When Derek walked in with a tray full of breakfast foods, Kira tried to push the thoughts of the nightmare out of her head. She didn't want to dwell on it and let it ruin their honeymoon. If the hunters were trying to find her, they would. There was no stopping them, and she knew that. If they came to Beacon Hills, they'd find the entire pack, they wouldn't stop with her. She should have told the pack the truth about her family right away, she shouldn't have lied to them. It made sense at the time, and she knew that they had to lie to protect their secret, but she couldn't help but feel like they'd put more people at risk. She'd put more people at risk.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Derek asked as they ate their breakfast outside on the deck. "You're being really quiet."
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, mustering a smile. "So, what do you want to do today?" she tried to change the subject.
"Kira, I know you're not fine," Derek replied, taking her hand in his. "I can smell the anxiety on you. What's wrong?"
"It feels like the nightmare I had was more than just a nightmare," Kira mumbled. She stared at their hands, avoiding eye contact. "It feels different, like a warning. They're coming for me, Derek. They're going to find me, find us. All of us. Scott, Lydia, Boyd, Erica, Liam, Isaac… they're all in danger because of me. We have to tell them the truth," she decided, her gaze meeting Derek's. "We have to tell them. Maybe not about the prophecy and everything, but we have to tell them about me."
"Okay," Derek nodded. "We'll tell them right when we get back, alright? Unless you want to go back early…"
"No," Kira shook her head. "No, I don't want to ruin our trip. We can just check in with everyone, make sure everything's okay, then when we get back we'll invite them over for dinner and tell them the truth… Now, let's go learn to surf," she said, pulling Derek back into the room where they put on their swimsuits, still damp from the night before.
They spent the rest of the day by the ocean. After attempting to surf, they laid on the beach. They were close enough that the water lapped at their feet, begging them to come back into the warm ocean. Derek took Kira into his arms and rushed into the waves. She shrieked as the water splashed over them, laughing and demanding to be put down. Derek obliged, setting her down gently. He tenderly pushed the hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. He leaned down and captured Kira's lips in a passionate kiss, his hand cupping her cheek. They pulled apart when a wave splashed over them, nearly knocking Kira over.
When they went back to their room later that evening, they took a quick shower to wash the sand and salt water off of them before they crawled into bed. Kira snuggled against Derek's side, her arms around his torso as he flipped through the channels on the TV, trying to find a movie for them to watch. He finally chose one, knowing that they would both fall asleep before it was over. He put his arm around Kira, pulling her closer to him as he settled back to watch the movie.
Derek was startled awake by Kira thrashing around, the movie he'd selected still playing on the TV. He could feel her heart pounding and her face was screwed up tight. "Kira," he murmured. "Kira, wake up," he ran his hand along her back, trying to calm her down. She woke up, her eyes open wide with fear, her breathing ragged. "Are you okay?" he helped her sit up so she could breathe better.
"Yeah," she panted. "It was just a nightmare."
"The same one?" he asked, his hand rubbing circles on her back. She shook her head no. "What happened? What was it about?"
"It… it was just about you. The hunters… they had you tied down onto a table and they were torturing you," Kira closed her eyes tight, not wanting to think about the rest of it. "Y…you were looking at me for help, but I couldn't do anything. Then they… they cut out your heart and I…" her voice broke and sobs wracked her body.
"Shhh," Derek soothed, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her onto his lap. "It's okay, we're okay." He rocked her back and forth, cradling her against his chest. "We're going to be okay." He kissed her hair as the tremors running through her body began to cease. "I'm not going to let anything happen to anyone. We'll be okay," he cooed.
"If anything happens to anyone, it's my fault," she whispered. "If they get hurt, if you get hurt, it's my fault." Kira looked at Derek with tear-filled eyes, "Maybe I should have just left you alone… then you wouldn't have to worry about any of this."
