┏━━━━⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆━━━━┓

A BOND

DEREK WANTED THE GROUND TO SWALLOW HIM UP WHOLE THE MINUTE SHE HUNG UP ON HIM.

It was bad enough that Emerson sounded like she was on the verge of wolfing out when he called, and he was sure that anger was being intensified as she made her way over to the old Hale house.

She'd chew his head off and spit it out if she found out that Derek had gone against her, had enlisted Isaac's help in pursuing a lead on the alpha pack that had landed him in the situation he was presently in.

And then, as if it wasn't bad enough already, he and Scott had made contact with one of the alphas at the damn hospital they rescued Isaac from. It seemed like they were officially done waiting them out, taking matters into their own hands and starting with Isaac— the very werewolf who had ties with both Emerson and Derek.

Strategic on their end, sure, but he knew Emerson wasn't going to let this slide. Not in the slightest.

"So... you and Emerson."

He momentarily forgot about Scott, the boy almost hovering behind him as he crushed up some herbs to help the unconscious blond before them. Derek fought the urge to roll his eyes. "It's not what you're thinking... we're just helping each other out."

Scott nodded. "She and Isaac seem close."

He was digging for information, Derek knew that. "It's not what you're thinking, either," he emphasized while working away at creating a remedy for Isaac's internal wounds. "She's oblivious, but she's formed a pack bond with him the way born-wolves who are siblings do."

The boy's eyebrows furrowed, gaze momentarily averting to the blond. "Does he know that?"

"I think he does," Derek replied. "But Emerson's been clear: she doesn't want a pack. He's taking what he can get."

Genuine confusion flashed across his face. "What kind of alpha doesn't want a pack?"

A sudden urge to defend the girl bubbled within Derek. "When you've been through what she's been through, you'd think you wouldn't want one either."

A beat of silence washed over them, Scott contemplating his words. "Are you gonna tell me who that was back there? That alpha?" Scott asked.

"A rival pack," Derek told him. "It's what Emerson and I are dealing with. I know you want to help and you did, so I owe you one; now go home. Go back to being a normal teenager."

Scott went to leave, his hand going to his bicep for a second before he stopped.

"If you wanna repay back that favour now, there's something you can do for me."

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The last thing Emerson expected to walk in on was Derek giving Scott McCall a tattoo while Stiles Stilinski was holding him down.

And by giving him a tattoo, she meant he was holding a damn blowtorch to his bicep while he screamed in pain. Her mouth opened and closed, unaware of what to say before she clocked onto the fourth heartbeat in the room, one that seems slower than the others.

She heard Derek's voice call out to her, but it was like static in her ears as she sought out the Lahey boy. Once she found him, still clad in hospital garments and lying unconscious on a wooden table, she was sure her own heart rate picked up.

Going to his side, Emerson scanned his body for external injuries. She should've been relieved to find none, but that meant something was going on inside of his body. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth as she pushed a stray piece of hair away from his clammy forehead. Though, she instantly retracted it once she realized what she'd done, swallowing the foreign feeling that was building up her throat.

Her eyes heated up on their own, and she found herself unable to blink the crimson away until she forced herself to look at Derek, the man approaching while the other two lingered in the next room. "How did this happen?" she barked out, the stress continuing to build in her body.

"I sent him on a lead yesterday morning, and it went south," was his half-assed explanation.

Emerson looked at the man like he was stupid, and boy, was he ever. "It's the first day of school, Derek," she said, her hand balled up at her side, "y'know, the place he should've been this entire fucking time!"

Derek clocked the way her shoulders began to shake, and dared to take a tentative step forward. "I shouldn't have sent him alone," he responded, trying to diffuse the situation that was obviously building. "I'm sorry."

"Good. You should be sorry," she snapped, sparing the boy another glance before she rubbed angrily at her eyes. "They– they could've killed him, Derek."

She had no idea why he would've done something so reckless, had no idea why he even pursued such an amazing lead without letting her know. She also had no idea why she felt herself getting so worked up to the point where she eagerly wiped something wet from her cheek.

"Hey, hey," he was suddenly right in front of her, hand at her wrist when she nicked her cheek with a clawed finger. When had that happened? "He's fine now, yeah? Should be back at it within a day or two."

God, she was so angry with him, but the way his grip was so gentle as he pulled her hand away from her face? She tugged it back when the reassurance in his eyes started to become a little too much for her to stomach. "He better be," was all she could muster up, looking away.

"He will be," came Derek's instantaneous response, honestly seeped in his tone. His head was lowered to look at her, their eyes connecting once again. "I promise."

"Hey, why'd you paint the door?"

Emerson all but jumped away from Derek when Scott's voice rang out, the boy and his best friend staring at the bright red door that led out of the house. She recognized that door

"Go home, Scott." Derek's tone was pointed in a way that made it obvious he was withholding something.

In a flash, Scott was clawing at the door to unveil the very three-legged symbol that had been plastered on the door all those months ago. The same symbol that littered Emerson's room and took two cans of paint to cover up.

"How many are there?" Scott asked, the dots connecting in his mind.

"A pack of them— an alpha pack."

Stiles, the boy she'd recognize on any occasion due to the sheer amount of time they'd both spent in the Sheriff's station, piped up with confusion. "All of them? How does that even work?"

"They have a leader," Emerson responded, rather grimly. "Deucalion."

"We know they have Boyd and Erica," Derek added, arms crossed over his chest. "We've been looking for them for the last four months."

Scott approached the pair. "Let's say you find them, how do you deal with an alpha pack?"

"With all the help we can get," Derek said, and Emerson felt a coil of guilt tighten in her chest. It was bad enough that Isaac was involved, but Scott too?

Emerson went to open her mouth, to try and dissuade the boy from getting his hands dirty, but she was cut off by the sound of creaking wood.

"Where is she?" That voice was one that made Emerson spin around, relief flooding her body at the sight of Isaac sitting upright on the table. "Where's the girl?"

The four others shared an uneasy look before Derek broke the silence that was full of tension.

"What girl?"

⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆

[ wyn's note ]

season 3 has officially begun ladies and gents! hope ur as excited as i am teehee

emerson has deffo bonded with isaac, and sooner or later someone's gonna have to let her ass know cause rn, she doesn't know what she's feeling (like she doesn't know what she feels for quite literally anything LMAO) 

thanks for 10k!! all my love x