Hidden Strength

Chapter Ten:

Unlike her brother, when Willa stayed the night at a friend’s house, she wasn’t necessarily staying at Stiles’. For once, she was actually having a normal sleep-over. Well, as normal as it could be, though, as it was Lydia Martin, human and queen bee extraordinaire, it was very normal. Lydia had straightened her normally wavy-but-sometimes-curly-because-her-hair-couldn’t-decide hair, and when she learned that the McCall twin hadn’t ever had a real girls-only sleepover, facial masks and nail polish had also become necessary. She would never admit it, but Willa’s favorite thing was the actual ‘girl-talk’ she got to have with Lydia. 

Although Willa was a hundred percent sure she would not have told her mom any of what she told Lydia Martin. At first, she hadn’t been that thrilled to spend the night with the queen bee. It wasn’t that she didn’t like her, surprisingly, Willa liked Lydia quite a bit, she was nothing like Willa had thought she would be, well not completely at least. She hadn’t been looking forward to the sleep over because it meant she didn’t get to help Derek track the Alpha.

Derek didn’t let her do anything that involved being near the Alpha, it was one of the things that irritated her. It was sweet how protective he was, but his refusal to include her in the search for Laura’s killer was pushing it. She had as much a score to settle with the bastard as he did. But Derek was stubborn, and his main reason, or at least what he told her, was that the Alpha had tired to kill her, and he wouldn’t give it a chance to try again. 

So, when Derek had tracked the Alpha to the industrial neighborhoods, she had been dropped off at Lydia’s. He didn’t want her alone, and when she asked why Lydia, he pointed out she was the only human in her little social circle that didn’t have have a supernatural connection. Scott could be called by the Alpha at any time, Stiles was aware of werewolves and smelled enough like her and Scott that the Alpha could mistake the ADHD teen to be another lycan, and Allison was an Argent. And Derek refused to willingly take her near hunters. 

Which was why, at three am, Willa was perched on the window seat in Lydia’s bedroom, staring out at the moon. Something was wrong, at least, that was how she felt. Maybe she was just being paranoid, but her wolf was upset and something just felt…. off. She was trying to tell herself it was the Alpha’s call earlier, the one she had no doubt Scott had answered without realizing. It hadn’t affected her at all, no pull to follow. And she hadn’t understood it, either, though that could have been because she was no longer apart of his pack.

Rolling her shoulders, the blond leant against the wall behind her. Her legs were pulled up close to her chest, arms hugging them too her, her right hand twisting the bronze charm around her neck. It wasn’t that the herbs' smell was was off or that it was irritating her, nothing like that. Messing with it was just a habit she had developed when Derek was away from her.

It irritated her, sometimes, how clingy she felt she sometimes was. It was a kind of side effect to the claim bond. But, when she mentioned it to Derek, and that it wasn’t like her, he had just told her the need to be near each other constantly would fade with time. It had something to do with strength of scent, and then that was paired with heat. But the pendant did help significantly, she had to admit that. She could still remember the first day of heat while she hadn’t had it. The discomfort had been completely brutal, and she was glad she wouldn’t have to deal with it.

Willa looked over as she heard the swish of fabric, seeing Lydia sitting up, still half asleep. The red-head yawned as she asked tiredly, “What’s the matter?” The older girl’s heart rate rose to accommodate her state of consciousness and before the blonde could reply, Lydia was out of bed and came to sit across from the younger female. As she settled into place, Lydia tacked on, “And don’t you dare say nothing."