Let me just say that this is probably one of my favorite chapters in this story! I love it! I also thought I would respond to the recent reviews before you guys get to the chapter!

gingerduchirules: I think that is Derek's downfall, he wants to protect everyone, but he doesn't know how!

Atlafan1286: she's about to find him, and she's probably going to wish she hadn't

Prada: There is lots more where that came from, this chapter has some of my favorite Derek/Scarlet moments

Guest: I decided to not have Jackson stay behind, ultimately the story isn't about him, its about Derek and Scarlet, I also kind of felt like after Scarlet tried so hard to stop Jackson from taking the bite that he would be embarrassed about the way things went down and wouldn't stick around to help

Lycan Lover 411(review on ch. 24) I want to include more twin telepathy! I love Stiles and I want to do a lot more with him and Scarlet, as for the claw marks, I thought that was hilarious too.

this moment is stardust: I just wanted to say thank you for your very sweet PM, I'm so glad you are enjoying the story!

I also want to thank MsRose91, SilverAdvenger12, and dakuraion for their reviews on the last chapter! If I missed anyone I am sorry! I love all you guys for reviewing! Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 26

"I'm not going to the dance Stiles," Scarlet cried as she threw herself on her bed. "The last thing I want to do right now is get dressed up and go to a dance! Derek is still missing, Peter is on the rampage, and we have no idea where the hell either of them are right now! So no, I am not going to the dance."

"You will be safe at the dance," Stiles cried. "Lydia can find you a date! It will be fun!"

"I'm not going with some idiot Lydia sets me up with! Stiles I don't want to go."

"So you are just going to sit here all night and worry about Derek," Stiles asked.

"Yeah, I am. You should go though, I mean you have a date, with the girl you've been crushing on since 2nd grade. Don't let me stop you," Scarlet said with a smile.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure, now go," Scarlet said as she pushed him toward the door. She had just sat back down on her bed when her dad knocked on her door. "Hey dad."

"Why aren't you going to the dance? You love dances."

"I don't have a date, I didn't buy a dress, I don't want to go," she listed off.

"A girl as beautiful as you should have a date, and as for the dress, well, I have something for that too," he said as he held up a garment bag.

"You bought me a dress," she said dubiously.

"Actually, its one of your mom's," he explained.

"Dad," Scarlet said in awe. She slowly unzipped the bag, gasping when the dress was revealed. It was a dark green dress with a handkerchief hem and a halter neck. There was pleating around the neck that extended to the back and a draped fit above the waistline. Scarlet ran her fingers over the satin material. "It's beautiful, are you sure?"

"Yeah, she would want you to have it. Listen Scar, I know not having her here is hard on you, I mean having to grow up with me instead of your mom has been tough."

"You are doing the best you can Dad," Scarlet replied.

"You know I love you right? I know sometimes... I ... I don't always say it to you, but I love you Scarlet, for who you are, not just because you look like your mom but because of who you are."

"I know," Scarlet said before hugging him. "I love you too."

"Good, now get ready for the dance. I have to go to work, but send me a picture before you leave, ok?"

"Ok," she promised. He kissed her on the forehead before heading for her door. "Hey dad, thank you."

"Anytime kid, anytime," he said with a smile.

Scarlet raced around her room, trying to get ready. She quickly curled her hair and did her makeup. She tugged on a pair of ballet flats not wanting to bother with heels. She took a long look in the mirror once she had put the dress on. She couldn't help but smile brightly, it was perfect. Scarlet snapped a picture and sent it to her dad.

The doorbell rang, causing her to race down the stairs. She yanked the door open, freezing when she saw the man outside. "Can I help you," she asked.

"Are you Scarlet Stilinski," the man asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I have a delivery for you," he said as he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

"Oh, wow, ok," she said as she took them from him. She turned away from him to set the flowers on the table in the foyer. She glanced up into the mirror gasping when she saw the man right behind her. He grabbed her, pressing something over her mouth and nose. Scarlet tried to struggle against him, kicking and screaming, but suddenly, everything went black.

...

Scarlet groaned, her head felt heavy and everything was blurry. The room swam before her eyes and she couldn't remember where she was or how she'd gotten there. She closed her eyes again, letting out a small whimper as she pushed herself up. She felt like the room was spinning around her. Scarlet pressed a hand to her head and slowly slid her eyes open again.

"Ah, sleeping beauty finally decided to join the fun," someone said from behind her. "How are you feeling sweetie? A little dizzy?"

Scarlet nodded slowly as she turned to glance at the woman. "Who are you?"

"That's not really important. What is important is that you help me with something."

"With what," Scarlet asked nervously.

The woman grabbed the hair at the back of Scarlet's head and yanked her forward. Scarlet stumbled off the low table she'd been laying on and cried out in pain. She grabbed at the woman's wrists, but she wouldn't let go.

