I will say this will be the beginning of me putting Bennett in canon scenes that he wasn't originally in but I'll try and do it in a way that it doesn't change the entire scene too much. So as of right now, it's not entirely AU. Also, someone asked me why I'm focusing on the Druid storyline and not the Alpha Pack storyline and that is because I'm more interested in the Druids than the Alphas, to me they don't contribute much to the show as a whole, but we'll see what happens there. I was also asked why Derek hasn't made an appearance and I can't write him in until Stiles or Lydia (the major connecters to Bennett in this story) have a scene with Derek which they haven't yet but it will eventually happen. This chapter is a little bit longer than usual.

CHAPTER 3- FRAYED

It had been a week since Mrs. Rosenberg told Bennett that Kyle, Bullet's owner, was dead and a week since he had the vision of Harris' death. Stiles had made it a habit to stop over everyday afterschool and they began a quick but close friendship in the small time they had known each other. Bennett was finally enrolled at Beacon Hills High and was introduced to Scott, Isaac, and Danny. Bennett could sense Isaac and Scott were not human and it wasn't until the two of them rumpled their noses at him and growled that he realized they were werewolves. He instantly felt hostility and animosity towards them. From the look in their eyes, they returned the favor.

When Bennett asked his mother about this, she explained it all one afternoon over chamomile tea that "witches and werewolves have never gotten along." She went on to say that "witches hate wolves because they are an unnatural creature that perverts the land with their disease. The wolves are also immune to some of a witch's power, such as their telepathy, empathy, and they make visions blurry. The wolves hate a witch's scent and witches immunity to any unnatural thing that enters their bodies, makes them immune to disease, poison, and the wolves bite."

Bennett told his mother about his vision of Mr. Harris' death, which led to her telling him he needs to be stronger if he wants to save his people, which is why they were now in a forest clearing, Mrs. Rosenberg training Bennett in the use of non-verbal spells.

"Ok," Alyssa said loudly. She was clad in a black tracksuit with her hair pulled back into a ponytail, "it helps if you mentally call forth the words of the spell while concentrating on the outcome you want. Non-verbal spells make it easier to use simple spells without having to call them out. It saves time."

"That's fine mom, but why can't I use any of my rings?!" Bennett asked in a petulant voice, "they'll help me concentrate!"

"That's true Ben but you need to learn to do this without drawing power from crystals. It's fine to do that after you've learned how to do this but you have to learn how to do this without outside help. Now clear your mind and focus on the task at hand."

"Fine Mr. Miyagi, I'll start with a simple Illumination Spell." Bennett replied, a smirk on his lips.

Opening both hands and holding them apart, Bennett closed his eyes and began to imagine the ball of light, while chanting the spell in his mind.

Galadante! Galadante! Galadante! He repeated over and over in his head. He could feel the power slowly trickling through his fingertips, just out of reach. His green eyes began to darken and turn black as he opens them and sees sparks of light dance across his outstretched fingers. Galadante! He shouts louder in his mind, the light growing stronger. With one more burst of power, the light Bennett held in his hands vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

This continued on for another hour before Bennett threw his arms up in frustration. Doing non-verbal magick is harder than getting Didi to wear pants! Bennett shot at his mother.

You are simply letting your frustration cloud your concentration. Find your focus. Release your magick. Pull it in towards yourself. And concentrate. Mrs. Rosenberg replied mentally. She was just as frustrated as Bennett was and she was starting to feel as if she was beating a dead horse. She had been able to teach Vartan non-verbal magick a year ago when he was only 13. She just didn't understand why Bennett was so resistant to it.

Yes Yoda Bennett shot back, throwing his arms in front of his body again. Shutting out the sounds of the forest, the reverberating thought and emotional patterns emanating from his mother, and the presence of Semanti slithering high above their heads in the trees, Bennett closed his eyes and searched for his focus.

Normally, his focus was his lands but now that he had actually entered his lands, his focus has been shot and he had no clue as to what his new focus was. Delving into his mind, he peeled back layer after layer of thoughts and memories. One memory began to jump to the forefront of his mind- he had remembered he was supposed to meet Stiles at the movies in an hour and he was already 30 minutes away from town.

