A/N: Thanks to all who just subscribed to the story! I really appreciate it!

To the guest reviewer who asked for a video for this fanfic, I'm not entirely sure what you mean. Also, I'm no good as video manips, so if you're asking for some kind of trailer or fanvid or something like that I would have no idea how to do so.

If anyone is interested in doing so - or even creating a cover for this story! - then I'd be totally open to that!

As always, stay gold!

"Hey, Neris." Stiles' voice said over the phone. "Are you, by any chance, going to be out sick today?"

"No, I'm on my way to class. Why?" She replied, walking down the hallway towards her first class of the day.

"Uh, any chance you could fake and illness and leave?"

"Stiles, what are you – " She stopped, walking into her homeroom class and seeing a face she didn't think she would for a long time.

"Neris? Neris, are you okay?"

"Let me guess? Isaac's back."

"You saw him?"

"Yeah," she replied, hanging up her phone and sitting in front of Scott, which was unfortunately right next to Isaac.

"Neris," Scott leaned forward. "You don't have to sit here if you don't want to."

"I'm fine," She smiled weakly, inclining her head in Scott's direction.

"Are you sure, becau –"

"Scott," Neris' voice had a tone of finality. "Please, just drop it."

She breathed in shakily, her hands cupping her cheeks and her fingers massaging her temples. Scott gave a reassuring squeeze to her shoulder. Moments later, Stiles rushed in, clambering into the seat behind Scott.

"I don't know if Neris told you, but I just talked to my dad, who just talked to Jackson and I've got really, terrible, horrible, very very bad news." Stiles said quickly amid Scott's attempts to shush him.

"I think I already know," Scott replied, gesturing to Isaac.

Neris could hardly pay attention in class. She should've done what Scott suggested and moved seats, though she really didn't know if that would've helped. This was the very thing she had tried to avoid; the very reason she never dated or pursued guys she liked.

/

"Right, I only found one thing online called the Kanima," Stiles explained as the trio walked down the halls. "It's a were-jaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

"That thing was not a jaguar," Scott replied.

"Yeah, and I'm not exactly a murderer."

"Yeah, you did see it kill somebody, which is probably why it tried to kill you. And it's still trying to kill you, and it probably won't stop until your dead."

"Wow, that is definitely not helping team morale," Neris replied.

"You know, sometimes I really begin to question this 'friendship'." Stiles replied sarcastically.

/

Neris stuck close to Scott and Stiles, not wanting to be alone even in a class Isaac wasn't in. Not to mention she didn't want to miss any juicy bits of information. It was a good thing too, because when Jackson walked in the classroom they were currently seated in, his expression told her he had a million questions.

"Hey, testicle left and right," He hissed at Scott and Stiles once he sat down. "What the hell is a Kanima?"

All three heads turned towards Jackson, but they were interrupted by the Coach Finstock slamming a book onto his desk.

"All right, listen up." Coach Finstock called the class to attention. "Quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall, might want to start their own study groups, because tomorrow's midterm is so profoundly difficult, I'm not even too sure I could pass it. Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question. Who's got it huh? Let's go, buddy."

"Paralyzed, from the neck down." Jackson said lowly as he finished detailing what Derek had put him through, all the while glaring holes into the back of Scott's head. "Do you have any idea what that feels like?"

"I'm familiar with the sensation." Stiles replied. Jackson rolled his eyes.

"I'm profoundly confused," Neris admitted.

"Wait…why would Derek test you?" Scott asked. "Why would he think that it's you?"

"How should I know?" Jackson sneered.

"Well, do they think its Lydia?" Stiles asked.

"I don't know; all I heard was her name and something about Chemistry."

"Jackson!" Finstock shouted, standing next to Scott's desk. "Do you have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Um…uh… just an undying admiration for my coach."

"That's really kind of you." Finstock gave him a smile, which Jackson returned with a humble shrug. "Now, shut up! Shut it! Anybody else?"

Scott grabbed Stiles jacket and jerked him close to him. "How do we know it's not her?"

"Because I looked into the eyes of that thing, okay? And what I saw was pure evil." Stiles informed him. "When I look into Lydia's eyes, I only see fifty percent evil. All right, maybe sixty. You know, but no more than forty on a good day."

"Stiles, that's not a very good argument."

