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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳

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Two months.

It had been two months since Allison Argent had died and Meilani McCall's boyfriend had been possessed by a dark spirit that reaped havoc on the town of Beacon Hills. Two months since Meilani had a proper conversation with her twin brother, Scott McCall, because there was still a bit of tension between them following Allison's death and after Meilani found out Scott had lied to her for the past eight years about their father. 

You would think after Meilani became a werewolf ( an alpha of all things ) and everything she'd seen so far ━ from alpha packs, to Kanimas, to Banshees ━ that the fact her deadbeat father of eight years would actually try to be a father. After Meilani had found out Rafe was forced to leave the McCall residence after he accidentally sent an eight year old Meilani tumbling down the steps, she thought it would have made her feel better. Not worse over the fact her whole family lied to her for so long over that. Now, here Rafe was, still around for months and he was actually trying like Meilani had always wanted.

The whole thing would be made a lot better if Scott and Meilani were talking like they used to. Things were definitely a lot better between them now that  some time had passed and Meilani had time to get over the fact that he'd lied to her. However, things were still a bit tense between them and they hadn't exactly gone back to how they were before. It seemed no matter which Meilani turned, she'd always have drama with at least someone in her pack. 

On top of all that, Meilani was now stood in a club in Mexico with sweaty bodies swarmed on the dance floor. Two of those bodies being Malia Tate and Kira Yukimura who kept a close eye on everyone around them as they danced together. Once again, Meilani had to come to Derek Hale's aid after he had been kidnapped by the Calaveras, who Stiles Stilinski and Lydia Martin tried to talk into giving back Derek. All Meilani, the girls and Isaac Lahey could do was stay in the club and look out for any of the other Calaveras that they knew were posted around the club somewhere.

"You can at least act like you're having a good time with me."

Meilani snapped out of her thoughts and looked up into the bright blue eyes of Isaac Lahey. She was leant up against the wall behind her while Isaac stood a mere few inches away from her while Meilani played with the tassels on his dark blue scarf that wrapped around his neck. They were posed as a couple that just wanted to hang out at the club since Stiles was off somewhere with Lydia. Something that Stiles had whined about since Meilani had worn a black tight long sleeve shirt that tucked into her black skinny jeans and her black leather jacket. An outfit that Stiles had nearly drooled over when he saw her in it.

Isaac squeezed her hand that continued to play with his scarf and and smiled softly at her. "Thinking about Scott again? Or Allison?"

"Both, I guess," Meilani mumbled, leaning her head back against the wall behind her with a sigh. "It's just weird that Scott stayed back on this one. I mean . . . I know he said it was to keep my dad distracted and pretended to be sick while we're on "the camping trip" but . . . I don't know. I just feel like he still feels weird about being around me. I did get Allison killed."

"Hey," Isaac chided sternly, his face contorting in slight anger that Meilani sill quietly blamed herself. "You didn't get her killed. She pushed you out of the way of the Oni's sword. Allison is like you and would do anything to save her friends. She loved you like she loved all of us and she'd be really upset if she knew you were still beating yourself up over her death. Lans, it wasn't your fault, okay? You have to know that."

Meilani offered Isaac a sad smile because, yeah, she did know he was right and she was slightly over the fact Allison was dead now. There was still just that tiny part of her that felt like she could have done more to help Allison. It was a weird feeling between fully being okay and still feeling a sense of sadness wash over her. Meilani and the pack all slowly got back into their normal groove of things over the past two months, but Meilani just couldn't help the survivor's guilt. She knew it would pass eventually, she just had to get through it like her and the pack always got through everything else.

"I know, Isaac, you know me . . . I'll get through it. I promise I'll be okay," Meilani assured Isaac, squeezing the hand that wrapped around hers. "Just still need to get used to the fact that Allison won't be there at school tomorrow when we go back."

Before Isaac could reply to Meilani, she had quickly tensed up as she heard rapid footsteps coming closer to where they stood off to the side with little to no people. Her head turned to the side to see a Calavera coming their way and Meilani didn't hesitate to flash her red eyes at the hunter before she caught the fist that came for her face. She twisted the man's wrist and punched him in the gut before slamming him against the wall hard enough to knock him out.

The Calavera dropped to the ground and his walkie talkie fell from his back pocket and onto the dirty floor of the club. Meilani bent down to pick it up and speak into the walkie talkie, telling Stiles to take ten thousand off the fifty thousand that the pack were willing to give the leader of the Calaveras, Araya, for Derek's freedom. Now that the small woman pissed her off, Meilani wasn't going to be giving the woman as much as they originally brought. 