Concentrating on the magick now pulsing from his body, Bennett began pulling each thread back into himself, his mind solely on accomplishing this task so that he can hang out with his new friend. Bennett could feel the magick around him coalesce into his hands as he gave a mental shout of GALADANTE!

Light shot from his palms, colliding in the space between his hands, pulling itself into a sphere and hovering in the center of Bennett's hands. Strong pulses of light shot from the sphere, lighting up the forest in a brilliant display.

Bennett could feel his mother poking at his mind, trying to get his attention. Opening himself up to her words, he could hear her tell him to control the light. Reeling his magick in more, the light began to recede until a smaller orb hovered above the palm of his right hand. Bennett's black eyes looked over at his mother, standing in front of him with a smile on her face.

"Well it looks like you found your focus! Now make the light dissipate and then we can go." She said, turning around and gathering their stuff from the clearing.

Bennett focused on the orb and called his magick back into his body and the orb vanished into nothingness. Bennett's eyes began to turn back into their natural moss green.

The sun had already set and it was beginning to get dark as Bennett called for Semanti, who slithered down a tree and followed him into the car.

"Hey mom, if it's no trouble, could you drop me off at the movie theater, Stiles is waiting for me."

"Dude and the scene where he rips the guys face off was awesome! There was blood everywhere!" Stiles said animatedly. They were walking through the theater's parking lot to Stiles' jeep.

"My favorite part was when the chick with the huge tits thought she was safe and then she turned around and he got her through the mouth. Now, that was funny!" Bennett replied.

They continued the conversation until they got into the car, both filled with sugary cinema food and soda. After a while, the conversation tapered off and they were left in comfortable silence.

"Hey Stiles, can I ask you something?" Bennett asked, turning in his seat to look at Stiles, "you don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Nah, it's cool, you can ask me anything."

"I know he's your best friend and everything but why do you let Scott treat you like that? Hell, why do let anyone treat you the way they do?" Bennett said sincerity in his eyes.

"Scott's been my friend for a long time and I know that lately he's been blowing me off but he's still my friend, y'know? A year ago when he was still dating Allison, I was there for him, when he was going through some tough shit a year and a half ago, I was there for him. I know he doesn't always return the favor, but we have history."

"I understand that, but Stiles, that's not the way friendship works. Friendship is about give and take but from what I've seen Scott only takes. Now I know I may not know much about your friendship since I've only been here a week, but in that week I've noticed things and I just have to say that I think you deserve better. You're a good guy."

Stiles knew on some level, Bennett was right but it was hard to explain. When Scott first moved here, Stiles was a social pariah and being new, Scott didn't know this and still befriended him. Then, as they got older Stiles started to realize Scott wanted more, he wanted to be popular but Stiles was content being invisible, it was what he was used to. After Allison showed up, Scott made the effort to join the Lacrosse team to gain popularity and Stiles felt he had to join just to keep his friend, so he did.

Stiles knew Bennett was right when he said Stiles gives too much of himself to people but Stiles also knew that other than loyalty and friendship, he had nothing else to offer. He admitted to himself that with Scott he was always "Scott's friend, Stiles", "That weird guy, Stiles, who's always with Scott", or even "Stiles, who?!" That's what he liked about hanging with Bennett; he only had to be Stiles.

"Ok, you've explained Scott, but why do you let my cousin treat you like that? I mean, come on Stiles, you have to know you're an attractive guy. There were at least 3 girls at the theater who were flirting with you. Why do you waste your time on my bratty cousin? I love her but you can do better."

Stiles paused for a minute before answering, "Honestly, when we were kids, I had genuine feelings for her. Even a year ago, I had genuine feelings for her but now, I don't know. I still like her and if ever she decided she wanted me, I would be there for her but it's like lately my feelings for her aren't as strong. Maybe I've only liked her because it's easier to crush over a girl I know I can't get than to be rejected by others, I don't know."

After 3 minutes of contemplative silence, Bennett was the first to speak. "Wow, things got a little deep there!" Bennett said, smiling at the events that had just played out. "I guess now is the point where we cry and braid each other's hair!"

Stiles looked over at Bennett for a minute, a similar smile on his face.

"Dude, I know! I don't even think I've talked like that with Scott in a long time."

