wolf's bane

"Faster?"

"Much faster."

Kinsey slammed her foot down on the accelerator with her hands tightening around the steering wheel of Derek's black Camaro. Never had she thought she'd be the getaway driver to the wolf nor did she ever think she'd be in a car chase with her own mother hot on her tail, Kate herself unbeknownst to the fact her daughter was the one driving the car in front of her. While Scott sat in the backseat as nervous as ever about being in a car Kinsey was driving Stiles sat in the passenger seat with a serious adrenaline rush. When Scott had told him that Derek needed help getting away from the police Kinsey was the first person that came to mind, and they were lucky in the fact she was already sat at Stiles's desk attempting to study as well as get away from Jackson and Lydia who were trying to drag her on another one of their date nights, but this time she had managed to get Allison to go instead of her. This was exactly the situation her reckless driving was made for, she lived for a moment where she was in a police chase and didn't have to think about the consequences. Nobody would expect her to be driving a suspected murderer's car around town when she had been one of the teens stuck in the school with 'Derek'. Her mom and uncle would never suspect that their daughter/niece was the one going against them for the sake of a werewolf. For the first time, everything about this plan seemed perfect.

"Kinsey if you go any faster you're going to kill us," Scott complained from the backseat as he gripped onto the seats for his life. At this moment he had decided that Kinsey's driving scared him a whole lot more than the hunter behind them did.

"If I don't go faster my mom's going to kill us!" She snapped back at the wolf as she pressed her foot down harder on the accelerator until it was touching the ground. A smile growing across her face as she glanced between the speedometer and the road.

Stiles turned to look behind them hoping that they'd gained a comfortable distance between them and Kate, but he wasn't happy with what he saw. "She's gone." He muttered causing Kinsey and Scott to turn around too in confusion. The road behind them was empty. No sign of Kate. Not even the glare of headlights slowly emerging around the corner as she grew closer. Stiles pulled out the police radio from his pocket as they listened to his father announced that the suspect was on foot and heading into the ironworks. An announcement they were sure Kate would have known about too, especially if her older brother was involved in this chase too.

"Scott," Kinsey said as she looked at the boy through the rear-view mirror. "Hold onto something."

The wolf didn't hesitate as he grabbed onto the seats harder than ever, Stiles placing his hands on the door beside him and the dashboard as Kinsey made a sharp turn in the road to head to the ironworks. Through their fear both boys were impressed with the girl's driving abilities, officially declaring her the getaway driver for every occasion from this moment onwards, they just hoped they wouldn't have to use her too often. Because the experience of being a passenger to her driving truly was terrifying. Both questioned how she ever managed to get her driving license in the first place if she drove like this, or could she actually drive rationally? The girl continued to drive at full speed until they reached the ironworks where they found Derek shielding himself from arrows being shot towards him, clearly the work of a skilled hunter. Like her uncle Chris. Stiles swung the door open shouting for the wolf to get in as he climbed into the backseat beside the younger wolf. Arrows quickly turned to bullets as the hunter aiming towards Derek fired what sounded like a machine gun only proving to the three teenagers just how serious the girl's family were about hunting down Derek. Like before Kinsey slammed her foot down on the gas eager to get out of the ironworks as even the older wolf found himself clinging onto the car hoping that Kinsey didn't crash his beloved black car. Otherwise, he'd finally have a decent reason to carry out all of those threats he'd thrown her way in the past few weeks.

"What part of laying low don't you understand?" Scott scolded Derek from the backseat.

"Damn it, I had him!" Derek yelled as she harshly hit the dashboard.

Stiles leaned in between the two front seats, clearly seeing no danger in doing so while Kinsey was driving. But he was too interested in this situation to care. "Who, the Alpha?"

"Yes! He was right in front of me, and the freaking police showed up"

"They're just doing their jobs." Kinsey pointed out as she looked at the wolf beside her who gave her his infamous piercing stare that seemed to work on everyone but her. "Don't give me that look. One, I'm the one controlling this car. And two, we just saved your ass. Again."

"Well if someone hadn't made me the most wanted fugitive in the entire state we wouldn't be in this situation." Derek spat out as he looked back to Scott.

"Can we seriously get past that? I made a dumbass mistake. I get it."

"All right!" Stiles shouted, interrupting the argument between the other three. Temporarily. If someone didn't then this was an argument that could last literally forever. With Derek and Kinsey's stubborn attitudes and the number of mistakes Scott had made it would become the longest-running argument that anyone had ever known. "How did you find him?"

