Chapter Five - The Calm before the Storm
~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~
Avery sat up startled as she fearfully looked around the dark room, she was hearing loud growling and what sounded like a fight.
Slowly she rose to her feet from the pile of her clothes that she'd made into a bed in the small empty office room.
Her breathing was shaky as she walked over to the door and put her ear against it.
She closed her eyes and hoped that Boyd and Cora weren't ripping each other apart, she hadn't heard anything from Erica in weeks.
Deucalion wouldn't tell her what happened to the other blonde, but she had a pretty good idea she must be dead since there was no escaping the bank they'd been held in for months.
Once the sounds of the fighting finally stopped she could hear voices, they were too muffled by the door for her to make them out, but she knew it wasn't any of the alpha pack. She knew all of their voices, she heard them in her nightmares.
Reaching down she franticly tried the doorknob, but it was locked.
Avery opened her mouth and was about to scream for help, but then stopped when she realized she didn't know who it could be.
What if whatever was on the other side of that door was worse than the alpha pack?
She was shaken from her thoughts when he heard footsteps getting closer.
Her breath caught in her throat as she backed up and stared at the door with fear in her eyes.
The room was almost too dark to see anything, but she could hear someone trying to open the door from the other side.
Finally there was a snap as someone broke the locking mechanism in the door and pushed it open.
She stared at Derek, Scott and Allison.
As she stared at her friends she could hear Deucalion's voice inside her head, "There will come a time, Avery. It will come sooner than you think; when you'll have a decision to make. Make the wrong one, and the consequences would be catastrophic for you."
No one could hide the shocked looks on their faces as they all stared at Avery. Everyone had thought she was out of the country on a vacation of her dreams, no one had –had any idea that she'd been locked in the bank and held captive by the alphas.
Scott's eyes scanned the small room that used to be an office, he could see her empty suitcases stacked neatly in a far corner, and against the back wall was a make-shift cot of her clothes. There were some books stacked up by the pile of clothes and Avery didn't appear to have a scratch on her.
"Are you okay?" Derek asked, finally able to speak as he walked up to her.
With rapidly blinking eyes she stared back at him, the light seeping into the formerly dark room was more than she could take at the moment.
Derek looked her over, thankful she was alive but she didn't look so good. He wasn't sure if it was the baggy sweatshirt she was wearing but she looked much thinner than usual.
Her skin had an unnatural, pasty white hue and any trace of a tan she'd had was completely gone. Her hauntingly pale complexion only emphasized her dark circles around her eyes.
"I…" Her voice trailed off as she shook her head, not even sure what to say to him; to any of them.
Putting his hands on her shoulders he looked her over and repeated, "Avery, are you okay?"
She jumped when he touched her and looked from side to side at his hands on her before looking back to him, tears stung her eyes as she saw he had some scratches on him and was bloody.
He watched as she fear slowly seemed to fade away when she saw him, it was almost as if she'd just realized he was really there.
"You have no idea how happy I am to see you." She said as her eyes locked with his.
Not caring that he was bloody she leaned forward wrapping her arms around him and burying her face in his shirt. Taking a deep breath she relaxed at his familiar scent, but her hands continued to tremble as she desperately clutched onto the fabric of his clothes.
When he stepped closer and wrapped his strong arms around her, she couldn't stop the tears that started to run down her face. For the first time in months she finally felt a sense of safety.
"I'm sorry." He breathed out as his arms tightened around her. A pained looked fell over his face when he realized it wasn't just the heavy, large sweatshirt making her naturally thin frame look even thinner. Obviously they hadn't completely starved her or she wouldn't have lasted the summer, but it was also noticeable that they'd given her just enough food to survive on.
He'd really thought she'd been gone all summer on vacation and when Teagan and Stiles came to him worried he'd really thought they were over-reacting.
Stepping away from the door Allison looked at Scott not sure what to say to him. She'd just found out that the night Derek had bitten her mother, he was trying to save Scott's life. She'd had no idea that her mom was going to kill him.
