"Alright let's talk about life more. Whatcha wanna know? I'm an open book ya know." I said, grinning.
"What are your plans for college?" Emily asked quickly.
Woah, what a bizarre question. This is something I hadn't really thought about. I knew she would have eventually brought it up, but still. I guess I have to give her an honest answer.
"I haven't really given it much thought."
"Well, what about community college?" She asked. I could hear the disappointment in her voice.
"I don't know, Emily. I mean being a wolf in high school is hard enough. Plus I would rather focus on the pack."
"But Scott-" I had to stop her mid-sentence.
"I'm not Scott though. I don't... have any family to impress or hide what I am."
Emily was beginning to get on my nerves. Why was she asking me all these questions about college? I don't see it as a big deal that I'm not going.
"Why do you care so much though?" I asked her.
"Isaac, I'm going to Yale next fall." She told me, touching my arm.
When was she going to tell me this? Yale is far. Is she really going to just abandon me here? She is my everything. I don't want her to leave.
"When were you planning on telling me?"
"I found out when I went back home. I wanted to tell you then, but the whole Cody thing happened and I never really knew how to tell you."
I'm happy for her, really. I just wish I had known sooner. I don't want to keep her away from following her dreams and going to college.
But I don't want to see her leave me. This is her choice. If she wants to go or not. It pains me to lose someone again.
"Well, if you're going to leave Beacon Hills, I want make the most out of what we have." I said, giving her a soft kiss on the lips.
If only I could come with her.
In the midst of a make out session with Emily, her phone rang.
"Who is that?" I softly asked, pulling away from her lips.
"It's Stiles"
I grabbed the phone from her and answered.
"Stiles? What's going on? Where's Scott?" I asked before putting the call on speaker phone.
"Issac? What's going on? Where's Emily?" Stiles jokingly whispered.
"Okay, be serious. Where is Scott?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I want to talk to him." Isaac said.
"I would give him the phone Isaac, but I'm literally hiding in a bush right now. Can't you tell by my whispering?"
"Full pun intended, will you quit beating around the bush and tell us where he is?" Emily said, giving me that cute smile of hers.
"We're at the preserve. And nice joke Emily."
I rolled my eyes.
"That helps. Where exactly?"
"Near the Hale house. Scott is talking to Gillyan's pack right now. It was like they were waiting for us there."
"Okay, just stay where you are. Is he in danger at all? Like can you hear what they're talking about?"
"Uh I don't think so. It might be about Derek though, I heard his name like three times."
"Alright just stay there. We're going to come and find you."
"Okie dokie" He said, ending the call.
Emily's POV
Isaac squeezed my hand before we walked into the woods.
I don't know what to make of this situation, but I don't think they just want to talk to Scott. There's definitely something they want. Maybe information on Derek?
We were near the house when Isaac's eyes flashed in the darkness.
"What's wrong? Did you sense something?"
"Yeah, I know where Stiles is. This way." He said, grabbing my hand.
I looked down and saw two sets footprints. Good.
As we were walking, we saw the two separate. Looking further in the distance, I could see more prints. No sight of Scott yet though.
Getting closer to the house, we could hear distant voices. That must be the pack and Scott.
"Guys! I'm over here!" we heard Stiles say quietly.
We rushed over to where he was hiding, making sure no one could see us.
"Okay, we need you to update us on everything that's happened since we talked." I told him.
Stiles let out a big sigh.
"Look, I'm not trying to make any assumptions, but- actually no, I am. I'm pretty sure your sister is in Gillyan's pack. I heard something about Derek and a missing wolf from their pack."
I peeked from the bush and could see some figures moving in the darkness.
Stiles and I gave each other a look before he addressed the big elephant in the room.
"It's cool you guys are here and all... but like... what do we do?"
"Yeah, Isaac, what do we do?"
He gave us an annoying glare.
"Well I think the best thing to do is wait and keep an eye on Scott. It doesn't look like Gillyan is going to hurt him. But why did you say the whole pack is here? It's just Gillyan and another wolf." Isaac said.
