Isabel's mouth dropped open. "They killed him?"
Scott nodded. "You don't need the details, but did Romero have friends?"
"Plenty. Wait, how did you know his name?"
"My best friend is the son of the sheriff, remember?" Stiles must have overheard his father.
"He hung out with about five other guys. They all scare me. I only saw one at the party. Do you think they went after that poor kid because of what happened to Romero?"
"The cops don't know yet. Look, if you would like me to, I can follow you home tonight and make sure you get home safe."
Isabel smiled. "That's sweet of you. Are you planning on protecting me from them?"
"If I have to."
"You're a good kid, Scott. Your heart's in the right place, but if they killed that boy for throwing that party, they'll tear you apart to get to me if they think I had something to do with it."
"Why?"
"Romero was...," she paused, trying to think of a way to explain that Romero was a werewolf without straight out saying he was one, although she wondered if his Alpha knew he was even in Beacon Hills. "You're familiar with the way a wolf pack works, right?" Isabel mentally facepalmed. Of all the examples she could have used, she used the wolf.
Scott looked slightly amused. "Very." She heard the amusement in his voice.
"Romero was like the alpha. His buddies were the betas and omegas. They followed him and did whatever he wanted them to do."
Scott nodded. "I think I understand."
"If they do decide I was involved I would hate to see you caught in the crossfire and hurt. Or Derek again. But thanks for the offer."
She left the clinic, reaching into her purse for her keys. The last thing she wanted was to see the teenager hurt in a domestic dispute between herself and Romero's pack. As she reached her Mustang, she caught sight of one of the pack members' reflection in the window. She gasped and spun around.
"Hello, Isabel," he said.
"I didn't have anything to do with it, Jared."
"I don't care. Romero went after you and was caught by Hunters."
Isabel slowly started to back away from him.
"His obsession with finding you caused his death. Don't think I don't know about why he was here to begin with." Jared's claws came out and he grabbed Isabel by the throat, forcing her back into the wall of the clinic. She dropped her keys and purse and grabbed his wrist as he did so, feeling the pressure of his claws at the back of her neck. "I know how you are being tracked by someone else. That's the reason he's dead. Because of you."
"He's dead because he attacked a Hunter. Now let go of me."
Jared listened to Isabel's now steady heartbeat. She wasn't afraid of him. He was a bit disappointed. "Give me a good reason I don't just rip your throat out. I told him to forget about you."
"Let. Go. Of. Me. Now." Isabel's voice darkened and her eyes began to glow a medium blue.
Jared's grip loosened slightly and he had a look of surprise on his face. "So you're not just some whimpering human pawn."
"Unless you want to share in the same fate as Romero, you should forget about what Vincent offered you. He won't keep his side of the bargain."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"Listen to my heart. You'll know I'm not lying."
"Hey!" a new voice called.
Isabel's glow disappeared. Jared looked over his shoulder at Scott.
"Scott, don't!" Isabel cried. "Don't get involved with this!"
Jared growled but Scott didn't show any fear.
"Let her go." His voice took on a tone that showed he wasn't going to back down.
Jared looked back at Isabel. "You've won this time." He leaned closer to her ear, moving his hand from her throat to her jaw. "But you won't always be protected." Jared left a scratch on her cheek before he let her go and took off across the parking lot. Isabel slid down the wall, praying that Scott hadn't seen that little display as the scratch healed itself.
Scott was at her side a moment later. "Are you okay?"
"I'm... I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Thanks."
"I'm following you home."
"Alright."
Scott handed her the keys and purse she dropped and she climbed into her Mustang, thinking maybe he hadn't seen what her eyes had done.
~~~
Scott followed Isabel home on his dirt bike. He knew the house pretty well. She was living in the house that Jackson once had. She waved as she pulled into the garage. Scott glanced over at the house Isaac had shared with his dad before Derek offered the Bite to him. Isaac's dad had abused him for most of his life and would even lock him in a freezer as punishment, which made Isaac's decision to become the first of Derek's pack easy. Afterward, his dad was murdered by a kanima at the order of a classmate who wanted revenge on the swim team that Mr. Lahey had coached after he nearly drowned in the Laheys' swimming pool. After the garage door closed, Scott went on his way. He'd heard the commotion outside and had gone to see what was going on. Just in time to see Isabel's eyes glow blue. They were a few shades darker than Derek's, but Scott now had his doubts that she was even human. She didn't feel like a wolf, but he saw the scratch the Beta left on her cheek heal as quickly as a wolf. He stopped at the curb in front of his house and pulled out his phone.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Argent? I have a question involving the bestiary."
"I've told you to call me Chris, but what's your question?"
