Chapter 9

Confrontation

Many things had happened since Derek arrived back in town. Learning about Scott McCall being made into a werewolf, encounters with the Argent family, his uncle coming out of his coma, the whole incident with the Kanima, and now the Alpha pack was in town.

And the deaths, so many deaths. Laura. Kate. Peter (for a time). Erica. And all those innocents and sacrifices. Derek could feel his world crumbling all around him. It seems no matter what he did, he failed. He failed Laura. He failed Scott. And now, he was failing his pack.

He didn't know where it all started going wrong. He had come back to Beacon Hills in search of Laura and Ashley. He had found his dead sister but after all this time, there was still no sign of Ashley.

The one good thing that came out of all of this was seeing his younger sister again. After years of believing Cora was dead, the Hale siblings were finally reunited. It was a bittersweet reunion though, with threats all around them.

Finding Cora also led him to meeting Jennifer Blake, the new English teacher at the high school. With all that was going on, Derek found solace in the beautiful and unassuming woman. Saving her felt like the one right thing that Derek had done. After his mistakes with the pack, he finally felt a little like the leader he imagined himself to be.

xXx

It was night and they were back in the loft.

Derek had just awakened and was talking with Jennifer.

From the beginning, the English teacher had already piqued his interest. She was such a fragile looking woman but there was a hidden strength to her that drew him in. She was unafraid of him even after discovering what he was. In fact, it was quite the opposite, she too, was drawn to him.

Derek gazed into her eyes filled with curiosity and a desire to help. She made him want to protect her. To be a man of courage and strength who protected the weak.

Derek swallowed and replied, "Everyone around me…"

Jennifer looked up at him and he could see the affection in her eyes. It made what he was about to say all the more harder.

"Everyone gets hurt." He said quickly but failing to hide his pain.

"I've been hurt before this" Jennifer looked at him unwaveringly.

"Not like this."

There was silence then Jennifer drew closer to Derek. Her heart race but she held his gaze, as if to assure him that everything was going to be alright. Then she moved her lips towards his and paused just inches away. With both their eyes closed, they gave in to their desires and kissed. Derek quickly pulled back. Again, there was silent tension before he started kissing her hungrily.

Jennifer could feel Derek lean into her and she did the same. She slid his hand up the back of his neck and they shared a passionate kiss.

Suddenly, Jennifer found herself pulled away from Derek and slammed across into the wall.

"Get off him you bitch!" An intruder had entered the room unexpectantly and began attacking the teacher.

Derek immediately took a defensive stance until he realized who it was.

"Ashley?" Derek looked startled and confused.

Ignoring him, Ashley Hale started screaming and hitting the surprised Jennifer.

"S–stop." Derek tried to stop the girl while attempting to understand what was happening. "Wh–Where have you been?"

He stepped in between the two girls to stop Ashley from further hurting Jennifer and grabbed Ashley by the wrist. The light from the streetlamp outside shone on her face and seeing her familiar face made him sentimental.

God! How he missed her!

Derek turned a glance at Jennifer and told her to go. She nodded, took her things and left.

Ashley started grumbling about not being done yet but couldn't do anything with Derek still holding her down.

Seeing her acting like usual, like she had not gone missing, irritated Derek somehow.

"Ashley, stop." He warned her with a serious tone.

However, the stubborn Hale would not be dissuaded. She struggled to break free from him causing the latter to bowl over in pain.

Immediately, Ashley stopped being angry and asked worriedly, "What's wrong? Are you ok?"

She tried to help him up but was pushed away.

"I'm fine."

Derek took a deep breath then stood straight up. Even in the dark, he towered over her.

"Where have you been Ashley?" He asked sternly.

"I–I can't tell you." She looked down in shame.

"Can't or won't?" The pain coupled by his rising anger made him sound harsher than he intended. "Do you know how worried we were? How we searched for you everywhere?"

"I'm–I'm sorry." Ashley stammered, taken aback by his anger.

"No, you're not." He scoffed. "Cause' if you were, you would have come back!"

His relief at seeing her was being replaced by resentment. He had spent all this time looking for her and she here she was, strolling in as if nothing had happened. He didn't know why but it was making him angry.

"Why are you even here tonight Ashley?!" He questioned her sharply.

"I'm–I'm just looking out for you. You know I promised Laura that I would look out for you."

"Stop using that as an excuse!"

"Please Derek, I'm just looking out for you, I don't want to see you hurt by that woman…"

"No, you're not, you do this every time I'm with a girl Ashley! You come in here acting like my girlfriend and you're not!"

His words hurt like a knife. Yet, despite the anger that was directed at her, Ashley pleaded that she was simply trying to stop him from getting hurt.

"ENOUGH!" He roared at her. "I know you're lying!"

Then Derek stepped towards Ashley until he was a hair's breadth away from her face.

"You forget. I'm a werewolf. I can hear your heartbeat. I can sense what you're feeling."

At this point, Derek was smoldering with anger.

"You're acting out of jealousy."

Ashley grew pale as his words hit home. For the longest time she had been hiding how she felt about Derek, especially because she knew he didn't feel the same way and that she didn't want to break their friendship.

"Well guess what, you have no right to be. We're not lovers and I have no such feelings for you whatsoever."

Derek spoke steadily and softly, but the rage was evident in his voice. All the hurt that had accumulated the past few months were suddenly being unleashed at her. He was angry at her for disappearing. He was angry at how it made him feel and act. Most of all, he was angry that she didn't look as affected as he had been. So out of spite, he wanted to hurt her as he was hurting.

"Get. Out."

The truth being spoken out loud now was like a million daggers through Ashley's heart. She shoved him away and ran out the door. With her feelings out in the open, she had never felt more vulnerable.

The exchanged caused Derek to gasped in pain at his wounds. He sat back down, immediately feeling ashamed of how he had lashed out in anger at Ashley. He shouldn't have hurt her like that. His one comfort was that he was finally able to make his feelings clear to Ashley.

He had always known how she felt but they both acted like there was nothing going on. Ashley because she knew it was one-sided. Derek because he didn't want to hurt her. Both not wanting to do anything to break their friendship.

But he knew he should have made it clear from the beginning, perhaps then it could have hurt her less. He had never seen her as a woman. What's more, Derek knew how Peter felt about Ashley. He couldn't betray his friend like that. Even an ex-friend.

Well now that he made it clear, it should stop Ashley from meddling further with his love affairs. As Derek continued to think about this, he felt a tinge of regret in his heart. If this was exactly what he wanted, why did he feel sad at the thought of never seeing Ashley again?