Samantha woke up that next morning with a radiating feeling of disappointment oozing throughout her body and mind.

When she'd finally fallen asleep late the night before, her head had been filled with thoughts of how much this could change her life.

Derek had sold the idea of the bite as if were an end-all be all for any problem life could throw at her.

For the first time in years, hopeful dreams conquered the nightmares while she slept.

But minutes after waking up, the brightness was shadowed with the sobering realization that she felt exactly the same as she did the day before.

...Maybe a little less tired than she usually was in the mornings.

Perhaps the bite didn't take, she considered.
But then again, Derek had made it sound like either the bite would turn someone into a werewolf or it would kill them.

She didn't feel like a brand new person, but didn't feel like she was dying either.

She paused and looked at the dress hanging from her closet door.
She'd picked it out the night before, she thought if she was going to be a new person, she should dress like it.

'You'll be more beautiful'
Derek's words echoed in her head.

More.
As if the beauty was already there -versus the lost cause she felt like most days.

Her heart jumped for a moment at the thought of him thinking she was beautiful.
But she pushed the thoughts away.

Of course he was flattering her, he was trying to sell on something and she'd bought into it.

Either way, she hoped he was at least telling her the truth about how close the bonds between pack mates would be.
It would be nice to have friends. People she could rely on.

With another glance at the dress she shook her head and cursed herself for expecting to wake up with model good looks and a new found sense of confidence.

Pulling the doors of her closet open, she opted for a comfortable pair of old faded jeans, a dark tank top and plaid zip-up hoodie.

She was sitting at her desk with typing up the last of her essay when there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Come in!" She yelled.

"Mom's having another one of her sad days..." Jacob informed his older sister in a quiet voice.

On days when her mom's depression was worse than normal she'd call in to work and stay in bed all day.

"It's okay. She'll be better tomorrow." Sam tried to comfort him as she printed off the pages she needed and put them in a folder for class.

"She never seems to get any better." Jake whispered so softly she barely heard him.

Frowning Sam said, "You know what? I did pretty well with tips at work last night. Why don't I take you to school, and we'll stop and get breakfast first?"

He nodded and managed a smile as he looked at her before leaving to get his jacket and school bag with a mote of a bounce in his step than he had when he'd moments before.

Before they left the house, she started a pot of coffee, in hopes that the aroma might draw her mom out of bed.

~()~

Thankful for the break from classes, Samantha slid into a table in the cafeteria with her lunch tray.

She always sat in the back of the cafeteria with her back to the wall.

As she opened her bottle of water, she heard a tapping noise.

Pausing she looked around trying to figure out where the strange noise was coming from, then her eyes stopped on a boy sitting alone at a table texting on his phone.

Her eyes widened as she realized the small taps she'd been hearing was his fingers hitting the touchscreen.

Before her brain had fully caught up with the realization that this must be the heightened senses Derek told her about, her head was flooded with so many sounds all at once.

Talking, so many voices all together.
Silverware hitting the plates.
Teeth chewing through food and the gulping sounds of taking a drink.

It wasn't just the cafeteria sounds she could either.
She was hearing teachers writing on chalkboards.
Car engines running in the parking lot.
Screeching of tennis shoes on the gymnasium floor.

Closing her eyes she took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself down, and just as she started to block some of the sounds out she gasped in pain and grabbed her head.

Hearing a loud scraping noise she looked up startled to see Jackson Whittemore, stop as he was pulling a chair away from the table.

"Freak." He laughed at her.

Her breathing grew labored as all of the other sounds came flooding back, and she wasn't able to block them out.

She saw Jackson pull the chair up to a table crowded with lacrosse players.

Then she looked over to see Lydia Martin sitting with Allison, but longingly staring at Jackson.

She wasn't sure how, but she could feel the girls sadness from where she was sitting.

For a few moments she felt bad for her, but then she remembered all of the times Lydia had been mean to her and she quickly pushed the feelings away.

~(That night)~

After making sure her brother was in bed, Samantha showered and changed into a pair of her underwear and a long baggy t-shirt for bed.

She did one last check of making sure the doors were locked and then peeked in the kitchen trashcan to see if her mom had eaten anything that day.

