Hope you guys are enjoying part 3!

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"It worked," Scott exclaimed as he sat up. He had passed out after Derek had finished rebranding him with the rings.

"You'd wanna hope so," I laughed. "Wasn't exactly easy holding you down."

As Scott stood up Stiles got closer to examine it better. "Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now."

"Yeah," Scott agreed as the two boys walked into the lobby area of the house. I trailed behind, still not feeling as welcome as I used to. "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us, everything just changes so fast. Everything's so. . . Ephemeral."

Stiles nodded slowly, his lips curved in thought. "Studying for the PSATs?"

"Yep."

"Nice."

I couldn't help but laugh. It was moments like these when I felt like we weren't living in a world with werewolves and Kanimas and whatever else was out there.

Scott opened the door, but didn't walk out. He just stood and stared at the front door for a moment. "You painted the door," he observed as he looked back into the house at Derek. "Why'd you paint the door?"

Derek's face was painted in concern as he shook his head lightly, "Go home, Scott."

But, Scott being Scott, didn't do as he was told. Running his hand up the fresh coat of red paint he was only left with more questions, "And why only one side?"

Removing his hand from the door and retracting his claws Scott ran one down the paint, removing it as he went. Derek told him to stop as he walked over, which only gave Scott more incentive to continue.

Bringing both hands up he rabidly scratched at the paint until we could see the original slab of wood beneath it. But it wasn't completely the original. There was something painted onto the door.

It looked like Derek's triskele but it didn't have the spirals. There were three lines leading to a solid triangle in the middle.

"What is that?" I whispered.

Scott turned to Derek, "The birds at school and the deer last night, just like the night Riley and I got trampled by the deer when I got bit by the Alpha." God, that felt like a lifetime ago. "How many are there?"

Derek sighed, knowing he wasn't getting away from this. "A pack of them. An Alpha pack."

You've got to be kidding me.

"All of them?" Stiles asked. "How does that even work?" I was curious to know the answer to this also.

"I hear there's some kind of a leader. He's called Deucalion."

My stomach dropped and my knees buckled beneath me at the mention of his name. I collapsed to the ground, having trouble breathing.

The man who got Ennis to kill my mother. He was still here.

Stiles, probably against his better judgement, was down by my side in seconds. "Riley, what's wrong?"

"It's him," I mumbled as I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "He was there the night my mother died."

I felt Stiles wrap his arms around my shoulders as Derek continued talking. "We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for them for the past four months."

"Let's say you find them," Scott says as he steps closer to the Alpha. "How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

"With all the help I can get."

After a moment of silence we all heard a voice coming from the adjacent room. "Where is she?" It asked. Isaac, he was finally awake. "Where's the girl?"

Derek looked just as confused as the rest of us as he stared at Isaac. "What girl?"

♡♢♤♧

Isaac told us what he remembered about the mystery girl - which wasn't much. All he could really remember was that she had saved his life.

I sat by his side and held his hand as he tried to remember. He felt bad that he couldn't recall what had happened but that wasn't exactly his fault. There was obviously some reason why he couldn't remember.

His face looked sickly but he wasn't ill; his strengthened immune system wouldn't allow it.

"Where were you," Isaac asked me, his eyes trailing to my face.

One side of my mouth perked up slightly as I tried not to look like I wanted to cry. "After everything that happened I just needed to get away for a bit. Char and I stayed at her apartment in Devonford over the Summer break and now I'm back."

He sat his hand on top of the one I had placed on his arm, "I was worried about you. I heard about your mum - I'm sorry. She was really amazing."

"By the looks of you, I think you're the one we should be more worried about here," I choked out a little laugh as I avoided every word after him saying he was worried about me.

"Riley-"

Pulling my hands back to myself I shook my head, "I don't want to talk about it, Isaac."

"Okay."

We sat in silence as Scott, Derek and Stiles spoke in the next room over. Ever since Scott scratched off the paint and Isaac woke up, Scott was trying to get information about the alpha pack from Derek. It didn't seem to be going very well.

"So, what's the deal with you and Stilinski?" Isaac asked out of the blue.

His question took me by surprise, causing me to open and close my mouth multiple times with no sound following the motion.

He laughed lightly at me, "You can talk to me. I mean, only if you want to. I'm not gonna kill him or anything." His eyes scanned the room before he leaned closer to me and whispered one word. "Yet."

To my surprise, a genuine laugh escaped me. I covered my mouth in hopes that the guys in the other room would continue to go about their business.

"That's the sound I've missed," Isaac smiled.

It was weird how much becoming a werewolf had changed the boy I once knew. He was never this confident beforehand. Ever. I felt like the bite gave him a chance to become a new person, and he jumped at the opportunity.

I just wished it hadn't taken becoming something else for him to see himself the way I saw him.

"Stiles and I, where to begin," I half-laughed half-sighed. "We're not on proper speaking terms right now. He kept trying to stay in touch with me while I was gone, but I never responded to any of it. He's still mad at me for ignoring him, and I don't blame him."

