Heavenly. Teen Wolf (s.s)

xxxi. looking before leaping

Erica huffed, getting frustrated. "Look, that doesn't matter, okay? There's another pack out there. There's got to be. We've made up our minds."

"We lost, Derek," Boyd stated. "It's over. We're leaving."

"No, you're running," Derek snapped, getting angry like he always did to cover up the hurt. "And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running."

Even though Derek tried to convince them to stay, his pack mates wanted to leave. Gracie pressed her lips together as Erica glared at them, grabbing Boyd's hand and dragging him out of the Hale girl's old family home.

Derek turned back to the table, resting his hands on the warped wood, as his pale-green eyes flickered over to Gracie.

She was distracted, her wide eyes on the spot where Boyd and Erica had previously stood as a look of shock took over her expression. When he inhaled, he knew why. He grabbed a sharp piece of glass that was resting on the table in front of him and spun around, whipping it at the intruder.

The intruder had caught the glass just as the point hit the skin of his throat, his face coming out of the shadows and Gracie's stiffened at the sight.

Peter...

"I expected a slightly warmer welcome," he stated, lowering the glass. "But point taken."

Gracie narrowed her eyes at her uncle. She couldn't believe that he was standing right there in front of them. He wasn't supposed to be alive. He wasn't supposed to be able to hurt anyone ever again.

To say it had been a shock to find out that Peter had come back from the dead would've been an understatement. When Derek had told her what happened after the showdown at the police station, she didn't really sleep that well, knowing if she closed her eyes that nightmares would come back.

Peter had gotten into Lydia's head and manipulated her. It was him, playing her mind from his grave underneath the floorboard. He got her to do some weird ritual that included drugging Derek with wolfsbane and using mirrors and moonlight –– and honestly, it was hard for her to comprehend.

Gracie was a smart girl and she believed in science, but how did that explain Peter coming back to life from some alpha blood and light from a full moon. Granted, the existence of werewolves was hard to comprehend, too.

"What are you doing here?" She asked sharply, and Peter grinned at his niece.

"Hello to you, too, darling. It's great to see you, too," he gave his attention to his nephew. "Quite the situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a month or so and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town."

Derek narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you want?"

"Well, I want to help," Peter stated like it was the most obvious thing in the word. "You guys are family, my niece and nephew. The only relatives that I have left. There's still a lot that I can teach you. Can we just talk?"

Peter finished his statement by placing a hand on Derek's shoulder. Derek stared at it in disgust while Gracie raised her eyebrows. This was going to end in a fight, she was betting on it.

"Sure," Derek agreed way too happily. "Let's talk."

He swatted away Peter's hand and pushed him, sending him flying into the stair case.

"Good talk," Gracie hummed as she stood from her seat. "I'm gonna leave before it gets any worse."

With that, she left the house, leaving the two of them to fight as she got in her car and left.