We arrived at the school pretty quickly, and I was thankful. The car ride had been completely silent and the tension was killing me. Whatever reason Derek had to get to the school so urgently for was obviously very important and I could tell he was nervous. I had almost asked him if he was okay at one point, but that would have given him the message that I didn't hate him, and I did.

I slid out of the passenger side as an SUV I didn't recognise pulled up in front of us. An unfamiliar man got out and approached us, eyeing me suspiciously. Why did everyone do that?

He was older, maybe in his 40s, and had stubble, like Derek, only his was slightly longer and had flecks of grey in it. I also noticed the gun that was clipped to his belt which he obviously didn't mind people seeing.

'Derek,' he greeted with a nod. 'Who's your friend?' he asked, eyes flicking to me, and his expression told me he knew we were definitely not friends. Derek made no move to answer so I stretched out my hand in the direction of the unfamiliar man.

'Alex,' I said, and he took my hand in a firm grip.

'Chris,' he told me, before releasing my hand and turning back to Derek.

'She's not coming with us,' the wolf next to me stated bluntly, and I turned to him, annoyed.

'Then why the hell did you make me come with you?' I asked, slightly raising my voice.

Derek sighed exasperatedly, 'Liam's playing his first lacrosse match, I'm sure Scott could use some help,' he said and I sent him an unimpressed glare. Stiles had also told me about Liam, Scott's new beta with anger issues, and the last thing I wanted to do right now was sit through a lacrosse match. But I guess, since I was meant to be playing for a team other than my own, I should probably go chip in with the beta babysitting. So, with one last glare at Derek, I turned on my heel and headed towards the lacrosse field.

The game was just about to start when I spotted Scott, Stiles and Kira huddled by the bench. I made my way over past the bleachers to where they were talking in hushed voices.

'Why do I feel like this is going to end badly?' I overheard Kira asking, causing me to frown.

'Because it usually does,' Stiles replied, optimistic as ever. A scoffed a little at his comment, alerting them to my presence. 'Alex,' the teen said in surprise, 'what are you doing here?'

'Thought you could use the help,' I said with a smile that was only partly forced.

'Well… that's very—,'

'Nice of you,' Kira interrupted Stiles, giving him a little shove in the ribs, causing him to fall backwards. He stood up quickly, readjusting his helmet frantically before falling completely calm, pretending nothing had happened. Smooth. Kira smiled warmly at me and I couldn't help but return it. 'So what's the plan.'

'Kira, you keep an eye on Garrett. I'll watch out for Liam,' Scott instructed.

'Hold on, whose Garrett?' I asked, getting increasingly lost.

'He's on the lacrosse team, and we think he's going to try to kill someone. Tonight.'

'What do I need to do,' I asked, looking for a way to help. I might as well make myself useful.

'Stay here, and keep an eye out for anything suspicious.' I nodded at the alpha as we turned to look at Stiles.

'Yeah, I'm just gonna try to play lacrosse,' he said, and I rolled my eyes at him. Kira and Scott took off, taking their places on the field. Stiles hung back for a second, and I could tell he wanted to ask me something. He looked around awkwardly for a long moment, before catching my eye and opening his mouth to speak.

'Don't Stiles,' I interrupted him. 'Not now.' He seemed to understand and with one last nod, we wished each other good luck before taking to our battle stations.

There was a moment of dead silence as I sat with the other supporters on the bleachers. The players on the field were poised in positions, ready for the game to start. As the whistle blow, however, the silence was shattered with an eruption of cheers from the crowd who jumped to their feet, waving banners and flags for their team. It was strange for me being at a high school scrimmage. It seemed like a lifetime ago now but once upon a time I was a cheerleader. It was a time when my only problems were trying to balance cheer practice with homework, but then everything changed. In a way, I should have known that this would be inevitable. There was no way that I, a completely abnormal girl, would ever have a normal life.

Suddenly, the sound of the crowd gasping tugged me from my memories. I looked down to see a worried looking Scott and Stiles huddled around a pained looking Liam. He looked like he had been injured, but he wasn't the only one. Another player was writhing on the ground, looking to be in considerable more pain then Liam did. In less than a second I was running down the bleachers and onto the field, ignoring the protests of the players on the bench telling me to get off the pitch.

Once I got to Liam and the others I could see Scott's panicked expression.

'Are you cut? Did Garret cut you?' He asked frantically.

'No, no. I'm okay,' Liam reassured us, but I still found myself casting an eye over him to check he really was fine.

'Then he missed,' Scott said.

'What do you mean?'

