The Alpha's Keeper

Gunfire

Scott swiftly ran upstairs but I waited for mom and Peter to leave. As soon as they were gone, I bolted out the door. I had to find Derek and talk to him. I knew I could get through to him if I could just find him. I instantly thought of the Hale house. Both Peter and Derek had ties to that house – why wouldn't they hold up there. I quickly hopped in the car and drove to the preserve parking lot. I climbed out of the car and ran through the trees, my legs pumping beneath me. When I came up to the Hale house, I heard Derek shouting inside. But Peter was still with my mom. Who was he shouting at? "No one cares that you drive an expensive car. No one cares that you have perfect hair, and no one cares that you're captain of the lacrosse team." Derek shouted as I pushed open the front door.

He turned to me, in full shift, a cowering figure slumped on the stairs. Jackson. He had wanted to become a werewolf but he was almost killed instead. "Excuse me. Co-captain." I heard my brother call. My gaze flicked to where he stood at the top of the stairs. He jumped down, landing between Derek and Jackson. "Move!" Derek growled. "No." Scott replied, fully shifted. "Fine. I'll kill you too." Derek snarled. "No!" I shouted, jumping in between them. Derek froze in his attack, his glowing blue eyes meeting my brown ones. "Evie, move." Scott insisted from behind me. But my eyes never left Derek's. "No." I repeated, my lower lip shaking slightly. "You two really want to die for this douche bag?" Derek snapped at us even though I knew he was really talking to me.

"This isn't you." I muttered, shaking my head slightly. "I know this isn't you." I said. "How would you know?" he snapped at me, glaring daggers at me. "Because I know you. I know you. Don't kill them – no one needs to die." I pleaded, searching his eyes. Conflicting emotions battled within him as he stood there, searching my eyes. "You don't know me." he growled. He was trying to push me away – but that wouldn't work. I was a stubborn bitch when I wanted to be. "Then why do I love you?" I asked, my voice shaking and weak as I whispered those six words. His eyes widened slightly and his jaw slacked. I reached out and took his hand, forgetting about the claws. I held his hand to my cheek and held it there. "Why?" I asked, my voice still only a whisper. I doubted Jackson could hear me but I knew Scott did. Derek gently rubbed his thumb across my cheek, mindful of his claws. I smiled up at him and nodded.

And then it was over. His hand jerked away from me as he held his arms over his eyes. "Cover your eyes!" he called just before a small explosion of light blinded me. Suddenly pain filled my side and I cried out in pain as I dropped to the ground. I clutched my said, my fingers sticky with blood as Scott fell too. "Evie!" Derek called, his hand resting on my cheek. My breathing hitched as my heart bounded and more gunfire filled the air. Derek pulled me towards a wall before heading over to where Scott was huddled in a corner. "Scott! Go!" Derek called as he pushed my brother to his feet. "No, Evie!" Scott called as Derek pushed him away. "Run!" Derek shouted. Scott finally ran and Derek crouched down next to me. "You're gonna be okay." He told me before bending down and pressing a kiss to my forehead. And then he stood abruptly, running out of the house and into the line of fire with a howl.

The gunfire stopped shortly after that and I heard a howl of pain come from Derek. I cringed at the noise. A few seconds later, a familiar and annoying blonde woman stood over me. "Look what we got here, it's the chew toy." Kate Argent taunted me. "She's hit, Kate." A voice called out. But my eyes were locked with hers. "We'll take her with us. She'll be useful against him." Kate replied with a shrug before pulling out her taser baton and jabbing me with it. I cried out in pain as the electricity passed through me. I felt my body shutting down as dark spots covered my sight. My body went limp before my eyes finally closed. Just before they closed, I was lifted from the ground and carried out of the house. I saw someone shove an unconscious Derek into the back of an SUV before everything went dark for the second time in 24 hours.

Cold metal pressed against my back and I groaned. My head and body ached all over. I pried open my eyes to be met with a bright light. "Ah, hello there." A masculine voice called almost cheerily. I glanced to my right to see a man wearing a plastic apron and disposable gloves with blood on them. My blood. I muttered the first thing that came to mind. "Derek." Where was he? Was he dead? Did they kill him? Were they going to kill me too? "Right, your friend. it's probably best not to speak right now." the man instructed before gently lifting my head and bringing a cup of water to my lips. I took a sip as I realized how dry my throat really was. "Easy." He murmured soothingly as I groaned and laid back down.

