S3E7 - Currents

Derek stepped into Sasha's house, the door creaking softly as it closed behind him. His heart was racing, and for once, it wasn't because of adrenaline or a fight. He was alive. He'd survived. He was here. And now, he just wanted to see her, to hold her, to reassure her that he was okay and to make sure she was okay too.

"Sash'?" He called out, his voice hoarse but hopeful.

She appeared from the living room, her face unreadable. Derek's heart sank as he took in her appearance. Her eyes were red and puffy, the skin around them swollen like she'd spent hours crying. But there was something weird about her expression. A stark contrast to the Sasha he imagined would ran to him, arms wide open, relief written all over her face that he wasn't dead.

"Hey." He said in a softer tone. "I tried calling you, but you didn't answer, so I came as fast as I could." He added and moved quickly towards her to wrap her tightly in his arms.

The young woman didn't hug him back. She stood still, her arms crossed over her chest and Derek took a step back to look at her. Maybe she was in shock to see him standing here, he thought.

"You're alive." Sasha whispered, her voice trembling as unshed tears glimmered in her eyes, threatening to fall but refusing to break free.

"It's a long story... but I woke up at home and Cora told me you were at the hospital. I asked her to call the pack, let them know I'm alive and everything, 'cause I needed to see you first. I needed to make sure you were okay." Derek replied and lovingly stoke her cheek.

The young woman's lips pressed into a thin line and took a step back. The Alpha looked at her with incomprehension and concern. Usually, they were rather tactile towards each other and Sasha had never backed down from his touch.

"Sasha?" He said and temptingly stepped closer, but she held up her hand to stop him.

"We need to talk." Sasha said and turned around, walked back to the living room and sat on the couch.

Derek watched her as his stomach twisted. Those four words never led to anything good and her tone sounded cold and distant. 

"Talk about what? What's going on with you Sash'?" He asked with dread as he sat on the coffee table in front of her.

The young woman's jaw tightened and she took a deep breath, as if bracing herself. Inside her head, she was screaming. This wasn't her. She wanted to jump into his arms, hug him with all her strength, kiss him, tell him she was so relieved he was alive and tell him she was in love with him. But she didn't.

"I want to break up." She whispered.

Derek froze, her words hitting him like a punch to the gut and hurting him more than any previous injuries he suffered from. For a moment, he couldn't speak, couldn't even breath.

"What?" He finally managed to say, his voice barely above a whisper. "Sash', baby, what are you talking about?" He added.

"I said I want to break up. This... us... it's not working. I want to end it now." She told him, meeting his gaze again. 

Derek's eyes were filled with sadness and incomprehension and her heart ached. Inside, she was breaking. She didn't mean those words. She didn't want to breakup.

"Not working?" He repeated, disbelief coloring his tone. "Sasha, where is this coming from? I'm alive. I made it back to you. Why would you... why now? What happened to you?" He asked her in a cracked voice.

"Nothing happened to me. I just had time to think." Sasha said as she looked away. Her mind was screaming at her to shut up, but she couldn't. It was as if someone else, something else, was in control. "I realized I don't feel anything for you." She added.

"Wha... No, Sash'..." Derek said, his heart breaking with her words. "I know it's a lie. Why are you pushing me away?" He asked, his confusion and sadness giving way to frustration.

Sasha's face crumpled for a split second, but she quickly masked it with a cold, detached expression. Inside, she was clawing for control, desperate to stop the next cruel and awful words leaving her mouth.

"It's the truth. I didn't even feel a bit of sadness when Jacks told me you were dead. I just didn't care." 

Derek's hands clenched into fists at his sides, his chest heaving with emotion. He wanted to fight, to argue, to make her see reason. But her words shattered his heart into pieces. So, he got up and looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"If this is what you really want... I'll go." He said, his voice breaking.

Sasha didn't respond, didn't even looked at him and her silence cut him deeper than any words could. The Alpha lingered for a moment longer, hoping against hope that she'd change her mind. But she didn't. Derek turned and walked away, each step feeling like a dagger to his heart.

