Paige didn't even move from the floor, she was too busy staring at the dead crows that surrounded the entire class. She was the last to stand up after all the chaos of the room and no one seemed to speak for a few minutes. There was just silence as though everyone was still trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened.
"What-" Christine started while wiping the blood from her face, "-the actual fuck just happened?" She placed her hands on her hips, not at all reacting to the injuries she had received from the attack. Christine threaded her fingers through her hair before sighing and assisting Paige to her feet, "God damn. How'd they miss you?"
"They didn't." Paige admits. There were definitely a few times when a crow had hit her but she's just stupidly durable. "They just couldn't tear my skin."
Christine gave her cousin an odd look but for once decided to not ask upon it. At this point, Christine was genuinely beginning to joy the normality that was Beacon Hills, or as normal as it gets in comparison to the constant hunting trips she would go on because of her father's real job.
"You're good though, right?"
Paige's brows raised in surprise at the question and hadn't said a word despite opening her mouth to respond. In no way was she expecting any sort of pleasantries from her cousin. After all, her attitude was horrible. "I'm good."
Stiles practically butted his way to get to Paige as he looked her over in concern. He had just finished checking on Lydia and instantly scurried to his best friend.
All the young teen did was laugh at her friend and brush her fingers through her hair to try to fix the unruliness of her hair after the attack. She glanced back at Stiles after getting as many of the knots out as possible, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, only a few scratches." Stiles responds while looking right out the window, "What is happening?"
Paige raised her hand up and scratched at the back of her neck, "Not entirely sure, but I can definitely say this is not a good sign at all."
Stiles kept his eyes out towards the window, "We should call Sc-" His words died out in the back of his throat at the sound of something crinkling. He instantly shot a look at Paige, "Are you eating candy?"
"I'm nervous." Paige mumbles with a mouth full of M&Ms, "Do you see how many dead birds are in our classroom?"
"Yes!" Stiles waved his arms around to indicate that he could obviously see them all, "Which is why I find it absolutely insane that you can eat candy right now."
Lydia crossed her arms over her chest from beside them, "Can I get some?"
"Sure." Paige poured some in Lydia's hand when parents started to flood into the room. Her Aunt Maggie sent Paige a check in text since she was at work. Odette walked into the room and went straight over to Christine.
Paige didn't say a word. In no way was she jealous or feeling overlooked by her Aunt. She was actually curious to see Odette interact with Christine after basically being with her Aunt most of the summer. Most of the summer and yet she barely saw Christine or her Uncle Erik.
Odette walked into a storage unit in Beacon Hills with Paige, "We don't have our own place so we've got to store our weapons somewhere."
With wide eyes, paige slowly stepped into the unit, "Well... this is... a lot of weapons. Intimidatingly a lot. Like I might strip and die somewhere in here."
"Then don't trip, sweetheart." Odette teased while shutting the door unit behind her, "I figured since we've covered basic combat training. I might as well start integrating weapons into your training. I think it would be best to let you pick the weapon you fight with. Most of us Merciers simply prefer guns."
Paige looked at the wall of guns in front of her and grew oddly uneasy. She never saw herself genuinely injuring a person like this. She may smack Stiles around but she would never intend to harm him in such a terrible way. She'd honestly prefer to heal than harm people. She would definitely not say she was a pacifist, but she didn't see it as a difficulty to be nice to people.
"Uh... do I have to have something like a gun?"
"Of course not." Odette smiles as she looks at the other weapons, "Knives, blades, archery. Whichever you'd like."
Paige picked up a blade and then hissed from a sudden burning pain. She flinched back and dropped the blade to the floor. She revealed her palm to have welp marks with burns from the blade. She had the urge to close her palm but it was hurting too much. She had never felt this kind of pain before. She could describe this as having a fire lit directly to her hand.
Odette rushed over and gently took Paige's hand in her own, "What happened?"
"I don't know. I just picked up the blade and it burned my hand."
Slowly, Odette reached for the weapon and touched it with the tip of her finger but nothing happened. So she picked it up entirely. She set the blade down and picked up another, "Here."
Paige eyed it for a moment uncomfortably, "I don't want to."
"Oh. Just try. The handle is different from the other."
So, she trusted her Aunt and grabbed the weapon in her other hand but nothing happened this time. She released all the tension in her shoulders and sighed, "Why'd the other burn me like that?"
"Well, everything has a weakness." Odette offers up as she messes with the blade that had burned her niece, "Fairies have to be hurt by something too. Perhaps it's the metal this is made of. I'll figure it out and be sure to tell you what to avoid then."
Paige put the other blade back down, "Do you have anything that doesn't involve drawing blood?"
"How else would you defend yourself?"
"I don't think I'd have to stab someone to survive a situation."
Odette wanted to say how absolutely naive that was to her. Her own father drilled it into her mind that it's either killed or be killed in so many situations. Yet Paige wanted to do anything but kill the other party if necessary. She actually made that immensely clear.
