[ first, it's been a long time — reread willow if you need some refreshers. the movie came out. i'm not emotionally prepared enough to talk about it right now. but it has helped me decide on where to take this book. i'm not sure how quickly updates will come, as i'm going through and re-watching the whole series to refresh myself, and that could take some time. this was mostly prewritten, so i just had to make a few changes to get it out so soon.
happy 50th chapter of willow which is kind of insane, but thank you so much for sticking with this book for so long and through the hiatus as we waited for the movie! also, this chapter doesn't have much content, and just feels like a lengthy "previously on teen wolf" summary. but season 6 is coming for derek and willow after this. again, sorry if you were looking forward to a lot of season 5 action.
also, in the year since last updating, i've branched out and written spicer things — see my dimitri belikov fic and bullet train tangerine fic. while derek and willow prob won't get full on smut scenes just because she's my innocent baby, there will probably be spicer moments ]
☽︎
things are getting bad again.
[ season 5 ]
Willow returned to Argentina with an entire suitcase she hadn't left with. It was full of birthday presents from her friends. They'd held an early party to celebrate her turning nineteen before she left Beacon Hills, and she ended up having to pay for the extra bag to travel with her. And while she enjoyed her time at home, her real home was Derek and she missed him terribly.
Her arrival in Argentina was greatly anticipated by Derek, who was already waiting at the airport a good two hours before her flight would even land. And when she saw him outside baggage claim, she ran straight into his arms before even thinking about getting her bags. Derek had whispered that he missed her before kissing her passionately — a moment that was ruined by Boyd clearing his throat and Cora making gagging sounds. Boyd was holding up a sign that said 'Worthington' and wore a hat like a limo driver would wear, which put a smile on Willow's face.
Though Willow told Derek about the highlights of her trip over the phone — such as the attempt on Scott's life — the couple still spent the night laying in bed and discussing everything that'd happened on both parts of the continent. Not that he'd complain, but Derek's time apart had been uneventful and boring, proof that trouble only found them when in Beacon Hills.
As they talked, Willow laid with her head on Derek's chest while he held her. Scribbles was curled up around their intertwined legs, already sound asleep, and their soft tones wouldn't wake him.
Derek had never heard of anything like the man that attacked Scott, so he didn't have any information that could help. Willow was confident that Deaton would be able to figure out what the man was, especially since they had the leftover claws.
"I don't know why everyone was so surprised about Theo," Willow said, shrugging a little. "If hunters like the Calaveras and wolves like Deucalion heard about Scott, then I don't see why others, especially omegas, wouldn't have heard about him too. Besides, Liam's technically the only wolf in Scott's pack, so he could use Theo."
"It'll take time and thought on Scott's part," Derek told her. "It won't be the same bond that Scott and Liam have since he bit him. Theo will have to prove himself and earn everyone's trust."
"Well, he's not got Stiles' trust. Though I don't see why. I was really close with Theo when we were kids and was really sad when they moved. Actually, I was a little bummed to leave right after he got there, but I don't think I'm quite ready to go back full-time."
"I know," he said, pulling her a little closer and gently brushing his hand up and down her arm. "How close were you with Theo? I've never heard you mention him."
"We were all the best of friends — him, Scott, Stiles, and I. They were Theo's groomsmen at our wedding by the swing set. It was a very official and legally binding ceremony. Sealed with a kiss on the cheek and everything," Willow said, grinning up at him.
Derek narrowed his eyes. "I think Stiles is right. We can't trust this boy."
Willow laughed and shimmied up on the bed so that she was by his face instead of his chest. "You're adorable, you know that?"
She may have thought the jealousy was adorable, but Derek had very serious plans to push her up against that swing set and make out with her the next time they were both in Beacon Hills.
"So, where are we going after Argentina?" Derek asked shortly after the topic of Theo and Beacon Hills passed.
"You're totally ready to get out of Cora's house, aren't you?" Willow asked with a teasing grin. There was nonstop sibling bickering almost every day.
"I'm either gonna stab her or myself pretty soon," he admitted.
"And Boyd would cheer you on either way," she added. Boyd loved to stir the pot between the siblings, finding it funny how they'd argue over the smallest things. And he'd have a stupid mischievous grin on his face when he did. "What about New York? I loved going there with Dad every summer, and I know you lived there for a few years with Laura."
Derek nodded, recalling the few years where it was just him and his oldest and now dead sister after the fire. Laura made him finish high school at some crappy school that just made him miss all his friends in Beacon Hills even more. But as he got older, he managed to settle in and enjoy it there, especially when they moved from a ratty apartment to a place upstate in the woods. They even managed to make a few acquaintances with other wolves in the area, many of whom knew their mother.
