Teen Wolf Imagines

I thought you were a myth pt.6- Derek Hale

The pack was staying one more night, since the school week was coming around again, and also because, to be honest, it was fun.
You all had pack bonding time, and you soon found out the other reason behind Stiles' binge buying, as the rapidly depleting food stocks bought only that morning started to disappear more rapidly as the night wore on.
No fighting, no tests, aside from Peter being Peter, you all just talked, laughed, let a movie play in the background, and gorged yourself on comfort foods.
Easing your way onto the balcony, you sat and watched the sunset as the city lights began to twinkle on. Bracing your palms on the ledge, and hanging your head, you took a deep breath, letting it out on a shaky sigh as you looked back toward the lights.
The door opening and closing registered in your mind, but you were too at ease to care. Besides, you could smell Scott the second the door was open, your heckles rising figuratively at the initial thought of another Alpha so near, but soon you remembered you were safe, you were home, he was family.
Silently he came up beside you, leaving a few inches between as he leant on his elbows and took in the skyline with you. You matched his pose, going down onto your elbows, and the two of you watched in silence.
After a few minutes, Scott was the first to speak. "So, how is it being back in Beacon Hills after so long?" His voice was soft, along with his smile, and he turned his face toward you, waiting for a reply.
You smiled gently. "A whirlwind." You both chuckled. "If it were under different circumstances I would be a bit happier about it, but, you know. You take what life gives you."
"Different how?" Scott prodded. "Do you wish you weren't a True Alpha? Or an Alpha at all? Or that hunters hadn't followed? Or-"
"Scott," you said, the small smile still on your face as you looked at him, and you gestured with a small wave of your hand for him to stop, never moving from your elbows.
"Sorry," he chuckled, reaching back to rub his neck in embarrassment quickly before returning to your matching positions.
"It's okay. Really. I-" you stopped and looked out at the skyline again and felt Scott follow suit only a few seconds after. "Does it make me a horrible person if I don't know?" You asked softly. "I mean, yes, I want my family here, but," remaining on your elbows, you brought one arm close and grabbed the necklace Lydia had given you, holding the arrowhead tight as you moved your arm back out, rubbing your thumb along the triskelion on your opposite wrist. "In a way, they still are. And then, if they were, then all of the last two days, all of that bonding would be totally different. And while Peter is a pain in the ass," you both chuckled again, "I still wouldn't have changed the last two days."
You looked back to him. "Does that make me horrible? I practically just washed my hands of my family. At least it feels like it."
"No," he shook his head simply, still looking at the skyline before turning his face back to you. "No, I don't think it makes you a horrible person. And I don't think you are washing your hands of your family, either." He looked back out at the skyline. "It's just the hand you've been dealt. It sucks, but it's what you've got. Believe me." He looked to your necklace, a soft smile you hadn't seen on his face yet turn up his lips. "I know."
You both shared a look before turning back to the ever darkening, ever more twinkling skyline, letting the night sit comfortably between you two.
"So, this Allison you speak of," you finally said, in a somewhat silly voice that you honestly had no idea where it came from, but knew it was right when Scott cracked that smile one more time. "Everyone keeps saying we would have gotten along like ice cream and sprinkles, but I haven't heard a lot about her yet." Scott turned his head to look at you, that dopey smile yet again on his face. "Tell me about the girl that changed your life, Scott McCall. Tell me the story of the wolf and his huntress."
The smile hadn't gone anywhere, and it didn't seem to be leaving anytime soon. He looked out to the skyline, his eyes sparkling of their own accord. "I don't even know where to start."
"At the beginning," you said softly.
Everything about this conversation was soft, except for the emotions. They were roaring and painful and the kind of things you push down and don't ever talk about again. But somehow, here, in the dark of the night, they had a special glow to them, making them soft and warm. Making them easy. And in a way, it was freeing, unburdening yourself, but it also left a hole that only the light emanating from the memories could heal, and it did that quickly.
"Tell me about the first time you saw her."
"Like what, what do you want to know? How I felt? What day it was? What she looked like?" Scott was rambling, but it seemed to be more out of excitement to share a part of his life with someone who understands and hasn't heard it yet.
You smiled widely, nearly whispering, fearing you might break his moment with a simple word making a sound. "Just tell me everything."
