We sat in deep silence, my hand clutched onto my wrist. I stared at the wall blankly, sucking in a breath. "You're a part of the Hale family." My head snapped over to his direction.

I stood up from the broken couch, crossing my arms walking back and forth. "I don't know what to think." I sighed, running a hand through my hair. I stopped walking turning my attention to Derek who was staring up at me. "What's so dangerous about you that you keep pushing me away?" I couldn't help but ask.

He sucked in a breath. His eyes fell onto the floor. "I just think it's the right thing to do." His deep cold voice greeted my ears.

My lips slightly fell open as I stared down at him. "What am I supposed to tell Scott?" I proceeded to ask.

"Don't say anything yet."

"What about my mom? What if she sees it?" I continued on. Oh my god what if my mom sees it? I stared at him with wide eyes, realizing what would happen if my mom saw a random mark that looks like a tattoo on my wrist.

She'd freak out! "Hide it." Derek responded shortly.

I looked over at him. "Either way my mom will see it one way or another." He stood up, shoving his hands into his pocket.

He walked up to me, causing me to stare up at him unsure. "Stop overthinking," I stared up at him with a raised brow.

"I can't-" I was cut off by a pair of lips over mine, my eyes widen but soon the feeling of the kiss slipped me in and made me kiss back. The sparks and shock had awoken one last time. The butterflies swam in my stomach.

The sound of a phone ringing ruined the moment, causing the both of us to depart from each other. I cleared my throat walking towards my bag on the couch. "Sorry." I muttered taking out of my phone and looking down at the caller Id.

I sighed in annoyance realizing who it was, clenching my jaw as I pressed decline and shoved the phone back into my purse. I picked up my purse turning around to see Derek look at me curiously.

"Why didn't you answer?" He asked, leaning against the wall beside him.

I bit my lip. "Because the person calling is someone I never want to talk to." I replied, awkwardly. "Do you know anything about the video store?" I changed the subject causing him to look at me.

He sucked in a breath. "I know one thing. You were attacked by the alpha." He revealed, causing me to stare at him curiously. "You don't remember but I know for sure that he was the one to cause what happened in the video store. Somehow he knew you'd enter the store." He continued to explain.

"So he was following me that night?"

"Maybe,"

Chills ran over my body just the thought of him following me. "Do you think you know who the alpha is?" He shook his head, walking past me and taking a seat on the chair once again.

"No one is crossing my mind." He interlocked his hands together.

His eyes trailed up to my dark brown ones. "Whoever this is, is desperate to make a pack. And there is probably a reason why he or she wants a pack so badly." I said, taking a seat beside him.

"Power." His head snapped to my direction. "He or she wants power."

I sighed, freezing in my spot when a thought came to my mind. "Oh no." I quickly stood up, remembering what my mom texted me. "I have to go. I just remembered that my mom wanted me to go with her to the parent and teacher conference tonight." Derek stood up, following after me as I walked towards the entrance.

I stopped walking and turned around to face Derek. "Thanks for the answers." I sent him a smile. He looked down at me with a straight face.

He nodded his head in response. "No problem." A frown formed onto my face realizing he wouldn't smile.

"Bye." I whispered, walking out of the mansion.

Turning my head slightly to see him still standing near the entrance watching me walk away. Nervousness entered my body as I continued to walk out of the woods, sucking in a breath when I finally made it out of the woods.

I soothed out my dress (Outfit on top) scanning my face in the mirror making sure my makeup and hair was good. I turned around walking out of the bathroom, slipping on my heels. The one thing that was distracting me badly was the kiss Derek and I shared. My heart just skips a beat thinking about him and the kiss, the knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts, standing up from the bed and walking towards the door, pulling it open to see my mom.

"You ready?" She asked, scanning me.

I nodded my head. "Yes, you look beautiful mom." I complimented.

She smiled at me. "Thank you." She said. "I granted you with it as well." I bursted into laughter realizing how my mom sounded self-conceded but sometimes you got to be self-centered to boost your confidence. "We're going to be late, we need to go." She said, smiling.

