Betaing is hard work, I know some people genuinely love doing it to help others improve and because they enjoy editing. This just turned out into such a long story and that means more work than most stories, so I understand that one might want to help but feels overwhelmed. If you really want to help just a little bit, there is a link in my profile leading to chapters already posted on gdoc. There you can nit-pick anything you want or ask me questions about parts of the story that I better clarify.
Or go to my A03 profile and leave comments for individual chapters if you just have a quick question. It's much easier to answer there, or you can e-mail / pm me with them. I love helping out with any confusion as it also tells me where to improve. Ops sorry this got so long .. on with the chapter.
Chapter 29 Monday Monday, the 2nd AprilWhen Lydia woke up, she was alone in Peter's bed: as she had been after every night that they had spend together. It felt as if he had been up for quite some time already. Lydia still couldn't believe how little either of this bothered her. Not the sleeping together part or the morning where Peter seemed very eager to flee from her side.
After all that happened last night, it was probably not a bad thing for her to have some space. The entire sunday had been an up and down trip of crazy events. The most important thing, however, was the progress she had made: not letting Peter intimidate her so easily anymore, standing up for herself and getting a much better handle on navigating her dreams.
While her second attempt during the night to remove Peter from her dreams hadn't been successful either, she had handled his second, unpleasant intrusion with much more grace. Part of her still shuddered a bit just thinking about the scene Peter had recreated after they had gone to bed.
Instead of the field, he'd chosen her bedroom as the location for their second training ground. It was a terrifyingly accurate flashback to the week before her sixteenth birthday, when Peter had finally spelled out what he wanted her to do for him. Lydia lived through that dream scenario with painstaking awareness. Remembering in vivid detail just how much power Peter had held over her then.
Lydia would have done everything he'd asked of her just to get back her peace of mind.
It was easier for her to sense the difference between the parts of the dream that belonged to her and those that Peter had brought with him. It helped with the coping and as cruel as it seemed, it was certainly not done to hurt her. There was a method to what Peter did: the recollection helped Lydia to harvest her anger. The kind of strong emotion she might learn to wield as a weapon in her mind.
After all their conversation last night, Lydia had at least an idea what to try.
She had understood that it wasn't actually Peter's likeness she needed to get rid of but his presence inside her dream. This presence was what she was pushing against with her anger. As before she didn't feel any effect. Peter was gaining on her inside the dream. Separated only by her bed cover which he was lying on top of. He hadn't wasted much time and placed a clawed hand threateningly against her cheek. Another reminder of what had happened the first time around. Despite feeling strongly she still seemed unable to use that against him. The only comfort she had was that this time around she wasn't crying.
Peter looked at her curious as he turned her face towards him, she saw his smile. Lydia wondered if it was because of her failed attempts or if he noticed that at least in round two she was not nearly as out of her mind with fear as before. Fear was actually not the problem. While she hadn't counted on this scenario to play through again, Lydia had expected something like this.
It occurred to her that she did focus on driving him out, it wasn't doing anything but she could feel herself pushing. Like twisting a knife in the crack of a door trying to break it open: the lock is firm, the knife bends and bends and the person pushing is feeling the exhaustion. Which meant either she had to collapse from the efforts or something else had to give.
Naturally, something entirely different happened.
Peter had decided that obviously more inappropriate behaviour on his part needed to happen. As he came that much closer to her face, his fingers brushed through her hair until they settled in her neck. For a moment, it seemed her push got more forceful. Until he kissed her. Her lips were pressed tightly together from her focusing way too hard but that changed within seconds.
There was just one heartbeat of hesitation and her mouth loosened. She felt the soft touch of his lips all over hers and while she wasn't kissing back, a pleasant tingle ran through her body. Lydia pressed her hand against his chest as soon as her head cleared enough to realise what was happening.
All that well cultivated anger had fallen from her mind. At least the anger directed at him. Lydia couldn't believe that this didn't caused her to feel more anger at him. Instead she was on the verge of responding. It cost her so much willpower not to kiss him and that made her angry again. She was angry with herself. Lydia knew this was just a dream, but even in here Peter couldn't control how she felt.
It was her reaction and it was so out of line.
With one hand doing a lame symbolic gesture of pretending to keep him away, her other one was free for an equally unhelpful attempt: Lydia tried to slap him. If not for unwanted kissing then at least for an unasked one. She hoped that it was her saving grace and that Peter couldn't read her body with the same precision as in the real world, but he caught her hand easily.
