Chapter 30

Scarlet had just trudged into her room and thrown herself down on her bed. She let out a loud sigh as she reached up grab her pillow.

"How's Jackson," Derek asked. Scarlet sat up and let out a strangled shout as she glanced around the room for him.

"What the hell are you doing here," she cried. "You scared me half to death you idiot!"

"I came to see how Jackson is and to ask you to come somewhere with me."

"You realize that you are still a wanted criminal and are standing in the sheriff's house right now, right?"

"I am aware," Derek said with a smirk. He froze when he heard a car pull up outside. "Your dad just got home, I wrote down the address. Meet me there in an hour, please? We need to talk."

"All right, I'll meet you there," Scarlet said before pushing open her window and waving Derek out. She leaned against the frame for a moment before shutting it back.

"Hey kid, how's Jackson doing," her dad asked as he came into her room.

"Oh, he's feeling a lot better, thanks for being cool about me going over there. I feel bad, I'm sure he caught it from me," Scarlet said quickly. She hated all the lies that she had to tell, but she couldn't very well tell anyone the truth about what was going on. "He actually just called me though, I need to go back over there. I left some of my books there by mistake and I need them to do homework with. I won't be gone long."

"You guys are spending an awful lot of time together, do I need to be concerned about this?"

"What do you mean," Scarlet asked in confusion.

"I mean, are the two of you... dating," her dad asked as he waved his hands at her.

"Uh, no. Jackson and I are just friends, I swear."

"Promise?"

"Yeah dad, I promise."

"All right, well don't be out to late." With that her dad left the room. Scarlet changed clothes and brushed her hair before heading out. Stiles had the jeep but luckily the address Derek had given her wasn't that far away from her house. Unfortunately it started raining, which quickly turned into a downpour.

By the time Scarlet got to the address she was soaked and shaking from the cold. She tugged the door open and slowly made her way down the stairs. She paused when she came into the main part of the enormous room.

"Derek," she called out as she continued down the stairs.

"What do you think," he asked as he emerged from a subway car.

"What is this place?"

"My hideout for the time being, figured your dad would look for me at the house and I don't really want to be there after everything that happened. Until I can clear my name I will stay here," he explained.

"Are you sure its safe?"

"Safe as it can be."

Scarlet wandered around the abandoned station taking it all in. "It's pretty cool. Won't you get lonely down here by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself, that's what we need to talk about."

Scarlet turned and looked at him in confusion. "What did you do?"

"I have to have a pack Scarlet, I can't stop the Argents on my own. They have declared war."

"So... you changed someone, other than Jackson," Scarlet asked. "Did you tell them about everything that comes with it? About the danger?"

"I did, he knew exactly what he was getting into. He wanted it Scarlet, it was his choice to make," Derek replied.

"Derek, are you sure this is the only way? I mean, isn't there something else you could do?"

"I'm not the one that declared war Scarlet."

"You don't have to fight in it either," Scarlet snapped. "Haven't enough people been hurt already? Haven't you done enough? Why can't you just let it go? I mean, I... I just... I want things to be normal for once Derek. I know that this isn't normal, but we almost got killed, your uncle manipulated you. He tried to kill me, Kate tried to kill us, she almost did kill you, can we just take a minute?"

"Scarlet, my life is never going to be as simple as you want it to be. It is never going to be safe or easy. If there were a way I could have told you that before this happened I would have, but I can't walk away now. Not from this war and certainly not from you. I've lost too much, I won't lose you too."

"Derek, I'm not going anywhere," Scarlet said as she wrapped her arms around him. "I'm afraid of what the Argents are going to do, that's all. I know things can't be normal, but we can't pretend like everything is fine between us."

"Why are you all wet," Derek asked as he glanced down at her.

"Because its raining outside, and that is what we call avoiding the issue."

"Come on, let's find you something dry to wear and then we can talk about this some more," Derek said as he pulled her inside one of the cars.

Derek led her into the front of the front of the car and grabbed one of his shirts for her. She tugged her shirt off and turned to look at him.

"Derek," someone shouted as they ran down the stairs. "Derek?"

Scarlet jerked away from Derek in surprise and exchanged a glance with him. The young man that had been shouting for Derek came into the train car and Derek stepped in front of her to block her from view. Scarlet pulled on his shirt and glanced around him.

"What's wrong," Derek asked.

"My dad, I think he's dead," the young man explained.

"What did you do," Derek demanded. Scarlet stepped forward with him and panic washed over the young man's face when he saw her.

"That's the thing," he said. "It wasn't me. Why are you with her? What is she doing here?"

"It's a long story," Derek replied. "Tell me what happened."

"I don't know! Something attacked my dad! I don't know what it was though, I didn't do it Derek, I swear."

"Isaac, if you had I would know. You didn't see what it was?"

"Did you call the police," Scarlet asked.

"You mean your father," the young man snapped.

"You don't get to talk to her like that, she's with us," Derek shot back with a menacing look. "She is my mate and will be treated with respect, got that?"

Isaac glanced between the two of them before speaking. "Yeah, got it, what are we going to do though?"

"Are you sure he is dead," Scarlet asked.

"Yes," Isaac snapped.

Both Scarlet and Isaac looked over at Derek waiting for him to explain what they were going to do next. Scarlet shifted nervously as Derek stared down at the floor contemplating their options. "There isn't anything we can do," he finally said. "We don't know what did it, or why. Until we can find out more information you go about your life."

"Derek, people will think I did it, especially if they go to the house," Isaac exclaimed.

"Why will people think you did it? What reason would you have to kill your own father," Scarlet asked before Derek could say anything.

"Its none of your business," Isaac snapped as he stared at her angrily.

"Scarlet, he's right you don't need to know why he would have motive. If someone asks you about it, then you can truthfully deny it," Derek explained.

Scarlet glanced between the two of them, before staring at Isaac for a long moment. "Jackson lives across the street from you, he's... he's told me about what goes on at your house. I won't tell anyone, I've never seen it so I can't prove anything. Besides why would anyone ask me about it? We barely know one another."

Isaac opened his mouth to shout at her but Derek cut him off. "Don't Isaac, she won't tell anyone."

"Her father is the sheriff Derek!"

"And I've kept my relationship with Derek from him the entire time! There are a lot of things that my father does not know about," Scarlet cried. "He's convinced that I'm dating Jackson for crying out loud."

"The two of you are awfully close, I've heard all about your extracurricular activities with him," Isaac replied coldly.

Scarlet lunged at him but Derek grabbed her around the waist and gently pulled her back into him.

"That's enough, look Scarlet is my mate, and Isaac is now part of my pack, so the two of you have got to get along! Now, we are all going to keep our heads down and stay out of trouble until we can figure out what did this," Derek ordered. "Understood?"

"Aye aye captain," Scarlet said with a mock salute.

"Real cute," Derek said saracastically.

"I know I am," Scarlet said with a smug grin. "Look living with the Sheriff does have its advantages. If I hear anything useful I will let you guys know, ok?"

"Yeah, do that," Isaac said as he glanced between them. "Can I uh, can I stay here tonight?"

"Yeah, might as well," Derek said as he finally let go of Scarlet.

"I should head home, I told my dad I was checking on Jackson. I'll see you soon," Scarlet said as she turned to Derek.

"Yeah, we'll talk later."