A/N: [also warning: a lil smut the end] Wow. Ok. It's been a minute since I've updated this. It's been a bad few months. I lost a family member so I stopped writing but I finally am getting back around to it. I really, really hope someone still reads this story. I would appreciate even 1 review to get me back into the swing of things. I guess either way I'll be posting again. I wanted this chapter to be perfect so I hope I did it justice. Thank you my loyal readers, much love.

Chapter Song: I Found by Amber Run [Isaac Scene] ; Can't Go On Without You by Kaleo [ending scene]

I shifted Derek's car into park as I pulled in front of the school. The group had split up, racing around Beacon Hills and placing emitters throughout the town. I sat in the still silence, my jaw clenched tightly together. I took a shaky deep breath in, my eyes scanning the dark surroundings. There was something about being at the school at night that caused anxiety to bubble through my chest. Given our track record—I couldn't blame myself. Any time we were here after dark, it somehow winded up in a potential life threatening situation. My eyes shifted to the passenger seat beside me, where my small black bag laid slumped in the leather seat. I reluctantly reached over into the bag, slipping my hand into one of the pockets and slid out a slim black object. It wouldn't do much against a werewolf…but at least it was something.

Just in case, I mentally chanted, slipping the small Swiss Army Knife into the front pocket of my pants. Without a second thought, I slipped myself out of the car and trekked up the walkway to meet Isaac and Derek at the front doors of the school. A shiver ripped through my spice as I walked up the pathway, the quietness in the air stirring an uneasy feeling in my stomach. I turned around, glancing at the Camaro parked in the abandoned lot. "So if that answers your question, it's me that's not related." I had admitted. The flashback rang in my memory.I could picture Derek and I standing against his car, Deaton unconscious in the back seat. The following screams and the heavy feeling in my legs flashed through my mind, along with the image of Derek with blood pouring from his mouth.

"You okay?" I flinched, Isaac's voice gripping me from my memory. I turned to him, the breeze nipping at my bare arms. My goosebumps grew.

"Yeah, just…" I turned back to look at the car. The memories had faded as quick as they had come. "Just weird being here at night."

"I guess." The beta shrugged.

"Are you okay enough to do this?" I asked, questioning if he was both mentally and physically up to a fight.

"I'm fine. Just rethinking the plan where we don't kill them." He shrugged again.

"Isaac—"

"How long do you think it'll take them?" Isaac quickly cut me off and changed the subject. I looked over to the open doors of the school where Derek stood. He nodded over to me, signaling for me to come over.

"I don't know. I'll—I'll be right back." I assured, walking myself over to the Alpha.

"Any problems with the emitters?" Derek asked as I walked up to meet him. I shook my head.

"I'm worried about him." I mentioned, my eyes following Isaac's every move as he strayed from us.

"Isaac?" He wondered. I nodded. The two of us watched Chris' SUV pull up to the scene while Scott jogged onto the school grounds.

"He just lost his best friend. And God know's what's going to happen to Boyd by the end of the night." Derek's jaw squared. He nodded that he understood. I debated searching for the words to ask Derek how he was holding up with Erica's death and finding his dead sister was somehow alive, but I knew he'd avoid the question if I dared to ask.

"You should stay with Argent." Derek suggested, watching Chris speak to my brother.

"I think you need all the help you can get tonight." I disagreed.

"You've helped enough tonight." Derek shook his head. Before I had the chance to open my mouth and disagree once more, Derek's entire body tensed. He walked forward, his hearing picking sounds up that my own could not.

"What?" I tensed. Before I could flinch, this horn of Chris' SUV began blaring and Derek flicked his claws out. The two rabid wolves came charging towards the entrance of the school, only stopping when they saw Derek in their path. With two loud growls and as quick as they came, the two betas jumped on top of the roof and disappeared.

"What just happened?" I asked, letting out a breath that had been stuck in my throat. Scott and Chris both rushed up to us.

"They're not going through the school." Chris thought.

"They're going over it." Scott gasped.

"The rear doors." Chris realized. "Somebody has to get them open." Without another thought, Derek took off in a sprint towards the back doors.

