chapter twenty four
"that has wings"
"THEY SAY HE'S IN SOME kind of transparent casing made from the venom coming out of his claws."
Lynn pathetically cringed up her face as she glanced down to her phone resting on the same wooden table right beside the laptop that Peter was currently scrolling through. He was shifting through the many different files they had formed over the years, searching for the kanima one.
Peter was sitting down in front of the laptop, whereas Derek was standing on the left side of Peter's shoulder, and Lynn was right beside Derek — their shoulders occasionally brushing up against each other, causing butterflies to erupt in Lynn's stomach.
"That sounds sufficiently terrifying," Peter shrugged his shoulders, pursing out his lips as he swiped through yet another file.
"Don't you have anything organized on this damn thing?" Lynn growled annoyingly, rolling her blue eyes as she recognized a bird looking picture on the laptop screen.
"Yes, I wasted hours upon hours organizing all these files from A-Z because I knew this exact moment was going to occur," Peter snapped back sarcastically, and Lynn only flashed him a tight, obviously fake, smile.
"Would you two stop bickering, because they also say he's starting to move," Derek interrupted, flashing both of the werewolves a sideways glance for being so childish.
"Okay, look, I think I found something," Peter spoke up, and Lynn bent down to look over the man's shoulder.
Unknowingly, Derek couldn't help but let his eyes wonder down to Lynn, she looked so awfully good resting her palms on the desk while her curves looked absolutely stunning when she leaned over. He scolded himself for even gazing at her body in the first place, instantly switching over or the laptop as Lynn finished the statement.
"It looks like Jackson is just the kanima's beta shape," Lynn read the sentence a bit slowly from the screen.
"Well, meaning what? It can turn into something bigger?" Derek questioned, and Lynn glanced up to him with a confused, almost puppy like, expression, and he couldn't help but smile at her. Lynn's cheeks glowed the faintest red, and she lightly smiled as she dropped her gaze back down to the computer.
"Bigger and badder."
Both Derek and Lynn slightly gasped when Peter finally expanded the picture, and she scoffed loudly as she could only image Jackson turning into that thing.
"He's turning into that? That has wings," Derek said dramatically, pointing his slender finger towards the picture, and Lynn just practically stood there stunned.
"I can see that," remarked Peter
"Scott, bring him to us," Derek spoke into Lynn's phone, hooking his fingertips around it to be quite clear about the message.
"I'm not sure if we have time for that," Lynn heard Scott reply over the static of the phone, so the girl reached over Derek's shoulder to snatch the phone from him.
"You're not looking at this, Scott," Lynn stated as her eyes didn't dare leave the terrifying image. "This is a monster, we can't let Jackson turn into it."
"Look, somebody actually made an animation of it, maybe it's less frightening if we—" Peter started, and as both Derek and Lynn kneeled over his shoulders to look at the supposed animation, they all backed away instantly with wide eyes. "—Nope, not at all. We should probably meet them halfway."
"Scott, get him out, go now," Lynn indicated, and after Scott finally caved at getting the body out of the hospital, she instantly hung up the phone and threw it in her back pocket. "Well, let's go before that thing becomes a reality."
Derek immediately nodded, and the two werewolves spun on their heels to exit through the front door, no doubt to head their way towards the hospital. But was interrupted as Peter wrapped a tight hand around Lynn's arm, pulling her to a stop.
But the second that Derek recognized that Peter had touched Lynn, even hearing her slight wince from the fact Peter had dug his fingernails into her skin. Derek growled out loudly, his fangs showing as he hissed, and instantly Peter rose his hands up in defense, with perked, almost amused, eyebrows.
Derek had shifted his body so he was now in between Peter and Lynn, and she curiously glanced from her wrist up towards the alpha, half surprised that he had been so protective in the first place.
"Hey, whoa, didn't realize it was a big deal to touch Evelynn," Peter dryly chuckled, slowly letting his arms down as Derek's glowing eyes faded slightly.
"Don't touch her again, unless you don't wanna be able to use that hand ever again," Derek threatened, and Lynn shocking glanced from the man over to Peter, who still looked completely entertained.
"No need to threaten, Derek," Peter fake smiled, but then he dropped it as he continued. "All I was going to say is we need Lydia."
"There's no time for—"
"—That's the problem, we're rushing, we're moving too fast," Peter continued, and Lynn furrowed her eyebrows a bit. "And while everybody knows that a moving target is harder to hit, here we are, racing right into Gerard's crosshairs."
Derek took a very menacing step forward, where he was now right in Peters face. Lynn almost wondered if this meant he was perhaps going to try to murder him again, ripping his throat out type of deal.
"If I get the chance to kill Jackson, I'm taking it."
"There's got to be some way where we don't have to kill Jackson," Lynn interrupted, placing a warm hand on Derek's heartbeat to gain his attention, although he slightly flinched at her touch. "We have to try to save him, first."
