Disclaimer: Teen wolf is nay mine - anyway, a massive shout out to Ayine, spocklockholmes, CupCakes24, BriancyyD, CourtnyxWolf725, Guest, ForeverTeamEdward13, cat-afterlife, Shadow-wolf78, phhsdj, FudgeMuffin and MacRieve Girl (Hi - and yes to answer your question, Malia will still appear because I think her and Kayla could have a good dynamic - maybe pulling eachother's hair out, who knows, haha, but as to how big of a part I'm not sure - hope that answered your question :) ) So thank you all for the lovely reviews - you rock :) enjoy this chapter.
Kayla was speechless... and that was quite a feat to accomplish. She may not like Brian, especially after him basically trying to kill her, but she didn't want him dead. Dead was bad. Dead was the complete opposite of good. Dead was...well, dead. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, trying to formulate a coherent sentence, trying to separate her feelings from Peter's - she was shocked just glancing down at his Brian's body but at the same time she felt... happy and proud of it, well, Peter did, but she felt what he was feeling so it was basically the same thing.
She sat up, removing her palms from Stiles' back and glaring at Peter the whole time as she readjusted Lydia's limp body, pulling her into the safety of her arms.
"Why the hell did you do that?" She demanded, seeing from the corner of her eye Stiles' wide terrified gaze flitting between the two of them, his face as pale as porcelain, a nervous sweat building on his forehead.
"You know why" Peter said back, glancing once more at the fallen body before shrugging and strolling forward as if he didn't have a care in the word.
"Oh really? Enlighten me" She snapped back sarcastically, checking Lydia's pulse once more before gently handing her over to Stiles as carefully as she could. Stiles fumbled for a few seconds, trying to adjust to the limp body that was now laying against his chest as she stroked Lydia's hair, promising her best friend she would help her no matter what and she stood up, shaking with anger.
"He had a gun Kayla... you're not stupid"
"Didn't mean you had to kill him" She said back coldly, hands curling at her sides as he strode up to her but she stood tall, not backing down.
"It's just more convenient" He whispered back, a smug note layered deep in his voice and that was when Kayla snapped. Peter was just... despicable. He thought he could get away with breaking down people just because his feelings were hurt - well, that just wasn't on, especially when one of her best friends was now either dying or turning into a werewolf. Her hand shot out, slapping him across the face quickly, the sharp sound of her palm hitting his skin echoing around the field.
Peter just smirked, "Honestly Kayla... that's no way to treat your father" he murmured in amusement, head turning back around slowly to smile smugly back at her and just at the mention of that, the reminder that she was related to him, made her lash out again, anger blinding her but Peter caught her hand in his, gripping it so tight she felt her bones crushing together.
"Enough of that" He told her as if she was six and not sixteen, "We've got work to do" - She held in a groan of pain as she ripped her hand from his grasp, sure there would be a bruise there tomorrow, fully prepared to just snap at him because, dammit, he just made her so mad.
"Guys..." Stiles called out, somewhat nervously, glancing up at the two of them, terrified, "There's no time for 'family domestics'" He told them, glancing back down at Lydia who, if possible, looked a hell of a lot paler than before and that sobered up Kayla so to speak. She pushed her anger for Peter away and dropped to her knees beside the two of them, catching Stiles' eyes.
"Call Jackson - he'll get her out of here" She told him and then turned around to glare at Peter, "Do you approve of that my liege?" She said sarcastically, cocking an eyebrow as Peter smirked, nodding his head ever so slightly, an approving look plastered on his face. She rolled her eyes and turned back to Stiles who whipped out his phone from his pocket, fingers shaking as he tried to dial Jackson's number.
"Hey" She whispered quietly, tilting her head down to meet his gaze, "Everything's gonna be fine, I promise" She added, trying to put a hopeful look on her face because everything just had to be okay, it just had to, there was no other way that Kayla would let prevail. Stiles' scared eyes met hers and she felt her reserve crumbling because of the hurt look in his honey brown eyes.
