HARSHER THAN THE BARK


Scarlett watched the new cheerleaders do the routine they had been taught yesterday. They weren't necessarily bad but they still had a long way to go until they were up to her standards. However, she encouraged them nonetheless and the other resident squad members were doing a great job of helping them out. She hoped that being cheer captain would always be as easy as this. Of course she knew that it, inevitably, would get more difficult as they got farther on in the year as she would have to put in more time to make up routines but it wasn't something she dreaded doing.

"You're all doing great, guys." She complimented her squad. "Let's call it quits there though, school is gonna start in ten minutes so head back to the locker rooms." She heard multiple sighs of relief as everyone cleared out and she lifted the CD player from the bench.

"I can't believe we're still using that thing." Taylor said with a scoff, gesturing to the old and decrepit CD player.

"Hey, this CD player has brought luck to his team for over a decade. We can't just get rid of it." Scarlett said, following in the superstitious steps of every cheer captain before her.

"Whatever, it's ratchet." Taylor said, giving the CD player a hateful look, making Scarlett laugh.


"I can't believe Coach is making us run cross country first period." Stiles complained.

"Oh get over it. It's good exercise." Scarlett countered with a grin, earning a look off of Stiles.

"Easy for you to say, you're always ahead of everyone else." He said.

"That's because I actually try." She replied with a snarky tone. "I mean, I'll happily hold your hand and drag you along with me if you find it that difficult."

"Please," Stiles scoffed good-heartedly. "You just want an excuse to hold my hand." Scarlett laughed and rolled her eyes, walking to the front of the class. "Excuse me boys." She said, pushing past the twins so she was next to Isaac who was tying his shoe laces and looking tense. "Are you okay?" She asked.

Before he could answer, the whistle blew and Scarlett took off in the lead, leaving everyone else behind as per usual in cross country. She liked running and she had done a couple years of cross country competitions in middle school and freshman year but now she only did it when it was mandatory in PE.

She smiled as her legs carried her as fast as she could but the smile dropped when she heard people coming up behind her. That was unusual. She looked to her side to see one of the twins grinning at her as they ran passed and when she looked to her other side, the other twin winked at her before passing her as well. Scarlett scoffed and pushed herself to go faster, determined to catch up to them, but then Isaac ran past her as well and she knew he was using his superhuman speed, which confused her as she could see he wasn't able to catch up to the twins and that's when it clicked for her. The twins were werewolves. They had to be. There was no other explanation for them being able to outrun Isaac.

Part of Scarlett wanted to go faster because she needed to stop Isaac from getting into a fight and getting himself hurt but then something to the right of her caught her eye and she came to a halt. She couldn't make it out at first, it just looked like someone leaning against a tree but when she got a closer look, a blood curdling scream ripped through her and her hands flew up to cover her mouth because she thought she might actually vomit.

Only a few seconds later, the rest of the class was showing up behind her, taking in the same sight she was. A guy, tied to the tree by a leash that was around his neck, a slashed throat and blood covering his face and body. It looked like something out of a bad slasher movie. And how Scarlett wished it was just a movie. But it was real.

Scott showed up right behind Scarlett and pulled her back, hugging her to his body, trying to calm her down from her state of shock.

"It's him, isn't it?" Stiles asked Scott who just nodded solemnly.

The police showed up ten minutes later and Sheriff Stilinski ordered everyone to clear away from the body. "Get this cordoned off before they trample every piece of evidence."

"Back! Everyone get back!" Another officer shouted.

"Dad, look at this." Stiles said, ushering his father to look at the injuries the guy had on his body. "See? Same as the others."

"Yeah, I see. Now do me a favour and go back to school." Stilinski said seriously. "Coach, give me a hand here."

"Sure," Coach said. "You heard the man! Nothing to see here…probably just some homeless kid!" Like that made it any less horrific.

"Coach," Scott gained his attention, no longer holding Scarlett as she stood alone, her arms folded over her chest. "He was a senior."

"He wasn't on the team, was he?" Coach asked, making Scarlett's eyes narrow at him. This guy really didn't have a filter.

