Stiles follows me to Jesse's repair shop, with me glancing in my rear view mirror every now and then. I honk my horn when we get there, seeing Jesse outside. He waves, and motions Stiles to pull into the garage. I park outside, and go into the garage.
"Alright, let's see what's going on here." Jesse says, opening the hood. His eyes widen. "That's a lot of duct tape." He says.
"Yeah." Stiles says. Jesse shakes his head.
"What do you think?" I ask him. Jesse sighs.
"Well... Okay, I'm gonna be honest here. Judging by the amount of duct tape, there's a lot of repairs that need done. A lot of those parts can be pretty pricy. Off the top of my head, you're looking at a new alternator, radiator. Possibly a new engine. It's a miracle this jeep is still running. I'm not sure it'll be worth saving, to be honest. You might wanna consider junking it." Jesse says, looking back and forth between us. Stiles' face falls, and I frown. No, he's not going to junk it. Not if I have anything to say about it.
"How much?" I ask. Stiles looks at me, surprised.
"No. No way." He says. Jesse glances back at the jeep.
"Couple grand, at least." He says. "Maybe more."
"No." Stiles says again. I sigh.
"Give us a second." I say to Jesse. He nods, and walks over to another car. I turn to Stiles. "I can cover it."
"No, it's too much." Stiles says.
"You don't want to junk the jeep, Stiles. It means too much to you." I say. He sighs, and runs his fingers through his hair.
"No, I don't want to junk it. But I also don't want you to waste your money on it. You heard Jesse. It's too much." He says.
"He said that it wouldn't be worth it, not that he can't do it. I can cover it." I say. Stiles sighs and nods.
"I'll pay you back." He says, and I shake my head. "Don't shake your head at me. I'll pay you back." I sigh, and wave Jesse back over.
"You can do it, though, right?" I ask. He nods.
"'Course I can." He says. I nod.
"Do it." I say.
"You sure? The repairs are gonna cost more than what it's worth." He warns. I nod.
"I don't care. Just do it." I say, and he nods.
"Okay. I'll give you guys a discount, of course. Give me a week or so. I'll call you when it's ready." He says. We nod.
"Thanks, Jesse." I say. He grins.
"Sure, anything to help out a friend." He says. I smile, and grab Stiles' shoulder.
"Let's go, Stiles. We still have to meet Scott at the station." I say. Stiles nods.
"Alright. Thanks again, Jesse." Stiles says. Jesse smiles at him and we leave.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
Dad sighs as he runs his hand through his hair, looking in a mirror.
"I should have gotten a hair cut." He says.
"You know-" Stiles starts.
"Someone your age should be grateful he still has hair to cut." I finish, and Stiles gives me a high five.
"Well, I think you look great." Scott says.
"Why thank you, son I should have had." Dad says. Stiles and I exchange a look. "Oh, what am I doing? This is a terrible idea."
"Oh, come on, Dad." I say. I put my arms around his shoulders. Dad sighs.
"It's one date." Stiles says.
"The town won't implode while you're on a date with one woman." I say.
"Or man." Stiles says. "'Cause we'd totally be okay with that. Right, Luka?" I laugh, but nod.
"It's a woman, Stiles. A very beautiful woman." Dad says.
"What beautiful woman, by the way?" Stiles and I ask.
"None of your business, boys." He says to us. "Or yours." He says, pointing to Scott. Scott just grins.
"Well, we wanna know." Stiles and I say.
"Well, too bad. You'll probably find out later, but I don't want to jeopardize anything by telling you who it is, then you guys would probably pester her." Dad says. I gasp, hurt.
"I would never do anything like that. How could you suggest such a thing?" I ask. Dad raises an eyebrow at me.
"You'd get talked into it by Stiles." He says.
"That's so not true." I say, pouting.
"He's totally right." Scott says, smirking at us.
"Face it, bro. You can't say no to me." Stiles says, smirking at me. I sigh.