Pulling back from his embrace she looked at his ripped, bloody shirt and she gasped, "Boyd and Cora?"
"We have to go after them." He said as he led her out of the small office, keeping a hand on her back.
She looked over to the vault and saw a broken line of mountain ash.
"What about Erica?" She asked, her breathing growing labored.
Derek was silent.
"Is she dead?" Avery asked, her voice cracking as she spoke.
"Yeah…" Allison answered when no one else would.
Looking down to the floor more tears started to fall down her cheeks.
Scott and Allison exchanged slightly confused looks at her reaction.
"What are we going to do about Boyd and Cora?" Scott asked breaking the silence.
"I'll get Avery out of here and then we'll find them." He answered.
"I can take her home." Allison offered as she stepped forward in an attempt to hug Avery, who took a few steps back and looked at her with an uncertain expression.
"No, you've done enough." Derek snapped.
With misty eyes Allison admitted, "Gerard practically brainwashed me… Avery I'm so sorry for everything. You have to know, that… monster I turned into, isn't me."
Normally Avery wasn't the most forgiving person, but after everything she'd been through that summer, she'd realized exactly how much this world could change you.
She'd pretty much already forgiven Allison for everything; after all when you live for weeks on end thinking each day could be your last –what's the point of holding grudges?
Stepping back closer to her, Avery nodded letting Allison know it was okay to hug her, which she did.
"She saved our lives." Scott reminded Derek, as he watched Avery's still shakey hands when she hugged Allison.
"I want to see her." Avery whispered in her friends ear.
"Erica?" Allison asked as she stepped back from the hug and looking at her confused.
She nodded.
"You're sure?" Allison questioned.
"I just… I never got say goodbye." Avery admitted quietly as she glanced over her shoulder to where Scott and Derek were arguing.
Allison led her over to the room where Ms. Morrell had her hiding at, and she'd seen Erica's body.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Derek asked as he started towards the girls.
Avery didn't respond as she took a step into the room.
"She wanted to see her." Allison admitted as she faced Derek.
"No. No way, don't you think she's been through enough?" Derek growled. Thinking with the way Avery was acting that she must have gotten close to Erica over the summer.
As he pushed his way past Allison and into the room he watched as Avery stood a few feet away from Erica's body.
She took in a loud shaky breath before she dropped to her knees and started to cry again.
Derek shot Allison an I told you so look, before he tried to help Avery to her feet. But she quickly slapped his hands away, wrapping her own arms around herself and rocking as she continued to loudly sob in mourning of her friend.
"Avery, come on. We need to get out of here." Derek tried to reason as he stared sadly as his late packmate.
He wasn't able to save Erica, but he had found Avery in time. And now he was trying to spare her the pain of seeing a dead friend's body, but she was refusing to leave the room.
"We can't just leave her."
"She's gone… there's nothing we can do." Derek softly responded to avery as he tried again to get her to her feet, but she pushed him back.
Quickly shaking her head back and forth her fingernails dug into her own scalp, pulling roughing at the roots of her hair, that was in a messy ponytail as she sobbed, "They took me out of the vault, and I wasn't allowed to see them anymore. Then Erica was gone, she was just gone…"
Kneeling down he gently, but firmly pulled took hold of her wrists and pulled her hands away from her scalp to stop her from hurting herself.
Tears rolled down her pale cheeks as she looked at Derek, fighting against his grip, "I should have done something!"
Looking over his shoulder to Erica's body, he turned his attention back to Avery, "There's nothing you could have done."
Easily able to overpower her while she continued to attempt to push him away from her, he pulled her from the room. As she kicked and screamed trying to break free.
Once they were outside of the bank and near his car, she firmly planted her feet against the broken up asphalt and manage to squeeze out of his grip.
Once she was free she made a desperate attempt to race back into the building, but Scott quickly jumped in her way, bringing her to a stop.
