Prince Derrick felt the pain before he even opened his eyes. Actually, pain was an understatement on so many levels.
The prince started breathing fast and short, hyperventilating, and his mind seemed to shut down, giving him the feeling of suffocation. Instead of opening his eyes, he clenched them tighter, hoping that this was one of those moments when you are sleeping in bed and you are given the impression that you are drowning on air.
But after a few minutes, it didn't go away.
His eyes flew open, already stinging with tears, and he began to take in deep breaths, gulping air up faster than he could process where he was or what was happening.
And then it hit him like a brick to Jason Grace's face: Jake.
Just the name filtering through his thoughts brought tears to his eyes. And no, it wasn't because of the emotional pain from being away from his soulmate for too long. No, it was because of the literal physical pain from staying away from Jake Freaking Pierce.
Such a classic werewolf-y last name. It made him sick.
But of course thinking that made his already-busted heart to pang painfully with guilt.
"Derrick?" the prince heard faintly, "Derrick, are you okay?!"
Nothing is like waking up, choking on pain, and hearing the distressed call of your charming cousin who-is-a-barely-tolerable-person in the morning.
Now all he needed was some black cats and broken mirrors and his wake-up call would be almost perfect.
At the sound of his cousin's voice, Derrick painfully remembered last night when he told Nathan about Jake's...abnormal, unwanted quality.
He remembered Nathan's disbelief and the prince's desperate attempts to convince him that he was not going insane.
"You're crazy," he remembered Nathan claiming, pointing a finger at him, "You are insane. Are you sure you haven't been having morning jogs in the Labyrinth or have somehow gotten the case of the Dancing Plague? If that's the case, I'll be leaving now."
Derrick remembered grabbing Nathan's arm before Nathan could take a step towards the door.
"You don't have to listen to me. You don't have to believe me. But please, look at me. Do I look insane, sick, or dying?"
"Um, no, not really," Nathan had said then smirked, "You actually look quite handsome in your own grumpy, anti-social way."
"Not the time for flirting, idiot," Derrick growled.
"Okay okay," Nathan said, holding his hands up in surrender, "I won't believe that your soulmate is something straight out of a young girl's daydream until I see it for myself, okay? But until then, I won't think you're crazy. Deal?"
"As long as I don't get burned at the stake for being mentally ill," Derrick huffed.
They had then gone to sleep (Derrick made sure to make Nathan sleep on the floor) and now, here Derrick was, at four o'clock in the morning.
Writhing in pain.
Panicked.
And being ripped apart by his heart.
"Jake," Derrick gasped, "The clearing- Ollie- I need- hurts-"
"So you are insane," Nathan concluded, "If you expect me to understand any of what you just said, you clearly have lost your mind."
Derrick groaned and clutched his heart with a shaking hand.
"We need-" he tried to speak and winced, "I nee-d J-Jake."
It hurt even worse to say the dam werewolf's name, as if the four-lettered word was reminding his heart that Derrick was imprisoned by fate.
Derrick's pride also did not care of what he just said. Everything inside and outside of him screamed one thing: YOU FLIPPIN' IDIOT! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET FOR FREAKIN IGNORING WHAT WE TOLD YOU TO LOVE!! BUT NOOOOOOOOOO. YOU JUST HADDA GET YOUR TUNIC IN A TWIST OVER A FRICKIN WEREWOLF.
Maybe Derrick was going insane.
"Oh," he heard Nathan say distantly, "Where is he? I'll take you to him."
"Clearing," Derrick choked out, but in his mind he was yelling: How are you so calm, right now?! GET ME OUT OF HERE, YOU IDIOT. I'M NOT HAVING A FUN TIME WRITHING IN PAIN.
"Well that's specific," Nathan sassed, rolling his eyes, "There must be, what? Thirty clearings in this country alone?"
"Just get," Derrick gritted his teeth, "Ollie-h-he knows."
"Ollie?" Nathan asked, and if Derrick wasn't in such pain, he would murder the stupid older boy right then and there.
"HORSE," Derrick shouted as another wave of pain washed over him. The more he laid here the worst it was going to get.
"Okay!OKAY! Horse! Let's go find Ollie the horse and then this mysterious Jake fellow that captured my crush's sour heart!" Nathan declared, always the one for being dramatic.
Derrick could only close his eyes as he felt the tears of heartbreak run down his face.
Why this? he thought.
Why him?
Why me?
~{()}~
Jake had gone to the clearing as soon as Derrick left.
He didn't go back to the pack. He didn't want to return until he did something. And so far, all he's gained is a grumpy, rude guy, some intense pain, and frostbite everywhere.
And by everywhere, Jake meant everywhere.
Sure turning into his wolf would be smart, but it was also dumb.
On the pro side, he wouldn't be freezing because of his natural built-in fur coat.
On the con side, turning into a wolf will only increase his physical and emotional desire for some stuck-up rude dude he ran into in the forest. He could also be found and hunted.
Yes please, but no thank you.
Which is why he's sitting in a dirty hole, indecent and hungry. Not to mention, in pain and freezing.
He'd dug the hole because he remembered some random pack member from survival 101 saying that 'putting yourself deeper in the ground would keep you warmer during the winter'. However, Jake wasn't sure if this was true because the pain kept him a little distracted from his own well-being.
Earlier, he didn't know how weird this situation might have appeared to people until this old lady with a crossbow stumbled across him. She looked like she was briefly considering shooting him to put him out of his misery.
Jake would probably do the same thing if he saw a naked man in a hole, crying, in the middle of winter in the middle of the woods.
But then she shrugged, like she had seen stranger things, and walked away.