"I don't think this is how it works." Peter drew back and looked at her.
He held onto her wrist and that smug look on his face. It was as if he was mocking her useless efforts and that got her head back into the game. Lydia was angry and his touch alone made her pulse race. This had to stop and she felt something pouring out of her forcefully. As Peter's grip tightened on her arm Lydia felt a change inside her.
His presence began to fade. For all visual purposes he was sitting there, holding onto her wrist - but everything else was gone. This wasn't her room anymore, their surrounding came now from her own mind and ironically her mind projected Peter's bedroom into the dream.
"I didn't expect that." Lydia looked around.
Peter looked impressed though. "It's progress."
A weak nod was all she could muster as a response, it was like now that it was over, a certain level of tiredness took over her. Lydia wanted to keep trying but it became obvious that she was not going to get Peter out of her dream like that. Even though the way he kept looking at her was kind of infuriating.
"What?" she asked him.
He shrugged. "I just find it interesting that you purged most of my influence on your dream, but not me."
Lydia's eyes narrowed. "I'm getting there."
His answer was a sigh but he let go off her wrist. At least until he had time to put it back in a less possessive manner by placing his palm on the back of her hand. "You know, I'm not really that fond of the idea of you being able to get rid of me like that."
"Expecting to need someone to resurrect you again?" Lydia tried to remain firm.
She could not help but feel that there was something more to his statement, but either way, it could not be anything good.
"Hopefully not - especially if my pack keeps growing." Peter tilted his head. "Who knows, maybe we can convince your friends that there's no need to be enemies."
"Maybe," she replied reluctantly.
The last phone conversation with Stiles was still weighing heavy on her mind. Whatever was going on with him, it was infuriating her even more than anything Peter had done this evening. Which was insane but Lydia wanted her friend's support and not accusations for making the best out of the current situation.
She kept thinking about Peter advising her not to be too detailed about their arrangements. Which was a good point. Only angry as she was, it was tempting to reveal everything. Lydia knew she needed to get her head in the game for later. Looking around in the empty bed, she wondered how late it was.
The sun was up, even though the blends were down, that much was obvious.
Yoon had called late the night before but with rather good timing, as Dirty Dancing had been over and she had Peter were about to go to bed. She went ahead to the bedroom and let them handle the arrangements. Whatever concerns Peter had about meeting with her friends, he would take precautions and those were not really her problem.
What she needed to do was difficult enough: Convince her friends that they needed to work together, that she was reasonably safe with Peter and not to make things worse between her and Stiles. The latter of course could blow over with just the wrong word and those seemed to fall in abundance lately. For a while she thought not having anyone listening to her was the worst, lately she had discovered being listened to and then being overheard was much worse.
Although that was technically not listening either.
Lydia decided she might as well get up and ready. Without bothering to check what Peter was up to, she selected some clothes for the day and went into the bathroom to get ready. If she was honest, she adored this bathroom. It was much more comfortable and spacey than her own. Not that she would admit that to Peter or anyone.
In no particular hurry, she showered, dried off her hair, treated her skin to some moisturizer and finally got dressed. Somewhere during the last two steps her mood took a small dive as she imagined Stiles complaining about her not looking miserable, maybe she felt bad about feeling fine. Which was upsetting enough.
Not that she did not still bear the marks of the past days: There were still the faint bruises on her wrists, the small cut on her lip and the fading strangulation marks from Deucalion grabbing her throat. Most of the time she didn't even think about them. Sometimes she caught Peter looking at her neck but it was always just for a split second. There was no fuzzing about it from him and this was making her feel less uncomfortable about the marks.
To avoid more exposure, she had decided on a turtle neck shirt for the meeting which was also conveniently long sleeved. The pale blue shirt matched quite nicely with the black skirt with the small rose pattern on it. Lydia made the rest of her presentable, by fixing her hair and her makeup, before investigating what schedule they had and if there was breakfast ahead.
Her appetite was bigger today than it had been for the past week.
Stepping into the living room, she found Peter leaning over the kitchen counter, looking into the book about the ritual killings. It seemed like he was almost through with it. When he heard her, he turned around.
"I see you're ready." Peter let his gaze wander about her body.
Lydia put her right hand on her hip. "How about: Good morning? Did you sleep well? How about some breakfast?"
