Tether ⌲ Stiles Stilinski [2]

nine

Stiles and Lydia explained it to us afterwards. How they were able to stop the alpha, Kali, from killing Derek by turning on an electrifying power surge. They explained how the alphas wouldn't let up, and how Boyd was the victim of the attack we were now to take as a warning, that he had been an expendable pawn in their scheme. The alpha twins Aiden and Ethan were there, holding our teacher Ms. Blake of all people captive for some romantic blackmail against Derek, but Lydia was adamant that none of them planned for it to go as far as murder.

"I'm not saying that he's off the hook, I'm not exactly running back into his arms here," she had argued. "I'm just saying that they stood there with us. When Kali had gone and we were all mourning Boyd's loss. They didn't want any of that to happen either."

"They just feel bad because they killed the wrong guy," Scott had fired back. "If they didn't want any of that to happen, why were they there at all?"

But even I knew it wasn't that simple, so did Scott. For a pack that supposedly operated as a comradery of fellow alphas, all on an equal playing field with each other, it was obvious that there was still a binding leadership order in place. Deucalion was the head of the snake, and Kali was the fangs. The twins were collateral members of the pack, and it was becoming clearer that the pair only mattered to the alphas in their conjoined form as the beast.

A knock sounded against my bedroom door.

"Come in."

It was Allison. She glanced over her shoulder quickly before shutting the door behind her, clearly confirming that our father was yet again tucked away in his office. If he knew we had been at the vault that night rescuing Deaton with Scott and the Sheriff, he hadn't called us out on it yet. We were still in the clear.

"I know where he's been going. When he leaves the house. Not every time, obviously, but often enough."

I looked up from the class notes I had been attempting to study. Allison seemed nervous, almost fidgety.

"What is it?"

"You're not going to like it."

When it came to our father, that could mean many things. I closed my book and sat up a little straighter in bed. "Go on."

"He's visiting the care home off Gafner Boulevard."

My face wrinkled in confusion.

"Why would he want to visit a care home, we don't have - " I froze for a moment, astounded. Only one person in our family could possibly be in the state of needing a care home. I threw my book to the side and got out of bed, pacing over to my desk. Allison watched my reaction. "No, no, absolutely not."

"Ellie -"

"You want to go see him, don't you?" I spun at her accusingly. Her silence was answer enough. I scoffed and shook my head. "I don't believe this."

"Just hear me out, okay?" she forced herself into my line of sight, standing directly in front of me. "There has to be a reason Dad is going to see him. He must have information we don't."

"I don't care! I had accepted the fact that he was as good as dead! I'm happy pretending like he still is."

"But Ellie, we need information. Scott needs information. About Deucalion."

"And what good is his information if we can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth?"

Allison heaved a sigh at my relentlessness. "I want Scott to come too."

"Hold on, you want to visit him with the boy who laced his cancer medications with Mountain Ash?" I crossed my arms. "The one responsible for his body rejecting the bite in the first place?"