Chapter 13

The next night, Scarlet wasn't able to convince Stiles to leave the house. By the time Derek got there, she was sitting outside on the stoop. "What are you doing," he asked as he climbed out of his car.

"My brother refuses to leave the house, apparently Scott is hanging out with Allison tonight, so he's here, all night."

Derek just barely managed to hide his annoyance. "Why don't we go get something to eat? We can take it to the lake."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, come on, get it in. It's the best we can right now as far as dates go," Derek said as he walked around the side of his car to open the passengar door for her. "I have to stop and get gas though."

"That's cool," Scarlet called as she leaned across to open his door for him.

"You look really pretty by the way," Derek said as he climbed in the car.

"Thank you," Scarlet replied as a smile spread across her face. "What do you want to get to eat?"

"I don't care, what do you want?"

"No, don't do that! I hate that," Scarlet said as he pulled out the driveway. "What do you want to do? I don't know what do you want to do? It's terrible. You have to have an opinion on what you want to eat!"

"No italian, I hate Italian," Derek said firmly.

"Was that so hard? How about Chinese," Scarlet suggested.

"Chinese it is," Derek said before pulling into a gas station. He climbed out to pump the gas while Scarlet remained inside. An SUV pulled up in front of them, blocking Derek's car in. Another one pulled in behind them as well. Derek hit the button on his key ring to lock the car doors. Scarlet leaned back in her seat in the hopes that she would be less noticable.

"Nice ride," one of the men said as he came toward Derek. "Black cars though, very hard to keep clean. I would definietly suggest a little more maintenance. You have something this nice you want to take care of it right?"

He grabbed the squigee and began to clean the windshield. He did it on the passanger side and Scarlet had no doubt that he could see her in there. She stared nervously out at the man, biting down on her lip.

"Personally, I'm very protective of the things I love. That's something I learned for my family, you don't have much of that these days. Do you," the man asked. He stared at Derek for a long moment before looking in at Scarlet.

"There you go, you can actually look through your windshield now. See how that makes everything so much clearer," he said before motioning to Scarlet. "She's a beautiful girl. You should be careful with her. It would be terrible if something happened to her."

The man began to walk away and Scarlet let out a sigh of relief. "You forgot to check the oil," Derek called.

The man froze in his steps and turned to look back at Derek. "Check the man's oil," he ordered.

Scarlet glanced at Derek in confusion as another man approached the car. She yelped in shock when he busted in the driver's side window. Glass landed all over her lap and she met the gaze of the man that had broken the window.

"Looks good to me," he said with a smirk. He leered at Scarlet before walking back to the other SUV. "Have a nice night, sweetie."

"Drive safely," the man said before climbing in his car. Neither of them moved until both SUVs were out of the parking lot.

Derek immediately yanked the door open and leaned in. "Are you ok," he asked as he began to pick up the glass.

"Yeah," Scarlet said as she reached down to brush herself off. She gasped when a large piece of glass sliced her palm. Her hands began to shake as the gravity of the situation set in, she drew in a ragged breath and glanced at Derek. "They were hunters, weren't they?"

"Yeah," Derek said as he continued to remove the glass. He pulled a napkin out of the glovebox and pressed it against her hand.

"They know who I am now," Scarlet mumbled.

Derek looked up at her, realizing what she was getting at. The tone of her voice scared him, he could see how hard she was fighting to reign in her emotions. Her fear and anxiety were rolling off of her in waves. "No, Scarlet, they don't think that you are a werewolf, they won't hurt you, they are after me, they think I'm doing all of this," Derek said quickly.

"You said yesterday that if they knew about me they would try and use me against you! That sounds like it would involve me getting hurt," Scarlet exclaimed. She pushed Derek back and attempted to climb out of the car, but cut her other hand in the process. "Damn it!"

"Will you stop please? Just stop moving and let me get the glass," Derek said as he put his hands on her shoulders to keep her still. He could feel her shaking under his hands and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Scarlet leaned back and let Derek finish. He climbed into the car and started it, pulling out of the gas station. He drove past the restuarant, past her house, and the lake. "Where are we going," she asked.

"My house, we need to talk," Derek said tensely.

"Derek, I just want to go home, please?"

"We need to talk about this."

"Derek, I'm bleeding! We can talk about this later," Scarlet snapped. She bit her lip again and shook her head at him. "Just take me home, please."

They were already pulling up to his house though, Derek climbed out and went inside without saying anything to her. Scarlet heaved a sigh and climbed out, following him inside. She headed into the living room and sat down on the sofa. "I'm going to get some bandages," Derek told her. "I'll be right back."

"Stop, just stop please," Scarlet pleaded as she buried her face in her hands. Derek knelt in front of her and pulled her hands away. He wiped the blood she had gotten on her face off and smiled sadly at her. "What are we going to do?"

