chapter six
❝ living in the moonlight ❞
heart monitor
━━━━༺❀༻━━━━
Lydia places her fork down, "The what of who?" She asks again.
"The Beast of Gevaudan." Allison chirps, "Listen." Kennedy eats her salad, watching as Allison leans over. "A quadruped wolf-like monster, prowling the Auvergne and south Dordogne areas of France during the year 1764 to 1767. La Bete killed over a hundred people, becoming so infamous that the King Louie the 15th sent one of his best hunters to try and kill it." Allison reads.
Lydia shrugs, "Boring."
"Even the church eventually declared the monster a messenger of Satan."
Lydia hums, looking at Kennedy. "Still boring." Kennedy shrugs, not sure what the point of the whole thing was.
"Cryptozoologists believe it may have been a subspecies of hoofed predator, possibly a mesonychid."
"Slipping into a coma bored." Huffs Lydia.
Allison continues to read. "While others believe it was a powerful sorcerer who could shape - shift into a man-eating monster."
Kennedy purses her lips, placing her fork down. "Okay, I have to ask." Allison looks up from her book. "What does any of this have to do with your family?"
"This." Allison smiles, looking back down. "It is believed that la Bete was finally trapped and killed by a renown hunter who claimed his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature." Allison perks her head up. "His name was Argent."
Lydia shrugs, "Your ancestors killed a big wolf. So what?"
Allison shakes her head. "Not just a big wolf. Take a look at this picture." Allison turns the book, letting it face her two friends. "What does it look like to you?" Lydia visibly tenses, and Kennedy felt her own hear drop as she looks at it. "Lydia?" Kennedy bites the inside of her cheek, trying not to let out a whimper as she remembers that night at the video store. "Guys."
Lydia and Kennedy snap out of their moments, Lydia pursing her lips. "It looks. Like a big. Wolf." She repeats. "See you in History." Lydia grabs her things, walking away, leaving her friends behind.
Kennedy rolls her eyes, looking back at Allison. "She's just had a rough time, you know? With everything."
"No, I get it," Allison replies. "You were there that night, too. And if I recall, you're the one that saved Jackson's life."
The brunette frowns. "What?"
"Jackson said he told you to run, but you didn't. You stayed back, and because you risked your life, you're the reason both of you got out alive." Allison explains. Kennedy furrows her brow, looking at the bandages on her arms. "Scott!" Kennedy turns around, watching as Allison attempts to follow her boyfriend down the halls. Kennedy frowns, touching the inside of her cheek. She pulls her finger out, her eyes widening when she sees blood.
Ignoring it, Kennedy grabs her things, approaching Stiles. "So, uh, I thought you were mad at Scott." She hums, a smile on her face.
"Oh, I'm pissed at Scott." Stiles mutters, looking over at the girl. "But, he needs to learn control, and I don't think Derek's going to be a good teacher." The girl nods slowly.
"Okay, so what's the plan?"
༺❀༻
The trio walk on to the lacrosse field, Stiles sitting on the fence. "Okay, now, put this on." He says, handing a device to Scott.
The McCall inspects it, "Isn't this one of the heart rate monitors for the track team?"
"Yeah, I borrowed it."
Scott looks up with a raised brow. "Stole it." He corrects.
Stiles scoffs, looking up. "Temporarily misappropriated." He retorts. "Coach uses it to monitor his heart rate with his phone while he jogs, and you're gonna wear it for the rest of the day." Kennedy pulls out a phone from her pocket.
"Isn't that coach's phone?"
She nods. "Yeah, I stole it." She replies, nonchalant. The bruise on her cheekbone was still there, but it had luckily faded just enough to where Kennedy could cover it with heavy makeup. As long as she put powder on it throughout the day, she'd be fine.
Scott frowns, "Why?"
Stiles sighs, "All right, well, your heart rate goes up when you go wolf, right?" Scott nods. "When you're playing lacrosse, when you're with Allison, whenever you get angry. Maybe learning to control it is tied to learning to control your heart rate."
"Like the Incredible Hulk." Scott smirks.
"Kind of like the Incredible Hulk, yeah." The Stilinski shrugs, unsure.
Scott shakes his head. "No, I'm like the Incredible Hulk." He says, feeling much cooler than before.
"Would you shut up and put the strap on?" Stiles hisses. Scott laughs, putting on the monitor. "Kennedy, duct tape?" Scott's eyes widen as Kennedy walks over, holding up a roll of tape.
Soon, Scott is tied up in said duct tape. "This isn't exactly how I wanted to spend my free period." Scott says sarcastically.
Kennedy stands up, and Stiles grabs his bag of lacrosse gear. "All right. You ready?"
