After everything that happened at the hospital, Scott and I followed Derek's advice and got the hell out of there before the Alpha that attacked us could well wake up. Derek carried Isaac out while we made our way out of there. While we were throwing ideas out there of where to go and take Isaac, Derek said we had to stop at his family's old house. Scott and I tried telling him we needed to find someplace more safe until we could figure this out but he said there was something there he needed to help Isaac.
Which is how we ended up here; me pushing the front door wide open as Derek carried Isaac inside to set him down on a table that was still in there. Scott asked Derek if he lived here still but Derek said no, saying that there was just something here that he needed to help heal Isaac.
"But it's already healed?" Scott questioned, motioning to the lack of gashes across Isaac's chest that sent him to the hospital in the first place.
"Not inside." Derek answered as I watched him start pulling wolfs bane from the hole where Peter was resurrected. Ugh, I still want to rip Peter's fucking head off for using me and Lydia, basically mind raping us, into helping resurrect him.
I was about to say something but stopped when my phone went off. I sighed, looking at the screen to see Stiles picture. I turned around, quickly answering it. "Hey, babe, what's up?" I asked.
"We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class..--" Stiles began saying before I cut him off.
"--..Sorry, but can you tell me about it later? We're kind of busy right now." I said, turning my attention back to Derek trying to help heal Isaac up.
"Uh, well, no, pretty sure this qualifies for immediate discussion." Stiles argued.
I rolled my eyes as I said, "All right, meet us at Derek's."
"Derek's house? What? What the hell are you d--.." Stiles began saying before I cut him off again.
"..--Just meet us here. Love you, see you soon." I said as I hung up my phone, stuffing it back into my pocket.
I walked over to them, holding Isaac's hand while making sure he was okay. I knew he was going to be okay though, not because I was having some feeling about it or anything supernatural. I just knew Isaac was going to be okay, he had to be. We've all made it out alive so far so we just needed to keep going, right? Leave no man behind and Derek can heal him. He has to heal him, we can't lose anyone. It'll hurt too much.
I sighed, rubbing circles into Isaac's hands while glancing towards Scott. We both exchanged a look, Scott mentally asking me if it was okay to which I just shrugged and nodded my head. Scott sighed before turning to look at Derek, sheepishly.
"Hey, are you gonna tell me who that was back there? That Alpha?" Scott asked.
"A rival pack." Derek answered, making the two of us look slightly alarmed if not terrified and a bit confused. We've dealt with Peter's crazy ass turning Scott into a werewolf and activating my Valkyrie powers, Derek ripping Peter's throat open and being the catalyst for turning Jackson into the Kanima, Derek turning what seems like almost all of our classmates into werewolves for his pack, Matt controlling Jackson and murdering people around town. We've dealt with a lot in the past year and a half.
But none of it included a rival pack.
Let alone any other pack. The only pack we've encountered was the army of teenage werewolves Derek was building. So, to see another Alpha, and fight him well... it's a huge cause for caution. Were other packs dangerous? Did they fight for territory or something? I thought all werewolves got along or at least tried so they'd stay united against hunters. Looks like I was wrong apparently since the only other Alpha was encountered tried to kill us on sight.
"It's my problem. I know you want to help, and you did. I owe you one. Now go home, go back to being a teenager." Derek said, breaking me from my thoughts. I watched as he brought the wolfs bane over to Isaac, breaking it up to start healing him as I continued to hold Isaac's hand. Derek tried giving me this look, telling me I should go home with Scott and not worry about this.
But I just shook my head, standing my ground. "You're insane if you think I'm leaving Isaac here, I'm staying until he wakes up and I know he's safe." I argued with Derek, not letting go of Isaac's hand. "Besides, as the only one of the four of us who can actually help predict danger before it happens, I think it's safe I stay in case that Alpha shows back up."
"You can get hurt, don't forget that." Derek said.
"And I've been training, harder and faster, and I'm stronger than what I was before. You don't forget that. And you never run from a fight so why should I?" I retaliated which seemed to actually cause Derek to smirk at my words. I rolled my eyes but managed to return the small smile, slightly afraid Derek would never smile again if I didn't return the gesture. It's rare to catch the Derek Hale in a good mood, let alone smiling so I'd take advantage while it's happening.
I looked over at Scott, seeing the look on his face as he was holding his arm. Then, that's when I knew what he was thinking about. Well, looks like Scott's going to cash in that favor Derek owes him right now.
"Hey, Derek. If you wanna repay back that favor now, there is something you can do for me." Scott said as Derek just looked at him slightly confused.
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"Yeah, I see it. It's two bands, right?" Derek asked, analyzing Scott's arm where his tattoo was supposed to be before it healed itself. "What's it mean?" Derek asked Scott.