"Let me guess. There's a Worthington vacation home waiting for us?" he asked, knowing she had many properties in her name now.
"Actually, we own a hotel in Manhattan, which is where we'd always stay. Surprisingly, no lake house upstate or penthouse apartment."
"We'll find somewhere," Derek said, staring up at the ceiling. "My guess is it'll just be for a few months?"
"I think—" Willow paused and went over the timeline in her mind. "I think I'd like to be back in time for lacrosse season. It's Scott, Stiles, and Kira's last year. And Liam will be gunning for captain after that."
"I'm sure he'll get it. He's an insanely good player even without the werewolf reflexes," he stared. "Do you want to go back to the loft when we do?"
"As opposed to what?" Willow asked, grinning. "I don't think Noah will be too keen on you moving into my bedroom there."
Derek chuckled and shook his head. "No, I just meant, maybe we could look at living somewhere more... permanent."
Willow walked her fingers along his chest, a warm feeling taking over her as she smiled softly. "You wanna get a house together?"
"Yeah, I do," he told her, looking at her once more. He gently brushed his thumb across her cheek. "You're my everything, Willow — past, present, future. And I wanna get started on a future together."
"So do I," she said quietly. "You know, they've got some nice houses for sale on Stiles' street—"
"I'd rather cut off my arm than be his neighbor," Derek interrupted flatly, making Willow laugh.
"I'm kidding," she assured him. "And we don't have to buy one. We could always build one. I - I know the plans for your family's house are locked in the vault."
Derek studied her with a soft expression as she went on about bringing back the Hale House. Not only did she think it was a great way to honor those that died there, but it'd give Derek, Peter, Cora, and Malia a proper place that they could call home if they really wanted to. It had functioned as a house for most of the pack, and Derek had always felt safe and loved there right up until Kate burned it all to the ground.
Willow finally cut off her rambling about maybe building it at a different spot in the preserve, as Derek's family owned a majority of the land. She saw the look on his face — one that made her feel like she put all the stars in the sky.
"What?" she asked, a shy smile on her lips.
Derek smiled too and pressed his forehead to hers. "I just love you. So much, and I'll never stop."
"Good. You're not allowed to stop," Willow said softly. She wound her fingers in his hair, content to never leave his side. "I love you too."
☽︎
It was a month later that Willow and Derek moved to New York. They found a small apartment in Midtown that they could rent by the month, meaning they could return to Beacon Hills any time. There were still several boxes to unpack, but that wasn't the first thing on Willow's to-do list.
"I'm pretty sure these aren't renter-approved," Derek commented.
"We aren't supergluing them to the ceiling, Derek," Willow told him. "They'll come right off."
The bed frame and mattress had been shoved in the corner, and Willow was sitting on Derek's shoulders as she stuck stars to the ceiling. Whenever one area was covered, he'd walk her to the next section of the empty ceiling. Given that you couldn't really see the actual stars in New York, they made sure to buy plenty of glow-in-the-dark ones to make up for it.
"This is a lot easier than when we put the stars on the loft ceiling," Willow commented. The ceilings in the new apartment weren't nearly as tall.
"Right. When you wanted to stack a tall ladder on another tall ladder," he said, rolling his eyes at the idea.
In response, Willow tugged on his hair for making fun. "That's what ladders are for, though I guess you're functioning well enough as one right now."
"I just wanted your legs around my head," Derek said, a flirty smirk on his lips that she couldn't see. "Though I'd prefer you to be turned the other way and pulling on my hair for a different reason."
Then he turned his head to the left so that he could playfully bite the skin of her thigh, earning a squeak from Willow. In one swift motion, Derek had her off his shoulders and in his arms. Startled by the sudden movement, Willow wrapped her arms around his neck and legs around his waist to stay stable.
"We have to - the stars," Willow mumbled breathlessly, biting her lip. Though the look on Derek's face told her he'd already forgotten about the stars. He was much more concerned with breaking in the new apartment. Or rather, bed.
"We've got plenty of time," Derek said, leaning down to place lingering kisses along her jaw. "It's just us now. No annoying sisters to make gagging sounds or pack members to barge in. No Stiles to bang on the shared wall telling us to shut up."
"Stiles is the worst offender when it comes to interrupting — second to Scrib," Willow had to agree. As Derek continued to suck on her neck, she shut her eyes and sighed softly, pressing her core against the hard lines of his body. "Okay. Stars - stars can wait—"
The sound of a phone ringing filled the room. Derek let out an annoyed sound before removing his lips from Willow's skin. He glanced at her phone which was sitting on the nightstand and rolled his eyes when he saw the caller ID.
