Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize or associate with Wolf, it's characters or plot. I only own Oriana and any future characters or material you don't recognize. Thank you, and enjoy.
Chapter 7 – The Tell
Oriana sighed as the wonder couple continued to argue. She didn't even know how she'd gotten into this mess. After school she'd been dragged back to Lydia's house and then tortured with makeup and hair products for two hours, before being allowed a small dinner of Caesar salad and water. She'd then been informed that Jackson was joining them to watch a movie, however, the only movie Lydia wanted to watch she didn't actually have; so the red headed slave driver had dragged Oriana and Jackson out of the house to the video rental store. To make things easier, note the sarcasm, Jackson decided he didn't want to watch Lydia's movie and had spent the whole ride trying to sway her. It wasn't working.
Long story short, Oriana was not happy. Her face felt stiff with makeup, she hadn't had caffeine since that morning, she was hungry and had a headache.
"Now, Hoosiers is not even the best basketball movie ever, it is the best sports movie ever made." Jackson was saying when Lydia pulled into the empty parking lot of the video rental place. It was dark now, and Oriana wanted to go home. She wanted her bed. She wanted a burger. A big juicy meat-
"No." Lydia said shortly.
Oriana pouted from the backseat.
"It's got Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper." Jackson said.
"No."
"Oriana?" Jackson tuned to her with pleading eyes. She almost laughed at the hilarity of the situation.
"Do you want to watch The Notebook," He spat the name as if it had scratched his porche. "Or Hoosiers?"
She shrugged, she'd never seen either but she had seen Laura sobbing in front of the television numerous times watching The Notebook. Shed prefer to pass on that one.
"Why don't we watch an action or a horror? The blood they use in Saw is amazingly realistic and the severed fo-"
"No!" They both shouted at her. She sighed. Stiles would get it, she couldn't help but think.
"Lydia, I swear to god you're gonna like it." Jackson almost begged.
"No."
He stared at her for a second with intense angry eyes and a clenched jaw. Lydia just sat patiently waiting for him to get her movie.
"I am not watching The Notebook again." He said loudly.
She rolled her head to look at him with her big hazel eyes and pursed lips and blinked expectantly.
He groaned loudly and opened the door to get out. He slammed it after him and staked into the store.
"He's like your little bitch, aint' he?" Oriana mused from behind her. Lydia's eyes met hers in the rear-view mirror and smiled amusedly.
"He knows that's it's in his best interest to make me happy." She said simply.
"Well, you've trained him well." Oriana congratulated her.
"Speaking of, we need to get you one." Lydia decided.
"A bitch?"
"A boyfriend."
"Uh…no."
"Why not?" Lydia turned in her seat to look Oriana in the eye.
"I'm not really the boyfriend type."
Lydia raised her brows in shock. "Oh, well…that's okay. You know Amy in Chem just broke up with her girlfriend and sh-"
"Woah!" Oriana shouted waving her hands. "I'm not…I mean I don't…not that there's…Amy's got a great…but…"
Lydia watched her friend babble and couldn't help but think that she reminded her of Scott's awkward friend that tended to talk too much.
"I meant that I'm not the girlfriend type…I'd be a bad girlfriend." Oriana finally finished.
"Well," Lydia considered. "You would be a handful. You're too cynical, wear way too much black, you have major anger issues and your bitch face rivals Sam Winchester's."
"Thanks." Oriana chimed sarcastically.
"You know, I can't even imagine anyone kissing you." Lydia continued.
"Wow, there's more?"
"You scare most of the guys in school, and you just have this dark, mysterious, loner vibe that-"
"Okay! We're done with that." Oriana burst out loudly.
Lydia huffed and sat up straight in her seat looking at the store again, wandering what was taking Jackson so long.
"Oriana, go and make sure he's got my movie." Lydia ordered.
"What?! No, you do it lazy."
"Go."
She threw her head back and groaned loudly and in a very Jackson-like fashion slammed the door on the way out. She stormed through the cold dark parking lot and into the store.
As soon as she opened the door the stench of death hit her. Chills went up her spine as she looked around. The store's lighting was going haywire. It was flashing white and red, like strobe lighting.
"Jackson?" She called out softly. With light deliberate steps she started up the main aisle towards the middle of the store. The lights were hanging down from the ceiling, a ladder lying nearby. She felt a rush of wind behind her and span around. There was nothing there. When she looked to the aisle to her right she saw a young man lying on the ground, his neck covered in blood. She sighed and looked away. By the vest he wore, she presumed he was staff. She felt another quick rush of wind to her left and quickly looked there. Again, she didn't see anything, but she caught a scent. Her eyes flashed. She had to find Jackson and get him the hell out of there.
"Jackson?!" She hissed, looking around. She could feel the Alpha's eyes on her but couldn't see or hear him. She felt surrounded.
Suddenly she heard loud banging coming from the end of the store and immediately followed her ears. Shelves were falling like dominos. She heard a groaning then, a soon as the banging had stopped.
"Jackson?!" She didn't bother keeping her voice quiet, the alpha already knew exactly where they were.
"Oriana?" she ran around the fallen row of shelves and Jackson lying on his front, his legs trapped beneath a shelf. The ominous red and white light flashed angrily over him as he struggled to move. She rushed to his side.
"Oriana?" He looked up at her with scared eyes. "What the hell are you doing In here?" He hissed, groaning in pain.
"Lydia sent me in to make sure you got the right movie." She shrugged, trying to pull him out from under the shelf.
He rolled his eyes and helped by trying to crawl out. Suddenly he froze. She looked down at his face. He was staring at something behind her with wide eyes. She turned. From the other end of the store, bathed in the shadows was a huge hulking form and pair of glowing red eyes. It growled ferociously when she flashed it her blue eyes and menacing Hale death glare.
She looked down when she felt Jackson grab her hand tightly. He looked at her, terrified and breathed, "Run."
