Ethan/Isaac

Author's Note: Hopefully this doesn't feel rushed or too soon or anything like that. The plot bunnies were not being cooperative. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

Ethan was panicking and he knew it. He also knew that he hadn't meant to get this attached to Isaac when he started flirting with him, but now that he had gotten to where he was he had no intention of backing off or letting go. If he was able to find Isaac and talk to him, which was why Ethan was panicking. He'd had another private, romantic evening with Isaac, but some time during the night Isaac had had a nightmare and woken up in such a state that he'd lost control of himself.

There was no doubt in Ethan's mind what Isaac had been dreaming about, but Ethan had gotten so emotional while calming Isaac down that he'd forgotten to mask his scent. So once Isaac had regained control of himself, he'd promptly freaked out upon realizing that Ethan was a werewolf and an alpha. Isaac had slashed Ethan a couple times with his claws and bolted, leaving Ethan feeling stunned and guilty.

The physical pain was gone in minutes, but he'd seen the look of betrayal in Isaac's eyes, among other things. From what he'd learned about Isaac during their time together, he'd guessed that Isaac would run somewhere to wallow in his misery. It was something he knew the rest of his pack would scoff at, proof in their minds that betas were weak, but Ethan knew why Isaac was reacting that way. He'd been powerless at the hands of his father for so long that now, even though he was a werewolf, that he just fell back on those memories and feelings. You couldn't change your entire personality in a matter of months, not without a lot of pain and suffering at least.

Which was why Ethan was currently chasing after Isaac's scent, having followed it into the woods in the middle of the night, because he needed to talk to him, to explain himself. And he was aware how he was putting himself in a submissive position to a beta, but right now he didn't care. If he didn't fix this, he'd be responsible for even more pain in Isaac's life and he'd promised himself that he would be remembered fondly by Isaac.

He didn't call out or try to contact Isaac by calling or texting, he knew that Isaac wouldn't be interested in answering, not in the mood he was in. Plus it might send Isaac running back to Derek and Ethan knew that if he was going to have any chance of fixing things between them, Isaac's alpha could not get involved. Derek would ruin it, most likely through violence and healing from any wounds inflicted by Derek would take a lot longer than the ones Isaac had given him.

After searching for about an hour, he finally found Isaac sitting against a tree, curled up into a tight little ball. He couldn't hear Isaac crying, but he could smell the tears and it was like a knife to the heart. It wasn't just that Isaac was crying, it was that he had caused it.

He approached Isaac as quietly as he could, remembering the last time he'd tried it and Isaac had smelled him before he got close. But this time he got close and was able to put a hand on Isaac's knee before he knew Ethan was there. Isaac tried to jump up and run away, but Ethan grabbed his shoulders and held him down.

"Isaac, just listen, please. Let me explain. We both know I'm stronger than you and I don't want to fight. Please let me explain."

Isaac stopped struggling, but his eyes were gold and Ethan had no doubt that if he looked he would see claws and fangs instead of human nails and teeth, and he could hear the anger in Isaac's voice as he said, "Then explain."

He sighed, relieved to even be given this chance, and decided that there would be no holding back. If he was going to have any chance of winning Isaac back, he couldn't lie and he couldn't treat Isaac as an inferior. So he let his eyes shift to the red of an alpha, revealing himself beyond any doubt.

He spoke softly, gently, "Deucalion is the name of the leader of my pack and he doesn't tell my brother and I much. All I know is that we came here because a new pack had arisen, yours, and Deucalion's always looking for new alphas to join the pack."

"Derek."

He nodded, "But Deucalion never gets involved before he has a feel for all the players. So he told Aiden and me to figure out who at the high school is important, since we already knew that Derek's been turning teenagers. We'd figure out who the werewolves were, who knew about them, their strengths, their weaknesses, everything."

Isaac was glaring by this point, his eyes still bright gold, "That's supposed to make me feel better? I'm just your way of gathering information?"

Ethan shook his head quickly and the next words out of his mouth would have had Aiden going ballistic because his explanation was devolving into begging, "Only at first. Not anymore. I thought, why not flirt with you? I'd have some fun when I was learning about your pack. At first it was easy, but then I got to know you. I realized what you've been through and I started thinking that … I didn't want to add to all the negative crap you've gone through."

Isaac had been glaring and looking ready to attack Ethan any second, right up until that last bit. There was a little bit of confusion in his eyes, like Isaac hadn't thought that Ethan's affection might be genuine. Not after he found out Ethan was an alpha, at least. But Isaac was still suspicious, his eyes were still gold.

