We entered the Coach's office, shutting the door and locking it just in case. My mind was reeling. Lydia hadn't reacted to the Kanima venom. Did that mean she was one? And if so, was Isaac really going to kill her?

I didn't know how to feel about it, or what to do, so I trailed after the others while dread churned in my gut.

"Derek's outside waiting for Lydia," Scott said.

Allison stared at Scott for a moment. "Waiting to kill her?"

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, then yes, especially after what happened at the pool."

"It's not her," Stiles said again, something he'd been repeating since we saw Lydia digest the Kanima venom.

I sighed, hating myself while I said, "she didn't pass the test, Stiles. Nothing happened."

Stiles shook his head adamantly, turning away from us as he started pacing. "No. No. It can't be her."

Allison looked up, blinking a few times as she tried to speak. "It doesn't matter, because Derek thinks it's her. So either we can convince him that he's wrong, or we've got to figure out a way to protect her."

I felt bad for Allison, watching as she fought tears. Lydia was her best friend, and though I'd only met her recently she was slowly becoming mine too. To see her in danger, to have to lock away her emotions and focus on a plan, supressing any feeling that could overwhelm her, well, it must have been difficult, to say the least.

"Well, I don't think he's gonna do anything here, not at school," Scott informed us.

Allison voiced all our thoughts. "What about after school?"

We all sighed, struggling to find any way we could help protect Lydia. We were facing unfortunate odds, and even with my magic, we couldn't figure out a way to protect Lydia that would last longer than my energy depletion.

"What if we can prove Derek is wrong?" I suggested half-heartedly.

Stiles shook his head. "By three o'clock?"

"There could be something in the bestiary," Allison tried, grappling at straws.

Stiles scoffed. "Oh, you mean the 900 page book written in archaic Latin? That none of us can read? Good luck with that."

Allison went silent for a moment, her brows furrowing as she though. "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

"I could talk to Derek," Scott offered reluctantly. "Try to convince him to give us a chance to prove that it's not her..." Scott trailed off, looking at the three of us. "But if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?"

Allison raised her eyebrows, the two of us sharing a look. "And what is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"It means you can't heal like I do," Scott insisted. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

Allison rolled her eyes and turned around to rummage through her backpack. The three of us sent each other questioning looks before peering over her shoulder, only to become audibly shocked when she pulled a crossbow out of it. A crossbow.

"I can protect myself," she said.

I gaped at her and the sleek black weapon in her hand. "How the fuck did you get a crossbow in school? Isn't it illegal to bring weapons into here?"

I was ignored as Scott looked down, his throat bobbing as he tried and failed to keep his emotions at bay.

Allison lowered her crossbow, placing it gently on the table. "What?" Scott looked up at her but didn't say anything. "Did something else happen?"

"I just don't want you getting hurt," Scott admitted, staring at Allison. "Seriously, if anything goes wrong you call me okay? I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can." Allison nodded. "We have until 3:00."

There was a sudden whistling sound and on instinct I threw my hands up in protection. Everyone's eyes shot to the arrow hovering in mid air mere inches from my face. I glared at Stiles who had the crossbow in hand, and he put it down sheepishly.

"Sensitive trigger," he mumbled, looking anywhere but me.

I rolled my eyes, letting the arrow drop into my hand. I passed it to Allison who put it back in her bag, along with the crossbow, giving Stiles a pointed stare that he ignored.

"We need Erica and Isaac distracted," Scott said. "They can't know what we're up to." Then, "Y/n, you're friends with Isaac, aren't you? Can you distract him until we leave?"

I gaped at him. Seriously? I couldn't do that. I liked Lydia and all, but was I really willing to distract Isaac, talking to him alone, to keep her safe?

"Actually, they're not on the best of speaking terms-" Allison started, trying to save me, but Scott cut her off.

"Please?"

He looked at me with pleading eyes, and I caught a glimpse of the weight he had on his shoulders. He made it his responsibility to protect everyone, no matter the cost, and he'd been so busy caring for others that he hasn't had much time to care for himself. I sighed, knowing I wasn't going to be able to deny him.

"Fine," I agreed.

