I do not own Teen Wolf

Last chapter of this one! I have the next one written already but I'm going to post a Harry Potter story next (which is super long), unless I get tired of making y'all wait and start randomly posting it. We'll see! I hope you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. More to come in the future, I pinky swear. Enjoy!

Chapter Seventeen

The next week felt like it drug on, everyone pretending that everything was fine. River kept having panic attacks that Stiles had to bring her back from. Isaac just watched the two, unable to help his girlfriend. Lydia talked to Derek, telling him about the visions of Peter and the nightmares that led to the resurrection. Derek was surprisingly understanding as he helped her deal with the trauma. Erica and Boyd debated leaving, trying to find a safe place to go together, but decided against it as they realized that it meant leaving River and Isaac behind. Melissa felt afraid of the supernatural creatures that surrounded her at first before remembering that they were mostly just children and her motherly instincts kicked in as she started taking care of all of them. Noah cleaned up the mess at the station, getting the hunters that weren't the Argents' arrested for breaking into the police station with the intent of sieging the town, marking them all as terrorists. He made his report on Matt being the serial killer and holding himself, Melissa, and the kids hostage before he heard the windows breaking and thought he was out of time, causing him to shoot himself to avoid persecution.

Allison wasn't at school that week and neither was her mom. By the time Friday night rolled around, Stiles would have been sure that they had left town had it not been for principal creepy hanging around still. Peter didn't show up at any point. River kept checking his room to make sure nothing had changed. She even got the locks changed and new keys made for everyone. Jackson's dad called River Friday night before the game to let her know that the judge had signed the paperwork and she was now emancipated. She thanked him and let Noah know, making sure that he knew that he was still her dad.

Lydia and River sat in the stands, Melissa, Derek, and Noah behind them. Erica and Boyd had decided to meet up with them later in the game so that they could get some alone time in the house. Stiles and Jackson were first on the field, Danny in the goal post. Scott was told he had to sit out because of his grades, so Isaac was put in in his place. It was in the final three minutes when all of the werewolves tensed that River realized that something was wrong.

"What's going on?" River asked, leaning into Derek's legs.

"Gerald," Derek growled out, his voice low. "He's threatening us."

"What's he saying?" she asked.

"He's saying that if I don't give him the bite, he's going to kill someone when the clock runs out."

"Where is he?" River asked, looking around the pitch.

"I'm not telling you," Derek told her as Stiles scored another goal.

River wanted to cheer but she was still scanning the crowd, looking for the old man. She finally found him, a smirk on his face as he stared directly at her, as if challenging her directly. She could see his mouth moving and heard Derek letting out an angry growl, his body shaking.

"What is it?" River asked, eyes still on Gerald.

"He's threatening you," Derek explained. "He thinks you're the weakest in the pack and wants to make an example out of you."

"Bring it on," River raised an eyebrow at Gerald, sitting up straight and staring at him.

The final whistle blew and River was up and moving with the rest of the crowd, running down to congratulate the Beacon Hills team. She made sure to lose everyone in the crowd, regretting her decision when the lights went out, throwing everyone into darkness. Two gunshots rang out and River's breath caught in her throat. The crowd began pushing then, trying to get away from the gunfire, panicking until the lights turned back on.

"Jackson?" Lydia's voice asked and River felt her heart drop.

She felt her pack bonds and found Jackson still there, just a little dull as he was trying to heal. She also felt Stiles' panic and fear. She used the bond to find him and tried to push her way through the crowd when she heard Noah yelling.

"Where's my son? Where's my daughter? Where the hell are my kids?!"

"I'm here!" River yelled, getting to him. "Something's wrong with Stiles."

"Where is he?" Noah asked when she heard Melissa speak up.

"He has no pulse!"

"What?" River asked confused, running to them.

Jackson was loaded into an ambulance, DOA. River could feel him in the bond but she had no clue what was going on. She felt for Stiles and found his fear again, along with anger. Erica and Boyd's feelings hit her then as she realized that she had been too distracted during the game to realize that they hadn't joined them. She thought that they had just decided to spend the whole night together but now she knew.

