"You know when you're drowning, you don't actually inhale until right before you black out?", I told Ms. Morrell, the guidance counselor, as I picked at my lacrosse stick.
"It's called voluntary apnea. It's like no matter how much you're freaking out, the instinct of not letting any water in is so strong that you won't open your mouth until you feel like your head's exploding. But then when you finally do let it in, that's when it stops hurting. It's not scary anymore. It's actually kind of peaceful.", I say, staring off into space.
"Are you saying you hope Matt felt some peace in his last moments?", Ms. Morrell asked. My eyes glanced over at her. "I don't feel sorry for him."
"Can you feel sorry for the nine-year-old Matt who drowned?"
My jaw clenched. "Just because a bunch of dumbasses dragged him into a pool when he couldn't swim doesn't really give him the right to go off killing them one by one. Not only that, Stiles' dad told me they found a bunch of pictures of Allison on Matt's computer. And not just of her. I mean, he photoshopped himself into these pictures. Stuff like them holding hands and kissing. He was building himself a fake relationship with these pictures. Him drowning isn't an excuse to be delusional."
"One positive thing came out of this though, right?", she asked.
"I guess, but I still feel like there's something wrong between us. I don't know."
"Can you explain?"
"There's this one night, I had a nightmare. My brother and my mom were arguing over what he wanted to do with his life and he turned around and blamed my dad's death on my mom. He saw me and said the same thing. Said I'd never see him again. Said he wished I was never born.", I swallow. "All I can ask myself is, was it really my fault? Since then, I haven't seen my brother."
"Is your father dead?", she asked. I shrugged. "I can't really say. He and my mom got into this really big argument and he walked out on us. I was 7 at the time so I can't really remember. I don't really know if he died, but my brother was convinced that he did after we moved here."
"Maybe it was a dream. Maybe he's still alive.", she reassured.
"Maybe. But it's different in the house now. Mom's always working, I barely see her. I thank every lucky star I have that she doesn't see me coming home the way I do or that she doesn't know half of the things I've been through.", I say, rubbing my face.
"Have you talked to her about it since that night?"
"No, not really. I mean, I'm more focused on everything else so everything that's happened has been a distraction from being at home. Scott's got his own problems to deal with. I don't think he's talked to Allison yet either. But as I told her, that's her own choice. Her mom dying hit her pretty hard. But I guess it brought her and her dad closer.", I say as I shake my head.
"Stiles and I are still pretty close… At least, I hope we still are. Him and his dad are pretty on and off with each other. Jackson, though? Jackson hasn't really been himself lately. Actually the funny thing is, as of right now, Lydia is the only one who seems the most normal."
"And what about you, Sam? Feeling some anxiety about that championship game tomorrow night?", she asked.
I shook my head. "Not really… Scott always has my back in the games."
"But you said you haven't talked to him recently."
"Me and Scott always get on each other's nerves as well as me and Stiles. But we've stuck together through it.", I say, letting a small smile play on my lips before dropping. "Though… tension is rising in my team too. I mean, one of my teammates is dead and one of them is missing."
"You mean, Isaac. One of the three runaways. You haven't heard from any of them, have you?", she asked me. I look at her desk, noticing she wasn't even writing anything.
"How come you're not taking any notes about this?"
"I do my notes after the session."
"Your memory's that good?"
"How about we get back to you?" I looked back into my lap, shaking my head. "Sam?" I looked back up at her.
"I'm fine. Yeah, aside from not sleeping, jumping at every loud, sudden noise, and feeling this heavy dread something terrible is about to happen."
"It's called hyper vigilance, the persistent feeling of being under threat.", she informed.
"But it's not just a feeling, though. It's like," I shook my head, thinking. "It's like a panic attack. You know, like I can't breathe."
"Like you're drowning?"
"Yeah.", I nodded.
"So if you're drowning and you're trying to keep your mouth closed until that very last moment, what if you choose to not open your mouth? To not let the water in?"
"But you do that anyway? It's a reflex.", I say.
"But if you hold off until that reflex kicks in, you have more time, right?"
"Not much time.", I responded.
"But more time to fight your way to the surface?"
"I guess."
"More time to be rescued?"
"More time to be in agonizing pain. And did you forget the part where you feel like your head's exploding?"
"If it's about survival, isn't a little agony worth it?"
