EDITED

Haylie decided against her iPod today. With everything that had happened, she didn't want music blasting in her ears she just wanted to think. Think about Scott, a boy she had known since preschool who was doing things, he couldn't do a few months ago. Stiles, her brother who had talked to her more in the last week then they had spoken all summer and Derek.

She had come to the conclusion she liked him. A dangerous like. A like that was forcing her to ignore all red flags and all warnings from her brother. A like that she didn't want any more now that all she could think about was how vulnerable he made her feel and how something was telling her don't trust him. It didn't matter how he was tall and handsome; he was older and mysterious, and Haylie was never the type of girl to drool over those types of guys. So, why was he now all she could think about, like an infection inside her brain.

In all of her thinking, she hadn't even realised how fast she had gotten. Her relaxing jog had turned into a stressed sprint without her even realising and now she was struggling to even catch her breath. She let herself come to a halt in the middle of a small clearing. Her heart was pumping so fast, she placed her hand over it to make sure it didn't leap out of her chest. She took a moment while shaking her legs to try and make sure they weren't about to fall off, to take in her surroundings. The tall trees and grey sky didn't feel gloomy like Fall should. It looked beautiful. However, of course the second she started to appreciate the beauty of the woods; it was tainted by the few drops falling on her bare skin.

If there was one thing Haylie knew wasn't a good idea, it was running in the middle of the woods in the rain when the ground was already covered in leaves and mud. It was an accident waiting to happen. Although, while the drops were still light on her cheeks, she figured she had some time to run back to the exit before it got worse.

She bent down to tie her trainers tighter for the potentially slippery run, when a sinking feeling settled in her stomach. It was a lot more intense than her gut feeling about the usual stupid things. It was bad, and not in a 'trust your instincts' way but in a 'you are in danger' way. The rain was still hitting her lightly, but it was a distant concern now. She really didn't want to look up from her shoe. More than anything did she not want to look up but, her body took over her mind and slowly her head lifted, and her eyes fell on something in the distance.

Haylie started to stand slowly as she looked in confusion at what appeared to be a giant rock. It was just a rock, she tried to tell herself but why could she not take her eyes off it as if it was something more. Just as she lifted her hand to move the sweaty hair from her forehead, she saw the big rocks head move. Except rocks don't have heads.

The hand reaching for her hair fell on her mouth instead to contain the sharp intake of breath. Her heart that had slowed from the short rest had begun to beat at an extraordinary pace. While the creature had lifted its head, it wasn't in her direction so she assumed if she stayed perfectly still it wouldn't become aware of her presence. Her body was frozen but the longer she stayed staring at the large black creature, the more feeling that came back.

With the small amount of feeling she had, she lifted her foot to take a step back but before she could move herself a second hand fell upon her own over her mouth. Another hand wrapped around her waist, trapping her free arm down to her side. It must have been the fear she was still engrossed in that stopped her from attempting a scream under the new hands.

The unfamiliar new arms pulled her carefully backwards and turned out of sight from the creature behind a tree. "Shh, it's me you're okay." The voice whispered in her ear but hadn't loosened the firm hold on her body. "You're okay." He repeated and when he felt her body relax a little, he knew she recognised his voice. "Don't make a sound." He ordered before slowly removing his hand from hers and waiting for her to slowly drop her own.

Haylie stayed still against his body, the small drops of rain still falling but his body warming hers from the cold. She was surprised that he was still holding onto her so tightly behind a tree, but the tension was radiating of his body that she didn't feel safe enough to push away. "Derek?" She whispered.

"Shh." He let his head fall slightly to her ear, while his were still on high alert. He knew that it knew they were there. But where was it? Just as he asked the question, he tightened his hold and went to cover the mouth again of the girl who let out the scream.

When Haylie's eyes locked onto a pair of bright red ones it was a scream she couldn't control. Derek moved in front of her, his hand still reaching back to make sure he had some form of hold on her. The beast still hadn't moved towards them, it was just pacing on its four legs about 10 feet away, its eyes on them ready to pounce. However, before it could make its move, Derek made his. "Derek!" Haylie screamed as she watched him suddenly sprint towards the creature. She couldn't understand what he was thinking or planning. That thing was twice the size of him and not like any animal she had ever seen before, and he was running towards it like he was about to take it on.

