[somewhere in Beacon Hills]
Finding Braeden rather than Staomi's pack was not the plan, but having it happen meant they rushed to the hospital. Even though Derek was losing his abilities that did not mean he was not strong, because he carried the injured and passed-out mercenary to the car and then the hospital doors. Luckily for Lulu and Derek, Scott's mom was working a shift and was their nurse
Lulu had fallen asleep on the hospital chair next to Derek and in that blissful state of sleep, she'd let her head fall on Derek's shoulder. At first, he'd tensed up but each slow breath Lulu let out calmed him. It's something he'd slowly started to realize each night she'd been staying with him, he just tended to sleep better knowing she was around. At first he thought it was just because he was losing his werewolf abilities and she still had hers, but that wasn't it.
He'd tried pushing her away before she got even more entangled in his world which would only harm her. With every time he pushes her away, she stands her ground making sure he knew she was staying - she'd given him her word. From all the times he did have his abilities and he'd listen to when she would talk; she never lied.
The door abruptly opens making Derek stand up as Melissa walks in while Lulu opens her eyes but sits up at the sudden loss of support.
"What's that?" Derek asks the nurse who'd walked in with a covered needle and gloves.
"Naloxone. We need to wake her up." Melissa answers pressing the drug into the sleeping woman's IV
There was a tone of urgency in Melissa's voice that made Lulu stand up and Derek ask, "I thought you said she needed to rest?"
"That was before I found out the CDC just put the high school under quarantine with Scott and Stiles still in there." Melissa informs the two of what they'd missed as the school quarantine was that day's highest-reported news
Braeden jolts awake sitting up on the bed trying to move but it hurt to do so. Melissa needing answers does her best to center the mercenary, "Braeden, look at me-- you were shot, but you're in the hospital, and you're fine. Do you understand?"
Braeden doesn't verbally answer she just looks up at Derek and Lulu who she recognized before nodding. Allowing Melissa to "Good. Okay... Last night, you were in the woods, and you came across another pack? Do you know what happened to them?"
"I told you, they were poisoned," Derek reminds the woman who'd been given all the true answers
"No." Braeden interjects in a soft voice meaning things were worse than Derek and Lulu had thought "No, they were infected. It was a virus... designed to kill Werewolves. It did. It killed them all."
The news of what truly happened out in the woods meant there was a killer out there who was working smart, silent, and efficiently.
The kids were stuck at school because of the SAT's only to be under quarantine for some sort of outbreak. At first things pointed to it being some human disease only those with supernatural abilities started to get sick meaning they must be the target.
Lulu had fallen asleep once again only this time she didn't shy away from using Derek as a pillow. Braeden having fallen asleep as well for different reasons than Lulu left Derek awake just in case something was to happen but also cause he couldn't sleep. Instead, he looks down at Lulu's sleeping figure taking in everything he couldnt when she was awake
Lulu knew she has many beauty marks scattered all over her face. She used to hate them which made her hyper aware when someone was looking at her. While she'd learned to love herself more there was still a gnawing feeling when someone would look at her face, Lulu would right away believe they were looking at her moles and not liking the imperfections.
She'd obviously never taken notice of how Derek didn't see her beauty marks as imperfections. To him they were just her, and Derek could not find a fault with her.
Braeden wakes up with a cough making Derek sit up straighter and take his attention off Lulu. Opening her eyes Braeden spots the two werewolves still in the room but only speaks to the one awake, "What are you still doing here...?"
"I'm protecting my investment." Derek states knowing he most likely had just gotten caught watching Lulu sleep "Got a lot of money riding on you."
Braeden doesn't answer as a soft knock at the door interrupts them and makes Lulu wake up, "Derek... I think there's someone here you've been trying to find."
Melissa holds open the door for an older woman to walk in - Satomi. At the sight of the woman and instantly being able to know she was part of the supernatural Lulu stands up. There was just something intriguing about Satomi.
