Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Scott was in his room, fiddling with his lacrosse stick in preparation for tomorrow. His phone had rung but when he saw the caller id, he ignored it. All that was on his mind for the upcoming school day tomorrow and the lacrosse tryouts. At least he was until he heard a noise outside. He went over for a bat and quietly went to see what it was. Scott carefully moved off to the front porch and raised the bat to be ready when a shape suddenly fell down in front of him and caused him to scream. And it was screaming too. Scott was close to swinging the bat before he got a good look at what, or rather who, it was.

“Stiles! What the hell are you doing?!” he yelled off at him.

“You weren’t answering your phone!” Stiles was dangling upside down at him but still answered him as if he normally talked to people this way. He looked to the bat in Scott’s hand. “Why do you have a bat?”

“I thought you were a predator,” Scott gasped.

“A pre-?” He shook it off. “Look, I know it’s late, but you’ve got to hear this. I saw my dad leave about twenty minutes ago. Dispatch call. They’re bringing every officer in Beacon Department. Even state police.”

“For what?” Scott asked getting curious.

“Two joggers found a body.” He sounded like Christmas came early. He then went to free himself from hanging off the roof and he landed right on his feet.

“You mean like a dead body?”

Stiles excitement dwindled a bit. “No, a body of water. Yes dumbass a dead body!” he sarcastically shouted.

Scott disregarded his friend’s sarcasm. “You mean a murder?”

“No one knows yet, only that it’s a girl in her mid-twenties.”

Scott was taken aback. “Hold on, if they’ve found the body, what are they looking for?”

“That’s the best part.” Stiles squeaked. “They only found half,” he said not losing a beat. “We’re going!”

Soon enough, the two of them were in his jeep and were pulling up to the Beacon Hills Reserve. The two of them came out and started to trek into the woods.

“I still can’t believe we’re doing this,” Scott said as they walked off together into the dark with only the light from Stiles’ flashlight giving them any sight ahead of them, outside the light of the moon overhead.

“You’re the one who is always bitching about how nothing happens in this town,” Stiles said back to him.

“I was trying to get a good night’s sleep before practice tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said sarcastically. “Because sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort.”

“No,” he said back. “Because I’m playing this year. In fact, I’m making first line.” There was no doubt in his voice as he said that.

“Hey, that’s the spirit!” he said still being sarcastic. “Everyone should have a dream, even an unrealistic one.” Stiles said.

There was a reason why the two of them were always on the bench. Scott wasn’t able to overexert himself without his asthma acting up and as for Stiles, well, he wasn’t exactly the most graceful person around.

After a while, Scott thought of something. “Stiles, what part of the body are we actually looking for?”

“Uh, didn’t really think about that.” Answered Stiles.

“And what if the killer of the girl is still out here?” Scott asked.

“Didn’t really think about that either,” he answered to that one.

Scott huffed. “It’s nice you thought this out with your usual level of detail.” He halted as his breathing started to suffer. He took his inhaler and shook it before he took a whiff. “Maybe the severe asthmatic should have the flashlight?” he coughed.

Stiles halted in his pace and went back and gave it to him. “Fine, here you go.”

“Stiles?” he said as pointed his head out into the distance.

They looked over to see a bunch of lights moving about. It was Stiles’ father and his search party.

“It’s them,” he said before Stiles immediately took off for them.

“Wait.” Scott whispered before he turned off the light so that it wouldn’t be seen. He reached for another whiff from his inhaler before he pocketed it and went to follow after his friend.

Scott tried to follow after him but when he tried to avoid both being heard and seen by the lights. He moved into what he thought was a dark corner but as soon as he stepped into it he didn’t stop going. He had fallen down a small cliff that he couldn’t see in the dark and he was rolling down the hill. Scott slowly got to his feet and started to walk off, trying to find his way back to where they parked Stiles’ jeep. That was where he knew Stiles would wait for him…hopefully. It was creepy out here being so dark and him being alone. The flashlight did very little to help. He was in a bit of a daze from it all that he nearly walked into and was trampled by a herd of deer. He jumped off to avoid them and lost his grip on the flashlight.

After the deer left he saw the shine from the light and he lifted it to come face to face with a pair of lifeless eyes. “Whoa,” he gasped to himself as he quickly got to his feet. He found the body.

The woman was young just like Stiles had said and, unfortunately, cut in half like he said too. Okay, he’d seen enough. He just wanted to find Stiles and get the hell out of here. Scott then heard some twigs snap and he looked off into the darkness up ahead to see two glowing red eyes staring at him. Eyes that were approaching him. He tried to get away but was hit with something big and heavy and the next thing he knew, he felt a sharp pain at his side.

Stiles stopped and laid over at a fallen tree when he heard the voices of his father and his deputies. It didn’t sound like they had found anything yet. He was about to suggest to Scott that they should try getting closer when he noticed that he wasn’t there. He looked back but didn’t see him or the glow from his own flashlight. Stiles quickly got up and went back a bit to look for him. He couldn’t find any trace of Scott anywhere. When he went to turn back to the search party. The dogs started to lead officers close to where Stiles had been and their flashlights were flashing around the area making Stiles duck behind a tree so that he wouldn’t be spotted.

“Hey, I think I heard movement over there,” one of the deputies said.

“Check it out,” he heard his father said.

Stiles immediately took off to where it was dark.  He carefully stepped so that none of his dad’s deputies would hear him and get him busted. When he was far enough, he broke into a run to distance himself from them. Stiles could hear the sounds of the dogs disappearing in the distance. He was huffing and gasping out in relief so he went to sit over on a big stump to get his heart rate back down. When he settled he suddenly stood up as he remembered Scott. Then when he reached into his pocket he remembered that he had given his flashlight to him. Stiles took out his cellphone and turned on the light on it to try and see through the dark. He started to trek through the trees to try and find his best friend. He suddenly heard Scott’s voice but he was screaming.

“Scott!” Stiles cried out. Stiles reached down for a thick branch and ran for where Scott was screaming.

Stiles kept screaming for Scott as his friend's screaming got louder. Stiles came upon Scott being towered over by something big. Stiles didn't spare a moment to think as he raised the branch he had like a bat and swung. He hit it across the back where it let out a growl. Stiles saw a flash of red glowing eyes before it swiped at him knocking him down and made his face hit into the soggy ground. He barely lifted his head up before he felt a searing and burning pain on his arm.

Stiles screamed as he was lifted up and then thrown off to the side.

Scott got up in time to see the beast’s red eyes staring back at him before it jumped out into the dark. Scott held his side as he ran off into the trees to try and find Stiles. He ran off until he made it to an opening and the main road. Scott suddenly saw a bright light and quickly moved aside as the car swerved to avoid hitting him and honked at him. Scott stared after the road where the car disappeared off into before he felt something grab him from behind. He started to scream and flap his arms to throw off his attacker as he screamed back at him. Stiles had been the one to grab him with his good arm before he went to grasp his wounded arm and jumped back in fright from Scott’s attempts to fight him off.

“Stiles?” Scott said relieved.

“Scott! What are you doing?”

“Looking for you and trying to keep from getting killed.”

“Good job then. Running out into the road?”

“Oh, like coming out into the woods at night was a good job.”

“Alright,” Stiles huffed. “Let’s get to my jeep and get the hell out of here!”

Scott was in complete agreement. They didn’t seem to have realized that it had started raining. Stiles went off to try and trek to his jeep while Scott trailed behind him. Scott stopped for a moment when he heard a howl go through the air.

Stiles dropped them over at Scott’s house because his first aid kit was more equipped than the one in his home. Stiles went to grab the kit while Scott went over to his bathroom mirror to look at the bite. It looked pretty deep and it stung.

“I got it,” Stiles said through clenched teeth. The adrenaline from tonight’s excitement was running low and the pain in his arm was hitting him in full.

“Thanks,” Scott said taking a swab and rubbing alcohol. He flinched as he started to clean his bite. He looked and noticed the dark spot on Stiles’ jacket. “That looks pretty bad.”

Stiles carefully pulled his arm free from the sleeve to reveal his bloodied arm. Teeth marks were visible that matched the one on Scott’s torso. He took a swab and drenched it in alcohol and started to clean it. “You know, without the blood, these might actually look cool.”

Scott gave Stiles a look before he went back to cleaning his bite. The two of them then took some gauze and helped the other seal their bites. He lightly tapped on his covered bite. “How long are these things going to hurt? We won’t be able to be good at tryouts tomorrow if it’s like this.”

“Dude, we weren’t going to be good without it.”

“Go home,” Scott breathed.

Stiles rolled his eyes but he put his still bloodied jacket back on. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”

“Night Stiles.” Scott said before his hand went unconsciously to his bandaged bite.

The alarm roared into his ear and Scott went to turn it off and pulled himself out of bed. He went to check on his bite and pulled the bandage off to see that the bite didn’t seem to be as deep as he first thought. It still stung a bit but it was feeling much better than it did last night.

Stiles also got up that morning and went over to take the bandages off as he looked over at his arm. The swelling wasn’t as bad as he thought. The incisions from the teeth were still there but now it didn’t seem to be as bad as last night. His arm was a little stiff though. He went to change but when he went for his phone, he realized that he must’ve dropped it back at the preserve when he was attacked.

Scott changed his bandage and got changed and headed off on his bike. He rode to school and headed for the bike rack. He took his helmet off just as a car went and parked right by him and the car door opened and banged right into him.

Jackson Whittemore, the bane of his and Stiles’ school life, got out and barely gave him a glance as he said, “Dude, watch the paint job.” He said it like Scott had gone out of his way to get himself hit by his car door.

Scott began to move and soon spotted Stiles getting out of his jeep. He was lightly rubbing his arm. He still smiled when he caught sight of him. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Scott said back. “You okay?”

“I’m fine, I guess. So, how about your bite?” Stiles asked as he let go of his arm.

“It still stings a bit but its looks like it’ll be okay, I hope.”

“So, what do you think that thing was? I didn’t really get a good look at it. It was big though.”

Scott shook his head. “I’m not sure. It…kind of looked like a wolf.”

“Nope, not a chance,” Stiles said shaking his head.

“But I heard a wolf howling.”

“When?”

“Last night. When we were heading back to the jeep. Didn’t you hear it?”

“No, I think I was a little distracted by the pain and blood pouring out of my arm to listen to the sounds of the woods,” he said with his patented sarcasm. “Besides you didn’t hear a wolf.”

“How do you know that? You just said that you didn’t hear anything?”

“Because California has no wolves. Not for 60 years.”

“Really?” asked Scott.

“Yes, really. So whatever you heard couldn’t have been a wolf. It was way too big to be one anyway. Probably was a bear or something.”

“Well then, if you don’t believe me when I say I heard a wolf then you won’t believe me that I saw the other half of the body.”

“What?” Stiles said taken aback. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Well, I think I was distracted by the pain and blood pouring from my side from the bite that not wolf gave me,” he said mimicking Stiles earlier sarcasm.

But Stiles didn’t care about that. “You’re kidding me.”

“I wish. I’m going to have nightmares for a month.” Scott said.

“This is so freaking amazing! I mean, all of this. It’s seriously the best thing to happen to this town since…the birth of Lydia Martin,” he said when he caught sight of the girl himself. And she was coming closer. “Hey Lydia,” Stiles said with a smile. “You look-“She walked right by them. “Like you’re going to ignore me,” he deflated. He then pointed to Scott. “You’re the cause of this, you know.”

“Uh-huh,” Scott said rolling his eyes as he went to walk off himself.

But Stiles went after him. “Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association. Scarlet-nerded by you.”

The two of them soon found themselves sitting together in their first class. Their teacher took her place in the front center.

“As we all know, there was a body found last night in the woods. And I’m sure your eager little minds are coming up with various macabre scenarios to what might’ve happened.” Scott and Stiles spared a look to each other. They didn’t have to, they knew what happened…somewhat. “But I’m here to tell you that the police have a suspect. So now you can put all of your attention on the work that’s on your desk.”

Stiles looked up suddenly when the sound of a thumping noise reached his ears. It sounded kind of like a mild drum. He looked around, wondering who was playing a drum in the middle of class but everyone’s head was down and looking over at their desks. The drumming was continuing and it was a steady rhythm. It was then followed by a few more drum sounds. The beats were consistent. Where was that coming from? The drumming seemed to stop when there was a knock on the door.

As for Scott, he heard a phone. He looked around for the one whose phone was ringing in the middle of class when he started to hear a girl’s voice. “Mom, don’t you think three calls is a little over doing it on my first day?” His eyes looked around until he zoomed in on the window to a girl outside the school. “Everything but a pen,” she said looking through her bag. “Oh my god, don’t tell me I forgot a pen. Okay okay, I got to go. Love you.” Scott kept hearing this girl all the way from the outside of the school to when she went to the principal’s office. He could actually follow their conversation up until he knocked on the door to announce themselves to their class.

The knock had snapped Stiles out of the rhythm of drums he seemed to have had sounding off in his head. The whole class watched as in walked a new girl. Scott tensed at the sight of her.

“We have a new student here at our school. This is Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome.”

Scott saw that she was heading to the table right behind him and he reached into his bag and pulled out his spare pen and held it out to her. She smiled as she took it from him. Stiles watched the whole thing and wasn’t even hiding the big grin on his face from his friend.

In the hallway, Scott and Stiles were watching as the new girl Allison was talking with Lydia. Even though they were on the other side of the hall, the two of them could hear them as if they were right in front of them. They listened as Allison was getting her fashion sense approved by Lydia and approved.

“And you are my new best friend,” Lydia declared as if it was a royal proclamation.

“Okay, can somebody tell me how the new girl is here for two minutes and she’s already in the same clique with Lydia Martin?” a girl said coming up next to them.

“She’s hot,” Stiles explained. “Beautiful people herd together.”

“Yeah,” Scott breathed out. The girl didn’t hear him but Stiles definitely did.

Soon, Jackson came up to them and gave Lydia a deep kiss that had Stiles jaw stiffen at the sight of it. He cringed so much that he missed a bit of their conversation, where Lydia started to praise Jackson as the team captain.

“-You mean like football?” he heard Allison ask.

“Football is a joke here,” Jackson said cockily.

The conversation then steered towards the party that Lydia was throwing Friday night. When Allison was asked if she would be going, Stiles could’ve sworn that he heard the drumming noise again. It skipped a beat around when Allison said that she couldn’t go because it was ‘Family Night’. Stiles rubbed the back of his head.

Scott finally turned away from Allison to look at him. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he breathed. “I’m…fine.”

Scott then went back to nearly drooling over the new girl but Stiles was at a loss. What was going on with him? Why did he keep hearing drums every now and then?

What he didn’t know was that Scott had heard every single word of the conversation too. Though he didn’t know that Stiles had heard it himself.

Scott and Stiles found themselves in the locker room, changing into their lacrosse gear. The two of them then jogged over together to get to their usual spot on the bench. He took a moment to notice that the girl, Allison, was sitting in the bleachers with Lydia. She was looking over at their direction.

“But if you play, I’ll have no one to talk to on the bench,” Stiles tried to reason. “You really gonna do that to your best friend?”

Scott shook his head. “I can’t sit out again!” he said defiantly. “My whole life is sitting on the sidelines. This season, I make first line.”

Stiles shrugged. It really meant a lot to his friend that he make first line. True, Stiles thought it would be nice to really be able to play but his friend was just plain obsessed with it. He then went to sit on the bench to ready the last of his gear while Scott’s eyes went back to Allison watching the players practice.

“McCall!”

It was the coach.

“Yeah?” Scott said snapping out of it.

“You’re in goal,” he said not skipping a beat as he threw the goalie net at him.

Scott looked at the net in confusion. “But, I’ve never played.”

“I know,” the Coach said unflinchingly. “Scoring some shots will give the boys a confidence boost. First day back kind of thing.”

“What about me?” Scott asked.

“Try not to take any in the face,” he advised before he went off.

Scott spared a look at Stiles who just shrugged. Scott just huffed as he put on his helmet and went for the goal.

Allison’s voice soon reached his ears. It also reached Stiles ears and he actually started to move his head around until his eyes fell on the two girls.

“Who is that?” he suddenly heard her ask Lydia.

“Him? I’m not sure who he is,” Lydia answered. “Why?”

“He’s in my English class,” Allison answered her back.

The conversation had a different effect on either of their eavesdroppers.

Scott was inwardly beaming. Allison was noticing him. She was starting to ask about him. She was seeking him out too. Did that mean that she found him interesting? A girl actually had him on her mind. He felt something heating up from inside of him.

Stiles was inwardly cringing. Lydia had just told the new girl that she didn’t know Scott. How could she not know Scott? They’d been going to classes together since the 3^rd grade. If she didn’t know Scott then that had to mean that she didn’t know him. His crush since the 3^rd grade didn’t know him.

Those feelings were cut when a whistle blew and both Scott and Stiles cringed when it did. Stiles was safely on the bench when he held his ears but Scott was at goal and was clobbered by a ball while he was fazed. He fell on his back to the laughter of everyone. Stiles grit his teeth at the sound of them laughing. Scott quickly got his bearings back and soon he started to catch every ball coming his way. One by one, they all ended up in his net. Jackson held up the guy up front as he wanted to shoot against the upstart.

“Oh God,” Scott muttered as Jackson began a running start. He launched the ball but Scott nearly blinked as the ball seemed to be slowly flowing to him. He moved his arm and he caught it.

“Yes!” Stiles said as he got up and started to cheer for Scott’s success. “Whoo! That’s my friend!” he loudly pointed out.

Scott was just staring at the caught ball in his net, astonished at what he just did. Even Lydia started to cheer for him. Scott then went and threw the ball back to the assistant coach.

“Alright! Settle down!” Coach said as he came forward. “A good start but we’re not done yet. McCall, why don’t you park it for now,” he said pointing to the bench. “Mahealani, you’re up!”

Scott left the net for Danny to take over. Danny who was used to playing goal. Scott went over and removed his helmet and reached up to get the high five Stiles had coming his way.

“That was awesome!” he praised.

“Thanks!” Scott breathed out.

“Next line!” Coach yelled. “Move your asses!”

“I’m up,” Stiles said.

“Good luck man,” Scott said. As he sat, he let the euphoria from being out there start to ebb away. He felt eyes watching him and he looked over to Allison and saw that she immediately looked away. Scott couldn’t help the smirk that fell on his lips.

As for Stiles, he wondered what possessed Coach to put Scott on goal for the first liners and give the rest of them trying out Danny who was experienced at the goal. He could never understand that guy. Sometimes, he wondered if even he understood himself.

One by one, his fellow second and third stringers shot the ball for the goal but Danny stopped each and every one of them. Everyone cheered him as they did. Stiles started to loosen his arm and could barely feel the tingle from his bite now. When it was his turn, Stiles took his stance and then went for the goal. As he moved, he could swear that he heard a lot of echoed breathing. His sight ahead of him seemed magnified and a spot at the net seemed to be magnified to his focus. His arms then pulled on his stick and he launched his ball and like a missile it shot for the goal and Danny ended up missing it. It hit the net of the goal with a mild whack.

Stiles was frozen as he looked at Danny turn from the goal to him. He then saw Danny flash him a friendly smile through his guard and Stiles started to howl in delight. He started to jump up and down from where he stood in celebration. A few others even joined in.

Scott stood from the bench and was clapping. “Yeah! Stiles, whoo!”

Stiles then pointed his net over at him with a wide smile that Scott no doubt had on himself only a few moments ago. His gaze went to Lydia who was politely smiling and clapping for him. All Stiles wanted to do now was drop down in bliss. He could die right now and be happy. Maybe now Lydia would notice.

The only one not smiling or happy was Jackson. He was glaring at both Scott and Stiles. His gaze was of both anger, and suspicion.

The stimulated duo soon found themselves back in the preserve after school as they started to make a trek back to look for the body now that they had daylight to help them. Scott wasn’t looking forward to seeing the body again but he had lost his inhaler when he was attacked. Stiles then confided that he lost his phone too when he was attacked.

“I don’t know what it was,” Scott said. “It was like I had all the time in the world to catch the ball.”

“Like everything was in slow-mo.”

“Yeah, exactly. Was it like that for you?”

Stiles shrugged. “Kind of. For me, it was like everything was super focused out there. Like, I knew how to run, when to shoot and the spot where I had to have the ball go was so clear to me.”

“Wow…and that’s not the only weird thing. I hear stuff I shouldn’t be able to hear.”

“You too?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah. I could hear people talking from across the hall, almost like they were talking in my ear.”

“Same with me. Though, I swear I also been hearing these weird drums.”

“Drums?” Scott asked.

“I know. Weird. Anything else?”

“Yeah, I smell things.”

“Smell things?” Stiles asked surprised.

“What you don’t?”

“No. I don’t know. Like what?”

“Like the mint mojito gum in your pocket.”

Stiles reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of gum, the exact flavor Scott said.

“Wow,” he said as he opened his pocket. The smell seemed to come rushing out at him at once. Like someone took a mint spray and shot it straight to his nose.

“What do you think’s going on?” asked Scott.

“Well…let’s think. I guess this all goes back to what happened to us last night. Our bites. Hmm…you know I think I may have heard of this.”

“You serious?”

“Yeah, it’s a specific type of infection. Very serious. It’s called lycanthropy.”

An infection? Scott was getting worried now. “It is?”

“Yeah, but it’s only something for us to worry about once a month.”

“Once a month?”

“Yeah…on the night of the full moon.” Stiles then let out a soft howl. For some reason, Stiles felt content doing it.

Scott however gave him a shove. “Stiles,” he scolded.

“What? You’re the one who said he heard a wolf howling, right?”

“I’m serious Stiles.”

“I am being serious. We’re werewolves. We’re cursed. Hey, I think we should get to shop class and start melting all the silver because Friday’s the full moon.”

Scott suddenly stopped. “This is it. I could swear this was it. I saw the body. The deer were running. I dropped my inhaler here, I’m sure of it.” He started to dig through the leaves on the ground but there was no sign of it.

Stiles grasped his hips as he gave the place a once over. “Maybe the killer moved the body?”

“If he did I hope he left my inhaler. That thing costs 80 bucks.”

“Or maybe that big bear or wolf or whatever. Maybe it ate it.”

“My inhaler too?” Scott asked still looking around. “What about your phone? Did you drop it here or after that thing threw you off?”

Stiles huffed. “I can’t remember, but my dad is not gonna be-” he said as he started to turn but stopped when he caught sight of someone and tapped Scott’s shoulder to warn him.

It was an older looking guy with a leather jacket. He started to walk over to them. “What are you doing here?” he asked them. “This is private property.”

Stiles kept his cool while Scott was silently freaking out a bit. “Sorry man, we didn’t know.”

“Yeah,” Scott said nodding. “We were just looking for something. But…forget it,” he said when he saw the sour look on the guy’s face.

The guy then reached into his pockets and then threw something at both of them. They reached out and caught them. Scott had his inhaler back and Stiles had back his phone. Stiles checked and saw that the battery was dead but quickly shoved that to the side as he couldn’t help but narrow his eyes. He couldn’t remember the last time he caught something like that before without so much as a fumble. Scott too now that he thought about it. Stiles gave the mystery guy another once over before something clicked.

The guy started to walk off. Scott put his inhaler away. “Alright, I have get to work.”

“Dude,” Stiles said stopping him. “That was Derek Hale. Remember? He was only a few years older than us. His whole family died in a fire like ten years ago.” Stiles remembered that. His father something talked about that case. It was ruled as arson but his father often talked like it was still unsolved.

“Wonder what he’s doing back,” Scott mumbled.

Stiles then dropped Scott off at the animal clinic before he went on home. He went over to his medicine cabinet and went for his Adderall pills. He was about to open them when he froze. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t remember taking his Adderall that morning. And, he also realized that he hadn’t felt fidgety once today. His mind did wander a bit but he had quickly shaken it off all day. Now, he wasn’t feeling a need to take his medication now.

“Weird,” he mumbled to himself.

Stiles went over to his bed when he suddenly heard his dad’s voice from downstairs.

“Has he said anything?” he heard his dad say.

“No sir,” a woman’s voice from a phone answered. “Derek Hale hasn’t told us anything new. He claims that he just came back into town early this morning. He won’t tell us why though. Should we hold him for a bit?”

Stiles eyes narrowed. Hold Derek Hale? Did they think that he was a suspect for the death of that girl? As he kept himself sitting on the side of the bed, he didn’t realize that his eyes started to let a soft golden glow. It stayed for a moment before his eyes went back to his original honey brown.

“Uh, no,” his dad breathed. “Let him go. I don’t feel right holding anyone unless we have more to go on.”

“Alright. I’ll process him out.”

There was then a soft click before another harder click from downstairs. Stiles then stood up and headed off down the stairs.

“Hey dad,” Stiles said coming into the kitchen.

His father was drinking some water. “Hey son. How was the first day back at school?”

“It was okay.”

“Okay? I guess okay is good. How did your tryouts go?”

Stiles smiled. “Oh, that went good. Actually, more than good. It was…great. Scott and I killed it out there.”

“You and Scott?”

“Yeah, we did. Really.”

“Really? That’s new.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said nodding. “So how about you? Anything interesting going on at work. Any news on the body?”

“Stiles,” he said sternly. “You know I can’t discuss police business with you.”

“But you can still answer my questions if you want,” he countered. “That’s not the same.”

His dad halted. “Yes it is.”

“There is a very fine line though.” Stiles said trying something else.

“No, there is isn’t.”

Stiles went over closer to him when a smell caught his attention. It was the smell of…fries. “Did you eat fries today?” he asked his father a bit accusingly.

“What? No,” his father said narrowing his eyes.

Stiles then heard it again. A soft banging drum sound. When his father was talking and it skipped a beat when he said No. “You’re lying,” Stiles said. “You had fries today.”

“Okay, I did. One of the deputies brought some curly fries in for everyone and offered me some.”

“That didn’t mean you had to take it.”

“I did if I didn’t want to be rude,” his father countered.

That only made him roll his eyes. Stiles wondered how he knew his father lied until he heard the steady drum again. He tried to follow it but it only led to his father. More specifically to his chest. Then his eyes widened. The drumming sound he’d been hearing all day. It wasn’t drums. It was hearts. Other people’s heartbeats. And, he could tell when someone was lying or not by how they were beating when they were talking.

His father then gave Stiles a second look. “Stiles…what’s with your arm?”

“What?” Stiles said looking over to his arm. The bandages were showing from beneath his short sleeve shirt. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Really? Then let me see.”

“It’s nothing dad, really,” Stiles insisted.

“Well if it really is nothing then there shouldn’t be a problem for me to see it then, wouldn’t it?”

Stiles could see that he was cornered and he then lifted his sleeve for his dad to begin to remove the bandages. This was it. As soon as his father saw the bite mark then he and Scott would be busted and he would be grounded for life. That wasn’t to be so though as when the bandages were off, there was nothing to be seen but his pale, unmarked skin. Where the hell did the bite marks go? There were there only this morning. He moved his arm and touched it to find that there was no pain there or any kind of trace that it had ever even had been there.

“See? Nothing.” Stiles said with a shrug.

But, why was there nothing?

Scott went over to the door and flipped the sign to closed before he went and borrowed some swabs and alcohol to replace his bandages. He lightly peeled it off but was surprised to find that there was nothing there. No bite or signs of a wound at all. Just smooth skin like nothing had even happened. Scott’s heart skipped a beat at it. He then left the bathroom and came upon the animal cages where the cats started going crazy. It was freaking him out. He went to leave before there was knocking at the door. It was Allison and she looked freaked. Sounded freaked when he answered. She was freaking out because she had apparently hit something in the road. She took him to her car and opened the back to an albino dog barking up at them.

Allison was getting more scared. “Whoa, relax,” he said calmly holding her back. “She’s just scared.”

“That makes two of us,” she said softly.

That dog wasn’t letting Alison get any closer to it.

“Let me see if I have better luck.”

Scott zeroed in on the dog, unaware that as he made eye contact, his eyes started to emit of golden glow. It vanished after a moment, back to his original deep brown eyes but the dog went passive. They brought it into the clinic but Scott was happy to see that it didn’t look like the dog was too hurt. Allison went to change into a dry sweatshirt and Scott couldn’t help but let himself take a quick look before he went back to bandaging up the dog.

“Thank you for doing this,” Allison said as she came back in her new shirt. “I completely freaked out like a total girl.”

“You are a girl,” he asked with a bit of amusement.

“I freaked out like a girly-girl and I’m not a girly-girl.”

“What kind of girl are you?” he asked her.

“Tougher than that. Least I thought I was.”

“Hey,” he said trying to help her. “I’d be freaked out too. In fact, I’d probably cry. Not like a man either but the biggest girly-girl ever.” Allison started to chuckle a bit. He was happy to see that it was working. “I’d be pathetic.”

“Yeah right,” she said back.

“So,” he said directing everything back to the dog. “Looks like she’s going to live. I’m pretty sure she’ll let you pet her now if you want.” She didn’t seem to want to but Scott assured her it was okay and soon enough, Allison was petting the dog softly. “She likes you.”

He was staring at her while she pet the dog. Even wet and sad as she was, she still looked amazingly pretty.

But she noticed him looking. “What?”

He snapped himself out of it. “Sorry…you, have an eyelash at your cheek,” he tried to cover himself.

She then wiped her cheek. “From the crying.”

He then went and wiped her cheek himself. When the rain stopped, he helped walk her to her car. “Uh, I was wondering, was Family Night a lie? Or would you like to go to the party with me?”

Allison smiled slightly. “It wasn’t a total lie.”

“So, is that a yes? You’ll go?”

She smiled widely at him. “Definitely yes.”

Chapter Text

Scott went to bed with a smile on his face as the events of today replayed for him. He aced his tryout and Allison was going to the party with him. He nuzzled down in his bed and soon rolled over until he faced the wet ground. He then got up to his feet to realize that he wasn't in his room anymore but in the middle of the woods. He only had on his boxer shorts and was barefoot in the middle of the foggy woods in the early morning. How did he get there? He backed up a bit before he hit something and he turned around and let a scream loose as soon as the other guy screamed.

"Stiles?" he shrieked.

"Scott?" Stiles shrieked back.

Stiles was dressed in his pajama bottoms and had a faded shirt on but was also barefoot and was looking as lost and confused as Scott was.

"What are you doing out here?" asked Scott

"What am I doing here? I don't know. I went to bed and the next thing I know I'm out here. What about you?" Stiles said taking his appearance.

"Me too. Did…did we sleepwalk here?"

That didn't make any sense to Stiles. Even if they both sleepwalked last night, why would they sleepwalk to the same exact spot? Their conversation was cut short when they noticed heard some wood cracking out in the distance and a dark shape was hidden off in the fog. It looked big and it was down on all fours, like a wolf. The two of them tensed at the sight and they started to slowly move away, but the thing started to slowly trail after them. The two of them then broke into a frenzied run. The beast then started to run off too.

They ran up a hill and came up to a fence and the two of them jumped it before they landed in water. The two of them broke the surface to come up to a man watering his plants.

"Morning," Scott said timidly while Stiles gave the guy a friendly wave.

The two of them managed to leave from that without that man choosing to do anything more than ask them to leave. It was not fun for either of them to trek back to their homes, soaking wet. Stiles was getting ready for school when he started to hear his dad's voice again. He was on the phone and the word 'fiber analysis' was heard from the person on the other end. Stiles hid off to the side and closed his eyes as he listened in on every word that his father was sharing with the coroner.

Scott was at his locker at school after school to stow his extra things away when his locker door was suddenly shut from under him by Jackson. Scott saw that he looked pissed.

"Alright little man, why don't you tell me where you're getting your juice?"

"What?"

"Where, are you getting, your juice?" he asked again more slowly and roughly.

Scott wondered why he wanted to know that. "My mom does the grocery shopping," he found himself saying.

That seemed to piss Jackson off more. "Now listen McCall, you're going to tell me what it is you're taking and who you're getting it from because there is no way in hell that you're kicking ass out there on the field without some chemical boost. You or that spastic friend of yours."

Scott's eyes widened. "Oh you mean steroids. Wait, you want steroids?"

Jackson flipped and grabbed him. "What the hell is going on with you McCall?!

"You really want to know?!" Scott shot back. "Well so would I, because now I can see, hear and smell things that I shouldn't! I'm doing things that should be impossible and I'm sleepwalking three miles into the woods and I'm going out of my frickin mind!"

Scott was breathing out hard but didn't find himself trying to go for his inhaler like usual. But he was feeling a bit better to just let all of that out though.

But Jackson didn't share in his relief. "You think you're funny, don't you McCall? Something is going on around here. With you and whatever it is I bet that your buddy Stilinski is in on it too. And I'm going to find out what it is. I don't care how long it takes but I am going to find out." He then hit the locker at the side of his head for good measure.

Scott put what happened in the back of his mind as he got himself ready to play.

"Scott." Scott looked over to see Stiles heading for him. "Scott, you are never going to believe this! I overheard my dad on the phone and-"

"Stiles, I'm playing the first elimination. Can't it wait?" he said as he rushed to finish gathering his stuff.

Stiles just grabbed him. "The fiber analysis came back from the lab in LA. They found animal hair on the body they found in the woods!"

"Look, I gotta go," Scott said as he grabbed his helmet and went for the field.

"No, wait," Stiles called out after him. "Scott, you're not going to believe what the animal was." But Scott had run off. "It was a wolf," he finished softly.

Scott got to the field with the rest of the people in the first elimination. He caught sight of Allison who waved over at him and he smiled as he waved back.

"Got a question McCall?" Coach asked.

"What?"

"You raised your hand, you have a question?"

"No," he said lamely. "I was just…sorry."

Coach gave the team one of his patented speeches. Mixing in praise as well as a good bit of ridicule that he seemed to think would get everyone pumped.

The elimination began and Scott was moving about to try and keep the momentum from his last practice going. However, Jackson was determined to stop him as he slammed him down out of nowhere. He flashed Scott a smug looking expression before he took off. Scott inwardly growled as he picked himself up.

Stiles was watching the whole thing and at the sight of Jackson just knocking his friend over for the hell of it made his clench his hand into a fist as he growled. After he did he shook his head. Where did that come from? He rubbed his forehead but felt something sticky and he looked at his hand to find some blood from some scratches that his fingernails dug into. He could smell the fresh blood on his nails but he wondered how that was since they were so blunted.

Scott was then brought into the new set with Jackson right in front of him. Scott spared him a mild glare and then swiped the ball when the whistle blew and dashed around him. He then came up to a guy blocking him but Scott sidestepped around him. Stiles eyes zoomed in on Scott as he ran passed Jackson and from how he twisted his foot Stiles guessed that Scott was going to sidestep the next guy and just a moment later he did. When Scott came across two guys, Stiles took note of how Scott's body was bracing himself. Was Scott going to jump over them?

Scott came to the two guys trying to intercept him but he went and hopped right over them. He landed on his feet ahead of them and then made the shot at the goal getting nothing but net.

Everyone crowded over to him to compliment Scott for his amazing dash across the field. Stiles was on the bench with his face stuck on astonished. Not just at what Scott did but at how he was able to closely follow his moves from where he sat. He then went for his bag.

"McCall, get over here!" Coach yelled. Scott went over but to him smiling but the Coach wasn't. "What the hell was that?! Are you trying out for the…gymnastics team?"

Scott face fell. "No. I was just trying to make the shot."

"Well, you did. And you know what else. You're starting buddy. You made First line."

Cheers were heard as Coach's words took effect. Jackson ripped his helmet off as he glared off at McCall. Now he knew for sure that something was going on with him. He went to glare at Stilinski at the bench but noticed that his friend was quickly taking off for some reason.

Scott went to look for Stiles but found that he was gone. Where did he go? He was going to miss the next elimination.

Stiles had immediately left the field after Scott's display and was now back in his room, and was scouring web pages on anything related to bites, animal attacks and lycanthrope legends. He came upon pages of Lycaon, the Beast of Gevaudan and on wolfsbane. He took in the images and passages of folklore that passed by the screen. He started to pace as everything that's been happening to him and Scott started to frighteningly make a lot of sense. His eyes went over to his post board. He went and took a pushpin out and looked at the point. His eyes fell to the open page on his screen that said that werewolves had healing powers. There was one way to be sure. He brought the point of the pin to his finger and went and ran it across. He hissed as he now had a thin cut across his finger. No, that definitely wasn't his best plan.

He went to the bathroom and ran his finger across warm water and went for a paper towel to clean his cut off but when he wiped the blood off his eyes widened at the sight of his skin knitting itself together. The cut was healing up and soon it was gone. Stiles ran his other fingers across it but there was no sign of the cut anywhere. It was like he hadn't cut himself at all.

"Oh, we are so screwed," Stiles muttered as he looked at his healed finger.

There was then a knock on his door that made him nearly jump off the ground. He opened the door to see Scott's smiling face. "Hey."

"Oh good, get in." Stiles then went back to his computer to the piles of stuff he printed as Scott came in after him. "Stiles, what was with that disappearing act at tryouts? You missed your elimination."

"Yeah, I know but I've been looking up everything I could since last night. You've got to see this."

Scott gave him a once over as he took in all the scattered papers. "How much Adderall have you had today?"

"That's just it…none."

Scott widened his eyes. "You haven't taken any?"

"No, not a pill. I haven't needed it, but you know what, that doesn't matter. You won't believe what I found."

Scott tossed his bag on the bed. "This about the body? They find out who did it?"

"No, they're still questioning people. Even Derek Hale."

"The guy we saw in the woods?"

"Yeah, but that's not it!"

"What then?"

Stiles cleared his throat. "Uh, you remember the other day? That joke that I made. Not a joke anymore." Scott still didn't seem to get it. "You know, the bites we got in the woods. You said you heard a howl right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know why a wolf howls?" Scott shook his head. "It's a signal. Wolves howl to signal their location to the other members of their pack. I think there might be more than one out there, maybe a whole pack in the woods."

"A whole pack of wolves?"

"No, a pack of werewolves."

Scott stood up then. "Are you seriously wasting my time with this? You know I'm picking up Allison in an hour."

Stiles held up his hands to stop him. "No Scott, I saw you out there on the field. I mean, really saw you. I could see your moves to the smallest detail and I could actually predict how you were going to move before you did it."

"Predict it? What, like you were psychic?"

"No, it was more like I could super focus on reading the signals you were giving out and instinctively knew what you were going to do. Things that you shouldn't have been able to do. How you moved out there, it wasn't just amazing, okay, it was impossible."

Scott stared at him with a blank face. "So I made a good shot," he shrugged as he tried to leave again.

But Stiles stopped him again and even took his bag from him and tossed it aside. "No Scott, you made an incredible shot. Your moves out there too. People can't just do that stuff overnight."

"What are you talking about?! You were incredible too. If you had just stayed then you might've made first line too."

"I know! I was incredible, and I know that I shouldn't have been either."

"What?"

"And look," he said as he lifted his sleeve. "Notice anything?"

Scott looked at Stiles arm but didn't see anything. "There's nothing there."

"Exactly!" he said putting his sleeve down. "Scott, there's nothing. My bite's gone."

"What?" Scott then looked up into his eyes. Okay, that was strange. He then remembered that his own bite at his torso was also gone. He didn't want to admit it but he was starting to feel a little worried now.

"Scott, don't you see? It's not just what happened at tryouts. It's everything. The vision, the hearing, the smelling, me not needing my Adderall and don't think I didn't notice that you don't need your inhaler either."

"Okay!" Scott huffed impatiently. "But I can't think about this now. We'll talk tomorrow."

Stiles shook his head. "Tomorrow?! Scott, you still aren't getting this. The full moon's tonight!"

"What are you trying to do Stiles?!" Scott cut in. Stiles just went to his desk and went for some papers and a book. "Okay, I made first line and I have a date tonight with a girl I can't believe wants anything to do with me! For once, everything in my life is somehow perfect, why are you trying to ruin that?!"

Stiles snapped and stood up from his chair as he threw the book straight down into the ground. "Ruin it, Scott I'm trying to save your damn life! Both of our lives!" he thundered. His blood was pumping hard through his head that he could feel it vibrating in his ears. In his mind, knocking Scott around one side of his room to the other was sounding like an appealing thing to do. But Stiles just took a deep breath and shoved all that down to his gut as he tried to get his calm back. Scott had flinched when he had done that and Stiles didn't like seeing that. He'd never been angry at Scott like that before, where he wanted to really hurt him and it bothered him but maybe his reaction will finally help him get through to his friend. "We're cursed Scott," he said slowly regaining his calm. "The full moon, it's not just going to change us physically. It's going to affect us mentally. It just so happens that is when our bloodlust will be at its peak."

"Bloodlust," he repeated flatly.

"Yeah, you know…the urge to kill."

"Well, I'm already feeling an urge to kill Stiles."

Scott was looking pissed off at him and Stiles bit the inside of his tongue as his own aggravation was flaring up again. He went for the book he threw and tried to stay focused on getting him to listen. "Look, listen to this," as he turned to the page he marked. "Change can be caused by anger or anything that raises your pulse." He then snapped the book shut. "Alright, and I haven't seen anyone raise your pulse the way that Allison does. Okay, you've got to cancel this date." He then went for Scott's phone.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked tirelessly.

"Calling Allison and cancelling your date."

"No!" Scott shouted as he threw Stiles against the wall

"Get off me!" Stiles shouted back.

Scott went to raise his fist and punch Stiles but his friend went and blocked it with his palm. The two of them were glaring hard at each other, stuck and struggling against each other's rage. Scott then pulled back and threw Stiles chair away. Scott and Stiles were both breathing hard as they kept their heated looks on each other.

Scott settled a bit as he quickly grabbed his phone and went for his bag. "I'm sorry. I have to go." He then stopped again at the door to look at Stiles who still hadn't moved from his spot. "I'm sorry," he said again.

Stiles just breathed out hard from his nose and then went and knocked some of the things from his desk angrily out to the floor. Scott's jaw stiffened at that and he then left. Stiles leaned back and bounced off the wall as he went to pick up his chair. As he lifted it he noticed four long lines cut into it. Claw marks. He then looked back to the door his friend just walked out of. Now he was deeply regretting just letting him go.

Stiles went through the closet for his father's spare gear. He was looking for his spare set of handcuffs. The moon was coming out and he could already feel himself burning up on the inside. That had to be a sign that he was about to change. He still wasn't sure how he would change but he didn't want to take any chances. His nerves were already flaring up and his hard breaths were starting to echo in his own ears.

"Where the hell are those things?!" he angrily huffed.

Suddenly, there was the sound of tires pulling up into the driveway and the sound of an engine being cut off.

"Damn," he said moving to shut the door. His father was home.

He took off as his father walked through the front door and went running up the stairs.

"Hey Stiles," his father called out after him but Stiles just kept moving and didn't answer him.

He went to his bathroom and closed the door behind him. He was not leaving this room all night. Especially with his father now right downstairs. Stiles was hovering over his sink and he was hyperventilating. He looked over at the mirror to see his once honey colored eyes now glowing a golden yellow color. He gasped at the sight and then saw two canines growing out from both his top and bottom set of teeth. He went to touch his teeth when he froze at the sight of elongated nails at the ends of his fingers. No, not nails, claws. Both of his hands had them now which quickly explained how he dug into his palms. Scott must've had them out when he clawed his chair.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Stiles?" his father said after he knocked.

"I thought you would be working late tonight," he said through the fangs.

"I'm heading back later. The only trouble we should be expecting is noise complaints from that party that's going to be at the Martin residence," he chuckled. "Speaking of which, why are you here? I thought you would've been there by now."

He closed his eyes as if he was in pain. "I'm not going."

"What? It sounds like a chance for there to be excitement and trouble. I wouldn't have thought you could resist," he teased.

Stiles wasn't amused. "Jeez," Stiles roared out. "You're on me for when I cause trouble and now you have a problem when I want to avoid it. I just can't win with you!"

His father deflated a bit at that. Stiles never talked to him like that before. "Stiles, son, is there something wrong?"

Stiles clenched his teeth and he felt his new canines start to push their way into his lip. "No, nothing's wrong! Everything's fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Stiles, you're my son. It's my job to worry about you."

"No, I just…I just want to be left alone, okay?"

"Okay, but Stiles…you know that if there is something wrong you could always come to me. I'm always going to be there for you. You know that, right?" he asked softly.

Stiles' grip on the faucet tightened as he saw some hair start to grow out in front of his ears. His claws grew out even longer and scratched into the faucet causing a loud screech.

"What was that?" his father asked.

"Nothing!" Stiles bit out.

But his father shook his head. "Stiles, I'm coming in."

"No," Stiles said as he went to try and block the door but it was already opening.

Stiles turned around so that his dad wouldn't see his face and he put his hands into a fist to hide the claws from sight. The fear that he'll see him like this made his heart speed up even more. They dug into his palms as he started to pace his breathing and silently repeat the mantra 'Don't come closer. Don't come closer!'

The sheriff saw his son huddled over the sink and seemed to be shaking. "Stiles, what's going on?" But his son wasn't answering him. He then started to move over to him. "Are you in pain?"

Stiles just grunted in response as he pulled his head further out to try and further hide the sight of his fangs and eyes from his father. He felt the urge to rip the one invading his space growing and he knew it was only a matter of time before he ripped into him. His dad stepped closer and the fear that he would maul his own father grew until he felt his dad's hand go on his shoulder. Suddenly, the steady beat of his father's heart started sounding in his ears. The rhythm of his father's heart and his concerned touch made his own heart start to settle. His breathing slowed and he straightened his back.

He chanced a look at the mirror to see that his wolfish features had faded. "No, I'm okay now." He then looked over to his father to reassure him.

"Now? Stiles, what's going on?"

Stiles was panicked again but it was a manageable panic. He had to come up with something. "Scott and I had a fight."

His father's eyes widened. "You did?"

"We did." Stiles wasn't lying. They technically did get into a fight.

"What did you two fight about?" He could understand his father's disbelief. He and Scott rarely fought about anything.

"Just…about the party tonight. He kind of ditched me."

His dad nodded. "Does he have a date?"

"Yeah, a new girl at school."

"Stiles, I'm sure he didn't mean to do that to you. He was just probably excited."

Stiles shrugged. "He was that."

"Then cut him a break. I'm sure he could use his best friend to have his back tonight."

Stiles nodded. Scott would need his help. If he went through all of this then he knew that Scott was probably going through it right now or was about to. "Yeah…thanks dad." Somehow, his father helped him which meant that it could be controlled. But Scott didn't know that or have anyone to help him. He had to get to him.

"Yeah. He does need me."

Outside his house was a young man in a leather jacket watching it with a curious expression on his face. He then walked off to his black Camaro and took off to see to another of his cases tonight.

Scott had showered and was giving himself a once over in his bathroom as he got ready for his upcoming date. He was excited. Nothing like this had happened like this before. His mom came around and was waiting just outside.

"Mom!" he cried out in surprise.

"Is this a party or a date?" she asked not skipping a beat.

"Maybe both," he said with a bit of an embarrassed smile.

"And her name is?"

"Allison," Scott said softly.

"Allison…nice," his mom said with a smile and reaching for him with her keys.

"Thank you."

"We don't need to have a talk, do we?"

Scott huffed. "Mom, I'm not having the safe sex talk with you."

But his mother scoffed. "Oh, my god. No, I meant about keeping the tank full. Give me those back!" she said yanking the keys away.

"Are you serious?"

"You bet your ass I'm serious," she scolded. "I'm not going to end up on a reality television show with a pregnant sixteen year old. Come on!"

It took a bit of patience and assurance but Scott soon found himself in the car parking in front of Allison's house and honked the horn to let her know that he was there. The front door opened and she came out and Scott was happy to see that she actually looked as excited as he was.

The party was in full swing by the time they arrived. Scott took Allison off to the back patio but he froze when he saw Derek Hale off in the distance. He was standing by the open fire and his eyes were focused solely on him. A dog was barking at him and Derek turned to look at it which seemed to quiet it down almost immediately.

"Scott?" Allison said snapping him out of it. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he breathed. "Everything's fine."

He tried to distract himself by taking Allison to dance. The sight of Lydia rubbing against Jackson as he gnawed on her neck caught his eye. She had her eyes opened and he could swear that he was looking right at him. It made him move to hold and grope Allison as her body swayed and moved in front of him. All this sexual tension in the air, it was making his insides heat up. He took a firmer hold on her back. As he looked into Allison's eyes, he found himself wanting to sink his teeth into her.

He suddenly backed off and Allison froze. "Scott, what's wrong?"

"I'll be right back," he grunted.

He then started to head off through the scores of people as he felt his insides painfully twist and turn. He was having trouble moving around as it felt like something was ripping him apart trying to get out of him. What was happening to him? He made it to the front door to look up at the light of the moon overhead. Suddenly, the conversation that he had earlier with Stiles came to mind. The desperation in his friend's voice and the warnings he gave him to not go to the party tonight and stay away. He was starting to think that Stiles had been right. He had to leave!

He got to the car and quickly got in and drove off leaving Allison to stare off after him. She then heard her name called. She looked up at a young man in a leather jacket.

"My name's Derek," he said with a calming smile. "I'm a friend of Scott's."

"Oh, do you know what happened with him?"

"Scott's…not feeling too well. He has to head home for his meds but he did ask that I make sure you get home tonight. He also wanted me to tell you that he's sorry."

She nodded. "Thank you."

"Come on. My car just over there. I'll drop you off."

A familiar jeep pulled up to where the other cars were parked and Stiles hopped out of it and made his way through the waves of people looking for his friend. Stiles nostrils flared when a familiar smell came to his attention and he turned his gaze to where he saw Allison getting into a Camaro. He then saw Derek Hale in the driver's seat. He started the car and then looked out the window straight at him. Derek tilted his head in almost like a nod before he drove off.

Why was Allison going off with Derek? He then started to ask around for Scott.

Scott got home and quickly went up to his room. He was holding his stomach as it burned him from the inside out. He quickly stripped and stepped into his bathtub that he filled with cool water. He was trying to get himself to settle down and cool off but he was finding that it was doing little to help. He was still in pain and burning up. He looked over at his hand to see his nails growing out into claws.

He freaked and got out of the tub to look into the mirror. He wiped some of condensation off to see that his teeth had grown a two pairs of sharp fangs. The next moment, his eyes glowed a golden color.

Then there was a knock on his door. "Go away," he called out thinking that it was his mother to ask why he was home so fast.

"Scott, it's me!" Stiles' voice called out.

Scott quickly went to his door and opened it a bit. "Stiles, you have to get away."

"No, Scott let me in. I can help you. You could fight it. I went to the party to try and tell you but they said that you left."

"No, stay away. I don't know what I'll do. You…you gotta go and find Allison."

"Allison?" Stiles repeated. Stiles rolled his eyes behind the door. His friend was suffering through a painful and metamorphic phase change and Allison is what's on his mind? "She's fine Scott. I saw her get a lift from the party."

"No, Stiles, listen. I think I know who did this to us. It was Derek. I saw him. He was watching me at the party."

Stiles froze. "Scott…Derek was the one who Allison left with."

Scott gasped and then he quickly jumped back and threw himself out of his window and landed squarely on the ground. His ears quickly became pointed and his face shifted to an animalistic appearance. He looked up to the moon and let a howl loose. He then started to take off.

Stiles quickly went inside and yelled for Scott to come back but his friend seemed deaf to him as he just howled before taking off. Without thinking Stiles threw himself out of the window and flipped down to land on the ground feet first. He started to breathe fast as his heart was pumping hard. He looked down to his hands to see that the claws were back. Was he changing again? No. He shook his head. He had to stay focused. He thought back to his father and to the concern he showed him earlier tonight and he found his breathing settling down again. His skin still felt hot and the claws were still on his fingers but he couldn't think of that now. He had to find Scott.

He hopped into his jeep and drove off. If Scott was going to find Allison then the first place that Stiles had to look would be her place. He just hoped that he could drive faster than Scott could run. Wait, how fast could he run now? Well, he would have plenty of time to think about that later. He pulled in front of Allison house but he couldn't pick up any sign that Scott was here or had been here. The door opened and he quickly hid his hands in his pockets to not expose the claws.

"Hi! Mrs Argent, hello," he said trying to sound friendly and hoping to god that his face wasn't sporting any fangs and his eyes weren't flashing through the nerves that were jumping up inside him. "You don't know who I am. I'm a friend of your daughter's. Look, this is going to sound kind of crazy. Really crazy actually, in fact crazy won't even begin to cover-"

"Allison!" she cut him off as she yelled behind her. "It's for you."

Stiles looked up and with relief saw that Allison looked no worse for wear.

"Allison, hey," he said with an embarrassed smile on his face.

"Hey," she said coming down the stairs. "Stiles, right?"

"Right? Um, so you got back alright."

"Yeah, Scott's friend gave me a ride."

His friend? Derek.

"Oh," Stiles said trying to sound relieved. "Good. Scott was worried about you. He was freaking, a bit annoyingly to be honest, and I came to try and make sure that you were alright."

"Yeah, is everything alright with him?"

"It's Scott, trust me, nothing is ever alright with him," he lightly joked. He shouldn't tease Scott but with what he was making him go through tonight he felt that he more than deserved it.

"What happened? I thought we were having a good time."

She sounded disappointed and Stiles seemed to settle a bit. "He was too. He just had to get home to his inhaler. He was so excited tonight that he forgot to bring it so he had to leave."

"He's alright now though, right?"

"Yeah, don't worry. He'll be okay. He promised that he'll explain everything when you see each other at school."

"Okay, and thanks for coming over to tell me this. You're a good friend."

"Hey," Stiles smiled. "It's what I do. But, uh, I better get going."

Stiles slowly made his way back to his jeep and took out his hands from his pockets to see that his hands were back to normal. He looked through his mirror to see that his face was still normal. He then drove off with the window open a smidge. He might be fine but he could bet his ass off that Scott wasn't. But, if he wasn't here at Allison's then where the hell was he?

Scott made it to the preserve where he found Derek's car and could smell Allison's scent from inside. He hopped on the hood but looked and saw that it was empty. He then looked to the woods and picked up her scent going in and it was still fresh. He ran through the trees where everything around him was in red. Infrared. He could see everything clearly even though there was little light from the full moon.

The scent was getting closer and he ran even faster until he came up to a tree where Allison's jacket was hanging. He then heard footsteps close by.

"Where is she?" he demanded.

"She's safe," Derek's voice rang out. "From you."

Derek then charged and tackled him down to the ground. Scott tried to fight him off but he was being held down.

"What did you do with her?" he roared.

"Quiet," Derek said as he looked up and around them. "Too late. They're already here. Run."

Derek didn't spare another second as he took off but Scott stayed put. Until a light flashed at him and he found his arm pinned to a tree by a crossbow bolt. He roared out in pain as he looked at the three men that moved down the hill at him.

The one in the middle had the crossbow in his hand. "Take him," he said to the other two.

Derek then appeared from beside them and started to fight them and toss them aside. The middle one then turned back to where Scott was but found nothing but an empty tree with a spot of blood there.

Scott had run off when the commotion started and Derek was right beside him as they stopped a good distance away.

"Who were they?" he panted.

"Hunters," Derek answered. "They've been hunting us for centuries."

"Us?!" Scott cried. "You mean you! You're the one that did this to me!"

Derek just stared after him. "Is it really so bad Scott? That you could see, hear and smell better? That you're stronger. The bite is a gift. One that your other friend, Stiles is it? He seems to be taking to it well enough."

Scott's anger faded a bit at the mention of him. "Stiles?"

Derek nodded. "He's getting a quick grasp on what this all means. It's impressive, I'll give him that but I could see that he still needs some more work before he has full control. You, you clearly need a lot more of it. So, you see Scott, you, him and me. We're all brothers now."

He then took off leaving Scott to despair on everything that had happened tonight. Scott started to slowly trek back home. The sun was already rising when a jeep went and pulled up beside him.

"Need a lift?" Stiles said from the driver's seat.

"How'd you find me?" Scott asked as he got in and Stiles handed him a blanket from the back.

Stiles pointed to his nose. "Been driving around trying to sniff you out. I would've tried calling but you kind of left your phone in your room when you jumped out your window," he lightly joked.

Scott just stared off in the distance. Derek's words playing out in his head. They were silent for a few minutes as they shared some covert looks with each other.

"You know what worries me the most?" Scott just said.

"If you say Allison I swear I'm going punch you in the head," he said annoyed.

"She probably hates me now," he said in despair.

Stiles huffed. He didn't say her name but still implied it. Good loophole.

"Relax. She doesn't hate you. But you might want to come up with a good apology. Or," he added happily. "You could be honest with her and revel in the awesomeness that you're a freaking werewolf," he added with a smile.

Scott rolled his eyes at him. "You're actually loving this? All of this?"

Stiles shrugged. "Maybe not right now, but, you gotta admit. It is kind of awesome. We always said we wanted excitement. What could be more exciting than this?"

Scott just stared at him.

"Okay, maybe it might not be so glorious right now but…we'll get through this. And hey, every full moon we'll chain ourselves up in my basement and try to get rid of the rats that keep scratching around down there." Scott felt a smile creep up at him. "Hey, you gotta admit, it would save a buckload on mousetraps."

"There's an upside," he grunted as he rubbed his wound. "Hey Stiles."

"Yeah?"

"About yesterday, I'm-"

"Scott," Stiles cut in. "It's okay. Forget about it."

"No, I can't. I'm sorry. You were trying to help me and I…blew you off."

"Yeah, you did," he nodded. "Hung me out to dry, left me with the bag, made me eat your dust."

"You done?" Scott took a moment to notice that while Stiles was babbling he didn't twitch or stutter like he usually did. He was calmly looking out into the road. Probably a thing that being a werewolf got rid of like it seemed to do with his asthma.

Stiles nodded. "For now. But, I get it. It's alright. It's the full moon. It does things to people you know."

Scott laughed. "Yeah, I've heard that."

Scott and Stiles had spent the rest of the weekend going over everything that Stiles had found on werewolves. Scott also told him everything about the hunters and what Derek said. They figured that they would have to be careful to not do anything that exposed them for the hunters to find.

On Monday, Scott was getting into school for practice when Allison came up to him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," he said happily. "Look, I wanted to apologize about Friday night."

"It's okay. Your friend Stiles told me everything?"

"He did?" he asked nervously. What did Stiles tell her that he didn't tell him.

"Yeah, that you had to run home because you forgot your inhaler."

"Oh," he said relieved. "Yeah, I did. I'm sorry."

"I said it's okay."

"Well, I would love to try and make it up to you. Would you be willing to give me a second chance?"

"Am I going to regret it?"

"Oh definitely," he smirked.

That only made Allison laugh. She then turned back to the street. "Well, I gotta go. My rides waiting."

Scott then looked over and saw a man standing there waiting for her. The same man that shot him with the crossbow bolt. "Him?"

"Yeah, that's my dad."

Her dad? Allison's dad was the one who shot him? Her father was a hunter?

Chapter Text

Stiles was changing into his gear when a whistle blew next to his ear. With his new hearing, Stiles thought that his ears probably started bleeding, if not from the whistle then from what followed after it.

“Stilinski! My office! Now!” the Coach said before he headed off.

Stiles threw his lacrosse stick in his locker before he forced himself to walk into the room where Coach was eagerly waiting for him. “You wanted to see me?”

“Yeah, you mind telling me what was up with the Houdini act? I was actually looking forward to seeing you try out given what I saw from you before. Where the hell were you?”

“Yeah, an emergency. I had to go and take care of it.” Stiles tried to explain away.

“Emergency? What kind of emergency was it for you to bolt out of practice?”

“The kind that I don’t feel comfortable talking about,” he threw out there.

“Good, then I don’t want to hear about it. You know that you just blew your chance to make first line and you actually had a good chance so I hope it was worth it.”

“Yeah, I know Coach,” he breathed out.

But then Coach sucked audibly on his teeth before taking a step towards him. “Well, lucky for you Stilinski that I’m feeling in a good mood today. You and McCall seemed to have picked up a new beat recently and if McCall’s tryout was anything to go by then I would be stupid to pass this up.”

“Pass what up?”

“Today, practice, I’ll be watching you. If I like what I see, then, you might just get a second chance at first line.”

“You’re joking,” Stiles breathed.

Coach just gave him a look. “Do I look like I’m trying to be amusing?” Stiles gave him a once over and Coach just waved him off. “Go finish getting ready.”

“Right. Yeah, thanks Coach,” Stiles said nearly jumping out of the room.

Stiles then headed to get his stick but noticed Scott over at his locker space, staring out into space. He looked like someone ran over his puppy. Something must’ve happened.

“Scott, hey. Did you apologize to Allison?” he asked carefully.

“Yeah,” he muttered.

“So? Is she giving you a second chance?”

“Yeah,” he muttered again.

Stiles smiled and held his hands out. “Yeah, alright. So everything’s good.” It seemed like a time for second chances around here today. He would think Scott would be jumping for joy.

“No,” he said before Stiles could keep celebrating.”

“No?”

“Um, you remember the hunters? Her dad is one of them.”

Stiles’ jaw dropped. “Her dad?” He was hoping he heard wrong.

“Shot me,” he muttered in that same dazed look.

“Allison’s father?”

“With a crossbow,” Scott said, again in the same daze.

“Allison’s father?” Stiles repeated a little more loudly.

“Yes! Her Father!” he freaked. “Oh my God,” he coughed out. “Oh my god.”

Stiles shook his head and went over to him. No, they didn’t need to start panicking now. They still were having trouble grasping this whole ‘changing’ thing and they didn’t need to get over-excited now.

“Hey,” Stiles said giving him a light tap to the head. “Scott. Breathe. Okay, he didn’t recognize you, right?”

“Uh, no. No, I don’t think so.”

“Wait, does she know about him?” Stiles asked suddenly.

Scott froze. “I don’t know. What if she does?” Now Scott was starting to break down.

Stiles looked around to see that mostly everyone was gone and probably on the field now. “Okay,” he said before he grabbed Scott’s gear on the floor. “Look, take this and…focus on lacrosse. Yeah, it’s all about lacrosse now. Got it?” he said shoving the stuff at Scott.

Scott went to change while Stiles went and let his head ram into a locker as he let out a deep puff. You know, most girls fathers threaten that they would shoot the guy that touches their daughter and his best friend had to fall for the one girl whose father would literally do that. The daughter of a werewolf hunter and Scott, a new werewolf, had to start dating her. His friend sure knew how to pick em. As he waited on his friend to finish getting ready, one thing was clear to him: They needed to watch each other carefully, especially with Allison in the mix.

The lacrosse field was full of activity and Coach started getting the scrimmages ready.

“Jackson!” he yelled after blowing his whistle. “Take a long stick today.”

Jackson went to pick up the stick. He was ready to try and make up for last week. McCall somehow made first line and one of his friends overheard Coach talking with Stiles about watching him today to see about getting another shot at first line himself. He was going to lay down the law on those two losers today. He got into position ahead of the net where his buddy Danny was and looked at the line that had both of them on it. He would make sure that they wouldn’t get passed him. He knew they didn’t deserve first line because of whatever secret those two had and he would make sure of it.

As everyone in front of him went up to try to get passed Jackson to the goal Scott let his mind wander. It went to Allison and her father. Did she know about what her father did on Friday night or was she in the dark about it? Did her father recognize him? And if so then did he tell Allison to watch him or if not would he tell her to stay away from him? He just got Allison to give him another chance, he didn’t need all of this werewolf stuff to ruin it.

Coach then blew the whistle at him and Scott snapped out of it. “McCall, what are you waiting for?”

The Coach blew the whistle again and Scott saw that Jackson was waiting for him. He charged down the field but Jackson went and tackled him to the ground where he landed flat on his back.

Jackson smirked through his helmet. “You sure you still want to be first line McCall.”

Scott quickly got up and started to brace himself as he still felt a bit of the recoil. He was soon joined by the Coach. “Hey McCall,” he said in a laughing tone. “My grandmother could move faster than that. You think you could move faster than the lifeless corpse of my dead grandmother.”

Through the Coach’s sarcasm Scott was starting to feel himself burn up on the inside as he found himself saying, “Yes Coach. I can.”

Over at the line, Stiles was feeling the change of heat coming from Scott and could see his friend’s body shaking with inner rage. ‘Oh crap,” he thought.

“Then do it again,” Coach said before turning to everyone else. “McCall’s going to do it again! McCall’s going to do it again!”

Scott went over where he disregarded his friend’s shaking head and looked over at Jackson who was smirking at him from across the field. Scott just huffed before he put everything he had into charging Jackson and taking him down. He nailed him dead on and Jackson landed on the ground, hard on his shoulder. Stiles saw Scott walk a few paces before he went down on his knees and he quickly took off his helmet and went to him.

“Scott? You alright man.”

“I can’t control it Stiles,” he breathed.

Stiles could sense Scott’s change from there. “Oh no, damn it, not here.”

He looked back to see if anyone was looking. Everyone’s attention was on Jackson so no one was watching them. He lifted Scott up and forced him to move with him for the locker room. They didn’t notice Derek Hale watching the two of them.

Stiles threw Scott into the locker room and he shut the door behind him. He had to get Scott to settle down. He remembered his dad and how he put his hand on his shoulder as he focused on his heartbeat. Maybe what worked for him could work for Scott.

“Okay,” he said putting his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “Scott, breathe.”

But Scott just looked up at him with golden eyes and fangs. “Get away from me!”

Scott then pushed Stiles away where he slid down the floor to hit the wall on the other side. Scott then went and pounced for his prey with his claws out but was surprised when Stiles quickly pushed at his chest, throwing him across the room. Stiles’ eyes were glowing gold and his own claws and fangs were out. The part of him that was rationalizing everything vanished and all that was on his mind now was beat down his aggressor. The two of them then ran at each other where they then started to push one another against the lockers or against the walls. Scott went and punched Stiles across his jaw where he flinched in pain. Stiles was crutched down for a moment before he went and tackled Scott and forced him back until they both fell into the shower area. Stiles, then went over and held Scott down as he tried to claw at his face. Scott was pushing Stiles’ hands, struggling to force him away. The two of them were growling intensely at each other as they tried hard to rip the other apart. Stiles then moved some of his weight on one of his arms which drove his claws to cut down into one of Scott’s arms. The smell of the blood and his friend’s shout seemed to momentarily make Stiles freeze in shock. When he did, Scott immediately went and pushed against him and threw his friend off into the opposite wall by the shower handles. Stiles suddenly remembered what was going on but gasped when he saw Scott going for him again. He straightened himself against the wall when his arm hit on of the spigots and he quickly pulled it down to let the shower spray steaming hot water. It hit Scott square in the face and he gave a pained yell as he started to back away.

Stiles saw Scott keep backing away until his back met the opposite shower wall and he started to drop until he was sitting on the floor. Stiles shut the water off and quickly but carefully went over to him.

“Scott?” he called out.

Scott’s hands were covering his face but he could see that the claws on his hands were gone. Stiles looked at his own hands to see that his claws were gone too but there was still the smell of blood on them. Scott’s blood. His best friend’s blood. The smell went to his stomach.

“Stiles?” Scott muttered as he removed his hands from his face. “What happened?”

“You tried to kill me.” Stiles was surprised to find that he was a little out of breath.

“What?” Scott huffed out tirelessly.

“Yeah,” Stiles breathed. “And, when you did, I tried to kill you.”

Scott’s eyes widened as he wiped the water on his face. They had tried to kill each other? “What, but how? Why?”

“Remember what I tried to tell you on Friday? About our pulses rising? It was your anger. It’s a trigger. You got so angry out there on the field that you triggered your change. And when you attacked me, you raised my pulse and triggered my change. I’ve been trying to keep my cool all day and it worked…until you threw me against the wall and tried to attack me, again.”

“But…that’s lacrosse. It’s a pretty violent game if you hadn’t noticed.”

“Well, it’s going to get really violent if we end up killing and ripping people to pieces out there on the field. You and I can’t play Saturday. We’re going to have to pull out.” And Stiles was going to have to say goodbye to trying to get his own shot from Coach.

“But I’m first line,” Scott despaired.

“Not anymore.”

Scott got home that night to throw himself on the bed as he despaired on the mess that was his life. He finally got everything he wanted: First line and a chance with a pretty and nice girl and now he might have to say goodbye to both. All because of this stupid werewolf thing.

There was a knock on the door as his mother came in. “Late shift again. But, I am taking Saturday off to see your first game.”

“What? No mom you can’t,” he argued.

“I can and I will. One shift isn’t going to break us. Not completely.”

Scott felt really lousy now. He became nervous when his mom asked about his eyes. He was worried that the gold was back but his mother just said that it looked like he hadn’t slept.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I’m just…stressed.” That was putting it mildly.

“Just stressed? Nothing else?”

“Homework,” he tried to explain away.

“Well, it’s not like you’re on drugs or anything. Are you?” she added at the look on his face.

“Right now?”

“Right now,” she repeated. “Wait, are you on drugs? Have you ever taken drugs?”

“Have you?” he asked.

She seemed annoyed now. “Get some sleep.”

Before he could, there was an alert on his computer. He went to see that there was a chat request and he opened it to find Stiles there. “Hey,” he muttered out and he rubbed his normal hand from his slightly wrinkled one. Stiles had gone home and spent a good half hour scrubbing his hands to wash the smell of Scott’s blood off his fingers. He must’ve downed half a bottle of scented hand wash to finally get every last bit of the smell from his hand.

“Hey,” Scott answered back. “So, what’s the news?”

“Well, it’s bad. Jackson’s got a separated shoulder.”

 “Because of me?”

“No, because he’s a tool,” Stiles said back. He was privately thinking Jackson deserved what Scott gave him. Heck, if things wouldn’t go so south afterword then he would’ve done it himself.

“Is he gonna play?”

“They don’t know yet. So, it looks like everyone is now counting on you for Saturday.”

Scott couldn’t believe this. More pressure for Saturday. “What about you? I thought Coach was giving you a second chance.”

But Stiles wasn’t answering him. He was moving himself closer to the screen. Stiles just looked back at him and then started to send a typed message. Scott’s computer froze for a bit but then it came back and the message flashed in full: It looks like someone’s behind you! Scott then enlarged his screen to see that there was someone there. He turned immediately to be manhandled against the wall by Derek Hale.

“I saw you on the field,” he roared out.

“What are you talking about?”

“You shifted in front of them! Everyone! And then thanks to you your buddy shifted too,” he growled at him. “Do you realize how damn lucky you both are that you were able to snap out of it before someone came along? If they find out about you then they find about me, about all of us! Then it’s not just the hunters after us, it’ll be everyone.”

“No one saw anything. We made sure I swear,” Scott tried to explain.

“Yeah and no one will. Because if you or your friend try and play that game on Saturday then I’ll personally kill you both!”

He then took off leaving Scott staring off in his empty room with his window wide opened.

“Scott!” he heard from his computer. “You okay?!”

“Yeah,” he breathed out. “I’m fine Stiles.”

“I heard everything. Nice guy. He really knows how to make new werewolves feel welcomed.”

Scott just ran his hand across his face. They were screwed.

Scott didn’t know just how screwed he was until the following day at school. First, Coach wasn’t letting him pull out of the game. Next, his mother sent him a message that she had confirmation that she could have the night off to watch him play. Then Allison came to him and said she would be there to cheer him on and invited both him and Stiles to a thing after the game. And finally, Lydia all but threatened him with ruining things between him and Allison if Jackson wasn’t able to play.

So that was why when Stiles pulled him away from his locker he responded with a tired “What?”

“Come here,” he said as he dragged him off to where his father was talking with the principal. “Listen to what they’re saying.” The two of them kept a sharp gaze on them talking. “You can hear them right?” Stiles asked softly.

“Yeah. They’re putting a curfew because of the body.”

Stiles had to admit, this super hearing made getting caught listening in on his dad’s police work a thing of the past. “It’s unbelievable isn’t it? My dad and the rest of the department are looking for a rabid animal while the jerkoff that actually killed the girl is just hanging around. Doing whatever the hell he wants.” After last night Stiles had a new suspect for who had killed that girl.

“Well you can’t exactly tell your dad the truth about Derek,” Scott pointed out.

“No, but I can still do something.”

“Like what?” Scott huffed impatiently.

“Find the other half of the body.”

Scott watched Stiles take off for a moment before his eyes caught Allison. She was talking to a guy that was on the lacrosse team and Lydia was there too. She gave him a look that he stared blankly back at. Not for the first time, he wondered just what it was that Stiles even saw in her.

When Allison caught sight of him, she waved the other two goodbye and went over to him. “Hey.”

“So…Lydia’s introducing you around.”

“Yeah. I guess she’s trying to help me get through being the new girl.”

‘Yeah right,’ he mentally said. He then caught sight of the jacket in her arms. Scott immediately recognized it as the jacket that Derek had used to lure him into the woods during the full moon. “Where’d you get that?”

“My jacket? Oh, it was in my locker. I must’ve left it back at the party. I think Lydia might’ve brought it back. She does have my combi-

“Did she say she brought it back or did someone give it to her?” he cut her off.

“Like who?”

“Like Derek.”

“Your friend?”

“He’s not my friend,” he spat. “How much did you talk about? What did he say? What did you say?”

Allison started to get uncomfortable. “I, better get to class. I have to go.”

