Fic: Discovery Channel (10/12)
Title: Discovery Channel
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Rating: Overall R
Warnings: eventual knotting
Summary: Stiles is the best werewolf ever. fork in the road au. (were!stiles)
[Read on AO3]
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
The plan Lydia came up with was a stupid plan, and Stiles said as much before he stormed off. She really thought he would be able to wait? That he could sit back and let Derek be kept locked up for another week? He knew where Derek was being held now, he’d managed to get that out of Allison before Lydia had tried to tell Stiles that he couldn’t go after him. Like that was going to happen. He didn’t care if there were hunters guarding the house, he could take them.
They wouldn’t be expecting someone to attack. They probably heard him when he had scoped out the house before, looking for signs of Derek, and they hadn’t paid him any attention then. Why would that be different now?
Stiles ran through the woods, pushing himself to get to the old Hale house faster. He didn’t want to leave Derek there for any longer than he already had been. The thought made Stiles’ stomach heave.
Allison hadn’t said what Kate was doing with Derek, just that he had been chained up. Allison thought Kate was doing it just for fun, just because she could, and that was the worst possible reason Stiles could think of. At least if she was trying to get information out of him there would be a purpose, some kind of logic behind it, but for fun?
It meant Derek was almost as good as dead the longer they left him there.
Stiles would not let this happen.
He finally reached the clearing the Hale house was in. He could vaguely smell humans, now that he knew where to look. He was wolfed out, and he didn’t want to pull it back. He wanted the hunters to know Derek wasn’t alone, that he had a pack backing him, and he was going to announce himself loudly.
Stiles stalked around the house, heading for the cellar door Allison had mentioned. He could hear voices, voices that didn’t really have scents, and his eyes picked up the patch of wolfsbane that was planted around the cellar door. It was what was blocking the scent of not only Derek, but whoever else was down there.
Stiles let out a growl, and reached for the latch on the door.
He almost had his hand around the latch when something grabbed his shoulder, forcing him back.
He snarled, whipping around to attack whoever tried to stop him. He was going to kill whatever hunter it was slowly. Which is why when his eyes finally focused and he saw it was Peter it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.
Peter looked furious, eyes blood red as he pulled Stiles further away from the house and into the woods.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Peter hissed, slammed Stiles back into a tree with enough force Stiles heard the tree creak.
Peter had his hand wrapped around Stiles’ throat as he held him up and it was enough to force Stiles back into action.
He kicked his feet, getting leverage on Peter’s thigh to deliver a kick to Peter’s gut. Peter didn’t even seem to feel it as he kept his hold on Stiles’ neck.
“Stiles,” Peter said patiently as he began to squeeze. “Answer the question.”
Stiles’ hand clawed at Peter’s wrist. He could barely breathe at this point, let alone talk. Peter’s eyes drained of the red as he slowly seemed to realize this, and he let Stiles down to the ground gently, loosening his grip just a little so Stiles could talk.
Stiles didn’t cough, because he didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Peter. “Where have you been?”
Peter gave him an unamused look. “That wasn’t an answer to the question.” He sniffed the air, and glanced around. “Where is my nephew?”
Stiles glared. “Oh, now you notice.”
Peter fixed him with a look. “I’ve been very busy, Stiles. You know this. I have plans--”
“To kill the Argents,” Stiles spit out. “Yeah, I figured.”
Peter raised an eyebrow, but besides that his face gave nothing away. “I plan to kill an Argent, yes. Now where is Derek.”
Stiles thought for a moment about hiding the truth from Peter, just out of spite, but he knew it was pointless. Peter would be able to tell he was lying, and as much it didn’t cause lasting damage, Stiles had better things to do than get slammed into a tree again. Also, his mind reminded him, Peter might be able to help. “Kate has him.”
Peter’s eyes flashed red and he looked towards his old house.“That woman has him?”
Stiles nodded, following Peter’s look. “Chained up in some cell. He ’s been down there for almost a week. They are using wolfsbane to block his scent from me, but I finally found him.” He looked back at Peter. “I thought you had taken him originally, and I looked for you, but I guess you were busy.”
Peter shrugged. “It’s a long trek down to New Orleans.”
Stiles balked. “New Orleans? You went across the country? And just left us here?”
Peter rolled his head slowly to look at Stiles. “You do remember the custody arrangement my nephew and I worked out for you, right? I only get visiting privileges on weekends, so there’s no reason to come during the week. I thought you boys would stay out of trouble.” He blew out a breath. “I guess that’s not the case.”
“Derek was attacked. His car was run off the road by a truck. He was probably injured and stuck with no way to get out.” Stiles felt himself getting angry as he thought about it. He hadn’t given much thought to it before, and now he regretted it, because rage was bubbling up.
Peter rested a hand on his shoulder before drawing him into a hug. “Stiles, calm down.” Stiles froze, but he couldn’t fight Peter. His wolf didn’t want to, because this was his alpha, and he didn’t have Derek to anchor him back to reality. His alpha was treating him like an alpha should, offering comfort for a lost pack member, and it made his wolf want to submit and do what Peter said. “I know you’re angry, and that’s a good thing,” Peter whispered.
Stiles found himself relaxing in Peter’s embrace against his will. His mouth opened without his permission and he heard himself starting to tell Peter things he hadn’t planned on ever saying. “I want to find them and kill every one of them for hurting him, and I don’t even know what they’ve done to him yet.”
Peter hushed him. “I know, I know. And we will. We’ll kill every one of them for hurting our pack.”
Stiles felt his claws coming out and he curled them into Peter’s back. He could hear his wolf howling inside his chest as his mind went blissfully silent. He was beginning to feel rabid in a way he had never felt before, and a part of him liked it. “Not Kate though,” he heard himself whisper. Peter ran a hand down his back as Stiles continued. “I want her.”
He felt Peter laugh against his neck, before he pulled away to look at Stiles with a wide smile on his face. “We shall see,” he said softly before wrapping a hand around Stiles’ wrist, taking him away from the house.
It was enough to snap Stiles out of the haziness he was feeling. He tugged his wrist out of Peter’s grip. “Where are we going?”
Peter looked at him patiently. “Away from here for now.”
Stiles growled. “No. We’re rescuing Derek.”
He saw something flash across Peter’s face, before it was blank again. He reached for Stiles, but he took a step back. “Stiles, it wouldn't be wise to go in there now.”
“Why not?” Stiles fought the feeling that was telling him to listen to Peter. He refused to if it meant leaving Derek down there.
Peter huffed. “I still have plans, Stiles. Things I need to do.”
“Things that are more important than Derek?”
“In some ways, yes.” Peter looked back at the house, sniffing the air. “Derek is strong. He’ll be able to last…” he trailed off in thought, and Stiles wanted to pull his hair out waiting. “It shouldn’t be more than another week. Especially if I leave now.”
“A week?” Stiles turned in anger, intent on heading towards the house.
Peter grabbed him and Stiles fought the whole way, but he still ended up pressed back into a tree. Peter looked furious as he held Stiles until he stopped fighting. “Stiles, I have grown very fond of you, and that’s part of the reason I don't want you going in there without me.”
“Then come in with me,” Stiles ground out as sharply as he could while being strangled.
Peter clucked his tongue. “Not right now. I told you, I have things I need to do.”
“So you’ve said,” Stiles gasped, but whatever else they were going to say was cut off by a soft buzzing.
Peter looked down at his hip, and Stiles kicked his feet, because he was finally able to feel his phone vibrating in his pocket.
“Are you going to answer that?” Peter asked, as Stiles fought against him some more.
“If you let me go.”
Peter gave him a look and then reached into Stiles’ pocket, pulling out his phone. “Pamela Isley,” he sounded amused. “Cute. Your redhead friend, I take it?” He handed Stiles his phone just as it stopped vibrating, letting him down off the tree. Peter made a motion with his hand, indicating that Stiles should return her call.
Stiles sighed, not wanting to call her back. Peter didn’t need to hear any conversation Lydia and he were going to have. Peter didn’t need confirmation on Lydia’s involvement with the pack, or anyone’s involvement with the pack. His choice was taken out of his hands when his phone started vibrating again, Pamela Isley coming up on his screen.
Stiles answer the phone, wincing as Lydia immediately started yelling. “Stiles I swear to fucking god if you have even thought about going to rescue Derek I will have Jackson drive out there with me and we will cause such a ruckus that you will have no option but to stop, do I make myself clear? I did not just make up this plan because I want Derek to suffer. It’s for Allison’s protection just as much as your own.”
Peter arched his eyebrow at Stiles, clearly able to hear what Lydia was saying. “Pamela seems very smart.”
Stiles’ mouth hung open, and he didn’t know who to respond to. He didn’t know why everyone was trying to stop him from rescuing Derek.
“Stiles!” Lydia said harshly. “You can not go in there. Think past your instincts to get Derek back and consider the reality. Allison just got shown that Kate has Derek. If he gets broken out tonight, or even tomorrow, or sometime other than when I planned the hunters will immediately suspect Allison. And you will put her in danger, and if you do that you will hate yourself forever.”
Stiles bit back a curse as Peter’s face turned victorious and he reached for Stiles’ wrist. He didn’t want to back down, but it wasn’t looking like he had much of a choice. Lydia was right, it would be suspicious if Derek was released the same night Allison found out.
He swallowed and gripped his phone a little tighter. He didn’t want to crack it, but he also didn’t want to give up. Not yet. He couldn’t do that to Derek. “You really think they’ll link that to her?”
