Ep 5・❥・ The tell

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Everyone had been through hell recently, and it was a miracle they were still on their feet. Selene was making progress tracking the alpha, Derek was back to his usual snark after healing up, and Harper... well, she was just waiting for the next catastrophe. It wasn't the healthiest way to cope, but it was keeping her from breaking down completely.

The creaking of floorboards caught Harper's attention. She sat up on the couch as Scott's frustrated voice floated down the hall. She had opted out of taking a late night trip to the video game store with him Selene and Derek when they went to investigate the alpha's latest kill, thinking it'd be better for everyone if she stayed back.

She wasn't exactly in the mood for witnessing any more unnecessary bloodshed.

"I have a life, you know!" Scott's exasperation was obvious, and Harper couldn't help but smirk as she got up, moving quietly toward the hallway where the group had gathered.

Derek, as usual, was having none of it. He brushed past Scott without so much as a glance in the McCall boy's direction and insisted heading up the stairs. "Hm, no, you don't," he shot back, his tone dripping with condescension.

"Yes, I do!" Scott protested, his voice rising, making Derek stop in his tracks and turn around to face him. "I don't care what you say about him making me his pet or whatever. I have homework! I have a parent-teacher conference tomorrow because I'm failing chemistry!"

Derek turned back, blunt as always. "Do you want to do homework, or do you want to not die?"

Selene, being the only one with an ounce of patience and ever the diplomat, tried to smooth things over. "What Derek's trying to say is that it's less than a week until the full moon. If you don't kill with him, he's going to kill you. It's a rite of passage into his pack." Her tone was calm, but there was a gravity to her words that Scott couldn't miss.

Scott's frustration boiled over. "You know what else is a rite of passage? Graduating high school! And you don't have to kill anyone to do it!" He exclaimed, crossing his arms, scowling. Selene sighed, shaking her head as Scott continue."Why can't you just find him yourselves? Sniff him out when he's human?"

"Because his human scent could be completely different," Selene explained patiently. "Scott, it has to be you. You have a connection with him, a link you can't fully understand yet. If we can teach you to control your abilities, you can find him."

Scott hesitated, his defenses finally cracking. "So if I help you, we can stop him?"

"Not alone," Derek interjected. "We're stronger in numbers. A pack makes the individual more powerful."

Scott huffed as he threw his hands up. "But how am I supposed to help if I don't know what I'm doing?"

Selene stepped closer. "Because we're going to teach you. Do you remember what happened the first night you were shot in the arm? After you got hit? And when you were struck by his car?"

Scott nodded slowly, the memory settling in. "Yeah... I changed back."

"Exactly," Selene said, her eyes locking onto his. "So what's the common denominator?"

Derek impatiently jumped in. "Come on, think. What was it?"

Scott just stared, clueless. Harper had had enough. Rolling her eyes, she stepped forward, grabbed Scott's hand, and squeezed it hard, her nails digging into his skin. The boy flinched, wincing in pain until she finally released him.

"What the hell, Harper?" Scott grunted, clutching his arm.

"Oh, relax," Harper said, shrugging. "It'll heal."

"Yeah, but it still hurt!" Scott snapped, glaring at her.

"Exactly," Selene said, her voice calm and steady. "Pain. It's what keeps you human."

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Harper and Selene were sat in the living room as Derek did pull-ups on the door frame, but they had just learned to tune him out. The younger girl was sat telling Selene about her day at school, well more complaining about it. "Oh yeah, there is a teacher parent conference today." Harper remembered causing Selene to sigh.

"And please tell me I am only going to hear good things?" The older girl questioned hesitantly, "Like that you do all your work, pay attention, get good grades?" Selene proposed hopefully.

Harper chuckled, shrugging slightly. "You can cut me some slack and besides how can my teachers judge me? I haven't been in school long enough for them too."

"As long as you're doing your best Harper. That's all that matters." Selene smiled as she pushed herself up from her seat. When she walked past the Everheart girl she ruffled her raven coloured hair whilst Harper tried to batt her away.

Selene abruptly paused, almost freezing. Derek let go of the door frame and jumped back to the ground, beads of sweat coating his forehead as his head snapped towards the front door.

"Harper, get upstairs," Selene ordered whilst she darted to the window, catching sight of the three hunters stomping through the yard and heading to the front door. Selene looked over her shoulder to see Harper wasn't moving. "I'm not fooling around. Now Harper." The older girl instructed, her voice sharp and leaving no room for questioning.

This time, Harper obliged and raced up the rickety steps, slipping into one of the many forgotten rooms of the house, leaving the door slightly ajar so she could see what was going on. In the span of half a second, she heard the front door getting booted in and the view of Kate Argent and two of her lap dogs on either side of her.

"No one home?" One of the men said as he held firm to his shotgun, pointing in various different directions, surveying the seemingly vacant house like a lighthouse would scan the dark sea.

"Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling particularly hospitable." Kate Argent smirked. Sending bolts of anxiety through Harper so strong they almost made her nauseous.

"Maybe he's out, burying a bone in the backyard." The younger Hunter snickered after making his attempt to rill Derek up but it was so terrible it made Harper cringe.

