Okay, here is the next chapter. I just want to say that I hate writing action because I don't think I am very good at it, so if this sucks, I apologize. This chapter also jumps through several POV's to take you through what is going on in each room. I am sorry if it is hard to follow but I wanted to get each character in. I really hope you all enjoy it, please leave me a review so that I can see what you think. Again thank you to each of you for reading and reviewing I truly appreciate it!
Chapter 54
Turning she catches blue eyes, "Why are you here Nathan?"
"To kill you of course," He states nonchalantly.
Looking quickly around the room Allison took stock: two guards, most likely Alpha's flanked Nathan on either side of the room and Nathan paced just in front of Sophia's crib blocking her path to her daughter. Feeling every nerve ending on alert Allison realizes that if she and Sophia are going to make it out of here, she is going to have to fight and kill three Alphas. Taking a deep breath, Allison geodes Nathan, "And why would you want to do that?" She asks coyly.
"Because," he spit, score one for the girl he took the bait, "Your very presence here is a crime against the council, you are a disgrace to this institution."
"I am a member of the Hale pack, I don't know how that is an insult," she answers her voice ringing with innocence.
"You're a hunter," he roared, "You were bred to murder our kind, you are our natural enemy!" His shouts woke Sophia and the little girl let out a wail.
"Stop," Allison begged, looking for an opening, "you are scaring her."
"She is a disgrace!" He shouts, making the baby scream louder, "do you think I didn't know what you are? What my cousin allowed into this pack—it is why he will never rule, he has taken in strays and second borns, but to take in a hunter, to bring a hunter to the council—it is blasphemous!" His veins were popping in his face and his whole body seemed to be red but he had not shifted so Allison could only assume that Lydia was preventing it. Just as she made that observation he shouted again, "Kill her!" And the other two Alphas charge at her.
Lydia ran into the girl's room and grabbed Isabel before waking Jade up and herding them both into the secret panic room built into their bedroom. It was soundproof and would protect them as long as no one looked too closely at the walls of the room. "Mommy," Jade wiped the sleep from her eyes as her mother shuffled her into the panic room, "what's going on?"
"Jade some bad men are here and you and your sister need to hide okay, I am going to put you in this room and you will be safe but you cannot come out for anyone but me or the pack okay?"
Nodding sleepily Jade entered the room with her baby sister, both wrapped in their blankets, "Mommy they are not going to take you this time are they?"
Taking in the five year old's quivering lip and tear filed eyes, Lydia shook her head, "No baby, but I going to stay out here to keep you safe okay." With that she close and sealed the door and ran into the hallway only to come face to face, or face to chest really, with a huge alpha, "Well now, what do we have here?" He asked in a gravelly voice, grabbing her arms and yanking her to him, sniffing the column of her throat.
Unable to stop the tears Lydia took shallow breaths looking for a way to fight back. "You must be the human bitch that Hale thinks is sufficient for an Alpha female," he growled before licking the side of her throat and face. Lydia tried to free herself from his meaty paws but he had a grip like a vice and she couldn't break loose.
"Let me go," she struggled causing him to laugh at her, a sound that was maniacal and loud, "What's wrong little rabbit, scared of the big bad wolf?" He fisted her hair and pulled it back hard, causing her to cry out again. At her scream he chuckled, using her hair to drag her into the bedroom that she shared with Derek. Part of her was relieved that he had not enter the room that her girls were hiding in but another part of her feared his intentions with her. As he kicked the door shut, she felt his grip loosen and she made a break for it. She got about two yards away before he grabbed her again, she swung her fist making solid contact and breaking his nose with a satisfying crunch. Before she could move again her vision was filled with blinding pain as he backhanded her with the force of a concrete wall. Lydia felt her body hit the ground and all she could do was curl her legs in to protect her belly, trying to keep her little boy safe.
"Stupid bitch!" he shouted and landed a kick in the center of her back causing her to scream again. Above her he was screaming about humans and how they were inferior and how she was going to die. As she opened her eyes, committed to fighting with everything she had to protect her son a glint under the bed caught her eye—it was one of Allison's knives, she must have dropped it in the scurry to get ready earlier. Taking a deep breath, Lydia groaned loudly and rolled herself onto her hands and knees, pressing on hand to her belly, she felt a reassuring kick from her baby. She put on the most pained crawl she could to distract the Alpha in the room with her from her actual intentions. Grabbing the knife, she quickly slid it into the waistband of her shorts as she rolled over and rested against the side of the bed.
"Where do you think you are going bitch!" He yelled, "Um, crawling on your knees may be the only way you are of any use," he says as he squats in front of her, running a callused hand down her face, he continues, "Huh, you are a pretty little human, what you say I take you for a test drive before I kill you—there must be something special about you if Hale was willing to keep you around."
