Chapter 9: Venomous

Jackson was in the weight room of the high school lifting weights with Danny as his spotter.

"More," he said to him. After what happened on the field with his car, Jackson guessed that there had to have been some effect from the bite. He was now trying to put pressure on himself in order to force it out. Danny then put in some more weight to the rod and Jackson lifted it off the rest but as he was trying to lift it up, he found he couldn't. Danny then took it off and put it on the rest. "I said don't help me," he cried out.

"Don't help you as in don't spot for you or don't help you as in let the bar crush your throat?" Danny said sarcastically but calmly.

Jackson let out a tired puff as he looked at the weights that were set on the bar. It was mediocre at best. Not even close to the weight of the car and yet he was having trouble. "I should be able to do twice that," he sighed out.

"On the moon, maybe," Danny said before he went and started to take some weight off the bar to Jackson's dismay. "I'm hitting the shower. If I come back and you're dead underneath a pile of weight I'm taking the Porsche." Danny then walked off.

Jackson just let himself rest on the iron set when his ears picked up the sound of dripping. He looked off and noticed that he could hear the sound of water. And steam. He looked off to the showers and noticed that there was steam spewing from one of the showerheads as well as a few drops of water. Jackson was hopeful. Maybe it was starting to work. Maybe his transformation was starting to push his way to the surface against the immunity that Lydia gave him.

"Okay," he muttered as he went to take hold of the weight bar. Jackson took some deep breaths before he then lifted it off the rack. Jackson then tried to push up on it but found that he couldn't lift it at all even though there was less weight than before. For a moment, he wanted to hurt himself. What if he was just giving himself false hope? What if the car thing was just an adrenaline rush that he foolishly took the wrong way and just imagined that he was hearing the steam and water because he was desperate for any kind of sign that he was now a werewolf? He was starting to get mad and angry for embarrassing himself this way. The pain from the weights seemed to overpower his feeling of shame until he felt the weights loosen as someone grabbed the bar off him and set it back on the racks. "Thanks," he said as he assumed that it was Danny.

"Any time."

Jackson then opened his eyes. That wasn't Danny's voice. It was Erica Reyes. She was smiling down on him before she went and grabbed him by the throat.

Before Jackson knew it, Erica was forcefully leading him into some dank, underground warehouse or storage space. His eyes then caught sight of Isaac Lahey and he went over and grabbed Jackson and the two of them dragged Jackson off until he found himself facing Derek. He was sitting there calmly, his head not even looking up at him.

"What happened to you the night of the full moon?" he asked not even lifting his head.

"What?" Jackson gasped out before he glared at him. "Nothing. Nothing happened."

Derek finally lifted his head to look at him. "You're lying." He then went and started to put on some gloves.

Jackson didn't understand why he was doing that but his gut told him that he was about to do something to him. Something very bad.

"Wait," he coughed up. "I can prove it." Derek nodded his head slightly. He was waiting for his explanation. "I taped myself," he finally said.

That got all three werewolves to smirk at him.

"You taped yourself?" Isaac asked fighting a laugh.

Jackson glared at him. "Yes. It was the full moon. And maybe while you were curled in the corner having an existential crisis about turning into a monster, I was preparing for the so-called gift your big bad Alpha promised me! But what do I get? Nothing." He then looked back at Derek. "You want proof. Let me get the video."

Derek raised his eyebrows at that before he looked back down. "No," he said putting on his second glove. "No, I have a better idea." He then took out a large pointed shard of mirror. It was a shard of the mirror that the Kanima had thrown Scott into during its attack at the pool. The Kanima managed to step onto it and it left a good bit of its paralyzing venom on it and Derek thought it would come in handy so he took it.

The sight of it made Jackson knees shake and his insides turn. "What is that?"

He tried to break free but Isaac and Erica just brought him to his knees. Derek then got up and slowly stepped up to him with the shard reflecting the light from overhead right into Jackson's face. Isaac then went and grabbed at Jackson's jaw to force his mouth open.

