Sam sat in her bathtub with her knees pulled up to her chest, her salty tears mixed with the stream of water pouring from the shower head above.
It had taken months for her to finally start to become the person she wanted and only a single night to have it all torn down.
Not only did her mom now know she was a werewolf, but her aunt knew it too.
Her mom had refused to say anything to her since leaving the police station; she even made her drive home alone.
She wasn't sure how long she'd been in the shower, but when the water finally turned ice cold, she realized she'd have to get out, dry off and try to move on with her life.
As she got dressed and dried her hair, she wondered if Scott's mom was accepting it any better than her mom was.
Opening the door to her room she saw Derek sitting on the side of her bed.
"Derek!"
His name rushed out with a sigh of relief.
She hadn't seen him since the first responders had arrived at the station and he left out a back exit, she'd been worried that the Argents or someone might have caught up to him.
"Are you okay?" He asked her as he stood up and looked her over.
"I'm fine." She assured him, but her heartbeat gave her away.
When she saw his disbelieving look she stepped forward and into his arms, clutching onto the sides of his shirt and resting her head against his chest as she took a few moments to appreciate being with him.
She'd hoped that after her mom got over the initial shock that she'd be okay with it all.
She might not be human, but that was what allowed her to heal from a gunshot wound that might have otherwise proved deadly without getting help in a timely manner.
Even her Aunt Alice had given her a hug before they parted ways at the police station.
Finally she shrugged and said, "I... I just don't know where I go from here. My mom and aunt both know about me... about you. My mom just keeps look at me like..." Her voice trailed off.
Her eyes burned as she let out a dry laugh and said, "I guess I am a monster."
Stepping back he held onto the sides of her face as he made her look at him, "You can run faster than any human, you can heal from seemingly fatal injuries, but you're not a monster, Sam."
"Then why do I feel like one?" She asked, her voice barely over a whisper.
A few tears escaped.
Using his thumb, he brushed the tears away, which only made her chin quiver more, "It's never easy for someone you care about to find out what you are. But sometimes the situation is unavoidable."
"What am I supposed to do?" She questioned with a small shrug.
"You do whatever you have to do, but you don't give up. You keep fighting."
"And what if she kicks me out or never talks to me again?" She voiced her fears.
"There's a real possibility that your family might not accept what you are."
Her chin quivered more and a small gasp escaped her trembling lips at his words.
Sure, she'd considered that they might never accept her, but it was different hearing someone else say it.
Anyone else would have lied to her, told her that her mom just needed some time to come around, but that everything was going to be okay. But even with the almost harsh honesty, she was glad he was there with her and not someone else.
"Either way, you'll get through it. You don't just have your family, you have your pack." After a pause he started to say, "You've got..."
But she cut him off, feeling her heart skip a few beats as the word left her tongue, "You?"
He nodded, watching her reaction as she managed a small, but weak smile.
~()~
"Samantha?"
Sam rapidly blinked her eyes, trying to come back to reality as she shifted in her seat and looked at the school's guidance counselor, Ms. Morell.
"I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?" She stuttered out.
It felt surreal to be back in school again, after everything that had happened since Friday after Lydia's party. Her mom still wouldn't even look at her, let alone talk to her.
"I asked how you were dealing with everything you've been though?" She repeated.
"I'm fine."
Internally she cringed, realizing she'd answered too quickly.
"Let's talk about what happened at the police station." Ms. Morrell pushed, trying to get her to open up.
"Let's not." Sam said, shifting in her seat again.
She nodded as she looked back down to the open file in front of her on the desk.
"Alright, then... we can talk about the pictures of you that the police found in Matt's house."
"That's in my file, huh?" She asked, with raised eyebrows.
After a few moments she clicked her tongue against the roof of her mouth and said, "Yeah, well... he's dead now, so I don't really see what that has to do with anything."
"When you found out he had so many pictures of you, pictures that he'd taken without your knowledge and without your permission... you had to feel..." Her voice trailed off.
"Violated... yeah, I did. But like I said, he's dead, so..."
