“Hmm…that’s interesting, actually. I’ll have to find out more about her background, but from what you’ve told me Alice does seem like a loyal friend,” Derek replied after a moment’s consideration, and a grin lit up my face. If I could convince Derek to turn Alice, it would be perfect; although we could never replace Boyd, I knew in my heart Alice could help repair the holes in our hearts. Especially in Isaac’s. A couple weeks ago, when they’d gone to Sadie Hawkins together, I’d been astonished and pleased to note that Isaac was happier than I’d ever seen him, Boyd or no Boyd.
“She looks gorgeous,” Isaac mumbled under his breath, and I was shocked to see Derek nod to him in agreement. Alice was walking down the stairs after me, dressed in an icy blue gown that hugged her curves and ended just above her knees with demure white heels. I’d chosen a sleek, simpler black satin number paired with fiery red crisscross platform sandals. Isaac had donned a plain black and white suit, while Derek was sheathed in all black, right down to the shoes on his feet. Together Derek and I looked intimidating and dangerous, and it sent shivers of pleasure down my spine.
“She’s beautiful,” Isaac stated, mesmerized, as Alice descended the stairs and joined us in the foyer. Her cheeks were lit up with color, and I didn’t think I’d ever seen her look so nervous, or so excited, or so…real. Being together not only made Isaac happy, but I think it made Alice a better person too.
“Shall we?” Derek said, offering me his arm with a grin and escorting me out the front door as the four of us headed out to dance.
“But Chris, what I really wanted to talk about was me turning…someone else.”
“Who?” I asked, my interest peaked.
“Well, uh, you actually. How would you like to become a werewolf?”
I was so surprised that the mouthful of bacon and lettuce started to go down the wrong pipe, and I choked and spluttered in shock. After taking a sip of Sweet Tea, I sat looking up into the space right above my laptop, in stunned silence.
“Uh, hey Chris. Long time, no see,” a voice above me interrupted, and I looked up from my computer screen to see Stiles standing in front of me, hands tucked in pockets nervously. My blood ran cold, and the blanket of awkwardness that descended upon us was almost stifling.
“Um, Derek, could we finish this up later, at home? I’ve gotta go,” I stuttered abruptly, slamming the laptop shut with a little more force than I’d intended as I motioned for Stiles to sit down across from me.
“So…what’s up?” I asked hesitantly when Stiles didn’t say anything for a while. He was closely examining his pale hands, picking at the skin on the sides of his fingers – a habit I knew he only did when he was anxious.
“Um, well, Scott and I couldn’t help but notice that you’ve been missing a lot of school lately, and we were…worried. About you.”
“Why? We’re not friends anymore,” I snapped, harsher than I’d meant to sound. Stiles’ face blossomed with hurt, and I immediately regretted my words. Truth be told, I did want to be friends with Scott and Stiles again. I missed them, and with the entire baby-no baby stuff, I could really use my best friends by my side. Alice was great, but she just didn’t understand me the way Scott did, or cheer me up the way only Stiles could.
“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that,” I said at the same time Stiles mumbled “I know.” The two of us looked at each other, and I tried to encourage Stiles to continue.
“Chris, we want you back, okay? It sucks not being friends with you, and we’ve gotten over our differences with Derek now. I swear things can go back to the way they used to be.”
“You cut me with a knife, Stiles! Things can never ‘go back to the way they used to be’!” I exclaimed, getting ready to jump to my feet and storm out of the cafeteria in outrage. As much as I wanted to move past it, I couldn’t. Not without something else to hold onto.
“I know, and I was wrong, believe me. I was so wrong to do that, and I’ve regretted it every minute of every day since. I’m so sorry I ever hurt you. But I’ve grown, we’ve grown…and I’ve realized that I need you in my life, Chris. Please.”
“Why should I believe you?” I shot back, although he was already half-forgiven. I was just waiting for him to suffer a little longer.
“Please Chris, please. We’ll treat you equally, and even be friends with Derek, I swear. We need you,” Stiles was practically begging me now, and looking into those familiar brown eyes, I found a part of myself that had been dormant for a while now coming back to life. I nodded, an ecstatic smile stretching across my face as Stiles whooped loudly, jumped up, and signaled to Scott, who sat across the lunchroom, no doubt eavesdropping on everything we said. He sprinted over, almost too quickly to be believable, and scooped me up into a giant bear hug, lifting my feet clean off the ground. My peals of laughter rang out in the sudden hush in the cafeteria as Stiles joined in the group hug.