We left the office shortly after that, and I strolled down the halls in search of Isaac. It wouldn't be my fault if I couldn't find him. I could say I tried, that I was looking for Isaac but he just never showed up. Then it wouldn't be my fault that he wasn't distracted, since I hadn't been able to find him in the first place. Really, it was a good plan. A great plan even. Except for one problem-

"Looking for me?"

I spun around, Isaac standing behind me with his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. I scowled. He was grinning at me, and his hair was dishevelled. Put that with his leather jacket and confidence, and he was the epitome of a bad boy.

"No," I said. At Isaac's raised eyebrows I continued. "I was looking for... the library?"

Isaac chuckled, his eyes sparkling. "Sure you were."

I nodded my head, begging anything that was listening for the floor to cave in and send me straight to hell. That place would be better than this, standing in this hallway with Isaac who was looking like a particularly handsome Greek god.

I turned around and started walking away, needing to face away from him to get my racing heart to calm down, and he thankfully followed.

"So, are we going to talk about what you said earlier?" Isaac asked as he kept in step beside me.

I cut him a glare. "You mean about me hating you forever and ever if you kill Lydia?"

Isaac sighed. "No. About you liking me."

I pretended to think for a second, going so far as to tap my chin with my finger. "No, I don't think we are."

"And why is that?"

I shrugged, continuing my walk to who knew where. "Because there's nothing to talk about."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "No? So you'd be okay if I kissed you again?"

I froze, my feet skidding to a stop as I processed his words. Isaac smirked, victorious, and moved to stand in front of me, taking up all of the available oxygen with him.

"Well?" he prodded, smugness radiating from him.

I couldn't speak. My mouth was dry. I was going to die. I was going to wrinkle and die and turn to dust and never speak again. I looked at both ends of the hallway, but they were thankfully empty, so I grabbed Isaac by the collar and yanked him into an empty classroom, shutting the door behind me.

I turned to Isaac, pointing at him as I seethed. "Listen here you annoying, irritating, frustrating-"

"Handsome?" Isaac suggested.

"-infuriating piece of-"

Isaac cut me off when he surged forward, pressing his lips against mine. It was so like last time that I felt déjà vu, especially when I leaned forward, returning the kiss as my arms snaked around his neck. We stayed like that for what felt forever but was only seconds, wrapped up in each other.

When we did pull away, Isaac grinned at me. "I think you missed charming as well."

I glowered. "You really need to stop doing that."

Isaac pouted. "But it's fun."

I looked away, backing up a step as reality washed over me again. "You really can't keep kissing me like everything's fine between us."

Isaac groaned, running a hand through his hair. "It's not my fault Derek wants to kill the Kanima that has killed countless people and tried to kill him."

"Yeah, but that's the thing; he's not just trying to kill a Kanima. He's trying to kill a 16 year old girl. A girl who has no idea what's going on or what she might be doing. You could be trying to help her, trying to find a solution that doesn't involve slaughtering an innocent girl-"

Isaac snarled. "She's killed people! She's hardly innocent."

I barely remembered his father was one of those people as I slowly but surely got angrier with every word he said. "That was the Kanima, not her! She didn't mean to kill anyone! She couldn't control it, just like you couldn't at the police station when you nearly killed me."

That made Isaac quieten down, and his throat bobbed as guilt flashed in his eyes, a heavy, nasty guilt that creeped inside you, took a hold of you, and refused to let go. I sighed, looking at the ground shamefully. I probably shouldn't have said that.

All of a sudden Isaac moved in front of me, holding my arms, and I looked up at him. "Listen, even though I'm on Derek's side, that doesn't mean I don't like you, okay? Because I do. So can't you at least admit you feel the same for me?"

I looked at the clock, feeling relief course through me when I realised I'd done enough. The other's would probably be waiting for me now, which meant I could leave Isaac.

I jerked my arms out his grip, sending him my most bitter glare as I said, "we can continue this conversation when you're not trying to kill my friend."

Then I left.

I left and ran down the hallway as fast as I could, feeling my heart cave in slightly. I felt bad for what I'd done, yet I couldn't bring myself to regret it as I thought of what he was trying to do. He wanted to murder my friend. He wanted to kill her, slaughter her and get rid of her. I couldn't allow that.

I met up with Lydia, Stiles, Allison, and Jackson walking swiftly down the hall to the exit and joined up with them, casting wary glances behind me.