I nodded my head rushing back in grabbing my purse before following my mom downstairs. We walked out of the entrance. I turned around locking the door before heading towards the car sliding into the passenger seat as she drove off to school.

My mom and I walked down the hall to Mr.Harris' classroom. "Where is Scott?" She asked, causing me to shrug my shoulders.

"I don't know I haven't seen him all day." I admitted, causing her to look at me with furrowed brows.

I sent her a small smile, pulling Mr. Harris' door opened and walking in to see him sitting at his desk chair. A smirk slowly appeared at my lips as my mom and I entered the room. "Behave." I heard my mom whisper.

"I'll try." I winked, turning back to Mr. Harris. "Good evening Mr. Harris." I greeted, slumping down on the chair, causing him to narrow his eyes at me.

I continued to send him a fake cheerful grin. "You too, McCall." He looked over at my mom. "Glad to see you here, Mrs. McCall." He said with a genuine smile to my mom.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Can you please give me a second to call Scott?" Mom asked. He nodded his head.

"There is no problem." My mom whispered a thank you before walking towards a corner and connecting her phone to her ear.

"So..." I trailed, his eyes shot up to mine. "Come here often?" He scoffed at my words, causing me to let out a chuckle. "Do you always have to be so strict and no fun? You see this is why people don't like you." He muttered something under his breath.

"Zip it. McCall."

I huffed at his attitude. "You are the type of teacher that students hate." He opened his mouth to tell me off but I raised my hand. "I won't speak anymore." He slowly shut his mouth sending me daggers as he leaned back against his own chair.

My mom's voice caught our attention. "Where the hell are you?" She hissed through the phone with her back turned to us. Harris and I both glanced at each other. "Get to school, now!" She demanded, gritting through her teeth.

She removed her phone from her ear turning her attention back to the devil in front of me with an embarrassed smile. "How about we get started?" Mr. Harris awkwardly asked.

My mom nodded her head. "Sure." She walked over taking a seat right beside me.

"Let's start with Layla." He smirked at me, as I continued to narrow my eyes at him. My mom glanced at me I can tell she was hoping I didn't have a problem. "She's getting great grades. But she's been distracted lately, it's almost like something is getting to her." I swallowed roughly looking down at my hands as I felt my mom's eyes on me.

"I'll have to talk to her privately about that." She glanced at me.

Mr. Harris nodded his head in response. "Now, Scott." He began. This is not going to be good, I'm sure of it. "Lately Scott's mind has been somewhere else, as has his body. Personally, I think it may have something to do with his home situation." I furrowed my brows, what is he talking about?

My mom had a confused look on her face. "Oh, well, personally, I'm not sure what you mean by "home situation."" My mom said, carefully.

Mr. Harris looked over at me. "Can I talk to your mom privately?" He asked, causing me to glance over at my mom.

She sent me the look. I quietly got up without saying anything and walked out of the classroom, glad I'm out of there. I slipped my phone out of my bag, scrolling through my contacts and clicking Stiles' name, placing the phone to my ear.

"Hello?" His voice came through the phone.

"Hey, where are you?" I asked, walking down the hallway passing some students and their parents.

He sighed. "At home." He responded shortly. "Going through....Some things..." He trailed, unsure.

I furrowed my brows. "What things?" I continued to push.

He sucked in a breath, muttering something that I couldn't catch. "It's about your mate, his family." I ran a hand through my hair.

"You're going through the Hale fire aren't you?" I asked, stopping at a locker, leaning against it.

"Yeah, I just need to find something." I bit the inside of my cheek, the kiss Derek and I shared replayed in my head. I fluttered my eyes closed. "I'll tell you everything later."

My eyes fell on my mom exiting Mr. Harris' classroom. "Okay, I'll see you later." I said, ending the phone and walking up to my mom. "Everything good?" She sent me a look.

