The door swung inwards with the slightest push of my finger. Scott went in first, on guard and listening out for any movement. I followed behind, the floorboards creaking under my boots. The house was just as empty and derelict as when I first visited – but it seemed to be missing it's only inhabitant.
"Derek?" I called out, my voice echoing eerily around the entrance hall. There was no reply.
"Maybe he's not home…" Stiles whispered hopefully. Scott and I glared at him, so Stiles zipped his mouth shut and widened his eyes at us.
"No, through here," Scott beckoned us into a room off to the left – the same one I had woken up in last time.
Derek was curled up on the floor in a corner, clutching at his stomach and groaning. His shirt was off, showing his taught muscles and tanned skin– I tried my best not to stare, but my god, he was toned.
Scott ran over and straightened Derek into a sitting position. Red marks had flamed up like lashes of a whip all over his body making me gasp out loud, my hands flying to cover my mouth.
"Are you alright?" I cried, hurrying over and crouching in front of Derek.
His head was lulled, but Derek managed to get enough strength to raise his green eyes and whisper out one word: "Healing."
Oh yeah, because werewolves can do that.
"Oh… Anything I can do to help?" I offered, glancing awkwardly to Scott.
"Shut up," Derek grumbled before shaking Scott off his arm.
"Someone's not a happy bunny," Stiles whispered to me once I had stood up and joined him in the centre of the room.
"Tell me about it. You think it was that woman?" I hushed back, forgetting once again about Derek's keen werewolf senses.
Derek snarled suddenly, hissing out, "Kate. She's a hunter," before pushing himself off the floor with one hand and clambering to his feet, "Look, I'm fine now, get your hands off me McCall before I throw you through a wall."
Scott backed away showing his open palms to Derek, who cracked his neck before standing up straight, the red marks had almost completely faded in a matter of seconds. I marvelled at the healing process before glancing away, so he didn't think I was checking him out – which I definitely wasn't.
"The Argents have got a clever way of keeping us human. They use rods with thousands of volts of electricity perfect for causing enough pain to deter a werewolf," Derek stared angrily at a crack in the boarded up window, as if checking for any signs of the woman's return, "She's trying different approaches to try and intimidate me into telling her who the other werewolves are."
"She knows about me?" Scott questioned, throwing his hands up. Something clicked in my mind but it took a few seconds for me to fully get there.
"No, she knows there is another beta but doesn't-"
"Hold up a second," I interrupted, stepping towards Derek and Scott, "Did you say Argent? As in, Allison Argent's family? As in your girlfriend, Allison?" Scott and Derek shared a troubled glance that made my blood boil, "Is there anything else you have failed to fill me in on?! Does Allison know?"
Stiles snorted and answered for them, "No way, she has no clue about her family or anything about Scott. Completely in the dark."
"Thanks Stiles," Scott rolled his eyes, but it made me feel a bit better about lying to Isaac knowing that Scott was keeping a much larger secret.
"Are you not worried?" I asked Scott, folding my arms and leaning into one hip.
He shook his head smiling, "Not really. She's the one who keeps me calm and turns me back into a human when I'm struggling. Allison is my anchor. I know she will probably find out at some point, but for now, things are perfect."
"Until her Dad and Aunt find out you're the other beta," Stiles chips in.
"Thank you Stiles. Now zip it."
I sighed and placed one hand on my forehead, thinking. Things were going to be tricky now that I had to start lying to Allison as well as Isaac.
"Okay, so let me get this straight. The Argent's are the hunters; They hunt werewolves. We are also looking for a werewolf. Why not team up to catch the Alpha? He's dangerous enough for you to call it quits for a while, surely?"
Derek shook his head at me, furiously spitting out, "You want me to team up with someone like that?" He waves an arm at the window expansively and I grit my teeth, trying to remain calm and in control.
"Alright. I just thought that two heads were better than one in a situation like this," I narrowed my eyes at the man.
"That's why we have you!"
"Oh great. Now we're saved," I argue back sarcastically, "I've already told you, I need more information. That's why we came!"
Derek's fists clench at his sides and he stands rigid as a board. He leans on every word, emphasizing that he is completely done with the situation, "You want information? Okay, how about this. My whole family burnt to death in a fire, started by one of the Argents, leaving only my sister, my uncle and myself. My sister? I come back to find her dead in the woods, chopped in half. Meanwhile, my uncle has been paralysed and scarred with burns for eight years. You know what that leaves? Me. Just me. And this house. While the Argents are still happily living their lives as if nothing happened. Tell me how that's fair! They slaughtered all of my family and I get no revenge. I get treated like a criminal! And then I have Scott running to me for help with his girlfriend, whose family has been hunting mine for generations," Derek's face was flushed with rage and he motioned in Scott's direction, "I have to teach this one how to not get killed and how not to kill others. And at the same time, the Alpha is still out there, killing innocent people and I have no idea who he is. Do you know what my anchor is? Not some teenage crush, but anger. And the hope that one day, I can avenge my family. That's what keeps me grounded. Is that enough information for you?" Derek finished and panted heavily, glaring at me.
