Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf
Two-Pack II
"Up a bit, no down a bit, no up a bit," Natalie coached as she and the other teachers supervised the decoration of the hall for the winter formal, and Finstock glared at her, thoroughly nettled.
"Come on, my arm's aching up here!" he scolded, and she gave him a sweet smile.
"Tie it off there, thank you Bobby," she wheedled, and grumbling slightly, he tied the banner advertising the formal off at roughly the height she wanted it to be.
The school was abuzz with preparations for the dance, and despite it being moved forward, everyone was now looking forward to it, and even the teachers thought that the dance would be a welcome distraction, and Natalie mused privately that it would be an even better distraction for the supernaturally inclined members of the student populace, they were all so tense, and it was clear that there was something going on between them all, it was like the calm before the storm among the entire pack, and Natalie winced as she considered just how that storm would break because she had an awful feeling however it did so, it wasn't going to be pretty.
As other members of staff blew up balloons, prepared tables and got the music ready for the night, Natalie cast an eye over where Lydia was overseeing the construction of the stage for the band that would be playing, and Natalie smiled, she still hadn't forgiven her mother for giving her so little warning about the dance, but she had risen to the occasion magnificently as always, and had now sorted out exactly what she was going to be wearing. Now, Natalie mused, if only she could figure out what she wanted to do about her boy situation things would be almost perfect for her daughter.
Which was more than could be said for Malia. In the past few days, she had clearly been flailing. The news that her father was not actually her father, and that it was actually Peter Hale who was her true biological father had sent her spiralling. Now, struggling with school more than ever, struggling to even basically cope in her classes, along with her temper being rather close to the surface, she was flailing, her more basic instincts coming back into the fore. Ordinarily the pack, and more importantly, Stiles, would be ensuring that she remained balanced and focused, however, since the attack on Scott's house he had hardly been present with the pack, or indeed with Malia at all. From what Lydia had discovered from Malia, Stiles had been struggling with something, and it seemed as though the attack on Scott's house, and the destruction of his jeep, had sent him over the edge in some regard, however, Malia was being annoyingly tight lipped about what exactly Stiles was going through. Though come to think of it, he had been withdrawing from her since they had found out her true parentage, and if he was planning to dump her simply because her father was Peter Hale, he was a much bigger asshole than Natalie had ever credited him as being.
"I hate myself." Ken said, jerking her form her reverie as she mulled over Malia's predicament as she watched the girl miserably help hang streamers, and glare resentfully over at her history teacher, and Natalie turned to look at her colleague.
"Something to do with Malia I take it?" she asked in an undertone, hoping the girl's coyote hearing wouldn't tip her off to the fact that they were talking about her, and he nodded, looking miserable.
"She's falling behind, she scored ten on the practice test I gave them." He informed her, and she arched an eyebrow.
"Well that's not that bad," she protested, and he looked at her regretfully.
"The test was out of a hundred." He told her, and she felt rather deflated upon hearing that.
"Oh. Well yes, that does sound bad, but she is going through a lot, let's face it, the town is under siege, and Satan's ambassador to Beacon Hills is actually her father, she's got a lot going on." She told him, and he nodded, looking a bit wan.
"Yes, I know all that, and it is true, and I've given all the others as much leniency as I can with us knowing what the kids are actually doing, but she was struggling beforehand, and didn't you tell her she couldn't be on the cheerleading team unless she kept her grades up? You won't have any choice but to take her off if this keeps up, and it's not like we can properly explain what's going on with her to the headmaster." He grumbled, and Natalie hissed through her teeth.
"The point being she should never have been put in this position in the first place, she could easily have had private tutors, state funded even, for a year to get her more up to speed rather than just throwing the poor girl in at the deep end like they did, but that's city hall for you I suppose, god forbid they actually spend money on a traumatised child's education to make sure she developed all the skills and lessons she actually needs. And to train her to wear shoes," she lamented, she'd even tried to help Lydia in her fruitless attempts to get the wild girl to cooperate but she wasn't having it, she didn't even want to wear slippers, and Ken rolled his eyes.
"The fact that she doesn't wear shoes is besides the point, Kira reliably informs me that Stiles gives her pedicures." He told her, and a brief image of Stiles painting Malia's toes for her made her snigger.
"There's an image…I know Ken but we need to be lenient," she protested, and he nodded.
"I know, but there's only so much leniency we can grant before people start asking a lot of awkward questions, especially when it isn't just Malia we're being lenient with, and if that happens, the headmaster will be the least of our worries, especially if he starts looking into things with other more practiced eyes, such as the police, and others." He warned darkly, and she suppressed a groan, she could have quite happily gone her entire life not knowing about the powers that be of the supernatural world, but no, no such luck there.
"So what do you want me to do?" she asked tiredly, all this was giving her a major headache.
"Maybe if you talk to her, maybe see about getting her extra support, because otherwise, never mind losing cheerleading or anything else, they might transfer her, and that won't do any of them any good," he told her grimly, and she nodded reluctantly, this was something that needed done, he was right but it seemed a bit cold blooded doing it when the entire pack was struggling what with one thing or another.
"Ok, I'll see…aw crap." She said, suddenly looking horrified as she turned around to see Malia storming off, and Ken looked at her in horror.
"Wait, do you think she heard us?"
Natalie fixed him with a withering glare, her nostrils flaring as she did so.
"No Ken I think she's running because she heard an ice cream van going past!" she snapped, and he went pale as the two of them followed Malia.
XX
Malia stormed through the school, fury pulsing through her as her blood pounded in her ears. Melody, who happened to be going past, was almost flattened against the wall when Malia swept past, and Melody looked worriedly at the coyote's retreating back as she slammed open the door and left the building.
"Wow, glad we're not having a study session tonight." She lamented as the door slammed behind the coyote, as Mrs Martin and Mr Yukimura hastened to catch up to the coyote.
Just as Malia left the school however, rather than seeing Stiles like she had hoped she would, she saw nobody. Ever since his jeep had been destroyed, despite his explanation as to why he had been pulling away from her since she had discovered her true parentage, he had been getting stranger and stranger, at lunch he hadn't even sat with the rest of the pack. Malia knew more than the rest of the pack did about what was going on in that head of his, but this was getting ridiculous, he hadn't even turned up for lacrosse practice the day before either, and worrying about what was going on inside his head was not what she wanted to be doing in regards to her boyfriend.
And as all that the two teachers had been saying, all the thoughts that had been running through her head recently, all the stress that they had all been under had shown her, was that she needed Stiles, she needed him back to normal. She knew he was terrified of this remnant of the Nogitsune that he insisted was still inside him, but she herself wasn't so sure. She felt it was more like a freshly killed carcass, it was gone, the thing that had caused it was gone, but someone would still be able to benefit from it. But Stiles, he couldn't think like that, but he wouldn't even let her help, no instead he was pulling away from her, away from all of them.
Malia sulked as she looked vaguely around at where she was, she had stormed quite a distance from the school. She was sick of all of this, the pack was in chaos, they were beset by enemies, and now, along with Stiles withdrawing from her and from his friends and going through god knows what, and because she was apparently too stupid to even be at school, the whole thing was falling apart, she was falling apart.