Derek pointed the shard in his direction. "You know Jackson…you've always been kind of a snake. And everyone knows that a snake can't be poisoned by its own venom." Derek then held the shard over Jackson's open mouth. He tilted it and a drop of venom slowly started to drip until it fell into the kid's mouth. Isaac and Erica let him go and the three wolves watched as Jackson started to gag and fall helplessly to the floor as he became completely paralyzed. He wasn't the Kanima. Derek went over and bent down to him. "You're still a snake Jackson…just not the one we're looking for." Derek then left him to lay on the floor until the paralysis decided to wear off.

Isaac, however, went over to Jackson. He was smirking down at him. "You're still going to have to do one more thing for us. Well…actually for me."

Jackson eyes widened at him as he fidgeted on the floor.

Sheriff Stilinski didn't expect to see Jackson visit him at the station. What's more, he didn't expect what the kid had to say to him.

"So now you're telling me that you didn't see Isaac and his father arguing before the murder?" he asked aggravated.

Jackson just sat in the chair, a bit tense. "Not…exactly," he said half-heartedly.

"Not exactly, or no?" the sheriff stiffly said. "Because when it comes to law there is a rather large divide between not exactly and no. Like if 'Not exactly' was sitting in this chair than 'No' would be somewhere in the Pacific Ocean drowning next to my career," he all but spat out. Jackson just sat there and seemed to not try to look directly at him. "So, what's it going to be? Not exactly or no?"

Jackson was silent for a moment before he finally said, "No."

The sheriff then went and let his forehead rest in his hand. "Crap," he muttered.

The sheriff then called for Stiles to come down to the station quickly and help give a written statement. When Stiles asked why, he was thrown. At school, even though he was still a little mad at Scott, he quickly sought him out because this was too big to keep to himself. Stiles found him at his usual seat in homeroom.

"I just talked to my dad, who talked to Jackson, and I've got really terrible, horrible, really, really bad news."

Scott just looked back at him. "I think I already know."

Scott then directed Stiles' sight to Isaac who was sitting in class not too far from them as if he hadn't been gone at all.

Scott and Stiles seemed to be letting the little…'thing' that happened between them at the parking lot go, for now. This situation was too big and intense to stay away and be quiet at one another. Besides, Stiles made it clear that he was still on Scott's side when it came to everything. Just not on Allison or the Argents.

"Okay," Stiles said when they filed out of homeroom. "I only found one thing online about the Kanima. It's a were-jaguar from South America that goes after murderers."

The Kanima's image flashed through Scott's mind. "That thing was no jaguar," he said. It was the furthest thing from a jaguar. It looked more like a were…iguana.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah and I'm not exactly a murderer. I've hurt people, yes, but I didn't kill any of them. And to be fair, they were trying to kill me first."

Scott narrowed his eyes in thought. "But you still saw it kill someone. Which is probably why it tried to kill you. And is still trying to kill you and probably won't stop until you're dead."

Stiles froze in place before he let out an aggravated huff of air. "You know, I'm beginning to see why I'm starting to question this 'friendship'," he said making air quotes with his fingers before walking off after him.

The two of them passed by Danny and Jackson who were at his locker.

"It took forever but I found this program that can recover your video. I'll run it in my free period this afternoon," Danny said to Jackson who nodded at him.

"Okay, just let me know when it's done," he said. He wanted to see what happened to him once and for all. He wouldn't rest until he saw whether he was a werewolf or not.

Jackson then heard a loud sound of clinking metal hit his ears and he shut his eyes in aggravation. It was from a bracelet that Erica had on her wrists. Jackson suddenly could hear her talking to Isaac a little bit away from him as if they were talking in his ear.

"So Derek wants this done during Chemistry?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Isaac. "And if it's Lydia, I'm going to kill the bitch, alright?"

"We have to test her first," she reminded him.

"The Kanima," Isaac said.

But then the bell rang and Jackson grabbed his ears to stop the hard ringing from shattering his eardrums. Jackson went to Economics class where he went to his seat behind both Scott and Stiles. "Hey, Testicle Left and Right," he said to them. But Scott and Stiles just kept on reading their books, ignoring him. "What the hell is a Kanima?" At that, the two of them turned around to look at him, shock on both of their faces.

But before they could say or do anything further Coach came by and slammed a book down on his desk.

