「TWENTY」
: ̗̀➛☽︎
WHEN ADELYN WOKE UP, SHE WAS SURPRISED TO SEE MALIA CLINGING TO HER SIDE. The Gamma werewolf had a long conversation with the werecoyote the night before, trying to help her acclimate to being a human again. Addy wasn't sure if she was very successful, as all Malia seemed to want to talk about was controlling her coyote abilities so she could learn to shift fully again.
Malia grumbled when her twin turned, pulling her sister closer. Addy smiled faintly at her. "Mal, I gotta get up."
"No."
Adelyn giggled at her actions, "I have to go to school, Malia. As much as I want to stay here and help you, I've missed too much. I don't wanna get held back. If you want, you can come. Meet my friends, see what going on?" The werewolf offered, it getting declined quickly.
"No."
Adelyn chuckled, "Fine, but you have to free me." She pulled at the coyote's arms, as they were wrapped around her torso. Malia growled, but complied anyway. "Do you want me to make breakfast? I know dad will offer after I leave, but his cooking is usually terrible."
Malia opened her eyes, "It doesn't have to be cooked."
Her twin rolled her eyes, "Yes, it does, Mal. Human Malia must eat cooked food. You can't run around eating bunnies. I know it's going to take time, but this is the first adjustment you're going to have to live with." The werecoyote huffed, responding after a few seconds of thought.
"Bacon?"
: ̗̀➛☽︎
"I called you 857 times, Adelyn."
Addy was walking with Stiles at school, the day being Halloween. This meant the previous night had been mischief night, which the girl had decided to not attend. "And I pressed that little red button all 857 times, Stilinski. Your point?"
The boy abruptly stopped, beginning to whine. "Addy, this was our tradition. You broke tradition."
"Stiles, what about 'I don't want to be around Scott right now' don't you understand?"
He glowered, "Scott told me you guys were okay for a bit yesterday." Stiles frowned deeply, not fond of the couple's distance from each other.
"I kissed him so he would calm the fuck down." She shrugged quickly, beginning to walk again. "I just got my sister back, mischief night was not a concern of mine."
Stiles clasped his hands together, ignoring the dig at mischief night and worrying about her relationship instead. "You guys need to talk this out before it ends badly, I don't want to have to pick sides."
Adelyn chewed on the inside of her cheek, "Well, considering Kira still hasn't been clued in that Scott has a girlfriend, I'll continue to be upset. I shouldn't have to feel like I'm competing with other girls for my own boyfriend, he should stop them on his own." The werewolf rambled slightly, using her hands to enunciate better.
"She has a point." Isaac caught up with the two, announcing his presence with the sentence.
"I always have a point."
Stiles huffed in annoyance, understanding where she was coming from. He was still gonna be upset about it, and knew to stay out of the middle. He broke away from the two werewolves, walking to stand with the Alpha as he spoke to the twins.
Adelyn looked at her beta, clicking her tongue, before she also went and stood with the group of boys. She was curious as to why the twins were here.
"You came to us for help, we helped."
Stiles squinted, "You beat his face into a bloody pulp. That's not helping. In my opinion, that's actually counter-productive."
Adelyn smirked slightly at the thought, "It was funny, though." The McCall gave her an offended look, Ethan and Aiden both giving her confused ones before they shrugged off the statement.
"Why would I say yes?" Scott questioned, confusing Adelyn and Isaac as to what they were talking about.
"We'd add strength. We'd make you more powerful." The twins responded. "There's no reason for you to say no."
"Oh, you guys want in the pack." Addy looked over her shoulder at Isaac, "Got it."
Isaac scoffed, deciding to remind them of a reason to say no. "I can think of one reason. Like the two of you holding Derek's claws while Kali impaled Boyd." He glanced around, noticing Adelyn tense up. "In fact, I don't know why were not impaling them now."
The Gamma tugged on Isaac's arm, making him lean down. "Play nice." She whispered, scolding him.
Aiden growled, his fangs appearing, "You want to try?" Isaac stepped forward, seeming to try and accept the challenge.
Adelyn positioned herself between the two, "Absolutely not." She nodded slightly, "Isaac, let's go." The girl motioned for him to go into the school. The Lahey did not move. "Now." Her tone was laced with venom, as she had become more aggressive when her beta didn't listen. Isaac shrunk unnoticeably, deciding to listen when she glared at him.
