It was early in the morning when Mia, Derek, and Damien while in the kitchen eating breakfast heard a knock on their door. The recently engaged couple stared at Damien who was in the middle of taking a bite out of his pancakes while his eyes were on his phone when he felt their gaze on him.
He felt his eye twitch hoping they would stop staring at him. There was another knock on the door. He refused to look up.
Another knock.
"Fine! I'll get the damn door." He huffed dropping his fork and continued to his phone as he stood up from the stool and opened the door in frustration. "What?!"
Both Stiles and Lydia who were at the door blinked in surprise. Stiles who still held a fist in the air ready to knock again dropped it and gave Damien an awkward smile. "Morning!" He chirped walking passed the annoyed Kitsune with the strawberry blonde following behind him.
Derek and Mia who were enjoying their meal looked up to see the two teenagers with a grumpy Damien behind who slumped back into his chair and went back to eating. Mia rolled her eyes at her best friend and gave the two teens a smile. "Morning, you two."
"Why are you here?" Derek bluntly asked giving Stiles a mild glare.
Mia gently nudged him with her elbow. "Be nice. But, he is right why are you here. Shouldn't you be in school?" She asked curiously.
Stiles glanced at Lydia who seemed to be waiting for him to speak and rolled her eyes as she spoke. "We were planning on going to the Sheriff's station in hopes that Parrish could get us access into Eichen House so we could speak to Meredith. Maybe get the last key for the list."
"We were hoping Mia could come with us since you have the night shift tonight." Stiles said glancing at the brunette who was like a sister to him. He felt like there was something different about her but, couldn't quite put his finger on it.
"Why me? I don't see how I'd be any help talking to a banshee." Mia muttered not even bothering Stiles on how he knew her work schedule. The kid seemed to like knowing things and who was she to stop his curious nature even if knowing her work schedule was excessive.
"Not Meredith but, maybe you could help convince Parrish." Lydia said.
Mia furrowed her brows and Derek frowned in confusion. "Huh?" The couple asked.
Damien snorted. "I get it."
"What the hell are you talking about?" They asked giving him a confused look well in Derek's case it was more of a glare.
"Okay that's getting creepy." The Kitsune muttered. "They're referring to the crush Parrish has on you."
Mia blinked while Derek clenched his jaw. "Okay, Jordan does not have a crush on me. We've only talked like a few times together." She pointed out.
"Jordan?" Lydia said in amusement. "You two are already on first name bases."
"Yeah and he's always looking at you when you don't think you're looking." Stiles added with a quick nod.
"And he gave you a ride to the hospital the other day." Damien mused. His eyes flickered over to the sour wolf. "Better watch out Derek. A hot young deputy is trying to steal your girl."
Derek rolled his eyes. "He can try but, in the end I'm the one marrying her." He said calmly taking a sip of his coffee. He refused to be jealous of a guy who barely knew Mia. He wouldn't say or do anything unless the deputy said or made a move on the brunette beauty next to him. He was a possessive guy especially now that Mia was pregnant but, he wasn't going to attack a guy for merely crushing on his fiance.
Mia stifled a laugh when she saw look the three standing in front of her.
Damien's jaw dropped, Lydia's eyes landed on her ring finger, Stiles was gaping like a fish. "You're getting married?!" All three yelled in unison.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You live with her and you didn't notice the ring on her finger?"
"I would have thought the ring would be bigger seeing as how much money Derek's family had."
Both Derek and Mia shared a sigh going into the living room away from the arguing trio. "So. A deputy huh? " Derek mused giving his fiance an amused look.
She scoffed giving him a playful shove. "They're just being silly." She said as she grabbed him from the collar of his jacket and pulled him towards her. "I love you." Her eyes shown with with much adoration and love in her doe eyes.
He placed one hand on her hip pulling her closer while the other pushed back a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I love you, too. The both of you." He added glancing down at her stomach before pulling her into a kiss.
