Hope lifted the white duvet into the air and let it billow out with the help of the floor fan behind her, attempting to lay it on the sheeted mattress below. Unfortunately, the fabric changed course and settled halfway bunched down the center of the bed instead of cleanly over the flat surface. She twitched the corner still scrunched in her hand and made a face.

"You know we need to talk, right?" Derek's voice sounded from the bathroom doorway. He had just brushed his teeth; she could smell the mint from where she stood. It made her mouth water.

Hope nodded, partially ignoring him. "Oh, I know, my bed-making skills are pitiful. Isn't it funny? I can kill a skilled hunter but can't make a bed. Such a shame."

"Hm." He responded low in his throat. She refused to look up from the bedding, knowing his penetrating green gaze would be fixed on her. The conversation he was ready to have at 8 o'clock in the morning was one she would need to have at 8 o'clock at night with the assistance of a cheap liquor bottle.

Everything that had occurred since killing the man with the tattooed knuckles hadn't happened out of pure coincidence. Since finding wolfsbane in her drink and feeling those eyes...those cold, cynical eyes on her, she's felt strangely vulnerable. She didn't feel physically or magically weak. It didn't feel like someone had tapped into her power or drained it by any means.

No, it wasn't that.

It was the continuous sensation of being watched.

The prickles on her skin when she stood in the kitchen pouring her morning coffee. It was the urge to cover herself in the shower. The flush of heat across her neck when Derek kissed her intimately - as if someone were watching them during their most private moments.

Hope shivered and closed her eyes. An attempt to rid herself of the sickening idea that someone could indulge themselves in their personal life.

Almost immediately, she felt Derek take her hand in his and carefully pull her toward him. Hope didn't resist, letting herself sink into his embrace. Relishing in the immediate safety he provided.

Being strong doesn't mean you can't be comforted by others. It just means you're more human than other people give you credit for.

"Do you feel it too?" she asked softly, resting her head under his chin, taking one of his larger hands in her own, playing with his long fingers. She traced the lines in his palms, the action calming her nerves almost immediately. These were the hands that could touch her, hands that she trusted.

"What does it feel like?" he asked with a soft voice that made her feel as fragile as a fragment of sugar glass. His voice, especially in these moments where the alpha was her own personal teddy, could dissolve on her tongue like cotton candy.

Hope tried to pinpoint the feeling of being under a microscope. "Like...we're not always the only ones in the room."

Silence.

"Sounds silly, hm?" she asked, looking up at him.

"No," he shook his head, kissing the bridge of her nose, "You've been through more these past few weeks than most have been through in a lifetime. I think we need to be careful, more mindful of what's happening around us." He smiled and began feathering light, playful kisses up and down her throat, making her let out an involuntary giggle. "Whatever happens, we'll keep each other safe."

Hope grinned up at him, hiding half her face in the palm of his hand. "Can I tell you a secret?" she whispered softly to him.

"What?" he whispered back with a matching grin.

"I think I kind of like you."

Derek chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to her ear. "Hm, good because I think I kind of like you." He caught her lips in a tender kiss, melting the rest of her fears into nothing.

Yes, like cotton candy.

"Does the pack need you today?"

Derek shook his head with a slowly spreading smirk.

"Really?" she raised a brow and beamed brighter, "I get you all to myself today, Derek Hale?"

"All day - all night," he chuckled, leaning down and brushing his lips over hers lightly, "What could we possibly do...all day...all night...."

Hope ran her fingers slowly up his biceps, his shoulders, up to his neck, and into his hair. "Hmmm...." she began in a sultry voice before quickly rolling away from his grip. "Build a fort!"

Derek let out a laugh and shook his head, tilting his head. "A pillow fort?"

"Of course not," Hope rolled her eyes, "Cushions are clearly the more stable construction choice." She eyed him with a smirk. "However, the faster it's made, the more time we have for...playing in it."

Hope wasn't sure she'd ever seen a man get out of bed faster than he did. Then, laughing, she quickly followed him down the steps.

They made quick work of the fort. Hope was very proud as she stood back to admire the structure of the collection of assembled sofa cushions, sheets, pillows, and blankets.

"Lovely," she said with a proud smile and quickly grabbed his hand, guiding him down and crawling into the fort through the small front triangular-shaped opening. Inside was reasonably spacious for Hope at least. Derek, however, hardly had room to move.

This could be fun.

She waited a moment longer for Derek to settle himself - his larger frame took up most of the space - before moving herself to a sitting position on top of him. Straddling his hips with her thighs. This felt better, safer. She couldn't handle the prying eyes here.

Finally, she felt like they were secluded.

Her sudden confidence was such sweet relief that she didn't hesitate to lean down and press soft kisses against the exposed skin above his jeans. She pushed the fabric of his shirt further up, reaching her lips higher up his torso.

Derek's soft sigh of satisfaction encouraged her to continue until she reached his throat. The blood that pulsed beneath the surface not only awoke her hunger but also her arousal. She was almost positive he could smell how ready she was for him.

