AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just wanna say a quick 'Thank You' to those who take the time to leave a review :) I didn't really think anyone would read this so it makes me smile to know that some of you do.
The evening of the full moon came faster than Lea had anticipated. Even though she already had Derek's permission to be there, she had been undecided on what to do.
When she had woken up that morning, Lea decided that a quick trip to the supermarket was in store. While she did have control over her wolf tendencies on the night of the full moon, the only thing she didn't have control over was her appetite. She craved any type of meat, whether cooked or raw, and if she wasn't munching on anything, her temper got the best of her. And since she still hadn't known whether she was going or not, she thought it was best to have snacks to munch on just in case.
As the day passed though, Lea's mind was made up when Erica, Allison, and Lydia all texted her that they were really looking forward to another female's presence at the pack gathering. She had ignored the first few texts from them because she didn't really know where she stood with Stiles now and she didn't exactly know how to approach him. While she did have her fair share interacting with the opposite sex, they didn't really mean anything to her. And Stiles, well Stiles was totally different. She felt oddly protective of him and while their kiss was just meant to be fun, she couldn't help but crave more. And since she'd be returning to England soon, that couldn't happen.
Allison, Erica, and Lydia had kept their texts going and had finally convinced Lea to join them. She hadn't seen or heard from Stiles the entire day so she'd just have to play it by ear when she saw him at the pack gathering.
..
..
..
It was only a few minutes 'til sundown that Lea found herself parked in front of the Hale house. Stepping out of her vehicle, she brought along two shopping bags that were full of beef jerky and slim jims. Instead of walking up the front steps like one usually would, Lea followed the trail behind Derek's home and followed the directions that Allison had texted her. Although, she really didn't need directions when she had sensitive hearing and could pick up their voices a good mile into the woods.
By the time Lea found the Pack, she noticed that they were standing around a fire. It was a small clearing in the woods, a hole dug into the earth where a small bonfire was set up, and logs surrounding the fire a few feet away for a comfortable setting. Looking up into the trees nearest the fire campsite, there was what appeared to be the base of what would have been a tree-house nailed into the trees where Lea guessed that Lydia, Allison, and Stiles sometimes retreated.
"Whatcha hoarding there?" Stiles greeted her by walking up to and placing an arm around her shoulders.
"Wolf chow." Lea winked before placing a peck to the underside of Stiles' jaw. She hadn't realized how tall he was until now. Upon seeing Stiles blush, Lea wolfishly grinned as she turned her attention to the now quiet, yet amused Hale Pack that was staring at her and Stiles. Dropping the bags at her feet, she wrapped an arm around Stiles' waist and feigned innocence. "What?"
"What? What?!" Lydia shrieked with a small smile. "When did this happen?"
"Yeah. When did this happen?" Allison mused from next to Lydia.
Stiles and Lea shared a look, their eyes glinting with mirth. "We have no idea what you're talking about." Lea then playfully nipped at the underside of Stiles' jaw. "We're just making the best of what little time we have left." She added on.
"So he knows then?" Scott asked. "About how you feel and what not?"
"Yes." Lea signed. "The cheeky prat was awake the whole time we were talking." She told them.
The Pack grinned, having heard the slip-up where her accent shone through. Having been in America for a while, Lea had picked up an American accent but she couldn't help it when her accent slipped in. Apparently the Pack liked it.
"Okay, well as long as you guys know what you're doing." Scott shrugged.
When everyone had finally got over the initial shock of Lea and Stiles being attached to the hip, everyone decided to watch the sky as the sun disappeared. As soon as the ball of fire was gone from sight and the darkness started to creep in, Lea could feel the shift of energy in the atmosphere. Allison and Lydia each stood back, taking a seat next to Stiles who was seated on one of the logs with Lea at his side, while Scott, Jackson, Isaac, Erica, and Boyd had started to transform.
It was oddly amazing to see how their fingernails elongated into claws, course hair sprouting on the backs of their hands and the sides of each of their faces almost as if they had out of control sideburns. Teeth elongated into canines, and the space between their eyebrows became ridge-like to give them a more canine look while their eyes shone yellow, (the exception being Jackson whose eyes shone blue). The last thing that Lea's eyes saw transform were their ears as they stretched into pointed tips.