The Gamma went to walk past the twins, being stopped by Ethan's hand on her bicep. He gave her a pleading look, making her sigh. Isaac glared at the hand on her. "Listen, most of my pack doesn't trust you. It's not going to happen unless you can prove yourselves. When you want to do that, let me know. Until then-" She shot a warning look at Aiden, growling under her breath. "-don't threaten my beta."
Adelyn ripped her arm away from the Omega, continuing on with Isaac into the school. She knew she could trust Ethan and Aiden for the most part, having a sense of understanding as to why they followed Deucalion's orders. But the Gamma was also aware she couldn't allow them in the pack when Isaac still was at their throats, it would not end well.
They were on their own.
: ̗̀➛☽︎
Several classes had gone by, one of which including Coach having a mental breakdown after being pranked. Now, the werewolves, including Ethan and Aiden, were meeting up to find Barrow-someone who murdered a bunch of kids who supposedly had glowing eyes. The school was on lockdown, although the police force had left. Which the Gamma thought was counter-productive. Melissa snuck into the school, giving Scott the mass murderer's clothes to get his scent.
"Lydia thinks he's still here, even though the cops searched the whole school. But they didn't have one thing, our sense of smell." Scott held up the garment, making his girlfriend cringe.
She did not want to smell that thing.
The girl sighed, grabbing it from him. She quickly sniffed it, immediately wanting to gag.
"Alright, so we're gonna go to the boiler room and split up. Work our way up the floors." The Alpha explained, all four werewolves following him. They reached the entrance of the boiler room, "You guys go that way, we will go this way." Scott motioned for the twins to split with them, causing Addy to interject.
"I'll go with the twins."
Scott gave Adelyn an offended look, not understanding why she was putting so much distance between the two of them. Isaac scoffed, also taking offense. "Whatever, let's just go."
Addy led the way for the twins, who were both staring at the back of her head. Aiden was the one to speak, "Trouble in paradise?"
"I wouldn't exactly say it was paradise to begin with, considering our entire relationship has consisted of us trying to not get murdered." The girl deadpanned, making the twins blink at her.
"Fair enough, I guess?" Ethan muttered, "So, what's going on then?"
She stared at him for a moment, stopping next to a hall. The girl spotted Danny making out with another guy. "Am I supposed to take relationship advice from you?" She threw her hand in Danny's direction, making Ethan turn the corner to see what she meant.
"Oh, really?" Ethan questioned sardonically. Aiden laughed at his brother's misfortune.
"Danny, you get so much play now. This is unheard of." Addy pointed at her friend jokingly.
"Addy, I love you and all, but I will kill you." The boy responded, not humored by the joke.
The girl smiled sarcastically, "I would appreciate it if you did, express delivery. Thanks."
Aiden rolled his eyes, grabbing his brother and Adelyn's arm. "Come on."
"So, about the whole pack thing-" Ethan started, wanting to forget the whole interaction that just happened.
"We know you want us to be your betas. Anyone with a brain could tell."
Addy paused, turning to look at them. She bit her lip, knowing she couldn't lie. "I do."
"Why? Especially after the whole conversation earlier?"
The Gamma sighed, continuing to walk. "Well, you've proven yourself to me. You tried to help us, you tried to stop the Darach, you recognized what you did was wrong. If I could accept Derek, I could definitely accept you. Derek's an asshole. Maybe I am just too willing with this whole pack thing." She huffed out the last sentence. "I hate to admit it, I care about you two and rather not see you die when I can prevent it. Plus, being stronger seems like a good thing right now. Isaac hates you, so it does feel like I am betraying him. So let's just, not have this discussion and leave it at that." She dismissed the two, knowing they had more questions.
"Can we talk about you and McCall, then?"
Adelyn clenched her jaw, rolling her eyes. "What do you want to know?"
"Why are you so mad at him and how is he so clueless about it?" Aiden spoke swiftly, seeming to already have the questions thought of.
"He unknowingly flirts with a girl and is bad at reading when I am upset, apparently." She responded fast, almost too fast. "And he went behind my back to find my presumed dead twin. Which we did, but it still pissed me off."
"He's a goddamn werewolf, an Alpha." Ethan squinted, "How the hell has he not smelt it? I could smell it from, like, ten miles away." His brother nodded in agreement, still smelling it on her now.
"You should've beaten him up with us." Aiden nodded, thinking that would've made her feel better.
