Here you go, you guys! The last update of 2014! It's a bit of a long one, but I'm very happy with how it came out. So please enjoy chapter 15!
"Call it again," Scott ordered his best friends as he frantically searched all over his room for his phone.
Rolling her eyes, Natalie dialed Scott's phone number. There was no ringing, no vibrate, no nothing. Just silence other than the werewolf throwing his stuff around the room.
"Dude, I've been calling your phone for the past half hour," Natalie said as she tossed her phone next to herself on Scott's bed, "There's nothing. Nada!"
"It's not here," Stiles said from his spot on the desk chair, "Okay, so you lost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?"
"I can't afford a new one," Scott told him, "And I can't do this alone. We need to find Derek."
"Well, 'A', you're not alone. You have me."
Natalie shot her hand up in the air. "And me!"
"Right, and Nat," Stiles continued, "And 'B', didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead."
"Argent's plan was to use him to get to the alpha," Scott said, "They're not gonna kill him."
"Alright, so then just let them do what they're planning, you know? They use Derek to get to Peter- problem solved."
Scott looked back at his friends. "Not if Peter's going after Allison to find Derek! I can't protect her on my own. Which means we either find Derek first… just-" He let out a frustrated groan before continuing his search. "Just help me!"
"There's a high possibility that you lost it when you and Derek were fighting," Natalie spoke up, "You know, that one time where he was about to kill you when you interrupted him when he tried to kill Jackson." It was like her own words made her dizzy and she rubbed her temples with her fingertips. "Damn, you guys are so violent!"
"He wasn't going to kill anyone," Scott said, rolling his eyes, "And I'm not letting him die."
"Could you at least think about letting him die?" Stiles asked, "For me?" Natalie grabbed the nearest magazine and threw it at her boyfriend's head. He flailed his arms. "I'm just saying! And you think werewolves are violent…"
That was when Scott heard someone talking outside of the house. His head tilted slightly to the side as he tried to get a better listen. Stiles and Natalie both noticed the sudden change in their best friend's mood.
"What?" Stiles asked.
"My mom just got home from work," Scott said.
He stayed still as he listened to the conversation Melissa was having on the phone in her car. Actually, she was leaving a voicemail for Peter since they never did go on their date the other night. In the voicemail, Melissa was struggling and fumbling with her words as she tried to ask if he wanted to reschedule their date for another time. When she hung up the phone, she remained seated in the car.
Then Scott's heart crumbled when he heard his mother break down. No child ever wants to hear their mother cry. And the fact that Scott caused this was even more painful for him. He did this with good intentions, even though Melissa could never know what's really going on without giving away his secret. Not if he wanted to keep her safe.
Stiles grew concerned when he saw Scott frown. "Is she okay? What's she doing?"
"Crying," Scott answered. He sat on the edge of the bed next to Natalie. The redhead rubbed his back as soothingly as she could.
"You're only sixteen, Scotty," she told him, "You can't protect everyone. You know that, right?"
The teen wolf shook his head. "I have to." He rested his head on Natalie's shoulder as she continued to comfort him.
The next day at school after gym class, Coach Finstock told Scott that because of his bad grades, he was not allowed to go to the winter formal. It was either that or he was cut from the lacrosse team. Since he had to watch over Allison and make sure she was safe, Scott would rather be kicked off the team than have the girl he loved be in danger. But there was nothing that he could say to change the coach's mind.
Well, there was one thing that he could do- get Jackson to go to the dance with Allison.
Said boy was getting his stuff out of his locker when all of a sudden, Natalie slammed the door shut. The jock turned his head and saw her along with Scott and Stiles standing there. He opened his mouth to ask Natalie why she was in the boys' locker room (again), but he just waved her off.
"You want me to take her to the formal," he said to Scott.
"I don't want you to," the teen wolf said, "I need you to."
"Screw you." Jackson pointed to the couple. "You know what? Screw you, too. In fact, screw each other in some awkward threesome thing."
Shaking that disturbing thought out of her head, Natalie jabbed her finger at Jackson's chest. "Listen, Jackass. I've had it up to here with your shit, okay? Don't forget that Scott saved your life."
"He left me for dead," Jackson said, pushing Natalie's hand away from him.
"I got shot for you," Scott pointed out.
"Oh yeah? Show me the bullet wound."
"You know it healed."
The jock hummed and glared at Scott. "Convenient," he said with a snarky tone.
"Just do it for Allison, okay?" Scott pleaded, "She's in serious danger. I'm talking around-the-clock danger. She needs someone to keep an eye on her at the dance."
"Have her dad do it, okay? He's the one actually equipped to handle this."
"How am I supposed to do that and keep him from finding out about me?" Scott asked incredulously.
"Not my problem."
Jackson was about to walk away when Scott shot his arm out in front of him and smacked his hand on the locker. His eyes widened a tad bit and he looked up at Scott.
The wolf sighed. "You're her friend too. You are. All that time that you spent with her to get to me, you can't tell me that you didn't get to like her. It's Allison. It's impossible not to like her. You can't tell me that you don't care if she gets hurt."
"What if I get hurt?" Jackson asked.
"Then it's worth it," Natalie shrugged.
"Not to me." Then he pushed past the trio. They watched him as he walked away. Selfish bastard.
"Well, I shouldn't say I told you so," Stiles said, "'cause it's not strong enough. How about I am always right, and you should listen to whatever I have to say and never disagree ever, ever, for the sake of your wolflihood?"
"Stiles," Natalie said, "shut it."
"I'm not done," Scott growled out before following after Jackson, leaving the couple behind.
"You're not done," Stiles repeated, "Okay."
