HARSHER THAN THE BARK

A/N: Ah! Okay, so it feels like forever since I updated and I am very sorry for that but my school show performances were this week and it was all very time consuming plus with new seasons of all my shows starting up I have been very distracted haha...anyway, I know that a lot of you guys want Scarlett to become supernatural and without giving anything away, I'm going to just say that I have things planned for the future...

Enjoy!

"Here you go." Lydia said, handing Scarlett a steaming cup of hot chocolate.

"I asked for tea…"

"Hot chocolate's better for these kinds of moods." Lydia told her, shuffling over to the DVD player in her big fluffy slippers and putting in The Notebook.

"You finally got it?" Scarlett asked, a hint of surprise in her voice. It didn't really bother Scarlett that she never seemed to stop watching the movie because, after all, it was one of her favourites.

"Yup. No more video stores for me." Lydia said before walking back to the bed and crawling underneath the covers with Scarlett. Lydia had taken Scarlett back to hers, where she insisted she stay the night. Scarlett had tried to explain everything but Lydia wouldn't listen until Scarlett had showered and changed into a pair of Lydia's comfiest pyjamas. And so there they were, The Notebook playing in the background while Lydia and Scarlett turned to face each other so that Scarlett could finally start to explain.

"Okay, I think I better start off by telling you who the guy is." Scarlett said, finally giving in to Lydia's constant asking.

"Finally." Lydia groaned.

"Don't freak out okay?" Scarlett said cautiously, not having a clue how Lydia would react to her secret. Lydia rolled her eyes but nodded. "It's um, it's Derek Hale." Lydia's eyes widened and she gave Scarlett

"What? Are you crazy?! He tried to kill us! And his creepy ass uncle attacked me!" Lydia exclaimed frantically, not taking the news very well.

"Okay, first of all, he did not try to kill you that night in the school. Two, I know. But he's nothing like Peter! And just- Lydia, I really, really like him. Can you please just accept that?" Scarlett asked pleadingly. Lydia's shoulders slumped and she gave Scarlett a sympathetic look.

"I guess. But only because you had a rough night." She said finally, crossing her arms and pouting.

"Thank you. Now, let me explain what happened…"

When Scarlett had finished explaining everything, excluding all of the supernatural details, Lydia gave her a look. "So, you told your Scott that you fucked Derek? Using those exact words?" Lydia questioned with a raised brow. Scarlett gave a small nod in answer. "Well that wasn't very smart of you."

"Yeah, no kidding." Scarlett sighed. "Scott's probably not even going to talk to me anymore."

"Who cares?"

"I care." Scarlett countered.

"Of course you do, he's your brother, but Scar, you're in love with Derek and, I mean who cares what Scott thinks if he's standing in the way of love right? He'll get over it eventually but for right now just say screw him." Lydia explained to her, sounding so carefree and sure of herself. Scarlett wondered how she was able to do that. Despite what she was currently going through.

"Wait, I'm not in love with Derek." Scarlett shook her head as if the idea was completely absurd after finally realising that Lydia had told her she was.

"Oh come on." Lydia gave her an incredulous look.

"I'm not! At least, I mean…well, I don't- I don't think I am." Scarlett muttered quietly, unsure of herself. The truth was, she knew somewhere in the back of her mind she was desperately in love with him. But she wouldn't completely admit it to herself. Doing that would change everything. Not even telling him but just knowing that she did…it wasn't the time for that.

"Mhmm…" Lydia turned her attention back to the TV.

"Well then let's talk about how you're in love with Jackson." If Lydia was going to say that Scarlett was in love with Derek then she had every right to accuse her of being in love with Jackson.

Lydia tensed up ever so slightly but tried to keep her face neutral. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Look Lyds, I know he hurt you but it's clear as day that you aren't over him and you can admit that to me. I'm not going to judge you for having feelings." Scarlett said with a slight laugh.

Lydia sighed and glanced at her sidelong, the look of disappointment clear in her eyes. "He hates me."

Scarlett shook her head. "No…actually, I think it might be the complete opposite." Lydia looked at her again but didn't say anything. "Thank you. For everything."

"You would've done the same for me. Now, be quiet and watch Ryan being sexy."

Scarlett woke with a start, sitting up and looking around. She quickly remembered that she was in Lydia's room. Beside her, Lydia was completely under the covers so that Scarlett couldn't see any of her. If it wasn't for the rise and fall of Lydia's chest as she breathed, Scarlett might have thought she was gone.

Scarlett sighed and peeled the covers off of her and got out of the bed as quietly as possible, walking over to her bag and checking her phone. It was 5:15 which meant that she would have time to walk home, get ready for school and maybe go and see Derek and talk to him about everything. She pulled back the curtain slightly and saw that it was still dark but the sun was quickly rising. Scarlett quickly got dressed into her clothes from last night and then went about finding a pen and some paper. When she did, she wrote a short note to Lydia saying thanks and that she'd see her at school. She left it on the pillow and grabbed her bag, quietly creeping out of Lydia's room and down to the foyer. Using the keys that were left on the table, she unlocked the door, cheering internally when the door didn't make a sound upon her opening it.