Leaning back in her chair some she pointed out, "I'm feeling a real sense of resistance here."
"Maybe it's because I've been through this before. I've probably logged more hours of therapy than someone twice my age. I've done this before, and you know what, it didn't help me. I'm not going to sit here and break down, spill my feelings to someone I don't even know and is paid to pry into my life." She said, her tone a little harsher than she'd meant it to be.
"I'm sorry." She quickly apologized as she stood up and grabbed her bag off the floor.
~()~
"I thought you worked tonight?" Derek asked as Sam walked into the room with him.
Her eyes drifted over the burnt and charred interior of the house his family was killed in.
"They gave me some time off... you know, after the whole being held at gun point thing." She reminded him.
"And the whole, Matt being obsessed with you thing?"
She sighed, knowing he was mad that she hadn't told him sooner.
"I know, I should have told you... but honestly with everything else going on, that seemed like the least of our problems." She reasoned.
He nodded, but continued to give her a hard stare.
"So... what are you doing here?" She asked walking over beside him.
Dropping a book to the table, he sighed "There has to be something here... someway to kill the kanima."
Eyeing him from the corner of her eye she asked what they were both afraid of, "What if we can't kill him?"
Turning he faced her as Sam continued, "What if there really isn't a sort of balance, and there isn't any way to kill him. I mean, Matt's dead and Jackson is acting stranger than ever."
Not wanting to face the fact that she might be right, he pushed a book into her hands and said, "Just help me find a solution."
His skin brushed against hers and her heart slightly picked up speed.
He looked at her, and her gaze quickly fell to the floor as she let out a timid laugh and muttered, "God, I hate that..."
"Why?" He asked, amused at her reaction.
"It's just... so embarrassing. You're so in control, of everything all the time. And I can't even control my own heart rate when we touch." She admitted, looking back at him for a brief second.
"I hate it." Her face scrunched up as she spoke.
"I don't." Derek said from beside her as he opened another book.
"W-what?" She fought to keep her voice mostly steady as she spoke, and flipped a few pages deeper into the book without reading a single word.
The corner of his mouth twitched up into a smile, which he quickly straightened as he laid the book he'd been skimming through down.
He crossed his arms over his chest as he watched her, pretending to read.
The longer he stared at her the tighter her grip on the hardcover book became.
But she was mostly managing to control her breathing and heart rate as she felt his eyes trace over her.
She finally dropped the book with a thud to the table and turned to face him, but just as their faces were inches apart they heard footsteps.
Looking to the side she saw Erica and Boyd walk into view.
"Hey Sam..." Erica greeted, managing a weak smile but her eyes were glistening with tears.
She gave her a confused look and Boyd avoided her gaze.
"You decided... when?" Derek asked.
"Decided what?" Sam pushed taking a step closer to the teens.
"Tonight." Erica answered as she looked down to the floor.
"Everyone's gonna be at the game. We figured it was the best time." Boyd added in.
"Time for what?" Sam asked.
Derek stepped up beside her with his arms crossed over his chest as he filled her in, "They're leaving."
He could feel the dissension from his pack before they ever voiced their plans.
Her mouth hung open from the shock as she stared at her friends.
"It's not like we want to." She heard Erica say, but was still processing the fact that her pack mates were fleeing town.
"What do you want?" Derek asked his betas.
"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."
Erica sniffled.
Sam watched as the blonde blinked back tears.
"I told you there was a price." Their alpha reminded them.
Boyd pulled his gaze from a charred wall behind them, as he spoke, "Yeah, but you didn't tell us it would be like this. Even Sam will tell you that."
"I told you how to survive; you do it as a pack! And you're not a pack without an alpha." Derek's voice rose as he spoke.
Sam stayed quiet as she listened to them explain how they heard howling in the woods, they thought they'd found a new pack with an alpha to join.
"There must have been a dozen of them." Erica's expression was hopeful.
"Maybe more." Boyd agreed.
"Or there was just two of them. Do you know what the Beau Geste effect is? They can modulate their howls with a rapid shift in tone." Derek questioned.
