epiphany - lydia martin [book 1]

chapter twenty-four. search party

"All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" I asked in worry, Allison sat next to me as Stiles drove in the direction Scott led him. I was starting to get more worried by the minute. I literally just started dating Lydia. Everything was supposed to be good and then she got bitten. Now she was possibly turning into a werewolf and being hunted by the Argents which could possibly end with her being dead.

She was caught up in our mess now.

"I don't know." Allison answered, shaking her head, "They won't tell me anything, okay, all they say is, "We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here.""

Stiles glanced in his rear view mirror to look at us, "What others?"

The girl sighed, "I don't know, they won't tell me that either."

"Okay, your family's got some serious communication issues to work on." Stiles commented before I nodded in agreement, the boy looking at my brother who was sniffing the air to follow the scent. I wondered if it was weird for Allison to see her boyfriend like this. "Scott, are we going the right way?"

"Take the next right!" He exclaimed.

Stiles followed his directions, eventually leading us into the preserve. It didn't take long before we reached the Hale house. God, I was so tired of this freaking house. Anytime we came here, it never ended well. Well, except for the last time we came here and Derek killed the Alpha. Then again that wasn't really good for Scott, if Derek was telling the truth about the cure coming from killing the one who bit you. Now it didn't matter, Scott was stuck like this for good.

"She came here?" Stiles asked skeptically, looking back at Scott as the four of us slowly approached the front yard.

Scott nodded, his breath visible as the cold air reamed in, "Yeah, this is where the scent leads."

"Has Lydia ever been here?" I looked around in confusion.

Allison shrugged as she tugged down the ends of her beanie, "Not with me. Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek."

Scott rose his eyebrows, "You mean - looking for an Alpha..."

"Wolves need a pack, right?"

"Not all of them." Scott answered, clearly feeling like a bit of an outcast by her question. He didn't have a pack and he didn't seem like he wanted one either. I mean, every other werewolf we've met has been a person with... questionable methods. I couldn't imagine Scott joining Derek or following him or anything like that.

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha? Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?" Allison wondered.

Scott nodded, "Yeah, we're - we're stronger in packs."

"Like strength in numbers." Allison concluded.

"No, like - like, literally stronger, faster, better in every way."

"That the same for an Alpha?"

Scott nodded, "Yeah, it'll make Derek stronger too."

"Whoa, hey, look at this." Stiles said, drawing our attention. He was kneeling next to a tree, his fingertips under a long, silver wire that was tied around the tree and ran to another one across from it. "You see this? I think it's a tripwire."

Allison and I walked over to the boy whilst Scott stood closer to the house, looking around for any sign of Lydia. Stiles lifted the wire without warning, triggering a whipping sound.

"Stiles." Scott called.

"Yeah, buddy." He answered, causing us to turn around. "Oh." Scott was hanging upside down, the wire wrapped around his ankle. I refrained from chuckling as he swung slowly in the air.