"Careful with that," Derek warned Scott as he found Derek's handgun lying on the bed.

Picking up the weapon, listening to the small metallic clicks, he looked at Derek, "I thought you didn't like guns." Derek held up a hand, and Scott returned it too him. "Does this have something to do with your eyes?"

"My eyes, my strength, the healing... All of it," he sighed.

"Gone," Scott asked.

"What ever Kate did to me, it's still happening."

Alex, sitting on the couch, wondering to herself about her father, perked up, their voices breaking her out of her thoughts. She walked over to the bed just as Derek set the gun back down.

Scott, anxious with his fast beating heart, began to say, "If the deadpool really was made by a Banshee, then there's something else that you should know about." Shaking his head, he nervously told him, "Your name broke the third list. It was a cipher key."

"And the other two keys were Allison and Aiden," Derek's stare faltered to the floor as Alex turned to him.

"And I, I don't want to make you nervous-"

"Too late," Alex interrupted, already feeling her heart rate rise.

"But it kind of feels like there might be a pattern there, doesn't it," Scott's uneasy eyes met theirs, "Aiden, Allison... You."

"Names picked by a banshee," Derek stated.

Alex couldn't understand why his voice sounded so calm. They all knew what being chosen by a banshee meant.

"It could mean that you're in danger," Scott hopefully added.

"Scott, banshees don't predict danger. They predict death."

**********

"Derek, please tell me you're more worried about this than I think you are," Alex said to him after Scott left for school. He had to prepare for a lacrosse team bonfire fueled by music and underage drinkers.

Derek sighed, but he couldn't meet her eyes. Pulling at her hand, he lead her back to the bed after she paced the loft again out of nervous habit. They settled on the bed, and she tucked her feet underneath her as his hung over the edge. His silence only confirmed her doubts.

"Derek..." She murmured, intertwining her fingers with his, resting it against his thigh.

"I'm worried, Alex, a lot. Trust me," he quietly reassured her, his thumb running along hers.

"But you're not surprised," she noticed.

As if she could read his mind, he shook his head, "I knew that after I was shot and didn't heal something wasn't right."

She knew that being chosen by a banshee could only mean one thing, yet she persisted to believe Derek wouldn't suffered the predicted fate. "We're going to figure this out."

When his eyes reached hers, he still felt doubtful, but he saw the determination in her gaze. She wasn't going to let him die.

She leaned in closer, her free hand moving up to cup his cheek. As his hand overlapped her's, she whispered, "Hey, you're going to be fine."

With a slight, confirming nod, their eyes locked before she slowly pressed her lips to his. The kiss was long, slow, and affection filled. His hands moved: one to hold the back of her neck, the other around her torso. Her remained on his face, keeping him close, afraid she might lose him.

Their lips parted, but their foreheads stayed resting against each other's. Alex bit her still tingling lips, and they slightly fell back. Knees bumping his thigh, she glanced away, her face turning pink, and her eyes caught her father's letter still laying on the bed near his gun.

Derek's eyes followed, and he noted, "You still haven't opened it?"

"No," she said, picking it up. "I was waiting until everyone left, but I was also procrastinating on opening it for a bit. I guess now's as good as ever though."

She shifted her sitting position so they sat shoulder to shoulder, and she slid her fingernail underneath the white paper fold. Breaking the seal revealed a blue card, her favorite color as a five year-old and color that remained her favorite. The card itself was a generic birthday card, but when she opened it, a folded piece of paper fell out. Upon unfurling the paper, she uncovered an enclosed photograph.

Holding up the picture for both to see, a small tear welled in her eye. In her hands was a picture of just her and her father, taken by her mother. At the age of four, only days away from her fifth birthday, she sat on her father's shoulders as he gave her one of his famous shoulder back rides. They were the most common and preferred way of travel for the young Alex.

She softly said, "This was the last picture we ever had together."

It was also the last good memory she had with him until everything went to hell.

Derek smiled, seeing the first childhood photo of Alex. She still possessed the same big blue eyes and thick hair as she did when she was younger.

She noticed his interest and handed the picture to him before she picked up the letter. Taking a deep breath, she opened the paper and scanned over the words written in his father's scrawl.

Dear Alexandria,

I know that my arrival may come as a surprise to you, but in the light of everything that's happened, everything that's changed, you deserve the truth.

I'm writing this as I sit in the hospital after I heard you were attacked by one of the assassins. God I hope I'm not too late. I don't want to lose you too. Losing your mother was devastating enough. I need you know this...

Introductions were never my strong suit, but I never died in the hunting attack your mother told you about. I was bitten, but I didn't turn into any normal werewolf. I turned into a Demontra, like you. It's a trait only you and I possess. It was passed down from my father's side, but it only presents itself in those supernaturally afflicted.

Why? It's a long story, but basically, our ancestors were created to be weapon. I have pages upon pages of research about us and our family lineage in my bestiary. It's your's now too. I hope it can help you as much as it helped me.

I also want you to know, I never left you. I was always there, but I needed to stay away for both your's and your mother's safety. I'm sure you've realized this over the past couple years, but your mother's family, and my own, are not too accepting when it comes to our kind. I never followed the code toward the end because I've heard stories about our family, and I wanted to know if it was true.

True it was.

I have spent this time away researching and learning about Demontras, curious for myself and for you.