"And what if it gets worse? What if it's agony now and then... and it's just hell later on?"
"Then think about something Winston Churchill once said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."
I sat on the bench with Stiles and Scott as Coach came up behind Stiles.
"What the hell are you talking about?", Coach questioned Stiles. "The game hasn't even started. Now put on your helmet and get out there."
"You're letting Stiles play?", I asked, smiling.
"You're in for Greenburg.", Coach told Stiles.
"What?", Stiles asked. "What happened to Greenburg?"
"What happened to Greenburg? He sucks. You suck slightly less."
"I'm playing? On the field? With the team?"
"Yes, unless you rather play with yourself."
"I already did that today. Twice."
I looked at him, unamused. "Stiles."
"Get the hell out there!", Coach yelled and Stiles grabbed his stuff, running out on the field. I put my helmet on as we took our spots.
"Ok, Stiles, whatever you do, try to stay close to me so I can save your ass whenever I can.", I said as the game started
I winced as Stiles constantly got brutally tackled. Isaac came out onto the field and ran to me.
"We got to get Scott out on the field.", Isaac said.
"How?", I asked. "He's failing, like, three classes."
"Got to make it like Coach doesn't have a choice."
I smirked. "I can definitely do that." The whistle and I charged forward and curled up into a ball and rolled Gotez over.
"Ramirez! You're in!", Isaac tackled Ramirez and I got Murphy. "Wilson! Seriously, what the hell is your problem?"
"Sorry, coach!", I yelled, grinning. I was about to charge at the last player but someone slammed into me. I tumbled to the ground and groaned in pain. Scott came to my side.
I felt my ribs being sore. Not broken at least.
I didn't move as the Paramedics came and loaded me onto the stretcher.
I went to go change out of my uniform, stopping to hear a shing of metal. The fuck…?
I turned around and saw Gerard and his hunters coming toward me. Shit. I keep forgetting he's the principal. Him being the principal has given him too many conveniences.
My eyes widened as I saw Scott behind Gerard. Scott slammed the two hunters into the wall and turned around to me, eyes yellow, to see Gerard gone.
"Where is he?", Scott asked. Not bothering to ask anymore questions, Scott and I ran outside to the field to see ten seconds on the clock.
The buzzer sounded and the lights went out leaving the field pitch black. Screams sounded and Scott and I looked around to place the scream.
"What the hell is going on?", I asked Scott as we looked around.
The lights of the field came back on. We ran to the middle of the field to see Jackson, lying still on the ground.
"Jackson!" I heard Lydia yell, running to Jackson. She pushed past us to Jackson. "Jackson, what's happening?"
"Can we get a medic over here?", Coach yelled. "We're gonna need a medic!"
Melissa came and knelt beside Jackson.
"He's not breathing.", Melissa said. "No pulse." Melissa lifted up Jackson's shirt to see blood.
"Look," I whispered to Scott and Isaac, pointing to Jackson's hands which were covered in blood.
"He did it to himself?", Isaac asked us. Stiles' dad came off the bleachers to the middle of the field.
"Stiles?", he called out, looking around. "Where's Stiles? Where. . . where is my son? Where's Stiles? Where the hell is my son?"
My eyes widened as I frantically looked around. Where the hell was my best friend?
I ran through the hallways looking for Stiles and ran in the locker room, only to see Scott and Isaac rummaging through Stiles' locker.
"How come you get his shirt and I get his shoe?" Isaac asked, looking at the sneaker in his hands.
"You guys haven't found anything?", I asked. They shook their heads and Scott suddenly pulled me towards him.
I turned around and saw Derek. "We need to talk.", Derek said. "All of us.", Peter came out from behind his nephew.
I took Stiles' shoe out of Isaac's hand and threw it at Peter. He hid behind Derek again before popping out with a smile.
Scott frowned. "What the hell is this?"
"You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the Sheriff's station.", Derek confessed.
"Okay, hold on. He threatened to kill my mom. And I had to get close to him. What was I supposed to do?", Scott defended.
"I'm going to go with Scott on this one. Have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous.", Peter chimed.
"Shut up!" Scott, Derek, and I yelled to Peter simultaneously. He rolled his eyes.
"Who is he?", Isaac quietly asked me.
"That's Peter, Derek's uncle. A little while back he threatened to kill us all, he bit me, and then they set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat.", I explained.