Shocked at the level of concern in his eyes she shook her head. She cursed herself for leaving her phone in Lydia's car, otherwise she'd already have backup on the way, in the form of Derek or even Scott. No, she was alone right now, and It was her job in this situation to protect the civilian, the human from the mighty beast set of tasting his blood. She looked back again to see the Alpha had gone.
"Try and get free. I'm gonna go distract it." She went to stand up but his hand clenched around hers.
"No, no, no, no. You have to get out of here and get Lydia away." He told her with a surprisingly strong, protective tone. Suddenly, she didn't think he was such a Jackass after all.
She shook her head and stood up. "I'll distract it." She repeated and rushed out of sight, ignoring his whispered cries after her, telling her to get out.
Once she knew she was out of Jackson's sight and hearing range she let her fangs and claws extent, her eyes flooding blue. She stood between aisles and let out a menacing growl, spinning slowly on the spot, muscles tense, waiting to attack.
She heard an answering growl to her right and turned quickly in that direction, hair whipping around her as she crouched slightly, arms extended ready to fight. She gave a challenging roar to the monstrous human/wolf crossbreed. It was huge and human-like, with extended forearms and dog-like hind legs. It was covered in a mix of dark grey leathery skin and black hair, its claws and fangs massive and deadly. Its ears were pointed and its face looked like an extreme version of Derek's werewolf face. It literally looked like a werewolf.
It stood on all four legs, its eyesight still slightly higher than hers. Its bold red eyes stared into hers and she saw something in them. Recognition. Nothing about this beast was familiar to her yet it seemed to know her. The weirdest thing was, the Alpha wasn't attacking her. It was growling yes, but it just stood and watched as the young beta challenged it.
The Alpha terrified her, how could it not? She'd seen what it was capable of. The dead man a few aisles down wasn't forgotten, and Jackson, still struggling under a shelf, and Laura. The likely hood was that she was staring right into the eyes of her cousin's murderer. Derek was convinced that the Argents had been the ones to kill his sister and would not listen to her when she made the point that another werewolf had to have done it, or Derek would have inherited Laura's red eyes by now. Like she had when Aunt Talia had passed. No, another werewolf must have killed her for her eyes. To gain her power, to become Alpha. Most likely this Alpha.
Fuelled with rage she rushed to the Alpha and it howled in pain when her claws dug into its face and dragged down, leaving deep open wounds that would soon heal, but hurt none the less. It had been knocked back a couple of steps and hesitated in retaliating so she took the time to strike again.
She jumped at the Alpha kicking it back into a shelf. It was only down for a second before rising with fury. It set its sights on her and before she knew it, its claws had swiped. She dodged, barely getting away. It kept coming, swinging its elongated arms at her but where she was smaller than it, she was also quicker. As she dodged the attacks, she made sure to punch, kick and scratch it anywhere she could. As she continued to dodge its attacks, it became more enraged. She'd admit later, only to herself, that shed gotten cocky, when she quickly manuvered behind it to jump on its back. It let out a chilling roar and started swinging her as she tried to slit its throat with her claws.
Suddenly it threw itself backwards against a wall. She yelped loudly when her head made a cracking sound, the air knocked out of her lungs, pinned there by the solid wall of muscle that was the Alpha's back. She felt like she was being sandwiched between two concrete slabs. The Alpha gave an extra push back just to hear her groan. It stepped away and she fell down the wall. She sat against the wall, her chest felt like it was concaving in, her head felt like it was being stabbed repeatedly and her vision was blurred. She knew she had to get up and fight or shed be dead in a matter of seconds, so she managed to get to her knees weakly and didn't see the large hand strike, only feeling the weight of it against her already burning chest as it backhanded her. She twisted in the air, back into the wall. This time she fell on her stomach. She winced and started coughing, which turned to gagging but thankfully didn't go past that.
Oriana struggled to push herself up, her long hair falling in her face as her legs and arms shook under her weight. She thanked god for her healing abilities; she could already feel her energy slowly coming back, her eyes focussing, and her brain lessen its pounding.
Red eyes looked down at the stubborn girl with disbelief, as she shakily got to her knees once again, still prepared to fight. It rolled its red eyes and swung its arm once again. Oriana couldn't help but scream when she felt claws tear through the skin of her back, the white hot burn that came with it too much and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
The alpha watched the young beta collapse to the floor and turned around. It still had the trapped one to deal with.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
Oriana groaned when she heard sirens. She heard her name and hissed when she felt someone shake her shoulder.
"Oriana?"
She opened her eyes slowly. She saw hanging red curls and groaned again.
"Lydia?"
Hazel eyes lit in relief and she found herself being crushed into a tight hug. She bit her lip harshly to contain her scream of pain.
"Are you okay? The ambulance just pulled up, let's get you out there. Jackson, help me."
She saw an ashen faced Jackson behind Lydia and let them help her up. She still felt a little wobbly on her feet and let them help her outside, past some police officers and paramedics that carried a gurney. She noticed the front window of the store had been smashed, glass all over the sidewalk. The Alpha must have jumped out to run away. She wandered why it had left her and Jackson alive.
A paramedic waved them over to the open back of the ambulance where her friends sat her. Lydia sat anxiously beside her as the police started asking questions. Again she thanked any god who'd listen for her healing abilities, otherwise shed be black and blue by now, and being rushed to hospital. She felt the sticky wet blood on her back, the open wound stretched painfully as she moved. She was glad it was so dark out and she was wearing her black leather jacket. If she played it right, hopefully no one wold notice the slits in the back of her jacket under her thick hair and discover her back. Still, she had to get out of there as soon as possible.
She watched Jackson rant and rave at anyone who'd listen that he wanted to go now. She rolled her eyes at his asshole tendencies and thought his 'good guy' attitude from before must have been a fluke, but her eyes caught his hand tightly holding Lydia's in her lap, and how he subtly stood tensely in front of his girlfriend, between her and everyone else. Her lips quirked and her eyes softened as he looked down at Lydia with protective and reassuring eyes.