"Nothing, doing something might provoke them. So for right now, until they make a move us against us, we aren't going to give them a reason to," Derek explained. "I'm not going to let them hurt you."

"But what am I supposed to do if," Scarlet started to say.

"Don't, don't make yourself more scared with what ifs. It is just going to make you upset. Let me take care of it ok," Derek replied. Scarlet nodded silently and let out a soft sigh. Derek kissed her on the forehead before standing up. "I'm going to get some bandages."

Derek closed the doors to the living room as he left. Scarlet leaned back against the sofa and sighed. This was not what she had signed up for. She hadn't really signed up for it though. Scarlet heard the front door slam open and she jumped.

"Derek, I know you're here," Scott screamed. "I know what you did!"

"I didn't do anything," Derek called back. His voice reverberated through the house. Scarlet remained frozen in the living room. Scott had to know that she was there, but he was probably beyond caring at this point.

"You killed him," Scott snapped.

"He died."

"Your sister died?"

"My sister was missing, I came here looking for her."

"You found her."

"I found her in pieces," Derek shouted. "Being used as bait to catch me!"

"I think you killed them both, and I'm going to tell everyone! Starting with the Sheriff and Scarlet."

A series of thuds sounded as someone fell down the stairs. There was a growl, a crash, and then another crash as Derek came flying through the wall into the living room. Scarlet started toward him, but he held up a hand to stop her. He brushed himself off as he stood up and removed his jacket.

"That was cute," he said as he dropped his jacket on the floor. His eyes flashed blue and he shifted in front of Scarlet for the first time. She took a step back out of instinct as he let out a growl and began to move toward Scott. He grabbed Scott and slammed him into the wall a few times before tossing him across the table in the center of the room.

Scarlet moved further back, pressing herself against the wall as Derek leapt at Scott, who rolled out of the way. They both landed a few punches before Derek knocked Scott down again. As Scott rose to his feet, he noticed Scarlet standing in the corner. He moved toward the table, keeping his eyes on her. Derek noticed and rushed toward Scott leaping across the tabletop and kicking Scott in the chest.

Scarlet closed her eyes and turned away from them. She leaned into the corner trying to block out the sounds of the fight.

"I didn't kill him, neither of us did," Derek said after a few moments. Scarlet turned back around and immediately moved toward Scott who was holding his ribs. "It's not your fault and it's not mine."

"This, this is all your fault, you ruined my life," Scott shouted as he got in Derek's face. Scarlet got between them and pushed Scott back a few steps.

"No, I didn't," Derek said as he gently pulled Scarlet back from Scott, afraid he would shift and hurt her.

"You're the one that bit me," Scott snapped.

"No I'm not!"

"What," Scott demanded. Derek pulled Scarlet completely behind him at this point.

"I'm not the one that bit you," Derek said again. Scott touched his chest and he jerked slightly.

"Scott," Scarlet said as she watched him. "Scott, are you ok? Is he ok?"

Scott gasped before sitting down on the sofa. He stared up at them both in shock. Scarlet stepped around Derek and sat down next to Scott. She began to use his shirt to wipe the blood off his chest.

"There's another," Scott said.

"It's called an alpha, its the most dangerous of our kind," Derek explained. "You and I, we're betas. This thing is more powerful, more animal, than either of us. My sister came here looking for him, now I'm trying to find him, but I don't think I can do it without you."

Scarlet felt Scott tense next to her and shifted away from him. "Why me," he asked.

"Because he's the one that bit you, you're part of his pack. It's you Scott, you're the one he wants," Derek said.

A howl sounded from outside and Scarlet flinched toward Scott. She glanced up at Derek, who had cocked his head to the side to listen. "We're safe here," Derek said as he met her gaze.

"I still don't understand, why me," Scott asked.

"I'm not the alpha, I don't know! You were both there that night, he could have just as easily choosen Scarlet instead," Derek said. Scott and Scarlet exchanged a glance, both wondering what that would have been like for them. "Believe me, I've wondered the same thing."

"What do we do now? How do we find him? And what are you doing here right now," Scott asked Scarlet. "You know there is a curfew right?"

"Oh shit, curfew," Scarlet said as she tugged her phone out of her pocket. Scott noticed the cuts on her hands as she did so, and grabbed one of her hands.

"What the hell happened," he asked.

"We had a run in with some hunters, your girlfriend's father was there," Derek explained.

"Wait, that was Alison's dad? She's a hunter," Scarlet cried, her phone forgotten.

"No," Scott said at the same time Derek said, "Yes."

"It's a family business Scott," Derek pointed out. "You should both get home though, before you get into trouble."