"No." Scott replies.
The brunette speaks up. "Remember, don't get angry." She says, nodding in reassurance.
Scott looks at the two teens as they set up the app. "I'm starting to think this was a really bad idea." Stiles soon begins throwing the lacrosse balls, giggling as Scott groans in pain. Kennedy hisses as one hits Scott's face. "Okay, that one kind of hurt."
"Quiet. Remember, you're supposed to be thinking about your heart rate, all right? About staying calm."
Scott nods. "Stay calm." He mutters to himself, dodging another lacrosse ball. "Staying calm. Staying totally calm. There's no balls flying at my face-"He groans in pain as another ball hits him. "Son of a bitch!"
"You know what? I think my aim is actually improving." Stiles says, earning a glare from Kennedy.
The teen wolf grunts, "Wonder why."
Kennedy speaks up, "Scott, don't get angry." She says.
"I'm not getting angry." Before he can say anything else, Stiles throws another ball. "Stop." Another, causing Kennedy to frown. "Just, can we just hold-" Stiles throws another, hitting him.
"Stiles, maybe you should stop for a moment-" Before she can finish, Stiles throws another ball, hitting Scott. The McCall collapses, and the phone begins to beat rapidly. "Scott?"
Kennedy moves forwards, but Stiles pulls her back. The two watch as Scott breaks through the duct tape, clutching on to the ground. It was only a few more moments until they noticed the heart beat monitor slow down. Stiles and Kennedy walk over, "Scott, you started to change." Stiles explains.
Scott grunts as he looks up, "From anger." He pants. "But it was more than that. Was like, the angrier I got, the stronger I felt."
"Okay, so it is anger, like Derek said." Kennedy shrugs, nodding. "He was right, not surprisingly."
"I can't be around Allison." Scott mumbles, looking down in sadness.
Stiles tosses his arms to his side. "Just because she makes you happy?" He asks, confused.
Scott shakes his head, "No, because she makes me weak." He explains, looking up at his friends.
༺❀༻
"What do you mean you can't stay after school?" Stiles blurts.
Kennedy shuts her locker, holding her jacket in her arm. "I mean Derek wants to meet up to talk." She says.
She walks towards the exit, and Stiles rushes to catch up. "Why would Derek want to talk to you?" He asks her, following her to the door. Stiles hated the idea of Kennedy being with Derek Hale alone. He trusted him less than anyone.
"Probably because I was attacked by the Alpha." She explains, looking up at him. "And, he let me live."
Stiles frowns, "Yeah, why did the Alpha let you live?" He asks himself. "Jackson lived because you distracted it, but you weren't killed, and if we're being technical, none of the damage would've been live threatening." Kennedy nods in agreement, looking down at her still bandaged arms. Though her legs didn't need the bandages, Melissa explained to Kennedy its better safe than sorry to keep the wounds on her arms protected from getting infected. So now, the only part of her arms that were bandaged was her wrists, where the claw marks were. "So why didn't it just kill you?"
Kennedy shrugs, unsure. "Maybe Derek has an idea." She says, the two pushing through the doors. They both stop for a moment, seeing a black car pull up in front of the school. The passenger window slowly rolls down, Derek kneeling down so the teens could see him from the drivers side. "I'll text you later." Kennedy places her hand on Stiles's shoulder, before walking down the steps, and sliding into Derek's car.
It was a few minutes of awkward silence, the two sitting in the car while Derek drove. He continuously glanced at her arms, seeing the smaller cuts and bruises. "You know, for someone who went through something as awful as you did, you're handling it really well." He says finally, attempting to break the tension.
Kennedy scoffs, "Yeah, because almost having a flashback episode in the middle of the cafeteria is so normal." Kennedy replies, sending Derek a bored look. "Where are we going?"
"The hospital." Derek deadpanned. She looks over, a confused look drawn onto her features.
"Why?" She asks finally, leaning back.
Derek sighs, "We're seeing my uncle." He replies, his green eyes glancing over to the clueless girl.
Kennedy thinks back to what Scott told her. "The one that survived the fire." She mumbles, looking up at Derek. "Scott told me about him, and I saw something about him in a file." Derek nods, not replying. Kennedy leans back, "He had a daughter, didn't he?" Derek tenses up, his blood running cold. "In the file, it said nine people died in that fire, including his wife and daughter."
The werewolf licks his lips, "Yeah, my cousin. She would've been around your age." He says shortly, looking over at her.
"They never released their names in the papers, I guess it was Peter's wish." The Hale swallows the lump in his throat, feeling guilty for just not telling her the truth.