Derek looked at the boys for a moment before shaking his head making it clear he wasn't willing to share his information, though they partially understood it they were the only three people in this town who didn't think he was a murderer and they'd been the ones to save his ass.

"Can you just trust us for, like, half a second?" Kinsey snapped at the wolf.

"Yeah, all three of us," Stiles added allowing him to receive Derek's piercing look that did work on him. Very well, actually. "Or just them. I'll be back here." He muttered as he slowly sat back in his seat ready to strop for the entirety of the night. He could understand why Derek would tell Scott and why he might find it easier to trust him as a fellow werewolf but he was yet to figure out why Derek seemed to trust Kinsey. Maybe it was the fact she was just as stubborn as he was or the fact that she didn't seem to fear him that made him feel more comfortable. Or it could have been the fact she was supposed to be a hunter but found herself on their side. No matter what it was that made Derek trust either of them, he didn't like it. He wanted to be included.

Derek sighed as he prepared to explain. "Look, the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out. She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris."

"Our chemistry teacher?" Both Stiles and Kinsey blurted out, unable to contain themselves.

"Why him?" Scott added.

Derek shook his head. "I don't know yet."

"The second thing?" Kinsey asked.

"Some kind of symbol." Derek retorted as he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket showing them the exact symbol he was talking about. Kinsey immediately released a sigh as she looked at Scott through the rear-view mirror again, both knew where they recognized that symbol from and neither were happy about the revelation. It was one step forward and three steps back. "What? You two know what this is?" Derek asked with urgency as he looked between them both, a mutual understanding between them both that they couldn't hide this piece of information. Not when it was the closest they had gotten to finding the Alpha.

"Hold the wheel," Kinsey instructed the wolf, who though confused grabbed a hold of the wheel while she pulled something from around her neck, holding it out with one hand while she took hold of the wheel again. "That's the symbol on my necklace."

Derek inspected the necklace as he held it up against the paper to see it was a match before he spun it around attempting to open it or find some kind of engraving, anything that would help them but there was nothing. Nothing in it. On it. Nothing.

"Kinsey isn't the only one who has that symbol." Scott pointed out knowing it had to be said but he couldn't find the words to say it. He didn't want to put her in danger because of it.

"Allison has the same one," Kinsey added, finishing what Scott was unable to say.

After last nights revelation, it was time for the three to figure out a plan on how exactly they were going to obtain Allison's necklace, though it seemed as though Kinsey would be able to do it she refused to put herself in a situation where she would have to lie to her again which meant not bringing up anything that could lead to werewolves, hunters or Scott. It made this situation more difficult for all of them but Scott and Stiles understood her reasoning behind it and agreed to not put her in that situation. Even after spending hours last night searching for the meaning behind the necklace like her mother had told her to do Kinsey was still unable to find anything on it which gave her the hope that Allison wouldn't find anything either when or if she had tried. The hope that Allison wouldn't find out about the family secret any time soon was the only piece of sanity that she had left and it was hanging on a very short, thin thread. While they tried to find a plan for getting Allison's pendant Derek reassured them that he would actually lay low this time, of course, none of them put their utmost faith in the wolf after he'd said that last time.

"This is gonna be impossible, you know," Scott complained, lacking his usual optimism.

"What if you just ask to borrow it? Girls borrow each other's things right?" Stiles suggested trying to get around the whole not lying to Allison thing as he raised her brow at her questioning what he knew about girls. Like, did they really have pillow fights in their pajamas at every sleepover?

"You want me to ask Allison to borrow her pendant that is identical to mine? And what do I tell her? That wearing two of them goes better with my outfit? You think she'd believe that?"

"Well, you'll never know if you don't ask. Just walk up to her and say 'Hey, Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there's anything in it or on it that can lead me to an Alpha werewolf that Scott needs to kill in order to get back together with you." The boy suggested as both Scott and Kinsey stared at him, almost ready to hit him for making such an idiotic suggestion.

"You're not helping." Scott pointed out in annoyance.

"Okay, so why don't you just talk to her?

"She won't talk to me. What if she, like, only takes it off in the shower or something?"

"That's why you ease... That's why you ease back into it, okay? Get back on her good side, remind her of the good times. And then you ask for the necklace."

Kinsey sighed as she slapped Scott around the head realizing that his stare was too blank for a boy that was figuring out how to get his ex-girlfriend's necklace. "Scott, stop thinking about her in the shower and stay focused. This is down to you now. And yes, she does only take it off to go in the shower which is why you really need to figure out how to get it from her."

"Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, get Allison back. In that order. Got it?" Stiles said as he and Kinsey slowly walked off to head to their class leaving Scott to mutter those steps back to himself as he stood in the middle of the hallway figuring out how exactly he was going to get the necklace from Allison without raising suspicion, starting an argument or seeming like a creep.

Scott's attempt at following Stiles's plan had gone wrong.

Terribly wrong. In every way that a plan could go wrong, this plan had. Not only had Scott pissed off Allison by sending her photos of the good times that they had but in the time she had been in class or with Lydia and Allison the wolf had had a run-in with Jackson. Any run-in with Jackson was destined for disaster, but this one was the cherry on the cake when he had implied he knew about Scott's secret. Now they had a lot more problems on their hands than just obtaining the necklace from Allison, now Jackson was part of their long list of werewolf-caused problems. Now the three had resulted to trying to create a plan B through text message as they sat across from each other in class, and the only plan B they'd figured out was to steal the necklace from Allison which Kinsey didn't completely disagree with. Not when she had seen a perfect opportunity to do exactly that. Next period she had swim practice with Allison and Jackson giving Scott the perfect chance to snoop through the brunette's bag while she distracted them both, as for Lydia she had been avoiding Scott like he was a bad rash after what had happened in Coach's office.

Kinsey looked up to the seating area of the swimming pools where Scott slowly approached where the blonde and brunette had left their bags, giving him the nod of confirmation as she looked back to Allison and Jackson laughing in the pool ready for her to carry out her own part of this plan. Which in summary was to provide as the biggest cock block this world had ever known. Kinsey sat down on the side of the pool beside the two laughing teenagers, of course, Allison was always glad to be in the company of her cousin and Jackson didn't seem suspicious of why she had chosen to sit with them which worked highly in her favor.

"So, what are we talking about?" Kinsey asked with a smile.

"I was just about to ask Allison if you were both coming to the game tonight." He retorted as he looked between them ready for either of the girls to give him the answer that he wanted which of course was yes, it seemed as though he wants an Argent. He didn't care which one it was.

Allison laughed nervously as she shook her head. "Actually, I was thinking no." Allison shook her head, being at her ex-boyfriend's lacrosse game didn't seem like a perfect night. She would rather go back to her darkroom eating five pints of ice cream in bed.

"You have to." Jackson objected. "We win tonight, we're in the semifinals."

"I hate to say it but he's right. Tonight's a big night. Where's your team spirit?" Kinsey teased.

"It's not because of Scott, is it?" Jackson asked though he was very sure that Scott was the exact reason that Allison didn't want to attend tonight's game. With Lydia being his girlfriend he knew every little detail of the break-up and how Allison had been handling it, as well as the brunette giving him a slight insight into how she'd been coping too.

"I was just thinking that it might be a little weird," Allison admitted.

"But he's fine with it." Jackson blurted out desperately. "He actually asked me if you were coming. He said he hoped you didn't feel weird about coming."

"He did?" Kinsey and Allison asked together with raised brows.

"Yeah." Jackson nodded.

"Just because you go the game, Al, it doesn't mean you have to be there for Scott. You know Lydia hates sitting at those things alone. You don't wanna miss it if we win."

"I mean, it was pretty obvious he was too immature to be dating somebody like you," Jackson said, completely changing the subject from the game and back to Scott. Kinsey pierced her eyes at him once more before looking back up to Scott hoping he had found the necklace but the wolf shook his head hopelessly. "But then, you can't really blame him for trying." He joked as she splashed the two of them, while Allison splashed back Kinsey knew she'd have to act as if she was enjoying their little conversation than wanting to drown Jackson for being a dick.

As the three got out of the pool Allison grabbed her towel before heading to the changing rooms, Jackson hanging back for a moment as he grabbed Kinsey's towel to wrap it around her. "Does Allison know that you're lying to her about Scott's little secret too?" He asked as he stood inches from her face with a threatening tone. "Maybe your more the bad guy than I am, huh?"

"I'm trying to protect them, Jackson." She spat out at him. "You may think you know what's going on here but you don't know anything. Please just stay out of this before you get hurt too."