She set her pace at a fast-walk down the sidewalk to her home. It wasn't that far away but Scarlett just wanted to get there quickly because she was semi-afraid of being out there all alone. There weren't a lot of cars on the road, just the occasional few that passed by her but all in all it seemed as if the town was dead and she was the only one there. Apart from the distant hoot of an owl and a few chirps from some birds in the trees that lined the road, the only sound she could hear was soft footfalls against the pavement as she walked and that wasn't much comfort. Quite a few times she had to look behind her and make sure no one was watching her. She knew it was silly but one could never be too careful.

Turning onto her own street, Scarlett sighed with relief. She could see her house already. There were no lights on or anything but at least she knew her family were home. Her mom didn't have work until later and then…Scott, well, she could only guess that he was home. Thinking about Scott dimmed her mood immediately, not that she was feeling very joyful in the first place. As Scarlett approached the house she wondered what she was going to say to Scott when she saw him. That was, if he would even let her talk to him. She figured that he must be hurt by what she said as well, that it couldn't just be a one-sided pain. It was most definitely wrong of her to say what she did but he couldn't hate her forever…could he?

She quietly unlocked the door and stepped inside the house, locking the door again once she had closed it. It was quiet, which was normal considering no one in the house ever really got up until around 7. She walked up the stairs, cringing when some of them creaked. Once in her room she set her bag down and went straight to the bathroom. She waited for the stream of water coming from the showerhead to turn almost scalding before she stripped off and stepped in. The water burned slightly but she didn't care. In fact, she revelled in it. Letting the cascading water warm her skin and wash away her stress. She took her time washing her hair and body, pushing the aggravating thoughts that plagued her to the back of her mind. She leaned her head against the cool tile of the shower and stood there for a minute, eyes closed, just breathing.

When Scarlett was out she brushed her teeth, dried off and went back to her room to pick out what she was going to wear. Once she was fully dressed she looked in the mirror, ruffling her now-dry hair and deeming herself cute enough. She grabbed her bag and made for the door. As she was about to descend the stairs she looked back at Scott's door and bit her lip, pondering whether or not it would be a good idea to talk to him. Gathering up all of her courage she started walking towards his room, knocking on his door and taking a deep breath while she waited for him to open it. When he did, he looked at her and his face fell. The hurt of seeing her was swimming in his eyes, along with the disappointment he now held for her. She went to say something but he closed the door on her face, shocking her more than it should have. Scarlett looked down and nodded to herself. She should've expected as much.

"I'm taking the car." She said quietly, knowing he would still here it. There was no reply so she sighed and made her way down the stairs where she saw her mom standing in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

"Hey sweetheart." Melissa greeted with a smile. Scarlett gave her a small smile of her own, one that didn't by any means reach her eyes.

"Morning mom." She greeted her, pouring herself some coffee as well.

"How was Lydia's?" Melissa asked causally.

"Oh, um…good. We talked, watched movies…talked more." Scarlett laughed slightly. Melissa smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

"How's she doing with everything?" Melissa moved to lean on the counter.

Scarlett let out a breath. "Better." She told her, taking another sip of the coffee that needed more sugar. "I think her mom wants her to go to counselling though."

Melissa nodded. "I can imagine. I'd make you go."

"Really?" Scarlett asked with a raised brow.

"Of course." Melissa answered simply. "Did you want any breakfast?" She asked when she saw Scarlett putting her empty mug down.

"Not really hungry, I think I'm just going to head out…drive around for a bit, prepare myself for the day mentally and all that jazz."

"Alright sweetie, well, I have the night shift. But, you already knew that…" Melissa added on as an afterthought. Scarlett gave another small smile and nodded. "Never mind, just…have a good day." She placed a kiss on Scarlett's head and headed upstairs.

"Bye mom." Scarlett called when she had walked to the door. She got outside and got in the car, sitting at the wheel and staring out the windshield for a few minutes, trying to figure out where Derek would be. Then she remembered he'd said he was hiding out at the abandoned subway station so she headed over that way.

Scarlett sat outside of the subway station, looking at it from her car. God, it was creepy. Pushing the thoughts away, she stepped out of the car and made her way toward the entrance leading downwards.

"Derek?" Scarlett called out, walking down the steel steps.

"Scarlett?" She looked over the railing to see Isaac looking up at her.

"Yeah…" She replied slowly, walking down the last few steps and stepping into the open space in front of an old subway car.

"What are you doing here?" Isaac asked, leaning against a pillar.

"Um…I'm actually looking for Derek. Is he here?" Scarlett asked cautiously, looking around and playing with the strap of her bag.

"He's in there." Isaac told her, nodding towards the subway car. Scarlett gave him a small smile and started towards the car before Isaac's hand shot out and stopped her. "Hey about last night…I'm sorry."

Scarlett gave him a look of confusion. "For what? You didn't attack me, you attacked Scott." She said, gently shrugging off his hand.

"Yeah, but he's your brother so…"

"So you expect me to be mad?"

