Note: This is a very emotional, tear-jerker type of chapter. In this chapter, we find out from Peter what really happened to Paige the night she died, and his involvement in it. I want to take a moment to clear some things up for you guys before jumping right into the story. I feel like if I don't there might be a lot of confusion and questions about ages in this story. In this story, Kate is around Derek's age. She might be a few years older but there is not a predatory age difference like in the show.
I'm not the best at math but I tried my best to make everyone's age believable in terms of Derek's family dying 15 years ago. I don't mention people's ages much in this story but I figured I would here, so that everyone knows the back story.
Derek and Paige started dating at age 14, there might be a few months difference but I made them the same age.
*Everyone's age when the Hale family was killed 15 years ago*
Derek 16
Peter 34
Sheriff 37
Derek's mom 32
Derek's dad 34-36
Stiles 3
Derek's younger brothers 8 and 10
*The ages of everyone now 15 years later*
Derek 31
Stiles 18
Peter 49
Sheriff 52
Derek's pack late 20's
I should also mention that this chapter goes back a bit in time. This chapter is focused on Peter and takes place when Derek was showing Stiles his special spot with Paige. So, while Derek was talking to Stiles in the woods, Peter is in the dungeon talking to Kate. The end of the last chapter with Stiles going down to the dungeon to see Derek is actually the current time. Sorry for any confusion, I know I keep jumping all over the place with these chaps. I really should have added this chapter after Peter finds out Stiles is pregnant at the pack meeting but I didn't think about it at the time, so unfortunately the chps are a bit out of order due to this. Hopefully, you guys can still follow along ok. If it's too confusing to follow let me know and I might just rearrange the chapters so that this scene/chp takes place before the prior one does.
"Well-well. If it isn't Kate Argent." Peter said with a smirk as he walked over to her cage.
She looked over at him in annoyance from the dirt floor where she was sitting. Kate's golden blonde hair was a tangled, dirty mess, and her feet were black from walking on the bare ground. Even her legs had dirt smudges on the sides due to the filthy quarters she was living in. The only clothing Kate was wearing was a plain black Moomoo gown that went down to her knees. She also had a black tattered, dirty cape laying underneath her in a form of a blanket.
"My-my, aren't we looking…" Peter paused, gesturing to Kate behind the bars, "Uhh, words fail me."
He came closer eyeing the woman's scarred face, "Geez, my sister really did a number on you, didn't she?" He said amused, eyeing the deep scars on her cheek.
"What do you want, Peter?" Kate snapped.
"Let me tell you a story."
"A story?" She repeated in disbelief.
"You remember Paige, right? The girl Derek rejected you for, that made you get so bent out of shape, that you started hunting werewolves?"
"Yes, I remember that naïve little girl. Didn't she die ages ago?"
"I'm getting to that. I think it's about time you hear what really went down that day. Derek and Paige got into a little lover's quarrel. You see, my nephew still wasn't quite over what you and the sheriff did to our family, murdering them in broad daylight."
"Should I have killed them at night instead?" Kate replied with a bit of amusement in her voice.
Peter narrowed his eyes, giving her a warning look before he continued. "I'm telling a story, don't interrupt me again. Now, where was I before I was rudely interrupted…Oh yes…the mourning. Derek was still mourning the loss of our family and Paige was hurt that he wasn't seeking comfort from her, and rather distancing himself. The girl never cared for me much either, I can't imagine why. I have been known to be quite charming."
Kate rolled her eyes but said nothing.
"Derek was always loyal to the family, to a fault, one might say. He could be easily manipulated too. I couldn't have Paige talking nonsense to my weakened nephew about not trusting his only living relative. So, I did what any threatened person would do, I guilted Derek into sticking with me and keeping Paige away, telling him how dangerous our life was and that it was no fit for a fragile human like her. He bought into it and before I knew it, he was putty in my hands, and they were fighting all the time. The poor girl never stood a chance." Peter said with a smirk on his lips.
(Fifteen years ago)
"Derek, why are you being like this? I love you." Paige voiced concern, trying to place a caring hand on his cheek, but the teen grabbed her hand before she could, and roughly pushed it away.
"How many times are you going to throw that in my face?! That doesn't fix anything, Paige, my family is gone!" Derek replied upset, and his body shook as he tried to control his emotions.
"I know that. I'm trying to be here for you Derek but you're making it impossible. It's your uncle, isn't it? I told you he is not a good man, Derek." She voiced irritated.
"He's my family! The only family I have left! I can't lose him! Don't you get that?! He's been there for me!" Derek stated angrily, feeling his eyes water.
"But you can lose me?" Paige questioned with hurt in her eyes.
"I…I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to," She replied, as a tear slid down her cheek, before taking off running down the field.
"Paige wait!" Derek called out, about to go after her, when he felt a pair of arms grip his shoulders stopping him in his place.
