NOEL WHITTEMORE

S3E11 "ALPHA PACT"

"I'm here by choice," Noel corrects Isaac, who rounds on him and asks "Would you be if he hadn't put it in your head that you need to keep Cora alive? Would you be here if Scott or Stiles had asked you to go with them?"

Noel doesn't have an answer to that, but Derek doesn't appear angry as Isaac goes back to berating him. "Do you get how many people [Jennifer]'s killed? Erica and Boyd are dead, Cora is dying, and you are doing nothing!"

Derek doesn't respond, and Isaac asks "Why'd you do this to us, Derek? Is it all about the power? Were you bored? ...Were you lonely?"

Isaac takes a few steps closer when he says the last one as Noel watches nervously, and Derek indulges him with a quiet "Maybe."

Isaac is almost surprised by the response, glancing sideways at Noel and saying "You didn't have to be."

He then stands and walks away, Derek telling Isaac that he promised Cora he wouldn't leave. He says he'll go and help the others when he figures out how to help Cora, but Isaac yells at him that there's no time as he leaves.

As a parting, he spits out "The full moon is coming. The sheriff and Melissa are gonna be dead, so I'm gonna try and help them. You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing."

With that he's gone, slamming the sliding door to the loft as he goes. Derek and Noel (and Peter, where he sits on the stairs) stay silent for a moment, before Peter tells Derek that he wouldn't take it personally, because anger is just a tool that Isaac is using to excuse his shift in allegiance from Derek to Scott.

Derek says that Scott isn't an alpha ("Not yet" Peter corrects him) before he mumbles to Noel "Go with him. You can help find Melissa and Stilinski."

Noel sits perfectly still and says "I promised her that I wouldn't leave. So I won't."

He and Derek make eye contact and the scene cuts out to the Argents' apartment.

—

After we see Allison, Chris, and Stiles teaming up to get Jennifer and making plans to bring Lydia along, we see Cora struggling to breathe. Derek takes hold of her arm and takes her pain, as Noel paces slowly in the background. Derek saps enough pain to even out Cora's breathing, Peter warning him to be careful. Derek pulls his arm away from Cora, Noel walking over and saying "If she can't breathe again, I'll take it."

"I can't ask you to do that," Derek denies, but Noel says adamantly "I can't ask you to keep doing it. I'll be fine, I promise."

"You don't know what happens if you take too much," Derek says back sternly, Noel's eyebrows threading together. Derek elaborates, informing him "Taking too much can kill you. Easily. And you don't know how much too much is, so let me handle it. Please."

Noel seems surprised by Derek's pleading, but he isn't convinced, taking hold of Cora's hand to show that he's ready and willing to take away her pain should the need arise, despite the consequences.

"I didn't exactly mean that taking too much would kill him," Peter tells them, and the scene cuts out on a shot of Derek's look of confusion at what Peter had been trying to say.

—

"I've heard it's only something an alpha can do," Peter says after the scene where Isaac teams up with the Argents and Stiles. "And with good reason."