A/N: I do don't own Teen Wolf or the characters.

Still a continuation of Riley POV.

I'd like to give credit to my Beta, Dark Alana.

Chapter 19

Full Moon

Waking up in the morning after a good night sleep can feeling wonderful, especially after you've had an exhausting few days. You feel at peace…One with the world…Not alone with someone beside you…And then you remember the thing that's caused the exhaustion. The one thing you're not looking forward to…

Tonight is the full moon.

I get scared all over again.

No more peace or one with the world bullshit. The thing you have been dreading for days has finally arrived. There's no more escaping it. You can't hide from a lunar cycle.

Fear begins to take over until it becomes too much for me to bear.

And then a wave of calm washes over me as Derek wraps his arm around me. He pulls me closer to him with my back to him. In that moment, we laid like that, I felt like nothing could hurt me as long as I had him.

"You not alone," he whispers, "This fear you feel it's only temporary. Don't hang onto it. You're going to beat this thing."

"Not really," I told him, "The moon is always going to win."

"Not if you have control," he said.

Sighing, "I'm hungry."

Derek kissed the back of my neck before rolling out of bed, "I'm going to shower first," he said, putting his shorts back on.

"That's fine."

"Do you want to join me?" he asked, "We'll save water."

"Since when do you care about the environment?"

"I can start," he said.

I didn't reply and after a few seconds he left the room and I heard the water running.

There goes that. I shouldn't be upset because I'm supposed to be still a little mad at him. And then last night happened. It was…there are no words that can describe it other than primal.

I can wait to take mine.

And then I remember…

Gentle lips caressing my neck. Groaning as his lips traveled down my entire body. My eyes watching every move.

What we did last night…

Okay, shower now.

Without covering myself, I walk across the hall to the single bathroom. I listen as the water still runs and his little movement. I open the door slightly and squeeze my way in. Once the door was closed again, I leaned against it.

"Did you change your mind?" I hear him ask.

Derek pulls back the shower curtain and lets me in on the side where the water is running. I feel the hot water hitting my skin. I bask in its warmth with my back to him. He begins to gentle rub my back with a bar of soap. I turn to face him but realize with one inhale he already washed himself. I couldn't smell myself on him anymore.

Once he was done with the soap he picked up my shampoo. Just like the soap, he gentle did my hair. Running his fingers through my hair felt like heaven; calm and peaceful. We stood together under the running water. It washed over us, making us brand new. He captured my lips with his and he didn't let go of each other.

XXX

Later that day we stood in the woods looking out at nature in silence. We headed up here after taking a very long walk after breakfast.

"You'll feel the moon long before it comes to its place in the sky. You'll feel this pull in the pit of your stomach. You most likely won't feel like yourself," Derek explained to me.

"Anything else I have to worry about?"

"Everything will become heightened not only during the full moon but all the time afterwards. Your senses will be at their best. Sound, sight, smell, taste and even touch," he said before placing a hand on my lower back.

"That demonstration was really unnecessary," I told him.

With a smile, "You will become the ultimate predator," he said.

"And what if I still want to be me?"

Choosing his words carefully, "Apart of you will be, but after tonight you'll be a new person."

"A monster," I said.

"No, Riley," he said, "They're real monsters out there, but you could never be one."

I wanted to believe him, I really did. After tonight, I don't know if I'll ever be the same and that scares me to no end.

"What's our first step for tonight?" I asked.

"Before we even get to that," he said, "You have an assignment."

"Assignment?" I asked, "If I'd know there would be homework, I wouldn't have come."

Derek gave her a look, "You need to find an anchor. A moment in your life where you were most happy. Something you can hold onto."

"You mentioned that yesterday."

"And today you need to figure it out. Preferably, before tonight," he said.

"Wow, I have so much time."

XXX

To say that you'll feel the moon long before it comes is a complete and utter understatement. I told Derek that, well I didn't exactly tell him, I more lashed out at him. Then I cried about it.

Emotions. It what keeps us human and sometimes it sucks. All you want to do it shut it off, but then you'll become a monster.

With just a few hours to go before the big show, I felt the effects of the moon. I got light headed and confused, but worst of all it felt like my skin was on fire. It felt like bugs were crawling around under my skin.

I wanted the moon to come already and take me. Take away this pain I was in.

I thought this was the worst part. I was dead wrong. The worst was the pull I felt deep inside me. It was ripping me apart from the inside. I wasn't the only one feeling the pull. Derek took this time to walk me to the meadow from yesterday.

"Remember what we talk about?" he asked, "Remember to breath."

"Easy for you to say! You've been through this already!"

"You think I enjoy seeing you this way?" he asked.

"Why are you here if not for kicks?"

I think Derek knew this was the fear talking. My inner wolf was beginning to seep through the cracks.

"Do you have something?" he asked.

I didn't answer him. I was concentrating on not throwing up.

"Do you have something?" he asked again, sounding irritated.

"Yes, I have something!" I shouted, "But I don't know if it's strong enough."

"It'll have to," he said, "You only have a few minutes now."

The pain becomes too much because my legs collapse from under me. Derek is at my side telling me to breath.

That's when I feel it. I feel the moon's light on my skin and its setting me ablaze.

"Don't fight it!" he instructs, "Just go with it. Stay calm and let the pull take over you."

I begin to scream because the pain is unbearable. I close my eyes and it all stops. The pain. The screaming. Its all stops at once.

(Riley is 10 and Derek is 13)

"Do you think you should be doing this now?" Talia asked as my parents fought at a dinner party held at the Hale house.

