"𝑔ℴℴ𝒹 𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝓈𝓊𝓃𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓃ℯ"

Ophelia gently smiles as the baby shifts in her arms, and suddenly her heart feels as if it has been filled up with so much love and joy that the organ might just explode. Something about watching Hope stare back up to her with those big, blue, and innocent eyes causes a paternal instinct to appear within the girl. She feels as though she needs to protect her niece from the true monstrosities that lay hidden amongst the shadows of the world; exactly like how Klaus and Hayley feel the need to.

"And then... Raw!" Ophelia growls softly, causing hysterical giggles to float out of the baby's lips. "The giant wolf gave so many kisses to the girl, she dropped to the ground and fell asleep forever."

"That's an interesting way to sugar-coat it," Rebekah mutters for only the teenager to hear, making her presence known as she leans against the door frame.

The younger blonde gives her a grin and brings her entwined hand with Hope up to wave at the woman. "Look, it's Aunty Bex!" Hope's eyes widen in surprise as the vampire approaches them, then loudly shrieks in alarm when Rebekah playfully scares her. The two females share a look when the baby falls silent, Ophelia thinking that perhaps her older sister had taken things a step too far. Although when Hope breaks into laughter once more, they share a sigh in relief. "Should we finish the story about your daddy?"

Rebekah's eyes widen as she realises that the glossed over fairy-tale from a few minutes ago is an event that had actually happened. To be more specific, the night in Mystic Falls where Niklaus had broken his curse, killing multiple people to gain access to his werewolf side. "No, no, it's time for bed!" Leaving both Hope and Ophelia annoyed and confused, the Original slaps the girl's hands away as she takes Hope into her own arms, then moving over to the other side of the room and sitting down in the second armchair. "No, we're going to do a different story," she says, giving her sister a pointed look. "One that doesn't contain lots and lots of 'kisses.'"

Ophelia sighs, eventually holding her hands up into the air in defeat. "Fine, have it your way." Hope's disappointment from being wrenched away from her previous carer disappears the second that Rebekah begins her own story, leaving the teenager to quietly scoff in disbelief at how her theory of being the favourite is proved wrong. Apparently, whoever was giving her the most love and attention at a given point, that was Hope's favourite person. "Here I was thinking I had become the preferred aunt," she mumbles. "My entire life has been built off deception and manipulation."

Rebekah rolls her eyes at the way her sister's voice raises slightly, as if the tiny child would understand the meaning of her words. Once upon a time,"she begins, playing with Hope's fingers. "There was a majestic kingwho lived with his noble brother in a colourful kingdom where music and artwere celebrated. The king did not foresee having a child, but he lived in anenchanted land where all things were possible."

Ophelia leans her chin on her palm as she watches the pair, smiling at how her sister had replaced her story about Klaus with yet another one. However, this one seems to be much more child proof. She admires the way that even without the presences of Hayley and Klaus, Rebekah is still making an effort to keep Hope connected to her parents.

"In time, he was blessed with a beautiful baby daughter for whom he wished only peace and happiness. Still, the king had demons who pursued him. There was a ruthless beast who wanted to take the kingdom for her own. Armed with a pack of untamed creatures, she drove the other magical beings from the land, and there was a wicked sorceress with enchanted stones that weakened the king on every full moon."

"Witches are fucking bitches," Ophelia hisses. She cracks a grin when she spots Rebekah's lips twitch, but the older woman doesn't spare her sister a glance out of worry that she would break into laughter.

"Seeing the shadow his enemies cast upon his home, the king was driven to send his beloved princess away, convincing all who remained that she was forever lost. The king, in his sorrow, turned away from the world."

"Well, this got depressing," the hybrid whispers. She feels the buzz of her phone in her pocket, but ignores it, knowing that whatever Scott or Stiles need can be handled (probably) without her help.

"The castle closed its doors, and the kingdom fell. Some say that the only light that shines in the castle illuminates the shadow of the once mighty king in the room meant for his child, but as the ruthless beasts took rule over the falling king's realm, little did they know that he and his brother-"

Groaning quietly when her phone begins to vibrate from an incoming call, Ophelia gives Rebekah a small smile in apology for interrupting the story and walks out the room to answer it. "Stiles, I swear, if you lost your-"

"It's Lydia," the strawberry blonde greets quickly.