“Allison,” he tried.

“Sorry Scott, but I have to go.”

Scott knew where he had to go himself.

He rode his bike furiously to Derek’s house and angrily slammed his stuff down. “Derek!” He didn’t see him anywhere but he noticed a patch of freshly dug dirt at the side of the house. A scent filled his nostrils. He then looked over and saw Derek standing there. “Leave her alone! She doesn’t know anything!”

“Oh yeah?” he said as he came over. “You sure about that? What? Do you think that Stiles can just google werewolves and now you have all the answers? You just don’t get it, do you Scott? I’m trying to look out for you. For the both of you. Think about what could happen,” he said getting closer. “You’re out on the field, the aggression takes over and you shift!” He then picked up his lacrosse stick. “Your mom, all of your friends, Allison…they see you.” He then tears his net apart. “And it all falls apart, for everyone.” He then tosses his stick up and Scott catches it to find that Derek was gone.

Stiles got Scott’s text and he quickly made his way into his friend’s house and bolted for his room. He found Scott, sitting in his bed putting a new net on his lacrosse stick. “Okay, what is it? You found something? What? Where?” He then let loose a breath. “Whoa, is that a rush.”

“I found something over at Derek’s.”

“Really? What did you find?”

“There was something buried there. I could smell blood.”

“You did? That’s awesome. Well, that’s terrible. You know what I mean,” he shrugged away. “Whose blood? Did it smell familiar?”

“No but you’re going to help me find out. Then your dad busts Derek for the murder and you help me learn how to play without changing. Because there is no way I’m not playing on Saturday.”

The two of them then went off for the hospital where Scott would try to sneak into the morgue to see if the blood from the half of the body they had there matched the blood he smelled over at Derek’s.

“Good luck I guess,” Stiles said when they reached the morgue and Scott went in. Stiles stayed outside to keep watch when he caught sight of Lydia sitting nearby. He guessed that she was here to wait on Jackson’s condition tests. Stiles figured that now was a good a time as any to try and talk with the girl he’s liked since 3^rd grade so he went over to her and tried to look more confident than he felt. “Hey Lydia.” She turned to look over at him and she had a smile on her face. Stiles smiled back before he started hearing someone talking in her direction. It was a girl and she said Lydia’s name. “Wait, are you on the phone right now?”

“Oh, hang on,” she said as she unplugged her Bluetooth. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I was just wondering that, if you wanted to, we could have a chance to get to try and know each other. You know since Scott and Allison are kind of a thing now and she’s your friend. I’m his friend. It might make sense to try and…be friendly.”

“Oh, uh, who are you again?”

Stiles let all the air escape from his lungs. “Stiles.”

“Right, well, I’m kind of busy right now. Do you mind if we talk later?”

“No,” he said backing away. “Don’t mind at all. I’ll just be-“ he started to move around the corner but he saw her putting her Bluetooth back in. “and you don’t care.” Well, that could’ve gone no better.

Scott was moving through the halls towards where they were keeping the bodies without being spotted by anyone. He found the body lockers and he started to sniff around. On one of them, the smell was similar. He pulled it open to find that it was the half of the body that the joggers found in the woods. The toe tag confirmed it. He got it.

Stiles was still waiting for Scott when he heard Jackson come up. He started complaining about the doctor’s orders on the painkillers for his arm. Lydia recommended that he take a bit more than what was ordered before she started cozying up to him after they shared a little heated banter. Stiles’ gaze followed after them as he narrowed his eyes slightly at them, Jackson in particular. He was shocked out of it when Scott came up to him.

“The scent was the same,” he said.

Stiles then got up. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“So, Derek did bury the other half of the body on his property.”

“We have proof that he killed the girl.”

“Alright, come on,” he said moving off. “What?”

But Stiles then stopped. “Tell me something first. Scott, are you doing all of this because you want to stop Derek or because you want to play in the game on Saturday and he said you couldn’t?” Stiles then focused on Scott’s heart. He sort of neglected to tell Scott that they could listen to hearts to tell if someone was lying. It was like a supernatural polygraph which is how he caught his dad in his lie. He wanted to know that Scott was trying to do the right thing and not doing all this just to get what he wanted.

“There were bite marks on the body Stiles. Bite marks,” he answered.

Stiles huffed. He avoided the question but he couldn’t call Scott on it because that would mean giving up that little secret. “Then we’re going to need a shovel.”

The two of them waited outside of Derek’s until he finally drove off which gave them the chance to finally head to the grave and see the body. As they got closer, Stiles could start to smell the blood just like Scott said.

“You’re right.”

“Wait,” Scott said stopping. “Something’s different.”

Stiles stopped too. “What? Different how?”

“I don’t know. Let’s just get this over with,” he said before he started digging.

“After you,” he said before joining Scott.

“Okay,” Scott said after a while. “This is taking too long.”

“Just keep digging,” Stiles said still shoveling.

“Well, what if he comes back?”

“I have a plan for that,” Stiles said lifting up more dirt.

“Which is?”

“I run one way. You run the other. Whoever he catches first, too bad,” he shrugged.

Scott gave him a look. “I hate that plan.” He then hit something.

“Stop!” Stiles said throwing his shovel aside. “Help me here.”

They then kneeled to lift up a sack that was tied up. They then started to try and untie it.

“Hurry up!” Scott cried.

“I am. Did he have to tie it in like 900 knots?”

They pulled it apart to uncover not a girl, but a wolf. Rather, half of one. It made the two of them jump back and out of the hole.

“What the hell is that?!” Stiles cried.

“It’s a wolf,” Scott gasped out.

“Yeah, I could see that. I thought you told me you smelled blood as in human blood.”

“I…I told you something was different.”

“Okay…this doesn’t make sense.” Why would Derek bury half a wolf on his property?

“We have to get out of here.” Scott said. “Help me cover this back up.”

Stiles was about to help when his eyes caught sight of something on the ground close by. It was a flower. “Whoa, hey, do you see that flower?” he said pointing to it.

Scott looked over and saw the flower. “What about it?”

“I…I think that’s wolfsbane Scott,” he said a bit astonished at it.

Scott just shrugged. “What’s that?”

Stiles looked back at him. “What’s that? Haven’t you ever seen The Wolfman?” Scott shook his head. “Lon Chaney Jr. Claude Rains? The original classic werewolf movie?”

“No, what?!”

Stiles just rolled his eyes. “You really are so unprepared for this, really.” He then went to pick up the flower but then he yelped and jumped back. “Ahh!”

“What?!” Scott said as he moved for him.

Stiles opened his hand to find that his hands were slightly red and smoking. “Burns. That thing burned me!”

“Then leave it and let’s go!”

“No,” Stiles said before he took off his shirt and wrapped his hands around it. He then went and grasped it again and managed to get a good hold on it this time. He pulled on the flower to find that it was attached to a rope, one that led to the grave. He kept pulling and they saw that it was wrapped around the grave like a spiral. When Stiles was done pulling it out, the wolf was gone and in its place was a girl. Her dead eyes staring back at them.

The following morning, Stiles’ dad was bringing Derek Hale out in cuffs and putting him in the back of his squad car. The police were looking at the grave site where the body was. Scott was watching comfortably from the hood of Stiles jeep. Now that Derek was fingered for the murder he would finally leave them alone. Scott felt relief but his face fell when he saw Stiles heading over to the car. Scott wondered just what Stiles was doing. Stiles looked over at Scott and he tried to tell him ‘No’ knowing that he could hear him but Stiles still went in. They finally nailed Derek. Why was he heading over to talk to him for?

Stiles didn’t sleep much last night. He felt that something was off about this whole thing. He couldn’t bring it up with Scott because right now, all that was on his mind was being free to play on Saturday and would try to stop him. He needed real answers and, unfortunately, there was only one person who could give those answers to him. Scott tried to tell him ‘no’ but Stiles just went in when the coast was clear.

Stiles looked at Derek who was less than pleased to see him. “Okay, just to be clear. I’m not afraid of you.” Derek just kept his glare on. “Alright, maybe a little but you know what, doesn’t matter. Now, that girl…she’s a werewolf, isn’t she? But a different kind. She could turn into an actual wolf and I know that Scott and I can’t do that. And I don’t think you could either. So tell me, just what the hell is going on. I’m not smelling any traces of her blood on you and when I gave Scott a scratch it took me a half hour to get rid of the smell. Cutting her in half, it wouldn’t be so easy.”

Derek let some air loose. “Why are you so worried about me when it’s your friend that’s the problem? If he plays in that game and changes what do you think will happen? You think everybody’s going to keep cheering him on? And when the hunters learn about him, how long do you think it’ll be before they find out about you?” Stiles back away slightly. “You forget, Scott left a trail. A passed over kid that suddenly became good at a sport. Sound familiar? You actually seem to have some amount of sense and you should use it to keep him from playing in that game,” he said moving closer to him. Stiles felt his insides chill at what Derek was saying.

Just then, the door opened and Stiles was being pulled out by his dad. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!” he hissed at him.

“I’m just trying to help,” he said when he was let go.

“Oh, then could you help me in understanding how you and Scott even came on any of this?”

“We were looking for Scott’s inhaler and for my phone and-“

“That you both dropped when?” his father asked.

“The other night.”

“The other night? The night when me and my deputies were looking for the body?”

“Yes,” he huffed before he shut his eyes. “I mean no.”

“So, you and Scott were out here. You know, I can’t even feel surprised. You were listening in on my calls again, weren’t you?”

“No,” Stiles said shaking his head.

“Are you lying to me?”

“It depends on how you define lying.”

“Oh, well I define it as not telling the truth. How would you define it?”

“Um, laying your body in a horizontal position.”

His father wasn’t amused. “Get the hell out of here.”

“Yeah, right away,” he said heading over for his jeep without skipping a beat.

Stiles then started to quickly driving off back into town. Scott was online trying to find everything they could on wolfsbane.

“I can’t find anything on wolfsbane being used for burials.”

“Well keep looking,” Stiles said. “Maybe it’s not even something that written down. Maybe it’s a ritual or something. You know, they bury you as a wolf. It might be something to learn.”

“Yeah, I’ll put it on my to do list. Right after figuring out how to play on Saturday.”

Just then the car hit a sink hole and Stiles’ backpack in the back rolled over to them.

Stiles spared Scott a look. “Listen Scott, maybe this isn’t such a good idea.”

“What?”

“Saturday. It’s too much of a risk. Maybe…it might be best for us to skip the game.”

“What?! No! Not after everything that we just went through!”

Stiles huffed angrily from his nose before he pulled the jeep over. “We went through? I’m not the one who shifted on the field because Jackson and Coach were being hardasses. And if you do it again it’s not just your ass on the line, it’s mine too.”

“Then you don’t play. It’s not like it really matters to you anyway,” Scott bit out. “But I can’t miss this.”

Stiles felt a pain on his head but he glared at Scott. “Yeah, Scott can’t miss one insy, winsy game even though he might leave a trail of bodies behind.”

Scott slammed his fist down into the dash but he knocked the backpack next to it over and revealed the wolfsbane rope which burned Scott when it touched him. His eyes glowed golden. “Ow, you kept it?”

“Well, what the hell was I supposed to do with it?” Stiles then quickly took the pack and opened the door. He shut his eyes and grit his teeth as he felt pain by being so close to his rope. His own eyes flared gold and he quickly flung the bag into the distance as hard as he could. He then backed into a tree and started to mentally count backwards from ten. He tried to fight through the pain and anger he was feeling. He felt his claws coming out and he went and jammed them into his forearms to try and settle himself as he kept up the count. When he got to the number four, the gold in his eyes faded and he gasped out in relief as he felt the feeling ebb away. He then let go of his own arms and wiped his now clawless hands across his face to get rid of the tears.

Stiles stomped over back to the car to find that Scott was gone. He looked around but could find no trace of his friend.

Chapter Text

When Stiles had run out of the car with the wolfsbane Scott had gotten out of the car himself and had run off in the opposite direction. His face had fully shifted and he started running on two feet before switching off on all fours. He came across a small gorge and he quickly leapt right over it and landed on the other side and kept on going.

“Stiles, you know you can’t call the dispatch line when I’m on duty.”

“I just wanted to know if you got any odd calls.” Stiles had gotten in his car and was quickly driving off as he tried to get a hold of his scent. Scott couldn’t have gotten too far yet and there was still a chance for him to track him down before he got seen but he had to make sure they wouldn’t have any unexpected surprises so he radioed dispatch.

“Odd calls?” she repeated. “How?”

“Like an odd person. Or a…dog like individual roaming around.”

“I’m hanging up now.”

“Wait,” he cried before he heard it cut off. He then slammed it down angrily. His eyes fell momentarily on an image of a bipedal wolf carrying a girl in his arms. “Of course,” he muttered. Where else would Scott be heading?

Allison was doing some homework in her room unaware that there was someone on the roof watching her. Scott was quietly scaling across the top of her house keeping his golden gaze locked on her. Allison then went over to the window to close the curtain and Scott quickly caught sight of his reflection. It shocked him to see him look so bestial and he couldn’t let Allison see him like that. He quickly leapt off the roof and tried to make a break for it when he suddenly got hit by a car and was thrown to the side.

Chris Argent got out of the car and ran to him. “Oh my god,” he muttered.

Scott groaned as the pain of the hit got to him. He then heard Allison’s gasp.

“Dad, what are you doing?”

“He came out of nowhere,” he tried to explain to her.

Scott was then turned around and his features were back to normal.

“Are you trying to kill him?” Allison asked.

Scott looked frighteningly over to him. The double meaning of that question hitting him worse than the car did.

“No, of course not,” said Mr. Argent. “He just ran out into the driveway.”

“I’m sorry,” Scott said quickly. “It was my fault.”

“You okay?” Allison softly asked him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I swear. I’m sorry I hit your car,” he said to Mr. Argent before looking back at Allison. “I was just coming to see you.”

“You sure you’re okay?” she asked him as she helped him up.

“Yeah, lacrosse,” he said like it explained everything. “Speaking of, I should get going. I have a game to get to. You coming?”

“Yeah,” she said with a smile.

“We both are,” Mr. Argent said. “Come on, we’ll give you a lift.”

Over at the other side of the street, Stiles was in his jeep staring at the house as he had seen and heard everything. He didn’t like that Scott was riding in the same car as the guy who shot him with a crossbow but it looked like he was safe, for now. He started the car. He better head off to catch the game too.

Scott was in the locker room getting ready when he heard Jackson started to talk from across the locker room. He had said his name.

“McCall,” he heard him say.

Scott tried to listen in but with all the sounds of lockers slamming and people walking around he couldn’t focus on what he was saying. But from the look on his face, he guessed it wasn’t good. Well, at least Jackson was playing which should help keep Lydia off his back. As he sat down to finish putting on his pads Stiles walked over. He had a less than happy look about him as he was also dressed up for lacrosse.

“You still going to try and convince me not to play?” he slurred out.

Stiles just stood there. “I should but something tells me that you are going to try no matter what I say. Hell, I would pin you down until the game was over if I thought it would help.” Scott then looked over at Stiles with a hard look on his face which Stiles answered in kind. But then Stiles deflated. He was still angry with him but Scott was his friend and he needed his help. “I just hope you know what the hell you’re doing.”

“If I don’t play then I lose first line and I lose Allison.”

“Allison’s not going anywhere,” Stiles tried to explain. From what he heard and saw he didn’t think Allison was the type of girl to get hung up over one missed game. Hell, she quickly forgave Scott for what happened at the party and took him back no fuss no muss. “It’s just one game Scott. One that you don’t even need to play.”

“I want to play. I want to be first line. I want to date Allison. I want a semi-freaking normal life. Don’t you get that?”

“Yeah,” Stiles said going over to sit with him. “I get it that you want that. You know what I want Scott? I want to go through a night where I didn’t have to worry about you or me tearing into someone’s chest and ripping their lungs out because we weren’t careful. I’m pretty sure that first line or Allison would be the least of your worries if that happens.”

Scott huffed. A part of him got what Stiles was trying to do but he just didn’t understand. After so long of wanting these things and finally getting them, he didn’t want to lose them now. “What if it was Lydia?” he asked. “If going out there was your only chance to have her, wouldn’t you go?”

Stiles froze. Okay, that was a low blow. But, it was a good one. Stiles ran his hand over his short hair. “Fine, just be careful, okay. And I got your back out there.”

“How? You’re still on the bench.”

“You let me worry about that. You worry about keeping yourself from sprouting hair and claws in the middle of the field. You know, just don’t get upset, or too angry.”

Scott nodded. “I got it.”

“Or stressed,” Stiles pressed.

“I got it,” Scott said again. But Stiles kept going. Making sure Scott had his bases covered. “Don’t think about Allison in the stands. Or that her father’s trying to kill you, and me too. Or that Derek’s probably going to try and kill you. Or that girl that he might or might not have killed. Or that you might kill someone if a hunter doesn’t kill you first.” That got Scott to look horrifyingly at him. “Okay?” he said with a bit of a smile. He had to admit, he felt Scott deserved that. “Good luck,” he said with a smile.

The two of them went out into the field together where Lydia came over. Stiles opened his mouth in shock at her approaching them but she went over to Scott. Stiles lingered close by but Lydia gave him a look that he took as a look to keep moving.

“I’m…just going to go find Coach,” he said as he went on ahead.

Lydia then caught Scott’s eye. “Hey Scott, remember something out there tonight.”

“Um, there’s more important things than winning,” he said hopefully.

“No, no one likes a loser,” she said with a smile before she headed for the stands towards where Allison was sitting with her father. So much for Lydia being off his back.

Stiles found Coach and put his back up plan in motion.

Jackson was sitting close by when the Coach went over to him. “How’s the shoulder?” he asked him.

“It’s fine,” he dismissed.

“Feeling any pain?” Coach asked softly.

Jackson shook his head. “No.”

“What if I gave it a big ole punch? Would you feel any pain then?”

“Maybe,” Jackson shrugged.

“Well just go out there and do your best. If it looks like you get into any pain-“

“Just keep playing?” Jackson guessed.

“Yeah, but if you can’t don’t worry. One of your teammates just said that he was worried about his captain. Asked me to have him fill in for you if something happens.”

Jackson narrowed his eyes. “Who?”

Coach then gave a look to the side and Jackson saw Stiles there flipping his lacrosse stick in his hand. Now, he was officially pissed off.

Scott got on the field and let out a deep breath. “Please let this be okay,” he prayed. “Please.”

Stiles was nervously biting his glove. “Oh, please let this be okay,” he said too.

He was then shocked out of it by the arrival of his dad. “Hey kid.”

“Hey,” he said back. Stiles felt his nerves loosening a bit at the sight of his dad’s calming smile.

“You think you might see some action tonight?” he asked.

Stiles took a look over at Scott. “Action? Maybe.”

The game then started. Everything seemed to go fine, that is until Scott saw an opening to claim the dropped ball but then he was pushed down by Jackson so he could get the ball and score the first goal. Stiles just shook his head in annoyance while Scott stared after him with a mild glare. Jackson just smugly stared back. To make matters worse Lydia and Allison stood up in the stands and they raised a sign together that read: We Luv U Jackson.

Both Scott and Stiles caught sight of it. “Brutal,” Stiles said to himself. He looked back over at Scott and saw him huff out and run off. Stiles could instantly hear Scott’s heart speed up from there. “Oh this not going to be good,” he muttered.

Scott stopped as he saw his teammates gather together without him.

“Only to me,” he heard Jackson say to them.

“But what if he’s open?” one of them asked.

“Who’s captain? You or me?”

“Jackson, come on,” Danny said. “I just want to win.”

“We will win,” he insisted.

“But-“

“What did I say?” Jackson angrily asked. “What, did, I say?” he angrily asked again.

“Don’t pass to McCall,” Danny answered.

Scott’s grip on his stick tightened. All thoughts about keeping control were now gone. Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was anything he could to show Jackson up and he didn’t care which of the opposing teammates or his own got in his way. He would tear them apart if he had to.

Stiles had heard the entire thing too. He was finding himself getting pissed off too. He made his fist and chanted a mantra of ‘Keep calm. No wolfing up,’ in his head to block out the hot rage pressing into his head. It didn’t really help.

Scott started breathing harder when the next set started. He was asked if he was okay by the referee and he just nodded. His breathing was catching the attention of the guy next to him.

Over in the stands, Mr. Argent leaned in close to his daughter and her friend. “Which one is Scott again?”

“Number 11,” said Lydia. “Also known as the only guy who hasn’t caught a ball this entire game.”

“I hope he’s okay,” Allison said.

“I hope we’re okay,” said Lydia looking at the scoreboard. They were trailing down by two and there was just over a minute left on the clock.

They then held up another sign. This one said: Jackson’s #1. When Scott saw it he jumped into action. Before the ball could be caught after it was let go Scott went and jumped for it and took off down the field. He darted passed anyone that tried to stop him. He then made the shot and got it in making them only trailing by one.

“Yes, that’s what I’m talking about!” Coach roared. “Pass to McCall! Pass to McCall!”

When Jackson met up with the opposing captain for the next set the guy looked straight from Scott to Jackson. “What the hell is your guy on?”

“I don’t know, yet,” Jackson said before the guy blew the whistle and the ball was taken from right under him and thrown to one of the other players.

The opposing team had the ball but when the guy who got it came against Scott, he froze at the sight of his fangs and golden eyes and then let the ball loose for Scott to have it.

“Did the opposing team just pass us the ball?” Coach asked Stiles.

“Yeah Coach I believe they just did.”

Scott ran down the field and got another shot and tied the game up for them.

Stiles could see Jackson looking steamed all the way from here. Scott was still having trouble, barely hanging on and the last thing they needed was for him to come along and push the last wall his friend had left down. They were too close to the end and he wouldn’t let Jackson screw them now which he knew he would try to do.

“Hey Coach,” Stiles said moving over to him. “It looks like Jackson’s slagging a bit out there. He lost the ball kind of fast there. Maybe his arm’s starting to bother him again.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So,” Stiles pressed. “We’re starting to do so well and with less than 30 seconds left I would hate for us to risk our captain so early in the season when we didn’t have to.”

He then left the Coach to consider those words.

After the next goal, the whistle was then blown and Coach pointed at Jackson. “Jackson, front and center!”

“Coach?”

“You’re losing your momentum out there.”

“No coach. I’m fine.”

Coach just shook his head. “Look, it’s all good. We’re still in this thing! You toughed it out and have been giving it 110% but it’s time to take a load off. Don’t need to have anything happen to you.” He then looked over at the bench. “Stilinski!” he said snapping him out of watching the field. “Move your ass out there!”

“Seriously?” he asked.

“Seriously?!” Jackson growled out.

“Okay, seriously, does everyone think that I look like I’m trying to be amusing?!” Coach asked annoyed.

Stiles gave the coach a bit of a shrug but when he blew the whistle at him Stiles went for his helmet and stick and took off for the field. Jackson angrily threw his stick at the bench and ripped his helmet off. He looked over at Lydia on the bleachers but she looked away when he did. Jackson glared over at Stilinski, the spaz who went and took his spot and kept him from being in the game to the very end.

Stiles dad cheered and shouted for him and Stiles felt the earlier heating rage replaced with a different kind of warm feeling. He looked over at Scott who was still huffing and Stiles could see that his eyes were golden under his helmet. Stiles’ eyes burned gold in kind at him.

When the set started, Danny had the ball and he then went and tossed it over to Stiles when he saw that he was open. Stiles smiled for a second to actually have the ball in his grasp before he ducked out from someone coming to slam him and ran down the field. He saw two opposing players coming for him and he went and pushed them both aside with a bit of a growl.

“Whoo!” Coach hollered when he saw that. “That’s what I like to see!” he roared as he pointed at Stiles charging on.

Someone else had a reaction to Stiles’ move.

“Yes,” the sheriff yelled from the stands. “That’s my son!” he called out.

Stiles then caught sight of Scott, he was open, and he passed ball over to him. Scott caught it and saw that he was being charged at from two opposing sides. He was growling at them as he saw them both in infrared.

“Scott,” Stiles muttered from where he was. “No, calm yourself. Don’t make me have to charge you. You can do this, just shoot it,” he chanted over to him.

Scott looked down into the ball in his net and then looked ahead. He then jumped and shot the ball down to the goal where it went passed the goalie and into the net.

The time ran out and now they were leading by 1. The stands exploded as everyone started to jump and cheer for Beacon Hills winning the game. Everyone was shouting and roaring in delight. Well, almost everyone. Lydia was politely clapping, upset that her boyfriend hadn’t been out there to close the game like she felt he should’ve been. As for Jackson, he was glaring off at the two upstarts who stole his thunder.

Stiles removed his helmet as the euphoria took over. It was over. Not only did they avoid anybody losing a limb but they won too. He even got to play a set. He let out a great big sigh of relief and looked over to Scott but found that he wasn’t there anymore. He was gone. Oh no, he was starting to wonder if Scott hadn’t settled down yet. Stiles sniffed the air and caught Scott’s scent and felt that he was still close. He was about to go and look for him when he saw his dad on his phone. He looked like he was in the middle of a serious talk, police serious. His ears zeroed in on his dad’s conversation and widened his eyes when he heard what was being said.

When his dad caught him looking from afar he smiled. “I’ll call you back,” he said before hanging up and smiling up at him. “Congrats Stiles.”

“Thanks dad,” he said softly.

His dad then went and embraced him in a hug. “I’m proud of you. You were great out there. Didn’t know you had it in ya.”

“I know. I surprised myself.” He then looked off behind him.

“You know what’s really surprising? I was just on the phone and you aren’t badgering me with questions.”

That was because Stiles heard his father’s entire conversation thanks to his super hearing. “I guess I’m too pumped to do that now,” he explained away. “Listen, I better go and find Scott.”

“Yeah, go and find your friend and celebrate. You two earned it,” he said happily.

Scott felt his stomach twist after he had scored the final goal. He dropped his glove as he tried to hold his stomach to try and push this pain away. He took off from the field and stumbled into the dark locker room as the heat and pain kept their grip on him. He could feel himself changing again even though the game was over. He rushed over to the sink and caught his reflection in the mirror. He hated the sight of himself like this and went and punched the mirror shattering it. The next sound made his heart sink.

“Scott?” Allison’s voice rang out into the locker room. “Scott are you here?”

Scott started to hide as he heard Allison step into the locker room. He watched as she stepped further inside. Allison kept calling for him in the dark as she kept looking around. She eventually found him where he was trying to keep to himself at the showers. He was trying to slow his breathing as he heard her step closer to him.

“Hey? Are you okay?” she asked as she then lightly gripped his shoulder. “Scott?” At that he turned around to look at her, completely wolf-free. “You scared me, are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he panted out in relief. “I’m sorry. I just kind of got light headed for a sec.”

“Maybe it was the adrenaline? You were pretty amazing out there,” she said happily.

Scott couldn’t help the small smile at her praise of him. “I’m sorry for acting weird today.”

“It’s okay. I can handle weird.”

Scott just kept his gaze on her beautiful smile. “To be brutally honest, you kind of make me nervous.”

“I do?”

“Like, really nervous.” That just made her laugh. “I just want to make sure that I get my second chance.”

“You already have it,” she said softly before adding flirtatiously. “I’m just waiting for you to take it.”

“Maybe I should learn to take more chances,” he said going in closer to her.

Stiles was running through the halls, following the trail left by Scott’s scent. He was in the locker room. Stiles ears picked up Scott’s rapid heartbeat and he heard another one next to it. Someone was with him. Stiles panicked for a minute before Scott’s heartbeat started to slow. Before he got in, he smelled something. A weird scent entered the air. It was like it felt calming and…arousing, at the same time? He got in to find Scott and Allison sharing a soft kiss in the dark. He then backed up slightly so they wouldn’t notice him. The two of them slowly broke apart.

“I better get back to my dad,” Allison said softly. She then started to head out but noticed Stiles hiding. “Hi Stiles,” she said with a smile.

“Hey, yeah,” he said as she left. He then approached Scott. “You alright?” he asked him.

“I kissed her,” he said in a daze.

“Yeah, I saw that.”

“She kissed me,” he added again with a crazy smile working its way on him.

“Saw that too,” Stiles teased. “Pretty good huh?”

Scott just grinned. “I don’t know how, but I controlled it,” he said softly. “Maybe I can do this. Maybe it really isn’t that bad.”

“Yeah,” Stiles breathed. “Though maybe without so many close calls next time?”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Thanks Stiles, for having my back out there.”

He shrugged. “You would do the same for me…I’m guessing.” Stiles let out a sigh as he bounced on the balls of his feet as he then gave him a slap to the shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

“What?” he asked grabbing onto him. Scott noticed that Stiles seemed to want to say more but didn’t want to ruin his moment.

“Uh…the medical examiner looked at the other half of the body we found. I overheard my dad on the phone with him discussing the results.”

“And?”

“Well, I’ll keep it simple. The tests show killer of the girl was animal not human. Derek’s not an animal, so not the killer. Derek let out of jail,” he said slapping his thighs with his arms.

“Are you kidding?!” Scott said.

“No, and here’s the real kick in the ass. My dad, he was able to ID the dead girl, both halves of her. Name’s Laura Hale.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “Hale?”

“Derek’s sister. His werewolf sister.”

Scott was frozen in shock.

Scott’s discarded glove was on the field and Jackson went over to it and picked it up. He looked it over and noticed that there seemed to be holes in it. Right at where the fingers were supposed to be. Jackson wondered what that was about before he felt a tingle in his spine. He turned around and noticed someone standing not too far off, watching him. Derek Hale saw the teen pick up Scott’s glove with evidence of his werewolf claws. He then took off. It looked like he was going to have to really lay in on those boys now before they got themselves and him killed.

Chapter Text

Scott was having fun and fooling around with Allison by the school’s bus lot late that night. They then went into one of the empty buses and started to make out in the privacy and solitude, with big smiles on their faces. As the kissing and touching got more intense Scott found himself starting to feel agitated.

“What’s wrong?” Allison asked him.

He then looked to see that his hands had sprouted claws and he started to breathe faster. “Get away,” he said softly.

He then turned to look at her with his fangs and claws bared and Allison leapt back in fright. She tried to escape but the door was stuck. Scott went over and started to pull and drag her over to the back of the bus. He then started to viciously maul her.

Scott then gasped out as he found himself in his room, lying on his bed.

“So you killed her?” Stiles asked the next morning as he explained everything when they met at school.

“I don’t know. I just woke up. I was sweating like crazy and couldn’t breathe. I never had a dream where I woke up like that before.”

“Really?” Stiles asked bemused. “I have. Usually ends a little differently.”

Scott rolled his eyes. “A: I meant that I never had a dream that felt that real before and B: never give me that much detail of you in bed again.”

Stiles let that last comment slide. “It’s okay Scott. Honestly, with what’s happened to us, things could be a lot worse.”

“For me maybe,” Scott muttered. “But what about you? You’ve been feeling anything?”

“You mean where I have dreams that I’m ripping people apart, thinking about ripping people apart or almost ripping people apart?” He then took a second to think. “No, can’t say I have.”

“Well, lucky you,” he said.

Scott couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous of Stiles lately. It was like he was hanging of the skin of his teeth to get this werewolf thing under control but Stiles had been pretty much normal since they’d been bitten. And, even when he did lose it, he was able to make it go away and control it way better than he could. He wondered why Stiles was having it so easy while he was having it so hard?

“I’m pretty much in the dark about this as much as you are. I mean, it’s not like there’s a Lycanthropy for Beginners class we could take.”

“Not a class…but maybe a teacher.”

“A teacher? You mean Derek? Scott, are you forgetting the part where we got him tossed in jail? Something tells me he’s not in the mood to be doing us any favors.”

“I know,” he panted out. “But chasing her. Dragging her to the back of the bus, it seemed so real.”

They then headed to the quad where they were greeted with the sight of a bloodied bus.

“Oh man,” Stiles let out. He then looked over to see Scott running back inside.

Scott took out his phone and started to send messages. He walked down the halls looking for any sign of her but was coming up with nothing. “She’s not answering my texts.”

“I’m sure she’s fine. It’s all just a coincidence,” Stiles said trying to calm him down. He could hear Scott’s pulse rising already. “Just an amazing coincidence.”

“Just help me find her okay.”

He was starting to freak out the longer he went without seeing her.

“Scott, I know what you’re thinking and let me tell you right now that you didn’t.”

He let his head rest on a nearby locker as he tried to work out his aggravation. “How do you know?!” he grunted out.

“Because I can’t smell her blood on you,” he explained. “Don’t you think that if you did attack her that I would smell just a little bit coming from you?”

Scott didn’t listen. He just went and then slammed his fist into that locker with a frustrated yell. As he settled down he heard a thumping sound. “Drums,” he muttered.

“What?” Stiles said looking from the smashed locker door to him.

But Scott didn’t explain himself. He started walking. He remembered what Stiles said about hearing other people’s distant hearts like drums and he knew this one. He didn’t know how but he knew it. He was so set on walking that he almost collided with Allison.

“Oh,” she said surprised. “You scared me.”

“You’re okay,” he said relieved.

“When my heart starts beating again, yeah,” she said dropping to pick up some stuff she dropped. She then noticed the look on his face. “What?”

“Just happy to see you,” he explained.

Stiles was watching the whole thing and let his back hit the opposite wall as he huffed in relief. He touched his head to feel that it was burning a bit. Scott may think that he was having it easy but, honestly, Stiles could hardly seem to relax with his friend being a ticking time bomb.

The PA system then started up. “Attention students, this is your principal. I know you’re all wondering about the incident that occurred last night at one of our buses. But while the police work to determine what happened, classes will precede as scheduled.”

“See you at lunch?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said with a puppy dog look in his eye.

“Hi Stiles,” she said as he came over.

Stiles sent her a wave before he looked over to him. “See? She’s fine. Coincidence.”

They then started to head to their class when they caught sight of Jackson at the ruined locker. Stiles fought to keep from laughing. Talk about coincidences. The one locker that Scott had to let loose at and it was his. That was too good.

Scott seemed to think so too. A small part of him enjoyed seeing Jackson frustrated given what he tried to pull during the game on Saturday.

Jackson caught sight of them. “What are you looking at asswipes?”

They then hurried off faster to their next class.

Unfortunately that class was chemistry with Mr. Harris. A teacher that neither Scott nor Stiles was very fond of nor did it seem he was fond of them.

“Maybe it was my blood on the door,” Scott said to Stiles panicked.

Stiles was rubbing his cheek with his pen as he thought on it. “Could’ve been animal blood? Maybe you caught a rabbit or something?”

“And did what?”

“Ate it,” he slurred out.

Scott looked horrified. “Raw?”

Stiles couldn’t help the mild glare. “No, you stopped to bake it in a little werewolf oven,” he said sarcastically. “I don’t know, it’s you that can’t remember.”

“Mr. Stilinski,” Harris called out. “If that’s your idea of a hushed whisper than you should take the headphones out of your ear. Maybe you and Mr. McCall would benefit from some time apart.”

“No, not really,” he said back.

But Harris had them separate anyway. As Scott sat down, he could feel Jackson glare at him from behind. He didn’t need this now.

“Hey,” someone up front called. “I think they found something.”

Harris tried to get everyone settled down but no one listened as they crowded the windows. They watched as the police pulled a man from the bus.

“That’s no rabbit,” Scott said as he looked at the man on the gurney.

Suddenly the guy jumped up and startled all of them. He was covered in blood and deep scratches.

“Scott,” Stiles said as he watched his friend back away.

 “Stiles,” Scott whispered. “I did that.”

“It wasn’t a dream,” Scott said as they got together in the cafeteria. “I attacked that guy.”

“We don’t know that,” Stiles said as he sat down across from him. “You had a dream, that’s all we know. Hell, for all we know, I attacked him.”

Scott froze and looked over at him. “You think you might’ve?”

Stiles froze himself. “I don’t know. It’s not like I keep a minute by minute record of where I am at all times. Besides, don’t you remember what I said earlier? You’re clean. No scent of blood so you couldn’t have done it. Do you smell blood on me?” Scott shook his head. “See, there you go.”

“Unless it was my blood? You know what my blood smells like, right? Was it mine?”

“Uh…I don’t know. I didn’t catch the scent very good.” Scott looked annoyed with him. “What, its not like I went over and pressed my nose to the splatter.”

Scott just shook his head. “I can’t go out with Allison. It’s too dangerous.”

Stiles just knew he was going to regret saying this but he couldn’t help the best friend reflex. “No, don’t cancel. You can’t just cancel your whole life. We’ll figure this out.”

“Figure what out?” Lydia said coming over.

Stiles was at a loss for words at the moment. “Oh, uh…homework,” he straightened up. He couldn’t believe that Lydia Martin had just come over to sit with them like this. He felt his heart jumping around in his chest. He leaned over to Scott. “Why’s she sitting with us?”

Scott just shrugged, confused himself until Allison came over and sat next to him. Then the rest of the ‘popular clique’ came around including Jackson who told one of them to get up from his seat next to Lydia because, as Danny put it, he didn’t want anyone to stare at his girlfriend’s coin slot. Stiles eyes headed for that direction for a second before he went to look back at his phone.

“Hey, what was up with the guy in the bus?” Danny asked. “I heard they’re saying it was some type of animal attack. Probably a cougar.”

“I heard mountain lion,” said Jackson.

“A cougar is a mountain lion,” Lydia said at him. Jackson raised an eyebrow at her. “Isn’t it?”

Stiles heard her heart jump and beat faster when she said that. It wasn’t a lie, more like she was nervously trying to correct herself. Stiles has noticed Lydia for years and he knows that she is a hell of a lot smarter than she acts. He doesn’t know why she would force herself to act so stupid. From how she was nervously looking at Jackson, he didn’t think that it was a good reason.

“Who cares?” Jackson snarked. “The guy was probably some homeless tweaker that was going to die anyway.”

“Actually,” Stiles said as he found the news stream. “I think I just found out who it is. Check it out,” he said as he showed them.

After some footage with Stiles’ dad, a picture came up along with the name Garrison Meyers. At the sight of it Scott’s eyes widened. “Wait, I know this guy?”

“You do?” Stiles asked.

“Yeah, back when I lived with my dad. He was the bus driver.”

The two of them caught each other’s eyes. Why would Scott, if was even him, attack a former bus driver?

“Can we talk about something a bit more fun please,” Lydia chimed in. “Like, where we’re going tomorrow night?” Scott and Allison looked over to her, at a loss for what she was talking about. “You said that you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?”

Scott looked back over at Allison who seemed to be a little embarrassed. “Um, we were thinking about what we were going to do.”

“Well, I’m not sitting home again watching lacrosse videos so if the four of us are hanging out, we’re doing something fun.”

At Lydia’s proclamation, Scott, Allison and Jackson looked like they each swallowed a lemon.

“Hanging out?” Scott asked looking over at Allison who nervously sipped her water. “Like, the four of us? You want to hang out like us and them?”

Stiles could feel Scott’s pain from where he sat.

“Yeah,” Allison forced out. “I guess, sounds fun.”

“You know what else sounds fun?” asked Jackson. “Stabbing myself in the face with this fork.”

Stiles had to hand it to Jackson. He finally had a good idea. Too bad that Lydia pried it out of his fingers.

“How about bowling? You love to bowl,” she said to him.

“Yeah, with actual competition,” he complained to her.

“How do you know we’re not actual competition?” Allison asked slyly. “You can bowl right?”

“Sort of,” Scott muttered. Stiles cringed.

Jackson leaned forward. “Is it sort of, or yes?”

“Yes,” Scott quickly said. “In fact, I’m a great bowler.”

Stiles couldn’t believe Scott. He had to dive into his rescue again. “Are you sure you’re up for it Jackson?” he asked him softly as the guy turned to look at him. “I mean, wouldn’t want anything else to happen to that arm of yours. Not that I wouldn’t mind.”

Jackson jaw tightened. He still hated that the Coach pulled him out of the game before the finish to replace him with Stilinski.

After lunch, Scott and Stiles were heading off down the halls together.

“You’re a terrible bowler,” Stiles scolded.

“I know,” Scott said back. “I’m such an idiot.”

“Yeah, it was like watching a car wreck. First it turned into that whole group date thing. Then, out of nowhere, that phrase just had to rear its ugly head.”

“Hanging out,” Scott despaired.

“Yeah that. You don’t hang out with ‘hot girls’. I know that I wouldn’t want to hang out with Lydia. Make out, that’s fine though.” But he shook himself out of that train of thought. “But still hanging out, that’s like death. You might as well be the gay best friend. You and Danny could start hanging out.”

“How is this even happening?” Scott asked. “I either killed or attacked a guy.”

“I don’t think Danny likes me very much,” Stiles said out of nowhere.

“I ask Allison on a date and now we’re hanging out,” Scott continued not listening to Stiles.

“Am I not attractive to gay guys?” Stiles asked not listening to him either. “Though he did pass me the ball Saturday now that I think about it.”

“I make first line, the team captain wants to destroy me and now,” he looked at his phone to see the time. “I’m going to be late for work!” he said before taking off.

“Wait Scott, am I not attractive to gay guys?” he called after him.

Scott hurried to the vet’s office and saw his boss, Mr. Deaton looking through some files. “Sorry, I’m late.”

“Scott, you are all but two minutes late,” he said softly.

“I…just don’t want you to think I’m slacking.”

“Scott, I know that you are one of the least slacking kids in this whole town by far.”

Scott smiled at the compliment before his eyes went to the door. It was Stiles’ dad and he was dressed in his full sheriff’s attire. He walked in and was being led by a dog.

“Look who’s here to get their stitches out,” Deaton said to the dog.

“Hey Scott,” the sheriff said happily. “Keeping out of trouble I hope?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

The sheriff then took out an envelope. “Hey, now that I’m here, do you mind taking a look at this? Sacramento still can’t determine it was an animal.”

“Sure,” Deaton said taking the envelope. “I’ll have a look but I’m not exactly an expert. This is the guy who was attacked on the bus?”

Scott raised his head at that.

“Yeah,” the sheriff said. “And we found wolf hairs on Laura Hale’s body.”

“A wolf?” Scott said. That got the two of them to look over at him. “I mean, I thought that I heard somewhere that wolves haven’t been in California for 60 years,” he said repeating what Stiles had told him.

“True enough,” Deaton said looking back at the pictures. “But wolves are highly migratory. They could’ve wandered in from another state, driven from their territory by impulse or strong enough memory.”

“Wolves have memories?” Could this have something in common with his dream?

“Longer term memories, yes,” his boss answered. “Associated with primal drive. But you see this here,” he showed the picture to the sheriff of Meyer’s face. “Those are claw marks. A wolf would’ve gone for the throat. The spinal cord with its teeth.”

“So, what, you think it might be a mountain lion?” he asked.

“Don’t know. Could be a wolf. They are known to chase down its prey. Hobbling it by tearing at the ankles.” Scott then remembered that in his dream he tore at Allison’s ankle. “And then the throat,” his boss finished.

After work, he rode his bike to the hospital and went to see his mother with a bag of food. She immediately noticed him.

“Oh, is my beautiful, talented and wonderful son actually bringing me dinner?”

“I thought you wouldn’t mind skipping the cafeteria tomorrow night,” he said setting it down with a smile.

“Oh you are the most thoughtful, loving, most conniving little con-artist ever. You are so not getting the car tomorrow night.”

“Mom,” he pouted.

“What? There’s a curfew. Curfew means no car. But, I will take this. Love you,” she said walking off.

“Love you too,” he sighed.

Scott then looked down the hallway where he sensed something. Something eerily familiar. He went over to one of the rooms that was opened and his eyes widened when he saw that it was Garrison Meyers. He was hooked up to IV’s and seemed to be asleep. Or he did before he turned to look at him.

“You okay?” he asked the man he potentially mauled.

Meyers started to breathe more quickly before he went and grabbed at him. Scott was scared and tried to free himself before his mother came in.

“What the hell are you doing in here? Leave!” she said separating them and trying to sedate Meyers.

Scott then bolted out of the hospital. He couldn’t handle this anymore.

A patrolman pulled up the Hale house to scope the place with his K-9. He was reluctant to enter and Derek focused on the dog in the back and made it start to act out of control with fear. That got the officer worked up and he decided to leave.

Derek felt a little proud of himself before he saw one of the last people he wanted to see anytime soon.

Scott had his hands nervously in his pockets as he looked up at the wreck. “I know you can hear me,” he said out to the house. “I need your help.”

Derek jaw stiffened. He went down and out the front door to where Scott was dragging himself forward.

Scott couldn’t believe he was doing this but he didn’t have any other choice. What Meyers did really freaked him out and if he didn’t get answers then he wouldn’t be able to do anything without worrying about mauling someone else. Most of all, Allison. Stiles’ words played back in his mind, about how Derek wouldn’t be eager to do him any favors. Especially after he got him thrown in jail and played in the game on Saturday when he said not to. He’ll just have to give it his best shot.

“Okay,” Scott started. “I know that I was part of you getting arrested and basically announced you to the hunters. Also, I don’t know what happened to your sister, but, I think I did something last night. I…I had a dream…someone,” he said not wanting to draw Derek’s attention to Allison again. “But someone else got hurt. It looks like that part of the dream might’ve actually happened.”

“You think you attacked the driver?” Derek asked.

How did he know what he was talking about? “Did you see what I did last night?”

“No,” he said without batting an eye.

“Can you at least tell me the truth? Am I going to hurt someone?”

“Yes.”

“Could I kill someone?”

“Yes.”

“Am I going to kill someone?”

“Probably.” Scott deflated at that and went to wallow in his despair. “Look, I can show you how to remember. I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon. You and your friend, but, it’s not going to come for free.”

Scott tensed. “What do you want?”

“You’ll find out. But, for now, I’m going to give you want. Go back to the bus. Go inside. See it. Feel it. Let your senses, sight, smell, touch; let them remember what happened for you.”

“That’s it?” he asked surprised. “Just go back?”

“Do you want to know happened?”

“I just want to know if I hurt him.”

“No you don’t. You want to know if you’ll hurt her.”

So taking this away from Allison didn’t seem to work after all. “Fine,” he muttered. “But you’ll keep your promise. You’ll help me? And Stiles too?”

“I will, but, only if you’re serious about this.”

“We are serious,” Scott said defiantly.

“No, at least, you don’t seem to be,” he said before he headed off back inside his house.

What was that supposed to mean?

Stiles was pacing his room with a printout of a meditation pose. With how things have been going lately, he was starting to look and study ways to keep his pulse steady and his stress level down.

“Okay,” he said before he took a lighter and lit three sticks of incense that he had set up in a glass jar. As soon as the sticks started to smoke Stiles recoiled as his nose suddenly felt itchy. “Ugh,” he cringed as he pinched his nose. “This is supposed to be soothing?”

He gave it a minute before he went back to his notes and put one of his pillows from his bed against the wall. He then let out a breath before he went moved himself so that his back was against the wall and his head was firmly on the pillow holding him up. He tightened his lip as the pressure started to build and the blood started to rush down. He bared his teeth before he extended his legs up and was balanced straight up. His arms were holding him in place and they weren’t even shaking from the weight. His new werewolf strength was making this easy. His breathing started to slow and he was actually feeling relaxed.

That is until the door opened and his father walked in. “Stiles?” Stiles then lost focus and he started to topple and fall back to the floor. His dad just stared at him tirelessly. “Do I want to know?” he asked as Stiles started to get back to his feet.

“Probably not,” he said as he dusted himself off. “Hey, I caught you on the news stream today.”

“Yeah, I look good?”

“The camera didn’t do you justice,” he said picking up the pillow from the floor and tossing it back to his bed. “So, any news on that guy who was attacked.”

He huffed and shook his head. “No, he still in critical condition. He hasn’t really woken yet so we can’t really continue investigating any further though it looks like its another animal attack.”

“Yeah, those seem to be trending lately,” Stiles muttered out.

“Listen, I'm going to be out late tonight. There’s a curfew so please, tonight, stay inside. I don’t want to be getting radioed about a certain son of mine breaking it.”

“Come on, does that sound like me?”

“You’re right,” his dad nodded. “I should lock you in tonight.”

“I’ll be inside before curfew,” he said quickly.

“Alright. Good. Well then I guess you could go back to…whatever it was you were doing.”

Stiles ran his hand across the back of his head. His phone started ringing and he looked to see that it was Scott.

“Hey Scott, what’s up?” he said.

“Stiles, I know what I have to do to remember what happened at the bus?” Scott said breathlessly.

Stiles stiffened. “What?”

Chapter Text

Stiles got into his jeep and went over to Scott's to pick him up. Scott told him to head for the school and along the way filled him in on what he and Derek talked about. Soon enough, they pulled up close to the parking lot.

"Alright," Stiles said getting out. "Let's go."

"No," Scott said. "Just me, someone has to keep watch."

"Why am I the one that has to keep watch?"

"Because there's only two of us," Scott argued.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "Okay, why is it starting to feel like you're Batman and I'm Robin? I don't want to be Robin all the time."

"No one is Batman or Robin any of the time."

Stiles looked bemused. "Not even some of the time?"

"Just stay here. They're my memories, remember."

"Alright," Stiles said in surrender. "Go, I'll keep a wolf eye and ear out. Just hurry back," he said as Scott climbed the fence.

Scott got into the parking lot and as he was heading for the bus, he suddenly saw himself in bed. He was struggling and then woke up to be shifted. Scott gasped. Was that a memory? He moved closer until he got to the bus and then went inside. As he touched one of the seats, he saw Meyers screaming as he was being dragged off. Scott reached his hand out to the floor and then saw himself trying to pull Meyers free before a hairy clawed paw came and swiped at his chest. Scott gasped as the pain of it was remembered.

Stiles was sitting in his jeep, calmly watching the lot, but he gasped when he saw a man with a flashlight moving in for the buses. "Oh crap," he said before he went and blew the horn to warn Scott.

Scott heard the horn and soon enough saw the light and quickly took off to get back to Stiles. He jumped the fence and got into the jeep and Stiles quickly put it in reverse and got them out of there.

"Did it work?!" Stiles asked. "Did you remember?!"

"Yeah, I was there last night! And the blood, a lot of it was mine!"

Stiles spared him a look. "What? So, you did attack him."

"No, I saw glowing eyes on the bus but they weren't mine. It was Derek."

"And the driver?"

"I think I was trying to protect him."

Stiles shook his head. "Okay, that doesn't make sense. Why would Derek help you remember that he attacked the driver?"

"That's what I don't get?"

Stiles couldn't wrap his mind around this. "Maybe it's a pack thing. You know an initiation."

"What do you mean?"

"You know you do the kill together."

"Because ripping someone's throat out is such a bonding experience?" Scott asked hysterically.

"But, Scott this means that you're not a killer. Which also means-"

"That I could go out with Allison," he added happily.

Stiles gave him a look. "Actually I was going to say it means that you won't try to kill me again and that I don't have to be one."

"Oh, yeah, that too," Scott nodded.

Stiles loved that Scott had that as an afterthought.

Allison was looking through her closet for something to wear to their group date tonight while Lydia was there to help her out. As they were going through what would be the best thing to wear her father came in.

"Hey Mr. Argent," Lydia said putting on the most charming smile she could muster.

Allison cleared her throat. "Hey dad, did you need something?"

"I wanted to tell you that you're staying in tonight," he said fixing his jacket.

"What? But I'm going out with my friends tonight," she said.

"Not while there is a wild animal out there attacking people," he argued. There was a hidden meaning in his words that Allison was remaining blissfully unaware of.

But Allison was going to keep fighting him on this. "Dad, I'm just-

"Hey," he cut in. "It's out of my hands. There's a curfew out anyway and no one's allowed out past 9 pm." He then saw her throw her clothes angrily. "Hey, no more arguing," he said sternly before leaving.

Lydia raised her eyes. "Someone's daddy's little girl."

Allison just huffed. "Sometimes…but not tonight." She then went over to the window and then climbed down to land firmly with her feet to the ground. "Eight years gymnastics," she happily explained. "You coming?"

Lydia snapped out of her stupor. "I'm…going to take the stairs."

They soon made it to the bowling alley where Scott and Jackson were waiting for them. They all went and got their balls and shoes before getting to their lane.

Scott watched as Allison weighed the balls in the shoot. "You, really look like you know what you're doing."

"Used to bowl with my dad. When was the last time you bowled?"

"Um, at a birthday party." When Allison turned around he added silently, "When I was eight."

Jackson and Lydia got pretty handsy as they got up into the lane before Lydia went to make her throw. Allison made hers and showed that she was actually good. Jackson showed off that he was good as well. But, when Scott was up, he seriously tanked his shot and got a gutter ball.

Jackson then started to laugh. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said when they were all looking at him. "I was just flashing back to the words: I'm a great bowler."

Scott just wanted to sink into the floor then.

"Maybe he just needs a little warm-up," Allison said in his defense.

"Yeah and maybe he just needs the kiddie bumpers," Jackson teased back to Lydia's amusement and Allison's aggravation.

"Just, aim for the middle," she said to try and encourage him.

"How about you aim for anything other than the gutter," Jackson said to discourage him.

"Let him concentrate," Allison scolded him.

Scott liked that Allison was trying to support him but he hated that he wasn't giving her much to support. He took in her smile and then breathed out slowly as he took in the pins down the lane. He then threw the ball but he deflated when it went into the gutter again.

Jackson broke into more laughs. "Oh, ahh, great job McCall. You are a pro," he mocked.

"Don't worry, you'll do better," she said giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

But he wasn't. When it was his turn next to bowl, he couldn't bring himself to even throw the ball just so he could mess up again. "Oh man," he said to himself.

Allison went over to him. "Scott, you're thinking too much."

"I know. I'm sorry, I'm ruining this," he apologized.

She snorted. "No, not at all. Look, just clear your head and think about something else."

"Like what?' he asked.

"Well, think about me. Naked," she whispered in his ear before running off.

Scott had a silly grin come over his face as the image of Allison naked came into his mind and he threw the ball down the lane and got a solid strike. From then on, every time it was his turn he kept that image going and got strikes down each and every time.

"How many strikes is that?" Allison asked after Scott got his latest one.

"It's six," Jackson bit out. "In a row."

"Something just clicked I guess," he said smiling over at Allison.

"Must be natural talent," she smiled back.

"I could use some natural talent," Lydia said smiling over at them. Mind helping me with some Scott?"

"No," he said. "You're good. Go for it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," she said as she went to bowl. Jackson offered her his help but she told him that she got it. She then went and bowled a solid strike down the lanes as if it was nothing. "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"That, was sort of perfect form," Allison noted.

"Was it?"

Allison leaned in to whisper to her. "Maybe you should stop pretending to suck just for his benefit?"

"Trust me, I do plenty of sucking for his benefit."

Later Jackson was over at the arcade playing some pinball when Scott noticed him and went over to try and ease up some of this built up tension. "Nice shot man," he said as he flipped the ball into a chute. Jackson just stared blankly at him, annoyed. Scott deflated. "Listen, I know we both didn't want to be here but we don't have to hate each other."

Jackson straightened up. "I don't hate you. I just don't believe you. You know, you have everyone thinking that everything is fine and normal with you but I know something's off. You cheated tonight."

"How do you cheat at bowling?"

"I don't know but you did. Something's off with you and I don't know if its drugs or something weirder since it's obvious that you're a freak. And not just with you either. But your friend Stiles too. Something is going on with the both of you so don't think for a second that I've given up trying to find what your secret is."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "I don't have any secrets. None of us do."

"Yeah you do," Jackson answered back. "And, for whatever reason, you don't want her to know about it," he said looking over in Allison's direction.

Derek pulled up into a fill-up station to refill his car's gas tank when two mini-vans pulled up to box him in. Derek stayed calm as men got out of the cars, one of them being Chris Argent, the father of Scott's girlfriend Allison. He just kept filling his car and took the pump out when it was finished.

"Nice ride," Argent said stepping up to run his hands over Derek's car. "Black cars though, very hard to keep clean. Definitely suggest a little more maintenance. You have something that's nice, you want to take care of it, right?" he asked as he took a squeegee and started to run it across the windows.

Derek bit back the mess of emotions of when Argent was touching his car. He just kept himself still and stayed stoic.

"Personally," Argent continued. "I'm very protective of the things I love. Something I learned from my family. Though, you don't have much of these days, do you?"At the look on his face Derek made his hand come into a tight grip, one that Argent noticed, but he steadily pushed it down and loosened back up. "There you go," Argent said as he stopped wiping the window. "Everything is so much clearer."

He was about to go but Derek didn't feel the need to let Argent think he scared him. "Forgot to check the oil," he called out.

Argent smiled. "You heard him. Check the man's oil," he said to one of his hunters.

The man went up and shattered his windshield. "Looks fine to me."

"Drive safely now," Argent smugly said before they took off leaving Derek to stare after them with a glare.

He was in a sour mood as he headed for the hospital and got to Garrison Meyer's room and found the broken man in the hospital bed. "Open your eyes," he said to him softly but sternly. "Open your eyes. Look at me." He then woke up. What do you remember?" he asked.

"Hale," he muttered.

Derek's face softened a bit. "How do you know my name?"

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

Derek could smell the genuine remorse and sadness coming off him as he went to lay his head back down.

Melissa McCall was getting ready to head on home when the alert sounded. She took off for Meyers' room to see that he had flatlined.

Stiles sighed as he analyzed his fingertips and was glaring hard at them. He was trying to force his claws to come out. He was opening and closing his hand and even shaking his hand a bit.

"C'mon, come out. Come out claws," he muttered but his fingers remained unchanged.

He had been looking into ways to keep calm because he theorized that higher pulses make it easier for to change. However, Scott told him about how Derek had his claws out at his neck when he jumped him in his room that night when they were video chatting. That had to mean that they could control what part of them transformed at will. With the attack on Meyers and with the hunters out there, Stiles thought that learning how to do that could come in handy but so far, nothing.

He then let a hard breath out as he sat down at the foot of his bed. "Oh man, Scott gets to hang out with both Allison and Lydia and I'm stuck in my room trying to make my nails grow. How is that fair?" he mumbled to himself. He then looked over at his clawless hands again. "Maybe I should go and talk to Derek myself."

Derek had told Scott that he would help the two of them learn how to control all of this, for a price, and though Stiles dreaded to think what he might ask for, he knew they needed his help. And for some reason, Derek seemed to be going out of his way to help them. Despite Scott's belief that Derek was the one who attacked Meyers, Stiles wasn't so sure. First of all, what reason would Derek even have for attacking the man? Besides, Stiles didn't smell any trace of Derek's scent anywhere around the parking lot when he drove him and Scott there. Yet, Scott said that he saw Derek which still didn't make sense to him. Why would Derek attack someone, deny it, but show Scott a way to prove he was there? He could tell that Scott wasn't too eager to ask these questions. After all, he still hadn't gotten over the fact that Derek tried to keep him from playing in the game or tell him to stay away from Allison. Personally, Stiles understood why Derek would tell Scott to stay away from the game as to avoid killing someone and to stay away from Allison as to avoid getting killed. Though, the way he could've gone about it was way out of line but Stiles wasn't so sure that Derek was as guilty as Scott would like to think he was. After all, they went and got him arrested and he still tried to warn them to stay out of the game instead of just letting them suffer. And he also saved Scott from being attacked by Allison's father. However, Stiles did feel that Derek knew something that he wasn't telling them. After all, he was the only other werewolf in town besides the two of them. Scott said that Derek was the one that bit them in the woods that night and if he was then did that mean that he was trying to help because he felt responsible for them? But if he was then why would he try to attack Scott at the school bus? Was all of this some sick and twisted kind of initiation into werewolfhood? All he knew was that he wouldn't know more until he saw Derek himself.

Stiles then heard the phone ringing from downstairs. "I got it Stiles!" his father called out.

His hearing then zoomed out and picked up his father speaking gently downstairs as if he was talking directly to him.

"Stilinski," his father said into the phone.

"Sheriff, we have news from the hospital," he heard from the phone's other end. "Garrison Meyers, the guy that was mauled at the bus, he's succumbed to his wounds."

His dad let out a deep huff. "Alright, I'll be right there."

Stiles eyes widened. Meyers was dead. He leaned back in shock and he heard a soft ripping sound. He looked over at the side to see that there were four thin tears into his bed coverings. He pulled his hand out to see that his fingers were now sporting claws.

Scott got Allison back to her house and he gave her a goodnight kiss that had him smiling as he took off for home. He didn't notice that her father had seen the whole thing.

After the disaster at the hospital, Melissa McCall was happy to be home but was annoyed to see that her son wasn't home at all.

"Seriously," she said shaking her head as she went to head for her room. But then, she heard a noise and then went back to the room where she saw someone climbing in through the window. She went for the baseball bat leaning on the wall to attack him when he held his hands out.

"Whoa, whoa," he cried.

"Stiles!" she spat out after she was done screaming. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"What am I doing?! God, do either one of you even play baseball?!"

The lights went on and both of them turned to see Scott there looking at them in shock. "What happened?"

"Can you please tell your friend to use the front door?" she huffed out.

"But we lock the front door. He wouldn't be able to get in."

"Exactly. Do either one of you even care that there is a police enforced curfew?"

"No," they said together.

"No?" she repeated but then she just gave up. "You know what, that's enough parenting from me for one night. Good night," she said leaving the two of them.

Scott then noticed the look that Stiles had on his face. "What?"

"My dad, he left for the hospital 15 minutes ago. They say that he succumbed to his wounds."

"Succumbed?" he repeated.

"He's dead Scott." Stiles explained.

The two of them headed straight for the Hale house right after with Scott not letting up in his pursuit to lay it into Derek as he was convinced he killed Meyers. Stiles still wasn't too sure that he was guilty but also still felt that Derek knew more than he was telling them about this. They pulled up and Scott practically jumped out of the car before Stiles actually stopped it. Stiles quickly followed after when his eyes went to Derek's parked car. He noticed that the driver's side windshield had been broken in. He didn't smell blood or anything from it so it wasn't werewolf related, at least he thought not. He spent a second wondering what did do that before he jumped up onto the porch and followed Scott through the front door.

"Derek!" he roared. "We know you're here. And we know what you did!"

Stiles' eyes moved side to side as he stepped into the house. Derek was definitely there. He could hear a heartbeat outside his own and Scott's.

"I didn't do anything," Derek said from somewhere in the house.

Scott started to climb the stairs but Stiles decided to stay on the bottom. "You killed him!" he accused.

"He died," said Derek.

"Like your sister died?!" Scott spat out.

"My sister was missing. I came here looking for her."

"And you found her,"

"I found her in pieces!" Derek spat. "Being used as bait, to catch me."

Stiles' eyes narrowed.

Scott just kept on walking up. "I think you killed them both and I'm going to tell everyone, starting with the sheriff."

"Scott, keep my dad out of this," Stiles mumbled. But Scott kept walking off and Stiles saw Derek coming in from behind him. "Scott!" he yelled out to warn him.

Scott looked back in time for Derek to grab him and toss him down the stairs. 

Scott shifted and roared up at him while Stiles own eyes flashed gold in response of his friend being attacked. Derek hopped down the stairs to be at the foot of them to when both Scott and Stiles went and tossed him through the wall into the opposite room. Derek took off his jacket and then stomped over to where they both came in. Derek's face shifted and he roared at them which made Stiles cringe as his own face morphed into a wolf's as well. Scott attacked first. Moving in to claw Derek but he grabbed him and flipped him down to the ground. He then grabbed Scott by the scruff of his shirt and slid him down the room.

Stiles then pounced for Derek with his own claws out. As he made to swipe at Derek, Stiles suddenly saw himself lifting the thick branch to hit the wolf that night. Derek grabbed onto Stiles' wrist to stop him before he then drove his other hand's claws into his torso. As Stiles yelped in pain, the pain from the bite in his arm came back to him. Then Derek's blue eyes flared at him before he grabbed Stiles and threw him across the room where his back hit the wall. As his back made contact Stiles saw himself being thrown in the woods to hit that tree, the wolf's red eyes glaring back at him.

At seeing his friend thrown aside, Scott bared his teeth as he advanced for Derek again but Derek launched himself at Scott to drive his feet to kick Scott back. Scott flew back but then picked up a wooden plank to try and hit Derek with it but Derek easily disarmed him and whipped him back down. There was the sound of wood shifting as Stiles got up from the rubble, panting as he stared back at them. Scott moved a bit so that Derek would be in between the two of them. Derek looked from each one of them, seeing that they had boxed him in. Stiles charged first and then Scott moved in. Derek saw that Stiles would reach him first so he readied himself but was surprised when Stiles zipped passed him. He went for Scott and pushed at him as he made his way to be behind him and grip at his arms.

"Stiles!" Scott struggled. "What are you doing?!" he roared.

"It's not him! It wasn't him!" Stiles roared as he kept pulling on his friend.

"What are you talking about?!"

"He's not the one! He's not the one who bit us!"

"Let me go!" Scott roared as he kept struggling against Stiles and tried to claw at him to let him loose.

Derek then went over and clawed at Scott's chest before he pushed at them to make fly back and hit the wall. They both crumbled against each other and slid to the floor but their faces shifted back to normal.

"It is him!" Scott said getting to his feet first. "His fault! He did this! He ruined our lives!"

"It's not my fault!" Derek said as his face went back to normal. He then went to extend his hand to Stiles. "He's right. I didn't do anything and neither did you."

"You bit us!"

"No I'm not!" Derek spat. "I'm not the one that bit you!"

"It wasn't him Scott," Stiles panted.

"What?" Scott asked him. Why was he taking Derek's side all of a sudden?

"I remembered," Stiles panted out. "That night. The werewolf, its eyes. They glowed red." Stiles then pointed at Derek. "His are the wrong color."

He remembered? Scott stared astonished at his friend. Did he just remember the same way Derek told him to remember? Scott looked at where Derek had slashed him and he wiped the blood off before he saw himself back at the bus that night. The bus driver was attacked not by Derek but by that same beast that they saw in the woods.

"There's another?" he said as he went to grip the wall.

Derek nodded. "It's called an Alpha. It's the most dangerous of our kind."

"I think that goes without saying," Stiles muttered out.

Derek just gave him a look. "The three of us, we're betas. This thing, it's more animal and powerful than any of us. My sister came here to look for him and now I'm trying to find him. But, I don't think I can do it without you."

Stiles let out a breath. "So that's it. When you told Scott you would help us but not for free. You want our help to find this thing."

Derek firmly nodded. "Yes."

Scott raised his head up. "Why us?"

"Because…you're what he wants."

Scott's blood chilled. He remembered that thing. It was a monster and Derek wanted them to help him get it? How were they supposed to stop something like that? And it wants them? Why?

Stiles let it all sink in. It was a painful search but they had one more piece to the puzzle now. There was another werewolf, an alpha werewolf, out there and he was the one that bit them that night. That means that it was what attacked the bus driver. But something still wasn't making sense to Stiles. He listened in on Derek's heartbeat when he said that he didn't kill Meyers, about his sister, it was steady the whole time so he wasn't lying. So, if Derek didn't kill Meyers, then who did?

Chapter Text

The streets of Beacon Hills were dead silent as the curfew was still out on account of the recent animal attacks. So Kate Argent had no trouble with traffic as she pulled into town and drove the streets. She was listening to the newscaster on the radio talking about the recent attacks in the town. She just snorted as she switched the channel to some music instead. As she drove she sensed something amiss, even though she missed seeing the giant wolf running past her window a moment ago. She looked back to see if anything was following her when she nearly crashed into a pickup that was pulling in across from her.

“Nice driving Kate,” she mumbled to herself. “Nice.”

She was about to pull forward when something hit the roof of her car. She reached into the back and pulled out a shotgun and fired straight up into the roof.

The shotgun blast woke both Scott and Stiles from their sleep as it echoed off into their heads.

Kate then went into the back and pulled out her rifle and went into her bullet case for her special bullets. She then went to her phone and sent a message to her brother.

Allison was up to as she heard her father moving around downstairs. “What’s going on?” she asked as she stepped out to find him fully dressed.

“Your Aunt Kate just texted. I’m heading over to pick her up.”

“But it’s two in the morning,” she said. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, she’s just having car trouble,” he said.

“It’s not serious, is it?”

“No,” he shrugged off. “It’s just a flat tire. Go on back to bed sweetheart.”

Allison headed back for her room while he headed out the door.

Derek was out trying to track down the Alpha when he came upon some drops of blood. They were fresh. He looked up and caught sight of it scaling the walls of the building across from him. He tried to scale the building after him and got to the roof as he scanned for any sign of it. He saw it running off a small distance away so he chased after it. He jumped the building when he felt a sharp pain hit him in the arm as it knocked him down. He saw that his arm had a big gaping bullet hole now in it and noticed that there was a blue glow in his wound. He forced himself up and got out of there as quick as he could. Kate Argent had spotted him and then went and shot the werewolf as he jumped. She put her rifle down, knowing that she scored a hit.

The shot had attracted both Scott and Stiles to the area. Scott was across the street from Kate while Stiles was hiding behind a building at the other side of the block.

Chris Argent pulled up and went right on over to her. “Get in,” he growled at her.

“Oh not even a hello,” she said mockingly. “Nice to see you.”

“All I’ve got at the moment is ‘Please put the assault rifle away before someone notices’.”

“That’s the brother I love,” she smirked before it fell off. “Chris, there were two of them.”

“The Alpha?” he asked.

“I don’t know but one of them tried to kill me.”

“Well, one of them was going to lead us to the other and he can’t do that if he’s dead,” he said scolding to her

“Well, I can’t help kill either of them if I’m killed first,” she argued back.

He exhaled. “How long will it take?”

She shrugged. “I give him 48 hours. If that.” She then went to head into Chris’ car.

Scott had been watching the two of them, Allison’s father and apparently her aunt too, talking about the shot she made and a part of him hoped that the one she had shot was indeed the Alpha.

As for Stiles, listening to the two of them talk so casually about hunting werewolves down. The woman especially, she made his hairs stand on end. He could see that they wouldn’t be happy at just killing the Alpha. They wanted all of them dead.

The next morning Kate was greeted by a loud scream as Allison came running into her room. They embraced in a tight hug as they laughed at seeing each other again.

“I don’t see you for a year and you turn into a freaking runway model,” Kate said as she took her niece in. “Look at you. I hate you.”

“I haven’t even showered yet,” she said blushing at the praise.

“Sweetie, you’re a knock out. In fact, I hope that you have the boys knocking each other’s teeth out for your attention.”

“I kinda have one.”

“You kinda have one?” Kate said eagerly moving closer. “You should kinda have a million,” she said before they both laughed.

“Need help unpacking,” she said reaching for a bag.

“No not that one,” she said quickly taking her wrist in a quick and firm grip. She then quickly let go. “See? You turn out beautiful and I turn up with this kung fu death grip,” she tried to joke. Allison had been about to go into her bag of arsenals. “Sorry sweetie, I didn’t mean to be so rough.”

“No worries. Hey, is everything cool with your car?” she asked remembering last night.

“Yeah, I just needed a jump start, that’s all.”

Allison froze. “A jump start?” Her father said that she had a flat tire.

They were hiding something.

At school, Scott was eagerly waiting for his teacher to give him back his test. He was worried that he didn’t do so well.

Stiles gave him a small tap to get his attention. “I’ve been trying to figure all this out. The Alpha, the one that bit us, who do you think he really is?”

Scott just shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“You think he could’ve been the one that killed the bus driver?”

Scott shrugged. “I don’t know.”

He settled back in his chair. “Hey, do you think Allison’s dad might have a clue about how to find it?”

“I don’t know!” Scott snapped before dropping down, embarrassed at everyone now staring at him.

Stiles then got his test back and saw that he got an A. He exhaled out in relief. Then Scott got his test back. It was a D-.

Stiles noticed it. “Dude, you need to study more,” he casually said though Scott just went and slammed the test down. “That was a joke. Scott, don’t worry. It’s one test. You could make it up. You want some help studying?” he offered.

“No,” he rejected. “Studying with Allison after school today.”

“That’s my boy,” he teased.

“We’re just studying,” he defended.

“No, you’re not.”

“No I’m not?”

“Not if I’m forced to live vicariously through you you’re not. If you go to her house today and squander that opportunity then I swear to god I’ll have you deballed.”

“Okay,” he said getting uncomfortable. “Just…no more questions, okay?”

“Fine,” he said backing down. “No more questions. Or talk of the Alpha, or Derek who I think still wants to tear you open a new one and still kind of scares me.”

“Thanks,” Scott slurred out.

“But,” Stiles suddenly said.

“What?” Scott said tirelessly.

“Um, just one thing, were you out last night by any chance?” he asked looking at him calmly.

Scott stiffened a bit. “No,” he answered.

Stiles’ eyes looked down towards where Scott’s heart was and heard the skip in its beat.

Derek was roaming the halls of the high school as he tried to get himself to either Scott or Stiles. His wound wasn’t healing and the pain was only getting worse. He needed help and, unfortunately, those two were all he had to go to. He tried to sniff or even hear them out to find them but his senses were completely out of whack. He couldn’t focus them. He then caught sight of the guy on their lacrosse team, Jackson he thought his name was. He went over to him as the kid was going through his locker.

“Where’s Scott McCall? Or Stilinski? I don’t know his first name but I think everyone calls him Stiles.”

