Throughout the day, I sensed another werewolf scent. I wasn't sure who it was until Isaac Lahey walked by and knew it was him. And I knew who bit him, too.
I dialed Derek's number. "You bit Isaac?!"
"He needed help. His father abused him. I think you can relate."
"Don't tell me how I can relate, Hale. That doesn't give you an excuse to bite him!"
"I'm not discussing this with you if you're not willing to listen."
"Fine."
"Fine."
I hung up, annoyed at what he'd done.
I noticed Allison and Lydia walking into the school. Allison looked at me warily for a second before smiling. I didn't smile back.
Allison turned to Lydia. "You really don't remember anything?"
Lydia shook her head. "They call it a fugue state, which is basically a way of saying, "We have no idea why you can't remember running through the woods naked for two days." But, personally, I don't care. I lost nine pounds."
I smiled softly. "That's great, Lyds."
"Are you ready for this?" Allison asked, peering at the looming hallway.
Lydia rolled her eyes. "Please. It's not like my aunt's a serial killer."
I shot Lydia a look as Allison said, "Maybe it's the nine pounds."
People looked at the three of us, specifically Lydia and I glared. "I'm sure you guys have better places to look! Buzz off!"
I went through the day, barely paying attention and once school ended, made my way to the lacrosse field just as Coach was yelling for the boys to line up.
"Here we go," Scott said, ramming a player. "Let me help you up."
"McCall!" Coach yelled.
"Yeah."
"Usually the goalie stays somewhere within the vicinity of the actual goal."
"Yes, Coach."
"Let's try that again."
Scott bumped into another player and he yelled, "What the hell, man?"
"My bad, dude," Scott apologized.
"McCall!" Coach cried. "The position's goalkeeper. Not goal abandoner."
"Sorry, Coach."
"Let's go! Stilinski, what the hell is wrong with your friend? Hart, I see you over there! Perhaps you know?"
"Uh, he's failing classes," Stiles began.
I walked up next to Stiles as I said, "He's a little socially awkward and if you look close enough, his jaw line's kind of uneven."
I shot Scott a smirk, knowing he could hear me.
Coach nodded. "That's interesting. Let's fire it up."
"Stiles!" I hissed. "What the hell is Scott doing?"
"He's trying to find the other werewolf."
Oh, Scott. You have no clue what you're doing, do you?
I heard Jackson say that his shoulder was hurting and asked to sit out. He walked towards Isaac and the latter begged, "Don't tell them. Please don't tell them."
I continued following Jackson, masking my scent. I saw that the old man, who I now knew to be Gerard Argent, was the principal. Well, shit.
I saw the last of Jackson talking to Lydia. "I'm not responsible for you. Okay? But I will give you one piece of advice. If I were you, I'd stay home tonight."
"What does that mean?" Lydia asked. "What's tonight?"
"It's a full moon."
I left the school and began following Scott, still masking my scent.
Scott saw Derek in his Camaro who said, "Get in. Ella, come on."
Scott frowned. "Are you serious? You did that. That's all your fault. Ella? Why are you here?"
"I know that. Now get in the car and help me. She's following you because I told her to."
"You told her to?! Do you not trust me?! No, I've got a better idea. I'm gonna call a lawyer. Because a lawyer might actually have a chance at getting him out before the moon gets up."
"Not when they do a real search of the house."
"What do you mean?"
"Whatever Jackson said to the cops, what's in the house is worse. A lot worse."
I spoke up. "Isaac was abused. I have no idea what's in that house, but I knew we need to find out before the hunters do. Before the moon rises."
We got to Isaac's house and the scents of fear and anger was overwhelming.
"If Isaac didn't kill his father, who did?" Scott wondered.
Derek shook his head. "I don't know yet."
"Then how do you know he's telling the truth?"
"Because I trust my senses. And it's a combination of them. Not just your sense of smell."
I nodded. "Your sense of smell can betray you. You have to trust all of them; not just the one."
Scott glared at me and continued. "You saw the lacrosse thing today."
"Yeah," Derek said.
"Did it look that bad?"
"Yeah," Derek and I replied.
Derek continued talking as we headed towards the basement door. "You wanna learn? Let's start now."
"What's down there?" Scott wondered.