"Now, why the long face?" a voice asked, and she turned, her claws extending angrily, having been caught by surprise, when she saw Peter emerging from a shop, giving her a hesitant smile as he held a bag of groceries in his hand, and she cocked her head at him curiously.
"Wait, you actually do normal stuff like grocery shopping?" she asked, kind of shocked, and he rolled his eyes patiently.
"Yes Malia, I do, I know your friends all think I'm the devil incarnate but that doesn't mean I actually am, hence I need to do mundane things such as grocery shopping. Anyway, what are you doing here looking so miserable?" he asked, and she looked at him, she seriously needed to vent, but did she really want to vent to him?
"Come on Malia, I wouldn't be doing my fatherly duty when you're meant to be at school and are clearly pissed about something, come on, I'll take you for a ride in a car with a bit of style about it and not that old banger that Stiles used to drive before the djinn torched it. What do you say?" he asked, and after casting a last angry look back at the direction that she had came, she nodded, and followed him to his car.
Peter smiled as he put his groceries in the back. While he was keeping the plan in mind, he couldn't deny, he was quite happy that his rather irate daughter was actually willing to talk to him, he considered that as progress. As Malia sat in the front car, nodding in slight appreciation at the luxurious interior, Peter got in beside her, gunned the engine and drove them off.
"So, what has gotten you so wound up? I wouldn't be doing my fatherly duty if I didn't remind you that you are meant to be in school." He chided, smiling a little and she glowered at him and crossed her arms defiantly.
"I'm having a bit of a bad day that's all." She admitted, though her teeth were clenched as she did so.
"Oh, and what has caused this bad day?" he asked, taking them out of Beacon Hills and onto the roads leading away from the town, Malia watching in slight fascination as they zoomed through the countryside.
She scowled out the window.
"Well apparently I'm too stupid for school, too stupid for cheerleading so I'm basically going to get kicked out and sent to some school for dummies where I'll be at home with the complete idiots who they send there!" she ranted, and he briefly took his eyes off the road to look at his daughter.
"Wait, this is your school? They say you're too stupid for it?" he asked, a strange quality to his voice, and she nodded sharply, still looking furious.
"Yeah! It's not my fault, I was living in the forest as a coyote for the better part of ten years, but now all the teachers are saying I'm falling behind, I'm struggling to keep up, and basically because I'm so stupid and so behind, I can't do cheerleading, can't be with my pack, and am basically an all round failure!"
Peter's face turned to one of outrage.
"Wait, that's hardly your fault! You were in the forest for eight years, a traumatised child, it's hardly your fault you're behind, what exactly are they doing to help?" he demanded indignantly, and she smiled a little, actually strangely pleased that her father was taking her side in this.
"Exactly! And Lydia's mom and Kira's dad help me as much as they can, but I'm so behind all the others, Lydia's mum can only do so much, but the two of them were talking about either putting me back or getting me extra help like I'm some sort of, what's the word?" she asked, and Peter smirked a little.
"Moron?" he asked, and she nodded, looking indignant.
"Exactly!"
Peter scowled as they continued their drive. This was quite a strange feeling, he actually was feeling angry on behalf of his daughter. It wasn't her fault that she was behind, and like he had said, it wasn't like city hall was doing anything to actually help his daughter. And if she was falling behind, why weren't people doing more to help? Maybe he needed to pay them a visit, fangs, claws and all.
"But what about your friends, the pack, Stiles, what are they doing to help?" Peter asked curiously, genuinely invested now despite himself as he continued to drive them through the roads leading away from town, and she sighed.
"They help as much as they can, Kira and Isaac are good teachers, so is Scott, but let's face it, he's only slightly less dumb than me," she said, and Peter sniggered, "the twins are much the same, Lydia and Danny are smarter but they kind of get frustrated, Lydia especially because she's so smart, and she spends half her time trying to get me to wear shoes."
There was one rather large glaring omission from her recital of the pack members who could help her with her studies, and his ever-observant nature flagged this up as a rather large red flag.
"And Stiles?" he asked, and her eyes suddenly looked rather downcast.
"He's, he's not been around much recently. I mean it isn't just me, he's been avoiding the others as well, he missed lacrosse practice yesterday, and hasn't been hanging out with any of us. I mean, I know he's dealing with stuff but…" she muttered, and Peter suppressed a tight smirk.
So it would seem that Stiles so called defection did indeed have some truth to it. He would be foolish to accept it as legitimate, regardless of what Agravaine may say, however this did point to Stiles potentially pulling away from those he was meant to be betraying, so perhaps the Nogitsune had given him a capacity for betrayal that he previously wouldn't have had.
"Stiles still isn't spending much time with you?" Peter asked hesitantly, realising he had to be extremely careful here lest he overplay his hand.
She glared at him.
"He has his own stuff to deal with, besides, I think there's still something he isn't telling me, but that's up to him." She admitted, and Peter raised an eyebrow at her as he took them along the edge of the reserve, driving the long way back to town, figuring that he had come far enough. Besides he was new to this there was only so much daddy daughter bonding he could take.
"Well I suppose you know him better, but like I say, there's always been that bond between him and Lydia." He said softly, and she snarled.
"Stiles would never do something like that, neither would Lydia, besides, its obvious to everyone except her that she's still hung up on Aiden anyway." She protested, and Peter had to admit that she was right about that one, even he had noticed.
"I know Malia, but I'm just concerned, despite what you think I don't want to see you getting hurt, and well, he might not cheat on you but that doesn't necessarily mean he's going to stay with you either, don't you worry he's been a bit distant lately? I've seen it before Malia, guys pull away just before they break up with someone." He said, as they glided back into town, and Malia didn't answer, her mind filled with fear that he might actually be onto something.
She knew that with what he was going through, she wasn't exactly his highest priority, but she was starting to flail without him, and there was something weird about all this, after all he wasn't just pulling away from her, he was pulling away from the entire pack, and it wasn't sitting right, it was like there was something he was keeping from her. And it seemed like whatever it was going on inside Stiles head, be it leftover Nogitsune drama or something else equally sinister, he was keeping it from all of them, including Scott.
But what could it be?
Peter pulled up outside her house, her mind churning over the various implications inside her head as she began to wonder just what exactly was going on inside of Stiles mind, and wondering, despite what she had assured him, and what he himself said, if the Nogitsune was truly gone, or worse, it had left something behind that was making Stiles act the way he was, all distant and cold, pulling away from the pack, acting all secretive and suspicious, and now she was beginning to wonder, was there something else at play, or was Peter right, and Stiles about to dump her?
"Thanks…" she whispered and clambered out, her mind abuzz with the possibilities, and Peter allowed himself a small smile.
That had gone rather well. But, his machinations aside, perhaps he ought to pay Natalie a visit and do a bit of intimidating, after all, it wasn't Malia's fault really that she was flunking so badly. And soon, if he was right, he would be needing to pay Stiles a visit, and like his precious Alpha, he wouldn't survive their next showdown.
XX
"Well don't you both look handsome?" Melissa asked as she straightened Aiden's tie for him the night of the winter formal, Aiden blushing while she did so.
"Thanks." Ethan said, checking his reflection in the mirror, and sweeping his fringe a little more to the side.
