Chapter Seventeen - Fighting Words
~ A Teen Wolf fanfiction collaboration between Miss E Charlotte and Sage Londyn.~
The next morning, while Avery was asleep, Teagan was wide awake, just like she had been all night. She laid on her back, staring at the ceiling, the words she read in Aleine's journal haunted her all night. She knew her mother and Avery's mother were close, they were best friends, just like she and Avery are, but she never imagined her mother being involved with everything.
She never even knew her mother had known about werewolves and the supernatural, she hid it so well. Could being involved be what caused her death? Did the alpha pack think she knew something?
She turned her head to the side, looking at the alarm clock, watching the minutes tick away. As it got closer to the time they were supposed to get up, she carefully got out of bed, trying not to wake up Avery just yet. There was something she needed to do and she needed to do it alone.
She borrowed some clothes from Avery's closet, took a quick shower, then made her way downstairs, being greeted by Aspen and Annabel Lee. She let Aspen out back in the fenced in yard, then set out some food and water for the animals. Teagan wrote Avery a note, asking her to let Aspen in and informing her she already fed their pets. She ended the note, telling her she would see her at school, then grabbed her keys and made her way outside, getting into her car.
Many minutes later, she arrived at school, her eyes scanning the halls for one of the twins, she didn't care which one, either one would do. After walking down a couple of hallways, she saw one of them at his locker in the middle of a practically empty hallway.
She paused for a moment, narrowed her eyes at his back, her anger intensifying the longer she stared at him. All she could see in her mind were him and his pack tearing in to her mother. Because of them she had to live the last year of her life without a mother, something that she could never get over or forgive.
Before she could talk herself out of it, she walked over toward him, slamming his locker door shut and grabbing his shoulder to spin him around to face her.
"Teagan?" Ethan asked, surprised she had the nerve to not only approach him alone, but to start something with him as well.
"Why did you do it? Huh? Why did you and the rest of your sorry ass pack kill her?" Teagan snapped. "Huh? Why?" She yelled, as she tried to push him backwards, but he barely moved, which angered her even more. She wanted to hurt him, she wanted him to feel some of the pain she felt. She balled her fist, then punched him in the chin as hard as she could.
Ethan's eyes flashed red for a moment as he reached out to grab her wrist, when he saw her planning to punch him again. "You shouldn't do this, Teagan. You're making a huge mistake." He quietly said, trying to keep his anger in check.
"I'm not scared of you, Ethan." Teagan stated. Some of the other pack members she was scared of, but there was something about Ethan, he didn't seem like he wanted to be doing the things they were, but had no choice. She tried to jerk her arm away, as she taunted, "I mean, why would I be scared of you? You're nothing but the pack's bitch, am I right?"
A low growl escaped his lips at her words. He won't deny that is exactly how he felt sometimes, but it wasn't as bad as his last pack and for that he was grateful. He tilted his head to the side, listening to her heart and realized she was telling the truth earlier, she wasn't scared of him. He knew he wasn't as mean as his twin, but maybe he needed to be. Maybe she needed to be taught a lesson.
"You should be." He said back, as he flashed his teeth at her and held on tighter to her wrist. He saw her cringe in pain, but he wasn't going to let go, if this is what she wanted, to fight with an alpha, then this is what she would get. "You and all of your friends should be worried. You never know who we'll go after next." He took a step closer to her, and smirked when he finally heard her heart speed up. "Will it be the best friend who's like your sister? The one we took from you all summer. Or will it be the beta boyfriend, the one who takes your breath away? Will you be scared when we take his breath away? When we rip his heart out?"
Teagan gasped at his words, her heart was racing, but she wasn't going to back down, not anymore. "If you touch them, I swear-"
"Or maybe it'll be the hunter." He interrupted, ignoring what she was going to say. "Deucalion already lives in her building, maybe my pack is already there. Question is Teagan, where's your pack?"
"Let me go!" Teagan hissed, as she tried to pull her arm away again, then gasped when he squeezed even hard. If he kept it up, he would snap her wrist in half.
The two stared at each other, both seething in anger, until they heard someone yell out from down the hall, getting their attention.
Teagan broke eye contract first, her head snapped to the side, seeing that it was Scott who had yelled. Ethan, finally realizing what he was doing, released her arm and pushed her backwards with a growl, taking her by surprise and causing her to slam into a bank of lockers before rushing down the hall.
Scott rushed over to Teagan's side, he wrapped an arm around her waist, his hand resting on her hip, as he helped her stand up straight. He glanced down, seeing a bruise forming on her wrist, until she pulled the coat sleeve down over it. He wondered what other bruises Ethan caused just now.