'It's you, Liam. You're the one he's after.' Scott's words startled Liam, and he looked terrified. I, however, frowned in confusion. It didn't make any sense. If Garret was the killer, the he had already murdered at least two others. There was no way he would have missed, especially with so much at stake. Something wasn't right.

The group dispersed for a few minute and I was left with Scott on the field. 'This feels wrong, Scott,' I said to him, and the alpha nodded like he could feel the exact same thing.

'I know,' he said, a pained look in his eyes.

Liam rushed back over to us, panting a little, but he didn't look to be in so much pain, clearly having already healed. 'I talked to Coach,' he said. 'I'm out for the rest of the game. What are you gonna do?' he asked, directing his words to Scott.

'I don't know. Something's still not right,' he said, meeting my eyes as he spoke. 'We're missing something.'

I saw Stiles jog over to us but I wasn't listening to what he was saying. An image was floating around in my head. An image of a teenager writhing on the lacrosse field I had seen only moments ago. I vaguely heard Stiles say that Lydia had cracked another third of the list but I didn't stay to hear who was on it. I sped off towards the boys' locker room I had seen a few people carry the boy's shaking body into earlier.

When I got there I heard heavy breathing. I slowly pushed the door open to see a boy, dressed in lacrosse uniform, trying to drag his limp body across the floor. I noticed another sound of heels clicking against the floor as the back of a girl came into view.

'What did you do to me?' I heard the boy ask, his voice sounding desperate.

'You were cut with a poisoned blade. It was laced with wolfsbane,' the girl said cockily. 'It won't kill you. But this will.' I watched as she held up what looked like some kind of wire and the words from the conversation I had heard between Stiles and the Sheriff a few days ago echoes through my head.

'Why? Why are you doing this?' the boy's strangled voice asked as I saw the girl pull the wire tighter around his neck.

'Because you're worth a lot of money, Brett.'

At that walked straight into the locker room, ready to fight this bitch. If I wanted to be useful, I might as well kick some assassin ass.

'True,' I said casually from behind, causing her to whip her head round in surprise, 'but I'm worth more,' I said, before punching her right in the face. She jolted back, not expecting my right hook to be as powerful as it was. She composed herself quickly, although she had let Brett's body fall to the floor, head still intact. Her attention was now fully on me.

She swung a few fists at me, but I dodged them without too much trouble. This distracted me though and I didn't see the kick she sent straight to my stomach coming. I slammed into the lockers hard, but recovered easily due to my ability, pushing off the metal and launching myself at her again. This time I went for her hair and grabbed at it with my fingers, pulling hard and causing her to shout in pain. She fell to the ground, pulling me down with her. I was forgetting though that, although I had my healing ability, she was a much more experience fighter, and because of that, she was tough and deadly.

She swiftly pulled a knife from her belt, using it as a weapon to slash out at me with. I tried again with my fists, but she caught my wrist, using my momentum to pull me into her, before plunging the blade repeatedly into my gut. The pain was worse than usual, and I thought it must be to do with some kind of poison she had put on the blade. She smiled evilly at me, obviously thinking she had beaten me. It then occurred to me that she probably didn't know who I was, or if she did, she didn't know what I was. Even so, the knife wounds hurt like hell and she was still able to pull me down, my forehead cracking on the solid ground.

I felt her climb on top of me, no doubt ready to send another load of painful knife wounds into my back. She grabbed my hair, pulling it back causing me to groan as my neck creaked. She then used her strength to smack me head down to the ground repeatedly, causing me to grunt as my skull cracked more and more with each blow. I could feel the warm wetness of blood dripping onto the floor from my face and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying not to scream. With the final blow I felt my check bone give way and shatter under the force of her hand and the floor. I tried to open my eyes but my vision was spattered with black spots and I lay on the floor as helpless as Brett.

I felt the pressure on my back lift as she got off me but whatever followed from then I don't know for sure. Head wounds always took longer to heal than anything else, especially after shattering a few facial bones. I lay there motionless, the left side of my face moulded to the floor.

There was a second set of footsteps now, not just the girl. Some commotion arose and I could vaguely hear the girl speak over the ringing in my ears.

'He said we shouldn't try. But now I've got you. I got an Alpha.'

Her words made panic arise in me, but I couldn't do anything about it. It was like all the life and energy had drained out of me and could barely wiggle my toes. The sound of heavy breathing filled my ears before there was a crash and the sound of an unconscious body falling to the floor. I prayed it wasn't Scott's.

I was relieved, however, when a hand grabbed my shoulder worriedly and turned me over, the concerned face of Scott filling my blurry vision.

'Oh my—,' he started, obviously horrified by my deformed face. 'Alex?' he asked as he gently slapped my good cheek. 'Alex, can you hear me?'