"I would have if I were handling this whole Gamma werewolf thing a bit better."
Ethan and Aiden didn't have the chance to respond, the fire alarm cutting off their chance to ask more questions.
"Thank god." Addy sighed, relieved she was done answering their questions. The three werewolves quickly made their way out of the school, meeting up with the rest of the pack.
"We didn't find anything."
Stiles spoke, "It's three o'clock, so school's over. If there's a bomb, wouldn't he have set it off by now?"
"Does that mean everybody's safe?"
Adelyn looked at Lydia, who noticed her stare right away. "I don't know. I just, I don't know."
"Great, I am going home." The Gamma looked up at Isaac, "Later." The girl walked away from the group, immediately being followed by the Alpha.
"Addy, Addy. Wait, please wait." Scott grabbed her hand and spun her around. "Can we please talk? Please?" He said please far too many times, it made the girl feel bad.
Adelyn stared at his face, noticing the pure confusion written all over it. She took a deep breath, "This is not the place to have a conversation."
Scott eagerly spoke again, "But we can? We can have a conversation?"
The girl caved instantly at the hopeful expression on his face, "Yeah, yeah. We can."
"Okay, awesome." Scott sighed happily, "Come to my house? Whenever you're ready, that is. I'll be there." He asked, before backtracking as to not seem to desperate.
"Sounds like a plan."
: ̗̀➛☽︎
Adelyn, deciding not to keep her boyfriend on edge about that conversation, went to Scott's house a few hours later. She walked up to the McCall's door, clearly not aware that the Alpha's motorcycle was missing from the driveway. She knocked on the door, waiting for an answer.
She wasn't exactly expecting for one to never come.
And, so, Adelyn spiraled into a chaotic mess.
The first person she called was Allison. She knew Lydia was with Stiles trying to figure more out, and the werewolf needed comfort more than anything. The person who comforted her the most was usually the huntress, strangely enough.
Addy's eyes had already begun to form tears, and she didn't even know what exactly she was crying about at this point. She waited for the phone to ring a couple times, before hanging up and trying once more. The Argent answered almost immediately the second time. "Hey, Addy. What's up?"
"Um, can I-can I come over?" The girl stammered, her voice clearly shaking. "I need you."
Isaac's voice, surprising the Gamma, came through the phone. "Adelyn? What's wrong? Why are you crying?" His voice was panicked, thinking she was hurt. Allison hadn't recognized she was crying until the boy said it.
The girl breathed out lowly, "Do you know where Scott is?"
The beta froze, knowing the answer to the question would absolutely destroy her. "Adelyn, I'm sorry. He's at Kira's, they invited him for dinner. I thought he told you."
Isaac was completely right to think it would crush her.
Because it did.
She hung up the phone, Allison instantly shooting her a text to ask if she was going to come to her apartment or not. She didn't receive a response, worrying the two. The Argent sent a few more texts, saying she could just show up if she wanted, and decided to leave her alone.
They weren't expecting her to show up minutes later, teary eyed and sniffling.
Allison instantly was hugging the girl, her heart hurting. She didn't even know the full story and offered to kick Scott's ass.
It seemed as if Isaac and the huntress had plans made for the next day, ones which included the McCall bloodied and bruised.
After giving Allison the full rundown of what happened, Adelyn was laying with her head in the Argent's lap with the huntress shuffling through the papers of the bestiary and Isaac pacing back and forth in front of the bed, muttering all the ways he was going to kill the McCall. The rundown being everything from Kira openly flirting with Scott with him allowing it to all the calls and texts Adelyn has sent him this week with little to no response.
As well as going behind her back to find her sister. Along with their long conversation the night before, Malia had spoken to Adelyn several times about how much she wished she hadn't returned, making the twin feel terrible.
"I don't want you to kill him." Addy whispered, her voice hoarse from crying. "I think I am just going to break up with him when we finally have that conversation."
Isaac stopped and started whining about his plans. "You have to let me, Addy. He has beaten me up because I like you far too many times."
Allison paused for a moment, squinting at him. "Like? As in present tense?"
"Yeah, I thought you liked Allison now?"
Isaac quickly realized he fucked up. "Uh, well, oh my god." The beta's cheeks turned red, eliciting a chuckle from Allison. "I obviously meant liked, you assholes." He whined, feeling as if he had been turned against.