The two finally arrived to the hospital, and Derek lead the teenage girl through the halls. When the two finally reached the room, Kennedy felt pity. Peter sat in a wheelchair, motionless, and emotionless. Derek sighs as he sits on the bed, slowly turning the Hale's chair. Kennedy looks at Derek, finding it hard to read his expression.
"I need your help." Derek says. Kennedy stands by the door, not sure what to do. "If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything. Just," Derek pauses, looking at Kennedy. "Just something to point me in the right direction, okay?" He looks over, gesturing Kennedy over. "I want you to try."
Kennedy frowns. "Me? Why me?" She asks. Derek looks at Peter, looking for any reaction to her voice.
Derek looks back at the brunette. "You're the same age my cousin would be if she was alive," Derek explains, causing Kennedy to shift awkwardly. "Just give it a shot,"
The brunette purses her lips, stepping over. Derek stands, letting Kennedy sit in front of Peter Hale. "Hi, Peter," Her voice echoes in his ears, like a soft summer day in June. "My name is Kennedy, Kennedy Stallard." Peter wanted to scream and shout, angry that she had no clue who she was, all because of Laura. Kennedy looks up, "What am I supposed to talk about?" She asks Derek.
"Tell him about whats happened." Derek explains, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Whatever you feel like you should tell him."
Kennedy nods slowly, thinking over everything that has happened to her and her friends. "Someone killed your niece, Laura." She says, "And, they're attacking people I care about, even me." Kennedy holds up her arm into Peters line of sight, letting him see the bandages. "Whoever he is, he's an Alpha now, but he doesn't have a pack." Kennedy looks at Derek, who sends her a reassuring nod. "Which means he's not as strong-"
"And I can take him." Derek cuts in, sitting next to her. "But I have to find him first." Peter says nothing, which is not a surprise to Kennedy. "Look, if you know something, just give me a sign. Is it one of us? Someone else make it out of the fire?" Kennedy bites her lip, not sure what Derek is doing. "Just give me anything. Blink. Raise a finger. Anything." Derek looks up, grabbing onto Peter's chair. "Say something!"
Kennedy stands up, "Derek-"
"Let him go." The two turn around, seeing Peter's nurse walking in. "You think after six years of this, yelling at him is going to get a response"
Derek looks over, "Got a better method?" He asks sarcastically.
The nurse steps further in. "Patience. He'll respond if you give him the time." Kennedy looks over at Derek, pressing her lips into a thin line.
Derek sighs, "I don't have any more time." He says, walking past the nurse. Kennedy looks at the nurse, giving an awkward smile before running after him.
Kennedy breaks into a jog, running out of the hospital. "Derek!" Kennedy pauses, bending down and placing her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She looks up, seeing Derek looking down at a piece of paper. "What is that?" She asks, standing up. Derek looks around, his green eyes shifting around quickly.
"Get in the car." Derek says, opening the drivers side.
"What? Why?"
Kennedy frowns as Derek looks over. "Ken, get in the car!" Kennedy's eyes widen, and she obediently does so. "I'm taking you home."
She looks over at him, watching as he presses on the gas. "Derek, that night I was attacked," The Hale's stare hardens as he focuses on the road. "Why didn't the Alpha kill me?"
Derek sighs, "I've been wondering that myself." He says, however he knew the answer. Whoever this alpha was, knew who Kennedy was, and wanted to break the seal over her abilities. They wanted to trigger the true monster inside of her.
༺❀༻
Kennedy sits on her couch, eating a bowl of ramen in pajamas. Ben groans, walking in the front door. "Hey, kid. Good day at school?"
The teenager looks up, "Uh, yeah. Same old same old." She shrugs, watching as he sets his things down on the coffee table. "Are you okay?"
Ben groans, twisting his torso. "Just sore. Lots of work lately." He says, looking over at her. "How are you feeling?" He asks, eyeballing the bruise that Kennedy had covered with makeup. However, she had apparently taken off all makeup when she got home.
"I'm good," She retorts, looking up at him. Ben nods, looking at the TV.
"Well, I'm going to go work on some things in my office. You gonna be okay?" Ben asks his daughter. Kennedy gives a closed mouth smile, nodding. The Stallard walks up the stairs, leaving her alone.
She's not alone for long though, as Kennedy get's a phone call from Stiles. "Hey, Idiot, whats up?" She asks.
"Thank's for the welcoming introduction." He mutters sarcastically. "Derek wants to meet Scott at the school, wanna come?"
Kennedy frowns. "Why does he want to see Scott?" She asks, confused.
"Alpha stuff, I don't know." Stiles rambles. "Will you be ready to leave in 20 minutes?" He asks.