"STILINSKI! STILINSKI!" We hear. We exchange looks with each other and leave the office. "I'm going to kill you." Donovan. I narrow my eyes at him.
"If you think that surprises me, Donovan, remember it was well documented in your Anger Expression inventory." Dad says. Stiles and I exchange a look. "Deputies, escort the prisoner out."
"I'm not angry like I'm going to throw a brick through your window. I'm angry like I'm going to stab you with a knife until you're dead. And when you ask me why. This is why." Donovan says. I scoff.
"That was awesome, man." Stiles says. Dad turns to him.
"Yeah, that was amazing. Maybe do one more?" I say, causing Dad to look at me.
"Yeah, like maybe Christopher Walken this time?" Stiles says, putting an arm around my shoulder.
"Y'know what, don't even worry about it. It's fine. Totally fine." I say.
"'Cause you'll have plenty of time to work on it. 'Cause, y'know, you're going to be stuck in your tiny little cell." Stiles says.
"Forever." Stiles and I say at the same time. Donovan chuckles, then starts to struggle against the deputies. Scott moves in front of me and Stiles protectively.
"Get him out of here!" Dad says, going back in his office.
"What the hell is Anger Expression Inventory?" Scott asks.
"It's a test you take when you're trying to become a deputy." I say.
"That guy wanted to be a cop?" Scott asks.
"At least now he's getting the full law enforcement experience." Stiles says. We go back in Dad's office. Dad sighs.
"Luka, take your brother to school, please." Dad says.
"Alright. Let's go, Stiles. Scott." I say, and we leave.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
I sigh, pulling up to the grocery store. I'm worried about Stiles. He still seems a little shook up about the fight he had with Scott yesterday. I should do something Sunday that'll cheer him up. Maybe we can go to the movies, or... I don't know. Play video games. Something that'll get his mind off things. My thoughts are interrupted by someone running in to my cart. I look up. Elena. I narrow my eyes at her. What the hell does she want?
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Luka. I wasn't paying attention." She says.
"Yeah, sure." I say, putting a few bags of chips in my cart, trying to ignore her.
"That's a lot of chips. You having a party or something?" She asks.
"Or something." I say, deciding I needed a couple more bags of chips. The pack can go through snacks pretty quick. "Some friends are coming over later. Thought I'd pick up some snacks for them."
"You must be having quite a few friends over." She says, eyeing the snacks that I have in my cart. I shrug.
"They can eat a lot." I say, going to get some beverages.
"Yeah?" She says, following me. I sigh.
"Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but do you mind? I thought I said I didn't want to talk." I say. She sighs.
"I know you did. But I was kinda hoping you'd change your mind." She says. "You talked to Jesse."
"Your point being...? Look, I'm not going to change my mind. I'm not giving you another chance." I say.
"You gave Jesse another chance." She says, pouting.
"So? And we're not officially friends again yet. I still don't trust him. Not that it's any of your business." I say harshly. "And how the hell do you even know about that?" I ask. She looks taken aback by my tone.
"Look, I'm sorry, Luka. I didn't mean to hurt you. And I was at the hospital when Jesse told his dad." She says, and I scoff.
"Yeah, okay." I say sarcastically. She looks down sadly.
"I mean it, Luka. I really do feel guilty. I miss you." She says.
"Yeah, well, sucks for you then, huh? 'Cause I don't miss you. Now please just leave me alone." I say, as I finish getting what I need and walk away from her.
"Luka. Please." She says, following after me. I sigh. She doesn't know when to give up, does she?
"Leave me the hell alone." I snap, getting in the checkout line. I pay for my stuff, and leave, ignoring her.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
"The pack will be here soon, Lu." Stiles says to me. I'm currently sitting on the couch, staring blankly at the black tv screen. I'm thinking about Elena, thinking about when we were together, when everything was perfect. I loved her. I really did. A part of me still does. But the other part of me screams 'get away from her' every time she's around.
"Great." I say in a monotone. Stiles sighs, and sits next to me.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Great." I say again in the same tone.
