The sound from the fighting slowly dies down until all Derek can hear is the crackling of the fire, and the sound of their breathing. The teenage boy's breathing was worryingly shallow. Derek stands up quickly after settling the teenager gently on the ground. Looking around, Derek was relieved to find that every member of his pack was still standing, albeit injured.
Kneeling down, Derek worriedly goes over the teen's injuries, what he see makes the red bleed back into his eyes and his fangs drop. The cuts on the back of his neck were deep and will need stitching, and he was littered in tiny cuts and bruises, but it's the brand that was burned into the flesh of his shoulder that drew his attention. The mark appeared to be an assortment of dots, scattered along his shoulder with no apparent pattern that Derek could recognize.
The skin around the mark was inflamed; the skin rising around the mark was flushed with blood. The wound was fresh; Derek could still smell the acrid scent of burnt flesh wafting from the wound, a smell he would not soon forget. The mark was an angry scorched red with black in areas where it had split the skin too deep. It made Derek's blood boil and his wolf pace and snarl beneath his skin. He had this strong undeniable urge to hunt, maim and kill those who had harmed him. But he already had, hadn't he? Derek mused.
"Derek?" Isaac calls out quietly, approaching the alpha slowly, trying not to startle Derek in his current state. Isaac could still feel the violence and tension thrumming in the air. He had no doubt that if Derek could do it; he would bring the alpha back from the dead just to kill him again…. Slowly.
"What?" Derek grunts, not looking at his beta as he continues to go over his ma- the boy's- injuries. Laying a firm but gentle hand on the teen's arm he pulls the pain from the boy's body, watching as he slumps, his tense features slowly relaxing. Glancing over the boy's relaxed face Derek could tell he was beautiful underneath all the filth, dirt and soot. The boy has soft creamy skin, with moles and light freckles, and stupid cupid-bow lips. It made his teeth itch. It made him want to follow the trail of freckled skin with his tongue and see just how far it goes.
Several footfalls alerted him to the rest of his pack approaching where he was kneeling on the ground, and Derek shakes his head to clear the thoughts fogging up his brain.
"Urg! There goes my new heels and jeans! They're completely ruined! Thanks Derek." Erica sneers in disgust, as she saunters up shaking off bits of gore from her heel and picking her claws. Scrunching her face in clear disgust Erica whines, "no amount of showers is gonna remove this reek!"
Derek just turns and stares at her, raising an eyebrow at her broken heels and ripped up spandex that she calls jeans, "I'm not giving you my credit card."
Erica just bares her teeth in a wide smile, flipping her hair over her shoulder, "Oh, don't worry. You are - you just don't know it yet."
Derek just glares at her while she continues to smile widely at him. He knew it was a bad idea to turn a bunch of insubordinate teenagers into werewolves. He knew it.
"Is he going to be okay?" Isaac asks, gesturing to the boy lying unconscious on the ground. The rest of the pack crowds around to get a closer look at the hurt boy. Boyd leans down opposite side of Derek and looks over the teen's injuries, watching as Derek's veins turn black, draining the pain away like poison.
Derek favours Boyd not only for his strength and silence, but for his calculated thinking. With a glance at Derek's red eyes Boyd just nods, his own eyes flaring gold and places his own hand softly on the other teen's arm to help draw out the pain.
Derek shakes off the shocked feeling of the need to brush Boyd's hand off the boy and rub his own scent in. Boyd knew what this boy was to him, he could tell by how slowly Boyd moved to touch him. Of course he did, he probably guessed it as soon as the boy was in the clearing.
Derek scoffs and turns his attention back to the teen beside him. He didn't think the cuts on the back of his neck were deep enough to turn him, but he was worried about the open wound from the branding – it could get infected and scar really badly if not treated properly.
"I think so" Derek murmurs, taking his hand off the boys arm, the pain should be gone for the time being. Being an alpha did have its perks. An alpha drawing out pain tended to keep the pain away for longer. "We have to get him to Deaton." Derek says standing, gently picking the teen up and carrying him bridal style as not to jostle him more than necessary. The teen was surprisingly thin and light beneath the baggy clothing. It made Derek grit his teeth, the boy was clearly malnourished.
"Scott, Erica, head back to my place and pick up the SUV and meet me back on the side of the road by the ridge on the eastern side. Isaac, get to Deaton's and let him know we're coming. Kira, Boyd, with me." Derek orders.
"But what about the bodies!? Scott exclaims, "Some of them are just unconscious."
"Isaac will contact the Argents when he gets to Deaton's. Now go!" Derek snaps. The pack moves into action and within minutes Derek can no longer hear or sense their presence in the area. It didn't take long after they left that Derek could hear a car rumbling in the distance. Finally.
Shifting his weight and holding onto the teen's body firmly, Derek treks through the underbrush with his betas at his side, senses on high alert for any possibly danger still lurking around. Reaching the edge of the woods Derek carefully slides along the edges of the ridge that will lead to the road down below and the waiting SUV. The teen groans and stirs in his arms but otherwise doesn't wake up.
