Chapter 16

 

Derek was still pleading with Bella to come back, to start breathing, when Scott and Deaton arrived at the loft. The teenager stared at the scene in shock as Deaton jumped to action, moving swiftly to the man’s side.

“How long has she been like this?” he asked as he pulled back her eyelids and flashing his penlight into them.

The wolf growled at the question and shook his head, unable to answer. Too far gone as he pressed down on her chest again. The Druid reached out and grabbed him by the wrist for him to stop so that he could set up the equipment he brought with him. “Move back Derek. I’ll do my best to take care of her now,” he attempted to assure the agitated man.

When he refused to leave her side, her skin paler than he’d ever seen on her form, he couldn’t stop the tears from escaping. It took both Peter and Scott to pull him off the floor so that Deaton could safely do what he needed.

“She’s been down maybe twenty minutes. Bella separated to try to see if she could find information on one of the groups searching for her and when she came back she – she…I don’t know. It was like she was panicking or something,” Peter spoke for his nephew. “Then her heart stopped.”

The Druid started the AED he had attached to her, waiting for it to assess and charge. “You may want to hold Derek back,” he warned as he thought about what was said. “Where exactly did she go?”

“Where the vampire royalty is, their castle in Italy I suppose,” Peter shrugged as he looked on with concern. “What are her odds? Do you think if Derek tried turning her that it would work?”

At that suggestion, the wolf growled in protest. His eyes remained alert as he paced nearby, watching over every small movement that the Druid made. Deaton was careful as he continued to work over Bella, but he needed to have a better idea of what happened. The behavior of the wolf intrigued and concerned him as he knew that the man cared for the girl early on for what she had done for him, but he now appeared more territorial.

“Doubtful Peter. She isn’t a normal human and is another entity by her rights. Can someone call Jessica and see if she might have some recommendations that may help? What else has changed since we’ve last seen one another?”

“Besides these two finally getting their heads outta their asses and admitting their crushes on each other? Not much. Bella has been wanting to practice her ghost trick, managed it a couple times, but this last one…” Peter shuddered as he looked at the girl.

Deaton nodded, understanding more now why the distressed wolf was behaving the way he was. “I see. If you would not mind, but could you help in keeping Derek back now? The last thing we need is for him to grow more upset than he already is,” he warned, reconnecting the equipment for it to begin reassessing the girl.

Almost immediately it ordered for a shock, and he leaned back while it was administered. He looked up at Derek as he had shifted into his wolf form, struggling in Peter and Scott’s hold as his red eyes were locked on the broken, unconscious body of the girl. Checking for a pulse, Deaton sighed and resumed compressions while the AED prepared for its second assessment and charge.

Once it was ready, he avoided looking up at anyone as the machine advised for another shock, watching as Bella’s body convulsed in a spasm as the electricity went through her system. He reached out to check for a pulse. Closing his eyes, he gifted the boys with a smile and quickly began to clean his supplies up. “We need to bring her to my office where I have the equipment to monitor her,” he said only to earn a growl back.

“She stays,” Derek said as he threw Scott off of him. “No one is taking her from here.”

Peter had already let go and hesitated as he glanced down to the girl he’d come to care for as a daughter. “As much as I get where you’re coming from Doc, but you have to understand how much she does not like you guys and distrusts the outside world lately. If she woke up anywhere else… Can’t you bring the stuff here? It’ll help this asshole to chill the fuck out.”

Deaton took a deep breath and slowly nodded. “It’s not ideal, but I will have to work with your demands. Let’s move her somewhere more comfortable. I will need to get more supplies.”

Derek had already started towards them, stooping to take her in his arms. His eyes were filled with tears as he shifted back to his human self as he took her upstairs to his bedroom to lay her in bed.

When Scott was about to follow, Peter grabbed his arm to stop him. “Let him be,” he whispered.

“He isn’t exactly the most stable right now!” the young alpha argued, clearly concerned about Bella’s safety.

Peter offered a wan smile. “She is perfectly safe with him. It wouldn’t be a good idea to suggest even him to leave her side.”

Scott wasn’t so sure, but he wasn’t about to argue. “Come,” Deaton called to him from the door. “You can help me carry the equipment I need for our newest patient. Peter, I trust that you will immediately call if something changes?”

The man had given a succinct nod before he turned to head upstairs. He found Derek sitting beside her on the bed as he held her hand and sighed. “They are gone for now. What the hell is she going to throw at us next?”

Derek turned his head to look at Bella, who appeared unconscious still. “I’m going to kill every last one of them,” he growled. “She doesn’t deserve this.”