Stiles had arrived by now, standing next to me with his arm around me while we just watched the two werewolves in front of us.
Scott stayed quiet at first, trying to find the words to explain to Derek about why he wanted that tattoo and why he wanted it now. "I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers." Scott said, tracing the tattoo into the dust on the table next to him. Derek looked at the two bands Scott traced in the dust, asking Scott why it was so important to him.
That's when I noticed the sad look on his face.
"Do you know what the word "tattoo" means?" Scott asked. Stiles smirked, answering that it means to mark something, winking at Derek. I couldn't help but laugh and roll my eyes at him thinking he knew something before Derek. "Well, that's in Tahitian. In Samoan, it means "open wound." I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18, I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now as kind of a reward."
"For what?"
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes." Scott answered, earning a knowing look from Derek. I think this might be an alternate universe or something because I expected Derek to say something like teenagers and stupid love or something but he didn't. He actually looked sympathetic. "I was trying to give her the space she wants" Scott sighed. "Going four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a--..."
"Like an open wound." I answered, giving Scott an apologetic look. I walked over to him, placing my hands on his shoulders while giving him a hug. I smiled down at my heartbroken best friend, rubbing his arms slightly. "I know it hurts now, Scott, but just try to remember something. There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book. I know it hurts because of Allison and your chapter with her is done but that doesn't mean the book is done. There's so much more to your story that hasn't happened yet but I can guarantee you that you're going to get your happy ending."
Scott sighed, giving me a small smile while thanking me. I smiled, hugging him before stepping back to allow him to receive his tattoo from Derek. We all watched as Derek, who probably thought he was hiding it but I saw, smiled somewhat at what I had told Scott before lighting up a blow torch.
"Woah.." We all said while we watched Derek inspect the flame before focusing on Scott.
"Pains going to be worse than you ever felt." Derek warned Scott.
Stiles laughed, shaking his head. "Oh, great. Well, that's my cue to--..." Stiles began saying, trying to walk away as Derek put out his arm to keep Stiles from leaving.
"No, you're going to help hold him down." Derek told Stiles.
Stiles complained but came over to help hold down Scott anyways. I smiled over at him, commenting on how he would be doing all the work, trying to boost his ego. Which worked. Stiles thanked me, giving me a kiss before we both held Scott down so Derek could do his thing and get our boy his tattoo.
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"You would think him being a werewolf and a man and all that he'd be able to handle a little pain." I commented, walking back and forth. After getting Scott his tattoo, he passed out from the pain. So we were just sitting around waiting for him to regain consciousnesses.
"What do you know about pain?" Derek practically snorted, looking over at me.
I glared at him, crossing my arms in front of my chest. "For your information, Hale, I survived a whole lot. I survived werewolves, your psychotic uncle killing me and turning me into something I still don't fully comprehend, your psychotic uncle mind fucking with me into resurrecting him, and training full time with my dad."
Derek looked semi impressed but still bore that infamous Hale look on his face, the one that just screamed "resting bitch face."
"Oh, and let me tell you something. A Valkyrie's training is harder than shit, okay? It's almost so unbearable at times, it makes me want to die just so I can get a break." I snapped, feeling on edge.
Derek now looked like his interests were peaked. "Why do you go through it then? Why go through that pain? Why do you want your tattoo? I don't suspect it's the same reason as Scott."
I took a deep breath, feeling this was going to get real for a second. "Because--...ugh, because it helps me feel connected to my mom. Okay? My dad said she went through this stuff, she trained more and harder than anyone before her. That's why she was the leader, why everyone looked up to her because she was stronger than most. She got her tattoo or tribal marking when she was my age, I just more than anything want to be like her. I want to feel like we're connected even though I hardly remember anything about her, the only thing I remember is that I love her. I know it probably sounds dumb or whatever but it makes-..it makes me feel like she'd be proud of me." I sighed, looking down at the ground.
"It doesn't sound stupid at all." Derek reassured me, making me look at him slightly surprised. I smiled slightly, nodding my head at him.
"Thanks.." I whispered. "And someone wise once mentioned how pain is what keeps us human. I guess I thought that if I could go through this pain, I'd still feel a little normal myself."
Derek offered me a smile, putting a hand on my shoulder and looking down at me. "Well, if anything--..I think your mom would be proud and you most certainly earned it after everything you've gone through."
I smiled, going to say something until we were interrupted by Scott gasping, suddenly opening his eyes. I turned, running over to him, hugging him before telling him he passed out from the pain. Scott sighed, noticing the small tattoo on my arm, making me laugh when I told him unlike him, I didn't faint. We all laughed, enjoying this small moment together while we could.