The twins were both clad in nice suits, Aiden clad in a black suit with a white shirt (ironed by Melissa) and with a thin black tie, making him look rather stylish, and his hair was styled up at the front, made a more tidy version of his usual spiky style. Ethan was clad in a navy suit with a lighter blue tie, and his hair was combed to the side in a neat and tidy quiff.
"Where are Scott and Isaac? You both look great guys. And don't worry, Melissa is going to work, and Kaisha and I have places to go and people to see, so you can have the place to yourselves if you want it." Camden teased, and Aiden grinned at him.
"Should hope so, if I were you though I'd be worried about where your brother might end up, he's still refusing to do any fun stuff with Scott since he's staying here." He told him, and Camden rolled his eyes in amusement, Rakaisha however smiled, and pecked Camden's cheek.
"Your mother raised two gentlemen." She told him sweetly, and Melissa turned to her with an amused look on her face.
"I wouldn't go that far Rakaisha, considering what I saw yesterday when I came in, a gentleman would not be doing it there!" she said pointedly, and both the djinn and the soldier blushed, and turned away from Melissa to avoid her gaze and to stop sniggering.
"Yeah well, their rather unsavoury sexual practices aside," Isaac said in disdain as he joined them from the room that was once Kali's, which he was sharing with Scott, after all he had overheard Melissa talking on the phone to the sheriff the night before and had heard where his brother had been having sex, and had vowed to eat out until further notice, "it's weird doing it somewhere except Scott's house."
"And he is a guest, it's poor form, unless you're in a hotel…what?" Melissa asked innocently, as the two sets of brothers and the djinn were now looking at her curiously as if to find out exactly how she knew that.
"Well he is right there…caves are also suitable. Anyway Isaac, you look very nice, you clean up well." Rakaisha complimented, as she fussed over him a little, smiling a little as Isaac sent a wheedling look at his brother, who merely smiled and waved his hand, figuring it was better to let her fuss than try and stop her.
Isaac was also dressed in a black suit, looking very smart, and he had a red tie to go along with his outfit. His hair was styled to the side and combed over into a neat quiff, which Rakaisha straightened slightly with her fingers before giving him a last approving nod.
"You look very handsome." She complimented, and he smiled at her at thanks.
"I'll second that." Scott added as he entered the room, and Isaac turned an appreciative eye onto his boyfriend (though he suspected he saw both twins give him an appreciative once over themselves).
Clad in a light grey suit, with a pale blue tie and a white shirt, he grinned at Isaac, stroking his hair, which was slicked to the side, into place.
"You look very handsome yourself honey. Alright you four, go out, have fun, and try to forget about the dogs and everything else for just one night, and just be normal teenagers for a change. And remember, no sex without safe sex." Melissa advised, while Camden and Rakaisha sniggered.
"MOM!" Scott shouted, embarrassed as the twins and Isaac laughed, and Melissa shook her head.
"Hey, I'm the responsible adult around here, and just because three of you have eliminated the risks of teenage pregnancies doesn't mean I'm relaxing standards…" she scolded him as she and the four boys left the penthouse, leaving Camden and Rakaisha laughing behind them.
Once they were gone however, the djinn looked at her fiancé, who met her gaze with a steely eyed determination.
"Let's do this, otherwise you'll never be free." Camden growled, and she placed her hand in his, her eyes blazing.
"Yes, let's." she purred in a dangerous voice as the two of them prepared to hunt down Ifrit.
XX
The entire school seemed to be out in force as the four boys arrived, with balloons hanging up on the ceiling and falling gently down to the floor, while music pumped from the dj station at the front, with a small crowd already beginning to dance. Scott watched them, feeling a slight amount of pity for them, as they were throwing themselves into this party with careless abandon, all due to the actions of the various supernatural bad guys they were facing.
"You ok?" Isaac asked softly from beside him, and he nodded.
"Yeah, it's just, we're only here because the Ghost Pack and all the other bad guys in town are causing total havoc, making everyone miserable." He lamented, and Isaac took his hand and kissed it encouragingly.
"Exactly, it's making everyone miserable, so we brought forward the dance to cheer everyone up, and I thought we all agreed to come so we can try and move on, try and get some good back in our lives. So…" he said teasingly, and Scott grinned and rolled his eyes.
"Suck it up and get on with it, yeah I know." He replied, and the twins grinned.
"Evening boys." A voice came from behind them, and all four of them turned, and all four of them, to their credit, felt their jaws drop down in surprise as they beheld Melody.
She was beautiful, and even Ethan, who unlike Scott and Isaac had absolutely no appreciation for a beautiful woman, was floored by how gorgeous she looked. Dressed in a flowing, glittering silver dress, she was the definition of elegance. Her bronzed skin accented the dress beautifully, and she was wearing a pair of elbow length pale lilac gloves. Her hair was tied up into an elegant, artful style, with tendrils draped effortlessly over her shoulders. Her makeup was flawless, and minimal, and her smile let them realise exactly how good she knew she looked.
"Wow Melody, you look, well, wow…" Aiden said, completely in shock, speaking for all four of them, and she smiled, winking at them.
"Thanks Aiden, now how about you lot get out of the way, or even better, one of you get me a drink?" she asked hopefully, and Aiden surged forward, shouldering both Scott and Isaac out of the way as he took her hand and led her away to the punch table.
"She certainly knows how to make an entrance." Ethan commented, and the other boys nodded as they too progressed further into the dance.
Melody watched with slight amusement as every eye in the room turned to her, all of them ogling the effortless beauty of the Princess of Beasts. This high school dance was small change compared to what she was used to back home, but just because she was on extended deployment didn't mean she wasn't going to enjoy herself and get dressed up. And besides, as she currently unable to reveal that she was actually a princess, wowing everyone with how good she could look would have to do until such a time as she had other avenues open to her.
As the rest of the school continued to arrive, the pack soon started to come together as a group, though it was clear that Malia's heart wasn't in it. Despite being dressed in a pretty white dress with flowers on the bottom, she kept looking over at Stiles who seemed completely oblivious to her attentions, and he was barely engaging anyone in conversation as more people started to dance, either because their partners had shown up, or because the teachers hadn't noticed them swigging out of their hip flasks that they had all smuggled in.
"Wow Lydia!" Kira said in shock as their banshee companion finally entered, and as always, brought the entire party to a stop as everyone turned to look at her.
Lydia was clad in a slim purple dress, and like Melody's, it was backless. Her long red hair had several braids running through it, and was hung elegantly down her back. Like Melody, she too was wearing long, elegant elbow length gloves, white in her case, and she was wearing silver shoes.
"You look great." Scott told her, stepping forward and extending his arm to her, and she smiled gratefully.
"Thank you Scott, you don't look so bad yourself." She told him, and he swept her away to the dance floor, and with their Alpha and their banshee now dancing, the rest of the pack, taking this as an unconscious approval to relax, began to pair off.
"Come on Violet, let's dance!" Garrett insisted, and she grinned as both of them ran out onto the dance floor, both of them unashamedly checking out both Lydia and Melody, who was currently dancing with Caleb.
"You know, say what you will about us, but you can't deny we don't clean up well." Danny remarked, and the others grinned.
