This Chapter was inspired by – Blackmore's Night – Just Call My Name (I'll be there)

{{this is an awesome song and good to listen to when you're reading this fanfic chapter}}

When Anna pulled up to her house, she prepared for the worst. Scott shot her a sympathetic smile as she climbed out of the backseat and made her way up towards her house. She now felt very aware of her bruising. Everything hurt, like someone had hit her with a freight train and she longed to collapse into bed and never get up again. Wincing, she turned her key in the lock and entered the house.

Her mom was working late again, which at least was a bonus. She made a move for the stairs but her brother stopped her using only his voice, he hadn't even turned to look at her, "Nice shiner," he commented, "Let me guess, the other girl looks worse?"
"Huh?" she said dubiously before giving her brain a mental kick, "Oh – yeah, totally."
Kyle sighed, pausing the Xbox, "You're a terrible liar, you know."
Anna inhaled sharply, "I don't know what you're-"
"Cut the crap, Anna," Kyle said hotly, "You've been lying for the past few weeks now, about everything. I don't know what's going on and frankly, it's your business so I'm not gunna push but I need to know you're alright."
Anna ran a hand through her hair, "Okay," she finally sighed, "These guys were picking on Scott and Stiles. Really roughing them up, you know? I had to step in….and they won."
His arm on hers was brotherly and protective, "Did you know them? See their faces? Hear any voices, smell, perfume or cologne?"
"No, no," Anna lied. She hated doing it, but it was necessary, "It's all just a blur." She looked into his eyes pleadingly, "Can I go to bed now?"
He released her, "Sure thing," he replied, "By the way, it's gunna hurt like hell in the morning and you better use something to cover it before mom sees or she'll flip."
Anna nodded solemnly, literally dragging her feet in the direction of her room. When she got on, she didn't even attempt to change out of her clothes only collapsed on the bed and cried.

For a long moment she stared at the fluttering of the canopy curtains as she recounted the night. The force of the betrayal was worse than any bruise her battered skin had amounted, worse than any broken bone she could have received. It was like a virtual slap in the face with a hammer. It was raining outside her room, a miserable dribble on the window to match her anguish. She sunk down against her closed door and held her head in her hands. She felt furious, betrayed, disappointed and lonely – all the emotions clashing within her to create a bubble of hysteria that rose in her throat. She hiccupped on a sob as a single tear welled up in each eye. An olive, long, slender finger reached up to wipe it away when the dam suddenly broke.

Anna didn't cry in public, as a rule. She had broken that rule a few times since this entire mess had begun but never for more than a few seconds. Here, in the silent seclusion of her room she could come to terms with her emotions and bawl her eyes out. She desperately needed someone to hold her, to tell her everything was going to be alright and even after everything he'd done to her – she still felt herself longing for Isaac.

It wasn't fair. She didn't understand why she couldn't let herself stop loving him. She hated him, despised him with a burning passion but at the same time, she knew she really, passionately love him. She jumped to her feet and span around so fast her shoes squeaked on the hardwood floor. She drove her fist into the wall and then cried out in agony. She stared down at her bloody hand, shaking uncontrollably.
"Anna," the voice was so soft, she almost didn't catch it. She span rapidly to see a boy leaning on her open window sill. Normally, she might have been overjoyed to see him but that was before his eyes glowed amber and his fingernails became claws every full moon. Now she just wanted to claw his eyes out.
She gritted her teeth and rounded on him as he got to his feet, "Get out," she seethed. She pushed his chest and he stumbled a little, "Get out of my house, now!"
"Anna," he said again softly but she didn't listen. She battered her tiny fists against him in a desperate, angry and hysterical display of the pressure of the past few days breaking her. He grabbed her wrists in retaliation and she stopped struggling. If she tried to wriggle away she'd probably break her own arm. Isaac looked down at her, tilting her head up slightly, "Oh my god," he muttered, more to himself, "I had no idea you were hurt that bad. I'm sorry."
"You're not sorry," she snapped, pointing an accusing finger at him, "You wanted to kill Lydia, even if she wasn't the Kanima just because you wanted to hurt her the way she hurt you," – his eyes went downcast – "I know you did. I could feel it." He dropped her when he realized she wasn't fighting him anymore; "Remember?" her grin was feral and full of rage, "When you threatened me at the ice rink? You left a parting gift!" She ripped the hair away from her throat to reveal the neat set of four scars from when he'd ceremonially dug his claws into her. He inhaled sharply, he'd seen them before of course but Anna doubted he'd been totally Isaac but more blinded by the wolf. He brushed his fingers lightly over them, and Anna forced herself to suppress a shiver. Her heartbeat did kick up though. "Get out." She ground out again.
Isaac spoke softly to her, "Listen, I know I did something stupid but I didn't know it would ruin our friendship and I'm really sorry if I hurt your feelings. It's Derek. I'm part of his pack, he's my Alpha, I have to do what he says and I'm so, so sorry I hurt you, I really am. It's up to you if you want to forgive me or not but I'm apologizing right now and I hope we can get back to the relationship we had before." He sounded sincere, which just made Anna feel worse. Just because he'd apologized didn't automatically mean she was ready to forgive and forget.

