"You Don't Know Me" || Derek Hale

18.

I lower my phone and groan. "I swear to God, Scott," I comment. I send a message that says, "Did you find it yet?" to Scott. Derek groans as he starts to pull his jacket off. "Hey, let me help you." I lean over and help him slide his jacket off.

My phone dings and I look down to see that it says,

Need more time.

"Dammit," I groan. "Time is the one thing we don't have." I look up at Stiles. "Stiles, where are you going?"

"Derek's house," Stiles responds.

"What? No, you can't take him there," I shake my head.

"I can't take him to his own house?"

"Not when he can't protect himself," I hiss.

He slows down before pulling over onto the side of the road. "What happens if Scott doesn't find his little magic bullet? Hmm? Is he dying?"

"Not yet. I have a last resort," Derek admits.

"What do you mean? What last resort?" I ask.

He pulls his sleeve up, and my eyes widen. "Oh, my God. What is that?" Stiles groans. "Ugh, is that contagious?"

"Start the car now," Derek orders.

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look," Stiles comments. "In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of road and leave you for dead."

"Stiles, start the car, or--," I start.

"Or I'm gonna rip your throat out... with my teeth," Derek finishes.

I raise a brow.

Okay, that was kind of hot.

Stiles immediately starts the engine, and I sigh.

~ ~ ~

I stare at my phone before lowering it. I feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes, but I blink them away. "You okay?"

I look over to see Derek looking at me. "Shouldn't I be asking you that?" I joke softly.

"Well, we know how I am," Derek points out. I'm quiet. "So... if we know how I am, then... how are you?"

"I'm-- I'm fine," I shrug.

"You're lying," he states. My brows furrow. "I can hear your heartbeat."

"Oh."

"When a person lies, their heart beats faster, so when you told me you were fine, your heart beat faster than it normally does," he explains.

"You're like a lie detector," I comment.

"It's not always reliable, though," he admits.

I tilt my head. "What do you mean?"

"If you learn how to control your heartbeat when you lie, then we can't tell if you're telling the truth or lying." He groans in pain, and his eyes flash blue for a second.

"Call Scott," I order. Stiles pulls out his phone and dials Scott's number.

They exchange a few words. "What are we supposed to do with him?" Stiles asks. "And by the way, he's starting to smell." I narrow my eyes at him before leaning forward and smacking on the back of the head. "Like death." I roll my eyes. "What about your boss?" My brows furrow as Stiles sighs. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take him."

Stiles holds out the phone out to Derek, and he takes it. "Did you find it?" Derek sighs. "If you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?" My heart drops. "Then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

He hangs up the phone and I speak. "Where did he tell you take him?" I ask Stiles.

"To the animal clinic."

"I guess it's better than taking him to any of our houses," I nod. "Screw it. Let's go."