He just shook his head and smiled. "Just because we're currently living like a married couple, we don't need to engage in the banalities of it."
Something clearly bugged him today, because so far he had not exactly been opposed to the breakfast thing and Lydia was sure he had once or twice said something like good morning to her.
"Here, I thought, talking is what married couples don't do." Lydia walked closer towards him.
"They do in the honeymoon phase, and then for a while I think," he shrugged and put bookmark into the heavy volume. "But as far as breakfast goes, and due to the lack of groceries, I thought we might eat at the mall."
Since the couple talk did not appeal to Lydia at all, she was glad to switch to the mall as a talking point. Without a clock in this damn apartment or her cell phone, she was at a loss for time. "Is it already time for the meeting?"
"No." Peter shook his head. "But I'm cautious and I want to be there early to make sure nobody is getting any funny ideas. Rubèn and Naira should have already arrived to stake it out. I thought, once we've eaten, you and her can do a bit of shopping, while Rubèn and I are on the lookout."
"You're worried."
Now, she understood Peter's strange mood, it was so obvious. He was sceptical about the meeting and how it would expose him to a number of potential enemies. The others might be planning something that could create a truckload of problems. Two weeks ago, Lydia would have said, that they wouldn't do anything that could interfere with putting an end to the killings. With all that was said so far, the impression was that anything could happen.
"Present company excluded, I'm not really looking forward to place my trust in the hair wired actions of teenagers," Peter said, his voice filled with an underlying tension.
Of course, the way her friends reacted was closely tied to Peter using her poorly for his personal gain. It was no good pointing that out, what was done was done. Maybe Peter could have helped just as much if he hadn't been engaging in his own nefarious schemes. They would never know.
"What's the worst that could happen? They're not going to try anything. They barely even call the police when it actually would make sense." Lydia leaned against the kitchen counter to look at him.
"I suppose, you're right about that," he said, tilting his head in her direction. "But I hate surprises."
For a few moments they just stood there, looking at each other and then Peter pulled back. "Shall we head out then?"
Lydia nodded and twenty minutes later, they were heading down to the garage. It had taken them a bit to gather the essentials: money, phones, keys and warm jackets. She had been a bit surprised when Peter handed her the phone they had used to call Stiles several times now. Then she remembered he had this way of getting rid of reception. It was anyway switched off and Lydia dreaded turning it on, wondering how many texts Stiles might have sent her or worse: if he had sent any at all.
All the way to the car, that occupied her thoughts but she couldn't make herself turn on the phone. Instead she thought about other things, like the shopping they would need to do or why the Jaguar looked so clean inside.
"You seem nervous." Peter said as he pulled out of the garage.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Lydia replied, holding the phone in her hand. "I'm not looking forward to more arguments with my friends."
"Yoon had the impression, that Scott was open to talks and Derek, well, he might not always do what's best but he'll listen," Peter pointed out.
"What about Allison?" Lydia wondered if her friend knew about the meeting or if they simply did not tell her anything.
Peter let out an annoyed breath. "Everyone agreed it was better not to invite her. Which of course doesn't mean that she won't find out another way."
It would be easier with one angry person less being there. Lydia had not forgotten how upset Allison had been during their last phone call. Once all this had blown over, Lydia would have to take Allison aside. She hoped that part of the tension would be solved once Peter did manage to stop that Zombie thing. Either way, Lydia had learned a lot about her her banshee powers, Allison should be thrilled about that at least.
"Even if she knew, it's not like she can do anything?" Lydia let the phone sink.
Meeting her gaze, Peter shrugged once. "The thing with the Argent women is: they're all insane. Why do you think I felt so strongly about Scott taking her down: there's no telling what she might do."
A big frown appeared on her face. "That's my best friend you're talking about."
The look he gave her was very unsettling. It had elements of that one time when she had purposefully answered a question at school wrong and the teacher had her called out on it but also that time when her mother had caught the sophomore sneaking out of her room.
"Remind me again, why are you friends with her? In all those years, there had to be someone better to choose!"
Lydia pouted and for a moment a decisive shrug was all she could muster. Apart from Jackson there really had never been someone she had hung out with at length. There had been the clubs at school, the usual bunch of admirers and the nagging suspicion that a bff of her own would have sent Jackson into a depression. Maybe she had been afraid that if she brought attention to another girl, then what had happened with Allison and Jackson would have happened sooner.