-☽○☾-

Kinsey walked behind Stiles as she followed him through his house while ranting about her exchange with Jackson at the pool, as well as how he had broken up with Lydia in one of the worst ways she'd ever heard of. By referring to her as the deadest weight in his life. Of course, Stiles was more than willing to join in on the Jackson-slamming session as he provided his own long-winded rant about the boy as they headed up to commence Plan E, Kinsey wasn't quite sure how many plans had failed today but she was sure they had to be on at least E now. Through their rant, the two waved at Sheriff Stilinski who raised an eyebrow as he listened to the string of distasteful profanities until he too realized that she was talking about Jackson Whittemore. A kid he had heard plenty about over the years his son had known the boy. In the midst of their rant neither were particularly paying attention to their surroundings, not only were they too focused on insulting Jackson but they were preparing to initiate their new plan behind Scott's back. His plans had been nothing but awful today. It was time for them to step in.

"Do you really think he's going to help us after what Scott did to him?" Kinsey asked as she threw her bag on the boy's bed while Stiles jumped straight onto his desk chair.

"Well, maybe not but that's why I'm not going to tell him what we're doing. Lucky for us, he's my lab partner so I'll just tell him we're going to work on that. Danny's gullible right?" Stiles asked but before Kinsey could reply his father shouted him too turning the boy's attention from his computer and towards the door where the Sheriff was coming towards. "Hey... Derek." The boy mumbled as he spun around in his chair where he could see none other than the wolf standing in the corner of his room with his hand covering Kinsey's mouth. It probably looked a lot more threatening than Derek had originally intended, he was just trying to stop her inevitable word vomit that would hint to the Sheriff that a 'murderer' was in his house.

With his free hand, Derek sent a strong, silent gesture for the boy to get rid of his father before he was willing to let go of the brunette who had completely given up fighting against the wolf. Instead, she chose to stand with folded arms knowing that her time to lecture Derek would come sooner or late. Hopefully sooner because after her run-in with Jackson she was ready to blow her top at anyone who decided to test her, he was just unfortunate enough to be the first one. Stiles rushed to the door hoping to block his dad from seeing Kinsey and the wolf inside leaving the two of them to eavesdrop and hope that Stiles managed to properly lie for the first time in his life, a suspicious Sheriff was the last thing that they needed today.

"Dad. Yo, Dad." Stiles greeted the man as he leaned against the doorframe. He had spoken three words and the two eavesdropping had already lost their faith in him, no matter how hard Stiles tried he never had mastered the art of subtlety. Or lying.

"Listen, I've got something I've got to take care of, but I'm gonna be there tonight. I mean, for your first game." The sheriff said with growing pride. His son making first line hadn't been something he expected to happen in this lifetime, but now that it had he couldn't have felt prouder of the son that he raised. "I'm very happy for you. And I'm really proud of you."

Derek had felt the moment that Kinsey's face dropped against his hand. When the smell of anger radiating from her had shifted to sadness. He didn't have to ask why, babysitting three teenagers meant you got to learn a little about them and their home lives. And it hadn't taken long for him to piece together that she didn't have a fabulous relationship with her family, of course, he knew the Argents which meant he was completely surprised. He was more so surprised by the fact she seemed affected by hearing someone tell their son that they were proud of them as if she had never heard those words for herself. Usually, she seemed good at hiding her emotions but right now subtlety wasn't her forte either. With a tinge of guilt, the wolf lowered his hand allowing the girl to finally move away as she sat down on Stiles's bed choosing the option of not speaking about what had dropped her mood so quickly. How four simple words from the Sheriff had managed to shift her from growing anger to feeling completely numbed my sadness. "I'm really proud of you." Four words she'd never heard from her mother or anyone for that matter.

After parting ways with his dad Stiles walked back in the room with an exasperated sigh, only to be shoved against his bedroom door by Derek who grabbed a tight hold of his jacket ready for their daily threatening. Normally Kinsey would try and fight against but not only did she know that Derek was incapable of actually carrying out the threats he made against them but she wasn't in the mood for heroism this afternoon. She just wanted this day, and every other day to be done.

"If you say one word-" Derek began to warn the boy with an accusing finger pointed at him.

"What, you mean, like, 'Hey, Dad, Derek Hale's in my room. Bring your gun?'." Stiles retorted with more attitude than he'd ever given before, especially towards a man he was scared of. "Yeah, that's right. If I'm harboring your fugitive ass, it's my house, my rules, buddy." He continued as he slapped his hand against the man's chest with confidence which he slightly regretted.

Derek nodded as he stepped back and fixed the boy's jacket while the girl on the bed rolled her eyes at the two of them. A smug smile grew across Stiles's face as he grew more confident within himself, proudly stepping away before Derek stepped towards him causing the boy to almost jump out of his skin with that familiar fear he felt towards the werewolf.

"Did Scott get the necklace?"

