Hello again everyone. I am completely thrilled by all the positive feedback I received from the first chapter! Thank you to everyone that took the time to read and review! Your support and kind words are truly appreciated. Also a big thank you to all those who added me as an author and this story to their follow alerts and favorite lists! You're all amazing! Enjoy chapter two!
Chapter Two
The blaring sound of sirens pulled John rudely from unconsciousness. Cracking one eyelid open the injured sheriff felt a spike of agony shoot through his head. Squeezing his eye closed once more the pain ebbed to a continuous throbbing instead. Grunting, Sheriff Stilinski brought his hand slowly to his temple, hoping to dull some of the aching there, only to have it meet wetness. Pulling his hand away John willed his eyes open, despite the pain, and stared in a sort of daze at the deep crimson coating his fingertips. With incredibly unfocused eyes the sheriff searched his surroundings, a tight fear gripping at his heart. He took note of the ambulance coming to a halt on the other side of the parking garage, the dead bodies of his three deputies on each of his sides, but he didn't see what he was looking for. John's panicked gaze took another sweep around but still he didn't see his son anywhere.
"Stiles." He exhaled brokenly as a feeling of cold fright crashed over him. With difficulty John brought himself to an unsteady seated position, ignoring the way the room tilted dangerously, and started to climb to his feet.
"Whoa there, Sheriff! You've got a pretty nasty knock on your head, and you need to stay still while we help you." One of the paramedics said in a rush as he gripped John's shoulder, effectively preventing him from rising.
"My…my son. I need to find…my son."
Stiles tried once more to wiggle his wrists loose from his father's handcuffs. The teen hissed almost silently as the cold metal bit into his pale flesh.
So engrossed with his task the young man startled when Peter's voice suddenly sounded. "You know, all you're going to accomplish is hurting yourself, Stiles."
The teen huffed in frustration, slouching in his seats as he inspected the abused skin on his wrist. "Screw you! If you thought I was just going to sit here and be a complacent hostage than you really didn't think this whole thing through."
"Stiles, I called help for your father. Don't make me regret not just ripping his throat out." Peter spoke in a clearly exasperated voice, rubbing his forehead as if to ease away an impending headache.
Not someone that likes to back-down Stiles glared at the alpha werewolf. "Am I supposed to thank you for knocking my dad unconscious? Gee thanks Peter for not brutally murdering my father. Let's be best friends." He threw back sarcastically.
Peter's hand snapped out to catch Stiles' jaw in a bruising grip. His eyes flaring red with fury. "You are infuriating. Did you know that? I'm starting to think I should just kill you and be done with it. Do you have any thoughts on that?"
The cornered teen uselessly brought his bound hands to the werewolf's wrist and tried to dislodge Peter's unrelenting hold. "If you're taking votes: I can't say I would be for killing me." Stiles answered back, voice unsteady, before swallowing nervously.
Peter smirked before releasing Stiles roughly. The teen's head knocked onto the car window with the force of it, creating a dull thud noise. "You're incredibly lucky that I still need you if I'm to get Scott and Derek in my pack willingly."
Stiles' deep honey-colored eyes looked at his captor in fearful unease, and asked in a shaking voice. "What are you planning to do?"
Analyzing pale green eyes observed the young strawberry-blond in the hospital bed, her mother sitting at her side, clutching her daughter's hand like a lifeline. A wave of sadness hit the man, knowing that if the girl survived she would become a monster that would most likely need to be dealt with. Chris Argent pulled his gaze from the unconscious young woman and continued looking for the reason for his trip to the hospital, thankful that he told his sister to get Allison out-of-town.
Only after a moment of searching the hunter spotted Jackson walking around the corner. The teen's dress shirt was rumbled with the first few buttons undone. After a quick nod to the two men behind him Chris moved swift to cut Jackson off. "Jackson, not quite the person I was looking for but-"
The teen looked up from the ground with Chris' words and his face paled. Taking a couple of steps backwards he lifted his hands like shield in front of himself. "Wh- what are you doing here?"
The older man stood calming just out-of-reach of the anxious teen. "Well Jackson, since you've already been such a large help to us. I thought maybe you could help us out again. Do you know where I can find Stiles Stilinski?"
Jackson's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Why do you want Stilinski?"
"We just need to talk to him. I thought he might be here because of the Martin girl-" The hunter motioned towards Lydia's room with a wave of his hand. "But he's not. Where and when was the last time you saw him?"