"Well I assumed there were more wolves. I only saw two approach Scott." Stiles replied.
"Approach Scott? Where were you when all this happened?" I asked, angrily.
"We were walking and I thought I saw some wolves. So, I ran... To this bush."
"While leaving Scott alone." I added, crossing my arms.
Stiles shrugged. "As much as I love him, this happens to be a situation in which I do leave him alone, yes. I've been with him as a werewolf longer than you have, Emily." Stiles said in a sassy tone, while also crossing his arms.
Before we could dish it out, Isaac stopped us.
"Hold it guys, I think something is happening."
I peeped my head out again and saw Scott arguing with the other wolf. I could somewhat hear her say something involving Derek, but it sure sounded like a threat.
"I wanna know wh-"
"Shhhh" Isaac and I simultaneously said to Stiles.
I will shit my pants if these wolves hurt Scott. I've already lost someone out here and I'm not going to lose another.
Everyone listened in a bit more while they kept arguing.
"Someone should call Jackson just in case." Isaac said.
"In case what?" I asked.
"You know... if I have to go in and help. Everything looks fine right now, but you never know what happens out here." He replied with a faded, empty smile as he looked down.
"Why don't we just call Derek instead? He's the alpha." Stiles said.
"I think he would have been here by now. Something's wrong. I can feel it." Isaac said.
Just by looking at him, I could tell he was stressed and conflicted. His breathing patterned changed. I needed to catch him before he could have a panic attack.
I grabbed his face. "Hey, look at me. Look at my eyes, Isaac. Everything is going to be okay. I'm here." I kept telling him until his breathing finally slowed down.
"Thank you Ems." He said, resting his head on my neck. I could feel his breath on my skin.
I wasn't one for pet names, but Ems was kind of cute.
After a few moments of silence, Stiles finally broke it.
"Look, I wanted you to have your cute little moment, but this isn't a couples nature retreat." He said to Isaac and me.
As Isaac pulled away from me, I grabbed my phone from my jacket, side-eyeing Stiles. Scrolling through my contacts, I found Jackson's number and dialed it. After a couple rings, he finally picked up.
"Oh, hey Emily. Having boyfriend issues? Is that why you're calling?" Jackson asked. Gosh, it was like I could hear his cockiness through the phone.
Isaac heard and gave me a weird look.
"No, we're doing just fine. We actually need you here at th-"
"Look, I'm kind of in the middle of something so call me back when you aren't."
"Jackson, Scott is in trouble. We really need you here at the preserve. He's with Gillyan and Derek is nowhere in sight."
"Really? Scott is with that redhead bitch? Ever let your cousin get laid Emily? Everyone hates a cock block."
"She is literally threatening him and Derek. We need you here. So I'm going to share my location with you and you better be here as soon as possible."
"Jeez, now it sounds like you're the the one doing the threatening. But fine, I'll be there soon." He said before hanging up.
Talking to Jackson was emotionally draining.
I could feel Isaac's eyes on me.
"Do you really call him when we argue?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow.
I couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.
"No way." I said, holding in a laugh.
I looked at Scott, Gillyan and the other werewolf. It seemed like they were negotiating about something. I heard a lot of 'what if' s and 'how about' s. I could use some more context.
"Do you guys think they're going to let him go anytime soon? We've been here for a while. If she's keeping him here for this long, it has to be really serious." Stiles said.
"Hmm maybe he's voluntarily talking to her. Other than the one threat, it seems a bit... civil?" I said, adding to the speculations.
"Well, we'll only know when we hear directly from Scott. If he plays his cards right." Isaac added.
For the first time in a while, I felt concerned about Avery. She could be a whole new person by now. And possibly a missing member from Gillyan's pack. As much as it pains me to think about her, I could only hope that she is alive.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I didn't want the other wolves to hear so I quickly sent the call to voicemail. I looked at my phone and saw that it was from Aunt Melissa. Looks like Scott and I are both in trouble tonight. He better come up with an excuse because it was getting a bit late.
Before I could think of something to text her back with, I heard a twig snap behind us.