"Am I getting too close? I'm getting way too close, aren't I?" Allison said worriedly.

"That depends. Are you just following the bus, or are you planning on mounting it at some point?" Lydia replied.

"Yeah, I should back off" Allison mumbled.

"Well, that also depends. Do you mean the bus or the ex-boyfriend you're currently stalking?" Lydia asked.

"Well, after it happened, I'm not letting him out of my sight" Ally replied. "And by the way, this all started when he came knocking at my door"

"Hm. What do you think about this Shay?" Lydia turned around in her seat to face me.

"Um, I don't really know" I replied, my voice barely audible.

Lydia and Allison exchanged looks before sighing.

"Hey, you didn't have to come today" Allison said, looking at me from the mirror.

"I need to take my mind off things. And I need to look out for Isaac"

"Listen, Shay, if you need to talk-" Lydia started.

"I'm fine" I gave her a weak smile. "Honestly"

*Flashback*

"I know where they are" Scott said to Derek.

"Same building as the Argents, we know" My brother answered.

"Cora and I followed the twins" Boyd added.

"Then they want you to know" Scott said.

"Or, more likely, they don't care" My uncle said.

"What is this?" Scott questioned, pointing at a map laid out on the table.

"Isn't it obvious? The schemers are scheming, coming up with a coup de main, better known as a pre-emptive strike" My uncle replied.

"You're going after them?"

"Tomorrow" Derek informed. And you're gonna help us"

"They're one floor above them in the penthouse, right above Allison" I continued.

"So kill them first, that's the plan?" Scott asked.

"They won't even see it coming" Boyd said.

"Why is the default plan always murder? Just once, can someone try to come up with something that doesn't involve killing everyone?" Scott said, glaring at all of us.

Peter sighed. "You never get tired of being so blandly moral, do you? Not that I disagree with him" He said, looking at Derek.

"I do" Cora spoke up. I rolled my eyes just at the sound of my sister's voice.
"Why do we need this kid?"

"This kid helped save your life" I retorted, crossing my arms over my chest.

"And you know we can't just sit back and wait for them to make the first move" Derek said.

"You can't beat a pack of alphas" Scott pointed out.

"That's why we're going after Deucalion, just him" I said.

"Cut off the head of the snake and the body dies" Boyd added.

"Only this isn't a snake, it's a hydra.
And like Scott says, they're all alphas" Peter said.

"Deucalion's still the leader" Derek pointed out.

"Let's hope so. Because you know what happened when Hercules cut off one of the heads of the hydra?" My uncle asked.

"Two more grew back in its place" Scott answered .

My uncle smiled. "Somebody's been doing their summer reading"

"So is that whole not let them out of your sight' thing literal or more like a general rule?" Lydia asked, snapping me out of my flashback.

"Why?" Allison frowned.

"You're running on fumes"

"Ugh"

"Yeah. And I'm pretty sure that bus holds a lot more gas than this Toyota" Lydia pointed out.

"What if we stop?" Allison asked.

"Is it really that big of a deal? I mean, so we lose them. We know where they're headed" Lydia said, looking back down at her book.

"You didn't see what happened"

"I know who started it" Lydia said.

"Is that what Aiden told you?" I snapped.

Lydia turned around to face me. "Aiden?" Then she turned back around to face Ally. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second. Is that why you're inviting me on this whole little road trip thing? Oh, my gosh. You're keeping an eye on them and me" Lydia said, looking back and forwards between the two of us in shock.

"So there's nothing going on between you two?" I asked.

Lydia scoffed. "I'm appalled by the insinuation"

"Nothing?" Allison said.

"Nothing" Lydia confirmed. Her phone started to ring and she pulled it out of her pocket. "Hey, Stiles. Yeah, we're just about to walk into a movie, uh, you know, the popcorn and-"

"I know you guys are right behind us.
Put me on speaker" I heard Stiles reply.

"Okay" Lydia said, taking the phone away from her ear.

"Okay, look, Scott's still hurt"

"What do you mean still? He's not healing?" I asked, leaning forwards.

"No, he's not healing. I think he's actually getting worse. The blood's turning, like, a black colour" Stiles said, sounding disgusted.

