𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐒𝐎𝐎𝐍, derek hale ✓

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

┏━━━━⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆━━━━┓

A BOND

DEREK WANTED THE GROUND TO SWALLOW HIM UP WHOLE THE MINUTE SHE HUNG UP ON HIM.

It was bad enough that Emerson sounded like she was on the verge of wolfing out when he called, and he was sure that anger was being intensified as she made her way over to the old Hale house.

She'd chew his head off and spit it out if she found out that Derek had gone against her, had enlisted Isaac's help in pursuing a lead on the alpha pack that had landed him in the situation he was presently in.

And then, as if it wasn't bad enough already, he and Scott had made contact with one of the alphas at the damn hospital they rescued Isaac from. It seemed like they were officially done waiting them out, taking matters into their own hands and starting with Isaac— the very werewolf who had ties with both Emerson and Derek.

Strategic on their end, sure, but he knew Emerson wasn't going to let this slide. Not in the slightest.

"So... you and Emerson."

He momentarily forgot about Scott, the boy almost hovering behind him as he crushed up some herbs to help the unconscious blond before them. Derek fought the urge to roll his eyes. "It's not what you're thinking... we're just helping each other out."

Scott nodded. "She and Isaac seem close."

He was digging for information, Derek knew that. "It's not what you're thinking, either," he emphasized while working away at creating a remedy for Isaac's internal wounds. "She's oblivious, but she's formed a pack bond with him the way born-wolves who are siblings do."

The boy's eyebrows furrowed, gaze momentarily averting to the blond. "Does he know that?"

"I think he does," Derek replied. "But Emerson's been clear: she doesn't want a pack. He's taking what he can get."

Genuine confusion flashed across his face. "What kind of alpha doesn't want a pack?"

A sudden urge to defend the girl bubbled within Derek. "When you've been through what she's been through, you'd think you wouldn't want one either."

A beat of silence washed over them, Scott contemplating his words. "Are you gonna tell me who that was back there? That alpha?" Scott asked.

"A rival pack," Derek told him. "It's what Emerson and I are dealing with. I know you want to help and you did, so I owe you one; now go home. Go back to being a normal teenager."

Scott went to leave, his hand going to his bicep for a second before he stopped.

"If you wanna repay back that favour now, there's something you can do for me."

ೃ࿔*:⋆

The last thing Emerson expected to walk in on was Derek giving Scott McCall a tattoo while Stiles Stilinski was holding him down.

And by giving him a tattoo, she meant he was holding a damn blowtorch to his bicep while he screamed in pain. Her mouth opened and closed, unaware of what to say before she clocked onto the fourth heartbeat in the room, one that seems slower than the others.

She heard Derek's voice call out to her, but it was like static in her ears as she sought out the Lahey boy. Once she found him, still clad in hospital garments and lying unconscious on a wooden table, she was sure her own heart rate picked up.