The Wild Side | Stiles Stilinski | One

40 - Making A Choice

The ride to the edge of town was eerily quiet. Normally, Kate would blast her music and sing along whenever we drove someplace. Tonight there was no music, no laughing, no talking. Kate focused on the road ahead of her, eyes narrowed in a glare, but her lips still curled into a smirk. Allison gazed silently out the window, looking miles away. I wasn't sure what she was thinking about—how Scott had betrayed her, how her parents didn't believe in her, how she hated me for lying—but I was sure it wasn't good.

I sat in the back seat, looking between the two. My hands tugged quietly at my dog tags until I was brave enough to break the silence.

"Where are you keeping Derek?"

Kate raised an eyebrow at the edge in my voice, and glanced at me in the rearview. "He's fine. Just...hanging around his house."

"What?" I gaped at her. "You've been keeping him there the whole time?"

"Yeah, why not? The manor might be in shambles, but his basement's intact. You need a sturdy foundation when you're locking up half a dozen rabid were-teens once a month. The Hales made sure that place was dan hard to break out of. Which was great, you know, until...the house went up."

She winked at me, and I felt my blood curdle. I thought back to all the articles I had read about the Hale house fire, and the children who had died inside. The official ruling had been an electrical fire, but even if that was true, part of me understood why Peter was so mad at the Argents. If I heard someone talking about my family like that, I'd be pretty bloodthirsty too.

"Lighten up," Kate said casually, when she saw my stony face. "I left him there with some company. And I'm sure Scott will show up to spring him soon enough."

"Scott?" The name had finally caught Allison's attention. She sat up in her seat, her eyes still on the tree line. "Why would Scott come?"

"Cause the pack sticks together. They're stronger in numbers, and since his two little sidekicks are AWOL"—Kate gave me another pointed look in the mirror—"he'll move onto the next member of the pack. He's not stupid. He's probably figured out where I stashed Derek by now."

"If Scott's going after Derek, it's because he needs help," I insisted. "He wants to stop Peter just as badly as we do."

"Bad enough to kill him?" Kate asked skeptically.

"Yes."

Allison turned around in her seat, her eyes wide at my conviction. "He...wants to kill him?"

"Scott doesn't want to kill anybody, but he knows that Peter's coming after your family, and he doesn't want anyone else to die. And..."

I hesitated. It didn't feel right to continue, like somehow it might be a more private thought. I didn't want to reveal Scott's motivations if it made it easier for Kate to hurt him. On the other hand, the Argents already knew Scott was a werewolf. If I could prove how badly he wanted to stop Peter, maybe they would spare him. It might at least buy him some time...

"Derek told Scott about a cure," I revealed. "He said that if Scott kills Peter, the Alpha who bit him, then...he might become human again."

Kate snorted. "Honey, that is so not how it works."

"Are you sure?" Allison asked, her voice overflowing with hope. "I mean—if he did, then—"

"I've seen dozens of upstart betas kill their Alphas. All of them are still shifters at the end of the day. If anything, it makes them more violent, once they've had a taste of blood."

Allison sagged back in her seat. I was tempted to do the same. We'd known it was a longshot, even with Derek's knowledge coming from a family of werewolves. I wasn't sure if I could trust Kate's opinion any more than Derek's, any more than Dr. Fenris's. Still, it didn't change the facts.