“No. She doesn’t. But what she needs right now is us to keep our heads on straight because if she wakes up and you aren’t around, I’m not going to explain to her that you decided to run off half cocked in the name of revenge. Deaton got her back. Wait until she wakes up to see what she wants to do together,” Peter encouraged.

“Fine,” Derek eventually said as he crossed his arms over his chest and defiantly looked at his uncle. “So what are you going to do?”

“Since I doubt that you have any intention of leaving her side, I am going to chase Scott’s puppies away as I’m sure that they are going to start sniffing around to check on her themselves. Maybe you should call that Hunter asshole and see if he knows anything about those vampire kings.”

“If Scott’s wants eyes on the inside, you can let Isaac stay. He’s more on our side than his anyway.”

“Hm, and their little bitch?” he smiled.

“I don’t want either of them here,” Derek growled, growing more irritated with each time the man opened his mouth.

Peter nodded, receiving the unspoken command and turned to leave. He felt somewhat lost, as he was unsure of how he could help in bringing the girl back. He was angry that his Cold One contact still had not returned any of his messages. If and when Whitlock did respond, he wanted answers.

~o.O.o~

It was late, and the loft was quiet as the monitor beeped softly in the darkness of the bedroom where Derek continued his protective vigil over Bella. He was resistant when Deaton returned to set everything up, but eventually they found a common ground in the girl’s needed supervision.

The wolf kept his senses open for all threats while she was incapacitated, unable to move or defend herself once again. She had come so far, finding new strength inside herself in her time with the Hales and he was damned if she’d lose that again because of whatever she experienced. So when he heard the Druid woman’s voice downstairs, he made his feelings well known as he stood to pace the length of his room.

As much as Jessica had wanted to go up to see her charge, Deaton, Isaac, and Peter strongly advised against it. While they understood her concern, the risk was simply too great with the temperamental Alpha that guarded her.

“Derek,” a soft voice whispered, causing him to turn and stare in her direction.

His own heart nearly skipped at the sound, relief flooding his body as he made his way to her side. Taking her hand in his, he let his werewolf image that had been his blanket recede until his normal, human appearance was all she saw. “Hey,” he smiled.

“Hey,” she repeated, wincing as she shifted on the bed. “What happened?”

Derek swallowed as he looked over at her monitor, seeing that it was within the parameters that Deaton had told him to watch for. “You came back from your trip, and something went wrong. We don’t know, but as soon as you were back in your body here, you just started having trouble breathing… Bella, your heart stopped, and you were in your body.”

She blinked as she tried to remember, her eyes dropping from his as if she searched around for the answer. Looking back up to him, she was nothing short of afraid. “Derek…” she whimpered, tears in her eyes. “I don’t know. I can’t remember why…”

“Shhh…just relax. You need to heal again. You probably have some broken ribs. Sorry ’bout that,” he apologized as he whispered into her ear, but he realized that she wasn’t paying attention.

Bella was still fighting to remember what had happened, what drove her to that point where she’d react so violently. “I need to get out of bed. We need to…I don’t know. We just need to do something,” she insisted as she looked to him. “Help me up…”

“You need to rest!” Derek argued as he tried to keep her in the bed, but the stubborn girl continued to attempt to push against him. “Damn it! You just had a heart attack! Don’t try to give me one too!”

“I need to move,” she muttered as she ripped the cords that monitored her from her body. “Now you can help me, or I do this on my own. It’s your decision, but I can’t stay here in bed. There’s too much that needs to be done, and I need to figure out…something…”

He let out a sigh, reluctant to give in to her demand but knew she would never give up. With a low growl, he moved to help her up. Taking her hand, he absorbed as much of her physical pain as he could when she let out a gasp, wrapping an arm around her ribs. Once he had her sitting on the edge of the bed and relatively steady, he knelt in front of her as he looked up into her face to make sure that she was fine.

Derek pushed her matted hair back, his eyes narrowing at how pale her face was even as he continued to pull the majority of her pain into himself. “You think you can manage while I find you some clothes?”

Her head hung as her grip on his hand tightened as she anticipated his letting go. Bella’s breathing grew more focused when her own eyes turned to his. Gathering what strength she could, she took her hand from his so that he could leave her side, the sudden spike of pain forcing another gasp out as she attempted to keep from crying. “Go…” she whispered.