"You got all night?" He joked, pulling back to rest on his palms while you stayed on your elbows.
"Scott. We are creatures of the night. Don't be stupid."
He laughed. "Okay, okay, smartass." After a moment he was back down on his elbows, gesturing with his hands, and talking a mile a minute.
Their story was a little bit like yours and Derek's. Forbidden love, miscommunication, secrets and saboteurs. But in the end, while you may have left voluntarily, unlike Allison, you both left saying the same words. I love you.
Xxx
After he was done, long after midnight, both of you glanced inside to see the pack sound asleep, a few stragglers sucked into whatever movie was on, and Derek obviously listening in as he tried to look busy cleaning the mess left by a pack of supernatural teenagers.
"So tell me about you and Derek." His question startled you more than it should have.
"What about me and Derek?"
"Well, I just told you my gut wrenching love story," he leaned against the wall behind the window, somehow the two of you had made your way to the same spots you and Derek had occupied that morning. "Obviously yours has a better ending, since you are both here to explain. So?"
You sighed, shooting him a scowl but failing. "Scott," you reached out and put your hand on his. "You know Allison dying was not your fault." He looked straight forward, then down at your hands. "You can't save everyone."
"But I should be able to. I'm a True Alpha."
"So am I, and look where I am. Look who I lost."
He quickly looked up to meet your eyes. "I didn't mean-"
"Shhhh," you stopped him, making yourself smile through the pain, closing your eyes for a moment. "I know. Was the fire Derek's fault? Just because of Kate? No. Blaming yourself for deaths by proximity is going to get you nowhere, Scott. You don't have to let go. Allison will always be with you." You traced his tattoo on his arm through his pullover. "Just like my family is always with me." You held the necklace and traced the tattoo on your wrist. "And Derek's with him." You paused, holding up your wrist, tracing it like you had before. "Imagine this, but bigger and on Derek's back."
Scott laughed loudly.
"And Peter coming back doesn't count. I'm talking about the people we made marks to remember, because they made such a mark on us, we had to show the scars somehow."
He looked at you.
"We heal super fast so we forget, but, not all scars are bad. In fact, no scar is bad. To me, it's a reminder. It means you made it through something, whether a scrape on your knee from that time someone jumped out in the hall and scared you, all the way down to the scars we would have after all the battles we have fought, had we not healed after walking away. It's nature's way of helping us hide our secret. It's self preservation. But so is this," you pointed to your tattoo.
"This is how we cope, how we remember all the times we walked away, whether we won or not. We're still here. We made it. And with everything we've got left, we will honor those who fell and couldn't get back up long before it was their turn. Simply because they loved us, in some form or another, enough to stand by us and fight. We have to continue to fight, for them. But more importantly, we need to continue to walk away, no matter how bad the bloodshed, no matter how bad the heartache, no matter how heavy the losses. We do it for them."
He nodded, smiling sadly. "How did this become our lives?"
You laughed, long and hard, throwing your head back and clutching your stomach. "Well, if you really wanna know...." Scott's eyes grew wider like a kid at story time. "I was born into a family of werewolves, so I knew what they were, but I didn't turn for the first time until I was almost seventeen."
Xxx
Derek had coached you through shifts once you found out, because the beta with the blue eyes was your anchor.
It was shortly after Paige had died, and both of your families being friends, he had confided in you what happened. Which was odd. Because up until about a month before that, he didn't even want to tell you his class schedule.
For some reason he opened up to you seemingly overnight, and after your first shift, that was when you knew.
You were mates.
And for some reason, Peter didn't like that. Maybe because Derek used to always confide in him, and suddenly you were the only one he would talk to about certain things. Regardless, Peter started spreading lies about one pack to the other, and soon, after blaming some deaths on innocent werewolves, and territory discrepancies he blew way out of hand, despite everyone knowing the two of you were destined, they told you to stay apart.
Xxx
"So you two are in love?" He said the last word in a ridiculous way, and you bumped shoulders with him. You knew Derek was listening.
"Maybe...." You felt your cheeks tinge pink as you smiled, Scott chuckling. "Remember when Peter said he had to pull us apart literally?" Scott nodded. "While he was smack talking and made it seem dirtier than it was, he actually did pull us physically apart. We had just given one another the special mate acceptance bite, and that was what he pulled us apart from." Scott's jaw was dropped, and you held your hands up in surrender. "We were fully clothed! Nothing happened! Or at least, it hadn't yet."
