illuminated 
(aka nell's bday)

With their heads bowed five teenagers sat silently on the couches in Sheriff Stilinski's office, the entire station in darkness after Kira had absorbed every ounce of electricity out of the town. Sat on the edge of Sheriff Stilinski's desk was Rafael McCall, waiting to ask his son and friends many questions about why they had been at the power substation tonight with William Barrow. Noah sat in his desk chair behind the man, just one witness to the questioning that his son and others were about to go through. In the corner of the room Camila stood with folded arms, piercing her eyes at her daughter who had gotten in trouble once again, the blonde girl kept her head down for now. Avoiding that stare that she may not have seen from her mother for a few years, but she remembered it as clear as day, it used to make her skin crawl, now, she wouldn't let it.

"So when did you get there?" Rafael asked the five teens.

"At the same time," Stiles answered simply.

As who? Rafael asked. At the same time as him, Scott replied. By coincidence? Rafael questioned again. What do you mean coincidence? Stiles deflected. That's what he was asking him. Had the two arrived at the same time by coincidence. Scott asked who his father's question was directed at, him, or as Stiles believed; him. Or as Lydia suspected, both of them.

"Okay." Rafael sighed in frustration. "Let me answer the questions."

A smirk grew across six faces. The faces of the five teenagers in front of him who were getting the exact thing they wanted out of this conversation, confusion from Agent McCall, frustration out of him, and a hint of entertainment. The other face that grew a smirk was Sheriff Stilinski who tried to hide just how much he enjoyed seeing the man fumble. Camila, much like her fiance, failed to find the situation amusing. Noelle raised her head correcting the man. He wanted to ask them, not answer. As soon as the correction had left her mouth Camila had spat out her name, warning her, but the girl simply shrugged, it wasn't her fault that her fiance couldn't speak properly.

"Just so I have this absolutely clear," Rafael stated as he filed through the notes he'd made in his pad from all of the questions he had asked prior, the ones that the five teenagers managed to try and answer with much more ease than now. For those questions, they hadn't all been together, and he hadn't been the one answering the questions, one of the deputies had. He knew that the five of them were being difficult on purpose because of him, between his son and the two teens he knew well of, none were discreet about their feelings.

"Barrow was hiding in the chemistry closet at the school. Someone left him a coded message on the blackboard telling him to kill two girls. Kira and... Briar?" He mumbled, looking up at the five teenagers who had claimed that they knew nobody of the named Briar. The lack of expression on their faces caused him to continue, clearly since they were last questioned, none of them had figured out who this persona of Briar was. He looked back at his notes, "Then Barrow took Kira and Noelle to a power substation and tied them up with the intent of electrocuting them, which blacked out the entire town?"

As he looked across the five faces the teenagers nodded. It sounded right to them. At least that was the story they had come up with in the short time they'd had before being found, the only thing that they hadn't lied about was knowing a girl named Briar. Never in their lives had any of them met a girl named Briar. Her name had been left coded on the blackboard beside Kira's. A message Lydia managed to decode after recognizing they were atomic numbers.

Potassium, Iodine, Radium. Kira. Bromine, Iodine, Argon. Briar.

Rafael chose not to focus on the unfamiliar name for the moment, instead, focusing on the little facts he did have. He asked how they knew Barrow would take the two girls to the substation, as Stiles told him, it was because Barrow was an electrical engineer, a hell of a deduction as Rafael described it. But the boy simply stated that he took after his father, winking at the amused man who sat behind Rafael. With that comment, Stilinski had slipped in hiding his humor, snorting at his son's comment, trying to disguise it as a cough when Rafael and Camila had stared at him.

Stiles answered the man's question slightly more helpfully, that they had made a good guess, a really good one. Rafael shook his head, already fed up with Stilinski's, he turned back to Noelle, Scott, and Kira who had already stated that they had been together before Barrow had taken the girls. He asked what the three of them had been doing, and well, though it was the truth, the mix of answers they provided made it seem like the biggest lie of all.

At first, Scott and Noelle had answered that they were eating pizza while Kira had answered that they were eating sushi. The three looked at one another before making their second attempt, yet another failed attempt. Kira had changed her answer to pizza, the other two sushi. They tried to answer him again, a third and final attempt, this time, a successful one. Eating sushi and pizza.

That was yet another thing Rafael tried not to focus on, it was clear they were getting nowhere. He turned to the man sitting behind him, asking whether he believed what story they had given, because he certainly didn't, and judging by the disapproving look Camila threw at her daughter she didn't believe it either. If she knew anything about her daughter and both of the boys sitting either side of her, they were all trouble.

"To be honest, I haven't believed a word Stiles has said since he learned how to speak." Stilinski deadpanned as his son nodded, it seemed fair, though he hoped that his father would continue his sentence and provide them with a little bit of help. "But I think these kids found themselves in the right place at the right time and those girls sitting there are very lucky for it."

Rafael turned back to Kira, asking whether that was how she remembered it. She looked at the four teenagers around her who all leaned forward, waiting for her to follow along with it, at least if she knew what was good for her she would follow the story. And she did. Kira nodded before asking if she could have her phone back, but that wasn't something Rafael could do, it was being kept for the purpose of evidence. As was Noelle's. Though both of the girls knew that Kira's had something on it that would stir up even more questions than Rafael already had.

After realizing he was getting nowhere, when he had run out of both patience and questions to ask, he dismissed the five teenagers. He stopped Kira and Noelle as they were about to leave, he reassured Kira that someone would take her home, but she and the blonde would have to fill out some paperwork beforehand. He didn't bother telling Noelle that she had a ride home, he knew that his son would already be waiting to take her home with him. Just as Cordova was about to escort the two girls to an interrogation room, Camila stopped him, asking for a moment with her daughter. He didn't object, taking Kira in first while the blonde had stepped aside, wondering what her mother was going to ask if she dared to try and pry answers out of her daughter when she was engaged to the man she saw as the enemy.

Camila dragged her daughter to a quiet hallway of the station, knowing that somewhere private was the most appropriate place for the two of them, where only a few ears could hear them, or a passing deputy, where they knew they would have to be careful about their words.

"What has gotten into you?" Camila asked in a snarl. "Do you know how much trouble you could get into for lying to the police? This is serious, Noelle. You were almost killed by Barrow tonight."

"Oh, because you care." Noelle laughed.

"I know that you don't think I care, but I do." Camila insisted sternly. "So what's going on?"

"What's going on?" She repeated with another laugh, flabbergasted that her mother actually still had the nerve to pretend to be a doting mother who kept updated on what was happening in her children's lives. "You want to know what's going on, huh? I'll tell you exactly what's going on. Did you know that on the day you came back I died? That I sacrificed myself to save Cole? That there was a woman called Jennifer Blake, a dark Druid, almost sacrificed him? She almost killed me in the process. And that when she died I absorbed every ounce of the power that she'd taken from her sacrifices? No. You didn't know. Because since you've come back you haven't asked me once how I am. You haven't taken any notice of whether your daughter who was missing for two years was okay. Out of sight, out of mind, right mom?" Noelle ranted, unbothered who heard her, who knew the kind of woman that her mother really was, a decision that she might've regretted later had anyone been paying attention to their conversation.

