Familiar Stranger

Chapter 4

It had been an entire week since Eva had first come to stay with Derek and Isaac in the apartment, a week since they had explained the many ups and downs to being a werewolf. For a girl who was supposedly clueless to the supernatural she seemed to accept things rather easily, that was, at least, when Derek transformed right before her eyes. She had been scared for a moment, yes, but Isaac had been there to calm her, to let her know that Derek was not going to hurt her, not then at least. It had been a full week since Mrs. Rosalsky had abandoned her daughter to the wolves, literally, and yet they hadn’t told Eva about her part in everything. Isaac knew what it was like to have a monster of a father, Eva, from what he knew, knew what that was like as well. He wouldn’t be the one to tell her that her mother was a monster as well. Because even if what she did was for a good cause, helping them in a way, she was still a murderer and that was what he knew Eva would realize. He didn’t want to have a part in that. Even if it was a small one, but if it wasn’t him doing it then it would be Derek and Derek had the habit of ripping of the Band-Aid no matter the wound it might expose. 

“You’re pushing her too hard!” Isaac yelled at Derek as they stood in the clearing of the woods in front of the remains of the Hale house. Eva had caught on quickly to the basics of being a wolf, but Derek would never leave well enough alone. He had pushed Eva to what Isaac felt was the limit, and so he spoke up. 

Eva was on her hands and knees upon the somewhat grassy and mostly dirt covered ground. She was catching her breath, having been battered and beaten through out most of the training session that Derek was putting her through. He said she had to be prepared, for what, she wasn’t sure, he hadn’t bothered to tell her that yet and every time she attempted to find out from Isaac, someone interfered. That someone being mostly Derek. He hadn’t allowed the two to be alone for more than 5 minutes since the day she had found out she was a werewolf like them and the others, the others she was going to be introduced to that night. She hadn’t been back to school either, not yet, she spent the week with Derek, learning from him, educating herself in the ways of the wolf. Physically and mentally. He claimed she was lucky, since the others hadn’t gotten the training that she did, but she didn’t see the extra time she spent with him as luck. She saw it as a curse. Derek wasn’t the easiest person to get along with, at least not for her. Eva was head strong and stubborn, Derek didn’t like that and she didn’t care. 

When Derek turned to face Isaac, Eva’s head lifted and her eyes set on Derek, she hadn’t experienced her first full moon yet, but she could feel it coming, in her heightened senses. Heightened even more so than after her bite, in her instincts, kicking in as they were then. Telling her to pounce, and to do it now. She did as her instincts told her to and a moment later she was battered aside, rolling across the ground before she was able to stop and right herself. Ready to pounce again at a moments notice. 

“She seems to be doing just fine to me.” Derek insisted and Eva noticed the smile and shake of Isaac’s head as Derek grinned. Obviously proud of the resilience of his newest beta. A moment later, she stood up straight and turned to face the dense forest that lined the half fallen down house they stood before. They had all heard it, foot steps, while Eva was on alert and ready to attack at any moment, both Derek and Isaac stood at ease. 

“It’s just the boys.” Isaac assured her as he came to stand beside her, his hand lifting to rest upon her shoulder, the moment his hand made contact with her she relaxed and her bright orbs, flecked with the gold once more as the sun hit them, lifted to settle upon his handsome face. 

“Any more surprises I need to know about?” She asked her voice playfully teasing, not having had a clue that any ‘boys’ were going to be joining them in the clearing that they stood upon. 

“No, I think we’re all out of surprises for now.” Isaac reassured her as his hand left her shoulder, the sudden removal of his hand made her feel as if she had lost a little piece of her. Even though it had only been a week they spent together, a week was all it took for her to feel so closely connected to him. 

“We have one more surprise for you.” The voice that had rung out wasn’t coming from the direction they had been facing, nor had it been a familiar voice, Eva knew it was a threat from the way Isaac tensed up and both him and Derek turned, ready to attack. She turned as well to face two boys, twins, they both went to their school, they had only started earlier in the year, but she could tell that they weren’t the boys they had been waiting for. In the little amount of time she had, her eyes locked on each individual boy, her eyes locking on each of theirs in turn. The feeling that she got from them was unmistakable, they were not human, not entirely, they were like her, but she could sense the power within them. It was obvious as they smirked, not at all threatened by the two guys who stood before her, seeming to shield her from them.

“Eva, run.” Isaac instructed and even though everything in her screamed at her to do the opposite, she turned and ran, even as she ran she could hear the battle happening behind her. Mixed growls, roars, she could even hear the struggle between the four she had left behind. She was prepared to continue running until she reached whatever could be seen as a safe haven, that was until she heard something that made her stop in her tracks. 

It was a howl of pain, gut wrenching and loud, she couldn’t have mistaken that for the world, it was Isaac. She would not leave him behind, and so as unprepared and possibly far from fighting ready as she was, she turned back toward the old and decrepit Hale house and ran head first toward what could possibly be the death of her.