Mind over matter, she thought to herself. Her body was ready, but was her mind? Her soul? She was sure she wasn't and refused to let her bodily urges control her actions.

His soft groan pulled her from her own thoughts. As did the sensation of his length hardening down his pant leg.

Hope suppressed a moan.

She didn't have to torture him, so she wouldn't. She didn't have to take off her panties to show him how she cared for him.

She slid down his body, unbuttoned his jeans, and pulled them down. Slowly- carefully, to release him. His size, while intimidating, excited her. She glided her tongue up and down his shaft to his tip before letting herself completely take him into her mouth. With her mouth wrapped around him, she bobbed her head slowly. Rhythmically. Letting his moans guide her.

Oh, how glorious his moans were.

The fort was in grave danger of toppling over the closer he grew to his climax. Hope looked up at him from her position, jaw unhitched like a snake, watching him as he tightly clutched the roots of his hair. A desperate attempt to stay grounded. She admired him, from his quivering jaw to the rippling contractions of his abdominal muscles.

He panted heavily, anticipation clinging to him like the sweat that beaded his forehead. He was so close.

Hope braced herself, and with one last smooth glide down, he erupted with a howling moan that nearly caused her own orgasm. She sat back on her heels with a quick swallow and gasped for breath. Then, still panting, she glided her tongue up his stomach, reaching his throat where she nipped playfully. She grinned at the sight of him covering his face with his hands, clearly trying to compose himself.

She let the soft silence fill the space as she tentatively traced her fingertips over the contour of his hip bones.

Derek finally looked over at her, his eyes filled with entranced wonder. He traced her lips with his own fingers. "That...was..." he took a breath and let it out, "Wow...."

She kissed under his jaw lightly with a grin and a little laugh. "You process- I'm going to go brush my teeth."

Derek started to sit up, his head brushing up against the collapsing cushions, and she quickly pushed him back down on his back with a grin.

"I'll brush. You fix the fort, then," Hope smirked, "It's my turn." She pulled down his lower lip. "I expect to feel you growl." She murmured, a shiver running down her own spine from simply imagining it.

She crawled out and scrambled up the stairs as quickly as her legs would carry her. Forgetting the eyes in the walls that made her so self-conscious. When she returned from scrubbing against her gums, the fort was fixed, the triangular opening twice as inviting as it had been before.

And yes, Hope felt him growl.

Derek didn't leave until the next night. He kissed Hope on the front porch, reminding her he'd be back in the morning before leaving in his night-black car. She'd waited until the red tail lights disappeared around the corner before she bolted the door and turned off the porch light.

It felt like a typical Saturday night. Hope set the leftover pizza in the fridge to be microwaved later and then entered the living room, intending to cuddle with a blanket and a book until she was too tired to comprehend the words on the page.

It didn't happen that way.

A small ping came from the fireplace. Hope frowned, staring at the silver canister that rolled onto the carpet. Before she could process what it might be, something on its body released with a soft hiss, releasing a cloud of smoke. It rushed the room, stripping visibility.

If only that were the worst part.

Hope let out a horrified scream as her skin began to bubble and burn. She didn't know if it was wolfsbane or vervain, but she didn't care; she just had to get away.

Higher ground, she thought as she raced for the stairs to get to the second level, holding her breath as long as she could. Then, finally, she heard her front door open.

He's here. And he's not alone.

She could hear someone at her back door through her blinded eyes and burning...everything. Her garage door. A window upstairs.

She hadn't sensed them, and neither had Derek. This wasn't like the last time. She wasn't prepared, but they were, and she already knew who would be the victor here. Hope had one option. If she was going to go down, she'd go down smart.

Racing down the hall, eyes blurred with tears and swelling, she locked herself in the bathroom where her spare toiletry bag would be. Where she hid something vital for her survival in the direst of situations.

She grabbed the bra off the back of the door and shoved it into the door jam before wrapping it around the handle. It wouldn't hold them long, just long enough.

Hope slid to her knees and grabbed the bag from under the sink. She took out a contact lens holder, squinting her eyes to make sure she had the right compartment, and removed the little white electronic chip inside tipped with silver prongs. Then, relying on her sense of touch, she opened her mouth and moved the chip into position behind her top back molar. Then, gripping the rug underneath her, she shoved the little piece into her gums. Stifling a hiss of pain in the process.

The door rattled in front of her.

Hope took the other piece, a flat black circle that looked more like a button, and set it back inside the contact holder. Then, she opened the medicine cabinet, put the little holder on the middle shelf, closed the cabinet, and stashed the bag under the sink again.

The door didn't shake, but she could sense they were in the process of kicking it down.

Fine.

Her eyes glowed amber as she shoved her hands into the open space in front of her, sending the door into shattered splinters across the hall.

Hope took off, jumping over the man on the ground, trying to pry splinters from his eyes, rounded the corner of the hallway, and sprinted toward the window at the end of its stretch.

She wasn't fast enough.