Character(s)::Peri and Derek Word Count:: 1,112 @inkandichxr
"You look like shit."
It wasn't a habit, seeking out the younger hunters and making sure they were okay. But, Mikey had called her saying that Derek was freaking the fuck out and he didn't know what to do. Apparently, calling their dad or sister was out of the question and she was the next best thing.
"Gee, nice to see you too, Per," he muttered, clearly annoyed by the intrusion to his spiral. "What are you doing here? Riv said you were headed out Nevada."
Peri scoffed at that and pushed off from the side of her Jeep, giving him a good, hard look.
"Mike called me. Said you were spiraling and he was worried you were going to do something stupid or fucking reckless." Which, given the way he looked? She couldn't blame his brother for calling her.
"It's nothing," he growled, hands flexing at his sides like he was tempted to reach for a gun. Not that it would do any good since Peri was a faster, better shot than he was. The Hardins were one of the families where they definitely picked and chose who they associated with, but Peri and Bo were generally okay.
"If it was nothing, you would have called your dad or Jordan." She had half a mind to call Dodge herself, but she wanted to give Derek a chance to fess up first.
"So? What's got you trying to drag Mike out school during his exams?"
He should have known Peri wouldn't drop it; she never did, and it was a lot harder to be nasty towards her than it was Jordan. "I fucked up, okay? And now we need to get the fuck out of here but he won't fucking budge."
"Mhmm." She uncrossed her arms and gestured for him to give more details, clearly annoyed when all he did was stare at her. "How did you fuck up, dumbass?"
"I was...seeing some guy, okay? Or I thought he was just some guy," he muttered, a mixture of heartbreak and anger bleeding into his tone. "Why do they have to look so fucking human?"
Ah. That made more sense. And Peri rolled her eyes.
"How bad? What name did he give you?" That would, if nothing else, tell her how badly Derek had stepped in it.
"He told me his last name was Dahl and I fucking believed him. Hell, I met his fucking dads and bitchy ass older sibling."
Derek lifted his head, giving Peri the full weight of his stare before he continued on, wanting to see how quickly she told him to fucking run.
"But it's not fucking Dahl, it's fucking Delaney," he spat, trying to mask the fear with disgust.
"Huh. Yeah, you might have fucked up a bit. You didn't shoot him, did you?"
Whatever response Derek was expecting, that definitely wasn't it. She was way too calm for any of this.
"No, I didn't fucking shoot him because he fucking disappeared."
Peri nodded, not really surprised by that. "What are his dads names?" That would help narrow down which branch of the Delaney family.
"Does it fucking matter?!"
"I mean, yeah, kind of. I know a decent amount about that family." Between Queenie's mom and, well, her own brother, she had connections to the Delaney family.
"Creedance and Dimitri." Which meant nothing to Derek when he didn't even know if those were their real names.
"Delaney-Holden then," she mused, wondering if it would be smarter to see if she could get an audience with Belladonna herself.
"Oh, bullshit, the Holdens are hunters. No fucking way would they get mixed up with the fucking Delaneys!" There had been rumors once, years ago, according to his dad, but there was no real proof.
"Yeah, and Chase Holden married a wereleopard, and they adopted a whole bunch of kids. One of them, Hawk, married Belladonna Delaney. Creedance, I believe, would be one of the older kids," she explained, not realizing she was giving him way more information than she should reasonably have.
Derek, however, did not miss the way she spoke, like she actually knew them.
"How the fuck do you know any of this, Peri? What aren't you telling me?" His voice had gone quiet, filled with distrust that didn't budge at her eyeroll.
"I'm still very much human, Derek, but I've known for a long ass time now that what we do isn't exactly right. You were, what, about 7 when I lost my brother? So you still kind of remember when that happened, right?"
He nodded, knowing he was about 6 years younger than Stone had been. Jordan had been really upset by his death; they had been closer in age and she had thought he was cute. Derek, on the other hand, had looked up to Stone and wished he had a brother like him.
"He's not dead, Derek. He got bit by a werewolf. Chase Holden took him in, gave him a chance at having a real life. He's done well for himself. Took him a long time to stop hating himself. Creedance is his nephew." It was a lot to admit, especially to another hunter, but Derek deserved to know that they weren't monsters, not all of them, and he deserved a life outside of hunting too.
Derek's face paled in horror, tears stinging his eyes as she confessed these almost sins to him. "You...you're siding with them?"
Her expression softened and she shook her head. "It's not about sides, Derek. Ignorance turns to fear and fear turns to hatred. We've both got plenty of innocent blood on our own hands."
He shook his head, looking ready to bolt but Peri was quicker, her hands finding purchase on his shoulders.
"Derek, listen to me. I can talk to Belladonna and Hawk, I can make sure you and Mikey are okay while he finishes school if you don't do something fucking stupid and go after anyone. Belladonna might be the one with the reputation, but there's a reason her and Hawk work together as a couple." Not to mention it would piss Queenie's mom off if something happened to her family, but that was a discussion for another day. Stone was already a lot to take in.
"You would do that?" he finally asked, needing some small bit of hope to cling to in that moment. Sure, he had pointed a gun at Beau, but he hadn't shot him and he still had that text left unanswered.
Peri nodded with a shrug. "For you? Duh. Besides, could always be worse. You could be a Mahlendorf who, for some ungodly reason, attracts fae."