Aspen came to a halt upon seeing a familiar head of hair seated on a bench outside the school's front doors. As Danny said, Scott did look distraught as he tossed across ball into the air, leaning back as it almost went over his head. Aspen had to catch her breath before she slowly approached Scott, who appeared to be oblivious to her presence.
"Scott."
Upon hearing his name, the werewolf turned his head only to have the lacrosse ball fall and hit his face. Aspen flinched on contact as Scott groaned and held his eye where the ball had landed.
"Sorry, sorry," Asen pleaded, quickly taking a seat next to him and gripped his chin to force his face toward her.
"It's fine. I didn't even hear you coming," Scott said, blinking rapidly till the pain diminished.
"Light on my feet, I guess," Aspen chuckled lightly as the joke was only meant for her.
Scott met her gaze, his eyes softer than they were the other day from their argument. Aspen let go of his chin but kept her gaze on him.
"What's going on, Scott? You've been distant, and quite frankly, I don't understand why," Aspen said.
Scott leaned forward as he plucked on the sleeve of his shirt.
"I'm not the one that's been distant," he mumbled quietly. He must have thought she couldn't hear him, but thanks to her new enhanced hearing, she heard it clearly.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're always with Isaac."
Air hitched in Aspen's throat as she was at a loss for words. A brief silence latched itself between them as he refused to look at her.
"Is that really what this is about? Scott why would you even-"
"I feel like Stiles, and I are losing you. At least me. I feel like ever since I told you about me being a werewolf, you're scared. Especially since I hurt you. I'm driving you away, and I don't want to lose you like that."
Aspen felt her face heat up. She felt selfish for thinking he was angry with her when he was only afraid she was slipping away.
"I'm not afraid of you, Scott," Aspen whispered.
Scott quickly faced her, surprise coloring his face.
"You're not?"
"Of course, not-Scott, you're my best friend—you and Stiles. Nothing can change that. As for Isaac, he'll never replace either of you, okay? Yeah, you scratched me, but I never held it against you. Besides, I healed, and you can't even see it anymore."
"Are you sure? I don't want to drag you into something that could hurt you."
Aspen laughed at this. If only he knew her ability could be much worse.
"I love you, Scott Mcall. Always."
A wide grin appeared on Scott's lips as he pulled Aspen into a tight embrace.
"I love you too, June."
"Aww, I love us too."
Scott and Aspen were suddenly engulfed into a hug from behind. Aspen noticed the familiar flannel sleeve and peeked from the corner fo her eye to see Stiles' head resting on hers.
"Glad you two are done being dramatic. Not we can get into the serious stuff." Stiles hopped over the backside of the bench and forced himself between the two. "Scott, tell her."
Aspen quirked a brow. "Tell me what?"
Scott looked around, noticing students being to arrive on campus as he leaned forward.
"So turns out, Derek isn't the one who bit me. He's a beta, like me. The only one that can turn someone into a werewolf is an Alpha." Scott explained.
"There's another werewolf?!" Aspen exclaimed but quickly silenced by both Scott and Stiles' hand covering her mouth.
"We need to work on your discreetness." Stiles hissed before removing his hand from her mouth.
"Do we know who this Alpha is?" Aspen asked as she glared at Stiles for the sassy comment.
"Not yet, but we need to figure it out. And fast. We think the Alpha bit Scott to start his own pack."
"Well, this Alpha is an asshole. He can't just bite teenagers for his own bidding. Was he the one who killed the bus driver?"
"It's a theory, but we can't be a hundred percent sure. The sooner we figure this out, the faster we can beat his werewolf ass."
"How do we know its a male? It could be a female."
"What? No way."
"It's plausible. You're just sexist."
"No, I'm not. I love women."
Aspen gave him a look as she tilted her head.
"Okay, so Scott can beat his or her werewolf ass, but we will be assisting no doubt."
<•>
She had settled things with Scott, and the burden had been lifted. All Aspen had left was to explain to Isaac that she wasn't a crazy witch that can make things fly.
Standing in between shelves in the library, Aspen dragged her finger again the spines of the books as she scanned the titles for a book relating to herself. Derek had not given her much to go off, and she doubted she would find her last name in any of these books.
She had seen Isaac throughout the day, but not a word was spoken between the two. Awkward eye contact between classes was probably the worst part. There was no doubt he was confused and maybe scared of Aspen. It killed her that he most likely saw her as something not human.
With an irritable huff, Aspen shoved a book back in its prior space, seeing as it would be of no use to her research.
"I'm telling you, Danny, something isn't right with McCall."
Aspen quickly caught Jackson's familiar angered voice from the other side of the shelves. She peered her surroundings before leaning closer to the shelf, glimpsing over the top of the books to see Jackson and Danny.
"Dude, can we just assume he gained some skill over summer? You're still captain, so what's the big deal?" Danny told him, trying to make his friend see reason.
