Exposed

Chapter Thirteen

Death clouds the night sky. The lightning storm happening over her head brightens and singes the world around her as the bright streaks take out their anger and grief out on the sky above. A dark chill sweeps over her skin, plunging deep down into her bones. The warm air circling around her, burning with electricity and brushing against the exposed flesh of her arms and face does little to knock away the effects of the ill-fated night.

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Uncertainty is something Derek has never enjoyed in his life, and his life has been filled with heaps of it. The useless doubt has followed him around like a cloud of oppression from the very moment he embedded his sharp claws into the warm skin of his first love. It's a feeling he's reluctantly grown acquainted with in hisq many, many years as a werewolf, but it's also a feeling that has slowly dissipated from his life since he relinquished the power that comes with being an alpha, and evolved into the wolf he was always meant to become.

But in recent days, the uncertainty has returned in full force, threatening to suffocate the werewolf. In fact, the only thing he's certain about is that the origin of all his uncertainty is the small brunette whose very presence in town has put him and his friends on edge.

Amelia Rose has somehow, and without his consent, has become a force that he gravitates towards. From the first moment he laid eyes on her, he knew. There's something about her-- something about both of them-- that connects them. It's more than just an emotional connection. This goes deeper than any mundane attraction. He feels this in his soul, and that terrifies the werewolf. He's heard of the term 'soul mates' before but he has never believed in it. Not until Amelia Rose walked into Beacon Hills-- into his life.

The horror he feels has stunned him into silence. How does he explain any of this to Scott and the others? To Braeden? How does he explain a strong, almost supernatural connection to a woman he doesn't even know?

He can't. He can't explain how just moment before a blistering pain throughout his body brought his large frame to his knees. He can't explain the certainty in knowing that it wasn't his pain he was feeling. He can't explain how, in that one blinding moment, he felt her.

Derek didn't just sense Amelia like he would Braeden whose scent and heart have become recognizable to him. This was nothing compared to his abilities as a werewolf. It went beyond that. He not only felt the pain exploding through her own body but he also felt her fear; a fear that wasn't for herself but for another, unseen force. He felt her heart. It's strong-- stronger than any humans heart he's ever heard-- beat still echoes through his body, pulsing in tune with his own.

The moment was fleeting, gone as soon as it started. She slipped away from him as though she had never been there to begin with, but he knows she was. He can never forget what it felt like to feel her. It goes beyond any physical touch he has ever received. Despite the pain, it gave him power.

He doesn't know how to explain this. Any of it.

But he knows someone who might. Someone who always seems to know everything about the supernatural, even when it doesn't make sense.

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Twigs snap under her feet, their sharp edges stabbing into the bare bottoms but she doesn't feel them. She doesn't feel anything except for the goosebumps raising on her flesh. The lightning storm rages over her head, growing with power with each step she takes. Every few feet she stops and stares up at the sky. The lights burn so bright that their faded creases remain long after the flame burns out. Another flash appears, longer and brighter than the others, and it illuminates her dark eyes.

They speak to her. Guide her. They are the energy that gives her the strength to continue deeper into the woods. They protect her. Their streaks of white hot anger threaten anything or anyone who might step in her way.