Chapter 1: Summer's End
The town of Beacon Hills was enjoying a steady time of peace. Ever since it's resident pack of teenage werewolves, kitsune, werecoyote and banshee had conquered the Deadpool; along with defeating both Peter Hale and Kate Argent before having them sent to be locked up at Eichen House. Things in Beacon Hills had settled down into what could actually be considered 'normal'. The remaining few months of the school year had been without conflict or danger, at least of the life-threatening variety, but the typical teenage variety. Scott, Stiles, Lydia, Malia and Kira were able to finish their junior year, and Liam his freshman year, without anything more coming for them. When the summer started, that peace seemed to extend and everyone was ready to enjoy their last summer before their senior year started.
The woods were quiet, save for the four people running through them with breakneck speed. Liam was running with his former nemesis Brett Talbot, his sister Lori and with one of the security guards Liam remembered seeing patrol the halls of Devonford Prep, Wilson Grant. It turned out that the man was not only a werewolf but Satomi's Second. Grant was taking them to a pool party someone Liam knew back at Devonford had invited Brett and Lori to have some fun before school started back up tomorrow. They were able to bring friends and Lori had invited Liam and said he could bring Mason too if he wanted.
But Mr. Grant took a detour and stopped them out by the woods. He then told them to follow him before he started running off. The three young teenage werewolves didn't spare another moment as they ran off after him. Brett and Liam seemed to turn it into some kind of race, each one trying to keep ahead of the other. They kept it up the whole time before Wilson stopped them when they reached a stone outcropping. He then left them to look around.
"You actually kept up," Brett said as he folded his arms and smirked down at Liam.
"Yeah. Did you think I'd let you leave me in your dust?"
Brett shrugged. "Wouldn't be the first time," he said in an undertone but he made sure it was still loud enough for Liam to hear him perfectly.
That made Liam glare at him slightly and starting stomping for him but Lori moved to stand in between them.
"Guys," she said out in a warning kind of tone. "C'mon, play nice. We're all friends now." Liam and Brett gave her a look. "Whether you like it or not."
"Yeah, I'll go with not," Brett mumbled.
Liam snorted. "I'll second that."
A few months ago, Liam and Brett wouldn't have gone over a minute without moving to tear each other to pieces. But, with all that mess with the Deadpool, their packs had started working together and formed an alliance so they began seeing a lot more of each other. Even more so when Stiles started to take Satomi as a sort of werewolf tutor. He often had Liam tag along to try and help him learn better control now that he'd taken Satomi's Buddhist chant as one of his anchors. He would have friendly spars with some members of her pack though had to be pulled away a few times as his anger got the better of him, especially when matched up with Brett. Over the last few months, Liam and Brett gained a grudging respect for each other, but they would deny they did let alone call each other friends.
Lori rolled her eyes. "Fine, keep denying it if you two lunkheads want. Boys," she sighed to herself.
Liam let himself rest against a tree as he saw the man walking about the area, seemingly sniffing and feeling around. "How long is this going to take? I don't want to be too late. I can't stay there long."
"Why?" Lori asked him.
"Scott and Stiles want me to stay with them tonight so they could babysit me for the full moon." He folded his arms, feeling a bit annoyed.
She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What? I thought you said last month that Scott gave you the okay for you to handle the night on your own. Without them having to restrain or watch you."
"Uh, yeah, there was kind of a…thing that happened during that night." His cheeks started to redden a bit.
"What? What happened to you?" she asked in concern.
Lori developed kind of soft spot for Liam. After he helped to save them all from the Deadpool by shutting it down, he became their hero. And…she couldn't help but think he was kind of cute.
"I don't want to talk about it," Liam said, turning away as his cheeks got even redder. It was bad enough that Scott, Stiles and the Sheriff knew. The last thing he wanted was for Brett to hear he prowled around town naked and have something new to lord over him. And he would be humiliated if Lori, a girl, found out. "Now, they don't trust me on my own again."
"And here we all thought your control was improving," Brett said, with a smirk.
"I just had an off night," Liam muttered with a bit of a bitter tone. He rose his head to look at Mr. Grant still checking out the ground around the small rock formation. "How long is Mr. Grant going to take? Mason said he was going to meet us there and I don't want him to think I stood him up. Thanks for inviting him too by the way. Something to distract him from trying to talk more about the Berserker he saw at the school."
Brett sighed. "It shouldn't take Wilson more than another minute or two."
"Why are we even here for? What's he doing?"
"He's just checking on something for Satomi," Lori answered for him.
Liam's eyebrows rose in interest. "Out here? What is it?"
"Oh, it's one of the perimeter markings," said Brett. "Satomi set it up years ago to mark this land as her territory."
"Mark it? For who?"
"Other packs and lone wolves." Wilson Grant was calmly walking back to them. "It lets any newcomers know that this area is under her protection. So, if they are here to cause trouble, it warns them that they'll have to answer to her."
Liam looked at the stone landmark. "What? I mean, how does it even work Mr. Grant?"
Mr. Grant smiled at him. "Liam, I think after everything that's happened in the last few months you could call me Wilson. As for the perimeter, go, take a look for yourself Liam. You'll understand soon enough."
Liam walked over to where the stones were and looked at where he saw that something seemed to be carved into the rock. It looked like a circle that had been cut into eight pieces.
"What's this?" asked Liam. "It looks like a pizza."
