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"Lydia? LYDIA!"

Lydia felt like she was underwater, everything muddled and with a rushing sound in her ears.

She tried hard to focus on the familiar voice, feeling it tugging her back to reality.

"What the hell happened? Did I do this to her?"

"Stiles, don't be ridiculous. How could you have?" Allison's voice came.

Wait, why was Stiles here?

"Maybe I infected her with whatever the hell we're experiencing! She could see Scott's fake werewolf shadow, and your dead aunt haunting you, and maybe now my nightmares…?"

Lydia's concentration finally seemed to return and she sought out Stiles in the group, his eyes immediately meeting hers and he threw himself forward to crouch in front of her.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

Lydia rubbed her forehead, looking around the room in confusion. She was in her bedroom, her three closest friends around her, and Stiles was still in sweats and a t-shirt, as if he had come over in the middle of the night.

Why were they here? Did she faint?

"What happened?"

"We're not sure, you were just sort of … screaming nonstop. Do you feel okay?" Allison asked tenderly, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her.

Had Allison asked Scott and Stiles over because she had had a nightmare? Oh god, how embarrassing…

Lydia tried to stand, but her legs were shaking too badly, and she ended up falling back to sit again, Allison's hands immediately grabbing her to steady her even before Stiles could.

"I… I guess I was dreaming?" Lydia said completely unconvincingly, seeking her mind for any scrap of memory that lead up to before right then.

Stiles was stroking up and down her calves slowly, watching her face with earnest, and Lydia noticed the drying tear tracks on his face.

She reached out without even thinking, wiping the moisture away gently, feeling her lip tremble in retaliation. Had she scared him that much? Or had something else upset him?

He leaned his cheek into her touch, exhaling softly.

His breath tickled the thin skin of her wrist, and she felt her eyes fill with water as his emotions seemed to start affecting hers.

Allison stood up, meeting Scott's gaze, and jerking her head to the side to indicate they should go.

"We'll go start making some breakfast. Then maybe after that we can start calling around to get some answers." she told the two, knowing they probably weren't even listening.

Scott patted Stiles' shoulder supportively before wrapping an arm around Allison's waist and leading her out of the bedroom door. It was clear that no one really knew what was going on, and that Stiles and Lydia were a little too distracted to participate in a discussion. Since no one seemed to be in any immediate danger, it was something that could wait.

Feeling the room empty, Lydia leaned forward until her forehead was resting against Stiles', exhaling slowly with her eyes closed as she inhaled his comforting scent and willed her heart to relax.

She had no idea what the hell had happened, but she knew that the closer she got to Stiles, the better she felt.

It was a strange contrast from the night before, when some sort of foreboding doom filled her when she got too close.

Stiles' hands closed around her wrists, holding her in place, his breathing indicating that he too was finally beginning to relax.

"I'm sorry. For whatever happened. I'm so sorry." Lydia whispered, her voice shaky despite her attempts to calm down, and Stiles was moving before she could say anything else.

He moved forward to wrap her in his arms, climbing up on the bed next to her and pulling her into his lap. He buried his face in her neck, in her hair, and she could feel the odd shudder roll through his body.

She squeezed him tighter, nuzzling as close as she could, and let out her random influx of emotions.

"I'm sorry too. For not telling you about the supernatural sooner. For forcing you into this life." Stiles murmured, wiping his face as he pulled back.

His eyes travelled down to her bed, the neat sheets and comforter that had been torn away from the mattress, and it took Lydia a moment to realize that that must have been her. No wonder they had all been so freaked out.

Lydia felt herself redden. "This is so embarrassing…"

"What is?"

"I… I don't think I had a dream about supernatural monsters under the bed or something. I don't really remember what it was about but… I don't want you to think I'm some scared girl who can't be told anything…"

Stiles tucked a fallen strand behind her ear, seeming to clue in that she still hadn't been filled in. "Lydia, it wasn't just you. I woke up screaming bloody murder, simultaneously with you. I… I don't remember everything that happened, my dreams were all over the place…."

He trailed off, and Lydia could see the stress sinking into his skin. So that was why he blamed himself? Because they both had mirroring nightmares?

"Scott called Allison right away, because I guess I had trouble coming out of it, but she already had her phone in hand, about to call him about you. It's… we're not really sure what it means. That's why we're going to call Derek and Deaton when it's not five a.m. It doesn't seem possible that it was just a coincidence. You and I are human, but there is definitely something eerie going on."

