Chapter 75

Melanie reveled in the smell of the house. Saying that she'd missed it was an understatement. There were all of its faults it had like when the Sheriff told her about the time Stiles got his head stuck between two poles of the stair banister. There were chips and grease marks from Scott trying to get him out.

She reveled in all of it, even the funky smell in the kitchen. It was all pleasantly familiar and she still wasn't used to it yet. If only Isaac would feel that way with her. Melanie worried that he'd never truly return to her. That wasn't so ridiculous, right? Would he punish her forever? God, the moon, and sun, she hoped not.

A week after settling into the Stilinski house once again temporarily-the Hale house wasn't ready and the loft was full up with Erica, Boyd and Jackson, Stiles was at his usual antics with her. The twins were staying with Lydia. Stiles didn't underestimate Melanie and her newfound abilities, and she certainly didn't go easy on him whenever he tried to pull one over on her. So when the sheriff came home one evening and found Stiles's limbs bent around like a Gumby doll and tied together he kept on going without a word. Melanie couldn't help but smirk as she chewed on a twizzler at hearing his barely audible chuckle though. Stiles whined as he tried to wriggle free.

She was still wary around Scott. He was officially trying to be leader and what he didn't quite understand or maybe he was refusing to understand it, was that she never followed him, not even before all of this. He had it in his head that she was once on his side. In fact, she'd always been a part of Derek's pack. Maybe that was part of the reason Isaac wasn't trying to talk to her or make any sort of contact. She refused to try and contact him. Looking needy and desperate was not in any part of her being. She had too much pride and even more now with the big change.

Melanie touched the ring that hung from her neck often, making sure that it was still there. Her heart clenched painfully every time she thought she lost it which was about twice a day.

Isaac came to the house the next day. He looked around, not moving from the front door. Melanie did hear him and assumed it was Stiles.

"Stiles! You're out of milk!" she called, over the running faucet. She placed the freshly rinsed plate in her hand in the nearby dish rack. A knowing smirk hid in her tone. The smallest aggravation out of Stiles was quite entertaining.

There was no answer. The faucet went off. She came from the kitchen, drying her hands with a blue dish towel and froze in the doorway of the living room. Isaac leaned casually against the front door, blocking any kind of escape. So this is the confrontation, she thought, gulping painfully. She allowed herself to look at him unlike so many other times. He wore worn blue jeans and a white t-shirt. Something simple that hung so…damn.

She tossed the towel back into the kitchen where it landed on the table.

Melanie's stomach fluttered at the sight of him with a mixture of nausea and nervousness which more often than not were the same thing and measured out to a sudden does of upchucking. He still bore that bland look that border lined glaring. It was the same one he had when she was telling everyone about where she'd been 'adventuring' over the last year. The shock of her return had finally worn off as did the rest of everything else.

"Hi." Melanie said bashfully quiet.

Hi, she thought sarcastically. Seriously?!

He didn't return the greeting or any type of greeting. He stared over her. This time it was to analyze and figure her out. The feeling made goosies rise on her arms. She'd seen that look before. He was trying to see if she was her. Melanie scoffed, shaking her head and licking her lips.

"How long are you going to punish me?" she sputtered. "You just stand there as far away as possible as if I'm probably the most disgusting thing you've ever seen."

Her hands tightened into fists, and she struggled to keep them at her sides. Her nails, strong like metal, broke the even and deep tone of her skin into claws and then retracted. Her heritage had become more apparent—the elegant shaped almonds that were her eyes and her exotic skin wasn't deeply tanned but it was subtly sandy. She was easily seen as a descendant of Native Americans. The sight was hypnotizing. The change had brought so much more to the surface and that made it difficult for him to breathe.

"Punish you?" he said, muddled in confusion. "No. I'm trying to figure out why you would punish me the way you did."

"I didn't!" she exclaimed. Any attempts to stay calm and relaxed failed before they even started. However, it was a nice thought to try. "Or didn't you hear me when I told everyone of the worst adventure of my life. I hated every second. I tried, but the push and pull-I was being ripped apart."