Wilson snorted. "It's called the Dharmachakra, or the Eight Spoke Wheel. It's a Buddhist sign," he explained to Liam. "Satomi took it for the symbol of her pack."
Liam then blinked as he detected something. A scent was in the air. He couldn't identify it but it made him feel a bit on edge, like he should be on guard and watch his step. "What is this?"
Wilson nodded. "You can feel it. Satomi left some of her Alpha chemo signature ingrained on it. Sort of like putting a Trespassers Beware of Dog sign on a fence." Will then shrugged as he chuckled to himself. "Which is kind of poetic if you think about it. It lets outside wolves know that an Alpha laid claim on this territory. They trespass at their own peril."
Liam felt a slight itch crawling up his skin. It made him want to turn around and get out of there. "Yeah, I think it works fine. So, what is it you're supposed to be checking?"
"If there were any new scents that passed through. The last thing we need is surprise and uninvited guests lurking about and trying to make trouble." He then shrugged. "But, I'm not picking up anything so we're done here. I'll tell Satomi after I finish dropping you three off."
The four of them then moved off to dash for the direction of where they had left the car. A minute after they left, the wind began to pick up. The stray leaves on the ground began to flap really hard into the air as the air crackled with sparks. Three pairs of dark rubber boots were stomping up to the marker. The next moment, the stone started cracking before abruptly exploding into hundreds of pieces. The three then walked off, the middle one stepping on a stone slab that contained the Buddhist wheel, and stepped off it to reveal it now broken.
A punching bag was being hit with quick and sure blows, a hard breath being hissed every strike. The one hitting it was a dark skinned young man and he was building both momentum and sweat as he assaulted the bag like it insulted him. Virgil Edelman. He then gave a shout as he slammed his whole forearm into the bag and leaned on it as he took large puffs and rested his sweaty brow against it. He slowly turned his head to gaze on a hung picture of himself standing with a man and an elderly woman. All three were smiling at the camera. He looked at it for a moment before he let out a heated sigh and hit the bag with one last fist, pushing himself away from it.
He went off to take a shower and was soon drying his hair after he finished putting on some pants along with a Beacon Hills High T-shirt on. Virgil may have graduated two months ago but he liked the look of the shirt, even if he hadn't liked his time at the school. He moved to go and pour himself some cereal as he went to turn on the TV to watch the weather. He saw that there was going to be some heavy rain late tonight. Luckily, he knew he would be home and wouldn't be caught out in it.
Then his phone rang and he moved to pick it up.
"Virgil here," he answered.
"Hey Virge," he heard his boss' voice say on the other end.
"Virgil," he quickly bit out. He didn't like anyone calling him that.
"Right, Virgil. Well listen, I'm going to need you to cover into the late night shift tonight."
"Late night?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry but I don't have anyone else."
"Okay," Virgil said slowly. "I could actually use some actual overtime for a change."
"Uh, about that," his boss' voice said hesitantly.
"Really? This is the third time. I thought you said you wouldn't keep asking me to work extended shifts without pay the last time."
The man let out a heated sigh. "I know what I said Virgil, and I'm sorry. But the full moon's tonight and you've seen how this night's been lately. Accidents have spiked on this night over the last year and a half so this is an emergency. More yahoos are coming out and getting behind the wheel in this town and the garage could use the extra business."
Virgil clenched his fist at his side but ungripped it. "I'll be there." He barely managed to get that out with a straight voice.
"Thanks Virgil. Look, I'll make it up to you. A full repair, free of charge. All on me. Cash it in anytime you want."
"Yeah, I appreciate it." Vigil then ended the call and almost slammed the phone down. "Ass," he muttered and he moved to dig his face into the palms of his hands.
A part of him understood why his boss couldn't get more help. Ever since his last night mechanic was killed when a car impaled him, two of his other three mechanics had quit and moved to other places. When he had been looking for work during his senior year, he had been quickly hired as he hadn't been able to find anyone that was willing to work where one died so hideously. But ever since he graduated, his boss was now pushing the extra hours on him, knowing that Virgil couldn't just quit. Honestly, he didn't want to. Virgil actually liked working on cars and fixing them up. It was the people that tended to drive them that he had problems with.
He went to shut the television off as it got to talk of some road work that would sure to cause traffic to pile back into town later tonight. In the horizon there was a thick cloud cover that seemed to be heading for them and would be arriving soon. Perhaps tonight, as the news said.
"Stupid town," he muttered, before clicking the remote and making the screen go black.
Virgil had lived here for a little over two years now, since his father had moved them here so they could live with his grandmother. He loved them but he felt coming here was another step in the down spiral that was his life. Now, some days he felt he was doomed to just wallow here for the rest of his life. Then again, where could he go? It wasn't like there was anything else out there for him, or anyone.
His hand brushed up against a small ornate box next to it. His finger moved to trace over the patterns of a tree carved into it.
Virgil shrugged his shoulders. "It is a full moon…why the hell not," he sighed out.
Picking up the box, he moved over to the table and set it down. He pulled up his armchair and sat down before he went to remove the lid and reveal a pack of cards inside. He gazed at the symbol of a pentagram over a sun and moon was on the back of each one of them.
"Never got to use them without grandma here." After staring at them for a moment, his eyes drifted over to a picture of the old woman from before, his late grandmother. Her face smiling though her eyes seemed pointed at the same time. "Okay, just remember the rules," he said to himself as he gazed at the woman's smiling face. "Don't look directly at the cards as you shuffle and place them." He imagined hearing that woman's voice speaking with his own just now.