"We don't even know if I am human." Lydia said quietly, the words sounding so foreign on her tongue. Identity crisis she understood, but not to this degree.

Stiles grasped her hands in his and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"We are going to figure out what's going on. With all of us. Especially the stuff with you."

"Maybe it comes back to what happened to me before I ran off into the woods those two days I disappeared? I still don't remember anything."

Stiles thought about it, remembering the Nemeton's location in that stretch of woods. Maybe it did all came back to that. Their PTSD-type issues, Lydia being drawn to Beacon Hills, her running off screaming, and them screaming now. Maybe it all came back to the Nemeton, to the sacrifices they made last year that brought power back to the mystical tree.

"Maybe you're right. Maybe the answer is out there somewhere." he admitted. "We'll talk to Scott and Allison, and whoever else, but I don't think it would hurt to take a look around. We haven't been out there since you were missing."

Lydia nodded, remembering the void in her mind, the cloud only clearing when she found herself at Stiles' house. She remembered the look on his face when he realized it was her, how quick she was wrapped in his arms, and the gentleness in which he took care of her. He always took care of her. When she was attacked, when she was at the hospital, when they went back to school and she was still weak. Even when she stayed for Thanksgiving and he expelled so much energy into making sure she was happy and enjoying herself.

"What is it?" Stiles asked, seeing the mist of emotion in her eyes.

Lydia forced a smile. "Nothing. Just thinking about all that we've been through the last few months. I'm sorry about earlier. Asking Allison to stay instead of you. I just needed some space. I didn't do it to hurt you, but I know it probably did."

He shook his head. "You have nothing to apologize for. Even if you had done it to hurt me, I would've understood why."

"No. You were right that weekend we had here. When you said that telling me how Scott knew Derek, and about 'everything else' would be too much. I… I don't know if I would've believed you then. I knew I trusted you, and I could tell not telling me was hard for you, but I think if you had told me before I had to see some stuff for myself, I would've thought you were nuts. I'm glad I know now, but I think finding out sooner would've messed everything up."

"I just wished you had known, so you knew to be careful… maybe then you wouldn't have been attacked."

"Or maybe I would've been attacked when I was alone and bled out on the ground." Lydia interjected. "That werewolf attack had nothing to do with your life here, Stiles. Allison told me it was someone we went to school with."

"Aiden." he supplied.

Okay. That she hadn't expected.

Her face must have showed it, because he immediately continued.

"He was clearly newly turned, out of control of his powers. It's hard to explain, but werewolves do have beast-like qualities, especially in the early days when they're still slaves to the moon's power. There was no way he had any idea what he was doing or that it was you. Scott nearly ripped out my throat on multiple occasions in his first few months."

He said it so casually, like having a homicidal best friend was so normal, that Lydia had to giggle. And once she went, he laughed, and then they were laughing together at the ridiculousness of their lives until tears sprouted from their eyes.

"You seem to be taking this awfully well, I have to say." Stiles commented once they calmed down.

Lydia shrugged. "I must get that from you. Allison talked about how freaked she was when she learned about her family, but she also talked about what you had been like, what Scott had told her. How you just threw your all into researching lycanthropy, and tried to get through to Scott, and trained him and protected his secret and coached him through the whole thing even though it was all new to you too. Most people would deny it right away, take some time to accept it, but you only laughed at the idea for a minute."

Stiles blew out a long breath, leaning back on his hands. "I guess when you saw it from the outside like I did, it started to make sense. Scott sucked at lacrosse, just as bad as me, and he zipped through tryouts like he was a professional player. Better, even. Doing weird flips and perfect throws and knocking balls all the way through nets. That kind of speed and strength doesn't just happen because he got a good night's sleep and some extra free throws in over the summer. And when I confronted him about the idea that he was heading down a dangerous path, that he should cancel on his first date with Allison, he threw me against the wall, scratched long gashes in the back of my desk chair… Scott's the gentlest person you'll ever meet. I knew there was some greater power at work. It wasn't something I could take my time digesting. Scott's my best friend. He needed my help. I did what I could."

Lydia smiled at his explanation. Scott and Stiles' relationship was very special, that much she knew, and it always made her happy to hear the other talk about their best friend in such a high regard.

"So do you have any questions? Anything I might be able to answer?"

