The bell echoed through the hallways of Beacon Hills High School.
Locker doors slammed shut. As students scattered to their classes, they acted as if no one knew about the horrors that took place at night. Scott adjusted his bag on his shoulder while Sean and Stiles walked beside him.
By the time they entered the classroom, Coach Finstock had already burst in. He slammed his clipboard onto the desk.
"Alright, you pack of idlers! Sit down," Coach Finstock shouted.
The class groaned. The Coach began scribbling randomly on the board. "Midterms are next week. Yes, midterms. Life is already hard, and I'm making it a little harder. You're welcome."
Stiles leaned toward Scott. "If I get killed by a giant lizard, does that count as an excused absence for the exam?"
Scott rolled his eyes. "Is now really the time?"
A voice came from behind them. "Hey! What the hell is a Kanima?" Jackson asked.
Sean turned his head. "Why are you asking that? And where did you hear that word, Jackson?"
"Last night while I was working out, Derek, Erica, and Isaac kidnapped me," Jackson said. "They gave me something, and it felt like I was completely paralyzed from the waist down. Have you guys tried that before?"
"Oh yeah, I've had a go at that," Stiles muttered.
Scott thought for a moment. "Wait... why would Derek test you? Why did he think it was you?"
"I don't know, but now they seem to be suspecting Lydia," Jackson said.
Stiles paused. "It can't be Lydia."
"Why not?" Scott asked.
"I've seen her eyes," Stiles insisted. "There's a hundred percent pure evil flowing in those eyes, and Lydia doesn't have that."
"How would you know?" Scott countered.
Sean spoke up then. "I'm also sure it's not Lydia."
At that moment, Coach Finstock called Lydia to the board. As Lydia scribbled for the answer, she began writing words in a foreign language. Then, tears started streaming from her eyes.
"Lydia?! Okay, we get it," Coach Finstock said. "Anyone else want to answer preferably in English?" The class began to laugh.
Scott asked Stiles, "What language is that?"
When Stiles flipped the image of the writing, the words "Someone help me!" appeared. It was written in English, but Lydia had written it completely in reverse.
The next class came very quickly.
It was chemistry, and just as Erica and Isaac were about to sit next to a lone Lydia, Scott and Stiles acted fast and took the seats beside her. The teacher spoke to them and split them all up.
While Erica sat next to Scott, she began hitting on him, acting as if she were trying to seduce him. Seeing this, Allison grew angry. Scott felt the same, but eventually, Allison got up and left.
After Allison walked out, Scott moved toward Lydia. The teacher kept ringing the bell to shuffle the groups. Amidst the chaos, Lydia and Isaac eventually ended up at the same table.
Isaac dripped Kanima venom onto the crystal from the recent ice experiment and asked Lydia to try it. After Lydia tasted it, Scott suddenly shouted, "Lydia!"
Lydia turned her head. "Yes?" she answered. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her.
When the period ended, Allison, Scott, Stiles, and Sean slipped into a room together.
"Derek and his pack are outside waiting for Lydia," Scott said.
"To kill her?" Allison asked.
"If they decide she's the Kanima, yes," Scott replied.
"It's not her!" Stiles protested.
Sean agreed. "Yeah, it's definitely not her. If it were, I would have realized it by now. After all, I was the one who saved Lydia that day. There would have to be some kind of clue left after the transformation."
Stiles pointed at Sean, nodding in agreement.
"That doesn't change anything," Allison said. "Because Derek thinks it's her. We either convince him he's wrong, or we find a way to protect Lydia."
"He can't do anything at school," Scott noted. "Not in a crowd."
After a moment of silence, Sean spoke. "What if I stay with her? They'll back off because of me anyway. Besides, I don't think Isaac and Erica can even look me in the eye. Eheheh." He had a demonic smirk on his face during that last sentence.
"It's a logical solution, but how will it work?" Stiles asked.
Scott thought it over. "I can talk to Derek. And isn't there that Bestiary? We can find something using that. While you guys look into it, I'll talk to Derek. I don't want any of you getting hurt. You can't heal, but I can."
Allison and Stiles stood still for a moment. Sean leaned against a corner wall, distant from the group. Scott was surprising him more and more; it was as if his character had finally clicked into place after becoming a werewolf.
Allison pulled a handmade crossbow out of her bag. "I can defend myself," she said.
Scott froze for a second. Sensing the silence, Allison asked, "What? Did something happen?"
"No," Scott said. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Seriously, if anything goes wrong, call me, okay? I don't care if your dad finds out. Call, text, scream, yell whatever it is. I'll hear you, and I'll find you as fast as I can. We have until 3 o'clock."
Allison and Scott were very close, sharing a deep, emotional moment.
Sean sighed. "If you're going to kiss, just kiss. Why keep the audience waiting? It's not like we're against this relationship..." he teased.
Scott kissed Allison, and when he pulled away, he had a smile on his face. Allison looked down, blushing. As Scott was about to head out the door, an arrow sped toward his head.
Scott caught the arrow, and as he did, an additional shadow hand seemed to overlap his own.
Sean looked at Stiles with his hand raised.
Stiles, fiddling with the crossbow he had just taken back, handed it to Allison. "Sorry. It has a very sensitive trigger," he said to everyone.
Sean sighed and lowered his hand; the shadow over Scott's hand vanished.
Everything proceeded according to plan. Stiles found Lydia after her therapist appointment and stayed with her. Scott went to talk to Derek.
