CHAPTER 4: ALPHA(S)
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US BEFORE?"
Melissa sighs as the three of us rush down the hall of the hospital. "Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to."
Scott and I share a look. "What do you mean?"
She shrugs. "Everything that you've been doing... the extra reading, the summer school, saving up for the bike, even though it scares me half to death..."
Her and me both.
"Honey, I just didn't wanna disrupt a good rhythm."
My heart melts a bit at the motherly concern and forethought, and just, well, care. The fact that his mother noticed his efforts, was a part of his life, and knew exactly what he was doing with it made me a bit, well, jealous.
Scott shook his head at his mom. " It's not gonna stop. I-I'm gonna be better this year. A better student, a better son, a better friend, a better everything. I promise."
I nodded, confidence a very attractive feature on Scott McCall. "Damn straight."
Scott sent me a beaming smile, and Melissa nodded.
"Okay. He's in room 215 if he isn't already in surgery. " she explains.
Scott smiles. "Thank you. "
"Bye Ms. McCall." I mutter shyly, always shy around her. I think she knows I have an embarrassing unrequited crush on her son.
She smiles her kind smile. "Oh, Indi, I've told you a million times by now, call me Melissa."
"Yes, of course, Melissa." Yeah, no it sounds too weird.
Scott and I made our way to the elevator after that, a silence engulfing us as I pressed the button and we were waiting for the car to arrive.
"So Stiles told me you got a tattoo?" I quirk an eyebrow at the other beta, who blushes.
"Well, sort of." He rubs the back of his neck awkwardly.
"Sort of?" I question. "What? You can't sort of get a tattoo. That's like saying you sort of bought something, or you sort of kissed someone. You can't 'sort of' something permanent and immediate."
Scott winces. "Well, I did. You see, we went to the parlor. I got the tattoo-" He rolls up his sleeve, showing some impressive biceps I was not noticing, "-here, and then by the time we left, it was gone."
I trace the spot, feeling the flawless skin where it should've scarred, and then I understand. "It healed."
He nods.
"So how did Derek get his if they heal?" I purse my lips in confusion, pondering the spiral pack symbol in the middle of his back.
Scott shrugs. "I was going to ask him, but I figured he's a little more busy with Erica and Boyd."
My heart constricts at the thought of the missing teens. I was never close with either of them, but they're Derek's betas, and as Derek's unofficial beta/ basically omega, they were in a way my unofficial pack mates.
And they've been missing for months.
The elevator dings then, opening, saving me from trying to fumble for a response, and Scott's pressing the button for the correct floor, the doors sliding shut when a stick line cane slices through, stopping the door.
The man on the other side of the door was blind, but had a strong aura I couldn't place. He made me uneasy, but Scott smiled none the less and made room.
"Would you hit the button for the second floor, please?" His voice didn't have an accent but it different in a way, as if stronger than the typical American accent, and I frowned.
Scott shrugs easily completing the task. "Yeah. "
The man smiles, keeping his head straight, hands folded neatly. "Thank you."
And an awkward silence ensues before the bell chimes revealing the designated floor. Scott moves to let him out when the blind man snatches his shoulder with unnatural precision, and I feel myself automatically tense.
"You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?" the man speaks easily, and Scott frowned at me, shrugging, and I suppress the urge to groan.
Damn Scott McCall's heart of gold- helping a blind man on a search mission.
"Um... sure." the beta agrees.
The man smiles and they exit the elevator, Scott mouthing an urgent, "find Isaac" before the doors shut between us.
The elevator dings on the floor with room number 215, and I'm rushing down the halls to the empty room, frowning.
"They already took him for surgery."
I spin around, heart seizing, and am face to face with none other than Derek Hale.
"Oh, so you do have a working cell phone." I hum, and he rolls his green eyes, and we embrace.
"I do. But I don't answer your 'What's up' spam, Indianna." he deadpans when we pull apart and I scowl.
"Seriously? How many times have I told you not to call me that?" I frown, and he rolls his eyes again, a customary practice for Derek Hale.