"For once, I think you're wrong" He whispered back just as quietly before Jackson must've answered because Stiles sniffed, moving his eyes away from hers to focus on the conversation. Kayla sighed tiredly, glancing down at Lydia - Lydia was strong, she was going to be fine, she just had to be fine. Kayla blinked away the tears threatening to well up in her eyes at the sight of her best friend looking so limp and weak and dead.
A feeling of accomplishment ran through her chest and she growled angrily, snapping her head to the side to glare at Peter.
"Stop feeling so happy about this" She snapped harshly, meeting his surprised gaze, "Or I swear to god I will knock that smug look off your face"
"Wow... I didn't expect it to happen that quickly" He admired, staring at her with an inquisitive eye, smirking at her.
"Well it has and it's incredibly annoying" She snapped, feeling, yes feeling, his amusement from where she was sitting just as Stiles hung up the phone, "Is he coming then?"
"He's on his way" Stiles confirmed, adjusting Lydia's position so her head lolled on his shoulder and Kayla thought that if Lydia could see her hair right now, she would probably have a fit. Kayla let out a sigh of relief, but wished she hadn't when Peter's hand clasped around her upper arm, hauling her to her feet, making her stumble just as gracefully as ever.
"And that's all you're getting" He told them both, still keeping a tight grip on her arm, "Now you're coming with me - no more stalling, no more excuses - now" He said in a hard voice, a voice which clearly warned them both that they had to do as he said. Kayla furrowed her eyebrows, feeling a different, more deluded sense of worry resting in the pit of her stomach - Peter's. Peter was worried for Derek, he may not show it, but his emotions told her otherwise... maybe she could use that to her advantage.
"If you think we're gonna leave Lydia then you really are delusional" She snarled at him, feeling her eyes flare up with that vibrant, glowing green again because of the force of both Peter's and hers emotions running through her body, "You can't just do that to someone and then leave them for dead"
"Collateral damage" He told her honestly, grabbing Stiles by the collar of his shirt and pulling him clumsily to his feet, shaking his head at Stiles' fumbling.
"Oi... ow... we're not dogs y'know... you don't need to keep us on a leash" Stiles murmured under his breath, sending a glare Peter's way, making him roll his eyes.
"A couple of hormonal high school children thinking they actually know what they're doing... yes I do" He hummed, still dragging them along as Kayla glowered at him, staring back worriedly at Lydia who was lying limply on the cold, hard ground and worry spiked through her entire being, worry for Derek, worry for Scott, hell, she was even feeling worry for Stiles despite him being within a foot of her because, right now, Peter was unpredictable and hell bent on revenge... that in itself was a lethal combination.
He walked them both back around to Stiles' jeep, the silence between the three of them hanging over them like a tension filled blanket, neither of them not knowing quite what to say. The drive to whatever parking lot Peter had directed them to go in was not a long one, taking just under fifteen minutes - or rather fifteen minutes of hell as Kayla preferred to call it.
She jumped out of the back seat, trailing behind the two guys as Peter grabbed Stiles' shirt, hauling him forward and Kayla raced forward to the other side of Peter, just to keep an eye on him, to make sure he wouldn't do anything to Stiles. Peter seemed to sense whatever kind of worry was running through her veins because, as they were walking, he looked over to her and smirked smugly.
"Chill Kayla... I'm not going to do anything to your boyfriend... I need you on my side" He told her and Kayla could feel how he was being, somewhat, truthful, well - as truthful as Peter could ever be, which, in itself, was saying something. She snorted, turning her head away as they reached a car, Peter getting ready to pop the trunk.
"Whose car is this?" Stiles asked in bewilderment, looking around nervously.
"My nurse's"
"What happened to your... oh my god" Stiles exclaimed loudly, backing away slightly, a look of mortification plastered on his face. Kayla looked down too, clenching her fists at the sight of the dead nurse, resisting the urge to just slap Peter over the head because he was just using people now and not caring who he hurt and that just irked her, for lack of a better word.
"I got better" Peter replied back smugly, slamming the trunk shut, holding a laptop bag and staring at Kayla with an unreadable expression.
"What? No snarky comment from you?" He asked, raising his eyebrows in faux astonishment.
"What do you want? A frigging gold medal for the most subtle murderer?" She snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"And there it is" Peter whistled, "Anything else to add while we're not busy?" He smirked, opening up the laptop case and pulling out the laptop, "About how Karma is coming for me soon enough?"
