ALPHA PACT

"How are they?"

Isaac's shoulders were slumped as he stood next to Derek, staring down at the two brunettes lying on Derek's bed, looking as if they were barely breathing. Carter had fallen unconscious as soon as they had managed to get her and Cora out of the ambulance and she had been that way since - out cold and barely hanging on.

"Cora's been coming in and out for hours," Derek muttered, his eyes never wandering from the two girls. "Carter hasn't moved at all and her heart rate is really low - her heart's barely even beating."

Isaac's eyes flickered over to the youngest Hale, honing in on her heartbeat, he could hardly hear it over the sound of his own pounding heart. "They're dying, aren't they?"

"I don't know," Derek answered, his hands running over his face.

"So what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know."

He would find something; anything to get them better without Jennifer's help. He needed to find a way because he wasn't going to lose the only family he had left. If he lost them, even one of them, he wasn't sure if he would be able to fight any longer.

"Gonna figure something out?" Isaac wondered, running his hands through his hair in panic, "because while Scott, Stiles, and Carter were out there trying to help people from being killed, you were in here rolling in the sheets with the actual killer." He pointed out, tears rushing to the surface as he looked at the girls. "Do you get how many people she's killed? Erica and Boyd are dead, Cora and Carter are dying - and you are doing nothing!" He shouted, taking a deep breath as a curious thought popped in his head: "Why'd you do this to us, Derek? Was it all about the power? Were you bored? Were you lonely?"

Isaac knew he was being harsh, and that Derek was doing this for Carter and Cora, but that didn't justify the fact that he was shutting everything else out. If Isaac could go back in time to when Derek had offered him the bite - he would've said no, but he couldn't go back; it was all in the past now. So, all he could do now was make sure that all the other shit going on got settled.

"Maybe," Derek admitted, glancing up at the curly-haired Beta.

That had been all Isaac needed to hear. He spun on his heels, turning away from Derek and made his way toward the exit.

Derek's voice suddenly broke out: "I told Cora and Carter I wouldn't leave. I'll help the others when I figure out how to save them."

Isaac's body tensed, feeling his anger bubble over as he whirled around to face the man that had his back turned to him. "There's no time! The full moon's coming. The sheriff and Melissa are going to be dead, so I'm gonna try and help them." He moved up the stairs, the teenage boy turned around just before he left completely, "You can sit here and perfect the art of doing nothing."

Isaac left after that, not bothering to turn around as he sought to try and help his friends. He knew what if felt like to lose a parent and he refused to allow the people he cared about experience the agony he had went through.

When the tension in the loft died down, Peter spoke up: "I wouldn't take it personally," he began, rising out of the shadows and made his way down the spiral staircase. "Anger is just a tool. He's using it to excuse shifting allegiance from one Alpha to another - or, two Alphas in this case. From you to Scott and Carter."

"Scott and Carter aren't Alphas yet."

"But they're on their way, aren't they?" Peter mused.

As if she had known they were talking about her, Carter's eyes shot open - the fire-like irises blazing as her body jerked up into a sitting position. She clutched her head in her hands as a bloodcurdling scream ripped her throat raw, blood trickled out of her nose as she tumbled off the bed and onto the floor. Derek instantly rushed over to her; holding the girl down as she continued to grip at her head while letting out ear-splintering wails.

Derek and Peter grunted at the severity of her screams; eyes flashing a cold steel blue and a deep crimson before fading back to their natural colors. The cries had been so loud, that Isaac came barreling back into the loft, and his eyes glowed a brilliant gold as he rushed to Carter's side.

When the girl had gotten her screams out of her system, her whole body began to violently tremble as the searing warmth engulfed her. Carter glanced up at Isaac and Derek, the pressure in her head and chest from screaming made tears form in her eyes, a trail of blood led from her nose over her chin and down her neck.

"Derek, it hurts," Carter cried, her shoulders shook as sobs racked her body.

Derek frowned, his hands immediately wrapping around her arms so he could take away her pain. He had done it to her and Cora half an hour ago, knowing that he was exerting himself too much already. Derek felt the pain linger in his hands as the black veins disappeared back into his skin.

Carter didn't say anything as she weakly pulled herself back onto the bed. She didn't want to go back to sleep now that she was afraid of not waking up again. The last thing she remembered was Isaac holding her back after she had made an attempt to stop -

"Stiles - Scott," Carter's voice broke out, her eyes lifting to Derek and Isaac. "Where's Scott and Stiles? What happened? Where are they?"