"Why the hell can't I just go home, I'm fine."
"I hear ya, but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just wanna make sure that you don't have a concussion."
She turned to see Sheriff Stilinski talking to Jackson and wandered if Stiles knew about this yet.
"What part of 'I'm fine' are you having a problem grasping?"
Jackson pulled away from Lydia and stepped closer to John. "Okay, I wanna go home."
"And, I understand that." John said calmly.
"No you don't understand!" Jackson started, raising his voice. "Which kind of blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you!"
Oriana stood up stiffly then, clenching her jaw to keep from sounding her pain. She knew Jackson was scared but she liked John a hell of a lot better than Jackass and she wasn't about to let him disrespect the Sheriff that way.
"Okay, now I wanna go home!" Jackson screamed in John's face. Oriana was impressed when John just stood there with a calm face as Jackson blew up. Then again, she supposed that in his job he as used to angry civilians a lot older and more intimidating then Jackson and his tantrums. Still, she wouldn't let him off easy.
"Hey, Jackass." She said. They both turned to look at her standing behind Jackson. John looked surprised to see her there, he mustn't have seen her in the ambulance with Lydia.
"Watch your mouth. None of us wanna be here right now but this is bigger than your beauty sleep. I'm sure he wants you out of here just as much as you wanna go, so just sit down, shut up and stop disrespecting the Sheriff and let him do his job."
He gaped at her while she glared her famous Hale glare until he finally went to sit beside Lydia quietly. She turned back to the Sheriff with an innocent smile.
"Evening, Sheriff."
He smiled at her, with soft amused eyes and opened his mouth to greet her.
"Oh, woah, Is that a dead body?!" She heard Stiles ask loudly and with a hint of excitement.
She looked over to see the boy in question standing by the open passenger side of his dads squad car. He looked sheepish when he caught her eye and then down when his dad looked at him.
"Okay, everybody, back up." John said making a path for the gurney to get the body to the ambulance, as they watched.
"Starting to get it?"
She looked around, hearing her cousin voice.
"I get that he's killing people, but I don't get why."
She looked up to see Derek and Scott standing on the roof looking down at the scene.
"I mean this isn't standard practice, right?" Scott asked. "We don't go around in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?"
"No. We're predators. We don't have to be killers."
"Then why is he a killer?"
"That's what we're gonna find out." Derek looked down and connected eyes with her. She nodded, answering his questioning gaze. He nodded back and backed away from view with Scott.
The paramedic concluded that she didn't have a concussion and that she must have feinted and bumped her head, knocking her out. Lydia relaxed slightly at her side, as did she when the paramedic told her, she didn't have to go to Hospital, but to take some painkillers and rest.
Eventually the Sheriff let Jackson take Lydia home, assuring Lydia that he'd make sure Oriana got home safe. Lydia gave her a tight hug before she left. While not ideal, she felt like that night had brought her and Lydia closer.
She stood next to Stiles as they watched the Sheriff do this thing, talking to concerned civilians and other officers and such.
"So what happened? Why were you here?" Stiles asked as soon as his dad was out of ear shot.
"The Alpha."
He scoffed, "Yeah I got that from the dead body."
She shook her head, shifting so her back didn't touch the car. It still wasn't healing. She needed to get away soon or someone was going to notice the blood loss.
"I was hanging out with Lydia and then Jackson joined. Lydia wanted to watch The Notebook so we came here to get it. I wanted to watch Saw but as usual no one listens to me."
"I love Saw!" Stiles cried excitedly.
She shook her head with a small knowing smirk.
"Anyway Jackson took ages in there so I went to find him. Long story short, the Alpha got Jackson trapped under some shelves and I fought him, he knocked me out and then…next thing I know, I'm waking up to sirens."
"Woah, what?! You fought him?"
She nodded.
"Did he hurt you?"
She waved off his concern. "It's nothing, I've got that healing thing, remember." She left out the part that it didn't seem to be working on her back.
"Oriana?" The Sheriff asked, walking over to them. "Can you tell me what happened tonight?"
She nodded and told him the same thing she'd just told Stiles, obviously omitting the part here she fought the Alpha. Instead she told him that she fainted before getting a good look, but thought it was a mountain lion that had killed the man inside.
He nodded, writing down her words. "I'll have one of the deputies' drop you home, Oriana."
"Actually, can Stiles take me?" She asked shyly. She didn't even have to act then. She'd seen some pretty scary things but she had to admit tonight was one of the top. She honestly thought she was going to die at one point. This was just another nightmare to add on the list. Honestly, Stiles made her feel calmer, safer. She didn't know why because he was just a human, it's not like he could protect her from the Alpha. Either way she just wanted to be around Stiles a bit longer. Plus, she and Derek were supposed to have moved out from the Hale house so she couldn't very well have a deputy take her home now could she?
The Stilinski men both looked a bit shocked but nodded anyway, the Sheriff giving a slightly mischievous smile, that reminded her greatly of his son.
"Then a deputy can take you to ours and Stiles can drop you off home, okay?"
She nodded, thankfully. They didn't talk on the way to the Stilinski's or on the way to her house but just being with Stiles made her feel better, as disgustingly sweet as it sounded.
She took her seatbelt off when Stiles parked in front of her house. She hissed in pain when she accidentally pressed back against the chair.
"Woah, you okay?" Stiles asked.
She nodded. "Yeah, just taking a little longer to heal than usual." She laughed it off.
Before he could say anything else she'd reached over and kissed his cheek quickly. "Thankyou."
"Wha- For…for what?" He stuttered, his cheeks pink.
She shrugged, "Bringing me home tonight. For the other day, with Derek. I know you don't like him, and you didn't have to help-"
"You asked me to." He said simply.