"It's fucking Stiles."
Willow giggled as Derek let her down. "It's like Beetlejuice. We said his name too many times," she joked, making him laugh. Then she grabbed her phone to answer the call.
"Hey, Sti. How's it going?" she asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Lydia's in the hospital."
Willow was back on her feet instantly, her eyes wide at Stiles' words. "W - what? What happened? How bad is she hurt?"
"She - she's gonna be okay. She's already out of surgery," Stiles said quickly. "But, uh, know how we told you we'd tell you if anything major started happening?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, we kinda didn't," Stiles admitted, feeling horrible. "You - you don't need to come here. In fact, you shouldn't come here. But things are getting bad again."
Willow shared a concerned look with Derek, who was listening in. "How bad?"
☽︎
When Stiles said bad, he meant bad. Teenagers were being taken and turned into supernatural Chimeras. All of them were mixes of two different supernatural creatures. The one that attacked Lydia was a girl named Tracy Stewart, a werewolf-kanima hybrid. She cut Lydia with her tail, who would've bled out if Theo hadn't used his belt and made a tourniquet with it.
The fact that Theo saved Lydia annoyed Stiles to no end. He still didn't trust the boy even though he had no proof. In fact, he'd gone looking for proof and dragged Liam into it as well. The only outcome of that was them following Theo to the river where his sister had died and Liam fell in a hole. Stiles hadn't actually told Willow about stalking Theo, but Liam had a horrible habit of telling on himself and others to Willow.
In addition to not knowing how many Chimeras there were, they also didn't know who was making them. And it seemed mountain ash couldn't trap them either.
Malia apparently claimed to see some creepy guys in masks that killed Tracy, but none of the others were sure if that was true or not. Willow argued that it likely was, as Malia wouldn't just make something weird like that up. They apparently came and disappeared out of thin air the same night Lydia was hurt.
Willow feared that things would only get worse — the others feared it too. That was why all of them insisted that she and Derek stay away. At least until they knew more about the Chimeras and how to stop whoever was making them.
The only way that Willow agreed to stay in New York was if they all actually kept her up to date when it came to the dangerous stuff. She didn't want to be lied to or have the situation in Beacon Hills sugarcoated.
Even with that promise, calls were few and far between. Willow had a suspicion that things were tense between the pack, that they were slowly falling apart. Her guess wasn't that far off, and what was about to happen with Stiles would be the final nail in the coffin that'd lead to the pack breaking apart for a short while.
It was raining hard in New York when she got the call from Stiles in the middle of the night. Not wanting to wake up Derek as well, Willow wandered into the living room and spoke quietly.
"Stiles?" she whispered. "It's late. What is it?"
It was a long moment before she heard anything through the line. Stiles took in a deep, shaky breath, and Willow detected a sob caught in his throat.
"W - Will?"
"Stiles? Stiles, what's wrong?" she asked, beginning to panic. "Are you hurt?"
"N - no. No. Not me," Stiles breathed out. "Not me. I - I - I—"
"Sti," Willow said gently, trying to get him to calm down. "Stiles, take a deep breath. You're okay. So just take deep breaths. Focus on what's around you."
Oh, if only she knew that Donovan's blood staining his hands was all he could focus on. He felt like he was drowning up to his ears in blood. And Stiles needed Willow to pull him out just as she pulled him out of the nightmares that plagued him when battling against the Nogitsune for his mind.
"I - it was — it was an accident. It was an accident, Will, I s - swear," he choked over the phone. "I didn't mean to do it."
"What'd you do, Sti?" Willow asked, grabbing the back of the couch.
"I can - I can't," he mumbled, struggling to take deep breaths. "Wh - at do I d - do?"
"Stiles, I need you to breathe," she told him. More than anything, she wished she was in Beacon Hills and able to send calming waves of affection at him to help him calm down. She could hear him practically hyperventilating. "Breathe with me. Three deep breaths — you can't think of a solution if you're not breathing enough."
And they did. Stiles managed to take in a deep breath, hold it, and let it out along with Willow as she did that same. They did that three times, and Stiles' breathing, for the most part, was back to a normal rhythm.
"Stiles," Willow began softly, "if you don't want to tell me what you did, you don't have to. But it sounds bad. And if it's bad, then you have to figure out what you're gonna do."
"I don't - I don't know," he mumbled, scrubbing his eyes.