"Carter, you need to rest."

"No, what I need is for someone to tell me what the hell is going on." Carter growled, flickering her attention away from her brother and over to Isaac, who looked as though he were on the verge of a metal break down. "Isaac, what happened?"

"Jennifer took Melissa," Isaac answered.

Carter swallowed hard, "What about Scott?" When she received no response, her lip curled into a snarl as anger bubbled in her chest. "I don't have to be a Pheanix to know that something's wrong. So, tell me or I swear to God I will never speak to either of you ever again."

"He went with Deucalion," Isaac muttered, hands fell deep into his pockets as he kept his eyes locked on Carter.

With that, Carter quickly got off the bed, using Derek's strong shoulder for support as she rose to her feet. Her older brother wasn't going to let her just leave as he grabbed ahold of her arm to stop her.

"Carter, you can barely stand up, let alone put yourself in the middle of all this," Derek hissed.

"I'm already in the middle of it," Carter snapped. "He wants me - I'm not going to let him turn Scott and I into some unrecognizable monsters. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep that from ever happening."

"Wait," Isaac called out in confusion. "Who wants to turn you and Scott into monsters?"

"I'll explain later," Carter answered, turning to look at Isaac.

"You can't just walk out, Carter," Derek pointed out, tightening his hold on her.

"Yes, I can," Carter countered, angrily yanking her arm out of his hold. "And I am."

→

When Isaac and Carter had gotten to the complex Allison and her father lived in, Isaac got out first, making sure to hand Carter her keys before he walked over to her side. Carter would have snickered and poked fun had the situation not been so severe that she couldn't walk without support.

Carter's arm went around Isaac's waist, wincing when the abrupt movement caused the world around her to go into a whirlwind. He stopped once he realized her grip had gotten tighter, glancing down at her. She just shook her head, silently telling him that she was fine and to keep going.

When they entered the elevator, Carter instantly leaned her weight against the wall, putting her head in her hands as she tried to stop the spinning. She was beginning to realize that she needed to take it easy on her physical activities, knowing that she wasn't going to last very long if she constantly kept moving.

The elevator dinged, the duo noticing that they had finally arrived at the Argent's place. Carter lifted her head up, moving to walk forward only to conclude that she couldn't and she turned to Isaac.

He quickly helped her, the two moving out of the elevator when Isaac's ears perked up at the sound of voices. With his heightened hearing, he could tell that they were coming up with a plan.

By the time Carter and Isaac came crashing into the doorway, everyone was already looking up at them in surprise.

Isaac frowned, "I can't shoot a gun or use a crossbow, but...well, I'm getting pretty good with these." His free hand outstretched, showing the claws Derek had granted him.

He entered the room, supporting Carter until she went plopping down on one of the chairs Chris kept in his study, she took a deep breath before moving her attention over to Stiles. The boy was staring down at her with concern filled eyes; no doubt in her mind that he was staring at her sickly state.

Carter knew she looked back; remnants of blood sat in the cracks on her extremely dry lips, precise line of bruising around her neck, the sweat beading on her forehead - she looked like shit and she knew it.

"We need a plan," Chris announced, his eyes surveying all four of the teenagers in his study before looking back at his desk.

All Carter could think was that it was already too late.

→

Carter found herself in Lydia Martin's living room, her head resting on a plush pillow as she lounged across the white couch. The strawberry-blonde was sitting in a chair whilst Stiles stood across from her as he began to explain everything that had happened the night before.

"I don't believe it. Scott can't really be with them - he can't be."

Carter tiredly glanced up at Lydia, a look of determination on her face as she stared up at Stiles. His face fell as he spoke: "You didn't see the look on his face, though. It was-" Stiles sighed as he tried to explain his best friend's betrayal.

Lydia looked over at Carter before her eyes flicked back over to Stiles, "Then what can I do? I mean, I get that I'm some kind of, like, human Geiger counter for death. But I don't know how to turn it on and off yet. All I know is that she tried to kill me, and involuntary kill Carter, because of-"

Stiles glanced at her in confusion, "Because of what? Hey, Lydia, what?"

"When she called me a Banshee, she was surprised by it. What if that's not why she tried to kill us?" Lydia asked quickly.

Carter sighed, running her hands over her face, "Then why did she?"

"That's what we need to find out."

Walking through the school hallways felt so pointless to Carter. They had so much more important things going on in their lives that required their undivided attention. But despite that fact, Carter and Stiles found themselves at the school while Lydia tried to find Aiden.

