Chapter 21: Alpha Pact part 2

Stiles quickly opened the door and headed out of the office with Lydia hot on his trail.

"It's called the Nemeton. That's where she's keeping them. It has to be," Stiles said to her.

Yet, before they could move too far to begin to anything about this they were halted by a loud voice.

"Stilinski!"

Stiles narrowed his eyes at the sight of Agent McCall before he let out a tired breath and turned back to Lydia. "Alright, go to Derek's. He and Peter have been there before, they know where it is. Tell them that it's the root cellar. Alright, they'll know."

She nodded and she moved to head on out before Stiles bit the corner of his cheek and turned around to see that Scott's dad had moved to now be in front of him.

"Do you know that your dad's car is in the school parking lot and has been since last night?" Agent McCall asked him.

Stiles shook his head. "I didn't know. What's that mean?"

"It means he's officially missing." They then went to an empty classroom so that they could talk in private. "Stiles, why do I have the feeling that you know something that could help us find your dad?"

Stiles shrugged. "If I did, why would I not tell you?"

"If it meant helping your dad, why wouldn't you?" McCall asked back.

"So, you're asking me to tell you what I would not tell you?"

"Uh, first I have no idea what you just said. Second, how about you help me help you?"

"Well, I don't know how to help you help me tell you something that would help you if I don't know it," Stiles said unflinchingly back at him.

That made Agent McCall narrow his eyes at him. "Are you doing this on purpose?"

Stiles just rolled his eyes. He didn't have time to waste on Scott's dad trying to play detective with him. "I don't know anything, okay. Can I just go?"

"Where are your other friends?"

That actually made Stiles narrow his eyes at him. "Oh, you mean Scott?" he said trying not to sound too angry at the fact that he couldn't directly ask about his own son.

He pulled out a notepad. "I mean Scott, Isaac Lahey, Allison Argent, these twins Ethan and Aiden. I've been told your whole little clique didn't show up in school today."

At the sound of each of those names, Stiles found himself struggling not to just storm out. "I don't have a clique," he forced himself to say.

"Stiles, come on. There's been a disturbing amount of violent activity in this county in the last few months. Several murders tied to this school. A few of them tied to you and even Scott with Allison Argent's late aunt, who I understand was dating Scott before this was all brought to light. Now, I don't know what's going on here, but it's serious." Stiles just looked away from him. Stiles couldn't believe that Scott's dad cared enough to check in on what was going on with Scott's life when his job forced him to do that. The guy who didn't even care enough to even drop one phone call to his son in the last few years. Stiles now wouldn't say a word to this guy on principle. "Hey," Agent McCall said making him look back at him. "Your dad is missing." That only made Stiles keep a glare on him but stayed silent. That made McCall stand up. "Fine, but I don't want you going home alone. You have someone you could stay with tonight?"

Before Stiles could muster up something to say to that, he was beaten to the punch.

"He's with me," Alan Deaton said from the doorway.

Stiles looked from Deaton to McCall. "I'm with him."

"Dr. Deaton," McCall said to him.

"Agent McCall," Deaton said back to him in the same tone.

Agent McCall looked from the boy to the man with some mild suspicion before he nodded. "Okay. Go on but if you hear or see anything then I want you to call the station about it immediately. Both of you."

"Of course," Deaton said before nodding over at Stiles.

Stiles grabbed his bag and went for him and they calmly left Agent McCall standing there looking after the two of them.

Stiles spared a look behind them before looking at Deaton. "What are you doing here?"

"My sister called me. She figured that at least one of you might try seeking her sooner or later."

Stiles nodded. "Did she tell you what we would want to talk to her about?"

Deaton looked him in the eye. "She did, so I think we better talk."

Stiles nodded but he froze. "Wait, why couldn't your sister talk with us?"

Ms. Morrell was running through the woods as hard as she could. Night was falling but it would do little to hide her from who was pursuing her. She took a moment to stop when the sounds of howls started echoing in the trees. She then took a breath and continued running.