"Not like that. I've worked way too hard to be replaced by some nerd who doesn't know the first thing about lacrosse. He's cheating."
"You can't cheat skill, man. He's good, and there's nothing we can do about it."
"I think he's buying stuff."
"Stuff?"
"Yea, like Dianabol or-or HGH."
"You really think McCall is taking steroids? Come on, Jackson...."
"I wouldn't be surprised. His mom works at the hospital. He's gotta have some way-"
"Dude." Danny put his hands up to cease his friend's accusations, "you're just stressing yourself out. Just let it go-"
"No, Danny! I'm gonna figure this out. Even if I have to beat it out of him, I will. McCall was nothing before, and he'll be nothing again if I have anything to say about it."
During the whole discussion, Aspen hadn't even noticed her fingers involuntarily moving by her side, the chill having no toll on her brain. Her eyes stared blankly toward the ground, her breathing becoming more rapid as she heard someone threatening to hurt her best friend. Aspen's expression was hardened as the muscle in her jaw twitched. Her vision felt blurred like she was being taken over by anger.
That was until she was directed back to reality when a hand slipped into hers, warmth overcoming her body. She blinked away the stinging tears that had formed due to the time she kept her eyes open. Aspen hadn't processed what was happening as she looked up to see a book hovering in front of her.
She slowly turned her head to see Isaac standing next to her, his grip on her hand tight. Realizing what was happening, Isaac snatched the book from the air just before Jackson and Danny walked out the other side of the shelves.
Aspen began coughing, nearly choking on the breath she had been holding. Jackson turned in her direction as his eyes glanced at her hand in Isaac's before smirking and walking away. Danny just smiled and put a thumbs up in which Isaac didn't understand the reason behind.
Once the boys were out of earshot, Aspen pulled her hand away and turned to Isaac.
"Are you okay?" He asked, still gripping the book that she had made afloat during her episode.
"I'm....yeah, I think so. Yeah." Aspen began before tucking a loose strand behind her ear.
Silence loomed over them. I silence familiar to the one from the other night. Aspen opened her mouth several times to initiate a conversation but held back, not sure where to start.
"I am so sorry, Isaac," She blurted out, catching Isaca by surprise, "I shouldn't have kicked you out like that. It was random and-and wrong, and you deserved an explanation. I just freaked out, and I didn't know what to do, and I was too scared to see your reaction. And from the looks of it, you're freaked, and I don't blame you. So I understand if you wanna stay clear from my general and literal presence because I would too. I wouldn't hold it against you at all because that would just be selfish and I have to be held accountable if I ever hurt you or Scott or Stiles or my grandpa. Just please, don't say anything and we can just avoid each other-"
"Aspen," Isaac whispered, bring Aspen from her rambling trance. "I don't think you're crazy, and I'm no avoiding you."
Aspens' whole face scrunched up in confusion.
"What? Why? Are you stupid? I make things float. That doesn't wave any red flags for you?"
"This town isn't exactly normal. Sudden animal attacks? The murder on the bus? It's bizarre."
"But why?"
"Why what?"
"Why aren't you running away?"
Isaac chuckled for the first time since he'd seen her make the marbles float.
"I thought it was already obvious."
"W-what was?"
"Where else am I gonna find a chemistry tutor? Which, by the way, horrible first lesson."
Aspen let out a breathy laugh as she squeezed her eyes shut, shaking her head.
"I'm sorry," she strained, "I swear I'll make it up to you. Next lesson will be better."
Isaac smiled with a nod before his face softened, which Aspen took notice to as the smile on her lips faltered.
"In all seriousness, I was a little spooked at first. I've never seen anything like that. But I know you. Or at least I'de like to think I do. Your ability doesn't seem too harmful, even though you almost slammed a book into Jackson's head."
Aspen groaned as she buried her face in her hands.
"I'm still trying to control myself," she muffled out before looking up at him, "so you won't say anything?"
"Your secret is safe with me. I can even help you figure this out."
"Really? You don't have to."
"No, I want to. It'll be fun, and besides lacrosse, I do absolutely nothing with my life. Ever."
"Thank you, Isaac. Really, you have no idea how much I appreciate this."
Then it happened again. His cerulean eyes had engulfed her own. A smile lingered on her lips as she noticed Isaac's cheeks tint pink before he chuckled softly.
The ringing of the bell caught both of them by surprise as they briefly look up then back at one another.
"See you later?" Aspen asked, shoulder the strap of her bag as she walked backward casually.
"Yea, defiantly," Isaac nodded with a sweet smile.
"Okay," Aspen breaths as she spun around to leave the aisle before coming to a halt.
Before Isaac could question what she was doing, Aspen spun on her heel and walked back to plant a kiss on Isaac's cheek, leaving him stunned.
"Thank you. Again," Aspen chimed before she picked up her pace and practically ran out of the library.
