I woke up surprisingly early the next morning and went down to the kitchen and cooked some bacon and eggs. I was also overjoyed to find that a package had been delivered for me and when I opened it I saw that it was the chocolates from Isaac.
When I opened it I noticed one was missing with a post-it-note that said ‘Sorry, couldn’t resist, :).’ I smiled to myself before eating one and putting the box on the counter.
I was soon joined by Liam and Scott. “Morning boys.” I chirped as I handed them a plate of food each. “Toast is almost ready.” I said as it popped up in the toaster and then I went over to butter it.
They both muttered thanks as I put it on their plate. “Okay, so I’m going to Peter’s. Scott you need to explain everything to Liam.” I gestured to the new beta.
“I will.” He sighed like I was a nagging wife.
Liam picked up his fried eggs and placed them on his toast with his hands. I tsked him in a disapproving way before sliding a knife and fork across to him while Scott chuckled to himself. Just then Stiles came bursting through the door.
“You’re up early.” I said to him.
“Didn’t sleep.” He stated as he pulled up a bar seat on the other side of the island table next to Scott.
“How much Aderall have you had?” Scott questioned him.
“A lot.” He shrugged. “Ooh, any more bacon?” He asked with excitedly.
“No, but you can have mine, I have to go.” I said, sliding my plate over to him as he grinned widely. “Be good!” I called over my shoulder as I headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” Stiles asked before I could leave.
“To kick Peter’s ass.”
“Oh! Can I come!?” Stiles jumped up excitedly.
“No, eat your breakfast.” I said and indicated for him to sit down.
“But…” Scott grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him back into his chair before he could protest. Stiles sighed in defeat.
“Okay, now I’m leaving. Liam, let me know if they tie you to a chair again and one of you needs to call Lydia, Kira or Malia and see if they got anything.” I said and then walked out the door. Once it closed I remembered the chocolates. I quickly ran back inside and found Stiles about to put one in his mouth. His eyes went wide at being caught while Scott laughed. “Put it down.” He slowly put it back. “I know how many there are in there, Mr.” He furrowed his eyebrows in a grumpy five year old kind of way. “If you don’t eat any, I’ll buy you curly fries on my way back.” I said.
“Done.” He chirped. I shook my head and then finally walked out the door and actually made it to the car this time.
I drove off down the road and pulled up outside Peter’s apartment building. I didn’t bother knocking this time and instead used the key he left under the door mat.
“Anna, what are you…” I shoved him as hard as I could, cutting him off.
“Why!” I shoved him again, “Are you!” Another shove. “Such!” I shoved him as hard as I could, causing him to fall back. “An ass!?”
“Okay, firstly… ow! And secondly,” he jumped up and brushed himself off, “the guy put a wolfs-bane laced tomahawk in my chest!”
“Yeah, and I’m about to put another one there! We could have gotten information out of him!”
“He was a mute.” He said like that was a good enough justification.
This time I kicked his feet out from under him and he fell hard on his back… again. “He could have written it down!” My voice was getting higher the more I yelled.
“Should I bother standing up again?” He asked glaring up at me. “Every time you storm through that door with that frightening glint in your eye, your abusiveness gets worse. I’m waiting for the day you come knocking with an arsenal of hunters weapons.”
“Don’t tempt me.” I said sternly. “Why am I friends with a psychotic mass murder?” I mutter to myself, seriously questioning my life decisions.
“Ex mass murderer.”
“There’s no such thing as an ex mass murderer, Peter. You could rescue every puppy, kitten, and tea cup pig that steps foot inside a shelter and you would still be a mass murderer!” He rolled his eyes at me. “And you killed someone just last night, so please tell me what your definition of an ex mass murderer is.”
“It was self-defence.” He shrugged.
“Noooo…. Self-defence would have been if you killed him when he was trying to kill you, but instead you and all your psychotic glory decided to stalk your nephew to find The Mute and then you clawed his throat out as he was being arrested, WITH HIS HANDS CUFFED!” I yelled a little over the last part, “And get off the floor, you look ridiculous.”
“If I do will you knock me down again?”
“Only if you argue the point.”
“Fine then,” He jumped up and this time straightened his shirt, “how about a change in topic?”
“I wasn’t aware there was another topic to discuss. I came here purely for the reason of kicking your ass.” I said with a grin.
“Shifting.” He ignored me.
“Shifting…? What?”
“You haven’t done it since that one time you turned into a wolf. You need to learn to do it at will.”
“And now is the perfect time?” I questioned. “Really?”
“If you’re attacked by of these assassins it will help you.” He had a point. And there was nothing else I could do today. Kira and Malia were helping Lydia and Scott and Stiles were catching Liam up. “Come on, we can’t do it here.” Peter headed for the door.
“Where are we going?”
“The preserve. You’re driving.” He said.