With a shake of the head, the blonde began walking away. "Noelle." Camila's voice called for her daughter softly, stopping her in her tracks as she turned back to her mother, the blonde woman held out a small white gift box, a silk pink ribbon wrapped around it. Noelle looked from the box to her mother with a furrowed brow. "Happy birthday."

"Keep it. I want nothing from you." The young blonde snarled.

October 31st. Halloween. Her favorite holiday. Her favorite day of the year. And her birthday. For as long as she could remember Noelle had lived and breathed Halloween. The tricks and treats, the aesthetics of it all, scary movies, carving pumpkins. There was nothing about the day Noelle didn't adore. Her father had even nicknamed her after the holiday, knowing how much she loved it, because he was the entire reason she did. He would spend hours decorating the house with jack o'lanterns, skeletons, anything that jumped out at people until they screamed at the top of their lungs. During her time in the vault, Noelle would light a single flame in her palm, imagining that she was a child again, surrounded by her friends and family, blowing out the candles on her birthday cake at one of her Halloween-themed birthday parties.

Now she was out of the vault, she planned to make up for the two years of celebrating that she'd missed, as did those around her. They all wanted to make sure that this birthday was one for her to remember forever, making up for those she had missed out on. But if anyone would have told her that this was how her seventeenth birthday would have begun, sitting in the Sheriff's station filling out a witness statement, furious with her mother after almost being killed by a serial killer, she would have thought you were telling her one of her father's bedtime stories.

·❥·

After spending most of the school day considering his options, Scott followed his gut, not Stiles's advice to leave Kira to it, waiting to find out what she was that could possibly walk through 1.21 gigawatts of electricity before any and all interaction with her, or at least until they were sure she wasn't just another psychotic monster that was going to murder everyone like Jennifer Blake. It was an extra precaution. It had taken Scott longer than he would have liked to admit to realize that he needed to follow his gut instincts, nearly the entire school day to be precise. When he'd seen her sitting alone in an empty hallway during lunch, that was when he knew that he needed to talk to her, to ensure sure that she was okay after finding out she had been purposely targeted by a serial killer or at least one that was being controlled by someone else. Noelle hadn't talked to him about it either, though after the interaction he had overheard between her and Camila he wasn't surprised that she wasn't in a talking mood.

Scott sat down beside the brunette girl who remained quiet, only taking a quick glance at him as he took the space next to her before she stared straight ahead to avoid further eye contact with him, insisting with a sigh that she didn't want to talk about it. Scott nodded, agreeing as he held up the pre-calculus book in his hand, asking if she'd rather talk about the test on Friday instead. Telling her that from what he knew about their teacher, he'd always taken the equations out of the book.

Frankly, he wasn't bothered about finding out what she was or how she had done what she did last night, as long as she knew that it didn't change anything in his eyes, he would still happily be friends with her and he was sure Noelle would feel the same. Kira had probably gathered the blonde wasn't entirely human, both of them had survived those 1.21 gigawatts of electricity to their bodies. And if Noelle wasn't a psychotic monster out to kill them, Kira couldn't be so bad.

Kira sighed slightly as she shut the book in his hand. Giving in. Wondering whether it wouldn't be so bad to tell just one person, or maybe two, if Noelle counted, she gathered it would only be a matter of time before the blonde had asked her what had happened last night, how the two of them had done the things that they did. Or maybe the blonde would be able to tell her. Because honestly, she had no idea how she had done it. "Do you have your phone?"

As Scott nodded the brunette readjusted herself in her seat, turning her body towards him, she told him that he was about to see nothing that nobody had ever seen before, only Barrow. Kira instructed him to take a picture of her using the flash. Though confused, Scott did as she said as he pulled out his phone, shuffling backwards to get a better image of her. As he looked back at the image, he was met with the picture he had taken of Kira, only she had flames outlining her.

She didn't know what it was, only that it started a couple of months ago, that it only happened with the flash on, and somehow, Barrow had found out about it. When she had told him that he had used her own phone to take pictures of both her and Noelle, he began to understand why she had asked for it back, he didn't know what the photo of the blonde would show, but if they saw Kira in that photo, they wouldn't need any more reasons to ask questions. If someone saw those pictures, she didn't even want to begin asking what would happen to her, and neither did Scott. All he knew was that they needed to get her phone back.

"Noelle!"

Her name was called down the hall as she stood at her locker, rolling her eyes at the voice that couldn't be mistaken, though it wasn't one she ever expected to hear calling her name through the school halls. With a roll of her eyes, Noelle closed her locker, walking further from the voice that dared to shout her name, as though the two of them were friends now, and that they often had friendly conversations in the halls. But they weren't friends, not even acquaintances in her mind, and she didn't particularly care for being on a first-name basis with him, she would have much rathered if the two didn't know one another at all. 

He called her name again as he began jogging to reach the blonde who hastily walked away from him, making it obvious she was ignoring him. Noelle couldn't even pass it off as not being able to hear him through the crowd of fellow teenagers, the hallway was empty, just the two of them, she could blame her free period on that. Though the girl didn't particularly care if he knew she was ignoring him, there was no reason for the two of them to communicate, once again, the two of them weren't friends. They never would be. She didn't even bother to peer over her shoulder to make sure it was the person who she thought it was, she didn't need to, she knew it was him, and she couldn't be less interested in seeing him, let alone hearing him shout his name when he should have been in gym class with the likes of Scott and Stiles.

The blonde was surprised, an involuntary gasp escaping her mouth as his hand slammed onto one of the lockers beside her, his arm blocking her from stepping any further. Noelle turned her head from the hand that had slammed against the locker to the wolf attached to it, her face in a scowl as she looked at him through her long eyelashes.

"You're ignoring me." Ethan deadpanned, looking at the girl with a cocked head.

Another gasp left the girl's mouth, this time, a sarcastic one. "Really?"

She moved aside, prepared to walk around the wolf as if he was just another obstacle in what was already proving to be a difficult day, she already had a list of people to avoid thanks to her part in Barrow's investigation that she had lied about she could easily add Ethan to the list too.

Maybe not for the same reasons, but it was no trouble to her, he and his twin brother practically made her list on their own, they had etched themselves a permanent spot at the top. Noelle had only managed to take a few more steps before the cycle was repeated, Ethan slamming his hand on yet another set of lockers, this time he'd done it strong enough to leave a slight dent, it was clear he was growing irritated with the girl and her arrogance as he blocked her once again.

"I need a favor."

The blonde broke out into a hysterical laugh as the wolf stood watching her, unimpressed by her amusement towards those four little words he had said. Noelle's smile faded and she looked at the wolf with his arm stretched in front of her. "Oh, you're serious. You're really stupid enough to ask me for a favor?" She asked with a raised brow.

"I helped you with Barrow." Ethan deadpanned.

"No." Noelle shook her head. "You sniffed a few bloody rags, searched around a few corners, and still didn't manage to find him. And if we're going to be technical about this, Scott asked for your help, I just did the dirty work for him. I don't owe you anything. Now if you don't mind, I have to be anywhere that isn't here." The blonde spat out.

