AN: I did not know how to write this chapter for a long time... But i finally got around to it and had everything planned out, shut myself in a room for a couple days and ta-dah, chapter to last chapter to be precise, I'm excited to finish this story and be over with it, though I will miss it quite a bit.
kinky-kitsune: Yes, right on the money. I didn't want to create a random bad guy plot out of thin air, this felt like it could actually happen.
Winchester, kinky, Sheriff, Lame, Donovan, wolvie, passing, lovely, and Yannie thank you all for the reviews, much love.
Anyway, didn't edit, did read through some parts and quiz my sister on whether or not it 'flowed' and made sense so be prepared, but otherwise please don't be nitpicky. Hope you enjoy reading this chapter!
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Chapter Nine
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The rope was tight against her skin as Thatcher tied her hands together harshly before wrapping it around a tree and forcing her to sit down in front of it. The meeting spot for them was just next to a shallow creek that led into a small clearing, he wanted to make sure that if anyone tried anything sneaky he would be able to see them. He'd even brought tape to put over her mouth in order to keep her from talking about anything that might compromise his plan; nothing was going to stop him from getting his revenge.
"Just kill me, I was going to anyway. Thatcher please," she pleaded with him before he pulled out a piece of duct tape.
"As long as they care about you, and I know they all do, I have leverage. I will do no such thing," he explained before pushing the tape towards her mouth. She tried to move her head away from it but eventually he got her and she could no longer speak with him or even plead for a change in his plans. She spoke muffled words at him, angry bitter words that brought tears to her eyes and made her heave for air afterwards but he simply sat down next to her and waited for the others to show up.
Marlow was thinking through every possible outcome, she didn't want anyone to die, not even Thatcher, though in everyone else's eyes he very much deserved to bite the dust. It wasn't hard to put herself in his shoes and imagine how she would have felt if she found out that someone had killed her brother. She'd be feeling much of the same feelings and would want revenge, perhaps not at the same level as anger as Thatcher, but the burning hatred would linger there forever. She didn't blame him for wanting revenge, she was just sorry that he couldn't look past the emotion and move on with his life. But even this thought had a bitter taste on her tongue because her father was much the same as Thatcher, but his anger had been misplaced, Marlow was sure that if she told Thatcher who he reminded her of he would snap.
From the packs perspective it would be folly to assume that no one would give their life for Marlow's, they all loved her, but from her view point, no one was more important to her than they were. She'd rather die than see any of them give their lives up for her; she never thought she was worth anything before, why should she be worth a human life now?
She regretted everything she hadn't done or told Peter, she loved him; she wanted to shout it and scream it without hesitation just to be sure that he would always know that she loved him. She wanted to show Isaac the love of a mother that which he had not experienced in a long time and give so much more to the rest of them. There was nothing she deserved in those people that she loved, what she had done in her life so far was worth far less than anything they had to offer. If she could have hugged Peter one last time then perhaps her mind would be at ease with the resolutions she was coming up with quickly.
In the end it would be up to her whether anyone died or not.
Watching her struggle through her thoughts Thatcher watched Marlow's eyes water before a single tear fled down her cheek before she did her best to wipe it off with her shoulder. Her eyes lit up fiercely with a burning fire that shone determinedly in the fading light that stretched all around them, she was getting ready to fight. He sighed next to her blandly, he had been hoping that after a while she would give up and accept the fact that he wouldn't be satisfied until someone died, that she would be the good little hostage he needed. Yet he shouldn't have expected anything less from her, not when she had fought against her father for so long in order to remain in this world, she was going to thrash against him until the very end.
They sat quietly on the ground until Thatcher heard someone approaching from in front of them, a couple people to be more exact, two men dressed in black clothing with masks on walked up to them slowly.
"Where's the item you promised us?" One of them asked while the other eyed Marlow with a cold gaze that made her shiver.
"You get it after one of them dies," Thatcher explained making the guy grunt in agreement.
