The topic of conversation was tense and the atmosphere was worse. The pack were spread around Derek's apartment, the location of the rogue wolves was now an important issue.
Allison had spotted one of the males earlier that day, chatting to a girl from her Spanish class outside of the diner. She hadn't taken her eyes off of the pair until the girl smiled and got safely into her car.
Allison had quickly done the same before alerting Scott. He had then called Derek and made it official - the enemy had moved into town.
Lydia understood the severity of the situation - she really did - and she was worried, just like the rest of her friends. But in that moment, she was having an extremely difficult time focusing. Stiles had wandered into the large room slightly later than the rest of them, Isaac in tow and looking rather tired. His hair was messier than usual and despite his eyes missing their usual warmth, they found her immediately in the mess of teenagers, pizza boxes and old town blueprints.
She smiled at him, a small, timid tilt of her lips. Lydia held her breath for what seemed like hours before Stiles quirked his at her in return. The boy murmured his greetings to the rest of his friends but as he sunk into the armchair opposite her, his gaze grew intense, meeting her eyes before dropping momentarily to her lips.
The air was thick and the pair had all of their friends attention.
With a not so subtle cough and smirk, Allison gently nudged her friend who sat next to her - observing as the strawberry blonde's cheeks quickly matched her hair. Lydia lowered her eyes, dropping her gaze from Stiles who watched her long lashes fan across her cheeks as her stare fell quickly to her lap.
He missed her.
The overwhelming pull her felt towards the girl was soon interrupted as Scott stood before them all, silently commanding their attention from the large oak table that took up the living space. Isaac and Derek flanked him, their arms crossed and their features tense as Scott began to explain the reason for their sudden meeting.
"The pack that we spotted across the river a few weeks ago is moving in. Their beta's have been seen around town - targeting younger kids, students mostly. We don't know the reasoning for this yet but we want to make sure it isn't dangerous'', Scott stood tall, meeting each of his friends eyes as they nodded back in agreeance.
Kira and Malia sat quietly on the kitchen stools, tapping furiously at a laptop - looking up ancient pack names and maps for the local forest area.
"We think they've taken up residence in the old buildings that used to be connected to the Beacon Fields Farm'', Kira explained to the rest of them, "Nobody uses the older barns anymore and they've got a clear viewpoint all around them - it's just acres of flat grass - no hiding spots'', she grimaced.
"From what Isaac and I have seen of them, we're guessing there may be around thirteen in the pack - including two alphas'', Malia added, nodding at Isaac who confirmed this information.
"Two alphas? Isn't that even more strange than a whole pack of them?'' Liam frowned, looking around at this friends as Stiles backed up his question with raised eyebrows and a shrug.
Derek stepped forward, "Yeah - it's pretty strange and that's why we can't go diving into this with our eyes closed and our claws first'', the older wolf shot Malia a quick glance, smirking when the coyote had the right to look embarrassed.
"We don't know their pack dynamics or even what they want with Beacon Hills - judging by the girls that the beta's have been seen talking to, Scott and I think they're recruiting, and possibly by force''.
Lydia winced, remembering Peter's manipulation over her, the way his eyes would glow red in the darkness of her nightmares. She only realised that she had closed her own eyes when she opened them and came back to the reality of the room - and Stiles gazing across the room at her with concern crossing his features.
"So basically, because of the dangers and all of the unknown right now, it'll be Derek, Isaac, Kira, Liam, Malia and myself that will be checking out the farm'', Scott clapped his hands together, eyeing his more human friends warily.
On cue, Stiles straightened in his chair, his eyes widening before he scoffed in realisation. He shook his head at his best friend, chuckling without any humour.
"There's not a chance in chance in hell that you're going there without me -''
Lydia nodded at his words, her expression defiant as she dared Scott to argue with her. Allison was still leaning back into the sofa, expecting her nails with bored features - she had clearly already discussed this with her boyfriend - and lost.