"We need to find Scott." She said, as we walked out of the school. "Do you know anything that is going on with your brot-" She cut herself off when her eyes fell on something in front of us.

My eyes traveled to what she was looking at and it ended up on the argents. I gulped at the sight of them, next thing I know my mom's hand latched onto my wrist and dragged me with her towards the hunter and his family. "Excuse me. You're not Alison's parents, are you?" I cursed under my breath, when they looked at my mom weirdly. "I'm Scott's mom, and I hate to say it, but he's not answering his phone either." She informed them.

Mr. Argent raised a brow. "You're his mother?" He asked, with a negative tone.

"Funny, how you say that like it's an accusation." She shot back, causing me to sigh at the mini argument that was going to start if they continued to talk to each other like that.

"I wouldn't claim it as a source of pride since he basically kidnapped my daughter today." I scoffed at his response, causing him to turn his head towards me.

I straightened myself up when I felt his eyes on me. What was bad was that I remember he saw me with Derek at the gas station. "How do we know skipping school wasn't your daughter's idea?" My mom continued to snap back. This is where I get my sass, from my mom.

Mr. Argent glared at my mom angrily. "My daughter-" He cut himself off when his eyes traveled somewhere else. "Is right there, let's go." He took his wife and walked away, leaving my mom to sigh due to stress.

I put my lips in a line when my eyes landed on Scott and within seconds my mom walked up to him with a disappointed look on her face. I know this is not going to end well..."Where exactly have you been?" She asked immediately. Scott glanced up at me for help, but I shrugged knowing there wasn't anything I could do to help him in this situation.

Scott scratched the back of his neck. "Nowhere, mom." He gave the worst answer.

She placed her hands on her hips. "Nowhere meaning not school," She snapped, glaring at him.

"Kind of..." He continued to stare at me for help.

My mom looked over at me then at Scott. "Don't look at her for help." She scoffed.

Alison walked up to us. "It's my fault. It's my birthday and we were just—"

"Alison, in the car." Mr. Argent cut her off.

She sent an apologetic look. A loud scream erupts, within instant herd of people were running away trying to get into their cars. I furrowed my brows in confusion, what was going on? I hissed when the screaming got louder and louder. There was so much going on, everything was happening too fast, honking of cars, people screaming, running to their cars. Next thing you know a growl was heard, spinning around and my eyes instantly caught those glowing red eyes.

I gasped, backing up. "Alpha." I muttered, it let out a low growl taking a step forward causing me to take a step back. Each step it took forward was each step I took back. I continued to stare at it carefully, gulping when the two of us were inches apart. "Layla! Where are you!?" I heard my mom scream worriedly through the loud crowd.

"What do you want?" I whispered, staring down at the frightening red glowing eyes. Memories flashing through my mind the night when I was just a little girl and I was attacked by a wolf, it's frightening to see something similar to it.

"You in my pack." He growled out.

I stared at him shakily. "Stay away from me." I forced out, glaring down at him.

"Can't do that, beautiful." I stared at the alpha in front of me cautiously.

I swirled around when someone grabbed my shoulder. "I've been calling you for hours, are you okay?" Scott asked, looking down at me worriedly.

I gulped in fear, turning my head back to where the alpha should be but he was gone. "Yeah." I breathed out, looking back at Scott. He continued to stare at me unsure but I turned around and walked over to my mom who approached me worriedly.

"You scared me." She pulled me into a hug.

I smiled up at her. "Sorry." I muttered, still shaking from what I stumbled upon. "Let's just get out of here."

******************

I headed towards Scott's room, I tapped on his opened door causing a loud knock. He turned around from his computer desk. "Can I come in?" I asked, he smiled at me nodding his head.

"Yeah," I walked in, shutting the door behind me. "Need something?" He asked, I slumped down on his bed, looking down at the mark on my wrist.

"Scott...I'm going to tell you something but don't freak out." That's the worst thing you could tell someone before you reveal something to them. He slowly stopped messing with his computer and tuned his computer chair towards me.

