Hidden Strength

Chapter Two:

Being a teen werewolf was not as much fun as it sounded. Not only was the process in which becoming one quite unfortunate, but learning to control herself and what she was capable of was even harder. But she was managing, somehow. Willa had found that being a werewolf wasn't the worst thing in the world, it was just a matter of control and accepting life would never, ever be the same again.

But Willa didn't mind that, not really. The past three months had been actually enjoyable. She had planned on having to spend her summer alone, her brother and best friend Stiles spending their days at lacrosse practice and her mother working. Instead, she had spent her days with Derek Hale, learning how to control the anger and fear that triggered her shift, how to use her strength, and holding up her end of the deal; helping Derek look for his older sister Laura whenever he thought he had something.

And the nights she snuck out, she learned to fight. She wasn't fantastic, there was a lot to be desired. Tonight was absolutely no exception. Willa growled and lunged forward again, trying to dodge left and get at least one hit in. She failed, like she always did, and Derek caught her by her arm and threw her back. He was becoming tired of her constant failure and the extra strength he put into the throw resulted in Willa slamming into a tree, sliding down it to crumble on the floor of the woods.

Rolling onto her back, she groaned as she hit it wrong before pleading, "Can we just accept the fact that I'm an absolutely terrible at this?"

Derek raised his eyebrows at her as she pulled herself up and brushed the bits of leaf and dirt off of her clothes. He waited until she was actually paying attention to him and told her, ignoring her request, "Do it again."

Glaring at him, she retorted, "You know the definition of crazy if doing the same thing hoping for a different result, right? So technically, this is crazy!" None the less, the blond rushed him again, and again and again. Another twenty minutes of that passed.

After a particularly strong throw back, Derek told her evenly, "Don't focus on trying to hit me, focus on not getting thrown back."

Willa exhaled harshly, but complied, rushing at the older wolf again. This time, she didn't just try to attack, when he moved to grab her by the arm, she grabbed his arm instead, using his momentum to toss him out of her way instead. She didn't throw him into a tree, but she did manage to throw him a few feet. Which was fairly impressive considering Derek Hale was twice as tall and four times heavier than her.

Neither moved or said a word, Willa waiting for him to tell her she did it wrong or that it was a stupid idea. It was a massive relief to her when he relaxed and walked back to her, approving, "You don't have to win a fight, you just have to survive -"

Dogs. Their barks and scent were mingles with the murmurings of humans and the smell of metal and- police. Immediately, Willa was trailing after Derek, both moving through the trees until they reached a vantage point that was far enough they wouldn't been seen by anyone normal but they could see whatever they wanted.

Instead of standing beside him when they stopped, Derek put his arm out, gently moving her to stand slightly behind him, protectively. Willa glanced up at him for a moment, before focusing on the cops and dogs a dozen or so yard away, listening to their conversations. Someone had found a body, female, mid-twenties, cut in half, dead a couple months-

Derek's hand clenched around her, pulling her further behind him when 'a couple months' was mentioned, and immediately, the way he tensed, she knew it was bad, really bad, and that is wasn't just a random, strange murder. One of her hands held onto the sleeve of his leather jacket as she realized, "Laura went missing three months ago."

Her response was a growl, but it didn't matter much. They had to go, if only one half of the body had been found, the other was still out there. Willa was still trying to absorb that not only was Laura Hale dead, but she had been cut in half, as to make sure she was really, really dead. No, she hadn't known Derek's sister, but she knew Derek, and as calm and fine as he would act, he wasn't going to let this just end.