"And here we are," he said, still keeping his perfectly statue-like composure.

"Yes." She agreed uselessly. Her hair fell from over her shoulders, shielding some of her features.

"I don't want that to happen again. Ever," he said. It was a demand, not a hope seeking fulfillment.

Melanie didn't reply. There wasn't a chance. She looked up, lips parted as she still searched for the correct reply to a sentence like that, and Isaac, in a swift whoosh, swept in and pressed his lips to hers, towering over her. Her muscles tensed deliciously and then relaxed, sending a rush of heat down to her toes. His fingers tangled in her hair.

Her neck craned back painfully as he pulled at her as if trying to press through her. She pressed against his chest and pulled back, panting.

"I'm here. I'm not going anywhere," she breathed.

"Never again," he replied sharply.

Her stomach panged. His hot and heavy breath decimated hers. The urging surge wasn't for food. It grew like a mass, and she knew that only one thing, a person—well, he was a thing sometimes—could satisfy it.

And, it was well satisfied through and through. Both of them were nothing but a mess in each other.

"Mel!" Stiles's voice called out suddenly, followed by the front door closing with a clatter. His voice filled the house, sending alarming nerve surges through both of them.

"Shit!" Melanie and Isaac exclaimed, shooting up from Stiles's bed. Isaac rolled to the floor, fumbling for his shirt and jumped out the window.

Melanie stumbled to the window, stifling laughter at hearing the thud of his ungraceful landing to the ground on his back.

Stiles walked in right as she managed to grab a towel and hug it to her naked form right as he burst in.

"Hey!" She spun around, embarrassed. Her eyes bulged in shock. "Getting ready for a shower here!?"

Stiles yelled, horrified and turned away from her reveal of skin. He couldn't help the sinking feeling at seeing two scars, each of them about a foot and a half long—the cliff jump. She had more than just those two. Her brand was just as prominent. They were bright white against the tones of her skin and somehow elegantly blended in. Stiles couldn't imagine how hard it was for her to look at them. She never talked about them. Each of them marked a part on the journey that was her reckless life.

He had his fair had of scars as well. Going off and solving 'special' cases without Scott, it was bound to happen and it did. He chuckled to himself at the thought of comparing scars with Melanie. She looked at him strangely and clutched her towel tighter. His scars didn't heal as beautifully as hers apparently did. He only had three. One was from a wendigo. Its dozens of teeth that reminded him of the toothy pit from Return of the Jedi had sunken into his shoulder.

Melanie coughed, waiting for him to leave.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

The towel smelled rank of grossness that turned Melanie's stomach over and over. She swallowed a little puke.

"Leave!" she gasped, clasping her mouth.

Stiles closed door behind him loudly. She could hear his incoherent mumbling about wanting to unsee what he saw, but it seemed doubtful that he saw anything. If he had he wouldn't be wishing to unsee the things if he had seen anything. He would more than likely stutter and then faint from being unable to handle it.

"I really hate that you get my room right now!" he hollered pointlessly.

Me too, Melanie thought. She preferred having her own house.

After showering, she left the house before Stiles could stop her and start a very long conversation she didn't feel like hearing. Isaac stood on the corner of the block as if waiting and took her hold of her from behind. She breathed in the smell and sunk into him. The tightness in her chest lessened until there was nothing but her rapid heart. It fluttered like an excited hummingbird. Falling back into the way things were with him made the

"Hey," he said sweetly and quietly.

"Hm?" she hummed.

Her head pressed to his chest, the top just barely meeting his shoulders. The extreme height difference never bothered either of them. Sometimes he used to just give her piggy back rides and she'd kiss the back of his neck then lay her head on his shoulder. At the moment, it was just nice to be shrouded by him.

"C'mon," he said.

Taking her hand, he led her down the sidewalk. Her hair swayed behind her.

"Where to?" Melanie inquired. She smiled widely, unable to dim it at all.