"Karma takes too long, I'd rather just beat the crap out of you now" She rolled her eyes, standing beside Stiles as Peter raised his eyebrows.
"Have I left that much of an impression on you?" He smirked, seeming amused.
"I'm sure when people discover the centre of the universe, you'll be shocked to know you're not it" She shot back, feeling like this was a battle of wills of some sort.
"Way to be bitchy Kayla" Peter said, tilting his head to the side and Kayla snorted.
"You may prefer to call it bitchy... I like to call it motivational speaking" She replied back, glaring in his direction and Kayla began to see him getting more flustered.
"Clearly a fan of sarcasm" Peter hummed, giving a small shake of his head.
"I'm allergic to stupidity so I break out in sarcasm" She replied back coldly, watching Stiles from the corner of her eye as his head swivelled back and forth like he was watching some interesting tennis match or something, eyebrows furrowing.
"That's a low blow Kayla" Peter said, smirking slightly as he began to type away on his laptop.
"Well, I would challenge you to a battle of wits, but I see you are unarmed" She replied back, feeling aggravation creping into her voice just by talking to the guy - clearly a sign she hated his guts right? He must have picked up on what she was feeling because he stopped typing for a moment, glancing at her from the side.
"Keep on playing that game Kayla, but you can't fool me - take digs at me all you want but I know what you're really feeling" He said in a creepy tone and Kayla tried to keep a neutral look on her face, just to let him know he was not getting to her this way, "Oh yes, what's that? My extreme hatred? Aggravation? or maybe the fact that I want to bash your head in?"
"No" Peter sighed, letting out a small chuckle, "When push comes to shove... you won't let me die... I'm family"
At that comment Kayla really did laugh because, oh my god, what an idiot... he couldn't be serious could he?
"Seriously? You killed Laura - Laura... my cousin Laura, Derek's sister, your niece, turned an innocent schoolboy into a werewolf, bit one of my best friends, killed a classmate and god knows how many others and you think I care about you?" She laughed to herself, "No Peter, I'm on board with everyone else... I hate your guts"
"Nope" Peter sang, "Just because you're too emotionally compromised to recognise your own feelings, I can... I know you Kayla"
And that, right there, made her snort, "I'm the emotionally compromised one? You're the one killing people for sport"
"It's a healthy display of anger" Peter sighed, swivelling around the laptop to face Stiles, "You should try it sometime"
"Oh yes, let me get right on that and apply for the learners permit" she sassed back, stubbornly facing away from him in anger.
"It's a learning curve" Peter said, "Now Stiles - onto more important matters... the GPS"
"Oh... you're a mac guy - is that just a personal preference or does it go for all werewolves?" Stiles asked sarcastically, his voice slightly shaky and Kayla glanced sideways at him in worry, watching as a thin layer of sweat built up on his forehead, foot tapping more beats per second than Kayla thought possible. Dropping her wit-war with Peter, Kayla slid her hand around to his lower back, slowly rubbing circles on the shirt clad skin to try and make him more at ease. His breathing evened out and his foot stopped tapping, instead choosing to focus on the screen in front of him.
"Get connected Stiles" - Throughout the whole exchange between Peter and Stiles, Peter demanding and ordering Stiles around, Kayla stood as still as she could, holding in all that anger because she knew that, if she got angry, then it would just make matters worse and that was something they couldn't afford. She paid a lot more attention to Stiles than Peter, trying anything to keep him calm and somewhat sane because he was knew to this after all.
Her hand had gone from rubbing circles on his back to sliding up his shoulder, trying to get rid of at least some of the tension that had built up, making the muscles in his back tight and rigid. She felt selfish for thinking this when all the other shit was going on but, the more time she spent with Stiles, the more she never wanted to leave. Even just the thought that he could get hurt because of all this bullshit made her whole body quake with anger and a sense of bitter loss erupt in her chest, but it was different to the other losses she had experienced.
She knew what it was like to lose people, hell, she had practically lost her whole family but this feeling was different. It was like, before, she couldn't stop what was already in motion but she had a sense of protectiveness and unselfishness when it came to Stiles, confusing her even more. So yeah, she liked him a lot, but how much was actually 'a lot'? She was kind of scared to find out.