Teagan pulled away from Scott, ignoring him, as he asked if she was ok. She could feel pain coming from her back, where it slammed into the locker, and reached behind her, poking at the tender flesh the way Allison taught and realized nothing was broken, just another bruise added to the other ones she already had.
"Teagan?" Scott tried again. When she didn't answer, he laid a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump away from him. "Teagan!" He called out, getting her attention, as she looked over at him as if seeing him for the first time.
"Are you ok?" He asked with a concerned look.
"Yeah I'm- I'm good." Teagan said, as she reached into her bag, grabbing her cell phone. She was going to send Isaac a text, until she remembered who was standing in front of her. The one Isaac had been staying with lately. She looked up at Scott with wide eyes, as she asked, "Where's Isaac?"
"He's around here somewhere. We just got to school." Scott answered. He watched her as she looked back down at her phone deep in thought, her hands shaking. "What's going on with you, Teagan? What were you thinking? He could have hurt you!" He added, as he shot her a concerned look.
"I just- I needed answers." Teagan softly said. Now that she knew Isaac was somewhere inside the school ok, and Avery was home ok since she just left there, she breathed out a small sigh of relief.
"There are better ways to get answers. You don't go up against an alpha on your own though. You should have at least called one of us." Scott lectured.
"I know." Teagan mumbled, as she turned away from him. She looked down the empty hall for a moment, remembering another person Ethan mentioned. She looked back at Scott, as she asked, "Wait, where's Allison? Have you seen her yet?"
"No." Scott said, not understanding the urgency. A guilty look came over his face, as he added, "With everything going on lately, I actually haven't had time to talk to her."
Teagan looked down at her phone, quickly calling Allison. She impatiently tapped her foot, waiting for her to answer, but when she never did, she softly swore to herself as she ended the call. Feeling worried about her friend, she slid her phone back into her purse, then turned around to flee down the hall.
"I got to go." Teagan nervously called out to Scott, ignoring him as he called out her name a few times. She quickly turned a corner, slamming into someone. She felt them wrap an arm around her waist to stop her from falling, hitting one of her bruises.
She bit her bottom lip to keep from crying out, then laid her hands against their chest and pushed them away. Not feeling comfortable with someone's hands all over her, especially after what happened with Ethan just now. It wasn't until she heard his voice, that she finally glanced up to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Hey-whoa, it's just me." Isaac said, as he held up his hands. He looked at his girlfriend closely, hearing her heart racing. "What the hell is going on? Are you ok?" He asked, as he wrapped his arms back around her and brought her toward him.
Teagan nodded her head, as she buried her face in his shirt, his scent calming her. Once her heart slowed down, she raised her head to look at him, giving him a small smile, as she said, "I'm ok. I just- I need to go."
"Go where?" Isaac questioned, as he tightened his hold on her. He wasn't going to let her go until he knew what was going on and where she was going. She looked frazzled but determined, the combination scared him.
"I need to check on Allison." Teagan said, as she tried to avoid his eyes. "I know she's not your favorite person, but she's not answering her phone and-"
"Let's go then." Isaac interrupted.
Teagan looked at him with a surprised expression on his face. That was the last thing she thought he would say. She knew how he felt about Allison and thought he would fight her on this, but instead he was siding with her, which was a load off her mind.
"Really?" Teagan asked, still in shock.
"It's you and me, right?" Isaac pointed out, as he pulled her closer to him.
"It's you and me." Teagan whispered with a relieved smile on her face.
She raised up on her tip toes to brush her lips against his for a quick kiss, then reached behind her to grab one of his hands, before the two turned and made their way down the hall and out to the parking lot.
~()~
"Hey, how are you holding up?" Avery asked as she caught up with Stiles in the hallway.
One of the officers at his dads department had been murdered at school earlier that morning.
He gave a small shrug in response, truth was he was trying not to think about it.
Grabbing his arm and bringing him to a stop, her eyes searched his face as she pointed out, "I know I haven't been around much lately, but we're still friends."
He nodded in response.
"Meaning that you call me, day or night. I will be there."
He opened his mouth to thank her, but before he could Scott ran up to them.
"I just saw Ethan heading in to the stairwell."
Stiles nodded to Avery who was staring at them wide eyed.
"Oh, uh… hey Avery." Scott greeted, deciding to leave out what he'd just witnessed between Teagan and the alpha as he grabbed Stiles arm and said, "We'll see you later."
"Are you going to find Ethan?" she asked, not letting them get away from her.
