Payment (revised)

Chapter 17

edited: 5/13/20

edited: 8/12/23

A stinging slap sounded as skin met skin. The dying echo reverberated throughout the spacious entryway.

The blurred faces of Stiles's friends watched, stunned, around the pair. They were unsure how to react, but the boy only had his sights set on one person. A person who made his heart splinter and crack with every insult he'd slung Stiles's way.

He had trusted Derek. Trusted his heart to him.

Stiles should have known better.

He was dealing with a monster after all.

"You can find somewhere else to sleep tonight, because if you come near me you'll see what I can do with a gun," Stiles spat, enraged.

Then he fled from the man in front of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Derek had barely gotten out of the car before the dock's stench launched an assault.

"Oh god, the smell is rancid," Boyd grumbled from behind the Alpha. The man pulled a face before spitting on the ground, as if he could expel the scent from his very taste buds.

"Then let's make sure we're not here long enough to get used to it," was Derek's only reply before cocking the gun in his hand.

The Alpha stepped further out of the car so the rest of his crew could exit the vehicle, and wandered into a lone rain puddle from an afternoon shower. Used cigarettes and litter carelessly filled the tiny pool.

It wasn't just the nauseating scent that made this place a general horror.

The more Derek noticed, the more disgusted the Alpha became as he took in the decay around him.

It was the destination as a whole.

Heavy chests were stacked high, creaking ominously at each new wind that blew through their cracks. The waves crashed heavily against the barnacle-laden, splintered outreach post further out in the bay. The salty spray still flew far enough to pepper the Alpha's skin, as if in warning to stay back.

Derek planned to do no such thing, not until the sea returned what it had stolen from him. A boot's heel clicked as it made contact with the pavement, and he rescinded his words. Not until he returned what had been stolen from Allison.

His packmate didn't say anything as she came to stand directly behind him, but he felt her words anyway.

What now, she seemed to insist.

Where is she, the brunette demanded, not directly of him, but the world around her.

Derek, who had committed himself to Allison's crusade once Stiles had awoken, didn't have an answer.

He would find her one.

The Alpha selfishly felt relieved that Stiles was safe at home. The image of the boy sleeping peacefully in bed, a reward.

When Derek had told the pack Stiles's history with the docks, they all agreed it would be best for him to stay back. He didn't know if they agreed because they also prioritized Stiles's safety, or if it was just to placate their Alpha.

He didn't know if he cared.

Derek bit the inside of his cheek for it. He was thankful Stiles was okay, but couldn't deny that it had come from Lydia's sacrifice.

He turned to face his people, a lifetime had passed though it had only been a few seconds.

Derek spoke direct and harsh, there was no room for mercy and his family knew it. They didn't expect it of him. His job was to be their leader.