METAMORPHOSIS • DEREK HALE [COMPLETED]

Chapter Eight

After the referee blew the starting whistle, the first draw was won by the opposing team, resulting in an immediate goal. Then Derek recieved a text from Chris, notifying them of his alighting. They hastily left the game and walked over to their meeting place: the main Beacon Hills High School sign. It was otherwise known as the entrance to the Hale vault where the entire deadpool began.

She watched Derek extend his claws with ease to turn the intricate lock. The seal would only open with the claws of a Hale. As he twisted in the maze-like combination, an electric buzz sounded from below. As they waited for it to open, she tried to extract her claws as well.

With immense concentration, she studied her hands, imaging her nails growing. Just like Derek told her. He also told her that she needed to raise her heart beat just enough to trigger it. She focused on both, and within seconds, her fingernails hardened into dark, enamel made razors.

"Oh my God," she exclaimed, astonished. She waved them at Derek and Chris, showing them off as the school sign shifted. It's rotation revealed a hidden staircase made of stone bricks.

"You're learning fast for a new beta," Chris noted.

"Exceptionally fast," Derek said, his voice unreadable, but, secretly, he was proud of her.

"I have a great teacher," she shrugged with a smile.

Derek and Chris shared an intense look before entering the ledges beneath them. It was a look filled with trust. Derek knew that everything in this vault was sacred to his family, but he knew he needed the ex-hunter's help to get back what his sister took.

After Derek took the first step inside, Alex and Chris trailed behind. He walked straight to the back of the dusty room lined with shelves full of family artifacts. He opened a small wooden box and picked up a circular object. Chris and Alex stood back in awe as they studied the vault that held so many family secrets.

"She was here for this," Derek turned to Chris. He handed him the rounded metal tablet. The same symbol etched in the rock was tatooed on Derek's back.

"The Triskelion," Alex recognized.

Chris flipped it between his fingers while Derek explained, "We used it to teach young betas how to control the shifts on a full moon."

"Control was never one of Kate's strengths," Chris stated, handing it back.

"Did she bite me out of impulse," Alex wondered.

"I- I don't know," he shook his head. "She might have, but knowing her, she could have turned you to gain more power."

"An alpha's power," she breathed.

Chris silently nodded.

"You knew she was alive, didn't you," Derek asked him.

"Not for certain. But I'd been searching ever since you handed me the shot gun shell," he answered, slowly pulling out an all too familiar red and gold tipped shotgun shell. It was imprinted with the signature hunter's mark.

Alex remembered back to the time when the Calaveras recieved word of Kate Argent's death. The news astounded them, riled them. They couldn't believe another great hunter from the Argent clan was killed by a werewolf, especially by Peter. Araya even traveled to Beacon Hills herself to see the proof.

"Hold on a second-," Alex paused the conversation. "I should have known she was alive."

"What do you mean," Derek furrowed his eyebrows and Chris stratched his scruff, awaiting for her answer.

"After she supposedly died, Araya went to Beacon Hills to confirm it. But I guess she wasn't convinced. When she came back, she was hiding something only few people knew of. I didn't suspect anything at first, because they were always secretive. But the, on the day Kate escaped, she killed everyone in her path, and that's when we started hunting for her."