Chapter 06: Don't be in cities at night unless you want to be bit.
Stiles V
Stiles wakes with a startle, flinging himself from his cover, landing on all fours, his fur rises in panic and he flees from something. But the only thing lingering from the dream is the erratic beating of his small fox heart and an uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling throughout his body. His legs are shivering as he pulls himself to the toilet, shifting back into a human to reach the sink and stare in the mirror. He splashes his face with water, pees, and gets dressed before heading downstairs where he finds Derek and his dad sitting at the table discussing Derek's uncle.
"Hey, you okay Stiles?" Dad asks when he spots him, "you fell out your bed."
"Yeah, I'm okay, just some nightmare." He mumbles, tried, as he heads straight for the cornflakes.
Peter Hale disappeared sometime between Wednesday and today. The nurses who'd been in charge with Peter claims he was transferred to another hospital, but when Derek called the supposed new hospital, they'd never heard of Peter Hale. The form signing his transfer was signed by Laura Hale several days after her death, claiming she'd wanted him transferred to a better hospital.
Derek bounces the idea that Peter was kidnapped by the alpha, something Stiles finds pretty unlikely, but he keeps his thoughts to himself and buries his doubts in corn flakes with cacao powder mixed into the milk.
"The alpha is building a pack," Dad says. "We suspect it might want Peter in it, you too Derek. But that also brings up the uncomfortable fact that if the alpha took Peter, there's an accomplice we don't know about."
Derek shifts, it's nothing new. But it looks like dad is about to explain, so Stiles crunches on his slowly softening cornflakes and listens. Some have dry patches of cacao that puffs in his mouth, and that's just not a nice feeling. "What do you mean?"
"A boy, a few years older than Stiles, just out of high school, Jason Fisher, and a girl of twelve, Emma Sanders, was both bitten today. Jason died when his body rejected the bite and Emma is shaken, but Satomi is with her and her family, getting them caught up before the next full moon."
"Satomi is an alpha that lives in a town close to Beacon Hills." Stiles explains for Derek.
"I know who Satomi is." Derek says, offended and Stiles' willingness to help.
Stiles flickers his eyes around and looks away and at his dad. "Will it come after Scott?"
Dad shakes his head and looks dazed from the movement. "No," He pauses with a small blink. "The alpha left both Jason and Emma after having bitten them-it was close to taking Jason with it but it fled when seen. I suspect it's unstable, the natural instinct would be for the alpha to stay close to a potential new beta, but it was a hit and run. We consulted with the Argents and they agreed that the alpha is running on instinct when it bites unwilling kids, but its insanity is making it unstable, hence why it is leaving the kids."
Stiles bristles and Derek nodded. "That is true, my- my mother- she didn't leave my younger brother's side for days when she had turned him. She later told me that her instincts needed her to make sure the transition was successful."
"And the hunters?" Stiles prods, also prodding in his cornflakes. "Why aren't they suspects?" The last part comes out harsher than he wanted, and Derek snaps his gaze to him. "What about Peter himself? He has the motive, and he's been burned alive, who's to say he didn't go insane?"
"Peter wouldn't kill Laura!" Derek hisses dangerously, his claws spreading out flatly over the table, not scratching the wooden surface. "He loved her!"
"I agree with Derek." Dad shoots him down, immediately supporting Derek. Stiles snaps his head up and glares at his dad, almost showing his teeth as the urge to hiss at his dad flares its ugly head.
"What."
"I knew Peter before the fire, he wouldn't attack random kids, much less Laura, his niece. He had a rebellious streak, but he was just as devoted to the protection of Beacon Hills and his pack than anyone-and never would have created all this chaos. We also have no evidence of the alpha being Peter. The hunters are on shaky ground, but the autopsy revealed that Laura was bisected hours past her death, which makes their involvement with Laura's death unlikely, possible. But very unlikely. Furthermore, they have no motive to take Peter. We are still keeping an eye on the hunters of course, but the Alpha is our priority-it doesn't matter if it's actually Peter or not" He ignores Stiles' scrutinising- not even entertaining the idea that Peter is the alpha-and continues, looking over at the resident werewolf. "Derek, I need you to stay in our spare bedroom until all of this is over."