"Lu?" Stiles says. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." I grumble. Stiles raises an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, 'cause it's normal for you to stare blankly at the tv when it isn't even on." He says sarcastically. I sigh, and tell him about my trip to the grocery store.
"She's still hoping I'll give her another chance. Said she misses me." I say. Stiles doesn't respond for awhile.
"You miss her, too." He says. I shrug. "Even after what she did, you still love her."
"What's your point?" I ask. He grins. I narrow my eyes at him, knowing what he's thinking. "NO."
"The only way you'll forget about her, and the only way she'll leave you alone, is if you started dating again." He says.
"No." I say again.
"Why not?" Stiles whines. "I just hate seeing you unhappy like this."
"You know why." I say, choosing to ignore the last thing.
"Sooner or later, you're gonna have to let someone else in." He says, and I raise my eyebrows.
"I can't believe that my baby brother is giving me relationship advice. What is this world coming to?" I joke. He laughs. The door opens.
"Hey guys." Scott says. The rest of the pack follows him inside. My phone rings. Derek.
"Hey, Derek." I say, answering my phone.
"Hey, Luka. Put me on speaker, I know the rest of the pack is there." He says, and I put him on speaker. "So what's been going on there?" He asks.
"Well, another werewolf is in town. He wants to be part of the pack." Scott says.
"What do we know about him?" Braeden asks.
"His name is Theo Raeken. His sister died a few years ago from exposure, oh, and I think he's lying through his teeth. Well, about what he wants, anyway." Stiles says. Jackson rolls his eyes.
"Yeah, because a couple of signatures don't match. Stiles thinks that Theo's parents aren't actually his parents." He informs Derek and Braeden.
"So? What does that have to do with whether or not he should be allowed in the pack?" Derek asks. Isaac opens a bag of chips and starts eating them.
"If he's lying about his parents, what else is he lying about?" I say.
"Exactly." Stiles says. Scott sighs.
"I can see where you get your inability to trust people from." Jackson says to Stiles. I glare at him.
"Not a good idea, Jacks." Scott says quietly.
"You know what, Jackson-" I start angrily, but Derek interrupts whatever rant I was about to go on.
"LUKA! ENOUGH!" Derek yells through the phone. I scoff, but don't say anything else. Jackson gives me an apologetic look. I just ignore him, and Stiles moves so he's sitting next to me on the couch, and rubs my shoulder, secretly asking if I was okay. I shake my head and smile at him, letting him know that I was fine. The rest of the pack watches this action curiously. They still don't understand how Stiles and I can communicate without words.
"What else?" Braeden asks.
"He said that the twins' alpha bit him and left." Stiles says. The twins exchange a look, while the rest of us look at them.
"Well? Ethan? Aiden? What do you guys know about this?" Derek says.
"No." They say at the same time.
"Our alpha wouldn't have just left him behind." Ethan says.
"He would've made sure Theo came with him." Aiden says.
"So he lied about who bit him? Why?" Erica asks.
"Because he doesn't want us to know about his old pack?" Boyd says.
"Yeah, but why?" Stiles says.
"Unless he's not a werewolf." I say.
"But if he's not a werewolf, what is he?" Scott asks. I shrug.
"I don't know. I'm new to this whole thing. Who's to say there isn't some other shape-shifter he could be?" I ask. The rest of the pack exchanges looks.
"Luka may be onto something, actually. Keep a close eye on Theo. We have to go. I'll call back in a couple of days." Derek says, hanging up. A few seconds later, Stiles' phone beeps. He opens the message.
"Oh, man." He says. We look at him questioningly. He looks up at us. "Braeden just sent me this. It's about the Desert Wolf." He says, showing us. We all wince.
"My mother did this?" Malia says.
"Yeah, Braeden said that they were bad people." Stiles says.
"So they deserved it?" Malia says.
"I'm not sure anyone deserves that." I say.
