Chapter 11
My mother has not stopped calling me. If her text were any indication, I knew very well she was not happy with me. I sighed as I muted my phone.
"Everything okay, Juls?" Stiles asked as he looked at me through the rearview.
I nodded, "Yeah, I got what I wanted. But my mom's going to kill me."
Derek groaned again which caused Stiles to look over to him, "Come on. Try not to bleed out on my seats, okay? We're almost there."
"Almost where?" Derek asked.
"Your house," Stiles answered.
That got Derek's eyes to widen in fear, "What? No, you can't take me there."
"I can't take you to your own house?" Stiles asked, clearly confused.
"Not when I can't protect myself," Derek hissed.
Stiles finally pulled over to the side of the road as he looked over to Derek, "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Hmm?"
I leaned forward in my seat and asked, "Are you dying?"
"Not yet," Derek answered as he began to take off his leather jacket, "I have a last resort."
"What do you mean? What last resort? Oh, my God!" Stiles exclaimed.
Once Derek's jacket was off, we were met with the nastiest bullet wound I have ever seen. I had to cover my nose from the smell that was coming off from it. I can make out the smell of death and the smallest hint of wolfbane coming from the wound.
"What is that? Oh, is that contagious?" Stiles was trying to look away from the wound, "You know what, you should probably just get out."
"Start the car" Derek threatened, "Now."
"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look," Stiles began, "In fact, I think if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."
"Stiles!" I exclaimed.
"Start the car, or I'm gonna rip your throat out with my teeth," Derek threatened once more.
That got me to glare at him. I was about to through him a warning when Stiles started the car and began to drive off somewhere new. As we drove, I leaned between the seats as I looked over at Derek.
"Try it, and I will make sure you have no more teeth to threat people with," I hissed at him.
Derek glared back at me but then backed off when I glowed my eyes at him. Something about it caused him to fear her. He didn't know why, but it was clear to Derek that I would hold my end of her threats if anything were to happen to Stiles. He just grunted and looked out the window. I leaned back into my seat as I tried to busy myself.
---
I was currently being yelled at by my mother through her voice mails. She had left me several of them as the night began to roll in. It was currently dinner time, and more than likely, she was trying to explain why I was not there. I hated myself for this, as I could hear her tears through her messages.
"You okay?" Stiles asked.
I sighed ending the torment of voicemails, "I'm so dead once I get home..."
"Just tell her you were having a werewolf problem..." Derek offered.
I glared at him before answering, "Yeah, let me worry her more than I am already doing, while I am at it."
"Just saying..." Derek scoffed.
Stiles was about to say something but stopped when he heard his phone ring. It was Scott, which he finally got to us. I am so tired of all of this as I tried to think of a way to get myself out of my mother's wrath.
"What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked, "And by the way, he's starting to smell... Like death..."
"That's what I have been noticing since we found him at the parking lot," sighed, earning a smile from Stiles and a glare from Derek.
Stiles returned to the call as he asked, "What about your boss?"
After a few more words, Stiles was about to hang up as he stated, "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you."
Derek took the phone away from Stiles as he began to talk to Scott, "Did you find it?"
I can hear Scott's frantic response back to Derek, causing me to roll my eyes at him.
"Then think about this," Derek spoke up, "The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time, you either kill him or you get killed. So if you want to stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."
With that Derek hung up the call and tossed Stiles his phone back. I glance over to Stiles as he started the car. I buckled up once more and tried to enjoy as much of the silence as I could. It didn't last long with Derek's groans of pain that he voiced several times along the way.
---
"Miss Barnett?" Stiles answered his phone, causing me to look over to him as I helped Derek out of his car, "Juliette? No, I was going to give her a ride but said something about having to go help her friend... Sure, I'll keep an eye out for her. I'll bring her home once I do.... No problem, Miss B."
"What did she want?" I asked.
Stiles opened up the loading dock doors as he answered, "She's worried something happened to you since you haven't answered any of her messages or calls."
I nodded as I helped Derek to sit on a stack of dog food. I decided to leave my phone and bag in the jeep as it would be one less distraction while we try to figure out what to tell my mother.
"Does Nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you?" Stiles asked as he looked up from his phone.
"Isn't that another term for wolfsbane?" I asked looking over to Derek.
"Yeah, but when it comes to Hunters, It's a rare form of wolfsbane," Derek answered, clearly getting out of breath now, "He has to bring me the bullet."
"Why?" I asked this time.
He sighed, "Because I'm gonna die without it."
Stiles quickly sent the text back to Scott, relaying the message. With the help of Stiles, we got Derek to the operating room. Derek began to take off his shirt, which revealed his perfect body which I just rolled my eyes at. Stiles noticed my reaction which earned a small smirk from him.
Once the shirt was off, we noticed how bad the wound was turning. His entire arm was covered with black veins as from the wound. To say that it looked okay was a lie. No, it was so bad, I couldn't look at it without the urge to vomit.
"You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night's sleep couldn't take care of," Stiles jokes, trying to make light of the situation.
I giggled at the joke.
Derek glared over to us as he hissed, "When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me."
"Positivity just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?" Stiles threw back.
"Nice," I grinned as we high-fived each other.
"I am really hating the thought that you and I are even related..." Derek commented before returning to the topic at hand, "If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time, last resort."
"Which is?" I asked him, crossing my arms.
He produced a bone saw to us as he stated, "You're going to cut off my arm."
"Oh, my God! What if you bleed to death?" I began to worry about the last resort plan.
"It'll heal if it works," Derek breathed out.
"Look, I don't know if I can do this," I told him, which Stiles agreed with a nod.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!" Stiles answered for me.
"You two faint at the sight of blood?" Derek asked.
I rolled my eyes at him as I answered dryly, "No."
