Chapter 13

Aiden clenched his fists, his jaws grinding against each other. Deaton carefully wedged out the knife from in between his shoulder blades, eliciting a blood curdling yell from Aiden. The poor boy could not take it anymore, the strength of the yell made his vocal chords sting.

"It's alright, its okay! It'll be fine now," Deaton whispered into his ears, in a soothing voice. The wolf gave a hoarse sigh, tears rolled down his face. He felt another pair of arms, gently holding him, rubbing comforting circles on his bare back. He felt himself getting relaxed at that touch, it made his skin tingle. Aiden felt a tiny pang of fear rise in his stomach. He didn't want to feel good about that and he was scared that he would get used to the pair hands again and then suddenly they would disappear, just like before. He kept his eyes clenched shut as tiny tears leaked out lacing the eye lashes.

"Would you like a sedative, Aiden?" Deaton's soothing voice came wafting in between his reverie. Aiden nodded. He needed the sleep, to heal, to stop thinking about all this, to have some semblance of peace. He felt a small prick at the crook of his arm, and his head began to feel fuzzy.

"Ethn-," he whispered, already in the throes of powerful sleep.

"He is right here, and he is fine," a soft voice replied, but it wasn't Deaton's. Aiden felt his senses shut down before he had even began to think about it.

Ethan, lying in the next table, looked at his brother as finally his features relaxed into a peaceful state. He looked at the figure standing in between the two tables, one hand placed carefully on each of them. Deaton moved around the room in what seemed like whirlwind, attending to his numerous patients. Ethan's wounds had already received first aid, and he needed the final dressing but seeing as Scott and Derek was still reeling under the power of Wolfsbane on their skin, he was glad to wait a few minutes. So he focussed on the girl who now stood over him, a roll of gauze in her hand, waiting for Deaton.

When Deaton had cleaned his wound, he had had to probe inside the deep gash in order to clean the Wolfsbane out. Ethan had felt sheer white hot agony and had clutched onto the nearest thing, which turned out to be Jenna's arm. His claws had dug into her skin, drawing blood. Now that he looked, he could see the cuts still visible. The Wolfsbane had already cooked her skin and the deep gashes didn't help. But she never winced, not once and just let him. Ethan looked up at her face and caught her watching him.

"Why?" he croaked.

"Why did I save you? Or why did I come back?" Jenna asked softly, but with a twinkle in her eye. Ethan almost smiled. Almost.

"Why didn't you tell us you were alive?" Ethan asked. Jenna took his hand in hers and inched closer to him, talking to him in a soft voice.

"I tried. When I came around after the fire, you were long gone. It took me two years to track you down. When I did, you guys were already in Deucalion's pack and I ... well, I had good reason to want to steer clear of an alpha pack. So I went away, but kept tabs on you. I came as soon as I could when I heard about what happened. But I guess I got here too late." She sighed earnestly.

Ethan let his lips move into an upward curl. "No, you came just in time." Jenna smiled gratefully. Just then Deaton swooped in, taking the gauze from her hand and began to work on Ethan.

"I think you are wanted outside," he said to Jenna. The girl gave him a confused look but Deaton didn't seem too concerned. He collected a bandage, an ointment and some more things from the table and handed them to her, gesturing to the outer room.

"Go, don't worry, my assistant will be more than happy to patch you up," he said, winking before turning back to Ethan.

Jenna looked over at Ethan and saw that he was sleepy so she gave him a small smile and went out of the room.

It had been about five minutes of silence as Scott slowly cleaned the wound on Jenna's right forearm. She sat on the exam table of the outer room, looking at the faces surrounding her. Stiles and Derek sat facing her, on an utility-table. Lydia stood leaning against the supply cupboard. Danny stood beside the door, arms folded across his chest. He had gone to the inner surgical room the moment Jenna came out but had returned shortly on seeing that Ethan was fast asleep. Now he stood guard at the doorway, ready to sprint to Ethan's side the moment he woke up but also intrigued by the this new addition, who called herself Jenna.

"So," Derek started the conversation, his expression at his brooding best, "what are you doing here?"

"You mean besides saving your collective backs?" Jenna replied, with a twinkle in her eye. She had a good sense of humour and had the ability to find smiles in almost all situations. She knew the conversation was going to get awkward but she was determined to enjoy it all the way, with her ready wit.

Derek arched his eyebrow.

"I have learnt over time that actions are often misleading, so motives matter," he replied, curtly.

"Most people would just be grateful," Jenna quipped, eyes wide with innocence. She was enjoying this. Scott took one look at Derek and cleared his throat loudly.