"Yeah, Scott thinks…" Stiles started to say, but Avery didn't let him finish.
"To kill him? Because I've got one of Allison's crossbows in my bag, and I'll help."
Scott managed to wipe the shocked expression from his face and slowly shook his head as he said, "I can get him to listen to me. We're not killing anyone."
With arched eyebrows Avery argued, "Correction; you're not killing anyone."
"Neither are you." Stiles said, then when she gave him a look he reasoned, "At least not on school grounds, too many witnesses."
Shaking her head in agreement she looked back to Scott as she said, "So we'll get Ethan off school grounds then we'll use him to lure Aiden out, and bam! We'll kill them both."
Sighing he said, "Where do you even come up with this?"
"Easy, it happens while I'm sitting in class watching them act completely normal when they just killed one of my friends. I have some ideas on ways to take out Kali as well. Want to hear those?"
Shaking his head and starting to walk away Scott called over his shoulder, "We're not killing anyone."
"Not yet." Stiles mumbled as he and Avery followed after Scott.
Catching up to the one of the twin alphas in the stairway they stopped Ethan who asked, "Why are you even talking to me? I helped kill your friend, how do you know I'm not gonna kill another one?"
His eyes glanced at Avery before holding their gaze on Stiles.
"Is he looking at me? Are you threatening me?" Stiles asked him, then taking a step forward he started in on this own threat, "You know what I'm gonna do? I'm going to break off an extra-large branch of Mountain Ash, wrap it in wolfs bane, roll it in mistletoe and shove it up your freaking…"
"Whoa, whoa. Stiles, okay, we get it." Scott said stepped in front of his friend.
Keeping her cold gaze heavy on Ethan, Avery said, "That's an excellent idea Stiles. I'll help."
Scott sighed, thinking it was a bad idea for Avery to even be there. He could feel the rage and the hate radiating off of her. He couldn't blame her, after everything the alphas had put her through. But he was there to try and smooth things over find out information, and she wasn't helping matters at all.
"We're talking to you, because I know that you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again." Scott explained, glancing over to where Avery's hand was inside of her bag, ready to pull the crossbow at a moment's notice.
"You don't know what we owe them, especially Deucalion. We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him – we weren't alphas."
"What were you?" Scott questioned.
"Omegas. In actual wolf packs, omegas are the scapegoat. The last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack." He admitted, surveying the trio.
"So you guys were the bitches?" Avery snapped, disdain in her tone.
"Something like that." He sighed.
"What happened?" Scott pushed, shooting Avery a look.
"They were killers." He paused, "I mean people talk about us being monsters…"
Avery cut in, "You are a monster!"
"Well, they were the ones who gave us the reputation. And our alpha was the worst of them." He tried to explain, but Avery rolled her eyes at his every word.
"Why didn't you guys just fight back? Form Voltron Wolf, you know? Kick everyone's asses?" Stiles cut in.
"We couldn't we didn't know how to control it back then." He spoke in a raised voice.
"Deucalion taught you…" Scott realized.
"And then we fought. We took down the whole pack, one by one. And by the time we got to our alpha, he was begging for his life… and we tore him apart. Literally." He admitted to the group.
"What about your emissary?" Scott questioned.
He shook his head.
"They're all dead? Kali and Ennis', too?"
Even though Scott was the one talking, Ethan was now looking at Avery, "All of them except for Deucalion's."
"You mean Morrell?" Stiles questioned.
But Ethan didn't look away from Avery as he nodded, "Who knows how long that will last. He's looking for an upgrade."
She avoided his eyes and hoped Scott and Stiles hadn't realized he was looking at her, when Ethan gasped out in pain, placing a hand over his chest.
"What? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Scott asked taking a few steps forward.
It took everything Avery had to not pull the crossbow and hit Scott for seeming at all concerned about someone from the alpha pack. When she thought of everything they'd done, it made her blood boil. How on earth could he be worried about of them?
"Not me… my brother." He admitted, before he turned and ran down the stairs, all 3 teenagers right behind him.
Avery made it into the locker room, just behind everyone else. Running in high heels wasn't the easiest task.
Quickly scanning the room she saw Cora lying on the floor, with Lydia and Stiles kneeling down beside her. Meanwhile, Scott and Ethan were trying to restrain Aiden.
"Cora, are you okay?" Avery gasped, rushing to her friend's side.
She could hear Ethan reminding Aiden that Kali had given Derek until the full moon, and they couldn't touch them before then.