"But I might at the sight of a chopped-off arm!" Stiles commented.
"AIright, fine," Derek sighed, "How about this? Either one of you cut off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off his head."
I stepped in front of Stiles as I growled at Derek, "Hurt him and I will make you wish for your own death."
Derek glared back at me testing my boundaries.
"Fine!" Stiles exclaimed, "I'll do it!"
Suddenly, Derek vomit beside the operating table. The black substance that hit the floor, splashed up, landing a bit on my leggings. I backed away from Derek out of disgust and fear that he might blow again.
"Holy God! What the hell is that?" Stiles asked.
I was fighting back my own urge to vomit as I looked at the spot it hit my leggings.
"It's my body, it is trying to heal itself," Derek answered.
"Well, you owe me a new pair of leggings..." I commented dryly.
"Whatever," Derek hissed, "Now, You gotta do it now."
"Look, honestly, on second thought, I don't think I can," Stiles began to go back on his word.
"Just do it!" Derek growled at him.
"Hey!" I growled back as my eyes flashed gold.
"Stiles? Juliette?" Scott's voice was heard.
Stiles and I turned to look over to the entrance as we asked back, "Scott?"
"What the hell is going on?" Scott asked as he looked around the room.
He looked at the bone saw with a curious look before Stiles finally exclaimed, "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."
Derek ignored Stiles as he looked over to Scott, "Did you get it?"
Scott showed Derek the bullet he pulled out of his front pocket. Derek took it with greedy hands. I walked over to the sink and began to salvage my leggings as they had their fun.
"What are you gonna do with it?" Scott asked, watching Derek with suspicion.
"I'm gonna," Derek began but he staggered off.
I shut the faucet off and looked over to Derek. He began to sway before dropping the bullet. Scott rushed to get the bullet as I rushed over to Derek with Stiles' help. I tried to shake Derek awake but to no avail. Stiles had to push me to the side, calmly, as he muttered an apology under his breath. I was about to ask what he meant with the apology, only to be met with the sight of Stiles punching Derek in the face.
That woke Derek up as he made quick work of the bullet that Scott was able to once again retrieve. I watched with bated breath as Derek light the wolfsbane and placing the flame to his arm. I hid my face in Stiles' chest since I couldn't sit back and watch as Derek went through a lot of pain.
When Derek stopped screaming, I looked over to my cousin. Stiles still had an arm around my waist as he just looked amazed.
"That was awesome! Yes!" Stiles exclaimed, clearly excited.
I smacked his chest as I commented, "How about we don't go through that again... like ever."
"Are you okay?" Scott asked, ignoring us.
Derek leaned on the operating table as he answered him back, sarcastically, "Except for the agonizing pain?"
"I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health," Stiles commenting.
Stiles presented me with his hand to high five, which I returned gladly with a broad smile. Scott and Derek glared at us to be serious, but hey, Stiles made a point.
"Okay, we saved your life, which means you're gonna leave us alone," Scott warned, "You got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything."
"You gonna trust them?" Derek asked, walking around to be right in front of Scott, "You think they can help you?"
Scott puffed up to Derek and threw back, "Why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you are!"
"Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are," Derek had the final word.
After Derek dragged Scott away to show him whatever he was going to show him, Stiles drove me home, like he promised my mother. Even though I knew my mother was waiting for me inside, I didn't have the courage to confront her. Stiles was holding my hand as I hung my head. Would my mother be disappointed or worried? Either option was bad, but one was worse than the other.
"Come on," Stiles spoke up after a few minutes of silence, "Let me walk you to the door."
I was only able to nod.
We got out of the car together. Stiles ran around to drape his arm over my shoulders. I leaned on him as he guided us across my front lawn. I had taken off my heels, causing the grass to be a comforting feeling under my feet. Before we even got to the front door, my mother was already at the door waiting for me.
"There you are!" she exclaimed, rushing forward to look me over.
"I'm fine..." I ducked my head at her, "I'm sorry about missing dinner... I just couldn't..."
I glanced over to Stiles, playing with the action of it being a werewolf thing. My mother followed my eyes to also look at Stiles, getting what I am trying to imply.
"Thank you for bringing her, Stiles..." my mother thanked him, "You should probably head home before your father notices you out during curfew."
"Right!" Stiles caught on quickly as well, but turned to me and asked, "Call me later?"
I nodded, "Yeah... talk to you later..."
My mother guided me into the house as Stiles drove away. I was grateful that Samuel was no longer in the house. Then again it's half an hour before 9 pm... I doubt they would have stayed much longer after dinner.
I allowed my mother to guide me to the living room as she sat us down. I played with my fingers as I tried to think of something to say. I was just so scared that I would say something wrong.
"What happened, Juliette?" my mother asked sweetly.
I sighed, not looking up from my hands, "I... I had to run in the woods after almost losing my temper..."
"What? Why?" my mother took a hold of my hand, "You haven't had this problem in a while, what happened?"
I finally looked up at her as I told her the lie I had been constructing in my head, "Some guys were catcalling Lydia and Allison, and I got mad. I went up to them to shut them up and after a bit, I just had to get out of there..."
"Oh, sweetie..." she hugged me, "What matters now is that you are safe."
"I'm really sorry about dinner..." I told her.
She shushed me as she rubbed my back, "It's okay... I told Samuel that something came up. We'll be having dinner tomorrow."
"I promise I won't leave..." I told her, "I just want to see you happy..."
"I am happy," she smiled, "I have a wonderful daughter and I have met a guy who is actually good to me."
"Good," I turned serious, "If that guy hurts you, I make no promises."
That made my mother laugh.
We talked a bit, mostly about Samuel and her, but it was good to see my mother smile. She looked younger and less tired now. And to be honest, that has always been what I always wanted for her. To finally find someone worth her time and love.