Of course she had been foolish to assume that Thatcher would be doing this by himself, that he wouldn't have someone helping him to make sure everything went accordingly. If he was by himself it made it much easier for something to go wrong and him to end up as dead instead of someone else, she'd assumed he was folly. Her eyes widened as they pulled out their guns and checked to make sure everything was ready for what was about to happen, a glare developed on her face as she imagined them pointing it at anyone in the pack.
One of them caught her gaze and laughed before pulling out a knife and walking closer to her, Thatcher watched him warily, unsure of what he was intending to do but certain that he wasn't going to harm her.
"If you hurt her, the deals off," he commented for good measure.
"Why, did you want to keep her afterwards or something?" The man questioned Thatcher with a grin on his face. "I just want to have a little fun," he assured cutting the rope that held her around the tree.
She scrambled to move away from them the second she could, desperate to get away from them if even a little bit. He laughed and caught her easily pulling her to her feet and pinning her against the same tree that she had been tied to, she thrashed against him worthlessly, his smiled and pressed his body against hers slowly. Her mind raced bitterly as she glared at the man in front of her, this hadn't even been in her mind as a situation when it had just been she and Thatcher, what was she supposed to do?
"Leave her alone already," the other man said behind him. Marlow almost sighed with relief when the man backed away from her, the exposed skin on her back had ground painfully into the tree as the man's eyes flashed blue and he growled. Another werewolf! Of course he was a werewolf, who better to hire than more werewolves in order to fight other werewolves, now Marlow only had one objective, and she would make sure that it happened.
"They're coming," Thatcher muttered making the man grab her almost eagerly. The man wrapped one of his arms around her torso, his gloved fingers lingering on her hip while the other pressed a knife to her throat.
Peter, Isaac, and Derek came to a stop about twenty yards in front of them, Peter's eyes immediately found hers as she stared at him pleadingly, if they left now Thatcher would have no choice but to kill her. Everyone else would be safe she was the only one that had to die here, no one else would suffer for her sake, and she wouldn't allow it.
"This is how it's going to happen," Thatcher spoke loudly towards them. "You give me someone who I get to kill, we keep Marlow until he breathes his last breath, and then you get her back, simple as that," he explained as they all glanced at her and then back to the vengeful werewolf.
"How do we know you won't kill her anyway?" Derek asked in a low growl.
"You'll just have to trust me," Thatcher sneered icily. "So who's going to die tonight?" He asked almost gleefully. Marlow glared down all of her friends, the people she loved, pleading with her eyes for them to leave her be, and that she was okay with dying if it meant they could live.
"I am," Isaac said stepping in front of Peter and Derek. They both turned to look away from him sad and ashamed as Marlow screamed muffled words while struggling against the man's grip. The wolf holding her held fast, pulling her more tightly against his body and taking the opportunity to rub his hand up her stomach sensually. Peter's eyes were immediately on the man as Marlow whimpered in his grip, his eyes glowing a bright a vibrant blue that sent chills down her spine. The man behind her chuckled lowly in her ear.
"Is that your man?" He asked mockingly. "Do you think he would go insane if I kidnapped you after this was over?" He whispered hauntingly into her ear making her shiver uncomfortably. "What would he think if he found you dead, maybe I should kill you right now," he continued to taunt her and torture her with his words.
In front of them Isaac walked slowly to get to them as Thatcher waited patiently for him to get there before reaching out his hand to close around the teen's neck. Marlow watched in horror as he raised his claw to strike down before something whistled through the air and hit Thatcher in the shoulder. As soon as Marlow's eyes focused on the object enough to know it was an arrow another one flew right by her face and into the man behind her.
As soon as Thatcher was rearing with pain Isaac wrenched out of his grip and barreled into the man that was holding Marlow, knocking her away from him she fell onto the forest floor. Next thing she knew there was a howl that cut through the twilight air, and then the whole forest erupted with the sound of responding growls as the rest of the pack stepped into sight. Boyd, Erica, and Scott snarled viciously at the three men pulling arrows out of their bodies, they answered with a dark growl of their own.