Just as she was about to move around him again, for her second attempt, Ethan stepped in front of her, placing both of his hands on her, stopping her much more directly this time. Noelle's eyes widened as she looked at the wolf, surprised that he dared to touch her, both of them knew that if Scott, Isaac, or Stiles dared to walk into this hall right now, he would be a dead wolf, and she'd get a lovely winter coat for her birthday. The blonde sighed as she looked at the wolf, lowering the large wall she had put up ever so slightly.

"Why would I help you?" She asked with sincerity, rather than the usual anger she spoke to him and his brother with. "You and your brother beat Scott up, you went after Derek, not to mention you locked Isaac and Allison in a closet until he almost killed her-"

"All of those things were Aiden. I had nothing to do with either of them." Ethan interrupted her. "He's trying to change. You may think that we were joking about needing a pack, but we weren't, and we're prepared to work for it, and if you do me this favor I'll be forever indebted to you."

Noelle looked around with another sigh, contemplating her own sanity as she considered if she was willing to hear him out, she could always reject helping him, there was nothing wrong with that, even if he did seem sincere when he admitted having no part in anything that his brother had done to them, which was a lot of things. And he had tried to stop Kali and Aiden from going after Derek that night. Maybe he wasn't as bad as his brother, she'd never disliked him as much as she disliked Aiden, frankly, she'd just grouped the two of them together as many people did to her and Cole, something that had always annoyed the two of them too. Against her best interests, Noelle agreed to hear the wolf out.

When she had, Ethan admitted that his favor was more so a favor for Danny rather than himself. A point she probably should have led with rather than blocking her from moving and denting an innocent kid's locker to make his point.

Their entire interaction would have gone a lot quicker and smoother if he had mentioned Danny at the beginning, that was a person who she had would help favor, even if it was a severely large favor for Ethan to ask from her. But he'd come to the right person. There was nobody else in this town stupid enough to agree to give him the keys to Derek's loft so that Danny could host his Halloween blacklight party there, even if she knew there was a chance that the Hale would kill her for agreeing and hosting a party, she couldn't resist a party at the best of times, but certainly not on Halloween, not on her birthday. She needed the distraction, all of them could use a party in Beacon Hills, it was the perfect distraction from all things supernatural.

Noelle was sitting in class, idly clicking her pencil against the desk as she stared at the front of the class with a smile. Not only had she successfully managed to form a plan with Ethan to help Danny throw his blacklight party, including getting Derek away from the loft for a night, but she had managed to go the entire day without running into her brother, having to tell him that last night she had almost been murdered, he would kill her himself for not telling him sooner.

To her surprise, it hadn't taken as much avoidance as she thought it would have. Since arriving at school this morning she hadn't seen her brother, he'd texted her before she woke up to wish her a happy birthday, insisting he would give her his gift tonight, but other than that, he was a lot quieter than she was used to. Suspiciously quiet.

It was as she looked at the front of the class she had heard her name being whispered from beside her, after today she considered changing her name, she had never heard it be called so much in the space of a day. Whether it was teachers calling it to volunteer her to solve a math problem, or to read a piece of a text to the entire class, or a surprisingly common reason today; to ask for a favor.

The blonde turned towards the whisper, she knew it wasn't someone who never usually dared to utter her name, that was clear by the fact it had been Nell rather than Noelle, this time it was someone much more welcome to talk to her. Scott McCall. She turned her head to the wolf who seemed nervous to talk to her, which was unusual for him, they lived together, she couldn't see why he would ever be nervous to talk to her.

"How do you feel about breaking into the Sheriff's department for your birthday?" He asked. It wasn't particularly the question he wanted to ask her, he planned on asking whether she would want to go to Danny's part with him tonight, as his date, after they broke into the Sheriff station to retrieve Kira's cellphone, but it appeared he was only capable of getting through half of that question, he hadn't built up quite enough courage to fulfill the rest of it just yet.

"I feel like that sounds like the best birthday ever." Noelle smiled brightly.

·❥·

Outside the Sheriff's station, Noelle and Stiles sat in the Jeep, patiently waiting for Scott and Kira to arrive on the dirtbike while they played eye spy like they were five again. It seemed like a good way to spend what could be their final night alive after she had chosen to throw a party at Derek's loft, because after Noelle had told him, Stiles was sure that none of them would survive another night. His loft was his castle, one that he dared to give her the keys to while he was out of town. If it wasn't for the blonde using her birthday as leverage, Stiles was sure he would have spent the night at home, he would have been the only one who lived to tell the tale of the McCall Pack and their untimely demise because Noelle had convinced them all that partying at Derek's loft was a good idea. But what kind of best friend would he have been if he had said no to being with her on her birthday, when for all of their years of friendship, he had only ever missed two of them, and even those had been spent celebrating it, just not with her.

Scott had recruited Stiles to help with their breaking in of the station too, if the was anyone who was qualified for the job, it was him, he knew the place like it was the back of his hand, and if he put him with Noelle, there was no chance of them getting caught. Of course, a curious Stiles had asked him what was on the phone that Kira wanted rid of so badly, he'd tried to pry it out of the blonde too, but frankly, she didn't even know what was on it, she wasn't sure she wanted to ask questions either, scared to know what she might find. Out of all the reasons Stiles expected, he was taken aback by Scott's answer of naked pictures, surprised that such a seemingly innocent girl like Kira would even have something like that on her phone.

"Oh." Stiles quickly blurted out, sitting up in his seat. Noelle had sat up too, believing that Scott and Kira were finally here, or he had figured out the thing he'd been trying to spy for almost ten minutes now. But it was neither of those things. He reached over the backseat, pulling out a box that was so poorly wrapped that she finally understood why he had always made her wrap all of his dad's birthday presents for as long as she could remember. "Happy birthday, Nell."

Noelle smiled as he placed the box in her hand, watching as she opened it. Her brows furrowed at the pair of sunglasses. Not because it was November tomorrow and that she certainly wasn't anticipating any gleaming sun anytime soon, but because she recognized the sunglasses in the box. "You said that you liked them when we used them as your disguise at the hospital," Noelle remembered exactly the time he was talking about, the night they had found her in the vault, the night when she had been saved, when she felt like a completely different person from who she was now, even if only a few months had passed. She wasn't that scared girl she had been then, still hiding a secret that she'd kept with her for years, now, she tried to embrace what she had been gifted with, even if that gift did still terrify her at times. "They suited you better than me anyway," Stiles added with a shrug.

The blonde closed the box, placing it on the dashboard so that she could hug the boy, thanking him with a bright smile across her face. "Please never stop letting me wrap your presents for you or at least until you take a class in wrapping." The girl laughed in his ear, as did he, he knew that he was terrible at trying to wrap gifts. His room was still covered in tape from attempting to wrap the sunglasses box, even his dad hadn't helped, he was about to until he saw the mess his son had already made and that was something that he wanted no involvement in.