"Somebody has to drive them inside." Scott cried. Chris whipped out his electric cattle prod.

"No." Isaac disagreed. "I'm faster." Not bothering to wait for a comment from the three of us, Isaac took off as well.

"The second they see Isaac they're gonna make a run for it." I insisted, running a frustrated hand through my hair. I paused, looking at Scott as a lightbulb dimmed lightly over my head. "But you know what they won't run from?" Scott looked at me inquisitively. I reached into the pocket of my pants and slid out my army knife, flicking the blade open. "Blood."

Scott's eyes widened to the size of softballs as Chris looked at me, wondering if my idea was just genius enough to work.

"Blood." He repeated, glaring at the blade.

"Just like you said. Warm bodies." I nodded. Chris nodded, agreeing with the plan. Scott on the other hand, shook his head.

"Hayley." Scott disagreed. Instead of wasting time arguing, I took off running. "Hayley!" He yelled after me. I rushed to the other end of the hallway, finding Derek opening the back doors. My heart beat thudded inside my ears as I took the cold blade of the knife and pressed it against my palm. Without giving myself a second to convince myself this was a horrible idea, I slid the blade across my skin. The skin seared in pain, stinging as a warm liquid pooled to the top.

"What are you doing?" Derek cried as he realized my actions.

"Improvising." I spat back. I reached my hand in front of me, squeezing it into a fist as blood dripped down the fist and onto the floor. In a matter of seconds, a loud growl pierced through the air. I began backing up, the cut on my hand still dripping dark red onto the linoleum floors. As expected, the two Beta's appeared, fangs and claws bared.

"Come on, Boyd. Come get me." I taunted. With a ferocious growl, Boyd charged forward and I took off in a sprint in the opposite direction. Over the wolves growls, I could hear Derek slamming the back doors shut. I ran like my life depended on it—and it did. With two blood thirsty wolves on my tail, if I didn't run fast enough I'd be torn to shreds in seconds. As I turned a corner, and had the slightest thought I'd be able to lose them, I felt myself being grabbed from behind and thrown to the side. I gasped as my body was tossed against the lockers, the side of my head slamming against the cold metal.

"Agh." I quietly chuckled under my breath. Running from two werewolves? This wasn't my best idea. I peaked through my lashes to see Boyd and Cora stalking towards me as I stood back up. My head spun as I scurried up, putting pressure on the hairline of my forehead, my fingertips coming back wet and sticky.

"Really Boyd?" I muttered. He growled. Cora ran forward only to be intercepted by Derek, who shoved her into a locker and threw her across the floor.

"Go!" Derek yelled to me. I took off, running into the adjacent hallway and throwing the door to the basement open. I sprinted down the stairs, hearing multiple footsteps on my tail. I yanked open the door to the boiler room and sprinted into the darkness. A few bulbs at the other side of the basement didn't assist in giving me much light to work with. I weaved my way between the machinery, unsure of where to hide. Unable to see where Boyd and Cora were, my heart began to pound. I had a cut on my hand and a cut on my forehead, they'd sniff me out in a matter of milliseconds. A warm hand wrapped around my wrist, causing me to gasp quietly. The figure placed the other hand lightly over my mouth.

"Shh." My eyes began to adjust to the darkness, finally able to make out Derek's barely lit up in shadows. "It's just me." I nodded as he took his hand off my mouth. I could see Scott rushing up from behind up, carrying two fire extinguishers. Scott thew one to Derek and kept one in his own grasps. The three of us stood behind a set of machines, listening to the feral growls of the Beta's get closer. As the two approached, Derek and Scott both stepped out and unleashed their extinguishers on the two. The Betas roared, clawing at the white smoke. Finishing their extinguishers off, Derek and Scott looked at each other for a split second before making the unanimous decision to make a break for it. Scott yanked me from my spot and we took off in a sprint to the boiler room door. I was first to go through the door, then Scott and Derek. Derek slammed the steel door shut, locking it behind him. My back pressed against the wall, my lips pursing as I tried to hold in the breaths in my heaving chest. Derek pressed his body weight against the door to hold it shut. The door began pounding, the rabid wolves clawing at it from the other side. Scott, standing beside me, pressed his back against the wall, awaiting the inevitable as he watched Derek securely hold the door as best he could. After half a minute of retaliation from the Betas, the growls and clawing came to a cease. Silence overcame the stairwell.