Isaac's head fell to the side as he crossed his arms over. "Your mum had just died, Riley. I think there were a few more important things besides 'text Stiles' at the top of your to-do list. Like grieve."

"I know. It's just-"

"Riley, my dad and I may not have had the most healthy relationship, but I still took the time to grieve him on my own," he countered.

I bit my cheek in thought, "Stiles lost his mum, he knew what I was going through."

He threw his head back with a sigh, "Knowing you, you're not going to listen to anything I say, because God forbid you not be the bad guy in the situation." I smacked his arm lightly even though I knew he was right.
"You'll figure it out."

"I hope so," I groaned. Feeling my phone buzzing in my pocket I pulled it out quickly. Charlotte.

"Hey," I greeted as I answered the phone.

"You were let out of school hours ago, where are you?" Her tone sounding like she was attempting to come off as demanding. It wasn't working, but I let her have it.

I shrugged, before remembering that she couldn't see me.
"Sorry, I'm on my way home now."

"You better be, Riley, or I'll be giving you a curfew."

My eyes squinted in thought before I answered. "What are you doing? Is that your 'mum voice' or something?"

"I thought I'd give it a shot, what'd you think?" She laughed. "Anyway, I just wanted to check in. Just get home soon please, okay?"

"Okay, Char," I chuckled before hanging up.

"I'm gonna head off."

"I'll see you around, no doubt," he half-smiled.

I stepped closer and wrapped him in a tight hug. I had missed him while I was gone, he was one of the most important people in my life.

After saying goodbye to him, I sent a quick text to Allison, knowing Stiles would be staying back to help Scott interrogate Derek, and then walked out the front of the house.

Once it reached the ten minute mark of waiting I sat down on the steps connected to the porch, sitting my bag beside me and continued to listen to music from my phone through a pair of earphones. The woods surrounding Derek's house were so peaceful, each tree standing tall as all its limbs reached towards the sky.

Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. Jumping, I turned around and punched whatever it was in the leg.

"Ow!" Stiles yelped.

Yanking out my earphones I spun around to face him, biting my lip. "Sorry. You scared me."
I turned back around, staring out to the trees. The bark was so dark; I couldn't help but wondering how different they might have looked before the fire.

Stepping down from the porch, Stiles took a seat about a foot or two away from me. He rested his elbows on his knees and stared out at the woods also.

"We need to talk," he said quietly. "Like, proper talk."

Putting my phone and headphones into the pocket of my jacket, my eyes dropped to my feet. "I know."

He sat there picking at his nails as he tried to figure out what he wanted to say. "Can you tell me why? Why you pushed me away and ignored me that whole time as if I didn't even exist?"

"It wasn't like that. I needed some time to breath," I said shrugging, picking up a leaf off of the ground and beginning to tear it up. "I thought it would be easier."

"For who?" He asked defensively, "Because you don't look any different and it didn't make things any better for me."

This got my attention, whipping my gaze over to him. "I'm doing my best, but this hasn't exactly been a walk in the park, you know."

"No, I don't. Which is why we wanted to help you." He asked, his voice beginning to rise in volume.

The fact that he was beginning to raise his voice at me was spurring my anger. Isaac was right. Ever since I got back I had been blaming myself and so had they. Why was it all on me? I may not have picked up the phone, but this went further.

"Help me? Do you have any idea what I'm going through right now?" I stood up to give myself some momentum for what I was about to say. "My mother was murdered, Stiles. I watched someone stab her in the stomach and leave her to bleed to death. She died in my arms. I called you and texted you and you weren't there."

"Riley-"

"No, you wanted me to speak to you, so now you listen!" I shouted as leaves started to lift off of the ground and my hair was swept by a strong breeze. "You do not get to be mad at me. I dropped everything for you and Scott. I always do. And then the one time I really needed your help, you weren't there!"

His jaw clenched as his eyes looked around, blinking more than usual. I followed his line of sight to see that we had gained an audience.

I hadn't even noticed Allison's car pull up outside of the house or the fact that Scott, Derek and Isaac were all standing at the doorway of the house watching.

I didn't really care. Let them watch, then maybe they'd understand why I did what I did.

"You're pissed of at me for ignoring your calls?" I continued. "And yours too?" I looked to Scott quickly, before turning back to Stiles. "But the reason I left in the first place was because of what happened that night - the worst night of my life - and you know how that started for me? With neither of you answering my calls."

Scott took a small step forward cautious of what was happening around me. More leaves and twigs and such had joined the whirlwind around my feet, growing stronger and lifting towards my knees as well as the area affected by me expanding. My practise over the Summer had definitely strengthened my abilities.

"Ri, we understand. We're sorry. You know we would never do that on purpose. Ever. I think about that night every day. I shouldn't have had my phone off," Stiles said softly.

My throat began to hurt as I fought back tears. "Whenever I close my eyes, I'm back there. I have nightmares. She's laying in my arms dying and there's nothing I can do to save her. She's gone and nothing will change that. I take blame for nearly everything that happened that night, God knows I blame myself, but I'll be damned if I let you be angry at me for not answering a call. I'm angry enough at myself, I don't need it from you as well."