“Do you want to risk it?” Lydia asked, and she actually sounded scared now, like she wasn’t sure if Stiles was going to give up or not. “Stiles! My plan will work. You have to trust that.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “We’ll get Derek out of there.”
Stiles shut his eyes. He refused to look at Peter as he finally let himself be talked out of his rescue plan by Lydia. “Fine. We’ll do this your way.”
“Thank you,” Lydia said, and then Stiles hung up the phone, because there was nothing else she could say that Peter needed to hear.
Peter was looking at him contemplatively and Stiles shoved his phone back in his pocket. “What’s the plan our dear Pamela came up with?” Peter asked, sliding a hand around Stiles’ shoulder to start walking him away from the Hale house. “I assume there is room to fit myself in.”
Stiles huffed, wanting nothing more than to shove Peter’s arm off of him and run back to the house, but he couldn’t do that. So he settled for snark. “Will you even be here? Or will you still be planning?”
Peter laughed, and the sound sent shivers down his spine. “Tell me your plan and I will find a way to move my own around.” Stiles hadn’t intended to Peter anything, but then Peter’s hand squeezed his shoulder as he leaned over and whispered, “tell me, Stiles,” and Stiles felt his head getting fuzzy again.
It was the alpha exerting his dominance over his beta, and Stiles hated it, most of all because he couldn’t resist.
“I’m going to rescue Derek the night of the dance,” Stiles said, mind racing with ways to leave out everyone else’s involvement. “Kate is going to be asked to chaperone the dance, to get her away, and make it easier for me to get in.”
Peter made a noise of agreement as he took Stiles deeper into the woods. “This could work. When is the dance? Come now, don’t keep any details from me, Stiles.”
Stiles tried to bite his lip, but the words kept coming unbidden. He told Peter almost everything, trying hard to leave out people’s names, and Peter seemed to be pleased enough that Stiles was being cooperative because he let those things slide. They walked with Peter’s arm wrapped around Stiles’ shoulder all the way back to the main part of town, and they continued the rest of the way to Stiles’ house side by side.
Stiles couldn’t even comment how creepy it was that Peter knew where he lived, because of course Peter did. It wasn’t like it was a big secret. Peter kept him talking the whole walk back, and when Peter decided to contribute it wasn’t hard for Stiles to realize that anything he said was superficial. He didn’t mention anything about his own plans, and he only laughed and diverted the conversation again when Stiles finally asked him outright at his doorstep.
“You just worry about my nephew,” Peter said, patting Stiles’ cheek. He could hear his dad moving around in the living room and he wondered what his dad would say if he decided to look out the front window at this moment. “Everything else can wait until we have our pack back, right?”
Stiles nodded, because there was no other proper response to that. He had to play Peter’s games for now, and for however long it took for Derek and him to finally kill him.
“We will get him back,” Peter said. “And he’ll be fine.”
Stiles couldn’t answer without his heartbeat skipping, so he just nodded and then escaped into his house, because facing his dad was more appealing than spending another moment with Peter.
***
Allison fidgeted in her chair as Lydia finished pinning her hair up. It was supposed to be a simple style, fancy enough to not raise suspicion at the dance, but that also wouldn’t get in her way when they left to go rescue Derek. On her bed she had already packed a bag full of clothes to change into, and Lydia had hidden at least five containers full of her exploding Molotov cocktails in it.
They were all set, and they had gone over the plan hundreds of times in the past week, but Allison was still nervous. And it was more than the healthy bit of nerves her father had always said was necessary for any smart person to have. She had been the healthy bit of nervous when she had asked Kate if she could come and chaperone the dance.
That had been step one. They needed to get Kate away from Derek for an extended period of time, and know that she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. The dance was the perfect cover for that because it was going to last at least five hours, and as a chaperone she would need to be there longer.
Kate had readily agreed, and at the time Allison had been pleased with how smoothly everything was going, but now that it was the night of she wondered if there was something else to it. Maybe she had called in backup, but Danny had gotten her phone records and assured them that Kate had made no suspicious calls, or sent any odd texts. Maybe Kate was just happy that Allison was finally reaching out to her, seeming to heal from the trauma of being exposed to werewolves.
So Allison knew what healthy nerves felt like. The butterflies running rampant in her stomach were not those. They were full on panic and Allison was strong enough to admit it was almost entirely because of the alpha. She had been fine doing this until Stiles had said his alpha was going to get involved, because when it was just them there was minimal damage. They could slip in, Stiles and her, and get Derek out. No one would get hurt, because Scott would be driving them away by the time any of the hunters her aunt had watching Derek came back to consciousness. But with the alpha it added a whole new layer.
The layer where she was ninety-five percent sure there would be a body count and one of them would be the alpha at the hands of Derek.
“Chin up,” Lydia said, setting the brush down. “I need you to face me so I can finish putting on your makeup.”
Allison rolled her eyes as Lydia grabbed her chin and forced her to stay still so she could add gloss to her lips. “I do know how to apply makeup,” Allison muttered as she pulled her chin out of Lydia’s grasp after the gloss was applied.
Lydia hummed and handed her a Kleenex. “Blot.” Allison did as she was told, watching Lydia putter around and add a few more things to the bag. “Just because we are going into danger doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look our best.”
Allison couldn’t stop herself from laughing as Lydia tucked the taser Stiles had gotten for her into her purse. “Glad to know you haven’t lost sight of your priorities.”
Lydia gave a tight-lipped smile. “Can I borrow a shirt?” Allison looked over to her closet and Lydia sighed. “Not to wear. I want to make sure the beakers don’t crack inside the bag. I’m going to wrap them in cloth to cushion them.” Allison gestured to her chest of drawers and Lydia clapped her hands together in delight. “This is going to be so much fun.”
Allison let out another laugh. “I hope you’re talking about the dance.”
Lydia shot her a look. “Of course I’m talking about the dance. What else would I be talking about?”
Allison stood up to sit on the edge of her bed, smoothing the end of her knee length dress. “I don’t know, maybe the whole rescuing Derek part? You seem pretty,” Allison made a gesture towards the containers Lydia was wrapping in different shirts, “involved.”
“We’re all involved with this,” Lydia said simply. “And that’s not going to be fun. That’s saving a...” she paused, “friend.”
Allison watched Lydia’s face. “You were going to say pack mate, weren’t you?”
“It’s a silly word that I’m not used to yet,” Lydia quipped, tucking another cushioned container into Allison’s backpack. “But, yes. I was. Since he is going to be the alpha - my alpha,” she quickly corrected herself.
“You’re going to ask Derek for the bite?” Allison asked, honestly shocked. Lydia nodded. “Why?”
“I have my reasons,” Lydia said simply, but Allison needed to know more. “Derek needs three betas,” Lydia continued unprompted, and Allison knew this bit. It had been mentioned before. “He has Stiles, and me, and if all goes the way I want he’ll have Danny too.”
Danny, Allison wondered. “But, what about Jackson?” He was in the know now, and even though he and Stiles weren’t on good terms by any stretch, he had still not said a single word to anyone, and had come to each of the meetings without too much complaint.
“What about him?”
“Is he not going to ask for the bite?”
Lydia shrugged. “He can ask, but it won’t matter. Stiles won’t let him, and since Derek already has us he doesn’t need to give Jackson the bite. Jackson wouldn’t be a good addition anyway.”
Allison balked. “What do you mean he wouldn’t be a good addition? I thought you liked him?”
“Like has nothing to do with it.” Lydia looked at her with a fond expression. “This is about pack dynamics, and what’s best for us. Jackson can stay human, and it won’t upset the balance, but as a werewolf he’ll be too independent, too reckless. He’ll fight Derek’s leadership too much and since the territory is shared with a bunch of hunters we can’t have that. Not with a new alpha.” Lydia arched an eyebrow. “It’s not like I’m leaving him. I just take precedence over anything else, and what I want is for this pack to be successful.”
“You’ve thought about this a lot.”
Lydia nodded. “The pack is going to give me everything I want. I’ll finally be able to be myself.” She was looking at the backpack almost sadly. “Things like this? The chemistry? It will be appreciated because it’s a skill I have that the pack would need. But it won’t be all they’ll see me for. They’ll see me for my weaknesses, things I can’t do, and it will be okay. Do you know what Derek did after that night at the school? When we were out in the woods watching your shoot your bow? He asked me how the explosive was supposed to work and what went wrong so next time it wouldn’t. He was pissed, but he wanted me to get it right next time. He knew there was going to be a next time, and that I was going to get it right.”
Allison blinked, taken aback by Lydia’s thoughts. She’d known that Lydia kept things to herself, realized that after only a few weeks that the persona she presented at school was only a piece of her. And they had been getting closer since the night at the school, but Allison hadn’t thought they had reached the point where Lydia would actually tell her the truth.
“So you want it because you’ll be able to be yourself? And people will like you?” It took Lydia a moment but she nodded. “You don’t need to hide who you are to be liked.”
Lydia gave a sharp laugh, going back to wrapping containers. “Maybe where you come from, but not here. Trust me. I tried when I was little, but the worst people in the world are fourth grade girls, and apparently you aren’t allowed to like dissecting frogs and Mall Madness. So I picked. And it wasn’t a hard choice, either. And luckily mean children have shitty memories. All is forgotten at a birthday invite and a pretty new dress. So now I have another choice and guess what? That’s not hard either.” Lydia finished folding Allison’s pajama pants around the final container. “Now we just need to make sure no one but me or you holds this bag so it doesn’t explode and we’ll be golden.” She flashed a huge smile, any trace of tension from before gone and Allison didn’t know what else to say.
