Playlist:

Not Ready To Make Nice ~ The Dixie Chicks

Start Again ~ RED

Carnivore ~ Starset

Jackson was placed into a body bag and then loaded into the ambulance. I was completely confused. Why would Gerard want Jackson to kill himself? How did that fit into his scheme?

"Thanks for your help," the EMT said to us. "But we can take it from here."

"You know, I'm gonna have to give a statement," Melissa said. "Why don't I ride with you?"

"Um, I think that would be a little —"

"Perfect, great." Melissa ran around to the passenger side of the ambulance and the EMT gave an exasperated sigh and then looked at me.

"I guess you want to ride with me, too?"

"Actually, I think I'll drive myself," I said. "I don't think there's enough room for me in there."

"Good." She turned and headed to the driver's side and I found Anna.

"What happened?" Anna asked.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out," I responded.

"Lydia doesn't want to be alone."

"Perfect, stay with her. And answer any questions she might have. If she remembers anything about what she did to raise Peter and asks about the supernatural, let her in on it."

Anna nodded and I raced to my car.

~~~

At the hospital, Melissa and I gave our statements to the police. After they left, Melissa took my wrist.

"Come on," she whispered and we headed towards the morgue.

"You know, for someone that just found out about this world, you're sure being assertive," I said.

"Don't you want to know what happened to Jackson?"

"I want to know why Gerard wanted Jackson to kill himself. What that has to do with his big plan?"

"Then let's find out." Melissa pulled the curtains around Jackson's body bag open. We walked in and Melissa hesitated, then noticed something. "What the hell is that?" she asked as she crouched down.

I saw what she was seeing. "Don't touch it. It's Kanima venom." I saw the exam gloves and immediately put them on before fishing a vial out of my purse. "It'll paralyze you."

"Do you seriously carry vials around in your purse?"

"Yep." I crouched down and collected the venom, having a feeling it might come in handy in the future.

"What are you doing?"

"A paralytic toxin might come in handy defensive-wise in the future. And I definitely don't have Kanima venom among my herbs."

"I keep forgetting you're a Druid."

I chuckled and screwed the lid back on before placing the bottle in its holder in my purse and discarding the gloves.

Melissa stood and unzipped the bag as I did so. "What the hell?"

I looked and couldn't believe what I saw. Jackson was surrounded by a cocoon of venom.

"You need to call Scott. I think I know why Gerard wanted Jackson to kill himself."

Melissa pulled her phone out and called her son. "Yeah? Well, I'm so freaked out I can barely talk right now. And Trish is pretty freaked out, too, and she's been in this world a lot longer than me." Yeah, it was true. I was a bit freaked out because if what I thought was happening with Jackson was true, we were screwed. Big time. "Something. Definitely something. I don't know what, but I think you're gonna want to see this yourself. Trish doesn't think it's good."

~~~

"What's happening to him?" Scott asked, having brought Isaac along with him.

"I thought you were going to tell me!" Melissa exclaimed. "Is it bad?"

"I doesn't look good," Isaac commented.

"I think it's a cocoon," I said. I looked at the others. "I think he's evolving. I think this was why Gerard wanted Jackson to kill himself. So he could evolve."

"Yep, it's bad," Melissa said.

Jackson suddenly moved and all four of us backed up.

"Whoa, whoa," Isaac said.

"Could... could one of you zip it, please?" Scott asked.

"Seriously? The big bad werewolf doesn't want to zip the bag?" I smarted off before going over to the bag and starting to zip. The zipper got stuck right under Jackson's chin. "You've got to be freaking kidding me!"

Melissa jumped in to help me get the zipper unstuck. Then Jackson hissed and opened his mouth like he was going to bite our hands. Melissa squeaked and jumped back. And I pulled my hands back, startled.

"Trish, zip."

"Okay, okay!" I finally got the zipper unstuck and Jackson started thrashing his head.

"Zip. Zip, Trish! Zip!"

I closed the bag.

"Hey, you're not my Alpha so knock it off," I said as I did so.

Scott pulled out his phone and updated Derek. "I don't think we have time for that." Jackson was moving around a lot. "He says we have to get him outta here now."

"I second that notion. We'll get him into my car."

"And go where?" Isaac asked.