"Not in your wildest dreams," she ground out, slapping his hand away with her left hand.
Grabbing her by the back of the head he pulled her harshly to her feet, it was only when she heard the slick gasp he made that she realized that her plan had worked. As he pulled her to her feet she brought the knife forward with all of her strength and the force of momentum from him pulling her slid the wolf's bane laced knife in between his ribs and right into his heart- killing him. Watching the life in his eyes fade, Lydia let out a sob. The force of his body falling knocked her to the ground and effectively pinned her under his body.
Stiles moved down the hallway as stealthy as possible trying to assess the situation, as he clears the hallway with the bedrooms he spins quickly into the main hall, only to find an Alpha running at him in human form. He does not recognize the wolf so he takes his shot, landing a wolf's bane bullet between the larger man's eyes. Not waiting to watch as the wolf's body twitches and drops to the floor Stiles moves on, noting the open door to the dungeon and understanding that the Alpha pack is attacking them to free Nathan. As he moves to his rendezvous point with Allison, he sends up a prayer that they will make it out of all of this.
Allison heard Nathan's call to attack but she had already anticipated the direction of attack—luckily she was not wrong. As one Alpha dove at her from the right she spun left and jumped in the air, using his back to kick flip behind him and bring down a knife, slashing through his throat with a six inch blade before spinning—her face and hair now splashed with blood—to face her second attacker. This one was larger and more determined she learned as he slammed her into the wall, cracking the sheetrock before charging at her again. This was the opening Allison needed to pull the pistol from her boot and empty six shots into his skull. As the second Alpha hit the ground in front of her she spun up to face Nathan, "So are we going to do this or are you going to continue to send goons at me?"
Scott was running through the woods chasing a large male deer with Sarah, Isaac and Boyd when suddenly his eyes flashed green and he was in the hallway of the house, a large Alpha closing in on him, when the Alpha's hands closed around his arms he came back to himself. Looking up he realized that he was on his knees and the others were crowded around him, without thinking he leaned back and let out a blood curdling howl.
"Scott, what the hell is going on?" Isaac asked.
Panting and pulling himself to his feet he turned to run, shouting, "Lydia is in trouble," before taking off at full speed toward the house. The others followed without comment knowing that if Scott was scared, then they should be too.
Derek was nearly two miles away with his group when he heard Scott's howl. Knowing that the beta was alerting him to something happening he turned to the others, "Something's wrong, Scott wouldn't just howl for no reason." Looking towards the house he made eye contact with Erica before taking off at a full run knowing that the others were following him.
In another part of the forest Jackson stalked a bear with Laura, Kay and Emma. He wasn't sure how he got stuck with the estrogen brigade but after seeing Laura tackle an elk earlier he was a little afraid to give her too much attitude. Still he bemoaned the suckage of his life as he moved closer to the others to flank the bear. He totally didn't become a werewolf to spend all night hanging out with a bunch of unavailable women at the kiddy table. Unavailable women who were shocked when Derek's youngest Beta suddenly dropped to his knees as his eyes turned yellow and scales sprouted on his skin. Kay and Emma gasped and Laura mumbled something that sounded strangely like "Only my dumbass brother would accidentally make a Kanima," before Jackson took off heading North toward the house. With a huff, Laura turned, "Well damn, I guess we have to follow him now."
As she took off after him, trying to tract him through the movement of the trees because Jackson had no scent in Kanima form, she heard Scott's pained howl alerting the pack to trouble. If Scott was howling and Jackson had suddenly gone all scaly she knew that could only mean that Lydia was in trouble. Doubling her speed, she hurried to get there, hoping that they would arrive in time to help whatever was happening because she didn't think that her little brother could lose anyone else, especially not his pregnant wife.
Nathan's smirk seemed a little less secure now as Allison gazed at him, covered in the blood of the two Alpha's he thought would rip her limb from limb while he watched.
"Oh don't look so surprised Nathan, you know what I am, what did you expect, for the fight to be easy?"
With that she made her move, diving at him and getting a few good swings in before he kicked her off and sent her slamming into a wall. "I don't converse with human scum."
Shaking her head she jumps at him again, landing her knife squarely in his shoulder before being batted away again. This time she hit her head hard on the table beside the bed, her eyes darkened for a few moments, when they focused again she could see Nathan standing by the door with her daughter pressed to his body, the baby screaming bloody murder.
"What are you, put her down," she gasped, all of the fight leaving her with the sight of her child in danger. Not realizing it until he commented, Allison had her gun trained on him, "Oh Allison you are not going to shoot me," his smirk returned as his clawed hand curled around the baby's neck, "Not if you want to protect your precious little girl."
