"Derek?" I called tossing my keys on the side table as I came in and turning off the alarm "I brought dinner," I called out. His living room had lights on but I didn't see any others "Derek? Isaac sent us more of the Macaroons you like," I stood there listening and sighed "I'll just eat by myself then," How annoying. He had taken Ethan and Aiden to the airport in San Francisco a few weeks ago, he also planned on visiting with Boyd who was in town. They were meeting with other packs in the area, hoping to get Cora to stay for a while. He said he may not be back for at least a week or two but this was pushing it.
I bit my lip and made a call "Hey Scott, have you heard from Derek at all?"
"No, well he text me a while ago to say he and Boyd didn't find a pack that Cora would get along with,"
I heard "No surprises there," in the background which meant Stiles was with him. I laughed. She was a little much.
"You haven't talked to him?"
"No, I didn't want to be the overbearing girlfriend. It's been weeks though," I sighed "I'll call Boyd, enough is enough," Scott agreed and told me to update him.
"Boyd, hey it's Arielle," I paused "Yeah I'm good. Uh, I hate to be that person but would you mind getting Derek for me? Or have him call me, I've been worried,"
"He's not there?"
"No?"
"He left here two weeks ago, told Cora if she wanted to come back she'd have to suck it up and ask Scott if she could join the pack," I felt a chill.
"Your sure?"
"Yes I'm sure, do you guys need help?"
"I don't know," I replied shakily "I have to go, sorry Boyd," I hung up and called Scott again "I need you to come over to Dereks," he immediately agreed. I paced around his kitchen thinking over everything. Where could he be? I don't think he would just take off and not tell me. Things had been going so well between us.
I needed to do something so I grabbed the food I brought and went to place it in his fridge since I was not hungry right now. I froze because in the fridge was a box with Tartine Bakery stamped across it. I pulled it out to look at it, I gagged when I opened it because it was so moldy but there was no doubting it was originally a Banna Cream Tart. I threw it in the trash. Derek knew it was my favorite dessert from my favorite bakery. He laughed at me because I hated bananas but could practically inhale one of these. Now I was even more worried.
Scott showed up then with "Arielle?" I calmed myself down.
"Would you mind searching for any chemo signals?" I asked, he nodded and concentrated. I watched as he scrunched his forehead, a minute later he shook his head.
"I can't sense anything, what's going on?"
I bit my lip "Derek left San Fransico weeks ago," I told him "And he left my favorite dessert in the fridge, and that has definitely been in there for a long time. Where is he?" He looked around in worry and started to sniff "I thought you didn't smell anything?"
"I was searching for chemosignals, now I'm just looking for anything out of place. He went to Derek's desk and started to move things around. His hands stilled around a canaster there. He picked it up and shook it. Metal against metal.
I walked up to him curiously, he twisted the lid to open it. We both looked in, shells. We looked at each other "I'm going to call Deaton," he told me. I waited anxiously as he took a picture and sent it to him and then got on the phone with him speaking briefly "We are going to go meet him. Do you mind calling Stiles…and Lydia to meet us?"
I blinked so my eyes wouldn't fill up. If he wanted Lydia to come, that means Deaton thinks Derek might be dead.
()()()()()()()()()
We all stood around one of the metal vet tables, Stiles firing off questions for Scott.
"Everything looked okay," Scott told them both "But then I found these. So I sent a picture of it to Deaton. He said that it's the mark of a family of hunters based out of Mexico. The Calaveras,"
Stiles picked up one and looked at it "What would they want with Derek?" Lydia asked as she watched.
"You don't think they killed him, do you?" Stiles asked abrasively then looked at me in apology.
"I... We don't know. That's why you're here," He told Lydia handing over the canister.
She looked at me not wanting to do this, just in case it was an answer I wouldn't like. I nodded at her reassuringly. I had to know. She breathed in and stuck her whole hand in swirling the bullets. She pulled a handful out and let them fall from her hands onto the table while she closed her eyes. Her eyes opened worried.
"Lydia?" Stiles asked "What? Is he dead?" I reached out and smacked his shoulder.
She turned her head like she was listening to something "No. But I'm not sure he's alive either."
I looked between Stiles and Scott in confusion "What does that mean?" I asked afraid.
"I don't know," she whispered "There's something not right. I just... I don't know,"
"So if the Calaveras have him, how do we find them?" Stiles asked us
Scott picked a shell up "Mexico."
"I have to talk to Peter," I told them "He may know where they are located specifically," Then I whacked myself in the forehead "I'm so dumb Chris probably knows, I'll call him instead,"
()()()()()()()()
Which is how we found ourselves in Mexico, in a little town in the middle of nowhere. Malia, Kira, and I got invited to a club early on. The Calvares owned it but we had to find invites on our own. Three women from the US? Easy. It was a little harder for the rest. We decided to dance while we waited.
Stiles and Lydia were the last to show, which was good since we were sending them in first to speak since they were more human than the rest of us.
