A/N: First, I want to apologize profusely for my absence, I've been horribly stuck on this chapter and the end-result makes that very obvious. So, please, don't be deterred by this awful chapter. I swear on my laptop that it gets better, next chapter is already pretty stellar. Thanks to everyone who so graciously reads this. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think!
Cora pulled to the side of the road and shut off the engine. "Let's go," she said as she stepped out of the car. Followed by Erica, Cora made her way to the edge of the trees and started into the woods. "Where are we going?" Erica asked as she reluctantly followed her best friend into a clearing. "It's sort of a..meeting place," Cora answered. "It's called the Nemeton," Boyd answered as he and Isaac stepped into the clearing. "This used to be a large oak tree, but now it's just this stump and the roots. Druids would meet here to perform rituals and stuff. It's said to host a lot of power." "When did you become a druid expert?" Derek asked as he flung open the hatch leading to the basement floor of the Nemeton. "I'm not an expert, I just pay attention in class," Boyd raised his eyebrows at Derek, "unlike someone else I know," "Unlike a couple someones," Erica cut in nudging Cora.
Derek rolled his eyes, "Can we get back on track now?" Followed by his betas, Derek made his way back into the cellar. Once everyone was in, Derek pulled the door shut and motioned for everyone to sit down. "The reason I wanted you guys to meet me here," he started, speaking slowly and showing signs of nervousness, "when I turned Erica," the blond looked up from her hands at the mention of her name, "when I did that, you all were pretty angry with me for not telling you. While I strongly believe I shouldn't have to tell you anything as your alpha, I would like to maintain that role, and I feel like if I keep doing the things I've been doing, I won't have a pack anymore." Those last words caught the group off-guard. Cora began to speak in protest, but Derek raised his hands. "That being said, don't expect me to be completely different. I just want to try and include you all in the decisions more, or at least the big ones."
At this point, the betas' minds were racing; what kind of decision could Derek be making that was so big he decided to include them in it? "This can't be good," thought Isaac. "I was approached by someone today," Derek paused, "he wants the bite." "What?" Isaac and Boyd said in unison. "You didn't say yes did you? Derek not again," Cora boomed. "I didn't say anything other than I would let him know. I thought I should ask you guys." "Why would you agree to it? You can't handle the betas you have now, Derek, adding a new beta, not to mention a new wolf in general, that's just stupid." Cora was standing now, pacing the floor as she spoke. "That's exactly the problem," Derek said, rising to his feet. "I can't control my betas," he glared at Erica, "and now I have a pack, an alpha pack, wanting to take me out. I need all the help I can get. You've seen what they can do, Cora." "And what if he doesn't survive the bite, huh? You'll have a dead kid on your conscience." "Wait," Isaac cut in, "who is it? You haven't told us that much." "That's not important right now, but no," Derek turned to Cora, "he would survive. He's a strong person, he would make a good addition to the pack, he just has some..attitude problems.." Derek trailed off. "Sounds like Jackson," Isaac muttered to himself, not loud enough for anyone else to hear. "Derek, we can't vote on anything unless we know," Cora squinted at her brother. "Who is it?" she repeated.
"Jackson Whittemore," Derek sighed. "What?!" I was just joking! "Derek, you can't actually think letting Jackson join is a good idea?" Isaac stood, speaking anxiously. "Jackson Whittemore looks out for no one but himself," Boyd cut in. Cora, Isaac, and Boyd were assaulting Derek with words, protesting Jackson's admittance into the group passionately. "Guys, guys!" he shouted. "I know he's not exactly a team player," "Ya think?" Cora cut in, Derek glared, "but the fact is, we can't handle five alpha wolves by ourselves. Especially since all of them are a step above your average alpha. We need him," Derek furrowed his brow, "I need him." Cora squeezed the bridge of her nose, trying to relieve some of the pressure built up from Derek's news.