"Hi.", Peter waved his fingers. Isaac nervously and half-heartedly smiled. "Good to know."
"How is he alive?", Scott asked.
"He's alive because of me and Lydia.", I say. Scott gaped at me. "You? How?"
"He was controlling us."
"He's controlling you?"
"Look, the short version is, he's back and he knows how to stop Jackson. Maybe how to save him.", Derek said, as we all looked at him in shock.
"Well that's pretty helpful except, Jackson's dead.", Isaac confessed bluntly.
"What?", Derek asked, shocked himself.
"It literally just happened on the field. He's dead.", I say. Derek and Peter looked at each other concerned. "Okay why is no one taking this as good news?", Isaac wondered.
"Because if Jackson is dead it didn't just happen, Gerard wanted it to happen.", Peter said.
"But why?", Derek asked his uncle.
"Well that's exactly what we need to figure out and something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly.", Peter sighed, taking a step forward.
"Are you seriously asking us to trust you?", I asked, incredulously.
"Yes. On this one subject involving Jackson, I'm asking you, Samantha, to trust me."
I stepped up to him. "I'm only nice once. You killed your niece, bit my best friend, tried to kill me and my friends, you bit me and tried to turn me, took over my body, literally almost killed your nephew, could've killed his mom," I pointed at Scott. "Used me and Lydia to bring you back to life, and now you're asking me to trust you. That's not happening. You've got ways to go before I start trusting you."
"Well, that'll work fine for me.", he says. "Piss off. Seriously.", I retorted.
The door creaked as Scott, Isaac, Peter, Derek, and I walked into the Hale house.
My phone buzzed as I got a text from Stiles. I sighed in relief. "Stiles is okay.", I announced.
"Look, I told you I looked everywhere.", Derek told Peter, who crouched over the bottom stairs.
"You didn't look here." Peter took out a wooden plank from the stairs. He reached inside and grabbed a large suitcase, carefully pulling it out and brushing the dust off the top.
"What is that, a book?", Derek asked. Peter looked at him, offended.
"No, it's a laptop.", Peter sassed. "What century are you living in?" Derek rolled his eyes.
"I'm shocked you know what that is.", I say, crossing my arms.
"A few days after I got out of the coma I transferred everything that we had. Fortunately, the Argents aren't the only ones that keep records." He got up and paced into another room. All of us followed, minus Scott who left to go to his mom with Isaac.
I kept Scott on the line as he went to the hospital.
"He's in some type of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws.", I told Derek as we watched Peter, who sat at an old desk searching through his Macbook.
"That sounds sufficiently terrifying.", Peter mumbled.
"They also say he's starting to move.", I said, taking the phone from my ear.
"Look, I think I found something." Peter types quickly. "Looks like what you're seeing from Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape."
"It has a beta shape?", I asked in disbelief.
"What, meaning it can turn into something bigger?", Derek asked, leaning in closer to the screen. Peter's eyes widened and he leaned back in his chair. "Bigger and better."
On the screen was an indescribable looking monster that looked way more powerful than Jackson looked now. It was bigger, at least twice the size. Its claws looked way sharper and longer, even the tail looked more deadly.
Derek's eyes also widened. "He's turning into that? That has wings."
"I can see that.", Peter quietly replied. I sighed. "Scott, bring him to us please.", I say into the phone.
"I don't think that'll be possible, Sam.", Scott replies.
"Look, someone actually made an animation of it.", Peter clicked on the YouTube link to it. Derek and I leaned forward to look. "Maybe it's less frightening if we—" a terrifying reptilian screech came crying through the computer and the most horrifying picture of the alpha kanima moving showed up, making Derek and I flinch and stand up straight. Peter immediately shut the computer.
"Nope, not at all.", Peter turned his head to look at Derek. "You should probably meet him half way."
"Scott, get him out of there now. Go now!", Derek took my phone and ordered before hanging up and we rushed out of the house.
"Derek, we need Lydia.", Peter said before we left the house.
"Look, there's no tim—" Peter cut Derek off by putting his finger in the air to quiet his nephew. "That's the problem. We're rushing, we're moving too fast. Everybody knows that a moving target is harder to hit and here we are, racing right into Gerard's crosshairs."
"If I get the chance to kill Jackson, I'm taking it.", Derek said, walking off. Peter looked at me, cocking his head.