Derek bowed his head, resting his forehead against hers. "If you would have left me alone, I'd be lost," he told her earnestly. "I would rather be in danger with you than safe without you. You're safer with me, I can protect you. I'm not going to let anyone lay a finger on you." He gently kissed the tip of her nose. "We're going to be alright. All of us. I promise."
Kira wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and buried her face in his shoulder. He lay back on the pillows and enveloped her in a reassuring hug. He knew that she was still worried, but he felt her breathing even out and her heartbeat slow down as she drifted off to sleep. Derek followed, lulled asleep by the steady beating of her heart and the rise and fall of her chest.
When Kira woke up the next morning, Derek was still sleeping. Her heart was pounding because of yet another nightmare. She slowly peeled her body from Derek's side and slipped out onto the deck for some fresh air. Each of her nightmares seemed to be worse than the one before, certain aspects of each one sticking to her senses. This time, she could feel her skin tingling where she'd been cut in the dream. One long gash along her arm, one on her stomach. In the dream, they'd slit her throat before stabbing her in the chest. She needed to repeatedly remind herself that it wasn't real, that it was just a dream.
She couldn't take it, she needed to call someone to make sure everyone was okay. She crept back into the room and grabbed her cell phone. Derek was still asleep when she closed the door behind her. Kira looked at the time, it would already be 10 a.m. in Beacon Hills, Lydia would definitely be awake. "Hey, Kira," Lydia said when she answered the phone. "How's the honeymoon going?"
"Hey, Lyd, It's been really good so far," Kira replied. "So… how are things in Beacon Hills? Nothing… strange… has happened?"
"Not that I know of," Lydia answered. "Why do you ask?"
"Just curious," Kira responded, looking up when she heard the door open. "Uh… Derek's awake now, so I've got to go, but I'll talk to you soon," she told Lydia before hanging up the phone.
"Who was that?" Derek asked, sitting down in the chair opposite Kira.
"Lydia. I just needed to make sure things were alright," she explained.
"Did you have another nightmare?" Derek's eyes searched her face. She nodded and he stood up before kneeling in front of her. "Are you sure you don't want to go home? We can go on a vacation once all of this is cleared up," he assured her.
"Okay," Kira sighed. "I'm sorry, I just…"
"Don't worry about it, sweetheart," Derek interrupting, kissing her forehead as he got to his feet. "It's not your fault. We'll get this all sorted out, don't worry." He went inside to make arrangements for them to leave that day.
Kira felt guilty, she didn't want to ruin their honeymoon, but she knew that she wouldn't have been able to get her mind off of it. She sat overlooking the ocean until Derek came to get her. He'd managed to get everything sorted out and pack up their bags. Their flight was leaving in an hour and a half, so they went straight to the airport.
On the flight back to Beacon Hills, Kira didn't say a word. She didn't dare trying to fall asleep again, she didn't want to have another nightmare. Derek had his arm wrapped around her, tracing light circles on her should. When they got home, Derek sent Scott a text to see what he was doing. Scott replied and said that he and Allison were at home, so Kira and Derek drove over to talk to them. Kira was nervous about telling the entire pack, so they'd decided to talk to Scott about it first.
Kira tentatively knocked on the door. It opened to a surprised Scott. "What are you doing here?" he asked. "I thought you were in Hawaii."
"We need to talk to you," Derek answered. "It's important."
Scott ushered them in and they sat down on the couch. "So, what is it? Why did you need to come home from Hawaii so early?"
Derek and Kira exchanged glances before Kira replied, "I lied to you. I feel awful about it," she paused for a minute before adding, "My parents don't protect supernatural creatures. My mom was killed by hunters and now they're after me because I'm… I'm a thunder kitsune, one of three in existence. I didn't tell you before because I didn't know if it was safe. I thought that the less you knew, the better. I'm really sorry." She looked down at her hands.
"Hunters? Do you remember their names? Maybe my dad can help," Allison suggested.
