It was around four am when the window was shattered. Poppy bolted up from her spot on the couch, leaping to her feet as a bullet struck Lucy between the eyes. The young Omega gasped, reeled backwards and hit a strong chest. One arm wrapped around her middle and lifted her off the ground as a second covered her mouth to keep her from screaming. Poppy panicked as her father and a few other wolves leaped through the window. The girl squirmed,biting and scratching at the man that held her, eyes flashing blue and claws and fangs elongating. Her father sneered down at the dead witch and then looked over at his daughter and smirked.
"You actually thought you'd get away?" He stalked forward and ran the back of his hand down Poppy's cheek in a mocking gesture as his lips curled. Poppy squeezed her eyes shut, calming her pounding heart, and then glared at the man in front of her, smashing a foot into the side of his head. His head was snapped around, and when he looked at her again, his eyes were a deep red and he was growling.
"You don't own me," Poppy hissed upon getting her face free of that hand. It moved down to her throat and squeezed. Caleb snarled and slammed a fist into her gut hard enough that she tried to curl in upon herself, her breath immediately cut off. When the hand around her neck eased it's grip she gasped and choked.
"Of course I own you," Caleb growled. "You're a worthless child, an Omega at that. There's nothing remotely special about you." He slapped her, claws leaving long scratch marks across her cheeks, blood dripping down her face like crimson tears as her breathing became ragged.
A phone ringing shattered the scene. Caleb gestured at the man holding Poppy, and her mouth was once again covered as her father picked up her phone and hit the accept button.
"Poppy can't come to the phone right now, can I take a message?" He asked, managing to keep the growl out of his voice as he watched her struggling. His eyes got hard when he heard the voice on the other end. "Peter Hale," this time he did growl. "And what business do you have with my daughter?" Poppy couldn't identify what Peter was saying, but she twisted around in the hold and smashed her head against the wolf's nose, hearing a crunch before warm blood seeped into her hair. The man yelped, and dropped her, and Poppy leaped up, kicking Caleb hard and grabbing the phone before dashing away, snatching the handgun out of her duffel bag.
"Peter, I'm in serious trouble," she gasped into the phone.
"Poppy, you need to tell me where you are, alright, I'm coming to get you." Peter told her, voice frantic.
"I'm about ten miles west of Palo Alto, heading back toward the city, please hurry." She hung up and stuffed the phone into her pocket, tearing through the forest, rain pounding down and washing the blood off her face and hair as she ran. She could hear the snarls behind her, and she pulled the gun up and loaded, holding the cool metal steadily in her right hand. One of the Alphas was approaching, and as it came up even with her, she turned the gun on it, not even looking, and shot. Satisfied with the yelp and crash she heard, Poppy sped her pace. She knew she could easily run to civilization, but so could they, and they were faster than she was.
Their footsteps seemed to echo around her, reminding her of the dream, and Poppy clenched her free fist and started running faster, ducking under branches and weaving through trees, making her way through the thick of the forest. It was harder for them to catch up to her here, and she could hear them fall behind as she panted, just barely slowing her pace to one she could endure until she hit the road.
Everything would be deserted at this time of night, which she knew meant that it would take Peter significantly less time to find her, and she was glad for that as she finally broke free of the trees. It was another half-mile into town, so she sped up,hearing nothing but her footsteps, the rain pounding cement, and her own heartbeat, sounding frantic and wild in her ears. She didn't stop when she saw the headlights, only when the car pulled up beside her and the back door opened, a figure yanking her in and holding her still as the driver turned around recklessly and started speeding off.
"Poppy. Poppy, you need to calm down and listen to me." Peter. She looked up. There was a driver, Peter was in the passenger seat, and then there was another person in the backseat with her, rubbing at her arms, trying to get her to respond.
"I didn't think they'd find me this fast," it was a breathy whisper, but she knew they heard it. "They found me, and now Lucy's dead and they're going to kill me," she panted desperately.
"Poppy, you're safe, they aren't going to get you." The person next to her promised and she looked up at them, and it was that Isaac boy, but he didn't seem to care about the fact that she'd been trespassing on his territory, he just looked worried. She turned and buried her face in his shoulder, shaking, and he ran his fingers through her hair, trying to keep her calm.
