Season 3 is here! Yay! I'm so excited for this season, I know I talk about it a lot haha but I hope you guys are looking forward to this as well. Here's the start of season 3!
Summer was a fucking drag.
Those four months were the longest the trio ever experienced. While nothing supernatural occurred (praise the lord), everything just felt so… boring. It was a much needed break for them though. Well, at least for the two of them. Scott and Stiles did spend most of their summer together, whether it was just playing video games, practicing their lacrosse, or even looking after Rocky. The amount of jokes Stiles made about looking after two dogs was far too many for Scott's liking. Stiles did grow his hair out for Natalie which she was super excited about for many reasons. Reasons that made Scott gag and roll his eyes.
As for Natalie, however… well, she never did come back home early. She told the boys that it was because her family changed their plans and decided to spend the entire summer together in Arizona, making sure they were really bonded. In reality, the delay was due to complications with the surgery. There were a couple of times where they thought Natalie wasn't going to make it. She did survive… yay. But things still weren't looking so good. So they had no choice but to stay out of state.
Despite the doctor's warnings, Natalie decided it was finally time to come back to Beacon Hills so she could start her junior year with her boyfriend and best friend. She wasn't going to be able to hang out with them until they actually got to school since she just got home from Arizona that night, but Natalie was still excited that she could try to be a normal teenager with her favorite boys. Even if it was only going to be for a short amount of time.
It was the night before the first day of school. Scott had been going on and on about getting a tattoo, much to Stiles's dismay. But being the bestest friend ever, he agreed to accompany the teen wolf to the tattoo shop. Natalie made them FaceTime her so she could be included and see the whole thing go down. Mostly because she just wanted to see Stiles squirm.
The tattoo artist was a big and burly man with a long and bushy beard and ironically a bald head. He looked down at the picture Scott handed him, which was two large black lines, almost looking like an equal sign.
"Boy, it's a good thing you drew me a picture," the guy said sarcastically. Scott just smiled.
"Hey, Scott, you sure you don't want anything like this?" Stiles held up the tattoo book he was looking at. It was a reptilian looking creature, almost resembling the kanima. Scott deadpanned. "Too soon? Yeah."
"I thought it was clever," Natalie said from the other side of the phone.
"And this is why you're my girl," Stiles told her. She grinned. "And I don't know, man, are you sure about this? I mean these things are pretty permanent, you know?"
"I'm not changing my mind," Scott told him.
"Can I see the picture again?" Natalie asked. The tattoo artist held the picture of to the phone so the redhead could get a better look. She nodded. "Huh. Okay, so why are you getting two bands?"
Scott shrugged. "I just like it."
"But don't you think your first tattoo should have some sort of meaning, you know, or something?" Stiles asked.
"Getting a tattoo means something," Scott said.
Natalie scoffed. "Uh, Scotty, I don't think that's how it works-"
"He's right," the tattoo artist cut in as he sets up his station, "tattooing goes back thousands of years. The Tahitian word 'tatua' means 'to leave a mark. Like a rite of passage."
"Yeah, you see?" Scott nodded his head towards the tattoo artist. "He gets it."
"He's covered in tattoos, Scott," Stiles said, "literally."
"Okay, you ready?" the tattoo artist asked Scott. Nervously but also in excitement, the teen wolf nodded. "You ain't got any problems with needles, do you?"
"Nope," Scott answered, shaking his head. Then the man began to do his work.
"I tend to get a little squeamish, so…"
Stiles's voiced trailed off as he watched Scott's arm get poked by the tattoo gun. He then fell backwards, causing him to let go of his phone. Natalie furrowed her eyebrows when she realized she was now looking at the ceiling instead of watching Scott.
"Uh, Stiles?" she said, "Babe? Aw, dude- did he really just faint?"
"Yep," Scott said, wincing when the tattoo his a certain spot on his bicep.
"Of course he did." Natalie shook her head. "Wuss."
After Scott finished getting his tattoo done (and Stiles finally woke up), they both got back into the jeep. Stiles kept his ice pack on the back of his head as he set his phone on the phone holder so Natalie could see her boys. Scott was staring down at his gauze-wrapped tattoo, grimacing in pain.