Anna paced the room, scrubbing at her face with her hands. The pain was a raw reminder of the brutality he was possible of but still – she loved him. And she had no idea what to do. "Look – I need time," she linked her fingers together, staring at him. He nodded solemnly, "It's not going to happen overnight and you're in for some serious ass-kissing," she managed a watery smile, "You're gunna have to work hard to make it up to me and don't get your ass shot by any hunters," she warned, "I appreciate your apology but I can't be around you right now. Not until you control it. Get Derek to teach you, chain yourself down for a month, whatever… I just want to be able to touch you without flinching."

Isaac nodded in acceptance, "I will, Anna," he told her, "I promise." Anna turned away from him, still too mad for any more coherent speech. She'd calmed down but she was still angry. He followed her, "Go." She whispered and shoved him, "Go!" but he didn't. He caught her by the small of her back so there legs and hips were pressed together.
Her breathing became shallow as she stared at his face, at his lips. It wasn't right, the way he was toying with her emotions. She tried to pull away but he pulled her back so their chests were touching. She'd have better luck trying to wriggle out of the jaws of a wolf than trying to get away from him, "Let me go." She pleaded.
"No." he growled back and crashed his lips into hers. She was angry at him and tried to maneuver her mouth away but he just pushed her forward. In the end, she gave up and sank into the kiss. She felt like a traitor as she felt his tongue slide into her mouth. Scott and Stiles would kill both of them if they knew. Isaac let her fall and she hid her disappointment, "There's my guarantee." He winked before climbing out of her window, leaving her stood speechless.

Kyle was right. The next morning when she woke up, she whimpered into her pillow. She hurt all over – even in places she hadn't been injured. Her lips still tingled from the kiss the previous night. All she wanted to do was lie in bed all day but she knew that would raise questions from her mother and eventually somebody would find out what Isaac had done. If she acted like everything was fine, she wouldn't blow a massive hole in the werewolf secrecy.
She swung her feet out of bed gently and trotted across the hardwood floor. She stared at herself in the mirror and grimaced. There was a huge, black bruise on her cheek and an angry purple on beneath it on her jaw line.
She jumped in the shower and applied concealer in a bid to cover the blemishes. At that moment, she loved make-up. There was only a slightly blue-violet outline on her cheek. If she applied some purple eye-shadow it would look like some had smudged onto her cheek. Risky, but a better alternative than walking around with a purple outline and no explanation.

"Nice job, sis," Kyle commented as they pulled up to the school, he didn't sound bitter or angry just remained stoic, "You managed to fool, mom."
Anna stopped him as he reached for the door handle. He looked down at her fingers locked around his arm but didn't say a word. Then graciously accepted the hug as she wrapped her arms around him, "What's wrong, Anna-Banana?"
She sighed, "I just – needed to do that." She could tell her didn't buy it, but he didn't question her either.

School passed without complaint. Anna dragged herself from lesson to lesson. Jackson wasn't in school, neither was Scott or Stiles – she knew why, they'd called her too explain and she'd spent the next ten minutes shouting down the speaker, ranting about their awful plan. She was glad when lunchtime finally came around, Anna waved Carly over.
Carly plunked her tray down next to Anna's packed lunch, pulling a slice of soggy school pizza from her plate, "OMFG, did you know that Alec has been suspended?"
Good, Anna thought but tried to look concerned, "Why? How?" she hadn't seen much of Carly or Alec recently – her human friends. They both came from hunter families and Anna was having a hard time trusting either of them even if Alec was the only one who knew about werewolves. "Nobody knows," Carly explained, cheese dripping out of her mouth, "Just that he isn't allowed back for at least two weeks. I wonder what he's gunna do with all that spare time."