Peter was with Marlow at once when the fighting started; cutting the rope that restricted her arms and pulling the tape from her mouth carefully before hugging her tightly.
"Go with Boyd and Erica, we'll take care of them," he said in a forceful voice.
"Don't kill Thatcher, please," she begged seeing his face darken at her words.
One of the men reached for Marlow but Peter was faster and dodged before their claws could make contact. Boyd reached Marlow first and pulled her off the ground before Erica joined them and ushered her into the forest behind them, doing their best to keep her up when she'd trip or cut her feet on rocks.
It was hard to run away from the fight when they could hear wolves on both sides getting hurt and yelping in pain, Thatcher had picked him men well seeing as Scott and Isaac had to work together to fight one. And yet Erica and Isaac ushered her forward to get away from the fight, they'd not been running more than five minutes when someone lurched out of the tree's after them. One of them men had changed a little too much and was now a hulking figure of a werewolf in front of them, baring his sharp canines which were bloodied. He swayed slightly on his feet before reaching behind his back to pull two arrows out, tossing the bloodied weapons to the ground in front of them.
Erica and Boyd pushed Marlow behind them, the monster's eyes trained on her immediately, picking out his prey amongst the small group. Boyd jumped at him first, his golden eyes flashing in the darkening light as Erica moved to the back of the beast in order to gain an advantage, they roared at Marlow to run away and leave this to them but she couldn't move. Frozen with fear and worry for her pack mates as she saw them jump into the path of the monster in front of her, she couldn't let them do this for her.
Driven by rage the man was much too quick for the younger wolves, throwing Erica aside like a rag doll he grabbed Boyd with both hand and smashed him into the ground powerfully. The teen yelled out in pain before the wolf above him was tackled by Erica again, she sunk her claws into the man's skin who merely growled at the annoyance. Digging his claws into the she wolf's side Erica screeched in pain while Boyd tore at the beasts belly ferociously.
Trapping the boy with his hulking figure the wolf grinned eerily before moving to rip into the teen beneath him, but he stopped short to roar in pain when something embedded itself into his back. Behind them Marlow had watched as everything happened fearfully, the teen's were getting some good hits in here and there but nothing that would bring the man down completely. Despite her fear she picked up one of the arrows that was slick with blood before moving silently towards the three fighting figures. In a split second she moved to stop the man from slicing Boyd open, digging the arrow deep into his back she gasped when he caught eyes with her so quickly.
Behind all the glowing blue there was something that she recognized, a man that she had called a friend only to be betrayed, a brother who simply wanted to make right what had been wrong with his brother. Someone she'd hoped would live to see his family one last time.
"Thatcher," she breathed softly.
He snarled at her lividly before reaching backwards and sinking his claws into her forearm, jerking her body over his back he pounded her into the Earth, stealing her breath away from her lungs for a moment. He dug his claws into Boyd with a snarl before pinning her form beneath his own, his eyes alight with revenge. She sputtered with her words a she tried to speak past the emptiness in her lungs.
"You can still stop this," she coughed looking up at the monster of a man. "Go back to your family, go back home. You don't have to kill anyone," she tried to reason with him. Tried to remind him that there were still people waiting for him to return. At such a close proximity Marlow could smell the blood on him, his own blood and other peoples; it dripped off his fur and down his arms. A few drops landed on her cheeks and clothing but she didn't care, all that mattered was that her family was safe. "Do you think your mother can bear losing another son?" Her question stopped him short as her fingers closed on the other arrow that he had discarded. She'd been holding onto it the whole time but couldn't find her grip after being thrown.
He looked at her for a moment, as the man she had met in the old burned down building, the one who had liked the way she spoke and how kind she way. The man whom she had remembered for the sheer amount of hair that covered half his face, she saw him again before the blue quickly took over.
