CHAPTER 5

Stiles jumped to his feet, recognising her subconsciously taking a fighting stance, and stood in front of the girl in the doorway. "Allison, this is Rori, she's… She's a new friend. Rori, this is Allison. She's a hunter, so she's been taught how to patch people up."

Rori stepped away, a scowl on her face. "There is no way in hell I'm letting a hunter near enough to even touch me," she said in a dangerously low voice.

Stiles looked a little shocked. "Rori, you're going to bleed out unless you get stitches. I trust Allison with my life, okay? Just let her help."

Rori shook her head. "I lost my aunt to hunters, they strung her up like a piñata and sliced her in half."

Stiles looked between the two girls. "Rori, a werewolf nearly succeeded in ripping off your head, and yet you don't hate them. Look, you said you see people for who they are, not what they are. Allison is a friend trying to help more than she is a hunter, so please… just let her help."

Rori sighed, realising he was right: she was judging this girl for being a hunter. She sat down on the bed nodded her head at Allison.

The girl sat at her side without making eye contact and began unwrapping the bandage, then peeled away the gauze pad. "Nous protégeons ceux qui ne peuvent pas se protéger eux-mêmes."

Rori's face contorted in confusion.

"'We protect those who cannot protect themselves.'" Allison looked up at Rori. "I'm the last living female descendant in the Argent line. After so many people died because of the feud between us and those we hunt, I changed the family's code. We protect, we don't like to kill."

"I'm sorry," Rori pursed her lips. "About being so harsh on you before. I saw you as a hunter and not a person."

Allison smiled as she threaded the string through the eye of the needle. "I forgive you." She pressed her thumb into the flesh around Rori's wounds, trying to gauge how deep they were. Allison looked between the three people surrounding her. "How the hell did this happen?"

"She got clawed by Isaac." Stiles answered.

"But it wasn't his fault," Rori defended him, "He was hallucinating."

Allison nodded. "Okay, well, I can fix this up easy, but it's going to take a while to heal completely." She gestured at the wound vaguely, "And with the way the skin's been torn, all three slashes are gonna leave a scar."

Rori smirked. "I'll just add it to the collection." She didn't miss Stiles discretely covering his smile.

Allison pulled Rori's arm closer and rested it in her lap. She looked up at Rori, pity in her eyes. "This is going to sting a little." Then she pushed the needle through Rori's skin.

Rori cried out and clamped her free hand over her mouth. Tears welled in her eyes as Allison wove the needle in and out of her flesh. Stiles took one look at what was happening and shook his head, turning his back, looking as though he were about to be sick. Rori continued to muffle her sobs until Allison finished stitching the third and final cut. "All done."

Rori dropped her hand and let out a shaky sigh of relief. "That," She panted, as she wiped away her tears, "Was the worst thing I've ever experienced in my entire life."

Allison cleaned around the wounds with an antiseptic wipe and then placed a fresh gauze pad over them, wrapping them in a bandage again. "You can ditch the bandages in a week, but the gauze pad has to stay until I say the stitches can come out, okay? Make sure to replace it every day so there's no chance of infection."

Rori nodded. "Thanks, doc."

Allison smiled at the name and packed everything away into Lydia's bag. She rinsed her hands in the bathroom sink, then joined them as they started discussing what to do next.

"So, this Scott guy," Rori said, "I'm guessing he's a werewolf too?"

Stiles sighed, figuring it useless to lie. "Yes, Scott's a werewolf. There's me, Lydia, Allison, Isaac, and Boyd. That's basically our whole pack."

Rori narrowed her eyes. "What about the Ethan that Allison mentioned?"

"He's not one of us." Allison explained. "Him and his twin, Aiden, are both part of the Alpha Pack."

"A pack made up entirely of freaking alpha werewolves, by the way." Stiles stressed.

Rori sighed. "Delightful," She said sarcastically, "Anything else?"

"There's been four human sacrifices in the past week." Said Stiles.

Rori's jaw dropped. "Are you serious? I'm gone a week and there's four murders."

"Human sacrifices." Stiles corrected.

She shot him a look and he closed his mouth. "Do you know who's doing it?"

"No," Lydia said, "We know that it's a Darach, though. We just don't know who the Darach actually is."

Rori nodded in understanding.

"Wait, do you know what a Darach is?" Stiles asked.

"Yes, I know what a Darach is. I'm not an idiot." Rori rolled her eyes before fiddling with the clip on her bandage. "So, what do we do now?"

"Us three," Allison gestured to herself, Stiles and Lydia, "Are going to find Scott before he hurts himself. You," She looked at Rori, "Are going to stay here and keep an eye on Isaac. You can't be doing anything too strenuous with that arm."