There was so much happening at once, and too much for her to take in after the traumatic summer. She should have been trying to run away from the bank, not back inside and somewhere in the back of her mind she knew that. But thinking logically just wasn't happening for her in those moments.
"It's okay." Scott tried to assure her, as she tried to dart past him, but was brought to a stop.
"You're safe… you're safe." He repeated as he watched her breathing change and could hear her heart rate picking up. A car horn sounded in the distance and she gasped, trying again to run inside the building.
But Scott wrapped his arms around her and held her still.
"You're safe… we're gonna get you home." His voice a little strained as she franticly tried to get out of his arms. "My clothes… we have to go back for my clothes!" She shouted, her trembling fists colliding with his chest again and again. Until she didn't have any fight left in her, and she broke down crying in his arms.
Scott looked past her tangled mess of blond hair to Derek who slowly shook his head back and forth. None of them knew what she'd been through that summer. Her wanting to go back into the bank after clothes was just as irrational as her being worried about her ruined tattoo when Kate Argent had cut her wrist.
Which is exactly what Derek was thinking about as he watched her crying on Scott's shoulder, was how may close calls she'd had with death. All of them in one way or another could be linked back to him, it was his fault. Why else would the alphas take her, other than to show him how easily they could screw with him.
After she was finally able to get her tears to stop, she stepped back using the too long on her, sleeves of the sweatshirt to dry her face.
Taking a deep breath of the cool night air, laced with car fumes her eyes drifted up to the sky. There were only a few stars visible, but for a few moments she was sure they were the most beautiful stars to ever have existed.
They weren't just dots in the sky, they were a sight she thought she may never get to see again. A sign of freedom –her freedom.
Hearing a noise her attention snapped back to her surroundings, where she saw Derek was standing with the door to his new car open, waiting on her.
Her socked feet slowly made their way over the small rocks to him, when she came to a stop next to the open door she looked back to the bank. Both Derek and Scott moved to block her way.
Closing her eyes and forcing herself to not start crying again, she sighed "I'm not going to go back in there… I don't know why I wanted to." Shaking her head at herself she continued. "I'm so stupid."
Her words didn't just mean for trying to run back into the building, but everyday since she'd been locked in the bank, she'd thought about how stupid it was to say you're leaving town and not going to call anyone.
With every passing day, it had became painfully aware that no one was looking for her because no one thought she was missing.
"After what you've been through, you're allowed some irrationality." Derek said as he nodded for her to get into the car.
Derek kept looking over at Avery as he drove them away from the scene, trying to put as much distance between her and whatever hell she'd been through.
"What the hell happened in there?" Derek asked about her time in captivity, when he saw her started to look around at their surroundings.
Biting down on her lower lip she shook her head and didn't respond.
"Where are we going?" She asked, avoiding his question.
He paused, her formally weepy tone was now replaced with an almost emotionless tenor.
"I'm taking you back to my place." Derek admitted.
"I want to go home." She said looking at him.
"No, it's safer at my loft." He reasoned.
Glancing over her shoulder into the backseat she saw Scott was nodding in agreement with Derek.
She wanted to argue with him, say that all she wanted to do was take a hot shower and crawl into her own bed, but she didn't have the energy.
~()~
Hearing the door open Stiles, Isaac and Teagan looked up relieved to see Scott walking in.
"Thank god." Stiles said.
"Was Erica really dead?" Isaac questioned, hoping he'd been wrong.
Scott nodded and looked at Teagan as she said, "But you found Boyd?"
"Yeah, and more." He said.
"More?" Stiles asked confused.
"Yeah." Scott answered as he looked behind him to where Derek walked in the room with Avery.
"Avery!" Teagan gasped as she rushed across the room and wrapped her friend in a tight hug.
Her head was spinning, she'd ran over hundreds of scenarios in her head as to why Avery might not be calling her back. But she'd never even considered that the alpha pack could have taken her.