"No!" They all heard a girl scream frantically. "Oh God, no!" A blonde girl burst through the crowd, having to be held back by a deputy. Scarlett guessed that was the guy's girlfriend and she gave her a sympathetic look before walking away with her brother, Stiles and Isaac.

"Did you see the way they looked at him?" Isaac asked sceptically, looking over at the twins.

"Like they had no idea what happened to him?" Stiles suggested.

"No, no, they knew." Isaac assured him, sticking with his gut feeling that the Alphas were behind these killings.

"Look, the kid was strangled with a garrotte." Stiles countered. "Am I the only one recognising the lack of werewolf-atude in these murders?"

"What? You think it's a coincidence they show up and people start dying?" Isaac asked, incredulous.

"Well no, but I still don't think it's them." Stiles defended.

They came to a stop and both Isaac and Stiles looked at Scott. "Scott?" Isaac asked Scott, hoping for some back up. "What about you?"

"I-I don't know yet." Scott admitted.

"You don't know yet?" Stiles asked, incredulous.

"Well, he's got a point." Scott gestured to Isaac, who had a smug look on his face. Stiles gave him a betrayed look. "Seriously dude? Human sacrifices?"

"Scott, your eyes turn into yellow glow-sticks, okay? And hair literally sprouts from your cheeks and if I were to stab you right now it would just magically heal but you're telling me you're having trouble grasping human sacrifices?" Stiles asked, using frantic hand gestures to emphasise his point.

"That's a good point too." Scott sighed, turning to Isaac and then to Scarlett who had been uncharacteristically quiet. "What about you, Scar?"

She was hoping she wouldn't get pulled into it. "I don't think it's the werewolves." She answered, making Stiles look smug. "And human sacrifices sounds a little far-fetched but I wouldn't disregard it. Not in this town."

"I don't care." Isaac scoffed. "They killed that guy, they killed the girl that saved me and I'm gonna kill them, too." He said, a fire in his eyes as we walked away from the group.


In chemistry, Scarlett was listening to Mr Harris drone on about a new topic they would be learning until she heard Scott talking to Isaac about the twins.

"They're here for a reason, just give me a chance to figure it out before you do anything. Isaac?" He said quietly. Scarlett looked at Isaac from where she sat in the seat beside him. He looked incredibly tense and like he was listening to someone, or something, other than Scott.

Isaac ignored Scott. "Mr Harris can I go to the bathroom?" He asked. Mr Harris made a gesture for him to leave and Isaac did so swiftly.

Looking worried, Scott stood up. "I have to go too."

"One at a time, please." Mr Harris said sternly.

"But, I-I really have to go, like medical emergency." Scott lied, trying anything to get him out of class so he could stop Isaac.

"Mr McCall." Mr Harris started in his horribly monotone voice. "If your bladder exploded and urine began to pour from every orifice, I would still respond 'one at a time.'" Scarlett made a face at the vivid image. "Is that enough hyperbole for you or would you like me to come up with something more vivid?"

"No, no, that's pretty good." Scott said with a defeated sigh before sitting down and continuing with his work. Scarlett did the same.

It was quiet for a few minutes and then there was the sound of fighting outside and what sounded like something being bashed against the lockers. Mr Harris walked outside of the class to find the source of the noise and, being the nosey teenagers they were, the whole class followed with Scott and Scarlett in the lead after sharing a worried look.

In the hall, they saw Isaac standing over a bloodied and beaten twin. When Danny ran over to him, Scarlett knew that it was Ethan.

"What is this? What's going on?" Mr Harris asked a confused looking Isaac.

"Are you alright?" Danny asked Ethan.

"He just, came at me." Ethan lied. Scarlett's eyes narrowed. She knew Isaac was pissed at the twins because they were getting under his skin but she knew he wouldn't beat one of them up. She wasn't even sure if it was possible for him to do that. They were Alphas after all.

"Isaac, what the hell did you do?" Mr Harris questioned. Isaac just glared at Ethan and shook his head. "Detention." After that, the bell rang for lunch and Scarlett, Isaac and Scott walked together to their lockers.