"So, let's play a little game then to lighten the mood. It's called Kill, Fuck, or Marry!"

Bennett waved goodbye as Stiles pulled out of the driveway. Pulling out his keys and opening the door, Bennett walked into the dark, empty house. Grabbing a bottle of water before walking upstairs, Bennett could see a light on under Lydia's door. Knocking lightly and waiting for the affirmative, Bennett entered Lydia's bedroom. She was sitting crossed legged bent over a book, her hair falling like a curtain over her face.

"So how was your date?" She said seriously, pushing her hair over to one side.

"It was not a date Didi, Stiles is just a friend."

"I don't know, he spends a lot of time over here and you two hang out a lot. And you think he's cute." She replied, closing the book she was reading.

Bennett placed the bottle on her dresser as he padded over to the bed and sat down.

"Di, I can assure you, nothing is going on. Besides the fact he's in love with you, he's straight. On a more interesting note, what have you been up to today? I didn't see you afterschool."

With a smile forming on her lips, Lydia replied, "I'll ignore the fact that you didn't deny you think Stiles is cute and tell you that I had sex with Aiden today."

"What?!"

"Yea" she said, "I was walking to the parking lot to meet you guys when an arm pulls me into a classroom. My first instinct was to scream and punch until I saw who it was. We started making out and one thing led to another…."

"You little slut!" Bennett said in mock indignation, "Did you do that thing I taught you?"

"Bennett, that's gross!"

"Did you?!"

"Yes."

"That's my girl!"

The next day, Bennett was greeted early in the morning to the sight of Stiles' smiling face, arms laden with junk food and DVDs.

"Stiles, what are you doing here?" Bennett asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes, his hair in complete disarray, "it's 10 am on a Saturday."

Stiles' face nearly split in half as his smile broadened. "Well, after the movie the other night when we were in the car, I realized we don't know much about each other, so I thought I'd come over, we could pig out on candy and bullshit around. Plus Scott has to work all day and then he has to visit our friend Derek, so I'm all alone!"

Moving aside and walking up the stairs, Stiles took this as his cue to come in and follow Bennett. When they reached his bedroom, Bennett pulled the suitcase from under his bed, giving a pointed look at Stiles, who was throwing the items in his arms onto the bed, still smiling.

"Well since you've decided to grace me with your presence today, I guess I should at least look halfway decent….but really who are we kidding, I always look good."

"Dude, you look like that crazy redhead chick from that Disney movie!' Stiles said, snorting at Bennett's words, "So yea you look good, if you're into big red Yeti hairballs!"

Rolling his eyes and pulling out a black t-shirt and skinny jeans, Bennett flips Stiles off before closing the door to the bathroom.

Stiles waited until he could hear the cascade of running water before he stood up and looked around Bennett's room, eyes falling on the photos lining the nightstand. There were photos of Bennett in between two pretty, smiling girls, a photo of Bennett and his family, photos of Bennett as a child, and a photo of Bennett with his arm around a boy's shoulder. For some reason, Stiles didn't like this photo. It made his stomach drop and his blood boil. He didn't know why the photo upset him so much but he found himself laying it face down so he didn't have to see it.

Why does it piss me off so much? Stiles wondered. It's not like he can't have other friends! I'm not jealous or anything. Come on Stiles! Get it together!

Stiles wondered if maybe the boy was Bennett's boyfriend but that thought caused the feeling to flare up twofold.

No, he told himself if Bennett had a boyfriend, he would have told me! But why does it even matter to me? Why do I care so much? It's probably because I don't want this guy to hurt Bennett….yea, that's what it is.

Stiles' contemplation was broken when Bennett stepped out of the bathroom, vanilla-scented steam rising from the entryway.

"You seem awfully interested in my friends…" Bennett said, slicking back his hair. He was dressed and had pulled his long hair into a wet bun.

Jumping, Stiles turned and took Bennett in.

"Much better, that's the Bennett we all love!" Stiles threw his arm around Bennett's shoulder before poking him in the ribs.

"Stiles stop it!" Bennett said, a giggle escaping his lips despite his efforts, "What movies did you bring?"

"So you did it?!" Stiles asked, surprise written all over his face.

"Of course I did! He dared me to and I never turn down a dare!"

