He looked at Mitch and frowned, "having someone here with you means a lot, huh?" Derek wasn't sure how he'd manage without the friends, family and his mate. They gave him a sense of grounding and freedom, despite the hotel's grasp. "Someone important?" he asked, prodding a little to hear more.
"Well let's be glad our first meeting doesn't end with a brawl," Derek responded with a chuckle. "If we meet any rogue shrinks, we can double-team them," he suggested.
"I'm sorry," he told Mitch with a look that stung with empathy. For a moment he was back in the moment when Paige had died and it took Deep a deep breath to pull himself out of his memories and back into the room with Mitch. "No wonder this is hard," he said hardly trusting his voice not to crack. When he mentioned Cora he was almost relieved to talk about something easier. Though, it was only easier because of the outcome.
"Back when I was at school someone set a fire at my family home," Derek told him, leaving out for now the part about it being planned by hunters and the reason for it. "My mother was killed, along with eleven other members of my family...twelve, I thought, because my youngest sister survived and just ran in fear," he went on. "Years later I found that she was was alive...and she's here now," Derek said with a small smile.