He took a deep breath and then brought them out. He kept his gaze forward as his hands moved to cut and shuffle them on the table's surface. When the deck was fully shuffled, he looked back at the woman's picture again.
"Right grandma?" Hearing her voice, he lightly mumbled the next set of rules he remembered hearing like it was yesterday. "No financial or personal gain and be prepared for any kind of answer, good or bad." He then cleared his throat and took a deep breath. Then he began to speak clearly. "With summer ending, how are things going to shape up around here?" It was his first time not having go back to school now as his academic life ended with high school.
A small breeze began to flow through the open window making him flinch a bit as he rubbed at some goosebumps that formed on this forearm. He then moved to draw the first card on the top of the deck and placed it face down on the table directly in front of him. After a moment, he then flipped and revealed it.
His eyes widened. "Huh," he said a little surprised. The card depicted a giant golden wheel etched with runes that was surrounded by three beings, but the card was upside down. "The Wheel of Fortune…reversed." The meanings of the Wheel of Fortune card in this position started to come back to him from lessons that came from what felt a lifetime ago. "Something's going to happen, or maybe it's already started. It's something big. And something bad," he muttered.
There was flickering from the light of a nearby lamp for a moment as the light dimmed out.
"Bad changes, havoc incoming and resisting the inevitable," Virgil listed before sighing to himself. "That doesn't tell me much. Wait…I asked how things are going to shape up around here." He then slumped back into his armchair and let his thumbs press against his eyelids. "Maybe that was too broad. Wasted my one personal question for the month. Still, I wish I knew what all this was about and who. I know it can't be about me." He then shook his head. "Ah, this is silly anyways."
He then moved to put the tarot card he drew back in the deck and pack them up. Yet, the blown lamp suddenly sent out a spark which startled him. His fingers fumbled and two cards fell from the bottom of the deck and landed out on the floor. Virgil ran over to pull the plug out to make sure that a fire didn't start. He then moved to put the tarot cards back but noticed the two dropped cards. He reached down to pick them up but noticed how they had fallen. They were side by side and they were revealed to him. One was depicting a jester wearing a vacant expression walking towards an edge, but the card was upside down. The other was of a cloaked wizard in front of a table of tools holding a wand under an infinity sign.
He picked up the cards, one in each hand to look at them, his eyes somewhat far off. "The Fool, reversed. And the Magician." He blinked his eyes at them. "I swear I've seen two together like this before."
His watch then started to beep to signal the new hour and he shook himself out of it. He moved to go and change before grabbing his bike helmet.
A grand house stood close to the treeline that led right into the Beacon County Preserve and forest. In that house was a young man sitting across a much older woman in one of its grand rooms next to an open patio door that gave them a good view of that forest's tree line.
Stiles moved the cup of hot tea to his lips and took a quick sip before he turned his attention back to the game board in front of him. He thought for a moment before he went and moved to place his black stone. He then took a white stone and placed it to the side.
Satomi nodded at the board. "Good move. You're a much better player than I had anticipated."
"Thanks." Stiles moved to lean back into his chair. "I guess my time with that demented fox in my head was good for something."
They were sitting in the study of Satomi's home. The glass patio door nearby was wide open and a nice breeze was flowing in with the gentle smell of the nearby trees and moisture from the predicted storm front for later that night.
The Alpha smiled gently at him. "I must say Stiles, I didn't think that we would spend your visit playing Go in my study. Not that I'm complaining. I don't get to play Go as often as I would like. But, I would've expected that you would've wanted to do something more productive since it's your last day of summer. Brett, Lori and my other young betas are all out having fun and enjoying their final day of freedom from homework and tests. You want to spend your last day playing with an old woman."
Stiles rose his eyebrow at her. "You're not that old Satomi."
"I'm 97 years old," she said, in a blunt tone.
He blinked a bit. "Uh...well you don't look a day over 50 to me." His cheeks went a little pink. Satomi lightly chuckled at him. "And, you kick some hard butt for someone shy of a hundred. And then some," he said, subconsciously reaching to rub at his arm. "Can you blame me for forgetting your age." He tried to sound flattering though he sound pretty weak to his own ears.
"Thank you," Satomi said as she couldn't help but feel flattered.
After the mess in Mexico, Stiles decided that being closer and developing relations with some werewolves from a nearby pack might not be such a bad idea. Having allies had helped them all during the Deadpool and could only keep helping them in the long run. Satomi would be a strong ally, as would the members of her pack, and Stiles knew that they could be trusted. Especially now that Derek and Braeden had left Beacon Hills and after that whole thing with Peter, Stiles felt they would need allies like them.
So, Stiles had been taking to visiting Satomi then and again. Even more when summer started. He came, along with Liam. He felt that she could help Liam to learn some better control, now that her Buddhist motto was one of his anchors. Satomi had been honored to hear that and she was glad to help. She put Liam through some sparring drills against some of her betas to try and help him gain control while thick in the heat of stressful situations and reign his wolf in when control became fickle. Most of those times being when he went up against Brett. After a short while, she started inviting Stiles to participate. He sparred against some of her betas, including Brett, Wilson who was her Second, and even a few times against Satomi herself. How he fared against her pack varied, sometimes he would win and sometimes he would lose. But against Satomi and her matrix like moves, she always left him lying with aches that took a couple of hours to heal from.