"Absolutely not." Derek almost hisses like a cat. It's almost adorable except he's a grown man, who's also a dangerous werewolf.
"It is not a request Derek, think of it as protective custody. I can't have you out there alone at night when there's a possibility the alpha is after you," Dad explains. "Our house is protected, so I'll know if the alpha gets close. Your old house does not have that advantage." he doesn't mention that it's better for Derek-psychologically-to be staying at their place. Staying in the burnt remains of his old home where his family died can't be good for anyone.
Derek stares at him and then looks at Stiles, and then back again, "Okay."
Lydia I
"Let's watch The Notebook." Lydia says and twists her body over to Jackson who grips his steering wheel tightly and tightens his jaw. His face looks handsome in the faint light and Lydia admires the view a few seconds longer. He's been tense all day, that McCall kid joining their table must have annoyed him more than his subtle bullying had implied.
"Again?" Jackson sneers hostile as he stops for a red light. The streets are empty as they almost always are in this area on Saturday nights. Everything worth attention is behind them, further towards the industrial area.
"Yes, everything you pick is boring." Lydia closes her eyes as a traffic light flashes into her eyes and listens to the soothing pitter-patter of rain falling on the car.
Jackson hits the expensive steering wheel roughly and glares at her. "I'm not watching The Notebook again!"
"Yes, you are, I'll make it up to you-while we're watching." she drags her hand over his thigh and slips one leg under her as she leans over with a small smile.
Jackson's eyes widen as his jaw hangs slack and Lydia knows she's won, but then his eyes scoots away from her face and through her window. He pales, a small sound escapes through his gaping mouth. "What!?" Lydia snaps and looks out her window curious to what was more important to him than ogling her breasts as he usually would.
She screams and the creature standing down the left turn, jerks, startled, before leaping towards them.
"Lydia!" Jackson screams and reaches to push her back into her seat as the creature slams into their car. The world spins as Jackson's Porsche is overturned and tumbles around, the sides dents and the airbags go off and forces the air from Lydia's lungs.
Lydia blinks, the car is lying still on its side. Through the fog of the windscreen, she can see the stop lights red glow, she looks up at Jackson. He's hanging limply in his seat belt, his face turned towards her and in the dim light, Lydia can spot a long cut on his left cheek. His face is covered in blood, dripping down on her, dark red liquid standing out against his skin.
"Jacon," She whispers. Everything is quiet, like the sound delay after a bomb. The light reaching them before the sound. The quiet before the blast pulls everything into oblivion. "Jakson wake op!" She hisses her words out and moves to push him but is stopped by a burst of dizziness. Lydia pushes against her throbbing head and squints her eyes shut as a sound resembling a fork scraping on a plate and metal smashing together makes her ears ring. She's staring blankly at Jackson, trying to make her thoughts work as normally as the door above them is ripped off its hinges and the clang of it hitting the asphalt makes Lydia flinch as the rain is let in.
A hand with claws and dark fur sweeps through the hole where there should be a door. It swipes past her, sharp claws almost slashing into her arm before gripping Jackson's arm and ripping him out. The seat belt strains against Jackson's body but eventually gives in and Lydia is nearly hit in the head by the loose straps. A furred hand rests at the door opening as Jackson is being dragged up and rips at the car, making it sway as one claw one stays stuck as it leaves.
Her vision waves as the raindrops hit her face and Lydia screams, white noise ringing in her head. The radio beeps to life, suddenly playing a distorted version of Who's afraid of the big bad wolf.