"Hey T." Avery said as she gladly accepted and returned the warm hug, feeling a new wave of tears start up from being in the arms of her best friend.
There had been so many times over the summer she'd wondered if she'd ever even get to see her again.
Finally letting go tears burnt her eyes as she took a few steps back and looked her friend over. Teagan's brown eyes scanned up from Avery's dark red jeans, to her black hoodie.
"You're not hurt?" Teagan asked.
Avery bit down on her bottom lip and shook her head.
"I'm so sorry." Teagan said as she stepped forward and wrapped her in another hug.
"I'm okay." She assured her.
"They had you all summer?" Stiles asked as he walked up to the girls. He'd also been over several scenarios in his head, nearly every single one of the, involving her dying in one way or another.
Letting go of her best friend, Avery turned and looked at Stiles.
"They uh, two of them took me from the airport parking lot." She admitted, as her eyes briefly locked with his.
"I knew something wasn't right." He muttered as he shook his head and glanced over to where Derek was standing.
"You grew your hair out some." Avery observed with a small smile, trying not to let her watery eyes leak down her cheeks.
"Uh, yeah… I just kind of wanted a change." He said quietly, as he self-consciously rubbed the back of his head.
"I like it." She said.
He smiled at her.
"I'm really glad you're okay." He said, as he took a few steps forward intending to hug her, but then he stopped.
Avery had been his first girlfriend and he wasn't sure how to act now that they were broken up, or even if she wanted anyone to touch her after what she'd been through.
"Are you going to hug me, or you just gonna keep staring at me?" Avery asked, with a small smirk. She was starting to feel like her old self being around her friends again. Or at least she wanted them to think she was still the same person she'd been at the end of the summer.
He didn't need a second invitation as he hugged her, breathing a sigh of relief that she was home and safe. He had so many questions about the summer, and why the alphas took her, but for now he was content just holding her in his arms.
Teagan watched them and then glanced over to where Derek was watching them before he turned and started to talk to Scott.
"Are you okay?" Isaac asked as he walked up to Teagan.
"Yeah, I'm okay. She's home… she's safe." Teagan said, and for the moment that was all mattered.
Isaac nodded, offering a smile but inside he was thinking none of them were truly safe anymore.
"Hey…" Isaac said to Avery as she and Stiles let go of each other.
Avery looked between Isaac and Teagan's faces and then down to their connected hands.
She smiled, "So my plan worked?" She questioned.
"Your plan definitely worked." Teagan said as she looked over to Isaac who smiled at her.
"I'm glad you're okay." Isaac said sincerely as he hugged Avery.
"I'm glad you're okay, Isaac. I kept asking the alpha's if you were okay after you got out of the bank, but no one would tell me anything. I was freaking out." She admitted as she squeezed him a little tighter.
"They would have been able to rescue you sooner but the alphas took my memories and…" his voice trailed off as she let go and took a step back.
"It's okay." She assured him, happy he was okay. She knew what a wreck Teagan would be if anything happened to him.
Stiles walked to the other side of the room when he got a phone call to answer it.
Derek explained to Isaac how important it was that they found Boyd and Cora.
"Wait, who's Cora?" Isaac asked them.
"Derek's younger sister." Avery said.
"I thought your whole family died in the fire…" Teagan said as she glanced at Avery and then back to Derek.
"I thought they did." He said before looking at Isaac, "Isaac, you coming?"
"Yeah." He said as he pulled on a jacket and his scarf.
"Wait, are you sure you're up for this?" Teagan asked worried.
"You have no idea what's just been set free. They haven't felt the effects of the full moon in months." Derek said, his tone a little harsh.
"I'll be fine, you stay here with Avery." Isaac said as he gave Teagan a kiss before leaving with Scott and Derek.
She didn't want him to go, but things were moving so fast she hadn't even had time to protest more.
"Lydia just called me." Stiles informed them as he tucked his phone away.
