𝙽𝚊𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚊'𝚜 𝙿𝙾𝚅

I shove my textbooks into my locker and slam the door shut, coming face to face with a grinning Aiden.

"How can I help you, Mr Alpha?" I quip sarcastically and his smile drops.

"How'd you find out?" He asks and I cross my arms over my chest.

"I would have liked to find out from you, but I guess you weren't planning on telling me" I sass him.

"I was gonna tell you" He argues.

"You're a liar" I retort, making him frown.

"Come on, gorgeous. I just didn't want to scare you off" He explains.

"I could literally turn your brain to mush if I tried hard enough, why would you scare me?" I declare and a smirk tugs at his lips that he tries his hardest to suppress.

"I don't know, but I didn't want to risk it" He shrugs and I turn, leaning my back against the lockers "Don't be mad at me"

"Give me a reason not to" I counter.

He steps in front of me and uses my chin to tilt my head up. I raise a brow and he smirks, leaning down. His lips meet mine and I smile into the kiss, placing my hand on his chest. The kiss is short and sweet, leaving me smiling in pure bliss as he moves his face away from mine.

"Will I still come over tonight?" He asks hopefully and I trail my hand down his chest to the top of his jeans.

"Whatever you want, handsome" I answer, causing him to grin widely.

He pecks my cheek quickly before walking away and I shake my head, my smile never wavering. My eyes meet my brother's and I glance at Isaac who is standing next to him. I salute them sarcastically and walk to my next class.

❦ ❦ ❦

"Hey, Natalia!" Stiles yells, jogging to catch up with me.

"Hey, Stiles" I reply.

"Did you know that there's a temple in Calcutta where they used to sacrifice a child every day" He starts to rant "That's every day a dead baby, Natalia, every day! Hey, you want to know what today is? It's dead baby day! No wait, that's every day, cause every day is dead baby day, yay!"

"Why are you telling me this?" I ask in confusion.

"Because Scott's dealing with the Alpha twins" Stiles sighs.

"Sounds like a hoot" I hum and he nods.

"So look, here's what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that the murders maybe come in threes. Ancient people love things in threes, right?" Stiles starts to explain.

"Oh, definitely" I answer with faux enthusiasm "And now that the three virgins are already sacrificed, you don't have to worry"

He glares at me in annoyance and I giggle in amusement.

"So maybe first, it's three virgins, and then, I don't know, maybe it's three people who still own a stuffed bear" Stiles suggests, looking at me.

"I own a stuffed bear" I deadpan and he gives me a look as if to say 'it's gotta go' "I am not getting rid of my stuffed bear, Stiles!"

"Would you just think about getting rid of your stuffed bear?" He groans.

"No. And by the way, you cannot discern a pattern by a single data point, so stop trying" I sass him before realising that I'm spending too much time with Lydia.

"Okay, so what, I'm just supposed to wait around for someone else to die then? I'm just supposed to sit there and watch them die? Just wait for them to wither up and die right in front of me?!" Stiles rambles loudly.

"Wither?" I question him.

"You know what I mean. Die, in just a hideously awful, strangulating, head bashed in, throat cutting kind of way!" Stiles exclaims.

"Maybe it's not your job. You said it yourself. They were strangled with a garrotte. That's a human thing to do, so maybe just leave the figuring it out part to someone human" I advise him.

"You mean someone like my dad?" He asks.

"No, I mean your dad" I tell him, walking away as I yell back "The Sheriff!"

I reach my English class and take a seat, dropping my backpack at my boot clad feet.

"Okay, everyone, I know this is the last class of the day" Miss Blake speaks "To be honest, I want to get out of here too"

I turn my head to my brother and I watch in confusion as he pulls out a motorcycle part, spinning it around his finger to taunt the twins who are looking at it with wide eyes.

"Looks kind of important" Scott states before pulling out another bike part "I have no idea what this thing does"

Aiden suddenly jumps out his feet and I perk up, looking at him in confusion.

"Wait. Aiden, don't!" Ethan barks as his brother dashes out the door.

The other students start getting out their seats and I grab my brother's arm.

"What have you done?" I snap.

"You'll see" He grins.

I jump to my feet, grabbing my bag and jog out the class, joining the large crowd in the hallway. I push past a couple students until I'm stood next to Allison who greets me with a friendly smile. I smile back and turn to see Aiden standing next to his bike in the middle of the hall, an angry look on his face.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Miss Blake yells "You realise this is gonna result in a suspension?"

Aiden glares in my direction and I turn my head to see my brother smirking widely, along with Isaac and Allison. With the roll of my eyes, I walk away and decide to skip last period.

As I pass through the music department, I pause when I see Lydia stood in front of a piano with the look of sheer shock on her face.

"Hey, Lyds, you okay?" I ask her, entering the class room.

"The teacher" She breathes out "He's the next victim"

"What makes you say that?" I frown curiously.

She presses play to a video on a phone that's propped up on the piano. Loud war like drums start playing with ancient chanting booming over it. Chills run down my spine and I gulp, pulling out my phone. I press Stiles' contact and lift the phone to my ear.

