Secrets in the Hunt (Book 2)

Wars and Wolf Powers

As soon as the car stops, Isaac and Scott rush to the back to get Jackson out.
      "I think he stopped moving." Isaac says. I'm not sure if that's a good thing, a really good thing, or a really bad thing. Knowing our luck, it's probably a really bad thing. I look around, frowning when I don't see Derek.
      "Where's Derek?" Chris asks, I shrug and look at Scott, waiting for an answer. He starts to open his mouth, then tilts his head to the side and glances down the alley. I follow his gaze and stifle a laugh when I see Derek running towards us, full speed, on all fours.
      "Is that really an effective way to run?" I ask Scott, and he just shakes his head. Derek does a front flip and stands up, staring at Chris.
      "I'm here for Jackson. Not you." Chris says, and Derek just looks at him.
      "Somehow I don't find that very comforting." He turns to Scott and Isaac.
     "Get him inside." Scott nods and he and Isaac carry Jackson inside in silence. I let out a shaky breath as I glance at Derek. Am I supposed to hate him? If he didn't bite Mrs. Argent, she wouldn't be dead. But if he didn't bite her, I also wouldn't know that she was my mom. I bite my lip. As much as I dislike Derek, I don't think I can hate him. Not for biting Mrs. Argent. Doing that saved Scott, and honestly he's a much better person.
      "Where are they?" Scott asks, pulling me from my thoughts. I frown until I realize he's talking to Derek. Not my problem.
      "Who?" Derek asks, also frowning.
      "Peter and Lydia." Scott says and my eyes widen.
      "Hold on, Peter? As in ex-alpha Peter?" I ask, Scott nods, staring at Derek and waiting for an answer. Well shit. How long has Peter been alive? Last I checked the bastard was dead. Like, buried in a burnt down house, dead. Derek moves towards Jackson without answering Scott, and Scott lunges forward.
      "Whoa, hold on a second. You said you knew how to save him." He says.
      "We're past that." Derek insists, continuing to open the body bag.
      "What about-" Scott tries to argue, but Derek cuts him off.
      "Think about it, Scott. Gerard controls him now. He's turned Jackson into his own personal guard dog. And he set all of this in motion so that Jackson could get even bigger and more powerful." Derek rants, still standing over the body bag. Dude that's probably not a good idea.
     "No. No, he wouldn't do that. If Jackson's a dog, he's turning rabid, and my father wouldn't let a rabid dog live." Chris argues, but I shake my head. I start to tell Chris that I agree with Derek, when a voice rings out and sends chills down my spine.
      "Of course not. Anything that dangerous, that out of control - Is better off dead." Gerard says. Derek reaches down towards Jackson, claws out. Jackson's hand suddenly shoots up and he impales Derek on his claws. I curse under my breath and step back. I pull a knife out of my boot, wishing I brought something heavier. Not that I plan on killing Gerard, but this bastard has Jackson on his side. We're totally screwed. Jackson stands, still holding Derek, and throws him across the room. Everyone turns and looks at Jackson, none of us wanting to have our backs to him.
      "This is a fucking nightmare." I mumble, shoulders tense as I look around at everyone.
      "Well done to the last, Scott. Like the concerned friend you are, you brought Jackson to Derek to save him. You just didn't realize that you were also bringing Derek to me." Gerard says, and an arrow whistles past my head. My eyes widen in shock when I see it hit Isaac in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground.
      "Allison?" I ask, frowning at her. I don't want to fight her, but what the hell has gotten into her? Scott rushes over to Isaac and drags him away from Jackson who is getting angrier by the second. Chris starts shooting at Jackson, and I wince, wishing again that I brought something better than a knife. Jackson manages to wrap his tail around Chris' gun and throw it away from him. I rush forward, and try to slice at Jackson with the knife. He manages to grab me and throw me against the wall. I groan at the pain in my head. I reach up and touch my head, wincing when I see the blood. That's fun. I stand up and start to rush back over to help Chris, but he's thrown too. I glare at Jackson. Dude seriously needs to stop. Derek growls and suddenly all of the wolves are trying to take Jackson down. None of them are doing too great. I stand to the side, watching and waiting for an opportunity to actually be helpful. Throwing myself in there now would just cause injuries and then I would be no help. Like, at all. Jackson slices at Derek and throws him to the ground, and Derek stays down. Isaac stands up and moves towards Jackson, but then Allison is there. Slicing at him and stabbing him with her knives. I gasp and rush towards the two.
