Hi :)! So I'm very new to the FanFiction community, and this is my first story! I've had fan fiction ideas floating around in my head, so I figured I should actually gather the guts to put an idea in writing. I had recently binge-watched Teen Wolf and love every bit of it. I've always wanted a certain creature to appear in the show and love that some fans have theorized that Deputy Parrish could be this creature. This story is basically about both Parrish's and Stiles's struggles with self-discovery, and it also toys with the question of what exactly are the boundaries of the supernatural world. Hope you enjoy it; reviews would be so wonderful, especially with me being new to this.

P.S. This is set after season 4; I've really tried to keep it as much canon as I could, so if some parts are off, I apologize ahead of time.

P.P.S. Hope you enjoy my chapter titles; some of them are references that fit quite well in my opinion ;).

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or anything officially associated with Teen Wolf. I also do not own dementors (wouldn't want to anyway).

Chapter 1: Throwing in the Towel

WHACK! Many of the officers jumped and instinctively reached for their guns, anticipating an attack on the station; after all the crap they've had to deal with lately it wouldn't be much of a surprise. But alas, the only evidence of a disturbance of any kind was a tiny book laying on the floor and a very frustrated Deputy Parrish laying his head on his desk. Finally fed up with finding nothing, he had slammed the book shut and chucked it against a wall where it bounced off and landed in its current location.

Jordan Parrish had spent days and days poring through the bestiary, hoping against hope that he'd find even the tiniest bit of information that could give some sort of inkling as to who he was…supernaturally that is. He knew who he was as a person; he was loyal and kind and always strived to go above and beyond to serve his community. And he did it selflessly; he didn't care about being placed on any pedestal, though getting praise from Sherriff Stilinski always warmed his heart. Yes, he definitely knew himself…right?

But he often found himself questioning just that. Sometimes he debated whether he really wanted to find out at all. Whatever…creature he was, how would that affect him? Would he end up hating himself and do something drastic like jump off a roof? Or would his ego get so inflated that he becomes just as much of a monster as that obnoxious Peter dude? He shuddered at the thought; a lot of the creatures in the bestiary looked pretty grotesque and, well, "evil". He couldn't handle himself if what he was was just as disgusting as those illustrations.

The fact that he still hadn't found anything in the damn book didn't help matters at all. He was afraid that not being recorded meant that he was some new, freakish mutation, far more dangerous than anything hunters or anyone had ever faced. The sane part of Jordan knew he was blowing this way out of proportion, but fear is one of the worst enemies a person can have, and right now it was possessing the deputy almost as much as a nogitsune could. He was so consumed in his worry that he hardly even noticed the sheriff walk up to him until he heard his voice hovering above the desk.

"You all right, Parrish?"

And that was the wake-up call. Raising his head at Stilinski's question, Jordan realized just how distracted he was. He bore the uniform of a hero not a villain, and his job was to protect the people of this town, not destroy them. He wasn't going to let any of this nonsense mess with his head anymore. No more werewolves or banshees or electric foxes or whatever the heck was out there in this crazy metaphysical world. He could be some bizarre crossbreed of a unicorn and a dementor for all he cared. Right now, he is a human being, and he sure is going to act like a good one.

"Yes, I am perfectly all right; I just let myself worry too much, that's all," he replied with cool collection.

The sheriff sighed, "Look, I know these past few weeks have been pretty…crazy. I still don't completely understand all this magic mess going on…"

"Supernatural," Jordan corrected.

"Sorry?"

"Not magic. Supernatural I can handle making some sort of twisted logical sense. Magic…is just crossing a HUGE line."

Stilinski shook his head, "Whatever it is, don't beat yourself up overanalyzing it; just keep moving forward and do your job as well as you've always done, which includes relaxing when you need to," he leaned a little closer so the other officers wouldn't hear, "You're one of the best guys I've worked with; nothing can ever mess with that, except you. So take care of yourself, and don't lose faith in your instincts. I mean, whether I'm fighting a snake-like person or an actual snake-human, I do pride myself on my officer instincts, " he chuckled and stood up straight, "Just do me a favor and go home and go to bed."

Jordan smiled for the first time in a while; he could always count on the sheriff's wise words to cheer him up. "I think I might just do that." He got up from his seat and gathered his things. As he did, Stilinski noticed the bestiary on the ground. There was an unsettling air of familiarity about the book; he had never seen it before, yet he felt like he should know what it is. He picked it up and went to hand it to Parrish, "Hey, what's this?"

Parrish mentally freaked out for a second before hurriedly thinking of a white lie to disguise the book. "Oh that? It's just something Lydia lent me to read. But honestly I've found it a bit too annoying. I'm probably going to get it back to her tomorrow or something."

The sheriff raised an eyebrow suspiciously but didn't press the matter; Jordan was stressed enough as it is. "So that's where that ruckus came from earlier… Yeah, off to bed. Now."

"Yes sir," the deputy replied, grabbing the bestiary and walking out the door to his car. He hated lying to Stilinski, but even though the sheriff knew about supernatural creatures, he couldn't bear having him find out that Parrish, one of his best colleagues, could be a potential supernatural monster. The older man had enough on his plate with his pseudo-son being a full-fledged werewolf and his actual son being once possessed by an insane demon of darkness. Stilinski, who was so brave, who in the matter of months has become a sort of father figure to the young deputy. No, Jordan can't give him that much more worry. And so he made himself forget everything that Lydia suggested to him about finding his identity, and before he started the car he pulled out his phone to send a quick text to the young girl:

Deputy Parrish: I've decided to stop the search. I'm sorry, but there are more important things I need to do than try to figure this out. Come to the station after school tomorrow to pick up the bestiary.

Deputy Parrish: Thank you for all your help, and for believing in me. It was something I really needed.