Nothing is Thicker Than Blood - Appetite For Destruction Sequel

La Loba

"Is there anything else I can get you?" The blonde haired waitress asked with a cheery smile as she placed two cups of coffee on the table in front of us.

"No, we're good, thanks." I said, and she turned away and moved over to the next booth where a young couple were sat. They were seated across from each other, mirroring how Jackson and I were sat - except they were sharing a milkshake and chatting to each other while Jackson was fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt to avoid looking at me and I was sat back in my seat with my arms folded.

Jackson looked different. It wasn't a physical change; his hair was still styled in the same way and his clothes were still expensive, but he had changed. This Jackson wasn't the teenage boy who wanted to be the captain of the lacrosse team and become a werewolf so he would be superior. This Jackson was the teenage boy who had been forced to commit atrocities and welcomed death with open arms because it was the only way to stop him.

"You came back." I pointed out because I couldn't think of anything else to day. He was looking down at the steam rising from his coffee instead of me.

"I wasn't going to," he admitted. "I was... keeping tabs on everyone, you know? Reading the news and everything. Things got pretty crazy after I left, huh?"

I snorted despite myself. "That's an understatement." The Alpha pack, the Darach, twelve ritualistic sacrifices and two dead on both sides. Crazy didn't even begin to describe it.

Jackson looked uncomfortable, like he didn't know how to phrase his next question. "Erica and Boyd," he began, and I winced. "The news reports say they're missing."

"Dead." I told him, and Jackson's gaze dropped again. They were still 'missing' because no one but those involved knew about the hidden graves in the woods, the police still searching for two kids they'd never find. I swallowed past the lump in my throat. "Why did you come back?"

Jackson looked relieved at the change of subject. "I heard about the abductions. McCall, Stilinksi, and Allison's parents?" He prompted at my confusion, and it clicked. The Guardians. It had happened when I was in the midst of a painful death, and I hadn't been involved in the whole thing until Stiles and I found them.

"So you came back to help?"

He nodded. "People were dropping like flies and the three people who could stop it were too busy trying to find their parents." He said. "By the time I got here everything was back to normal." He paused there, like he was unwilling to share the next part with me.

"So you tried to come back to Derek." I guessed, and Jackson's cheeks coloured slightly.

"Yeah," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "The house was demolished and the depot was under construction. I went to McCall's and overheard him telling Lydia you'd left town, that you had a place in New York and you'd probably go there."

"And you decided to walk around the city until something came up?" He nodded, and I had to give credit where credit was due. Catching a scent somewhere as big as New York when you didn't even know where to start looking was almost impossible.

Jackson was more desperate than I thought.

And I knew how he felt. I remembered being alone, the long stretch of years after the fire, and then Laura's death. Not having a pack was crippling, but I'd always had Derek. Jackson had no one.

"So what the hell happened?" He asked. "With all the murders and everything?"

God, how did I even begin to explain the insanity of what had happened after Jackson left? Evil Druids, a pack of Alphas, sacrifices, banshees... Where the hell do you even start? "It's a long story."