When no one responded Sam finally found her voice again, "Two wolves can sound like twenty."
Derek nodded.
"That doesn't matter okay, there's another pack out there, there has to be. We've made up our minds." Erica argued.
"We've lost, Derek, it's over. We're leaving." Boyd backed her up.
Sam let out a defeated sigh, "You're not just leaving, you're running. Don't you get it? Once you start, you're not going to stop. You will always be running..."
"I wish we'd met years ago, Sam. Before all of this ever happened... I really do. You're the first real friend, I ever had." Erica said, her words heartfelt.
Boyd nodded, "I wish things were different, but it's not. The fights over... if we stay here, we're going to die. Which is why you should come with us, get out while there's still time."
Sam glanced to the side to where Derek was standing.
Erica swallowed hard and nodded in understanding. Sam wasn't going to leave Derek.
"Be careful." Sam cautioned them.
"We're getting out... you're the one who needs to be careful." Erica urged her.
The trio stared at each other for a few moments longer before Erica grabbed Boyd's hand and pulled him from the house.
Sam chased after them.
"Wait!" She called out, jumping off the porch of the house and landing perfectly.
"I'll catch up with you." Erica squeezed Boyd's hand before turning back to face where Sam was approaching.
Sam watched Boyd disappear into the treeline.
"Please don't do this." She pleaded.
"Sam, if we stay here, we're dead." Erica reasoned.
"I've got a really bad feeling." Sam reached out, grasping onto her arm as she spoke, "I just... I feel like if you leave now it'll be the last time I ever see you."
Her eyes were wide in fear.
"I feel it too."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
But Erica felt like the death sentence would be Sam's for staying.
"Come with us?" Erica suggested again.
Sam looked back to the house, knowing Derek was probably listening to them from inside.
"Sam, come on." Erica whispered as quietly as possible, "Derek is trying but... he's going to get us all killed."
"We told you-" She started to remind her, but Erica shushed her.
"You didn't even know it was going to be like this." Erica shot her a knowing look.
"We have to adapt to survive." Sam argued.
"This isn't even our fight." Erica's pitch raised.
She wanted to grab Sam and shake her until she understood that while in some ways Derek have saved them, it also boiled down to him trying to build a pack for his own power. And everyone he'd bitten were just pawns in a game they shouldn't have been a part of to begin with.
"It is my fight." Sam softly said as she looked back to the house again.
Erica also knew Derek was probably still listening to them.
When Sam turned back to face her, Erica silently mouthed, "You love him, don't you?"
Sam looked around the woods and didn't answer her.
After another beat of silence, instead of giving an actual answer she near-silently voiced a thought she'd had not too long ago, "I'd follow him to hell."
Erica made a noise like the air had been punched from her chest.
"Sam, if you stay. I think that's exactly what's going to happen."
She looked over her shoulder knowing Boyd was waiting on her and if they were making their great escape they needed to go.
"I get it." Erica broke the silence, "Really wish it was different, but I get why you're not leaving."
She took a few steps back away from her friend, knowing if she stayed there any longer she'd lose her nerve to go.
They shared one last heartbroken stare before Erica turned and ran into the darkness after Boyd.
Sam stayed in place a little longer before slowly turning to go back into the house.
She took her time, walking as slow as she could, giving her pack mates all the time in the world to change their minds and come back.
But they were gone.
She felt the break happen when they left.
Sam took in a deep breath and held onto her stomach. It didn't just feel like she'd lost her friends, it felt like they'd carved out a piece of her and taken it with them.
If a member leaving the pack hurt that bad, she couldn't even imagine how bad it would hurt if one of them were to get killed.
When she walked back in the house, she paused with her gaze falling on Derek who had his back turned to her, leaning on the table.
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip;her mouth felt drier than cotton.
Her heart hurt for him, not only because of his betas wanting to leave his pack, but the fact that she couldn't even imagine the devastation he must have felt after his family and pack died in the house fire.
She thought to herself that he must have been a lot stronger than she was, because there was no way she would have survived that loss.
Stepping up beside him, she placed her hand over where his was still planted against the table.