"What's wrong with him?" Lydia asked.

"What's wrong with him? I don't do I have a PHD in lycanthropy? How am I supposed to know that?" Stiles replied sarcastically.

"We need to get him off the bus" I said.

"And take him where, a hospital?" Lydia asked, sarcasm evident in her voice.

"If he's dying, yeah" Allison said.

"Stiles, there's a rest area about a mile up. Tell the coach to pull over" I said.

"Yeah, I've been trying"

"Well, reason with him" Ally said.

"Reason? Have you met this guy?"

"Just try something"

~

Allison pulled up in the rest stop and the three of us climbed out of the car.

Stiles and Allison helped carry Scott whilst Lydia and I followed behind.

Once we were inside, Allison bent down next to Scott and lifted his shirt up, exposing the wound.

"Oh, my God. Why didn't you tell us?" She asked.

"Sorry"

"Okay. Just give us a second, okay?" She said. "This shouldn't be happening. I've seen him heal from worse than this"

I nodded in agreement.

"Okay, what do we do then? Do we just call an ambulance?" Stiles asked.

"What if it's too late? What if they can't help?" Allison rushed out.

"We gotta do something" Stiles said.

"You know, it could be psychological" I spoke up.

"What do you mean, like, psychosomatic?" Stiles suggested.

"Somatoformic?" Lydia suggested.

"Som-" Stiles started.

"A physical illness from a psychogenic cause" Lydia explained, rolling her eyes.

He still looked baffled. Lydia and I both sighed.

"Yes, it's all in his head" I said.

"All in his head" Stiles realised. "Because of Derek. He's not letting himself heal because Derek died"

I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked down at the floor.

Because Derek died.

Stiles saying those words out loud still doesn't seem real.

"So what do we do?" Allison asked.

Lydia fumbled in her bag to find something, eventually pulling out a needle. "Stitch him up" She replied. "I'm serious. Maybe all he needs to do is just believe it's healing" Lydia handed Allison the needle.

She took a lighter out of her bag and sterilised the needle.

"He's gonna need another shirt. Where's his bag?" Allison asked, bending down in front of Scott again.

"Um, I'm gonna get it. I hate needles anyway, so uh- do you know what you're doing?" Stiles asked.

"Yeah, my father taught me" Allison replied.

"I mean, how fast are you gonna-I mean, the bus like, the bus could leave" Stiles reminded.

"Well, you just make sure it doesn't leave" Allison said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'll come with you" I said.

"Yeah, me too" Lydia said, both of us following Stiles outside.

"Um, I'm going to find Isaac" I said.

Stiles nodded and started to head towards the bus. I went to turn in the other direction but Lydia grabbed my arm.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I bit my lip, feeling hot tears burning up in my eyes.

"I don't know" I said, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Hey" she pulled me into a hug and I tried to stop the tears from falling. "When Allison has fixed Scott then we'll go back home, okay"

I shook my head, pulling away.

"I don't want to go back. I need to be away from there"

"Are you sure? I mean I don't mind"

"Lydia" I turned to face my friend. "It's okay"

She smiled. "Okay. I'm going to go and find Stiles, are you coming?"

"I'll join you in a minute" I said.

She nodded and left me by myself.

I turned the corner, checking to see nobody was there. Upon noticing no-one, I sunk down against the floor and let the tears fall.

*Flashback*

"Scott, I'm not going to let you go alone"

"I'll be fine"

I shook my head. "I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not"

"Where are you going?" Isaac appeared in the doorway.

"Uh, we were- we were gonna go get some food to eat" Scott lied, awfully.

"Oh, cool. I'll come with you" Isaac smirked.

"Nah, dude, it's okay" Scott smiled. "We can eat alone"

"What are you getting?" Isaac asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Uh, Mexican" Scott said, slightly unsure of himself.

"Dude, I love Mexican"

"Isaac" I warned.

"We can eat alone, it's okay" Scott said.

"You don't have to come with us" I added.

"You're not going alone"

Scott and I turned to look at each other with a sigh.

"Let's go then" I said walking over to Isaac who was already half way out the room.

The three of us headed outside.

"Do you reckon three can fit on a bike?" Scott wondered out loud.

