Huntress [Derek Hale] [Teen Wolf]

Chapter 30

I'm wrapped in Derek's arms, and his lips pressed against mine the moment Deucalion is gone. The kiss is hard and fast, Derek showing me how scared he had been. I sling my arms around his shoulders and open my mouth, allowing him to slide his tongue into it. They fight for a minute until we pull apart for air, our foreheads pressed together as we breathe heavily, leaning against the other like a crutch.

"Never do that again," Derek growls against my lips. I fight to keep a smile off my face. "We're burning these clothes when we get home. They smell like him."

I roll my eyes. "Little overprotective much? I touched him for fifteen seconds."

"Fifteen seconds too long. You weren't supposed to attack him as it was. He could have killed you." Derek sighs.

"He pissed me off," I grumble.

"It was a good thing. Deucalion could have lied to her if she hadn't. As he said, he respects her." Scott says from my left. Derek loosens his hold on me, and I look at Scott and Stiles. "We all know how hard it is to earn his respect. He'll come if she ever calls."

"We need to get Peter and go to the vault. He knows it better than anyone, so he'll be useful in searching. Once we find those files, I can use the FBI database and see what they have on the attacks. At best, I can dig into the family histories more." Stiles is typing on his phone while he speaks. "I'll bring in a couple of people I trust to help with this."

"You trust people in the FBI with werewolf stuff?" I muse.

"Long as they're other werewolves," Stiles claims. "There's only a couple I've discovered, at least."

"You've got your own Garcia, don't you?" I grin.

Rolling his eyes, Stiles laughs. "Sort of."

"I'm going to need more info. Because this is awesome, which are you, Reid or Rossi? You give me more of a Reid vibe." Derek groans next to me, making me laugh. "Alright, Sourwolf. I have received the message." I pat his chest.

"We'll go fill Peter and Chris in on what happened. You two, do whatever you must and meet us at the vault later this afternoon. I'll text you a time." Scott waves us off, and he and Stiles leave in the Jeep.

"Happy?" I jokingly glare at Derek.

"Very, because I'm going to take you home and make sure you know how worried you made me." Derek's practically dragging me to the truck and putting me in the passenger seat.

"Whatever you say," I tease. After this morning, I know Derek's words are just words.

Ω∆Ω

We spend a couple of hours in a loft, sharing kisses and distracting ourselves until Scott calls, telling us to meet them at the vault.

When Derek and I enter the vault, I smile, seeing Chris sitting at a desk with file boxes stacked around him. "Melissa is going to kill you if she sees you doing that," I comment, leaning against the desk.

He looks up at me from the folder in his hands; his glower tells me my comment was unwarranted or he was given the full details of my meeting with Deucalion.

"Don't worry, sweetie, he's been cleared for desk work." Melissa pops her head out from behind a shelf. "Don't look at her like that. Give her a hug and tell her you're proud of her or return to work." I bite my lip to hold in my laugh at Melissa's scolding.

Chris grumbled something under his breath but stood and pulled me into him. "Don't do something so stupid ever again. I was worried sick as it was." I carefully slipped my arms around his waist; I knew the smile plastered on my lips was one I hadn't made in a long time. I'd forgotten what it felt like to have someone care about me so much. "The next time you do something like that, be sure it's being recorded; I would have loved to see the look on Deucalion's face." Chris's hearty laugh shakes us.

"Oh, it was. Stiles and I said it was best to have proof of whatever happened. I also wanted everything he said so we could look back on it. I couldn't find any tells in his body language that says he'd lied, but you might watch it to be sure." I pull the footage on my phone, and Chris is excited to watch the encounter.

"Found it!" Peter shouts from a far corner of the vault. Chris and I share a look as everyone gathers around the desk. Peter carries a large plastic tote. We clear the desk allowing him to place it on top.

Rouge Betas

I read the tag taped to the lid as Peter lifts it off. Carefully he unloads folders, maps, and small wooden boxes from the tote before setting it aside. Each folder had a name correlating to the family, and a map and wooden box went with the folder. A second series of folders held information on the betas that had gone missing.

"Where do we start?" I whisper, reading the names. My heart pounded in my ears as I searched for my family's name. I counted four times. "It's missing."

"What's missing?" Scott tilts his head.

"My family doesn't have a folder," I mutter, double-checking that it wasn't stuck to another. "Where is it?"

"Hey," Arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me away from the desk, "Hey, calm down," Derek whispers. My chest heaves as I try to even out my breathing. "Slow down. We'll find it." Derek cradles my head against his chest, running his hand up and down my back while rocking up slightly.

I was still shaking as my breathing evened out, and most of the panic was gone, but I wouldn't lose my shit any further. I'd never calmed down so quickly from a panic attack; I guess that's one of the joys of having a mate. They even you out. "Thank you." I breathe.

Derek grabs my face, making me look up, "Do you want to walk away for a bit? Everyone else can look through this. You don't need to be pushing yourself. I know you want to figure out what happened, but hurting yourself won't help."

I shake my head, grabbing his hands. "I'll be okay if you don't leave my side." I place a kiss on his knuckles.

"Dani, you're gonna want to see this." Stiles' worried voice brings up back to the desk. I look down at the folders now open. Stiles' laptop sits in front of him; he scrolls through files nearly identical to the ones on the desk. "This is way bigger than we ever thought it would be."

He sets the laptop in front of me. I scan over it once. Twice. Three times.

My heart is pounding once again, and I stagger into Derek. His arms wrap around me, keeping me on my feet. My breathing is erratic, and my head is spinning. I look at the screen once again. "What the hell is going on?"

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