Natalie rolled her eyes and grabbed her boyfriend's arm. "Come on." She dragged him to catch up with Scott.
"One more thing," Scott said, making Jackson stop in his tracks.
As he turned around, Scott's eyes glowed yellow and his fangs grew out. Jackson's eyes widened in fear. Then Scott grabbed him by the shirt and threw him against the door.
Later, the trio watched behind a set of lockers as Jackson nervously talked to Allison about the dance. Scott looked like he was shooting daggers at Jackson's head.
"Hey, don't worry," Stiles told him, "Nat and I'll still be there."
"I'm still going," Scott said with determination.
"I'm not sure if that's such a good idea," Natalie said, "Do you even have a date?"
"Not yet."
"Do you have a suit?" Stiles asked.
"Not yet," Scott admitted, turning around to face his best friends.
"What about a ticket?" Natalie added, "And transportation. A car, a jet plane, anything of that nature."
"No. And no."
Stiles smirked. "So you're gonna ride your bike to a dance that you're not allowed to go to without a date, a suit, or a way in with werewolves and werewolf hunters all out to kick your little werewolf ass."
"Yeah," Scott nodded, "You two gonna help me?"
"Hell yeah."
The human boy wrapped his arms around Scott and Natalie's shoulders as they walked to their next class. All of a sudden, Natalie's phone vibrated in her pocket. She pulled it out and answered the call.
"Hey, Mom. What's up?" she said. The smile on her face quickly dropped. "Wait, you were serious about that? Damn it. I was supposed to go over to Stiles's house after school." She looked over at her boyfriend. "Can he at least come with us then? Alright, I'll see you later. Bye."
"Where is Stiles going after school?" Stiles asked as Natalie hung up the phone.
"The mall," Natalie grumbled, "My mom's making me go dress shopping with her for the formal."
"Why do I have to go?" Stiles whined while Scott laughed.
"Because if you're there, maybe my mom will go easy on me. And she's making Zach go with us so now he'll have company." Natalie rolled her eyes when Stiles groaned. "Don't complain. There's a ninety-five percent chance you'll get to see me naked."
That brought the biggest smile to Stiles's face. "Really?"
"You'll just have to wait and see, babe," she smirked, winking. She kissed Stiles's cheek and walked ahead of the boys.
"Wait, Nat!" Stiles shouted out, "You can't just tease me about you being naked and leave me hanging like that!" He ran after her, leaving Scott behind.
Said boy scrunched his face in disgust. "God, I could have gone my whole life without imagining my best friends naked!"
"Deal with it, Scotty!" Natalie called out from behind her.
After school, Stiles and Natalie drove over to the mall where Terri and Zach were waiting for them. The moment Zach saw the couple walk up to them, he let out a sigh of relief that there was at least one other male with them. They all immediately headed over to Macy's to look for a dress for Natalie. She knew right away that this was going to be hell on earth.
Terri went on a frenzy as soon as they entered the store. She picked up every single dress in sight and tossed them at Natalie. The redhead's arms were starting to feel heavy from the weight of the clothes. Behind them, Stiles and Zach were watching the whole thing and laughing their asses off. Natalie reminded herself to kill them later.
An hour and twenty-something dresses later, Natalie was finally trying on the last dress her mother picked out for her. Outside, Terri, Stiles, and Zach were sitting on a bench and waiting for Natalie to come out of her cubicle.
"Natalie, what's taking you so long?" Terri asked, "It doesn't take ten minutes to try on one dress."
"I am not coming out!" the redhead said.
"Why not? I wanna see what the dress looks like."
"I look stupid!"
"It can't be that bad," Stiles interjected. Natalie didn't respond. "Just get out here and show us the dress, babe."
They heard Natalie grumble to herself before she walked out of the cubicle. Her cheeks turned into the same color as her hair as they looked at her. The dress she had on was horrendous! It was the most obnoxious hot pink color with sequins all over it. The skirt was all big and frilly with ruffles. A toddler should have been wearing it rather than a teenager. All she needed were ballet slippers and a tiara to complete the look.
As Stiles and Zach cackled at the dress, Natalie's frown deepened. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at the boys. But with the frilly pink dress she was wearing, Natalie was far from intimidating.
"Oh, honey, you look precious!" Terri cooed, oblivious to her daughter's misery. She nudged Stiles's arm with her elbow. "Stiles, doesn't Natalie look precious in that dress?"
"Choose your next words carefully," Natalie warned him through grounded teeth.
Stiles immediately stopped laughing and gulped nervously. "Yeah, babe, you look… adorable," he said, stifling his laughter.
"Are you kidding?" Zach exclaimed, "With your red hair, you look like a cupcake with a cherry on top!" Both boys started cracking up again, leaning against each other and clutching onto their stomachs.
However, the redhead didn't find it so funny. "Yeah, laugh it up, jerk-off." Natalie turned to her mother. "Okay, can we go now? There's obviously nothing here for me."
"No, we cannot leave," Terri said, "This just means that we have to keep looking around until we find the right dress."
"But we've been looking for almost two hours!" Natalie groaned.
"And we will be here for two more until we find you a dress," Terri said as she stood up, "I'll be right back to find you something else. Stay here."
Natalie was about to protest but her mother had already left the fitting room. The boys were still laughing so Natalie slapped them upside the heads. Yelping out in pain, Stiles and Zach rubbed the sore spots.
"A cupcake with a cherry on top?!" Natalie hissed out, "I was expecting you to have my back, not laugh at me! You guys are assholes!"
"Hey, I didn't insult you or anything!" Stiles defended himself, "I said that you looked cute!"
"Oh, we both know that you were lying so don't give me that bullshit," Natalie told him.
