Chapter 18

~Derek POV~

"HURRY THE FUCK UP!" My grip on the psycho bitch was beginning to weaken. She seemed to think this was a game, and that pissed me off, but I couldn't slaughter her like I wanted to. Although she was insane, she would aid our fight. Instead, I slammed her onto the ground and pinned her. Normal vampires would have bared their fangs and attempted to rip the flesh from my arms, chest or wherever the hell else they could have landed their teeth, but Angelica didn't move again. Alternatively, she began singing a creepy rendition of "Ring Around the Rosie", and swayed slowly to the words. I felt the hair of the back of my neck stand up. "If somebody does not get their ass down here now and tie her up, I swear to-" "All right!" Vlad and Jared came briskly into the room, holding chains and silver laced rope. The silver lining would be enough to contain her, but not kill her. Maybe. If she didn't quit attacking people and singing that annoying song, I'd kill her for sure. There was no way I was keeping around a crazed, unexpectedly ambitious blood drinker when I had Aaden to worry about. If she couldn't be tamed, or at least watched around the clock, I'd ease our stress levels and choke her ass with a silver chain, and enjoy it.

It was stupid that I got creeped out by something as simple as a spastic vampire, but I was all too happy to hand her over to Vlad. I grabbed Jared's arm, "You watch yourself, do you hear me?" Jared nodded, bowing his head slightly in submission. Sure, I wasn't the kid's dad, but I WAS his Alpha, and knowing one of my younger wolves would be helping handle her made me nervous. My pack was still small for my status, but I could only handle so many during a full moon when I was struggling to keep things together myself. One wrong move, one moment of blurred concentration, and it would end badly for Aaden, or Spencer.

On my way back up the stairs, I met with Farren. "Is Angelica restrained?" Farren's business-like manner kept her calm, I could tell. The white gauze over her neck was bloodstained, but as we all knew, she'd be completely healed within the day. "Yes, or at least, she is being restrained. Jared and Vlad are taking care of her as we speak." "Good, wouldn't want another…incident." She said, her eyes flickering towards Spencer, who had just found his way into the hallway, before coming back to mine. "I'd kill her first." I promised. A slight smile formed on her lips and she nodded and began walking again.

I found myself hurrying up the last of the stairs, eager to make sure Aaden was safe. I sensed her warmth coming from the balcony, and her scent was strong. It was as if she'd bathed in rain, with the very slightest hint of apple blossom. I quietly went to the door, for I didn't want to disturb her, but in all honesty, I wanted to look over her without her noticing. She sat on one of the lawn chairs, her legs crossed and her hands folded in her lap. She had changed from the dress she'd worn on our date to a worn-out pair of bleached jeans and an oversized, plain black t-shirt. Normally, any girl dressed like this would immediately be discarded from my interest, but on her, it was sexy.

As if she smelled me, her gaze shot straight to me. I continued to be in awe of how much her wolf fought to emerge from her human shell. It was almost scary sometimes, but in a thrilling way. "How long have you been there?" she asked. "Couple of minutes." "Why didn't you say anything?" I shrugged, "Enjoying the view." She scoffed, and looked back out into the night sky. My eyes went red, and it became clear as day, and light burst from her. As I stepped nearer her, I let my wolf vision fade, and her angst hit me. I sat down across from her, pulling her chair closer to me.

"All right," I said, "let's talk."

~Aaden POV~

I hated how nervous Derek could make me. Whenever his eyes landed on me, it could reduce me down to almost nothing. I hoped that when I transformed into the Luna, it made me stronger than that. Even now, as he had pulled my chair closer effortlessly, butterflies pooled into my stomach. It also didn't help that he'd left his hands resting just above my knees. But, I pushed it aside, ignoring it as best I could so I could get on with my questions. Why in the hell had Farren been bleeding? Why did we have a serial killer's worst nightmare as a new roommate? And why in God's green Earth had she taken a bite out of Farren? "I understand," he began, "that most of your confusion is stemming from Farren's wound. Is that what you want to start with?" "Preferably," I said, "but first off, why do we have a vampiric cannibal here?" "She's about twelve million feet deep on the crazy side, in case you failed to notice." "The most oblivious and daft idiot could have noted that, Derek. That doesn't answer my question." I said irritably. His amusement drifted to me in cloudy waves. "She's in alliance." "Did she make that decision? Or did someone make it for her? If that's the case, they are about seven hundred miles off of their rocker." He cracked a smile at that, easing the tension I felt growing in the pit of my belly. "She, in her own creative way, contacted us. I believe her words were 'I'll help you set the poor little doggies free'." "'Doggies'?"