"I'll figure that part out," I said.

Isaac and Scott picked up the bag and I led the way to the parking lot, acting as the lookout.

"Stop," I whispered as I peeked around a corner. "Okay, now." I jogged across the parking lot with the two wolves behind me until I heard a thud. I turned around to see that Scott had dropped his end and Isaac was looking at him wide-eyed. "Seriously? You couldn't hold onto it?" Scott bent down to pick his end back up as an SUV pulled into the parking lot. "Oh, shit." I immediately started to think of excuses why two teenagers were carrying a body bag. The SUV parked in front of us and I saw Chris step out of the car. Yep, we were screwed. There was no excuse I could come up with that a Hunter would believe. "There's a perfectly logical explanation for this, Argent, and it involves saving innocent lives."

"I know," he replied.

That threw me off guard. As did the fact that he didn't have backup like he usually did.

"You're alone," Scott noticed as well.

"More than you know."

"What do you want?"

Chris sighed. "We don't have much in common, Scott. But at the moment, we have a common enemy."

"That's why we're trying to get him out of here."

"He's not talking about Jackson," I said. I could see it in his eyes.

Chris nodded. "No, I'm not. Gerard has twisted his way into Allison's head in the same way he did with Kate." He looked at me. "What you said the night she died, you were right. The fire was truly Gerard's brainchild. He brainwashed Kate into doing it." He turned back to Scott. "I'm losing my daughter. And I know you're losing her, too."

I realized Chris had known the entire time that Scott and Allison were still together.

Scott looked at him, surprised. "You're right. So can you trust us to fix this?"

Chris was quiet for a moment before nodding.

"Then can you let us go?"

"No."

"What?"

"My car's faster."

I held my finger up. "I am willing to ally with you, Argent. On one condition."

"Name it."

"You leave Derek alone after this."

"You have my word on that."