"You doing alright, Scotty?" Natalie asked.
"Kinda burns," Scott said.
"Yes, you just had your skin stabbed about 100,000 times with a needle," Stiles said sarcastically.
Shrugging her shoulders, Natalie added, "It's bound to happen."
"Yeah, but I don't think it's supposed to feel like this," Scott told them. His arm suddenly felt like it was on fire and he jumped and groaned. "Oh god. No, it's definitely not supposed to feel like this. Oh, I gotta take this thing off."
"No, no, no, no, Scott," Stiles begged, looking away, "Oh, Scott, please stop." Natalie leaned in closer to the phone so she could get a better look.
Hey, she lived for crazy shit like this. Could you blame her?
But when Scott unwrapped his arm, the tattoo and the redness surrounding it due to irritation started to fade away. Both Stiles and Natalie's eyes widened.
"Whoa," Stiles said, "Whoa."
"Oh, no, what?" Scott whined as his tattoo disappeared, "No, no, come on." Just like that, it was gone. As if it was never there. "It healed."
"Oh, thank god," Stiles exhaled, "I hated it." Scott looked at him in disbelief. "Sorry."
"You're such a supportive friend," Natalie said over the phone.
"Hey, you hated it too," Stiles shot back.
"You did?" Scott asked the redhead in disappointment.
She let out a huff as she glared at her boyfriend. "Dude, why do you always gotta drag me down with you?"
The trio started to talk more about their summer and how pumped they were about to go into their junior year as Stiles drove. It was like they were back to the way things were before Scott got bitten. It helped that Scott made a deal with Derek and Anabelle to not talk about anything supernatural that was happening over the past four months so they could all just take it easy.
"I swear, if those two still aren't together after I've been gone for four months, I'm gonna be super pissed," Natalie grumbled about the alpha and his mate.
"Why are you so invested in their love lives?" Stiles asked her.
"Because I'm a romantic, Stiles," Natalie said, "You know this. Also seeing Derek all hung up over a girl is fun to watch."
"True. And speaking of getting hung up over a girl-" Stiles looked at Scott as they approached a red light. "Have you talked to Allison yet?"
"Nah, we agreed to give each other the summer..." Scott said, "no texts, no calls."
"And you actually stuck through it," Natalie nodded in approval, "I gotta say, Scotty, I'm proud of you. I know it was hard for you."
Sighing, the teen wolf nodded. "Yeah, it was."
"So then how do you know she won't be back at school then?" Stiles asked.
"After everything that happened, I'm not sure she's coming back at all," Scott told him.
Neither he nor Natalie noticed that Stiles was looking out the window on Scott's side. "I think she is. I'd say pretty definite, you know. Like one hundred percent."
"Dude, are you on something right now?" Natalie asked, "What the fuck are you talking about?"
And of course Scott was confused as well. But then Stiles nodded and pointed out the window. It turned out that Allison just so happened to be in the car that had stopped next to them with Lydia. Every single feeling that the teen wolf had for the huntress came rushing back towards him like a tidal wave. She was still so beautiful when she smiled… when she laughed… when she looked at him…
Wait! Oh, shit!
"Oh my god," Scott panicked, "Oh… Can we just drive please, Stiles?"
"Scott, it's a red light," Stiles pointed out.
"Can someone tell me what's happening here!" Natalie exclaimed.
"Allison and Lydia are in the car next to us," Stiles told her, "I think we should talk to her, I just think we should say something."
Eyes wide, Scott shook his head. "No. No, no, Stiles, come on." But said boy had already reached over him and started rolling down the window. "Oh my god, dude, no!"
"Hey!" Stiles smiled. He grabbed his phone. "Look, it's Natalie!"
Said girl waved at the other girls. "Hi, guys!"
Allison and Lydia awkwardly waved back before speeding away. The light hadn't even turned green yet. Stiles pursed his lips and nodded.
"You know, they probably didn't see us," Stiles said.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Natalie quipped. Stiles glared at her. But she missed it when she yawned. "Hey, you guys, I think I'm gonna turn in for the night."
"But you're still gonna meet us at school tomorrow morning, right?" Scott asked her.
