Luna
I PEAK MY HEAD out from behind the pillar to see where everyone is located. The only glimpses I see before someone is shooting directly at me is Scott at a pillar ahead of Theo and I, and Peter sitting behind a metal barrel covering his head. Malia and Lydia must be somewhere ahead of Scott in cover together. I turn to Theo as he looks around his side of the pillar.
"Malia and Lydia are hiding behind a dumpster," Theo states, ducking for cover as the amateur Hunters shoot his side. "They're getting a lot of heat."
I say, "I'm going out there." My body moves to step out as my teeth and my claws bare themselves in order to shift.
"The hell you are!" Theo yells, grabbing my arm and pulling me back to safety.
"Theo, I'll be okay. Let me go." I try pulling my arm out of his grasp, but he just tightens his grip. "I'm the only one who can stop them! We're cornered."
A loud roar of a familiar car engine revs up at the end of my sentence, and I hear a body hit the front end. I turn around to see Stiles' Jeep come to a stop as a man's body lays on the ground. Stiles is in the driver's seat and leans out the window.
"You didn't think you were doing this without me, did you?" Stiles asks, tauntingly.
Derek Hale steps up beside him and says, "Without us?"
Derek bares his canines and roars before soaring through the air to take down two men with semi-automatics. The seasoned wolf gives us leverage to come out of hiding to fight back. Theo lets me go, and I take off in the direction I'd seen Monroe. I can tell she's not a very hands on leader as she hasn't moved from the five foot radius she was in when the shooting started. I'm quick on my feet but even quicker as the Beast with its longer strides. As my friends take on the closest attackers, I notice some of the Hunters start to retreat when they see me barrelling down the stretch of concrete, but I'm not focused on them.
Monroe has a pistol in her hand, pointing at me, but it's shaking with fear. I can tell it's fear because a wave of terror from her chemosignals radiates through me. My feet don't slow down at this revelation, it only pushes me to move faster. Monroe is trying to steady her hand to aim her gun at me, but she can't and I'm almost there. The gun goes off as the devil woman drops it, and the bullet buries itself within my knee. A deep, thundering roar bellows out from deep within my mutated body into the dark sky as the woman runs back to her SUV as all the Hunters retreat. The bullet burns inside my knee, and I can feel it slowly spreading up my leg and down to my toes. Involuntarily, I shift back into my human form but the roars do not stop as I clutch my leg.
"Get it out! Get it out now!" I scream as the burning intensifies inside my human skin. "Somebody get it out of me!"
Theo yells my name from somewhere behind me. No one is moving fast enough. My mind is focused on the pain. I flick out my claws with a plan to remove the bullet myself, but someone slaps my hand away. I snap my head up and growl at the person, baring my fangs and flashing my werewolf eyes. None of my defense mechanisms deter Derek from kneeling down in front of me.
Derek says to someone behind me, "You, hold her down and make sure she doesn't rip my throat out."
Another terrible scream escapes my mouth as the burning sensation reaches the tops of my thighs. The person ordered by Derek wraps their arms around my body and grips my wrists. I try to calm down and make it easier for them to entrap me, but the moment Derek sticks his fingers into the bullet hole, I'm reaching for the man with only murder on my mind. My head slams back into the person's chest and another thundering roar rumbles through my chest and out of my mouth. The person grunts at the collision, and I realize Theo's the one holding me. I try to focus on him instead, and it's insanely difficult, but I'm able to stop moving long enough for Derek to pull the bullet out. The pain starts to subside as my body starts to heal itself. I relax against Theo. Once I'm calm, Theo loosens his grip on me but holds me close to his chest. My eyes meet Derek's, who was inspecting the bullet with my blood on his hands.
"Do you know what it is?" I ask, feeling slightly weakened. Derek shakes his head. Stiles and Peter come to stand around the three of us as Scott, Malia, and Lydia tend to Deucalion.
He says, "I know it's from Gerard but it's a different kind of metal. Nothing he typically uses."
I nod to the pistol a few yards from where we're standing.
"She dropped her gun," I reveal.
Stiles walks over to retrieve the gun as Peter asks, "Monroe dropped her gun? What kind of Hunter drops their gun?"
Stiles answers as he returns, "She was afraid." When everyone but me stares at him to explain, he adds, "Last year, when Luna's great-grandfather was terrorizing Beacon Hills, he put a bunch of dead bodies in a school bus to lure Parrish out. Monroe was one of them. My dad found her playing dead under one of her colleagues. She's terrified of the Beast."