Jackson took in the guy’s appearance. “Why should I tell you?”

“Because I asked you politely and I only do that once.”

“Hmm,” Jackson said looking at him. From how he looked and how old he seemed Jackson guessed that if Scott and Stiles were on something then this guy either knew about it or was their dealer. Maybe he would finally find what they were hiding? “Okay tough guy, how about I help you find them if you tell me what you’re selling them?” Derek just stared blankly at him. “What? What is it? Dynabol? HGH?”

“Steroids?” asked Derek. This kid thought he was a drug dealer and was selling those two something? Derek started to walk away. He didn’t have time for this.

“No girl scout cookies,” he said sarcastically as he stopped him. “What the hell do you think I’m talking about? Oh and by the way, whatever it is you’re selling I would probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked.”

Derek looked down to see that the bleeding from his wound was getting worse. “I don’t have time for this. I’ll look for them myself.”

“No, I’m not done with you,” Jackson said going to stop him.

Derek pushed his hand away and forced him up against the lockers. His claws had come up and pierced his neck. He was starting to lose his control. He then let Jackson go and went off to try and find one or both of those betas. Jackson was left there, with his hand reaching for where Derek had just scratched him.

Derek huddled into a corner as his senses started to go more whacky. He started to hear random things in the hallway. He cringed as everything invaded his head until he heard a familiar name.

“Scott’s coming over? Tonight?”

“We’re just studying together.” That was Allison Argent’s voice.

“Just studying,” her friend said. “Never ends with just studying. It’s like getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel.”

“So what are you saying?”

“I’m just saying be sure he covers up.” There was a small pause. “Hello Snow White, I’m talking about a condom.”

“Are you kidding? After one date.”

“Don’t be a prude. Give him a little taste.”

“How much is a little taste?” Allison asked nervously.

“Oh god, you really like him. Don’t you?”

“Well, he’s just different. When I first moved here I had a plan. No boyfriends until college. I just move too much but…then I met him and he’s different. I don’t know, I can’t explain it.”

Derek narrowed his eyes. He was starting to understand more of Scott’s attitude towards him and he knew that this wasn’t good. Not at all. He then remembered Stiles. Maybe he could use him to fix this.

“What time is he coming over?” he caught her friend asking Argent.

“After school.”

But then the bell rang and his ears hurt from the loud pang they made in his eardrums. He had to get out of there and catch Scott or Stiles before they left for the day.

Stiles was already in the parking lot as he climbed into his jeep and started to pull up to head on home. He started to head out of the lot but stopped when Derek Hale pulled up in front of him. Stiles then started to honk, hoping that Scott heard it.

Which he did when he was getting his bike off the rack. He ran over to see that there was a line of cars behind Stiles’ jeep. Derek was laying out on the ground in front of it.

“What the hell? What’s going on?” he asked as he ran up.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said as he got out and headed over.

Scott bent down to him. “What are you doing here?”

“I was shot,” Derek gasped.

Stiles took in Derek’s pale complexion and the circles in his eyes. “He’s not looking so good Scott.”

“Why aren’t you healing?”

“I can’t. It…it was a special kind of bullet.”

“Silver bullet?” Stiles eagerly asked.

“No you idiot,” Derek bit out.

“Wait,” Scott said suddenly. “That’s what she meant when she said you only had 48 hours.”

“Who?” asked Derek. “Who said 48 hours?”

“The one who shot you.”

“Yeah, the hunter from last night,” said Stiles.

Scott turned to look at Stiles. How did he know that? Derek then bared his teeth as his eyes started to flash blue.

Scott started to look around horrified as the car honks continued. “What are you doing? Stop that!”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you, I can’t!”

“Derek, get up!” Scott said as he went to push him into Stiles’ jeep.

The cars behind Stiles kept on honking. One of them was Jackson’s Porsche and he got out to find out what the hold up was. Allison was close by and wondered what was going on herself.

“I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used,” Derek said to Scott knowing that he had a study date with her to get to.

“How am I supposed to do that?” he asked.

“She’s an Argent. She’s with them.”

“Why should I help you?” Scott wailed.

“Because you and your friend need me, that’s why.”

Scott took in Stiles shocked face before he exhaled deeply. “Fine, I’ll try. Get him out of here,” he said to Stiles as he hopped in the driver’s seat.

“No kidding,” Stiles said before he put the car in drive and went off.

Allison then came over to him. “What was he doing here?”

“Oh, Stiles was just offering him a ride.”

“I thought you said that you weren’t friends with him.”

“Oh, not really. Um, we’re still studying right?” he asked quickly.

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll see you later,” he said giving her a quick kiss and then heading off for his bike.

Allison paused for a bit. She had a feeling that Scott was hiding something from her, just like how her parents and aunt were hiding something from her.

Scott went off to get his bike when he looked off and noticed that Jackson was looking at him with a hard stare.

Scott stared back for a second before they both took off.

Scott started to peddle and ride his bike as fast as he could and he managed to make it to Allison’s house at the same time she did from her car.

“How did you get here so fast?” she asked him.

“Oh, just a shortcut. A really short shortcut.” he said before setting his bike away.

“What is going on with you today? You’re acting all kinds of bizarre.”

“I’m just…stressing about classes. I’m not doing as good this year,” his bad test grade flashing back to him.

“Not doing as well,” she corrected.

“See?”

Allison then opened the door and walked in. Scott stopped at the front step. He took a moment to look around. He suddenly remembered, not only was this Allison’s house but it was a hunter’s house too. Her father and now her aunt.

“Don’t worry. No one’s going to be here for hours. Come on in”

“Great,” he said as he stepped in and followed Allison upstairs to her room. He went in to see that there were still a couple of unpacked boxes laying around. “Haven’t you been here for over a month?”

“Taking my time,” she said as she set her bag down.

He then went to set his bag down and took off his sweater. “So, I figure we could start with history.”

But then Allison started to lightly grope him. Then they started kissing and Scott fell onto her bed with her on top of him. He started to lightly run his hands over Allison’s back as she kissed him on his lips and his cheek. His hand then started to sprout claws which he noticed and started to back away as he hid his hand away.

“What’s wrong?” she asked concerned.

“Oh, nothing,” he gasped out. “I…just don’t want you to do something that you don’t want to do.”

“I’m not doing anything I don’t want to do. Are you?”

Scott smirked up at her. “Are you seriously asking me that question?”

They started to kiss again when his phone started ringing. “It’s Stiles. It’ll go to voicemail…eventually.”

When it kept going Allison decided to get it but Scott went to stop her as his hand was there but he saw that the claws were gone. He then went to his phone to see that Stiles left a text asking if he had found the bullet yet.

As for Stiles, he was in the car with Derek watching him as he was shifting around. The sight of the bloody wound on his arm still looking and smelling wet. He was not happy.

“Try not to bleed on my seats,” he huffed. He couldn’t believe that he was here with Derek while Scott was off with Allison right now. “Okay, we’re almost there.”

“Almost where?” he slurred out.

“Your house,” Stiles said like it was obvious.

“What?” Derek snapped out of it. “No, you can’t take me there.”

“I can’t take you to your own house?”

“Not when I can’t defend myself. That is going to be the first place the hunters go to look for me and call me crazy but I don’t feel safe having you as a last defense.”

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek. He then pulled over. “Then what the hell am I supposed to do? Tell me, because from how that smells,” he said pointing to his wound. There were black lines leading from it.

“Oh, please tell me that isn’t contagious because that’s all I need right now.”

“No,” Derek bit out angrily.

“Yeah, well it looks like 48 hours is too generous a timeline.”

“I’ll be fine as long as Scott gets the bullet in time.”

“Yeah, maybe you shouldn’t be feeling safe having him as your last hope.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because, if I know Scott, and sadly I do, he’s not looking for your magic bullet right now. He’s busy doing something else and he’s not going to be in a hurry to stop.”

“What?” Derek bit out.

“Studying,” Stiles said flatly.

The double meaning behind that was painfully clear to them both.

“Just start the car and drive,” Derek barked out.

“No,” Stiles barked back. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be barking orders at me. In fact, I’m betting, if I really wanted to I could leave your dying werewolf ass out on the side of the road.”

“Start the car,” Derek said in a low voice. “Or I’ll rip your throat out, with my teeth.”

Stiles kept his eyes locked onto Derek’s, both of them having a stare down before Stiles broke first and put the car in drive. Yeah, Derek may not be the one that bit him but he still scared him a bit.

Back at the house Scott went and shut his phone off. “It’s off. Sorry about that.” He then looked down into one of her boxes and noticed a photo in a frame of her father and a blonde woman. He went to go and pick it up. “Who’s that?” he asked.

“That’s my dad’s sister Kate. Except she’s more like my sister. She got here last night.”

“Uh, last night,” he said surprised. So, the blonde he saw was this woman.

“Yep, she had some car trouble, I guess.”

Car trouble? So Allison didn’t really seem to know anything about her family if that’s what she believes. “She kind of looks familiar.”

“She actually used to live in Beacon Hills. Maybe you saw her around then?” she suggested.

She used to live her? He then pulled out some photo prints. “You do these?”

“Yeah, that’s from when I thought I was a photographer.”

“They’re good,” he complimented her.

“No,” she said taking them. “They not. Focus is off. Bad lighting. Trust me, not good.” Scott then found a drawing of fruit which she took too. “That’s from when I tried painting.” He then pulled out an envelope marked poetry. “And that’s from when I was into poetry. Terrible doesn’t even come close to describing that.”

“Then what are you good at?” he asked her.

“I’ll show you, if you promise not to laugh.” She then took him to the garage. “So I was naturally ranked as a kid. My dad wanted me to go on but I don’t really like it. Promise you won’t laugh.”

“I promise,” he said as his eyes scaled through all the boxes there. He then turned to look back at Allison to flinch as he saw that she was aiming a bow right at him. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s a compound bow and I’m pretty sure that it requires an arrow to be harmful,” she lightly joked.

Scott eyed the bow with tense hesitation. “So…that’s what your good at? Archery.”

She put the bow away. “You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

He shook his head. The memory of another arrow coming at him painfully clear. “Trust me I’m-“ he froze. “Not laughing.” He was looking at the other side of the garage where there were cases of bullets next to rows of guns. Not just handguns but automatics and assault rifles. Suddenly, he remembered just what Allison was really a part of. He tried not to imagine one of these weapons being aimed at him or at Stiles.

“I should probably explain,” Allison said coming up to him. “We’re not some separatist gun nut family. My dad sells firearms to the law enforcement.”

“Oh, that’s…good,” he said as he kept his eyes on the dozens of bullets out in the open and in the cases. “So, you planning on joining the family business,” hoping to god that Allison said no.

“I don’t know, you tell me,” she said before reaching out for him. “Would I look hot with a gun?” she said seductively.

Scott’s smile found its way back to his face and the guns faded from his line of sight. “Hotter without,” he muttered seductively back before going in for a kiss.

But before it could go on too far, the door to the garage opened and the two of them threw themselves down in cover.

“Hey Chris,” a woman’s voice sounded. “Get yourself out of the 1950’s and help with the groceries.”

“Be right there,” Mr. Argent called out as he approached them. “You two mind helping?” he asked them.

The two of them just stared back in an embarrassed deer in the headlights look.

“Sure,” said Allison.

“No problem,” said Scott.

Mr. Argent nodded. “Good.”

Chapter Text

Scott and Allison were brought outside to help with unloading the groceries from the car and Scott tried very hard not to let the fact that Mr. Argent’s eyes were following after his every move. Scott had turned his phone back on to see that he had another text from Stiles. It said that Derek wasn’t looking too good. When Allison came back to him he asked if they were still going to study.

“She’ll do fine on her own,” her father sternly insisted.

Scott shrugged. “Guess I’ll see you later then.”

“At school,” her father answered for her. Scott was going over for a goodbye hug but he stopped them. “You, on your bike,” he said to Scott before turning to his daughter. “You, inside.”

But Kate slammed the back car door down and stomped over. “Oh come on Chris, really? They were making out in the garage, not shooting amateur porn,” she said before grabbing onto Scott’s shoulder. “You, with the adorable brown eyes, drop your bike. You’re staying for dinner.”

With that she went inside with Allison following right after her leaving Scott alone outside the house with Chris.

“You don’t mind?” he asked him.

“Actually no,” Mr. Argent said before taking him by the shoulder. “It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other.” He then walked with him back inside.

Dinner was a tense affair. Scott spent the entire time trying to keep his pulse steady, avoid letting it rise like Stiles said so not to shift in front of the hunters sitting right across from him. He almost didn’t hear Allison’s mom ask if he wanted something other than water.

“Oh, no. I’m good, thanks.”

“I could get you some beer,” Mr. Argent offered with a soft gaze.

“Uh, no thanks,” Scott said.

“Shot of tequila?” he offered again.

“Dad,” Allison cut in. “Really?”

“You don’t drink Scott?” he asked him.

“Not old enough too,” said Scott.

“That doesn’t seem to stop many teenagers,” Mrs. Argent threw in.

“It should,” Scott said tensely.

“Good answer,” said Kate. “Total lie but well played Scott. You may yet survive the night,” she teased.

“You smoke pot,” Mr. Argent asked as Scott was trying to drink some water.

“Okay, changing the channel to something a little less conservative,” Kate chuckled out. “So Scott, Allison tells us that you’re on the lacrosse team.” He nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know anything about that. How do you play?”

“Uh, well you know hockey? It’s kind of like that but it’s played on grass instead of ice.”

“Hockey on grass is called field hockey,” Mr. Argent threw in.

“Oh,” Scott said slowly. “Yeah.”

Allison decided to come to his rescue. “So, it’s like field hockey but the sticks have nets.”

“Exactly,” he said thankfully. His phone then beeped to alert him of another text message. Scott looked down to see that Stiles had messaged him to call.

“Can you slap check like hockey?” asked Kate.

“Yeah,” said Scott. “But it’s only the gloves and the sticks.”

“Sounds violent,” she said a little pleasantly. “I like it.”

“Scott’s amazing too,” Allison said. “Dad came with me to see his first game. He was good, wasn’t he?”

“He was fine,” her dad admitted.

“Yeah, and his friend got the ball to him and he scored the winning shot at the end. It was fantastic. It ripped right through the goalie’s net.”

“Yeah,” said Mr. Argent. “Though I think the goalie was probably playing with a defective stick, so,”

Allison then put her water glass down a little harder than necessary. Scott’s hearing reached out and he locked onto Allison’s heart beating a little faster than normal. She was angry and tense. He reached out from under the table and took her hand in his to help settle her down.

“You know, on second thought,” he said looking over at her father. “I think I’ll take that shot of tequila.”

That got everyone in the table to smile and even laugh a bit. Scott couldn’t help but smile himself then.

Stiles had long parked his jeep off into an empty street corner as he had kept firing text after text for Scott to hurry and call him but he still hadn’t received an answer. It was dark now and Derek was still breathing hard right next to him. Stiles had enough of being subtle with texts. He went and called for Scott and kept calling until he finally picked up.

“It’s about damn time,” he said when he finally answered. “What am I supposed to do with him?!”

“Take him somewhere. Anywhere,” Scott said.

“Wow, I can’t believe that I didn’t think of doing that?” he rolled his eyes even though Scott couldn’t see him. “And by the way, he’s starting to smell.”

“Like what?”

“Like death,” Stiles said.

“Okay…take him to the animal clinic.”

Stiles tensed. “What about your boss?”

“He’s gone by now. There’s a spare key in the box behind the dumpster.”

Stiles let a hard breath loose. He then held the phone to Derek. “You are not going to believe where he’s telling me to take you,” he said though he guessed that Derek heard everything already.

Derek took the phone from him. “Did you find it?”

Stiles could hear Scott’s voice say hysterically, “How am I supposed to find one bullet. They have a million. This house is like the freaking Walmart of guns.”

Stiles wondered what the hell was keeping Scott then. If he was in a house crawling with that many weapons meant to be used on him he would’ve wasted no time to not be there more than he had to. Making out with Allison wouldn’t be worth it. Lydia however…okay, that was a tough one.

“Look, if you don’t find it then I’m dead,” Derek slurred out.

“I’m starting to think that wouldn’t be such a bad thing,” Scott said calmly.

“Oh, then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He’s going to do it again, or might just try doing it on your friend next. And if either of you don’t kill with him, he’ll just kill the both of you. So if you want you and Stiles to stay alive then you need me. Find the bullet.” He then hung up.

“That should get him moving, good job,” Stiles said as he put the car in drive to head for the animal clinic.

Derek just glared at him.

Scott hung up and exhaled. He didn’t want to admit it but Derek had a good point. He started to look around and went for a closed door. However, when he opened it, it set off an alarm. He turned around to find Kate standing there watching him.

“You look like a lost puppy,” she said teasingly.

“Oh, I was just looking for,”

“The bathroom,” she guessed.

“Yeah,” he nodded.

“Does that look like a bathroom?” she asked looking over at the alarm box.

He looked back at it and shook his head. “No.”

“No. Use the guest bedroom.”

Scott went inside the room and he noticed something underneath the bed. He closed the door and then went for it. He saw that it was a travel bag and opened it to find that there was a metal box. Inside was filled with bullets and shotgun shells. He also found a wooden box with a flower etched on it. He took it and opened it to find there where bullet casings in there though one of the spots was empty. Could that be it? He took one of them in his hand and felt his eyes flare up on contact. He noticed an inscription on the box and went to his phone to check it on his translator. It read Nordic Blue Monkshood. He then took one and put the box back. He then quickly sent a text to Stiles.

Stiles had got them to the clinic and found the key and he brought them in through the back door. Derek had gone and set himself down by some bags of dog food. Stiles couldn’t help but smile at the irony. His phone then beeped so he answered it to find Scott sent him a text.

“Does Nordic Blue Monkshood mean anything to you?”

“It’s a rare form of wolfsbane,” he answered. “He has to bring me the bullet.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m going to die without it.”

Stiles then quickly sent Scott a text to bring it to them and he added the word now in capital letters for an extra boost.

“Hey,” Scott said coming back into the dining room. “I should get going. Thanks for dinner,” he said to Mrs. Argent.

“No,” Kate said. “I want to know more about you. Sit down,” she said pointing to his vacant chair by Allison.

Scott saw the insistent looks on all of their faces. “Okay,” he said and then went and sat down.

“Allison was just telling us that you work for a veterinarian,” Mrs. Argent explained.

“He was there to take care of the dog I hit,” Allison said softly while grabbing his hand.

“Yeah,” he said before he got a new text. It had Stiles telling him to get there and he put the word now in capital letters. That only made his nerves more tensed.

“What does your boss think of the animal attacks?” Mr. Argent asked him. “Any theories?”

“Everyone’s saying it’s a mountain lion.”

Kate just laughed. “Sounds too big to be a mountain lion.”

“What do you think Scott?” Mrs. Argent asked.

“I don’t know. We usually get cats and dogs at the vet, nothing that vicious.”

“You ever deal with a rabid dog?” Mr. Argent asked him. Scott shook his head. “I grew up with a lot of dogs. I saw one get rabies from a bat. It was transferred through a bite. People think that a rabid dog suddenly goes mad but it’s a lot more gradual. First stage is subtle changes in behavior. Restless. Morose. It’s the second stage people know. The furious phase. That’s when they attack. And they go for any moving object. Did you know a caged rabid dog will break its own teeth to chew through the bars?” Scott shook his head again. “It’ll even rear back and snap its own spine. Can you imagine the amount of force it’ll take to do that? Such a character reversal. This harmless animal turned to a perfectly vicious killer. And it all started with that one bite.”

Scott just stared back at him, his insides twisting around at the subtle references Mr. Argent no doubt made to being a werewolf.

“But it died didn’t it?” said Allison.

“Yes, because your grandfather shot it,” Mrs. Argent said to Scott’s shock.

“Because he wanted it put out of its misery,” Allison said back.

“Because it was too dangerous,” her father corrected. “Something that out of control is better off dead.”

Derek took off his shirt as he then went to set himself over by the operating table. The lines were spreading even further, all along his arm. Stiles bit back some bile from the smell of it invading his nostrils.

“You know, that doesn’t look like something that some Echinacea and a good night’s sleep couldn’t take care of,” he said trying to lighten the mood.

“If this infection reaches my heart, it’ll kill me,” he gasped out.

Stiles let out a frustrated sigh. “Positivity just isn’t in your vocabulary, is it?”

Derek didn’t respond to that but instead went to rummage through the cabinets. “If Scott doesn’t get here with the bullet in time. We have to use a last resort.”

“Which is?” Stiles dreaded to ask.

Derek then pulled out a bone saw. “You have to cut off my arm.”

Dread just turn straight to horror.

“I’m so incredibly sorry,” Allison said to him.

Scott was back in his sweater and getting his backpack on as he prepared to leave. “For what?”

“For that being the worst and most incredibly awkward family dinner in the history of awkward dinners.”

Scott chuckled. “No, it wasn’t the worst. There was this one dinner where my parents were telling me that they were getting a divorce. This just came a close second.” He then leaned in to give her a final kiss before he went to leave out the door.

But Kate started walking over to them. “Wait a second guys.”

“What is it?” Allison asked her.

“Uh, I have to ask Scott something?”

“Me?” he asked surprised.

“Yeah, you,” she said closing the door on him.

“Okay,” he said slowly.

“What did you take from my bag?” she asked with a smile.

“What?”

“My bag,” she said dropping the smile. “What’d you take from it?” Scott just stayed quiet. “You need me to repeat the question. Annunciate more clearly.”

“What are you talking about?” Mr. Argent asked as he came over to stand by his sister.

“My bag was open in the guest room and when I left it was shut. And Scott comes in to use the bathroom, he leaves and my bag’s open.”

Allison looked from Scott to her aunt. “He didn’t take anything,” she defended.

“Something was taken from my bag,” she insisted with her brother now looking at Scott with a hard look himself. “Now look, I hate to be the accuser here Scott because I really do those adorable brown eyes; but I don’t know if you’re a klepto, curious or if you’re just stupid but answer the question. What did you take?”

“Nothing,” he lied. “I swear.”

“You don’t mind proving it, don’t you?”

“Are you serious?” Allison asked.

“Show us what’s in your pocket,” her aunt said sternly.

“Dad,” Allison said turning to her father.

“Come on Scott,” she whispered. “Prove me wrong.”

Allison held up her hands to herself. “I’ll prove you wrong. It wasn’t Scott going through your bags. It was me.”

“You?” Kate said not believing it.

“Me,” she nodded as she pulled out a condom.

The awkward then trumped anything from dinner. Scott just got on his bike and with one last look back, took off.

Derek started to tie a rubber strap over his arm while Stiles looked from his arm to the bone saw on the table. “My god,” he said pushing it away. “What if you bleed to death?”

“It’ll heal if it works.”

Stiles felt his stomach churning. “Look…I don’t know if I could do this.”

“Why not?” he growled.

“Well, because the cutting of the flesh, sawing through the bone and especially the blood,” he tried to point out.

Derek gave him a look. “You don’t faint at the sight of blood.”

“No, but I might at the sight of a freshly chopped off arm!” he said raising his voice hysterically.

“Fine, how about this? You cut off my arm, or I cut off your head?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Do you seriously think I’m going to buy that?” he asked before Derek reached for him. Stiles gasped as his own hand went to grab him at the wrist. “Ha! Nice try,” he said a little smugly. Or at least it was smug before Derek started coughing and went off to gag out black goo.

“Oh,” Stiles said jumping back as his face screwed up at the mess. “What is that?!”

“It’s my body trying to heal itself,” Derek explained leaning back on the table.

“Well, its not doing a very good job!”

“Now. You gotta do it now,” he gasped out painfully.

Stiles bit back his irritation and he just went and grabbed the saw. “No,” he said shaking his head. “Listen, we could try something-“

“Just do it!” Derek roared out.

“Okay!” Stiles said with a shake as he then went to angle it over Derek’s arm. He then switched it on. He let out a deep breath and started to bring it down, cringing his face and shutting his eyes.

But then he heard the back door open and Scott’s voice calling out, “Stiles!” A moment later, Scott walked in and his eyes widened at the scene. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

Stiles then slammed the saw away. “Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares!” he said thankfully.

“Did you get it?” Derek bit out.

“Yeah,” Scott said reaching into his pocket and pulling the bullet out.

“What are you going to do with it?” Stiles asked as Derek gave it a look.

“I’m gonna…” Derek didn’t finish as he collapsed on the floor and the bullet then went and rolled down a grate.

Scott jumped for the bullet but was too late as Stiles went to feel that Derek’s pulse was fading.

“Scott, what the hell are we going to do?”

“I don’t know!” he cried back to him. Scott tried reaching for it but it just barely grazed it. Scott took a moment to focus. He let his pulse rise up and quicken and he felt his hands sprout claws like earlier in Allison’s room and he grabbed the bullet. “Got it.”

Stiles looked from Scott to Derek. He didn’t know how to wake up the guy. He held up his fist to his mouth as he panicked before he looked back at his knuckles.

“Oh, please don’t try and kill me for this.” He then went and punched Derek straight across the jaw as hard as he could.

Derek gasped as the shock stimulated him enough to regain consciousness. Stiles then went and grabbed him and pulled him for the table where Scott went and slammed the bullet down. Derek then went and bit the casing off as he poured the powder onto the table. The smell of the poisonous wolfsbane became more clearer to the three wolves surrounding it. He then reached into his pocket for a lighter and ignited it. It sparked and was replaced by ash. He then took the ash in his fingers and then jammed it into his wound. Derek screamed as the pain took hold but Scott and Stiles watched as the infection in his arm disappeared and the bullet wound healed in a second.

“That was awesome!” Stiles cried out. Scott looked at him with shocked look and Stiles just shrugged.

“Are you okay?” Scott asked as Derek got himself back up.

“Instead for the agonizing pain, I’m great,” Derek put out.

Stiles smiled. “Well, the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health. Believe me, I know.”

Scott then glared at Derek as he took the strap off. “Okay, we just saved your life. That means you’re going to leave us alone from now on.”

“Scott,” Stiles said losing the smile and shook his head. “No.”

“What? Why not?”

“Uh, did you forget about the big bad Alpha wolf that wants to rip us a new one?” he asked sarcastically.

“Allison’s dad,” he said quickly. “I’ll go back to him and explain everything and I’m sure-“

“You’re going to trust them?” Derek cut him off. “You think they can help you and Stiles?”

“Why not?” he spat. “They’re a lot freaking nicer than you.”

Derek nodded. “Yeah, I’ll show you exactly how nice they are.”

Scott froze. “What do you mean?”

They all got into Stiles’ jeep, Scott put his bike on the back, and Derek took them to the Beacon Crossing Home. The three of them went into the long term care ward and he brought them to a man sitting in a wheelchair.

“Who is he?” Scott asked.

“My uncle,” Derek looked actually a bit sad. “Peter Hale.”

His uncle? Stiles thought that his whole family was dead, now that Laura Hale was dead. Stiles eyes narrowed at he took in the guy just staring off ahead of him. He didn’t know why but his spine seemed to chill watching him.

Scott turned from Peter to Derek. “Is he…like you? A werewolf?”

“He was. Now he’s barely even human. Six years ago, my sister and I were at school. Our house caught fire. Eleven people got trapped inside. He was the only survivor.”

Stiles eyes widened. He was talking about the case that his father had long filed under unsolved. “The fire that everyone says was arson?” Stiles grunted out.

Derek softly snorted. “Oh, it wasn’t arson.”

Scott didn’t want to admit it but he actually started to feel sorry for Derek. Losing your family like that in the span of one night couldn’t have been easy. But then Scott didn’t want to think about what Derek was trying to imply. “What makes you think that they’re the ones that started the fire?”

“Because they’re the only ones that knew about us.”

“Then…they had a reason,” Scott tried to say in their defense.

Stiles tensed. Okay, that was a low blow.

And Derek went and glared at him. “Like what? You tell me,” he said as he reached for his uncle. “What justifies this?” He spun Peter around and the two of them then looked at the opposite side of his face had severe burns all over it.

“They say that they’ll only kill an adult and only with absolute proof. But, there were people in my family that were completely ordinary in that fire. This is what they do. And this is what Allison will do.

“What are you doing?” The three of them turned to see that there was a nurse in the doorway. “How did you get in here?”

“We were just leaving,” Derek said as he pulled Scott and Stiles away but not before the both of them took one last look at Peter Hale’s burnt face. They went back for Stiles’ jeep and Stiles helped Scott take his bike out.

“Alright, I better go,” said Scott before he got on and peddled away.

Stiles watched his friend ride off for a bit before he turned to stare at Derek.

“What?” Derek asked.

“The other night, when we were at your house, I noticed that your car window was broken. I didn’t smell blood or anything there so I know it wasn’t an accident. It was the hunters, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Derek said. “Their way of saying hello. Chris Argent went out of his way to leave an impression.”

“Well, I’m sure getting one right now,” Stiles cleared his throat.

“This is why Scott has to keep away from them. He’s not seeing the danger of being so close to them, especially to Allison. Now, you may be annoying but you actually also seem to have some degree of good sense.”

“Gee thanks,” Stiles rolled his eyes.

“If Scott won’t listen to me then maybe he’ll listen to you. He needs to stay away from her for his own good.”

Stiles snorted. “Good luck. Allison is the first girl that Scott has really liked. Besides she isn’t dangerous herself. In fact, if whatever is the polar opposite of dangerous Allison is. She’s really nice.”

“I know and the truth is, that only makes her even more dangerous. Scott is so blinded by his relationship with her that he’s not thinking clearly. He was willing to go to her father, thinking that his relationship with her makes him the solution to his problems. He was willing to expose the Alpha and me to him forgetting that it exposes him and you too.” Stiles stiffened. “Tell me Stiles, what do you think Allison’s family will do if they do find out about Scott? Do you think her father will shake his hand and give him his blessing? They will use Allison to use Scott to find the Alpha and kill it and when that’s done Argent will empty a round right into his head. Allison won’t be able to protect him from that. Then her family will move onto to me and then you.”

Stiles didn’t want to but he could actually see all of that happening himself.

Derek continued. “Then there’s Allison herself. Her family has been hunting us for a long time. It’s a tradition. Yes, she may be in the dark now, but, when the time comes Allison will learn the truth and who do you think she’ll stand with? Scott or her own flesh and blood?”

“Okay,” he huffed out. “You made your point. I’ll…see what I can do.”

“Good,” Derek said starting to walk away but stopped to look back at him again. “Don’t forget, sometimes humans can be more deadlier than anything that has teeth or claws. They are the ones that take the most pleasure from killing. And that is the Argent family’s legacy.”

Derek then walked off leaving Stiles alone to look down at his feet in thought. Maybe it was just him but Derek sounded like he was talking from personal experience. He said the Argents knew about his family. Did one of them get used by the Argents to learn what they could before they set the house to burn them all alive? Even ordinary people. Suddenly, he pictured Scott in his home, asleep. His ordinary mother asleep too and then someone throwing an oil can to set his house on fire to burn them both. Then he pictured the same thing again but with him and his ordinary father at home. The thought made his eyes burn bright gold.

Allison went out with her phone to leave a message for Scott. “Hey, uh, I was hoping to catch you before you went to sleep but I wanted to say sorry again for tonight. So…call me,” she said before hanging up.

She turned to head back inside when she stepped on something and moved her foot to see that it looked like broken glass. She then noticed that it seemed to trail a bit towards her aunt’s car.

In the living room, Chris and Kate were there discussing what had happened to her last night.

“The one that attacked me was big,” Kate paced in front of the fireplace. “It had width and power but the one I shot was lean and fast.”

“That would be Derek Hale.”

“Wish it were?” she asked.

“Mostly,” he said before taking a drink of scotch.

“How do we know it’s just the two of them?” asked Kate.

“We don’t, yet. But if Derek’s still alive he’ll lead us to the Alpha.”

Kate then went and started the gas for the fireplace. “Take the pack leader and then take the pack,” she said with a smile.

“We do it according to the code,” he said pointing his glass at her.

“You and your code.”

“It’s there for a reason Kate.”

She huffed. “Of course,” she said before igniting a match stick. She then threw it into the fireplace to start a roaring fire. “I always play by the rules.” She then gave her brother a wink.

Chapter Text

At the local video rental store Lydia was pulling up to it with Jackson to look for a movie to go back to her place and watch for the night.

“Okay, Hoosiers is not only the best basketball movie ever, it is the best sports movie ever made,” Jackson tried to argue.

“No,” Lydia said.

“It’s got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper.”

“No,” she said again.

Jackson started to get irritated. “Lydia, I swear to god you’re going to like it.”

“No,” Lydia said not skipping a beat.

“I’m not watching The Notebook again.” Lydia just raised her eyebrows at him. Soon enough, Jackson was going through the aisles of the vacant store as a phone rang in the distance. “Can someone help me find The Notebook,” he gasped out. But no one answered him and the phone kept ringing. “Hello? Is anybody working here?”

The store was empty and a little dark. It was starting to get to him especially with the buzzing of that exposed light fixture on the ceiling close by. Jackson started to walk through the aisles to find someone but he stopped when he noticed a shoe sticking out of one of them. He gave it a look as he slowly stepped to it. He kept his poise but went back in shock when he saw that there was the video store clerk, on the floor, with a deep gash across his neck. He backed up into the ladder and knocked the exposed fixture off the wall and caused the whole place to get darkened.

Outside, Lydia was taking a few selfies so she didn’t notice the sudden blackout.

Jackson started to run, trying to get out of there but sensed that someone was there so he ducked into one of the aisles. He chanced a look but ducked back when a shape just ran on through. He decided just to stay there and be quiet until they were gone but then the stacks started to topple down and fall on one another until the stack he was hiding behind went and fell on him and trapped him to the floor. Jackson tried to pull himself free but was stuck under the weight. Suddenly, he froze when he felt some new weight on him. He tried not to scream when he felt breathing on him.

The shape let out a growl as it approached but backed off when it saw the scratches on the boy’s neck. They glowed a soft blue and it drew the beast away, shining its red eyes at Jackson before it then went and crashed through the store window. The girl in the car, Lydia, was shocked out of her routine and screamed as it kept running off.

Stiles was with his father in his squad car as they enjoyed some fast food together. Stiles was feeling more protective of his father ever since that whole close call with Derek and the talk they had about the hunters.

As the sheriff looked at their orders he narrowed his eyes. “Did they forget my curly fries?”

“You’re not supposed to eat fries,” Stiles dismissed. “Especially the curly ones.”

“I’m carrying a lethal weapon. If I want the curly fries I will have the curly fries.”

‘Well I have a more lethal weapon hidden beneath my fingers and if I say you don’t get curly fries then you don’t get them,’ Stiles argued back in his mind. He just said to his father. “If you think getting rid of contractions in your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate you are wrong.”

His dad just looked at him but Stiles smirked in victory. He was surprised when the dispatch radio sounded.

“Unit 1, you copy?”

Stiles quickly reached over for the radio but his dad slapped his hand off as he cleared his throat authoritatively at him. His father gave him a look that Stiles easily read off as ‘What do you think you’re doing?’

“Sorry,” he said backing away.

His father then reached for the radio to answer it. “Unit 1 copy.”

Stiles then took some of the curly fries that were in the bag and shoved some in his mouth as dispatch responded. “Got a report of a possible 187.”

“A murder,” Stiles said through the fries stuffed in his mouth.

They then pulled up to the local video store where there was already a pair of units there as well as an ambulance.

“Stay here,” the sheriff said to his son.

When he opened the door Stiles could immediately smell blood, and it was fresh. He also smelled something else. Two familiar scents close by though he didn’t know where they were coming from. His eyes wandered until he saw Jackson and Lydia at the ambulance. Lydia was sitting there with a look of shock on herself while Jackson was moving about, clearly pissed.

“No way,” he whispered.

The sheriff moved over to them when Jackson yelled, “Why the hell can’t I just go home?” Jackson then looked over to the sheriff. “I’m fine,” he argued.

“I hear ya,” he said. “But the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just want to make sure that you don’t have a concussion.”

Jackson just shook his head. “What part of I’m fine are you having a problem grasping? I want to go home!”

“And I understand that,” the sheriff said calmly. His son wasn’t. He made a fist at the attitude Jackson was giving his dad and then made to get out of the car.

“No, you don’t understand!” Jackson shouted at him. “Which kind of blows my mind since it should be a basic concept to grasp for a basic minimum wage rent a cop like you. Now I want to go home!”

Stiles just stood there at the door, his hands squeezing on it as they dug into it making dents. His teeth were clenched and right now Stiles felt a strong itch crawling through his skin as his vision started to blur a bit red. He was no stranger to Jackson’s ridicule and he could take it himself but he was slipping in his control as the Porsche Driving Dick insulted his father for showing him a shred of concern.

Then Stiles heard his name. “Stiles, calm down. Don’t lose control. Not here, not now.”

His eyes widened. That was Derek’s voice.

“Ignore him Stiles. He’s not worth it.”

And that was Scott’s.

They were talking to him but he didn’t see them. What he did see was a gurney coming out carrying a body bag.

“Whoa, is that a dead body!” Stiles shouted out louder than needed as he tried to release all that pent up tension. That earned his father looking back at him with that familiar look on his face which seemed to settle Stiles nerves a bit. He then sat inside the car. “Breathe. In and out,” he muttered. He let out a breath as he put pressure on his eyes to try and push it all away. He found himself thinking of the time that he and his dad had together only a few minutes ago. The two of them having a verbal throwdown on the fries and he felt the burn and ache to claw Jackson’s face off start to ebb away.

The sheriff then started to move to do some crowd control and everyone started to begin moving out unaware of the two on the roof of the store watching the scene.

“Not bad,” Derek mused.

“I know,” said Scott as he looked at his friend.

When they had arrived they saw Stiles and his dad arrive and heard Jackson starting to yell and bitch at his father. Derek quickly noted that Stiles was starting to lose his control and while he might not shift he was close to venting his superior rage out in public. He said some words, knowing Stiles would hear him and Scott immediately followed to try and help settle his friend. He was amazed to see that Stiles kept his cool. He found himself worrying over his every little thought but Stiles could practically be himself and not worry.

“What about you? Starting to get it?” he asked Scott as they got back to the other issue of tonight.

“I get he’s killing people. I just don’t get why. I mean, this isn’t standard practice right? We don’t go out in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?”

“No,” Derek answered to his relief. “We’re predators, but we don’t have to be killers.”

“Then why is he a killer?” Scott asked.

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

The two of them then took off from the roof, unaware of the giant spiral painted there.

Back on the ground, the sheriff made his way back to the car after he dismissed Jackson and Lydia to head on home.

“Alright, let’s get you home,” the sheriff said to his son. “I have to look into this so I’ll be away all night,” he said moving to close Stiles’ door. But he froze in the middle of it. “Hey, what happened here?”

“What?” asked Stiles.

“The door.”

Stiles got out to see that there were four deep indents in the frame of the door where Stiles fingers had dug into it during Jackson’s ranting. Stiles just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head in believable confusion.

Derek took Scott back to his house but Scott huffed at him. “Shouldn’t we wait for Stiles?”

“You can update him tomorrow.”

“You know, I have a life too,” Scott started to argue.

But Derek just cut him off, “No you don’t,” as he kept on walking up the stairs.

“Yes, I do. I don’t care about what you say about him making me and Stiles his pets or-“

“Part of his pack,” Derek corrected.

“Whatever,” he spat out. “I have homework to do. I have to go to parent/teacher conference tomorrow because I’m failing chemistry.”

“You want to do homework, or do you want to…not die?” Derek asked Scott sarcastically. But Scott just sucked his teeth in irritation. “There is less than a week before the full moon. If you don’t kill with him then he kills you.”

“Seriously, who made up these rules?”

“It’s a rite of passage into his pack. I’m not sure why but for some reason, he seems to be focusing on you first.”

“You know what else is a rite of passage?” Scott spat out. “Graduating from high school! And you don’t have to kill anyone to do it!” Scott then let a frustrated breath out. “Why can’t you just find him yourself? Why not just sniff him out when he’s human?”

“Because his human scent could be entirely different,” answered Derek. “It has to be you or Stiles. There is a link that you two share with him, one that neither of you understand yet. You’re the one who has succumbed to it first, that’s why you’re here. If I could teach you how to control your abilities then we can find him.”

Scott silently considered what Derek was saying. He didn’t know if it was true or not but what he did know was that he just wanted all of this to be over. “If I, if we help, you can stop him?” Scott asked hopefully.

“Not alone,” he answered quickly. “We’re stronger in numbers and the three of us together stand a better chance than we do alone. A pack makes the individual more powerful.”

“How am I supposed to help then if I have no idea what I’m doing?”

“Because I’m going to teach you,” Derek frustratingly said. “Do you remember the first night when you were shot in the arm?”

Scott nodded. “I changed back.”

“And when Argent hit you with his car,” Derek continued. “Same thing right?” Scott nodded. “What’s the common denominator?”

Scott shrugged. He didn’t know. Then Derek went and grabbed his wrist and pulled it back to break it. Scott started to drop to his knees in pain. “No, stop! What the hell are you doing?”

“It’ll heal,” Derek calmly said.

“It still hurts,” Scott grunted out.

“And that’s what keeps you human, pain.” He watched as Scott started to reset his wrist so that it could heal faster. “Maybe you will survive.”

“Me survive? What about Stiles? Why isn’t he here? You’re going to help me but not him?”

“I’m going to teach him too but it’s you that needs my help more right now. Your control is much weaker than his.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Did you not see your friend tonight? Stiles was able to focus and control himself without needing to use pain to turn off his shift or even his rage. Even when he was lost in the shift he was able to pull it back on his own in time to try and help you back at the school. It’s not by any means perfect but he seems far more along than young newly bitten wolves usually are. It’s not too unheard of but he can somewhat focus it already.”

“Focus? How? Stiles had ADHD; it was hard for him to focus even when he had his Adderall.”

Derek nodded. “Actually that might explain it. Stiles was already naturally predisposed with fighting himself for control before he got the bite. He’s managed to transfer that same struggle into his transformation so he’s okay for the time being, but for now you need my help more than he does.” He then took off up the stairs leaving Scott to watch him with a mild glare.

Allison was at home, grabbing her bag for school when her aunt came into her room.

“Hey,” she said looking a little awkward. “You know I feel totally awkward about my behavior the other night, right?”

“Oh,” Allison shrugged. “Totally forgotten.”

“No,” Kate said sternly. “Not forgotten by me. Come on, call me a hard bitch, or something.”

Allison rolled her eyes. “You were just…being protective.”

“I was being a protective hard bitch. Who is giving you your birthday present early so you’ll forgive her,” she then held out a small box.

Allison took it and opened it to reveal a silver pendant on a chain. “Aw.”

“Forgiven?” Kate asked.

“Completely. I love it,” she said taking it out and holding it closer to take a better look. There seemed to be some kind of running animal etched onto it.

“It’s a family heirloom,” Kate started to explain. “And you know me. Hate and loathe all sentimental crap…but that,” she gestured to it. “See the symbol in the middle of the pendant?”

“Yeah?”

“You ever want to learn a little something about your family, look it up.”

“You’re going to make me work for it,” Allison smiled.

Kate then took the pendant and helped put it on her. “Some mysteries are worth the effort.”

They then hugged and Allison left for school. Kate gave her one last look as she turned down into the hallway.

Stiles and Scott were getting out of his jeep still talking about what happened last night.

“Wait, he said that?” Stiles said pressing on.

“He didn’t actually say it but he did imply pretty clearly that I stink at my control, and I hate to admit it but he’s right,” Scott grudgingly bit out.

“Yeah, I knew that but I wasn’t talking about you. I meant about me. He said I was a natural?”

Scott rolled his eyes. “He said that you were naturally used to fighting for control and that is why you seem to be better at this than me.”

That just made Stiles fist the air in front of him in victory. “Oh yeah, who’s the wolfman?” Stiles said with a smile before he saw the defeated look on Scott’s face. “Sorry. Look I’m sure that everyone learns at their own pace. I bet that if we take a werewolf census then we would find that there are others that sucked at being a werewolf even more than you.” That didn’t seem to make Scott feel better. “Scott, it’s okay. You’ve been a wolf for a month. Give it time.”

“Well we don’t really have time. Okay, and between the Alpha and now my grades I’m pretty much screwed. I couldn’t even do any of the chemistry homework because of the store and Derek.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. “Dude, that whole thing at the store was so late, what the heck were you doing that kept you from doing the homework?”

“Uh…I was…” Stiles was looking at him, impatiently waiting for the answer. “working on something else for school.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes hearing the jump on his heart. “You’re lying.”

“No,” he said quickly.

Stiles heart the jump again. “Yes, you are. I can tell when you’re lying.”

“How could you know that?”

“Your heart just told me so.”

Scott stopped walking and looked back at him confused. “What do you mean my heart told you?”

Stiles let out a frustrated breath of air. “Okay, I found this out a while ago but I could tell when people are lying by their heartbeats. When somebody’s lies then it increases a bit. It’s kind of like a supernatural poly. Your heartbeat jumped and sped up when you said you were working on something else.”

Scott’s jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you tell me we could do that? Wait, is that why you were so quick to believe Derek?” He can’t believe that Stiles would keep that from him?

“Don’t change the subject,” Stiles waved off. “What were you doing last night, really?”

“On the phone with Allison,” he finally managed to get out. “We were just talking about the dinner at her house with her aunt.”

Stiles huffed as he rolled his eyes. “Oh, I’m sure that was all that you were doing.” Stiles was starting to think that Derek was having a real point. Allison was starting to really mess with Scott’s mind. And he wasn’t even seeing it. He was just blaming Derek for his lack of focus and control. “You couldn’t have just told her that you had homework to do?”

That made Scott look back at him horrified. “You mean just blow her off?”

“No,” Stiles breathed. “Just say that you would talk to her later because you had homework to finish. I’m sure she would understand considering the amount of ‘studying’ you two got done the other night.”

Scott just walked on with a smile as his mind thought back to their time together in her room.

Allison got to her locker to see it filled with balloons and there was a birthday card on her locker door. She opened it up and read that it was from Lydia. How did she even know?

Scott came over to her. “Is it your birthday?”

“No,” she then begun shooing the balloons away a bit too late. “I mean, yes. Please don’t tell anybody. I don’t even know how Lydia found out.”

Scott just smiled. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I don’t want people to know because…I’m 17,” she said tensely.

Scott was thrown. “You’re 17?”

“That’s the reaction I’m trying to avoid.”

“Why? I totally get it. You had to repeat a year because of all the moving around, right?” Allison then went up and gave him a quick kiss. “What was that for?”

“For, literally, being the only person to make the correct assumption. Everybody’s always like, ‘What? Did you get held back?’, ‘Did you ride the short bus?’, ‘Did you have a baby?’.” She was smiling now.

“That’s what you hear on your birthday?”

“Yeah, all day long.”

Scott huffed. “Then…what if we got out of here?” he suddenly suggested.

Allison’s eyes widened. “Skip class?”

“Yeah. The whole day,” he said unflinchingly.

“Well you’re asking someone whose never blown a class to bail out an entire day and I just don’t know.”

“But, you see that’s perfect. If you get caught they’ll go easy on you.”

“Well, what if you get caught?” she asked back at him.

Scott momentarily thought of his mom’s reaction. But the image faded as he locked onto Allison’s eyes. “Well…let’s try not to think about that.”

Over in chemistry class Mr. Harris was beginning with an announcement.

“Just a friendly reminder, Parent/Teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a C average are required to attend. I won’t name you because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment.” He then looked at the vacant seat. “Has anyone seen Scott McCall?” he asked as he looked down at Stiles who was outlining a passage in his textbook. Stiles looked up at him with the cap still in his mouth.

Just then Jackson came into the room. He looked a little paler and shaken than usual. Stiles didn’t think that he would show up today.

Harris went over to him and supportively put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey Jackson, if you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know.” Jackson nodded his head. Stiles rolled his eyes behind Harris’ back. “Everyone start reading chapter 9. Mr. Stilinski, try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It’s chemistry, not a coloring book.”

Stiles spat the cap up and caught it effortlessly. He saw how tense Jackson was and he couldn’t help but wonder if he had actually seen the Alpha last night. Jackson might hold a clue to help them find it but there was one problem. He really didn’t want to talk to the guy. He still hadn’t forgotten the bitchfest he gave to his father last night and didn’t want to risk breaking anything over asking something. But there was another person. He then went over to Danny. “Hey Danny, can I ask you a question?”

“No,” Danny said simply.

Stiles shrugged. “Well I’m going to anyway. Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?”

Danny huffed. “No.”

So Lydia had actually chose to stay home. He would have to see her after school. “Can I ask you another question?”

“The answer is still no,” Danny said losing his patience.

He ignored that. “Does anyone actually know what happened to her and Jackson last night?”

“He wouldn’t tell me.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. “But he’s your best friend.” If something like that had happened to Scott or Stiles then they would’ve talked to each other about it. Danny actually seemed a little upset. Stiles could see that he was and decided to break the ice between them. “One more question?”

“What?!” he said aggravated with him asking questions.

“Do you find me attractive?”

That seemed to do it. Stiles then realized, too late, that he was leaning too far and nearly fell from his chair but recovered quickly enough though it did make a good bit of sound drawing eyes to him. After he went back to his station he looked at the vacant seat next to him. Where was Scott anyway?

Scott and Allison were hopping into her parked car.

“Maybe we shouldn’t be doing this?” she said. “My dad would kill me.”

“You always do what your father says?” he teased.

“Not lately.”

“Start the car,” he said eagerly.

“But, where are we going?”

Scott then noticed a school security car in the rearview mirror. “Uh, I don’t know. Anywhere. Just start the car.”

“It doesn’t seem right. I don’t want us to get detention.”

“Please, start the car,” he all but begged as the security car got closer.

“But-“

“Allison,” he cut her off. “Car. Start Now.”

She then started the car and pulled out.

Jackson was showering in the locker room when he got to his locker but froze when he turned to see a pair of what looked like red glowing eyes in the steam from the showers. He froze in fright for a moment before it was shown to just be lights from a guy’s earphones. Jackson just huffed, angry for getting scared from nothing when he turned and nearly ran into Derek Hale.

Jackson backed away into the lockers. “I don’t know where Scott is. Stiles, I think he already left.”

Derek shook his head. “I’m not here for either of them. I’m here for you.”

“What? Why, why me? I didn’t do anything.”

“No, but you saw something, didn’t you?”

“No,” he said shaking his head furiously. “I didn’t see anything.”

“What was it?” he asked coming closer. “An animal? A mountain lion?”

“I didn’t see anything,” Jackson nervously insisted. “I swear, I’m not lying.”

Derek was now practically in his face. “Then calm down and say it again.”

“Say what, that I’m not lying?”

“Tell me that you didn’t see anything,” he said harshly at him. “Slowly.”

“I didn’t see…anything. I’m not lying.”

Derek listened to his heart. He then reached for him. “One more thing,” he said pulling at his neck. The scratches from when he clawed Jackson when he was poisoned were there and kind of inflamed. “You should really get that checked out.”

He then left Jackson there as he was freaked out and then angry for being so. A small part of Derek felt that he repayed Stiles for his help and also made Jackson pay for nearly causing the kid to shift last night.

It was official. Scott and Allison had been missing from their classes all day and Stiles knew that they both had been there. For the two of them to just disappear was no coincidence. When the final bell rang he was out of the room with his phone ready and calling.

“What?” he heard when it was answered.

“Finally,” Stiles shouted. “Have you been getting any of my texts?!”

“Yeah, like all 9 million of them,” Scott complained.

Stiles let out a frustrated puff of air. “Do you have any idea what’s going on? Lydia’s totally MIA, Jackson looks like he’s got a time bomb inserted into his face, another random guy is dead; Don’t you think we should be doing something about this?”

“Like what?”

“Something.”

Scott looked over at Allison. “We’ll deal with it later,” he said before hanging up. “Left, left,” he shouted at Allison where they skidded as she made the hard left into the woods. They then got out of the car and took a nice stroll where they ended up kissing in the solitude. They then started to alternate between hiking and kissing.

Stiles couldn’t help but be annoyed with Scott. He made a point to bitch about his grades, complaining about not having the time to do his schoolwork and he goes and cuts school. The day of Parent/Teacher conferences no less, and so he could be with Allison, again. He was thinking that Scott wouldn’t have to worry about the Alpha killing him anymore. Stiles was going to do it himself.

But for now, he had work to do. He got into his jeep and drove over to Lydia’s place. His mother invited him in and escorted him to her room.

“Honey, there’s a Stiles here to see you.”

Stiles looked inside to see that Lydia seemed to be relaxing on her bed looking over the nails on her hand.

“What the hell is a Stiles,” she mumbled.

Her mother looked back at Stiles and smiled apologetically at him. “She took a little something to ease her nerves. You can go on in.”

“Thanks,” he nodded as he went over to her.

Lydia’s mother left them alone and Lydia turned over to look at him with a tired expression on her face.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

Stiles tensed. So many times envisioning when he and Lydia would be alone to finally talk this scenario never entered his mind. For one thing Stiles’ nose was hit with a wave of smells when she spoke. The smells of medicinal chemicals mixed together. Not to mention that he was here to talk about her getting attacked.

“I was just making sure you were okay,” he said softly.

“Huh,” she said as she smacked on her own teeth and gums. “Why?” she asked tapping the bed for him to sit.

He went down immediately. “Because I was worried about you today.”

Lydia then lightly grabbed onto him at the shoulder and Stiles felt his heart rate rise a bite and the skin around his arm where Lydia held on tingle. It only intensified as Lydia got closer to him.

“I feel fantastic,” she whispered over at him.

Stiles felt the smell of the medicine even stronger than before and his eyes went to her bedside table where he took one of the pill bottles. “Whoa,” he said seeing what it was that she took. “I bet you can’t say: I saw Suzy sitting in a shoeshine shop ten times fast.”

Lydia was staring right at him in the eyes. “I saw Shuzy,” then she stopped. “I shaw,” she tried again getting closer to his face. Stiles smiled at her and put the pill bottle back. Then Lydia froze and stared off. “I saw.”

Stiles noticed the look on her face and saw that she was looking haunted. “What? Lydia, what did you see?” he asked softly.

“Something.”

“Something like…a mountain lion?”

Lydia slowly nodded. “A mountain lion.”

“Are you sure you saw a mountain lion or are you saying that because that’s what the police told you?”

“A mountain lion,” she repeated with a nod.

Stiles saw that she looked dazed and when to grab the stuffed giraffe on her table. “What’s this?”

“A mountain lion,” she answered.

“Okay,” he said tossing it. “You’re so drunk.” But then Lydia went and rested her head right on his thigh making him suck in a lot of air in surprise. He was starting to feel his insides burning up and the heat was starting to flow downwards. The last thing he needed was to humiliate himself in front of Lydia right now. He then eased her off of him and she went to lay her head back on her pillow. He then stood up. “Well, I’m going to…go,” he said making his way for the door. “I’ll let you get back to the whole Post Traumatic Stress thing.”

Yet before he could leave Lydia said, “Stay.”

Stiles opened the door back fully wide and got back in before closing it. “Me stay? You want me to stay?”

“Mm Hmm,” she nodded as she patted the bed again for him to join her. He then came over instantly. “Yes, please,” she said with a smile. “Stay.”

Lydia then started to run her hands across his face. Massaging his cheek and then running it down to his neck. Stiles let himself be lost in the touch of it. He kept his eyes on her as she felt him tugging his face closer to her. He found his own hands acting on autopilot as they went to caress her own cheek. Lydia started to lean into his touch and he brought his hand to the corner of her chin as he extended his thumb to caress her bottom lip. Stiles heart was pounding and he found himself going closer to her and his eyes started to droop. A voice seemed to come out of nowhere in his head and told him to ‘take her’.

“Please Jackson,” she whispered to him before she fell back.

Stiles euphoria quickly vanished as his face fell in slight annoyance. “And we’re done here,” he said moving away and taking her hands from his face. Lydia then fully passed out while Stiles looked away and bit back the new surge of anger he was feeling on Jackson. It didn’t last long as Lydia’s phone started to ring. “You want me to get that?” he asked before he reached for it as she wouldn’t answer. He took her phone and saw that it was a message. “It’s a text. I don’t know how to-“ But he paused when he saw that it was a video of the store being attacked. He saw the window being crashed through and a giant shape emerging. At the sight of it his eyes flashed gold for a moment.

The Alpha. Lydia had captured the Alpha with her phone. He paused it to see the beast’s bright red eyes. He looked off as those eyes played back to him in his memories of that night he and Scott were bit. He then deleted the video from her phone but not before sending it to himself. He then quickly took off for home.

Chapter Text

The Hale House was approached by a trio of people armed with rifles and in the middle was Kate Argent.

“He wants us to wait,” one of them said cocking his gun.

“So I’ve been reminded,” slurred Kate. “To death.”

“And that means we’re not allowed to kill him,” said the other.

Kate grinned mischievously. “It doesn’t mean that we can’t say hello.” She then headed on up with the other two following after her.

Derek was working out in the ruins of his family’s living room when he heard them approaching and then ducked off into the corner as his front door was broken in and the hunters charged into the house.

“No one home.”

“Oh,” Kate said. “He’s here. He’s just not feeling particularly hospitable.”

“Maybe he’s out, burying a bone in the backyard.”

Kate turned to the guy, not amused at all. “Really? A dog joke? We’re going there and that’s the best you got? If you want to provoke him say something like, Too bad your sister bit it before she had her first litter. Too bad she howled like a bitch, when we cut her in half!”

That made a howl sound through the house and one of them was surprised and thrown through the house into the wall. Derek came out of hiding and the other guy tried to go for him but Derek knocked him aside quickly leaving him and Kate alone. He tried charging for her next but Kate brought out an electric rod and zapped Derek leaving him writhing on the floor in pain.

“This one grew up in all the right places. I don’t know whether to kill it or lick it,” she teased as she circled him. Derek started to crawl away from her but she followed him like a lion stalking a wounded gazelle. “Ahh…900,000 volts,” she said letting the rod spark up as she looked at it blissfully. “You never were real good with electricity were you? Or fire,” she added pleasantly. “Which is why I’m going to let you in on a little secret and, well, maybe we could help each other out.” Derek was still struggling on the floor but she sat down on a chair close by. “Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try and catch you. Unpleasant and frankly a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true. Now, here’s the part that might really kick you in the balls. We didn’t kill her.” Derek just glared at her. “You think I’m lying?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he managed to spit out.

She just got up and made her way closer to him. “Why don’t you just listen to my heart? Tell me if I am. Okay?” She then leaned in even closer to him. “We. Didn’t. Kill. Her.” Derek had his eyes locked right onto her as she finished. “Hear that, there’s no blips or upticks. Jus the steady beat of the cold hard truth.” She then stood and backed off. “Found bite marks on your sister’s body Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion,” she joked. “Why aren’t we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you’ve been guessing all along which is: The Alpha killed your sister. All you have to do is tell us who it is and we’ll take care of it for you. Problem solved. Everyone goes home happy. Unless…you don’t know who he is either. Well then, look who just became useless.”

Derek then bolted before Kate could get her rifle on him and ran off into the woods to escape. But now, Derek didn’t know where else to go. He panted before his eyes narrowed. Well, there was one place he could go that the hunters wouldn’t be able to get him at even if they knew he was there.

Stiles was in his room and was now on his phone, again. He had to share with Scott what he found but he couldn’t get a hold of him. Scott must’ve turned off his phone, again. That meant he had to leave a message, again. He was not having a good day.

“Hey, it’s me again,” when Scott’s voicemail picked up. “Look I found something and I don’t know what to do. So, if you could turn your phone on, like right now, that would be great. Or else I’ll kill you. Do you understand me? I will kill you. And I’m too upset right now to come up with a witty description of how I’m going to kill you but I imagine will involve claws, teeth and a lot of screaming. Okay? Goodbye,” he said before letting out a scream and then hanging up.

Stiles then threw his phone at his bed and then slumped himself over at his desk and rubbed at his forehead before he let it fall down and rest on his table. He gasped and jumped up when his father knocked.

“Please tell me I’m going to hear good news at this Parent/Teacher conference tonight?” he asked.

“Depends on how you define good news,” he said back.

“I define it as you getting straight A’s with no behavioral issues,” his father said.

Stiles shrugged. “You might want to rethink that definition.”

“Enough said,” before his father took off. “I’ll see you later.”

Stiles was then left alone to stew in the stress of the day. He pulled out his phone to look at the file that he had sent to himself. The images of this thing was shocking and a part of him wondered if he should just delete it. It might be too dangerous to be left laying around even if it was just on his phone. There was then a hand gripping his window sill and Stiles stood up in alarm before he puffed out some heated air when he saw Derek climbing in.

“Really?” he said up at his ceiling before turning to the werewolf climbing in through the window. “What are you doing here?”

Derek got in crutched down on the floor. “Had nowhere else to go,” he muttered.

Stiles then took note on how he was covered in some dust and didn’t even have a shirt on. Stiles could even smell something that looked like smoke and gunpowder. “What the hell happened with you?”

“Hunters,” was all he said. That was all he needed to say before Stiles understood. “They tried to ambush me at my house.”

“Allison’s father?” Stiles guessed.

“No, it was her aunt. Kate,” he cringed when he said the name.

Stiles squinted his eyes. “Isn’t she the one that shot you?” Derek nodded. “I’m not smelling blood on you this time.”

“That’s because this time she decided to zap and torture me with an electric rod. I was barely able to get away from her before she could empty a clip into my chest.”

Stiles went and waved his hands up as he looked to the ceiling in disbelief. “Great. Ya know, that’s just great. We have a new body out there, pole zapping and gun slinging werewolf hunters running around, an alpha werewolf beast prowling about, Scott’s out doing who knows what and now a beta on the run who ran into my room.”

“It’s the only place I could think of,” he said as if he wasn’t any happier being there than Stiles was that he was there.

“Well considering that you’ve been hanging out at your house, which is out in the middle of the woods where those who want to both talk to you and kill you know where to find you, you can only do better.” That made Derek just look back at him with a mild glare. Stiles just rolled his eyes at him before he went off to pick up one of his dad’s old button shirts to give to Derek. “Here you go.” Derek took it and put it on with a sour look on his face. “Your welcome,” Stiles huffed out and threw himself back into his chair. “So, Allison’s aunt jumped you?”

Derek froze as he shook internally. Stiles’ wording made his skin crawl. “Tried to surprise and then she wanted to question and torture me,” he mumbled as he finished buttoning it up.

“What, she thinks you’ve been killing people around here?”

“No, she knows I haven’t. She was trying to see if I knew who the Alpha was and where to find it. When she saw I didn’t she saw no reason to keep me around anymore.”

Stiles could see the contempt all over Derek’s face as he mentioned the hunter. “Guess you were right about their code. They really don’t follow it.”

“No, they don’t.”

Stiles rubbed at his eyes. If this was how they acted with a bystander werewolf, how would they act with a werewolf that was dating one of their own? He didn’t want to think about that so he decided to think on something still depressing but less so than that. “Speaking of the Alpha, I found something.”

Derek’s face softened a bit as he was now taken by curiosity. “What is it?”

“I went to visit Lydia today, to see if she was okay and it looks like she might’ve seen something. Well, more than seen something.” Stiles then went and hooked his phone to his laptop and pulled up the file to the screen. “She managed to get this with her phone.” He then clicked and enlarged the image of the red eyed monster wolf hopping out through the window. “I sent it to my phone before I deleted it so we don’t have to worry about anyone else seeing it.”

“That’s something at least,” Derek said as he leaned in.

Stiles looked over to see Derek looking slightly surprised as he eyed the image. “What is it? Haven’t you seen that before?”

Derek kept his eyes on the image. His expression became hard. “No, I haven’t. It’s not supposed to look like that.”

“It’s not?” Stiles asked surprised.

“No. There are wolves that are able to shift into an animal form but it’s rare.”

“You mean like your sister?” Stiles asked remembering the wolf that he and Scott dug up before they turned her back when they removed the wolfsbane.

He nodded. “She had the gift, like our mother did. They could turn into full wolves. But this…this is something else. It’s wrong. This wolf is feral. Very feral.”

“Like your mother? How many people in your family were turned? Who turned all of you?”

He just shook his head. “We weren’t turned. We were born. My family has had generations of werewolves born to it.”

Wow, Stiles thought. That was an interesting concept. To be a werewolf from the time you were born. Hold on, did that mean that his and Scott’s children now would be werewolves? But as he looked to the image again, he wondered if either of them would live long enough to find that out. “You said that it’s feral,” Stiles eyes narrowed in thought. “Is that why he’s going around killing people like this?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Derek then straightened himself up away from the screen. “We’ve got to find this thing before the hunters do.”

“Why?” asked Stiles. “If the hunters want to use you and then why can’t we use them? They take out the Alpha and-”

“No,” he hissed. “We have to find it first.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. “And why do we have to do that first?”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Just worry about finding it,” he said glaring hard at him before looking back at the image. ”Does Scott know about this yet?”

“No,” Stiles shook his head. “I’ve been trying to call and message him but he’s been dodging me all day.”

“Why? What the heck is he doing?”

Scott and Allison made it to a bridge overlooking the river running through the woods. They were talking about everything and nothing. Allison was enjoying her birthday and Scott was happy to finally feel normal for a change with nothing to ruin it.

Before the sheriff went to the school for the parent/teacher meetings, he decided to pay Alan Deaton another visit at the animal clinic.

“Sheriff Stilinski,” he said with a smile.

He smiled back. “Listen, I hate to bother but I’m having a bitch of a time getting a consensus on just what it is we’re dealing with.”

“I’m really flattered that you’ve come to me for help but like I said before, I’m no expert.”

“But you were pretty certain the other day about our attacker being a mountain lion.”

“That’s right,” Deaton nodded.

The sheriff opened the file he had. “I want to show you something. We got a little lucky here. The video store didn’t have any cameras but the security camera in another parking lot managed to catch a few frames. Take a look at our mountain lion.”

He then tossed some video stills of in front of the video store last night during the attack. A dark shape hopping through the window and another photo of a dark shape in the lot roughly the size of a small bear. It was silent between them except for all the barking from the dogs.

“It’s interesting,” Deaton said as he looked at them.

“Actually, this is the interesting one,” he said pulling out one more.

It was a dark outline of what looked like a man.

“I see what you mean.”

“I’ve never seen a mountain lion do that,” the sheriff said.

“Can’t say I have either. You’ve got a problem here,” he said as the barking around them kept going.

“My first instinct was a bear but bears don’t walk on two legs.”

“No, they drop to all fours.” Then the barking surrounding them seem to intensify. “Look, like I said you really need an expert here.”

The sheriff nodded. “Yeah, I know but…do you think that this could this still be a mountain lion?”

Deaton started to look over towards the dogs and started to inch away. “I’m sorry but I have a sick Doberman that needs my attention.”

“No other ideas,” he asked before Deaton could get fully away.

“No. I’m sorry, I wish I could help you but I have a sick-”

“Dog. Yeah, I heard you. Thanks for humoring me again.”

Deaton just shrugged at him with a small smile before he left to tend to the dog while the sheriff stared back at him before he looked back at the photo.

By the time they were ready to head back it was nightfall. They were all smiles when they made it to the car.

Allison looked down at her hands on the wheel. “So being completely honest, this was…kind of the perfect birthday.”

Scott listened in on her heartbeat like Stiles said. It was steady so Allison was telling him the truth. There was no jumps which meant she hadn’t been lying. “Good,” Scott smiled before Allison leaned in to give him another kiss. “I’d know if you were lying anyway.”

“Oh really?”

Scott quickly recovered from his slip. “You have a tell. You touch our eyebrow,” he found himself saying and reaching for it. “Right here.”

“Huh, well let’s see if you can tell I’m lying now,” she said taking his hand. “I wish that my parents weren’t coming back from the teacher conferences so I could spend the rest of the day with you.”

“The rest of the day?”

“Rest of the night,” she corrected herself.

“With me?” he asked excitedly. Allison let out a squeak of happiness as she nodded. Scott was lost in the moment before he suddenly remembered everything else. “Oh god,” he said tensing. “The parent/teacher conferences…I’m supposed to be there. I’m getting a C in like everything.” Oh he was so dead. His mother was going to kill him.

“And they’re going on right now?” she asked nervously.

She got the car started. Her parents might be looking for her that very second because they would no doubt have been told she skipped school today.

“Jackson’s a highly motivated student,” Mr. Harris said to his adopted parents. “In fact, I describe himself as unusually driven.”

“Yeah, we were hoping he would ease up on himself a little,” his dad said. “He’s always been so hard on himself. We think it’s an effect of learning he was adopted.”

“I think I understand. He’s never met his biological parents.”

 “Right. It’s the need to be impress the overachieving. The desire to make someone proud. Someone he’s never even met.”

“Something certainly seems to have ignited his desire for achievement. Driven him to elevate himself even higher. Not to be too blunt about it but…he seems almost obsessed.”

Jackson was out at a field with a bottle of half empty liquor in his hand. He set it down as he took a lacrosse stick and tried to get a ball to go into a can that he set up at a tree. He tried to get the ball into the can multiple times but it just bounced off. Soon he just took the bottle and threw it at the tree where it shattered as he looked on with a pained look on his face. It was starting to be too much. First Scott being the new talk of the lacrosse team. Then Stiles stepping in and booting him from closing the last game. Then the thing at the store making him feel so weak and helpless. And today with Derek Hale scaring him out of his mind. Everything was starting to fall apart.

“Let me tell you there is plenty to say about Lydia,” the math teacher started.

“Did I not predict this?” her father said.

“Here we go,” her mother jested. “Total nuclear meltdown.”

The two of them started arguing amongst themselves until her father finally asked the teacher, “Just tell us what the problem is.”

“I wasn’t aware there was a problem,” she said calmly to their surprise. “Academically, Lydia is one of the finest students I’ve ever had. Her AP classes actually push her GPA above a 5.0. I’d actually like to have her IQ tested,” she jested lightly. “And socially, she displays great leadership qualities. She’s a real leader.”

Lydia was at home, looking at her broken and shaken self in the mirror. Her hair and face were a real mess. She then went and started to get to work and before long, all traces of her broken self were gone. She was looking at the mirror admiring her work and found herself smiling again.

“Stiles? That’s right but I thought Stiles was his last name?” the coach asked looking back over his papers.

“His last name is Stilinski,” his father explained.

“You named your kid Stiles Stilinski?

“No, that’s just what he likes to be called.”

“Oh, well I’d like to be called Cupcake. What is his first name?” The sheriff then pointed to the file’s label. “Wow, that’s a form of child abuse,” he mused as he took the name in. “I don’t even know how to pronounce that.”

“It was his mother’s father’s name,” he explained.

“Wow,” Coach laughed. “You must really love your wife.”

“Yeah…I did.”

The atmosphere in the room changed after that. “Well this just became incredibly awkward,” Coach said looking down.

“Say why don’t we get to the conference part of this conference Cupcake?” the sheriff said groaned out.

“I like your thinking,” Coach mumbled before clearing his throat. “So Stiles, great kid. He’s had zero talents though I’m happy to say that lately he is showing a marked improvement in sports, especially in Lacrosse.”

“Right,” the sheriff nodded as he remembered Stiles in the last lacrosse game.

“He is very smart too but he never takes full advantage of that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well for his final question on his midterm exam he detailed the entire history of the male circumcision.”

“Well, I mean, it does have historical significance, right?”

“I teach economics.”

Stiles was in his room going through one of his father’s old case files. The one of the Hale house fire. Derek had left a while ago and Stiles had started thinking on what he had just learned. If transforming into a beast is rare for werewolves and someone could be born a werewolf, and there were members of Derek’s family that could do it like his mother and sister then there could be a chance that another member might’ve been capable of it too. One who might’ve survived the fire aside from his catatonic uncle. Derek had said that the Alpha was feral. Stiles won’t pretend to be an expert but feral things don’t start out that way, they’re made that way. If there was a survivor and they were capable of transforming then surviving a fire that wiped out your whole family around you would make anyone go feral with rage and agony. Maybe Derek thought that the Alpha could be a survivor gone feral and didn’t want the hunters to potentially kill another member of his family. It was still a theory but it’s one that seemed to make sense. Well, as much sense as any of this can make.

“Where the hell are you?” Melissa McCall said as she was on her phone sitting in front of Mr. Harris. “Get to the school, now,” she said firmly before hanging up.

“How about we get started?” Harris suggested. Ms McCall let out a frustrated sigh but agreed. “Lately, Scott’s mind has been somewhere else as well as his body. Personally, I think it may have something to do with his home situation.”

“Well, personally, I’m not sure what you mean by home situation.”

“Specifically a lack of an authority figure.”

“Well, I’m the authority figure,” she said trying not to be more upset.

“Sorry,” he said holding up his hands. “Allow me to clarify. I meant the lack of a male authority figure.”

“Oh, well trust me, we’re a lot better off without him in the picture.”

“Does Scott feel the same way?”

“Yes. I think so. I hope so.”

“Well Scott’s going through some changes. It would be nice to have someone with him through this stage of development.”

