It took a good hour or so before I finally started to get some feeling back. Even then it was a slow recovery. At fist all I could do was wiggle my toes and lift my finger. I probably could have talked before that, but I was sulking. Angry with myself for having been bested by stupid Allison. Although I was more angry with Allison, who I kept daydreaming about killing along with Lydia.
Before I was fully recovered, Isaac came to and had Boyd explain what had happened to him. He moped around for a bit too, before making the stupid decision to try and tease me in my paralysed state. It went pretty well for him at first, when all I could do was snap and snarl at him while he mocked and poked me. But then I got feeling back in my leg, and kicked him right in the groin. He buckled and collapsed next to me, clinging to the space between his legs as I grinned at him. He didn't make that mistake again.
That was the only real highlights until I was able to stand up again. Once I was healed I spent the rest of the time sat with Erica who healed up around the same time as I did. Eventually Isaac got back on his feet and started pacing, while Boyd remained stationary against on of the support beams. For a while I let my eyes follow Isaac back and forth without thinking about it. It was only when Erica took my hand that my eyes left Isaac to look at her instead.
She didn't meet my gaze though, head lowered in thought. Probably feeling just as embarrassed and ashamed as I was after our latest failure. When she still didn't look my way, though continued to hold my hand, I turned, lowering my own head as we waited. Waited for our Alpha to return with news.
It was a good couple of hours before he did finally return to the lair. As he entered the whole Pack rose to attention; me and Erica stood up, Isaac stopped pacing and Boyd pushed off the beam he'd been up against. All eyes going to Derek. Isaac was the first to ask the obvious question, only just getting it out before me. "What happened?"
Derek stepped of the last step of the stairs, glancing at all of us for a second before he resumed walking again. "I killed it," he said casually, making his way over to subway carriage.
There were various reactions to this news. Boyd seemed pretty pleased with the news, Erica was sighing in relief and Isaac and I were full of questions. This time however, I was the first one to speak, once the news had settled in. "How?" I asked, not doubting my Alpha's abilities, just extremely curious.
"I slit its throat," Derek explained, looking back as he stood in the doorway to the subway carriage, a clear weight having been lifted from his shoulder. I personally was greatly relieved by this news. Having been knocked out by this thing once and paralysed by its venom only recently, I had no desire to face it again. Plus I liked being among the apex predators in town.
"Seriously? It was that easy?" Isaac asked skeptically, arms folded.
"Yeah. It was," Derek said confidently, letting out a little smile for us all. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad day after all, I thought. For me, it still wasn't that great, but for the Pack, it had just been raised from a two to about a five or six out of ten.
"Well, great," Isaac said happily, though the sarcasm was there and it only grew as he continued. "I guess all our problems are behind us now. That is if we don't include the Hunters, the full moon and everything else going on around here." Despite his tone, which was really starting to bug me. He had a point. The Kanima had been just one of our problems and we still had plenty more on the horizon.
"True, but unlike the Kanima, I know what I'm doing on a full moon. And with it out of the way I can focus on your training so that your ready too," Derek explained calmly as he stepped out of the carriage to converse with us.
"And the Hunters?" Erica asked, having sat back down on our crate after the Kanima news.
"I know how to fight and defend against Hunters too. The important thing is, the unknown element in all of this has been taken care of," Derek stressed in the mildest way possible. He was happy, I could tell and I was glad. The Pack had needed a win.
"So what's our next move then?" I asked, stepping towards him. Like the responsible Second I was, I wasn't going to let him forget about all our problems just because of one victory. He needed to keep thinking ahead. We all did.
"For now, go home and rest," Derek said with an oddly sympathetic look towards me. "It's been a long day and you all need to recover. We'll meet up tomorrow as usual for training, and then we can talk about what we deal with next." I liked that, the idea of us as a Pack discussing what we were going to tackle next. I understood I might be getting my hopes up and that Derek ultimately had final say, but it was nice to know he was at least going to start listening to everyone and not just use me as a sounding board.
