Howling to the Heart || Isaac Lahey

63.

Neriah sent a glare to Coach as he blew the whistle, yelling at a boy to get back into his seat while she sat next to the window on the bus, staring out at the storm rumbling outside.

Today they were going to some cross-country meet, and she truly didn't want to go. But Isaac and Scott dragged her out of bed with her gym bag, the both of them worried to leave her home alone.

After last night's events, she'd only slept an hour. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could see was the devastation and regret in Derek's eyes as he looked up at her, watching her hand getting further and further away from him. The last time they spoke, she told him they weren't family. Oh, how she hadn't stopped wishing to take those words back for the last few hours. He was her cousin, her family. And now she could never tell him that.

"Stop thinking about it, man," Isaac said, five seats ahead of with Boyd. They had been silent most of the ride. Not only was Derek Neriah's family, but he was their alpha and pack.

It was Isaac who had pulled her away from the edge last night, keeping her tightly wrapped in his arms as her mind went silent and she stared at the space Derek previously was before he fell to his death. She hadn't even spoken to him or Scott. She hadn't spoken to anyone since what happened.

"Like you're not thinking about it too?" Boyd replied, looking at him.

Isaac sighed, looking ahead of him. "Yeah, well, we'll both stop thinking about it."

"I can't."

"Well, there's nothing you can do about it either," Isaac pointed out, turning back to him.

"You sure about that?" Boyd looked over his shoulder to Ethan who was three seats back, checking his phone while seated beside Danny.

Neriah stared at Ethan, and then at the back of Boyd's head. "If anyone gets first shot at him, it's me," she warned Boyd who fully turned around in his seat with Isaac, the both of them meeting her stare with a subtle nod.

"Have you eaten yet?" Scott asked from behind her, sitting at the back of the bus next to Stiles.

She didn't want to sit where she was, but Scott wasn't giving her a choice. Even with his claw wound still struggling to heal, he reckoned he could stop her from attack Ethan at the first chance.

Neriah turned around, kicking her legs up on the seat as she leaned her back against the window. "No," she answered flatly, glancing up at his tired state and Stiles concerned state.

Stiles knew what happened last night and tried to talk to the numb girl this morning. It was actually the first time he had talked to her without starting an argument, but that was mainly because she didn't say anything back.

"You should eat," Stiles suggested, mummering through his bag with his iPad in his lap. "It will help you feel better."

"Eating won't bring back my cousin," she snapped and instantly felt bad. Stiles was only trying to look out for her, but at the wrong time. "I'm sorry," she quietly apologised, looking out the window across from them.

Stiles leaned forward, carefully dropping a blueberry muffin in her lap before quickly sitting back. "It's fine. I would be more worried if you weren't snappy at all of us." She only stared out the window and he sighed, picking his iPad back up. "Yo, Scotty. Still with me?"

Scott slightly jumped in his seat, blinking a few times before facing Stiles. "Yeah, sorry," he answered groggily. "Uh, what's the word?"

"Anachronism."

"Something that exists out of its normal time," Scott and Neriah answered at the same time.

"Nice," Stiles hummed. "Okay, next word—incongruous."