Her body now became glued to the tree she had been pulled behind, watching in shock as the two body's collied in mid-air. They were closer to her now. Close enough for her to get a better look at this new creature and realise she recognised it. Not only from her dreams but it was the exact same as the picture that Stiles had hidden in his laptop. It wasn't a normal wolf.

The creature swung around just before Derek could land a blow and connected its clawed fist with his human chest. She watched as Derek's back landed harshly against a tree, with a force that shook the ground she was standing on. Part of her felt a pull, to run to him and hope he could protect her from the eyes that had now fallen on her. The bark of the tree was too strong that even as she tried to push her body further into it, it didn't budge and let her escape.

It started slow with its approach, still stalking up to her on all fours, until it was close enough to smell the fear coming of her body despite the rain trying to mask it. Once again, the girl was frozen in her spot, she knew there was no way out now. Just as it got closer it stood back onto its hide legs and she really finally accepted it, this was a thing of nightmares and it was about to kill her. Haylie closed her eyes but let out a small scream when she felt her ankle be carved into and pull her to the ground. Her eyes opened just as her body hit the floor, in time to see the beast be swung by its leg into another tree.

While he had a second spare, Derek turned his head to check if she had been hurt but while he was focused on the blood from her ankle, she was focused on his bright blue eyes and half wolf face. When he realised what she was now looking at with fear was himself, he took longer than just the spare second to register what he had just revealed. Just the few extra moments were enough that when he turned back around the Alpha was gone.

"Haylie?" Derek fell on his knees in front of her, not even thinking about the fact he was still half human in her eyes. "Are you okay?" To shield from the face she couldn't understand, Haylie's hands reached up to cover her eyes, praying this was all a bad dream. Slowly she felt his hands take hold of her wrists to gently pry them from her face, finally when she felt ready to see again, she opened her eyes and found the face of the man she recognised. "It's me."

"What are you?" She whispered but didn't really want to know the answer. She had to force the words from her mouth like vomit. Instead of answering, Derek looked down to her bare legs now covered in mud, but blood seeping for a single scratch in her ankle.

"Did he bite you?" He asked but could only see the one wound and it wasn't deep enough to be a concern. "Haylie, is that all he did to you?"

She could tell he was getting impatient so took in his familiar face again before nodding. "What are you?" She asked again but he still refused to answer out in the open like this, when he didn't know where the Alpha went.

"Come on, I need to get you out of here. Can you walk?" She looked down to the scratch that she couldn't even feel but nodded. The shock hadn't worn off yet so, she allowed him to pull her up with the wrists he still had hold off. "Good."

Derek was walking a little faster than Haylie could keep up with, especially considering her body was still going through the flight or fight motions. They hadn't even been walking for that long before she started having flashbacks of the beast that attacked her only moments ago. It was the same picture that Stiles had. Almost identical. So, if it was the same, the creature wasn't just a wolf. It was a werewolf.

The walking halted the second Haylie yanked her hand out of Derek's grip. "What are you!" She screamed the question considering the first few whispered attempts hadn't gotten an answer. Derek sighed but moved back towards her to push her into walking again.

"Once we get out of here, I'll explain everything."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." Haylie said confidently while moving out of his reach again.

"We can't stay out in the open like this!" He yelled causing her to flinch away.

"What was that thing?" She asked, now afraid if he would yell again and maybe that yell would turn him into the monster she already saw.

Derek had taken notice of her flinch so instead of moving towards her again, he kept his short distance. "Trust me, please."

She didn't. She couldn't possibly trust him now after what she had seen. Although, it suddenly occurred to her that the creature was most likely still out here with them. So, she nodded and allowed him to continue to lead her to wherever he was leading her to.

If she was in her right mind, Haylie would have realised before the house came into view that it was where he was leading her but, right now she couldn't focus on anything but the drops of light rain and scrunch of leaves under her feet. However, when she looked up and took in the old abandoned house, her instincts told her to run and to run fast. When her instincts kicked in, her body stopped walking without her even realising, without her even realising he had made it to the porch and was waiting for her. "I'm faster than you." He said simply. "A lot faster."

She instantly assumed he had read her mind so instead of trying to escape, she nodded and made her way slowly up the porch and into the house. "I'll tell you everything." He said, while leading her through the archway and towards the old dusty couch. "As long as you're willing to listen." Haylie carefully took a seat and was thankful he decided to take a seat opposite her in an old wooden chair, rather than any closer. He waited for her confirmation that she was listening and after a deep breath and the sound of the rain starting to pick up outside, she nodded.

"Tell me everything."