"Okay, what the hell is wrong with you?" Ariel was startled from her daydream as Stiles Stilinski sat in front of her, slamming his tray on the lunch table for emphasis.
Ariel had been quiet all day, refusing to partake in his interrogation of her skipping brother or questions about the incident last night. She wasn't dressed in her normal graphic t shirt, jeans and smile, but in a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. Her face was bare, her hair pulled up in a messy bun. Stiles was sure there was something wrong, but neither McCall sibling would tell him anything.
"You didn't even get tater tots." Stiles sent a pointed look at the empty table in front of Ariel. "Even Barb is starting to think something is up." A fleeting glance in the direction of the lunch line showed an uncharacteristically happy Barb, serving helpings of meat loaf with a grin.
Ariel shrugged. "Just not hungry."
"You're always hungry." Stiles narrowed his eyes.
"Just go away, Stilinski." Ariels voice was harsh but he didn't even bat an eye.
"No thanks, this is my favorite table." He responded cheekily. When he saw the momentary flicker of amusement on Ariels face, he gained some hope. Stiles reached out, placing a hand on Ariels shoulder comfortingly. She immediately flinched away, pulling out of his grasp.
"God damn it, Stiles." She pulled a bottle of perfume out of her backpack, quickly spritzing it all over herself. Stiles stared at her, dumbfounded. In a way he thought was stealthily, he smelled himself. "You smell fine, that's not what this is about." Ariel looked around the cafeteria, paranoid. Deeming the coast as clear, she turned back to stiles. "Come on."
Ariel jumped up from the table, leaving Stiles no choice but to look longingly back at his untouched lunch and follow behind her. She slowed to a stop by the boys locker room, checking the halls before slipping inside. Stiles stayed close behind, his patience wearing thin.
When she grabbed a random practice shirt and threw it over his shoulders, he was unable to keep his frustration silent. "What the hell are you doing?"
"It's so he can't smell you." Ariel sighed, moving to sit cross legged on a bench. Grumpily, stiles pulled the smelly shirt on all the way and sat in front of her. "There are so many different scents in here he won't be able to detect it."
"Who is he? What is going on?" The entire day stiles's questions had been going unanswered and he was about to rip what little hair he had out.
"My mate."
"The alpha?" Ariel winced at how loud Stiles's voice rang.
"Yes! Talk a bit lower, damn."
"Why the sudden precautions? Why do you look homeless? Why have you been so quiet today? What happened? Why-" Ariel quieted the boy by slamming the palm of her hand over his mouth.
"Okay, if I tell you, will you shut up?" Stiles nodded slowly. "Last week or so, this guy Todd harassed me at a coffee shop, trying to get me to go out with him. And last night this guy Chad got a little too handsy." Stiles's eyes widened in realization and he shook Ariels hand off of his mouth.
"The two boys who were killed." Ariel nodded.
"Derek told me mates get crazy possessive but normally after they get claimed. This means the alpha is completely batshit."
"So that's why you've been being so distant?" Stiles shook his head. "I don't flirt with you, I'm your best friend. He wouldn't go after me."
"But that's the thing, Stiles, he would. From what Derek told me, mates aren't the happy little fairytales werewolf stories make them out to be." Ariel purses her lips. "It's a vice, a curse because even if you love each other, it gets out of hand. Mates kill children of other sexes if they get too close to their partner. And with this crazy ass alpha, I don't want to take any chances."
"But-" stiles sighed, mulling over what she said. "How do you un mate someone? Is it even possible?"
"I have no idea." Ariel picked at her nails. "That's why I'm going to see Derek after school."
"Ugh!" Stiles stood up, wrenching for the lacrosse practice shirt off. "Why derek? We shouldn't trust him."
"He definitely has some ulterior motives but he wants the alpha dead." Ariel looked up from her hands, eyes full of steely resolve. "So for now, we have the same goal."
~
It turned out Ariel didn't have to venture far to find Derek Hale.
Dropping by her house to drop off her backpack, she had run up to her room. The cream walls were covered with various posters and pictures, the mess of it perfectly summarizing Ariel. Her desk was strewed with papers and empty cans of energy drinks, her laptop laying open. The queen bed in the middle of room was unmade, blue blankets tussled and pillows thrown around haphazardly.