Meilani tossed the walkie talkie back down to the ground and quickly stopped at the edge of the dance floor to seek out Malia and Kira. She found them in the middle of the dance floor, fighting off two Calaveras who had come up behind them. Isaac had brushed past her and made his way over to Kira, stopping the third Calavera that tried to sideline the distracted Yukimura girl. He gripped his hand around the Calavera's throat, flinging him across the dance floor and into the wall. The Calavera dropped limply to the floor, effectively knocked out. 

Once the four had met up on the side of the dance floor when all three Calaveras were effectively down, they made their way through one of the side doors that lead to the back hallways of the club that would lead to Araya's office. All of the hallways looked the same with their dark red walls and their dimly lit lightbulbs that lined the way down the hall. It was like going through a maze and Meilani tried to use her heightened senses to catch Stiles or Lydia's scent from the office.

A hissing sound was heard and Meilani froze in the middle of the hallway with Isaac next to her and the two girls behind them. A white cloud of smoke began to fill into the hallway, making it hard to see anything. An instant burning and choking sensation took over Meilani's chest and she wheezed, collapsing to her knees.

"Wolfsbane. It's wolfsbane!" Meilani choked out, already feeling the wolfsbane begin to make her feel woozy. "Kira . . . Kira run!"

Kira turned to run but was cornered by a Calavera and she whipped out her glowing red nunchucks that nearly resembled the red of Meilani's alpha eyes. It was hard for Meilani to see what was really happening since her eye sight began to tilt and distort as unconsciousness made its way over her. Her body collapsed to her forearms as she couldn't hold her body up any longer and she saw a pair of feet stop before her.

Meilani's eyes trailed up the pant leg of none other than Araya who smirked down at Meilani. Her hands were clasped together in front of her and she tilted her head tauntingly at the weakened alpha, Isaac and Malia.

"Someone who has been an alpha only a few months should be more careful when facing a hunter of forty years," Araya teased loudly over the constant hissing of the smoke machines that let out all the wolfsbane.

"All . . .  we want is . . . Derek," Meilani panted, feeling the air in her lungs lessen more and more as time went on. Her head began to spin dangerously as the lack of oxygen slowly began to grow too much and Meilani could already see the dark spots along the sides of her vision. 

"My lobito, you're a long way from home."

Meilani furrowed her eyebrows and her muddled brain tried to work out why Araya had deflected the statement so quickly. Almost as if . . . "You don't know where he is either," she noted, her hazy eyes looking up into the stunned expression on Araya's face. It was clear that the Calavera woman didn't expect Meilani ━ who was still struggling to breathe and get her brain working ━ was able to deduce that so quickly and effectively. 

Araya's face morphed into one of annoyance and she shot her hand forward, the tip of the taser in her hand meeting with Meilani's side. Meilani let out a howl of pain and felt her body tense up tightly as the shocks went through her body. Her eyes flashed alpha red for a moment before her body finally fell to the floor and the darkness finally enveloped her.

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Meilani groaned as her eyes fluttered open, her body thankfully already healed from both the wolfsbane intake and the shocks she took. When her eyes finally adjusted to the dimly lit room, her vision zeroed in on Stiles who cradled her in his lap as his fingers ran through her hair gently. An action that always got Meilani to stay relaxed and calm and Stiles' face brightened at the sight of his girl's pretty brown eyes.

"Hey, there's my pretty girl," Stiles greeted quietly, leaning down to press a soft kiss to Meilani's nose and helping her to sit up a bit as the rest of the pack ran over to the couple. "Baby, you okay?"

Meilani eyes scanned the disgusting public bathroom they had been thrown into. Her and Stiles had been rested against the grimy, white wall of the bathroom that was so dirty it was slowly turning black in some places. Sinks lined the wall that Stiles had propped himself up against and two stalls were against the adjacent wall on the other side of the room. She felt like she'd get a disease if she even tried to touch anything in this bathroom and made sure to keep her hands in her lap and not on the disgusting white ━ again, almost black because of the dirt and grime ━ floor beneath her. "They don't have him. They don't have Derek."

"We know, but right now, they've got Lydia," Kira informed Meilani, a frightened tilt to her tone as her face scrunched up in worry.

Meilani's face fell and she noticed Isaac's head snap over to her when her heart rate spiked at the thought of her friend being in danger. "What? What do they want with Lydia?" She huffed when no one could answer her and pushed off her boyfriend to walk over to the large sliding door to the bathroom. She tugged and pulled on the massive door but no matter what she did, it didn't budge.

Isaac sighed and gently placed his hand on Meilani's shoulder, pulling her away from the door. "Lans, we already looked for a way out. We already tried. I think a lot of people have tried." He motioned to the scratches on the white tiled wall on either side of the door that Meilani hadn't even noticed till just then.