She saw a cardboard box of a frozen microwavable dinner and felt a tinge of relief.
At least she'd felt well enough to eat something through the day.

With a yawn, Samantha shut the downstairs lights out and made her way up the stairs and back to her room.

She flipped on the light in her room with the switch on the wall and shut her door.

Completely oblivious to the fact that she wasn't alone.

That was until she looked over at her computer desk and saw Derek sitting in the chair.
As if he belonged there and hadn't broken into her house.

She gasped.
Jumped back with a hand over her startled heart to keep it from bursting out of her skin.

Her mouth was open. Dumbly hanging agape in shock as she stared at him.
She had literally just locked up the entire house, how did he even get in here?

Sam glanced over to the open window with the light color curtains blowing ever so slightly from the wind and realized she got her answer.

"If you had been using your senses, you would have known I was here before you turned the light on." Derek lectured as he stood up, "You should have known someone was in your room when you were still downstairs going through the trash."

Her blue eyes widened.
All words evaded her.

A jolt of anger added to the mix with the way he was acting towards her.
So stern and... disappointed?

What a stark contrast to the charming salesman he'd been when they first met.

"Wh... what is wrong with you?" She finally was able to stutter out.
Hand still over her racing heart.

"I told you you're in my pack." He reminded her.
Brows raised like that question barely deserved an answer.

"I'm practically naked!" She exclaimed louder than she'd meant to as she quickly grabbed on a pair of sweat pants from her closet and shot him look over her shoulder as she quickly pulled them on.

"You were hardly naked." He replied.
Same crisp tone. Not a hint of an apology to be heard anywhere as he rose to his feet and walked closer to her.

Clearly, Sam was the only one to find the situation awkward.

Awkward wasn't a strong enough word to convey the feeling when she added, "I... didn't have pants on."
She looked down, avoiding his eyes.

With being an outcast at school and not having the time to have a social life, this was the first time she'd had ever been half-dressed in front of a guy in her room.
The first time she'd actually one in her room at all.

Derek could feel the embarrassment in the air around her.
Even if he couldn't, the pink flush to her cheeks would have given it away,

And while it maybe was the best idea it show up in her room in the middle of the night, he also didn't have the time to be concerned with it.

Not having a pack, being a lone-wolf, left him exposed and vulnerable. Weak.

So far, all he had was Samantha.

And considering how surprised she was at him being there and not even knowing he was in the room with her -he wasn't sure how well the decision to turn her was playing out.

She seemed more alert the previous nights when he'd watched her in the parking lot of the convince store .

"I feel like me." She said as she dropped her arms to her side let them swing loosely.

She looked upset about it.

"I never said you wouldn't feel like yourself." He reminded her.

"But that was the whole point! You said the bite was a gift. I thought I'd wake up today feeling like an entirely different person, but I didn't. I'm still the same loser I've always been." She mumbled, biting down on the inside of her cheek.

A glint of blame showed in her irises as their eyes met.

She felt like he'd mislead her.

After a pause Derek said, "You're not going to magically wake up and be a different person, Sam. But as you develop your senses and abilities more you'll gain the confidence it takes to change the things that you don't like about yourself."

"Do you trust me?"
Derek questioned when he saw her reluctance to accept what he was telling her.

Sam opened her mouth to point that she'd only just met him and trust is something that's earned, but then stopped, her tongue pressing against the back of her teeth.

"Yeah..." She looked confused with the admission, "I do."

Maybe it was an alpha/beta thing that she could just feel a connection with him already and knew she could trust him?

She wasn't sure but on some level she didn't understand or begin to explain -she just knew she could.

"Then believe me when I say that things will get better." He watched her another moment and then walked towards her bedroom door calling over his shoulder, "Get some sleep, I'll see you in the morning."

"Wait, tomorrow's Saturday." She remembered.

Turning he nodded as he said, "We have a very short time until the full moon next week. There is a lot we need to work on. Things I need to teach you."

"Right... the full moon." She breathed out, a steady fear started to creep in as she thought about it.

The next morning she left a note on the kitchen counter for her little brother before she headed off to meet Derek and officially begin her training.

~(A week later)~

Samantha had called into work, saying she had an emergency and couldn't make it in that night.

It was the night of the full moon and all day she'd been barely holding it together.