Her eyebrows furrow in concern when she hears the urgency in her friend's voice, then takes notice of the engine rumbling in the background. "Sorry, I didn't check the caller ID... Are you driving?"

Lydia hesitates. "Yeah, well, I'm personally not driving... I'm with Allison."

"Um, hi, Ophelia," the brunette calls out awkwardly from the driver's seat.

"Oh," she responds calmly. "Hey, Allison." The Martin has to bite her lip to conceal her smile from the robotic, monotone voice that her best friend uses to greet the huntress sitting beside her. "It's late, are you okay?"

"Kind of?" Lydia answers uncertainly. "I mean, yes and no."

Ophelia jumps onto her bed, removing the device from her ear and turning it onto speaker phone. "Continue."

"Okay, so, when we were leaving school this afternoon, after the bird thing, some girl came up to us and grabbed our arms," Lydia explains quickly, tracing her fingers over the injury on her wrist. "She bruised us, both of us."

Her eyes narrow at the new information, already imagining the different ways she plans to violently murder this person who had dared lay a hand on her friend. "Who was it?"

"We don't know," Allison answers. "But she knew who I was, and she knew who Scott was. It's really hard to explain, but we noticed something about the bruises a few minutes ago."

"I'll send you a photo, hang on," Lydia adds, her voice becoming a little distant as she snaps photographs. "It's easier for you to just see it."

Ophelia quickly opens her message chain with Lydia when she hears the notification chime and clicks on the image. Her eyes squint slightly as she enlarges the image, the dark and rather large bruise on Lydia's wrist becoming clearer. "Oh, shit," she murmurs. "Are you both all right? Does it hurt?"

"What do you notice about them?" Lydia asks, ignoring her questions.

She sighs before returning to examining the photo, zooming in once more as she inspects the two injuries positioned beside one another. "It looks like a bruise," she states simply.

"That's what I said!" Lydia exclaims.

"I think it's a pattern," Allison jumps in, glancing to the girl beside her as she reiterates her theory from earlier. "It means something. Look, do you know where Scott is right now?"

"You think it might be a pattern-" Ophelia shakes her head in amusement but for their sake, she suppresses her chuckles due to how serious they both seem, Allison considerably more so than Lydia. "Right, he and Stiles are at this party... Some girl's house, I don't know, and I really couldn't care less about who they're-Scott's hooking up with. So, message him, and I'll see you both tomorrow." After hanging up, she makes sure to quickly send a message to Lydia.

bestie ♡

Good luck, love you

thanks
love you too

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Driving to an unknown block of apartments at seven in the morning before school hadn't been on Ophelia's list of things to do until half an hour prior. Isaac had sent her a frantic message, pleading her to meet them at Derek's loft. Upon replying with 'what the fuck,' she had been given the answer that there might be some way to retrieve the memories that he had lost, more specifically to find answers about the mystery girl he had woken up questioning yesterday. Due to what she had been informed of at the Hale house, Ophelia had begun to suspect that perhaps Isaac's missing memories are connected to the fact he, Derek, and Peter had been searching for the Alpha pack over for the last few months.

Which is why she had agreed to meet Isaac and Derek, not just to get answers, but to support her friend who seemed desperate for her presence to bring himself some comfort.

After swinging open the door to the building, she walks in-more like tries to walk in. She had completely forgotten about one simple consequence that her vampiric side blesses her with. As she slams into the invisible barrier that is blocking her from entering further, Ophelia groans as she clutches her nose, that begins the swift healing process of mending the broken cartilage back together. "Shit," she hisses. Taking a few steps backward, she narrows her eyes as she stares up at the top of the building. "Derek, get your bloody ass down here, or call me and let me in!" No more than a few seconds later, her phone rings loudly from her leather jacket. "You seriously heard me from the fucking penthouse?"

"You can come in," the Alpha tells her simply. As soon as the words left his lips, the phone call cuts off.

Though Ophelia doesn't find it rude. Those are the only words she had needed to hear. Her lips press together with hesitation as she slowly steps through the doorframe, smiling when she isn't restricted like a minute earlier. However, her pride is short lived as she looks up at the stairwell looming above her. "Fuck me."

Despite having the invitation problem, one of the major perks to being a hybrid meant that she didn't have to spend an hour slowly trudging up the stairs. Instead, it took her just a few seconds, reaching the top having barely broken a sweat.