"Well, you have to admit that you look pretty ridiculous," Zach said. His sister smacked him again. "Alright, I'm sorry! Jeez, has being around werewolves made you more brutal?"
"Why does everyone think that's the reason why I do anything?" Natalie exclaimed, flailing her arms around, "Can't people just accept the fact that I'm actually strong and that I-"
She stopped ranting when her brother's words really soaked in her brain. Her eyes grew wide, as did Stiles's, when they looked over at Zach. The boy's hand was slapped over his mouth as he realized the slip-up he had just made.
Stiles pointed his finger at Zach. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"
"What? No," Zach said nervously, shaking his head, "I didn't say anything."
"You just said 'werewolves'," Natalie said accusingly.
"No, I didn't."
"Yes, you did." Zach's head snapped back and forth between the couple before he shot up from the bench and tried to run away. But Natalie was faster and she grabbed the back of his shirt. "Not so fast, you little shit." Zach cursed to himself and slumped back down on the bench.
Pushing himself up, Stiles went to go stand next to Natalie. "Okay, what makes you think you know about werewolves and that they're real?" he asked the thirteen year old, crossing his arms.
"Are you forgetting who you're talking to?" Zach snorted, "I play a lot of online games where I battle mythical creatures. You tend to learn a bunch of history about things like centaurs, dragons, phoenixes…" He raised his eyebrows. "Werewolves."
"Those are just games though," Stiles pointed out, "They're not real."
"I'm not stupid, Stiles. You don't think I've seen Scott acting weirder than usual lately? His mood swings have been, like, through the roof. And whenever Rocky sees him or that Derek guy, he barks a lot more. He never barks at anything, not even a cat."
One of Natalie's eyebrows rose. "How do you know about Derek?"
"The walls are thin, Sis. I can hear almost everything that goes on in your room. Even if it's things that no thirteen year old boy wants to hear from their sister."
Zach shuddered in disgust when he remembered the times he could hear Stiles and Natalie doing not-so-innocent things next to his room. Both of the older teenagers blushed madly at this. From now on, their private moments of fooling around will be taking place at Stiles's house.
"Alright, Zach," Stiles said, clasping his hands together, "What will it take for you not to say anything about this to anyone?"
"Nothing much," the boy shrugged, "I just want to go to your guys' winter formal… with Lydia as my date."
"You're joking, right?" Natalie said, "You're in junior high. How the hell do you expect to get into a high school dance?"
"People get guest passes for people that aren't in high school all the time. It's not that hard. And this is my one shot for a night with Lydia since she and Jackson broke up."
Stiles snorted. "Dude, she's two years older than you."
"Age is but a number, my friend," Zach said with a serious face.
"Oh my god," Natalie chuckled, pinching the bridge of her nose, "Alright, fine, I'll get you in the dance with Lydia. Just keep your mouth shut about the whole werewolf thing. Got it?"
"Yep, got it," Zach beamed.
"Good. Now, can you please go find Mom and prevent her from picking out a dress that makes me look like a dessert?"
Her brother rolled his eyes but headed out of the fitting room. Stiles went after him after briefly kissing Natalie's lips. The redhead looked down at herself, scrunching her nose at the sight of the ugly dress. She hurried back into her cubicle so she could take it off. Before she did that, Natalie grabbed her phone and texted Allison, who she knew was dress shopping with Lydia.
To: Allison
Hey, Alli! Did you still wanna get back at Lydia?
It only took about half a minute for Allison to respond to her message.
To: Natalie
Depends… what'd you have in mind?
To: Allison
Get her to take my lil bro to the formal.
To: Natalie
Isn't he in junior high?
To: Allison
According to him, age is but a number.
To: Natalie
I'm in ;)
The redhead laughed to herself as she put down her phone. As Natalie stripped out of the dress, she heard another person walk out of their own cubicle. It was probably some random woman trying on clothes so she just minded her own business.
"Need a hand?"
Dropping the dress on the floor, Natalie's eyes widened at the unexpected voice. Unless they were going through a weird stage of puberty, that was definitely not a woman. But the voice was unpleasantly familiar. And Natalie had a very strong feeling who they were. Being careful to be super quiet, she tiptoed to the door of her cubicle and peered through the crack.
Unfortunately, her suspicions were correct. Decked out in all black wardrobe was none other than Peter Hale. Natalie wanted to laugh at his appearance- he couldn't be any more obvious with his dark clothing. That just screamed out 'mysterious' and 'dangerous'. Anyway, he was chatting up a short brunette who seemed to be Natalie's age. She couldn't make out what he was saying, but then all of a sudden, Peter walked up to the girl and pulled the zipper of the dress she was trying on up. That made Natalie shiver in discomfort. God, that man was so damn creepy! And she was pretty sure the poor girl was thinking the exact same thing.
When she turned around to face the big mirror, Natalie immediately knew who she was. That girl was Delilah Lambert. She was on the school's color guard team and one of the top twenty in academics in their class. Natalie was partners with her freshmen year for an English project. Delilah was hands down the nicest person she had ever met in her life. A little shy, but super nice. And she was dating this guy in their chemistry class. What was his name… oh! Isaac Lahey, otherwise known as 'Grave Digger' due to his job at the cemetery. He was even shyer than his girlfriend. But Natalie has seen them both together around school and had to admit that they were a really cute pair.
Natalie continued to watch as Peter continued to charm Delilah, which judging by the look on her face wasn't working out so well. The redhead grew worried that he was either going to give her classmate the bite, or even worse, kill her. Thankfully, Delilah was smart enough to tell Peter that she had to leave and he backed away. Once he left, Natalie let out a sigh of relief and leaned against the door. It was a good thing that he didn't know that she was in the room. Well, being a werewolf, he probably did, but he never said anything. What was he going to do? Maim Natalie in front of Delilah? Not if he really wanted to get his ass thrown in jail. While she was lost in her thoughts, someone knocked on her door, making Natalie jump a little.