"Hmmm, interesting" Peter said, his body facing the laptop screen but when Kayla peeled her eyes away from watching Stiles' nimble fingers flit across the keyboard, she met Peter's knowing gaze and frowned at him, sending him a questioning look.
Peter just smirked, glancing sideways at Stiles and back to her, eyes inquisitive.
She followed his gaze, watching a range of expressions cross Stiles' face and when he did that little thing with his tongue, making it poke out between his teeth at the side of his mouth, it took all the effort in the world to tear her eyes away. Dammit - she had basically just confirmed everything she felt to Peter. Damn, damn, damn.
Peter raised his eyebrows, totally unimpressed in Stiles' direction as if he was saying 'Really? This guy?'
Kayla just narrowed her eyes back, basically telling him to shut up.
And when realisation dawned on her that she was actually acting civil towards Peter, towards a flipping psychopath who has murdered people, albeit not innocent people, but still people, she tore her gaze away from his, her back going rigid. Kayla sighed, blinking away whatever feelings of fondness had welled up in her chest because, dammit, she wasn't supposed to care, not about Peter but, if truth be told, she missed it. She missed having a father figure in her life. She missed her dad, her real dad, and before the fire Peter was always so nice and full of life, a complete one eighty to what he is now.
"Wait... what?" Stiles exclaimed loudly, snapping Kayla out of her thoughts as she let her hand slide down his arm, grasping his hand tightly as she looked at the computer screen, letting out a long exhale in shock, "That's where they're keeping him? The school?"
"The SCHOOL?!" Kayla screeched, her mouth opening wide in horror, "The frigging school? That bitch moved him to the school?" She exclaimed loudly with a small shake of the head, "Well darn... that was a wasted car journey"
Just then though, both Kayla and Peter's head whipped to the side at the same time, her ears picking up on the howl that echoed throughout the still night air, something that she wouldn't normally be able to hear but, damn, when Peter bit her it must've really messed her up big time. Her eyes slid to Peter who shot her a determined glance, hurriedly packing away his laptop and throwing it in the back of the car. He demanded for Stiles' keys, only to break them, making Kayla roll her eyes at his showing-off, honestly, it was completely un-necessary.
"I like you Stiles" Peter said a moment later in a completely serious voice and Kayla's eyes widened slightly - Peter liked someone? Shocker - that was definitely a plot twist and Stiles of all people? Kayla thought he was great, obviously, but Peter didn't seem quite as fond of him. Well, hopefully not as fond of him because that would've gotten awkward.
"You've got brains and my daughter seems to have taken an interest in you" He continued, taking a few deliberate steps forward, "Since you've helped us, I'm going to give you something in return... do you want the bite?" - And not to be over-dramatic or anything but Kayla's heart did actually skip a beat, or maybe two beats, it was hard to know. She sucked in a breath, taking a step forward to stand next to Peter. Stiles met her gaze, a clear look of confusion in his caramel brown eyes.
"What?"
"Do. You. Want. The. Bite?" He asked slowly, as if Stiles was a moron or something, "It's not something that I just give away... you should be privileged I'm even offering"
"That's just... that's crazy" Kayla exclaimed, head whipping back and forth between the two of them, "He doesn't... he can't... you can't..." She fumbled, struggling for words because this was another one of her nightmares coming true - his body could reject the bite, Stiles could die and, oh god, no way... first Lydia and now Stiles? Peter was just a damn curse.
"If it doesn't kill you, and it could, you could be just like Scott, just as powerful, no more waiting on the side-lines, watching him become popular, watching him get the girl... well, I guess you already have that covered, but if you want to keep a hold of what you have got and more... I would take this offer extremely seriously - it's a one off deal Stiles"
Kayla's heart pumped faster as she shook her head quickly, sending Stiles a pleading look which she hardly ever did, proving that this was a desperate situation. He sent her an undecided look, a bead of sweat running down his temple as he gulped and stared back at Peter who took another step forward, carefully lifting up Stiles' arm.