As they moved quickly, school let out. Jackson, Stiles, Allison, Lydia, and Sean hurried toward Stiles's jeep. When they got in, they drove to the McCall house.
"I see," Lydia said. "We're going to study at the McCalls'."
"Yeah, exactly. Sean, please open the door," Stiles said hurriedly.
Sean laughed at Stiles's frantic state and opened the door. Once everyone was inside, Stiles quickly locked it. When he turned around, he was met with everyone's strange looks.
Stiles thought fast. "Uh... there have been a few robberies in the neighborhood."
Sean sighed. "No problem. You guys go upstairs, and I'll make coffee for everyone." He walked toward the kitchen casually, as if everything were perfectly normal.
As everyone headed upstairs, Jackson suddenly called Lydia up alone. This left Allison and Stiles downstairs. Sean prepared the coffee and served it to them.
Allison couldn't understand it. "How are you so calm? What if Scott gets hurt? What if they come here?!"
Sean chuckled. "Why am I so calm? Because they can't do anything. Derek knows that if he breaks the deal, the next day will be hell for him. Besides, if they come here, I can give them a 'welcome' coffee. With a special blood-flavored twist, of course."
Stiles listened to the pair's argument from the side.
"How can you go straight to killing for everything?" Allison practically screamed. "Is a life that worthless to you?!"
Sean remained perfectly calm. He took a sip of his coffee. "Believe me, Allison, when I decided to step onto this path, I accepted the necessity of killing. To protect my family and loved ones, I would wipe out every being in the world. Remember that." As he said the last sentence, the light in his eyes was eclipsed by shadows. For a moment, they returned to white.
Allison fell silent. It wasn't because she didn't want to speak, but because she couldn't. Fear had choked the words out of her.
Time passed, and Stiles suddenly saw three figures looking at them through the window. Boyd, Erica, and Derek!
"They're here," Stiles said. "But... where's Isaac?"
Just then, Isaac appeared beside them, knocking them both to the ground. Stiles fell in shock. Allison stood up and ran upstairs to escape; she wanted to warn Lydia.
Meanwhile, Isaac took a few more steps toward Stiles, who was still on the floor. His eyes were glowing golden yellow.
Stiles chuckled as he looked at him. Isaac was puzzled. "Why are you laughing?"
Stiles pointed behind him. "Because the real danger here isn't you guys. Whose house do you think this is?!"
GROWL!!
Just as Isaac was about to turn his head, a hand grabbed his neck and hoisted him into the air. "What insolence is this?!" The cold voice made his marrow shiver.
A second later, he was thrown into a corner of the house. After Allison warned Lydia, she headed back down to check on the noise and saw Erica coming toward her.
As Erica reached out to grab her, a shadow coiled around her. Immediately after, a spike pierced through her back. She was lifted into the air by a spike that entered through her back and exited through her stomach.
Allison's eyes widened at the brutality before her. She dropped her crossbow.
When Sean came to her side, his golden eyes were glowing. In the darkened house, his eyes were the only light. As Erica screamed in pain, Sean grabbed her face. "Did you enjoy your little slutty act at school? Did you get off on trying to ruin a relationship?" He spoke slowly and clearly.
Erica's eyes widened in terror. "Derek said you weren't here. How can you be here when your scent isn't in the house?!"
Sean chuckled. "Since when have shadows been known to have a scent?" he asked mockingly.
He squeezed her face even harder. "I wonder, if I shred this new face of yours, would you still be so arrogant? What do you think?!" His words were beyond demonic.
Allison stood frozen. As a woman, she knew the weight of that threat. Her fear of Sean intensified.
At that moment, Scott burst through the door. Seeing the situation, he said, "Sean, let her go! No one is worth killing."
Sean sighed and bound Isaac and Erica with shadow ropes, then tossed them out the window.
Outside, Derek and Boyd were waiting.
Derek looked at everyone standing there. Finally, his eyes settled on Scott. "I finally understand why you always reject me, Scott. You're not an Omega. You're the Alpha of your own pack. But you know you can't beat me."
A figure slowly emerged from the house someone who had witnessed the preceding events. It was none other than Sean.
Derek sighed when he saw Sean. "Your presence here wasn't in my plans."
Sean said nothing to Derek. He walked slowly past Stiles and Allison. Finally, he stepped in front of Scott. "And I never thought you would threaten my brother, Derek. What should we do about that?"
His hair began to grow slowly. His previously jet-black hair grew down to his waist, the top half remaining black while the bottom half turned white.
Shadow vines spreading from where he stood began to snuff out the streetlights and surrounding light sources. As the scene went dark, his eyes began to change. His golden eyes slowly merged with the shadows.
Pitch-black shadows swirled within his golden eyes. His pupils were black and covered with golden veins. He looked terrifying.
Derek's eyes glowed bright red. Before the sparks of war could ignite, police sirens wailed, followed immediately by noises from the house.
Derek and Sean's attention shifted to the roof. While Scott, Stiles, and Allison moved away from the house, Sean stood his ground. At that moment, the Kanima appeared, shrieked at them, and then ran off.
As the Kanima disappeared, Derek and Sean looked at each other, seemingly weighing their next move. At that moment, Lydia stepped out the door.
"Excuse me, but can someone tell me what the hell is going on here?" she asked. Then she looked at Sean, and her eyes went wide...
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Thanks for reading!!