Stiles sighed. "I'm aware of that, but I swear it's not her. It can't be all right. Lydia's fine."

"It's not Lydia," Neris leaned over to the boys. "Remember what I said in the hospital? That she smelled like death, but it wasn't hers?"

"Yeah," Scott replied, confused.

Neris sighed, "It's become stronger in the last few days, and it smells more like…like a spirit."

"You mean, like, a ghost?"

"Kind of, yeah. Somehow she's become connected with a spirit, and I don't think that's in any of the kanima myths."

"Connected how?" Stiles asked.

Neris shrugged, "It could manifest itself in different ways, but I know for a fact it can't turn her into a lizard creature."

They turned around, seeing Lydia at the board. They had been so wrapped up in their conversation that they hadn't even noticed her walk up there in the first place. Instead of solving the problem, Lydia had scrawled something that wasn't legible.

"Okay, anyone want to try answering? This time, in English?" Coach Finstock asked, the class laughing as a shocked and confused Lydia turned around.

"What is that, Greek?" Scott asked, leaning over to Neris.

"Not any Greek I know," she replied.

"No, actually, I think it is English." Stiles said, showing them the flipped picture he took of the board.

The writing on the chalkboard spelled out 'SOMEONE HELP ME'. Neris sighed, leaning back into her chair.

"I think you might be right," Stiles said, facing Neris.

/

"Derek is not going to kill her without proof." Scott said as he and his friends walked into Chemistry class.

"All right, so he tests her like he did with Jackson, right? But, when and where?" Stiles asked.

They looked from Lydia, who was seated alone in a center lab table, to Isaac and Erica walking into the classroom.

"I think here and now." Scott said.

Scott and Stiles rushed over, snatching the two seats next to Allison before Erica and Isaac. Neris took the lab table in the window, sitting near Stiles, while Erica and Isaac sat at the table directly behind Lydia.

"Neris," Stiles whispered, leaning over to her, "Just mojo Isaac into stopping all this."

"No," she hissed back.

"But he already thinks you've done it before."

"All the more reason not to."

"Why are you even defending him? He's been a total jerk to you."

"Because maybe I still like him; yeah, I know, I'm a masochist. But I know somewhere deep, deep, deep down below that wolfy douchebag exterior is the Isaac that I fell for, and I'm not going to risk reconciliation by doing what I was accused of."

Stiles sighed, opening his mouth to argue, but Neris stopped him.

"Look, if we're going to save Lydia, we're going to do it the right way, okay?"

Stiles gritted his teeth, "Fine."

"Einstein once said 'Two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the universe'." Mr. Harris said as he began the class, walking down the aisles. "I myself have encountered infinite stupidity." He patted Stiles' shoulder as he passed. "So, to combat the plague of ignorance in my class, you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or, in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one. Erica, you take the first station. You'll start with…" He was drowned out as most of the male students raised their hands to volunteer. "I didn't ask for volunteers, put your hormonal little hands down. Start with Mr. McCall." He said. "Ms. Sangster, if you would be so kind, please start off with Mr. Lahey."

"What?" Neris exclaimed, slapping a hand over her mouth at her outburst.

"Is there something wrong?" Mr. Harris asked.

"Just my self-esteem shattering into a million pieces and landing in a crumbling heap on the floor, but hey. It's high school; it happens anyway."

"Right," Mr. Harris answered, unsure of what to say, going to his desk and ringing a bell to signify the pairs to begin working.

"Don't do this," she pleaded softly as Isaac sat next to her.

"Why, so you can save Lydia the right way?" He replied.

"You were eaves dropping?" She made a show of putting in the ingredients, not entirely focusing on the assignment.

"I guess it's just because of my wolfy douchebag exterior," he fired back.

"Look, just stop this, okay? Believe what you want about me or what I am, but just listen to me when I say that Lydia is not the kanima."

"Even if she isn't, you don't think it's worth testing? Because if she is, what happens if she goes after you next?"

"Kanima's only go after murd –" she just herself off, sucking in a breath. "Besides, I've been able to fight it off once, I'm pretty sure I can do it again."

"Did you kill someone?" Isaac asked quietly, his voice almost inaudible.

