Her brain was far too confused and tired to process the notion of Peter Hale saving her life with the help of Scott and everyone else. By all accounts he should have walked away with the information, not giving a single thought to her whereabouts and safety. Yet he hadn't, he'd come for her. Why? What did he have to gain? Something, clearly… but she was too emotional and far-gone in her grief to even think on it. Lydia put that away for now, hopefully forever, she didn't want to think about anything at all.

Now Allison was gone Lydia had to find some way to hold herself up, and she was entirely positive that had Peter not bought her here she would have slipped into a comatose state and drowned in grief with no one to bring her back.

"Alright Lydia look to the left for me." Deaton said. She did as such and he shined the light in her eye, "and right." She complied and he shone again, before turning it off. "Looks all good, no concussion. How're you feeling?"

"Tired, hungry." Heck it'd been hours since she had a decent meal.

"I expected as much. I've ordered some Pizza but you should also try and get some rest." He advised, as always.

"I'll rest when this is over." Yes she was beyond exhausted, but her brain was buzzing with so much it would be impossible to sleep.

"I thought you might say that…" Deaton nodded.

It wasn't long before the Pizza arrived and they sat together to eat, once Lydia had finished her half she felt a lot better than when she'd been brought in. Her head wasn't so dizzy and the filled empty hole in her stomach made it easier to think, but it also caused a hazy sleepiness to descend which she tried to fight off.

She decided to stand up and take a small walk around to get the blood going, this wasn't a time to sleep just yet, not when the Nogitsune was out there doing who knew what. Just as she made it to the door though, Scott came barreling through and almost walked into her.

"Hey, you alright? How's your head?"

"Better, thanks. How're you?"

"Holding in there I guess, no time for…" This was awkward, they both knew there was more to say but it would have to wait.

"I know." She reached out and held his hand, giving it a squeeze that he returned, and then moved the topic on "what are you doing here?"

"I came to see Deaton, Stiles just text me with some information." He showed her the message and her heart leapt into her throat. This could be it, then.

Just as they turned to find Deaton he appeared in the waiting room, "Scott I thought I heard your voice, what can I do for you?"

"We need to talk, we think maybe we've found something. A way to stop the Nogitsune." Scott walked forwards, he looked like a man who would do just about anything right then, and Lydia couldn't help but admire him. "Stiles and Kira said that it was the Nemeton that kept it trapped"

"The problem is this isn't even a person you're fighting, it just looks like one. It's a spirit that's taken the shape of a human."

"The shape of my best friend."

"Someone caught it once, someone can do it again, right?" Lydia suggested.

"I don't know." He shook his head slightly "This thing was trapped, a long time ago, before the Nemeton was cut down. It doesn't have the same power anymore."

"Is there anything that does?"

"Possibly.""When the tree was whole, its wood was sometimes used to contain powerful objects. But those objects are… very rare."

It was like a light switched on in her head and Lydia's brain sang with the sound of figuring out a puzzle. "Wait a second, powerful objects?" She couldn't believe she was about to drag him into this again, but there was only one person she knew with a wooden box that held anything similar to what Deaton was speaking of.

"Like an Alpha's claws?" She looked at Scott, as if to say 'I can't believe this could be that easy.'

"Which Alpha?" Deaton asked.

"Talia Hale… Peter had them in this wooden box with the triskele carved in the wooden lid. What if it was made from the Nemeton?" She couldn't dare to even dream that they'd just figured out a way to win.

"It was." The shift in tone was obvious.

"How do you know?" Scott asked in surprise.

Deaton looked incredibly uncomfortable, "Because I made it."

"Lydia, call Peter and tell him to bring the box here. We're going to need it."

Peter hadn't expected to arrive outside of Derek's loft, so when he found himself sitting in his car here and not back at his own apartment it took him a few minutes to get out and make his way up. Something was keeping him close by, maybe it was to do with his need to see this all the way through and there was a nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach, this wasn't over yet.

He shook his head and pushed the door open, making his way up to his nephew's place. He didn't really understand the man's need to live somewhere so minimal being that Peter was a creature of comfort and luxury, but it wasn't his place to question.