Stiles leaned back into his chair. "I felt for my last day of summer, I should just relax. Nothing too crazy and just enjoy some friendly company. Though, when school starts up again, I don't think there will be as many visits. And I've liked coming here the last couple of weeks."
"It's not just you that enjoys your visits. Reminds me of old times with Talia and her family." She smiled at him. "Just know that you, Liam, and the rest of your friends are welcome here." She then moved to take a sip of her tea.
Stiles took a look at his slightly emptied cup. "I have to say though, I don't think I have much of a taste for Reshi tea. I think I'm more of a coffee person."
That made Satomi make a small face after she finished taking her sip. "I've never been very fond of coffee myself." She then set her cup down. "Still, if you wanted some friendly and relaxing company, why are you not hanging around with Scott today?"
Stiles sighed. "He had to go to the hospital today. It's his last day working his internship."
She nodded. "Yes. College would seem much more closer for those in their Senior Year. Speaking of, what do you have planned?"
"Well, I'm checking out schools like Berkeley and others in the general area. I'm looking into becoming a detective."
Stiles couldn't see himself being anything else. Kate Argent was now rotting away in that special wing in Eichen House and would be for a very long time and he had stopped her from getting away. He had helped lock her up, and it had felt good. He technically had caught and locked up his first real nut job. He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and achievement at all of that and if that's what his dad felt like all the time then he could understand the pride and respect he had in his job.
Satomi could sense the underlying pride starting to sift out of him. "Oh I see, planning to go into law enforcement like your father? Yes, I see you having the right temperament for it. Sorting through clues and putting pieces together to complete the puzzle." Satomi leaned back a bit. "Do you mind me making a suggestion?" Stiles shook his head. "Look into taking some interest in Psychology as well. You can detect emotions but understanding how and why people have them and when, it could help in deducing motives and intentions which could only help in figuring and placing pieces of the puzzle."
"Oh...yeah, I'll think about taking a look."
Stiles then stopped talking as he suddenly turned to look out in the horizon, towards the woods. A sullen look came over his face.
"Something wrong?"
Stiles absently rubbed spirals on the table as he stared off. He kept looking out towards the trees as his eyes started to narrow a bit. His nerves were all lit up and he felt tense. Stiles felt like he was being watched.
"Stiles?"
The boy shook shook his head and looked over at Satomi as she was looking at him with concern.
"Sorry," he muttered.
Satomi looked off in the direction of the trees herself. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"No...nothing's wrong." He tried to wave it off. "It's my move, right?"
Stiles moved to place his next stone but his hand was grabbed mid-motion by Satomi and she was looking at him with a mad glint in her eye.
"Stiles, you know full well that I know you're lying. So please, don't insult my intelligence." The Alpha's tone was calm but stern and it made Stiles sigh as he dropped his stone back in his pot. "You're still feeling on edge, aren't you?"
Stiles nodded.
Almost two weeks into summer, Stiles' nerves began to feel on edge a good deal of the time. It felt as if danger was lurking nearby and would be coming for him, yet everything continued to remain quiet and peaceful all summer long. Still, he told everyone to be careful just the same. Scott said that they would always be careful but suggested that maybe Stiles was too used to being alert and suspicious to feel comfortable when things were quiet for too long. When he told Satomi of his feelings she assured him that she and her pack would keep their eyes open. She told him that she was making regular checks along the perimeter of her territory but Stiles felt she was really doing it just to humor him.
"I don't know why. I mean, I shouldn't, right?" he confessed. "These last few months, it's been quiet. Peaceful, no dead bodies just turning up and no psychos, natural or supernatural. We won State again, I aced all my finals and helped Malia to pass hers too. Then when summer came, it just kept going on. So...why do I feel like there's something wrong?"
"I think only you can answer that Stiles. Have you been getting enough sleep recently?" she asked, concerned.
"I never get enough sleep," Stiles huffed out.
After saying that, Satomi gave him a sad look but it vanished after a moment. She looked back to the trees. "What happened a moment ago."
He shook his head. "Uh, I just had a feeling...like it felt that I was being watched. I don't know, maybe I'm worrying over nothing."
"Maybe not," she muttered to herself.
But Stiles had heard it. "Huh?" he quickly asked her.
She then moved to raise her voice a bit. "Stiles, I can't say if you're right to worry or not. But, it's been my experience that in situations where nothing has happened, it doesn't necessarily mean nothing will happen. If you are feeling this strongly about it then it would do well to be aware of what is happening around you. But, be careful that you don't become obsessed with what that may or may not be. You will only drive yourself mad."
Stiles rolled his eyes out at her. "Yeah, I think many people would tell you that it might be a little too late for me there Satomi."
That made Satomi break into a small chuckle and even Stiles cracked a small amused smile.
"Speaking of late, I think its about time for you to leave or you will be."
Stiles checked his watch. "Yeah, you're right, I better get going. Thanks for the game, and the tea."
"Wait." Satomi then left the room for a moment and was soon walking back with a small jar of Reshi mushrooms. "Just in case," she said as she handed them over.
"Thank you," he said as he took her gift.