Ethan and Aiden were rushing through the trees when they caught Morrell's scent.

"This way," Aiden said to his brother before he took off with his brother right beside him.

Deucalion was with Scott, gazing out at the scene in front of him in infrared as he detected a spot of bright light. He stopped and narrowed his eyes as he gazed at it.

Scott noticed Deucalion's stare and thought he looked confused. "It's a firefly."

Deucalion nodded. "Unusual for this region."

Scott looked over at the firefly. "It's because of Jennifer, isn't it? Just before all of this started a deer crashed into Lydia's car. Cats went crazy at the animal clinic. Birds flew into the high school. It was all her," he realized. Before, they had assumed that this was happening because of the Alpha Pack arriving into town but he now saw that it wasn't because of them at all.

"They say that animals can sense natural disasters before they're about to happen. Maybe they can sense supernatural ones as well?"

"Does she scare you?" Scott asked.

"She, concerns me," answered Deucalion. "If she's willing to kill that many innocent people for her cause. People like your mother and Stiles' father."

"Are you willing to kill innocent people?"

"I'll kill anything that gets in my way."

Scott narrowed his eyes a bit. "Like you're willing to kill Stiles? He won't get in your way."

"No?" he said looking straight back at Scott. "Do you truly believe that?"

Scott didn't answer that. He just stayed there, glaring at Deucalion as he stared blankly back at him. Deucalion then started moving ahead and Scott followed after him.

Ms. Morrell was running into a clearing but saw that they were catching up to her. She quickly raised her hand and surrounded herself mountain ash that formed a ring around her. The twins ran for her but they bounced right off the barrier she set. They flew back as some blue light flickered in the air around where they hit. Kali then emerged from the trees and she along with the twins began to surround her. Soon enough, they were joined by Deucalion and Scott.

"How did you know Marin? That we'd come for you?" asked Deucalion.

"Because Jennifer and I are the same," Morrell said pointedly. "And I know that you've always been suspicious of us. Of what we can do."

"With good reason," Kali began to circle her. "We know you sent that girl. The one that helped Isaac."

"What was her name?" Deucalion asked softly.

"Braeden," she spat at him. "And I sent her to do what I've always done. Maintain balance."

"What do you know about Jennifer?" Kali asked her.

"Nothing more than you do." She then turned to look at Scott. "This isn't you Scott. Go back to your friends," she told him sternly.

Scott's eyes widened but Deucalion pointed his stick towards him. "He can decide what's right for himself."

"Not without all of the information," Morrell spat out. "Have you told him everything you've done? How you've piled up bodies in a psychotic and narcissistic effort to build your perfect pack? Bodies that include Ennis by the way." That made Kali and the Twins spare Deucalion a look. "My brother saved him. He was alive when Deucalion went in to see him." She then looked over at Kali. "He wants you to go after Derek Kali. To force his decision. Because if Derek joins the pack it will pave the way for Scott and will further entice the Beast to be released from Stiles." Scott tensed up a bit at the look Morrell was giving him. "Scott, don't you see that Deucalion's drawing out your time with him so you'll be away from your best friend to further temper Stiles to tap his inner power," she said to him again. "To try and hasten it being brought to the surface."

But Deucalion didn't look disturbed at all. He just shrugged. "The lies the people will tell when they're begging for their life," he said simply.

"Then tell him Deucalion. Tell Scott, exactly, where is Jennifer keeping his mother, Stiles' father and Allison's father?" That made Scott's eyes widen. Morrell noticed it. "He hasn't even told you about that, has he?"

But Deucalion went and took his stick and uncovered the bladed end and then flung it at Morrell. It went and connected straight into her shoulder and made her fall out of the ring of mountain ash. Scott ran straight to her as Kali and the Twins roared. They were ready to charge for her but Scott held his hand out at them.

