After Kira had been in Beacon Hills for a few weeks, she and Derek started to work on his newfound avi-wolf abilities. They'd read and re-read the book on avi-wolves from the Hale family vault and, after some serious searching, they'd managed to find the prophecy their mothers had mentioned. Combined, the two texts had given them a lot more insight into what it was they were supposed to do. They started practicing every day- well, whenever they could. They were keeping it a secret for now, Derek still wasn't sure that it was a good idea to tell anyone, including the pack, about his abilities.
They hadn't told the pack about Kira being a thunder kitsune yet, either. The pack was aware of Kira's knowledge of the supernatural and her skills in hand-to-hand combat, but they'd explained it by saying that her family was in charge of protecting the supernatural, so long as they weren't killing humans. Thankfully, no one questioned it.
Derek was impressed at how well Kira fit in with the rest of the pack. A few of them were hesitant at first, especially because of the sudden engagement, but after spending time with Kira, and trying some of her delicious food, it didn't take long for them to come around. She'd grown especially close with Lydia, they spent a lot of time together planning the wedding, which was just over a month away. Derek left everything up to them. He didn't know anything about weddings and he only gave his opinion when they explicitly asked for it.
Besides, practicing this avi-wolf stuff took up most of his time. He practiced whenever he was alone, and he and Kira spent at least two hours practicing together every evening. Derek was stronger when Kira was around. He was still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that, if everything went the way it was supposed to, he would be able to fly. That was every kid's dream, and now he had the potential to make that dream come true. He had elected to work on the invisibility first, it was what the book recommended.
"Come on, Derek. You can do it," Kira urged him. It was their eighth session and, while Derek was getting better, he still hadn't been able to make himself disappear completely. "You're almost there," she smiled, eyes wide. She stared at Derek, well, the outline of him. She could still see parts of him, but she could also see the chair behind him.
"I can't," Derek grunted, collapsing onto the chair, fully visible. "I'm sorry, Kira…" he buried his face in his hands. "I'm just not strong enough," he muttered, barely audible.
"Hey," Kira murmured, gently pulling his hands down, "Look at me." She knelt down in front of him, craning her neck so they were looking into each others' eyes. "You are strong enough, I know it," she insisted. "I know how tired you are, we've been at this for almost three hours, but just try one more time," she squeezed his knee. "Please? For me?" Kira stood up and planted a warm kiss to his lips.
Derek pushed himself to his feet and squeezed his eyes shut, taking a deep breath. "Alright," he muttered, "I can do this." His fists were bunched together by his sides. He focused on the knot he could feel tightening in his gut. When he looked down, he could see that it was working. "Stay focused," he told himself, paying attention to the knot in his stomach. He could feel the tension spreading to the rest of his body.
"Just a little more," he heard Kira encouraging him. It sounded like an echo, he could barely hear it. Derek grimaced, his body was wound so tightly that it felt like he was going to break. Suddenly, he felt his body tick and squeeze and heard Kira gasp. "Derek! You did it!" Kira grinned. "I can't believe it!"
Derek stumbled to his knees when he became visible once again. He was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. He felt Kira's hands on him. She had one on the middle of his back, one on his chest. He looked up at her. "I did it," he breathed, a big smile stretching across his face. "I actually did it!"
"I knew you would," Kira kissed his cheek and helped him to his feet. He stumbled a little bit when he took a step. "Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, yeah. My legs are just a little tired," he replied, wrapping his arm around Kira's shoulders. She helped him into his car and drove back to his apartment. Derek didn't like feeling weak, but he appreciated all of the help Kira gave him. She always seemed to know exactly what he needed, sometimes before he did. She led him up the stairs and into bed, gently kissing his forehead before going to get him a glass of water.
Kira set the glass down on the night stand beside the bed. "You did such a great job today," she whispered, crawling over him to get to her side. "If you keep going at this rate, you'll be an avi-master before we even get married," She giggled, pressing her lips against his.
Derek laughed, trying to keep his eyes open. "Thanks, sweetie," he mumbled. "It's because of you."