Her breath started coming out heavy, a panic attack approaching. Isaac and Noah were beside her in an instant, Derek getting to her a moment after.

"Stay with me River. What's wrong?"

"She said something was wrong with Stiles," Noah explained.

"River, concentrate for me. Where is Stiles? We can get to him if you lead the way," Derek instructed, his voice soothing.

River nodded and closed her eyes. She felt the thrum of the bond with Stiles, stronger than any other bond that she had. She saw it in her mind beside the other bonds. Scott's was strong and dark blue, brotherly in a way that brought her comfort. The bond to Isaac, Erica and Boyd were light green while the bond to Jackson was a shade off from theirs. The bond to Lydia was purple, magic pulsing through it while the bond to Derek with orange, a familiar bond. The bond to Stiles was different; it glowed red with gold in it, the tether holding them to each other, unbreakable even in death.

River felt her magic flowing through her as she imagined holding the bond in her hands and giving it a light tug to let Stiles know that she was coming. She could feel him in a pain that suggested that someone was hurting him in that moment. She absorbed some of the pain, flinching and grabbing her ribs in the process and ignoring the hands that held her steady. She saw through his eyes for a moment, seeing Erica and Boyd chained to a wall, attached to car batteries. She saw Gerald stomping down on Stiles' ribs. She felt the bond again, sending healing magic to Stiles when she realized exactly what the bond was. Her purple and red eyes flew open.

"Mate."

River took off running, Derek and two very confused men following after her. Noah got into the cruiser, following after the three supernaturals as they took off. River used her magic to push herself faster, a low growl in her chest that reverberated through the pack bonds. She stopped in front of the Argent household, glaring up at the house that looked completely normal.

"He's here?" Derek asked as Noah turned off his lights and cut his engine.

"So are Erica and Boyd," River stated.

"We need a plan," Derek said, turning to Noah and Isaac.

River ignored them and walked forward, the wind picking up and lightening flashing in the distance as she felt more pain through the bond from Stiles. The doors exploded once she was close enough, catching the attention of her three companions and they raced forward to help her with the hunters. Allison and Chris came into the front room, staring at River in shock. She let out a growl that made Isaac and Derek bare their necks before Chris pulled out a gun.

The gun flew from his hand and Allison flew back into the living room. Chris ran after her to make sure she was alright and found her knocked out. River stepped into the house and followed the bond as it led her to a door in the hall. The door swung open and she made her way down the stairs, sending healing magic to Erica, Boyd, and Stiles as she descended.

"How are you okay?" Gerald's voice asked and River grabbed her ribs but held in the gasp of pain.

"Because I have an alpha," River could hear Stiles smirk as the door opened quietly behind Gerald. "And you've managed to piss her off."

"Her?"

"Say hi alpha."

"Hi."

Gerald turned quickly, arm coming up with a knife in it. River caught his arm with a sinister smirk in place. Isaac went to Erica, Derek went to Boyd, and Noah went to Stiles. River squeezed Gerald's arm until she felt and heard the bone shatter and the knife fell to the floor. Gerald let out a yell of pain as River used her magic to push all of the pain from her three betas into him. He fell to his knees, screaming and begging her to stop. River tilted her head, her smile growing as she watched Gerald start seizing. She heard Erica's hiss at the sight and considered stopping it before she saw the bruises of Stiles face and decided to send even more pain his way.

By the time that River stopped, Gerald had stopped moving, stopped breathing all together. He was still, his eyes still open and tears staining his cheeks. She reached down and felt no pulse before standing and leading everyone from the basement. They said nothing as they passed Chris and Allison, walking out of the house and piling into the cruiser. They drove towards the hospital, towards Jackson in silence, no one wanting to speak as River's magic calmed.