"No, don't. Let her cool off. She needs some time to herself." Peter voiced into his nephew's ear.
Derek turned to face him, with a look of worry and regret written all over his face.
"Uncle, you don't know the awful things I said to her. I have to fix this."
"Don't worry, nephew. She'll be back. If there is one thing I know about women, it's that they always come back." He replied with a comforting smile on his face, as he guided the teen back inside the manor.
Paige slid open the barn door and walked over to her favorite horse, Butterscotch, whom she had grown quite an attachment to over the past few months. She often visited the horse after her fights with Derek to soothe her concerns. She reached up and pet the brownish-red horse's coat, with tear-streaked cheeks and watery eyes.
"What am I going to do, girl?" She asked the horse.
The mare snorted in response and placed its long head down by the girl's shoulder in comfort.
A few moments went by as Paige rested her head against the horse, through closed eyes, and ran her hands through its soft mane, humming.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash causing the teen girl to jump in surprise, and the horse to let out a squeal.
She quickly turned towards the barn entrance and called out, "Hello, is someone there?!"
After calming the horse down and shutting the stall door, she walked down by the entrance to find the basket of horse supplies on the ground, scattered. Assuming it was the wind that did it, she bent down and picked everything up, before placing it back on the shelf.
Paige was just about to close the barn door when she noticed something that made her smile and wipe her tears away. There, by the basket she had just put back on the counter, was a single white rose and a note from Derek:
My Dearest Paige,
I'm sorry I blew up at you. You mean the world to me. I don't know what I would do without you. Please, say you will forgive me and meet me at our special spot.
Forever yours, Derek
Paige lit up at this, bringing the rose up to her nose to smell, as she smiled sweetly to herself.
(A few moments later)
Paige walked into the woods moving branches out of her way, and stepping cautiously over the rooted grounds as she made her way to their special spot.
The teen looked around but Derek was nowhere to be seen. She took a spot on the log and waited, thinking any minute her mate would come walking over with that cute, pitiful, puppy dog face she had grown to love over the years.
The daylight was fading away, making it darker. The woodland creatures started to come alive with crickets chirping and owls whoing. To make matters worse, the temperature had dropped quite a bit, causing Paige to rub her mostly bare arms, feeling the cold.
Suddenly, the sound of branches breaking filled the air.
"Derek?" Paige called out, a bit on edge.
No response.
"Derek, stop playing games. This isn't funny." She voiced glancing around her dark surroundings, not quite sure where the sound was coming from.
The bushes beside her started to move.
She jumped up from her seat and turned to face them as a wolf with dark brown fur and glowing blue eyes came out.
"Derek, is…is that you?" She asked scared.
The wolf growled angrily at the teen girl, taking a threatening step forward.
Paige gasped in horror, realizing it was not Derek, and slowly backed away before calling out for help.
The wolf growled loudly and lunged forward, causing the girl to scream out in terror and shield her face with her arms.
One paw full of razor-sharp claws swung across her arms with a powerful blow, causing the girl to fall back onto the forest floor and cry in pain. She grabbed at her wounded arms, trying to stop the bleeding.
The wolf came over and let out a wicked roar with drool dripping out the side of its mouth, falling onto the ground below.
Paige's watery eyes widen in terror, as they met with the devilish-looking blue eyes once more.
"Please, please don't." She sobbed.
"Please…" She started to say but was instantly cut off by the swing of a paw at her throat, slicing it in one swipe. Thick red blood oozed out as the girl gasped for breath before all became still.
The wolf slowly transformed back to human form, eyeing the deceased teen on the ground.
"It's nothing personal. Well, maybe it is." Peter voiced before walking over to the pond and bending down to wash the blood off his hands.
He looked around until he spotted the flower and letter he had written earlier. He chucked the white rose into the pond and grabbed the letter, placing it into his pocket.
Peter chuckled evilly as he left the woods and headed back into the manor to find his mopey nephew sitting nearby.
"Did you see her? Is she back yet?" Derek asked eager, hoping any minute Paige would appear, coming through the front door.
"No, I couldn't find her. She must have gone for a stroll to cool off, or maybe to a friend's cottage." Peter claimed as he walked further into the manor.
"Maybe I should just apologize to her. I don't want her running off thinking I hate her." Derek voiced worriedly, getting up from his seat.
"Nonsense, you need time to properly heal, and so does she. Come on, you need to eat something, it's dinner time."
"But, but…" Derek stressed, as his uncle grabbed the back of his shoulders guiding him into the dining room.
"No buts… time to eat, you need your strength. My sister would never forgive me if I let her only living son, fade away to nothing." Peter insisted.
Derek frowned but nodded in agreement and took a seat at the long table as the servants came out with food.
"What's for dinner? I'm famished," Peter said with a grin, placing his napkin in his lap.
