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Melissa McCall is an interesting woman for quite a few reasons.
She’s a witty, intelligent nurse that finished school early.
She used to be a dancer before she got pregnant with her son, Scott.
She tended to buy local brand beer in secret so that said son would not know that she liked to have a drink once in a while.
More than anything though, Melissa McCall is obviously interesting because she drives Hale men just on this side of insane simply by being herself.
If Scott knew just how often Derek was there simply watching over his mother instead of him, the beta would probably freak out.
It wasn’t that Derek was creeping on her, because he wasn’t. On the contrary, she was the lone human parent indirectly involved that could not take care of herself against the supernatural and who was most at risk. It was simple warfare, targeting mothers and sisters and since the latter were lacked by all but Boyd, who had two older ones who were already out of the state, it left watching out for their mothers. It meant Derek learned that Mrs. Whittemore and Mrs. Martin actually spoke to each other on a constant basis, that Mrs. McCall and Mrs. Reyes had lunch together at the hospital when possible even when Erica wasn’t checked in, that Mrs. Lahey and Mrs. Stilinski were actually buried in the same row of the cemetery.
If Derek tended to spend more time at the McCall’s house than anywhere else while everyone was at school, that was no one’s business but his own.
--
When Derek thought about it, what made Melissa McCall so enticing was probably that she reminded him of the strong women in his life.
She fluctuated between reminding him of Laura and of their mother, the Alpha.
She took care of Scott like Laura had him; working night shifts and getting him up even though she was exhausted, trying and failing to date to give a stable home and when that didn’t work, saying ‘fuck it’ and just being everything their boys needed them to be and then some. She knew how to make jokes and tease, all while giving advice and making sure that Scott wasn’t too bad off because she knew first hand about bad teenage choices. But more than anything, Melissa was like his mother, probably because she was a mom. She loved unconditionally and wanted what was best, even if Scott couldn’t see it. She worked hard for him, not even for herself. He had been there when she would grumble when she woke up in the afternoon and stare at the clock for almost an hour, wondering why she needed to get up, before she would look at the picture of little Scott that she had on her bedside table and she would get up and get ready for work, for him. It wasn’t that she would ever give up, it was that she wanted one day of rest, one day for herself, but she wouldn’t allow herself to because she needed to provide for Scott.
Derek knew strong Alpha female when he saw it and Melissa McCall was all that and then some.
So he was drawn to her.
The fact that he’d accidentally caught her dancing in her lacy underwear in her room one night after work was just a plus.
She really did have great.... legs.
But Scott didn’t know Derek hung out when he wasn’t there. Not really. Scott was dumb, but he recognized Derek’s scent by now without even trying.
“Why were you by my house yesterday?”
“Because I was checking up.”
“...Oh.... But I was in school.”
“You’re supposed to be in school then, yeah. I was making sure your house was ok.”
“....Oh. Oh! Ok. Wait, does my mom see you?”
“.....”
“....Right. Ok. Uh, thanks?”
So Scott was alright with him being around the house now, which worked against him really because well, he was hoping for an excuse to not constantly stalk his mother whenever time allowed.
He was almost glad for shit hitting the fan.
And then he wasn’t because when he wasn’t worried about who was dying next in his pack, he was worried about whether or not Melissa was safe at work or safe at home.
Of course, he would be hovering in the shadows next to their house when the McCalls are talking about going out for the night.
“Mom, I’m headed over to Stiles’ for the night.”
“Are you really?” There was the scent of suspicion and even some hurt coming from her and Scott noticed it as well as Derek. The beta whimpered and Derek listened as Scott told his mom the truth.
“I am. I’m spending the night with Stiles.”
“Not Allison?”
“...She’s gonna be there.”
“You’re making Stiles third wheel, Scott?” Derek heard a light smack, the sound made whenever she whacked Scott on the forehead. “Scott!”
“Ow?!”
“You can’t do that to him!”
“Lydia’ll be there too! He’s not a third wheel!”
“Oh.... Well, good! That’s not cool, Scott.”
“..... Seriously?” Derek felt when the tension broke and they laughed into each other. The Alpha’s heart clenched a bit, remembering moments like this with Laura, but kept alert because even with the relief, she smelled a bit anxious.
“Alright so um, I guess since you’re staying out tonight... I can too?”
“With who? Do you have another date?” And of course Scott jumped on that, being horribly nervous and almost scared. Derek didn’t know why but well, the smell of Melissa’s light embarrassment distracted him good enough. He could just imagine her blush and he’d seen enough to know just how pretty it sat on her cheeks.
“N-no. I just... The girls are headed out later so I’m going with them. Confirming that I’m going with them anyway.” Derek knew that Scott could hear her heart skip a beat just as well as he could and, probably, like Scott, his heart clenched in slight fear.
“Going with them where?” Scott asked, almost a growl in his voice. He was so lucky that she thought his voice was just going through a cracking phase again.