Stiles silently nodded to her and held his hand out to her. But except for shaking it like he expected, Satomi moved over and gave him a small hug. Stiles was surprised for a moment but relaxed into it a second before she let go. She watched as he made to leave with calculating eyes. She found that Stiles had a very strong sense of instinct, especially for danger, greater than she'd seen in most werewolves. She supposed as he once was meant to ascend and become a Beast, it shouldn't be that surprising. If his sense of danger was steadily growing, and he feels like he is being watched, then perhaps she wasn't the only one that was observing him. Someone that might've been doing so discreetly enough to not raise any alarms. Not with her, Scott or Deaton, but Stiles might subconsciously be sensing them. Which meant that whomever or whatever it was, most likely could be quite dangerous. She would tell Wilson and the others to keep a vigilant eye out, especially when around Scott, Stiles and their friends. As she moved to begin cleaning, Satomi noticed that Stiles had lightly scratched something in her table.
Stiles got into his jeep and he turned the key where heard his engine give a choppy sort of sound as it didn't start. He sighed before looking at the roll of tape he had ready on the dash. Stiles tried turning the key two more times before it finally started. He sighed in relief and then pulled out to begin to head off for home.
As the jeep passed down the road, a wolf suddenly pounced into the center of the road from the thick of the trees. It turned its head to watch the car's distancing dust trail with a calculating gaze. The wolf's hungry eyes had a golden glint as it watched the jeep dust trail get further away.
Scott was wheeling a small cart of used sheets and bedpans off for the washroom. He moved to adjust light blue scrubs he was wearing at the collar as he began to wheel it into the room.
"Got the last of them Cole," he called out as he moved on in.
The orderly nodded as he made a check on the clipboard he was holding. "Thanks Scott. Wheel them over there," he said pointing to the side as he moved to finish his notes. He then looked at his watch. "So, you're heading out?"
"Yeah, I have some things to do tonight before I head off to Senior Scribe Night."
Cole the orderly smiled. "Yes, I remember the tradition. Well, have fun."
Scott smiled back. "Oh, I will."
Cole then moved to extend his hand to him. "I'm going to miss you around Scott. It was great having you around here for more than just visiting your mother."
Scott's smile flattened a bit but he was still smiling slightly as he moved to return the handshake. "Yeah, I really liked working here."
"Even if it was cleaning up after the patients?" the man asked cheekily.
Scott shrugged. "Any way I can help."
The man nodded. "And good luck this year. I hope you get in to the school that you want. I'll be crossing my fingers for ya."
"Thanks Cole."
Scott then moved to head to the men's locker room so he could change into his normal clothes. He couldn't believe that summer was really over now. Especially after so much going on right now, things that thankfully had nothing to do with people dying or things coming to kill him and his friends. Since Mexico, Scott tried to settle back into his normal life again. Trying to keep his grades up and being the co-captain for the lacrosse team.
Being Co-captain this year turned out to be so much more enjoyable having Stiles as his fellow co-captain than it did with Jackson last year. Together, they were able to help Kira get a better hang of lacrosse and keep Liam from getting too crazy when things got too hot as they played. Stiles had also come up with an idea to try and change how their team played by rotating some players from first line and a few that regularly stayed on the bench instead of just keeping the same people from start to finish like they always had. Scott was quickly on board with that idea as it kept less of their teammates from getting worn out and hurt in the long run and made their players outside 1st line more important. They both knew what it was like to just be feeling useless being stuck to the bench the whole season. Ultimately, they were not only able to make State again, but win for the 2nd time in a row.
Scott just wished that his school work was just as great for him to celebrate. He did manage to pass all his classes but his grade in Science was not very impressive. Back when all the craziness with the Deadpool was going on, Scott hadn't really been studying as much as he would've liked. When they got some breathing room, he found the work getting harder towards finals. A lot of the stuff was confusing and he was mostly trying to get it all by himself. Stiles was busy trying to help Malia as she was having more trouble than he was and trying to be able to pass junior year and Lydia was spending more and more time with Parrish. He and Kira tried to study together but they usually wound up getting distracted halfway with each other a good deal of the time. When the school had its College Fair, with many colleges setting up their booths and sending their representatives, Scott found himself to be drawn to one school's in particular. That was why he was here now, working as an intern.
Scott sighed as he could still remember he and his mom talking about it at home, after the fair.
"UC Davis? That's a good school," his mom had said when she heard his choice.
"It's great. It has a great biology science program."
"You're interested in biology?" His mother was surprised.
Scott nodded. "I've decided I want to try to be a vet. Working at the clinic I've helped Deaton help and heal many hurt and sick animals. I love it and I want to keep doing that."
Melissa's face lit up at that. "That's great honey." Her face then fell a bit. "But Scott, Davis may have the classes you want but we may not have the money to allow you to go. You see, I might have gotten a raise at the hospital and while it helps to better cover our bills, it won't cover them and your tuition at the same time."
Scott had been shocked but ecstatic to have come back from Mexico to news that his mother had been offered a raise at the hospital, as had a few others including Liam's stepfather. Apparently, a grateful patient had donated a lot of money to the hospital because its staff saved their life. They remembered seeing his mother, Liam's stepfather and a few others when they had been hurt during one of their crisis' though they didn't say which one it was or who they were and the board didn't seem to have asked. But, the hospital staff didn't seem to care about that. With this new boost to her salary there was starting to be some slow but good and steady change to making the house payments. Water, gas, power, car and food payments started to not bring as much grievance to his mother as before and Scott was happy to see some burden lift off her. Yet, they now have a new one.