"Don't look at me. That's your nephew.", I said.
"We need her, Sam."
I sighed harshly.
"You said it yourself originally that there had to be another way, Jackson couldn't die. For that to not happen, we need Lydia.", Peter said. I shook my head. "Fine. We'll get her."
I whipped out my phone to text Stiles to find Lydia and bring her to the warehouse district.
Peter and I arrived at the Beacon Hills Warehouse District, sighing as we saw headlights from another car. I could see a SUV in front of us, so I cut the engine to the Camaro and got out of the car.
I sighed. "Fuck.", I whispered, realizing who the SUV belonged to. An Argent. I turned around and saw that Peter was nowhere to be found. The Hale boys and their disappearances, typical.
"Where's Derek?", Chris Argent asked, walking up to me. Before I could answer, Derek came running down the foggy street on all fours. He leaped into the air and crouched down onto the pavement.
"Oh boy.", I muttered, shaking my head. "What the hell are you doing here?", I asked Chris. Derek stared at him with hatred and spite.
"I'm here for Jackson, not you.", Chris directed at Derek.
"Somehow that doesn't feel very comforting."
Chris and Derek nodded at each other. "Get him inside.", Derek demanded. They all ordered. Once we were all inside, Scott was the first to speak up.
"Where are they?", he asked Derek and I. Derek looked from side to side, confused. "Who?"
"Peter and Lydia.", Scott answered and looked around.
"Sam, where the hell is Peter?", Scott yelled. I pointed at him. "Don't start with me, Scott. I don't know."
I knew he was here, he was just hiding in the shadows. I could sense him.
Derek ignored Scott and crouched over the body bag, unzipping it to reveal a dead Jackson.
"Hold on a second, you said you knew how to save him!", Scott cried.
"We're passed that.", Derek told him. "What—what about—" Scott began to yell, but Derek yelled at him. "Think about it, Scott! Gerard controls him now! He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog! He set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful."
"No…", Chris spoke up, Derek and I turned to face him. "No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father would never let a rabid dog live.", the older man said.
"Of course not," I turned around to see Gerard emerging from the darkness, revealing himself.
Shit.
"Anything that dangerous, that out of control, is better off dead.", Gerard said evilly. Derek sneered, looked down to Jackson, and drew back his arm to thrust his claws into Jackson's chest.
Before he could, Jackson stabbed his own claws into Derek's chest. Effortlessly, he lifted Derek off his feet as he began standing up and hurled him into the next room.
"No!", I yelled, ready to run to him. Chris Argent, with a gun in his hand, held me back. We all looked to Gerard in fear.
"Well done to the last, Scott.", Gerard congratulated. "Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him. You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me."
An arrow whizzed right for Scott, but he managed to dodge it, so it hit Isaac in the shoulder. He groaned in pain and fell to the ground.
I glared at the Argent daughter who glared at us.
"Allison?", Scott gaped, realizing she was trying to kill him. Scott and I rushed to Isaac, helping him up and pulling the arrow out of his shoulder. Chris began shooting off bullets, triggering Jackson's screeching.
"Can you move?", I asked Isaac.
"It hurts.", he whimpered. "It's healing, I'll be okay."
"Sam, get out of here." Scott demanded.
"You get Gerard and Jackson. I've got Allison.", I say.
"Don't hurt her.", he growled at me. I looked at him like he had grown another head. "Uh, first off, she tried to kill us, okay? All of us at this point. I'm not promising that.", I say, and ducked as Derek came flipping over wooden crates and crouching down, all wolfed out.
Both Isaac and Scott had phased too. I snuck over to the broken trunk of the Argents SUV and grabbed a gun. When I turned around, I came face to face with Gerard. He shoved me into the car. Gerard began fighting me, I felt a couple blows to the stomach and a couple to the side of my face. I kicked him in the stomach and stumbled out of the car.
I fought back against the old man but Gerard pushed me to the ground. The gun flew out of my hands, clattering a few feet from me. I scurried up, grabbing it and running towards where I could see Jackson. The three werewolves could barely take him, they were all getting thrown down every time they attacked. I watched as Isaac was choked by the kanima and thrown into a pile of wood, Derek jumped down from a machine and began fighting with him.
I grabbed the gun. "Derek, move!" I shouted. I aimed the gun right at Jackson and shot it off, a bullet went straight through him. Jackson screeched and looked at me with hate. He pushed Derek to the floor and went after me.