Alec was positioned to the left of Gerard. He understood that Gerard had to be called in but the guy still gave him the creeps. Alec knew his philosophy was to wipe out all werewolves, which Alec didn't agree with. He wanted to kill the ones that posed a threat like Derek Hale and that idiot Lahey but not those that chose to live in quiet seclusion and controlled the wolf. On last count, there were around a thousand or so individuals living in mainland America. He didn't mind putting a bullet in Isaac's head but straight out genocide was different somehow.

"Do we know if Derek is yet to build his pack?" Gerard asked Alec thoughtfully. The look he gave Alec was unnerving. He felt as if a sweat would break out.
He shuffled awkwardly on his feet, "No, sir," Alec informed in respectfully, "Lahey is the only known beta at the moment. There could be more but we have yet to discover them."
Gerard poured out a shot of whisky and swirled it down with pills from a silver medicinal container, "Do we have any other connections to Hale or Lahey – aside from Scott and his friends?"
Alec bit his lip. There was always Anna but you never quite new where her allegiances laid. Lahey had had his hands all over her at the winter formal but had been avoiding him since. He thought better of it and just said, "No, sir. Sorry, sir."
Gerard stared at him for a long moment, assessing him. He tried to keep as still as possible and not look like the frightened little boy he currently was, "It's Gerard," the old man finally said, face breaking into an untrustworthy smile. He may look like a kind grandfather figure but he hid a lot of power beneath his overcoats and suede shoes. His eyes narrowed to slits, cold and extremely dangerous, "Relax, Alec. You look like you're about to chew through an electrical cable." Alec nodded for a moment before turning away when his father called him from the hall. As he moved up the basement staircase, he could feel Gerard's calculating eyes watching him from the stairs. He knew Alec was holding something back, trying to keep his friends safe. Alec didn't know what lengths Gerard was willing to go to obtain the information he needed.

Anna dragged herself home from school. Literally, pulling her feet like she had no energy. Wasn't that a symptom of depression? Figures. She pushed her key into the lock and was greeted by the sickening smell of eggs. Her stomach did a flip and she gagged. She hated eggs, with a passion but unfortunately when one of your siblings is a vegetarian you have to make sacrifices.
Georgina was sat at the table, tucking into boiled egg and tomato. Anna pulled a face at it as she went over to the fridge, "Mom's mad at you."
Elena came storming into the kitchen, her face as red as a cherry tomato. She never got that mad. Anna was almost afraid, "Annabella Persephone Chambers! Can you explain to me what this is?" she looked down at the graphic t-shirt she was holding in her hands. It was from the night at the swimming pools, when the Kanima had attacked her. There was a large rip down the back of it from where the Kanima had slipped her with it's claws. She'd worn it again – last night when fighting Isaac before she'd noticed the tear and now blood spilled down the front of it. Anna stood for a moment, mind racing as she tried to think of an excuse. Her mother just stood in front of her, waving her t-shirt like a flag, "Well?"
"I had a – nosebleed. I had a nosebleed. I don't know where the rip is from," she added lamely, "Maybe I feel down the stairs at school or something."
Her mother threw herself into one of the kitchen chairs and sighed. Georgina was watching with barely contained amusement and Anna wondered if the mutinous little cretin had been the one to point out the ripped t-shirt. "It's not just this," her mother informed her. She set the t-shirt aside, pushing it away from her. Elena didn't look at her but fiddled with her bracelet, "Scott and Stiles have been given a restraining order by Mr. Whittemore for kidnapping Jackson, did you know anything about that?"
She tried to lie, but she was a bad liar – and a terrible one under pressure. Her desperate face must have portrayed her honesty. Elena stared into her eyes, as if searching for someone, "I'm just so disappointed in you," Elena was on the brink of tears. Anna could hardly look at her mother so instead she let her gaze stray out of the window. Night was falling fast, leaving a faint trace of indigo across the sky. The sun crept downwards on the horizon. The sunset bled across the sky, orange running along the horizon like a split egg yolk. The last of sunlight's evening rays split through the gaps in trees and fell onto the window. "It's not just this," Elena continued, Anna risked a glance at Georgina who no longer found it funny. In fact she even looked a little guilty as she hid her expression behind a curtain of dirty blonde hair. Traitor, Anna thought. "It's the weird behavior – the nightmares and all the secrecy, the late nights and the bruises," – Anna paled – "Oh, I know about them. Just tell me Anna, is it someone you know? Is someone bullying you?"