"We are very thankful, Jenna," he said, shooting Derek a look that made his gratitude sound like a peace offering. Derek got the hint and took a deep breath. Jenna smiled.

"Thanks Scott. I assure you, I don't want to upset your pack dynamics."

Scott looked at her for a long time, trying to seize her up, before he went back to working on her wounds. He had been probing the gashes and burns less than gently but she never winced.

"You have high tolerance for pain," Scott observed.

"Three years as an alpha without a pack, you learn things," Jenna said, nonchalantly.

"Why don't you have a pack?" Stiles said, breaking his usual silence. Jenna shrugged.

"I didn't want one."

"How did the Wolfsbane not affect you as much as it affected us?" that was Derek again. He was grudgingly admiring her strength, both physical as well as mental.

"My perfume has Wolfsbane in it. Over the years I've built up a sort of resistance. But of course, as you can see, it doesn't work much in acid rains," she replied, gesturing to her arm. Scott had finished his work and gave the bandage a small pat, straightened and went to sit beside Stiles.

Lydia sighed exasperatedly from her corner.

"Can someone just ask the actual question already?" she then turned to Jenna.

"You were supposed to be dead! And now you're back, you just killed a guy and you're an alpha. Help me connect the dots here?"

Jenna tilted her head and pursed her lips, as if going over the chronological order of the questions in her mind.

"Well, as you can see, I survived. And things just followed after that," she said, cryptically, with a slow shrug of her shoulders. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Where were you when Ethan and Aiden attacked the Walsh's? And how did you survive?" came Derek's voice. He was the one who had seen the memories, the event were clearer to him than anyone else. Stiles nodded in agreement, fixing his gaze upon Jenna.

"Come on, tell us!" he coaxed. Jenna showed the first signs of reluctance, so subtly that only Stiles and Danny noticed the slight changes. They immediately became aware that the snarky, sarcastic and fun part was over. Now, things were going to get uncomfortable. Jenna stared at Derek, scrutinizing him, almost as if she were trying to read his mind. Then she spoke.

"How much do you know and how?"

"We know enough to estimate the body count from that day," Derek replied, more comfortable now seeing that Jenna had lost her witty advantage. She wasn't going to be joking about the fire.

Jenna frowned. "How? Ethan and Aiden would never utter a word, I'm sure."

Derek smirked. "I saw John's memories." Jenna was taken aback. She didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing but decided that former worked in her favour.

"Right," she said, nodding her head and she hopped off the exam table with a feline precision, "then that's all you need to know."

Derek stood up, guarding her way to the door. "Answer my question, how did you survive?"

Jenna scowled, "I was messing with the gas pipes and had left the stove burning when Kyle caught up with me in the kitchen. He was much too strong for me and he had me pinned down when the explosion ripped the place apart. I was saved from the full impact because a broken wood panel fell on me but Kyle died instantly. I don't remember much after that except that after sometime Aiden pulled me out of the debris. I was in pain, very badly injured, and probably had only a few breaths left in me. Mike Anderson gave me the bite but I still fell unconscious. They thought I had died and left but I wasn't. I woke from a coma two days later. I had been tracking them since then."

There was a silence in the room. Derek stared broodingly at the floor, Stiles and Scott exchanged a meaningful glance, Lydia pursed her lips. Jenna looked around, and made for the door without a word.

"Wait." Jenna turned to see Danny. He walked up to her. He had been exceptionally quiet but after hearing this, he could not wait any longer.

"Just tell me one thing, why did they turn?" Danny asked. Jenna stared back at him blankly. The rest of the group straightened, they needed to hear this.

"What do you mean?" Jenna stammered.

Danny shuffled on his feet. "Well, I have asked Ethan but he never answered it. He always avoids it but I really need to know. I know the things Ethan had to deal with and I really want to know everything, so I can be there for him. Please?" he turned his big earnest eye on Jenna.

Jenna sighed, feeling like she had her back against the wall. She didn't have anywhere to hide.

"Look, I admire your intentions but I really can't do this."

"But I need to know what happened to Ethan..."

"Ethan is fine now isn't he? Just leave it! I can't tell you the story like this, I'm sorry, I just can't," Jenna pleaded. Danny stepped closer to her and carefully took her hand.

"I already know the worst part, so nothing you tell us can surprise us. But we really need to know!" he said.

The look Jenna gave him unsettled Danny. She had tears forming in her eyes, and she shook her head.

"You don't know. You only think you do."

A ripple of surprise and confusion went through the room.

"What do you mean?" Scott asked, coming to stand beside Danny, "Jenna please, what happened that night?"

SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK? READY FOR ANOTHER PEAK INTO THE PAST? PLZ REVIEW!