"You are going to get him, to tell me who the alpha is," the woman said as she shoved Scarlet forward.

Scarlet stumbled forward, a fence rattling as she collided with it. She knew she had been pushed into someone though, she glanced up and found Derek staring down at her. Scarlet inhaled sharply, and glanced back at the woman.

"Not happy to see your mate," she asked with a twisted grin.

"Kate, leave her alone," Derek snarled.

"Make me, oh right, you can't! It's time for the girls to have a chat sweetie, don't make me shock you again."

Kate grabbed Scarlet's hair and jerked her head back so she was staring directly at Derek. "Now Scarlet, we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Who is the alpha?"

"I don't know," Scarlet cried.

"Wrong answer, see thanks to this lovely little dress you are wearing I can see the scars on your back, it is a beautiful dress by the way, vintage?"

"It was my mom's," Scarlet said nervously. Kate's grip on her hair loosened.

"Aw, how nice of your mommy to loan you her dress. Tell me, is she happy that her daughter is dating a werewolf? And what does your daddy think of you dating a supposed serial killer?"

"My mom is dead," Scarlet snapped.

"Just like Derek's mom! How sweet for you both! Tell me Scarlet, did Derek tell you the whole story behind the fire," Kate asked. She grabbed Scarlet's hair again and pushed her forward so she was pressed against Derek. "I mean the whole... sordid little tale. Hmm?"

"Kate," Derek snarled in warning.

"Tell her Derek, tell her or I will start really hurting her, and I would hate to mess up such a pretty face," Kate threatened. Scarlet let out a whimper of fear, her eyes snapping shut.

"It goes against your code, she hasn't done anything," Derek snapped.

"Honey, she's the mate of a werewolf. When the two of you get married and start popping out puppies, and yes they will be puppies, she will have helped create more monsters. I think I would do the whole world a favor if I put a stop to it right now. But first, you are going to tell her what really happened."

Kate tightened her grip on Scarlet's hair, jerking it hard. Scarlet let out a whimper, her eyes watering in pain. Both of Scarlet's hand were pressed against Derek's chest and she could feel his heart racing. Scarlet opened her eyes as a few tears slipped down her face. Derek met her gaze before looking back at Kate.

"It's my fault it happened," Derek said lowly.

"Tell her the whole thing Derek," Kate encouraged. Derek stared at her angrily. "Fine, I'll tell her. See, Derek was a young hot werewolf in love with the wrong girl. It was great, until he realized, too late, that she was actually a hunter and he had led her right back to the rest of his pack, resulting in their deaths. It was unfortunate, but the hot, crazy sex totally made it worth it. I'm sure you know all about that though, don't you Scarlet?"

Scarlet stared at Derek in surprise. She understood why he hadn't told her, she could see in his eyes how much guilt he was carrying over this. "It's not your fault Derek, it's this psychotic bitch's fault," Scarlet before slamming her head back into Kate's face.

"Ow, you've got fight, I'll give you that," Kate said before punching Scarlet hard. Scarlet fell back against Derek and he growled angrily. She coud feel him straining against his restraints trying to help her. Scarlet knew she was no match for Kate though, this woman was bigger and stronger than her.

Kate grabbed Scarlet and whirled her around to face Derek. "You picked a good one Derek, I'll give you that. It's too bad that I have to kill you both, its going to have to wait though, I have something else to attend to before I can deal with you two."

Kate shoved Scarlet over into the corner and chained her hands to the wall. She patted Scarlet on the head before backhanding her. Kate smirked at her before sauntering out of the room and slamming the door behind her.

"Are you ok," Derek immediately asked.

Scarlet didn't answer him as she stood up and began tugging at the chain. She cried out as the links dug into her wrists. "Damn it," she cried before pulling again.

"Scarlet, answer me! Are you ok," Derek shouted.

"Keep it down in here you two," a man shouted from the doorway. "Kate has sent me to deliver a message."

The man slowly crossed the room, he paused in front of Derek, raising his hand to hit him, but turned away. "Actually, I think it would make more of an impact somewhere else."

He crossed to Scarlet, who backed into the corner in fear. "Shame to hurt one so pretty."

He punched her in the stomach causing her to double over. He hit her again and her legs gave out from the pain. Scarlet hit the floor with a thud and Derek strained wildly against the restraints trying to get to her. Scarlet screamed in pain as the man kicked her over and over in the ribs. As a final warning he stomped down on one of her hands, breaking some of her fingers in the process.

"When Kate gets back, you'll tell her who the alpha is, or it will get much worse for the girl," the man warned Derek before stalking out of the room.