It wasn't long later that Scott and Kira had finally arrived, it still hadn't been long enough for Stiles to guess that Noelle had been spying Roscoe the entire time, but it had been long enough that they were on a smaller time scale than what they had anticipated they would be on. When the two had pulled up on the bike Noelle took that as her cue to jump out of the Jeep, listening to the detailed instructions that Stiles provided them with, as well as some of the things they'd need to break into the station without alerting anyone. He began handing Scott key cards with an explanation for each one. One for all of the perimeter doors. The evidence room. And even a card to his father's office. Neither of the three who were about to break in were sure whether to ask how he had acquired all of the cards, but Noelle had asked anyway. Frankly, they'd assumed the obvious; that he'd stolen them. Instead, he'd used an RFID emulator, which may have been worse than stealing them, but it was also smarter than stealing them too.

He continued his detailed plan. Almost everybody was out dealing with the blackout, but there was always somebody at the front desk, Dispatch, and usually, a night shifter or two which was why the three of them were going to use the service entrance by the dumpster that nobody ever uses, he would be waiting, texting them if anyone came out. He paused for a moment to make sure they were following along. He was sure that if anything in his plan didn't go accordingly he could depend on Noelle to take the lead, her natural mischievousness able to get them through it without getting caught. Before he let the three go he had one final warning. If in some way the three of them did end up getting caught, he couldn't help them. His dad was under investigation for impeachment because of Rafael, so if it did happen, he insisted he would run and leave both of them for dead. Specifically, both. Not them. Not all. Just both.

"There's three of us." Kira pointed out, Stiles nodded. "You said both."

Stiles nodded again, he knew what he said. "You think anyone's going to punish Nell?" He asked with a stifled laugh. "She is like Beacon Hills' princess. She could literally get away with murder."

Kira looked at the girl with her hands in her pockets, Noelle shrugged. He probably wasn't wrong about it, since being her father's daughter this entire town had loved her and Cole, they were the children of the entire town, and nobody dared to punish the girl who had lost her father and had been kidnapped, held hostage for two years. In the eyes of Beacon Hills, she could do no wrong. Still in disbelief, Kira turned to look at Scott, he too shrugged, agreeing with the statement. They were the only two who were screwed tonight if they were caught.

Without any further warnings from Stiles, Noelle began leading the other two to the service door prepared to live up to the mischievous reputation that she spent most of her childhood creating. As they reached the door, Scott swiped the first key card, allowing Noelle to take the lead again, all three crouching down, sneaking through the building, keeping a close eye for any of the staff that Stiles had warned them about. As soon as they'd entered the building they heard one of the doors open, all three jumping behind one of the desks closest to them, holding their breaths.

Noelle peeked around the desk, watching and waiting until the deputy walked through another door, leaving the room clear again. When the coast was clear again the Noelle turned back to the two hiding behind her, nodding as their signal to continue. While Scott used the second key card Noelle and Kira kept watch, the brunette girl was much more nervous than the blonde who looked as though she could do this in her sleep.

As the three piled into the evidence room, they took a moment to breathe, more so for Kira who couldn't stop her heart from beating loudly in her ears, and then, it was go time. They all took a side of the room, searching through boxes and bags of evidence which had been made a harder task with no light in the room, but the two girls only had themselves and Barrow to thank for the blackout. Eventually, Scott found her phone, quicker than she thought they would have, if she'd known sneaking into a Sheriff's Station was this easy, maybe it would have been something that she had tried before. The three crouched around the phone, waiting for the phone to come on, only to see the dead battery signal illuminated on the screen.

"We have to take it." Kira insisted.

Noelle shook her head. "They'll know it's gone." Kira took the girl's word for it, she knew that she was experienced in this kind of thing, her dad used to be a Sheriff after all. But she didn't see any other options, they couldn't leave the phone and risk them seeing it. "We need to find some way to charge it." Noelle shrugged, it was obvious, but it wasn't simple.

The three looked around the dark room, wondering how they'd charge it without electricity until Scott had spotted a laptop sitting on the desk, all they needed was a charging cable. While Scott and Kira headed over to the desk to search through its drawers the blonde kept on the other side of the room, searching through another set of drawers for a cable, with all of the evidence they'd touched tonight it was a good job Noelle was viewed as royalty in this town, otherwise she could count on spending the rest of her life behind bars.

Kira was the first to find a charging cable, raising it in the air with celebration, raising her voice a little too loud to alert the girl across the room who had sharply turned her head before they had all frozen for a moment before making another movement, wanting to be sure that nobody was going to come and investigate the distant sound. Once again, when Noelle deemed they were in the clear, she snuck over to the desk that they knelt behind as Kira plugged in the phone.

Scott opened the lid of the laptop, the screen flicking on, a picture of a young Scott lit up in front of them, an old photo with his father. If it wasn't for Scott's babyface in the image, the fact it was a photo with his father was enough to tell that it was a long time ago. Noelle looked at the boy as he stared at the screen, embracing a moment of wistfulness, remembering that period of his life, a time when his father was around, and not just to cause trouble. As the wistfulness and his dim smile faded from his face the blonde placed her hand on top of his, providing him with a soft and reassuring smile that somehow managed to make him feel better about it all.

They both turned to the brunette girl staring down at her phone, watching the charging symbol on it, waiting impatiently for it to come on so they could all get over this. All three watched and waited for the phone to turn on, it was taking longer than any of them could handle, all starting to bounce up and down with impatience.

Stiles sat in his jeep, waiting for them to come out of the station as he spun his keys around his index finger, still fascinated by the addition of an extra key that he'd noticed just this morning, he may have had a lot of keys to a lot of places on the ring, but he knew the purpose of them all, all but that one. His glare was taken from the suspicious key as a pair of bright headlights shone in his eyes, he squinted through the bright lights, trying to see who had pulled up, and then, his worst nightmare stepped out of the car ahead. Rafael McCall. He quickly sat up again, searching the car for his phone to call Scott, Rafael already nearing the front entrance.

As he felt vibrating in his pocket the wolf pulled out his phone, the two girls still watching Kira's. "Oh no," Scott mumbled, seeing Stiles's caller ID. Something was wrong. Scott's head shot up as he listened to who was walking towards the building, the whistle of a familiar tune that he knew his father had always whistled since he was a child. "My dad's here."

"What?" Kira began to panic, her eyes darting between Scott, Noelle, and her dead phone. "What do we do? I can't go to jail. Have you seen what they do to people in there?"

The blonde stood up, walking towards the door, warning them to do what they needed to do as fast as they could while she figured out a way to stall the man. Kira and Scott nodded, there was no time to try and argue against it or ask her what she planned on doing, they just had to put all of their faith in her, remembering what Stiles had said, hoping that applied to Rafael too. As the future husband of the girl's mother, they had to hope that he wouldn't arrest the girl.

As he ran into the station Stiles found Noelle standing in between Rafael and the door leading to the other half of the building, the half that contained the evidence room Scott and Kira were in, trying to block Rafael from getting anywhere near it. He didn't know how she did it, how she had gotten there so quickly, and based on the confused expression he saw on the rest of the deputy's faces, none of them knew either, they weren't sure how long Noelle had been standing there, or when she had even entered the building, none of them had seen or heard her, frankly, they'd all been distracted, gossiping about the rest of the town. The entire reason they took the night shift was to have an easy life, they didn't particularly care why the blonde was here, she could do no harm, she was just Noelle Priestley, the town sweetheart.