"Hey," he spat. "Back off!" That made them stop but glare at them just the same. Scott then went to Deucalion's stick and then yanked it out of her as Morrell let out a hard shout. "I'm not going to let them hurt you. But, if you know something. Then, you better tell me."

"The Nemeton," she coughed out. "Find it and you'll find Jennifer. Find the Nemeton. Help your friends."

Lydia found herself knocking on the door to the loft. She waited a few moments before she heard it unlatching and the door slid open to reveal the face of Peter Hale. Allison froze in shock as did Peter. The last time that they had seen each other was the night of the Winter Formal when Peter had bitten her and left her bleeding out in the middle of the lacrosse field.

"You," Lydia managed to say.

"Me," Peter said back to her.

Lydia narrowed her eyes a bit. "You," she repeated in a lower and pointed tone of voice.

Peter actually began to look down. "Me." He then let out a hard huff. "Derek!" he called out behind him. "We have a visitor," he said before stepping aside to let her in.

She went in to see Derek sitting by Cora's side as she rested on the cot. "How is she?" Lydia asked him.

Derek gave Cora's hand a gentle squeeze. "She'll be fine," he said resolutely before turning back to her. "Did the others find anything?"

"Oh, you won't believe what we found." Lydia then updated Derek and Peter to everything that was happening and Stiles' theory that Jennifer was keeping everyone at the root cellar with the Nemeton. But, both Peter and Derek said that they didn't know where it was. "You don't know where it is? But Stiles said that you've been there."

"We have," Peter confirmed before sharing a look with his nephew. "But after a few memorable experiences there Talia, Derek's mother and my older sister, decided that she didn't ever want us going back. She knew how dangerous it was and took the memory of its location away from us."

"Then how are we supposed to find it?"

Peter shrugged and Derek just returned to staring at his sister. Lydia saw that they weren't going to be any help.

At the root cellar, Chris Argent was doing everything he could to try and get out of his bonds but Melissa and the Sheriff just sat still and watched him dully as he struggled to no avail.

"Uh, I don't want to kill your optimism or anything," Melissa said making Chris look over at her. "But the both of us had been doing the exact same thing for hours."

"You've been tied up before?" the sheriff asked him.

"Many times," Chris drawled out.

"Oh, is that all part of being a werewolf hunter?" he slurred out. "Aside from torturing them I mean."

Chris froze and stared at him. "You shouldn't believe what she said."

But the sheriff just narrowed his eyes further. "So, the night that my son disappeared during that Final Lacrosse game a few months ago, and came back home with large bruises and cuts all over his face, that wasn't your handiwork?"

Chris straightened up against the pillar he was tied to. "That wasn't me. I'm actually the one that released Stiles and your son saw fit to pay me back by clawing up my arm."

"Oh, and did you just happen to stumble upon my son getting tortured?" the sheriff spat.

The hunter let a frustrated breath loose. "That was my father, not me," he said in a low but defensive tone.

"So Scott nearly getting crushed between two cars outside his school and getting an arrow through his arm, I suppose that wasn't you too?" That made Chris jaw tighten. "Yeah, Stiles told me about that too."

Melissa's face fell. "What?"

The sheriff looked back at her. "You didn't know about that?"

"No," she said before she went to glare over at the hunter. "He conveniently never mentioned any of that to me."

"I only did what I felt I had to," Chris told her. "People were dying here in this town."

"So you thought you'd add our sons to the body count?" Melissa spat.

"We had no way of knowing if your sons were innocent or not," he argued.

But she narrowed her eyes at him. "So, you were just being professional? You going after the boys, after Scott, it wasn't in any way personal?"

Chris just narrowed his eyes at her as she glared at him. "What do you want me to say? That I might have wanted to go after your son. Fine, I'll admit it. There was, some part of me, that did want to go after him for him dragging my daughter into all of this, but I wasn't going to kill him. I just wanted to scare him away. Nothing I did would've killed him. Or Stiles," he said looking over at the Sheriff. "Though, he is not exactly as innocent as Scott. Or did he conveniently not mention what he did?" The sheriff's eyes loosened a bit so he took that as a sign that he didn't. "That he attacked my men, my friends, and scarred them and made it look like common animal attacks."