Her head had been throbbing for hours on end. So much pressure had built up behind her eyes she felt like they could explode into goo at any second.

Her entire mouth was like one giant toothache that all the Oragel in the world wouldn't solve.

Now, she was back in the hideout watching Derek as he went thought a trunk with heavy chains and other things that looked like suitable items for a torture chamber.

Slowly stepping forward she saw a round metal device with screws all around it.

Her heart dropped. Sank right through the floor when she realized those screws were meant to go into the head, right into the skull.

She had been in pain all day as the moon rose but she couldn't imagine the pain of getting that metal crown screwed into her head.

The very idea of it made stomach jump, hit with a wave of nausea, her upper half of her body lurched forward. when she saw Derek pick it up.

He looked over his shoulder at her fearful expression.

The smart thing would be to use it on her. Make sure there was no way Sam could break out of the restraints and get past him.

Not only would she pose a danger to any warm blooded body she crossed paths with, but the hunters would find her and put her down.

And then her blood would be on his hands.

He'd started to grow rather fond of her in the short time since first meeting.

She'd been taking her training seriously.
It didn't matter how bad her day was at school or how tired she was after her shift at work. She still showed up for every single training session.

She actually listened to what he was telling her, took the things seriously that Scott hadn't when he'd first been bitten.

Even now, with the look of utter terror in her eyes, he knew if he told her the crown was what they'd have to use to keep her and everyone else safe -she'd go along with it.

But one more look in her eyes and he just couldn't bring himself to put her through that.

He dropped it back into the trunk and settled on the strongest chains he had instead.

"I thought you were going to say we had to use the other thing."
Sam still looked terrified.

He let out a small laugh at how big her eyes still were. They almost looked too large for her face in that expression.

"I should." Derek smiled.

An expression she'd seen more and more on his face the longer they spent time together.

She smiled back a him.

"Female werewolves can withstand more pain. Which mean's you'll snap your own bones and do whatever it takes to try to get free to tear me apart." He said in a far more casual tone than should have accompanied those words.

Her smile fell.

"But since you're the only one I have to look out for tonight... I can handle you if you break free." He added.

He could handle a single beta.
And as much as he'd wished his pack was growing faster, only have one new wolf to watch out for their first full moon was for the best.

Maybe more so for her than him, but still.

Wordlessly, he waved a hand to motion her over to the downed subway car and Sam followed him.

He instructed her to where to sit in one of the seats and then began securing the chains.

It was mostly silent.

Something had really come to appreciate about the underground hideout.
Above ground all of the noises were so loud, intense it was often painful.

But here, the earth surrounding them did a good job at soundproofing.

Derek knelt to the floor to clip down another end of one of the chains, and Sam caught the dark ink of his tattoo barely visible at the neckline of the back of his shirt.

A triskelion.
She knew the term because she'd googled it after the first time she saw when he pulled his shirt off during one of their training sessions.

She'd wondered how tattoos worked with their supernatural healing abilities but hadn't gotten around to asking him about it yet.

Before she knew it, she was smiling.
Ear-to-ear grinning at how oddly comforting being around him had become.

Her first friend outside of her mom and brother in a very long time.

And, she hadn't really seen him with other people either.
Maybe she was one of his only friends as well?

Derek talked a lot about how growing the pack would make him a stronger alpha -make the entire pack more powerful. Together they'd be a bigger threat to their enemies and so on.

Sam believed him- but she also wondered if he was so intent on building a pack because he was lonely.

She didn't fully trust her werewolf instincts and abilities yet, she was still learning - but she did seem to pick up on emotions rather quickly.

For all of Derek's gruffness and how unfriendly and quick to anger he could be -Sam was pretty sure he felt alone most times.

She didn't feel as lonely herself and now that she spent most days with him -and she hoped that maybe he didn't feel quite as alone too.

Derek glanced at her and Sam tried to cover the expression she'd been wearing but was too slow.

"I'm chaining you up. Why are you smiling?" He finally asked, not able to take it anymore.

He knew before he'd even looked at her that for some reason, she had been smiling the entire time he was putting her in chains.

She quickly looked away after being caught.

