☾

"So, how's Stiles?" Lydia asks, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger. I lean against the wall near Coach's office, shrugging lightly.

"We're good, and I'm glad I took your advice and went for it. I know I was happy with Aurora, but I've never felt like this with anyone," I say.

"You deserve to be happy, even if it is with him. If you're happy, I'm happy," she says genuinely.

I smile but then someone cuts into our conversation. "Hey, Mary Anne? Can we talk for a second?" Scott asks.

Lydia and I share a look before she smiles with a questioning gleam in her eyes, mouthing "see you later" before walking off.

"Of course," I say politely, turning around to walk into Coach's office, the door already open, and lean against the desk. "Is this about the other night? You need someone to talk to?"

"Just I needed to ask you something," he says, shutting the door. "Do you... Do you know if Allison still likes me?"

"Of course she still likes you," I answer honestly with a small smile.

"Really?" He asks, a hint of hope in his voice.

However, his face falls as I add, a somber note to my voice, "She'll always like you. As just friends, right now."

"Just friends," he repeats.

"If you ask me, I think she made a mistake," I say, trying to be friendly with him, and moving to stand in front of him. "I know you locked us in there to protect us, and you left to protect us. When a guy risks his life for you, you should be grateful."

He looks up at me, eyes intense and holding an undecipherable emotion. "Are you grateful?" He asks, his voice odd and frankly, a little unnerving.

"What? Of course, I am Sco—" I start but I'm cut off by him crushing his lips onto mine. I don't freeze up and I don't respond, instantly pushing him back by the shoulders, my enhanced strength causing him to stumble back into the desk. "What the hell!" I yell, furious with him. "I'm dating your best friend! Why would you do that?" He doesn't answer, instead, he smirks at me. My emotions are bubbling and a thick lump becomes lodged in my throat, making it hard for me to talk, so I don't.

I storm out the office, tears of anger and frustration pricking the back of my eyes as I walk until I'm on the field. I have to tell Stiles about this, I can't keep it a secret because secrets can ruin a relationship. Look what it did to my first and last relationship. And if he does find out from someone else, he'll think I cheated on him. I don't believe in cheating, it goes against my morals, but he doesn't know that.

When I see him on the bench, my heart cracks as he waves happily at me. I return the wave, half-heartedly, as I climb onto the bleachers. Instead of watching them practice, I instead think about Scott. Why would he do that? Why would he do that if he knows Stiles likes me and that I'm dating him? It's probably because of the full moon and the break-up...

Oh, Gods, I hope this doesn't end badly.

Then I hear my friend's name from various people out on the field, my attention going to everyone around the goal. "Danny," I whisper, rushing to get up and down there. To get there faster, I run and stop when I get to the front of the crowd, seeing one of my best friends on the ground, the acrid smell of blood invading my nose.

"Is he okay?" I ask Jackson, watching as the paramedic shines a little light in Danny's eyes.

"Yeah, it looks like he just has a bloody nose..." he trails off, looking down at me with furrowed brows.

"What?" I hiss, uncomfortable with his scrutinizing gaze.

"You're lipstick," he says. Oh! I take out a little compact mirror I have in my jacket pocket and flip it open, cursing myself for wearing red lipstick today. It's smudged at the corner of my lips. I don't say anything, wiping it away and putting my mirror back, meeting the eyes of my boyfriend.

Pain and anguish shine in his whiskey eyes, lips parted, as he puts the pieces together, and probably thinking the worst. "Stiles," I murmur, moving to go over to him. But I keep some distance between us, tears stinging the corners of my eyes. "I didn't kiss him."

"Then how do you explain your lipstick, huh?" He asks lowly, angry and hurt.

"Stiles, he kissed me," I say honestly, not allowing my tears to fall. "I don't know why, but he was asking me about Allison and he kissed me. I pushed him back, I swear." His face shows doubt, poking his tongue inside his cheek. "Stiles, please," I plead, daring to step closer and put a hand on his bicep. "Why would I ruin the best thing that has ever happened to me? And I wouldn't kiss Scott, I only like him in the platonic sense."

He was silent for a few moments, not looking at me until finally, he gazes down at me. "I believe you," he whispers, making me smile a little in relief. "But I'm still pissed at Scott." Mischief glimmers in his eyes. "Wanna help me get payback?"

"Hell yeah."

☾

Stiles picked me up when it got dark and told me the plan; chain Scott up as payback, and because we don't want him to wolf out and kill us and other people.

I follow him into the McCall house, not surprised that he has a key to it since they're best friends, and I shut the door behind me, hearing his mom call out, "Scott?" Her eyes land on us, confused.

"Stiles," he says with a smile.

"And Mary Anne," I add, smiling at her. I've known Melissa McCall for years since my sister works with her, and she was the nurse who treated me when I broke my arm when I was twelve.

"Key!" She exclaims, pointing at it.

"Yeah. I had one made, so..." Stiles trails off awkwardly.