"Aren't you?" He asked, seemingly puzzled by her question.

"Well, yeah, a bit, but he healed." She shrugged, readjusting her bag on her shoulder. Isaac looked thoughtful for a minute, wondering whether or not he should just go for it and ask her or completely leave it. In the end he decided to give it a shot.

"So…I was wondering, if maybe-"

"Scarlett." They both looked up to see Derek. Scarlett looked back at Isaac and gave him an apologetic smile.

"Can it wait until later?" She asked hopefully. It's not that she didn't want to talk to Isaac but she really needed to talk with Derek more than anything else.

Isaac nodded his head. "Yeah, yeah…sure." He said, playing it off as no big deal. Scarlett smiled and turned to Derek, inhaling and then exhaling.

"Can we talk?" She asked quietly.

"I don't think now's the best time." He answered, looking up at the stairs where Erica and Boyd where walking in.

"Right. Later then?" Scarlett asked, looking at the two betas and then looking back at Derek.

"Sure." He said, giving her a half smile.

"Oh…I thought I smelled cheer spirit." Erica drawled as she walked off the last step. Scarlett ran her tongue over the front of her teeth, taking a deep breath with her eyes closed. She clenched her fists and fought the urge to tackle Erica to the ground, knowing that the decision would most likely end with Scarlett being injured.

"Shut up. We don't have time for you to be petty." Derek snapped at her, noticing how agitated Scarlett was by what Erica had said. Erica pouted but remained quiet anyway. "We're training the same way as yesterday. Boyd, you watch. Scarlett, stand out of the way. Isaac, you're up first."

Scarlett did as she was told and walked to the stairs, leaning on the railing while Boyd sat on the steps. She watched as Isaac began at the opposite end of the room and ran at Derek, doing numerous flips over different objects across the space. He jumped on the side of the subway car next to Derek and then attempted to jump on him but Derek's reflexes were a lot faster and he slammed Isaac into the ground resulting in a sickening crack that made Scarlett cringe. Derek made Isaac start again, and again he got slammed to the ground. Scarlett noticed that each time he did the course; he would do the same exact thing making it easy for Derek to take him down because he knew exactly what his final move was going to be. If it were Scarlett, she would try multiple different approaches, changing it up each time so that Derek wouldn't know when she was going to strike and then she would have a chance at getting the upper-hand. After Isaac failed yet again, Erica appeared on top of the subway car and jumped towards Derek but he saw her in time and threw her to the ground next to Isaac making Scarlett smirk.

"Does anyone wanna try not being completely predictable?" Derek asked, walking away and when he turned around Erica jumped up on him and began making out with him furiously. Scarlett's blood started to boil and her jealousy started to take over even when she saw Derek not returning the kiss in any way. The sight made her want to be sick. That's exactly what she feared was going to happen, maybe even worse, and now she was witnessing it first-hand. Eventually, Derek threw Erica off and she landed on her back. "That's the last time you do that." He said, wiping his lip and eyeing Scarlett who was still seething with rage. She met his eyes and she glared daggers at him despite the fact that it wasn't his fault.

"Why? Cause I'm a beta?" Erica asked, sass lacing her voice.

"Or maybe it's because not everybody wants your hands all over them all the time…" Scarlett suggested bitchily, glaring at Erica as she stood up to face her. Erica gave a humourless laugh as she walked towards Scarlett while everyone else watched.

"You know…I didn't really talk a lot before I turned. Which meant, I heard everything." Scarlett raised an eyebrow, wondering what the hell that had to do with anything. "I don't think you realise just how many times I would overhear a group of boys from the lacrosse team expressing how much they wanted to bang you up against the lockers!" Scarlett jumped slightly as Erica emphasised the word 'bang'. "It's funny how some girls can get all the attention and others… get treated like they're non-existent."

"Erica." Derek warned. Both girls ignored him and Scarlett stood up a little bit taller, taking a step towards Erica.

"The majority of the boys on the lacrosse team are airheads that are only interested in one thing. The things they say aren't worth my time and if they're your goal then you have horrendously low standards." Scarlett said lowly, narrowing her eyes causing Erica to gain an offended look on her face, but Scarlett didn't stop there. "But, by all means, take your pick of them because I couldn't care less just as long as you keep your filthy paws the hell off of my boyfriend." She growled in her face.

"Boyfriend?" Erica and Isaac asked at the same time. Erica's face showed pure confusion whereas Isaac's held a mix of confusion and disappointment. When Scarlett realised what she had said she thought that she should be more regretful but the feeling of the weight lifting off of her chest was so much more powerful. She nodded slightly and walked around Erica, whose eyes followed her as she walked straight to Derek, grabbed him by the back of the neck and kissed him with everything she had. He returned the kiss, pulling her closer to him by wrapping his arms around her waist as she wrapped hers around his neck.

"Boyfriend." She concluded once she had pulled back, eyes filled with happiness as she looked at Derek. That was it. She had established what he was to her. They were together and people would know. And the best part was that she didn't care; she figured that Scott knew anyway and he was the biggest obstacle in why they were keeping their relationship secret so…what the hell? Derek's eyes mirrored Scarlett's but instead of saying anything he just kissed her again.

