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 some fuck ass Alpha that seemed to have a particular interest in r...
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CHAPTER FORTY:
The Calm Before The Storm
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After the showdown at the library and the fallout that followed—Jay's brief stint of paralysis and complaining, Stiles volunteering for werewolf babysitting duty and immediately regretting it after putting Jay down for a nap and being forced to become a human pillow, and Scott being assigned to Jackson-stalking duty as the only one left standing and functional—the team found themselves in an awkward lull.
They'd faced the Kanima multiple times now, each encounter ending with different versions of getting their asses handed to them, either through paralysis, waterboarding, or getting yeeted into bookshelves. Nothing seemed to work against the lizard and, despite their efforts for the contrary, no one had a better solution than the death sentence, which they all (aside from Stiles, of course) agreed was a last-resort option.
Well, that was technically a lie. No one had a better solution aside fromScott's boss, who suddenly sent an email asking to meet at the clinic on a random, rainy night that totally wasn't suspicious at all.
The red flags were right there. Deaton could be a total freak for all they knew. They all kind of dropped the ball when it came to him, not asking any follow-up questions as to why Deaton seemed to be so familiar with the supernatural. Scott was too shy to do it himself, Jay and Stiles were busy flirting circles around each other, Derek had a handful of new beta children to take care of, and thus Deaton had remained a mysterious figure. He could literally be the Kanima's master all along. Or on the Argent's side, purposely leading them astray. The possibilities were endless.
Yet, Scott had immediately replied to the email with five ecstatic emojis and a few prayer hands before Jay and Stiles could advise a more cautious and sane approach, and thus, here they were: trusting a man who claimed to be a veterinarian but who might actually be running some supernatural money-laundering operation. That was Jay and Stiles' biggest theory at the moment, though Scott hadn't exactly given them time to formulate any others. And he certainly hadn't given Stiles time to obsessively break into his dad's office and do a full-fledged background check on Deaton—a routine Stiles apparently did compulsively for anyone new they ever met who so much as looked at them the wrong way.
As it turned out, Jay had even been subjected to one of Stiles' checks early on, something Stiles had sheepishly admitted with a cringe when asked as a joke.
Supposedly, immediately after running into Jay and Derek in the woods while searching for Scott's inhaler, he'd skedaddled right to the police station to see what was rumours and what was fact when it came to the Hale's. The report had done nothing but reveal in writing just how grim their life had been, leaving both Scott and Stiles feeling bad enough not to bring it up ever again, instead deciding to become complete nuisances and drive them up a wall.
