The last thing James "Jay" Hale ever imagined was to begrudgingly return to Beacon Hills, find out his older sister was murdered, and then be forced to go on a wild goose chase after an enigmatic Alpha that seemed to have a particular interest in ru...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: I Look At All My Friends Like That
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Jay tripped on a fallen tree branch, scowling down at the piece of wood as if his fury alone could make the thing burst up into flames and disintegrate for daring to disturb his walk.
He was angry. Pissed off. Beyond rageful.
But it wasn't the stupid branch he was truly angry at, even if he was directing all of his pent-up ire toward it. It was Derek Hale.
Derek, who'd sent him a single message after everything with Peter happened. One word that he must have thought in his over-inflated block head that would be enough to smooth everything over between them after he inevitably fell into the dark side.
Okay?
Jay had stared at the screen for a solid minute as he lay in Stiles' bed of all places, hiding underneath the covers like a child and waiting for his running thoughts and shaking hands to stop before the brunet boy would come back from talking with Scott. He couldn't quite manage to make his fingers stop trembling enough to type out a response. Jay left Derek on read, and as soon as he heard the squeak of old tires on the driveway, he climbed out of the window and left before Stiles bounded his way up the stairs.
He trusted Derek.
Despite all of Scott and Stiles' texts to him over the night and the following morning about how Derek had clearly switched sides and they were all screwed nine ways to hell, Jay knew better and he told them just as much. He knew Derek better than he even knew himself, growing up as a leech on his older brother's side before and after the fire. Derek wouldn't let Laura's murder go. Revenge was practically the man's middle name.
If Derek was going along with Peter, it only meant that he was playing the long game until he had the chance to kill their uncle. But Derek could play the long game all he wanted, he just couldn't expect Jay to follow along too.
"Allison, when you said you needed to stop for an errand before we went shopping, a five-mile hike in the woods was not what I was expecting," Lydia announced with a deep exhale, almost breaking her ankle trying to walk in heels over the elevated dirt ground. She snatched Jay's arm, using him for all intents and purposes like a guide dog as they both hobbled their way through.
"At least she told you something. I just got a message saying to meet her here and that was it." Jay grumbled, trudging along the forest floor. He said he'd talk to the girl tomorrow when they were on the phone last night, but he didn't actually expect her to follow through.
Allison was strangely determined. She and Lydia had picked Jay up and there was a certain furrow of her brow present that could only possibly mean danger. Not to mention, there was a bag she was clutching desperately. A bag that resembled a case with a bow and arrow.