Scott and Allison were speeding down the road as they tried to hurry back to the school. As tense as Allison was right now, Scott couldn’t help but be still a little happy. He was relaxed and was still musing over his good day. His eyes flashed yellow with the passing of every car’s lights shining on him as they moved in the opposite direction.

“Allison Argent is an incredibly sweet girl,” the teacher said to Mr and Mrs Argent. “And quick to adjust despite the moving around.”

“We know that its been hard on her but it’s a necessary evil,” his father happily explained.

“Necessary or not, I’d be prepared for some…how should I put this?”

“Rebelliousness?” her father guessed.

“We appreciate the concern but we have a great relationship with our daughter. Very open, and honest,” her mother threw in.

“I’m happy to hear that and please let her know that I’m hoping she’s feeling better.”

“What? She wasn’t in class?” her father asked.

“Oh, she wasn’t in school. I checked with the office.”

The two Argents then started to frown at that.

Allison and Scott finally made it back to the school and pulled up to a vacant spot in the now filled parking lot. Before they could get out of the car, the door into the school went open and Scott’s mom came thundering out with her face to her phone.

“Scott, you need to call me, right now,” his mother said sternly and that made Scott jump in his car seat.

“Oh God,” he said backing into his seat.

“Your mom?” Allison needlessly guessed.

“Yeah, I’m…I’m dead,” he said sinking down to try and be out of sight.

Then Chris Argent came out with his face to his phone. “Allison, answering your phone will make discussing the terms of your grounding much easier,” he said as he walked out of the school himself. “Call me back before your punishment reaches biblical proportions.”

His wife came up to him. “Kate hasn’t heard from her either.”

“It’s not like her to do this.”

“Excuse me.” They looked to see Melissa McCall there. “I’m Scott’s mom. I’m sorry but I overheard and Scott’s not answering his phone either.”

“You’re his mother?” he asked.

Melissa held her hand out. “Funny how you say that like it’s an accusation.”

“Well I wouldn’t claim it as a source of pride since he basically kidnapped my daughter today.”

“How do we know that skipping school wasn’t your daughter’s idea?” she shot back.

“My daughter?!” Then his eyes averted. “Is right there,” he puffed out.”

His daughter, along with Scott, were exiting from the car. They thought they better get out when their parents met with each other and things were starting to get worse.

Melissa practically charged at them. “Where exactly have you been?!”

“Nowhere mom,” Scott said softly.

“Nowhere meaning not at school.”

“It’s not his fault,” said Allison. “It’s my birthday and we were-“

“Allison,” her father said before she could finish. “In the car.”

But then there was a loud scream to snap their minds from all of this. Suddenly, everyone started to panic and people were running. They were running for their cars and shouting at each other to get out of the way. Scott tried to zero in on what was happening but there was too much movement and noise for him to get a lock. Chris Argent went to his car and got his gun which he held close at hand and kept mostly out of sight but at the ready. Scott kept trying to find what was wrong when a growl was heard through the lot.

Scott eyes glowed as his sight went infrared. He was starting to detect something. Yet, his focus faded when a car started to honk at Allison as it was approaching. “Allison!” he cried as he went to pull her away.

The sheriff was running through the cars as he was pushing people away. “Go! Out of the way!” he cried before a car pulled out quickly and rammed him. He started to crawl away. “I’m fine,” he grunted before he heard the growl. He reached for his hidden gun at his foot strap.

Scott made sure Allison was back and out of the way before he heard shots. Everyone came over and saw Chris Argent with his gun out, standing over the body of a mountain lion. It wasn’t the Alpha that had attacked but a normal mountain lion. Everyone came over and looked out in surprise at the now dead beast while Scott stared down at the gun in Allison’s dad’s hand before he too looked at the dead animal.

Stiles was on his laptop researching the Argents. He remembered baring one of Scott’s ‘Allison’ love rants and hearing that he said that Allison’s aunt had lived around here. The same aunt that Derek had told him earlier had tortured him with an electric rod. Someone like that had to have some kind of warped history that they could use to protect themselves. He checked the name out and saw a link that read: Argent – Translation from French to English. He narrowed his eyes and clicked on it to see that Argent was the French word for silver.

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me,” he choked out.

Derek had told him that the Argents were a legacy though he didn’t mention this. After they had saved Derek from that wolfsbane bullet, Stiles wanted to be sure that there was nothing that could potentially infect him like that around his house. Thankfully, there was no wolfsbane here, and why would there be. But his dad did have a small decorative case of silverware that he only brought out for special occasions. Stiles couldn’t remember it really coming out into the light after his mom died so he thought his dad might not miss it if Stiles took it and boxed it up in one of the closets upstairs. When he opened it to see the utensils, Stiles had braved touching a spoon to not even feel a tingle. He then braved running his finger across a point of a fork but nothing had happened to his surprise. Now this made sense. Silver didn’t kill werewolves, they hunted them. The werewolf stories were historically famous around Europe especially France with the Loup-garou and Le Bete legends. The French word for Silver was Argent which was his best friend’s girlfriend’s name. Scott wasn’t just dating a hunter’s daughter but was dating hunting royalty. He couldn’t see how things could get worse.

His phone then started ringing and he went over to it and saw that it was Scott’s mom. Why was she calling him? “Ms. McCall?”

Her voice then sounded and it sounded worried. “Stiles, your father was just taken to the hospital.”

“What?”

Now he could see how.

Chapter Text

Stiles was sitting at the side of his father who was sitting in the hospital bed with a sour look on his face. The doctor came into the room with a clipboard.

“Doctor,” Stiles said getting to his feet.

“Well Sheriff, it’s not too serious. You just have some tissue damage which will leave you sore for maybe another day or two but you should be fit to protect and serve again in no time.”

“Are you sure?” Stiles asked the doctor. “There’s nothing else wrong?”

The man smiled. “Your dad is fine. He’ll stay here one more night and then be let go in the morning. We’ll prescribe some medicine for the pain.”

“Thank you doctor,” Sheriff Stilinski said as he left and then looked back to his son. “See Stiles, how many times do I have to tell you? I’m fine. Go on home. You have school tomorrow.” He moved his arm a little fast and cringed in the aches he felt.

Stiles immediately stiffened. “I can rest here,” he said settling in to slouch in the nearby chair. “Go to school from here in the morning.”

“Hey Stiles,” Melissa McCall said coming into the room. “I just heard you’ll be heading on home soon.”

“Yeah,” the sheriff said with a smile. “Shame a certain someone here is trying to do everything he can not to.”

“Forgive me if I don’t take my dad getting hit by a car lightly,” Stiles said sarcastically and rolling his eyes for more effect.

“It bumped me, it didn’t hit me. And you heard the doctor Stiles. I’m fine. Now go, get out of here.”

Ms. McCall went over and lightly took him by the shoulder. “It’s okay. Go home Stiles. By the time you get home from school tomorrow your dad will be there waiting for you.”

Stiles let a huff loose. “Fine, okay. You two can stop with the double team. I’ll head on home.”

“Good. And,” she said looking at her watch. “Speaking of home, I should be getting ready to head back myself.”

She then left the father and son alone. Stiles got his jacket on before he stopped to look back at his father.

“I’ll be fine son,” his dad said once again.

“Okay…just, don’t do that again.”

His father then fidgeted to make himself comfortable and winced as the pain in his lower side struck again. Stiles then to grasp his hand to help pull him in and get him comfortable. As his father moved Stiles felt a sting in his hand. He looked down at his hand to see that the veins in his hand seem to be running black. They were traveling from his hand to his wrist and up his arm. He could feel as if something was inside his skin, crawling up from the inside. He let go when his father seemed to get comfortable.

His father then fidgeted a bit more. “See, I’m feeling better already,” he said with a smile as he moved some more but didn’t wince. “You have nothing to be worried about.”

As Stiles stepped out of the room he looked down at his hand. The black in his veins was gone. What was that? Did he just do something back there? As he stepped into the parking lot and headed for his car he wondered if he somehow made his father feel better with his werewolf powers. After all, they had the ability to heal. What if he somehow transferred some of that power to help heal his father of the injury? Or…what if he took some of the injury away and pulled it into himself? Stiles got into his jeep and pulled up but he didn’t notice the faint red tint of a spiral being left behind in the parking spot.

Scott was walking through the parking garage with the groceries he picked up for his mother. She had informed him of what the doctor diagnosed about the sheriff being hit the previous night. He tried calling Stiles all day but his friend wasn’t returning his calls or answering any of his texts. He guessed that Stiles was mad at him or something. Scott was hoping that Stiles wasn’t blaming him for what happened to his father, even if he did feel guilty for him getting hit. He’ll try and talk to his friend about it at school tomorrow. As Scott walked down the ramp he didn’t see any sign of the car. He looked back and saw that he was on the wrong level.

“Damn it,” he growled before heading up to the next parking level. He wasn’t seeing the car anywhere here either. Scott set the bags down and took the keys and tried to find the car and heard the alarm from the car above him. Scott guessed that he had so much on his mind that he spaced on where he parked the car. Suddenly the milk he bought fell from the bag and rolled away. “Crap,” he said trying to catch it but missing it as it rolled under a car.

He went down to try and get it back but it rolled too far. When Scott was about to try and go around to see if he could get it from the other side, the bottle was rolling back to him but the label had claw marks on it. Scott started to hear some soft growling and he quickly took off down to the lower level of the garage. He jumped down and then ran off as fast as he could with the sound of growling following after him. He quickly threw himself on some car hoods and ran across them in order to set off the alarms to throw off the sounds of his echoing footsteps on the pavement. He then crutched down between some cars as he tried to stay hidden. He could feel someone nearby and was starting to pass on. But then his phone rung and when Scott reached to turn it off he felt someone grab him from behind and throw him down on the hood of the nearby car.

Scott looked up to see Derek’s hard and glaring face looking down on him. “You’re dead,” he growled at him. Derek then got up and started to walk off.

Scott stomped off after him. “What the hell was that?” he asked pissed off.

Derek walked on, indifferent to Scott’s tone with him. “I said I was going to teach you, I didn’t say when.”

“You scared the crap out of me!”

Derek gave him a look over. “Not yet.”

“Okay, but I was fast right?”

“Not fast enough.”

“But…the car alarm thing, that was smart right?”

“Till your phone rang,” Derek countered.

“But that was…okay, would you just stop?!” he roared out making Derek stop walking and turn back to him. “What happened the other night, Stiles’ dad getting hurt, that was my fault. I need you to teach me how to control this.”

“Look, I am what I am because of birth. You were bitten. Teaching someone who was bitten takes time. And I don’t know if I can teach you. Besides, I’m starting to wonder if I’m wasting my time with you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the night before you were complaining to me about your grades and school and the next day Stiles tells me that you ditched.”

“Wait…Stiles?” Derek talked to Stiles the other day? “You talked to him?”

“Yes, while you were off with her,” he grunted. “I paid him a visit. Stiles was busy gathering information about the Alpha. The one that’s after the two of you. When I was attacked and ran to his place he showed me everything he found.”

Scott shook his head, a dazed look coming onto his face. Stiles didn’t tell him any of this. Then again, he hadn’t spoken with Stiles since he had gone off for Allison’s birthday. But Scott caught something else. “Wait, you were attacked?”

That only made Derek huff impatiently. “This is what I’m talking about. Now, Stiles may be a natural when it comes to control but he is still putting in a strong effort in learning to tap and focus on reigning in the change. He still needs help with invoking his shift on command but he’s making progress.” From what Derek could see, Stiles shifts didn’t seem to come from anger like typical wolves. Instead, it seemed to come from protective instincts. Stiles had shifted when Scott attacked him at the school to protect himself. Stiles also shifted when he had attacked Scott at his house and to protect them both from his assault. Then there was when his father the sheriff had been verbally assaulted at the video store. Derek was still lost on how to help teach Stiles on that front, if he even could. But with Scott, his were more emotionally driven like typical werewolves. He had more of an idea on what to do for Scott and continued to scold him. “He is trying to get through all of this and stop the Alpha as best he can. But you, you’re just ignoring it. You’re not serious about any of this.”

“I am,” argued Scott. “I’m dead serious about all this!”

Derek then went to grab at Scott’s phone. “You see this?” He said showing the missed caller’s id. It was Allison. “This is why I caught you. If you are really serious about wanting me to teach you, you have to get rid of your distractions. Get rid of her.”

“Why, because of her family?” Scott spat.

Derek then went and hurled his phone into a nearby wall against Scott’s protests. “Getting angry? Good. That’s your first lesson. You want to learn how to shift then you do it by anger. By tapping into a primal animal rage and you can’t do that with her around!”

“I can get angry.” Scott growled.

“Not angry enough,” Derek said back. “This is the only way I can teach you. Now, can you stay away from her? At least until after the full moon?!”

“If that’s what it takes…”

Derek could see he was hesitating. “Do you want to live? Do want to protect your friends? Yes or No?”

“Yes,” he said. “If you can teach me, I can stay away from her.”

Scott immediately went to Allison’s house where they quickly started to heavily make out on her bed. Half of their clothes were off when there was a knock on the door startling the two of them.

“Just a second,” Allison said as she helped Scott hide in her closet.

“Allison?” her aunt called out.

“Coming. Coming,” she said hurriedly as she made sure she was decent and went to the door.

“Hey, what’s up?” Kate said as she stepped in.

“Nothing, just…doing some homework and sending some emails.”

“Emailing the boyfriend?” teased Kate. Scott tensed a bit in the closet.

“Emailing media about how my dad shot some poor mountain lion in the school parking lot.”

“And that wouldn’t have anything with the fact that you’re grounded and can’t see Scott?” she asked with a smirk sprayed on her face.

Allison shook her head. “I’m not going to be one of those whiny teenagers who looks at their father and says, I hate you. I wish you were dead.”

“But-“ guessed Kate.

“But…I hate him and wish he was dead,” she finished flatly.

That got Kate laughing. “See? Now you’re starting to sound like a normal, angry teenager. Say, what is it you’re working on? Can I help?”

“Just…history project and I kinda want to be left alone.”

Scott was hoping that her aunt would just go but no such luck.

“What kind of history project?” she asked.

“Just a report that has to have some reference to my own family history.”

Kate nodded. “Specific to your family?”

“Why? Do you have any ideas?”

Kate nodded and came in closer to her. “Type this in: Le Bete de Gevaudan.”

From the closet Scott’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in closer. He thought Stiles had mentioned that to him somewhere before but he couldn’t quite recall what it was about.

“What is this?” Allison asked when the page came up.

“It’s an old French legend that, believe it or not, has something to do with your family.”

Kate then started to talk about how the legend revolved around mysterious animal attacks, much like the ones happening now. When Allison commented that the beast depicted in the legend looked like a wolf, Scott’s heart jumped. A werewolf legend. That’s what it was and it involved not only what he was but what Allison was too, a hunter. He didn’t like that Allison was starting to circle the truth like this. Maybe it was a good idea for him to stay away from her, at least until this talk of animal attacks and wolves started to go away.

When Kate finally left Scott felt that it was time for him to go. He went and gave her a kiss goodbye before he climbed down the side of her house and headed for his car. As he walked he heard a faint rustling followed by some light growling. Scott assumed that Derek had followed him.

“Derek? Look, I know I said I would stay away but, you broke my phone. Had to at least tell her why I wasn’t answering.” But there was no response. “Derek?”

Scott eyes soon honed in on a pair of red eyes in the darkness. That wasn’t Derek. It was the Alpha. Scott then immediately ran for his car and hastily jammed his keys into the door to get it open. He could hear the heavy footsteps coming closer as he finally got it open and threw himself in. He shut the door and started to shake from the fear of what was just outside. He started to make out the giant shadow of the beast circling his car like a shark. Scott tried to back away when it went to his car door window and then drew a spiral in the condensation. Then it left.

Scott wasted no more time getting home. He went straight to his room and started to close and lock his window as well as pull down the shade. His heart was still pounding fiercely from what just happened. He went to turn on the light.

“Whoa,” Scott said jumping back. Derek was sitting in the chair right next to the lamp. “You seriously need to stop doing that!”

“So, what happened? It talk to you?” he asked calmly.

“Yeah, we had a nice conversation about the weather,” he spat sarcastically. “No, he didn’t talk!”

“Well did you get anything off of him? An impression?”

Scott started to settle a bit. “What do you mean?”

Derek stood up. “Remember that your other senses are heightened. Communication doesn’t have to be spoken. What kind of feeling did you pick up from him?”

Scott took a minute and thought back. “Anger,” he found himself saying.

“Focused on you?”

He shook his head. “No, not on me. But it was anger, I could feel it. Especially when he drew the spiral.”

“What?” Derek said actually looking stunned.

“It was a spiral. He drew it in the condensation of my car. What?” he asked looking hard at Derek. “You have this look like you know what it means.”

“No, it’s nothing,” Derek said before he started to leave.

But Scott halted him. “Wait a second. You can’t do that. You can’t ask me to trust you and then start keeping things from me.”

But Derek just shook his head. “It doesn’t mean anything,” he insisted.

“You buried your sister under a spiral,” he said remembering when he and Stiles dug up her body. “What does it mean?”

Derek was silent for a moment before he moved to open his door. “You don’t want to know.”

He then left leaving Scott to think about how Derek’s heart was steady when he said that he didn’t want to know.

Stiles parked his jeep in the driveway and started to sip the last of his soft drink as he headed for the dumpster to throw it in once it was empty. After leaving the hospital, he decided to treat himself to a little something which was possible now that the curfew had been lifted on account of the mountain lion getting shot down. The town thought the threat was passed; boy were they wrong. Stiles took a look around and saw that it was quiet. He also noticed that the trash bag was full so he replaced it and took the filled garbage bag to the curb. As he dropped it down his eyes went to his right hand where that black stuff had run through his veins when his dad seemed healed. It felt normal now, no itchiness or pain whatsoever. He glanced up at the window leading into his bedroom at the side of the house and decided to try a little something. If it worked for Derek than it had to work for him too. He looked around to see if there was anyone watching before he took a deep breath and broke into a run. He stopped below his window and jumped straight up and found himself grabbing onto the window sill.

Stiles’ face lit up with wonder and amusement as he swung slightly in place. “Ha…yes,” he gasped out. He couldn’t believe that worked. He lifted himself up a bit to take a glimpse into his room before lowering himself down a bit and then let go to land on the ground. He didn’t feel a bit of pain from the drop. “And he sticks the landing,” he said gesturing his hands out to the non-existent applause. Stiles couldn’t believe that over a month ago he was an ungraceful klutz and now he was practically an Olympic acrobat.

Stiles suddenly got a tingle in his spine and turned around to look off into the distance. There was nothing there but the silent houses across the street. Stiles felt around his pockets for his keys and headed for the front door. He got in and closed it before a pair of red eyes showed themselves in the dark space of the two houses across the street looking back at him.

Scott kept chanting a mantra from the time he went to sleep to when he got up. Stay away from Allison. He kept chanting those four words up until he got to school and spotted her. He then turned to do just that but then found Jackson. Jackson who was driven to learn about his and Stiles’ dirty little secret. So he chanted: Stay away from Jackson. As he went to go down the opposite hall he found Lydia who said hi to him. Lydia, who was deeply involved with the both of them.

“Oh come on!” he growled out.

Scott found his way to his first class where Stiles was already sitting in his chair looking over some of his notes. Stiles looked up at him when he entered but then looked right back down with a hard look in his eyes. Scott took a deep breath and started to head for his seat behind his best friend. Usually when they met like this Stiles would start talking to him about anything and everything. But right now he was focused on making himself write some notes.

“Still not talking to me?” he asked. But Stiles just kept on writing in his book. Scott stressfully breathed out. Stiles wasn’t making this easy. With everything that happened lately, he needed to talk to him. “Can you at least tell me if your dad’s okay?” he asked. “It’s just a bruise right? Some soft tissue damage. You know that I feel bad about all of this, right?”

Stiles was hearing what Scott was saying but was trying hard not to listen. He understood that Scott was sorry for what happened to his dad but that didn’t change the fact that he was still hurt and Scott didn’t help him because he had been distracted, by Allison, again. He was protecting her when she had her hunter father there to do that. He just sat there and tried to drown out Scott’s voice with his list of the odd things he found himself capable of besides the strength and speed. So far there was enhanced agility, tracking scents, reading body movements, lie detecting, recovering lost memories and now donating his healing powers. There was so much more to being a werewolf than simply growing hair, teeth, claws and howling at the moon.

Scott folded his arms in front of him. “Look, what if I told you that I’m going to try harder to figuring this whole thing out. I mean, I know I don’t seem to be as good as you seem to be with this so…I actually went to Derek for help.”

Stiles slammed his pen down. “If I was talking to you I would say it was about damn time you tried to get focused but I’m obviously not speaking to you.” But the bell sounded off to begin classes and everyone started to rush in through the doors. He heard Scott get his stuff ready behind him. Stiles tried to keep angry at Scott but he started getting angry at himself when his resolve broke. He was too damn curious for his own good and turned to look at him. “So, what did he say?”

The two of them were soon walking out of class when the period was over. “So he wants you to tap into your animal side and get angry? Correct me if I’m wrong but every time you do that you’ve tried to kill someone. And that someone was mainly me.”

“I know. That’s what he says when he said he didn’t know if he could even teach me. He said that he would focus on teaching me first because…”

“Because…?” Stiles said urging him to finish and boy did he want to finish.

Scott huffed at his friend. He really wanted him to say it. “Because I’m not as good at controlling it as you.” That made a smile creep on his friend’s face. “He did say that you still need work too,” he quickly pointed out. “That you’re good at keeping it away but not bringing it out when you want.”

“Yeah, but I’m just shaking a bit when I ride this wolf cycle. You still have problems with the training wheels.”

Scott rolled his eyes. He bared his friend’s criticism. Maybe he deserved it. “I have to control this,” he said tirelessly.

“And how does he plan to teach you to do that?”

“I don’t know. And I don’t think he knows either.”

Stiles nodded his head. “Okay. When are you going to see him again?”

“He told me not to talk or think about it. Just to get through the day-“

“When?” Stiles asked Scott stopping them in their tracks.

“He’s picking me up at the animal clinic after work.”

Stiles nodded. “Okay, then that gives me until the end of the school day then.”

“To do what?”

“To teach you myself.”

Stiles walked off while Scott looked after him. He couldn’t help but pick up that Stiles seemed confident that he could do that. Well, he was bitten just like him and he seemed to be doing something that seemed to impress even Derek. If Derek wasn’t sure but Stiles was that he could be taught then he would be better to go with Stiles.

Lydia raised her fork up and waved it in the air. “The what of who?”

“The Beast of Gevaudan,” said Allison. She was explaining the legend that her Aunt Kate helped her find about their family history. It was quite interesting and she felt that she had to share it with someone. She had the book he borrowed out in front of her. “Listen to this, a quadrupedal wolf like monster prowling the southern lands of France from 1764 to 1767. Le Bete killed over a hundred people becoming so infamous that King Louis XV sent one of his best hunters to kill it.”

“Boring,” Lydia said.

“Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan.”

“Hmm, still boring.”

“Crypt Zoologists believed that it may have been a subspecies of predator,” Allison read.

“Slipping into a coma bored,” Lydia said before eating a piece of cut fruit.

“While others believed that it was a powerful sorcerer that could shapeshift into a man eating monster,” whispered Allison for effect.

An effect that only made Lydia roll her eyes. “Any of this have anything to do with your family?”

“This. It is believed that Le Bete was finally trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature. His name was Argent.”

Lydia didn’t seem impressed by that revelation. “Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?”

“Not just a big wolf. I mean, look at this picture,” she said showing Lydia the illustration. “What does that look like to you?”

Lydia focused on the picture, mostly on the beast in the back that had the red glowing eyes. The same glowing eyes that flashed at her when the mountain lion burst through the video store window. Lydia heard Allison call her name and snap her out of it. “It looks…like a big wolf. See you in history,” she said leaving Allison there to stare after her in amusement.

But there was someone who wasn’t amused. Two someones. Who were able to hear every word of it.

“Why is Allison reading that legend?” Stiles asked. With his research into Allison’s family history he knew that Allison was now practically circling her family’s legacy.

Scott was hiding his face behind a textbook so that Allison couldn’t see him. “Her aunt gave it to her last night.”

“Last night?” he asked Scott who nodded before hiding back behind the book. “Didn’t you just tell me that Derek told you to stay away from Allison until the full moon last night? You know, when he played hunter predator and caught you in the parking garage.”

“Yeah…but he broke my phone when he saw she called me. I had to go and tell her why I couldn’t answer her phone call.”

His friend shrugged. “Oh well, it’s not like you were really using your phone anyways,” he snipped. Scott’s jaw tightened at that. “And I suppose sending an email from home wouldn’t have had the bonus of you making out with her before you broke the news,” Stiles sarcastically guessed. Scott didn’t say anything to that and just went back to hiding so Stiles grabbed the book. “I think the book is making it more obvious. Besides, she back to reading anyway.”

Scott braved a look and saw that he was right. “So, you come up with a plan yet?”

“Think so,” he said before taking a bite from his apple.

“That mean you don’t hate me now?” Scott asked hopefully.

“No, but your crap and lame furry ass are literal threats to my life, so…I have to do something about it. Plus, I’m sure I make a better Yoda then Derek.”

“You’ll teach me.”

“Yeah, I’ll be your Yoda.”

“Yeah, be my Yoda,” Scott said going back to hiding behind his book.

“Your Yoda I will be. See, I said it backwards.”

“Yeah, I heard you,” Scott said dismissively.

Stiles then started to clear his tray. “Okay, I definitely still hate you. Uh, huh. Oh yeah,” he said getting up and taking the book he was using to hide himself.

Scott panicked as now Allison could see him so he took off too. Allison tried to follow after him but Scott quickly bolted for the boys bathroom. Scott listened until he heard Allison start to move away.

“This is not going to be easy,” he cringed.

Stiles then led Scott to the lacrosse field. Stiles went to dig through his bag before he took out a leather strap with a box attached. “Put this on,” he said giving it to Scott.

Scott gave it a good look. “Hey, isn’t this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?”

“Yeah, I borrowed it.”

“Stole it,” Scott tried to correct.

“Temporarily Misappropriated,” Stiles corrected back. “Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs. You’re going to wear it for the rest of the day.” He said it like there was no room for discussion.

Scott noticed something in Stiles hand. “Isn’t that Coach’s phone?”

He nodded. “That I stole.”

“Why?”

“You remember what I said about our rising pulses triggering the change? Whenever you’re playing lacrosse, getting angry or with Allison it speeds your heart rate and raises it up and you change. I guessed that learning to control our change was about controlling our heart rate even when we’ve already shifted. So, I’ve been looking into ways to try and keep my heart rate steady and low so my pulse stays down and I stay in control. Things like breathing exercises, yoga, meditation.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Stiles confirmed. “What did you think I was doing with my free time lately?”

Scott was honestly baffled. Between all this stuff with the Alpha, Derek and Allison he hadn’t given it much thought. He then remembered what Derek had told him last night. That though Stiles seemed to be naturally predisposed with fighting for control he was still making an effort to reign the beast in him in. Scott felt a pit in his stomach as the thought that Derek seemed to know that Stiles was doing these things and he, his best friend, had been in the dark sank in.

“So…like the Incredible Hulk?” he tried to joke away the new uneasiness.

Stiles thought about it and nodded. “Kind of like the Incredible Hulk. Yeah.”

“No, I’m kind of like the Incredible Hulk,” Scott said with a small smile creeping up on him.

“Oh just shut up and put it on,” Stiles breathed.

When he did, Stiles then went and began to duct tape Scott’s wrists and feet together. Scott was starting to feel very uncomfortable.

“This wasn’t exactly how I wanted to spend my free period,” he said as Stiles finished taping his feet.

“Yeah, cry me a river,” Stiles said grabbing his lacrosse stick and backing away. “Remember, don’t get angry.” He then started the app for the heart monitor.

“I’m starting to think this is a bad idea,” Scott said as Stiles got a ball into his lacrosse net.

Stiles flung the ball hard and it connected with Scott’s leg. Scott groaned but fought to stay on his feet. Stiles smiled before he went for another and threw it hitting him right past the arm at his chest.

“Okay, that hurt,” Scott let out.

“Quiet,” Stiles sternly said. “You’re supposed to be thinking on your heart rate. Staying calm, even through that.” Stiles then went and readied another ball.

“Staying calm,” Scott said narrowly avoiding another ball. “Stay calm. No balls flying at my face.” But then a ball hit him at his chest close to the opposite arm this time.

Jackson was passing by with some of his teammates who said that he wasn’t looking too good. Jackson just chalked it up to not getting a lot of sleep lately. He then caught sight of the two of them on the field. He wondered just what it was that these two idiots were doing but stopped caring when he saw Stiles throw a ball and hit Scott.

“Son of a bitch!” Scott cried when Stiles hit him in the nuts.

Stiles’ eyes widened. “You know, I still can’t get over how good my aim has gotten now.”

“Yeah, how great for you,” he bit out.

“Uh uh,” Stiles said raising his stick at him. “Don’t get angry,” he said as he heard the phone’s signal beeps rising.

“Not getting angry,” Scott said.

Stiles then kept on firing the balls out even faster. Each one of them hitting Scott square on in his chest, legs or gut. Jackson was silently laughing at it all. Scott tried to tell Stiles to stop but last hit made him fall to his knees.

“Scott?” Stiles then heard the beeps intensify. He went to the bag and saw that Scott’s heart rate was skyrocketing.

Scott was groaning loudly and then snapped the tape off his wrists. Stiles readied himself to intercept his friend if he started to shift. His own heart rate was starting to rise and he could feel it pop at his ears. He went down to his knees next to Scott and looked up at him. He could see a golden glint escaping from Scott’s eyes which made his own burn as well. He took care not to touch him and let Scott try to pull back on his own.

Jackson was now focusing his sight on Scott writhing on the ground. He wondered just what was going on?

But Scott started to focus. He tried to make himself calm but taking deep breaths and clear his mind of the anger he was feeling and sure enough his pulse started to drop. He felt Stiles gasp out in relief and sit flat on the grass. “Stiles,” he coughed out before he rolled to fall on his back.

“Scott? You started to change. But, you settled down. You stopped it, all on your own.”

“The anger,” Scott gasped out. “It was more than that. The angrier I got then the stronger I felt.”

“So it is your anger. Derek was right.”

“Yeah, he was,” he dreadfully admitted. “I can’t be around Allison.”

While Stiles was secretly glad that Scott said that he felt that the reason for it wasn’t because of the risk factor her family presented. “Because she makes you happy?”

“Because she makes me weak,” he admitted.

Jackson kept watching the two of them from afar. He didn’t know what those two were up to but it seemed to be even weirder than anything he guessed they were into before. He decided to just leave then and there.

Chapter Text

Stiles and Scott went back to the locker room to put their gear away so that they could get ready for their next class. Scott seemed okay now but Stiles only seemed more worried. Scott looked like his life was over but Stiles thought his friend was blowing this way out of proportion.

“Hey, it’s not as bad as it looks. Okay, so you stay away from Allison for a few days. You can do that. It’s not the end of the world Scott.”

“A few days…or is it forever?” Scott asked him.

“You know, this whole women makes you weak thing is a little too Spartan warrior for me. It’s probably just part of the learning process. You’ll get the hang of it soon enough.”

“Really? I mean, you’ve seen Derek right? The guy’s totally alone.”

Stiles shrugged. “Yeah but I think that has more to do with the fire that claimed his family and his sister being ripped in half then the whole full moon thing.” Having Derek talk about his family to him, even if it was only just a bit helped Stiles understand the guy a bit better. He remembered how he felt when he lost his mother. Derek lost his whole family six years ago and then lost his only sister only a few weeks ago. His only living family was comatose with burns all over his face. He could understand it if the beta wasn’t a social butterfly.

But Scott just shook his head. “What if I could never be around her again?” he despaired.

“Well, if you’re not dead then I think that might be a good thing.”

“I rather be dead,” Scott muttered.

Stiles didn’t know whether to hug Scott or strangle him. He gets that Scott’s bummed about Allison but he’s only known the girl for a month and he’s ready to throw himself off the roof of the school if he can’t see her for a while? His friend had to get a grip. “Look, you’re not going to end up like Derek,” he said a bit shortly. “We’ll figure it out. I mean, come on, look at me. I’m doing okay and do you see me ready to live a life of solitude? No, and believe me I have no plans to be a monk.”

Scott just let out a deep breath and then nodded. “Okay,” he said softly.

“Okay. Let’s get the hell out of here.”

“Something smells terrible in here anyway,” Scott said grabbing his bag.

Stiles gave the room a sniff. “Yeah. I know this is a boys locker room but come on.”

Scott nodded. “Smells like something’s rotting or dying,” he said before they made it to the door unaware that a certain captain was eyeing them.

Jackson watched the two of them leave and though he couldn’t catch what they were saying he found himself caring very little for that now as he stumbled along. Jackson took a look at himself in the mirror over one of the sinks and saw that he looked like he was a walking zombie. His head was still aching and he felt like his insides were burning. His neck was aching and he ripped the bandage from where he still had the scratch from Derek Hale and saw that it was freshly bleeding. He took off his shirt to try and cool himself but then found his throat was seizing up, like there was something in his throat. He then watched horrified as a pair of hairy claws seemed to be digging their way out through his mouth. But then the next moment the feeling disappeared and Jackson saw that he was okay.

He was still freaked about his little episode that he just stumbled through the halls until he found Allison on the floor reading. She seemed to be completely absorbed in it too. “What are you reading?” he asked.

Allison seemed to have been shocked out of her daze as she nearly jumped when she looked at him. “Oh, hey. Just stuff for a history project.”

“Oh.” Jackson then found himself going to take a seat next to her. She was McCall’s girlfriend and if he was going to find out what was going on with him and his friend then this was the only way.

Allison looked uncomfortable and she looked around to see that they were alone. “You have a free period?” she asked him.

“No, I just don’t like sitting through Chem.”

“Understandable,” Allison joked. Jackson found himself smiling a bit before he noticed Allison looking back into her book trying to read again. “Did you want something?” she asked him.

He noticed that Allison was trying to be polite but she didn’t seem to want him there with her. Jackson went and cleared his throat. “Uh, actually yeah. I…wanted to talk. I realize that I’ve been a jerk to you and especially to Scott. And I just wanted to say that I’m sorry.” Allison just turned to look away from him. She didn’t seem to be believe him. “I’m serious,” he insisted.

“Okay, but, see I believe you’re being serious. Not too sure I believe that you’re being sincere.”

Jackson just stared after her when her eyes went back to her book. She seemed to be getting more uncomfortable with him. Jackson softened himself a bit. “Do you know what it’s like to be the best player on the team? To be the star? To have every single person at the game chanting your name.” Jackson looked at Allison to see that she had a hard look on her face and didn’t seem to be sympathetic to him and kept looking at her book. Jackson forced the next bit out. “And then some kid…some kid comes along and everyone starts looking at him instead of you. Then another one, the first one’s friend comes along and has you bumped from your spot and even though the game’s won no one bothers to look at you because they’re too busy with them? Do you know what that feels like?”

Allison’s face seemed to soften a bit then. “No…I don’t,” she whispered.

“Well it feels like something’s been…stolen from you. Then, you start to think that you’d do anything…anything in the world to get it back.”

Allison seemed to empathize until she just rolled her eyes. “Haven’t you ever heard that there’s no I in team?” she asked him softly.

“Yeah but there is a me,” he said instantly. That seemed to turn off Allison’s concern for him as she turned to look away from him. “That was a joke,” he put in quickly with a laugh. Allison let out a laugh too but she seemed to be getting uncomfortable with him again. “Wow, you must really, really hate me.”

“No,” she insisted.

Jackson didn’t seem to believe her. “I’m not a bad guy,” he tried to say. “I make stupid mistakes but I’m not bad. I really like you.” That made Allison look at him nervously. “And Scott,” he said quickly. “I really like you both and…I want you guys to like me.”

Deep down, the two of them knew that Jackson wasn’t serious or sincere on that.

Finstock’s class was starting and Scott and Stiles were running late. Scott spotted Allison coming over.

“Stiles, sit behind me,” he whispered.

But Allison beat him to that seat. Stiles gave Scott a look before he went to a seat across from them. That left Scott alone with Allison.

“Hey,” Allison breathed to him.

“Hey,” he said back.

“I haven’t seen you all day.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy,” he tried to explain.

“When are you getting your phone fixed? I feel like I’m totally disconnected from you.”

“Oh…soon,” he nodded nervously. “Real soon.”

“I changed lab partners by the way.”

“Really? To who?”

“To you dummy,” she said falling back into her seat with a playful smile.

“Oh,” Scott bit back his aggravation. “I mean, are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “This way I have an excuse to bring you home to study.” She then noticed his expression. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“I…just don’t want to bring your grade down.”

“Maybe I could bring it up?” Allison countered.

Stiles just rubbed at his head as he let out a puff of air from his lips. This was painful in just so many ways.

“Maybe,” Scott said.

“Come by my place tonight. 8:30.”

“Tonight?” Scott asked looking back at Stiles who was shaking his head. He couldn’t blow off tonight with Derek. If he did, to be with Allison when he was supposed to stay away from her, then Derek would never agree to help him ever again. And with the Alpha attacking him last night he couldn’t afford to have the uptight beta abandon him now.

His thoughts were stopped by Coach Finstock slamming a book down on his desk. “Let’s settle down,” he said looking at them all. “Let’s start with a summary of last night’s reading.” Hands flew up but he rolled his eyes. “Greenburg, put your hand down. Everyone knows you did the reading.” He then started to walk down the aisles. “How about…McCall.”

“What?” he asked looking up at him.

“The reading.”

“Uh…last night’s reading?” Between Derek’s attack, Allison, and the Alpha’s attack he didn’t remember that there was a reading due today.

“Nah, how about the…reading of the Gettysburg Address?”

“What?” he asked over the laughter of some of the class.

“It’s called sarcasm. You familiar with sarcasm McCall?”

“Very,” he said looking over at Stiles who smiled pridefully back at him.

But the onslaught continued. “Did you do the reading or no?”

“Uh…I think I forgot,” he muttered out.

“Nice work McCall. I mean, it’s not like you’re averaging a D in this class.” This made a few more people laugh but the Coach wasn’t amused as he leaned in close to him. “Come on buddy. You know I can’t keep you on the team if you have a D.”

“I know,” he said as he nodded.

A beeping was reaching his ears. As was Stiles. He had the phone’s volume at its lowest but the beeping was still echoing for the both of them. It was even worse as Stiles could hear both the phone and the heavy pounding of Scott’s racing heart at the same time. Scott’s heart rate was rising again.

“How about you summarize last night’s reading?” the coach continued. “No? How about the night before that?” The beeping intensified. “How about you summarize anything you’ve ever read. In your entire life?”

Scott was internally freaking out as the Coach laid it on him. The beeping kept getting faster as he felt his own heart beating against his chest and his breathing quickened. Stiles ran his hand across his short hair as the Coach kept going with his verbal assault on Scott. It was starting to become outright mocking.

“Scott,” Stiles mumbled but hoped Scott could hear him. “Block him out. Calm down.”

Coach kept laying it on him. “No? A blog? How about the back of a cereal box? How about the adults only warning from your favorite site you visit every night? Anything?” Scott just shook his head and sunk lower into the desk. “Thank you McCall. Thank you for extinguishing any hope I had for your generation. Thank you.” The beeping quickened so much that there didn’t seem to be a second without it going off. Stiles took a look and saw that the number couldn’t even go up any higher now. “Next practice you start with suicide runs. Or is that too much reading?”

But then the beeping started to slow down. Stiles looked at the phone to see that the number was dropping and fast. He took a look at Scott and noticed that Allison had moved her hand to Scott’s and was grasping it under her desk. Scott seemed to be calming down and his heart rate stabilized.

“Alright,” Coach said finally backing off. “Settle down.”

When class ended Stiles had the answer to Scott’s control problem. And as much as he didn’t like it, they had to use it. “It’s her,” he said as they walked out.

“What do you mean?” he asked as they got further away.

“It’s Allison. Remember what you told me what happened during the full moon? You said that you were thinking about protecting her. And after the lacrosse game in the locker room, you didn’t kill her. Not like how you tried to kill me,” he added a little scolding. “What I’m trying to say is that she brings you back.”

“No,” Scott said shaking his head. “That’s not always true. Because literally whenever I’m kissing her or touching her.”

“No,” Stiles cut him off. “That’s not the same. When you’re doing that you’re just another hormonal teenager thinking about sex. You know,” But Stiles stopped as he noticed the goofy smile Scott now had. “You’re thinking about sex right now aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” Scott just kept staring off so Stiles just went and hit him over the side of the head. “Ow,” he huffed out.

“You back? Good,” he said not waiting for an answer. “Okay, back in the classroom when she held your hand, it was different. She doesn’t make you weak, she gives you control. She’s kind of like an anchor for you.”

“You mean because I love her.”

“Exactly.”

“Did I just say that?”

“Yeah, you did, so moving on,”

“No,” Scott cut him off. “Really. I think I’m totally in love with her.”

“That’s beautiful,” Stiles said flatly. “Now, before you go off and write a sonnet, can we figure this out please because you obviously can’t be with her all the time.” His tone was hard to try and shake the dazed look on Scott’s face.

Scott sobered. “Yeah, you’re right. What do we do?”

“I…don’t know. Yet.”

Stiles really didn’t. His situation, his anchor, it was different than Scott’s. He realized that while Scott had his love for Allison, he had his love for his dad. His first full moon, it was his dad’s loving hold that brought him back much like Allison just did a few moments ago for Scott. And, he had been thinking of him being with his dad when he was close to losing it at the video store. Stiles had memories and lifelong feelings to fall back on but Scott’s time with Allison was too recent for that to work. He had to come up with something else. Something that will have Scott reach out for Allison even if she was nowhere in range or sight. Then Stiles had an epiphany.

Scott saw it too. “Oh no, I know that look. You’re getting an idea, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Is this idea going to get me in trouble?” Scott dreaded to ask.

“Maybe,” nodded Stiles.

“Is this idea going to give me physical pain?” he dreaded even more to ask.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, definitely,” he said before he pulled Scott to follow him.

Stiles led Scott to the school parking lot.

“What are we doing out here?” he asked as Stiles hadn’t said anything.

“You’ll see.” Stiles then looked around. “Alright, you have your keys? Take them out.”

Scott didn’t know what this was about but he took out his keys for Stiles to see. “Now what?”

“Now,” he said looking over at some nearby seniors. “Just keep holding it. Right there, and no matter what, just think about Allison. If that doesn’t work then try to hear out her voice” he said as he had Scott hold them out for everyone to see.

“Why?”

Stiles didn’t say. He just went to a nearby truck and took out his own keys. He then ran them across the hood of the car.

“Stiles!” Scott hissed at him.

“Just wait,” he said as he then started to back up. Then Stiles went and hollered. “Hey Hey, what do you think you’re doing to that truck bro!”

His yelling got those seniors to look back at the truck and then to Scott who was holding up his key. It then became clear what Stiles idea was. He put his key away but not in time for the truck’s owner to come and slam his fist across Scott’s face. Then he and his friends started to clobber Scott with their fists and feet.

Stiles, at the beginning, smiled at that before the giddiness faded and he watched the monitor. A primal part of him felt pleasure seeing him getting pummeled as he laid there on the ground. But, if didn’t last long. Stiles then started to silently encourage Scott to stay calm. Scott bared the punishment and found his sense of hearing wandering. He heard the random sounds of people inside the school building until he found the one that he most wanted to hear.

“Studying with a friend. Yes, that friend. We’re lab partners.”

Scott’s heartbeat then became steady even though those seniors kept on beating him up.

“Stop! Stop it right now!” It was Harris and at the sound of his voice the seniors bolted. Harris then looked from Scott to Stiles. “What do you idiots think you’re doing?”

Scott just settled on the ground as Stiles looked at the heart monitor showing Scott’s pulse being steady.

Derek went to his uncle’s room where he saw that his wheelchair had him pointed to look at one of the windows. He walked over and turned him to face him.

“I need your help,” he said to his uncle. “If you could hear me then…just give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything, just…help point me in the right direction okay?” Derek then swallowed as his uncle just stared blankly back at him. Derek then struggled to get the next words out. “Someone killed Laura, your niece. Laura…whoever it was he’s an Alpha now. But he’s one without a pack which means he’s not as strong. He bit two teenagers but neither have gone over to his side, at least not yet. I can take him. But I have to find him first. Look, if you know something…then give me some kind of sign.” Derek then eagerly asked something that he had been thinking for a while. “Is it one of us? Someone else who made it out of the fire?” But his uncle just stared back not moving a single muscle in response. “Just give me anything. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything,” he said desperately. “Say something!” he said grabbing him.

“Let him go!” his nurse said walking in. “You think after six years of this yelling at him is going to get a response?”

“You got a better method?”

“Patience,” she answered. “He’ll respond if you give him the time.”

But Derek gave a look back at his comatose uncle. “I don’t have any more time.”

Derek then left the room before he had the chance to see his uncle’s finger twitch in place.

Derek left the clinic and headed for his car but saw that there was a paper at his windshield. He picked it up and his eyes widened. He didn’t see any sign of anyone who might’ve put it there. He got into his car and quickly drove off to follow this new trail.

Scott and Stiles had been dragged by Harris to detention. Stiles was busy working on his homework while Scott was wiping at his nose and lip to clean off the blood from his beating. He wondered if his last ass kicking finally made Stiles forgive him for what happened to his dad. After a bit, the sores and cuts he got from them had healed up. Scott then noticed the time.

“Excuse me sir,” he said to Harris. “I know that this is detention and all but I’m supposed to be at work and I don’t want to get fired.” But Harris stayed silent. Scott then tossed his bloodied napkin away. He then looked at Stiles who was staring down at his notebook. “You knew I would heal?”

Stiles nodded. “Yep.”

“You did all that to help me learn?” Stiles nodded. “But partly to punish me?”

“Yep,” Stiles said. “That was obvious.”

Scott let a breath loose. “Dude, you’re my best friend. I can’t take it when you’re mad at me.”

Stiles then straightened himself. “Scott, I’m not angry anymore, much,” he added quickly. “But…Scott something has happened to us. Something amazing but it’s serious. Whether you want it or not, you could do things that no one else can do now. And so can I. That means we don’t have a choice anymore. And I think that one of the reasons why I’ve been so fast and you’ve been so slow at getting all this is because I realized that right away while you’ve been trying your hardest not to.”

“I know,” Scott sighed. “And I will.”

“All right,” Harris called out breaking the two of them out of it. “Both of you. Go.”

The two of them then gathered their stuff and made to leave. Scott headed off immediately for the animal clinic to try and make it there before he got even more late than he was.

Deaton was there and he heard the door open and close and checked his watch. “Scott, you’re late again. I hope this isn’t getting to be a habit.” But when Deaton looked up from his papers he didn’t see Scott enter the room, but Derek. “Can I help you?”

“I hope so. I’d like to know about the animal you found with the spiral in its side.”

Deaton tensed. “Excuse me, what animal?”

“Three months ago. The deer,” Derek then pulled out the paper he got from his car. It was a picture of a deer carcass with a spiral carved into it. “Remember this?”

“Oh, yes,” Deaton said nervously. “But its just a deer. And I didn’t find it. They called me to ask if I’d ever seen anything like it.”

“What’d you tell them?” Derek asked him stiffly.

“I told them no.”

Derek then folded the paper back up and stepped closer to him. “Did you hear that?”

Deaton started to back away slightly. “Hear what?”

“The sound of your heartbeat rising.”

“Excuse me.”

“The sound of you lying,” Derek said before he grabbed Deaton and slammed him to the table. Deaton was knocked out and came to with himself bound to a chair. Derek towered over him, ready to interrogate him for answer. But Deaton just told him the way of getting into his drug cabinet. His aggravation from his encounter with Jackson returned and made his temper flare up. “I don’t want drugs,” he barked out.

“Then what do you want?”

Derek then picked the chair up so that he could stare at him in the face. “I want to know who you are and who you’re protecting,” he growled.

“What are you doing?” Scott came into the room, horrified at what was going on.

“Scott, get out of here,” Deaton called out before Derek slammed him down and then punched him to knock him out.

“No, what are you doing?! Stop!” Scott said moving to step in between them.

“Look, when he’s conscious he could keep himself from healing but unconscious he can’t.”

Scott widened his eyes. “Are you out of your mind? What are you talking about?”

“You wanted to know what the spiral means Scott? It’s our sign for vendetta, revenge. That means that he won’t stop killing until he’s satisfied.”

He looked from Deaton to Derek. “You think he’s the Alpha?” he asked disbelievingly.

“We’re about to find out.”

Derek was about to strike at Deaton again but Scott grabbed him. Derek looked to see that Scott had shifted. Scott then let Derek go as he looked at his clawed hand. He closed his eyes and immediately focused on his heart rate and thought on Allison just like he and Stiles had worked on earlier. He then found his claws retracting and his face shifted back to normal.

“Hit him again and then you’ll see me get angry.”

Derek was surprised. Scott was hopeless with his change only last night and now he was able to will himself to be back in control in less than a day? He didn’t know how but Scott seemed to have found an anchor for himself. He watched as Scott cleaned the cuts on Deaton’s face when he felt the euphoria of what happen fade away. They couldn’t just stand there now.

“You have a plan?” he asked him.

“Just…give me an hour,” said Scott.

“Then what?”

“Uh, meet me at the school. The parking lot.”

Derek then left the room and Scott went to the phone nearby and called for Stiles to pick him up.

Stiles picked him up and he was updated on everything that happened. Scott then filled him in on his new plan. Soon they both were stepping out of his jeep onto the parking lot.

“This is a terrible idea,” Stiles insisted.

“Yeah, I know,” Scott admitted.

Stiles held his hands out. “But we’re still going to do it?”

“You got a better idea?”

“Well, personally I’m a fan for ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away. But…like I said earlier. We don’t have a choice then do we?”

Scott shook his head regrettably. “Just make sure we can get inside.”

“On it.” Stiles reached into his car and took out the bolt cutters as Derek’s car pulled up.

“Where’s my boss?” Scott asked.

“In the back,” Derek answered.

Scott and Stiles bent down to see that Deaton was tied and gagged in the back seat.

“Oh, he looks comfortable,” Stiles said sarcastically.

“Where are you going?” Derek asked Scott as he started to head inside.

“You said that we’re linked to the Alpha, right? I’m going to see if that’s true.”

Stiles then held onto Scott’s shoulder. “Wait a second,” Stiles said before looking back to Derek. “I need to ask you something first.”

“What?” Derek bit out.

Stiles then rubbed at the back of his neck. “Um, well…we can heal from injuries pretty fast right?”

“Mostly,” Derek stiffly answered.

“Well…is it possible for us to help others heal? Like lending our healing powers to someone else even if it’s for a moment?”

Derek narrowed his eyes. “Why? You think you healed someone?”

Stiles stared back at him. “My dad.”

Scott eyes widened. “What? When was this?”

“Last night. He was still in some pain from his injury and when I went to help him settle in his bed I felt this pained biting feeling in my hand. I looked down and saw what looked like black stuff running through the veins in my hand and it went up into my arm. When I pulled away, my dad said that he was feeling better already.”

Scott was in disbelief. He didn’t know that they could do things like that. To be honest, he hadn’t been thinking of all the things that they could do. But Stiles seemed to be digging up one new thing after another. First that whole lie detecting thing and now this? And…Scott was actually finding this new thing a bit amazing.

 But Derek was shaking his head. “You didn’t heal him Stiles. What you did was take away his pain.”

“Excuse me,” Stiles said.

“Werewolves have an ability which allows us to pull the pain from others and into ourselves. What you did was merely take the pain that your father was feeling and pull some of it into yourself to ease the burden of his injury from him. It’s not quite healing but it can still make a difference.”

“Oh,” Stiles said as it sunk in. So that’s what he did. Granted, it wasn’t what he hoped for but he was still glad that he was able to do that at least for his dad. Take away his pain. That was still nice.

“Let’s go,” Scott said and Stiles followed him to the door where he took the bolt cutters and cut the chains off to let them inside.

As the two of them then walked into the school Derek stared back with a far off expression on his face. Those two were quite the contrast. They were turned together but they couldn’t be more different with their takings of the bite. In one month, while Scott was finally starting to get a handle on his shifts Stiles was already tapping into abilities most others take two or three full moons to begin to discover. He wondered why the Alpha seemed to be targeting Scott first. Whoever it was had to know that Stiles was making this progress. If he wanted a pack then why was he not trying to get to the more taken beta first?

Scott and Stiles were moving through the halls, their footsteps echoing through the empty hallways.

“So,” Scott started. “You really thought you healed your dad?”

“Yeah…I did. Still, taking his pain away, I’m glad I could do that for him.”

“What did it feel like?” Scott curiously asked.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. “Kind of like, you know how when you get a shot? The sharp pain you get when the needle first cuts into your skin but then it turns into a dull ache when the rest of it goes in?” Scott nodded. “Like that only…longer.”

Scott narrowed his eyes at Stiles. “Why didn’t you tell me about it? Tell me about any of this that was going on?”

Stiles kept his gaze up ahead. “You’ve kind of been a little busy lately.”

Scott knew that Stiles said that he wasn’t angry about his dad anymore and he believed that. Though it looks like Stiles is still angry with him on something else. “Sorry,” was what he could make come out.

But then they found themselves right outside the main office. “We’re here.”

“Yeah,” Scott said dropping it.

They made their way for the microphone and school PA system.

“Question,” said Stiles as they started. “What are we going to do if the Alpha doesn’t show up?”

“I don’t know,” Scott admitted.

“And what are we going to do if he does show up?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted again.

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Good plan.”

“Alright, you said that a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of the pack, right?”

“Right, but, if you do bring him here then doesn’t that make you a part of his pack?”

Scott swallowed. “I hope not.”

“Yeah, me too,” said Stiles. They were working to resist this guy. It would be a shitty thing if by doing this it makes Scott or even him finally succumb to this guy’s control. Stiles set the microphone up and turned the system on. “Alright. All you,” he said when they were ready.

Scott let out a breath and cleared his throat. The next moment he howled, if it could be called that. Stiles bit back on his bottom lip as the pathetic…screech Scott let out filled his ears.

Outside, another beta cringed. “You have got to be kidding me,” Derek said resisting the urge to palm his face.

“Was that okay? That was a howl right?” Scott asked his friend.

Stiles just bobbed his head around uncomfortably. “I guess…technically.”

“What did it sound like to you?” he asked feeling a bit insulted.

“Like a cat being choked to death Scott,” he said cynically.

“Then you try,” Scott said.

Stiles held his hands up. “Oh no. This was all your idea.”

“Then what do I do?” he demanded.

Stiles then went over and took his friend by the shoulders. “Alright, listen to me. You’re trying to call for the Alpha?” Scott nodded. “Then be a man. No be a werewolf. Not a teen wolf.” He then slammed a little hard on Scott’s shoulders to help get his blood flowing before he stepped back.

Scott breathed and focused on the Alpha. Focused on the monster that attacked him. The beast that changed both him and his friend. He then let out a roar. Not a howl but a roar and its effect put the last one to shame. Stiles felt his senses go into high alert and outside Derek almost jumped in fright. The sound vibrated from the PA and echoed through the surrounding area.

“I’m going to kill you!” Derek said when they both came out. “The both of you. What the hell was that? Were you trying to attract the whole state to the school?”

“Sorry,” Scott said waving his arms out. “Didn’t know it would be that loud.”

“Yeah, it was loud. And it was awesome,” Stiles said giddily.

“Shut up,” Derek said. He was hearing something.

“Oh don’t be such a sour wolf,” Stiles said rolling his eyes.

But Scott’s eyes widened. “What did you do with him?” he asked suddenly.

“What?” Derek asked. He looked back to his back seat to find that Deaton was gone. “I didn’t do anything.”

Then, Scott, Stiles and Derek heard a faint howling noise just before Derek felt a sharp stab as the Alpha attacked him. He threw his claws right into him and lifted him straight into the air with blood pouring from his mouth. Scott and Stiles stared horrified as the Alpha growled as it had Derek in its hold. The two of them then took off running for the school. The Alpha let out a roar before it threw Derek off to the side. Scott and Stiles made it into the school and shut the door behind them and held them shut together. They were really screwed now.

Chapter Text

Scott and Stiles hearts were racing as they ran into the school and shut the doors behind him. They had just watched the Alpha tear right into Derek and tossed him aside like he was nothing but foam dummy in the way. What were the two of them supposed to do now against that?

“Lock it!” Scott cried out. “Lock it!”

“Do I look like I have a key?!” Stiles snapped back.

“Then grab something.”

“What?!”

“Anything!” Scott desperately cried.

What could he grab? They don’t have anything and didn’t bring anything. Well, aside from the bolt cutters he had used to cut the lock. At that Stiles rose up to the window and saw them lying right outside where he left them after breaking the lock a few minutes ago. They weren’t too far.

Scott got up to see what he was looking at and saw them too. “No, Stiles no!” he pleaded.

“Yes,” he said as he pushed him back and opened the door. Stiles did it softly and once he was out he scanned the area. The Alpha wasn’t close by. It was dead quiet…maybe not the best choice of words right now. He carefully walked over and got to the cutters.

Scott thought that he would be alright after all until he saw the Alpha step away from behind Stiles’ jeep. “Stiles!” he cried out in warning as he banged at the door and pointed ahead.

Stiles looked from him to up ahead and saw the Alpha leering at him just before he began to run for him. Stiles quickly ran to head back into the door. Scott opened it and Stiles jumped in and quickly slammed the bolt cutters in between the door handles to have them jammed together. The two of them then looked out to see that there was no sign of the Alpha again.

“What? Where is it?” Scott asked as Stiles searched too for ii. “Where’d it go?”

“I don’t know,” Stiles muttered as the two of them backed away from the door.

Scott looked at the cutters holding the doors together. “That won’t hold it for long, will it?”

Stiles caught his friend’s eye. “Probably not.”

The two of them turned around to stare at the dark and empty school that they had trapped themselves in. The next moment a howl sounded and that drove the two of them to hide in a nearby classroom. Scott went to push the table to try and seal the door but Stiles stepped in front of him.

“Stop,” he said. “The door is not going to keep it out.”

“I know,” Scott said defeated.

“It’s your boss.”

“What?”

“Deaton,” Stiles bit out. “The Alpha. Your boss.”

“No,” Scott tried to deny.

But Stiles wasn’t having it. “Yes. Your boss is a murdering psycho werewolf.”

“That can’t be.”

“Oh come on. He disappears and that thing just shows up 10 seconds later to toss Derek 20 feet through the air? You don’t find the timing convenient?”

“It’s not him,” Scott said panicking even more. He didn’t want to believe that it was him. “And Derek can’t be dead.”

“He had a claw thrust into his back and blood spewed from his mouth. That doesn’t qualify as a minor injury,” Stiles argued to try and get Scott to realize just how screwed they were right now. “He’s dead and we’re next.”

“Okay!” Scott snapped. “But…what do we do?”

Stiles panted as he tried to think. “Uh, my jeep. If we get to my jeep then we get out of here and you start to seriously think about quitting your job. Good?”

The two of them then went for the classroom windows to see just how far the jeep was from where they were.

“Come on,” Scott said trying to force it open.

“No,” Stiles said stopping him. “They don’t open. The school’s climate controlled.”

“Oh, then we break it.”

“Which will make a lot of noise,” Stiles shot down.

“Then, we run really fast. Really fast.” Scott hoped that he and Stiles were fast enough to outrun that thing. He just hoped that it wandered off far enough to buy them the time they needed. The jeep wasn’t that far. But as Scott’s eyes fell on it, they narrowed in confusion. “Stiles, what’s wrong with the hood of your jeep?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s bent,” he explained.

Stiles pushed him out of the way to look himself. “Like dented?”

“No, it’s bent.”

Stiles eyes zoomed in on it and saw what Scott meant. “What the hell-“

The crash stopped him in mid rant. Something had crashed through the window. The two of them ducked in cover to see that it was a car battery.

“What’s that?” Scott gasped.

“That’s my battery. My car battery,” despaired Stiles.

Upon closer inspection, the battery looked like it had been ripped clean out as the copper wiring was exposed at the ends and the cartridge had claw marks over it. Now they weren’t going to get out of there. The Alpha had trapped them and cut off their only means to safely escape. Stiles tried to move but Scott grabbed him.

“No Stiles!”

“We have to move!”

Scott shook his head. “He could be right outside.”

“He is right outside!” Stiles argued back.

“Just…let me take a look,” Scott said before he slowly rose himself to see out the window. Scott didn’t see any sign of him.

“Anything?” asked Stiles.

“No,” Scott gasped shaking his head.

“Move now?”

Scott gave him a look before the two of them bolted from the room. “This way,” Scott said moving for another classroom down the hall.

But Stiles grabbed him. “No, not that way. Somewhere without windows.”

“Every single room in this building has windows,” he reminded him.

“Then less windows,” Stiles bit out.

Scott thought for a second. “The locker room.” The two of them then headed for the locker room and shut the door behind them. “Call your dad,” Scott suggested.

“And tell him what?”

“Gas leak, a fire, tell him anything! If that thing sees a parking lot filled with cop cars it’ll take off.”

Stiles shook his head. “And what if it doesn’t? What if it goes completely Terminator and decides to kill all the cops, including my dad?” Stiles had just gone through the fear of losing his father that only started to fade that very afternoon and Scott wanted his dad back in the line of fire?!

“They have guns,” Scott pointed out.

“Yeah and Derek, a beta, had to be shot with a wolfsbane laced bullet just to slow him down,” Stiles pointed back.

“Then…we’ll just have to find a way out and then just run for it.”

“Run where? There’s nothing near the school for at least a mile. Besides, we’ll never outrun that thing.”

Scott panted. He was right. They might be fast but that thing was faster and would catch them soon enough. There was no way for them to escape…until he remembered there was still something close. “Wait, what about Derek’s car?”

Stiles eyes’ widened. Yes. Derek had driven his car there and the Alpha hadn’t touched it. Probably felt that once Derek was out of the way that anything of his was mute point. “That could work. We go out there and get the keys off his body.”

“And him,” Scott pointed out.

“If we can,” Stiles said. If he really was dead then the two of them could just come back later when it was safe and get him. If he was alive…well…

The two of them then started to head out before they both stopped. “Hear that?” Scott whispered.

“Yeah.”

There was the sound of footsteps and a pounding heart and they were coming closer. Heading right for the locker room.

“Hide,” Scott breathed before jumping into a nearby locker. Stiles followed his lead.

The footsteps grew closer and Scott and Stiles tried to keep as still as possible. Stiles closed his eyes and focused on softening his heartbeat so that it was echoing through this locker room when the Alpha came in. The door opened and footsteps could be heard just outside. Scott could hear it getting closer and he quickly covered his mouth to try and muffle the sound of his breathing when a set of eyes could be seen through the locker vents and it opened. It wasn’t the Alpha. It was the school janitor. Scott came stumbling out and Stiles did the same as they both tried to shush the guy’s screaming and tell him to stay quiet.

“Quiet my ass,” the guy snapped. “What are you two trying to do? Kill me?”

“Just listen for half a second, okay?” Stiles tried to explain but the guy wasn’t hearing it.

“No, not okay. Both of you get the hell out of here, now.” He then grabbed the two of them and pushed them for the locker room door.

“One second to explain,” Stiles said when they were thrown out.

“Just shut up and go,” the guy said before he gave a start as he was pulled back inside.

The door shut but Scott and Stiles could see the guy’s shadow pressed against the glass of the door as he screamed and was clawed apart by the Alpha. Scott and Stiles broke into a run as they tried to block out the sounds of tearing flesh and crushing bone which was followed by a hard crash.

“Come on,” Scott said as they ran.

Now was a good a time as any to get to Derek’s car.

Allison was waiting outside her house as she watched her phone. She thought Scott would’ve been there by now so they could work on their project together but there was no sign of him. She was calling him but the calls kept going to voicemail. Her phone rang but she saw that it wasn’t Scott calling, it was Lydia.

“Hey Lydia,” she said as soon as she picked up.

Lydia had her phone on speaker as she heard Jackson’s voice. “Lydia’s says that we’re coming to get you.”

“No,” Allison argued. “Don’t. He’s only 26 minutes late.”

“Hear that,” said Lydia. “First it’s, He’s only 26 minutes late. A month later, he finally hits you when he’s drunk. Slippery slope Allison. Slippery slope.”

“We’re picking you up,” Jackson said again.

“No,” she tried again.

“Too late,” Jackson said just before a car pulled up in front of her. Allison made her way to them as Jackson rolled down his window. “Lydia gets what she wants. Get in. We’ll drop by his place. See if he’s there.”

Allison’s phone got a text and she opened it to see that it was from Scott.

Lydia stuck her head in front of Jackson. “Is that him? With the best explanation ever of why he’s a freaking half an hour late?”

Allison shook her head as she read the message. “Not exactly.”

The two of them made it to the door, with relief claiming their hearts, but that was lost when they pushed to find that the doors weren’t opening.

“What the hell?” asked Stiles.

“Wait, help me,” Scott said trying to pry open the doors enough to squeeze his head through. Stiles pulled as Scott pushed and his head got through enough to see a dumpster. “It’s a dumpster,” he said pulling his head back in.

“Are you kidding me?” he said trying to look through the space.

“He’s blocked us in,” Scott said despairingly.

Stiles began to push harder. “Come on! Help me!” he cried to Scott as he tried to push the dumpster out of the way.

“No, stop,” Scott said as he grabbed him to try and find another way out.

“I’m not going to die here Scott. You hear me. I’m not dying at school.”

“We’re not going to die,” Scott argued.

Stiles looked back. “I don’t get it. What the hell does it want?”

“Us. Derek said that it wants a pack. That it’s stronger in one.”

“Yeah, then what the hell is it waiting for? It’s got us where it wants us so why do I have the feeling that it’s getting a kick with toying with us.”

“I don’t know. Who knows why it does anything.”

Scott then stopped and held Stiles back. Stiles looked to him and he pointed out the window with his head. Stiles looked too and spotted a figure across the school roof overlooking them. It was still for a moment before it got on all fours and started to run for them. The two of them off down the hall before the window broke through and the Alpha was standing just where they were only a few seconds ago. It then started to go after them and the two of them charged right into the narrow staircases as they went down one floor and ran to find a new place to hide.

Just outside, Jackson’s Porsche pulled up to the school and Allison got out.

Jackson could see the familiar sight of Stiles’ jeep across the lot. “What are they doing here anyway?”

“All I got was this.” Allison pulled out her phone to re-read Scott’s message for her to meet him at the school. Said it was urgent.

“They lock the doors at night you know,” Lydia pointed out.

“That one’s open,” she said pointing to the front door that was pried wide open.

Allison started to head on in but Jackson followed her. “You don’t need me to state the obvious, right?”

“That it looks like they broke into the school? No, pretty obvious.”

“You want me to come with you?” he offered.

Allison shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”

“Wait, Allison,” Jackson said halting her before she could go in.

Allison turned around and saw the resistance on his face. “You have this look that you’re about to say, Be Careful.”

“I am,” he said pulling out a flashlight and then handing it to her.

The two of them then smiled at each other in full view of Lydia who had a slight hard look on her face. Jackson then made his way back to the car as Allison went in to look for Scott. He and Lydia just sat in the car, in some kind of awkward silence for a few minutes when Jackson’s eyes caught something.

“Hey do you see that?”

“See what?”

He pointed to the jeep. “The hood on that piece of crap jeep looks crappier than usual.”

Lydia then noticed the hood too. It looked like it was bent out of shape. She then saw Jackson beginning to move. “Where are you going?”

“To take a look. Stay here.”

“I’m not staying in the car,” she argued.

“Just stay in-“

“Do Not. Leave me alone in the car,” Lydia spat.

“Fine,” Jackson scoffed. “God, don’t have a meltdown.”

The two of them got out to look closer and saw that the hood was bent out of shape and there were indents scratched into it. Jackson ran his fingers along it to see that they were claw marks. Lydia now officially wanted them to leave. Jackson headed for the school. The faster that they found Allison and got out of there than the better he would feel.

Scott and Stiles headed for the basement where they ran and hid behind some old utility lockers. The sound of low growling could be heard close by and Scott braved a look around to see the Alpha was not too far away. Scott was starting to whimper a bit but Stiles gave him a slight tap on the shoulder. They couldn’t afford to fall apart now.

Stiles then pulled Scott away to head deeper into the basement. “We have to do something. We can’t keep running all night.”

“What?”

“Kill it. Hurt it. Inflict mental anguish on it, something,” he said looking around for something to help them.

Scott bumped into a door but settled himself before he could lose his footing. Stiles took a look at him before shining his flashlight into the room Scott found. He saw that it was an enclosed storage room and the door was thick steel. Stiles had an idea. He then took out his keys which started to jingle a little loudly.

“What are you-?” Scott started to whisper furiously at him.

“Shh,” he muttered back. Stiles then threw his keys into the room where they jingled and clanged loudly. Stiles then pulled Scott so they could be out of sight as the Alpha ran into the room where the sound came from. Stiles then went and pushed the door closed. “The desk,” he cried back at Scott. “Move the desk.”

Scott realized what Stiles was doing and quickly pushed the desk to be in between the wall and the door. The Alpha tried to ram the door to escape but was now stuck as the table barred the door from moving.

“Yes,” Scott breathed. Stiles smiled back.

But the Alpha wasn’t stopping. It tried to keep charging at the door even though it wouldn’t budge.

“Come on,” said Stiles. “Get across.”

Scott jumped over the table and landed on the other side. He tried to pull Stiles so that they could leave but Stiles was holding his ground.

“What are you doing?” he asked him.

“I want to get a better look at it,” Stiles explained.

“Are you crazy?”

“Scott, we got it trapped. It’s not going anywhere. Besides…we have to figure out what is going on here.”

“Let’s just go,”

“Go where Scott?” Stiles argued. “We can’t just keep running. This may be our last shot. I mean, what if that really is your boss? Don’t you want to know the truth?”  The Alpha growled lightly from within that room.

Scott froze for a moment there. He still didn’t believe that it was Deaton but there was quite a bit of evidence that it was. Stiles had a point. This could be his chance to finally clear him…or condemn him. “But what do we do with him? We can’t just keep him locked up down here forever.”

“Not forever but he’ll stay down here for a good long while.” The Alpha’s clawed hand ran through the glass window of the door. “Stone walls and a blocked steel door. There’s no way for him to get away now.”

But then there was a crash from inside that room along with the sound of fallen debris. Stiles looked through the glass to find that the Alpha was gone and there was a big hole in the ceiling. The ceiling that led to the first floor that wasn’t reinforced.

Damn it.

Allison roamed the halls looking for any sign of Scott or Stiles but so far there was only emptiness.

Jackson and Lydia went inside and started to look around for some sign of Allison so that they could tell her that they were leaving. Lydia stopped them in front of the girl’s bathroom.

“Are you kidding me? You have to go to the bathroom now?” Jackson asked not hiding his frustration.

“Yes now. Do you have a problem with my basic biological function?”

“You know, I’m starting to have a problem with all of your functions.” Lydia gave him a look before rolling her eyes and walked on in. Jackson rolled his eyes after her and just stood out in the hall in wait. He started to pace around until his eyes fell on a dark shadow down the hall.

“McCall?!” he shouted out. But the figure was unresponsive. “Stiles?” he said a little more softer and tenser. Still nothing. “Derek?” he muttered out. The figure then fell to all fours and then walked off.

Jackson stiffened and froze in horror before Lydia stepped in front of them. “Find them yet?” she asked sarcastically.

“Uh,” Jackson said reaching for his neck which started to itch again. “No.”

Allison was now walking through the pool but still found no sign of Scott or Stiles. She was suddenly startled when her phone started to ring.

Scott and Stiles ran out of the basement. They couldn’t let themselves be trapped there with the Alpha free again.

“What now?” Scott asked as they got out of the basement and started to look for a new place to hold in. Stiles stopped moving suddenly. “Stiles, come on.”

But Stiles just narrowed his eyes at him. “Scott…I think we’re going to have to fight.”

Scott was hoping he either heard wrong or Stiles was trying to lighten things with a joke because what he just heard from him was insane. “You’re not serious?”

“Scott, what choice do we have? We can’t get away and we can’t trap the thing. If we just keep running then sooner or later it’ll eventually get one of us leaving the other alone. We should take it on together, I mean there’s one of him and there’s two of us.”

“Stiles, the Alpha threw Derek like he was nothing and he fought off the both of us. We don’t stand a chance against that thing.”

“Yeah, I know but I don’t think he’s giving us much of a choice,” Stiles said a bit despairingly. He didn’t want to go tooth and nail against that monstrous wolf but it didn’t look like there was any other way. If they kept running then they’ll exhaust themselves and if they were trapped then there would be no chance. It was best to do it now while they still had most of their strength.

Scott was huffing. The thought of them willingly going off to fight that beast froze his spine but…Stiles had a real good point. They had nowhere to go and eventually, that thing was going to catch them. He couldn’t think of any other way. “Okay, but…how are we supposed to fight that thing?”