"Alright." Odette popped something out of a small case and handed it to Paige, "Raise your arm out and press the button at the end."
"What?"
"Trust me."
Paige did as she was told and suddenly a staff emerged from it, "Whoa! Holy crap!"
"A pocket staff. No one in our family particularly uses these. Honestly, only a few were manufactured by our family before Erik had it stopped. No hunter saw the need of a metal rod. Didn't kill well enough."
"This is so cool!" Paige twirled it in her hand but she was flimsy and awkward before knocking over a layer of weapons, "Oh... Sorry."
"We'll get you trained with it." Odette laughs as she grabs the staff and shuts it back down to it's small compacted size, "But let's take a look at your hand."
"Yeah, it hasn't healed yet. Which is kind of weird." Paige admits, the pain was still there and stofly stinging but it wasn't like it was earlier at least, "Do you think there are other things that could affect me?"
"We'll talk with Deaton and see what he knows." Odette crossed her arms over her chest, "Maybe we should have started with that to keep you safe."
"Teaching me how to protect myself is keeping me safe."
"I suppose it is."
Odette placed her palms on her nieces cheek, "You're bleeding."
Christine swatted her aunt's hand away and rolled her eyes, "It's just a few scratches. They'll heal."
"I thought you girls only cared about your looks these days."
"I'm not as shallow as everyone believes." Christine huffs with a small snort of absolute amusement, "Honestly, do you see me dating anyone?"
"You need a challenge. You can't have someone in your life that follows you like a puppy. You're far too tough and stubborn for any of that." Odette smiles softly and places her hand on Christine's shoulder, "Whether that challenge be a boy or a girl is up to you."
"Still don't plan on any of that." Christine mumbles while leaning back on one of the desks when she notices Chris Argent walk into the classroom, "I'm not one for dating. Don't see the point of it."
"As long as you're happy with that decision then I'm fine with it." Odette smiled tightly at her niece before she looked at the Argent man, "One second."
"I'm okay." Allison says, which Odette hears as she approaches the pair, "But, dad, the deer and now this?"
"I know, I know."
"Chris."
Chris was almost startled by her coming over, "Odette."
"Am I missing something here?" Odette eyes him slowly with concerned expression, "Is there something else going on in town that I should be made aware of?"
"As far as I know, no." Chris answers her but notices the rather look of disbelief on her face, "Odette-"
"Our families have had enough secrets between us." Odette says firmly as her neutral face turns into a deep scowl, "You used to be so close to u-" She cleared her throat and crossed her arms over her chest, "You used to be so close to Andre. You two had a mutual trust and understanding of each other. And then your father went and ruined everything. I would very much like for us to be close. So please, if there is any information. I would like to know. I want to help you if I can."
Chris breathed out deeply and smiled, "I'll let you know then."
"Thank you, Chris."
"Of course, Odette."
Allison looked between the two of them in silence but did not say a word. There was this weird tension between the two of them that she was just noticing. She shifted on her feet a bit and wondered what their families were like when Andre Mercier and Phoebe Mercier were still alive. She might have grown up with Paige now that she thought about it further.
Sheriff Stilinski finished checking on Paige and Stiles when he approached Chris Argent, "Mr. Argent, you wouldn't have any insight into this, would you?"
"Me?"
"Yeah." Sheriff Stilinski nods his head curtly, "All this bizarre animal behavior, it's... you must have seen something like this before, right?"
Chris smiled rather nervously at this, "I'm not sure why I would or why you would think I would."
"I'm sorry." The sheriff apologizes, "I-I could've sworn I overheard my kids talking about how you were an experienced hunter."
Chris shot a look over at Paige and Stiles who instantly looked away, "Ah, right. Well, not anymore."
This is what caused Odette to look over at him and then turn to her niece Christine. Odette placed a hand on Chris' back which caused him to stare back at her. She didn't say anything but she did squeeze his shoulder.
Paige had noticed this small interaction since she was momentarily distracted by them instead of focusing on Sheriff Stilinski. She tilted her head and just stared at the two of them. She felt this warm fuzzy feeling in her chest. "Hm..."
"I'm calling Scott." Stiles informs her not taking notice of her hum of curiosity. He nodded to the door to get Paige to follow so he could be one speaker, "Scott-" He breathed out when his friend picked up on the other side, "We got a serious problem at school. Ms. Blake's class-"
"Hey, can you tell me about it later?"
Paige blinked her eyes slowly in shock, "Uh, no, Scott. This, uh... This whole situation definitely qualifies for immediate discussion."
"Okay, then meet me at Derek's."
Stiles practically choked, "Derek's house? What the hell are you doing at-"
"Just meet us here, okay?"
Paige lifted her eyes away from the phone and to Stiles after hanging up with Scott, "Is it me or are you expecting bad news as well?"
"Let's just get over there."
Paige hopped out of the jeep with Stiles when both of her wrists began to burn a bit. She waved her hands around and looked at them. Nothing was there but it was like something had been burned on her. Not like when she picked up that iron blade.