"She has another son," he spat out at her. More blood spat onto her face as he spoke, Thatcher was already dying, the last thing he wanted to do was kill someone from the pack, someone, anyone but Marlow.
Fearing that he would answer as such Marlow pushed her makeshift weapon at him, hoping that it would deal a hard enough blow to render him useless, but she was much too slow and weak to make a sneak attack. Thatcher caught her hand easily, turning the arrow in her hand towards herself before slowly pushing it into her shoulder and through her skin making her cry out in pain.
"Don't touch her!" Erica screamed from just next to them as she pulled herself to her feet.
Thatcher glanced at Erica momentarily before turning back to Marlow and giving the arrow a quick shove right through her shoulder and into the ground beneath her. She gasped in agony and looked into the man's pained eyes above her as he coughed up some blood that dripped on her face slowly; he hadn't wanted to harm her.
Just before he turned to go after Erica someone barreled into him wildly before Marlow heard something crunch next to her, she let her head loll to the side to see Thatcher staring at her. His gaze made her flinch though his eyes seemed to be apologizing to her, she wanted to tell him how stupid he had been for throwing his life away. But all she could muster was an agonized hiss before the man's eyes paled and the shine of life left him altogether, Marlow heaved with sadness only causing further pain to her shoulder. There was a hatred for the man that had done this to her, an icy cold wall that had been built between the two of them in her mind, and yet she would never feel anything but pity for what he had become.
She moved her eyes away from the man's lifeless eyes to look up into the night sky above her, muffled voices could be heard and yet she was having trouble focusing on any single one. She recognized everyone save for one person, a new voice and a new face was staring down at her, a girl with black hair that looked at her wound sternly before someone picked her up. The world started to spin as her vision started to fade to black, slowly and then all at once it left her feeling empty.
-0-
He'd been hit with two arrows and yet the man still reared up against them, Peter had focused all his efforts on bringing Thatcher down, and yet one of his henchmen had gotten in his way right before he was going to deliver the finishing blow. Allison launched another arrow at him but the beasts feet faltered beneath him and the thing missed narrowly. He let out a growl before slashing across
Isaac's stomach when he ran at him and changing into more of a wolf than a man before running off into the forest.
"He's going after Marlow," Derek yelled sinking his claws into the man that had been holding Marlow before. The mercenary let out a strangled gasp before crumpling into the ground, his friend glanced at him for a second before Scott hit him in the leg and he fell to the ground as well. They turned to follow Thatcher only to have the last man sink his claws into their legs and hold them there, Isaac was still injured and moved to go after Marlow painfully.
Peter would have nothing slow him down and sliced his claws across the man's neck before bolting off in the direction that Scott and Derek had gone not moments before. If he hurt Marlow Peter was unsure if he would ever forgive himself, because everything that had happened to her with Thatcher had been the cause of her meeting him.
They heard Erica scream something before coming into a clearing to see the hulking mess of a wolf man leaning over someone; Peter recognized it as Marlow instantly. His breath hitched in his throat upon hearing her gasp painfully, his sensitive ears tuned into her form individually. His blood boiled uncontrollably as he launched himself at the man, shoving him off his girl and sinking his claws into his chest. The crunch of his ribcage could be heard as Peter pushed down lividly, Thatcher locked eyes with him suddenly, orbs that held such hate and anger dropped down to look at Marlow before the life faded from them. It angered him to see that she was also looking at the man, as if trying to communicate with him wordlessly before he died.
Peter wouldn't let anyone else pick her up; even when Allison came to help he didn't want the girl to touch his girl. He wanted to cry out into the night, to apologize so profusely to her mother for ever letting anything happen to the person he loved, but there wasn't time for that right now. Her body was limp in his grasp when he picked her up, they were going to take her to the hospital where Deaton was waiting to make sure that everything was okay.
=0=0=
She woke up the next day to find out that her mom only had a few days left to live, Isaac was still asleep and healing, and Erica was awake but couldn't move due to her injuries. Sitting next to her mother's bed while everyone else was away gave Marlow time to think about what had happened the past two days.