The chaos yet comfort of the room was all beloved to Ariel. However, the shirtless man standing in the corner was not.
"Holy shit Derek!" Ariel screeched out, her hand pressed against her chest in an attempt to calm her racing heart. "You almost gave me a fucking heart attack!"
Derek didn't show any emotion instead crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. He seemed to have no remorse for breaking into the girls room and scaring the hell out of her. "You should've been able to smell me."
"Well sorry I wasn't really trying to sniff out foreign werewolf stink while walking into MY house!" Ariel was indignant, not very happy with the man in front of her, or the fact that he thought he could walk around shirtless. Seeing him half naked was going to spoil any relationship she would ever have, simply because he was so unfairly attractive.
"With the alpha around, you should always be alert." At the mention of her mate, Ariel shuddered.
"Speaking of alpha, what are you doing in my room, shirtless?" She allowed herself a fleeting glance at his six pack before resuming her glaring. "Do you have a death wish?"
"If he comes to me instead of me searching him out then it makes my job easier." Derek shrugged.
"You didn't answer my question." Ariel raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, and why do you smell like fried werewolf?" Derek frowned so hard that Ariel wondered if his face would get stuck like that.
"Kate Argent showed up at my house with a cattle prod." He didn't make eye contact with her, instead choosing stare at the doorframe above her.
"Oh, well you could've just told me that to begin with." Ariel grinned. "We don't have any guest rooms but the basement has a couch."
"What?" Derek looked confused, the first time she'd seen anything other than anger and pain on him.
"Well your house obviously isn't safe if Argent was there and managed to electrocute you." Ariel rolled her eyes, kicking off her shoes. "So you can stay here when you need to lay low."
"I-"
"No arguing. Living in that house isn't something anyone should have to do." Ariel moved over to her dresser and started digging through one of the drawers. Derek watched her with a blank expression, inwardly surprised at the level of compassion she was showing. In the years since the fire, he had gotten little affection and the alphas teenage mate who he thought hated him was opening her home to him. "Aha!" Ariel pulled out one of her sleep shirts. Choosing against giving him one of the alpha shirts, she had opted for an oversized tee her aunt had gotten her, apparently under the impression that Ariel was an XL in men's and liked fish.
Derek eyes the shirt wearily. It was grey and long sleeved, with bright green fish on the front. He hated fish. "Yeah no."
"Ugh." Ariel thumped her head against the drawer. "Fine. You said you wanted the alpha to come to you, right? Have fun." Throwing the fish shirt down, Ariel grabbed one of the shirts the alpha had creepily put on her at night and threw it at Derek. Catching it without blinking an eye, he brought it up to his nose and sniffed.
"You've had this the whole time?"
"Yeah-" Ariel was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming. Footsteps sounded as Melissa McCall bustled into the house.
"Ariel? You home?"
"Yeah, in my room!" She turned to Derek,shoving him towards her empty window. "Ooh nice tattoo." She muttered, just noticing the black triskelion that spanned his shoulder blades.
He sent her an annoyed glance, pulling away from her and slipping out of the window. "Wait, Derek!" He paused, looking up at Ariel. She blushed lightly, feeling awkward as his eyes pierced into her. "The offer of the couch, uh, it still stands."
He paused, as if he was going today something and then thought better of it and just nodded. The second he disappeared, Ariels mom walked in.
"Honey?" Melissa raised an eyebrow. "Why are you staring at the window?"
"I thought I saw a raccoon out there." She lied smoothly. "Just a dog."
"Okay well, the conferences are tonight and-"
"Mom I am not going with you." Ariel snorted, flopping down on her bed. "My grades are good and I do not want to spend any extra time in that prison."
"Fine." Melissa sniffed. "Am I going to hear about your behavior disorder again?" Ariel chuckled nervously.
"Nooooo."
"Ariel Ryder McCall, have you been harassing your teachers again?"
"No." Her mother glared. "Well, only Harris."
"What did you do this time?"
"I may or may not have set a squirrel loose in his room."
"ARIEL!"