I tried to nod but it hurt too much, so instead I uttered the word I hoped would tell him I was going to be fine and that there was something more important than me to sort out. 'Brett,' I said in a weak and fragile voice. I could see that he understood what I meant and he reluctantly left me on the floor as he went to check on the unconscious werewolf.

At that moment, an out of breath Stiles burst through the door, taking in the scene of the locker room. When he noticed me his eyes widened with something like concern and revulsion, but mostly revulsion as he made his way over to me, trying not to look at my distorted facial features.

'Oh God,' he said as his face contorted and he looked like he might throw up. 'You look horrific.' I tried to glare at him but found that it just hurt so instead I gestured for him to help me stand up and he did.

He pulled me off my feet and once I was upright, I felt the full effect of my injuries. My stomach still hurt, not to mention a migraine from hell coming on. My head was spinning so much that my knees buckled and I would have fallen to the ground had it not been for Stiles holding me up.

'Wow,' he said as he watched me feebly try to stay upright. 'Okay, back on the floor for you,' he said.

'I'm fine,' I protested, but it was clear Stiles was having none of it. He helped me back onto the ground so that I was sitting propped up against the lockers and he walked over to Scott.

'I think you better call your dad,' Scott said, looking from me to Brett. 'But first, we need to get you out of here,' he said looking at me. I understood what he meant and was grateful for his understanding. In situations like these, it would not be wise for a bunch of cops to show up to witness my rapid and miraculous recovery before some idiot in uniform could try to shove me into the back on an ambulance. 'How did you get here?' Scott asked.

'Umm,' I started, trying to get my brain to function at a normal speed, 'I came with Derek, but I don't know if he's still here.'

'Right, I'll give him a call' Scott said, immediately pulling out his phone.

I could feel myself healing now, the shattered bone in my cheek mending itself and reconstructing my face. It ached enormously though and I longed to be back in my apartment, curled up on the couch.

'Wow,' Stiles said, making his way back over to me, 'that's—that was really fast,' he said, gesturing to my face, a look of wonder and also that he might vomit at any moment on his face. It occurred to me then that apart from the first day we met, none of them had seen my ability in action. A little cut healing was one thing but full facial reconstruction in under a minute was another. He stared at me as he rubbed his chin for a long while before I glared at him to snap out of it. He did immediately, much to my satisfaction.

Not before long, the figure of Derek Hale appeared at the locker room door, a concerned and puzzled look on his face when he saw the two unconscious bodies, and me, sprawled across the floor.

'Stiles is gonna call his dad,' Scott explained to Derek as he stepped into the small room, 'but I need you to get Alex out of here.' Derek nodded almost immediately and that surprised me. I could see he trusted Scott, perhaps more than he trusted anyone, but that didn't explain why he would agree to help me. The sour wolf walked over to me, eyeing my bloodied face with concern before effortlessly picking me off the ground and walking me out the door without a word. It was then that I realised for the first time that, although we didn't all always get along with each other very well, we were all on the same team, and that meant something.

We walked in silence for a while, me just focussing on not passing out. Standing up made me dizzier and I was leaning on Derek a ridiculous amount to keep myself from falling to the ground, though he didn't complain. Every now and again my grip on his arm that was supporting me would slip and his hand around my waist would tighten, making sure I wouldn't sink to the sidewalk.

'You look terrible by the way,' he said, and although I couldn't see his face, I could tell he must have been smiling a little.

'Shut it, Hale,' I retorted, thought the words held none of their usual iciness. I was just too tired.

'So where's your car parked,' he asked, and I directed him further up the sidewalk.

Once my car was in view I realised something that made this day even shitter than it already was. 'Dammit,' I cursed under my breath, 'I need a jump start,' I said exhaustedly.

I heard Derek give an irritated sigh before speeding up our strides towards my car. Once there he slowly let go of my waist, giving me time to adjust my balance so I wouldn't topple over. I ended up leaning on the bonnet of my car awkwardly, barely being able to support my own wait.

'My cars parked around that corner,' he said pointing in the distance, and I nodded, recognising that we were near where we had parked earlier. 'Don't go anywhere,' he said with a slight smirk and I sent him a look – there was no way I could go anywhere.

Once he was out of sight I let myself collapse on the side walk and crawl to the curb so I could sit on it. It was much too low to be a comfortable seat but it made my head stop spinning, so I was happy. I let my head fall in front of me and rested it in my hands, hoping it might diminish my ever growing head ache. It didn't and I found myself digging my nails into my scalp in frustration. I wasn't used to feeling like this. It was a rare occurrence for me to obtain such a serious injury that it took more than seconds to heal, but I guessed that being shot in the head twice and then been slammed repeatedly against a concrete floor had been just a little too much damage for one day.