The sound of a heavy door sliding open filled my ears. "How's your patient?" a familiar woman's voice asked the man next to me. "Awake, bitch." I hissed when Kate Argent's face came into view. "Oh, that's not very nice." She cooed, false offence on her face. "After all, we did save your life." She told me before leaning over the table. "I could have left you to bleed out. But no, I brought you here for help." she continued before she looked me up and down. "Wow, looks like the chew toy is a little used." She mused, a smirk on her lips. I realized then that my shirt was gone. "Where –" I started before she cut me off. "Right, the arbitrary questions. Where are you? Not telling. What's going on? You'll find out soon enough. Why? Because Derek likes you and that makes you useful." She told me before taking my arm.

Another man entered the room and they pulled me off of the cold, metal table I had been laying on. I stumbled after them as they dragged me down a short hallway before entering a larger room. Two sets of restraints were set up – and one was occupied. Derek glared at Kate and the other man as they led me into the room and cuffed my hands above my head with old chains that you would see in Pirates of the Caribbean. "Let her go, Kate." Derek grumbled, trying to sound neutral. But I could see the anger burning in his eyes. "Looks like your chew toy has been played with before." She mused as she strolled over to him. "Was it you? The alpha? Or maybe the other beta?" she asked, staring up at him with a smirk. "Let her go." He hissed at her through clenched teeth as the man who had helped Kate drag me out here pressed a pad to my side. I looked down to see him taping it to me, wires going through the pad and brushing against my side. My eyes followed the wires to a generator and a small whimper escaped my lips.

"Come on, Derek. He killed your sister." Kate said as she tried to get him to tell her who the alpha was. She had electrocuted him a few times but he stayed silent. "Now – either you're not telling me because, well, you want to kill him yourself, or for some reason – you're protecting him." she guessed. He just glared down at her. "Look at that sour face." She mused as she turned around and started slowly pacing. "I bet you always used to get people coming up to you saying, 'smile, Derek. Why don't you smile more'. Don't you just wanna kick those people in the face?" she asked, her back to us as she rested her hand on the generator. "I can think of one." He ground out through clenched teeth. "Promise?" she asked, smiling widely at him. "Cause if I thought you'd be that much fun – I'd let you go." She mused before going through our things on the table with the generators. "Let's see. Nothing, nothing, nothing. God, I hate this detective crap." She muttered before picking up my phone. I was so glad that it was locked and she couldn't get in. I was even extra glad that I had changed the lock screen picture from one of me and Scott to a picture of a wolf.

"Are you gonna torture us – or are you just gonna talk us to death, huh?" Derek growled at her. a small whimper escaped my throat as I shot him an astonished look. "Oh, sweetie, I don't – I don't want to torture you. I just wanna... catch up. Remember all the fun we had together?" she asked him, smiling widely as she placed her hands on his hips. "Like the time you burned my family alive?" he growled at her. "No, I was thinking more about the hot, crazy sex we had." She said before her eyes flickered to me. "I think she's jealous." Kate mused as I glared at her. "But the fire thing. Yeah, that was fun too." She said, turning her gaze back to Derek's. "I love how much you hate me. Remember how this felt?" she asked him before dragging her tongue up his abs. he growled and snapped his jaws at her as he tried to push her away. She just smiled in satisfaction.

"Sweetheart, I really don't want to torture you." she started before the large metal door across the room slid open. "But he does." She added as the man who had helped drag me in here earlier re-entered. She smirked at me before flicking her hand over the generator attached to me. Electricity coursed through me and I screamed in pain. The man quickly turned off the generator and I went limp, breathing hard. Hot tears poured down my cheeks as the electricity still coursed through me. "Evie." Derek called softly. I looked over at him through blurry eyes to see concern and an apology in his green eyes. "I'm okay. I'm okay." I muttered, my voice hoarse and breathy. He knew it was a lie – he knew I was in excruciating pain – but he didn't say anything else.