As per his orders we left to go home. Isaac remained obviously, still living with Derek for the time being. Since my car was still at school I couldn't offer Boyd a lift, but he understood. I suggested Erica walk home with him but she seemed content to come with me to get the car from the school. I was fine with this so we walked as a three until Boyd split off to catch a late night bus.
After that me and Erica walked on our own towards the school and through the quiet streets of Beacon Hills. We ideally chatted about school and boys for a while, a couple of movies coming out that we wanted to go and see when we had the chance, a few up coming parties we'd been invited to by several individuals. Then another comfortable silence fell as we crossed a street. Looking at her, I thought carefully before I spoke again.
"Are you all right?" I asked. There was another silence before she answered me.
"Now…yeah," Erica answered. She then lifted her head, blonde hair naturally moving back as she glanced over towards me. "But…when I was paralysed. It…It…It felt like…" I could see the tears creeping in, the old fear returning. I understood, and I didn't want her to finish that sentence so I finished it for her, hoping that might lessen the pain somehow.
"It reminded you of your seizures," I said. She whimpered, nodding before I pulled her against me, stopping where we were. I let her cry into me, stroking her back in a smoothing motion. "I'm sorry, Erica. I'm so sorry." She pulled away after a moment, not wanting to cry anymore as she dabbed her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. We'd both agreed we were done doing that. I smiled positively back at her, trying to lift her spirits as she too tried to push herself up. "But it's gone now. Derek killed it and you won't ever have to go through that again," I promised her, watching as she put on a brave smile.
And no sooner had those words left my mouth, did my head shoot towards the alleyway we were next too.
I'd heard something. Erica had too. Both of us looking into the darkness, knowing there was someone, something, in there. Everything had gone quiet. I sniffed the air. There was a scent, but a strange damp scent, something unnatural to my nose.
I readied myself for a fight, Erica doing the same from behind me. Both our eyes glowing as the thing revealed itself, crawling from the shadows on all fours. I gasped, and I know Erica did too because I couldn't have imagined why she wouldn't have.
It was the Kanima.
It let out a hiss towards us and because we were in shock, neither of us growled back. Our eyes must have been threatening enough though, because it leapt towards us like a gun shot. My instinct kicked in at last and I turned, grabbing Erica and dove to the ground as the monster passed by above us.
A burst of pain erupted from my shoulder but I didn't have time to react to it, not with the Kanima right there. Not with Erica in danger.
I was back up, growling as I locked eyes with the scaled beast. It hissed back. I knew I couldn't win, if an Alpha hadn't been able to kill it I stood no chance. But I wasn't going to go down without a fight, not with Erica between us.
It lunged, and I leapt into the air to greet it. We grabbed onto each other, clattering to the ground as Erica called out my name. I was already lost in the heat of battle though, trying to keep mental notes in mind while me and Kanima rolled back and forth.
Its claws and its tail. The venom came from its claws, and its tail was another limb it could use to fight, giving it one more than me. Avoid was the word that echoed in my mind. So the first chance I got I pushed away, rolling away from the creature and back up onto all fours.
The Kanima had adopted a similar stance and hissed again. I felt the shift take over, felt the anger inside of me, the threat towards Erica pushing it forward. I'm smiled with my canines, eyes glowing brighter now that I'd shifted. I let my claws scrap against the ground, leaving little white lines beneath them, before I growled in response and charged. The Kanima did the same. But then before impact it leapt over me, it's tail going around my neck and cutting of my air instantly.
My claws reached up to try and free myself, but already my strength was leaving me, the blackness flooding in from all sides. It was squeezing so tightly I was sure it was going to snap my neck. Suddenly I was dragged off my feet, brought face to face with the monster as it hissed again, staring into my eyes as it choked the life out of me.