She paused a moment, knowing he wasn't going to tell her what was really bothering him. "Well, there's always our usual options. Call the police, don't call the police, get Scott—"
"I can't get Scott!" Stiles interrupted quickly, his voice cracking. "I can't. Not Scott. Can't tell Scott."
"Okay. Okay, then don't call Scott," she said, her worries continuing to grow. Stiles and Scott told each other everything, so what was so bad he couldn't get his best friend? Why could he only call Willow, who was thousands of miles away? "But Stiles, you can't sit around. Whatever this is, you have to handle it. And I'll stay on the phone with you."
Stiles took in another deep breath, trying to stop shaking. "You can't stay on. I - I think I have to call the police. They have to find him."
"Find who?"
"Donovan."
☽︎
"No."
"C'mon. You said I could pick the next movie."
"Absolutely not!"
"It's not even that scary," Derek argued with Willow. "And you love Sarah Michelle Gellar."
"In Scooby-Doo! That doesn't mean I was to watch her get brutally murdered!"
It was Halloween, and Willow and Derek planned a movie night to keep them occupied while waiting for trick-or-treaters. The credits of Casper were rolling as they discussed the next movie to put in. And Derek was determined to have some kind of horror movie play on the night meant for horror. Willow was glaring at the DVD case for I Know What You Did Last Summer.
"I don't like scary movies," she told him as if he didn't know.
"You've never actually watched a scary movie to know whether or not you like them," he replied, crossing his arms. "Watching horror movies on Halloween is like a staple of the holiday."
"We've had this discussion before — like, right after Scott was bitten, remember?" Willow reminded him. "Never and will never. End of discussion! Let's watch The Addams Family or something."
Derek smirked down at her. "I do remember. I also remember a threat to tie you down and make you watch one."
Willow's narrowed eyes shifted from the DVD to him, a bit of uncertainty in her eyes. "You wouldn't."
"Hmm." His green eyes scanned down her form, taking in the cute Halloween pajama set she wore. The small, bat-covered shorts were hiked up, showing off the soft curves of her thighs. "Something tells me we wouldn't get too far into the movie if I did."
"Der," she mumbled, suddenly feeling quite shy under his burning gaze. "There's still kids coming by."
Derek didn't care about the trick-or-treaters any more, only concerned with the girl he was slowly backing into a wall. "I'll leave a bowl of candy outside."
☽︎
"We just - can you just call him?" Scott asked over the phone.
While Derek was out, helping a local pack deal with some recently turned young wolves, Willow was at a little bookstore just a few blocks down from their apartment. While looking for something to buy, she got a call from Scott — the first in weeks.
Willow was kept in the dark about everything happening in Beacon Hills — she still was being kept in the dark, for the most part. All she knew was that Theo was evil, but that was all she'd learned. Liam wouldn't call her, feeling too guilty about nearly killing Scott. Stiles didn't call again about Donovan being alive, Kira didn't call about being exiled to the desert, she didn't know about Malia and her hunt with Braeden and Peter for her mother, and not even Lydia tried to contact her in the last few weeks.
Of course, how could Lydia call when she was locked up in Eichen House?
It was only moments ago when Scott hastily explained a few important things to her before moving on to the real reason he needed Willow. He didn't even give her time to ask questions about Theo making the Chimeras, Lydia losing her mind and ending up in Eichen, and Kira losing control of her fox spirit.
All that mattered to the overwhelmed True Alpha was Willow's annoyingly close — but currently convenient — relationship with a formerly blind alpha. A blind alpha that Theo was looking for, as they recently learned from Mason and Liam.
Naturally, given all the lies that she now knew were kept from her, Willow was hesitant to comply and drag Deucalion into it all.
"Well, why don't you call him?" she asked with a displeased pout on her lips.
"I don't have his number."
"Deaton has his number."
Scott hesitated. "Deaton's been missing for weeks," he whispered softly.
Yet another thing that Willow hadn't known. But she could hear the concern for the older man in Scott's voice. He sounded scared and alone — that was all he'd felt in weeks, scared and alone.
"What do you need Duke to do?" she finally asked, sighing afterward. If Derek were there, he'd roll his eyes at her use of his nickname.
"We have to warn him, and hopefully make up some kind of plan," he told her. "Maybe if we can get a man on the inside of Theo's operation, we can trick him. If we can trick him, we can stop him."
"Fine," she gave in. Of course, she always knew she was going to give in. "I'll let you know when Duke is on his way."
"So, you think you can convince him without using Charmspeak?"
