"You ready?" Derek asked as he snuck up behind me as I was getting ready.
"Oh dear lord Derek you scared me!" I sighed as I put my hand over my chest to make sure my heart was still beating.
"Sorry. Not my fault your wolfy senses suck." He crossed his arms.
I put my necklace on but fumbled with the lock.
"Ugh, I can never get this one on."
"Here, let me." Derek offered.
He walked behind me and took the necklace from my hands. His hands were larger which caused a mobility issue when it came to smaller things. I felt his fingers gently graze my neck every so often which sent chills down my spine.
"There you go." He nodded
"Thanks." I smiled
"Yep, now are you ready?"
"Derek you asked me that two minutes ago."
"And now I'm asking you again."
"Yes I'm ready." I quickly threw on a pair of nicer sneakers and shut my light off in my room.
I was wearing a springy outfit to match the vibes of the weather, although it was supposed to rain today so I took a jacket with me just in case.
I adjusted my hair and walked out to the car with him.
"It's beautiful out this morning."
"Yeah it is!"
Derek and I were planning on going to dinner, but had to change plans when he remembered he had a pack meeting today, so we compromised on breakfast.
"So where are we going for breakfast?"
"Oh you'll see."
He drove for a little while before pulling up to a small breakfast place. I smiled at the cute floral outside and told Derek I loved it.
"It's pretty isn't it? I've come here for breakfast ever since I was little. It's homey to me."
"Aw, that's so sweet Derek."
"Yeah yeah okay, that's enough sappy stuff for an entire day." He grumbled as he became aware of the emotion in the air.
"Come on! I'm starving." I giggled as I got out of his nice clean black car.

"Derek! You've come back! We thought you'd have left forever!" A nice small blonde woman said. She was on the curvier side and was shorter than average. She gave Derek a quick hug which he reacted surprised to.
"Yes Tia. I'm back."
"And who is this? A girl?! Is she... ya know?"
"Uh... not... not yet Tia."
She gasped
"Is this a date?" She whispered to Derek but loud enough for me to hear.
"I guess you could call it that." Derek blushed slightly
Tia squealed and hugged Derek.
"I have to tell Harry! He's gonna freak."
"Can we have a table Tia?" Derek asked as a way to state the obvious.
"Oh you two pick wherever," she waved her hand to the tables "I don't care."
She walked away quickly and Derek looked down at my hand. He gently took it and lead me to a table.
"Here good?" He asked looking down at me from the side.
"Sure." I nodded
We sat and waited for a waiter. We just talked lightly and joked around
"So do they know?"
"You're gonna have to be a bit more specific on that one question, dear." Derek said after taking a drink of coffee from a little white ceramic mug.
"Do these people know about... you."
"Yes," he nodded and set his cup down "they do."
"What do they think?"
"Did you see the way they reacted when I came in. They love me no matter what."
"What would they think of another werewolf joining you?"
"They'd love that even more. Almost as much as I would." Derek looked down at his coffee after speaking.
I started to blush at his words and let them ring in my mind.
As if almost on queue, a waiter came out and chatted with Derek before we got to order.
We ordered quickly and the waiter, who's name on the tag was Jackson, gave Derek a two finger wave, a wink and walked off.
"All these people are so nice." I laughed
"They are all family. And part of mine too."
"Doesn't your own family miss you?" I giggled
Dereks face dropped and he looked away.
"Did I say something insensitive?" I asked worried.
"No it's just... I don't really have a family."
"My mom, dad, and older sister passed away in a house fire. My younger sister who I thought was dead, made it out. I found her about a year ago but she passed away later after she got sick. I tried to save her but it didn't work." He mumbled his whole speech.
"Oh my god Derek. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to be rude."
"No it's alright. You didn't know." I grabbed his hands and held them firmly. "That's why I have them. They are my family now. And they always will be. They've always treated me like a son, or a brother, or a best friend."
"That's wonderful Derek. I'm glad you have something like this. I'm lowkey jealous."
"No you're not. They are crazy!" He laughed
"Crazy's good sometimes." I giggled

We finally got our food and it looked so good.
"Anything else I can get you? Another water? Some coffee? Maybe a condom?" Derek who was drinking some water spit it out and choked.
"Goodbye Jackson." He sputtered out and Jackson walked away laughing.
My face was beet red at this point.
"I'm sorry, he's very blunt and we don't really know what boundaries are." Derek apologize.
"It's alright! I get it!"
Derek just pinched the bridge of his nose and inhaled deeply through his nose.
"Okay, let's just eat."

