It was Peter who bit her simply on a whim, pretty much like Derek himself had scrounged his way to a pack last year. But Peter was never the one who saw true potential in Scott.
Yet, Derek always has. From the moment he laid eyes on her for himself. Though admittedly, he hadn’t held out much hope for the newly turned teen she wolf.
But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t noticed the signs.
Scott may be pretty clueless at times, in her own little world most of the time, when she isn’t in Stilinski’s anyway. She’s a typical bubbly and happy-go-lucky teenager. Though, what sets her apart from others is her consistency. She’s always there for her friends, even there for enemies if they ever let her. She’s compassionate, too kind and too trusting, even for a teen. But she has Stiles to balance her out, and Derek has always secretly watched over her, too.
She’s started to feel his eyes on her more. Even when he’s not there, we’ll, not really there with her, but secretly watching from afar where she can’t see him.
It’s another sign. The first of many in the beginning, but he doesn’t say a thing about it. Her senses, her strength, her status, it’s all been growing slowly but very steadily.
Growing up until this very moment...
The moment Derek watches Scott force just one step forward into the ring of mountain ash, he knows for sure. Knows she’s exactly what he thought she was.
A leader in the making.
Now, a True Alpha...
He just knows it. Feels it. Has never felt power like it, not even from his mother. And he’s seen a lot of crazy and fantastical things in his life, but this moment is something he knows to be so rare that it’s not even properly documented.
Derek’s own human green eyes widen in shock and awe as he watches Scott’s golden Beta eyes slowly bleeding into full bright reds.
Jennifer’s eyes are wide with fear, but mostly confused horror as she watches nervously on. She smirks when she sees the she wolf struggle.
Scott glares back up at Jennifer, grits her teeth and musters up all of her strength for that last little push–slow and steady wins the race, thanks Coach. As the magical barrier finally breaks, the surge of it sends Jennifer back onto her ass and the mountain ash ring around her to blow away.
Derek startles, eyes fully wide, smile tugging at his lips.
Meanwhile, Deucalion is staring with admiration at the young wolf–now knowing that whatever he did, he was never going to convince her to join his pack, because she was already more evolved than he could ever hope to be, even by trying to force his way to the top (and that has just turned out so very badly–he still owes Scott for his life...)
Derek ignores Jennifer’s frightened gasp and how she sputters out, “H-How did you do that??” He shuffles closer to Scott, feels like he’s being pulled and–wait...she’s my Alpha now, that’s what this feeling is... (It’s definitely not too different from the other kind of feelings she makes him feel...)
Scott takes a slow deep breath, closing her eyes as she does before opening them again and smiling faintly as she says, “I’m an Alpha now, Miss Blake.”
Jennifer blinks, looks halfway between outraged and petrified.
“My God...” Deucalion whispers a laugh, shakes his head, “You’re not just an Alpha, my dear...” He trails off, completely still awed, not knowing whether or not she knows what he’s even talking about, though, he knows Derek must, if the similar look on younger Beta’s face is anything to go by.
Scott doesn’t care about anything else other than her friends and the safety of her town right now. Although, the new surge of power she feels bubbling away in her, still trying to settle when she’s trying not to just give in to her wolf blood lust and kill this evil bitch, is really quite a fucking rush. But killing Miss Blake would be pointless, at least, not until Scott makes herself extremely clear here...
Derek watches Scott straighten her posture, watches her red eyes disappear and those dark chocolate brown pools of hers darken dangerously, and Derek swears he frigging shivers when his Alpha takes a single stalking step closer to Jennifer, who gasps and shuffles back along the ground on her pathetic ass.
Jennifer has already lost, so, as far as Scott is concerned, she doesn’t need to use her new Alpha eyes to scare this bitch. She simply crouches slowly down, hands resting on her bent knees, human eyes connecting to Jennifer’s, and tone, not threatening, just deadly serious when she says, “Whatever you’re doing to cause this storm–you’re gonna make it stop, right now, or I’m gonna kill you, right now, right here, very slowly, myself, and with my friends and my parents on the line right now, I really don’t care what colour killing your evil ass will turn my eyes.”
“Scott–“ Deucalion isn’t exactly afraid of Scott, but instinct kicks in when she throws a stern glance over her shoulder at him and he quickly lowers his eyes from hers.
Derek arches a brow, smirks to himself at seeing the so-called great Alpha of Alphas submitting to the new Teen Alpha. Even if she is the special kind. Status means a lot to their kind, born, especially.
Deucalion gulps, takes a deep breath and slowly lifts his gaze back to hers. “I mean; ‘Alpha’, of course.”
He gives a courteous nod, and Scott wrinkles her nose lamely as Jennifer scoffs loudly and snips, “Are you fucking serious right now?”
Derek sends a little snarl her way, warning her to keep her mouth shut.
Jennifer merely gives a bored roll of her eyes and dusts her hands off.
