Wolfblood

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Page count: 12

"I mean it, Hermione,"

"You're like a broken record, stop repeating yourself; it's getting on my nerves," she told him, a growl coming from her and she stormed forward, making her way to the edge of the cliffs which was a short distance from where Derek had parked the car.

After Teddy had been put to bed, had his story read to him and he'd fallen asleep, Hermione and Derek had left Andromeda to her own devices and left the cottage to meet up with Scott. As she stepped through the trees and onto the cliffs with Derek at her side as he'd easily caught up with her, Scott and Stiles both turned around, their eyes widening at seeing her there.

"Don't, she won't listen," Derek grumbled.

"But..." Scott tried, but was cut off.

"Shut it!" Hermione growled and his mouth snapped shut as Stiles looked a cross between amused and frightened.

"The babies," Derek shrugged.

Hermione scowled at him before she caught sight of a third person present who she assumed was Liam, and he was sat on the edge of the cliff with his feet hanging down and looking out at the view.

"What are you doing here?" Stiles asked her.

"I'm here to help, whatever you're doing doesn't seem to be working, so we're going to do this my way."

He made to reply but Hermione shushed him and made her way over to Liam, he looked up at her, his eyes widening slightly as they traced the features of her kind face and then they landed on her stomach, widening to the point she thought they'd fall out of his head. He looked over his shoulder at a scowling Derek and then back to her.

"Ignore him; he's in a mood because he didn't get his way. He should know by now he's never going to win an argument with me," she smiled down at him, before she struggled to get down on the ground until she was sat beside him.

"I'm Hermione," she said, holding her hand out.

"Liam," he replied, shaking her hand as she watched him.

He had brown hair with hints of copper, tanned skin and pale blue eyes with light lashes framing them. He had a small nose and a strong jaw line and he reached up to push some strands back from his face.

"You're Scott's friend, right?"

She nodded. "And that grumpy sod's girlfriend, too," she replied, gesturing to Derek behind her with her thumb.

"I heard that!" Derek called.

Hermione sniggered. "I said it out loud, you were meant to hear it. And I don't care if it is the full moon, if your mood doesn't improve you'll find yourself sleeping on the couch for the foreseeable future," she said without looking at him. "So, Liam, how are you feeling?"

He turned to look at the view and shrugged his shoulders.

"It's beautiful, isn't it? Derek brought me here on our first date," she told him. "I've seen a lot of things in my life, but this is the only place I've ever felt at peace. Like I've got no troubles and the world just falls away. You should know, Liam, I'm not going to judge you, you don't have to lie to me or hide anything from me, so tell me, how are you feeling?"

He turned his head to look at her briefly, before returning his gaze to the view. "Overwhelmed. Anxious. Confused, take your pick."

"That's perfectly understandable, you've gone through a massive change in your life, I can empathise with that," she told him softly, and he looked at her to see her rubbing a hand over her stomach. When she caught him staring she chuckled at him. "Oh, this isn't the change I'm talking about, but I suppose it counts, too," she shook her head.