"What the hell?" Erica said, making them pull apart again.

"So…now that you two are all happy, are we done?" Isaac asked, masking his bummed-out mood. "Cause I have about a hundred bones that need a few hours to heal." He groaned.

Derek gave a mock-sympathetic look, taking his arm from around Scarlett's waist and leaving her to walk over to Isaac and crouch down next him. He took Isaac's arm and pretended to examine it. "Here?"

"Uh-huh." Derek then bent Isaac's arm backwards, breaking another bone and making him cry out in pain. Scarlett cringed and she immediately felt horrible.

"Hundred and one. You think I'm teaching you how to fight? Huh? Look at me!" Derek shouted at Isaac. The other three faces around the room were very solemn yet frightened. Derek really did have a temper. "I'm teaching you how to survive!" He got up and walked away slightly.

"If they wanted us dead then why aren't they coming for us now? What are they waiting for?" Isaac panted, obviously still in pain.

"I don't know. But they're planning something and you especially know that's not our only problem. Whatever that thing is that killed Isaac's father, I think it killed someone else last night. And until I find out what it is, you three need to learn everything that I know…as fast as I can teach you." Derek said, grabbing Scarlett's hand and leading her into the subway car.

As soon as they were inside, Derek had her pinned up against the side crushing their lips together hotly. In a way, this was him relieving stress. Instead of going on a violent rampage he was ravishing Scarlett with kisses. Albeit, he was being a little rough but she wasn't complaining. In fact, she was enjoying it and being rough back by nipping his lip with her teeth and clawing at his arms. She ignored the fact that Erica had kissed him only minutes before but subconsciously she was making sure her kisses were much better. He threaded his hands through her hair and yanked it so that he had better access to her neck. She gave a light moan as he began working at her neck, doing everything she loved.

"We need to talk…" Her sentence trailed off and she gave a yelp and then another moan as he nipped at the sensitive spot on her neck. He stopped what he was doing and looked up at her.

"Then talk." He said simply before going back to work on her neck. Scarlett rolled her eyes but began talking anyway.

"Scott knows…about us." She told him wearily, not too keen on breaking the mood.

"Never mind. Don't talk. We can talk about that later but right now…" He said quietly as he moved his hands up her thighs and into the skirt of her dress. He was right, talking about the whole Scott situation right now would just be awkward so Scarlett pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind and let the sensational feeling of Derek's hands on her skin take over. He looked up at her with a smirk as his fingers hooked in the waistband of her underwear, pulling them down her legs so that she could step out of them. Once they were completely off, he stood back up and moved his hands up her body, over her dress, to her breasts. He kissed the tops of them as he squeezed roughly, eliciting a low moan from her. Kissing his way back up her neck and across her jaw, he eventually returned to her lips and they made out fervently. While they kissed, she managed to unzip his jeans and take him out before he picked her up so that she could hook her legs tightly around his waist and then bunched her skirt up around her hips and immediately thrust into her, making her gasp into his mouth. Scarlett screwed her eyes shut, locking her hands into his hair while she allowed the pleasure to take her over. They kept kissing, not allowing the moans to escape either of them. Her eyes opened again when he grabbed the back of her neck and ran his thumb along her jaw as his mouth latched onto her neck again, sucking harshly at the soft skin.

As it turns out, Scarlett didn't actually mind fucking up against a wall as much as she assumed she would. She actually revelled in the feeling. It was different from the other times they had had sex. It was rougher and seemed more casual but not careless. It still held all the loving emotions they had for each other, it was just both of their more primal instincts taking over.

"Derek…" Scarlett whimpered as she grew close to the edge. He growled possessively in her ear, speeding up his pace making her bite his shoulder as to not start moaning uncontrollably. She didn't stay like that for long because Derek urged her back up so that he could look at her. There was so much raw and fiery passion in her eyes as he looked into them. She looked so beautiful; hair a wild mane around her, lips swollen, repeating his name like a prayer. He leaned in towards her and captured her lips with his and the fire that came with the kiss was enough to throw her over the edge completely. Her body shook with delight as the orgasm washed over her. His followed shortly after and when they were both spent they looked into each other's eyes, both of them realising that that had been there first time having sex as an official couple. They remained silent and kissed again soundly before Derek pulled out of her and set her down. She wobbled a bit, holding onto his shoulder for support.

"You okay?" He asked cautiously, searching her face for any signs of pain.

Scarlett laughed it off. "Yeah, no, I'm fine." Admittedly it had hurt her. More than usual but she didn't want to tell him that and she didn't really care either because that was definitely worth the pain. She decided to steer the conversation in another direction as she found her panties and began putting them back on. "So, you said you think that thing killed again?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was the local mechanic." Derek told her, zipping up his jeans.

"Oh, what a shame." She said sympathetically. They really needed to find out what's doing this and- "Did you say the mechanic?" Her head snapped towards him. He looked at her and nodded. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped. "Oh my God."