“Don’t call me that. I’m not like you.” Scott rises to her feet, takes a smirking Jennifer by the elbow and roughly drags her up to stand as well. She drops the smirk and glares just as Scott smirks smugly back at her.
Jennifer may have underestimated Scott. And she still hates her just like she hates the others, Derek included, but she still has to admit Scott isn’t as stupid as she seems. And Jennifer really does enjoy rubbing it in Deucalion’s face, how Scott, and even Derek refused to join his pathetic little cult of Alphas. She’s glad she put a stop to that load of crap finally.
Deucalion nods. “Of course.”
Scott breathes deep to keep calm, then, shoves Jennifer lightly against the podium just behind her. Scott lets her hand slip from Jennifer’s elbow, but places her hand on Jennifer’s throat. She glares at the older woman, but is still calm when she asks, “So, are you gonna be the reason my eyes change colour again today?”
Jennifer’s eyes narrow back into a challenging glare. For literally all of five seconds, because when she really looks into Scott’s brown eyes, for the first time ever, they don’t look as innocent or understanding as they usually do.
Deucalion steps up beside the two of them, smiles sweetly, almost pleadingly at Scott when he says, “Now, now, you’ve only just earned those pretty red eyes. Allow me?”
Scott arches a brow, reminds him, “Yeah, fine, whatever, but we still need her to stop what she’s doing.”
Deucalion’s smile shrinks into a smug little smirk. “There is so much you have yet to learn, young Master Scott. The magic always ends when the source of it ‘ends.’”
Jennifer’s eyes widen in panic when Deucalion’s smirk and eyes drift over to her. “Not always!” She hisses out, glaring murderously at him before staring wide eyed back at Scott, “Don’t listen to him! He’s a liar!”
“Oh, you mean like you?” Derek chimes in with a pleasantly sarcastic tone, smirking when she throws her glare at him.
Deucalion throws a sneaky sideways glance at Scott. “Always...” He whispers mockingly.
Even Scott has to fight back a smile, shaking her head and faking annoyance instead. She looks at Jennifer and arches an expectant brow when asking, “If he’s lying, why is his heart steady, while yours is beating like a frightened little rabbit’s?”
Jennifer panics even more when Scott simply lets her hand slip away from her throat, even taking a small step back. Jennifer knows better than to just try to make a break for it while she’s this weak. (Derek fucking tricked her into wasting her last bit of energy! And for nothing, because Deucalion doesn’t give a shit about what he did to her!) She glares at him as he steps forward, but is blowing out a defeated sigh at the last moment when he slowly begins to lift his hand, slowly just to fucking taunt her, and she blows out her words, her last fucking attempt, “OK, I’ll stop it, I’ll stop it all, just don’t kill me, please...” She fucking hates begging.
Scott gives her a stern look and Derek feels that delicious shiver in his body again when Scott steps forward and delivers her verdict with a calm, but deeply disappointed tone, “If I knew you weren’t lying, I really would’ve showed mercy on you.”
Jennifer’s eyes widen as she panics again, though, this time, she chooses anger as she snaps back with, “It won’t work! You’re ALL gonna die either way!”
“Yeah.” Derek nods, walking over to stand beside his Alpha as he glares at Jennifer, “But you’re not gonna be the one to end us.”
Scott takes a step back and Deucalion lifts his clawed hand and slices through Jennifer’s throat before she can even blink again, and Scott forces herself not to look away from the actions of her judgment.
¤
“My mother told me you were once a man of vision.” Derek glances to Scott, who nods for him to continue. He nods, turns back to Deucalion and hands the eldest wolf his echroma glasses and says, “We’re gonna let you go, because we’re hoping you can become that same man again.”
Deucalion nods and smiles and is about to open his mouth to thank them both when Scott steps in front of Derek, smiles sweetly, but with a dangerous glint in her dark orbs as she tells him, “And if you decide to be a bad dog again, well then, having your eyesight back won’t even matter, because you wouldn’t see me coming even if I wasn’t an Alpha.”
Derek blinks, shocked at the slightly dark tone to her voice.
Deucalion stares after her in true awe as she stalks out of the barn with a whisper of a warning growl leaving her breath.
(A True Alpha, the only Alpha who is always an Alpha at heart, no matter their status. Always afraid for her pack, but never for herself. Never backing down when it comes to her pack, and always staying incorruptibly true to herself.)
Derek slowly lingers behind Deucalion as he makes his way out, too. He keeps his eyes on the older wolf, now feeling an uncontrollable urge to guard his Alpha. He knows Deucalion won’t make a move, not anymore, but he can’t help instinct. Hasn’t felt it properly for so long. Not even when he was Alpha himself.
Ironically, the last time he felt a flicker was when he gave that strength up for his baby sister. Poetically, his older sister being the last real pack he ever had, while his younger sister is now so close but for her own happiness, still so far away (it was her choice to go back to her home in Brazil, and he couldn’t stand in her way, couldn’t let her down, not again, not for a third time.)