But the sheriff just glared at him. "Oh, and I suppose that my son just did all that for the hell of it. I'm sure that your men didn't in any way deserve any of it? Right?" It was becoming clear to Chris where Stiles had gotten his sarcastic wit from. "I looked into the background of those men that were attacked. They weren't exactly model citizens."

"Maybe not but they didn't deserve any of that either," Chris countered. "They were just trying to keep the town safe. Safe from things that they were prepared to face that go beyond what most believe exist and can deal with. Things that now include your son. You haven't seen what someone like him could really do."

But that just made the Sheriff angrier. "I'm his father jackass. If I had known what was really going on, then I would've handled it. I would've protected my son with everything I had," he said with his tone hard and firm.

"You knew. On some level you knew." Chris settled a bit. "I know you've been investigating and digging into old unsolved and unusual cases. You might have been trying to find a logical and rational explanation but you knew that something out of the ordinary was going on. And not just this year."

"What are you talking about?" he asked him.

"We've met before. It was back before you were Sheriff. You came to me, questioned me about a body. You knew something was up. You just weren't ready to believe it."

Melissa looked from Chris to the Sheriff. Her face mirroring the surprise and confusion running through her mind.

But the Sheriff just brought his eyes down. "You're right." He then looked back up at Melissa. "There was a night, eight years ago. The night my wife died. It was the end of my shift, when a call came in. There had been a pileup and a young woman, a teenager actually. She was trapped under an overturned car. We had to wait for the paramedics, we were never getting her out." As he spoke, both Melissa and Chris silently mulled over in the story. They could sense where this was all leading the more he said. "But, I was able to hold her hand. She knew that she was going to die…but I just kept telling her no. I told her the paramedics were on their way. Then I remember, her hand suddenly gripped mine so tightly that I…I literally thought she was going to break the bones. She looked me in the eye and said, If you want to be with her, go now. And, I knew that she was talking about my wife. But, that other part of my brain, the part that looks for clues, for fingerprints, for logical connections, that part told me that there was no way that this girl could know about Claudia. So I stayed. I stayed until the paramedics pulled her out. Until her heart stopped beating, and they declared her dead. When I finally got to the hospital…I saw Stiles sitting in the waiting room, with his head in his hands. He was with Claudia when she died, but I wasn't. I wasn't with her, because I didn't believe. I just, did not believe," he finished with a semblance of anger, anger towards himself. Because his refusal to believe had cost him his wife's final moments and had made his last words to his son be of anger and dismissal.

The silence that followed after he finished was deafening. Melissa and Chris just looked down, thinking of their own situations with their children. Melissa guessed that Scott was probably blaming himself for getting her involved in all of this and she, more than anything, wanted him to know that she chose to be involved. It was her choice and not his fault. Chris knew that the last memory his daughter might have of him would be of how he had forced her to be powerless as she watch him be taken in front of her. He didn't want that for her. Not for her last memories of both her parents to be bad ones.

Chris wouldn't have that so he tried to think on his options and saw that there might be one left. He felt around his sleeve and felt that it was still there. Jennifer must've not thought that it was dangerous for Chris to still keep with him. That was her mistake. He wriggled around and managed to pull it out.

"What is that?" Melissa asked him.

"An ultra-sonic emitter. It's a smaller version of what we use to corral werewolves. Only they hear it. Most of the time, we use it to push them away, let's see if it works to attract them." He then turned it on so that it could begin to release its signal.

At the animal clinic, Stiles and Deaton had called and gathered Lydia, Allison and Isaac there to talk about the Nemeton and how they believed that was where she was keeping them. Lydia shared the news that Peter and Derek had been made to forget where the cellar was. Unfortunately, Deaton told them that he didn't know exactly where it was either.

