I do not own Teen Wolf
Chapter Eight
(listen to 'Don't Blame Me' by Taylor Swift on repeat for this one)
"You still haven't been able to reach him?" Lydia asked as she got ready for the dance.
"No," River sighed, pulling on one of Stiles' sweatshirts. "I'm still going though. Do you remember the plan?"
"I made the plan," Lydia reminded her. "Do you remember the plan?"
River smirked as she watched Lydia fixing up her makeup through their video chat. She admired how strong and smart Lydia was, how she could get ready for a dance and help River plan the rescuing of a werewolf at the same time. They had figured out that there was only one guard that hung around Derek, and he had a bad left knee. With Allison and dear Aunt Kate at the dance, it left just the guard around. Lydia and River had made ten defense spell bottles. All River had to do was open the jar and throw it at the intended target to knock them out for thirty minutes. They had also learned spells for lockpicking, which would come in handy with the chains on Derek's wrists if the guard didn't have the keys on him.
"I know the plan," River promised.
Lydia stood and looked to River; eyebrow raised in question.
"You look amazing," River smiled fondly. "Take a picture with him, please?"
"Whatever," Lydia rolled her eyes as the doorbell rang.
"Love you. See you later."
"Love you, too," Lydia smirked, ending the call.
River pulled on her boots, tying them up before grabbing all of the bottles. She had her necklace hidden away in her shirt and her phone in her pocket, actively sharing her location with Lydia in case of an emergency. She had been feeling something warm in her chest every time she talked to or was around Lydia lately. It felt like the bond that she felt with Peter, but stronger, safer. Lydia had admitted to felling it as well, and River wondered if it was a result of the magic they had been doing together lately.
She thought of Lydia's use of the word 'coven' and smiled. She knew that's what they were now. They didn't know if they were witches or some sort of other magical creature that could use magic. As magical beings, they could form bonds. River just didn't know how that interfered with the bond she had with Peter. She wondered if Peter truly did care about the bond at all with how he'd been reacting every time that she had reached out to him lately. She figured he was worried about his nephew, but she knew where Derek was and had an actual plan on how to get to him.
If he would come to her or let her follow the bond, she could clue him in. Instead, he ignored her, annoyance fizzling through the bond. She knew that being an alpha meant he needed a pack to be stronger. She now was under the assumption that he only asked her to be in his pack because he wanted power. She knew why she had said yes so quickly. She was high from the feeling of him taking her pain, which had lasted for a few days. It was a great manipulation tactic to be honest. She just wished she'd seen it for what it was at the time. Even the letter he had written her felt wrong now.
River shook off the thought and checked the time. Realizing that she had been sitting with her thoughts for an hour, River headed out, knowing Lydia would be heading her way soon enough, complaining to Stiles about cramps to get him to take her home.
River drove towards the woods, her phone giving her directions as she drove. She turned off her headlights as she turned down the hidden path. After doing the spell and seeing the guard inside the building, outside of the door where Derek was being kept, she put the car in park and began the rest of the trek on foot.
It wasn't long before the house loomed in front of her, the blackened husk of what used to be looking just as haunted as it probably was. She entered the house quietly, being careful with every step she took. She made her way to the bookcase under the stairs, pulling on it slowly to not make any noise, revealing the secret passage that led under the house.
Ignoring the intense feeling of deja-vu she was getting, River took a deep breath and pulled Stiles' jacket tighter against her, feeling comforted as she could smell Stiles' cologne still on it, along with the smell of Noah's favorite detergent. She pulled a bottle from her pocket and slipped through the small crack, not wanting any light to get to the bottom of the steps, but leaving a big enough gap that Lydia could come through later if needed. River crouched, slowly making her way down the steps and keeping an eye out for the guard.
A loud howl ripped through the air and River covered her ears, holding in the gasp that threatened to tear through her throat. She heard the door open and the guard begin yelling at Derek. She went down the steps at full height, still careful to not make much noise with the guard distracted. She got to the bottom of the steps and waited. The guard came back out a few minutes later, smiling widely. River smirked and threw the bottle.
The glass shattered against his chest and he stared at her with wide eyes for a moment before falling to the ground.
"Yes," River whispered before running forward.
Once in the room, she turned off the machine that was electrocuting Derek before running back towards the guard. She found the keys in his pocket and ran back to Derek, his eyes just barely opened, watching her even though he seemed completely exhausted.
"I'm getting you out of here," she promised as she unlocked one of the chains and went to the other. "We're getting to my car and going to my house, where Stiles and Scott will be explaining a whole lot of shit."
Once free, Derek began to fall.
"None of that," River stated, pulling Derek up and putting his arm over her shoulder.
