew she was wiping away her tears. "Comes with the job," she breathed, turning to face him without meeting his gaze.

"How did you find the wolf? Did you have a name or a picture of his human form?"

Becca shook her head. "We weren't there for him, it was his mate we were hunting." She moved to the chair in the corner, switching on the lamp. "Most times we track down werewolves by their kills. There's almost always a string of two or three animal attacks that link back to the infected person."

"The police didn't see the connections because they weren't looking." Derek took a seat on the side of her bed. "Animal attacks are pretty open and shut."

Becca nodded, tugging her boots off and hugging her knees to her chest. "The victims are usually people who wronged the afflicted person in some way. The wolf taps into any anger or pain and exacts the revenge they would never take as a human."

"So the animal attack deaths led you to his mate."

"We followed her on the full moon. We had to be sure we were right, that it wasn't just a coincidence." She looked to Derek and he nodded. "When she turned we knew it was her, but as we killed her, her mate showed up…" She turned back to the darkness.

"Do you remember her name?"

"No." She closed her eyes. "I had a concussion and there are a lot of details I can't remember; not her name or what happened to my partner or how I managed to get away."

Derek listened to her shallow breaths as she tried to keep her emotions in check. There was vulnerability in the way she pulled her knees up to her chest. He picked up the small throw blanket from the arm of the chair and draped it over her shoulders. His gaze fell to her sketchbook "Do you remember what she looked like when she was human?" She nodded up at him. "Do you think you could draw her?"

"I could," she replied hesitantly. Derek wondered if she was worried that focusing on the woman would dredge up more memories of that night. "I'm not sure how much help a sketch of a dead girl will be without access to a missing persons' database."

"I've got that covered," Derek assured, when she sent him a questioning look.

Becca nodded reaching for her sketch book and pencil. She opened it to the middle, her heartbeat lurching at the sight of the man she'd drawn on the tear stained pages. Derek's jaw clenched as he remembered the obituaries Stiles had found earlier. He leaves behind his fiancée, Rebecca Sinclair. Rowan let her think her fiancé is dead. Why?

"You know, it can wait 'til tomorrow," Derek suggested as he stood. "I can't use it until tomorrow afternoon, anyway." Becca nodded, gently closing the book and setting it aside. "I'm gonna take those two home." Derek nudged his head at the door. "And you should get some rest."

She didn't respond and he noticed the faraway look in her eyes. He was heading out the door when she spoke. "Are you coming back here after?" He wondered if it was fear or loneliness that prompted the question and decided it was probably a little of both.

"I have something to take care of after I drop them off and then I'll be back."

Heading downstairs, Derek stopped at the top of the staircase, listening for Stiles and Scott when he didn't find them in the foyer where he'd left them. He quickly picked up their hushed conversation in the living room.

"How do you know so much about this woman, anyway?" Scott asked, apparently over Stiles' earlier remark about his relationship with Allison.

"Wha—?" Stiles sounded caught off guard by the question.

"How did you know she was a hunter?"

"Well, she had a gun and she shot at a werewolf," Stiles defended. "It wasn't exactly a far off assumption."

"And her name?" Scott insisted, clearly not buying Stiles' lie. "You knew her name. I heard you say it in the woods before Derek did."

Derek leaned on the doorjamb watching Stiles' trying to come up with a plausible lie. "I brought him here at lunch to help me with some research." Scott spun around to face him.

"It did have a more kidnaping feel to it," Stiles interjected.

"I told him not to say anything to you," Derek continued, ignoring Stiles' comment. "I'm surprised you actually listened."

"Not like there was anything to tell," Stiles countered

"Except maybe, that there is a new hunter in Beacon Hills," Scott angrily pointed out. "That might've been something to tell your friend who's a werewolf. It's not like it would affect me at all."

"C'mon you can feel all betrayed in the car while I drive you home." Derek clapped the two friends on the back and nudged them towards the door. "Let's go."