The question iWhy Allison?/i wasn't something Lydia could answer. It had been like some higher power had dragged that new girl into Lydia's path and divined that she was to make her her new best friend. There certainly had been other girls that shared more interests with Lydia than Allison Argent.
"She just is!" That was really all there was to say, but Lydia felt there was something else she needed to get off her chest. "If she's a bit more irrational lately - it's all on you. Once she realises I'm okay, she'll settle down."
Peter took the turn to the mall parking lot, merely glancing at her for a few seconds. "As long as she stays out of my path, I don't care how upset she is."
Lydia stared back at the cell phone in her hand, she knew she should check if Stiles wrote, instead of arguing pointlessly with Peter. It was just so much easier to get into a verbal fight. "No surprise there, it's not like you care to begin with what your actions do to other people."
"I care as much about other people as they care about me." Peter's tone was bitter, he stopped to check out a parking space. While putting the gear in reverse, he looked at her. "Actually, I think that's not entirely true." Peter turned his attention to parking the car but continued to talk as if it was not all that important a topic. "After all I did care enough to try and free Derek from the grasps of your best friend and her psycho aunt. I guess, unless that doesn't count for some reason."
That was the just the thing: it shouldn't count. He hadn't really done it for Derek. What Peter had done he did mostly for himself.
"If you want a medal, then try doing something where you're not the main beneficiary," Lydia suggested.
As he stopped the car and pulled out the key, before he smirked at her. "They always say you should try new things."
His reply might have upset her if she had any illusions about him actually caring about bettering himself. Lydia knew she didn't. Peter would not change - it was enough that he wanted to to stop this thing as well. For everything else he had in mind, there would be a better time to do something against it.
"Let's do this," Lydia said as she got out of the car.
The mall was the place she knew best. Even though it was based around where to buy the best clothes and how to spent the time pleasantly. Whatever Peter and his pack figured out was probably far from that.
"We got a bit under three hours before the meeting officially begins," Peter told her.
Lydia turned to look at him. "Meaning you expect the others to show up earlier as well."
He just gave her a knowing smile, before he caught up to her and they entered the mall together. It was at that moment, when they stepped into the busy open space that it occurred to her that someone might actually recognize her. Lydia shuddered to think how they'd perceive Peter at her side. He was so close as if they were together and showed no intention to give her some space.
They were spotted but not by a classmate. Within five minutes of entering the mall, Naira and Rubèn approached them. Lydia figured it was a werewolf pack thing. The previously torn up beta seemed to have recovered. Both seemed in rather good spirits. "Naira and I did a brief check of the area, I don't think anyone of them has been here."
"I didn't expect they would." Peter looked around. "Lydia and I are going to eat breakfast, after that I thought we could leave the girls to do some shopping."
Judging by Naira rolling her eyes, she felt similar about Peter's antiques, but she was actually glad that she could spend some time away from him. Even though Lydia didn't really knew the other woman, it would be nice to have another chance to talk to her, this time away from Peter's way too accurate hearing.
"We'll see about securing an exit route, just in case the meeting goes sour." Rubèn looked towards the second floor balustrade. "I think I've found two spots that would serve as a great lookout."
As if to tell them to get on with their scheming and planning, Lydia's stomach rumbled. Luckily, Peter took it as a hint to say a temporary goodbye to his betas, after which they headed to a little cafe, she had suggested. That was one of the more agreeable points about Peter: while he could argue he didn't bother to do it where trivial matters were concerned.
There was not much going on and they had their breakfast within minutes of having ordered. The hot chocolate and the croissant she had ordered were appeasing her stomach. Lydia wondered if she should say something but she could not think of anything. Instead she used the silence of Peter drinking his coffee and observing their surroundings to pull out that cell phone again.
Lydia felt Peter stopping his observations briefly to look at her but when she just left it lying next to her half-eaten croissant he went back to his observations. It took her five minutes and then she switched it on. There were 14 messages. Lydia stared at the small display in disbelief. As she had begun this, she decided she would not back out again. Besides, if she knew what and when Stiles had texted her, she might be better able to convince him during the meeting today.
The first one was rather benign. I'd be more inclined to believe that this is really your decision if I heard you say that far away from him. The next message read I swear if that creep touches you again I'm going to turn him into ash and litter him across the ocean.
It gradually got nastier, all threats clearly directed at Peter and various parts of his body. Clearly, Stiles was convinced that Peter had her say those things and then tied her back to a chair in the basement. It was probably good she had not eaten that much as she got this uneasy feeling in her stomach just from imagining how upset Stiles might have gotten.