"Are there any other creatures besides werewolves that have blue eyes?"
"Not that I'm aware of but I'll look and see what I can find. Why are you asking?"
"I'm not quite sure yet."
"Alright. I'll give you a call when I find anything."
"Thanks." Scott sat on his bike for a little while longer, wondering if he should share his discovery with Derek before he became emotionally involved with Isabel.
~~~
Derek knocked on the door of the house. He knew it from the few times of visiting Isaac's house, which was across the street. Now Michelle and Isabel were living in the former Whittemore house. Mr. Whittemore had moved his family to London after the fiasco that was the kanima incident to Derek and the others that knew the truth and a huge embarrassment to Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital. Derek was able to teach Jackson how to control his wolf before the move. Despite having been a kanima for a couple months, Jackson had a remarkable grasp on control when he was finally able to become a werewolf. Derek had been a bit reluctant to accept the dinner invite from Michelle. It was no secret that she despised him for his part in Paige's death, although she had no idea how correct she was in the blame. He turned back to the door when it opened. Isabel's brown hair was curled and she wore a sequined black one-shouldered top.
She smiled. "Thanks for coming."
"You look beautiful."
She looked down, suddenly bashful. "Thanks." She took a step back. "Come on in." Isabel led the way to the dining room. It was the first time he'd been inside the house where his bite had created a monster that left about ten people, give or take, dead before he, Scott, Isaac, and, surprisingly, Lydia and Stiles were able to stop it. Although, it had been ultimately Lydia that saved Jackson.
Michelle gave a wave. "Dinner's almost ready. Wasn't actually expecting you to be on time."
"Michelle!"
"What? Nobody is ever on time for dinner invites."
Derek chuckled. "That's one of the things my mother taught me that actually stuck. Be punctual."
Isabel giggled. Derek pulled the chair out for her. "Ooo, a gentleman."
Once everyone was settled and the dinner of pork chops, mashed potatoes, and green beans began did Michelle start the conversation. "I know I have been very hostile towards you since Paige died."
"You were angry. It was understandable."
"I shouldn't have. Yes, I was angry. So angry that I failed to notice what her death did to you."
Derek looked up at her, wondering where she was going with this.
Michelle looked over at Isabel. "You should have seen him when we were teenagers. He was a lot like Scott."
"Michelle," Derek started.
Isabel raised a brow. "Like Scott? Scott McCall?"
"Yeah. When Paige died, I think a part of Derek died, too."
"Michelle, stop rubbing it in," Isabel said, seeming to sense Derek's unease at the subject. He felt her hand on his leg close to his knee, as if her contact would ease the pain.
"Sorry, I got sidetracked. I hated you and blamed you for so long that I didn't see how much you were hurting. I really don't blame you for becoming angry yourself between Paige and your family."
"I still have an uncle and a sister," Derek said. "I am grateful that I didn't lose everyone."
"And I'm sorry about that. When Isabel first told me about meeting you, I told her to stay away from you. I even said hurtful and hateful things to you when we ran into you at the café. But then you offered to walk us to the car when Romero and his creeper friend showed up. Even risked your life when he went after Isabel."
"Just so you know, he did kick my ass. From what I understand, he went after the cops with a knife."
"I'm glad you're okay, then. And thank you. And I'm sorry. I can tell Isabel really likes you. I would like to try to be friends."
Derek looked at her, wondering what her motive was.
"I really do. I've been such a bitch to you because of Paige. Can we try to be friends?"
"Friends sounds good."
Hours later, Isabel walked outside with Derek. "Sorry about all that. That had to be the most awkward dinner."
"One of them," he admitted, but didn't offer details.
"The whole point of this was to thank you for what you did for us, not open old wounds. I'm sorry about that. I kinda wish I'd come to Beacon Hills earlier so I could have met your family and Paige."
"Me, too." Derek opened the door to his Cruiser. "When we met, you called me Beacon Hills' resident bad boy. Why?"
"I'd heard people talk about these murders and that you were a suspect. People thought you were involved with the murders last year. And you were a person of interest in Jennifer Blake's disappearance"
"And you're not running after hearing all that?"
"I guess I'm just attracted to bad boys," Isabel grinned.
Derek gave a half-smile. "Jennifer and I dated briefly. We broke it off not long before she disappeared. Michelle is right about you getting hurt. If you stay with me, if you get involved with me, you'll get hurt. Paige, Kate, Jennifer. The common denominator is me. I don't want you hurt."
"Is that what you say to all the girls?"
"Lately, yes."
"Kate burned your family alive. I think you were the one who got hurt in that case."