"I'm sorry, it's just... your kind of the first friend I've had in years." Sam admitted, then trying to add further detail, only managed to make matters worse when she said, "You don't talk much and sometimes you're kind of a jerk, but it's still nice to have someone in my life aside from my mom and brother."

He blinked at her.

Sam's eyes widened.
For all of Derek's not-talking, she sure seemed to make up for it and speak too much.

"Uh..." She breathed with a stunned expression at herself, "It's just nice... you know, to have a... friend."

He blinked again before focusing back on the task at hand.

Once the last chain was in place and he was confident the set up would be strong enough to hold her, he sat down on the bench seat across from her.

Silently, he watched as she shook her head at herself.
No doubt still cringing at both calling him a jerk and admitting he was her only friend within the same sentence.

"Why don't you have any other friends?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.

Sam glanced around.
Other.

He said other friends.
Meaning he saw them as friends as well.

He watched as she bit down on her lip before she answered, "People just don't like me."

With furrowed brows, he waited on her to say more.
He didn't see any reason that she would be considered unlikable.

"What do you mean?"
Derek pushed for more when she didn't offer another explanation.

"My dad was um..." She swallowed hard, "Not a good person."
Her head tilted to side.

Cruel. Controlling. Abusive.
She had her pick of adjectives but she hated every single one.

Derek held his gaze even when Sam looked away in shame.

"He tried to kill my mom." She made the admission but still wouldn't look him in the eyes any longer, "She's still here and he's in prison for what he did but he'll get out one day."

Derek looked down the floor and nodded.

The last thing she'd said before agreeing to let him bite her was that she had a mother and brother depending on her.
At the time, he thought she was going to decline the offer to become a part of the supernatural world.

But, then she agreed.
It made sense now.
Part of the reason she'd agreed to all of this was in hopes that she could be there to protect her family.

He didn't have the heart to tell her that all these extra abilities weren't always enough to protect the people you love.

"You should have heard the things people said though. A few of my friends parent's said my dad was possessed by the devil and they didn't want their kids around me. Other people just didn't know what to say to me, so they acted like I wasn't there. After a while, I just stopped trying to make friends because it was pointless."
The words rushed out all in a single breath before she all but gasped both to stop herself from talking and come up for air.

Her eyes met his and she wondered what he was thinking.

Derek had known she obviously didn't have a picture perfect life, but he didn't know the extent of what she'd been through.

His go-to hard and unfriendly expression softened some and he said, "Sometimes it's just easier to stay alone."

A feeling he knew all too well.

"Sometimes." She quietly agreed.

The pair sat in a comfortable silence for close to an hour before she started to move around in her seat.

Her heart was pounding so hard in her chest it felt like every beat was trying to break her ribs.

She let out a pained noise and shook her head.

"The full moon doesn't bother you at all?" She asked in a pained voice, as it felt like something was trying to tear free from her body and burst her apart at the seams.

"No, I feel every bit of it... the same as you are. I'm just able to control it." He answered as he scooted to the edge of his seat, ready to grab her if she broke free of the chains.

"How long until I can." She asked, her voice had a slight growl to it.
She was fighting with everything in her to not to succumb to the moon's power over her,

"That all depends on you." Derek reminded her.

They had already gone over this along the way, but she was having trouble thinking about anything other the growing agony.

"How do I keep from turning?" She cried out.
Her teeth ached worse. Gums felt like they were being melted down with acid and her jaw bone was expanding beneath her skin.

Derek stood to his feet.
Backed up a few steps to get out of swiping range of the claws starting to extend from her fingers.

"You find something to keep you human, an anchor for your humanity." He explained watching as she leaned her head back and her teeth changed to her canine fangs.

Knowing the moons position in the sky, it was a good sign she hadn't completely given over to her animal side.
Good, but surprising nonetheless.

After a couple pained screams, she managed to get her teeth back to normal.

He took a cautious step towards her.

"What's your anchor?" She asked him, her sentence broken between pain and growls.

"Anger."
His eyes widened as he watched her struggle, her face starting to distort and then going back to human.

She was fighting so hard to keep in control and for a fleeting second Derek thought she might somehow be able to avoid turning into a bloodthirsty beast.

She screamed out in pain again.
Her head falling back with her teeth bared towards the sky,

In a violent manner, her head then snapped forward, chin against her own chest.
Her body seemed to sink and be held upright by only the support of the chains.

