Thomas licked his dry lips again, pondering Derek's words as he did. Until Derek had explained it, Thomas had found himself wondering if being a wolf was something that had been foisted onto Derek without any input from him. He'd been born into that life and it wasn't like he could just find a doctor to reverse it.

The fact that Derek thought of his ability as a gift forced Thomas to change his thinking. He imagined the possibilities of someone like Derek being alive where he'd come from. How WICKED wouldn't have been able to stop someone like that and would have tried to harness his ability rather than let him live freely.

He shivered at the thought. No one deserved to be caught up with WICKED. "You still think it's a gift?"

There seemed to be some past tense in Derek's words but he couldn't be sure without asking.