Lydia knew he disliked her putting herself in harm's way. When she had decided to try and save Jackson he had a minor meltdown as well. This indicated Stiles had gone nuclear. It made her feel really bad but at the same time she had no idea what else to do. As long as he kept disregarding what she wanted, it probably did not matter if she was saying it to him alone in a room or being with Peter across town.
Letting out a sigh, Peter's attention to turned to her. "So, Stiles wrote back?"
"Yes, of course he did," she replied, angered by Peter's entirely unaffected tone. "He's made some rather interesting suggestions on what to do with your corpse."
"I've always known the boy had potential." If Peter was phazed by threats he was not showing it. He seemed amused even though there was still some tension left in his body language.
"You're probably right, the less he knows about," she paused as the waitress served on the nearby table, "our arrangement the better."
Peter nodded with a mischievous smile on his face he added: "I assume that your twin won't mention anything that might really set Stiles off. What do you think?"
Somehow she managed not to turn a shade of purple, as Peter dragged up her stupid comment towards Aiden. Lydia was sure he was just teasing her, but the thought of him bringing that up during the meeting, was scarier than being caught saying it. "I think it should never be mentioned again."
A big frown appeared on her face, when he laughed for a moment. "Ok, we keep that between us - for now."
'Yes, that's what you get for making hurtful comments', she thought, but tried to smile. After all Peter needed the others to work with him, he couldn't afford to upset Stiles even more. At least, that's what Lydia hoped. It didn't felt good to have Peter hold this over her. It wasn't like she could just deny it, the other werewolves would realise that her denial was a pretty straightforward lie.
Instead of dignifying his latest comment with an actual reply she finished her croissant and acted as if she didn't care about what Peter had said. She was getting better at it, who knew maybe when this had passed she might be able to talk to Stiles in a quiet moment and explain it to him. That way Peter couldn't hold it over her head.
Lydia kept looking at Peter from time to time and noticed that his attention seemed to be drawn elsewhere. At first she had not been sure but he was listening: not to her or anyone close by. Instead of stupidly asking what he heard, she decided to look around if she saw any sign of danger.
There was nothing out of the ordinary. Just a few people you'd expect to be in a mall on monday morning during Spring Break: a couple of teens, a few moms with babies and small kids, some people who were on their way home from late sunday shift and the occasional person that could not be placed outright: but nobody that seemed sketchy and certainly none of her friends were around.
Turning back to Peter she saw, he had stopped. With a slight shake of his head he got out his wallet and placed money for the breakfast on the table.
"What is it?" Lydia wanted to know. "Is someone here who shouldn't be?"
"No, not really," he said and stood up.
Lydia gathered her handbag from the chair next to her, but she wasn't really willing to get up until she had found out what was going on. Peter didn't seem really rattled but whatever he had heard it wasn't good news either. "There was another killing, was there?"
With a loud crash the waitress who was just clearing a nearby table dropped a tea cup. The noise startled not just them. "Sorry," the young waitress said and hurried off.
"Yes, there was," Peter said as he urged her to move. She got up and they hastily paced down alongside a couple of mostly uninteresting stores. "It struck inside a house," Peter informed her. "Overheard a wife of a deputy gossiping she didn't knew too much though. Just that it was a family of four."
It was unbelievable how calmly he said it, stopping when some shoppers got to close and then naturally picking up the moment they couldn't hear anymore. Lydia had to stop and catch her breath; not because they had been walking terribly fast but because the news made her feel queasy enough to start breathing flat and fast.
At least Peter wasn't telling her to get a grip, he just stopped and even shielded her from the prying eyes of passing shoppers. She felt his hand on her shoulder, but still the thought that it struck so soon and this time inside a house, was unsettling to her. "It's only going to get more aggressive, isn't it?"
He leaned down and whispered into her ear. "It's not yet powerful enough to attack as it would like - hence it carefully chooses its targets - because it knows it'll upset you."
Lydia found herself leaning against Peter who did wrap his arm around her. "I'm not ready yet - not even close."
"You've made amazing strides," he stopped a moment and Lydia heard a mother and a constantly chattering toddler pass by. "If it is rushing, it's because it knows it won't have much time. It also means it's likely to make a mistake."
