Never Let Me Go (Derek Hale Fanfiction Book #3)

Chapter Thirty-Five: All My Children

          “Will you wait up, please? Even Axel isn’t this much of a hardass,” I groaned breathlessly, my calves aching as I struggled to catch up to my husband, who was several yards ahead of me on the forest path. After banning me from training with Brooke and Axel for unexplained reasons, Derek had finally come up with a compromise and had offered to train me himself.  Unfortunately, I’d realized that training with Derek was a quite traumatic experience; even with my broken hand prohibiting anything like push-ups or pull-ups, just because I was his wife didn’t mean he was cutting me any slack. We ran hard and for much longer periods of time than I would’ve liked; we sparred in the basement; we lifted in the home gym; and more than anything, we bonded over our mutual determination to protect ourselves from all of the supernatural predators we had and would encounter in Beacon Hills.

         For the first time in our entire relationship, I felt equal to Derek. Even when I’d been a werewolf, he’d been an Alpha. We’d never been on the same playing field, until now, and I was starting to realize just how nice it was to see Derek short of breath from running, the pink tinges in his cheeks adorably bright. Derek was still in much better shape than I was, but it was good enough for me.

He stilled, waiting until I stumbled over to where he was and collapsed onto the dirt, rolling onto my back and flinging my hands above my head.

“That sucked ass.”

“It’s running - it’s supposed to suck ass,” Derek reminded me smugly as he folded his legs underneath him and sat next to me.

“Yeah but like, that really sucked ass. I think my body is rejecting exercise,” I gasped, turning to press my cheek against the crushed leaves so that I could move my gaze to Derek’s face.

The apples of his cheeks were beginning to redden, and I watched avidly as a single bead of sweat made it’s way from under his hairline, over his defined cheekbone, and soaked into the dark stubble that coated his jaw. His glistening biceps, on display in his gray sleeveless workout shirt, were shining underneath the sunlight that peeked through the trees above us, sweat sleek and slippery where it coated his skin. I’d seen Derek sweat before, but it had never looked so...human, and that very thought brought a curl to the corners of my parched lips. The slight smirk blew into a full-on grin when Derek chuckled, his green eyes sparkling with golden flecks when they turned to side-glance at me.

“Are you crazy? What have you been doing out here with Brooke and Axel every day?”

“Mostly hiding in the bushes trying to channel my inner athlete...it hasn’t been working out so well,” I joked, but Derek’s expression quickly grew solemn as he spread his hands out behind his body, propping himself up as he fell silent. 

   “Have you decided what you’re going to do about-?” he finally said, stopping suddenly as his gaze flew to my face. I nibbled on my bottom lip, dragging my torso up with a frustrated groan and crossing my legs as I reluctantly dredged up an answer that neither one of us wanted to hear.

“Michigan State? No, I haven’t yet.”

“Have you talked to Ms. Trabil?” 

“Yeah...she thinks it would be a huge mistake for me to pass this up.”

Derek shifted slightly, one of his hands falling onto my knee as he bent to look further into my eyes.

“What is it that you really want? Because NYU is your dream school, and you got in, so...but on the other hand, playing basketball in college is a big deal. It could be...life-changing for you. For us. For our family.”