As the twins left the room, Cora rolled onto her back with a gasp of pain and rapidly blinked her eyes trying to focus on her surroundings after taking a blow to the head.
"Hey guys, I think she's pretty hurt." Stiles said softly, as he watched Cora.
"Come on." Avery spoke equally as soft as she helped Cora to her feet and over to the sink.
"You okay?" Scott asked as she gingerly wiped the blood away from her wounded forehead.
"She doesn't look okay." Lydia pointed out, causing the wounded beta to sigh in irritation.
"I'll heal."
Taking a step back she stumbled slightly and Scott rushed forward to help her but she smacked his hands away, "I said I'm fine."
"Do you realize how suicidally crazy that was? What were you doing going after them?" Stiles asked her, still not believing she'd gone up against an alpha on her own.
Avery nodded in agreement, "They deserve to pay for what they did, but why did you go by yourself. I would have helped you."
Looking at her Cora explained, "I was looking for you, but then I past an office and guess what I heard inside…"
Her judgmental gaze fell on Lydia who crossed her arms over her chest and looked down.
Avery walked and stood beside Cora as she looked at Lydia in shock, her friend avoided her gaze.
Looking at the rest of the group Cora argued, "None of you were doing anything."
"We're trying." Scott tried to assure her.
"And you're failing. You're a bunch of stupid teenagers running around thinking that you can stop people from getting killed. But all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies."
With her words and somber mood still lingering in the air she turned to leave.
"She's definitely a Hale." Stiles breathed out.
Avery crossed her arms over her chest and nodded to where Cora was leaving expectantly. Stiles nodded, "Right, I'll make sure she gets home."
As he left the group, Scott excused himself as well. Leaving Avery and Lydia alone.
"Well, I'd better get back to…" Lydia started to say as she turned to leave but Avery grabbed her arm.
Lydia looked down surprised at her friends new found strength, "Let go of me."
"I have really tried to be understanding and patient with you. After all we kept you in the dark about all of this for so long, but you were there. You know they killed Boyd and you're still screwing around with Aiden?"
Lydia's eyes moved from where she was pretty sure Avery's grip was going to leave a bruise, to her friends angry expression. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but that didn't mean she deserved to be attacked like that.
Cocking her head to the side, Lydia shot back, "Do you really think you're in any position to be giving me relationship advice?"
Anger coursed in her light brown eyes as she snapped, "Are you going to continue this little affair when they kill me too?"
"What are you talking about?" She demanded to know.
"There were four of us in the bank this summer. They killed Erica, now they've killed Boyd… along with damn neared just killing Cora. Who the hell do you think is next Lydia? Me, that's who!" She yelled at her, knowing it wasn't really her fault. But she needed someone to lash out at, and right now the redhead was the only person around her.
Lydia's glossed pink lips hung open, she was at a loss of what to say to her.
Stumbling backwards Avery let go of her friend and mumbled, "I need some air."
"Avery, wait…" Lydia called, but her friend didn't pause or even look back at her.
~()~
Many minutes later, Isaac and Teagan were heading for Allison's apartment building. He noticed the closer they got, the more nervous she seemed. Both of her hands were gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles were white.
He reached over, removing one of her hands holding it loosely in his hand, then brought it up to his lips, softly kissing the back of it. He became really concerned when that little action didn't faze her. If it was any other time, she would have looked over at him and smiled, but this time she didn't. Her mind was a million miles away as she worried if something was wrong with Allison.
When she came to a stop at a red light and didn't move once it turned green, Isaac looked over at her, pulling on her hand a little, as he said, "Babe? It's green."
"Teagan? Teagan!" Isaac called out, when she didn't answer. He sat up straight, turning in his seat to face her, worried she was about to have a panic attack or something. He laid a hand on the side of her neck, rubbing his thumb against her cheek, and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally turned to look at him.
"I'm sorry. What?" Teagan asked, as she blinked, coming out of her thoughts.
"It's green." Isaac repeated, as he nodded his head toward the light. They turned their heads to look, seeing that it had changed back to red, causing him to add, "well it was green."
"Sorry." Teagan breathed out. She looked over at Isaac, seeing the look on his face, but before he could ask, said, "I'm ok."
"Are you sure? I can drive." He offered. Just wanting to do something to help, since his presence wasn't calming her like it used to.
"No. It's ok." Teagan said, as she laid her head back against the seat. "You can do something for me though. Call Avery. Find out if she is at school yet." She added, as the light turned green again and she pressed down on the gas.
"Teagan, what the hell is going on?" Isaac asked.
"Just call Avery!" Teagan snapped, then added, "Tell her to find Scott and stay with him."