"Did that actually just work?" Scott, amazed as I was, asked. Hesitant to answer, Derek looked back at us with half a smile.

"It worked." He assured. Letting go of the breath I had been holding in my chest, I slid down to the ground. With a smile on my face and heavy breaths, I leaned my head against the wall.

"I can't believe it worked." I admitted, my breaths finally catching up with me. Derek let out a sigh of relief, slipping down to the ground beside me. Scott stepped towards the door, listening in on the Betas. An exhausted Derek and I looked at each other, a smile lifting my lips as I looked at him and wiped some of the blood off the side of my head.

"What are you hearing?" Derek exhaustedly asked my brother.

"Heartbeats." Scott replied, listening intently.

"Both of them?" Derek asked, resting his head back and closing his eyes.

"Actually…three of them." Scott realized. Derek and I looked up to Scott in fear. Surely he had to be mistaken. The two of us quickly stood up. Derek walked closer to the door, listening for the extra heartbeat. I watched intently as his hands placed themselves over the lock.

"What are you doing?" I immediately asked.

"Scott, close the door behind me. Keep it shut." Derek dry and quietly stated, ignoring my question.

"Derek." I stated.

"You—you can't go in there alone! You're either going to kill them, or they kill you." Scott argued. There was a short pause as Derek's body tensed.

"That's why I'm going in alone." Derek stated, avoiding my eye contact as he gazed at Scott. I looked back and forth between the two as the looked at each other. Swiftly, Derek unhinged the lock.

"N—Derek no!" I yelled as he slipped back into the boiler room and Scott slammed and locked the door shut behind him.

"No! Scott, are you kidding me?" I yelled, trying to push past him.

"Hayley, stop!" Scott urged. Soon after, the growling started.

"Scott, do something! He's going to get killed!" Scott grabbed onto my arms. "Scott! I need to go in there!"

"If you go in there, Hayley, you will die! You can't go in there!"

"I have to!" I struggled in his grasps. "Let go of me! You can't leave him in there!" I fought, listening to the vicious roars echo through the boiler room. I could feel a familiar stinging sensation pool in my eyes, as I silently begged the tears to stay at bay. The ferocious growls became more and more severe, causing my chest cavity to constrict and Scott to hold me tighter.. I clenched my teeth together to prevent me from crying out as a tear rolled its way down my face. Seconds passing felt like hours. It felt like an eternity before the door at the top of the stairs was yanked open, and Isaac came running down alerting us the sun was coming up. Scott's grasp on me released, quickly unhinging and bolting through the boiler room door. I followed quickly behind, my heart hammering against my chest. Soon after entering the room, I came to a screeching halt beside Scott. I could hear the blood pulsating in my ear drums as I looked at the scene in front of me. Boyd and Cora were sprawled out on the floor, unconscious. Derek, shirt torn apart and half of his body covered in blood and gashes, kneeled on the floor taking shallow breaths.

He was breathing.

His head lifted up, his gaze meeting my own.

His gaze finally rose, his eyes meeting ours. My lips parted, quivering as a shaky breath escaped them. He was okay.

Behind me, Isaac took a step closer to me to take a look at his Alpha. I quickly scanned Derek's body, assessing the damage. Half of his chest was covered in wounds. There were bloody gashes across his cheeks. There were blood stains all over his face…his body.

"There's a teacher…" Derek paused to catch his breath. "I'll take care of it." Another labored breath. "Get them out of here." Derek breathlessly ordered to the Betas. Scott and Isaac quickly began tending to Boyd and Cora, while I stood in my place shell shocked, staring at Derek.