He turned his head to look at her and she tried her best to give a small smile through the sadness, provide any sort of comfort she could. A silent 'you've still got me'.
Silently, he moved his arm and slid it around her, she leaned into his side.
Sam felt like she needed to say something, only she didn't know where to begin.
With two from their pack leaving, Sam wondered if they did stand a chance in hell against the hunters now.
They still had Isaac, but a werewolf pack of just three wouldn't have near as much power as it would have at five members.
"Sam."
Derek's voice cut through her thoughts like a knife through butter.
It was the tone of his voice, the way his body stiffened.
It was a warning.
And she felt it too - they weren't alone any longer.
The air took on an unnatural chill.
Derek picked up an old dusty glass shard from a broken mirror that had been sitting on the table.
The hair on the back of Sam's neck stood on end in response, and her eyes glowed golden yellow, ready for a fight if she needed to be.
Derek spun around and threw the broken glass at his uncle, Peter Hale, who now stood where Erica and Boyd had been just several minutes before.
Sam's breathing was uneven as she stared at the unfamiliar man, she wasn't sure how, but she just knew who he was.
Derek had told her about Peter, and warned her to be on guard after the night of Lydia's party when he'd been resurrected.
Peter effortlessly caught the glass within a few inches of his throat, as he curled his fingers around the jagged edges he said, "It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek."
"I mean, I'm out of commission for 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."
Sam closed her eyes for a few seconds as she took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down from the scare.
When she opened her eyes, she almost jumped at seeing Peter was staring at her.
"Except you of course, Sam. You, little wolf, you've turned out to be quite impressive, Derek's best decision so far." As he spoke a chill ran down her spine.
Looking back to Derek he nodded in approval, "Nicely done."
"What do you want?" Derek asked, his voice almost in a growl.
"Well, I want to help. You're my nephew, the only relative that I've got left. You know there is still a lot that I can teach you. Can we just talk?" He asked, as he placed a hand on Derek's shoulder.
Sam's body tensed ready to attack at a moment's notice if something went wrong and he tried to hurt Derek.
Looking at the hand on his shoulder, he said "Sure let's talk."
But before anyone could respond, he threw Peter from the room. Sam watched as his body violently landed against the staircase railing.
She watched as Derek continued to beat and kick his uncle, who didn't put up any fight at all.
Even knowing all the bad things he'd done, it was still surprisingly hard to watch someone be beaten like that.
As he tried to stand up, Derek kicked him hard in the side, sending his body flying backwards where he landed with a painful thud.
"You don't actually think I want to be the alpha again, do you? That wasn't my finest performance considering it ended in my death. I mean I'm usually more..." He coughed out as blood poured from his mouth.
As Derek grabbed his shirt and pulled him up to his knees, he brought back his fist ready to strike him again, Peter said, "Okay, go ahead. Come on, do it. Hit me, hit me... 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."
As Sam walked closer to them Peter glanced over and said, "Well, almost complete failure."
"Derek, stop." Sam whispered as she placed a hand on the arm he'd drawn back, ready to strike Peter again.
"You know what he's done." Derek reminded her, not taking his eyes off of his uncle's bloody face.
"And so does he..." Sam realized out loud.
"He must have a good reason for coming here, knowing what was waiting for him. He had every reason to just flee town, but he didn't."
Sometimes it's helpful to be one step removed from a situation to follow a more logical approach than be ruled by emotion.
Peter's teeth were stained red from blood as he choked out a laugh.
"She's smart... way too good for you. But you already knew that."
"Shut up." Sam snapped.
Derek looked at her for a few seconds before he let go of Peter's shirt allowing the weekend beta to pull himself to his feet.
Peter explained to Derek that he needed to and should trust him. "Gerard is winning. He's taking his time, toying with Scott. He's going after your wolves, one by one. Relishing in his victory..."
Sitting down on the stairs Derek looked at his uncle, "How about you tell me something, I don't know?"
"Oh, I'm going to. And it's going to prove why you should trust me... why you need to trust me. Because I'm going to tell you how to stop Jackson." He explained.
