Heartbeat // A Derek Hale Love Story (Teen Wolf)

Not That Bad

"You're probably right about that," Derek agreed.

Randomly telling Ophelia what to do was going to make me feel stupid, I just knew it. This discovery of what I was had the potential to completely alter my relationship with this animal, and maybe a lot of other relationships of mine. I didn't even want to get into how my powers interacted with my relationship with Derek. I'd already seen that my powers were for sure active in it, with the fact that I could feel his pain and tell him what to do like I did outside the police station. Part of me didn't want to know what else had been impacted.

Alright, I thought. I needed to get this show on the road, even if it made me feel like an idiot. Maybe just talking to her normally would work? Ugh. This was weird. Okay.

"Let's go," I said suddenly, ripping off the bandaid as I started walking deeper into the paddock, waiting for Ophelia to follow me.

"Hey!" Derek called. "That's not testing your powers, you already have her trained to do that!"

I rolled my eyes as I stopped moving, turning back around to glare at him. I opened my mouth to talk back but he was right, to really test what I could do I was going to have to do something different that I'd never done with her before. Or at least could try getting her to do things without saying them out loud, to see if she really could understand me. So instead of saying anything, I just thought "Come with me," and started walking again. I heard nothing other than the breeze for a few moments. Come with me, I thought again, focusing only on Ophelia. A moment later, the sound of my footsteps was joined by hoofbeats and I stopped, whipping back around. She was indeed following me with purpose, her ears forward and eyes focused. Whoa. That was pretty cool.

When she got to me she stopped and hung her head over my shoulder, nickering softly and I smirked. Wow. I didn't know why I was surprised that these supposed powers of mine were working, but it still seemed crazy that I could possess them. What else could I do? I wondered how far I could push this. Would I be able to somehow telepathically communicate with animals if I honed my skills well enough? Maybe I would find out someday. I glanced over my shoulder at Derek, his elbows resting on the edge of the fence, eyes fixed on Ophelia. I had an idea.

I could absolutely not contain my laughter when Ophelia suddenly left me and cantered over to him, tossing her head as she approached. She slid to a stop in front of him and nudged him with her face, snorting. Derek's eyes were wide but he laughed, patting her forehead.

"You're hilarious," he called, eyeing me from behind the grey horse.

"Oh, I know," I said. "But isn't that sick? I told her to do that in my mind and it freaking worked! Honestly I kinda thought this whole Schäferin thing was bullshit, but I think I'm on board now!"

"It's definitely legit, Lillian," he said back. "Maybe you still need to wrap your mind around the fact that there are more than just humans around."

I shrugged. "Could be." I summoned Ophelia back to me as I moved closer to the fence where Derek was. I felt a twinge of excitement at this newfound skill. If I was really able to ask anything of Ophelia... the sky was the limit. Would I be able to train her to protect me in dire situations? Horses could be extremely dangerous animals, but they usually had no interest in hurting people, most horse-related injuries were accidents. But... if Ophelia wanted to hurt someone, to protect me or Derek... Jeez. She could do some serious damage.

My gaze fell to those massive hooves and tried not to wince. I had a scar on my side from when Ophelia bit me back when we first got her and she thought all people were going to hurt her. Part of me didn't want to know what she was capable of at full strength and with a clear intention of hurting someone. Ice skittered down my spine as I touched Ophelia's muscular neck, and I knew in my bones I never wanted to find out what she was capable of unless I absolutely had to. Suddenly, there was a weight to the abilities I had that pressed in on my shoulders and chest. Responsibility. The understanding settled over me that I would never unleash Ophelia or any other animal unless my life depended on it. I couldn't in any kind of good conscience do anything different. I shuddered to think of what situations I'd have to be in for that to be a choice I had to make.