At the hospital, they followed River as she followed her bond to Jackson, stopping outside the morgue. Scott and Lydia were inside with Melissa, talking away from Jackson's body. River walked pass them and unzipped the bag that contained Jackson before holding her hand over his chest and pressing down one, two, three times. Jackson sat up, gulping in air as Lydia rushed forward and wrapped her arms around him.

"Do you still?" he asked.

"Yes," she cried. "Yes, I still love you. I do still love you. I do. I do. I do."

Jackson's eyes began to glow blue, his fangs descending and his claws sharpening before his ears elongated. He let out a loud roar with a kanima screeched mixed in. River let out a sigh as she felt his bond change, correcting to the same color as Erica's, Boyd's and Isaac's. She nodded to Derek, telling him that Jackson was healed and a werewolf now before she turned to Boyd and Erica. She held their hands and said a spell, moving their healing along even faster. She turned to Stiles next, pulling him into a hug and whispering a spell three times before his bruises started fading and his ribs started healing. Once the spell took effect, she stepped away, smiling.

"You'll be all healed in the morning," she told the three of them. "You'll need to get some rest though."

"Am I okay?" Jackson asked.

River placed her hand on his forehead and closed her eyes, the physical contact giving her a better glimpse at any injuries he had. She cleared away the bullet wounds, relieved that the bullets had gone all the way through as they healed over. She opened her eyes and smirked.

"You'll need some rest, too, little wolf."

"Don't call me that," Jackson growled out.

"Whatever you say," River rolled her eyes. "Can we go home now? I'm exhausted."

River slept the entirety of Saturday, magical exhaustion hitting her hard. Sunday morning, she woke up early and looked into each room quietly, seeing how many people were in the house before starting breakfast for the entire pack, plus Danny and the parents. Noah and Melissa joined her in the kitchen when they head her moving around, followed soon by Derek at the smell of coffee. The three adults sat in the dining room, talking quietly as River moved around. She placed plates and coffee in front of all three of them before sitting down herself.

"We need to find you a teacher," Derek told her bluntly when she waited for someone to speak.

"Like the Professor McGonagall to my Hermione Granger?" River asked.

"Who?" Derek asked and River rubbed her face.

"We need to catch you up on pop culture," she groaned before looking at him. "Where can we find a teacher?"

"I asked Deaton and he said that, since he's a druid and not a witch, he can't teach you. He's going to look into it and get back to me."

River nodded before taking a bite of her food, the other three following her lead.

"Are we going to talk about the elephant in the room?" River asked as she sipped her coffee.

"Which one?" Melissa asked.

"Literally any of them," River smirked. "Come on, Momma. You are much more chill this weekend than you were last one."

Melissa smiled fondly at River.

"Dad, you've seen me kill two people now and I'm not in cuffs."

Noah sighed, sipping his own coffee.

"And you, dear cousin, were drugged and dragged to the Hale house and forced to help bring back my psycho father."

Derek flinched slightly.

"Any one of those can be discussed before the pups wake up."

"Well, I spoke to Derek at length," Melissa explained. "Then I spoke to Scott and Noah. It helps that Noah was going through the same shock as I was. I'm good."

River smiled at her before looking to her dad.

"Technically, I can't prove either of the murders. Matt committed suicide and Gerald died of an aneurism."

"That sound painful," River snorted before realizing that now wasn't the time to make a joke.

"Anyway," Noah interrupted, giving her a playful glare. "We were in dire circumstances for both of those. Matt was going to kill all of us and no one knows how far Gerald would have gone with Erica, Boyd, or Stiles. He was also manipulating Allison."

"Of course, he was," River sighed. "I really need to talk to her."

"You're not going to fight her again, are you?" Melissa asked.

"No," River shook her head. "I just want to check on her. I threw her the last time I saw her because I didn't want her to get hurt trying to protect grandpa creepy."

Derek smirked at the name before River turned to him.

"Do you know where he is?" River asked him.

"No," Derek shook his head. "I tried looking for him all week and couldn't find him. There's mountain ash in his room so that he can't get in to grab any of his stuff and we have security cameras set up around the house now. I haven't seen him."