She couldn’t argue with Lydia’s choice; hell, a part of her was jealous it came so easily to her. Allison still had moments where she struggled to find where she fit in. She knew it was with the pack, and she thought she was happy as a human, but sometimes, like now, she thought it might be easier if she had the same power as Stiles. It would make breaking Derek out easier, definitely, because Stiles wouldn’t need to hold back. Hell, they probably wouldn’t even need Scott to drive them away because it would be three werewolves, and they could outrun any human.
Before Allison could say anything else Lydia’s phone pinged from a text and Lydia broke into a smile.
“Jackson’s outside. Scott’s in the car, too.”
Allison grinned worriedly as she grabbed her backpack and swung it over her shoulder. She knew she looked strange in a fancy dress and strappy heels with an overstuffed backpack over her shoulder. Lydia locked their arms together and led her out of the room.
Allison’s parents were downstairs in the living room, and they both looked up when the two of them came down the stairs. Kate had left almost an hour earlier, having to be at the school a half hour before the dance started to watch over anyone who showed up early.
“You girls look nice,” her father said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Allison felt Lydia beam next to her, but she focused on her dad. He arched an eyebrow at the backpack Allison had and she was glad she had already tucked her arrows in the back of Stiles’ Jeep. “What’s the backpack for?”
“I’m sleeping over Lydia’s after the dance, remember?” Allison looked down at Lydia who smiled widely at her dad.
“We’re gonna have so much fun. Thanks for letting us get ready here, Mr. A,” Lydia said with a huge smile as she pulled Allison out of the house towards the driveway where Jackson’s Porsche was idling.
Allison looked back at her dad, who was watching them with a strange expression on his face. She wondered for a moment if he knew, but then Lydia was pushing her in the backseat of the car next to Scott, and she couldn’t see her father’s face anymore.
Scott smiled eagerly at her as Allison tucked her backpack into the tight space of Jackson’s backseat. “You look… wow,” Scott breathed out and Allison couldn’t stop herself from smiling in return, even as her heart started to pound because this was happening. When they got to the dance the plan would be underway. Stiles would cause a diversion at some point and slip away. She would follow shortly after with Scott, while Danny, Jackson and Lydia kept an eye on Kate and made sure she didn’t notice anything weird.
“Jackson, give me the flask,” Lydia snapped from the front seat, and Allison looked up to see Lydia reaching into Jackson’s jacket pocket. “You are not getting trashed tonight.”
“Lydia, there is barely anything in there.”
“I don’t care,” Lydia said, rolling down the window and emptying the flask out as they came to a stoplight. She didn’t let any of Jackson’s protests stop her, but Allison noticed he wasn’t really trying. He just gripped the steering wheel and muttered under his breath until Lydia slipped her hand in his.
Scott’s hand crept around her shoulder and Allison tried to relax. Lydia was right. Even if they were going into danger it didn’t mean they shouldn’t enjoy themselves for the few moments they would be able to.
***
This was not how Jackson planned on spending a school dance. He was sober for starters, and that was just not acceptable. Who cared that they had some plan to save Derek. He wasn’t going out there. He was staying here the entire time, watching Allison’s aunt.
Who was hot, he had to admit. She didn’t even look that much like the serial wolf killer type. So it could have been worse. He could have been forced to watch someone who wasn’t as attractive.
A part of him wanted to go over and talk to her even, but then he remembered the file he had filched from Lydia’s bag, the one that detailed the Hale house fire and the people who had died. Children, most of whom were human according to Stiles. That stopped him from doing it, because no matter how much he fought the idea of helping Derek, of helping their stupid pack, he still had a heart.
Not that anyone seemed to believe him, if the way they intentionally left him out of their plans said anything. And it did. It spoke volumes about how he didn’t belong, and how he couldn’t help. He would help, he supposed, if he was asked. It’s why he was doing this, but he didn’t think it was fair that Scott was the one going with Stiles and Allison to break out Derek. He was stronger than Scott, faster too. Being injured didn’t change that.
He should have been going with them while Scott stayed behind, but he wasn’t important enough.
Even through all of this, though, all these thoughts rushing through his head, he never thought about going to Allison’s aunt with any intent of ruining their plans, and he knew Lydia was waiting for it. It stung that even she didn’t trust him, that she was keeping a hold of his hand and intentionally making sure they didn’t go anywhere near Allison’s aunt, even when Allison had to go and say hello when they got to the school.
It would probably be more bearable if he had Danny, who was probably the only one in their group who was willing to be truthful with him, followed very closely by Scott, but that seemed to be more out of nicety than anything else. But Danny wasn’t coming for a little while, and when he did get to the dance he had his own role to play that didn’t involve spending time with anyone but Stiles.
Lydia wanted people to notice Stiles being at the dance because it would give him an alibi if hunters started asking around after Derek got rescued. Allison and Scott’s alibi would be that they snuck off for private couple time, and he, Danny and Lydia would all stay at the dance. Jackson personally thought it was too elaborate, but no one wanted his opinion, so he kept it to himself. Just like he was keeping everything else to himself.
Maybe once they saved Derek life would go back to normal, and he, Lydia and Danny could go back to living a normal, freak-free life.
***
The dance was not going well. Stiles had gotten there almost an hour after it had started, he and Danny being some of the last people to stroll into the dance. Stiles could feel people looking at him, and he knew half the school thought Danny and he had broken up. He could hear the people he passed whispering, trying to figure out if they were back together, and he had to remind himself that it was part of the whole plan. So he let people stare at them as they came in late, awkwardly holding hands, trying to act uncomfortable with one another.
This had been the part Stiles had been worried about from the get-go, because Danny and he were getting better with each day that passed. They had even been able to hold an entire conversation on the car ride to the dance that wasn’t related to anything involving werewolves, or what they were going to deal with tonight. It was like having a good friend back, and Stiles was glad for that because above all else he had missed being Danny’s friend. The car ride had put him in a good mood, or as good a mood as he could be in with the knowledge that Derek was chained up.
Any sliver of that was destroyed when he caught the first scent of Kate. The feeling only intensified when he finally saw her, leaning against the bleachers with Finstock beside her, watching the students dance.
It took a lot of Stiles’ control not to leap across the room and bash Kate’s head into the floor as Danny led him to one of the tables on the edge of the dance floor. He had a death grip on Danny’s hand because he couldn’t do anything else. He couldn’t even stare at Kate too long because he wasn’t supposed to know who she was.
“Stiles,” Danny whispered. “Your eyes.” He blinked a few times, trying to pull the wolf back. Danny followed his gaze and squeezed his head. “Is that her?”
Stiles nodded. “I can smell Derek on her. It’s faint. Nothing I could pick up if I wasn’t looking for it, or wasn’t in the same room as her, but it’s there.”
Danny’s thumb swiped over the back of his hand. “Come dance with me,” he said all of a sudden, changing course and heading towards the dance floor instead.
Stiles let out a sigh, half for the upcoming show, and also because he really didn’t want to dance. He didn’t feel up to this plan. He just wanted to get out the dance as quickly as possible. He looked around for everyone else as Danny pulled him out onto the dance floor to the end of Born This Way. Allison and Scott were easy to find; they were the only couple slow dancing because apparently the concept of dancing to the pace of the song was lost on them. Jackson took a moment longer to locate, but he was at a table near the edge of the dance floor, looking completely disinterested in being there.
The song started to wind down to a soft guitar and Stiles found himself getting pulled into an awkward embrace as Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now came on. Danny snickered, and Stiles watched as he ducked his head so no one could see him starting to laugh.
“Oh god,” Danny muttered as he stepped closer to Stiles, body shaking from repressed laughter. “I was not expecting this at all.”
Stiles rested his hands on Danny’s shoulders, leaning his head back so he was looking at the ceiling. When he put his head back down he made sure to put his mouth near Danny’s ear so he could talk to him. “How much longer do I need to stay here?”
“Not much longer, I think,” Danny answered. “I’ll start the fight after this song, okay?”
Stiles nodded as Danny stepped closer to him. Stiles let out a breath. “Thanks. I just want to get him back, you know?”
“I know.” Stiles felt Danny tense up in his arms, and then take a deep breath. “I’m glad you two are… together.”
Stiles frowned. Of all the things he was expecting Danny to talk about as they faked being a couple, Derek was not on that list. Derek had been the thing they were purposefully avoiding. “What?”
Danny refused to look at him though, hiding his face in Stiles’ shoulder. “It made things a lot easier.” He pressed his lips against Stiles’ neck, but it didn’t do anything for Stiles. “Easier to make decisions, I mean. About what happens after all of this.” Stiles swallowed, not sure he liked where this was going. Danny continued talking, voice a steady whisper. “I thought for a while that maybe if I turned we could be together again, and then I realized how stupid that was. I’m not changing my life based off the whim of a guy I really liked.”
“Past tense. That’s rough,” Stiles said, because he felt like he needed to say something, anything to show he was listening.
Danny sighed, hot breath blowing against Stiles’ neck. “What I mean is… I still haven’t made a choice. I don’t know where I’ll be after this is all over. I know where some people stand, Lydia mostly, but I don’t know if the bite is what I want, for me, yet.”
Stiles squeezed Danny closer to him, wanting to assure him that Stiles would stand by him no matter what he chose, but all of a sudden Stiles was no longer holding Danny. He was on the floor on his ass and Danny looked pissed.
“What the fuck?!” Stiles demanded, and he wasn’t even exaggerating because it took him a moment to remember plan.
Everyone was staring at them as Danny started to talk, because of course Danny wouldn’t start off yelling right away, he was the type of person who needed to work up to full anger.
“Really, Stiles,” Danny was saying, “the whole threesome with Lydia joke is getting really fucking boring.”