So Ethan kept going, even though the silence from Isaac was kind of scaring him, "And I saw the way you are. Despite everything that's happened to you, Isaac, you're still nice and polite and a good guy. Kali and Ennis are worse than you and they had much nicer lives than yours. And those dates we went on, I meant everything I said and everything I did."

Isaac was still suspicious, but the confusion seemed to be winning out, "Why? Why would you decide to string me along and act like you're … falling in love me? That's crazy."

"Because I did fall in love with you. It wasn't part of the plan, but I did and I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt because of me."

He fell silent, unsure of what else to say and desperately hoping that Isaac would believe him. Isaac wasn't trying to get away anymore, which gave Ethan a little bit of hope. The beta was thinking over what had been said, so that was something at least. But to Ethan every second felt like an eternity as he waited for Isaac's response.

If he had known at the start of it all that he would be like this when Isaac finally found out that he was a werewolf, he would have scoffed at his own weakness. Would've hated the thought that he would get so stressed out over a beta. That he had somehow opened himself up to a person, not just a werewolf but a person, who had the emotional baggage that Isaac had. He'd joined Deucalion's pack with his brother to be stronger, not make himself more vulnerable to a beta werewolf who was both strong and weak simultaneously.

But now that he was here and had gotten to this point, he wouldn't change it. At least, he wouldn't change anything if Isaac still wanted anything to do with him. If Isaac rejected him … he had no idea what he'd do. He hated the very thought.

After what felt like forever, Isaac let out a heavy sigh, "So what now? I mean, you were dumb enough to fall in love with me and … I was dumb enough to fall in love with you. I kind of want to hate you for what you did, but I love you. So do we just keep going like before?"

Ethan heaved a great, big, relieved sigh and moved to sit next to Isaac, laying his head on the beta's shoulder and wrapping his arms around Isaac's waist, feeling more confident as he did because Isaac leaned into him, "I'd love that and … I'm sorry. I'll stick around till you tell me to leave."

Isaac stretched out his legs and wrapped an arm around Ethan's waist, "Good, because I'd really start thinking you were stupid if you decided staying away was a good idea. But what about your pack? What if things get violent?"

Part of Ethan wanted to get offended at the almost insult, but the rest of him pushed that thought away because Isaac still wanted him around. That fact made him feel like smiling for the rest of the day. But he had to focus on the question he'd been asked. Violence between his pack and Isaac's was a worry of his, too.

"I don't know if that'll happen, my brother and I are kind of the last to be told anything so I can't promise that nothing is going to happen between our packs. But I can promise that I'll do everything I can to protect you if it comes to that."

Isaac snorted, "I can take care of myself, Ethan. I am a werewolf."

Ethan pulled back just enough to look into Isaac's eyes because he needed the beta, his beta, to understand the seriousness of this, "I know you are, Isaac, but you're a beta and everyone in my pack is an alpha. In a fight we'd heal almost instantly, but you wouldn't. And, I'm really sorry, but all of us know about your claustrophobia. I haven't told them about that, we all knew it already. And my pack mates aren't as nice as I am."

Isaac stared back into his eyes for a long moment before letting out a small sigh, "You're probably right. But don't think I won't fight if it comes to it. I've faced hunters and a kanima, so its not like I'm helpless."

He nodded quickly, expecting nothing less, "I know that, really. Its just … I'm going to worry about you, there's no way around that. I love you and I don't want to see you get hurt."

Isaac leaned forward and gave him a quick kiss, but didn't say anything after that. He just laid his head on Ethan's shoulder. To the alpha, nothing needed to be said. Not anymore. They'd covered the most important stuff already. That didn't mean he wasn't going to do everything he could to make it up to Isaac for deceiving him because he still felt bad about that and his mind was already coming up with ideas of what the two of them could do together.

And he'd meant what he'd said. He would do his best to protect Isaac. It didn't matter that they were from different packs or that Isaac was a beta and he was an alpha. He loved Isaac and he would protect Isaac. The only other thing he could promise was that he'd try to make Isaac happy. That was all he could do and he hoped it would be enough.

But from the way Isaac cuddled up against him and closed his eyes, because it was still dark out and there were probably at least a few hours to go before the sun came up, Ethan had a feeling that it would be.

Author's Note: So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed it and I'm sorry if you wanted to see more, but the story had to come to an end sooner or later. Plus I'm not a huge fan of violating canon (like contradicting the episodes that you see). I might do more Ethan/Isaac stuff in the future, depending on what I see on the show and whether or not inspiration strikes. Again, I hope you enjoyed the story. It is now complete.