"What is it?" Then he seemed to connect the dots as well and he gave her a look. "Scar…"

"I have to go." She said quickly, heading out of the subway car. Isaac, Erica and Boyd were all gone, probably all away to school. Oh shit. She had completely forgotten about school.

"Scarlett, would you wait a second." Derek called after her as he followed her out. Once she had picked up her forgotten bag she turned and gave him an apologetic smile.

"I really have to go." She apologised sincerely. He gave her another look that made her feel slightly bad for rushing out so she quickly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him shortly. "I-" She stopped herself from saying the words that were about to tumble out of her mouth. She ignored the butterflies that she got from even thinking about saying it. "I'll see you later." Removing her arms from his neck she rushed away from him and up the stairs.

Derek stood, watching her as she went, stumped again by the whirlwind that was Scarlett McCall. He knew what she had stopped herself from saying. And part of him was glad she hadn't said it and part of him silently wished she had. He knew how he felt about her. And he knew how she felt about him. How much they both needed each other in their lives and yet…if they started admitting that one thing that was always there in the back of their minds, they would have a dangerous storm on their hands that neither one of them was prepared for.

Scarlett knocked on the door furiously, looking around again as she waited anxiously. Finally, the door opened.

"Mary!" Scarlett cried as she flung herself at the girl who was already in tears. "I'm sorry! I'm so so sorry!" She said, hugging Mary tightly as Mary began sobbing even harder. When Scarlett finally let go, Mary looked up with puffy, red-rimmed eyes.

"Come on in." She said, wiping at her eyes and gesturing into the house. Scarlett gave her a sympathetic look, school could wait she thought as she walked in. "Coffee?" Mary asked as she shuffled into the kitchen.

"Um, yeah sure." Scarlett answered, looking around the living room to see a few members of Mary's family and some of her friends.

"I'll get it Mary, you sit down." Mary's sister said as she escorted Mary back to the couch.

"My, my. Scarlett, look how you've grown honey. You're even more beautiful than when I last saw you." Mary's mother, Carrie, said as she stood up to greet Scarlett with a hug.

"It's good to see you Mrs Sullivan." Scarlett told her with a twinge of sadness to her tone.

"You too sweetie. I just wish it was for a happier occasion." Scarlett nodded and took a seat across from Mary and her mother. When Mary's sister returned with the coffee, Scarlett took it gratefully.

"Do they-" Scarlett swallowed. "Do they know what happened to him?"

"They're not sure exactly-"

"He was crushed by a jeep." Mary said heartbrokenly, interrupting her mother. It was strange seeing Mary like that. Scarlett had only ever seen her happy and full of love and smiles and now…now she just looked so tired. Like she hadn't slept at all. And how could anyone blame her? Her fiancée had just died, well he'd actually been murdered but not many people knew that. Tucker had been the love of Mary's life. He had been the one for her and they were so in love. Mary was always telling Scarlett about how as soon as they were married they were going to start trying for kids and then they would settle down and raise their family together. Mary had always beamed at the thought of becoming a mom, said she couldn't wait for the day. The day when she and Tucker would become parents and watch their children grow up as they grew old and now, that was all just a fantasy. Scarlett thought about losing Derek and she shivered, getting a sickly feeling within her. Pushing the morbid thoughts away quickly she turned to Mary.

"I can't even imagine what you must be going through Mary, but I want you to know that I'm here for you, no matter what." Scarlett offered her a smile and Mary nodded and attempted a smile that looked more like a wince.

"Thank you Scar, it means a lot. And so does all of you being here," Mary said to the rest of the small group of people. "Tucker would've loved the attention." She laughed to herself. "He wouldn't have loved to see me such a wreck though."

Scarlett closed her eyes and took another sip of the coffee as her heart broke a little more for Mary.

"Stiles!" Scarlett exclaimed when he accidently ran into her as she was turning a corner in the hall.

"Scarlett…" He trailed off, seeming to remember something. "I uh, I actually have…something I need to do…" He tried to walk away but Scarlett caught his arm and pulled him back.

"He told you." It wasn't a question, more like statement.

Stile sighed and nodded. "Of course he told me."

"And, are you mad at me?"

"Not as mad as he is." He admitted.

Scarlett frowned and started biting the nail of her thumb out of bad habit. "It's not- it's not that bad right? I mean, he'll forgive me…won't he?"

Stiles looked at her with raised brows. "Wh- uh, Scarlett, you screwed Derek. Derek. Derek Ha-"

"Yeah, I know who he is." Scarlett snapped, wanting him to just tell her already instead of going on and on about how her and Derek were a bad idea.

"And then you told Scott about it…" Stiles said obviously. "Explicitly!" He added on.

"So what do you think he's most mad about? The actual deed, or me telling him about it?"

"My guess is both with equal measure…well, maybe the whole doing part of it a little bit more. That was just- uh, Derek? Really?" Stiles asked with shiver.

Scarlett couldn't help but smirk. "Really." She told him, remembering that she and Derek were an official thing now before walking away to leave him to get back to…whatever it was that had him running about the school.