Lydia exhaled slowly. "I'm sure I'll think of something later. Right now I'm just… exhausted."

"Do you want to try to get some more sleep?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't know if I could. What about you? You look more exhausted than you did over finals week." she said, suddenly catching on to the fact that there were deeper circles under his eyes than she first noticed.

"Just what every guy wants to hear…"

She laughed. "You know what I mean." She leaned into his shoulder. "You should sleep, Stiles. We may have a busy day ahead."

He shook his head. "No. I… I don't want to sleep." His eyes were focused on the floor, and she knew what he was trying to keep quiet about. He was afraid to sleep. Something in his dreams made him feel too vulnerable to have any desire to put himself in that position again.

She leaned over to kiss his cheek.

"We should go join the others." She caught sight of herself in the mirror and sighed. She looked like she had been outside in a hurricane, hair a wreck and face puffy and blotchy. "I think I might shower first actually."

Stiles nodded. "Sure. Come downstairs when you're done. We'll eat and figure out what we're going to do today."

Leaving Lydia to her privacy, Stiles headed downstairs and joined Allison and Scott in the kitchen, who were talking quietly. They looked up when they saw him enter the room.

"Everything okay?" Scott asked.

Stiles nodded, supressing a yawn. "Fine, it's fine."

"You guys got to talk?"

"A bit, yeah. I'm glad she knows now. No more secrets."

"And now maybe you guys can take things to the next level…?" Allison prompted slowly, attempting to be casual but both Scott and Stiles sent her a look. "What? It's just a simple question."

Stiles rolled his eyes at her. He glanced behind him to make sure Lydia wasn't nearby.

It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it—that he couldn't be with her until she knew about that part of his life and now she was in the know—but still.

"Not yet. She needs time to absorb, and we need to find out what's going on with all of us. There's just too much happening right now to think about stuff like that."

"Isn't that all the more reason to tell her? Because we never know what's going on with our lives?"

"I don't want to complicate things. Just because I'm in love with her—"

He stunned himself by the casual statement.

"You're in love with her?" Scott cut in with a huge grin.

"Yeah, well, you're in love with Allison!" Stiles said defensively.

Allison buried her giggles in Scott's neck. "We knew you guys were crazy about each other, we just didn't know how deep those feelings ran."

"Although we had our suspicions after seeing the way you two reacted to seeing each other upset this morning."

"Can we just change the subject? She's in the shower. She could be done at any time."

"Okay. Let's focus on today's plan." Allison said with a nod, looking between the two of them. "I really don't know how I feel about just us four going out there. With the way things have been, I don't feel like we can trust ourselves very well. At any moment, you could start transforming uncontrollably, I could start hallucinating, Lydia could get frightened by something randomly, and you Stiles… well, after the other day at the library, I'm kind of worried that it's not just restricted to when you're asleep. That hasn't happened again, has it?"

He looked at his hands folded on the counter, shuffling on the stool.

"Has it?"

Stiles sighed. "Not exactly. I… I haven't told you guys yet, but I've been blacking out, just a few times here and there. Or, at least, there are gaps in my memory. I always am rattled after those dreams, but these blackouts are just emptiness, spaces of a few minutes or even a couple hours where I couldn't tell you where I've been or what I was doing. I've ended up in my jeep outside of places I don't remember driving to. I wonder whether I actually attended class. It's making the whole am-I-really-awake thing that much more complicated."

"Why is this the first time we're hearing about this?" Scott demanded, clearly channeling his alpha status but only for his typical cause—concern for others.

Stiles shrugged. "I… I wasn't sure if it was related to the Nemeton stuff. Or if it was just… my brain. Decomposing."

Scott's face melted into understanding, and Allison got there eventually, but Lydia, who had just come in, stepped into the kitchen cautiously, not really sure what was going on.

"Hey."

Allison smiled warmly at her. "Hey. We made breakfast. Well, okay, we started to make breakfast. And then got distracted. So. We should probably get back to that. Stiles, do you mind reading the next step on that box next to you? We've already added the milk to the batter."

Stiles picked the box up absent-mindedly, forgetting that quickly of his recurring issue of supernatural dyslexia until his eyes found the mixed up sentences.

He stared at the instructions, willing the letters to form tangible words, but they simply melted down the box like candle wax. He didn't even realize his hands were shaking until Lydia reached out to steady them.