Now, he was just praying that Derrick would arrive at this clearing soon.
The thought of Derrick made his pain worse, but so did avoiding thoughts of him.
Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh.
His mother's advice to calm down was pretty useless now because, no matter how hard he tried, his body would not calm down. The wolf inside him wanted to hunt Derrick down, wrap the man into his arms, and then proceed to suck his face off.
And that fact alone disturbed Jake more than the pain.
He wondered how his dad had reacted to him leaving, what he and his mom was doing right now, how David was doing, where the freak Derrick was, how Derrick was doing, what Derrick was doing right now-
Shoot, there that stupid name goes, invading his thoughts.
You know you want him, Jake.
Whoop-de-doo. Now his other half was arguing with him.
See, Jake saw himself as two halves.
One half was himself.
One half was his wolf.
Most of the time, they get along fine and the wolf-half of him stays silent and passive.
But all of the sudden it was like his personality traits and feelings were having a civil war.
Maybe this pain was from all of the little swords in the battle, who knows?
Come on, Jakey-poo. Get outta this hole and into another! urged his wolf.
Don't make me throw up, said Jake, shuddering.
If I did, would you run to Derrick to make you feel better? it asked.
I couldn't run even if I wanted to! Jake argued.
I'll take that as a maybe, his wolf said.
Shut up, Jake growled.
Make m- suddenly the voice stopped, Hold up. Wait. I-I smell.....MATE!!
Great, Jake said, unsure if he was supposed to be sarcastic or not.
Derrick has come to your rescue, you damsel in distress! Do not fear, Jakey-poo! his wolf cheered.
Sure enough, Jake heard the sound of a horse trampling the ground in the clearing and some groans.
Mmmmmm, his wolf mused, What should we do when he gets here? Should we kiss him? I wanna kiss him. Please kiss him.
No. No kissing. Now, shut up, Jake repeated.
I'll only shut up when you kiss him. Just imagine- Jake could hear the horse getting closer to his hideout -lips pressed together, warmth emanating between you, OOH what about tongues?
La La La I can't hear you! Jake said.
Oh yes you can. I'm in your head. And you can hear me pretty clear since the only other thing in here is Derrick, his wolf scoffed.
SHUT UP! Jake practically screamed in his head.
I shall return, was all he got in reply.
Then someone else decided to speak, jarring him from his thoughts.
"Wait so," the voice said, "This is Jake?"
Jake wouldn't be impressed either if he saw a dirty, naked, crying guy in a hole, rocking himself back and forth.
"J-Jake?" said a voice, definitely Derrick's because it sent jolts down his spine. His wolf went crazy and just Derrick saying his name gave him the strength to roll over and look at the source of the voice.
His vision completely ignored the horse and the new person on top of the horse and straight to Derrick, who was clinging to the new person and crying too.
The new person sighed and hopped off the horse, letting Derrick fall flat on the horse's back. The new guy then picked Derrick up and dragged the crying man to the other crying man.
It was almost a comical sight.
"Ya know," the new person grumbled, directing his voice straight to Derrick as they inched closer to Jake, "You're glad I'm attracted to you or I would have just left you to sob."
Wait, who was this guy and what is this attraction he has for Derrick, huh? Jake asked himself, suddenly caring about this new guy.
Kill him, demanded his wolf, growling.
No No No. No one is killing anybody, Jake scolded.
Yet, his wolf added.
Jake watched the new guy push Derrick into the hole along with Jake.
Their bodies made contact and...
Suddenly, a fire exploded in Jake's heart, which affected every part of him. The warmth seeped down to his freezing fingertips and encircled his torso, making a buzz emit from his whole upper body. He felt a fresh income of air invade his lungs, wiping out all of the pain along with it, like taking a freezing bath as soon as you wake up. His toes tickled like they were falling asleep and his mouth curved into a smile. He felt satisfaction and wrapped his arms around Derrick's shoulders, pressing Derrick's face into his warm chest.
But what satisfied Jake about it most was that Derrick hugged back.
Come on, Jake! I need some kind of action! A kiss! A KISS! his wolf chanted.
No kiss! Jake argued.
Awwwwww. Pwease? Both of us want it! You know you want it! his wolf whined.
It's true. Jake felt not only his wolf, but his heart wanting to kiss Derrick because he was his soulmate.
No kiss, Jake repeated. He wasn't ready for that yet. Frack, he doesn't even know if he would ever would be ready for that.
I hate you, his wolf huffed.
I'm sorry. Deal with it, Jake huffed, before turning his attention back on Derrick. The werewolf nuzzled his face into the, still hugging, man's hair.
His wolf huffed.
Fine be that way, it growled, But may I remind you that you have no clothes on?
Jake had never pushed someone away that fast in his entire life. He cupped one hand over his exposed parts before turning away from Derrick, red-faced.
Derrick now realized why he pushed away.
So, the wolf can get embarrassed, he thought.
Derrick wasn't sure why he had hugged Jake back in the first place, but he knew that it would make the pain go away and that's all he cared about.
All he cared about. Definitely.
But when Jake pushed away, the reason why made Derrick's angry mood surface. Not like that was hard.
He had just hugged a naked man-wolf willingly. What the freak was wrong with him?
Nathan stood there looking extremely amused and it took all of Derrick's willpower not to rip his cousin's empty head off.
Just then, Derrick felt his heart twinge just a little at the sudden loss of touch from his soulmate.
If this hurting-heart business keeps up, the prince just might throw himself off a cliff to end his misery.
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Nathan snorts.
"So, you're a werewolf, am I right?"
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