CHAPTER TWENTY:
AN ALPHA PACK
HER RELATIONSHIP WITH ISAAC WAS the best thing to happen to her . He was so kind to her, dry humor making her laugh, and he had even been the one to convince her to finally sell her house. He knew she wasn't sleeping well within the home that had been tainted by the murder of her father, and all he wanted was what was best for her, and her staying there wasn't it. Isaac had helped Gwendolyn with so much in their few months together, and it was the best decision she had ever made. To forgive him. To allow him into her life. She was in love with him, and that's why she was so terrified.
When Gwen had gotten the call from Melissa, she had never sped so fast in her entire life. She was quick to park her car as she pulled up to the hospital, quick to hop out and barely giving herself enough time to close the door and lock the car as she ran towards the double doors. She looked around, before she saw Melissa, immediately running over to her.
"What's happened? Is he okay? Where is he?" She was panicking, Melissa could clearly see that. Carefully, she placed her hand on either side of the wolf's shoulders, causing Gwen to look at her.
"First, I want you to breathe, alright." Melissa softly spoke to her, and Gwen did as she was told, taking deep breaths in hopes of calming her heart that was slamming in her chest. "He's a little bloodied and bruised, alright? But he said his healing is going to kick in soon. He was with this girl―︎he didn't know her name―︎but she was a lot worse than he was. I promise you he is going to be fine."
Gwen clenched her jaw and nodded her head. "Okay, okay, okay. What girl was he with?"
"One too old for him, maybe mid-twenties." Melissa chuckled and Gwen closed her eyes as she managed a small smile. "You've got nothing to worry about. As soon as he's allowed visitors, I'll let you know."
"Thank you, Melissa." Gwen smiled before sitting down on one of the chairs, and allowing her knee to bounce up and down. It took a few hours before Melissa managed to sneak her into Isaac's room. She offered the woman a small smile before watching as Melissa walked out, closing the door behind her.
Gwen looked down at Isaac, the boy currently sleeping. She sat on the edge of his bed, reaching over to move the hair from his face as she deeply frowned. She couldn't help but wonder what it was that had happened to him, before noticing the bandage covering his stomach that held three giant slashes underneath. Deciding she would stay, she moved over to the chair placed in the corner of the room, making herself comfortable as she started falling asleep.
She didn't wake up until she could hear the sound of Melissa's voice the next morning. The woman had been checking Isaac's wounds, shaking her head. "Yeah. Yeah. That's healing. Visibly. Wow. They can't see this. Nobody can see this."
"Cover it up." Isaac quickly told her.
"I don't think that's going to matter." Melissa scoffed slightly. "I mean, you're scheduled for surgery, which is obviously gonna be very confusing to a lot of people."
"Okay, can you do something?"
Melissa stood up straight. "Me do something? I'm relatively new to all of this. And there's a sheriff's deputy stationed right outside the door."
"Have you tried calling Derek?" Isaac asked her, neither of them knowing that the blonde was awake, her eyes were still closed as she listened to the conversation.
"Like, five times." Melissa said as she pulled off her rubber gloves. "Do you have any other werewolf emergency contacts besides Gwen?" She nodded towards the girl, and Isaac turned to look at her for a moment, before turning to look back towards Melissa.
"Yeah." He paused for a second before saying, "Call Scott."
Melissa nodded before walking out of the room and being stopped by Noah. Isaac turned his head to look at his girlfriend, closing his eyes as he called out to her. "I know you're not sleeping." Gwen opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him, offering him a small smile as she stood up, running a hand through her blonde curls as she moved to sit on his hospital bed. She carefully grabbed his hand, looking down at it for a moment before meeting his eyes and offering him a gentle smile.
"How are you feeling?"
"Better now that I'm starting to heal." He nodded his head. He then nodded towards the chair she had been in. "Were you here all night?"
Gwen pursed her lips for a moment, before slowly nodding her head. "I just wanted to make sure that you were okay."
"Shouldn't you be at school?" Isaac hummed, raising an eyebrow at her.
Gwen shrugged. "You being alive is more important than learning math."
"Gwen, I'm okay." He assured her.
That's when the door opened. A woman with long dark hair walked in, a needle in her hand and a kind smile on her face. "Hello, Isaac."
The wolf sat up. "Hi."
"How are we feeling?"
