Shifters of Grrr 2 (17 page)

Tears were falling freely down her face now as understanding hit her. She was nothing more than a plaything to Derek, something to toy with and discard when he got bored. The realization of it hurt her down to the core, a pain that was near unbearable. The wine simply wasn't doing the trick, so she put it back on the table, sobbing into her hands while Lizzie consoled her, hugging her fiercely, protectively even.

The next day, still hurting, but firm in her resolve, she began to look at apartments online. If she couldn't move in with him, she was determined to find a new place for herself. Perhaps, she thought to herself, it was time for a bigger change than just a new apartment.

Steeling herself, she got ready and emerged from Lizzie's apartment. The two of them had been best friends for years, and had a stash of clothing and personal effects at their respective places.
 

Heading down the street, she went to get her hair cut. Walking the sidewalk, she was minding her own business, until a large dog began to snarl and snap at her without warning. Immediately her mind flashed back to that night in the woods with Derek. She went to put her arm out, to stop him from revealing himself, only to hit air.
 

Snapping back to reality, she flushed red with embarrassment, pulling her overshirt tighter and hurrying on her way. The incident was almost behind her when she crossed the road at a green light. As she did, a sports car screeched to a halt, its bumper no more than a foot from her. She looked up out of her daze, wondering just what Derek was doing right there and then. It took her a long moment to realize that it wasn't him driving.

The rest of her day managed to pass without incident, though she kept expecting Derek to knock at the door as she began to pack her belongings. When she came across a shirt tucked away in her closet that looked stained, she shook it out to take a look.
 

It was the shirt that she was wearing the night Derek had fought the wolves, and it was still stained with his blood. Keri was sure she had thrown it out, but apparently she must have kept it as a memento of some sort. Now all she could remember was the look on Derek's face when he revealed the truth about himself to her.

Emotions continued to run strong as her entire apartment was packed over the next two days. There had been no word from Derek, and she was beginning to wonder what had happened to him. She wasn't planning on taking him back, but she had expected at least some effort on his part to reach out and contact her. Apparently he truly was a fake, not a single part of the man she thought she knew was real.

Derek

Derek lay on his massive bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. That had become his routine since he had lost Keri, simply staring off into space, imagining what might have been.
 

When someone started pounding on the door, he ignored them at first. It became louder and more insistent though. Finally, with a sigh of frustration, he heaved himself to his feet and went to answer the door.

"You." That was the extent of his greeting when he saw Edward at the door, a large bruise still evident upon his cheek.

"Yes, me. Listen Derek, I know I screwed up, and bad. I'm not here to argue that."

"Neither am I," said Philip, pushing past the two of them and walking inside.

"In fact, we're here to help you."
 

Derek simply blinked, having no idea as to what they meant.

"You haven't called her, have you?" Philip said, rolling his eyes when Derek shook his head.
 

"You idiot, you're never going to get her back that way."

"Get her back? She knows the truth of why I was there. Why would she ever forgive me?" It was nice of his friends to come by, but they were wasting their time as far as he was concerned. He didn't deserve a second chance, since he hadn't come clean to her right away. He had lied to her for weeks, pretending that the basis for their relationship was something other than what it had been.

"Don't make me hit you this time Derek, you thick-headed numbskull. You have to chase her down, go get her. Tell her the truth, and make her see that you actually care for her. If you do nothing, she'll just assume you're gloating and moving on to the next woman." That was Edward, being more practical than Derek had ever heard from him. He furrowed his brow as he tried to understand his friends motives.

"Wipe that look off your face now. Just because I can be an arrogant dick most of the time, doesn't mean I'm blind to the way you care for this girl. I'm still your friend there, and I'm telling you, you
need to go after her.
Now."
 

Spurred into action by his friends words, and buoyed by the fact that they had sought him out to ensure he would give everything he had to be happy, Derek rushed to make himself presentable.
 

His car practically flew through the city streets as he raced over to her apartment. She had already been mostly packed to move into his place, and Derek feared that she may have made a split decision and would be lost to him. He had tried calling her cell phone, but she wouldn't answer it. He would need to track her down personally.

He pounded on her door for ages, but no answer came. Slamming his fist in frustration, he pressed his head against the door, wondering where to start looking next. As he did, the door behind him opened, revealing a small elderly woman.

"What's with all the racket going on out here young man?" She was sweet about it, but clearly wanted to make sure he wasn't up to no good.

"I screwed up ma'am. I screwed up bad, and I need to make it better. I'm sorry if I bothered you, I'll be going now anyways," He nodded politely her way, before turning to head back to the elevators.

"She's going home."

"Beg your pardon ma'am?" He turned back to face her, his heart speeding up a bit, hope beginning to enter his system.

"She's headed back home to get her bearings before she moves on elsewhere. I think she said her flight leaves today. I'm sorry young man, that's all I know. Hopefully it helps." She gave him a quick up and down, as if assessing him.

"If you truly love her though, you had better get moving. Take it from me, she'll want to hear from you as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the less chance she'll take you back. Now go!" She made an adorable shooing motion at him, and he smiled, running towards the stairs. He shouted a thanks over his shoulder and barged through the door, flying down the steps.

In his car, he used the voice feature to call one of his business contacts, who just so happened to be the owner of one of the biggest airlines that operated out of the city.
 

