Chapter Nine.
"So we all meet again."
"Sorry to interrupt your little heart to heart but business is business." Ennis says as he puts his hands on Boyd's shoulders and squeezes, from the look on Boyd's face it must be painful.
Stiles giggles and all eyes, but Deucalion's, snap to him.
"It's just; you said... um, two pairs of words... uh, Sorry, continue," He covers his mouth with his index finger.
Kali sighs and rolls her eyes, but other than that no one reacts to his natural immaturities, no one from my pack for sure because we are very much used to it. "As I was saying; we usually wouldn't hassle ourselves with such pests as this pack as proven to only be, but we require something from them and we aren't really asking." Ennis states while looking directly at Stiles, who shies away from him.
"What do you want?" I bark at him.
Deucalion laughs from his position behind Derek and claps again. What the hell is with this guy?
I peek at Stiles and see that he seems confused too with Deucalion's behavior.
"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" he chimes. He hoists up his cane from its leaning position against his leg to the hold it loosely in his hands, twirling it around in the air in front of him. "Now, what I'm looking for is a smart, young man that's strong as a human, and will be stronger as a wolf," He brings a finger to his chin and taps it thoughtfully. "I want you." He points straight at Stiles and leers wickedly.
Stiles doesn't seem all that surprised by his request, and shockingly smiles quite kindly at him. "We've already discussed this; I'm not becoming a werewolf."
"I do believe Ennis did say that we aren't really asking," Deucalion says nicely back. "Don't you want to be strong like us? Be able to finally defend yourself and not rely on others? You're exposed, unarmed, and powerless compared to even the humans in this little assembly you call a pack. No one wants to be a bother, Stiles, so just take the bite willingly."
Stiles is suddenly angry. I can smell it off of him in thick waves. Derek lowers his head. His smell is similar to Stile's fuming, but worry, and lots of it, clings to him as well. We catch eyes but only for a moment because he casts his eyes downward in what looks to be embarrassment. Stiles huffs loudly beside me, snapping me out of my observation, then lifts his head to stare right into Deucalion's shielded eyes.
"Excuse me for not being trained since birth like Allison, or being immune and magical like Lydia. Too bad I wasn't born a wolf like Derek, or a pathetic coward that I had to blackmail a bite from Derek only to turn into a freaky Kanima only to kill dozens of people 'cause I was a fucked up psycho. Maybe if I was a even more of a loner like Boyd, I might'a would'a wanted the bite just to make friends. If my mother's cancer would have been diagnosed to me, I might have asked for it because of my health." He looks to each member of the pack as he tells their stories without any names, but he doesn't slow down. "I could have easily gotten bit if I wanted to back when I was sixteen if Scott was the one to talk me into going into the damn woods! If I wanted to be bitten, Deucalion, if I wanted the power, I would have agreed to a long time ago. By Derek and only him." All the tea in china could not make that kid's voice more spiteful. He was nearly growling out the last line. Derek's mouth turns up into a small smile at this.
Kali snarls, her eyes turning red, and leans over Erica and right into Stile's face. "We weren't asking."
"What, so this is going to be against my will? Like bite rape? I'm not sure you're supposed to tell me before you rape me with your teeth. Oh, that sounds bad," Stiles throws right back at her in an amused tone. She growls lowly, leaning back to stay straight. She's obviously not pleased. Excellent.
"Why are we here then? You could have changed him days ago without anyone to stop you." Lydia asks in a small voice. Ethan hits her shoulder which causes you to gasp, wince but otherwise keep her composure.
"No no, it's a good question." Deucalion shakes his head slightly to Ethan, who frowns in confusion, Deucalion holds up a hand to hold back Ethan's questions and continues, "Why are you here? Maybe it's simply for a show, some added excitement to the performance. Or maybe it's so he'll have an audience for his demise if his body rejects the bite. Both are valid reasons for me to bring along his old friends."
It's low and growing. A deep rumbling of someone's throat as a demonic growl starts to erupt from Derek. I've only ever seen watch dogs do such a warning noise that it is baffling to hear it come from a grown man.
It is abruptly cut short when Deucalion snaps Derek's shoulder harshly with his cane. The force is strong enough to cause Derek to fall forward so he's on his hands and knees. "Hey now! We don't need any of that."Deucalion laughs out along with the rest of his pack. Before I can even protest, or even make a move to say something, Stiles is dropping onto his knees in front of Derek, shouting, and to everyone's surprise, running his long piano fingers through Derek's hair.
"Derek! What the hell, back off!" Stiles cries out at Deucalion, who seems more pleased than anything. I put a reassuring hand on Stile's shoulder and nod to him when he looks back at me. He then stands back up, and steps back suspiciously, giving Deucalion's pack warning stares. Derek hasn't moved at all in the whole ordeal, only has been breathing heavily to try and calm down.
