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A lot has happened. Scott's mom isn't talking to him anymore - avoiding him, actually. Stiles' dad is the sheriff again - which is actually a good thing.
I've been going around town when I'm not busy hiding with the pack. We're sometimes allowed to leave, Derek has been protective ever since that night. What I'm looking for... I'm not entirely sure. Well, I know what I'm looking for - but not why. I've been trying to find my father, but I guess you don't find Peter Hale unless he wants you to.
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Derek is furiously looking through a few books, but he can't find what he's looking for. I look up when I see Boyd and Erica walk into the old Hale house.
What's the point of hiding here if every hunter knows this is where we lived?
"You decided." Derek says and turns around. "When?"
"Tonight." Erica tells him. "Everyone's gonna be at the game. And we figured it was the best time." Boyd adds.
Wait... they're planning on leaving...
"It's not like we want to." Erica says.
"What do you want?" Derek asks them.
"Since I just turned 16 a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license. I can't do that if I'm dead, you know."
"Guys, when you took the bite... You knew stuff like this was gonna happen." I say softly.
"You didn't say it would be like this." Boyd says, to both me and Derek.
"Yeah, but I told you how to survive. You do it as a pack." Derek tells them, he doesn't look happy about losing two of his betas. "And you're not a pack without an Alpha."
"We know." Boyd answers. Derek turns back around and I tilt my head, slightly confused. Boyd looks away.
"You wanna look for another pack? How are you even gonna find one?"
"We think we already did." Boyd answers and looks at Erica, who nods. "Like all of a sudden we heard all this howling. It was unbelievable."
"There must have been a dozen of them."
"Maybe more."
"Yeah, or maybe only two. You know what the beau geste effect is? If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone, 2 wolves can sound like 20." Derek tells them and I get up from where I was sitting. I stand behind him, crossing my eyes and look at the two betas.
"Look, that doesn't matter, okay? There's another pack out there. There's got to be. We've made up our minds."
"No. No, you're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running." Derek tells them. Erica grabs Boyd's hand and they walk away. I sigh and sit back down, great.
I suddenly sense someone getting in, Derek - being the Alpha - did it a little faster and throws a piece of glass behind him. I turn around and see my father, holding the glass, not even looking surprised.
"I expected a slightly warmer welcome. But point taken" He says and I get up. Derek pushes me behind him.
"It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for only a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town." My dad says to him.
"What do you want." Derek growls at him.
"Well, I want to help. You're my nephew..." He turns to my, "My daughter... The only relatives that I have left. You know, there's still a lot that I can teach both of you." He walks closer to us, and Derek pushes me even further away from him.
"Can we just talk?" He places his hand on Derek's shoulder.
Ooh, wrong move.
Derek looks at it, "Sure. Let's talk."Next thing I know, my dad crashes against the stairs of our old house.
I roll my eyes as they keep fighting, but I don't stop them either. Derek is winning, and honestly? My father deserves it.
"You don't actually think that I want to be the Alpha again, do you?" My father coughs. "That wasn't my finest performance, considering it ended in my death. I mean, I'm usually more -- Okay, go ahead! Come on, do it. Hit me, hit me." He yells when Derek grabs him by the collar of his shirt.
"I can see that it's cathartic for you. You're letting go of all the anger, self-loathing, and hatred that comes with total and complete failure. I may be the one taking the beating, Derek, but you've already been beaten. So, go ahead. Hit me if it would make you feel better"
"Don't listen to him, Derek." I say to him, "Well, yeah, hit him, but don't let him get into your head. Not again."
My dad laughs - then coughs, and looks at Derek. "After all, I did say that I wanted to help."
Derek lets him go, "You can't help me." He walks away, but not before grabbing my arm and pulling me with him. I look over my shoulder one last time, my dad's laying there and smirks at me. Derek pulls harder on my arm and I look back in front of me.
It doesn't take long before my dad finds us in another room, and Derek gives me a look. That look that parents give you when they say 'go to your room'. So I sigh and get out of the room, instead I go upstairs to my old one.
It's still burned down and almost empty - why wouldn't it be.
I wish I could be at the game tonight, I haven't seen Stiles since that night and it's making me nervous.
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A/N: There was a time I only wrote 400 words in a chapter, and now I think 900/1000 is a short chapter... Anyway, sorry for the short chapter, next chapter is the last one in this book.