"Ok, so let me get this straight, your two best friends are Melanie and Skye…"

"And Robbie…" Bennett interjected.

"Robbie?" Stiles asked, a look of curiosity in his eyes.

"I think I have a photo…" Bennett said, crawling over his bed towards his nightstand. He and Stiles had been talking for hours now, the sun had already gone down, and the stars were twinkling high in the night sky. Bennett picked up the framed photo that was lying on its face and handed it to Stiles. "My friend Robbie. He's my best straight guy friend. Well, now I guess it's you as well."

Stiles looked at the photo he had flipped over earlier and surprisingly, the feeling didn't return. Knowing that Robbie was only a friend gave Stiles an odd sense of relief that even he couldn't explain.

"Oh, I thought he was your boyfriend?..."

Laughing Bennett replied, "No. Although there was one night our freshmen year when we both got drunk but he pussied out halfway through so it didn't get too far."

Curiosity again rose up in Stiles as he looked over at Bennett who was now placing the frame back within the group of photographs. "So….just wondering….are you a virgin?"

"No! I lost my virginity a year ago to this really hot guy I met in an Urban Outfitters. I know, classy right?" Bennett laughed, grabbing one of the gummy worms that had spilled out onto the bed. "Are you?"

Nervously, Stiles replied, "Yea, I am."

Bennett's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates. "What?! Really?!" Seeing the look on Stiles face, Bennett adjusted his face and swallowed the candy he was chewing. "I didn't mean it as a bad thing, it's just I'm surprised. You're, and I'm saying this as a friend, but Stiles, you're hot!"

Stiles didn't know why but Bennett calling him hot made a heat rise in his stomach and spread throughout his body. He could feel the smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Dude, I knew it! It's just I asked Danny once and he never…..you know what, never mind." Stiles said, thinking back to when he asked Danny if he thought he was attractive. Stiles had told no one, not even Scott that lately he's been wondering what it would be like to be with another guy. The idea didn't repulse him but he also couldn't think of any guy he would want to be with. For a minute, he considered Danny but he soon realized that if he were into guys, Danny wasn't really his type. He had once considered Bennett as well but he knew he would never jeopardize their friendship with his thoughts of experimentation. His musing were interrupted as he realized Bennett was talking to him.

"…find you some hot slut and get you laid!" Bennett finished, taking a sip from the glass of juice on his nightstand.

Stiles looked over at the clock on his phone and realized it was almost midnight.

"Dude, I gotta go." Stiles said, pulling his sneakers on, "My dad will be home soon, I didn't make him anything for dinner, and I have to be up early for that stupid Cross Country meet tomorrow."

"Yea, I am a little tired seeing as I didn't sleep much." Bennett said, placing emphasis on the words so that Stiles knew he was blaming him.

"Oh shut up. Well, I'll probably see you on Monday. I would come over tomorrow but me and Scott are supposed to hang out after the meet."

"That's fine, besides I need some Stiles Detox." Bennett replied, smirking at Stiles' mock offended face.

"Trust me, you'll come crawling back….they always do."

"That depends, are you just following the bus, or are you planning on mounting it at some point?" Lydia said. She, Allison, and Bennett were in Allison's car driving down a long, dusty road behind the school bus driving Scott and Stiles to their Cross Country meet. Storm clouds could be seen darkening the horizon. Lydia was sitting in the front seat while Bennett was in the back seat, looking out the window and smiling at the predicament Lydia had dragged him into.

"Yea, I should back off" Allison replied, easing off the gas pedal, allowing the car to give the bus more space.

"That would also depends….do you mean the bus or the ex-boyfriend you're currently stalking?" Lydia said, sarcasm and genuine curiosity dripping from her every word.

Bennett who had been silent for most of the trip finally spoke up, "I hope you mean the bus cuz Scott is hot! I mean, have you seen his ass in jeans…yummy. You've got yourself a 'regulation hottie'. Now will someone please explain to me again, why I had to come?"

"Because," Lydia replied, rolling her eyes and readjusting herself in her seat to look at her cousin, "you're my cousin and I love you and I said so. Besides, it's Sunday morning and our moms are out all day, what else would you have done?!"

