Chapter 9

Mj climbed into Stiles' Jeep. It was smaller than the one Alicia drove and more built for an off-roading environment. Mj no longer surged with adrenaline from the fight, and now just felt numb to everything. Her eyes drooped as soon as she sat down, and she yawned wide to try and fight to stay awake.

"So what exactly did the desert wolf tell you?" he asked finally. She could tell he had been rolling the question around in his head for the last few minutes, waiting for the right moment to spill it out.

"Alot? Nothing?" she was too tired to get into the details.

Stiles shot her a look, rolling his eyes while turning the car on.

Mj sighed and went on, "I dont know? She asked me alot about Scott…" Stiles started driving out of the wooded area slowly, half focusing on Mj and half on the road.

"What did you say?" he responded immediately. God he was naggy. She turned her eyes to the road, since he seemed to be looking anywhere but there. It was hot outside, and they were getting closer to the edge of town, the trees were thinning, but not gone yet. She saw movement in the forest next to them, almost keeping pace with the speed of the car, but weaving in between the trees. She tried to focus on the figure, which looked like a it was getting closer to the road. It looked like a shadow almost, black, and flowy and fast.

"Hello Mj! I asked you a question?" Stiles was saying, looking from her to the road, then her again.

The figure was almost to the road now, and it was definitely following them. She could see it better now, erratically bumping into trees, barrelling out of the treeline ahead of them. It was outlined perfectly against the bright sun, three yards ahead a huge, scruffy, black...

"WOLF!" Mj said her eyes getting wider with every second.

"Well obviously she knew Scott is a wolf, is that all you-"

"No! In front of us, dumbass!"

Stiles' eyes flicked to the road at the exact right moment. "Shhhiiiiiiiiiiittttttt" he said, slamming on his breaks and spinning the wheel to get out of the way. The car did a full circle around the wolf or maybe over it, she couldnt tell, Mj's head spinning. The world for a few seconds was a whirl of green and brown trees and the lone wolf, rotating around them. They stopped with a jerk, Mj's heart jumped into her throat.

Stiles bent forward and rubbed the top of his dash, "Thank you, thank you, thank you for not killing us." he cooed to the machine. They were just feet away from a huge oak tree. It was Mj's turn now to roll her eyes at Stiles, and she looked back into the street where the wolf was-or had been. In its place, in the middle of the street there laid a man, bleeding from the shoulder badly. His face was scrunched up in pain and he was sucking in short quips of breath quickly.

"Oh my god we hit someone." Mj said, running for the man. When she got close, she saw that the wound wasnt leaking blood, but a thick black goo. It smelled like crap. Stiles got out of the car behind her muttering under his breath. The man held an arm out to her, as if to tell her to stay back. His legs were both bent in strange positions, like they were triple jointed. She could see the breaks in them, and then all at once she could see them healing, snapping back into place.

It was miraculous, it was magic. She wanted to cry just watching it happen.

He was still leaking from the shoulder "Dont move. Youre losing alot of-" werewolf blood? she examined the black stuff again as she bent down, it was a bit sticky. "...you're hurt, I think." she finished.

"Stay back," he grabbed the spot on his shoulder that was bleeding and sat up, still holding out an arm. Finally, he steadied himself and got onto his feet. He still looked pale, but not as bad as when she first walked up.

"Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit." Stiles came up slowly behind her, running his hands through his dark hair. When he got a good look at the guy, his demeanor changed he smiled "Oh thank god, its just Derek."

"If you ever hit me again I swear-" he was shaking his head and squinting at Stiles.

Stiles made a motion with his hand like he was swatting something away and smiled nervously, "Yeah, Ive heard it all before."

Mj's eyes glittered in awe "Wow, you guys do heal fast …" she said, eyes on the man, mouth still slack jaw. "...well except that." she pointed to the gash. He had huge square features that looked familiar somehow, dark hair, a strong chin, light green eyes.

He looked at his hurt shoulder, "It doesn't feel right."

"It doesnt smell right either." Stiles frowned at the gash, "Does that black werewolf goop look like a bad sign to you?" he was looking at Mj.

"I think I saw that stuff before-" she was racking her brain. She felt like she was having deja vu. She looked back at the man's face, she had seen it before, she was sure of it.

"Derek…Derek Hale?" she took a step back carefully, towards the car, "You're the guy that burned his whole family in that house fire! And then you chopped your sister in half and dumped her legs in the woods. And then they found that one ladies body in your families abandoned house."

"None of that is true." then he thought for a second and added, "Maybe that last part, but God-" he looked at Stiles, "Where did you find this one?"

"Im Mj." was her retort, still feeling uncomfortable around the burly twenty-something year old.

"Werent you supposed to be being held hostage?" Derek asked furrowing his thick eyebrows.

"She was let go." Stiles was staring at the gash in Dereks shoulder still. He walked closer to it squinting his eyes and wrinkling his nose. He paused then said, "Mj, you said you saw that stuff before?"

She stepped closer too, so she was next to Stiles, "Barf?" she said questionably turning her head to the side. And then it clicked, "Wait, thats the same barf I saw at school…"

Derek was ignoring them, "Why would she just let her go after holding her hostage all night?"

"Mj wasn't the hostage," Stiles was piecing everything together all at once, his eyes flashed with the knowledge. "...she was the bait."

"I dont like the sound of that." Derek was straining his neck trying to look at his shoulder.

"Did this happen when we hit you just now?" Mj asked.

"No. We were looking for you in the mine when the Desert Wolf came out of nowhere, seemed like she was waiting for us. I chased after her and she led me away from Scott and Alicia." he told the story in a voice that sounded bland and uninterested, "We went through the mine like that for a while. I tried to catch her, but she was quick, nimble in a way that Im not. Then she slowed down I think, when we got deep enough. She slashed me once, then ran faster. I tried to catch her but-" He was sweating profusely.

"But she disappeared?" Mj guessed, and Derek nodded. "Well at least she didn't do anything worse." She wondered vaugly if wolves could die, and her question was almost immediately answered.

Stiles paled, "This is bad. She didnt just scratch you Derek. She infected you." he said the word infected like just saying it would mean he would catch it. "She's the one who infected Liam." he was talking faster, "She was asking Mj questions about Scott, She…" he trailed off, grabbing his keys and running towards the car.

"She what?" Derek limped after him. "Goddamn it Stiles! You always do this."

Mj shrugged and followed, remembering heavily that she was more tired than she had been in her entire life. She didnt care what the black stuff was, or what Stiles' miraculous revelation was she just wanted to sleep.

"If I'm right, we need to get you somewhere isolated- and fast. But first," he climbed in the Jeep and shut the door, "Get in. We're going to Deaton's."