“Look sharp, Sean’s heading this way,” Stephan told him.

Derek looked up from the maps he’d been pouring over and trying to memorize just in time to see the Alpha coming his way. His mind was still trying to go over the dizzying amount of detail the maps showed, even as he wondered what Sean wanted with him now. After having returned to the factory from dinner with his uncle, Derek had been determined to learn more in order to be of better help. His first task had been to memorize the maps of the city, then he decided to focus on the ones that specifically covered the parts of the city Sean claimed as his. Derek was learning that even if the man’s territory was smaller than that of a pack alpha’s in a sept, it contained a confusing amount of information in one small area.

Sean jerked his head at Stephan. “Beat it, your brother needs you out in the garage.”

Derek watched the large werewolf leave without a word. “Oh, so they’re brothers, I wondered.”

“You could have just asked you know,” Sean told him.

“Didn’t seem important,” Derek said.

“That or you were too worried about insulting one of them,” Sean snorted.

Derek sighed. “What do you need from me Sean?”

“You sound like you’re getting irritated. Are you already getting sick of me?” Sean asked.

Derek knew by now that Sean was trying to get a reaction out of him. He was more distracted by the fact that Sean wasn’t wearing very much. The Alpha was only wearing a small pair of shorts and loose shoes, a towel thrown over his shoulder. He somehow still managed to look completely in control and more than capable, standing before Derek with very little on. Derek envied that, since despite the fact that he towered over the Alpha and outweighed him considerably, he was sure he probably only looked half as intimidating as Sean did.

“What are you doing?” Derek blurted out, trying to not stare.

Sean grunted. “I was going to take a shower.”

“And what brought you to me instead?” Derek asked.

Sean shoved a phone into his hand. “Your sept called you. Don’t know how they’re getting service, probably a satellite phone or something.”

Derek stared at the device in his hand, twisting it around in his grip in confusion. “Ah, thank you? Is it…still on?”

“You don’t know how to operate a phone, do you?” Sean sighed.

“You push the numbers, you hit the green button, you talk into it,” Derek said.

Sean took it back, pressing a button and lighting the phone up. “If you’re going to try to be useful around here, the least you can do is actually learn how to use shit. Richard told me you didn’t even know what a microwave was.”

“We cook food on a fire, we try to minimize excessive use of technology when it can be avoided,” Derek said.

Even when he was trying his best to help, it didn’t seem to be enough for Sean. Derek knew he should be used to it, it wasn’t like he hadn’t dealt with it from his father throughout his entire life. The rest of his pack and even the sept weren’t much better, if it wasn’t from people who expected him to follow in his father’s footsteps, it was from those who wished to see him fail. Despite having heard that sort of harsh criticism all his life, it was beginning to grate on his nerves when it came from Sean. He was doing his best with what he had, and Sean’s need to criticize him at every turn was becoming more frustrating with every passing day.

“Yeah well, maybe you should try learning, it might save us a whole heap of trouble in the future,” Sean said as he thrust the now ringing phone back into Derek’s hand.

Two rings in and his father’s curt voice picked up on the line. “Is this my son?”

“Yes Father, it’s me,” Derek answered, ignoring the ugly face Sean was making at him.

“I’ve been informed that you’ve been injured,” his father said.

Derek instinctively looked down at his almost completely healed arm. “Yes, nothing serious. I’m more than capable of carrying on with my duties.”

“Good. The sooner you can help them with their senseless fighting, the sooner you can return here where you belong. Have they told you how much longer they will need you for?” his father asked.

“Ah, not yet, but I’ll be sure to bring it up with the Alpha who’s graciously hosting me to get a better idea,” Derek told him.

An ugly snort came from his father. “Don’t call them alphas. They might lead what they think are packs, but they are not true alphas. If they were, they wouldn’t be running around human cities like pups who don’t know any better.”

Derek frowned at his father’s criticism. “From what I’ve seen, the werewolves here are capable, both in battle and in running their respective territories.”

“You had better not be getting any foolish ideas about these werewolves. Do not mistake their fight for a noble one. They deny their heritage and insult their history by living in those places,” his father growled at him.

“I never meant anything of the sort Father,” Derek said, realizing he could be entering dangerous territory.

