𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 | derek hale [ON HOLD]

74 | w a r n i n g

Derek bursts into the bedroom. His shoulders are hunched, tense. From the bed, Fallon and Rica perk up, noticing their father's distressed state. I close my assignments on my laptop and set it on the bedside table. "Derek? What's wrong? What happened?"

Derek walks over to the windows and stares out at the forest view. "I just got off the phone with Argent."

"Ok, and what did my dad say?" I ask worriedly. Derek turns to face me, his arms crossed over his chest. My mind turns to the worst. "Did something happen to him? Is he hurt?"

"No, no, he's fine," Derek assures me. "He called to warn me. Us."

"Warn us?" I frown. Derek nods and his expression turns even more worried. No, not worried. Afraid. "What about?"

"All those deaths I've been tracking? I was right. None of them were accidents."

I connect the dots, picking up on what's unsaid. "Hunters," I gulp. "How bad?"

"Everywhere. Not just here, but up North and down in the deep South. It's spreading across the world. Already started in France. Word spread about the beast in Beacon."

"But the pack defeated la bête already. They saved Mason," I point out. "There's no threat anymore."

Derek shrugs. "The stories are inspiring fear and the hunters are only encouraging it to fester. It's spreading to Spain and even to the UK."

"And here," I whimper. "Has it hit the West yet?"

Derek shakes his head, and I feel a pang of relief. "Not yet, but it will soon," he answers. "It's already in Texas. And with Beacon being, well, a Beacon, they will come for them soon." Our friends, our pack!

I ask the dreaded question. "Derek, how bad is this?"

Derek swallows. "It's not just a war, it's a genocide."

☾

"Are you sure you don't need me to go with you?" Derek watches me, his eyes clouded with anxiety, as I finish packing my bags.

"The Calaveras need you more," I reply, shaking my head. "Everything you've uncovered here is crucial to finding out more about this hunter war."

"I don't like the idea of you going back to Beacon alone," he told me, his brows furrowed with worry.

I set down the stack of folded clothes onto the bed and pad over to him. I wrap my arms around his waist and he pulls me closer to his chest. He rests his chin on the top of my head and sighs heavily. He and I both know I can protect myself, but going back home is full of risk. But I have to go, and he has to stay. "Everything will be ok, Derek. I'll be safe," I promise. "I'll have Rica with me." From the bed where our two girls are watching us, Rica barks in acknowledgment."

Derek insisted I take Rica with me as another source of protection and I agreed right away. But we know Fallon won't want to leave her father so she's going to stay with him.

"I just hate being apart from you again," Derek tells me. "You were just there only a few weeks ago for Lydia, and the entire time I was terrified until you were in my arms off that plane."

"I hate this as much as you do," I mumble, my heart already aching from missing him. And I haven't even left yet. "You be safe, as well. Don't get yourself captured by hunters." I think for a moment. "Again."

Derek chuckles, breaking the low energy of the room. "That was the Calaveras. And, if I recall, you came and saved me. Maybe if I get captured again you will come back to me."

I smack his chest. "If you get captured again, it won't be the hunters you'll have to fear. It will be me, who will save you just to kill you myself."

"Noted," Derek gulps.