"I am," Natalie promised, "Besides I gotta help Zach settle in anyway so we'll be there bright and early." She wiped away a fake tear. "My baby's growing up so fast."
"Alright, well, try to actually get sleep tonight, okay, pretty lady?" Stiles told her, "I love you."
"I love you too, Stiles. Goodnight, guys." Then she hung up.
The light had finally turned green and Stiles drove unintentionally behind Lydia's car. But he wasn't even focused on the two girls in front of him. He drummed his fingers against his steering wheel.
"Hey, did Natalie look any different to you?" he asked Scott.
"What do you mean?" Scott asked.
"Like, she looks really pale," Stiles said, "The circles under her eyes look really dark. Also, she looks skinnier."
"Nat's always looked like that."
"Yeah, but it's different. It's like something's off. I don't know what it is though."
"Maybe she's just tired from being gone for the whole summer and being on a plane," Scott shrugged, "I'm sure she's fine, Stiles. She'd tell us if she wasn't."
Nodding, Stiles said, "Yeah… yeah, you're probably right."
Boy, was he wrong.
As soon as she set her phone down, Natalie slumped back in her computer chair. She stood up after a few moments and walked into her bathroom. Looking into the mirror, she swept her long red velvet hair over to one side. The other side was shaved so the doctors could operate on her brain to remove the tumor. Some of what was shaved was barely starting to grow back, but the scar from the surgery was still visible. Natalie traced her finger along the scar and sighed, remembering the news she had received after her surgery.
When she fixed her hair so it looked normal, a small clump of her hair fell out. Those damn chemo pills. Luckily Natalie planned for this. Before she came back to California, she had bought some hair extensions and died them the same color as her hair so she could hide the fact that she was losing some. She figured she could wear a beanie all the time and no one would notice.
But she knew it wouldn't be long before they did. Within these next few months, Natalie was going to have to come clean. She still wasn't ready though. She needed a little more time. Even though she was running out of it…
The first day of school finally arrived. As they walked through the hallways, Scott and Stiles discussed what had happened after Natalie had left the conversation, which her boyfriend made sure to fill her in on during their phone call that morning. A deer had ran into the front window of Lydia's car headfirst the previous night, killing itself. Both she and Allison were shaken up from the incident. Scott had came to the conclusion that the deer was not crazy, but terrified. It was still a crazy and unexplainable thing, which happened to be the norm in this town.
Now Scott was talking about how determined he was to get his tattoo, even if that meant calling in the cavalry to help him. Stiles was not pleased by this.
"You wanna ask Derek and Anabelle for help?" he whined, "Don't get me wrong, Anabelle's great, but why? Why?"
"Both of them have their triskeles tattooed on their backs," Scott told him, "And Anabelle has tons of tattoos. So there has to be a way to do it without healing, right?"
"Okay, yeah, but still, don't they have their hands a little full?" Stiles asked, gesturing to the bulletin board they stopped at.
Pinned on there were missing reports for Boyd and Erica. They had disappeared the night Jackson stopped being the kanima and have yet to be seen since. While Scott nor his friends have spoken to the older werewolves about them, they knew they along with Isaac and Delilah have been looking for them over the summer. Based off the pictures of Boyd and Erica, nobody was having any luck.
"Look, these are the applications for the career advisor," they boys heard their former and returned principal say from his office, "I need them sorted." They looked into the office. "And whatever happened to the library while I was gone, I want it cleared up. And what the hell is this?" He held up the sword that Gerard had kept in his desk while he was the principal.
Scott and Stiles looked at each other. "Go, go, go." They scurried away.
"Hey, where's Natalie?" Scott asked, "I thought she was supposed to be here by now."
"She said that she was helping Zach getting his things," Stiles told him as he looked at his phone, "but she should be meeting us right…"
Everything around him had seemed to stop when he saw his girlfriend for the first time in four months as she turned a corner the other side of the hallway. Despite the differences he noticed whenever she video chatted with him, Natalie was looking as radiant as ever. Underneath her black beanie, her red velvet hair was curled to perfection. She wore a long sleeve crop top with a black collar, black high-waisted shorts, and of course, Doc Martens.
Stiles didn't even care that something looked off about her- she was back. Natalie was actually back home. After all this time, he finally gets to see her in person. And he didn't care how goofy his smile was when people saw him because she was shooting him the exact same smile back.