"You've got it covered taking Boyd back to the loft?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest as I watched Scott load an unconscious Cora into the backseat of Derek's car. Isaac nodded, looking over to Chris' car where Boyd laid in the back seat. Although Issac said the sun was slowly coming up, it had been covered with clouds, continuing to leave us in the dark of night.

"Argent will take me." He assured. I slowly nodded.

"Do you want me to go with you guys?" I wondered, noticing the Beta's headspace was elsewhere.

"I'm fine. I'll see you later." Isaac dryly assured, turning around and heading to Chris' car. Scott stood back up straight, examining me head to toe.

"Are you sure you don't want to go to the hospital?" Scott asked, motioning his head to the dried blood down the side of my head. "You hit your head hard."

"Scott, I'm fine." I assured.

"Are you?" He asked, implying more than my physical appearance. My muscles tensed, hoping he'd forget about I fought him to go risk my life to save Derek's.

"As fine as you could be watching you two get mauled twice tonight." I attempted to quietly laugh the situation off.

"You know you couldn't have gone in there, right?" He curiously arched a brow.

"Yeah, Scott. I know. Really didn't want to see someone else die tonight."

"Someone else?" My lips formed a tight line as I nodded, hoping this conversation would end quickly. Instead of staring at Scott, I watched Chris' car drive off out of the lot. "You care about him, don't you?" Scott questioned. My attention peaked, immediately focusing back on my brother. His brows raised as he watched my reaction.

"What?" I asked, taken off guard.

"Derek." He stated matter of factly. "You care about him." I raised my brows at his accusation.

"Yeah, I didn't want him to die. You didn't want him going in there alone either." I rebutted.

"I don't mean—"

"Can we talk about this tomorrow? I think we've both had enough for one night." I awkwardly laughed. Scott paused before eventually nodding.

"Yeah, I'll see you at home?"

"Yeah, I won't be long." I assured with a smile. Scott, finally deciding to drop any question he'd plan on asking me, turned around and jogged off towards the house.

It didn't take long after Scott left for a bloody Derek to come out of the school, a female teacher at his side. I pushed myself off the roof of the Camaro, watching him intently as the two walked closer. My body stiffened, my posture straightening as the females face of the teacher came into view.

"Hayley?" She quietly asked, her face contorting in confusion. My throat tightened.

"Ms. Blake."

Every inch of my body ached as I walked into the loft. Derek followed closely behind, carrying an unconscious Cora tightly in his arms. The loft was dark, the curtains drawn tight to block out any sign of daylight.

"I wonder if Boyd's up yet." I mused. I sighed in relief as I closed the door, anxious at the thought of concluding this day. I wanted nothing more to crawl into bed and get all the blood off of me. The exhaustion sat on my chest like a weight.

"There's bandages upstairs if you want to get cleaned up." Derek quietly offered as he took quick glances at the caked blood on my hand, arms, and head. As I went to open my mouth to reply, I was quickly cut off by a loud, frustrated groan and the sound of glass breaking emanating from upstairs. Derek and I tensed, the grunts continuing. I held out my hand and pointer finger, pausing a high alert Derek from advancing towards the potential threat. It wasn't grunting…it was crying.

"Isaac." Derek realized as he tuned his hearing in. His brows furrowed tightly together, listening in on what the Beta was doing.

"Take care of Cora. I'll go check on him." I proceeded up the winding stairs, slowly making my way to the second story of the loft and towards the grunts. I walked up to one of the spare bedrooms to find Isaac pacing back and forth.

"Damn it!" Isaac muttered, running his hands over his face. There were books and shattered glass scattered across the wood floor.

"Isaac?" I quietly spoke up. Startled, he looked up and met my gaze. His eyes were glassy, his cheeks red. "Are you okay?"

"I told you I'm fine." He barked. He ran a trembling hand through his curly locks.

"What happened?" I stepped into the room.

"Nothing—just nothing, okay? Leave me alone, Hayley."

"Iss—"

"I said go! Leave! Ju—just leave me alone." His voice cracked. His pacing quickened, his hands shaking anxiously at his side.

"Isaac, please." I quietly persisted.