"I say when whoever opens that door again, we take out whoever is standing in the way and run for it," Malia suggested from where she stood leant up against the wooden pillar in the middle of the dingy bathroom.

"What about Lydia?" Kira asked, throwing her hands out to the sides.

Malia furrowed her eyebrows, not understanding why Lydia was being brought into the equation. "What about her?"

"Mal, we're not leaving without Lydia," Meilani denied.

"Why not?"

Stiles scratched the side of his face and walked over to Malia before Isaac or Kira could make a move at the girl. "Malia, we don't leave without people. Remember, we talked about this in Meilani's room? Rules of the wild kingdom don't apply to friends."

Kira dropped her hands to her sides as a look of disbelief took over her features. "Is that what you do as a coyote? Leave her for dead?"

Malia nodded as if the answer didn't bother her any, which it really kind of didn't. Meilani and Stiles were still admittedly working on Malia getting back into the groove of the human world worked compared to the wild. It was a long and tiring task, but Meilani liked the Tate girl and didn't mind helping her out. They had spent many long nights in her room going through a dozen different scenarios and most of the time, both girls had fallen asleep on Meilani's bed and woke up to a blanket covering their bodies that Stiles had draped over them both before he left to go home. 

"If she was weak and injured, yeah. If hunting had been bad that season, I would eat her. Then I'd leave."

Meilani grimaced slightly at Malia's words and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Believe it or not, that's . . . um . . . that's progress. However, we just have to remember we're not dead yet. That means Araya wants something from us."

"But if the Calaveras don't know where Derek is, that means they didn't take him from the loft. Right?" Isaac chimed in, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Maybe he left on his own," Stiles offered, placing one hand on his hips while the other hand went up to rub over his mouth in deep thought. His sleuthing and detective like mind visibly working at warped speed as his eyes stared dazedly at the grimy floor.

"Maybe someone else got to him."

The room fell into a tense silence at Meilani's thoughts, but they weren't given much of a chance to respond to it. The sliding door to the bathroom slammed open and Meilani whirled around to see three Calaveras storm into the bathroom, a taser like the one that Araya used on Meilani earlier gripped into their hands. The pack barely had a moment to blink before they were ambushed and Meilani's world was thrusted into darkness for the second time.

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Meilani awoke once again and, this time, she felt a lot more sluggish than she had the last time. Her body felt weaker and she was hunched over in the chair that was placed in backwards, her front facing the back of the chair. Her ankles and wrists were chained to the floor below her. Araya stood in the entrance of the room while one of the Calaveras' gripped onto Kira's bicep to the right of the room where a small machine with dials and buttons on it was.

Right behind Araya, Lydia was was forced into the room by another Calavera and Meilani's hazy eyes met with Lydia's terrified green ones. At the sight of her best friend, Meilani tugged against her chains, ignoring the ache that took over her body and the sheet of sweat that coated her skin beneath her shirt that now stuck to her skin like a second layer. 

"Let her! Look . . . you've got me. Just let the others go," Meilani negotiated, tugging more at the restraints when they chained up Lydia to the chair that was next to Meilani's. However, Lydia sat forward on hers instead of backwards on it like Meilani was.

The Calaveras all ignored Meilani and Kira was forced up towards the machine. The meaty hand of the Calavera placed Kira's shaking hand on the big dial on it, keeping her hand there with his own. "So, let me explain what's going to happen. This one, the fox, has an immunity to electricity. So she's going to turn the dial on the alpha. If she doesn't, I turn the dial on the Banshee."

Kira grunted as she tried to fight out of the Calavera's grip, but it was no use because he was a lot stronger than the Kitsune in his clutches. Her heart continued to spike as she met Meilani's eyes and frantically shook her head. "No, I'm not hurting Meilani."

The Calavera muttered something in Spanish to Kira and forced her hand to stay on the dial. "Are you sure? One of your friends has the power to heal. The other? Not so much."

Meilani glanced over to Lydia who had a worried look on her face and Meilani tried to give Lydia the best reassuring look that she could in return. She had to made sure both of her friends stayed calm so they could try and get out of this sticky situation like they've done all the other times int he past. This was just another road block that Meilani would have to figure her way out of. If that meant taking some electric bolts to her system, then so be it.

"What are you doing? Is this a game to you?" Meilani breathed, her dark eyes flickering over to Araya and she hoped that all her hatred was obvious on her face. The way her eyes narrowed dangerously at the woman and the threatening way her shoulders tensed as she stared at the woman that keep bringing down chaos. It only made Meilani miss Chris Argent more since he had adapted the new code to not attack any one who wasn't a threat thanks to Allison. 