At the same time, the young lovers ran towards each other. They crashed into each other in a bear hug once they met in the middle of the hallway. Stiles breathed in her strawberries and cream shampoo as he nestled her neck. On the other hand, Natalie tried not to cry when she clung onto her boyfriend tighter. She had missed him so fucking much and those past four months proved to her that she never wanted to go another day without him.
Cupping her face in his hands, Stiles kissed his girlfriend like he was making up for lost time with her. Natalie tangled her fingers in his grown-out hair (finally!) as the kiss deepened. They probably could have gotten detention for PDA, but they would have happily taken it just so they could continue to be wrapped up in each other's embrace. The kiss broke apart but they rested their foreheads against each other.
"It's good to be back," Natalie exhaled with a smile.
"It's even better to have you back," Stiles matched her energy. He kissed her again.
"Ahem," Scott cleared his throat, making them turn to face him, "You don't have to kiss me and all, but I would like a hug from my best friend as well."
"Aw, come here, you get a kiss too," Natalie grinned. She grabbed her best friend's face and planted a big kiss on his cheek, making him roll his eyes playfully. They hugged each other. "I missed you, Scotty."
"I missed you too, Nat." Scott said.
Then some odd scent traveled up his nose. He sniffed Natalie's hair, making her look at him weirdly when they pulled away. His eyes were narrowed as if he were trying to figure something out. Stiles didn't notice this.
"God, it feels like it's been so long since you've been home," he said as he held Natalie's hand when the three of them walked, "Never leave Beacon Hills again."
"Oh, definitely not," Natalie sighed dramatically, "It was the longest summer of my fucking life. And sorry I'm late, by the way. It was taking way too long for Zach to get his books since we couldn't go to his actual registration."
"Speaking of, where is Zach?" Scott questioned.
"Yeah, we wanted to give him a proper Beacon Hills High welcome," Stiles added.
"I'm right here."
"Whoa!" both Scott and Stiles exclaimed as they spun around.
Surely Zach was standing behind them. And let's just say that Natalie wasn't the only one that went through some changes over the summer. Zach was now the same height as the other two boys, before just an inch shorter than his sister. His once shaggy long hair was cut and styled messily but trendily. He was also no longer the lanky kid. It was clear that he had done some training while they were away because he was looking lean and stronger.
"Do my eyes deceive me?" Stiles smirked as he and Scott circled around the boy, "Zachary Adrian Henderson? Surely that can't be you."
Zach shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "In the flesh."
"And his voice got deeper!" Scott chuckled, "Dude, you're, like, an actual stud now!"
"Right?!" Natalie ruffled her brother's hair. "I don't know what the hell he drank while we were in Arizona but he's definitely not a little dork anymore."
"Hey, ease up on the hair," Zach said, swatting the redhead's hand away, "You're gonna ruin my street cred with the ladies." He nodded at a couple senior girls that walked past them.
Rolling her eyes, Natalie said, "Okay, cool it with the hot guy persona. You're still a baby freshman who is bound to get initiated by earning a wedgie."
"That doesn't really happen," Zach scoffed. Then his eyes widened. "Does it?"
"Nah, you're good, dude," Stiles shook his head. He winked exaggeratedly at Natalie, making the youngest Henderson gulp.
"Dude, don't you still need to find your locker?" Natalie said, "You only have ten minutes before the first bell rings."
"There's too many lockers," Zach groaned, "I don't know which one it is."
"Let me see that," Stiles said as he plucked the paper out of Zach's hand. "Oh, 817. That's upstairs. I can go take you really quick."
"You're the best, babe," Natalie smiled, "I'll see you in first period?"
"Sure thing, pretty lady."
The couple gave each other a quick kiss before Stiles patted Zach's shoulder and led him down the hallway.
"Have a good first day, Zachy-poo!" Natalie called after them, waving her hands in the air, "Make plenty of new friends!"
Red in the face, Zach snapped his head back at his sister and mouthed at her to shut up. She and Stiles just laughed before they continued to walk away.
