Happy Holidays! So obviously Christmas has me updating a little late! Hope it was worth the wait! Two more chapters left after this!
Chapter 14
It was well past midnight when they got to the arena. The parking lot was empty and Derek wondered if this was really the place. He sat a moment, focusing on the sounds outside the car. He could hear movement inside the arena but couldn't tell if it was the wolf.
"What are we waiting for?" Becca asked from beside him, pulling his attention back to inside the car. She stared expectantly at him, her hand on the door.
"You're waiting for me to get back," he replied, holding her gaze for a long moment. "You're staying in the car, remember?" He knew it was useless, the determination clear in her mismatched eyes. She wanted to end this with the wolf and she wanted to be the one to end it.
"Yeah, about that—" she threw open the door. "I thought about it and waiting in the car is not my thing." Derek grabbed her arm to stop her. "You want to let go." The warning was clear in her voice as she reached into her purse. Still he hesitated. "I get it, Rowan asked you to protect me – and you did – but now your debt is paid. You don't owe him or me anything." Her gaze ticked back to his hand on her arm. "Now, please let go before I have to do something I really don't want to."
Derek searched for something to say to convince her to stay and came up empty. Derek acted, he reacted, he didn't talk. With a frustrated groan he let go of her arm. "Fine, but you're not going in there alone." He pushed open his door and followed her.
"Well, I'm not staying here either," Stiles called from behind them and Derek heard the two teens clamber out of the car and follow them.
"So, what's your plan?" He asked as they walked across the lot.
"Yeah, what's the plan?" Stiles parrotted, falling in step next to Becca. Derek glanced at the youth, noticing a mixture of excitement and dread gleaming in his eyes.
"Find the wolf, kill the wolf," Becca replied with a shrug.
"I like it, it's simple." Stiles laughed nervously. "But do we have a backup plan for when things get, you know, complicated?"
"You and Scott stay out of the way," Becca instructed. She stopped at the door her hand on the handle and turned to look at the two of them. "You shouldn't have been involved in this in the first place.I don't want anything happening to you - either of you." Her gaze ticked between the two of them. They both nodded, but Derek didn't miss the look that pased between them when Becca turned and pulled open the door.
Derek caught the Dufour's scent as they entered and it set him on edge. The arena was dark save for the flood lights around the exits and three dim lights above the ice. Plenty of places for Dufour to lie in wait. Becca edged down to the ice, gun in hand and followed closely by Stiles with Scott and Derek taking up the rear. He could see the tension in the young beta's features as he studied the darkness for any sign of the wolf.
"Oh my God," Becca gasped and Derek followed her gaze to the ice.
"Is that Peter?" Stiles asked, glancing back at Derek. Peter looked unconscious. Beaten and bloodied, his clothes torn he was propped up against the large tire of the Zamboni parked at center ice.
"You know him?" Becca glanced between the three of them.
"He's Derek's uncle," Stiles supplied and Derek groaned as that sent Becca rushing onto the ice. "Becca wait," Stiles called, hurrying after her.
"He's hurt." Becca glided slowly across the ice to Peter's side. His uncle's steady heartbeat and breathing led Derek to believe he really was unconscious, but with Peter you could never be sure.
Derek moved to step on the ice, but came up against an invisible barrier much like the one Stiles had created with the mountain ash around the rave to trap Jackson. "Stiles," he called, feeling Scott struggling against the barrier beside him. It was a trap and Peter was the bait.
"What?" Stiles scrambled to keep his balance as he turned too fast to face them. His eyes grew wide as he watched Scott still pushing against the invisible barrier. "Right," he nodded, turning back to Becca who was kneeling at Peter's side. "Becca we need to get off the ice – right n—"
"Leaving my little party so soon?" Dufour sauntered out from behind the Zamboni. He flashed a toothy grin Derek's way. "Oh, two of you…how unexpected," he nodded at Scott. "I'm a little disappointed, really. But I can get to you both later." Becca scrambled to her feet, leveling her gun at him. "Now, now," he shook his head. "We both know you can't kill me with that."
"No, it won't," Becca conceded. "But it'll still hurt." She squeezed off a round to illustrate her point. The bullet hit him square in the heart and sent him sprawling on his back. "Stiles, run."
Instead of running off the ice as she'd instructed, Stiles stumbled towards her, grabbing her free hand. "I know you're this bad ass hunter, but I'm not leaving you here with Wolfy McWolfenstien."
"Stiles, get out of the way," Becca ordered as the Dufour lumbered to his feet.
"Yeah, Stiles, get out of the way," Dufour growled, shoving Stiles aside hard enough to send him sailing into boards on the opposite end of the rink. Scott hurried through the stands to where Stiles had landed. "Now where were we?"
"You're wolf is showing." Becca leveled the gun at his chest again.
"Go ahead," Dufour laughed, his arms spread out to his sides. "What happens when you run out of bullets?"
She pulled the trigger again, the shot echoing against the deserted arena walls. Before he'd even hit the ground she turned her attention to Stiles. Scott was on the other side of the boards calling out to his friend, trying to coax him awake. She moved to go to the teen's aid but the wolf was quicker, grabbing her leg. She fell forward, her chin connecting painfully with the ice. Her vision blurred with tears she watched the gun skitter across the ice to about half way between her and Stiles.