"Stiles?" Scott's voice came, but like it was through a thick fog, and Stiles slowly realized that his breathing had quickened. The only thing he had been aware of was his heartbeat pounding in his ears.

"Excuse me." Stiles managed to choke out, before getting shakily to his feet and leaving the room as quick as he could.

He didn't know what he hoped to accomplish. Secluded panic attacks didn't really make for more comfortable ones, although at least he could avoid the embarrassment of his friends witnessing it.

He should've known better regardless. His friends weren't exactly the leave-alone-and-let-die type.

The three of them dropped what they were doing and followed him quickly into the living room, calling after him.

"Stiles. Stiles, look at me. What's going on? Is this a panic attack?" Scott asked in confusion, noting the hyperventilation coming from his best friend

"I have to wake up." Stiles whispered, stumbling to grab onto something, to keep himself upright, to not get dragged into the darkness again. He couldn't go back there.

"Stiles, you are awake. This is real. You're here. You're here with us."

It sounded like Allison, but as if she was speaking through a thick layer of water, all muddled.

He heard a familiar scraping sound, his head whipping around to try to figure out where it was coming from. A metallic-like growl. Was it in his head? Or was that something really here?

"Don't let them in." he whispered, burying his face in his knees, hands over his ears, as he collapsed against the wall.

"What is he saying?" Allison again, or at least a part of him thought so, but he was having trouble concentrating on anything at all.

Until Lydia spoke.

She crouched down in front of him, grabbing his wrists to tug them away from his head. "Stiles, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

Her voice was perfectly clear, eerily so, as if it was inside his skull.

"C-count fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams."

"So count with me, okay? Count how many fingers you have." she instructed soothingly, the epitome of calm. She slid one of his fingers out of the tight fist he had. "One. Two. Three."

They kept counting. Stiles could feel his breathing returning as he answered her robotically. One hand was totally normal. The other he found was too.

"Ten fingers, Stiles. No extras. You're awake." she murmured before pulling behind his neck to hug him close to her.

He burrowed his face in her neck, breathing her clean scent in. He knew his face was heating up, embarrassed for his breakdown, but when he pulled back, he was only met with relieved smiles.

"I'm so sorry."

"You're fine." Scott promised. "What was that about though, dude?"

He exhaled. It was a lot of things, but he figured he might as well explain the trigger. "I can't read."

The other three exchanged glances.

Before they could start bringing up his GPA, or any other examples that clearly he was not lacking that ability, he continued.

"It's only happened a couple times now. Sometimes when I'm working on homework. Or looking up something on my laptop. I had a few brief periods of the weird dyslexia, but now it seems to be becoming more consistent. And you can't read in dreams."

"Well. Thankfully there isn't much reading to do in the woods. So I say we go out there this afternoon, start looking for some answers, because we can't go on living like this."

Stiles nodded, getting up from the floor, his hand slipping into Lydia's to give her a grateful squeeze before following the others.

"I really hope Deaton has an answer for some of this crap."


Heading to the all familiar woods later that day, Stiles inhaled a deep breath, letting the musky smell of the outdoors fill his lungs. It had been a while since he had been present there, but flashes back to his dreams the night before reminded him that his mind had travelled there more than once.

He hoped today they would get some answers. As expected, on the drive over, he couldn't read a damn thing, which confirmed his theory that his trouble reading was getting worse. It wasn't just the odd assignment or page in a textbook that he could go back to later—now he couldn't read a single sign that might hint at impending danger. Not exactly a comforting thought.

Lydia was surprised by how quiet Stiles was, although maybe it was from how rough of a morning he was having. She had been so wrapped up in her own weird issues recently that she felt guilty for not realizing that Stiles was fighting his own demons. She hoped that, now that they both knew what the other was dealing with thanks to Allison's explanations last night and she knew about his supernatural extra-curricular activities, they could work on fighting those demons together.

"Here come the others." Allison commented, fixing her bow over her shoulder.

Lydia recognized Derek right away, having seen him at Thanksgiving and not forgetting that strength at which he held himself. Didn't hurt that he was obviously a few years older than them. She now understood the power she had sensed could be linked to the fact that he was a werewolf, and she was a … something.

The other two she wasn't sure who they were. A pixie-sized Asian girl with a shy smile was followed by a tall boy with curly hair, an expression of slight boredom resting on his face.

Stiles straightened from leaning on his jeep.

