Shout out to Stargazer1364 and Lindsey for reviewing! I'm trying to come up with more ideas for 'Before The Storm' so hopefully there'll be an update soon :) Stargazer1364..um..read on?
Ashlee's p.o.v
I have trouble staying awake as Lydia speaks.
"Hey, you're staying awake, okay?" Lydia snaps her fingers in my face making me jolt awake.
"Y-yeah" I nod. Derek pulls me closer to him, taking some of my pain. "Stop" I say.
"Let me help you" he says. Peter and Lydia are too busy discussing where the Nemeton is to notice us. They believe that's where Jennifer's got them.
"No, you..you need to heal Cora" I say, weak in his arms.
"That doesn't mean you have to suffer" he says.
"I need to go, we'll talk to Deaton, try to find another way to find it" Lydia says, standing up. She comes over to me and crotches down to my level. "Keep fighting it. We're going to save you, okay? Don't give up" she's using her 'Queen Bee' voice, her 'do it or else' voice. I nod.
"I'm trying" I tell her. She leans in and kisses my forehead. She leaves with tears in her eyes and I hate that i'm the reason they're there. The loft door closes and a new sound fills the room. Cora's heavy breathing, like she's suffocating. "Go, it's gotta be now" I say, getting off Derek. Him and Peter go over to her. There's a thick layer of black blood on her lips and she's so pale. Peter goes through the consequences of it all again. Peter tells him how Kali's coming for him. But it doesn't matter, Derek tells us there's a lunar aclipse, we'll all be powerless, we can still beat them. I watch with heavy eyelids as Derek takes her hand in his, bringing his other hand to her forearm. He looks over at me, eyes glassey. "Do it" I breath out. I can see how torn he is. But he has to save Cora, he doesn't deserve to lose anymore family. He turns back to her and Peter comes to my side, helping me stand. Derek's veins start to turn black, his breath becoming laboured and pained. I want to go over and help him but i'm useless like this. He grunts in pain and my wolf wants to take his pain, but i'm still useless no matter how much I want to do this. Derek throws his head back, howling out in pain. I have to hide my face into Peter, tears filling my eyes as I watch him suffer, feel all the pain Cora feels. But she's healing, she's coming back to life. I squeeze my hold on Peter when I feel the connection break. Derek's technically my alpha so I do feel it. I look at him in time to see his eyes fade out from alpha red to a cold steel blue, his cries of pain ringing in my ears. Derek slumps back, falling to the floor. Peter and I rush forward to help him sit up. "Peter, get some water" Peter nods and makes for the kitchen. Cora sits up, coming over to Derek. She takes the water from Peter and helps him sip it. His eyes open and I sigh in relief.
"You're okay" he breathes out. Cora smiles.
"I'm doing much better than you two are right now" she says. "All because of you" she says, holding the back of his neck. It's nice to see them like this, I didn't know them before the fire but I can tell they haven't been brother and sister for awhile. Cora gets up to help Peter think of a plan as Kali's coming for Derek in a few hours.
"Ash" Derek says. My eyelids are so heavy, I have trouble looking up at him. "Ashlee" I make myself look at him. "You're still holding up, right?"
"Yeah, of-of course" I say. Lydia and Ethan come in the door. I want to attack Ethan but i'm far too weak to do that. He wants to help us stop Kali and Aiden..I guess he doesn't deserve to be murdered on the spot then. Derek helps me to stand, keeping me as close to him and as far away from Ethan as possible.
"You want me to run?" Derek asks Peter.
"No, I want you to stay and get slaughtered by an alpha with a pyschotic foot fetish, of course I want you to run" he says sarcastically. "Sprint, gallop, leap your way the hell out of this town"
"If you want to fight and die for something, that's fine with me. But do it for something meaningful" Cora says.
"How do you know i'm going to lose?" Derek challenges.
"We don't. But i'll bet she has an idea" Peter says, eyeing Lydia. "Don't you Lydia?"
"I don't know anything" she says.
"But you feel something..don't you?" Peter asks, walking to stand in front of her.
"What do you feel?" Derek asks her.
"I feel like..i'm standing in a graveyard" she says, horrified. "You need to leave" Lydia says, looking at Derek. "And you need to take her with you" she says, motioning to me. Cora looks over at us both with scared eyes.
..
Cora sits in the back with me, keeping me upright. I can tell Derek's pissed off that he's running but he's concerned as well.
