moonlight.

35

☾

CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

DEREK SNUCK INTO haven's bedroom, being quiet enough to not make any noise or draw attention to himself. he froze in his tracks when he saw an empty bed. he had expected her to be here as he told her earlier he would be coming over.

multiple heartbeats could be heard so he stayed hidden in the corner of her room, but focused on the voices downstairs to hear what was going on. he could hear scott, melissa, and haven talking.

"so we got the adoption date set up." melissa said, giving haven a wide smile. "a week from today."

"a–a week?" haven stuttered, her heart racing in her chest. she couldn't believe she was finally getting adopted. she finally had a loving home and family. it didn't feel real.

"yes. your social worker said he just needs to sort through all the paper and find your original birth certificate. then we're good to go." melissa explained, her and scott pulling the girl into a tight hug.

she giggled, dropping her head on melissa's shoulder and closing her eyes. "thank you for everything. the both of you. it means so much to me."

"of course sweetheart." melissa said, planting a kiss on both her and scott's heads. "it's getting late and it's a school night, so off to bed you two."

scott and haven glanced at each other before they took off running, dashing up the stairs. melissa chuckled, shaking her head. scott nearly tripped, creating a loud bang as he caught himself on the wall.

haven laughed, going to open her bedroom door before scott stopped her. she turned around, giving him a confused look.

"do you really trust derek?" he asked her quietly as he knew their mom was still downstairs.

"yeah, of course. why wouldn't i?" she crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at him.

the two were unaware derek was still in haven's room waiting for her, fully listening to their conversation still. he could hear haven's quickly beating heart, sensing she was becoming nervous by the sudden interrogation it seemed.

"i–i don't know. i just feel like he's hiding something and won't tell us. maybe something to do with the alpha. i just want you to still be careful with him." scott told her, making derek release a low growl and clench his hands into tight fists.

she sighed, leaning her head back against the door. "he was the first person who showed me it's okay to trust people, scott."

"it could be a tactic of his, you know. get close to you for some reason and use you for what he wants." he suggested, not thinking of what haven might feel by his words.

derek felt immense anger boil in his veins and his wolf urged him to hurt scott, to tell him it wasn't true. but he controlled himself and listened closely for haven.

"do you really think that?" she whispered, beginning to overthink everything.

he looked back at her as he stood inside his bedroom across from hers. "it wouldn't surprise me."

haven waited a few moments, thinking about it before letting out a huge sigh. she turned around, opening her bedroom door to walk inside then closing it behind her.

she jumped and gasped lightly as derek shoved her up against the door, his body pushed up on hers as he scent marked her. he stared down at her intensely, pushing her hair behind her ear.

"you really gotta stop doing that." she breathed out, tilting her head as she looked up at him with twinkling eyes.

"do you really think i'm using you?" he asked her quietly, making her feel slightly shocked by the question but knew he must've overheard her and scott.

"no, of course not." she whispered, staring directly into his eyes.

he stared back at her, his eyes scanning her face for any sign of lying and listening to her heart beat which remained steady. he slowly nodded, knowing she was being honest with him.

"are you okay? you know, after the whole high speed chase earlier." she said, slipping out of his hold to lay down on her bed.

she scooted over, giving him room to lay down. he did after kicking off his shoes and jacket. he stared up at the ceiling, replaying the events that occurred earlier. he stole a quick glance at her before letting out a sigh.

"i just hate not knowing who this alpha is. i need to figure this out and i can't keep relying on scott to help me." he told her, turning to lay on his side so he could look at her.

"give scott a break. he's been through a lot with all of this, hell he never even asked for this to happen to him." she said, giving him a look which made him chuckle.

"he needs to get over it and adjust to this new change. fighting it will only make it worse for him." he explained, slowly hovering over her and dropping his forehead on hers. "if he wants these killings to stop, he needs to help me find the alpha."

"and what happens when you do find him?" she asked, resting her hand on his cheek.

"i'm gonna kill him myself." he said, quite determined and sure of himself.

her eyes slightly widened and she pushed him away from her so she could sit up. "and risk getting killed too?"

"the alpha won't stop until he gets what he wants. lucky enough he doesn't even know about you yet. i can't take the chance of something happening to you." he told her, grabbing onto her hands.

"nothing is gonna happen to me, derek." she sighed, slowly getting tired of the same conversation. "i'm not going anywhere, i promise."

"don't make promises you can't keep." he mumbled, looking down at their intertwined hands for a moment. "you don't know what can happen from a week from now or even tomorrow."

"fine. you're absolutely right." she sighed, shaking her head. "but wanna know what i do know?"

"hm?" he looked back up at her.

"that i'm always going to be here for you no matter what."