"Well, I'm still holding the whole 'you ruined my eighteenth birthday' thing over his head, so most definitely."
☽︎
Yet again, Willow was on the phone — well, FaceTime. This time, though, she knew everything that'd been happening back home the last few months. And she was furious to learn all the missing pieces.
When she yelled at Scott and Stiles for not talking about it with her, they argued that they weren't even talking to each other. So, how were they meant to drag her into it too?
But she had to push back her annoyance at them all because Lydia's life was at stake. Deaton learned that a doctor at Eichen House planned to drill into her skull, an experiment he'd done on many banshees that led to their deaths.
So, now, with Willow on speakerphone, Scott, Stiles, Malia, Kira, and Liam were crowded around a table in the McCall household. The sun had only just risen, giving them plenty of time to work things out. The kitchen table was covered with blueprints of the building and electrical system, along with all the other supplies they might need.
Supplies to break Lydia out of that horrible place.
"There's four steps," Stiles told them. "We get into Eichen, we get into the closed unit, we get Lydia, we get out."
"And you have to do all that while getting past orderlies, guards, electrical door locks, and a mountain ash barrier," Willow chimed in. Stiles emailed her files of all the same schematics so that she could look at them also.
"And we don't have the one that could mind control everyone out of the way," Scott muttered with a sigh.
"I'll be there in ten hours," she reminded them.
Willow already had a plane ticket booked to return to Beacon Hills. The flight was direct from New York to California. She wasn't going to let them keep her away and out of the loop anymore. Though he didn't like it, Derek was staying behind to settle their lives in New York a week later — he'd also promised to help the pack in Midtown with the upcoming full moon. But for now, he was packing a bag for her while she listened to the plan.
They could survive a week apart so that Lydia could have Willow at her side when she was saved. No, Willow wouldn't make it back in time to be on the rescue mission itself, but she would still be there for the aftermath.
"You have a plan for all that?" Malia asked, glancing between Scott, Stiles, and Willow's image on the phone.
Stiles reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic RFID keycard. "I stole this last night off an orderly." Then he hesitated. "But, it's useless, 'cause they reset the codes each night."
"So, why'd you take it?" Kira asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm getting to that," he muttered.
"The only way to get Lydia out of Eichen is to make that key card work again," Scott said.
Liam stared at him, his confusion only growing. "How are you going to do that?" he asked, not understanding where this was going.
Stiles sighed. "We're getting to that, okay? Just listen," he said while turning his laptop to face them all. "I pulled all the history off the keycard. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout and the security system rebooted. During a reboot, all of the key cards revert back to a default code. So, if we trigger a reboot..."
"The card goes back to the default code. It works again," Liam realized.
"Exactly," Willow told him with a soft smile.
Despite the clarification, Kira still looked quite uncertain. "How are we going to cause a brownout?"
Scott looked at her expectantly. "That's your part. You're going to draw power from the main line — but only enough to cause the brownout."
"Not a blackout," Willow specified, Kira meeting her eyes through the video. "Do that, and you send Eichen into lockdown, which is exactly what we don't want. You'll have to be precise."
"There's an electrical room behind the reception counter," Scott said while pointing to the blueprints. "The main power line goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen."
"Okay," Kira said uneasily. "Slight problem — I don't know how to do that."
Scott shot her a reassuring smile, not doubting her at all despite how her powers had been acting up. "That's okay. You have time to practice."
Of course, Willow wasn't sure if one day was enough time to practice, but she didn't voice that. Kira had enough to worry about and didn't need to know the others were also doubting her.
"Let's say this goes perfectly. How does a brownout get us into the closed unit of Eichen?" Malia then asked, still not understanding it.
"The system takes five minutes to reboot. In that five minutes, all the alarms will be turned off," Willow explained. Stiles woke her up two hours ago to discuss all the technical aspects before solidifying the plan. "The key card should work."
"Liam," Scott said, looking to his beta, "you and I get Stiles to the gate of the closed unit. But after that, he has to go on his own. We can't get past the mountain ash barrier."
"And, when you're gone, all anyone's going to think is that there was a reboot of the security system caused by a brownout," Willow added. No blame could be thrown at them.
Stiles nodded in agreement before looking at the others. "Uh, any questions?"
They wasted no time as they rattled off question after question, not at all confident in this like Stiles, Scott, and Willow were. Granted, they hadn't been making dumbass plans for nearly as long as the trio.
"How do we get into Eichen House in the first place?"
"What's our worst-case scenario?"
"What if I can't do it?"
Stiles sighed, knowing that they did all have good points. He just didn't want to answer the questions as he shrugged. "Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong."