Stiles bit him bottom lip. “Haven’t thought that part out yet.” Stiles was quiet for a moment. If they were going to fight the Alpha, they couldn’t do it out in the open. They needed a place where its size would hinder it and make it so that it didn’t have much room to move against them. “We have to find a better place and lure it there first.”

Stiles made to move on ahead but then Scott’s ears twitched and he grabbed Stiles.

“What?” he asked when his friend grabbed him.

“Do you hear that?” Scott said looking around them.

“What?” Stiles asked again.

“It sounds like a phone ringing.”

Stiles focused his ears and he heard it too. “A phone, so?”

“I know that ring. That’s Allison’s phone.”

Allison? What the hell was she doing there?

Lydia had called Allison and told her that she couldn’t find them so she was going to head back to them. Just before she could leave the room, her phone rang again but it was Stiles calling her this time.

“Stiles?” she asked.

“No,” said Scott. “It’s me. Where are you?”

“I’m in the school looking for you. Why weren’t you at my place?”

“Where are you right now?” Scott asked dismissing her question.

“The first floor.”

“Where are you exactly?”

“The swimming pools,” she said wondering why Scott sounded so freaked.

“Get to the lobby. Go now!” he said before hanging up.

Scott and Stiles then ran for the lobby as fast as they could.

“Why did she come here?” Stiles asked as they bolted.

“I don’t know,” Scott despaired as they ran through the door into the lobby and spotted her. “What are you doing here?”

“What are you talking about? You asked me to come here.”

Scott shook his head. “No, what are you talking about?”

Allison held up her phone to show a text message that was from Scott asking her to come to the school. Scott and Stiles shared a look. That didn’t make sense. Scott’s phone was smashed. There was no way he could’ve sent that to her.

“Why do I get the feeling that you didn’t send me this?”

“Because I didn’t.”

“Did you drive here?” Stiles cut in. They could talk more on this later. Right now, they had to leave. If Allison brought her car then they had a way to get out of there safely after all.

“No, Jackson did.”

“Jackson’s here too?” asked Scott in disbelief.

“And Lydia.” Both Scott and Stiles couldn’t believe this. Just how many people were here? But her phone rang again. “Yeah?” she asked just before the doors opened and both Jackson and Lydia walked in.

“Oh good,” Lydia said putting her phone away. “You found them. Can we go now?”

Just then, a heavy banging was heard over them. The ceiling was creaking and some plaster dust was starting to fall. Scott and Allison instinctively grabbed for each other’s hands.

“Run!” Scott yelled.

They all took off just a moment before the roof collapsed and the Alpha dropped down onto the floor. It snarled at the sight of them before it started to run off in pursuit. The five teens ran down the hall and headed for the cafeteria where Scott immediately slammed and bolted the door closed as soon as they were all in.

“It came through the ceiling, what was that?” asked Lydia.

Scott didn’t answer her. “Help me block the door,” he yelled to Jackson who helped him move a drink cooler.

Stiles leaned on the wall and noticed something disturbing about it. “Scott, no, not here.” But he didn’t listen. He kept on moving to bar the door and the others began to help him. “Whoa, guys. Listen…Stiles trying to talk here…Hello!!” he finally yelled getting them to finally stop and look at him. “Alright, good job everyone. Now, what do you propose we do about the twenty foot wall of windows?” He asked before gesturing to the windows covering the whole wall of the cafeteria where the Alpha could easily get in.

Allison went over to Scott and grabbed him. “Scott, could you tell me what is going on because I am freaking out here!” she cried. Scott just stared at her and looked to Stiles who just stared silently back. “Scott?” she cried again.

Scott just pulled away and went to lean on a table close by as he started to panic. What was he supposed to do now? He didn’t know what to do. They were still trapped in the school with the Alpha but now had Allison, Lydia and Jackson with them.

Stiles could hear Scott’s heart starting to speed up and could see the panic spreading on his face. The last thing they needed was for Scott to shift here in the cafeteria with them. This couldn’t be happening. The three of them being here changed everything. Now they couldn’t go through with their plan of fighting the Alpha or else Allison would see and then her hunter family would find out about them. “Somebody killed the janitor,” he said with his voice cracking a bit. Right now, the best hope was for the three of them to be cautious and have himself and Scott convince the three of them to find a place to hide themselves.

“What?” Lydia cracked out.

“Yeah, the janitor’s dead.”

“Wha…what’s he talking about?” Allison asked looking over at Scott. “Is this some kind of joke?”

“No. I’m not joking,” Stiles said back. “Uh, I left something in the locker room so we came back here to get it and Scott and I found his body.”

“Who killed him?” Jackson asked.

“No, no,” Lydia said shaking her head. “This can’t be happening. The mountain lion was-“

“No,” Jackson cut her off. “Don’t you get it? There was no mountain lion.”

“Then who was it?” Allison cried. “Who did it and what does he want?” Stiles just shrugged his shoulders so she turned to look back at Scott’s back. “Scott?!” she cried to him.

Stiles rubbed his forehead. Why did Allison have to turn back to Scott like that? “Uh, we don’t-“

“It was Derek Hale,” Scott cried out.

“What?” asked Lydia.

Scott still had his back to them but still kept on going. “It’s been Derek this whole time. He killed all those people starting with his own sister. And he’s here with us. If we don’t get out…he’ll kill us too.”

Scott then turned to see the horrified looks on Allison, Lydia and Jackson’s faces. However, Stiles’ face was annoyed. He was subtly shaking his head at him while his eyes were wide in disbelief. Scott could easily read the expression on Stiles face as: What the hell do you think you’re doing?

Chapter Text

Stiles couldn’t believe Scott just back stabbed Derek. Scott just hit a new low, considering that he was literally stabbed in the back once tonight already, for them. All because Allison was freaking out at him. When Stiles wouldn’t give her the answers she wanted she went to Scott and he was forced to give an answer to her. Stiles was starting to see first hand what Derek meant about her being so dangerous to them even if she wasn’t a hunter herself.

“It’s Derek?!” Allison had turned to Stiles. “You gave him a ride, didn’t you?”

Stiles turned to give Scott a look before he looked back at Allison. “Yeah, I did. So?”

“So?” said Lydia. “You gave a ride to a killer?”

“No. I don’t know. Scott’s the one who says he saw Derek. I didn’t see anyone.”

Allison turned to narrow her eyes at Scott. Was he lying to her?

He didn’t like the look Allison was giving him. Scott wondered what Stiles was doing. Why wasn’t he backing him up? “I did see him,” he said desperately at her.

“No,” Stiles shot back. “You said that you thought you saw him. There’s a difference. Besides, it’s been dark all night. How could you know for sure?”

Jackson just waved his arms out before they could keep going. “Hey! You know what, doesn’t matter. Just call the police.”

“No,” Stiles snapped.

Jackson glared at him. “What do you mean no?”

“I mean no. Want to hear it in Spanish? Nooo,” he said sarcastically in a mock Spanish accent. “Look, whoever this is, Derek or not, has killed three people. We have no idea what he’s armed with.”

“Your dad is armed with a whole Sheriff’s Department!” Jackson spat at him. “Call him!”

“I’m calling,” Lydia said pulling out her phone.

“No, Lydia, will you just hold on for a second.” Stiles went to try and stop her but Jackson stepped in his way and shoved him.

“Hey,” Scott said as he moved between them to keep them from coming to blows. Scott went to grasp Stiles’ shoulder but he angrily pulled it away from Scott’s reach.

“Yes,” Lydia said when she got through. “We’re at Beacon Hills High School. We’re trapped and we need you to,” But Lydia fell silent. She then looked at her phone in shock. “She hung up on me.”

“The police hung up on you?” asked Allison in disbelief.

“She said that they got a tip about prank calls being made about a break in at the high school. Said that if I call again then they’ll trace it and have me arrested.”

“Then call again,” she suggested.

“No,” said Stiles. “They won’t trace a cell. And they’ll send a car to your house before sending anyone here.”

“What?!” Allison then furiously ran a hand through her hair. “What’s going on? Why does Derek want to kill us? Why is he killing anyone?”

Allison, Lydia and Jackson looked over at Stiles who just looked over at Scott which they did as well. Scott tensed and took a step back.

“Why is everyone looking at me?”

“Is he the one that sent the text?” asked Lydia.

“No. I mean…I don’t know,” he stuttered.

“Is he the one that called the police?” Allison asked him.

“I don’t know!” he shouted at her.

Allison eased back from him and turned away with a hurt look on her face. Scott’s own face fell and he looked ready to fall to pieces. Stiles witnessed the two of them and rolled his eyes.

“Alright, let’s ease back on the throttling here, huh?” he said pulling Scott back to talk to him privately. “Okay,” he said dropping his voice. “First off, throwing Derek under the bus like that, nice work. I mean its not like you practically had to beg the guy to help you or anything.”

“I didn’t know what to say,” he tried to explain. “I had to say something.”

“No Scott. You didn’t have to say anything. It’s called plausible deniability. Which you ruined by the way.”

“But…if he’s dead then it doesn’t matter…except if he’s not,” he said realizing his mistake.

“I’ll say,” Stiles slurred.

Scott huffed. “Oh man, I just totally bit her head off.”

Stiles’ jaw tightened. “You know what Scott, forget about Allison. Okay, she’ll totally get over you raising your voice. Right now, how about we focus on the real issue? Like making sure that all five of us get out of this alive.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “But…we are alive. It could’ve killed us already, couldn’t it? I don’t know, it’s like it’s cornering us or something.”

Stiles settled back a bit. “Yeah, that…that doesn’t make sense. Do you think it wants us all to be killed at the same time or something?” Stiles was thinking that this was odd behavior for a beast that was supposed to be feral like Derek explained it was.

“No,” Scott breathed. “Derek told me that it wants revenge. Drew some kind of spiral and said it was for vendetta.”

“A vendetta? Against who? Not us?”

Scott spared a look at the three behind Stiles. “Allison’s family, maybe?”

Stiles eyes widened. “The text. Maybe that was what that was about. Someone had to send it to her right?”

“Okay!” Jackson called out breaking their train of thought. “Assheads, new plan. Stiles calls his useless dad and tells him to send over someone with a gun and decent aim. Are we good with that?”

Stiles grit his teeth and his hands went into tight fists. Tight enough for the subtle sound of cracking bones to only be heard by Scott as Stiles’ brain started pounding against his skull. The earlier rage that Stiles had and he pushed away on Jackson from when he insulted his father was returning and Stiles wasn’t trying to hold it back this time.

Scott noticed that Stiles’ pulse was rising. He looked to see the hopeful faces of both Allison and Lydia, urging for Stiles to do it. Scott let out a breath. “He’s right,” he called out. “Tell him the truth if you have to but just call-“

Scott stopped. Stiles eyes started to glow gold as he gave Scott a hard glare. “I’m not watching my father get eaten alive,” he said quietly to him with a bit of a growl mixed in with his tone.

“Stiles, your eyes.” Scott now was afraid that Stiles would be the one to shift in front of everyone now.

Stiles seemed to understand what Scott was trying to tell him and he stepped away to try to grasp the nearby chair and push the rage he was feeling away. He was startled when Jackson suddenly stomped forward and grabbed him.

“Alright, give me the phone,” he demanded.

Stiles quickly spun around and threw a hard punch right across Jackson’s face. Jackson fell to his knees from the recoil of it as he leaned on against the wall and held onto his lip as it burned in pain. Scott jumped in front of Stiles and tried to cover the sight of his face from the others so that they wouldn’t notice his golden eyes. “Calm down. They’re going to see.” Stiles turned his head away as he went and took a firm grip on the chair and he started to make indents on it. Scott hoped that they didn’t notice but it didn’t matter since the other three weren’t looking at Stiles.

“Jackson,” Allison had cried as she went to help him.

Allison moved Jackson’s hand away to see that his lip was now deeply bleeding. Lydia was watching the two of them with a sullen look on her face. The smell of blood hit the two young werewolves hard. This was getting out of control. Stiles eyes dimmed until they were back to their light honey color. Scott just looked at him with that hurt puppy look and Stiles let out a growl within his throat as he surrendered and reached for his phone. Scott moved his lips to silently say ‘sorry’ but Stiles just shook his head. Jackson was shaking his head but was hiding a smirk underneath his hand at the fact that even with a bloody lip he still got what he wanted from them.

“Dad, hey it’s me,” Stiles said before he huffed. “And it’s your voicemail. Look, I need you to call me back, like right now.” The doors then started to shake as something slammed into them and startled the five of them. “We’re at the school Dad,” Stiles said quickly. “We’re at the school.”

The doors kept getting pounded on. The barricade was shaking and they all could see the bolts on the door starting to come loose from the force.

“Oh god,” Lydia said grabbing onto Jackson.

“The kitchen,” Stiles said. “The kitchen has a stairwell.”

“Which only goes up,” Scott tensely pointed out.

“Up is better than here,” Stiles argued.

They agreed and the five of them bolted for the kitchen. As they did, the Alpha pushed through the doors and brought them and the barricade down as it stepped into the cafeteria. The five of them got to the stairwell and ran it up until they got to the second floor. They ran to classrooms, seeing which one was unlocked and finally found that the science room was open so they filed in and closed the door behind them.

Scott went and bared the door with a chair. The heartbeats of the five of them were booming and they were all panting quite heavily. That and the smell of blood from Jackson’s lip was clear to them. Scott and Stiles knew that they wouldn’t be hidden there. The Alpha would surely hear and smell where they all were. Scott tensed when the sound of stomping feet were heard but Stiles grabbed onto Scott to settle him. The shadow of the Alpha passed the door but it just kept on going down the hall.

“Jackson, how many people can fit in your car?” Scott quickly asked.

“Five, if someone squeezes and sits in someone’s lap,” he said.

“Five?” said Allison. “I barely fit in the back.”

“It doesn’t matter,” said Stiles. “No ones getting out without drawing attention.”

Scott looked around and froze. “What about that?” he said taking Stiles to the door on the opposite end. “It leads to the roof. We can go down the fire escape and be at the parking lot in like seconds.”

Stiles shook his head. “That’s a deadbolt,” he explained pointing to the high security lock.

“The janitor has a key,” he realized.

“You mean his body has it,” Stiles shot down.

Scott’s nose twitched when he inhaled more of the smell from Jackson’s cut lip. “But I can find it. I can track it by scent, by blood.”

Stiles deflated. “Gee, that sounds like a terrible idea. What else you got?” he sarcastically shot down.

But Scott didn’t see any other way. “I’m getting the key.”

He walked over for the door but Allison was in front of it. “Are you serious?” she whispered to him.

“It’s the best plan. Someone has to get the key if we want to get out of here.”

“You can’t go out there unarmed,” she argued.

Scott looked around and picked up a pointer stick that had a foam finger at the end. Everyone in the room huffed and rolled their eyes at him. “It’s better than nothing,” he tried to argue.

“There has to be something else,” Stiles said.

“There is,” said Lydia as she looked over at the chemical closet.

“What are we going to do? Throw acid on him?”

“No,” she bit at him. “Make a firebomb. In there is everything you need to make a Self-Igniting Molotov Cocktail.”

“Self Igniting-“

“Molotov Cocktail,” she finished for him. It was at that moment that Stiles remembered why he liked her so much. Lydia wasn’t just pretty but brilliant as well. Brains and beauty wrapped up in one. Jackson was looking strangely at her. “What?” she said to him. “I read it somewhere.”

Jackson broke through the cabinet when Stiles pointed out that there wasn’t a key. Lydia set about making the firebomb with Jackson’s help as Allison paced.

Stiles went and pulled Scott aside. “Scott, I hate this plan.”

“I’m not too crazy about it either but it’s the only shot we have to get them out of here,” Scott whispered back.

“Okay, but then I’m going with you.”

“No,” Scott breathed. “I need you to stay with them.”

“Scott, what if you run into the Alpha? You won’t stand a chance against him by yourself. Together, we have a much better shot.”

“And what if the Alpha comes for them when we’re gone? I need you to stay and protect them.”

‘Protect Allison you mean’, a bitter part of his brain thought. “Then, let me do it. I’m the one with the better senses, remember? I can find the body faster.”

“Exactly. You can track everything better than me which means you’ll know instantly if something goes wrong. Look…if this doesn’t work and he gets me…you’ll have the distraction you’ll need to get them out.”

Stiles eyes widened. Scott was potentially offering himself up as bait? “No,” he said shaking his head. “No way Scott.”

“Stiles,” he cut him off. “We have to deal with the real issue here, remember? And that’s making sure they’re safe. Please…let me make this right.”

Stiles closed his eyes as he let out a frustrated puff.

“It’s done,” Lydia said putting the stopper on the beaker.

Scott went over and got the beaker from her.

“No,” Allison said shaking her head. “This is insane. You can not do this. You can’t go out there,” she said trying to fight the tears threatening to fall.

“I can’t just stand here and wait for Stiles’ dad to check his messages,” he tried to explain.

“You could die, don’t you get that? He’s killed three people.”

“And we’re next,” Scott said back to her. “Somebody has to do something.”

Scott went for the door but Allison stepped over to him. “Scott, just stop,” she begged. “Do you remember when you told me that you knew I was lying? That I had a tell? Well, so do you. You’re a horrible liar and you’ve been lying all night.”

Stiles tensed at her words. He looked away and was just able to catch Jackson smirk a bit before he straightened his face when he noticed Stiles looking at him.

“Please don’t go,” Allison silently cried to him.

Scott just tightened his hold on the beaker. “Lock it behind me,” he told them.

Allison grabbed Scott to give him one last kiss before he went and took off down the hall. It was quiet and empty. He carefully stepped down, trying to lessen the sound that his shoes were making against the ground. He made his way down the steps to the cafeteria. He then sniffed the air and caught the scent of Jackson’s blood from when Stiles whacked him. He scanned the area and soon enough, caught a separate scent of blood, a heavier one. That had to be the janitor’s. Scott began to follow it and it led him to the gymnasium. It was getting stronger and he found himself moving for the bleachers. He went underneath and then found the body of the janitor, hanging from the top with no light present in his dead eyes.

Scott grabbed at the janitor’s suit, going through his pockets until the keys fell down to the floor. Before Scott could pick them up however, the bleachers started to close in on him. Scott grabbed the keys and ran for the opening and managed to jump out before he could be squished. He was alert but didn’t see any sign of anyone there.

Back at the science room, Allison was silently freaking. “I don’t get this. I don’t get why he’s out there and he left us.” She was looking at Stiles as she said this.

Stiles was leaning on the wall with his head back a bit but he just rolled his eyes and bounced off to distance himself from Allison. He felt that if Allison couldn’t see that Scott was doing this for her, that everything he’s been doing since the first full moon was for her, than he wasn’t going to fill in the blanks for her. Stiles was tense and nervous enough as he kept his senses stretching out. Trying to smell if Scott’s blood was shed and hear if his friend started screaming should he be attacked. He didn’t need Allison’s drama right now.

But Jackson seemed to live for it when Allison said her hands couldn’t stop shaking. “It’s okay,” he said grabbing them. “It’s okay.”

Lydia eyes narrowed at that. Stiles himself kept an eye on Jackson. He wondered just what it was the guy was trying to pull. Jackson seemed to be trying extra hard to be comforting to Allison for some reason and Stiles severely doubted it was because he wanted to be a good friend to her.

“Jackson,” Lydia said suddenly as she looked at the workstation. “You handed me the sulfuric acid, right? It has to have sulfuric acid. It won’t ignite if its not.”

“I gave you what you asked for didn’t I?” he angrily bit at her.

“Yeah. I’m sure you did.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes and went over for the workstation. He picked up the bottle that Lydia was looking at and checked the label. It wasn’t sulfuric acid. It was hydrochloric acid. Stiles’ grip on the bottle tightened. Suddenly, he saw the smirk that Jackson had replay in his mind. Stiles blood boiled while his heart froze. Jackson had handed the wrong bottle to Lydia. He had sent his best friend out there with nothing but a dud.

Scott was about to leave the gym when a shape pulled out from behind the folded mats. Scott froze as he stared at the Alpha in all its horrifying glory. It was bigger and more scarier now that it was up close. Scott immediately threw the bottle at the beast but it cracked and did nothing.

“Damn it,” he cried as he tried to run but he fell down as he felt his legs get grabbed.

The Alpha snarled and pounced for him. Scott was on his back as he was manhandled by the beast and thrown across the floor. It snarled and its red eyes glared at him. Scott looked away in fright as it breathed on him. The Alpha then put its head up and let out a roar that shook the foundations of the building.

Stiles took the bottle of hydrochloric acid and threw it against the chalkboard.

“Stiles!” Lydia cried out.

But he didn’t listen to her. “You bastard,” Stiles yelled as he stomped over for Jackson.

Yet before he could get more than two steps, a loud howl was heard. Jackson then reached for his neck as the pain from his scratches started to hit him full force. Allison and Lydia crutched down to try and help him and didn’t notice Stiles backing away from them as his hands reached for his heart. Stiles felt his pulse rise higher and his heart started beating at the speed of light. His back made contact with the window and he slid down to the floor as he started to feel intense pain. Stiles started to crutch as his face rubbed against the floor.

At the gym, the Alpha walked off while Scott was writing on the ground. He moaned in pain before he raised himself up and let out a growl as he fully shifted. Scott then started to make his way up to the second floor where he left them. He sensed Stiles in there and could feel his fellow wolf’s rage and bloodlust. Scott’s movement up the stairs and down the hall went even faster. His hands ran across the walls, his claws leaving a light trail mark as he went.

In the room, Jackson was fidgeting before he got up and moved away from the girls. “No, I’m fine,” he snapped at them.

“That didn’t sound fine,” Allison said.

Lydia tried to go around him. “Why do you keep holding onto your neck?”

“I said I’m fine!” he snapped even harder at them.

Over on the floor, Stiles lifted his head a bit off the ground at Jackson’s shout. His eyes were flashing gold and his hands were sporting his long and sharp claws. Stiles ran his hands across the floor with his claws leaving a light white trail from where they dug in.

“Your neck has been bothering you for days and you haven’t said how you even got that,” Lydia said to Jackson.

“As if you even care,” he bit out at her.

They didn’t realize that Scott was at the door and was putting the key into the lock to open the door.

“Where’s Scott?” Allison breathed. “He should’ve been back by now.”

Scott heard Allison’s plea for him and his mind flashed with images of her and he found himself stopping in his tracks.

Stiles was moving back to his feet but his back was turned to them. Jackson caught sight of him. “Yeah, what the hell is up with that Stilinski?” But Stiles just stayed silent. “What have you gone deaf?”

Jackson went over to shake Stiles as he wanted some real answers as to why the two of them were even there and why Derek, if it was him or not, was there trying to kill them. He didn’t see that Stiles face was completely shifted into a beast and his claws were poised and ready to tear into him.

But then Allison heard a noise at the door and started to frantically pull on it. “Scott? Scott!” she said as she pulled on the door but it refused to open.

Scott was holding it as he didn’t want Allison to come into the hall and see him this way. He was afraid of what he might do if she did.

Her frantic behavior had both Lydia and Jackson move over to help her. Stiles turned around and look back at the three of them with his sight gone infrared. He lightly stalked after them, his eyes glowing brightly as he watched them try to get the door opened. They didn’t realize that they were close to be torn apart. Stiles stomped over and raised his hands up to gore into Allison first when a distant sound echoed in his ears. It was…a siren.

Stiles hearing zoomed out past the windows and into the road.

“All units, be advised that there are children on the premises. They might be in immediate danger,” an authoritative voice said. Then a second later the voice softened a bit. “Son, please be okay.”

That was his dad’s voice. Stiles’ claws started to retract, as did his fangs. He bent himself over a bit as the rage and heat from his shift started to leave him.

“Wait,” Lydia said suddenly. “Do you hear that? Listen.”

The three humans suddenly stopped and heard the sound of the incoming sirens. They moved for the windows, dismissing the fact that Stiles was standing not too far from them bending down a bit and ran to the window. They saw the sight of the Beacon Hills Police Department start to fill the parking lot.

In the hallway, Scott finally let go of the door and fell to the floor. He was breathing hard and trying to get back control. The door opened and he lifted his head up to see Stiles staring back at him. He was panting as well, sweat heavy on his brow but looked normal. Scott was staring back at him normal as well. Yet, the both of them knew that each of them weren’t only a moment ago.

Stiles looked over to his jeep to find that Derek’s Camaro was gone. He looked over at the spot where Derek’s body had landed to find that it was empty. He smelled the faint trace of blood and it led to the spot where the car had been. That had to mean that Derek survived and had left. Part of him was upset that Derek would just leave him and Scott to the Alpha’s mercy like that, but considering that Scott was giving his father a statement about him seeing Derek at the school by the janitor’s body, he would let it slide.

Scott was explaining to Stiles’ dad about finding the body in the bleachers but the Sheriff was telling him that there was no body there.

“And you’re sure it was Derek Hale?” he asked him.

“Yes,” Scott breathed. “I saw him. Did you find the janitor yet?”

“No,” he said shaking his head. “We’re still looking.”

“Are you sure that you fully checked the bleachers?”

“Yes Scott. We pulled them out and looked but there isn’t anything there.”

“I’m not making this up,” Scott cried.

“I know Scott and I believe you.”

Scott heard his heart. “No, you don’t. You have this look…like you want to believe me but you don’t. Like you feel bad for me.” He then looked over at Stiles. “Stiles will tell you.”

“I talked to him already and he said that he didn’t see anything.”

“What?” Scott asked shocked. Why was Stiles leaving him out to dry like this?

“Scott,” the sheriff went to grasp his shoulders. “We’re going to search this whole school top to bottom. We’re going to find the janitor. Okay?”

He was then called away and Scott went over to Stiles. “Why didn’t you back me up?”

“You mean help you throw Derek, who we both know isn’t the killer and actually wanted to stop the killer, to the wolves? Gee, I don’t know,” he said with snapped sarcasm.

“Now everyone’s going to think I’m crazy.”

Stiles glared at him. “No, you’re worried Allison is going to think you’re crazy. Which she should because you are. Scott, don’t you think there are bigger things to worry about like you nearly getting killed?”

“But I wasn’t,” Scott said back. “The Alpha walked right by us when we were in the science room. Our hearts were pounding and Jackson was bleeding fresh blood but it didn’t notice? Don’t you think it knew exactly where we were but didn’t do anything, you don’t think that’s strange?”

“This whole thing is strange Scott. I can hardly keep up with everything that’s happened in the last five minutes let alone all night.” Stiles ran his hand across the back of his head. “Why didn’t it attack when it had us cornered?”

“Because it wants us to be in its pack. But…I think it wants us to get rid of our old pack.”

“What pack Scott? It’s just you and me.”

“No…not anymore. Allison…Jackson and Lydia. Derek, he told me that killing was an initiation into its pack.”

Stiles mind flashed back to the classroom when he was left alone with them. “The Alpha didn’t want them here to kill them.”

“It wanted us to do it,” Scott finished for him. “And…I wanted to. When he made me shift, I wanted to. I wanted to kill them.” He then looked up at Stiles. “And…all I could think about was getting to the room before you started without me.”

Stiles stared back at Scott with a hard look on his face. “Yeah…I wanted to kill them too. I wanted…to claw Allison’s face to shreds. I wanted…to rip Jackson limb from limb,” he said with a glare creeping on his face. “I…wanted to chase after Lydia and sink my teeth into her as she screamed. I almost did. I was so close,” he finished lightly that his voice almost cracked. Stiles then backed up and leaned against his jeep.

Scott stared downward at his feet as he despaired on what they nearly did. He and Stiles had been a moment away from killing the three of them. He was so close to have torn Allison to pieces and would’ve enjoyed it too. He didn’t know what they were going to do now? As Scott tried to pull himself back together, he looked up and saw something. He moved to the ambulance nearby with Stiles following after him.

“There you are.” It was Deaton. His boss looking no worse for wear but for a bump to the head.

Scott was shocked. “How? How did you-“

“Get out?” Deaton guessed. “Not easily. And from what they tell me, it had a lot to do with you. I guess I owe you a raise.”

“Really?” Stiles said narrowing his eyes at him.

“Guys,” the sheriff said moving for them. “Why don’t you let the EMT’s do their job, okay? You can talk to him later.” He then pulled them away.

Scott spotted Allison not too far away and ran to her while Stiles was led to his jeep. “Well, it looks like I’m not driving home.”

“I radioed for a tow. Luckily, the damage doesn’t look too serious. Just a new battery and a new hood. Your car should be fixed and ready for you in two or three days.”

“Thanks dad,” he said gratefully.

“Come on, I’ll give you and Scott a ride home.”

“Okay, but I think we’ll have to wait a few minutes,” he said pointing his head over to where Scott was running to his girlfriend.

“Allison!” Scott cried he ran to her. “Are you okay?”

She had her arms folded and was still pacing a bit. “My dad is on his way,” she cracked out.

“Oh, okay. Uh, do you need me to do anything? You want me to go with you?”

“No,” she said. “I don’t.”

“Okay,” he said slowly.

Allison then looked at him. “I don’t know what happened to you in there. I don’t know what you were thinking. Maybe you weren’t. But…I know that I can’t trust you. You lied to me. You’ve been lying all night…maybe even the whole time.”

Scott heart stopped. “Allison, I can explain,” he started.

“I don’t care,” she said shaking her head.

Scott started to rant and stumble over his words as he tried to keep Allison calm and from saying what he was afraid she was going to say.

But she did when she asked for him not to call or talk to her. She then walked away leaving him to watch her in despair.

Over by the sheriff’s car, Stiles had watched and heard the entire thing. And a grim part of him was glad that Allison had left Scott. He felt that one threat to them had finally been solved.

Chapter Text

Stiles was happy to finally have his jeep back. With the chaos that happened at the school, classes had been called off while repairs were being made to the school building. When his dad left for the night, Stiles went to the liquor cabinet and grabbed a good bottle of Jack and called Scott. They needed some serious downtime.

Soon enough, they were pulling up into the edge of the Reserve.

“I shouldn’t be here,” Scott said as they got out of the car. “My mom has been totally freaking out on me since that night at the school.”

“Yeah? Well your mom isn’t the sheriff. There is no comparison okay, trust me.”

“Could you at least tell me what we’re doing out here?” Scott almost snapped. He hadn’t been in the best of moods lately.

“Yes, well, when your best friend get dumped,” Stiles started.

“I didn’t get dumped,” Scott shot out. “We’re taking a break.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Boy was Scott in denial. “Well, when your best friend gets told by his girlfriend that they’re taking a break,” he then pulled out the bottle. “You get him drunk.” A few minutes and half a bottle later, the two of them relaxed by a fire in the barrel. Scott was sitting on a rock hugging his knees while Stiles laid on the ground watching the night sky. They had a fire in a barrel going to add to the atmosphere. “Feeling anything yet?” Stiles asked.

“No,” Scott mumbled.

“Yeah, me either. Weird,” he said before lifting the bottle. “Strange, my dad always said that this stuff packs a punch.” He took another sip and then lifted it to Scott. “Want to try some more?”

“No thanks. I don’t want anymore.”

“Hmm,” Stiles said before taking to his lips again. He felt a slight tingle as it went into his throat but then it was gone soon enough. He wondered what was happening. It was almost like the burn was blocked…or healed. “Hey, do you think that this is like you not needing your inhaler anymore and me not needing my Adderall?”

“I don’t know. I guess,” Scott said not really caring.

Stiles sucked his teeth. “Great. So it looks like werewolves can’t get drunk. We heal too fast to feel alcohol. Looks like we found a drawback.”

“Oh I could think of another one.”

Stiles raised himself to be sitting straight up. “Scott, relax. I know it hurts but…its not the end of the world.”

“Really? How do you know?”

“Because we’re still here. We survived a brush against the big bad Alpha wolf. Besides…Allison is just one girl. There’s plenty of others out there. Really good ones too.” ‘Preferably ones that aren’t in a family that has a long tradition of hunting werewolves’, he added silently.

“Not as good as her,” he said staring straight ahead.

Stiles shrugged. “I don’t know. I could think of a real good one right now. One that has pretty shiny eyes and nice and soft strawberry hair.”

“Like Lydia?” Scott guessed.

“Yeah…Lydia. Pretty and smart. She was really something when she made that firebomb for you.”

“Right…too bad it didn’t work.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said gritting his teeth a bit. “Thanks to Jackson. I still don’t get why she likes him so much? Why any girl likes a slime like him so much?”

“Well for starters he doesn’t go out of his mind once a month,” Scott bit out with a small part of him feeling jealous of that fact.

“Mute point Scott. I know this though, unlike him, you’re not alone tonight,” he said giving his arm a playful bump.

Scott looked away from the flames to look down at Stiles who smiled widely at him. Scott’s eyes softened a bit in kind. They hardened again when a new hand reached out and grabbed the liquor bottle from where Stiles left it.

“Well,” said one of two new men stumbling on them. “Look at the two lil’ bitches getting their drink on.”

“Give it back,” Scott said to him.

“What’s that little man,” the guy said losing the smirk he had on a second ago.

“I think he wants a drink,” said his friend.

“I want the bottle,” Scott said with a bit of venom added to his voice.

Stiles got to his feet and started to dust himself off. “Scott, maybe we should just go.” They didn’t need any more trouble right now.

But Scott wasn’t backing down. “You brought me here to get drunk Stiles. We’re not drunk yet.” The guy just ignored him and took a drink from it. Scott stepped up to him and flashed his golden eyes at him. Stiles noticed that Scott’s hands were sporting claws. “Give me the bottle of Jack,” he demanded with a bit of a growl.”

The guy froze in place and Scott went and grabbed the bottle from him. He then hurled it off into a tree where it smashed to pieces. Stiles then went and grabbed Scott and led him away.

“Please tell me that was all because of the break up?” he asked Scott as he led him back to the jeep. “Or because of the full moon being tomorrow? I thought you were getting control.”

“I am,” Scott slurred out. “I’ve got it. I just…lost it for a sec there.”

“Well, I’m taking you back home. C’mon, let’s go,” he said climbing into the jeep and starting it up.

Scott looked up towards the near full moon for a moment before he threw himself into the jeep too.

The two guys were pacing off. The one that Scott had freaked was telling his friend to be quiet as he was complaining that they should leave. He lit his cigarette but barely got a puff in when he was grabbed and pulled away. His friend had been looking away and turned back to find that his friend was gone. He tried to look for him but was then grabbed by his legs and dragged off through the brush. He was shouting and crying but it did little good as he was led back to the fire in a barrel that Scott and Stiles had left behind. He was then thrown head first into the flames. The figure looked at the burning remains of the man and then turned his red eyes to the near full moon overhead.

Scott was in his bed sleeping until his clock turned the radio on when it hit 7:00.

“It’s a beautiful Monday morning. Beacon Hills High School is reopened after being closed Thursday and Friday. Police are still on the lookout for Derek Hale for questioning due to a claimed testimony from a-“

But it stopped there as his mother came on and turned it off. “We probably should set this to buzzer,” she said before kneeling to look at Scott. He had pulled the covers over his head and she pulled them off. “You alive in there?” she asked him.

“No,” he said deadpanned.

“Not ready to go back to school?”

“No,” Scott said in the same way.

“Want to stay home another day?”

“No,” he repeated the same way.

“Want a brand new car?” Her question got him to finally break and look at her. She smiled at him. “Me too.” Scott then got out of bed. “This isn’t just about what happened at the school is it? It’s about, what’s her name. You want to talk about it?”

“No,” he said stopping short of the bathroom. “Not with you.”

“Hey, I’ve been through a few breakups myself. Disastrous ones actually.”

“I don’t care about your break ups mom. And we didn’t break up. I’m going to get her back,” he said before slamming the door.

The sheriff was up and heading for Stiles room. “Rise and shine,” he said moving to open the door. He widened his eyes at what he saw. He had expected to find Stiles strewn across his bed, snoring up a storm. Instead he saw Stiles already wide awake and doing push ups on the floor.

“Already risen and shining,” Stiles said doing one last one then moving to stand up.

“Didn’t peg you for the morning workout type.”

“Yeah, well, decided to try something new.”

The sheriff nodded. “Yeah, I’ve noticed there seem to be quite a few new things going around with you.”

“That good or bad?”

“Not sure yet. Though, if they are making you be in the center of an attack at the school then I’ll have to say no.”

“That was just a freaky coincidence,” he tried to explain away.

“And Derek Hale? Jackson told me that he had seen you drive off with him over a week ago.”

Stiles took the time to silently curse that guy, again. And to feel a bit annoyed with Scott for saying anything at all. “I told you already dad. I just gave him a ride because I wanted to ask him some questions about the fire.”

“The Hale fire? Right, you did say that but you never told me why.”

“I was just curious. Besides, I’m not sure that Scott did see Derek or not. The two of them don’t seem to like each other much.”

“Well, we’ll know soon enough when we find him. You sure you don’t know where I could?”

He shook his head. “Sorry. It’s not like we hung out or anything. I just gave him one ride, that’s all.”

“Okay. Well…shower up and then head to school. You don’t want to be late.”

Stiles nodded as his dad left the room. He looked through the window to the sky. The full moon may not be up yet but he could already feel the effects as soon as he woke up. He had been trying to work some of it out of him. He just hoped that this full moon worked itself better than the last one. Unfortunately, there was still one thing that bring it all down. Stiles then went to his closet and pulled out a duffle bag. But whether it did or not, he was prepared this time.

Allison was dropped off in front of the school by his father and aunt but when the car stopped she couldn’t get out.

“Dad,” she huffed. “If you’re going to insist on dropping me off at school then you have to let me out of the car.”

But Mr. Argent just let his eyes wander around to the lingering evidence of the destruction suffered a few days ago. “Kate, what’s your opinion of home schooling?”

“Hmm…well, I’m more of a learning by doing kind of girl,” she said.

“And what’s your opinion of over-protective dads who keep trying to ruin their daughter’s lives?” Allison asked her next. Kate tilted her head before reaching over to her brother’s seat and unlocking the car. “Thank you,” Allison gratefully whispered.

“Your welcome,” she whispered back. Allison then got out of the car and Kate looked back at her brother. “So Chris,” she started.

“Don’t,” he said pointing his finger out at her. “Your look communicates it perfectly. Yes, I underestimated the danger. Yes, we should’ve acted sooner. Yes, I should’ve listened to you. Anything else or does that cover it?” he finally finished.

Kate just settled back in her seat. “Actually, I was going to say that you should stop and get some gas.”

He looked at the gauge and saw that the tank was near empty. He then angrily put the car in drive and got them out of there.

After class, Allison and Lydia walked down the halls and looked at everyone passing by.

“It’s weird,” Allison said. “Everyone is talking about what happened that night and no one knows it was us.”

“Thank you for the protection of minors,” said Lydia.

“Lydia, do you think I made the right decision?”

“About that jacket with that dress? Oh absolutely.”

Allison let a smile creep on her for a moment. “You know what I mean.”

“Hello…Scott left us in a classroom and left us for dead. He’s lucky we’re not pressing charges. Or paying for our therapy bills.”

Stiles had been feeling his skin crawl all morning. The effect of the pushups he did to work through it didn’t last for too long and, for some reason, his mantras and breathing exercises weren’t doing as well as they should. He guessed that he underestimated the pull he would get from the full moon despite his above average degree of control he’s had for the last few weeks. He remembered how it was his dad’s touch that brought him back and he knew that he needed his dad to be extra cautious tonight or he didn’t know what he would do.

Stiles had heard that his dad was speaking with the principal and waited outside his office to speak to him. His dad came out and spotted him immediately.

“Don’t you have a test right now?” he asked him.

“Dad, what’s going on? Did you find Derek yet?”

“No, not yet.”

“Well, listen. Dad, you have to be extra careful, especially tonight, do you understand me?”

“Stiles, I’m always careful.”

“Yeah, well you have to take that care and multiply it by 100 tonight. Okay, you’ve never dealt with something like this before.”

“I know, which is why I’ve brought in people who have.” He then pointed out the guy in the suit talking to two deputies. “State detective,” his father explained. “Now go and take your test.”

Stiles gave the man a look. That wouldn’t help in the slightest and he knew it. But, he couldn’t tell his father. The last thing he needed was for his father to know the truth about any of this, let alone about him, because that would only pull him in even deeper than ever. So Stiles just huffed and left to go take his test.

He got to the room in time to see Scott come in and try to strike a conversation with Allison. He barely got her name out when Harris came in between them.

“Mr. McCall, please take a seat.” Scott rolled his eyes but left to take a seat by Stiles. Mr. Harris then took his spot in front of the room. “You have 45 minutes to complete your test. 25 percent of your grade could be earned right now by writing your name on the cover of the blue book. However, as happens every year, one of you will inexplicably fail to put your name on the cover and I’ll be left again to question my decision to ever become a teacher.” Stiles rolled his eyes in amusement as he put his name of the cover. “So, let’s get the disappointment over with. Begin,” he said beginning a stop watch.

Stiles then went and focused on answering the questions on his test. As he got to the second page, there was a diagram picture to go with a question. It was supposed to be a line graph for the question but instead Stiles saw an image of a clawed hand reaching toward a group of people. Suddenly, Stiles had a flash of memory from that night where he was stalking towards the panicking backs of Allison, Jackson and Lydia. He put his thumb and forefinger to his eyes and applied pressure. He tried to settle his breathing but he still felt agitated. Then he saw himself with his father this morning. The two of them just throwing normal conversation and he felt the itch in his eyes ebb away. He released them to see that the picture was a diagram of a line graph as it should be.

Scott was having problems of his own. He spared Allison a longing look before he went to his test. He looked at the questions for a moment before his senses started to go out of whack. He heard the extra louds sounds on erasers rubbing on the paper and pens clicking and scratching as they were writing. Scott forcibly shut his eyes to push it away and looked back at the test. The first question read: Why would a girl like that go out with a loser like you? He found himself looking back at Allison before she looked back at him forcing him to look away.

He then looked back at the test to find a new question. It read:

When the moon is full tonight, you will kill

1. All of your friends?
2. Some of your friends?
3. Most of your friends?
4. None of the above?

The sounds of the room were intensifying again and Scott didn’t know if he could bear it.

Stiles got through the second page when he heard a heartbeat pounding like a jackhammer. He looked up to see Scott’s body bent down in tension and could hear his breathing intensify. Scott suddenly just got up and headed for the door against Mr. Harris protests. Stiles then got up and took off after him, also against Harris’ protests.

“Scott?” he called when he got to the hall.

He then found Scott’s bag left in the middle of the hallway. Stiles tried to sniff Scott out but classes had just begun so the hallways were still fresh with overlapping scents. Stiles took his phone and called for Scott’s phone, thankful that his mother got him a new one, and he heard the ring. He took off and the ring led him to the locker room. He could hear the shower running. Stiles moved over to them and started to make out the sound of Scott’s frantic heart. “Scott?” he called as he stepped in.

Scott was under the showerhead, trying to cool himself down but his face was pained. “Stiles…I can’t,” he cried.

“What? Are you changing?”

“No…I…I can’t breathe,” he wheezed out.

Couldn’t breathe? Scott couldn’t be having an asthma attack, not anymore. Stiles took another look at Scott and focused on hearing his breaths. They didn’t sound like they were being blocked like someone with asthma. Then Stiles’ eyes widened. He knew what was going on.

He reached into Scott’s bag and pulled out the inhaler that Scott still kept on him. “Here, use this,” he said handing it to him. Scott gave him a confused look but Stiles just shot his arm out. “Just do it.”

Scott took it and breathed while he pushed on the pump. A few seconds later, he found himself breathing normally. “I was having an asthma attack?”

“No…you were having a panic attack. But thinking you were having an asthma attack stopped the panic attack. Oh, the irony,” he sarcastically put out.

Scott shook his head. “How did you know to do that?”

“I used to get them…after my mother died. Not fun huh?” he asked deadpanned.

“I…I don’t know what happened. I looked at her and I just felt like my ribs were hit with a hammer.”

“Yeah, it’s called heartbreak. There’s about 2 billion songs about it.”

Scott just grabbed the back of his head. “I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Stiles gave Scott a look. He had hoped that just the thought of Allison would be enough to keep pulling Scott and anchoring him to his human side but now just the thought of her seemed to be becoming his trigger. He hoped that he could get Scott to just focus on something else, even if it was only for one night. “Well, try thinking of this. Her dad’s a werewolf hunter and you’re a werewolf…it was bound to become an issue,” he tried to joke though he was still leaking out some seriousness with his words. Scott didn’t seem to get better. “Dude, yeah you just got dumped, it’s supposed to suck but you can’t let it get to you every waking second.”

“No…that’s not it. It was like…like I could feel everyone’s emotions.”

Feeling emotions? That wasn’t on his list of abilities that Stiles had compiled. Though it was a special occasion. “It’s got to be the full moon.” Scott nodded in agreement. “So, no problem. I’ll come by and lock us both up in your room later like we planned. Your mom is having the late shift tonight and I already told my dad that I would be sleeping over tonight. We’ll stay there so that the Alpha, your boss by the way, won’t get to us again.”

“I think we’re going to have to do more than lock me in my room.”

Stiles stiffened. “Why? You think that you might go and get caught by hunters tonight?”

“No…because if I get out, I think I might kill someone.”

The Argents and their fellow hunters were in the basement going over their plan for tonight.

“So what? Another night of kicking through leaves in the woods?” Kate asked her brother humorously.

“Actually I prefer to think of it as another night of trying to keep innocent people from being killed. A list that now includes my daughter.”

As Kate readied her gun, one of the hunters, the state detective, stepped forward. “How do we know it won’t go after her again?” he asked.

“It won’t go after her again,” Kate insisted as she loaded the gun.

“It won’t have a target. Not on a full moon.”

“How come?” the man asked.

“An Alpha is like any other werewolf on a full moon. It struggles under its sway. That makes this our best chance to catch it when it’s out of focus.”

“And what if it has reason to stay focused?” Kate asked.

Chris eyed his sister. “Do you know something we don’t?”

She shrugged. “I just don’t like surprises. But, you’re the expert so you tell me.”

“What about Derek?” asked another of the hunters.

“He’s smart,” said Kate. “He won’t be out tonight. The cops are still looking out for him.”

“And if for some reason he is,” Chris started.

“If he is, you find him. You kill him and then you cut him in half,” his wife Victoria finished for him. “Anybody want a cookie?” she then offered bringing out a fresh batch she baked.

It was lunch time but Stiles wasn’t feeling very hungry right now. With how tense everything was between the Alpha, Scott and his father he didn’t know if his stomach could keep anything in right now. His nerves were feeling wrecked so he decided to use this time to do some laps. He went and changed into his gym shirt and shorts before he took off for the lacrosse field and began to run his laps. Stiles ran the way around the field with clear focus. He had his heartbeat sounding off in his ears and his breaths vibrating against the back of his skull. He made some jumps and one legged hops as he ran to help burn away all the tension that he had been building all day. He found himself feeling free. Free from doubt. Free from fear. Free from anything trying to bring him down. That included the aggravation that a certain hunter’s daughter was making him feel when it came to his friend. Not for the first time, he was wishing that Allison hadn’t come here. If she hadn’t then maybe he and Scott wouldn’t have so much problems with the full moon as they were having. His frustration at that trail of thought made him go faster and then leap into the air and flip before he landed back with his feet flat on the floor gracefully.

He was so caught up in himself though that he didn’t notice a certain team captain watching from across the field. Jackson’s eyes glaring at how Stiles was moving so fluidly, quickly and easily around the field. He then saw Stiles run a bit faster before he jumped and did a flip and landed gracefully on his feet. Again, he couldn’t understand it. Stiles had always been a spaz that tripped over his own feet every other second, and now he was moving around like he nothing could stop him and didn’t even look winded. He still hadn’t forgotten that hard punch that Stiles had given him. Something was going on. With Stiles. With Scott. And whatever it was, it was connected to Derek Hale and whatever happened in the school that night. They were both hiding something and he needed to find out what.

Allison was eating lunch in the cafeteria when she was joined by Jackson. He set his tray down and sat next to her.

“Uh, you got something on your,” he said pointing to her lip. She went to get it but he did it himself before taking it in his own lips.

“Do you want the bite?” he heard Allison say.

“What?” he asked quickly.

“Did you want a bite?” she said again holding up her pastry.

“Oh…no, thanks,” he said before rubbing the back of his neck again.

Allison’s eyes narrowed. “You doing okay? I mean, since that night.”

“Better than I thought I would be. You still thinking about what happened?” he asked her.

“Mostly about Scott,” she said. What the both of them didn’t know was that Scott was outside the cafeteria, trying to each some lunch away from her to not get riled up again. However he was listening to every word they were saying. “I haven’t talked to him.”

“Probably a good idea,” Jackson breathed out.

“You don’t think I made a mistake do you?” she asked him like she had asked Lydia earlier.

“No,” Jackson said shaking his head. “In fact, I think he got exactly what he deserves.”

Scott had started banging his head against the wall to fight the wave of anger he was feeling at Jackson and at Allison and then angrily threw his head back hardest and cracked the wall behind him with the force.

Stiles was sitting in the locker room, with his full lacrosse gear on, in higher spirits thanks to his run. When Scott came over to sit by him, he didn’t seem to share in his mood. He still looked sullen. Stiles could understand Scott still feeling bad about Allison but he couldn’t be moping forever. At least not for the rest of the day if they wanted to make it through to the end of the full moon tonight. He hoped that Scott would be able to work through all these feelings out with some drills from practice like he had been doing with pushups and runs.

The coach came in and blew the whistle to silence everyone. “Alright geniuses,” he called out. “Listen up. Due to the recent pink eye epidemic, thank you Greenberg,” he said rolling his eyes upward. “The following people have made it to first line on a probationary basis, emphasis on pro-bationary.” Stiles head shot up. “Rodriguez,” he announced. “Welcome to first line. And Taylor. Welcome aboard,” he said. Stiles deflated, that is until. “Now, there is one more who I’ve decided to put into first line on a more permanent basis. Don’t let me down…Buh…oh for the love of crap. I can’t even read my own writing. Is that an S? No, it’s a B.” Stiles then deflated again. “That’s a B. Yes, Bilinski,” he read out.

Stiles eyes shot out. He couldn’t believe it. He made first line? Actually made it and not on a trial basis either but really made it! Stiles got up and started to shout and howl in delight. Letting more of the leftover tension out. The burden of the moon fleeing from him as he cried out and celebrated to the annoyance of everyone watching him let alone Jackson and Coach.

“Bilinski!” Coach cried out.

“Yeah?” asked Stiles.

“Shut up!”

“Yes sir,” Stiles said not losing his smile. He then went to sit down with his face content.

“Stiles,” Scott started.

“Biles,” he cut in. “Call me Biles or I swear to god I’ll kill you,” he said to him quickly.

“Another thing,” said Coach. “Effective now, immediately, we’re switching to Co-captains. Congratulations McCall.”

Stiles face broke into a wide smile again as he looked back over to his friend who raised his head up in surprise. Stiles went and tapped him affectionately on the shoulder to get him to be more happy about this. Not only were they both in first line but Scott had now become co-captain of the team. A strong bitter smell then filled their nostrils out of nowhere.

Jackson looked over to Coach in shock and annoyance. “What?” he said stepping over to him.

“What do you mean what?” said Coach. “Jackson, this takes nothing away from you. This is about combining separate strengths into one unit. This is about taking your unit and McCall’s unit and we’re making them into one big, unit. McCall, it’s you and Jackson now. Alright asses on the field. Asses on the field.”

Jackson and Scott caught each other’s gaze and Jackson full on glared at McCall who stared blankly back. Stiles was looking at Jackson too but his face had a bit of grim satisfaction at the look of anger and contempt that Jackson had. Jackson noticed Stiles looking at him like that and he huffed and took off with everyone for the field.

“Dude,” Stiles said as they moved for the field together. “Can you believe this? You’re a captain and I’m first line. Looks like things are finally looking up, huh?” he asked enthusiastically.

But they were being watched with mild glares by Jackson and his fellow teammate.

“Don’t worry Jackson,” he said as they left the room. “He won’t be much of a co-captain in traction. And his annoying buddy won’t make the team for long.”

“Yeah,” said Danny. “Cause it’s not like he scores more than anyone else. Or risks everything when he’s injured and won’t let another teammate fill in for him when he needs it.”

Jackson then turned to glare slightly at him. “Is that the opinion of my best friend?”

“The opinion of your best friend is, who the hell cares whose team captain and who it is that makes first line. They’re both good players, and you seriously need to get a grip. Let it go,” he scolded before heading out himself with Jackson glaring after him.

Scott and Stiles were walking in the hallway together.

“Are you freaking out,” Stiles asked him. “Because I am.”

“What’s the point? It’s just a stupid title,” Scott mumbled out. “Besides I could practically smell the jealousy in there.”

“Wait, what,” he said halting him. “You smelled jealousy, from Jackson?”

“Yeah, didn’t you?”

Stiles squinted his eyes. “I smelled something that tasted a little bitter.”

“That was jealousy,” said Scott. “I don’t know, it’s like the full moon turned everything up to 10.”

“Yeah, and for once you unlocked a new ability before me,” Stiles happily put in. But then his eyebrows rose. “Say, do you think we could pick up on stuff like…I don’t know, desire?” he asked offhandedly.

“What do you mean desire?”

“Like…sexual desire?”

“Sexual desire?”

“Yeah, you know like lust, passion, arousal?”

Scott looked down the hall to the door to find Lydia standing there. “From Lydia?”

“Just in the general sense.”

“From Lydia to you?” Scott asked.

“Okay, yes, from Lydia to me?” he said dropping the subtlety. “Look, I’ve been crushing on this girl since the third grade and now that all this stuff is happening to me, I want to see if I have a real shot now, especially with her so called boyfriend taking the nosedive from Doucheland to Jerkdom. Just bring up my name and see if anything happens. Scent changes; heartbeat rises.”

“Why don’t you do it?” asked Scott.

“Because if she doesn’t feel anything then I will be spared epic humiliation. Not to mention that the scent, or lack of it, will hit me like a runaway train. With you, I’ll know you’ll cushion the blow for me.”

Scott felt a slight burn on his heart after Stiles asked him but he let out a breath. “Okay, fine.”

Stiles tapped Scott on the shoulder. “Thanks man. You are a lifesaver.”

Scott went over to Lydia a bit downtrodden. “Lydia, can I talk to you for a second?”

Lydia looked him over and smiled. “Of course.” They then went into Coach’s office. “This about the other night. Need someone to talk to?”

“Yeah,” he said shutting the door behind him. “But first I need to ask you something.” Lydia tapped the space on the table where she was leaning on next to her but Scott just leaned his hand there. “Do you…do you know if Allison still likes me?” he asked finally. Yes, he was supposed to be asking for Stiles, but right now, this was more important to him now.

Lydia looked him in the eye. “Course she still likes you,” she said before looking away.

“Really?” he said a little happily.

“She’ll always like you…as friends,” she said suddenly looking back at him. “Just friends.” That made the smile on Scott’s face fade and his shoulders slump a bit.

“Just friends?” he repeated deadpanned.

She nodded before she pushed herself away from the desk. “If you ask me, of course no one asks me, she made a big mistake. Ask me how I know that.”

Scott was tense as he fought the new feelings churning up inside of him at the news hitting him that Allison didn’t want him anymore. “How?”

“Because I know, you locked us in there to protect us. Because I know that when a guy actually risks his life to try and save you, you should be grateful,” she said leaking some of the jealousy she was feeling.

Jealousy that Scott was able to smell. It made him stop feeling pain and instead caused him to feel a strong primal urge and longing. “Are you grateful?” he asked her in a very low tone.

“I think you would be surprised,” she said as the two of them started to move closer to each other. “How grateful I could be.”

The two of them then went and closed the distance between each other as they went into a full blown make out session in the room. The two of them were groping each other with Lydia running her hands across Scott’s neck and cheek while Scott was clawing her back (without the claws). Scott released all the pain and tension that he had been feeling into her as he roughly pushed her over Coach’s desk.

Soon after, Scott made his way to the field and headed for Stiles. Stiles looked up at Scott and noticed that he didn’t seem as down as usual. He seemed…almost content.

“So?” he asked when he sat down next to him. “What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean did you ask her? Did she say that she liked me? Did she give some kind of hint that she likes me?”

“Uh, yeah,” Scott said as he put on his gloves. “She likes you. In fact…she’s totally into you.”

It was a measure of their friendship that Stiles didn’t listen in on Scott’s heartbeat to find out if Scott just lied to him and took his word for it. He was too happy in the thought that he not only had a strong handle on this werewolf thing, had a plan for tonight ready, had real spot on first line, and now had Lydia’s attention that things were better than ever.

And it was a measure of how out of sorts Scott was when the thought if Stiles knew or not didn’t bother him in the least. A bitter part of him thought that it wasn’t fair that Stiles seemed to be going into all this with such high spirits and he was left behind to stew in all the worst things to happen since they’d been bitten.

Chapter Text

“Hey coach,’ Stiles said moving for him when he announced that they should line up for shooting practice. “I’m not in the mood for shooting practice. Why not have a good old fashion practice game?” he suggested. “Co-captain against co-captain?”

Coach gave Stiles a look. “What was that Bilinski?”

“You know. A way for us new players and our new co-captain to earn our stripes out there. All of us. Together,” he said a little pumped.

Coach then advanced on him. “You know what Bilinski,” he said moving for him and pointing at his chest. His hard look then melted into a smile. “I love your thinking. I hope to see more of that hard hitting attitude. That’s what first line needs.”

Coach blew his whistle and then began to split everyone from Jackson’s ‘unit’ and Scott’s ‘unit’ up into teams to begin the scrimmage. Stiles was looking forward to this. If Lydia was starting to get into him, then a good way to solidify it was to finally show that no good dick Jackson on the field. He seriously owed that guy for the rants he made against his father and showing him up in front of the whole team and Lydia in the stands was the perfect way to get him back for that.

Soon enough the team was divided into two on the field and the scrimmage began. Stiles eventually got the ball and took off down the field. Jackson was up ahead of him and charged for him. Stiles lightly growled under his helmet as he quickly sidestepped out of the way before Jackson could charge him. Jackson barely even grazed his uniform as he passed him and Stiles then quickly twisted his foot and pushed to slam Jackson down. Jackson was knocked off his feet and fell to the ground face first. He then turned in time to see Stiles pass the ball over to Scott who then scored. Stiles looked back over at Jackson on the ground and he gave him a small smirk before he took off. Jackson quickly got up and glared at Stiles through his helmet.

Scott felt quite proud of himself with making the shot before he was pushed from behind. Scott looked around to see it was one of Jackson’s friends. The coach noticed it.

“Looks like not everyone’s accepting of your new position McCall,” he called out to him.

But Scott flipped up and went to the center. “I got this,” he told his center player.

“Yeah,” Coach clapped. “Earn it McCall!”  He then blew the whistle for them to begin again.

Scott got the ball out from under the other guy and ran around him. He saw Jackson’s friend who pushed him there to block him but Scott just charged on and made him fly backwards. Another opposing player tried to stop him but Scott threw him aside. He ran for the goal and Danny stepped forward to try and intercept him but Scott whacked Danny across the face before he went and made the shot getting it in.

But Danny wasn’t getting back up. Everyone was running to him and Coach lifted his helmet off to reveal blood on his face. Scott ripped off his helmet and huffed out angrily.

Stiles went over to him and ripped his own helmet off. “Dude, what the hell are you doing?” he asked Scott.

He just looked back at him aggravated. “What? He’s like twice my size,” he defended.

“Yeah, but did you have to clobber him in the face? Everyone likes Danny. Now they’re going to hate you.”

“So what? I don’t care.” Scott spat out before taking off for the locker room in protest.

Jackson looked from Danny on the ground to Scott. He was wondering how he took down and hurt Danny so easily. In fact, how did Stiles bump him down when Jackson charged at him as fast as he could? His arm still felt a tingle from the hard push Stilinski gave him.

Lydia rushed on over to get a better look. “Is he okay?” she asked Jackson.

“Looks like he’s just got a bloody nose,” he then stopped when he looked at Lydia.

She noticed the look he gave him. “Your lipstick,” he pointed out.

Lydia pulled out a mirror and saw that it was smudged. “Oh, wonder how that happened.”

“Yeah, I wonder,” said Jackson mockingly.

Stiles was watching not too far away. He didn’t have to wonder. He could smell the spite and satisfaction from Lydia and now that his nose was focused, he could smell faint traces of Scott’s scent on her. He then turned to look in the direction that Scott took off in. The shock on Stiles face soon faded and was replaced with rage.

Allison was home, in her room, with her Aunt Kate. She was holding a taser and was pointing it down at her teddy bear in the chair in front of her.

“Okay, don’t ever tell your father about this,” Kate said. “Cause he’ll kill me.”

Allison nodded. “Okay.” The taser had a laser pointer and it was aimed at the bear’s neck.

“Okay,” Kate breathed out too. “What’s our helpless victim’s name?”

“Mr. Bear,” she hesitated.

Kate scoffed. “You named your teddy bear Mr. Bear? That’s like the worst teddy bear name in the world.”

“I was five years old,” she defended.

“Alright. Just…shoot your unimaginatively named bear and put it out of its misery.” Allison smiled and then went and let the tasers loose. The bear was hit and shocked so badly that it was smoking. “Whoa,” Kate said laughing. “Now that is what I’m talking about. If you would’ve had that the other night then-” Kate then paused as she saw Allison look like she was upset. “Whoa, what’s going on? I thought you wanted to know how to do this sweetie.”

Allison threw herself onto her bed. “I just don’t know what happened,” she cried.

“With Scott?” Allison nodded. “Okay, listen my gorgeous young niece. You’re going to break hearts, left and right. And he was lucky that he got the tiny taste of Allison Argent’s world that he got.”

Tears were starting to fall from Allison now. “But…it just…felt so right with him. Then he started acting so strange and now I don’t know what to believe.”

“Well, sweetie, he’s a guy. You can’t believe anything,” she smirked.

“It’s just…the whole thing with Derek Hale the other night, or whoever that it was. Scott said that he didn’t know him but I saw them and-“

“Whoa,” Kate cut in. “Hold on. Scott knows Derek? The suspect that’s wanted for questioning Derek? They friends?”

“No,” she said shaking her head. “Not really or at least that’s what he said.”

“How about you tell me everything that Scott said about Derek?”

“What do you mean everything?”

Kate grabbed Allison’s shoulder. “I mean, everything.”

Allison shrugged. “Scott never said much. All he said was that they weren’t friends. I saw them at the school but he said that Stiles was giving him a ride and…that’s really it.”

Kate’s eyes narrowed. “Who’s Stiles?”

“Scott’s friend.”

“That other kid that was there with Scott that night at the school? The one with the Jeep?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

Kate narrowed her eyes. “What do you know about this kid?”

“Not much. All I really know is that he’s the sheriff’s son. He doesn’t really hang around me much. Actually, we hardly talk. Though when Scott said that it was Derek, Stiles said that he didn’t see anything. He looked a little angry with Scott. That’s why I felt that Scott was lying to me.”

Kate's jaw tightened. “Is that so?”

The front door of the McCall house opened but in stepped Stiles with a duffel bag.

“Scott?” Ms. McCall called out.

“Stiles,” he said with a smile.

“Key,” she said looking at the key in Stiles’ hand.

“Oh, yeah. I had one made.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. Scares me, but doesn’t surprise me,” she said dropping her tone a bit. Stiles dropped the bag and it landed with a hard thud. “What is that?”

“Oh, school project,” he said dismissively.

“Oh. Stiles, he’s okay, right?”

“Who, Scott? Yeah totally,” he said a little louder and happier than needed.

“It’s just that he doesn’t talk to me that much anymore. Not like he used to.”

Stiles could smell the sadness and discomfort coming off her. He wasn’t liking this ability much, not when it was making him fight against the feelings he was having for Scott right now. Still, his issues were with Scott, not his mother. “Well, he’s had a bit of a rough week,” he just said.

“Yeah, I know. I get that.” She paused for a moment. “Okay, please be careful tonight.”

“Yeah, you too,” he said nodding.

“Full moon.”

“What?” Stiles said tensing up.

“Uh, there’s a full moon tonight. You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nutjobs.”

“Oh,” he sighed in relief. “Right. Of course.”

“You know,” she said making for the door. “It’s actually where they came up with the word: Lunatic.”

She then stepped out leaving Stiles to glare up in the direction of Scott’s room. He then took the bag and stomped on up. He reached for the door and could immediately feel the presence of another person in there. Stiles wiped away the hard look on his face and then turned the knob. The room was dark and he then went and turned on the light to show that Scott was sitting in his chair.

“Hey,” he said controlled. “Your mom thought you weren’t home yet.” Stiles closed the door behind him.

“Yeah, came in through the window.”

Stiles slammed his bag onto Scott’s bed. “Yeah,” he nodded at the open window. “I can see that. So, what do you say we get this set up then.”

“No thanks,” Scott said making Stiles stop in his tracks. “I’m fine. I’m just going to lock the door and go to bed early tonight.”

Scott wasn’t moving a muscle as he kept sitting down with a far off look in his eyes. Stiles nodded. “Sure? I mean, my dad and your mom think I’m sleeping over tonight, remember?”

“Then we just tell them that you changed your mind.”

Stiles stared back at him. He did that for a few moments before he nodded. “Okay, I’ll just…leave.” He then opened the bag. “At least, look and see what I brought. I did go through a lot of trouble to get this stuff and if you want to use it or not…sound good?” he finished shrugging his shoulders.

Scott finally left the chair and went to the open bag. His gaze was down so he didn’t see Stiles reach up behind his back. Scott then pulled out a chain with a strong leather collar attached at the end. “Do you think I’m going to let you put these on and chain me up like a dog?” he said before dropping them back into the bag.

“Actually no,” Stiles said before quickly grabbing Scott’s wrist and then cuffing it and then cuffing the other end to his radiator. He then stood back away from Scott’s reach.

“What the hell are you doing?” Scott roared as he tried to free himself but couldn’t.

Stiles then went and pulled the bag away and reached in for another pair of cuffs. Though this pair’s center chain was considerably longer than the handcuffs that Scott had. He cuffed one to the iron framing of Scott’s bed. He put the other on his ankle.

“Just protecting you from yourself,” he said before reaching for the lightswitch and turning it off. “And getting some payback…for making out with Lydia today.”

Scott’s glare on him intensified as Stiles stared back with a glare of his own.

Allison was wandering through a sporting goods store, just browsing until she came upon a targeting ring for a compound bow. She took it out and held it out in front of her, picturing herself using it when her vision landed on Jackson.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

“Oh, I was just thinking that I might get back into something that I haven’t done for a while,” she explained putting the ring back. “What about you?”

“Oh,” he said pulling out a helmet. “For Danny. McCall bashed him pretty hard on the field.” The sound of Scott’s name seemed to make her upset again. “Why do I get the feeling that you could use someone to talk to?”

Allison rolled her eyes. “Is it that obvious?”

He shrugged. “Maybe because I’m feeling the same way.”

The two of them soon left the store and headed for Jackson’s car.

Back in Scott’s room, Stiles was leaning against the opposite wall and drinking some water from a bottle. Stiles noticed that Scott was looking hard at him.

“Want some water?” he asked. He then stood up and reached for the bag and pulled out a dog bowl with the name Scott written on it and then poured it in.

“Here,” he said tossing it over to him. “Help yourself.”

Scott took it and threw it at him but he hardly reacted. “I’m going to kill you!”

Stiles huffed. “You kissed her Scott. You kissed Lydia. That’s my…she was the one girl that I’ve ever truly liked and you went and kissed her. And you looked me straight in the face and lied to me. And I didn’t even bother to check you. Why? Because I was stupid enough to actually believe in you. And you know, the last few hours, I kept thinking that maybe he just didn’t know what he was doing. Maybe the full moon is getting to him more than it’s getting to me. Maybe, tomorrow, he won’t even remember that he’d been a dumbass. A son of a bitch. A no good, piece of crap friend.” He said finishing his ranting.

“She kissed me,” he said.

“What?” Stiles asked.

“I didn’t kiss her,” he said straightening himself. His glare disappearing and replaced with a smug look on his face. “She kissed me. She ran her hands all over me and begged me to touch her. She would’ve done anything I wanted. Anything!”

Stiles nodded. Then lifted his foot to show his cuffed ankle. “You know why I chose to use these cuffs for myself Scott?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he charged and sent a punch right across Scott’s jaw. Scott fell down in recoil and tried to reach for Stiles to claw at him but Stiles took a step back and was out of his reach. “Because it means I can hit you but you can’t hit me.”

He then stomped forward and slammed his fist at Scott again.

“You’re pathetic,” Scott growled at him as he tried to squeeze out of the cuffs. “And you wonder why Lydia doesn’t even give you the time of day? It’s because you’ve always been a nobody. A pathetic loser that no one even bothers to remember your name! Even after the bite, she and everyone else will always see you as the weird and pathetic spaz that talks too much!”

“I’m pathetic?” Stiles said pointing to himself. “Speak for yourself Scott. You’re pathetic. I’m not the one who went and fell in love with the one girl who’s dad would literally mount his daughter’s boyfriend’s head on his wall. The one who after a few days of knowing this girl was ready to sell out his best friend and risk his own life every time she pouts her lip. Who was ready to sell out the guy he had to practically go begging on his knees and raise his paw up to teach him to not play fetch with the Alpha,’ he said mockingly. “Do you have any idea how annoying its been to have to listen to you bring Allison’s name into every conversation. To not got more than two minutes without hearing ‘Allison, Allison, Allison’? No wonder she had to ditch you.”

Scott went to claw for him again but Stiles was still out of his reach. Stiles then went forward and didn’t just punch Scott’s face again. He clawed it. But this time, the scent of Scott’s blood didn’t shake Stiles out of his rage. It sated it.

Jackson’s car was parked off in the distant corner of the parking lot as she and Jackson just sat there, together.

“If I tell you something, do you promise not to laugh?” she asked him.

He shook his head. “I’d never laugh at you.”

She nodded. “I don’t think it was Derek in the school.”

Jackson froze and then shook his head. “Neither do I.”

Stiles had settled his back against the opposite wall again as he sat and resumed watching Scott struggle against the cuffs with calmness in his gaze. The scratches that Stiles had inflicted had healed but the scent of blood was still on Stiles’ fingers.

“Stiles,” Scott begged. “Please.” Stiles just ignored him and leaned his head back. “It didn’t mean anything. It’s just the full moon. You know that. I know that you didn’t mean to hurt me just like I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Scott, please just shut up,” he said almost begging.

“I was just upset,” Scott continued. “I was just so hurt about Allison.”

Stiles just clicked his tongue. If that was Scott’s winning excuse then he definitely wasn’t getting out of there any time soon. “Scott, shut up,” he said again in the same deadpanned voice as he tried to rest his eyes and shut out his own feelings.

But Scott was still fidgeting. It got worse when the full moon broke free from cloud cover. Its light started to descend and land right on Scott. He started to scream in both pain and power as his shift hit him in full. Scott then pulled even harder on the cuffs and then they snapped. The sound shocked Stiles out of his trance and he pounced for Scott but was too late to stop him from hopping out the window. Scott took off and ran straight for the trees. Disappearing into the wilderness. He found himself trying to look for a familiar scent.

Stiles tried to go after him but he was still bound to the bed. He pulled on the chains but he wasn’t strong enough to snap them. He didn’t bring a key for them so he was stuck. Stiles saw the light of the moon on the floor and his eyes burned gold at its light. He tried to reach for it but it was too far. It was slowly creeping into the room and Stiles tried to make some kind of contact with it. A few moments later, it touched his fingertips and Stiles felt a power build up in his chest and come out as he roared and snapped the cuff off his ankle and then jumped off from the window.

However, his thoughts weren’t to pursue Scott. Instead, his instincts took over and he ran off into the night.

Back in the car, Jackson saw the way Allison was clutching at her hand. “Is there something else?” he asked. Allison nodded but didn’t’ say anything. “Okay, Allison, just because you can’t trust Scott doesn’t mean you can’t trust anybody.”

“That’s the thing,” she said releasing her hands. “There are people lying to me. People closer to me than Scott.”

“Who?” he asked.

“My father,” she said. “And it’s not that I don’t realize that we’re the most normal family on the block. I mean, not every teenage girl comes home to a garage full of glocks and K-47’s.”

“But-,” Jackson said encouragingly.

“I…just have this weird feeling…that my dad knows more about what happened at the school than even we do.”

Jackson narrowed his eyes at that. “Uh…I know I saw someone standing in the hallway. It might’ve been Derek or maybe not. I didn’t see any features to tell me who it was but…it was just this kind of black shape. And here’s where it gets really hard to explain. The guy or whatever it was, it got down on all fours and just took off.”

Allison listened to Jackson’s story intently. That sounded bizarre to her but for some reason, she felt that it was familiar. “All fours, like hands and knees.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Like hands and feet. Like an animal. He moved like an animal.”

“How do you know it wasn’t an animal?”

“Because…when it was standing up, it looked like a guy.”