"Yes or no?" He asked, teeth elongating into K-nines and Kayla shook her head even more furiously, gripping the back of Peter's jacket tightly in her hands, sending Stiles a frantic look to try and tell him it wasn't worth it, that having that kind of curse would just be a long and hellish road for him to go on, that he was completely fine the way he is, perfect even, he was completely perfect, buzz cut, moles, awkwardness, style and all, that he didn't need to be something more because he was frigging Stiles Stilinski, he invented the word 'unique'.
Of course though, she was still with shock, so she had just said all of that in her head and not out loud, idiot, and as Peter was just about to sink his teeth into Stiles' skin he pulled back, cheeks tinging with red, whether from embarrassment or anger Kayla didn't know.
"I don't want to be like you" He stated in a hard voice, "I don't need to be like you" And Kayla blew out a long breath, feeling relieved as he briefly met her stare, inclining his head in thanks.
"You know what I just heard then? Your heart beating faster over the words 'I don't want'" Peter said in a low voice, leaning forward, "You may believe you are telling the truth but you are lying to me, lying to yourself and lying to everyone that cares about you" Peter said, voice thick, and Kayla frowned worriedly as Stiles' face fell with guilt. Why did he feel he needed to be like them to be something else? She didn't understand it - didn't he know how amazing he was already?
"Well that's your choice... goodbye Stiles... come on Kayla" Peter demanded, turning around making Kayla raise her eyebrows.
"Wait... what? Why?" She asked, crossing her arms stubbornly, not prepared to be a total pushover.
"To save your cousin" Peter replied back shortly, "And we really don't have all night... there's some private things I want to discuss with you in the car" He told her, only further increasing her curiosity - well, that and the fact she really wanted to help Derek. She nodded, sending Stiles a small smile and somewhat comforting look as he gave her a disbelieving wide eyed stare, disbelief written all over his face.
Yes, she really wasn't all that good with words so she turned away, about to follow Peter into the car but Stiles grabbed her hand, spinning her back around and expecting some kind of protest from him like, 'have you gone completely nuts?' or something along the lines of that, she opened her mouth, going to reassure him but was slightly shocked when his lips met hers.
She was sure she would never get used to that. This kiss was spontaneous, something that just kind of happened in the heat of the moment type situation, except for the fact it wasn't a 'heat of the moment' moment - it was more of a 'I'm-freaking-out-right-about-now' moment.
"Oh for the love of god..." She heard Peter murmur from behind them but chose to ignore him, a wise decision in her book she thought, letting her eyelids flutter shut as his lips moved over hers with a kind of desperate intensity she had never felt before, not from anyone - it was a desperate and urgent kiss, both his hands holding the sides of her face, pulling her body closer to his and Kayla responded by gliding her hands up his stomach to rest on his chest, fisting his shirt in her hands.
His lips were hard against hers, as though trying to put across everything he was trying to say in one kiss so she let him have it, not battling for dominance or using some fancy tongue technique, she just let him take over the whole kiss because she could feel from where their chests were touching his heart beating a mile a minute and knew he was seriously freaking out.
His lips began to slow down, pulling away from hers and Kayla cursed internally - she really wanted to keep going, to enjoy feeling safe in his arms but the thought of Derek and Lydia and everyone else in danger brought her back down to earth with a violent bang.
She opened her eyes, looking into Stiles' gaze who had his eyebrows raised in a questioning look, chewing on the inside of his cheek. She understood it immediately - he was asking her if she was going to be careful. Kayla nodded a little, hand moving down to give his a quick squeeze, telling him the same. No words were needed because what was there to say after that? Nothing could compare - god, that was cheesy.
She gave him a small smile before turning around, feeling Stiles' worried gaze on her as she walked back to Peter with her head held high, ignoring his 'what the hell is wrong with you?' look.
"Oh shut up" She snapped, climbing into the passenger seat as Peter took the driver's seat, a very, very, very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
A/N) Yay... another chapter done - I hope you all enjoyed it and please leave your thoughts below, I love hearing from you and your opinions, they're serious motivators. I'm super excited for the next chapter, especially all the drama that's going to happen, as well answering a lot of un -nswered question. So please please review and I'll see you all next chapter :)