I blinked at him with wide eyes, shocked at his outburst. I had no idea that he was so alone. Stiles had told me that Derek had no family, not that they had all been brutally murdered by a member of Allison's family. I didn't know where to feel sorry for him or not. Derek clearly didn't want my sympathy: He only wanted to use my talent to give him the revenge he's waited for. There were no words for a situation like this – I was in way over my head.
So what I did was rein in my hurt and astonishment from his story and turn my face into a mask.
"Thank you, Derek. I'll let you know if I come up with anything," I said, calmly and clearly, although he could definitely hear my heart beat pounding away.
…
I woke on Friday morning to find a painting on my canvas. My blood ran cold as my eyes took it all in hungrily, looking for any clues to help Derek. But the scene was so vague and uneventful that I had to give up searching for details and leave for school. The canvas was mostly covered in dark blues and greys, with tiny flecks of white for the stars. The full moon was clear and yellow in the sky, but underneath, the brush marks were so sloppy and rushed that all I could make out was the outline of the school building. There were a few shadowy figures in the parking lot, but who they were, I had no idea. However, to my relief, there seemed to be no blood or horrific injuries – maybe the full moon was going to be more uneventful that Derek predicted. Perhaps I'll come up with something more useful tonight…
In my free period, I decide to take Stiles's advice (even though he was only joking at the time) and have a hunt in the library to see if there were any myths about werewolves that would help. The library was silent and mostly empty when I arrived, clutching the strap of my bag and attempting to not look suspicious. My feet padded softly on the carpet as I made my way to the furthest aisle towards the alphabetical W section. I need something about urban legends or local history about creatures and shape shifters, I thought, pointing my finger out. Werewolves… werewolves… nope. Oh god. Well what was I expecting? How to be a Werewolf for Dummies? Maybe I would have more luck in the fiction section. So I made my way over and started rifling through a few old, battered books at random before I got agitated – everything seemed to be children's stories or completely wrong.
A girl appeared at the end of the aisle and waved a hand at me. I jumped slightly, having been so engrossed in my search, before relaxing and waving back. Allison smiled at me and walked over, hugging a book to her chest.
"Hey," I whispered to her. It was only normal that seeing Allison would bring back the memories of what happened to Derek's family and I got a nervous feeling in my gut. How could Allison not realise what her family was like? I couldn't believe that someone so smart and strong could be completely oblivious.
"Hi! Free period too?" She grinned at me in response, before nodding towards the book on supernatural creatures I had clutched in my hand. Uh, time for me to come up with another lie.
I sighed dramatically and rolled my eyes, "Yeah. Art class is killing me. I have to come up with a series of paintings based on mythical creatures but I can't find any good research to base it on," I took a quick breath, wondering how much I could say without arousing concern.
But then again… an idea hit me and I realised that if there was anyone who could give more information, it was an Argent, "I'm thinking maybe something like werewolves or shape shifters? You've not got some book lying about at home that could help me, have you?" I laughed a bit too hard, trying to pass my comment off as a joke. Allison squinted slightly. I held my breath.
"You know what's weird, my aunt literally gave me a book like that the other day. It has loads of my family history in. I've not read it thoroughly yet, but I'm pretty sure it mentioned some legend like that. Do you want to borrow it?"
Astonished, I stuttered a reply, "Y-yeah, that'd be great actually! You don't mind me hanging on to it for a few days?"
Allison shook her head and the brunette curls floated across her shoulders neatly, "No, that's fine. Are you alright to come and pick it up tonight after school?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll text you when I'm on my way."
"Great. Well, I'll see you at lunch anyway, I've got to get this Math revision done," Allison beamed before giving me a quick wiggle of her fingers and exiting the aisle.
Not believing my luck, I stayed where I was stood for a good few seconds, not quite sure what had just happened. This way, I could find out more about the hunters and about werewolves giving me information on the sets of skills from each opposing side. Like I said to Derek, two heads were better than one, and Allison had just given me the key to the other side.
…
It wasn't until I pulled up outside Allison's house that my stomach decided to knot itself into a twist of nerves. What if it's Kate that opens the door? What if Kate finds out that I'm borrowing the book? She'll be on me like a hunter to a werewolf, literally. It had crossed my mind that she will think I'm the other beta, and not Scott, but I had nothing to fear from these hunters… at least when it came to the fact that I am not a werewolf and am not the one killing people.