As they made their way down the steps, Carter was slowly feeling herself getting better - but, she could also tell that while she was getting better, Cora was getting worse. It was like Carter's body was sucking the remaining life-source out of Cora so she could heal, and that scared her.

Stiles suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, his hands scrambling to pull his phone out of his pocket as it buzzed. Carter watched in confusion as his face went slack.

"What?" Carter asked, but quickly stepped toward Stiles when a feeling of dread washed over her. "Oh, God - what is it now?"

"It's from Isaac," Stiles began, glancing away from his phone to meet Carter's dark eyes. "Jennifer, she - she has Allison's father. She took him. She's got all three of them now," Stiles stammered, his chest heaving.

For some reason, the thought didn't trigger any panic or shortness of breath in Carter, instead, the extreme warmth draped over her like a constricting blanket. A bone-crushing pressure began to build up at the back of her skull telling her that something was wrong; it jolted her out of her thoughts. Her eyes were locked on Stiles, watching as he shakily put his phone back in his pocket, something wasn't right.

"Oh," Stiles panted, blinking rapidly as he turned around. He was struggling to breathe properly as he continued to glance around him, his vision blurring as he tried to focus on Carter's face.

"Stiles? You okay?"

"I think I'm having a panic attack," Stiles answered, his hands violently shaking.

Carter quickly grabbed his hand, pulling him out of the crowded hallway and into the locker room. He was drastically trying to suck in air as Carter yanked off his backpack. The sound of his wheezing echoed in Carter's ears, causing an overwhelming sense of panic settle in her chest.

"Okay, come on - sit down," Carter instructed, gently pushing him down toward the floor. She ran her hands over her face frantically as she tried to think of how to help him, "Okay, just try and think about something else. Anything else."

Stiles continued to struggled, rasping out: "Like what?"

"Uh, happy things. Good things. Uh, friends, family..." Stiles instantly gave her a look. "Ugh, I mean, not family. Oh, God. Okay, uh - just try and slow your breathing."

"I can't - I can't."

"Focus of me, Stiles," Carter instructed, placing her hands on his biceps. "Focus on the sound of my voice - I'm here with you."

"Carter, I - "

And that's when it hit her. She quickly grabbed his face in her hands and pressed her lips to his - his breathing slowly started to regulate. Stiles' eyes squeezed shut as he gripped Carter's knees tightly before they trailed up her thighs, desperately wanting to press himself against her. The pleasurable warmth erupted from within them, heating up the situation from the inside out. Carter's muscles quake in a haze of euphoria - not being able to explain why she felt that way, but didn't push it away.

"Ooh - how'd you do that?" Stiles whispered, his voice came out shaky but his chest was rising and falling at a normal rate, his lips were tingling from the unexpected kiss.

"I, uh..." Carter began, she didn't really know what came over her. Her body was screaming for her to do anything to help Stiles - and that's just what she did. "I read once that holding your breath could stop a panic attack. So when I kissed you, you held your breath."

Stiles seemed confused by her statement, but his swollen lips instantly missing the contact between him and her, "I did?"

Carter nodded, mind still reeling from the feeling of the kiss that still lingered in her body and breathlessly said: "Yeah, you did."

Stiles sniffled, a sad smile on his lips, "Thanks - it was really smart."

"It was just me repaying you for saving my life in that ambulance - no big deal."

Carter chuckled as Stiles wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest, squeezing her tightly. She returned the gesture, feeling all of the panic that had quickly engulfed melt away.

"I assume we're not going to tell Scott about any of this?"

"Probably not," Carter mumbled as she pulled herself away from Stiles. "And if I was really smart, I would tell you to sign up for a few sessions with the guidance counselor."

Something inside of Stiles snapped, "Morrell."

The duo scrambled to their feet and soon found themselves rushing out of the locker room and down the empty hallways until they went barreling into Morrell's office. Carter looked to her right and saw another student sitting in the chair, but Morrell was nowhere to be found.

"Are you here for Ms. Morrell?" Carter asked, rubbing her temples as her head began to pound at the exerting physical activity - she may have been healing, but she wasn't in any conditions to be running a marathon.

"No, I thought this was gym class," the girl replied, sending Carter an annoyed look.

"This is not the day to try and be witty, okay? We are in no mood for funny," Carter snapped, Stiles could practically feel the frustration radiating off of Carter as she spoke: "Do you know where she is?"

