The magic around Derek's neck left at his words as I took a step back. I stared at the werewolf, willing his words to be lies.

"You're lying," I said.

Derek shook his head, as if I was a toddler unable to understand something. "Think about it, Y/n. Kate took you in because you were a witch. She raised you to be a soldier, loyal to Kate, and only her. Why else do you think she kept you from the rest of her family? Because she wanted you to be her soldier. Her witch. She somehow found out you were a witch and slaughtered your parents, taking you for herself so she could raise you to be her weapon. She never cared about you or your parents. She's the reason you don't have a mother, not me."

I felt like I was going to vomit. I could see how it would have worked, see the dots connecting, but I couldn't believe it. The woman who raised me was the reason I was an orphan. Kate, murdering my parents?

"Do you know for sure?" I asked, voice barely above a whisper.

Derek looked at me with something like pity in his eyes. "I know Kate, and this is absolutely something she would do."

It was, wasn't it? Kate was always ambitious. She always found a way to get what she wanted, even if that way wasn't moral. If she'd found out a baby was a witch, what would stop her from murdering the parents and taking the child for herself? Imagine it, Kate in charge of a witch, Kate using her to eradicate werewolves for good, seen as a savior in her family.

I could see her doing it, yet I didn't want to believe it. Kate had raised me. She had been the person I looked up to for so many years, the person I used to see as a parental figure, however ill-conceived that notion had been.

She had been the reason I had no family. She had killed them as if they were nothing, ripping my family away from me. I would never have a mother or father because of her. She was the reason I was an orphan. The reason I couldn't trust people. The reason I was the way I was. I looked back through my memories, to the stories she used to tell me before bed, of the witch who followed the hunters to victory.

She'd been brainwashing me before I could speak, planning everything in my life so meticulously so I'd have blind faith towards her, and only her. I was reminded of the night Gerard visited, his curious gaze and Kate's evasive answers. The words he'd spoken to her before he left. I'll keep your secret.

Gerard had known. Whether he was referring to me being a witch or Kate's murder of my parents, he knew. He'd known all this time and had manipulated me time and time again. My eyes flashed as I wondered if Victoria had even written that letter, or if it was just another one of Gerards tactics to make me into his weapon.

I stepped back, stumbling a bit. I needed to get out of here. I couldn't think with Derek's icy gaze, especially because he was right. Kate had murdered my parents. It was all so obvious now, and I hated that he had been the one to tell me.

Derek grabbed my wrist as I tried to leave, starting to say something, but my eyes flashed and I threw him across the hall with my magic, the invisible shield gone.

"Don't ever touch me again," I spat at him, before turning around and calmly walking away, trying to act as though I was unaffected by his words.

As soon as I turned the corner I fled.

. . .

I was pacing my room, trying to quiet the noise in my head. Memories flashed across my mind, like a slideshow of my childhood, except each image was contaminated as I found new meanings for every single thing Kate had ever done. I scrutinised her, questioning her motives and doubting things I once believed to be true.

I didn't want to believe Derek's words. Even when it made sense, when I felt like I understood another piece of the puzzle, I wanted to deny it. I didn't want to accept the fact that everyone I cared for had betrayed me. First Derek and Isaac, now the only family I had left? What did that leave me with? Who did that leave me with?

I knew I needed to find out the truth. No matter how much I dreaded it, if I didn't prove it was true, I would never rest. Never fully believe it but never fully deny it either. I'd be stuck in a tug of war full of doubt, each side wrenching me towards them for the rest of my life. I didn't want that, but I wasn't sure I wanted this either.

At the sound of the door slamming shut, I knew Gerard had arrived home. He was the only way I'd be able to confirm Derek's words, but the thought of asking him that, and of hearing his answer, made me physically ill.

I heaved in a deep breath, ignoring the way my lungs seemed to shrink, making me feel more out of breath than before, and exited my room. Each step forward made my mind scream at me. Each second I continued my pace, determined for answers, made my courage shrink, until I was standing in front of Gerard's office, hand hovering over the door but unable to knock.

Did I really want to know the answer? What if Derek was right, and Kate killed my parents? What was I supposed to do then? Leave the only family I had because they betrayed me? Would it be better not knowing? To live my life in ignorance, but to live it with my family? To live it and love them, rather than add more hatred into my life?

Before I could decide, the door opened, and the decision was made for me.

"Y/n, I thought I heard you out here," Gerard greeted, a smile on his face. I wasn't sure if it was my mind playing tricks on me, or if the smile looked sinister, the sort of smile a human would give an animal as it walked itself into the slaughterhouse.