"What are you doing here, Noelle?" McCall asked with a sigh. "Shouldn't be out celebrating your birthday, breaking curfew, your usual nonsense."

That was the thing. She was doing all of those things tonight. "Uh," The blonde mumbled as she tried to figure out an excuse for her hanging around the Sheriff Station during the blackout. And she had to think fast. "The Sheriff asked me to come here."

"For what?" Rafael raised a brow. Birthday surprise, she shrugged, hoping that would avert any more questions from the man. "Stilinski isn't in tonight. It's his day off." The man deadpanned, folding his arms. Unconvinced by the blonde's lie as she tried to stare him down.

Stiles rushed over to the two of them, interrupting the conversation, hoping to save her from the questions Rafael would spend all night asking if he could, he had hope that with her being alone she would provide more honest answers than the likes of the ones they'd given him earlier when they had been grouped together. Stiles beamed with a greeting as he looked up at the man, one of his arms wrapped around Noelle's shoulder, she looked at him with concern, wondering what happened to him running for the hills if something happened. Shaking off all of her concern she turned back to Rafael, trying to act natural.

"So, you know, I've been thinking about the whole Barrow case." Stiles began rambling, knowing that it would take Rafael's mind off of what Noelle was doing here, at least long enough for Scott and Kira to get out of the building with their mission successful. Barrow received the information about who to kill at the school, right, you know that? So I was thinking maybe the person who'd given him that information, check this out, might actually be someone... at the school."

Stiles had begun to stammer as he slowly lost his thought process with every word that escaped his mouth, even Noelle was struggling to keep track of the conversation as she narrowed those hazel eyes of hers at him, trying to figure out where he was going with this, whether there was a point to his words. Stiles raised a brow at her, egging her to follow along. But it was hard for the girl to follow along when McCall had agreed with Stiles, telling him he was right.

"He is?" Noelle blurted out, earning her a nudge to her side.

McCall admitted it was a good theory, one that they were already pursuing, that was something Stiles hadn't been able to hide his surprise with, he thought that only he and Lydia had thought of Barrow and the school connection when they had found those two names on the blackboard. He was a little less surprised when McCall admitted it was his father who'd come up with it. But rather than praising the man, Rafael had to add one of his infamous digs about the man. He had commented on how it had been Sheriff Stilinski's one useful suggestion. With that one comment he had managed to anger both of the teenagers in front of him.

As Rafael stepped forward, reaching past the blonde girl to swipe his keycard, Stiles had stepped forward with a scowl across his face, a wrath that Noelle had ever seen from him before. She had only ever seen Stiles mad a handful of times in the time she'd known him, and in that handful of times, there had only ever been two reasons for that feeling inside of him. The first reason being someone had badmouthed her, the other, they had badmouthed his father. Out of all the things in the world that could anger Stiles Stilinski, it was them, of all the people he cared about he felt an overwhelming urge to protect the two of them. And Rafael had just badmouthed his father.

He got in the man's far, dropping the arm from around Noelle's shoulder, a dark cloud looming over his head as he began to lose his calm. He was almost unrecognizable as he spoke, a rasp to his voice, musting the hate that he had built up for the man over the years, especially since his return to town when he had given him more reasons than ever to despise him. He had returned with Camila, engaged to be wed, screwing up the relationship forming between his son and the blonde beside him all while trying to get his father fired from a job he was born to do.

"You know, this attitude that you have toward my dad? You can dress it up to all the professional disapproval that you want. But I know the real reason why you don't like him." Stiles spoke with a threatening tone, the blonde taking a slight step back, watching him in shock.

"Is that so?" Rafael chuckled softly.

"Yeah. Because he knows something that you don't want him to know." Stiles continued, Rafael tried to laugh it off again, stepping forward ever so slightly to reach past Noelle again acting as if he had no idea what Stiles was referring to, but he did know. "And guess what. We know it, too." Stiles said lowly, watching the horror wipe across Rafael's face as he looked between them, and that was when Noelle understood what he was talking about. She did know too. Her own father had told her all about it, and Stiles had too.

They knew more than he wanted them to, and what scared him the most was that they'd use it, maybe not the boy who threatened him with it, but the blonde beside him. He knew that inside of her she had that same spark her mother had inside of her, an inch of cruelty when it came to getting what she wanted. She would use it. And she knew how to. All she would have to do was tell Scott, and his son would be out of his life forever. There was no winning him back. The man took a step back, struggling for words as he cleared his throat, Stiles's threat had worked more than the boy had anticipated. He instructed the two to go home, reminding them of the curfew before daring to step towards Noelle again, for a third time he reached past her to try and enter the other half of the building that she had been blocking. Stiles began walking away, but Noelle remained still for a moment, piercing her eyes at the man, that was all the threat she needed to give him. From now, they both had him right where they wanted him.

Without another word, Noelle and Stiles exited the building, meeting Scott and Kira at the Jeep, both of them had managed to escape without getting caught, the evidence was gone from Kira's phone, and now she was filled with more adrenaline than she knew her body could hold. Both of the other two teenagers had chosen not to mention how they had gotten away from Rafael alive, just like they had since they'd found out his little secret, it would be kept between them. Not for the sake of Rafael himself, but they knew what it would do to Scott.

"That was awesome!" Kira beamed with enthusiasm. "I mean, terrifying... completely terrifying but kind of awesome. I've never done anything like that before. Have you?" She asked, looking between the three of them who all pouted their lips in thought, they could either lie and say no, or admit they had, and therefore admit to committing many, many crimes.

Noelle kept their answer to a minimum, that they had done it once or twice in their lives. Maybe the biggest understatement she had ever given in her life. The blonde cleared her throat before she got caught up in her own lie, suggesting that the four of them head to the party, insisting the brunette come with them. Kira had been surprised at first, she hadn't even heard about the big Halloween party Noelle had referred to, let alone expected to be invited to it. But with all of her enthusiasm, she couldn't possibly say no now. And even if she tried, Noelle had her leverage up her sleeve. The same one she had been prepared to use against any of her friends that dared to say no to her. Allison. Isaac. Cole. Lydia. The four around her. She had convinced them all. If she went down for letting Danny throw a party in Derek's loft, they were going down with her.

·❥·

Allison, Cole, and Isaac approached the loft, already able to hear the loud thumping of music, if Derek even heard that noise he would kill them, it didn't matter what rested on the other side of the door. They were still unsure about it all, out of all of the things that the three had done, this might just have been the stupidest thing ever. There were only two reasons that they'd all been brave enough to go through with it. The first had a name, Noelle. And the second, after what had happened last night, all three wanted nothing more than a distraction, a reason to not think or talk about the secret they were keeping from those closest to them. Her father still had the rest of the day to figure something out. He had sworn each teenager to secrecy until his time was up.