Before Lydia can take in the irony, the light streaming through the front window flickers as something moves in its path. Lydia can see the animal better as it drags Jackson a small distance from the car. The light around it makes its form stand out in the night, showing off its bulky muscles that almost shapes it like a man, but the bone structure is wrong at the legs, looking more canine in nature, the head is elongated with a canine snout, and behind it, is a tail. She can hear it growling as it lays a front paw, too much like a human, on Jackson's chest. She's sure it's going to press down and collapse Jackson's chest, but it doesn't, instead, it leans down and bites Jackson's shoulder.
Jackson doesn't twitch, and Lydia knows he is not dead despite all the evidence. She can't place why, as she lays there against the car door, strapped to her seat, she is so convinced Jackson is still alive despite being bitten and mauled in front of her.
The creature looks up from Jackson's body with its eerie red eyes and sniffs in her direction once before it hulk over, towards the car she is in. Lydia's body locks up as it goes on its hind legs and stares down at her through the hole where the door it had ripped off had previously been. It reaches down for her, and its man like front paws wraps their way around her arm. Lydia screams as a gunshot rings in her ears and the creature finches with a howl as it rips its hand away from her, leaving deep claw marks that tear into her skin. Lydia screams and the monster gives the car a big shove as it springs away and back to where Jackson is lying still.
Cars swarm the area their motors growling almost as loudly as the animal. Another gunshot rings out and the animal jerks above Jackson, it has something long and narrow stuck in it's back. It's glowing red eyes find her for a second, seeming so sad in Lydia's eyes, before it scoops Jackson up and flees with him in his arms. Cars drive off after it and a voice calls to her from the outside.
"Are you okay?" There's a woman with short bright red hair in the door opening. Lydia nods and looks away, she's okay but that might just be the shock and adrenaline. "Okay, we're going to get you to safety, okay?"
A few more people come around and lift her out the car as an ambulance nears. Aren't they supposed to wait until the professionals get there? Lydia can't remember, but there is something about the people that calms her down. The woman sits with her and analyses the deep scratches the animal left in Lydia's arm. The people milling around the crash are all wearing ugly outfits, not very stylish, but more for practicality. Lydia understands mutely in the back of her head, but they could have picked something better.
At least the woman has a bit of taste even if she looks like she just ripped muffs of her hands before coming here.
"Who is your friend?" The woman asks slowly and firmly as the sound of glass being smashed reaches her. "The one it took."
"Ackson, Mhy boyfriend." Lydia says and wraps the blanket they had placed around her shoulders closer to herself. Lydia blinks. "What's zhat?" She asks staring at the pair of pale eyes on the street corner, they're low to the ground and the streetlights show the two ears above them. It is another one, just different, smaller and more animalistic, with two tails instead of one.
"A werewolf, we're going to take care of it and get your boyfriend back." The woman says, and Lydia is about to correct her, but when she looks up, the pale eyes are gone. The red-haired woman sits with her until the ambulance arrives and Lydia is packed inside.
Derek III
Derek decides to head back to The Cerise (Stiles wants to go back to the Stilinski household) a few hours after sunset, it's dark out and while they do see well in the dark, the rain that had broken out, clenched all chances of sniffing the Alpha out. Also, after hours of searching aimlessly, they're ready to find a new strategy.
"I think I can bribe Danny to do some hacking for us," Stiles suggests and kicks at a lone rock, watching it as it flies out onto the wet asphalt. "Keep an eye on security cameras, for when it has to come buy food… where would it even get money for buying food?"
"I think the Alpha would make his own food," Derek huffs. "Every pup learns how to skin and cook wild animals, it's one of the ways the young are taught control. Besides, it won't work. Technology has a specific sound you just can't mask, even insane, the Alpha will know to avoid the sound."
"Well that's fucking great," Stiles laughs and chokes. "I can just imagine this small Derek, giant eyebrows, and those cute teeth, staring down this small adorable bunny with tears in his eyes because he has to snap its neck."
"..." Derek says nothing, only stares at Stiles like he is speaking in tongues. Stiles blinks. "We're not savages." he says eventually.