She smiled. "Still, it meant a lot. I'll see you at school, tomorrow."
He nodded silently, his eyes watching her intensely as she tried to manuver herself out of the jeep painlessly.
"Night." She spoke as she closed the jeep door behind herself.
"Good night." He returned with a smile, as she made her way up to her front door.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
"Oriana!"
Pale green eyes shot open and connected with a pair a few shades darker.
She groaned loudly and buried her face back into her soft pillow.
"Uh-uh. Get up. You're going to be late for school." Derek said pulling the pillow out from underneath her head.
"NO!" She shouted reaching for her pillow.
Derek raised an eyebrow at her, amused.
"Get ready." He said, walking out of her room with her pillow under his arm.
"Arrrrhhhhhhh!" She groaned loudly.
She lay for a minute staring at her ceiling before deciding to get dressed before Derek came back to steal the rest of her bedding.
As she sat up she felt a sharp ripping sensation in her back and had to bite her lip to stifle a scream. She tenderly raised herself from the bed and shuffled her way over to her recently acquired full length mirror beside her wardrobe. Attempting to keep her back straight she somehow managed to twist her upper body enough to look at her back in the mirror. What she saw was not pleasant. The back of her faded grey sleep top was soaked with four long lines of red/black blood.
"Well shit."
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
Oriana Hale was not having a good morning. Firstly her cousin had woke her up to go to, bleh, school, and then he'd stolen her favourite pillow. Then she'd found that the scratches on her back had hardly healed from the night before, resulting in bloody bedsheets and pain. Lots of pain. Plus her favourite sleep shirt was ruined and stuck to her wound. Needless to say she'd had to tear it to peel it off. Due to Derek leaving after he'd woken her up, she'd had to attempt to bandage her back herself. An awkward dance to get dressed later and she'd discovered that Derek had also used the last of the coffee before going out. Oriana was fuming by the time she made it to school. He back was burning, she was tired and lacking caffeine and she'd had to painfully drive herself to school as she wasn't going to walk like a penguin all the way there and her cousin wasn't there to chauffer her. She would have called Stiles or Allison or even Lydia but she must have left her phone somewhere the night before. Either in Lydia's car, the video shop or Stiles' car. Plus it had only occurred to her that she could have ditched when she was parking her car outside of the stupid school. Late might I add?
No, Oriana was not happy.
Stiles was sitting in chemistry wandering where all of his friends were. He kept glancing down at his phone waiting for one of the to reply to his texts asking where the hell they were, when suddenly the door flew open with a bang.
Everyone's eyes shot up to see Oriana Hale enter the room, some cowering back slightly at the sight of the fuming beauty. Her hair was threw up in a messy bun with wild tendrils framing her face and neck, her face free of makeup, and donning an unusual attire for the badass Hale. She wore black leggings with an oversized woolly grey jumper and matching UGGS. She looked ready for a day of lounging around the house instead of school. Her usually hard face was pinched slightly, her eyebrows pulled together over her burning eyes, her lips pursed and jaw clenched. She looked furious or…in pain?
Without making eye contact with anyone she stiffy made her way to the desk in front of Stiles and sat next to Danny.
All was silent for a long moment before she let out a loud sigh and looked at Harris.
"Well?! Aren't you going to say anything boring and unnecessary today or what? Or are we all just wasting our precious times sitting in this stupid room waiting for you to educate us, oh wise one?!"
Harris looked genuinely taken aback by this and hastily stood from his chair to start scribbling notes onto the chalkboard silently. For once.
Everyone stared in amazement.
After Harris had made them all copy down the notes he perched himself on the edge of a desk at the back of the class. Oriana had literally scribbled nonsense in her notebook, as she wasn't in the mood to even try today, but trying to keep her mind busy and off of the pain in her back, also to give her a good excuse not to answer Stiles and Danny's questioning gazes.
"Just a friendly reminder - Parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you, because the shame and self - disgust should be more than enough punishment." His eyes stopped on Oriana briefly, finally shaken out of the shock she'd put him in earlier. She smiled back mockingly. As if Derek would go to that.
"Has anyone seen Scott McCall?" He continued, stopping besides Stiles' desk to look at him questioningly.
Stiles, who wasn't paying attention instead focusing on highlighting every line in his text book, looked up after a moment's silence. Highlighter lid in his mouth. Oriana shook her head allowing a small amused smirk to briefly cover her lips.
Just then the door opened again, saving Stiles from having to answer. Jackson walked in almost timidly, as the class all stared, Harris included. He went straight to his seat and sat stiffly. Harris walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, lowering is usual mocking voice to a softer almost comforting tone.
"Hey, Jackson. If you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know."
Oriana scoffed, disgusted. She was there last night too. Where was her special treatment? She was the one in pain here!
Harris continued to walk down the room to his desk. "Everyone, start reading Chapter Nine." He stopped in the middle of the room and sighed. "Mr. Stilinski. Try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a colouring book." He finished patronisingly.
Stiles looked up irritant, before throwing his head back and spitting the highlighter cap up into the air and catching it a second later. Oriana felt her lips twitch and her stomach clench a little, the pain in her back momentarily forgotten.
She caught Jackson looking back and caught his eye. They held that contact for a second, silently asking the other if they were okay, before both nodding subtly and looking away.
"Hey, Danny. Can I ask you a question?" Stiles whispered from behind her, leaning forward in his seat to listen for a response.
"No."
"Well, I'm going to anyway. Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?"
Oriana rolled her eyes the clenching in her stomach becoming more of a violent tug, as she listened to the concern in Stiles' voice.
Danny sighed. "No."
"Can I ask you another question?"
"Answer's still no.
"Does anyone know what happened to her and Jackson last night?"
Oriana clenched her fists, annoyed. She'd told Stiles exactly what had happened last night, there was no way Jackson or Lydia could give more information then she had, because they didn't have all the information. So why the hell was Stiles asking?