"What are we going to do?" Derek asked, looking at his uncle from the corner of his eye.
"We're going to keep her safe," Peter replied. "Just like I always swore I'd do." Derek nodded.
"Isaac, how's she doing?"
"She's asleep," Isaac replied. "I can't believe I didn't realize she was a werewolf when I met her."
"You knew that she wasn't human, you just didn't recognize her because she's had practice hiding it," Peter replied. "She knew it was dangerous being in Beacon Hills when it was already claimed territory, so she was trying to get out of there as soon as she could."
"And neither of you care about her having been on our territory?"Isaac asked. "Just to be clear."
Both Hales shrugged, making noncommittal noises in the back of their throats. "I was very close with Poppy's mother. She's like a daughter to me," Peter answered.
"Yeah, we used to play, you know, when we were younger," Derek added. "I babysat her a couple times. Seems fitting she join the pack."
"Okay," Isaac nodded, looking down at the sleeping girl using his chest as a pillow. One of her hands was fisted in his shirt, and when he noticed the soaking girl shiver, he slid his jacket off, trying not to jostle her as he wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her closer against him. She sighed and nuzzled closer, and he smiled.
"We're almost home," Derek said a few minutes later. "You wanna carry her in?"
"Sure," Isaac answered, "can you get the door?" The Alpha nodded and opened the door as Isaac pulled Poppy into his arms carefully, sliding out of the car and moving toward the front door, where Peter was waiting.
"C'mon, let's get her dried off," the older said, moving so Isaac could go inside with the girl held securely in his arms. Most of the pack was asleep, save Lydia, who was waiting up for them.
"So this is Poppy," she said, and the boys all nodded. The sleeping blonde moaned slightly and clutched at Isaac's shirt tighter, breathing beginning to speed up. Lydia walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking gently until the other girl gasped, eyes flying open before she squeezed them closed and swallowed.
"What- I fell asleep, didn't I?" she asked.
"Yeah, pretty much," Derek chuckled, and Poppy smiled slightly as Isaac set her down, letting her lean against him. "How are you feeling?"
"Cold, worried, and guilty, but I'll be fine." She replied. "I just need to dry off and get warm."
"My thoughts exactly." Peter cut in. "You can borrow some clothes until we get some for you." And so he let Lydia lead the blonde upstairs.
"She can have my bed, I'll sleep on the couch," Isaac offered, gesturing toward the pack-sized couch. Derek nodded and gestured toward the linen closet.
"Alright, Kali stocked up the closet with blankets and pillows for movie nights." He said. "I'll see you guys in the morning." The Alpha turned and headed up the stairs, swiftly disappearing into his room and falling into bed with his sleeping mate. Peter walked over to his room downstairs, and Isaac ran up to his room to change before dragging some blankets and pillows out of the closet and curling up on the couch.
"Thanks for this," Poppy said as she finished drying off her hair. She was dressed in a pair of pyjama pants and a tank top, and Lydia smiled.
"It's no problem," she said. "Isaac took the couch, his room's right across the hall for you to sleep in."
"He didn't have to do that, I could have slept on the couch," Poppy said.
"Don't worry about it, that's the type of thing Isaac does. He's a sweetie," Lydia smiled. "You should get some sleep. You can meet the rest of the pack tomorrow."
"Okay. Thanks again, Lydia." Poppy smiled and walked into the room across the hall. It smelled strongly of Isaac, something musky, with tones of pine and something sweet. She smiled, sitting down on the bed and looking around. The room had been painted a forest-y green colour and it had hardwood floors. The bed was large, a queen-sized, with dark covers. One wall was nearly covered with pictures and drawings, and there was a large window revealing the moon on one wall. Poppy sighed deeply before curling up over the covers and falling into a light sleep.
A/N: Kay, dunno what to say to you guys here. Uhm, please review, I won't be updating for a few days, please don't kill me? I'm having a sleepover with a couple friends on Saturday, Teen Wolf marathon while me and one of the friends try to get the other onto the teen wolf train. Mmm, Dylan O'Brien :) God, they stacked that show with either unbelievably cute or hot guys! Seriously!