Isaac explained that Aidan had been the one to beat up his own brother in order to frame Isaac and Scarlett scoffed at the sheer immaturity of it all.

"I wouldn't let it bother you, Isaac, they're just trying to get a rise out of you because apparently they have nothing better to do with their time." Scarlett assured him as they walked together.

"Yeah," Scott agreed. "If all they want is to piss you off then don't let it get to you."

Isaac ignored their words of advice and gestured to Lydia who was across the hall, being flirted with by Aidan. "It's not just me."

Scarlett narrowed her eyes at Aidan. It was one thing to go after Isaac but Lydia didn't even know that the twins were werewolves yet and now that Scarlett knew the truth she didn't want Aidan anywhere near her best friend.

When Lydia foolishly agreed to a date with him, Aidan looked over at Scarlett who was glaring daggers at him and he just smirked at her.

Upon seeing the look on Scarlett's face, Isaac smirked with triumph. "Now they're getting to you."


"So you really don't think the Alphas have anything to do with these deaths?" Scott asked his sister as they walked to the library to do some studying during lunch.

"Murders." Scarlett corrected him. "And I think they know as much about them as we do."

"Well that means that someone is sacrificing people." Scott said with a sombre tone.

"Or there's just a very precise serial killer on the loose." Scarlett countered, earning a look from Scott.

"Isn't that initially just the same thing?" He asked.

"Well, I guess, but just because they're being killed in a particular way doesn't mean it's sacrificial." Scarlett explained. Scott nodded but then stopped, his head snapping in the direction of the supply closet down the hall. "What is it?" Scarlett asked.

"It's Allison." Scott said with a worried expression before turning the corner and running down the hall to the supply closet with Scarlett following close behind him.

Scarlett was surprised to see a vending machine blocking the door to the closet but Scott wasted no time in shoving it out of the way when he heard Allison shouting inside. Scott swung the door open and ripped a crazed Isaac off of Allison, throwing him on the ground outside. They both bared their fangs at each other while Scott pinned Isaac down.

"Isaac!" Scott's voice boomed, surprising everyone. Isaac finally calmed down and returned to him normal, human, state before sliding himself against the wall.

Allison stood at the door and Scarlett was immediately by her side, inspecting her arm that bared scratches, very similar to the ones Scarlett had received from Isaac only a few months prior.

"I'm fine." Allison insisted when Scott looked at her arm.

"I didn't mean to do that, I'm so sorry." Isaac apologised in a child-like voice.

"It's not his fault." Allison reassured Scott.

"I know." Scott said. "I guess now we know they wanna do more than just get us angry. They want to get someone hurt."

"So I take it we're gonna do something about it?" Scarlett asked, angry that Allison had been hurt because of the twins.

"Yeah." Scott confirmed. "We're gonna get them angry. Really angry."

While Scott and Isaac devised a plan, Scarlett took Allison to the nurse, but instead of talking to the nurse, who wasn't actually there, she took the first aid kit and began cleaning Allison's wounds.

"Why do I feel like something very similar happened to you?" Allison asked as Scarlett disinfected the scratches and began wrapping a bandage around her arm.

"Because it did." Scarlett laughed. "He didn't mean to hurt me either, but when Derek found out…he was furious. And I actually felt bad for Isaac."

"How long did they take to heal?"

"A couple weeks, I think. Just keep it clean and change the bandages every day, if you can." Scarlett advised, putting the first aid kit away and walking out of the room with Allison.

"There you are." Scott said when he saw the two of them. "We need your help."

"To do what?" Allison asked.

"Hotwire one of the twins' bikes." Isaac said nonchalantly.

"I'll leave that to you." Scarlett said to Allison because she had no clue about anything vehicle wise.

The four teens headed outside to where the motorcycles were parked and while Scott began ripping random parts of the bike off and placing them in his bag, handing a few pieces to Scarlett as well, Allison got straight to hot wiring the other bike.

"Come on." Scott said, pulling Scarlett along with him to class. Just before they were about to take their seats in English, Scott got a text from Allison that showed a picture of Isaac on one of the bikes. Scott smiled and showed Scarlett who grinned. This was going to be fun.