"Well, we know one thing. She's good at her job." Allison says. We all nod in agreement.
"Hey, Luka. Think you can help me learn how to drive?" Malia asks me.
"Sure." I say, and we get up.
"I'm coming with you." Lydia says, also getting up.
"Me too." Kira says. I shrug.
"Okay, let's go." I say, and we go, getting in my car, Kira and Lydia in the back, and I motion for Malia to get in the passenger seat. I drive for a while, driving to the highway. After a few minutes, I pull over to the shoulder and get out. I walk over to the passenger side and open the door.
"Alright, Malia. Your turn." I say. She looks at me nervously, but gets out and goes to the driver's side nonetheless. I get in and put my seat belt on, while Malia does the same.
"Okay, hands on the wheel, at ten and two." Kira says, and Malia does so.
"Actually, it's now nine and three." I say, adjusting Malia's hands.
"A deployed airbag can break your thumbs at ten and two." Lydia says, nodding in approval at me.
"Alright, just ease into it." Kira says. I look back at her.
"I believe Malia asked me for help, not you." I joke. Kira smiles sheepishly.
"Sorry." Kira says.
"Alright, just try not to wreck Luka's beautiful car." Lydia says.
"Okay, Malia. Slowly put your foot on the gas, and pull into the street." I say, pointing to the road. Malia does so, every now and then hitting the brakes, and changing lanes.
"Uh, other way." Kira says nervously.
"Malia, just, focus on driving in a straight line." I say. Malia drives off the road.
"We are now off the road. This is not the road. Other way." Lydia says. My GPS starts beeping. I look up, and my eyes widen at the road, where there's a tree, and we're about to smash into it.
"What is that beeping?" Malia asks.
"My car's telling you to not run into the tree. Turn the wheel." I say. She does so, barely missing the tree and does circles in the street.
"Uh, this is called a U-turn." Lydia says.
"Luka told me to turn the wheel." Malia says.
"And you've done so. Beautifully. Now please just drive in a straight line." I say calmly, pointing to the road. She does so.
"Great!" I say.
"Okay, turn up here." Lydia says. Malia turns, still driving the same speed.
"Good. Good job. Maybe a little slower next time though, yeah?" I say.
"Where are we going?" Malia says.
"The school. We can practice parking there." Lydia says.
"Uh, the school is the other way." I say. "We're heading downtown."
"What?" Lydia says.
"We should make a U-turn if we want to go to the school." Kira says.
"No, keep going. We're almost there." Lydia says. We keep driving, until we come to a police van. The van's doors are open, with blood everywhere, and a few people laying on the ground by the van.
"Oh my god." I say.
"Call 911." Lydia says. I do so.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
The police get there pretty quickly. I start telling a deputy what happened, when my dad motions me over to where he's talking to Scott and Stiles. I go over to them.
"Scott, you saw Donovan. Is he like you?" Dad asks.
"No, I don't think so." Scott says.
"Unless he knows how to mask his scent." Stiles says.
"Well, human or otherwise, he might have just killed his lawyer, and mortally injured two officers. We have a APB out on him, but do you think you can find him faster?" Dad says to Scott.
"I can try." Scott says.
"Alright." Dad says, handing him a walkie talkie. "Keep it on channel two." Scott nods and takes off.
"Dad, what if it wasn't Donovan?" Stiles says.
"I'm guessing you have a theory?" Dad says.
"Yeah, I do." Stiles says. I raise an eyebrow at him. He sighs.
"Scott is that you?" Parrish says.
"Yeah, I found Donovan. He's totally freaking out. He keeps saying a name." Scott says over the walkie talkie.
"What name?" Parrish says.
"Theo." Stiles mumbles.
"Tracy. He keeps saying Tracy." Scott says. Stiles and I exchange a look.
"Tracy who?" Parrish asks.
"Stewart. Tracy Stewart." Lydia says.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
Scott sends out a text to everyone. EMERGENCY PACK MEETING BEFORE SCHOOL. BEHIND THE BUSES. It reads.
