The Alpha's Keeper

The Bestiary

I returned to school and quickly changed. I didn't want to go back to my house because Derek could follow me there. I mean, I guess he could have followed me back to the school too, but I decided it was safer here with Scott and Stiles and all the other students – as well as our new principal, Gerard Argent. Yeah, my principal was now the patriarch of a werewolf hunting family. Fantastic. "I'm sorry about the other day. I'm trying. We'll get through this. Uh, I know, because I love you. I love you more than..." I heard Stiles voice before I saw him and Scott sitting on the bottom of one of the staircases. "Am I interrupting?" I asked them as I pushed all upsetting thoughts away and forced a smile. "Oh, my god. I can't – you and Allison just have to find a better way to communicate." Stiles insisted to my brother before flashing a warm smile at me.

"Hey, where'd you disappear to?" Scott asked me, looking up at me with curiosity and suspicion. I thought about lying but knew Scott would be able to tell. He had always had a knack for knowing when I lied even before he was a werewolf. "I got a text from Derek saying I needed to meet him and that it was urgent. Wasn't really that urgent." I said, leaving it at that. Scott nodded but didn't ask anything else – but I knew I'd be getting grilled later. He turned back to Stiles with a frown. "Come on, you're the only one that we can trust other than my distracted sister." Scott said, earning a light slap to the back of the head. He chuckled softly before continuing. "Is she coming to the game tonight?" He asked his best friend. "Yes! Okay, message complete. Now, tell me about your boss." Stiles insisted.

"Your boss? What's going on with Deaton?" I asked, looking between them in confusion. "Yeah, he thinks Allison's family keeps some kind of, uh, records of all the things that they've hunted. Like a book." Scott told us. "He probably means a bestiary." Stiles said with a nod. "What?" Scott asked in confusion. "A bestiary." I told him curtly, my eyes on Stiles. "I think you mean bestiality." Scott said with a slow nod. "Nope, pretty sure I don't. It's like an encyclopedia of mythical creatures." Stiles explained so my brother understood. "How am I the only one who doesn't know anything about this stuff?" Scott asked us. "Because Stiles spends too much time on the internet." I said, smirking at my friend.

"Okay, you two are my best friends – you're creatures of the night – it's kind of like a priority of mine." Stiles pointed out to us. I nodded, realized that was very true. Out of the three of us, he was the one in danger most of the time. While Scott and I could heal quickly, Stiles had no natural defenses other than running away and sarcasm. He needed to know these things not only to help us but to protect himself. "Okay, if we can find it, and it can tell us what this thing is..." Scott started, turning this thought over in his head. "And who." I added, hopeful. A look dawned on both Stiles and Scott's face as the three of us said in unison, "We need that book!" The three of us high-fived and laughed at our synchronicity.

Stiles and I were texting back and forth to get messages between Allison and Scott. "I think you mean..." Allison started but I shook my head. "No, I mean bestiary. And the two of you, I don't want to know what's going on in your heads." I told her. She had thought I meant bestiality instead of bestiary just like Scott had. Gross. "Okay, um. Can you describe this thing?" she asked me. "It's probably a book. Old, worn." I told her. She nodded in thought. "Like, bound in leather?" she asked me and I nodded. Stiles and I were texting back and forth and Allison told me she had seen her grandfather with a book like that. Stiles asked me where he might keep it and she said it had to be in his office. "You know, drug dealers have been using disposable cellphones pretty successfully for years." I told Allison, tired of being the middle man. "My parents check every call, email, and text message I send. Trust me, they'd find it." She assured me. "Alright, can you get the book?" I asked her. "Not without his keys." She replied, shaking her head.

That night, I sat on the bleachers as I watched the lacrosse game unfold. "Come on, is that thing even a teenager?" Coach shouted as he gestured to an abnormally large player on the opposing team who had already hurt a few of our team members. "I wanna see a birth certificate. Who or what is that genetic experiment gone wrong?" Coach called as he stood next to where I sat on the bleachers. "Eddie Abramovitz, Coach. They call him the Abomination." I explained as I watched the game and Eddie Abramovitz continue to knock down our players. "Oh, that's cute." Coach grumbled before walking off.

"McCall, what the hell are you waiting for?" I heard Jackson's voice from on the field. My eyes snapped to find him next to Scott. "This is the semi-finals. Bring that 'roid-head into the ground." Jackson growled at my brother. "Me? You're the one who said that I was a cheater." Scott snapped back. "And that freak of nature being on the field is fair? Do something!" Jackson insisted. "I can't, not while Allison's grandfather is here." Scott replied.

My head snapped up as I looked around for Allison and her grandfather. And sure enough, I spotted them on the other side of the bleachers, far away from me. Thank god. I watched as Allison followed the plan of pretending to be cold. Gerard gave her his jacket and she smiled at him. "Good God, is it always this violent?" Gerard asked as he turned his eyes on a player who was being lifted off of the field. "I can't feel my legs." The player groaned in pain. Stiles got up and walked passed Allison. I caught her slip the keys to Gerard's office into his hand and I smiled. "I'll be right back." I told my mother who was sitting beside me. She nodded, her attention locked on the field. I quickly went around the back of the bleachers and caught up with Stiles. "Ready?" I asked him. He nodded and we jogged back to the building.

Stiles slowed in the parking lot, his eyes locked on Lydia's car. "One minute. And no super hearing." He insisted. I nodded and waited for him as he jogged over to her car and started talking to her. My phone buzzed in my pocket – a text from Allison telling us to hurry up. "Stiles." I called out to him. He glanced up at me and I gestured wildly for us to go. "Can you just give me five minutes?" he asked Lydia who sat in her car. He fumbled over a few more words before running over to me as we headed into the building. "You have horrible timing." Stiles snapped at me. "Blame Allison. We have to hurry." I told him. He groaned but nodded as he quickly unlocked the office door.

We searched everywhere, careful to put things back where they had been. But after a solid five minutes of frantically searching and Stiles chanting 'book, book, book,' I sighed. "Nothing here." I groaned, running my fingers through my hair roughly. Stiles sighed and quickly shot Allison a text telling her it wasn't here. But then I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My eyes snapped to the door to find Erica standing there with a smirk on her lips and her arms crossed over her chest. "Hello." She greeted us.

"What do you want?" I asked her in a growl. "He wants to see you, Stiles." Erica said, her eyes locked on him. I knew exactly who she was talking about. The alpha himself – Derek. "No way, princess." I growled at her. Her shoulders shook with silent laughter before she launched herself at the wall. She pushed off of it and landed just behind Stiles, her clawed hand around his neck. He gulped, eyes wide as I glared at her. "See? You really did teach me something." she said, a sickly sweetness in her voice that made me want to barf.

"Come on, Evie, I'm sure he'd love to see you too." She insisted as she slowly moved Stiles around the desk. "I don't want to see him, though." I growled at her. She laughed openly. "I know. I heard your little fight earlier." She started. Confusion passed over Stiles' features, momentarily blocking out his fear. "And trust me, that fight would have ended a lot differently if I was in your shoes. It would have ended naked." She said, adding the last part in a whisper for emphasis. Stiles' eyes widened at her brashness. Without a word I stepped to the side and waited for her to continue. "Where to?" I hissed at her in defeat. She smirked in triumph. "The pool." She replied simply. I nodded and headed out of the office with Erica and Stiles close behind.