Scott, however, wasn't really paying attention to them. His focus was still on that strange scent he got a whiff of earlier. And he knew it was coming from Natalie. He continued to sniff at her which was starting to weird her out. She pushed him away.
"Uh, can I help you?"
"You smell off," Scott said.
"Gee, thanks," Natalie said sarcastically.
"No, I mean, you smell kind of like how Gerard…" Scott's face fell when he put the pieces together. "Your cancer… it's back again, isn't it?"
Immediately, Natalie shushed him and looked around them. "Dude, not so loud!" She then spotted the open janitor's closet. "Get inside."
"Why-"
"Closet. Now."
Natalie didn't even give Scott a chance to protest before pushing him into the janitors closet and shutting the door behind them. She peered out the small window to make sure no one they knew (more specifically the werewolves) were around before facing her best friend.
She braced herself for the bomb she was about to drop. "Yes. My brain tumor came back. You have-" she looked down at her phone, "five minutes to ask any questions you have. Go."
"When did it come back?" was the first question Scott had.
"It had been back before I left," Natalie told him, "I had been getting headaches for a while but I fainted a few days before I went to Arizona and that's how I found out for sure."
"So was that why you were gone the whole summer?" Scott asked, "So you could get treated."
"That was the goal. They did surgery to take the tumor out of my brain. But by the time they took it out, the cancer started to spread in other parts of my body."
The frown on Scott's face deepened even more. "So that means… you're not getting any better."
Solemnly, Natalie said, "No… I'm actually getting worse."
"How bad is it?" Scott crossed his arms when Natalie didn't answer. "Nat. How bad is it?"
Blinking the tears away, the redhead sighed. "The doctors only gave me till the end of the year to live."
Seeing Scott tear up as well almost made Natalie completely lose it. Unlike when she was eight years old, there was no chance of saving her. She could still get treated, but it was only going to prolong her inevitable death. To this day, it was still hard to wrap her head around. Natalie was dying. She was going to die. Her fate was sealed.
Her best friend wiped his eyes. "Fuck, Natalie… you have to tell Stiles."
"I know I do. But… I can't right now. Everything is finally starting to get better in this town and I can't ruin that for him. I just… I need a little more time."
"You can't hide this from him forever," Scott told her.
"I know… I know." The first bell finally rang, making Natalie clutch onto her head. "Just, just promise me you won't say anything to him. Let me be the one to tell him."
"Fine. Just don't wait too long. I know it'll hurt him, but it'll only get worse the longer you go without saying anything."
All Natalie did was nod. Scott opened the door so they both could walk out, he letting her go first.
Stiles was already sitting in their first class by the time his girlfriend and his best friend walked in. He had saved two seats, one in front of him for Natalie and the one next to him for Scott. The redhead kissed his cheek before plopping herself in her seat. She was trying to forget the conversation that she and Scott had just a few minutes ago and just be present in the now. Staring at Stiles's smile made it somewhat easier for her.
As for Scott, he was being his usual awkward self when he noticed that Allison was looking for somewhere to sit. Even though she didn't believe there was such thing as fate, what were the odds that the only available seat just so happened to be in front of her werewolf ex boyfriend?
"Okay," Allison sighed to herself, walking to the empty desk. She gestured to it. "Is someone…"
"No, no, no, no," Scott shook his head, "No, it's all you, all yours. Uh, it's totally vacant."
When the huntress sat down with a blushing smile, Scott looked over at his two best friends, who both gave him an encouraging thumbs up.
Everyone's phones suddenly started ringing or vibrating. They were all confused as the read the text message sent to them by an unknown number.
"'The offing was barred by a black bank of clouds and the tranquil waterway, leading to the uttermost ends of the earth flowed somber under an overcast sky, seemed to lead into the heart of an immense darkness.'"
Looking up, all of the students saw a beautiful woman with dark hair and snow white skin, reminding Natalie of the Disney princess. She was reading off her phone the message that everyone received as she walked to her desk.
"This is the last line to the first book we are going to read," the teacher told her class. She held up her own phone. "It is also the last text you will receive in this class. Phones off, everyone."
Clever tactic. Natalie approved.