They stuck out like a sore thumb, then again they were trying to be obvious. It wasn't long till they were approached and taken upstairs. Kira however was trying to blend in but was starting to get noticed because of her terrible dancing. Malia confidently took her in her arms and showed her how to move. Dancing came naturally to her. Soon Kira picked up the rhythm and if anything we blended in more.
Scott nodded to us and went to take out some of the guards when he was back he held up four fingers. That meant they haven't given him up and Stiles had taken $10,000 off of the table.
Malia, Kira, and I took out four guards between us. I had to hand it to the locals, nothing seemed to phase them much. Scott nodded for us to follow him, we all walked down a hallway clearing doors as we went. A mist started coming down from the ceiling. One look at Scott and I could tell it was wolfsbane.
He shouted for Kira to get out. I grabbed Kira's hand to go but she didn't budge. I sighed and left her there to go through one of the doorways and close it. I just needed to know what was happening.
I heard someone getting hit and a thump, I'm guessing they just knocked out Kira, she should have come with me "Someone who has been an Alpha only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of 40 years," Araya chuckled. I counted the steps, there were probably only two other people with her. I debated going now but that would attract more guards.
"All we want is Derek," Scott told her groaning.
"My Lobito, you're a long way from home," She told him, I heard another thump. "Take them to the holding room,"
I followed them silently as they dragged my friends away. They shoved everyone in except Lydia, who one of the guards had a strong hold of.
"We will take the Caperucita Roja for now. Rest, you're going to need it," She told them. She turned to leave as they were closing the door, stopping in her tracks when she saw me "Oh? we missed one then?" She smiled tersely.
"You're going to let them out now," I told her pleasantly.
She frowned "And who are you?"
"Arielle," I told her never losing my smile.
"Well, Arielle. Do yourself and your friends a favor, and get in the room with them," Two of her hunters raised their guns toward me "Before you get hurt,"
"Do you have Derek?" I asked ignoring everyone else.
She sighed "Get in the room,"
"It's a simple question, yes or no?" I asked. I clasped my hands behind my back and stared hard at her losing my smile. One of her hunters raised his gun and shot at me. I stood still knowing it would be a warning shot and go right past me. I made sure I didn't even blink. She looked very put out. She opened her mouth to speak again, I interrupted her.
"Now you may have heard of my father Ariel the lion of God. I was named after him, I know corny," I told her rolling my eyes "Now If that doesn't clue you into what kind of being he is here is a fun fact. The Romans had their own names for my father and his siblings. You know many of them. Poseidon, Athena, Zeus, etc. My father in Roman times was called Ares. The God of War," I told her watching her mouth go slack.
"Now imagine a father who has forced his child to train since she was born and has placed unimaginable expectations on her shoulders. Add in very human emotions such as anger, pride, angst, and love. You have one very emotionally driven potential bomb in your midst." I warned her stepping closer, they all tensed.
"While I don't usually condone violence I am well past the capacity to reign myself in. I will raze this place to the ground, tear it down brick by brick unless you would like to tell me whether you have Derek. If you don't, that's fine. We will be on our way. If you keep pissing me off you're going to see a level of destruction not seen since the angels rebelled with Lucifer. Am I making. My. Self. Clear?" I hissed out now standing directly in front of her.
She side-eyed one of her hunters and nodded. They put down their guns and stepped away from the door. I kept my eyes locked on Araya's as my friends walked slowly towards me. "I do not have him," she told me "You wouldn't believe me if I told you who did,"
"Try us," Scott told her.
"Who had the power? The power of a shapeshifter?" She asked us. I wanted to roll my eyes because that is pretty much everyone we know "Someone who could have turned without you knowing. Turned, but not by a bite!" She said turning to look at Scott.
He stood there thinking for a few minutes then looked up in concern "Kate,"
"That's impossible," Stiles said from behind us. I was pretty shocked too.
"Where is she?" I asked.
"I sent four men out to where Kate was rumored to have been seen. None of them came back. Let's see if you can do better," She dared us.
We all met outside, Araya and I watching each other closely. She spoke to Scott "Now I know what kind of Alpha you are. And where your next step lies,"
"What next step?"
"When you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own, when you do that, then, I will cross your border and come knocking at your door," She warned him "For now I will send you with a guide. Good luck Lobito," She nodded at me and turned, her people going with her.
We all stared as a woman pulled up alongside us on a motorcycle "You know her?" Stiles asked Scott whacking him on the chest since she was looking right at him.
"Braedon," Scott said surprised.
"Whos Braeden?" Malia asked.
Lydia stared down the woman not impressed "She's a mercenary,"
"She also saved Isaac's life," I told them giving her an unsure smile.
She nodded at me "Right now, I'm the only one who's gonna take you to la Iglesia."
"The church?" Lydia and I questioned.
"What's the church?" Stiles asked lost.
"It's not a place you'll find God," She told us without any other detail. We stopped to get more jugs of water. Then we were on our way to find Derek.