"Maybe I can ask Deaton for more hours this summer?" Scott had suggested. "And if my PSAT score is good enough then maybe I can find some kind of scholarship."
But his mom held her hand up to him. "Scott, it's not just about money. You've barely managed a C average in some classes and it's this year that colleges look at. These special kind of college courses will fill up first with people that have A's and then B's. You might have to look into going to summer school again to try and raise them up to qualify just for that. And a scholarship? Scott, they look to offer those to students that have AP classes. If you want to try and get one, you'll have to try and make one these classes first, and you can't with your current grades."
Scott knew that there were AP courses offered to seniors. Stiles had told him how he got into AP English and Math while the few classes Lydia still needed to graduate were all AP. Most seniors were taking at least one but Scott knew his grades weren't as high as he needed, especially in Science.
"Well, maybe with school I can volunteer over at the hospital. You know, as a student intern. Colleges and Scholarships like that kind of stuff, don't they?"
His mom shook her head. "Scott, it's a nice thought but you're not going to have the time for summer school, taking more hours at the clinic and interning. You're going to have to seriously cut some corners this summer."
"Yeah," he sighed. Summer school was something he couldn't afford to cut but this would be the second summer in a row that he needed it for raising his GPA. "And last summer I promised that this year was going to be different. I tried, I really did."
"I know," his mom nodded. "I saw that you were really making an effort. But, to be fair, you had to deal with a lot in the last year," she lightly pointed out. Scott smiled sadly at her. She then let her gaze drop down to the floor. "Scott, sit down."
Scott could suddenly smell the anxiety pouring out of her. "Mom?" he asked in concern.
She waited for him to sit down across from her before she started speaking again.
"I've been doing some thinking. For a while now, since we first started having trouble with the house." She then paused for a moment. "Maybe…it might be best to try and look into finding a new place," she managed to force out. "Maybe something smaller and more affordable."
His face began to fall. "Wait, you mean…you want to give up the house?"
"I think its an option that we should really consider. We could look for a nice apartment downtown. Maybe one closer to the hospital or the animal clinic. It would definitely save on gas costs and we wouldn't have as many bills to worry about at once and that could help in saving up for you to go to college."
Scott shook his head and stepped over to her. "Mom, we don't have to give up the house. I can find another way to make tuition. I could look into having an on campus job during the semester. I hear that colleges actually cut tuition costs down-"
"Scott," his mother cut him off. His face fell a bit in confusion and she sighed as she paced off a bit. "I'm proud of the fact that you always think there can be a way to work through problems without forcing anyone to give anything up but, this time, that just might not be an option."
She paused as she let herself meet her son's eyes.
Scott finished pulling his shirt on as the memory finished passing through his mind. To be honest, Scott had tried his hardest not to think about that all summer. He wanted to make sure he never heard any of it again. That house had been there for him and his mom ever since they first came to Beacon Hills so long ago. So many bad things have happened in all those years: the divorce, a lay off scare at the hospital, Scott getting turned and all the brushes with death, with some of them dying. They've suffered through and lost so much. Yet, through all of that, they've had this house to go back to and fall on. So much work, smiles and tears were put into this place. He recalled when he took his father and pointed out all the marks and places in the house where accidents had happened. And there were things that weren't accidents now too. It was the only real home he'd known. Scott didn't want to add losing his home to the list of losses.
He never felt so motivated to study and push his GPA as high as he could in his summer classes. It had ultimately paid off because he got an email from the school telling him that he now was qualified to take an AP class. He managed to grab the last spot for AP Biology. And, if he studied enough and aced the SAT, he might better his chances for having a shot at a decent sized academic scholarship. He also was looking at sports scholarships as well. UC Davis had a lacrosse team but he found it was a woman's team so there was no scholarships to be had there. But there was a cross country team so he could try looking into something for that.
He made a new promise. To be able to make tuition without his mom having to resort to the drastic measure of giving up their house.
As for the internship, it turned out that Scott had the time for it as well. Deaton had told Scott that he couldn't give Scott more hours as business at the clinic was slow during the summer since most families took their pets to kennels when they went off for vacation. This summer in particular, seemed slower than usual and he felt that Scott might be able to fill the extra time he had with an internship at the hospital. His mother helped him get his name down for the program and he was there with two others from the high school, another senior and a junior.
But, it was over now. It was time for him to hurry home and clean himself up. After all, soon he needed to go and meet up with Stiles and Liam for later tonight.
Noah Stilinski was in his kitchen, navigating through the envelopes that came in the mail. Just the usual bills but he felt comfort in the fact that none of them were stamped with any notice warnings. Noah could remember how it had been not too long ago. How bleak he felt things were every time he would go through the piles of notice stamped envelopes. While things weren't exactly perfect in terms of paying for bills, the envelopes were laden with notice stamps like they had been a couple of months ago. Now though, along with the regular bills, there were also college brochures and application forms coming in with the mail. He was helping to separate the junk mail ones from the relevant ones for Stiles to look at later.
It was his son's senior year. After this year, Stiles would be going off to college and he was looking to see how he could help his son cover the costs for it. There had been the standard College Fair at the high school a few weeks after the mess in Mexico and Stiles had looked into academic scholarship awards and had gone to the school counselor for help as well. Stiles apparently went and put his name down for as many of them as he could find in his effort to do anything to lower the cost for tuition as much as possible. It was overkill but his counselor had informed him that as his grades had a history of always being high, and also an extracurricular, there was a good chance of perhaps even winning a full ride. Noah was proud to hear the news. Stiles was excited about that and soon started talking about finding a place where he and Scott could live close to their respective campuses.