"Come on.", I called. Behind him, Scott appeared and caught him off guard, but he reacted quickly and threw him into a wall. Derek went right back up again but managed to get his side slashed. He started stumbling, until he finally fell over.
Shit, not again.
I looked around and saw Allison attacking Isaac and I watched as she turned to Derek. I rushed in front of him and pointed my gun at her. I couldn't let her kill Derek.
"Back off, Allison.", I threatened.
"You wouldn't.", she hissed. I raised my eyebrows and aimed the gun, a few inches from her direction, nearly grazing her ear.
She looked at me in horror, but frowned as her face turned hateful. She raised her knife and started coming at me.
"Allison!", Scott yelled. In one swift motion, the knife was taken from Allison's hands and dropped to the floor. She was now dangling above ground, the kanima's scaly hands wrapped around her neck.
"Not yet, sweetheart.", Gerard said, smiling.
"What are you doing?", Allison choked in panic.
"He's doing what he came here to do.", Scott said.
"Then you know." Gerard didn't seem surprised.
"What is he talking about?", Allison asked.
"It was that night outside the hospital, wasn't it? When I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could smell it, couldn't you?", Gerard asked.
"He's dying.", Issac said, looking at Gerard.
"I am. I have been for a while now.", Gerard practically shrugged. "Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But, the supernatural does."
He looked at Derek who was in his wolf form. He was still paralyzed and the only thing defending him was me. Allison started gasping and Gerard flashed Jackson a look, making his grip harder on his granddaughter.
"You monster.", Chris Argent growled at his father.
"Not yet.", Gerard smirked.
"What are you doing?", Allison cried.
"You'll kill her too!", Chris cried.
"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" Gerard's jaw clenched tightly and then he focused on Scott.
"Scott.", he smiled at the boy. Scott phased back to himself and looked from Chris Argent, to Derek, to me and back again.
"Scott, no.", I exclaimed. He seemed sorry for a moment before walking over to me, pushing me out of the way and plunged his claws into Derek's neck. Derek let out a weakened roar.
"Scott, he's going to kill him after!", I yelled at him, trying to stop him, but the Kanima's tail tightly wrapped around me.
"He's going to be an Alpha.", Derek mumbled to Scott.
"That's true. But I think he already knows that. Don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me and they can be together. You're the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there's just no competing with young love." Gerard began to take his jacket off, preparing for the bite.
"Scott, don't.", Derek looked at him.
"Don't, Scott!", I pleaded to my friend. "All of this would've been for nothing if you just give him what he wants."
"I'm sorry!", Scott apologized in a yell, then he quieted down. "But I have to."
Gerard rolled up his sleeve and walked over to Derek. Gerard put his forearm into Derek's mouth and clamped down his jaw. A loud cry of pain echoed in the room. It stopped when Gerard snatched his arm out of Derek's mouth, and Derek stumbled to the ground.
I wiggled out of the Kanima's tail and ran over, crouching to the ground to help Derek sit up. He looked at me with sadness in his eyes as I glared at Scott and Gerard. Gerard gave a victory laugh while we all stared at his bitten arm as it began to bleed black. Streams of black blood were trickling down his arm and we all watched in horror.
"What?", Gerard asked. He looked down to his arm and saw the black blood. "What is this?" My eyes widened as I looked at Scott. He planned this. Oh my God.
I let out a chuckle. "Your plan just backfired.", I told Gerard.
"What did you do?", Gerard glared at Scott.
Derek and I looked up at Scott, who looked down at us.
"Everyone said Gerard always had a plan," Scott faced Gerard, "I had a plan too." Gerard, stunned, quickly shoved his hand into his pocket and took out his silver pill container.
"No.", Gerard growled. He spilled the pills into his hand. "Mountain Ash!", he screamed, crushing the pills in his hand making a black powder flying out of his fist.
Gerard fell to his knees, black blood was coming out of his eyes and nose. It even spewed out of his mouth. Then he fell to the floor, exhausted.
"Why didn't you tell me?", Derek asked Scott, hurt evident in his voice. "Because you might be an Alpha, but you're not mine.", Scott declared. Derek's eyes fell down to the ground and I helped him stand.
"Kill them! Kill. Them. All!", Gerard screamed at the top of his lungs.
Shit.
