A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you had a lovely day :) I know I said I would update sooner. I cannot give you cookies in apology so I made the chapter longer instead. Love you all and enjoy!
Chapter 10: 'Truth'
Chris had been watching her for a while and he had to admit, his daughter had either realized that werewolves were not to be trusted or she had become extremely good at hiding.
"Allison" he knocked on the door that had been shut since the girl arrived home from school, right on time like they had agreed. She had given him a quick half smile that seemed more sarcastic than sincere before selecting an apple from the fruit bowl and heading upstairs. There was the rustling of pages before the door opened a crack and Allison's face appeared.
"Dad" she said and the dark circles under her eyes told him that she had had another sleepless night. It was time to worry.
"We're going to have to talk at some point you know" he told her, trying to ease the door open fully "might as well get it over with." Normally he would have left these talks to her mother but this time Allison was mad at him and that made it inescapable. Maybe he had crossed a line by pulling the gun out at the kid but it was for the best. Besides a deal was a deal and right now with the wolves acting up, keeping his side of the deal was becoming much harder.
"I told you it was just Lydia!" she cried, holding the door firmly in place "she wanted to know if she could borrow my chemistry notes. She was sick yesterday"
"It's not about Lydia and you know it," Chris sighed when she just raised a questioning eyebrow "Derek Hale threw a bottle at our kitchen window and Scott helped him escape. Now, your mother is telling me that his friend, the Sheriff's son has been acting strange" he tapped his fingers against the wood, growing frustrated by the second as she continued to stare blankly at him "you can't tell me you don't know what's going on. You haven't slept in days, don't think we haven't noticed. Something is up Allison and if you don't tell me what it is... your grandfather is becoming edgy. He took Scott and Derek's little stunt as a personal offense and you and I both know who might get caught in the crossfire"
"Dad I told you" she sounded exasperated, there was no other word for it however she opened the door just a little wider as she spoke "you don't even know for sure it was Scott in our yard. You told me yourself that you just caught a glimpse of a werewolf but it could have been anyone. Besides, Scott and I aren't seeing each other so even if there was something wrong with him, Derek or Stiles, I wouldn't know because I'm not allowed to talk to them, remember?"
She was watching him with her eyes dancing in a way he hadn't seen them do in days as she presented the challenge. He ignored it though. There would be time to talk about that later. Right now he needed answers. "Is he a wolf now too Allison?" It made sense. His best friend was a wolf, Jackson... wanted to be a wolf and Derek Hale seemed to always lurk close by the boy. It was only a matter of time before he was offered the bite. If he took it he would become a target and if he spilled so much as a drop of innocent blood... well Chris had already proven that he wasn't above threatening teenagers and if he needed to, he was sure he would be able to pull the trigger. The problem would be the Sheriff. He was a good man who adored his son. An entire wall of his small office was dedicated to the boy's certificates from spelling bees to report cards while another was filled with pictures and artwork. It would probably destroy Sheriff Stilinski but it was inevitable.
"Of course not!" cried Allison and Chris desperately wanted to believe her. The truth was he had no idea if he could anymore and the sooner they started coming up with a battle plan-a course of action just in case-the better. He had no idea where he and Allison had gone off track or when their unbreakable trust had died but there was no time to dwell on that. He contemplated getting Gerard involved. He really didn't want to, however the choices were limited. They would follow the code of course and that meant they needed proof to make sure but it would only be a matter of time before the boy killed someone. It always was.
"Either way we still have training tomorrow" he reminded his daughter "0400. Don't be late"
Derek could smell the rush of anger and confusion moving towards him before he actually saw the boy. He paused his hunt for stronger chains and waited until sure enough Scott appeared in the doorway, eyes glowing as he stormed forward.
"What the hell is going on between you and Stiles?" he demanded "Why do you want to save him-why do you care?" Despite his expression his voice just sounded tragically lost and Derek couldn't find it in him to be angry.
"What happened?" he sighed, freeing the nails that were digging holes into his shirt.
"You hate him!" cried Scott "What happened?"
Stiles hadn't told Scott that they were on friendlier terms although Derek could never understand why. Obviously Scott must have found something but now really wasn't the time to answer questions. They had to get the demon out of Stiles first or nothing else would really matter.
"Scott now really isn't the time" he hoped the werewolf would drop it but he knew otherwise "just trust me on this, okay?" This was why he hated Scott. Derek was Alpha, the other werewolf had to listen and obey, that was just how things worked, but apparently not only was Scott completely clueless he was also the most stubborn werewolf in the history of lycanthropy and he had no concept of pack hierarchy whatsoever. Once again he found himself cursing his Uncle's choice in betas. It was frustrating enough having to prepare for a full moon when he should have been sending the demon back to hell. Scott was definitely not helping.