She'd found out that Peter and the rest of the people she loved, except Stiles, were all werewolves, that they had been keeping such a secret from her because they thought it was best. Peter was a murderer with glowing blue eyes to prove it and Derek was the Alpha of the whole pack with glowing red eyes while everyone else had golden eyes. Despite their best efforts to keep everyone safe during their rescue they were all injured in some way, though a few of them healed faster than the others with their less serious wounds. Marlow always came down to the same conclusion, one that made her breath hitch into her throat when she thought of what had happened because of her even coming into their lives in the first place.
This was all her fault.
She was no stranger to the whole concept of woe is her and had felt that way on a number of different occasions though she'd always tried to keep it choked down. But this was nothing of the sort, she was owning up to her own faults and problems. After years of being on her own and assuming that she would always be doing everything by herself she had had a family to go home to everyday, someone to hug and have feelings for. And she'd taken advantage of it, the fact that they had told her numerous times they would always be there for her, or she could mess up and they'd disown Peter instead. She'd sucked it up like a sponge and gotten drunk on the idea of being accepted into a family.
Everything had happened because she was weak and couldn't take care of herself; obviously a pack of werewolves had no need for one measly human who would soon be orphaned of anyone she was related to by blood. They didn't need her. In the end if they wanted her to leave, if they asked her to pack up and get out. She would, because they deserved better.
Such was the way Marlow spoke to herself, for many, many long years she had beaten herself down and broken anything that could be called self confidence into the ground. She didn't think she was worth anything anymore, and maybe on the outside it looked like she was strong, that she didn't care what others thought of her. But on the inside she looked at herself in the mirror, the same person that her father had cursed and beat for years, and she hated herself.
The person that looked back at her, the human that she had been her whole life was worth nothing in her eyes, and yet she could never bring herself to go through with her darker thoughts. So she'd lived out her life as best she could, making friendships that could only ever end badly and thinking thoughts that only wounded her even further. Was she even worth the air she breathed?
It all came down to what they would say to her, had she messed up her only chance of having a family again? Because there had been no rejoicing when she'd woken up, not like the last time she had been injured, instead there were sad faces full of defeat. Peter had smiled at her grimly before mentioning that her mother was dying, and that because of her some of the pack was wounded as well. He then stood up and away from her before placing a soft kiss on her forehead; he then walked out of the room dejected.
Grabbing onto her mother's hand gently Marlow touched her withered with all the care in the world. Perhaps it was his choice of words, or the way he had said it was her fault, that she knew something was going to change.
"You might be the only family I have left now," she whispered sadly.
-0-
On the other end of the hospital the pack was having a heart breaking meeting; Derek had suggested that Marlow might be safer if she left. Of course such a comment was shot down by the majority of the pack who then turned to see how angry Peter would look at such a course. They were surprised to see that he looked so very depressed and miserable, his mouth didn't open to protest the Alpha, and he merely nodded slowly.
Erica, who had pretty much healed from the whole ordeal, despite what they told Marlow, snarled and gnashed her teeth at the pitiful excuse for a man.
"You agree with him?" She snarled in his direction.
"Is that why you were so cruel when she woke up?" Stiles asked remembering how the older wolf had said it was Marlow's fault. "That's why you said it was her fault," his voice cracked as he realized what Marlow was probably thinking.
"You actually said that?" It was Isaac's turn to explode.
It turned into a shouting fest as the younger wolves, and Stiles, turned to yell at the older ones with a burning fervor of rage. Isaac was livid with the thought that they would ever even think of getting rid of her, throwing her away like she was an old toy, fun for a little while but otherwise a piece of junk.
"We're not throwing her away," Derek roared over the noise.
"Then what do you call this?" Scott said eyes flashing golden. "Because I'm pretty sure you're the only ones who want her gone," he said making Peter snap.