As she slides open the large barn door, the blonde is pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a rather nice loft. The interior is extremely bland, only a few pieces of furniture littered around. To Ophelia, not only does the apartment scream Derek Hale, but the entire building does. "Charming place you got here, sunshine," she calls out in greeting, jumping down the few steps to reach the main floor. "Really suits you." Derek barely lifts his head up from the book he is busy reading, giving her a grunt in acknowledgement. "Lovely seeing you, too."

"Ofi, thanks so much for coming," a voice pipes up from the side.

Ophelia turns in the direction of the voice and smiles as Isaac quickly walks down the spiral staircase to meet her. "No worries. But care to explain to me what the fuck I'm actually here to witness?"

Derek sighs before finally looking up to the girl for the first time since she had waltzed in. "Long story short, someone might know how to get his memories back."

She rolls her eyes and flops onto the leather couch that is positioned against a wall. "I got that much. What I mean is, who is this 'someone' and what is the technique? Because the answers to both of those questions has got the puppy over here so fucking terrified that I have been called in. Me, Der. I'm the last resort, and he called me."

"I'm not terrified," Isaac interjects defensively. In turn, both Alphas turn to stare at him pointedly. He gulps and rubs the back of his neck as he continues pacing up and down in front of the large window. "Okay, maybe I just don't love this idea. You know, it sounds kinda dangerous." After thinking for a few more seconds, he nods to himself. "You know what? I definitely don't like this idea, and I definitely don't like him..."

"You'll be fine."

"Very reassuring," Ophelia says sarcastically, giving Derek a fake smile when he glances over to her with a scowl.

"Does it have to be him?" Isaac questions. "I mean, Fi's an Alpha, why can't she do it?"

She groans as she places her head into her heads. "If someone tells me, maybe I will be able to do it!"

"He knows how to do it, I don't," the Hale vaguely explains. "It'd be more dangerous if I tried doing it myself. As for her, I'll bet you two-hundred bucks that she wouldn't have a fucking clue."

The girl raises her eyebrows in a challenging manner as her eyes squint at the man. "Bet on it."

"You know Scott doesn't trust him, right?" Isaac points out, stopping his pacing to rock one of the dining chairs back and forth out of nerves.

"So, we've narrowed it down to a 'he,'" she mumbles to herself. After a few seconds of trying to brainstorm the people who Scott doesn't trust, which really isn't that many, Ophelia's narrowed eyes widen in realisation and a wide smile stretches on her lips. "Oh, fuck yeah."

"You know, personally, I'd... Well, I'd trust Scott."

Derek sighs as he looks up to his Beta. "Do you trust me?"

"Yeah."

"And do you trust Ophelia?"

Isaac takes slightly longer to answer this question, having to glance over to the girl who grins at him with a wave. "Yeah." He sighs. "I still don't like him."

"Nobody likes him," Derek corrects. Just as Ophelia's lips open to say something, his points a finger over to her without removing his eyes off the book. "Except her." When their attention is dragged over to the barn door opening for the second time in the last five minutes, Ophelia's smile returns as she makes eye contact with the person that has revealed himself on the other side. Isaac and Derek share a look at the dramatic entrance, then return their eyes to the top of the stairs.

"Lovely lady, and... boys. FYI, yes, coming back from the dead has left my abilities somewhat impaired... but, the hearing still works. So, I hope you're comfortable saying whatever it is that you're feeling straight to my face."

Derek stares at Peter Hale with zero emotion on his face. "We don't like you." The way he snaps his book shut causes Ophelia to giggle, slapping her hand over her mouth when he spares her a brief look and attempts to be 'threatening' by growling at her. "Now shut up and help us."

Peter looks between the two males, then shrugs. "Fair enough." He spins around to find the hybrid quietly laughing, and smiles as she jumps up to come and give him a rather masculine hug, roughly patting him on the back. "My favourite teenager-" Peter's own smile drops as he finds his chest constricting, his lungs struggling to receive oxygen.

Ophelia's smile turns innocent as she pulls away from the man, fully aware that her hug might have been a little too strong. "Nice to see you, other pot of sunshine and rainbows." Ignoring the scowl Derek is still giving her, she claps her hands with anticipation. "Okay, boys, let's get this party started!"

At this moment in time did Isaac Lahey begin to regret bringing the Stone into this. It's safe to say that while being distracted with his own paranoia, he had forgotten about her friendship with Peter Hale.

