CHAPTER NINETEEN: NOT EDITED

"Why did you bring me an extra shirt?" I asked Scott when he walked over to me.

"Argent asked me to bring it, just in case you lose control," Scott told me.

"Lose control?" I asked, looking at him with furrowed eyebrows, "What do you mean about that?"

"Your kind," Gerard's voice was heard, after he watched Parrish take off after Sebastian, "Is quite similar to the Hellhound in some cases, Carter." 

"How?"

"You both produce fire when either provoked or when you want to protect something you love," Gerard explained further more with a sick smile on his face, "Let's see if you could do better than Parrish tonight."

My phone started to vibrate when I realized I was getting an upcoming text from someone. When I grabbed the device out of my back pocket, I saw it was a new text from Malia Tate. Opening the text, my eyes widened in shock when I saw that The Desert Wolf was after her. Scott must have sensed something was wrong because he could smell my distress.

"What?" Scott asked me, "What's wrong Carter?"

"Malia's in trouble," I said, blinking back the tears because I was trying to be strong for everyone and her.

"What did she say?" Scott questioned.

"The Desert Wolf is coming to kill her."

---

"Malia?"

I ran into the house to find the werecoyote but I couldn't see her or hear her. Looking around, I saw a familiar face come into view. It was Braeden, a mercenary and someone who helped Scott McCall's pack a lot. I never met her before but I felt safe around the mercenary because she saved the pack's lives a lot.

"Carter?" She asked when I walked to her, "You need to go, now!"

"I'm not leaving Malia," I stated stubbornly, "She asked me to come, so I'm staying."

Before she could respond, my ears picked up on a typing person, like someone was typing on their phone to send a message for help. I knew that it was Malia and I was about to go run after her when Braeden grabbed my arm for me to sit down on the ground next to her. I looked at her in confusion but then my face paled when I heard a dark voice echoing around the house.

"Who are you calling, Malia?" The Desert Wolf's voice echoed throughout the house, making a shiver go down my spine, "Is it Stiles, your best friend?"

No response.

"Or is it Carter, your new crush?" She called out.

The grip on my arm was tightened when those words left The Desert Wolf's mouth. I didn't know how to feel in the end. She had a crush on me, how long had this been happening? At this moment I realized that this wasn't the time to ask questions but to protect the girl that I love. I knew that we weren't in a relationship but I knew once all of this drama was over, I was going to ask her out. 

"Don't move," Braeden hissed at me.

"Tell him to come. Bring all your friends, if you want," The Desert Wolf taunted, "Go ahead, Malia. You tell me how many people I'm going to have to kill tonight."

"Stay here," Braeden warned, moving past me into the house and up the stairs where Malia was.

My heart was beating so fast that I didn't know how to control it. I wasn't sure if Malia's mother could hear it or not, but I hope she couldn't in the end. I knew that if I got hurt that would make Malia come out of hiding and it would either in result in me dying or her possibly getting hurt because of me, and I couldn't let that happened.

"Malia, come down," The Desert Wolf taunted even more.

"Don't move," I muttered under my breath, hoping she could hear me.

"I'm taking back what you stole from me," She pushed on even more, "If you don't come down I will kill Carter."

"Don't you dare hurt him," I heard Malia whisper softly, "And I didn't steal anything."

"But you did, and I don't care if you were a willing participant or not," The Desert Wolf said, "And I don't care if you were a willing participant or not. Talia Hale spent nine months trying to convince me of the miracle of childbirth. You know what it really felt like? A parasite. Talia said it was a gift. That the coyote passes down part of her power to her daughter. She called it beautiful. I call it theft."

I heard the stairs creaking and gun shots were heard loudly. I tucked my head under my arms when one went flying in my direction, almost hitting me. A gasp was heard when one of the bullets hit the side of my arm but before I could even look at it the pain stopped suddenly. I looked up, and turned my head to look inside of the house when I saw the front door opening and a familiar figure walking in.

"Stiles, watch out!" I screamed when I saw The Desert Wolf heading in his direction.

"What-"

"You bitch," I shouted at her when Stiles hit the ground, making anger pile up in my system, "Don't hurt him or Malia, or I swear to-"

"You will do what, Carter?" The Desert Wolf taunted, "You're only human, you can't do shit to me.

"You really think so?" I smirked, flashing my eyes at her, "If you're looking for power then I am right here."

A smirk plastered on The Desert Wolf's face when pounding feet were heard from above and I saw the girl of my dreams standing behind her mother, fully shifted. That's when the fight started, mother against daughter while Stiles was on the ground, glass stuck in his back. I ran over to him, only for The Desert Wolf to push me backwards onto the ground, causing me to snap. Something was happening to me, when I flicked my claws out, a large bolt of fire went barreling towards Malia's mother, making her duck just in time before it hit her in the face.

"That's not possible," she muttered, "Demi-dragons haven't been seen in centuries."

All of sudden, Malia pushed her mother out of the way, only for her to be grabbed again and pushed to the wall. Someone tugged me on my hand and I saw that it was Braeden pulling me down while she helped Malia battle The Desert Wolf skillfully. I closed my eyes when I watched the mercenary getting defeated, and pushed to the ground. I wanted to help but I felt like all of my power was used and I was weak.

"It's not the full moon, Malia," The Desert Wolf said, pushing her to the wall, placing her claws into her stomach, "But you know what? It's close enough."

"Stop!" I screamed out in pain while I watched Malia getting hurt in front of my eyes, "Malia!"

"I want my power back," The Desert Wolf growled, her blue eyes glowing while Malia looked like she was about to faint, but then something happened.

Malia's eyes opened, glowing blue while she growled, "I want my family back."

And with that The Desert Wolf was dead.

"Can someone please come and take this gigantic shard of glass out of my chest?" Stiles called out, making all of us chuckle before we went to help him.

I went to walk over to Stiles when Malia grabbed my arm. I couldn't look at her, but she placed her hands under my chin. I raised my head to look at her, my eyes locking with her lips when I went forward it. The kiss was passionate and slow, it was like all of these months were built up for this

"W-Why did you do that?" Malia asked me once we pulled apart.

"It's because I love you, Malia," I said, smiling when the words left my mouth, "And it's because I want to be apart of your life, if you would let me."

Malia looked down before speaking, "Why me? What's so special about me? I'm a monster, Carter."

"No, you're Malia," I said softly, "And you're not a monster, you're supernatural, like me."

When she looked up, I flashed my eyes at her, making the brunette smile in my direction. I knew from this point on that everything was going to be alright in the end. The Desert Wolf was gone and I knew that The Beast and Theo would be finally taken care of in the end. I guess the term Regression to The Mean was true. All I could see now that my life would continuing going up after this.

Nothing could change this.

---

It's completed! I can't believe that Other Raeken is finally done. Please wait for the authors note that will be posted soon. This chapter won't be dedicated to anyone but to whoever was reading this and supported me throughout Carter's journey.

Question: What was your favorite scene in the book? Favorite Carter quote that was said in the chapters? How was the fight with The Desert Wolf? How Malia and Carter became a couple? Thoughts of the chapter?