"I'll find him," River shrugged, standing with her plate and empty cup.

"Not by yourself," Noah said firmly, grabbing Melissa's and his own plate.

"I need to threaten him," River stated, placing her plate in the dishwasher.

"Why?" Derek asked.

"He used Lydia and you to come back to life, he attacked Lydia before dying and took Stiles hostage. I killed the last two people that hurt my pack. Did you really think I was going to let it go just because he came back to life? Have you?"

"You can't go by yourself," Derek told her.

"I'll take you with me," River nodded. "Two alphas are better than one."

"Speaking of, how is that possible?" Noah asked.

"No clue," River answered honestly. "Deaton never got back to me about it and no one has claimed me as their alpha until last night. Makes sense though. I'm the only one who can feel all of the pack bonds."

"But you aren't a wolf," Melissa said.

"Alphas aren't always wolves," Derek explained. "When I killed Peter, I took the alpha spark. River was his next in line though, so my theory is that some of the spark passed to her and her magic made it grow. The fight with Allison triggered it and made her pack bonds. Stiles was just the only one who actually figured it out."

"Smart little shit," River joked, sitting down with a fresh cup of coffee.

"Language," Melissa and Noah said at the same time, causing River to giggle.

"Any idea on how you'll find him?" Melissa asked as Stiles, Scott and Isaac came down the stairs.

"Locator spell," River explained. "I can use Lydia to find him since he used her to bring him back."

"You're looking for Peter?" Stiles asked, taking the spot next to her.

"You're in Isaac's spot," River joked before noticing Isaac sit in Derek's other side instead of next to her. "Or not."

"Why are you looking for Peter?" Stiles questioned.

"You are way too much this early in the morning," Isaac sighed before standing to get a cup of coffee and breakfast.

River smirked at Stiles' offended face.

"If River's looking for psycho wolf, we should know why," Stiles defended himself, standing to grab his own coffee and breakfast.

"I need to make sure he isn't going to try and attack us," River explained loud enough for Stiles to hear.

"She said she needs to threaten him," Melissa spoke up. "Derek's going to go with."

"Family bonding, nice," Jackson said as he came down the stairs with Lydia, who was somehow completely awake and ready for the day.

"How does she always look so good?" River asked Melissa. "I guarantee she rolled out of bed like that."

"I don't have super hearing and I can hear you," Lydia stated.

"You were supposed to," River smirked. "Can I have your help with a spell today?"

"Locator spell?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah," River nodded.

"So, Lydia's a witch, too?" Melissa asked.

"No," River shook her head. "She's a banshee. She can sense death, do magic, and she can scream real good."

"Please stop describing it like that," Lydia groaned as she sipped on tea.

"Oh, so I can't call you a screamer but when Jackosn does it, it's okay?" River joked, causing Jackson to spit out his coffee. "You're cleaning that."

Jackson flipped her off before grabbing a paper towel and getting to work. River smirked before standing from the table.

"I'm going for a quick run. You coming with?"

Derek nodded, standing with her. They headed out the back door and into the woods, keeping a steady pace as they ran together. They reached the old Hale house after ten minutes and both just stared up at it.

"Should we rebuild it?" she asked him.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that yet," Derek admitted.

"If you ever become ready, let me know," River told him. "I have the old blueprints at the house. Found them folded up in a book and cross referenced it with what city hall had on hand. They didn't have the tunnels mapped out but the rest was there. We don't have to build it the same either. Make it more modern."

"Thank you," Derek smiled.

"Anything for you," River smiled as they began walking back towards the house.

"Have you talked to Isaac?" Derek asked curiously.

"I don't know if you noticed it or not but I was asleep all of yesterday and he was avoiding me this morning," River smirked.

"You said mate and then ran off to save Stiles," Derek reminded her.

"I know," River sighed. "I'm sure it's going to be a very long talk. Is there a way we could maybe not tell Stiles that part?"