Danny hesitated. "He wouldn't - tell me."
"But… he's your best friend."
Danny shrugged helplessly.
"One more question." Stiles insisted.
"What?" Danny asked, annoyed.
"Do you find me attractive?"
Oriana and Danny's eyes widened simultaneously, both speechless. Until Stiles fell forward out of his seat. Oriana had to slap a hand over her mouth to stifle the laughs.
Stiles cleared his throat awkwardly and sat back down in his seat, glaring towards Oriana. She smirked back cheekily.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
As soon as the bell rang Stiles grabbed Oriana's arm and pulled her out into the hallway, dropping her arm as if it was on fire when she started growling.
"Woah, woah, chill out, okay?" He soothed, putting his hands up in defence.
She had to force herself not to snap at him, and walked in the direction of her locker, trying to settle the sudden burn in her back when Stiles dragged her out of the classroom. Stiles followed her slowly, his eyes focused on her tensed form weaving between and around other students trying to avoid contact.
He got out his phone and called Scott, thankfully having him pick up on the first ring.
"What?" Scott asked tersely.
"Finally! Have you been getting any of my texts?"
"Yeah, like all 9 million of them."
Stiles sighed, angrily.
"Do you have any idea what's going on? Lydia is totally M.I.A., Jackson looks like he's got a time bomb inserted into his face, Oriana's walking 'round like a dysfunctional robot, another random guy's dead, and you have to do something about it."
"Like what?"
"Something." Stiles sprouted desperately, waving his free hand around spastically.
"Okay, I'll deal with it later."
"No, no, no don't – you hung up. He hung up." Stiles told a passing freshman who eyed him wearily before speed walking away. Stiles sucked his teeth agitatedly, before speed walking down the hall to Oriana who was rummaging around her locker.
"Okay, so what's up with you today?" Stiles asked, coming to a stop beside her.
She looked up with narrowed eyes an quirked an eyebrow in question.
"Y'know, you're all moody today. More than usual. And you're being all growl-y and glare-y. More than usual. And mean. More tha – Oh my god are you…is it…" He looked around nervously, his cheeks flame red, unable to make eye contact with her. She looked at him weirdly.
"Do you need…like…do you want me to get you anything?...chocolaty…or… other?"
"What?" She asked confused. His cheeks puffed out and his feet started to shuffle uncomfortably.
"I mean…if you…the nurse has some…stuff, I think…I mean I wouldn't know actually, I'm just assuming…cos' I don't nee – cos' I'm a boy…"
"Stiles!"
His wide panic stricken eyes darted down to hers and he nodded repeatedly. "Yeah?"
"What in the holy hell are you talking about?"
"You know…"
She raised both eyebrows pointedly. "I do not know."
He looked around uncomfortably before leaning down slightly to whisper, "You don't have to be embarrassed…it's completely natural…"
He took no notice of her confused gaze and instead carried on his pep talk.
"All girls go through it. You are not alone. I know it hurts but, I told you I'm going to try to be a good friend to you so…I'll help out as much as I can. You just have to tell me what to do, and I'll do it." He assured her.
"Stiles. What are we talking about here?"
"Your – " His face lit up even more, if possible.
"My…?"
"Per…." He made a choking noise.
"Perrrrrr…?"
"Period." He choked out.
"What?!" She shouted attracting way too much attention for Stiles' liking.
He tried shushing her but she would hear none of it. "Why the hell do you think that's what's happing right now?" she asked angrily.
"Well I mean…your being moody and you look – "
He stopped dead at the look on her face.
"I look what Stiles?" She asked with fake patience hands on hips.
"Well…I mean… your." He waved a hand at her casual attire and bare face. While there was nothing wrong with the way she looked today, nothing at all, he just wasn't used to seeing her look anything less than stylishly sexy and badass.
"My…?" She asked.
"Well if that's not it what's up with you today?" Stiles asked waving his arms around desperately.
She sighed heavily, willing to let his stupid-ness slide today, because she wasn't in the mood to continue and because it was actually pretty funny.
She closed her locker and hugged her bag to her chest. She turned to look up at Stiles through her lashes and almost whispered. "I haven't completely healed from yesterday and it hurts."
Stiles looked down into her shiny green eyes wordlessly. She looked so small in that huge jumper, she was practically swimming in it, the sleeves all ruffled and bunched as her hands only just broke free. She was looking up at him with her full lips set in a little pout and her brows furrowed slightly, her little nose crinkled adorably with big wet eyes. He knew she could hear his heart stopping momentarily. She looked like a sad puppy or a child with a booboo. He wanted to scoop her up in his arms and hold her close, whispering assuring words into her soft hair and pretty ears – pretty ears? Really?
He cleared his throat. "Uh…well…why do you think you're not healed yet?" He asked concerned.
She shrugged and they started walking down the hall slowly. "Wounds from an Alpha take longer to heal." She spoke quietly.
"Where are they?"
"My back." She shifted uncomfortably, wincing slightly.
His face set into a determined frown. "Come on." He gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders, careful not to touch any lower and not to press too hard as he steered her towards the exit of the school.
"What? Where are we going?"
"I think painful alpha scratches deserves a ditch day."
She chuckled softly, letting him stir her towards his blue jeep. She'd get her car later or tomorrow.
He opened the door for her and helped her hop inside, despite her protesting.
She smiled softly when he drove out of the parking lot slowly, as opposed to his usual breakneck speed, in fear of agitating her wounds more.
"So where are we going?" She asked again.
"My place. Dad's not home for a while, and even if he caught us he'd be okay with it, if I told him you weren't feeling good. He loves you, you know? More than me I think."
They laughed. She let herself relax a little. Maybe the rest of the day wasn't going to be so bad.
"Hey, mind if we stop by Lydia's on the way? I just wanna make sure she's okay."
