Derek was a man of few words. He didn't particularly enjoy talking, especially not to newly-bitten, overly worried werewolves. But he had made it his duty to teach Scott McCall how to be a proper werewolf, not some kind of rabid animal that wandered the streets every full moon, and that involved using words.
That night, he was on his way to the store when he noticed Scott walking away from it, his arms full of groceries. This was the perfect opportunity to teach him a thing or two and to reassert his dominance over the young wolf. Derek felt a smile tugging at the corner of his lips -- it was time to have a bit of fun.
He observed Scott from afar, deciding to see how much attention Scott paid to his surroundings. None, it seemed, for he was incapable of finding his own car. He just pressed on the button of his keys until a beeping sound was heard. Derek rolled his eyes and did his best not to see Scott as a lost cause. If the Alpha had bitten him, it was probably because he had potential. Or maybe he was just desperate to have a pack and had bitten the first person who had crossed his path.
Derek was doing his best to be noticed by Scott. He walked loudly, almost stomping his feet, but the young man didn't hear him. He placed himself upwind from Scott, letting his scent be carried to his pupil. Still no reaction.
Derek let out a sigh, what would it take for Scott to realize he wasn't alone in this parking lot?
The answer came to him under the form of a bottle of milk Scott had dropped on the floor and that rolled straight to Derek's hiding spot. He grabbed the bottle and with his claws, tore it apart. He rolled it back to Scott. This should get the teen's attention -- and if it didn't, then he deserved to be attacked by the Alpha.
Derek could smell the fear coming out in waves from Scott. He had seen the bottle and he was running away. Good thinking, Derek thought. It wasn't like the teen stood a chance against the Alpha so fleeing was the only clever option. Scott rose in Derek's esteem when he noticed his pupil wasn't wolfed out. They were in a public place and they could very well be seen, they had to take precautions.
Scott hid between two cars. Derek had long stopped running, simply locating Scott by scent. He could also hear his heart beating like crazy in his chest, giving away his position. Scott could as well have been yelling with all the noise he was making.
Scott must have realized this as well because not a second later he was jumping on cars, making their alarms go off. He hoped to drown the noise he was making in the cacophony. The idea was clever, but it would take more to fool Derek.
Especially because Scott's phone rang loudly, the sound reverberating against the concrete pillars of the parking lot. Derek figured it was time to end the exercise. He went over to where Scott was hiding and grabbed him roughly by the shoulders, claws out. He slammed the teen against a car.
"You're dead."
Derek felt this would get the point across. And it did, but not without confusing Scott.
"What the hell was that?" Scott yelled.
"I said I was gonna teach you. I didn't say when," Derek explained. He was in a good mood, this little exercise had helped him take away his frustrations. He let go of Scott and started walking away.
"You scared the crap out of me!" Scott protested loudly. He followed Derek, determined to get some kind of explanation from him.
"Not yet," Derek replied in a cocky tone. If only Scott knew what else he had in store for him, his training was just beginning.
"Okay but I was fast, right?" Scott tried to gain his teacher's approval. "The car alarm thing, that was smart, right?"
"Until your phone rang," Derek countered.
"Yeah, but that was... I mean..." Scott was out of things to say. "Would you just stop? Please? What happened the other night, Jamie ending up in the hospital, Stiles' dad getting hurt, that was my fault. I should have been there to do something," Scott said, guilt eating away at him. "I need you to teach me how to control this."
"Look, I am what I am because of birth," Derek explained, turning to look Scott in the eye. "You were bitten. Teaching someone who was bitten takes time. I don't even know if I can teach you."
"What do I have to do?" Scott finally seemed calm again. Derek was right, he needed to learn control but that wouldn't happen overnight. He needed to listen to him and do his best not to hurt anyone. If he managed to do that, he would stop being a threat to his friends and could even protect them from harm.
"You have to get rid of distractions. You see this?" Derek grabbed Scott's phone, Allison's picture appearing on the screen. "This is why I caught you. You want me to teach you? Get rid of her."
"What, just because of her family?"
Derek rolled his eyes and decided to take action. This was why he didn't like talking, people always had something to say and would argue about pointless things. Actions, on the other hand, were more efficient. Derek crushed Scott's phone with one hand, his eyes still set on Scott.
"Whoa, whoa, my phone!" Scott protested. It was too late, the damage was already done and his phone, reduced to a worthless pile of torn plastic.
