I'm Not Afraid || A Teen Wolf Fanfic

Chapter 10

Skyler could not help the feeling that took over her. It was a giddy excitement that filled her as she rode back home. She couldn't quite place it, only knowing what it could be from books she had read and movies she had seen.

She liked him. She truly liked Derek Hale.

Derek Hale.

Derek Hale.

Derek Hale.

The name repeated inside her head like a grounding mantra.

Derek Hale, the werewolf.

Derek Hale, the alpha.

Derek Hale, the most wanted man in her family.

The girl wasn't afraid of her feelings. Those she could guard, those she could shield from her world. Her emotions weren't the ones she wanted to keep safe. She wanted to keep Derek safe — keep him safe. Her family had already caused him so much pain. Her own flesh had burned away his family like they were nothing more than insects. The same blood that rushed through her veins had been able to kill a group of innocent people leaving Derek on his own.

That was what she wanted to protect him from. Skyler wanted him shielded from all the horror her family would continue to enforce. When she turned eighteen, she would be able to escape and find a way out of the circle that had forgotten the code of a hunter and had decided that supernatural lives were worthless.

All they had to do was reach mid-December. Nine months, that's all they needed. Nine months and they could dive head-first into whatever it was they were feeling. Whatever new adventure life wanted to throw their way.

"Well, someone seems chipper now," Isaac teased as Skyler balanced her motorcycle on its stand. "I take it things between Derek and you have been fixed?"

"Something like that," she chuckled. "We at least put some things on the table."

"What does that even mean?"

Isaac followed her into the house, waiting for her answer. But she simply waltzed through the house, landing in the kitchen. She got a bottle of water and a slice of pizza out of the fridge, eating it without heating it up.

"Sky, just tell me what you meant," Isaac chuckled as he followed her to the living room. "If this is you being happy, I don't like it."

"There's not much to say, honestly," she mumbled. "We just talked."

"Give me something here, Sky," Isaac exasperated as he plopped down on the couch next to her. "Judging by the way you're acting you two did more than just talk."

"Ew, Isaac," Skyler gasped dramatically. "Need I remind you that I am a minor."

"He's not that much older than us and you're only 17 for a couple more months."

"9 months to be exact, but who's counting?" The girl got up from the couch and headed back to the kitchen, dancing around all of her friend's questions. "You know what this pizza needs? Ranch. It needs some ranch."

"Skyler, why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm not."

"You've been skating around the topic since you got here. I just wanna know what's going on between the two of you."

"Truthfully, there's nothing going on," she shrugged. "There's nothing that can go on just yet. Nothing for nine grueling months. Nothing more, nothing less."

"What happened a couple of hours ago wasn't nothing, Sky," he added. "There's only a few years of difference between you. Are you really telling me you wouldn't risk it?"