"Alright, listen up. Quick warning before we begin our review. Some of you, like McCall," he said making Scott look at him affronted. "Might want to think about starting your own study groups because tomorrow's mid-term is so profoundly difficult…I'm not too sure that I could pass it. Okay, I need a volunteer at the board to answer the first question. Who's got it, huh?" People started raising their hands. Lydia was one of them. Coach then chose one.

That left Jackson, Scott and Stiles to talk alone.

"Paralyzed, from the neck down," Jackson said explaining what happened to him. "Do you have any idea what that feels like?!" he spat to them.

"I'm familiar with the sensation," shrugged Stiles.

But Scott narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Why would Derek test you? Why would he think it was you?"

"How should I know?" he barked at him.

But Stiles narrowed his eyes. "You're lying."

"No, I'm not," he hissed at him. He sounded just like Derek.

But Stiles nodded. "Yes, you are. Your pulse rose when you said that and again at 'no'. You're lying."

"What?" Jackson said. Was he telling him that werewolves could tell when people were lying that way? But he shook his head. Now wasn't the time to be angry that there was more that was taken from him. "The point is that they're going after Lydia now."

Stiles' eyes widened. "They think it might be Lydia?" he asked a bit freaked.

Jackson shrugged. "I don't know. All I heard was her name and something about Chemistry."

"Jackson!" Coach had come up to them and broke them up. "You have something you want to share with the rest of the class?"

"Uh…just an undying admiration for my coach," he said trying to talk his way out of this one.

That made Coach smile. "That's very kind of you," he said before his smile fell into a deep frown. "Now shut up! Shut it!" He then looked to the class at large. "Anyone else?" He then walked off.

Scott then went and leaned over and pulled Stiles to him. "How do we know it's not her?"

"Because I fought against that thing. I looked into its eyes and what I saw when I did was pure evil. When I look into Lydia's eyes I only see 50% evil," he said like that settled the matter. But Scott just kept looking at him. "Alright, maybe 60%. You know 40% on a good day."

But Scott shook his head. "Stiles…that's not a very good argument."

Stiles sighed. "I'm aware of that. But, I swear it's not her. It can't be, alright. Lydia's fine."

Lydia was at her desk copying down the notes into her book. The volunteer was answering the question before he walked off into a new section that looked like it was written into a spiral. He then turned around revealing himself to be Peter Hale. Lydia's eyes widened as the man started to make his way to her, throwing the desks in his path off to the side as he stomped forward. Lydia got up and backed into the wall but he made his way to her and stopped short of her face. He then took out his hand and blew chalk dust at her face.

"Lydia!" she heard.

Lydia then gasped as she found herself on the board with Coach staring at her. She was crying and there were jumbled up words written on the board right behind her in her handwriting.

Coach made his way to her. "Okay then. Anyone else want to try answering? This time, in English?"

That got the class giggling. All except from that boy that Lydia met when she sat in front of the guidance counselor's office. She then turned around to see that she had written gibberish all over the board.

Over where they sat, Scott squinted his eyes. "What is that? Greek?"

Stiles just looked at his phone. "No. Actually, I think it is English." He then brought the phone to Scott to show he took a picture of it. He then reversed the image to show that Lydia had written SOMEONE HELP ME backwards.

After class, Scott and Stiles tried to hurry after Lydia but the Coach stepped to be in their way. "Good hustle," he said with a small smile before he frowned at Stiles. "Stilinski, a word. Alone," he added at Scott.

Scott stepped outside of the classroom and waited around at the door while Stiles was pulled over to the Coach's desk.

"Coach?" he asked.

He went and folded his arms. "I'm want an explanation for your little vanishing act at the game Stilinski."

"Oh," Stiles said rubbing the back of his head. "That."

"Yes, that," Coach spat out. "You're lucky that I was able to find someone to step in when I did. Did you decide to go for a swim in the toilet after you were done."

'Oh, I went for a swim alright,' Stiles said silently. But he just let a breath loose. "I don't know what happened Coach. I...was on my way back and then...I just felt someone grab me and throw me into the nearby janitor's closet. I was pounding on that door for over an hour before someone finally heard me and let me out. But...the game was over by then."

That made Coach suck on his teeth. "First the walking building and now this. I definitely have to talk to the new principal about this. We all should have your own security detail during games." He said that more to himself than Stiles. "But," he said loudly. "whatever the case is, I told you to be there and you couldn't do it.

