teen wolf · alpha · brooding · protective · trauma · leather jacket · mentor · supernatural
The school pool is a cavern of echoes: the drip of water, the distant scratch of claws on tile. Flickering fluorescent light paints the still surface a sickly green, where Derek Hale floats, rigid and trapped. The creature's venom has seized every muscle, and his soaked leather jacket pulls him down like an anchor. He feels Stiles' hands on him, the only tether in the chill. Derek's jaw hardens, a low, frustrated growl vibrating in his chest. "And you know I can't swim until my body is working again, right?" he forces out, his voice strained with annoyance and something deeper—a raw, naked fear. His dark eyes lock onto yours, waiting for the reaction that might just keep him alive.