The elevator made its way up and he walked out to find that as he made his way to the door Derek wasn't alone. Interesting. He listened to a rather heated conversation between what he could make out as the twins Ethan and Aiden and Derek. So they were here as well.

Just as he opened the door he caught the tail end of his nephews little speech and he couldn't help but cackle inwardly, amused that he still hadn't grown out of giving lengthy speeches to others. "Don't mind me boys, I won't stop you from leaving." He said, as they all collectively turned to look at him.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked.

"I thought I'd come see how my favorite nephew is doing." He cocked his head to the side and took in more of the scene. "Looks as though you've been in a fight."

"We were attacked." Ethan said, obviously annoyed at the intrusion.

"Clearly." He retorted.

He moved further into the loft and went to sit down for a moment, laying his head back on the couch. Derek shifted towards him, dismissing the twins and telling them to go clean up. The younger werewolf then sat next to his uncle and took him in slightly, "what happened?"

"Teenagers." Peter glanced over at Derek, who tilted his head for more information. He sighed and sat up straighter. "I was busy helping them with the Nogitsune."

"You? Helping?" Derek looked like he was going to laugh.

"Yes, helping. Obviously poor lack of judgment on my part." He was still not sure what possessed him to help, and Lydia hadn't seemed too thrilled either, even after her thank you.

"What did you do now?"

"I didn't do anything." Before he could respond better his phone began to ring. It took him so much by surprise, who could be calling him now? Peter checked the ID- Lydia.

"And to what do I owe this unexpected phone-call?" He had wanted to keep some bite out of his answer but it didn't work out quite the way he planned. Okay so maybe he was slightly bitter, doing things for people without reward never sat well with him somehow.

"Hey, uhh sorry to call like this. Do you still have that box you keep Talia's claws in?"

Talia? What did she have to do with… it hit him like a ton of bricks. The box, the wood, it had magical properties. "Yes."

"We need it to trap the Nogitsune. We think we know how to stop him, can you bring it to the School?"

Peter looked to Derek; he knew he'd heard everything. He nodded in confirmation and stood up to go and retrieve the box. "We'll be there soon." He put the phone down.

Lydia hung up on her end and nodded her head to the others "he says they'll bring it." Just then she felt a strange rushing sensation as though her body was slipping away from her consciousness, Scott caught her before she fell.

"What's wrong?" Deaton asked.

"Something's happening…I had this sudden rushing feeling." She tried to process the emotion for a second and when she placed it, she felt sick "like we're running out of time."

"Yeah." A new voice joined the group and they all turned to find Stiles and Kira in the doorway. "Yeah I kind of got that feeling too."

"Stiles!" He looked awful, on deaths door awful with an extra helping of sickly grey and the dark circles around his eyes were deep and purple. No matter how annoying and silly she found him, Stiles was still one of her best friends and Lydia's heart broke looking at him. She moved to help him stay upright as Kira swapped with her, instead going to stand near Scott.

"We should move quickly, are you okay to drive bud?"

"Maybe someone else should drive, I can barely stand." He really did look that bad, and Scott stepped up and agreed to take the wheel. The group moved to leave and as they left, Deaton called good luck.

'We're going to need it.' Lydia thought silently.

The drive was a somber affair for everyone as they powered their way towards their destination. Kira and Scott were avoiding direct conversation with each other while remaining pleasant and civil, in fact Kira had opted to sit in the back with Lydia. Stiles was shivering up front and silent for most of the journey, everyone there felt the need to fill in the silence that Stiles would usually fill himself with incessant babbling.

It wasn't long however before the group arrived and they clambered out of the Jeep, Stiles falling against the rails, so Lydia went to help him. They moved as quickly as they could to the school entrance but Stiles stopped them all before entering the building.

"I know what you're all thinking, that if this works it might kill me too. But even if it does you have to go through with it…stick with the plan okay?"

Scott gave a wry shake of his head "the plan is to save you, and that's the plan I'm going with." He left no room for arguments, and Lydia couldn't think to disagree. Whatever happened in there, she refused to lose any more of her friends. Whatever happened, no matter what, Lydia would never let another person she loved die if she could stop it.

Problem was; Stiles already looked like a walking ghost.