If people weren’t paying attention before they were now.
“I don’t care how good she looks in a dress, because I’m not attracted to that kind of thing and you fucking know it. And it’s not like it’s ever going to happen anyway!” By the end of his sentence he was really starting to yell and Stiles had to admire the way Danny was working himself up. “Lydia’s too fucking good for you, and the only reason she’s even paying you any attention is because we’re together! The moment I leave you she’ll start ignoring you all over again.”
Stiles couldn’t stop his face from contorting at that comment, but he still couldn’t find any words to shout back at Danny.
Maybe it was for the best. This wasn’t supposed to be drawn out, just enough for people to remember.
“Well maybe you should!” Stiles finally shouted, interrupting whatever else Danny was saying. He scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps away from Danny so his escape would be quicker.
Danny looked taken aback for a moment and then he clenched his fists. “Maybe I am!”
“Good!” Stiles called, pushing his way through the crowd. “You sucked at sucking cock anyway!” He threw out the last retort just as he ducked through the last line of people, running out of the gymnasium before anyone could stop him.
He rushed to his Jeep, fumbling to get his key out so he could drive down the road to pick up Scott and Allison when they came out. He was unlocking his car when he smelled it. Peter. Stiles cursed, hesitating for a moment before he slammed his car door shut and relocked it, running towards Peter’s scent.
He was by the lacrosse field, Stiles could tell that much, but he didn’t know why. Peter had said he’d meet Stiles at the house, so what was he doing at the school? Stiles was pulling his phone out to text Scott that he was going to be a few minutes late when Lydia’s scent hit him.
Stiles froze.
His mind started racing, because he couldn’t understand why Lydia would be outside. He played the last few minutes he had spent inside the gymnasium over in his head, trying to remember if he had seen Lydia or not.
He thought he had, but he couldn’t remember clearly.
It didn’t matter, because Lydia was outside, and Peter was outside, and their scents were mixing.
She started screaming just as Stiles started running again, screaming her name.
He made it to the lacrosse field just in time to see Peter’s face shift back to human, standing up to leave Lydia’s side.
“No!” He yelled, skidding onto the grass. “What did you do?!” He demanded, one hand cradling her head in his lap as the other went to the bite. She was already unconscious, and the only thing that was vaguely reassuring was the fact that he could hear her heartbeat and breathing.
“You said you needed a distraction to get away, and she just happened to be walking around unaccompanied.” Peter smiled, wiping his mouth the back of his hand.
Stiles had to look away because that was Lydia’s blood he was smearing over his lips. His mind was racing, trying to figure out why Lydia would leave the gym. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on Kate, so unless Kate had left…
Stiles cursed, and then glared at Peter. “We had one.”
Peter didn’t even look guilty. “It seems you might have left that little detail out when you were telling me your plans.” He let out a sigh when Stiles didn’t answer. “Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. I had every intention of letting someone find her. Would have ruined the point of her being a distraction if I didn’t.”
Stiles set his lips in a thin line. “So you’ll let me take her back to the school?”
“Now wouldn’t that just get you noticed? However will you slip away from the hunters then? They’d notice you’re missing for sure.” Peter was mocking him, but Stiles didn’t care. His mind was already trying to figure out how to get Lydia to the hospital. She wasn’t reacting the proper way to the bite, and that terrified him because if the bite didn’t turn you you died, and no. Lydia was not allowed to die.
“Fuck them finding out,” Stiles grit out, and he could feel Peter’s pleasure washing over him.
“That’s the spirit. We have no reason to hide from those silly hunters. Not when we’re just going to kill them soon anyway.” Stiles felt Peter’s hand on his shoulder as he adjusted Lydia in his lap, getting ready to stand up. His phone started buzzing in his pants pocket, and Peter let out a soft chuckle. “You should probably answer that. Might be one of your humans.”
Stiles shifted Lydia in his lap, answering Scott’s phone call with a clipped, “I’m coming back to the school.”
“What’s wrong?” Scott asked, obviously picking up on the tension in Stiles’ voice. “We’re grabbing Allison’s bag from Jackson’s car.”
“Peter’s here,” Stiles said, standing up with Lydia cradled in one arm. It felt awkward, but werewolf strength made it possible. “He bit Lydia.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Scott spoke softly. “That’s good? Right? You wanted her as-“
“Her body’s rejecting the bite, Scott. She needs a hospital!” Stiles yelled before he hung up the phone, walking as quickly as he could. He refused to say what happened when the body rejected the bite out loud, because maybe if he didn’t nothing bad would happen.
He was at the edge of the parking lot when Allison, Scott, Danny and Jackson came running towards him. Allison reached him first, letting out a gasp when she saw the blood covering Lydia’s dress.
“What happened?” Jackson demanded, reaching to take Lydia from Stiles. “What happened to her, Stilinski?” Stiles could see he was struggling with himself, trying to take Lydia and shove Stiles at the same time.
“Someone needs to call 9-1-1,” Stiles said, ignoring Jackson. He did not have time for Jackson’s shit.
“Was it the alpha?” Danny asked as he pushed Jackson to the side, taking Lydia. His eyes locked on the bite and he winced. “Stupid question. Better one, she’s rejecting the bite?”
Stiles nodded dumbly. “I don’t know… Peter just came at her. But I need to get out of here.”
“Why was Lydia even outside?” Allison asked as Scott stepped away to call 9-1-1.
“Kate,” Stiles growled. “It’s the only reason she would have left.”
Jackson’s head snapped up, eyes wide. “She’d left the gymnasium, and Lydia went to follow her. Wanted to make sure she didn’t leave. She said she’d call if she did.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stiles said. “I need to go. You guys wait here. Peter and I will handle this.” He looked at the four of them, hoping they would listen to him. He was getting a bad feeling about how this night was going to turn out, and he didn’t need to have any of them there if it turned bloody. “I’ll meet you all in the hospital in a few hours, with Derek.”
As Stiles ran off he heard the ambulance screaming in the distance.
***
It took Allison barely a second to make up her mind after Stiles had run off.
“I’m going after him,” she announced, turning to go back to Jackson’s car to get her backpack.
“I’m coming with you,” Scott said, voice shaking, but his face was determined.
“Me too,” Danny and Jackson said at the same time, and Allison looked at them as they began to argue.
“You need to stay with Lydia,” Danny said.
“Fuck that, you guys are not leaving me,” Jackson retorted.
Before the argument could get any further Allison put her hand in between them. “Guys! We don’t have time for this. Danny, you’re coming with us. Jackson, you’re going to the hospital. You’re Lydia’s date. If you disappear you’ll be suspect number one.” She glared at him. “Whatever you do, do not tell Stiles’ dad anything. Mention nothing about werewolves. Do nothing that will have the police coming after us. They’ll just get caught in the crossfire.”
Jackson opened his mouth to argue but Danny stopped him with a look. He bit back whatever he was going to say, and instead said, “fine.”
“Good.” Allison could hear the ambulance coming now, and it would no doubt bring people out into the parking lot. They needed to get out of there now. “We’re taking Stiles’ Jeep. Danny, go get my bag, it’s in Jackson’s car. Be careful! We packed explosives in there!”
“On it,” Danny said, running off as Allison and Scott ran to Stiles’ Jeep.
“I can’t drive his Jeep, Allison. It’s a stick,” Scott said as he handed Allison the spare key he had in his wallet.
“It’s fine. I can.” She did a quick check that her bow and arrows were still in the backseat as she climbed into the driver’s seat. She kicked off her shoes, because driving barefoot was better than in heels, and she started the car just as Danny pulled Scott out of the passenger seat to climb into the back. Scott squeaked and looked vaguely offended as he had to wait for Danny to get into the back before he could get back in his seat.
Allison barely paid them any attention, cataloguing all the things she needed to do before they could go in to rescue Derek. She would need to change once they got to the woods, but for now Allison needed to worry about getting out of the parking lot before the ambulance showed up.
She backed out, and the car screeched just a little as she pulled away, grinding the gears as she tried to get a feel for the car. It didn’t take more than a minute, and by the time they were on the main road all the lessons her dad had given her were coming back.
Danny was pulling out the Molotov cocktail containers, taking inventory with Scott, and Allison tried to remember when this had started to feel normal.
***
Chris didn’t know why he was parked on the other side of the school waiting for Kate. He had just gotten a text from Kate telling him to pick her up. He was about to text her back and remind her that she was no longer a stupid sixteen year old who needed him to pick her up from the gun range she had been at instead of school when she tapped on the passenger side window. He gestured for her to get in, and her face lit up.
“How was the dance?” Chris asked as she got in.
“Good. The alpha showed up. I saw him attack a girl.” Chris stared at her and she gave him a look. “Oh, don’t give me that. I’m unarmed so I couldn’t exactly kill him. And I was downwind so he didn’t know I was there.”
“Is the girl alright?” Chris asked as he watched Kate reach back and pull out the shotgun he had packed under the seat. “Kate! Do you think he’s going after anyone else?”
Kate shrugged. “Don’t know. I didn’t plan on him showing up.” She smiled at him. “I bet I know where he’s going though.” She nodded to the steering wheel. “Drive, big brother.”
Chris wanted to argue, but adrenaline was rushing through his veins at the thought of the alpha hurting someone. If Kate knew where he was going then Chris needed to get them there because they needed to stop the alpha. “Where?”
Kate grinned, loading her gun. “He’s gonna be going to Derek. And I bet he’ll be taking whatever beta he bit with him."