"No!" Isaac snapped back.
Teagan pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building, parking the car, and looked over at Isaac with a shocked expression.
"Not until you tell me what the hell is going on." He continued harshly, "This is more than just being concerned that someone didn't answer their phone. Something is going on. I can smell the anxiety coming off of you, not to mention your heart hasn't stopped racing since we got in this car."
Seeing the look on her face and realizing the tone he was using, he cleared his throat and shot her an apologetic smile as he said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you like that." He reached out and laid his hand on the side of her neck again, caressing her cheek like before and using his other hand to bring her hand up to his mouth. He kissed across the back of her hand then the inside of her wrist, keeping his lips against her skin with a soft sigh.
He pulled back to look at her, then said, "I just- it scares the hell out of me to see you like this. Talk to me, Teagan."
Teagan looked over at him, seeing how serious he was. She didn't have to be a werewolf to pick up on how terrified he was. She turned in her seat to face him, as she laid her hand on top of his while he continued to hold on to hers.
"Ok." She whispered. She shot him a pleading look as she added, "I'll tell you, but don't be mad, ok?"
"Did any good conversation ever start with the words 'don't be mad'?" Isaac questioned her with raised eyebrows.
"Well, no." Teagan said with soft chuckle. "I just don't want to fight with you again." She admitted with a sigh.
Isaac nodded his head, agreeing with her, he hated the fighting too and planned to be more supportive. He lightly ran his thumb over her bottom lip, as he whispered, "Tell me."
"I went after Ethan this morning." Teagan quietly confessed.
"Wha-Babe! What the hell? Why would you do that? Do you know how crazy and insane that is?" Isaac asked with wide eyes. Just imagining what Ethan could have done to her made his heart almost stop.
"I know, I know!" Teagan stated, as she ran her hands through her hair, beating herself up. She knew it was a stupid idea, but at the time wasn't thinking. She just wanted answers, which is what she told him.
"I-I don't know what to say." Isaac mumbled, as he turned to face the front, staring out the windshield. "Actually, that's not true. I know what I want to say, but I can't, cause I don't want to fight with you either." He softly admitted.
"Yell at me if you want! I deserve it. Do whatever makes this better. Just-Just do something, Isaac." Teagan pleading with him, as she grabbed his arm trying to get him to face her.
Isaac turned to face her but didn't say anything instead he leaned across the seat and captured her lips for a heated kiss. He tangled his fingers in her hair, pulling her closer toward him as he deepened the kiss, putting all the anger he was feeling into the kiss. He pulled back a little, grinning against her lips when he heard her softly sigh in pleasure.
He nibbled on her bottom lip, causing her to moan, then gave her one last peck on the lips before pulling back to look at her. He pushed a lock of hair from her face, as he said, "We need to go, now."
She shot him a confused look, wondering what the rush was and feared he heard something, but before she could ask, he grinned as he said, "Because if we stay here any longer, we'll never leave." He nodded his head toward the back seat, as he continued, "I'm serious, two more seconds and I'll have you back there, fogging up these windows."
Teagan chuckled at his comment, then lowered her head, her cheeks turning a light pink color. She knew he was just joking around, trying to light the mood and ease her mind, but the thought of doing something like that in a public place made her heart race. If it was any other time, she would maybe consider it, but she had to check on Allison. She needed that peace of mind.
She shook her head, then raised it to look at him. She leaned forward giving him a soft kiss as she whispered out, "Thank you."
"It's you and me, babe." He whispered back letting her know he was there by her side to support her.
She gave him a sweet smile then reached out and opened the door stepping out of the car. Isaac exited the car seconds after her following along behind her as she walked into the building and over to the elevator. They rode it up to Allison's floor neither one saying anything but Isaac could tell by her racing heart that she was still worried.
As soon as the elevator doors opened Teagan rushed out making her way to Allison's front door. She raised her fist to knock but before she could Isaac grabbed her hand as he said, "Wait."
"What is it?" Teagan asked concerned as she looked over at him. She could tell by the look on his face that he was trying to listen for any noises inside. He didn't want them to rush inside and into the middle of something without knowing it beforehand.
He stepped closer to the door placing his ear against it, his hands on either side of the door frame, as he said, "I hear something. I think it's her heart racing."
"Racing like, in fear?" Teagan asked with wide eyes. She didn't wait for him to answer as she reached into her bag wrapping her hand around the handle of the weapon she started carrying with her at all times.