Lastly, I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. I've always wondered if what I did, letting you believe I was dead, was a good choice. I contemplated on telling you, but at such a young age and in a unsafe environment, I decided against it. The 'What Ifs' have haunted me ever since. But I kept in touch with your mother, checking on you, and we decided that I wouldn't tell you I was alive until something serious happened, a situation where you needed to know everything.

A part of me is sad that the events have lead us to have to meet like this, but I've also been looking forward to seeing you. If you don't want to see me, I understand. I just want you to know, that I love you. I always have and always will.

Dad.

Looking up from the letter, she blinked away the tear droplets collecting in her eyes, but some broke through. She quickly brushed them away with her knuckle before looking at Derek. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, holding her closely.

She fell into his warm embrace, clutching the letter in her hand. He was curious as to what he said, but he left the words between them. As he held her, she said, "I have to call him. I need to know more. He said he spent all of this time researching about us."

She couldn't bring herself to utter a word about how or why he stayed away, more tears already threatening to escape.

"I hope he can help you," he whispered against her forehead.

"Me too," she breathed. "He said I could have his bestiary. That's where all of his research is."

"Did he say anything about it in there," Derek wondered, pointing to the letter.

"Not much," she shook her head, "Just that this trait is passed down from his father's side and only presents itself in those supernaturally changed. Which would the memories and the eye color change after I was bitten. But I don't know why they gradually changed to purple." Aimlessly refolding the letter in her hands, she set it beside her before her hand roamed into his.

Although they didn't classify themselves as together, even when they both knew they wanted to, she was comforted by his touch.

With her father's written words echoing in her head, she read the honesty and sincerity in between the letters. She wanted to see him too. She wanted to reconnect with him just as much as he does, but a part of her also wanted to hold back.

She didn't know if she was ready to except the fact her father was still alive. After all these years of believing he was dead, this was a tremendous change for her. His return meant a new beginning for her as she would learn about all of the lies interlaced with her past and more about herself, about the powers she never thought a person could have.

"Can I ask you something," he squeezed her hand, bringing her out of her thoughts. Finding herself trapped inside her own thoughts, was a habit she found herself giving in to a little more often than usual.

"Shoot," she lightly smiled despite her growing nervousness. She inclined him to continue but the five words he just said heightened her heart rate. Every time someone asked her that question, it was either followed with something that either left her with tears, embarrassed, or irritated.

A particular example one stood out in her mind.

"Alexandria, honey, can I ask you something?" Her mother, graced with a youthful look at the age of thirty-two, sat down next to her on her Blue's Clues printed bed sheets. After they were both settled, and Alex, barely touching the age of five and wide eyed, looked up at her mother, she began with a shaky breath, trying to stifle a sob, "Do you remember how your father left for that business trip a couple days ago?"

She then started to explain to the child about how her father wasn't going to be making it back home. Even though it wasn't the truth, it was the easiest version of the story for the young child to handle. Over the years, as Alex aged and learned more about the supernatural world, her mother told her more about her father's death. But she neglected to tell her the full truth.

Ever since then, those five words that ended with a question mark, brought an unsettling fear to her stomach. She hoped for Derek it wouldn't be the same.

"Your birthday, how come you never told anyone about it?"

"Oh," she aired, a different question than she expected. "Honestly, I don't know. After my mother died, I didn't really have anyone to celebrate it with, and it hasn't been marked by the brightest of occasions. My father 'died' close to my fifth birthday, and my mother actually died a couple days after my nineteenth."

"Can I change that?"

"What do you mean," she wondered, the corners of her mouth poking up at his amorous and light tone.

"It's your birthday tomorrow, right?"

"Mhm," she nodded, studying his eyes as she tried to read what he was thinking.

"Let me take you out," he shifted so that he body was angle towards her. "We could make up for the previous ones."

"On a date," she asked.

He nodded, his eyes not leaving hers.

"With everything that's going on, you want to go out on a date?" She was intrigued and leaned in closer.

"Yes," he matched her titled angle, only inches away from her lips, "I want to take you out on a date."

"You really don't have to do this," she whispered, yet she felt her heart warming at the thought of them going out.

With their faces nearly touching, and their excitement growing, his lips fell onto to hers. "I want to," he murmured.

As his hands moved to grip her waist, she smiled into the kiss before pausing, "Where should we go?"

"It's a surprise."

HI HI HI HI I'm sorry for the slow updates!! I've been working so much lately and school is just beginning so they will only become more spread out. I'll try my best to get out updates as soon as I can but no promises on when!

I hope you like this chapter! I really wanted to add another part to it but once I got going I didn't realize how long the entirety of it would be haha so I'm putting it in the next chapter plus it's a really important part so I wanted to spend more time on it. Are you as excited for Alex's and Derek's date as I am??? I hope nothing gets in the way of it...

I honestly love writing scenes between them so much, I can't wait to write their date scene & please leave suggests on what you think they should do!! I have a couple ideas right now but I'd love to hear what you guys think!

And lastly, I've posted the 3rd chapter to my newest fic "Turbulence" It'd be great if you checked it out!! https://www.wattpad.com/story/47251741-turbulence-%E2%86%A0-stiles-stilinski-teen-wolf

Please don't forget to vote/comment/follow :) & thank you all so much for reading

~Ashley