"Judging by the look on your face something's wrong… is she okay?" Avery asked concerned.
"She said she found a dead body, she's upset and kind of seems dazed or something." He said, his forehead wrinkled with confusion at the conversation they'd just had.
"Go." Teagan said her eyes wide as she motioned to the door.
"I don't want to leave." He admitted, looking at Avery.
"I'm okay." She said offering a smile, but inside every fiber of her being was screaming that she wasn't okay, and things would never be okay again.
"But…" Stiles started to argue.
Teagan cut him off, "Stiles, we both know that it's probably not your normal, everyday homicide. You need to get a look at the body before the police get there and block off the scene."
He gave them a look to show he wasn't happy about leaving, but nodded and left.
Avery looked around the loft she wasn't entirely sure what to say.
"I can't believe you were in town this entire summer… and in the bank your freaking dad used to own. Right under our noses." Teagan said as she shook her head and rubbed her tired eyes.
Avery walked over and sat down on the couch as she leaned forward some and shivered in the cool room.
Teagan had so many questions, she wanted to ask why Avery had never told her she'd tried to commit suicide, she wanted to know what the alpha pack did to her, and ask why they'd even taken her. But she wasn't sure what to say, she didn't know what Avery had been through and she didn't want to upset her.
She watched as Avery shivered again and stared at the old coffee table in front of her.
Avery's expression went blank as she could hear Deucalion's voice in her head, "You're more capable and equipped to handle all of this than you know, Avery. Don't try to pretend that you haven't always felt different from your friends. You're destined for far greater things than you even thought possible, if your mother was alive you would have already known this."
"Avery?" Teagan asked.
"Huh?" Avery asked as she jumped and looked up at her.
"I asked if you wanted to talk about what happened…" Teagan repeated her question.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you." Avery quickly apologized, then started to gear up to assure she was really okay.
When both girls heard footsteps they looked over to the spiral staircase to see Peter entering the room.
"Avery." He greeted watching her closely.
"Peter, what an unpleasant surprise." Avery groaned as she stared at him.
He smirked.
Teagan let out a heavy sigh as she sat down on the couch beside her best friend. She wasn't keen on the idea of Derek and Isaac working with Peter, but she didn't have much say in the matter.
They'd been working with him all summer and she hadn't known until recently.
"Remarkable isn't it? Considering that Erica is dead, and they've been depriving Boyd and Cora of the full moon to make them even more lethal and bloodthirsty. But you don't have a scratch on you." He observed looking Avery over.
"What are you implying?" Teagan asked, her dark brown eyes growing darker as she narrowed her eyes at him.
After staring at Avery for a few more seconds he turned his attention to Teagan and said, "I'm implying that maybe you should find a new best friend."
"Go to Hell." Avery growled at him, her breathing labored from anger.
"No one even likes you, why are you still here?" Teagan added in.
"Why didn't they kill you?" He asked, walking closer to the teens.
"I don't know, why don't you go ask them." Avery shot at him.
"You either gave them information that they wanted to keep yourself alive, or of course there's the alternative…" He said as he listened to her heart and read her body language.
He glanced over at Teagan and saw how she scooted closer to the edge of the couch and leaned in towards Avery in a protective manner.
"What's that?" Avery asked, her tone venom laced.
"That you've promised to give them something in the future…" He admitted.
He heard her heart rate increase slightly.
"That's it isn't it?" He said.
"Seriously? Why the hell is he still around?" Avery groaned as she rolled her eyes and leaned back into the couch.
"Leave her alone! She's been through enough." Teagan defended.
"I'm just saying maybe our little Avery here isn't as trustworthy as she once was." Peter explained, wondering that happened to her over the summer.
"You really want to talk about who's more trustworthy? Look at everything you've done! No on trusts you, Peter!" Teagan angrily yelled.
"Hmm, fair enough." He said as he cocked his head to the side at how Teagan's entire demeanor changed when Avery was questioned or threatened.