"Motive."
"And what am I looking for?"
"Follow your senses," I told Scott.
Scott slowly walked through the basement and came upon a box with a lock on it. "What happened here?"
"The kind of thing that leaves an impression," Derek replied, looking at the box. "Open it."
I stepped away from the box as though it scared me. Being locked in a box terrified me; not because I was claustrophobic or afraid of the dark, but because it made me sick to think of what Isaac went through.
"This is why he said yes to you," Scott realized.
Derek nodded. "Everyone wants power."
"If we help you, then you have to stop. You can't just go around turning people into werewolves."
"Well, there is a catch," I said, looking at Derek.
He nodded again. "I can if they're willing."
Scott frowned. "Did you tell Isaac about the Argents? About being hunted?"
"Yes, and he still asked."
"Then he's an idiot."
"For once, I agree with Scott on this," I said.
Derek glared at me and his expression softened as though he felt apologetic. "And you're the idiot that's dating Argent's daughter. Yeah. I know your little secret. And if I know, how long do you think it's gonna take for them to find out? You saw what happens to an Omega. With me, you learn to use all of your senses. With me, you learn control. Even on a full moon."
"If I'm with you, I lose her," Scott said sadly.
Derek clearly didn't care. "You're gonna lose her anyway. You know that."
I shrugged, as I didn't care either.
Derek began walking away and Scott said, "Wait. I'm not part of your pack, but I want him out. He's my responsibility, too."
Derek scoffed. "Why? Because he's one of us?"
"Because he's innocent."
That night, Derek and I met up with Stiles and piled into his Jeep as he said, "Okay, now the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my dad's office. The problem is getting past the front desk. I don't think Ella's dad's manning the desk anymore."
I peeked at the desk through the window. "No, it's Bungaloon."
"I'll distract her," Derek told us.
I glared as Stiles said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa--you? You're not going in there." He put a hand on Derek's shoulder, causing him to glare. "I'm taking my hand off."
"I was exonerated."
I shot Stiles a dirty look. "You're still a person of interest."
"An innocent person," Derek retorted, giving Stiles a similar glare.
"An--you? Yeah, right! Okay, fine. What's your plan?" Stiles asked.
"To distract her."
"Uh-huh. By punching her in the face?"
"Heh; by talking to her."
"Okay, all right. Give me a sample. What are you gonna open with?" Derek stared at Stiles. "Dead silence. That should work beautifully. Any other ideas?"
"I'm thinking about punching you in the face," Derek muttered, causing me to smirk at Stiles.
We walked into the station and Officer Bungaloon said, "Good evening, how can I help you?"
"Hi." Derek smiled.
"Hi."
"Um, I had a question. Um, sorry I'm a little--a little thrown. I wasn't really expecting someone--"
"Like me?"
"Oh, I was gonna say "so incredibly beautiful" but, yeah, I guess that'd be the same thing."
Thanks to Derek's distraction, which I wasn't pleased by, we made our way through the station.
I hung back a moment to scold Derek.
I glared and said, "I'm gonna kill you!"
He smiled apologetically and continued through the station.
We caught Isaac's scent and found him completely wolfed-out, not in control of himself. He was trying to attack people. Derek fought Isaac for a bit and roared loudly.
Since I decided to be part of Derek's pack, I felt myself drawn to him more than I already was.
Isaac shifted back and cowered in a corner as he covered his head.
"How did you do that?" Stiles asked.
"I'm the Alpha," Derek replied, showing his red eyes.
We left with Isaac, leaving Stiles as I knew my friend could handle himself.
When we got back to the house, Isaac looked between me and Derek. "Are you two, like, together?"
"Sort of," I said. "We're mates."
"What are mates?"
"Soul mates," Derek clarified. "We're made for each other. We can sense when the other is hurt and feel that pain. If we were to be separated for a long period of time, we would die."
Isaac frowned. "That's kind of depressing."
I shrugged. "A little, I suppose. But I found my someone, which is pretty damn cool. And someday, you will as well."
Isaac nodded and left and I was about to head off when Derek grabbed my arm.
He turned me to him, and asked, "You're okay, right?"
I nodded. "I'm okay."
Derek smiled as he hugged me.