The whole drive to Deaton's was silent and seemed to take way longer in Scott's mind. Every time the SUV hit a bump in the road it would cause Derek to let out a growl and glare daggers into the back of Scott's head. He knows, he can literally feel the power of his glare and judgy eyebrows. He shudders with pity for Erica who was stuck sitting in the back with him for the entire ride.
Parking hurriedly in front of the clinic's front doors, Scott rushes out to open the doors just in time for Derek to barrel through. Deaton had already set up the infirmary room, Isaac rushing to grab last minute items that Deaton calls out as Derek lays the teen on the cot.
"This is the boy?" Deaton asks, putting on a pair of latex gloves and grabbing a needle that he began to fill with a clear copious liquid from a vial.
"Yes." Derek says, watching as Deaton lifts the boy's shirtsleeve to inject the needle. Quickly reaching out Derek firmly grasps his emissary by the arm. "What is that?" He demands, his wolf shifting uneasily.
Deaton glances up at Derek, unperturbed by his mood. "This is a Propofol Sedative; Mr. Hale. This will help keep him relaxed and asleep for the duration that it will take for me to address his injuries. He will feel no pain, along with minimal side effects."
Derek lets go of Deaton's arm with a grimace and closes his eyes, breathing in deeply before letting it out in a hard sigh. "Go home." Derek says not looking at his pack, eyes locked on Deaton's movements.
"You sure, man? We'll stay-"
"No Scott, go home. All of you." Derek says, turning around and looking at his pack. Realizing he's being a little too harsh he gentles his tone. "You've all got school tomorrow. Meet me back at the pack house tomorrow, we'll talk then."
With a chorus of goodbyes followed by complaints and arguments about who's going to drive they filter out and Deaton and Derek are left alone in silence.
Deaton slides the boy's shirtsleeve up before injecting the needle into his arm. Satisfied at not getting any reaction from the sleeping body, Deaton proceeds to fit the Finapress to the teen's wrist and index finger. Glancing back up at Derek he explains, "This here, that I have just attached to the boys arm is a Finapress. It is used to monitor blood levels and determine his heart rate."
Derek just swallows thickly and nods his head in understanding, body held rigidly. "Now, I am about to place electrodes which will send a mild electrical torrent - Mr. Hale, please take a seat!" Deaton demands calmly as Derek growls and takes a threatening step forward, claws curling forward "I will not harm your mate!"
Derek stops and stares at Deaton for a second before nodding, his claws slowly retracting and he takes a step back. It was different from knowing it was true, to hearing it to be true. Having it said out in the open just… just seems all the more real. And that terrified him.
"I'm sorry" Derek sighs as he forces himself to sit at a distance away from the cot, dragging his hands over his face in obvious stress.
"I understand. The urge to protect your newly found mate can be overwhelming, but I need you remain calm. I am your emissary. I mean him no harm, alpha." Deaton placates. "Now," Deaton starts, giving Derek a firm look "I am going to place these electrodes on his chest once I remove his articles of clothing. The electrodes will be hooked up to the ECG monitor and will send a mild current of electricity through his body that will record the electrical activity of his heart and skin. Put simply - it will help detect any infection or irregularities."
Derek nods stiffly, accepting his explanation and allowing Deaton to continue. With that Deaton settles to work removing the boys articles of clothing and hooking him up to the monitor before inspecting his injuries. "Light abrasion and lacerations on his chest. What appears to be two broken ribs on the right side. Puncture wounds on the back of the neck. A burned mark on his right shoulder that's…" Deaton trails off, eyes creasing in thought.
"What!?" Derek demands, getting up from the chair and coming to stand beside Deaton "Do you know what this mark means? It's not the same as the others."
"Yes, I know what this mark means." Deaton murmurs quietly, staring at the mark in disbelief. "When you found him… was he about to be sacrificed?"
"I didn't wait around to find out." Derek growled out, gnashing his teeth "They were hurting him."
"Do you not know the significance of this mark?" Deaton asks quietly. "I would have thought Talia would have spoken of what this symbol means to your people."
"I was not groomed to be an alpha, you know this. If my mother had spoken of it, it was not to me. Now enough of your riddles and just tell me what it means." Derek says tight lipped.
"The dots," Deaton explains "are not just scattered randomly. They are an alignment. If you align the two upper most dots with the upper middle and connect the remaining together, what does it look like?"
Derek leans closer to the mark with a frown, concentrating on picturing the dots linking up. "A wolf?" he whispers in wonder, eyes wide.
"Yes." Deaton says nodding "It is the marking of the Lupus constellation that is only visible during the month of June on a full moon night."
"But why would a cult brand that on someone that's going to be sacrificed?" Derek frowns.
Deaton slowly turns to look Derek in the eye. "You really don't know, do you?"
"What!?" Derek growls out in aggravation.
"It means Mr. Hale, that if that cult is right about this boy… we have a possible genocide on our hands."