"I-I need to call Scott" I say, trying to find my phone. I can't make out all the buttons and it's making me frustrated.
"Here, let me" Cora says, taking the phone from my hand. She brings it to my ear. He answers almost straight away.
"Ashlee?!"
"Scott" I sigh in relief.
"What's happening? Are you okay?"
"I'm-i'm fine. Where are you? What's happening with-with you?" I ask him.
"We can find the Nemeton" he says.
"How?" I ask.
"How's not important-"
"Scott. How?" I ask firmly.
"Me, Stiles and Allison had to be surrogent sacrifices for our parents-"
"What?!"
"But we're fine now and we can find them, we can save them. Ashlee, where are you? I'm coming to get you"
"I'm with Derek and Cora..Lydia had a 'feeling'..we had to leave"
"She said you were going to die?" he asks, worry coming into his voice.
"Not just me, Derek as well. He-he gave up his alpha status to heal Cora"
"What about you? Did he heal you as well?" Scott asks.
"He had to choose..Cora dying wasn't an option" I tell him. Before Scott can answer, a voice I never thought i'd hear again comes over to phone.
"We need to talk" Rafael McCall says. All I hear after that is a dialtone.
"Scott? Scott!" I yell. "We-we need to go back" I say, looking at Derek. He looks at me then back to the road. "Derek!" as if my prayers were answered, Lydia's scream fills our ears. And now we're going back.
..
Cora has me at Lydia's side, making sure we're both okay. Okay, maybe she's making sure I don't run over and rip Jennifer's head off.
"Fine then, i'll convince you of someone else's. Scott's" at the mention of my brother's name, i'm growling at her. She narrows her eyes at me and I prepare from that hurting again.
"Don't" Derek warns her lowly. She turns back to him.
"You can save their mother, Stiles' father, Allison's father, Ashlee-"
"How?" Derek cuts her off. Now they have Chris too? They have all three? My chest tightens as I feel the panic building inside of me.
"No, calm down" Cora says, rubbing my back. I force the anxiety back into the pit of my stomach.
"I need a guardian" Jennifer says, walking towards Derek. "That's a role that can be filled by the 3 parents I was forced to take or by you"
"I can't help you, i'm not even an alpha anymore" Derek tells her.
"All I need is for you to help me get Deucalion in the right place at the right time"
"You just killed 3 of them on your own, what do you need me for?"
"You haven't seen him at his strongest, I have and if he's got Scott with him then I don't stand a chance. Unless I have you" Derek's eyes fall to the 3 of us.
"Derek, don't trust her" Cora warns him.
"I have to eclipse in my favour. The moon's only going to be the earth's umbrial shadow for 15 minutes, that's the extent of my window. There's no decision for you to struggle with, help me kill him and the others live. Just help me" she says desperately.
"What about Ashlee?" he asks, glancing over at me then looking back at Jennifer.
"I'll heal her as well. She doesn't have much time left but there is enough time for us to do this and for me to save her. Help me and all 4 of them live" Jennifer pleads. Derek looks over at me and I shake my head.
"Don't" I say. He looks back at Jennifer.
"Okay. I'll help you" you stubborn asshole Derek.
..
I'm drifting in and out of conciousness, Lydia's driving as fast as possible to the animal clinic with Cora, Aiden and Ethan in the back. I need to find Scott, Derek, I need to help. With all the panic of getting Ethan and Aiden into Deaton, I escape from the car. I can't see properly but I can still smell them. It's mostly Scott and Deucalion but that's all I need. If I find them, I find Jennifer and Derek. I run into the distillary to see Deucalion, looking exactly like a demon wolf, holding Derek and Jennifer up by their throats. I growl and run at him, feeling anger and adrenaline corsing through me.
"No, don't!" Scott yells. I'm tossed to the side along with Derek.
"Ashlee?!" Derek yells, coming to my side. I can feel the blood dripping from my side again. "What are you doing here?" he must notice my side because his hands come over the wound. "You were supposed to stay with Cora" I chuckle, blood spilling from my lips.
"And-and leave you and S-Scott to fight them alone? N-no" I manage to say. Deucalion brings Jennifer to her knees in front of Scott. He tells Scott to kill her. Deucalion roars and forces him to shift. I wither in pain as i'm forced to shift as well. At least I can heal a little now. Deucalion taunts Scott, the storm is Jennifer buring the parents alive.