He did indeed look quite handsome, clad in a white suit with a black tie, his hair combed to the side in a neat quiff, and he looked hesitantly at Ethan.
"Hey, would you want to dance?" he asked nervously, and Ethan's face broke into a wide, brilliant smile.
"Of course I would!" he cried ecstatically, and Danny laughed a little as he grabbed his hand and led him towards the dance floor.
"Thank god for that, I was getting sick of the two of them moping about." Mason complained, and Isaac, who was watching Stiles and Malia hardly talking with a worried frown on his face, turned to look at him curiously.
"I thought you were bringing a date, where is he?" he asked, and Mason smiled.
"He got held up at work, he'll be here later, but until then, I'm anyone's, if you want to dance and don't think Scott will mind?" he asked nervously, clearly figuring that after his less than stellar reaction to the supernatural Isaac wouldn't be very accommodating, but to his slight surprise, the Prime Beta grinned.
"Sure, he's cast me aside in exchange for Lydia anyway, so I might as well." He said, and followed the slightly younger boy, dressed in a deep blue suit with a deep red tie to match, onto the dance floor, Mason hurriedly fixing his hair which he had neatly combed before the two began to dance.
As everyone began to more steadily relax, the music changed from general music to more fun songs, resulting in much more energetic dancing. The teachers were prowling the edge of the hall, keeping an eye and making sure nothing got too out of hand, but it was good to see the students all relaxing, especially after recent events. Melody and Lydia were now chatting animatedly, both of them comparing notes on their outfits, while Kira watched the back and forth between the two like she was watching a tennis match. Garrett and Violet were now talking to a cluster of girls, and both of them clearly liked whom they saw, and the girls that they were flirting with were clearly responding well and were flirting back. Scott was now dancing with Isaac, while Mason was getting a drink with a rather surly looking Jackson, though unlike Jackson, he was looking at the various other guys in the swim team with interest.
Malia looked at Stiles miserably, as he snuck a drink out of his hip flask that he had smuggled in, wondering just exactly what was going on in his head. He looked tired, and scared, and there was so much self-loathing in his eyes that she could actually smell it. Not to mention that he hadn't said two words to her all night, and was remaining fairly distant with the rest of the pack too.
"Stiles?" she asked hesitantly, as he did seem to be looking at Lydia quite a lot, and Peter's words echoed inside her head until they were a deafening cacophony.
He seemed to jolt slightly as he was dragged out of whatever reverie he was in that mere mortals dared not follow him to.
"Yeah?" he asked, and she decided not to even give him a chance to refuse her, and stood up, grabbing his hand as she did so.
"We're dancing." She said, and she was sure she smelled a tinge of regret as he was promptly dragged up to the floor to dance.
Aiden looked curiously after the two of them as they headed to dance, and deciding he had enough problems with the collapse of his own relationship with Lydia to worry about them, he turned to look at the person sitting on the chair beside him. It was Liam, and he kept sending furtive glances across at Kira who was on Aiden's side and she was tapping her foot along to the music while sipping her drink, looking slightly bored.
"Hey," Aiden said in a whisper, leaning closer to the younger boy, "you do realise there's a girl that you like sitting there looking really bored don't you?"
Liam looked across at Kira nervously, then scuffed his feet on the floor.
"She wouldn't want to dance with me, besides, I'm a terrible dancer." He mumbled, and Aiden rolled his eyes, but was spared saying anything else to the younger boy as Scott suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind him.
"Come on Liam, you're sweet, cute and adorable, she'd love to dance with you. Besides, no one here can really dance, look at Danielle!" Scott said, and admittedly, while the girl was dancing strangely, she did look like she was having a blast.
"That does look kind of fun…" Aiden said with a grin, and promptly went up to dance with her, and both Scott and Liam exchanged confused looks, neither of them had seen that coming.
"Anyway, as I was saying," Scott said, as Danielle eagerly welcomed Aiden onto the dance floor and the two started to dance with reckless abandon, and people started to flee the premises in fear of injury from their exuberant dancing, "Kira does like you squirt. Go on, ask her to dance." He encouraged gently, and Liam bit his lip nervously and looked over at Kira, who was watching vaguely impressed as Aiden and Danielle began a tango step.
"But…" Liam protested, and Scott wrapped an arm around the younger boy's shoulders.
"No buts! Come on Liam, what's the worst that could happen?" he asked, and Liam looked at him in horror.
"She could say no, or laugh, or, or worse!" he whined, and Scott grinned.
"She wouldn't do that. Now, go get her!" he scolded, and shoved the kid to his feet, and taking a deep breath, Liam went and stood in front of the kitsune, looking very shy and nervous.
"Hey, Kira?" he mumbled a little, looking at her nervously, and she perked up and looked at him.
She was very pretty, dressed in a knee length red and black dress, her sword cunningly disguised as her belt in this instance, and her long raven hair was beautifully curled, and her lips were a sort of deep red, while her eyes were a slightly lighter shade as she looked at the younger boy.
"What's up?" she asked, cocking her head curiously as she studied him.
He was clad in a dark green suit, with an emerald green shirt and a white tie, and his hair was sort of spiked up at the front, and he was still managing to look cool yet cute at the same time.
"I was wondering, would you, you know, like to, I don't know, dance?" he asked hesitantly, and she smiled widely.
"Of course I would!" she exclaimed, and took his hand as he blinked in surprise, his mouth hanging open slightly as the two of them also proceeded to the dance floor.
Jackson watched with disinterest at the side of the room, wishing he had at least a date or someone to talk to, but no, the pack was all coupling off, leaving him as the third wheel. Lydia was busy fending off boys, Malia was with Stiles (not that either of them looked happy about this), Scott was dancing with Isaac, both Violet and Garrett had managed to acquire themselves girls, Mason was dancing with some of his friends, while Liam and Kira were dancing and Liam had just wrapped his arm around Kira's waist, Aiden was now chatting animatedly with Danielle and her friends, and Ethan and Danny were having a slow waltz despite the music being that of a fast song, and were clearly deep in conversation.
"Aww cheer up Jackson, you're such a party pooper." Melody scolded as she took the seat beside him, and she suppressed a smirk as his eyes lit up slightly.
"I'm ok, it's not really my scene, because I was away for so long, I'm a bit disjointed in all this." He explained, and Melody shrugged a shoulder, watching as he ran his eye down her bare back.
"Well I'm new, so you're probably slightly further along than I am, I still hardly know anyone, except you guys and Caleb and that's only because Caleb isn't taking the hint." She complained, she had considered using a little spell one of her mother's had taught her to make sure his libido was dramatically decreased.
Jackson snorted, and he grinned as he ran an appreciative eye over her.
"You can do so much better than Caleb you know, have you seen you? You're way hotter than most people around here." He told her, and she smiled and raised an eyebrow.
"Coming from you that's very high praise indeed. Since I'm new here, why don't you ask me to dance, and while we do, you can tell me everything I need to know?" she asked, a slightly predatory look on her face as she observed the malignantly infected Beta.
With several weeks of decent food and no longer being forced to live in a crate, he had filled out back to his previous stature, with his dark blue suit, white shirt and navy tie all fitting him well now. And while his hair was still longer than he would usually have it, he did seem to be quite content with this, and seemed to be rocking his fauxhawk look.