Chapter 11
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Rating: Overall R
Warnings: eventual knotting
Summary: Stiles is the best werewolf ever. fork in the road au. (were!stiles)
[Read on AO3]
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
The plan Lydia came up with was a stupid plan, and Stiles said as much before he stormed off. She really thought he would be able to wait? That he could sit back and let Derek be kept locked up for another week? He knew where Derek was being held now, he’d managed to get that out of Allison before Lydia had tried to tell Stiles that he couldn’t go after him. Like that was going to happen. He didn’t care if there were hunters guarding the house, he could take them.
They wouldn’t be expecting someone to attack. They probably heard him when he had scoped out the house before, looking for signs of Derek, and they hadn’t paid him any attention then. Why would that be different now?
Stiles ran through the woods, pushing himself to get to the old Hale house faster. He didn’t want to leave Derek there for any longer than he already had been. The thought made Stiles’ stomach heave.
Allison hadn’t said what Kate was doing with Derek, just that he had been chained up. Allison thought Kate was doing it just for fun, just because she could, and that was the worst possible reason Stiles could think of. At least if she was trying to get information out of him there would be a purpose, some kind of logic behind it, but for fun?
It meant Derek was almost as good as dead the longer they left him there.
Stiles would not let this happen.
He finally reached the clearing the Hale house was in. He could vaguely smell humans, now that he knew where to look. He was wolfed out, and he didn’t want to pull it back. He wanted the hunters to know Derek wasn’t alone, that he had a pack backing him, and he was going to announce himself loudly.
Stiles stalked around the house, heading for the cellar door Allison had mentioned. He could hear voices, voices that didn’t really have scents, and his eyes picked up the patch of wolfsbane that was planted around the cellar door. It was what was blocking the scent of not only Derek, but whoever else was down there.
Stiles let out a growl, and reached for the latch on the door.
He almost had his hand around the latch when something grabbed his shoulder, forcing him back.
He snarled, whipping around to attack whoever tried to stop him. He was going to kill whatever hunter it was slowly. Which is why when his eyes finally focused and he saw it was Peter it felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.
Peter looked furious, eyes blood red as he pulled Stiles further away from the house and into the woods.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Peter hissed, slammed Stiles back into a tree with enough force Stiles heard the tree creak.
Peter had his hand wrapped around Stiles’ throat as he held him up and it was enough to force Stiles back into action.
He kicked his feet, getting leverage on Peter’s thigh to deliver a kick to Peter’s gut. Peter didn’t even seem to feel it as he kept his hold on Stiles’ neck.
“Stiles,” Peter said patiently as he began to squeeze. “Answer the question.”
Stiles’ hand clawed at Peter’s wrist. He could barely breathe at this point, let alone talk. Peter’s eyes drained of the red as he slowly seemed to realize this, and he let Stiles down to the ground gently, loosening his grip just a little so Stiles could talk.
Stiles didn’t cough, because he didn’t want to show any weakness in front of Peter. “Where have you been?”
Peter gave him an unamused look. “That wasn’t an answer to the question.” He sniffed the air, and glanced around. “Where is my nephew?”
Stiles glared. “Oh, now you notice.”
Peter fixed him with a look. “I’ve been very busy, Stiles. You know this. I have plans--”
“To kill the Argents,” Stiles spit out. “Yeah, I figured.”
Peter raised an eyebrow, but besides that his face gave nothing away. “I plan to kill an Argent, yes. Now where is Derek.”
Stiles thought for a moment about hiding the truth from Peter, just out of spite, but he knew it was pointless. Peter would be able to tell he was lying, and as much it didn’t cause lasting damage, Stiles had better things to do than get slammed into a tree again. Also, his mind reminded him, Peter might be able to help. “Kate has him.”
Peter’s eyes flashed red and he looked towards his old house.“That woman has him?”
Stiles nodded, following Peter’s look. “Chained up in some cell. He ’s been down there for almost a week. They are using wolfsbane to block his scent from me, but I finally found him.” He looked back at Peter. “I thought you had taken him originally, and I looked for you, but I guess you were busy.”
Peter shrugged. “It’s a long trek down to New Orleans.”
Stiles balked. “New Orleans? You went across the country? And just left us here?”
Peter rolled his head slowly to look at Stiles. “You do remember the custody arrangement my nephew and I worked out for you, right? I only get visiting privileges on weekends, so there’s no reason to come during the week. I thought you boys would stay out of trouble.” He blew out a breath. “I guess that’s not the case.”
“Derek was attacked. His car was run off the road by a truck. He was probably injured and stuck with no way to get out.” Stiles felt himself getting angry as he thought about it. He hadn’t given much thought to it before, and now he regretted it, because rage was bubbling up.
Peter rested a hand on his shoulder before drawing him into a hug. “Stiles, calm down.” Stiles froze, but he couldn’t fight Peter. His wolf didn’t want to, because this was his alpha, and he didn’t have Derek to anchor him back to reality. His alpha was treating him like an alpha should, offering comfort for a lost pack member, and it made his wolf want to submit and do what Peter said. “I know you’re angry, and that’s a good thing,” Peter whispered.
Stiles found himself relaxing in Peter’s embrace against his will. His mouth opened without his permission and he heard himself starting to tell Peter things he hadn’t planned on ever saying. “I want to find them and kill every one of them for hurting him, and I don’t even know what they’ve done to him yet.”
Peter hushed him. “I know, I know. And we will. We’ll kill every one of them for hurting our pack.”
Stiles felt his claws coming out and he curled them into Peter’s back. He could hear his wolf howling inside his chest as his mind went blissfully silent. He was beginning to feel rabid in a way he had never felt before, and a part of him liked it. “Not Kate though,” he heard himself whisper. Peter ran a hand down his back as Stiles continued. “I want her.”
He felt Peter laugh against his neck, before he pulled away to look at Stiles with a wide smile on his face. “We shall see,” he said softly before wrapping a hand around Stiles’ wrist, taking him away from the house.
It was enough to snap Stiles out of the haziness he was feeling. He tugged his wrist out of Peter’s grip. “Where are we going?”
Peter looked at him patiently. “Away from here for now.”
Stiles growled. “No. We’re rescuing Derek.”
He saw something flash across Peter’s face, before it was blank again. He reached for Stiles, but he took a step back. “Stiles, it wouldn't be wise to go in there now.”
“Why not?” Stiles fought the feeling that was telling him to listen to Peter. He refused to if it meant leaving Derek down there.
Peter huffed. “I still have plans, Stiles. Things I need to do.”
“Things that are more important than Derek?”
“In some ways, yes.” Peter looked back at the house, sniffing the air. “Derek is strong. He’ll be able to last…” he trailed off in thought, and Stiles wanted to pull his hair out waiting. “It shouldn’t be more than another week. Especially if I leave now.”
“A week?” Stiles turned in anger, intent on heading towards the house.
Peter grabbed him and Stiles fought the whole way, but he still ended up pressed back into a tree. Peter looked furious as he held Stiles until he stopped fighting. “Stiles, I have grown very fond of you, and that’s part of the reason I don't want you going in there without me.”
“Then come in with me,” Stiles ground out as sharply as he could while being strangled.
Peter clucked his tongue. “Not right now. I told you, I have things I need to do.”
“So you’ve said,” Stiles gasped, but whatever else they were going to say was cut off by a soft buzzing.
Peter looked down at his hip, and Stiles kicked his feet, because he was finally able to feel his phone vibrating in his pocket.
“Are you going to answer that?” Peter asked, as Stiles fought against him some more.
“If you let me go.”
Peter gave him a look and then reached into Stiles’ pocket, pulling out his phone. “Pamela Isley,” he sounded amused. “Cute. Your redhead friend, I take it?” He handed Stiles his phone just as it stopped vibrating, letting him down off the tree. Peter made a motion with his hand, indicating that Stiles should return her call.
Stiles sighed, not wanting to call her back. Peter didn’t need to hear any conversation Lydia and he were going to have. Peter didn’t need confirmation on Lydia’s involvement with the pack, or anyone’s involvement with the pack. His choice was taken out of his hands when his phone started vibrating again, Pamela Isley coming up on his screen.
Stiles answer the phone, wincing as Lydia immediately started yelling. “Stiles I swear to fucking god if you have even thought about going to rescue Derek I will have Jackson drive out there with me and we will cause such a ruckus that you will have no option but to stop, do I make myself clear? I did not just make up this plan because I want Derek to suffer. It’s for Allison’s protection just as much as your own.”
Peter arched his eyebrow at Stiles, clearly able to hear what Lydia was saying. “Pamela seems very smart.”
Stiles’ mouth hung open, and he didn’t know who to respond to. He didn’t know why everyone was trying to stop him from rescuing Derek.
“Stiles!” Lydia said harshly. “You can not go in there. Think past your instincts to get Derek back and consider the reality. Allison just got shown that Kate has Derek. If he gets broken out tonight, or even tomorrow, or sometime other than when I planned the hunters will immediately suspect Allison. And you will put her in danger, and if you do that you will hate yourself forever.”
Stiles bit back a curse as Peter’s face turned victorious and he reached for Stiles’ wrist. He didn’t want to back down, but it wasn’t looking like he had much of a choice. Lydia was right, it would be suspicious if Derek was released the same night Allison found out.
He swallowed and gripped his phone a little tighter. He didn’t want to crack it, but he also didn’t want to give up. Not yet. He couldn’t do that to Derek. “You really think they’ll link that to her?”
“Do you want to risk it?” Lydia asked, and she actually sounded scared now, like she wasn’t sure if Stiles was going to give up or not. “Stiles! My plan will work. You have to trust that.” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “We’ll get Derek out of there.”