"Remember what I told you about my dad?" She asked. Isaac nodded. "It's my fault; I was five, I was singing. The voice of a child siren is like the most euphoric drug you could experience, especially since they don't know how to control it. The guy was just trying to get closer; he couldn't help himself. But, when my dad tried to stop him the guy went wild, as all who are stopped from pursuing a song do."

"I'm sorry," Isaac said sincerely.

"Look, my troubled past aside, Lydia isn't the Kanima. And if you try to hurt her, no matter what I feel for you, I will put you down."

Mr. Harris' bell rang again, and partners changed. Neris watched as Scott walked over to Lydia, while Allison sat next to Neris and Isaac sat next to Stiles.

"What do you think will happen?" Allison whispered to Neris.

She sighed, rubbing a hand over her forehead, "I don't know."

"Scott told me about the spirit thing. Could it, by any chance, make her immune? To anything supernatural, including Kanima venom?"

Neris' eyes went wide as she turned towards Allison. "There's a very strong chance it could, but that means the spirit would have to have been attached to her before she was bitten."

"Is there any way of finding out who it is?"

"The only way I know of involves a lot of sirens, and there are only two here. By the time others come the spirit will either have left or the situation would…resolve itself."

"Resolve itself how?"

"Either take over her body and erase Lydia forever, or use her body as a vessel to carry out its unfinished business."

Mr. Harris gave the signal to change partners, and Neris saw Isaac sit next to Lydia. Allison, with a very unhappy look, sat next to Erica. Someone Neris didn't know sat next to her. Stiles made a move to stand up, but Mr. Harris lowered a wooden pointer sharply onto his wrist.

"If you're trying to test my patience, Mr. Stilinski, it'll be a failing grade."

"Are you going to help or not?" Neris' partner asked.

"I'm kind of in the middle of a life or death crisis at the moment," Neris replied, shifting her glances between Allison and Erica's table and Lydia and Isaac's.

"Whatever," he scoffed.

Neris pursed her lips, turning to him, "Look at me," she commanded softly. When he did, she allowed her manipulation skills to manifest. "You're very happy to do all the work while we're partnered together for the rest of this experiment."

Her partner nodded hazily, returning to the experiment with a renewed interest. She looked over to see what appeared to be a normal interaction going on between Lydia and Isaac, and clear attempts from Erica to intimidate Allison.

"Time!" Mr. Harris rang the bell. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly, you should now be looking at a crystal." Mr. Harris informed the class. Neris looked down and was mildly surprised to see one in her beaker. "Now, for the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy, you can eat it."

Neris looked over to Allison and they exchanged glances, and both girls looked over to see Lydia holding her crystal. Clear, gooey liquid dripped off of it.

"Kanima venom," Neris whispered, horrified. "He put Kanima venom on the crystal."

"What?" Her partner asked.

"Shut up," Neris snapped quietly.

"Lydia!" Scott yelled, jumping out of his seat as she raised it to her mouth.

"What?" She asked, confused.

"Nothing." He stuttered, sitting back in his seat.

Lydia took a bite out of it, crunching and looking pleased. Nothing happened. She finished the entire crystal without any reaction to the venom. She had unknowingly just signed her own death sentence.

/

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott informed his friends as they secluded themselves in an empty office.

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked.

"If they think she's the Kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool."

"It's not her!" Both Stiles and Neris protested.

"Stiles, she didn't pass the test, man. Nothing happened." Scott said apologetically.

"It can't be her." Stiles said weakly.

"It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her." Allison stated.

"Okay, so, we either convince him that he's wrong or we figure out a way to protect her." Neris postulated.

"I really don't think he's going to do anything here; not at school." Scott replied.

"What about after school?" Allison asked. Scott sighed, showing he hadn't thought about that possibility. "What if we can prove Derek wrong?"

"By three o'clock?" Stiles asked disbelievingly.

"There could be something in the bestiary."

"Oh, you mean the nine hundred page book written in archaic Latin, that none of us can read! Good luck with that!"

"Actually I think I know someone who might be able to translate it." Allison said.

"I can talk to Derek." Scott offered. "Maybe convince him to give us a chance that it's not her. But, if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"

"What does that mean?" Allison asked looking worried.

"You can't heal like I do." Scott told Allison. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"Wow, way to undermine my abilities," Neris rolled her eyes.

Allison sighed and opened her bag, pulling out a small crossbow. "I can protect myself." She said as she held it up. "And so can Neris."