"Wow." Lea breathed in awe which caused the still human looking Peter and Derek to grin at her. Though their grins were suddenly wiped off their faces when the betas' attention were immediately drawn to Lea. Scott and Jackson suddenly bared their fangs at Lea, growling lowly in their throat as they started to stalk towards her. "I thought you said they keep their minds." Lea questioned without an ounce of fear of the two incoming werewolves.
"They usually do." Stiles grinned mischievously. "And they will once Derek puts the fear of his alpha-ness in them."
Derek rolled his eyes at Stiles' words before taking a few steps forward and letting his canines elongate and eyes glow red. Growling a fierce growl at Scott and Jackson, Lea watched as the two betas immediately stopped in their tracks and cowered, the other betas that were standing in the background flinching at their Alpha's growl. "She's a guest. She means no harm."
And just like that, Scott and Jackson looked at Lea with tilted heads trying to figure her out. She bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling and making the comment that they looked like adorable puppies when they did that. She figured a puppy comment wouldn't sit well with the werewolves. When the sound of the crackling fire was the only sound being made, the betas finally realized that they had free reign of the woods now.
Within the blink of an eye, Erica had Isaac in a headlock while Boyd watched on in amusement. Scott and Jackson then took to pushing each other around and running in circles around the campsite as they jumped over fallen trees or boulders. Boyd and Isaac eventually started to scale some of the trees, jumping from one tree to the next or just climbing the tree only to fall back to the ground and land in a crouch.
Seeing that it was just going to be a regular pack gathering, Allison and Lydia got to talking about the gossip going on around town. Glancing up, Lea caught sight of Peter and Derek who were still very much human and each leaning against their own tree as they watched what was going on around them.
"Why didn't they transform?" Lea gestured to Derek and Peter as she reached into a bag and pulled out a bag of beef jerky.
Stiles looked amused when he finally saw just what Lea's wolf chow was. "They usually wait until the moon's at it's peak." He shrugged.
Lea nodded in understanding before offering him some jerky, Stiles grabbing a handful as he started to munch on the snack with her. As the night wore on, Lea couldn't help but feel at peace. While she did think that the pack gathering would entail something more, she felt oddly comfortable with just the way things were going. Lydia and Allison were huddled together, Allison happily munching on slim jims that Lea had passed to them, and keeping warm by the fire while the transformed betas rough-housed with one another.
Peter and Derek were oddly at peace next to each other, arms crossed over their chests as their gazes followed the betas running around them. Off to the side, Lea and Stiles were huddled next to each other as they ate beef jerky and stared into the flames of the fire licking the air above it.
As the clouds moved and the moon was in full view, again, Lea felt as the energy in the atmosphere shifted. Looking up, she saw that Peter was now transformed along with the other betas and Derek was slowly transforming. Lea's skin suddenly started to tingle and she could practically feel her wolf within just pacing back and forth, yearning to be let out. Staring up at the moon, Lea closed her eyes and rolled her head side to side, trying to release the sudden tension in her shoulders.
"You okay there, Lea?" Lydia asks once she notices that Stiles had gone quiet.
"Mhm. Yeah." She mumbled. Rolling her shoulders, Lea turns towards the girls, her eyes opening. "I'm fine."
Lydia and Allison both gasps, their eyes going wide as they take in their friend's own eyes. "What happened?" Stiles asks as he leans back to look at his friends. When he receives no answer, his mind finally registers that the girls are stock still staring wide-eyed at Lea. "Lea?"
Lea turned to face Stiles, her brows furrowed in confusion when Stiles gasped as well. "Why is everyone gasping?" She grumbled.
Twigs snapping caused Lea to look towards where Derek was sitting, his sudden harsh glare at her making her even more confused. "I thought you said you could control it?!" He snarled, just barely keeping his temper in check because a wolfed out alpha had a very little patience.
"Control what?!" Lea snapped back, her own temper running high now. She didn't take it well when being snapped at.
Grasping her by the shoulder, Stiles pulls Lea back a bit so she'll turn to look at him. "Y-your eyes." He tells her. "They're glowing."
"They're what?!" She suddenly shrieks, whirling back to face Stiles to make sure he's not playing around which results in her falling off the log and falling on her bum in the dirt.
"They're glowing yellow." Derek growls. "What happened to your control?"