     "Allison stop!" I beg, trying to get her to turn around and acknowledge me. Why the hell is she doing this? She whirls around and slices at me, and I jump back in shock. "What the hell?" I yell. She just glares at me and stabs Isaac again, making him collapse to the ground. She glares at me and twirls her knives, walking towards Derek.
      "No, Allison!" Scott yells, and my eyes widen when Jackson suddenly grabs both her hand and her throat.
     "Not yet sweetheart." Gerard says. They are one messed up family.
     "What are you doing?" Allison asks gasping for breath.
     "He's doing what he came here to do." Scott says. My eyebrows furrow together as I try to piece together what Scott knows. And usually he's the one one step behind.
     "Then you know." Gerard says. I glance at Gerard, then Allison, and finally Derek. And it all clicks into place.
      "What's he talking about?" Allison asks, betrayal clear on her face.
      "It was the night outside the hospital, wasn't it, when I threatened your mother. I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could just smell it, couldn't you?" Gerard asks, his mouth curled in disgust.
     "He's dying." Isaac says.
     "I am. I have been for a while now. Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet. But the supernatural does." Gerard says with a grim smile. Allison gasps, and Gerard glares at her. Jackson tightens his grip on her throat and I fight against the urge to run over and help her, afraid that if I do, Gerard will kill Allison.
     "You monster." Chris spits out.
     "Not yet." Gerard reminds him.
     "What are you doing?" Allison cries, and all it takes is one look from Gerard and Allison is being choked again.
     "You'll kill her too?" Chris asks, his voice cracking.
     "When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!" Gerard practically growls. Maybe they need some family therapy. "Scott." He adds with a smile. I look at Scott, silently begging him not to help Gerard.Scott looks around and frowns before walking towards Derek.
     "Scott please, don't do this. Please." I beg, unable to stay silent any longer. He looks at me, his face unreadable, but he doesn't say anything. He grabs Derek by the back of the neck and starts to pull him up.
     "Scott, don't. You know that he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha." Derek tries to reason.
    "That's true. But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott? He knows that the ultimate prize is Allison. Do this small task for me, and they can be together. You are the only piece that doesn't fit, Derek. And in case you haven't learned yet, there is just no competing with young love." Gerard says, and I curl my face up in disgust. How dare Gerard use Allison as a bargaining piece.
     "Scott, don't! Don't!" Derek begs, but Scott doesn't listen.
     "I'm sorry. But I have to." Scott says, prying Derek's mouth open. I turn my head away as Scott forces Derek's jaw closed around Gerard's arm. This is bad. This is really bad. Gerard screams in pain and I turn back, frowning as he holds his arm up in victory. I blink a few times, trying to figure out if I'm seeing it correctly. The bite mark on his arm is oozing black blood.
     "What?" Gerard asks, noticing we're all staring at him in shock. He looks at his arm and frowns. "What is this? What did you do?" He asks.
     "Everyone said Gerard always had a plan. I had a plan too." Scott says. Gerard digs in his pocket, muttering no as he pulls out his pill case. He dumps them into his hand and watches as some of them fall to the ground.
     "Mountain ash!" He yells in disgust as he crushes the rest of the pills. Suddenly, the blood starts pouring from his nose and his eyes. He falls to his knees and I step back, what the hell? He starts gasping for breath, and then vomits an arc of black blood before collapsing to the ground.
    "Why didn't you tell me?" Derek asks Scott, and I just stare at Gerard in disbelief. It can't be over, that was too easy.
     "Because you may be an alpha. But you're not mine." Scott replies. My eyes widen in shock as Gerard starts to crawl.
     "Kill them!" He growls. "Kill them all!" he yells before collapsing completely to the ground, face first. Jackson slowly lets go of Allison's neck and she shoves him away, just in time for a car to come bursting through a wall, running straight into Jackson. I grin when I realize it's my favorite Jeep.
     "Did I get him?" I hear Stiles ask. I laugh, but then Jackson jumps up and onto the hood of the Jeep. Stiles screams and follows Lydia out of the Jeep. He rushes over towards Scott, eyes wide when he sees me. I jog over to him, wrapping my arms around him, thankful that he's okay after everything with Gerard. I let go, not wanting my back to Jackson for too long in case he tries to hurt Lydia.
     "Jackson!" Lydia yells, holding up a key. Jackson steps towards her, claws raised.
     "Lydia!" I yell, trying to rush over to her. A hand stops me and pulls me back. I turn, expecting Stiles, but glare when I realize it's Scott.