"Don't worry, Isaac. I wouldn't be upset if you still liked her." The huntress shrugged, thinking for a moment. "I mean, look at her. She's hot."
Addy posed quickly, giggling loudly. She sighed contently, feeling much better than she had when she first arrived. "Should I break up with Scott?" The werewolf second guessed herself, not knowing if she was overreacting.
"Yes." Allison answered bluntly, "Like, this is worse than what he did to me."
Addy blinked a few times, recalling the memories of Scott with Allison. "At least you didn't actually end up liking him."
"Yeah, I figured that out pretty quickly. He's a dunce."
The Gamma giggled softly, nodding. "Yeah, he is."
Allison smiled at her, pulling her into a side hug, "I think you should do what I did, break up with him and tell him to figure out what he wants. He definitely wants you, he's just being typical Scott right now. Dumb and too nice to people."
Isaac clicked his tongue, "Yeah, typical Scott is about to get his ass beat." He clenched his fist slightly, not caring about the annoyed look he got from the Tate. "I cannot believe this. Like, how could he do that to you?"
"Isaac, you're being irrational."
"I am being completely rational, bitch."
"What did you just call me?"
Allison cut the two's bickering off pretty quick, knowing it was just going to make things between them tense as well. "Okay, okay! Shut up guys."
Both werewolves complied instantly, turning to stare at the girl. They continued to do so, making Allison huff. She grabbed two pillows, one flying at each werewolf.
"I didn't mean don't speak at all!"
: ̗̀➛☽︎
"Adelyn, please stop freaking out."
A while later, while the teens were looking through the bestiary, Adelyn started bleeding. Isaac tried to calm the girl, as a random wound appeared on her head. She couldn't figure out who it was from, and Scott hadn't answered a single one of her calls.
To the Gamma, this made it obvious that it was Scott's wound.
Eventually, the Lahey received a phone call from Stiles. The human was with the McCall, which calmed Adelyn down significantly. Apparently, after their little dinner at the Yukimura household, Barrow found Scott and Kira outside. He knocked Scott out, and the kidnapped the girl. Now, Scott, Stiles, and Lydia were looking for clues on where to find her.
Isaac ended the call with Stiles, looking to see Adelyn sitting on the edge of Allison's bed. The huntress hadn't been in the room for a while, having been called to her dad's office to speak.
Chris didn't really like Isaac being in his daughter's room.
"What's with that look?"
Adelyn looked at her beta, her expression falling. "What look?"
"You looked a little too happy for someone who was just told someone they know has been kidnapped." Isaac squinted at her, trying to read her better.
"I am not happy Kira was taken, Isaac." Adelyn muttered, feeling terrible that he had even suggested that.
"Maybe not that, but you're happy Scott's dinner didn't end well." He shrugged, the bed dipping down when he sat beside her. Adelyn looked at the boy, as he sat much closer than he normally would. "You should break up with him." He mumbled, toying with his fingers.
The girl swallowed thickly, "I don't know if I can do that to him."
"Break up text?" Isaac suggested, not looking up at her when he spoke.
Adelyn stood up abruptly, "Oh, my god. Isaac, if I ever catch you breaking up with someone over text I will cut your dick off. That's so terrible, ugh." She rubbed her hand over her face, starting to pace back and forth. Isaac paid no mind to the threat, but now understood he should probably never do that to someone. "God, how the hell am I going to do this? I have never had to break up with someone before, Isaac. I don't think-I don't think I can."
The beta stood up, grabbing her wrist and pulling her into his chest as she began to break down again. "It's okay, Adelyn. I promise it will be okay." He let her cry into his chest, stroking her hair to try and calm her down. Isaac pulled her out of his chest and grabbed both sides of her face. "Listen, you shouldn't spare that idiot's feelings over your own. You need to break up with him now before you dig yourself any deeper. I promise you guys will get back together, but for the time being, this has to happen."
Adelyn hiccupped, "How do you know we will get back together?"
"You guys are, quite literally, destined to be together. Allison and I found it in the bestiary. Come look." He dragged her to where a fragment of the book was placed, allowing her to read the words written.
GAMMA WEREWOLF
She noticed the header and allowed her eyes to skim the words until a certain point.
If a born Gamma happens to come across a True alpha in their life time, they will be bonded for life. No matter who the two are, it is fate.
Adelyn noticed that the words ended shortly after that, "Is there more in the untranslated version?"
