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-THREE:
Oh.
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"Are you seriously wearing that to formal?"
Lydia's voice broke Jay's concentration counting the popcorn-like spots on the ceiling and he lost track somewhere in the five hundreds. She sat at her vanity table, adjusting her eyelashes and eyeing him through the mirror, only looking mildly perturbed with him which was a feat in itself considering he'd been uselessly laying there for the better part of an hour whilst she chatted away.
She'd insisted that they get ready together for the formal, citing Jay as a potential flight risk and wanting to make sure he'd attend like he said he would. Little did she know, he was technically morally obligated to go now. Peter made it clear to Scott that he would be showing up, and Jay wasn't willing to laze around in Stiles' house when something could happen.
Besides, he already told the Argents that he'd only wait for Derek until the night of the formal. If Derek wasn't released by midnight, he was going to do just as he said. With a lighter burning a hole in his pocket, he'd set the Argent house ablaze once the clock struck midnight. The guilt of it was already beginning to manifest inside of him, though. He knew he wouldn't be able to do it with anyone inside, but he'd also been watching the hunters the past few days. Like clockwork, most would leave to go search the woods for the Alpha and Beta. Victoria Argent would leave for the office since her job outside of hunting required interactions with countries out of the California timezone, and she didn't want to wake Allison with her voice who would be sleeping alone in her bedroom.
Tonight, he knew Allison would be out for the formal and had plans to sleep over at Lydia's afterwards.
The house would be empty, and Jay would burn it. He'd watch the flames eat away at everything and it would be the only warning for the Argents that more was to come.
And more would come if Derek was truly dead. Jay just needed to psyche himself up for it, that's all.
"What's so wrong about what I'm wearing?" He responded to Lydia's previous question, even though he knew exactly what the issue was.
His outfit wasn't exactly formal attire; a thin black leather jacket—that could maybe pass for a blazer replacement if you squinted—layered over top of a loose basic white dress shirt, paired with black jeans that were on the expensive side and a few silver pieces as accessories—most notable, a thin chain clasped around his neck with a hanging metal cross and a few rings adorning his fingers.
Overall, it wasn't exactly anything out of the ordinary. In fact, Derek wears a similar outfit variation on a daily basis. On Jay, however, who was usually found in rumpled, oversized clothes, the ensemble looked much more put-together and cool than he normally presented himself as. It just wasn't what Lydia was hoping for, even if she could admit he looked good.