"No. He's still working on it. But there's something else we could try." Kinsey spoke up. In her and Stiles's opinion, they had devised an almost flawless plan. Almost. After the number of failures they had all experienced today, they were willing to try anything their minds came up with.

"When we were trapped at the school, Scott sent a text to Allison asking her to meet him there."

"So?" Derek shrugged.

"So it wasn't Scott. You broke his phone, remember?" Kinsey retorted as she reminded the wolf of one of the idiotic moves that he had done to instill fear within them, to which he nodded with a small smug smile across his face. Annoying the three teenagers did bring him a form of joy.

"Well, can you find out who sent it?"

"No. Not me. But I know someone who can."

That, someone, had been Danny Mahealani. After some slight digging Stiles found that the rumors he'd once heard about the boy were true, he had in fact been arrested for hacking into the systems of a big company. Though the charges had been dropped it seemed like a good way to blackmail the boy if he wasn't willing to comply, or if Kinsey's friendship with the boy didn't convince him to help them. If he didn't hate her by the time they had finished tracing the text from 'Scott', she knew she had a gay best friend she could rely on for eternity. Who else would she gossip with when Lydia wasn't available if not Danny Mahealani?

After being lectured by Kinsey for not laying low once again Derek sat in the corner of the room with a book in hand while under strict instructions from Kinsey that he was not allowed to talk to Danny whatsoever. No greetings, no parting words. Nothing. Not even looking at him for too long. Danny was the only friend she had left who wasn't involved in the supernatural somehow and she aimed to keep it that way. While waiting for the boy to arrive Stiles and Kinsey sat waiting around for Scott to update them on his own half of the plan- breaking into the Argent house through the bedroom window that Kinsey had left cracked open for him.

"You want me to do what?" Danny asked in disbelief as he looked down at Kinsey and Stiles.

"Trace a text." Stiles deadpanned. He was sure they'd already told him his exact purpose here the second he'd walked through the bedroom door but then it wasn't every day two people asked you to trace a text without telling you why they needed it. Especially not Kinsey.

"Kins, I thought you said that the favor was to help Stiles with his homework?"

"We can do homework after you trace the text." Kinsey nodded with a weak smile.

"And what makes you think I know how?"

Out of all the reasoning that Danny could think of in his mind, he had hoped that this wouldn't be about the time where he had broken a law. Though he knew there was a high chance that that was exactly what he was here for, he liked to remain hopeful.

"We may have done some digging and found the arrest report for you hacking into some private documents for some big company a few years ago." She nervously chuckled.

"I was 13. They dropped the charges." Danny said defensively.

Stiles shrugged. "Whatever."

"No. We're doing the homework." Danny insisted as he folded his arms while Kinsey released a large groan and moved to sit on Stiles's bed, one thing she hadn't come here to do tonight was study. As she sat down on the bed Derek raised his eyebrows at her questioning whether he was about to be forced to sit in a teenager's room watching him and some kid do homework or if they were actually going to get him to trace a text. He was more than happy to threaten the boy into getting him to do what he wanted, and Kinsey knew that but she had a plan of her own up her sleeve. She knew Danny would cave and it was just a matter of time until it happened. And Derek being here just worked to her favor, she'd seen the looks Danny had been giving Derek the moment he walked into the room- and that was something she'd use to her advantage.

"Who's he again?" Danny asked as all three of them turned to look at Derek.

"Um, my cousin... Miguel." Stiles blurted out on the spot leaving the wolf and Kinsey behind him to look at one another trying not to show their confusion. But Derek could pass as a Miguel.

"Is that blood on his shirt?"

Kinsey and Stiles looked at the wolf with wide eyes, until now they hadn't noticed the dry blood stained on his grey shirt and they weren't prepared to question it. They just had to figure a way to make it look as though he wasn't a psychotic stranger that they'd taken in off of the streets.

"He gets bad nosebleeds." Kinsey blurted out hoping to save them from suspicion.

"Yeah, Miguel, I thought I told you you could borrow one of my shirts," Stiles added as he glanced over to his drawers, the wolf stared back at him with piercing eyes. The two of them were certainly going to pay for creating him the fake persona of Miguel. While Stiles and Danny turned back to the computer Kinsey placed her phone on the bed and folded her arms as she prepared herself for the entertainment of a very muscular Derek attempting to put on a shirt belonging to the very skinny Stiles. "So anyway, we both know you have the skills to trace that text, so we should probably..." The skinny boy began in hopes to persuade Danny.

"Stiles?" Derek interrupted.