The wealthy young man began looking side to side, trying to find an escape as he mumbled, "I…uh…."
The werewolf hunter's face turned from a friendly expression to a much more dangerous one with Jackson's words. Nodding his head slightly to himself Chris cautiously made sure no one else was in the hallway with them. "Why don't we go somewhere with a bit more privacy?"
Unable to stop them Jackson was dragged to the first empty hospital room and tossed inside. Turning around in a rush Jackson watched as Chris started towards him while his two goons spread out guarding each side of the room. "Now let's try this again. Where is Stiles Stilinski?"
The young teen squared his shoulders and lifted his chin. "My father is a lawyer and you all just set yourselves up for an easy assault case. Now move out-of-my-way or I'll call the cops. It shouldn't take them long since this place is crawling with them."
Chris Argent smiled, and just as Jackson tried to leave stopped him with the palm of his hand against the teen's chest. "Jackson, I really don't think you have any idea of who you're dealing with here. It would be in your best interest to help us out." He reasoned.
"Look I honestly have no idea where he is!"
"Alright where was the last place you saw him?" Chris urged. His hand now holding the front of Jackson's shirt in a tight grip to prevent the boy from moving away.
Jackson looked down in defeat. "The last place I saw Stiles was at the dance with Lydia."
Chris narrowed his eyes and tilted his head closer to Jackson. "You're not telling me everything."
"Fine! He called me…told me that Lydia was hurt on the lacrosse field and that I had to come help her. Then the line was cut. When I made it to the field all I saw was Lydia…no Stiles." Jackson said in a frantic voice.
"Why are you looking for my son?!" Sheriff Stilinski suddenly growled from the doorway. His head now adorned with a white bandage, leaning heavily on the door-frame.
Argent released his hold on Jackson and turned around to face the sheriff. "Sheriff Stilinski, I can assure you it's nothing to worry about. I just need to speak with your son for a moment about my daughter, Allison. Do you know where I can find him?" The hunter's voice oozed innocence but the Sheriff knew better.
John's tired eyes roamed over the man, suspiciously. "No...I don't seem to know a lot of things around here anymore, but you...you always seem to know much more than you're letting on."
Chris' smile faltered as his mind began evaluating the many possible scenarios that could come from this conversation. "I'm sorry Sheriff, but I'm not quite sure what you mean. Excuse me." The werewolf hunter said calming and walked towards the door as if the leave only to have the sheriff step into his way.
"No! You are not leaving this room until I get some answers. My son has been abducted by an unhinged, unbelievably healed coma patient, with glowing red eyes! Now you are going to tell me everything you know or I will arrest you!"
"Did you say red eyes?" Chris Argent cocked his head. His interest clearly piqued.
The sheriff brought a shaking hand to his head where his injury was located and leaned back against the door-frame once more. "Yeah…yeah I did. Now considering you're not laughing in my face or looking at me like I'm crazy. I'm going to say you have some idea of what's going on. Tell me what you know."
Chris contemplated telling the sheriff. On one hand having law enforcement on their side could be very beneficial. However, if he were to side with the wolves things would instantly get much more complicated in Beacon Hills. "It's not easily believed, Sheriff. It's probably a better idea for you to just let me handle this."
"This is my son…I'm not asking again." John stated with conviction.
"Well let me ask you this, Sheriff. Have you ever seen a rabid dog?"
John's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What the Hell does a rabid dog have to do with anything?!"
"More than you would want to believe. This man that took your son has much in common with a rabid dog. He is the kind of creature that is too dangerous to be left to their own devices, and should be put down the moment they step out-of-line."
"What are you saying?! This is a person we're talking about not some out-of-control animal! He needs to be arrested for sure but killing him…well that would be considered murder in my book."
Chris held his ground. "That's just it, Sheriff. He is an animal. As you described, he was stronger and faster than humanly possible. He had glowing red eyes. Those are not traits of a human."
John's mind began filling with all the odd details from his encounter with Peter Hale in that parking garage. He thought of the weird things he said about his favorite smell or hearing Stiles heartbeat. The sheriff thought of the way his son was trying to protect him; how he kept saying that he didn't understand the danger. Closing his eyes as all the memories crashed over him of the weird way Stiles has been acting since the start of school, as if something was hidden between them.
Chris Argent's voice broken the injured man from his multitude of thoughts. "John, you said it yourself. You knew something else was going on here and you thought I could help you with it. So let me."