"You good there?"
"Yeah." She answers before stuffing her hand into the pockets of her red hoodie, "Let's get Scott."
"Scott-"
"Hey, guys." Scott smiles over to his closest friends, "Crisis averted. Derek is going to help me get that tattoo."
"Seriously?" Stiles huffed with an eye roll, "Wasn't there something important you wanted to discuss with us."
"Uh, I will fill you in later."
Paige just snorted in pure amusement, "Let him get tatted up, Stiles."
"Ugh, fine."
Derek looked between the three of them before his eyes settled on Paige for a moment. He was glad to see her back to normal, especially after everything she had gone through mentally. He cleared his throat and his warm small dropped from his face. He had Scott seated in front of him, "Yeah, I see it." His red werewolf eyes shifted back to normal, "It's two bands, right? What does it mean?"
"I don't know." Scott mumbles absentmindedly while drawing it in the dust, "It's just something I traced with my fingers."
"Why is this so important to you?"
"Do you know what the word tattoo means?"
Stiles leaned forward and answered for Derek, "To mark something." He definitely was only saying it now since he thought that Derek had no idea what it meant."
"Well, that's in Tahitian." Paige points out with her arms now behind her bag, giving a rather smug smile over to Stiles.
"In Samoan, it means open wound." Scott further explains, rather solemn, "I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned eighteen. I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."
"For what?"
"For not calling or texting Allison all summer." Scott answers while Paige puts a hand on his shoulder, sending him a warm smile and he returns it by squeezing her hand back, "Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants. Goin' four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh..."
"Like an open wound..." Stiles finishes.
"Yeah."
Derek didn't say a word for a moment, just noticing how close the three of them really were as they all shared a moment together. "The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt."
"Ah, that's great..."
"Do it."
Derek lit a blow torch which caused Stiles and Paige to widen their eyes. Stiles cleared his throat, "Oh, wow... That's a... that's a lot for me. So I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside."
"Nope. You can help hold him down-"
"I'll do it." Paige offers brightly while raising her hand in the air, "I know this stuff makes Stiles all uncomfy. So I can hold Scott down."
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
Paige pulled her sleeves of her hood and nodded, "Yes, sir."
Derek eyed her for a few minutes before he noticed that Stiles and Scott seemed to not say anything. So he just shrugged his shoulders, "Okay. Hold him."
Standing behind Scott, Paige grabbed his shoulders and held him down. As the flame got close to Scott, Paige had to hold him down with more strength. She breathed out and focused and was able to keep him still. She flinched only when he began to scream from the intense pain.
Stiles re-entered the house once he couldn't hear the screaming anymore. He looked directly at Scott as he stood up, "Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now."
"Yeah." Scott grins happily, "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us... everything just changes so fast. Everything's so, uh... Ephemeral."
Paige laughed, "Studying for the PSats?"
"Yep."
Stiles pursed his lips in approval, "Nice."
"I don't really want to study."
Stiles then rolled his eyes, "Yeah, but you'd get a good score just fine without it."
"Eh, not really."
Scott paused at the door as Paige and Stiles started to leave but he drew their attention to it while he pressed his palm on it, "You painted the door. Why'd you paint the door?"
"Go home, Scott."
"And why only one side?"
"Scott-"
Paige stepped to the side as he scratched the dry paint off to reveal something had been painted underneath it all, "What..."
"The birds at the school and the deer last night... just like the night I got trampled by the deer when I got but by the Alpha." Scott's words caused Paige to suddenly tick, drawing Stiles' attention to her now, "How many are there?"
"A pack of 'em." Derek answers, "An Alpha pack."
"Ah..." Paige breathes out, "Oh great..."
"All of them?" Stiles questions, "How does that even work?"
"I hear there's some kind of a leader." Derek answers them, a lot different with how he answered them in the past. Or how he wouldn't ever answer them in the past. "He's called Deucalion. We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for him for the last four months."
Paige stepped over to where Isaac was and placed her hands against his cheeks in worry. Though Derek reassured that he was healing just fine.
"Let's say you find them." Scott starts, "How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"
"With the help I can get."
Paige stepped back from the table as Isaac grabbed onto her to help him sit up, "Isaac..."
"Where is she?" Isaac demanded as he gripped tightly to Paige, "Where's the girl?"
Derek just stared over at him, "What girl?"
Thank you all for allowing me to take a short time to myself before I returned to this fanfiction. I also really appreciate all of your kind words in my comments about this story. It honestly made me feel a lot better. It also was hard on me to not turn around and start writing a new chapter. I use writing as a way to de-stress and have fun so without this it felt really wrong. Especially since I was still on the first episode of season 3a.
Since you all supported me so well. I will drop a little spoiler for future chapters. Paige's significant other before Derek will be an OC. She will not be getting together with anyone else already written in the show except for Derek. Whether she is with a male or female is still up for a poll in chapter 65. That poll closes after I finish season 3b in the fanfiction.