Then came another growl, this time from Erica. We both looked, me and the Kanima, to see Erica, having fully shifted, lunging towards us. The Kanima moved aside, but that only gave Erica a clearer shot at her real target, its tail. With everything she had she grabbed onto it, digging her claws in as far as they would go until the Kanima made a noise that I could only call a scream.
It held onto me for a moment before its tail then unwound from around my neck. I dropped to the ground, coughing and spluttering as I struggled to take in as much air as I could. My awkward breathing caught Erica's attention, leaving her vulnerable to the Kanima's tail that quickly swiped Erica's feet out from under her. As she fell, she lost her grip and the tail slid through her grasp.
I started to move as quickly as my body allowed me, fully expecting it to try and kill Erica then. But instead it ran off into another alleyway, vanishing from sight.
Helping Erica up to her feet, we held onto each other as we waited for it to come back. It never did. Even so we stood there, waiting until we both had the strength and courage to move.
Despite the fact that the school – and our car – was closer, we turned and ran back the way we came. Back towards the lair, towards Derek, towards the Pack, towards safety. The whole way back I never let go of Erica's hand, and she didn't let go of mine. We'd shifted back without us realising, presumably after the Kanima had fled. I assumed that based on the few people we passed who didn't seem to react to our appearance, other than by getting out of our way as we ran by.
When we got to the lair, we ran in, slamming the door behind us before racing down the stairs. Only stopping when we reached the bottom to finally catch our breath as Isaac walked over from his corner. "What the hell is going on with you two?" he asked, frowning at us both. Our wide eyed stares quickly had him changing his tune though, once he saw the panic in our eyes. "What happened?"
With both of us still hunched over, hands on our knees, and catching our breath, it took a second before I had the air I needed to answer. "Derek? Where's Derek?" was the first thing I said. He needed to know the Kanima was alive and he needed to know it right now.
"What is it?" came his voice, having silently appeared in the subway carriage door.
"The Kanima!" Erica shrieked, prompting Derek to frown as he watched Erica madly gesture towards the stairs.
"It's still alive," I said more calmly, even though saying it made me tremble. "The Kanima is still alive."
"What?" Derek replied in astonishment, stepping from the subway carriage.
"It attacked us!" Erica continued to shriek, still shaking from head to toe over the encounter. "It just jumped out of the shadows and attacked us right there in the street! You said you killed it!" Erica shouted, near tears once more as she marched over towards Derek, stopping just a few steps shy.
"I thought I did," admitted Derek quietly, apparently shaken by the news just as we were.
"Yeah, well, apparently you should have made sure," Isaac muttered bitterly.
"Shut it, Isaac," I snapped over my shoulder at him, sending him a glare that he matched with his own.
"No! I mean come on, this is getting ridicules. How hard is it to kill one lizard–" Isaac was cut off by a loud bang. The sound of metal bending to a superior force. I had been looking at Isaac, ready to give him hell when the noise caught both our attentions and we turned to see Derek having punched the side of the subway carriage. His back was turned to us, and his fist was heavily imbedded in metal that had caved to his supernatural strength.
With a yank he pulled out his undamaged fist, shaking it before he placed it in his other hand and turned to face us all. Erica stepped back towards me, now even more scared – which I'm sure hadn't been Derek's intention. I took a silent breath and steadied myself, while Isaac lowered his head like a child who knew he was in trouble for talking back.
Derek wasn't giving him much attention though, apparently so angry with himself he hadn't noticed Isaac's lack of respect. Luckily for him, I thought, sending the younger teen a sideways glare before refocusing on Derek.
Our Alpha took in a long breath, then steadily let it out through his nostrils, before finally letting his hands separated. "All right… All right, let me think for a bit," Derek said as he re-entered the subway carriage, closing the door behind him before I had a chance to ask if he wanted me to join him. Rather than go after him, I decided to take the chance to regroup with the members of my Pack and rest. Like Derek had said earlier, we needed it. Even more so now that the Kanima had returned.
