A/N: Sorry it's taken so long to update. I had a little bit of writer's block. It's almost done though.
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Derek wasn't certain he could keep up the grueling pace for much longer. After the night he'd had already he was certain he was going to die of exhaustion before he could even get to where Deucalion's pack was even hiding out. Plus he had to think about Danny. The human had to be with Ethan because there was no way he was going to go without some sort of explanation.
He could feel the moon rising. Instinct told him to shift but he needed to help the ones who needed him most. He wasn't the only one fighting the shift that night. Thierry was as well. He could feel it in the way she pushed herself. There was no doubt in his mind that she was running so she could deal with the pain that was bothering her.
He wondered how long it would be until she could summon the hellhounds. They would need the extra help if they had any chance at defeating the witches or druids or whatever they were. He also hoped that the twins would help them instead of killing them. Thierry was right. Ethan had been mad at her when she let them go an hour ago. There was no telling what he would do. Derek remembered the first time she had met them. They had pulled her arms out of their sockets. He didn't want to know what they were going to do to her now.
They came to a very posh neighborhood on the north side of town. Derek followed Thierry until they came to a really nice house. It had a fence around it and a security system to go along with it. He figured Deucalion had chosen this place for a reason. The old bank was out of the question now that it had been compromised. He needed something that wouldn't cause a scene.
They stopped in front of the gate. He watched his mate rip the wires out of the security system then kick the gates in. She wasn't playing around. She was determined to see the twins even if it cost her life. Derek didn't like these kinds of games but they were the only things they had left to bargain with. John Stilinski's life was in danger. They had to do something.
Derek thought his mate had lost her mind when she threw open the front door of the house. He could sense that she was working to hold down her anger but it wasn't working. The full moon was taking its toll.
They hadn't gone five feet into the house when Thierry was attacked from behind. Derek was shoved to the side as if he had no part in the fight. He didn't but that didn't mean he wasn't going to try and help. Unfortunately, Kali made sure he didn't go anywhere near Ethan as he unleashed his anger on the woman who put Danny in danger.
He was correct when he saw Aidan standing off to the side as his brother took his frustrations out on Thierry. He looked upset but he wasn't angry. He seemed to pity the woman.
Deucalion walked in with the other Alpha, Ennis he thought his name was. Ennis made a face as Ethan tossed Thierry into the wall. None of them were going to stop him even if he almost killed her.
"Ethan? Stop!"
Suddenly Danny was standing in front of the younger twin. Ethan stopped and stared at him. Knowing the other guy wouldn't harm him, Danny turned and held a hand out to Thierry. She looked up at him then took his hand. He wrapped a well-muscled arm around her shoulders and held her against him. Her nails scraped through his t-shirt on accident but he didn't flinch.
"What the hell is your problem?" he asked the other man.
"She put you in danger," Ethan said.
"All she did was have some guy hold me. He didn't hurt me so why are you doing this to her? Answer me, Ethan."
When the other guy didn't answer him, Danny turned to the woman he was holding. He had seen her with Stilinski and McCall a couple of times but he had never had the chance to talk to her. He pushed her away from him then examined her face. Her eye was bruised and there was cut above her eyebrow. Her lip was busted and oozing. Her eyes were dilated.
"Wow," he muttered. "I've never seen such a vivid blue." He felt her muscles contract as she inhaled quickly. Then she winced. Broken ribs. "Are you all right? He didn't hurt you too bad did he?"
She shook her head. "No, not too bad."
He grabbed the hem of his shirt and lifted it to wipe the blood away from her lip. He could have sworn he heard growling but he wasn't sure. "What's your name?"
"Thierry." She pushed away from him. "Thanks, but I need to talk to Ethan."
She walked up to him. Derek knew the exact moment when Ethan understood. He could hit, punch, kick, and throw her around, but Thierry was going to get what she wanted. He could feel the dominance rolling off her and it drug him to his knees. The full moon and a determined Alpha was something he couldn't deny. One by one, every Alpha in the room dropped to one knee. Even Deucalion dropped. That one was a surprise but it didn't matter at the time. The only ones left standing were Danny and Thierry.
Thierry turned a circle. "I need your help. All of you. I know we're on different sides but we have a common enemy. If we don't ban together, we'll all be destroyed. I ask for one night of peace. No one tries to kill each other. We work for the common goal."
"Why should we trust you?" Ethan asked.
"Because if you don't, Danny will die."
Danny looked at her then. "What are you talking about?"
She ignored him and focused on Ethan completely. "If we don't stop this tonight, hell will be brought on earth and everyone will be killed. I know how much you like Danny. We all like Danny. He's a good guy. Do you really want to be around when he's torn into pieces? I've seen someone torn to pieces. It's not fun. So what do you want to do? Do you want to see him killed? Or do you want to protect him?"
Ethan took too long to answer. She turned to Danny and whispered something to him. When he nodded, she walked behind him, kicked his feet out from under him, grabbed him by the hair and held a knife to his throat. Ethan came unglued but couldn't get up due to the affects of the full moon. Derek watched quietly, ready to pounce if he was needed.