He glanced towards Gwen before looking back towards the nurse. "Like I was telling Gwen, I'm good. Go to school." He narrowed his eyes at her. "I'll be right behind you, okay?" She looked at him for a moment before reluctantly nodding and giving him a quick kiss. She offered the nurse a small smile before making her way out of the room.
"He finally convince you to leave?" Melissa asked. Gwen pursed her lips and Melissa sighed, knowing that look. Saying she was going to leave, when really she was going to stay was exactly what Gwen was doing. "Alright. Well, I'm going to call the school in order to get Scott out of class, get me when he arrives." Gwen nodded her head before watching as Melissa got on the phone.
Gwen made her way outside, watching as Scott entered the hospital parking lot. He immediately saw the blonde and made his way over. He looked towards the girl a softly sighed. He placed a hand on her shoulder before the two made their way inside, finding Melissa who was quick to explain everything to Scott―︎the story in which Gwen was not told seeing as she had been asleep when Isaac told Melissa what happened, and told her to go to the school because he didn't want her to worry. Now, she was worried, terrified, and furious all at the same time and it was messing with her.
"Why didn't you tell me before?" Scott asked his mother.
"Or me?" Gwen shot back.
"Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to." Melissa admitted.
Scott frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Everything that you've been doing, the extra reading, the summer school, saving up for a bike, even though it scares me half to death. . . honey, I just didn't want to disrupt a good rhythm."
Scott stopped his mother, shaking his head. "It's not gonna stop. I'm gonna be better this year. A better student, a better son, a better friend, a better everything. I promise."
"Okay." Melissa managed a small smile.
"Alright, what's my excuse?" Gwen raised her hand and Melissa rolled her eyes.
"You were asleep."
"I―︎fair enough."
Scott smiled in amusement as he glanced towards her before Gwen nodded for him to come on. "He's in room 215 if he isn't already in surgery." Scott nodded before looking towards his mom and giving her a kiss on the cheek before the two ran towards Isaac's room. They made it into the elevator, and Gwen was jumpy, Scott could tell. He looked at her before grabbing her hand and offering her a reassuring nod.
Another thing they discovered, was that Scott and Gwen had an inseparable bond. They didn't really understand it, but the need to constantly protect one another was something that had seemed to develop between the two. Gwen believed that it was from when she had stated she wasn't apart of Scott's pack, and Scott wanted to prove to her that she was. That she was one of his best friends, and she was like a sister to him.
Just as the elevator doors closed, a stick used by that of a blind person caused the doors to stop and re-open, causing the two to glance up at the man that carefully made his way into the elevator. He had short sandy brown hair, around Noah's age, and had dark glasses that covered his face. There was something about him that made Gwen fill intimidated, causing her to subconsciously take a step closer to Scott.
"Would you hit the button for the second floor, please?" The man requested. Scott went to do so only to find the button was already pressed, seeing as it was the same floor they were going on. He glanced towards Gwen before looking back towards the button and deciding to go ahead and press it again. The man thanked him and Scott silently nodded in response.
The elevator ride was silent, and very uncomfortable. And Gwen tried her best not to let out a relieved breath when the doors opened. Just as Scott was about to take a step forward, the blind mind stopped him before kindly asking if Scott would take a second to help him. Scott agreed as the man placed his hand on Scott's shoulder before they walked out, Gwen carefully following behind him. She watched with slight amusement as Scott hung his head.
When the man got where he wanted, he thanked Scott once more before he and Gwen quickly ran down the hallway. They turned corner after corner as Scott followed Gwen to Isaac's room, only for Scott to stop the blonde when they saw a nurse pushing a patient still in his hospital gown down the hall. They watched as the nurse and his patient entered the elevator before the nurse turned to look at the two, and he smirked. They could see the claws on his hands, and immediately, Scott and Gwen acted.
Scott was quick to run forward, making it into the elevator just before it closed leaving Gwen to stand there. A growl fell from her lips before she made her way to the stairs, quickly running up them and was surprised when she saw Derek standing there at the elevator doors, waiting. She watched as the elevator doors opened to reveal the nurse holding Scott in a choke hold, holding him up the air. Derek was quick to stab his claws into the nurses back, making him drop Scott and Gwen was quick to run towards them. Jumping over the nurse as Derek threw him across the floor, causing him to go sliding. She quickly entered the elevator before checking on Scott.