Breakfast went by smoothly and we were even brought out a desert on the house.
"It looks amazing! All of this food is so good!"
"It's all home recipes." Derek said taking a bite of the warm cookie before us.
"That's incredible." I gasped eating the cookie too.
"It's a one way ticket to diabetes as well." Tia said as she came up to our table with the check.
"Thank you so much for the meal."
"Oh you are very welcome sweetheart. Come back anytime! We'd be happy to have you."
I smiled at her wide smile and she walked away quickly to serve another table, this woman just doesn't stop.
"Hey, I have got to get to the meeting fast, do you mind coming with me?"
My heart dropped. I had never met the pack before. I was so scared to. They all sounded so intimidating whenever Derek talked about them.
"Uh..." I started not knowing if I could accept or decline.
"You don't have to, I was just curious. It would also be a good day to meet everyone."
My stomach did flips the more he talked about it.
"S-sure." I spoke against my better judgment.
"Cool." Derek pulled out his card and walked to the front counter to pay.
I grabbed my unused jacket with a shaky hand and walked to the front desk as well.
"Have a good day you two!"
"Thanks Tia! We will!" Derek waved goodbye. He turned to me and sighed "off to the meeting."
"Yeah. Cool."
It was in fact not cool. I was not cool.

"Hey guys I'm here!" Derek shouted as he opened the front door to a bigger than average house
"Hey! He made it!" A smaller boy said as he turned the corner to greet him. He didn't realize I was there till he looked over "and with a girl... we don't know." Derek took my hand and walked me into the living room.
Everyone turned and saw me which made me recoil into Dereks side a little.
"Hey guys, this is y/n."
"Hey! How are you?" A boy with black hair, who gave off the same energy as Derek, asked.
"Good thanks." I nodded.
Derek saw my shaking body close to his and he leaned down to whisper in my ear
"You don't have to be scared of them, they are just kids."
I nodded at him and the boy we met earlier held out his hand.
"I'm Stiles."
"Nice to meet you." I said shaking his hand
"I'm Scott." Said the boy who asked me how I was going.
"I'm Lydia and this is Malia." I waved at the two girls.
"And you'll meet my girlfriend, Kira, later. She's running late." Scott nodded
"I'm Liam and this is Mason." He looked the youngest out of everyone.
"That's everyone." Derek nodded
I was still very nervous and I think they could sense it on me, but I sensed that they also had some sort of nervousness laced in their emotions
"Derek can I talk to you for a second?" Stiles squeaked
"Sure."
Stiles pulled Derek aside and I couldn't help but try to listen.

"Are you crazy?!" Stiles seethed. I could just see his arms and body flailing as he tried to express his emotions physically.
"What?"
"Inviting someone else over here?! Does she even know about us?"
"Yes she-"
"Right cause why would she?! Right?! Because she's normal and-" stiles had finally registered what Derek had said "wait she does?"
"Yes dumbass, she does. She is a werewolf."
"Oh... we'll fine then." Stiles walked out and gave me a look. He walked over to me and examined me.
"You don't look like a werewolf." Stiles mumbled. Everyone else shot up and looked at stiles
"Stiles are you crazy?!" Lydia gasped
"What? She knows! She is one!"
Everyone looked at me
"Surprise?" I shrugged and laughed awkwardly.
"So you're like us?" Scott asked
"Yeah I am. I'm a beta... now anyway." They didn't seem to catch onto the last bit, or at least take any interest in it.
"Well then I guess you're a part of our pack now." Scott smiled.
"Yes another girl!" Lydia cheered.
"Wait... I just have a question." Liam spoke up "how do Derek and y/n know each other?"
"We are neighbors." I nodded trying to avoid the "d" word.
Derek walked back out and chuckled "Tia seemed to think our date went well this morning. She said she was stalking us." Derek must have taken a call and just come back out after it.
"Date?!" Scott asked with raised brows.
"Yes Scott a date."
"Hold on. You mean to tell me, that Derek hale as a wolfy, not to mention extremely hot, neighbor and he went on a date at the breakfast diner his family owns?!" Stiles was in shock as he spoke
"Yes stiles. I am capable of love despite my many, many, many" stiles leaned in as Derek added the third many "failed relationships."
"Oh no, they weren't failed, they were catastrophically annihilated relationships." Stiles sassed
"What do you mean?" I asked
"Well he killed his first girlfriend in high school after she was terrorized and put on the brink of death. His second girlfriend was actually a werewolf hunter who continuously terrorized him till about two years ago, and his third girlfriend turned out to be a psychotic maniac demon, monster, thing with no face who tried to kill and sacrifice us. And then you had that thing with that one assassin or something? I never really liked her." Stiles ranted
"Wow, quite the track record." I nodded
"Don't let that scare you. I promise the curse is gone."
"Good because I don't really feel like dying, or hunting people down or trying to sacrifice anyone in this lifetime thank you." I patted his shoulder.
"Don't worry, you won't have to."
"So now that I've unraveled all of your baggage in one day, how about we get to that meeting huh?"
"Yes please." Derek said as he quickly sat down.

I could tell throughout the meeting Derek was on edge. I could tell he was thinking about a lot of things and he couldn't control his facial expressions.
I lightly grabbed his hand and squeezed it.
"If you're thinking that I'm gonna leave you after I heard your history you're wrong." I whispered to him, trying not to disturb Scott from talking.
"How did you know that's what I was thinking?" He asked turning his gaze to me.
"Keen sense." I shrugged.
I squeezed his hand again and he smiled.
"I'm glad you're gonna stick around."