Having established that she'd like him to meet her sister soon, Derek is feeling a little more bolstered about their relationship, whatever it is. They still haven't labeled it and, for all he knows, they never actually will. Honestly, that's kind of okay with Derek, given that his last several relationships with women all ended pretty badly. At least Braeden had only walked out. He'd certainly rather than than being used to kill people which, unfortunately, is exactly what he can say about the two girlfriends before her. So Katniss leaving a label off this whole thing is just fine with Derek. It means that they're taking this whole thing a lot more slowly and weirdly, to him, that's a pretty good sign that Katniss isn't a bad guy deep down. Not that he ever thought she was, but in his experience, apparently you just never really know.
"You don't have to keep things from her," he says quietly, stroking her hair. "I don't think you should, either. I learned the hard way what it feels like to keep things from your sister and never get the chance to tell her. Me keeping secrets from my sister killed her, in the end. Don't make my mistake; keep Prim in the loop whenever you can," he replies. And he does feel that way, because it's true. If he'd just told Laura the truth about the fire, she wouldn't have been in Beacon Hills by herself poking around trying to find out who had set it. If she hadn't been there, she wouldn't have met up with Peter; he wouldn't have had the chance to kill her for the Alpha spark. Laura Hale's death might have been at the hands of her uncle, but it was her little brother who set it in motion and that's something he has to live with for the rest of his life. He doesn't want that sort of weight on Katniss's mind if, God forbid, something happens to Prim that could've been avoided if she'd been in the know on something.
Derek holds her for a moment in silence and then closes his eyes, shifting for her to move against him the way she always does when they're about to go to sleep, even though he's wide awake with that reminder of what happened to Laura fresh in the front of his mind. "You can't blame yourself for not knowing how you were going to react under direct, surprise attack, Katniss. ...I should tell you something, actually. Something happened to me while I was in that fight. Before Gracie saved my ass with that freeze ray or whatever the hell it is she'd had with her." He should tell her about the wolf, because it came out, just for a second. That means it's still inside him somewhere, and it's only a matter of time before he can take back control of it. So she should know about who he really is, since contrary to what he'd originally thought, he's the same person he was before this place...the wolf is just a little more inaccessible at the moment. Not for good. It's in there, he just has to figure out how to keep it closer to the surface again.
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"You don't have to keep things from her," he says quietly, stroking her hair. "I don't think you should, either. I learned the hard way what it feels like to keep things from your sister and never get the chance to tell her. Me keeping secrets from my sister killed her, in the end. Don't make my mistake; keep Prim in the loop whenever you can," he replies. And he does feel that way, because it's true. If he'd just told Laura the truth about the fire, she wouldn't have been in Beacon Hills by herself poking around trying to find out who had set it. If she hadn't been there, she wouldn't have met up with Peter; he wouldn't have had the chance to kill her for the Alpha spark. Laura Hale's death might have been at the hands of her uncle, but it was her little brother who set it in motion and that's something he has to live with for the rest of his life. He doesn't want that sort of weight on Katniss's mind if, God forbid, something happens to Prim that could've been avoided if she'd been in the know on something.
Derek holds her for a moment in silence and then closes his eyes, shifting for her to move against him the way she always does when they're about to go to sleep, even though he's wide awake with that reminder of what happened to Laura fresh in the front of his mind. "You can't blame yourself for not knowing how you were going to react under direct, surprise attack, Katniss. ...I should tell you something, actually. Something happened to me while I was in that fight. Before Gracie saved my ass with that freeze ray or whatever the hell it is she'd had with her." He should tell her about the wolf, because it came out, just for a second. That means it's still inside him somewhere, and it's only a matter of time before he can take back control of it. So she should know about who he really is, since contrary to what he'd originally thought, he's the same person he was before this place...the wolf is just a little more inaccessible at the moment. Not for good. It's in there, he just has to figure out how to keep it closer to the surface again.