Chapter 23

By the time they got to the to tell Scott, Derek and Peter had already been there and left. Scott explained what he had seen, what Peter had shown him. He also told them that Peter knew about Alison.

"Seriously, your boyfriend is insane. Why is he helping Peter? He's a psychopath," Scott cried.

"He's doing it to protect me," Scarlet snapped. "Just like you are trying to protect Alison!"

"Well he's going about it all wrong, Peter is the one that attacked you, more than once! Why would he hurt you if he knew you were Derek's mate," Stiles asked.

"I have no idea! All I know is that Derek has his reasons for doing this and until we find out what those are, we need to not judge this."

"That's easy for you to say, he's not trying to force you to join his pack," Scott pointed out.

"He offered to change me tonight Scott. You aren't the only one who isn't safe while he's around."

"He what," Stiles demanded. "What did you say?"

"I told him no," Scarlet cried. "What do you think I said? I know how hard this has been for Scott! Derek had no choice in the matter, he was born like this. I had a choice and I made mine. If anyone is going to change me, it's going to be Derek."

"Do you know what you are saying right now," Stiles cried.

"I am completely aware of what I am saying Stiles. I'm not running around demanding someone change me like Jackson is, but if I really wanted it, I would want Derek to be the one to do it. You don't get it, its part of being his mate, him changing me would make the bond even stronger then it is now."

"How strong can it be? He's working with his uncle who could have killed you," Stiles replied. "He's tried to hurt you more than once, do we even know how he got you out of the house the other night? If Derek hadn't known you were in the woods that night you would have died Scarlet. Derek working with Peter is bad, there is no way around it."

"Derek did find me though, its part of our bond. If I'm in trouble he knows, if I need him he knows. You guys don't get it, you don't know what this is like," Scarlet cried. She shook her head at them and turned toward the door. "I'm going home, you guys do whatever you want. Leave me out of it until you know why Derek is doing this."

Scarlet trudged out of the school and over to the parking lot hoping someone she knew would be there to give her a ride. She spotted Jackson and Danny leaning against the porsche and she headed over to them. "So I hear Miguel made quite the impression on you," Scarlet said as she bumped her shoulder against Danny's.

"Who is Miguel," Jackson asked.

"Her cousin, he's practically perfect," Danny explained.

Scarlet let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. "He's a lot of fun to have around, I'll give you that. How was the game? I got here after it was over."

"We won, of course," Jackson informed her.

"Of course," Scarlet said with a smirk. "Can you give me a ride home? Stiles is going to take Scott home."

"Yeah, no problem, I'll see you later Danny," Jackson said before guiding her over to the passenger side door and opening it for her.

Scarlet quickly climbed in and unlocked his door for him. She leaned back against the seat and let out a soft sigh.

"You ok Scar," Jackson asked he glanced over at her.

"Yeah, just have a lot on my mind is all."

"Anything I can do to help? We are supposed to be friends now."

"I don't know Jackson, I've... I've been seeing this guy, but he's... he's made some bad decisions that could get me in trouble. I don't know what to do."

"Dump his loser ass for getting you in trouble and date someone who appreciates a good thing when they've got it," Jackson said firmly.

"Really? And who would that be," Scarlet asked with a roll of her eyes.

"You haven't heard have you?"

"Heard what," Scarlet asked.

"I broke up with Lydia."

"You did what? Why would you do that?"

"I'm cutting the dead weight in my life, besides you said yourself that our relationship was toxic."

"That doesn't mean you guys weren't perfect for one another, she really cares about you Jackson," Scarlet replied. She fell silent at the look that Jackson gave her.

"Really Scar? If our relationship was so special why was I so unhappy? Why did I spend all summer with you and not her? Why is it that when I think about myself happy, I think about you, not her," Jackson asked.

"Jackson, I have a boyfriend. I thought we were going to be friends."

"We are friends Scarlet, but that doesn't mean I can't want it to be something more," Jackson said as he pulled into her driveway. Scarlet stared straight ahead as Jackson reached over and brushed her hair out of her face. "Just think about it, if things don't work out with your boyfriend, you should know that you have options."

Jackson pressed a kiss to the corner of her mouth before backing away from her. Scarlet smiled at him for a moment and nodded her head. "I'll think about it, I'll see you later Jackson," Scarlet said before climbing out of the car. She quickly made her way inside and up to her room.

"That was nice of him to give you a ride," someone said from the darkness in her room.

Scarlet screamed as she stumbled back into the wall. Her hands searched the wall frantically for the light switch. The light suddenly came on, and Derek was standing right in front of her.

"Jesus Derek, a little warning would be nice," Scarlet cried.

"What did Jackson want," Derek asked.

"What did Peter say?"

"He explained what's been going on."

"How he's been murdering people and hurting people, your mate more specifically. I'm sure he had a great explanation for that."

"He wanted to make sure you were right for me," Derek explained.

"He could have killed me Derek! My mark is permanently ruined because of him! I will have scars on my back for the rest of my life because of your uncle and now you are helping him! I know what he did to Scott tonight! He wants Scott to kill more people, people like Stiles, Jackson, and Lydia. Hell, before its all over he might convince you to kill me," Scarlet cried. "What is going on? I don't understand why you are doing this."

"He's my family Scarlet."

"Derek, he tried to kill me! Does that not matter at all to you," Scarlet demanded.

"It was a mistake, we make mistakes, it is understandable."

"I guess he explained that too then, how he got me out of my house, into the woods, attacked me, and left me bleeding on the ground!"

"He did," Derek snapped.

"And what was his excuse? What was his reasoning behind attacking your mate?"

"Like I said, he wanted to make sure you were right for me."

"We are mates, you told me this goes beyond choice, of course I'm right for you, how else would I be your mate," Scarlet cried. "What does he want you to do?"

"Scarlet, stop, I will take care of this, just stay out of it."

"No, tell me what he wants you to do."

"You need to stay out of it before he hurts you again Scarlet, just because you are my mate doesn't mean you are safe. Yes, he let you go tonight, but if you don't stay out of his way, he will make sure you do. He will kill you."

"He'll make you kill me," Scarlet said as she stared at him. "Right? He won't do it, he'll make you do it to prove how loyal you are to him. What are you going to do then? Will our bond stop you from doing that or will you just do whatever your uncle wants?"

"Scarlet, you don't understand," Derek replied.

"I do understand Derek. You think you are doing this to protect me, but you are putting me in more danger by helping him. He wants me Derek, he wasn't making sure I was right for you, he's making sure I'm right for him! The first chance he gets, he will change me, he will do whatever he has to do to break our bond and I will be stuck with that monster for the rest of my life. Tell me I'm wrong."

Derek didn't say anything. He simply stared at the floor and shook his head at her. "Scarlet, I have to do this."

"Yeah well, I don't have to sit by and watch you do it. So you should go, and don't come back until you've realized what a terrible idea this is," Scarlet snapped.

"Scarlet, I have to keep you safe."

"No Derek, I have to keep me safe, you haven't done a very good job of it so far, so I will take it from here. Go please."

"So that's it, I try and protect you and you kick me out of your house," Derek asked.

"Yeah, that's it Derek. I can't... I don't know if I can trust you right now. He's hurting people, he hurt me. If you are ok with that, then we aren't ok. I just need some time, please?"

"Fine, whatever you want you Scarlet." With that Derek climbed out her window and disappeared into the night. What she didn't know was that he sat outside her house all night long to make sure she was safe.