"Nice to know, that you have the same black and white morals of Scott," Peter almost growled under his breath, and Lynn curled her upper lip on anger towards the man.
Ignoring the side comment, she switched back to Derek, with those same gentle, pleading eyes. Jackson didn't deserve to be killed, he deserves at least one chance, for them to just try to save him.
And Derek saw in her eyes, the way that she cares so much for those around her, even if they weren't close. Hesitantly, Derek's lowered his glance while being distracted in thought, and then he switched over to Peter.
The man slightly scoffed at Derek's reaction, "You can't possibly be deciding this, it's final, Derek, we have to kill Jackson."
"Derek," Lynn practically whispered, shifting her hand so that her palm would now be on Derek's muscled arm, but she tried her best to ignore that part. "Please."
"Fine," Derek sighed, running a hand aimlessly through his tangled knots of hair, gazing over to Peter. "Head to Scott, use your bike, and I'll be right behind you. Peter'll get Lydia, alright?"
Lynn smiled towards Derek, a real one, with softened eyes as she nodded. She fished her keys out of her back pocket, and headed out the door to start her motorcycle.
"You lied."
Derek stopped watching Lynn as she shut the door behind her, and then he glanced over his shoulder at Peter, his nostrils flaring a bit in annoyance.
"She wouldn't have been on board," Derek stated quietly, trying his best to not imagine the destroyed expression of Lynn's when she recognized that it was the plan all along, to kill Jackson.
"Didn't know you started to care for a girl again, Derek," Peter almost teased, and if they weren't in such a big hurry, Derek just wanted to rip his throat out right then and there. "You know everyone around you gets hurt, this won't be much of a difference, she won't be different."
Derek let out a heavy exhale, swallowing some spit rising in the back of his throat as he tried to keep his emotions deeply hidden inside him. With a clenched jaw and an angered expression, he darted towards the old wooden door.
"Let's just go."
———
"Where's Derek?"
Lynn perked an amused eyebrow up as Derek came running down the alleyway, his red alpha eyes glowing through the darkness of the night. It wasn't much later, it took maybe a half an hour to meet up halfway with Scott, Isaac, and now apparently — Allison's father, Chris, was with the pair.
"Wait, where's Lynn?" She heard Scott ask, and she playfully rolled her blue eyes as she suddenly appeared from behind a high, quite thick, pole that was holding up the abandoned warehouse they had decided on meeting up at.
"I certainly don't have a flare for the dramatics like Derek over here," Lynn smirked as she saw the way that both Isaac and Scott's face suddenly softened, relieved that Lynn was perfectly okay.
She folded her long arms over her chest while she walked the rest of the way towards the group, her eyes landing on Derek as he only seemed to scoff at her comment.
Suddenly, Derek teased up as Chris rounded his way from the drivers side of the car, and she worried that this was some trick. That perhaps the only reason Chris was helping the werewolves is so he could get close to Derek, so he could hurt him.
Seemingly noticing the way Derek was on guard with hooded eyes, Chris spoke up, "I'm here for Jackson, not you."
"Somehow, I don't find that very comforting," Derek flashed a single tightlipped smile towards the hunter, his green eyes then flickered over towards Scott and Isaac. And with a simple flick of the head, they both seemed to understand. "Get him inside."
It only took a couple of minutes for the werewolves, and hunter, to get Jackson — who was still wrapped up right in the black body bag, inside the smudged and dirty warehouse. Lynn wasn't even sure if it was completely empty, it seemed like the type of place where homeless people would stay, to be frank.
Once Lynn and Scott dropped Jackson's bag onto the ground with a heavy grunt, Lynn raised her arm to wipe away any sweat that had appeared over her forehead from carrying a practically dead body.
"Where are they?"
"Who?" Derek questioned, and Lynn glanced at him with an utterly confused look — they were missing their crucial piece against Jackson, Lydia.
"Peter and Lydia," Scott replied, and Lynn was trying her best to conceal the hurt expression covering her face. However, Derek didn't mutter a single word as he flashed out his claws, and Scott darted a step forward. "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him."
"We're past that," stated Derek.
"You lied?" Lynn spoke up, taking a few steps so now Derek would staring into her eyes, and she shook her head in disbelief. "You said Peter was getting Lydia, t-that we were gonna try to save him first."
Derek's upper lip started to twitch as he saw the way Lynn utterly wounded, so he had to force himself to drop her stare or otherwise he potentially would've lost his nerve.
"Just think about it, Evelynn," Derek tried to back himself up, but he knew there was no way he could turn this one around. "Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog, and he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful."
"No, no, he wouldn't do that," Chris interjected, and it was good timing too, because Lynn only scoffed under her breath while walking over towards Isaac, her arms crossed over her chest as she thought. "If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live."
