Ten \\
"After entering the IP address, you will be connected through a Darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account number to recieve wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment."
Stiles pressed the stop button on the cassette player. "Have you ever made a wire transfer?"
"Never had enough money," Scott said, both boys equally concerned with what they found in Garrett's bag.
"So you didn't understand a word of that either?"
"I don't understand any of this," he told Stiles. "Why would someone use all this money just to kill us?"
"Someone wants you dead, dude. Badly." After a brief silence, he watched Scott put the money away. "Whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"
"It's late," Scott said. "We've got the PSATs in the morning."
"No, I meant the money. Five hundred thousand dollars. Do you know how much money that is?"
Scott eyed his best friend, "It's $500,000-"
"It's half a million dollars, Scott. What are you going to do, just slide it under your mattress?"
"I have to talk to Derek. The money's his."
"You mean his and Peter's."
Scott watched Stiles, "What does that mean?"
"It means maybe we should proceed with caution."
"You don't think we should tell Derek?"
"No." Stiles was quiet before he went on, "No." He stood up, his mind rambling around in thought. He looked out the rain soaked window. "No, of course we have to tell him. I'm just... I'm just saying, some of that money is Peter's, right?"
Scott wasn't sure where Stiles was going. "Yeah."
"Right?" He turned around. "Peter. Homicidal killer? Remember? You want to give half a million dollars to him?"
"So, we should give Derek his money back, but not Peter?"
"I didn't say that."
"Stiles, what are you saying?"
Steps made them both scramble, someone headed to Scott's room as they shoved the money under the bed and tried to act casual.
The door swung open, Malia in the doorway soaked from the storm. "We found Satomi's pack. Derek and I. But they're dead."
"All of them?" Scott asked, no longer thinking of the money.
"All the one's we found except for Dakoda."
"Then where's Derek?"
\\
Derek carried Dakoda into the loft, quickly putting her down on the table. He'd pulled the arrow out of her and left it in the woods, but she was still struggling to heal.
"Come on, Dakoda," he said, pulling the material of her shirt away after taking off her jacket and letting it drop to the floor. "I just got you back. You can't die on me now." He ran his fingers over where she'd been shot, a relief in him as it was healed over.
She may have begun healing, but she still looked like she was dying.
Derek put his hand on her forehead, it hot like she had too high of a fever. "What the hell is happening to you?"
And across town hours later, Satomi Ito was wondering the same thing.
\\
Rain poured over Beacon Hills Animal Clinic, Dr. Deaton stopping with his hand on the key to his building. Glancing over his shoulder, he knew something was out of the ordinary. As if he knew, he spun around with a bar-like weapon in hand.
Deaton's weapon connected with another, a hooded figure ready to go against him. The two fought in the rain, their strikes choreographed like a dance.
They stopped in stance, a space between them.
Deaton tucked his bar away, bowing respectfully. "You could've called Satomi-san."
The hooded figure twirled the weapon between their fingers, Satomi's eyes glowing red as she looked up. "Good morning, Alan."
"To what do I owe this pleasure?" Deaton asked, his watch reading 6 am, the sun close to rise.
"I'd say it's not much of a good thing." Satomi said, "When one of my betas went missing, all of my pack at the Lookout were attacked. All of them are dead and Dakoda is missing."
"What happened?" he questioned, opening the door to his clinic as soft blue light began to overpower the darkness.
"They were poisoned. Dakoda called me - her healing abilites made it harder to get to her. She said they were all dying, but before I could finish the conversation, I heard a metallic sound and the call disconnected. I think she was shot."
Deaton followed Satomi to her car, "When Elias and I returned, he got a black substance on his fingers - it was everywhere. Not too long after, he started getting sick."
When the car door opened, a shirtless wolf was in a painful half shift.
Deaton's eyebrow lifted at the sight of Elias. This was something he hadn't seen before. "Let's get him inside."
Satomi agreed, taking one side of her beta as Deaton had the other. Elias was big, but they managed to get him into the vet clinic.
Deaton looked to Satomi, kneeled down next to Elias. "How does it begin?"
"Fever, then shifting becomes uncontrolable," Satomi said, Deaton examining Elias. "Fangs, claws, even full unwarranted transformations."
Elias growled, Alan checking his fangs. He didn't know what was going on and he was stuggling to see. Everything was hurting.
"Then it progressed faster and faster. They couldn't stand." Satomi and Elias were the only ones left of her search party that was originally ten. "But worse than that was this sudden blindness."