He hesitated for a moment before he stood and moved around the room, rushing to return to her side as quickly as he could. Digging through her recent laundry, he pulled out a pair of her sweats before pausing in consideration. Glancing back over his shoulder, he moved over to his closet and searched for one of his smaller sweaters. As soon as he had everything she would need, he set them on the bed beside her and swallowed his emotions back.

“Alright, alright, Bella,” he repeated as he took a breath. His arms rested at her sides, fingers playing with the hem of the torn shirt she’d been wearing. “Let’s get you changed and then downstairs.”

Despite the situation being entirely about helping her, it was obvious to her that he was just as uncomfortable about it as she felt. Unable to stop the blush from coming, she bit on her bottom lip, she shrugged. The movement sparked a sharp pain in her chest, and she regretted it, but she let out a strangled chuckle with a groan. “Well, I have to admit. This wasn’t exactly how I imagined you taking my clothes off.”

“Maybe we should try another time when you’re not so broken,” Derek replied after a moment, with a playful smile. He shifted so that he was on his knees, taking a breath as he looked at her. “You ready?”

Before she could answer, he let out a growl as his head swung to the side to the stairwell. Bella looked at him confused as his eyes flashed red, something he avoided doing as much as possible around her unless he was truly angry. “What is it?” she asked, anxiety and fear tainting the air around her.

He breathed out through his nose, trying to calm down before turning back to answer her. “The Druid woman is causing a scene. Demanding to be the one to help you,” he mumbled.

“I don’t want her help,” she shook her head, her voice shaking. “I only want you up here right now, Derek. Just – help me right now. Come on. Ignore her. Let’s…do this…”

Derek stared at her, his eyes sweeping over her. Reaching out, he took hold of the hem of her shirt and slowly began to lift it. As Bella attempted to help with lifting her arms, she reached to grasp his arms to stop him. Her eyes and lips were pressed shut, struggling to avoid crying out in the discomfort and pain. Lowering the fabric, he nodded wordlessly. “It’s ruined already,” he pointed out.

Her eyes opened and met his as the back of his fingers brushed down the center of her chest until he grabbed the edge of where the tear of the shirt ended. His lips pulled back into a smirk as he ripped it the rest of the way. Blinking at the sight of her sitting in the ripped shirt, her chest rising with her breaths in her bra, he shook his head as he pushed forward and continued to pull the damaged clothes from her.

His task was particularly methodical as he was careful as helped pull the sweater over her head and her arms through the arms. The only time his eyes were physically on her, they were on her own and saw that they were filled with amusement. “So glad you find this funny,” he complained.

“If I don’t, then you may as well just have me committed,” she answered back. “Besides – you teased me often enough, so I should think this would be payback.”

His lip curled back at her comment. “How the hell is this payback?”

“You and your working out, shirtless. You have to know the effect you have on girls.”

He looked offended at her insinuation, despite her clearly pained appearance. “I had no clue that you felt the way you did!”

“Bullshit, Derek,” she declared, lightly slapping him on his cheek with the too long sleeve. “Now my pants. Help me up.”

Derek only smiled back at her as he got her feet, making sure she was somewhat stable as she held onto his shoulders for balance. He began to pull what she wore down, not anticipating how he’d feel. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen her legs bare, but he remembered them covered in bruises and cuts from what her vampire ex had inflicted on her. After that, she had always been covered around them.

He was unable to resist. He ran his hand down, over the back of her thigh, gripping behind her knee. He felt her body heat under his touch, her breaths coming shorter. Laying his forehead against her stomach, he sighed.

“I never thought you’d be a leg man,” Bella murmured, breaking the silence, one hand moving to scratch lightly at the back of his neck. “Good to know.”

Laughing, he dragged her pants over, reluctantly pulling his hands from her legs as he worked to help her into them. As soon as they were done, she was quite obviously exhausted from what little effort she had to do. “You know what? I’ll have Peter send up some food. You’re staying in bed. With me.”

“Derek,” she protested weakly. “We have too much to figure out. I need to remember what I saw. I can eat downstairs, later, when I don’t feel like throwing up my empty stomach already.”

“Forcing yourself to do things won’t help you remember faster,” Derek said kindly as he lifted her up carefully and placed her back down on the bed. “Now, are you comfortable or do I need to get you more pillows?”

She shook her head and held onto him, refusing to settle back, even as much as it pained her. “No…Take me downstairs. Derek! I can’t stay in bed when there is something wrong,” she argued.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to remain calm, but his patience was running thin. “Bella, look at you. Just a change of clothes wore you out. You had a heart attack. Your ribs are cracked. You’ve done enough for today, just rest.”