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"It looks pretty permanent now." Stiles complained as Scott looked at the tattoo on his arm.
"I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us, everything changes so fast. Everything's so...ephemeral." Scott said, while Stiles and I both looked at him.
"Studying for the PSATs?" We asked him, commenting on how cool it was before walking towards the door to leave.
Scott opened the door first, going to walk out but stopped when he noticed the door was painted. I glanced at it, noticing the fresh set of red paint over it. "You painted the door? And why only one side?" Scott asked while I glanced towards Derek to see the look on his face. He tried calling to Scott, telling us we needed to go home.
But that didn't stop Scott from scratching off the paint, revealing a symbol painted on the door in black.
"What's this?" I asked, pointing to the symbol on the door and looking at Derek who had a look on his face.
He sighed before explaining, "It's a warning."
"The birds at the school, and the deer just like the night Sara and I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha." Scott pointed out before turning to Derek. "How many are there?" He asked Derek.
"A pack of them. An Alpha pack." Derek answered.
We all exchanged confused looks before Stiles said, "All of them? How does that even work?"
"I hear they have some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion." Derek said before going on to explain why they were now in our lives. "We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for them for the last four months."
I scoffed, shaking my head. "What the hell? Why didn't you mention anything months ago? We could have helped you find them!"
"You were all busy and it's my problem. They're my pack, okay. I did this, it's mine to fix." Derek said.
Scott stepped forward, trying to defuse the situation. "Let's say you find them. How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"
"With all the help I can get." Derek said.
But before we could say anything more, we heard someone moving behind us. We all turned, seeing Isaac finally wake up as he began asking us the same question. Isaac was shirtless, Stiles trying to put his hand up to block my vision while I just rolled my eyes before pushing his hand away.
"Where is she? Where's the girl?" Isaac asked us, all of us looking confused.
"What girl? Isaac, what girl are you talking about?" I asked him, stepping forward to make sure he was okay while I could feel Stiles rolling his eyes.
"The one who saved me.."
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"I still might not know how all of this works but--.." I began saying, pacing back and forth while turning to stare at Derek and the rest of them. "..--I'm getting a bad feeling here. Remember? Chooser of the slain over here and predictor of danger. I have a bad feeling and I don't think we're all gonna make it out of this alive."
"Well we need to find them. And the Alpha pack is already here, we're already in this whether we want to be or not." Derek snapped, making Stiles glare at him.
I shook my head, glaring at Derek. "Derek, just listen to me. Okay? We all want them to be safe but they tried killing Isaac, they probably killed the girl that saved him..What's to say they haven't killed Boyd or Erica?"
"That's what we need to find out. So I suggest you all go home, get some rest because it seems like we're going to have another fight to go through." Derek said.
I sighed. "Not another fight... Another war."
"A war with an Alpha pack."
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Right now, we listened to Derek's advice and Stiles and I came back to my house. We were in my training room, just relaxing. Well, Stiles was sitting there watching me train as he refused to. He says something about how 'he'll pass out' and 'can't handle watching me and scott get tattoos'' let alone go through the hellish training I go through.
"It'll be fine. We'll get through this." I sighed, hitting the punching bag in front of me.
"How can you be so sure? Did you get a feeling or something? I mean--..how do we know this isn't the end of our story? Of our chapter? I just don't know what I'd do if I lost you." Stiles said, stepping closer to me. "I don't understand how you're so..--not terrified of how this ends for us."
I sighed, stopping the punching bag while I unwrapped my hands. I smiled at him, cupping his face in my hands while staring into his eyes. "Hey, I want you to listen to me. I'm not afraid of what this chapter ends like because I know, that at the end of our stories, which isn't for a long, long time by the way, that we're going to be together. There's never been a doubt in my mind that you and I were born to be together, were written to be together in our stories. We're endgame and if you want to be afraid then that's fine. I can be brave enough for both of us."
I smiled sweetly at Stiles, him kissing my lips while bringing me in close. "I really love you, you know that?" Stiles kissed my nose.
I giggled, smiling at him like an idiot. "Believe me, I do. If not for the obvious evidence in your pants that lets me know every time we're close."
Stiles face turned instantly red, complaining about how I always embarrass him. But he seemed to totally forget this as soon as I placed another kiss on his lips. Let's just say we spent the remainder of our time hanging out for the night with the two of us reassuring the other that we're never gonna lose each other.
author's note:
i've been busy with jury duty, ugh it's awful. Anyhow, I am finally done with all that so I'm gonna be updating more. I'm really excited for this book cause it's gonna be bananas lol Hope you all enjoyed this chapter but be prepared cause it's gonna be crazy.