"You mean kill him." Sam corrected.
"Actually, how to save him." Peter clarified using his words as bait to draw the other two wolves into his scheme.
"There's a myth that you can cure a werewolf simply by calling out it's Christian name." He started.
Derek sighed at his uncle, "It's just a myth."
Speaking loudly over his nephew, he continued, "Sometimes myths and legends bear a hint of truth. Our name is a symbol of who we are. But the kanima has no identity. That's why it doesn't seek a pack."
Allowing a few moments for it to sink in he continued, "And who else grows up with no pack, no identify?"
"An orphan." Derek stated.
"Like Jackson." He nodded at Derek's realization. "And right now his identity is disappearing beneath that reptilian skin and you need to bring him back."
"How?" Derek yelled, frustrated.
"Through his heart, how else?" Peter yelled back.
"In case you hadn't noticed, Jackson doesn't seem to have much of a heart to begin with."
Sam shook her head at Derek as she breathed out, "Lydia."
"Exactly, he might not admit it but there is Lydia, the one person with whom Jackson shared a real bond. She's the one who can save him, the only one who can reach him." Peter said, as he watched their reactions.
Seeing that Isaac was calling her, Sam stepped away from the conversation. He filled her in on what was happening at the game, apparently Jackson was playing that night and something big was going to happen.
Tucking her phone back inside her jacket pocket she re-entered the room as the older wolf finished explaining how even he knew better than to underestimate the power of true love.
When they both looked at her she said, "That was Isaac."
Taking a breath she continued, "I asked him about Lydia, and he said she's there at the game too. I'm gonna head over there to talk to her."
"Sam, wait!" Derek called as he followed her out of the house.
"If Jackson is at the game that means Gerard is there too." He pointed out.
Pausing next to her car she nodded, "I know... which is exactly why you can't come with me."
"This is too dangerous." He protested.
She glanced up to the starless sky before she reasoned, "If your uncle is right about this, then with Lydia's help we can save him. We have the chance to save a life instead of end one-"
"What if he's wrong?"
"But what if he's right, Derek?"
He let out a small sigh, knowing she'd made up her mind and there was no way to talk her out of it.
"I trust you, completely. And now you're going to have to trust me... call me if you and Peter figure anything else out." Her words ended as she rose up and kissed him, before getting in her car and driving off before he could stop her.
By the time she got to the game, there was barely over a minute left on the scoreboard. The crowd was all on their feet cheering and screaming, as she pushed her way through a crowd of people blocking the entrance to the field.
When someone pushed past her she looked over to see Scott as he stared at the scoreboard with wide, fearful eyes.
A sense of dread overcame her as she grabbed his arm and asked, "Scott, what's happening?"
He didn't answer, and waited with bated breath when the buzzer sounded and the lacrosse game was over.
"Scott!" Sam yelled.
"Nothing happened..." He exclaimed looking at her as if he'd only just noticed her presence.
But before the feeling of relief could settle in, all of the lights went out and a loud scream rang through the night air.
Soon everyone was pushing past people trying to get off the stands and running to the cars for safety, no one even knew what they were running from.
But fear had set in, and the once elated fans were now running around in chaos.
In the mess, Sam lost her grip on Scott and was doing well to stand on her own two feet as she'd almost been knocked over a few times.
Deciding she had to make her way away from one of the exits, she started towards the field when the lights all came back on, the sudden change was blinding at first. And she didn't realize exactly what was wrong until she heard Lydia's frantic voice, "Jackson!"
Her eyes then focused on the sight as Scott's mother, Melissa knelt down beside the fallen teenager, as coach tried to chase the concerned teammates and prying eyes away from Jackson.
~()~
"I've got to meet with the medical examiner to try to figure out what happened with Jackson. I've got an APB out on Stiles, his jeep is still in the parking lot so that means... oh hell, I don't know what that means." Sheriff Stilinski's voice trailed off as he looked up from his pocket note pad and rubbed his forehead.
Sam glanced to Isaac and Scott, before looking back to Stiles' dad with a sympathetic expression.