She pulled him from the room and headed towards the stairs. He was functional enough at that point that he was able to climb the stairs on his own, River standing behind him in case he began to fall backwards. They pushed through the opening and Derek froze, his body covering River from view.
"I see you've met River," Peter's voice spoke.
"About time you showed up," River complained, pushing Derek forward so she could get out of the creepy basement. "I've been trying to reach you for a week!"
"Quiet," Peter growled.
River glared at him, completely unamused before she took in his appearance.
"Is that blood?" she asked.
"Not mine," Peter shrugged. "Let's go."
"Ah!" a scream came from outside and River froze, recognizing Scott's voice.
"No," she whispered before running out the front door.
Kate was standing over Scott, gun pointed at his head with Allison standing behind her. Kate looked up when she heard movement from the front of the house, a confused expression on her face at the sight of River. River had another bottle in her hand where it couldn't be seen as she walked down the steps.
"Riv?" Scott's voice asked, panic and pain mixing in with fear.
"Kate!" a yell rang through the area, causing everyone to turn to stare at Allison's dad.
As Kate and Chris go back and forth, Chris reminding Kate of the code, River slowly makes her way towards Scott.
"One more step and I put a bullet through your head," Kate hisses when she realizes River is only a few steps away.
"You're going to have to kill me if you think that you're going to hurt him," River says simply.
"I already have," Kate laughs, gun pointed at River as if she was used to threatening children. "I got his girlfriend to shoot him full of arrows. Emotional damage is a cruel thing, but that's what makes it fun."
"I prefer inflicting the physical kind," River disagrees. "People like to talk shit; I like to fight."
"Oh, so you're a fighter?" Kate smirks.
"You make another move towards him and you'll be out before you hit the ground," River seethed.
Kate's finger tightened on the trigger slightly.
"Kate, put the gun down," a shot hits the tree behind Kate. "Before I put you down."
Kate stares at Chris and River wants so badly to reach for Scott, put herself between him and Kate and yell at him to run. Instead, she unscrews the lid on the bottle slowly, letting it fall to the ground once it's off. Scott hears something hit the ground behind him but is too afraid to move. Allison's eyes catch the movement and she stares at River, confused.
River smirks at her, giving her a barely there wink before controlling her features again. Kate lowers the gun and a growl is heard from inside the house. The three hunters are holding their guns towards the house and River smirks. Scott jumps up, pulling River behind him to protect her from the big, bad wolf. River rolls her eyes and lets out a sigh. Peter runs around the small circle, throwing a few people around, Scott included before he throws Kate towards the porch. He turns and smirks at River before going after Kate.
River follows quickly, Allison on her heels as they find Peter in the living room, claws around Kate's throat.
"She looks like you," Peter taunts. "Less damaged."
River moves so that she's partially in front of Allison.
"Peter," River tries, her voice soft.
"Move aside," Peter demands.
"No," River says. "Why are you doing this?"
"Apologize. Say that you're sorry for decimating my family. For leaving me burned and broken for six years. For what you did to my daughter. Say it. And I'll let her live."
The pieces fall into place and River knows. River knows Kate burned the Hale house along with everyone inside. She's read the case files. She knows children died here, knows Peter lost everything. She also knows that Kate is already dead where she stands, and that Allison doesn't deserve to see her aunt die.
"I'm sorry," Kate says directly to Allison, not sorry for what she did, but sorry that Allison will have to deal with the fallout.
River moves quickly, blocking Allison's view just as Peter rips Kate's throat out.
"No!" Allison screams, trying to move pass River.
"I don't know about you girls, but that apology didn't seem genuine," Peter sighs.
River doesn't wait another second before throwing the bottle at Peter. He bats it aside as Derek and Scott appear on either side of them, wolfed out and ready to fight. Allison and River run outside to Chris' unconscious body. Scott comes crashing through a window, landing not far from them. Peter follows him out of the house, his form flashing between two different beasts. River is hiding Allison behind her, refusing to let her be murdered for crimes she did not commit.
Jackson's Porsche pulls up and Stiles comes out of the passenger side and throws a bottle. Peter catches it and suddenly Scott is pushing a cross bow to Allison and she shoots the bottle, Peter catching on fire. Jackson throws another bottle, his aim being better than Stiles'. Peter falls to the ground, the fire dying out and looking human again. River can feel something straining in her chest and realizes it's her bond to Peter. Derek comes out of the house and Scott yells at him, but River is clutching her chest, bent over in pain. She looks up in time to see Derek kill Peter and she's screaming in pain as the bond snaps, the pain reverberating through her at the loss.