Once the English teacher finally introduced herself as Ms. Blake, they began reading the book she had mentioned. So much for taking it easy on the first day. Oh well. After they read the first chapter, Ms. Blake had them dissect whatever deep meaning was hidden in certain quotes or paragraphs. So Natalie just tried to do her work and not pay attention to how much her body ached. She just took one of her prescribed pills that she was actually allowed to take and went back to writing in her notebook.
Scott had been called out of class at one point. Go figure. But that wasn't the odd thing that ended up breaking Natalie's focus. It was the bandage wrapped around Lydia's ankle.
"Hey, Lyds," Natalie whispered. She gained both the strawberry blonde and Stiles's attention. "What happened to your ankle? Was that from the accident the boys were telling me about?"
"No," Lydia replied, "Prada bit me."
"Your dog?" Stiles asked.
"No, my designer handbag." Both Natalie and Stiles deadpanned. Lydia rolled her eyes. "Yes, my dog."
"He's never bitten you before, has he?" Natalie asked.
Lydia shook her head, not taking her eyes off her work. "Mm-mm."
The couple looked at each other. "Okay," Stiles said, "What if it's, like, the same thing as the deer? You know, like, how animals start acting weird right before an earthquake or something?"
"Meaning what? There's gonna be an earthquake?"
"Or something. I just… maybe it means something's coming."
"Something bad," Natalie added.
"It's a deer and a dog," Lydia said, "What's that thing you guys say about threes? Once, twice…"
BANG!
Everyone's attention diverted to the loud sound that came from the window, including Ms. Blake's. Blood and black feathers were smeared on the window. A bird must have flown into it. Weird…
Ms. Blake put down her chalk and walked over to the window. Now there was a large flock of crows were flying towards the school. Specifically their classroom. Another bird crashed into the window, cracking it. Suddenly all of the crows were flying into the window, a bunch of them even breaking in and flying through the room. All of the students started screaming as they became under attack.
"Get down, everyone!" Ms. Blake screamed.
"Natalie!" Stiles yelled, pushing his desk away so he could get to his girlfriend.
The redhead was already on the floor, being pecked and scratched at by a crow. Stiles smacked it out of the way before grabbing Natalie. He pulled her close to his chest, placing his hand on the back of her head so she could shield her face. She could still feel beaks and talons poking at her back but she tried her best to stay calm.
"Get down, get down!" They could still hear Ms. Blake scream as she held onto a couple students at her desk. "Get down! Get down!"
It really felt like that Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds. Natalie was Tippi Hedrin in that moment, being attacked and surrounded by all of these crows. Trapped with no way out. She didn't know what was happening, but she knew for sure that it had to be one of the most terrifying moments she had ever encountered. But she felt Stiles squeeze her close to him and she believed that maybe she might be okay.
In the blink of an eye, the action had ended. But the horror was still there when everyone slowly stood up. Stiles helped Natalie up as they looked at Allison and Lydia, who were protecting each other. They seemed just as confused as the couple when they saw all of the dead birds, blood, and black feathers scattered along the desks and floors of the room.
Noah and Kurt arrived at the school soon afterwards along with some concerned parents, including Chris. They were interviewing the shaken up students about what had happened. Stiles and Natalie were trying to get ahold of Scott with no such luck. They noticed Ms. Blake leaning against her desk, staring down at her feet, still in complete shock about what a disaster her first day at this school was going.
"Ms. Blake?" Stiles said, "You okay?"
The teacher just nodded. Natalie saw a black feather in her hair and reached towards it, making Ms. Blake flinch. "Sorry, let me just… get that off of ya. There." Natalie plucked the feather away.
"Nat." Said girl cursed to herself as she turned towards her dad. "Come here." Natalie walked over to him. He made sure no one else was listening in. "You doing okay, kid?"
"Eh, you know," Natalie shrugged, "It's the first day of school. It's always a little stressful."
"You know what I mean," Kurt said, giving his daughter a knowing look.
She nodded. "Just a little tired."
"Maybe it wasn't a good idea to put you back in school," Kurt sighed, "You know it's not too late to change your mind."
"No. I don't want to. I want to be here. I want these last months to be normal." Natalie looked over at Stiles. "As normal as it can be."
Nodding in understanding, the deputy told her, "You just be careful, okay?"
"I'll try my best."