Stiles shut his eyes. He refused to look at Peter as he finally let himself be talked out of his rescue plan by Lydia. “Fine. We’ll do this your way.”
“Thank you,” Lydia said, and then Stiles hung up the phone, because there was nothing else she could say that Peter needed to hear.
Peter was looking at him contemplatively and Stiles shoved his phone back in his pocket. “What’s the plan our dear Pamela came up with?” Peter asked, sliding a hand around Stiles’ shoulder to start walking him away from the Hale house. “I assume there is room to fit myself in.”
Stiles huffed, wanting nothing more than to shove Peter’s arm off of him and run back to the house, but he couldn’t do that. So he settled for snark. “Will you even be here? Or will you still be planning?”
Peter laughed, and the sound sent shivers down his spine. “Tell me your plan and I will find a way to move my own around.” Stiles hadn’t intended to Peter anything, but then Peter’s hand squeezed his shoulder as he leaned over and whispered, “tell me, Stiles,” and Stiles felt his head getting fuzzy again.
It was the alpha exerting his dominance over his beta, and Stiles hated it, most of all because he couldn’t resist.
“I’m going to rescue Derek the night of the dance,” Stiles said, mind racing with ways to leave out everyone else’s involvement. “Kate is going to be asked to chaperone the dance, to get her away, and make it easier for me to get in.”
Peter made a noise of agreement as he took Stiles deeper into the woods. “This could work. When is the dance? Come now, don’t keep any details from me, Stiles.”
Stiles tried to bite his lip, but the words kept coming unbidden. He told Peter almost everything, trying hard to leave out people’s names, and Peter seemed to be pleased enough that Stiles was being cooperative because he let those things slide. They walked with Peter’s arm wrapped around Stiles’ shoulder all the way back to the main part of town, and they continued the rest of the way to Stiles’ house side by side.
Stiles couldn’t even comment how creepy it was that Peter knew where he lived, because of course Peter did. It wasn’t like it was a big secret. Peter kept him talking the whole walk back, and when Peter decided to contribute it wasn’t hard for Stiles to realize that anything he said was superficial. He didn’t mention anything about his own plans, and he only laughed and diverted the conversation again when Stiles finally asked him outright at his doorstep.
“You just worry about my nephew,” Peter said, patting Stiles’ cheek. He could hear his dad moving around in the living room and he wondered what his dad would say if he decided to look out the front window at this moment. “Everything else can wait until we have our pack back, right?”
Stiles nodded, because there was no other proper response to that. He had to play Peter’s games for now, and for however long it took for Derek and him to finally kill him.
“We will get him back,” Peter said. “And he’ll be fine.”
Stiles couldn’t answer without his heartbeat skipping, so he just nodded and then escaped into his house, because facing his dad was more appealing than spending another moment with Peter.
***
Allison fidgeted in her chair as Lydia finished pinning her hair up. It was supposed to be a simple style, fancy enough to not raise suspicion at the dance, but that also wouldn’t get in her way when they left to go rescue Derek. On her bed she had already packed a bag full of clothes to change into, and Lydia had hidden at least five containers full of her exploding Molotov cocktails in it.
They were all set, and they had gone over the plan hundreds of times in the past week, but Allison was still nervous. And it was more than the healthy bit of nerves her father had always said was necessary for any smart person to have. She had been the healthy bit of nervous when she had asked Kate if she could come and chaperone the dance.
That had been step one. They needed to get Kate away from Derek for an extended period of time, and know that she wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon. The dance was the perfect cover for that because it was going to last at least five hours, and as a chaperone she would need to be there longer.
Kate had readily agreed, and at the time Allison had been pleased with how smoothly everything was going, but now that it was the night of she wondered if there was something else to it. Maybe she had called in backup, but Danny had gotten her phone records and assured them that Kate had made no suspicious calls, or sent any odd texts. Maybe Kate was just happy that Allison was finally reaching out to her, seeming to heal from the trauma of being exposed to werewolves.
So Allison knew what healthy nerves felt like. The butterflies running rampant in her stomach were not those. They were full on panic and Allison was strong enough to admit it was almost entirely because of the alpha. She had been fine doing this until Stiles had said his alpha was going to get involved, because when it was just them there was minimal damage. They could slip in, Stiles and her, and get Derek out. No one would get hurt, because Scott would be driving them away by the time any of the hunters her aunt had watching Derek came back to consciousness. But with the alpha it added a whole new layer.
The layer where she was ninety-five percent sure there would be a body count and one of them would be the alpha at the hands of Derek.
“Chin up,” Lydia said, setting the brush down. “I need you to face me so I can finish putting on your makeup.”
Allison rolled her eyes as Lydia grabbed her chin and forced her to stay still so she could add gloss to her lips. “I do know how to apply makeup,” Allison muttered as she pulled her chin out of Lydia’s grasp after the gloss was applied.
Lydia hummed and handed her a Kleenex. “Blot.” Allison did as she was told, watching Lydia putter around and add a few more things to the bag. “Just because we are going into danger doesn’t mean we shouldn’t look our best.”
Allison couldn’t stop herself from laughing as Lydia tucked the taser Stiles had gotten for her into her purse. “Glad to know you haven’t lost sight of your priorities.”
Lydia gave a tight-lipped smile. “Can I borrow a shirt?” Allison looked over to her closet and Lydia sighed. “Not to wear. I want to make sure the beakers don’t crack inside the bag. I’m going to wrap them in cloth to cushion them.” Allison gestured to her chest of drawers and Lydia clapped her hands together in delight. “This is going to be so much fun.”
Allison let out another laugh. “I hope you’re talking about the dance.”
Lydia shot her a look. “Of course I’m talking about the dance. What else would I be talking about?”
Allison stood up to sit on the edge of her bed, smoothing the end of her knee length dress. “I don’t know, maybe the whole rescuing Derek part? You seem pretty,” Allison made a gesture towards the containers Lydia was wrapping in different shirts, “involved.”
“We’re all involved with this,” Lydia said simply. “And that’s not going to be fun. That’s saving a...” she paused, “friend.”
Allison watched Lydia’s face. “You were going to say pack mate, weren’t you?”
“It’s a silly word that I’m not used to yet,” Lydia quipped, tucking another cushioned container into Allison’s backpack. “But, yes. I was. Since he is going to be the alpha - my alpha,” she quickly corrected herself.
“You’re going to ask Derek for the bite?” Allison asked, honestly shocked. Lydia nodded. “Why?”
“I have my reasons,” Lydia said simply, but Allison needed to know more. “Derek needs three betas,” Lydia continued unprompted, and Allison knew this bit. It had been mentioned before. “He has Stiles, and me, and if all goes the way I want he’ll have Danny too.”
Danny, Allison wondered. “But, what about Jackson?” He was in the know now, and even though he and Stiles weren’t on good terms by any stretch, he had still not said a single word to anyone, and had come to each of the meetings without too much complaint.
“What about him?”
“Is he not going to ask for the bite?”
Lydia shrugged. “He can ask, but it won’t matter. Stiles won’t let him, and since Derek already has us he doesn’t need to give Jackson the bite. Jackson wouldn’t be a good addition anyway.”
Allison balked. “What do you mean he wouldn’t be a good addition? I thought you liked him?”
“Like has nothing to do with it.” Lydia looked at her with a fond expression. “This is about pack dynamics, and what’s best for us. Jackson can stay human, and it won’t upset the balance, but as a werewolf he’ll be too independent, too reckless. He’ll fight Derek’s leadership too much and since the territory is shared with a bunch of hunters we can’t have that. Not with a new alpha.” Lydia arched an eyebrow. “It’s not like I’m leaving him. I just take precedence over anything else, and what I want is for this pack to be successful.”
“You’ve thought about this a lot.”
Lydia nodded. “The pack is going to give me everything I want. I’ll finally be able to be myself.” She was looking at the backpack almost sadly. “Things like this? The chemistry? It will be appreciated because it’s a skill I have that the pack would need. But it won’t be all they’ll see me for. They’ll see me for my weaknesses, things I can’t do, and it will be okay. Do you know what Derek did after that night at the school? When we were out in the woods watching your shoot your bow? He asked me how the explosive was supposed to work and what went wrong so next time it wouldn’t. He was pissed, but he wanted me to get it right next time. He knew there was going to be a next time, and that I was going to get it right.”
Allison blinked, taken aback by Lydia’s thoughts. She’d known that Lydia kept things to herself, realized that after only a few weeks that the persona she presented at school was only a piece of her. And they had been getting closer since the night at the school, but Allison hadn’t thought they had reached the point where Lydia would actually tell her the truth.
“So you want it because you’ll be able to be yourself? And people will like you?” It took Lydia a moment but she nodded. “You don’t need to hide who you are to be liked.”
Lydia gave a sharp laugh, going back to wrapping containers. “Maybe where you come from, but not here. Trust me. I tried when I was little, but the worst people in the world are fourth grade girls, and apparently you aren’t allowed to like dissecting frogs and Mall Madness. So I picked. And it wasn’t a hard choice, either. And luckily mean children have shitty memories. All is forgotten at a birthday invite and a pretty new dress. So now I have another choice and guess what? That’s not hard either.” Lydia finished folding Allison’s pajama pants around the final container. “Now we just need to make sure no one but me or you holds this bag so it doesn’t explode and we’ll be golden.” She flashed a huge smile, any trace of tension from before gone and Allison didn’t know what else to say.