"You think I want her to leave? Do you really think I want to say goodbye to the woman I love?" He asked as the teens quieted down and watched the man rant. "You saw her didn't you? He could have killed her; even with Allison helping us we couldn't protect her. The smell of her blood clogged up my nose and invaded my throat, she's too fragile," he explained making them cringe.
The plan had been to take out Thatcher and rescue her with the help of Allison who would be hiding in the background and waiting for the right moment to let her arrow fly. They hadn't anticipated that he might have gotten help from someone else; they didn't know that Marlow would want them to save the man that had taken her, that she would have a big enough heart to care. It had clouded their judgment and made them weaker against the man, would this slice at his ribs be too much?
"Then change her," Boyd said sternly. "If she's like us then we can teach her to protect herself," he explained making Derek sigh.
"We thought about that already," he muttered irritated to have to repeat himself. "What if I bite her and her body rejects the change, she could die," he swallowed painfully. "I'd rather her be alive somewhere else, somewhere safe, than be dead, don't you want that?" He questioned the younger wolves. They agreed with him hesitantly, none of them wanting to admit he was right on target but at the same time agreeing with him completely.
"Then train us more," Isaac sputtered defiantly. "Teach us how to fight so if something happens again we'll be able to protect her," he demanded of the Alpha.
"What if another pack came into town, what if something else was to happen and we were outnumbered. It wouldn't matter if we had been trained by a ninja, there's always more strength in numbers, they would probably use her as leverage," Stiles murmured. "There's always me, they could always go after me, but Marlow is a prime target. They'd always go after her first because she's the one we care about most," he explained finally connecting with the rest of the wolves.
"I can't accept this," Isaac bit out at them still. "If we tell her to leave she has nowhere to go," he caught their attention. Reminding them of something Marlow had told them all before, she had come to Beacon Hills to take care of her mother who was slowly dying, the last member of her family that she cared about. Now that her dad was also dead there would be no one left for her to even call a relative. "After her mom has passed on then what? She leaves, but to where, don't you know we're all she has now? Do you even know how much she loves you?" He directed the question at Peter who jerked his head towards the teen angrily.
"I know!" He shouted standing up to face the younger wolf. His eyes began to glow blue as his bitterness enraptured the rest of his body more fervently. "And I love her just the same. So much that it kills me to even consider such a thing but I can't stand seeing her lying on the ground taking ragged painful breaths because she tried to save one of us," his words cut them deep. Boyd had told them about how Thatcher had been prepared to kill him before Marlow jumped onto his back and dug an arrow into his back, that even though she was weak she'd risked her life for his. "I want her to stay so badly, words cannot express what I'm feeling right now," he stopped himself short.
"But," Erica was the first to urge him along when he tried to gather himself back up again.
"If we let her stay and somewhere, sometime in the future something happens to her. If she were to die because this pack, us wolves, because I held onto her, and I was too selfish and arrogant to let her go. I would never be able to forgive myself. That wound on her shoulder is just a reminder of how I failed her," he finished with a truly pathetic look on his face.
It was quiet for a while after he stopped talking, Peter walked away from them to the opposite side of the room, sitting down with his back to them as he looked out the window at the parking lot. The whole situation settled in their hearts like rocks, none of them would be able to forgive themselves if Marlow died because they kept her there, even if she wanted to stay it didn't matter. They couldn't allow her to be putting herself in danger, not when they cared about her so much.
"How do we tell her?" Scott mumbled sadly.
"I'll tell her," Peter called over from his spot. "I have to tell her."
=0=0=
When Peter asked to talk to Marlow she had a feeling she already knew what they were going to be talking about, the dread that was building up her stomach was enough to make it harder to breathe. She wondered faintly if this was what it felt like to drown, but of course water would be a much heavier thing than the emotion in her heart, or was it the same?
They met in the courtyard of the hospital that night when no one else was outside to hear their conversation or even guess what they could be talking about. Peter kept thinking that there had to be some other way, his brain functioning much the same way as the teens had been thinking during their conversation the day before. He didn't want to see her go, to even let the words out of his mouth that she had to leave, how should be word it? Was there any way he could tell her what needed to be said without completely breaking her heart? Not really.