"Oh my god!" she gasped.
"Natalie, it's me," she heard Terri from the other side of the door. The redhead cracked the door open. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah," Natalie said nervously, "Everything's fine. Why wouldn't they be?"
Terri searched her face for any signs that she was lying, but she shook her head. "Anyway, I think you'll really like this dress. Stiles picked it out."
She handed Natalie a white strapless dress. It had a sweetheart neckline with black trimming around the waist. While the skirt was layered like the previous dress, it was much more tamed and had an edgy vibe to it. This was definitely Natalie's style.
"Wow," she said as she inspected the dress, "And you said that Stiles picked it out?"
"Yeah," Terri laughed, "Who knew that kid had a decent taste in clothes?"
"That's exactly what I said," Natalie chuckled along, "Alright, let's get this baby on." She stepped into the dress and pulled it up so it covered her chest. Terri had her turn around so she could pull up the zipper. Then Natalie faced her mother again and placed her hands on her hips. "So, how does it look?"
"Oh my…" Terri smiled, "Why don't you take a look for yourself?"
So Natalie did just that. She walked out of the cubicle and checked herself out in the mirror. If she said so for herself, she looked pretty hot! Add some black heels and some jewelry and she would be smokin'. For fun, Natalie struck some poses and made faces at herself in the mirror. Terri laughed at her daughter.
"Having fun over there?"
"Yes, I am," Natalie said as she continued to pose like a supermodel, "Thank you, Stiles."
"You look great, honey," Terri said, "Now get dressed so we can go to the food court for something to eat. I don't know about you, but all of this shopping is making me hungry. I'll wait for you outside."
Nodding in agreement, Natalie went back inside her cubicle and took off the dress. She hung it back on the hanger neatly before grabbing her regular clothes. After putting on her baseball tee, skinny jeans, and white Converse, Natalie took the dress and walked out of the fitting room. Right away, her eyebrows rose when she saw Stiles and Zach 'sword-fighting' with hangers. People in the store were staring at them like they were idiots, and Natalie didn't blame them. The boys were running through the clothes racks and yelling like they were in a Renaissance battle. Then all of a sudden, Zach jumped on Stiles's back and they fell onto a couple of mannequins. Now they had the attention of everyone at Macy's, including Allison and Lydia. Natalie's face grew hot in embarrassment and she covered her face with her hands.
"Now look what you did!" Zach exclaimed as he and Stiles got up from the floor.
Stiles scoffed. "Me?! You're the one who jumped me! This is all your fault!" Then he turned around and his eyes grew wide when he saw his girlfriend standing there and staring at them. "Oh, hey, babe. I see you liked the dress."
Natalie opened her mouth to speak, but she was pretty much speechless. She raised her hands up in surrender. "I… I don't know. I have no words. Just fix the mannequins and let's go. Freakin' dumbasses…" She walked away to leave her boyfriend and brother to clean up their mess.
In the woods that night, the white wolf ran through the trees, the moonlight highlighting her fur beautifully. Now that she knew who the alpha was, she had been running around Beacon Hills, especially the schools, and making sure that Peter wasn't going to attack and kill anyone. It wasn't like there was anything else going on in her life so she had all the time in the world. As it grew dark outside and after she was sure that everyone was safe, the wolf decided to go to the Hale and Fierro house to see if anyone was there.
When she got there, she knew that Peter wasn't around. But when she sniffed the air, her eyes glowed in that electric blue color. More than one person was inside the house, but she couldn't tell who they were. As the wolf stepped closer to the house, the strong stench of cheap perfume clogged her nose. It was horrific and it made her stomach churn. Underneath it, she could barely make out a different scent. This one was much more satisfying, like pine needles. It reminded her of Christmas, which is always a happy memory. She crept over to the side of the house where there was a small window that looked into the basement.
Inside the basement, she saw Kate Argent sitting next to a table with some weird machines on top of it. Just looking at the evil woman made the wolf growl lowly. She hated that bitch more than anything on the planet for the cruel things she had done. But then she saw a young man with no shirt on hanging with shackles around his wrists and wired taped to his torso. Sweat covered his body and he looked very pale, almost like he was sick. The wolf couldn't help but think about how familiar he seemed to her. His face was lowered, but she could tell that the pine needle scent was coming from him. Who was he?
"Unfortunately, Derek," she heard Kate sigh like she was bored, "if you're not gonna talk… I'm just gonna have to kill you." She set the phone in her hand down on the table. "So say hi to your sister for me." Her hand hovered over the machine, threatening to turn the 'On' switch. But she didn't touch it. "You did tell her about me, didn't you? The truth about the fire?" She paused and turned to look at the werewolf. A smirk crept up on her face. "Or did you?" Kate stood up and walked over to Derek. "Did you tell anybody?"
Derek remained silent and kept his head down. Anger boiled in his blood the more the blonde hunter yapped on.
"Oh, sweetie," she said, shaking her head, "That's just a lot of guilt to keep buried. It's not all your fault. You got tricked by a pretty face." She shrugged her shoulders. "It happens. Handsome young werewolf mistakenly falls in love with a super-hot girl that kills the werewolves. Is that ironic?" She stepped closer to Derek. "Is it… ironic… that you're inadvertently helping me track down the rest of the pack… again?" A sadistic chuckle escaped past her lips. "Or just a little history repeating."