"Your dad and I skipped over it when explaining what happened. Isaac looked like he wanted to say something but held it in. I think he wants to talk to you first."

"Fair," River nodded, letting out a soft sigh.

"Are you in love with him?" Derek asked.

"Who?" River asked, confused.

"Well, obviously you're confused," Derek smirked. "You would have just said yes if you were in love with one of them."

"I'm not in love with anyone," River told Derek as they made it to the backyard.

"You may not know it but you just lied," Derek told her.

"What?" River asked, stopping to stare at him.

"I can hear your heartbeat," Derek explained. "You lied."

"No, I didn't," River responded, confused.

"You did," Derek smirked.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"I don't like you."

River stomped into the house and headed up to her room, waving at the pack as she passed by. She got up to her room and took a shower before getting dressed. She sat on her bed, grabbing a spell book to study a few new spells when she heard a knock on her door. River looked up and smiled at Isaac as he entered, sitting on the edge of her bed. He stared down at his hands and River set the book down, moving closer to him.

"We need to talk," Isaac said.

"Are you breaking up with me," River joked, being met with silence. "Wait, are you?"

"Stiles is your mate," Isaac stated.

"So?" she asked with a shrug.

"You knew?" Isaac asked, finally looking at her.

"Yeah," River told him. "It doesn't matter though. Stiles and I aren't like that."

"You are though," Isaac said with a sigh, looking back down again. "The two of you gravitate to each other. You calm each other in ways no one else can and you killed people to protect him."

"I killed people to protect my pack," River corrected.

"River, you and I both know that Gerald wouldn't be dead if Stiles hadn't been in that room. You were going to stop until you looked at Stiles. We all saw it, including him. Would you have killed Matt if he wasn't threatening to hurt Stiles?"

"He had the gun pointed at me. He was going to kill dad and probably Melissa," River defended.

"I'm not saying that you weren't defending everyone," Isaac said, turning to face her better. "You would have just knocked him out so that Noah could arrest him or had Jackson paralyze him if he hadn't been threatening Stiles though. Stiles was the one who pulled you back from every panic attack. He's the one who calmed you down after every nightmare."

"We've lived together for six years," River stated. "We know how to take care of each other, that's all."

"River, please don't make this any harder than it needs to be," Isaac begged.

"Is," she sighed, feeling tears in her eyes. "Don't do this."

Isaac leaned forward, kissing River gently. She held his face in her hands, trying to deepen the kiss. Isaac took her hands in his and pulled them away from his face. He backed away from her and stared into her eyes.

"This is for the best," Isaac promised her. "You should be with your mate."

"I want to be with you," River whispered.

"We work better as best friends," Isaac shrugged. "It's okay. I kind of always thought it would be you and Stiles anyways. I didn't need to become a werewolf to figure that out."

Isaac stood, leaving the room before River could say anything else, shutting her door behind himself. River laid across her bed. A few tears fell before her eyes dried. She wanted to be sad or angry or heartbroken. The only thing she felt was empty, though, and abandoned. She put her wall in place, not wanting anyone to feel her emotions or to feel anyone else's through the bond.

She laid there for half an hour before Lydia came to her room. Lydia laid beside her, waiting for River to speak.

"Isaac broke up with me," River finally spoke.

"What a loser," Lydia said immediately.

"No," River said firmly.

"Fine. What a… I'm failing to find an insult that you won't yell at me for."

"Lyds," River groaned, rolling towards Lydia.

"Riv?" Lydia asked, smirking. "Are we going to find your crazy dad now?"

"Yeah," River sighed. "Let's do it."

River and Lydia did the spell over a map of Beacon Hills, the burn line heading towards an abandoned bank.

"What is he doing there?" River asked.

"Let's go tell Derek," Lydia stated.

"Der?" River asked as she came down the steps with the map and found everyone staring at the open front door. "What's going on? Who graphited the door?"

"Badly at that," Lydia added.

"It's a warning," Derek explained. "They're here. And they're coming for us."

To Be Continued…..