"No! It's not fair! It's—it's just…you, you wouldn't understand." Isaac backed himself up against the wall and crumpled down to the floor. He buried his head into his hands and slowly began crying. My chest tightened, my heart squeezing taut as I watched the young beta break down before me. Cautiously, I stepped further into the room and crouched down in front of Isaac's crumbled frame. "Hey, look at me." I whispered.

"Please just go." He whispered through his tears. "Just like everyone else."

"Isaac, please." I pleaded, squeezing his wrist. Isaac's head rose, his glassy eyes shining a supernatural gold. They quickly faded into their ocean blue color as he looked me in the eyes. His jaw squared, his lips pursing together.

"It's not fair." He finally said. "She's gone. Erica's gone. I should have been there, it should have been me." His head fell as the tears began flowing once again. "It should have been me."

"Isaac, hey, no! Look at me!" I pleated, cupping my hands around his face and lifting his head so he was forced to look at me.

"Everyone leaves me." He sobbed.

"I know how much it hurts right now. And I know that guilt. I know what you're feeling. But in no way should that have been you!"

"You don't understand."

"I promise you, I do. Isaac, you have to trust me."

"You have a family! You have people that care about you! I have nothing. Nothing! Everyone I cared about is gone." I quickly grabbed hold of Isaac's shaking hand.

"Listen to me. Listen to my heartbeat! Would I lie to you?" Isaac took a deep breath in to control his breathing as he listened in on my heartbeat, expecting to hear ticks that proved to him I lied. He wouldn't, and didn't, find any. His lips pressed tightly together, shaking his head. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"Everyone I care about is dead. My brother, my dad—Erica! Erica's dead. Why wasn't it me?"

"Because it shouldn't have been you! I promise it'll be okay—I know it doesn't feel like that right now but it will." Isaac shook his head. "That feeling in your chest? That empty pain? That guilt? It stops—it gets better."

"I need it to stop." He whispered through his sobs. My lips formed a tight line as I slowly nodded, understanding his words. I felt a rock form in my throat, seeing much of my younger self in the Beta. "Make it stop".

"I know." I wrapped my arms around his frame as he crumpled into my own. My eyes trailed up to the doorway to see a concerned Derek lingering in the hallway shadows as he watched his Beta break down in my arms. "I know." I whispered to Isaac, running a hand gently up and down his back. I gave Derek a quick nod and sympathetic smile, signaling that it was okay. At least, it would eventually be.

I descended the staircase of the loft more exhausted I had been than when I arrived. Isaac had fallen asleep, the stress of the day finally overtaking his body. My heart had sunken to the bottom of my stomach as I knew Isaac's feelings all too familiar. I couldn't blame him for finally breaking. His brother? His dad? A girl he called his best friend? It was surprising he hadn't cracked sooner. Everyone in his life was snuffed out unexpectedly. That painful burden was too much for him to keep locked inside. I knew that all too well.

"Is he okay?" Derek asked, advancing towards me from the other room with two glasses in his grasp. I let out an exaggerated breath.

"He will be. Cora?" I wondered.

"She's healing. She and Boyd will be out for a while." He nodded, handing me one of the clear glasses in his hand. "It's needed." He noted, watching me eye the glass.

"After tonight, I can't say I disagree." I nodded, taking the glass and throwing back some of the dark, pungent liquid. My throat burned as the liquor slithered its way down. Derek quickly shot back his drink and disappeared into the other room, leaving me to sip on the cold leftover liquor in my glass. Derek soon reappeared, holding a rag and a couple items in his hands. I skimmed him over for the umpteenth time of the night, making sure he was healing okay. His body was still splattered in blood, his shirt torn to shreds. Major gashes had finally healed into simple cuts, one of his powers I was currently extremely jealous of at the moment. I downed the rest of my drink, placing the glass on the nightstand adjacent to Derek's bed. He approached me, gently grabbing my left hand and wiping a damp rag over the dried blood that had caked on my palm. Thankfully, I had noticed the initial slice had finally stopped bleeding heavily.

"Is this the part where you're going to lecture me?" I meekly joked.