The hunter walked back over to the table and tapped her fingers on top of the machine. She thought to herself for a little bit when Derek continued to not say a word to her.
A sudden thought popped into Kate's head. "History repeating…" She went back to Derek. "It's not Jackson, is it? Oh, no, no, no. He's got a little scratch on the back of his neck, but… he's not in love with Allison. Not like Scott."
Kate's head slightly turned and she noticed something on the table. She smiled wickedly as she picked up the picture of Anabelle she took out of Derek's wallet. As she inspected the picture, Derek finally looked up and his heart ached when he saw what was in Kate's hand.
"Actually, there was one person who knew about me, wasn't there?" Kate smirked, "Little Anabelle Fierro… who I liked to call your little bitch."
It was hard to tell which of the two wolves was the angriest at the insult- the white wolf or Derek. The man growled at Kate for the bad nickname she gave his former best friend. But Kate wasn't affected by this at all. Instead, her grin stretched even wider.
"I wonder how she's doing right now," she continued, "For all we know, she could be dead in a ditch somewhere. But you'll never know, will you? God, she must hate you so much. Who could blame her? It's so sad, isn't it, Derek?" Said man glared at Kate as she chuckled. "She tried to warn you, too. She kept telling you that I was no good. But you didn't listen." One of her fingers trailed down Derek's chest. "No, you were just too hypnotized by an older and sexier woman to care what a stupid little girl had to say. Such a shame how one mistake had cost you everything you loved, especially the one girl you promised to never hurt and always protect." She leaned towards Derek and whispered in his ear, "And there's nothing you can do to bring her back."
She tore the picture in half and threw the pieces on the ground. Derek could feel his heart tear along with it as it was the only picture of Anabelle he had. After that, Kate walked out of the basement, leaving the werewolf alone. The white wolf should have left since there was a high possibility that Kate could catch her. But it was like her feet were cemented to the ground. She couldn't take her eyes off of Derek's defeated face. It was like she could feel every single emotion he had- anger, sadness, heartbreak, and the most powerful one, guilt.
The front door creaked softly as it opened on a Sunday morning. It was about 6:14 AM so everyone in the Hale and Fierro house was still asleep. Poking her head through the opening, fifteen year old Anabelle Fierro looked around and listened carefully to make sure that no one was awake. The coast was clear. Anabelle let out a sigh of relief and quietly shut the door behind her. She tiptoed up the stairs to her bedroom, which was right next to Derek's. His door was shut so she assumed that he was also sleeping.
But as soon as she stepped into her room, Anabelle saw Derek sitting on the edge of her bed. His arms were crossed in front of his chest and he was staring at his best friend with a frown on his face.
"God, Derek, what are you doing in here?" Anabelle hissed at him, "It's six in the morning. You should be in bed at this hour!"
"Well, you should've been in bed, period," Derek shot back, "I've been waiting for you to come home all night. Where have you been?"
"You're not my dad," Anabelle said as she set her bag down by her door, "It's none of your business. And besides, I'm pretty sure you weren't that worried about me since you ditched me with Kate."
Immediately, Derek's green eyes grew wide. "Shh! Are you serious, Anabelle? Someone could've heard you right now!" The caramel-haired girl rolled her eyes as she kicked off her shoes. "And are you really still mad about me canceling our movie plans? I told you I was sorry about that."
"I'm not mad, Derek. But right now, I am annoyed and exhausted. Can you just please go to bed? We can talk later when it's not so early."
Letting out a frustrated sigh, Derek ran his hand through his black hair. This was their third argument this week. Ever since Derek started going out with Kate, it seems like all he and Anabelle have been doing lately is fight. Anabelle was the only one who knew about their relationship. Kate was an Argent, which meant that she came from a family of werewolf hunters. Derek knew that his family would be absolutely furious if they knew about it. But he could never hide something like this from his best friend, so he told Anabelle. He didn't expect her to be happy about it, so he wasn't surprised when she slapped the back of his head and asked if he lost his 'goddamn mind'. Ever since then, they were constantly bickering and Derek kept canceling their plans to hang out with Kate. He hated to upset Anabelle like this, but he loved Kate… didn't he?
Just as Derek was about to leave Anabelle's room, a peculiar scent traveled to his nostrils. He sniffed around the room and looked over at Anabelle. Her arms were now crossed, but it was like she was protecting herself from something. Derek stalked towards the girl, the scent growing stronger the closer he got to her. Anabelle's heartbeat increased when he rubbed his nose against her neck and smelled her. Slowly, Derek's head rose up and he stared into Anabelle's brown eyes. His own eyes switched to electric blue.
"What the hell did you do?" he said slowly.
"Derek, just go to your room and get some sleep," Anabelle ordered calmly, lightly pushing on his shoulders.
But he wasn't having it. Derek grabbed onto her wrists. "You had sex with Chase, didn't you? That's where you were last night."
"You're hurting me," Anabelle said through gritted teeth.
"He took your virginity away from you last night, didn't he?"
"Let go of me!" Anabelle yanked her hands out of Derek's grasps and rubbed her sore wrists.
"How could you let him do that to you?" Derek asked, trying his best not to yell, "What happened to wanting to wait until you were married? I can't believe that son of a bitch did this to you…"
Again, Anabelle rolled her eyes. "You're acting like he took advantage of me. It was a mutual decision."
"By mutual, you mean he says something and you instantly agree and do what he wants like a puppy?" Derek spat.
"What the hell is wrong with you? I don't know what your problem is with Chase and why you hate him so much, but we've been dating for three months. You need to get over your differences already."
"I don't have to do anything, Anabelle. You've always told me that you were saving yourself for marriage. I know how big of a deal sex is to you. And you waste your first time with Chase? What the hell were you thinking?"
