Chapter Text
Everyone had a stopwatch on their left forearm.
Age didn't matter. For some people, it started running when they were children; for others, many years later. There was no specific age for it to begin. It wasn't necessary to know the person on the other end of the stopwatch, either. They didn't even have to have seen them. There was one rule that determined when it would start running.
The two soulmates had to come within a certain distance of each other. They didn't have to be in the same building, or even on the same street. They only had to be close enough: within a ten-kilometer radius. Destiny took care of determining when it happened.
And no, that didn't mean the stopwatch could start with just anyone who happened to be nearby. It didn't matter how many people were within that range. There could be hundreds, thousands, or practically an entire town. The stopwatch only responded to one person: their soulmate.
That was why, in a small place like Beacon Hills, it was perfectly possible for two soulmates to have been only a few kilometers apart many times before ever meeting. They could have been in the same town for years. They could have gone to the same places. They could even have passed close to each other without realizing it.
But the first time both soulmates entered that range, their stopwatches would start running. They could still remain strangers. They might never have seen each other. They might never have spoken a single word to each other. And even so, the stopwatch would already be counting.
Two children could meet when they were five, grow up together, and become best friends without ever knowing that their stopwatches had started running when they were little. For others, it could happen at fifteen, thirty, or even much later. There was no specific age. There was no way of knowing when it would happen, either.
Once the stopwatch started running, a long time could pass before it finally stopped. Time didn't work in a completely chronological way, either. No stopwatch was the same, not even those belonging to two soulmates. One, five, ten years, or even more could pass from the moment it started running until it finally stopped.
Because the stopwatch didn't stop simply because the two people were close. Nor because they spoke. Not even because they saw each other. For it to stop, both of them had to be ready to recognize that they were soulmates. And no one could know exactly when that would happen.
When that moment finally arrived, both people would feel something. It was difficult to describe. It started as a small itch beneath the skin, a kind of tingling that gradually became more intense. Something that made it impossible to remain completely still, as if the body knew there was someone it needed to find even though the mind still had no idea who they were.
Everyone felt that sensation. But not everyone felt it in the same way.
For werewolves, it was much more intense. Their wolf could feel it too, and the closer they got to the moment of recognizing their soulmate, the harder it became to ignore. For Alphas, it was even worse, because there was a biological need to find their soulmate. The bond made them more stable, so their wolf could react with an intensity that would be difficult for a human to comprehend.
That sensation also had something that made it different from any other sign. It only happened once. On the day when the soulmates were finally destined to find and recognize each other.
When that moment came, destiny made sure to put them alone in the same place and within the necessary range so they could recognize each other. And when they finally did, both stopwatches stopped at the same time.
Always.
There were no exceptions.
That was exactly what had happened to Derek's mother. Her stopwatch had never started running before that Friday. Neither had her soulmate's. Until then, neither of them had been within the necessary range for their stopwatches to start working.
But something had changed that morning. His mother had woken up with that sensation. At first, she had tried to ignore it. It hadn't worked. She couldn't concentrate on anything, not even work. She was restless, pacing back and forth and unable to stay still for more than a few minutes.
Her wolf was just as agitated as she was. The situation ended up stressing everyone in the house because of their pack bond, so eventually the pack agreed and sent her to get some air at a park.
The sensation only intensified when she arrived. She started walking. Slowly at first. Then faster and faster. She didn't know what she was looking for, but her wolf seemed to know.
She walked around the park frantically until she finally grew tired and sat down on a bench. There was no one around. She figured it was probably because it was Friday morning and everyone should have been busy with their own affairs.
Then she looked to her left.
And there he was.
Her soulmate.
He didn't know who she was, either. He had also come to the park guided by that same sensation. They didn't know each other. They hadn't spoken. They hadn't exchanged a single word.
But once they came within the necessary range, their stopwatches started running. And shortly afterward, they ended up sitting across from each other.
They looked at each other.
And they knew.
This was the moment.
When they finally recognized each other as soulmates, their stopwatches stopped at the same time. It didn't matter that they had only started running a few minutes earlier. It had always been that way.
That was the moment everyone waited for. They both described that encounter as the best moment of their lives.
(Sounds of fireworks, trumpets, etc.)
---
Derek had heard that story so many times that he could practically recite it from memory. And, in a way, it was one of the stories he liked the most.
Until he started comparing it to his own.
Because Derek had been feeling that sensation since he was little. At first, he could barely distinguish it. It was a strange tingling beneath his skin, something he didn't know how to explain and that, over time, he learned to recognize. As he grew older, the sensation appeared from time to time and became more and more intense.
But there was one thing Derek did know. His stopwatch had been running for years.
Probably since he was a child. At some point during his childhood, he had been within his soulmate's range without even knowing it. He didn't need to have met her. He didn't need to have seen her. He didn't even need to have spoken to her. His stopwatch had simply started running. And ever since then, it had kept counting.
For a human, that sensation might have been nothing more than an insistent tingling. For a wolf, it was different. Instinct recognized it before his own mind did.