“Why is everyone so quiet?” I giggled, craning my neck around to see past Scott’s muscular shoulders. The faces of everyone around us were shocked, eyes wide, mouths flopping open; everyone was staring at something in the entrance to the lunchroom.
“Scott, what is it?” Stiles asked in a low voice, officially putting an end to our joyous reunion. Before our friend could even open his mouth to respond, however, a gunshot exploded the silence in the cafeteria and sent people running for exits, screaming, and ducking under tables.
“Holy shit! What was that?” I shouted, instinctively dropping to the ground and covering my head with my hands. I could see Stiles do the same beside me, but Scott grabbed both of our arms and dragged us towards the source of the noise.
“Scott, what the hell are you doing? That’s where the shooter is!” Stiles cried, digging his feet in and trying to get some sense into our friend. But Scott was insistent, and suddenly I realized he was right; the probability of this incident just being your average school shooting was slim considering Beacon Hills was crawling with supernatural creatures. But unlike Scott, Stiles and I wouldn’t heal if we got shot.
I pulled my two friends into an alcove by the water fountain the instant we made it out of the cafeteria. People were swarming everywhere, panicking and running and shouting for help.
“We need a plan,” I stated firmly, making eye contact with Scott, who nodded in agreement. Just as I was about to suggest we find Isaac and Erica, I spotted my friend’s long blonde hair amid the crowd of frightened teenagers and called her name. Luckily, Erica’s werewolf hearing enabled her to hear me over the commotion and she turned towards us, pushing through the throng with Isaac in tow.
“What is going on?” she asked us breathlessly, and we could only shrug. Nobody knew who had the gun, or why, but we all knew it couldn’t be anything good. Or normal.
“We need to find Dean.”
“No, we need to call Derek,” Isaac disagreed, pulling out his cell phone and dialing my fiancé’s number. I quickly reached out and hit the end button on his screen, shaking my head firmly.
“No, we can’t call him-“
“It’s the best move, Chris-“
“No, she’s right. If we call Derek, he’ll just panic and act irrationally because Chris is in danger,” Stiles pitched in, coming to my rescue, and I smiled at him gratefully. It was true – we needed Alpha Derek not Boyfriend Derek and that was out of the question if I was here. Well shit.
“Let’s go to Dean’s classroom, he’ll know what to do.” So the five of us pushed and shoved our way through the terrified crowd until we were right in front of the Psychology classroom. I tried the door, but it was locked, and now the hallways were starting to thin out. Oh God. We’re like sitting ducks out here, a group of three werewolves and two humans.
“Dean, open up! It’s me, it’s Chris!” I shouted, banging my fist on the wooden door fiercely. Finally, Dean’s familiar face popped up in the little window slot that was just barely eye level for me, and two seconds later the door slid open and the five of us squeezed our way in. There were about ten other students in the room, probably students of Dean’s, but I pulled him into the corner to share my suspicions.
“You know whatever’s out there, it’s here for us. Or more likely, for them,” I muttered under my breath, gesturing to Erica, Isaac, and Scott. Dean nodded grimly, running a hand through his shaggy brown hair.
“I know, and I’ve got twelve innocent kids in here who are scared out of their minds. Now that you guys are here, I’ve just put them in even more danger.”
“You’re right. God, I’m sorry. Should we go?”
“No, of course not, don’t be ridiculous. But we do need a plan.”
Ten minutes later, the six of us had managed to scrounge up a halfway decent strategy to find out who was out there, what they wanted, and get everybody else out of the building safely. Unfortunately, it revolved around me and Stiles going outside of the classroom, seeing as we were the two non-werewolves in our group of friends. Together, the two of us carefully crept out into the hallway and down to where the main lobby was. Strangely, we didn’t encounter anybody on our way, which couldn’t be a good sign. We were just about to head to the cafeteria to search out the shooters when suddenly a strong arm wrapped around my waist and a large hand clamped down over my mouth. I let out a muffled scream, squirming around violently against the guy restraining me, but it proved to be futile.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” a familiar voice growled at Stiles from above my head, and I turned in his embrace. As guilty relief washed through me, I grabbed the back of his head and kissed him fiercely, sliding my fingers into his silky dark hair. His lips responded to mine easily, the sweet-but-spicy taste of him making my stomach ache for him. Thank God.