<•>
From Aspen's delay to leave the library, she struggled past the students rushing to leave the school. Bodies pressed against her, making her feel uncomfortable from the contact. She brushed past one more student, making it to her locker, and was quick to begin packing her bag. She was supposed to go home with Stiles, and he always had the need to rush out of the school.
Finishing her packing, Aspen slammed her locker shut. As she rounded the corner to head to Stiles' car, she nearly crashed into another student, but she side-stepped at the last second, able to catch herself before collision.
Aspen bag slipped off her shoulder and went to pick it up when she noticed she had bumped into Jackson.
"S-sorry I wasn't paying attention..." Aspen trailed off as she grabbed her bag from the floor and stared at Jackson's pale, sweaty face. "hey, are you okay?"
"Yeah....yeah, I'm fine," Jackson sounded shaken up as he kept a hand held against the back of his neck. Just a while ago, he was confident he would overrule Scott, now he looked like a lost puppy.
Aspen squinted her eyes as they adjusted to the blood dripping down the side of his neck.
"Jackson, you're bleeding," Aspen was puzzled as she moved next to Jackson and removed his hand. Deep, extensive puncture wounds ran diagonally down his neck, the blood seeping indicating it was recent. "Who did this? What happened?"
"Some jackoff looking for McCall. The guy was on something when he just attacked me." Jackson growled, pushing Aspen's hand away. Recognition dawned on Aspen's face. The only other thing that could have inflicted this kind if womb was sharp nails. Derek's nails.
"I'll go with you to the nurse's office-"
"I can handle myself, Veata. I can just wash it off."
"They could be infected, Jackson."
"I've gotten worse beating. I can handle a little scratch. I don't need a girl's help. No less yours."
The two kept a stern eye contact when Aspen felt her phone vibrating from her back pocket. She already knew it was Stiles pestering her about how long she was taking.
"Fine, have fun bleeding out."
Rushing outside, she was met with Stiles' jeep sitting in the parking lot. She could see his fingers tapping anxiously against the wheel when she noticed her walking toward the passenger seat.
"Sorry, I was held up," Aspen explained, settling herself in her seat as she shut the door.
"Doing what? You have no life, June." Stiles huffed, reversing the car from the parking space.
"I'll kick your ass for that later, but I think Derek is at the school."
"What!?" Stiles jerked his head toward her, his mouth gaped, "where did he go?"
"I said, I think," Aspen deadpanned, " and I have no idea-...Stiles stop!"
Aspen had to press her hand against the dashboard to keep from flying forward when Stiles came to an abrupt stop, the screeching of his tires making her flinch.
"Oh my god," Stiles said, his eyes wide seeing Derek with his hand up to stop them from going any further.
"I found him," Aspen mumbled as Stiles, and she exchanged glances. The honking of horns urging them to keep driving must have caught Scott's attention as he ran toward Derek, who had collapsed tot he concrete.
"You've gotta be-....this guys in everywhere." Stiles threw his hands in the air as Aspen struggled to open the passenger door to skid to a stop next to Derek and Scott.
Derek was pale, dark bags colored under his eyes as ragged breaths left his mouth.
"What happened to you?" Aspen asked as she knelt, placing the back of her hand against his sweaty forehead. She recoiled her hand from the skin that was practically on fire.
"What are you doing here?" Scott asked sternly, not taking his sudden appearance very lightly.
Students far off directed their attention towards them as the persistent honking continued.
"I was...someone shot me," Derek mumbled, panting heavily as he kept his eyes to the ground.
"Dude, you look horrible," Stiles said bluntly, earning a side glare from Aspen.
"Why aren't you healing?" Aspen asked, tilting her head to try and meet his eyes, but every time she did, he turned away.
"I can't...it was...i-it was a different kind of bullet," Derek answered through pants.
"A silver bullet!?" Stiles clapped as if he had just solved the case.
"I swear," Aspen pinched the bridge oh her nose.
"Wait," Scott called out, bringing Aspen and Stiles to look at him. "she said you had forty-eight hours."
"What?" Derek finally looked up, his eyes dilating by the minute. "forty-eight hours till what? Who said that?"
"The one that shot you."
"You were-ah!'
Derek grimaced as he squeezed his eyes shut only to open them seconds later, his glowing blue eyes shining in the afternoon sun.
"Okay, we gotta get him out of here," Aspen urged a she got to her feet and pulled one of Derek's arms over her shoulder, attempting to balance his weight. After settling him in the front seat, Aspen jogged around the car to stand next to Stiles.
"Where are we taking him?" Aspen queried, leaning against the car door.
"No idea, but I say we trash him by the nearest highway," Stiles shrugged, only to earn a slap to the arm. He rubbed his arm, with a silent 'ouch' before ushering her inside the car to plop in the back seat.
"Get 'im out of here," Scott demanded.
"I hate you for this. So. Much," Stiles grumbled before accelerating and speeding out of the school lot.