CHAPTER twenty-one
Lydia Martin

Where do I run now?
There's no easy way out

"You've got to go, Lydia!"

I have followed them outside. Derek was ready to fight and I felt that the others were, too. It was so terrifying. I just couldn't process that it really happened. These past few months we'd always been on the lookout for the wolves of the Alpha Pack. There were five of them but they were still so much stronger than Derek and the others since Jackson and Scott weren't a part of his pack.

I was terrified. I knew that I couldn't help them. But still... What was going to happen now? Scott wanted to ask Chris for help. And even though Derek didn't seem to want to admit it, he seemed to knew that it was their only chance of getting out of this mess alive when they asked the hunters for help. After all, the hunters wouldn't want the Alpha Pack in town as well.

Before I could do or say anything though, Isaac had turned to me and grabbed my shoulders, looking right into my eyes. "You have to get away from here. Now. I don't want you to get hurt."

"But... I..." I looked around, almost frantically. I didn't want to be left on my own. I was so afraid for all of them. It was almost strange. Just a few months ago I haven't even cared about any of them, let alone knew they even existed. But they've become my friends these past few months. It was like I had a pack of my own now. It just was slightly different from other werewolf packs. All I knew was that I couldn't bear to lose anyone of them. Not even grumpy, still slightly terrifying Derek.

"I don't want to leave you alone!" I said fiercely. "I want to help! You can't expect me to just go home and wait for you to come back and tell me if... if you've made it out alive!"

Isaac took a deep breath before cupping my face in his hands. I looked at him, surprised. I hadn't expected him to touch me this way. But it felt good, comforting. He tried to calm me down. "Now, listen to me. You couldn't help us even if you tried. You might have quite a lot of talents and you're probably smarter than all of us together. But you can't fight. It'll be better for you – and for me – when you're safe. At home. So please do this for me. Just go home and let us do the fighting."

I just sighed. I knew that he was right even though I hated admitting it. "And what about him?"

I nodded to Stiles, who was with Scott and Derek, talking in low voices about what they should do now. While looking at Stiles I also noticed Jackson looking at me and Isaac. He held my gaze for just a moment, before smiling encouragingly.

"Well," Isaac was saying now, "He's just Stiles. I mean... we couldn't keep him away from trouble even if we tried really hard, could we?" He smiled and I couldn't help but smile a little too. "I guess you're right. But still... be careful. All of you. Promise me."

He looked right into my eyes for a long moment before letting go of me. "Of course. We always are."

"I just... I don't want to lose another friend Isaac."

"I know. You won't."

His words were so sincere, so full of hope that I couldn't doubt them even though I knew that Isaac could not possibly promise me that all of them would get out of this alive. But still his words gave me hope and strength.

"So, you should use the car..." He gave me the keys and shoved me to the car before I could start to protest again.

A few moments later I was driving on the street, heading home. I still was concerned and worried about the others. I just couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Something wasn't right about this whole thing but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Maybe I was just paranoid. Maybe I was just too afraid to lose someone I cared about again. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to imagine Isaac or Jackson lying there, lifeless, dead...

Suddenly something crashed against the car. I screamed. The impact was so strong that the car slid off the street. I tried to get it under my control again but I couldn't do anything to make it stop. Eventually it crashed against a tree and I hit my head pretty hard against the steering wheel. But I wasn't hurt. Or I thought so at least.

What was that?

I had a very bad feeling when I got out of the car, taking the crossbow with me I'd had on the driver's seat. Maybe I hadn't been that wrong after all about that something just wasn't right.

"Who's there?" I tried to sound as fierce and brave as I could even though I felt like my voice was nothing more than a scared squeak.

I was looking around myself before I saw someone. A tall man stood only a few meters away from me. He had his claws outstretched... And even though I'd guessed that it must have been a werewolf who'd hit the car, I still was terrified at the sight of him. I'd never fought a werewolf, not to mention an Alpha.

I didn't know what he could possibly want from me. I had nothing to do with all of this. I thought the alphas would be together now, preparing to fight Derek and the others. But this one seemed to had followed me. He'd attacked me. But why?

"What do you want?" I asked and I tried to sound as brave as I managed to. Without hesitating I hold the crossbow up. I wasn't as good as Allison with it, though. I might be pretty good at almost everything but I wasn't that skilled in using the crossbow than she'd been. To be honest, I wasn't skilled at all. Chris Argent still had insisted that I learned how to use it. He'd wanted me to be able to protect myself if I ever was in a situation like the one with Peter again.

He couldn't know, of course, that I'd been with Peter because I had wanted to.

But this was not the time nor the place to think about Peter. There was an Alpha right in front of me and he looked like he was about to kill me.

"You seem to mean a great deal to Hale's little pack. It's really nothing against you. We just want to hit them where it really hurts..."