"I swear to God Nathan, if you hurt her, there will be no one who can protect you." Allison warned, now trying to stand and keep her gun steady.
"Big talk, but I think I will keep the insurance policy," he snarks as he throws a lamp, knocking her in the head again and taking off out of the door. As the fog begins to clear, Allison realizes that she has been locked in the room and that Sophia is gone. Letting out a scream that could only be described as animalistic, she begins to beat on the door, screaming and sobbing. Realizing that she cannot open it, she shoots the lock three times, trying to free herself.
The pack closed in on the house from all sides, arriving at nearly the same time. Before anyone can ask anything, they hear several shots ring out from inside. Scott locks eyes with Derek, "Nathan escaped, Lydia is in trouble," he says in one breath.
"From the sounds of it, they all are," Laura amends.
"Okay, this is a retrieval only, get the girls and Stiles and the kids and get out now. Drop anyone who is not one of us, no questions asked, Isaac, Boyd, you take the back, once we have the others sweep the halls then meet up at the bedrooms," Derek instructs. Nodding everyone shifts and moves in.
Stepping over a body in the main hall, sparing only a moment to rejoice in the fact that it was not one of them, Erica follows Stiles' scent, tracking him through the maze like corridor. Turning a corner, she is not expecting to be hit full force by an Alpha twice her size. Jumping into the fight, she gets in a few solid hits and scratches before the Alpha tosses her to the floor and hits her in the jaw before leaning towards her throat. Hearing shots again it takes her a moment to realize that the wolf on top of her is now just dead weight, using her enhanced strength to throw him off of her, she scrambles to her feet just in time to be pulled to Stiles' solid, warm chest. "Oh thank God," she feels more than hears him murmur into her hair before pulling back and kissing her, "I was scared I would never see you again." Nodding she kisses him back before looking at the dead Alpha on the floor. Her moment of shock at the fact that Stiles—the kindest, sweetest, most loving man that she had ever know had killed for her—was interrupted by a growl from the other end of the hall. Looking she saw another Alpha charging for them, before she could react Stiles had shoved her behind him and opened fire, hitting first the Alpha's knees and then his shoulders, effectively crippling him with the wolf's bane bullets. Once the Alpha was on the ground, Stiles moved to drag him down the hall, looking up at her, "Um, honey, I am not one of those guys who is embarrassed if his girlfriend needs to open jars for him, so if you don't mind, I could use some of your super wolf strength here catwoman."
Chuckling, "Only you could make a joke in this situation," she rolled her eyes as she helped him heft the large wolf into the small room to their right, eventually tying him to a chair.
Derek ran down the dark hallway following the scent of Lydia's fear. It was hard to distinguish it from the overwhelming smell of blood and general terror but he could smell her. As he closed in on their bedroom all sound was overwhelmed by the sound of his own heart pounding in his ears. A part of him was terrified of what lay beyond that door because he knew it could change his whole world—he knew that it would change his family forever. Taking a deep breath he caught a whiff of Lydia's blood suddenly none of that mattered, all that mattered was getting to her.
Busting into their bedroom, he was overwhelmed with the smell of her blood and the smell of death. Looking around in panic he follows the stench to the opposite side of the bed, where he finds his wife trapped under the body of a large Alpha wolf. Moving quickly to kick the body off of her, he is shocked to see the knife sticking out of the Alpha's chest and the blood covering her as she shook and sobbed on the floor.
For a moment, Lydia didn't realize what was going on, she was trapped under the man she killed and then suddenly he was gone and she was free to move—only she couldn't, she was trapped by the blood covering her skin and the shame at being a murderer weighing on her mind. She could feel her body shaking and it was becoming more difficult to breathe. Seeing Derek's scared green eyes staring at her helped her focus, pulling her to her feet, and wrapping his arms around her help tether her to this world, the one where she had to focus on getting her family out of this place alive, even if it meant killing again.
"Shh, calm down Lydia, calm down, just breathe, baby you have got to calm down," He whispered into her hair, rocking her gently as he held her. Listening to her heart he could hear it slowing as her panic ebbed a bit and he could hear his son's heart pounding away bringing him some comfort. As her breathing began to even out he pulled away a bit, "Lydia where are the girls?"
Taking a breath, but still shaking she says, "Um, they are in the panic room, they, oh God please tell me they are safe," Looking to the door were his sister is standing, waiting for orders he nods to her and she runs to the girls room. After a few moments Derek hears his sister whisper, "They are fine, I am going to keep them in here until we clear the property."
"Thank you," he responds, looking down at his wife he nods, "they are safe Lydia, our girls are safe. They are in the panic room with Laura until we make sure there is no one else lurking around." She nodded and let out a sob, "What about Allison, she was screaming and if Sophia isn't in the panic room something is wrong."