If only she could see things so dispassionate, Lydia thought. It might be true that it would keep killing anyway and that down the line a lot more people would end up being dead, but it still felt as if those people last night were dead because of her. It was stupid and emotional but she couldn't shake off the feeling.
"Everything okay?"
Lydia stepped back, feeling a sudden embarrassment as she heard Naira's voice and realised that she was pressed tightly against Peter's chest.
"There's been another killing," Peter explained.
"Yeah," Rubèn sighed. "We've heard, it's the number one gossip topic amongst the baby wielding moms." His eye-roll that went along with his last comment gained him a firm push from Naira. He did the same and she followed with another but the push got lighter and then they looked at each other for a moment before holding hands.
"As unfortunate as this is," Peter said, ignoring their behaviour. "We still got the meeting ahead and plenty of time to kill."
"I guess, they're busy with this latest incident and less likely to do anything dumb," Rubèn with a suddenly very serious tone.
He was probably right. If the killing happened last night, then the Sheriff and the FBI were probably busy at the crime scene. That meant if anything was planned against what they had set up with Yoon, it had to involve Allison or maybe the twins, but the latter were a long shot. Allison's dad was out of town with Yoon. A circumstance that clearly upset Peter and Lydia wished she knew the reason behind it. Yoon was after all in no danger from Mr. Argent and looked like she could handle about anything.
"We can only hope that Scott has one of his more brighter episodes," Peter replied. "That boy can be really smart - but then again, he can be really dumb, too."
Lydia sighed, it seemed the only time Scott was acting smart was when he was under duress, then he had the brilliant ideas. The more time he had to think the less that turned out well. So far he had acted a lot more reasonable than Stiles or anyone else, which was most likely due to him not being so invested in who had sex with her. Apart from Scott's grudge against her for not returning Stiles feelings, Scott didn't seem to care for her one way or the other.
"So far there's nothing to indicate that they've got anything planned," Naira told him. "I just hope they kept that crazy girl out of the loop."
"Crazy girl?" Lydia asked, even though she had a pretty good idea who that referred to.
Rubèn sighed. "I know she's your friend but she's walking around town armed and clearly looking to kill someone." He looked at Peter who just shrugged.
If not for that uncomfortable discussion with Allison in her room, Lydia might have thought this was over exaggerated. Then again, Allison had stabbed Isaac a few dozen times, even though it was seldom mentioned, as it was considered in the past and over and done with, it added to a sense of dread. Lydia didn't want Allison out there doing something dumb and violent, but she also knew it was because Allison felt protective of her.
After a moment, Peter suddenly said to her."How about you look for a new phone with Naira while Rubèn and I make sure nothing disturbs our meeting?"
Lydia did not feel much like shopping but getting a new smartphone was a good idea. That cheap cell phone she had been using to call Stiles made sending texts an obstacle and she missed all the distracting little extras her phone had: a touchscreen keyboard, the mp3 player, the videos, internet access and a clock. Especially in the morning it's nice waking up and having something to tell her the time.
"Sure." With an enthusiastic step forward and and positive smile, Lydia hoped that she would get into better spirits. She certainly could use some distraction from that nagging feeling that the Zombie master had targeted those people last night because of her. Peter was right, it was going to kill again - no matter what they did - but she was unable to brush of the feeling of guilt.
Naira signalled her to show her the way. It was obvious that while Naira had scouted the place for enemies and exists, where the best shops were was Lydia's domain still. Even though, electronics store were not really her main focus she knew where to get the best products, too. It was all a matter of research.
Leaving the guys behind fast, Lydia let her to the second floor at the north end, where they had helped her with upgrading her memory card and ordered that special cover she had been looking for.
"So, you ran into Allison?" Lydia wasn't sure if she wanted to know more details, but she was worried about her friend.
Naira laughed softly. "Not really, luckily - we sat in this little café and saw her stalking by, the other werewolf in tow - what's his name …"
"Isaac," she said. It had to be him, there weren't too many werewolves that Allison would be seen with.
"Right, I hope after today, your friends are willing to work with us," Naira clutched her handbag tightly making Lydia wonder what she had in there in case things turned out differently.
"They have to, we need to stop this thing." Lydia sighed. "I don't want to worry about you fighting each other for really stupid reasons."
"Why are your friends so upset with Peter anyway?" Naira asked, sounding genuinely curious. "They've worked with him before, haven't they?"