"Yeah," Neris chirped. "Seeing as how I'm the unsung badass."

Scott still looked worried.

"What?" Allison asked, setting the crossbow down. "Did something else happen?"

"I just don't want you getting hurt. Seriously, if anything goes wrong you call me, okay? I don't care if your dad finds out; call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until three."

Scott turned to leave; a small whistling sound spend through the air and Scott turned just in time to catch the arrow that had been shot at his face. Stiles' mouth was open in shock.

"Ah, sorry." He said as he handed the crossbow to Allison. "It's a sensitive trigger on that."

Scott sighed and left.

/

"If we're doing a study group, why don't we just stay in the library?" Lydia asked, looking thoroughly annoyed.

Allison, Stiles, Jackson and Neris had formed a sort of protective barrier around Lydia as they guided her through the halls.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else." Stiles answered.

"Why don't they meet us in the library?"

"That would have been a good idea." Stiles replied, ushering her towards the exit. "Too late now."

Lydia stopped. "Okay, hold on-"

Jackson stepped up and grabbed her arm. "Lydia, shut up and walk."

He pushed her towards the parking lot, other three to following behind. Jackson and Lydia piled into Stiles' car, while Allison rode behind them with Neris.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where is Scott?" Lydia asked when they had finally reached their destination, Stiles dragging her up the concrete steps.

"He's, uh, meeting us here. I think," Stiles said.

"Thanks for doing this." Allison whispered to Jackson.

"I need to talk to her about anyway." Jackson said, hiking up his backpack.

As soon everyone was inside the house, Stiles double-bolted the doors. When he turned around, he was met with Lydia's questioning gaze. He turned to his friends for back up, but they looked away sheepishly.

"Uh, there's been a few break-ins around the neighborhood." Stiles lied.

Lydia definitely wasn't buying it. Stiles grabbed a chair and stuck it under the doorknob. Lydia gestured a hand at it and had a questioning look on her face.

"And a murder." Stiles finished. "Yeah, it was bad."

"Lydia, follow me." Jackson requested. She turned to him. "I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lydia sighed, "Seriously? What is going on with everyone?"

Nevertheless, she followed him up the stairs. Stiles watched them go before turning to Allison and Neris.

"How long do you think it'll be before they get here?" Neris asked.

Stiles peeked through the window. "Not long at all," he replied.

Neris joined him, nudging up underneath and looking out. There were four leather-jacketed werewolves standing across the street. Allison, who had been on the floor loading her crossbow, was handed Stiles' phone and she rapidly dialed Scott.

"It's me," Allison said into the phone as Scott picked up.

"What's wrong?" he asked from the other end.

"You need to get here now. Right now."

"Okay; I'm leaving now. I'm on my way."

The three teens looked out the window again, seeing the werewolves now standing out on the front lawn, waiting for them. Allison hesitated a moment before taking her own phone out of her pocket.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked.

"I think – I think I have to call my dad." She told him.

"No, no. Don't do that." Neris told her.

"If he finds you here, then you and Scott – " Stiles trailed off.

"I know," Allison replied. "But what are we supposed to do? They're not here to scare us, okay? They're here to kill Lydia. And, I mean, Neris – "

"Yeah, I can't fight off all four of them," Neris confessed reluctantly. She thought for a moment, weighing their options. "Stiles, maybe she's right."

"Just give Scott some time, okay? He'll be here." Stiles pleaded with Allison.

Allison eyed Stiles before nodding and slipping her phone back into her pocket. Stiles sighed and looked out of the window, turning his head and glancing down at Allison, who had her bow by her side.

"I got an idea." He whispered out. Allison turned to him, "Just shoot one of them."

"Are you serious?" She asked.

"We told Scott we could protect ourselves so let's do it. Or at least give it a shot."

Allison turned back to the window and pushed back the curtain, "Okay."

"Stiles, are you sure about this?" Neris asked warily.

"Look, they don't think we're gonna fight, so if one of them gets hit, I guarantee they'll take off. So, just shoot one of them."

"Which one?" Allison asked

"Ah, Derek." Stiles said, nodding, "Yeah, shoot him. Preferably in the head."

"If Scott was able to catch an arrow, Derek definitely can." Allison shook her head.