"This is a test, lobito. Let's see if you pass," Araya responded, clapping her hands together and circling Meilani's chair until she was stood in front of the alpha. "We're going to ask you some questions. You answer them and nobody gets hurt. You don't answer and we turn the dial."

Meilani poked her tongue into her cheek, realizing that she was in between a rock and a hard place. Her eyes glanced from Araya and over to Kira, her gaze instantly softening at the frightened Kitsune. "Kira, I need you to do what they say, okay? Whatever they want. I can take it. I don't want them to hurt Lyds."

Araya waited for Kira to shakily nod her head in acknowledgement before she turned back to Meilani. "Okay, so . . . we don't know where Derek is. Want to find him as well. You know who took him."

Meilani raised her eyebrows at the Calavera woman in a taunting way. "You really think I would be here right now if I knew who took Derek?"

"Mmm, that doesn't sound like an answer to me.

"We don't know," Lydia intoned, sounding exhausted as she leant her hands on her thighs. "Why do you think we cam here?"

Araya tutted the two girls and glanced over her shoulder to Kira who tensed up when she realized what Araya was about to ask her. "Kira, turn the dial."

Kira audibly gasped and shook her head once again, her fearful eyes going to the dial that her hand wrapped around. "No . . . no . . . "

"Should we turn the dial on Lydia instead?" Araya barked.

"No, no!" Meilani shouted, her hands instinctively raising up to stop the Calavera from dying anything. She yelped when the cuffs around her wrists pulled harshly back on her and she snapped her pleading gaze over to Kira. "Kira, I love you, but you need to do this, okay? It's fine. I won't be mad at you, okay? Just do it."

Kira whimpered but relented and moved so her fingers cupped the dial on the machine, waiting for Araya's orders to turn it.

"Let's start at one," Araya instructed Kira, motioning for the girl to turn the small black knob on the machine.

"I'm sorry," Kira whispered, turning the dial slowly until the line stopped on one.

The cuffs around Meilani's wrists and ankles instantly began to spark with life and Meilani grit her teeth together, clutching the poles in the back of the chair. Another coat of sweat began to break out over her skin and a strangled cry erupted from Meilani's throat. She panted as the pain was nearing to the point it was impossible to ignore but Meilani kept up a brave front to not give Araya the satisfaction.

"I'm going to ask you again, lobito. Who actually has Derek?" Araya demanded as the cuffs continued to spark and send little bits of electricity flying across the room. "Who had a reason, a vendetta particular to the Hales?"

Meilani groaned as the electric shocks continued to crash through her body, working her heart a lot harder than it was able to go. She could feel the air in her lungs lessen slightly, creating more and more sweat as her body tried to fight off the electric shocks. Her body continued to try and heal itself in between the sparks of pain, only draining Meilani's energy more. "I said . . . I don't know."

"Oh, you don't know because you haven't figured it out yet," Araya whispered harshly and Meilani wished desperately that she could strangle this woman. "So think! Who could have taken him."

"Tres," the Calavera male instructed Kira, motioning to the dial for her to raise it up two octaves.

Meilani breathed heavily as her heavy lidded eyes met with Kira's again. "Kira, it's okay. I'll be okay."

Kira scrunched up her face in discontent, but slowly nodded anyway and raised the dial up to the the third notch like she had been told to do.

The electric shocks doubled in intensity and Meilani strained harshly against the cuffs, her body tensing up under the immense amount of pain that the electric shocks sent through her body. She arched her back to try and ease some of the pain, but it seemed like nothing she did would ease any of that. She would just have to keep taking it until Araya decided her little sadistic game was over.

"Who had the power?" Araya thundered over the loud hum of the machine that electrocuted Meilani. "Who has the power of a shapeshifter?"

"I don't know!" Meilani grunted out, continuing to strain against her cuffs as she rocked back and forth. She tried to move in any sort of direction that would try and lesson the pain while ignoring the distraught look Lydia sent her way. It was obvious that Lydia wanted to reach out and help Meilani, but she was also cuffed and the strawberry blonde also knew that Araya would just harm Meilani more if she tried to interfere. 

"Oh! Someone who could have turned without you knowing. Turned, but not by a bite!"

"I don't know!"

"Diez!" Araya ordered Kira who merely shook her head, fearing that adding anymore voltage would kill Meilani. Sure, the McCall female was a True Alpha had unbelievable strength and abilities that other wolves typically didn't, but that didn't mean she could survive that high of a voltage. Her heart could give out and she could die. "Diez!"

Araya growled when Kira didn't move to turn the dial and stormed over, pushing the raven haired girl away. She reached for the dial and raised it up to its highest setting, eliciting a vicious roar from Meilani's lips. Her eyes flashed red and her brain suddenly clicked onto something as her body went numb from the pain that she couldn't handle any longer.