And just like that her good mood was ruined.
"No. Course not." She replied with a fake smile that he seemed to buy, beaming back.
Yes. She did mind actually. She didn't know why. But she just did. She knew Stiles was in love with Lydia and all but really? Was now really the time to go running to the oblivious girl who probably didn't even know his name when she was sitting in his jeep in pain?
Unable to come up with a good reason why they shouldn't check in on Lydia, she sat quietly as Stiles drove to the redhead's house.
She walked alongside Stiles up the path to Lydia's front door and stood quietly as he talked her mom into letting them inside. Having met Lydia's mom before she smiled politely and assured the woman that she was perfectly fine after last night's incidents and she too thought it best Lydia stay home for a couple of days.
Natalie opened Lydia's bedroom door and called softly to the scantily clad rehead lounging across her bed. "Honey, Oriana and Stiles are here to see you."
"What the hell is a "Stiles"?" Lydia asked groggily, not taking her eyes off of her nails.
Oriana tried not to smirk at Stiles' fallen face.
Natalie looked at them with an awkward smile. "She took a little something to ease her nerves. You can - you can go in."
"Thanks." Stiles said politely. Oriana waved awkwardly to Lydia's mom who left quickly.
Oriana stepped into the room slightly behind Stiles, watching his eyes widen and his jaw fall as Lydia turned to look at them exposing the rest of her small silk blue nightdress that showed maximum amounts of cleavage.
"Hi, Orninana." Lydia waved with a big smile.
Oriana smiled amusedly. "Hi Lyd. How you doing?"
"Eh." The drugged girl shrugged carelessly, playing with her hair. "I'm kinda hungry."
"What me to ask your mom to get you a snack?"
"Okay, please. No mangos." Lydia instructed with a pointed finger and stern expression.
Oriana didn't want to leave Stiles alone with a dunk scantily dressed Lydia in her bedroom but at the same time wanted to get as far away from Stiles dazed look as she could. Plus Lydia's rambles were just too funny to miss.
"Okay, I'll be right back. You okay for a minute?" She asked Stiles who nodded back immediately, hardly taking his eyed from the redhead splayed invitingly over her bedsheets.
"Hurry back before I get hungry." Lydia warned. She nodded and started downstairs reluctantly, keeping an ear on the twos conversation for some reason.
"What are you doing here?" Lydia asked once Oriana had left.
"I was just making sure you were okay." Stiles answered fiddling with his hands nervously.
"Hm." She licked her lips sloppily a few times, before turning back to them.
"Why ?" She patted the empty space on the bed in front of her. Stiles wasted no time sliding into the space.
"Because I was worried about you…today." He replied nervously. "How are you feeling ?"
Lydia reached out lazily to squeeze Stiles' bicep. His eyes and jaw simultaneously popped open as he forgot how to breath, his mind blank of any and everything but Lydia Martin's perfect face as it made its way closer to his.
"I feel –" She leaned up and got in his face, watching his eyes close briefly in disbelief. "Fantastic." She flipped her hair and leaned back with a flirty smile.
Stiles chuckled awkwardly, unable to find words when his eyes caught the bottle of pills on her bedside table next to a stuffed giraffe.
"Oh." He reached for them and read the label. "What - I bet you can't say, uh, "I saw Suzy sittin' in a shoeshine shop" ten times fast."
Lydia raised a brow challengingly "I saw Shuzy - I shaw –" Stiles smirked, and reached over to put the bottle back.
"I saw –" Lydia continued, staring blankly into space.
"What ? Lydia, what did you see ?" He put a reassuring hand over her own in concern.
"Something." She whimpered.
"Something like - Like a mountain lion ?" He pressed impatiently.
"A mountain lion." She slightly nodded her head in agreement.
"Are you sure you saw a mountain lion, or are you just saying that because that's what the police told you ?"
"A mountain lion." Lydia repeated.
Stiles took the stuffed giraffe from the bedside table and held it up frustrated. "What's this?"
Lydia rolled over on her elbows to look at him. "A mountain lion."
"Okay." He put it back and sat back down with a sigh. "You're so drunk. Oh –" He made a loud noise between a gasp and a moan, his eyes rolling back into his head, when Lydia slumped forward to rest her head on his leg.
"Am I interrupting something?" Came a steely voice from behind him. Stiles' head whipped around to see Oriana standing in the doorway with a blank expression burning eyes and a tray full of fruit in her hands.
"Oriana!" Stiles jumped up in surprise, Lydia groaning as her head fell onto the bed. He kept his eyes on his raven haired friend in the doorway, not knowing why he felt so panicked and guilty but knowing that he did.
She started into his wide whisky eyes for a second before mechanically walking over to the opposite side of the bed to put the tray of food down.
"I'll leave you two alone." She said though gritted teeth.
"But – no – Oriana!" He watched as she darted from the room and went to chase her when he heard Lydia sit up again.
"Well, I'm gonna - go. Uh, I'll let you get back to the whole post - traumatic stress thing." He told her awkwardly shuffling towards to doorway, closing it behind him.
"Mm. Stay." She whined.
He pushed the door open again hurriedly. He looked around shiftily, looking to see if there was anyone else she could be talking to. He closed the door again, Oriana completely forgotten. "M - me ? Stay ? You want me to stay ?"
She sat up and patted the bed again with a seductive grin. "Mmm-hmm." He practically flew back over to her, an unbelieving but excited gin plastered on his face.
"Yes, please." Her face getting close to his again, briefly touching his thigh. "Stay." She stroked his cheeks tenderly as he started to pant. "Please. Jackson."
Stiles' face dropped. "And - we're done here." She fell back on the bed, dead to the world. Stiles looked sound the room, annoyed. Lydia's phone suddenly beeped on her bedside table.