Scott looked straight forward. "Ew."
You shoved him with a little extra strength, knocking him over on his side, only for him to pop back up quickly. "That was the reason Kate happened. The bond between mates has to be finalized with certain acts, and since we didn't get that far, Derek didn't feel the pull of the bond like we were supposed to."
"What about Jennifer?"
"Same situation, although, thank you for reminding me of another reason to punch Derek in the face later on. Peter, too." Scott chuckled as you looked straight forward. "Mainly Peter. If we had cemented the bond, then those two wouldn't have happened. Along with any others along the way."
You turned your face back to Scott. "Use your eyes."
"What?"
"Scott. Work with me here. Turn on the stop lights we have for eyes and look at me."
He did what you asked, and you pulled your shirt on your left shoulder to the side. Right on the pulse point Derek had not left alone the night before you knew Scott could see the faint glow of a bite mark.
"It would be brighter if we-"
"Yeah, yeah, I got it," Scott swatted at you disgustedly as he turned around to look for Derek through the windows, nearly screaming when he saw Derek was already standing there, arms crossed like always, scowling.
"Don't be such a-"
"Don't say it," Derek cut you off, waving his finger at you through the glass, before smiling and going around and coming out to join you two, sitting on the other side of Scott.
"Dude!" Scott whined. "I nearly had a heart attack!"
"Oh, please. You would have healed," Derek waved him off, and you laughed as Scott scoffed. "Plus, it's not like you've never done it before." At least Scott had the decency to look sheepish at that.
One glance, and Derek sighed, pulling his shirt on his left shoulder to the side to reveal the pulse point, and Scott flicked his eyes to see the same faint glow. "No wonder you always wore jackets and stuff," Scott said, his voice far away in thought.
"Yeah. Now can you turn off the neons and quit staring at my neck? It's weirding me out."
Scott complied and turned to you. "Why didn't you get here sooner? True Alpha or not, you make him tolerable." He turned around to face Derek again, and jumped at the scowl being shot his way, and you laughed, earning a small grin from Derek. "See?" Scott pointed, looking at you, and jumping once again when he looked back to Derek to see the scowl back. "Dude. Quit changing your face so fast. It's weird, and unnatural, and like some facial ninja. Just stop it."
"Facial ninja?" Both you and Derek said in unison looking at the other in question.
"I don't know! It's just weird, okay?"
"Okay," you said laughing, patting the spot on your neck. "But remember what I said, Scott. We don't always scar, but that just means we found a way to make it through. And the marks we do get to keep, even if only special eyes can see them, are there for a reason." You grabbed his hand again. "For someone."
"I'm on your side," Scott mused quietly.
"What?"
"Just something Allison said once," he looked to Derek. "Right after Gerard showed up and we were in my house and found out it was Jackson and not Lydia," he looked back to you.
"She said, 'I'm on your side, Scott.'" He gently grabbed his bicep with the tattoo, and lightly ran his thumb back and forth over his sweatshirt, as if holding a significant other's hand.
"'I'm always on your side.'" He looked down to his own hand, his thumb stilling before he gave the arm a quick squeeze and a pat before abruptly standing up with a sniff and dopey grin. "Well, I am partied out, and you haven't slept since you got here, so I don't know how you are still functioning. But I am going to go and push Stiles off the couch and get some sleep. Goodnight!"
You waited until he was back inside, knowing he could probably still hear you, but was too consumed with his thoughts to even think about it. "Does he always get like that about Allison?" You looked to Derek who was moving into the place Scott vacated.
He nodded slowly. "I know how he feels," he looked over to you, turning his head as it rested against the wall, mimicking your own, and took your hand as it rested in your lap. "They were supposed to be together, and they knew it. They broke up near the end, and I think it was fate's way of bracing them for the impact." He smiled sadly. "Scott said she told him, 'There's no such thing as fate.' And he just smiled and said, 'There's no such thing as werewolves.'"
You felt a tear run down your face despite your smile. "Yeah, I think I would have really liked her."
Derek returned the smile, wiping away the tear with his thumb, much like the motion Scott had made on his own arm. A tender touch reserved only for those moments where the ones you truly love need it. "Yeah. She reminded me a lot of you."