She couldn’t argue with Lydia’s choice; hell, a part of her was jealous it came so easily to her. Allison still had moments where she struggled to find where she fit in. She knew it was with the pack, and she thought she was happy as a human, but sometimes, like now, she thought it might be easier if she had the same power as Stiles. It would make breaking Derek out easier, definitely, because Stiles wouldn’t need to hold back. Hell, they probably wouldn’t even need Scott to drive them away because it would be three werewolves, and they could outrun any human.
Before Allison could say anything else Lydia’s phone pinged from a text and Lydia broke into a smile.
“Jackson’s outside. Scott’s in the car, too.”
Allison grinned worriedly as she grabbed her backpack and swung it over her shoulder. She knew she looked strange in a fancy dress and strappy heels with an overstuffed backpack over her shoulder. Lydia locked their arms together and led her out of the room.
Allison’s parents were downstairs in the living room, and they both looked up when the two of them came down the stairs. Kate had left almost an hour earlier, having to be at the school a half hour before the dance started to watch over anyone who showed up early.
“You girls look nice,” her father said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Allison felt Lydia beam next to her, but she focused on her dad. He arched an eyebrow at the backpack Allison had and she was glad she had already tucked her arrows in the back of Stiles’ Jeep. “What’s the backpack for?”
“I’m sleeping over Lydia’s after the dance, remember?” Allison looked down at Lydia who smiled widely at her dad.
“We’re gonna have so much fun. Thanks for letting us get ready here, Mr. A,” Lydia said with a huge smile as she pulled Allison out of the house towards the driveway where Jackson’s Porsche was idling.
Allison looked back at her dad, who was watching them with a strange expression on his face. She wondered for a moment if he knew, but then Lydia was pushing her in the backseat of the car next to Scott, and she couldn’t see her father’s face anymore.
Scott smiled eagerly at her as Allison tucked her backpack into the tight space of Jackson’s backseat. “You look… wow,” Scott breathed out and Allison couldn’t stop herself from smiling in return, even as her heart started to pound because this was happening. When they got to the dance the plan would be underway. Stiles would cause a diversion at some point and slip away. She would follow shortly after with Scott, while Danny, Jackson and Lydia kept an eye on Kate and made sure she didn’t notice anything weird.
“Jackson, give me the flask,” Lydia snapped from the front seat, and Allison looked up to see Lydia reaching into Jackson’s jacket pocket. “You are not getting trashed tonight.”
“Lydia, there is barely anything in there.”
“I don’t care,” Lydia said, rolling down the window and emptying the flask out as they came to a stoplight. She didn’t let any of Jackson’s protests stop her, but Allison noticed he wasn’t really trying. He just gripped the steering wheel and muttered under his breath until Lydia slipped her hand in his.
Scott’s hand crept around her shoulder and Allison tried to relax. Lydia was right. Even if they were going into danger it didn’t mean they shouldn’t enjoy themselves for the few moments they would be able to.
***
This was not how Jackson planned on spending a school dance. He was sober for starters, and that was just not acceptable. Who cared that they had some plan to save Derek. He wasn’t going out there. He was staying here the entire time, watching Allison’s aunt.
Who was hot, he had to admit. She didn’t even look that much like the serial wolf killer type. So it could have been worse. He could have been forced to watch someone who wasn’t as attractive.
A part of him wanted to go over and talk to her even, but then he remembered the file he had filched from Lydia’s bag, the one that detailed the Hale house fire and the people who had died. Children, most of whom were human according to Stiles. That stopped him from doing it, because no matter how much he fought the idea of helping Derek, of helping their stupid pack, he still had a heart.
Not that anyone seemed to believe him, if the way they intentionally left him out of their plans said anything. And it did. It spoke volumes about how he didn’t belong, and how he couldn’t help. He would help, he supposed, if he was asked. It’s why he was doing this, but he didn’t think it was fair that Scott was the one going with Stiles and Allison to break out Derek. He was stronger than Scott, faster too. Being injured didn’t change that.
He should have been going with them while Scott stayed behind, but he wasn’t important enough.
Even through all of this, though, all these thoughts rushing through his head, he never thought about going to Allison’s aunt with any intent of ruining their plans, and he knew Lydia was waiting for it. It stung that even she didn’t trust him, that she was keeping a hold of his hand and intentionally making sure they didn’t go anywhere near Allison’s aunt, even when Allison had to go and say hello when they got to the school.
It would probably be more bearable if he had Danny, who was probably the only one in their group who was willing to be truthful with him, followed very closely by Scott, but that seemed to be more out of nicety than anything else. But Danny wasn’t coming for a little while, and when he did get to the dance he had his own role to play that didn’t involve spending time with anyone but Stiles.
Lydia wanted people to notice Stiles being at the dance because it would give him an alibi if hunters started asking around after Derek got rescued. Allison and Scott’s alibi would be that they snuck off for private couple time, and he, Danny and Lydia would all stay at the dance. Jackson personally thought it was too elaborate, but no one wanted his opinion, so he kept it to himself. Just like he was keeping everything else to himself.
Maybe once they saved Derek life would go back to normal, and he, Lydia and Danny could go back to living a normal, freak-free life.
***
The dance was not going well. Stiles had gotten there almost an hour after it had started, he and Danny being some of the last people to stroll into the dance. Stiles could feel people looking at him, and he knew half the school thought Danny and he had broken up. He could hear the people he passed whispering, trying to figure out if they were back together, and he had to remind himself that it was part of the whole plan. So he let people stare at them as they came in late, awkwardly holding hands, trying to act uncomfortable with one another.
This had been the part Stiles had been worried about from the get-go, because Danny and he were getting better with each day that passed. They had even been able to hold an entire conversation on the car ride to the dance that wasn’t related to anything involving werewolves, or what they were going to deal with tonight. It was like having a good friend back, and Stiles was glad for that because above all else he had missed being Danny’s friend. The car ride had put him in a good mood, or as good a mood as he could be in with the knowledge that Derek was chained up.
Any sliver of that was destroyed when he caught the first scent of Kate. The feeling only intensified when he finally saw her, leaning against the bleachers with Finstock beside her, watching the students dance.
It took a lot of Stiles’ control not to leap across the room and bash Kate’s head into the floor as Danny led him to one of the tables on the edge of the dance floor. He had a death grip on Danny’s hand because he couldn’t do anything else. He couldn’t even stare at Kate too long because he wasn’t supposed to know who she was.
“Stiles,” Danny whispered. “Your eyes.” He blinked a few times, trying to pull the wolf back. Danny followed his gaze and squeezed his head. “Is that her?”
Stiles nodded. “I can smell Derek on her. It’s faint. Nothing I could pick up if I wasn’t looking for it, or wasn’t in the same room as her, but it’s there.”
Danny’s thumb swiped over the back of his hand. “Come dance with me,” he said all of a sudden, changing course and heading towards the dance floor instead.
Stiles let out a sigh, half for the upcoming show, and also because he really didn’t want to dance. He didn’t feel up to this plan. He just wanted to get out the dance as quickly as possible. He looked around for everyone else as Danny pulled him out onto the dance floor to the end of Born This Way. Allison and Scott were easy to find; they were the only couple slow dancing because apparently the concept of dancing to the pace of the song was lost on them. Jackson took a moment longer to locate, but he was at a table near the edge of the dance floor, looking completely disinterested in being there.
The song started to wind down to a soft guitar and Stiles found himself getting pulled into an awkward embrace as Lady Antebellum’s Need You Now came on. Danny snickered, and Stiles watched as he ducked his head so no one could see him starting to laugh.
“Oh god,” Danny muttered as he stepped closer to Stiles, body shaking from repressed laughter. “I was not expecting this at all.”
Stiles rested his hands on Danny’s shoulders, leaning his head back so he was looking at the ceiling. When he put his head back down he made sure to put his mouth near Danny’s ear so he could talk to him. “How much longer do I need to stay here?”
“Not much longer, I think,” Danny answered. “I’ll start the fight after this song, okay?”
Stiles nodded as Danny stepped closer to him. Stiles let out a breath. “Thanks. I just want to get him back, you know?”
“I know.” Stiles felt Danny tense up in his arms, and then take a deep breath. “I’m glad you two are… together.”
Stiles frowned. Of all the things he was expecting Danny to talk about as they faked being a couple, Derek was not on that list. Derek had been the thing they were purposefully avoiding. “What?”
Danny refused to look at him though, hiding his face in Stiles’ shoulder. “It made things a lot easier.” He pressed his lips against Stiles’ neck, but it didn’t do anything for Stiles. “Easier to make decisions, I mean. About what happens after all of this.” Stiles swallowed, not sure he liked where this was going. Danny continued talking, voice a steady whisper. “I thought for a while that maybe if I turned we could be together again, and then I realized how stupid that was. I’m not changing my life based off the whim of a guy I really liked.”
“Past tense. That’s rough,” Stiles said, because he felt like he needed to say something, anything to show he was listening.
Danny sighed, hot breath blowing against Stiles’ neck. “What I mean is… I still haven’t made a choice. I don’t know where I’ll be after this is all over. I know where some people stand, Lydia mostly, but I don’t know if the bite is what I want, for me, yet.”
Stiles squeezed Danny closer to him, wanting to assure him that Stiles would stand by him no matter what he chose, but all of a sudden Stiles was no longer holding Danny. He was on the floor on his ass and Danny looked pissed.
“What the fuck?!” Stiles demanded, and he wasn’t even exaggerating because it took him a moment to remember plan.
Everyone was staring at them as Danny started to talk, because of course Danny wouldn’t start off yelling right away, he was the type of person who needed to work up to full anger.
“Really, Stiles,” Danny was saying, “the whole threesome with Lydia joke is getting really fucking boring.”