"I'm not joining you, so you can forget it!" Stiles yells with a new kind of fury.
Deucalion frowns at this.
"How do you think this is going to end? You think we're just going to let you go into your happily ever after with all your friends?" He gestures both hands out motioning to all of his kidnap victims. "We can easily get rid of you if you don't comply, so it would be best if you did." He smiles, "What's so bad? You get to be strong, fierce and succeed the common herd. Plus, you would be joining my pack officially. To be trained under not one, but five Alphas? It is a privilege." Push your own buttons, why don't you.
"I don't want to be a part of your pack."
In less than a blink of an eye, before anyone could even react at all, Deucalion flings his arm out. The pose is similar to a jousting move with his cane as the sword.
I don't even register what he just did until Erica howls out, "Stiles! Oh my god!" The rest of the pack does similar chores. Its then when I look to Stiles.
I don't know what to make of it.
Stiles is hunched forward with his hands gripping the cane with two bloody hands. Deucalion had lodged the staff into his shoulder. He did with such ghastly, inhuman strength that it plunged right through Stile's shoulder and is poking out the other side. The blood oozing out around the cane came fast and showed no sign of dawdling down, I even heard Boyd almost gag as he can't stand to be around an excessive amounts of blood.
After what seems to be ages of absolute stillness Deucalion jerks out the cane from Stile's shoulder. Stiles then drops to his knees, his hand over the wound as he tries stop the bleeding. I go to catch him before he falls to the side, but I don't have to because Derek in there in a flash, holding the whimpering Stiles protectively to his chest.
I lunch forward, adrenaline coursing through my veins as I only have one thing in mind; Payback.
I went for Aiden first, clipping him in the jaw with my knuckles. This causes him to stumble back in shock, clinging his chin. This lets Isaac go, who turns around and cuffs Ethan in the neck with his arm, a semi cloths line. Ennis leaves Boyd and jumps Isaac, who then transforms with teeth snapping. Boyd pulls Aiden from my back, turns him around and punches him square in the nose. Aiden does get a few punches in between Boyd's. One right in the mouth, too. Kali also leaves her captive and opts to join Ennis in circling Isaac. Me and Erica exchange looks, nod and quickly transform along with Isaac.
My vision goes red and things become more intense. Erica breaks off to help Isaac the best she can while I turn my attention onto Deucalion.
Through everything nothing between these three has changed. Derek is still cradling Stiles against his chest and Deucalion is casually wiping the blood off his cane with a handkerchief in front of them. He even smiles when he sees me approach them.
The only sounds I can hear are the snarls and snaps from the packs' warfare behind me. I can hear every crack of Boyd's fist against Aiden's face. There is also a soft mumbles sound in a different language. Lydia. Jackson is shouting and teasing, actually teasing, the other pack as they circle them. Then there's the thump of Derek's speeding heart and the gasps of Stiles as he desperately clings to consciousness.
"Nice of you to join us, again, Scotty boy. Would you so kindly tell Derek to let go of the boy?" Derek hisses at this. I've never, ever, seen Derek so hostile. It's frightening because that's all Derek is.
"Why would I do that?" I slowly ask.
"Because its either Stiles gets turned and Derek dies. Or... Derek lives and Stiles dies." He proposes, tilting his head to the side slightly in a curious manner. "Either is fine by me."
"You're making me choose?" I ask, eyeing him in disbelief. "You can't make me choose."
"Oh, but I can. I will." He blows the end of his cane when he finishes polishing it clean. He then brings it down in front of him and leans on it a bit. "Go ahead," He impatiently gestures to me when I don't answer. "Choose."
I look down to my Alpha and then to my best friend. Stiles doesn't seem too far off from blacking out and the only thing keeping him aware has to be Derek whispering encouraging words into his ear and running his hand through his longer brown hair. I cannot ever take one from the other, not now. It's pretty clear that I would never put Stiles up on the chopping block, and I know that if I put Derek up for dead, then Stiles wouldn't be the same.
I slump my head in defeat. "I can't choose."
He lets out a exaggerated sigh. "Maybe if you see that you didn't have a choice..." He says mostly to himself. He nods at me and flashes forward. He grabs the front of Derek's shirt and with ease lifts him up above the ground. Derek doesn't get a chance to fight back at all as he lets go of Stiles before he is lifted, not wanting to harm him anymore I assume. Before I can grab Stiles and cart him to safety for myself and for Derek, someone picks him up and pulls him in a rough, body shield kind of hold in front of them.
Ethan must have slipped away from the group brawl, which seems to have quieted down, and was the person Deucalion nodded to. I was too distracted to smell him coming.
