Chapter 28

Carol avoided everyone's stares as Peter rushed out to Deaton's van to collect the things she would need. Breathing in deeply, she fortified herself for the task to come and then she squared her shoulders and pivoted towards the stairs. Climbing them methodically as Peter re-entered the house carrying a box and followed her up. Derek was amazed by how similar her movements were to Lydia's, he had seen her do the exact same thing whenever she was stressed or determined.

"Do you get the idea that we are all missing a little back story here?" Stiles quipped and Derek nodded, "Uh huh," as he made his way to the stairs, climbing them quickly, determined not to let the two people he probably trusted least in this world alone in a room with his son and Lydia, both of whom were defenseless.

Entering the room he heard Mrs. Martin saying, "I need the room."

"If you think I am leaving them alone with you you are crazy bitch," Erica sassed from the bed were she was still running her fingers through Lydia's hair. Isaac stood cautiously in front of Jacob's bassinet, as if to create a werewolf wall between the baby and anyone else.

Looking to the betas, Derek gave a soft nod, "Erica, its okay. Why don't you two take Jacob down stairs and start getting everything ready for everyone to stay over. We are going to need to get creative with where to put everyone."

Looking back at the prone girl, Erica nodded and Isaac reached for Jacob.

"Wait," Mrs. Martin's voice sounded, "Leave the baby, we are going to need him."

"What," Derek asked sharply, not wanting his son anywhere near whatever this mess was going to be.

"He is Lydia's child. Her blood is being poisoned by this spell so it will take my blood and his blood to reverse it, to restore her body," she explained cryptically.

"And just how do you plan on getting his blood? You are not hurting my son," Derek growled, moving closer to the woman.

Sighing, she looked up at him, "I don't need much and he is a werewolf, won't he just heal?"

"No, he won't. He is an infant, he will not be able to heal until he is older," Peter explained, trying to defuse the situation.

"I don't need much, just a little scratch and then you can take him out of the room, I promise," Carol compromised, ready for this to be over and her own child to be out of danger.

Looking to Lydia on the bed, Derek took a moment to marvel at how tiny she was. When she was awake and bossing everyone around it was easy to forget but now, as she lay there completely powerless, it was blatantly clear. Walking towards the bed, he wrapped one of his hands around her foot, rubbing his thumb over her ankle bone. Lydia was fiercely ticklish and he could not help but smile at the memory of tickling her one morning before dawn. They had just put Jacob back to bed and she was restless while he had wanted nothing more than to fall back to sleep. It had turned into tickling, which had turned into kissing, which had turned into her gasping and arching beautifully as he thrust into her both trying not to wake the pack. With a sigh, he turned to her mother, "Fine, but if you hurt either of them, I will rip out your throat, with my teeth," he huffed as he crossed the room to pick up his son and Erica tried to repress a chuckle at the puzzled look on Mrs. Martin's face, "Why do you people say that?" she asked comically.

"Family trait," Isaac mumble as he led Erica out of the room. Rolling her eyes, she moved to the box that Peter had brought up, pulling out a mortar and several vials of herbs, she got to work, mixing and muttering words in a language that Derek did not recognize.

After a moment, she lit several candles and Derek could not help but notice the way in which his uncle's eyes followed her every movement. Back story indeed.

Blessing a knife, she continues chanting before crawling onto the bed and pulling the blankets off of Lydia. "Get her top off," she ordered and Derek looked at her a bit startled.

"What? I am sure it is nothing you haven't seen before," she snapped and he, once again, saw the resemblance between mother and daughter. Settling Jacob in the crook of one arm, he extended his claws and slit the fabric of Lydia's shirt, exposing her bandaged side and pale skin.

Peter had the decency, or just plain good sense, to look away from the semi nude Priestess on the bed as Carol began pulling away the bandages and using the herb and oil mixture to paint symbols on Lydia's skin.

Still chanting her breathing began to pick up and the air in the room began to become charged with a power that none of them recognized. Little sparks flickered through the air and Derek was reminded of the night that he and Lydia were bound, the electricity that had surrounded them and the charge that had gone through them—healing her skin and tying them together for life.

