Soulmates | Derek Hale - Chapter 55: Chapter 55

SIX YEARS LATER
Supernatural division, FBI, Los Angles
"We've been at this for 20 hours, does anyone have any suggestions?" Maeve questioned tiredly, reaching for another cup of coffee.
This case would not solve itself and Maeve was quite ready to pass it onto the other team and call it a day. The supernatural division had only grown under Maeve's leadership over the years, but some cases were a nail to the head.
But her saving grace came in the excitable voice of her brother, asking, "So certain that they're werewolves?"
"DNA at the scene matches," Maeve answered, glancing at the board behind her, almost getting stuck in the maze of red string, " But, we cant identify the victims, so the DNA lead isn't reliable."
Stiles sat up in his seat, nervously tugging at his tie, "Have we considered it's a hunting problem?"
Stiles had been Maeve's Intern for the past year after he had graduated college and training, it was only In the past weeks that he had been promoted to an official detective ( under Maeve's strict supervision, of course ) His co-workers were hesitant about him to begin with, claiming he was only accepted cause he was the bosses brother, but they were slowly learning about the force that was Stiles Stilinski.
"Go on," Maeve encouraged, sipping at her coffee.
Maeve thought her sleep schedule could never be worse than when the twins were newborns, but becoming head of devision changed that.
"Well, the deaths have a supernatural appearance to them," Stiles started, standing from his chair to look at the rest of the team, "But who's to say it wasn't hunters? The victims are werewolves, but surely if there was a pack issue we'd know about it from our sources."
Sources being Derek and their allied packs, but even then then there are many packs out there that aren't as accepting of the Hale pack as others.
"But why would hunters be mimicking a wolfs kill?" An agent called out.
"We're sat investigating the wolves, not the hunters," Stiles almost excitedly shouted, "That's their motive."
Maeve glanced around the room, "Are we all in agreement then?"
Nods and mumbles of agreement echoed around the room, Maeve was fairly certain she saw an agent fast asleep in one of the chairs.
"Investigation starts tomorrow," Maeve instructed, moving to pick up her jacket and bag, "Stilinski, choose your team and have your case ready."
"Really? Me?" Stiles gaped at his sister like a fish.
"Yes," Maeve smiled assuringly, motioning for her to come with her, "Everyone go home and get some sleep, you're gonna need it."
Stiles hurried out into the hallway after Maeve, his sister was walking at a brisk pace to get the hell out of there.
"We're gonna get killed if we miss family dinner again," Maeve joked, scanning her card to exit through the security gates, "I don't know if it was a good idea to let Derek cook dinner."
Stiles ignored her muttering, staring at her with wide eyes, "Maeve, you're really letting me have this case?"
"I'm not letting you have anything, you worked hard for this," Maeve reminded, breathing in the fresh air as they walked into the carpark, "You have the most promising lead yet."
Maeve paused as she unlocked her car, rolling her eyes at Stiles stood frozen in place, "Stiles. Dinner? You'd think after being awake for twenty hours you'd be dying to go home."
"But the case!" Stiles protested, hesitantly climbing into the car, "Theres so much to do!"
"And It can wait till the morning,"
The lodge, Beacon County
The woodland surrounding the lodge was blissfully peaceful, even with the Hales and their pack going through their chaotic daily lives.
Derek chuckled as he dodged Frasier's punch, shoving back his beta, "Too slow, again."
Frasier growled under his breath, moving his ginger hair away from his eyes, "tomorrow i'll beat you."
"No you wont," Derek teased smugly.
Frasier rolled his eyes, running to tackle Derek again. He and Derek had got off to a rough start, Frasier didn't like that Derek waltzed in and became alpha to the pack he'd been raised in and Derek didn't like being constantly questioned by a stranger. But they eventually grew to be friends once Derek became established in the pack ranks - though, all progress went to hell when Frasier knocked up Laura after one date.
Derek hadn't forgiven him for that, yet.
