┏━━━━⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆━━━━┓

THE WORST TIMING

SHE WAS GOING TO KILL ISAAC, THAT MUCH WAS FOR CERTAIN.

Emerson had practically sprinted out of the cafeteria, hot in pursuit of the sophomore that obviously took her precious time for granted. It was like he didn't want to show Harris that he was more than a failing grade, and that above everything else made Emerson frusterated.

Isaac was a smart kid, she knew it— so why had he suddenly started ignoring her? Why had he chosen to abandon their study sessions now?

Making her way into the hall, she found him with ease. Only, her ears picked up ragged breathing from his end, his tall figure pushing past students that were in his way. Emerson watched with a narrowed gaze as the sophomore boy darted into a utility closet down the hall, his shoulders shaking as he went.

Anger was quickly replaced by concern, an emotion she let freely float onto her face as her feet kicked into gear. Her footsteps were fast, darting between students who were headed in the direction she'd just come from.

Just as Emerson approached the utility room on the very far side of the hallway, she noticed that Isaac hadn't shut it all the way. No, she leaned closer to the crack in the doorway and saw him pacing, his equipment bag and lacrosse stick on the floor.

Then, something she never, ever anticipated happened.

His body lurched toward the ratty sink in the room, his wyes looking at himself in the mirror as he rather painfully shook in place. Emerson's stomach plummeted to her ass when she caught a glimpse of vibrant yellow eyes flashing in the mirror.

No. No fucking way.

When Emerson had first come to Beacon Hills, all the way from two years in Rochester, the first thing she did was sit down with her newly attained guardian and discuss the town's werewolf residents.

Hannah Prescott, her aunt for all intents and purposes, was not such a resident; however, she had grown up around Emerson's mother and other creatures enough to know about everything. The small list they conjured up consisted of the remaining Hales and the freshly turned Scott McCall. That had certainly come as a surprise, thanks to the reckless acts of one Peter Hale.

But Peter was dead, Hannah had assured her as such, and Scott didn't seem like he would turn one of his own peers while a group of hunters had been infiltrating the town. No— there was one person who just assumed Alpha status following Peter's demise.

Emerson paled when a realization floated into her mind, quickly shoving herself into the room and locking the door behind her at the sheer growls that were coming from within.

Derek Hale had turned Isaac, and she had a gut feeling that he had bit the sophomore just the night before.

Holy fucking shit.

Her presence in the room alerted the near frantic boy, his heart beating faster by the second as he aimed his barred teeth at her. She had never seen something like this, had never seen a werewolf so out of control. "Isaac—"

The dirty blond lunged for her, and the pair went toppling to the ground. Alarm bells were ringing in her mind, because why the hell would someone like Derek send a freshly turned werewolf to a school full of loud noises and anger-inducing situations? The last thing anyone needed was a teenage werewolf running all over the place, wrecking havoc.

His claws were digging into her arms as they wrestled on the ground, Emerson using every bit of strength she had to slam his back onto the ground. He was lashing out, claws swiping everywhere as he perceived her to be a large threat.

Her options were dwindling, but her newfound hatred for Derek Hale was certainly not.

She had a thought, a naive one.

This would bite her in the ass, she knew it would; but she couldn't leave Isaac like this. It would be worth a shot.

So, she dug her own blunt nails into his arms, not wanting to hurt the boy, before she all but roared in his face, feeling the back of her eyes heat up with a crimson glow.

"Snap out of it!" 

It shouldn't have worked, because she wasn't his Alpha, but she immediately noticed a wave of calm wash over him at the command.

The blonde saw the way his eyes unclouded, almost snapping out of the frenzy. He looked at her, his chest heaving. "... Emerson?"

With a breath of relief, she peeled her hands away and sat on her hunches. "Are you okay?"

"How did you..." he let the sentence falter, looking at her with profound confusion. Though, his expression turned to one of realization. "You're a—"

"If you tell anyone, I will kill you," was her interruption, and her face was schooled into neutrality. She was serious, standing back up to her feet. "You need to go home, Isaac."

The Lahey boy was undeterred, scrambling upright as he gestured to his lacrosse bag. "But I have practice in—"

"Isaac," she repeated, turning on her heel to unlock the door. She opened it, glancing out into the hall to find it empty before turning to face him once more. "If I was normal, you could've killed me just now."

His face resembles that of a kicked puppy, and it made her swallow around nothing. He's not your responsibility, he's not your responsibility. She was chanting the words in her mind, solidifying them.

"I'm serious; go home."

.ೃ࿔*:⋆

The slow walk back to the cafeteria was reserved for Emerson's internal freak out.

Not only had she just exposed herself as a werewolf for the first time ever, but the command on Isaac shouldn't have worked as quickly as it did. It was making something ugly curl up in her stomach, and she didn't know if it was discomfort or envy. Or perhaps a bit of both.

Emerson never had a pack of her own, partly because she was always on the move and never had the time to solidify the right sort of bonds. It hindered her abilities greatly, sure, but so did the damn bracelet she wore.

Now, though? After too many run ins with the bad man and the cronies he picked up throughout the years, she refused to form a pack of her own now. There was a permanent target on her back, and like hell would she ever make innocent people succumb to a similar fate.

She learned to be content on her own, to satiate the incessant longing she always felt deep in her bones, but when Isaac listened to her and calmed down? For a split second, she thought it was nice.

Emerson shook the foolish thought from her mind, entering the cafeteria once more. She booked it toward Elizabeth, the girl meeting her gaze and offering a quirked brow in her direction. "So? Was he sick?" she inquired, her book off to the side with a new page dogeared.

The Avery girl bit the inside of her cheek, mustering up her most convincing eye roll. "He says it was food poisoning."

Elizabeth took that answer, humming to herself. "Did you know that three thousand people die from foodborne diseases each year?" she asked, before shaking her head. "Or, three thousand in America."

And just like that, Emerson felt like she had settled into a sense of normalcy once more.

"You know a lot about foodborne diseases, don'tcha?"

"Once you get salmonella from the caf three times, you start absorbing a fact or two."

⋆°.☾⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆

[ wyn's note ]

oh boy oh boy!!! emmy already is so anti-derek but can we blame her??? poor baby isaac smh

note on the bracelet in case you missed it: all i can say for now (wink) is that the wearer's scent disappears, but the side affect is that the wearer can't smell shit. so that sense is totally gonzo... more to come soon lololol

all my love, hope you liked this one!!