Deaton was trying to figure out what this was. "Total?"
"They couldn't see a thing." Satomi watched as Deaton checked Elias' eyes. "From there, they had only a few minutes left."
Deaton stood. "I'm going to be honest, Satomi. We need to get him to a hospital."
"It's never really been an option for our kind." She said, "Unless you know something I don't."
"Not something, but someone."
\\
Derek didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he could do.
Yet, Dakoda had been unconcious in his loft through the sunrise.
Derek hadn't left her side and if he hadn't been able to see her chest rising and falling, he would've thought she wasn't breathing.
"Come on, Koda." He had his hand over hers, nearly everything tried.
Her phone must've dropped because he wasn't left with a way to call Brett or Satomi. He didn't know who to go to. Scott was at the school and so was the rest of his pack.
He wasn't sure if she was dying, and that terrified him.
Koda's eyes flickered below her eyelids, her lips parting as she took the first audible breath in hours.
Derek perked up, his eyes widening. "Dakoda?" He looked down to his hand, feeling her put pressure back against him. "Hey, hey, Dakoda." He put a hand on the side of her face. "Dakoda."
Dakoda turned her head just slightly, resting against Derek's hand. Slowly, her eyes started to open, her eyelashes fluttering along his palm. Breathing out unsurely, Koda pushed through her unconcious state. When she met the worried eyes of Derek, she looked momentarily startled.
"I know, it's strange," Derek said, already sure of what thought had crossed her mind.
And as the reminder she had Derek again, she remembered the events of the night before.
"My pack is dead," she whispered, not once taking her own condition into account. "He killed them all."
Derek helped her sit up, her top torn where he pulled the arrow out. "Who?"
"He called himself 'The Chemist'." Her eyes were distant, telling Derek she remembered all of it. "He planned it out. He took Reed. We were all there looking for him and when we went to the Lookout..."
"He was waiting for you." Derek stayed in front of her, Dakoda with her legs over the ledge so she was facing him.
"He was hiding. He had the ground and the trees covered in this black substance." She absently glanced to her knees, her jeans still tinted. "It was meant to kill werewolves and when everyone had touched it, he came out of the shadows." Koda brought her eyes to his. "He was laughing and they were all dying."
"Did he shoot you too?" Derek walked over to the dresser by his bed, pulling a navy tee out and going back over to her.
Koda furrowed her eyebrows for a moment, "No, I don't think so." She took the shirt, pulling off the one she had when Derek turned away for her privacy.
"What do you mean? Did you not see?" Derek asked, barely glancing over his shoulder as Koda pulled the material over her lightly tanned stomach.
"No, it happened while I was trying to get away." Unlike the rest of her pack, she crawled off. "They left after they did it, whoever they were."
"How long had you been there until I found you?" He turned back around to her, recalling how the arrow had pinned her in place to the tree.
"Two hours, maybe three. It could've been less because I never saw Satomi and the others show up." Her eyes narrowed, "Satomi."
When she went to look for her phone, Derek beat her to it. He held out his to her, "You dropped yours I think."
"Thanks." Koda took the cell from him, putting in her alpha's number. She stood up from the table, still leaning on it to balance herself. "It's me. I'm with Derek, he found me." She hesitated, "Everyone but Elias? Where are you?" She ran a hand through her hair, not noticing that Derek had cleaned them off while she was out.
Derek pulled his car keys out, expecting a drive.
"I'll be there." She gave Derek his phone back, "They have Elias at the hospital. He's the last one alive that was hit by the substance."
"What about Brett?"
"He stayed in Devenford with a few others." Koda lightly smiled, thinking of how he'd been worried about her brother. "I'll call him once we get Elias settled."
"Dakoda are you sure you don't want to take a sec?" Derek asked, following her out of the loft.
"I don't have time," she said, going into the elevator around the curve. "I was useless last night so if I can help save even one of my pack, I need to."
"Useless, Dakoda you had an arrow almost go through your heart."
"But I-" Koda shut her eyes for a moment, her hand running along the side of her face. "I couldn't save Demarco, or Carrie and it was my idea to go to the Lookout."
"It's not your fault." Derek said, "You can't blame yourself for the deadpool."
"Survivors guilt is still guilt."
"I know."
Dakoda looked up to Derek, knowing he honestly did get it. "Are we going to survive this, Derek?"
"I don't know, but we're going to try."