Derek had never been a perfect alpha, but with time he grew and he learnt to become the alpha his pack needed. Derek was the packs leader, and he finally felt like he had it down.
Isaac watched the scuffle with a laugh, he'd finished helping the younger betas train before sending them home with their parents but all training days typically ended with Derek and Frasier in some brawl.
Isaac stayed loyal to Derek over the years and Derek was thankful for it, as the pack continued to grow and flourish, Isaac and Dean ( who still lived at home, of course ) stepped up to help with the pack, especially with the younger ones.
Isaac kept his amusement quiet, he was still on thin ice with Derek after the big reveal that he and Malia had eloped on holiday a few weeks previous. Whilst Peter was completely fine with it ( he'd adapted to being the 'cool dad' ) Derek had decided to be the one to kick up a fuss.
Isaac stepped between the duo as he heard Maeve's car pull up, "You two better stop fighting before Maeve sees."
Maeve had put a ban on the two of them fighting ( which was often ) after Florence had seen and thought it was acceptable to tackle and knock out Freddie after he tossed her favourite barbie into the fire.
Derek rolled his eyes, jogging up the steps to find his wife, "We'll see about a rematch tomorrow!"
"Need a day to recover, old man?" Frasier called after him.
"Just you wait till your kids born and talk to me about tiredness, try having four!" Derek called back, letting the door slam behind him.
Maeve's body cried for her bed as she glanced up at her home. After the fire, she and Derek had built a new home deep in the woodland on the border of Beacon Hills that was reminiscent of the old Hale house.
Maeve grinned as her youngest son hurried over to her from the garden they had fenced off away from the woods for the kids to play. Kit's inky black hair flopped in front of his blue eyes as he ran, a flock of ducklings waddling after him.
"Momma! Duckies!" Kit pointed out excitedly, wrapping his arms around his mother, the ducks crowding around Stiles' feet.
The birth of Christopher Noah Hale came nine months after the fire, and he became what Maeve declared the last of her and Dereks children. Kit was a curious little boy with a personality to rival his uncle Peter, he was also Maeve and Dereks only human child.
Kit not being a werewolf never worried them, it was common for some werwolf families for one of the kids to not get the werewolf gene, Kieran was a prime example of this. Despite being the smallest and the weakest amongst his siblings, it didn't bother Kit, his personality alone lit up the room.
Stiles stared at the ducks in shock, "You have ducks now? Was the third cat not enough? Or the goat?"
"Where did you find the ducks, Kit?" Maeve questioned, picking up the five year old to snuggle him close, "In the pond?"
"Lulu says I can haves them," Kit grinned.
Maeve sighed, "Did she?"
Being ten years older than Kit, Luna liked to play mum number two and they often ended up with using kit as an excuse to get things she wanted. Luna wanted another cat, Kit miraculously found one in the woods, Luna wanted to cut her hair, Kit 'accidentally' chopped a chunk of her hair out.
"Can we keep them? Please, momma?" Kit begged, pouting up at his mother with his cute dimples.
Stiles laughed as he moved around, the ducklings chasing after him, "Please Maeve?"
"Okay, but you have to look after them, Christopher. Meaning they live outside with the rest of the animals," Maeve decided, Kit waved goodbye as Stiles herded the ducks back into the garden, "Where's Luna?
"Inside. Uncle Dean gotta big ouch!" Kit answered, holding onto his arm with a frown, "Big ouch!"
Maeve playfully gasped, walking up the steps to their house, "Big ouch? We should go check on them then."
Walking through the red front door, Maeve was met with shouts ( no surprise there ) Kit pointed her in the direction of the dining room where instead of finding dinner like she was expecting, she found her room transformed into a makeshift surgery.
Dean was sprawled on the dining table, groaning in pain with blood all over him. Sam held him down, the werewolf looking ghostly pale at the bloody mess in front of him.
Maeve wasn't surprised Sam was in the middle of the daily disaster, if Luna was there it was likely he was to. He'd grown like a weed over the past few years and towered over Luna, Coach all but begged Sam to join the lacrosse team.