"Sure, why not?" he asked, taking her hand and kissing it before he took her to the dance floor.
Out on the floor, Scott and Isaac were rocking to the sounds of Fernando by Abba, watching the rest of the pack as they finally all let loose and relaxed. Garrett was currently busy inspecting the tonsils of the girl that he had pulled, as was Violet with the girl she had pulled on the other side of the room. Mason was on the phone, but by straining their hearing slightly they could hear that he was on the phone to the mysterious Corey who was his date for the evening, which would explain why he looked so happy. Aiden and Danielle were having great fun by the punch bowl, laughing at each other's jokes and enjoying each other's company, and the two boys exchanged an amused look, as Lydia had now clocked what was going on in that regard and looked furious. Liam and Kira were becoming more passionate in their dancing, and Isaac, who watched the various ballroom dancing shows with Melissa muttered to Scott they had moved from amateur dancing and were now dancing a vibrant and passionate paso doble, which he assured him would receive a ten from Len, whatever the hell that meant. The two seemed to be having good fun too, both clearly enjoying themselves and each other's company. Ethan and Danny were dancing in a way similar to the two of them were, but both were clearly locked in conversation that looked rather intense. And Jackson had finally cheered up and was both dancing and talking to Melody who seemed to be rather enjoying his company.
The only problem now was Stiles and Malia, however while neither of them looked happy, Stiles had a slight smile on his face as he danced with Malia, which was then interrupted with a scowl as his phone rang, but he hung up and went back to dancing with Malia, and even seeing that small echo of his best friend rather put Scott at ease.
"We needed this," Isaac whispered in his ear as he twirled Scott under him, and Scott nodded.
"Yeah, you're right. And look, Liam's finally worked up the courage to properly talk to Kira, and even Jackson's surly attitude seems to have evaporated since he's with Melody." Scott replied, as the two of them now seemed to be dancing a lot closer together than their current relationship would suggest.
"Finally, the various looks they've been giving each other have been driving me mad, they clearly want each other. Now my love," Isaac purred, kissing Scott softly, making Scott moan in pleasure as he did so, "since I'm reluctant to do the dirty deed in the penthouse, how about we sneak away to the locker rooms?" he whispered, kissing down Scott's neck, and Scott grinned in delight, pulling away from Isaac slightly to look him in the eye.
"Really? That won't be breaking one of your no nooky rules?" he asked, and Isaac kissed him.
"No, just this once." He replied, smiling and leaning his forehead against Scott's, and Scott's smile risked illuminating the whole darkened room.
"Best offer I've had in ages, let's go!"
XX
Braeden looked questioningly at Derek's loft, she had rather hoped now that his name was cleared they could maybe either do something to celebrate, or at least eat something that didn't come out of a carton, but that hadn't happened quite the way she hoped. Instead she had received a rather brusque text from him, telling her to meet him at his loft, and he hadn't responded any further when questioned.
Quite irritable already, she stomped up the stair, it wasn't like she had other things to do. She liked Derek, liked him a lot, but really his people skills weren't quite offset by his tall, dark and brooding routine, or by his good looks, and she was rather vexed that they weren't out celebrating like they had talked about.
Ripping open the door to his loft, her anger having pent up a head of steam as she had climbed the stairs, she was all prepared to rip him a new one, only to find her anger instantly evaporate as she saw the room illuminated by numerous candles, a table with an open bottle of red wine on it with a candle in the centre, and the smell of delicious cooking coming from the kitchen.
"Oh hi," Derek said, grinning as he emerged into the room from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel as he did so, "I know we said we'd go out, but Peter bought a whole load of stuff, so I decided to swipe it and cook you something!" he said brightly, kissing her softly in greeting, and she spluttered a bit in shock.
"You-you can cook?" she asked in disbelief, and he shrugged a little, looking a little self-conscious as he did so.
"Well yeah, not much, but I have made us a steak dinner, and I'm just about to put them on, so if you-" he began hesitantly, but she leapt up into his arms, kissing him fiercely as she wrapped her legs around him and he hungrily returned the kiss.
"This, is, very, sweet." She whispered, accenting each word with a kiss, and Derek smiled but still managed to scowl at the same time.
"Well I figured with the rest of the pack at the formal, we could have tonight to ourselves, and you could keep quiet about how sensitive and kind I can be when I actually put my mind to it, I've got a reputation to uphold you know." He told her, and she laughed as she went back to the ground.
"Fine, your secret is safe with me, but I warn you, if I get sick from this, all bets are off." She warned, as he took her arm and led her over to the table and poured her a glass of wine, and he smirked.
"Hey, remember, Peter bought this, he's probably done some voodoo on them, but I do at least know how to cook meat, so why don't you sit back and relax, and let me worry about dinner?" he asked teasingly, and she smiled beautifully at him as she watched him go to the kitchen.
And, despite her fears, the food was lovely, and the two of them weren't struck down by any voodoo curse Peter may have put on the steaks. However, if Peter was to come back at any time tonight he would discover the empty bottle of wine and dirty plates, as funnily enough, they didn't actually make it to dessert before they went straight for the after show.
XX
"Kaisha?" Camden asked, hearing a noise behind him as they set up their base in his old house, but he received no reply.
She couldn't be back already, she had gone to get them something to eat while they worked on their battle plan, leaving Camden to assemble the various weapons he had accumulated to help destroy the thing that was trying to kill the woman he loved. He inspected a serrated machete with an approving eye when he once again heard a noise, and this time wrapped his hand around the handle of the machete and turned.
"Admirable, but not fast enough!" a shadowy figure spat, and Camden screamed as a jet of purple fire blasted him in the chest and sent him crashing through the table, a deluge of weapons following all around him as he landed roughly on his back.
"Ifrit I presume!" Camden spat as the cloaked djinn emerged form the shadows, his dark eyes narrowed in malicious delight, a sinister smile on his face which turned to a cry of alarm as Camden flung the machete at him, just missing planting it into his skull.
"You are correct, and you are the one who turned the girl from the true path. Perhaps you need to be an object lesson on why the Kaf is not to be betrayed!" he spat, but then roared in pain as Camden unloaded a full clip of bullets into him from the gun he was lying on.
As Camden struggled for another weapon that he could use to assault the djinn, Ifrit bent down and seized him by the neck, hoisting him up into the air, before blasting him with his powers against the wall.
"Valiant, I admire resourcefulness, and bravery. But there is one thing that I cannot abide, and that is a traitor. And because of you, the Kaf has been brought into disrepute." He lamented, as Camden struggled against his power, growling at the evil djinn.
"Serves you right for trying to enslave her you bastard." He spat, and Ifrit chuckled.
"How sweet. I wonder how she will react when I have brutalised the love of her life. Tell me, will she still love you when you're as hideously scarred as the corpses you left behind?" he taunted, and Camden screamed as the evil djinn began his work.
XX
The two of them were now sitting at the side of the room, in a fairly secluded little section all to themselves, both of them with drinks in hand as they observed the rest of the room, however neither of them were that concerned about what everyone else was doing, they were rather more focused on the conversation that they were having in hushed, husky tones.