"Are Isaac and Erica okay?" She asked before he could gather his thoughts together completely. He almost said yes before remembering that he had to bend the truth a little in order to keep her from staying.
"They are awake but, they can't really walk yet," he explained. He swallowed nervously when he saw her face light up at the mention of hem finally having woken up, as far she knew they had been asleep for a while now.
"That's great," she smiled brightly making Peter bite the inside of his cheek angrily.
"Listen," he started of softly before stopping himself short.
If this had to sound real he would need to seem angry, if he told her to leave in a sad voice it would sound too forced and like he didn't mean it at all. Looking up into her eyes Marlow stared at him calmly, this was the woman he had been curious about in the library, the one person who could make him laugh just by being herself. She'd brought him back into the pack and made it into a family again and he was going to tell her to leave.
"After your mom passes away, after the funeral," he saw her hold her breath at his words. As if she had been expecting he was going to say something of the sort ever since telling her that they needed to talk, she knew this was coming. "We want you to leave," he looked away from her eyes and at her lips ashamed.
They opened and closed before the sides of her mouth turned up slowly, it looked like she wanted to say something but the words just wouldn't leave her mouth.
"With what happened to Isaac and Erica, it's too dangerous for them to have someone like you in the pack," his heart broke at his own words and he finally looked back up at her face. She wasn't crying nor were her eyes watering, but her expression said everything he feared to hear, she looked defeated and empty in front of him. Her eyes seemed void of any emotion he could even try to relate to her smiles and silly faces she always made at him, instead she gave him the softest sort of smile that made him feel awful.
"I understand," she finally said.
He hadn't wanted her to say something like that, he didn't want to hear those words come out of her mouth and yet it was very much like her to accept anything and everything that someone had to offer. She understood boundaries when it came to other people so of course she would understand and respect that they wanted to blame her for what had happened.
"You don't have to leave the house right away, but now that your father's gone you can live in your mother's house until everything's over with," he hated himself for sounding so emotionless. "We're all sorry that it turned out this way, but-," he faltered with his words when Marlow moved towards him slowly.
Her hands found the sides of his face as she looked at him with a sad smile on her lips, she didn't want, God if there was anything in the world she wanted it was to stay and fight for the right to live with them. But if they wanted her to leave, the man she loved was telling her that if she stayed the people she cared about would always be in danger, she had to leave. She wanted to cry and scream at him that she loved him more than anything she ever had before, but it was too selfish of her to hold onto him when he was already in pain.
Looking into Peter's eyes sadly she smiled as best as she could at him before kissing him softly on the lips, it was short and quiet, Peter wished it would last forever but soon she pulled away from him to look at him lovingly.
"I just want you to know that I will always love you, and I'm happy you led me out of the forest," she whispered. She then kissed his cheek and walked away from him before he could reach out to grab her.
"Boyd can help you mov-," she cut him off with a grin.
"Peter," she spoke his name ever so sweetly. "I'm used to it, I won't tell anyone about the pack. I have everything handled," she assured him before walking back into the building.
A moment later he was rushing into the forest tearing at his skin in a fit of rage and screaming to the heaven, crying out in agony for what he had said, for what he had just done. This was what he wanted, wasn't it?
-0-
It was the last time her mother would be awake and Marlow would spend every minute of it with the one person she had always loved, who had always loved her despite the hardships of life. It had started off shaky with her mother asking weakly about the bandages on her shoulder but Marlow refused to tell her the whole story. That her mother shouldn't worry when clearly she was dying far faster than Marlow's shoulder could ever make her.
The talking was scarce and far between as her mom could only finish a few sentences before saving her breath for the next one that she had thought about for the past week.
"I want you to know how proud of you I am," she said taking her daughter's hand in her own withered one. "I have the best daughter in the world," she coughed making Marlow tear up suddenly.
