Soulmates | Derek Hale - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

Prologue | Glowing eyes
"Maeve!"
Maeve ignored the calls after her as she ran, leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind her as her combat boots trudged up the stairs. Maeve ran into her bedroom nervously, dropping the crossbow the furthest away from her as possible, her blonde hair falling at the sides of her face as she leant on the bookshelf, panic flooding her veins at the heavy footsteps behind her.
Tonight had been her first official hunt with her family, with it being a full moon, another family joined for added forces. Maeve had always been against hunting, she had also feared it for her whole life. Tonight her grandfather put her on the spot, telling her it was time for her first kill. The time quickly came around and Maeve froze, letting the wolf run free, embarrassing her family in front of their friends.
Kate Argent stormed into her nieces bedroom, slamming the door behind her as she glared down at Maeve, shaking her head in disappointment. Maeve backed away, instinctively flinching as Kate stepped towards her, trying to run back as Kate grabbed onto her arm.
"Kate, stop!" Maeve exclaimed, struggling as Kate dragged her across the room, slamming her back against a bare wall.
Maeve never knew what she had done to make her aunt and grandfather hate her so much, but since the moment she was born she was the target solely for their negativity and abuse. Chris had been her guardian angel, but there was only so much he could do to protect her now he had a family of his own.
Maeve's mother had always protected her, taking the abuse to stop it from reaching her daughter. But the moment the family stepped back into Beacon Hills, Elizabeth Argent wasn't seen again, even when Maeve needed her most.
"Do you have any idea what you've just done?" Kate shouted, staring at a fearful Maeve in disbelief "You embarrassed this whole family. You're an Argent, we hunt, you're not an exception, Maeve!"
Maeve looked down to the carpet weakly, "I'm sorry, okay!"
Kate scoffed, squeezing Maeve's arm tighter, bruises already forming on her soft, but already bruised, skin "Sorry? You should be begging me for another chance. You ruined the hunt tonight, Maeve, you made us look like an embarrassment."
"When are you going to grow up? You're seventeen years old!" Kate rolled her eyes at the tears in Maeve's eyes, "You're crying? Welcome to the real world, Maeve. You're a hunter, for gods sake, you'd better get used to pain."
Maeve felt a blow to her chest, loosing her breath as she leant forward with a gasp, pain shooting into her thigh. Maeve's head slammed back against the wall as Kate pulled the blade back from her nieces leg, Maeve's bruised hand quickly pressing down against the wound.
Maeve clenched her teeth to stop herself from screaming, Kate took a breath before turning on her boots "Looks like you've got a head start."
Maeve shrunk further down into the wall, clutching her thigh in pain as Kate walked away, squeezing her tearful eyes shut as she quietened down her cries before anyone heard. The blonde took a heavy breath, clenching her fists against the cold floor, fearfully glancing up at the ceiling as her breathing continued to increase.
A sharp cry rang out from her lips, lifting her hands to her eyesight, staring down in shock at the claws piercing out of her fingertips. Maeve struggled to her feet, limping across to her bathroom, falling against the sink to support herself as the sharp claws scratched against the basin.
Maeve's blurry vision landed on the cracked mirror, gasping quietly at her icy blue eyes flickering gold. Maeve blinked, leaning closer to the mirror where eyes retuned to normal, frowning in confusion as her claws remained, only for her gums to throb.
Maeve had spent most of her life afraid, but right now, she was pretty damn terrified. Any hunter could recognise what was happening to her, but Maeve didn't know how it happened, why it had to be her. How did she become a werewolf? Maeve was human, she always been human.
Maeve's shaky hands reached into her mouth, crying in pain as she ran her blue painted fingers across the sharp canines slicing through her gums. Her heavy breaths quickly fell into small growls, scaring the teen as Maeve backed away from her own reflection.
"Derek!"
Peter and Laura stood in the cellar of their home shouting at the uncontrolled werewolf in front of them, the youngest Hale at age ten, fearfully watched from the steal doors. Derek backed away from his sister and uncle, growling as they tried to approach them.
"Make it stop!" Derek cried, falling to the ground in pain as he tried to control his shift.
With Talia away helping another pack, Laura and Peter were in charge of the two youngest Hales. Cora had been too young to turn, but Derek was struggling to do anything but that. Derek's control had never come easy, but right now it seemed unattainable.
Laura turned to Peter nervously, glowing her own golden eyes at her younger brother "You need an anchor, Derek!"
Derek groaned, sliding his claws against the floor, leaving marks in their path "I don't have one."
Derek's vision on the cellar slowly began to fade to red, the power of the full moon trying to fully consume him. Peter grabbed onto his nephew, lifting him back up to stand, growling at the teen to get his attention back.