"I'm sorry," my mother said, "We'll take this outside."

"Damn straight we will," he father said under his breath.

Talia turned around and sighed. She was looking for someone, "Where is Riley?"

I had already left to hide because my parents' screaming at each other was just too much to handle, especially in front of the Hales.

I was hiding in the hallway closet when Derek found me. He didn't say anything as he crawled in the closet next to me. I still could here my parents screaming at each other from outside. I began to cling to his side as he covered my ears with his hands to keep the sound out. We sat like that for a while until Derek's mom came to get us. My parents were asked to leave the party.

I opened my eyes to see the world in a new light. Derek was no longer beside me. I began to look from him where I was still kneeling on the ground. I spot him a few feet away. He already made the shift. That much was clear to see. And then I realized I had made the shift as well.

Derek was keeping his distance from me in case I wanted to rip him apart. I slowly stood on my feet and began to walk toward him. He growls at me. I stop and growl at him. Two can play this game.

We stare at each other, not really sure what to do. He begins to walk toward me. I hold my ground. Before he stands right in front of me, I see him sniff the air. That's when his eyes begin to go a little soft. He realized that it's me and not some wild animal.

He smiles a big toothy grin. I do the same in return before I turn and take off running. I have a sudden urge to be chased. I wasn't disappointed when I heard him running after me.

Trees were going by in blurs. My feet pounded on the ground. I was running faster than I knew was possible. Still even that didn't last long when I felt my shirt being pulled back hard, causing me to fall back into Derek. We collided, fell and rolled a few times on the ground until we came to a complete stop with him on top of me.

Instead of biting his head off, I was laughing so hard. I've never felt this alive before. It was exhilarating. He shifted back but I could tell he was still worried. I touched my own face and realized I shifted back too.

"Why did you run?!"

"You clearly don't know what it looks like when a girl wants to be chased," I told him.

"You wanted to be chased?" he asked.

"Yes, dumbass," I told him, "You totally ruined the moment."

He grinned, "I caught you, didn't I."

I didn't answer him as I leaned up and dimpled on his ear, causing him to groan loudly. He kissed me passionately and pushed me further into the earth with just his entire weight on me. I wanted him so badly it hurt. If that was the wolf talking, then the wolf and I were definitely speaking the same language.

I clawed his back and he hissed in pain.

"We'll definitely have to work on your control," he said in between kisses.

"Later."

XXX

We explored the woods some more in wolf form after our moonlight activities. I experienced the world around me differently. The sounds I could hear from miles away is unreal. I could smell everything. Even under all the dirt, I could smell Derek's scent. Musk, that's the only word I could use to describe it. I found his scent extremely delicious.

It was actually quiet funny, our appearances. If someone came walking by in the woods and saw us, they would think that we are wild-lings living in the woods.

We walked back to the cabin, discarded what remained of our ripped clothing, and went straight to the shower. We washed each other and removed the dirt.

Wrapping a towel around myself, I went to my room to change into something. Upon discovery, "I don't have anymore clean shirts."

"You can borrow one of mine."

They got ready for bed. Derek was only wearing shorts and I wore one of his tanks and panties.

"You look hot in that," he pointed to the shirt.

"I'd like to think I look hot in anything."

Derek laughed, "Your confidence has sky rocketed in the last few hours."

I sat in between his legs on the bed with my back to his chest. I was completely comfortable.

"What's going to happen now?" I asked.

"If you want, we could go back to Beacon Hills," he said, "If you're ready that is."

"I've missed plenty of school already and we could use the weekend to get my control issues, you know under control."

"We could do that here," he offered.

I looked at him, "Do you want to stay?"

"We can go back on Sunday," he said.

"Alright," I said before kissing him, "Let's actually enjoy the rest of the weekend."

"Agreed."

XXX

The rest of the weekend we spent working on my control. By the end, I think I got better. I stopped clawing the crap out of Derek's back. He found that as a good thing. He told me when we got back to Beacon Hills. We'll have to start working on my survival skills. So, that should be fun…Not really.

When I was packing to go home, I found my cell phone in the bottom of my bag. I turned it on to find that I had almost a hundred missed calls and texts from my friends. By the sound of things I'd say they were worried about me. I didn't realize until I was reading some texts that I actually missed them. I was so worried about my wolfie problems to think about Allison, Scott or even Stiles. I can only roll my eyes, I actually missed Stiles.

As we were leaving Boulder Creek, I couldn't help but think how my life will be different. I don't think I could just pick up were I left off before I was road kill. Thinking back, I did see changes in Scott from before and after his wolfie problems. Would that be the same for me?

And this thing I have with Derek. I feel this deeper connection to him. I'm afraid to ask him about it. I know from a school project I did in elementary school that wolves mate for life. Is that the same for werewolves? If it is, am I ready for that big leap of commitment? Our relationship has almost gone back to normal before everything. It just has one difference now. We are part of the same club now.

On top of that, there's this little issue of Derek being Alpha. He hasn't brought it up or asked me about it. Would I choose Derek as my Alpha? I don't even know what that entails. I'm new to this world. Scott didn't have an Alpha. To be fair, the Alpha that bit him was a total psycho. I don't blame Scott for not having one. I could also be a lone wolf.

I would be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of going home. I'm terrified. Even though I will have my friends, it doesn't change the fact that I'm hunted now. I will be hunted for what I am. I didn't choose it, but I did choose to keep on living. After the full moon, I chose a side. A side I will most likely be fighting for the rest of my life.

I sighed as I watched the sun going down in the sky. I looked at my phone before I sent out a text message to my friends.

'We're coming home.'