"Lydia, you remember Derek." he said, as the older guy approached.

She nodded. "Nice to meet you properly."

He didn't reply, simply watched her, his head tilting to the side as he looked her over.

"Okay, can you not psycho-werewolf-analyze her before you exchange pleasantries, please?" Stiles cut in exasperatedly.

"Sorry. Just curious on her abilities. Welcome to Beacon Hills." he said with a sly smile, like he found something highly amusing. By probability, it was the fact that she had already managed to dive headfirst into the supernatural and she'd only been living there a few weeks.

"Isaac, Kira, this is Lydia." Scott introduced from his spot.

Kira waved friendlily, looking excited, while Isaac eyed her much like Derek did.

"So you were the naked girl we were searching for back in December? If I had had a better idea of what you looked like, I would've—"

"Finish that sentence and I will cut off something very important to you in your sleep." Stiles growled irritably at the beta, who simply smirked in response.

"Touchy."

Derek rolled his eyes. Lydia tried to keep the smile off her face at Stiles' overprotectiveness.

The Asian girl stepped between the boys, clearly trying to break up the tension, and smiled at Lydia.

"I'm Kira. You knew that. I knew you knew that. Why did I tell you again?" Kira babbled, biting her lip. "Anyways, we are going to do our best to help figure out what's going on with all of you guys. And we know you're new at this, so if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask."

"Uh, thanks." Lydia said, forcing a warm smile at the girl. "What kind of weapons are those that you have?"

"Katanas. Japanese swords. I've kind of got… genetic instinct on how to use them. And I've had tons of practice too obviously."

Scott was smiling amusedly from his spot. "We haven't gotten so far in the explanation of everything, but Kira is a thunder kitsune. A shapeshifter that resembles a fox. She not only is a badass with swords, but she can do some pretty impressive stuff with electricity."

"By impressive, he means accidentally breaking some light bulbs. I'm still working on controlling and channeling it." she said sheepishly.

"Foxes and wolves don't normally mix well, but Kira's been a great addition to the pack. She moved here our last semester in junior year from New York."

Lydia nodded. "So I guess I took your spot as the new girl."

"I stole it from Allison, so it seems only fair." Kira said brightly, looking grateful that Lydia didn't think she was a babbling idiot.

The strawberry-blonde couldn't help but smile a little. She liked Kira. She was quirky but kind.

"All right, we should get moving. Kira, Derek, you're with me. If I have any random transformations, I'd prefer the back-up so I don't hurt anyone else. Isaac, stay with Allison and be mindful of her aiming. Stiles, Lydia, will you be all right together?"

Stiles gave his best friend a look. Normally, Scott was pretty good at being the leader, making sure skills were well distributed, so that there was a balance of power. In this case, it was broad daylight and very unlikely they'd have any issues, but it was better safe than sorry.

And to be fair, it was clear that if Stiles had another panic attack, it was best that Lydia was with him. As far as reading went, there wasn't much to read in the woods, so that was fine.

But Stiles wasn't stupid. Scott wanted him to have time with Lydia alone, to talk about everything they needed to. Even if there was a greater goal in mind for the day's mission.

"We'll be all right. I'll call your cell if we run into trouble." Stiles replied.

"Everyone realizes that this plan is pretty much destined to fail, right? It's been over a month since Lydia ran off. There's very little evidence she'd leave behind, especially where she wasn't wearing clothes that could snag on things. Even the Nemeton isn't going to have some big sign on it that says 'All trouble explained here'." Isaac said seriously.

"We have to start somewhere." Scott countered.

"Even if there was a sign, I couldn't read it, if it makes you feel better." Stiles interjected.

Derek exhaled and moved forward, following Scott, ending the conversation between the bickering teenagers before it could start.

"Meet back here in an hour. There's no need in dragging this on. As much as I wish Isaac wasn't right, he did make some good points. Let's just do what we can. Lydia had to have slept at some point. We're going to head to the area nearest the hospital, see if we can get a sense of what emotions she was feeling."

"I have a feeling it was fear." Isaac chimed in.

"Isaac, if we focus well enough, we might be able to decipher a more in-depth insight into that." Scott said patiently. "You and Allison can head to where the woods lead to Stiles' house, since somewhere near there is where she left and regained her consciousness."

Stiles lead the way for him and Lydia without further instruction, knowing he wasn't going to waste his time examining leaves across the woods for traces of her hair. He wanted to check out the Nemeton.