"Look, if he answers his phone, or his emails... or if any of you hear from him..."
"We'll call you." Isaac agreed, nodding.
"He's probably just freaked out from all the attention or something. We'll find him." Scott tried to comfort him.
He nodded in thanks before leaving the locker room with the last few members of the lacrosse team.
"Is that everyone?" Scott asked.
Isaac looked around the room, "Yeah."
Before he could turn back around, Scott had ripped the locker door from his best friends locker, as he pulled out a pair of shoes.
"You're gonna find him by scent?" Isaac asked surprised, Derek hadn't taught him about tracking yet.
"We all are." He responded as he held the shoes out.
Samantha reluctantly took one and looked as Scott as he used his free hand to pull a shirt out of the locker.
"You get a shirt and we get dirty shoes?" Isaac asked with raised eyebrows.
Rolling her eyes Sam pulled the other shoe away from Scott and pushed it against Isaac's chest as she said, "Oh, man up."
Looking at her with a slightly amused expression, her pack mate said, "Okay then, you first. Go ahead... put your nose right in it." He nodded to the shoe she was holding.
"I don't need to; I can smell it from here." Her nose wrinkled as she spoke.
As she took another breath, she could smell something else besides the stench of the shoe.
A beautiful, powerful musky scent, wrapped with the traces of cool night air. The familiar scent that tickled her nose, had become her favorite scent in the world, comforting even in complete silence.
"Derek?" She said before even turning around.
"What?" Scott and Isaac both asked, moments before he stepped into view.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked, as much as she always loved being around him, the fact he was at the school where Gerard could also be, terrified her.
"We need to talk." Derek said, but he looked past her to where Scott was.
"All of us." Peter agreed, as he also stepped into sight.
"What the hell is this?" Scott's voice trailed off from shock.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Derek answered in a confrontational voice, "You know, I thought the same thing when I saw you talking to Gerard at the sheriff's station."
"Okay, hold on, he threatened to kill my mom. What was I supposed to do?" Scott defended.
"I'm gonna have to go with Scott on this one, have you seen his mom? She's gorgeous!" Peter cut in.
"Shut up!" Derek and Scott yelled at the same time.
"Okay... wait, who is he?" Isaac asked.
Looking at the other beta, Scott explained, "He's Peter, Derek's uncle. A while back he tried to kill us all, then we set him on fire and Derek slashed his throat."
Raising a hand in a brief wave, Peter said, "Hi."
Isaac gave him a confused half-smile as he breathed out, "That's good to know."
"How is he alive?" Scott couldn't hold his most pressing question any longer.
"The short version is, he knows how to stop Jackson. Maybe even save him." Derek filled him in.
"Oh, I uh... I meant to call you." Sam said as she kicked a towel that was lying on the locker room floor.
"What?" Derek asked her.
"That's all very helpful, except for the fact that Jackson is dead." Isaac said when Sam didn't speak up.
When he saw their reactions Isaac asked, "Okay, why is no one taking this as good news?" Then pausing he continued, "Except Sam, of course."
She rolled her eyes at his making fun of her for wanting to save Jackson all along.
"Jackson is only dead because Gerard wanted it that way." Sam said as she dropped her arms to her sides.
"What we need to do is figure out exactly why he wanted it that way, and something tells me the window of opportunity is closing. Quickly." Peter said to them.
"No, I'm going to look for Stiles." Sam announced.
"Stopping Gerard is the more pressing matter." Peter argued with her.
"Is it? Because right now... Jackson is dead, I can't help him. But Stiles, as far as I know is very much alive, and I'd like to keep it that way."
"Gerard could be the one who has him." Derek warned.
"That thought crossed my mind too, which is another huge reason to find him now." She gave him an apologetic look.
She surveyed the room once more before starting for the exit, with Stiles' shoe still in hand.
"Sam." Derek called.
Pausing she stopped and turned around, their eyes met for a few brief seconds and she nodded. "I know, I'll be careful."
~()~
A/N - I hope you all liked the chapter, thank you so much for reading! ^_^