Derek rolled his eyes at the human and the banshee, his patience wearing thin when danger and death was up for discussion. Before he could respond to Stiles with low growls and cutting words, Scott stepped forward, placing a reassuring hand on his friends shoulder.
"Dude, we're going to try and make this as safe as possible - Lydia, Allison and you can't heal like the rest of us can'', he smiled sadly, "If the worst does happen - at least we'll have supernatural stitching on our side''.
Stiles didn't return the smile just yet; arguments were already forming in his head. Likewise, Lydia rose to her feet, ignoring Allison's soft warnings beside her.
Stiles recognised the way her cheeks flushed and her eyes flashed, and the boy smirked a little despite the situation - she looked pissed.
Like any sane man would, Scott stepped away from the banshee ever so slightly, his feet stumbling awkwardly as he walked backwards into Isaac - who in turn - backed away from the advancing Lydia.
"Scott McCall, I am not human - I'm a fucking banshee and I can help!'' Lydia poked her werewolf friend in the chest, just hard enough that he pouted slightly as he rubbed the spot and Isaac laughed from behind the safety of Derek.
"I can be there to help, I can give warnings, I can -''
"Lydia, no'', Scott's voice was soft but rang with finality when he told the girl his reasons, "I'm not taking any risks, okay? I know you're not really human - but as far as we know, banshee's don't have the ability to heal like wolves do''.
"And we're not using this meeting as a way to experiment that'', Isaac added with a grimace. He brushed past Lydia to grab another slice of pizza, patting the smaller girl on the head and grinning when she almost hissed at him.
The small hairs on the nape of her neck stood on end when she felt Stiles brush up against her, his bare arm on her own as he stood; ready to argue the side of the humans with her.
Behind the pair, Allison rolled her eyes good naturedly and stole Liam's pizza crust off of his plate.
"Dude, you seriously cannot expect us to sit on our asses while the rest of you go gallivanting off into a completely dangerous situation!'' Stiles' voice rose in volume slightly, his arms grasping at the air as his actions became jerky.
Lydia simply raised her eyebrows in agreeance, nodding along to Stiles' words.
Scott sighed, rubbing a hand heavily over his tired eyes as he stared back at the two most stubborn people he knew. But hey, at least they were in the same room as each other now.
"Guys, my decision is final - I'm not putting anyone without their own built in body hospital in danger… it's not happening'', Scott's eyes were wide and sincere. He waited for the next argument from either one of his friends, but surprisingly, it didn't come.
Grudgingly, Stiles and Lydia backed down - for the time being. Their eyes met once more as they took their previous seats across from each other, and this time, there was a little more warmth in Stiles' eyes. Lydia couldn't hide her small but relieved smile as she noted the familiar hints of gold shining back at her.
The conversation continued as the light outside dimmed and the rest of the pizza vanished. It was only as the pack were all standing and getting ready to leave that Stiles decided to argue his point once more.
Scott grabbed his tattered school bag before he slung an affectionate arm around Allison's shoulder and headed for the door.
"Remember, Stiles, Lydia - I want you indoors at all times tomorrow night - no matter what happens''.
Lydia simply gritted her teeth and stayed silent, busying herself with tying her hair in a knot on her head. Stiles on the other hand, was already geared up with a rebuttal.
He clapped his friend heartily on the shoulder, masking his annoyance with a smug smile. The whole pack knew that he was being deadly serious when he told Scott, "Sorry bro, but you can't make me stay away when my friends need help''.
—–
Saturday passed with an odd and uneasy atmosphere. Their supernatural friends were somewhere in the woods, close to the old Hale grounds, scoping out their best line of attack when it came to approaching the Beacon Farm. It had been hours and it was growing dark, Scott had called in to check on them an hour ago, reminding the girls once again, to not leave the house.