As the door slammed behind him, Sasha closed her eyes and a few tears started to roll down her cheeks as a wicked smile spread across her face. Inside, her real voice screamed, begging to be heard, but it was drowned out by the icy, foreign control that had taken over. She hated herself for doing this, for pushing away Derek. But in her heart, she believed it wasn't her choice anymore. And that made it hurt even more.

The steel door of Derek's loft slid open, and Isaac and Boyd stepped into the eerily quiet loft. The air was heavy, carrying an unspoken tension that neither of them could quite place.

"Go back to school." Derek said flatly, sitting on the steps of his spiral staircase. His voice was as sharp as ever, but his posture was uncharacteristically slouched, as though the weight of something unseen pressed down on him.

"We can't. Both of us are incredibly, unbelievably sick." Isaac replied, a sly grin spreading across his face as he caught sight of his living Alpha.

"With what? Brain damage?" Derek shot back sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"I have a migraine, and Boyd has explosive diarrhea." Isaac said, barely stifling a chuckle.

Derek tried hard not to smile, but he lost the battle. A faint smirk crept onto his face as he stood and stepped down to meet his two betas.

"We're here to protect you." Boyd said, his tone dead serious, even as Derek approached.

"You're here to protect me? I'm in trouble." Derek muttered, his voice laced with dry humor. He tried not to show it, but those words warmed something inside him. After Sasha had left him, feeling wanted by the members of his pack was like a balm to his wounded heart. It added a faint spring to his step as he reached them.

"We came up with a plan." Isaac began to explain, but Boyd's glare quickly shut him down. "Well, he came up with a plan." Isaac corrected sheepishly, gesturing toward Boyd.

The young beta dropped his bag to the ground, and Boyd knelt to unzip it, pulling out a neatly coiled bundle of wires.

"I thought about the time Gerard had me and Erica tied up, hooked to wires that pushed electrical currents through us. So I wondered how we could do something like that, but on a bigger scale." Boyd explained, his voice calm and confident.

"What kind of plan is this?" Derek asked as he  reached into the bag and pulled out the coil of wire, inspecting it with a raised eyebrow.

"Actually, I'd call it more of a trap." Boyd said with a slight grin, clearly proud of his idea.

Isaac leaned casually against the counter, watching Derek for a moment before speaking. 

"Where's Sasha?" He asked and the Alpha tensed almost imperceptibly, setting the coil back into the bag before turning away. 

"She's not here." Derek said curtly.

Boyd and Isaac exchanged a quick glance, their smirks forming in unison.

"What? The big reunion was too exhausting?" Boyd teased, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, too many hugs and kisses? She's probably passed out from all the cuddling." Isaac added with a laugh, nudging Boyd.

"Or maybe you two skipped the cuddling and went straight to the—"Boyd said and raised an eyebrow, his grin widening mischievously.

"Okay, enough." Derek interrupted, his tone sharp but lacking real bite. He pinched the bridge of his nose as if warding off a headache.

"Come on, Derek. What did you do? Talk her ear off about your undying love for her until she had to lie down?" Isaac snickered.

"Or, maybe she just needed a break after... you know, everything?" Boyd chimed in, ending his previous joke.

Derek's shoulders stiffened, his jaw tightening. He turned back to them, his expression suddenly harder, darker. 

"We broke up." He said bluntly, his voice low and final.

The laughter in the loft died instantly. Boyd's eyes widened slightly, and Isaac straightened, his grin faltering into a look of disbelief.

"Wait, what?" Isaac asked, blinking at Derek as if he hadn't heard him right. "This isn't your fault. You know that, right? What happened to her...  what put her in the hospital... none of that was your fault." He added.

"Yeah. If you think you're pushing her away to protect her, Derek, that's..." Boyd said and then hesitated, searching for the right word. "That's dumb."

"She's the one who ended it." Derek said, cutting them off before they could continue. His voice was tight, laced with something between anger and pain. 

That stopped both of them cold. Boyd's brow furrowed as he exchanged a confused glance with Isaac. 

"Wait... she left you?" Boyd questioned in a stunned tone.

"Derek, are you serious? She... she really broke up with you?" Isaac's face fell, his earlier humor completely gone.

Derek nodded once, his gaze hardening as he looked away. 

