moonlight.

16

☾

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

A CALM SILENCE rested between both haven and derek as he drove to the gas station. every now and then he would glance at her, feeling a sense of longing each time he did.

after his previous relationship, he decided love was a waste and time. that it was absolutely nothing and swore he wouldn't let anyone close to him. but the moment he met haven, he knew it was different.

he remembers the stories his mom used to tell him when he was a teenage. how the moment you see them, the moment you meet them, you just know.

the feeling of desire. the constant need to be close to them. and the strong instinct to protect them no matter what. how nothing else matters except for them. and to him, haven was his.

he never thought he would find the one. after a while, losing his family years ago, he started to believe he would never find his person. and he decided that even if he did, he didn't deserve it. but haven made him feel completely different about himself.

when he pulled up to the gas station, the two of them got out of the car. haven leaned up against the passenger side and looked at derek, her arms crossed upon her chest.

"this is what you wanted to show me?" she scrunched her face as she teased him.

a chuckle tumbled from his chest as he shook his head. "no.  i just needed gas. but when i show you what i need to, i don't want you to–"

his attention diverted to two suvs driving up behind his car. he squinted his eyes, recognizing allison's father and two other hunters. his face hardened as they got out off the car, making derek yank haven into his, hiding her face in his chest.

out of instinct she flinched, which he noticed and instantly felt bad. so he grab her hand, intertwining their fingers and hiding their hands from chris argent and the other two hunters.

"derek–"

"don't say anything." he whispered, not looking at her as he kept his eyes locked on chris.

"nice ride. black cars though, very hard to keep clean. i would definitely suggest a little more maintenance." haven's eyes widened at the sound of chris's voice, instantly recognizing him as allison's father.

haven buried herself further into derek, her forehead resting against his chest. if it weren't for the situation they were in, derek would be over the moon with the way she pushed herself against him. his wolf growled possessively and protectively, making him more irritated.

"when you have something that nice, you wanna take care of it, right?" chris's words seemed tauntingly to derek, slow and deep as he spoke. "personally, i'm very protective of the things i love."

chris stood right near the car, slowly cleaning the windshield as he kept his eyes locked on derek's burning green ones. he glanced at the girl, knowing it was haven.

"that's something i learned from my family. you don't have much of that these days, do you?" chris continued, his face curling into a sly smirk as he saw derek's free hand clench by his side.

haven tensed after his words. she could sense derek's boiling anger and she slightly craned her neck to look up at him. his jaw was clenched and his eyes were darker than usual.

she placed her hand on his back, using her thumb to trace circles on his back in attempt to calm him. he seemed to do so, his tense muscles relaxing the slightest bit.

"there you go. you can actually look through the windshield now. see how it makes everything clearer." chris finished, glancing at derek.

as chris began to walk away, derek tightened his grip on haven's hand a little as he tilted his head to the side. "you forgot to check the oil."

haven glared at derek, her heart racing as she heard footsteps come to a halt. derek listened to her pounding heart beat and pulled her even closer, glancing down at her.

"check the man's oil." chris said to one of the other hunters as he stared at derek with a wicked grin.

moments later, the sound of glass shattering made haven jump into derek, her eyes widening. derek's jaw tightened as his eyes glared into chris's light blue ones.

"looks go to me." an unfamiliar voice spoke, looking at chris.

"drive safely." chris said and turned to walk to his suv but not before looking over his shoulder at haven. "oh, and you shouldn't really be out here with this man, haven. he's not what you think he is."

haven's lips parted, his words ringing in her mind as the roaring engine of the cars grew faint in the distance. she then fully snapped back to reality and pulled away from derek, making his wolf whimper.

she looked at the car to see the passengers window completely smashed. a lump formed in her throat that she swallowed back and she turned to see derek watching her intently.

"what the hell was that about?!" she asked, her eyes wide.

he said nothing, not wanting to tell her the truth. instead, he pushed past her and began cleaning the glass out of the car. he could feel her eyes burn in the back of his head but he ignored it, letting out a low growl in frustration.

"derek!" she snapped and he shot up, giving her a glare.

"i don't know! okay, i don't know what the hell that was all about! so just drop it." he hissed, making her take a step back away from him when he turned back to his car to clean the rest of the glass.

she would be lying if she said she wasn't taken back by the sudden snap. she glared at the back of his head, crossing her arms over her chest as she stood there awkwardly.

"get in." he mumbled, not casting her a glance as he walked to the drivers side.

she saw there was no more glass and got in the car, pressing herself up against the door. she did not want to be anywhere near him right now.

"look, i'm sorry for snapping." he said as he began driving, glancing at her to see her pushed up against the door. she looked so... small.

"mhm." she hummed, keeping her eyes locked outside

he sighed, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "it's just i don't have the best history with them. so i got really nervous when he knew who you were."

she gave him a questioning look. "what do you mean you have a bad history with them?"

he looked at her, feeling his stomach drop. "i'll explain everything later. i just need you to promise me you won't look at me any differently with what i'm about to show you."

"okay, you're making me nervous. why would i look at you any differently?" she asked, pulling her eyebrows together.

he gulped, not saying anything as he pulled up to his house. the hale house.