"But I was."

"Being at the bench before the game starts doesn't count." Coach let out a deep breath. "It looks like I'm going to have to take you off first line just the same."

Stiles face fell. "What?" He was being taken off first line? "Why? I told you that it wasn't my fault."

"Sorry Stilinski but, somehow, it looks like you were always there for the team when...we didn't need you. At least when you were on the bench you always made it from start to finish. Ever since I seemed to make the mistake of putting you on first line, you always seem to be out of sight and out of mind when we all actually want you there. Maybe this way things will actually be how they're supposed to be so you're out."

Stiles stared after Coach as he took a folder and headed out the classroom door before looking down at his feet. He was off first line. He was back on the bench again.

Scott stayed standing at the wall next to the door. His face just as shocked as Stiles was.

Scott wanted to try and talk about what had happened but Stiles stopped him. He said there were other things to worry about right now. Scott had a feeling that Stiles was somehow blaming him for this. He knew because he was blaming himself for this. The fact that Stiles wasn't saying anything about it and trying to focus on everything else only made him feel worse. He was the one that told Stiles to leave the game and go search for the bestiary and didn't think about what could happen to him. Looking back, maybe it would've been a better idea to try searching after the game for the book after getting the keys. Or if he had noticed that Stiles had been missing sooner than he could've helped him out of that mess and help him make the game. Or maybe if he had decided to go with Stiles to find the book then they could've avoided that whole thing in the pool to begin with. But, it was too late for any of that now.

They hurried off to try and get to Lydia before she ran into trouble from Isaac and Erica. The two of them rushed over to Chemistry. Stiles' pulse was starting to rise and Scott noticed him opening and closing his hands incessantly.

"Derek is not going to kill her without proof," Scott said trying to calm Stiles.

"So, he tests her like he did with Jackson, right? But when and where?"

They then caught sight of Lydia already sitting down at her assigned station. They then caught Isaac and Erica walking into the room and their eyes were zeroed in on Lydia.

"I think here and now," Scott muttered.

The independent betas locked eyes with Derek's betas and they all started to move for her. Scott and Stiles made it to Lydia first. They gave her a small smile before they watched as Isaac and Erica went to find some available seats. Allison then walked in but was surprised to see that Scott wasn't sitting in his usual seat with her but he looked off towards Erica and Isaac and she seemed to understand. Something was going on even if she didn't understand what it was yet.

Harris then walked in. "Einstein said: Two things are Infinite. The Universe and Human Stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe. I myself have encountered infinite human stupidity." He then went and patted Stiles on the shoulder as he said this but Stiles kept his emotions in check and made his face passive. "So…to combat the plague of ignorance in my class you're going to combine efforts through a round of group experiments. Let's see if two heads are indeed better than one. Or, in Mr. Stilinski's case, less than one." Stiles didn't react. He just kept his gaze on Lydia and tuned him out. Harris then looked over at Erica. "Erica, take the first station," he instructed. "Start with-" But he stopped when he saw all the boys in the class raise their hands with the exceptions of Scott, Stiles and Isaac. Even a few girls too. That only made Harris roll his eyes. "I didn't ask for volunteers. Put your hormonal hands down," he said to them. "Start with Mr. McCall."

Harris then went off to pair off the rest and Scott went off to the station where he was soon joined by Erica. He started the experiment but he checked to see that Harris was far away from them before he turned to Erica. "Whatever you're thinking about doing, wait. Give me a chance to talk to Derek."

"Why don't you talk to me?" she said leaning in closer to him but he just glared at her. She actually stopped and backed away with confusion in her eyes. "That's funny," she said before looking over at Allison who was working with Lydia. "In school you guys act like you've broken up but she's all over you."

Scott just shook his head. "I don't know what you're talking about," he tried to explain away. The last thing he needed was more people to find out about him and Allison. Too many knew already.

"If I were Allison," Erica then went and grabbed his knee making him flinch. "I'd be watching you all the time," she said taking a tighter grip on him.

Over at Allison and Lydia's station, Lydia looked over and noticed that Erica was grabbing onto Scott.

"Never?" asked Lydia. "You never get jealous?"