Derek started to ask how she knew, then remembered all the papers had cited Kate as the one who'd set the Hale House fire and was accused of the sting of murders that had actually been Peter after they'd left Kate's body to be found in the house.
"But she did end up dead," he said instead. Derek climbed into the Cruiser and started it. "I don't want that for you."
Isabel watched as he drove off. "I don't want you to get hurt either," she whispered at his taillights before walking back into the house.
~~~
"Alright. Thanks, Chris." Scott hung up and tossed his phone on his bed.
"What's up?" Stiles asked, straddling Scott's desk chair.
Kira was sitting cross-legged on the bed. Lydia was laying on her stomach next to her, her lower legs in the air with her ankles crossed and feet bare. Her shoes were on the floor in front of the bed. Malia was leaning against the wall closest to Stiles.
"What did Chris want?"
"I had him looking up something for me in the bestiary."
"What's a bestiary?" Malia asked.
"An encyclopedia of mythical creatures," Stiles explained.
"Oh."
"Why was he looking up something in the bestiary?"
Scott hesitated.
"Dude, you got mad at Derek for holding back stuff."
"Because I'm not sure of what I saw. And I rather actually say it in front of Derek, since he's the one that seems to be getting close to Isabel."
"Please tell me he's not getting close to another psycho."
"I actually think she might be a wolf."
"A wolf?" Lydia asked with a raised brow.
"She can't be a wolf," Stiles said. "I mean you and Derek would have noticed that right away, wouldn't you? You knew Isaac was a wolf before you knew that it was Isaac."
"Yeah, that's why I wasn't sure about what I saw,"
"What did you see?"
"I told her about the kid. When she spoke about how she was afraid of his friends, her heartbeat increased."
"She was lying or was she afraid just talking about them?"
"I thought the latter at first. Until I caught one of Romero's Betas threatening her. There was no fear, despite the fact his hand was around her throat and his claws were out. When I walked out of the clinic, her eyes were glowing blue."
"Like this?" Malia's eyes glowed a bright blue, a color she had because of her accidentally killing her mother and little sister the night of her first shift during a full moon when she was nine. She spent the next eight years running around the woods in full coyote form until Scott's Alpha roar turned her back to human.
"No, they were darker. That's why I'm questioning it."
"So you were having Chris look up to see what other creatures had blue eyes," Kira said.
"Yeah. He couldn't find anything."
"Maybe she's a weresomething," Stiles suggested.
Malia rolled her eyes.
"Could she be a Druid?" Lydia asked
"Ms. Blake's eyes never changed color when she used her powers," Scott pointed out.
"Yes, they did," Lydia countered. "The night she killed Kali and Aiden and Ethan's merged form, her eyes turned white."
Ethan had sought out Lydia to help him stop his twin and Kali from killing Derek. Peter and Cora had managed to convince Derek to run, as by that time he was a Beta again, having sacrificed his own Alpha spark to heal Cora and he was weak from it. He was barely a match for Kali as an Alpha, they knew he had no chance as a Beta. Lydia and Ethan were waiting for the two Alphas. Jennifer Blake then showed up and killed Kali and the Twins merged in order to fight her. She easily defeated them with the power she'd been gathering from the sacrifices to the Nemeton she'd been doing. Derek turned back when he heard Lydia's Banshee scream. The Twins somehow survived separately but lost their own Alpha sparks.
"Ms. Blake was also a Darach." Stiles looked over at Malia. "Dark Druid." He looked back at the others. "She got her power from killing random people with one thing in common and from a tree stump."
"Can we stop talking about her? She almost killed your dad, my mom, and Chris. Not to mention you, Isaac, Allison, me, Derek, and Deucalion."
"Kinda wished she had succeeded with Deucalion," Stiles muttered.
It was the night that Scott became Alpha. Jennifer had killed Kali, almost killed the Twins, almost convinced Derek to help her kill Deucalion in order to save Scott from his influence, and summoned a storm to crush Stilinski, Melissa, and Chris in a root cellar beneath the Nemeton. Deucalion had also almost convinced Scott to join him in killing her when Derek showed up with the Darach. Jennifer had used a lunar eclipse to her advantage, when the three of them became completely powerless. Derek's quick thinking had caused her to weaken after he tricked her into healing Deucalion's blindness, the effect of a betrayal by a Hunter that had met with him under the guise of peace. Derek then held her attention long enough for the eclipse to pass. Once she realized that her advantage had passed, she protected herself with Mountain Ash powder. Scott used pure willpower to break through, becoming the True Alpha in the process. A completely rare occurrence that Deaton had told him only happens once every hundred years.
"Earth to Scott," Stiles said, waving his hands over his head.
"Huh?"
"Are you going to tell Derek?"
"I don't know yet."