Riddle 2

The one who has it does not keep it. It is large and small. It is any shape. What is it?

We had eventually stumbled upon a den, which was likely to be Malia's. We had stayed through to the early hours of the morning as the sheriff department scoured the area. I even had the pleasure, for lack of a better word, of meeting Scott's estranged father. I'd been surprised to find out that the officer who had called Stiles away from us last term was actually Scott's dad. Seems I wasn't the only one with daddy issues.

The next day. I tried to hide the evidence of our late night by covering the bags under my eyes with thick eyeliner, it hadn't fooled Alison. So instead of hiding out, something I realised was a lot harder now I didn't have the keys to the newsroom, I followed the hunter into history. I thought about staying while she grilled Scott and Stile for more information but honestly I just wanted to sit. Possibly nap.

As I settled in one of the back desks I caught sight of Kira hovering a few seats away from the group. Having been blindsided so many times in the past, suspicion twisted my gut. Why was she so interested in our little group? Surely it couldn't just be a coincidence that the new girl knows all about the issues we are dealing with and… oh. The suspicion turned to merth as I watched her stop Scott. Our little alpha had an admirer.

The pair fumbled over their words and sent each other shy half smiles. They looked downright adorable and I just couldn't stop myself snapping a quick picture of the couple. Pulling the camera back to inspect the image I frowned. My smile dropped instantly as I studied the peculiar orange hue that curled around Kira's entire body. Maybe I hadn't been wrong to find the girl suspicious after all. Quickly storing the evidence away for later I watched the quirky dressed teen hand Scott a stack of papers and shuffle back to her seat, her cheeks burning red from whatever had just happened.

Moving my eyes from her to our teacher I found myself wondering if he would emit a similar auror in pictures. Or whether he was just another clueless adult. Said adult called a dazed looking Stiles to read aloud. He paled at the request. His eyes widening and his gaze shifting around the room like a trapped animal.

"I'll do it Mr Yukimura."

Mr Yukimura shook his head at me while Stiles nodded his in thanks. "Thank you Miss King but everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

Cringing, I settled back into my seat as Stile rose from his. His lips moved frantically as he whispered to himself. Admittedly my lip reading skills are nothing to brag about but I am positive he was whispering the 5 word mantra we had created back in the changing rooms, that all seemed so long ago now. Though it didn't seem to be helping. His knuckles whited as he clawed the wood stand and a thin layer of sweat coated his brow.

"Stiles? You okay?" When he didn't reply Scott swung his arm around him and ushered him towards the door. "I should take him to the nurse's office."

The lesson continued without any other disruptions. Although my attention was on the back of Kira's head instead of her father. My mind reeled with questions. What was she? Was she here to harm us? Did she know about Scott? Each question had its own spot on the page before me. Ideas and spin off ideas linked with rushed lines and messy spirals. I tried to recall any information I might have read in the past about auras but found myself lacking anything helpful, it would be another late night researching it seems.

As the lesson drew to a close, I hovered patiently. I knew if I fussed long enough with Stiles and Scott's bags Kira would offer to help. She liked Scott and thus would want to create more opportunities to see him. Teenage drama was much easier to predict than the supernatural. It also gave me a chance to skim through the pile of research she had handed to Scott. Unfortunately, it did mean overhearing Kira's dad lecture her about making friends. The embarrassment was clear on her face. While I could have done with a bit long to look over the last few pages, I decided to help. One good deed a year would hopefully be enough to keep karma on my side right?

"Hey Kira, fancy helping me find Scott and Stiles?" I asked as I shouldered Stiles' backpack and pulled Scott's off the ground.

She practically leaped at the chance to leave the room and snatched Scott's bag from my hand and ran for the door. I followed after her. I felt on edge. Although looking at her now I couldn't find any reason for the distrust. She looked like an ordinary student, well an ordinary student who enjoyed brightly coloured clothing and quirky socks. Then again Allison looked like an ordinary high school student and she could take down a werewolf. Well she could when her head was in the right place.