"I-I don't... whoa, when-when did you start carrying that?" Isaac asked, surprised to see her standing beside him gripping a black stainless steel ringed dagger in her hand and a key in the other one.
"Since the alpha pack started screwing with our friends." Teagan stated, as she stuck the key in the door. Allison given her and Avery a spare key recently in case of emergencies Teagan couldn't think of a bigger emergency than now.
Teagan slowly opened the door, if someone was inside with her friend, she didn't want them to hear her coming. She crept inside Isaac staying close to her he wasn't going to let her out of his sight.
He glanced down at the dagger in her hand then let his eyes roam over her body, before he whispered in her ear, "You know, I wasn't a fan of you hunting before, but seeing you now, it's kind of a turn-on."
Teagan softly chuckled at his comment then glanced over her shoulder smiling at him as she whispered out, "Shh!"
He bit his bottom lip and shook his head as he whispered, "Yeah that's not helping either. My girl taking charge is a turn-on too."
Teagan playfully rolled her eyes but didn't say anything as she walked further inside. Her eyes scanning the room, the way Allison taught her to be aware of her surrounds. Nothing looked out of place there was no signs of a fight or struggle, which she figured was a good thing.
Isaac lightly grabbed her elbow then nodded his head to the left where his werewolf hearing picked up a noise. The two headed toward that area listening closely for any noise that didn't belong.
When Teagan heard a slight shuffle, she glanced over her shoulder to see if Isaac heard more. He mouthed the word 'footsteps' at her causing her to nod her head and turn back toward the noise. She stuck her finger through the hole of the dagger, twirled it around, then gripping it in her hand. She raised it above her head, ready to strike as they crept closer.
She held her breath as they started to round the corner which would lead them to the hall way where the rooms were. She released the breath when she saw the hall was clear then jerked her head to the side when she heard a noise coming from Chris' office.
She could feel Isaac's breath on the back of the neck as he stood closely behind her the two walking closer to the room. When she saw a figure appear, she did like she was taught strike first and look later as she brought the dagger down.
Allison's eyes widened seeing the dagger coming toward her and threw her arms up, crossing them to stop Teagan from lowering her arm any further. Once Teagan realized it was Allison and not an intruder or worse, an alpha pack member, she gasped and took a quick step back.
"Oh, my God! Allison! I am so sorry." Teagan apologized as she dropped the dagger and placed her hands over her mouth.
"It's ok." Allison said as she leaned down to pick up the dagger. She held it out toward Teagan handle facing her as she added, "I can't be mad about something I taught you to do."
"What are you doing?" Isaac asked harshly as he looked over at Allison. He was trying to be supportive of Teagan's friendship and training, but seeing Allison just reminded him of the time she stabbed him repeatedly with knives.
"What are you doing?" Allison questioned him back, giving him as much attitude as he gave her. She folded her arms across her chest, as she added, "You're the one in my house."
"I was worried about you." Teagan quickly answered before her boyfriend or friend could say anything else. She explained the latest to Allison, explaining why she was worried enough to basically break into her house and almost attack her. As Allison nodded her head in understanding, Teagan nodded her head toward the room, as she asked, "Why were you in your dad's room? And why was your heart racing?"
Allison looked at Isaac for a moment, knowing he must have heard her heart earlier then looked back at Teagan, as she explained, "I thought you could be dad coming back. I didn't want him to catch me in his office.
"Catch you in his office doing what?" Teagan questioned.
Allison avoided their eyes, as she blew out a breath, then said, "I think he's involved. He knows something, my dad, he knows something about the murders."
"Wait...what? Why-Why would you think that?" Teagan asked in shock.
Allison nodded her head toward the room, telling them to follow her as she explained what she had found recently. Teagan looked over at Isaac, both surprised to hear the news. They just couldn't imagine Mr. Argent being involved or even being the one killing people; a werewolf or other supernatural creature, yes, but not innocent people.
"Ok, wait, you're saying your dad is the killer?" Teagan asked, as she followed along behind Allison.
"No." Allison quickly answered, then added, "I mean, I don't think he is at least. I hope he isn't."
"You hope he isn't the serial-killing dark druid who's been slashing people's throats?" Isaac spoke up and asked.
"Yeah." Allison breathed out as she walked over to the desk standing in front of it.
"But Allison, this is your dad we're talking about." Teagan said, pointing out the obvious. "He wouldn't just kill a bunch of people-"
"He has before." Isaac interrupted. He cut his eyes at Allison, as he added, "all Argents have or at least tried too."
"Do you wanna help me or not?" Allison snapped, as she looked over at him.
