Chapter 10

Katie drummed her fingers against the lab table as she waited for Erica and Isaac to show up. She was sitting directly behind Lydia, which she thought was far less suspicious than sitting next to her.

Erica and Isaac walked in the same time Scott and Stiles did. They all moved toward the table together, but Scott and Stiles got there first. Isaac and Erica sat on either side of her. Katie began bouncing her leg nervously and Isaac reached over and rest his hand on her knee.

"Calm down, you're making me nervous too," he whispered so only she could hear.

"Sorry," Katie muttered. He kept his hand on her knee, his thumb rubbing small circles against her jeans.

"Einstein once said two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. I myself have encountered infinite stupidity," Harris said as he patted Stiles on the shoulder. "So to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts thtrough a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or in Mr. Stilinski's case, better than one. Erica, you take the first station, you'll start with..."

There was a shuffle throughout the room as most of the guys and several of the girls raised their hands to be Erica's partner. Katie couldn't help but laugh and grin at her friend. "Looks like some is Miss Popular today," she teased.

"I didn't ask for volunteers, put your hormonal little hands down. Start with Mr. McCall. All right next two."

Katie and Isaac ended up at a station together. Isaac fiddled with his pencil as he watched Lydia. Katie began the experiment, but kept glancing over at Scott and Erica. Suddenly, Scott had hold of her wrist and Erica grabbed the back of his neck.

"Switch," Harris called, diffusing the moment. Katie exchanged a glance with Isaac as he moved to the next station. He ended up with Stiles, and of course at the next switch, he was sitting next to Lydia. The way he looked at her, made Katie's skin crawl.

Erica had ended up with Alison, and Katie was with some random guy that stared at her boobs as she worked. He kept trying to talk to her, but one look from her and he immediately shut up.

"Time," Harris finally called. "If you've catalyzed the experiment correctly you should be looking at a crystal. Now for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll enjoy. You can eat it."

Katie dumped the crystal out on the counter and slid it over to her partner. She didn't even look at him, she was too busy watching Isaac. He passed the crystal to Lydia, who was about to put it in her mouth.

"Lydia," Scott shouted as he leapt out of his seat.

"What," she asked in annoyance.

"Nothing," Scott replied before sitting back down. Katie was leaning against her table, watching Lydia intently.

Lydia bit into the crystal and they all waited with bated breath. Nothing happened, Katie pulled her phone out and sent a text to Derek. She exchanged a glance with Erica and gave her a nod. The bell rang and they all rushed out of the lab together.

"Derek knows, we can't do anything at the school. It will draw too much attention. We have to wait until after," Katie said lowly. "He's outside waiting."

"All right, so we get her after school," Isaac said with a smirk.

...

Katie heaved a sigh as she followed Isaac and Erica through the deserted halls of the school. Isaac stopped them outside of the library and they quickly strode in. Isaac and Erica headed for Danny and Matt's table. Isaac yanked Matt out of his seat and pulled him close.

"Where is she," he demanded.

"Who," Matt asked in confusion. He gaze landed on Katie and he smiled brightly at her. "Hey Katie, you look really pretty today."

"Uh, thanks Matt," she said with a shy smile.

"Lydia Martin, where is she," Erica snapped.

"She just left with Stiles, Alison, and Jackson. They were saying something about a study group," Danny explained.

Isaac let go of Matt and pushed him back in his seat. He patted him on the face before heading for the doors. Erica was hot on his heels.

"You'll have to excuse them, drugs are a terrible thing," Katie said before rushing after them.

"You look really pretty today," Isaac said mimicking Matt's voice. "What was that about?"

"What a guy can't give her a compliment," Erica asked as they headed to the parking lot. Katie caught a glimpse of Stiles' jeep through the window. "In case you haven't noticed, she is really pretty!"

"They just pulled out, we need to meet up with Derek," she said.

"All right, let's go," Isaac said quickly.

...

Derek drove them to Scott's and they were all standing around the front yard, trying to figure out the best course of action.