"Yes?"

"This... No fit." He spat out as he tugged on the fabric of a shirt he had found in the boy's drawer. Kinsey could barely contain her laughter as she placed her hand over her mouth. Stiles looked at her as he nodded his head towards the wolf as a signal for her to get up and help him while he tried to persuade Danny into helping them. Kinsey began digging through the boy's drawers while Derek whispered a bunch of curses, clearly aimed at Stiles who was currently making his life hell on earth and would certainly pay the price for doing so which only entertained her more.

"Hey, that one looks pretty good, huh? What do you think, Danny?" Stiles asked teasingly only turning the wolf's mood fouler as he modeled the shirt. Very poorly. But all that Kinsey could think about was how this had been the best entertainment she had ever experienced that didn't involve drinking to the bottom of a bottle or partying. Seeing Derek miserable and being tormented, Danny squirming every time he caught a glimpse of the shirtless wolf and Stiles being in his element as he embarrassed them both was the pinnacle of humor to her.

"It's not really his color," Danny mumbled.

Kinsey nodded in agreement as she turned to the wolf. "He's not wrong." Stiles turned back to his conversation with Danny while Kinsey focused on finding another shirt that fit Derek that also didn't wash him out, but Stiles's closet was very limited on those options. The majority of it consisted of plaid shirts, t-shirts with phrases such as 'stud muffin' or just had no chance of fitting Derek's larger physique. "Okay, Stiles. None of these shirts fit him." Kinsey complained with a large sigh as she threw the one in her hand back into his drawers with frustration.

The two teenage boys stared at them for a moment, or more so the shirtless wolf beside her before Danny turned back to Stiles instructing him of everything he'd need in order to trace the text. She wasn't sure what had been said to change his mind, but neither she nor Derek was going to complain. Kinsey and Stiles temporarily swapped their positions as the boy attempted to find a shirt in his house that would find the wolf while Kinsey had her own fair share of tormenting Danny while he tried to trace the text. She knew that his attraction for the wolf would be his downfall, in the short time she'd known him she'd learned his type. But Derek was the one male specimen in Beacon Hills that she had no chance of setting him up with, she didn't even dare to try and give Derek any form of relationship advice. A while later Danny had managed to trace the text, Derek and Stiles had found a shirt, and Kinsey had run out of jokes to torment the boy with until all four of them were surrounding the laptop that could provide them with the answer they'd been looking for. Another clue to the Alpha. The first step to Scott's cure.

"There. This text was sent from a computer. This one." Danny sighed as he pointed at the screen.

"Registered to that account name?" Derek asked with a raised brow.

"No, no, no, no. That can't be right." Stiles mumbled as he shook his head.

"Are you sure about this, Danny?" Kinsey questioned the boy. But there was no denying the name that sat right in front of them. One of the last names in this town any of them would have expected to see on the screen. It didn't make sense. It couldn't have been 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐌𝐜𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥.

-☽○☾-

Eager for answers the three sat outside of Beacon Hills Hospital for long-term care, where they had traced the text to. Though things seemed to be going better on the werewolf front with Scott finding Allison's necklace, it was maintaining their normal life that seemed to be faltering. Especially when Stiles realized he was going to miss playing his first game on first line. He was missing his chance. When Scott had called the three of them about the necklace none of them had had the guts to tell him that his own mother might be involved in working with the Alpha or may even be the Alpha. None of them knew what was happening in these moments. But they didn't want to believe that Melissa had anything to do with this. For Stiles, she was like a mother to him and had been since a young age, and for Kinsey, it was just another person on the list of people she wanted to protect in this town. It was beginning to become a hefty list. They couldn't bear to think that that woman had betrayed her own son by working with a psychotic, mass-murdering Alpha werewolf or even being said Alpha Werewolf. They hadn't gotten this far in helping Scott for that to be the truth.

While Derek was still in hiding from the entire state it was up to Kinsey and Stiles to go in there and find out the truth about Melissa, a situation neither was too comfortable with.

"By the way one more thing," Derek spoke up before the two got out of the car. Stiles barely muttered a reply before the wolf grabbed a hold of the boy's hair and slammed his head against his own steering wheel leaving Stiles groaning and Kinsey cringing as though she could feel the pain that he felt. Instinctively she moved from leaning in between the two front seats to further away from Derek so she didn't meet the same painful fate that Stiles just had.

