Hunger

Chapter Seventeen

Derek

"Just let us go," Will pleaded for what seemed like the 100th time in the last twenty minutes. He kept switching between wolf and human, every time the man ignored his plea. This time, Will was already in his werewolf form, pulling against the ropes that bound his wrists together. They only did it because Will kept attacking, but I stayed calm, so I was leaning against a wall.

I sighed heavily, thinking about Stiles. He was the only thing I cared about at the moment, so I had to get to him. "Look," I said, averting my eyes from Will to the man standing across the room. "You've been in here for about an hour and you still haven't told us exactly what you want. You've only been asking questions we don't want to answer or don't know the answer to. Either tell me what you want, or let me go find my friend before he kills himself. You can have me back right after I save his life, but let me find him, please?" I raised my eyebrows, hopeful, but I knew it was pointless to ask.

"You're not leaving," the man said roughly, narrowing his eyes. He looked middle-aged, with a little bit of stubble on his chin. His hair was short and black, which brought out the bright blue of his eyes. His nose sort of curled and a little too large for his face, but his lips were small and hardly ever anything other than a scowl. Still, he didn't intimidate me.

I rolled my eyes at him, sinking down the the floor. "You know what? I'm getting really sick of your whole tough guy act. Tell me what the hell you want or I'll rip your throat out." Now it was my turn to almost turn, my eyes glowing and my fingernails starting to lengthen, but Will grunted beside me and I realized I should probably calm down if I ever wanted to see Stiles again.

"There will be none of that," a woman said, her heels loud as they hit the floor. She shut the door behind her and smiled warmly, which was odd, since I was almost certain these people wanted me dead. "Sorry I made you wait so long. We had to clean up the mess you two made. But now I'm here to tell you exactly what it is we want with you, Derek Hale."

I threw my head back and groaned, muttering, "Finally," under my breath. "This guy is a buzzkill, by the way. Can we hurry this up? Someone I kind of really care about is going to die if I don't--"

"Stiles, we know. About him, I'm very sorry we gave him the wrong drug. It was a complete and honest accident, I promise. I already know you have the antidote for that, so you can keep it for when we let you go. Well, if we let you go, but I'm sure you'll agree to my terms. Anyways, we're sorry about your boyfriend. And the man who shot him, he's taken care of. He's no longer a part of our group, and he won't be bothering you again." She smiled sincerely, so I decided not to correct her on the boyfriend part.

"I just need to get to him, like right now. Can we hurry with this?" I rushed her, waiting for the woman to go on.

She nodded and took a seat across from Will, giving him a small smile before returning her attention to me. "My name is Elise. I'm in charge around here,  if you couldn't tell. Anyways, I'm sure you're familiar with this symbol," she said, holding up a paper with the symbol for the other people trying to kill me painted on it. I nodded and she went on. "Well, our two groups don't exactly get along. They want you dead, which is why want your help. It is true that we took your friends, but we never hurt them. We only used them to lure you in, and then we'd let them go in exchange for your help. We need your help fighting them off because they are dangerous, and they want to hurt people. We will help you get your friends back and we will save your friend Stiles, but we're going to need you to cooperate with us."

I nodded in understanding. "What exactly will I have to do?"

"There are only about fifty of them, whereas we have nearly two hundred of us. Most of my people will be on the job as well, some staying behind, some following you, some ahead of you. Either way, we just need your help fighting. In return, your friends can all go home safely, without a scratch. Do we have a deal?" She raised her eyebrows, her green eyes widening. Her plump lips curled up into a convincing smile.