"You want me to get that ?" He received no response so reached over to grab it. "It's a text. I don't know how to –" He watched with wide eyes as a blurry video played out on the screen, freezing at the end on a face. The alpha's face.
"Shit."
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
Oriana speed walked down the street, away from Lydia's house, her arms tightly crossed over her chest and her face red with anger. She wasn't sure why so felt so angry, all she knew was that with the homicidal thoughts she was having that it was best to get as far away from Lydia and Stiles as possible.
She wasn't sure why she'd felt sick in her stomach and an uncomfortable ache in her chest, when she'd walked into Lydia's room to see Stiles head thrown back and moaning with a head full of red curls in his lap. She just presumed it had something to do with her aversion to PDA combined with the sight of her two new friends PDAing together. Gross. It was like having to watch Derek getting cosy with a girl. Kind of. Almost.
Before she knew it she was walking up the steps to the Hale house and slamming the door shut behind herself. She stalked past a shirtless Derek who was doing pushups on the floor of the Livingroom and into the kitchen.
She returned a moment later with a bottle of water and curled up carefully on the couch, watching Derek as he continued his workout.
"Why aren't you at school?" He asked absently, not really caring much.
She shrugged, drinking from her bottle. She wasn't in the mood to explain.
"Ready for the parent/teacher conference tonight?"
Se groaned loudly. "Do we have to go to that?"
He nodded. "Yep."
"Whhhyyyyyy?" She whined pathetically.
"Because I said so."
She scoffed. "Okay dad. Look I get that we have to keep up appearances and shit but - "
"Shhhh." Derek spoke suddenly, hopping up and pulling her from the couch quickly. She followed him into the backroom quietly, catching the sound of three sets of footsteps drawing closer.
Derek tucked her into the pantry. "Stay in here and don't come out for anything." He ordered her in a quiet voice too low for human ears. She nodded, unhappy but compliant.
"Don't do anything stupid." She warned. He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze before closing the door after him as he left.
Not a second later she heard the front door being kicked in and an unfamiliar male voice.
"No one home."
"Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling particularly hospitable." Came a female voice in a taunting manor. Oriana's eyes flashed. She'd know that voice anywhere.
"Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard." A younger male voice laughed.
Oriana bit her lip to avoid laughing out loud. A dog joke. How original.
"Really? A dog joke? We're going there, and that's the best you got?"
Oriana heard Kate walking into the living room confidently, as if she knew her way around. Which she did.
"If you wanna provoke him, say something like, "Too bad your sister 'bit it' before she had her first litter."" Kate said conversationally. Oriana felt her face burn and the roots of her hair tingle as she seethed with anger.
"Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut her in half !" Kate shouted.
Oriana couldn't stop the tremor that went down her spine nor the pins and needles sensation that suddenly overtook every inch of skin on her body. Her eyes flashed blue, her fangs and claws extended. Her bones started to shift, crack and morph as she heard her cousin's growl echo through the empty house and the sounds of a fight began in the next room.
Derek lay shaking and panting on the floor after knocking out two of the hunters and being zapped with an electric stick.
He glared at the woman standing over him, wanting nothing more than to tear into her throat and make her hurt. She smiled at him with her manic eyes. Her dark blonde curls framing her pretty face. He remembered her all too well. Kate Argent.
"Wow. This one grew up in all the right places. I don't know whether to kill it or - lick it."
A low menacing growl suddenly filled the room. The two looked over to the doorway where a silver wolf stood. Slightly larger than the average wolf, its coat looked soft and fluffy looking with a mix of silver, grey and white. Despite its majestic beauty it looked downright terrifying. The muscles in its shoulders coiled and the hair along its spine standing up. Its lips were curled up as it growled, almost foaming at the mouth with sharp white fangs. Its electric blue eyes were set on Kate. The blonde felt a rush of pure fear as the wolf's hungry eyes watched her.
She managed to compose herself quickly and offer a quick witty one-liner that, in hindsight, probably wasn't best but hey, she was Kate Argent. What are ya gonna do?"
"Cute puppy, Derek."
The wolf snarled and sprung at her, fangs and claws at the ready. Kate was just fast enough to raise her arm to zap the side of the wolf's face mile-seconds before it could touch her.
The wolf let out a loud whimper and fell to the ground shaking. Kate watched with a smirk as Derek slowly crawled over to the spasming wolf and put himself over it protectively.
Kate raised her eyebrow and gave a short laugh. "So it is yours, then? Well aren't you going to introduce me?" She asked as if she were offended.
"Let me guess? Your sister? Brother? Wait – no. They're dead."
Derek growled at her.
"Mom? No…she's gone too…"
Derek glared up at his ex-girlfriend, one of his hands absently scratching at the fur on the neck of the wolf beside him.
"Well, I give up. All your family's dead aren't they?"
She jabbed his back with the electric baton again, watching his collapse again, writing on the floor leaving the wolf exposed. So she jabbed it again, for the hell of it.
The wolf let out a high pitch whine and it's legs started kicking out in reaction. Derek took a clumsy swipe at the blonde's legs but was off my a lot. She laughed.
"900,000 volts, Derek." She sighed in a bored manor. "You never were good with electricity, were you? Or fire. Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out."
She leaned against the couch confortably, her head tilted as she watched the wolf and Derek attempt to stop shaking and gain control over their bodies.
"Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try to catch you. Unpleasant, and frankly, a little too Texas chainsaw massacre for my taste, but quite true."
Derek managed to use the doorframe to lean against to gain some stability, making sure to keep himself between Kate and his cousin. He glared up at Kate as she continued happily.
"Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your new balls - We didn't kill her. You think I'm lying?" She asked with mock offence at his disbelieving stare.
"Wouldn't be the first time." He managed to utter lowly, trying not to let the tremor in his voice show.
"Tsk, sweetie - Well –" She kneeled down in front of him. "Why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay? We - didn't - kill - your - sister." She finished, whispering seductively into his ear. The wolf on the other side of Derek snapped its muzzle at Kate. Derek's jaw clenched when he didn't hear her heart falter once.
"Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth." She stood up again. "Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion?" She laughed, snapping the baton back down from it extension position.
"Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is - The Alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, everybody goes home happy." She paused.
He looked down. She laughed in realisation. "Unless - You don't know who he is either. Wow." She turned slowly. "Guess who just became totally useless?" She turned and started firing a machine gun at the now empty space in the doorway.
Derek ran out of the house and leaped off the porch, darting into the woods, the silver wolf leading.
They stopped when they were far enough away from the house. Oriana changed back and fell to her knees panting heavily.
Derek watched her sadly she tried to halt the tears from falling down her face. He sighed, looking towards the direction they'd just came from helplessly.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
Oriana looked blankly out of the window of the Camaro.
Derek glanced over in concern. "You sure you're okay?"
She nodded absently.
He sighed as he parked in the high school parking lot and turned off the engine,
"I remember her." She whispered.
He looked at her in surprise.
"She was the one who…"
He closed his eyes, unable to do anything else.
"...She looked right at me when she did it…" A single tear slid down her cheek as her eyes stayed wide and unblinking, staring into nothing. Just remembering.
"…She smiled…"
She jumped when Derek suddenly slammed his fist down on the dashboard. She watched him as his eyes were screwed shut, his shoulders tense and she smelt his pain, guilt and regret.
"I'm sorry." He spoke so quietly in the silent car she almost couldn't hear it.
She shook her head negatively and reached a hand out to curl around his fisted one that lay on the dashboard.
"No." She spoke firmly. "It wasn't your fault."
He turned his head away from her, but she grabbed his chin and made him face her, his eyes opening, their almost identical eyes connecting.
"Did you know what she was?" She asked. He shook his head.
"Did you know what she'd do?" He shook his head.
"Did you give her the match?"
"NO!" He called out disgustedly.
"Then it wasn't you fault." She told him passionately. "It was all her. She's the monster here."
After a pregnant pause, staring into each other's pained eyes, he finally nodded. She threw herself into his arms, ignoring the ever-present pain in her back.
After a long while just holding each other, they pulled apart and shared a tired watery smile.
"Let's get this over with then." She huffed playfully. He chuckled and got out of the car.
OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH
"Oriana is…how do I put this…" Harris stalled, looking around the room dramatically searching for words. "A little slow."
The Hales simultaneously raised their brows in disbelief.
"Excuse me?" Oriana asked.
"She's getting below a C average in every subject." Harris continued as if Oriana wasn't there.
"Except P.E." She interjected.
"P.E. doesn't count." Harris deflected.
"Tell that to Coach."
Derek bit his lip to stifle a smirk. He crossed his arms over his chest and waited for Harris to continue.
"She doesn't make an effort in any classes, barely writes in full sentences and never completes homework. Now I understand that she's only recently moved here but she's certainly not having trouble finding friends." He spat the word before continuing. "So it seems fairly clear that she's only having trouble academically. She often disrupts class and speaks out of turn with little respect for others – "
She scoffed. "Like you're one to talk."
Harris glared at her.
"Frankly I'm worried about her home situation."
Derek's brows furrowed. "Home situation?" He repeated.
"Specifically the lack of a proper authority figure."
Derek's eyes narrowed at the pompous human. "I'm her authority figure."
"Yes." Harris agreed, as if to say 'you said it, not me'.
"What are you trying to say?" Derek growled.
Harris answered, unthreatened by the evil Hale eyes being thrown his way. Stupid muggle. "Isn't there anyone more...capable, of looking after a teenage girl? An aunt, uncle, grandparent?"
"I'm all she has left." Derek told him in a low angry tone. Oriana watched as it the two were a tennis match.
"And foster care isn't an option?"
Derek sprang up and stepped forward with a snarl, relishing in the sudden spike if fear in the human's eye. Oriana would have been happy to watch Derek tear Harris apart but logically she knew that the legal system had certain rules against that kind of stuff, so she got up and pulled Derek back by his arm.
"Okay well this was terrible. Let's not do it again sometime." She called over her shoulder to Harris as she pulled Derek out of the room.
"Well that went well." She said casually as they joined the crowd of people exiting the school. He raised an eyebrow at her as if to say 'really?'. She smiled back.
Just as they had exited the building they heard a scream coming from the parking lot. They exchanged a look.
"Wait here." Derek ordered, disappearing before she could argue. Ignoring her cousin she approached the frantic swarm of people running around in the crowded parking lot. She looked around, locking eyes with a pair of dark puppy eyes for a second before a car horn echoed around the lot.
"Allison!" Scott called racing over to save his girlfriend from getting knocked over.
Once she was happy that the two were safe she went in search of the growling noise, weaving around people and cars.
"Move! Move!" She heard a familiar voice call from nearby. She turned around to see sheriff Stilinski running around a silver car that was just about to reverse.
"Sheriff, look out!" She called, darting over, too late. She knelt beside the man, frantically asking if he were alright.
"I'm okay." He assured her with a small smile and a groan. They heard the growling again nearby and John reached down to pull a gun from a holster around his ankle.
Bang!
Bang!
They looked up to see Chris Argent nearby holding up a gun and a dark figure slumped on the pavement a few yards in front of him.
Oriana helped John stand and hobble over to the crowd that followed Chris to gather around the slumped figure.
The crowd watched the mountain lion take its last breath. She saw Derek standing opposite Chris on the other side of the mountain lion, and saw them exchange a semi-civil confused stare. She locked eyes with Scott who stood beside Chris and gave him a small nod, which he returned.
What the hell was that?
YAY! I'm back! I know it's not my best but there's not much I could do with this episode, so it was kind of a filler. I hope you all liked it and as usual let me know what you think, if there are any questions or if you want to see something special in the future!