The Fox and The Wolf - Book One {Sterek}

Chapter 25: The journey

Lydia and I drove until almost 5am, when I finally needed a break. Liam made me pull over when he noticed my eyelids dropping, and I pulled in to the next rest area. Lydia followed suit in the Camaro and we all yawned sleepily as we stretched our limbs. We had been driving for just under 21 hours and only stopped once. We still had 7 more hours to go until we reached Mexico, if we didn't hit traffic. The chain that was pulling at my chest was getting lighter and lighter as we got closer to Derek, but I still felt the emptiness of his absence. I needed to go over the plan I had in my head again at least once before I told the others, but I desperately needed some sleep. There was one fast food place open on the rest stop, and we all grabbed something quick. I ordered extra for Liam again, seeing as he had already eaten the food from last night. I got some jerky for Isaac, knowing it was his favourite, and a bag of chips for Mason. I checked with Scott to make sure everyone else had grabbed something for the road too.

Once again, we piled back into the vehicles. Kira was driving the Camaro, giving Lydia some time to sleep. Isaac took over driving the Jeep and Mason sat in the passenger seat when Liam insisted I get in the back so I could stretch out. He left no room for argument, pulling my head into his lap and running his hands through my hair soothingly. "Go to sleep Stiles," he demanded. My eyes slid shut without my permission and I fell asleep quickly in the werewolf's lap.

Derek? I whispered into the dry, hot darkness that was surrounding me. No answer. Derek?! I could smell him. I knew he was close. But he wasn't answering me. Why isn't he answering me? Maybe he can't, I thought. Dread filled me at that. If he couldn't answer, he might be badly hurt. Really bad. I focused, like Deaton had made me do at the loft. His eyes, his scent... I felt the pain again, it wasn't better or worse, but just the same. He wasn't scared anymore. Just angry and confused. So confused. I felt the frustrated tears run down my face as I let out a pained growl. I need to find him. I stumbled around in the darkness blindly. I tried to follow his scent, but it was everywhere. I came out in a cavern full of roots, they were hanging from the ceiling and covering the walls. So we're underground. I suddenly saw a teenager tangled in the roots, being held against the wall. It smelled like Derek, and felt like Derek... but it didn't look like him. I knew it was him, but it also wasn't. I panicked and screamed.

My eyes flashed open, tinged with orange and I saw Liam's face inches from mine, his hands running up and down my arms as he tried to calm me. Nightmare, just a nightmare. But not really, because Derek was still missing.

"Stiles, it's okay. It was just a dream," he said soothingly, trying to control his own worry. I nodded at him and sat up, taking in my surroundings.

"Where are we?" I asked Isaac.

He gave me a worried look in the rear view mirror, but answered my question. "We're in Mexico. We're about an hour and a half away from the address Chris gave us."

"Is everyone okay? Do we need to stop and get food or anything?" I checked with them.

"We're okay," Liam lied.

"Liam. You know you literally can't lie to me right?" I scolded, signalling Isaac to pull over at the next place to eat. "We need to talk about the plan anyway." I texted Scott and we pulled off at a little run down diner with flashing neon lights on the roof. Only half of the sign was lit up. I shrugged, better than nothing.

Liam and Isaac were still shooting me worried looks as we all sat down to eat and go over the plan I had devised.

"I've got a plan," I started, but paused to take in all of the sleepy teenagers in front of me. All of them looked completely exhausted, and I wasn't sure how they were all still standing. I cursed myself for not paying closer attention and frowned. The familiar surge of protectiveness welled up inside me again and I turned to Scott worriedly. "Scott, I think we should stop and get a good nights sleep. These are hunters we have to deal with, professionals. And everyone needs sleep. Dozing in the car isn't good enough."