Not sit here and listen to your annoying friend complain about a boy who's clearly still in love with her but who's too much of a mangy wolf bitch to do anything about it Bennett thought to himself.

"So anyway….the boy or the bus" Lydia continued, turning back around and facing the road.

"Well, after what happened, I am not letting him out of my sight."

"Hmmmm."

"And by the way, this all happened when he came knocking at my door!"

"What?" Lydia asked, turning towards Allison.

Allison began telling Lydia about Scott's arrival the day before. He had came over with an arrow, accusing her of being somewhere she shouldn't have been. She then told them about how they then began to spar and ended up making out.

"So, let me get this straight, he was mad at you because he thinks you were somewhere with a bow and arrow?" Bennett asked, confusion dancing across his features. His window was open, so his long hair kept flying into his mouth.

"Yea basically, my family…..we're big hunters and I was doing a little solo hunting and I guess I got too close to where Scott was and almost hit his friend. Apparently the guy isn't the cute, cuddly type so Scott was just warning me not to piss him off." Allison said, glancing at Lydia.

"Wow, you 2 are more complicated than the ending of Vanilla Sky." Bennett replied. "I'll also ignore the fact that you said you were hunting a poor, defenseless animal in the middle of the woods."

"What are you, Greenpeace?" Allison said, smiling at Bennett's face in the rearview mirror as he finally gave up and tied his hair up.

"Actually, yes Rambo." Bennett replied, sticking his tongue out at her.

The three of them sat in easy silence, the radio softly playing a Top 40 song in the background. Bennett eventually decided to take a nap and positioned himself to lie across the backseat, his arm thrown across his eyes to protect him from the sun. Lydia took out her Thermodynamics homework and began reading, while Allison was lost in her own thoughts. After 30 minutes of this silence, Lydia finally puts her book down.

"So is that whole 'not letting him out of your sight' thing literal or more like a general rule?" She asked

"Why?"

"You're running on fumes." Lydia answered, looking down at the gas gauge on the dashboard and noticing they were on 'E'.

"Ugh!"

"Yea….and I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota." Lydia said in a condescending voice.

"Just great…." Bennett said from the backseat.

"What if we stop?" Allison asked

"Would it really be that big of a deal? So we lose them. We know where they're headed." Lydia replied, picking her book back up and nonchalantly highlighting a passage with her blue highlighter.

"You didn't see what happened."

"I know who started it…." Lydia said in a stage whisper.

"Is that what Aiden told you?" Allison asked in a similar tone of voice.

"….And I'm up." Bennett said, a smile on his face as he scoots closer and sticks his head between the girls. "This is gonna be good."

"Aiden? Whoooa!" Lydia replied laughing, "Hold on a second….is that why you invited me on this whole road trip thing?...Oh my gosh, you're keeping an eye on them and me."

"So there's nothing going on between you two?" Allison said, accusation in her voice.

"I'm appalled by the insinuation!"

"Nothing?"

"Nothing." Lydia said, giving a pointed look at Bennett. He knew what that look meant.

Snorting, Bennett laid back down to his previous position. "Well then, that's my cue to go back to sleep."

Yea…nothing happened…and my Cher impersonation isn't best thing you've seen at the Badlands Bar on a Thursday night…

They had been stuck in traffic for roughly 45 minutes when Stiles called Lydia. Lydia had finished her homework and she and Allison were catching up on the latest school gossip. Bennett had been dosing in the backseat when Stiles called, the ringing of the phone waking him from his light slumber. He continued to listen with his eyes closed as Stiles told Lydia to put him on speakerphone and that he was aware they had been following them. Lydia looked into the backseat to make sure Bennett was still sleeping before putting Stiles on speakerphone.

"Ok look, Scott's still hurt." He said through the phone's speaker.

"What do you mean still? He's not healing?" Allison asked, concern in her voice.

"No, he's not healing. I think he's getting worse; the blood's turning like a black color."

"What's wrong with him?" Lydia asked.

"What's wrong with him? I don't know. Do I have a PhD in Lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?"

"We need to get him off the bus." Allison replied.