"Of course we'll help." Teagan spoke up as she stepped in between the two trying to keep an argument from happening.
Allison took a deep breath to control her anger then slowly released it as she picked up a small black light. She moved the light across the map that was laid out across the desk, showing them the marks on it.
"See the marks?" Allison questioned as she moved the light over them again. "There are five more bodies to be found but it doesn't say who the bodies are."
Teagan took a closer step to the desk, looking over Allison's shoulder to study the map. She assumed Isaac would step up beside her, but instead he took a couple of steps back. She glanced over her shoulder at him, as she asked, "What are you doing?"
Isaac glanced at her for a moment, then looked back at the desk top as he said, "Something I learned from my father. Take a step back. Look at the whole picture." He looked over at Teagan again, when he saw her move to stand beside him, intertwining her fingers with his. She knew talking about his father was never an easy thing. He shot her a small smile, then continued, "Sometimes, you see things you wouldn't notice if you were up close when all you're looking at are the details."
"The closer you look, the less you see." Teagan added, understanding what he was saying. She squinted her eyes, looking for that one thing that would make it all clear.
Allison stepped back, standing on the other side of Teagan, then said, "Look at that. You see that?"
As she stepped forward and removed the map, revealing a design on top of the desk, Isaac spoke up and said, "Whoa. What is that?"
"A five fold knot. It's a Celtic symbol." Allison explained to them.
Isaac grabbed the black light, to move it aside, until Teagan saw something, causing her to step up and lay her hand on top of his, as she said, "Wait."
She moved his hand over one of the 'knots', the word, 'Virgins' appeared.
Isaac spoke the word the out loud, then felt her move the light over another knot, as Allison spoke up and said, "Warriors."
Teagan moved it over on the side, moving it over another knot, as she stated, "Healers."
"Philosophers." Allison said as the next word popped up under the black light.
Teagan moved her and Isaac's joined hands to the center, the last word, popping up, causing Isaac to breath out, "Guardians."
He glanced over at Teagan the two looking at each other for a moment then looked over at Allison a small piece of the puzzle snapping into place.
Teagan stepped away from the desk first, reaching into her bag to pull out her phone. She quickly dialed Stiles, filling him in on what they discovered.
"Philosophers?" Stiles asked, making sure he heard right.
"And guardians." Teagan said, then added, "Which after last night has to mean something like law enforcement, right?" She didn't wait for him to answer, as she took a deep breath and slowly released it before continuing, "Stiles, you have to tell your dad. Tell him whatever you need but you have to get him to believe. Tell your dad. Warn him."
"Okay, okay, okay, I know." Stiles said, as he ended the call.
Teagan slid her phone back into her purse, then looked over at Allison, who was sitting at her father's desk, when her phone went off.
She looked at her phone, reading the message from Lydia with a worried look on her face.
"What is it?" Isaac questioned.
"Mr. Westover is missing." Allison answered, then added, "Lydia just texted me."
"Our History teacher?" Teagan questioned.
When Allison nodded her head, Isaac looked at her and asked, "What are you going to do?"
"We." Teagan corrected. "What are we going to do?" She added, as she looked at her boyfriend and best friend, stating that they were all in it together.
"I have to stop him." Allison said, her voice strong, but Teagan could tell she was about to crack.
"Not alone you don't." Teagan pointed out, as she stepped up beside her laying a hand on her shoulder letting her know she wasn't alone.
"Is that really a good idea?" Isaac questioned getting both of the girls attention. "I mean if your dad is actually doing all this stuff-"
"'If'?" Allison said back. She gestured toward the desk top, as she added, "Look at this. He knows everything. He's-He's planned everything."
Teagan carefully watched Allison, worried about her, as she grabbed the map again and began to look it over with the black light.
"What are you doing?" Isaac questioned Allison, as he stepped closer to Teagan, who was behind Allison all three looking at the map now.
"If Mr. Westover was taken from the school, there's gotta be another point on the telluric current." Allison explained.
"You mean where he'll be sacrificed." Isaac said.
As Allison nodded her head, Teagan pointed at a place on the map, as she said, "There. That's a new mark."
"Then that's where he is." Allison said, as she stepped back from the desk, heading for the door.
"Wait.." Teagan called out, as she followed along behind her. "I'm coming with you." She stated, not taking no for an answer.
"If she's going, I'm going." Isaac pointed out as he walked up beside his girlfriend, laying a hand on the small of her back.
Allison looked at Teagan, then looked at Isaac, seeing how serious they were. She looked back at Teagan as she asked, "Do you have any other weapons on you?"
