Appetite for Destruction

All The Ashes In My Wake

The loft looked like ground point zero for an explosion.

Everything was strewn around the room like a tornado had hit, broken glass covering the floor from where the skylight had shattered - though half of the glass had been embedded gruesomely in Kali's body which had been removed by the twins and presumably buried in the woods with the rest of the casualties of this fight.

It was well and truly the end. Kali was dead, Jennifer was dead, and the Alpha pack were no longer a threat now Deucalion had fled. It was an unexpected victory, surviving the war we'd been fighting these past few months. 

I picked up the bag that held what was left of my possessions and took one last look at what had been my home, the place that used to be a sanctuary. I didn't know if or when we'd return here, but for now being in the building only served as a reminder of what we'd lost. 

When we pulled up outside of Scott's house we found him waiting for us in the yard. Scott, who had risen to a True Alpha, someone who became an Alpha solely by the strength of their character instead of taking the power from someone else. Scott McCall, the boy who would do anything and everything to save someone's life, who was never interested in power and only cared about doing what he thought was right, who was an Alpha now. I couldn't think of anyone more deserving of the title than him.

"You're really leaving?" Scott asked when we stepped out of the car. His eyes were brown and human, but I didn't need to see the red eyes to know that he was an Alpha now. There was an aura of power around him now, something tangible that called out to everyone to defer to him.

"For now," Derek said, and he sounded exhausted. "We'll be back, but... we need to get out of this town, just for a while."

Scott nodded. "I get it." He said, and I could see the tiredness in his eyes. I understood. I was tired too. "We won. Now we all deserve a little rest."

"It's not a victory," Derek said, glancing at me. "Not for us."

I knew that Derek was talking about Erica and Boyd; about the hidden graves in the woods and the empty school desks, the scars that no one could be blamed for because it was kind of everyone's fault. This war had taken so much from us that it couldn't even be considered a victory.

"I'm sorry." Scott said, catching the meaning behind Derek's words. 

"So am I." Derek reached out and clasped Scott's shoulder. "Look after Isaac. If anything happens to him I'll kill you."

Scott nodded earnestly, even though the threat was empty. "I will, I promise."

Derek almost smiled before turning his back and walking away. I looked over Scott's shoulder at Isaac, who was standing in the doorway, and made my way over to him. When I wasn't looking, Scott and Isaac had become a pack of their own, and though I was a little sad that Isaac wasn't with us anymore I couldn't say I wasn't relieved that he'd found a place at Scott's side.

Derek hadn't been a good role model for the teenagers; he'd tried, but under his guidance Isaac had been mean and Erica had been vicious - not that you could blame them; between Erica's crippling epilepsy and Isaac's abusive father both of them had a shit ton of repressed anger and frustration to let out. Derek had encouraged that behaviour, but Scott showed Isaac a different way of doing things and...

If Isaac was happier here, I wasn't going to be upset about it. 

"Are you sure you have to go?" He asked, and I nodded. 

"This place, it's like a graveyard. We need some time." I told him. We had to leave, and I couldn't ask Isaac to come with us. Derek wasn't an Alpha anymore, but the two of us were still a pack. We'd come to Beacon Hills as a pack of two, and that's how we were leaving. 

I turned and headed to the car when I remembered something. "Keep an eye on Stiles for me, will you?" I asked. "He's human and breakable."

Isaac gave me a small smile. "Yeah, I will."

I returned the smile and got into the Camaro without looking back. We'd see them again, but for now I didn't want them to see how much leaving was killing me. We pulled away from Scott's house and I watched the two figures on the lawn grow smaller and smaller in the wing mirror, the purr of the car's engine as familiar and welcoming as Derek's presence.

I hoped that leaving would bring the relief I'd been counting on the end of this battle bringing me, because even though we'd survived there was no weight lifted off my shoulders and the pit in my stomach had become cavernous. Because even though Kali had met her end, Erica and Boyd were still dead - buried in the woods while their parents wondered where they'd gone, would forever be waiting for their children to come home. All Kali's death had brought was the taste of ash in my mouth. 

I supposed that was what happened when the rage burned out. I was left with ashes.

I was always left with ashes.