Paradise City | Lydia Martin

Chapter 03 | Pack Mentality

The morning sunbeams broke through the Beacon Hills Reserve's canopy as birds and other wildlife welcomed the new day. Everybody was up, except for a certain Hale, who showed no signs of returning to the realm of living.

Derek has been standing over his cousin for a better part of ten minutes, grumbling and trying to think of a way to get him off the couch. His patience was running thin and the bucket full of rainwater in the backyard seemed to be more tempting by the second.

With a sigh, he shoved Adrian onto the floor, the blanket covering him falling with him. He landed with a dull thud, followed by a groan that made a small smile flick across Derek's otherwise stoic face. The emerald eyes looked up at him wearily, attempting to blink away any remnants of sleep as Adrian ran his hand through the tousled mess he called hair.

He stretched, almost moaning when he felt that desired pop between his shoulder blades, and rolled on his back, sending glaring Derek a teasing grin.

„Oh, hey, Der. Have you been here long?" he laughed merrily when his older cousin just growled, leaving the room muttering about ungrateful teenagers.

With a yawn, Adrian got up off the floor before nonchalantly strolling into the bathroom. To be fair, he probably took longer than he should, but finally, after a nice hot shower, he emerged with a towel around his waist and a veil of steam enveloping him. Derek almost choked on his morning coffee when the offending vapour entered the kitchen, his cousin not far behind. He sent a glare to the boy's back as Adrian went to make his breakfast, whistling as he worked.

Most of the house was in desolate state, the beams were scorched and most of the furniture turned to ash, but the kitchen, living room and another two rooms upstairs were still standing strong. Derek slept in Laura's old room, seemingly unbothered by the memories of his now-dead sister, while Adrian was assigned his mother's room, one he refused to sleep in.

After breakfast, he dressed and brushed his teeth. With his stomach full and Derek thoroughly annoyed, he felt that it was the perfect time to leave for school so he got into his car and drove away.

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After their little argument on the field last week, Adrian was avoiding Jackson like a plaque, which also meant steering clear of Lydia as much as it painted him. Currently, he was leaning against his locker, texting Erica about a funny movie he saw last night when Stiles and Scott entered the hallway.

„So you killed her?" asked the taller of the duo, not even bothering to keep his voice down.

Adrian tilted his head in curiosity before deciding to sneak behind the two friends, saving for later to teach Scott more about his senses, because any supernatural creature should have heard him from a mile away.

„I don't know! I just woke up," whined Scott, running a stressed hand through his hair, „And I was sweating like crazy and I couldn't breathe. I've never had a dream where I woke up like that before."

„Really? I have," admitted Stiles unbashful, shrugging, „Usually ends a little differently."

„A, I meant that I've never had a dream that felt that real, and B, never give me that much detail about you in the bed again," pleaded Scott, a disgusted shudder running over his body at the picture.

„Noted," nodded his best friend, still unbothered by his reaction, „Let me take a guess here though."

„No, I know," interrupted him Scott, making Stiles clamp his mouth shut, „You think it has something to do with me going out with Allison tomorrow. Like I'm gonna lose control and rip her throat out."