Gasoline • Martin.

17

Something changed that night. Not just in the Argents but in everyone in that town that was involved. Matt was dead; Scott and Stiles were up to god knows what; Jackson was weird and somehow Lydia was the most normal one of the bunch. Nate, Allison and Chris Argent became closer. All of them were getting over the death of Victoria Argent and the need for revenge on the supernatural creatures, just like it was before.

Besides that, there was something else going on, and Nate couldn't figure out what it was, be he was going to. Being in the dark about a plan was not something Nate liked, but if he never knew there was a plan, it was good. Gerard was cooking up something and this part didn't involve Nate, but it concerned Allison, so that's how he spent his time—training and getting her ready for whatever it was he was plotting.

The Argent's time was spent planning their next move and tracking the pack they were after. Each quadrant of the county was covered until there were just a few left to search, and they will find them and have their revenge.

They were really close at finding them, using pre recorded tapes of a howling pack of wolf to lure them out. One would say Nate should feel bad for doing that to his classmates, but he didn't give a damn. These werewolves and this pack took his mother from him, so they deserved it.

Nate was in a bike alone, following his father and sister through the woods. They came to a stop in a path were Allison replayed the tape and howls were heard. Chris gestured for him to go, and he drove away in search for the two teenagers, the other bike following after him.

Nate came to a stop and listened to his surroundings. Not far from him, the pants and footsteps became more prominent. He held his hand up in a fist and then to pointed to the left, reeving the motor and following the werewolves, with Allison and Chris behind him.

She saw the blonde hair belonging to Erica soar through the woods, with a big figure by her side—Boyd. He smirked and went faster to catch up with them. "Nate, let Allison do it," his father voice said through their walkies. Nate rolled his eyes and slowed down for them to catch up and get in front.

Allison descended the bike and fired the arrow, the weapon lodging itself into Erica's leg successfully. Nate smirked, pulling the helmet off his head to stare and wait for further instructions. Allison deviated from the plan and walked forward. "Allison, wait!"

Nate ran after her, his bow and arrow in hand just in case. He found her firing arrow after arrow at Boyd and Erica, weakening them. Erica was pleading for her to stop but Allison seemed to be in a trance where nothing around her mattered.

And that's when Nate decided to intervene. Stupid decision, really.

He ran to her, and body slammed her against the ground, throwing her bow far from her, but something in Allison snapped and she punched Nate in the face, taking an arrow from his own quiver and stabbing his leg. He grunted in pain and threw his head back. Nate hissed as he broke the arrow in half, still leaving the part inside him to avoid any unnecessary complications to his condition.

Allison stood up and took her bow again, loading it. Before she could fire, a shot rang through and the bow fell from her hands. Nate looked up and saw his father with his gun lowering. He then aimed it at werewolves, who then forfeited, falling to the ground in pain and exhaustion.

Chris ran to his son side and helped him sit up. "I'm fine, I'm fine." He groaned in pain as Chris wrapped an arm around his torso and pulled him up. The pressure to his leg was messing him up, but he'd had worse, so he decided to suck it up and walk on his own. It proved to be difficult, but he did it anyway.

Back on the bikes, with the captured werewolves, Nate pulled the rest of the arrow out, and wrapped it with the bandages they had in case of emergencies, and made a mental note to go to the hospital to get it checked out—ripping an arrow out was never a good idea.

"You owe me a new bow," Allison told her father as she inspected her damaged weapon.

Nate coughed. "You owe me a new leg, nose and an apology," he said nonchalantly as he finished wrapping his thigh.

Chris nodded at him and turned to Allison. "You owe me an explanation."

Allison scoffed. "I caught them. Me." Nate straightened up and scowled. Wow, she had a lot of nerve. The way Allison was acting was not normal, not the way she used to—she was cold and emotionless. And here he thought they really bonded but maybe, just maybe, this was all a mask and Allison was really gone.

"Caught came very close to kill. And that's not the way we do this." Nate hesitated. Maybe not the way his father did but he was wired to track, catch and kill the creatures. But Nate respected his father's way of doing things, even if he didn't follow it.

"Maybe it's not the way you do it." Allison was mocking him at this point. "I think my way worked out pretty well." Nate's head snapped up and his eyes squinted. Hold on, he knew this technique and way of answering back, he used to do it back when he was training with grandfather. He threw his head back and chuckled, of course Gerard did this to her.

"You know what Allison, you're up here," Nate held a hand over his head, "bring it down and listen to what he's telling you."

Allison held a hand up to silence him, and Nate was taken aback. "Hey, Grandpa, it's me." This confirmed Nate's speculations—this was all Gerard's plan and they were roped into it. Now he knew the bond he formed these last couple of days with Allison was just all a lie. "We got our two runaway. Call us back."

Nate scoffed out loud and caught Allison's attention. "What, Nathaniel?" He cringed at the use of his full name. Allison wasn't allowed to call him that and he made it clear, but being influenced by Gerard meant she dismissed everything Nate said. "I thought you'd be happy. Grandpa is your mentor, right? I'm following your path."

Nate limped to stand in front of her and his figure towered over her. "I spent the last ten years of my life training with him and learned the dos and don'ts of this job and everything concerning Gerard." He was glaring now, not only she stabbed him, but now is trying to be like him. "Don't even think you can match me. Less alone be like me."

"I'm not trying to, but Grandpa needs you."

Nate's eyes twitched. "Was it part of the plan to stab me in the freaking leg!?" He pointed at his injury and limped back to his bike. "If he needs me, he will talk to me. Like always."

"Oh, he will."

After getting out of there and bringing the two teenagers to their house and putting them on their basement, hooked up to electricity, Nate limped up the stairs and to his bedroom, ignoring the heated conversation going on in Allison's room between her, Grandpa and his father. He groaned as he sat down and put his head on his hands.

"Comfortable?" Nate looked up and saw his grandfather there.

He chuckled sarcastically. "Just great. Would totally recommend getting stabbed, amazing experience," Nate said sarcastically and ran a hand through his hair. "You could've looped me in on what you were doing, Grandpa."

After the police station, Nate was losing trust on his grandfather but there was always his loyalty to him that kept him aligned and being with him through everything. "I didn't want to alter the course of this. But we need you focused and ready."

Nate nodded. "Always."

Gerard smiled. "Get some sleep, heal and get ready, because tomorrow everything will go down."

Nate tried and failed to get any sleep that night, not only because he was restless thanks to his leg but because Gerard came in the middle of the night and woke him up. "Wake up, Nathaniel. It's time."