It was quiet between them, just the crunching of leaves and twigs under shoes, and Lydia had a feeling Stiles was in a mood.

"I get the impression you don't like Isaac much." she said cautiously, not sure how he'd react.

Stiles sighed and kept moving, rolling the words around his tongue. "He annoys me a lot, but I don't hate him by any means. I used to not trust him, but he's proven himself loyal to Scott and to the rest of the pack, so I've accepted him. I don't think we'll ever be best friends or anything, our personalities sort of clash. Maybe we're just too similar. He and Scott are pretty close."

The bitter way he ended his spiel gave Lydia insight on why Stiles was so irritated with the teenager.

"Ah. Little jealous of him, huh?"

He glowered at her, but it didn't last long. "Maybe."

"You don't have anything to be jealous of. Scott loves you more than he loves anyone."

"Except Allison. You have no idea how much he wouldn't shut up about her when they first got together."

Lydia smiled. She had a feeling Allison probably was the same way.

"He's calmed down about her now of course. Especially after they broke up for a bit. Dated other people. Took each other off the pedestals they had invented."

Lydia remembered their breakup being mentioned before, but she hadn't realized they had dated other people.

"How long did their other relationships last?"

"Few months? Kind of hard to stay committed when you're in love with someone else. They eventually broke things off with Kira and Isaac and after some time, they got back together."

"Wait, the people I met today? Those are their exes? And they're still all able to work together?" Lydia was surprised. She knew most exes wouldn't be so comfortable together. And enough so that they even got divided into the same exploration groups. Scott clearly trusted Allison enough to send her off alone with Isaac.

"It was awkward at first but it's been a lot of time. Sometimes, when you're so focused on something else, like saving the city from chaos, it's easier to forget things like that. To let them go. And I think both understand. Kind of hard to doubt how Allison and Scott feel about each other when you're around them."

Lydia smiled. "They do have something special. I could tell when I first met them." She pondered for a moment, trying to remember if Allison ever mentioned why they broke up. "Do you know why they broke up?"

He smiled over his shoulder at her, raising an eyebrow. "Werewolf and a werewolf hunter are better stars of a forbidden love story than a successful one. Her dad threatened to kill Scott if she saw him again. Their code of ethics used to be a little skewed."

"I'll say." Lydia muttered, shuddering at the thought.

"One of these days, we'll give you the full scoop. The last few years have been a little crazy."

They were getting deeper and deeper in the woods now, the trees shading the sun.

Lydia swatted around her head. The buzzing circling around her head was driving her crazy. "God, how bad are the flies in Beacon Hills?"

Stiles laughed. "As bad as anywhere else I guess? I never see much of them. Are they taking a liking to you?"

"Apparently." she grumbled.

"It might be your hair. Bugs can be attracted to different scents. And your hair always smells like strawberries…"

As he said it, he realized that he was admitting that he had paid attention to the smell.

Lydia was grinning to herself.

Stiles corrected his throat. "So I can get it, if you want. With my bare, manly hands."

"Oh, my hero!" Lydia exclaimed dramatically, causing him to laugh.

She could almost forget how tense things had been lately, joking around with him.

"Okay, it's on my left side. Or around my head. I don't know. It's kind of a constant buzzing."

Stiles looked her over objectively. "I don't see it at all."

"Do you not hear that buzzing? It's so loud! It has to be right on me somewhere!"

He looked at her strangely, shrugging. "Sorry, Lydia. You're on your own."

"Pfft, some hero."

He rolled his eyes at her, trying not to smile, and trudged on their route.

"I swear there is a fly."

"O-kay. Whatever you say."

She grumbled irritably.

"So where are we going? You seem like you've got a destination in mind."

"Yeah, I kind of do. Although it's not necessarily going to happen since this stupid place only is found when it wants to be or something like that. So, in reality, it might be completely pointless but—"

Stiles stopped talking when he felt Lydia disappear from next to him, and he turned around to see her standing frozen, one foot slightly higher than the other.

"Lydia? What are you…?"

But his question was answered when his eyes travelled to where she was about to step. Her shoe was lightly pressing on a claw bear trap, and the slightest of movement would force it to snap closed on her leg.

Across the woods, a roar of pain erupted from what sounded like Isaac, and Stiles had a feeling the one in front of them wasn't the only trap around.