Derek weakly stumbled away from Peter, "I cant.. i can't do this. I can't control this!"
"Yes, you can, Derek!" Laura argued with her brother, gently lifting his head to see her "You just need to focus. Try on focus on us okay?"
Derek nodded, moving back to sit against the wall, flicking his claws in and out in attempts to keep calm. The family had spent months helping Derek with his shift, with each full moon he was making progress. Laura and Peter expected the full moon to go okay, after last month he almost had full control, but now it was like Derek had never shifted before.
Cora stepped into the room quietly, looking to the elder Hales in confusion "I thought he was getting better."
Laura frowned with a nod, gazing back to her younger sister "He was, Cor. Somethings obviously wrong with him tonight."
Peter rolled his eyes, "Or, he just can't control it."
Laura glared hitting his shoulder, "You saw how much progress he made last full moon, that can't just disappear!"
Derek growled deeply, Laura looked down at him with wide eyes whilst Peter went to grab Cora, picking her up as Derek slowly stood up from the cellar floor.
Cora wrapped her arms around Peters neck, looking at her brother fearfully as he growled again "Derek?"
"Laura, get Cora out of here." Peter passed the ten year old to her sister, instinctively pushing them out of the room "Now."
Once the two Hales were out of harms way, Peter was quick to launch at Derek, trying to hold him back as Derek fought in his arms, throwing his uncle back against the wall. Peter looked up in shock, quickly pulling himself up as Derek ran to the door, trying to chase after his nephew as Derek sprinted out of the cellar.
"Derek!"
"Maeve!"
Maeve ran as fast as she could, blood soaking though the hole in her black jeans, leaving a smudge of blood on the locked front door as she fell against it. Chris Argent rushed out of the living room, staring at his niece in concern as she rushed to unlock the door.
"Maeve?" Chris questioned, stepping back in shock as Maeve slowly turned to face him with her hands and leg soaked with blood, sending him a weak glance before rushing out through the door "Maeve!"
Chris pulled on his coat as he ran out onto the front lawn, watching his niece sprint out down the road in confusion, turning to find his father and sister angrily following him out of the door. Chris had always tried to protect Maeve from his family, but with each day everything took a turn for the worse and Chris didn't how to save her anymore, especially without his twin sister at his side.
Maeve ran faster than ever before, reaching the woods in a speed a human could never achieve. Weaving through the trees as the pain in her leg fizzled away, wind blowing through her hair and mud quickly slashing against her clothes. The now prominent claws latched onto a tree, digging into the bark as she came to a stop, looking around in confusion as hundreds of sounds suddenly hit her.
The sounds of nightlife hit her, owls, bats, crickets and even the wind began to hurt to hear. Running water and broken branches falling the ground came rushing in at every direction, but what gained Maeve's attention the most, was a heartbeat, not just her own.
Derek ran out from his house into the preserve, stumbling through the logs and rivers as he tried to control his shift, running deeper into the woods with his uncle hot on his trail. The full moon at its brightest above them, Derek was totally out of control of his shift, the bloodlust quickly flooding in.
Derek slowed down to a halt, the unsteady beat of a heart breaking him from his thirst for blood, looking around at the trees lit up by the moon. Maeve steadily let go of the tree, moving into a jog back through the trees, glancing down at her now heeled leg in disbelief. The two betas could only focus on the heartbeat, drawing them closer to each other.
Derek didn't look at his surroundings as he ran, carefully concentrating on the heartbeat as it got closer, and closer. Derek ran down a small hill, slipping on the mud at the bottom as he fell against another running figure, the both of them falling on opposite sides to each other on the wood floor.
Derek and Maeve both slowly looked up, their eyes meeting in the darkness, the blue and green eyes flickering to a bright amber neither had ever seen before. The shifts that controlled the both of them, fading away with the moon, the heartbeats turning to a faint murmur.
Derek pushed against the leaves, lifting himself up, his gaze not leaving a shaking and afraid Maeve, smiling softly at the frightened girl to try and help her. Maeve stared at him in shock, the moon fading above them whilst her arms holding her up became weak, falling down onto the soil with a quiet groan.
Derek had never seen the blonde before, but her scent seemed so familiar, it was comforting to him, it felt like home. Maeve was too stricken with fear to notice Derek's gaze on her, slowly taking in all of her features, his eyes beaming in interest and concern. The shift, hunters, all of his fears didn't exist for that moment, it was just Derek and Maeve.
Another round of footsteps and heartbeats hit them, Derek recognised the scent of his uncle immediately, but frowned as Maeve shook her head at him glancing back into the woods fearfully. Derek went to speak, to ask if she was okay, but Maeve's eyes flickered, rolling back onto the mud unconscious as shouts for the both of them echoed around the woods.
"Derek!"
"Maeve!"