If people weren’t paying attention before they were now.
“I don’t care how good she looks in a dress, because I’m not attracted to that kind of thing and you fucking know it. And it’s not like it’s ever going to happen anyway!” By the end of his sentence he was really starting to yell and Stiles had to admire the way Danny was working himself up. “Lydia’s too fucking good for you, and the only reason she’s even paying you any attention is because we’re together! The moment I leave you she’ll start ignoring you all over again.”
Stiles couldn’t stop his face from contorting at that comment, but he still couldn’t find any words to shout back at Danny.
Maybe it was for the best. This wasn’t supposed to be drawn out, just enough for people to remember.
“Well maybe you should!” Stiles finally shouted, interrupting whatever else Danny was saying. He scrambled to his feet, taking a few steps away from Danny so his escape would be quicker.
Danny looked taken aback for a moment and then he clenched his fists. “Maybe I am!”
“Good!” Stiles called, pushing his way through the crowd. “You sucked at sucking cock anyway!” He threw out the last retort just as he ducked through the last line of people, running out of the gymnasium before anyone could stop him.
He rushed to his Jeep, fumbling to get his key out so he could drive down the road to pick up Scott and Allison when they came out. He was unlocking his car when he smelled it. Peter. Stiles cursed, hesitating for a moment before he slammed his car door shut and relocked it, running towards Peter’s scent.
He was by the lacrosse field, Stiles could tell that much, but he didn’t know why. Peter had said he’d meet Stiles at the house, so what was he doing at the school? Stiles was pulling his phone out to text Scott that he was going to be a few minutes late when Lydia’s scent hit him.
Stiles froze.
His mind started racing, because he couldn’t understand why Lydia would be outside. He played the last few minutes he had spent inside the gymnasium over in his head, trying to remember if he had seen Lydia or not.
He thought he had, but he couldn’t remember clearly.
It didn’t matter, because Lydia was outside, and Peter was outside, and their scents were mixing.
She started screaming just as Stiles started running again, screaming her name.
He made it to the lacrosse field just in time to see Peter’s face shift back to human, standing up to leave Lydia’s side.
“No!” He yelled, skidding onto the grass. “What did you do?!” He demanded, one hand cradling her head in his lap as the other went to the bite. She was already unconscious, and the only thing that was vaguely reassuring was the fact that he could hear her heartbeat and breathing.
“You said you needed a distraction to get away, and she just happened to be walking around unaccompanied.” Peter smiled, wiping his mouth the back of his hand.
Stiles had to look away because that was Lydia’s blood he was smearing over his lips. His mind was racing, trying to figure out why Lydia would leave the gym. She was supposed to be keeping an eye on Kate, so unless Kate had left…
Stiles cursed, and then glared at Peter. “We had one.”
Peter didn’t even look guilty. “It seems you might have left that little detail out when you were telling me your plans.” He let out a sigh when Stiles didn’t answer. “Oh, don’t be so melodramatic. I had every intention of letting someone find her. Would have ruined the point of her being a distraction if I didn’t.”
Stiles set his lips in a thin line. “So you’ll let me take her back to the school?”
“Now wouldn’t that just get you noticed? However will you slip away from the hunters then? They’d notice you’re missing for sure.” Peter was mocking him, but Stiles didn’t care. His mind was already trying to figure out how to get Lydia to the hospital. She wasn’t reacting the proper way to the bite, and that terrified him because if the bite didn’t turn you you died, and no. Lydia was not allowed to die.
“Fuck them finding out,” Stiles grit out, and he could feel Peter’s pleasure washing over him.
“That’s the spirit. We have no reason to hide from those silly hunters. Not when we’re just going to kill them soon anyway.” Stiles felt Peter’s hand on his shoulder as he adjusted Lydia in his lap, getting ready to stand up. His phone started buzzing in his pants pocket, and Peter let out a soft chuckle. “You should probably answer that. Might be one of your humans.”
Stiles shifted Lydia in his lap, answering Scott’s phone call with a clipped, “I’m coming back to the school.”
“What’s wrong?” Scott asked, obviously picking up on the tension in Stiles’ voice. “We’re grabbing Allison’s bag from Jackson’s car.”
“Peter’s here,” Stiles said, standing up with Lydia cradled in one arm. It felt awkward, but werewolf strength made it possible. “He bit Lydia.”
There was a moment of silence, and then Scott spoke softly. “That’s good? Right? You wanted her as-“
“Her body’s rejecting the bite, Scott. She needs a hospital!” Stiles yelled before he hung up the phone, walking as quickly as he could. He refused to say what happened when the body rejected the bite out loud, because maybe if he didn’t nothing bad would happen.
He was at the edge of the parking lot when Allison, Scott, Danny and Jackson came running towards him. Allison reached him first, letting out a gasp when she saw the blood covering Lydia’s dress.
“What happened?” Jackson demanded, reaching to take Lydia from Stiles. “What happened to her, Stilinski?” Stiles could see he was struggling with himself, trying to take Lydia and shove Stiles at the same time.
“Someone needs to call 9-1-1,” Stiles said, ignoring Jackson. He did not have time for Jackson’s shit.
“Was it the alpha?” Danny asked as he pushed Jackson to the side, taking Lydia. His eyes locked on the bite and he winced. “Stupid question. Better one, she’s rejecting the bite?”
Stiles nodded dumbly. “I don’t know… Peter just came at her. But I need to get out of here.”
“Why was Lydia even outside?” Allison asked as Scott stepped away to call 9-1-1.
“Kate,” Stiles growled. “It’s the only reason she would have left.”
Jackson’s head snapped up, eyes wide. “She’d left the gymnasium, and Lydia went to follow her. Wanted to make sure she didn’t leave. She said she’d call if she did.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Stiles said. “I need to go. You guys wait here. Peter and I will handle this.” He looked at the four of them, hoping they would listen to him. He was getting a bad feeling about how this night was going to turn out, and he didn’t need to have any of them there if it turned bloody. “I’ll meet you all in the hospital in a few hours, with Derek.”
As Stiles ran off he heard the ambulance screaming in the distance.
***
It took Allison barely a second to make up her mind after Stiles had run off.
“I’m going after him,” she announced, turning to go back to Jackson’s car to get her backpack.
“I’m coming with you,” Scott said, voice shaking, but his face was determined.
“Me too,” Danny and Jackson said at the same time, and Allison looked at them as they began to argue.
“You need to stay with Lydia,” Danny said.
“Fuck that, you guys are not leaving me,” Jackson retorted.
Before the argument could get any further Allison put her hand in between them. “Guys! We don’t have time for this. Danny, you’re coming with us. Jackson, you’re going to the hospital. You’re Lydia’s date. If you disappear you’ll be suspect number one.” She glared at him. “Whatever you do, do not tell Stiles’ dad anything. Mention nothing about werewolves. Do nothing that will have the police coming after us. They’ll just get caught in the crossfire.”
Jackson opened his mouth to argue but Danny stopped him with a look. He bit back whatever he was going to say, and instead said, “fine.”
“Good.” Allison could hear the ambulance coming now, and it would no doubt bring people out into the parking lot. They needed to get out of there now. “We’re taking Stiles’ Jeep. Danny, go get my bag, it’s in Jackson’s car. Be careful! We packed explosives in there!”
“On it,” Danny said, running off as Allison and Scott ran to Stiles’ Jeep.
“I can’t drive his Jeep, Allison. It’s a stick,” Scott said as he handed Allison the spare key he had in his wallet.
“It’s fine. I can.” She did a quick check that her bow and arrows were still in the backseat as she climbed into the driver’s seat. She kicked off her shoes, because driving barefoot was better than in heels, and she started the car just as Danny pulled Scott out of the passenger seat to climb into the back. Scott squeaked and looked vaguely offended as he had to wait for Danny to get into the back before he could get back in his seat.
Allison barely paid them any attention, cataloguing all the things she needed to do before they could go in to rescue Derek. She would need to change once they got to the woods, but for now Allison needed to worry about getting out of the parking lot before the ambulance showed up.
She backed out, and the car screeched just a little as she pulled away, grinding the gears as she tried to get a feel for the car. It didn’t take more than a minute, and by the time they were on the main road all the lessons her dad had given her were coming back.
Danny was pulling out the Molotov cocktail containers, taking inventory with Scott, and Allison tried to remember when this had started to feel normal.
***
Chris didn’t know why he was parked on the other side of the school waiting for Kate. He had just gotten a text from Kate telling him to pick her up. He was about to text her back and remind her that she was no longer a stupid sixteen year old who needed him to pick her up from the gun range she had been at instead of school when she tapped on the passenger side window. He gestured for her to get in, and her face lit up.
“How was the dance?” Chris asked as she got in.
“Good. The alpha showed up. I saw him attack a girl.” Chris stared at her and she gave him a look. “Oh, don’t give me that. I’m unarmed so I couldn’t exactly kill him. And I was downwind so he didn’t know I was there.”
“Is the girl alright?” Chris asked as he watched Kate reach back and pull out the shotgun he had packed under the seat. “Kate! Do you think he’s going after anyone else?”
Kate shrugged. “Don’t know. I didn’t plan on him showing up.” She smiled at him. “I bet I know where he’s going though.” She nodded to the steering wheel. “Drive, big brother.”
Chris wanted to argue, but adrenaline was rushing through his veins at the thought of the alpha hurting someone. If Kate knew where he was going then Chris needed to get them there because they needed to stop the alpha. “Where?”
Kate grinned, loading her gun. “He’s gonna be going to Derek. And I bet he’ll be taking whatever beta he bit with him."
Chapter 11