"Scarlet," Derek said tentatively. He listened intently for a moment before a serious look crossed his face. He shifted and let out a loud growl. He quickly shifted back to normal before glancing at her. "Scott is going to get us out of here."

"Scott doesn't know where we are!"

"I just told him, hang on," Derek asked.

"I'm scared Derek," Scarlet said as she pushed herself off the floor. Her mother's dress was filthy now. She groaned in pain and clutched at her ribs.

"I know, but we are going to get out of here."

"How do you know? You are chained to a fence, I'm chained to a wall, Scott finding us is a long shot at best!"

"He will find us, we will get out of here, and we are going to stop Kate."

"What she said, was it true," Scarlet asked as she stared down at the floor.

"Yeah, it was my fault," Derek said as he looked away from her.

"Derek, it wasn't your fault. You didn't start that fire, you had no way of knowing that she was going to do that. I meant about you being in love with her, is that true?"

"I thought I was," Derek admitted. "It wasn't really though, what Kate and I had was nothing like love."

"The thought of her touching you like that, it makes my skin crawl."

"How do you think I feel?"

"Good point," Scarlet muttered.

"I'm sorry I got you dragged into this," Derek said softly.

"Also not your fault," Scarlet said with a shrug.

"You look beautiful by the way."

Scarlet met his gaze and smiled at him. "Even covered in dirt and bruises? Thank you, you have looked better though. Are you ok?"

"I've been better, its taking me longer to heal."

The door rolled open and Scarlet flinched. "God, I have been looking every where for you," Scott exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"Will you help her please," Derek said as he looked over at Scarlet. Scott followed his gaze, rushing over when he saw her.

"Why are you here," he asked as he broke the chains.

"Kate had me kidnapped," Scarlet explained. She rubbed her wrists and let Scott help her off the floor. She leaned heavily against him as they made their way over to Derek. They only managed to get one restraint open before Derek and Scott heard something.

"Scott go hide, Scarlet go sit in the corner and pretend like you are unconscious."

Scarlet slumped against the wall after wrapping the chain around her wrists. She closed her eyes and silently prayed.

"Ready to have some more fun," a man asked. "To be honest, my knuckles are kind of hurting, so I brought some help. I need to warn you, I used to play in college."

"I brought a little help too," Derek replied. Scarlet opened her eyes when she heard a thump. The man that had come in was now slumped against the opposite wall.

Derek yanked the patch off his side before reaching for his other restraint. "Scott help me with this."

"No," Scott said firmly.

"What," Derek demanded.

"Not until you tell me how to stop Peter."

"You really want to talk about this right now," Derek asked impatiently.

"He's going after Alison and her family, he's going to kill them," Scott explained.

"So what."

"So tell me how to stop him," Scott said again.

"Scott we do not have time for this," Scarlet exclaimed.

"You can't," Derek shouted. "I don't know when Kate's coming back, so get me out of here right now! Get me out right now!"

"Promise you'll help me," Scott insisted.

"You want me to risk my life for you girlfriend huh? For your stupid little teenage crush that means absolute nothing, you're not in love Scott, you're sixteen years old, you're a child," Derek shouted.

Scarlet stared at him in shock. "If he's a child what does that make me," she asked softly.

"Scarlet, that's not what I," Derek started to say.

"No, that is what you meant to say. Scott can't be in love, he's only a child, I'm the same age as him! What are you doing wasting your time with a child," Scarlet cried.

"Ok this we don't have time for," Scott announced. "You're right, I may not be in love, but I know something you don't know. Peter said he didn't know what he was doing when he killed your sister right? He lied, remember this?"

Scott unfolded a piece of paper and held it up for Derek to see. "This is what brought your sister back to Beacon Hills right?"

"Where did you get that," Derek demanded.

"My boss told me three months ago that someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture. Do you want to know who it was? Peter's nurse, they brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the alpha, and that's why you are going to help me."

Scarlet watched Derek as he leaned back against the fence, his fingers wrapping around the chain that held his wrist. Scott shook his head and turned away from Derek.

"Just say you'll help me and I'll help you unlock your other," Scott was cut off by a crash.

Scott and Scarlet turned to find that Derek had pulled himself free. "I'll help you," he said lowly. Scarlet uncrossed her arms and started after Scott, but she didn't make it far. She stumbled, gasping as her ribs screamed in protest. Derek immediately reached for her, but Scarlet jerked away from him.

"Don't," she snapped as she looked up to meet his gaze. "We are not ok right now."

"Scarlet," Derek said tiredly.

"If we make it out of this alive, you and I have a lot to talk about," she snapped before wrapping an arm around Scott's shoulders and letting him help her. Derek grabbed his shirt and jacket and pulled them on before following them out of the tunnels.

There is a link on my profile to see what Scarlet's dress looks like.