"Really? A dog joke? We are going there and that's the best you got?" Kate criticized her partner with a disappointing look, "If you wanna provoke him say something like, too bad your sister bit it before she had her first litter. Too bad she howled like a bitch, when we cut her in half!"

Harper knew that would be Derek's final straw and she was right. Only a moment after Kate's insult the Hale appeared from nowhere and catapulted one of the hunters clear across the room, causing him to pass out. He then moved on to the other one kicking him in the gut till Kate was the last one standing. Her chest was heaving but a cocky smirk was still painted on her lips.

He growled, his teeth bared whilst the Argent smiled and pulled out a weapon of some sort. Derek charged towards her fearlessly, blinded by his hoy rage but when he was only a split second away from tackling Kate to the ground weapon in her hand began sparking with electricity. She pressed against the Hales's abdomen. Harper heard Dereks cry ring out and it was as if she could feel his pain whilst he lay on the ground withering in pain.

"Wow. This one grew up in all the right places, I don't know if I should kill it or lick it." Kate smirked down at Derek, who was still on the ground, his eyes squeezed tightly shut as he recovered from the shock. The Argent kept inching closer and closer whilst Derek tried his best to crawl away, which was proving to be incredibly painful and difficult.

Derek had managed to make it to a couch and Harper wanted to smack some sense into him when he tried to attack the Argent again, but there wasn't any use because she lifted her electric baton and shocked him again. Her eyes sparking up with an unsettling enjoyment.

The Hale tumbled across the room, his body jerking as it tried to cope meanwhile Kate laughed to herself, holding the baton out in front of her, admiring it like a priceless jewl. "900,000 volts." She sighed. "You never were good with electricity or fire, which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out."

Derek propped himself up against the wall and Kate Argent knelt down beside him. "Yes your sister was served into pieces and used as bait to try catch you. Unpleasant, and frankly a little too Texas chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true. But here's the part that might really kick you in your balls. We didn't kill her."

And if the timing couldn't get any worse Harper's phone began to ring. She cursed under her breath scrambling to the decline the call from...Stiles? If she wasn't under a shitload of pressure she would have been a thousand times more confused, but she didn't have the time for it. Instead feeling the anxiety and pure stress eating away at her heart.

She squeezed her eyes shut pressing her body flat against the wall, in the foolish hopes of staying as unseen as possible. Luckily, Kate didn't hear it but one of the two other hunters did.

With a groan he lifted himself off the ground, picking up his shotgun as he did so. He raced up the stairs as quickly as his injured body let him. Harper's eyes darted around the barren room and when she found nothing of use she didn't know what else to do.

She had survived much more skilled hunters and there was no way she going to get caught like this. Not now. Not here.

Harper quickly darted to the other side of the door, so at first glance the hunter wouldn't spot her. She listened to the beat of the hunter's footsteps until  the man finally made it to the top, it was by some cynical luck he opened her door first. The second his foot stepped through the door Harper sprung out of the shadows, her fist colliding with his nose in a precise brutal way.

The hunter cursed under his breath stumbling back and wiping the wine red blood from his nostril. Seeing it probably made him even angrier. His eyes narrowing in fury. He charged towards Harper, throwing a right hook of his own. The Everheart girl took the impact but didn't waste a second to return the favour.

After a few seconds of exchanging shots, both of them obviously extremely skilled and powerful. Harper's fist's flew with practiced speed and the hunter countered relentlessly. Neither were willing to back down. In the midst of the brutal fight Harper got caught off guard.

She took a heavy right hook and then a move she never saw coming. The hunter picked up his shotgun not to fire but to swing. He smashed it to the side of her head with a sickening thud. Pain soared through her and darkness began to cloud her vision. She tried to fight it but in the end the pain was overwhelming and her legs gave way beneath her.

She collapsed against the wall, her back slumped and her head lolling slightly.She gulped trying to suppress the tears that were pricking her eyes as the man crouched down in front of her. He pressed the cold metal barrel to her chest. "Don't move. Don't move a fucking inch."

A nagging burned in her heart. She wasn't helpless. Harper Everheart, you're a siren. She took a deep breath, her body trembling as she prepared herself for what she was about to do when Selene came from nowhere and pulled the hunter away from Harper, disarming him in a matter of seconds.

The gun fell to the ground out of either Selene's or the hunters reach. He tried to throw a punch but Selene easily dogged it and instead threw one of her own that landed straight to his jaw. He stumbled back but Selene didn't slow down and instead threw another blow that landed right to his nose, just like Harper had done. The hunter dropped to the ground, unconscious.

Harper gaped at the older girl who silently, helped her up brushing her finger over the small cut on her cheek before quickly swallowing her in a warm embrace. "You're okay. You're okay." She reassured gently taking a deep breath as she held the trembling Everheart girl to her chest. "I'm sorry it took me so long but I'm here." Selene whispered before pulling away.

Harper looked up at her coffee brown eyes glassy with tears as Selene explained the plan. "We need to get out of here, like right now. Follow my lead stay as quiet as you can remember how we used to do it?" Although Harper was terrified beyond belief she managed a small nod.

