𝖉𝖊𝖘𝖎𝖗𝖊, 𝖘𝖎𝖝𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
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( 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖌𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖐𝖓𝖊𝖜 𝖙𝖔𝖔 𝖒𝖚𝖈𝖍 )
Tires burning up the pavement, Scott raced his motocross bike to a stop in the school's parking lot. He yanked his helmet off just as Stiles's Jeep soared in beside him where Stiles and Elle stepped out.
"Where is she?" Elle asked.
"Over here!" The three heard Allison shout. They spotted Allison coming out of the shadows with Lydia.
"What happened?"
"I don't know. I just got here." Allison shrugged.
"Lydia?"
"It's the same thing--same as the pool. I got into my car, heading somewhere totally different, then ended up here. And you told me to call when there's a dead body."
"You found a dead body?" Stiles asked.
"Not yet."
"What do you mean not yet? You're supposed to call after you find the dead body. After." Stiles stressed.
Lydia scoffed and backed up. "Oh, no. I'm not doing that again. You find the dead body from now on."
Elle raised her hand as if she was in class. "Question: why wasn't I trying to find the dead body this time?" She was ignored by everyone but didn't fail to miss how Scott, Stiles and Allison glanced at each other quickly as if they were hiding something. Her eyes narrowed but decided now wasn't the right time to question it.
Stiles growled. "How are we supposed to find the dead body? You're the one who's always finding the dead body."
"Guys... I found the dead body." Scott looked past them to the Beacon Hills High School sign atop which Deputy Graeme lay, garrotte around her neck. Blood streamed down the stone and brick.
* * *
Jennifer Blake walked the aisle between desks as she lectures. "Idioms, analogies, metaphors and similes. All tools for the writer to tell their story." She paused at Lydia's desk, noticing her drawing a picture of a leafless tree in her notebook. "Lydia, I wasn't aware you had so many hidden talents."
"You and every guy I've ever dated." Lydia gave a faux smile to her while Elle chuckled from behind.
"And that was an idiom by the way." Jennifer told her while straining a smile back. Unimpressed, Lydia went back to drawing. "Idioms are something of a secret to the people who know the language or culture."
She passed by Stiles and Scott, but not before she gave them a knowing glance. The recognition of the secret they share. "They're phrases that only make sense if you know key words. Saying 'jump the gun' is meaningful only if you know about the starting gun in a race. Or a phrase like 'seeing the whole board.'"
"In chess." Stiles imputed.
"That's right, Stiles. Do you play?"
Stiles tampered slightly as he looked around, uncomfortable. "My father does."
"Now when does an idiom become a cliché?" As hands went up in the classroom, Scott leant over to whisper to Stiles.
"I think I can get to Ethan. I'm pretty sure I can make him talk."
"What do you want to do that for?"
"The Emissaries are Druids, right? So what if the Darach was an Emissary to the Alphas?" Scott thought, unaware of how right he was.
"First of all, I can't believe we've gotten to the point where a sentence like 'what if the Darach was an Emissary to the Alphas' actually makes sense to me. Second, there's a huge problem with getting to Ethan."
"What's that?"
"Going through Aiden. Since he's been back in school they're always together. How are we supposed to separate them again?"
Scott thought for a moment. Then both of them turned to look at Lydia sitting behind them. She glanced up from her drawing and sighed. "What now?"
* * *
While other students drifted through the hall below, Scott and Stiles, who dragged a reluctant Isabelle with them, cornered Ethan in the stairwell.
"You want to know about Emissaries?" The alpha asked.
We want to know about your Emissaries."
Ethan scoffed. "Why are you even talking to me? I helped kill your friend. How do you know I'm not going to kill another one?" He glanced over Stiles and Elle before settling in the wall behind them, knowing if he tried to harm Elle then Dan would rip his throat open.
"Is he looking at Elle? You threatening her? You know what I'm going to do? I'm going to break off an extra large branch of mountain ash, wrap it in wolfsbane, roll it in mistletoe and shove it right up your freaking-"
Elle placed a hand on his chest, and tried not to think of how good it felt while simultaneously trying not to blush at how protective he was, "Stiles. We get it."
Scott ignored them, wishing they just snogged to get over the sexual tension between the teenagers. "We're talking to you because I know you didn't want to kill Boyd. And I think if something like that happened now, you wouldn't do it again."