"What?" I asked.

"Well if we take your car then they're gonna know it's not just me coming" Scott pointed out.

"It doesn't matter" I said.

"I reckon three can fit on your bike" Isaac said.

"Are you serious? Look just get in my car"

"You can wear the helmet" Scott said with a teasing smile.

"I don't want to wear the fricking helmet. Boys just get in my car" I snapped.

"How about we go and you stay just here" Isaac suggested.

"Don't you even think about it Lahey"

"Then get on the bike" he said.

"I swear to god guys-"

"Just get on" Scott said, placing the helmet on top of his head.

I groaned, swinging my leg over the bike and sitting behind Isaac.

"This isn't going to-" The engine roared to life and the bike started to move.

Suddenly, it started to lean to the side and Scott killed the engine just before we all tumbled off of it.

"Okay" he said, brushing himself down. "Let's take the car"

I rolled my eyes as I opened my car door and got in. The boys followed suit.

"You know where you're going, right?" Scott asked.

"Of course I do" I said, starting up the engine and pulling out of the driveway.

"So what are we going to do when we get there?" Isaac asked.

"Talk to him" Scott replied.

"Talk to him? You think he's going to be cool with just talking" I frowned.

"Yes"

I sighed. "I've said it once, and I'm going to say it again. You, Scott McCall, have a death wish"

"What's wrong with wanting to talk to him?" He asked.

"Scott, it's stupid. Do you actually think he would just talk"

"They might"

"They're killers, Scott. All of us are killers, okay. You don't leave a pack of alphas unharmed" I said.

The rest of the journey was spent in silence. In fact, none of us said a word until we stepped into the building.

"We're just gonna talk to him, try to reason with him. That's it, all right?" Scott said.

I rolled my eyes but nodded anyway.

Isaac glanced as me as we stepped into the room where Deucalion was waiting.

"What?" I asked in a low whisper.

"Nothing. It's just that, uh, I'm actually kind of hungry now"

"So am I" Scott added.

I scoffed. "Join the club"

"You didn't come alone" Deucalion said as we approached him by the escalators.

"Yeah. This is Isaac. And this is Shay" Scott indicated to us.

"I'm not talking about Isaac and Shay"

I looked over into a dark corner and saw Derek, Cora and Boyd step out.

Are. You. Kidding. Me.

"You knew I would do this?" Scott said as Derek stepped closer towards us.

"Derek, don't" I warned.

"You can't do this so no one gets hurt. If someone else dies-" Scott said.

"Him. Just him" My brother pointed at Deucalion.

"Just me?" Deucalion smiled smugly. "Now, how's a blind man find his way into a place like this all on his own?"

I turned around nervously as the woman I now know as Kali slid down the walls. All of us glanced around nervously as another alpha, Ennis appeared too.

And then the twins.

I heard shouts from around the corner so I stood up, wiping my tears away.

"Stiles, what's happening?" I asked, running over to him. Scott, Lydia and Allison followed.

"They went after him. I told then what was happening with him and they just went after him" he explained.

"Who, Boyd?" Scott asked. Stiles shook his head.

I groaned, knowing the answer. "Isaac"

Scott and I pushed past people so we could get to the front. Isaac was punching the hell out of one of the twins.

"Isaac!" I yelled.

"Isaac!" Coach repeated. "Back off!"

"Isaac! Stop" I yelled, trying to pull him away.

"Isaac!" Scott bellowed.

Isaac paused and turned to face us, completely out of breath. The whole crowd went silent as everyone stared at him.

"Come on" I grabbed his hand, after a few awkward and silent seconds, leading him away from everyone.

Once we'd got out of sight, I stopped walking.

"What the hell was that!" I exclaimed.

"It's their fault. Everything is their fault!" He said angrily.

"That doesn't give you the right to go and beat the crap out of them!" I yelled.

"Why are you defending them?" Isaac asked.

"Because it wasn't them that killed him"

"But they're part of the pack that did" Isaac argued.

I shook my head. "They're dangerous and we should be careful around them but that doesn't mean we have to constantly fight with them"

"What isn't getting through to your head, Shay!" Isaac shouted. "You're brother is dead because of them!"