"Everything could go wrong!" Liam snapped.
"Guys!" Willow exclaimed, raising her voice. Not being there to help made her anxious, so she needed to make sure everyone was ready for this. "If you don't do this, we lose Lydia. My best friend is going to die in there tonight. Not only that, she might take a lot of innocent people with her, too. You've accomplished greater things than one jailbreak. And then once you free her, we'll all be together again and can stop Theo and these Dread Doctors. Together."
Scott nodded, staring at Willow through the screen, glad to have someone like her in his corner even across the country. "Together."
☽︎
"Yeah, I'm almost to the Stilinski house," Willow said quietly. She was in the back of a cab that picked her up from the airport. She'd been on the phone with Derek for most of the ride, who was anxious about her getting to Beacon Hills before him. "They've got Lydia, too. Though it sounds like a million things went wrong."
"Don't things always go wrong?"
"True," she mumbled. "It's over now, though. Stiles is gonna pick me up and bring me to her at the clinic since I don't have my car."
"Is he already at the house?" Derek asked, hoping Willow wouldn't be home alone for long with the Chimeras and Dread Doctors still in play. Just because Lydia was safe didn't mean the rest was over.
"No, I'll beat them there," she told him. Stiles was just now getting ready to leave the clinic. Willow glanced out the window and cringed. "It's starting to storm. He won't be able to drive as fast in this."
It was pouring down outside. In addition to the rain coming down in heavy sheets, there was booming thunder and lightning. Every few minutes, it seemed a blinding bolt would hit the ground, making Willow flinch each time. She didn't want to be on the road in this weather, but it was necessary.
"Maybe you should text Peter and let him know you're back in town," Derek thought after a moment. "Malia said he and Braeden are there tracking the Desert Wolf. He can watch you while I can't."
"I'll call him," she said with a small smile. "But I'll be okay, Derek. It's not like something is just gonna snatch me up in the middle of the night. We know what we're dealing with now. Theo, the Dread Doctors—"
"And some huge, terrifying wolf beast that's come out of nowhere," he cut in, recalling how Liam went on and on about the successful Chimera only a few of them had encountered. Apparently, it made Deucalion's demon wolf form look like a scrawny rescue dog.
"Well, Peter was also some huge, terrifying wolf beast, and that turned out just fine," she reminded him. If her cab driver heard her, he simply ignored the strange conversational topic and kept driving, his windshield wipers going a mile a minute.
"It's not even been a full seven months since he tried to murder Scott," he reminded her.
"Um, we forgave him for that—"
"We did not forgive anything. You forgave," Derek specified with a chuckle. "You're the only one that doesn't hate him."
"Well, I think he's delightful."
Derek rolled his eyes and groaned in annoyance. "You need to be a better judge of character."
Willow's eyebrows shot up in disbelief, letting out a little laugh. "Says the creepy stalker who makes the worst first impressions in the world."
"Not the worst," he mumbled with a huff.
"You threw up on me and made me cry."
"Um, that was not the first impression. I kept some creep off of you at a party!" he argued. "A charming knight in shining armor."
"Okay, if we're getting technical, then it'd actually be dead-body hunting in the woods, and we could barely see each other with Scott acting as a human shield," she corrected. "And you had creepy stalker vibes."
"Well, you still fell in love with me despite that, so I guess it worked," he said with a smug smile.
"Yeah, I guess it did," she said softly. "So, how's packing going?"
Derek rolled his eyes. "I think you left so quickly to avoid helping rather than to check on Lydia."
"Oh, yeah, that's totally the reason," she said, scoffing. "Not like she's had a hole drilled in her head and almost killed everyone along with herself. I only came home so that I wouldn't have to pack up all those boxes."
At that, the cab driver did cut his eyes to her in the rearview mirror uneasily. "We're almost there, ma'am."
"Thanks," she called before going back to the phone call. "Look, I'll need to hang up when I get out in the weather. I'll text you when Stiles gets here, though."
"And when Peter is with you."
"And when Peter is with me," she said, only finding how worried he continued to be endearing. The cab pulled into the Stilinski driveway, and she couldn't help but smile at the familiar home. "When you get here, we can start looking at lots to build on."
"Can't wait to see you again," Derek told her. "I love you."
"I love you too," she said while grabbing her carry-on suitcase. "Bye, Der."
After hanging up, Willow paid the cab driver, throwing in a large tip to make up for him having to drive in the suddenly horrible weather. Both were itching to part, as the lightning was getting worse and worse.