The only reason Melissa had found Satomi was because the alpha had taken one of her beta's to Deaton. Deaton not knowing what to do with the poisoned wolf takes him to the hospital only for the man to die leaving them with questions
Since he died in the hospital it brought Melissa, Deaton, Satomi, Derek and Lulu to the morgue were the dead man laid on a silver table eyes covered with a cloth but the black goo still visible
"It's a variant of canine distemper." Deaton explains having a better understanding of what they were facing and yet the three supernatural being in the room didn't wear a facemask like the two humans "A few years ago, an outbreak in Yellowstone killed forty-percent of the wolf population."
"What's it going to do to our wolf population?" Melissa questions worried for her son who was most likely poisoned by the same strain
"Well, it's been altered to infect quite a bit faster"
At Deaton's sugar coating the truth Derek questions, "You mean it's been weaponized?"
"It infected my whole pack" Satomi states knowing the weaponized infection was something serious and deadly
"Everyone except you. That's the real question, did you not get infected? Or are you immune?" Deaton questions making everyone look at the woman while she looked down at the dead body of her pack member
Lulu closes her eyes thinking back to the woods and how Braeden's gun wasn't what had been fired at the poisoned wolves. Opening her eyes she locks eyes with Derek who then turns to the Alpha in the room, "If your pack was infected, then who was doing all the shooting at the entrance to the woods?"
"Apparently, another assassin." Satomi states not phased by there being more than one assassin to where her pack had been hiding "Personally, I'd rather face a gun than a variant of smallpox"
"Sounds like you're going to get plenty of chances." Melissa comments which took Lulu by surprise
Satomi doesn't say anything, instead she looks at Derek who just stood with his arms crossed looking forward. That is until he catches the woman looking at him, "Sorry... I just noticed how much you remind me of Talia. I used to visit her a lot, you know... Do you remember me?"
"I remember the tea." Derek honestly mentions not having many people he can openly talk about the past in such a heartfelt way. It made him miss the soft look Lulu was directing at their exchange "You always brought that tea that smelled horrible."
"I brought that tea as a gift." Satomi smiles not taking offense because he was right "Your mother loved it"
At their interaction Deaton curiously asks, "What kind of tea?"
In confusion Satomi asks, "What?"
"The tea with the smell, what kind was it?" Deaton tries to get things clarified knowing there must be something in it all
"Reishi. Wild purple reishi. It's very rare." Satomi explains being one of the few in the room not understanding why Deaton decided to interrupt a tender moment
"It's also a powerful remedy for sickness. Satomi, you didn't get infected because you've been inoculated."
"We have a cure?" Lulu asks Deaton who sounded certain of a theory
"Okay, okay... How rare is it? Can we find it?" Melissa questions ready to do everything to get that remedy to her infected kid
"We don't have to. My mother kept some of it," Derek speaks up having the answer to save the teens in zero to no time "It's in our vault."
The Hale vault is where the teens had gone to hide because their supernatural abilities being out of their control meant putting human lives above theirs. Safety was what the vault guaranteed since no one but a Hale could access it, only now getting a message to them was the problem
"I have to get to the school" Derek states, pushing through the doors of the morgue and Satomi following after him. Lulu had stayed inside wanting to follow after him but someone needed to stay with Braeden
"What about the others at Lookout Point?" Satomi asks knowing there needed to be some delegating and he was someone who would help
There was no time for answers as the elevator down the hallway opens and a blonde woman steps out with a gun aimed at the two. Satomi was the target and Derek knew that as he jumps in front of her taking a bullet for the woman. Lata, having heard the gun, runs out to see Derek fall to the ground.
The assassin, not seeing the Alpha get hit, keeps pulling the trigger only to have Satomi doge every bullet and get closer to the blonde. Lata tested her luck by running to Derek and see that the bullet hit the side of his stomach. The only reason she wasn't freaking out was because he wasn't meaning she had nothing to worry about.
Deaton and Melissa step out into the hall just as Lata helps Derek up, all of them watching Satomi stand before the dead body of an assassin holding two long metal needles which helped in kill the shooter. Being able to ready their surprise Satomi raises a brow, "I may have learned to control my anger, but I still know when to use it."
"Amazing" Lulu whispers which made no difference since the alpha had super hearing and her words traveled far in the silent hallway. But they were true so she wasn't planning to take the word back
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