Olivia's POV:

My chest heaved up and down constantly as I finally was able to breathe the air I desperately needed. 

I clutch on the rims of the tub to steady my balance but feel pairs of arms help me out of the tub. Instantly a towel wraps around my shoulders but I feel someone cling to my body.

"I thought I lost you." I hear Allison say to me but her voice sounded faded.

Being out of the tub felt...wrong.

Was this the darkness that Deaton was talking about? It felt like the pressure weighing against my chest was trying to prevent me to breathe.

I feel someone guide me to one of the metal tables and have me sit on top. I blink a couple of times, glancing at everyone else who had worried expressions as they intently watched me.

"What happened?" I hesitantly ask and unwrap the towel around my shoulders so I could dry my hair. "What do you mean you thought you almost lost me?" I ask Allison who brought another towel for me so I could wrap it around my body.

"You didn't wake up," Scott began since it seemed like everyone else hesitated to tell me. "Stiles and I woke up at the same time but you were still inside."

I turn to Allison. "Wait, how long were we out for?"

"Sixteen hours," Deaton responds and my eyes widen. "but you woke up a couple of minutes after."

"That's just great, we have four hours until the moon goes up." I mutter. "Anyway, I saw the nemeton. I guess my mom and I literally sat on it in the woods so I know where it is."

"When was this?" Allison asks me as she leaned against the metal table.

"The first day I moved here we went on a hike and we took a small break to rest." I simply respond, not wanting to go into details about what exactly happened. "So now that the three of us know where it is, shouldn't we be going now?"

Scott shakes his head. "I can't. I'm going back with the alpha pack."

Stiles's eyes widen. "No, dude. You're not going back to them." He argues.

"I made a deal with Deucalion." Scott counters, noticing our shocked expressions.

"Does anyone else think that this sounds a lot like a deal with the devil?" Stiles asks all of us.

"Why does it matter, anyway?" I question the boy who had to go back.

"Because," He looks to me. "I still don't think that we can beat Jennifer without their help."

"He trusts you more than anyone," Allison says to Deaton. "Tell him he's wrong."

"I'm not so sure he is. Circumstances like this sometimes require that you align yourself with people you normally consider enemies." Deaton explains to us which causes me to cross my arms.

"Um, the guy uses his cane as a damn spear," I say in disbelief. "And he literally calls himself death, destroyer of worlds. I don't think I'll trust him any time soon."

"I wouldn't trust him, but you could use him to your advantage. Deucalion may by the enemy, but he can also be the bait." He explains and I sigh in annoyance, knowing that he made a point.

The sound of the front door creaks open which causes me to furrow my eyebrows in confusion. Who the hell would come inside when Deaton clearly put a closed sign in the front?

Deaton exits the room to check until we hear a familiar voice spoke out.

"I'm looking for Lydia."

Lydia cautiously walks out with Stiles quickly following after. "Stiles," I warn and hop off the table to follow as well.

As soon as I turn the corner, standing in the waiting room stood Ethan, one of the three people I absolutely despised.

"What do you want?" Lydia asks with a hint of sass to the boy.

"I need your help."

Stiles cuts in. "With what?" He retorts.

"Stopping my brother and Kali...from killing Derek."

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We had a plan...but it involved everyone splitting up into groups.

Lydia went with Ethan to warn Derek, Stiles went with Isaac to collect some things from the Sheriff that might've had a scent which could make it easier for them to find, while I drove Scott and Allison to our houses to collect some things as well since the storm was getting worse.

"Just grab anything," Scott says who was in the middle of a phone call with Stiles as we exited the elevator to Allison's apartment. "Stiles, I'm not smelling your dad's boxers."

"Ugh gross." I mutter.

"Socks? Okay, I'll smell the socks." Scott says then hangs up the phone.

"So what should I be looking for?" I ask, shutting the front door behind us.

"See what you can find in my dad's closet. Anything you think would have the strongest scent." She says and I nod walking towards his room that was in front of the office.

As soon as Allison opens the office door, she stiffens in her spot once she sees the two police officers and the agent that sat on the chair.

I quickly leaned against the wall to hide, hoping they didn't see me.

"Quite an arsenal your father's got here, young lady." Agent McCall says to her and Scott steps inside the office as well, most likely to see if it actually was his father.

"Scott." His father greets him.

"What are you doing here?" Scott asks him.

"Following one of the only leads I have." He tells him and I use that as my chance to slowly sneak away since he was distracted. "Now, since I don't know where you've been, why don't you have a seat, and we can talk?"

Once I'm in front of the door, ducking from behind Scott and Allison, I take small steps so the floor wouldn't creak.

"You too, Olivia."

I freeze in my spot, looking straight ahead as if they didn't see me at all and acted like they weren't in the room.

"You do realize just cause you're frozen in place, doesn't mean you're invisible." He says with annoyance.

I shift my position by taking a step forward and look to the right. "How about now?"

"Enough, Flores!" He scolds and I quickly stand up straight. "The rest of what's going on around here has already annoyed and stumbled me in the dark over the smallest clues."

