The following morning I was sitting cross-legged in my chair, next to Allison, leaning on my hand. After Derek had dropped off the things I asked for, I'd tried to sleep but it was impossible. Melissa and Scott walked up. I shook Allison awake.

"Have you two been here all night?" Scott asked.

"Yeah, they wouldn't let us in, because we're not family," Allison told them.

"I tried to tell them we were the only family he had but…" I trailed off.

"Come on, we've got to be quick," Melissa said, motioning for us to follow her down the hall. She led us into Isaac's room and waited for us outside while we went to see him.

When we got closer we could see that his skin was black and blistered where it had touched the water. "He's not healing," Scott realized.

"Do you have any idea why?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Is he in pain?" Allison asked. Scott reached out and touched Isaac's arm and nodded. He grimaced as his veins turned black. It was the same as when Isaac had taken away the dog's pain at Deaton's clinic all those months ago. Isaac shifted and his face relaxed.

"It won't help him heal, but it'll help with the pain," Scott said. "We should probably go."

"Wait," I said. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a sachet, I opened Isaac's hand and closed his fingers around the tiny bag. "I asked Derek to bring me supplies to make a healing sachet while you were asleep," I explained to Allison. "Maybe it'll help."

"The marble worked," Allison offered encouragingly.

"Are you coming to school?" Scott asked me.

I shook my head. "I'm running on empty. I've got to get back to the loft and sleep, or I'm not going to be any help to anyone."

"That's probably a good idea," Allison said. We both glanced back at Isaac.

"He's going to be okay," I reassured her.

"I hope so."

OoOoO

I was awoken from my nap by the sound of the elevator. I walked downstairs, feeling refreshed, expecting Derek. I stopped on the stairs when I saw Peter. "Oh, it's you." I turned around and began to head back up to my room.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" He asked.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with you right now, Peter." I walked up the steps. Peter followed. I ignored him and began gathering the things I needed to make protection sachets for the rest of my friends.

"How are your little magic spells working?" Peter asked.

I sighed. "I've improved," I said, too tired to come up with a sassy response.

"You know, you'd make a good werewolf."

I gave him a strange look. "I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."

"Why haven't you asked for the bite yet? I'm sure you've thought about it."

For a moment I was quiet, considering how I wanted to answer. But Peter didn't look like he was baiting me into some joke, he looked genuinely curious. So I told him the truth, "I'm scared."

Peter just looked at me, as if he was now unsure what to say. But he refused to break eye contact, and I wasn't about to be the first one to look away. Finally just said, "You're strong enough for it."

My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text from Scott. "Stiles is back." I stared at it for a second before calling him.

"What do you mean Stiles is back? You can't just send me a text like that with no explanation," I hissed.

"He's not the nogitsune right now, he's just Stiles. The cross-country team was on a run and Coach set off a trip wire, he was hit in the stomach with an arrow. They think he's going to be okay, but Stiles is sure he did it while the nogitsune was in control. We're looking for a bomb at school."

"Give me twenty minutes and I'll be there," I told him. I hung up and gave Peter an apologetic look before running down the stairs.

I had only made it about halfway to school when Scott called again. "The bomb isn't at school it's at the sheriff station." I made a U-turn and headed towards the station. I pulled up just as the bomb went off. I parked and ran into the building, leaving my car running.

There were several officers on the ground, some in better condition than others. I didn't know what I had expected to do, I wasn't a doctor, I couldn't help. "Ava!" I turned at my name, and saw Chris Argent supporting Derek.

I ran towards them, dodging desks and people. "Are you okay?" I asked them. Derek had glass stuck in his back, but he was on his feet.

"Derek saved my life," Chris told me.

"I'll be alright," Derek said.

"Why are you guys even here?"

They looked at each other, before Chris answered, "We were framed for murder."

OoOoO

That night Allison called asking me to meet her and Scott at Deaton's clinic. "What's going on? Where's Stiles?"

"Kira and I brought him here to hide him from the oni, but the nogitsune tricked us. It hasn't been Stiles all day, it was just pretending," Scott explained.

"I poisoned the fox with a lichen," Deaton told me. "It isn't a permanent cure, but it'll buy us some time."

"But in the meantime, we need help finding a scroll that has information on how to get rid of the nogitsune for good," Scott told me. "That's why I called you."

"I do have experience tracking down lost artifacts."

"The last person to purchase it was Kincaid, one of Katashi's men," Deaton told us.

"What's the scroll look like?" Allison asked. Deaton turned around and grabbed a large scroll from his shelf, Allison looked it over. "Can these come in different sizes?"

"Sure, all sizes."

"I might have an idea where Katashi would keep it."

"Wait," I said holding up a hand. "Where's Stiles now?"

Scott bit his lip. "He had himself committed to Eichen House."

"An insane asylum? Who let him do that? He's not crazy, he's possessed! The nogitsune is not going to let a straight jacket stand in its way."

"I tried to convince him not to, but it was his choice."