Luna huffed in irritation, growling under her breath, "Hold him still!"
Luna sat at the head of the table, trying to pry what looked like part of a tree from Deans armpit. She donned a white lab coat that she'd most likely stole from school and had yellow rubber gloves up for her elbows.
"I'm trying!" Sam exclaimed, pushing Dean back down onto the table as he tried to sit up.
Dean looked around with wide eyes, shouting as Luna picked up a hand saw from the table, "Dont you put that near me!"
Luna, who was naturally gifted at biology studying college level content, liked to think of herself as the pack doctor despite not having her degree yet. Not that the pack minded, Luna was good at what she did no matter the injury after training with Alan and Scott since her flair for science developed.
Maeve hurried into the room, staring at her daughter in shock, "Luna, is that a saw?!"
"Don't you put that near me!" Dean howled, trying to slide off the table.
Stiles blinked at the group, awkwardly shuffling out the front door, "I'm gonna go find the twins before I have to see whatever the hell that does."
Luna moved to sit against Deans uninjured shoulder, picking up a pair of tweezers to pull away at the skin surrounding the branch in his arm.
"What the hell happened?" Maeve exclaimed, leaning down to look at Deans arm.
"I got stabbed," Dean grumbled.
Maeve looked at the trio in disbelief, "Stabbed?!"
"By a tree," Kit giggled, finding the whole ordeal absolutely hilarious.
Sam smiled sheepishly at Maeve, "Training didn't go quite well today."
"Was Derek not helping you?" Maeve asked knowingly.
Derek was easily distracted on training days, he and the older betas often split off after the younger betas got bored. But when the younger betas got bored, trouble always happened.
"Dad went to help Freds, he got stuck up a tree. Dean and Isaac got competitive," Luna chimed amusedly, "Sam beat them in a fight. Their egos couldn't handle loosing the fight to a eighteen year old."
"So you tackled a tree?" Maeve asked Dean, her voice full of disapproval.
"Accidentally," Dean winced.
"Of all the reckless, idiotic things you've done!" Maeve scolded.
The trio groaned at the start of Maeve's rant, they knew she'd be shouting for a while. Luna took the chance to pull a twig from his bicep causing Dean shout out.
"Luna- stop playing surgeon over the dining table! Oh for gods sake there's blood in the placemats!"
"You should've lost your arm," Luna held up the bloody piece of wood, inspecting it as she ignored her mother, "Fascinating."
Sam frowned at the giant wound in Deans shoulder, "Lu, can we not have a biology lecture right now?"
"Don't be such a baby," Luna laughed, rolling her eyes as Sam stepped away as she pulled another piece from Deans arm, "it's only human flesh."
"Only human flesh," Sam mocked.
"Can we hurry up and fix my arm already?" Dean interrupted impatiently, trying to sit up.
Luna shoved him back down, "If you don't shut up you won't have an arm for me to fix."
Maeve had enough, turning on her heel to make her way through the house. She hoped to find Derek in the kitchen cooking for the ridiculous amount of family they had coming over, but she knew that was unlikely.
Instead she found Laura and Talia saving the mess of food Derek had attempted to prepare.
"Did you not see my dining room being turned into a hospital?" Maeve grumbled, earning a laugh from the Hale women.
"Luna kicked us out, she needed 'focus'" Laura pointed out, draining a pan of vegetables, "So we're saving dinner instead. Someone ruined it."
Maeve placed Kit on the island, he immediately reached out to help Talia with desert, discreetly licking the spoon as she turned her back.
Maeve smiled as hands wrapped around her, tugging her back against his chest, "Speak of the devil."
"We all know I can't cook," Derek defended, reaching out to ruffle Kit's hair.
Maeve turned around, looping her arms around his shoulders, "Want to tell me why you weren't supervising training earlier? Dean has half a tree in his arm."
"They're twenty four, I'm not their baby sitter," Derek rolled his eyes.
A loud scream echoed from the dining room, only seconds later Luna entered the kitchen, tossing her bloody gloves into the bin.