The crowd cringed collectively as the beast from the other team knocked down yet another one of Beacon's lacrosse players. The cheerleader's booed again. It wasn't looking good for their team. Not with…whoever the hell that guy was, taking out all of their players.

"Come on! Is that thing even a teenager?! I wanna see a birth certificate!" Coach shouted in anger and frustration.

Scarlett bit her lip as she watched more and more players get knocked down, some of them looking like they might have serious injuries. She wished that Scott could do something but of course, at the same time, she didn't want to risk him showing unnatural displays of strength with Gerard Argent watching the game. That would not end well.

"We're still short one player, Coach!" Someone shouted, making Coach Finstock curse.

"Where's Stilinksi? Where's Stilinksi?!" He shouted. Scarlett looked around and when she noticed Stiles missing from the bench she figured he must be up to something. He was always up to something. And just because she wasn't on speaking terms with Scott didn't mean that she had to be kept out of the loop.

"I'll be right back." Scarlett whispered to Taylor, handing over her pompoms.

"Where are you going?" Taylor hissed. "If Brooke sees you're gone then you're dead." Scarlett looked over to see Brooke was flirting with some random guy.

"I don't think she'll notice. Besides, I won't be gone that long anyway." She said, walking off and away from the field, up to the school where she assumed Stiles had gone.

When she was inside the school she kept looking around but didn't see any sign of him. "Stiles!" She called out.

"Scar?" She heard him ask.

"Yeah!" She called again, not really sure where his voice had come from.

"In here- ah, ah…" She sped up her pace when she heard him let out a pain-filled noise.

"Stiles?!" Nearing the Principal's Office, she found the door open and the keys in it but there was no Stiles. She followed the slight sounds of his pain, and the sound of heels clicking against the floor and she ended up going to the pool. "Stiles?" She asked, rounding the corner. She saw him standing there, facing Derek and Erica. Well, that explains the heels. Stiles turned and gave her a worried look. "What the hell?"

Scarlett walked forward to stand next to Stiles, with a confused expression. "Ask your boyfriend." Stiles said, jerking his head towards Derek.

Derek looked at both of them before settling his intimidating gaze on Stiles. "Stiles…What did you see at the mechanics garage?" Scarlett's eyes snapped to Stiles. Had he been there when Tucker was killed?

"Uh, several alarming EPA violations that I'm seriously considering reporting." Stiles said.

"Wait, you were there?" Scarlett asked.

"Wish I wasn't." He muttered before looking back at Derek and Erica who had started laughing humourlessly. Derek looked at the basketball he had in his hands and then made it deflate by using his claws. "Holy God…" Derek let the crumpled ball fall to the ground.

"Let's try that again." He said. And all the while, Scarlett and Erica had been glaring at each other like they were ready to tackle the other to the ground at any moment.

"I wanna know it was." Scarlett said, directing her statement at Stiles even though she hadn't taken her eyes away from the smirking blonde.

"Alright, the thing was pretty slick looking. Um, skin was dark…kinda patterned, uh, I think I actually saw scales. Is that enough?" Stiles asked. When Derek just continued to look at him Scarlett sighed.

"Just, tell them more Stiles so we can get out of here before I get kicked off the squad." She said, looking around anxiously now that Erica had turned her stare to Stiles.

"Okay, fine. Eyes, eyes are…yellowish. It has a lot of teeth," Scarlett watched as Derek and Erica's eyes turned upwards and she narrowed her eyes. "Oh and it has a tail too. Are we good? What? Wait, have you seen it? Because you have this look like you know exactly what I'm talking about." There was a hiss behind them and Scarlett slowly turned around and looked up.

"What…the hell is that?" She asked slowly. The reptilian looking monster let out a loud shriek making Scarlett and Stiles jump backwards.

Derek quickly pulled Scarlett's arm so that she was close to him and when the thing jumped down he shoved her behind him as he growled at it. The thing took out Erica first, throwing her against the wall so that she fell unconscious. Derek turned and pushed Scarlett towards Stiles. "Run!" The thing took a swing at the back of his neck and cut it quickly.

"Derek!" Scarlett shrieked.

"Your neck…" Stiles explained. Derek gave them both a confused look, feeling for the back of his neck where the creature had made an almost perfect incision. He started to fall so Stiles quickly grabbed him, making sure he didn't hit the ground. They started running; well Stiles did as best he could while trying to hold up Derek who couldn't move. Scarlett quickly followed behind them but the thing's tail swished out, hitting the back of her legs with a tremendous force making her fall.

"Shit." She swore as she hit the ground. She'd cut her hands bracing herself and she'd also hurt her ankle a little more, making her wince. This was just not her week.

"Scarlett?" Both Stiles and Derek called out at the same time.

"I'm good." She assured them, getting up and leaving small smears of blood on the floor.

"N-Stiles!" Scarlett's head snapped towards Derek as he fell into the pool. She gasped and then watched as Stiles jumped in after him, bringing him back up. Scarlett let out a breath of relief and silently thanked Stiles.

"Scarlett! My phone, get my phone!" Stiles told her from the pool. She nodded and made for Stiles' phone where he had dropped it but the reptilian creature, whatever it was, appeared in front of her hissing horribly in her face making her let out a scream.

