Through the Dark // S.S. [Book One]

Chapter 32

In Derek's loft, Derek is MIA, so Stiles and I are talking to Cora, trying to figure out what's going on. She starts telling us a story. "They were there for two days, waiting, hiding. That's what we're taught to do when hunters find us...hide and heal."

"Okay, so is two days standard, then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" Stiles asks.

"Stiles, calm down." I whisper soothingly.

He takes my hand as Cora retorts, "Why do you care?"

"Why do I care? Let's see... because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself. His boss nearly got ritually sacrificed. A girl that I've know since I was three was ritually sacrificed. Boyd was killed by alphas. The girl I love could have died fighting one of them. I...do you want me to keep going? Cause I can, alright? For, like, an hour."

Cora glares at my boyfriend. "You think Derek can do anything about that?"

"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah."

"Okay, Stiles, seriously, calm down. It's my job to be feisty and angry."

He gives me a half-smile and kisses me.

Cora grimaces. "Gross. Anyway, I don't know. There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when we knew him."

"What was he like?" I ask.

"A lot like Scott, actually." Peter says, coming down the spiral staircase. "A lot like most teenagers...unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers."

"What happened?" I question.

"What changed him?" Stiles adds.

"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men...A girl. A circumstance you know all too well, Mr. Stilinski."

Stiles shoots me a smile as I go on. "A girl broke his heart? Is that why he's the way he is now?"

Peter places his hands on either corner of the table at the end closest to the stairs. "Do you remember Derek before he was an Alpha had blue eyes? Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"

Stiles frowns. "I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."

I shake my head. "Werewolves aren't like humans, love. I remember Chiron saying something about the death of someone. An innocent, right?"

Peter nods. "You're onto something, Megara. If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes."

Peter then launches into a story about young Derek and a girl named Paige Krasikeva.

Stiles frowns in confusion. "Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you? How old are you now?"

"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think." Peter answers.

My boyfriend rolls his eyes. "Okay, that was frustratingly vague. How old are you?"

"I'm 17." Cora answers.

"See, that's an answer. That's how we answer people."

"Well, 17 how you'd measure in years." Cora adds.

Stiles sighs. "Alright, I'm just gonna drop it. What happened to Derek and the cello girl?"

"Paige, Stiles. Cello girl is named Paige." I tell him.

Peter stares at my boyfriend. "What do you think happened? They were teenagers. One minute, it's "I hate you, don't talk to me." The next, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes. Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."