Derek's POV
Scott was about as good as a limp fish as I helped him into the back of my car, Lillian quietly getting in the passenger's seat without a word or even a glance at me. Whatever had happened between her and Scott, however it happened, it rattled the hell out of her, but I still couldn't shake the dread I felt when she showed up in the dark like that. After I begged her to stay in the car and she said she would. I'd never begged for a thing in my life before her. I'd never cared enough.
The drive back to Scott's was next to silent, but Lillian's heartbeat nagged me as I fought to keep my breathing under control. Hers was fast. Way too fast. I stole a glance or two in her direction only to find her staring blankly out the car window.
It was minutes before anyone spoke, and it wasn't until after Lillian's phone rang.
"Who is it?" I demanded, too unhinged to check my tone.
She looked at me, her eyes holding that horrific blankness that made my insides clench, as she picked up the phone. "Stiles."
"Lillian! My dad found another body! Where is Scott, did you find him?!"
Stiles' words changed Lillian's expression, but it wasn't something that I was as happy about as I thought I would be. I wanted something other than that bleak, empty look, but the horror that replaced it was not what I wanted, either.
"Derek and I are driving him home right now, he's safe."
"Stiles, whose body?" I asked sharply.
"I don't know yet," Stiles said back. "Someone has to ID him and the medical examiner needs to look at the body. We'll know probably tomorrow. I'm sure glad you guys found Scott. I was worried for a second."
"Stiles!" Scott yelled from the back seat. "I would never kill someone!"
"Says the guy who nearly ripped his hand off trying to escape tonight because his bloodlust was so intense!" Stiles snarked back, and Lillian sighed tightly.
"We know it wasn't Scott who killed him, and it wasn't Derek, so it must've been the Alpha," Lillian reasoned. "We've seriously got to do something about them, this is getting totally out of hand. Even one death is too many, and how many is this now? At least three?"
I grimaced, going through everything I'd learned about the Alpha. Whoever killed Laura had become the Alpha, but I still had no idea who that was. The image of her body ripped in two came flooding back and I gripped the steering wheel tightly. The thought of finding the person responsible and ending them... it was oddly comforting.
"We'll find him," I vowed.
*
When we got to Scott's house, thankfully, his mother wasn't home. It made hauling Scott up the stairs and into his bedroom much easier, considering I had to practically carry him, Lillian lagging behind us.
Scott groaned from beside me and I helped him down onto his bed. "Derek..." he muttered, wincing. "I can't do this. I can't be this, or even be involved in this and be with Allison."
I frowned at the tone in his voice, the desperation and the despair in it. Lillian looked much the same next to me.
Scott looked up at me, his eyes dark and pleading. "I need you to tell me the truth. Is there a cure?"
Lillian turned to me, eyebrows raised.
I sighed, for a moment actually caring about whether my answer crushed Scott's spirit or not. I realised I didn't want to do that. But I knew my answer might, anyway.
"No."
Scott's disappointment was palpable. "I can't do this," he repeated. "I can't. I wish this never freaking happened to me. I'll never be normal, I'll never be able to live without looking over my shoulder my whole life, with my freaking girlfriend's family trying to kill me!"
Before the burden to comfort him fell on me, Lillian stepped forward. "Scott," she said. "Don't be ridiculous. Of course you can live a normal life. Look at Derek! You would never really know what he was unless he told you."
"Are you kidding?!" Scott snapped. "How did you end up tangled up in this mess, then, huh? You found out about him, too! And you broke up with him over it!"
Lillian narrowed her eyes. "Are we still broken up, Scott?"
Despite the situation, I allowed myself the briefest smirk.
"You know what," Lillian went on. "That isn't even the point, Scott! You don't have to be like 'this,' or whatever your problem is with yourself right now. Derek could've helped you not be a goddamn lunatic tonight, but you wouldn't let him help you! This is not 'it' for you! You don't have to accept this inevitability of being a violent werewolf. You don't have to kill people, you don't have to be aggressive, or violent. Derek is a werewolf and he was perfectly in control tonight, running around trying to save you from yourself! Stiles tried to help you, and good on him, but he has no idea what he's doing. Derek does. And you know what, Scott? If you'd let me, I could help you, too."
Scott stared at Lillian for a moment, but she didn't turn away. She met his gaze with ferocity.
"She's right, Scott," I murmured. "I know you don't like me, but I can help you. As much as you might think I want to see you suffer, I wouldn't mind helping you stop being crazy, because the sooner you get your shit under control, the sooner you stop being a pain in my ass."
"Have you guys forgotten that Allison's entire family hunts werewolves?!" Scott barked, indignance lighting his eyes as he tossed my offer aside. "No amount of me chilling out is going to help with that!"
"You don't know that," Lillian snapped back. "They don't even know who you are, do they? They only know about Derek."
"Not yet, anyway," Scott mumbled.
