On My Own | Hale - TVD/TO/TW [4]

28 | Not Yet

When Derek wakes, Lexi is still asleep beside him. During the night, his hand had found its way around her waist, tucking her body into his, her head tilted against his forehead. Her lips are parted just enough for a soft whistle to sound with each breath; her eyelids flicker every few seconds.

He finds himself smiling as he adjusts and moves closer to her. His grip tightens around her waist as his fingers trail over her skin.

A sigh escapes her lips as she opens her eyes, the morning sun shining against the blue. "Morning," he says when she meets his gaze.

"Please tell me this is real," she whispers as a flicker of fear passes over her face. "Tell me this isn't a dream."

He smirks. "So you've been dreaming about this?"

She purses her lips and nudges his shoulder. "You know what I mean." Despite her avoidance, her cheeks turn bright red.

"Yes," he replies. "this is real."

Her lips tug upwards as she runs her gaze down his face and chest. "Your wound healed," she says, trailing her fingers over his shoulder. "I guess you needed the distraction."

Scoffing, he shakes his head. "I needed the time. You're not just a distraction." His expression softens. "You never were."

Tucking her bottom lip between her teeth, Lexi glances up at the ceiling. Her eyes move around but she looks at nothing; she can feel Derek's fingers gliding over her waist, his touch the only anchor to reality.

When she looks back at him, she follows his gaze to the large bite mark over her stomach. "My brother turned me," she says, clearing her throat. "He shifted, didn't have control. I tried to calm him, but..."

"I thought you were the first."

Lexi sighs. "There are two kinds. My brother is of the other one: it is a gene you have to trigger. They turn every full moon—there is no way to control it. Their bones break a thousand times over. It's very painful, I hear. It's why my shift breaks my bones, but others from my line are fine. It is a remnant of the other kind."

He glances back up at her. "If it's painful, why do you shift?"

Turning to face him, Lexi's hair splays over the pillow. "It's freeing," she says. "Running through the woods without human skin? It's euphoric. The only thing I can compare it to is when I first turned."

Lexi's phone rings. She rolls her eyes and props herself up onto her elbows. Derek's grip tightens as he groans, "Don't leave."

"I'm just answering the phone." She chuckles as she presses the contraption against her ear. "Hello?"

"We found Stiles."

Both Lexi and Derek tense. "What do you mean?" Lexi asks as Derek sits up. "Stiles or the Nogitsune?"

Scott sighs. "The bad one. Deaton paralyzed him with some kanima venom, but we don't know how long it will last. Do you think you could come over and—"

"Give me twenty minutes." As she hangs up the phone, she slips out from under the sheets and slips on her wrinkled clothing. "It'll have to do," she mutters as Derek watches. She keeps her boots below his eyes, carefully slipping them onto her feet and letting the cool metal dagger press against her ankle.

"What are you going to do?" Derek asks as she throws her shirt on.

She shrugs. "Not sure yet. But it comes from my family, so it is my responsibility." When she catches the frown on his face, she says, "It was created to protect my aunt from Viking warriors. My mother has a page about it in her grimoire, and it is not much. I've only encountered it a few times, but I know what it wants. I'll save Stiles, don't worry."