He raised an eyebrow playfully at me. Without much thought, he leaned forward, his hands sliding farther up my thighs, and he looked me in the eye. "Farren will be okay," he said, his eyes filled with earnest truth. "Why was she bleeding?"

"Farren is half human." He said, waiting for my reaction. "I didn't even know that was possible." "Supposedly, it's not. Lorcan Kern always finds a way to bend the rules." He growled, his claws extending slightly, scratching the denim of my jeans, but not tearing them. "Meaning?" "Let's not go into detail there. Back to Farren." His claws disappeared, but his hands lay in my lap still, and I bravely decided to take one in my own. He didn't snatch his hand from me, but surprised me by entwining our fingers. His strength poured into me, giving me a connection to him. "Farren's mother was human. She was an unwilling participant in getting Farren here." My head shot up. "The Vampire King raped her human mother?! How in the hell did she survive that?" What a bastard this guy was. "It's not as if her feeble attempts could have stopped him anyway, Aaden." "Move on before I get really pissed off please."

"Well, to the King, Farren was just an experiment. Once he had what he wanted, AKA the day of Farren's birth, he colored the walls with her mother's blood." I felt like I was going to be sick. I felt my face flush in anger and nausea. Derek's hand pressed against my cheek, bringing my eyes back to his. "Farren was never treated right, as you could guess. She grew weary of watching the friends she made out of werewolves get stomped on. Our kind is not well treated in this world." I could see real pain flash in his gray-green eyes. "I know," I said, not able to stop myself from pressing a kiss into his palm. "No, Aaden, you really don't. It's the main obstacle that has stopped me from biting you here and now. This war, it's crucial to our survival by this point. If I turn you, this will be your life. The only way it can get better is if we win." The heaviness of his withholding the decision suddenly fell onto me. He was letting me taste his anguish, yet pure need, of turning me. And a want like no other filled me.

I wanted him to bite me. Right now.

"Do it." I said. He looked up at me in confusion. "Bite me, Derek. It's too fast, I know, but the only life I can live is the one with you in it. If I feel it like this, what must you be feeling?"

His eyes went blood red, and his fangs grew, the venom for his bite dripped from them. My skin felt tingly, and my heart beat out of my chest. I felt my breathing quicken, and I heard his pick up as well. He leaned forward, his lips gently scraping my ear, before trailing down my neck to my shoulder, where I felt the tips of his fangs press into my skin. Never had I understood the power of drug addiction, but if it was anything like this, how did people ever give it up? Suddenly, he spoke, "You would do this? Without even thinking about it again?" "Yes," I sighed. I both heard and felt the deep growl building up in his chest.

But just when I prepared myself for the breaking of my skin, he stopped, pulling back in his fangs and he kissed the curve of my shoulder. "Not yet." He said. A part of me died inside. "Then why the hell did you tease me like that?" "I wanted to see if you really meant it, but Aaden, it's too soon." "Too soon? How could it be too soon? The King and his army are marching down our necks, we're recruiting teenagers and asylum escapees for fucks sake!" His eyes went red again and he stood over me, pinning me down with them. "We're doing what we can to survive and build our own army!" "Then why are you hesitating to put in one of your best players?!" I yelled, standing myself. He growled angrily. "Tell me why." I said, "Why do this? I could be better, stronger, and more apt for this situation." He turned away from me, defeat seeming to seep into his shoulders. "Because, I won't stand back and let wrong be done to you when it's out of my control. If a time were to come when you could be hurt, it's going to be when I can kill each and every responsible being."

And with those words, he walked through the balcony doors and disappeared into the shadows.