She smiled in the kiss he gave her and pulled him closer. The kiss quickly went from being innocent to them roughly kissing one another. Mia pushed Derek onto the couch and straddled him. He bit her lip before pressing open mouth kisses down her throat. She released a content sigh tugging on his hair, slamming their lips together once more. Ever since she got pregnant her hormones had gone up, not that she really minded nor did Derek.
They were unaware of the uncomfortable looking trio who were quickly led out of the apartment by Damien who told both teens that the couple weren't going to stop now. Stiles started to sputter while Lydia mused that it wouldn't be long before Mia got knocked up. Damien had snorted but quickly joked hoping no one noticed his uncomfortable look. He wasn't about to let it slip about Mia's pregnancy especially knowing that her temper had skyrocketed since she got pregnant.
He remembered a few nights ago she threw a lamp at him when he ate all the ice cream in the freezer. It only got awkward when she started to cry apologizing to him. That's why he tried to avoid staying alone with her in order to prevent her from breaking down in front of just him.
☾☾☾☾
After the fiasco in the morning in Mia's loft, Derek headed to the high school where he called for Malia. Who just happened to be his long lost cousin. "What are you doing here?" The werecoyote asked in confusion. She had been in the middle of class when she heard her name and followed the voice only to run into Derek.
Derek kept his face blank. "Brett's still out of it. I need to find his pack and warn them about the Dead Pool."
Malia furrowed her brows. "So what do you need me for?"
"I know a little something about this pack. They have a kind of secret meeting place in the woods. No one's spent more time in the woods of Beacon Hills than you." He explained and tossed the shirt to her. "This is Brett's. Breathe it in."
Malia stared at it not doing as he asked. "I'm not good at that yet."
"Try it. I'll teach you." He said and once she took it from him. He watched her inhale the scent from the shirt. "Focus on the different scents. Some are tied to identity. Others give off an emotion."
☾☾☾☾
Jordan stood in front of the small group that consisted of Lydia, Stiles, Mia, and Damien. "Your dad should be back within the hour. You want to wait in his office?" He asked directing his question to the spastic teen.
Stiles shook his head. "Actually, we want to talk to you."
"Privately." Mia added, taking a glance at the other deputies at their desks. Jordan furrowed his brows in confusion but nonetheless led them to John's office and shut the door behind them.
"This is a hit list?" Jordan asked staring at the paper they gave him.
"Actually, we call it a Dead Pool." Damien mused, noticing the lingering looks the deputy gave his best friend who despite everything they told her she refused to believe them.
It was only after Mia calmly told the three to keep their mouths shut about her engagement since she had yet to tell her mother and brother. But, with the whole deadpool incident they didn't have the time and plus she had just gotten engaged.
"Recognize any of the names?" Stiles asked.
Parrish nodded. "Yeah. The Sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last night. But we couldn't find any of them."
Damien glanced at Mia. "Show him the other thing." She held back an eye roll and turned the paper in the deputies hand over revealing his name.
"Okay. That's kind of terrifying." He muttered nervously staring at the paper in his hand before looking up at them. "What's the number?"
"That's how much you're worth." Lydia said.
"I'm worth five dollars?" Parrish innocently asked.
Damien snorted. "Try, five million."
Jordan scoffed and looked at them in disbelief. "I only make 40,000 a year. Maybe I should kill myself. I don't get it. Why-Why am I on this?"
"Honestly, that might be a question for another day. Right now, there's still another third of the list we gotta crack." Stiles said. "We need the third cipher key. But we need help getting it."
"From who?"
"Meredith." Mia mumbled.
"The girl from Eichen?" He said and glanced at the strawberry blonde with a pointed look. "The last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown."
"Uh Almost." Lydia muttered and Stiles gave her a look.
"I don't know if it's a good idea." Parrish muttered as he stared at the piece of paper with his name on the list.
The three all glanced at the brunette who was glancing at the board on the wall. When Mia noticed their looks she narrowed her eyes at them and shook her head. When she finally had enough she puffed out her cheeks and walked up to Parrish.