"Sam?"
Derek questioned.

A low, feral growl strong enough it rattled the chains with sound alone was the only response he got.

She raised her head, eyes glowing golden-yellow and face transformed into something no longer human,

His beating heart was all she could hear; her mouth hung open and saliva dripped from her canine fangs as she fought against the chains binding her.

He stayed on guard as she struggled to break free and get to him.

Blood-lust had completely taken over and he knew he was no longer dealing with Samantha, he was dealing entirely with her primal animal side.

It wasn't long before the chains started to give way and she almost broke free.

Leaning down Derek, tried to re-secure one of the loose chains, but he'd gotten to close and she managed to slash his back with her claws.

He stumbled backwards with a groan of pain as blood started to saturate the now shredded fabric of the sleeveless white shirt he'd had on.

Seizing the opportunity to escape she broke the last of her chains and darted off the subway car and up the stairs.

Within seconds Derek's face had also shifted and he darted after her, grabbing her arm and throwing her backwards down the stairs.

She tumbled down, hard.
But was immediately back on her feet, leaned down some ready to fight him with her teeth barred as she let out a deep guttural growl.

He kept his spot at the bottom of the stairs, blocking her exit. If she got out, the hunters would surely kill her.

Derek kept alert, his eyes on her, trying to sense her next movement before he she made it.

Sam dropped down to the floor on her knees.
Sides sinking in a she heaved for air.

Her claws digging into the dirt floor. Breaking up and loosing clumps of earth.

When she moved one of her hands, Derek saw the claws were gone.
Short, white-painted nails were in their place.

He blinked, feeling like he couldn't trust what he was seeing.

But he could hear the change in her heartbeat, the steadiness of her breathing returning.

Moments later she looked up at him, her face back to her human.

Her hair stuck to her sweat damped skin,

"Sam?"

"It's me..."

After a few more tense seconds, his face changed back to normal and he moved away from the stairs towards her.

Sam backed away from him.

At first, Derek thought maybe seeing his face fully transformed had spooked her, but then she pleaded, "Stay back... I might hurt you again."
Her hands were shaking.

"You managed control yourself and change back on your very first full moon. I think we're safe." He assured her.

"But I can still feel it, it's like... something is trying to claw it's way out. My heart is beating so strong, I think it's breaking my sternum." She said closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing.

She swayed slightly and Derek led her back to the subway car so she could sit down.

"You're not going to chain me up again?"
She asked as she put her head in her hands and muffled her own voice.

"What gave you control back?" He asked her, curious as to how she'd managed to shift back to human.

"I was just so worried that I'd hurt you." She admitted, shifting in her seat as her heart continued to race.

"Me?" He asked, surprised.

Her blue eyes met his and she quickly stuttered out, "Or anyone. I was worried I'd kill someone."

Tears burnt her eyes as she continued, "My father is a monster... I refuse to be like him."

~()~

As quietly as possible, Samantha slipped in the back door of the house into the kitchen.

Making sure no one saw her, she headed straight for the basement.

Her clothes were bloody from the fight with Derek and she didn't want to alarm her brother or mom.

After changing in the laundry room she headed back up to the kitchen, and cleaned up the mess her brother had left out from making himself a sandwich before he'd went to bed.

She thought to herself how strange it was that hours ago she'd been transformed by the moon, and now she was at home cleaning up after her brother like a normal person.

But she knew she wasn't normal anymore, she was a werewolf.

After showering and finishing up her homework, she looked at the dress still hanging on her closet door, and considered maybe she would wear it the next day.

After all, she'd managed to take control back and shift back to human on her own. Derek had told her how rare that was for a newly turned werewolf. She felt slightly different than she had before, she felt stronger, more confident now.

Laying down she plugged her phone into the charger and laid it on her bedside table.

Taking in a deep breath she slowly let it out and pulled the blankets up as she turned over on her side with a small smile.

Maybe Derek had been telling her the truth and the bite was a gift, maybe things in her life would actually start to improve.

~()~

A/N- Thanks for reading chapter two. ^_^ I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.

 Please don't forget to leave a comment and let me know you've read chapter. I always love hearing from my readers and your support means so much.