Through the years

24.

Beacon Hills - 2023

".....never yelled." Cora argued as she, Peter and Derek were talking about Talia to the pack.

"Yes, she did." Derek argued back and the girl scoffed in return. 

"At you. Not at me." Cora retorted and Derek sent her a glare. 

"Don't act like you were the perfect daughter."

"I don't need to act. I was the perfect daughter." Cora sent her brother a taunting smile and he rolled his eyes. 

"You were a little shit in disguise." he grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest and she smirked back at him.

"Careful, brother." she said and from the look on her face, Derek knew he wasn't going to like what was about to come out of her mouth. "Your Stiles is showing." she said and Derek gaped in astonishment while Peter openly laughed at the teasing words. 

"Did you hear that from Cameron?" Derek asked and she nodded proudly. "Of course you did. Asshole.."

"Who's Cameron..?" Corey asked in confusion and Derek glared some more at his laughing uncle and sister before turning to the boy.

"My younger brother."

"You have a brother?" Scott asked, surprised at the new piece of information. 

"Had." Derek corrected before nodding anyway. "Two of them, actually."

"Twins." Cora added with a soft smile tugging on her lips as if she was filled with memories of the two boys.

Which she was.

She could still remember the two of them chasing her around the woods, pretending they weren't able to catch her when it was obvious they were letting her win.

Cora missed them so much.

She missed playing  games with them, she missed hearing their laugh and their jokes, she missed their twin telepathy which had never failed to amaze her, she missed their pranks and their teasing of Derek and her uncle Stiles. 

She just missed everything about them.

"How come you never talked about them?" Ethan asked, curiously and Derek sighed. 

"I don't particularly enjoy talking about my dead family." he replied and they all winced at the jab. 

They all knew they tended to be a bit too curious for their own good. 

They also tended to ask for answers to all their questions, questions which involved Derek's family sometimes, and they often forgot that it may be too painful for the alpha to talk about that part of his life. 

"Sorry.." Scott said and Derek remained quiet. 

He wanted to say that it was okay but it really wasn't.

Years had gone by since Derek had met all of them and he had grown accustomed to their personalities and their antics quite well. However, he would never be able to understand how selfish and insensitive they could be at times.

He could pick out a bunch of times where they had forced the wolf to talk about his family without thinking about his feelings. Derek wasn't stupid, he knew he was always cold and such, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel hurt because of their actions.

He wasn't emotionless.

He could remember that ,once, Lydia had demanded answers about something related to his parents and when Derek rudely refused after many times of nicely asking her to stop, Lydia had been the one to be angry at him in the end.