"I doubt you'd be, you're too well cultured like you're having dinner with the queen every day."
Derek doesn't reply, instead, he looks out over the street where a couple is walking on the other side of the street with their hoods up for the rain and obscuring their faces in shadows. There's something off about them. Their walk is all odd angles and awkward bouncing, they're probably some non-shifter supernatural.
Stiles catches his gaze and stares at the two slowly walking away. He groans and flips his hands around as he talks, getting Derek's attention. "Ugh. Why does the preserve have to be so big? It would be nice if it was the size of a football field, or a pea, just once." he complains uselessly.
"I smell your asthmatic human." Derek says as the smell penetrates the downpour, only a few seconds before McCall comes bicycling around the corner, wheels splashing with water. His breath comes out short as he slides to a stop, almost running them over.
McCall sees Stiles first and smiles wide and strained, a small word is on his lips, but it slips away with his slime as his eyes catch Derek standing a bit behind Stiles.
Scott looks back at Stiles, his eyes shifting to Derek with nervous flutters of his heart every few seconds. "Hey Stiles, what are you doing?"
"Out searching for the grim," Stiles replies with an odd and not quite there smile of his own as Scott pales just slightly. "You've met Derek."
"Yeah…" Scott says and looks Derek over, his heart beating faster. "So- uh. What are you two doing out here in the rain?"
Stiles snorts, "Going back home, going through the preserve like lost little children isn't working. The area is just too big, like looking for a hair in a haystack- or you know a needle since this needle draws blood if you come at it from the wrong direction wrong. So back to brainstorming."
"Is there anything I can do?" McCall asks hesitantly, it's obvious he wants a no in reply, but he also seems to have a desire to help out despite the fear reeking off him like a bad perfume.
"You just go back to school and woo Allison," Stiles pats McCall on the shoulder and the other boy flinches, it's subtle, but Stiles clearly caught it as he withdraws his hand a bit too quickly to be casual. "Maybe ask your boss for some mountain ash, um- he should be able to teach you how to use it. Then you can protect yourself from all things that go bump in the night-like Derek or-"
Me.
Derek watches with pity, it's rare to get a human friend that's accepting of the gifts they have.
"I'll do that." McCall says, just as a scream unlike anything he's ever heard reaches him, his hands clasp up to his ears to block out the sound uselessly. The noise rips at his brain like it travelled on a wavelength his hands can't block.
"Did you hear that?" the tips of Stiles' fingers are slowly slipping out of his ears, a more effective way of blocking out the sound.
"Hear what?" the human asks, his eyes wide and confused with a rush of fear.
Derek looks over at Stiles and their eyes meet just as the sound comes again, this time more desperate and Stiles stills as he takes the full front of the sound.
"Lydia." he whispers, his voice hoarse as he turns and begins running towards the sound. His form twists as he seamlessly slips into his kitsune form, bursting ahead with faster strides than in his human form.
"Who's Lydia?" Derek demands, his hands reaching and trapping McCall in place, there's something in his eyes, he recognised the name Stiles said.
"I- she's- Lydia is-" McCall stammers, his eyes wide as he looks down where Derek is touching him.
"Speak!" Derek growls, his eyes glowing.
"She's a girl- from school," McCall hurries out and pulls out of Derek's paws. "Leave me the hell alone!" Scott snaps.
There's that fear again. "Do you think we're animals?" McCall's eyes widen and he stammers. "Do you think that just because we're not human, that we will just snap and attack you? Why the hell are you acting like I'm-that Stiles is just as dangerous as the alpha?"
"Stiles is my friend!"
"Then act like it!" why does Derek even care? His Bain ponders as his words rip out of him with a growl and sharp teeth. "Did you know that Stiles is the most pathetic kitsune I've ever met? He's slow as a human, his healing isn't much better-he's weak as a human. You're pathetic! He's pathetic! I can see how you two ended up gravitating towards each other! A pair of useless people-the abnormally weak human and kitsune!"
