Howl 3

3. Deathly Flashes

On our way to Derek's house, Scott receives a call from Stiles going on about an incident at school in Ms Blake's class. But understanding the pressing matter of saving Isaac's life, Scott tells him to meet us at the Hale House after school – and of course, Stiles wasn't too happy about it.

I run ahead to open the door for Derek and Scott to carry Isaac in. They lay him down on an old table while Derek immediately goes to search the floorboards for something, leaving me to check if Isaac is okay. He's extremely cold, and even by touch, I can tell he's not healing.

"You don't still live here, do you?" Scott asks from the door, reminding us that he's still here.

"No," Derek says in between his search, "The county took it over, but there's something here that I need. It'll help heal a wound from an Alpha."

"But it did heal." He refers to the healed-up wounds on Isaac's torso.

I shake my head and hover my hands over where the gashes used to be. "Not on the inside. I can heal him, Der."

"Those weren't your normal claw marks and scratches, Riles," Derek says gravely as he stands up to lower the floorboards, "It will take too much energy."

I flash him a confident smile. "Then it's a good thing Stiles always has snacks in his bag. I'm healing him, and that's it."

He opens his mouth to speak, but I've already lowered my hands onto Isaac's side and channelling healing energy into him. It doesn't feel as draining as creating a barrier around a building, but I haven't learned how to properly use my abilities yet. Perhaps Ramona teaching me will be a good thing, since I don't think 'winging it' will always work in my favour.

"So," Scott drags out the word, "are you gonna tell me who that was back there? That alpha?"

Tearing his worried eyes from me, Derek answers Scott's question, "A rival pack. It's my problem." I clear my throat and he rephrase, "Our problem."

I send him a smile, "That's better."

Derek shakes his head before continuing, "I know you wanna help, Scott, and you did. I owe you one. Now go home, go back to being a teenager."

"You're not telling Riley to go home," Scott points out.

"Riley's different."

I can sense Scott's reluctance to leave. As always, he feels responsible for everything that's happened. He will never not feel responsible and for that reason, I still hate Peter for putting my best friend into this situation. We're really just meant to be teenagers, you know? There's a time for learning, and there's a time for saving the world.

Scott inches toward the door when he halts in his tracks. "Uh, hey, Derek. If you wanna repay back that favour now...there is something you can do for me."

By the time Scott finished describing his tattoo to Derek, Stiles has arrived at the house with a backpack full of snacks for me to devour. Healing Isaac had cost a lot more energy than I usually spend on healing epileptic attacks and the usual cuts and bruises, but at least he'll be alright and I can rest assured I've done two good deeds for the day.

"Yeah, I see it," Derek says as he studies Scott's arm with his alpha eyes, "It's two bands, right? What does it mean?"

"I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers," Scott answers casually, and traces the shape with his fingers in the dust.

One look at Stiles, and I can tell he's still not keen on the idea of our best friend getting a tattoo. My brother would rather cut off his arms than get one himself. Of course, it has nothing to do with his fear of needles and being stabbed a million times by tiny ink stingers...