The next thing she remembers is Stiles holding her in the back of the Porsche, his voice soothing as she feels empty, her bond to Lydia thin in a way she hadn't noticed before and causing her to panic. Stiles holds her face in between his hands as he tells her that he has her, that she's okay, that she's safe. He doesn't understand that it isn't her that's in danger.
Jackson pulls into the hospital and helps Stiles pull River out of the backseat. She doesn't need the hospital, says as much even, and is confused when Jackson leads them inside, Stiles holding her tightly. Standing in front of a window, staring at Lydia fighting for her life in the hospital room is too much. River can't lose her, too. She calls Scott, tells him where she parked and tells him to bring her car to the hospital. Stiles follows her out of the hospital, both ignoring Noah as they rush outside to meet Scott. He gets into the back as Stiles takes the passenger seat and River gets behind the wheel.
She shouldn't be driving as recklessly as she is, but she's holding on to her bone to Lydia like a lifeline, trying to tell her friend, her coven, her sister to hold on. She gets to the house in record time and runs inside, Scott and Stiles following after her. She grabs the third spell book, ignoring Peter's request that she learn the other spells first. She's unsurprised when Derek climbs through her window, staring at her like she's a threat. She ignores him as she turns page after page in the book until she finds it.
"Yes," she finally speaks.
She goes to gather the supplies she'll need but Derek grabs her arm.
"Let me go," River growls out and Derek jumps away, grabbing his wrist in pain.
"What are you?" he asks as he stares at her.
"I'm pissed off," River says simply. "Who hurt her?"
"Peter," Stiles whispers the answer.
"It's a good thing you killed him then," River nods to Derek. "I would have made it move painful."
River begins moving around the room again, shrugged off Stiles jacket as it slows her down, billowing behind her like a cape. She ignores Derek and Scott's gasps at seeing her arm, the damage that Peter did to her. She does look Derek in the eye when he sees the necklace hanging around her neck before going back to what she was doing. Stiles watches her in curiosity, not sure what's happening. River forces herself to not feel smug about that.
Once she has everything she needs, she moves to the window and looks to the moon. She smirks when she sees the phase it's in and heads down the stairs, the three boys following behind her. She goes out the back door and sets up in the backyard. She spreads mountain ash in a circle, rock salt sprinkled on top of it. She sets the largest crystals at five points around her and a smaller stone in between each one. She looks over the spell, reading through it a few times before pulling the silver knife from her pocket. She cuts her hand without flinching and Stiles tried to step into the circle.
"Do not move!" she yells. "If you interrupt me, Lydia and I will both die and I will make damn sure that we both haunt you."
Stiles steps back, fear in his eyes. Not fear of River, never fear of her. Fear at the idea of losing her. River knows this, but she ignores it and turns back to her circle. She lets her blood drip onto each crystal as she thinks of Lydia, her bond to her, her love for her. She walks along the circle, blood dripping down her hand and onto the ground, stones, and crystals below. Once each stone has been soaked in her blood, she begins to speak.
"Quae mihi inseritur,
Quae eget,
Sanguis meus, spontanee datus;
Dabo tibi fortitudinem.
Soror mea magica,
Revertimini ad me.
Mane hic mecum."
She repeats the spell five times, each time turning to face a different crystal, her hand still dripping blood. She cuts her other hand as well, her blood being the conduit between her and Lydia for the spell. She felt the exhaustion hit her and stumbled, catching herself with her freshly cut hand. When her blood reached the earth, she felt the bond strengthen and knew Lydia was going to be okay. She breathed out a sigh of relief, a smile taking over her face. She sat on the ground and let a few tears fall as she felt Lydia reaching out to her through their bond. She stood back up, ignoring the blood loss and tiredness that she felt.
She thanked the earth and moon for helping her and ended the spell. She moved around the circle, putting away the stones and crystals in opposite order to how she had placed them, noting that the blood had been absorbed by them. She picked up the book and set it in the box as well. She kicked at the salt and mountain ash that surrounded her and stumbled again, Stiles reaching forward out of instinct and caught her as Scott took the box from her, holding it safely in his arms.
River hummed as she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She reached down, but blood covered her hands, reminding her of the night at the school. She ignored the fear that went up her spine every time she remembered that night and answered Jackson's call.
"Hey," River said, her voice weak.
"What did you do?" Lydia's voice asked.
"Nothing too complicated," River lied as Stiles led her into the house and forced her to sit at the kitchen table as he ran to grab the first aid kit.
"I don't believe you," Lydia said bluntly as River put her on speaker.
"You shouldn't," Scott stated, staring at River intently.
"Will you put that in my room please?" River asked him. "I have to cleanse it all later."