"Hey, you alright?" Scott looked at her before nodding his head. They then turned to look at the alpha posed as nurse, watching as the door closed before Derek turned towards the two.
"Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
━︎━︎━︎━︎━︎
Derek carried Isaac in his arms as Scott and Gwen quickly followed after him as they entered the Hale household. Scott had gotten a call from Stiles, who was currently panicking. "We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class―︎"
"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott quietly asked.
"Uh, well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion." Stiles denied.
"Alright, then meet me at Derek's."
"Derek's house? What? What the hell are you doing at―︎"
Scott sighed. "Just meet us here, okay?" And then he hung up, quickly joining Gwen's side as she watched Derek carefully lay Isaac down on the table. Her jaw was clenched as she looked down at her boyfriend, wanting to know what the hell was going on.
"You don't still live here, do you?" Scott asked as he looked around the home.
"No." Derek shook his head, throwing a piece of wood to the side. "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." Gwen spoke up, turning her head to look at Derek with a frown. "Right? I mean, I saw it heal with my own eyes."
Derek looked up at the blonde before softly sighing and shaking his head. "Not on the inside."
Gwen closed her eyes before turning to look at Isaac once more, gently grabbing his hand, and silently wishing that he was going to be okay. He had to be. Scott stood there for a moment before turning to look at Derek. "Hey, are you gonna tell me who that was back there?" Derek looked up at him. "That alpha?"
Derek sighed. "A rival pack. It's my problem. I know you wanna help, and you did. I owe you one. Now go home. Both of you." He glanced towards Gwen who didn't even look at him. He had a feeling she wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He stood up. "Go back to being a teenager." He then walked over to Isaac and Gwen moved out of his way, cocking her head slightly at the purple flowers in his hand.
That's when Scott suddenly spoke up. "Uh, hey, Derek. If you wanna repay back that favor now, there is something you can do for me."
A tattoo. That's what Scott wanted as his favor. And Stiles had been soon to join them, taking a moment to stop and look at Isaac before glancing at Gwen who managed a small smile. Now Scott was sitting in a chair, with Derek in front of him, a blowtorch in hand seeing as that was the only way to keep Scott's tattoo permanent. Gwen had to look away from him, hearing Scott scream in pain was not something she enjoyed hearing, and she let out a breath of relief when it was over. The only thing that made her smile a sad smile, was his explanation of his tattoo, and how it meant that he still had an open wound when it came to Allison, when it came to himself.
When Scott and Stiles started to walk away, she offered them both a small smile before glancing towards Derek as he made his way back over to Isaac. She looked at the alpha for a moment before softly asking, "Is he gonna be okay?" Derek looked at Gwen before nodding his head.
"Once his wound starts to heal from the inside, he should be good as new."
"You painted the door." The sound of Scott's voice made them both turn their heads. Upon seeing the look on Derek's face, she was quick to follow after him. "Why'd you paint the door?"
"Go home, Scott." Derek warned.
Scott, of course, didn't listen. "And why only one side?" And then, he started scratching at the door with his claws, ignoring Derek's calls for him to stop. Gwen moved to stand beside of Stiles, glancing at door and watching as Scott suddenly stopped, a black symbol painted on the door. "The birds at school, the deer last night, just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha." He turned to look at Derek. "How many are there?"
Derek crossed his arms over his chest as a sigh fell from his lips. "A pack of them. An Alpha pack."
"What?" Gwen whispered in disbelief.
"All of them?" Stiles quizzed. "How does that even work?"
"I hear there's some kind of leader. He's called Deucalion."
"Sounds evil enough." Gwen muttered.
"We know they have Erica and Boyd. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for them the last four months."
"So, you're the reason why my boyfriend is currently unconscious?" Gwen snapped, clenching her jaw as she glared at the man. Derek didn't meet her gaze.
"Lets say you find them." Scott started, walking closer to Derek. "How do you deal with an alpha pack?"
"With all the help I can get." Derek answered. That's when Gwen, Scott, and Stiles all exchanged look and Stiles just shrugged whilst Gwen just pursed her lips. That's when the sound of Isaac's voice filled the room, causing all of their heads to snap towards him.
"Where is she? Where's the girl?"
Derek glanced towards Gwen who shook her head before he looked back towards Isaac, a frown on his face as he asked, "What girl?"