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

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Pictures of You

“Crazy? It’s okay. It’s quite a story you have there, but I believe you. If I were you I would want to know what had happened to my brothers.”

“But wait...why did you break down the front door?”

“Oh, sorry about that. I thought I heard screaming from inside, and I was worried you were in danger. Although now I realize that you were only scared of me,” he said good-humouredly, and I cracked a slightly-hesitant smile. My mind was beginning to race as it occurred to me that he hadn’t brought up anything about his brothers being werewolves. He must not know. So how do I explain to him how Ethan and Aiden died?

“I guess so.” 

“Well now that I’m here...do you mind telling me how you knew my brothers?”

             Christian and I talked for about an hour; once we’d moved past the topic of Ethan and Aiden, I found myself telling him a little about my life, and about Derek and my pregnancy and an abridged-version of what the pack was like. Gracie had gone upstairs after hearing that Christian wasn’t a predator, and now that it was nearing midnight, I’d sent Christian home with a promise that I’d visit his brothers’ graves for him on holidays and their birthdays, when he couldn’t.

“And maybe we’ll run into each other there sometime,” he’d said before he’d left, driving down the road in his black Ford Fiesta. After the strange but pleasant turn the night had taken, I was even more exhausted than I’d been earlier, and I retired to bed almost immediately.

                The next two days passed without any more surprise visitors or unprecedented incidents. Gracie and I went shopping after school on Thursday for a Valentine’s Day present for Derek, and then went out to eat afterwards. For the first time, Gracie had to spend the night at the apartment, because she had some big presentation the next morning, so I prepared myself to be in the huge house by myself that night. It was already pretty late by the time we finished dinner, so I changed into sweatpants and got into bed with my Pre-Calculus homework, turning on the CW as background noise. Derek had texted me earlier, telling me that the bonding trip was going really well and that they would probably stay through the weekend. I’d told him not to worry about me, that everything was fine, and that I would see him on Monday. In truth, however, the empty house was starting to make me lonely, and it was only my first night alone.

“So how are you feeling? I mean you are a...werewolf now, aren’t you?” 

“I-I’m sorry, I just...I don’t want this, Aiden. I don’t want to be a werewolf!”

“I know. I remember you telling me that, ages ago.” 

“You do?” 

“Sure. You were incredibly serious about it, and to be honest, it took me by surprise. A human like you, so integrated into the world of the supernatural...I would’ve thought that’d be your dying wish.”

             The memory of when I’d run over to Aiden’s apartment to take refuge when Derek and I had gotten into a huge fight about me being a werewolf trickled through my mind. At the time, I’d thought Derek had turned me, but now I knew that it had been Aiden. That conversation must’ve been so hard for him. Aiden had understood my wishes, and yet he’d still turned me rather than see me die. A small part of me wanted to be angry, and hurt, and feel betrayed, but the other, stronger part knew that none of it mattered anymore. Aiden was just doing what was best for me. But when he saw how it wreaked havoc on my life, he found a way to undo it. He sacrificed his life to undo it.