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𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐘𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄
𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘺: 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦
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𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬
THE PAIN FLOWING THROUGH me is nothing compared to the pain coursing through Allison's Pack members. That pain is second to losing your Mate. Isaac is feeling that right this moment. His pained howl is echoing in my ears and making my stomach clench. Isaac and Allison were going to get married in a few months. They were going to have a family beyond the Packs. That's all been taken away from them by a half-blood.
"This is why I hate Hunters," I growl, my shoes pounding on the pavement as I turn the corner. "They kill whoever gets in their goddamn way."
Alec tightens his hold on me, attempting to comfort me. "We're not all like that. It's only Valentine's people that do that. My friends, my Institute, don't kill without reason. A very good reason at that."
"Broken Accords. Am I right? Those pieces of paper won't keep peace forever, Alec. They're barely keeping it as it is."
"We're working on something better. A mutually satisfying arrangement."
I round the last corner and skid to a stop, my eyes wide with horror and my eyes burning their deep purple, the silver more prominent than before. Allison's heart is slowing quickly. Alec and I run over to my friends, drawing eyes and welcoming smiles. The smiles are forced. Their Pack mate is dying, why wouldn't they be forced? I fall to my knees next to Isaac and Allison, gripping Allison's hand as I draw the pain from her body.
"Hold on, Ally," I say, smiling down at the Huntress. "We're going to do something."
Allison smiles at me, her eyes alive despite her dying body. "Stiles, you're alive."
"Yeah, and I didn't come back to watch my friend die. You're going to live as well."
"She doesn't want to be one of us." Isaac's voice is thick with tears and anger. "She doesn't want to live if that's what she's going to become."
Allison nods. "I'm sorry, Stiles. I can't do it."
Tears spring to life in my eyes and start to burn my face as they roll down. "It's alright, Ally. We'll think of something."
Alec lays his hand on my shoulder and I look at him, his eyes uncomfortable. "I might be able to save her."
"How?"
He pulls a short instrument from his pocket.
"A stele? What are you...?" My eyes widen. "Alec, you do realise that if this works, she'll be one of you?"
He nods.
I close my eyes. "This isn't up to me anymore. Isaac?"
Isaac's eyes move from Alec to his stele and then to Allison. He is torn between letting her die peacefully or allowing Alec to draw an iratze rune on her. Whatever he decides, his time is running out. Allison looks over at Alec and nods. She will let him do it. Isaac squeezes his eyes shut and a tear runs down his face as he sharply nods, allowing Alec to attempt to save his Mate.
Alec crouches down next to me, carefully turning Allison's arm over and placing his glowing stele on her inner arm. Her flesh sizzles slightly as the rune is, for lack of a better word, burned into her skin. Isaac's eyes flash gold with warning and I grip his shoulder tightly to keep him still as Allison lets out a pained sound. Alec looks up and removes his stele from Allison's inner arm, the rune emitting a dull light as it settles into her arm.
Allison's eyes fly wide and she gasps, clenching her hands and gritting her teeth. I pull up her shirt and watch as the wound heals before our very eyes, the flesh knitting back together and leaving no sign of a wound ever existing. A smile appears on Isaac's face as he hugs Allison tightly, her arms wrapping themselves around him in response and a mirroring smile covering her face as she held onto Isaac's shirt.
Everyone lets out the breaths they have been holding, and Valerie falls to her knees in relief, holding her growing baby bump. She is around five to six months along, and that means that the baby is going to be growing and moving quite a lot within the next trimester. Her and Peter are in for a hell of a lot of mood swings and cravings. Well, mainly Peter, and who knows how well he is going to handle it.
The sound of my phone ringing breaks the silence.
"Hello?" I ask, not even looking at the Caller ID.
Jackson's voice comes through the phone. "Stiles? Thank god you're alive. We were starting to think the worst."
"Why? What's going on?"
"Derek's heart rate is falling."
"How fast?"
"Not too fast that we won't make it back in time. We're on a plane now. We're going to be landing in a few hours and then it's a two to three hour drive back to Beacon Hills depending on how fast Cora wants to drive."
"Like a bat out of hell," Cora says, her voice tired and strained. "We'll make it back in an hour and a half."
I laugh. "Alright. Just don't crash, alright? We don't need another close call tonight."
Jackson hits something. "That's right. What happened? Derek felt a surge of pain."
"Allison got stabbed by a Half Blood. She's alright though."
"Stiles, that stab should have been fatal. What did you do?"
"Nothing. I didn't get a say in any of it. It was Allison and Isaac's choice."
He growls. "She's one of them."
I growl right back, my eyes flashing. "So is my Mate. I'd watch it if I were you, Jackson."
"I'm sorry. It's just an instant reaction after spending time in London where the streets were crawling with them."
"It's alright. I'll see you three later then."
"Alright. Bye, Stiles."
• • •
Derek's Loft has been turned into a goddamn training centre. Well, some of it anyway. The back room that was once full of dust and cobwebs has been cleaned. Alec and his friends found old bow staffs, daggers, seraph blades, bows and arrows, and a lot of old training equipment in the building where Alec was kept. Strangely enough, it was a storage facility for Hunters of all sorts.
I walk over to Alec and sling my arm around his shoulders, grinning. "I wonder how Derek it going to react to this."
Alec rolls his eyes and looks at me. "He's going to like it. It's a way for that Wolf to let out any frustrations."
"He's going to break anything if he goes to use it."
"Doubtful. It's all vibranium. The rarest and strongest metal on earth. Go ahead. Try it out."
I walk over to the nearest metal object and grab it with both hands. Of course I had to pick up a bow staff. I breathe out and start bending the staff, only to meet an extremely strong resistance. I grin. A challenge. My eyes burn their vibrant purple and I tighten my hold on the staff, attempting to bend it again. It gives. I bend it to a ninety degree angle and show Alec, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Nothing should be able to bend that."
I laugh. "I can. Then again, I am a Turned Hybrid with a lot of extra quirks that no other Werewolf or Kitsune has."
Alec smiles.
"You should smile more often. It suits you."