Bella reached out to turn his head to face her. “Look at me. You told me what happened; that got me here now. You cannot understand this feeling I have inside me, this – undeniable fear – that something is wrong that I forgot in this. It’s not just about me,” she whispered. “I’ll get through this. It’s only a few ribs. I’ve had worse.”

Derek growled as he gently lifted her off the bed. “Fine. Your funeral.”

She grimaced as she held on to one arm. “No. It’d be all our funerals if we don’t do find out what I saw.”

He tried to be as gentle as possible with her as he maneuvered them down the stairs, made sure he threaded lightly before setting her down on the couch and grabbed a blanket to keep her warm.

Peter and Isaac watched silently, the older wolf holding back the Druid woman, his hand over her mouth until their friend was comfortable and settled. They had heard everything that had gone on upstairs, and once Jessica arrived after Deaton informed her of Bella’s status, the Wolves only grew more protective of their young charge.

“Deaton went out to get some pain meds for her,” Isaac said quietly, his eyes watching the two with awe. “He should be back any minute.”

“Thanks.”

Isaac watched them quietly for a moment, seeing that Derek was absorbing Bella’s pain. “Would you like me to help so you can take a breather? Deaton showed me how.”

The alpha glanced up at him and growled as he wasn’t about to let anyone close, as he had since the ordeal began. “We’re fine,” he warned before his eyes settled on the red head. “Why is she still here?”

“Oh,” Isaac sat down on the coffee table before Derek and Bella and leaned in as if he didn’t want anyone to overhear it but them. “She wants to be sure that Bella’s alright after having heard what happened. I don’t know why Peter hasn’t thrown her out yet, to be honest; she’s getting on my nerves.”

Peter shrugged as he continued to hold onto the woman when his nephew looked at him questioningly. “She was too persistent to my liking. Besides, we had more questions that she needs answering for,” he said with a dark smile.

“Sit her down, tie her up, put a sock in it,” Derek replied before looking back at Bella and pushed her hair out of her face. “Anything Isaac can get you?”

She was still pale, but her eyes were more alert as she was finding some comfort. Looking over at the boy, she smiled. “Anything but that horrible tea, if you don’t mind?” she asked.

“Oh, no, not a problem,” Isaac smiled, happy that he was finally able to contribute. “I’ll get you some juice instead.” With that, he pushed himself off the table and walked towards the kitchen.

“When are you going to make him a part of your pack?” she asked Derek once he left, amusement in her eyes. “Puppy Chow doesn’t deserve him.”

“I told him to leave once. I wasn’t the best Alpha to him,” Derek sighed. “I had my hands full with the Alpha Pack and didn’t want him to get hurt so… I tossed him out.”

“You’re an idiot. That’s been established,” she murmured as she squeezed his hand. Her eyes looked around, unsure of the new onslaught of emotions she was suffering. “Steal him back. I like him, but that aside – this bad feeling? It’s worse…”

Listening in, Peter had finished just finished tying up their guest. “I’m not surprised. You’re right where you, well, technically died. I can feel your anxiety from over here, but you said you can’t remember what you saw?”

Bella turned her head but couldn’t see him from where she was. “I fucking died. It kind of reeks havoc on your brain dumbass,” she snapped, keeping her voice low and trying not to stress her chest muscles too far.

Before anything else could be said, there was a knock on the door, and it opened. Deaton slipped in, a surprised expression on his face as he found Jessica bound and gagged on a chair with Derek and Bella sitting together on the couch. Looking between the two options of whom to react to first, he opted for his patient.

“Bella,” he nodded as he slowly made his way towards the couch. “It is good to see you up, but I don’t think you really should be out of bed yet.”

The girl turned her eyes upward to him, her glare sharp and angry. She let out a growl of her own that put a proud smile on each of the wolves’ faces. “Just don’t even try suggesting anything less than what we’ve already got her doing,” Derek said as he looked over her head at him.

“Alright,” Deaton said as he looked at the wolf for permission to sit down in the free chair. When he nodded, Deaton moved to the chair and sat down. “I’ve been trying to find more information about your vampires and the problem they might pose but in all honesty, I’m afraid that I couldn’t find much.”

“I’m not surprised,” Bella commented with a sigh. “I know they have laws about concealing their existence. It’s possible that a gifted one could have thrown off any of your research too. Would be something Alice would do if she were able to see you, but she would have to have contact first for her gift to work on you.”