So, Willow threw her jacket over her head and rushed from the cab, which wasted no time in backing out and disappearing down the road while she ran to the covered front porch. Even with only being exposed for a few seconds, Willow was soaked by the rain. She was safe to dig for her house key once on the porch though.
Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning struck the driveway, only ten feet from her. Willow couldn't help but flinch, dropping her key in the process. And when she knelt to pick it up, lightning hit once again, even closer now. She could almost feel the heat coming off it.
Willow hesitated, looking at the spot on the ground that it struck. Somehow, over the sounds of the pounding rain, thunder, and wind, her ears caught something else.
The high-pitched metallic clinking sound came from ahead of her. Slowly, Willow stood back at her full height, squinting as she tried to see through the downpour. Following the sound of spurs, she could've sworn she heard a horse whinnying, its hooves splashing in the water.
Something appeared through the rain then, coming closer. Willow's breathing stopped as fear of the unknown washed over her. There were three of them, all sitting on horses as they moved right toward the Stilinski house.
Toward Willow.
Willow's hands shook, trying to dig in the pocket of her coat for her phone once again. Her back hit the front door, too terrified to take her eyes off the horsemen slowly approaching her — they didn't have faces, real human ones, at least.
Her fingers were dialing Scott's number on instinct. She wasn't sure what was happening, wasn't sure if maybe the pack was still keeping things like spooky cowboys from her, but she knew she needed the alpha.
The phone rang three times before he answered. "Hello?" Scott's voice asked.
"S -Scott?" Willow breathed out, watching how one of the horsemen came to a stop and slid off the animal smoothly. "Scott, I need you."
"I'm sorry, uh, I don't have this number saved," he said, sounding quite confused.
Willow's face dropped, not understanding what he was playing at. "Scott, what are you talking about? Look, there are these men. I'm scared, Scott, please. You have to come."
"Look, I - I'll help you whoever you are, but what's going on? Who are you?"
Panicked tears welled in her eyes, spilling over her cheeks. The man was closer now, raising his gun. And Scott was acting like he didn't have a clue who she was.
"What are you — it's Willow," she cried, trying to grab at the front door. But she'd never picked up the keys off the ground. "They're at the house with me—"
"What house?" he questioned, more and more confusion washing over him.
Willow ran then, breaking left and jumping over the railing of the porch, not looking back as she ran. "Ours! Wh - where's Stiles? He's supposed to be here. Where's Stiles?" she asked frantically, going as fast as she could.
The horses were coming after her. She could hear them gaining, not slowed by the muddy ground like she was. Willow ran faster than she ever had in cross country, her lungs burning and tears blinding her eyes. But then she tripped in the mud, her ankle twisting painfully as she fell.
Willow cried out and looked over her shoulder, seeing the two horsemen running at her at full speed. They had guns just like the one on foot had. She tried to crawl away, reaching desperately for the phone in the mud in front of her, holding onto it like it was a lifeline.
"Sco - Scott," she choked out, continuing to try and crawl away. "You have to help me!"
"O - okay," the alpha said, his voice shaking. "But who are you? W - wh - what's after you?"
His words only made Willow sob harder, unable to even make out her perusers through her tears. "It's me. It's Willow. This isn't funny, Scott! Please!" she shouted, hardly able to breathe. "Scott, you have to—"
A gunshot sounded on Scott's end of the phone call, cutting off the frantic and terrified cries of the girl on the other end. Then the dial tone followed, the call ending altogether. The True Alpha looked down at his phone in confusion, his face set in a hard frown.
"Hey," Stiles said, rushing into the waiting room of the animal clinic. "Deaton thinks Lyds will wake up soon."
"Great," Scott said, sighing in relief. He also pocketed his cell phone.
"Who was on the phone?" he asked, tilting his head. Shortly after Lydia's final scream, Scott stepped out to answer a call from an unknown number.
"Uh," Scott hesitated, already forgetting what it was about as he shrugged, "just a wrong number, I guess."
☽︎
Though there were no hired assassins running around, none of Scott's pack were in the mood for the yearly lacrosse bonfire held at the school. Tomorrow would be the first game of the season — though it was just a charity game against Devenford prep.
Because all players were required to be there, Scott, Kira, Stiles, and Liam were the only ones of the pack in attendance. And they weren't bothering with drinking or dancing — they had to be alert in case the Chimera success showed up. It'd been killing more and more innocent people, and they were no closer to figuring out who it was.
"C'mon, Scott," Danny said, seeing their captain sulking on a picnic table. He'd come over and held out a drink. "I think you all can take off from your terrifying lives for one night."