But Stiles wasn't prepared to give up. Not now. "It has to be on a telluric current or maybe even on the axis of two where they all intersect. I just know it's where Derek took Paige to die."

Allison leaned on in close to him but Stiles was so tense enough already that he didn't flinch when she got close. "My dad and Gerard were there once, but Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. My dad, obviously, isn't here to tell us."

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, mine either."

"Then how do we find this place?" Isaac asked them.

Deaton had been off to the side, silently considering the options and knew of one. One he didn't want to share but it seemed like there wouldn't be any other choice. "There might be a way," he told them. "But, it's dangerous."

Stiles could sense the glimmer of fear that was running through Deaton. "Dangerous? How do you mean?"

"I'll explain but there is something we have to do first." He then turned to face Stiles. "We're going to need Scott. Stiles, try contacting him, one more time."

Stiles pulled out his phone. He stared at it for a moment before he began to send a text for them to meet at 'their spot'. They had a lead.

During the summer, Scott and Stiles spent much of their time gaining ground on their abilities in the woods. Listening and sensing the things in the forest and even trying to work on their speed and stealth. From that, their little 'Hunt and Hide' game had come to be. But after all of it, they would always return to a certain clearing where Stiles would leave his jeep where they would start and where they would return to, together. Stiles drove his Jeep there again, this time with Deaton, hoping to meet there with Scott. They waited for near an hour when there was some rustling of dry leaves and Scott started to step into view. Scott stopped for a moment to look over at Stiles who straightened up at the sight of him. Scott then moved to go over to them while Stiles and Deaton moved to meet him further into the clearing.

Stiles let his senses loose and realized that the Alphas didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. "You came alone," he said to him. "Where are all of your new friends?"

Scott tried very hard not to flinch at that. "They're trying to track down Jennifer."

Stiles put his hands into his pockets. "They know you're here?"

He nodded. "So, how did you guys find out?" Scott asked them.

"Lydia," Stiles said a bit stiffly. "You?"

"Morrell," Scott answered. "None of the other Alphas know where it is either."

"So, if this works then are you going to tell them?" Stiles asked as he looked at Scott with a bit of a glare..

It made Scott stiffen his jaw but he kept his eyes locked on him. "I can't stop Jennifer without them," he said in a low voice.

"How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Deaton cut in.

Scott and Stiles spared Deaton a look before they both took a deep breath. They knew that Deaton was right. Saving their parents had to come first.

"What's the plan?" Scott asked.

"Essentially, you, Allison and Stiles will have to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents."

Scott's eyes widened. "We die for them?"

Stiles nodded. "But, he can bring us back." Stiles then looked back at Deaton. "You, can bring us back, right?"

"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton told him making Stiles look away. "If it goes right, the three of you will be dead for a few seconds. But, there is something else that you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton. A place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet. It attracts the supernatural. The kind of things that a family like the Argents could fill the pages of a Bestiary with. It will draw them here like a beacon."

Stiles shrugged. "It…doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen," he tried to say feeling more confident than he felt.

But Deaton gave him a look. "You'd be surprised of what you've had yet to see," he said in a warning tone.

Scott felt nervous at the sound of that, but something still seemed unsettling about this. "Is that it?" he asked hopefully.

Deaton shook his head at him. "No. It will also have an effect on the three of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it, every day, for the rest of your lives. It will be a kind of…darkness, around your heart. And permanent, like a scar."

"Like a tattoo," Scott nearly whispered out thinking of the meanings of the word were back when he wanted to get his.

At the loft, Derek and Peter noticed that Cora seemed to be almost out of strength.

"It's gotta be now," Derek mumbled. "I don't have a choice."

"You always have a choice," Peter said to him. "It's whether or not you could live with the consequences. Facing Kali as a beta."

"It's not just a full moon coming. It's a lunar eclipse. We'll all be powerless."

Derek then took hold of his sister's wrist and then began to pour his power into her. He felt an intense pain travel up his spine to his head and felt it reach his eyes. His eyes flared bright red before they went and faded to blue.