“Well, of course you’d have to show up and ruin everything,” Stiles remarked sarcastically, crossing his arms as Derek and I broke apart. Without my realizing it, I’d been scared and vulnerable without Derek backing me up; but now that he was here, I knew we could face whatever new enemy lay in waiting out there.
“I’m here to help, Stiles. You guys don’t even know who’s here, do you?”
“Not a clue. What is it?” I cut in, looking straight into Derek’s bright green eyes questioningly. He sighed, wrapping his hand around mine and leading us down to where the staircase offered a little bit of concealment.
“Group of three. All have guns, all posted around the school. They’re looking for someone, I just can’t figure out who.”
“One of us?”
“No, as far as I could tell they’re just normal guys. Well, normal criminal guys that is. Regulation guns, simple bullets, and black ski masks covering their faces. I think it really may just be your standard school shooting,” Derek confessed, squeezing my hand gently.
“Then how do we get those twelve people out of Dean’s classroom safely?”
“I would say let’s take them down, but you two aren’t exactly experienced fighters. Where are Isaac and Erica? In case of an emergency like this one, they’re supposed to find you right away and get the hell out.”
“Um, well it was sort of part of our plan. Since we figured these guys were werewolf hunters and Stiles and I aren’t werewolves…well, you get it. But I guess that’s dumb now,” I told him quickly, and Derek frowned. Before he could devise a new plan, we heard footsteps running in our direction. I gasped, fear slicing down my spine as cold and real as death itself. Derek’s eyes widened and he clasped my face between his hands, kissing me softly one last time before he pushed me away, in the opposite direction of where we could all hear the intruders coming.
“Chris, Stiles, run!”
Without hesitation, Stiles turned and bolted for the storage closet a couple feet down the hall, motioning for me to join him. I stood, rooted to the spot as two of the shooters came into view, their dark figures darting down the hallway like frightening shadows. With wide eyes, I grabbed onto Derek’s bulging bicep and shook my head at him frantically.
“No, Derek, I’m not leaving you here! They have guns!”
“And I’m an alpha. Chris, if I get shot, I’ll heal. You won’t. I’m strong enough to take on two humans who don’t even know what they’re up against.” And almost as if to prove his strength to me, Derek flexed his incredibly muscular arms and pulled me into a tight hug.
“I’ll be fine. Now go.”
“Derek, no-“There was a load roar, and then I felt myself being slammed back against the glass trophy case behind me, which shattered under the impact. I fell into it, broken glass slicing into my skin at every point, and in no time I was drenched in my own fresh warm blood. There was a blur of action in front of my blurry eyes, and then I felt Derek’s familiar arms wrapping around my bruised and banged-up body and lifting me onto my feet. A gunshot rang out, and then another one, but he kept running, as fast as I’d ever seen him go, until he finally stopped in front of a door. Derek set me on my feet, turning to slash the throat of the other shooter just as he leaped at us, brandishing his pistol. I wobbled a little but before I could lose my balance, Derek was there, wrapping his arms around me and pulling me back into his arms bridal-style.
“Oh my god Chris, hang in there,” he said urgently, sprinting back down the hall, around a couple corners, and before I knew it we were out on the steps of the school. To my utter surprise, about three hundred students and faculty stood on the lawn, staring at us in astonishment.
“What do we do?” I whispered to Derek, trying not to make eye contact with anybody I knew. Then, as if somebody had turned on the panic button, action exploded out of the crowd; friends shouting my name in concern, teachers running forward to help me, and then…the police, who’d been stationed around the school, approaching us cautiously.
“Put the girl down. We have you surrounded. Derek Hale, you’re under arrest.”
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Oh no! Derek's being arrested! Agh :( Haha but anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Lot's of action, and I decided to FINALLY reunite Chris with her besties, Scott and Stiles. Watcha guys think? Is that good or bad? And what did you guys think of last night's Teen Wolf?? You should definitely check out my rant on the episode, which is posted right before this chapter! But I know a lot of you were asking if Chris would ever be turned into a werewolf, and now that subject has finally come up! So now there are TWO contestants for Boyd's replacement in the pack - what do you guys think? Chris or Alice?? Lemme know in the comments! Anyway, thanks so much for reading and I hope you guys vote and/or comment! Love you guys :) xoxoxo