As the two of them were talking, they didn’t realize that they were being watched. Scott had emerged from the trees into the parking lot to stumble onto Allison and saw that she wasn’t alone. She was with Jackson, again. He blinked and suddenly his vision went infrared and he saw Jackson grab her and begin to kiss her. The two of them started to run their hands all over each other. Scott then ran over and leapt to the roof of their car. It startled the two of them even more given what they were just talking about.

Scott was prepared to begin tearing into the car to rip the two inside it to pieces when he was grabbed and thrown back into the trees. He looked up and saw that it was Derek. Scott roared at him which Derek responded by roaring back. Scott went to attack him and Derek moved to throw Scott further to the side. He slipped behind him and tried to restrain him. Derek tried to get through to him by telling him to stop but Scott just kept trying to rip his claws into him. Derek then threw him back and then launched him straight into a tree as hard as he could. Scott recovered himself and looked up to see that Derek had shifted back to normal. He then took a moment to look at his hands to see them a shadow of their former selves.

Scott then was breathing harder and calmly sitting there in the dirt. He looked down as the rush of everything that had happened that night hit him all at once. “What’s happening to me?” he finally asked.

“Exactly what he wants to happen,” Derek said. “Scott, I need you to calm down and breathe, okay?”

“Okay.” Scott just sat there and kept breathing deeply for a few more moments before his face shifted back to normal.

“Good,” Derek said before he raised himself higher. “Now, where is Stiles?”

Stiles had been running the edges of the preserve which he headed to the moment he left Scott’s. The wind blowing at his face and the sound of the tree branches flapping as well as the feel of dirt under his hands as he ran and leapt about sang to his blood. He didn’t know where he was going and he didn’t care. He eventually came upon a clearing that led to the road. As he jumped onto a thick tree branch he made out the sight of blinking lights in the distance. Red and blue lights. Suddenly the lights from his father’s squad car came back to him and he jumped off the tree. Stiles made his way for them slowly. He stomped over to them much like a zombie. His wolfish features seem to fade bit by bit with every step he took. The gold glow of his eyes faded as the lights flashed into his eyes when he emerged from the trees.

He came upon the sights and sounds of a few squad cars and an ambulance. He then heard squeaking and he turned to see a gurney being pulled into the ambulance with a tarp covering a body.

“No,” he whispered. He then quickly walked over and when to the deputies. “Dad?” he said checking each one of them. “Anyone seen my dad?” he asked desperately when he couldn’t find his dad anywhere. His heart started pounding hard again. He then found himself at the gurney and the arm slipped out from under the cloth, it was bloodied. He then moved his hand to begin ripping the tarp off.

“Stiles!” he heard suddenly. “What are you doing here?” his dad said coming up behind him.

Stiles let out a relieved sigh and went to hug him. The feel of his father’s arms around him and the sound of his heart made him feel calmer and more at peace than he’d been feeling all day. “I’m just checking to see if you were okay,” he breathed.

“Well I’m fine,” he said separating from him. “I told you. I’m always careful.”

“What happened?” he asked looking at the body.

His dad sighed. “Two more bodies were found by some campers a few hours ago. One of them slashed apart. The other one…burned.”

“Woah,” Stiles said widening his eyes. “Burned. He caught fire.”

“No, he was dunked in it. He was found in a barrel that looked like it had been lit some time ago. At least a day old.”

A fire in a barrel? At least a day and there were two of them. Stiles had a sneaking suspicion who those two victims were.

Just then, a car pulled up close by with Chris and Kate Argent overlooking the scene.

“That one Stiles?” Chris asked looking at the kid with his dad.

“Yeah, another friend of Allison’s.”

“You going to tell me about that talk you had with her?”

“You tell me something first,” she said giving him a look before turning back to look at Stiles. “That night you came across those two betas, one of them was smaller right?” He mumbled his confirmation. “Well, could he have just been smaller, or younger?”

Chris looked over to the boy again. “And you think it’s him?”

“Allison told me that Scott was the one who said he saw Derek there that night. But, she also said that it was Stiles who tried to make it sound like Scott didn’t know what he was saying. That Scott couldn’t be sure and he seemed angry with him.”

“Like Stiles was trying to protect him?” Chris nodded. “The way that a fellow pack member would.”

“Exactly. And with that new Alpha coming in to stake a claim to this town…who better to turn then the son of the town sheriff?”

“If you’re right, we’ll have to be careful around him. His father is starting to investigate further into all of this. We don’t need him to be getting the local police snooping around where we don’t want them to.”

“Like us you mean?” Kate smiled. “Don’t worry so much Chris. We haven’t been caught before.”

They didn’t know that Stiles had zeroed in on their conversation and had listened to the whole thing. He had been mindlessly standing there listening but snapped out of it when he heard his dad say his name.

“Stiles, are you okay?”

“Huh,” he said snapping out of it. “Oh, yeah. Just…tired I guess.”

His dad nodded. “Come on, I’ll give you a lift back to Scott’s.”

Stiles nodded as he followed his dad to his car, careful to not let his head turn back to the Argent’s car in order to give them evidence that he spotted them. He could see that he was going to have to be more careful from now on since they were on his trail. The first thing he had to do, was cut himself off further from Allison as she apparently helped them fill in some blanks. Shouldn’t be so hard now given that she broke up with Scott. He just hoped that wherever he was, he was keeping out of trouble.

Scott was being helped into his room by Derek. His arm was around his neck while his other was checking his phone.

“Stiles sent me a text. He’s fine and his dad’s bringing him back.”

Derek then dropped him back onto his bed. “Good. Then I better go before they get here.”

“Wait,” Scott said before Derek could leave. “I can’t do this,” Scott shook his head. “I can’t be this…and be with Allison. I need you to tell me the truth. Is there a cure?”

Derek silently looked back at him for a moment. “For someone who was bitten,” he said finally. “I’ve only heard of one but I don’t know if it’s true.”

“Well what is it?” Scott asked eagerly.

Derek let a breath loose. “You have to kill the one that bit you,” he answered.

Scott’s eyes widened. “Kill the Alpha?” Scott felt his insides freeze up. The only hope he had was to somehow kill that giant beast that pinned him down in the gym at school.

“Scott, if you help me find him then I’ll help you kill him,” he promised.

Scott nodded. With Derek to help him, as well as Stiles, then there was a chance. But as his thoughts turned to Stiles, he tensed. Would Stiles still help him now? Help him turn back. Would it turn him back too?

He asked. “If we kill the Alpha…would it cure the both of us? Me and Stiles?”

Derek shook his head. “No. If it even works, it would only work on one of you.”

That means that there was only hope for one of them. Either himself or Stiles. One of them would be stuck as a werewolf forever. But which one?

Jackson parked his car but stopped when he noticed that there was something stuck to the hood. He pulled it out to see that it looked like some kind of pointed nail, or claw. He then went over to where he had Scott’s ruined glove with the holes and put it against one of them. It matched the hole perfectly.

Now Jackson knew that something strange really was up. With both Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski.

Chapter Text

It was the dead of night when a certain science teacher was wrapping up some last minute tests to grade. He was cleaning his desk for the night when he noticed a new piece of paper that he hadn’t left. He picked it up to see that it was a list of names and they all had X’s on them. A few of the names, Harris recognized as the people who had been killed in the recent murders. There was one more name on the list that didn’t have an X. His. He went to leave when he heard heavy steps behind him.

“Please, don’t kill me,” he said.

The voice was snarling and deep as it flexed its claws. “Do you know who wrote that list?”

“Laura,” Harris said. “Laura Hale.”

“Do you know why she was looking for you?” the deep voice asked. “I know why. Turn around Adrian.” Harris didn’t want to. “Turn around and I’ll show you. Turn around.”

“No,” Harris cried keeping himself looking away. “Please,” he begged.

The voice didn’t care. “Look at me. Look at what you’ve done,” he roared before a chair flew and just missed Harris’ head.

Harris was then pulled down as Derek came by to cover him. They both looked back to see that the figure had left out the back door. Derek was about to pursue when the sound of sirens and lights poured into the room. The police were there and Derek had to bail before he lost track of the Alpha.

Derek was running through the city streets before he turned into the city iron works to try and lose the cop cars. One of them holding the sheriff. They were trying to box him in but he was just able to dodge them. However, there was someone watching just a bit ahead.

“He’s on foot,” Chris said into a walkie. “He just headed into the iron works.”

“Wait, running,” said Kate on the other end. “Into the ironworks. On foot?”

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Chris said before cutting out.

Kate just shook her head. “Then who the hell is driving his car?” Kate was right now driving after Derek’s Camaro but the one behind the wheel was someone she wouldn’t have guessed.

In the car Scott was nervously gripping the wheel while Stiles was in the next seat looking behind them.

“Faster?” Scott asked.

Stiles gave him a look. “Much faster,” he said like it was obvious.

Scott then put extra gas into it.

Back at the ironworks, the police released the dogs to get their pursued suspect pinned down but Derek quickly turned around and growled at them to make them run back in terror. Sheriff Stilinski and his fellow deputies were confused.

Back with Kate’s pursuit of them, Stiles grit his teeth as Kate was still on their tail. “You know Scott, I don’t think you’re grasping the concept of a car chase. You’re not supposed to let the one chasing us keep us in sight.”

“If I drive any faster I’ll kill us,” he said still as tensed as stone.

“Well, if you don’t go faster than they’re going to kill us!” Stiles shot back. Scott then went and pushed the car to as fast as he could go and soon enough, Stiles lost sight of Kate’s car. “They’re gone,” he said confused.

“That’s good, right?” asked Scott.

Stiles had a hunch. He went for his police radio and switched it on. “All units, suspect is on foot heading into the ironworks,” his father’s voice called out.

Scott shared a look with him. “Drive. Fast,” Stiles growled at him.

Derek was running out of places to effectively run without risk of the police seeing his face. He couldn’t afford to let them identify him, not now. He entered a part of the ironworks that seemed quiet so far but that was over when a flashbolt exploded right next to him. Derek’s vision was blurred for a moment before he was able to focus and see Chris Argent on a high railing reloading his crossbow. Derek moved in time before he could be hit by his next bolt. He took cover behind a forklift and tried to see which way he could run now.

He didn’t have to look for long when the lights from his Camaro shined on him and his car zoomed into the ironworks.

“Get in,” Stiles called out as he opened the door for him.

Derek took one last look at Argent and high tailed it to them. Argent replaced his crossbow with an automatic but missed Derek as he jumped into the car and it sped off.

“What part of laying low didn’t you understand?” Scott said annoyed.

But Derek just hit the dash. “Damn it! I had him!”

“The Alpha?!” Stiles asked.

“Yes! He was right in front of me and the freaking police showed up.”

“Whoa, lay off them. They’re just doing their job,” Stiles said in defense of his dad but Derek just glared at him. Stiles glared back. “They didn’t see you, right? They didn’t get a good look at your face.” If they didn’t see him then Derek still had plausible deniability on his side. He could claim that he had just been out of town for the last few days or something which is why they hadn’t been able to find him.

“No!” Derek shot back. “Of course I wouldn’t have to worry about that if not for someone who made me a lead suspect for a killing spree!” he said glaring off at Scott.

“Can we get passed that?” Scott said. “I made a dumbass mistake. I get it.”

“I’ll say,” Stiles snapped. “But let’s argue about that later. How did you find him?” Stiles said turning them back to the real issue.

But Derek didn’t say anything and just glared out the window.

“Can you try to trust us for half a second?” Scott spat out.

“Well…you know you can at least trust one of us,” Stiles slurred out making Scott wince inwardly.

Derek let out a frustrated sigh. “Look…the last time I talked with my sister she said that she was close to figuring something out. She said she found two things. The first was a guy named Harris.”

Stiles narrowed his eyes. “Our chemistry teacher?”

Scott’s own eyes narrowed. “Why him?”

“I don’t know yet,” he said to them.

“And what was the second?” asked Scott.

Derek then went and pulled out something from his pocket. It was a piece of paper. “Some kind of symbol.” Scott saw it and sighed and the both of them noticed it. “What?!” said Derek. “You know what this is?”

Scott seemed to struggle to get the words out. “I’ve seen it. On a necklace…Allison’s necklace.”

Stiles rolled his eyes. Of course it is,” he breathed as he let his back meet flat against the backseat.

Scott drove them off to stop where Stiles’ jeep was parked. Derek immediately drove off when the both of them got out.

“You’re welcome!” Stiles said after him. He then turned to Scott. “I’ll drop you off.” His tone with him was flat.

Scott huffed. Ever since the full moon, whenever they had to be around each other, it was always business coming from Stiles and he said the bare minimum to him. There was now forced cooperation going on between the two of them…and Scott hated it. “Yeah....hey Stiles,” he said as they walked to the jeep. “I think we should talk. You know…about what happened.”

Stiles just headed around for the driver’s seat door. When he had come back that night, the two of them didn’t say any words about it. They just stayed in the room and slept off the rest of the full moon that night. In the morning they reached a solemn agreement to just forget about it, though that was more Stiles suggestion than Scott’s. “I thought we agreed to forget about it. You hurt me. I hurt you. We’re even,” he slurred out as he unlocked the car.

“Just wait! Stiles, please! Can you just stop!” Scott cried to get him to just stop and listen. Stiles stopped in his tracks and was glaring down at the floor. Scott took that as a sign. “I’m sorry! Okay? I am sorry that I kissed Lydia! That I called you pathetic! That I did all of that to you! You know that I would never do any of that to hurt you. It was just-“

“The full moon. Yeah, I got it,” Stiles snapped. “Now can you just get over it already!”

“How can I when you can’t?” Scott cried. “I get it, okay. You’ve only ever tried to help me and I went and I stabbed you in the back.”

“No, you more like stabbed me in the heart and left me for dead out in the road Scott,” he said finally looking up at him. “I get it, you were feeling upset over Allison dumping you and you didn’t want to hurt anymore. But, out of all the girls on this freaking Earth, you had to choose her?!”

Scott just stood there with his arms stiffly by his side. “Yeah,” he said softly. “I know.”

Stiles just shook his head and kicked some stray pebbles he found on the ground off. “Just tell me one thing. Why? Why did you go after Lydia? You like her too or something?”

“No,” he said quickly.

“Then why?!” Stiles cried out almost desperately.

“I…I can’t-“ Scott shook his head.

“Tell me why Scott?!” Stiles said stomping over to him.

“Stiles,” he begged for him to stop.

“You want me to forgive you? To get over it? Then you’ll tell me truth. Why did you do this to me?!” he rounded on him.

“Stiles,”

“Why?!” Stiles roared.

“Because I was jealous!” he snapped. Scott was now breathing a few hard breaths after that. “I was jealous okay.”

“Jealous? Of what?”

“Of you. Okay?” Scott said breathlessly. “I was jealous of you Stiles.”

Stiles froze and let his confusion show. Out of all the things he expected Scott to say, it wasn’t that. He thought he would say something about trying to hurt Allison. Or just didn’t know what he was doing. Or just wanted to not be the only one hurting during the full moon. Jealousy was a suspicion but to make his ex jealous. He didn’t expect Scott to say that he was jealous of him.

“Me? Why would you be jealous of me?” he asked Scott softly.

“Because…” Scott breathed out deeply. This wasn’t going to be pleasant to admit, to Stiles or even to himself. “You had everything. Even though you became a werewolf, it didn’t matter. Everything was going great for you. You had good grades. You had a dad that was proud of you. You made first line. And you weren’t worrying about every little thing you were feeling. You had complete control of yourself almost from the beginning. You were finding out all the new things that we could do now so fast. You even impressed Derek. And you weren’t being stalked full time by the Alpha. Then, you were starting to think you might have a real chance to get the girl of your dreams.” Scott throat tightened as he confessed all of this. Stiles was looking back at him with a solemn look. “But me…nothing was going right. My grades are coming to a D average which means I could lose being first line. My mom is getting more worried and disappointed in me. I can’t go one hour without worrying that I’ll just snap out of nowhere. I keep feeling like the Alpha is just going to jump at me any second. And…I lost Allison. I guess I just didn’t want you to have everything while I had nothing.”

Scott didn’t know when tears started falling from his eyes but he didn’t care right now. Stiles himself seemed a little beside himself.

“Is that what you really think?” Stiles asked. “That I’m getting everything and you’re getting nothing?”

“I…I guess. It’s just how it’s been feeling lately.”

“Well, that’s not how it’s been for me. The truth is that I’m scared. I’ve been scared every single day since we found all this out. I’m just trying to make the most of it Scott, for the both of us. We have enough problems already…I’ve just been trying not to add even more.”

“What problems? What are you talking about?”

Stiles mind went to the conversation he stumbled into by Allison’s father and aunt as they talked about him. How they suspected that it had been him out the night of the first full moon with Derek and not Scott. How that put him in their hunting sights. But Stiles shook his head. “That’s not important now.”

“Stiles,” Scott tried to argue.

But Stiles held his hand out. “Scott, it’s not. They’re my problems and I can handle it. Let’s just…try and focus on the problems we can fix…okay?”

Scott suddenly felt three inches tall. Maybe the one that wasn’t getting the fair deal was Stiles after all. He was able to get all his problems with controlling the bite and Allison out in the open and Stiles has been helping him with them but it looks like at the expense of neglecting his own, whatever they were. He wanted to try to help Stiles, like he’d been helping him but Scott honestly didn’t know how. Especially if he didn’t know what those problems were. But, for now, he could do what Stiles said he was trying to do and try not to add more. He was sure that Stiles would tell him, when he really needed him, and he would be there for him when he did.

“Okay,” he said giving in to Stiles’ request. “So…are we good? Or at least, getting there?” he said chancing a smile.

Stiles tilted his head and brought his bottom lip out a bit. “I’ll get back to you later on that.”

Scott nodded. Then he remembered something else that he felt Stiles should really know. “Uh, there’s something I think I should tell you. Derek told me of a way that we might be cured.”

Stiles raised his eyebrows. “Cured?”

“Yeah, from being a werewolf.” Scott laid down all the facts that Derek shared with him. “Isn’t that great?” he said when he was finished.

But Stiles just stared blankly at him before he shook his head. “Scott, I don’t think it’ll work. At least not on both of us.”

“What do you mean? If we kill the Alpha at the exact same time then we’ll both be cured instantly.”

“Really, and tell me Scott, how are we supposed to do that? Tell the Alpha to stand still while you and I count to three before we jam our claws into his heart at the exact same time? It won’t work.”

“It has to,” he said desperately. “I mean…you do want to be cured…right?”

Stiles just went to the driver’s seat. “C’mon, it’s getting late. We don’t want my dad and your mom to catch us out again like this.”

Stiles didn’t answer Scott’s question, because he wasn’t sure of the answer himself.

Scott was picked up by Stiles the following morning and the air between them seemed lighter all of a sudden. Sure, there was still some discomfort there but they were both willing to work through it a hundred percent now. Which was good, because they had some serious work to do and they needed to be there for each other to do it. They entered the school when Stiles brought up Allison’s necklace.

“This is going to be impossible you know,” Scott muttered out.

“Just ask her to borrow it,” Stiles shrugged.

“How?”

“Easy. Just say that, hey Allison can I borrow your necklace? To see if there is on it, or in it? That could lead me to an Alpha werewolf I need to kill in order to get back together with you.”

“You’re not helping,” Scott snipped.

“Sorry. Look, why don’t you just try talking to her.”

“She won’t talk to me,” Scott said as they moved further into the hall. “Besides, what if she only takes it off in the shower or something?”

“Well yeah, that’s why you ease into it. Start off with some light conversation. Help remind her of the good times and then…you’re thinking about her in the shower again aren’t you?” he asked deflating at the far off look on Scott’s face and smacking his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he mumbled.

Stiles rolled his eyes before snapping his fingers at Scott’s face. “Scott, focus,” he huffed.

“Sorry,” he apologized.

“Just remember your priorities. Get the necklace. Get the Alpha. Get cured. Get…Allison back,” he said forcing that last part out a bit. “But, in that and only that order. Got it?”

Stiles then backed off leaving Scott thinking on how best to approach Allison.

Jackson was missing his morning classes to make a doctor’s appointment to finally check on the itching and pain he was feeling from those scratches that were on the back of his neck that still hadn’t healed yet. He was lying face first on the operating table as the doctor asked him some questions. Jackson told him that he’d been having some trouble sleeping due to weird dreams. The doctor then grabbed some tweezers and yanked at the back of his neck and through the pain Jackson turned to see Derek Hale pulling on what looked like a weed grown into his neck.

Jackson freaked and screamed as he got up and saw that he had nodded off and was fine.

“Alright,” the doctor said when he sat up. “You could put your shirt back on, the scabs on your neck are nothing to worry about.”

“So, I’m okay for my game tonight?” Jackson asked him. He had to be fit to make sure that both Scott and Stiles didn’t show him up like last time.

“Oh, absolutely but I do want to give you an antibiotic. Have you been eating any strange herbs lately?”

Jackson shook his head. “Like what?”

“Well, you have aconite poisoning.”

“What the hell is aconite?”

“Well, it’s a purple flower. It’s sometimes called monkshood or-“

“Wolfsbane,” Jackson finished.

“Oh, so you’re familiar with it then?”

“No,” Jackson said rubbing his neck again. “I don’t know how I knew that.”

Jackson then went over to where Scott’s mom was sitting. He asked to look something up on her computer. He looked up wolfsbane and links popped up with references to werewolf legends. With that, suddenly things were coming together. The sudden athletic prowess that both Scott and Stiles made. The boost in their stamina and how they were able to make first line, it all started to make sense.

He got to school and he went to look for them. He spotted Scott first by his locker. ‘Perfect’, he thought when he went over to him and slammed his locker door shut. “I know what you are McCall,” he said before he could get a word in.

Scott’s face dropped. “Uh…what?”

“I know what you are,” he repeated. “You and Stilinski.”

Scott tried not to let any sign show on his face as he shook his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh I think you do. And here’s the thing. However it was that you two got to be what you are; you’re going to get for me too,” he said with a smug smile creeping on his face. “Whatever it is. A bite. A scratch. Sniffing magic fairy dust under moonlight. I don’t care. You’re going to get it for me or-“ he then took Scott’s jaw to make him look at Allison. “She’s going to find out about it.”

Scott was completely freaked and he immediately went to Stiles and told him what just happened. When he was finished, Stiles matched his freakingness to a T.

“How the hell did he find out?” Stiles spat.

“I have no idea.”

Stiles let out a deep breath. “Okay, did he actually say it out loud? The word.”

“What word?”

Stiles looked around. “Werewolf,” he hissed. “Did he say that he knew that we were werewolves.”

“No, but he implied it freaking clearly,” Scott panted.

Stiles grabbed him. “Settle down Scott. Maybe this isn’t as bad as it seems. So Jackson knows. He has no proof. Besides, who the hell is going to believe him?”

“How about Allison’s father?” Scott pointed out.

Stiles nodded. “Okay, maybe that’s slightly bad.”

“Slightly? I need a cure. Like right now.”  But then Stiles just stopped in his tracks. Scott looked back at him to see him raising his eyebrows at him in disapproval. Scott then remembered that it was both of their necks on the line. Getting a cure would only help him but would still leave Stiles screwed. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Stiles breathed. “Getting used to it. Okay,” he said walking again. “Let’s stop and think. Jackson might know about us but it doesn’t sound like he knows everything. You said he wants whatever it is we got…which means all he knows is what we are, and that’s probably it. He doesn’t know about the Alpha or the hunters.”

“So, how does that help?”

“It buys us some time. Jackson won’t say or do anything because it will make him look like an idiot. He’s bluffing.”

“Bluffing? But…okay, yeah, say that he is; what if he gets so mad at us not falling for it and starts telling people anyway and it ends up getting back to Allison’s family?”

Stiles bit his lip. Jackson was a bit of a loose cannon lately but he was too much in love with himself to do anything that would make him look like a freak to anybody else. Still, the guy could always just snap. “Let’s try not to think about that now. Where’s Derek?”

“Hiding, like we told him to. Why?”

“I have another idea. It’ll take some finesse though.”

“Well we don’t have much time. It’s the quarter final game tonight. You’re first line now, remember?”

“Yeah, I remember,” Stiles said though he can’t be distracted, not right now. “Do you have a plan for Allison yet?”

“No. She’s in my next class.”

“Get the necklace,” Stiles said before he took off.

Scott needed a plan to get to Allison and he decided to try to remind her of the good times they shared so he sent her pictures of the two of them when they were still dating. He thought that she would let a smile creep up on her. Instead, she turned and looked at him like he had slapped her. She ran out of class and he got up and went after her.

“Allison,” he cried out to her.

Allison stopped and slowly turned to look at him with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. “Why did you send me those?” she said with her voice cracking a bit. “Are you trying to make me feel even worse for breaking up with you?”

“No,” Scott said shaking his head. “I-I thought you’d like them. Thought they’d remind you of us,” he tried to explain.

“Are you trying to hurt me?” she squeaked out. “Get back at me?”

“No.”

But Allison just held her hand at him. “Just, please don’t talk to me,” she said letting a tear loose. “I need more time, to get to just friends. Okay? Please,” she said before turning to distance herself from him.

Scott watched her go with a heavy heart as he dragged himself off to get back to class.

His mood was sullen all the way into lunch when he met back up with Stiles.

“You get the necklace?” Stiles asked him as he sat next to him with his lunch.

“Not exactly,” mumbled Scott.

Stiles exhaled loudly. “What happened?”

“She told me not to talk to her. At all.”

Stiles annoyingly bit into a piece of chicken. “So she’s not giving you the necklace.”

“She’s not giving me the necklace,” Scott bit out.

Stiles swallowed. “Find anything else out?”

“Just that I know nothing about girls and that they’re totally psychotic,” he said sparing a look to the ceiling.

Stiles nodded in agreement. “Okay. Luckily for you, I did come up with a Plan B for getting the necklace.”

“What’s Plan B?”

“Just steal the damn thing,” he lightly growled.

Scott really didn’t want to do that. “Can’t we just try getting to Harris?”

“Can’t. My dad put him in a 24 hour protective detail. The necklace is all we got. So, steal it.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” Scott said lightly hitting the table. But then his eyes wandered and he saw Jackson at the other end of the cafeteria with Lydia and Allison. However, Jackson was looking right at them. “Stiles, he’s watching us.”

“Jackson?” Stiles said before Scott nodded at him. “Ignore him.”

However, Scott’s nerves didn’t allow him to as his hearing zeroed in on Jackson and let him hear him take a bite of his apple. He flinched which Jackson noticed.

“Scott, you can hear me? You can, can’t you?”

Scott did hear him but so did Stiles. “Scott, just don’t pay attention,” he said to him.

“Yeah,” Scott nodded. “Right.”

“Are you trying to pretend you can’t hear me? What about you Stiles? Can you hear me too?”

“Talk to me,” Scott pleaded. “Say something.”

“About what?”

“Anything. Just talk.”

“Scott, just stop. You’re only making it more obvious by fidgeting like that. FYI, he’s not even sitting there anymore.”

Scott chanced a look at the table and saw that Jackson left. “Where’d he go?”

“Looking for me McCall. I’m right here.”

Stiles noticed that Scott was starting to move his eyes about. “No, Scott stop. Don’t try and look for him. Don’t make it obvious.”

Scott tried to settle down and played with his bottle of water instead but Jackson kept going.

So I’m wondering what else can you do? Are you stronger? Can you run faster? The both of you. See, I knew that there was no way that the two of you could’ve gotten that good at lacrosse. Can you two even play?”

“Yes,” Scott slurred out.

“Scott,” Stiles said narrowing his eyes at the sound of Scott’s rising pulse. “This is what he wants. Just remember, he’s bluffing. He can’t do anything and he knows it. Why do you think he’s doing this? He’s got nothing so don’t give him anything.”

“What are you saying over there Stilinski? Are you trying to help Scott ignore me? You know, out of the two of you, it’s you that really boggles my mind. How did a klutzy and spastic idiot like you become a werewolf? Not that you’re a very good one. Your little love tap the other day, barely even felt it.”

“Oh, if I really wanted him to feel something, he would know it,” Stiles growled.

“You guys have been using your new tricks to get to be first line. Which actually means you’re really cheaters. And I bet that my fellow co-captain is going to try and score a lot of goals tonight isn’t he? No. Because I’m going to tell everyone what you both really are. And McCall, do you know who I’m going to start with? Her.”

The both of them looked to where Allison was sitting, talking to Lydia and oblivious to what was going on.

“Jackson,” Scott growled in his throat as he took a firm grip of his lunch tray.

“I’m going to destroy any chance you have with getting back with her. And, once I’m done with that I’m going to get her alone. And I’m going to wrap my hands around that tight little body.”

Scott was shaking the tray and Stiles felt that heat pouring from Scott. “Calm down,” he said to him softly.

But Scott still kept shaking in anger.

“I’m going to do everything that you never got the chance to do. I bet she likes to get loud. How does that make you feel Scott? To think about me with my hands over her as she’s screaming my name.”

At that Stiles was now starting to get angry himself. Not just at what Jackson was saying to Scott, potentially causing him to shift in the middle of lunch. But at what he was doing to Lydia. He was willing to try and toy with another girl behind her back all to get to somebody else because he was jealous. Yes, Stiles could smell it. From a distant corner of the cafeteria. The bitter scent of jealousy that he picked up from Jackson when Scott had made Co-captain. But it was mixed in with…satisfaction. Satisfaction at seeing that he was getting to Scott. And a hint of eagerness. Greed. Greedy for the power of the bite. Stiles wasn’t going to let him have it. Any of it. Stiles took his bottle of water, opened it, and then made a show like he just made a hard sneeze. He thrust the bottle of water in his hand at Scott’s direction and it sprinkled him and made him flinch out of his trance of rage.

“Sorry man,” he said a little loudly when Scott’s movement made some eyes turn their way. “You better go and dry off.”

Scott nodded. “Yeah,” he huffed as he wiped some of the water from his face.

Jackson was left to glare at the two of them and Stiles moved his eyes to look upon him. Jackson tried to be smug and smirked as he took a bite from his apple. Stiles just rolled his eyes at him and shook his head. The scent of annoyance was then detected. That was one potential crisis averted.

Jackson wasn’t going to give up. He invited Allison to have a swim with him later and they started to race for the fun of it. She found herself actually having a bit of fun. Funny enough, so did Jackson. He reached the end first with Allison coming up just behind him.

“You beat me again.”

“I have an unfair advantage. You see these cheekbones,” he said to her and she nodded. “Aerodynamically suited for speed in water.”

Allison let a laugh loose at that. As she did, Scott was over on the overhead bleachers heading for her bag to see if she had left the necklace there. He tried to look and not pay attention to the two of them in the water together.

“So you’re coming to the game tonight right?” Jackson asked her.

But Allison shook her head. “I was thinking no.”

Jackson’s face fell. “But, you have to. We win tonight and we’re in the semi-finals. It’s not because of Scott, right?”

Allison’s face fell to the side. “I was thinking that it might be a little weird.”

Jackson smirked as he shook his head. “He’s fine with it. He actually asked me if you were coming. He said he hoped you didn’t feel weird about it.”

Scott stopped rummaging through her bag. “I did?’ he said in disbelief.

“He did?” Allison asked in a tone similar to his.

“Yeah,” Jackson nodded. “You know…he’s a good guy. You can’t hate him too much. Well, it’s a little obvious that he’s a little immature to be dating someone like you, but then you can’t really blame the guy for trying,” he finished before splashing water at Allison playfully.

Allison grabbed his head and pulled him down into the water as she moved away. Scott watched the two of them with narrowed eyes. He took one last look at the bag to see that the necklace wasn’t in there. He then moved to better watch as they got out of the pool and Jackson wrapped a towel over her as he led her away with smiles on both of their faces. Scott felt an itchiness at the tips of his fingers starting to tingle.

Jackson was practically strutting down the halls as he was heading off for some things in his locker before heading home to prepare for the game. He was sure that he got under Scott’s skin enough to know he meant business. The problem though may be with Stiles. He was keeping his friend from fully going along with what he wanted. He had to find a way to get to him but Jackson couldn’t think of anything…yet. But he’ll get something and then force the two of them to give him what he wanted.

His trail of thought was interrupted when Lydia called out his name before going over to him with her phone out. “This little text. Not funny.”

“Oh,” Jackson said remembering what he sent to her earlier. “I wasn’t trying to be funny. I would’ve put a Ha Ha at the end of it. See? No Ha Ha’s.”

“Lydia,” she spat as she read the text aloud. “Please return my house key at the earliest convenience, as we’re no longer dating,” she finished before looking back at him with an icy look.

“You didn’t lose it, did you?” he asked hardly bothered at all.

“What the hell is this?!” she spat at him.

“Well Lydia, in preparation for some changes, I’ve decided to drop the dead weight in my life and…you’re just about the deadest.” He had a small smile on him as he said that to her.

“Are you breaking up with me?”

“Dumping,” he said with shrewd bluntness. “I’m dumping you.”

Before he could leave her there, Lydia grabbed him. “Dumped. By the CO-captain of the lacrosse team. Who had to be replaced by a second stringer less than a minute before the end of his last game. Hmm, I wonder how many minutes it would take me to get over that?” she sarcastically asked. Jackson jaw tightened for a mild second before he shook out of it and sent her a mock air kiss. “Seconds. Seconds!” Lydia called after him and then stomped off.

From around the corner, Stiles lightly stepped out as he glared at Jackson’s back as he headed for his locker. He had heard everything and by the end Stiles could’ve torn his throat out. He couldn’t believe Jackson. Everything he’s been doing suddenly came back to him. The extra attention he’s been throwing Allison, the so called hapless victim acts. The ‘mistake’ he made giving Lydia the wrong chemical. It was all because he was jealous of Scott and even him taking his so called spotlight. He thought that if he became a werewolf that it would somehow get it all back for him. That was the real reason Jackson was doing this. And now how he just called Lydia dead weight. He could hear the pain in her heart when he said that and smelled her pain. Lydia wasn’t dead weight. She was pretty, smart, strong and brave. However, she was forced to push all that down just to make him happy. Jackson had it all backwards. Lydia wasn’t the dead weight. He was. And it was her that should be the one to drop him to have her life change for the better.

Stiles then stomped out for the parking lot. Yes, Scott may be jealous at how in control and secure that Stiles was, but he was going take a leaf out of Scott’s book on this one. He was going to make Jackson pay for everything today somehow and he knew what. He spotted Jackson’s Porsche and started to walk in between a gap space between it and another car. That way Jackson wouldn’t link it back to them, at least not concretely. This way will look like an accident. When he got to the right spot he quickly impacted Jackson’s driver’s side car door to make a small but noticeable dent that looked like it may have been made by a wild swing from the door of the other car. He let a smirk fall on his face as he headed for his jeep.

He was too far to hear it but he just knew that Jackson cursed up a storm when he finally made it to his car.

Stiles made it home and headed straight for his room and turned his laptop on.

“Stiles?” his dad called out.

“Yeah? Da-erek?” He said turning around and shocked to find Derek there who was now trying to shush him. He must’ve been so focused on getting to his computer that he didn’t sense him there.

His father was heading in. “What did you say?”

Stiles went over to stop his dad before he could fully enter. “I said “Yeah dad?”

“Oh. Well, listen, there are some things I have to take care of but I’m going to be there for your game tonight. You’re starting in it, right?”

“Yeah. I’m officially first line now,” he said trying to keep his eyes on his dad and not look to the side to where Derek stood. “Great. Awesome.”

His dad gave him a soft smile. “I’m very happy and proud of you Stiles. You should be too.”

“Oh, I am. Believe me, I really am,” he gasped out with a wide smile.

“Well, I’ll see you later then.”

“Okay,” he called out before his dad left and he closed the door behind him.

Stiles turned around only to be grabbed by Derek and forced back. “You idiot. Do you know how close that was?”

“You know what would be closer? Something like, hey dad, it’s Derek Hale. Grab your gun,” he said calmly.

Derek huffed but let go of him. He then went to fix the collar of his shirt which Stiles returned. As Stiles tried to move away for his computer, Derek stomped at him which made him flinch, to Derek’s mild satisfaction.

“Yeah, Derek, we may have a problem.”

“What?” he asked rolling his eyes.

“You know Jackson?”

“The captain of your lacrosse team?”

“Co-captain now actually,” Stiles said with a bit of a laugh before it faded. “Uh, he knows that me and Scott are werewolves.”

“What? How did he find out?”

“We’re not sure.”

Derek might be. He took a minute to think about the times he’d seen that kid. He had seen him pick up Scott’s glove during his first game, the time he was confronted by him when he was shot and scratched him. And he was at the school that night where he might’ve seen something. It might’ve been enough to put everything together for him. “How much does he know?”

“I think that’s all he really knows. I don’t think he knows about the Alpha or the hunters. He’s trying to bully me and Scott into making him one too.”

“He wants to be a werewolf?” Derek slurred out humorously. “I’ve met this kid, he’s not someone the Alpha, any Alpha, would want.”

Stiles nodded. That was good to know. “Then what do we do about him?”

“If he doesn’t really know anything, then nothing for now. We could deal with him later. For now there are other things for us to do. Like find the Alpha and what my sister was after. Did Scott get the necklace?” he asked.

“No, he still working on it but there’s something else we could try.” He said throwing himself into his chair. “The night that we were trapped at the school Allison got a text from Scott that asked her to meet him there.”

“So?” Derek asked.

“So, Scott didn’t send her any texts. You broke his phone the night before, remember?”

“Can you find out who sent it?”

“No, not me. But I know someone who can.” He said turning away from Derek. He didn’t plan for him to be there but, maybe, he could help if his first attempt failed.

Chapter Text

Allison was jogging in the woods after school. She usually did this a few times but today she was really pushing herself to be into it. The rush of emotions she was feeling today, especially around Scott, she felt that she had to somehow burn those away or else she would break down and fall apart. She kept running until she came upon a wreck of a house. She realized that it was the Hale House, Derek Hale’s place. She had heard all the stories, that it had burned down a few years ago with most of the Hale family inside. Allison didn’t know if Derek Hale was the one in the school or not. Scott seemed to think so but Stiles insisted that it wasn’t so no one really knew what to think. The fact that no one could find him made theories spread like wildfire so who knew what the truth really was. Certainly not Allison who didn’t seem to get much of the truth these days. She found herself curious and decided to go inside. It was eerily quiet as she stepped in to what looked like had been a living room. She saw a spot on the floor and pushed some soot to the side to see what looked like lines dug into the wood. She ran her fingers across it to see that they seemed to be claw marks. Allison caught movement in front of her and then screamed when she saw that it was someone.

It was her aunt Kate who squinted her eyes. “Damn! You got some lungs on you!”

Allison huffed. “Did you follow me here?”

“Well…you can’t blame me for being concerned about my favorite niece, now can you?” Allison silently rolled her eyes as she stood back up. “What are you looking for?” Kate softly asked her.

“I don’t know. Something…anything.

“You mean answers? To lingering questions? Like-

“Why would Derek Hale, if it even was him, would want to kill us?”

Kate smirked and gestured to the house. “I mean, come on, look at this place. Could you imagine if your father and I were trapped in something like this? Might do some pretty interesting things to your head, don’t you think?

“It wouldn’t turn me into a psychotic killer.”

“You don’t have to be psychotic to be a killer,” Kate said with all and out seriousness. “You just…need a reason. And, even then, sometimes you could surprise yourself.” She then went to approach her niece. “What do you want Allison?”

“I want to not be scared,” she cried out. “That night, in the school, I felt utterly weak. Like, I needed someone to come in and rescue me. I hated it! I want to feel stronger than that…I want to feel powerful.”

Kate smiled at that. She started to circle Allison a bit with a hungry look in her eyes.

“Be just…a little patient. I think I can give you exactly what you want.”

Scott couldn’t see the necklace being worn on Allison at school or her bag so he guessed that she might’ve left it in her room. He immediately went over to her house as soon as school was over. It felt strange, to be sneaking into her room when she wasn’t there. It didn’t seem like anyone was really home. He climbed the side of her house and then carefully opened her window and went in. He started to go through her drawers and cabinets but he wasn’t finding any sign of it. His eyes were then drawn to her desk where he saw a receipt on top of a book. He saw it was from the bowling alley and he saw on the back that she marked it as a token from their first date. He let a smile come to him. Maybe there was really hope after all if she kept this in such good care. He put the receipt back down but noticed a chain sticking out of the book under it. He opened it to find the necklace. He took it but froze when he saw that the book had marks on it around words like ‘attacks’ and ‘mythical creature’. The word Loup garou was also circled. He took out his phone and ran it through a translator. It was French and it meant werewolf. Allison was closing in on everything which meant he had to find the Alpha fast and get cured before Allison discovered everything. He heard some noise so he quickly pocketed the necklace and took off.

He got to his bike and was about to ride out but froze when he saw her father. Had he just seen him sneak out of Allison’s room?

“Scott.” He looked right at him before he smiled.

Scott had said that he was just looking for Allison, hoping he didn’t know that he would accept that and he nodded. He invited him inside.

“I’m sure she’ll be home in a couple of minutes. She sometimes goes out for a run after school.”

“Actually,” Scott said quickly. “I probably should get going. I do have a game to get to tonight.”

“Want something to drink?” he insisted. “Have a beer.” He set the bottle next to him before taking a drink from another one.

Scott just swallowed. “You don’t have to test me anymore. Your daughter already dumped me,” he coughed out.

“No test. And I’m sorry. High School romance, it burns bright and fades fast. Go on.”

“No,” he said shaking his head. “No thanks.”

“Fine. So…I was curious about something Scott.” Scott nodded. “How do you know Derek Hale?” her father asked, the air around him changing completely.

Scott’s heart skipped and his blood ran cold. Why would he be asking that? “Who?” was all he could say.

He was led to their living room where his dad had him sit down. “Allison said that she saw you talking with him. Don’t you think that is a little disconcerting Scott? You talking to someone who might be a murderer. One you fingered by the way.”

Scott tensed. It looked like Stiles had been right. He shouldn’t have said anything. Yes, he was trying to not upset Allison that night but she still broke up with him. And now he was paying for it with his dad. “I said that I thought I saw him. For all I know, it might’ve been someone else. It was dark that night and I was scared.”

“But you told the sheriff that it was him,” he pressed. “Why are you changing your story now?”

Scott narrowed his eyes. “Why are you talking to me like I’ve done something wrong?”

“Have you?” he said going closer.

“No!” Scott said. “Besides, it’s not like I’m the only one in town that’s spoken to him.”

“Right…of course. There’s also your friend…Stiles, is it? Allison said that you told her that he was giving him a ride.” He saw Mr. Argent’s nod his head a bit.

Scott nodded. “Yeah, he dropped him off at his house once.”

“Did he?” Mr. Argent asked raising his eyebrow. “Does Stiles go over to his place a lot then? You would think that the son of the sheriff would know better than to hang around people like that.”

“Once,” Scott said trying to steer this away from Stiles now. “He gave him a ride once. He was just doing Derek a favor. We ran into Derek a few times and he thought he needed a ride because his car was having problems and he was close by. He found us and thought we could give him a lift, and Stiles said yes, that’s it!” Scott huffed before settling down.

Allison had entered her house but froze when she heard her father and Scott verbally having at one another. She carefully stepped closer but made sure that her father or Scott wouldn’t notice her there. She could see her father standing there, looking disapprovingly at Scott for a second before he moved to sit beside him on the couch.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me Scott. I’m just trying to think about my daughter’s safety.” His tone changed to a softer and more concerned one.

“Would you believe me if I said that I think about it too?” Scott then stood up to be the one to look down on Argent like he did a moment ago with him. “That night at the school. Everything I did, every decision I made was to keep her safe and she broke up with me for it!”

Mr. Argent stood up. “Maybe you should go,” he suggested. It seemed that he had heard enough. “You don’t want to be late for your game.”

Scott then went to leave the house and Allison was left in the corner where she was hiding to think on what she just heard Scott say.

Danny had come over as Stiles asked, under the pretense of working on their project together but Stiles didn’t have that in mind when he called him.

“You want me to do what?”

“Trace a text.”

“I came to do lab work. We’re lab partners and that’s what we’re supposed to do.”

Derek was sitting off in the corner of Stile’s room, reading one of the books Stiles had collected about werewolves. He rolled his eyes. This was Stiles’ brilliant plan? Maybe he was over-estimating him.

Stiles ran his hand frustratingly over his hair. “Yeah, we will. Once you trace the text.”

“And what makes you think I know how?”

Stiles tried to fight a smile as he looked him in the eye. “I…kinda looked up your arrest report.” Danny had done some illegal hacking and caused some incidents, nothing too serious but noticeable. But he still had the expertise that they needed to find out where this text came from.

But Danny just shrugged. “I was thirteen. They dropped the charges.”

“Alright. So, will you do it?”

“No,” Danny said reaching for a chair. “We’re doing lab work.” But then he leaned in to him. “Hey, uh, who’s he again?” he asked pointing over to Derek.

“Oh, he’s my cousin. Miguel,” he said off the top of his head. Stiles could smell the annoyance in Derek rise. This new ability was quite taxing to have.

“Is that…blood on his shirt?” Danny asked sparing Derek another look.

“Oh…yeah. See, he gets these…horrible nosebleeds from time to time. Hey Miguel,” he said raising his voice even though he knew Derek could hear every word. “I thought I told you that you could borrow one of my shirts?” He made a face that insisted Derek follow through.

Derek wondered what Stiles was trying to pull. When he took off his shirt he discovered what it was when he heard Danny’s heartbeat rise and the smell of attraction came off of him. Now, everything made sense. He wanted to throttle Stiles and he would…later.

“Oh, by the way,” Stiles said pretending to be oblivious to both Derek and Danny’s discomfort. “I want to say that I’m sorry for what Scott did to you on the field.”

“Uh,” Danny said still looking at Derek as he was shirtless and smoothing out his dirty shirt. “It’s fine. It was just sore for a bit. I’m fine now. You don’t have to apologize.”

“Yeah, but he’s my best friend and I still want to apologize for him. I know he’s sorry.”

“It’s okay,” he said dismissively. “I understand. I have to apologize sometimes for Jackson.”

“I know but unlike him I know Scott is sorry and he’ll actually apologize himself. I’m only apologizing because with Scott…sometimes his apologies could get…awkward,” he said remembering Scott’s apology from last night.

Derek took one of Stiles’ shirts. “Stiles, this don’t fit,” he angrily said to him, not hiding from him the fact that he wasn’t appreciating this.

But Stiles just smirked at him. “Then try something else on,” he said dragging it all out for Danny. Derek then grabbed another shirt, an ugly blue and orange that was still small and put it on.

Danny seemed to be trying not to drool at the sight. “That one looks pretty good? What do you think Danny?” Stiles asked him.

“Uh…it’s not really his color,” he said nervously.

Then Derek took it off.

“You swing for a different team but you still play ball, don’t you Danny boy.”

“You’re a horrible person,” he grumbled.

“I know, it keeps me awake at night,” Stiles said not missing a beat. “So, about that text…”

“Stiles!” Derek called out. “None of these fit.”

Stiles gave Danny a look. He just huffed and finally gave in. “I need the ISP, the phone number and the exact time of text,” he said before going to the computer to start.

“Thanks,” Stiles asked before turning to Derek. “Hey Miguel, I think I might have something else. In the hall closet. You know where that is, right?”

Derek gave him a hard glare that silently said that Stiles would pay for this as he left. By the time Derek got back, Danny was hard at work tracing the text from Allison’s phone.

“There,” Danny said when he was finished. “The text was sent from a computer. This one.”

Stiles and Derek leaned in closer and their eyes widened at the name of the registration.

“Registered to that account name?” Derek asked.

But Stiles was shaking his head. “No no. That can’t be right.”

The account was to the hospital. Under the name Melissa McCall. Scott’s mother.

Scott had made it to the school for the game but couldn’t find any sign of Stiles in the locker room. His locker didn’t have sign that he was there. He went over to the field and was getting more worried when he wasn’t there either. He found the sheriff there, but not Stiles. He had sent a picture of the necklace to him earlier but he didn’t know if he had gotten it or not. Scott took out his phone and quickly called him. Stiles picked up almost right away to his relief.

“Hey, where are you? Did you get the picture?”

“Yeah,” Stiles answered. “I did and it looks just like the drawing.”

But the next moment, Derek’s voice came through. “Is there something on the back of it? There has to be something. An inscription, an opening, something?” he asked desperately.

What was Derek doing there? With Stiles? And where the hell were they?

“No,” Scott found himself saying despite his curiosity. “The thing is flat and no, it doesn’t open. Nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing. And where are you? You’re supposed to be here. You’re first line now.”

Scott was then smacked on the side of his head and he turned to see Coach there looking down at him. “Where the hell is Bilinski?”

“You’re not going to play if you’re not here to start,” Scott desperately pointed out. He was looking forward to actually playing with Stiles from start to finish for once.

“I know!” Stiles cried. “Look…if you see my dad tell him…I had some trouble so I’ll be a little late, okay? Thanks,” he said before hanging up.

Scott looked at the phone. He had a feeling that Stiles wasn’t telling him something, again. But what was it that had him missing the game?

Stiles hung up the phone and pocketed it.

“You’re not going to make it,” said Derek.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah. I know,” he said solemnly. As much as he wanted to, this was more important now.

“And you didn’t tell him about his mom?”

He shook his head. “No, not until we know the facts first. I don’t want him to be worrying himself for what could be nothing. He doesn’t need that now.” He then unbuckled his seat belt. “Let’s just get this over with.”

“Fine,” Derek said grunted. “But there’s something else.”

“What?” Stiles asked. Derek pointed off to Stiles’ left and he turned his head to find what Derek had pointed to but then felt a hand reach for the back of his head and slam his head into the steering wheel hard.

“Ow! What the hell-“

“You know what that was for!” Derek roared out. Derek didn’t appreciate Stiles using him for a piece of meat for his gay friend, even if it did give them this lead. He also made sure that Stiles eyes were diverted so the young beta wouldn’t read his body movements and stop him from hitting him like the last few times he tried. “Now go! Go!” he said pointing to the clinic. He couldn’t quite show his face yet so he had to wait behind.

Stiles rubbed his head as he left the jeep. “Sour asswolf,” he grumbled as he walked to the clinic.

“I heard that,” Derek grumbled back.

“You were meant to,” he said back as he entered the building.

Scott was putting on his gloves with a pained look to his face. He didn’t know why but with everything that had been happening the last two days, he felt more than a little worried that something was up with his friend. To miss the game to be with Derek, something must be going on, probably with the Alpha. He couldn’t think too much on it as Jackson came and sat next to him.

He was gritting his teeth. He had to take his Porsche in to the auto garage to see about repairing that dent that he found in the door. The guy who parked next to him insisted that he didn’t do it as it was the passenger side door that was next to his and he didn’t give anyone a ride. Jackson was still pissed but couldn’t afford to be distracted. Not when something better was at stake.

“It’s a bite that does it, isn’t it?” he whispered to him with a smirk on his face.

Scott huffed. He especially didn’t need this now. “Yes,” he puffed out frustrated.

“Then that’s easy,” Jackson insisted.

“No,” Scott said strapping his second glove in. “It’s not. Besides, I can’t be the one to do it. Neither can Stiles. It has to be…an Alpha.”

“Then just get him to do it,” he demanded like it was no big deal.

Scott shook his head. He sees that Stiles was right after all. Jackson barely knew anything and he was bluffing them. He didn’t know about the Alpha or the hunters at all. He just knew that the two of them were werewolves and probably thought that they were bitten like it was given out as a party favor. “Jackson, it’s not that simple. I don’t even know who it is. Trust me, you don’t know what you’re even asking. Okay, do yourself a favor and forget about it. This whole thing is so much more bigger and complicated then you think it is.”

“Yeah right,” he said most likely thinking that Scott was trying to stall him.

“I’m not joking,” he said a little angrily. “Okay, besides there’s more than werewolves. There’s others. Hunters.”

“Hunters?” Jackson asked skeptically. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“No jerkoff, I’m not. I really mean it. Hunters. The kind that like to hunt down and shoot werewolves with assault rifles. Are you getting that? Assault rifles. And there’s a whole family of them.” Scott’s eyes went into the stands to where Allison was sitting with her dad and aunt.

Jackson’s eyes followed him and saw them too. “Them?”

Scott heart skipped. Damn it. “What? No,” he tried to deny quickly.

“That make sense,” he said suddenly. “Allison Argent.”

“What?” Scott asked with a look of confusion.

“Argent,” Jackson pressed but Scott still looked lost. “Oh my god, you don’t get it. Her name.” He was just staring back at him. “Are you serious? You’ve dated her all this time and you never asked her about her name?”

“What about it?”

“Argent. It’s French for silver.”

Scott narrowed his eyes. Silver?

Coach then moved in and took them by the back of their shoulders. “Now, this is what I like to see,” he said smiling at them. “Rivals turned allies. You know there’s no ‘me’ in team, right boys?”

Scott and Jackson just looked blankly at him.

“Yes there is coach,” Scott pointed out with raised eyebrows.

He then looked at Scott, unamused. “Okay then smartass, how about this? No A in Econ if no win on field. Good? Huh, perfect.” He then left them alone again.

“You get it now?” Scott said to him getting back to their earlier issue.

“Yes, I do get it. And here’s what you get. Three days. You hear me? 72 hours. That’s what you get to give me what I want.”

“Or what?” he asked.

“Or, I go to them,” he said gesturing his head to them. “Thanks for the tip.”

Scott watched him leave with an urge to hit himself in the head. Stiles had warned Scott to not give Jackson anything more than what he had. Scott had wanted to warn Jackson, to try and protect him and he went and just pulled all of them even deeper. Now, Jackson didn’t have a bluff. He had a real threat on hand to use. He could tell the Argents anything and everything. He could tell them about him and about Stiles. They would know all about them and Scott would never be able to get Allison back. Even if he did kill the Alpha and get the cure, Stiles would still be in danger all because of his big mouth.

When the thought of Stiles came into the picture, Scott sensed the sheriff walking about, trying to find him. He could smell the scent of confusion and worrying coming from the man. He really hated this new ability. Scott didn’t want to talk to him now because he didn’t trust what he would end up saying. His mouth already did enough trouble for one day.

He then heard Allison’s voice call out, “That there, that’s Jackson.”

“Holy hotness,” said Kate. “Ugh, if I was in high school again. Maybe as a substitute teacher,” she joked.

“You are sick,” Allison pointed out.

“You should be all over that,” Kate teased.

Scott grit his teeth in aggravation. He spared a look at them but saw that Kate’s eyes narrowed in Jackson’s direction.

She then turned to Mr. Argent. “Chris,” she whispered to him. “Remember how we were talking about a second beta. A younger one?”

“Yes,” he said back.

Scott eyes widened. Oh no.

“Can you get turned by a scratch,” she asked him.

“Only if the claws go deep enough. Maybe.”

“Well, I wonder how deep those went?”

She then pointed off into Jackson’s direction. Scott looked and sure enough saw the scars of fresh scratches in Jackson’s neck.

“But he was in Allison’s sight during the night at the school so he couldn’t be a beta. Besides I thought we already had a suspect for the beta I shot that first full moon. The sheriff’s son. Speaking of which…I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Yeah, but, maybe after all this time. There may be more than one. And that looks fresh. Maybe the Alpha found him at the school and decided to take another besides that Stiles kid.”

Scott’s heart started to pump hard. Stiles? They already suspected Stiles? Scott then remembered his conversation with Allison’s dad earlier. When he grilled him. Now he saw. Mr. Argent wasn’t interrogating him because he suspected him…it was because he suspected Stiles, because Stiles had tried to discredit Scott’s claims against Derek being there so they suspected him. While they were right about Stiles being a beta, he wasn’t the beta they were looking for; it was him. They thought Stiles was him. Scott also remembered Stiles saying that he had his own problems, was this it? Did he know that they suspected him? If so then why wouldn’t he tell him?

But then the crowds erupted in sound as the game was set to start.

Stiles calmly scoured the halls of the hospital. It was quiet. Most of the town was off to see the big quarter final game. Scott’s mom would be there too. Without her, they would have no way of getting into her computer to see its history to check if it really was her to send the text. Stiles took out his phone and called Derek.

“She’s not here Derek. She’s probably gone to the game.”

“Then ask for Jennifer. She’s been looking after my uncle,” Derek suggested.

Stiles looked into Peter Hale’s room but found it empty. The wheelchair that he had seen the man in the night Derek brought him and Scott was vacant. “They’re not here.”

“What?”

“Your uncle’s room is empty. He’s not here. He’s gone.”

“But that’s…” Derek’s face then fell. “Stiles, get out of there! It’s him! He’s the Alpha!”

Stiles eyes snapped open as he stilled for a fleeting second. The Alpha was Peter Hale. Stiles stewed in that fact before he went to run but his path was then blocked. By Peter Hale himself.

The man looked the same, burned face and all, except for the fact that he was now in a shiny leather jacket and high end clothing and was out and about. He smiled as he looked upon him. “So…Stiles, is it? I can’t tell you how good it is to finally meet you.”

Derek had heard his uncle through the phone and took off from the jeep and dashed into the hospital.

Stiles hung and put his phone into his pocket. “So, it was you,” he said stepping back lightly. He had to get out of there. He was no match for the Alpha by himself.

He turned to just run but was blocked by a new person. The nurse Jennifer.

“What are you doing here? Visiting hours are over.” She was calm when she spoke but her eyes were full of malice.

“You too.” Now it made sense. It was her. She had sent the text to Allison that night from the computer to lure her to the school. “You’re with him.” he said looking back to Peter who was smiling at him. “Oh, man I’m going to die.”

Peter chuckled. “You are quite the smart one.” The next moment the nurse was elbowed in the side of the jaw by Derek. Peter looked at Derek with a shake of his head. “That’s not nice. She’s my nurse.”

“She’s a psychopathic bitch helping you kill people.” He then looked to Stiles. “Out of my way.”

Stiles stepped off to the side but kept his eyes on Peter.

Peter moved forward but kept his eyes on Derek. “Do you think I killed Laura on purpose? Kill my own family?” He sounded angry.

Derek howled at him before he went to attack Peter. Peter easily tossed his assault aside and grabbed his nephew by the throat and slammed him at the wall to where he fell to the floor. Stiles saw that Peter was distracted so he tried to make a swipe at Peter’s head but the Alpha’s hand reached out and grabbed Stiles’ own and squeezed it.

“Ow,” he managed to hack out as Peter twisted his hand. “Damn it.”

Peter sucked on his tongue in disapproval. “Now that’s not very nice. Just cutting in like that. Can’t you see that my nephew and I are trying to get reacquainted?” He then threw Stiles off where his back hit the ground and slid him to stop next to Jennifer’s unconscious body. He then took Stiles by the collar of his jacket and threw him over the empty nurse’s station where he collided with the opposite wall.

Peter then turned to look back at Derek who was trying to crawl away from him. “My mind,” he said grabbing Derek at the neck. He then started to pull him off. “My personality. It was all literally burned out of me. I was made to be driven to pure instinct.” He let go of Derek when they made it to Jennifer’s body and he went to grab the keys from her pocket.

Derek quickly got back to his feet. “You want forgiveness,” he said attacking him again.

But Peter fought him off. “I want understanding,” he said before giving Derek a solid kick that threw him across the hall. “Do you have any idea what it was like for me during those years? Slowly healing cell by cell.” Derek coughed out some blood as tried to get back to his feet. Stiles was getting his own barings back but was listening to what Peter was saying. “Even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Becoming an Alpha. Yes, taking that from Laura helped push me over a plateau in the healing process. I can’t help that.”

Derek tried to strike at him again but his blows missed as Peter dodged them. He then had enough as grabbed Derek’s wrist and squeezed on the bones there. He then threw him through the reception window breaking the glass as Derek fell behind the counter. Stiles was carefully watching and then ran to attack Peter again. He clobbered him in the back of the head and kicked him aside. Stiles tried to run to get to Derek so they could get out of there but Peter grabbed Stiles at the back of the neck before he could get two steps away.

“Not bad there boy,” he said driving his nails to threaten to break into Stiles’ skin. “You actually got me off guard.” He then slammed a fist into Stiles stomach. “Such potential,” he said as Stiles was wheezing from the force of the blow. “I’ve kept an eye on you just like your friend. You have quite the future ahead of you. That is if you are careful of those that can take it away.”

He then dug his claws into the back of Stiles neck. Stiles then stiffened as his eyes went gold as images invaded his mind. Images of men coming to a beautiful and grand house in the woods. They had Molotov cocktails on hand and set the place ablaze. The doors were barred as the people inside tried to escape. He even saw Peter, scar less and considerably different panicking as the flames surrounded him.

Stiles snapped out of it to find himself on the floor with Peter looking down on him. “What?” he called out.

“I just helped you see my side of things Stiles,” he explained with a calm look on him.

“Stiles, get out of here,” Derek called out to him from the ground as he tried to crawl away.

“Yes, go,” Peter said nodding off on ahead. “Try to at least catch the end of your game. Don’t worry though Stiles. Our time will come soon enough.”

Stiles’ eyes glowed a harder gold in response to Peter’s taunt but he tightened his teeth against each other. “Dream on you son of a bitch.” He then took off to run out of the hospital. He had to get to Scott and warn him about Peter.

Peter chuckled as he headed for Derek. “Spunky kid. I like that. He kind of reminds me a bit of Laura, don’t you think?”

Derek didn’t answer. He just kept trying to distance himself from Peter. He went into a washroom and saw that he was now trapped so he just propped himself against the wall as Peter stared him down.

“I was going to wait for dramatic flair,” he said staring down at Derek before going to a mobile mirror. He then spun it and watched as the scars on his face instantly healed like nothing had happened at all. “When you look this good, why wait?” He then looked back at his nephew with a serious air about him. “Derek, you have to give me a chance to explain. Everything. After all, we’re family.”

As the game went on, the sheriff wondered where Stiles was but his thoughts went to business when he caught sight of Adrian Harris who was sitting with the principal.

“I need to talk to you now Harris. In private.”

Harris grit his teeth but complied as he took the sheriff away from all the prying eyes into the school. They went into the science lab and the sheriff started to grill him again of what happened the previous night and of why he was approached about the Hale fire. Harris told him that Derek Hale had been there but he had helped him and drove away the one that had come to harass him. Something told the sheriff that Harris still had plenty to share.

“Look it was six years ago and in my defense before I became sober,” he tried to excuse himself.

“Yeah, well listen, there’s my son lacrosse game that I have to get back to so why don’t we just get straight to the details, huh?”

“I met her at a bar. We had a lot of drinks. A lot. Started asking what I do. She kept asking questions.” He then smirked in nostalgia. “You have any idea what that’s like? To have someone actually interested in the topic of chemistry? After staring at all these vacant faces day in and day-

“Details!” the sheriff cut in. He didn’t care about Harris’ feelings on his students.

Harris huffed. “Like I said, I talked. It was fascinating stuff. How you could melt away the lock of a bank vault. How you could dissolve a body and get away with murder.”

“How you could start a fire and get away with Arson?” he needlessly guessed.

That got Harris nodding. “And a week later, the Hale house burns down.”

The sheriff thought that there was a lot of pieces that he couldn’t quite match up yet. All he knew for certain was that everything that has been happening, all the killings, seemed to be rooted back to the Hale fire. All these people involved were connected. Was Derek Hale responsible? He didn’t know for sure, probably not. But he was going to find out what was going on and who was really responsible for starting that fire. At least he had a new suspect. This blonde woman that Harris spoke to and grilled him all about causing the very catastrophe that killed that whole family long ago.

“You know, you could’ve said something,” he scolded the man.

“And be an accomplice? It would’ve ended my teaching career.”

‘Yeah,’ he silently thought. ‘You just instead help end the lives on an entire family and let someone get away with it.’ He went over to the man. “So, you don’t know her name? Where she was from?”

“No. You’re asking the same thing that Laura Hale asked. I’ll point you in the same direction I pointed her,” he said before moving to draw something.

The sheriff took the paper to see that it was some kind of a symbol that had what looked like a picture of a wolf. “What is this?”

“The necklace the girl was wearing. That symbol was on it. I asked her about it and she said that it was a family thing. You find the girl wearing that necklace and she’s your arsonist.”

“Murderer,” the sheriff corrected Harris.

“Excuse me?”

“Arson happens to property. This girl’s a murderer.”

Chapter Text

Stiles was driving for the school with his heart still beating like a jackhammer. When he was forced to stop at the light, he took his hand and wiped the back of his neck. A few drops of blood wet his fingers. He wondered why it was taking so long for those scratches to heal up. That wonder didn't last long as he pulled into the parking lot just in time to hear and feel the boom of voices that started to scream out. He saw that there were people already in the parking lot cheering and shouting. He guessed that the game was over and judging from how those were his classmates screaming it was because they had won.

He tried to navigate through the sea of people moving and jumping around as they celebrated. A few shouts of 'State!' were heard. Stiles felt a slight ping in his heart that he couldn't play in this game until he remembered why he couldn't. He finally made it to the field but couldn't see any sign of the team.

He flagged down one of his classmates. "Hey, where's the team?" he asked.

"They headed into the locker rooms a few minutes ago."

"Okay thanks," he said before moving off to head into the school.

"Stiles!" Stiles stopped in his tracks to see his father walking up to him. "There you are."

"Hey dad," he said turning around with a small smile plastered on him despite the panic he was feeling.

"Where were you? You missed the whole the game."

Stiles sighed. "Yeah…I know. I had some trouble with my jeep. My battery needed a jump start. I think the mechanic must've stiffed us when he fixed it," he added stressfully. "It took a while to flag someone down who would help me since a lot of people were here." He hoped his dad bought it.

He didn't get time to see if he did before he heard, "Bilinski!"

Stiles turned around to look at the pissed off face of the Coach baring down on him. "Hey Coach!"

"Where the hell were you?!"

"I had car trouble coach," he tried to explain.

"Then why didn't you ditch the car and make the long run for it."

Stiles raised his eyebrows. "I was over three miles away."

"Doesn't matter. At your age, three miles of running would've been a warmup jog for me."

"Hey, take it easy," his dad said stepping in. "It wasn't his fault. He couldn't help what happened."

The coach seemed to be chewing on the insides of his cheek in frustration. "You're lucky that we're in the semi-finals Bilinski. If you want to stay in first line then you make sure you get here early. And I mean when they're still setting up early."

"Got it coach," Stiles nodded.

"Alright. Don't think you're getting off easy though Bilinski. Expect some suicide laps the next time I see you."

"Looking forward to it," he said with a sarcastic smile as the coach went off to the parking lot. Stiles turned back to see that his father seemed both thrown back and amused. "I better go find Scott."

"Yeah," his dad sighed. "I better head back to the station." Stiles nodded and started to walk off. "Oh, and Stiles," he said before he could go anywhere.

"Yeah dad?" Stiles said stopping.

"Why is your coach calling you Bilinski?"

"You don't want to know," he said simply before he took off and ran for the locker rooms.

Scott was on the field and ripped his helmet off as he looked around for any sign of Stiles. He could swear that he heard his voice though he couldn't hear him out with so much screaming going on around him. Scott rushed into the school along with the rest of his teammates as they celebrated their win.

"Stiles? Stiles! Has anyone seen Stiles?" he roared out to anyone nearby but no one was paying him any attention.

Scott was getting panicked but his heart froze when he bumped into Allison. The two of them just stared at each other in silence amidst all the cheering and chaos going on around them.

"You were…pretty awesome out there," Allison managed to say with a small smile.

"Thanks, you too," he said before he caught himself. "I mean…that's not what I meant."

"No," Allison said taking pity on him. "I did some pretty awesome cheering. You can thank me."

"You did?"

"Totally," she nodded. "I went from Go Team Go to Defense, Defense. Up until I ran out of breath. I brought my A-Game."

"That's great," Scott smiled.

But their reunion was cut short by one of Jackson's buddies coming in and chanting 'State! State!' and cutting in between them. Allison was then taken away by her father and Scott was left to glare at the guy to get him to move on. Scott spared Allison a final look as Jackson started to go over to him.

"Gosh, isn't that heartbreaking," he said in a mockingly soothing tone. "I bet it causes a lot of sleepless nights." Scott just glared at him. "You know what though McCall? I actually…sympathize." Scott knew that was a lie even without hearing his heart. "Which is why I'm going to make this mutually beneficial. You give me what I want and I'll help you get her back."

"What?" Scott asked in disbelief.

"Well, three days is in just in time for the Winter Formal. Think about you taking her instead of me. And, think about what to do to get her out of her tiny little dress by the end of the night. See how this could work for everybody?" he asked smugly despite the fact that Scott was glaring at him predatorily. "Three days McCall. Have fun," he said before smacking him at the cheek and taking off.

Scott sighed out in frustration. Stiles assured him that Jackson had been bluffing since he didn't know anything beyond the fact that he and Stiles were werewolves. However, thanks to him, Jackson now knew that Allison was connected to all this even deeper than she even knew. The threat he posed between him and Allison was now all too real. He didn't know what he was going to do.

He headed for the shower and then went for his locker so he could change and go about looking for Stiles but stopped when Danny called him out. "By the way McCall, Apology Accepted."

Scott's eyes narrowed a bit. "I didn't apologize," he pointed out. He meant to do it. He felt bad for hitting Danny like he did during the full moon but didn't get a chance to say anything to him yet.

But Danny just smiled. "Every time you got the ball tonight, you passed it to me."

Scott scoffed. "Every time I passed the ball to you, you scored."

Danny just shook his head. "Wow, Stiles was right. Your apologies are awkward." Scott's face fell a bit at the mention of his friend. "Apology accepted." Danny then left.

Actually, with him leaving, Scott was left all alone in the locker room. Scott went to finish getting changed but then the lights just turned off plunging the whole locker room into darkness. "Danny?" Scott nervously called out but there was no answer. The last time he had been in the locker room like this was the night that the Alpha had attacked the school. Of course, back then he wasn't alone, unlike now. Scott went to turn the lights back on but the switch wasn't working. "The hell?" he muttered as he found a lacrosse ball rolling on the ground, across the room. He went to pick it up and then jumped when he caught someone close by, but his heart steadied when he saw it was Derek. "Thank God! Where the hell have you been? Do you have any idea what's been going on? Where's Stiles?"

But Derek just stared at him blankly before his eyes darted to look over Scott's shoulder. Scott turned around to see that they weren't alone. It was Derek's uncle, Peter Hale. And he was looking scarless and healthy as he was spinning a lacrosse net in his hands.

"I really don't get lacrosse," he said looking at the net in wonder.

Scott's eyes widened. "It was you," he mumbled. Everything suddenly was making sense.

But Peter paid him no mind and kept talking like Scott hadn't just cut in on him. "When I was in high school we played basketball. There's a real sport. Still…I read somewhere that lacrosse comes from native American tribes that played it to resolve conflict. Do I have that right?" he said to himself before he shrugged. "I have a little conflict of my own to resolve Scott. And I'm going to need your help."

During his talk, Scott tried to look to Derek for an explanation but he just stared ahead, indifferent to Scott's panic. Scott glared at Peter when he was finished with his monologue.

"I'm not going to help you kill people," he said with conviction.

"I don't want to kill all of them. Just the responsible ones. And…that doesn't have to include-" He stopped and looked over to his nephew.

"Allison," Derek finished for him.

Scott looked back at Derek with shock plain on his face. "You're on his side?" he asked in disbelief. "Are you forgetting the part where he killed your sister?"

"It was a mistake," Derek said back immediately.

"What?" Scott couldn't believe that Derek just said that. Considering everything Derek put him through all for the death of his sister, he was saying that it was just a mistake?

"It happens," Derek explained.

Scott just shook his head. "Where the hell is Stiles? He was with you earlier. What happened to him?"

"You won't have to worry about Stiles Scott," Peter said drawing back his attention. "He's fine. Well, mostly."

"What did you do to him?" Scott asked glaring at the Alpha.

"Nothing, really. We just merely exchanged words, among other things. I have to say, your friend has quite a bit of potential. He's definitely one to watch. As are you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Scott, you seem to be getting the wrong impression. I'm just trying to help you, the both of you be all you can be. But there are things in your lives that seem to be holding you back."

"If they keep me from being a psychotic nut job like you…I'm okay with that. And I know that Stiles would say the same thing."

Peter then calmly started to step forward and Scott found himself backing away a bit. He looked to Derek, trying to get some help from him but the older beta was completely indifferent to his plight.

"Don't be too sure about that. Remember, I said that Stiles and I exchanged a little more than words. I saw into his mind and…while he might not agree with my methods, I could feel that he does…empathize. Maybe you need to see things from my perspective yourself."

Peter then grabbed Scott by the head and then drove his claws straight into the back of his neck. Scott started to grunt in pain as a strange sensation started to overtake him. He fell to the floor and was gasping in shock and pain as his mind was being invaded. Suddenly flashes started to dance in his mind's eye and blocked everything else out. He saw a house. The Hale house but it wasn't a wreck. Then he saw two men with gasoline. They were the ones that had messed with him and Stiles that night in the woods when they tried to get drunk. They were pouring gasoline onto the house. He then saw Peter as the Alpha taking them both out in revenge. He then saw the bus driver Garrison Meyers. Peter went after him for his part played for that night. He saw Peter in the hospital, slowly snapping out of the pain from his wounds that he's had for years. He could see the Hale house burning. Hear the sounds of the entire Hale family screaming as the flames consumed them including Peter. He then saw Peter rising by the power of the full moon to the shocked eyes of Jennifer from the hospital. He then saw Laura Hale approach him and he then snapped and attacked her. He finally saw Stiles and himself in the woods, the gaze infared, as he went and bit the two of them.