Kennedy curses under her breath, knowing that wouldn't be enough time to cover up the bruise on her cheek. However, in this moment, that wasn't her biggest concern. "Yeah, I'll be outside."
༺❀༻
The three teens pull up to the parking lot, Kennedy trailing out behind Scott as Stiles circles around. "This is a terrible idea."
"Yeah, I know." Scott says to Stiles, who looks at him with a crazy look.
"But we're still gonna do it?"
Scott shrugs, "Can you think of something better?" He asks.
Kennedy walks over, "Well, personally I'm a fan of ignoring a problem until eventually it just goes away." Stiles and Scott send her similar looks, and she simply raises her hands up in defense.
"Just make sure we can get inside." Stiles rolls his eyes, reaching into the trunk of the jeep. "He's here." The three watch as Derek pulls up in his car, the Hale sliding out. "Where's my boss?"
Derek pauses, looking between the three. "He's in the back."
Confused, the three kneel down to look into the back seat, seeing Scotts unconcious boss. " Oh, well, he looks comfortable."
"Honestly, I thought you meant the trunk." Kennedy confesses.
Derek looks up, "It was too small," He reasons. Scott looks between the two with an incredulous stare, before walking towards the school. "Wait. Hey. What are you doing?"
Scott looks back at Derek, Stiles and Kennedy following him. "You said I was linked with the Alpha." Scott looks back towards the school building. "I'm gonna see if you're right."
Once the trio made it into the school, they make their way to the front office. "Okay, one question. What are you gonna do if the Alpha doesn't show up?" Stiles asks. Kennedy looks up, now wondering the same thing.
"I don't know."
Stiles and Kennedy look at each other, "And what are you gonna do if he does show up?" Kennedy asks, tilting her head to the side.
Scott looks up. "I don't know."
"Good plan." Stiles mutters, looking down at the desk.
Scott looks over, "All right. You said that a wolf howls to signal his position to the rest of the pack, right?" He says to Stiles.
"Right, but if you bring him here, does that make you part of his pack?"
The teen wolf looks at Kennedy, who has a clear unsure look on her face. "I hope not." He whispers.
"Yeah, me too." Stiles looks down, picking up the intercom microphone. "All right. All you." He says to the McCall. Kennedy and Stiles watch as Scott inhales deeply, letting out a shrill sound.
Kennedy grimaces, listening to the horrible noise. "Was that okay? I mean, that was a howl, right?" Scott asks once he's done.
"I - yeah, technically." Stiles mutters, looking over at Kennedy.
Scott looks between them both. "Well, what did it sound like to you?"
"Like a cat being choked to death."
"Like grandma getting ran over by a reindeer."
Scott looks between the two, "What do I do? How am I supposed to do this?" He asks nervously.
"Hey, hey. Listen to me." Stiles walks around the desk, grabbing Scott by the shoulders. "You're calling the Alpha. All right? Be a man. Be a werewolf, not a teen wolf. Be a werewolf."
Scott nods slowly, and Kennedy stands up, reaching her hand over his. "You got this, okay?" Scott looks up, smiling at her for a moment. Sighing, Scott clicks the microphone. This time, the howl is deep and menacing, things around the school shaking as Kennedy smiles up at Scott. When he's done, Kennedy walks around the desk, hugging her friend. "I told you!" She beams, laughing as she pats his back. Scott hugs back, his arms around her waist. When they pull away, Kennedy glances at Stiles. "Okay, so what now?" She asks.
Stiles sighs, "I guess we leave?" The other two nod in agreement.
Derek angrily stands outside as they approach him. "I'm gonna kill all of you." Kennedy purses her lips, standing in between Scott and Stiles. "What the hell was that? What are you trying to do, attract the entire state to the school?"
"Sorry. I didn't know it would be that loud." Scott confesses.
Stiles scoffs. "Yeah, it was loud. And it was awesome." He sing songs.
Derek sends him a warning look. "Shut up."
"Don't be such a sour wolf." Stiles retorts. Scott looks over, seeing the empty black car.
"What'd you do with him?"
Derek's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What?" He looks over, seeing the same thing. "I didn't do anything." He says, confused. Kennedy frowns, looking over at the car.
Suddenly, theres a loud thud, and blood spews out of Dereks mouth. Kennedy gasps as he slowly lifts off the ground, the alpha revealing himself. Stiles and Scott instinctively grab onto Kennedy, pushing her ahead of them as they run to the school. Kennedy looks back for a moment, seeing the struggling Derek. She opens the door, the two boys running in and shutting the door behind them.
Kennedy breathes heavily, looking between her two friends. "I am so done with going on late night adventures with you two!"