Lydia knew she shouldn't be surprised that Peter had conveniently not mentioned the part that had gotten everyone so upset. "Did he tell you how he became an alpha again?"
Naira stopped, given that they were at a point that was free of shoppers and allowed them to talk without having to pause in case passer-bys overheard them saying weird stuff. "He said he drafted you into a ritual and took them from Deucalion. - Given what I've heard about him, it's nothing I'd hold against Peter."
"Yeah, not sure the others feel the same about that - but what really upset them was the nature of the ritual. Everyone but me seemed to be deeply traumatised by the fact that we had a threesome," Lydia sighed and looked up at Naira who also looked terribly shocked. "And yes, neither Deucalion or me had a say in it."
Getting slightly uncomfortable by Naira's reaction, Lydia shrugged and turned to walk on. A soft touch on her shoulder stopped her though. "Are you telling me, that Peter raped you?"
Avoiding to look at her directly, Lydia looked up at the decorative window tiled ceiling with all the spring themed decoration. "I guess," she began, "you could say that only I don't feel raped."
There was something in that look Naira gave her, that made her feel like she was about to react the same way as her friends. So Lydia felt she had to explain how she saw the situation. "It's weird, I drank this potion and I was so totally turned on," she shrugged, wondering if she explained it right or if she was just lying to herself. "If I was raped, wouldn't I feel bad about it and not be turned on?"
"You're okay with what he did?" Naira asked as if she couldn't really believe it.
"I'm not okay with it, it just it's not the ritual that bothers me so much as how everyone reacts," Lydia said, shooting a 'go away' glance at a couple that walked towards them. Surprisingly, it worked and the couple made a course correction to towards the other side.
Shaking her head Naira sighed. "Rubèn told me that Peter was slightly amoral but that is …"
Lydia laughed. "Slightly? That's an understatement." She took a deep breath. "But he can stop this thing. Peter also can help me with my powers and not just as it relates to bringing down the zombie thing."
"I get why your friends are so upset, if I hadn't seen you with him back there - I'd think you're in denial - which is probably what your friends are thinking," Naira said slowly.
"Maybe," Lydia sighed again. "I just feel like they should listen to me, what Peter did last spring was so much worse and they had no problems working with him after that."
"Do I even want to know?" Naira raised her eyebrows.
"You know, he was dead and then came back to life?" Lydia ask and after she got a nod from Naira, she continued: "He was haunting my dreams, caused me to hallucinate in class, made me sleepwalk and other stuff that convinced me I was losing my mind."
"That's how you ended up walking naked through the woods," Naira realised and pressed her lips together.
Peter had probably told them most of it but downplayed it. Lydia knew he had a way with words and how to twist situations around. "Yes," she finally said. "I guess I ought to be really mad at him - I sort of am - but I feel it should be up to me to feel outrage or what should be done about it."
"What do you want to be done about it?" Naira asked.
The tone of the question made Lydia feel like Naira understood what she meant. It wasn't like the twins who hoped she would give them the green light to tear Peter limb from limb. It was honest interest in how Lydia felt about it. Whatever her reply was, Lydia knew that it would be between them.
"Oddly enough, I don't want anyone to do anything about it," Lydia looked straight at Naira. "If Peter abuses his power or starts to kill people again, then yes, I want them to stop him, but if Peter stops that thing and finds the other killer, that's good enough for me."
Lydia sighed feeling this relief about telling Naira all of it, how she felt, admitting she didn't want retribution and most of all that there was no snide remark about her leaning so heavily on him while she coped with the bad news.
"Despite everything, I've the feeling that's what he wants to do," she smiled. "And for all the wrong reasons."
With a shake of her head Naira added: "I can't believe you don't even want a little payback."
"Oh, I tried that -bashed his head in with a bottle," Lydia shook her head. "It was the opposite of satisfying."
"I know what you mean," Naira started to walk again and Lydia followed her. "In all my years as a bounty hunter, I never had to shoot anyone. Then", she took a deep breath "all that blood."
While Lydia hadn't seen what had happened to Ethan, she hated to think how gory that scene had been. Aiden's look when he felt the pain had made her feel enough worry. The two women looked at each other, there were no hard feelings and Lydia was sure she could count on her help if she needed it. Together with Yoon that made two allies against Peter if needed be, Lydia thought with a smile.
For the time being there was not much more to say and so Lydia guided Naira to the AT&T store hoping the guys who had been so helpful with her last phone problem were still there.