"Stop it," Anabelle told him, "I knew what I was doing. I wanted my first time to be with Chase because I love him."
Derek snorted. "You're fifteen years old. You're too young to know what love is."
"Oh, and you do? Did you forget that you're only a year older than me?"
"But Chase doesn't love you, Anabelle," Derek said harshly, "He's never loved you. He's a junior and you're a freshman. Why would he love someone as young as you? All he cares about is himself and sex."
At this point, Anabelle was getting very upset. She pushed on his chest so they were now in the hallway. "You're such a fucking hypocrite, you know? You think you and Kate have some sort of special thing going on? Wake up, Derek. This is all going to blow up in your face in the end. She was meant to kill people like us. That bitch could care less about you."
"You have no idea what you're talking about," Derek growled, his eyes still blue.
"I'm not as dumb as you think I am," Anabelle said, "I can see that she's changed you. You're not that same caring boy I grew up with. You became a selfish prick who's too blind to see what's going on in front of you. The more time you're with Kate, the more power you give her to manipulate you."
"You're making me really angry right now, Anabelle."
"Good!" said girl exclaimed, "Get angry! I don't care! Maybe one day you'll finally understand that she's brainwashing you. Like all whores, all she needs to do is spread her legs for you to fall under her command like some stupid puppet!"
That was when Derek completely lost it. Without thinking, he pushed her with all the strength he had. Anabelle lost her balance and she ended up falling down the stairs. At the bottom was a full-length mirror that hung in front of the closet. When Anabelle reached the bottom of the stairs, she ended up hitting her head on the mirror hard, causing it to shatter and her to collapse. Derek immediately began to panic. He raced down the stairs to his best friend's side. He went to grab her arm but Anabelle shoved his hand away. She pushed herself up and placed her hand on the back of her head. When she took her hand away, she saw blood coating her palm.
"Anabelle, I am so sorry," Derek apologized, his voice wavering, "I didn't mean to hurt you."
The she-wolf shook her head. "No," she said sternly, "You win, Derek. I'll never bother you ever again. Have a nice life with Kate. You two deserve each other." She then ran up the stairs to her room.
"Wait, Anabelle!"
Derek chased after his best friend, but by the time he got to her room, Anabelle had already slammed the door shut and locked it. He placed his hands on the wood of the door and listened helplessly as the girl sobbed. Pissed off at himself, Derek let out a roar and punched the wall. What had he done? How could have he been so stupid to hurt the one girl he cared about more than life itself? Odds are that she would never forgive him for putting Kate before his and her family.
He pressed his back against the door and slid down. A tear rolled down his cheek as he buried his face in his hands. Derek didn't even know how long he had been crying until a pair of arms wrapped around him. But he rested his head on the person's chest and accepted their embrace.
"I fucked up really bad, Laura," he cried to his older sister.
"Shh, it's okay," Laura said softly, "Whatever's going on with you two will blow over and before you know it, everything will be back to normal."
But they never did. Now look where Derek was. He had a murderous uncle on the loose and had been captured and chained up by his psychotic ex-girlfriend. All he could do was imagine what would have happened if he had listened to the she-wolf and broke things off with Kate. Would his family still be alive? Would Anabelle be with him, just like she promised she would be? Derek would never know. Like Kate said, Anabelle was gone and there was nothing he could do about it.
"I'm so sorry, Anabelle," Derek said softly, swallowing down the lump forming in his throat, "I'm so fucking sorry."
Then he heard a howl. Derek looked up at the window on the other side of the basement, but there was no one and nothing there. All he could detect was that same scent that has been haunting him since he returned to Beacon Hills- vanilla.
"Lydia, you have been in there for almost forty-five minutes now!" Natalie said, knocking on her bathroom door, "What the hell are you doing? Performing an operation?"
The door opened, revealing the strawberry-blonde who had a slight pout on her face. "Beauty takes time and patience, Nat," she told her friend, "After being friends with me for seven years, you should know that this-" She gestured to her face. "-does not happen overnight."
"If you spend any more time in the bathroom, then we're actually going to be here overnight," Natalie said.
"Relax," Lydia said, rolling her eyes, "I was just finishing up anyway." She stepped out of the bathroom and looked up and down at the redhead. "Damn!"
Natalie had already finished getting ready for the winter formal. She was wearing her white dress and had accompanied it with black leather heels, a black and silver bracelet, and black and silver hoop earrings, all of which she borrowed from Lydia. Thank god that they had the same shoe size. Then Natalie had curled her red velvet hair and pinned it so it swept over one shoulder. Her makeup was dramatic but not cheesy with smoky eyes and red glossy lips. Earlier that day, Natalie and Lydia had done each other's nails so Natalie's were sparkly and black. She had wanted to go for just a matte black color, but Lydia had insisted in adding some glitter. Oh, that things Natalie would do to make her friends happy.
She held her arms out and smiled sheepishly at Lydia. "So… what do you think? Is the makeup too much?"
"Oh my god, Natalie!" Lydia gasped, "You look hot! Stiles is going to be all over you the whole night!"
"No, he won't," Natalie said with a slight blush.
"Are you kidding me? If that boy doesn't jump your bones tonight then I will."
"Shut up," Natalie laughed and shoved Lydia's shoulder. She grabbed her black leather jacket and shrugged it on. "But seriously, we gotta go. Stiles keeps texting me that we need to hurry up so we can get a good parking place. You know that we can't keep teenage boys waiting for too long."
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. Let's get a move on." She grabbed her handbag and followed Natalie out of the room.