"No," Allison said shaking her head. "Why would I?"

"Because of that thing happening over there," she said pointing to Erica grabbing onto him. "That requires some jealousy."

Scott could sense Allison's pulse rising from where he was and knew that it was because of what Erica was doing. He then grabbed her hand and pulled it off. "You're not my type," he spat at her.

"I'm exactly your type," she spat back.

The two of them had their eyes burn gold at each other and it looked like they were a hair away from clawing each other's faces off until Harris hit the bell.

"Switch," he said to the class.

Erica gave Scott a small fondle at the side of his head before he got up and left to go to the next station.

Before Allison left, she leaned into speak to Lydia. "Listen to me, don't talk to Erica or Isaac."

"Why?" Lydia asked as that seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Just don't," she said.

Harris went over to them. "Let's go girls. Next station," he said.

"Trust me, alright," Allison said before she got up and left.

Lydia watched Allison go with a weirded out look on her face before she was joined by Scott. Stiles looked back and let out a sigh of relief before he turned and saw that he was joined by Isaac. His face fell into a small glare as Isaac gave him a small smirk.

Stiles began the next phase of the experiment but he still spoke. "If you harm one perfect strawberry blonde hair on her head I'm gonna turn your little werewolf ass into a fur coat and give it to her as a birthday present," he said calmly.

"Really," Isaac smirked out. "I've never actually been to one of her invite only birthday parties. Did ask her out once though."

"Sounds like the beginning of a heartfelt story," Stiles said still not looking at him. "I'm going to pass, thanks."

But Isaac kept going. "It was first day, freshman year."

"You thought everything was going to be different in high school," Stiles cut in. "But she said no."

"Yeah, she even laughed. Told me to come back when the bike I rode to school had an engine, not a chain."

"Hmm," Stiles said smiling but still not looking at him. "Unrequited love's a bitch. Maybe you should write about it in English class? You know, channel all that negative energy."

But Isaac shook his head. "Nah, I was thinking of channeling it into killing her." That got Stiles to finally look at him. "I'm not really into writing."

Stiles right hand tightened to a fist and he let a flash of gold appear in his eyes which Isaac answered with a flash of his own.

But then Harris hit the bell. "And switch," he called out.

Scott and Stiles found themselves together but they saw that Isaac was now heading for Lydia. Stiles tried to get up and head for her but he was stopped when a pointer slammed at Stiles by Harris.

"If you're trying to test my patience Mr. Stilinski, I guarantee it will be a failing grade."

Ever since Gerard became the principal, he made it clear that he was on Harris' side when it came to Stiles. That seemed to make Harris more bold and forceful with Stiles than ever before. Stiles couldn't be more aggravated with the old hunter, especially since, even now, he was hindering him without even trying. When Harris left, Scott and Stiles spared each other a small look and just went into trying to work on the experiment. They saw that they were just going to have to bear it until Harris rang the bell again. This was the first time since Coach's talk with him that they were alone and the discomfort between them seemed to come back a bit for Scott. But Stiles kept his eyes narrowed at the two across from them practically the whole time. Lydia just started working while Isaac just seemed to stare at her with a small smile on his lips.

Over at Allison's station, she was with Erica. Allison tried to ignore her but she found that she just couldn't.

"What are you going to do to her?" she asked.

"Don't you think the better question is: What is she going to do to us?" The two of them then looked over at Lydia who turned to look at them before returning to work. Then they both caught Scott looking back at them. Erica smiled at that. "I have to say…you guys are cute together." That made Allison roll her eyes but stare back at her to show that she wasn't going to bend to her. Erica wasn't going to give up though. "But, you know I always had this feeling like I'm a little psychic. And, I don't think you're going to last."

Allison just stared back at her unblinkingly. Allison thought that Erica was close but still wrong. She wasn't psychic. Psycho probably but not psychic. "You think you can hurt me by sliding your hand up his thigh?" she challenged.

Erica leaned in. "Would you like it better if it were your thigh?" she asked putting her clawed hand on Allison's thigh. "Besides, I wasn't really talking about me. I…was actually talking about him," she said looking back over at Scott's table. Allison followed her gaze to see that she was referring to the one sitting next to Scott.