“The bar?” She offered, still questioning as if scared for his answer. Truth be told, Derek was almost worried about what Scott would do because she’d spoke the truth this time. Scott, to both their surprises, simply sighed and nodded.
“Alright. Don’t get wasted though. That’ll look bad and I don’t want Stiles’ dad arresting you for something stupid.”
“I’m not going to get wasted! And Stilinski wouldn’t dare put cuffs on me. It wouldn’t work,” She said, muttering the last part, a flush springing up on her skin. Derek really wanted to know more about the cuffs.
“A-Alright, I-I don’t wanna know--”
“A-And you shouldn’t! No! No cuffs!”
“Nope!”
“Alright! Good talk, Scott!”
“Yeah, awesome, mom!” Derek rolled his eyes and slipped his way into Scott’s room as they shuffled around each other awkwardly and then parted ways. He sat in the chair, flicking his eyes up at Scott when he entered the room. Thankfully, Scott has gotten good at not freaking out like Stiles.
“So uh, I guess you heard?” Scott asked, grabbing his duffle and grabbing clothes. Derek made a soft affirmative noise as he poked around on Scott’s desk. He preferred Stiles’ to be honest; the spazz was good at keeping things in relative order. Scott was just a hot mess all over. “I... I AM spending the night with the three of them, that wasn’t a lie.”
“Why is Lydia gonna be there?” Derek asked before making a soft disgusted noise, flicking away the empty condom box. “Doesn’t your mom clean your room? Shouldn’t you hide those?”
“Huh, wha?” Scott did a doubletake before making a horrible embarrassed whine thing and darting over, grabbing it and tossing it in his bag. “Oh my god.”
“Focus, Scott. Lydia,” Derek instructed with an eye roll, knowing that even if he didn’t show it, Scott had to know he was amused. The teenager bristled before fidgeting and then turning to face Derek completely, ignoring his bag.
“I-Uh-Well, ok so, you know how she got bit by Peter and didn’t die?” Derek nodded, mostly paying attention to the sounds of Melissa shuffling in her room and getting ready. “Ok so, we figured since she’s alive and not a wolf, she’s probably got some other bite-related problem we don’t know about. She’s been better at hiding her freakouts but like, she got up in class one time all normal to answer a question on the board and she started writing backwards. In spirals.”
“What?” Derek stood up then, focused on the beta completely now. Mostly. She was shuffling around closer to the bathroom now though. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“Uh, Kanima?! Argents?! Lydia was like, lower on the concern list!”
“No, that doesn’t matter! You need to tell me these things, Scott! I need to know something like that!”
“What, so are you gonna go over there or something?!”
“No. Why the hell would I do that?” Derek shook his head at the teenager before huffing a bit, plopping back down in the computer chair gracefully. “Look, stick to the plan tonight. Text me if anything goes wrong, ok? I’ll make my rounds tonight, see how things are.”
“What about the others?”
“Erica and Boyd are watching over Jackson. He’s normal for now but they’ll let me know when he’d not in his head anymore.”
“And Isaac?”
“Isaac’s working on the info Stiles and his dad figured out, trying to crack something else in the pattern of victims.”
“Ah, ok....” Scott turned back to his bag, packing a bit more while Derek fiddled with his things, catching sight of the little things he never bothered to pay attention to before like the guitar in the corner, the broken television. He could probably fix it for Scott but he didn’t know if he wanted to. Scott’s pulse rose minutely and Derek looked up at him just as he turned around. “Derek?”
“Yeah?”
“C-could you uh... Look, I’d really appreciate it if like, while you’re out an-and, if it’s not out of the way or anything, like--”
“Scott.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want me to check up on your mom at the bar?” Derek asked, unsure of how well he could hide how pleased he was at the thought. Good thing Scott was so nervous about asking. And so relieved that Derek had spit it out for him.
“Oh God, yes, please? Only if it’s on the way though, ok? I mean, we know where Jackson might hit and all and the hunters are crazy now so I get that you’ve got a plan so I’d understand and--”
“Scott, I’ll do it. I don’t want your mom getting hurt either,” Derek said before grabbing Scott’s deodorant and asthma inhaler from his table and tossing them into his bag for appearances’ sake. “Is that all you need?”
“Y-Yeah,” Scott answered shakily with a nod, zipping up the bag and slinging it over his shoulder and heading to the door. “Derek?”
“Yeah, Scott?”
“Thanks. For my mom. I really appreciate it.” Derek nodded, lips pressed together as he waved Scott out, feeling his cheeks heat up faintly as he listened to the sound of her shower blasting on, the water hitting her skin and probably leaving it reddened from the heat. Scott yelled at his mom’s door that he was leaving and she yelled back in return, still audible to her son even as he escaped out the front door to his bike. Melissa kept to the shower, soaping up and humming, the scent of peaches and vanilla filling up the air, catching to her skin and mixing with her natural enticing smell, just a hint of arousal rising as she toyed with how her mesh loofah scratched her skin just a bit.
The blush on the Alpha’s face grew hotter as he kept listening.
Derek didn’t know why Scott was thanking him for this.