That last thought made Noah sigh sadly to himself. He could see that his son didn't want to consider the possibility that life could very well go on and pull him, Scott, Lydia, Malia and Kira in different directions. Stiles was looking into schools solely in the San Francisco area. Scott and Kira had their eyes on universities in the UC district and Stiles was confident that Lydia could get into any one that she wanted. So, he wanted to find a school that would let him be close to all of them. His son claimed that he a vision of them continuing to take on whatever comes at them together just like they were right now. Noah tried talking to Stiles about his own friends from high school, how they had ended up going their separate ways, but that only seemed to invigorate Stiles to hold onto his 'vision' for the future even tighter. But he could start to see that some might already be ready to begin slipping from Stiles' grasp.
A few weeks ago, Henry Tate had come to see him while their kids were off on one of their date nights. Malia wasn't sure what she wanted to do. College didn't seem to have much interest for her whatsoever. Seeing as how the girl spent most of her life as a coyote until over half a year ago, it was understandable. Henry was worried his daughter might be forced to follow along Stiles' path instead of being able to choose her own, all in the name of keeping things as they were. Noah was concerned for that too and knew that Stiles would never want to do that to her. Or that Malia wouldn't want Stiles to jeopardize his own future for her sake either.
To be honest, Noah didn't want to press too much. Senior year was supposed to be something for these kids to enjoy. To take in and enjoy being with your friends and enjoy the last year you all were still kids, together. God knows they've all earned it.
Noah found an envelope that had a university stamp but seemed thicker than usual. It was from Georgetown University. He didn't remember Stiles saying anything about looking up this school, or any on the opposite side of the country, and decided to open it and check out what it was. His eyes widened as he read on. But when he heard a familiar jeep pull up into the driveway, he folded the papers up and set them back down.
"Stiles?" he called out after the door opened.
"Yeah," Stiles panted, stepping into the kitchen and nodding to his father. "I thought you would've already left for work."
"Oh, I'm going in another hour. At around sunset."
"Sunset?"
Noah raised his eyebrows at him. "Don't think you're the only one that keeps track of full moons around here anymore."
Stiles nodded. "Ah, well I have to get ready myself. There's a long night ahead of us."
"Yes there is."
It was Senior Scribe Night. All of the seniors would be gathering at the school around midnight for the traditional event. Stiles had been looking forward to it for the last couple of days. The official start of senior year began for all of them at midnight.
"I'm just going to get cleaned up and grab the chains for Liam."
Noah shook his head. It amazed him that he hardly blinked after hearing something like that now.
"Well, make sure he stays out of trouble. You're lucky I was able to whip up a believable explanation for what happened last month."
"How did you explain that anyway?" Stiles asked him.
The man shrugged. "Drunk teens on a bender."
Cora was turning the key and opening the door right before a wonderful smell filling her nose.
"Smells good," she said, stepping in and hanging her bag on one of the hooks by the door.
She moved off for the kitchen and found her brother by the stove, over a simmering pot of stew.
Derek turned to look at her. "Do you have to sound so surprised every time?" he rolled his eyes at her, but the jest was clear in his voice.
After what happened in Mexico, Derek had grabbed all the things he had ready from his loft in Beacon Hills and headed straight to upstate New York as quick as he could. He traveled to Maggie's home and was greeted immediately with a good and solid punch to the face from his sister as soon as she locked her sights on him. It was then followed by a tight and fierce hug as she exploded on him for nearly letting Kate kill him, again. As he rubbed at his cheek while she squeezed him, Derek looked up and was getting an amused smile from Maggie. Their eyes locked for a moment and they found themselves looking down at the same time. When that was all done with, he then went off to see his new nephew, Jason Boyd Hale. Derek was happy to see that Cora named him in honor of their father and his fallen beta.
After about a week, Derek and Cora decided that they should look into getting a place of their own. Maggie told them that she didn't mind them staying with her but the Hales siblings felt it was the best thing. Cora felt like she had imposed herself on Maggie enough after Derek had left her there for all those months and Maggie had done more than enough. As for Derek, he felt it was time to start taking care of his own family instead of having others do it for him as well as having space to sort out his personal and complicated feelings between her and Braeden. They found a nice condo in the next town over 15 miles away. It had more than enough room for the three of them.
Cora moved to sit down at the table nearby. "I can't help it. I don't remember you being much of a cook growing up."
"Well, I kind of had to learn after-" He trailed off and turned to frown down at the pot and stirred it. He then blinked his discomfort away and cleared his throat. "So, how was work today?
Derek had encouraged Cora to start trying to pursue some grade of normalcy now that they settled here. He arranged for her to take an evaluation test for her GED and was surprised when she passed with flying colors.
"All that time I was off on my own in South America and all these months with Maggie, did you think I had been just sitting on my hands?" she had asked him incredulously.
He wisely hadn't answered. For the summer, she had gotten a job at the community center as a lifeguard.
"Yeah, it was fine. No one drowned though we did have close call when a nine year old almost barfed in the pool. What about you? Did he give you any trouble?"
"No, Jay was an angel. Which is surprising, given his mother," he commented half-heartedly. He took very much to his nephew and quickly gave him the nickname.
"Ha ha," Cora said, in a monotone voice.