"You don't know what we owe them. Especially Deucalion."
"What's that mean?" Elle frowned.
"We weren't like Kali and Ennis when we met him. And definitely not like Dan. We weren't Alphas."
Elle's frown deepened and she looked to Stiles and Scott. "Who's Dan?" The only Dan she knew was her brother, and there was no way he was caught up in it.
And that was when Ethan realised Scott and Stiles' fatal error. Elle had no idea her brother was working with them and the fact that they had kept it from her would ruin everything. If what her brother had said about her was true, the two boys in front of him, and whoever else knew, was in for nasty shock when she finds out that they knew.
"What were you?" Scott ignored Elle's question as yet again, him and Stiles sent worrying looks to each other which, yet again, Elle caught.
"Omegas." Ethan looked ashamed at his old positioning in the pack. Glancing past Scott, Elle and Stiles to make sure they're not being listened to, Ethan whispered an explanation. "In actual wolf packs the Omega's the scapegoat, the last to eat, the one who has to take the abuse from the rest of the pack. That was us."
"So, you and your brother were the bitches of the pack." Stiles clarified.
"Something like that."
"Bitches." Stiles smirked to himself.
"Stiles, please shut up." Elle sighed.
"What happened?" Scott once again ignored the pair.
"Our pack- they were killers. People talk about us as monsters. They're the ones who gave us the reputation. And our Alpha was the worst of them."
"Why didn't you just fight back? Form Voltron Wolf and kick all their asses?"
"We couldn't. We didn't know how to control it back then."
"Deucalion taught you." Scott realised.
"And then we fought. We took on the whole pack, one-by-one. By the time we got to our Alpha, he was begging for his life. We tore him apart. Literally."
"Well, that was a heartwarming story." Stiles commented with his usual sarcasm.
Elle nodded along, "Cool story, still murder."
"What about your Emissary?" Ethan shook his head with regret. Then they're all dead? Kali and Ennis's too?"
"All except for Deucalion's."
"You mean Morrell?"
Before he could confirm it, Ethan flinched. A look of pain was on his face, his hand moved to his chest. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Elle asked, concerned.
"Not me. My brother."
* * *
Aiden swung a weight up to hit Cora for a second time when Scott and Ethan grabbed him and yanked him back. The barbell plate clattered to the floor as Stiles takes a protective step in front of Cora and Elle, the blonde in which had gone over to the female werewolf.
"Aiden, you can't do this!" Ethan shouted at his brother.
"She came at me." Aiden hissed out.
"It doesn't matter. Kali gave Derek till the next full moon. You can't touch him or her." Aiden glared at them, breathless with anger. Until he saw Lydia gazing on him, horrified by his brutality.
A few feet away, Cora barely seemed able to hold herself up on the floor while Stiles, Elle and Scott stood ready to defend her. The bell rung but no one moved. Scott threw a pleading glance to Ethan who finally grabbed his brother and pulls him out the door.
Stiles kneeled in front of Cora to help her up, but paused when he saw the blood at her head. "Guys. I think she's pretty hurt."
At one of the mirrors, Cora wiped the blood from her forehead, gazing at her reflection with a mixture of disgust and anger. Scott, Stiles, Elle and Lydia cautiously approached. "Are you okay?"
"She doesn't look okay." Lydia said, unhelpfully.
"I'll heal." The moment Cora stepped away from the sink, however, she staggered. Scott and Stiles moved to catch her, but she managed to grab the sink and steady herself. "I said I'm fine."
"Sweetheart, I can see brain matter coming out of your head. Not fine." Elle scoffed.
Stiles stepped toward the werewolf, "You know how suicidally crazy that was? What do you think you're doing going after them?"
"I did it for Boyd. None of you were doing anything." Cora spat.
"We're trying."
"You're failing. All of you. You're a bunch of stupid teenagers running around thinking you can stop people from getting killed. But all you do is show up late. All you really do is find the bodies." As another drop of blood slipped down her temple, Cora brushed past them and pushed out the door.
"She's definitely a Hale." Stiles turned to Scott, "I'll make sure she gets home." As he went after her, Elle looked down to try and push away the petty and ridiculous feeling of jealousy she felt in that moment. Why should she be jealous? He was just making sure Cora was okay after a fight, so why did she feel so bad?
She and Lydia looked to Scott and he gave them a nod to go as well.