Lillian rolled her eyes. "Look, Scott, I know you're pissed, and you don't want to be in this situation, but you are. I'm not about to let you mope for the rest of your life about something that you can't control, without doing the things you can control to help yourself."
Warmth filled my chest at her words as the room fell silent. I couldn't stop the swell of gratefulness I felt for her as I looked at her, and I didn't want to.
"So, what are we going to do about the Alpha?" Scott asked quietly.
"I doubt he's going to make any more moves tonight, I think we can take the night to think about it. I for one am going to go over what Laura found before she died; whoever killed her might have been who she was closing in on, or at least looking into. I say we start there."
Lillian nodded. "All right. But there's not much we can do right now, so we should all try to get some sleep."
"I'll try," Scott said under his breath.
"Are you going to be okay here for the night?" I asked begrudgingly. Showing interest in this kid and his health and wellbeing was not as easy as Lillian made it look.
Scott nodded. "Okay, good. We'll keep you updated if we figure anything out," I promised, and I actually meant it.
*
Lillian was quiet again on the drive back to her house. In the silence I went over the events of the night in my mind, and again with painful clarity came the dread I felt when she leapt out of the car and into harm's way when she said she wouldn't. I tried to keep myself in check as we went up to the loft. I even managed to keep my mouth shut until after I'd showered and seriously tried to calm down.
But after about fifteen minutes, I couldn't hold it in anymore, when Lillian looked at me as I left the bathroom, and asked, "What?"
I sighed, sitting down on the bed. "I feel like now's not the time to get into this."
"Is this about me stopping Scott?" she asked, walking over to the other side of the bed after she'd pulled on her pyjama shirt.
"Yes, obviously. You said you were going to stay in the car."
"I said I would try," she said back, sitting on the bed next to me, cross-legged. "Trying is not the same as 'I will.'"
I rolled my eyes. "I don't think you understand, Scott could have killed you. Which is why I told you to stay in the car tonight. I begged you, even. I don't beg, but I did because I thought I needed to to keep you safe."
"Derek, I don't think you understand. Scott was acting like he was going to kill you. How can you expect me to sit around and watch that when you and I both know I could do something to stop him? I am not going to stand around and watch you almost die, not again."
"Tonight was not the time to test your powers or prove to me you can protect yourself, the stakes are way too high."
"You're being ridiculous," Lillian scoffed. "You know it's not about proving anything. I thought Scott might kill you, I stopped him. End of story. I'm not going to apologise for saving your life."
"I could've handled Scott myself," I insisted. "Seeing you at the top of that hill... it completely blew my concentration. If you had just stayed in the car, things would have been fine."
"You don't know that," she said quietly. "I don't understand what your issue is with my being useful, or helping you."
I clenched my jaw, letting my gaze rest on her. Her perfect skin glowed in the light of the little fairy lights she had strung around her bed frame, and her eyes reflected the warmth of them beautifully. My anger faltered, the fear I'd felt earlier creeping back like frost over my back. "It's not that I can't handle you being useful, I promise you it's not that."
"Then what is it?"
"I told you this earlier, but I can't handle you getting hurt, okay?" I hissed. "Happy? It doesn't matter how helpful and useful and perfect you are, I'm always going to want you away from the danger, because I love you, Lillian. You are the most important person in my life and if you die..." I blocked out the thought, the ice in that idea taking hold of my heart. "I can't let that happen. I'm trying to protect you, what's so wrong with just letting me?"
Lillian looked at me with those eyes that always saw right through me, and sighed. "Derek... you need to let me protect you, too. It's not a death sentence for me to engage with werewolves, not with these powers I have. You have to let me use them, because they're never going to not be useful. I can't promise you I'll ever sideline myself if there's a chance that I can help you, and I'm sorry for letting you think I ever would. I love you too much to not try everything. Please, just... try to be okay with me helping you. As powerful and capable as you are, I have a skill set you don't, and you and I both know it's useful. So just let me be useful, okay?"
She was right. I knew she was. But I couldn't stop seeing everything that could've happened to her tonight. Getting slashed to pieces by Scott, having to watch her bleed out... I felt like I would vomit just at the thought of it. I couldn't shake it. I rubbed my face, sighing deeply, before meeting her gaze again. "Fine. I'll try."
A/N: Hello everyone, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know lots of you have been eagerly awaiting new content of this book.
I am planning to continue this story, even if I go longer periods than I used to without updating. I'm in my third year of university now, and things are very busy. I also will admit I'm lacking motivation to write this book like I haven't experienced before. But, knowing people enjoy this story and want me to keep writing helps a lot. I love reading all your comments and thoughts on it.
So, the TLDR is: I do intend to finish this book, I'm just busy and less motivated these days and writing is sometimes really hard. However, I appreciate all your comments immensely!
Let me know what you thought of this chapter!
- TAAF_