"Can you get turned by a scratch?" Kate Argent had asked Chris Argent who sat next to him in the bleachers of the lacrosse field. She had her head ducked close to Chris's so no one around them could hear, but little did they know that Meilani McCall could hear them perfectly clear from her spot on the lacrosse field with the rest of the boys.

"If the claws go deep enough," was Chris's response after a moment of thought.

Meilani let out another loud roar and used all her might to tear through the cuffs, effectively snapping them in half and dropping her head forehead down to the cool metal of the chair she was tied to. Her body still twitched slightly as tiny bits of shock shot through her body from the high voltage she had just experienced. She felt incredibly weak now and it was only a matter of time before her energy would slowly come back to her. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath now that her lungs were no longer constricting in on themselves.

"Say the name, Meilani," Araya barked, stepping closer to Meilani's chair.

Meilani slowly lifted her head from the top of the chair and raised her exhausted eyes to meet with Araya's. "Kate."

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Araya seemed to have gotten whatever she wanted out of Meilani because once Kira and Lydia were both sent back to Stiles, Isaac and Malia, Meilani was released herself and the Calaveras gave her back her leather jacket. The pack had already been lead out to Roscoe while Meilani was asked to walk out with Araya after the woman allowed her to take a quick shower to get rid of the sweat that stuck to her body. 

Meilani found it a bit strange that her and her friends were just being let go but she also wasn't complaining. She'd had enough of dealing with the Calaveras for one day and if she never had to look at any of them again, it would be too soon. So Meilani was just going to hop on the opportunity to get out of there and continue her hunt to find Derek before it was too late.

"So you're just letting us go?" Meilani checked, trying to suss out Araya in case there was something hidden up her sleeve.

"I sent four men out to where Kate was rumored to have been seen. None of them came back. Let's see if you can do better, lobito," Araya explained, stopping outside the building and the pack was stood a few feet down the side of the building leant against Roscoe.

"You could have just told me she was alive," Meilani said, slapping her hands to her sides with a small scoff. "Why go through all that trouble?"

Araya scrunched up her nose and shrugged lazily. "You wouldn't have believed me if I had. Now I know what kind of alpha you really are and where your next step lies."

Meilani raised her eyebrows in amusement and crossed her arms, putting her weight to one foot as she tilted her head tauntingly. "Oh yeah? And what's that?"

"When you take the bite of an innocent, when you make a wolf of your own, that is when I will cross your border and come knocking at your door."

"Well, lucky for you I don't go around biting people so enjoy stewing in anticipation," Meilani remarked, flashing the Calaveras a fake smile and turning on her heels to stalk towards her pack before she attacked the small woman before her. She had never met a woman who made her blood boil more than Araya and she hated the feeling of wanting to strangle another.

"Baby, thank God," Stiles breathed in relief, meeting her half way and wrapping her up tightly in his arms. He buried his face into her hair as Meilani pressed her cheek to his chest, his heart beat being enough to instantly expel all the hate and anger from her body. She closed her eyes for a moment and relished in the moment of being in Stiles' arms for a moment. "I was so worried when Kira and Lydia came back without you."

Meilani smiled softly and squeezed her arms around Stiles' waist, the Stilinski boy not even complaining about the slight lack of air from the strength Meilani had put into her grip. "I'm okay."

"So, what now?" Isaac cut in, interrupting the couple's moment and earning him a dark glare from Stiles for doing so.

Meilani exhaled heavily and slowly removed herself from the calming bubble that Stiles' arms always offered her. "She thinks she knows where we can find Derek."

"She gonna tell us where?" Malia questioned, leaning off Roscoe with Lydia and Kira and joining the couple and Isaac.

"She mentioned something about a guide."

As if on cue, the sound of a motorcycle was heard approaching them and the bike stopped in the middle of the pack. The driver dropped her feet to the sandy ground below their feet and removed the helmet, shaking out her dark hair. 

Isaac let out a breath of shock and a shocked grin took over his face at the sight of the pretty girl on the bike. "Braeden?"

Braeden placed her helmet down in front of her on the bike and leant her arms on top of it, smirking up at the blue eyed werewolf. "Looks like I'm saving your ass again, pretty boy."

"Who's she?" Malia asked, eyeing the girl that she didn't know with a calculating gaze.

"She's a mercenary," Lydia explained, offering Malia a look to stand down because Braeden was someone they could trust.

"And right now I'm the only one that can get you to La Iglesia," Braeden replied.

"The church?" Lydia questioned in confusion.

Stiles' eyes bounced between the two females for a moment, trying to figure out what place they could have been talking about. "Wait, what church?"