"This is what will happen to him. Then his body will be strung up and he'll be bashed in the head. People will think it's a gay bashing but you'll know different. You'll know it was because you couldn't be a man and step up to protect him. Then you'll fly off the handle and get yourself killed. What good will that do him? You can't avenge him because you'll be dead."
"Fine!" Ethan shouted. His voice was gravelly as he fought his change. His fingers dug into the floor, scoring the marble. "I'll help you. Just please don't hurt him."
Danny easily moved the knife from his throat. "She was never going to hurt me. She did it to prove a point."
"If we help you," Deucalion said, "what do we get in return?"
Derek knew the second things had gone from something he knew was happening to something he had no idea. Thierry looked at him with really tender eyes. He read her intention there and tried to get up. She closed her eyes to him and that allowed him to get up. He walked over to her and pressed his forehead against her temple.
"Don't do it," he whispered.
"I have to. It's the only way to get their help," she replied.
He fisted his hand in her palm and let her cover it with her hand. He felt the moment when she decided.
"Well?" Deucalion was just waiting. He knew that she was going to do whatever she had to do to keep her pack safe.
"I'll do whatever you want except for killing my own pack," she replied.
Deucalion smiled. "After we help you, you return to the house tonight."
"Right."
"What do we have to do?"
"We have until midnight."
"Which is in thirty minutes," Aidan said.
They sat down to make a quick plan. Derek still didn't trust the Alpha Pack, but Thierry was right. They had a common enemy.
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Stiles rode in the front seat with Terrence. Isaac and Scott were in the back seat making plans. Allison and Lydia had been told to stay home because this was too dangerous. They had argued that Stiles was as killable as they were but Stiles had a new found ability that he was going to learn to harness.
It was fifteen minutes to midnight and they still hadn't found the old oak tree in the preserve. Deaton had been certain that the oak tree had to be the focus of the whole thing. If he was right, and he usually was, they would find them, but Stiles was losing hope of ever finding his dad before everything went to hell.
He glanced at Terrence. Something was bothering the other werewolf. Terrence wasn't the type to be cornered by anything. He was also very sensitive to his sister being gone. For twenty-six years, he had had to deal with his sister's shift. Now there were two others that could help her. He felt lost and right now was the same.
"She'll be fine," he said.
"She's going to do something stupid to keep everyone safe," Terrence replied.
"You would do the same."
Terrence didn't say anything. Stiles was right. They were wired to be fearless and to put the good of the many above the good of the few. Thierry had a better track record with putting others before herself, but this time he felt she was just being stupid.
"What would you do, Stiles, if you were a werewolf?" he asked.
"I'd make sure this never happened."
"Hey, guys, we think we found the oak," Scott said. "Deaton sent us the coordinates and Isaac plugged them into his phone."
"How far are we away?" Terrence asked.
"Two miles."
The older man punched the accelerator and the car lurched into the woods. It was a good thing he bought an off road vehicle when he traded in his other SUV. It wouldn't have ended well if he hadn't. The car moved agilely through the trees with just a simple turn of his wrist.
Stiles held on to the oh-shit handle and leaned in to the turns. If Isaac's phone was right, they would be at the sight in a few minutes. He wanted to get his dad and get out. He wanted nothing more to do with the witches but he was going to deal with it. He was something of the sort. He was a fire flower.
He snorted at his own joke and that drew the attention of his friends. He shook his head and waved it away. His head almost slammed his head into the dashboard when Terrence hit the brakes quickly. He wanted to curse his friend but the other three were scrambling from the car. He followed them. He could smell the fire burning.
As quietly as they could, they stalked towards the flames. Stiles led the way. It was as if the fire was pulling him towards it. The others didn't say anything to him. They must have seen his hands glowing. He felt like Iron Man with his palms looking like lights. He took a deep breath and peeked around a large tree.
Scott and Isaac peeked around a tree to his left. Scott inhaled sharply then ducked back behind the tree. Stiles took his chance to look and his reaction was the same. It wasn't only his dad that was there. Isaac's reaction was much the same. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"This is bad," Scott whispered.
"Nah, really? I wouldn't have guessed," Stiles replied. Whenever he got scared or angry, his mouth ran. He was both right now and he had a feeling that his mouth was going to get him caught. "I figured my dad being taken was the worst thing, and it is. But now I have to save one of my teachers? And let's not forget how the man tried to humiliate the two of us. Why should we save him?"
"Because he's our teacher, Stiles. And no one deserves to die like the others."
"There's not going to be saving him," Terrence said. They looked at him. "Use your heightened senses. You'll understand what I mean."
Scott and Isaac took deep breaths and their faces fell even more. Stiles read it in their faces. Harris was already dead and there was nothing they could do about it. Terrence let out a curse and they all turned back to see what was going on. Keilani was drawing some sort of symbol on John's bare chest. Stiles flinched when he realized it was blood,
"What time is it?" he asked. His eyes were huge and blue and he was losing control.
"It's ten till midnight," Isaac replied.