"Scott, d-don't!" I yell. Scott looks over to me and nods. He refuses Deucalion. Deucalion rushes over and grabs his clawed hand, dragging him towards Jennifer.
"Maybe you just need a little guidence" he says. Scott repeats Gerard's words and throws down flash bulbs. I instantly cover my eyes but cry out when it pulls at my sides. Scott rushes over to me.
"What's happening? Is she dying?" Scott asks Derek. Both their heads snap up when Jennifer storms back into the distillary, in her real form, as the Darach.
"Go" I tell them. They shake their heads. "Go!" I order. They get up but Jennifer screeches and they both blown into the wall. She goes for Deucalion, smashing his head into the ground. Derek goes over and stops her. Tell her he doesn't know what she really looks like. Jennifer heals his eyes but she's weakened just like Derek was from healing Cora.
"Let them go" Derek orders, holding Jennifer by the throat. I watch helplessly as Jennifer tosses him into wooden crates. She slaps him across the face a few times then begs for his help again. He looks away in refusal. She walks away and he gets back up, still willing to fight. She grabs him and shoves him againist the wall over and over.
"Stop!" I scream at her, seeing how much pain he's actually in, seeing the blood spilling down the back of his neck. "Jennifer!" I yell. I pull myself up, running at her, feeling tears dribble down my face at the pain. I tackle her off Derek. Derek's eyes flash blue as the eclipse is over but it only takes Jennifer a second to shove us both away and throw up a mountain ash circle so we can't hurt her. Derek helps me up.
"Like I said Derek, it's either you or the parents. Now, they're going to die, she's going to die" she says, looking at me. "And I won't need an eclipse, even to kill a demon wolf" she snaps. Scott looks at me with wide eyes.
"No" Scott says.
"Yes" Jennifer smirks. I slump in Derek's arms, feeling the life draining from me.
"No, no, wait" Derek says, catching me.
"No" Scott says again, eyes lighting up yellow. We watch as he tries to push through the mountain ash circle. My vision is blurry but I can see Jennifer smirking, hear her mocking him, telling him he can't do it.
"Hey, stay awake, you're okay" Derek says, shaking me gently.
"I can't.." I say. I'm far too tired to stay awake. I know what'll happen if I let this darkness take me but it's too hard to keep fighting. I've fought it for as long as I can. My head lolls to the side and I watch as Scott's eyes turn red..alpha red. He steps into the circle and it blows, Jennifer dropping to the ground. My eyes slip closed after that, finally able to drift off to sleep like i've wanted to for days, except this time..i'm not waking up.
..
Derek's p.o.v
I watch in shock as Scott becomes a true alpha, just like Peter said he would. Then I realise the girl in my arms isn't breathing.
"Ashlee?" I call out. Nothing. "Ash?" nothing. "Ash?!" I yell.
"Heal her! Or i'll kill you myself, I don't care what it does to the colour of my eyes" Scott snaps, pointing at Ash.
"It's already too late" Jennifer smirks. It only takes Deucalion a second to get to his feet, storm over and slash out her throat. She falls to the ground as the Darach. We hear the storm settle.
"Ash?" Scott says, walking over. When she doesn't make any movement or any sound, he rushes over to me. "No, no, no" he says frantically. "Ashlee? Wake up" he says, shaking her.
"Scott-" I start.
"No, she's fine" he says, taking her in his arms. I watch with glassy eyes as the true alpha realises she's already gone. I watch as he falls to the ground, holding her, crying over her body. That's when the other's come running in, the parents with them.
"ASHLEE!" Melissa screams, falling down beside Scott. I feel Cora at my side. She's crying but I feel like I can't move, like i'm frozen. "What-what h-happened?!" she sobs into her daughter's body. Its's the most heartbreaking thing i've ever seen. Her family, her close family friends, all shed tears for the girl.
"D-Derek" at the sound of my own sister's broken voice, I turn to her. She collides into me, crying into me. I hug her back tightly and let my own tears fall for the girl who managed to get under my skin, squeeze her way into my heart. "She-she-she" Cora can't even speak. I watched as the two became close, became pack sisters. She's lost a sister before, she's just as devastated now as she was then.
"D-Derek?" I hear Melissa call out. I look over at her and shake my head, burying my face into Cora's hair to hide my own tears.
..
..
Yes, Ashlee is dead. But she'll be back! I guarantee it! Stay tuned! Favourite, follow and review!