𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍, derek hale ✓

𝐄𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

┏━━━━⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆━━━━┓

GAME PLAN

DEREK WOULD NEVER BE THE FIRST PERSON TO ADMIT THAT THEY WERE WRONG.

But after listening to Emerson Avery's ramblings, listening to the different versions of the same tale her grandmother spun, he admitted that he had been wrong about her this entire time.

He'd never say that out loud, but admittance was admittance regardless of who could hear it, no?

At first, she was nothing but a thorn in his side when Isaac all but ran to him and demanded to know why he hadn't let anyone know about Emerson's werewolf nature. Isaac had gotten his answer to that question in the form of a puzzled look on Derek's face.

Isaac just had to take a liking to her, barely listening to him on the first full moon and suddenly becoming coherent with her presence during the second time around. She didn't know it, this clueless blonde who was letting her power go to waste, but she was severely hindering his plans.

Derek knew that she would bring exponential amounts of power to his pack if she joined, and she just had to say no. Each and every damn time. Yeah, a thorn in his side who, for some reason, just kept helping him even when he didn't deserve it in her eyes.

And what pissed him off, and I mean really pissed him off, was the fact that he didn't know anything about her. There was nothing; no family ties to Beacon Hills, no whispers of her from neighbouring packs... there was nothing. He hated being left in the dark, and that was all Emerson Avery left him to stew in.

He didn't like her at first, just like she oh so clearly hadn't liked him, for refusing his offers and unintentionally stealing a beta away from him. But then she just had to protect him from Allison, taking what should've been a lethal dose of wolfs and to the shoulder, for him. 

Isaac had wanted to stay with her that night, watching with nervous eyes as her wound refused to close. Derek could smell the bond forming from a mile away, but shoved him out of the room. Something tight rolling around his chest.

Because for some odd, unsettling reason, he needed to be the first person she saw when she woke up. He needed to be the last person she saw before leaving town, and he needed to rub salt in the wound on Isaac's behalf.

At least, that was what he'd been telling himself since he left the girl's home just last night.

He thought she would've been a vital member of his pack before, but now that she declared her firsthand experience with their newest threat, she'd be the most useful person on the damn planet to him.

"I've always ran from him, switched from guardian to guardian," she continued once she milked every last detail from the stories. If Emerson noticed the way his hand was still wrapped around her calf, she didn't say anything. "Mostly because I never had any loose ends... no offence."

It was obvious she was referring to Derek's betas and even his newly resurrected uncle. Isaac was wholly undeterred, Peter giving her a dramatic eye roll. "None taken."

"Have you ever challenged him?" It was Peter who asked, now leaning forward with intrigue despite his feigned annoyance at being called a loose end. "Surely you must have in your, what, eighteen years of living?"

Derek watched Emerson's jaw clench. "Once. Just before I came here," she recounted, her voice sounding like she was miles away. "People died."

The Hale man wanted to pry, because now that he'd gotten a small glimpse into the real Emerson, he wanted more. Pure gluttony on his part, but he used what self control he possessed and refrained.

"This isn't just your fight anymore," he opted to say instead, and that made Emerson's gaze avert to his in an instant. Guarded. Something he knew well enough. "They came after the both of us, so we'll handle it, alright? Together."

Emerson looked at him for a moment, looking to Isaac who had since migrated to just hover over her left shoulder.

"Okay," she sighed out, though the tension still remained in her shoulders, "but we do this my way."

Derek was really hoping he wouldn't regret this.

"Fine."

The small smile she gave him was something he wanted to ignore.

ೃ࿔*:⋆

Long after the blonde had gone home to help her guardian with the increase of property damage done to the place, Derek wanted to be left to his own thoughts.

He wanted to mull over the instructions that the freshly-graduated, packless Alpha laid out for him in solitude, but he couldn't escape his uncle, these days.

"She's interesting, don't you think?"

"Peter..."

The man raised his hands in mock defence. "What? I only meant it as an observation," he responded coolly, unphased by the flat look his nephew was tossing his way. "Next time, you should ask her about the obvious Emissary she must have lurking around."

Derek furrowed his eyebrows. "What Emissary?"

Peter sighed loudly, like that question was severely troubling him. "The bracelet, Derek," he exclaimed instead, "the one that stops us from getting a scent trail on her. "It's been crafted by druid, and my guess is that an Emissary did it for her."

Right, that damn bracelet she wore. It always puzzled him beyond belief how he couldn't catch a scent that belonged to her and how he couldn't sniff out her chemo signals. It all made her so very hard to read, and now Peter was alluding to the fact that an Emissary was responsible for it.

How could she have an Emissary if she had no pack— no true need for one?

"You think it has something to do with the alpha pack?" he asked.

"Of course it does," was Peter's instantaneous reply. "If Deucalion can't sniff her out, he can't find her. Hasn't that been her goal this entire time?"

"Yeah, and look where it got her," Derek felt himself snapping. "He still managed to find her."

Peter looked at her pointedly. "If you never asked for her help, I guarantee she would've left this town without him ever even knowing she wa—"

"She could've said no!" Derek interjected hotly, already over this headache of a conversation. "And since when are you on her side?"

"If Isaac wasn't involved, she would've said no," Peter told him, ignoring that last little question his nephew posed. "I know you see what's been happening... although, I'm surprised she hasn't."

Oh, Derek knew what was happening, just like how Peter always knew how to push his buttons.

"Just give it a rest, Peter," Derek grumbled out in building frustration. "She wants to be left alone."

It was true, after all. All Emerson did was reject his offers and try to dismiss the fact that she was beginning to form a pack bond with the Lahey boy. But, when all was said and done, would she still want that?

His uncle hummed for a second, prohibiting Derek from thinking about that any more than he already had. "Are you sure she wants to?" Peter questioned pointedly. There was a long stretch of silence before the older man spoke up once again. "You two are more alike than you let yourself think."

Derek rolled his eyes for show, pushing past the man in the doorway. He hated when Peter was right, and maybe that was something he could admit.

⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆

[ wyn's note ]

derek pov! derek pov! grumpy pants pov!

he's coming around to emerson whether he likes it or not >:) our man is having a change of heart, perhaps... and peter is alr seeing right through it LMAO

thanks for 5k my loves x