"The surgery was successful," Luna grinned, "I think I'm gonna add trauma surgeon to my resume."
"Of course you are," Derek muttered.
—
The rest of the Hales trickled in throughout the evening, Cora was all but tackled by her mother after being gone for 6 months. She had taken up travel photography and Talia did not like having Cora so far away.
Kieran had discreetly arrived and hurried out back to hide and drink before dinner with, Derek, Fraiser, Malia and Isaac.
Peter thought he had made it peacefully to the door, his stepdaughter Suzie dashing inside to find Luna, until he spotted two identical sets of blue eyes staring at him.
"Hi uncle Peter!"
Peter raised his brows at Freddie and Florence, the twins were covered head to toe in dirt and mud, leaves and sticks poking out of their hair.
"Its creepy when you two do that," Peter reminded, glancing around for anyone supposed to be supervising them, "What are you doing lurking in the garden?"
"We were exploring in the woods," Florence mused, she and Freddie practically jumping in excitement, "Did you there's fish in the lake!"
"And we made a rope swing!" Freddie added, running circles around Florence as he mocked the movement of the swing.
Peter frowned at the state of them, "And a mud pit by the looks of it."
Maeve opened the front door, taking one look at the twins and sighed. With the amount of trouble the two of them got in together, nothing really surprised her anymore.
She smiled hopefully at Peter, "Can you hose them down before dinner?"
"Hello Maeve, nice to see you too," Peter muttered, shepherding the twins over into the garden in search of the hose.
"Uncle Peter, we missed you so very much," Florence sang mischievously.
Freddie shared a wide smile with his sister, "So very much!"
The twins raised their arms for a hug, Peter took off in a run at their actions, groaning as they ran after him.
"No, don't you dare!" Peter shouted, grabbing onto the hose as he ran, whirling around to point it at them like a weapon.
—
Maeve rolled her eyes as the twins ran back around the corner, soaking wet with a muddy Peter trailing behind after them.
"You, my angel, are the only sane one left," Maeve smiled down at Kit, he grinned back at her, crouching down to stroke mischief who slept under the patio chairs.
Maeve's parents and Lorraine were the last to arrive, since Noah's retirement Lorraine had declared him her personal chauffeur. Kit shot off the patio towards his grandfather, his most favourite person, hugging Noah before Elizabeth stole him for a hug.
Over the years, Noah and Elizabeth had playfully denied their relationship much to their children's frustration. It wasn't until they secretly remarried that Stiles and Maeve got the conformation they needed.
Kit all by dragged Noah and Elizabeth into the garden to see the new ducks, leaving Lorraine alone by the car.
The great grandmother now had to walk with a cane, which the twins assured her made her look cool and not senile.
"Where's Chris?" Maeve questioned, spotting the lack of her uncle.
"Taken his new wife to France," Lorraine grumbled.
"Oh come on nan, you like Olivia," Maeve chuckled, "I've known her for seven years, she's not evil!"
"I'm not taking any risks after Victoria," Lorraine practically spat, staring at the stairs in dismay, the twins making a dash inside away from Peter.
"Oh, not to worry dears, let your old grandmother walk up the stairs by herself!" She called after them.
Florence and Freddie rushed back down the steps, holding out their hands for her to take, "Nana, you're not old!"
Peter and Maeve followed the trio into the house, watching in amusement as Derek grabbed onto the twins before they dripped water all over the place.
"Why must we have gatherings like these again?" Peter complained.
"Because some families like to see each other?" Maeve pointed out, following the noise to the dining room.
Peter rolled his eyes, "But I see you too much."
"Well say hello to your niece who you haven't seen in six months then," Maeve placated, getting interrupted by Talia's shout.
"Cora, sailing around on a boat in the middle of nowhere is not a career!"
"Maybe another time," Peter went to back away, but Maeve tugged him inside, sitting down next to a heavily pregnant Laura, "You look like you're about to pop."