Deucalion gives a courteous nod to Scott, who nods back at him, and then, watches him disappear into the treeline.
Derek walks up to stand beside her, but leaves a small space between them, no matter how much he aches to reach out and touch her. He relaxes, even smiles when she sighs contently and tells him, “I can feel them. All of them. Even you.”
Derek turns his body to face her when she turns her head to face him and smiles softly. He knows she can hear the excited little jump of his heart, she doesn’t say anything, never does, never teases him for being sad and old and pining over a fricking high-school girl, like Peter always has the audacity to tease him whenever he can, and Derek is as always grateful for her. He grins coyly, nods, then, asks her, just like he’d asked his mother once excitedly, and then his sister once while trying not to cry his stupid guilty broken heart out, “What’s it feel like?”
Scott takes a small breath, takes a moment to think about her answer, then, smiles, kind of giddily shrugs her shoulders when she says, “Like the relief you feel when you wake up from a bad dream and you know everything is right where you left it, and it’s OK.” She blinks upon hearing herself and then the slightly blown away look on Derek’s face. She chuckles faintly, nervously, smiles sheepishly and says, “Sorry, that’s... I really don’t know how else to explain it.”
Derek chuckles, looks mildly pained, though, Scott quickly realises through this new bond of theirs that he’s embarrassed. Her heart swells at how adorable he is–has been especially lately.
Derek rubs the back of his neck, nervous, but smiling fondly when he tells her, “I asked both my mom and Laura the same question, and they both told me something along the same lines. My mom told me it was like she could feel the pack hugging her, keeping her safe so she could keep them safe. And Laura told me all she could feel was my pain...when she couldn’t feel how much I loved her...”
Scott is determined not to make him relive past memories. She doesn’t know if this is part of her new Alpha thing or not, but she suddenly has the overwhelming urge to hug him close and tell him everything is OK and that she won’t ever let any bad shit happen to him again and maybe pull him closer and scent him, just a little–
...No–yes, this has to be an Alpha thing.
Great.
Her stupid pathetic school girl crush just got a whole lot more complicated...
Alpha perks, however?–Scott takes a silent breath, disguises it as a little sigh of sympathy, and stands her ground, not even needing to tuck her hands behind her back so she can ball them up into grounding fists. This new self control is fucking awesome–not just extending to her killer instincts. Scott folds her arms instead, arches a brow and just blurts out the question, “Am I your Alpha, Derek?”
Derek barks out his surprised laughter.
Scott blinks, then, frowns.
Derek purses his lips at her sweet little pout. “I’m sorry.” He says, shaking his head, “It’s not usually an Alpha that asks a Beta that.”
Scott relaxes, feeling slightly less stupid. “Well, am I?” She hates how hopeful she sounds.
Derek’s heart skips again as he shrugs, now looking kind of awkward. “I dunno. I mean...are you?”
Scott blinks again, wrinkles her nose in confusion and asks, “What??”
Derek shakes his head, fighting an amused smile. “You said you could feel me, too, so–“
Scott scoffs lightly, chuckles quietly, says, “That’s not what I asked...”
Derek blinks, then, nods when he realises, “You’re asking if I’m with you...?”
Scott nods.
Derek scoffs out a laugh, shakes his head, smiles and says, “I’ve been with you from the start, Scott.” He can’t help grinning cheekily when she scoffs loudly and arches a brow at him. “OK, we’ve already established I was out of my mind last year.” He rolls his eyes, smirks when she gives a satisfied nod and a quiet hum of acknowledgement. “If you need to hear me say it–“
“That’s not why I asked...” Scott cuts in, though, this time, she’s smiling warmly.
Derek’s heart melts, because he didn’t think he could love her any more, until this moment, because, “You want me to have a choice.” But she’s not asking me to choose her...
Scott nods, shrugs awkwardly, smiles sweetly and says, “This has nothing to do with pack or werewolves, Derek. After all the shit you’ve gone through, and then, all the shit you’ve done to help all of us–I just want you to know you don’t have to be here anymore. I’m not saying we don’t we need you, because, well...”
Derek can only hope as he watches her stumble for a moment over her words and watches that pretty blush rise to those caramel cheeks.
“Well, I just thought you’d wanna go be with your sister and maybe grab some of that happiness for yourself.”
Why does she always have to be the noble one? Why can’t she ever just take something for herself? Like Stiles always tells her, it’s OK to want things for herself sometimes. It doesn’t make her selfish.
Only, she knows that’s all she would feel if she didn’t say this to Derek right now, didn’t give him the one thing people have taken away from him for far too long: choice.
But Derek just smiles brightly, shakes his head again and says, “You’re gonna be a good Alpha, Scott, and I can’t wait to see that. So, yeah, I’m with you, all the way.”
Oddly, Scott is just dying to know why he’s so happy about it.