Anna brought in a deep breath. This was it, the big decision. She could either tell her mom the truth or try to think of a convincing lie. She could feel Georgina's eyes on her from the table, feel the weight of her gaze pressing down on her. She turned her head a fraction of an inch to shoot a sidelong look at her sister. She shook her head sharply, barely moving it at all and so fast Anna almost missed it. But the message was there: No. Even Georgina who barely knew anything about werewolves was telling her to keep her mouth shut.
Anna rolled her shoulders, "It's…" she bit her lip. What would she say? How would she explain? Georgina stepped on her toes under the table. She mouthed one word from behind her hair: Track.
"Track," Anna stumbled over her words at first but once she got into it, she managed to pull it off, "I – uh – It's a violent sport you know. Cross-country terrain can be tough. I mean, we were in the preserve yesterday, and I scraped my knee," at least that wasn't a lie. Anna lifted her bloody kneecap for all too see. Georgina made a disgusted sound in the back of her throat. "Yep, it was bad."
Silence. Anna shuffled uncomfortably but stopped when she realized she was being assessed, "Fine," Elena finally said, "But from now on – you call me if you're staying out late and tell me where you are." Anna swallowed a lump in her throat and nodded.

Elena eyed her for a moment before throwing her t-shirt in the laundry pile and leaving the kitchen. Anna sighed and slung herself into a chair, "That was close…" she breathed.
Georgina popped a slice of tomato into her mouth, "You need to be more careful," Georgina smiled at her, "And before you ask – no, it wasn't me. So, fill me in."
Anna managed a wavering smile. She was happy she could have someone to talk to about this without having to stress over every detail. She let her voice drop, "Where were we up to last time?"
"Alpha's dead. Derek Hale = new Alpha. Lydia disappeared from hospital, thought she was a werewolf, told me to stay in car because "too dangerous"." Georgina told her. It struck Anna that she hadn't been close to her family since Peter bit Scott and that bothered her.
"Well," Anna whispered, "Lydia's not a werewolf-"
"Huh?" Georgina interrupted, "I thought you said the bite turns you or kills you."
Anna adopted a frown, "It's supposed to."
"Ooooooh…." Georgina's eyes glowed, "More mystery."
"Yep," Anna said, "But that's not the biggest problem. Derek's got a new pack and there's a new monster."
Georgina beamed, "You're joking?"
Anna bit her lip, "Unfortunately not."
"That is so cool." She exclaimed, she had now dropped all of her coloring pencils, pushing them to one side, completely immersed in the conversation, "Who are the new pack members?" she demanded.
"Erica Reyes, Isaac Lahey and Vernon – Boyd – whatever." Anna finished. The light in Georgina's eyes died a little.
"Oh." She blurted comprehendingly, "Sorry."
Anna shrugged but didn't offer a response. She currently still didn't know what to say whenever people approached her with this particular conversation. Almost all her closest friends now knew some aspect of the supernatural realm. Only Carly and the rest of Anna's family seemed to be in the dark. "What's this big bad monster?" Georgina pressed.
Anna sighed, "Legends call it the Kanima. In the myths, though, it's a South American werejaguar that goes after murderers this is more like a – a weresnake. You've heard about the murders haven't you?"
Georgina inhaled sharply, "Is this thing behind it?" Anna nodded solemnly, "Do you know who it is?"
Anna was conflicted. The more people knew about Jackson, the higher the risk of Derek's pack finding out who it was. They had had no idea Jackson had been in Scott's house that night and with Derek on the warpath, "It's Jackson," she decided, "Jackson's the Kanima. Sort of."
Georgina frowned, "What do you mean "sort of"?"
"When Jackson's not all snakey, he can't remember anything about what happened to him. Not turning into the Kanima, not killing people, getting rid of evidence. Nothing."
Georgina whistled, "That sounds like a lot of trouble you, guys are in," she leaned forward, brown eyes flecked with gold sparkling, "You so have to bring me along one of these times."
"I will," Anna lied. She had no intention of dragging a ten-year-old monster hunting with her. Derek would certainly kill her if he found out Georgina knew about them, "I promise."