"Something's wrong." Boyd said quietly.

"Yeah. Why would she do that? She's clearly in love with you." Isaac said slowly while looking at his Alpha.

"Enough." Derek snapped, his voice sharp as he turned back to them. "Drop it."

Isaac opened his mouth to protest, but Boyd rested a hand on his shoulder, silently urging him to let it go. They both knew pushing Derek right now wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Alright. So, here's what we're thinking. We wire up the perimeter of the loft..." Boyd cleared his throat, stepping forward.

Sparks flew from the lights, bolts of electricity arced up around the bodies of Boyd, Kali, and Derek. Even screaming out in pain, the foot fetish Alpha remained too powerful. She dragged Derek down into the electrical field with her as the power blinked, dying out again.

"Take him!" She ordered the Alpha twins.

Charging back, Aiden and Ethan plunged into the now harmless water and grabbed Derek by the arms, each taking a clawed hand, twisting them up. From the platform in front of the sliding door, Isaac helped Jennifer up, both of them turning to witness a horrifying sight as Kali raised Boyd off his feet.

"Enough!" Deucalion's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding. 

The fighting stopped almost instantly, as though the sheer weight of his presence drained the air from the room. Kali hesitated, still holding Boyd in the air, but she slowly lowered him back to his feet. Aiden and Ethan released Derek, who staggered but managed to stay upright, his breaths coming in ragged gasps. Deucalion stepped forward, his movements deliberate and composed, the faintest smirk playing on his lips. 

"You've lost, Derek." He said, his tone almost conversational, as if they weren't standing amidst the ruins of battle. "One word from me, and Boyd dies." His gaze flicked to the beta, who was clutching his side, trying to catch his breath. "Face it, we're stronger than you. Smarter than you."

Derek's fists clenched, his jaw tight as he glared at the leader of the Alpha pack. His mind raced, but he said nothing, the weight of the threat hanging over him.

"But, I'm a reasonable man. I'm willing to make a deal." Deucalion continued, drawing out the word as his smirk widened.

"What kind of deal?" Derek's eyes narrowed.

"I want Sasha. Bring her to me and I'll let your pack and you alone." Deucalion's smile sharpened, his gaze turning cold.

The words hit Derek like a punch to the gut. Boyd's head and Isaacs snapped up, their eyes widening as they shook their head violently. Derek's stomach churned. He glanced at Boyd, then back at Deucalion. He would never do that, but he couldn't let Boyd die either.

"I don't have any control over what she does." He said, his voice strained. "I couldn't bring her to you even if I wanted to." He added more quietly.

"Oh, trouble in paradise?" Deucalion mused. "I expected better from you, Derek. A mate should be loyal. Devoted. Yet it seems our little Sasha is quite the independent spirit." He chuckled darkly, tilting his head in mock sympathy.

"What are you talking about?" Derek's breath caught in his throat. 

"You didn't know? Oh, Derek... yes, Sasha is your mate. And that... that makes what happened to her all your fault. She ended up in the hospital because of you. Because you nearly got yourself killed." Deucalion told him as his grin turned predatory.

Derek's eyes widened, a sickening realization dawning on him. His hands trembled, his heart pounding painfully in his chest. Isaac and Boyd glanced at each other with worry.

"And now that she's awake, something in her has changed, hasn't it? I can see it written all over your faces." He said, looking at Derek and then at his two betas.

Derek's throat tightened, the truth in Deucalion's words cutting deep. He felt exposed, like the blind man could see right through him, peeling back every layer of doubt and guilt he'd tried to bury.

Deucalion straightened, his smirk fading into something far colder. 

"Here's your choice, Derek. Bring me Sasha, you already lost her anyway... or watch Boyd die." He gestured toward the beta, who was glaring defiantly despite the blood dripping from his temple. "You have until the next full moon. Don't make me wait." He added.

With that, Deucalion turned and walked away, his pack falling into step behind him. The room was deathly silent, the tension suffocating, as Derek stood frozen, the weight of the ultimatum and the newly found fact about his mate crushing him. Boyd and Isaac exchanged a worried glance, their concern for their Alpha and for their friend written plainly across their faces.

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