There was a clatter, Stiles screeching, moans going around at the disturbance, and muttering as Stiles scooped up his pillow and walked away to another spot.
You and Derek burst out laughing. "Reminds me of a few sleepovers at your old house," you mused.
"Yeah, but Laura was like a log when she slept. Dead weight. I almost couldn't get her ass off the couch."
You snorted a laugh, seeing Kira and Scott huddled together on the couch, smiling as they drifted off to sleep. "Allison may have been his intended, but like you said, fate stepped in before the end. That's about when Kira showed up, isn't it?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it." He looked at you, eyebrows narrowed. "How did you know that?"
"Intuition. Foxes and wolves aren't supposed to get along." You looked back to Derek. "But neither are hunters and werewolves."
"I proved that with Kate," he mumbled, not meeting your eyes.
You reached out, lifting his chin until he met your gaze, and couldn't help but smile at the sight of those eyes you missed. "But fate has a twisted sense of humor." You let your eyes glow for emphasis. "It has a way of showing you what you are going to need before it takes something away. Like that game where the ball is under one cup, and you get to see it once, and you have to figure out which one it's under after the board is rearranged."
You let your eyes continue to glow as you looked back at Scott and Kira. "Fate has been kind to Scott, despite all the twists it's thrown at him. After all, he was able to meet two mates on one lifetime, let alone they overlapped."
You looked back to Derek, pulling his shirt aside and staring at the fading mark as he leaned into your hand for comfort. Letting your eyes fade and his shirt go, you met his eyes one more time. "I'm just glad it let me find mine a second time."
You sat together, his thumb running along the back of your hand repeatedly, the silence comfortable, the action comforting.
Derek glanced into the livingroom. "Looks like everyone is crashed down here, and Peter took your room."
You scoffed, trying to get to your feet, but Derek easily pulled you back down. "No. Let him be. Means he won't sneak out and make trouble, and you can sleep in my bed with me down here. He won't dare try and sneak out on two Alpha's, much less two True Alpha's."
"Not to mention, one of them is me."
Derek laughed loudly. "True. I think you officially scared him multiple times in the last few days."
You yawned as you spoke. "Good. Because I'm gonna kick his ass."
Derek chuckled. "Not if you don't get some sleep. And I can only survive on so much more coffee. Come on." He pulled you to your feet as he stood, scooping you up and carrying you bridal style.
"What about pajamas?" You were drifting, your speech beginning to slur.
"Well, do those things Lydia got count as pajamas?" You lightly slapped his chest and smiled. "Just kidding. Birthday suit is always a good option."
You lightly slapped his chest again, hearing him chuckle. "Derek Hale. We are surrounded by teenagers we have to keep safe. Don't think I won't fight something just because I'm stark naked, but that doesn't mean I want to."
He had to bite back a laugh. "Luckily, while Scott was telling you his story, I washed all your new clothes. The perfume was nauseating. I had to get rid of it. So," he set your feet down on the floor in front of a washer and dryer, a laundry basket full of your new clothes neatly folded sitting on top of the washer. "Lydia folded them all," he said, scratching at the back of his neck with nerves. "Said I was 'ruining the creases', or something."
You laughed lightly and grabbed a pair that was conveniently on top. Thank you, Lydia.
"What about you? Jeans can't be comfortable."
He held up a pair of black sweats, giving them a little shake, and you laughed. "Okay, okay, I get it. You're prepared."
Walking into a little bathroom you had spotted earlier, you closed the door softly and changed, leaving your hair down and folding up the clothes you had been wearing, leaving them to rest on the counter. You took off the necklace and set it on top.
Walking back out and toward a now sweats clad Derek, you narrowed your eyebrows at his own already raised curiously.
"Oh, that's cute." His voice was dripping with sarcasm.
Raising an eyebrow at Derek, he nodded to your shirt with a smirk and after looking down and reading it, you rolled your eyes. It said, "I love you this much" in scrolling font below an image of a full moon.
Crawling into the bed on opposite sides, you curled up close to Derek, nuzzling into the side of his neck. It wasn't the side with the mark, but it would do. So long as you could smell him and know you really had found your way back home, that was all that mattered.
That, and finding a cure for the multiple snores drifting your way from the living room.