"We can't wait on the others. We don't have time. We just have to hope that they get here as soon as they can." He turned to the only human among them. "Whatever you do, don't use your powers until you're certain there's nothing else for you to do. They don't know you're supernaturally equipped. We want to keep it that way for as long as possible."
Stiles didn't have a chance to agree or disagree as Terrence stepped from around the tree and fired a warning shot above Keilani's head. He flinched when he realized how close it had been to his dad. Isaac and Scott split up and went in different directions so they could surround the two. It wasn't going to work because at the last minute several more people jumped into the fight. They were outnumbered three to one and it didn't seem that anything would help them.
He was yanked from the tree he was hiding behind and tossed into the fray. He wasn't armed and he wasn't a werewolf. He couldn't automatically heal when he was hurt. He was still aching from the hellhounds attacking him during the game but he had to do something to stay alive. So he ran. Something buzzed past him and he figured it was magic, a spell of some sort.
Stiles let out a scream when he was jerked by his hurt shoulder. He hit the ground hard and tried to get up. A boot landed square in his ribs and he swore it was a steel-toed. He rolled to keep the next kick from connecting with his already smarting side. He heard other fights going on around him and was certain that they weren't going to get very far.
"Where the hell are they?" he heard Isaac bite out.
"I don't know," Scott replied. "But they better get here soon. We can't take much more of this."
They were getting hit by spell after spell. Stiles seemed to be immune but the others weren't so lucky. He saw Scott pull his arms up to fend them off but it didn't work. A bolt of electricity hit him and his body convulsed. Isaac wasn't faring any better. He was getting hit with punches and kicked that he should have been able to block. He was trying and was making some leeway when four vines sprouted from the ground and grabbed him. He was pulled spread eagle into the air.
Stiles had to turn around completely to find Terrence. He was pinned against the wall with his own knife. The ones attacking him were using his knives he had brought to make tiny little cuts that would heal instantly. It was torture.
He had only one chance. He got to his feet as quickly as he could and ran towards his dad. He was stopped by Keilani. She simply held her hand out and he was floating.
"Lovely. Two for the price of one," she said. She flung her wrist and he went flying into the nearest tree. "I wonder what your lovely little handler would say."
Stiles smiled as he struggled against his invisible restraints. It wasn't magic so he wasn't immune. "You know you obviously don't know what a handler is. A handler is someone who knows how to curb your powers, your anger, your sexual desires, whatever you need. I obviously have no handler, but you could use one. This whole revenge against Derek thing is getting old. Too many people want revenge against Derek. I mean what the hell has the guy done to deserve so much hatred? He seems pretty cool me."
The restraints around him tightened. She hated Derek for a reason. He grunted as he felt the invisible restraints agitate his hurting ribs.
There was snarling behind him. Then the bushes erupted and the foul smelling dogs came into view. They were followed by a huge werewolf. The female werewolf of the Alpha Pack showed up and took on the men carving up Terrence. Deucalion and Thierry came out of the woods next. The Alpha Pack leader was holding on to the woman's arm. When he let her go, she charged the tree he was tied to. Keilani dodged to one side.
"You think that was supposed to hurt me?" the witch laughed.
Stiles was now beside the werewolf so he could see the sardonic smile that came over her face. "I'm not the one you should be worried about."
Keilani tilted her head in confusion seconds before Derek tackled her. He growled when she faced him. He was angry and she didn't understand why.
"You think you're the big bad wolf now? Well you don't scare me. Remember what happened to the big bad wolf in the story," she said.
"You know in the newer versions of Red Riding Hood, Red is the wolf. You might be killed as well," Stiles said. Everyone looked at him. "What? My mom always told me fairy tales."
Keilani looked dreamy. "Your mom. She was a wonderful person. Too bad she died too early."
Derek wrapped his hand around her throat. "What did you do?"
"What do you think I did? Because if you think I killed the woman, you would be right."
Stiles' world did a one eighty. The breath left his body and his mind went blank. There was nothing he could say because shock was too evident in his reality. She had killed his mother.
Scott broke the silence. "Guys, stop the mom. She's still chanting."
In all of the hubbub of the Alphas jumping into the fray they had forgotten that Keilani's mother was chanting away by the fire. Keilani was the diversion. Amelia was the one who knew what was going on.
Thierry ran as fast as she could, the hellhounds at her side. As she was going to jump over the fire to get to John, Amelia finished her chant and the flames blew higher. It knocked her back. And the ground began to rumble. Keilani started laughing as Stiles' restraints fell away.
A few seconds later, the fire died down. The hellhounds were feeding on Amelia's dead body. John had fallen from his restraints. Stiles started crawling to him but stopped when he started moving. Slowly his dad rose to his feet. When his head came up and his eyes opened, it wasn't his dad.
"What the hell?" Isaac asked as he kneeled next to Thierry. "What is that?"
"It's a demon," she replied.
"No, honey," John said, except it wasn't his voice. "I'm not a demon. I'm the devil himself."
"He's the god of the underworld," Terrence muttered.
"How do we save him?" Scott asked.
"I don't know."