(A few hours later)
Peter searched around the guest room where Paige was staying. He looked through the dresser drawers, going through clothes, and the hope trunk that sat at the end of the bed, before coming across a stack of love letters tied together with a pretty pink ribbon.
He hurried over to the desk with them, quickly untying them and opening one up, eyeing Paige's handwriting. He grabbed a pen and a fresh sheet of paper before getting to work, mimicking her writing. Once satisfied, he quickly re-tied the love letters and placed them back inside the trunk.
Derek walked into the room moments later.
"She's not back yet and it's getting late. I'm really worried. What are you doing up here in Paige's room?"
"One of the guards told me he thought he saw her come back to her room while we had supper. I came back here to check it out and found this laying on the bed." Peter said, handing Derek a folded-up sheet of paper.
The teen eagerly opened it up, reading it:
Dear Derek,
This is the hardest thing I've ever had to do but I think it's time I say goodbye. You're right, your uncle is family and I am not. I have no business interfering with your bond. It was selfish of me and I am ashamed. I should have known you needed all the family you had left and yet, I made it all about me. I was jealous and wrong. I'm sorry. I love you but I realized I cannot give you what you need, so I am leaving.
Goodbye, Paige.
Derek looked up from the note with tears in his eyes, "She's…she's gone."
He sat down on the bed, slumped over, deep in thought.
"What? That can't be right, not Paige. Let me see that." Peter mused, snatching the letter from Derek's grasp.
He looked it over and grinned, "Aww, that was sweet of her to say. Well, she admitted her wrongdoings and claims to still care for you, is that not enough?" He retorted, eyeing his upset nephew.
"Paige did nothing wrong. She loves me. She is my mate." Derek snapped, getting up from his spot.
"It was me who pushed her away. If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." He added sadly.
"Well, you learned a valuable lesson in this I suppose. I'm here if you ever need someone to lean on, nephew." Peter voiced coming over and laying a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Derek looked up meeting Peter's gaze with a determined look on his face. "I have to find her and make this right, I love her uncle."
Peter nodded and removed his hand, walking over to the window, and looking out into the night sky with a full moon.
"Well, you tried the house, the garden, the barn. Where else could she have gone?"
Derek perked up as a thought suddenly occurred to him, "I think I know where she is."
Peter turned around to face the teen, "Splendid, you go ahead and search. I'll hold down the fort and stay here in case she returns."
Peter waited until Derek was gone out of view, before taking the note he had made for Paige out of his pocket, and tossing it into the fireplace, watching intently as it burned away his secret.
Derek quickly made his way to the hidden sanctuary in the dark. A guard stood behind him as extra protection as the woods were not a safe place at night, especially on a full moon. The teen eagerly searched around calling out for Paige but there was no response.
Just as he was about to give up, his foot hit something solid on the ground. He looked down and saw the lifeless body of his mate. He sunk down to his knees; his bottom lip quivered as his eyes welled up with tears.
"Paige!" He quickly scooped the girl's cold body in his arms as he cried.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. Please, Paige. Don't leave me, please."
(Current time)
"I worked very hard to keep the Hale manor with its rightful owner. Derek thought Paige was his perfect mate. That girl was fragile and surely was going to be Derek's undoing. I couldn't risk him marrying that girl, my position was at risk, so I handled it. My nephew still thinks Paige ran off and got attacked by some random wolf." Peter said with a snicker before continuing, "And now, he has this new kid, Stiles. I need you to kill him for me."
"Why do you want the boy dead?" Kate asked curious.
"Derek isn't officially king here. He won't be until he has a son by his 35th birthday. The Hale well says, if he doesn't marry by twenty-five, or have a son by thirty-five, the estate and everyone in it goes to the older blood member, that would be me."
When he didn't get a response Peter glance over to Kate somewhat annoyed, "Are you following along, Sweetheart?"
"Yes. You would be king." She snapped.
"Exactly."
"Why don't you kill him yourself?" Kate asked annoyed.
"We both know I hate to get my hands dirty. Took me ages to get the flesh and blood out of my nails the last time." Peter replied smugly, lifting his hand full of claws up, eyeing it before retracting the nails and putting his hand down to his side.
"This all sounds great for you, but I can't help but wonder how I benefit from this."
"You kill the kid, and I'll free you from the cage."
Kate thought it over for a moment before asking, "And what is to stop me from just killing you?"
"You could try, or you could join me. Imagine the power you would have as my right hand. The status, the kills, the privilege."
"Okay, you have a deal."
"I knew you would see it my way."
"How am I supposed to kill him? I'm stuck in this cell and he's upstairs, guarded."
"Don't worry your mauled little self, I'll take care of the details." Peter teased, as Kate gave him a stern look.
"Use this." He added, sliding a dagger through the bars of the cage.