"My turn," he pulled her to him as he got to his knees. "My turn to pick the game." He pushed her onto her side, leaning in close to her ear and breathing her in. "I was gonna wait until the full moon for this, for poetic justice. I wanted you to die exactly a month after you killed my mate," he murmured in her ear.
"Hey, wolf breath," Stiles called, waiting until the wolf pushed away from Becca enough for the nervous youth to get a clear enough shot. The bullet hit Dufour in the shoulder and he jerked to one side. Stiles fired again and again, moving the wolf away enough that Becca could scramble away, butting up against the Zamboni. Derek could hear the clicking of the gun as Stiles continued to fire even once the gun was empty.
Dufour snarled almost fully shifted, his red eyes gleaming as he glared hungrily at Stiles. "You should have stayed out of this, boy." He launched himself at Stiles.
Something small flew at the wolf, and he yelped when it hit him in the neck. He clawed at his neck coming away with what looked like a small dart. "And here I thought you were all about the vengeance. Poor Carlie would be disappointed to see how easily you were distracted." Becca shook her head in mock dismay, tapping what looked like the plastic casing from a disposable pen against her palm. "I mean I could've just walked right outta here while you mauled him."
Dufour stumbled, unsteady on his feet. He stared questioningly down at the dart in his hand, his features shifting back and forth between human and wolf. He staggered toward her, the wolf taking control again.
"You don't look so good. That's the wolfsbane." She took a step toward him. "Bet you can feel it now, making its way to your heart." She cocked her head to the side. "You know what happens when it gets to your heart, don't you?"
Derek gritted his teeth at how much Becca sounded like Kate in that moment, the way she seemed to relish in killing the wolf. It left him wondering if she truly believed what she'd told him that first morning, or if this was the real Becca. He heard the door push open and turned to see Rowan enter the arena.
"What the hell is going on?" Rowan demanded after taking in the scene. "Why aren't you in there helping her?"
"There's some kind of barrier," Derek explained. He could hear Stiles taunting Dufour in an effort to draw his attention away from Becca. "Me and Scott can't get past it."
An anguished howl echoed across the arena, pulling Derek's attention back in time to see the wolf plough Becca into the side of the Zamboni. He heard the breath rush from her and her heartbeat hitch at the impact. Rowan set off racing toward the rink and Derek waited for him to hit the barrier and be thrown back at the rate he was running. But he didn't. Rowan passed straight through as though he were as human as Becca or Stiles.
Dufour staggered away from Becca, clawing at what looked like the plastic pen casing protruding from his chest. He stumbled to his knees his breath coming in short gasps as his body struggled to heal his heart, rushing his tainted blood to the organ and killing him all the more quickly.
Becca slumped to the ice against the Zamboni and Rowan was at her side. Her eyes were closed, her breath shallow. "Becs," Rowan coaxed, cupping her chin in his hand. "Rebecca Lynn Sinclair," he said, his voice taking on an urgent edge.
"Am I in trouble?" she murmured, her eyes still closed. "You only call me that when I'm in trouble." A smile tugged at her lips.
"You will be if you don't open your eyes." He crouched beside her, pushing the hair from her face. "I really need to see those beautiful eyes of yours, sunshine."
Her eyes fluttered open, but remained heavily veiled. "I'm tired." She grimaced and her eyes slid closed, her breath catching as her heartbeat hitched again.
"You need your meds," Rowan declared, glancing around.
"Her purse is in the car." Before Derek could issue the command Scott was racing for the door.
"S-Stiles?" Her eyes snapped open and she tried to push away from Rowan.
"I'm here," Stiles replied, moving to her other side.
She studied him for a moment. "Is he alright?" She asked, her gaze flitting to Rowan as though she didn't trust Stiles to be truthful. Rowan nodded and she slumped back. "Good," she breathed, her eyes drifting closed again.
"Becs," Rowan coaxed again. "You have to stay awake."
Scott was back and Stiles quickly scrambled to retrieve the two bottles of pills from him and rushed back to her side. "Maybe it's not such a good idea to give her this."
Rowan pinned him with look somewhere between questioning and annoyed. "Give me the bottle," Rowan growled his eyes flashing feral green.
"J-just hear me out," Stiles stammered, heartbeat hammering. "This dilates her blood vessels to get more blood to her heart—"
"I know how the pills work and I can hear her heartbeat—"
"What if she has internal injuries – internal bleeding? He slammed her really hard against the Zamboni."
"She could bleed out." Rowan's shoulders sank a little, worry etching his features as he glanced at Becca.
"We need to get her to the hospital." Stiles pocketed the pill bottles and moved to Becca's side to help her up.
"I've got her." Rowan stepped in and gently scooped her up. He paused at the edge of the ice and kicked aside some of the mountain ash lining the rink. "This wouldn't have happened if you'd done as I asked," Rowan muttered and pushed past Derek.
"Stiles," Derek called, tossing the teen his car keys when he looked up. Stiles glanced down at the keys then questioningly at Derek. "One scratch," he warned moving onto the ice.
"Right, death in the most painfully slow way you can think of." He hurried after Rowan, leaving Scott and Derek to take care of the clean up.
"Get Peter back to the house," Derek instructed, crouching in front of Dufour's body. "I'll take care of this."