It's long overdue, but Derek will finally be in the next chapter and in the chapters to come! Thanks for sticking around for so long! :p -V


Chapter 29. Selfless

Scott watched with failing hope as Malia tried to thrust a steel pipe through the Ghost Rider's rift - a portal they had found in the tunnels beneath the city that would lead to Stiles. The entire town had been taken, and their only hope was figuring out a way to rescue Stiles and come up with another plan that would save all of Beacon Hills.

"There's gotta be another way." Lydia stepped in front of the rift and stared at it, hoping for an epiphany of some kind. "We just need to think."

"Think?" Malia scoffed.

"Yeah," Scott joined Lydia's side. "Think about how to get through a supernatural rift that melts steel."

"I didn't say it would be easy," Lydia countered.

"But it doesn't have to be so hard," said a male voice from behind.

Scott turned and saw their teacher, Mr. Douglas, or - as they had recently learned - the mass murdering Alpha stealing people's - and now a ghost rider's - pineal glands.

"You followed us here," Scott growled.

"I followed your desperation." he shrugged.

Mr. Douglas proceeded to reason with them as to why they should work together, that their only way of rescuing their friends was by working as a team. But he was a cold-blooded killer with the whip of a Ghost Rider, and none of them trusted the man.

"All that matters right now is getting through the rift." Mr. Douglas insisted.

"Then you're out of luck." Malia shrugged matter-of-factly.

"The rift burns anything that tries to pass through it." Lydia chimed in, confirming the werecoyote's words.

Douglas grinned in reply. "Perhaps not everything."

Scott's mouth fell open upon the sight of two figures emerging from the dark of the tunnel. The first was Parrish. And the second…

"Daria?" his voice broke.

He hadn't even known that Stiles' sister was back in Beacon Hills. Her eyes gleamed a bright green, and she growled in response.

"Jordan," Lydia murmured beside him, earning a low roar from the hellhound whose eyes matched Daria's.

"If one of my hellhounds can open the rift, we all go together," Mr. Douglas said simply.

"You're the bad guy. I'm pretty sure helping you is a bad idea."

Scott could always count on Malia's candid honesty to get to the point. The noise of distant footsteps entered his ears, distracting him for a moment.

"Good Guy, Bad Guy, When has anything ever been so black and white?" Douglas contended.

"World War II," Liam ran down the tunnel, stopping beside Scott to catch his breath. "He's a Nazi. He wants the hunt for himself. He wants his own supernatural army."

Mr. Douglas, or whoever he was, released some of the whip in his hand, ready to strike.

"We're not letting you through that rift," Scott challenged.

"'Not letting' me? I see," he scoffed, swinging the whip ahead of him. "You still think you have a say in the matter."

He began to lash the whip in Scott's direction, and the young Alpha roared in response. Malia and Liam flanked beside Lydia to protect her, but as the whip struck again and again, Scott found himself right in front of them.

"Höllenhunde," Douglas said with a German accent.

Daria and Parrish flanked him as they walked forward, and then they passed him where he stood. Deep crevices in their skin glowed like molten lava as they approached the rift.

"Halt," Mr. Douglas called from behind. "Frauen zuerst."

Daria stepped ahead of Parrish in front of the rift and began to burn through the barrier, tearing it open with her hands.

"Daria, stop! Don't do this!" Scott yelled, but none of his words phased her. Somehow both she and Parrish were completely under Mr. Douglas's control.

Douglas cracked his whip as Liam tried to break forward, and Parrish stood as sentinel beside him. All they could do was watch in horror as the rift opened up around Daria.

Once it opened completely, Mr. Douglas grinned in satisfaction. "Wunderbar."

Both Daria and Parrish turned toward Scott and the others, each letting out a menacing roar.

"Höllenhunde," Mr. Douglas cut them off. "Kommen."

They roared one last time before following Douglas through the barrier.

"Now," Malia cried out, and they sprinted toward the rift, but the toxic, gaseous matter sifted back into place before they could cross.

"No," Lydia choked.

Scott felt the same hopeless anguish. Not only were they no closer to reaching Stiles, but Douglas had Daria and Parrish.

"I don't understand," he choked. "Daria's not a true hellhound. How is she doing this?"

Lydia shook her head sadly. "Maybe it's not the hellhound itself that makes a difference. Maybe it's their ability to burn through the rift."

Just then two Ghost Riders emerged from the rift, and the barrier vanished completely behind them, but there was no time to despair. They still had to fight.

Peter paced through the tunnels, astonished at what he had learned in the past hour. Daria was now under the control of a Nazi Alpha lowenmensch turned Ghost Rider. A hint of regret entered his mind that he should have never driven Daria away at the hospital - that he should have found a way to get her safely out of Beacon Hills with his daughter, but Peter knew neither of them would have abandoned their cause to save Stiles.

He was going against every instinct of self preservation within him as he searched the tunnels for his daughter, but he couldn't leave her behind. Setting aside his normal schemes, he ran as the scent grew stronger, determined to save what was left of his family.

The gun of a Ghost Rider cocked into place, aimed at Scott and Malia as Peter rounded the corner. At full speed he thrust himself into the first of them, twisting the gun out of range. He grabbed the arm of the first's trench coat, using the momentum of his speed to swing upward and kick the second Ghost Rider into some oil drums.

"WHY AREN'T YOU RUNNING?" he bellowed toward Malia, slashing desperately at the Ghost Riders with his claws.

The two ran, pausing down the corridor with indecision as the Ghost Rider's took hold of Peter's arms.

"GO!" Peter roared desperately.

An odd sense of relief washed over him as one of the Ghost Rider's drew their weapon. Would Daria have been proud of his change of heart? Would Malia be proud? For the first time in his life Peter understood what it meant to love someone enough to sacrifice everything. Malia might never see him again or even remember him, but at least he could give her the chance to survive.

The gun fired, and Peter Hale felt the world dissolve around him.


Höllenhunde - hellhounds

Frauen zuerst - ladies first

Wunderbar - wonderful

Kommen - come