"If I did," the girl gestured to the empty desk, "I wouldn't be waiting her for twenty minutes. So how about you three back out the door and wait your turn."

"We're not here for a session."

"Well, I am - and I've got some serious issues to work on," She hissed back.

"Obviously," Carter snarled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Hey, wait, wait," Stiles interjected, staring down at the unknown student. "You're Danielle. You're Heather's best friend."

Danielle sighed, "I was Heather's best friend. We've been working on that issue three times a week."

"Hold on - did you say that Ms. Morrell was twenty minutes late?"

Danielle shrugged and said: "And I don't know
why either. She's always on time."

Carter nodded, turning to face Stiles, "I was seeing her after the Matt-thing, she was never late."

"Then she's not late, she's missing." Stiles pointed out, staring down at the desk.

"What if we're not the only ones who think she knows something?"

Stiles' eyes widened, abruptly making his way over to Morrell's desk, "Then I wanna know what she knows," he stated, digging through the desk drawers.

Danielle straightened up, alarmed as she asked: "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find her," Stiles replied, rummaging through the drawer with all of the student files inside.

"Those files are private," Danielle announced.

Carter nodded despite herself, "Yeah, she's kind of right."

Stiles then snatched out a file and handed it to Carter, "That one's Lydia's."

Carter grabbed it from him, beginning to flip through the papers, realizing that there was nothing but a countless amount of tree drawings. Carter was perplexed, analyzing the drawings when Stiles' voice rang out.

"That's Lydia's drawing."

Danielle leaned forward, glancing at the drawing, "Yeah, it's good, too."

"It's the same one," Carter mumbled. "It's the same one I always see her drawing in class - it's the exact same one, over and over again."

Stiles stood up, moving to stand next to Carter as they analyzed the drawings. They were placing several different ones next to each other - they were identical. The only variation they found was that some trees had been drawn larger than others.

Danielle was quick at grabbing her bag, "Okay, you can have my session. You've got bigger issues," She stated, making a hasty exit.

"What is this?"

Something clicked inside Stiles' brain, flipping the notebook upside down. It hadn't been a tree that Lydia had been drawing - it was roots of a tree. Carter's eyes scanned over the new discovery, when she registered the drawing in her mind her eyes widened.

"It's the Nemeton."

→

After Deaton had rescued Carter and Stiles from Agent McCall, they found themselves in the animal clinic - Carter stood silently in the back corner as Stiles spoke: "It has to be on a telluric current, or maybe even at the axis of two, or where they all intersect."

Carter swallowed hard, "It's where Derek took Paige to die. Our entire family had been to the Nemeton - but my mother erased the memories of ever being there."

She immediately recalled the heart breaking story Derek had told Carter when she found him at the distillery after Boyd had been killed. Carter had known that Derek killed Paige - that's why his eyes were blue - but, she didn't know the entire story behind it.

Paige, a fifteen-year-old girl, had captured Derek's attention, and soon enough, Peter manipulated him into allowing Ennis to bite Paige after his new Beta had been killed by the Argents. When Derek saw that Paige's body was fighting the bite, black blood seeping out of every opening, he took her to the root cellar - where he made the hardest decision of ending her suffering by killing her.

Allison made her way over toward Stiles, explaining: "My dad and Gerard were there once. But Gerard said it was years ago and he couldn't remember where it was. And my dad obviously isn't here to tell us now."

"Yeah, mine either," Stiles mumbled.

From beside Carter, Isaac demanded: "Then how do we find this place?"

All of them looked toward Deaton, who had been silent the entire time as he stood in front of them. He had been the only one that seemed to know a little bit of everything, if anyone was going to know how to find the Nemeton, it was going to be him.

"There might be a way," Deaton offered. "But it's dangerous. We're gonna need Scott."

It hadn't been as hard to get ahold of Scott as they initially thought, but as Stiles, Deaton, and Carter stood in the middle of the woods facing the mentioned werewolf, they all felt as though there might have been a greater chance of finding their parents alive.

Carter found herself nervously walking toward Scott alongside Deaton and Stiles, her hand stuffed into her pockets as she thought over the plan that was about to unfold. Of course, the plan would involuntarily involve Carter - naturally, seeing as though her body was linked to Stiles, Scott, and Allison.

"How'd you guys find out?" Scott questioned.

Stiles sighed, "Lydia."

"You?" Carter asked.

"Morrell," Scott answered simply, Carter chose not to dwell on it. "None of the other Alphas know where it is either."