Half an hour had passed "So, where did that speech come from?" Stiles asked me from the driver's seat. Everyone looked at me.
I chuckled "I dated Peter Hale for months, you think none of his dramatics rubbed off on me?" That did get some laughs. When I said his name I saw Stile's eyes shift to Malia for a second and then quickly look back at the road.
Malia asked who Kate was. I closed my eyes to rest as Scott told the story of Allison's crazy aunt. I jerked awake when the jeep slid and made a loud grinding noise. I was a little disoriented when Stiles slammed on the breaks. Everyone scrambled around the car looking around and under it. Braeden turned around and met up with us "What happened?"
"I don't know. It felt like we hit something," Stiles told her frantically looking around.
"Scott, we need to get there by night. It's too dangerous otherwise," She told him looking up at the sky.
He looked at me "It's alright, you knew Kate, I didn't. You're going to know more about what she is doing than I would,"
"I don't want to go without you guys,"
Stiles pat him on the back and shoved him towards Braeden "Dude, someone needs to find Derek. We'll figure something out. We always do. Just go."
We all tried to ignore the very awkward goodbye Kira and Scott gave each other. I helped Stiles open the Jeeps hood. Malia crouched down and looked under the fender, I watched as she started to yank out something then called for Stiles "I don't think we hit something. I think something hit us," She said holding up a knife, he picked it up to look at it in confusion.
I took it from him and looked at it "Um, this is a bone knife," I told them "Stiles can you work a little faster? I'm pretty sure this was made from something big,"
He nodded and got to work. We were all unsettled watching around us.
An hour passed "Maybe we should just walk," Lydia said.
"Hey, I will never abandon this jeep. You understand me? Ever. Ever. Ever," Stiles said angrily and held the screwdriver with his mouth as he reached in for something.
"Work faster, Stiles," Malia ordered "There's something out here with us," That was ominous.
Lydia and I took turns trying to help Stiles but the sun was going down fast. Everyone was getting more and more anxious. As the sun went down the temperature was dropping too.
"Stiles, we are never taking your Jeep further than the county line ever again!" I grumbled at him. He huffed in annoyance when we all agreed.
"Lydia, could you please hold the light still for a second? It's really hard to see anything if you keep shaking it like that," Stiles told her. I would trade-off in a second but it was getting really cold and I needed a sweatshirt. I just had to dig out my bag first.
"I'm shaking it like this because we're in the middle of nowhere with your broken down jeep and we're being attacked by yet another razor-clawed monster. And I'm terrified!" She told him. I silently agreed, the dark was creepy, the headlights only showed so much of what was around us.
"Well, just be slightly less terrified. And hold this," He told her, he handed her a big piece of metal, she looked at me like she was saying he does not know what he's doing. I chuckled. I finally found my bag and grabbed one of Lydia's jackets while I was back there. I handed it to her and took the flashlight, she smiled in thanks.
Kira was brilliant and used her katana as a flashlight shining it where we couldn't see "Did you see that?" She whispered making us all stop and look at where she was shining the light. Something was moving. Malia started to chaise after it with a roar.
Stiles tried to scramble after her "Hey, Malia!" I threw him back up to his spot on the jeep.
Lydia called "Kira, go! You. Fix the jeep," She told him he glared at me like he was going to try and go after again "Stiles, focus!" I nodded to her.
"I'm going after them, Stiles I need you to fix this jeep," Then I turned and ran after them. Which sucked because my eyes were nowhere near as good as a were at night. During the day? Great bring it on, hawk eyes. Not so much now. I could hear a yelp in front of me and run faster.
Kira brought her katana away from Malia "What happened? What's out there?" She asked looking past her.
"I don't know, but it is big and fast. And it cuts deep," Malia panted. Kira and I looked at each other and then both of us grabbed one of her arms hauling her away as quickly as possible. Stiles had the engine running when we got there. Lydia was already in the backseat, Kira and I pushed Malia up into the passenger side then scrambled in. Stiles slammed on the accelerator and off we went.
Stiles yelled at Malia for running, she was confused and when she got it she told him she would never leave without him. Then she looked back at us "Them I would leave,"
He nodded his head "Uh, it's progress," he told us.
Lydia called attention to where Malia was bleeding "That doesn't look good,"
She looked at it "It's okay, I can feel it healing," She didn't look like it bothered her so I changed the subject.
"You didn't see anything?"
She shook her head "Barely. It had a strong scent, though," Stiles questioned what it was "Like death," She explained. Well, great.
We were winding through the ruined structure of the town that used to surround the church when we heard Scott roar so loudly that pieces of standing structures were crumbling. Stiles tried to drive faster but there was only so much room. We pulled up to the entrance as 3 people came out. I was leaping out of the Jeep before it completely stopped "Derek?" I called out.
Scott looked at me with an unreadable expression. I could hear Malia ask if that was him. I stopped in my tracks when he looked up. That wasn't Derek, my Derek anyway.
"Uh, sort of," Stiles told her just as shocked as the rest of us.