Gingerly, I hoped out of my car and paced up the front drive to give a cautious knock on the door. I had text Allison to let her know I was coming, so please, please, please let it be her. I shrugged my jacket around my shoulders, trying to shield out the cold evening settling in and blew out my cheeks nervously.
About 10 seconds of agonizing silence followed my knock. I held my breath, until the door hauled open and I met with the familiar brown eyes of my friend – Allison. The top section of her hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head, with the bottom half in perfect curls.
"Emily! Hi, come in for a sec," Allison ushers me in and I enter the warmth of her house, my eyes adjusting to the yellow light in the hallway. "I'm literally in the middle of getting ready to go out with Scott," Allison explained, waving her hand to her half-done hair, "So just wait here a sec, I'll go and grab you that book."
"Alright," I smiled after my friend as she fled up the stairs two at a time, leaving me stood awkwardly on my own, hugging my arms to my chest.
The Argent house was just like any other house, I thought, noticing the family photos hung on the wall to my right. But I wondered as I stood there, remarking how cubby Allison's cheeks were as a baby, how many secrets were built into the walls and hidden under surfaces.
A voice startled me out of my thoughts and into the cold face of reality, "Well this is a coincidence. Or perhaps not."
I whip around to see Kate leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen, a sharp smirk on her face. Frozen, I find myself incapable of speaking, but glance terrified at the stairs that Allison had disappeared up.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about her. I won't say anything if you don't," Kate asserted, pushing off the frame and talking four noticeable steps towards me. "Emily, was it?" She quips, tilting her head to the side slightly and letting her long blonde hair fall past her shoulder.
I nod and swallow hard, a lump sticking in my throat. I didn't know whether to take off and run, or stand my ground. Either way, Kate definitely had the upper hand.
"I'd like to ask where you got the balls to enter this house," the woman raises one eyebrow and begins to stride forwards, closing the gap between us. I instinctively take a few steps back, until my back hits the front door with a jolt. "I mean," Kate continues, "I might be a little suspicious, considering that your big brother knew Derek." I gulped as she brought up the lie I told in the forest and tried to keep eye contact with her. "But then I find out that you are friends with my niece, and guess what she told me: That you don't actually have a brother. How can that be?"
Kate's fist hits out suddenly and pounds the door inches from my face. I flinch back and shut my eyes as she leans closer and whispers right in my ear, "If I find out that you have anything to do with Derek Hale, I will personally make your life hell. Have you got that, sweetie? I've got my eye on you."
We hear movement coming from upstairs so Kate immediately moves backwards, leaning into a relaxed pose with her hands on her hips. Her eyes are glaring at me, right up until the moment that Allison reaches the bottom step, when they soften and ease.
"Got it. Sorry I took so long, it was under a pile of my revision notes," Allison apologised and handed the large book in her hands over. It was old and heavy, with yellow pages and a hand stitched bound cover. Kate takes one glance at the book and her face contorts into rage for a flicker of a second – long enough for me to notice.
"T-thanks," I stammer, still shaken by Kate's threats. She was definitely on to me now having seen the book.
Allison cocks her head to the side to pass her eyes from Kate to me and laughs, "Sorry, Emily, this is my aunt, Kate. She's staying with us for a while." Allison nudges her aunt with her elbow lightly and Kate turns on her charm, throwing back her head and laughing along with her niece.
"Yeah, I bumped into Emily in the woods when I was walking the other day actually. She was with a boy, weren't you, Emily?" Kate turns her gaze to me again in a way that forces me to go along with the act.
"Isaac?" Allison questions, but I shake my head.
"N-no, I was with Stiles. Um, anyway, I'll let you get ready, see you at school, Allison. Thanks again." I make my excuse hurriedly before fleeing out of the door and sprinting to my car. I didn't want Kate to know anything about Isaac because judging by the threats she just made to ruin my life, she would thoroughly enjoy getting her claws into that.
I throw the book onto the passenger's seat and lean my head back onto the head rest, taking the time to wind down from the tension and focus on breathing. Kate was probably more terrifying than Derek, and that was saying something. Hopefully now with the book, I can get some more information and help Derek get rid of the Alpha before Kate fully clocks what my part in all of this is.
A.N.
Yay, bit of a long chapter to make up for the fact that it took a bit longer than expected. I'm sorry there is no Isaac, but he's in the next chapter so do not despair! I think this is a bit of a boring chapter, but I'm trying to flesh it out so it's as realistic and as true to the tv show as possible (poor Derek!). I edited it so much to try and make it a bit more interesting, haha. Shit gets real in the next one, I assure you! :') I'm starting writing the next chapter as soon as I've posted this one out so you won't have to wait too long.
As always, I give my love to everyone who has followed, favourited and reviewed! You guys make me smile so much and I keep this story going because of you, so thank you! :D x