Heartbeat // A Derek Hale Love Story (Teen Wolf)

Argent

Lillian's POV

I had little faith in Derek's ability to navigate a library properly, and because we were looking for information I didn't want him trumpeting to the librarian, I decided to go by myself the next morning. I left him fast asleep in my bed. I made a mental note to stop at the grocery store and buy him some proper, iron-dense food to replenish all his lost blood. I figured he was exhausted from more than just our evening's activities. We had sex more times than I cared to admit last night. To be honest, I don't think either of us could've really helped it, every time he so much as brushed my hand I felt my heart about to explode with love and lust. I don't know what took us so long. Mostly me, though. Pandora's Box had been opened and there was no closing it. Not that either of us really minded.

As I entered the library, the smell of ink and new books washed over me. I made a power-walk bee-line for the Mythology section and got to work. The sheer number of books on the shelf was overwhelming and I honestly wasn't sure where to start. All I had was a list of things I knew I could do that other people couldn't, but I had no idea what that made me. The list was pretty minimal: I could feel Derek's pain, and I could control Derek and the Alpha to a certain extent. They were both werewolves, so I figured I'd try to find some book about werewolves and see if there was anything in there about people who could control them. Even in my head, it sounded stupid, but then again, when I found out werewolves were real I thought that was pretty stupid, too.

Volume and not knowing what to look for aside, I had no way of knowing that the material was actually legit. There was all kinds of information on werewolves but a lot of the books had sections on werewolves and their mates, and that was apparently a crock of bullshit. So who knew if any of what the books said was true?

A bunch of the books referenced an age-old war between 'the hunters' and werewolves. They all described the same classic dynamic straight out of Twilight of "You're not human and therefore a threat to the real humans, we have to hunt you down and kill you now." I couldn't tell what was real or not. Derek had told me about hunters being in Beacon Hills, but they hadn't posed too much of an issue yet. At least, not that Derek had mentioned.

After reading and combing through piece after piece of information, the pile of books at my table growing higher and higher, my eyes fell on a word in the table of contents of "A Guide to Supernatural Creatures" by Dulmi Wick that I'd never seen before.

Schäferins.

There was no question that I wasn't pronouncing it right, and I was sure it wasn't English. It was the name of something. I quickly flipped to the start of the section.

In folklore, Schäferins are humans with the exceptional ability to control animals and to empathize with them. Often mistaken with empaths, Schäferins have domain over animals, not humans. Throughout history they have taken the role of shepherd, excelling at pastoral care.

I'd struck gold. There was a name for whatever I was.

I quickly took photos of every page in the section, Derek and Stiles were going to want to see this.

"What're you reading?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the person immediately behind me. I spun around and leapt up, coming face to face with a woman I'd never seen before.

"Why?" was my first question, my eyes narrowing as I took her in. Dark jacket, white shirt beneath. Tall black boots. If I'd known any better I'd say she dressed a lot like Derek. I stepped away from the table, shutting the book.

"Just curious," she said, flashing pearly whites. "Those books look interesting."

"Oh, well I was just about to put them away," I told her, the wary vibes I got from her growing as she watched me gather up the rest of the books. "Bye."

She pursued. "You're Derek's girlfriend, aren't you?"

I clenched my teeth, fear washing over me. Sketchy vibes and now she was asking about my boyfriend? "Sorry, who are you?"

"Kate Argent." She stuck out her hand which I did not take. "Derek and I go way back."

"Funny, he's never mentioned you," I replied, setting about shelving my books. Where had I heard the name Argent before? I had heard it recently but I couldn't place where and in what context.

"Huh," she muttered. "Interesting. I guess you haven't caught each other up on your exes?"

I bit back my eyeroll and snickered. "You probably weren't worth mentioning."

Kate barked a laugh. "How's he doing, anyway?"

"Well," was all I said. I wanted this conversation to be over.

"You must be happy that price on his head is gone," Kate murmured mockingly, a ghost of a smirk on her lips. "That would've been pretty upsetting. The janitor was killed by an 'animal'?" Kate scoffed, leaning toward me. "You and I both know Derek's more than capable of meeting that criteria."

That got my attention and she knew it, judging by the way her eyes lit up. She knew about him. I thought harder about where I knew her last name from, adrenaline making my limbs start to shake. "I'd be happier if you pissed off," I spat.

"I was just wondering where I could find him," Kate drawled. "We're overdue for a bit of a chat."

"You think I'd tell you? You're obviously sketchy as fuck and have ulterior motives. I'm not an idiot," I scoffed, finishing with the pile of books and spinning on my heel, launching myself away from her as fast as I could go without arousing suspicion. Unsurprisingly, she pursued. All the way to the parking lot. If I wasn't concerned about being charged for assault, I would've turned around and throat-punched her. Who even was she?! This would've been a lot better if Derek had actually given me the run-down of all his exes. Think, dude, think! Argent, who did I know of that was an Argent? Then it hit me.

Allison. Scott's girlfriend who said she wanted to take a break. The one whose entire family hunted werewolves.

"You're the one who shot Derek, aren't you?" I snarled, rounding on her a second after I realized what she'd done.

I didn't give her the chance to answer before I grabbed her by the front of her leather jacket and held her still. She smiled like a cat with a mouse in its mouth as I hissed in her face, "Stay, the hell, away from him or you'll be the one yanking bullets out of your arms. And I hear humans bleed out a lot faster." My teeth gleamed as I stared into her eyes. She'd since lost her grin. "Best be careful." I released the leather from my vice grip, pushing her away and she stumbled back. "You're not the only one with guns. I wouldn't press my luck."

As I climbed into my truck, I heard her jeer, "Likewise." 

A/N: Wow, that took a while. Sorry folks, I've been having a very busy go of it recently. I work a lot and all I want to do when I come home is watch Brooklyn 99. Who can relate?

Anyway, I hope this chapter was satisfactory. I'll never give up on this story but I've hit some bumps in that I don't know 100% how I want to do things as we get closer to the end of the first season of Teen Wolf. I know what's happening with Lillian but the Derek/Alpha/Argent dynamic is a tricky one, it seems. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much for reading, and let me know what you thought of this chapter! Knowing people read this gives me extra motivation to get those chapters written. 

What can I say? All writers like feedback. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Cheers,

-TAAF_