"If we're doing a study group why didn't we just stay in the library?" Lydia asked as she was whisked down the hall with the rest of us.

"Because we're meeting up with somebody else," Stiles answered, head craning to look for any werewolves on the hunt.

Lydia had an unimpressed expression on her face, flicking her strawberry blonde hair to the side as she asked Stiles, "why didn't they just meet us in the library?"

Stiles looked at me for help, but at my shrug he jus mimicked his mind being blown. "Woah, great idea. Too late now though."

Lydia frowned, planting her feet as stopped walking. "Wait, hang on-"

Jackson grabbed Lydia's arm and shoved her forward, starting up her stride again. "Lydia, shut up and walk."

Stiles and I shared a look but said nothing as we followed them out of the school and into the parking lot. My eyes scanned the area for Stiles' jeep, hurrying towards it with the others traling after me when I found it. Stiles got in the front and I sat next to him while Allison, Lydia, and Jackson all crammed in the back.

I stared at out of the window uneasily, eyes darting everywhere for even a glimpse of Erica, Boyd, Derek, or Isaac. I found nothing though, filling me with a small amount of relief as Stiles turned on the jeep and drove out of the school's parking lot.

As we drove, I felt my phone buzz and fished it out of my pocket, scowling when I saw the message that popped up on my screen.

Isaac

Where are you?

Y/n

Mexico

I shut my phone off after replying, lest he try to somehow track it. I was pissed at him for continuing his search for Lydia, even more so because he'd tried to get me to give up her location. What an asshole.

Stiles, after breaking enough speeding laws to be $10,000 poorer, finally parked the jeep outside of Scott's house. He scrambled out of the car to get to Lydia as I followed, staring up at the house. It was very nice; two story, veranda, what looked like a reasonable sized backyard. Plus it was right across from the tennis courts, though I didn't think Scott played.

"If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?" Lydia asked, exasperated, as Stiles led her up the front stairs and into the house.

I spoke up. "He's meeting us here." I added under my breath, "I hope."

As soon as we all entered the house Stiles was on the door, locking every lock and deadbolting it as fast as he could, his fingers moving nimbly and quickly. After that he peered out of the lacy white curtains, looking for danger. When he pulled back Lydia gave him a pointed look, arms crossed.

Stiles shrugged his shoulders sheepishly. "There's been a few break ins around the neighbourhood."

Lydia nodded her head, unimpressed, when Stiles' gaze fell on a nearby chair. He glanced at Lydia to the chair, as if deciding which one was more important, before dragging the chair to the door and hooking it under the doorknob. Whatever small belief Lydia had about what was going on vanished, and I sighed.

"And a murder," Stiles added at Lydia's gaze.

Allison scratched her head uncomfortably, eyes anywhere but Lydia and Stiles. I did the same, my gaze eventually landing on Jackson. He'd said he was only here to talk to Lydia, and what better time to take her away then now, before Stiles said anything else incriminating. I gave him a look and he sighed, turning to Lydia.

"Lydia, follow me. I need to talk to you for a minute," Jackson forced out, as if addressing her directly physically pained him.

Lydia sighed, but followed Jackson, muttering under her breath, "seriously? What is going on with everyone?"

As soon as the two of them left, Allison, Stiles, and I all turned to each other.

"What do we do?" Allison hissed nervously.

I shrugged, turning my phone on to see if Scott had texted me. Instead I found another text from Isaac, this one much more disturbing.

Isaac

Look outside

I did as he said, holding my breath as my fingers curled around the curtain's lace and slowly pulled it out of the way. My heart faltered when I saw all four of them, Derek and his pack, lined out before the house, waiting. For what, I wasn't sure. Maybe just to scare us.

"Oh god," I whispered.

Stiles shoved me out of the way to get a look at what I was staring at, his face paling as he saw Derek staring right at me. He cursed, stumbling back, and Allison took his phone out of his pocket to call Scott, unable to call with her own phone because of her parents.

I got my backpack and started looking through it as Allison talked to Scott. It went to voicemail though, so Allison left a rushed message about how he needed to get here now before hanging up.

I found my spell book at the bottom of my bag and took it out, frantically turning the pages. Stiles, drawn to the sound of paper, looked at me incredulously.