"Yeah," Kira cleared her throat. "They're German, I believe. Their last name is Warkentin."
"And they know that you're a thunder kitsune?" Scott questioned.
Kira shook her head, "No. They know that I'm a kitsune, like my mother, but there are different types. They don't know the specifics. Thunder Kitsune are the rarest, and I really don't want to know what they'd do to me if they found out."
"Okay… but that still doesn't explain why you needed to come home from Hawaii," Scott pointed out.
"Well, Kira kept having these nightmares," Derek supplied, wrapping his arm around Kira. "She felt like they were more than just dreams, and they kept getting worse. I trust her with my life, and if her instincts told her that something was wrong, I'm not going to ignore it. We both knew that we needed to come back and warn you."
Scott nodded, "Makes sense. And Kira," he gently put his hand on her arm. "You don't need to feel guilty or apologize for not telling us right away. I completely understand. We're going to do everything we can to keep you safe." Scott's eyes darted from Derek's face to Kira's after Allison excused herself to call her dad. "Do you think we should tell the others?" The question was directed more towards Derek.
"I think we should wait and see what Allison comes back with, see if Argent knows anything about these hunters. I think it's up to Kira to decided whether or not she wants everyone to know about her," Derek answered, shifting the focus onto Kira.
"I'm tired of lying," Kira sighed. "I trust everyone in the pack, we can tell them the truth." She leaned up against Derek, exhausted. It took a lot of mental energy to push away the images from her dreams, the images of pack members torn apart, tattered, broken. She could still feel where she'd been cut in the last nightmare, the skin in those areas felt hot and itchy.
"My dad knows them," Allison announced as she came back into the room. "Apparently they used to only hunt vampires, but recent generations have expanded to hunt any supernatural creature they come across. My dad was surprised when I asked about them because they called him a few days ago to ask if there was anything unusual going on in Beacon Hills. He said he had things under control, but by the sounds of it, they're coming. Kira, do you know anything else about them?"
"They're ruthless," Kira answered. "They'll do whatever it takes to get someone to talk, they don't have any problems with hurting or killing anyone. Their methods can be… unconventional… at times. If they catch me, it's going to be worse than if they catch any of you. I escaped once, they're not going to let that happen again."
"What do you mean by unconventional?" Allison asked. She crouched down in front of Kira so she could look into her eyes. "What did they do to you?"
"They… they prey on human fears… fears that every woman has dealt with," Kira said, her voice barely above a whisper. She looked away from Allison as tears stung her eyes. Allison gasped, her eyes going wide before she wrapped her arms around Kira's shoulders.
"I'm so sorry, Kira," Allison murmured into her ear. Kira hugged Allison back, unable to stop herself from crying.
Kira wasn't sure how long the embrace with Allison lasted. She knew that it was long, and that Derek and Scott didn't quite know what to do, but it was nice to know that Allison cared about her. It was nice to have a friend she could depend on. Of course, she had Derek, but he provided a different kind of comfort than Allison did.
"Everyone should be here in about thirty minutes," Scott checked his watch after Kira and Allison had pulled apart. "They were coming over for dinner anyway. Do you just want me to order some pizzas?" Allison nodded and he left the room to make the phone call.
When the pack started arriving, everyone's first remark was one of surprise when they saw Derek and Kira sitting on the couch. Kira was sandwiched between Allison and Derek, each of them holding one of her hands. Everyone sat awkwardly in the living room, waiting for others to arrive. They could tell that something was up, otherwise Derek and Kira would still be in Hawaii. Stiles was the last one to arrive. When he came in he was babbling about hitting something with his Jeep, but he stopped short when he saw Kira. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He asked, noticing her tear-stained cheeks. "Aren't you two supposed to be on your honeymoon?"
"Just sit down, Stiles," Scott instructed. Stiles did as he was told, sitting as close to Kira and Derek as he could. Scott took a deep breath before starting, "We have something really important to tell you."