"Let go of him!" I order.
"Ah ah. Now, boy, how do you feel about choosing now?" Ethan snorts at this and the urge to rip his throat out only grows significantly. I glance over a Derek who is face to face with Deucalion and seems so shaken. Afriad. It almost physically hurts to see him and Stiles so torn, so incredibly lost and knowing that the key to both their happiness is so close, so easily obtainable. It takes only one of them to just get the balls to say something to the other, but both are scared of the rejection, of the change. It's understandable, but very, very irrigating to watch. I have been for years, the back and forth, the circling it's all too much.
"I told you, I can't choose between them!"
"Let... Let go!" Stiles gasps out but is unable to fight against Ethan.
"Didn't hear you complain last week," Ethan purrs into Stile's ear. Stile's eyes get huge, like a bug.
Derek's breathe hitches.
I can see the glow of his fire red eyes.
I can smell the rage. Pure rage.
It is obvious that Ethan was just saying that, some sort of smite, but it is also obvious Derek doesn't care. Ethan said it, and I know that no matter what, no matter what Derek has to do, Ethan will be dead by sunrise.
Derek, with his inhuman strength, shoves Deucalion so roughly that he is thrown back several feet and is hardly able to stop himself from falling. Deucalion flashes his sharp teeth and is instantly set to attack back, but then Lydia comes into view behind him.
"How long do you suspect Stiles would stay with you, with Derek dead?" She asks him. His stance is halted as he to turns around to face her. "Can't you see? One can't be without the other." She grins then looks around him to Derek. "Isn't that right?"
She gets a growl for her response.
"See?"
"I'm sure he'll be just fine." Ethan licks Stile's ear and smiles seductively at Derek. Teasing him the only way anyone knows how.
He knows Derek won't attack him; he won't risk hurting Stiles anymore in anyway. This doesn't stop Derek from stepping up to his face, though. Merely inches away from Stile's, but look over his head. His hand goes up to Stile's hair in an automatic, but comforting way.
"Ouch..." Stiles moans out. He bows his head and groans in pain. Ethan smiles once more and then cracks his elbow against Stile's head. Stiles drops like a bag of bricks. I listen closely for his breath, for anything to indicate that he's still alive. When I hear the steady thumping of his heart I sigh out in relief. I don't make any move to check on him. I know better than to get between Derek and his prey, which right now is Ethan.
Ethan hops over Stile's unconscious body and Deucalion, who had turned away from Lydia, grabs Derek's arms and holds them behind him. I snap forward to stop Ethan but Lydia does it first in a way no one expected.
Lydia screeches so loud that stuns everyone to a hush. Then suddenly screams erupt from behind me and I look to see a bruised and battered Kali clasping her ears with her hands while a bloody Aiden on the ground beside her rolls in agony. The only one even remotely still able to fight is Ennis who is too covering his ears and crying out. Boyd, Isaac and Erica, all cut and beaten, stand around and stare at them in confusion. Jackson is still beating on Aiden not letting go with his victory in close sight. Ethan has wide, confused eyes and is looking around like he has no idea where he is.
Deucalion looks at Lydia with puzzlement. "What a powerful creature you are...So captivating." He articulate to Lydia who had stopped screaming and is now smiling in triumph with the successful spell.
"They can't see, they're blind!" Jackson yells at us.
Derek then wastes no time at all ripping the throat out of the blinded and unprepared Ethan.
His death cry was horrendous. It will be something I will never forget, but it was all for Stiles and that I could live with.
Derek then turns to face Deucalion. The rest of our pack starts to join us, leaving the blind pack to wonder around aimlessly while cursing us out. Boyd is supporting Erica up by her waist but puts his spare on my shoulder when he gets close. I wrap my arm around his middle and hold him up before he can collapse. Lydia drops down beside Stiles and starts to pick him up but looks to me for support. Isaac nods to me and takes my place holding Boyd on his feet. I crotch down beside Lydia and together we lift Stile's up and both take sides in holding him in a standing position. His head drops and he is pretty much nothing but lifeless weight at this point. Jackson comes up behind us and whispers something to Lydia, who nods and moves carefully out from Stiles and allows Jackson to take over. While this was happening Derek had grabbed hold of the collar of Deucalion's shirt and draws him close to his face.
Then through a clenched jaw he says, "You were right about one thing; Love is a powerful thing."
AN: Mine... Craft... How was Monday's episode? I stream mine online and can't get it till around 5 tomorrow/ today. Its 3am now, so soon! Also a shout out to PersiaHalinski who gave me some great ideas and such.
P.S - Someone had pointed something important out to me, so I took down the original of this chapter and posted up a new one. I'm never writing at 5am again. This is shameful to re-read over, ugh.
Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf in any way shape or form.