"You getting angry?" Derek almost shouted, "That's your first lesson. You want to learn how to control this, how to shift? You do it through anger, by tapping into a primal animal rage, and you can't do that with her around."
"I can get angry," Scott said with furrowed eyebrow. He was trying to look menacing but to Derek, he was nothing but an angry puppy. And angry puppies were far from intimidating.
"Not angry enough. This is the only way I can teach you," Derek insisted. "Now, can you stay away from her? At least until after the full moon?"
"If that's what it takes," Scott shrugged half-heartedly.
"Do you want to live? Do you want to protect your friends?" Derek pressed on. "Yes or no?"
"Yes," Scott replied. This time he was more convincing. "If you can teach me, I can stay away from her."
Derek nodded and vanished into the shadows when Scott looked away. This was something he liked to do, it kept people on their toes.
Derek didn't know how to handle his role of mentor, especially to a bitten werewolf. When he was younger, it was his family that had helped him through the full moons, teaching him control and how to use his abilities. To them, it was second nature and it was soon the same with Derek. And Scott wasn't exactly making it easy, he seemed determined to learn from him but at the same time, he always questioned his methods. Derek felt like they were going around in circles, if only Scott could take the time to actually listen and try to do things the right way, there was no doubt he'd succeed. Then they would locate the Alpha, deal with whoever he or she was, and they could all go their separate ways.
Still thinking of an ideal world where Scott listened to him, the older wolf drove back home and let out a sigh when he noticed two silhouettes waiting for him in the front steps. The girl was looking at the house with disgust, doing her best not to touch anything. She had long red hair held up in a ponytail. The boy didn't seem too concerned with how the place looked. He was sitting on the steps, looking bored. They were obviously waiting for Derek to come home.
Derek frowned and got out of his car. Why was every teenager in Beacon Hills suddenly turning to him for help? He recognized the pair, his eyes settling on the blond boy he suspected was his cousin. Said boy got up on his feet and greeted Derek from afar.
"What?" Derek responded gruffly. The girl raised her eyebrows at him and assessed his appearance with a judgmental look.
"We need you to teach us how to fight," Jamie answered -- following the video store attack, he and Lydia had decided to take action and learn how to defend themselves, not wanting to be powerless ever again. Now, he had figured that with Derek, using short and to-the-point sentences was the best course of action. The look on Derek's face confirmed he had been right.
"Come in," Derek agreed.
Lydia looked at Jamie inquisitively. Were they really going into the house of a werewolf they barely knew? He was sketchy and everything he did was probably motivated by some mysterious purpose they knew nothing about. She did not trust him, but they didn't know who else to turn to without raising suspicion. Jamie shot her a reassuring look and took her hand in his, dragging her inside the house.
Derek watched the teens, his arms crossed as usual. They both looked quite athletic, if they were less reluctant to learn than Scott maybe he could help them. Plus, he wanted to get to know his cousin and this was the perfect opportunity. He had lost too many family members to ignore Jamie, even if the teen had no idea they were related.
Derek didn't waste time and their training began. At first, he just threw light punches to assess their reflexes. He also wanted to know how they reacted to aggressiveness, and he was not disappointed. They both had fire in them and they weren't afraid to fight back. The girl, Lydia as he learned, was surprisingly fast on her feet. She would make a skilled opponent.
Jamie showed even more promise and Derek suspected it had to do with his werewolf heritage. Hale blood ran through his veins so it made sense for him to be physically fit. He didn't know why the teen hadn't turned into a werewolf by now, but that was a question for a time when two teenagers weren't attacking him.
Derek himself started to be slightly breathless after a while, but it was nothing compared to the teens whose lungs were on fire. Derek deemed it wiser to stop there for the night, allowing the teens to rest. Jamie sat next to him, a bottle of water in hand. He drank half of it at once before turning to Derek, a question obvious in his eyes.
"Why did you agree to help us?" Jamie asked quietly. Not that he wasn't grateful for the older werewolf's help, but he had been convinced Derek would refuse to teach them anything. He already had Scott to deal with, it would have been understandable for him to turn them down.
Derek just shrugged and did his best not to show any emotion. The truth was, he had enjoyed the training session, it was a good workout for him as well and the few words he had exchanged with the teens had made him realize they were decent people. Feeling slightly less lonely, he left the room in total silence before he turned to look at the teens.
"If you really want to learn, come back tomorrow."
And he truly hoped they would.