Suddenly Carol's head snapped back and she craned her neck to look at Derek, "Now, I need his blood now," she shouted as she drug the dagger in her hand across her own palm, blood bubbling out of her. Extending his claw once more, he whispered an apology as he swiped it across the bottom of his son's foot, blood blossoming out of the wound as the child gave a sharp cry. Walking forward, he held on tight as Carol ran the tip of her blade along the cut, collecting Jacob's blood allowing it to mix with her own before thrusting the knife into Lydia's side, the exact spot where the arrow wound had just healed.

Derek heard screaming before he realized that it was his own voice in his ears, yelling for her to stop, but there was a burst of light, like a lightening strike and then there was darkness.

The entire house was encase in thick, inky darkness as Derek opened his eyes. Jacob was screaming but he was no longer cradled in his father's arms. Now, as the Alpha took in his surroundings, he realized that Peter was holding his son and Carol Martin was lying, unconscious beside her daughter. Scurrying to his knees, Derek crawled over to the bed, looking at Lydia, listening for her heartbeat. His fears were assuaged when he heard the steady thumb, thumb, of her heart, stronger that it had been all night. Looking down at the curve of her torso where he had seen her mother stab her, he was surprised to see the wound closing rapidly. Taking a breath he could feel their connection, feel her using is abilities to heal the damage her mother had done.

Turning to his uncle he let out a growl, "What the fuck was that," he gasped.

"Derek," Peter tried to cajole, still uselessly bouncing the screaming child in his arms.

"Did you know?" He ground out, still slightly out of breath and weakened from Lydia's draining of his power.

With a sigh, the other wolf answered, "Yes, I did," he takes a step towards his nephew, "But I also knew that it was the only way to save her. She is going to be fine," he assured and Derek stood, closing in on the older man.

"Don't ever manipulate a situation like that again," he said lowly, "If your plans hurt my mate, my son or my pack again, I will kill you." he promised, taking his son with movements far to gentle for the threats he was issuing. "And this time, nothing will bring you back."

Smiling at the younger man, Peter nodded, "You really love her," his eyes nostalgic as he crossed to the bed, staying as far away from Lydia as possible as he stooped down to lift her mother, "That is good, you deserve that."

As Peter exits the room Derek cannot help the curiosity in his mind out the gentle way in which his uncle spoke or the delicate way he handled Carol Martin. With Peter there was always more to the story, unfortunately, it was almost always something bad.

Focusing on his son, Derek calmed the baby, using a tissue to clean the blood off of his tiny foot, he carefully put a bandaid over it and rubbed the child's back until he started to calm. "I know buddy, I know you are upset but it is all going to be okay now," he promised, climbing into the bed and lowering the baby to lay between he and Lydia. It was what they did on nights when the infant was restless or just did not want to be put down, they would lay him on the bed between them, both of them touching his tiny body and the boy would fall asleep almost instantly. Settling the baby, Derek then moves to replace Lydia's ruined shirt, knowing it was only a matter of time before the pack amble in and he wanted her covered before that happened. After she was dressed once more in one of his shirts, he climbed beck into the bad and ran his fingers over her profile, reassuring himself that she was really there. Reaching over, Derek lifted Lydia's unconscious hand and rested it on Jacob's belly. Smiling as the boy rooted towards his mother, seeking her out.

Chuckling, Derek rubbed the boy's belly, "Sorry buddy, you are still going to have to drink the bottle until she wakes up."

As if she heard him, and Derek wasn't completely sure she wasn't listening at the door, Erica cautiously entered the room with a fresh bottle for the baby, "How is she doing?" She asked, handing him the bottle but her eyes never leaving Lydia.

Sighing, he tried to sound reassuring, "I think she is going to be okay. I," he sighed again, his exhaustion showing, "I honestly don't know what her mother did but she seems to be healing. I can feel her using my healing abilities. I just," he looks to the silent redhead as Jacob drinks his bottle, "She has to be okay."

"She will be Derek," Erica reassures, pushing an errant lock of hair out of Lydia face, "She wouldn't leave us."

Noting the naked desperation in her face, Derek nodded, reaching over to take Erica's hand, "I know she will. No way she is going to miss Christmas morning," he smiled and Erica chuckled and the tension eased.