"Well, it's definitely not a place you'll find God."

⏤⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤⏤

Meilani and the pack followed behind Braeden in Roscoe as they drove through the empty dirt roads with Kira, Malia, and Lydia in the back seat while Isaac squatted in the trunk of the Jeep with his chin propped on his hands. Stiles had kept one hand on the wheel and the other on Meilani's knee, squeezing every now and then when he noticed her distant look. He had wanted to say something to her a few times now, but he knew better than to disrupt Meilani when she was this deep into her thoughts. She had been lost in her own world the past twenty minutes as she tried to work out how Kate could have survived the claws Peter had swiped across her throat. Meilani could have sworn the woman was dead. According to Araya, that wasn't the case at all and Kate had been turned by the claws instead.

"Okay, I'll ask," Malia said, poking her head in between the front seats and crossing her arms on the center console just behind Stiles' arm that remained on Meilani's leg like a vice. Almost like his hand was keeping Meilani anchored to her seat, which he was in a way with him being her anchor. "Who is Kate Argent?"

Kira sheepishly raised her hand from where she sat behind Meilani's seat with a timid smile. "Uh, I would kind of like to know that, too."

Stiles lightly slapped his hand on Meilani's knee in a type of shrug and shook his head. "Well, I can tell you we were at her funeral. So I would also like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground."

"She was never in it," Meilani mumbled, realizing why the wake and the funeral were both a closed casket.

Isaac's eyes bounced around the car, noticing that no one else was going to speak up in the moment so he decided to do it. "She was Allison's aunt and a total psychopath."

Kira frowned and her eyes glanced over to Meilani who had absentmindedly clutched onto her boyfriend's hand, feeling a sense of comfort when his fingers intertwined with hers. "Lan, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Um, yes she does," Malia argued and turned her attention over to Meilani. "Meilani, I love you, but we need to know who we're dealing with."

Meilani let out a heavy breath and her head fell back against her seat, knowing that Malia had a point. Kira and Malia never got to meet Kate and they didn't know how much of a threat Chris' sister truly was. They had a right to know who they were about to go up against. Isaac already knew about the threat of Allison's aunt because the late Argent female had gone into the horrors of her aunt and Meilani had hinted at some stuff over their past werewolf drama. "No, Malia's right. You guys need to know."

Stiles noticed Meilani's slight hesitation and brushed his lips against Meilani's knuckles. "Alright, Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family. Some of them survived, like Cora and Peter."

"A very angry Peter," Lydia added with a slight laugh.

"Yeah, he's the one who bit and turned me," Meilani informed Kira and Malia.

"And the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her," Isaac chimed in.

"And we saw her buried."

Meilani huffed and turned slightly in her seat so she was leant up against the side of the seat, banging her head back against the side of Roscoe. "No, we saw a casket, remember? She wasn't in it. The Calaveras had heard that Kate had been killed by a set of alpha claws. They wanted to make sure she was really dead. Her body was healing more and more as she got closer to the full moon. She was coming back so they switched out the bodies. They took her. If a hunter is bit, they have to take their own life before they change. The Calaveras, they treat the code like law. They make it their responsibility to enforce it. Kate must have not done it."

It was quiet for a long moment as Meilani's story had settled in over the car and Malia made a humming sound in the back of her throat. "Mmm, good for her. I wouldn't do it either."

"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out?" Meilani countered, fiddling with the fingers of Stiles' hand that she gripped onto. "Because that's what Kate did."

Kira shifted in the back seat and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "So Kate's a werewolf now?"

"I don't know," Meilani mumbled, trying to figure out what Kate could truly be. Since Lydia and Jackson had both gotten the bite and neither one of them turned into a werewolf. Lydia became a Banshee and Jackson turned into a lizard creature that ran around murdering people thanks to Matt who was trying to get revenge on those who he felt wronged him. "You know, there's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are."

"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" Lydia quipped.

Suddenly Roscoe stuttered and the Jeep shook, throwing around the pack in the car as Stiles swerved the Jeep harshly to the side of the dirt road. Almost like Stiles had ran over something in the road that none of them had even seen. The pack had all hopped out of the Jeep and began to inspect it for anything that could have gotten stuck in the tires or front of it. 

Braeden skidded her bike to a stop and turned it around to face the Jeep. She placed her helmet on the seat and hopped off, walking over to the pack. "What happened?"

"I don't know. It felt like we hit something," Stiles responded, checking over his precious car for anything he could have ran over.

"Meilani, we need to get there before dark. It's too dangerous otherwise," Braeden warned.

