Chapter Ten: Danger of a New Year
Derek watched as Stiles bounced around the jeep, as the fireworks show ended and the omega danced spastically to the tunes floating out of the open window of the vehicle. Ricky was grinning as he leaned his elbows on the hood and Derek was just leaning back on the side of the vehicle as well, hands pressed deep into his leather jacket. Many of his pack members were already clambering back into their vehicles, pleased with the end to 2014 and the beginning of 2015. The only members who weren't with them right now was Melissa who was working, Scott and Alison who were going on a date and Laura who was working late. She was supposed to join them but they hadn't seen her yet this evening.
"Let's go home Stiles," Derek finally said which only brought the omega's attention back to him and Stiles was pressing himself against Derek's chest provocatively. The alpha growled deep in his throat and gripped Stiles around the hips to stop the friction that was making a certain part of his anatomy stand to attention.
Ricky just chuckled as he climbed into the passenger seat and Derek shifted Stiles to shove him into the driver seat before he climbed into the back seat while Stiles grumbled, "Spoil sport," under his breath.
"We can go home and have all the sex you would like but lets get home."
Stiles is more than happy after that to zip home, making it there in half the time. Talia, Peter and Carmen were already inside and Shelby and Braeden were waiting for them to get out of the vehicle. Otto, Ravyn and Cora were dancing around on the porch like maniacs and Stiles rushed out of the car and towards the door, not paying attention to anything around him. Derek chuckled as he followed, taking Ricky's hand gently in his. Cora and Ravyn each hugged their older brother then they were all pressing into the house when Derek took in a deep breath and gasped. He couldn't believe his mother hadn't noticed but he could scent the slightest bitterness of wolfsbane, "Mom!" he shouted then the door slammed and he pressed against it, finding it difficult to reopen. He frowned and turned to demand help with Peter was suddenly there to push as well. He could smell the wolfsbane, burning into his nostrils as he continued to push, knowing there had to be something pretty heavy and/or strong to hold back two alphas on the other side.
"What's happening?" Stiles asked, the quaver in his voice making Derek want to rip through the flesh of whoever was doing this but first he needed to get Stiles and Ricky out. Finally the strength holding the door closed released and he and Peter were about to fall forward when something stopped him. He gasped at the pain before he shoved away from the barrier and looked down to curse.
"Mom, there's Mountain Ash!" Derek shouted and he could hear his mother race to the other door and throw it open only to repeat Derek's curse and he knew without a shadow of doubt that they were trapped here. The younger wolves were whimpering deep in their throats and Stiles and Ricky shushed them as gently as possible especially since Derek's mates were shivering from the fear as well.
"Hunters?" Stiles demanded angrily which made Derek proud for a moment because if Stiles was mad then he was focused and right now the pack needed the omega's amazing brain on full tilt. "We're trapped, but there must be a way to get out."
Derek shook his head at Stiles' second comment; Mountain Ash was impenetrable for wolvers. He looked around the house, guessing that the ash was a complete circle around the ground of the house otherwise they would've been able to get through the door. He didn't understand why no one smelled anything until he had inside the house. Why was the scent of wolfsbane inside the house? "Peter? Mom? What do we do?"
The other two alphas were searching the downstairs for something, anything to do what they could to escape. Derek took a moment to direct everyone away from the windows and doors at the edge of the foyer and then turned back to the open door. He was heading back over to the open door to see if he could see another way out of this when he heard a strange snick and whizz the only warning when an arrow came through the front door and stuck in the wall with a loud thunk. Derek cursed when he saw the fire, moving over to try to tug the arrow from the wall but found his skin burning and he gasped in pain.
"Freaking hunters and their wolfsbane!" he growled.
There was another zing and another arrow thunked into the high wall on the opposite side of the room, also set ablaze. Derek watched as Peter started trying to put out the flickering arrow only to pull away quickly as well. "We have to get out!" Talia shuddered, "Not another fire, we can't do this again."
He could hear the anxiety and scent the fear that was strangling her. Derek paced the room quickly and smacked his mother across the face, to the shock of everyone in the room. "Snap out of this Mom, we need you!"
Talia snarled at him but he could see the focus in her deep blue gaze once more. Her claws were out but she didn't attack Derek, she just brought her head up again and immediately went back to searching out some answers. Derek did the same, moving back towards the door only to jerk out of the way of another flaming arrow. "Son of a bitch!" he shouted, glad though that the hunters apparently wanted them to die slow otherwise this would have been all over already.
Derek looked around, tucking Stiles away from the open door so any more stray arrows couldn't strike him as the omega had moved towards the door and Derek again. Wolves couldn't break a line of Mountain Ash, only someone with a Spark, the belief that they could make a difference. In a world of Weres, a Spark was the only thing more powerful than an alpha or the ability of an omega and Derek didn't know if there was anyone they could call in time to save them all. There were pack members out there but they would be walking into a hunter attack and wouldn't be able to touch the line of ash either.
The fire from the multiple arrows was seeping into the walls, making rings of charred wood and Derek took a couple of deep breaths to keep from hyperventilating as he remembered the flames licking through this same house that took his father. Derek refused to get trapped in the past, he had to stay strong to keep Stiles and Ricky safe no matter what.
"How are we getting out?" Ricky whispered, taking his little sister's hand in his and huddled closer to his parents. Derek wanted to touch him, comfort his mate but he couldn't, not while the alphas in the room were attempting to figure out a plan. He was so focused on what he was going to do that he didn't hear Stiles moving until the obstinant omega was once more in front of the door. He cursed and moved to grab Stiles when a shower of water came pouring into the house from above the door, straight on to Stiles who screamed and everything started burning. Derek shouted at him then jerked forward to remove Stiles from the stream of water and got burned for his trouble.
