Isaac hadn't exactly gotten the reaction he thought his surprise return deserved. He had been on alert as soon as Scott and Stiles exited the school, and he'd had them in his sightline the entire time. Stiles had emitted something akin a small shriek when he saw Isaac leaning against his beloved Jeep. It had amused Isaac to no end, though he was careful to not show it. Stiles had recovered quickly enough, a change that stood in stark contrast to Isaac's memories of him.
"What brings you here, Curly Sue?" Stiles' question fell on mostly deaf ears. Isaac growled in his direction – "Ooh, so scary. I'm shaking in my sneakers." – but the taller boy's eyes remained firmly on Scott. The Alpha was sniffing the air, making a face of confused recognition. The right corner of Isaac's mouth quirked up slightly when Scott finally made eye contact. Scott looked almost startled, as if he had put all of his concentration into smelling. Apparently, Scott still didn't have ths whole werewolf thing down, even as an Alpha.
"You smell it, too, don't you?" Isaac asked as the three boys were joined by the rest of the pack. He knew Lydia, Kira, and Malia, but there were also two boys that he didn't recognize. At the topic of smell, Malia and the shorter boy sniffed the air, mimicking the expression on Scott's face just moments later. Isaac knew Malia was a werecoyote, but what was the boy? And what had he done to earn entrance into the pack of a True Alpha?
"Why does that smell familiar? And who's this guy?" the shorter boy asked the Alpha. Scott turned to him, a fatherly light sparking in his eyes. Isaac made a note to mock his friend for it later. Scott McCall: Responsible Pack Father. The title actually kind of suited him, but it still seemed ridiculous.
"Liam, this is Isaac Lahey. He used to be one of the Betas in Derek's pack and then mine. Isaac, this is Liam Dunbar, my only real Beta. And I don't know what that smell is." Scott replied sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders.
He returned his attention to Isaac, who admitted, "I don't know what it is, either. But it's definitely supernatural."
At this point, Stiles decided to be his usual annoying and nosy self, completely butting into the conversation. "Hey there, remember us? The non-were members of the pack? The ones that have no idea what you're talking about?"
Isaac snorted. Stiles always had to be the center of attention. He had no idea what Scott saw in the hyper teen. But that was a topic for another time, he supposed. For now, he'd just add his two cents to Scott's explanation. Of course, that required Scott actually give a decent explanation.
"It smells like campfire smoke and lavender and cinnamon. Sort of like Deaton, but different. Close enough that the supernatural connection is obvious," Scott told the others.
Isaac interjected then. "I smelled it earlier today. There was this girl on the other side of campus. I didn't recognize her. The way she held herself – she reminded me of Erica. And I swear her eyes changed colors."
"Have you been waiting here all day? That's so creepy!" Nobody really paid any heed to Stiles' remark.
"Another –" Liam started, but Lydia cut him off. She stepped closer to Isaac, looking at him in a way that scared him way more than it should have. Lydia might have actually gotten more terrifying while he was gone, if that was possible. He hadn't thought it was. He was wrong.
"About my height? Dark hair, dark eyes? Wearing a leather jacket and biker boots?" she asked. Isaac nodded, and she stepped away. Turning to Kira, they stared at each other for a few seconds before Lydia spun on her heel to face Scott. (She managed to whack the unnamed pack member in the face with her hair in the process, which left the boy sputtering and caused Isaac to chuckle lightly.) "That would be the new girl in our class. Her name's Marigold Lane. She has a twin brother named Jonquil and a freshman sister named Camellia. They just moved here from Italy. Their mother died and their older sister took custody of them and moved them here."
The rest of the pack looked in amazement at the banshee (and the kitsune, to a lesser degree). "How do you know this stuff?" Stiles asked, wide-eyed. If Isaac himself didn't have what was probably a very similar expression on his face, he would've snickered.
"I have a gift." Lydia sniffed, like she was annoyed that any of them doubted her ability to know everything about everyone at school. "Anyway, I heard she's pretty smart. And she has a decent fashion sense. Kira and I will make friends with her and see what we can find out." She ended her statement by turning decisively and heading towards her car. Again her hair whacked the unnamed pack member, which was even better the second time around.
"Lydia! Wait! I didn't – " Kira began to protest, jogging to keep up with Lydia, who was moving faster than really should have been possible in those heels. The kitsune shot a quick wave over her shoulder as she continued to try to convince Lydia that she was not the girl for this possibly-very-important job.
The rest of the pack and Isaac looked at each other, eyebrows raised. Malia shrugged and left the group with no kind of farewell, heading in the same direction as the other two girls. Scott and Stiles looked a little dumbfounded, which amused Isaac greatly. "Apparently the girls are all riding together?"
"Come on, Stiles. We need to get going." Scott eventually said, nudging his best friend's arm with his elbow and causing Stiles to startle.
"Crap! Derek's going to get all Sourwolf-y if we're late. He's not even an Alpha anymore, he has no right to be all grumpy…" Stiles' grumbling trailed off as he unlocked the doors to the Jeep. He hopped into the driver's seat, and the other four boys made their way to the passenger side. Liam and the unnamed boy hopped into the backseat, and Isaac and Scott had a bit of a stare-down.
"We're having a pack meeting at Derek's loft," Scott explained, "It's also kind of a 'welcome back' party. The Hales have officially returned to Beacon Hills." Isaac nodded.
"I have a car. I'll meet you there." Before Isaac could turn away, Scott grabbed him into a hug. Even with all his werewolf senses, Isaac hadn't seen it coming.
"I'm glad to have you back, man." There was only honesty in Scott's voice, and Isaac sighed happily but inaudibly. As many bad memories as there were here, there was no place like Beacon Hills. And there was no pack like his pack.
A/N: I don't know why this chapter took so long to write. All I know is that I'm so glad to finally be putting it out, especially since it means I can finally do my homework. I really hope y'all enjoyed, and hopefully I'll be seeing you soon with the next chapter!