Howling to the Heart (1)

35.

   I should've stayed with Riah.

I should've chased after her when she walked away from me.

I should've told her how I felt.

But I stayed frozen, watching her walk away from me like a complete idiot, and now it was biting me in the ass.

Jackson filled me in on what happened to him, on what he knew only seconds after Riah had brushed past him.

I couldn't think when I ran out of the school. I wasn't even breathing properly.

All I knew was that Riah had left the school crying, and I didn't stop her.

"Lydia! Run!" I heard Riah shout at the top of her lungs in panic as I ran toward the lacrosse field, where I could see her starting to run toward Lydia and Peter with lights blaring down on them.

"Riah! Don't!" I yelled, feeling my heart threatening to give out as she ran to save the girl she barely liked.

My warning was too late.

Peter attacked Lydia, and she dropped to the ground as Riah jumped over her, transforming into...a black wolf.

How the holy hell?

I kept running, though, almost reaching them when Riah took down her own dad, snarling in his face, sending a small amount of fear through me.

Peter threw her off like she weighed nothing, and she rolled a few times before getting back on all fours, growling with her blue eyes glowing.

"You don't want to do this, Neriah," her father warned angrily, and I slowed down, glancing between him, Lydia covered in blood, and Riah's wolf form. "I don't want to kill my daughter."

Riah didn't listen, didn't care. She ran at him, snapping her jaws around his arm and pulling him back down to the ground as he yelled in pain.

"Neriah!" he roared, his claws flicking out of his nails before he stabbed them into her side, and she wailed, letting go of his arm.

"Don't hurt her!" I shouted, feeling my heart cave in my chest and the world crumble under my feet. "Please, don't hurt her!"

Ignoring me, his red eyes focused on her, and then he howled, and I dropped to my knees, covering my ears.

Riah whimpered, sounding like a broken toy as she backed away before lying on her side with her front paws covering her ears.

I blinked in shock, and when I opened them again, she was back to her human self in a fetal position with her back to us. Scrambling to my feet, I didn't give a damn about her father as I rushed over to her, ripping off my jacket.

"Riah?" I called out gently, laying it over her bare body while keeping my eyes up. "It's Stiles." My hands shook, and my head was spinning with worry and concern for her state.

I'd never seen her in her wolf form, and I wasn't even sure she knew she could transform like that.

"It hurts," she panted, taking the jacket from me, and I looked down to see her slipping her arms into the sleeves. "My side hurts."

"I warned you, Neriah," her father snarled from behind us, and Riah slowly sat up, sending a death glare to her father, who crouched over Lydia. "This is what happens when you disobey me."

"You're a piece of shit, you deadbeat," she spat, getting to her feet with my help and my jacket tightly wrapped around her. "Don't kill her." She looked at Lydia and the blood all over her.

Staying close to her side, I kept quiet as she walked toward her father with her usual brown eyes still bright blue.

"Hmm," her dad hummed. "Of course not. Just tell me how to find Derek."

"W-What?" she stammered, halting near him and throwing her arm out to stop me.

Dragging a finger down the side of Lydia's face, he stared at us with a vicious grin. "Tell me how to find Derek Hale."

"I don't know that," she lied, her breathing turning rapid.

Peter shot his eyes to me, and I felt sick. "But he does."

"How would I know that?" I asked, my voice hoarse.

"Because you're the clever one, aren't you?" he crooned, and Riah gripped the front of my shirt at his stare, keeping me as close to her as possible. "And because deception has a particularly acrid scent, Stiles. Tell me the truth, or I will rip the girl and my daughter apart."

Riah swayed on her feet, stepping in front of me as she glanced down at Lydia, looking like she was ready to go after her father again, even if she was injured.

But I couldn't let her. Not now. Not ever.

"Look, I don't know, okay? I swear to God, I have no idea," I said, wrapping an arm around Riah to keep her from attacking him.

He stared at her, and then at me. "Tell me!" he roared, and Riah flinched, turning her head away while squeezing her eyes shut, and I felt my body slipping into panic and true fear at the sight of her state.

"Okay, okay, okay, look, I..." I stammered as my breathing turned heavy. "I think he knew."

"Knew what?"

"Derek, I think he...I think he knew he was gonna be caught," I explained quickly.

"By the Argents?"

"Yeah," I clarified, holding Riah tighter. "When they were shot, he and Scotty...I think he took Scott's phone."

He tilted his head at us, and Riah growled, lowering her head. "Why?"

"They all have GPS now. So, if he still has it and if it's still on..." I hesitated, looking down at Riah's state and the blood seeping through my jacket from her ribs. "You can find it," I finished, looking back at him.

Peter slowly stood up, and Riah took a step back, grabbing my arm wrapped around her waist. "Do not get close to him," she warned with a growl.

He only smirked, looking down at Lydia. "We're going somewhere, the three of us."

"No," Riah protested. "I'm not just letting you leave her here."

"You don't have a choice, Neriah," he said, pulling a handkerchief out of his pocket and starting to clean the blood off his chin. "You're both coming with me."

"Just kill me and let them go," Riah pleaded, and I snapped my head down to her with wide eyes. "Look, I don't care anymore."

That was the moment my heart cleaved in two.

The girl I liked was ready to die so me and Lydia could live. She was ready to give up her life with a broken heart that I caused because I was too stupid to tell her how I felt.

"Call your friend," Peter ordered flatly. "Tell Jackson where she is. That's all you get."

"Stiles," Riah murmured, turning around in my grip and looking up at me with tears in her blue eyes. "Call Jackson. Do it now."

"Hurry up!" her dad snapped from behind us, and I scrambled to get my phone out of my pocket.

"Father of the year award goes to you," she sarcastically remarked, and I paled more.