“Have you met with their leader?” His father demanded.

Derek hesitated. “I’ve met the Alpha here, his name’s Sean.”

“I don’t care one whit about the mutt who’s calling himself the Alpha of some rotten part of the city, I meant the one who fashions himself in charge of all the rest of them,” his father snapped.

“No Father, not yet,” Derek lied before he could second guess his decision.

“Don’t get comfortable. You’re there to help them out of courtesy only, and nothing more. If I have to come down there myself to get you, I will,” and with a click, the line went dead.

Derek pulled the phone away from his ear, numbly handing it back to Sean. “Thank you for the use of your phone.”

Sean frowned at the device. “I take it that was your dad?”

Derek nodded. “He was checking in on my progress, thank you for being patient while I talked to him.”

The Alpha snorted. “It’s not like you left me waiting a long time, thought it was going to take longer. And that sounded like a hell of a lot more than checking on your progress?”

“You were eavesdropping?” Derek asked incredulously.

Sean motioned between them. “I’m standing a whole two feet away from you, it was hard to not hear everything.”

Sometimes Derek hated the honed senses of werewolves. “You had no business listening in.”

Sean rolled his eyes. “If you wanted privacy, you probably should have stepped away from me.”

“Or you could have stepped away after giving me the device,” Derek demanded.

“Is this about you wanting privacy or the fact that I got to hear how much of a dick your dad is? Fuck, no wonder you take my shit so well. I don’t know how you’ve managed to go your whole life dealing with that shit without decking him,” Sean said.

“He’s my father!” Derek said aghast.

Sean shrugged. “Dad or not, if someone talked to me like that, I’d lay them out.”

“Maybe that works here, or when you were growing up, but that’s not how we do things in the sept,” Derek said.

“Is your whole family like that? Because if they are, I don’t know how a family of assholes like that could create someone as quiet as you are,” Sean snorted.

Derek turned back to the maps on the table. “Thank you for the use of your phone Sean, I apologize if it took you away from your shower. I’ll attempt to arrange any future calls with you so that we don’t interfere with your busy schedule.”

He heard Sean snort behind him. “You’re not nearly as unflappable as you make out to be, you know that? As soon as I bring up something you don’t want to talk about, you shut right down. Does that mean the rest of your family is a bunch of mean-spirited dicks too? That’s it, isn’t it?”

Derek’s hand clenched on the edge of the table. “My family is none of your concern, and I kindly ask that you leave them out of any discussion we have. Particularly discussions where you feel required to give your opinion on my personal life, thank you.”

“Getting closer and closer, every time I poke, I can see you wanting to lash out. Every time though, you pull yourself back. Quit doing that, stop being such a little bitch all the time,” Sean told him.

Derek turned around to face Sean. “And to what end? So I too can be as rude, uncouth, and insulting as you are? What do I achieve by saying every nasty thing that comes into my head?”

“I don’t know, maybe a little bit of life. You walk around this place like some stiff zombie, obeying the orders of anyone who’s bossy enough. Fucking hell man, you make yourself out to be this proper gentleman, when you’re barely a person. You just take everyone’s bullshit. The most personality I’ve seen in you was after you sank your fangs into that leech, and when you talked to the kids. Is that gonna be your life, only living when you kill something or bother to talk to a kid?” Sean asked, demanding answers as his voice rose.

“If the alternative is to walk around and insult anyone who makes eye contact with me like you do, then I consider myself in a good place. All you do is fling insults and expect everything to go the way you want it to. I came here in good faith, with every intention of helping you, as was my duty, but you’ve spent every moment doing your best to punish me for it. I see no need to tell you my personal business, nor to stand here and listen to your so called ‘advice,’ understand?” Derek shot back, feeling his temper bubbling up in his chest.

Sean shook his head. “Is this what I missed out on by not being in a sept? I can’t say it’s all that impressive.”

“Better than growing up on the streets and in the gutters,” Dean snapped.

Sean’s eyes widened. “Someone opened their big mouth I see. But you’re going to have to try harder than that to hurt my feelings. Yeah, I grew up on the streets for awhile there, but you know what? At least I can say I lived. It looks like all you’ve done is follow the orders of everyone else around you, or at least let them step on you along the way. So yeah, I’ll take being a ‘mutt’ over being the whipping boy of everyone else in my life.”