I stumbled backwards, feeling like someone had just stabbed me straight through the heart.

Isaac's expression softened and he reached out, placing both of his hands on my shoulders.

"Shay, I'm so sorry"

I shook my head. "It's okay" I tried to give him a smile but my lip quivered and soon enough sobs were escaping my lips.

"Shh. It's okay. It's going to be okay" Isaac said, pulling me into a hug. "I promise you, everything will be okay"

*Flashback*

Derek snarled and started running to make the first move. The alphas roared and I saw the twins jump down to the floor we were on.

I flicked my wrists, showing my claws.

Isaac and Scott turned to look at me as the two twins merged into one, once again.

I gave them a nod.

Isaac charged at them and Scott and I both sighed at his pathetic attempt.

The alpha pushed him to the floor and Scott and I ran over at exactly the same time, attempting to knock the alpha down.

We ended up being smashed into a wall.

Isaac jumped up again but the alpha twisted his arm around, causing him to yell in pain.

I stood up and swung my leg up, connecting it with the twins as hard as I could. But it made no difference.

The twins claws dug into Scott making him scream out in pain.

I growled and threw some punches but they grabbed me by the neck and slid me across the rubble on the floor.

Their foot was suddenly placed on my stomach, stopping me from going anywhere.

Isaac and Scott were being pushed down either side of me.

"Kill him. The others can go" Deucalion said to Derek, indicating to Boyd on the floor. "You're beaten. Do it, Derek. Take the first step"

"Are we serious with this kid? Look at him. He's an Alpha? To what? A couple of useless teenagers?" Kali said.

"Some have more promise than others" Deucalion looked over at Scott, Isaac and I.

"Let him rise to the occasion then.
What'll it be, Derek? Pack or family?" Kali stepped her foot on Cora's throat and my sister cried out.

"Cor-" I started but the twins stomped their foot on my stomach. I coughed and rolled to the side, blood dribbling from my mouth.

"Hey!" I heard Isaac yell, causing the twins to dig their claws deeper into his shoulder.

An arrow suddenly flew, hitting the twins in the chest. They stumbled backwards, letting go of the three of us.

I sighed in relief as the horrible pressure on my chest was released.

"Your eyes!" Deucalion yelled. "Cover your eyes!"

I looked up to find who was firing the arrows and my eyes rested on one of my best friends.

"Allison" I whispered as I tried to cover my eyes.

As soon as the sound of arrows being fired stopped, all of us stood up.

Ennis and Scott charged at each other causing them both to slide back. And when Scott looked up again, something amazing happened.

His eyes were glowing red.

Whilst Ennis was distracted, Derek caught him from behind and they began fighting.

I went to help Scott up but noticed how dangerously close to the edge my brother was.

Scott noticed too and slid forwards, slashing Ennis' leg.

In the struggle of trying to balance, Ennis started to fall, still holding onto Derek.

Derek turned to look at us as he started to fall.

I dived forwards, trying to reach for him but it was too late.

"DEREK!" I screamed as I watched my brother fall further and further. "NO!" I cried out, tears streaming down my face.

Scott looked at me, speechless.

"No, no, no, no, no"

I felt arms wrapping around my waist, tugging me backwards.

I tried to fight it but I had lost all energy.

"It's okay" I heard Isaac's voice. I relaxed a little as I limply fell backwards.

"It's okay" he repeated.

But image of my brother falling to his death was still engraved in my mind.

~

"It's not your fault, you know" Isaac said.

I looked up at him. "I know"

"He would have done anything to save you. The alpha's could have killed you"

"But they didn't" I pointed out.

"They could have"

I lifted my head up from Isaac's shoulder. "I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but-"

The whole bus jolted and we all lurched forwards a little as the vehicle came to a stop.

I peered out of the window to see an old unattractive looking motel.

The name 'Glen Capri' flashed on the sign.

I frowned, looking at the building again.

I have a bad feeling about this place.

~

A/N

Ugh I'm sorry it took so long to update. I hardly got any time to write all week and I wrote most of this last night.

I will try my best to update quicker but I can't promise anything.

But anyway I'm super excited about the next chapter because Motel California is one of my favourite episodes ever.

And I hope you all liked this chapter :)