After walking the halls in silence for a good ten minutes or so Kira finally tried to strike up a conversation. To my surprise she had noticed me reading through the stack of papers as I placed them in Scott's bag and wanted to know my thoughts. Although I couldn't help but feel she was more concerned with finding out how Scott would feel about the hours of research she did and that my option on demons wasn't really being questioned.

A familiar growl forced me into an abrupt halt. I had heard it before but where? Then it hit, out in the woods by the car wreck! Luckily, Kira noticed my sudden action and stopped beside me. There at the end of the corridor was a coyote. The entire situation would have been terrifying enough had the creature been an every day, run of the mill Coyote. However, glowing blue eyes told me that this animal in front of us was something much scarier.

I didn't stop to think. Grabbing Kira's hand I sprinted down the hall looking for somewhere to hide. An eerie sense of deja vu fell over me, surely running through the school and hiding from one were-creature was enough for one lifetime! just like last time I headed directly for the windowless locker rooms. Lunging through the door I pushed Kira towards the back of the room. I knew then that she was harmless. Even if she had some strange Aura she didn't understand it and she had definitely never faced anything like this before. It was clear from the sheer look of horrid etched into her face.

I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her closer to the lockers. My eyes darted back to the door periodically to check it was still closed. My blood ran cold as the door began to rattle. Each time the animal, no, each time Malia slammed her body into the door my breath caught in my throat. Then it happened. Glass shattered and suddenly we were trapped inside a windowless room with a pissed off were-coyote. Pushing Kira further back I placed an arm out in front of her as if it would help if Malia attacked. Her footsteps were barely audible and if it hadn't been for her continuous snarling I wouldn't have known she was getting closer.

My other hand clamped down over my mouth, as if it would prevent a creature with enhanced senses from figuring out where we were. We were trapped and defenceless. We needed Scott. I needed Scott. Every fibre in my being called out to him. Begging him to hear me. I think at some point I must have started begging aloud because sure enough Scott McCall arrived to save the day.

I didn't focus too much on what happened once he had arrived. Any fear I had melted away at the sound of his deep growl. Something I never thought would be possible. I let him deal with Malia and I carefully maneuvered Kira away from the action. Eventually Malia bolted and the cavalry arrived. The sheriff and his deputies soon filled the locker room and Kira had been ushered away by her panic stricken father. Leaving me and Scott alone to assess the situation.

"How did you do that?" Scott had asked the moment we were alone.

I didn't even have to pretend to play dumb. I had no idea what he was on about. When I told him that he looked shocked and started to tell me how he had known where we were. According to him it wasn't my pathetic begging that had summoned him. Instead he told me all about his out of body experience. One moment he had been in the hallway with Stiles and the next he was in the locker room. It was such a brief flash that he had thought it was a hallucination at first. Then it happened again, he could hear glass shattering and could feel Kira trembling behind him. It was only when he caught sight of my reflection in the locker's surface that he realised it was real and we were in danger.

"I think I know what she was looking for." Stiles interrupted. He had finally caught up and weaselled his way past the police cordon. He was currently shifting from foot to foot. His entire body twisting with nervous energy as he toyed with the zip on his bag.

Dread filled me as I watched him ease the zip down and revealed the tatty toy from the forest. It's glazed stare pinning me to the spot as if daring me to judge it out loud. My lip curled upwards into a disapproving sneer and a sound of utter disgust tumbled out before I could stop it. I had almost died because Stiles couldn't keep his sticky fingers to himself! Scott looked just as horrified as me. His eyes wide as he stared in disbelief at his best friend. The child's toy bobbed lifelessly in Stiles hand as he pulled it completely from the bag and pushed it toward me for a closer look.

"Why would you do that?!" My words came out a few octaves higher than usual as I slapped his outstretched arm away from me.

Stiles didn't even have the decency to look guilty about stealing the doll from the crashed car. He shrugged back at us and gave a simple excuse, "I thought Scott could use it, you know, for like her scent, you know."

"How about next time you leave the creepy possibly possessed item at the crime sense genius!" I snapped back.

Our problems only seemed to grow as a new voice joined our conversation. "Where did you get that? Where did you find this? It belonged to my daughter." Mr Tate stood frozen at the door. His eyes focused solely on the toy in Stiles hands.