“There is a possibility that our resident hunter might know a thing or two. I did manage to find a passage in an old book about humans in Europe with skin as thick as stone, shimmering in the sunlight, from centuries ago. Apparently they were worshiped as gods before being wiped off the face of the earth. Seeing as Mr. Argent’s family is mostly rooted in Europe, I think he’s your best chance.”

Derek sat back as Isaac returned to them with Bella’s drink, his face carefully composed but not missing the look he received. “Then I guess it’s a good thing that we have someone that is close enough to Argent and happen to be free for that special errand.”

Isaac warily looked at Derek as he handed Bella her orange juice. “It’s not me, is it?”

“What do you think, Buddy?” Peter grinned. “Who else has a history with his nutty spawn? Besides, what makes you think that Charming here is going to leave our Princess for any length of time?”

“Of course it’s me, it’s always me.” Isaac muttered as he ran his hand through his hair. “Well, Scott, obviously,” he replied to Peter, tugging on his hair out of frustration. “Fine, I’ll go. If I don’t return, don’t bother to look for me as Alison probably tore me to shreds.”

“And you call yourself a werewolf?” Peter laughed mockingly.

Bella looked confused. “Why would she be pissed at Isaac?” she asked, looking at her wolf.

“I don’t know,” Derek said amused before smiling at Isaac. “Something you wish to share?”

“I did. I told you that she still holds a torch for Scott. She didn’t particularly liked it when I told her that I knew.”

“That’s nothing new. I saw that, and I didn’t even know any of you,” Bella mumbled.

“Yeah well, she doesn’t want to feel anything for Scott anymore, so she picked me instead. And yesterday I told her off. She didn’t take that kindly,” he shoved his hands in his pockets. “She likes to stab things. Mainly me. I’ll be back in a bit.” And with that, he sauntered out of the room, the big door sliding open and closed.

“He’s a wuss. Please tell me you’re not considering taking him back?” Peter said to Derek. “Unless you want him to become your lap dog.”

Bella let out that growl again. “Peter, shut your mouth. How about you make yourself useful and come up with an idea to help me remember what I saw during my trip to the Volturi that caused this little mishap,” she argued, rubbing at her chest.

“Oh, but there is a way,” Peter smirked. “But neither Derek or I will be willing to do that on you as it’s quite dangerous.”

She looked back to her boyfriend with a frown as Deaton hesitated. “What is this method? How is it dangerous? Tell me why you haven’t said anything about since I woke up and have been going on about these – feelings!”

Derek sighed and extended his claws. “These. Go into your neck. I could hit something wrong and sever something important.”

“Or,” Deaton said carefully. “A guided hypnosis could work. No risk at all for anyone.”

There was a resistant moaning and struggle from Jessica at the suggestion that had Peter roll his eyes. “What are we doing with this bitch? She’s been irritating as fuck since she showed up.”

“Perhaps if you allow her to speak, she may be able to offer an alternative?” Deaton continued.

The wolf sighed as he waited for Derek and Bella to decide on what they wanted. While he hated having to follow orders of an alpha, with the girl in the picture, his nephew was more of a ticking timebomb than he’d ever been and just waited for his word. Better to be safe than sorry, even if there didn’t seem to be anything going on right now.

“Let her speak,” Bella said, her voice soft as it shook slightly.

The change in her emotions caused Peter to narrow his eyes in her direction. He could taste the trepidation that she let off. He was not happy about what she wanted but pulled the gag from the woman.

“First of all, why did you tie me up?” Jessica tried to remain calm as she shifted a little in her bonds to try to get more comfortable. “Second of all, hypnosis won’t work on an Ikiryo. She has a mental shield, remember? It’ll block it. Either her memory comes back naturally, or you’ll have to dig in, but I don’t advise that. Thirdly, you should be in bed, Bella.”

Peter rolled his eyes and stuffed the gag back in the druid’s mouth. “That’s enough.”

Bella sat there, listening to her with a concerned look on her face. Only it wasn’t the same concern that Deaton held. “Have either of you done this thing before?”

“Once,” Derek admitted. “With Peter’s guidance and I did it on Isaac.”

“And look how that turned out,” Peter said with a snort.

“There’s nothing wrong with Isaac,” Deaton said as he looked over to Peter. “Please. Do not intentionally try to scare the young woman, Peter.”

She sat there quiet as her hands shook, staring at the coffee table. “I trust you, Derek.”

He was skeptical, but he could feel her confidence. He just didn’t know what was causing the fear, and perhaps going this route would be the only way to find out why fear was constant with her since she woke up. “I don’t like this. If I hurt you…”

“You won’t,” Bella insisted.