"Oh, God! What the hell was that-"

"You know what that was for," Derek shouted as he pointed a finger at the boy. They did know exactly what it was for. But neither had regrets about calling him Miguel or putting him through the torture of squeezing into one of Stiles's shirts, it had provided some much-needed laughter in a stressful time. "Go. Both of you. Go!" He lectured the two as they climbed out of the Jeep with Stiles still rubbing his head and groaning in pain with every slight movement.

"We're going to keep calling him Miguel from now on, right?" Kinsey asked as she walked beside the boy to the hospital.

Stiles laughed. "Oh, definitely."

Together the two searched every floor of the hospital, every empty room, and occasionally an occupied one that made for an awkward conversation between them, doctors, and the patients they'd walked in on. Eventually, the two had chosen to split up in hopes of covering more ground before meeting back up in the lobby in case they were unsuccessful, that happened a lot sooner than either of them had hoped for. Usually, Melissa was one of the first people they'd see when walking into the hospital but the day that they needed to find her she was nowhere.

Kinsey pulled her phone out as she met Stiles in the lobby, with no other choice but to ask for Derek's advice in this situation. A thing she never thought she'd need. "Yes, Derek. We looked. Everywhere. We can't find her."

"Look, ask for Jennifer. She's been looking after my uncle."

With an exasperated sigh, the two teenagers began searching for Peter Hale's room as well as his nurse, both of the teenagers were trying to get this over with as quickly as possible in hopes that Stiles would be able to make the game that was quickly approaching. Their fast pace came to an even faster halt as they reached the room of Peter Hale, a supposedly paralyzed man who hadn't moved a muscle since the fire. Yet when they looked into the hospital room it was empty. Bare. Vacant. Kinsey and Stiles shared a look while Derek waited on the other end of the phone for some form of information that would lead them closer.

"Derek, he's not here either." Kinsey wearily told the wolf. She knew that him not being here seemed strange. Too strange for her liking.

"What?"

"He's not here, he's gone, Derek." She reiterated as she and Stiles continued to stare into the empty room questioning where a man with limited mobility could have gone. There was a possibility that Jennifer could have taken him out but when it was a dark, cold winter night outside it didn't seem as big of a possibility. Which meant their nerves only worsened.

For a moment silence came from both ends of the phone call as Derek too tried to figure out where his uncle had disappeared to when the last time he had seen him the man couldn't bat an eyelid and was stuck in a wheelchair looking almost as miserable as he did daily. But as he sat in the Jeep with the silence he needed to think he realized what had happened. What he had missed all along. What had been sat right in front of him for weeks on end.

"Kinsey. Kinsey get out of there. Right now! Get out of there! It's him! He's the Alpha! Get out!" Derek yelled loud enough that Kinsey didn't even have to tell Stiles what had been said, he was able to hear it for himself. And both of their jaws slowly fell slack as they tried to process his words. Her hand slowly dropped to her side as Stiles grabbed a hold of her arm to pull her back and out of the hospital with more speed than they'd already been using tonight.

As they stumbled over the threshold of the door both were stumbled by a man standing right outside watching them with a devious smirk growing across his partially burnt face, neither had to question that he was Derek's uncle. Clearly, every Hale had an obvious look about them. From the brooding expression, dark clothing, and overall look that easily incited fear into those they looked at. There was no denying that he was a Hale. Kinsey swallowed the large lump that had formed in her throat as she continued to stumble back into Stiles who didn't think twice about tightly gripping onto her hand rather than her arm. He wasn't sure who was more scared between them but based on his shaky, clammy hand he assumed that it was him.

"Let me guess. Kinsey and Stiles?" The man asked as the two gained more distance between themselves and the man staring into their souls.

Just as they twisted around to make a run for it they were met with the sight of a redhead nurse who looked just as evil as the werewolf behind them as she asked them what they were doing here. But if Peter Hale knew their names they were sure that his nurse knew exactly who they were too. Apparently, when you're hanging around with a pair of werewolves you need no introduction to the rest of the werewolves hiding around in the darkness of the town. Stiles stammered out a few words as he pointed in between Jennifer and Peter, trying to get the point across that he had figured out she had sent the text and that the man behind them really was the Alpha. Though to the girl that seemed obvious enough. Eventually, he managed to string together a well-formed sentence, also an obvious one. But at least he had been able to talk.

"Oh, my God. We're going to die." He blurted out, following that it was a whispered repetition of him saying that they were both going to die as Kinsey looked in the direction of the man who knew her by name. The man who once seemed scared of her just from a mere look in the eye even when she felt her weakest but now seemed to know no fear, he looked at her as though he'd got her completely figured out. Peter had been watching her for a lot longer than she knew.

