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"Just because Derek trusts you, doesn't mean I have to." He kinda, sorta, maybe did, but that wasn't the point.

"That right?" His lip twitched in a hint of a smile. He might not be a wolf, but he could still tell when someone as transparent as Isaac was lying to him.

"I don't..." He sighs, rolling his eyes. "It's not because he trusts you."

"No," he sobers quickly. "But he needs me."

"No. I mean..." He sighs in frustration. "If I were to trust you. It wouldn't be because of Derek."

"Why would it be, then?" He's curious, and more than a little surprised. Not that Betas can't think for themselves. Or that teenage boys all follow the leader. But, well, when you have the two together, in one person... Yeah, Chris kind of expected it to go that way.

He doesn't answer straight away, thinking over the words and finding the right ones. He settles eventually, forcing himself to meet the hunter's gaze. "Because you've given me reason to."

That surprises him enough that it shows. "And what would be a reason?"

Another long pause. "I don't know yet."

"Well, let me know when you figure it out, would you?"

Isaac nods. "You'll be the first."

Edited 2012-10-30 12:02 (UTC)

"Tell me something, would you?" It's nagging at him now, face-to-face with this boy, who seems so at peace with himself this way.

The question catches him off guard, and he suddenly turns wary; an instinct that has less to do with Chris' being a hunter and more with him being an older male. "What's that?"

"Why'd you do it?" He notices that Isaac's tensed up, and tries not to be offended by it. Isaac has enough reason to be mistrustful of him, after all. "Pick this life. Why'd you do it?"

Isaac doesn't answer for a long while, taking his time in deciding what information to share and what to keep to himself. He mulls over all his reasons, the offer Derek had made and all the other things he'd been told; the hunters, the full moon, the instinct. Without looking up from where his gaze rests on the ground -when did that happen?- he answers, voice quiet.

"I didn't want to be weak anymore. I was... powerless and scared. All the time. Derek offered me power and strength. He offered me safety." Another pause. "He told us the risks; about you and the rest of the hunters, about our instincts and how we could become completely uncontrollable on the full moon. It was worth it."

"Why?" Chris frowned. "You gave up your humanity. What could possibly be worth that?"

Squeezing his eyes closed, the memories flash through his mind; the beatings, the abuse, the countless hours spent locked in a freezer screaming himself hoarse until claustrophobia so bad set in that he lost consciousness and he tries to bite back a whimper, fails.

"Being free of the monster that was my father."

Chris looks away at the sound. He's really, really not equipped to handle that kind of pain in someone that age.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up bad memories."

Taking several deep, shaky breaths, Isaac soon opens his eyes, gaze focused on the ground to the left of Argent's feet. "Now you know."

"I guess I do." He tries to find something else to ask, something to distract Isaac if not himself. He manages only by bringing himself back around to the original point of him being there. "Has Derek heard anything from the Alpha pack?"

There's another few minutes before Isaac answers as he takes time to collect himself, locking all those memories back away in the box they belong in. "No. Nothing more than the last time you two spoke."

"Erica and Boyd still missing, then?" That had surprised him, that there was some way to stop a werewolf from tracking his own pack; but an Alpha pack apparently had tricks the Argents had never prepared for.

There's a pang of pain at the mention of his pack mate's and he sighs, nodding slowly. "Yeah. We don't know if..." If they were still alive or not.

"There are only a few reasons to take a hostage," Chris said. It was meant to be reassuring, but then, he hadn't been raised in the most reassuring environment himself. "Since we haven't found a body, there's a good chance they're still alive."

Edited 2012-10-30 13:12 (UTC)

"I guess so." But it had been months and they hadn't even caught wind of a scent from Erica or Boyd and it was erring harder to hold onto hope that they were still alive.