"So if this works, are you gonna tell them?" Stiles inquired to his friend, he knew that the last thing they needed was for the Alphas to create more trouble for them.

"I can't stop Jennifer without them."

Deaton looked at each of the teens individually, "How about we concentrate on finding your parents first?" Carter nodded in agreement, as did Scott and Stiles. Carter kept her gaze away from Scott, unable to look at him. She couldn't look at him knowing that he left them for Deucalion - it was going to break her.

"What's the plan?"

"Essentially, you, Allison, and Stiles need to be surrogate sacrifices for your parents, while Carter needs to be a sacrifice of her own - this is the only way for her to relinquish Jennifer's hold on her life." Deaton explained, Carter let out a shaky breath.

"I thought her abilities would keep her alive even though she experienced someone else's death," Stiles wondered.

"Yes, they will," Deaton agreed. "But there is a gray area - if she were to experience more than one death at a time, she would temporally be dead."

Scott's eyes widened, "We die for them?"

Stiles was quick to explain: "But he can bring us back," he looked toward Deaton and questioned: "You can - You can bring us back, right?"

"You remember the part where I said it was dangerous?" Deaton asked, Carted nodded stiffly, "If it goes right, the four of you will be dead for a few seconds. But there's something else you need to think about. This is a dangerous thing for more reasons than one. You'll be giving power back to the Nemeton, a place that hasn't had power for a long time. This kind of power is like a magnet - it attracts the supernatural." Carter flickered her eyes toward Stiles, the two shared an equally nervous look. As if things in that town couldn't get any more screwed up, "the kind of things that a family like the Argents can fill the pages of a bestiary with. It will draw them here, like a beacon."

Stiles had a puzzled look on his face, "It doesn't sound any worse than anything we've already seen."

"You'd be surprised at what you have yet to see," Deaton assured, his eyes locked on Carter, as though he was predicting that she was going to do something terrible.

"Is that it?" Scott asked after a moment of silence had passed.

Deaton let out a sigh, "No. It'll also have an effect on the four of you. You won't be able to see it, but you'll feel it every day for the rest of your lives. It'll be a kind of a darkness around your heart. And permanent - like a scar."

Scott quietly breathed out: "Like a tattoo."

All four of them would soon feel the consequences of their actions - a heart filled with an immense darkness.

→

A different type of darkness was already starting to consume her heart as she watched Deaton, Lydia, and Isaac dump bags of ice into the tubs. Something cold - which felt strange to Carter - was creeping through her veins as she tried desperately hard to prepare herself for how much pain she was going to enduring in a few minutes.

The feeling of actually dying wasn't going to be the worst part; it would be the tidal wave of pain that hit her square in the chest when her friends died and she would just be left waiting to die herself. That excruciating pain, the one where she lost someone she was linked to - a pain that hurt worse than ripping off her arms and legs would.

It wasn't just agony; it was as though a part of her was being taken away from her and all she could feel was pain. It was ice drawing into her blood and putting out a flame that needed to stay lit. A part of her soul would be ripped out of her every time she experienced someone else's death.

It was a feeling worse than death itself.

"All right," Deaton's voice sounded, Carter feeling her heartbeat quicken in her chest. Looking toward the four teenagers, he questioned: "What did you bring?"

Stiles looked down at the slightly dented Sheriff's badge in his hand, stating: "Um - I got my dad's badge. Jennifer kind of crushed it in her hand, so I tried hammering it out a bit. Still doesn't look great."

"It doesn't need to look good if it has meaning."

"Is that an actual silver bullet?" Isaac asked, glancing down at the bullet in Allison's hand.

"Yeah, my dad made it as kind of a ceremonial thing," Allison explained. "When one of us finishes learning all the skills to be a hunter, we forge a silver bullet as a testament to the Code."

Deaton nodded before turning to the youngest Hale that had been standing next to Stiles, "Carter, did you bring something that defined yourself?"

"Yeah," Carter whispered, lifting her head slightly to see that the attention was now on her. "Um, it's a necklace with a moon-pendant on it. My mother, Talia, gave it to me two months before the fire - she said that no matter if I was a werewolf or not, that I would always be a child of Luna." Carter mumbled, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "I don't wear it much anymore, but it shows who I am."

She tried to ignore the lump in her throat as she slowly latched the necklace around her neck. Ever since she was ten-years-old, that necklace had been something she held close to her heart - she would clutch it tightly in her hands when she missed her family. For the first three years after the fire her sleep was plagued with nightmares and she tried to use the necklace as an anchor to draw herself out of the night terrors.