"I have the best mother in the world," she returned the comment making her mother smile all the more.
She couldn't bear to think of lowering the woman in the ground and saying goodbye for good, and that soon after she would pack her bags and leave the only place she'd ever wanted to call home. But she still had her degree to focus on, not that she gave a rip about a blasted piece of paper, it was just something that would keep her mind off everything that happened.
"I'm just so happy that now you have a real family," the woman reached up to touch her daughters face weakly. That was when Marlow lost it, everything she had been holding in flooded out of her and she wept while her mother smiled at her so proudly she wanted to die.
"I have the best family," she agreed thinking about the people she would leave behind when she left.
Her mother didn't last too long after that, falling into her final slumber Marlow cried alone in the hospital room, eventually falling into her own sleep right next to everything that had ever been her family.
She died the next morning in her sleep; it took Marlow two days to secretly move her stuff back to her mother's house while she planned the funeral through hard tears and broken smiles. It would be a tremendous lie to say that no one heard her carrying bags out of Derek's house in the middle of the night. Anyone in the building sat up listening to her sniffle and pack her bags before shuffling out the door, Erica and Isaac sat in the same room leaning against the wall and holding their breath.
Isaac and Stiles were the only ones who went to the funeral, and even then they didn't stay long enough to talk to her at all, hurrying into Stiles' jeep before she even got the chance to run over to them. It was taking everything in their resolve and their willpower to stay away from her for so long, to not even acknowledge that she was still living there. Peter said it was good practice for when she was really gone, but sometimes they would catch him heading over to her house in the middle of the night to get a glimpse of her or catch her scent.
Scott found out from Allison the exact day that Marlow as leaving town for good, the woman had gotten to know the dark haired teen quite well over the course of the past few weeks. She had been teaching the woman about how to spot a werewolf and how to take care of one or find the best place to hide if someone were to happen again. They shared stories about the pack lightly and laughed over dinner, it was like having an older sister for Allison and she'd wished that she'd gotten to know Marlow better before she left.
Marlow understood perfectly why they had to send her away, she was weak and useless in a fight, a prime target for anyone who was holding a grudge or looking for an easy win. She'd been the cause of a few injuries within the pack and brought a constant danger to the other members, and she wasn't sure how Peter felt about her anymore. Maybe he hated her?
The one thing she couldn't do was leave on such a sad note without saying goodbye, she was going to leave just as she as arrived, awkwardly and shouting all the way.
She said goodbye to Allison first, explaining that she would be back in a few months to sell her parents house and clear everything up with school so her credits and everything else could be transferred. Then she started towards Derek's loft, stumbling out of her car she grabbed one of the strangest pictures she could find of everyone. It had been an evening where they were all fighting over what movie to watch and somehow got in a dog pile with Stiles on the bottom, their faces expressed the amount of fun they were having. Though Stiles looked about ready to burst from not getting any air into his lungs.
She left the picture under Derek's windshield wiper before turning around towards the building shyly, unsure of how they would react if they heard her.
"Thanks for letting me stay here!" She screamed immediately feeling tears prick at her eyes. It was in this building that she had shared so many awkward, funny, and heartwarming moments with the people she had come to love and call a family. The place that had been her safe haven when her father threatened her safety, the one place she'd actually felt could be her home. "I'll never forget any of you, never," she shouted the first part and whispered the last word softly.
Very faintly she heard a responding voice, a muffled sound that she could barely understand.
"Bye Marlow," was what one of the voices said before a few more called out to her.
"Good riddance!" Must have been Stiles.
"Ditto," another one of them said before she couldn't understand the cacophony of sound coming from the house.
"I'll be back," she muttered under her breath before getting into her car and driving off. With the way she was now the only thing she could do was leave, but there's always room for a second chance.
AN: Quite a lot packed into one chapter wouldn't you agree? What did you think? One more chapter to go and then the journey is over! Excited?
Don't forget to tell me what you thought!
Thanks for reading.