Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 45 - The Healer

Fifteen seconds. That's all it took for the quiet, burnt down house to once again turn into a death trap for everyone around it. Fifteen seconds that Jackson spent with his eyes closed, wondering about himself and how he came to end up there, alone with what he could only describe as a beast. In any other case, these few moments wouldn't have mattered. But in a war zone, every instant can mean life or death.

In this aspect, Jackson was incredibly lucky. When the Argent family launched the attack, he miraculously remained unscathed and slipped away, swearing to himself never to come anywhere close to the haunted place again. The teen rushed out of the woods, his legs bringing him only a few feet away from someone who wasn't as lucky as the young Lacrosse captain. Or rather, 'co-captain', as that someone would surely have pointed out.

Scott wasn't aware of how close Jackson was at this moment, in fact, he had no idea his classmate was anywhere near the Hale house. He was only there because he had heard Derek suddenly howling in distress. He didn't come to save Jackson, and neither did anyone who, one way or the other, participated in the attack. Whether they were here to save Derek's life or end it, none of them cared about Jackson Whittemore -- most didn't even know he existed. What they did care about was the conflict that raged on between hunters and werewolves and how it always seemed to bring them back to the same cursed place, right in the middle of the Hale territory.

Scott hadn't been part of this deadly game long enough to grasp how central to Beacon Hills' hidden history the Hale house was, and as he lay on the ground, grasping his shoulder and panting, struggling to keep his mouth shut despite the pain, the story of this house and its previous occupants was about last on the very long list of his concerns.

The same could be said about Derek, who had forgotten all about Jackson and how he had intended to kill him that night. His most primal instincts were screaming that something was wrong with his fellow beta, and he just had to do something about it. He needed to check on Scott, because he knew that if he waited just a second longer, it would be too late.

"Scott!" he yelled, giving away his position to the hunters. "Scott, run!"

Derek knew he was probably sealing his own fate, but what he felt could not be stopped. He needed to protect the younger wolf, not because he wanted to, but because it was how a pack worked. And that's what they were, a pack. The shout that left Derek's throat was powerful enough to reach Scott and give him the ounce of energy he needed to get back on his feet and run.

His feet were hitting the ground, shaking his knees and his back, making the cuts and bruises that he had sustained hurt even more with each step, but he didn't stop. He could feel the exact spots where the bullets had hit him and that's how he knew something was deeply wrong. His injuries should have healed by now, his skin should have been as good as new and the burning feeling of the bullets digging into his flesh should have been nothing but a bad memory. Instead, the pain was getting more intense, to the point it became unbearable. Unable to resist it any longer, Scott's legs gave out and he collapsed.

As made obvious by the unnatural way his limbs were spread out around him, Scott's fall was not a graceful one. He had managed to get quite far from the Hale house, but not far enough to exit the Preserve, although he was close to the edge of the woods. He had paid no attention to his surroundings while he ran, so there was no explaining why he picked the path that led him closer to the small, familiar building his rescuer owned.

Said rescuer was alerted by loud noises coming from the woods and, out of curiosity, decided to leave the comfort of his desk to investigate the source of the disturbance. What he saw would have left anyone else petrified in place, while the man simply frowned and came to help the bloodied teenager that collapsed in front of him. It was only when he gently put the teenager on his back that he realized it was someone he knew.