It had begun with the pair bonding over their love for violence as one of their many similarities, Ophelia particularly enjoying that finally one of the people she had met in Beacon Hills remains on the same level as herself. Then, it had turned into gossiping and filling in each other with the stories of their deaths; Peter going into extremely vivid details about the time his nephew, Derek, had unapologetically slashed his throat earlier in the year.

Ophelia and Peter had a strong platonic connection because they could relate to each other in ways that no one else could. They understood not only what it was like to die, but what it was like to lose the people you cared about the most. Family. Sure, she might not agree with the ways he had dealt with Scott in the early days of her friend's new werewolf life, but she could partially understand why. To be so consumed by rage that everything else is blurred out, where everything else is moved into a background though because you are blinded by the feeling of sweet, hot revenge. She understood that feeling better than anyone.

"So, let me get this straight," the girl begins as Isaac is instructed to sit in a chair. "You're going to perform a super old 'ritual,' which is technically just stabbing him, and it's going to magically bring back his lost memories?"

Derek rolls his eyes at her jazz hands, but he inclines his head to confirm her question. "Pretty much."

"Bloody hell... Now I get why he's scared." The blonde grimaces when Isaac's head snaps over to her, his eyes wide in alarm. "Sorry, you should know by now that it's best to just ignore me."

"Relax," Peter tells the Beta wolf, his tone of voice being far from reassuring. "I'll get more out of you if you're calm."

"How do you know how to do this, again?" Isaac queries uneasily.

"It's an ancient ritual used mostly by Alphas, since it's a skill that requires quite a bit of practice," he explains, flicking his claws out as he moves behind the nervous boy. "One slip, and you could paralyse someone... Or kill them."

"Comforting as always."

Peter gives Ophelia a mocking smile, who then raises her middle finger at him as her reply. "You owe me two-hundred dollars," Derek mumbles from his place, which is sitting on the coffee table instead of the couch right behind him.

The hybrid glances to him with an unamused look on her face. "Bargain with me when your puppy isn't in potential life-threatening danger."

As Peter's claws graze the back of his neck, Isaac looks over his shoulder to the former Alpha. "You-You've had a lot of practice though, right?"

"Well, I've never paralysed anyone."

The answer causes Ophelia and Derek to share a look as it dawns on them that it's possible Peter has never done this before in his life. Which means that either one of them could have had a better shot by doing it themselves. "Not even Satan can help them now," she mumbles quietly. Derek rolls his eyes.

Isaac seems to catch on at a similar time as the other two. "Wait, does that mean that you-"

The second Peter plunges his claws into Isaac's neck without any warning, Ophelia shoots up off the couch and sits beside Derek, picking at her nails nervously as Isaac winces. Whilst the boy struggles against the strong hold keeping him in the chair, both of their eyes glow different colours, Peter's blue, and Isaac's yellow.

The first time that Ophelia had seen his cobalt eyes, they had immediately reminded her of the coyote's. So, naturally, she had asked Peter directly. It had then been vaguely explained to her that the vibrant colour of his eyes came from taking an innocent life. Ophelia had connected the dots together, realising that the coyote is obviously supernatural, and if her theory is correct, also a shapeshifter.

Both Isaac and Peter grunt in pain, the former's struggles becoming more violent and desperate. The two watching quickly stand up, but despite their instincts to want to protect Isaac, they know that abruptly stopping the process could cause much more harm than necessary. "Wait, I see them," Peter calls out, halting both Derek and Ophelia from moving any further. The hybrid's eyebrows furrow and she presumes that the 'them' is in reference to the Alpha pack.

After a few more seconds, the eldest Hale wrenches his claws out of the boy's neck and stumbles backward to collide with the dining table. Isaac is in a similar state, breathing heavily from the agony and the rapid recollection of hazy images that have been flooded into his mind.

"What'd you see?" Derek questions urgently.

Peter shakes his head as he tries to regain his composure. "It-It was confusing..."

"Try," Ophelia states bluntly, walking forward to crouch in front of Isaac. He gives her a blank look and doesn't object as she gently takes hold of his hand, then begin the act of taking his pain. Black veins travel up her arm from the contact of their hands, and she grits her teeth as a stinging pain appears on the back of her neck, mimicking the pain, to a certain degree, that Isaac had experienced.

Peter flexes his hand and he glances briefly over to the trio as he replies, "Um, im-images. Vague shapes."

"But you saw something," Derek presses.

"Isaac found them."

