Becoming The Vixen (Teen Wolf)

6 - Question

        The back of my head rests against the back of the couch, barely awake, but enough to hear the conversation at hand. Now that Derek is back, he's been training me twice as hard, like he knows something is going to happen. He promised me a short break while he talked to Braeden about finding Kate with Peter. Apparently, they have agreed to hire Braeden to find Kate because someone robbed Peter of one hundred and seventeen million bearer bonds. 

        Every muscle in my body feels as if it was set on fire. With double the training, my body always feels like it is about to give out on me at anytime. Derek may not have noticed, but things seems a little awkward between us. Maybe it's just me, but I always think back to sixteen year old Derek flirting with me. Does Derek not remember that or is he purposely ignoring what his younger self had said?

        I lift my head up, grimacing at the amount of pain that causes me. Everything hurts. Braeden props her feet up on the table in front of the couch, sitting in her own chair across from the three of us.

        Peter's face hardens at the sight of the leather boots on his table. Unfortunately, Peter is only sitting a few inches away from me. I was here first and he decided to sit here, while Derek went to let Braeden in his loft. "That table's Italian."

        Braeden's feet stay planted on the table. "So are these boots. Are we going to talk interior designing fashion or are we going to talk numbers?" She gets straight to the point, looking more bored than anything. 

        On the other side of me, Derek stares down at his pair of sunglasses, just staring at his reflection. He's been acting a little off lately. I've tried to ask what was going on, but Derek just brushed the conversation off.

        Peter scribbles a number on a small, white piece of paper. He drops the pen down and slides the paper across the table for Braeden to read. She picks the paper up and drops it back to the table, grabbing the pen. Braeden scribbles Peter's number out and writes her own. 

        I lean forward a little once she pushes it back to Peter, curious to see how much Braeden's work is worth. I low whistle at the price. "That could pay for my college. Maybe I should get into this business." I try to crack a joke to ease the tension, except I only earn a glare from Derek. I slump back against the couch. 

        Peter slides the paper closer to read it. "We're hiring you to find Kate, not assassinate the President."

        "I was hired by the Calaveras to find Kate." Braeden says. "You're hiring me to find her first, going against the Calaveras is what's going to cost you."

        Peter writes a new number down, sliding it back. Braeden doesn't even bother to look at the paper. She just slides it right back. Peter rolls his eyes, standing up with his hands in the air, like he is done with Braeden. 

        Derek reaches over me to grab the piece of paper with numbers written on it. He rips it up to pieces. "We'll pay. Just find Kate, that's all we want."   

        Peter whirls around, hands on hips, clearly not pleased at all with what Derek just agreed to. Braeden smirks, happy to get her way. She takes her sweet time to leave the loft, only to have Peter angrily slam the door shut behind her. I jump from the loud slam. 

        "Are you insane?" Peter's voice raises up a notch.

        Derek wanders over to the other table in front of the wall of windows, leaning up against it. "We don't have a choice. We spent a week looking for her and came up with nothing." 

        With the little strength I have, I climb to my feet, knowing Derek will want to get back to training. Peter brushes past me, not a single glance my way as he walks right up to Derek, who's back is to both of us.