"After you guys killed Sebastien with the cane from the Dread Doctors," Theo says from behind me, "what happened to the cane?"
Derek takes the gun from Stiles and ejects the magazine.
"Gerard took it," Scott says, approaching the group with Lydia and Malia following behind him. "I saw it in his Trophy Room. I'm sorry, Luna. I didn't think it would be important."
I shake my head and state, "It's okay. Nobody did." I tap Theo's arm. "Help me up."
As Theo stands to pull me to my feet, Derek says, "He was able to make five bullets, including the one from your knee. It's lucky she dropped this."
He hands the gun to me, and I take a turn removing the ammo. I touch one of the bullets and feel an immediate burn on the pad of my index finger. My hand shakes back and forth to rid the pain. Theo takes the gun from me and returns the ammo inside.
"Gerard's not gonna be happy when he hears you're alive," Malia states.
Scott and Derek move towards each other to hug. Now that I seem to be fine, it was time to get back to the matter at hand. Peter didn't let the two hug in peace for long before speaking.
"As much as I enjoy the impromptu family reunion, what are you doing here?" He asks while Derek and Scott pull away. I notice something feels wrong with my calf as I'm standing there. I lift my leg to shake it out.
Derek explains, "I found a pack slaughtered in Brazil. There were two words written in blood on a wall. 'Beacon Hills.'"
Shaking it out only tells me there's something wrong with my foot, too. It just dangles in the air. I place my leg back on the ground and note my ankle isn't stable enough to hold my weight.
"You came back for Beacon Hills?" Scott asks, surprised. Derek immediately shuts the thought down.
"No. Came back for you."
As I'm rubbing the outer part of my lower leg, I say, "Something's wrong. I can't feel my leg."
"What do you mean you can't feel your leg?" Lydia asks like it was a bizarre thing for a werewolf to say.
"I mean I can't feel my leg. I should've healed by now." I take one or two steps forward, and I nearly fall on my face as the toes of my right foot drag on the ground. Derek catches me before I hit the pavement and sets me right again. My fingers rip the blood caked bullet hole in my jeans more to see the healed wound. In place of the bullet hole is a gnarly scar that should be smooth skin.
Scott says, "We should take you to Deaton." Stiles and Theo walk away from the group at the same time.
"I'll get my Jeep," Stiles says. Theo shakes his head.
"No, I'll get my truck."
"Theo, my Jeep is closer."
The radio in Stiles' Jeep crackles then we hear Gerard's voice through the speaker as he recites, "'Blood and destruction. Dreadful objects so familiar. All pity choked with custom of fell deeds: Caesar's spirit, ranging for revenge, With Ate by his side come hot from Hell, Shall in these confines with a monarch's voice.'"
The pack hurries to the Jeep. Derek and Scott help me to the passenger side. Scott lets me sit in the seat while he grabs the walkie talkie. Stiles sits in the driver's side seat with Lydia, Malia, and Peter standing next to him. Theo stands next to Derek and Scott. Gerard's voice comes back through after a brief disconnect.
"Do you know the rest, Scott? Do you know your Shakespeare?"
Scott looks at Derek and the latter nods. Scott extends the mouthpiece to him and holds the button.
Derek finished the quote, "'Cry, 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war.'"
"War, indeed. Welcome back, Derek. You must all be feeling rather nostalgic. Are you pleased with the little family reunion I've gathered around you, Scott?"
"Yeah, well, why don't you come join us and I can thank you in person?" Scott threatens.
Gerard continues without missing a beat, "I even have a few visitors for you from London. Even someone like Jackson Whittemore couldn't resist coming back to Beacon Hills. Say hello, Jackson."
Everyone cringes at the sound of Jackson's pain.
"Do it again, old man. Come a little closer. I'm gonna shove that thing so far up your ass!" Jackson retorts, and I have to admire his gumption.
Gerard says, "Lost none of his charm, has he? You can find him here with us at the Armory, Scott. In fact, I'm going to tell you where to find all of them. Your Deputy Hellhound met some friends of his while responding to a call at Eichen House. Your father was on his way back from San Francisco with the goal of entering the fight. But he didn't get far. You might want to tell your mother to skip her shift at the hospital tonight. Liam and his friends are there now." The sound of Liam's name ignites the rage inside of me that was snuffed out by the disconcertment on my leg. "Optimistic of them, but woefully ill-advised. This is how you wage war, Scott. A strategic positioning of your army against theirs, which is why you will come to me. You will try to save as many as you can, and you might even save a few. It's bad enough you couldn't save that Beast of yours. But your limited resources will be spread thin. Ultimately you will fail. The dogs of war, Scott. They're coming for you."