The stew was just about finished and Derek moved to get some bowls for them and they heard a soft moan with their wolf ears. Thanks to their hyper hearing, they didn't need to get baby monitors as they would always know when the baby would need them. They both moved off for the nursery and headed for the crib.
Jason was dressed in baby blue baby overalls in deep blue booties and a matching blue cap. He was currently putting his mouth on the ear of his stuffed wolf toy. The beginning of three teeth could be seen making their way onto his gums. His eyes looked up to gaze at them. They smiled as they watched him keep gnawing on the toy that Derek had gotten him.
"Hey Jason," Cora mumbled softly. "Did you miss me?"
She moved to pick him up and rock him in her arms.
"I'll go and have the stew finished and ready," Derek told her before leaving.
As Cora swayed him in her arms, she saw Jason's eyes fall over to the wall on the side, where there was a small framed picture hanging. Jason's deep brown eyes stared at it before he yawned and leaned to cozy into his mother's warmth.
Cora turned to look at the drawing of a ship sailing on what seemed to be stormy waters. It had been with the box of Laura's things that Derek brought back with him from Beacon Hills. Derek had forgotten it was there and almost threw it away when Jason, who had been crying at the time, calmed at the sight of it. He seemed to like it so Cora decided to keep it for the baby's room and placed it into a nursery themed frame. She had to admit, she grew to like it herself and could understand why Laura must've kept it around. She wondered who had drawn it for her as the only writing on it was the word Mischief on the ship.
It was passing dusk in Beacon Hills and the town's street lights lit up.
Outside a condemned house, the three figures that destroyed the marker, were standing side by side as they solemnly stared at it. Each of them were donned in dark trench coats, wearing them over steam powered mechanisms, and had their faces completely covered up with giant metallic head masks.
"The subject is almost ready to emerge," the one to the far left, the Geneticist, said in a distorted and muffled voice. "Sooner than calculated."
The one to the right, the Pathologist, looked over to the one in the middle. He spoke with his own distorted and muffled voice through his mask. "Too soon. Probability is high for his condition to be unreliable."
The middle figure, the Surgeon, brandished his cane down to hit the ground. "We wait." His voice was deeper and the most distorted of the three. "Observe, evaluate and collect the data. It may prove instructive."
"What of Subject 1?" asked the Geneticist. "His use for the new subject?"
"Negligible," replied the Surgeon. "The primary objective is priority over all."
Virgil was sitting in a chair by the giant metal door of the shop in his work overalls. He had been left on his own at the garage while his boss took their tow truck out to answer a call of a car swerving off the side of the road and getting stuck in a ditch. There weren't any customers or cars in right now so he was left alone with his thoughts. The only thing to distract him were the stray cars passing by the shop and stopping at the light. To curb his boredom, Virgil had his tarot deck on hand and every time a car was passing by or stopping, he would draw a card and look at it with a bored look on his face.
A station wagon was in his line of sight as he went and drew a card after shuffling them. He looked at it with little interest. "Loving person but struggles with what to do with his life."
Behind that car pulled in a convertible where he could make out what seemed to be a middle aged woman. He let his eyes fall on the back of her head as she waited for the light to change so she could go on. He quickly shuffled his deck and drew another card. "Hard working and not afraid to take risks," he mumbled to himself as he saw her card. "Good on her."
A few minutes later, a minivan was passing by and he drew another. Looking at the card, he rolled his eyes. "A douche canoe. Enough said."
The tarot cards were his only real distraction here on these kind of nights as the wifi connection at the garage was weak and slow. Even if at times he did find them stupid, they were his grandmother's. He sighed as he thought of her, and his father. Of what had happened to them a little over a year ago. That trail of thought made him set his tarot cards down a little more roughly than he had intended. So rough, that the deck fell off the side of his little side table. "Damn," he said as they fell.
The cards spilled on the floor just as a hard wind blew by. One of the cards went and flew off out of the garage's front gate and Virgil went after it. These cards were all he had left of his grandmother and as silly as he found them sometimes, he didn't want to lose a single one. The wind was carrying it off as it flapped in the wind before it landed on the curb of the street, next to some brush. Virgil ran and quickly dropped down to it, in case the wind blew it off again. He picked it up and saw that it was The Death card. He heard a small sound and he then lifted his head to look into the darkness of the tree brush in front of him. He then looked around to find that he had gone to a dark corner of the street, almost half a block away. He found himself moving to quickly head back for the auto shop as fast as he could as he started to feel a deep chill, despite it being very warm tonight. He never liked The Death card, ever since his grandmother drew it for him during his first reading when he first moved to Beacon Hills. She said that it would mark his literal doom.
What he didn't know was, that in one month, he would be back at that same spot, staring death in the face. And the jaws.
A/N: Well, I hope you liked the first chapter of the story. Things are already taking shape for what will be the strongest and life-altering challenge our favorite teen pack encounters yet. And, introducing two new characters, Virgil Edelman and Wilson Grant. With Satomi's pack, we only got the names of three of them before Season 5 so I thought that with Stiles' new relationship with their Alpha, there would room to get a little more familiar with them, like a name and maybe the symbol for her pack since all the others had their own. I looked through Buddhist symbols and thought the Eight Spoke Wheel was easy enough for a werewolf to carve using their claws and was fitting. As for Virgil, let's just say he and his tarot cards will be important for what I have planned down the line for Stiles and Scott's relationship and futures.