"If you're trying to tell me that you don't have a clue," Scott takes a step further inside the office. "I learned that a long time ago."

"I'm really hoping to avoid the embarrassment of dragging my own son into an interrogation room. Really hoping." He says.

Scott was the first one to take a seat so Allison and I reluctantly did the same. We didn't have time to do this so I already was pissed off.

"I'm not gonna lie, I'm more than a little disturbed. Not only by the number of missing parents but the fact that it's Stiles's father,  your father," He points to Allison. "and both of your mothers." He points to Scott and I.

I pull out a piece of gum that Isaac had given to me earlier and pop it in my mouth. "Honestly, I was really hoping it would've been my dad instead since he left my mom and I when I was younger." I shrug. "Doubt I'd miss him since he was a piece of shit for leaving."

Agent McCall tenses once I tell him that but he clears his throat. "Save the cliched teenage apathy for your high school teachers. The three of you know more than you're saying!" He raises his voice.

"Aw, did I hit something close to home?" I fake pout. "Let me play a sad song for you on the world's smallest violin," I say as I put my fingers up and played with the air.

"Flores, I'm fully willing to keep you here all night if I have to so not another word!" He scolds.

I cross my arms. "Word."

"That's it! You just bought yourself a ticket to stay another hour than these two until I get some answers." He angrily points to me.

I shrug with a smirk. "Did I get a good deal on it?"

"That's another hour!" He raises his voice. "Do you want another?"

I was about to respond with another comment but feel Allison kick my shin, making me stop.

"You can't keep us here," Scott says with a bit of annoyance lacing his tone.

"Not without some kind of warrant," Allison adds and crosses her arms.

He gestures to the various weapons on the table. "I've got a desk full of probable cause."

"My father is a highly respected private security consultant and federally licensed firearms dealer." She stands up from her spot and I could see Agent McCall size her up as if he was trying to intimidate her. "That means he has to own a few weapons."

She looks to me and winks, telling me to follow along with her stalling.

"Like this one hundred seventy-five pound draw tactical crossbow." She points to the crossbow that was laid in front of her. "Or this carbon steel marine combat knife." She points to the knife that was in its sleeve and then points to the small pistol in front of him. "Fifty AE desert eagle."

I stand up from my chair as well. "She has a point, you know," I say and reach for the smoke grenade on the table. "Like if I was a dealer and had no idea what the hell it does, I'd trust her to help me out and make sure I'm using some of these things right." I say as I toss it to my other hand. "Allison, how would I be able to use this?"

"See that ring on top?" She points to the ring attached. "Pull it and it should ignite."

I nod slowly. "Interesting." I say and glance to Allison who nodded. I yank the ring out from the grenade and toss it on the floor.

"Go, go, go!" Allison tells Scott and we quickly bolt out of the smoke-filled apartment, ignoring the angry calls from Scott's father.

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Once we arrived at the preserve in a rush, Scott parks his bike next to my car.

"You okay?" Allison asks him as soon as he gets off his motorcycle.

"I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't come up with anything." He says as Allison and I got out of the car.

"I did." I snickered as I pulled out my phone to see if Stiles called. "Sorry if I took it too far."

"No, you're okay. What you said was funny but what you and Allison did, that was awesome." He says with a laugh.

"Thanks but," I show him my phone. "I still haven't gotten anything from Stiles. Did you?"

He shakes his head. "No...I don't get it."

"Well, we can't wait for him," Allison says, ushering for us to walk to the cliff that overlooked Beacon Hills.

Once we reached the edge, I couldn't help but think to myself. As much as this place basically put me through hell, it still seemed so peaceful from where we stood.

What if I hadn't found out about the supernatural? Would I still have become friends with Allison? Would we be where we are now?

Just the thought of someone picking the choices for me made my head spin. Is that thing forcing me how I feel towards Allison? Is it even genuine?

Were the friendships I made real? Could that thing be affecting everyone else's feelings towards me?

"Cutting it a little close, aren't we, Scott?" A voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

The three of us turn to see Deucalion walking up with his cane. "Hello again, Olivia. It's a shame we didn't get to team up."

"We got a little delayed," Scott says to him and looks behind him in confusion. "Where are the others?"

"Occupying themselves with other pursuits." He says and I felt a bit of relief since I really didn't want to see Kali.

"So it's just you and me against her?" Scott questions.

"I think you'll be surprised what a good team we make."

Scott turns to Allison and I. "Find Stiles and Isaac and then get to the root cellar, okay? We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you gonna do that?" I ask and gesture to my mom's shirt that I held in my hand. "I don't know if you know, but I'm not a werewolf that can sniff their scent!"

He pats my arm. "I have a plan, but you're smart. You can find them."

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A/N:

Ahhh two more chapters until book 2 is finished! Which also brings me to tell you that I can give a sneak peek for the cover of book 3!

You can already tell what's on the bottom buuut the top is really difficult to tell hahaha

That's all I have for you today sooo bye!

~Cimbello