𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐋, derek hale

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

It was now relatively dark, the odd lamppost lighting up the deserted back roads the car sped down.

Unable to hold her tongue, Aspen huffed. "Der, slow down, you're not in the Nascar races, believe it or not." She insisted firmly, hand reaching out to hold his outstretched bicep.

Her fingers wrapped snugly around the muscle that was constricted by his cotton t-shirt. As soon as her touch made contact with him, Derek's tight grip slackened.

Glancing towards the beautiful brunette in the passenger seat, Derek hesitated before easing his foot off the pedal.

He nodded at Aspen, a silent apology which she accepted with what she assumed was a smile but ended up looking more like a grimace.

Calming him down, soothing him; it seemed to be a talent of hers. It always had been.

It seemed no matter how consumed by anger he was or overwhelmed by grief, she would forever pull him from the cliff edge.

Even when they'd been love-sick teens, Aspen had always had some sort of hold on him and his wolf.

As soon as he'd laid eyes on the brunette in the hall, rejecting a renowned bully for asking her out on a date and laughing at the audacity in his face (as he frequently targeted her cello playing sister Paige), he'd been drawn to her.

She was so full of a light it was overwhelming, around her, even he, felt like a better person. She brought out the good in him, but she also brought out the beast.

Aspen could be warm-hearted and protective of her loved ones, but she could also be hot-headed and fiery- a consequence from the bite.

Lycanthropy had intensified the darker side of her and when Isla Talia Hale had been born, Aspen found herself incredibly protective of her daughter.

As her fingers fell from his bicep, Derek's attention was now on the road, with the werewolf driving at a much safer pace, just over the speed limit.

Aspen drummed her fingers against her jean clad thighs.

It was a nervous habit of hers, she'd done it as long as she could remember.

Her stomach was churning uncomfortably at the thought of going to Beacon Hills again, the thought of her daughter being in Beacon Hills...

Beacon Hills was a graveyard for Aspen.

The small town had brought her many tears and tragedies over the years she'd spent there.

After the Hale house had burnt down with eight residents inside- adults and children alike, Aspen had eagerly left the town with Derek and Laura, who had naturally become Alpha from the death of Talia, what with her being the eldest daughter.

Aspen would never forget when the three had arrived home from a late night study group at school. Laura had been laughing at something Derek had crumbled while he reluctantly gave Aspen a piggyback.

Before they'd spotted the frame of the house burnt down to cinders, Aspen had finally felt things were getting back to normal.

The death of her sister had devastated her, it had ruined her.

Her sister had been the only family she had, the two of them had a tight knit bond, so losing her little sister had been like losing a limb.

If it hadn't been for Derek, Aspen wasn't quite sure if she'd have ever escaped her grief.

She'd always been honest about her rough upbringing, especially to Derek. Neither Aspen nor her sister Paige had the best of starts in their lives.