"You don't get to talk about Stiles like that! Not with everything he's been through because of me!" McCall slaps Derek, harder than he'd expect from a human. And staggers back, "Oh my God! I'm so sorry!"
Derek feels a flash of satisfaction and respect for the human. "Because of you?"
"I- just go away, please. Leave me alone." McCall grips the handles of his bike tightly, short nails digging into the soft material. He looks down, away from Derek. Submitting Peter says mockingly in his head.
"Fine." Derek says, granting him his wish and rushes in the direction of Stiles' fading scent as the downpour slowly washes it away.
He loses Stiles' scent after a few minutes, but another scream from the girl, Lydia, brings him back into the right direction. Gunshots ring out as he finds Stiles' small form hidden behind a trash can as he watches hunters chase after the Alpha who's dragging a body after it. Someone it's bit, Derek's brain supplies, it's getting more stable. And Derek can't let it build a pack. There's strength in numbers.
"Follow the Alpha and Jackson." Stiles says as he watches a redheaded woman approach an overturned car.
Derek doesn't ask who Jackson is, it can only be the soon to be werewolf the Alpha took. He follows the cars speeding off to give chase to the Alpha easily. The cars split up, the sounds of their motors distinct, as they herd the Alpha towards the preserve and away from the town inhabiting too ignorant and innocent humans.
The herding leads the alpha back the direction Stiles and Derek had just come from, McCall is luckily gone already. But the odd supernatural couple they'd seen walking peacefully on the street screams as the Alpha tears through them both and flees, creating a distraction.
Derek spares a glance at them, their features more prominent now the hoods have fallen back. They're mermaids, with their faces free for all to see, identifying them is easy as the scales on their faces glint in the street light. A hunter car breaks off to assist the two, most likely not noticing the spell hiding their tail as human legs or the fins peeking out through hair, or the scales that can be mis-seen as glitter.
Derek falls to all fours as the Alpha begins speeding up and the Hunters lose ground. He wishes he could change, run wild like when he was younger. Before Kate. But it's impossible now. He is fast enough in his human form and he begins catching up to the Alpha, it's slower than what Derek expected. But with a teenager gripped in its one arm, the more dominant and caring alpha instincts are telling it to protect the boy first. It runs carefully, to not hurt the boy.
Derek jumps onto the alpha as it escapes from the city, but still a small distance from the fence to the reserve. It drops the boy with a roll, letting him slide mostly painlessly across the asphalt. Derek snarls at the Alpha and it takes a swipe at him while rolling to shake him off, Derek dodges by jumping off and rolling to a stop. His back arches as he readies to jump again, standing between the alpha and the boy. the alpha lumbers up on all fours, it's ugly and deformed lips reaching back into a vicious snarl.
"What did you do with Peter Hale?!" Derek roars.
Deep rumbles vibrate out the alphas throat as it paws at the road, ripping up asphalt. it takes a step back and opens its mouth, the sounds coming from it sounds almost like words in their unnatural tones. They sound almost human, like the alpha is confused by his question.
"What?" Derek snarls, if it wants to talk then it should, werewolves may not have the telepathy to speak in someone's mind like Kitsune, but body language works almost the same way. All werewolves watch the body language of each other, the subtle communication sometimes more important than words.
The alpha shakes its head with rushed movements, it jumps on Derek before he can react, pushing him down to the asphalt by his shoulders. The claws dig in painfully and the Alpha howls in his face, a howl to submit. Derek scratches at its underbelly and it snarls, its claws dig in deeper at his defiance.
The hunter cars are just around the corner and Derek kicks up at it with all the power in his body, and despite its superior strength, the Alpha falters and staggers off him. Derek jumps to his feet and rushes over to the boy, snatching him up by the ruined collar of his shirt. The Hunters speed past just as Derek has dragged the boy onto the sidewalk, he shields his eyes. Not seeing his glowing eyes, hunters assume they've been attacked by the alpha, and not a threat. So, they aim their fire at it instead of them.