"What is he? Some type of genetic experiment? A vampire?" John asked quietly. His throat suddenly much dryer than before.
"No. He's an Alpha werewolf, and responsible for all the recent deaths in town."
The sheriff ran his hands through his hair and huffed a desperate laugh with the absurdity of the situation. "Werewolf…right. Why didn't I think of that?! Wait? We mean all the deaths connected to the Hale Fire? That might actually make some amount of sense. Peter Hale would obviously want revenge for what happened to his family."
The hunter's eyebrows lifted with curiosity at this new information. "Peter Hale is the Alpha? That's interesting. We never really knew what to expect with a werewolf injured so greatly they fell into a coma."
John eyed the hunter. "When my son is safe we're going to have a very long discussion about all of this and how you fit in it. As it is, all I want is to find my son, safe and alive. And I have an idea about that."
"Do tell."
"Well I have a lead on who may have orchestrated the whole fire. It's a bit of a long-shot, but if we can find this woman we might be able to cut Peter off before he gets to her."
A sinking feeling settled in Chris' stomach. "What woman?"
The sheriff looked around the room at the extra people standing around them, but decide to reveal the information anyway. Maybe he would get lucky and the info will strike a chord with one of them. "I have a witness that indicates a young woman was the one responsible. The only thing I know is she was younger when the fire happened, described as very beautiful, wearing a unique family pendant around her neck."
Chris swallowed and clenched his jaw, breathing deeply before speaking. "I...I think know who that is."
The drive to the remnants of the Hale house was filled with tense silence as Chris drove with white knuckles, John sulking in the passenger seat. It was not easy convincing the sheriff he wasn't in any condition to drive with the nasty head wound he'd suffered. In the end, logic did win when Chris pointed out they could continue arguing or they could go save his son. Even then John only relented after the werewolf hunter tossed his keys to him just to have them fly passed his outstretched hand. After blinking rapidly to clear his double-vision the stubborn sheriff conceded he wasn't in the best shape for driving, and with a wave of his hand indicated Chris lead the way.
Cautiously, the pair made their way, guns drawn, towards the skeleton of a house. But what they saw as the house came into view was nothing like what they expected. Derek Hale lay on the ground motionless with several bullet wounds still lazily seeping blood. A dark-haired girl looked on in horror as a tall light-haired woman stood towering over a figure, aiming a pistol meant for death.
The sheriff squinted his eyes, hoping to see the person being threatened better, steps faltering when he recognized it to be Scott. The very same boy who has been best friends with his son almost their whole lives. Someone he personally thought of as a second son was being held at gunpoint. Without a thought, John started forward, but was halted by a strong grip on his forearm.
Gaze snapping to the side the sheriff watched as Chris released his hold on his arm and moved forward with purpose. Calling out, "Kate!"
The woman turned her head sharply in surprise, but her aim never moved, not even an inch, from its position pointing directly at Scott's head.
"I know what you did. Put the gun down." Chris' voice was steady as was his pistol, aiming coolly at his own sister.
"I did what I was told to do." She snapped back.
Chris shook his head in disagreement. "No one asked you to murder innocent people. There were children in that house, ones who were human. Look what you're doing now."
Kate turned her cold eyes to Scott as her brother continued to speak with conviction. "You're holding a gun at a sixteen year old boy with no proof he spilled human blood."
John watched the exchange between siblings with taut shoulders, readying himself for the possibility of a fight. The sheriff almost brought his weapon's aim to Chris when the hunter suddenly pulled his trigger, shooting the tree just to the side of Kate. But thankfully the warning shot seemed to do the trick as Kate slowly lowered her weapon. Posture taking on a less lethal stance.
John didn't wait for the unstable woman to change her mind and moved swiftly to Scott's side. Carefully, the sheriff helped the young man to his feet. "Are you alright, Son?" He asked in concern.
Before Scott had a chance to answer the door to the Hale house opened slowly with an ominous creaking.
"Allison get back." Chris ordered forcefully, reaching out for his daughter with one hand.
The dark-haired girl stumbled slightly as she moved behind the three adults wielding guns. Her worried eyes glued to the dark opened doorway, heart hammering in her chest. "What is it?" Allison asked with fear laced through her voice.
Golden eyes glowing, Scott answered from next to John. "It's the alpha."
One more chapter to go! Please review to let me know what you thought. Reviews make me happy, which helps me write faster! Any thoughts on what will happen in the final chapter? Until next time…