Wolfsbane | Teen Wolf

Chapter 7: Taken

They heard her before they saw her. The two Hale siblings were making their way down the crowded corridor when they felt arms wrap around their shoulders.

"Got you!" Ashley Hale squeezed between Derek and Laura and greeted them with a peck on the cheeks.

They laughed at the girl they had grown to love. She was always trying to sneak up on them but would always fail because of their werewolf hearing. Ashley usually had a hard time keeping her heartbeat slow when she was excited.

"Where are we heading?" She asked.

"I've got a date." Derek grinned proudly.

Laura shook her head and Ashley made a face. They were both aware of Derek's streak with women and didn't agree with his dating lifestyle.

"Should I come over and give her the talk?" Ashley said in mock seriousness. "I can warn her about getting close to you."

"Ok mom," Derek emphasised sarcastically as he removed Ashley's arms on his shoulders. "We all know how clingy you can get but let me handle it, ok?

Thought it was meant as a joke, all three knew just how possessive Ashley could get with the girls around Derek. In the past, Ashley would warn any girl that came close to Derek to stay away. At times, she could get quite bitchy about it. For the most part, Derek would tease her when she became like this.

One time though, Ashley kept pushing and pushing and Derek snapped at her.

"Grow up, will you?!" Derek roared at her causing the Ashley to storm out in a rage.

For days, they refused to talk to one another until Laura sat them both down and force them to talk. Derek expressed the need for boundaries in their relationship while saying he understood Ashley's concern. In turn, Ashley apologized and promised not to cross any lines.

Of course, this didn't stop Ashley from completely distancing herself from Derek's dating life. Some of his friends still remarked on Ashley's jealous attitude but Derek had simply shrugged it off. His dates never get too serious, and he knew Ashley would keep her promise. Besides, Ashley was family, the few he's got left.

Derek paused in his step and grinned affectionately at the two women in his life.

"Later girls." He gave them a quick hug before heading in a different direction. "Don't get into trouble."

xXx

As if his words were a self-fulfilling prophecy, trouble found Ashley that night.

At first, she had thought it was her imagination. She was seeing glimpses of Deucalion throughout the day but had shrugged it off to exhaustion.

It was only that night that she confirmed the Alpha was on campus. Deucalion appeared before her in the parking lot on her way back to the dorms. As soon as she caught sight of him, she ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction and into the nearest building.

Ashley ran through the corridors of the dorm trying to find a place to escape or to hide. With every step she took, she could sense him following her. If she had stopped to think rationally, she would have known it was futile to outrun a werewolf. Unfortunately, fear made one irrational.

She tried different rooms before finding one that was unlocked. A sense of relief swept over her only to disappear the moment she found out it was a dead end. It was then that she knew she had no escape.

With her back against the wall, she tried to still her heavy breathing and control the tears running down her cheeks. She pushed herself against the wall as if that would take her further away from where she was right then. Once more, she looked frantically around, surveying the room left to right. Perhaps she had missed something that will let her hide or escape through. But it was a hopeless situation.

Finally, she heard the sound of a stick tapping on the floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. The sound got closer and closer until the door burst opened revealing the blind Caucasian man with a cane.

"Hello Ashley." Deucalion said with a smirk. The queen has been captured. It was then that the truth finally sunk in. It was then that Ashley knew she was going to be taken.