Peter didn't hesitate. The second he saw Cora fall, he sprinted down the rotten pier and dove into the lake.
Cora was flailing in surprise but she came back to the surface quickly. She grabbed one of the beams supporting the pier to climb out of the water and Peter was right behind her, ready to throw her up to the pier if he had to.
Derek was quicker.
Peter didn't see him coming, he was everywhere and nowhere, more a feeling than anything else, but then a hand closed around Cora's ankle. She'd almost made it out of the water, her foot the only part of her body still under the surface but that was enough for Derek.
Cora tried to hold on to the beam when Derek yanked at her leg but the wood crumbled under her claws and she fell back into the water.
She was under again.
Peter went after them but Derek was fast. He was dragging Cora deeper into the lake. Peter only got a glimpse of her face, big eyes and bubbles escaping her mouth with a scream, before she disappeared into the darkness below.
Peter didn't notice the shift, it was just that his strokes became more powerful with the added muscles, but even full wolfed-out he was no match to Derek. This was his element, here Derek had the upper hand. Peter swam as fast as he could, Cora wouldn't be able to hold her breath for long, but he was still too slow to catch up with them.
Peter growled and pushed just a little bit farther. He didn't know how he did it but suddenly distance didn't matter any longer. Not down here. Peter felt himself drift in the water, he wasn't sure where he ended and Derek began, Stiles was somewhere here too, he could feel him, but then he was right next to Derek.
"Let her go!" Peter yelled.
Cora was still fighting, her blue eyes the only light down here but it was enough to illuminate her face. Fully shifted she fought with everything she had but Derek was stronger.
Peter threw himself at Derek. His claws found little resistance and Derek didn't even acknowledge him, his focus was on Cora.
"Derek!" Suddenly Stiles was between Derek and Cora. Cora's free foot kicked right through him but he didn't seem to notice.
"Derek," Stiles said calmer now, his body kind of floating in Derek's. Their faces were only inches apart but Stiles still had to use both hands to force Derek to look at him.
The second Derek's attention was on Stiles, his grip on Cora's ankle loosened.
It still took the combined strength of two werewolves to get Cora free but then Peter was dragging her up to the surface. She was getting weaker and by the time they broke the surface, she was limp in his arms.
They were too far from the pier so Peter swam straight for the shore. He could feel Derek's presence under the surface and for the first time, he realized that Derek was a monster. He was the thing lurking under the surface, waiting for some stupid fool to take a swim in his lake, and at the moment he wanted Cora.
He would not get her.
Peter tightened his grip around her middle and put more strength into his strokes. Just a little bit farther.
He only dared to look back once he had dragged Cora up the shore, her feet well out of the water. Derek hadn't emerged but there was a shadow lurking under the surface.
"Cora?" Peter turned back to her. She was pale, lips and the closed eyelids tinted blue. She wasn't breathing. "Cora!"
Peter shook her.
"You're not going to die now!" He yelled at her but when she didn't react, he tilted her head back, checked her airways, and then he started to give her mouth to mouth.
It took only two breaths until she started to cough. With shaking hands, Peter rolled her to the side so that she could cough out the water more easily.
"There you go." He stroked the hair out of her face. "Take it easy, shallow breaths, you're doing fine." He was babbling comforting nonsense, he knew that, but he couldn't help it. He'd almost lost her. It was his job to protect his pack, his family and Cora had almost died because he'd been too blind to see.
"She okay?" Stiles came up next to them. After an awkward moment, he crouched down next to Peter.
"Yeah." Peter made. He was still stroking Cora's hair and he was watching her rib-cage to monitor her breathing but she seemed to be fine. Physically at least.
"I'll get a fire going, bring her in once you're ready." Stiles used his shoulder as a crutch to get up but at the same time, it was a reassuring gesture. Peter nodded, eyes on Cora.
"Did you give me mouth to mouth?" Cora asked. The words came out between little coughs and she was breathing shallowly. "Gross."
Peter chuckled at that and dropped to his ass next to her.
"Heard Stiles had to do the same with Emily." Peter had been unconscious at that time but Talia had told him about it. Thinking about it, this had to be the same spot. There was a patch of grass still tainted with soot and some gooey stuff that smelled faintly of burned flesh and wolfsbane.
Peter didn't want to think about that now so he turned back to Cora. She was lying on her side but her breathing sounded better. There was a rattling in her lungs but her body was already recovering.
"There is a reason we don't go here," Peter reminded her.
"I'm sorry." She curled into herself, making herself as small as possible.
"I'm sorry that I didn't realize it sooner." Peter let out a sigh. "She got her hands on you right under my nose and I didn't notice a damn thing."
"It's not your fault." She peeked up at him.