"Look, Tracy wasn't just having problems sleeping. She was having night terrors. It was a real disorder." Lydia tells us as soon as everyone shows up.
"Well now she's the night terror. No one can find her." Jackson says.
"Okay, look. I know you guys are tired and miserable. But we need to find Tracy." Scott says.
"And how do we do that? She isn't exactly making it easy." Erica says.
"Guys, she's just one wolf. We can find her." Allison says.
"One serial killing wolf." Isaac says.
"She only killed one person, you know. Not exactly a serial killer." I say.
"The other two were mauled." Stiles says.
"Alright, what do we do when we catch her?" Kira asks.
"I say we put her down." Malia says.
"Guys, let's focus on finding her first. We can figure out the rest later." Scott says. We nod. The bell rings.
"Alright, you guys need to get to class. I'll see you guys later." I say, waving. I get a chorus of 'See you later, Luka' in return. I drive to Jesse's garage.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
"Hey, Jesse." I say, walking up to him. He stops working on the jeep and turns around.
"Hey, Luka. What's new?" Jesse says. I shrug.
"Nothing much. Just thought I'd stop by. I just dropped Stiles off at school." I say.
"Cool, cool. The jeep should be done in a few days." He says.
"Alright. Thanks again." I say, and he nods.
"No problem at all. Happy to do it." He says. He glances at my grim expression. "Something wrong?" He asks. I shake my head.
"No. Nothing." I say.
"Come on, Luka. We might not have spoken for a few years, but I still can tell when there's something bothering you." He says, and I sigh, putting my back against the jeep.
"Elena." I simply say.
"Yeah. I can see why you'd still be thinking about her." Jesse says. I give him a look, debating on whether or not I can trust him with this.
"Stiles. Stiles thinks I should start dating again." I say carefully.
"Like, actually dating? You didn't date in college?" Jesse says. I shrug.
"I did date one girl, but it didn't work out. By the way, did you talk to Elena?" I ask. Jesse just looks confused.
"I told you. I haven't talked to Elena since we broke up. Why?" He says. I shrug.
"She ran into me at the store. Literally. She knew that I had talked to you, and that I'm thinking about giving you another chance, only she thought I already have." I say.
"I don't know how she knew that, I swear. I have no reason to lie to you, Luka." Jesse says.
"I didn't say anything about you lying. I just wanted to know if you told her." I say. He shakes his head.
"The only one I told was my dad." He says.
"I was at the hospital when Jesse told his dad, and I happened to over hear. Like I told you at the store." Someone says behind Jesse. Jesse turns around and I look up. "Jesse isn't lying." Elena says. I narrow my eyes at her.
"What are you doing? Stalking me now, huh?" I say, annoyed.
"No, I just need an oil change." She says, pointing behind her at her car. Jesse turns back to me.
"I think she's stalking you." He says, and I nod in agreement. Elena scowls.
"Can you do the oil change or not, Jesse?" Elena asks.
"Why would I help you?" He asks.
"Because I'm a paying customer?" She asks. He scoffs.
"I don't need your business." He snaps.
"Fine. I'll take my business elsewhere." She says.
"Good." He says. Elena scoffs and leaves.
"She's totally stalking you." Jesse says. "You should be careful." I scoff.
"What's the worst she can do?" I say.
"Annoy you to death?" Jesse says, and I laugh. Jesse grins. "Hey, can I ask you something personal?" He asks. I frown.
"You can ask, but I won't guarantee an answer." I say, and he nods.
"Well, I was just wondering... Do you still love her? Is that why you haven't dated anyone since her?" He asks, and my frown deepens.
"That's none of your damn business." I snap. He blinks. "I'd appreciate it if we never talk about her anymore." He nods, probably getting the answer he wanted. I scowl.
"I'm sorry, Luka. I didn't mean to overstep your boundaries. It won't happen again. I promise." He says. My scowl deepens.
"Whatever." I say, leaving.