This was going to be a hard one to get out of. Luckily for us Sheriff Stilinski was a professional when it came to getting his son out of a sticky situation. Snatching the doll from his hands the Sheriff moved forward, effectively blocking us from Mr Tate's glare.

He gave the man a quick apology before continuing in his no nonsense tone, "Mr. Tate, I don't know how you heard about this. If you got your own police scanner or what but you can't be here."

Silence filled the locker room as the sheriff's eyes drifted downward. Peering round Stiles I followed his gaze. My breath caught in my throat. A gun. This idiot had a gun and he had been stupid enough to bring it onto school property!

Said idiot seemed to have noticed the sudden shift. His left hand pulled away from the doll and rested on his belt protectively. A quick explanation jumped from his lips, " I have a permit."

"California schools are gun free zones, permit or no permit. You need to leave, Mr. Tate. Now."

As always Deaton came to our rescue when all else failed. Scott had rung the vet/supernatural guru the moment the sheriff had left the school grounds. We quickly gathered the group, piled into as few cars as possible and drove to the clinic together. After all It really was best for our resident sacrifices to have around the clock supervision.

Deaton had quickly deduced a plan and was currently trying to explain it as simply as possible to the group of teens in his work space. "Xylazine. It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three. So whoever's shooting, needs to be a damn good shot."

"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott nodded back confidently.

That was debatable! Pressing my lips together I held back a hum of disagreement but it seemed my facial expression said enough as the group frowned back at me. Scott tilted his head in question before shifting his eyes to glance between me and our supposedly perfect archer. Allison seemed just as apprehensive as me. I couldn't help but wonder if she was also thinking about the arrow that had almost killed Lydia.

Not that Scott let that stop him. He nodded again and added a firm, "She can do it."

"If we manage to find her," I shot back before he had even finished. "Then there is the question of what we do once we have her."

"Seriously," I had wondered when Stiles would jump in. His hands were held high and he looked absolutely done. Why the hell was he giving me that look! Had he already forgotten I had almost been killed by a werecoyote, the very one we were trying to save, because of him! "I mean,why are you even here? Aside from the persistent negativity."

I had been ready to reply but Isaac jumped in to defend me, "Maybe she's just asking the questions you don't want to ask. Seriously, how do we turn a coyote back into a girl, when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

"I'm not trying to be negative," I added, trying hard to sound as sincere as possible. " I haven't found anything useful online or in any books. It might not be possible. We need to think about what happens if we can't bring her back. We need to be ready for the worst case scenario."

The room stilled at my words. Had no one else really wondered what we would do if this didn't work? Malia was a wild coyote, she had not shown an ounce of humanity in the changing rooms. It was very likely that she wouldn't turn back and who says she wanted to turn back! Did we really have the right to force the poor girl back into a human? I didn't share that last thought with the group.

"I can do it."

Turning his attention to Scott, Stiles questioned, "You can?" Who was being negative now.

"You remember the night that Peter trapped us in the school? In the gym, he was able to make me turn using just his voice. Deucalion did the same thing in the distillery." I kept my thoughts to myself this time.

Deaton however seemed to have the same concerns as I did. "This is a werecoyote, Scott. Who knows if it'll even work if you can find someone who can teach you."

A heavy sigh escaped from Stiles lips as his eyes lit up with understanding. "That's why you called Derek, first."

"Yeah, I could try it on my own. But right now, I'm too scared to even change into just a werewolf."

Stiles nodded in agreement. "We need a real Alpha. You know what I mean. An Alpha who can do Alpha things. You know, an Alpha who can get it going. You know, get it…"

"Up?" I finished. My delight at the innuendo clear in my voice.

"Great. I'm an Alpha with performance issues," he muttered with a deflated tone. The others tried hard to stifle their smiles as Scott glanced around the room. " Is there anyone else besides Derek who could help?"

The light hearted smiles that had been pulling at the corners of everyone's mouths dropped. Eyebrows dipped and eyes narrowed in deep thought. Each of us racking our brains for someone, anyone who could help us save this young girl. Isaac was the first to speak

" I don't trust Peter," he grimaced at the mere thought of giving the ex alpha any sort of power over us.