"Scarlett!" Derek shouted, his voice full of worry. Stuck in a pool, paralyzed, he was pretty much useless and all he could do was rely on Stiles to keep him from drowning and watch Scarlett back away from the thing as it advanced towards her.

Scarlett slowly walked backwards, keeping her eyes locked on the creature. When she was almost at the wall and away from the pool it turned and went towards the water again. She corked a brow at it as it hissed and jerked away from the water when it touched it.

"I don't think it can swim." Stiles concluded. The thing made for Scarlett again and when she was completely flat against the wall it just stared at her. It went extremely close to her face and she turned her head, letting out a small whimper, sure that she was about to die. She looked back again and it had backed up slightly, eyes curious. It was almost as if it knew her somehow and that freaked her out beyond belief. "The pool Scarlett! Jump in the pool!" She heard Stiles yell at her.

"I can't! And I can't get this uniform wet!" She yelled back, keeping herself pressed against the wall as the scaly, green creature kept staring at her.

"Scarlett!" Derek shouted this time. "Your uniform won't matter if you're dead! Now jump into the pool!"

The creature looked back towards the two in the pool and shrieked at them. Scarlett sucked in a sharp breath, taking this as her only opportunity...when the thing turned back to her she lifted her leg and kicked it in the side of the head as hard as she could, throwing it off for a second and giving her just enough time to run for the pool and dive gracefully into it, swimming towards Derek and Stiles.

"Nice kick." Stiles complimented.

"Thank you." She in an out of breath reply. Her heart was still pounding despite the fact that for all intents and purposes, they were safe.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked, checking her over with his eyes.

"Yeah, just a few cuts and a month's worth of nightmares to look forward too." Scarlett let out a weak laugh.

"Okay, I don't think I can do this much longer." Stiles said, his mouth going under the water slightly. His eyes moved to his phone that was still sitting at the edge of the pool.

"No, Stiles. Don't even think about it!" Derek warned him.

"Could you just trust me this once."

"No!"

"I'm the one keeping you alive." Stiles countered. "Have you noticed that?"

"Yeah, and when the paralysis wears off, who's gonna be able to fight that thing you or me?" Derek asked. Scarlett watched the both of them bickering back and forth and she raised a brow, apparently they'd just forgotten about her existence.

"Oh yeah and that's why I've been holding you up all this time?"

"You don't trust me…I don't trust you." Derek told Stiles. "And you need me to survive which is why you're not letting me go."

"Um, guys?" Scarlett asked, her voice sounding a little further away.

"What?" They both looked to where she had previously been but instead she was already at the edge of the pool, holding up Stiles' phone and quickly swimming away from the scaly creature as it continued to prowl near the edge after attempting to claw her.

"Here." Scarlett said, handing the phone to Stiles as he let go of Derek so that Scarlett could take his place in holding him up. Stiles dialled Scott's number and they all waited for him to answer.

"Well, this is definitely not how I imagined us being in a pool together…" Scarlett thought. "I said that out loud, didn't I?" She blushed furiously at her own stupidity.

"Yeah." Derek told her. There was a slight pause between them as Stiles started talking to Scott. "It's not how I imagined it either." Scarlett looked at Derek and grinned, biting her lip.

"Well, that was a bust." Stiles said, throwing his phone away in the water and helping Scarlett with Derek again. After a while longer the both of them started struggling to stay above water. "I can't stay up any longer; I need something to hold on to."

Scarlett and Stiles both looked at the diving bored that had handles on it and they began swimming towards it, pulling Derek along with them. Stiles made a grab for it but couldn't reach it and then suddenly all three of them were yanked out of the water one at a time and were thrown onto the floor.

Scarlett lay flat on the tiles taking heavy breaths as she heard Scott let out a roar. The creature appeared out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground, throwing him into a mirror. When she had gathered the strength to move again, Scarlett crawled over to Derek who was trying to sit up by this point. She helped him move so that he was leaning on the diving board as the two of them watched Scott and the creature circle each other. Scott held up a shard of the mirror to it and it just stared into its own reflection until it hissed and jumped away up to the roof and swung out of the glass at the top. Derek and Scarlett shared a look before they both looked at Scott with confused expressions.

"We need to get the USB drive from Gerard's keys." Scott said standing up and walking over to help Stiles. Scarlett quickly got to her feet as well and tried to reach for Scott.

"Scott-" Her voice was broken and she looked down as he ignored her and walked away with Stiles. Well, at least he didn't let her drown…that was a good thing.

"He'll forgive you eventually." Derek told her quietly once he was standing up. She nodded but she wasn't convinced herself. He sighed and tilted her chin upwards so that she was looking at him. "He will." He bent down to kiss her chastely. His hands moved to the sides of her face as the kiss became fiercer. She put her hands on his wrists and slowly pulled away, looking up at him. The drops of water on her lashes somehow made her eyes look like they were shining brighter than usual. She smiled slightly and took her hands away, examining her palms. There were only a few cuts on them but they still stung. When Derek noticed he took her hands and looked at the cuts before softly pressing his lips to each palm. His caring side was showing again and it filled Scarlett with so much warmth to know that he was only like that with her. He pulled her in for a hug and she clung to him tightly, ignoring the uncomfortableness of their wet clothing against one another. He kissed her forehead before the two of them started walking towards Erica who was slowly sitting up, rubbing her head. Scarlett stood back a bit as she watched Derek help her up.