"Jeff, it's Derek. I need a favor." He proceeded to tell him everything he knew about Keri and where she might be going. His contact balked at first, but when Derek pointed out just how far he was willing to go to find her, he backed down. Nobody liked it when Derek Roy took a personal interest in how their business was doing.

As he made his way towards the private airfield that housed his jet, he waited impatiently for word on Keri's flight. When Jeff came back on the line, he immediately felt another sharp spike of hope.

"Derek, her flight is scheduled to land at 7:30pm your time, at Gate 7-A. Best of luck, and don't ever ask me to break rules like that again." The line went dead, but he didn't care, he had the information he needed.

Another phone call to plan his own flight path, and Derek fired up the jet, a fierce, animalistic look in his eyes as he took off, pushing his plane as fast as it would go. If he caught some favorable winds, he could arrive with enough time to be there when she got off the plane. His bear roared in agreement, waking up for the first time since everything had fallen apart. He found himself growling in excitement, thrilled with the chase.
 

He wasn't going to let her go, not without telling her to her face everything that had happened. She was worth more to him than that he vowed.

Keri

Keri emerged off the plane, her heart heavy. The last time she had been on a plane was when Derek had flown her off for a romantic getaway in the mountains. It had been a far more enjoyable ride than this one. Right now, she wanted desperately to be anywhere but the airport, filled with so many happy couples and smiling families.
 

She was headed back home to her parents house for several weeks while she recovered her life and set forth again. It had been a hard decision to make, but seemed to be the best option for her at the time.

Thoughts of home cooked meals and sunsets on the front porch were passing through her mind. The last thing she expected to do was meet Derek's eyes from across the Concourse.
 

Frozen, unmoving, she blinked several times to see if this was real. His image never wavered like before though, and he was holding a sign with her name on it. She walked slowly, her fight or flight instincts warring with each other. Neither of them won and she ended up simply stopping in front of him, doing nothing.

"Hi," she said in a flat, monotone voice filled with suspicion.

"Just hear me out okay? If you don't like it, I promise I'll leave you alone and never bother you again. I just can't let you go without explaining, you mean too much to me."

She didn't say anything, but after a moment's thought she put her bags down, giving him a chance to say his piece. There was no denying that she still cared strongly about him, and all his other actions over the past few weeks should at least count towards hearing him out she figured.

"So, it's true, I was only there that night because my friends dared me. I was supposed to pick up somebody, and make them fall in love with me, then leave them. I'm not hiding that nor denying it." She raised an eyebrow at that, wondering where he was going with it.

"That's all that was supposed to happen, this girl was supposed to fall for me. Nowhere was it in the agreement that I was supposed to fall in love with her. With you. " He paused briefly there but rushed on before she could interject.

"I love you Keri. With every fiber of my being. I would follow you until the end of time."

Now he stopped, aware that a few bystanders had stopped and were doing a poor job of listening to him spill his heart to her. Ignoring them, he pushed on.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you right away, I should have done so from the start," he stopped as she nodded her agreement. When she didn't tell him to stop though, he continued on.

"I'll never lie to you again Keri, please, come home with me. Let me show you that the past few weeks, those truly were the real me, and not some act," he laughed painfully then.

"I flew across the country, and probably broke the law finding out where you were going, just so that I could stand here like some poor fool, pouring my heart out to you, begging your forgiveness. I still can't believe I let you go this long without attempting to explain everything." He was pleading now she saw, as her mind raced.
 

He seemed so real, so genuine in his pain and desire to make things proper with her. The crowd had grown around them now to several dozen people, all looking at the spectacle of this man in front of her, wondering how it would end. Her heart was beating faster now, as the two of them stood there in silence, simply looking into each other's eyes.

"Give him another chance!"
 

The two of them turned to stare at the person who had shouted at them. When another person echoed the sentiments, then another, they looked at each other in surprise. The crowd continued to grow, and they begin cheering the two of them on. Her heart had already been leaning in that direction, but when she couldn't keep the small smile off her face, the crowd erupted into cheers. It went wild when she looked Derek in the eyes and nodded her okay.
 

He swept her up in a huge bear hug, swinging her around in a circle before putting her down and cupping her chin. His lips met hers, and then there was nothing but him, her mate standing in front of her, occupying her entire world. It was perfect.

When they finally parted for air, he picked up her bags and walked her to the exit. Instead of heading to her parents, she let him spirit her off to the hotel room he had rented downtown.
 
Pulling up in front, she had to crane her neck to take in the entire building it was so tall.
 

The door opened silently, as she followed Derek inside. She bit her lip in nervous excitement as the door closed behind them. All this time, and the two of them had still never had sex. There was no turning back this time though, she wouldn't let him even if he tried.

"Come here," she practically commanded. For the rest of today, she was fully in charge, and intended for him to ravish her fiercely.
 

Smiling, Derek approached, his suit jacket sliding off, draping over the armchair on his side of the bed. He only had the top button undone, and she stepped in close to him, her nimble fingers making quick work of the remaining ones.
 

He sucked in his breath as she ran her fingers across his broad, muscular chest. Laying her head on it for a moment she simply reveled in the heat pouring off of him in waves. It seemed the more aroused he became, the more heat he generated. Vowing to see just how hot he got, she slid his shirt off completely.