"Wolfsbane water," Stiles gasped and tried to shake off the pain that seared through Derek's senses and he hadn't received the shower Stiles had. His thin buzz cut of hair was gone, his neck and shoulders were red and sizzling as the skin attempted to grow back only to slough off in the process since the wolfsbane was still present on his skin. Derek pulled Stiles against him gently and another arrow snicked by his shoulders and planted into someone's arm, he knew from the squelch of sound instead of the dull thid of the wall. He turned to find Ricky grasping at the arrow now imbedded in his father's chest.
"Ricky?" Derek demanded.
"I got it, stay with Stiles!" Ricky demanded in a very alpha-like tone.
"I gotta do something Derek, I can help," Stiles whispered, his voice raw from the pain and blood pooling a little at the corner of his mouth. Derek just held on tighter, couldn't let him go.
"Derek, the fire is spreading, lets get some water on them!" Talia demanded and he immediately felt his alpha's pull and pressed a gentle kiss to the clean side of Stiles' neck before he moved to help his mother. He tried to keep an ear focused on Stiles and Ricky but he didn't know the little brat had moved again until someone gasped, possibly Stiles himself.
Derek turned when he heard the shocked whimper from his omega and turned to see Stiles trying to reach for the Mountain Ash. He was struggling against the spell of the ash but he was getting closer, he was sifting through the line while everyone watched in amazement as Stiles started to glow just a little. To a human it wouldn't have looked very different but to the wolf senses of everyone in the house, he was a supernova of unexpected ability so when the line was broken everyone was silent until a shot rang out and Stiles stumbled back a step Derek cried out in shock. He and Ricky both jumped forward and cradled him between them as black puss started oozing from the wound in his chest.
"No Stiles, don't you dare! Why do you have to save everyone all the freaking time?" Derek shouted as he cradled Stiles in his arms. "He broke the line, get out of here!"
Each Were started moving towards the two doors of the house only to find them both still booby trapped with falling wolfsbane flavored water but the faster they got out, the lest they were burned. The adults were handling it better but poor Cora and Ravyn were crying as they curled into their mother's shoulders as everyone quickly got to the safety of the cars, for now just using them for protection instead of getting in just yet all the while listening for the whistle of wolfsbane bullets or arrows but Talia and Pater both ran out towards the outskirts of the property where the shooters were located.
Derek knew they would need the wolfsbane if they were going to save Stiles from the bullet burrowed in his side and they also needed to be able to wash the wolfsbane laced water off their skin. He could feel the sizzle of skin along his shoulder and back, his body shuddering in pain while he carried Stiles who was shuddering in pain, his breathing sounding juicy and Derek knew they were going to have to get to the hospital.
Beacon Hills had a whole unit to help with werewolf related injuries, not only the Bite but also when wolves were targeted as well. Derek wanted to run but until they had some sort of assurance that the shooter was neutralized otherwise someone else would get shot. Derek hissed as the burn of skin melting away under his clothes numbed out and whited his vision for a moment before he refocused his attention on Stiles, on the blood that was trickling from his mouth.
"Stiles, baby, you have to stay with me," Derek whispered gently then looked around and saw Ricky curl around his little sister, both of them with wolfsbane burns along the shoulders and neck, he felt a cooling drop of water and looked towards the sky for a moment and sighed happily when a summer shower started to fall. Derek wished he could remove his clothes and allow the water to soak into his skin and clean him off but he couldn't remove his hands from Stiles' chest where it was trying to stem the flow of blackened blood.
"Get the wet clothes off," Derek commanded in a tight voice. He could see the others all around, huddled behind the trees and furniture on the deck, but out of the wolfsbane laced water.
"Hunters neutralized?" he called out, hoping Peter and his mother could hear him. They needed to get Stiles to the hospital; the alpha could hear the rattle in Stiles' lungs as he was forced to work harder to get less air into his body. The blood was pooling around Stiles, staining Derek's clothes and the ground underneath him. Now that he was focusing on something beyond the pain he could hear the struggle in the woods and then nothing. Talia shouted, "Go Derek, get them to the hospital fast!"
Derek immediately got up from the ground and everyone was stumbling into vehicles in very un-wolf like clumsiness. Many of them weren't hurting as badly and those were the people driving. Derek was in the jeep's back seat and Ricky climbed into the driver seat without his shirt but Derek could still see the skin trying to heal and immediately burning with the remaining patches of wolfsbane on his skin. Shelby and Braeden were leaning into each other in the passenger seat and they raced together towards the hospital, making the trip in half the time it would normally take. Derek was losing time or that's what it felt like when they slammed to a stop and everyone crashed through the emergency room doors and Derek shouted, "Wolfsbane bullets, burns and just help us!"
That seemed to create a magical flurry of movement. There was Melissa and Derek was much better prepared to hand Stiles over to the adopted mother of his omega than any other. Immediately some dragged him away as Melissa spoke to him.
"I will keep him safe for you Derek, you and Ricky get patched up. GO!" she shouted the last word and Derek was led into another room. He was shoved none to gently into a shower and a blast of cold water immediately started pouring down over him and then someone was using some horribly abrasive scrub brush to attack his skin. He screamed for what seemed like eternity before the wolfsbane was finally washed off for the most part and he collapsed, unable to stay aware any longer.
He just hoped Stiles and Ricky would be there when he awoke.