“The woods, of course. I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.” I said as I ran behind him, closing the door as I went.
When we were driving Peter began his interrogations. “Are you still having nightmares?”
“Yes.”
“How often?”
“Every night, but Scott stops them. I don’t even remember having one last night and that happens a lot, but if I ask Scott he always says that he was able to stop it before it started.”
“How does he do that?”
“I don’t actually know. He’s just somehow able to stop the darkness. The connection is stronger on his end than mine. I think it has to do with him being alpha.”
“Can he see what you’re dreaming about?”
“No, nothing like that and we’re not telepathic or anything, it’s more just a sense of emotions and how far away the other is. We can find each other without having to ask where the other is, but again it’s a sense of which direction and how close. I wouldn’t be able to just point it out on a map.”
“What are the dreams about?”
“I told you this before.”
“I want to hear it again.” He stated.
“Death, suffering…. Chaos.”
“Who dies?”
“You know the answers to these questions, why are you asking them again?”
“To see if anything has changed. So, who dies?”
“Scott and Stiles mostly, but Lydia, Malia and Kira as well. Derek. Sometimes even Cora randomly, but other times I get flashbacks to Boyd, Erica, Matt, Aiden, Allison, all of them. But sometimes they change and I’m the one who kills them.”
“Your parents?”
“Yes.” I didn’t elaborate on that one.
“Where am I on that list?” He asked, but not in his interrogating mode. He was genuinely curious.
“Umm… well…”
“I don’t die? I feel so left out.” He said with a pout that I couldn’t stop myself smiling at.
“No, you don’t die, but that doesn’t mean you’re not in them.”
“What do I do, stand back with an iPhone camera?”
I chuckled, “No, you’re more like the instigator if you are in them. Sometimes it’s the Nogitsune or Deucalion, other times it’s even been Gerard or Jackson. Recently it’s been Kate though.”
“So you’re never acting by yourself?” He went back to Mr Detective.
“Sometimes… and they’re always the worst. It ends bloodier and that’s when…” I trailed off.
“That’s when what?” Peter asked as I stopped the car outside the Preserve and turned off the engine.
“That’s when I see that guy. The one in the shadows. I still have no idea who he is.” I wasn’t looking at Peter, simply staring out the front windscreen, but I could feel his gaze on me. “Come on.” I finally said as I jumped out.
Peter and I made our way deep enough into the woods so no-one would stumble across us. “Okay, now shift.” He said simply.
“Sure thing, if you would just tell me how to do that.”
“Concentrate.” I gave him a blank stare that quite clearly said a sarcastic thank-you. “Okay, concentrate on the wolf. She shape of it, colour of it, what it felt like last time you shifted. Not what you were feeling emotion wise, but physically. Picture it in your mind.” I closed my eyes and thought about it, but Peter’s chuckles caused me to open them again. “Anna, you’re shifting not trying to move the earth with your mind.” He chuckled.
I stomped my foot a little and my hands flew up in air in frustration. “I was doing what you told me to do!”
“Okay, okay.” He laughed more as he stepped closer and took my hands. “Look at me.” I met his gaze and saw he had now stopped laughing. “Now close your eyes again.” I did. “Focus on the sound of my voice and what I’m saying, nothing else. You’re alone. In a darkened room with nothing around you. It’s dead silent and the silence is causing your ears to ring. Think about how it felt. The shift. What happened first, what changed first… and then second... and third… go through the stages in your mind, imagine them. Want it.” Peter’s voice swirled around my mind, flooding my thoughts with memories of shifting.
Then I felt it happening. My skin began to tingle and I could feel goose bumps on my arms. My grip on Peter’s hand tightened as my claws began to grow. If they dug into his hand at all, he didn’t say anything. My lips parted as my canines became visible. My eyes then flung open, glowing a luminescent green. Peter smiled at me and then let go of my hands as the rest of the change began.
But it didn’t.
A swirling sound and a flash of light on a nearby tree trunk snapped me out of my concentration. Peter and I both shielded out eyes until the light died down and then looked in the direction it had come from. A figure was standing back, shadowed by the trees, holding a bow. From where we stood it looked eerily like Allison, but I knew it wasn’t.
I growled, ready for a fight. I went to run at her, but another arrow flew in front of us, coming from a completely different direction. We looked over the other way and saw someone standing, in equally shadowed ground just as far back in the other direction, but this time it was a man. He two had a bow.
The girl shot another arrow between Peter and I and we jumped further apart. That’s when I realised that they’re aim wasn’t off, they were trying to split us up. Peter realized this two. “Run.” He said. I shook my head. “Anna, run back to the car!” He yelled before taking off in the other direction. I went to follow, but two arrows hit with blinding light in front of me. I barely managed to cover my eyes in time, but I still stumbled back and wound up on the ground. I scrambled to my feet and then took off in the direction they wanted me to run in. We were deep in the woods and I could hear a quad bike behind me. It was only when I heard Peter’s roar that I stopped running, my eyes beginning to glow again. I jumped over the log of a fallen tree and crouched down behind it as my breath got deeper. I quickly took off my shoes and jacket and concentrated.