Cole couldn't tell his little sister about the five hooded figures that had attacked him and Isaac in Allison's bedroom last night, the ones that Argent believed were after him. Isaac couldn't tell the two people he lived with, his closest confidants. Allison couldn't tell her two best friends. They'd all been avoiding their friends since last night, but especially Noelle and Scott. And because of it, none of them knew what happened to Noelle and Kira last night.

For what was left of Argent's twenty-four hours, the entire pack were to be normal teenagers, it might be the last time for a while that they had that chance. After all that they had been through, in the past day, the past year, their entire lives, they all deserved to let loose, party, and act as if they were normal teenagers who didn't have to wonder about five hooded figures who imposed danger on their beloved town. Tonight, they were nothing more than careless teenagers with a desperate need to party.

Isaac looked between Allison and Cole, both of them nodding, prepared to follow through with that promise. He swung open the loft door, revealing a loft filled with people dancing under the black lights, covered in neon paint and the brightest and smallest clothing that their closets had to offer, leaving the three of them standing out like sore thumbs. None of them were wearing anything remotely bright that would glow beneath the lights. It was the one thing Noelle hadn't warned them of when telling them about the party. Never had the three heard music so loud in their life, a party so lively. With all the neon paint on people's faces, they hardly recognized all of the people around them, unable to tell if they had ever even met them before.

Everyone had gone all out for Halloween, just as desperate as the three at the door to let loose and not remember anything in the morning. Cole looked across the party, it was bigger than his little sister had led him to believe when she told him Danny was throwing a Halloween bash at the loft. She couldn't have known about this. And if she did, she was even more insane than he thought, Ethan had had to have lied to her about the scale of this bash. He had hired a DJ, every free space in the loft had splatters of luminescent paint, already a sea of solo cups on the floor. The three of them all agreed. Derek could not know. The three stepped in, never looking back.

Allison and Isaac stood at the bar, prepared to get as many shots as they could so that they could forget all of their troubles as fast as possible, and the blonde boy who'd come with them needed that too. He stood across the loft, waiting for them as he looked out at the party.

Cole had been filled with an unbearable guilt all day that on his Noelle's birthday, her first one since escaping the vault, he had spent it avoiding her, now he knew how it felt to keep a secret from her, how she must have felt keeping one from him for a large portion of her life. Isaac had turned to Allison, about to ask her something, but as soon as he'd seen the look on her face he had lost his train of thought, he followed the girl's gaze until it landed on four people who had just entered the party.

Stiles and Kira walked ahead of Scott and Noelle, the blonde standing out to them in her white dress that glowed blue under the black lights. She was looking around her at the party, though it was definitely bigger than she anticipated, she still remained excited for the night ahead. Scott had his hand intertwined with hers, guiding her through the party.

Since Allison had met Noelle for the first time in that vault, when she had first seen the way Scott looked at her, she knew there was part of him and his heart that belonged to her. He had a look of love in his eyes that she knew, he still did now, looking at her as they walked through the loft. For months, she had felt fine seeing the two of them, maybe even the happiest for them than the rest of the world, but for the first time, she looked at them together and she was hit with a sting of pain. Something about tonight made her realize that it was over now, that she and Scott were officially over. Maybe it was the step that she and Cole had almost taken last night too, but she'd never been more sure of it. She and Scott were an older chapter in her book.

She could remember how much she'd wanted to hate the blonde with every fiber of her being, a job made difficult when she had found out the truth about her, but now that she had met Noelle, it was even harder. There was no reason to hate the blonde, and now that she'd actually met her it was impossible to hate her. Noelle had become one of her best friends, one of the people she loved most in her life. And all she wished was happiness for her, even if it was with Scott, both of them deserved to be happy with one another, something they'd clearly waited their entire lives for. They were perfect for each other.

"Hey." Isaac nudged the brunette in her side, Allison nodded, listening as she kept her eyes on Scott and Noelle. "You okay?" He asked with sincerity. He knew how it felt to look at the two of them and feel that jealousy, those feelings he had for Noelle were still inside of him, maybe not as strong as the ones Allison and Scott once shared, but they were there.

She nodded, she was fine, maybe even great. She smiled at the two standing in the crowd, they had already been looking at her, Scott seeking silent approval from her, because now that he'd thought about it, he had never asked if she was okay with him and Noelle, but she nodded she let him go. A new page turned, an acknowledgement that the part of their lives when they had been together was over, they were free to be with other people, to move on, and it seemed the two had already found their next chapter. Allison turned back to the wolf, insisting that she was going to need that shot of tequila now, if not more than once, to cement her decision, to give herself the courage to do something she hadn't had the confidence to do for a few months now. Somehow, Isaac knew just what that was as he handed her the shot, frankly, it was about time one of them had the guts to do something about it, they were just as bad as Scott and Noelle.

Allison rejoined Cole who'd been stood watching the party, wondering what was taking Allison and Isaac so long. He still didn't like the thought of what was in front of him, how Derek would react to it, but Noelle didn't seem to care as she pulled Scott through the crowd to dance, as if she was the only one who wasn't scared of Derek Hale's wrath. But if there was anyone not to be worried, it was her. Cora would kill her big brother if she found he ever laid a finger on her best friend. But what concerned him most was Noelle's lack of knowledge about the demon warriors that had attacked him last night. He didn't like not telling her things, she had specifically told him she didn't want them to keep secrets from one another, and yet, they were. Allison noticed how distracted he seemed as she handed him a drink, thought he smile back as he took it, it was clear that a drink wasn't enough to take his mind off of things.

She stood beside him, her cup pressed against her lips as she looked over the crowd. He tried to hold it in, refraining from mentioning it in the fear of ruining her night, but when she had looked at him with pierced eyes, she'd practically burnt it out of him. "Have you seen Nell?" Cole asked. Allison nodded at first, she thought he'd seen the exchange between her and Scott until he had elaborated on his worries. "Did you tell her what happened?"

Only then did she realize what he meant. "No." Allison shook her head. "We still have a couple more hours, remember? We promised my dad."

"You promised your dad." Cole corrected.

"I promised him in order to protect him." Allison deadpanned.

Cole corrected the girl again, she had promised Argent in order to protect him, he had never said a word, a loophole. The brunette looked at him with furrowed brows, asking whether protecting her dad was such a bad thing. She knew he was no saint, he had once been an active hunter who would have hunted his kind, but he and Noelle both knew that wasn't him anymore, he'd spent months training the two of them, getting to know them, protecting them like they were his own. Argent had seen the man his father had become and was determined to not turn into that man himself, for the sake of his daughter. The last thing they needed was a repeat of history.

"I don't like keeping secrets from my sister." Cole shook his head. "Or anyone."

Allison nodded in agreement, she didn't particularly enjoy it either. She had had enough of the secret keeping, she didn't enjoy having to hide things from the people that she loved. She had become a hypocrite after telling her father how much she hated the lies and the secret telling, only to do it herself. Though she didn't believe that Cole was referring to her dad's kind of secret anymore, but the other one that they had tried to keep, mostly from themselves. She smiled as she placed her cup to her lips.

"No, you don't." She shook her head with a smile as he turned to look at her rather than his little sister on the dancefloor. "You just like to stand there awkwardly waiting for someone to notice us... Whatever we are... And then you like to make things incredibly uncomfortable." Allison said with an undeniable smile on her face.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cole asked with a raised brow and a smirk.