"Derek.." Cora sighed. "We can try, Cora. We can-" "I don't think it's a bad idea," Erica cut in. "Mostly because it's my fault we need him in the first place," Derek and Cora both rolled their eyes, "but also because we need it. We need the strength Jackson can bring us." "Erica, he's not gonna listen to us, he's getting some..personal gain from this and he has no interest in helping us," Isaac protested. "We have to try, Isaac. Okay," Derek faced all of the betas, "we'll take a vote, but ultimately..I will decide if he can join us or not," Cora rolled her eyes. "My vote is yes," he said turning to Erica, "Erica?" "Yes," then to Isaac, "No way," and Boyd, "He's no good," and finally Cora. "Cora?" No response. "Cora, yes or no?" Derek asked again. She thought for a moment, chewing the inside of her cheek. She turned to Isaac and Boyd, "I'm sorry, we just can't do it alone," heavily she sighed, "yes." "Well, that's a majority.." Derek paused, staring intently at the ground, "I'll talk to Jackson."
"Erica! Hey, Erica! Wait up!" Isaac rushed to the blond's side as she made her way into the hallway and through the crowd of students trying to get to their next class. "Hey," he said after finally getting to her. "Hi, Isaac," she said in a blank tone. "Hey, so, I was wondering," Isaac was speaking slowly, dragging out his words and driving Erica insane. "Spit it out Lahey," she snapped. "I was just going to ask why you thought it was your fault the alpha pack is after Derek.." he said timidly, alerting Erica to how rude she had been. She sighed, "I'm sorry for snapping. I've been really stressed out and frustrated lately." "Is it the alphas?" "No, I'm not even slightly worried about them." Erica and Isaac waded through the crowd in the cafeteria and sat at an empty table. "It's nothing important. Anyways, the alphas." Isaac listened intently as he sipped at some chocolate milk, occasionally nodding his head at Erica's words. "Kali hates me, not that I mind, but she's basically second in command with them. Her feud is their feud." "Wait, why does she hate you?" Isaac looked confused. Erica rolled her eyes, "Are you even slightly paying attention to me?" Isaac opened his mouth in protest but was cut short, "Because of Allison. That day in the cafeteria..most recently the party. I know she ended up kicking my ass, but I landed a few good hits. That's gotta count for something."
"What's gotta count for something?" Boyd asked as he and Braeden approached the table and sat down, holding hands the entire time. "You two make me sick," Cora said, sitting next to Isaac. "What were you talking about?" Boyd asked, turning to Erica. "Nothing," she shook her head, "how was class?"
All at once the teens started going on about their days, Braeden fell asleep in Lycanthropy, Coach Finstock made Isaac and Boyd skip his Risk vs Reward class to "work on those awful long-handle skills" because "Greenberg was better than they had been in practice all week long" and Erica listened, for the most part, until they walked in. Through the waves of students entering and exiting the cafeteria, Erica could recognize those long, dark curls with ease. Allison and her friends made their way into the food line, laughing and talking with each other. I wish I had that. Erica mindlessly poked at the pile of spaghetti sitting on her plate as she daydreamed. "It's okay, everyone. Stiles has arrived," the boy approached the table and sat down smiling widely, "you can all relax now."
Lydia rolled her eyes as she sat down between Stiles and Scott and started to eat. The rest of the table returned to their conversations as Allison came next to Erica, "Hey," she said softly, sitting down beside her. It wasn't until Allison nudged her that Erica noticed the other teens had joined the table. "Did I interrupt some deep thinking?" Allison asked, raising her eyebrows and smiling at the blond. "No, no, just," she stabbed a meatball, "trying to decide if I want to eat this or not," Erica smiled back. Allison laughed as she picked at her own food.
"Alright, let's see if we can't round up some extra points heading into tomorrow's exam," Deucalion scratched at the bottom of his chin as he walked through the rows of students in his Daemonology class. "Ah, I know. What evil spirit possesses humans and turns them into cannibals?" Moments passed and no one answered, "Anyone? Come on, you'll want these points, trust me," he smirked. He looked around the room and finally a hand shot up, "Yes, Mr. Mahealani." "A Wendigo, right?" "Right! Good to know someone pays attention in my class," Deucalion smiled. "Uh, actually," Danny replied, "I just watch a lot of Supernatural." Deucalion rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "You know, that show gets a lot of things wrong. You can't rely on it to help you in my class, Danny." The boy stared at his professor, "Do I still get the points for the test or..?" Deucalion grimaced, almost as if he were in pain. "I'm truly amazed by the teenage mind.." he sighed to himself, turning to write on the board behind him.