Peter did not know why he let Derek take charge on these matters, because it always left him rolling his eyes so hard his eye socket hurt. His nephew was overly fond of drama and dramatic entrances, big speeches and fancy mystery; in fact Peter was convinced he saw the entire werewolf thing as one big overly dramatic game.

Power meant nothing to him, whether he was a beta or an alpha or even a fairy princess, Peter knew without a doubt his nephew would continue being dark and make bold entrance as over the top as possible.

And so here they were, at the school looking for Lydia and Scott so that they could give them the required box, but what they found instead was a Jeep with no one in it, and the presence of one very evil Nogitsune. As usual Derek thought that they would confront the evil spirit and hope that the rest of the pack would show up just in time, they had the box right? Of course they'd show up, it's what they had asked for.

"So let me get this straight, we're going to walk into his little welcoming party, fully aware I might add that they plan to attack us, and you don't see a problem with this scenario?"

"Well what do you suggest? We can't do much until Scott shows up."

"Where is Scott anyway?" Aiden asked. "They should have waited for us."

"I'm not saying your plan is crazy, no wait that's exactly what I'm saying Derek, your plan is crazy." Peter did not like going in without a few back ups and escape routes, and he knew for a fact what those Oni could do first hand. He'd seen Allison's body.

"We're going in, you're either with me or you can leave. If we want to find Scott we have to get past the Nogitsune and Oni and give him the box." Derek's face was resolute, there wasn't much persuading to be done and Peter didn't have the motivation or desire.

So he stood back and let Derek drive this crazy train, which in his opinion may have been unwise, because now he found himself being just as dramatic as Derek stalked towards the Stiles lookalike, fully transformed and holding the triskele box.

"Did you bring us a present?" Evil Stiles said, the two Oni behind him shifting in preparation of battle.

He bent and set the triskele box on the ground as Ethan, Aiden and Peter pulled in behind. "I bought two."

"I've heard of an Alpha pack Derek, but not a pack of former Alpha's" He smirked "It's a little sad, isn't it?"

"I might not be an Alpha, but I can still fight like one." He roared, and they all followed suit. The Oni flicked their swords in invitation and both parties ran to meet in the middle.

Ethan blocked an attack aimed at his head and pushed back, swiping his claws at the stomach of an Oni but it moved away too fast for him to do any damage. The Oni thrust forward with its sword for his stomach but he just about managed to dodge, following up with a double fist smack to the back of the head.

Recovering quickly it turned to slash at his legs missing again by an inch or so.

Two Oni cornered Derek, seeming to perceive him as a bigger threat than the others; the werewolf backed off from a direct thrust of a sword and grabbed an arm, swinging one of them into the other. They both fell to the floor, but jumped back up again, dancing around him and slashing at his thighs and head.

They twirled in unison to switch around whose sword was where trying to confuse him, Derek flipped onto his back and kicked out at one of their legs, bowling the demon to its knees which made it easier to kick in the face as he stood back upright, knocking it down. He turned to the remaining Oni on his left and blocked a downward slash with his left arm, and pushed a hard fist into its chest with his right.

There was a thud as Aiden flew into a wall, his own attacker advancing on him menacingly. The Oni flicked his blade so the moonlight reflected off it, Aiden snarled at the dark creature and surged forwards, swiping at its head one, two, three times without hitting the target. The Oni turned and slashed out, Aiden tried to avoid it but didn't see the foot coming to smack into his back, pushing the werewolf onto his knees. Aiden rolled, missing death by a hairline.

Peter had one of them by the throat, holding the arm that was attached to the Katana. He roared angrily in its face and threw the demon to the floor. He may not be an Alpha anymore but he'd been biding his time and honing his skills, he wouldn't be easy to take down now and it made him feel stronger than before. Peter ran forwards as his attacker raised itself up and kicked out causing the Oni to roll and push itself up faster this time, slashing the air angrily. The werewolf chuckled and made a beckoning motion with his hand, taunting it.

"Where the hell are they!?" Aiden cried, feeling overwhelmed by the numerous demons and the fact that no matter how many times they knocked them down, the Oni continued to get up once more.

"They have to be somewhere." Ethan replied.

"In the school!" Derek shouted, pushed at one of his attackers knocking it to the ground.