Lydia was sat in her room, only half listening to Allison tell her about an argument she'd had with her dad earlier that morning, her thoughts were filled with a boy trapped in his own home - a boy with a penchant for danger and disobedience.
"I told him repeatedly that I was eighteen now, I could stay overnight with my boyfriend if I wanted to - the fact that he's a werewolf shouldn't really matter considering…''
Allison frowned and stopped talking, watching as her friend distractedly nodded her strawberry blonde head half heatedly - Lydia was seemingly oblivious to the fact Allison had stopped her conversation.
"Lydia, are you even listening?''
The girl was staring at her phone, the black screen doing nothing interesting as it rested in front of her on the bed. Her eyes were unfocused and almost glazed over, her hand hovering above her throat as pain slashed across her face.
"Lyd, are you okay?'' Allison's initial annoyance faded when she took in her friend's appearance. Lydia was pale, really pale.
The banshee whipped her head up to look at her friend with an almost unnatural quickness, reminding Allison of the fact that her best friend wasn't really human.
Lydia remained in her seated position on the bed, her legs crossed underneath her, but the upper half of her body fell forward and Lydia's hands shot out to catch herself as Allison grabbed her shoulders.
The brunette searched her friends wide eyes frantically for any signs of pain, for any clue to as what was happening.
"Lydia talk to me, come on'', Allison begged, "Please, Lydia…''
It was with a deep breath and a muffled wail that Lydia wrenched herself free from Allison's hold, her feet finding the carpet as she rushed over to her window. The world outside was dark and the streets were empty.
Lydia clutched at the material of her dress - just by her collar - underneath her throat. The skin there burned, something inside her chest clawed to get out. She squeezed her eyes closed, not noticing Allison beside her or the hand that she placed worriedly on her arm.
Someone was hurt.
The hot sensation she felt over her skin intensified and her fear turned into a blind panic. She stumbled over her own feet, twisting and turning as she tried in vain to hold in the scream that she felt pushing its way through her body. Her mind roared, her eyes stung.
Allison was holding her wrists now, clutching them both in her hands as they fell to the floor together in what seemed like slow motion, Lydia shaking as she could only make out the faint shapes that her friend's lips made. No sound came out of her mouth.
Her usually fluffy carpet was now rough under her bare legs, scratching against her skin as her hands remained glued to her temples, blocking out the whispers that had flooded in.
Hands that didn't belong to Allison seemed to grip her tightly, brushing against her back, pulling at her hair. Lydia bit back a sob that made her lips tremble.
Then, as suddenly as the senses started, as quick as the scream had built in her chest, it stopped. The voices faded into nothing and Allison's frantic and worrying words came slamming back into her as she dropped into reality.
Lydia blinked once, twice… something was still wrong.
The scream had stopped, but there was something else in her chest. Another feeling, another sensation that she had never felt before - something entirely alien and foreign. It felt so wrong and she let out a gasp so violent it was if she had just surfaced from the darkest depths of the sea.
That usual feeling, that warmth in her body, that humming in her chest - the one that had been there for a while now - was gone. The one that made her feel safe, the sensation that only made her stronger, had disappeared.
That tugging feeling, that pull she always felt - wasn't there. That rope that seemed to tie her directly to a boy had been cut.
Lydia scrambled from the floor, running to her bathroom as Allison cried out her name behind her. The banshee fell to the tiled floor and pain shot through her knees at the harsh landing. She barely had her auburn head over the toilet before her stomach violently emptied. Her eyes burned and her throat stung almost as badly as it had minutes before. Her world reeled in front of her, threatening to fade to black.
Allison was frantic now, tears staining her cheeks as she knelt beside Lydia with a damp washcloth. She ran the warm rag across her friend's face, brushing her cheeks and forehead with such gentle care and shaking hands. The whole time, they stared at each other with wide eyes; terrified and shockingly pale.
Allison had her fears confirmed when Lydia whispered through chapped, dry lips.
"It's Stiles".