"Dude," Danny leaned forward, tapping his best friend on the shoulder. The boy in front of him didn't seem to notice, as he kept staring blankly in front of him. "Jackson!" Danny slapped the back of his head, "What!" Jackson snapped, alerting the rest of the class. "Is there a problem, Mr. Whittemore?" Deucalion crossed his arms, his face showing his annoyance at the disturbance. "Uh, no. Sorry professor." Jackson sunk down in his seat as Deucalion faced the board again and continued his lecture. "You don't have to be such a jackass," Danny whispered, leaning back in his own seat. Jackson sat up and held his head in his hands. "I'm sorry," he whispered back as he turned around. Danny raised his eyebrows, amused by Jackson's apology that he knew didn't actually mean anything. Jackson's apologies had just become a knee-jerk reaction to situations, something he knew was supposed to happen but didn't understand or care why. Over the years, Danny had learned how to deal with Jackson's rage. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being slightly irritated and 10 being murder, Danny always felt like Jackson was at a constant 4, he was used to the rudeness and anger Jackson always emitted, it was normal.
Jackson turned back around and stared blankly out the window. It wasn't long until something caught his eye standing across the parking lot at the edge of the woods. "Uh, can I be excused?" Jackson asked, standing up and already starting across the room, not waiting for a response. "I guess?" Deucalion's eyes followed the boy out of the room as he disappeared down the hall. Jackson exited the school and made his way to the black car parked a few feet away from the woods where Derek Hale stood. "Well?" Jackson asked immediately, then without giving Derek time to answer, "Derek I need this." "Walk with me," was all he said as Derek made his way into the woods, followed by Jackson after dropping his bag by Derek's car.
Derek stops, facing Jackson after a short walk through the woods. "I'm not just going to turn you so you can go and get killed by hunters." "That's funny," Jackson scoffed, "you seem to think you would be protecting me." "That's exactly what I'll be doing," Derek retorted. "Right," Jackson crossed his arms, "and why is it you needed me again?" Before Derek could say anything, Jackson answered himself. "That's right, for your protection. Because you can't seem to handle the big bad alpha pack by yourself." Jackson's remarks were wearing Derek thin. "I'm trying to be patient with you," "I don't need your patience. What I need is for you to give me what I want." "You don't get it, do you?" Derek angrily replied. "This isn't about what you want or even what I need. This is about protecting my pack," Jackson rolled his eyes, "your friends," Derek's voice grew louder and angrier.
"My friends? None of the people involved are my friends." "You're right," Derek snapped. "None of them are your friends because you have no friends. No one cares that you drive the fancy car. No one cares that you have perfect hair. No one cares that you're captain of the lacrosse team. Everything that you think is important, is small compared to everything else going on." Derek assaulted Jackson with words, leaving no time for the teen to defend himself. "You have the chance to do something really good for once, yet here you are mocking me, refusing to follow the simplest of rules that come with the bite." "I'm not going to be your lap-dog, Derek!" Jackson boomed. "It's not," Derek paused, frustrated, "forget it. You're wasting my time." Derek turned, facing the direction they came from and began to walk away. Jackson stared at him for only a moment before grabbing Derek by the arm, "We are not finished," but before Jackson could finish his sentence, Derek reversed the boy's grab, twisting his arm behind his body, slamming him into a nearby tree. Just as Jackson's body hit the hard trunk, Derek's teeth sunk into the boy's left shoulder, tearing through the flesh, causing Jackson to release a bloodcurdling scream. Derek dropped the teen to the ground, "You wanted the bite, you got it," he says, walking away from Jackson's crumpled body on the ground.