"he's not due until Sunday," Laura yawned, "though I wouldn't mind if he vacated my womb anytime soon."
Florence rushed over, now bundled up in her pjamas and a dressing gown, sitting down next to Laura, "He's coming tomorrow."
"You're not allowed in bets, it's cheating," Stiles called over from across the room.
"Yes I am!" Florence shouted back, glancing up at her aunt, "I can't know for sure, It's a feeling."
Florence's ability had grown under the tutelage of Ingrid. She had learnt how to separate her dreams from reality, and to not be consumed by her suspicions. She'd yet to be able to make predictions or see the future properly, but her inkling that things could happen was strong.
"I think he could come tomorrow too," Freddie grinned sheepishly, "I guessed the gender, so maybe I'm right again..."
Florence was the more overpowering twin, it was often Florence's way and Freddie followed. It didn't help that Freddie was shy and Florence was very overprotective of him.
"As the midwife, I think he'll come early too," Luna announced as she walked into the room, Sam and Suzie trailing after her.
"You're not a midwife," Maeve muttered.
Luna was the only one home when Maeve went into labour with kit, and it just so happened that kit came into the world barely an hour after contractions started. Ever since, Luna had told everyone she had successfully delivered a child ( not that she and Maeve spent the whole time crying in panic )
Luna playfully tapped Florence's nose, "Your witchy feeling is often right so zip it, Freds always agrees with you so you both can't be in the bet."
Maeve glanced at the dressy attire of the three teens, "and where are you. going?"
"To a party!" Suzie said excitedly, waving goodbye to Peter as she tugged Luna and Sam to the door.
Derek just so happened to enter the room as they left, scowling suspiciously at Luna's outfit as she shouted goodbye:
Stiles went to tease Derek but Maeve sent him a warning glare, "Don't start."
Derek wasn't handling Luna being an adult very well. Which Stiles flourished in teasing him about.
Stiles let out a snort as Malia's voice filled the silence, "I didn't know Luna had skits that short."
Derek's scowl deepened as laughter filled the room, the family tucking into dinner as he thankfully got distracted by Florence deciding his seating arrangement.
Freddie tugged his chair across the room, settling it between his mother and Stiles before climbing on it. Maeve smiled down at her son, passing him a plate.
"Hey Buddy," Stiles greeted, passing Freddie exactly what was on his plate.
Freddie idolised Stiles like he had moved the moon, and he was habits like these that just proved it. Dinners with so many people could be overwhelming for Freddie, who was very shy compared to his twin who thrived around lots of people.
Florence had decided derek was her chair for the evening, picking at her vegetables that Maeve knew would be under the table and fed to the collection of pets soon enough.
Maeve shared a knowing look with Derek sat opposite. The couple finally felt content, their lives had changed so much over the years, their families too, but they were truly happy.
—
Beacon Hills preserve
"Luna Talia Hale you did not bring a book to a party!"
Luna winced under Suzie's disapproving stare. She went to protest as Suzie snatched the book from her hand, replacing it with a cup of an unknown substance which Luna was sure that was laced with wolfsbane.
She and Sam had learnt years ago that spiking alchol with wolsbane made it effective, having an evening just as disastrous as her parents.
"In my defence," Luna grinned innocently, coughing as she took a sip of her drink "Finals are around the corner."
It wasn't that Luna hated parties, she enjoyed them! But she felt like she could spend her Tuesday nights more wisely than drinking in the woods with half of her school year.
Suzie rolled her eyes, her false eyelashes fluttering, "Yeah, yeah! I did not spend my precious time making you look hot for you to sit in the corner and read. Go socialise!"
"Yes mother," Luna drawled, downing the rest of her drink before entering the crowd of dancing teens.
Luna glanced through the crowds, spotting her best friend in the centre. Sam was four more cups of spiked drink down and the way he was dancing with his friends was evidence enough.
Luna's smile at his poor dancing faded as his girlfriend joined him, drunkenly kissing him. It wasn't that Luna hated Jackie or was it Jenna? ... okay, she hated Jenna.