"I get why you were mad Danny, I should have told you myself, I just, I didn't want you to…" Ethan began, and Danny sighed, gently placing his hand on Ethan's knee.
"Ethan, don't." he said with a terrible sort of finality, and Ethan looked at him, terrified as to what he might be about to say, and Danny looked at him, his face unreadable.
"Ethan…I always knew you'd done stuff you were less than proud of, the fact that Scott and the others seemed so hostile to you as well, it made me wonder. It just…I just, I never imagined that you could be a killer, I couldn't work my head around it. And the fact that you didn't tell me, that none of you told me, that pissed me off even more. But, I've had some time to think about everything, about you, about me…" Danny said, tailing off and Ethan gave him a tortured look.
"And what are you thinking?" he asked, and Danny looked at him, his gaze penetrating.
"You used to kill people, but you don't anymore. You weren't even particularly keen on it when you came here, what changed?" he asked, suspecting he knew the answer already but he wanted to be sure.
Ethan looked at him, kind of taken aback by the question.
"Well, you Danny, I fell for you, I wasn't meant to but I did, and I wanted to be a better person so that I could justify being with you, so that…" he mumbled, and Danny smiled, and reached up and hesitantly stroked Ethan's cheek, and Ethan met his eyes, hope starting to blossom within them.
"I get it. I love you Ethan, I just needed to get my head around this whole different part of you that I didn't even realise existed before and it took me a while. But…we can't have any more secrets, and," he began, and Ethan grinned.
"And no more killing people?" he asked, and Danny laughed.
"Yes, I figure that very much has to be a factor of the new you." He sniggered, and Ethan laughed and then leaned in and kissed Danny, who returned the kiss fiercely, his hands stroking up Ethan's thigh…until Finstock blew a whistle, glowering over at the two of them and wagging his finger.
They both rolled their eyes, and Danny looked at Ethan seductively.
"Hey, what do you say we get out of here, and go lay down some new ground rules, start off as we mean to go on?" he asked, and Ethan smirked, kissing his boyfriend's hand as he brought it to his lips.
"I thought you'd never ask, let's go!" he said excitedly and Danny laughed as he led the two of them out of the school back to his place.
XX
Jackson watched as both Danny and Ethan made their escape, and he suddenly released a breath that he didn't realise he had been holding, it was kind of his fault the two of them had broken up, he was glad to see Danny had finally stopped moping and taken Ethan back, and besides, Jackson had been there himself, no matter how much you didn't want to, if you were being forced to kill, you kind of had to do it. True their situations were quite different, but at the end of the day they were both made to do things they wouldn't ordinarily do by people much more powerful and evil than they were.
"Are you ok Jackson, you seem a million miles away?" Melody asked, and he smiled and nodded as they swayed to the music that was filling the hall, the near entirety of the student body up and dancing.
"Yeah I'm fine, just glad Danny and Ethan have worked things out." He said, and she smiled a little and kissed his cheek before he twirled her around before she wrapped her arms around his neck again.
"You know, you're sweeter than everyone gives you credit for." She told him mischievously, and he grinned.
"Yeah well, don't broadcast it, I don't want to ruin my reputation. So, you never told me, how did you wind up here?" he asked, stroking his hand through her hair, and she shrugged a little.
"Some people didn't do what they were meant to do, so I had to come here instead of being where I was meant to be," she said, figuring she wasn't giving too much away after all that was how he had come back here too, "but it's not so bad, you lot are all quite cool." She told him, and he smirked, looking a bit cocky.
"Even me?" he asked playfully, and she smiled coyly at him.
"Maybe, I'm not too sure about you just yet."
"Well," he whispered, leaning in close to her, "maybe I'll have to convince you." He said, and pressed his lips softly against hers, and Melody hungrily reciprocated, pressing her lips to his a little more forcefully, stroking her hand through Jackson's fauxhawked hair while his hand snaked down her bare back before the two of them, admittedly reluctantly, pulled apart before Finstock blew his whistle again.
"Ok, I'm convinced." She said with a smile, and kissed his cheek, and Jackson grinned, taking her hand discreetly, smirking suggestively.
"What do you say…" he began, but suddenly Melody's attention was drawn, through her supernatural hearing, to the conversation that Malia and Stiles were having, and she tuned Jackson out, watching the two of them out of the corner of her eye.
"Wait, what?" Stiles asked in horror, and Malia fixed him with an impatient glance.
"Well maybe if you were around more recently, you would know! Like I said, Agravaine turned up at the penthouse and threatened Scott again, attacked the twins too." She said, and Stiles suddenly went white as a sheet, and pulled away from Malia.
"I…I need some air…" he muttered and disappeared from the room, leaving Malia standing there looking equally heartbroken and furious.
"Stiles, come back here!" she shouted, sounding on the verge of tears and dashed after him, but as Stiles rushed out of the room, she heard him muttering under his breath.
"I didn't tell him where Scott was, so how the hell did Agravaine find out?" he whispered to himself, and that simple sentence sent explosions blowing off in her head as all the pieces suddenly fell into place.
First of all, Stiles was betraying Scott, but that just didn't make sense, not for a second. Stiles would never betray Scott, so unless the Nogitsune had had a much more profound effect on him than she had originally realised, there was something amiss there. However that being said, it did seem like Stiles was sending information to Agravaine for whatever reason, one that she filed away to discover at a later date. But if Agravaine had found Scott, and if Stiles hadn't told him where he was, that left one of two options.
Option number one: Agravaine had simply deduced where Scott would be, which wasn't an altogether unlikely scenario admittedly, he did seem quite smart despite the trouble he caused for the pack and the powers that were
Option two, and the more likely one: someone had sold Scott out, and Stiles left field treachery aside, and the problems the pack had been facing recently, none of them would betray Scott like that, which left only one option
Deaton.
"Melody?" Jackson asked, as Melody felt molten fury course through her, and she turned her attention to him.
"I'm sorry Jackson, I really am but I just remembered something that I need to take care of. But, maybe next time we see each other, we can pick up where we left off?" she asked, feeling genuinely and, this had been shaping up to be quite a nice night, and she was beside herself with fury, and knew that as soon as she left here, there would be an almighty temper tantrum on the horizon.
She was going to kill that jumped up, arrogant, obsessive slave and use his skin to make herself a new handbag.
"Are you ok, did I do something wrong?" Jackson asked in confusion, and she shook her head, cupping his cheek in her hand before kissing him again softly.
"No, you're amazing. Remember where we got to, I'll want to pick up there next time." She promised and before he could say anything else she turned and swept from the room, her temper growing by the minute.
Deaton was going to pay, one for ruining her evening which had been starting to look extremely promising, and two for failing to heed even the simplest of instructions.
He was going to rue the day he crossed her.
XX
Lydia watched irritably as Aiden slipped away with Danielle in tow, scowling as he did so. Clearly he was moving on, which for the record he had absolutely no business doing until she had done so herself, that just wasn't right. It was obvious that Aiden and Danielle were both just looking for fun, but that was so not the point.
"Well, you clearly aren't over him." Jackson commented, coming up beside her and she glowered out at the room, scowling at the various happy couples filling the room.
"I don't know what you mean!" she insisted in a dignified voice, and Jackson fixed her with a bored look.
