A/N: Hello, loves! I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to update this again. I've been busy with life and school, but I'm hoping to update this at least once - if not, twice - a week from here on out! Thank you to all of you that followed and favorited since I posted the last chapter. Please keep doing so as well as reviewing cause that makes me and every other author happy!

Stiles had spent the last three nights staying up until dawn waiting for Lydia to come back, but she never did. For all he knew, she went to seek comfort from Jackson or Allison instead. Though he was getting sleep deprived, he stayed up waiting for her just one more night. He was starting to hear colors at this point after only getting a few hours of sleep the previous nights, but it was all for Lydia. The only thing he wanted to know was that she was safe - that's all that mattered to the boy, anyway. He wanted to protect her in anyway that he could and the thought of her coming to him when she was upset made him feel special for once in their friendship. Hell, he had been in love with her since the third grade and the fact that she sought comfort in Stiles made him feel incredible.

Just as the boy was dazing off, he heard the branches move and the tap on the window that he'd been waiting for. He immediately flew out of bed and opened it up for her. He was smiling as she came inside, but the smile faded as soon as she moved her strawberry blonde hair out of her face. The girl had obviously been crying and there were obvious scratches running down her entire body. It looked like she had been attacked by something or somebody. Stiles opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Seeing her hurt and confused was the worst and it devastated him more than ever. Instead of speaking, he pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head. The girl silently sobbed into his chest and he walked the two of them backwards to his bed.

After awhile of standing there and stroking the girls back, she lifted her head and wiped the tears off of her face. "I'm sorry," she apologized with a crack in her voice. "I am so sorry for this." She shook her head and took a step backwards as if Stiles was repelled by the sight of her.

"Lydia, come here." He said softly with a face full of concern and sympathy. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The girl shook her head and went to look in the mirror in order to wipe away the excess mascara that was now all over her cheeks and under her eyes. She felt Stiles walk up behind her and she looked at him through the mirror with genuine confusion. "Stiles, I have no idea what happened. One moment I'm in bed, fast asleep. The next I'm bloody and in the middle of the woods." She shrugged and put her hair up in a messy bun.

"That doesn't make sense," Stiles told her while trying to think of all the possible reasons.

The girl scoffed. "We live in Beacon Hills, Stiles. Of course it doesn't make sense, but there has to be an answer."

Stiles shot his eyes over to the board in his room where he would spend hours trying to figure out certain mysteries and going-on's in the town of Beacon Hills. It always drove him crazy. He knew how to make quite a few connections and loved the challenge of figuring it all out, but as he peered back over at Lydia, he knew that he actually had to start all over again. This wasn't just any werewolf scheme; it was a scheme involving Lydia and Stiles had no idea what to make of it. As badly as he wanted to start investigating further into it, he realized that the beautiful redhead was now yawning, but still a bloody mess. He let out a reluctant sigh and held out his hand for her to take. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said as she gripped onto him and headed towards the bathroom door.

With the bright lights in the bathroom, Stiles first could see the fact that Lydia was turning pale and was sweating profusely. For a split second, he realized he had never seen Lydia sweat before, but quickly knocked that thought out of his head. As he looked further, he could see that she had claw marks up and down her arms and legs. He shook his head, seeing that it looked as if the creature was trying to tear her to shreds. "Lydia," he said slowly, "we need to go to the hospital."

Lydia's eyes started to water once more. She didn't think it was that bad, but she hadn't been able to see how bad her wounds are. For the most part, her body had gone into shock. If she would've looked earlier, she probably would've run to the hospital instead of to the Stilinski household, but she didn't want to think about it. She just wanted to see Stiles. The moment she started crying, Stiles leaned down and placed a kiss on her head before scurrying out of the bathroom and back into his room. The boy grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a sweater for Lydia while calling Scott. Luckily, Scott answered, even though he was pissed off at how late it was.

"What?" Scott hissed.

Stiles didn't have time to explain, so instead he summed up the situation. "It's Lydia. I'm taking her to the hospital. Meet me there. This is serious, Scott."

"Okay. I'll be there."

With that, the conversation ended and Stiles was back in the bathroom to collect Lydia. He threw the extra clothes in a bag and helped her out to his car. He didn't even think about waking up his father at that point - Lydia was too important. If the sheriff woke up before Stiles could get back then Stiles would definitely get in trouble, but he hoped that the sheriff would understand in the slightest.