Scott scoffed but left the room anyways. Stiles came back into the room and reached for her as Lydia began talking again.
"Which book did you use?" she asked. "Because I know it wasn't the beginner's one. I've read through that one multiple times now."
"The third one," River admitted.
"River!" Lydia yelled angrily.
"Peter's dead," River interrupted her anger. "I felt the pack bond break when he died. I could feel our bond wavering. I could feel you dying, Lyds."
Lydia remained quiet on her end as Stiles froze for a moment before going back to working on her hands.
"I did what I needed to do," River whispered, staring at the top of Stiles' head as he refused to look anywhere but her hands.
"You almost took a bullet for me," Scott's voice caused River to jump as he came back into the room.
"Who all is there?" Lydia asked.
"Scott, Derek, and Stiles," River answered.
"You saved him?"
"Yeah, I got him," River smiled. "I was wondering where you were. What happened?"
"I went looking for Jackson but something attacked me. Next thing I knew, I could feel you telling me to keep fighting and then I was opening my eyes in the hospital."
"It was Peter," River told her. "I'm not sure why though."
"It was because of me," Stiles answered. "He attacked her because she was my date and he used her to get me to track Scott's phone, which Derek had."
"If Peter had stopped being a prick and answered me when I called for him, we could have gotten to Derek before now," River sneered.
"What do you mean?" Derek asked.
"Oh, he sounds nice," Lydia joked.
"Looks grumpy. You'll love him," River joked before looking to Derek. "Lydia and I did a locator spell when we realized that you had been taken by hunters. Lydia came up with a plan to save you, but we couldn't get to you until tonight, since we knew that you would only have one guard. Lydia got Kate to volunteer to chaperon the dance to get her out of the way, which is where Allison would also be. We've been watching and studying the guard schedule all week."
"She had been trying to get to Peter that entire time so he could help us, but he ignored her," Lydia spoke up.
"Shit alpha," River nodded, looking down at her wrapped hands.
She looked at Stiles, finding his eyes locked on hers.
"You did a spell," he said it more like a statement, but River nodded anyways. "You and Lydia do spells. You didn't tell me. I thought we told each other everything."
"Hello kettle, meet pot," River raised her brow. "You've been running around with werewolves and didn't tell me."
"I wanted to," Stiles grumbled.
"River wanted to tell you," Lydia spoke up, sounding annoyed. "You're both so stupid. She said she felt like she was betraying you or something by not telling you."
"I just saved your life," River interrupted. "The least you could do is not spill the beans about our girl talks."
"Thank you for that. I need to go now. Mom's coming back."
"Love you, Lyds."
"Love you, too, sis."
Lydia hung up and River took in a deep breath at the term of endearment. She smiled and closed her eyes, letting the warmth wash over her and sending her love to Lydia through the bond. When she opened her eyes she turned to Stiles as he fidgeted, still kneeling in front of her. She took his hands in hers, wincing as the movements bothered the cuts she had made. He looked up after a moment and River decided to speak.
"I'm sorry for not telling you. I really wanted to, but I wanted you to tell me the truth first."
"I'm sorry for keeping it from you," Stiles began.
"It was my fault," Scott spoke up, moving further into the kitchen. "I made him promise not to."
"Scott, hate to burst your bubble, but Stiles and I typically tell each other everything that you tell us anyway," River smirked.
"Everything?" Scott asked, eyes wide.
"Everything," Stiles admitted.
"Even about?"
"Even about the crush you had on me freshman year," River snorted. "I didn't actually need him to tell me though. You're very obvious."
"Not that this isn't touching, but we need to talk," Derek interrupted.
River turned to Derek, remembering that he had just lost the last of his family. She stood and ran at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and ignoring the growl in his chest as she hugged him. He stood still with his arms held out, unsure what to do with a teenage girl hugging him.
"She does this," Stiles sighed.
"Why are you hugging me?" Derek asked through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry for you loss," she whispered.
Derek's arms came down and he hugged her back. River could feel a small tether reaching towards Derek, like a bond wanting to form, as Derek leaned his head down and put his nose in her hair. He took a slow breath in and then pushed River away, hands braced against her shoulders as he stared at her in shock.
"What?" she asked in shock. "Was it the bond thing?"
"What bond thing?" Stiles asked, standing beside River and staring Derek down, Scott on her other side and his eyes glowing and ready to fight if Derek tried to hurt River.
"Sorry," Derek shook his head and released her shoulders. "You just smelt familiar."
"How so?" River asked, confused.
"You smelt like someone I used to know," Derek told her. "They died in the fire though."
"Really?" River asked. "What was their name?"
"Brook."