That satisfied me. Chris had never backed out on his word with me.

~~~

We pulled up into the warehouse district and we all got out of the car.

"I think he stopped moving," Isaac said.

I looked around, Derek was supposed to meet us here.

"Where's Derek?" Chris asked.

I sighed and motioned in front of us as Derek came towards us in an all-fours werewolf leap before doing this stupid flip and landing in front of us. I rolled my eyes. "Was that really necessary?" I asked.

He gave Chris a suspicious look.

"I'm here for Jackson. Not you," Chris explained.

"Somehow, I don't find that very comforting." He looked at me. "This was your idea, wasn't it?"

"I did suggest it over a month ago, but Chris approached us and offered to help. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, remember?" For once, he didn't argue with me. Hell must have froze over.

"Get him inside."

We walked into the warehouse as Chris pulled his SUV inside. The boys pulled the body bag out of the car and laid it on the ground.

"Where are they?" Scott asked.

Derek looked a bit confused. "Who?"

"Peter and Lydia."

I guess Scott knew now. Derek sighed before straddling Jackson and starting to reach down for the zipper.

"Hold on a second."

Derek unzipped the bag.

"You said you knew how to save him."

Derek opened the bag. "We're past that."

I noticed the cocoon was gone and Jackson was partially covered in scales.

"Derek, wait," I said.

"What about..."

"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, you need to back up." I hadn't taken my eyes off of Jackson. I was pretty certain we were too late. Derek glared at me. "I mean it, Derek. Move."

"No," Chris said. Derek straightened. "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."

"Of course not," Gerard's voice came from my right and I saw him standing in the doorway. I glared at Chris, who had a shocked look on his face. "Anything that dangerous, that out of control, is better off dead."

Derek raised his arm, claws extended, and went for Jackson. Jackson's hand shot up and he dug his claws into Derek's chest.

"Derek!" I gasped in shock and backed up as the Kanima lifted Derek into the air as he stood.

Scott backed away as well and Chris pointed his gun at Jackson. Jackson threw Derek several yards and through hanging plastic. The Kanima hissed at us.

"Well done to the last, Scott."

I looked at Scott.

Gerard started to walk towards us. "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."

I heard the whistle of an arrow leaving the bow and Scott ducked. Isaac didn't and the crossbow bolt hit him in the shoulder.

"Allison?" Scott asked.

I darted over to Isaac and pulled the bolt out. Scott darted over to us and helped him to his feet, dragging him out of harm's way, I covering their escape. Chris fired at Jackson, which triggered the rest of his transformation. He retreated when he was disarmed and the Kanima went after the Hunter. I used my force magic against Jackson, but with his more powerful form, it barely staggered him and he slammed into Chris, sending him flying across the room. He turned towards me and hissed and I gathered my magic, my eyes turning. Derek flipped over a stack of pallets, fully transformed, and roared. The Kanima's attention went to Derek. The next thing I knew, I had a pair of fully transformed Betas on either side of me. Isaac looked at Scott as if he were waiting for his lead. I glanced at the older Beta and I saw his eyes weren't bright yellow, like Isaac's currently was, but a dull orange. I had never seen a werewolf with dull orange eyes. My mind went back to the fight my Alpha was currently having with the Kanima. Scott darted forward, as did I, with Isaac behind us. Chris had dropped a knife when Jackson had slammed into him, so I currently had that knife in my hand. Isaac was thrown across the room and I ducked at the swipe, cutting into his back. Yes, I know how to fight with more than magic. Shocker, right? Derek jumped down off a metal support beam and slammed his fists into the Kanima's back, causing him to stagger forward and Derek swiped at him when he turned around. The Kanima blocked and grabbed him by the throat before spinning the Alpha around and slamming him against a wall. Derek went down and rolled and Scott kicked the Kanima in the back, sending him against the wall Derek had slammed into a moment ago. Scott charged and Jackson kicked him in the chest, sending him flying across the room and into the far wall. I stabbed him in the back, but wasn't quick enough to avoid Jackson's tail knocking my feet out from under me. Jackson turned to swipe at me and I sent a blast of my strongest force at him. He slightly staggered back but came at me again. I rolled, kicking him in the knee. He staggered again and I was able to regain my feet. I ducked a swipe and spun around. The Kanima kicked me in the stomach and I went down, rolling several feet before coughing. Derek charged and the Kanima slashed his stomach. Derek went down.

"Derek!" I cried.

Isaac immediately started to go towards his Alpha as Derek struggled to rise, only to be blocked by Allison, who slashed him several times before stabbing him in the back with duel daggers. Isaac went down and she looked over at Derek. She spun the blades around and headed towards Derek.

"No, Allison!" Scott cried.

I stumbled, trying to rise in order to protect Derek and ignoring the pain shooting through my right side. The Kanima stopped Allison in her tracks by grabbing her arms and making her drop the daggers and then grabbed her by the throat. She gasped.

"Not yet, sweetheart," Gerard said as he came out of the shadows.

"What are you doing?" Allison asked.

"He's doing what he came here to do," Scott answered. I noticed his eyes were still a dull orange.

"Then you know," Gerard seemed surprised.

"What is he talking about?" Allison asked.

"I'd like to know that, too," I said, holding my side. I was pretty sure I had a broken rib or two from Jackson's kick. I was probably just as confused as Allison. And Derek judging by the look on his face. Gerard looked between Scott, Allison, me, and then back to Scott.

"It was that night outside the hospital, wasn't it, when I threatened your mother."

Chris helped me to my feet and I nodded to let him know I was alright, despite the fact I was holding my side. My healing would kick in soon, I was sure. I knew in a few days I'd be whole again.

"I knew I saw something in your eyes. You could just smell it, couldn't you?"

"He's dying," Isaac said, still on the ground but back in his human form.

"I am."

Chris looked distraught.

"I have been for a while now."

I realized why his look changed the night he dragged me to the animal clinic to examine Bennett. "That's why your look changed when I told you how my mother died. You're dying the same way she did."

"Unfortunately, science doesn't have a cure for cancer yet." He looked down at Derek. "But the supernatural does."

Allison gave a sob, a tear rolling down her cheek. And I realized that he had used Victoria's death to brainwash Allison into getting what he wanted. Gerard looked at Allison and the Kanima tightened his grip on her throat.

"You monster," Chris said, hatred in his voice.

"Not yet."

I realized what Gerard wanted. "No!"

"What are you doing?" Allison asked.

