Appetite for Destruction

"Seat belt." Laura reminded me when I climbed into the back of Derek's car, and I obediently clipped the belt around me as Derek turned on the engine. The Camaro growled like a wild animal as it sped down the dirt road leading into town.

"So," Laura dragged the word out, a mischievous glint in her eyes when she turned towards Derek. "Who's the girl?"

Derek visibly bristled and the look on Laura's face told me this was exactly the reaction she'd been looking for - there was nothing Laura Hale enjoyed more than antagonizing her younger siblings. As the eldest child she was the one who would inherit Mom's Alpha status and was being trained to eventually succeed her. I didn't envy her, not when Talia Hale's influence spread far beyond Beacon Hills.

"Come on, Derek." Laura's voice had slipped into that whiny pitch that never failed to get under Derek's skin. "Her scent's all over the car!"

Derek didn't look away from the road but his hands did tighten on the wheel. At sixteen Derek already towered over most of his peers, once one of the school's star basketball players until his sophomore year, when his personality had turned from happy and content to aggressive and self-loathing. No one, not even Mom, told me exactly what had happened to change him so drastically, but no one had to.

His eyes, once gold, now glowed a brilliant blue. The blue I'd only ever heard about in whispers. They weren't cold or frightening like I'd been taught to believe, but everyone knew what they represented and when his eyes had changed, Derek did too.

"Leave it." Derek bit out, the ghost of a growl resonating in his chest. Anyone else would have backed off at that point. Not Laura.

"Why so shy, baby brother?" She goaded, going so far as to lean over and sniff him. "You've seen her today! Derek has a girlfriend!"

I didn't miss the way Derek shoulders stiffened at the word and, judging by the way Laura's smirk twisted into a frown, she hadn't either. "Sorry, Der." Derek nodded, but his hands remained clenched tight around the steering wheel the entire drive to the school.

When we reached the school I kept my hand fisted in Derek's jacket as we followed the crowd towards the stands at the edge of the Lacrosse field. The January air was chilly and I could see my breath, the sky above steadily turning from dark blue to ink blank in spite of the early hour.

The moon was shining bright and silver above us, two days until it was full. The January full moon, the Wolf Moon, was always celebrated at our house with all fourteen members of the family staying with us for the week of the full moon. The house was pretty crowded right now, and I suspected that Derek and Laura were going to the Lacrosse game just to get away from the chaos.

"Is she pretty?" Laura asked as we climbed into an available seat, Derek pulling me to sit between the two of them as a barrier. Laura's voice was lighter than before, more teasing now than antagonizing.

"Don't you ever give up?" Derek sighed, but there was no heat to the words. "I don't know why you're trying to piss me off -"

Laura's hands clamped over my ears. "Derek! Young ears!"

I shoved her hands away, turning my attention to the field as the players took their positions. I had no idea what the rules were or even what team I was supposed to be rooting for; Derek and Laura had planned this outing and Mom had insisted they take me along with them - though I suspected it was only to keep me from running around in the woods alone.

Twenty minutes into the game and both teams had scored once. I'd decided to support the team in yellow uniforms because I liked the colour while Derek and Laura cheered when the red team scored. They were taking bets on which player would score, the stakes raising from five, to ten, to twenty dollars as they tried to one-up each other.

I was listening to them argue about number eleven's ability to score a goal when a howl split the night. It was a weak excuse for a howl, unheard by the humans around us, broken and practically begging for help.

"Mom..." Laura breathed.

Derek was already on his feet, grabbing my arm and pulling me along behind him while Laura climbed over the bleachers in her haste to reach the stairs. As soon as we broke free of the crowd we were running, abandoning the car because it was faster to cut through the preserve.

Fear pooled low in my chest, vision swimming as I ran and the only reason I remained on track was because Derek and Laura were running in front of me to guide the way. A few times I tripped on the messy underbrush, knees and palms torn up from the ground but they already healed by the time I was up and running again. The trees and bushes passed by in a blur of colours, cold air like ice in my throat as I forced myself to run faster.

We were less than a mile away when I caught a scent that was easily identifiable as smoke - and I hoped only Mom had howled because it was instinct and not because the others couldn't.

When we broke the tree line I nearly fell to my knees at the nightmare we'd run straight into. Bright orange flames engulfed our house, basking everything in an angry glow and I felt the fear within me manifest to pure agony when I realized none of our family were outside.

For the first time in my life I wished not to be a werewolf because enhanced senses were anything but a blessing right now. The smell of smoke was choking me, stuck in my nose and the back of my throat where I doubted it would vanish.

And then there were the screams.

I could hear them loud and clear, agonized and desperate and when I tore my eyes from the flames I saw where the sound was coming from; hands, burned and blackened, were reaching through the bars of the cellar. The cellar that was reinforced and infused with Mountain Ash so the inexperienced Betas couldn't escape during the full moon.

"No!" Laura screamed, and ran straight at the house. Derek froze for a moment before he was running too, aiming for Laura because we couldn't lose her too, but before he could reach her she was thrown back off her feet, hitting the ground hard enough to wind her for a second.

Mountain Ash, placed in a wide circle surrounding the entire house. None of us could cross it - nobody was meant to survive. This was intentional.

The ringing in my ears was bliss compared to the fading screams. I could smell the fear and horror, the despair and the death. They were dying in front of us and there was nothing we could do about it. 

I watched Derek pace along the barrier, his fists clenched and fangs bared as he snarled, fear and pain and anger all rolled into one. I watched Laura become the new Alpha, eyes glowing bright crimson as she let out an anguished howl - she was too young, hadn't finished her training, but the title had been thrust onto her regardless.

And above us in the black smoke, I watched my life disintergrate.