You Changed the Colour of My Eyes | Derek/Paige

Chapter 2

Everyone was staring at me, some with interest, some with apprehension, and some with pure hatred. I had been instructed to sit at the back of a truck with the majority of the pack; apparently, I was being taken to their meeting place for 'further questioning'. It was cramped and stuffy in the vehicle, and it was difficult not to notice the bloody claw marks that were etched onto the inside of the truck. The big man with the scar across his face looked at me like he was moments away from tearing my throat out. I was thankful that I was sitting several seats away from him. I sat up straighter in my seat and the bodies around me started growling at the sudden movement. They were certainly intimidating.

Not all of them were so objectionable, however. The short, lively woman who had greeted me earlier sat extremely close, grinning up at me. She had long blonde hair and her eyes were naturally blue, though I remembered her wolf eyes had been a dull yellow. She could not have been very old, perhaps four or five years younger than me, and her face showed signs of innocence and purity, which were rare among members of our kind.

"Who's Paige?" she asked expectantly. Her question was laced with excitement and interest.

Paige.

She was dead. I killed her. My eyes were proof of that. Yet, this Emma, this woman, the resemblance was uncanny. The pack leader in question was sitting in the passenger seat, blocked from view, but I could pick out her heartbeat easily.

I didn't answer the question, but that didn't discourage the youth. "I'm Nosey," she said, stretching a hand out for me to shake.

I took the hand, shaking it briskly. "Nosey. Is that a nickname?" I queried.

"It sure is!" cried Nosey, glad that I was finally speaking. "It's because I'm the best sniffer dog in the pack."

The tall man tutted audibly at her comment but Nosey just glared at him before turning to face me again. "Ignore Noah," she whispered. "He's not very friendly towards strangers."

"Why are you whispering?" Noah asked indignantly. "We all have superhuman hearing."

*

I was led into a big, rundown warehouse. Upon entering, it was clear that this was more than a meeting place, it was almost a home. Beds had been set up along the sides of the building and a huddle of chairs in the centre of the room faced an old TV. Pots and pans were stacked in one corner next to a fireplace, and a broken stereo sat dusty on top of a wooden desk. There were clothes and pictures and paper scattered amongst various boxes and bins.

Nosey saw me looking at the mess. "Not all of us live here," she said. "But those of us who don't have homes..." She trailed off, deep in her own thoughts.

I was then pulled to the front of the gaggle by Noah and pushed forward so I ended up right next to Emma. She stood authoritatively away from the others with her arms crossed. She looked at me with wonder for a few seconds before beginning her interrogation.

"Now I'm going to ask you again." Her voice. It was song-like and tuneful, just like it had always been. "Who are you?"

"Listen to my heartbeat. I'm telling you the truth," I said, my throat was dry and I cleared it with a small cough. "My name is Derek Hale. I know you think that we all burnt in the fire but not all of us did. A few of us survived."

The alpha woman cocked her head to the side inquisitively. "I believe you," she decided, much to the obvious surprise of the rest of the pack. Noah was about to object but she silenced him with a wave of her hand. "You intrigue me," she told me, stepping closer. She started to examine me with her eyes, taking in every detail. Her body was impossibly close now and I started to sweat nervously.

She smirked. "Your heartbeat isn't steady now," she said. And then she asked the question. "Who's Paige?"

A silence fell across the room and everyone looked at me. How could I explain? How could she possibly understand? There was no way of telling her, how could I? I must be wrong. It must not be Paige. But, no. I had never been more certain of anything in my entire life. How could I possibly answer her question?

As fate would have it, I didn't have to. Nosey rushed towards Emma in a fit of nerves and screamed: "I smell them!" A moment later, hunters hurtled into the warehouse and ascended onto us with brute force and guns firing. The other werewolves roared and charged towards them, intending to rip them to shreds, and I immediately sprang into action, dodging a few bullets before clawing at the back of one of the men. However, it was plain to see: there were too many of them. One of the older werewolves was shot in the stomach and he yelled out in surprise and agony before crumpling to the ground in a heap. That's when I noticed that the bullets weren't just bullets, they were laced with a deadly plant...

"Wolfsbane!" screeched Emma through the commotion. "We're outnumbered. Flee." She gave the order and straight away members of the pack raced into the early morning air. I had an opening and started to run at the door but stopped dead in my tracks when a yelp from behind me reached my ears. I turned around.

Emma was being held up by two hunters as a third was trying to force a sack over her head. She was strong, but so were they, and they successfully managed to keep her from escaping. I changed my course and hurried towards her, howling her name through the confusion.

Without warning, I felt a sharp blow to the head and I fell to the ground, unconscious.