Isaac showed us over to his corner of the lair were he lived, for all intents and purposes, and we pulled over some crates so we all had a place to sit. While I sat on a double crate with Erica, letting her rest her head against me, Isaac brought us something to eat and drink. See, he could be nice when he wanted to be, like he had been when he first turned. I assumed the fluctuation in character was the same reason for him as it was for me and Erica. When we all first turned we'd embraced the new us, perhaps a little too much. Now it was about finding a balance between who we were and who we could be now. Making sure that we didn't lose what made us us.
Quickly though, the psychology of it all made my head spin and I decided to stop thinking and get something to eat and drink. I made sure Erica took something before letting her fall asleep, her head resting on my lap.
Isaac had been sat opposite us, hands clasped together and smiling as he watched us both. "You're good with her," he suddenly said, meaning it as genuine compliment. I took it as such.
"Thanks," I said, eyes remaining on Erica as I softly stroked her hair. She stirred for a moment before then settling back down, letting out a breath of air. "You had a brother didn't you?" I said after a moment, looking over towards him. He nodded back slowly, though his eyes didn't lift to meet mine.
"Yeah," he said slowly. He paused, then added, "But he was nothing like you. He didn't look out for me or protect me the way you do with Erica." He let the silence take hold after that.
"You know, even since you joined the Pack, I've kinda seen you like a little brother I guess," I suddenly said. This time though, it was me who lowered my gaze to Erica, playing with her hair while Isaac looked over towards me.
"Really?" he asked, and I heard the hope in his voice.
"Yeah," I admitted with a smile before I looked up to meet his eyes. "I guess it could be a Pack bond thing or whatever. But you're just so…little brotherly, I guess."
"How so?" Isaac asked with a chuckle.
"Well, you're younger than me obviously. You're cute but I wouldn't say I'm attracted to you."
"Thanks," Isaac said with a roll of the eyes, though he smiled all the same.
"You're also a complete ass," I added, to which we laughed. "But you can be sweet when you wanted to be. I don't know, but all that just makes me look at you and think, brother."
Isaac smiled before lowering his head, embarrassment in his voice as he said, "I guess I kinda see you like a big sister too."
"Pack bond?" I asked.
"Yeah," he answered uncertainly. "Can't think why else I'd put up with you."
"Oh, shut up!" I snapped back with a grin as I threw a water bottle at him which he ducked to avoid. We started laughing again which awoke Erica. She grumbled for a bit but quickly lightened up with the help of me and Isaac. We then continued chatting for another half an hour before Derek stepped out of the subway carriage.
At that we all went quiet, eager to hear what our Alpha had to say. When he spoke though, he was looking solely at me, despite the fact he was addressing the room. "We're going to need Scott's and Stiles' help to kill the Kanima." We all frowned together, sharing looks among one another before looking back to Derek, still frowning.
"Why?" me and Isaac both asked at once.
Of course, rather than give an answer right away, Derek turned and walked over to a chest at the other end of the lair. Naturally we three followed, first me, then Isaac, and finally Erica. As we walked, Derek answered our question. "Because it's harder to kill than I thought and I still don't know who it is." All good points, but I still wasn't particularly fond of asking for help outside of the Pack. Especially to people who'd been our enemies, what, eight hours ago?
"And they do?" Isaac asked as Derek stopped in front of a chest and we gathered around him.
"They might," he answered looking to Isaac briefly, before then turning towards me and Erica. "Which is why I need you two to get on their good side."
"Are you sure about that?" I asked skeptically, folding my arms. "After what just happened, I really doubt they're going to buy it."
Derek smirked slightly, a knowing smirk. "You saw the way Scott talked to you the other day, how he tried to convince you it was wrong to kill Lydia after he tried with me." I did remember that, but I was still unsure why Scott had tried that at all. As if hearing my thoughts, Derek continued with, "He did it because he thinks he can change your mind. So let him keep on thinking that, let him think it's a possibility."
"And what about Stiles?" Erica asked, grinning at the thought of her crush.