The McCall twins sat next to the Alpha twins and they both smiled brightly at them, earning confused looks from Ethan and Aidan. Scott reached into his bag and pulled out some sort of spinning gear which he spun on his finger, gaining the other twins attention.

"This looks important." Scott said.

Scarlett smiled and pulled out the random piece of metal and wire Scott had given to her. "And I, have no clue what this thing does." She said teasingly, holding up the metal for the twins to see. They both glared daggers at her and Scarlett just grinned. That was when Aidan clearly heard something he didn't like, the sound of his motorcycle most likely, and growled, rising from his seat and storming outside.

"Aidan, don't!" Ethan shouted after his brother but it was no use. Aidan was gone.

When the sound of the bike became louder, Ethan got up and rushed outside, followed by Scarlett and Scott and the rest of the class. When they were in the hall, they saw Aidan standing with a puzzled look on his face next to his bike while Isaac stood across from him with a smirk adorning his face.

"You have got to be kidding me." Miss Blake said, pushing through the crowd of students. "You realise this is going to result in a suspension."

Scarlett smiled along with her friends in triumph because revenge was sweet, as they say.


After school, Scarlett made her way to music because that was Lydia's last class and she wasn't waiting outside like she was supposed to be. Scarlett had promised to give Lydia a ride home so she couldn't exactly just leave and abandon Lydia.

Upon entering the music room, Scarlett saw Lydia leaning over the piano.

"Lydia?" Scarlett asked, startling Lydia and making her jump. "What's going on?"

"I think the music teacher is next." Lydia said, her voice distant and frightened.

"Next for what?" Scarlett asked carefully, her brows furrowed as she made her way over to Lydia.

Lydia slammed the lid of the keys down to reveal a hand print made of blood. "To be sacrificed."

Scarlett's eyes widened. Even if it wasn't for a sacrifice, something had definitely happened to their music teacher.

"I'm gonna call Stiles." Lydia said, taking out her phone and dialling Stiles' number.

"Wait, why Stiles? Shouldn't we be calling his dad?" Scarlett questioned but Lydia ignored her, frantically explaining what was going on to Stiles.

"I don't think he's just missing. I think he's been taken." Lydia told Stiles before he promised he was on his way.

Stiles arrived around ten minutes later with Dr Deaton. And for that ten minutes Scarlett had been on the phone to Scott, telling him that someone else was about to turn up dead.

Lydia played the recording of the evil chanting she had heard on the teacher's phone for Dr Deaton. Scarlett wondered when he was going to get involved in this. He always did at some point. And somehow, he always seemed to know a lot more than he let on and it irked her that if he knew how to help them he was keeping it to himself.

"Can we get a copy of this?" He asked, pausing the recording. Lydia nodded.

"So, if you have so much insight into what's happening…if it is a druid making these sacrifices," Stiles had filled them in on his theory that it was a druid, like Deaton, who was sacrificing people because he had done a lot of research and it all seemed to add up. "Then why are you only trying to help us now?"

Dr Deaton gave Scarlett a look that showed her he wasn't fazed by her question. "I've been trying not to be a part of this for the last ten years so getting involved again isn't something that comes easily to me." He explained very passively. Scarlett wasn't satisfied with his answer but she guessed it would just have to do. At least he was offering his help now. Better late than never.

"Hey Doc," Stiles started. "Any help would be helpful." He said, digging through papers in a drawer. Scarlett decided to go and help him rather than just standing around. She had no clue what she was looking for though.

"Every grouping of three would have a particular purpose. Some type of power." Dr Deaton began explaining. "Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors…"

When Scarlett heard him say warriors, she picked up a picture she had found in a drawer, that was of the music teacher in an army uniform, and handed it to Stiles who showed it to Deaton. "Could warriors mean soldiers?"

"Absolutely."

"Kyle was in ROTC with Boyd." Stiles added, putting the picture on the desk.

"That's gotta be it. That's the pattern." Deaton concluded. "Where's Boyd now?"

"He's probably home by now." Stiles answered, already taking his phone out of his pocket. "I'll try and call him."