Selene waited a moment until she waved Harper over and they silently tiptoed down the stairs and out to the front door and just as they did, the sound of bullets firing sounded off. Harper glanced over her shoulder, seeing Derek run out the door unscathed but he didn't stop but instead kept going. Harper and Selene followed his lead.

They only paused when they were s safe distance away and when they finally did they were all heaving and desperate to catch their breath. Harper leaned against the bark of a tree watching as Derek stood looking into the distance with an expression she had never seen on him before. It was sad and angry and everything in between.

Most likely feeling the fact that Harper was staring at him, the Hale turned to her."You can't avoid what you are forever, Harper." Derek stated simply, "You were gonna use it. I could feel it. You're a siren. You are going to have to accept that someday. Learn to own it before it owns you." His voice was bitter, just above a yell.

Harper didn't know if that was his way of lashing out his pent up emotions or if he was always this much of an ass but she didn't like it either way.

She instantly felt her body tense and her face harden. Instantly getting put on the defensive. Who was he to tell her what she had to do? He was nobody and he had not the first idea of what it was like to be her. "You don't know shit about me, Derek so don't speak as if you do. Harper retorted bitterly.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•°. *

Though Harper told Selene that she seriously didn't have to go the parent teacher conference she insisted on going. Whilst she was getting ready Harper sat on the porch steps, too scared to stay inside, at least out there she had a better view of everything. After a little bit of contemplation and also the fact she had nothing else better to do she pulled her phone out of her pocket and decide to call Stiles back. It rung for a while and Harper unsure if he would even pick up.

Until he did.

"Harper? Please tell me this is you." Stiles pleaded and she was sure she could hear him pacing up and down.

"I mean who else would it be?" She asked, the confusion in her voice clear as day.

"Right." Stiles sighed, "Okay listen, Scott hasn't been in all day and his phone is off I made a mind-blowing discovery and I have no idea what to do so I panicked and called you."

"Mind telling me what this discovery is exactly?"

"Are you alone?" Stiles questioned and Harper wearily responded with a yes. There was silence on his end for a moment or two before Stiles finally found the courage to speak. "I was at Lydia's house and long story short she has a video of the alpha on her phone from the attack yesterday."

"Are you being serious?" Harper sat up straighter with a frown etched on her face. "Can you send it to me through Lydia's phone or something?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the problem..." Stiles trailed off before clearing his throat, "I may or may not have deleted the video."

"Stiles, you're unbelievable." Harper groaned, rubbing her temples. "I don't even know where to start. Lydia had actual evidence of the alpha and you-"

"—panicked, okay? I panicked! You weren't picking up, Scott was MIA, and I just didn't know what to do. Look, we can still fix this."

"Fix this? How are we going to fix this? You deleted the only footage we had of the alpha!" Harper snapped, her patience thinning quickly.

"Okay, okay, yeah, I messed up. But maybe I can still talk to Lydia, get her to remember details, or... I don't know, maybe there's some backup system on her phone—"

"Stiles," Harper interrupted, "there's no backup system for a deleted video. That was the one solid lead we had, not including Scott but the again he hasn't been much help either." She sighed, standing up and pacing the porch. She could feel her frustration building in her gut. First the attack, then Derek's lecture, and now this.

"He told me about what you guys said, about him having some sort of link with the alpha?" Stiles questioned, but not waiting for Harpers answer before speaking again. "If so who cares about a video when you have him."

Harper sighed, "You expect us to put all our eggs in one basket with Scott McCall? The same guy who is dating an Argent? Because I definitely won't be."

"Do you have any other choice?" Stiles asked and the answer was no, no they didn't. Scott was their only way to get to the alpha. Harper broke out of her thoughts when she heard shuffling on the other side and a voice that didn't belong to Stiles. After a few seconds, the Stilinski boy spoke up, "Harper I have to go, my Dad is grilling me about this teacher-parents conference."

Harper hummed in response, "Okay, bye Stiles and please don't go do anything stupid or reckless."

"Psh, me? Stupid and reckless? No way." Stiles scoffed the sarcasm dripping through the phone. They then shared their goodbyes before hanging up.

Harper leaned against the porch railing, her mind racing. She couldn't shake the feeling of unease that had settled deep in her gut. Everything seemed to be spiraling out of control. Derek was acting like he knew everything, Scott was MIA and they still weren't any closer to figuring out who the alpha was while he was out busy murdering people.

Yet with so many things to stress herself with Harper kept coming back to Dereks comment.

"You're a siren. You are going to have to accept that someday."

She hated how those words lingered in her mind, gnawing at her. She didn't want to accept it. Being a siren meant acknowledging a part of herself that she'd been wanting to suppress. A part of her that was dangerous, uncontrollable, and terrifying. She wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Harper lived on auto pilot for her whole life and it was only after getting out of the pack when she realised she wasn't entirely helpless but with that came paralysing fear and weakness.

If Harper hated one thing it was being weak and in her eyes, that's what she becoming.

It terrified her more than anything.

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•°. *

A/n

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This isn't fully proofread so sorry if there's any mistakes.

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