At the sight of a tall red head making his way towards her, Luna turned on her boots and sprinted away. She cursed under her breath, memories of her mortifying first drunk and sloppy kiss still haunting her.
Duncan hadn't quite got the hint that she wasn't interested, even the sight of her running away from him hadn't got the message across. Sam liked to tease her that she had a stalker, her poor dad looked quite ready to pass out hearing that conversation.
Luna gasped in relief as she accidentally slammed against Sam, he caught her just before she collided with the floor.
"Pretend you're drunk," Sam whispered as he lowered her to the floor, "Stalkers still watching."
Luna nodded discreetly, letting out an uncharacteristic giggle, sloshing the drink in her hand onto the floor, "Oopsie!"
"Home time, Hale!" Sam said loudly, glancing over his shoulder to spot Duncan pause.
Lifting Luna up and over his shoulder, Sam quickly made his way through the crowd.
"I think you need to get your mom to arrest him," Sam joked, rolling his eyes as she stumbled again as he set her down.
"The only person that will need arresting is my dad if he finds out the reason why I have a stalker," Luna retorted, she and Sam walking away from the party.
"Ah yes, hard times having someone declare their undying love for you daily," Sam grinned, he nodded over to the trail, "You heading home?"
Luna nodded, wrapping her cold arms around herself, "I've been here for two hours, I think that's enough to satisfy Suzie."
"Suzie's now distracted by the basketball captain so she won't pay you any notice. I'll take you home." Sam pointed out, shrugging off his jacket and handing it to her "Its a miracle you haven't froze to death. Surprised Derek let you leave without a jacket."
"He didn't say a word but his glare certainly did," Luna smiled, reaching out to grab Sams hand as a twig snapped in the distance, whispering, "Do you hear that?"
Sam gripped her hand, glancing out over his shoulder into the preserve. Whilst Beacon Hills was the safest it's been in years, history still caused paranoia within the pack.
"It's probably a bird," Sam said hopefully.
Luna felt a chill go down her spine as a flash of metal entered her vision, it was a gun - she was sure of it.
Luna pulled him forward onto the trail, walking quickly, "Act normal, I think a hunters here."
Sam winced, "We're being watched by hunters how am I supposed to act normal?!"
"I don't know," Luna whisper shouted back, practically running down the trail, "They're watching a party full of drunk teenagers, act like one."
Sam cautiously glanced around, he could hear the whispers of the hunters getting closer - they were being cornered and the two of them acting suspicious was not helping.
"Lu," Sam whispered, leading her over to a tree, "Don't freak out."
Luna looked up to him with wide eyes, "What-"
Sam kissed her before she could say another word. Luna's thoughts were screaming at her, all thoughts of the hunters vanished. Sam kissing her, her. It was odd and new, but the sudden tug on her heart made it feel right.
The hunters eventually gave up and backed away, realising they'd just stumbled on two teenagers trying to make out rather than the two werewolves they were searching for.
Luna didn't know how long had passed when he finally pulled away, but she was certain her face was the colour of a tomato. Sam looked equally as shocked, staring in every direction but her.
"Right," Luna squeaked awkwardly, adjusting her - Sams - jacket, "Best be getting home."
"Right, yeah," Sam agreed, blinking slowly, "We shouldn't bring this up again, should we?"
Luna shook her head, taking a deep breath, "Never speak of it again."
"Never," Sam agreed.
—
Luna watched Sams car head down the road, once out of sight she turned and hurried up the driveway. The drive home had been awkward, she and Sam had never been awkward.
"Idiot,idiot, idiot," she scolded, letting out a yelp as she tripped on one of Freddie's footballs.
One of the cats sprinted off the patio at the commotion, letting out a hiss as they passed Luna.
"Oh, let me have a bad day in peace!" Luna hissed back at the cat, pushing open the front door to be greeted by her siblings yelling.
"PUT THAT DOWN!"
"ITS MINE!"
"NO ITS MINE!"