Allison laughed. "What do you think it means?"

"I think it means you're probably mad."

"I'm not mad." Allison shook her head, an even bigger smile across her face, from ear to ear until her jaw had begun to ache from smiling too much, something that often happened around Cole, even after months of it happening, she still hadn't gotten used to it, or the fluttering inside of her stomach when he was around. "I'm frustrated." She said with a playful sigh.

Cole's smirk continued as he watcher her try to avoid eye contact with him like she always tried to, it never lasted for long, including now as he asked "Sexually?"

She didn't answer, only smiling at the boy, about to lean into him, until she walked straight past him instead, teasing him further as she walked towards the body painter in the corner of the loft, it was about time the two of them looked a part of the party. Cole gladly followed the huntress with a smile on his face, one that only grew as she stood in front of the body painter, taking one of the paintbrushes, placing it in her mouth before unbuttoning her red flannel, her pink bralette glowing under the black light. Cole watched with intent, hoping to enjoy the sight without being interrupted like last night.

Allison removed the paintbrush from her mouth, holding it out to the wolf. "Do you want to talk about Nell or do you want to paint my body?" Allison challenged him with a smile.

There was no doubt in Cole's mind, he didn't even have to think about the offer as he took the paintbrush from her hand, wasting no time in trailing the fluorescent paints across her skin as she held her hair out of the way, leaving all kinds of patterns across her, but he wasn't careless with it. He took his time, enjoying the moment as the body painter nodded with approval.

When Allison's body was covered in paint, and so was Cole's face, the brunette guided him to the dancefloor, compared to the rest of the crowd, their dancing was slow, but to them, they felt like the only two in the room, consumed with one another as Cole spun the girl around. Neither of them could hide the smiles on their faces. Tonight the first time the two of them were in public with one another, not acting like friends who only had Noelle in common. Tonight was their new start, embracing all of the feelings that had been there for months on end now, practically since they had been introduced to one another.

Lydia leaned against one of the columns that supported the loft with a drink in her hand, one of the only one slightly enjoying the party, not having the time of her life like the rest of the room, including all of her friends. Allison and Cole were dancing happily with each other. Not hiding as if they hadn't been on the edge of a relationship for months. Finally, as Lydia described it. Stiles was just a few feet from them Finally, as the two girls described it. Stiles was just a few feet from them dancing crazily with a girl she didn't recognize, or awkwardly as she would have described it, but she was happy for him too nonetheless. Kira and Isaac were stood at the bar with drinks in their hands, spectating the party like she was, though both of them still seemed to be having a better time than she was. Scott and Noelle had already abandoned the party, she had seen them head to the roof a few minutes ago, she hoped it was to figure out what was going on with their complicated situation. Lydia turned around, scanning the other half of the room, her eyes falling on Aiden in the elevator,  sandwiched between two grinding girls. Predictably.

As Lydia took another sip from her cup, rolling her eyes at the werewolf that she'd expressed her loss of interest in this morning if he continued to be a bad guy, she'd heard a light growing in her ears, a popping sound. She looked around the party, nothing in sight as she took another sip.

Then five hooded figures began to flicker in and out of existence around her. Lydia dropped her cup to the floor, rushing through the party as she called for Scott, but even with the loud music even his enhanced hearing couldn't help him hear her from the roof. She turned her head as she looked for Allison and Cole on the dancefloor where they had been stood just a few seconds ago but the two of them were gone, nowhere to be seen. With heavy breaths, Lydia rushed out to the balcony beyond the giant loft window, catching her breath as she looked over the skyline. Then, popping sound returned, one of the hooded figures rising up from the concrete. She opened her mouth to scream but before she could another one of the five figures had appeared, snatching the sound from her mouth with his hand. It placed a hand on the left side of her face, staring her in the eyes as its own began to glow a firefly greenish-yellow.

·❥·

Scott and Noelle stepped out onto the roof, taking a deep breath of fresh air, a vast difference to downstairs that had quickly become too much for the blonde. She hadn't considered how she'd feel in such a crowded area after years of being alone in the vault, with more space than anyone needed, or wanted. She'd only had to deal with the crowds in school, which compared to the loft tonight were like small gatherings of friends. When Scott had seen the panic on her face as she looked around them he suggested coming up here for some air, far enough from all of the music that they could hear one another without shouting at the top of their lungs.

Much more comfortable than she had been a few minutes ago, Noelle skipped around the empty rooftop, her arms spread out, feeling the cold wind brush against her skin, for someone who was consistently at one with nature, it was a feeling completely different to that a human would feel, or even a wolf. It felt like a warm hug, like she was home. A feeling she imagined her brother may not feel either, he lacked the other elements that she did, he had only ever had a taste of further strength, how his sister felt every waking moment.

As Noelle spun around she noticed a small smudge of bright green paint on Scott's cheek, they hadn't been anywhere near the paint, and they hadn't needed to, they were one of the very few who hadn't painted their bodies, but with so many people dancing around them, the paint must have rubbed off on them. As the blonde pointed out the green paint on his cheek, he pointed at the splashes of pink and blue paint on her white dress, though hers looked deliberate compared to his blob of paint, he tried rubbing it off of his cheek as both of them took a seat on the edge of the skylight, but it didn't matter how many times he tried, it didn't budge.

Noelle shook her head with a soft laugh "Let me." She licker her thumb, softly rubbing the paint off of his face, Scott took the opportunity of her being just a few inches from his face to admire her. She tried no to pay attention to his soft stare, concentrating on the subbornt green paint on his face. But once it was gone she had no other choice but to meet his eyes. For a moment they'd held each other's gaze, both quiet, this was the closest they had been in a while. Since the time had shoved them inside of a closet with one another, when a moment had been shared, before it was all a little complicated for them. Noelle cleared her throat. "Sorry, I just mommed you." She laughed slightly, moving away from him as he too shook it off.

"You totally mommed me." Scott laughed in agreement, both trying to ease the temptation that they felt to forget everything complicated going on in their lives and just go for it. But neither of them were that careless, too scared of the consequences. Noelle turned away from the wolf, her gaze moving to the dark sky, staring at all of the stars instead, another small thing that she had missed while being in the vault, the small things that she knew not to take for granted now. The wolf found herself watching her again, he often found himself watching her in adorating while she paid attention to something else, watching as she appreciated all of those small things that she missed, all of the things she had told him she missed.

As Scott dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket, he felt the birthday present he'd put inside of it for whenever he found a moment to give it to her, as for her mother's gift, it was safe in his underwear drawer where he knew she wouldn't ever need to go.

"Do you want your birthday present?" Scott asked, the blonde turning her head to look at him with a furrowed brow.

"You already gave me my gift." She mumbled in confusion, but her reply had only confused him too, he was sure that he hadn't given her anything yet. "Breaking into the station?"