"That doesn't surprise me," Melissa says, a little flatly. "It scares me, but it doesn't surprise me." Stiles drops the duffel bag onto the ground, the chains rattling, which is very audible. "What is that?"

"Uh, school project," Stiles lies.

"Hmm," Melissa hums. "Stiles, he's okay, right?"

"Who? Scott? Yeah. Totally," Stiles lies again.

"He just doesn't talk to me that much anymore, not like he used to," she says sadly.

"Well, he's had a bit of a rough week," Stiles tries to explain. Yeah, rough week. More like a few rough weeks.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Yeah," she says, but she obviously doesn't get it. Not really, anyways. "Um, okay. Be careful tonight."

"You, too," Stiles and I say in unison.

"Full moon," she says casually, making my eyes widen. What? Does she know? How?

"What?" Stiles and I ask in unison again.

"There's a full moon tonight," she says, chuckling. "You should see how the ER gets. Brings out all the nut jobs."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Right."

"You know, it's actually where they came up with the word 'lunatic'," she informs us as she leaves.

"Okay, that was alarming," I breathe out once the door shuts, sharing a look with Stiles who looks a bit creeped out and relieved at the same time.

"Let's get this thing started," he whispers, picking up the bag and we troop up the stairs, following him into Scott's room. He drops the bag and flips on the light, bumping into me when as he exclaims, "Oh, my God!"

I move away from behind him to see Scott sitting in a chair in the corner, an odd and dark look on his face.

"Dude. You scared the hell out of me," Stiles admonishes him, picking up the bag again and walking further into the room while I stand slightly behind him. "Your mom said you weren't home yet."

"I came in through the window," he says oddly. His look is unnerving.

"Okay," Stiles says awkwardly, crouching down to the bag. "Uh, well, let's get this setup. I want you to see what I bought."

"I'm fine," Scott waves off. "I'm just gonna lock the door and go to bed early tonight."

Yeah, like that's gonna work, genius.

"You sure about that?" Stiles asks. "'Cause you've got this kind of serial killer look going on in your eyes, and I'm hoping it's the full moon taking effect, 'cause it's really starting to freak me out."

"I'm fine," Scott repeats. "You should go now."

"All right, I'll leave," Stiles relents. "Well, look, would you just take a look in the bag and see what I bought? You know, maybe you use it, maybe you don't. Sound good?"

Scott gets up and slowly walks over, crouching down and taking out a handful of the chains, saying in disgust, "You think I'm gonna let you pet these on and chain me up like a dog?"

"Actually, no," Stiles replies, quickly moving and handcuffing Scott's wrist to the radiator, moving back quickly to my side.

"What the hell are you doing?" Scott yells, pulling on the cuff and looking up at us.

"Protecting you from yourself and giving you some payback... For kissing Mary Anne," he says angrily.

☾

Stiles had left the room to go to the kitchen for something, while I stayed behind to watch Scott in silence. I'm still very angry with him, my fingers itching to claw him with my nails.

My eyes go to the door beside me as Stiles walks in holding a dog bowl with Scott's name on it and a bottle of water. Okay, now that's funny. "I brought you some water," Stiles says, holding up the bowl and pouring the water in, putting it in front of Scott who picks it up and throws it at him as he starts to leave, reaching for my hand.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Scott threatens.

"You kissed her, Scott, okay?" Stiles says angrily, turning around after a moment of silence. "You kissed Mary Anne. That's, like, the one girl that I... And, you know, the past three hours, I've been thinking, it's probably just the full moon, you know, he doesn't even know what he's doing, and tomorrow, he'll be totally back to normal. He probably won't even remember what a complete dumbass he's been. A son of a bitch, a freaking unbelievable piece of crap friend."

"She kissed me," he says lowly.

"What?" I ask rhetorically, my voice rising slightly, moving to stand in front of Stiles while glaring at him. This fucking liar!

"I didn't kiss her. She kissed me," he taunts.

I slip my hand into my boyfriend's and hope he doesn't believe him, that he knows I wouldn't do that to him. We leave the room and into the hallway, Stiles moving his back against the wall as Scott continues to taunt him. Sliding down the wall until he's on the floor, he pulls me down so I'm sitting next to him, arms around me and basically trying to fuse me into his side.

"She would have done a lot more, too. You should have seen the way she had her hands all over me. She would have done anything I wanted. Anything!"

"Stiles," I whisper, head on his shoulder while his buried in my neck. "That's not true, it's not. I wouldn't do that to you."

"I know," he mumbles. "It hurts to imagine it, though."

We sit like for a while, the only sounds being the cuffs against the radiator and Scott's grunts from trying to escape, his blood faint in my nose. He must be tearing at the skin on his wrists from trying to get the cuffs off. Stiles runs his fingers through my hair while I lace my fingers with his other hand, hoping to console him.

"Stiles, please let me out," Scott pleads. "It's the full moon, I swear. You know I wouldn't do any of this on purpose. Please, Stiles, let me out. It's starting to hurt. It's not like the first time. It's the full moon. It's Allison breaking up with me. I know that it's not just taking a break. She broke up with me. And it's killing me. I feel completely hopeless. Just, please, let me out."