Her overthinking was thankfully interrupted by the chaos of her home, strolling into the living room to find her dad. He was sat on the sofa with Kit asleep at his side, the black cat ( Cinderella ) asleep on his lap.
Derek finally caved. He would never admit it, of course.
Luna sat down opposite him with a huff, "Are we not doing anything about that?"
"Your mother's the only one brave enough to go into that war zone," Derek smiled, "Did you have a good time?"
Luna hesitated before answering, she didn't want to alarm her dad, but she knew he needed to know.
"There was hunters in the woods tonight," Luna informed him, "More than usual."
Derek went to sit up as he shot Luna an alarmed look but Kit kept him sat, "Are you alright?"
Luna nodded assuringly. Derek let out a sigh, his kids had grown up knowing how to act around hunters - but hearing his fears voiced was never easy.
"I'll talk to Scott, see if he knows anything," Derek muttered seriously, "I don't want you or Sam in the woods from now on."
Another crash sounded from upstairs, even Kit woke up to look around for the sound, Maeve's voice filling the silence.
"How many times to I have to tell you to stop hitting each other!"
—
Maeve smiled tiredly as she walked into Luna's room, leaning in the doorway, "Good party?"
Luna nodded, biting her lip in concentration as she tried to braid a back piece of her short hair.
Maeve walked in and took over, easily braiding the blonde strands.
Luna stared at her reflection in the mirror, she caught sight of Sams jacket lying on her dresser, "Mom? How did you know dad was your mate?"
"Well, I didn't really," Maeve hummed, tying off the braid as she sat on the bed, "I always knew there was something there, but my knowledge of werewolves was very little then."
Luna turned to face her mother, shifting in her seat awkwardly, "But now you know about werewolves- how do you know if you like someone, or if - or if they're your mate."
"Well," Maeve started, eyeing Luna suspiciously, "When I imagined my life without your father, it was painful - it was like wasn't supposed to be. Part of you always thinks you could never live without this person but you know that if you had to you could move on... I could never move on."
Luna bit her lip, staring down at the fluffy rug beneath her feet. Maeve reached out and took her hand.
"Lu? What is this about?" Maeve questioned, "Have you met someone?"
Luna took a deep breath, "There were hunters in the woods, we needed to act find a distraction and act normal. Sam... he kissed me."
"Oh," Maeve blinked in surprise, "How do you feel about that?"
"Confused," Luna frowned, "He's my best friend, we should've just laughed it off - now it just feels strange, different."
"Lu," Maeve said gently, "You're sixteen. You don't have to have this all figured out yet, if Sams your mate then you'll know it eventually."
"What if he's not and I'm just ruining everything," Luna stressed.
"You've got to give Sam some credit," Maeve laughed, "You've been best friends your whole life, he's not gonna run away now."
—
Maeve joined Derek in the snug, her husband dumped an arm full of toys into the toy box, sighing, "Why am I always the one cleaning up their mess?"
"Cause you're a big ole softy and don't tell them off," Maeve grinned, circling her arms around him. "And you can't tell me otherwise."
Derek rolled his eyes, "I'm the Alpha. Last time I glowed my eyes Florence she laughed at me."
"Well, no one can tell Rory what to do," Maeve chuckled, sighing contently.
"Do you think Luna's right?" Maeve asked quietly, "That there's more hunters around?"
"I wouldn't say no," Derek frowned, "Sometimes I wonder... we've had what-8 years of peace? maybe it will come back and bite us in the ass ."
"Chris told us the hunters were quiet this past year," Maeve reminded, suddenly sitting up as quick as her bump would allow, "What if there's a reason for that."
Derek raised his brows, "That they're planning something?"
"Would that be so abnormal?" Maeve added, "If it's right - that can't be good for us."
"We'll fight them if we have to," Derek assured her, "We'll win."
"Derek," Maeve said hesitantly, "You don't think this is Kate, do you?"
Derek sighed, "If it is, shes had years to sit and plan something. Tomorrow we can see if Luna's right. And if she is, we'll do what needs to be done."