"Scott went to get her," Derek whispered, still afraid of spooking her.
As the pack entered the house they heard several shots fire, some from the front of the house and some from the bedrooms. Jumping over a body by the foyer Scott ran full speed down the hall to the door of his bedroom with Allison, realizing that the door had been blocked he kicked the dresser out of the way and kicked the door in. Entering the room he smells blood and death and tears. In the middle of the room Allison is on her knees sobbing uncontrollably, a gun still in her hand, blood smeared over her face and clothes and her tears streaking it down her throat. Approaching her slowly, like she was a rabid animal, he took note of the two bodies that littered the floor and the smell of Nathan's blood mingled in.
"Allison," he continued looking around, trying to spot any sign of his daughter, "Allison, its okay," he whispers as he wraps his hand around hers and gently extracts the gun from her hand. She is shaking her head and muttering nonsense.
"Baby, I am going to need you to calm down and tell me what happened," he tilted her chin up and was shocked at the broken look in her eyes.
"Scott I am so sorry," she sobbed.
"What, why are you sorry?"
"I couldn't do it, I could protect her?" Scott could feel the panic rising in his gut, looking around again, still not seeing his daughter.
"Allison what are you talking about? Where is Sophia?" Her response was a broken sob, "I failed, he took her and I failed."
"What?" he grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him, "Allison you are not making any sense, where is Sophia?"
"Nathan took her!" Allison screamed, "He wanted to kill me but when I dropped his guards and went for him he grabbed her and was going to rip her throat out if I didn't let him leave. Then he knocked me out and when I came to I was locked in here and she was gone. God, Scott, he stole our baby!"
In that moment Scott felt his entire world stop spinning, all he could here was the rush of blood in his ears and the deafening absence of his daughter's heartbeat, a sound that he had grown so accustom to over the past ten months that it was his solace and now it was gone. Nathan had taken his baby. Standing with the strength of vengeance alone he grabbed Allison by the arm and all but drug her behind him to the room where Derek was still trying to calm Lydia down, "That bastard took my daughter!"
Looking up from Lydia in shock Derek asks, "What?"
"Nathan," Scott spit the name, "He took Sophia."
"Jackson!" Derek bellowed, the beta, still in Kanima form appeared at this door, Lydia looked to him and now with a renewed strength, "Find Nathan and follow him, do not engage unless he moves to hurt Sophia, once you know where he is going shift and call us." Her order was clear and Jackson moved so fast to follow them that it was almost as if he had disappeared.
Hearing the screams, Erica and Stiles made their way to the bedroom just in time to hear Scott's declaration, after Jackson was dispersed, Stiles stepped forward, "Um, I may have a way to find out where he is going a little more quickly."
"How?" Derek asks.
"I have one of them tied up in the living room, baby I hate to ask" he looked to Erica who nodded, "Erica can try to pull it out of him."
"It is worth a shot," Derek says, making no move to let go of Lydia. Nodding Stiles took Erica's hand and moved off to the living room. Stopping in front of the injured Alpha he sighs, "I don't suppose you want to do this the easy way and just tell me where Nathan is heading?"
Stiles gets his answer in the form of a growl. "Well fine then, I guess we are going to have to go with plan "B". Honey," he looks to Erica who is obviously scared of the whole situation. Squeezing her hand, he kisses the back of it before releasing her to let her move forward. Ramming his hand into the bullet wound on the Alpha's left knee he asks again, "Where is Nathan going?!" He shouts. The Alpha lets out a roar and Erica seizes her opening, gripping his head in her hands and pushing her way inside. As the screams subside, she locks eyes with Stiles, and gasps, "Beacon Hills, he is going to Beacon Hills. There is something in the Hale house that he wants, that is all this one knows."
Nodding Stiles stands, "Good, you did good. Go and let Derek know okay." She looks a bit confused at her dismissal but nods as she exits the room, she is halfway down the hall before she hears the echo of a gun blast and hears the Alpha take his final breath. Freezing she waits for Stiles to exit the room, his body language stiff and controlled until her sees her waiting for him. Reaching back, she takes his hand and leads him down the hall to inform Derek of their new information.
"Why would he want to go to Beacon Hills?" Lydia asks. Everyone shrugged a bit.
"It doesn't matter, what does is Sophia back safe. Everyone pack and load up the cars, we move out in 15," he looks to each of them and they jump into action, the drive to get Sophia is the focus that each of them needs to overcome the trauma of day. They each know that the weight of what has happened this night will hit them, but for now it will have to wait. As Lydia changed into clean clothes, leaving her bloody ones on the floor, Derek pulls out his phone and dials a number he never thought he would. When the person on the other line sleepily answers he sighs, "Hello, Chris. I need your help."