At the bottom of the staircase, Natalie's parents, the sheriff, Lydia's parents, Stiles, and Zach were waiting for the two girls. The mothers gushed at how beautiful their daughters looked while the dads complained that their dresses should be longer. But the moment Stiles and Zach laid eyes on their dates, their jaws dropped. Natalie and Lydia were bombshells!
"Holy crap," Stiles mumbled as his eyes traveled down to Natalie's toned legs.
"Eyes on her face, boy," Kurt warned him.
"Sorry," Stiles apologized before snapping his head back up.
His girlfriend suddenly became bashful as she walked up to him, her heels clacking against the wooden floor. The blush on Natalie's cheeks hid her actual red hues. She stopped in front of Stiles.
"Hi," she said softly.
"Hi," he greeted back. He then remembered the box in his hands and opened it up. "I got this for you. Hold out your wrist."
When Natalie did so, Stiles tied a corsage made up of red, white, and black roses around her wrist. He made sure that it wasn't going to slip off before he let Natalie pin the boutonniere on his jacket. Luckily she was able to do it without poking him in the chest.
"There," Natalie smiled, "You ready to head on out?"
Stiles nodded. "Yep. Let's do this."
"Not until we get some pictures of you," Terri said. All four of the teenagers groaned in annoyance. "Oh, relax! I'm just gonna take a few photos and then you can go. Come on, stand in front of the fireplace."
The teenagers whined but followed Terri's instructions. As soon as they were in front of the fireplace, Terri started snapping photos of them. Most of the pictures were of all four of them. Then they broke off in pairs. First it was Stiles and Natalie, then Lydia and Zach. After that, it was just the Henderson siblings. Then it was just the girls then the boys, who were just goofing off in the pictures. Somehow, it was like they did a 360 turn and the four of them were posing together again. Finally, Natalie had enough.
"Alright, that's it," she said, grabbing Stiles's hand, "We really need to leave. Come on, let's get out of here." The teenagers rushed to the door.
"Wait!" Terri exclaimed, running after them, "I didn't get enough pictures!"
"Oh, trust me, Mom," Natalie said, "You got way more than enough." She quickly shut the door and they all hopped into Stiles's blue jeep. "Drive before my mom catches up to us," she ordered Stiles.
He raised an eyebrow. "Uh, Nat, I don't think she could-"
"She'll find a way, Stiles," Natalie snapped. He raised his hands in defense and started the car. As fast as he could, he pulled out of the Henderson's driveway and drove to the high school.
They reached Beacon Hills High in less than ten minutes. Stiles was lucky to be able to find a spot open in the parking lot since it was so packed. After he parked the car, they got out and started heading over to the front of the school. They bumped into Allison and Jackson, who were both looking very spiffy.
"Jackson," Lydia said, "You look handsome."
The jock snorted. "Of course. It's Hugo Boss." Then he left with Allison, who gave her friend an apologetic look.
"It's Hugo Boss," Natalie mimicked. She pretended to gag. "God, he's such an ass. You want me to beat him up, because I totally can. Just let me grab Tina from Stiles's jeep and I can bust the windows out this car."
Lydia shook her head. "No. I don't care. I don't want compliments. I will not fall prey to society's desire to turn girls into emotional, insecure neurotics who pull up their dresses at the first flattering remark."
"Well, I think you look beautiful," Zach told her.
The strawberry-blonde's eyes widened at the unexpected compliment from the thirteen year old. She looked up at him. "Really?"
Zach nodded his head and held out his elbow. With a small smile, Lydia linked her arm with his and let him lead her inside the school. Zach turned his head to look back at Natalie and Stiles. They gave him a thumbs-up and he winked at them, clearly proud of his smooth antics.
Everyone in the gym was having a blast when the four of them walked in. Most of the students were either already on the dance floor or sitting down at a table. The four teenagers found a table closer to the dance floor and took their seats. Stiles and Natalie were busy talking amongst themselves as Lydia and Zach were looking extremely bored. The youngest Henderson was drumming his fingers on the table as he looked around the gym. After a while, he let out a huff of air and turned to Lydia.
"You wanna dance?" he asked her.
"Pass," Lydia immediately said.
"Alright, let me try that again." Zach stood up from his chair, making all three of the sophomores look up at him. "Lydia Martin, get your cute little ass up and dance with me now."
His sister face-palmed. "Are you fucking kidding me, Zach?"
Lydia just looked amused. "Interesting tactic," she told him, "I'm gonna stick with no."
"For god's sake, Lydia, just get up," Zach demanded, "You're gonna dance with me right now, damn it. Look, I don't care that you're two years older than me and that you are way out of my league like Natalie is way out of Stiles's league."
Said boy gawked at him. "What the fuck-"
"I don't care about any of that," Zach continued, holding his hand out in front of Stiles's face. "Lydia, I have had the biggest crush on you ever since I was in the third grade. And I know that somewhere inside that cold, lifeless exterior, there's an actual human soul. And I'm pretty sure that besides my sister, I'm the only one who knows how smart you really are." Lydia raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah. And once you're done pretending to be a stereotypical dumb blonde- even though you're not actually blonde… you'll eventually go off and write some insane mathematical theorem that wins you the Nobel Prize."
Needless to say, all three of the older teenagers were shocked at Zach's little monologue. He even surprised himself, especially since this was the most he has ever said to Lydia in his entire life. But it felt so damn good to get all of that out.
"A Fields Medal," Lydia suddenly said.
"Huh?" Zach asked, tilting his head sideways.
She stood up. "Nobel doesn't have a prize for mathematics. The Fields Medal's the one I'll be winning." Then she grabbed his hand and led him to the dance floor. Zach pumped his hand up in victory, making Stiles and Natalie laugh.