Scott laughed, for a moment he thought she was joking, but as the confusion on face remained he realized she was being serious, that breaking into the station really would have been a great gift for her. It was simple, caused trouble, and involved both him and Stiles, it was just like their childhood, what more could she have wanted from tonight. Scott shook his head with a smile, handing her the real gift he'd gotten her, though now he wasn't so sure that it would beat what she thought was her present from him; illicit activities. He watched with growing nerves as she pulled the ribbon around the box, pulling off the lid, a small bead of sweat across his forehead, scared that she wouldn't like it. Noelle remained silent as she looked down at the present he'd gotten for her, speechless, which hadn't helped his nerves.

He knew it. He knew it was a stupid gift, that he shouldn't have listened to his mom when she'd said it was a great idea, now, she was left without words to describe how much she disliked it, she was probably racking her brain to think of something she could say that wouldn't sound bad while trying to admit that she didn't like it.

Noelle pulled the gift out of the box, placing it in her hand instead so she could get a better look at it, still unable to find the words. But not for any of the reasons that Scott thought. She was in fact speechless, but a good kind of speechless, she was choked up even. After seventeen years of celebrating birthdays, she had never had a gift like it, and she didn't think she would ever have one that would beat it again. It was thoughtful, though she wasn't sure why she was surprised it was, Scott had always been thoughtful, but this was more than she could have ever anticipated.

A smile grew across her face as she looked down at the silver bracelet, a small pumpkin charm dangling from it. She didn't have to ask the meaning of it, she knew, and clearly he knew just how much it would mean to her too. How her father had always called her pumpkin, how she'd had a bracelet just like this one as a child that she lost in the fire, that one had been from her father himself, it had only been a few weeks ago that they were talking about the bracelet. How much her mother hated it because the orange and green detailing clashed with all of the white and pastel colored clothes she would buy for her.

"If you don't like it you can-"

"I love it." The blonde cut him off before he could even continue his sentence.

But it wasn't just her words that had cut the wolf off before he could suggest that she'd ever hate such a thoughtful gift that meant more to her than words could describe. She allowed all of her impulses get the best of her, she hadn't even thought about what she was doing until she'd done it. Her lips against his, for the first time. Noelle's heart dropped when she realized what she had done, but she hadn't moved away, she couldn't, she was frozen, and well, she didn't want to. He didn't either, he was surprised at first, it was the last thing he'd expected from her. They let it last a moment longer until both of them knew it had to stop, slowly pulling away, their eyes stuck on one another, unsure what to do next. Their gazes locked just like their lips had, he melted in her hazel irises as he tried to comprehend what had just happened to him.

The only thing that had made time resume against was Scott shooting up from his seat, his brow furrowed at the sound he had just heard, a growling in the near distance, one that wasn't quite loud enough for the blonde to hear, but she too had jumped out of her seat, wondering what he could hear. He turned around, muttering a single word. A name. Derek.

Allison followed Cole's gaze across the room, the small noise he had been able to hear that she'd missed, he stared at the three large buckets of ice, keeping Allison behind him, his hand in hers as they slowly approached the buckets. He peered over them, finding a shivering Ethan who was curled up with wide eyes, an image of how he and Isaac had looked just last night. Even he had known that was how he looked, he could feel it. Cole threw the buckets of ice out of the way to sit in front of Ethan as Allison sat the wolf up. He checked over his eyes just like Chris had done last night with him and Isaac, but it was as if nobody was behind them. The boy's eyes just shut again as his body continued to shake, slowing entering a hypothermic state. Cole grabbed ahold of Ethan's arm, he needed to trigger Ethan's healing process, Allison cringed as she watched him break the werewolf's arm. Ethan sat up with a large growl, his eyes glowing their steel blue as he looked up at the ceiling. As soon as they had dimmed back to their usual human color Allison grabbed Ethan's jaw, turning his head towards Cole as she pointed out the mark behind his ear, identical to the one they had found on him just a few moments ago. It was exactly the same.

A small number five.

Just as the pair had stood to their feet, pulling Ethan up from the floor as they wrapped his arms around their shoulders they heard a voice echo through the loft, a voice like thunder as it yelled for everyone to get out. Allison and Cole looked at one another with wide eyes, Derek. The three stumbled out of the closet back to the party that had quickly cleared with the wolf's loud yell, but five figures still stood in the middle of the room as the pack converged. All of their feet had fallen to a halt at the five hooded figures. Allison looked around the room. Scott, Noelle, Aiden, Isaac, Kira, Derek. All of them somewhat scattered around the room, awaiting movement from the five hooded warriors.

All at once, they turned towards the two people who stood a few inches from one another, she'd rushed to him when he had saw Lydia shivering in his arms, shaken by something, now she had presumed that the five figures had petrified her redhead best friend. Aiden and Noelle looked at one another with that same fear inside of them that Lydia had. "Guys, they're all looking at us." Aiden mumbled nervously. "Why are they all looking at us?" He asked as he kept still, as did the blonde besde him, neither wanting to make a sharp movement.

Derek and Scott tried to intercede as they charged towards the figures with a snarl, their eyes growing bright as their canines illuminated beneath the backlights. The hooded warriors were much faster than the two wolves, disappearing into thin air before reappearing in a different spot making them impossible to catch. At least, almost impossible. Derek had caught one off guard, breaking its neck, but it quickly recovered before throwing him against one of the steel columns, dropping him to the floor. Scott tried to fight alone against the five, but he soon met the same fate as one of their hands collided with his chest, throwing him across the wall until he hit a wall. Both wolves left in pain, nobody to try and stop the five from reaching Aiden and Nell. Nobody was stupid enough. Until Isaac stepped forward leaving he was prepared to get revenge on them as he stood behind one of the figures, releasing his claws. The hooded figure turned to him, pulling a sword from his body, spinning it around like a pro, Isaac had quickly backed away, retreating back to Kira's side.

The warriors made it to Aiden and Noelle without another fight, surrounding them as one stood in front of him either of them, staring at them with their firefly-like eyes. Everyone left to watch as the life was sucked out of their bodies, branding them like everyone else until they had both weakly dropped to the floor. Cole wanted to rush to his sister's aid, but he didn't dare move, he had seen what they had done to Derek and Scott, he wasn't that strong.

Once they'd both been branded with their small mark, the five figures turned back around, their movements in unison as they looked between the next person who was on their list, Scott. After what seemed like a moment of hesitation, the five stepped towards Scott who bore his teeth and red eyes, turning to Kira who he shielded, revealing his true face to her. Now she understood the lack of fear he'd had when he saw what happened when her photo was taken. Just as another fight was about to break out the first rays of the rising sun had shone through the loft, striking the five figures until they disappeared into black smoke.

Everyone nervously looked around the loft, its lack of hooded demon warriors. Ethan finally had the strength to pull himself off of Allison as he rushed over to his brother, Cole rushing straight to his little sister alongside Scott, both pulling the weak blonde off of the ground.

"What the hell were those things?" Scott asked, looking around the room for anyone to answer his question, someone had to know. He assumed Derek. But he was wrong.

Isaac looked at the brunette huntress stood near him, she knew what had been coming before the words had left his mouth. Her father's twenty-four hours were up. It was time the rest of the pack found out who their latest enemy was. Nobody was safe against the warriors anymore.