I hold my hand out for the mouthpiece from Scott. It takes very little for him to hand it over, even though he'd been clutching it tightly. I could feel everyone's eyes burning holes in my skin as they waited for what I was going to say. I press the button.
"Hello, Cousin," I say, my voice tauntingly sweet. I release the button to see if he will say something. "I take it you're surprised. I mean, hell, I'm surprised. A great Hunter like you should know by now that if you want something dead," my voice drops its lighthearted tone, "you gotta do it yourself." I let the words linger in the air. "Too bad she dropped the rest of your ammo or you could've finished the job. That's what you get when you let amateurs do your job."
Gerard never responds, but I know he heard me. I hook the mouthpiece back on the radio as silence fills the air. Peter can't let the quiet stay.
"Are we sure she's not related to us?" he asks, making me laugh.
Derek shakes his head and says, "No, but I think I need to be caught up on this whole Beast thing that Stiles somehow left out on the ride here."
Theo helps me find my footing as I get out to let Derek climb in the back. Scott is walking to Malia's car, already on the phone with Deaton to meet us at the Animal Clinic.
"I can drive you, you know," Theo says as he holds my forearms to keep me steady. I smile up at him.
I say, "I know, but I should probably talk to Derek. Plus it's the first time Stiles' isn't making me get in the back." Theo forces a sliver of a grin on his face. "Just follow us to the clinic. It'll be okay."
He sighs and concedes, "Fine."
He leans down to press a kiss on my lips. Immediately, Stiles starts booing from inside the car. Theo glares at him when he pulls away and helps me back inside. When he closes the door and walks away, I slap Stiles' upper arm. He looks offended at the assault.
"You know what you did. Go," I say and lean back to put my seatbelt on. The boy shakes his head and starts the Jeep. As we're pulling out of the parking lot, I make sure Theo's truck is behind us before relaxing into my seat. The numbness in my leg is freaking me out a lot more than I was letting on. The confidence I had of being indestructible has been swept right out from under me, and now I'm going to have a permanent visual of the only weakness I have. Well, I won't know for sure that it's permanent until Deaton checks my knee out, but it is feeling pretty indefinite. I shake the thoughts out of my head.
"What do you know about La Bête du Gévaudan?" I ask, turning to look over my shoulder at Derek.
"Besides that he came back last year and took over Mason's body?" Derek asks. "Just the old stories about a man who drank from the pawprint of a wolf, becoming a beast who tore through anyone who got in his way."
I nod and clarify, "So, you don't know his connection to the original Argent Hunter? Or to the Louve's ancestry?"
"Wait, are you related to the Louve's?" My train of thought comes to a direct halt at his words. Even Stiles glances at the older man through the rearview mirror to see if he's being serious. I remember Derek from my childhood because the Hale's were the only other werewolf family in town. Jonah and Derek were best friends growing up. I'm surprised he doesn't remember me.
"I hope so, given her name is Luna Louve," Stiles states sarcastically. Derek's eyes narrow as he tries to figure out who I am. A little recognition crosses his eyes.
"You're not Jonah's little sister, are you?" I nod before he's finished with his sentence.
Stiles asks, "How many kids have you met with blue hair that makes her not immediately stand out?"
I save Stiles from whatever riposte Derek could say and explain further, "I was the one who killed someone on a full moon and made my family move away." Something clicks in his eyes and I continue, "Although, last year, I was cleared of all crimes as it came out my boyfriend and the Dread Doctors killed her."
"The boyfriend she's dating now, by the way," Stiles adds in a disappointed tone.
"It's a lot more complicated than that."
"There is nothing complicated about you dating the man who framed you for murder."
Derek interrupts our argument, "I think we've gotten off track."
"Anyway, to make a long story short, my great-grandmother had an affair with Sebastien Valet, making him my great-grandfather and Marie-Jeanne Argent my great-aunt, which-"
"Which makes the Argents your cousins," Derek concurs.
"And me a Beast."
"Why haven't there been other Beasts in your family?"
"Probably because I'm the first blue haired born female in centuries. In my family, every blue haired child takes over as the family Alpha and, up until me, every Alpha has been male. I guess I should mention that I'm now an Alpha Beast."
Stiles snaps his head over to look at me.
"What? Since when?"
"Since the summer?"
"You mean since before you came to see me?"
"Yup."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"Nope." Stiles scoffs and shakes his head.