Scott then snapped out of it and found himself on the floor, alone. He forced himself up and placed himself on the bench letting the strain slowly leave him. Scott then heard heavy footsteps and someone panting. He knew who it was.

"Scott!" Stiles said charging into the room. "We have a huge problem!"

"Trust me…I know," he said in a defeated tone.

Stiles nostrils flared as he caught the scent of Scott's blood. He looked and saw his neck was bleeding. "You okay?"

Scott nodded. "More or less," he said in the same tone before he remembered that Stiles had an encounter with Peter too. "What about you? You okay?"

"More or less," Stiles repeated back. Stiles then went to sit down next to Scott. "What are we going to do?"

Scott shook his head. "I don't know."

Allison was finding it hard to get to sleep that night. Scott's face plagued her mind, and her dreams as she dreamt him there with her until she finally snapped her eyes open and was awake. She kept turning in her bed trying to let herself finally get back to sleep, until she felt her neck and realized that her pendant was gone. She looked around her room but couldn't find it anywhere. She was starting to panic and hope that she didn't lose it. She went over to the car, hoping that it had just dropped on the floor or something but her panic increased when she found no sign of it anywhere. But her panic was interrupted when the garage door started to open. She then went to duck and hide under the cover of the doors.

"There hasn't been an issue since we lived here," she heard her father say.

"All I'm saying is that firing those things so close by is bound to draw attention," her aunt said back.

She lifted her gaze to see her father holding something in his hand. "These things have saved my life more than once. And I know how to be inconspicuous when I need to."

"This coming from a man whose preferred weapon is a crossbow," her aunt teased. "You know, these extra skills are something you could be teaching your daughter.

Her dad's gaze become sullen. "Not yet."

"Ever?"

"Not yet," he said to end the conversation. "You coming?"

Kate gave a look behind her shoulder before she left the object on the bench. "Yeah."

Allison got out of the car when the both of them fully left the garage. She went over to the bench table and saw that it looked like some kind of an arrow head. What she didn't know was that her Aunt Kate had caught her watching them from the car and had intentionally left it there for her. She was watching her niece take it before fully closing the door so that Allison wouldn't know that she was found out.

Jackson was taking a joyride in his Porsche, working through the anticipation of him soon becoming a werewolf. With his threat hanging over Scott's head, he was sure that the guy was running at full speed to getting this Alpha or whatever to get him the bite and make him one of them. He drove his Porsche into an empty lot but suddenly found his car stopping. Something was wrong…again. He couldn't believe this. What had happened to his car this time? He had just blown some money on getting that large dent in his door fixed and now there was something else wrong. He got out of his car to breathe out in frustration about it when another car pulled up. He looked over to see that it was Allison's father.

"Car trouble?" Her father then started to put on some leather gloves.

Something about him doing that in this deserted lot in front of him seemed to be making Jackson nervous. Thanks to Scott, he knew that the Argents hunted werewolves, meaning that this man was a trained killer. But he would have no reason to hurt him…at least, not yet.

"Um," Jackson said nervously. "It's alright. I'm just going to call for a tow truck."

But Mr. Argent disregarded it. "Don't worry. I know a few things about cars. It might be something simple," he said going to pop open his hood.

"Uh…I don't know. It's a pretty expensive car and they pull all this warranty crap if you do your own repairs," he tried to explain away.

"Well…I won't tell if you won't," he said with a smile. "It's Jackson, right?" He then went to the hood and lifted it. "Come here. I'll show you what to look for." Jackson bent down to look but Mr. Argent didn't move. He just placed his gloved hand to Jackson's neck and lifted down his shirt to look upon the scratches on it. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Jackson tried to act like he didn't realize what the man was doing.

"Your neck. You hurt yourself?"

"Uh, no. It's just a scratch," he tried to explain away.

"Looks like more than a scratch," Mr. Argent said not letting up or letting go of him. "Kind of looks like claw marks." At the mention of claw, Jackson pulled away from him. "You alright," the man tried to laugh off.

Jackson was beyond freaked now. "Yeah. I'm just going to call for a tow truck," he said going for his phone.

"Is there any reason why you're so reluctant to tell me what it was that did that?" he asked with a bit of a sharp tone.

Before anything else could be said, a new car pulled into the lot. It was Stiles' jeep and inside was him and Scott.

"What's up?" Stiles asked with a calm and happy expression.

"Everything okay?" Scott asked with mild curiosity in his tone.

"Hey Scott." Mr. Argent just shrugged. "Your friend was just having some car trouble. We're just taking a look."

Stiles nodded while Scott pointed behind them. "There's a shop right down the street. I'm sure they have a tow truck," Scott explained.

"Yeah, you want a ride?" Stiles offered. Scott then opened the door for him. "Hey, come on Jackson. You're way too pretty to be out here by yourself," he said jokingly.

Scott was looking at Jackson, trying to goad him into getting in. Meanwhile, Mr. Argent was looking at Stiles who spared him a small glance and narrowed his eyes slightly when he caught the hunter's gaze. Jackson took the hint and nodded as he went over.

Mr. Argent saw that his ruse was over and then went to remove the part that he had placed in Jackson's engine to stall his car. "Hey boys," he called out to them. He then went to the front seat and restarted Jackson's car for him. "I told you I knew something about cars." He then left.

As soon as he was completely out of sight, Jackson then went to wail on them. "What? Are you following me now?"

"Yes, you stupid freaking idiot," Scott said slamming the door shut. "You almost gave away everything right there!"

"What are you talking about?"

"He thinks you might be another beta?" Scott tried to explain.

"What?" Jackson said not following.

"He thinks you're me!" Scott roared before moving to hit the hood of the jeep to vent his rage.

"Dude, my jeep," Stiles scolded.

Scott didn't pay him any mind. "We heard your heart racing from a mile away. Literally! Now, he thinks that there is something wrong and I have to keep an eye on you so he doesn't kill you too!"

Scott went to hit the jeep again but Stiles went and grabbed Scott's arm. "Scott, why don't you step away from the jeep? I don't want to have to hurt you," he said pulling him away.

Jackson just shook his head. "You know what, this is your problem. Not mine. I didn't say anything which means that you're going to get me killed. This is your fault," he said pushing Scott back to hit the jeep.

Stiles huffed. "Seriously?" Scott and Jackson went to go at each other and Stiles went to pull them away. "Alright, stop."

"If they come after you again, I might not be able to protect you again."

"You know what," Jackson scoffed. "You have to do it now. Give me what I want and I'll be fine protecting myself."

Stiles angrily sucked his teeth at Jackson while Scott glared at him.

"No you won't!" Scott shouted at him. "Trust me. All this does is make things worse."

"Oh really," Jackson nodded. "You can hear anything you want and run as fast as humanely possible. Sounds like a real hardship McCall. I can see you and your best friend suffering so much."

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I can run really fast now. Except half the time I'm running from people trying to kill me. And I can hear things like my girlfriend telling people she doesn't trust me before breaking up with me! I'm not lying! All it does is ruin your life."

Stiles went to give Scott a hard look. Scott wasn't doing a very good job turning Jackson away. Probably because Scott didn't have such a problem using his new abilities to make the lacrosse team and impress Allison in the first place. Not to mention all the stuff he had put him and Derek through when they both tried to convince him to take everything seriously and gain control before risking things on a lacrosse game. He had no problem showing it off until Allison broke up with him and that is why it looks like Jackson didn't believe him. Which he proved a moment later.

"It ruined your life," Jackson said to Scott. "You had all the power and didn't know what to do with it. It's like your parents giving you a Porsche when they should've started you off with a simple Honda. Me, I drive a Porsche," he added smugly before moving back to his car.

Stiles rolled his eyes and held his arm out to stop him. "Now you listen here Jackson. If you think for a second that you could just come in and threaten us like that and walk away then you have another thing coming. Scott, for whatever reason, cares about your sniveling hide and is just trying to warn and protect you."

"Protect me? What about you? McCall seems to have no problem bitching to me but you're not saying a word. Why? Maybe its because what your friend is saying is nothing but a load of crap. You two went from bench warming nobodies to the center of everyone's attention. So Scott lost his girlfriend. Boo hoo. Your Alpha or whatever obviously made a bad choice picking this loser to give the power to. At least he'll soon have someone that knows what to do with it."

Stiles huffed. "That's it." That was all he said before Jackson was grabbed and practically slammed against the front hood of the car.

"Stiles!" Scott called out in panic.

But his friend ignored him. Jackson tried to fight against Stiles' grip but couldn't budge at all. He then froze at the sound of light growling coming from Stiles' throat. "Listen here Jackson. This isn't a game. Okay, this is real and its serious. All these murders happening in town, who the hell do you think is doing it? If you think you can keep prancing around like this without anything happening then you have another thing coming. People's lives are at stake here you selfish bastard."

"Get off of me," Jackson grunted out.

But Stiles still kept his hold and even had his eyes glow gold at him which stopped his struggling as the eyes bared on him. "You think that you're really going to be a werewolf, well, I have some bad news. You're not. The Alpha, I've met him and believe me, he's not the slightest bit interested. You've met him too Jackson, did you know that? The attack at the video store. That was him. You were right there and guess what, he didn't want to bite you. He would've killed you if it wasn't for those poisoned scratches you had on your neck that drove him away. I could still smell some of it." He spared a moment to look back at Scott who was staring back at Stiles nervously. "The night at the school, the Alpha was there too and he wasn't looking to turn you. He wanted you dead. He was trying to get me and Scott to kill you, but we fought it off. If I were you I wouldn't go around and make us begin to reconsider. And as for the Argents, if they find out about what you know, do you think they're just going to sit back and let you try and be a werewolf? The next time that one of them gets you alone they'll point some guns at you. One of them might even pull the trigger. Believe me, when it comes to people in league with werewolves they've shown that they don't care about offing them too."

"Stiles, enough! Let him go!" Scott called out.

Stiles spared his friend a look before he roughly let the jock go. Jackson was holding onto his chest as he glared at Stiles. "You're crazy!" spat Jackson.

"No, you're crazy," Stiles said back to him. "The Alpha considered you dying to be something entertaining. If he finds out that you know about all of us and are being followed by the Argents, he'll make your death a priority. He won't want to turn you Jackson. He'll have you shredded to pieces and left as another poor animal attack victim. You're not worth anything to him."

Jackson glare on Stiles intensified. "Oh, and you and McCall mean something? Two low down losers like you?"

Stiles scoffed. "You think that just because you are rich and drive a Porsche around that it somehow matters? That stuff means nothing when it comes to this Jackson. And," he said as he savagely smiled. "If we're such losers and something like the Alpha wants us but doesn't want you…you should really think about what that means."

Jackson just huffed before he turned and pointed at Scott. "You better get me what I want McCall or I swear to God."

Stiles cut in with a louder sounding growl escaping from his throat as well as his fangs making an appearance as he leered at Jackson. The Co-Captain then went and got into his car and drove off.

"What the hell was that Stiles?" Scott wailed on him.

"That was me doing what you should've been doing from the start Scott. Your little try and reason with him strategy obviously wasn't working. Jackson's a no good spineless coward and the only way to get anything through that gelled head of his is scare the living daylights out of him."

"And what if he decides to go to the Argents now."

Stiles shook his head. "He won't. Because I made sure to scare him about what would happen to him if he does. If the hunters don't deal with him then the Alpha would. He won't risk either one of them coming for him."

Scott just shook his head. "I don't know."

"Scott," he cut him off. "Are you planning on ever helping him become a werewolf?"

"Of course not."

"Then stop complaining. You could ignore him now and forget about his phony threats. Come on, I better get going. I promised my dad I would have some food ready by the time he got home."

Scott then went to sit shotgun while Stiles went to sit next to him at the driver's seat. "Hey Stiles," he said as his friend started the car. "Is there something going on between you and the hunters that you haven't told me?"

Stiles looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Stiles, I know. About them suspecting that you were the werewolf Allison's dad shot during the first full moon. I overheard them talking about it at the game. They think that I was you." Stiles didn't say anything. He just started driving. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You had other things on your mind," he explained away.

"Stiles," Scott hollered. "You could've told me that Allison's family was starting to catch onto you."

"Why Scott? So you could have another problem to complain about as you try to get Allison back?"

Scott narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Stiles just glared ahead. "Nothing. Just forget it."

Scott looked away from his friend. He then remembered Peter's words about Stiles. That while Stiles didn't agree with his methods, he empathized for his situation. What exactly did that mean? Did that mean that Stiles secretly hated the Argents…even Allison?

Allison wanted to know exactly what it was that her father and aunt were messing with so she went and took her compound bow and some arrows into the woods and she also called Lydia to come along with her.

"Allison," Lydia called out. "When you said that you had an errand to do before we went shopping, going for a hike in the woods, not what I was expecting."

Allison smirked as she talked back at Lydia. "Before I forget I wanted to ask if you were okay with something. Jackson asked me to the Winter Formal."

Lydia face fell a bit behind her. "Did he?" she asked as if it was slightly of interest.

"Yeah. Just as friends but I wanted to make sure that you were okay with it first."

"Sure," Lydia said with a slight squeak in her voice. "As long as it's just friends."

"Well yeah," she gave a small laugh. "I mean it's not like I would take him into Coach's office during lacrosse practice and make out with him or anything."

She then sent a slightly dirty look Lydia's way making it clear that she was aware of what Lydia had done with Scott.

Lydia knew she was busted. "Uh, yeah…about that-"

Allison then stopped when they came upon what she thought was a good spot. She took out one of her arrows and then fastened the arrow head that her aunt left on the end.

"What does that do?" Lydia asked as she did it.

She smiled. "We're about to find out."

Allison then took out her bow and pulled on the arrow until the line was taught. She then released and the arrow hit the tree ahead of her where it then sent out a mini explosion of bright light and sparks. The two of them just stared at the spot in awe.

"What the hell was that?" Lydia asked.

Allison shook her head. "I don't know."

"Well…that was fun," Lydia said as she rubbed her hands together. "Any more lethal weapons you want to try out?"

Allison looked at the tree to see that there was still a bit of fire burning on the bark from her shot. But then there was the sound of twigs breaking in the distance that had the two girls stiffen in response.

"I think I heard something," Allison whispered to her.

"So what if you heard something?" said Lydia.

"So, I want to find out what that something is. Don't worry, it's probably nothing."

She started to walk off but Lydia stopped her. "What that nothing is something? That something something dangerous?" she said real fast.

"Shoot it," Allison simply said with a hard look on her face.

Allison left the paralyzed Lydia standing there as she went into the brush. She kept her eyes peeled and reached for the taser that her aunt had given her that she kept behind her belt. She carefully tried to seek out what it was and when she heard a new sound she then turned and fired the taser. It shot out and connected with Scott's chest.

"Trigger finger," he screeched out through the shocks.

"Oh," she panicked. "God, I'm so sorry," she said as she kneeled over next to him. "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's my fault," he explained away. "Totally my fault."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said trying to sit up but couldn't lift himself.

"I didn't mean to. I didn't know it was you. If I did-"

"You would've still pulled the trigger?" he asked.

"No, of course not. I'm so sorry. You sure you're okay?"

Scott pulled the tasers out. "Yeah, I think so," he said smiling slightly as he found himself able to sit up.

"What were you doing here anyway? Were you…following us?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "Not at all. Your…dad. He told me you run this trail sometimes. I was hoping to catch you alone."

"By following me?" she smiled.

"Well…yeah," he admitted.

"What for?"

Scott then went into his pocket and pulled out the necklace. "I found this at school."

Allison gasped. She didn't lose it after all. "Thank god," she said reaching for it. "I was beginning to think it was stolen."

Suddenly Scott heard Stiles' voice saying 'Just steal the damn thing'. Scott nodded. "No, just lost. Definitely not stolen, by anyone."

"Well, thank you for finding it. And bringing it," she said as she put it back on.

Scott then gave her a look. "You don't think I'm a total stalker now, do you?"

She shook her head slowly and with amusement. "No. I just think you're weird. Like you always are."

Then the two of them went into a light hug. Scott missed feeling Allison so close to him. Allison then pulled away and took her taser and headed back for Lydia but not before sparing him one more look. Scott stayed where he was in the brush. Maybe Stiles was right. Jackson's threats were phony. His threat from last night about him trying to steal her away from him didn't seem so threatening now. He didn't need him to get her back. He could do it himself.

Stiles was at home, heating some leftovers for him and his dad to have when he came back from work when there was a knock on the door. He looked towards the door and honed his senses out. The scent that came from it, he knew who it was, and he quickly let his nerves be calm when he went to answer the door with a bored expression on his face.

"Oh, hello Mr. Argent," he said at the sight of Allison's father. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was hoping that I could speak to your father. Is he around?"

Stiles knew that Mr. Argent knew that his father wouldn't be here now and didn't want to see him. He wanted to see Stiles. But, he played dumb and shook his head. "No, he's not here yet."

"Say, was there any more trouble with Jackson's car. I know I got it running again but I just hope he didn't run into any more trouble."

"Oh, I'm sure that he was relieved that you were there," Stiles said smiling to hide the sarcasm behind that remark.

"Well, I was happy to help. What about you Stiles? Are you doing okay?"

Stiles seemed taken aback. "Of course. Why?"

"Well…Allison told me that you were there when there was that incident at the school."

"Oh," Stiles nodded. He knew where the hunter was trying to take this. "Yeah but it all turned out okay at the end."

"Yes, it did. Though, I hear that happened because Derek Hale was trying to harm you all."

Stiles shrugged. "I heard that too. But, I didn't see Derek in the school that night so who knows who really did it," he answered calmly.

"Of course…you've met Derek Hale before, haven't you?"

Stiles nodded. "Yes. I've seen him around. Even gave him a ride once."

"You know Derek Hale well then? Do you think that you, the son of the sheriff, should be associating with someone that may be connected with murder so well?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry Mr. Argent but what would that matter to you? My personal life is of no business of yours."

"I'm just trying to look out for your best interests."

'Yeah right,' Stiles thought silently. "Well thanks for the concern but I'm alright. I have my dad for that."

"But I'm sure there are things your father won't be able to help you with Stiles."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. "Well, like I said, my personal and my family life is of no business of yours." He kept his ground as he stared unflinchingly back at Mr. Argent. Scott may be quick to bend to this guy, more to the fact that he's Allison's father, but Stiles won't let himself be pushed around by the guy who went and shot his friend.

Mr. Argent kept his gaze for a while before he loosened himself. "Well, I should probably get going then."

"I thought you said that you needed to see my father?" Stiles said not letting him think he could just hit and run with him like he could with Jackson or Scott.

"I'll speak to him another time."

Stiles nodded. "Okay. I'll tell him that you stopped by. I assume it was for business. I remember Allison saying that you sold arms to law enforcement. Funny though," he said with a bit of a mischievous smile coming over him. "I don't remember my father ever saying anything about upgrading the Sheriff's Department's weapon supplies in the last few months. Though, in your line of work, I guess it pays just to move around place to place and make some sales pitches, right? I'm sure there are many law enforcement divisions around the country that could tell my dad that they were happy you rolled into town, huh?"

Chris Argent stared blank back at the boy. Was he trying to threaten him? Telling him that he was watching them as much as they were watching him. He put his gloved hands into his pockets.

"I'm sure that your father will only get the best news about me."

"I hope so," Stiles said with a small smile. "My dad's kinda picky about who he deals with."

Stiles was happy to smell some discomfort as the hunter went off back to his car. He closed the door after him and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Well…that seemed to go well. At least Mr. Argent didn't leave with breaking anything like he did with Derek's car window.

His dad came by a bit later and was happy to see that Stiles had the table ready for them. After they ate Stiles went up to finish up his homework and he decided to come down for a little milk break and saw that his dad had the table full of papers.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Work," his dad said simply.

"Anything I can help with?" he offered.

"You know, if you poured me an ounce of whiskey, it would be awfully nice."

Stiles then went and grabbed the bottle and a small glass and headed for his dad. As he approached, he saw that the papers seemed to be old records and profiles. Most likely related to the murders that Peter Hale committed. With the mystery of the Alpha being Peter Hale solved, he knew that the killings weren't random. Peter himself had said that he wanted to get the ones responsible and he remembered seeing the latest two victims at the scene of the fire that night thanks to him having his neck jammed with the Alpha's claws. But how the others who were killed were involved he didn't know yet. But maybe his dad did.

"Any leads?"

His dad just slapped him on the wrist. "You know I can't discuss that with you." Stiles went to pour him some whiskey. "Not too much," his dad asked.

Stiles spared him a look and started to pour more than was necessary. "There you go dad," he said as he gave him a full glass. "Bottoms up."

His dad took the glass and started drinking but didn't stop until he emptied the glass. "You know," he started. "Derek Hale would be a hale of a lot…hale of a lot," he said a little absentmindedly.

"Hell of a lot," Stiles said correcting him feeling awful with himself for doing this.

"Hell," his dad said nodding to the correction. "It would be a hell of a lot easier to find him if we had an actual picture of him."

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "How do you not have a picture of him?" Surely his dad got a mugshot when he and Scott had accused him of killing his sister almost two months ago.

His dad held up a picture. "It's the weirdest thing. It's like everytime we tried to get a mugshot it was like two laser beams were pointed into the camera."

Stiles grabbed the photo to see that there was a flare at Derek's face. Specifically his, "Eyes," he muttered. Like a flash flare from animals in night photos. He guessed it was a side effect of being a werewolf. He guessed that he and Scott's eyes would do the same if they went to get pictures taken. He would have to see later so that he could warn Scott about this.

His dad started to stretch and mumble. "That hit me like a brick. And I said way too much. If you repeat anything about this."

"Dad," Stiles said smiling like he was naively innocent. "It's me. I'm not going to say anything. Come on." His dad just chuckled at that. Stiles then went to a nearby folder and opened it to find a photo of a deer with a spiral carved into its belly.

"The thing is," his father continued. "They're all connected. I mean, the bus driver that got killed, he was the insurance investigator that was assigned to the Hale House fire."

Garrison Meyers? So, he did have a strong connection to the fire. He looked at the file his dad was looking at. "Terminated on suspicion of fraud."

"Exactly."

"Who else?" Stiles asked. There were two others that Peter went after.

"The video store clerk that got his throat slashed, a convicted felon with a history of arson."

Another arsonist…and one of his arson moments was no doubt the Hale house. "And those two guys you found?"

"Felons with priors all around including-"

"Arson," Stiles finished. Yes, he knew that but his father confirmed it. That just left the janitor. Though, that might've been a 'mistake' as Scott said Derek told him was Laura Hale. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time that night. Other than that, everyone that Peter Hale had killed played a part in the Hale Family Massacre. The arsonists who no doubt were hired and paid by the Argents and Meyers who might've been bribed to cover it up for them. Stiles then noticed his dad trying to get himself sorted. "Another shot?" he offered to him.

His dad held his hand out. "No, no more."

"Dad, come on. You've worked really hard, you deserve it." Stiles defended. His father just handed him so much now that could help Stiles get the Argents to not only stay off his and Scott's back but even stop them from doing this kind of thing again. A small part of him didn't think that Peter Hale was wrong to go after these people. They massacred his whole family. Him wanting revenge, he could get though how he was trying to get it could involve less throat ripping.

His dad coughed out a small laugh. "My god, I'm going to have such a hangover," he said relenting.

"You mean that you're going to have such a good night's sleep," he said taking the glass and turning around. He then looked at the bottle and wished that he could get drunk himself to forget doing this to his dad.

"And I'm going to spend an eternity in the lowest circle of hell." He then poured his dad some but then went and took a quick sip before his dad could see. A burning sensation went down his throat but then faded only a few seconds later. Curse it all.

Chapter Text

Scott went to his room after returning home from his time in the woods with Allison. He checked his phone to see that he had a message. It was from one of his teachers and it reminded him that he didn't hand in his paper. He was told he would get an extension but only two days. Scott could feel the stress building on the front of his brain. His school work was suffering more so than ever on top of all of this with Peter Hale.

There was then a knock on the door. "Not now mom," he muttered as he sat to bask in his despair. The knocking came again. "I said not-"

But it wasn't his mom at the other side. It was Allison.

"Sorry," she said. "Your mom let me in. Can we talk?"

Scott was frozen for a minute. He was surprised that Allison would come over so soon, not that he wasn't complaining. He was happy that she was there. It looked like she was in a bit of a stressful time herself and she wanted to go to him. Some of his own earlier stress started to ebb away and he nodded.

"Sure, come on in," he said moving aside. She came in and he closed the door after her.

"Thanks," she muttered.

The two of them then went to the foot of his bed to sit together. They just stayed there for a while, just feeling each other's presence and finding comfort in each other. Allison then coughed and Scott took that as a sign.

"Do you want me to say something first?" he asked.

She began to shake her head. "No," she said as she fiddled with her phone.

"Ok. Do you want me to leave you alone for a few minutes?"

Allison turned to give him a look. "Why would I want that?"

"Uh…I don't know. It's just…you came in here, said you wanted to talk, and we've been sitting here for over 10 minutes and you haven't said anything and its starting to freak me out," he babbled out.

Allison then let a small laugh escape her which made Scott smile a bit.

"Sorry," she said. "It's just a little hard to start." Allison took a deep breath and then just decided to jump into it. "This is going to sound really ridiculous. Like…I guess I just don't want you to laugh at me."

"I would never laugh at you," he seriously stated.

She smiled at him for a second before it faded into a sad frown. "It's about my family." Scott's face fell a bit. "A little while ago…I caught them in a lie. A small one. When…my aunt first arrived she had car trouble and my dad said it was a flat tire but she said that she needed a jump start."

Scott realized that it must've been the night that Kate Argent shot Derek with that wolfsbane bullet. "Maybe it was just…a little miscommunication," he said trying to find a way to spare Allison's feelings.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too. And then I found glass on her car like, her window had been smashed in." Scott stared blankly at her. "And I've been hearing some really weird conversations. I think some of it has to do with Derek."

Scott swallowed a bit. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I think that he's not the-

But that was cut off with his door opening and his mother coming in.

"Hey Scott, I'm going to be home late tonight-" She froze at the sight of him with Allison as they stood up from sitting on the bed. They both were staring at her. "What? What's wrong? Is it my hair? Makeup?"

"No," he said shaking his head. "Nothing. You look beautiful." Scott had never seen his mother dressed and looking like that except when there were functions or special events for the hospital being hosted.

"You look amazing," Allison said herself.

That made his mother smile.

"Amazing," Scott agreed. "Why do you look amazing?"

"Because amazingly I'm having dinner, for once, with a member of the male gender whose over the age of 16."

Allison chuckled at that while Scott's eyes widened. His mother was going out on a date? "Who?" he asked.

"Oh, it's a medical rep that came into the hospital today. We kind of just started talking and the next thing I know I'm saying yes to dinner and really hating myself for skipping the gym last week."

Scott was taken aback. "What medical rep?"

But then the doorbell rang.

"That medical rep…and I…I, I'm not ready. I'm not done, I'm not ready," she said stuttering over her own words in panic. "So if you just…get the door talk with him," she asked before she left to finish herself up. "It'd be nice," she said coming back for a small second before dashing off again.

"One minute? Okay?" Scott asked Allison before he left to answer the door.

Scott went downstairs for the door. He got to the doorknob but froze just before he grasped it. He felt something. A familiar and striking feeling and it was coming from the one that was behind that door. He blinked as the doorbell rang again.

"Scott?" his mother called out from upstairs. "Get the door!"

But Scott only stepped back. He didn't want to get the door because he knew just who it was on the other side of it. He took another step as the doorbell rang three more consecutive times.

His mother yelled over at him again. "Scott! For the love of god, please?!"

Scott just stayed still until it looked like the door was starting to unlock itself. Scott moved to try and lock it again but it flew open.

"Scott!" Scott looked behind him to see his mom at the top of the stairs. "Don't just stand there. Let him in."

Scott looked back to see Peter Hale standing there, smiling at him.

"Hello. May I come in?" Scott then went to try and shut the door on him but Peter easily caught it and pushed it open again and forced Scott back. "Really? Shutting the door in my face? Come on Scott, take a second to think that through."

"I'll tell her," he tried to threaten.

"That I used to be a catatonic invalid with burns covering half my face? Good luck with that," he said calmly.

"If you hurt her…if you touch her."

"Scott, if I may interrupt you listing the top 5 classic sounding threats, for a moment try to remember that I've been in a coma for six years. Don't you think I'd like to have dinner with a beautiful woman?"

Scott's mom then started to walk down the stairs. "I'll be right there. Just give me half a second," she called out.

"Or maybe," Peter continued. "You think that I've come up with an idea. Like how, you might be easier to convince to be part of the pack…if your mother is too." That made Scott stiffen a bit in panic as Peter then started to calmly walk in. Scott started to walk backwards as he stared back at the Alpha with his nerves aflamed. Peter just stared at him before he stopped walking. "You need to understand how powerful we are together. You, and me, and Derek, and Stiles. I need all three of you." Scott just stared horrifyingly back at him so Peter tried to shift the conversation elsewhere. "Did you know, that some of the most successful military operations during the second World War were the German U-boat attacks? Do you know what they were called? Wolf Packs. Or are you failing history as well. I seem to remember Derek mentioning that your school work was lacking lately."

Scott glared at him. "I know the Germans lost the war."

Peter smirked at him. "I think you'll find that most historians will argue that as a failure of leadership. Trust me, we won't have that problem here. And with Derek's veteran expertise, as well as your friend's intellect, and your close ties to the main target…victory is all but assured."

Before anything more could be said, Melissa walked over to them. "I'm ready," she said smiling. "I'm ready. Sorry again."

Peter let out a big smile that seemed completely out of place on the Alpha as he took his mother by the hand. Scott watched them leave and then found himself moving for them.

"Mom," he as they stepped out.

"Yes, sweetheart?" her mother asked though she gave him a slight look. One that Peter also shared.

Scott then exhaled deeply. "Have a good time," he found himself saying.

He then ran up to his room so he could get to his phone. However, he found Allison there and remembered that she was waiting for him.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Uh…yeah. Listen, there's something that I have to go and take care of. I'm sorry. I know that I said that we could talk."

Allison just shook her head. "It's fine Scott. I'm the one that just dropped in on you. It's okay."

"I'm sorry," he said softly. "Believe me, there is nothing I want to do but talk to you right now but I wouldn't be going if it wasn't absolutely important."

"Don't worry." She then went over and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "Thanks for listening though."

"We can talk later?" he offered.

She looked back over at him with a solemn look. "Yeah…maybe later." She then went to leave.

Scott could feel the disappointment ooze out of her and he felt even more horrible than before. But, right now, he had to go and call Stiles and have him help him save his mother.

Stiles was still with his dad in the kitchen as he had drained most of the whiskey in the glass. He was so groggy that he nearly dropped the glass onto the floor but Stiles quickly grabbed it before it could land.

"Stiles," his dad muttered. "There's just so many questions."

"Like what?" Stiles asked tensely.

"Like Derek…if he really is behind this and wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire then why start with his sister? She had nothing to do with it. And why make it look like some kind of animal did it? When that cougar attacked at the parking lot…I checked with animal control. Do you know the incidents of wild animal reports are up 70 percent over the past few months? Like they've just gone crazy and…I don't know whats…"

Stiles just stared blankly back. He could see that the case was starting to take its toll on his dad. How nothing seemed to make sense to him but it made sense to Stiles. How easy it would be to just tell his dad everything right there. Set him straight. But Stiles couldn't do that. Telling his dad might only drag him right into the line of fire, from both the Argents and Peter Hale. And he couldn't let that happen. He was a third party that neither side wanted to catch onto them. If Stiles told then his father would no doubt take his side and that would make either of the hunters or Alpha decide he just had to go.

Stiles just shrugged. "Something might be scaring them," he tried to reason.

His dad just exhaled and smiled contently at him. "You know…I miss talking to you. It's like we never have time anymore."

"Yeah," Stiles said as his eyes scanned the papers again. "I have to make a phone call." He wanted to stay here with his dad but he had to start moving and utilizing what he had learned into something productive. Something that could protect him, his dad, and Scott. "Sorry," he said getting up. "I'll be right back."

"I do," his dad muttered as he seemed to be falling asleep. "I miss it. And I miss your mom."

Stiles froze in his tracks. He then looked back at his dad. "What'd you say?" His dad never mentioned his mom around him. Not in years.

His dad didn't answer him. He just stared down at the table for a bit before he went to the whiskey to pour himself another glass. Stiles went over and grabbed it to stop him. He didn't need to drink anymore.

"Thanks," he said gratefully.

Stiles just stood there with his dad before he went over to him. "Hey, why don't we get you to bed now?" he suggested softly. "Come on." Stiles then lifted his dad out of the chair and helped him get to him to his bedroom upstairs. He laid his dad in his bed and then moved about to try and make him comfortable. Stiles let himself smile softly before he left the room and closed the door behind him. He got back to the kitchen where he left his phone and it started ringing almost as soon as he grasped it. It was Scott. "Scott? I was just about to call you. You won't believe what I just found out."

"Well you won't believe what I'm about to tell you," his friend said on the other end.

Two minutes later, Stiles had to agree. He didn't believe it. It was too crazy to grasp, even after all of this.

Jackson was in the weight room at the school doing his annual work out. His mind was on what had happened to him earlier that day. A part of him was shaken by what Stiles had done and said to him. Was he right? If he kept trying to be a werewolf then would he be killed? He then dropped the arms weight to the ground harder than usual.

'No,' he thought as he went to do some bench pressing.

He couldn't be right. Stiles was just trying to feed him some more crap, just like Scott was. The two of them were just threatened by him, like they've always been. He's always been better than them and the only reason that they are becoming such big shots was because they were given such great power. That was the only reason they were besting him lately. But if he got it then he would be the best again and the two of them would be back in the dust just as before. Stiles was just trying to scare him, like Scott was just trying to use pity to try and get him to turn away from this. He would be a werewolf and those two won't stop him.

What did stop was his music. "What the hell!" he yelled as he got up and went to see who had messed with his stuff. "Hey," he said when he saw someone sitting there.

"I like your taste in music. I haven't heard this one in a long time," the guy said before he switched the song on his ipod and put it in the speaker. It was Derek Hale.

Jackson froze up in sight of him. Derek Hale, the one that was being looked for by the police, he was sitting right there. And, if his hunch was right, he was a werewolf just like Scott and Stiles. He went to get the nearest thing he could find, which turned out to be a lacrosse stick, to have on hand. "I'm not scared of you," he said to him. The guy just stood up. "Come on," he dared him. "I'm not afraid."

Derek just walked over to him calmly, not bothered by Jackson's challenge in the least. Derek smirked at him. "Yeah, you are. I bet you haven't had a day in your whole life when you weren't afraid of something." Derek was calmly looking at him as he said that. Jackson just glared at him, trying to look tough but Derek could smell the fear and tension that Jackson was feeling. "But, you don't have to be anymore. Not when you're one of us," he said.

Jackson's fear quickly faded and was replaced with anticipation. Had McCall finally broke? Did he finally get him what he wanted? Was he right about Scott and Stiles all along? They were just pulling his leg and now he was going to meet this 'Alpha' who was going to give him what he wanted.

Derek and Jackson then left the locker room as Kate watched the two of them leave from around the corner. She had been made to watch the kid and it was just her luck that Derek decided to show up on her watch of him. So, it seems that her and Chris' hunch about the kid was right on target. Probably meant that their other one on the sheriff's kid was right too.

Peter was driving him and Melissa off when she suddenly made a hmm sound.

"What? What is it?" he asked her.

"Oh, nothing but I think we just missed the turn for the restaurant."

He checked around. "Oh…well why don't I pull over. You could map it on your phone."

He then went to pull over to the side while she started to look it up for them. As she did, Peter watched her and suddenly started to feel a warmth spread out about him. He wasn't truly lying to Scott. It had been a long time since he had been around a beautiful woman and it was overtaking him much like it did when the full moon had hit him and allowed him to snap out of his coma after so many years.

But Melissa noticed him looking at her. "What?" she asked with a slight laugh.

"Oh…I was just noticing that you have the most incredible skin. It's…flawless," he said genuinely.

Melissa stared at him for a second before she looked away. "That's a new one on me," she said with a bit of a frown.

Peter found himself reaching out for her to caress her cheek. That caused her to nervously let go of her phone and it fell to the floor. She bent down to try and get it. Peter found himself yearning for more and his wolf starting to break for the surface when there was a flash and suddenly a bump that rocked the car. The two of them were shocked out of this atmosphere as they looked back to see that a car had hit them. Not just any car, but a jeep.

Melissa just bared her teeth and stepped out. "Oh, are you kidding me?!" she said stomping over to find Stiles getting out of the driver's seat. "Stiles!"

"Mrs. McCall?"

"Yes!" she yelled at him.

"Oh, wow. This is crazy, what a coincidence," he said with a grin as he tried not to look at the Alpha stepping out of the car as well.

But Peter let his senses out and could feel that Stiles wasn't alone in this. "Nicely done Scott. Nicely done," he said softly

Scott was a hiding behind a car a bit away from the scene as he watched as they had foiled Peter's plan.

"I don't know what happened," Stiles said bemused. "You guys came out of nowhere."

"Came out of nowhere. We were parked on the side of the road Stiles," Melissa scolded.

"How crazy is that?" he asked as Peter started to walk for them. Stiles just kept the smile on his face. "We should probably call the cops. Make an accident report thing?"

"I don't think that's necessary," Peter dismissed.

"Are you sure? I think I'm feeling a little whiplash," he said grabbing his neck.

"Whiplash?" Melissa rounded on him. "You hit us!"

Peter then turned and walked off a bit. "I know you're there Scott. Maybe now you can see what it is that impresses me about you, or your friend. It's a shame that most teenagers can't be as smart and inventive as this. Like that one on your lacrosse team…Jackson. He thinks he knows all about us. You know how they say knowledge is power…well, not in his case."

"Jackson." Scott then realized, that Derek wasn't around. He must be with Jackson now following Peter's orders to kill him. It looks like Stiles was right. Peter wouldn't let Jackson live with what he knew. "Oh no." He then quickly took off. He was sure that Stiles could see that his mother was safe from here.

Stiles had heard everything that Peter had said as well. He suddenly wanted to palm his forehead. "Oh crap," he muttered. He had totally forgotten that he had already told Derek that Jackson knew about them. He must've told Peter almost immediately and now was going off to kill him. Honestly…Stiles didn't know how to feel about that.

"Yeah, this is crap," Melissa suddenly said at him. She must've thought he said that to her.

Peter came back to them. "You know Melissa. Why don't you let me trade my insurance with Stiles? The last thing we want is for this incident to get to be more of a hassle than it needs to be."

She huffed. "Okay." She then went off to give them some privacy.

Stiles' smile faded as he looked over at him with a small glare.

"Nicely done Stiles. Very believable. If I didn't know better than I would swear you really did hit me by accident."

"Leave Scott's mom out of this. She has nothing to do with anything going on."

Peter smiled softly at him. "Is that what you really think? Stiles, you and Scott don't seem to quite comprehend what is going on here. This isn't some silly dispute over some broken property going on. This is war, and whether you like it or not, in war there are always people caught in the crossfire."

"You don't have to pull those people in. And it doesn't have to be a war."

Peter tilted his head. "You really believe that, don't you? I guess, being the son of the sheriff, you think that there must be some practical way to resolve all of this, don't you? Sorry to say, that isn't always the case. You think I or Derek should just go and let what they've done to us just slide."

"No. Actually, I don't think you will or that you should. I'll admit it. What they did to you and your family was despicable and they all should be paying for it for the rest of their lives…but not with their lives."

"Oh? And what would you have us do? Try and get them locked up?" Peter said amused.

"Why not? I can help with making that happen. What are the Argents going to say? We had no choice but to burn them down, they were a family of hairy beasts that snarl and howl at the full moon every month? Yeah, that'll go over well."

Peter chuckled. "How idealistic of you. But, you're getting close nonetheless. I don't think it'll be long before you come along over to my side."

"Keep dreaming," Stiles snarled.

"Keep pretending," Peter said back calmly. "You will join me sooner or later. As will Scott. And something tells me that it will happen sooner than the two of you may think."

Jackson was then led by Derek to the woods where he was brought to the wreck of the old Hale House.

"This is it?" Jackson asked. "This is the place?"

Derek nodded. "Go in." He wanted to get this over with already.

Jackson took two steps before looking back. "Is it safe? I don't want rafters falling on my head," he said with a bit of a tone.

Derek pushed down his annoyance and just nodded again. "Go in."

Jackson got to the front door but froze. "What's in here?" he asked.

"Everything you want," Derek simply answered. "Go in."

Jackson bit back his nerves and just walked on for the doorknob. He slowly took hold of it and then carefully turned it to open the door with an echoing creek coming from its hinges. As soon he opened the door he felt a hand grab him. He flinched and looked to see that Derek was now standing right behind him.

"It's going to be alright," he said to him. "Trust me." He then helped him get in.

"This house," Jackson said as he took it in. "I've seen this house."

Derek closed the door and looked over to him. "What'd you say?"

"I dreamt about this place. I remember this staircase. I remember these walls. I remember everything."

"You've been here before?" Derek doubted that. He guessed that when he had grabbed Jackson that day at the school by the neck with his claws he might've accidently transmitted some of his memories to him. He didn't have control of himself since he was poisoned and must've unintentionally given him those memories.

Jackson looked back at him. "No, never I dreamt it."

Then there was a silence between them. Jackson suddenly heard Stiles voice echoing inside his skull. 'You think that you're going to be a werewolf? I have some bad news, you're not. The Alpha, I've met him and believe me, he's not the slightest bit interested.'

Jackson took note of the poise that Derek had as he stared at him, or stared down at him. "There's no one else here," he realized. Derek shook his head as he took a step forward. "And no one else coming?" Derek shook his head again. Then Derek's right hand unfolded and claws shot out from his fingertips.

He heard Stiles' voice in his head again. 'This isn't a game! He'll have you shredded to pieces and left as another poor animal attack victim'.

At the sight of the claws Jackson now sees that both Scott and Stiles were right. He wasn't brought here to be a werewolf. He was brought here to die. Jackson started to back away and found himself hitting the staircase and losing his footing as he tried to distance himself from Derek who was stepping closer to him. "Please!" he began to plead. "Please, I'll shut up! I'll never say another word again. I'll leave Scott alone. I won't bother him or Stiles again. Please, you can't do this! Please!" he begged as he began to cry for his life. Derek just kept his gaze on him. It was cold and hard. "I don't deserve this!"

"I think you do," Derek muttered at him as he kept advancing.

"No!"

"Look around you!" Derek roared out at him. "Wouldn't there be someone here trying to save you? There's no one here."

This time, Jackson hears Scott's voice. 'If they come after you again, I might not be able to protect you again.' Then he heard him after he was so sure he would be fine. 'No you won't. Trust me. All this does is make things worse.'

Derek kept going on at him. He took pleasure in hounding on this kid. The one who had been toying around with his and even Scott and Stiles' lives, and control, like they were things to screw with for his amusement. "There's a reason. No one cares that you drive an expensive car. No one cares that you have perfect hair. No one cares that you're the captain of the lacrosse team!"

Then Jackson heard Stiles' voice again. 'You think that just because you are rich and drive a Porsche around that it somehow matters? That means nothing when it comes to this Jackson. And if we're such losers and something like the Alpha wants us but doesn't want you, you should really consider what that means.' What did that mean? Did that mean that Jackson really meant nothing? How could Scott and Stiles be worth all this power but Jackson not be worthy of it in the least? He didn't understand.

But everything was cut off when there was coughing above the staircase. They looked up to see that it was Scott.

"Excuse me. Co-Captain," he said before he went and leaped down separating Jackson from Derek as he landed between them.

Their faces had shifted as they stared each other down.

"Move," Derek said.

"No," denied Scott.

"Fine. I'll kill you too." Yet before they could do anything, Derek heard something. The sound of rounds being chambered. "Cover your eyes!" he warned before a flashbolt was fired at the door.

There was a bright explosion that had all three of them ducking in cover. There was then gunfire. Derek crutched and moved out of the way while Scott stayed standing to protect Jackson from the oncoming fire.

Jackson crawled out of the way and headed out the back. He thrust the door open and then just ran as hard as he could to separate himself from all the chaos

Scott then collapsed as the pain overtook him. He had never been shot before and the pain was beyond anything he had ever felt. He was starting to have trouble breathing and blood was filling his nose and mouth.

"Scott! Go!" Derek cried out to him. But Scott was stuck. He couldn't move so Derek made a split second decision and then ran to him. He helped him up and pushed him to move off for the back while he went and took his phone from his pocket. Derek then went to the front of the house to buy Scott some time.

Allison was in her room, waiting for Scott to call but the only thing on Allison's phone right now was a message from her Aunt Kate telling her that they needed to talk. Then her aunt texted her a place for them to meet to do just that. Allison didn't want to just go but she then finally stopped wanting to wait for Scott and then left to go find her aunt to talk with her.

At that same moment, Scott was running through the woods, holding onto his sides as the pain grinded further into him. Scott found his feet dragging and then he collapsed on the floor. He couldn't move anymore. He stared up at the night sky. His mouth was covered and filled with blood and he found that he couldn't even let out a whimper. He mentally reached out, trying to see if Stiles could sense that he needed his help. He didn't know if that was another thing that werewolves could do or not but right now that was his only chance. He called out for Stiles name as loud as he could with his mind before he just blacked out.

What he didn't know was that someone did come to rescue him. He carried him through the woods and took him to help him heal.

Scott woke up to find himself lying on what seemed to be a table. He tried to get up but found a hand pushing him down.

It was Deaton.

"I wouldn't get up just yet," he said calmly to him.

"What am I-" he started.

"You're fine. And I've given you something that should speed up the healing process."

Scott looked to see that his gun wounds were being treated. Deaton looked like he knew what he was doing.

"But…you're a vet."

"That's very true. And 90 percent of the time I'm mostly treating cats and dogs."

"Mostly?" Scott asked groggily.

"Mostly." Deaton then gave him a smile.

Scott then blacked out again.

Allison went to where Kate told her to go and she picked her up and they went to some place in the woods. They then came to what seemed to be tunnels and that ran deep underground.

"What is this place?" she asked finally.

But then they stopped at a metal door. Kate then looked back at her calmly. "Let's start with the basics," she said in a serious tone. "You know how every family has its secrets?" Allison stared blankly at her but it was obvious she was tense. "Ours are a little different."

She then slid the metal door open and went in. Allison slowly followed after her. Kate then went over to where there was a spotlight set up and then turned it on to reveal the sight of Derek Hale. He was strung up to a rafter, held in chains. But his face was like that of an animal and he roared at them to shot his mouth full of fangs.

"Isn't he beautiful?" Kate asked her niece.

Allison just frightfully stared at the beast who just snarled at the sight of her.

Stiles went home after the whole car bump thing was sorted, after making sure that Peter dropped Scott's mom home safely and left. He was organizing the case files that his dad had left out. He didn't care what Peter said. He believed in his way and he was going to use it to stop the Argents and maybe even stop Peter at the same time, hopefully. He then came to a written copy of Mr. Harris' testimony of meeting a blonde woman that had a pendant with a strange symbol on it. There was then a paper with a drawing done in pencil. Stiles knew it. He took out his phone and looked at the picture of the pendant that he saved. It was the same. And he looked again at the part about a blonde woman saying it was a family heirloom.

Stiles then dashed upstairs to his room. He went on his computer and readied the search engine. He needed to find some pictures. There was only one blonde woman that he knew that belonged to this particular family.

Chapter Text

Allison was driving back home. But the rain and the lightning couldn't block out the images and flashes Derek Hale, roaring, screaming and snarling at them from her mind. Her aunt had let loose some volts of electricity at him. She said that it would tire him out but it looked like it was just plain torturing him.

"What are you doing? Is that going to kill him?" she asked.

Kate just smiled at her. "Oh come on kiddo. Don't get all ethical on me know," she said with some amusement in her voice.

Kate then went and shocked Derek some more.

"What is he?' Allison asked.

Kate shrugged. "Shapeshifter. Lycan. Werewolf." She laughed after she was done with the list. "To me he's just another dumb animal." She then let some more shocks go through. When Derek was practically unconscious Kate then went to his mouth and pushed his lips up. "Come here. See these. These are canines, also known as fangs," she explained showing Allison the fanged teeth he had. "Made for the tearing and rending of flesh. Not something you find on those cute leaf eating herbivores, is it?"

Allison raised her eyes. "This is a joke to you?"

"Sweetheart, there are werewolves running around in the world. Everything is a joke to me? How else do you think I stay sane?"

Allison just shook her head. "So, he really was at the high school then? And he's the one behind all the animal attacks?"

Kate shut the light off. "There's actually three of them. Another younger one, like him called a beta. Then there's the Alpha. That's the pack leader. Bigger, stronger, nastier. Those are the real ugly ones." She led Allison out of the room and shut the door behind them.

"When were they going to tell me?" Allison asked her.

"They still haven't decided if they're going to tell you."

"Why?"

"Let's just say that if you react badly when you found out…not good."

"What do you mean, not good?"

"They don't think that you could handle it. They look at you and they see this frightened little girl that will run to the corner when she finds out the truth. Me…you know what I see? Natural talent. Allison, you said that you wanted to feel more powerful, right?" Allison nodded. "Well, now's your chance."

"But, what am I supposed to do now?"

"Go to school, do your homework, go to Formal on Friday night. Act like a normal teenage girl that doesn't know anything. Just relax until you're ready to help me with the next part."

"What's the next part?" Allison asked.

"You're going to help me catch the second beta."

"The one like Derek?" Kate nodded. "Who is it?"

"We're not too sure but we have a pretty strong suspect. Obviously, it's someone that Derek knows and is close to. Your dad caught a glimpse of him, not a good look, but enough to know he might actually be your age. And goes to school with you?"

"Who?" asked Allison tensing up. She couldn't imagine anyone from school being that thing that she had just seen a moment ago.

"He might be closer than you think. You might have already helped us id him actually."

"Me?"

"Yeah, that night at the school. When you told me of the guy that seemed to be trying to cover for Derek. That tried to make it sound that he might not have been there that night?" Kate saw Allison's face tighten and her eyes widen. "You better keep an eye out. Your boyfriend's buddy."

Allison was so consumed thinking of the events of tonight that she didn't realize that she was speeding until the sirens went off behind her. "Oh god," she muttered. "Not now." She just hoped it wasn't a particular officer.

The cop came over with a flashlight and tapped the window for her to open. She did and with horror she saw that it was indeed Sheriff Stilinski. Stiles' father. Scott's best friend's father. The father of the boy who very well could be a human like animal.

"Allison?" he asked as he turned the light off. "You alright?"

"Yeah," she all but whispered. Allison's bottom lip was quivering a bit as she stared at him. Her nerves were firing off. "Sorry I was going so fast," she stuttered out. "I didn't realize…" Allison then looked away. She couldn't look at this man. She wondered if he knew. What if he didn't know? Oh god, what if Scott didn't know either. Or worse, what if he did?

The sheriff shrugged. "Well, listen you weren't going that fast. Just 75 in a 25 construction zone."

The emotions and thoughts from all of this was starting to break free. She tried to pull herself together. "I'm not crying to get out of a ticket. It's just…I don't want you to think I'm like this."

"No," he said shaking his head. "It's okay. Perfectly okay. It's uh-"

"No," Allison said. "Please, write me a ticket. I need you to write me a ticket. Okay?" That was the only way she would feel slightly better about all of this.

"Okay," the sheriff said. "But I don't see how that's going to make you feel a lot better."

Allison just thrust her head back. "This is just so humiliating." Both this situation and her crying when she assured Kate that she wouldn't. "I swear I'm not like this." She wasn't talking to the sheriff when she said that though.

"I understand."

"No," Allison said. "This isn't me. This is not me," she said as she banged on the steering wheel. This wasn't her. She was a blubbering and weak little girl. She then forced it all down as she glared on ahead. "This is not me." She then looked back at the sheriff, a little more calmer. "I'm okay."

"Yeah?" he asked.

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'm okay."

"Good. Still want me to write you that ticket?"

When all of that was over, Allison didn't head back home. Instead she found a secluded warehouse space that her aunt told her about and got her bow out. She put up a poster that had a artist rendering of Derek on it saying he was wanted for questioning and shot arrows at it. Her hits were dead on. As she put the bow down, she hoped that she wouldn't have to do that to Stiles and wished that her family wasn't right about their suspicions.

Scott then awoke to find that he was in the vet's office. So, that hadn't been some kind of hallucination or dream. He looked to see that his side was bandaged. He was even feeling a little bit better. Deaton was also there, organizing his work table.

"Welcome back to the light of the conscious," he said to Scott as he went to get off the table, but he started to wobble. Deaton went to help him. "You okay?" Scott didn't know whether to answer or not. "Maybe you should sit down. I took the liberty of giving your friend Stiles a call a few minutes ago. He should be halfway here by now." But then the bells at the door chimed. Deaton knew that it couldn't be him already. "Hello?"

He went to go see who it was but Scott grabbed him. He could sense who it was. Deaton just smiled and then went on. He stepped to go around the front to see Peter Hale by the door.

"I'm sorry but we're closed," he said calmly to him.

"Hi there," he said. "I'm here to pick up."

Deaton narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure I remember you dropping off."

"This one wandered in on it's own."

Scott went to hide himself in a small corner of the room. Deaton just stayed where he was and stared the Alpha down.

"Even if it did, I can't help you. We're closed."

"Oh," Peter said moving closer. "I think you could make an exception this one time. Don't you?"

"I'm sorry. That's not going to be possible. Maybe you could come back during regular hours?" Deaton suggested teasingly.

Peter let his senses span out and smiled. "You have something of mine. I'm here to collect it."

"Like I said," Deaton stood his ground. "We're closed."

Peter just started to move to go in but stopped at the wooden gate. He felt a sensation and pulled his hand away. He tried to push onward but couldn't get any closer. "Mountain ash. That's an old one," he said before rushing over to grab a chair and then threw it at the wall in frustration.

Deaton didn't even flinch. "Let me be as clear as possible. We. Are. Closed." He annunciated.

Peter could see that he was beaten, for now. Before he went out the door he stopped. "There are others who could help me get what I want Scott. More innocent…and far more precious to you then your boss."

Scott heard him and then gasped. "Allison."

Actually, that wasn't who Peter quite had in mind but he'll take it. He then left the office.

Stiles arrived a couple of minutes later and Deaton let him into the back room where he embraced Scott and saw the treated wound. Deaton recommended that the two of them get Scott home before the two of them were missed. Scott needed to contact Allison but couldn't find his phone anywhere in his pockets. He went straight to his room but couldn't see any sign of it.

"Try calling it again," he said to Stiles.

"It's not here," Stiles coughed out. "Scott, you lost your phone…again. Just get a new one, again."

"I can't afford another one. And I can't do this alone. We need to find Derek."

"Well, A, you're not alone. You have me," he said feeling a little insulted. "And, B, didn't you say that Derek walked into gunfire. Sounds pretty dead."

"The Argents plan to use him to get to the Alpha. They're not going to kill him."

"Yet," Stiles added since it was clear that Scott left that part out intentionally. "And something tells me he's not going to crack so easily and just give them what they want. It'll take time."

"Which Peter will use by going for Allison to find Derek," Scott said frustratingly. "I can't protect her alone. And if they really think that there's a chance that you might be the beta they're looking for then that could put you in danger."

"Thank you so much for that," Stiles coughed out as he watched Scott still shuffling around. "You know you probably lost your phone when you two were fighting. You know, when he was going to kill Jackson."

"He wasn't going to kill him." Scott said.

Stiles straightened up. "That's a switch. You usually are ready to pin and blame Derek for stuff. Why the sudden shift?" he added accusingly. Something told Stiles that it wasn't because Scott was finally ready to give Derek the benefit of the doubt. He only wanted Derek because he needed his help to kill Peter and cure himself…to be with Allison. That's what all of this was really about. Her. If he didn't need him, he was sure that Scott wouldn't care.

"He wasn't going to kill anyone. Not even Jackson, I don't think. And I can't just let him die."

"And what if he doesn't want to help you? It was different when the Alpha was some stranger that killed his sister. This is his uncle. Psycho or not, he's all Derek really has left."

Scott's jaw tightened. His friend had a point. There was no guarantee that Derek would help him. But, he needed a way to convince Derek. He and Stiles couldn't take on Peter by themselves.

The two of them then looked out at the window when they heard a car pull up. "Your mom's home," Stiles said.

The two of them then heard her talking, most likely on the phone. She was leaving a message. By the sound of it, to Peter in regards to the date that was ruined. The one that they ruined for her. Even though they saved her life, she doesn't know that. She just knows that her first date in a long time ended in disaster. Then, when she was finished, they felt something chilly and sour. Sadness. And then they heard the soft sounds of whimpering and crying.

Scott wanted to cry himself for making his mother feel this way. "She's sad," he said unnecessarily.

Stiles softened himself. "Scott…you can't protect everyone."

"I have to," he said back to him unflinchingly.

"Not alone. Don't worry about me. I'll help any way I can."

Scott exhaled but nodded. "Alright. Thanks Stiles."

His friend gave him a solemn nod.

Kate was in the room with Derek as he just hung there silently. She then started to dig through his stuff.

"Come on Derek, he killed your sister," she said trying to get somewhere. "What I figure is that you're not telling me because you either want to kill him yourself or, for some reason, you're protecting him." She then pulled out his New York Driver's License. Kate just laughed as she went over to him and held the id to his face. "Look at that sourface."

Derek had mild flashback to Stiles calling him a sourwolf. He had said to him in harmless jest. Kate had said that with savage mockery.

"I bet you got people always coming up to you and say, 'Smile Derek'. 'Why don't you smile more?' I'm sure that you just wanted to kick those people in the face."

Derek finally raised his head. "I can think of one."

Kate smiled as she looked back at him. "Promise? Because if I thought you'd be that much fun, I'd let you go." She then went over and picked up his phone and scrolled through it. "Nothing, nothing. God, I hate this detective crap."

"Are you going to torture me, or just talk me to death?"

"Oh sweetie, I don't want to torture you. I just want to catch up. Hmm…remember all the fun we had together?"

"Like the time you burned my family alive?" Derek glared.

"No," Kate then started to close in on him. "I was thinking more about all the hot, sex, that we used to have." She then licked down his torso. "But, yeah, that was fun too," she added gleefully. Derek struggled against his restraints. Wanting nothing more than to tear her face off. "But sweetie, I really don't want to torture you." She then looked over by the door. "But he does."

There was another hunter there and Kate then left the room to let the new guy have his fun with him.

Allison was in her room, sound asleep that night. She was actually sleeping peacefully for once. And she was being watched by Scott who was sitting vigil on her roof. He had to protect her. Unfortunately, he was also growing tired and then, the next thing he knew, he fell off the roof as he had fallen asleep.

Stiles was in his room looking up local records on his computer. It seems that Kate Argent had been in Beacon Hills six years ago, a few months before the Hale fire. Seems she had a job at the high school, as a teacher's assistant. That had to be how she had access to Harris. He pulled up a photo and saw her looking a tiny bit younger than she was now. But then…Stiles then had a hunch. He then went to look up the student roster of that year and surely enough found two names that stood out among the others. Laura Hale and Derek Hale.

Both of them must've known or at least seen Kate during their school days. He then remembered what Derek had told him that night when he had shown him and Scott his then catatonic uncle. All the stuff he said when he warned him about letting Scott be with Allison. How it would cloud his judgement around her and put them all in danger. Derek had seemed to be taking that personally. He then looked at Kate Argent's picture again. She was smiling and he had to admit, she looked pretty hot. Maybe another boy had thought the same. A boy that was a high school attending werewolf like Scott was now.

"Oh my god," Stiles muttered out.

But as shocking as the thoughts that came up was, now he had another piece of the puzzle. And was a giant step closer to stopping the Argents for good. A part of him did feel bad though. Stiles' plan, if he went through with it, it would practically destroy Allison and her family in almost every way and he knew that Scott wouldn't want that. But, he knew that if Scott was serious about protecting everyone, then Allison's feelings, and reputation, were going to have to be unfortunate sacrifices to make sure that the two of them and all of their loved ones would be safe, from everything.

At school the next day, Stiles thought that something was weird. He was at his locker after his first class and he suddenly felt a strong but strange emotion. It was…fear. Fear but it was mixed with…wonder? He went to look around and then saw Allison nearby, staring at him. But the moment he caught her eyes, she looked away from him and then started to walk in the opposite direction. He wondered what that was about.

His next class actually had Allison in it. For a few times, he caught her looking over at him. At first, he thought she was looking at Scott, who was sitting next to him. Yet, whenever he caught her gaze, she looked away. Whenever, he tried to look back at his notes or the board, he felt Allison's eyes on him again. He looked over at Scott but saw that he didn't seem to notice. He just looked worried and tense as usual. Stiles had to wonder…the timing. Of everything going on. This couldn't be a coincidence.

Scott was called by coach after practice to talk with him privately. What he said made his heart stop.

"What do you mean that I can't go to formal?" he asked Coach.

"Sorry McCall but you're failing my class and two others. They told me to cut you from the team. I told them, I'd sooner cut off my last remaining testicle then cut my best player," he said giving Scott a firm tap on the shoulder.

But Scott wasn't appreciating the effort. "So, the compromise is that I can't go to the dance?"

"Yeah," Coach said folding his arms.

Scott exhaled. He couldn't believe he was about to say what he was going to say. "Then I quit the team."

That only made Coach laugh. "No you don't. And, if you show up at the dance and I see you there, I'll drag you out by your teeth." He then turned to walk away.

Scott was screwed now. He went to Stiles and told him about what had happened but before they could try to think about what to do next, Scott saw Jackson. Again, he couldn't believe what he was about to do next. Stiles followed his lead and then slammed Jackson's locker door shut on him startling him a bit.

"You want me to take her to the formal?" Jackson asked looking at Scott.

"No, I don't want you to. I need you to," said Scott softly to him.

"Screw you," Jackson said in response. Then he looked at Stiles. "You know what, screw you too. In fact, screw each other."

Stiles huffed out through his nose. "You know, he helped save your life," he said pointing to his friend. "I would show some gratitude to that considering that you've given him no real reason to."

"He left me for dead," Jackson argued.

"I got shot for you," Scott spat.

"Yeah? Show me the bullet wound."

Scott rolled his eyes. "You know that it healed."

"Hmm, convenient."

Stiles wanted to just punch Jackson's lights out but Scott subtly reached for his friend's wrist to calm him down. "Just do it for Allison," Scott said. "Okay, she's in serious danger. I mean around the clock danger. She needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance."

"Have her dad do it," he argued. "He's the one actually equipped to handle this."

"How am I supposed to do and keep him from finding out about me?"

"Not my problem," he growled to him.

He tried to leave but Scott stopped him. "You're her friend too," he tried to reason. "You are. All that time that you spent with her to get to me, you can't tell me that you didn't get to know her and like her. It's Allison. It's impossible not to like her. You can't tell me that you don't care if she gets hurt."

Stiles rolled his eyes. He could feel that Jackson didn't care one bit. Which of course he proved.

"What if I get hurt?"

"Then it's worth it."

Jackson shook his head. "Not to me." He then went and pushed the two of them aside so he could go through.

Stiles nodded. "I shouldn't say that I told you so…because it's not strong enough. How about I'm always right. And you should listen to everything I have to say and never disagree, ever, ever for the sake of your wolflihood?"

Scott let out a hard puff. Stiles was right, as usual. Jackson wouldn't go for anything by being nice. It seems there really only was one way to get the guy to do anything for anyone else. "I'm not done," he muttered out.

Stiles could sense something building in Scott, and smiled as his friend went off. "No, you're not," he said before moving off himself.

Scott went to stop Jackson before he left the room. Stiles stepped beside him.

"One more thing," Scott called out.

Jackson looked back at them to see that they both let their eyes glow gold. Scott let his fangs show while Stiles shot his hands out at his sides to let his claws out. Both of them were growling and Jackson backed frighteningly against the door.

Soon enough, Jackson went off immediately to find Allison and found her at her locker.

"Hey," he said in a bit of a sweaty mess. "What time should I pick you up for the dance tomorrow?"

Allison widened her eyes at his appearance. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm great. Just excited to go to formal with you. As friends. Just friends," he said quickly as he knew that the two teen wolves were no doubt listening in on them. He then laughed nervously when he eyes caught the two of them watching from across the hall.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll still be there to watch her and Co-Captain Courageous."

"I'm still going," he said as he watched the two of them take off.

"Is that a good idea? Do you have a date?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a suit?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have a ticket to the formal? A ride there?"

"No," Scott breathed. "And no."

"So you're going to ride your bike to a dance, you're not even allowed to go to by the way, without a date, suit or a way in with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf ass?"

"Yeah. You gonna help me?" he asked Stiles smiling.

He smiled to and wrapped his arm around him. "Hell yeah."

Lydia had taken Allison off to the mall so they could shop for a dress to wear for the formal tomorrow. Yet, Lydia noticed that Allison seemed different today.

"Is something wrong?" she asked her.

"No," Allison said. "Nothing's wrong. I've just had a lot on my mind."

"You could smile at least. Ever heard the saying, 'Never frown. Someone could be falling in love with your smile.'" She then looked to see that Allison was still frowning. "Smile Allison. I'm buying you a new dress."

"Have to admit, as far as apologies go, that's more than I expected."

"Excellent."

"But not as much as I'm going to ask."

"What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're going to cancel on whatever dumb, roided up jock you said yes to and you're going to go with somebody else."

"Who?" Lydia asked.

Allison turned and saw just who she was looking for, at the fragrance rack. "Him."

It was Stiles. Allison wasn't sure if the guy was a werewolf or not. She tried to watch him at school today but he didn't seem any more different than any other day. Then again, Allison didn't know why she suddenly expected to see the guy with fangs and claws for everyone to see. The problem was, that Kate and her father suspected him. If they were going to be out watching him then Allison should probably do so as well. She didn't want anything to happen to him if he actually turned out to be innocent. Maybe being at the formal with Lydia would be a big way in helping her do that.

She watched as Stiles had a bottle in his hand and then pushed on the nozzle and it sprayed him in the face. He backed away and sneezed. "Ahh, and people actually want to pay for this stuff," he said to the counter woman.

Allison, at that moment, had to think that him being innocent was a real possibility. Besides, it was also a good way to get a little payback with Lydia. "Oh," she said looking back at her. "Don't frown Lydia. Someone could be falling in love with your smile."

Lydia just gave Stiles a once over. "You know what…why not?" she said trying not to let Allison get to her. "He's made quite a name for himself lately. Shows he has potential."

Stiles was sitting at that rack pretending to not notice the two girls until he spun himself around and then seemed to spot them. He smiled and sent them a small wave. Scott was having him follow Allison to watch her after school. He heard most of what they were saying but Stiles could also feel and even see the quizzical look Allison was throwing him. He was happy that he sprayed himself like that. It got him to detect that scent drop from Allison for a moment. He could see it now. Allison suspected him. That had to mean that she found out, most likely from her family. She must've finally been let in on the big secret. But unlike Jackson, she wasn't coming outright with it. She was being subtle and fishing around for answers. That meant that Stiles didn't have much time left before he had to put his plan into action.

Lydia went over to him and asked him if he would go to formal with her. Stiles was silent for a mere second before he was practically singing 'Yes'. 'Yes'. over and over to her. But then, after he was done, she asked to help her find a dress, which he was again all too happy to do.

Lydia went to the rack and piled a few dresses that she pulled out into his arms. "So," Stiles began to ask. "Are you just going to start trying these on? All of them?" She then led him off for the dressing rooms. "Is this a 24 hour Macy's?"

Allison watched them go for a bit before her eyes fell on a red dress. It looked beautiful so she took it off the rack and went to the mirror. She stilled when she saw a guy staring at her. She looked over as he walked over.

"That's not your color," he said. "Sorry if that was intrusive but, considering your skin tone, I'd go lighter."

"Cause I'm pale?" she asked feeling a bit self-conscious.

"Fair," he corrected. "I wouldn't call skin like yours pale. Not skin that perfect."

"Okay," she said a little bit embarrassed.

"Trust me, I have a unique perspective." He then pulled another dress off the racks. "Here, try this one."

Stiles senses flared up and he looked to see that Peter Hale was talking over with Allison.

"Could you hand me the next one?" Lydia asked from behind the doors.

"Sure," Stiles said hooking the next dress on the top of the door for her before he set the pile down and headed over. "Hey," he said coming over with a smile. "What's going on here?" he asked.

Allison tensed a bit when he looked at her. "Oh, nothing. This guy just wanted to give me a tip for my dress."

"Yeah?" Stiles said looking at Peter. "You work here?"

But before Peter could do or say anything else, the PA started up. "Attention shoppers. The owner of a blue Mazda. License plate…"

"Wait, did she just say a blue Mazda?" asked Allison.

Stiles threw his eyes up listening to the reading of the plate. "That's your car Allison. They're going to tow it."

Allison gasped. "Oh no," she said making a break for it.

That left Stiles and Peter alone. "Tough break," Stiles smirked.

But Peter smirked as well as he looked out a bit and started to walk away from Stiles. "I have to say Scott, I continue to be impressed with your ingenuity. Just remember, you can't be everywhere all the time."

Stiles narrowed his eyes as Peter said that. He then sniffed out and sure enough found a faint trace of Scott's scent. What was the point of having him tail Allison if Scott was going to be creeping around her anyway? Didn't Scott trust him enough to watch her? Well, he guessed he couldn't complain too much. Being here, it got himself a date to the formal. With Lydia. Might make tomorrow night something worth looking forward to after all.

He then went to try to get back to Lydia but Peter stopped him. "Whoa, where do you think you're going?"

"I have to get back to someone," he said trying to move around him.

But Peter blocked him. "Oh, right, that red head."

"Actually her hair is strawberry blonde," Stiles said immediately.

Peter chuckled. "Something like that would only come from a guy truly smitten with a girl. And I have to say, she does look like a beauty indeed. Just be careful Stiles. Sometimes the most beautiful things in this world could potentially be among the most deadly."

"Thanks for the tip," he muttered.

Peter chuckled a bit at him. "Don't worry. There's plenty more and they'll come when you need them, soon enough."

He then left the store for Stiles to go back to the changing area where Lydia was waiting for him. "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, Allison's car was being towed. I had to go and warn her."

"Oh," she said with her hard face falling and softening a bit. "I hope she gets there in time."

"Me too."

Kate was listening to a voicemail left from her brother asking for where she was and to call him. She didn't have much time to linger here with her new plaything. And she needed to get some answers.

"Unfortunately Derek, if you're not going to talk, then I'm just going to have to kill you. So, say hi to your sister for me." She then went to put her hand on the dial. But froze. "You did tell her about me, didn't you? The truth about the fire?" She looked over to see him just staring down at his feet. "Did you…did you tell anybody?" she asked in a whisper as she walked over. "Oh, sweetie. That's just a lot of guilt to keep buried. It's not your fault. I mean, you got tricked by a pretty face. It happens. A handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super hot girl, who comes from a family that kills werewolves. Is that ironic?" Derek just look pained as he kept his gaze anywhere but on her. "And then there's the fact that you show up at the school and someone, the sheriff's kid outs himself trying to help you and tries to say you weren't there. Is he the second beta Derek? Or that lacrosse player, Jackson, who you took with you to show your…home to. Is he one of your new wolfy buddies?" Derek just turned to look the other way from her. But she just smirked at him. "Is it ironic that you are inadvertently helping me take down the rest of the pack, again? We're just a bit of history repeating."

She then walked for the panel but then stopped. She started tapping her fingers as her own words echoed in her mind. "History repeating," she whispered. "It's not Jackson, is it? And Stiles…maybe not him either. Jackson may have a little scratch in the back of his head, and Stiles might be snooping at where he doesn't belong…but neither of them is in love with Allison. Not like Scott is."

At that, Derek glared at her. With that, she had her answer.

Chapter Text

Scott's mother was in his room as he helped with getting Scott ready for the dance. Scott was in the bathroom trying to fix on his tie while she was looking over his suit jacket.

"This is really nice. How did you afford-" But his mom stopped there when she noticed a long tear in the jacket that was mended with scotch tape. "Oh."

Scott looked over to her. "It's not going to work, is it?" his voice was laced with worry.

"No, no, it's fine," she said quickly. She gave him a small smile. "No one will notice." He then turned away. "No one legally blind," she muttered.

"I heard that!" Scott shouted. He would've heard that even without super hearing.

"Well, just come on in here and we could try it," she suggested. Scott then came over and put the jacket on and they both looked him over. He seemed okay. "See?" his mom said gesturing to him. "You look good."

"Good?"

