Stiles once again pulled me into a crime scene. This time, at a video store.
I huffed. "Don't you have anything better to do with your time?"
He shook his head. "Not really, no."
Something caught his attention and he asked, "Oh, whoa, is that a dead body?"
Sheriff began ushering people back. "Everybody back up. Back up."
He noticed Lydia and immediately ran to check if she was okay.
I walked up to Jackson. "What happened?"
He looked up at me. "I'm not sure if I believe it."
"Try me."
"Uh, there was this beast-like thing. It walked on two legs. It killed the store owner and did something to me."
"What'd it do?"
"Dug its claws into my neck," he said quietly.
"Let me see."
"No."
"Jackson, let me see."
He relented and I looked to see obvious claw marks. This is not good.
I noticed Derek and Scott and joined them, accidentally looking down and breathed heavily as I stepped away from the edge.
"Ella?" Derek asked.
"I'm okay," I replied.
He nodded and turned to Scott. "Starting to get it?"
"Uh," Scott began, "I get that he's killing people, but I don't get why. I mean, this isn't standard practice, right? We don't go out in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?"
"No. We're predators."
I look between them. "But we don't have to be killers. I've learned that in 16 years."
"Then why is he a killer?" Scott asked.
"That's what we're gonna find out."
As we made our way to Derek's, Scott asked me, "Have you been home?"
I scoffed. "What do you think?"
"Ella, you should go home."
My eyes flashed and I warned, "Careful, Scott."
We reached Derek's house and Derek began walking up the stairs as Scott said, "Eliana and I have a life, too."
I shook my head. "I haven't had a normal life for six years, Scott. You're well aware."
Scott turned back to Derek. "Yes, I do! I don't care what you say about him making me, us, his pet--"
"Part of his pack," Derek corrected.
"Whatever. I have homework to do. I have to go to a parent/teacher conference tomorrow because I'm failing Chemistry."
"You wanna do homework? Or do you wanna not die? You have less than a week until the full moon. You don't kill with him, he kills you."
"Derek..." I warned softly.
Scott scoffed. "Okay, seriously, who made up these rules?"
"It's a rite of passage," Derek explained.
"You know what else is a rite of passage? Graduating from high school. And you don't have to kill anyone to do it! Why can't you just find him yourself? Or let Ella find him? Why can't you just sniff him out when he's a human?"
I looked at my friend. "Have you ever heard of different scents?"
Derek nodded. "Yeah. His human scent could be entirely different. It has to be you. I'd rather Ella not get involved. She's got enough to deal with. You have a connection with him, a link that you can't understand. If I can teach you to control your abilities, you can find him."
"So if I help you--you can stop him?" Scott asked.
Derek shook his head. "Not alone. We're stronger in numbers. A pack makes the individual more powerful."
"How am I supposed to help if I have no idea what I'm doing?"
"Because I'm gonna teach you. Do you remember what happened that first night after you were shot in the arm? Right after you were hit?"
"Yeah, I changed back."
"And when you were hit by his car, same thing, right? What's the common denominator?"
There was a sickening crack and Scott asked angrily, "What the hell are you doing?"
I glared at Derek. "Enough."
Derek rolled his eyes. "It'll heal."
"It still hurt!" Scott cried.
"And that's what keeps you human. Pain. Maybe you will survive."
Scott left and Derek started training with me.
After awhile, I glanced at my phone. "I should get to school."
Derek nodded. "Yes, you should."
He drove me to school and I climbed out of the car. "Enjoy your day."
"In hell? Sure. I'll try."
I made it to Harris' class just in time. The bell rang moments after I sat down.
Harris faced the class. "Just a friendly-reminder: parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment. Has anyone seen Scott McCall?"
I glanced at Stiles and he shook his head as Harris continued. "Hey, Jackson. If you need to leave early for any reason, you let me know. Everyone, start reading chapter nine. Mr. Stilinski, try putting the highlighter down between paragraphs. It's Chemistry, not a coloring book."
Stiles spit out the highlighter cap and caught it before leaning closer to Danny. "Hey, Danny. Can I ask you a question?"
"No," Danny replied.
"Well, I'm going to anyway. Um, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today."
"No."
"Can I ask you another question?"
"Answer's still no."
"Does anyone know what happened to her and Jackson last night?"
Danny shook his head. "He wouldn't tell me. I think Eliana knows. Ask her."
"But he's your friend. Ella refuses to tell me. One more question."
"What?"
"Do you find me attractive?" Stiles asked as he fell out of his seat.
Danny turned to me. "Shut your friend up, Eliana."
I nodded and narrowed my eyes at Stiles. He glared back and I growled quietly. Thankfully, he chose the smart option to shut up.
School ended and I saw Derek waiting for me.
He seemed suspicious, so I asked, "What did you do?"
He looked at me. "What do you mean what did I do?"
"You look like you did something."
"I only told Jackson to get the scratches on the back of his neck checked out."
"Which you did. And you were a human lie detector."
He frowned. "How'd you know that?"
I smirked slightly. "I walk by the boys locker room every day to Chemistry. I heard you in there and stopped to listen, making sure it wasn't a friend you were hurting."
"Right." Derek nodded seriously. "Okay. Come on, we need to continue training. There's a full moon coming."
Derek pulled his shirt off and began doing pull-ups. I started doing push-ups. After about 15-20, I honestly lost count, I heard voices.
"No one's home," a young man's voice said.
I turned to Derek, a frown on my face and he held a finger to his lips as he led me to a dark corner.
"Oh, he's here," a woman replied. "He's just not feeling particularly hospitable."
Derek narrowed his eyes at the woman's voice, almost like he recognized her.
"Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard," the young man guessed.
"Really?" The woman shot back. "A dog joke? We're going there and that's the best you got? If you wanna provoke him, say something like, "Too bad your sister "bit it" before she had her first litter." "Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut her in half!""
Derek pulled away from the corner and I followed.
"Stay back," he hissed.
I shook my head and returned quietly, "No. She's dangerous and I want to help you fight her!"
He sighed and motioned for me to follow.
We walked into their view and the woman smiled devilishly. "This one grew up in all the right places. I don't know whether to kill it or lick it. Your girl is a pretty little thing."
She disappeared into the next room for a moment and I frowned at Derek. "Who the hell is she?"
He met my eyes. "We were sort of in a relationship and then she tricked me. Her name's Kate Argent."
"Argent? Seriously. Her?"
"Easy, Eliana. I was a naïve young teenager who made a mistake."
"Clearly," I muttered as she walked back into the room.
"900,000 volts," Kate said, turning to me. "The same for you, sweetie. I know you're a born werewolf, just like him, thanks to some good old-fashioned reading and looking into family history. You were never good with electricity, were you? Which means it won't be fun for you, sweetie. Or fire. Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try to catch you. Unpleasant, and frankly, a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true. Now, here's the part that might kick you in your new balls. We didn't kill her. You think I'm lying?"
"Wouldn't be the first time," Derek growled.
"Tsk, sweetie. Well, why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay? We didn't kill your sister. Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth. Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that? A mountain lion? Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is that the Alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of you. Problem solved, everybody goes home happy. Unless, you don't know who he is either. Wow. Guess who just became totally useless."
"He's not useless," I retorted, glaring at Kate.
Kate laughed. "Sweetheart, if he can't help me, he's useless. and so are you."
She left with her taser and I hit the wall angrily. "Of course she knows I'm a fucking werewolf!"