Before he can whine about no one telling him anything, Derek asks yet another question, "So, where's your pack?"
Stiles is pulling into the parking lot behind the Animal Clinic, and I notice a familiar truck parked near the entrance. Two figures are leaning against the side of it while a third hangs his arm out the open window. The front headlights of the Jeep point directly at them as Stiles notices the strangers.
"They're supposed to be out of Beacon Hills," I answer as anger floods my body. I don't give Stiles a chance to park the car. I whip the seatbelt off and swing the door open. I land on my left foot and pay extra attention to the other, lifting it high enough so my toes don't drag. It feels silly as I hurry over to my three brothers with my bum leg. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"We heard you," Asher mumbles as he remains unmoved with his arms across his chest while leaning against the back door. Jonah removes his arm from the side mirror on the truck.
He says, "It sounded like you were in trouble. When we couldn't hear you anymore, we came here in case you were hurt."
"How'd you get back so fast?" I ask, the initial rage starting to dissipate even though I'm still standing there with my hands on my hips.
Charlie answers this time, "We didn't go that far out of town."
"You didn't really specify when you told us to go," Asher reveals with a smirk tipping up the corner of his mouth. I glare at them for a moment longer before dropping my hands and motioning to the people walking up behind me.
"Well, I guess you get to meet my friends in time for the war."
"War?" All three ask in unison.
"Derek?" Jonah asks in complete surprise. He pulls his old friend into a hug, and they're slapping each other on the back in excitement to see one another. When they let go, Derek goes to give Asher then Charlie a handshake.
Charlie says, "It's been a long time, man. How's your family?"
Derek chuckles.
"It has been a long time. We need to catch up."
Stiles walks up with Scott, Lydia, and Malia as Theo searches in the back of his truck. I smile at the group and motion to my brothers.
"This is Asher, Jonah, and Charlie if you haven't met him." I turn to the boys and point to each of my friends. "Guys, this is Lydia, Stiles, Scott, and Malia."
Someone opens the backdoor of the clinic and calls out, "Luna?"
I turn my head and see Deaton holding the door open for me. I point at him as if I'm just remembering why we're all here. Theo approaches with my bag of clothes and holds my hand to keep me steady. We walk in slowly, or so it felt to me, and Deaton leads us to the examination table. Dropping my bag on the floor, Theo places his hands on my hips and lifts me onto the table. A blush dusts my cheeks at the hand placement and his closeness, and I assume he pretends not to see it. I lift my legs up onto the table, lifting the injured leg higher to get my foot over the edge.
"I'll have to cut up your pant leg, but at this point I think the pants are a lost cause," Deaton explains, the both of us chuckling at the sight of my blood soaked pants. While he's doing that, my brothers fill in the space around the table. Asher stands a little too close to Deaton, observing over the doctor's shoulder. So close that when Deaton moves away from my leg, he bumps into Asher. He just slowly turns his head to stare at my brother and asks, "Do you mind?"
Asher just shakes his head and moves to the other side to stand closer to Theo. I make eye contact with Theo and see he's a little uncomfortable with the closeness. I try not to laugh.
Deaton asks, "Could you remove your shoe and sock for me? Scott told me you can't feel anything. The first thing we should do is figure out exactly where the numbness is. Can you tell me where you notice it the most?"
I take my shoe and my sock off as quickly as I can and straighten my leg out. My foot dangles off the edge of the table as Deaton uses a needle-type medical instrument to test different parts of my lower leg.
I lean back against the palms of my hands and explain, "I only checked my calf and I can't feel anything on the outside part. Most of my knee's fine, but I think the real problem is in my foot."
Deaton nods and runs the tool from the scarred bullet hole down to my ankle. Nothing. He repeats the same thing on the opposite side, and I feel it all. Next, he runs the tool from my ankle over the top of my foot. Nothing. Again on the bottom of my foot, and my foot twitches at the sensation. Deaton hums and nods again while putting the tool away. He doesn't give any indication that he knows what's going on until he's given me his entire attention.
"On the outer part of our knees," he starts, "we have this nerve called the peroneal nerve. It's in charge of the movement and sensation of the lower leg, foot, and toes. It appears to me that when Monroe shot you, the bullet hit that nerve. I can't be certain as to why it's not healing, but there's two possibilities: one, the bullet was in there long enough to cause permanent damage; or two, there's still the tiniest of pieces of the bullet inside. I'm leaning towards the first option, but the second is likely as well."
I rub my forehead as I process what he's saying.
"How do you know for sure?" Theo asks for me. "How do you know that it's the nerve and not something else?"