Kira wrapped her arms around him and snuggled against his chest. Her head rose and fell with his breathing. She knew he was already asleep, learning this avi-wolf stuff was exhausting for Derek, but she was proud of the progress he'd made in the past week. There was still a lot more that he had to learn and Kira was determined to be there for him the entire time. After they got married, they would both be even stronger. They'd both need to work at it, of course, but their senses and abilities would be heightened further than they already were.
Derek's even breathing lulled Kira into a peaceful sleep. When she woke up the next morning, he was still fast asleep and probably wouldn't wake up for a few hours. She carefully eased herself out of the bed, making sure she didn't wake him. She flitted around the apartment, making herself breakfast, cleaning, doing a bit of laundry, before settling down and watching TV quietly.
Kira felt Derek's eyes on her. "Good morning, sleepyhead," she called from the couch before heading to the kitchen to make him breakfast. She poured him a cup of coffee and put it on the breakfast bar as she warmed up the skillet.
"You always know what I want," Derek remarked, taking a sip of coffee. He sat on one of the barstools, slouched over the counter, still half asleep.
"Hey, wake up," Kira teased as she set the plate down in front of him. "Breakfast is served." Derek ate in silence, watching Kira as she cleaned the dishes. He loved how she always seemed to be dancing to whatever song she had in her head. "Are you going to Scott's boys' night thing tonight?" she asked, leaning towards him over the counter.
"Yeah, but I don't think I'll stay late," Derek mumbled. "I was thinking we could go practice at 11:00…"
"You should take a night off, Derek. You deserve it," Kira offered. "You did so great yesterday, you've earned it."
"I really think we should keep practicing," Derek replied. "I managed to do it once, I have to keep trying so that I don't lose it."
"Okay, so why don't we go practice now? Then you can take a nap in the afternoon, be rested for Scott's boys' night, and maybe get a normal night's sleep tonight," Kira suggested.
He nodded, "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. Just let me get changed."
Derek managed to make himself completely disappear on the first try. The more times he did it the easier it got. "Should we see if I can extend it?" He asked.
"Extend it? As in… try to make me invisible? Are you sure you don't want to wait for a day when you're more rested?" she responded.
"Yeah, I want to try it right now," He said, taking her hands in his. "We just need to focus and keep eye contact." Derek felt the familiar knot in the pit of his stomach and tried to let his energy flow to Kira. She felt the tips of her fingers tingle. The tingling extended up her arms and down the rest of her body. "It's working," he whispered, like talking any louder would break his concentration.
Kira kept her eyes fixed on his, not sure if looking away would wreck it. "Can you see through my head?" she murmured, a grin spreading across her face.
Derek smirked and nodded. "I'm going to try harder." He could feel the knot tightening, but it didn't seem to make a difference. An idea flashed through his mind and he leaned down and pressed a soft, warm kiss to her lips. He felt jolt of electricity when their lips met, it echoed through his entire body. When he pulled away, they were both completely invisible. "It worked," he breathed.
He heard Kira giggle and closed his eyes, making them both visible again. Derek collapsed against Kira afterwards. "Are you okay?" She grabbed him and held him up so he wouldn't fall.
"Yeah, that just took a lot out of me," he replied. "I think we should quit for today." Kira agreed and she helped him back to the apartment.
"I'll make lunch," she told him when they got home, "something quick and light so you can take a nap. Just sit down, watch some TV."
He sat down on the couch, struggling to keep his eyes open. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Kira was shaking his shoulder and handing him a plate with a sandwich on it. "Hey, I hope you don't mind that the girls are going to come over later," Kira said as Derek took his first bite.
"Yeah, that's fine," Derek mumbled, mouth full of food. After he was finished eating he laid down on the couch, resting his head on Kira's thigh. She ran her fingers through his hair absentmindedly, massaging his scalp as she watched whatever home improvement show was playing.