“I have done what has been my duty, which is more than can be said of you, who can’t even behave like a civilized person to a guest,” Derek growled.

Sean laughed. “Hey, if you want to act like a doormat for people, be my guest man. If you can’t be bothered to defend yourself, then don’t get mad when someone takes advantage of it. We’ll get the most use out of you while you’re here, and you can go running back home to mommy and daddy, and they can go back to using you, since you apparently get off on that.”

With a snarl, Derek shoved himself forward, using his body to pin Sean against the nearby wall. “For once in the entire miserable time I’ve been here, shut your damn mouth!”

Sean’s eyes opened wide in surprise as he looked up at Derek. “Or what?”

Derek could hear the blood pumping in his ears as he stood there, trying to figure out what threat he could use. Sean was watching him intently, not moving as he waited to see what Derek would say or do. There had been a moment, when Derek had shoved the Alpha, that he’d considered hitting him. The urge to ball up his fists and slam them against Sean’s face had been so strong. Only a last moment of restraint had tempered the action.

Now, he was gazing down at Sean, wondering what he could say or do that would shut the Alpha up, just once. Sean was still looking at him, goading him, egging him on to do something. There was no condescension in the man’s face, but there was an arrogant amusement that irritated Derek. Sean was pinned against the wall, looking almost vulnerable in his shorts, but he still looked at Derek like he was the one in control. It was infuriating, it was insulting, and yet Derek was all too aware of how warm the Alpha was, how well Sean’s body fit against his own.

“Damn you,” he hissed as he bent down to kiss Sean.

Sean tensed against him, a faint, muffled noise of surprise coming from the smaller werewolf. The motion drove home what he was trying to do, bringing it to his conscious mind and he tried to pull away. Sean’s grip latched onto his shoulders and yanked him back into the kiss before their lips could part.

The first kiss had been an impulse, one that had escaped Derek’s usual self-control. The second was just as impulsive, but the decision was a mutual one. Derek shoved his hips forward, pinning Sean’s torso to the wall as he pressed harder into the kiss. It felt like electricity had exploded out from his chest in a burst of jittery heat. Sean’s head thumped against the wall as Derek opened their mouths, his tongue wrestling with the Alpha’s.

Sean wasn’t just taking the kiss, he was giving in to it, while still demanding more. His body pushed back against Derek’s, not trying to gain control, but encouraging him. A growl rumbled against Derek’s lips, and he felt his gut tighten with desire at the sound. Both of them were hard already, their arousals pressing tight against the other’s body.

Derek pulled away from the kiss with a gasp. His conscious mind gaining back the control he’d lost momentarily, and he tried to free himself from Sean’s grip. A little dazed from the kiss, Sean’s grip went slack, allowing Derek to take a couple of steps away from him. His body pulsed, and he was having a difficult time keeping his breath even. Just from a simple kiss, Sean was looking flushed and tousled, and Derek felt a swell of pride and arousal that he’d been the one to do that.

“Well, how’s that for showing a reaction? Guess you do have it in you,” Sean said with a weak chuckle.

Derek rubbed his face, shaking his head. “That, was…a mistake, I shouldn’t have done that. I don’t know what came over me.”

“I think they call that crossing the wires, or on my end, mixed signals,” Sean answered with another laugh.

Derek shook his head vigorously. “No, that isn’t…what I wanted, that was…”

Sean ran a hand through his hair. “I’m at a loss for words too, but damn.”

The sigh of pleasure in Sean’s voice had Derek backing away, toward the door. “I’m sorry, I need...I need to go, okay? I’m sorry about that, really.”

Before Sean could say anything else, Derek turned and fled out the door. If he stayed in that room any longer, the urge to resume kissing Sean would have become too strong to ignore. If he’d kissed the man again, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from going further. Kissing Sean had been intense, and he really wanted to pin the man against the wall for longer, and do so much more than just kiss him. Derek couldn’t bring himself to do it though, and he all but ran down the hallway to escape.

It had been exhilarating, and it had been downright terrifying.