"Why are you reading a book?"

I didn't deign to even look up at him as I answered. "It's a spell book."

Stiles stopped questioning me and went back to looking out the window with Allison while I went through spell after spell, trying to memorise as many as I could. I wasn't at a level where I could preform magic without spells, which meant knowing as many spells as possible was the only way we'd be able to escape this unscathed.

"What are you doing?" Stiles asked, bringing me out of my frantic searching.

I didn't know how much time had passed, but it was dark outside as Allison stared at her phone, her hands shaking.

"I think- I think I have to call my dad," she said.

Stiles, looking outraged, started arguing with Allison just as I turned the page of my book and found something.

"Wait," I said, silencing the two teenagers. "I think I found a spell."

The two of them sped towards me, looking over my shoulder and what was a blank piece of paper for them, but a page full of our possible salvation for me.

"This spell here," I said, tapping the words even though they couldn't see. "It can keep all werewolves in and out of the house. The only problem is Scott wouldn't be able to get in."

Allison bit her lip, staring at Stiles before back at me. "Let's wait just a bit longer."

I nodded my head and stared back at the page, memorising the spell and anti-spell. It was about 10 or 15 minutes later when Stiles finally groaned and turned to me.

"Alright, cast it," he ordered. "we can't wait any longer."

Allison looked horrified. "But Scott-"

"-will be fine," Stiles said. "He's a werewolf. We're not." He turned to me. "Do it Y/n."

I stared at Allison to see if she'd argue but she just turned around, facing the window, and I looked down at my book before closing my eyes, summoning my magic.

I felt the familiar thrill of power as my magic surged to the surface, hovering just under my skin, waiting for my orders. I started muttering the spell under my breath, as if I were a general giving commands to my soldiers. The rest of the world seemed to fade away as I felt the magic inside me grow stronger and stronger, sharpening itself as it started seeing it's goal, what I wanted it to do.

I'd nearly finished the spell, ready to send the magic off, when something shook my violently. I was forced back into my body, my magic shrinking back inside me as I twisted around hastily, only to find Allison.

"You can't do that spell Y/n," she breathed.

I glanced at Stiles. "What? I thought we already agreed Scott would be fine-"

"It's not Scott," Stiles said. "It's Isaac. He's missing."

I scrambled upright. "What?"

Stiles gestured to the window, and I peeked out, only to find Derek's pack one werewolf down. Indeed the brunette werewolf was missing, which meant...

"He's inside the house," Allison exhaled. "You can't cast that spell, otherwise you'd trap him in here with us."

Footsteps drew our attention away from the window just as Isaac reached Allison, grabbing her and shoving her to the ground. She slid a few metres, hitting her head on the wall but Isaac had already moved onto Stiles, about to lunge at him.

Before I could think about what I was doing I surged forward, placing myself in front of Stiles as I glared at Isaac. "Oh no you don't."

I threw my arms out, silently repeating the spell I'd memorised and Isaac flew backwards, hitting the end of the hallway and stumbling into another room. I glanced at Stiles who was looking at me with awe and an open mouth.

"I'll keep him busy," was all I said before I followed Isaac into the room, locking the door behind me.

Isaac was standing upright by the time I turned around to face him. His hair was a little dishevelled from the fall but other than that he seemed fine, which I was irritatingly relieved about.

"Move," Isaac grounded out, no doubt still sour from when I'd walked out on him earlier. Also probably because I'd just thrown him across the house with my magic.

I crossed my arms, repositioning my stance to one Kate had taught me years ago. "You're not leaving this room."

"I don't want to hurt you," Isaac said through gritted teeth.

"So don't," I stated simply.

Isaac sighed and started walking towards me, as if I was the one being difficult. He went to side step me but I spun around, using my training to keep my body in front of him. Isaac's jaw twitched in frustration as he tried to move past me again, but this time he couldn't.

I watched as he frowned, urging his body to move, panting from the amount of energy and effort he put into trying to move a single finger, yet failing to accomplish even that. He glared at me, eyes flashing yellow for a brief moment.

"What did you do?"

I smirked. "Neat trick, isn't it?"

Isaac growled but said nothing else and, victorious, I leaned in and pecked his cheek, knowing it would only infuriate him more, before turning around and unlocking the door.