In Deaton's clinic, three tubs like the one they had dunked Isaac in were set up and there were being filled with water and bags upon bags of ice cubes. Isaac, Lydia and Deaton were filling them as Scott, Stiles and Allison were pacing away, mentally preparing themselves. Soon enough everything was ready.

"Alright," Deaton said out to them so they could begin. "What did you bring?"

Stiles held out his father's police badge. It still looked kind of crumpled. "I brought my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand. I tried to hammer it back…still doesn't look great."

Deaton shook his head. "It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning."

Stiles nodded as he ran his fingers over it.

Isaac then looked at what Allison had in her hand. "Is that an actual silver bullet?"

Allison nodded as she kept her eyes locked on it solemnly. "My dad made it as a kind of ceremonial thing. When one of us finishes learning all the skills needed to be a hunter we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the code."

Deaton then turned his eyes to the last one. "Scott?"

Scott had his eyes on Allison since she started talking about her father and was shocked out of his stupor. He looked down at his hand and revealed a wristwatch. "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say that it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

Stiles had been looking at Scott but then averted his eyes when he mentioned his father.

"Okay," Deaton nodded. "The three of you will get in and each of us will hold you down until you're essentially…well, dead. But, it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone that can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you. A kind of emotional tether." Allison immediately looked over at Lydia who caught her eye. Lydia gave her a nod before beginning to move towards her. "Lydia," Deaton said stopping her. "You go with Stiles."

Lydia then moved to catch Stiles' eye. He gave her a nod to show that he agreed with Deaton. It made sense to him that it should be Lydia for him. At the school, she managed to pull him back before he completely gave in to his attack and went out of control. It seemed like he had himself a new anchor to add to his collection. One that could pull him back.

But Allison was now confused on what she would do now. "Are you sure? I mean, Scott and I both have to go under."

Stiles turned to look at her. "He's sure," he said drawing Allison to look at him. "You have someone else." Stiles' eyes then went to look over her shoulder.

Allison turned to look over at Isaac. She then remembered that Isaac had managed to pull her out of her despair back at the vault when her father was taken. Isaac stared back at her, with the same type of look that she had just shared with Lydia. He could pull her back just like before. But Allison then went and shared an uncomfortable look with Scott.

He was staring at her with a forlorn look but he forced it down. "It's okay," he almost whispered. He then forced himself to look away from her to Deaton. His friend, the one that had taken care of him before and after he'd been bitten. The one that helped to keep him grounded and focused when these things got to be overwhelming. He knew that he could pull him back.

Allison, Stiles and Scott stepped up to their tubs with their tokens firmly in their hand. They took a deep breath and then began to step inside. One foot after another into that freezing cold water. Their breathing increased as forced themselves to lower down until they were sitting in the tubs. Soon, only their heads were visibly above the water.

Stiles' teeth were chattering and he could hear Scott's breaths come out in loud puffs as he was trying to force himself to stay in. "By the way Scott," he choked out to him. "If I don't make it back and, you do, you should probably know something…your dad's in town."

That made Scott momentarily forget the cold as he just felt his whole being go numb at the thought of the one person that he had been trying very hard not to put any thought into for as long as he could remember.

But Scott felt Deaton resting his hands on his shoulders as Lydia rested her hands on Stiles and Isaac rested his on Allison's. The three in the tubs took one last breath before their tethers went and began to push them down. They were all dunked under the water as they slowly succumbed to death. Scott opened his eyes and his eyes flared gold. Before he blacked out, he remembered what Matt had once told him when he drowned. How there was no bright light when you die, there was only darkness. And that's what Scott saw as the light faded in his eyes, darkness.

Over at Scott's room, his father was sitting on his son's bed. He was glancing at the room, seeing how it had changed. A visible change was seeing a hardcover novel opened halfway, left by the foot of his bed. A tear fell from his eye.