Jennifer had raised her foot slightly ready to take a step closer towards the teenager before she was stopped by an elbow in the face, connected to that elbow had been what could only be declared as their new lord and savior- Derek. His face was like thunder as he stared down the hall at his uncle who not only had caused him nothing but misery over the past few weeks as he took the responsibility of training the newly-bitten Scott but he had been the murderer of Laura.

"That's not nice. She's my nurse." Peter said with a pouted lip though he lacked sincerity.

"She's a psychotic bitch helping you kill people." Derek spat out. "Get out of the way."

"Oh, no," Stiles mumbled as he pulled both of them to the ground, leaving them to lean against the wall as they watched the fight break out. Both too fearful to move to actual cover. Particularly because the only way they could escape was in the direction of the unconscious redhead nurse on the floor which was an opportunity both chose to pass on for now.

"Do you think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family?" Peter asked as he stepped closer to the younger wolf, both prepared for a fight as Derek flashed his sharp canines and his eyes glowed their steel blue.

Derek lunged towards the older wolf with more anger than ever. His blood boiling inside of him with how carelessly his uncle had spoken ill of Laura, the innocent girl he had killed. Their own blood. Laura hadn't deserved the death that she received after she had worked so hard to avenge their family, Peter included. Only for him to be the one that tore away her life, ripped her apart as though she was nothing but trash to be tossed out onto the street. Effortlessly Peter gripped onto his nephew's collar throwing him against the wall that Kinsey and Stiles leaned up against, the pieces of the broken wall crumbling over their heads alerting them that their first place for cover hadn't been flawless. The two began crawling on all fours for their second attempt at finding cover, taking a short interval to freak out as they moved past the body of the unconscious nurse who seemed wearily still. But if they stopped both of them might just end up looking how she had. A bloody, broken nose and potentially dead on the tile floor.

For the first time since knowing about werewolves, Kinsey actually felt fear being around one, though Derek had a tough exterior she had managed to see straight through it allowing her peace with being around him. And with Scott she failed to see the angry, dangerous werewolf she knew he could be if he wanted to, it was hard when she had known him as the soft, annoying boy who happened to be in love with her cousin. Stiles had lost all of the confidence that he had gained when choosing to go against the wolf in his bedroom and he too felt more fear than he'd ever felt in the presence of a werewolf. But of course, Peter Hale was no typical werewolf who could rip them apart. He was an Alpha. And he would rip them apart.

"My mind, my personality were literally burned out of me. I was being driven by pure instinct."

"You want forgiveness?" Derek snarled as he threw another punch.

"I want understanding." Peter corrected as he kicked the younger wolf in the chest causing him to fly across the room and in the line of view of the two teenagers. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me during those years? Slowly healing, cell by cell. Even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Yes, becoming an Alpha, taking that from Laura pushed me over a plateau in the healing process. I can't help that."

Derek stood up to fight again, his rage still growing within him with how Peter spoke about Laura. He continued to throw punches at the man but his fights were nothing against an Alpha who barely had to move to fight against Derek. Strength like his was unbeatable.

"I tried to tell you what was happening. I tried to warn you." Peter continued before throwing Derek through the glass of the receptionist desk leaving more of the damage the two wolves had created to trickle over Kinsey and Stiles's heads as they tried to cover them.

With barely any fight left in him, Derek crawled across the floor hoping to buy himself some time to build up his strength again with his uncle slowly following him with great pride, taking slightly too much satisfaction as he watched his own blood struggle as he had for the past six years of being stuck in the same room. Surrounded by the same four walls. Kinsey peered around the corner to see neither wolf insight, something that deeply worried her as she turned back to Stiles who could already tell what she was thinking. She didn't have to ask to know that he disagreed. But listening to someone's opinion had never really been her thing.

"Don't you dare, Kins," Stiles warned the girl as he grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Stiles, he needs help. He can't fight Peter alone."

"And you can?" He spat out. "Kins, think about this, for once just stop and think about what you're doing before you end up getting yourself killed. Derek can handle himself. In the meantime, we need to get the hell out of here."

It seemed as though Kinsey no longer had a choice in the matter, Stiles wasn't prepared to leave without the girl being hooked on his arm and running towards the Jeep leaving Derek to defend himself against the Alpha. She had faith in the younger wolf, hoping that maybe the Alpha too had even a pinch of morals like Derek did that would stop him from killing his own blood again. Maybe she was being too optimistic- but then she had been spending a lot of time with Scott.