A loud crash echoed through the warehouse. I watched as Stiles' jeep came ramming into the building and hit the Kanima.
"Stiles!", I exclaimed, happy to see him.
"Did I hit him?", Stiles' eyes were squeezed shut. Scott and I chuckled. Jackson jumped on the roof of the car, making Lydia and Stiles scream. They both stumbled out of the car as fast as possible.
Stiles ran over to Scott but Lydia stood right in front of Jackson, yelling his name. Jackson held back his hand and was about to slash Lydia's throat.
"Lydia!", Stiles and I screamed. I was about to go help her until Derek held me back by wrapping his hand around my arm. I looked at him, as he looked back at me, telling me to stop.
I watched as Lydia held up a small object in front of her face. It made Jackson stop and look at it for a second. He just stared at the object as if he was remembering something and from then on, his scales disappeared from his face.
Jackson backed away from Lydia. I noticed Peter had jumped from wherever he was hiding, signaling Derek.
Quickly, Derek's claws were piercing in Jackson's abdomen while Peter's were in his back. They lifted him off the ground and their claws sliced through his skin. Jackson was coughing and choking on his blood and spit, and they finally let him go.
Lydia went to catch him and Derek came back to me. Lydia and Jackson sank to the ground, the redhead was crying.
I felt bad. She really did love him. Despite his shitty attitude towards her, she still loved him. I felt a hand placed itself on my shoulder as I backed away from the scene.
I turned around and saw Derek looking at me with sad eyes. My own filled with tears as I looked back at the scene before me. I backed up and stayed by his side, Isaac soon came over on his other side.
"Do you—do you still—", Jackson stuttered out.
"I do.", Lydia immediately replied. She slowly nodded while tears were streaming down her face. "I do still love you." She let out a sob. "I do, I do still love you. I do.", she whispered. Jackson seemed satisfied and his head drooped on her shoulder before his body went limp.
I looked away, clenching my fists. He was an ass. He was always an ass. I grew up with him. I never hated him as much as I pretended. I tolerated him and vise versa.
He didn't deserve to die. Saving him should've been the better option.
The object dropped from Jackson's hands and clanked loudly onto the concrete floor. It was a key—a house key. It must've held memories.
Lydia rocked back and forth, quietly repeating that she still loved him. Finally, she laid him on the ground as the last bit of his scales disappeared.
"Where's Gerard?", Allison asked. I rolled my eyes and looked over to where Gerard once laid, but he was gone. A pool of black blood was left in his place. What the hell.
"He can't be far.", Chris assured. This old creep was crawling away and no one was concerned?
Lydia slowly stood up, sobbing and barely keeping it together. Stiles went to go comfort her but stopped when we all heard a noise echo through the warehouse. It sounded something scratching against the floor…something like claws. We all focused behind Lydia to see Jackson. His wounds were healed, but he was still dead.
Suddenly Jackson's eyes opened, revealing his iris' shining an unnatural icy blue. We all watched silently as he carefully got up and shifted into a werewolf right before us. He stared up at the ceiling for half a second before letting out a ground-shaking howl. Jackson looked just as confused as we did after he shifted back to normal.
"Holy hell…", I muttered and looked at Derek as he looked at the boy in shock. This wasn't the plan. Lydia hurried and ran into his arms. They both tightly embraced and wrapped each other's arms around one another.
Everything was fine…for now.
"Let's go home." I looked at Derek who looked back down at me with a small smile. I returned the smile and we did, only headed back to my place to get him cleaned after he had changed.
Derek sat on my bed as I wrung out a towel before walking over to him. His face was still dirty from dried blood and dust.
He didn't meet my eyes as I cleaned his face. "You shouldn't be doing this.", he says. I smiled. "You're not the first person I cleaned up after a hard day."
"I'm sorry.", he suddenly said. I stopped. "You're apologizing."
He nodded. "For what?", I asked, resuming my cleaning. "Everything. I shouldn't have said what I said to you. I shouldn't have blamed you for Peter's doing. You're not an inconvenience. I never meant that.", he said.
I stopped, looking at him with a frown. "Derek."
"I'm serious. It wasn't right. I wasn't protecting you. I was protecting myself. I wanted to feel like I was somebody. Someone that others could rely on. Scott made me realize that I'm really untrustworthy.", he expressed. "Before we left for Jackson…Erica and Boyd left."