"Hey, I can't talk right now" He immediately says.

"The music teacher is the next victim, Stiles" I blurt out.

"Wait, what?" He replies.

"The teacher. He's gone" I explain.

"Okay, are you sure he's missing?" Stiles asks me.

"Not just missing, taken" I counter shakily as Lydia closes the piano lid to reveal a bloody hand print.

"I'm on my way, Natalia. Don't go anywhere" He tells me.

"Hurry" I say before he hangs up.

"Is he coming?" Lydia asks and I nod.

"He'll be here" I confirm.

Lydia and I wait around for a while until Stiles bursts into the room, Deaton on his tail.

"Aren't you supposed to be in English?" Stiles asks me as Lydia shows Deaton the recording.

"Aren't you?" I retort and he shrugs as if to say 'touché'.

The Stilinski boy then starts searching the teacher's desk for clues while I uselessly stand by Lydia.

"Can we get a copy of this?" Deaton asks and the strawberry blonde nods, taking the phone from him.

"Hey, Doc, any help would be, you know, helpful" Stiles speaks up.

"Each grouping of three would have its own purpose, its own type of power. Virgins, healers, philosophers, warriors-" Deaton gets cut off.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Warrior, could that also be like a soldier?" Stiles asks.

"Absolutely" Deaton answers.

Stiles holds up a picture of the music teacher in his uniform with his wife wearing her wedding dress.

"Kyle was in ROTC with Boyd" The boy then adds.

"So it's warriors now?" I ask and Deaton nods.

"That's got to be it. That's the pattern" The man replies "Where's Boyd?"

"He's probably home right now" Stiles answers, pulling out his phone "I'm gonna try to get him on the phone"

"Lydia? Something wrong?" Deaton asks.

"No, it was- I mean...I just thought of someone else with a military connection" Lydia speaks and I realise who she's talking about.

"Who?" Stiles asks.

"Mr Harris" I answer for her and she nods.

We all quickly head out the class and speed walk towards Harris' class room. When we reach his room, it's empty. Deaton picks up his cadet plaque and I look at it curiously.

"This is just one of many possibilities. He could have simply left for the day" Deaton suggests.

"Yeah, well, not without this" Stiles replies, picking up Harris' bag.

I look at the tests the teacher must have been marking and I pick one up, looking at it in confusion.

"What?" Deaton asks me.

"This test is graded R" I answer, showing him the large red R in the corner of the page.

"This one's an H" Lydia adds, showing us another one.

Deaton takes the tests from us both and puts them down with the others. He then starts moving the tests around, getting them into some sort of order. He soon stops and I see he has spelt out the word 'Darach'.

"Stiles, you remember I told you 'Druid' is the Gaelic word for 'wise oak'?" Deaton asks.

"Yeah" Stiles answers.

"If a Druid went down the wrong path, the wise oak was sometimes said to have become a dark oak" Deaton explains "There's a Gaelic word for that as well, Darach"

❦ ❦ ❦

I enter my house and the first thing I see is Isaac curled up on the sofa, snoring away. Furrowing my brows, I head upstairs and stop at my brother's door. I knock first before opening the door to see him sat at his desk.

"Can I help?" He asks.

"Is there a reason Isaac is sleeping on our sofa?" I ask.

"Derek kicked him out" Scott answers simply.

"Rude" I mutter and my brother nods in agreement.

"I said he could stay with us" Scott explains.

"That was nice of you" I comment and he smiles.

"I know, right?" He replies with a grin.

"Shut up" I laugh, shaking my head.

"Night, witchie" He says.

"Night, wolfie" I grin, shutting the door behind me.

I reach my room and open the door, throwing my backpack on the ground. Arms wrap around me and before I can scream, a hand covers my mouth.

"Guess who?" A deep voice whispers in my ear and I relax, pulling his hand away from my mouth.

"Aiden, you scared me" I scold him and he lets me go, closing the door.

"I thought I didn't scare you?" He smirks.

"Don't be a dick" I huff, kicking off my boots.

I'm spun around and his lips collide with my own feverishly. I kiss him back, wrapping my arms around his neck and he runs his hands up my back, pulling me closer. My chest hits his and his lips leave mine, making me whine at the loss.

He grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls my head back, kissing down my jaw to my neck. I sigh in content, leaning into his warm touch. His teeth graze the skin of my collarbone and I smile.

"If you bite me, I'll tear your arms off and shove them up your ass" I warn him and he chuckles, bringing his face back up to mine.

"If I just wanted to bite you, I wouldn't have kissed you first" He replies, leaning in to connect our lips once more.

He grabs the back of my thighs and I jump up, wrapping my legs around his waist as he carries me over to the bed. I am dropped onto the bed and Aiden dives on top of me, peppering kisses over my face. A string of airy giggles leave my lips and I run my fingers through his hair.

"Stop that" I laugh, pushing his face away playfully "Kiss me like you mean it"

"Whatever you want, gorgeous" He smirks.