"Then shoot one of the other three, then."

"You mean two."

"No, I mean three." Stiles pulled back the curtain, Neris joining him, and frantically looked out the window. "Where the hell is Isaac?"

The three backed away from the door, Allison holding up her crossbow in preparation. They didn't hear Isaac come up behind them. He grabbed Allison first, knocking her down, before flinging Stiles into the opposite room. He glared at Neris, eyes glowing gold and teeth bared.

"Are you really going to do this, Isaac?" She asked calmly.

"Put me down if you have to," he replied, swinging at her.

She dodged his blow, pushing him into the wall as he spun around. He whirled back around, grazing her cheek with his claws.

"Are you serious?" Neris cried, a hand going to the wound.

"Sorry," Isaac replied.

Neris looked at him, becoming pissed, as she lowered her hand from the healing wound. She grabbed onto his shirt, slamming him back against the railing, breaking it into pieces.

"You know, good looks will only get you so far," Neris smirked at him.

He grinned as he shoved her back into the wall he had just been against. She hit the wall with a thunk, massaging the back of her skull where it bounced off.

"Guys! It's here!" She heard Allison call from upstairs.

"Aw, fuck," Neris moaned, not wanting to deal with the Kanima on top of everything else.

"Why don't you get out your wings, my little fallen angel," Isaac teased.

"Seriously? An angel joke? You couldn't have come up with something more original?" Neris pushed him, knocking him onto the stairs and on top of the broken banister boards, as she landed on top. "You know, they're not always black. Sometimes they match my hair."

"Huh, I'll have to see that sometime."

"I'm sorry," Stiles interjected, peeking his head out from the room he had been shoved in. "Are you guys fighting or flirting?"

Neris and Isaac looked at each other, "Both?" and turned back to Stiles. "Both is good."

Isaac used his feet to propel Neris into the air, as she landed upside down on the stair wall. As she slid down, Isaac got up and began to stalk towards Stiles.

"Seriously?" Neris cried.

She rotated onto her feet, jumping down and grabbing Isaac's collar. Pulling him off his feet, she began to drag him away into another room.

"Neris, let me go!" He flailed, attempting to get out of grasp.

"Shut up."

She flung him into the kitchen, where his back connected roughly to the counter top. Grimacing, he rushed towards her, but she caught him with a hand on his chest and slammed him to the ground. He responded but turning the tables and flipping himself on top of her. She lifted her hands to push him off, but he grabbed her wrists and forced them down to the cold tiles.

"Are you still flirt-fighting in there?" Stiles called.

"Shut up!" They fired back.

"I want the truth," Isaac said firmly. "Did you use your powers on me?"

Neris attempted to calm her breathing, "Listen to my heartbeat, Isaac. I never, not once, in any way other than harmless flirting, did anything to manipulate your emotions."

He stared at her, his eyes flickering to her pulse point on her neck as if he didn't believe what he heard. He looked back into her eyes, emotions burning beneath the golden hue of his wolf eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cracked swiftly in the back of the head with a baseball bat.

Isaac went slack, unconscious, as he fell into Neris. She grunted under his weight as she rolled him off of her, looking up at the batsman.

"Scott!" She scolded.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Aw, we were totally about to make out!"

Scott threw her another confused glance before he grabbed Isaac and dragged him out the door, throwing him on the lawn in front of Derek. A paralyzed Erica was thrown next to Isaac, Allison having tricked her into catching a venom laced arrow upstairs. Derek huffed and looked up at the porch where Scott was standing flanked by his friends.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me." Derek told him. "You aren't an omega; you're already an Alpha of your own pack." Derek nodded to the three standing behind Scott. A grin spread out across Derek's face, "But you know you can't beat me."

"We can hold you off until the cops get here." Scott said, referring to the sirens in the distance.

Derek looked towards the sirens as a hiss sounded from above them. Neris turned and, along with the others, looked up at the roof. There, perched on the roof, was the kanima. It gave a loud screech as it stared down at them.

"Get them out of here." Derek instructed Boyd, referring to the fallen betas, as he prepping himself for the chase.

Just then, Lydia came stomping out of the house, extremely flustered, catching everyone's attention.

"Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?" She demanded. Neris did a double-take between Lydia and the retreating kanima.

"It's Jackson." Scott whispered.