"Stiles?" she asked as she looked at Scott's friend who was fidgeting with the beakers as he kept his gaze on Lydia and Isaac.

It looked like Stiles was actually trying not to look at Scott for some reason. Something big was going down with Lydia at the center of it and the two of them were just brought together as partners the first time all class but they weren't talking to each other now. Usually, when things were tense, the two of them would be talking non-stop but they seemed to be being quiet with one another, like they were fighting.

Erica seemed to understand that too. "Yeah. You should've heard him the other night with Scott. Boy, does he have issues with you two." Erica then noticed the look in Allison's face. "Oh, didn't you know? Stiles made his feelings known alright and they were loud…and deep," she growled as she dug her claws into Allison's thigh just as Harris rang the bell.

"Time," he called out. "If you've catalyzed the reaction correctly you should now be looking at a crystal.

Over at Scott and Stiles' station, their beaker had a lump of grayish sand that was stuck to the bottom. Over with Lydia and Isaac, they pulled out from their beaker a clear crystal.

"Now," Harris continued. "For the part of that last experiment I'm sure you'll all enjoy. You can eat it."

That made all the students look up in puzzlement. While Scott and Stiles pushed the sticky sand aside, Lydia took the crystal off the tongs that Isaac had it on. Scott looked over and his eyes zeroed in on what looked like something dripping from the crystal. A clear fluid…that matched the venom that was on the Kanima's claws. Now it was clear what the test was.

"Lydia!" Scott called out just as she put it in her mouth.

Lydia looked over at Scott, as did a good deal of the class, in puzzlement.

"What?" she asked, not looking any worse for wear.

Scott looked around and saw that Erica and Allison were looking at Lydia with surprise that she seemed fine. "Nothing," he said sitting back down. He shared a look with Stiles as they watched Lydia eat the crystal coated with the venom and not becoming paralyzed. She wasn't affected by it at all.

Scott then looked out the window and noticed someone was standing in the lot looking in their direction. It was Derek and he was watching with narrowed eyes as Lydia didn't pass the test. The venom didn't work on her which meant that she was the most likely suspect of being the Kanima.

Stiles roughly threw his backpack into the wall of Coach's office after Chemistry class. Scott and Allison were right behind him. Right now, the situation was too serious to be worrying about the Scott/Allison situation right now.

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott said as he dropped his own bag onto the floor.

"Waiting to kill her?" asked Allison.

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, then yes. Especially after what happened at the pool."

"It's not her," Stiles said stepping up to him. "I know it."

"Stiles, she didn't pass the test. Nothing happened," he said back calmly.

But Stiles shook his head. "No, it's not her. It can't be. If it was, I would know it, believe me." He knew it wasn't her. He couldn't explain it to Scott though because he wasn't sure he could explain it to himself. It was like…an instinct. They seemed to be screaming at him that it wasn't her.

But then Allison stepped in. "It doesn't matter because Derek thinks it's her," she pointed out. "So, either we can convince him that he's wrong or we gotta figure out a way to protect her."

"Well, I don't think he's going to do anything here," said Scott. "Not at school." Derek couldn't really come after Lydia with so many people around.

"And what about after school?" Allison pointed out. That got to the two werewolves to huff in aggravation. "What if we can convince Derek that he is wrong?"

"By three o'clock?" Stiles said a little shortly with her.

Allison didn't back down. "What about the bestiary?"

"Oh, you mean the 900 pages of archaic latin drivel that none of us can read? Good luck with that!" he spat.

Scott gave Stiles a look but Stiles just answered with a look of his own.

Allison just looked down. "Uh, actually I think I know someone that might be able to translate it."

But Scott knew that Allison would need some time. "I can…talk to Derek," he offered. "Convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her."

"Good luck with that one," Stiles said flatly. He then rolled his eyes when Scott narrowed his eyes at him. "I'll stay close to Lydia. In case Isaac or Erica decide to do something before 3."

Scott nodded. But he then looked at Allison. "If anything happens then you have to let me handle it. Okay?"

"What does that mean?" she asked him.

"You can't heal like I do. I just don't want you getting hurt."

Allison then reached into her bag and then pulled out a crossbow that unfolded locked and loaded. "I can protect myself," she said sternly.