"Scott?"

The werewolf with the crooked jaw looked up from his mother's watch, and began to explain: "My dad got my mom this watch when she first got hired at the hospital. She used to say that it was the only thing in their marriage that ever worked."

"Okay," Deaton began once the teens had explained their sentimental objects. "The three of you will get in. Each of us will hold you down until you're essentially, well, dead. Carter, you will feel the water seeping into your lungs shortly after, you know how your abilities work. But it's not just someone to hold you under. It needs to be someone who can pull you back. Someone that has a strong connection to you, a kind of emotional tether."

Carter frowned, her eyes instinctively glanced over to Scott. She wondered if she would even be able to hold him down - she didn't know if she would be physically capable of doing it, seeing as though she would be killing herself and him.

"Carter, you go with Stiles," Deaton announced, knowing that Carter and Stiles shared a bond that outreached the lengths of any supernatural link he had ever seen.

Carter looked over at Deaton, her mouth gaped open in shock at his words. The entire time she thought she'd be the one holding Scott under the water, and now here Deaton was, telling them that Carter was Stiles' emotional tether.

Lydia moved to go toward Allison, only for Deaton's voice to call out: "Lydia, you won't be participating in this part."

"Are you sure?" Allison broke out, turning her attention away to share a look with Stiles before looking back over at the vet.

Deaton gave her a look, and the tension in the room became thicker the second that Allison and Isaac glanced over at each other. Carter expected the connection between Allison and Isaac to grow since Scott was no longer in the picture.

"Carter, remember," Deaton began, "While the others are searching for the Nemeton, you need to look for something too - whether it be yourself, or an anchor, or a memory...anything. No matter what you experience while you're out, this won't work and you won't come back if you don't find it."

Carter nodded, subconsciously rubbing at her neck as she met eyes with Stiles. He slowly walked over to her, and the two didn't bother saying anything to each other as he began to tug off his jacket and shoes. Allison and Scott were doing the same thing beside them.

Halfway through the undressing, Carter's eyes slowly found themselves flooding with tears, realizing that that could very well be the last time she was in the same room as all of her friends if the plane went wrong.

Carter swallowed hard, trying to blink away the tears as the familiar sense of an overwhelming heat coursed through her body - it was wronging about something she already knew was going to happen. The boy next to her turned to face her, immediately walking toward her and wrapping his arms around her when he noticed the evident look of fear on her face. She tightly gripped the back of his black shirt as his own grip tightened.

"I can't lose you," Carter muttered into his shoulder. "I can't lose any of you."

Stiles pulled away from her, "You won't."

Soon enough, Scott, Allison, and Stiles all slowly made their way over to the tubs of ice, staring down at their ice-filled pools of death with their parents' objects in their hands. Allison hesitantly stuck her foot into the water, letting out a harsh exhale at the temperature.

Stiles glanced back at Carter, who was giving him a reassuring nod. The Pheanix wasn't sure who she was reassuring, him or herself - she wasn't prepared to watch her friends die right in front of her. The teenage boy gave one nod of his head, slowly turning back to grip the sides of the tub and place his legs in.

Scott went next, letting out his own his and before Carter could blink they were all slowly descending their bodies into the water. She realized that it was actually real - it was happening and that it hadn't been some crazed nightmare she could wake up from. She noticed that all three of them were trembling, but none of them made an attempt to get out.

Stiles then turned to Scott, "By the way, if I don't make it back and you do, you should probably know something. Your dad's in town."

Those had been the last words exchanged before Deaton was nodding toward Carter and Isaac. Carter took a deep breath before her hands met Stiles' shoulders, squeezing them a few times as she tried to regulate her heartbeat. He stared up at her, something that she wished he hadn't done, and he nodded once to silently tell her that it was okay.

Nothing was ever going to be okay again.

Carter's hand stiffened, glancing over at Deaton once more. The man looked just as helpless as she and Isaac as he placed his hands on Scott's shoulders. Lydia positioned herself behind Carter, ready to take over when Carter's abilities kicked it. The brunette allowed her hands to push onto Stiles' shoulders, watching as his eyes closed shut the second he was underwater.

The darkness and pain consumed her seconds later.

→

OOOH...

Intense...but what do y'all think about that Starter (Stiles and Carter) kiss? I love their relationship - and it will only grow from here.