"Besides the placement of the numbness, I noticed she can't hold her foot up and her toes drag when she walks, this is commonly referred to as Drop Foot. Her ankles appear to be unstable as well since in some cases she might need to lean on one of you for support."
The more I listen to Deaton's explanation, the more it makes sense. The more it makes sense, the more angry I get.
I ask, "Will it ever heal?"
Deaton shrugs and shakes his head as he says, "I don't know. What I do know is there are things out there to help make it easier, but all I can offer you is this." He turns around to grab one of those basic, black metal canes with the foam handle and wrist bracelet. I take the cane from him with nothing more than a nod, even though I am grateful for his help. "I'll give you some time."
I hate discussing my weaknesses in front of my brothers. Not only is there the little sister part of me that wants to show my big brothers that I'm strong enough to hang out with them, but there's the added factor of me being their Alpha in the pack. An Alpha Beast at that. I'm supposedly impenetrable, and now I might have a permanent disability. I feel like being an effective Alpha is going to be even harder to navigate with the extra challenges I'm going to face. I can feel myself getting angrier and angrier as I think about how Gerard thought he could get rid of me that easily. So easily that he sent his apprentice to do the job. An apprentice who was nothing but a coward yet had an army who would do whatever she ordered. Orders that hurt my friends, my family, and I can't sit around anymore. A plan starts to form in my head as Scott's pack comes into the room after talking in the front lobby.
"What's the verdict?" Stiles asks, breaking the silence that my brothers and Theo let settle as I processed my emotions. I hold up the cane.
I say, "My leg's probably fucked."
"Is that, like, an official diagnosis? Seems kinda vague," Stiles humors me. He's always been good at breaking the tension. I smile as I hear a few chuckles come from Jonah and Charlie. "I'll tell you about my toe later."
"Your toe?"
"It's not important," Derek says quickly. I shake my head and hop off the table so I'm not the center of attention.
"I'm assuming you guys have a plan," I say, changing the subject. The four nod and swiftly go into it.
Scott says, "Malia and Derek are coming with me to the high school to lure the Anuk-ite there. We're bringing Peter along, too."
"Stiles and I are going to get Jackson," Lydia states.
"And what are we doing?" Theo asks, knowing they have some sort of objective for us.
"If Luna's up for it, we need you guys to go help Liam and the others," Scott says. My ears prick up at the sound of one of my best friend's names. Bum leg or not, I am doing whatever I can to keep them safe. It will make my plan for my brothers seem less conspicuous if I'm elsewhere. I reach for my bag to grab a new pair of pants. "You'll need to get them out of that hospital."
"You don't have to ask me twice," I announce as I pull out different shorts.
Asher, a shock to me, asks, "How do you know that Anuk-ite isn't already where Liam is?"
"We don't," Derek answers. "But we have to assume it wants to take out the strongest first."
"Too bad it won't have a chance at me," I say, cockiness radiating off of me as I flex my biceps. Stiles rolls his eyes, so does Asher and Theo, as the rest vary from shaking their heads or subtly smiling. As the group starts to disperse, I ask Theo, "Can you take my bag out to the truck? I've gotta change and talk to the guys."
Theo stares at me as if he knows I have ulterior motives, but he doesn't acknowledge it and instead says, "I'll meet you out there."
"You stay put," I tell the two older Beta's, and Charlie, standing in the corner. It's not an Alpha command, but they do what I say anyway. I think they know I have other plans for them.
Deaton's already left as I quickly go change in the lobby, using the cane with less missteps than before. I can hear vehicles pulling out of the parking lot out back and Theo's truck starts up. I feel foolish walking back into the examination room while relying on the cane. I play it off as I toss my ruined pants into the trash and stand at the head of the table. Jonah hands me my sock and my shoe that I took off earlier so Deaton could examine me. I drop the shoe on the floor but don't move to put my sock on.
"So, what's the plan?" Charlie asks. My anger returns as I remember. I lean against the table and can feel the energy shift in the room. The chemosignals coming off the boys tell me they can, too, and are uneasy with my presence but excited.
"I'm going to kill Monroe."
Hi, guys! Another chapter as promised!
Derek and Stiles are back! But Luna's hurt and might have a disability? Who knew the cane from season 5 would come back to bite her in the ass? Also her brothers are back and now she has a plan to kill Monroe? Did anyone expect that?
Next chapter is final chapter before the epilogue. It's over 8,000 words. Be prepared.
I hope you liked the chapter! Please vote and comment what you think!
-chelsie
word count: 4786