"Where is it?" Erica asked, seeming to still be a little out of it.

"Gone. Let's go." Derek said walking back to Scarlett and falling into step with her as they headed outside. They walked towards Scott and Stiles who were looking at Scott's laptop.

"How are we supposed to find out what this thing is?" Scott asked in frustration.

"It's called a kanima." Derek said, causing Scarlett to look at him strangely. How the hell did he know?

"You knew the whole time." Stiles said with a sigh.

Derek shook his head. "No. I only realised when it was confused by its own reflection."

"It doesn't know what it is." Scott realised, not failing to notice how close his sister and Derek were. He ignored it the best he could and stopped his anger from taking over him.

"Or who."

"What else do you know?" Stiles asked.

"Just stories…rumours." Derek said.

"So…is it like you guys then?" Scarlett asked, trying to connect some of the dots.

"A shape shifter, yes, but it's- it's not right." Derek answered, glancing at her before looking back at Scott and Stiles. "It's like a…"

"An abomination." Stiles filled in. Derek nodded to him but didn't say anything; instead he and Erica turned and started to walk away.

"Derek!" Scott called him back. "We need to work together on this. Maybe even tell the Argent's."

"You trust them?" Derek asked, incredulous.

"Nobody. Trusts. Anyone." Scott's eyes flickered to Scarlett for a second as he said that and she looked away, not liking what he was implying. "That's the problem! While we're here, arguing about who's on what side, there is something stronger and faster than any of us running around and it's killing people. And we still don't know anything about it!"

"I know one thing." Derek said, beginning to turn around. "When I find it…I'm gonna kill it."

When he and Erica were gone, Scarlett turned back to Scott and Stiles. "Do you want me to ride in the back?"

"Whatever." Scott muttered, shaking his head.

Stiles raised his eyebrows, sensing the awkwardness. "Okay then…I'll see you guys later." He said, walking off to his jeep while Scarlett got in the back of the car and Scott got into the front, driving off towards the hospital so that they could pick up Melissa.

"Scott, I really think we should talk about this." Scarlett said from the backseat. Despite the fact that she wasn't the only one who said some harsh things, she was still willing to be the bigger person and work things out with Scott. She didn't want to be on bad terms with him, especially not now but she also didn't want to have to give up Derek to be on good terms with him.

"There's nothing to talk about. What's done is done." Scott told her blankly.

Scarlett shook her head. "If you really believe that then why are you so mad at me?"

"Because, Scarlett. You made a choice. A very stupid choice and I-I don't know how to forgive you for that. He's not a good person and you just willingly hopped into bed with him like it was nothing."

"That's not true Scott. It wasn't nothing. It was something. To me and to him. And, you know what? You should be able to understand this! You say that we shouldn't be together but never once have I said to you that you shouldn't be with Allison. Even though I'm scared as hell that everyday might be the day that you and her slip up and her family catches you, strings you up and cuts you in half! Why is Derek and I being together such a bad thing when the girl you're in love with comes from a whole freaking family of werewolf hunters that are out to get your ass? How is my relationship dangerous in any way compared to yours?"

"Because you're my little sister!" Scott exclaimed. "I'm supposed to protect you and letting you be with- with Derek? That isn't protecting you. That's putting your life in danger! All he cares about is power. Getting what he wants, making his pack and taking out enemies! He doesn't care about anything else! Not about you, not about anything!"

Scarlett sighed and looked out the window, not letting Scott's words affect her. He couldn't change the way she felt about Derek and who was he to say if Derek cared about her or not? All Scott had ever seen was the tough side of Derek. The side that wanted to get things done at whatever cost…Scarlett, on the other hand, had chipped away at his threatening exterior enough that she had revealed the other side of him, the side that only she got to see. "You're wrong."

Scott didn't say anything else as he pulled up to the hospital and got out. Scarlett stayed in the back looking out of the window until she saw someone stab Scott out of the blue making her gasp loudly in shock and cover her mouth. She moved so that she was able to see who it was without being seen herself and she saw that Gerard was the one who had put the knife into her brother. She stared at Scott with wide eyes and he silently told her to stay put. He looked as if he was in so much pain and at the same time he was trying to put on a brave face and listen to whatever Gerard was saying. Scarlett tried to hear what was being said but it was no use considering he was basically talking in a whisper. She stayed hidden the best she could, continuously twisting her hands together in anxiety. She looked out the windshield and saw her mom walking towards the car. When she looked back to Scott, Gerard was gone and Scott was left clutching his wounded stomach.

"Are you okay?" She heard Melissa asked when she opened the door.

"I'm fine. Everything's fine." Scott answered.