Again, another car breaks off to make sure Derek and the boy are okay, leaving only three cars and six hunters to chase the alpha. There's only one hunter in the car and Derek recognises his smell before he steps out the car. It's the red-headed hunter who'd shot him with an arrow the previous night. The hunter begins talking soothingly as he approaches them, and Derek just stares before taking a look at the boy's bite mark. It's not oozing black which means his body has accepted the bite and he will turn.
"Damn, he's going to turn," The hunter says and crouches down by them before taking a good look at Derek's face. The hunter blinks and subtly leans away, his hand moving to a better angle to draw the gun at his side. "Derek Hale?"
Derek nods, "And Jackson, the one the Alpha took." he says shortly, not wanting to really talk with hunters associated with the family that killed his.
"And you rescued him?" The hunter asks disbelievingly.
"Yes," Derek almost growls and fishes out his phone, relishing just slightly, in how the hunter's heartbeat spikes. The hunter doesn't do anything, probably realising he's too close, that if Derek decided to attack there would be little he could do. Derek quickly finds the sheriff's number and dials it.
"Sheriff Stilinski." Stilinski says.
"Sheriff it's Derek," the hunter's heartbeat spikes again, "The alpha has bitten a boy named Jackson and attacked a girl named Lydia."
"God," Stilinski says. "How's Stiles?"
"He's fine?" Derek asks, confused why he would be asked about Stiles and not Jackson.
"Where are you?"
Derek quickly looks around for a street sign and tells Stilinski. "I'm on my way." Stilinski says and hangs up.
"The sheriff huh?" the hunter asks nervously. "You guys friends?"
Derek stares back silently and the hunter sweats.
Leaving the boy, Jackson, with the hunter Derek leaps, with his anger swirling through him, Derek can almost feel the fur shifting over his skin. But nothing happens, and Derek stays in his human form. The scent is faint but the trail of blood in the water flowing over the asphalt leads him.
He runs through the preserve, following the red blood and the smell. He runs past his old home where the blood leads inside and when it follows out its lessened. He'll look inside the house later, the Alpha could have bandaged up, Derek had left supplies in the house in case he'd need it someday, and if it had, then I would mean it has the mind to do it.
Hunters use the loss of control under the full moon for hunting because most werewolves don't have the human thought processes to see through tricks or make their own when the moon stands tall. Human thought makes werewolves more dangerous. Control makes them calculating.
Derek advances on.
He stops briefly as he passes a giant tree stump and spreads his hand out over the rough lines signifying its ancient age. It seems familiar.
The fury in his bones washes out the familiarity that makes him want to stay. The alpha is more important than any comfort of his. He runs for what feels like hours, following a faint blood trail that never seems to stop.
His phone rings, it's somehow alive in his wet pockets.
"Derek." It's Stilinski.
Derek is still running his eyes seeing the glimmer of blood and his nose catching it through the thinning rain. "What?"
"You've been gone for hours, I need you back for when Jackson wakes."
"I have his scent!" Derek snarls in the machine and loses sight of the blood, his own runs cold.
Where did it go!?
Derek steps back, ignoring Stilinski talking, and searches for the scent and the blood. It's gone. Like there had never been anything at all. He runs back a bit, he knows the preserve, he's run in those woods his whole life. But where there were blood and the scent, there's nothing now. Like he'd been chasing ghosts.
Derek collapses.
Well this chapter took a long time to come out… life happened, and I moved.
This chapter is split into two as it flew out of control back when I wrote the first draft months ago, it was supposed to have a Scott perspective, then the Lydia one, the Derek one, then the stuff in the next chapter that elongated it beyond what I'd planned as Jackson sneaked his way onto the page with a long section when I just wanted to write his discovery of what he has become.
That's what's in store for chapter 7.