"True," the girl agreed, grateful for the chance to laugh. As Jacob finishes his bottle, Derek burps him until he is asleep and then leaves him in Erica's care so that he can go check in with the pack and discuss what to do with their guest in the shed.

Entering the living room again, he is met with a very nervous pack. Running his hand through his hair and letting out a deep breath, he tries to relieve some of his exhaustion. Meeting their anxious eyes, he says, "She is going to be okay."

"Thank God," Allison whispers the sentiments of the room. Derek nods and then meets the brunette's eyes. Tilting his head, she nods and follows him into the kitchen.

"Did you get anything else out of our friend in the shed?" He asks.

"Kinda," Allison rolls her eyes, her frustration clear, "He is part of a freelance group, they are basically mercenaries for the supernatural. My Dad said that they were once part of a hunter group but they broke off and follow the cash now. This idiot," she nods to the backyard, "Doesn't know who hired him or why, he received all money in cash at drop spots. Someone is trying to cover their tracks, but," looking down she crosses her arms, unsure of how to phrase this, "Derek, his order was to kill Jacob."

"Yeah I figured," he interrupted but the look in her eyes caused him to stop, "He was also supposed to incapacitate you."

"Like kill me?" He asks.

Shaking her head, she meets his eyes, "No, just the opposite. He was supposed to kill Jacob and then dose you with a toxin that would render you unconscious. You were to target, not to kill but to deliver to his boss. He doesn't know why, but they want you."

Sighing, he shakes his head to clear his thoughts, "Well that is something we are going to have to deal with later, right now, we just have to neutralize this guy."

"It is already handled," Allison looks just as tired as he feels, "I transported him to an interrogation center that my father keeps close by."

Raising is eye brows he scoffs, "Do I want to know?"

"Probably not," she deadpans.

Nodding he rubs his eyes, "Allison, why don't you help set sleeping arrangements for the night, I am going to patrol before I get some rest."

He is shocked when she stops him, "Derek, you are exhausted, get some sleep. If they are after you, maybe you should stay put."

"They tried to kill my son, Allison. They damn near did kill Lydia, I can't sleep until I know they are safe."

"I'll go with him," Boyd said quietly as he pushed through the door into the kitchen. Nodding to him, Derek murmured a "Thanks man," before they both exited the house. After a search of the yard and woods behind the house they found no sign of anything amiss.

The sky was already beginning to lighten in the pre-dawn hours when the two men reentered the house. Boyd turning off to go into his bedroom and Derek moving to climb the stairs. He paused his journey in the living room when he spotted Stiles, still tensely standing by the window, "I thought everyone would be asleep by now," Derek stated softly.

Nodding but not making eye contact, Stiles quietly responds, "Everyone else is asleep, I just didn't want to leave them unprotected."

Derek considered his words and was, once again, shocked at the pack instincts that the human showed. "Thank you Stiles," he takes a breath, "Boyd and I have secured the perimeter so I think we are okay for now. Go get some sleep and we will discuss all of this in the morning when we can think clearly."

After a moment, Stiles' shoulders relaxed and he finally turns to face the Alpha, "Okay." He whispers as he passes Derek to enter the room the Boyd just had. Yawning, Derek headed towards the stairs, and sleep, once more.
Shrugging out of his jacket as he entered the room, Derek couldn't help the smile that found his tired face at the sight that greeted him. Lydia was still unconscious in the middle of the bed, with Jacob snuggled beside her, but now Erica was sleeping in front of her, one hand idly tangled in her red hair, the other covering Jacob's feet where he had kicked out of his blankets. Behind Erica, Isaac was curled around her, holding onto her in his sleep like a security blanket. On the floor, Scott and Allison were sleeping, wound together like they were afraid to not be touching each other. Jackson, ever stoic, was tangled in a pile of blankets a few feet away from them. They were all clinging to each other after the stress of the day and protecting Lydia. They were acting like a pack; but more so, they were acting like a family. Quickly changing clothes, Derek pulled on sweatpants and climbed into the bed, fitting his body behind Lydia and releasing a breath be didn't know he was holding when she settled back against him, the warmth of her body lulling him to a much needed sleep. Together, the pack rested and recovered from the trauma and fear of the day. Together, they were stronger than they had ever been and they would do anything to protect each other.