An Uneasy Accord

Chapter 46 - Message

A/N: I don't own anyone but my OC's….though I wished I owned the rest….*sighs*

I apologize for the overdue update...

The last two days saw Derek tracking the Alpha mercilessly. He had picked up an old trail the werewolf had left behind but it turned cold at the end of the woods. Since he didn't have the human scent of the Alpha, finding him was next to impossible. Derek wanted the Alpha to pay for what he did to Brooklyn. He knew the hunters and Alpha were going after her because she was his weakness. Derek could feel the wolf aching to be free as his anger rushed from head to toe. The image of his hunter's torso seared with the spiral burned brightly in his vision.

He wanted me to give you a message…

The woods were silent as he stopped and stood on top of the rocky outcrop. He thought back to the article that was left on the Charger and the connection between the two. It was clear they were on the right track. Brooklyn wanted to go visit the other victim's family but Derek had prohibited it.

There's no way you're going out alone…..

I can handle myself!

The Alpha carved into you Brook! It's gone too far now! It went after you! If anything were to happen to you again…..

Derek took a deep breath and leapt from the ledge, unable to detect the Alpha's scent any longer. He didn't want to leave the hunter alone but out in the open she was less than safe, even with him protecting Brooklyn.

It didn't help with Jackson lurking around, waiting and watching. The teen's suspicions continued to be inflamed by the hushed conversations and clandestine gatherings at the hotel. Brooklyn had spotted the tell tale form of the overpriced Porsche on more than one occasion but had lost him with a few sharp turns and back tracking.

For now though, Jackson had been backing off, clearly occupied with something else, which was in his favor as the jock was treading a very fine line between life and death. Derek wanted to rip him apart but Scott had stopped him.

You can't go ripping people apart Derek! I get it you're pissed okay? But it doesn't give you the right to act on it!

Shaking his head, he raced off on all fours, anxious to see what his hunter had uncovered.

Brooklyn took a deep breath and pulled her eyes away from the computer. The articles sat side by side the laptop, expectantly staring upward towards her. She didn't know what the symbol meant and was determined to find out from Derek. He had avoided the subject when she brought it up but this time Brooklyn wanted answers. It was something of significance as the Alpha had gone to the length of carving it in her body.

The itching had started subsiding as the injury journeyed through the healing process. Brooklyn leaned back in the chair and drew up her shirt, noticing the spiral was a light strawberry instead of sangria. A sudden sense of foreboding trickled down and along her being as her fingertips ghosted along the slightly elevated skin. As skin brushed along skin, the screams of the fire wailed like sirens in the night. The shrill cries of the dying quickened her heart rate as the room around her began to heat up like the very flames of Hell were reaching up and out for her. The malodorous stench of flesh and smoke twisted in a dark macabre dance, inundating the hunter's primitive senses, drowning all other scents or reminders of reality.

Is this why you did this to me?

Is there something you're trying to tell me?

WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?

Her voice shattered the hellish mirage snapping Brooklyn back to the present. She jerked the black shirt down and over the fading scar, deciding to give the research a rest. The hunter pulled the reading glasses away from her nose, placing them beside the computer. She had not eaten anything as the minute she woke up it was head first into the files and search engines. The hunter had been unable to find the meaning of the symbol on any of the sites she frequented which brought her back to getting it straight from the werewolf's mouth.