She looked down at their hands; their fingers intertwined together like Ivy vines. His thumb rubbed over the knuckles of her fingers. Delicious shivers crept up her arms, making the hairs stand up on end. She so badly wanted to finish what they'd started earlier. Her insides coiled due to her heightened senses. She smelled, heard and felt things that she never did before. Her heart skipped a beat at realizing that it had been like that for Isaac since the beginning.

After a while she noticed that they were just walking around with no specific destination. It was dangerous, but it was their alone time. Every other place was occupied with people they wanted to avoid. There was small chit-chat about the last year. Melanie glowed at hearing that Isaac wanted to help people in the medical field.

The sky was a mixture of colors like rainbow sherbet by the time they came back to the Sheriff's house. Melanie reached up to touch the soft colors and was pulled, spinning into Isaac's arms. She giggled as he nuzzled into her neck.

Stiles and his dad had decided that it was safer for both packs to meet on neutral ground while trying to sort out the alpha. It was decided they'd meet at the Stilinski house. Cora was on the couch with Stiles. Danny leaned against the arm of the couch on the other side of them talking to Ethan and Aiden.

Melanie could hear Derek in the dining room with the Sheriff. Scott and Allison hadn't arrived yet. Neither had Jackson, Erica or Boyd. Isaac pulled Melanie back into him, sending a warm rush through her. Her nerves electrified pleasantly. It was so good to feel whole again.

Once the rest of the others arrived, everyone tried to settle in as comfortably as they could. Isaac and Melanie stayed near the stairwell, leaning against the banister. Jackson stood with Ethan and Aiden, making conversation with Danny. It was strange for Melanie to imagine how Danny and Jackson were best friends. Jackson wondered the same thing about her probably. She smirked and watched them catch up on lost time. Aiden swayed side to side with Lydia in his arms. Her head lay back on his chest in a lull. She wasn't wearing her signature flowery dress. It was skinny jeans, a midnight blue t-shirt and tanned riding boots for her. College had changed her too. She looked like she felt whole once again as well.

Scott eyed Melanie a few times. She was too focused on Derek in the kitchen to pay much mind. The Sheriff and Derek joined them shortly. A most discomforting silence swallowed them all. Melanie squeezed Isaac's forearm nervously.

It hadn't much occurred to her about how he was in Scott's pack and she in Derek's, not until now anyway when she looked at everyone.

"It's okay," he mumbled low in her ear.

She relaxed. It was an answer to all of her questions that sputtered nervously in her mind.

"So," the sheriff said with a slight cough. "We're here to find out what is going on."

Melanie snorted and received a glare from him. Her eyes fell to the floor in shame instantly. Stiles gave a sympathetic smile, knowing exactly how she felt.

"Apparently, Peter Hale has been playing both of you," the Sheriff continued, looking from Derek to Scott. "He thought it would get you to obliterate one another."

"Derek knew this would more than likely happen and Peter probably figured this out as well which is why he went after you Scott. With Isaac dead and-"

"Hey!" Isaac called out insulted.

The sheriff gave him appointed look of-seriously?

Isaac's jaw stuttered and he closed his mouth with no defense. In a way he had been dead. The Sheriff continued.

"And, my son when on his own escapades, which let me tell you was not fun for me and seriously made me terrified, wondering if I was going to get a call about him being in a body bag."

Cora sank down a little. She had been no help being she had been with him during these escapades. Sheriff Stilinski didn't pay any mind. Jackson eyed Stiles shiftily. He wasn't the same sniveling, sarcastic nobody he'd known before. Erica eyed him too, but more appreciatively. Boyd didn't care. His brows furrowed with deep thought.

"We all need-"

The Sheriff was cut off by the clamor of the front door being flung open. Everyone jumped and several pair of eyes lit up in the spectrum of red, blue and golden yellow. The bulky figure in the doorway was unfazed by the threatening gazes.

"ROUXE!"

"What the-" Lydia said with a look of bewilderment that nearly everyone shared. Everyone, but Derek, Isaac, Danny and most particularly Melanie.