"Okay, doc. You can count on me."

When the three of them had left and the door clicked shut, Rori crawled over her bed and onto Isaac's. She laid down beside him and looked up at the ceiling.

Rori was sent to Beacon Hills to live away from the drama that came with being a part of the shapeshifter world. Now here she was, smack-bang in the middle of it once again. She didn't mind it, however; this was the world she had grown up in since she was nine. She felt comfortable dealing with shapeshifters. The Darach was another problem. Though she knew of the dark Druids, she'd never encountered one before.

If she called her parents, they'd bring her straight back to Forestdale and she'd be stuck in werewolf territory war. If she stayed here, she'd have to try and avoid the Darach and the Alpha Pack.

It was one threat or the other.

Involuntarily, her eyes began drooping. She fought to keep them open, but less than an hour's sleep was catching up to her. Her eyes fell shut before she could stop them.

"Rori." Someone was shaking her shoulder. "Rori, wake up."

She opened her eyes, rubbing them groggily to clear away the blurriness. "Lydia?"

"We found Scott, everyone's okay." The redhead told her. "But we're all going to crash in the school bus tonight, just to be safe. Scott said that you're gonna join us."

Rori nodded her head and tried to sit up, only to be pulled back down. She looked at what was stopping her to find that her good arm was pinned underneath Isaac's side. She had been big-spooning him. Again.

"Dammit." She cussed, pushing at Isaac's shoulder and slipping her arm free. "How long was I asleep?"

"Not long. You look like you're enjoying yourself though."

Rori grumbled and stood up, running a hand through her hair. "Oh shush. We were both on our backs when I fell asleep. It's not my fault."

Lydia inspected her nails as though she weren't paying attention.

"So anyway," Rori continued, "How do we get him to the bus?" She spared a glance down at a sleeping Isaac.

"Scott and Stiles are coming up to get him. You just worry about getting both of your things down there, 'kay?"

Rori nodded at Lydia and began putting everything together. She shouldered her and Isaac's bags and then scooped his lacrosse bag under her arm, following Lydia out the door. They made their way onto the bus and Rori placed the bags onto one seat, sitting in the row behind. Boyd was two rows ahead of her to the left, and Allison and Lydia two rows directly behind. Stiles and another boy – Scott, she presumed – were walking beside Isaac, who barely even half awake. They helped Isaac get seated in the row opposite her and then when Stiles left to sit with the two girls in the back, Scott turned to Rori.

"Stiles told me what you did for Isaac," he said, "How you stayed with him and then got help. I just wanted to say thank you, and if you ever need anything, all you have to do is ask."

Rori smiled tiredly. "I was just helping a friend, there's no need for thanks."

Scott nodded and then moved to walk away, before pausing and sniffing the air. "Are you still bleeding?"

Rori held out her arm into the light and frowned at the clean bandage. "I don't think so."

"Hey, Allison," Scott called, "Can I get some help here?"

Allison was there, unwrapping the bandage in a second, and exposing the blood-soaked gauze pad underneath.

"Well that explains why I've been feeling so dizzy." Rori joked dryly.

Allison peeled away the pad. "You've torn open some of your stitches. Only two or three, I think." Rori blinked heavily and then Allison had a needle poised over her arm. "I'm just gonna redo the stitches now."

Rori's heart started racing. She tried desperately to pull her arm back towards her but Scott grabbed her wrist. Even if he wasn't a werewolf, Rori was too weak to fight back.

"No, no, no." She tried desperately. "I can't do that again, not again."

Allison looked to Scott for confirmation, who nodded. Allison pushed the needle into Rori's skin for the second time that night. Rori screamed, and Scott put his free hand over her mouth. "I'm so sorry, Rori, but if we don't do this you'll bleed out."

Isaac stirred in his half-conscious state. "Can anyone smell blood?" He mumbled with his eyes closed before falling silent again.

Rori's scream turned into whimpers and Scott thought it safe to remove his hand.

"Finished!" Allison declared. The gauze pad and bandage were replaced quickly, and Rori was soon left alone.

Rori slumped against the window, splaying her legs along the seat. She saw Isaac stir again and mumble under his breath. She was tempted for a moment to go over to him, though she wasn't sure what she would do. Wake him? Talk to him? Hold him and comfort him like she had done earlier tonight? No, there was no reason for her to get up and move any closer to him than she already was. Besides, he didn't look upset or anything.

So she resisted the urge, and let herself fall back into sleep knowing she was in the company of friends.

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