"Of course not. Anything that dangerous, that out of control, is better off dead."
Lynn's body went rigid as she instantly recognized the hoarse voice that echoed throughout the warehouse, and she felt her werewolf side begging to come through — but she wasn't sure if it was out of protection of her friends, or if it had to deal with the anger of Derek directly betraying her.
Knowing time was running out, Derek then extended him long claws as he knelt down beside Jackson's lifeless looking body. But just as soon as he was one second away from digging those sharp claws into the boys chest, he was interrupted.
Jackson beat Derek to it, because it was now his claws that had cut through Derek's skin into his lower abdomen. Lynn gasped out, and she darted forward out of instinct, but was pulled to a stop when Isaac wrapped his warm fingertips around her wrist.
Jackson threw Derek's body as if it only weighed a pound, and he ended up being tossed about halfway through the room. When Lynn's worried eyes landed on him, he seemed to be moving, but one hand was resting on his stomach in pain.
"Well done to the last, Scott. Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him," Gerald grinned, taking a few steps towards Scott as he spoke. "You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me."
That was when Lynn heard it, a footstep that was to the right of her, and when she glanced over her shoulder towards the noise — her blue eyes went wide as she saw the arrow that was aimed right at her, she instantly ducked as the arrow was released from the bow.
Lynn was relieved to know that she had dodged the arrow, but her expression went wild as she recognized that although she had missed the arrow, Isaac wasn't as lucky.
It had nailed him in his upper chest, more towards his left shoulder, and he winced in pain as he fell to the floor. Lynn immediately ran to Isaac's side, wrapping an arm under his for support, and she gritted herself teeth as she lifted him off the ground.
"Allison?" Scott gasped out of disbelief, and then he raced over to both of his werewolf friends, his eyes landing on a little hidden away stack of wood pellets.
Lynn helped Isaac as he groaned in pain, and she cringed her face apologetically. Lynn wrapped her soft fingers around the arrow, and then she met eye contact with Isaac, "This is going to hurt, but don't be a pussy."
"No, don't—" Isaac was interrupted as Lynn used all her strength as pulled the arrow out of his shoulder, and his yell rippled out, which was soon replaced with anger. "Bitch."
"You're welcome," Lynn teasingly smiled towards Isaac, but that was interrupted as the hair on the back of her neck straightened out, and her regular eyes were replaced with her bright blue ones.
Lynn's expression was then completely serious, and she extended her fingers from her palmed hand, but they were replaced with her claws by now. Her eyes switched over to where Derek was once thrown, and there was a part of her relieved to see that he was now in full werewolf mode as well, and he let out a mighty growl.
Then she saw Jackson standing on top of the car, except it was no longer Jackson, it was the kanima.
And that was when the fight began.
Derek was the first one to race towards the kanima, but was almost immediately cut off from his first punch as the kanima dug his claws deeply across Derek's chest, making the man fall backwards.
Then both werewolves, Isaac and Scott, ran towards the hissing kanima with sharp nails extended. But just as easily, the two seemed to go down within a matter of seconds.
And for a moment there, it seemed like time was moving in slow motion. Lynn was just standing there, almost dumbfounded as she tried to process the best way to defeat the kanima, but without killing Jackson. She just needed a second to think — but there was only one idea on her mind.
She needed to shift.
Lynn had no idea why she was so utterly and completely afraid of letting her friends see the real her — her real werewolf side. If anything, it was something to be proud of, because it wasn't an everyday thing to see an evolved werewolf.
She was so frightened of them thinking that she was different, but she reluctantly swallowed the terror as she felt more confidence start to build in her body.
It only took a second, for Lynn's human skin to be replaced with batches of white, thick hair instead. She was instantly on all fours', where her palms then shifted into paws. Her once human teeth were then sharp and threatening canines, and once she was fully into a wolf, she let a mighty howl escape her lips.
Almost every human, or supernatural, being were frozen in the movement — well, except for Derek and Isaac, who both seemed to be relieved from recognizing the wolf.
"Little wolf," breathed out Derek, a huge grin had taken its place on his pink lips as pride rumbled throughout his chest, knowing just had afraid Lynn was of showing this side of her.
"It had been awhile since I saw an evolved werewolf," Gerald's croaky voice stated, and Lynn took several paw steps towards the older man while her lips were held back, exposing a intimating growl.
Scott seemed completely confused, along with Chris — since he had never actually seen an evolved werewolf, only heard of them, and Allison had curiously narrowed her eyebrows.
However, just because Lynn was now a wolf, didn't mean the fighting was coming to an end.
a/n: ahhh almost done with s2 i'm so excited for s3, it's more intense ;) also sorry if it seems like i'm dragging this ep out, i wanted to end s2 on chapter 25😌