"I- I don't know." She honestly tells him. "I do have control but something.. when you finally changed.. I could feel it." She breathes. "I can feel her wanting to come out." She looks up to lock gazes with the alpha. "It's like she can sense the other wolves around and she wants out too."
Everyone is stock still now, their eyes darting back and forth from Derek to Lea, Peter being the only one who seems bored. "Then let her out." Peter drawls as he studies his claws which would have been comical if Lea wasn't trying her damnedest to keep her wolf in at the moment. "I'm sure she'd enjoy frolicking with her kind."
"She probably would," Lea dead-panned, glaring at the oblivious Peter. "But there are humans here, remember? And I'm pretty damn sure that, in wolf form, I wouldn't remember them and end up attacking them."
"But that's why we have that?" Stiles suddenly piped in, pointing towards their setup that was nailed to the trees. "I'm pretty sure you can't jump that high."
Lea looks again at the base of the tree-house, biting her bottom lip in thought. "No. That'd be too high."
"Well then that settles it." Peter clapped excitedly. "Go on, let go."
Not moving from her spot on the ground, Lea looks to Derek, silently asking for permission. When he nods, that's as much of a green light she's going to get. When Lea stands and starts to strip out of her thin jacket, Lydia, Allison, and Stiles take that as their cue to start climbing their tree. "If you're uncomfortable with nudity, I suggest you look away."
"Pft. You're joking, right?" Erica's voice booms in the silence that lingered after Lea's little suggestion. "You're a new breed of wolf. I'm totally checking out this transformation." Lea grins at Erica's bluntness, her grin widening as she sees Scott and Jackson looking up over head before their shoulders slump in defeat and they both turn around. Looked like Allison and Lydia didn't want their boyfriends watching Lea strip.
As the stripping of the shirt follows her already stripped off shorts, Lea realizes that Peter is back to studying his claws, Derek is staring straight at her as well as Erica, and Boyd and Isaac look torn about watching her transform or giving her privacy. Glancing up, she can see Allison, Lydia, and Stiles all readily watching her but when she locks gazes with Stiles, she can see his cheeks tint pink and feel her own cheeks flush as well.
Thinking twice about it, and staring down at her sports bra and boy short underwear, she decides to leave those on and let them rip and fall away when she transforms. She didn't want to deprive anyone of seeing her transformation since she could sense the disappoint from Scott and Jackson. "Forget the nudity." She calls out. "I'll let these rip since I'll have my shirt and shorts when I transform back in the morning." Scott and Jackson whirl back around, trying to act casual when they notice that all eyes are on them. Sighing one last time, Lea glances up at Stiles when she hears him audibly gulp and she figured it has to do with her being practically naked in front of them all. When he grins down at her, Lea winks at him. "Whatever you guys do, don't try to soothe me."
"Soothe you?" Scott cocks his head to the side, wondering why they'd want to soothe her.
Lea chuckles, "While you guys have it easy during the transformation, mine isn't. It's seriously painful."
"But you're old." Isaac mumbles. "Wouldn't you have gotten used to it?"
"Sadly, no." Lea looks around for a spot that she can kneel down and get to business. "Just.. ignore my screams." She sarcastically chuckles and kneels down on the ground, a few feet away from the fire.
Down on her knees, and earning a few confused stares from Scott, Isaac, and Jackson, Lea ignores them and stares up at the moon. Almost instantaneously, she can feel the change as she gives in to her wolf and pushes her inner vampire to the back of her mind. "Argh!" She screams, falling forward on her hands, her hair making a curtain and hiding her face.
The Pack flinch as Lea arches her back, the bones in her spine visibly moving beneath her skin and cracking one by one to accommodate the wolf's form. Screaming again, Lea throws her head back as her hands dig into the earth, the Pack seeing her eyes glowing an eery yellow, all her teeth elongated to sharp points. Lea is screaming in agony as each arm suddenly breaks in two different places, the bones in leg breaking as well.
The girls up in the tree have tears in their eyes as Lea continues to pant in pain, and everyone down on the ground has to look away when she starts to claw off her remaining clothes. The second everyone turns back around, Lea is gone and in her place is a black wolf. The only way that they can tell this wolf is supernatural is because her eyes are still glowing. Derek, Peter, Scott, Jackson, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac are all staring at Lea in awe while she curiously studies them; Lydia, Allison, and Stiles are speechless up above.