Said man looked up at her and she could see the scared look in his eyes, knowing that he has a target on his back. But, she ignored that knowing they needed to talk to Meredith. "Look, I get that maybe doing this isn't your cup of tea but, people are in danger and you are one of them. We just don't want anymore people to die and if going to a nuthouse helps find out the rest of the names on the list- then dammit you are going to get them inside even if it means breaking a couple of laws." She said releasing a tired breath.
Jordan barely noticed the surprised looks on the three behind the brunette in front of him as he processed what she said. He knew she was right about the people who were in danger and the assassins after them. He stared at the brown does eyes that were looking right at him for a moment before coming to a decision. "Alright. I get you guys inside." He muttered in defeat.
☾☾☾☾
Once they arrived at the preserve in Derek's car, they got out and began to walk. "Their Alpha is a woman named Satomi. She's one of the oldest werewolves alive. And she's learned a lot."
"What does that mean?" Malia questioned him.
"She's a bitten werewolf. Learning control wasn't easy for her. She did something a long time ago that changed her. The quote is a mantra. It helps them with control." He explained and glanced at her and noticed the pensive look on her face. "What is it?"
"Gunpowder." She mumbled under her breath.
Derek crouched and picked up a bullet she'll. "If Brett's pack is out here, I don't think they're meeting. They're hiding."
The two continued to walk using Malia's sense of smell. After hours passed by and it turned dark they returned back to Derek's car. Once inside Malia released a sigh. "I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry about." He said glancing at his phone to see a message from Mia telling him that Parrish got them into Eichan but Meredith didn't know anything so now she was at work. "If they don't want to be found, then we're not going to find them. Some werewolves have an ability. A kind of mastery over their bodies where they can actually inhibit their scent."
"They can hide from other werewolves?" She asked in disbelief.
He nodded. "From anyone who's trying to find them."
"So that's why nobody knew about Brett." She muttered.
"Same with Demarco."
She sighed before glancing at him. "Maybe we need to try something different. Maybe we need to think like Stiles."
He snorted giving her a look. "Like a hyperactive spaz?"
"Like a detective. If they're really Buddhists, then maybe instead of asking where werewolves hide, we should be asking."
"Where would Buddhists hide."He finished understanding where she was going. "When Buddha sat under the Bodhi tree, he looked to the east for enlightenment."
Her brows furrowed in thought. "Is there some kind of eastern point in Beacon Hills?"
He nodded. "Yeah. At Lookout Point." The two trudged towards Lookout Point and once there Malia stopped him when she caught a scent. "Malia?"
She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "You don't smell that?"
He glanced at her and didn't answer. "Wait for me. Right here." He walked on ahead leaving her behind. He came to an abrupt stop when he saw bodies lying everywhere and could see black blood leaking from their eyes, nose, and ears.
Malia had grown impatient and walked over to him. She released a small gasp. "What happened?"
"I think they might have been poisoned." He replied still in shock at the sight before him.
She scoffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "That's great. If assassins with guns don't get you, then the ones with wolfsbane poison will. Or maybe one with no mouth." She said. "Maybe we should all be running from Beacon Hills. Running for our lives. As fast as we can."
The two began to walk back to the car when Derek heard a rustle. He turned his head and saw something move. He realized it was a hand and quickly rushed to see if they were alive. His green eyes widened when he saw it was Braeden.
☾☾☾☾
Mia released a small yawn once she stepped out of the room that had both her father and John in. She was glad for her white coat because if not the two males would have surely noticed her growing stomach. She was just glad this morning Stiles and Lydia were too busy getting worked up about her engagement to Derek then her stomach.
She walked out of the elevator only to see Derek rushing inside the hospital carrying a body. "She's been shot! I think she's dying." He yelled.
She immediately rushed over and began calling over nurses and a gurney. She released a gasp when she saw it was Braeden before giving Derek a glance and focusing back on her friend. She could ask her questions later and instead focused on saving her friend's life.