Little Red and the Sourwolf - One Shots

Spells to Break the Silence

Derek cautiously approached the clearing that housed what was left of the nemeton. The witch that had crossed into his territory without permission was next to the stump. At first glance it looked as though she was just kneeling before it. Judging by the way the air smelled she was actively preparing to do a spell. Derek set his jaw and stepped further into the clearing before calling out to her.

    "First you come into my territory without announcing yourself and now you're performing magic without permission. I am sure that this is breaking your coven's code. I wish you no harm, but I cannot allow you to continue what you're doing. You must leave my territory immediately."
   
The witch turned to look at Derek over her shoulder, her cheeks stained from crying. "I can't do that Alpha Hale. My family, they were taken from me. I want them back. I have to get them back."

    The despair in her voice stabbed at Derek. The ghostly memory of his own despair following the fire threatened to pull him under. All these years and he still had moments when he couldn't get past the gaping hole in his chest from the loss of his own family. He stepped closer to her and softened his tone. Hoping she would hear the understanding there, he wanted this to go as smoothly as possible.
   
    "It won't work. Whatever spell you're about to try won't work. As hard and painful as it is, there is nothing you can do that will bring them back."

    "That's not true! You're lying! It hasn't been more than 24 hours. I can still do something to bring them back. This will work as long as I have the nemeton!" she exclaimed, not turning to face him. She became frantic in her movements.

    "It is true. You know my name, you know I lost my family in a fire set by hunters. Don't you think I would've tried anything, given everything to get them back? Why would I lie about that?"

Derek was surprised by the emotion in his own voice. He hadn't meant to get so raw with this woman he had never met before. He crouched down next to her and stilled her hands. Her head shot up and watery blue eyes glared at him.

"You must not have loved yours as much as I love mine." She seethed before pushing him away from her.

The impact of her icy poison words knocked him more off balance than her physical push. Self-doubt reared its ugly head and threatened to overwhelm Derek. He pushed it aside, rose to his full height with red irises. He went to pull out the mistletoe handcuffs that Stiles and Deaton had come up with to contain her magic. Only to find that his pockets were empty. Fuck. He probably left them at the loft or in the Camaro. There's no way that he could get to them and then back to the witch before she did something stupid.

He clenched his jaw and extended his hearing for a too fast heartbeat and the too loud steps of a human running through the woods. There was no way Stiles would've stayed away from this. Especially since he knew Derek was coming alone, and that's one of the many reasons Derek was in love with Stiles. Stiles' heartbeat graced Derek's ears and before Derek could worry about how far away he was, his scent reached Derek's nose. Within a mile, close enough. Without another thought he walked back up to the witch, threw her over his shoulder and kicked at the bowls at the base of the nemeton to scatter them.

"No! You took my family from me!" The witch screamed, kicking her legs and pounding on Derek's back.

"That spell wasn't going to bring them back. I know that, and deep down I think you know that too." Derek growled over his shoulder.

They were halfway across the clearing when the witch started muttering. Derek ignored it and concentrated on Stiles' heart beat. It was a lot louder now, and he could hear Stiles saying he was close. Derek took a few more steps and stopped to put the witch down. Stiles was just about to break the edge of the trees when Derek finally realized that the witch was speaking a spell. He turned around to her in alarm as several things happened at once.