Once the wolf is comfortable being surrounding by new werewolves, she sits back on her haunches, throwing her head back and howls at the moon. This, of course, would have been perfectly acceptable if the leather wrap bracelet Lea always wore hadn't slipped from her front paw. The second the bracelet was no longer around her arm/leg, the werewolves all flinch as they get the first taste of the power radiating off of their new friend and the alpha in Derek suddenly became threatened.
Her howl comes to an end and Derek's snarl rips through the night air. All the betas take a step back when they realize that Derek isn't in control and now it's Lea's turn to feel threatened. Baring her own teeth, she snarls back and braces herself when Derek crouches low to the ground. It only takes Derek to lose his cool by swiping at her that the she-wolf finds her chance to pin Derek to the ground. With the force of being knocked back, Derek finally comes to and notices that Lea has her paws on either side of his head, her jaw snapping in warning just inches from his face as she's still snarling at him.
The betas are all fidgeting, no-one wanting to move as they can feel the energy shifting in the atmosphere. It's only when Stiles' shout of, "Lea!", and him quickly climbing down that they become really worried.
"Lea! Lea, stop! It's Derek. He's your friend." Stiles pants when he finally lands on the ground. All his knowledge completely flying out of his mind when he noticed his alpha was in trouble.
Sensing another presence, one that isn't wolf-like, the she-wolf growls and turns to face Stiles. One second she has Derek pinned and the next, she has Stiles pinned where he was once standing.
"Stop! Please, stop! Don't make me shoot you." Allison pleads from her spot in the tree, cross-bow trained on Lea's wolf form now.
Stiles whimpers in pain from being knocked to the ground, a rock digging into his bag as the she-wolf is now snarling above him, her bared canines just inches from his own face. On instinct, Stiles closes his eyes and turns his head to the side, baring his neck to the wolf.
Instantaneously, the snarling stops.
With the new found silence, Stiles cracks open his eyes only to see his fellow pack mates staring at him in confusion. It isn't until he feels a wet snout touching the crook of his neck that his head snaps back to the wolf standing over him. Only this time, she's not snarling or growling. She's staring down at him, her once ridiculously glowing yellow eyes now a dull glow as her tongue slips out and runs across his cheek.
"What th- gross!" Stiles squeaks as he wipes at the drool the wolf left behind, sitting up on his elbows once the wolf backs down a bit. "Did you really have to lick me?" He scowls and studies the wolf before him because he swears that the wolf is grinning at him.
"Wha- what happened?" Scott sighs. "I thought she wasn't supposed to have control." He takes a step forward away from the other werewolves to make sure Stiles is really okay when the she-wolf suddenly steps over Stiles' legs, her teeth bared as she growls in warning at Scott.
Hands up in surrender, Scott steps back in line with his pack mates as Stiles barks out a laugh. When the wolf turns to face him again, he threads his fingers through the fur around her neck and slowly lowers his forehead to hers. "They're my friends, remember. Be nice." He doesn't know why he's suddenly calm with the wolf that's practically in his lap or talking to her for that matter but he is.
Stiles bites back a grin when the wolf huffs in annoyance, her head tilting to the side so she can study the other werewolves. Slowly but surely, she leaves Stiles' side and makes her way towards a tense Derek. When she standing right before him, Derek is staring down in confusion and she headbutts his leg before moving on to Peter and doing the same. One by one, she recognizes each of the wolves by brushing up against them.
"Why is she doing this?" Erica mumbles once the she-wolf is standing in front of her. Instead of headbutting her leg or brushing up against her, Lea jumps up, her front two paws landing on Erica's stomach and knocks her on her bum. "What the hell was that for?!"
In a playful manner, the wolf pounces on Erica and starts licking her face. In all the shrieking that Erica is doing, the other pack members finally calm down and take a moment to realize that once Lea transforms back, she's going to be embarrassed by this one act alone.
After Erica surrenders, the she-wolf backs off and in the blink of an eye, she back by Stiles' side. "Okay, since all is fine and dandy, can we come back down?" Lydia questions from up above.
Everyone gives Allison and Lydia their attention, including the newly transformed wolf who hadn't taken the time to realize there were others around. Growling lowly in response with her eyes trained on the humans, Derek smirks. "I'll take that as a no."
Huffing in annoyance, Lydia makes herself comfortable up in the trees as Allison laughs. "It's gonna be a long night."