The sight of it made Stiles' eyes harden and Scott's jaw tighten.

"What?" asked Allison as she put it down. "Did something else happen?"

"Uh…I just don't want you getting hurt," Scott said looking straight at her. "Seriously, if anything goes wrong you call me. Okay?" he pressed. "I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can." Allison then nodded. "Okay, we have until three. Stiles," he started to turn but stopped.

When they turned to look at Stiles they saw that he wasn't there anymore. He had left while the two of them were talking with each other.

"Where'd he go?" asked Allison with a whisper.

"I…guess he went to go and find Lydia." Stiles had obviously left when he saw that he and Allison were having a moment and his words about being 'done' when it came to the two of them echoed in his ears.

Allison turned to look back at him. "Scott," she said making him turn so that they caught each other's eyes. "Are you sure that nothing else happened that night? When you guys saw the Kanima?"

Scott stiffened. Something did happen. A lot of somethings happened. With both his best friend and Allison's grandfather. Scott hadn't told about what happened with Gerard to anyone, even Stiles because he felt that Stiles wouldn't hear him out. He made his feelings clear and this would only harden them, especially on Allison. He also didn't want to tell Allison about Gerard or about Stiles. He knew that she would only blame herself and none of this was her fault.

"It's going to be okay," he finally said. "Stiles is just…worried. And scared. He tends to not think clearly when he gets that way. When we get all this taken cared of, I'm sure that he'll calm down and…see that nothing was wrong. It'll all be okay. I promise." Scott believed that. He had to. It was just crazy right now but things would settle, eventually. Stiles was wrong about Allison and about how things would be with her family and he would see that when Scott helped calm things down. They would all get through this and no one else would have to get hurt.

Allison nodded but she still let her eyes wander to the spot that Stiles had vacated. Something about how Scott just said that actually made her feel more nervous than assured. From how Erica told it, it seemed that Scott and Stiles got into something big and from how Scott tried to avoid a direct answer with her, it must've been either about her or her family. When she and Stiles had confronted each other at the rink, he said that he had to stop before he said something to her that he couldn't take back. If she had to guess, he had either did or didn't with Scott.

Stiles just stomped off looking for Lydia, eager to put real distance between him and those two as they went at it. Stiles couldn't believe what Scott just said as he went on his love rant to Allison. How he was only concerned about Allison getting hurt. How he didn't care if her family found out. He had only just yelled and punched Scott for this only the other night but it seemed to not leave a very good impression. When it looked like Allison was in the slightest peril, Scott was ready to put his head on a chopping block for her. How was that going to help anything?

But he shook his head to loosen his thoughts. He couldn't let those two blind him to what he had to do. He had to keep focused and make sure that Lydia was safe and see that Derek's betas Isaac and Erica didn't get to her first. They were still new to this and it was clear that they were letting all this new power get to their heads. He thought that what Scott and he did to them would've shown them that they couldn't just do these kind of things but it looked like that lesson didn't stick with them much.

The good news was that Isaac and Erica had a class now, but not Lydia. It was her free period so Stiles could stay close by her until the end of the day. The problem was that he didn't know where to start looking. Lydia could be anywhere right now.

Lydia was in Morrell's office for her session. She was sitting in her seat as Morrell started to show her ink blots.

"Butterfly," Lydia said when Morrell held one up. "Butterfly," she said to the next one. Morrell held up another and she answered 'butterfly' again. When Morrell held up a fourth, Lydia started to say butterfly again but froze half-way through the word. Her gaze widened as she looked at the image. It looked like a face. A burned face that moved for a moment.

"Lydia?" Morrell said when she didn't talk. Lydia then said a long term and Morrell nodded her head. "Which is the scientific name for-"

Lydia smirked at her. "Butterfly."

Morrell just lowered the ink blot and stared straight at her with a disapproving shake of the head. "Lydia, what is it going to take for you to open up?"

"I don't know what you're talking about? I'm as open and honest as a person could be." Lydia's tone was hard but sad. As if she was trying hard not to just break and start weeping right then and there.

Morrell then picked up the last ink blot that she showed Lydia and looked at it herself. "Huh…I would've said wolf."

The ink blot was a near perfect indication of a wolf growling.