Things We Never Saw Coming

Pack Hostility

Sunday, 2pm

         Derek had promised Stiles that he’d be gone for an hour- he’d run out of clean clothes, and was just going to stop by his apartment to grab a few things. This, like many things that Derek had told Stiles, was only partially true. He was going to his apartment, but it wasn’t to pick up clean laundry. Erica was waiting impatiently outside his door when he arrived, her 3-inch heels clicking on the ground as she paced.

         “What’ve you got for me?” Derek asked, pulling his keys from his pocket to unlock his door.

         “Well that’s one nasty bitch you’ve got locked up in there,” Erica commented, leaning against the wall and watching Derek. “My question is how are you keeping her at the hospital? Wouldn’t it just be better to kill her at this point before she gets anyone else?”

         Derek shook his head and pushed the door open. “Can’t. I made a deal with her family—I can’t kill her, and neither can anyone in my pack.”

         Erica sighed and shook her head at him. “Well someone’s helping her with this. She’s got an… I dunno’, an apprentice helping her get out of the hospital and then they’re going around killing people. It’s not much longer before they go after one of us, Derek. We know who she’s after.”

         “What about the crime scenes?” Derek asked, making his way to his dresser and tossing clothes into a duffle bag. “Have you been able to get anything from them? Murder weapon? Identities? Something?”

         Erica rolled her eyes. “I got a quick peek at the bodies, but nothing else. All the victims were either Omegas or relatives of known wolves in the area.”

         “What about murder weapon?”

         Erica hissed in annoyance through gritted teeth. “You’re the one banging the Sheriff’s kid. Why not ask him to do the snooping for you.”

         Derek closed his hand in his sock drawer in surprise at Erica’s comment. He swore violently and glared at her. “He’s not part of this. I don’t want him involved at all.”

         Erica put her hands up in mock defeat. “Okay,” she said. “But do you think Kate’s going to leave him out of this? She’s killed seven people already, Derek. Seven. It’d be eight if Stiles hadn’t saved your sorry ass at the clinic. She will go after him next, and you won’t be able to stop her.”

         “Enough,” Derek snarled, towering over Erica and glaring at her with his blood red eyes. “Let me deal with protecting Stiles. We need to focus on finding what Kate’s using to kill people- it’s not guns or knives, so it’s gotta’ be some type of poison.”

         Erica glared right back at him, baring her teeth in a snarl. “Stiles is my friend,” she hissed at him. “I don’t want him getting hurt because you fucked up.”

         “Get. Out.”

         Erica smirked at him. “Yes, Alpha,” she sneered, and left without another word, displaying her middle finger to Derek as she strutted out the door.