I sighed.
Setting the damp towel down on my desk, I turned to him. "I knew you didn't mean what you said. Despite being hurt by your words, I know you didn't mean it. I just… I wish you'd have a little more faith in me. That's all. I do rely on you and sometimes I feel like I shouldn't because you already have so much to deal with."
I walked back over to him. "Your personality is a little questionable and your methods of caring are a little strange in its own way, but you still have a heart. That's what I like about you. That's why I trust you. You can be an amazing alpha. You know when to make the tough calls, despite not liking them.", I say and sit down next to him.
"When people leave you without a good reason, you gotta let them go sometimes. It's for your own good. All you can do is move on. If Erica and Boyd thought it was a good idea to leave, that's on them. But guess who you have. Me and Isaac and the others, and for some strange reason, your psychotic uncle. You're not alone, Derek.", I say, making him look at me. "You're not as bad as you make yourself seem."
His eyes blinked as if he were blinking away tears and suddenly hugged me. I hugged him back. "Thank you.", I hear him rasp. I rubbed his back as we sat in my dimmed moonlit room.
Early the next morning, before Derek was about to drop me at Stiles' house, we had made a quick stop into the woods with Isaac and Peter. As we approached the house, there was a weird symbol painted on the door. It was similar to Derek's weird tattoo, but it was different.
"This kinda looks like a swastika.", I muttered and Isaac's eyes widened at my assumption.
"You haven't told them everything yet, have you?", Peter asked, looking over at Derek. Derek glared over at Peter, who grinned and leaned against a tree. Isaac and I looked at each other, shrugging and confused.
"What do you mean?", Isaac asked the older man.
"Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack? So eager to strengthen his power and his number?"
"To be stronger. Strength in numbers.", I said, shrugging.
"When there's a new Alpha, people take notice.", Peter said.
"People like who?", I asked, looking at Derek.
Isaac walked up the steps of the house and pointed to the door. "What even is this?" Derek walked next to me. "What does this mean?", I asked.
"It's their symbol.", Derek said, gruffed. "And it means they're coming."
"Who?", I asked, concerned. We already had another threat…?
"Alphas.", Derek answered. I looked at him in bewilderment. "Alphas? As in plural?"
"A pack of them.", Derek said.
"A pack–?", I sighed, running a hand through my coils.
"An Alpha pack. And they're not coming…they're already here.", Peter said. I looked from Derek to Peter to Derek again.
Despite the issue, Derek dropped me off at the school and Stiles pulled his jeep onto the empty field; the three of us piled out and went straight to the goal.
"So you really think she'll come back to you?", I asked Scott, who seemed better.
"Yeah, I know she will.", Scott said optimistically. I smiled and turned to Stiles. "What about you and Lydia?", I asked.
"Well my ten year plan for Lydia to fall in love with me may have to stretch to fifteen, but the plan is definitely still in motion.", he smiled.
"Good.", I grinned. The boys followed me to the goal.
"Why don't you just ask her out?", Scott asked. Stiles and I laughed.
"Yeah, okay. Why don't you just get in the goal and help me make team captain like you promised, big guy.", Stiles suggested.
"You're reaching for the stars, huh?", I asked, smiling.
Stiles dropped his lacrosse gear to the ground and I stood next to him, Scott ventured into the goal with a lacrosse stick.
"Hey, you know what I just realized? I'm right back where I started.", Scott said.
"What do you mean?" Stiles wondered.
"I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend, nothing."
"Dude, you still got me.", Stiles said, offended.
"I guess I'm just chopped liver.", I laughed.
"Yeah, well I had you guys before."
"And you still got us. So life fulfilled, okay?", Stiles reassured.
"You're gonna have to work to get rid of us.", I grinned.
"Alright.", Scott smiled.
"Alright, remember no wolf powers.", Stiles reminded, readying his stick.
"Got it.", Scott nodded.
"No, I mean it! No super fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing, none of that crap. Okay?"
"Okay.", Scott agreed. "Come on!", he urged with a laugh. Stiles got in position hesitantly.
"You promise?" He called.
"Stiles!", I laughed.
"Will you just take the shot already?", Scott rushed. I saw Scott's eyes turn gold and a smirk appeared on his lips. Stiles threw the ball into the net and Scott caught it fast.
"I said no wolf powers!", Stiles whined.