Chapter 15

I had slept well considering my worries about the wolves during the night. It wasn't until lunch time though, that anyone came out from the gym. Almost everyone I saw looked exhausted, and all of them had torn, bloody clothes, including Derek. In fact, he looked the worst. As far as I knew, all of the wolves needed sleep. The full moon kept them alive and hyper without their say so.

As I was visiting with Spencer and Farren, Derek sauntered his way into the den. I stood upon seeing him, but crushed the want to run to him. He's done this a hundred times! He doesn't need you hugging all over him. You're the Luna, be stronger than this. I pushed myself past it, but greeted him with a smile. "You look like hell, I'm sorry." I had to laugh as I said it. Much to my surprise, he smiled back. "I know, I feel it too. But as far as it went, that wasn't terrible. This time of course I only had seven new wolves. Granted, there were the additional ten, but this was their second full moon, so they knew what to expect." I felt my heart swell with pride. "Well, that seemed dangerous, but I'm quite sure that was child's play, right?" Spencer said, assessing Derek's torn clothes and healing wounds. "It's not so bad, but hey, I can say that because I'm the Alpha werewolf and you're the human." Spencer rolled his eyes and went back to reading his book, his arm lazily draped around the back of the chair behind Farren. Their comfort around each other grew every day, and secretly, I hoped maybe something would come of it. "Try not to be too cocky, okay Derek?" Farren chastised in a sisterly fashion. Derek rolled his eyes, but looked to me. "I hope you've been choosing your outfit. You didn't forget that tonight we were going out, right?" "Of course I didn't forget! Have you no faith in me?" "Just making sure." Farren coughed, "Dick," "I heard that," Derek said. "You were meant to." "Come now," I said, gently nudging Derek toward the door, "you should get cleaned up. If I have to get prettied up, so do you." "Yeah, yeah. I'll stop by your room at five to get you." With that, he walked down the hall and into his room.

"Is it just me, or is he nervous?" Spencer said once Derek's door closed. "He's got excellent hearing y'know. He could come in and kill you." "Sure, but I mean it. Is he nervous?" Spencer was asking me directly. Damn him for putting me on the spot. "Wouldn't you be?" "I don't know." "Then shut up." Spencer snickered before Farren knocked the breath out of him. "Aaden, you and Derek go have a good time. It's two-thirty, you need to shower and get ready. In the meantime, I'm going to teach Spencer the rules of etiquette." I laughed as I left, because Spencer suddenly looked panicked. Serves you right.

When I got to my room, I nervously laid the dress out and sat my heels beside my bed. I almost craved the warm water from the shower. Quickly, I shaved and washed my hair and skin and hopped out. I needed to blow dry my hair, which was something I hardly ever did, but I didn't want straight, wet hair on our date.

When my dark hair was blow dried and sat in soft waves down my back and shoulders, reaching all the way almost to my hips, I brushed my teeth so I could begin applying makeup. I wasn't going to overdo this, but it felt pointless to dress up and not put on any. I selected a soft lavender to match the muted purple hue of my eyes and used white to outline it. Carefully, I drew lines on my lids in black and generously applied mascara. After rubbing a soft pink blush into my cheeks, I took my favorite lipstick and applied it also. Generally, mauve would be a challenging color to try to use, but it suited the occasion. When I looked at the clock in my room, I was shocked to see that it was three forty five. My heart jumped upon realizing that in just a little over an hour, Derek and I would be alone together.

It wasn't close enough time to get dressed in date clothes, so I began picking out jewelry. I chose a diamond stud for my nose, and then matching studs and white gold hoops for my ears. I chose a simple silver chain necklace and matching bracelet, but left off the ring. I never wore it anyway. I hurried and put in my nose ring and the two sets in my ears, but saved the bracelet and necklace for when it was time to go.

Thankfully, time passed quickly. I was just finishing up spraying on my perfume when I heard a knock at my door. I sensed Derek, and grew nervous again, and attempted to pull down the dress a tad more around my thighs. I took a deep breath, and walked forward, gently opening the door. I heard Derek's breath leave him and I looked up to him, and I felt the same way. He was wearing his jacket, of course, but his shirt was a bright blue. I had hardly ever seen him wear another color but white, gray or black, so I really liked this shirt. He had paired it all with black jeans and combat boots. I smiled after my assessment. "So, I guess that means you aren't disappointed." He smiled slyly. "Evidently. I really like that shirt." "I have no clue as to why I have one this bright, but I'll keep it if you like it so much."

I felt so special. It was so simple, but just knowing that he would keep an unimportant inanimate object just because I liked it, well, the feeling just couldn't be compared to anything. "As for you," he said, breaking my thoughts, "you're absolutely stunning. You might like my shirt, but I love that dress." I blushed then, and from the way he was looking at me, it suddenly felt REALLY short. "Farren gave it to me. It's kind of revealing." I didn't want to sound like I was complaining, because I wasn't trying to. "I know, that's why I like it so much." He said, offering his arm then. I had no idea why I'd applied blush earlier, all I had to do was wait for Derek to say something.

Derek drove us to the far side of town, to a very nice, expensive looking restaurant. I was nervous about this. I couldn't stop him from taking me wherever he wanted to go, but I wasn't big on the idea of him doing this. Regardless, I kept the thoughts to myself, because they would only be feeble attempts to sway him. He opened my door and offered me his hand, which I took gratefully. I didn't trust these high heels to keep me standing long. Apparently, Derek had come here a lot, because the man at the counter knew him by name. "Ah, Mr. Hale! How very nice to see you again, it's been a while! Would you like the usual spot?" The guy who spoke had a very light Greek accent. He had a very open, kind face and cheerful eyes. "Yes, Rainer, I would. Thank you." Derek said, and gently nudged me forward, leading me by his hand on the small of my back.

The table that Rainer led us to was a breath taker. He showed us to the stairs and Derek and I walked up them. There was a single room with a single table there, covered in a satin red tablecloth. One wall was only a huge floor-to-ceiling window, and the view showed the town, but surrounded by nature itself. It took my breath away, and I walked forward in instinct, touching the glass. It was raining now, something I hadn't noticed until that second. It had been on its way to raining when we left, and I was thankful it had waited until now. "Gorgeous, isn't it?" Derek's low voice was right beside my ear. My skin prickled as his warm breath rushed over my shoulder. "Yes," I said, fighting the urge to close my eyes, "how did you get this place?" "Influence," he said, putting a hand on my hip and turning me to lead me to the table. He pulled out my chair and when I sat, he pushed it in and then took a seat in front of me. "Influence, eh?" "Yeah, the Hale line is respected, not just for the werewolf thing in the supernatural world, but the human side of us. My mother was a very respected individual."

"Oh yeah? Go on."

**Hey guys! Here's Chapter 15 FINALLY! I apologize again for it taking so long. Caring for my cousin has made me question my thoughts on having kids :P Haha, anyway I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and I thank you for your patience! I will do my best to have Chapter 16 up very soon!**