"None of us trust Peter," Stiles added forcefully. Even if it was just one favour we all knew he would expect payment back at some point. He turned to Scott and asked tentatively, "Maybe the twins?"

Scott shook his head, "Nobody's seen them for weeks."

I turned to look at Lydia who had remained silent for the majority of this group discussion. We both knew she had still been seeing Aiden in secret, though from the looks Stiles and Allison were giving her it wasn't all that secret. She held my gaze for longer than necessary before finally pulling her phone out with a dramatic huff. "I might know how to get hold of them."

Getting hold of the twins had been the easy part. Their methods were aggressive and not particularly helpful. But we ploughed on with the plan, ignoring the little fact that Scott was still struggling to control his inner wolf. As we gathered together on the edge of the reservation it was obvious that I wasn't the only one with concerns. Stiles had started fidgeting and Allison knuckles were starting to turn a gruesome grey colour as she clung to her rifle case.

Lydia luckily spoke before I did, "Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Her negative words sounded more like genuine concern unlike the pessimistic comment that had caught in my throat.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott reminded us. His unwavering goodness was almost blinding sometimes. I couldn't help but wonder if he had ever had a negative thought in his life then I remembered the incident at the motel and quickly shut that thought out.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter," Issac corrected him.

For once I kept my quip to myself and didn't remind them all that we also still have no idea how to change her from a coyote back to his daughter. Instead I nodded along to Scott's plan and watched as everyone paired off. Issac and Alison; Stiles and Lydia; Me and Scott. I had been surprised at first when Scott handed me his bike helmet and told me to get on. But then I realised he had probably split the group like this for efficiency. While Stiles was less hostile towards me since I started making him late night cups of tea, we still bickered. And I probably wouldn't have been the most supportive sidekick to Allison given that she had almost killed our friend.

As we hurtled through the woods, eyes peeled for any sign of Malia, my phone started to ring. Tightening my grip on Scott with one hand, I reached down and retrieved it to find Lydia's face pouting back at me. She had started to talk but clearly wasn't going fast enough for her partner's liking. She was quickly interrupted by a frantic Stiles, "It wasn't Malia's doll. It was her sister's. Malia left it at the car for her sister. It's like bringing flowers to a grave. Okay, and we stole the flowers. So, that's all she's trying to do, right. Bring the doll back to the grave, to the car wreck. That's where she's headed. The car wreck!"

Everything clicked into place and we had changed direction the instant I had relayed the message to Scott. I clung to Scott's back as he pushed his bike to go faster. The trees blurred. The bike bounced over every root, branch and stone. Each time my grip became tighter, to the point that I imagine I would have bruised Scott had he not been a werewolf.

A strangled cry echoed through the woods. It sent chills down my Spine as I flung my head back to try and figure out what direction the injured animal might have been in. Maybe Mr Tate had mistaken a deer for his coyote daughter. Although from Scott's reaction I assumed it was more than just a deer. The sudden noise had pulled his attention away from driving so much so that the next root we went over was our last. Without Scott manoeuvering the bike it got caught in the highest ridge of the crooked root and sent us flying.

All I can say is I was grateful for the helmet. I had landed in a heap a good metre or so away from the fallen bike. My arms curled around my head, they were covered in deep gashes after taking the brunt of the impact. The same low growl I had heard in the hallway filled the air. Lifting my head bit by bit I noticed grey paws kneading the dirt in front of me. Pulling up further the hard shell of the crash helmet stopped inches from snarling teeth and blue eyes. Once again I was in a life and death situation.

And once again Scott McCall, my knight in shining armor, saved the day. He let out a deafening roar as his feet connected with the ground behind me. Noise pulled Malia's eyes upwards and her body gave a shudder. Clearly Scott was right to have had confidence in himself. He had managed to do it after all. In moments the growling coyote was replaced by a shivering, snarling teen. Scott had brought Malia back. The question was what did we do with her now?

So much for a quick update! sorry! let me know what you think

Answer: A gift