Derek jolted awake when there was a sharp knock at the door. Kira laughed quietly and helped him sit up before she went to answer the door. "Hey, Lydia," Derek could practically hear her smile. "Come on in."
"Hello, Derek," Lydia smiled, setting the large binder she was holding down on the table. "Aren't you going to Scott's?"
He glanced at the clock and realized that he was already late. "Oh, yeah," He answered scrambling to grab his wallet, keys, and jacket. "See you later, sweetheart," he murmured before giving Kira a chaste kiss and running out the door.
"Cute," Lydia commented. "Honestly, I always thought that Derek would be a perpetual bachelor, but I'm glad he found you. You two really seem like you're meant for each other." She opened the binder, which was full of all sort of wedding ideas and cut out pictures from bridal magazines. Kira sat down next to her and they started trying to figure out the flower arrangements.
Allison, Malia, and Erica arrived shortly after. They ordered pizza and watched some dumb romantic comedy where the main character falls in love with a ghost that lives in her apartment. Kira liked chick flicks, but this one was just ridiculous. They spent the entire movie talking about how awful it was and making jokes about the bad acting.
The rest of the evening was spent discussing the wedding and various celebrities that they had crushes on. They gossiped about the guys a little bit, too, which ended up with them telling embarrassing stories about Stiles. Before the girls left, they planned another shopping excursion and Lydia agreed to come by the next day to do more wedding planning.
/
"Sorry I'm late, guys," Derek announced when he got to Scott's house. "I overslept."
"Until six in the evening?" Scott laughed. "What do you and Kira do all night?"
Derek just took his head and sat down, he wasn't even going to dignify that with an answer. He and Kira shared a bed, but nothing sexual had happened yet. Derek was content just cuddling with her or kissing her, having sex had barely crossed his mind.
"So what are you and Kira going to do after the wedding?" Boyd asked. "Are you going to move? No offence, but your place right now is a bachelor pad. It's not for newlyweds."
"We haven't even talked about that," Derek answered. "Maybe, I don't know. I'm leaving most of the decisions up to Kira. Especially with wedding stuff… all of that is up to her and Lydia. I don't really care whether the tablecloths are white or cream."
After they had supper, they played a card game that Derek couldn't remember the name of. He couldn't help but notice that Stiles was acting weird towards him. They were sitting beside each other, but Stiles practically had his back to Derek the entire time, he didn't even look at him. He knew that Stiles used to have a crush on Kira, but that had been years ago, back when they were in elementary school. When they were leaving, Derek pulled Stiles aside. "What's wrong with you?" he frowned. "You've been acting weird all night."
"I'm tired of you rubbing your relationship with Kira in my face," Stiles snapped. "I was in love with her since Kindergarten, even after she left. In high school I tried to track her down and I couldn't find her. The first day she was here and we were at your place, I knew it was her and I thought that it was fate bringing us together, but then I find out you're getting married." He spat out the word married like a curse word.
"Look, Stiles, I'm not trying to rub anything in your face. I admire your dedication to this girl that you barely knew, but she didn't even remember you. I'm sorry that things didn't work out the way you wanted them to, but you can't blame me for that," Derek replied calmly. "Kira and I have always had a connection, even when we were young, and I'm not going to apologize for that. I love Kira. We're getting married. You need to accept that."
"I know," Stiles sighed. "You're a lucky man, Derek. Treat her well," Stiles clapped him on the shoulder before getting into his jeep.
Derek knew he was lucky. Even though it was technically an arranged marriage, he knew that he wouldn't have been able to find someone like Kira. They were perfect for each other. They'd only had a few squabbles, mostly about trivial things, but for the most part, they were on the same page.
When he got back home, Kira was asleep on the couch with the TV on mute. He carefully picked her up, hoping he wouldn't wake her, and laid her down on the bed. He changed into his pyjamas and crawled in next to her, wrapping his arms around her and holding her close to her chest. She made a little contented noise and snuggled closer to him. He pressed a kiss to her hair before he closed his eyes and fell asleep listening to her breathing and the steady beat of her heart.