"I can't," Stiles says quietly, remorse coloring his voice.

"No, no, no!" Is what I hear from Scott, the handcuffs rattling and his screams of pain.

Stiles buries his head into my neck further, trying to muffle the sounds while I cover his one ear, rubbing his hand with the other. But then I hear a loud growl, the sound of metal snapping following it, my ears perking up and Stiles pops his head out from my neck.

"Scott, are you okay?" No response. "Scott?"

I quickly get up, Stiles following me as I open the door and enter the room. My eyes fall to the spot I last saw Scott in, which is empty. There's a bit of blood and the snapped handcuffs, the window open.

Wait... I can find him. Tuning out for a moment, a lilting voice resonates in my head. "Always trust your instincts, little love. Whether it be your gut or nose, follow your instincts. They will never be wrong and they will never fail you."

Nose. I can find him by scent. Quickly, as I can hear Stiles start running down the hall, I dive for Scott's bed and grab one of his pillows, bringing it to my nose and inhaling deeply, catching a scent.

It worked, it actually worked.

"Thanks, Papa," I whisper to myself, dropping the pillow to the bed. I've only met two men in my life with an accent and despite not hearing his voice in nearly a decade, I can't forget the sound of my own father's voice. Remembering Stiles, I dash out the room quickly, following him. "Stiles!" I yell, chasing after him outside to his jeep. "I got his scent, I'm gonna go find him... Or at least try to, I'm still new at this."

He stops and whips around, staring at me with wide eyes while stepping towards me. "You're going after a werewolf during the full moon?" He questions incredulously, flailing his hands around.

Suddenly, I feel heat flashing through my eyes, painful at first but then it disappears. "Time to test that half-werewolf theory," I say with a smirk. Just as I'm about to turn and take off into the woods, Stiles catches my wrist and spins me around, slamming his lips onto mine in a fiery kiss.

"Come back safe, okay? Don't die on me," he pleads quietly against my lips.

I nod and he lets go, his eyes on me as I turn and take off. Thank the Gods for my enhanced speed as I rush through the woods, following the scent. It's different than others, more distinct and stronger. Like werewolves have different scents than humans.

As I run, I feel some kind of power rush through me, the burst of power speeding me up. It's like I said before, everything is heightened even more now, like I get more powerful because of the full moon. Maybe Stiles is right, maybe I'm part werewolf.

I lose track of time how long I've been running, but I stop when I get near a parking lot, and at the sight of two people fighting, both werewolves by the looks of it. I would totally cut in but I'm not one hundred percent sure about the werewolf theory so I'm not going to walk into a fight like that.

I can identify that one of them is Scott, the scent the same and very strong now, and the other is... Derek. He's actually alive. He survived an attack by the Alpha.

Derek picks Scott up and slams him into the ground, holding him there and roaring in his face and letting him go, Scott scrambling backward on his behind, calm now. When the older man walks through the shadows and into the moonlight, his face turns back to normal as he stares down at the teen.

Scott looks down at his claws, his breathing deep and ragged. "What's happening to me?" Scott asks.

"Exactly what he wants to happen."

This just got a whole lot more complicated.

☾

Derek and I help Scott into his room, (after they had seen that they weren't alone, which they didn't question) dropping Scott onto his bed. He's weak after all that, something completely understandable. But I'm still kinda mad at him for kissing me and almost ruining my relationship with Stiles, so the sympathy will soon run out.

The older man turns to leave while I stand there, waiting for him to leave so I could call Stiles and tell him I found Scott. And that Derek is alive. "Wait," Scott says, making Derek stop and turn around. "I can't do this. I can't do this and be with Allison."

Now I just feel bad for Scott; he doesn't deserve this, no one does.

"I need you to tell me the truth," Scott instructs. "Is there a cure?"

"For someone who was bitten?" Derek asks. "I've heard of one. I don't know if it's true."

"Well, what is it?" Scott asks, a hint of desperation in his voice.

Derek is silent for a moment before answering. "You have to kill the one that bit you."

How the hell is he supposed to kill the Alpha? Which is apparently the most dangerous and animistic of their kind, according to what Scott told Stiles, who told me.

"Kill the Alpha?" Scott repeats incredulously.

Silence falls upon us, so thick with tension that not even a knife could cut through it. "Scott," Derek starts. "If you help me find him, I'll help you kill him."

"So will I," I join in, arms crossed. Both males look at me with doubt. "I'm growing stronger every day, and if it'll end all of this, I'm gonna help." I step forward, a sort of rage running through me. "This Alpha is threatening the lives of people I care about, and no one messes with my family. So, I'll help you kill the Alpha."

☾

More hints about what Mary Anne is, yay!

Spring break is about to end and so I'm getting as many chapters published as possible so expect a few more chapters for the next few days.

Void_Stiles_is_Life xx