The two girls watched as he left the loft.
"God, can you believe him?" Teagan mumbled.
"Unfortunately yeah, I don't think anything about him surprises me anymore." Avery agreed.
The girls talked for a little while longer when Avery finally said, "Teagan, I think we need to talk to Allison."
"What? Why?" Teagan questioned, immediately feeling a surge of anger for how she'd hurt Isaac.
"I can watch every self-defense DVD that's out there and I still wouldn't know a fraction of the moves that she knows. And honestly, it might not hurt if we learned how to use crossbows and guns too." Avery said, her tone a little detached as she spoke.
"Uh…" Teagan managed to stutter out before she said, "Allison and her dad agreed they'd stay in Beacon Hills as long as they both stayed out of everything. They've retired from hunting."
"So? She still knows a ton… and the house my mom grew up in is just outside of town. We still own the property. It's out in a wooded area, we could practice shooting and stuff out there and no one would know." Avery continued.
Avery could immediately read the look on her best friends face, "I know you're still upset at her because she stabbed Isaac."
"Like a hundred times, A. She didn't just stab him once, and she wanted to kill Derek, remember?" Teagan reminded her, anger in her eyes.
"Yeah, I do… but it doesn't change the fact that she knows a lot more about fighting back than we do." Avery reminded her, then continued, "She was at the bank too, and she seems like she's back to the old Allison we knew."
Teagan was silent as she looked around the room. Avery was acting different than what she would have expected considering the situation.
But the more Teagan thought about it, the more she thought maybe Avery was right. It was obvious each year the town seemed to get more and more dangerous, maybe it would be smart for them to learn how to defend themselves.
Shaking her from her thoughts, Avery said "Teagan… could you take me by the airport so I can get my car?"
"No… but I'll take you home and then tomorrow we can go get your car." She said, not wanting Avery out driving alone after all she'd been through.
She agreed and on the drive to Avery's house Teagan explained how Stiles was watching Annabel Lee at his house and that her dad was mad about her being gone for so long.
As Teagan shut her car off and said, "Once we get inside, I'll call my dad."
"What?" Avery asked confused as she opened the car door.
"I'll need to borrow your clothes tomorrow, I'm staying with you tonight." Teagan said, acting like it was something Avery should have already known.
"It's really not a good time, T. I'm honestly exhausted, I'm just going to take a long, hot bath and then crawl into bed." She explained as she looked to her house, wondering what things would be like with her dad now.
Teagan looked upset at her words, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to let you spend tonight by yourself. I'm coming with you."
"Please just let me have tonight, okay?" Avery pleaded with her.
Unhooking her seatbelt Teagan leaned over the console and hugged her.
"I'll come by in the morning and we'll go get your car." Teagan promised.
After going inside the house and getting an earful from her dad on why it was so irresponsible for her to not call him once over the summer, she took a bath and then headed down to the basement.
Her mom had lots of old books and other family things boxed up in there. When Avery was a child her mom used to tell that her one day when she was old enough, she'd learn all about her family history. But her mom didn't live long enough to share any of it with her.
After turning the light on she looked around the large dusty space, with a deep breath she pulled her still damp hair into a bun and walked down the last few steps.
With a heavy sigh she knelt down next to a box and opened it as she breathed out, "Okay, mom… let's see what you were hiding."
~()~
Early the next morning, as the sun slowly begin to rise, Teagan laid on her side facing her window. She had not been able to sleep all night. Between being worried about Avery and what all she had went through while the alpha pack had her, to Isaac and the others tracking Boyd and Cora, she had spent the whole night tossing and turning or checking her cell phone for a update text which never came.
She softly sighed, her stomach in knots, as she worried if Boyd and Cora were ever caught. Worried if everyone was ok and wished Isaac was by her side right now.
She needed him, not only so she would know he was ok, but she also needed his presence to calm her and his strength to get her through anything.
