All the Wrong Reasons

She was screwed -- absolutely, undeniably, completely screwed.

Blinking closed her eyes for a minute, the eighteen year old focused on slowing her breathing and, by default, her racing heart. It wasn’t enough to make her completely undetectable, as the rhythmic sound of the pounding of her blood in her head constantly reminded her. Still, forcing herself to calm down at least helped make her panting less obnoxious, and with the added noise of the old radio she’d found and miraculously been able to turn on, she figured she might have a chance at getting away.

A very, very small one. A loud clinking sound came from behind the old wooden door she was pressed against, and when she strained her ears, she was fairly certain she could hear the scuff of a shoe one the concrete flooring. Or maybe she just wanted to hear one, because it meant that her pursuer was in the narrow hallway right behind her. Normally, that would rank on the list of ten worst things at the moment, but considering that it meant the man was several obstacles separated from her, it currently ranked as wonderful.

She blew out a single, calming breath, her heart rate steady once again, before letting her eyes fly open and launching herself diagonally forward. The balls of her feet pressed down three times in sharp, powerful bursts, and only a second later, she threw herself through the window, ignoring the few fragments of glass that clung to her arms. She landed without much grace on the ground two stories lower, one ankle twisting a bit on contact and sending her body tumbling into a short summersault. She was on her feet again in seconds, and she didn’t bother to take the time to glance over her shoulder before she sprinted off again.

She knew who was chasing her. She knew that he was fast, strong, and a few years older than her, but she knew that she was faster and stronger. Unfortunately, she also knew that he wasn’t alone -- not by a long shot.

And that was why she all of a sudden jerked her body to the left, unable to skid to a halt in time but at least able to redirect her momentum. Instead, she ended up doing a relatively cool half-run up one of the trees before flipping backwards and landing on the ground -- this time much more gracefully. A short burst of a breath escaped her in relief, her eyes narrowing in on the thin, nearly undetectable wire that was barely a foot in front of her, running between the two trees she had just been about to cross through. A trip wire -- one that likely would have resulted in her capture had she not fully trusted her instincts, had she not seen the smallest reflection of light and immediately sensed that something was off.

She didn’t have time to thank the gods for her attention to detail, though, and so with one last little deep breath, she pushed up off of her hands and knees again, this time sprinting off to the left and hoping that she still had several seconds’ worth of an advantage, because she was going to need it.

She only got a few yards.

A large body slammed into her from out of nowhere, sending her tumbling to the ground with the man’s arms latched firmly around her. She didn’t even have time to figure out who had caught her before she was somewhat roughly shifted, her body pulled back against what felt like a strong chest, a hand locked tightly over her mouth. She didn’t need to look at the dark-jean-covered legs that were on either side of her to know that the man who’d caught her had not been one of the ones chasing her. She trusted those senses of hers, and everything about the man she couldn’t even see screamed werewolf.

More than that, everything about him screamed alpha, and that was what had her freezing silently, making no move to try and remove the hand from around her mouth or otherwise break out of his grip. She wasn’t able to relax, per say, because her muscles remained tensed and ready move at any second should she need to. And, as the voices of her pursuers started to grow louder, she decided that second might be coming very, very soon.

A few tense moments passed and -- fortunately -- so did the voices, but still, she didn’t move, the man’s hands remaining over her mouth and on her upper arm. It wasn’t until several minutes had passed since the last time a single sound from them had been heard that the alpha’s hand slipped down from her lips, the grip on her arm releasing. That was when she pushed herself forward, quick to hop to her feet and spin around to face the dark-haired man.

“Derek Hale,” she drew out, lips twisting into a smile as she let her brown eyes flash golden-yellow just as she met his alpha-red gaze.

“So you do know you’re trespassing on my land -- good.” He didn’t appear amused or even slightly okay with the fact, but at least he wasn’t straight up attacking her. No, as he glared back at her with those bright red eyes of his, he did nothing more aggressive than cross his arms over his chest. “Want to tell me who you are and what the hell you think you’re doing here?”

Her smile fell, replaced by a determined line as she gave a little nod. She shouldn’t have expected anything else, after all, though she really hadn’t been expecting him to appear out of nowhere and help her hide, either. “My name’s Samantha Lawrence, and obviously I’m an omega. It’s not exactly a safe lifestyle, though, so when I heard there was a new alpha in Beacon Hills...” she explained, trailing off pointedly when she felt the remaining phrase would be obvious enough.

“You want to join my pack?” His expression was a mixture of surprise and suspicion.

“I was hoping to talk about that with you, yes,” she confirmed, the smile reappearing briefly, “but that was before I went to knock on your door and got chased through the woods by hunters. You’ve got a bit of an... infestation of them at the moment, don’t you?”

There was an ironic smile on his face as he looked back at her, cheeks twitching upwards and exposing his fangs in a display of his utter un-amusement. “Why did you come here?”

“I just said that being an omega wasn’t safe, didn’t I?” she attempted, voice dripping with sarcasm, but one good look at the alpha before her had her coughing awkwardly, her gaze dropping to the floor. Direct answer it was, then. “Look, I know about the Alpha Pack, okay? I know they’re going to come here, and I know you need to build a pack so that you can be prepared when they come. I want to help.”

This time, his expression was amused, one of those dark eyebrows of his arching up in question. “You want to help? Why?”

“Because they destroyed my pack -- my family. So, I’m currently all for anything to spite them, and right now, it seems like the best way to do that is to side with you.” She was getting to him -- she could tell by the look of contemplation that appeared on her face -- and so she quickly decided she needed to sell herself. “Look,” she tried again, “if I was able to find out about your new alpha status, that means it can’t be long before it attracts their attention, too, and that means that you can use all the help you can get. I’ve been a werewolf my whole life, alright? I know how to control myself, I know how to fight, and I know a few things about them. I can add power to your pack, and I can help you train anyone you turn. There’s really no downside, here.”

There wasn’t -- she couldn’t think of any reason why he’d turn her down, but that didn’t stop her from standing there and worrying as he only considered her, gaze trailing down her body for a moment before looking back into her eyes as if he was searching for something.

“I’m a good beta, Derek,” she added after the silence became a bit unbearable to her, “I’ve been raised to be one all my life, and I take direction very well. Let me help.”

“Let you help? Or let you get revenge?”

She understood where his question was coming from, and she couldn’t help but let out a reluctant sigh. He’d know if she lied, so she didn’t bother trying to. “I’m not denying that I want revenge, but I’m a wolf,” she stressed, looking right into his eyes as she spoke. “I’m not asking to be an omega in your territory; I’m asking to be one of your betas. And as much as I want revenge, I wouldn’t put my pack in danger just to get it -- I won’t risk losing another pack.”

Her answer had him pursing his lips a bit as he leaned back, but even though he didn’t really change his posture, she could sense the change in the air. “How old are you?”

It was her turn to arch an eyebrow. “Just turned eighteen,” she told him with another little twitch of her lips up into a smirk.

As his gaze trailed over her once more, he mimicked the expression. “Think you could pass for a high school sophomore?”