"How are we going to get to them like this?" Peter asked, feeling the pressure of continued battle.

Derek was about to respond but he got knocked down on his back and held off the sword that would have cut him in half with his left hand, growling. "You have to get the box!"

Aiden pushed the demon he was fighting away and turned to take it but two more materialized before him, making it just that much more difficult for everyone. Peter blocked a sideways glance with his right arm, turned and grabbed the Oni's outward arm and threw it over his shoulder and into the two new arrivals.

"HA!" He smirked, and then searing pain shot its way up his back from the slash of the Katana, he cried out and fell to his knees. Using the momentum he rolled and turned, standing once more and reaching behind him to check his wound. It was shallow but it felt as though it was burning from the inside out. 'Poison.'

Everyone was waning by now in speed and stamina, Ethan caught a slash to the shoulder, making it harder for him to hit back and block attacks. Derek was having trouble of his own. Aiden slashed at an Oni and clawing its stomach and throwing it to the side but it was no good, they just got back up. "We can't do this, we can't beat them."

"Take the box, we'll hold them off!" Ethan said bravely. Just as he did one of the demons jumped at him from behind but he was stopped mid leap by Derek, who threw it down the stairs. It got back up and slashed at the air, the Oni bent to attack once more when an arrow embedded itself into it from behind. The demon glowed a bright yellow from the inside of its chest before bursting into black smoke.

They all turned to see Chris standing at the top of the steps with a crossbow pointed at his now decimated target. Isaac leapt from above and landed on his feet, ready to battle alongside his brothers.

"What on earth was that?"

Chris didn't miss a beat in replying "Silver."

"Isaac the box, get the triskele box to Scott!"

Isaac surged forward without even asking, he didn't stop until he had the box in his grasp and then bound off with it as fast as he could.

The rest of the Oni surged to action, diving for their combatants with more lethal speed now they knew that death was just around the corner. Peter batted at his sluggishly, the wound on his back throbbing painfully. He tried to work through that pain, grabbing the demon by his front and slamming it behind them into the wall. An arrow flew past his ear and hit its mark, taking the creature out with ease.

"Hey watch that thing will you? I like my body parts where they are."

Ethan and Derek both fought side by side with the last four Oni, but Chris didn't waste time in dispatching another, which left three. They fought back-to-back, being pushed further and further against the other until their backs were touching and the Oni pulled their swords back for a strike. Peter pushed into one of them, knocking it to the ground, the other two Derek and Ethan kicked in the stomach, which sent them flying.

Peter tugged his victim up with the last of his energy "shoot!" An arrow flew dead center and the demon disappeared.

"Two more left, we got this." Derek roared and leapt forwards, dodging blows and slashing at it. He caught an arm and punched its chest, then he pulled the arm back and around to trap it and disable its attacks. The Oni struggled but it was useless and Chris shot his arrow once more, killing it.

Only one left now Chris wasted no time in shooting an arrow but it was ready, the strongest one was also the last and it slashed through the air cutting it in half. The arrow fell to the floor, harmless.

"Get the arrow, it's the last one!" He called down.

"Typical" Peter coughed, the wound was causing all kinds of issues and he didn't know if he could make it in time to kill the demon. As he stood up Aiden rose to the challenge, diving for it bravely. Peter pushed forwards and grabbed the Oni from behind as its focus was entirely on Aiden now aiming its sword; he pulled its arms back in a nelson hold "now!"

The Oni screeched loudly as Aiden thrust the arrowhead deep into its chest and twisted it hard, it glowed brightly and then exploded into smoke. Soon as it was gone Peter slumped down, his back searing red-hot until he couldn't stand the pain any longer.

Derek ran over to check him "Peter!"

"I'm fine…" He coughed, but it wasn't long before his back began to heal on its own slightly, it felt like the poison was leaving his body but the wound was still open. That didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, and he grunted. "Seems like our heroes defeated the villain."

They turned and found the group walking out from the school with a look of weary triumph on their faces. Lydia's eyes met his with some concern and he nodded, telling her he was ok without actually saying it. The battle had been won but the war, Peter was certain that the war was still far from over. The events of today would change the rest of their lives, and Peter's own journey with new knowledge and purpose had only now begun.