Kurt kissed the top of her head before going over to talk to Ms. Blake with Noah. Stiles walked up to Natalie and rubbed her arms.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
"Yeah, you know how he gets," Natalie said, "He's always worrying about me." Which wasn't entirely false.
"Same with mine," Stiles said, looking back at his own dad. His phone vibrated. "Oh, it's Scott." He put the phone on speaker so Natalie could join in. "Dude. We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class-"
"Hey, can you tell me about this later?" Scott interrupted.
"Uh, no, I'm pretty sure this can't wait, Scotty," Natalie said.
"Okay, then meet me at Derek's," Scott told them.
"Derek's house?" Stiles questioned, furrowing his eyebrows, "What the hell are you doing at-"
"Just meet us here, okay?"
"Wait, Scotty-" But Natalie was cut off when he hung up. She let out a huff of air. "Yeah."
Stiles groaned. "Ugh, I don't wanna go over there."
"Why?" Natalie scoffed, "You still scared of Derek?"
"Pfft! No! I could just think of better things to do with my time." The lanky teen wiggled his eyebrows. "Like you."
"Oh, I'm loving the suggestiveness," Natalie laughed, "but keep that up with my dad around and Derek's not gonna be your biggest worry."
They looked over at Kurt. He was staring Stiles down. He pointed to fingers at his own as and then at the boy. A lump formed in his throat and he swallowed it down nervously.
"Oh, Jesus."
Deciding to skip school the rest of the day, Stiles and Natalie headed to the old Hale and Fierro house. Derek and Anabelle were gathered around Scott as he sat in an old chair. They even saw Delilah sitting next to Isaac, who was passed out on a table. Natalie rolled her eyes as she tripped on a piece of wood as soon as she walked in.
"Man, this place is such a dump," she complained.
Derek was about to make a comment at her until he and Anabelle immediately got a whiff of her new scent that apparently came with the cancer. For the first time in however many months Natalie had known them now, their faces actually turned sympathetic towards her when they realized she was dying. It was so bizarre. When it looked like they were about to say something, Natalie shook her head at them when Stiles wasn't looking. She made a slicing motion at her neck, telling them not to say anything in front of Stiles. They nodded in agreement.
Now Derek and Anabelle were staring at Scott's bicep. They were joined by Stiles and Natalie. Derek flashed his red eyes so he could make out what used to be etched on Scott's arm.
"Yeah, I see it," Derek said, "It's two bands, right? What does it mean?"
"I don't know," Scott answered honestly, "It's just something I traced with my fingers." He drew the pattern on a dusty table, one large circle surrounding a smaller one.
"Why is it so important to you?" Derek asked.
"Do you know what the word 'tattoo' means?" Scott asked.
"To mark something," Stiles chimed in, winking at the older werewolves.
Natalie rolled her eyes. "Know-it-all."
"Well, that's in Tahitian," Scott explained, "In Samoan, it means 'open wound'. I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I eighteen. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."
"For what?" Anabelle asked softly.
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants." Derek and Anabelle looked at each other, both actually feeling sorry for the boy. Scott sighed. "Goin' four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh..."
"Like an open wound," Stiles and Natalie said together.
They held onto each other, knowing somewhat of what their best friend went through during the summer since they were apart from each other as well. Granted it was under different circumstances, but the pain of not being with the one you love hurts no matter what.
"Yeah…" Scott said sadly.
They all faced the front door when they heard Delilah run out of the house. They could hear her vomiting outside, igniting concern in all of them. Derek was about to get up but Anabelle placed her hand on his shoulder.
"I'll go check on her," she told him before going outside.
The alpha watched after her up until she shut the door behind her. He then shook his head and picked up a blowtorch.
"The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt," he warned Scott.
"Oh, that's great," Stiles mumbled.
But Scott was ready. "Do it." Derek ignited the blow torch, making Stiles squeamish.
"Oh, wow," he said uneasily, "That's a... that's a lot for me. So I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside."
He started to walk away but Derek grabbed his arm. "Nope, you and Natalie can hold him down."
Grudgingly, Stiles stomped back next to Scott. Natalie laughed at his expense.