I concentrated on what Peter had told me, more determined than ever. Finally it happened.
I shook myself out of the remainder of my clothes and took off the way I had come, running faster than I had been able to do before, now on four legs. I didn’t stop for the girl on the quadbike, not even to see who it was. She fired a few arrows, but I was easily able to dodge them. I found Peter’s scent and sprinted after it.
Within minutes I found him surrounded by a circle of arrows. There was no doubt the girls arrows were trying to kill me before, but it seemed like the man was simply trying to keep Peter away and not kill him.
I leapt into the circle and skidded to a halt in front of Peter, facing the men in the distance, who still refused to reveal himself. He was now sitting on a quad as well. My teeth were bared as I let out a loud menacing growl. I could hear the girl’s ATV getting closer and closer, but she was still too far away to do anything.
The man readied his arrow, this time aiming it directly at me.
I launched myself into a full sprint again, heading straight for him. He released the arrow, but I quickly side stepped it. He reloaded and the same thing happened. His face finally came into view and I saw a brief moment of panic as he hit the accelerated and took off away from me. I dug my feet harder into the ground and ran faster.
He was closer now so with one hard push off the ground I leapt through the air and knocked him off the bike, tumbling to the ground until I stood over him my paws on his chest, growling down at him and snapping. His eyes went wide and something came over me. I almost went for his throat when Peter’s sharp voice stopped me.
“Anna!” He ran up so he was a few metres away. “Step back.” I growled more, my lips curling back in a menacing way. “Anna, think about Jake.” The growls came to a stop.
***
His mouth was open like he was trying to scream or say something, but then his body fell at the same time as I let his heart fall through my fingers.
***
I stepped back off the quivering boy. It wasn’t a man, it was a boy, barely 16 and he looked familiar, but I couldn’t place him. He scrambled to his feet, jumped on his quad and took off in the direction of the girl. I was about to turn and face Peter when another figure caught my attention.
He wasn’t standing in the shadows and I could clearly see his face. It was him and I knew by peter’s lack of reaction that he couldn’t see him. “Anna?” Peter asked.
I heard the boy assassin telling the girl they had to go and eventually the engines of their bikes became distant and then faded out. It was that brief moment of distraction that I lost the man. When I looked back he was gone.
“Anna…” I looked up at Peter as I sat. “Can you shift back?” I looked down and then back up. “Clothes, right. Remember where you left them?” I stood up and started walking away, but stopped when I noticed Peter wasn’t following. I walked back over to him and bit the hem of his jeans, pulling him along. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.”
We found our way back to the fallen tree where my clothes were and I stood over them waiting for peter to go away. I cocked my head to the side with my ears pricked. “Alright, I’m going.” He said. He went around to the other side of the log and then stopped about five metres away from that. I reach up with my front paws and placed them on the log for balance so I was standing and then barked/howled. “Okay, fine, I’ll just wander off further into the woods by myself when we were just attacked.” He huffed and disappeared out of sight.
Now satisfied I relaxed and let myself shift back. Shifting back was the easy part. I got changed quickly and was still putting on my shoes when I hopped around the log and over to Peter. “You’re in the clear.” I said to him and he turned around and then chuckled. “What?” I questioned once I finally got my last boot on and put my foot back down on the ground. Peter walked up to me and then grabbed something from my hair… a leaf. And then another one. And another. “Seriously?” I muttered as I ran my fingers through my hair and found more twigs and leaves.
“They’re gone.” Peter said once I got the last one out. “Come on. I’ll drive.” He said as he led the way back to the car.
“Why did you stop me?” I asked as we were walking. “You killed The Mute, why didn’t you want them dead?”
“I do, but you shouldn’t be the one to do.” He said without making eye contact and kept walking a little faster. When we made it back to the car I chucked him the keys and got in the passenger’s seat.
“I want coffee.” I said.
“Café it is.” He said, starting the engine.
“And banana bread.” I added. This caused Peter to pause and look at me. “What? It’s the best combination.” I shrugged.
He smiled a little before slightly shaking his head and reversing out of the park.
Finally a longer chapter :)
Opinions please, both of the whole Anna/Scott/Stiles/Liam family thing and Peter obviously. I don't know why i wrote it, but i thought it would be fun to have a scene where Scott and Anna act like the parents and who better canditates for children than Stiles and Liam? :)
Also the song in the media... Just the words American Beauty/American Psycho... i don't know... Anna/Peter... Could just be me, but i find it fitting :)