The sound of an engine pulling up near me made me raise my head and I saw Derek step out of his car and get straight to work on fixing my car. I was grateful to him for helping me, the last thing I wanted to be doing right now was jump starting my car. I expected him to make some comment on how I was being lazy, but he stayed silent as he worked.

'You alright down there?' he asked after a few minutes from under the hood of my car.

'I'll be fine in a few minutes,' I reassured him, though it was mostly just to reassure myself.

The sound of my car roaring to life filled me with relief and I pushed myself off the curb, shakily standing up. I thanked Derek before heading over to the driver's side of my car. But, to my dismay, I heard Derek chuckle dryly behind me.

'What are you doing?' he asked me, and I turned around, eyes narrowed at him.

'Going home. What does it look like?' I asked sarcastically.

'There's no way you're driving yourself home,' he said, shaking his head at me.

'And why the hell is that?' I asked, starting to get annoyed by his condescending tone.

He laughed drily again, as if it was obvious, 'you can barely stand up! You're gonna kill yourself.' I shot him a look and he realised his mistake, 'well you'll end up hurting someone else then, or at the very least you'll write off your car.'

I huffed at him, irritated by his logical reasoning. He was right, there was no way I could drive in my current condition. I reached into my vehicle and pulled the keys out of the ignition, sulkily handing them over to the wolf who took them with a smug grin. I heaved my body around to the passenger side and slid into the car.

Once the car had pulled out of its parking space I let my pounding head rest against the window. Something was bothering me, other than my injuries, and I knew I needed to ask now – I might not get another opportunity.

'That man, Chris,' I started, my eyes flickering over to Derek who staring out of the windscreen, 'who is he?'

'Chris Argent,' he told me without taking his eye off the road, 'his daughter was Allison.'

Allison. The girl whose name had broken the first past of the dead pool. Stiles had informed me that she and Scott used to date but she had tragically died at the end of last year. I felt a pang of sadness in my chest for the alpha and the others who had lost a good friend.

'So, what did he want?' I asked, although I didn't really expect him to answer truthfully. 'Must have been important.'

'He was just-,' he started, finding the right words, 'he was helping me with something.'

'It was about your eyes, wasn't it?' I asked and I saw his tense, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the steering wheel tighter. 'Stiles told me they were blue,' I tried again, 'I know what that means.' There was a long silence and I thought I had gone too far.

'A woman, Kate Argent, took something from me,' he started suddenly as he drove. 'At first I thought it was just something from my past, but my eyes are not the only thing that's different.' He paused for a while, as if deliberating whether he should continue. 'My sense of smell, my strength…' he said, looking frustrated and terrified all at the same time, 'I'm losing my power.'

I was astounded that he had told me all that he had. I was unaware that he any trust in me whatsoever, but I guess he did tell me only this morning that he didn't have a problem with me. That was another thing, through all the commotion of this evening, he seemed to have forgotten about our unfinished conversation and I wanted to keep it that way.

'Then we find Kate,' I said with what I hoped was encouragement. He pealed his eyes away from the road and looked straight at me, a look of gratitude and determination lighting up his green orbs.

Not before long we had pulled up outside my apartment building. Saying I was exhausted would be an understatement. I could barely lift my arm to undo my seat belt. I ended up using all my effort to push the car door open and heave myself out of the passenger seat. As I did, however, all the blood rose to my head rapidly and I swayed with dizziness, my legs threatening to collapse at any moment. Almost instantly, Derek was round my side of the car and scooped my straight off the ground so he was holding me bridal style, though I felt like a pathetic baby. I tried to protest but I was just too tired. He carried me swiftly up the stairs to my apartment and opened the door with my keys.

As soon as we were through the door, I directed Derek to my room and he sat me on my bed. I immediately collapsed, feeling completely exhausted. I kicked off my boots and was about to pull my duvet when Derek stopped me. I watched as he stared at my blood soaked shirt with concern written across his face, even if he wouldn't admit it. He slowly lifted the fabric a little way up so he could inspect my stomach. Where there should have been deep slashes from where Violet had stabbed me, there was only smooth skin, although it was covered in dried blood. I figured I would shower in the morning… and change my sheets.

Derek looked satisfied that I wouldn't die in my sleep and headed for my bedroom door. However, before he closed it behind him I called him back.

'Hey,' I said in a small voice, feeling more vulnerable than I usually did. 'Thanks,' I said sincerely.

He nodded at me and turned to leave but sleep had already enveloped me before I heard the door click shut.

AN: Hello! Hope you enjoyed that one. I thought about making this one into two separate chapters but it didn't really work so its just one long one.

Let me know what you think :)