Chapter Text
Derek was 16 when he first saw his mate. He knew exactly who he was as soon as he saw him. His hormone addled brain instantly made the connection and before he knew it, he was crossing the street to get to where the young boy was. A car horn startled him out of his daze and he quickly jumped out of the way of the oncoming traffic with reflexes that came with being a 16 year old born werewolf. When he looked up again a pair of light brown eyes was staring straight at him, curiosity the most forefront of the emotions on his open face.
He couldn't have been more than ten years old and Derek felt a sudden sickness at himself. He knew what all of this meant. He'd grown up with mated werewolves, his parents being only one such couple. And if there was one thing he knew for sure about mating, it was that it was a very sexual process. He'd never heard of anyone finding their mate at such a young age. His mother had met his father at college and from what he'd been told, a similar thing had happened with his uncle Peter. He hadn't heard of anyone in his family finding their mate at 16. And he'd never heard of anyone ever being mated to a child.
All this barrelled through his head as he gazed into those whisky eyes and they stared right back. It must have only been a few seconds before the older man holding the boy's hand pulled the boy away from Derek's line of sight, into a tall building - a hospital, Derek noticed. It was then that a hand fell onto Derek's shoulder, startling him. He turned to his uncle Peter with a bewildered look on his face, unsure what to do.
"I know that look," was all Peter said to him, his trademark smirk lifting his lips at the corners.
Derek cleared his throat. "What look?" he croaked.
"That kid. He's your mate, isn't he?"
Derek pressed his lips together angrily. "I don't know who you're talking about."
Peter's left eyebrow arched. "Well, I somehow don't think that the man holding the boy's hand is the one who grabbed your attention."
"It was just some kid," Derek huffed, moving to walk away from the hospital, back the way he'd been going in the first place. Something tugged inside him, urging him to go back, go inside the hospital and find that kid. To do what, Derek didn't know, but he wasn't willing to find out.
He felt Peter following him closely, could almost feel his smug gaze. While Peter was Derek's personal favourite uncle, the man really didn't back down from something that interested him. He liked to play games and before that moment, Derek had mostly been able to stay out of those games. But, whatever. He'd never see the kid again and he'd be fine with that and Peter would give up. He was 16, old enough to know that he was too young for commitment, not to mention the fact that dating a 10 year old is more than a little illegal. So, he'd just live life as usual and forget he ever saw those whisky eyes.
Somewhere inside him though, a thought stirred. A thought that screamd that it was unfair of fate to dangle his mate in front of him, but to keep him just out of his reach. It'd been so easy for everyone else. His mom had just been walking around the quad at her college and she'd met his dad and they dated, got married and had kids, living happily ever after. That was how mating was supposed to go in his head. Not this giant fuck-up of a situation. This was some cruel joke being played on him.
And soon enough, he'd come to think of that moment as the moment when his luck ran out.
Because not long after meeting his mate, he met Kate Argent.
~
When he arrived home with uncle Peter, he was determined to go straight to his room and avoid all human and/or werewolf contact. Because as much as he wanted to pretend otherwise, meeting his mate and not being able to do anything about it was like a kick to the gut. Of course, his newly turned luck wouldn't hear of that.
"Guess who saw his mate today," Peter announced to the family at large, any werewolves in the house picking up the slightly elevated volume of his voice.
Instantly, Derek was surrounded by his family. Laura and Cora, Derek's older and younger sisters respectively, were looking especially eager, thrilled at the prospect of gossip, while Tyler, the eldest brother looked mildly curious, his earnest grey-green eyes slightly enlarged by his glasses. Being the only non-were of the four siblings meant that Tyler inherited the long-sighted gene from their father's side of the family.
It was Derek's mother who spoke first. "Who is the lucky girl?"
Derek felt his face, which had already been sporting a frown since Peter's announcement, darken further with a scowl. "Not a girl. And certainly not lucky."
The response was immediate from Cora. She let out a small squeal and bit her lip, attempting to hide her glee. She'd always been saying that it was "statistically unlikely that in such a large family, not one family member is homosexually inclined."
A whispered, "I knew it," came from Laura, a smirk that rivalled Peter's appearing on her face.
Talia sent disapproving looks to her two daughters before reaching for her younger son. She pulled him through the large house and into the lounge, the rest of the family following conspicuously close.
Talia sat Derek down on one of the couches and sat beside him, her face betraying no emotion besides concern. "Derek." He looked up at her, though no hint of an Alpha's command was present. He sought comfort from his mother. "It seems to me that perhaps meeting your mate wasn't what you expected." He brow creased slightly before she started her next sentence. "While you may not have felt any inclination towards men before, a mate is the one that is exactly perfect for you."
It took Derek a second to realise what she was insinuating. "What? No, that's not what's wrong here."
Talia's face gentled then. Obviously she'd been worried about a possibly homophobic son. "Then what is, dear?"
Derek turned away from her, feeling shame even though he had no more control over who his mate turned out to be than he had control over the weather. "Mom, he's just a kid."
He didn't look up straight away, but when the silence lingered, he dared glance up. Talia was staring off distantly.
"Mom?" he whispered.
"How old?"
"I don't know. Maybe ten?"
His mother hmmed before breaking her stare to look at her son. "I'm afraid, Derek, that the only thing to be done is to be patient."
That wasn't exaclty the answer Derek had been hoping for. He'd wanted a quick fix. He felt anger boil up inside him. It burst forth in a yell. "It's not fair!" He breathed deeply, trying to control his emotions, but after such a blow he wasn't able to. He jumped up off the couch, passing by the sadened faces of his siblings and the concerned face of his father, who had been silent throughout the proceedings.
He was slamming the door before he knew where he was headed. He started to run as soon as he got outside. Not long after, he found himself at a cafe, sitting at a small table by himself, deciding to create a pity party for himself.
He'd been there ten minutes when someone approached him.
"Hey there, cutie. You're looking a little glum."
He looked up into the face of a pretty blonde, way too pretty to be talking to him. "Hi," he mumbled.
Her mouth lifted on one side. "I'm Kate. Who are you?"