"Can we see him?" I asked.

"He's not allowed to have visitors. It's only for 72 hours, while his dad is in LA meeting with a specialist about Stiles' MRI."

"A lot can happen in three days."

OoOoO

The following day Allison and I went to see Chris and Derek at the sheriff's station.

"How's jail treating you?" I asked Derek.

"Oh, it's great," he said sarcastically.

I laughed. "I figured you two would be enjoying this bonding opportunity."

"Have you found the scroll yet?" Chris asked us.

"No, but I think I know where it is," Allison told him. "Katashi is paranoid, he wouldn't want to lose something as valuable as that scroll. They come in all sizes so, what if it's tiny? It would fit inside his silver finger."

"The finger is locked up here, in evidence," Chris said.

"Exactly why we're here," I said. "We didn't just stop by to see your lovely faces."

"They've moving the evidence tonight," Derek said. "They're taking it by armored truck to a secure location. You don't have a lot of time to get that scroll."

Allison looked at me. "We're going to need more help."

"I'll call Lydia."

OoOoO

We returned to the Argents' apartment where Lydia had gathered Scott, Aiden, and Ethan. Allison pulled out a map of Beacon Hills and laid it on her dad's desk. We gathered around it. "Okay, we're breaking into an armored truck, this should be fun," Aiden said.

"This is a horrible idea," Ethan said.

"It's our only option," I told him.

"We don't know how the truck is getting to the warehouse," Allison told them. "But, I'll plant a tracker on the car. Most likely they'll take this bridge." She pointed on the map.

"Where we'll attack them," Aiden said.

"No, where you and Ethan will be in the road as if you've just crashed your motorcycles. The driver will have to stop."

"And then we attack-"

"No! Then you distract him, while Scott breaks into the truck and gets the finger."

"Why can't we just ask Stilinski for help?" Ethan asked.

"Because, he's in LA, and his job is on the line," I told him. "Like I said, we're out of options, this is the only thing we can do."

"We can do this, we have to," Allison said.

OoOoO

That night Allison and I met Scott at the location where the truck was parked to plant the tracker. When we arrived Scott had Kira with us. "She wanted to come, and she's really good with a sword. I figured we could use all the help we could get."

Allison and I both shrugged. "I'll be over there," I pointed to the other side of the building; we wanted to keep the truck covered in case anything strange should happen. I walked to my spot, staying in the shadow of the building. Carrying a crossbow was beginning to feel natural.

I had almost reached my spot when I heard a door opened. Deputy Parrish walked out and towards the truck. It was a miracle he didn't look in my direction. I slid around the corner, keeping my eye on Parrish. I could just see Kira crouching on the other side of the truck.

"Let's get out of here," Parrish said, presumably to the other officer inside the truck. He opened the door and suddenly stepped back, when he moved towards the back of the truck I realized that the driver was dead.

I looked back at Allison and Scott and gave them a panicked look. Just then the back end of the truck burst open and someone jumped out. I could just see large black boots, and then I saw Parrish drop to the ground unconscious. Then the boots jumped back into the truck. I leaned back around the wall and saw Scott and Allison coming towards me.

I walked with them up to the truck, crossbow raised. I saw the man inside open an evidence envelope and remove the silver finger. "We need that finger," Scott said. He turned, looking amused at our weapons.

"Why should I give it to you?" He asked.

"There's a briefcase in there with a hundred and fifty thousand in it," Allison told him.

He chuckled. "The scroll inside this finger is worth three million."

Kira leapt from the top of the truck onto the man, but he flung her to the ground like she didn't weigh anything. His eyes turned blue and he bared werewolf fangs. Allison and I both fired our bows but he pulled the arrows out. He grabbed Kira by he throat and threw her into a wall, then jumped at me and knocked me into the ground. Allison got off another shot before the wolf backhanded her, and knocked her off her feet.

Scott transformed and attacked him, but the other wolf was much stronger. Nothing Scott did fazed him. "You have the eyes of an alpha, but not the strength."

The twins leapt from the roof of the building and attacked the wolves. The twins were stronger and faster than Scott, but even they had met their match. Finally they gained the upper hand and brought the wolf to his knees. "Stop!" Lydia said, before they could kill him.

"We've seen guys like this, you don't want him to follow us, trust me," Aiden said.

"We're here to save a life, not end one," Scott told them.

"Let him go," Allison said. The twins backed off. Scott reached into the man's pocket and removed the silver finger, he tapped it on his hand and a tiny scroll fell out.

"At least something went our way today," I mumbled.

OoOoO

Back at the clinic Deaton read over the scroll. "So?" I asked. "Anything in there that can help us with Stiles?"

Deaton nodded. "Yes, but there isn't much. To get rid of the Nogitsune we have to change it's host."

"Change the host?" Allison asked.

"That's all it says."

"Change it's host like how?" I asked. "Does that mean we have to turn Stiles into a werewolf or something?"

Scott shook his head. "Or something."