Lydia's eyes widened and she gasped quietly, gaining Scarlett's attention. "What is it, Lyds?"

"No, I just, uh…" She seemed to snap out of her daze. "I mean I just thought of someone else with a military connection."

"Who?" Scarlett asked as Stiles walked back over, having no luck reaching Boyd.

"Mr Harris." Lydia answered. Without another word they made their way to Mr Harris' classroom. Scarlett couldn't deny that she hated her chemistry teacher with a burning passion because he was such a first class asshole but she didn't know if he really deserved to be sacrificed. Of course it wouldn't be the greatest loss in the world but it's still a pretty brutal way to die, even for someone as heartless as Mr Harris.

"This is just one of many possibilities." Deaton reminded them as he picked up the plaque that Mr Harris always had on his desk. It read 'A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate anyone who does.' No wonder he was so hard on his students, coming from a military background and all. However, it didn't give him the right to say half the things he did to them. "He could've simply left for the day."

"Not without this." Stiles said, holding up their teacher's briefcase before he began looking through the papers on his desk.

"What?" Deaton asked at Stiles' puzzled look.

"This test was graded R." Stiles said, showing them the piece of paper that had a red R on it. Scarlett's brows furrowed when she picked up another test.

"This one was graded H." She said. Deaton took the papers off of Scarlett and Stiles and looked at the rest of the tests, trying to make something out of the letters.

"Stiles, you remember I told you that druid is the Gaelic word for 'wise oak?'" Deaton asked with a solemn expression on his face.

"Yeah?" Stiles answered, not understanding what Deaton was getting at.

"Well, if a druid went down the wrong path…the wise oak was said to have become a dark oak. And there's a Gaelic word for that as well." He motioned towards the word that each letter created. Scarlett peered from behind Lydia at the word. "Darach."


The rain was coming down in sheets as Scarlett drove Lydia home. The nights were getting darker quicker so it was difficult to see.

"What's wrong with me?" Lydia sighed, ending the silence between them.

"What do you mean?" Scarlett asked.

"I mean, how come I'm always the one finding the body or finding the blood of a teacher that went missing." Lydia explained.

"I honestly don't know Lyds." Scarlett told her truthfully. "You've always had feelings about bad things happening so maybe it's something supernatural…or maybe you're just unfortunate." Lydia wanted to believe Scarlett that it was just her bad luck that she ended up finding the things to do with death but she knew it had to be something more. It couldn't just be a coincidence. "Either way, there's nothing wrong with you, Lydia."

Lydia glanced at her best friend and smiled. Scarlett always knew how to reassure her.

When Scarlett arrived home after dropping Lydia off, she was soaking wet and freezing so she decided to make herself tea before going to take a shower. While she was making the tea, she heard a knock on the door. She had no clue who had any reason to be coming to their house at this time but she went to open the door anyway.

Scarlett opened the door to reveal a drenched Isaac, much to Scarlett's surprise. He gave her a sheepish look. "Do you mind if I come in?" He asked, his bag in his hand.

"Of course not." Scarlett assured him, stepping aside to let him in before shutting the door. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, thanks, I just need to speak with Scott." Isaac told her.

"Yeah, he's upstairs…did something happen?" She asked, her caring side taking over.

"Derek kicked me out." He told her sombrely.

Scarlett's eyes widened. "What? Why would he do that?"

Isaac looked hurt. "Um, he said that it was too much for me to be there while Cora is as well."

"Wait, Cora is staying with Derek?" Scarlett asked knowing that, even though she wasn't, she sounded jealous.

Isaac gave her a strange look. "Yeah…you didn't know? Cora is Derek's younger sister."

Scarlett's eyes almost bulged out of her head. "His sister? I didn't even know he had a younger sister." She tried to not let it get to her that there was more secrets Derek had kept from her while they were together. She told herself it didn't matter because it was none of her business anymore anyway. "Well, you can go see Scott now. If you need anything, I'm across the hall."

"Thanks Scarlett." Isaac thanked her, being pleasantly surprised that she was being so hospitable to her. He had always kind of gotten the feeling she wasn't his biggest fan but he guessed he was wrong.

"It's no problem."