"Well, then, take that!" I'd shot an arrow straight at him. But even when I shot it I knew that it wasn't that good of a shot. I hadn't put all the strength in it I needed to hit a werewolf. I knew that it wouldn't hit him. And I was right; he snatched the arrow before it could hit his chest. He looked at it, laughing. "Wow. That was really sweet. Adorable even. Could you do this again?" Still laughing he moved closer to me, the arrow in one hand.

Swallowing hard I backed away, trying to think of something I could do. Dam it! Where was one of those werewolves when you needed them? I had to admit that I wouldn't mind being saved right now even though I didn't want to be the damsel in distress. But I just wasn't good at fighting. That had been entirely Allison. I was... well, I was good at make-up and clothes. Though I surely couldn't fight this Alpha off with giving him advice on his – admittedly – awful looks. Even though he would desperately need a make-over. Had he even showered since the Nineties? His hair looked like it hadn't seen a comb for quite a long time.

"Let's make this short, shall we? It's quite a pain in the ass having to kill the innocent, weak girl. Fighting someone who's equally strong is much more fun."

I looked around in panic. Should I try to run away? But I knew that this wouldn't help. He would be way too fast for me to run away. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't fight him. I would die. Isaac had sent me away so I would be safe and now I was in danger even more.

Though he couldn't have known. It wasn't his fault. It was no one's fault. I would die... I knew it. I wondered if I would see Allison again and even though I didn't want to be weak, even though I wanted to get out of this alive, there was a small part of me that craved to see Allison again.

Before the man had reached me though, I saw a dark figure jump out of nowhere. I had no idea where it had come from but all of a sudden it was there. It jumped at the man and I think the only reason he was able to really hurt him was that the man was just as surprised as I had been.

"You?" I heard him say in disbelief.

All I heard then were snarls and howls. I backed away even further until I'd reached a tree. I knew that I should run away but I couldn't. I stood there frozen, watching the two shadows fight in the dark. I knew who he was. Even though I didn't want to believe it, I'd known right from the moment he'd appeared who he was.

Peter was back.

It was all way too fast for me to quite catch what exactly was going on. Suddenly I saw Peter grab the bow that had been on the ground while the two had fought. And then he thrust it into his chest. I saw the bow dive deep into the man's chest, right on the spot where his heart was. It dove into it until only the top of the arrow was still visible. I knew that the arrow must have pierced his heart.

He sank to the ground, lifeless, unmoving. Like a puppet which strings had been cut off. I stared at his body, shocked. And a bit relieved as well because I knew that I'd be probably lying there if it wasn't for Peter.

I looked at him. I still couldn't believe that he was really there. "What... what are you doing here?"

"Saving your life, I'd say."

Peter looked at me before he moved closer to me, very cautiously though. "Are you OK?" When he stood in front of me he eyed me, looked me up from head to toe. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm... I'm fine," was all I managed to say. It was too much for me. I had never wanted to see Peter again and now he was back in Beacon Hills. More than that, even he of all people had saved my life. I didn't know how to handle this. It came all rushing back to me; what had happened a few months ago. How I'd felt when I had been with him and what he'd done to Allison, how he'd smashed my heart into thousands of pieces eventually.

"Go away," I whispered but my voice sounded weak. I wasn't even sure if I wanted to be alone. "Just... go. You can't be here. I don't want you here. Go... Please..."

But he didn't go. "You're bleeding," he said and I looked up at him, confused. "What?" I touched my face, my forehead... Yes, I was bleeding indeed. I felt a wound on my forehead, a cut, probably a laceration. I haven't felt the wet, warm blood running down my cheek until now.

"It's okay. It's just a cut. I'll take care of it when I get home."

"Maybe I should help you get home..." he started but I shook my head fiercely. "I don't want your help. Look, I appreciate what you've done and even though I don't understand what you're doing here, I know that you saved my life. But you can't stay. You need to go... I can't take this..."

I held a hand to my head, taking a deep breath. Now that I was aware of the blood I felt my head go dizzy. Or maybe it was because all of this was way too much to take in. I had no idea what to do. There was a part of me that seemed to want to hold Peter close to me, to not let him go again, but another part of me wanted nothing to do with him. That part even wanted to see him suffer, to see him hurt. It was confusing. Confusing as hell.

"Are you sure you're fine? You don't look like it."

"I... am..." I said but I felt myself go weaker with each second. I had no idea what was going on. Maybe I was having some sort of panic attack. Maybe I was just overreacting. I didn't know. I tried to take a few steps but I was so shaky that I couldn't manage to walk.

I felt Peter beside me, cautiously holding my arm so I wouldn't fall.

"You shouldn't have come here. It's not right. You might have saved my life now but... it doesn't change the fact that I hate you for what you did to me."

"You should," he said quietly, "You should hate me."

Without saying another word I let him support me. It didn't matter now. All I wanted was to be home, to lay down on my bed and forget that this night ever happened. But I knew that I wouldn't be able to forget anything. It was impossible.

"I know that this isn't very appropriate now and it probably is neither the right time nor right place to tell you this," Peter said while we walked to my house, "But you look quite pretty tonight."