"Damn," Natalie chuckled, "Who knew the kid could be so smooth?"
"I know, right?" Stiles agreed. He looked at his girlfriend and rubbed the back of his neck. "For the record, I don't have to break out in some big dramatic speech to get you to dance with me, do I?"
Natalie pretended to think to herself. "Hmm… as entertaining as that would be, it's not really necessary." She slipped her hand into his. "Let's go, Stilinski."
He flashed a big grin and together, they both walked to the dance floor. They were instantly reminded of the night of Lydia's party when they almost shared their first kiss. Only this time, Stiles wasn't as spastic when it came to his dancing, even though Natalie wouldn't have minded either way. Both of them were just having a good time and were even able to forget about the supernatural stuff. The night was full of smiles and laughter, especially when Coach Finstock caught Scott dancing with Danny. Just the sight of the boys with their arms around each other was amusing. Natalie swore that she could've died from laughter.
Things started mellowing down when the band finally played a slow song. Stiles wrapped his arms around his girlfriend's waist and pulled her closer to him. Their foreheads pressed together and they were smiling at each other as they danced.
"Have I told you tonight how beautiful you are?" Stiles asked.
Shaking her head, Natalie chuckled. "Please tell me that you're not gonna start getting corny on me."
"I'm being serious," Stiles said, "I know that I say that you're hot all the time, but I don't feel like I tell you enough that you're beautiful. You're, like, the most gorgeous girl in the building."
"Not even," Natalie said.
"Uh, yes even." Stiles crooked his finger underneath his girlfriend's chin and tilted her head up. "I'm the luckiest guy in the world just to be able to say that Natalie Henderson is my girlfriend."
Natalie smiled and touched her boyfriend's cheek. "I feel like I'm the lucky one to have you." She placed her hand on the back of his head and brought it down so his lips were brushing hers as she spoke. "And just to let you know, I am so not out of your league. We're in the same ballpark, babe."
Then she kissed his lips. She wrapped her arms around Stiles's neck so she could be even closer to him. Both of them just pretended that there weren't any teachers or students that would give them shit for PDA. After the whole Scott and Coach Finstock incident, they were pretty sure that they were fine. But then when Natalie pulled her lips away, she noticed her little brother pushing his way through the crowd to get to her.
"Have any of you guys seen Lydia?" Zach asked when he finally reached the couple.
"No, we thought that she was with you," Natalie said.
"She was," Zach panted, "but then she said that she was going to find Jackson. That was, like, twenty-five minutes ago."
Stiles looked around the gym and noticed Jackson standing in the hallway. He motioned the siblings to follow him and they headed over to the jock.
"Where the hell have you been?" Stiles asked, "Did Lydia ever find you?" But Jackson didn't say anything. He just stood there with a blank look on his face. "What? What's wrong?"
"I… I was out behind the school…" Jackson stuttered, "and I… I was… out…"
"Jackson," Natalie seethed, stepping up to the jock, "what the fuck did you do?"
As Stiles, Natalie, and Zach busted outside the school, they saw that the lights on the lacrosse field were on. They ran as fast as they could up there and the closer they were, the louder they could hear Lydia calling out for Jackson. To their horror, they saw Peter stalking up to the strawberry-blonde. Natalie started sprinting towards her friend, ignoring her boyfriend and brother's protests.
"Lydia, no!" Natalie shrieked, "Run!"
But it was too late. Peter had already shifted and attacked Lydia. Natalie would've tried to stop the alpha if only Stiles hadn't held her back. There was no way he was going to let his girlfriend get killed. Lydia's screams echoed in Natalie's head, which caused the tears to start stinging her eyes. How could she just stand there and let her friend get mauled by this psychopath? There had to be something that she could do.
Before she knew it, Lydia fell onto the grass, unconscious and bleeding profoundly. Natalie was able to wriggle out of Stiles's grasp and run over to her friend's side, but Peter hovered over her, like a predator would a prey. She shakily drew her hand back.
"Don't do this," she begged, shaking her head, "Please, don't kill my friend. Please…"
"Of course not," Peter said, "Just tell me how to find Derek."
"What?"
One of Peter's claws stroked Lydia's pale face. "Tell me how to find Derek."
"We don't know that," Stiles told him, "How would we know that?"
"Because you two are the clever ones, aren't you? And because deception has a particularly acrid scent, Stiles. Tell me the truth… or I will rip her apart."
"Look, we don't… we don't know, okay?" Natalie cried, "I swear on my life that we have no idea how to find him."
"Tell me!" Peter screamed, making Natalie flinch back into Stiles's arms.
"Okay, okay, okay," Stiles said, "Look, I think… I think he knew-"
"Knew what?" Peter asked.
"Derek," Stiles continued to explain, "I think he… I think he knew he was gonna be caught."
"By the Argents?"
"Yeah."
"And?"
Natalie lifted her head from her boyfriend's chest. "When Scott and Derek were both shot, I think he took Scott's phone from him."
"Why?" Peter asked.
"Because they all have GPS," Natalie answered, "So if Derek still has Scott's phone and it's still on… you'll be able to find him. You'll be able to find both Derek and the Argents."
And there you have it, folks! I hope you liked the flashback with Derek and Anabelle. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up a little when I wrote it :P Anyway, PLEASE review and let me know what you think! Also if you haven't checked it out yet, I updated my IsaacxOC story Scars a few days ago so please go read it and leave me some feedback. Just one more chapter of this story until I post the first chapter of the DerekxOC story No One Else! Are you guys as excited as I am? Because I'm super pumped!
Thank you all for sticking with me this year and going through my abnormal updates! I love you all so much! I'll definitely be sure to update soon! xoxo, Maddie :)