"No, Y/n get back here-" Isaac hissed, but I ignored him.

I'd just opened it when Boyd appeared, staring down at me from his tall height. Before I could do anything Boyd flings an arm out, throwing me across the room. I was in mid-air for a split second, my body light, gravity a distant idea, before I landed on the floor with a crash, the spell I had on Isaac breaking.

"He said not to hurt her," I heard Isaac snarl as I got my bearings together.

Boyd scoffed as I struggled upright. "she's fine. Look."

Indeed I was, standing upright and ignoring the pain in my back, my hands clenched into fists as I stared at the two werewolves before me.

"You shouldn't have done that," I spat.

I threw an arm out, silently muttering a spell as Boyd choked in surprise, his hands going up to his throat where his air-flow had been cut off. Isaac stood there, shocked, as Boyd continued clawing at his throat, gasping and spluttering. I waited until I saw a tear slide down Boyd's face before I stopped the spell, letting Boyd fall to his knees in a gasping mess.

In reality it hadn't been that long, not even a minute, but not breathing tended to have a big effect on people, especially when your enemy was causing it.

Boyd shot Isaac a dirty look as he rasped, "not gonna help?"

Isaac looked directly at me as he answered. "I can't take her, and neither can you."

I was slightly warmed at the action, only to curse my body for reacting to him in that way. He was still trying to kill my friend, no matter how cute he acted.

"We'll see," Boyd sneered before running at me again.

I focused on his side where a red gash appeared, making Boyd stumble before he could reach me. I manoeuvred around him, letting him discover the bloody but shallow wound on his left hip. He snarled and reached for me again but I used my oustretched hand to silently throw him into the ceiling, then the left wall, then the right, before letting him land roughly on the floor again.

I used a lot of energy doing that, but I was so high on adrenaline I barely noticed my shaking limbs as I stared at an unconscious Boyd. I felt powerful, staring down at him. I did that. I defeated him. It made any lingering exhaustion the adrenaline didn't get rid of wash away.

The door burst open and I spun around, but was relieved to find Scott, panting, as he surveyed the room. His claws were ready, eyes glowing, but when he saw Boyd in a heap on the floor and Isaac standing still next to him, his claws retracted and eyes went back to normal.

"I was gonna help, but it seems like you don't need it," Scott said, offering me a hand. I took it, and Isaac started growling, staring at Scott as he took a step back. Scott, still holding my hand, growled back, urging me closer to him.

I murmured something under my breath and snapped my fingers, moving forward to catch Isaac's limp body as he lost consciousness. Scott blinked, surprised, but snapped out of it just in time as I dropped Isaac, falling down myself.

"Woah, Y/n, you okay?" he asked anxiously.

I nodded my head and positioned myself against the doorframe, leaning my weight on it. "I'm fine. You go give those two to Derek."

Scott stared at me for a moment longer before nodding and doing as I'd said, dragging Isaac and Boyd out of the room and no doubt outside where Derek would be waiting.

I managed to walk outside, even with every bone in my body screaming at me, every muscle aching, my eyes like two heavy weights pressing down on me. I managed to stumble onto the veranda and instantly leaned against the outer fence, sagging against it.

"I think I'm finally getting why you keep refusing me Scott," Derek said as he looked at the two bodies at his feet. Boyd and Isaac. "You're not an Omega. You're already an Alpha of your own pack, but you know you can't beat me."

"I can hold you off until the cops get here," Scott retorted. He looked at me. " We can."

I nodded, pretending to be strong. Pretending like my legs weren't shaking so badly I wouldn't be able to balance without the fence in front of me. Pretending like I didn't feel as though I was about to throw up from physical exertion. Pretending like I was fine.

The conversation was cut off by a violent hissing and we all looked up to find the Kanima on the roof, crawling across the tiles. It spotted us and let out an animalistic screech before jumping into one of the nearby trees and disappearing from sight, just as the door opened.

We turned and found Lydia exiting the house, dry tears on her face and a very displeased expression. "Would someone please tell me what the hell is going on?"

I stared at the place where the Kanima had left, the realisation hitting me as I turned to Scott.

"It's Jackson."

A/N:

im sorry im shit at updating 😭😭i forgot again

anywhore hope u enjoyed the chapter <3