Gerard looked at Allison again and once again the grip was tightened.

"You'll kill her, too?" Chris was beyond pissed.

"When it comes to survival, I'd kill my own son!"

I was in complete shock.

"Allison's survival, though, will depend on your little Emissary friend there."

I realized then that Gerard had known the entire time. And that he was going to make me choose between my Alpha and an innocent teenage girl.

"You're going to make me choose who to protect?" I asked.

"You protect him, the Kanima kills Allison," Gerard said as if he were talking about the weather.

"And if I protect her, you'll kill Derek when you turn."

I hadn't planned on this at all. I glanced at Scott, who nodded.

"Scott," Gerard said to the young Beta.

Scott growled and transformed back to his human form. He looked between Gerard and Chris. Gerard looked expectant while Chris looked distraught. He looked at Allison and then at me. Scott then walked towards Derek.

"Scott, don't do this," I said. He hesitated before picking Derek up. "Scott!"

Derek looked over at me and shook his head. I hadn't changed my eyes back yet, but I knew with the look in his eyes that he didn't want me hurt because of him and I wasn't sure if I could protect them both.

"Scott, don't," Derek grunted. "You know what Trish said is true. You know he's gonna kill me right after. He'll be an Alpha."

"And worse than Peter ever was."

"That's true. But I think he already knows that, don't you, Scott. He knows the ultimate prize is Allison."

Allison shook her head at Scott.

"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's just no competing with young love."

My nostril's flared, knowing that it was a jab at Derek's naïve teenage relationship with Kate. And I saw that same anger on Derek.

"Scott, don't," Derek cried. "Don't!"

"I'm sorry. But I have to." Scott pulled his head back.

"No!" I screamed. Chris held me back, being careful not to touch my side and making my decision for me. Gerard rolled up his sleeve. "Scott, no!"

Gerard put his arm into Derek's mouth and he involuntarily bit. Gerard screamed in pain before removing his arm. Scott let Derek fall and Chris let go. I fell to my knees next to Derek as Gerard started laughing. I looked up as he held his arm up. I expected it to start healing, but instead, his blood began to turn black. My eyes changed back and I'm pretty sure I had a completely confused look on my face. Everyone around me must have had the same looks on their face because Gerard's smile faded.

"What?" He looked down at his arm and saw the thick, black blood trailing down his arm. "What is this? What did you do?"

Derek and I looked at one another. He was just as confused as I was. Then we both looked up at Scott.

Scott in turn looked down at us. "Everyone said Gerard always had a plan." He looked at Gerard. "I had a plan, too."

Oh, you conniving little shit. Gerard pulled out a pill container and dumped the contents into his hand.

"No, no...," Gerard crunched the pills in his hand. "Mountain Ash!"

Okay, I have to give Scott credit for that. I would have never thought to switch his cancer pills for ones filled with Mountain Ash. With the Mountain Ash in his system, his body would reject the Bite. But now I would have to watch someone else die from the Bite. The black liquid started to come out of his nose, eyes, and ears and he fell to his knees. He vomited a hell of a lot of the substance and I had to turn away, unable to watch any longer. I heard him collapsed afterward. Derek looked at me, the unasked question in his eyes.

"Don't look at me. I wasn't part of this plan," I said. I'm sure Scott thought I'd tell Derek, thus I wasn't in the know.

Derek then looked at Scott. "Why didn't you tell me?" my Alpha asked.

"Because you might be an Alpha, but you're not mine," Scott said.

I scoffed and shook my head. Derek looked at him and seemed to accept that before his attention went back to Gerard, who was pulling himself across the floor, spitting. He looked at us.

"Kill them! Kill them all!" Gerard collapsed again, this time not moving.

The Kanima removed his hand from around Allison's throat and she elbowed him in the face. He pushed her down and then stood in front of her, hissing at us. I jumped to my feet, hissing from jarring my side, and went into a protective stance in front of Derek as something crashed through the wall and hit the Kanima. That something turned out to be Stiles' Jeep with Stiles, Lydia, and Anna inside.

"What the hell?" I sighed.

"Did I get him?" Stiles called, causing Scott to give a small laugh. The Kanima hopping onto the hood and the girls shrieked. Jackson roared and Stiles screamed. The three of them scrambled out of the car and Lydia stopped in front of Jackson.

"Jackson!" she cried.

"Lydia!" I cried. Anna held onto my arm.

"Jackson."

"Lydia!" Stiles cried as Jackson raised his hand to strike and Lydia held something up. Stiles started to go back for her and Scott stopped him. Jackson froze and slowly began to turn back into Jackson.

"She figured out how to reach him," Anna whispered.

Jackson took a key from her and he seemed to realize who he was again. He looked at Lydia before backing up. He looked past me and held his arms out. I looked over my shoulder to Derek rise. I looked back at Jackson and he nodded. I moved over so Anna and I wouldn't get caught between Derek and Jackson. Peter suddenly came out of nowhere and Derek darted past me, sinking his claws into Jackson's side and Peter dug his claws into his back. Anna gasped and I'm sure my mouth hung open in shock. I guess it shouldn't surprise me that Derek would kill him anyway. Jackson fell to his knees and Lydia rushed forward to catch him. Derek backed away as he transformed back to human and glanced over at me, a look on his face that said he hadn't really wanted to kill him. Isaac backed up as well, and Derek put his hand on his Beta's shoulder to keep him from backing into him.

"Do you...," Jackson whispered. "Do you still?"

"I do," Lydia sobbed. She nodded her head. "I do still love you. I do, I do still love you. I do."

Jackson collapsed into Lydia and she began to sob as the key fell out of his hand. Anna hugged me tight, tears rolling down her cheeks. Lydia gently laid Jackson down as I stroked Anna's curls, tears in my own eyes. All this time of trying to save Jackson, only for him to lose his life after all.

"Where's Gerard?" Allison suddenly asked.

I looked over to where he'd collapsed to find him gone.

"He can't be far," Chris said. He'd made his escape while we'd been focused on Jackson.

Lydia stood and wiped away her tears, turning away from Jackson. Stiles started to walk towards her when we all heard scratching. The wounds Derek gave Jackson healed and Stiles backed up. I pushed Anna behind me as Jackson stood. And roared as a fully transformed werewolf. Yeah. I think I may have seen everything now. He transformed back to human and looked very confused afterward.

"Holy crap," I breathed.

I definitely wasn't expecting that. At all. Lydia ran and jumped into his arms and the two hugged each other tightly. I looked back at Derek, who looked just as puzzled as me.

"He scratched my Jeep," Stiles said as he walked towards it. Scott opened his mouth to say something but then decided against it.

"Let's go home."