Meilani closed her eyes and let out a low groan, not liking the fact she had to leave her pack behind. Sure they had Malia and Isaac that could hear and see further than Lydia, Kira and Stiles could, but she still didn't feel right about leaving them behind. Not when darkness was rapidly approaching them.

"Baby, it's fine. Go," Stiles reassured his girlfriend, gesturing for her to run off with Braeden before it was too late.

"No, not without you."

Stiles rounded the car so he was stood before his girlfriend, cupping her face in his hands as he stroked her cheeks softly. "Lani, someone needs to find Derek, okay? We'll figure something out here. We always do. Just go and be careful or I'll kill you myself."

Meilani frowned but nodded, knowing Stiles was right. They needed to get to Derek before it was too late and they couldn't save him at all. She glanced over to Isaac who smiled reassuringly at her that he'd watch over everyone for her while she was gone. "Okay . . . "

Stiles bent down and pressed a soft kiss to Meilani's lips before slowly pulling away, even though neither one to break apart. "Just remember I love you and you're the prettiest girl in the world."

Meilani playfully rolled her eyes, pushing Stiles away jokingly. "Shut up, you're not in trouble and I'm not dying."

"Still can say it because it's true," Stiles whispered, going to brush past her as his lips brushed her ear. "Princess."

Meilani's eyes flashed red and reached out to punch Stiles' arm as she passed by him. The Stilinski boy yelped at the pain from the punch and Meilani smirked in satisfaction at the sound. Ever since the Void situation, Stiles threw around the term in a teasing sort of way because he knew it did a number on his girlfriend anytime he said it. She claimed to hate it because it was used by a psychotic dark spirit that enjoyed creating pain and chaos, but he knew she secretly also liked it.

A fact that Meilani hated that Stiles knew.

⏤⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤⏤

Meilani and Braeden had made it to La Iglesia just as night had fallen over the abandoned town. It had been taken down by a massive earthquake and the only thing that still stood tall as if nothing had happened was the church. Everything else that surrounded the church was in complete and total ruins. Pieces of homes and buildings were completely broken off and some were completely broken down into a pile of brick and rubble.

The only light that aided the two girls through the deserted town was their two flashlights and the minor light that the moon provided to them. They came up to the church that stood tall before them with two tall pointed spikes on either side of the building. It was amazing to see the building look as if it had had never been through an earthquake and was just slightly discolored by the sand that blew around and the age of time.

Meilani jumped when Braeden suddenly cocked the shotgun in her hand and her eyes bounced from the gun and over to the girl next to her. "If you find Kate in here, what are you gonna do with her?"

"Bring her back to the Calaveras. That's what they paid me for," Braeden responded breezily, leading Meilani towards the church that had bits of rubble strewn in front of it from the surrounding buildings and a random statue right next to one of the big doors of the church. 

"What happens after that?" Meilani asked curiously, wanting to know what Kate's fate would be. It was probably wrong of her not to care about what happened to the woman because that was her dead best friend's aunt, but she couldn't help it when the woman never showed her any type of kindness. 

"Not my problem."

"So you don't care either?"

Braeden snorted quietly and her eyes scanned the area around her for anything that might pop out and attack her or Meilani. "She's a mass murderer. I may be a mercenary but a girl's gotta eat."

"So if you were paid to kill her, you would?"

"If the money was good, I'd even kill you," Braeden admitted, stopping outside the doors to the church and Meilani eyed the gun in her hand for a moment. She knew that the girl wasn't out here to kill her, but the thought that Braeden would had the opportunity been good enough, then that thought alone made her a bit wary. 

Meilani rolled her lips into her mouth and silently followed after Braeden into the church as the darker haired girl kicked away wood. Even though the outside of the church looked okay, the inside of the church actually looked like it had been through an earthquake. Rubble and broken up bits of the pew and altar were scattered everywhere and moonlight filtered in through a few holes in the side of the church that Meilani hadn't noticed when she was stood outside of it. 

"Can you catch Derek's scent in here?" Braeden inquired, snapping Meilani out of her thoughts as she took in the state of the church.

Meilani closed her eyes for a moment and focused her senses on Derek and was instantly met with Derek's usual scent of cologne and leather. She went to take a step forward with Braeden to lead the girl towards where she smelt Derek, but froze mid-step when she heard the distant sound of roaring from inside the church. "There's something else in here."

Braeden's eyes instantly took in the area around them with expert precision, but her eyes were no match against Meilani's who couldn't even see anything just yet. "Something like what?"

"Something not human," Meilani replied quietly, her grip tightening on the flashlight in her hand.

Braeden lead the way through the piles of rubble and wood and over to the archway that would lead down to the basement of the church. Bits of rubble and rock littered the sides of the steps and cobwebs clung to the walls in random areas, really showing the age and lack of TLC on the abandoned church. A random skeleton was fused to the wall by a cobweb and Meilani shuddered as she brushed past it.

