Risen

25

As Derek was looking through a book, Nova was sitting on the couch, taking a drink of her chocolate shake as she continue to sketch the tattoo, and when she was finished with it, she would go over it in sharpie to add the details. Derek closed the book in his hand, putting it down in a pile next to him, grabbing another book and looking through it, his gaze rising to the wall in front of him, Nova looking up from her sketchbook, seeing Boyd and Erica standing in the entrance,

"You decided" Derek said "when?" turning around to face them

"Tonight" Erica replied

"Everyone's gonna be at the game" Boyd added, shrugging his shoulders slightly "we figured it was the best time"

"It's not like we want to" defending herself against the alpha

"What do you want?" Derek asked

"Since I just turned sixteen a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license" looking at him "I can't do that if I'm dead, you know"

"Well, I told you there was a price" he reminded

"Yeah, but you didn't say it would be like this" Boyd replied

"Yeah, but I told you how to survive" his voice rising slightly "you do it as a pack. And you're not a pack without an Alpha"

"We know" nodding slightly

"You wanna look for another pack?" Nova asked "how are you even gonna find one?"

"We think we already did" Boyd replied

"Like all of a sudden we heard all this howling" Erica said, a small smile forming on her lips "it was unbelievable"

"There must have been a dozen of them" Boyd said

"Maybe more" shrugging slightly

"Yeah, or maybe only two" Derek replied

"Do you guys know what the Beau Geste effect is?" Nova asked, earning confused looks from the teens "if they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone, two wolves can sound like twenty"

"Look that doesn't matter, okay?" Erica said "there's another pack out there. There's got to be. We've made up our minds"

"Yeah, we lost, Derek" Boyd added "and it's over. We're leaving"

"No" Derek replied, shaking his head slightly "no, you're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running"

"Come with us" looking at Nova "we can keep you safe, we can . ."

Nova let out a small sigh through her nose, shaking her head slightly at her friends,

". . I'm not a werewolf" Nova said, her voice gentle

Erica looked at her for a moment, giving her a small nod, grasping Boyd's hand and leading him out of the Hale house. Derek turned around, putting his hands on the table and lowering his head slightly, Nova standing up from her spot on the couch, putting her chocolate shake down on the floor and walking over to him. She placed her left hand on his shoulder, her right arm wrapping around the back of his shoulders, her chin on the back of her hand. A low sigh emitted from his nose, reaching up and placing a hand over hers, giving it a gentle squeeze before picking up a large shard of glass, Nova moving back, allowing him to whip around and throw the sharp object with a great force. But the glass was caught, centimeters away from a neck, Peter Hale looking back at the two with a smirk.

"I expected a slightly warmer welcome" Peter said "but . ." moving the shard of glass away from his neck "point taken. You know, it's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town" his eyes landing on Nova, a smirk forming on his lips

"Ever the perverted one, Peter" Nova muttered

"Do I know you?" slightly raising an eyebrow

"You should" reaching into her pocket, pulling out the lighter he had given her

". . Little Nova" his smirk growing slightly "you grew up beautifully"

"Again, perverted" pocketing the lighter

"What do you want?" Derek asked

"Well, I want to help" he replied, walking toward him "you're my nephew. The only relative that I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach you" stopping in front of him "can we just talk?" putting a hand on his shoulder

Derek looked at the hand, almost as if Peter had the audacity to touch him,

"Sure" he replied "lets talk"

Nova couldn't help the laugh that emitted from her when Peter was suddenly thrown across the room, crashing into the staircase before landing on the floor with a groan, wood clattering to the floor.

∆

Peter and Derek fought for a while, Nova simply standing on the sidelines, watching in amusement as Peter was thrown down the stairs, landing on his back with the alpha jumping off from the very top. He handed on his feet, over Peter and grasping the collar of his shirt, throwing a hard punch to his jaw, standing straight to let him push himself up, then kicking him in the ribs. Peter groaned in pain,

"You don't actu – " coughing "actually think that I want to be the Alpha again, do you?" looking at him, blood coming out of the corner of his mouth "that wasn't my finest performance, considering it ended in my death . ." slowly pushing himself up in a sitting position "I mean, I'm usually more –" Derek grabbing the collar of his shirt, rearing his fist back for another his "okay, go ahead! Come on, do it. Hit me, hit me. I can see that it's cathartic for you. You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. But . ." turning his head to look at Nova "someone is bringing you back up, giving you a reason to continue fighting" looking back at his nephew "so, go ahead. Hit me if it will make you feel better. After all, I did say that I wanted to help"

Derek shoved him back, his breathing slightly heavy as he looked down at his uncle,

"You can't help me" he said

He stepped over Peter, making his way over to the living room, and toward Nova, who's arms were crossed over her chest, looking at Derek with concern.

"See?" Peter asked as he wiped the blood away from his mouth, slowly getting to his feet "prime example right here. I'm not healing as fast" following them into the living room "coming back from the dead isn't easy, you know. I'm not as strong as I used to be. I need a pack" looking at Derek "an Alpha like you. I need you as much as you need me"

"Why would we want help from a total psycho?" Nova asked

"First of all, I'm not a total psycho" looking at her, then back to Derek "and by the way, you're the one that slashed my throat wide open. But we're all works in progress, right? So, we need each other. Sometimes when you need help, you turn to people you'd never expect"