"I say we just bust in there and take her," Isaac said as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Maybe you missed the fact that Alison comes from a family of hunters. They know we are here for Lydia, she'll have weapons, but hey if you want to get shot, go right ahead," Katie snapped.

"I don't know what has gotten into you, but I like it," Derek said as he glanced between the two of them. "Look, we have to do something, so Isaac, Erica, Katie, you go around the back and break in. Boyd and I will cover the front."

Katie heaved a sigh as she followed Isaac around the side of the house. Erica hung back to make it less obvious. Isaac picked the lock on the backdoor and led the way inside. Katie stayed behind him as he tossed Alison on the floor. Katie grabbed the crossbow and threw it out of reach. Isaac turned to Stiles and threw him into the next room.

Katie turned away from Alison to look at Isaac. He was looming over Stiles and he picked him up again throwing him into chest with glass on it.

"Isaac, stop, he's human," Katie cried as she got in between them. Alison grabbed her crossbow and darted up the stairs. Isaac moved around her in her distraction and grabbed Stiles again. Erica darted in as Alison came back down the stairs. She fired an arrow at them, catching Katie in the shoulder as she tried to catch Stiles.

Katie cried out in pain and yanked the arrow out. Erica let out an angry growl and went upstairs after Alison. "Stiles, its here," Alison shouted.

Isaac went to grab Stiles again, but suddenly Scott was there getting between them. He shoved Isaac back and Katie darted over to Stiles to make sure he was ok. She helped him up and pressed a hand to his head, absorbing his pain.

"He's become a little more hostile than ususal," she explained as she glanced at Isaac. Alison came back down the stairs, dragging a paralyzed Erica. Scott managed to knock Isaac out and turned on her.

"Whoa, whoa, she was trying to protect us from getting hurt," Stiles said quickly. "Well more hurt, but you know what I mean."

Scott sighed and shook his head at her. "You figure it out yet," he asked.

"Nope, still working on it," she replied. He tossed Erica and Isaac out, scratching Katie on the arm to make it look good. She nodded at him before walking out with her hands up.

Derek heaved a sigh and shook his head at her. Alison, Stiles, and Scott were all standing on the porch together. "I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me Scott. You're not an omega, you're already an alpha of your own pack. But you know you can't beat me," Derek said with a smug grin.

"I can hold you off until the cops get here," Scott replied lowly.

Katie's eyes widened when she heard the sirens. "Oh shit, Derek, we've got to go," she said as she motioned for Boyd to help her. They froze when they heard a loud hiss. They all looked up to the roof to see the kanima crawling across it before leaping into the trees.

"Get them out of here," Derek said firmly.

Lydia burst out the front door at that moment. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on," she shouted.

"Oh shit," Katie mumbled as she helped Boyd pick up Isaac and Erica. She glanced at Derek for a moment.

"Go, I'm going after it," Derek ordered.

They carefully loaded Erica and Isaac into the back. Derek handed her the keys and took off after the kanima. Once they got back, they carried both of them inside and made them as comfortable as possible.

Boyd offered to stay with Erica, so Katie looked after Isaac. She was sitting on the floor next to his bed, doing her homework.

"Do you ever do anything other than study," he groaned as he sat up.

"Tonight, I watched Scott beat you up," she said as she turned to look at him. "Are you ok?"

"Nothing a few more hours won't heal. Are you ok? Did we get her?"

"Turns out its not Lydia. I'm fine, Scott barely scratched me, once you went down I surrendered, no way I could beat him on my own. Not with Alison standing there ready to shoot me," Katie explained.

"I won't tell Derek about what you did."

Katie looked up at him and realized her meant about Stiles. "Isaac, he's a human, I mean Alison isn't defenseless, but Stiles kind of is. You could have killed him," she whispered.

"He's protecting her!"

"She's not even the one we're after."

"Well we know that now," Isaac replied with a roll of his eyes.

"You should get some rest, come get me if you need anything," Katie said as she stood up and gathered her things. He caught her wrist before she could walk away though.

"Matt was right, you do look really pretty today," he said softly.

Katie blushed as she eased her wrist out of his grasp. "See, that is how you treat a girl, not all swagger and seduction," she said before leaving the car.