"We never wanted-"

I cut him off again, "Don't. Just. . . don't." The wind around my feet stopping abruptly and everything fell back to the ground. "I needed time to recover. Why couldn't you understand that?"

I grabbed my bag and sped over to Allison's car, opening the door and climbing in.

"Are you okay?" She asked me quietly.

Massaging my temples, I nodded. "I'll be fine. Can you just take me home, please?"

She started her car and began to drive away, saying she would.

I couldn't believe I had just done that. And without bursting into tears too.

Growth.

When we pulled up at my house, I thanked Allison and got out of her car.

"Riley, you know you can talk to me, right?" She said softly. "I sort of know what you're going through. My mum dying hit me really hard too."

How could I be so foolish as to overlook such a crucial detail? Allison was probably one of the only ones who would understand what I'm going through right now. Her mum even died at a werewolf's hand also.

With a small smile, I nodded at her. "Thanks. I might call you later, Charlotte just wants to make sure I'm okay."

"Sounds great," She grinned, small dimples appearing on her cheeks.

Allison was a great friend. Understanding, loyal to a fault, trustworthy, and so much more. Between her and Lydia, I lucked out making new friends.

Closing the car door I walked over to my house and entered straight away. "You should really learn to lock this," I pointed out.

"We live in Beacon Hills," Char said as she appeared from the hallway. "From the looks of the crazy death rates here, I'm sure a lock wont stop someone desperate enough to come in and kill us."

My chest tightened as I recounted what I had said, and what had happened behind the locked doors of my last home.

"Sorry," she spat out quickly. "I shouldn't have said that."

Waving it off I headed towards my room, "It's fine. I'm going to bed. I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, see you tomorrow," she nodded.

Just as I was climbing into bed, my phone began to ring.

Stiles.

I let it chime for a couple more seconds, before answering it. I didn't even give him the chance to say anything.
"There, I answered your call. Happy?"

And then I hung up. Why did everything have to be so difficult?

I climbed out of bed towards the bathroom and looked at myself. Any cuts I had received from the bird attack had healed, but my hair was another story.

It was knotted in sections and I even found a few bits of feather in amongst all the strands. I grabbed my brush off of the basin and began to roughly brush it out as a tear rolled down my cheek.

Coming back to Beacon Hills was never going to be easy, but I had at least hoped to make it through the first day.

I brushed and brushed, but my hair was damaged. I could only assume it was from the bird who had caught its talons up in my hair.
Placing the brush down I opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors, before calling on my sister.

She was in the bathroom in no time, her eyes looking a bit worried.

"I need you to cut it," I sniffled holding the scissors out to her.

She took them, but not before asking me why.

I wiped my eyes, "The birds. They got in my hair today. Nothing's changed since I got back. I need something to change, Char. Even just this."

Charlotte sighed out of what sounded like pity as she brushed my hair out and then picked up the scissors. Measuring with her fingers, she began to cut.

♡♢♤♧

After Charlotte finished, I thanked her and went and took a shower. I took a few heavy breaths as the hot water cascaded across my skin. Running my fingers through my hair, it felt strange that it wasn't as long as I was used to. It felt different. Nice.

Once I was finished I grabbed my phone and unlocked it. I found Allison's name in my contacts and dialled it. She answered not long after the call was sent out. "Hey, Riley. What's  up?"

"I was just wondering if your offer was still up for grabs?" I questioned in the most chill voice I could muster.
I didn't want her to know that I was basically desperate for company.

There was a few seconds of silence and I felt my heart begin to pick up its pace as my mind began to run through scenarios.

She hates me all of a sudden. The call dropped out. There was an accident. Stiles was in the car.

"We're on our way somewhere, but we're actually around the corner from your street. We'll be there in a few minutes."

"We?"

But before she had the chance to answer she had already hung up. After putting my phone on my bed I went over to my wardrobe and grabbed out some fresh clothes and got changed.

About five minutes later the girl pulled up into the drive way. Pulling the jacket that I had been wearing back on, I grabbed my phone, and was out the door.

On the way out I let Charlotte know that I was going, before rushing out the door. She protested for a solid second, before she knew that I wasn't stopping.

When I stepped outside Allison was waiting in her car with Lydia by her side. I sped up my pace before opening the door to the backseat and climbing in.

"Thanks guys, I didn't want to be alone here," I said as I shut the door.

Lydia's brow line creased, "What about your sister? And what did you do to your hair?"

I froze at the thought of Charlotte. I couldn't imagine how she would react to all of this. Werewolves, Kanimas, Alpha packs, whatever I am.

She'd probably run for the hills. And then I would be alone. Again.
"Not for this stuff. Not now. And I cut it. I needed something to change."

The girls nodded knowingly, both of them understanding what I was going through. People who weren't apart of our world wouldn't be able to comprehend the sheer terrors we faced on a daily basis.

"So, where are we headed?" I asked.