The two girls made their way down the rest of the steps and Meilani kept her focus on Derek's scent as she quietly made her way through the dark and dusty basement. A cold feeling went down Meilani's spine as she ducked through multiple cobwebs and being cautious enough to step over random skeletons or skulls of those that had lost their lives during the earthquake. She froze in front of Braeden went another feeling tickled down her spine as if there were eyes on her back.

"What is it?"

Meilani glanced over her shoulder, trying to use her alpha eyes to see through the thick darkness  now that the only light they had were the two flashlights. "I don't know. Just had a feeling like something was behind us."

Braeden raised her shotgun higher as they continued through the basement, both girls' guards raised way up. They only made it through another turn or two before another low growling sound was heard from somewhere up ahead, freezing the girls in their steps again. Their eyes both observed the tight dark hallway they had found themselves in. The sound of running footsteps came from ahead of them. 

"Meilani, get ready."

Meilani took a protective stance next to Braeden as the girl swiftly raised her gun, aiming it randomly in front of her and Meilani since it was pitch black ahead. She tried to use her alpha eyes to see in front of them but it was too dark even for her eyes to see as the running footsteps continued.

"Do you see them? Can you see?" Braeden yelled, firing off randomly into the dark abyss as the two slowly began to back away the way they had come.

"No, I don't know! I can't see anything!" Meilani cried and felt a sting against her cheek when something dropped from the ceiling and cut across her cheek. She couldn't tell what it was since her eyes were too focused on trying to find what was trying to come at them. The footsteps and growling grew closer but Meilani still couldn't see what or who it was. "It sounds like they're coming closer. Keep backing up!"

Braeden tried to get Meilani behind her so she could shoot off whatever ( or whoever ) charged towards them. However, Meilani got an idea and quickly stood before Braeden, instantly shifting to her alpha form. A deep and dark roar erupted from Meilani's lips, shaking the building around them and raining down dust and dirt from the ceiling above them. Meilani slowly shifted back once her roar drowned out and she couldn't hear whatever it was anymore.

"I think I scared it," Meilani breathed, slowly turning her head to look at Braeden who stared at Meilani wide eyed. The poor girl had probably never heard an alpha roar like that before and Meilani sheepishly smiled at her for not giving her a warning.

"I think you scared everything," Braeden retorted.

Another rumble sounded behind the girls and they whirred around to see a stone piece of what looked like a safe door with an intricate design carved into it. They slowly approached the door, ducking into the small area that was just big enough to fit the two girls inside of it. An animal type of head was in the middle of a circle with a bigger circle drawn around it and multiple symbols that Meilani couldn't decipher surrounded it.

"Tezcatilpoca. The Nagual jaguar God," Braeden noted, as if reading Meilani's thoughts on what the hell the design was. She reached out to brush her hand along the dirt that clung to the door and looked over at Meilani. "I think we just found Derek."

Meilani pressed her ear up to the stone and could hear what sounded like a faint heartbeat inside of it. She took a step back and jerked her head behind her for Braeden to stand behind her so she wouldn't get hurt. She shook out her fist before she brought it back and punched it straight through the slab of stone as if it were a piece of paper. Stone fell to the ground loudly and the two girls pulled away the rest of the stone to look inside of it. 

Braeden's flashlight shined into the dark abyss of the safe like wall and Meilani's jaw dropped at the body that laid on the other side, his shaky hand reaching out for Meilani and Braeden to help him out. He was covered in cobwebs and dust from the inside of the wall and his brown hair was tangled with some of the webs.

Now Meilani truly thought she had seen it all but the sight before her really proved that Meilani wasn't through seeing her fair share of crazy because the boy laid in the wall was Derek.

The teenage body of Derek Hale.

AUTHORS NOTE

Hi hey hello

WELCOME TO DUSK TILL DAWN AND SEASON FOUR, PEEPS! I am so ready to get into the Liam Dunbar plot of this season like JUST BRING ON MOM!MEILANI ALREADY! I didn't plan to have Meilani still struggling but it also does make sense that she's still struggling slightly with the fact that Allison was dead. It's been two months, sure, but Meilani feels like Allison died because of her since Allison pushed her out of the way of the Oni's sword. So our poor girl had a little bit of sadness in the beginning there, but our girl is always okay in the end.

I am also just ready to add Isaac into the plot of Season Four and continue the beautiful BRO-tp that is Meilani and Isaac. (if you don't secretly ship them then you're doing it wrong because even i lowkey ship it even though Meilani and Stiles are endgame for life)