"That's your name, isn't it?" he smirks as we make our way down the hall, and he doesn't need to say it, but I know we're both following Isaac's scent as it leads us towards the elevator.
"Man, I really wish you had an embarrassing middle name or something." I pout.
Derek is about to roll his eyes again (because seriously it must be a Hale family specialty- Peter likes to do it too) when he pauses, eyes glowing a brief red as they narrow on the elevator door.
He's rushing towards it, and just in time as it dings open, revealing three wolves- one hulking unfamiliar one in a too small scrubs, one immobilized in a wheelchair, and one beaten and crumpled on the floor.
Oh Scott.
The hulk wolf (alpha, I can see now) speaks in growly undertones I have to cringe at. "Don't you realize what you're dealing with? I'm an Alpha!"
Derek's claws are in his back after that, delivering his witty one liner. " So am I. "
My unofficial alpha hurls the hulk alpha to opposite side of the hall where he crumples to the ground, unconscious.
Scott breathes a sigh of relief at seeing the alpha, and Derek raises an eyebrow. "Aren't you guys supposed to be in school?"
"No." I answer, giving him a weird look as I make a beeline towards my unconscious ex boyfriend. "Why would you think that?"
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"We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class..."
Scott sighs, balancing the phone between the his shoulder and cheek as he climbs off the bike, joining myself and Derek, who is carrying a still unconscious Isaac.
"Hey, can you tell me about it later?" Scott pleads with who I can tell by the loud voice and the fact that I didn't need to use werewolf hearing to listen in on the conversation (something Scott and I always do to one another) was Stiles.
Stiles scoffs on the other line. " Well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion."
I roll my eyes. "Just tell him to meet us here." I suggest, noticing Derek's exasperated expression. "Oh, you'll live."
Scott sighs again, nodding. "Okay then meet me at Derek's."
"Derek's house? What the hell are you doing at-" Stiles begins, and I roll my eyes, snatching the phone from the other beta's hand.
"Just meet us here, okay?" And with that, I hung up before he begin his twenty questions.
Scott smiles at me in amusement before turning to Derek. " You don't still live here, do you?"
Derek barely contains an eye roll. " No. The county took it over, but there's something here that I need. It'll help heal a wound from an Alpha."
Scott furrows his eyebrows, observing Isaac's healed chest. " Yeah, but it did heal."
I frowned, shaking my head, remembering one of the few lessons I had of the werewolf world from my father before he left. "Not on the inside."
Derek bites his lip, nodding at me sadly to confirm the claim, and Scott shifts uncomfortably.
"Hey, are you gonna tell us who that was back there?" I break the awkwardness I built up between us, and Derek frowns.
"That Alpha. " Scott clarifies.
"A rival pack. It's my problem." Derek dismisses, and I quirk an eyebrow.
"A rival pack? Derek-" I begin, and he cuts me off quickly.
"I know you guys wanna help, and you did. I owe you one." he assures, and I cross my arms, knowing where this was headed. Lone wolf Derek Hale carrying the weight of the world on his toned shoulders. "Now go home. Go back to being a teenagers."
"Still think you should let us do something, I know we;re not your betas, but a rival pack isn't just a small threat you can brush off." I argue, and Derek remains stoic. "They're probably out for your blood, however many there are, considering they went after Isaac, your beta."
Derek stares me down, almost considering, but then glances at Scott and shakes his head. "You too probably have homework or something you should be doing now. You better go."
Stubborn Derek Hale. Even as an alpha he's an omega, and has been for months. And those "What's up" texts were only because I couldn't stand the radio silence. Clearly, this whole rival pack thing is big, and I hate that he won't let us help.
We comply none the less, and Scott stops when we're about to exit as if remembering something. "Uh, hey, Derek. If you wanna repay back that favor now... There is something you can do for me."
We peer at the beta in confusion for a moment and then it dawns on me.
"Oh good God he has more important things to worry about than your tattoo!"
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