"You'd fucking think," Stiles grumbled. He certainly didn't want to be there, especially with Lydia still recovering from her stay in Eichen House. At least she felt well enough to be up and walking, though.
"We're just not in a party mood, Danny," Scott said with a heavy sigh. "Thanks for trying, though."
"Well," Danny said with a smirk. His eyes kept glancing at the doors that led to the locker room. "I'm hoping something will cheer you guys up — or at least make you laugh."
"I don't know what could possibly make us—"
Kira cut herself off with a giggle when the doors opened and a boy came out. No, she'd never officially met him but had seen pictures from Lydia and heard stories from her. No one else in the pack really cared enough to talk about him, though.
Stiles actually snorted, contemplating whipping out his phone to take a picture of it. Scott just shook his head with a crooked grin, and Liam's eyebrows shot up to his hairline.
Jackson Whittemore was back from London and sauntered around the bonfire, his cocky grin growing every time someone let out a wolf whistle or catcalled him. He was stuffed into one of the skimpy maroon and white cheerleading uniforms, holding his head incredibly high as he did so.
"Oh, my god," Stiles said under his breath, unable to believe someone like Jackson managed to make them all laugh at such a dark time like this. The wolf-kanima hybrid joined them then. "You really bought a whole plane ticket just for this?"
"Nice to know you missed me, Stilinski," Jackson said with a condescending smirk. Then he grinned at Danny and threw an arm over his shoulder. "Besides, no way was I chickening out on Danny's dare."
Danny raised an amused eyebrow. "Dude, I was not the one that bet you to do this freshmen year. But I'm so thankful to whoever did."
Jackson couldn't really recall who dared him to either but shrugged it off. He didn't have any friends more important than Danny, so he probably just agreed while drunk at a party to wear the uniform. It was the dare that mattered, not whoever came up with the idea.
"So, I'm assuming you'll be cheering us on at the game tomorrow?" Scott asked, still smiling.
"Oh, hell no," Jackson said with a scoff. "Heard all about your Chimeras and sci-fi shit. My plane leaves in the morning. No one could drag me back to this fucked up town for more than a day."
"I forgot how wonderful and kind-hearted you are," Stiles griped, rolling his eyes. If only they could all fly off and forget their responsibilities to Beacon Hills.
"Well, even if I only have my best friend back for one night, it's worth it," Danny said, grinning excitedly at Jackson. "And hey, when you do remember who made this bet, let me know so I can send them a thank-you gift. Best part of senior year, hands down."
☽︎
Derek was trapped in a dream. Well, perhaps 'trapped' wasn't the most appropriate word given that he had no desire to wake and escape the haven his mind had conjured in his little New York apartment for one.
From his position on his back, his strong hands were gripping bare hips so tightly that bruises would appear in the morning — she liked bruises, he knew, so long as no one else could see them. Her movements had him letting out a string of groans and curses and words of encouragement, urging her to keep going as he met each one with an upward thrust of his own.
"Just like that, baby, just like - fuck!" he swore, his eyes screwed shut as he let out a low moan, sliding even deeper into her "You're doing so good. Taking me so well."
"'M close," she mumbled in a voice that wasn't quite right — it was distorted, hiding away a softness that his ears were desperate to hear. Then she whimpered above him, fingers digging into his shoulders, leaving crescent moon shapes that would heal over as soon as she let go. "Forgot how big you were."
Derek adjusted his hold on her hips, letting his thumb graze a small tattoo that he couldn't quite make out the details of before helping her along to keep an even pace. Wanting to see her face when she finished, his dark eyes moved upward, passing skin he knew felt like velvet to touch and her neck he knew he'd kissed a thousand times.
He had to see her. Because despite knowing her touch, for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything else. A name. A face. Even her real voice.
But there was nothing when he finally looked at her — saw her. There was nothing to see, and that terrified him, making him forget all about how perfectly they moved together. Because he had no idea who this was.
There was blonde hair cascading down her back. Or was it short? Brown?
And her face. He knew there were supposed to be lips as soft as flower petals to kiss and eyes that made him melt inside, but they were erased from his mind, leaving behind a confusing mess of features that he was desperate to sort through to find the right ones. He had to remember her—
Derek woke with a start, breathing deeply and drenched in sweat. The memory of the dream faded with each second, leaving behind every bit of confusion and desperation. Leaving behind the last traces of the girl in his dreams.
By the time the sun rose over the horizon, Derek would roll over to the empty side of his bed and forget the dream just as easily as he forgot Willow Worthington.