"Well, do you know how stupid of an idea that was?" He peaked down to me. I scoffed quietly.

"It worked, didn't it?"

"Not the point."

"Didn't think you'd have any of these here." I commented, watching Derek wrap my hand in a white bandage. "I mean, when you heal as quick as you do why bother." I eyed his gashes once more.

"True." Derek commented. "But some healings take longer than others."

"Hard to believe for an Alpha." I mused. Derek took the rag and dabbed it against the gash on my hairline. "Ow." I hissed, flinching from his light touch. "Just let me have it, I can do it." Derek ignoring my comment, continued on.

"Will you stop and sit still?" He urged. I rolled my eyes, letting him continue as if I had a choice.

"Speaking of stupid ideas…" I began, breaking the short lived silence. "Are we going to talk about how completely insane you are for going back into that room with them?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"You had about 15 other choices." I rebutted. Derek stifled a laugh under his breath.

"I had to save that teacher." He continued working on the gash on my head, his hands pressing gently against my skin.

"You didn't have to do anything."

"You know I did, Hayley."

"You risked your life to save hers. You're lucky you're not dead." I sighed. "I think I preferred you when you didn't care what happened to anyone." Derek's eyes met mine, his brow raising in amusement.

"We both know that's not true."

"It is when it meant you weren't sacrificing yourself every other day."

"If I remember correctly, you hated me when I didn't care." He reminded as he placed a butterfly bandage across my cut.

"And if I remember correctly I told you I never hated you." Derek smirked, not believing a word I said. "Hates a strong word".

"So you're saying you like me now that I care?" Instantly, I could feel my cheeks flush. Derek's icy green eyes stared into my own chocolate orbs, his body so close I could feel his breath hot against my skin.

"No." I immediately defended, Derek only cocking his head in reply. It was as if I'd forgotten he had super hearing that could detect every lie I said. Although, he didn't need to hear my heartbeat to know I was lying. My teeth grazed against my bottom lip, biting down as his gaze on me sent my heart pounding. "Maybe." I quietly corrected. A piercing silence overtook the room as my gaze went from the floor to meeting Derek's eyes. The second they connected felt like an eternity. My heart pounded in my chest, continuing to realize how close his body was to me and my eyes flickering down to his lips. Heat rose to my cheeks as my eyes lingered. Before I could react, Derek's hands cupped my cheeks and our lips crashed together. The kiss was different than the others we had shared. It was heated with passion and unsaid words that always had lingered tension between us. In what felt like an eternity later, I put my hand against Derek's chest and slightly pushed him away, breaking away from the heated kiss in a desperate need for air. My breaths were heavy as my heart raced inside my chest. Derek's matched my expression of a mixture of shock and desire as I stared him down, my lips parting in search of what to say next.

There wasn't anything left to say.

My body rushed forward, pressing against Derek's own and cupping my hands against his stubbled face. I kissed him forcefully, our lips moving in sync. Without breaking our lips, I forcefully pushed Derek back and against the wall of the loft. His hands traveled down my back and pressed me tighter against his body. His tongue swept over my bottom lip and against my own. One of my hands found their way from his cheek to entangle itself in his dark hair. The Alpha flipped me around, gaining the upper hand as my back pressed against the wall. Kissing him caused a fire to burn across my body. His lips were sweet. Soft. Addicting. My hands travelled their way from Derek's face to the hem of his ripped and bloody shirt, quickly lifting it up and stripping him of the tattered green fabric. Derek's hands moved from my body to then hem of my own shirt. Derek broke our kiss, quickly removing the blood stained tank and carelessly tossing it to the floor, leaving me in a black lace bra. My dark orbs examined his shirtless physique. His torso had almost finished healing from his wounds, although the deeper cuts were still there. I began kissing him again, my body becoming ablaze as our bare skin came into contact with each other. I wrapped my arms around his neck as the passionate kisses became even more intense. Derek's hands grasped onto my thighs, hoisting me up. I wrapped my legs around his torso as he carried me over to his bed. We landed softly on the mattress, our lips not daring to break apart.