Every time the sensation appeared, his wolf became agitated. Restless, unsettled, seeming to demand that he find whatever it was he was searching for.
It wasn't as intense as what his mother had experienced—she was an Alpha, and in Alphas, the need to find their soulmate was much stronger—but it was still enough to disorient him. And the older Derek grew, the more intense the sensation became.
The problem was that it shouldn't have been happening so many times.
The sensation had a very specific purpose. It appeared on the day when two soulmates were finally destined to recognize each other. Once. That was the day.
And yet, Derek had already felt that sensation far too many times.
Once.
Then again.
And again. The first time, he hadn't known what to do with it. He had been walking down a street he knew perfectly well when, all of a sudden, he stopped. Something had changed. A tingling sensation ran through his body. His wolf woke immediately.
Derek didn't know what he was looking for, but his body seemed to have a very different idea. He started walking. Then he walked faster. And finally, he ended up running.
He turned a corner. Then another. He crossed a street without even thinking about where he was going. His wolf pulled at him with a desperation he had never felt before.
This way.
Derek followed.
Nothing.
He kept moving forward.
Nothing.
He reached a small plaza. He looked around. There were people everywhere. His wolf became even more agitated.
Derek began walking among them, searching for something he couldn't identify. A face. A scent. Anything.
But he found nothing.
And then, little by little, the sensation began to fade.
Derek stood still. His wolf was still restless. He looked around one last time.
Nothing.
The sensation disappeared completely. And with it went that desperate need to find something he didn't even know how to name.
Derek stood there, disoriented. He hadn't recognized anyone. His stopwatch hadn't stopped, either.
It happened again.
Once.
Then again.
And again.
Different places, different days. The same sensation, the same desperate search. And always the same result.
Nothing.
Derek had learned to recognize the pattern. Whenever the sensation appeared, his wolf went crazy. It pushed him to walk aimlessly, change direction, and search for someone who never seemed to be there.
And when the sensation disappeared, he was left disoriented. As if he had just woken up from something.
The worst part was not knowing what it meant.
The sensation was supposed to happen only once. Precisely on the day when he would finally find and recognize his soulmate. But it had happened to Derek far too many times.
And no one else seemed to have gone through the same thing.
He had researched everything he could. He had read about stopwatches, sensations, and soulmates. He had heard stories about people who had found theirs as children and grown up together for years.
He had known of cases where people had been neighbors, classmates, or friends for practically their entire lives before their stopwatches finally stopped.
But he had never found anyone whose experience resembled his own.
No one seemed to have felt that sensation so many times without the moment of recognition ever arriving.
Nothing.
No cases.
No explanation.
And that was what was really starting to worry him.
Because if the sensation was only supposed to happen once, why did the universe seem determined to make him feel it over and over again?
And, worse yet, why did his wolf react more strongly every time?
So he eventually talked to his mother. She listened to him without interrupting. Derek was sitting across from her, his arms crossed and an expression of obvious frustration on his face.
“What if something is wrong with me?”
His mother shook her head.
“There’s nothing wrong with you.”
“Then why does it keep happening?”
She sighed.
“Because you’re not ready yet.”
Derek let out a small, humorless laugh.
“And how am I supposed to know when I’m ready?”
“You don’t have to know.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“It will when the time comes.”
Derek lowered his gaze to his forearm. The stopwatch was still there. Running. Not stopping.
“What if my soulmate is already ready?”
His mother was silent for a few seconds.
“Then you’ll have to wait until you are, too.”
“What if I’m the one who’s ready and she isn’t?”
“Then she’ll have to wait.”
Derek grimaced.
“That doesn’t help, either.”
His mother smiled slightly.
“I never said it would be easy.”
He looked at the stopwatch again.
“But my wolf…”
“I know.”
“It keeps getting worse.”
“I know that, too.”
She leaned toward him slightly.
“Maybe you’re both almost ready. Maybe that’s why your wolf reacts so intensely every time your soulmate enters that range.”
Derek looked up.
“So maybe I’m finding her?”
“Maybe.”
“And I don’t realize it?”
“Maybe.”
That answer was probably the worst of all.
Because it meant that every time the sensation appeared, his soulmate could be nearby. She could be within range. She could be somewhere in the same town. She could even have passed close to him without either of them realizing it.
And Derek could still fail to recognize her.
His mother looked at her son's stopwatch again.
“When the time comes, you’ll both know.”
Derek didn't answer.
He had heard that too many times.
When the time came.
When he was ready.
When she was ready.
When they were both prepared.
It was always the same.
And in the meantime, his wolf kept going crazy every time the sensation appeared.
Derek was starting to think he was going to go crazy before he found her.
Sometimes he even wondered if his soulmate was going through exactly the same thing.
But there was one thing he thought he knew.
After so many failed searches and so many different places, he was sure she wasn't part of his social circle.
She couldn't be someone he knew.
The luckiest people could have their soulmate standing right in front of them every day without knowing it.
Derek didn't seem to be that lucky.