"Isn't yours either." Peter cupped the back of her head. "Ready to get warm again? Stiles should have that fire going by now and I would bet money that he's already heating up the kettle for that brew of his he likes to call coffee." Not that he was complaining, he'd grown rather fond of Stiles' coffee and something warm did sound like a good idea.
He helped her up but Cora walked over to the cabin on her own. A bit unsteady with her legs shaking but she managed.
Then Peter was standing with Stiles in front of the cabin while Cora was changing into some of Stiles' clothes.
"If this clothes sharing is becoming a thing with you and your pack, I should stock up," Stiles muttered.
"We should enforce the No Hales On This Side Of The Town more strictly again." Peter ignored his comment, still too shaken up for jokes. It had been a close call. Again. How often had a member of his pack almost drowned here in the last month alone?
"Derek couldn't even hold back this time," Stiles admitted. "I managed to distract him for a second but an ordinary human would have died. Even as a werewolf, without your help Cora would be dead now."
"Where is he?" Peter wondered. The lake was lying calm and peaceful before them, no sign of Derek. Even the shadow under the surface was gone.
"At the bottom." Stiles kicked a patch of grass. "He's brooding."
"Shouldn't we tell him that Cora is alive?"
"I'm going under in a second," Stiles said. "I just wanted to make sure that you and Cora are okay. And to remind you that it's Derek's nature. He can't help it and that's not a cheap excuse. Don't give him a hard time for it."
"I won't," Peter promised. He didn't know what he would have done if Cora had died today but with her alive, it was easier.
"I should check on Derek." Stiles stripped out of his wet clothes and laid them out to dry. "My phone is on the table. I texted John and Talia that we found Cora but you might want to talk to them directly. Bet you didn't think of taking your phone out before you dove in." Stiles winked at him and then he was running full speed into the lake.
Peter shook his head but Stiles was right, his phone was still in his pocket. And he was dripping wet.
When Cora was done, she waited outside for him to change into something dry as well. Peter almost expected her to bolt while he was down to his underwear but she was still leaning against the cabin when he opened the door to let her back in.
Then they were sitting at Stiles' small table, Cora with a blanket over her shoulders and both of them warming their hands on steaming mugs of coffee.
"Are you going to tell Mom?" Cora asked in a small voice, eyes fixed on the coffee in front of her.
"She kind of already knows," Peter said. Not that he had intended to keep this a secret from Talia. "When I found your note, I mobilized everybody to find you. The whole sheriff's department was looking for you."
Cora shrank deeper into the blanket.
"It's okay." Peter reached over and put a hand on hers. "Nobody is mad at you. We were just worried."
Stiles' phone was going crazy with incoming messages so Peter took a moment to assure Talia that Cora was fine, she could call off the search, and after a look at Cora, he added that they needed some time.
"Is she coming here?" Cora asked when Peter put the phone aside.
"I didn't even tell her where we are," Peter assured her. "We can stay here for a while if you want."
For a few minutes they were just nursing their coffees, the warmth from the fire slowly seeping into their bodies. At one point Cora even stopped shaking.
"She praised my homework," Cora broke the silence. "Said that I have a brilliant mind. That's how it started."
Cora started talking, about Kate and how she had slowly gained her trust. Everything she had bottled up over the last months broke out of her. The words came out between sobs and she hardly finished one sentence before she jumped to the next thought but that didn't matter. Peter already knew the basics. This was more about her. She needed to get this out.
Peter had been right, his relationship with Stiles had made it easier for Kate to seduce Cora. It had made an adult preying on a teenager look like a normal thing and Cora had fallen head over heels for the older woman.
Cora left out the juicy bits for which Peter was grateful, he did not want to hear those, but it was enough to get the picture.
Peter forced himself to sit still and to listen to what Cora needed to tell him but on the inside, he was seeing red.
Kate had to die.
If John or the FBI or whoever was quick enough and caught the other hunters before he got to them, he would be fine with that but Kate was his.
Then Cora came to the part with the fire and the time after. When Peter had been in a coma and nobody had known if or when he would wake up. Everybody had tried to comfort each other with the thought that the hunters wouldn't get away.
When Peter had come back, the whole pack had known that the hunters had it coming. He was the left hand after all. With him, John, and Derek coming after them, the hunters wouldn't stand a chance.
And all the time Cora had been waiting for one of them to come after her. She hadn't been able to sleep in fear of anybody finding out about her connection to Kate. She had been waiting for John to bring her into the station or for Derek to just drown her in her sleep. She'd even expected Peter to kill her.
"Nobody is going to hurt you," Peter assured her. "Nobody is blaming you. You're pack, we love you."
He meant it and he made sure to transmit the truth in every possible way. Cora looked at him with big eyes, not sure if she could believe him but then she flung herself into his arms.
"I'm sorry." She was crying again.
"I got you, it's okay." Peter held her.
