A/N: Okay so this story is going to take place immediately after The Reckoning. And when I say immediately I mean that the first couple of lines that you see belong to Kelley Armstrong. They are the segue into my continuation of the story. They only reason that I'm even putting them in there is just in case some of you forgot exactly how the story ended. However I am changing the story a bit, I might have to get rid of Lauren somehow. Not kill her but send her somewhere, I don't know yet. I'm not a big fan of hers.

Disclaimer: Not only do these characters belong to Kelley Armstrong my second favorite author in the whole wide world, but so do these first few lines in italics. I just want the readers to remember Chloe's thoughts and feelings before I begin my story. I'm not making a profit from this story.

It was the perfect moment, one where nothing else mattered. All I could feel was him. All I could taste was his kiss. All I could hear was the pounding of his hear. All I could think about was him, and how much I wanted this, and how incredibly lucky I was to get it, and how tight I was going to hold onto it.

This was what I wanted. This guy. This life. This me. I was never getting my old life back, and I didn't care. I was happy. I was safe. I was right where I wanted to be. (These lines belong to Kelley Armstrong, The Reckoning, Pg. 390-391).

Trust

Chapter 1

Derek and I were finally forced to break apart, oxygen had become a necessity. He rested his head against mine and he both just stood there, gazing into each other eyes like we'd just fallen out of some cheesy romance novel. I couldn't stop the smile that attacked my face at the thought.

"What," Derek smirked.

"Nothing," I lied, but I knew there was no way he'd be as amused by my visual image as I was. "I guess I just never thought this would happen with all of the conveniently placed interruptions."

Derek snorted and rolled his eyes. His hands around my waist pulled me closer to him. "Yeah well, I don't care what any of them have to say, now that I've got you I'm not letting go."

Our lips met again and I was sliding my fingers into Derek's hair, getting ready to take a bold step and deepen our kiss when Derek pulled away groaning in frustration laying his head on top of mine.

"What's-, " I didn't even get a change to finish the sentence before I got my answer.

"Chloe, are you out here? It's getting dark; don't you think that you and Derek should come back now?" Aunt Lauren's voice called.

"We just escaped captivity and leveled an entire secret lab, what more trouble does she think we'll get into," Derek growled into my hair.

"A werewolf and a necromancer," I laughed, "no trouble at all. Come on," I took both of his hands and pulled him back toward to hotel.

Derek growled a bit but followed me none the less. I dropped his hands so I could turn around and actually see where I was going. As soon as I let go Derek's hands found my shoulders. He fell into step quickly behind me. I could tell that when we got to our perspective rooms separating might be a bit difficult.

We met Aunt Lauren at the head of the path we had taken behind the hotel. I expected Derek to pull away, but his hands remained firmly planted, I chalked it up to wolves and territory. Derek and I stood facing Aunt Lauren, I saw her eyes move to his hands on my shoulders and waited for her to say something, I knew how she felt about werewolves, but I had hoped that seeing him in action the other day in the lab, seeing how he protected me when the ceiling collapsed has changed her mind. We waited. Aunt Lauren gave a slight nod and turned to walk back toward the hotel. I looked up at Derek, I was thoroughly confused, but he just smirked and pushed me toward the hotel.

"Hey," I giggled slapping his arm, "no pushing."

"Oh yeah," he smirked, "what are you going to do about it."

We bantered like that all the way back to the rooms. We stopped in front of my room, and I turned into Derek's arms to face him. I stared up into his emerald green eyes. It didn't seem legal to have eyes that beautiful. As I continued to stare I saw them take on a smoky haze, he leaned down to rest his head on mine, I knew he had to be uncomfortable in that position, but he never complained.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

He didn't need to explain. We'd hardly slept since we escaped from the lab, not only were we uncomfortably jammed into a van, but we were all plagued with our own thoughts and fears. This was the first time any of us would attempt a good night sleep.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. It would be a different story if I was trying to sleep by myself but Tori and Aunt Lauren will be here, so I think I'll be okay."

We both knew I was lying but Derek just pressed a short kiss to my lips. The kiss was quick but I still felt like my legs would turn to jell-o. We reluctantly pulled apart again and I sipped the key card into the door and went inside.

Tori was already in one of the beds facing the wall, I didn't think she was asleep but I was pretty sure she didn't want to talk either. Aunt Lauren was laying out the cot we'd had brought in for me. She gave me a quick smile before climbing into her own bed. I flipped off the light on the wall next to my cot before I took a deep breath and climbed in.

I closed my mind a tried my hardest to clear my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

I could feel my body shaking, ever muscle in my body clench. I looked into Mrs. Enright's eyes and saw nothing but deep seeded hatred; I'd never looked into the eyes of someone who wanted nothing more than to end my life. "Shoot him," I heard my voice say.

BANG!

"NO!" I flew up from my cot hyperventilating, tears running down my face, hair and clothes plastered to my body with sweat.

"Chloe, Chloe, what's wrong? Chloe, are you alright, talk to me, is it a ghost, what do you see?" Aunt Lauren was speaking; both she and Tori were sitting on the cot staring at me. I wanted to tell her that I wasn't alright, that I was awful, but I couldn't get enough air into my lungs to say anything.

I flinched when I heard banging at the door. "Chloe," It was Derek. "Chloe open this door right now before I break it down." Tori rolled her eyes as she stood up to open the door. Before Tori had time to step away Derek was barreling past her to kneel at my cot.

"Chloe," he didn't ask any ridiculous questions or make any demands. He just said my name. The cot was pushed flush against a wall that I was currently leaning against fighting to let what little air I could into my lungs. Derek sat up on the cot and leaned my back against his chest.

He leaned down and whispered soothing words into my ear, "Come on baby, you're gonna have to breath better than that." He put his hand high on my chest, above what small breast I had and just under my neck. "Feel my breath sweetheart, breath with me. Come on, in, out, in, out." In the distance I heard Kit tell Aunt Lauren and Tori that I needed room. I felt them move away from me; shockingly my breathing did slow down a bit. I turned around and threw myself into Derek's arms soaking his shirt with silent tears. He continued to whisper into my ear saying anything and everything he could think of.

When I finally pulled away from him, we were sitting on the ground outside leaning against the wall of the motel. I didn't remember him picking me up and walking out here, but I was sure that he did. Derek rubbed circles on my back waiting for me to tell him about my nightmare. I lay my head back on his should and took a deep breath trying to control the tears that began to well up again.

"I-I-I d-didn't want to. Wh-why couldn't he j-just leave us alone?" Derek's arms tightened around me. "I didn't want to shoot him. I-I-I didn't kn-know wh-what else to do." I pressed my face into his chest. "Why can't they all just leave us alone?"

Derek just held me close. He would never lie to me, even to spare my feelings, so instead of answering my completely irrational question he just held on to me until I fell back to sleep.

A/N: Okay so here it is. The first chapter. Chapter two is done and chapter three is in the works. Something happened and I lost two pages, I was real pissed, so it's going to take me a bit to put it all back together. Anyway, if I get enough reviews I'll post the next chapter in a few days, if you all decide you hate the story I'll sit in my closet and cry my little eyes out. Haha not really, I'll just start working on something else, so review please!