"Yeah you do, you're clearly still in love with him, yet you're pissy because he's gone off with another girl, which from what I hear he's more than entitled to do when you dumped him for no apparent reason."
Lydia looked at him angrily, and when she saw the knowing glance that he was giving her, she sighed.
"I know, you're right, and I shouldn't be jealous, it was my decision to end it, so he has every right…" she complained bitterly, downing the rest of her drink in one, and Jackson looked at her curiously.
"Why did you end it? I know you Lydia, you're still in love with him, that much is obvious. But you didn't visit him in the hospital, where he wouldn't even have been if he wasn't trying to prove something to you in the first place, then you dump him. What's really going on?" he asked her, and she sighed, kneading her forehead tiredly.
"I can't lose someone else I love Jackson." She whispered softly, and over the pounding of the music, he was lucky he had wolf hearing otherwise he never would have heard her.
He looked at her sadly, and he hesitantly wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and despite herself, she found herself being brought into a hug, and he held her, his hands knotting in her hair, rocking her a little.
"Lydia…" he mumbled and she turned up to look at him, her face angry as her mascara trickled down her cheeks a little.
"I can't do it Jackson, it's bad enough finding all the bodies, finding more and more dead people and being able to do nothing about it. But…I lost you, and it broke my heart, I thought you were gone forever but you came back, but that was a fluke… but then, I felt Allison. When the Oni murdered her, and it wasn't just her, they were close to killing the others too, but I felt my best friend die, her death echoed through whatever system I'm hooked up to, and I felt as she took her last breath and I couldn't do a thing about it. And then after that, I felt it for Aiden too. Do you know what it feels like, knowing it's someone you love who's about to die? It's this terrible feeling, of cold, cloying death echoing in your heart, through your body, the whispers building in you head till you can't hear yourself think, and then, this silence that's just so…terrible, you know what's happened, this phantom pain rips you in two as someone you love is taken away from you, yet again!"
Jackson felt something he had never really felt for Lydia blossom with in: empathy. Yeah he loved her when they were together, but when they had ended things after the whole Kanima and move to London thing, she hadn't been as connected to her role as a banshee. However during his absence, she had clearly advanced in that regard, and had become so advanced that she could feel death, but didn't have the knowledge to help it. And after coming so close to losing him, and then experiencing Allison's death first-hand, and Aiden's near death, no wonder she had taken the decision to end it, to harden her heart in the hopes that she could survive whatever death rocked the pack next.
Hell, he'd had a lifetime suppressing emotions, he couldn't blame her for not wanting to get hurt, or to experience the same hell of losing someone else she loved as though she were personally living it herself.
She was still shaking, bitter, angry and upset over everything, and Jackson did realise exactly how much Peter had messed her up by doing what he had done to her. But he had to admit, Peter wasn't the only one responsible for the mess Lydia was now in.
He hadn't broken her heart when she had needed him most. No, that had been him.
"Lydia…" he whispered huskily, taking her chin in his hand and gently tilting her face up to look at him, and she sniffed.
"I'm sorry I…" she mumbled, her voice watery, but he shook his head and gently stroked the tears off her face with his thumb, looking intently into her eyes.
"Hey, don't apologise. And besides, I'm still here." He told her, and she looked at him miserably
"Yeah, and that's my point Jackson, you are…but Allison isn't, and Aiden nearly wasn't, and with the dogs, and the Pombero, it's just a matter of time until someone else I love dies." She lamented, and without realising what he was doing, he wrapped his hands tighter in her air and brought her closer, and their lips brushed together before he kissed her, and she reciprocated eagerly, and elation coursed through the two of them as their feelings ignited within them again, but Jackson then hesitantly broke their kiss, ignoring the blowing of Finstock's whistle as he did so.
"Hey, I can't promise no one else is going to die, hell, I can't even promise I'm not going to die. But Lydia…I'll say this for McCall, he doesn't want anyone to die. If we can help it, we'll stop it. You're not alone, you don't have to be alone anymore, and you don't need to deal with this alone anymore." He whispered fiercely, and she gave him a sad, shy smile in return and he kissed her softly again, and this time, she gave herself fully to it, both of them moaning in the back of their mouths as their long buried feelings suddenly reignited, their passion rekindled, and Lydia and Jackson kissed passionately, before Lydia took Jackson by the hand, leading him from the room, once more ignoring Finstock's whistle as they made good their escape.
XX
Stiles rushed down the stairs, leaving the school as he headed towards his Jeep…no wait, his Jeep, his faithful Roscoe was gone, torched by Ifrit. He had to get out of here. How the hell had Agravaine managed to find out where Scott had went? He hadn't told them, he ran over everything in his mind, no, he definitely hadn't told the Corrupter where his best friend had gone. So either Agravaine had deduced it himself, which could be a possibility since he did seem quite smart, or more likely someone else in the pack was selling Scott out.
But who would do that? If he was right and someone was betraying Scott, other than him, who would it be? He knew a lot of them were getting more and more anxious about Scott's leadership, his refusal to kill, with Lydia and Jackson being the foremost of them. However, he just couldn't see either of them betraying Scott, certainly not Lydia, she wasn't built like that, and as much as Jackson did complain about Scott, he knew that their Alpha had his best interests at heart, and besides if nothing else would keep him loyal there was the fact that he was terrified of Agravaine.
Perhaps one of the others? It wouldn't be Isaac, he would never betray the man he loved, and quite frankly, while the new kids were a possibility he just didn't see it happening they were just too new and wouldn't know everything they could to effectively betray Scott. Kira? Nah, she may not be with him but she was still very fond of him, and extremely loyal. The twins wouldn't betray him after all Scott was the reason they were still here, Aiden in particular. And Danny was out, after all Agravaine had poisoned his best friend, so he highly doubted it could be him as well.
But what about the older parts of the pack? Derek had been in prison, so he was highly unlikely, and Braeden was too closely involved with trying to free him from the big house to be the one behind it. And it wouldn't be the parents, and he highly doubted Camden would betray his little brother's boyfriend, that would kind of undermine them rebuilding their relationship, and Rakaisha had enough problems of her own to deal with what with being hunted by Ifrit.
No, Stiles was ninety nine percent sure that he was the only current traitor within the pack, but that did leave the problem: if Agravaine was getting his information from someone other than him, who the hell was it and what did they stand to gain?
"Stiles!" Malia snapped, coming down the stairs behind him and his heart started to beat extremely fast, he knew what had to come next, what he was going to have to do.
He certainly didn't trust Agravaine to keep his word, and he hoped that this little bit of distance he was about to put between them would be enough to protect her in case the Gwyllgi didn't honour their deal.
"Malia, I have…" her began, but her eyes glowed blue and she gave a bark like growl, which stopped him short in his tracks, before she put her hands on her hips, looking at him furiously, but he knew her, knew all her little quirks, its why he loved her so much. She might look furious, but he could tell she was on the verge of tears, and he hated himself even more than he already did, but this was the only way.
"What is going on with you? I thought we'd dealt with this! Stiles, the Nogitsune is gone, you're free of it, so why are you being so weird about all this? What aren't you telling me?" she demanded, and he hesitated, he so wanted to tell her, but he knew she would never, ever understand…well, at least at the moment anyway.