Teagan looked out the window a few minutes longer then rolled over to her other side and looked at her alarm clock. In a few hours she had to get up to take Avery to get her car then somehow make it through a day of school, although she wasn't sure how she would be able to do all that after having no sleep.
Her eyes flickered over to her silent cell phone, she reached out to grab it, planning to text Isaac. She had to know if he was ok, not knowing was driving her crazy, but before she could grab it, she heard her bedroom window slide open and quickly sat up in bed to look over at the window as someone slipped into her bedroom. She smiled when she immediately recognized who it was.
"Hey, sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Isaac whispered, when he saw her sitting up in bed.
"I wasn't asleep." Teagan admitted, then explained,"I haven't been asleep. I've been so worried, about everyone, about you."
"Everything's ok." Isaac said, as he crossed the room to sit down beside her in the bed. He pulled her toward him, holding her in his arms, as he added,"I'm ok."
"Boyd and Cora?" Teagan asked, as she looked up at him.
"We got them. It took us all night but we got them." Isaac answered.
Teagan nodded her head, feeling relieved then wrapped her arms around him, resting her head against his chest, and begin to lay back against the mattress, pulling him with her so he could lay with her.
Now that he was by her side and she knew he was safe, she felt incredibly sleepy, like she could sleep for days.
"You really shouldn't leave your window open you know?" Isaac said, lecturing her.
"I know." Teagan answered with a sigh, then added,"but I was hoping you would drop by, so I left it unlocked for you."
"I still need you to be careful though." Isaac stated with a worried expression. He had no idea what all was going on right now, but between the alpha pack and dead bodies popping up he needed her to be extra careful.
"Something is happening, isn't it? Something bad?" Teagan questioned him, as she snuggled closer to him, needing his comfort.
"I think so." Isaac answered, as he subconsciously held her tighter, as if that alone would keep her alive.
"How's Avery?" He asked, several minutes later.
"I dunno." Teagan answered with sigh, then added,"I honestly don't know. It's like she's Avery, but she isn't."
"It'll probably take her awhile to bounce back." Isaac pointed out, then added,"We don't know what they did to her."
Teagan lifted her head from his chest to look at him as she said,"But that's just it. I don't think they did anything to her. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but why did they even take her? What was the purpose in taking her and keeping her all summer, just to let her go?"
"To screw with Derek?" Isaac guessed, then added,"We'll probably never know why they took her or Boyd or Erica, but at least we got her back all in once piece."
"You're right. I guess I'm just paranoid and... and I let Peter get all into my head." Teagan admitted with a guilty expression.
"What did Peter say?" Isaac asked angrily.
"Just pointing out how weird it is that nothing happened to Avery and how we shouldn't trust her." Teagan answered. She rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on, as she added, "God, I shouldn't even be listening to him. It's Peter, for God's sakes. That man has never been trustworthy, ever, in his life."
Isaac nodded his head in agreement then said,"Plus this is Avery. If anyone is trustworthy it's her. She has always been up front and honest."
"I know." Teagan said. She looked down with a sighed as she added, "I'm a terrible friend."
Isaac laid a hand on the side of her face, forcing her to look at him, as he said, "No you're not. It's understandable that we all have trust issues after everything that has happened, but we'll all be ok and we'll get through whatever is going on."
Teagan softly smiled at him, hoping he was right, but fearing he was wrong. Between the alphas and the dead bodies something major was happening. Were the alphas behind the murders or was it something else? Something way worse?
Her eyes glanced over at her clock then said with a groan, "Ugh, I have to get up soon for school."
"I should let you get all the sleep you can then." Isaac said, as he went to sit up until she grabbed him to stop him.
"No, stay." Teagan whispered, then added,"I always sleep better when you hold me."
Isaac pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head. He kept his lips against her head as he said softly, "Then I'll hold you forever."