"Turn," she said to see him from the back. She gave him a once over and noticed something new. "No." She then pointed downwards to show Scott a tear in his pants.

Now Scott was really freaked. "I don't have time for this! I can't buy new ones. Mom, what am I going to do?!"

"Okay, don't panic," she said trying to calm him. "I'll handle it. Take them off. Pants off now," she said before she left to try and get to her sowing kit. When she got it, she immediately set herself to work sowing up the hole. "So," she started. "Is she coming here because you know I need the car tonight?"

"No," he muttered. Allison definitely wasn't coming. "I'm going stag."

She looked up at him. "You're going alone?"

"Stag," he corrected. "There's a difference, sort of."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm just a little…surprised. You don't really have anyone else to ask, other than Allison."

"There are no other girls besides Allison," he said unflinchingly.

"You really feel that way?"

Scott didn't want to talk about this again, especially with his mom. He remembered that he and Stiles had a talk like this a few nights ago and didn't appreciate then either. "Would you just keep sowing?"

"No, you have time for it. Just one question. Come here," she said hitting the spot next to her. Scott then went to sit there. "Do you really feel that way?" she asked him again.

Scott took a deep breath. "I can't help it. Every time that I look at her I get this….hollow feeling in my chest, like someone literally took a shovel and dug a hole in me and it's the worst feeling I've ever had in my life. I didn't know anyone could make me feel this bad."

"I know," she said. "Everyone knows eventually. But, it does go away."

Scott shook his head. "I don't want it to."

His mom just looked at him. "Have you told her how you feel?"

"She knows."

That made her go and smack him at his forehead. "Come on. She knows? She knows! Listen, dumbass, I'm going to let you in on a secret that most guys don't even have a clue about. Alright? You ready? Women. Love. Words," she slowly annunciated.

Scott just stared blankly back at her. "Huh?"

"You need to tell her how you feel. Just say it. Say it again. Say it differently," she said starting to smile. "Learn how to say it differently. Learn how to sing it." Scott was fighting the urge to laugh then. "Write it in a poem and attach it to flowers. Carve it into a tree or a sidewalk with cement. Tattoo on your arm."

"Really?" Scott quickly asked.

She gave him a look. "No, not really. Just…tell her the truth. Tell her everything and anything you want."

Scott eyes rose. "Anything?"

Scott had a thought. It was a risky thought. What if…he told Allison the truth, about himself? What if he could somehow let her know everything before her parents even could tell her? That could be the key to fixing everything.

Stiles had put on his suit jacket when a flash went off. He let out a puff as he looked over to the side. "Dad," he lightly growled.

His dad was just smiling. "Sorry Stiles. But taking a photo of your child going to his first dance is a sacred rite of passage for a parent."

"It's a rite that I'm not going to continue, I know that much," he muttered.

His dad just kept smiling at him. "So, who are you going with?"

"Uh…I rather not say," Stiles dismissed.

"Why?"

"I…kind of don't want to jinx it."

His dad's eyebrows went up. "That good huh?"

"She's the best," he said dreamily. "I've wanted her to notice me for…the longest time. I mean she's perfect. Smart, funny, confident, beautiful."

"Sounds like something special," his dad said. "Just make sure that you don't let your chance pass you by. Make tonight worth the wishing and wanting that you've had all this time, alright?" Stiles nodded. "Well, have fun tonight. But, not too much fun."

"If only," he muttered. But his face fell when his father narrowed his eyes at him. "Yeah, got it. Definitely," he said quickly.

"Well, get going. One thing you don't want to do is keep the girl waiting more than she has to. Better to always be early than late."

Stiles checked to make sure that he had everything. His corsage set as well as his phone and keys. He was set.

Stiles practically raced his jeep to Allison's house where he had to wait for fifteen minutes after ringing her bell before Lydia came out dressed in the most adorable dress she could pick out today. He handed her the corsage he got and helped her get into his car before they went off.

Jackson pulled up to the school parking lot in his Porsche with Allison next to him. Once he put it in park he then took a small vial of scotch that he pilfered from his dad's cabinet and took a small swig. He felt that he was going to need it tonight. After he took one, he offered it to Allison.

"I'm good," she said turning it down. "Thanks."

"You want to do tonight sober?"

"I wouldn't mind remembering some of it."

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't mind forgetting all of it," he said looking at the school. The only reason he had to be here was because Scott and Stiles had threatened to rip him apart if he wasn't. He was getting ready to get out when Allison stopped him.

"Do you know if Scott's coming?" she asked quickly.

"I…know he's not allowed to. Academic probation," he explained when she looked confused. He then got out and then took another drink.

Allison checked herself in the mirror. "Normal teenage girl," she reminded herself. "Smile Allison. Someone could be falling in love-" Allison had put the mirror up and caught movement on the roof. She squinted and saw that it was Scott, dressed in a suit, trying to sneak into the school. That made her smile. She then looked over as Jackson came by to help her out of the car.

Soon enough, Stiles jeep pulled up. Stiles came out and then went over to help Lydia out of the car. Jackson and Allison walked over to them. Allison tried to remember her earlier words as she looked over at Stiles, who was smiling and seemed to be relatively normal himself.

Lydia stared Jackson down as he moved for them. "Jackson, you look handsome."

"Obviously. It's Hugo Boss." He then looked up to catch Stiles watching him unblinkingly and then kept right on walking with Allison.

"I don't care," Lydia started. "I don't want compliments. I will not fall prey to society's desire to turn girls into emotionally insecure neurotics who pull up their dresses on the first flattering remark."

Stiles gave her a small grin. "Well, I think you look beautiful."

Lydia seemed to deflate then. "Really?"

He nodded before he held out his arm. Lydia then took it and let him lead her into the school.

The gym was finely decorated and the music and voices of all the people inside was deafening. Scott was sure that he could stay perfectly hidden and out of sight of the Coach. He found Coach off to the side. He then saw that Jackson was off with some guys of the lacrosse team. He wondered what happened to Allison. He kept looking for her but his eyes landed on Peter Hale, who was looking right at him from across the gym. He blinked and then he was gone. Was his mind playing tricks on him? No, he was there alright. He could sense it. Now he had to find Allison. He left from his hiding spot to look for her.

He went higher to see if he could get a better look. Soon enough, he spotted Stiles with Lydia. They were sitting off at one of the tables and they both seemed to just be bored, sitting there. He kept looking and eventually spotted her as she went over to Jackson who was sharing a bottle of scotch.

Allison didn't want to stand around all night. "Do you want to dance?" she asked Jackson.

He looked back at her. "Do I have to?"

She laughed. "Not the response I was expecting. But, no, I guess not."

Jackson just exhaled and found himself offering her his arm. Which she then took. They didn't know that Scott was watching them and it made his shoulders slump a little. They walked off until they were in sight of both Lydia and Stiles and began to dance.

That made Stiles just swallow his discomfort and decide, What the hell. "You want to dance?" he just up and asked her.

"Pass," she said dismissively.

Stiles would've just given up but with how stressed things have been lately, he didn't need to have more. Not to mention that his dad told him not to just let his big chance slip by him. "You know what, let me try that again." He then got up. "Lydia. Get off your cute little ass and dance with me now."

Lydia just nodded her head. "Interesting tactic. But, what's the word, No."

Stiles then full on glared at her, with his inner wolf pushing at him to not roll over and point his belly up. "Lydia, get up. Okay, you're going to dance with me. I don't care that you made out with my best friend, for some weird…power thing or whatever but…Lydia, I've had a crush on you since the third grade. And I know that, somewhere, in that cold, lifeless exterior there's an actual human soul." Then he smiled a bit. "And, I'm also pretty sure that I'm the only one that even knows how smart you really are. Yeah. And once you're done pretending to be a nitwit, for god only knows why, you'll eventually go off and write some insane mathematical theorem that wins you the Nobel Prize."

That actually got Lydia to chuckle and smile deeper than she had all night. "Field's Medal."

Stiles tilted his head. "What?"

Lydia then got up and went over to him. "The Nobel Prize isn't for mathematics. The Field's Medal is the one I'll be winning." She then took his hand and dragged him off to the dance floor.

Stiles followed after her with him pulling his fist down in victory as he followed after her.

Scott was off to the side and had witnessed the whole thing and smiled at them. It was good that Stiles was finally getting his shot. Scott still felt a little bit of the old jealousy he'd been feeling for his friend returning but he realized that it didn't make Stiles any less deserving of having the things he had. Stiles had definitely earned them all. He only hoped that he could earn everything he wanted himself.

"McCall! I see you!"

Scott gasped when the Coach had spotted him. Scott quickly broke for a run. He had to think fast before he was forced out of there. He ran into the dance floor and tried to hide but the Coach was right on his tail. He kept running off until he caught sight of Danny. Then he had an idea.

"Danny!" he cried to him. "Dance with me!"

"What?" he asked surprised. "No."

"Dance with me!" Scott growled out before pulling him to the dance floor.

"McCall!" Coach cried. "You're not supposed to-" he stopped when he saw him and Danny dancing together. "What the hell are you-" Suddenly, the music stopped and everyone in the gym was looking over to them. Allison was raising her eyes in amusement while Stiles inaudibly laughed at the sight.

"Yes, Coach?" Scott asked Coach.

The Coach then realized that everyone was watching them. "Okay, hold on. You…I was just…I wasn't saying he's not supposed…I…no, you don't think…I didn't mean…you know what, dance. Dance everybody!" he said trying to push away the embarrassment. "Just dance! It's a dance! Dance!"

The music started again and everyone went back to what they were doing.

"Thanks," Scott said to him before he went off to find Allison.

Danny was then left to face his boyfriend's pissed off face.

Scott made his way over to Allison "Allison," he started.

"Yes, I would love to dance with you," she cut in.

Scott smiled and then led her off to the dance floor.

Jackson was off to the side and watched as Scott took away his date for the night. The two of them then wrapped their arms around each other and looked like nothing else existed besides them. Then his eyes went over to where Stiles had his girlfriend wrapped around him as they danced together. They seemed to be almost the same. He didn't want to stay in this gym and watch this anymore than he had to. He stomped off until he was outside, his feet a little off balance as the effects of the scotch made itself be known. Jackson didn't care. He wanted something to distract him. To make him forget. About everything. It just wasn't fair. Two months ago, he thought he had the world. Everything was going his way and looked like it would stay that way. Then two scrawny, pathetic losers came in and were taking everything from him. And why was that? Because they had gone on and become werewolves. Them. Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski had been given something completely out of this world and now they had his whole world for themselves.

He lamented on the unfairness of it all when he stopped as a pair of red lights were seen through the trees of the woods. Not lights…eyes. Red glowing eyes. That had to be the 'Alpha' that the two of them had been going on about. The one that bit and changed the two of them. That gave them all the power. Jackson let out a small whimper as he ran for the trees towards it. He looked through the trees and fog, trying to find the Alpha. This was his only chance. The red eyes didn't seem to be moving closer to him.

"Come on!" he roared out before he fell to his knees. He couldn't help it. He was begging. He was actually reduced to begging for something but what choice did he have. This was his last shot. "I want to be like you," he cried out. "I want to be one of you!" Tears started to desperately form. "Please," he begged.

The eyes got closer. He thought it was going to happen after all. Until they eyes were revealed to be nothing but lasers. Targeting lasers as Mr. Argent and some other men, all armed came from the trees. It wasn't the Alpha that he had seen. It was the hunters. Suddenly, like that time with Derek, he remembered Stiles words. Words warning him about the hunters and what they would do if they found out that he knew all of this and wanted to be a werewolf. And the guns each of them were holding, assault rifles. Just like Scott had warned him about.

"Unfortunately Jackson I don't think I can give you what you want," Mr. Argent said looking down on him. "But I have a feeling that you might be able to help me."

Jackson could see that Mr. Argent wasn't going to give him a choice this time. Not with the gun that he was keeping tight in his grasp. Or his fellow hunters who had their guns locked and loaded as they leered at him. "Help you how," he asked.

Chris bent down to him. "You know, don't you? You know who the werewolf is. The beta. Tell me Jackson…who is it?" He was silent for a moment. "Is it Stiles?" he asked him after a moment. Ever since his confrontation with the kid, Chris thought that the chances that Stiles might be the beta was very good. With how he stared him down, it was much like any other animal defending their territory from what they saw was an invader.

Jackson gulped and then he nodded. "Yeah. It's him…and Scott."

At that, Chris stood up and his jaw stiffened. His hold on his rifle tightened. But he then took him by the shoulder and helped him up. "Come on. And don't worry, I'll handle everything from here. You won't have to worry about them anymore."

"What are you going to do?" Jackson asked.

"Nothing."

"You promise? You…won't hurt them?"

"Of course not. They're just kids."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Like I said…I'm going to take care of it. Now, go back to the dance Jackson. Be with your friends. Be a normal teenager."

It wasn't a request. Jackson then forced himself to head back into the school while Chris Argent walked off with his face hard as steel.

Back at the dance, Scott was still dancing contently with Allison. He wasn't aware that Allison took a few moments then and there to spare Lydia and Stiles a look. She was beginning to think that maybe Kate was wrong. Maybe it wasn't Stiles after all. For all they knew, maybe Stiles was as clueless about all of this as she used to be.

Stiles had his eyes closed and was just swaying to the music until the scent of worry started to fill his nostrils. He looked down to see Lydia scanning the gym.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh," Lydia said shaking her head. "It's nothing."

"You're worried," Stiles stated. "What is it?"

Lydia shook her head. She guessed that she was being transparent there. "I was just looking for someone."

Stiles closed his eyes. "Jackson." He didn't even have to guess. She then nodded. "Okay…maybe you should try and look for him."

"What?"

"Go and look for him," he said.

"Are you sure? I mean-"

"It's okay," he said. "Trust me. It wouldn't feel good to just keep dancing if you're not having fun so…go and find him."

Lydia nodded. "Thanks. And…I'm sorry."

"Don't…worry about it."

She then took off leaving Stiles looking after her.

Allison caught Lydia leaving and she wondered what was up. She then looked over to Scott to see that he was smiling down at her. "What?" she asked him smiling herself.

"It's hard not to look at you," he said.

"I'd like to think," she teased.

Scott then went on to remind her of the good times that they shared together and Allison found herself feeling much warmer inside. He then started to list the things that he liked about her.

"And I love your smile," he finished in a way that made it sound like it was the most precious thing.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yeah." But then his face went serious. "Allison…I need to tell you something. Remember, when we were talking in my room the other night?"

"Oh, you don't have to apologize. Stiles told me about the car accident."

But Scott shook his head. "It's not that. It's about…Derek. And everything that you were trying to tell me."

At the mention of Derek, Allison just shook her head. She didn't want to think about that. Not right now of all times. "Forget about that. I, I don't know what I was talking about."

"I do. And I believe you."

"You don't have to. I…I know things now. And things are different. Just…just trust me," she said hoping he would just drop it.

"You weren't wrong."

She nodded. "Yes. I was and, the stuff I was saying, it was crazy. So-"

"Allison, please let me talk," Scott said.

But a new song started. An even louder one that was blocking out his voice. The two of them were tense and feeling jittery. Scott found himself taking Allison by the face to make her look up at him. He then leaned in and gave her a soft and gentle kiss. To be able to kiss each other again, it felt like they had found something they had both lost and it made them happier than ever.

"Why'd you do that?" Allison asked when they separated.

Scott was going to follow his mom's advice. "Because I love you."

Allison gasped out happily before she went and came in for another kiss.

Stiles was getting some punch when he noticed Jackson walking on back into the gym. He put the cup down and went over to him.

"Jackson, hey did Lydia ever find you?" Stiles asked him. Stiles then noted that Jackson looked freaked. "What? What's wrong?"

"Uh…I was out behind the school and…I was out."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at him. He could smell discomfort and fear coming from him. "What happened?" he asked stiffly. He then felt the fear intensify but Jackson was looking at Stiles like it was him that would hurt him. Stiles' eyes then narrowed and he glared slightly at him. "Jackson, what did you do?"

Jackson stared uneasily at him as Stiles stared him down.

Lydia was looking for Jackson but couldn't find any sign of him. He wasn't in the parking lot. Or in the locker room. Not in the weight room. She decided to try the lacrosse field. But it looked empty.

"Jackson!" she tried calling out.

No answer…from a person. What did happen was one of the floodlights coming on. Then another. And another. Until the whole field was lit. Lydia had to admit, she was starting to get really freaked out now. She turned and then saw a dark outline of a person not far off.

"Jackson? Jackson, is that you?" she called.

The figure then started to approach. When he got close enough, Lydia saw that it wasn't Jackson. It looked like an older looking guy. She didn't recognize him.

"Lydia!" Lydia turned around to see Stiles run for her. "Run!" he cried out. She looked back to see that the guy was right on her. She caught a flash of red and then felt intense pain at her side. Pain so intense that she found everything going dark.

Stiles was running as fast as he could but wasn't in time to stop Lydia from collapsing in a bloodstained heap on the ground. "No!" he roared before he then took a deep leap and dove for Peter.

The Alpha extended his hand and it collided with Stiles' chest and pushed him back. That made the young beta land roughly on the ground but thankfully on his feet. He then sent a kick at Peter when he tried to grab at him and managed to hit his hand back. Stiles quickly went into a crutch and then made to swipe at him with his now extracted claws. Peter jumped back and dodged it before he grabbed for Stiles arm and pushed on it with intense pressure. Stiles yelped as he stiffened straight up before Peter threw him to land on his back two feet away. Stiles forced himself up and made to run at Peter again but the Alpha crutched over Lydia's body and held his right clawed hands over her heart.

"That's enough of that," Peter snarled.

Stiles then found himself freeze up at the sight of Lydia's life being fatally threatened. "Don't…don't kill her," he pleaded. "Please."

Peter calmed himself as he then let a small smile loose. "Of course not. Just…tell me how to find Derek."

"What?" Stiles stuttered.

Peter then ran a clawed finger across the side of Lydia's face just above her skin. "Tell me how to find Derek Hale," he said to him.

"I…I don't know. How the hell should I know that?"

"Because you're the clever one, aren't you?" Peter smirked. "Come on Stiles. While Scott has been going around trying to be Sir Wolfheart, you've been doing some scheming of your own, haven't you? You think that just because I was making my presence so obvious to Scott that I wasn't watching you just as closely? Oh, I was. And you practically stink of both determination and deception. You may not know where Derek is per say, but, you know how to find him, don't you? Tell me," he said before looking down at Lydia. "Or I will rip her apart."

Stiles forced himself to be calm. To keep his heart rate steady. He willed it as hard as he could. "I can't. I don't know."

Peter glared at him. "Tell Me!" he roared out making Stiles' hairs stand on end.

Stiles felt the pull. The same pull that he felt that night at the school. Resisting it was like digging needles into his chest and dragging them. "Okay," he gasped out. "Look…uh, I think Derek knew."

"Knew what?"

"I think he knew he would get caught. Knew that he wouldn't be able to escape from the hunters that night. Scott's phone went missing after his fight with him and I think that was because Derek had taken it."

"Why? What would that matter?"

"To help in finding him. They all have GPS now," he explained to the guy who had been out of it for 6 years and couldn't know about that yet. "He took it so that we could track the signal and find out where he was taken. So, if he still has it, and it's still on, we can find him now," Stiles finished as he glared up at Peter.

Scott and Allison were laughing as they hurried off for the bus lot where it was nice, quiet and empty. They started to kiss and fondle each other in between the buses.

Allison then grabbed his hand. "Come on," she smiled as she tried to lead him inside the nearest one. But Scott froze as he looked inside. "Are you okay?"

Scott couldn't help but think that this was starting to seem just like that dream he had all those weeks ago. He and Allison were happy and laughing, just like now, and had gone into the bus to be alone together. Then he had lost control in front of her. She had been so scared before he went to attack her. But…he had to remember that it was just a mind trick that Peter made him go through. It hadn't been real. This was real and nothing was going to ruin it.

"Yeah," he said. "Just a little weird…dejavu." He then went in for another kiss. "You sure this is a good idea?" he asked when it was finished.

Allison then grabbed him by the neck. "In a minute, you're going to think that this was a great idea." She then went to run into the bus.

"I really hate it when you say things like that," he said teasingly after her.

"Come on," she said before stepping inside.

"Are you sure that we shouldn't be getting back to the dance?"

Allison walked along the inside of the bus until she was right across from him. She smiled over at him before blowing him a kiss through the window.

Scott smiled even deeper. "Screw it."

But before he could move over for her, he heard the sound of a car approaching. One then suddenly got in front of the space between the two buses and shined their bright headlights for him. Scott wondered what was going on as another car, a van pulled in from the opposite side and closed the spaces up. Scott narrowed his eyes through the light and saw that the driver in the van was leering at him.

He looked back at the other car and saw that the one behind the wheel was Allison's father. He seemed to be glaring at him. Scott then heard the van revving its engine. Allison's father did the same. Scott then looked over to Allison and saw that she looked completely freaked out.

Chris Argent looked over to see what Scott was looking at and saw his daughter in the bus. He full on glared at Scott and then put the car in drive as he went to ram into the revealed werewolf.

Scott panicked as both the cars started to drive for him. They were going to flatten him! Allison cried out Scott's name as they came for him. Scott then quickly jumped up, high, and the cars banged into each other and missed him. Scott then landed on the hood of Argent's car, safe and sound. He then raised his head to look over at Allison but his face wasn't his own. It was shifted.

Allison then gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Scott's face was just like Derek Hale's was. He was a werewolf.

Chapter Text

Scott was on the hood of Argent's car trying to get his mind to catch up with what had just happened. It was over. The worst possible thing had just happened. What he feared the most. He had lost control and shifted in front of Allison and she looked completely horrified. He looked over and saw that even her father looked a little surprised himself despite the fact that he had just tried to run him down. Scott had to get out of there and so he jumped up the roof of the bus across from them and made his way to escape.

Allison watched Scott leap and run away in tears. She couldn't believe it. It was Scott. Scott was the one that her Aunt had told her about. She then found herself just crying uncontrollably. Her father got out of the car and went over to her.

"Allison," he cried out. "Are you okay?"

Allison just went over and embraced her father as she cried into him. Her dad just held her to him tightly.

As for Scott, he headed off into the woods. He just ran. Ran straight on ahead until he finally lost his footing and collapsed. He was in tears. He then let out a cry of anguish at everything that had just come apart.

Back at the lacrosse field, Peter was wiping his chin from the blood that got stuck on when he bit into Lydia. When he sat up, Stiles quickly grabbed for Lydia's hand. He may have only done it once, and it wasn't quite healing, but it was better than nothing. He focused on how much he wanted Lydia not to be in pain or hurt in any way and soon enough he felt a small sting as his hand's veins went black.

But Peter grabbed his wrist and pulled him away. "Uh, uh, I'm afraid not Stiles."

"What?" he said trying to fight Peter's tight grip. "Why?"

"That takes energy and I can't afford you to give any of it up right now. I'm going to be needing you at full strength tonight." He then threw Stiles hand away. "Alright, we better get going."

"No," Stiles said defiantly. "I'm not just going to leave her here."

Peter spared a second to give him a look. "You don't have a choice Stiles. You're coming with me."

"No! Look, just kill me now, I don't care anymore!"

Peter went over and lifted Stiles by the bottom of his chin as he pulled him up so that they were face to face. Stiles still had a face of defiance. Peter could see that he was truly ready to die if he had to. "Don't be an idiot Stiles. It doesn't suit you," Peter said softly to him. "Call your friend. Tell Jackson where she is. That's all you get."

Stiles could see that Peter wasn't going to give him any other options. As much as he wanted to shove it all back at the guy, Lydia's life was more important. He then took out his phone and quickly called Jackson.

When Jackson heard the message, he ran to the lacrosse field and found Lydia laying there in a bloody mess. He quickly grabbed her and carried her off for the school, yelling around to anyone nearby to help him. To call 911.

Stiles was in his jeep, with Peter riding shotgun, as they were driving off to god only knows where Peter was leading them. Peter spared the young beta a look and didn't need super senses to know that the kid was pissed in every possible way.

"Don't feel bad," he started. "If she lives then she'll become a werewolf. She'll be incredibly powerful."

Stiles' eyes narrowed a bit. If she lives. What did Peter mean by that? Did that mean that those bitten by an Alpha didn't always make it and become werewolves? Was there a chance that Lydia was going to die?

"Right. And once a moon she go out of her mind and try to kill everything in sight."

"Actually, since she's a woman, twice a month."

Stiles took a moment to give Peter a dirty look. He really didn't appreciate that kind of a sick joke right now.

Back at the Argent House, Chris was pacing and then slammed his hands above the fireplace with conviction as he knocked down a vase that was sitting on it and it broke.

"Feeling better?" his sister asked calmly as she sat on the couch.

"Don't push me Kate!" he spat at her.

"I thought it was a pretty healthy display of aggression actually."

Chris hounded on her. "You told her!"

"She found out," she corrected.

"Don't think about the clues I know you've been leaving. Starting with that necklace. She knows, because you wanted her to!"

"Because she needs to!" Kate spat back dropping the calm fascade. "And from what I hear Scott's adorable brown eyes were a distinct shade of yellow tonight. Correct? And, from your little talk with his fellow Co-Captain, we know that his partner in crime Stiles shares that funny little trait."

Chris narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you back here? You hate this town. I had a network of names that I could've called that were a lot closer. But you called first."

Kate chuckled. "So, now you don't want my help?"

"I'm not sure I know who you're helping."

"Oh come on," Kate started. "I'm here to catch the Alpha. You remember, the one running around killing people at random."

Chris then went to clean up the broken vase. "Not random."

"What?"

"Taggert said that Sheriff Stilinski can connect every murder back to the Hale fire."

"Well then," Kate started to stutter. "That's even more reason for her to know. They've always blamed us for that fire. It has to be Derek and some other relative. I bet that's why they turned Sheriff Stilinski's boy." Kate didn't see that Chris was narrowing her eyes from where his back was facing her. "They are getting everything ready before they start circling us as their last targets."

"I know," he said. "That's why you're taking Allison out of here tonight."

"Okay, well that sounds like a particularly not open for discussion tone of voice."

"You're going to drive her to the house over in Washington and you're going to stay there until I call."

"Are you kidding me?" Kate scoffed. "You're going to bench your star player in the last quarter?"

Chris then threw the pieces he cleaned down before he stomped over to her. "Get your things. I want you two, on the road, within the hour."

Kate stared her brother down before she smiled at him and then left to do what he said.

Upstairs, Allison was in her room with her mother as she helped her pack her things.

"I'm not sure how long you'll be," her mom said going through her closet. "You want me to pick out anything specific?" Allison just stared back at her. "Sweetheart?"

"I just saw my boyfriend turn into a werewolf," she said blankly.

Her mom just laughed. "I'll grab some things myself."

But then her phone rang and her mom grabbed it before she could and cancelled the call. "Was that Scott?" she asked.

"No. Someone named Jackson."

"What are you going to do to him? To the both of them?" she asked remembering that it was confirmed that it wasn't just Scott but Stiles as well like they had originally thought.

"Depends. We have sort of a moral code. Especially when they're that young."

"Scott didn't kill anybody," she started. "And I'm sure that Stiles hasn't either."

"This is all part of a longer conversation."

"Well I want to know now. Right now."

Her mother turned to her. "What you want right now doesn't matter," she scolded. "What you need is to stay quiet." She went back to helping her pack. "Think of it like you just found out that your father secretly works for the government and he just couldn't tell you," she said more lightly. "But you understand because he's worked his whole life to make the world safer." That made Allison nod her head. "You're catching a glimpse of something that you're not quite ready to see. And there are others outside of this family who are not ready for you to see it. Staying quiet is the best protection, do you understand?" Allison nodded her head. But her mother's gaze became icy and she roared "Say it!" at her from out of nowhere.

"I understand," she said in a small voice.

Her mother then smiled. "That's my girl."

Soon enough her things were finished being packed and she was in the car with her aunt. Her father walked over but Kate started to talk before he could.

"You know that you can't do this without me. You can't fight them on your own."

But he didn't pay her any mind as he went to his daughter. "I'll explain everything to you soon. I promise. Call me when you get there, okay?"

Allison just gave him a look but nodded nonetheless. Kate then drove them off leaving her parents watching after them.

"Is she right?" Victoria asked her husband. "Can you find the Alpha?"

"No. But Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski can. And I know how to find the both of them."

Stiles finally arrived at where Peter wanted to go which was a parking garage at least over four miles from the school. Peter then grabbed him as soon as Stiles got out of the car and pulled him down the level.

"I can walk you know," Stiles bit out.

"Shut up and walk then," he said before they soon came up to a silver colored car.

"This yours?" Stiles had to ask. Did Peter like irony or something?

"No, it used to be my nurse's," he said popping the hood.

"What happened to-" But he got his answer when the hood opened to reveal the nurse's body stuffed into the back. "Oh my God!" Stiles cried out.

"I got better," Peter said grabbing a bag in there and then closing it.

The bag had a laptop. "Good luck getting a signal down here," Stiles said. Peter then pulled out a modem. "Oh, Wi-fi. And you're a Mac guy. That go for all Alphas or is it just a personal preference."

"Turn it on. Get connected," Peter said to him.

"Gotta say, you're really killing the whole dark mystique you had going." But Stiles went to start the computer up anyway. "You still need Scott's username and password and I don't know them."

"You know the both of them."

"No."

Peter chuckled. "You're trying to hide the shifts in your heartbeat. A nice attempt but it takes a long time to perfect something like that. I'm afraid it won't come as easily to you as everything else seemed to do. I applaud the effort though."

"Look," Stiles glared at him. "I swear to god,"

But Peter just grabbed him by the neck and had his claws poised and ready on him. "Stiles, don't make me hurt you. Now, stop wasting time and get to it."

Stiles was then let go and he went to rub his neck for a second before he went and then started to go online. "You're going to kill more people, aren't you?"

"Only, the responsible ones," said Peter.

Stiles snorted. "Yeah, you keep saying that but there are still bodies dropping that we both know had nothing to do with it. Laura, the school janitor, Lydia," he bit the last part out. "They had nothing to do with what happened."

Peter smiled at him. "Unfortunate mistakes."

"You really need a dictionary because your definition of mistake is obviously different from everyone else's." He then pulled up the site for the phone company. "Look, if I do this, then you have to leave Scott out of this."

"Can't do that Stiles. Tell me, do you know why wolves hunt in packs?"

"Because their preferred prey is often too fast or big to handle alone," he answered.

Peter's smile deepened. "You've been studying. Yes, that's right. And my prey is too much for me to handle alone. I need Derek, Scott and you. All three of you. Any Alpha needs at least three betas for handling what they deem to be threats."

"I, and especially Scott, are not going to help you you know. You're wasting your time."

"Oh you're wrong Stiles. Scott will help me, because it will keep Allison safe. And you will help me because it will keep Scott safe. You think that when they learn about him, they are going to let him live? Scott is under some delusion that their code will protect him but we all know it's all just a cover. Argent won't spare Scott, not with how close he's gotten to his daughter…and from the lack of shock on your face and from how little surprise I can pick up from your scent, you already knew. You can help protect him, your best friend, that you know so well that you have his username and password on hand."

'Ass' Stiles thought before he started to type in the username.

Peter frowned at the screen. "His username is Allison?" Then Stiles typed in the password. "His password is also Allison?"

"You still want him in your pack?" he asked sarcastically. Stiles ran the homing program and soon the coordinates for Scott's phone went up on the screen. Stiles eyes narrowed. "That's where they're keeping him? His own house?"

"No," Peter whispered. "Not at it. Under it. I know where he is now."

Scott forced himself to head to Deaton's office but the man wasn't there. A part of him was grateful. He just wanted to be alone now. He let his despair just come out of him in tears and just laid on the floor. He still couldn't believe that a night that started so wonderfully had gone down so badly. Everything seemed right, finally. He had Allison back and Stiles had even started-

At that moment Scott forced himself to his feet. Stiles. He had totally forgotten. Now that Mr. Argent and Allison knew about him, then there was a good bet that they knew about Stiles too. And he didn't know. They could be going for him right now. He had to warn him, but, he didn't have his phone. He couldn't go back to the school so Scott decided he should get home quickly and get in touch with him. As he was heading out, Scott saw a folder that Deaton must've left on the worktable that was labeled Animal Attacks. He went over and saw that it had one paper in it. It was a police file with a picture of a dead deer with a spiral carved into it. After he read it, something seemed to click about everything. He had to find Derek.

He got home and changed and then tried to call Stiles but there was no answer. He guessed that Stiles had his phone off, or at least he hoped that it was just off. He had no idea where anyone was or where to start looking. Scott decided to start in the woods as he darted through the trees trying to find some kind of a lead.

After a half hour of wildly running about he stopped. He had no idea what he was doing. This was only wasting time. Then he remembered something that Stiles said, the day of their first full moon when he was trying to convince Scott that they were werewolves. He said that wolves howl to signal where they were to the rest of the pack. Scott ran to the nearest high point he could find and then let out a deep, and long winded howl into the night sky.

Derek was still chained up and alone down beneath his home when his ears picked up the howl. Scott's howl.

Scott descended down as nothing seemed to happen. Maybe it didn't work? Now what was he going to do? But, before he could leave he heard a howl echo back to him. He smiled. "Derek." He said.

Back at the parking lot, the howl reached the ears of both Peter and Stiles.

"Scott," Stiles mumbled.

"Yes," Peter said before another howl was heard in response. "And I'm not the only one who knows where Derek is." He then went to pack up his gear. "Give me your keys," he said to Stiles.

Stiles handed them over. "Be careful. She grinds in second-" But Peter just took them and then bent them in half before returning them to him. The man then started to leave. "What? That's it?"

"For now. I'm going to get my nephew and then I'll be back for you."

"Not going to happen buddy."

Peter then stopped and advanced on him. Stiles moved into a stance as if preparing for a fight. That only made Peter let out a small laugh. "Haven't you learned that you're no match for me on your own?"

"I was a little out of it seeing Lydia and you covered in her blood. I'm a lot better focused now." He just hoped that it made some kind of difference.

But Peter made no move to attack him. "I still don't get why you're fighting me on this Stiles. Don't you get it yet? I'm not the bad guy here."

Stiles glared at him. "You turn into a savage beast with red eyes, claws and fangs and go around attacking and mauling people and you're not the bad guy here?"

Peter let out a small laugh. "I like you Stiles. No, I really do. And I'm further convinced that you were an excellent choice for the bite. Better than I first thought."

Stiles glared. "What do you mean?"

"That night, when I took Scott and yourself, it was because I felt drawn to the two of you. You see when I became an Alpha, I needed a new pack. I was driven to have a pack. Then I sensed it. Someone that made every ingrained instinct in me light afire. I ran off and then found Scott. Scrawny and not much to look at in first glance but had something inside him waiting to come out. I could feel it. As soon as I did, I went and gave him the bite."

"Yeah, and I bet that you think Scott thanks you for that from the bottom of his heart."

Peter just kept looking at him. "Scott is resisting but he'll grow into it fully in time. He's letting his feelings and romantic delusions for the Argent girl keep him from fully taking to the bite. I did tell him once, sometimes it's the people that you love most that could hold you back. He would see his full potential if he didn't weigh himself down with her. Until he does then he will never unlock the best of himself."

Stiles' eyes went practically to slits. "Is that what you tell yourself when your niece comes up? That you had to kill her in order to bring out the best in yourself?"

"That was a mistake," he said mournfully. "Had I been given the choice I never would've harmed her. All I'm trying to do is use this new power and do what I know has to be done. I've already explained that to both Derek and Scott. Listen to my heart and know that I'm telling you the truth." Stiles kept glaring at him as he looked towards the spot where Peter's heart was. Then Stiles just suddenly broke into a small grin and started chuckling. Peter's eyebrows rose up. "I'm lost at the joke."

Stiles then stopped. "The joke is that you think I'm going to fall for that like Derek and Scott did. You must really think I'm an idiot."

"What are you talking about?"

"Your heart. You were right. It was steady. And, normally, that would confirm you were telling me the truth…if you hadn't slipped and said what you did to me a while ago. You sneered at me for trying to keep my heartrate steady to try to lie to you. You said that it takes practice…like you knew from personal experience. You've trained yourself to lie and keep your heart steady when you do."

Peter looked thrown by Stiles for a moment. When it passed his steady gaze went into a predatorial leer. "My, my. Even when it looked like you were helpless you were still looking for the chinks in my armor. That right there brings me to my next point. You. After I bit Scott…there came you swinging that branch at me. When you hit me, my senses lit up again."

"You sure that wasn't just nerve shocks from the pain?" Stiles sarcastically asked.

He continued. "You had something inside of you waiting to come out to. And boy has it come out. I've lit the fire under you boys and while Scott's flame has become a torch, you've let yours burn into a bonfire. Intelligence, Dedication, Bravery, Instinct and Loyalty. All things that make wolves such a powerful and majestic species and you possess them all. True, there are some that just weren't made for any of this, but the opposite is also true. There are some that were born for this and you are one of those rare few Stiles. I'm sure that Derek told you that Jackson was someone no Alpha would want. Well, you are someone that any Alpha would kill for."

Stiles honestly didn't know whether to be offended by how awestruck Peter made that sound or flattered. True, when this all started he was mystified. It was an exciting and wondrous new world that he had been thrown into and he wanted to know anything and everything he could about it. To dig deep within himself and see just what it is that he truly was now. Even when the bad things started, he found himself riveted to finding out the truth behind all of it and doing what he could to stop it. It was like he knew that he had to stop it. And he would. He was not going to let Peter try to worm his way into his head.

"Yeah? Well, it's too bad that I'm picky about who I decide to work with. I get that from my dad."

Peter chuckled. "Stiles, you've seen what you could do on your own. Impressive to say the least, but, just imagine how you'll be when you could tap into your full potential. And I could help you do that. Join with me and as your Alpha you'll grow even stronger just as I'll grow stronger with every beta I take. You need me, just as much as I need you. All of you do. If you or Scott stay on your own then you'll not last very long. Not in this new world that you still know so little about. We share the same enemies and we share the same pains."

'Yeah and you're both,' Stiles thought to himself. "Is that right?" he sneered at the man.

"Why do you think I focused on Scott first Stiles? I could see that he would be needing the most…motivation out of the two of you. But, with you I could tell that you would make the smart choice in the end on your own." Peter was sure that Stiles would see the right choice and not be blinded by petty things like a romantic fling from doing what he knew was necessary. He had taken to the bite far less hesitantly then Scott has. In fact, he had thrived on it. And he knew that if he had Stiles then he would be that much closer to having Scott as well. "Tell me Stiles, have you ever heard that the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack?"

"That's from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book," he answered.

"Yes. You know what it means? That I, you, Scott and Derek, we all need each other. And that's the cold hard truth. You need an Alpha."

Stiles took a deep breath. "The truth? The truth is that I know you're right." Peter then smiled. "Me and Scott…and maybe even Derek. Whether any of us admit it or not, we need each other, we have all along. But…we didn't and won't need you." Peter's grin faded. "As for an Alpha…you're probably right there too. I might very well need one…but I know it can't just be any red eyed bastard. I want the right one. And that isn't you," he finished with a glare.

Peter stiffened himself. "Is that your answer? No?"

"Yes, no is my final answer." Stiles said defiantly.

Peter nodded. "Fine. You say that now…but, after all is said and done, don't say I didn't warn you. Lone wolves don't survive for long especially when they're being hunted."

Peter then went to his car and left Stiles to watch him drive off. Stiles let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. A part of him couldn't believe that he just stood up to the Alpha and came out of it in one piece. But, he couldn't afford to take it easy now. He had to get to Lydia. If Jackson did get her then there was only one place she would be now. Luckily, it wasn't too far and he could get there easily on foot.

Allison has spent the time just mindlessly staring out the window as she let her mind think about everything that has happened tonight. The time with her in the gym dancing may have been over two hours ago but it felt like two decades ago instead. She let her eyes pass by a parked car in front of a house when she snapped out of it. They were still on the local roads.

"Did we pass the highway already?" she asked her aunt.

"We did?"

"Are…we going to turn back?" Why wasn't Kate taking them upstate like her parents said?

Kate chuckled. "Now that's a petty choice of words."

At the hospital, Lydia was immediately brought into the operating room while the doctors went immediately to work on her. Jackson was standing there, watching her from the window with his face pale and breathless. He hoped Lydia was going to be okay. Lying there, she looked so…fragile which he couldn't ever imagine Lydia being. When he had broken up with her he didn't ever want something like this to happen. What did happen to her? But he didn't have too much time to dwell on that when he felt himself being grabbed from behind. It was the sheriff.

"Hey," he said turning him around to face him and pointing to Lydia. "What the hell happened to that girl?"

"I…I don't know. I went out, looking for her and…she-"

"What?" the sheriff cut in. "You just happened to wander into that field and found her like that?! Don't lie to me son."

"No, I'm not," Jackson said shaking his head.

But the sheriff just grabbed him and shoved him against the wall. "What happened to her?!"

"It isn't my fault!" Jackson cried.

"She's your girlfriend!" he argued. "That's your responsibility!"

"No, she's not! She didn't go to the Formal with me!"

"Then who'd she go with?" he demanded.

Jackson narrowed his eyes at him. "You really want to know? She went with Stiles."

The sheriff's face fell a bit. "What?"

"Stiles took her," Jackson repeated.

The sheriff slowly let him go as he let his mind go back to earlier tonight. His son had been excited about his date and had told him how much he had been looking forward to being with his date, which was this girl. If that was the case then where was he now? If this happened to her than what happened to him?

He left to try and get everyone to look for his son while Jackson stayed behind to watch over Lydia.

A few minutes later, the elevator doors opened and Allison came in and made her way over to that room. Jackson caught sight of her but she just walked passed him until she got to the window and peered inside at the unconscious Lydia. The doctors say that she was attacked by an animal. An animal, or rather a man that was part animal. Did Stiles do that to her? Or Scott? Or this Alpha that Kate told her about? Allison looked at her friend and then suddenly had a flash of her bloodied and screaming in pain. Allison then quickly left and headed back to Kate who was patiently waiting for her.

"Getting it now?" Kate asked. "It's what they do and they can't help it."

"All of them?" Allison let out.

"Yes Allison…even Scott." She then restarted the car. "Which is why we have to find them and fast. Before they end up hurting or killing someone else. Do you want that?"

Allison shook her head. "No."

"Good. That is why you're coming with me and together we're going to catch them before they can."

Scott had run through the woods, in the direction that Derek's howl had come from. He kept going until he stopped when something hit him. It was Derek's scent. He was sniffing a bit harder and followed it until he came to what looked like some kind of opening or grate hidden in the dirt. He dug a bit and then pulled on the metal covering until it came loose. He then went on inside to find himself in what looked like man-made tunnels. Derek had to be in there somewhere.

Stiles had ran all the way to the hospital and immediately asked about Lydia at the front desk. They told him where she was and Stiles didn't spare another moment of getting there. As soon as he got off the elevator he dashed for the room but he was grabbed and stopped, by his father.

"You know what?" he said while Stiles was trying to look around him. "It's a good thing we're in a hospital because I'm going to kill you."

"I'm sorry Dad. But, I lost the keys to my jeep and I had to run all the way here."

"Stiles! I don't care!"

Stiles just looked at him for another second before he looked over at Lydia again. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked softly.

His dad let out a deep breath when he saw that his son looked hurt enough. "They don't know. Partially because they don't really know what happened. She lost a lot of blood but there's something else going on with her."

"What? What do you mean?"

"The doctors say that its like she's having an allergic reaction. Her body keeps going into shock."

Stiles froze. He remembered that Peter said 'if she lives then she'll be a werewolf'. That had to mean that there was a chance that not everyone turns into one when they're bitten. That means there was a chance that someone could die from the bite. When he and Scott were bitten, yes, they were bleeding and hurt but still otherwise okay. Lydia was looking the polar opposite. Is that what was happening to Lydia? Was she dying?

His dad narrowed his eyes at him. "Did you see what happened to her? Do you know who or what attacked her?"

Stiles looked up at his dad. He shook his head. "No, I have no idea."

"How?" he asked getting a bit angry again. "Earlier tonight, you were so excited about being with this girl. How can you let her out of your sight Stiles?"

Stiles let out a deep puff. "Because she left dad. We were together but then she left…to find him," he said looking over to where Jackson was watching Lydia. "She really wanted to find him…so I let her go."

The sheriff could see that Stiles was deeply upset about that fact so he let it go. He could start to believe Stiles now when he said he didn't see anything. "What about Scott?" he then asked.

Stiles narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean? What about him?"

"Did he see anything?"

"What? Isn't he here? Didn't you see him yet?"

"What are you talking about? I've been calling him on his cellphone. I've gotten no response."

Stiles then looked over at Jackson, who was listening in, and he shrugged at him. Why hadn't Scott even dropped by? Sure, he heard his howl that told him he was out looking for Derek but why hadn't he been here to check on Lydia? In fact, why wasn't Allison here either? Something had happened. Something bad had gone on between Scott and Allison, and he knew that it couldn't be Peter because he had been with him. And, when Stiles caught sight of Jackson again, he remembered what the Co-Captain had done earlier. Scott might've run into trouble from the other danger in this town besides Peter.

"I don't think you're going to get one," he said to his dad.

The hunter that had been torturing Derek for the last few hours was back and went up to the still hanging werewolf.

"My knuckles are kind of hurting. So I brought some help." He then lifted up a wooden baseball bat. Derek caught sight of it and hardly flinched. "I should warn you. I used to play in college."

He went to take a swing but Derek went and grabbed it revealing his hand was free. "Brought a little help too," he said as he looked behind the hunter. The man looked back to see Scott standing there. Derek then took advantage and knocked the man out and to the side. Derek then went and started to take the cords hooked on him off. "Scott, help me with this," he said looking to his still trapped hand.

But Scott stayed back. "No."

Derek froze. "What?"

"Not until you tell me how to stop Peter."

"You really want to talk about this right now?!"

Scott stayed poised and calm. "He's going after Allison and her family. He's going to kill them."

"So what?!" Derek barked out. After everything they just put him through, he was going to kill them as well.

"So tell me how to stop him."

"You can't! Now help me out here!" He tried to unhook himself but he wasn't strong enough to get himself free by himself. "I don't know when Kate's coming back so get me out of this right now! Right now!"

"Promise you'll help me stop him," Scott said still being calm and poised.

"You want me to risk my life for your girlfriend? For your stupid teenage crush that means absolutely nothing! You're not in love Scott! You're sixteen years old! You're a child! Besides, do you really think that they are going to stop with Peter and me?! For all you know, right now, they are going after Stiles! While you are standing there, worrying about your silly little girlfriend, your best friend who has done everything possible to help protect you, could be being hunted down right now! Or does his life mean less than your Allison's?"

Scott's poise finally broke as he looked down. "Maybe you're right. But I know something you don't. Peter said that he didn't know what he was doing when he killed your sister, right? He lied." Scott then took out the paper he found at Deaton's office. "Remember this?" It was the picture of the deer with the spiral carved into it. "This is what brought your sister back to Beacon Hills, right?"

"Where did you get that?" Derek demanded.

"Three months ago someone came into the clinic asking for a copy of this picture. Do you want to know who it was? It was Peter's nurse. They brought your sister here so that Peter could kill her and become the Alpha, it wasn't a mistake! That's why you're going to help me!" Derek deflated as he stared at the paper. Scott then turned around. "Just…say you'll help me and I'll help you unlock your other-"

But he heard a squealing sound followed by a snap. Derek had broken the other restraint by himself.

"I'll help you," he said.

Chapter Text

Stiles and his father started to walk together through the hospital hallways.

"Stiles, just go wait with your friend, alright?" the sheriff asked.

But Stiles wasn't budging. "Dad, just tell me, what else did you find out. I know it has something to do with Derek."

The sheriff narrowed his eyes. "I thought you two said that you barely knew him."

Stiles let his arms fly out in defeat. "Alright, we might know him a little better than that. Or, really just me. I've kind of been helping him look into the Hale fire."

But the sheriff just grabbed him. "You do realize that I'm elected to this job, right?"

"And if I help you figure this out you'll be re-elected," he said standing firm. "Dad, come on. Tell me what you know. Lives are at stake here."

His dad looked back where they came from. "That girl in there has nothing to do with a six year old arson case." He then went on walking.

Stiles followed after him. "There, start there, when did you first decide it was definitely arson?"

"Well we had a key witness, and no I'm not telling who it was. But, yeah it was arson. Probably organized by a young woman."

"Young woman?" Stiles asked tensing. "Who?"

"If I knew that then she'd be in jail."

Stiles exhaled. This was it. It was time. "Did…is she supposed to have blond hair?"

The sheriff stopped walking this time. He looked back at his son. "How do you know that?"

"First, tell me if you know anything else about her?"

"What?" his father said before his phone started ringing.

"Do you know anything else about her? Is she old or young or was she young then? Her name, anything."

"What's with the twenty questions?"

"Think dad, think," Stiles pressed.

"Look, all I know is that she had blonde hair, yes, and that she had been wearing some kind of pendant."

Stiles quickly took out his phone and brought up his pictures. "Does it happen to look like this one?"

His phone kept ringing but his dad ignored it as he took the phone closer to look at the image of Allison's necklace that Stiles kept. "Where did you get this?"

"No time to explain dad." He then scrolled on the screen and the image of Kate Argent that he found came right in. "Dad, take this picture and the one of the pendant to your witness. I'm sure he'll give you a positive ID."

"Stiles, what's going on? Who is this?"

"Look dad, you're going to have to trust me."

"Trust you?!"

"Yes! Dad, you have to or more people could get hurt, even killed. I promise, once you get the positive ID, I'll tell you everything you need to know." He then sent the pictures to his dad's phone which was still ringing.

His dad then took his still ringing phone. "You're lucky I have to take this," he said as he answered it and started walking off. "Stilinski," he said as he moved on, no doubt to see to what Stiles had just given him.

Stiles watched his father go off before he went off himself. The first part of his plan was underway. Now he had to see to his other problems. He was heading out for the elevators when Jackson caught sight of him and went over to him.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"To find Scott," Stiles said not slowing down.

Jackson just kept following him. "You don't have a car."

"I'm aware of that, thank you," he spat.

"Hey, I'll drive."

Jackson went to grab him but Stiles threw his hand off. "Look, just because you feel guilty all of a sudden doesn't make it okay. Alright? Half of this is still your fault!"

Jackson just stared back at him. "Look, I have a car, you don't. Do you want my help or not?"

Stiles exhaled. Unfortunately it looked like whether he wanted it or not, he needed it. He was fast, but without a car he wouldn't be fast enough. "Did you bring the Porsche?" he asked almost mockingly.

Jackson nodded his head. "Yeah." He then showed Stiles his keys.

"Good," he said grabbing them off Jackson's hands. "I'll drive."

Yet, before they could do anything else, the way was blocked by Mr. Argent and two of his fellow hunters.

"Hello boys. I was wondering if you could tell me where Scott McCall is."

Stiles kept his cool. "Scott McCall? Haven't seen him since the dance." Stiles wasn't lying. He really hadn't.

"Hmm?" Mr. Argent said clearly not believing him.

"True. How about you Jackson?" Stiles said before turning to look at him.

Jackson looked from Stiles to Mr. Argent. Their stares made him begin to pale. "Uh…I…"

Stiles exhaled. "Oh, for the love of god."

The next thing they knew, the two of them were being thrown into the morgue and Chris Argent locked the door behind them.

"Let's try this again," he said stiffly. "Where is Scott McCall?"

"We don't know!" Stiles said stepping in front of Jackson.

Chris then went and grabbed Stiles and slammed him against the wall. Jackson tried to run but was grabbed by one of the other hunters and his arm was thrust back as he was held there to watch. The hunter was right at Stiles' face. "Let me ask you a question Stiles. Have you ever seen a rabid dog?"

"No, but I'll be sure to put it on my to do list," he sarcastically said back.

That only made Argent slam Stiles harder against the wall. "I have and the only thing that I've ever been able to compare it to was seeing a friend of my turn on a full moon. Do you want to know what happened?"

"Not really," Stiles hissed. "No offense to your story telling skills but I could tell it won't be my kind of story."

Chris then went and pulled out his gun and held it under Stiles chin. "He tried to kill me!" Chris roared at him. "And I was forced to put a bullet in his head," he then shoved the gun higher into Stiles' throat. "And the whole while he lay there dying he was still trying to claw his way to me like killing me was the most important thing he could do with his last breath. Can you imagine what that was like?"

"No but sounds like you need better taste in friends. Or maybe, he did," Stiles snapped back at him.

Chris just pushed on his head harder. "What about your father Stiles?"

"You shut up about him!" Stiles literally spat at him.

"Do you ever want to risk what you could do to him on a full moon? Want to black out and then come to your senses to see your hands covered in his blood while his corpse bleeds on the floor?"

"Of course not! What the hell do you think I am? Stupid. The night of the full moon, I went and handcuffed me and Scott in his house while his mother was away so we wouldn't hurt anyone." Chris glared at him. "What? Is that not good enough for you? I guess you would've liked it better if Scott and I locked ourselves in the basement and then had the house burn around us? I'm sure that would make you happy!"

Chris eased himself back a bit as he smirked at him. "I hate to dispel a popular rumor but we didn't do that."

Stiles leered harder at the man. "Oh right. Derek did say that you had a code. You don't hurt innocents especially when they're young. Like shoot crossbow bolts at kids in the forest at night, flash rifles at them outside of their school dance or hold a gun, with the safety off, under one's chin in a public hospital. You don't do things like that, do you Mr. Argent? Right?!"

Chris took a look at the hand he had gripping the handgun that he had pointed to the kid's chin. The safety wasn't even on like he said. He then went and loosened his grip on the gun and then finally lowered it a bit. Him listing those things like that seemed to make him realize that he was starting to cross the very line that he was trying to reinforce himself.

"That's right."

But Stiles still glared at him. "And what if someone does?"

"Who?"

"Your sister." Chris gave him a glare. "You know, just the fact that you don't look or even smell the least bit surprised says a lot. I did some digging of my own and if a kid like me could connect the dots then I'm sure that you did yourself a long time ago. She and all those people dead helped her burn down a whole family, kids, to death. Why do you think all of this is even happening? Where's your damn code now? In fact, where the hell was it then?! Or was Derek right and it's all nothing but crap?"

Stiles was livid. Thanks to Peter digging his claws into him, he's had the memories of the Hale Fire plague his dreams nearly every night. Sometimes the images would get jumbled and he would see himself, or Scott, or his father or Scott's mom burning along with them. That only fueled his determination to go through with his plan. If Argent killed him, it wouldn't stop it now. He'd given his father the most vital piece and he would crack it with or without him to tell him everything else.

Chris disregarded his sarcasm. He always suspected Kate might have had a hand in that but he didn't want to believe it. And now, Kate was out there with his daughter and with how things have been lately she wouldn't just be leaving just because he said so. And if the ones that were responsible for the Hale Fire were being killed off then he had just put his daughter directly in the line of fire.

Chris gave Stiles a last look. "We're leaving," he said backing away from the kid.

"But what about them?" one of his hunters asked.

"We're going, now!" he said taking off with the other two running off after him.

Jackson went and looked over at Stiles incredulously. "Are you trying to get us killed?" he gasped at him.

"Shut up and follow me," Stiles said taking off for the elevators like he had been doing moments before.

"But where are we going?" Jackson asked as he followed him.

"To the school. We're going to need something."

Scott led Derek out of the tunnels through the same way he got in and they broke free into the woods. They quickly came to be at the Hale House but Derek was panting and he held his hand out to stop Scott.

"Hold on. Hold on!" he said finally making Scott stop. Derek then looked around. "Something doesn't feel right."

"What do you mean?" Scott asked.

Derek gave him a look. "It means something doesn't feel right. Starting with getting out of there. I don't know…it's kind of like it was-"

"No," Scott cut in. "Don't say too easy! People say too easy and bad things happen!" Derek rolled his eyes at him. "You think finding you was easy? Getting away from Allison's dad? Nothing about this has been easy. So if things are going right for two seconds can we please not question it?! Can we just shut up and thank god that we have the tiniest bit of luck for once?"

Derek just shrugged when he was done. "Fine. You're right."

Scott let out a relieved sigh which was followed by a whistle as an arrow found its way into Derek's shoulder. Scott looked around and spotted Allison aiming her bow at them with Kate next to her.

"Now the leg," Kate said to Allison who got another arrow ready and then let it loose.

The arrow landed right at Derek's knee and he collapsed to the ground.

"Flashbolt," Kate said next.

"Scott, your eyes!" Derek yelled out to him.

But Scott wasn't listening. He was still as a statue as he watched Allison get another arrow ready and then fire it. When the bolt hit the tree behind him Scott fell down from the flash and the force of the impact. Derek struggled hard with pulling the arrows out of him while Scott tried to get his eyes to readjust. Derek finally yanked the arrows out and limped to Scott.

"Come on," he said grabbing him and helping him move.

Kate and Allison watched them for a bit before Kate got up. "Natural talent," she said to her niece before she walked over for them.

Derek tried to get them away but Allison's arrows did too much damage to him and he wasn't 100 percent as it was. He then fell to the ground taking Scott with him. "Run," he growled.

Scott was on the ground, still blinking as his eyes started to refocus. He then started to make out the sight of Allison walking for him. "Allison, I can explain."

"Stop lying," she said as she advanced on him. "For once, stop lying."

"I was going to tell you everything at the Formal. Because, everything that I said, everything I did-"

"Was to protect me," Allison finished for him.

"Yes."

Allison just shook her head. "I don't believe you."

"Thank god," Kate huffed out. "Now shoot him already before I have to shoot myself."

Allison looked back at Kate with her face falling a bit. "But…I thought we were just going to catch them?"

"We did that. Now we're going to kill them." She then went and pulled her gun on Derek who was still on the ground and shot him. "See?" she said to Allison's shocked face. "Not that hard." She kept walking until she got to Allison who looked scared beyond belief. "Oh no…I know that look. That's the you're going to have to do it yourself look."

"Kate, Kate," Allison said as her aunt took a gun and pointed it at Scott. "What are you doing?"

Scott just looked at the gun being pointed right for his head. He couldn't move. Allison tried to stop Kate but her aunt just pushed her away to the ground.

"I love those brown eyes," Kate mumbled.

But before Kate could fire on him.

"Kate!" Everyone looked to see Chris Argent walking up. "I know what you did," he said softly. "Put the gun down," he then ordered.

But Kate didn't put the gun down. "I did what I was told to do."

"No one told you to murder innocent people. There were kids in that house. Ones who were human. Look at what you're doing now! You're holding a gun to a 16 year old boy with no proof he spilled any human blood." He tried to fight back the fact that his sister is doing what he had done himself not too long ago. But he then said what made him lower his gun in the first place. "We go by the code," he said before he recited it for his sister.

His daughter translated it. "We hunt those who hunt us."

But Kate still didn't put the gun down. In fact, her finger was tightening on the trigger. But Chris quickly pulled his gun out at her.

"Put the gun down," he said firmly. Then he let a shot loose on the tree next to her. "Before I put you down."

That made Kate finally lower her gun as she stared at her brother, in disbelief that he was choosing a werewolf kid over his own sister.

But that didn't last long as the front door of the Hale house started to creak open. At that everyone stood at attention for that door.

"Allison, get back," her dad warned.

Allison stepped away. "What is it?"

The sight of two red eyes began to shine in the darkness beyond the open door.

"It's the Alpha," answered Scott as his eyes burned gold.

The next thing anyone knew, there was a shape running out of the door and into the brush. The four of them tried to follow it but it was too fast. The Alpha went and knocked Chris away. Then it knocked Allison away. Then it went for Scott. This left Kate as the only one standing.

"Come on!" she shouted. "Come on!"

But the next moment she turned, her hand was grabbed by Peter Hale. He squeezed on it as she tried to fire but the shots went out in vain. He then threw her for the porch. Peter then stomped over for Kate and grabbed her by the neck as he dragged her inside.

Allison watched as her aunt disappeared and she quickly got to her feet. "No," she cried as she ran into the house after them. She stomped on in to find her aunt standing at the mercy of the man's claws as they were right at her throat.

"She is beautiful Kate," he said calmly watching her. "She looks like you. Probably not as damaged." He then tightened his hold on Kate. "So I'm going to give you a chance to save her. Apologize. Say you're sorry for decimating my family. For leaving me burned, and broken, for six…years," he growled.

"I'm sorry," Kate whimpered out.

Peter caught sight of Allison's scared face and he then went and clawed right at Kate's throat. Allison cried as she saw her aunt get mauled right in front of her and then fall into a heap on the floor.

"I don't know about you Allison but that apology…didn't sound very sincere." Peter then began to advance on her.

But he was stopped when Scott arrived, fully shifted and stared him down. Both Allison and Peter looked from him to Derek who also walked into the room shifted himself. They both then charged for Peter but he sidestepped their assaults and threw them both away.

Allison used that diversion to run out of there and try to go to her dad for help but he was still knocked out.

Derek then got up first and made a swipe for Peter's head but the Alpha struck his uncle in the stomach and threw him up to the ceiling before he kicked him off to land at the other side of the room. Scott then came in behind him but Peter went and flipped him over and slammed the young beta to the floor. Scott tried to get back up and attack Peter again but the man just grabbed his wrists and whipped him off to land on some old furniture. Derek then charged for Peter but the man slammed his nephew in the chest before he grabbed him by the back of his jacket and threw him away to hit the wall head first. Scott then tried to grab at Peter by goring at him but Peter stood his ground. He drove his knee into Scott's chest and then tried to throw him. But Scott managed to reverse it and throw Peter against the wall. He struck at the man's back but Peter quickly elbowed Scott in the face and then turned to grab him by the neck. Scott tried to punch the man in the face but all he did was cause his face to shift a bit before he stared back at him. He tried to hit the man again but that only made Peter angry and he then threw him to hit the overhead banister. With Peter standing alone, he then started to shift and he quickly turned into his animal form right in front of their eyes. Now Scott felt that their chances of beating him were even lower than before.

At that moment, Stiles was driving Jackson's Porsche through the dirt road as fast as he could to the Hale House.

"Hey," Jackson cried out. "This isn't exactly an all-terrain vehicle."

"Yeah, did you pay for it," Stiles said not even batting an eye.

Jackson huffed. "No."

"Then shut up." Stiles then went faster. He got his phone out and gave it to Jackson. "Here, make yourself useful."

"And do what?" Jackson said looking at it.

"I need you to send a text to my dad."

Time for the final part of his plan, for the Argents. In between the two of them, in two beakers, was the trump card for his plan for Peter.

Allison was still outside the house with her father when she gasped as Scott was thrown out of the window and rolled off the ground some distance away. The Alpha burst through the window after him. He grabbed at Scott and roared at his face. Scott whacked the beast in the chest and kicked him off which surprised it and got him to let go.

The Alpha stared back but was then distracted by the sound of a car honk. Stiles and Jackson then stepped out of the Porsche. Stiles then went and threw one of the beakers for the Alpha but the beast caught it. The Alpha growled at Stiles while he flashed his golden eyes and shifted there and growled right back at him. It looked like he would have to improvise.

But he didn't have to because Scott did. He caught sight of Allison's bow and ran for it. He called out to her as he grabbed it and tossed it to her. Allison caught it and then readied her arrow and then let it loose on the bottle in the beast's hand. It shattered and then the liquid instantly ignited and covered the beast in fire.

Stiles then looked at Jackson. "Throw it!" he yelled at him. Jackson looked at the bottle in his hand and threw it for the Alpha whose flames then became even bigger. Stiles glared at the burning Alpha. "Looks like this time we lit the fire under you," he growled at him.

Scott growled himself as they watched the Alpha continue to growl and writhe in pain. But he saw that the Alpha was beginning to charge for Allison. "No," he said as he ran and kicked the beast away.

Soon the beast fell down and the flames began to die off. For a moment, Peter stood there, back to normal, as he looked off at them all before he collapsed down into the dirt.

Allison then looked over at Scott, still shifted, and she found herself moving towards him. Scott tried to look away but she grabbed his face to look back at her. Allison gave it another good look and then found herself leaning in closer. She leaned in until she and Scott were softly kissing.

As they did, Scott's face slowly shifted back to normal. As they kissed, Stiles caught sight of them but he didn't look happy. In fact, he glared hard at them. So did Allison's father who regained consciousness.

They then separated and Scott gave her a puzzled look. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I love you."

Scott pulled away from looking at Allison when he noticed Derek walking over to Peter. He was leaning over him. Scott quickly ran to him. "Derek, wait! You said that the cure comes from the one that bit you! Derek, if you do this, I'm dead. Her father, her family. What am I supposed to do?!" he cried out to him to stop him. Stiles stomped over and caught Scott's attention. "Stiles, you have to help me!"

But Stiles shook his head. "It was a lie Scott."

Scott's eyes widened. "What? What are you talking about?"

Stiles then went and looked in Derek's direction as he looked back. "There is no cure. There never was, was there Derek?"

Derek glared at Stiles before he then shook his head. "How did you know?"

Stiles then pointed to Argent. "From him. He told me of his friend that got turned and he had to then kill him. Scott, if there was a cure then don't you think that he would've tried giving it to him instead of killing him? Killing the Alpha that bit you, it possibly working to reverse it, Derek lied to you." Stiles then looked back at Derek. "Because he knew that unless you felt there was a chance for you to have what you wanted you never would've helped him otherwise."

There was then light laughter beginning to sound off from the ground. Peter was chuckling through the sensations of burns filling him. "Oh, ever the clever one, isn't he Derek? You already decided what you were going to do, haven't you?"

Derek then went and slashed Peter's throat. Scott looked off in horror. Derek then looked at them with his eyes now shining bright red. "I'm the Alpha now."

Stiles was glaring at Derek and his new red eyes. He was mad, but he couldn't let himself be distracted. He stomped over for Allison and then went and ripped the necklace right from her neck.

"Whoa, Stiles!" Scott cried out.

Chris Argent went over for them but Stiles flashed his golden eyes and pointed towards him. "If I were you I would take Allison and leave before my father and his deputies show up. They're on their way here now and you still have time before they spot your car leaving a crime scene." He growled at them. "Feel grateful that I'm giving you that."

Chris Argent glared at the beta before he grabbed at Allison's arm. "Come on. We're going."

Allison spared Scott a final glance before she was pulled away to follow her father back to his car.

Then Stiles looked over at Jackson. "You take Scott out of here. Now!" he said when Jackson looked ready to protest.

Scott gave his friend a puzzled look. "Stiles, what are you doing?"

"You'll see, but now you have to go," was all he said as Jackson started to pull him off to his car. Then Stiles looked at Derek. "You…you stay with me. I have a plan and I'm going to be needing your help."

"What?" Derek asked.

"Just listen," Stiles started.

Soon enough, the sheriff and his deputies did arrive. Derek was off to the side, with Stiles, and he put on a show of looking slightly weak. When they checked in the house, the found the body of Kate Argent, wearing the pendant that Harris had said was definitely the one as well as confirmed that the woman in the picture was the one that asked all those questions about committing arson.

The sheriff advanced on the two of them. "You two have a lot of explaining to do," he warned.

Stiles gave his father a nod while Derek just gave Stiles a look.

Much later that night, Scott met up with Stiles in the hospital and snuck off into Lydia's room.

"Shut the door," Scott mumbled to him.

Stiles went to slowly shut the door but it creaked loudly as he did. Then he quickly closed it and locked it but slipped up a bit. "What?" he said as Scott looked at him in disbelief. Scott just rolled his eyes and went off to Lydia's bed with Stiles right behind him. Stiles eyes caught Lydia's solemn looking face. Scott went to Lydia's side and then lifted her gown up to look at the bloodied bandage and began to peel it away. Stiles tried hard but still cringed at the sight. He looked away. "Has it completely healed?" he asked his friend.

Scott shook his head. "No, not at all."

Stiles then looked back to see that the wound still looked fresh. "I don't get it. The doctors said that she would be fine."

"Yeah, but the bite's not healing like it did with us. Remember, when we woke up, our bites were much better. She looks exactly the same…which means…she's not a werewolf."

Stiles' eyes narrowed. Peter said that if the bite worked then she would be a werewolf but if it didn't then she would die. Yet, Lydia's not going to die. It was either/or, right? "Then what the hell is she then?"

Scott just stared at her. "I don't know."

The front door of the Hale House opened and Jackson then walked on in. "Derek?" he called out. "Derek!" he said louder. He then looked up to see who he was looking for at the top of the stairs. Jackson swallowed down his fear and stepped closer. "I…I helped you. I helped save you!" Derek just walked forward a bit and that made Jackson back up a bit but he kept his eyes up at him. "Okay, you got what you wanted! You got what you wanted," he said a little fainter. "Now…it's my turn to get what I want."

Jackson wanted to be a werewolf. Peter may not have been willing to give him what he wanted but he felt that Derek would now. He had to. This was his final chance. There was no other way. He had to become a werewolf.

Derek then jumped down the landing and stared at Jackson who began to sweat at the sight of him. Derek just smiled at him and flashed his red eyes. He bared his teeth and went for him.

Over at the Argent House, Chris was looking at the paper where his sister was the cover story. Together, Derek and Stiles had spun a story that completely implicated Kate in all of the killings in Beacon Hills. The tale was that Kate Argent was hired by a private employer to help kill the Hales to be able to buy the land when they were all dead. She decided to gain access with Derek Hale who she seduced when he was still a high school student. Derek had been so wrought with guilt that he kept quiet about the whole thing and was scared to say anything when the fire happened. When his sister Laura had found a lead, she had returned to Beacon Hills and Kate killed her to try and cover her tracks. She then learned that Derek was in town and was going to kill him to complete the job and get her payment in full. But she then went and killed all the others involved to both cover her tracks and keep all the shares for herself. That night at the school, she had been the one to kill the janitor and Derek had been on her trail which is why Scott had seen him there. When Stiles was asked why he was doing this, he had explained that he wanted to try and make amends for falsely accusing Derek Hale for the murder of his sister. Derek accepted his help because he thought that a private investigation done by him and a kid over going to the police would lower the risk of Kate finding out what he was up to. But Kate caught onto him and she had threatened Stiles with his father's life if he didn't stop. Stiles continued to investigate in secret though until he could help Derek get the evidence he needed to finally bust her while he went into hiding to distract Kate. When they finally had everything they needed, Kate's employer had killed her to cover his own tracks. But he disappeared and neither Derek nor Stiles had any clues as to who he really was.

Chris had to admit, it was quite a story. One that gave all the right answers to the people that had been looking for them. His wife Victoria came over to him after she got off the phone.

"They'll be here in two days," she said.

"That's why Stiles did it. Take Allison's necklace. It put all their eyes off Derek and on Kate instead."

Victoria just grabbed the paper from him. "The police would've put it together eventually. But don't think for one second that she's going to take the fall for something she didn't do." She then threw the paper away.

"We're going to be pariahs in this town. That kid's plan made them into brave and tragic heroes to the public. And, if anything happens to Derek Hale or Stiles Stilinski, fingers are going to be pointed at us as the most likely culprits."

"We can handle it," Victoria said glaring at the kitchen counter. "Gerard will know how to work around that."

Chris gave her a look. "And Allison?" He knew that everyone was now going to be looking at her like a leper and at her age that would be a tough thing to deal with. "This is going to be especially hard for her."

"She'll learn," she spat out. "And what about Scott McCall?"

"I'm not the only one he has to worry about now."

Over at the roof of the Argent's house, Scott was there, holding Allison as the two of them were looking up in the sky at the moon. It would be full in over a week. Until then, they just let themselves be there, with each other, now out in the open with no secrets between them. Their minds wasn't on anything that had happened before or will happen later. All that mattered was the two of them at that very moment.

Stiles was in his room looking at his phone. He hooked it up to his computer and accessed a recording file. Suddenly, his hard but panicked voice started to sound.

"You don't hurt innocents especially when they're young. Like shoot crossbow bolts at kids in the forest at night, flash rifles at them outside of their school dance or hold a gun, with the safety off, under one's chin in a public hospital. You don't do things like that, do you Mr. Argent? Right?!"

Then Argent's voice followed. "That's right."

The file ended and Stiles ran his hand over his head. He had set his phone to record in his pocket when Argent had grabbed him and Jackson at the hospital. Sooner or later, whether Scott would believe it or not, the Argents were going to try and come for them. Stiles could feel it so he had to find ways to protect them. Their reputation has been ruined and he was sure that the local yahoos would be digging into their past for some dirt. He was sure that they would cover their tracks. But, they couldn't cover everything. At least it will keep them occupied and wouldn't move against them too quickly but they will eventually try when they feel the heat has died off.

If they tried to do anything, Stiles would be ready to do what he had to. He wouldn't make the same mistakes the Hales did. He wouldn't allow anyone to harm him or his friends and loved ones and then disappear thinking they would be Scott free (pun not intended). Even if that someone was Allison herself. Scott may be ready to forgive her but Stiles wouldn't just forget what she had tried to do, to Scott, even to Derek. She couldn't be trusted and Stiles would be keeping his eye on her from now on. He had to, for his, Scott's and now for Lydia's sake.