"Malia…I…" he mumbled, but he closed his eyes and took a steadying breath, this was the only way he could do this, he had to protect her, "we…I'm sorry Malia, we can't be together anymore."
He felt those words like jagged glass ripping apart his throat, but despite the feeling of his heart breaking, he stood firm, he loved her but he knew that Agravaine couldn't be trusted, he had to do this, it was the only way. And besides, if he didn't do it now, she would eventually rumble him and then all hell truly would break loose.
They had left the sounds of the formal far behind, and all that was left around them was the sound of the winter breeze blowing through the trees, and the distant sound of the dance, but Malia had heard him well enough, and he had to stay strong, he couldn't let himself falter now, this was for her own good, he had to get her away from him, to protect her from Agravaine…and from him.
"W-what?" she whispered in shock, no, she thought she had dealt with this, he had the Nogitsune still inside him, or at least bits of it, but they could deal with it, together, he didn't need to do this!
"I'm so sorry Malia, but we can't be together anymore…" he said, desperately trying to avoid looking anywhere but at her eyes, because if she looked into his, she would either see the evil there, or the truth, and he couldn't deal with her realising exactly what was going on here, he just couldn't, he needed to break up with her, and he needed to be separated from her, otherwise she would be in even more danger.
"But, but why? Is this because of the Nogitsune, or because I'm Peter's daughter?" she bit out angrily, her eyes glowing full on blue now, and her fangs were starting to grow too, as were her claws, he knew she wasn't going to take it well, and worse she thought it was because of her he was breaking up with her, but it wasn't, he just had to do this, for both their sakes.
He shook his head urgently, praying that she would believe him.
"Malia, I swear, this is nothing to do with either of those things, it's just something I have to do, its time," he told her, willing her to believe him, he needed her to believe him, she couldn't believe he was doing this out of anything other than his own free will, otherwise she might cotton on to what was going on, "we can't be together anymore." He told her, his own heart breaking as he did so, he so didn't want to do this, and the look on her face, of baffled heartbreak, was almost too much for him to bear.
Malia looked at him in incomprehension, tears in her eyes as she started to back away from him, growling angrily.
"Fine, go on then! Go off and feel sorry for yourself, see if I care!" she spat, her eyes still glowing an icy blue and she turned and fled from him, his heart breaking all the more as he heard her sob as she ran away, a sob which turned into an increasingly animal like snarl as she disappeared into the darkness, running away from Stiles and from the school, into the night.
Stiles stood, shaking in the cool night air, hating himself. He just hoped that she would understand, that they would all one day understand, but Malia in particular. Filled with even more self-loathing than was usual since his possession by the Nogitsune, he wrapped his arms around himself, closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
He had done it. And now, all he had to do was stick close to Agravaine, and hope all of this worked out the way it was supposed to. Taking one last heartbroken look at where Malia had disappeared, he left the dance in high dudgeon, contemplating the question that now gripped him: where else was Agravaine getting his information?
XX
Malia stormed away from the dance, she just didn't understand. Since she had become human again, Stiles had been her one constant presence, the one who was always on her side. And now, he was gone. He'd left her, without so much as a proper reason.
It wasn't like she asked to be human! She had been happy enough as a coyote, before Scott and Stiles had stuck their noses in, turning her back into a human. Ever since then, she'd had Stiles, her source of comfort and support, and she had begun to feel like she had fitted in, even becoming friends with her pack. Admittedly, she was still a little mercurial about the whole lot of them, but she did care about them, perhaps not enough to truly risk herself for them, but she'd happily help them if the situation demanded. But now, she was losing them too. Without Stiles, what was she? Just this little wild girl oddity, someone adopted from the forest, like Mowgli, that person Scott had told her she was the female version of.
Without Stiles, she was just…an ex-coyote. She was too stupid for school, she'd heard the teachers say as much earlier, she was too stupid to be going to school with her friends, and she knew her friends could only help her so far, they all had their own problems to deal with. The Ghost Pack was tearing them all apart, and Scott couldn't stop it, and wasn't it his fault that she was in this mess to begin with? She hadn't asked for this, for any of this! She had been content to be a coyote, where she didn't have to face what she had done, where she didn't have to live every day with the knowledge that her mother and little sister were dead because of her! Her…who wasn't even her father's daughter, because no, her father was Peter Hale!
Her mother and her sister were both dead, torn apart by Malia during her first transformation, as she didn't know that she was a coyote, and had no way of controlling it, all because of Peter. A man, the man she viewed as a dad, left heartbroken and devastated for over a decade as he thought everyone he loved was dead, not knowing that they had actually been killed by the girl he thought was actually his daughter. And then, returned to humanity, sealed in Eichen, but there, she'd had one thing keeping her sane, making it worth it, Stiles.
And now, Stiles had dumped her, he was gone, all because of that damned Nogitsune, or because of Peter, and all she had left now was…what?
Her pack was turning on her, it had started with Stiles and Ethan, and furthermore, the pack was starting to disintegrate anyway, with frustrations with Scott and anxieties mounting. She herself was a murderer, a former little savage coyote who had been brought back to humanity with a bump. Her dad wasn't actually her real dad, rather Beacon Hills version of evil incarnate was her father, and he took great pleasure in reminding her of that, of reminding her what his bloodline had forced her to do, had turned her on her mother and sister like the rabid creature she was! And along with everything else, she was just too stupid to be here, she didn't have a clue, she didn't fit in, she didn't want to be here!
It hurt, it hurt to be here, to be in so much pain, so much torment, Peter's smug, self-satisfied face haunting her every waking moment, seeing the looks of pity from her friends and classmates as she failed yet again as she tried to fit in, her pack was ripping itself apart, just like she had ripped her mother apart, she was too stupid, she didn't fit in, it was easier, it was better, she missed being a coyote, and when she was a coyote she wouldn't feel this, this all-consuming, heart wrenching pain that she was in!
It was too much, it was too much, she couldn't cope, she was Peter's daughter, she was too stupid, she was losing her friends, she'd killed her mother who blamed her for her death and rightly so, and now, even Stiles, the one person helping keep her together, he was gone too, she was alone, just like she'd always been, it's better alone, she didn't need friends, or school, or some evil father, or a pack, or Stiles, not when she could be…free!
And with a last, embittered, abandoned scream, Malia vanished from sight, her clothes dropping to the ground around her as a coyote, with glowing blue eyes, gave a tortured howl and ran off, bounding into the forest, free once more, leaving the pain, the chaos, the fear, the uncertainty…and Stiles, far behind.
Romance and heartbreak abound! So while several couples have reconciled, now poor Malia, overwhlemed by events, by Stiles pulling away from her, and of course Peter's manipulations, has turned back into a coyote and fled back into the woods
What is going on in that boys head? Is he truly a traitor? Is he playing Agravaine? Would he willingly betray his friends?
And Ifrit, like the Pombero has struck, we're moving to the reckoning now, so what come sbext?
No notes next chapter, for obvious reasons, but theres also a sexy scene too which I hope you all enjoy, its been quite a while since I last wrote one, and a newly kindling romance
Until next episode, which i hope to start tomorrow, please read and review!