I gave him what I hoped was a smile, my stomach churning uncomfortably, and entered his office, sitting myself in a chair across from his desk. Gerard watched me fidget as he took his own seat across the desk from me, eyes observing me with keen interest.

I was gonna be sick.

"So, what brought you to my office?" Gerard asked, the perfect picture of the caring grandpa. "I noticed you left the station alone. Is everything alright?"

I swallowed thickly, willing myself to speak. "I was just curious about my parents. My real parents," I clarified. "Kate never told me much about them, and I was hoping you might know?"

Gerard was silent for a beat before speaking. "I'm sad to say I never knew them personally," he answered. "I only knew of them through Kate, and even then my information of them is little."

"So you don't know anything about them?" I pressed nervously.

Gerard shook his head. "Not much."

"No important details on who they were.... How they died?"

Gerard looked at me funny. "Is there a certain reason you're asking me these questions Y/n-"

"Did Kate kill them?" I blurted out.

Silence descended over the room. The only thing I could hear was the rapid beat of my heart racing in my chest. Gerard looked shocked, no doubt his mind whirring behind those dark brown eyes of his.

"No," he eventually answered. "No of course not. Why would you ask such a thing?"

My heart stuttered at the answer, the truth finally out. "Just- something Derek said that got to me."

Gerard almost looked worried. "Do you need to talk about it?"

I quickly shook my head. "No thank you. I'm alright now. Thank you for answering my questions."

I left quickly after that, keeping my head down and mouth shut until I was in my room with the door closed and locked. Only then did I let myself cry, feeling a desperate hopelessness crash over me as I silently undid the truth spell I had on.

Gerard had been lying. Kate had killed my parents.

I was alone.

I felt sick to my stomach. Kate had killed my parents. My family. And Gerard had known. This new family I thought I'd found was just as fake as Kate's lies. They were no family of mine. Kate had been no friend of my parents. She had murdered them and left me an orphan.

In just a couple of days I'd managed to lose everyone I thought I had. Isaac and Derek, Allison and Gerard. Even if Allison didn't know, I couldn't stay here and fight with her, fight with the family who killed my own one.

So I had no one.

Not no one, a voice reminded me in my head. There's still Scott and Stiles.

I hesitated. Would they even want to see me, after how I'd treated Scott at the station? Would they still want me on their team?

They're all I've got, I thought bitterly. I might as well try to go with them, because they were my last chance at not being alone in this war.

I couldn't stay in this house though, not when this family had a hand in killing my own, not when Gerard knew Kate killed my parents and lied to my face about it. I refused to help them with anything anymore, and I needed to get out as soon as possible.

I got a bag and started packing whatever I could fit into it. My spell book, some clothes, and anything else I thought I'd need. Once I was done I slung it over my shoulder and left my room, intending on heading downstairs and leaving when I saw Allison's bedroom door.

I hesitated, before sighing and walking over, quietly knocking and waiting for a 'come in' before I entered. As soon as I did Allison's gaze zeroed in on my backpack, realisation dawning on her.

"You're leaving," she said. It wasn't a question.

I looked down, feeling a stab of guilt. I shouldn't have come here; it would only make leaving hurt more.

"How could you side with them?" Allison demanded. "Isaac used you, and Derek killed my mum."

"And Kate killed mine," I snapped before I could stop myself.

Allison paled at my words. "What?"

"She killed my parents and took me because she knew I was a witch," I explained stiffly, fighting back the urge to fall apart again.

A brief look of pity flashed across her face before it was gone, replaced with a blank indifference. "So you're going to leave us, leave me because of something Kate did? Kate, who's not even here anymore?"

"Gerard knew about it and lied to me."

Allison frowned. "Probably because you'd act like this. He probably just didn't want to tell you."

"I asked him about it straight up and he lied. He knew Kate killed my parents and he didn't care, didn't stop her."

Allison shook her head. "You don't know when he found out; it could have been after she already died-"

I tried to tamp down my frustration and see things from Allison's perspective. This was still her family. She'd defend it no matter what. Defend them. But the way Allison kept blindly justifying Gerard's actions, not even entertaining the fact that he might have withheld the information from me with malicious intent, hurt. And angered me. She didn't even seem to care that my parents were murdered by Kate.

"I'm leaving Allison," I grounded out before I could say something I'd regret. "You won't be able to change my mind."

Allison stared at me, an unreadable expression on her face, before she turned away. "Fine then. Leave."

I left.