Isaac nodded shortly, "Yeah, that's just all Allison decided to write out for the time being. She wanted to show you." He whispered, picking up the small paper and reading over it again. "There's like a whole list of creatures that are drawn to you."
The Gamma cringed slightly, "Are they all good?"
He looked down at the girl beside him, before slowly shaking his head. "No, not really. In fact, I think Scott's the best out of all of them. Well, except the fairies. I'd like to see a fairy."
"There are fucking fairies?"
Isaac didn't get a chance to respond, as the lights began to flicker. The two werewolves looked up at Allison chandelier, watching warily as it slowly died out. Isaac grabbed Addy's arms, placing himself in front of her. The air had grown rigid, putting the two on edge.
A shadowy figure passed the window, making the werewolves freeze in their place.
They were being circled.
Five masked figures appeared in front of Isaac, pulling out swords. The door slammed shut, making Addy jump. The Lahey immediately started fighting, as Adelyn tried to break out of the room so they could escape. "Allison!" She banged on the door, wishing for help to break through.
Adelyn still couldn't shift.
Chris and Allison shouted at the werewolves, trying to get to them as they listened to the fight. Isaac eventually got caught, the masked figure holding him up. Adelyn shrunk back into the corner, watching as the figure's eyes glowed.
Like fireflies.
It dropped the beta, the girl crawling over to him quickly. She had expected to be grabbed next, but when she turned to look at them, they had vanished. The humans ran in, concerned and confused questions flying out of their mouths.
Adelyn was in shock, the girl just holding onto Isaac as if he were dying. Allison moved from where she was beside Isaac, to instead being beside Addy. She grabbed the girl's face gently, "Adelyn. What. Happened." She enunciated the words, trying to get answers.
"They just... came in and..." The werewolf's lips parted slightly, as she tried to recall what she had seen. "They grabbed him... their eyes glowed."
"Like yours?" Chris questioned, not understanding what she was talking about.
Adelyn's frame tensed, her grip on Isaac's body growing even tighter as black veins ran up her arms. She slowly shook her head, "Fireflies."
Chris' face showed realization, making Addy furrow her eyebrows at him. "Adelyn, you need to make him turn." The girl shook her head repeatedly, scared of shifting. "Adelyn, you have to." He reached forward and grabbed her arms, trying to make her calm down. The girl was obviously panicking and they needed to figure out why.
"I can't-I can't shift." A few tears slipped down her cheeks, fear overwhelming her as the shock wore off.
Allison grabbed her again, "Addy, look at me." The werewolf did as she was told. "You can do it, okay. I know you can do it. Isaac needs you, Adelyn." Allison knew the Tate couldn't resist helping her friends, especially the beta in front of them. The werewolf nodded her head, now determined to help him.
She growled, her claws coming out. The werewolf scratched Isaac, his body slowly healing and his eyes shifting to yellow. He shot up, urging to get away from the Argents and closer to Adelyn. He had backed her up away from them too, before relaxing. Adelyn wrapped her arms around him, still continuing to take his pain.
Isaac's eyes glossed over, "Did you see them?" He looked between the two humans, knowing Adelyn had witnessed what happened.
"Who?" Allison asked, hoping to get more detail from the boy than they got from Adelyn.
"There were five of them. They wore black. I couldn't-I couldn't see their faces. They were covered." The boy stuttered out, trying to give them as much detail as he could.
"What do you mean? Like, masks?"
The boy nodded shortly, looking down to see Adelyn with black veins crawling up her neck. He pulled away from her, "Stop it, you're hurting yourself." He grabbed Adelyn's chin, noticing how dazed she was. Isaac took a deep breath, "It's like they came out of the shadows." He tried to explain more to the Argents.
"Fuck."
The three teens looked up at Chris as the word left his mouth, shocked to hear him say it.
"Do you know what that means, dad?" Allison questioned him, noticing how distraught he looked.
"Um, I'm not sure." He responded, Adelyn decided to not tell him she heard his heart skip. "Listen, the three of you. I need you to keep this quiet for a few hours."
"From everyone?" Isaac asked, sniffling slightly.
"Just 24 hours." Chris paused, "If it's what I think it is... I think they might've been after me."
: ̗̀➛☽︎
show time baby, lets go
idk when the next chapter published will be but i am VERY excited to write it
also! this formatting will be applied to the rest of this book, and i will be editing the first act and all of ineffable to match. hope u like :)