"What?" He asked slightly hesitant.

I swallowed roughly. "This mark." I showed him the mark on my wrist. "There is a reason why I got this. And I found out..."I trailed. He waited for me to continue not saying a word. "This mark shows that Derek and I are more than mates. We can't be separated no matter how much we try." I revealed, looking down not wanting to meet his eyes.

"No. No. No." He repeated, my eyes snapped up to him to see him pacing back and forth in panic. "I don't believe it. No. He's lying to you." I huffed knowing he'd react like this.

"Then why would Hale be written on it? It's just like the same star mark that appeared when I was younger." I showed him the small star near the hale. He breathed in and out heavily, I knew he was going to lose control. "Stop panicking!" I snapped.

He turned his attention to me. "How can I not panic when you are mates with the person I do not trust! And don't want near you!" He screamed back at me, causing me to sigh in annoyance.

"You know what talk to me when you calm down." I stood up from the bed walking past him and out of the room, slamming the door shut.

I rubbed my temple, walking into my room and shutting the door behind me. I headed towards my bathroom, removing my makeup off my face. I walked back out stripping out of my clothes and slipped on my shorts and tank top on.

A knock on the door stopped me from folding my clothes. "Come in!" I called out, the door opened revealing my mom. I sighed in relief that it wasn't Scott.

"Layla, I wanted to talk to you about something." She walked towards me grabbed my wrist. "I saw something and I hope I was hallucinating." Oh no...She turned my wrist looking down at the mark. "Oh my god..." She sighed staring at me disapprovingly. "When did you get this?" She asked, trying not to get angry with me.

I bit my lip. "Three days ago." I replied shortly.

She looked down at my wrist sadly. "I don't like this." She commented with honesty.

"I know. I should've told you."

"You should've." She let go of my wrist. "I'll let it go. I guess..." I put my lips in a line knowing she hated it.

"I'm sorry."

She looked over at me smiling. "It's okay. Get some sleep." She kissed my head, walking out of my room, shutting the door behind herself.

I sighed, slumping down on the bed. Placing the folded dress beside me, I put my hand on my forehead looking down at my slippers on my feet. The last thing I wanted was my mom to be disappointed in me. I gasped when a knock on my window was heard, standing up and walking towards the window.

I unlocked it before opening it to see the handsome devil in a leather jacket standing there. I backed away when he climbed inside. "The alpha, it came to school didn't it?" He asked, causing me to freeze.

"Yeah, he did." I turned my back to him walking towards the bed taking a seat again. "He made it pretty clear he wants us in his pack." He arched his brows, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "Scott freaked out when he found out about this mark. My mom is disappointed in me thinking it's a tattoo." I rolled my eyes, playing with my blanket.

"They'll get over it." Derek reassured.

I pouted my lips out. "What are you doing here?" I couldn't help but ask.

He just stared down at me not saying a word. "I don't think I can't stay away from you any longer." He muttered, I stood up looking up at him confused.

"Why do you prevent yourself from it?" I asked, stepping closer to him.

He sucked in a breath. "I don't want you in danger."

"Why do you keep saying that?" I couldn't help but ask, tired of hearing him say that.

He put a strand of hair behind my ear. "Because I don't want to see you get hurt." He continued to give me reasons.

"You have to live a dangerous life once in your life." I whispered, he glanced between my eyes and my lips.

His face inched down to mine, our foreheads connected. "But I don't want you to experience it and turn out like everyone I ever loved." I chuckled, staring into his forest green eyes that held an emotion but I couldn't read it.

"I won't." I promised, within seconds he smashed his lips against mine and my arms went around his neck, kissing back as heated as he was. It was gentle yet heated, filled with many emotions to name.

We both pulled away reconnecting our foreheads once again. "Stay the night." I breathed out. He stared down at me hesitantly.

He nodded his head in response, neither of us bothered to talk and remained in comfortable silence.

*****************