"Come on, babe," she said, already gripping onto one of Scott's shoulders, "Don't make me look like the boy in this relationship." Stiles just flipped her off before grabbing the other shoulder.
"Oh my god," he said shakily as Derek brought the flame closer to Scott's arm.
The teen wolf took a few deep breaths, bracing himself for whatever pain was about to be inflicted on him. He thought he was ready, but once the blue flame hit his skin, he immediately started screaming in pain. He began to shift as he thrashed underneath his best friend's hands.
"Hold him," Derek demanded Stiles and Natalie.
Scott's screams just grew louder. Then the pain began to become too much and he fainted, slumping further into the chair.
Shortly after Derek finished his work, Scott woke up with a gasp. He looked down at his bicep and admired the two thick black bands that had now become a part of his arm. When he looked back up, he saw Stiles, Natalie, Derek, and Anabelle staring back at him.
"It worked," Scott breathed out in amazement.
"Well, I'll be damned," Natalie chuckled.
Delilah came back into the house soon after that, the hybrid looking a lot better. She returned to Isaac's side as Anabelle went to talk to Derek. The trio started to walk out of the house after Scott admired his tattoo a little more and put on a new shirt.
"Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now," Stiles pointed out.
"Yeah," Scott said, pulling his sleeve down, "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us... everything just changes so fast. Everything's so, uh... ephemeral."
Stiles and Natalie nodded in approval at Scott's choice of words. "Studying for the PSATs?"
"Yep."
"Nice."
"Aw, look at who's becoming intellectual," Natalie cooed as she pinched Scott's cheek, "I'm so proud of you, Scotty." The teen wolf lightly swatted her hand away and laughed.
When Scott opened the front door to leave, he and his best friends noticed that the outside of the door was red. It never used to be like that.
"You painted the door," Scott said to Derek and Anabelle, "Why'd you paint the door?"
"Go home, Scott," Derek ordered.
"And why only one side?" Scott asked. He flicked his claws out and used one to scratch at the door.
"Wait, Scott, don't," Anabelle said as she and Derek rushed over to him.
But the teen wolf just kept scratching off the paint like a wild animal. Grunts left his mouth as he put all of his energy into revealing what was underneath the paint.
All three of the teenagers were left confused as a large spiral-looking mark stared back at them. It almost looked like the triskeles Derek and Anabelle had tattooed on their backs. Except this one was more sharp and triangular.
"What the hell is this?" Scott asked.
"It's not your concern anymore, Scott," Anabelle tried to tell him, "Now please, all of you. Go home."
"No," Scott said firmly, "No more secrets, remember? Tell me what's going on. Does it have to do with that alpha from the hospital?"
Derek and Anabelle looked at each other, not answering the boy. That was all the confirmation the teenagers needed.
"There's more than one alpha, isn't there?" Natalie asked. Derek slowly nodded.
"The birds at school and the deer last night...," Scott recalled, "just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the alpha. How many are there?"
"A pack of them," Derek answered, "An alpha pack."
Yeah. Of course there was an alpha pack. Why wouldn't there be an alpha pack roaming around this town? For crying out loud, was too much for Natalie to ask for semi-normal last few months alive?
Apparently so.
"All of them?" Stiles questioned, "How does that even work?"
"We hear there's some kind of leader. He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica."
"Peter, Isaac, Delilah, and we have been looking for them for the past four months," Anabelle added.
"Let's say you find them," Scott said, "How do you deal with an alpha pack?"
"With all the help we can get," Derek told the trio. The three of them looked at each other.
"Where is she?"
Everyone turned at the unexpected voice. Isaac had finally woken up, healing within. He was holding onto Delilah as he spoke to ones at the front door.
"Where's the girl?" Isaac specified.
The five of them looked at each other. "What girl?" Derek asked.
"There was a girl who saved us," Delilah told him, "She was at the hospital too."
"She was with some man too," Isaac continued, "I think they were married. They both had rings on their fingers."
"Harvey and Braeden," Anabelle said to herself, even though everyone else had heard her.
Who the hell were Harvey and Braeden?
I hope you guys are ready for a crazy season! PLEASE review and let me know what you think! Also please check out Scars and No One Else for more drama! I hope to update soon! Xoxo, Maddie