Teagan shook her head, as she said, "Just one dagger."
"I'll get you another one, just in case." Allison said, as she turned to leave the room, planning to go to her room where she had some weapons in her closet hidden.
"In case of what?" Isaac questioned, as he moved his hand across Teagan's back, wrapping it around her. He didn't like the sound of 'just in case'. He wasn't even happy about Teagan being involved. He was trying to be supportive, but still didn't like it, and he definitely didn't like hearing, 'just in case'.
Allison ignored Isaac's question, as she walked back out of her room. She already had her weapons on her. She held out another ring dagger toward Teagan and waited for her to hold out her hand. She noticed her hand shaking slightly, as she laid the weapon in her hand.
"Hey..." Allison quietly said, waiting until Teagan glanced up at her, then continued, "You can do this. You're ready."
Teagan gave her a small smile of thanks then wrapped her hand around the handle. She felt Isaac's grip tighten around her waist, but was grateful he didn't comment. She knew he wasn't happy about any of it, but appreciated the fact that he wasn't fighting with her about it. He was starting to understand they needed everyone to stop whoever was doing the killing, and hopefully that person was not Allison's father.
Allison softly smiled back, as she nodded her head once, then said, "Let's go."
~()~
Avery barely made it down the steps outside of the side entrance to the school, before she dropped her bag to the ground and tried to take in a deep breath. But her lungs were aching, she wasn't sure if she needed to scream or cry.
Looking down to her busted knuckles she considered that maybe she needed to hit something, or someone. Most of all she just wanted to feel. Feel something other than the pain of losing Boyd, the constant fear that she was going to lose someone she loved.
There was a constant knot of worry and anguish in her stomach now, and it never went away.
It was getting hard to even remember who she was before all of this happened to her, she considered that maybe too much had happened to ever go back to who she used to be. Maybe she had just been through too much to feel anything but pain now.
With a frustrated scream she kicked her book bag across the dark pavement and looked around to make sure no one had seen her.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone move out of the shadows from under the elevated overpass walkway.
Her first reflex was to dive for her book bag where her weapon was, but when she gave the figure another glance she realized she didn't need any sort of weapon.
A look of relief flooded over her face as she saw the imposing figure come to a stop, and face her direction; his face still hidden in the shadows.
Racing towards Derek, she didn't even pause as she threw herself against his body, as he closed his arms around her and effortlessly lifted her up in the warm embrace.
Her feet dangled above the ground, with closed eyes she clutched onto him, her arms resting on top of his broad shoulders and behind his neck.
Stepping back out of the friendly embrace, she said "I have been so worried about you, I kept trying to call…"
"I know, I just needed some time alone." His voice was soft, barely over a whisper as his forehead was now resting against hers.
"That's the worst excuse ever." She breathed out, frowning when he closed his eyes but remained silent.
"You really did need to be alone, didn't you?"
Derek gave a small nod before his eyes opened he assured her, "I'm here now."
Offering her a small smile, trying to ease her mind and calm her racing heart he continued, "And you were safe, trust me."
"I do trust you."
He watched as her gaze fell from his eyes, "But?"
"But… I never feel safe anymore. I'm just expected to go to school and sit in class with those… evil twins and pretend everything is fine. When all I really want to do is see them pay for what they've done." She admitted to him, shaking her head back and forth.
"They're not going to hurt you." He said as his eyes went to the fading bruise on her throat, "Not again."
Smiling softly she nodded, but she knew even he couldn't protect her from the alpha pack.
As the bell rang she let out a small groan and said, "The last thing I want to do is go to class right now, but I have too."
Derek glanced behind her to where some students were taking short cuts outside to get to their next classes, he nodded in understanding.
The danger was still very real, the threat of losing him –or any of her friends was growing by the day, but for the moment they were still alive. And she was happy to at least know he was back to talking to people, instead of off somewhere suffering on his own.
A/N- Thank you all so much for reading. I hoped you liked the chapter, Miss E Charlotte and I have been working really hard on trying to keep the updates coming at least once a week –most of the time we aim for two or even three new chapters. ^_^
Don't forget to find the link to Miss E Charlotte's Tumblr page on her profile (you can find her fanfiction page under my favorite authors!) she posts sneak peeks for future chapters and so much more!
I know we do update a lot and it might be hard to keep track of, but if you have the time to leave a review –even just to let us know you're still reading, please do. We honestly appreciate the support and feedback more than you know, and knowing we have fans awaiting the next chapters always makes it so much easier to devote the time to writing, editing and updating.
Thank you for all that you do!
XO