~~~

A few days later, I was walking through the woods with Derek, Peter, and Isaac. The three had failed to find Erica and Boyd. They had been captives of Gerard and once he'd returned from the warehouse incident, Chris had set them free. But now the two were missing. Peter had been trying to get me to talk to him for the entire walk.

"Come on, Trish. I made a mistake. I get that. Will you stop giving me the silent treatment? How many times do I have to apologize? I didn't know what I was doing."

"Oh, for the love of God will you talk to him so he'll shut up?" Derek said. Isaac chuckled.

"Come on, your sister trusts me."

I stopped and turned to him. "Okay, for starters, don't use Anna against me because that will get you hurt."

"Fair enough."

"And just because Anna trusts you, doesn't mean I have to. I trusted you and then you went on a killing spree that included your own family. There's no trust between us right now. But prove to me that I can and possibly I will again. Prove it to me, Peter."

"Again. Fair enough."

We approached the Hale house and I did not like what I saw. A swastika-looking triskelion was painted onto the door. I sighed. They were here.

"You haven't told him everything yet, have you?" Peter said.

Isaac looked back at the three of us and Peter looked at the two of us. Derek and I looked at one another.

"What do you mean?" Isaac asked.

Peter leaned against a tree. "Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack, despite Trish warning him he couldn't control three newly turned wolves at once during a full moon?" How the hell did Peter know that? "So eager to strengthen his power and number? When there's a new Alpha, people take notice."

"People like who?" Issac pointed at the triskelion on the door. "What is this? What does it mean?"

"It's their symbol," Derek answered. "And it means they're coming?"

"Who?"

"Alphas," I said.

"More than one?"

"A pack of them," Derek added.

"An Alpha pack," Peter said. "And they're not coming."

"They're already here," I finished. But I knew something Peter or Derek didn't.

I knew the real reason the Alpha pack was here.