Tormented ☾ TEEN WOLF {3}

Open Wound

"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott says into his phone as we enter the Hale house. Derek and I go straight to the living room, and Derek lays Isaac down on the couch. "Alright, then meet me at Derek's... just meet us here, okay?"

Derek goes over a hole in the ground, looking for something. I sit by Isaac, holding his hand.

"You don't still live here, do you?" Scott asks after hanging up his phone.

"No," Derek says. "The county took it over, but there's something here that I need. It'll help heal a wound from an Alpha."

"Yeah, but it did heal." Scott said looking over to Isaac.

"Not on the inside." Derek shook his head.

"Hey, are you gonna tell me who that was back there?" Scott asks him. "That Alpha?"

"A rival pack." Derek answers reluctantly. "It's my problem. I know you wanna help, and you did. I owe you one. Now go home. Go back to being a teenager."

Scott turns, and is about to leave, but stops.

"Uh, hey, Derek. If you wanna repay back that favor now... there is something you can do for me.

Derek gave Isaac some herbs that would help heal him more quickly, then Scott asked Derek to give him a tattoo. I tried to ignore him, and stayed close to Isaac, waiting for him to wake and tell us what happened.

"Yeah, I see it." Derek says looking at Scott's arm with his red eyes. "It's two bands, right? What does it mean?"

"I don't know..." Scott shrugs. "It's just something I traced with my fingers."

"Why is this so important to you?" Derek asked him.

"Do you know what the word tattoo means?" Scott asked him. "In Samoan, it means 'Open Wound'. I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned eighteen. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."

"For what?" Derek asked.

"For not calling or texting Allison all summer." Scott says.

My eyes flicker up, and look over to him. He didn't talk to her all summer? I remember Stiles telling me they broke up after that night, but.... I just figured, he was so in love with her. He wouldn't stop till they were together. Especially after almost getting Derek killed.

"Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes..." Scott says. "I was trying to give her the space she wants. Going on, three months later, it still hurts..."

Scott's eyes darted over to me for a second, and I quickly looked away. He wasn't talking about me? Was he? No, that's stupid. He's talking about Allison.

"It still feels like a uh..." Scott trails off.

"Like an open wound." Stiles nods.

"Yeah..." Scott says.

"Pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt." Derek warned him.

"Ah, that's great..." Stiles says.

"Do it." Scott tells him. A steady hiss comes from the blowtorch and Derek swiftly lights it on fire.

"Oh, wow." Stiles says. "That's a- that's a lot for me. So I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside."

Stiles tried to walk past Derek, but he grabbed him. "Nope." He says. "You need to hold him down. Kara, you too, come here."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. Then I stood up and made my way over to them. I don't meet Scott's gaze, and try to stay behind him. Stiles and I each grab one of his shoulders, holding him in place.

"Oh my god..." Stiles says as Derek brings the flame closer to Scott's arm.

The moment Derek presses the hot flame to his skin, Scott tenses up and starts screaming. He tries to move, but I hold him tighter.

"Hold him still!" Derek tells us.

"I'm trying." I said annoyed.

Scott partially transforms, his claws digging into the chair underneath him. Scott continues to scream, louder and louder, until he eventually passes out. Allowing Derek to finish it rather quickly. I moved back over to where Isaac was, while Derek and Stiles waited for Scott to wake up. After a while, Derek walked over to me.

"He's your friend." Derek stated.

"Was." I retorted. "Past tense."

"Even I can see how bad he feels. I don't carry a grudge and neither should you." Derek tells me. "He outsmarted Gerard."

"He used you as bait." I said irritated, mostly because he was so casual about it.

Yeah, we all came out of it alive, but it easily could've taken another turn. It only made it so much worse that he kept it from everyone, from me. The fear and heartbreak I felt for Derek that night was so real. I'd never forgive him for putting me through that.

"He made the right call." Derek nodded. "Yeah, he lied, but at least he did it for the right reasons."

"Look," I said, taking both his hands into mine. "These past few months have been good, really good. I'm happy, and I don't need him coming in and ruining any of this for me. So please don't try to force a friendship that isn't going to work."

"Okay..." Derek sighs after a moment. "But, I will say I think you're making a mistake."

"Thank you for your input, now, please shut up." I tell him, then leaning forward to peck him on the lips. He smiled, half rolling his eyes at me.

The sound of Scott jumping awake, tears our focus. He looks down at his arm, smiling at his new tattoo.

"It worked." Scott gasped.

"Yeah, it looks pretty frickin permanent now." Stiles says.

"Yeah, I kind of need something permanent." Scott sighs, pulling his sleeve back down. Then him and Stiles head for the front door. "Everything that's happened to us- everything just changes so fast. Everything's so, uh... Ephemeral."

"Studying for the PSAT's?" Stiles asks.

"Yeah."

"Nice." They finally open the door, but I don't hear them leaving.

"You painted the door..." Scott said, slightly confused. "Why'd you paint the door?

"Go home, Scott." Derek says again.

"And why only one side?" Scott asks. I get up, walking around the corner. Scott flicks his claws out and starts scraping away the paint.

"Scott." Derek warns him. But Scott doesn't stop, he keeps clawing away the paint, slashing away at it, faster and faster. Dry paint is flying everywhere and he finally stops, revealing the mark of the Alpha pack.

"The bird and school, and the deer last night- just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha..." Scott says, then looking straight at Derek. "How many are there?"

"A pack of them." Derek sighs. "An Alpha Pack."

"All of them?" Stiles asks. "How does that even work?"

"I hear there's some kind of a leader." Derek says. "He's called, Deucalion. We know they have Body and Erica. Peter, Isaac, Kara, and I have been looking for him for the last three months."

"So, let's say you find them." Scott says. "How do you deal with an Alpha Pack?"

"With all the help I can get." Derek tells him.

"Where is she?" Isaac's voice comes from behind us. I turn around, seeing him awake and sitting up. "Where's the girl?"

"What girl?" I asked.