“Why don’t you give your body some time to heal more? A few more days to get stronger for this,” the Druid said, not liking what she was planning at all. “He was correct in the risk of this particular method for someone other than another werewolf.”

She ignored him, keeping her focus on Derek. “If we don’t do this, it could take days, if not weeks, before I remember everything. If I get it back at all.”

“And while you’ve shown to be very… resilient, you only just returned from the dead. Give it a day. Or two before your attempt. Please.”

Bella stared at Derek. It was up to him if he were to agree and go ahead. She knew he knew she would want to do this as soon as possible and why. Any opinion, aside from perhaps Peter’s, meant nothing to her.

“Don’t look at me,” he said as he shook his head. “I already thought it was a bad idea for you to leave your bed.”

Peter let out a long sigh. “If she’s finished her juice, go for it. She’s too impatient, and you’re too hesitant to say yes so we’ll deal with the fallout, if there is one.”

She grinned, happy to get at least one person’s support. “Great! How about now? You said it hurt? Can’t be any worse than what Edward put me through, to be honest.”

“Juice,” Peter said, eyeing her sternly.

“Dickhead,” she grumbled as she drank it with some effort. Forcing herself to finish it so that they could get started on what she wanted. Holding the cup up to show she finished it, she let out a sigh.

Derek scowled, shaking his head as he ran hand over his face. Reluctantly, he stood to put some space between them as he attempted to come to terms with what he was about to do, quickly. He felt her eyes followed him as far as she was capable until he was behind her.

Deaton was still against this experiment that they weren’t even sure would work. He was about to object again, to have them delay this when she looked up at him. His gaze shifted behind her as the Alpha had shifted into his werewolf form. Grabbing the couch, he was quick as he drove his nails into the back of Bella’s neck, causing her to gasp out and her body to spasm.

Moving to take in how they were handling the mind intrusion, Peter rushed to their sides to observe. He watched on, cursing as he saw Bella’s eyes begin to roll back. Taking her hand, he listened closely, relieved that her heart rate and breathing were strong, though slightly labored. Nothing that wasn’t entirely unexpected.

“What do you think he’s seeing?” Deaton found himself asking after a moment.

Peter shrugged, his charge tied up momentarily forgotten. “Well before the whole heart attack thing, she did her teleportation thing to the vampire castle in Italy. A recon mission of sorts.”

At his words, the atmosphere in the room took a shift. He didn’t think of it at first. Looking over at Jessica, he was confused at the terror on her face as she stared at Derek with his nails buried in the Ikiryo girl.

“You do know how dangerous that could be? God knows what she encountered there,” the Druid whispered harshly, scolding the man.

“You argue with her,” Peter smiled as Derek withdrew his nails from Bella. “What’s the good word?”

What none of them expected, however, was for the werewolf to turn and growl menacingly at Jessica, who was struggling against her bonds. He let out a roar that caused her to freeze in place as he took her by the throat and threw her, still tied to her chair, across the loft.

“When do they expect you to turn her in?!” Derek demanded.

Deaton bristled at what they were hearing, just as Peter looked surprised. While he knew he didn’t like the woman, it was something they hadn’t anticipated learning. “What are you accusing her of Derek?”

The wolf was still too worked up to be able to think straight enough to shift back to human form. “She is working with the vampires. The ones in Italy after Bella. They have her set to train her before turning her over to them in exchange for family,” he snarled.

“That’s not all,” Bella spoke tiredly from behind the men. “They also plan to come and take out all of you. They suspect I’m with werewolves, and they have some plan to take all of you out to get me. They already sent out a tracker to find me, and Jane… She could bring you down with just a look. Oh god…”

Her fear, her tears was enough to pull Derek’s rage back, and he turned back to look at her. “That’s it,” he murmured. “That’s what you felt when you came back…” Rushing to her, he took her hands. “We’re going to fight. Don’t be afraid for us. We can take them. Shh…just rest now…”

Looking up to his uncle, he was anything but happy. “Take care of the bitch. Make sure she doesn’t go anywhere until we are ready to deal with her. I’ll fill you in on everything I saw as soon as I get her settled back in bed.”

Peter grinned, excited as he got to have some fun with Jessica. Even Deaton knew that any objects he would make would fall on deaf ears, though he wasn’t sure any longer that he could truly defend her himself. The Hales hadn’t trusted her from the beginning, and it seems, it had been for a good reason.

There was so much more they needed to know, and he had a feeling that it went even beyond the family.