Stiles had found a way to get the bus to stop and they pulled into a rest stop not far off the road. When they saw Scott and Stiles file off the bus, Allison got out of the car to help Stiles take him into the bathroom. Lydia poked Bennett to tell him they had to stop for a minute and Bennett mumbled to her incoherently and rolled over, his body facing the back of the car seat. Although he appeared to be asleep, Bennett had heard everything and his mind was racing.

I have to do something he thought I hate that mutt and his whole trampy pack but he's still a living creature who will die if I don't help him. Even worse, if he died, Stiles would be devastated.

Rolling back over onto his back, Bennett closed his eyes and opened his mind. Even though they were no longer on his lands, he could feel the magick of Beacon Hills slowly trickle into his being. He's eyes began to darken as the world around him shifted, making his stomach flip flop and climb into his throat. The wind outside began to stop and the noise of the road faded away until there was nothing left but all encompassing silence. The type of empty silence that seems to push down on your soul.

Bennett could feel his astral form pull itself from his body as he sat up in the back of the car and walked right through the door. His environment looked exactly as it did in the real world but all of the colors were muted and washed out, save for the glowing auras emanating from every human in sight.

As Bennett began walking around, he sees Lydia and Stiles leave the bathroom and wait by the school bus, so Bennett turns and walks towards the rest stop bathrooms. Walking through the walls, he comes across Allison bent over an unconscious Scott, her yellow-orange aura pulsating wildly as she's trying to thread a needle to patch Scott up. Bennett could see no aura coming from Scott but this was no surprise to him as wolves' auras cannot be seen by witches.

What was strange about the scene was that Allison was not alone. Bennett could see a woman with short, crimson hair berating Allison who seemed to be falling apart. Bennett didn't know who the woman was but he knew the feeling she gave him. It was a cold, creeping dread that moved through his form and sent a chill through it. A feeling that screamed of nothingness and a hollow emotion. Her stale gray aura told him that this was not a human she was talking to. Allison was communicating with a shade.

"Ok, how do we approach a situation like this?" the shade said, her voice taking on a soothing quality. "Allison!" she snapped when it appeared Allison was falling further into herself.

"Clinically."

"And…"

"Unemot…unemotionally."

"Then stop crying and do it!"

Allison closed her eyes and steadied her breath. Her light orange aura began to turn green around the edges, forcing the yellow back, spots of blue beginning to spill out in between the green.

Opening her eyes and taking a deep breath, Allison pushed the thread through the needle and began stitching up Scott's wound. When she was finished, the wound was patched up but it still wasn't healing and he appeared to have stopped breathing.

Bennett, who had been watching this scene unfold, finally moved from the spot he had been standing in. Moving over to Allison, who was trying to wake him up, Bennett bent down and placed his hands above Scott's wounds. He could not only feel but actually see the magick swirling around him and going into his hands. It had a bright red color to it and it moved liked smoke drifting into a fog, present but just out of reach. Closing his eyes, Bennett searched for the words that would help Scott heal.

"Elessore…Elesshroa…Elessino…Elessfea" Bennett chanted, his hands glowing white as he wove the spell around Scott's prone form. He could feel parts of himself being taken into Scott, helping him heal from the inside out.

Bennett continued ignoring Allison as she tried to wake Scott up as he continued chanting the spell, the light growing stronger until finally it began to recede and the magick disappeared into the air.

Bennett was exhausted; he could feel his physical body pulling him back, no longer able to keep his insubstantial form going. He looked down at his hands as they began to disappear, ghostly limbs pulling back in the direction of his body. He looked over to Scott's body as his being was being taken away, snatched from this realm by his own limits. The last thing he saw before waking up in the backseat of Allison's car was Scott catching his breath, gasping life back into his body as his eyes open and takes in Allison's face.

"It's my fault."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

So what did you think? I hadn't actually planned on throwing in a little romance/confused feelings just yet but I basically let it all write itself.

I also did NOT make up the The Witch's Language. It's actually Tolkien's Elvish, Galadante, the Illumination Spell translated means 'Light Giver". Elessore means "heal mind", Elesshroa means "heal body", Elessino means "heal heart", and Elessfea means "heal soul".

I hope Bennett's inclusion in the road trip scene didn't feel forced! I would love feedback on how you like the story and any ideas on where you think the story should go cuz I don't really plan anything out until I see the actual episode since unlike Bennett, I cannot see the future.

More to come!