~()~
The next morning Avery fixed her hair and make-up, and dressed in a black scoopneck top with a gathered leather miniskirt. She'd had to add extra product to her hair to give it it's normal body, since her hair had thinned out due to stress over the summer.
As she opened the door to walk out in her room from her bathroom, she saw Derek standing in front of the open window.
"I'm glad you're okay." She said with a sigh of relief.
"What about Boyd and Cora?" she asked, fearing the worst.
"They're fine." He stated, watching her closely.
"What is that look for?" She asked as he stayed silent and gave her a hard look.
"You were supposed to stay at my loft." He finally said, watching as she picked up an old leather bound book from her bed and slid it into her purse.
"And do what?" she asked with raised eyebrows.
"It doesn't matter. I can't protect you if I don't know where you are." He said his tone a little gruff as he walked closer.
"Protect me?" She asked shaking her head back and forth.
"After Kate… I promised you that I'd never let anything like that happen to you again." After a small pause he shook his head and said, "I let you down."
"No, you didn't." she assured him.
"Avery, they had you all summer. Right here in town, right under my nose and I had no idea." He said, a guiltily look on her face. He thought back to Stiles trying tell him something was wrong, but didn't say anything outloud about it.
She stared down at her black high-heels before she looked back at him, "Derek, no. You're not responsible for anything that's happened to me."
"I have to keep you safe." He said as he glanced down at the corner of a box poking out from under her bed. It was a box of books she'd brought up from the basement.
"I'm not your responsibility any more, you don't have to try and protect me. And honestly, I'm not sure you can." She admitted swallowing hard as she spoke.
"What are you saying?" He asked her, wondering if there was a double meaning to her words.
"It's not important." She breathed out as she avoided his eyes.
"Avery!" He exclaimed frustrated.
"I'm sorry." She said her eyes sincere as she spoke.
"Sorry for what?" He asked, watching her closely and listening to her heart beat.
Hearing her phone go off she looked at saw she had a text from Teagan.
"Teagan's here I need to go." She said.
"Wait, there's something I have to ask you." He said, as he closed his eyes and wondered how react.
"Let me guess Peter got inside of your head?" she said with an arched eyebrow.
"Avery, they kept you alive for some reason…" He pointed out.
"The answer to what you're really wanting to know is; yes, Derek… you can still trust me." She answered sadness in her eyes at even having to answer the question.
"Do you want to repeat it so you can listen to my heart?" She asked when he stayed silent.
He shook his head no.
"Because you already were." She said softly.
"Avery, you have to understand…" He started to say.
But she cut him off, "After everything we've been through, everything that I've went through for you… for my friends, you really think one summer would change that? Make me turn against you?"
"I don't know what happened this summer, and you're not talking about it?" He defended, but still felt guilty.
"Why are you here, Derek? You're sister needs you, Boyd needs you… you've got to pick up the broken pieces of your pack and be ready for battle. Because right now is just like the calm before the storm. Something is happening… and it's going to be bigger than any of us have seen..." She said as she turned and headed to her open bedroom door.
"You're saying you don't need me?" He gathered.
Pausing she turned and said, "I'm saying I don't need anyone. Not anymore."
~()~
After saying goodbye to Teagan, Avery got in her car and got on a road headed out of town.
She hoped she'd remember how to get to the house that her mom had grown up in.
Avery's parent's had bought the house from her grandparents when they'd moved to Florida a few years before Avery was born, so she'd lived there the first almost 5 years of her life.
Even though her parent's had designed their new house and moved there when she was 5, they kept ownership of the other house and property.
Richard had wanted to rent it out, but her mom hadn't let him and after she'd passed away her dad didn't want to go to the house or even think about it for that matter.
It was close to an hour that she followed the winding gravel driveway through a densely wooded area until she reached the house.
She'd decided to spend the day at the house going through the basement and attic seeing what else she could learn about her mom and their family.
A/N – Thank you all for reading. ^_^
I hope everyone is excited to have Avery back!