"No" just as predicted the boy wasn't going to back down "I'm part of your pack now so no more secrets. What is going on? I've seen the picture and I've seen your jacket in his room Derek. It even smells like you. Both of you, mixed together" he was waving his hands around like Stiles used to do when they were together and Derek was struck by how similar they were right then. Of course they were. They were just two teenage boys in above their heads with the supernatural and the curses. They shouldn't have had to deal with this. If only they hadn't been in the woods that night... but maybe Derek was glad that they had chosen to be in the woods that night. He was tired of being lonely and he hated to admit it but Scott had a point. They were pack now.
"We spent some time together" he said, trying to be as vague as possible "and you know... Stiles...grew on me. Maybe a little too much"
Scott took this in for a second "Is that why the demon came after you?" he asked "because Stiles...grew on you? I mean Allison helped me escape but I'm sure the demon would have been done with me after a couple of hours. Why did it keep you for so long?"
"I'm the alpha" shrugged Derek "and I-Stiles..."
"...grew on you" finished Scott, still unable to comprehend what exactly that meant "It's my fault isn't it? That you and Stiles-that Stiles came to you in the first place" He looked so torn about it that Derek couldn't hold onto the resentment he had felt towards him for hurting Stiles. He understood now. Scott didn't choose Allison over his best friend; the boy just hadn't learnt to think about how his actions affected the people around him.
Derek couldn't form a suitable answer though so he just nodded and Scott nodded back, brow furrowed as though in deep thought. It was a strange look on him. Finally he seemed to have come to terms with something.
"Thank you" he said and this time it was Derek who was confused "for...looking out for him. I should have been there but I..." he shook his head "just thanks" he ran a hand through his hair awkwardly before starting as though he had remembered something "Lydia thinks she's found it" he said and Derek didn't know who was more pleased that they had dropped the uncomfortable conversation "She found an exorcism, it's in two parts. One draws the demon out of Stiles' body and the other sends it to hell but the thing is once the demon is out, it can possess someone else. We need a way to contain it so that we can finish the exorcism"
"Where did she find it?" asked Derek warily, he had heard about exorcisms before. There were fake ones planted throughout history that either didn't work or summoned demons instead of sending them back. "How does she know it'll work? If it goes wrong it could- Stiles could get hurt"
"She said she found it in a book from the library" replied Scott and the alpha rolled his eyes "No, listen, Stiles was asking about it a couple of weeks ago and when he, it was like he- we think he knew something"
Did Stiles know something? The demon had told him that the only reason it had picked Stiles was because Derek cared about him but the demon always lied. Was it possible that the boy had found out something before his possession? Something the demon needed...
"He knew what the seal was" he said suddenly because it was the only possible explanation. Trust Stiles to research demonic activity and get himself possessed just when things were starting to calm down. Derek didn't know a lot about the seals or the apocalypse but from what the demon had said he had managed to work out the gist of it. There were over 600 seals that kept Lucifer in his cage and if the demons broke 66 of them the devil walked free. That would be the start of the apocalypse. What exactly the apocalypse entailed he had no idea but as long as the demons fought their battles among themselves and his pack was safe, he really didn't care. He really didn't care how selfish that sounded or how much Stiles would argue if he were privy to those thoughts. He really didn't care because all he wanted was to get Stiles back and be done with it all.
"Do you think he told it?" Scott was full of questions and Derek hated him for it. He didn't have any answers and he hated that even more.
"Knowing Stiles he put up a fight" he hoped that wasn't the case. He really hoped that wasn't the case because if Stiles had put up a fight the demon would have had to resort to other means, painful means that made Derek want to growl and whine just thinking about them. Who was Stiles protecting anyway? The world was the answer. The world that hadn't exactly been very kind to Stiles but of course the boy would be hell bent on saving it. That's just what he did. He took things that were broken and he fixed them even if they didn't deserve it, even if they were overgrown, lonely alpha werewolves who had an affinity for yelling and baring teeth instead of having civilized conversations. Derek loved him and hated him for it.
"Yeah" said Scott slowly and apparently he was on the same train of thought because he looked worried as well.
They stood there for a while, awkwardly staring anywhere but at each other as the boy pretended to be deep in thought. Suddenly he jumped as his pocket began to buzz.
"It's Allison" he said, peering intently at the screen "Apparently she managed to get the bestiary and there was a section on demons. There wasn't much, just a few symbols and some text. She's sent it all to Lydia to translate"
Derek nodded. He still didn't approve of Scott's choice in mate but he could put up with it. The girl was useful, even if it was just to keep Scott in line and focused- a feat Derek had been trying to accomplish all year. Scott seemed to appreciate Derek's polite if not a little stiff acceptance of her and so he kept it up, ignoring his wolf's constant warnings.
"Did she find anything useful?" he asked although he probably already knew the answer to that question.
"I don't know but either way I think we need a plan"
A/N: So judging by the response the last chapter didn't go down too well *nervous chuckles* unfortunately this one was a sort of filler as well but it is a necessary transition. NEXT chapter however which yes I have almost finished will feature Sterek :) and stuff happens. As usual thoughts/feedback are very much appreciated.