     "Wait." He says. I turn back and realize that Jackson is frozen, staring at the key. He slowly starts to change, losing more and more reptilian features until he reaches out and gently takes the key. He looks lost and steps back, nodding slowly. I gasp in shock when Derek and Peter charge at Jackson, impaling him from both sides with claws. Lydia lets out a whimper as Jackson chokes. Derek and Peter step back, letting Jackson start to fall. Lydia rushes forward and helps him to the ground as he continues to choke.
     "Do you-do you still-" Jackson stammers.
     "I do. I do still love you. I do, I do still love you. I do. I do. I do still love you, I do." Lydia keeps repeating as Jackson falls forward onto her. My heart aches as I watch Lydia sob. I relax a little as fingers lace with mine, keeping me grounded. Lydia continues to cry as she hugs Jackson and then gently lays him on the ground. The last of the scales disappear and he looks normal again.
    "Where's Gerard?" Allison asks, and I look around the room, cursing myself mentally for not having the common sense to keep an eye on the bastard.
     "He can't be far." Chris reasons. Lydia stands and turns towards us, walking slowly before continuing to cry. I squeeze Stiles' hand and let go before walking towards her. I freeze when I hear claws scratch concrete. Lydia gasps and turns around, just in time to see Jackson slowly stand up. My eyes widen and I back up. How many times can one person die and wake back up? He lets out a loud roar, and I grin despite myself. He's finally the werewolf he wanted to be. Lydia gasps and throws her arms around him. He wraps his arms around her and I smile softly. I always knew they were meant to be together. Maybe things can start to go back to normal.
***
A couple weeks later after school, I grin as Stiles and I walk hand in hand to the lacrosse field, following Scott. We still didn't have a label and we weren't official, but I love how I feel when I'm around Stiles. My brothers and I had mostly made up, and Chris and Allison had welcomed us all back into the house. Apparently, Chris thinks I'm an okay kid despite the fact that I was the result of an affair his wife had.
     "So you really think she's gonna come back to you?" Stiles asks Scott as we walk towards one of the goals.
     "Yeah, I know she is." Scott replies with a smile, glancing at Stiles' hand intertwined with mine.
    "What about you two?" He asks. I feel the heat rush to my cheeks, and I glance at Stiles, surprised that his face isn't bright red too.
     "Well, um, you know, there's definitely a plan in motion for us." Stiles says, and I frown. Weird wording, but okay.
     "Why don't you just ask her out?" Scott asks, and I raise an eyebrow.
     "Right here Scott." I remind him, running a hand through my newly cut hair. Scott just grins and waggles his eyebrows. I roll my eyes at him. Sometimes he can be so immature. I step away from Stiles so that he can practice making shots, grinning when I see that he's finally blushing too.
     "Why don't you just get into the goal and help me make team captain like you promised there, big guy." Stiles suggests to Scott, grinning lopsidedly at me as I stand to the side.
     "Hey, you know what I just realized?" Scott asks, taking his place in goal. "I'm right back where I started."
     "What do you mean?" Stiles asks.
     "I mean no lacrosse, no popularity, no girlfriend. Nothing." Scott says, grinning. I laugh. Only Scott could grin at a statement like that.
     "Dude, you still got me." Stiles reminds him.
     "I had you before." Scott says, and I raise my hand.
     "But you didn't have me, and now you do. So, upgrade." I tease with a wide grin.
     "You've got us! Life fulfilled." Stiles adds and Scott just chuckles.
     "Very." He says.
     "Now remember, no wolf powers." Stiles reminds Scott, preparing to take a shot.
     "Got it." Scott says.
     "No, I mean it. No super fast reflexes, no super eyesight, no hearing - none of that crap, okay?" Stiles insists and I stifle a laugh, knowing that there's no way Scott won't use his powers.
     "Okay, come on." Scott says, obviously growing impatient.
     "You promise?" Stiles asks.
     "Would you just take the shot already?" Scott asks. Stiles takes a deep breath and shoots the ball, Scott instantly catching it. I snort, but it turns into full blown laughter when Stiles glares at me.
     "Traitor." He mumbles before turning back and glaring at Scott. "I said no wolf powers!" I don't know if my family will stay past this school year, but God I hope so. Even though we've only been here for a few months, I can't imagine not living in Beacon Hills.
***

DOUBLE UPDATE DAY! And there's the end of season 2! BUT GUESS WHAT? It's not the end of this book. There are a few loose ends to tie up before this book will be marked complete. And by a few loose ends, I mean a couple more chapters. There are four to five chapters left and then this book will be complete! And hopefully, it'll be completed by July 1st! As always, please comment and vote! I LOVE hearing from you guys!