North Starr

49

Season Four

Melanie, Stiles and Lydia walked silently through the town.

Stiles glanced at their surroundings. "This doesn't seem so bad."

Lydia frowned. "It's not the town, it's the plan."

"What's wrong with the plan?"

Lydia let out an annoyed sigh. "Stiles, this could be the stupidest plan we've ever come up with. Melanie knows that. You're aware of that, right?"

Stiles frowned and glanced at her. "I'm aware it's not our best."

Melanie raised a brow. "Not our best? Stiles, this has got to be our dumbest plan yet. And we've had some pretty dumb ones."

Lydia pursed her lips. "We are going to die."

Stiles shot her a look. "Are you saying that as a Banshee or are you being pessimistic?"

She rolled her eyes and answered, "I'm saying it as a person who doesn't wanna die."

Stiles narrowed his eyes at Lydia. "Okay. Would you just mind restricting any talk of death to actual Banshee death predictions? And Melanie, stop siding with Lydia."

Melanie frowned. "Never."

"I had 12% of one and everyone expanded on it."

"Oh, don't you Avengers me."

Lydia glared at Stiles. "The plan is stupid and we're going to die."

"Oh, thank you," Stiles retorted.

Lydia rolled her eyes and hummed, "Mmm."

They entered a bar and a man served the three of them a drink. Lydia and Melanie pulled out money and the man shook his head. "No. On the house. Most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."

Lydia dropped a bullet casing with a skull etching, the same as the bar, into a shot glass. "We didn't come to drink."

He led them to an older woman and she said to them, "Severo hates this music. Me? I've always loved the music of youth. This kind especially. It has a savage energy."

Lydia and Melanie stared at the woman. "We're here for Derek Hale."

"Is that so?" Araya questioned.

"We know you have him," Lydia said. "We've heard you can be bought."

Stiles laid a wad of cash on the table. "It's $50,000 for Derek."

Araya glanced down at the money, then up at Stiles. "Now, where does a teenage boy get money like that? Japanese mafia?"

Guns clicked and Araya gave each teen a disappointed look. "Not smart to come alone."

Melanie smirked. "What makes you think we came alone?"

Araya's eyes narrowed. "You brought a wolf into my home?"

"We brought an Alpha," Stiles corrected.

She let out a sigh. "My friends... I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you know what the dark moon is?"

"The part of the lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky," Lydia answered.

"But do you know its meaning?"

"Some people say it's a time of reflection. Or grief."

"Grief and loss, mija," Araya said. "I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."