"Yeah, that one's never going to trust us," I argued, raising my brow towards Derek who continued to smirk.
"I'm sure Erica's more than capable of handling Stiles." While I agreed with that physically, I wasn't so sure about mentally. Erica's feelings were still there for Stiles, which if he found out about could very easily allow him to turn the tables on her. And though he was now looking at Erica – because why wouldn't he – that didn't mean he'd become putty like everyone else. In fact he'd proved several times now to be quite resilient to anything other than brute force. Something I wasn't sure Erica would use without me present.
Although I didn't voice my concerns, the Alpha was obviously aware of them. "But if it worries you that much, then go after one of them together. All I want is you to get on their good side and to find out what they know."
"Easy peasy, right, Sis?" Erica asked playfully, as she adopted the same stance as me and knocked me with her hips. I turned towards her, finding a confident grin on her face. I didn't bother answering, just smiled back as we both knew we could handle this. We weren't going to fail our Alpha again.
"You know, the full moon's coming, Derek," Isaac then pointed out in a serious and obviously concerned tone.
"I'm aware of that," Derek replied, before opening up the chest in front of us – which had a strange symbol of three interconnecting spirals on it. Once done, Derek began pulling out its contents, a series of very big and very old chains. The same chains that had been used on me during my first full moon, and would be again on my second.
"These look comfortable," Erica declared rhetorically as she pulled out another set of chains. She grinned at Derek who took the chains from her before adding them to the pile he'd made on the floor.
"You said you were gonna teach us to change whenever we wanted," Isaac continued to speak, a mixture of annoyance and worry.
"There hasn't been time," Derek said simply, continuing to unload the chains. That of course hadn't been completely true. If he spent my extra training time training the others too, then they might well be at the same stage I was, and I was so close to being able to control my shifts. So very close. But recently Derek had confirmed to me it was unlikely I'd be able to gain complete control before the full moon. I knew the basics of how to shift, use anger to do so and then use my anchor to pull me back. It was just hard to hit the right amount of anger in order to shift, which I'd tried doing multiple times. Shifting back was easy enough, but the full moon would test how much control over that I really had. None of the others however, were close enough to that level of control.
"But if you have to lock us all up during the full moon, that means you're alone against the Argents," Isaac pointed out, panic raising in his voice. I had to admit, it had me worried too, and while it might be possible to teach me enough control to help him on the full moon, he'd never be able to teach the others in time.
Derek however, didn't seem that concerned about the Hunters or the approaching full moon. "They haven't found us," he said comfortably as he shut the chest, having taken out all he needed from it.
"Yet," Isaac pointed out, the key word that was missing from the end of Derek's sentence. Derek ignored him however, and started walking off towards the other end of the lair, some chains from the pile in hand, while the rest of us turned to watch him. "So how about we forget the Kanima?" Isaac suggested.
"We can't!" Derek snapped, swinging back around to face us, his Betas. I looked at him softly, trying to will him into calming down, which he did. He was still worried though, I could see it from his posture, from the smells in the air. What he said next didn't help either. "There was something about the way Gerard looked at it. He wasn't afraid…at all. And I don't know what he knows or what he's planning. But I'm sure about one thing. We have to find it first."
That was the first time I thought about leaving Beacon Hills. Not without the Pack though and definitely not without Erica. But I thought about suggesting it to Derek. Pointing out that it was becoming more trouble than it was worth to stay in Beacon Hills. That we'd be better off leaving for a couple of months to train. Master our abilities so we could become proper Betas, and in turn increase his strength as an Alpha and the strength of the Pack as a whole.
I didn't say anything though. I knew he wouldn't listen. His mind was made up, and even his Second wouldn't be able to change his mind. Again though, I was left wondering if I really was his Second, his righthand. If I was worthy of that position, or if it was even worth my while training to reach that level. It was starting to feel like he only listened to me when it suited him, the rest of the time he did as he pleased. For better or worse though, he was our Alpha. So we'd follow him wherever he led us… For now.