Ophelia's eyes widen in surprise, and she removes her concerned gaze off said werewolf to look over at Peter. "Both of them? Erica and Boyd?"

"I barely saw them," he begins to ramble. "I mean, glimpses-"

"But you did see them?" Derek repeats, his eyes flicking down to the two teenagers before narrowing as they return to his uncle.

The girl softly sighs as she removes her hand out of Isaac's, then places it on his shoulder for comfort, him giving her a slight smile out of gratitude as he rubs his neck to try and relieve the pain. Although, she can't return it as she notices the tears watering in his eyes.

"Worse."

"Deucalion," Derek realises.

"He was talking to them," Peter tries to explain. "Something about time running out."

A tear runs down Isaac's cheek as he softly speaks up. "What does it mean?"

Ophelia doesn't need to have any more information to know what is planned for Erica and Boyd. "He's going to kill them."

"No, no, no, no, no," Peter cuts off her train of thought. "He didn't say that."

"Well, he'd be an idiot to keep them alive," the girl counters. When Derek gives her a look, she sighs. "Sorry. What I mean is, they know shit. They're making him vulnerable, his pack vulnerable. If he's smart, he'll eliminate them. I would, too. Deucalion might not kill them himself, but it's a good chance that they're going to die."

Peter nods to her slightly, acknowledging that she makes a good and logical point. "He did make them a promise... that by the full moon, they'd both be dead."

"The next full moon?" Derek questions, hopefulness lacing his voice.

The former Alpha sighs heavily as he finally turns to face the three. "Tomorrow night," he corrects grimly.

⋆｡ ﾟ☁︎｡ ⋆｡ ﾟ☾ ﾟ｡ ⋆

Almost as soon as Ophelia planned to leave the building Derek had informed her he actually owned instead of just the one loft, both of the two had received a message from Scott asking them to meet them in a classroom at the high school. She couldn't help but wonder why everything had to be done at the worst place on Earth.

Then she remembers how it's a Thursday. Technically, she's already meant to be there.

The girl growls as she slams her car door closed, Derek rolling his eyes in amusement as he gets out of the passenger side having caught a ride with her. "I actually considered skipping today," she grumbles. "Oh, but no! Scott can't help but drag me into something else-" She cuts herself off as the male opens one of the double doors to the entrance, holding them open for her. Her eyes narrow as she glances to him, then shrugs. "Huh. Thanks, sunshine."

"Stop calling me that," he mutters in annoyance. Of course, he wouldn't tell her, but he rather liked the irony of the nickname. More like he just liked the nickname all together. "And by the way, both of us have been called in."

"I swear, if it's about those bruises..." Ophelia says to herself, ignoring the way he looks at her with confusion. She waves a hand to dismiss the question about to leave his mouth. "Don't ask."

"Well, now I'm going to ask."

"Sorry, let me correct myself. You don't want to ask."

Their harmless bickering only comes to a stop when they reach the classroom Scott had directed them to meet in, surprisingly dodging any teachers or wandering students skipping the first period of the day. Upon opening the door, Ophelia's eyebrows raise when she quickly finds her friends, and Allison, waiting for them. "Okay, did you guys hire this classroom for our little catch-up session? 'Cause if you did, I wanna know what name you booked it under on the sign-up sheet."

Stiles' eyes widen. "You can hire classrooms?"

With a sigh in exasperation, the blonde flips a chair around so she is sitting on it with her legs on either side of the back. "No, you idiot. It's called sarcasm. I thought you had a PhD in it."

Lydia snickers as she looks between the two, finding Stiles' current expression hilarious. When Allison gives her a pointed look, she clears her throat to grab everyone's attention. "So, we have something to show you," she informs the newcomers.

Ophelia nods, folding her arms across the top of the chair to lean her chin on them. "Floor is yours." Both Allison and Lydia share a quick look before rolling up their sleeves, revealing the dark bruises that they had sent photos of last night. "Oh, come on," she whines in exasperation.

Derek's eyebrows raise as he glances to the hybrid, thinking back to what their conversation was centred around a few minutes earlier. "Is this what you were talking about?" When her scowl returns onto her face, he sighs. "What am I looking at?"

"They showed me last night," Scott begins, looking to Derek and then to the pair of wrists placed next to each other. "Just look how similar it is, maybe it could be something important to do with Erica and Boyd."

The Alpha rolls his eyes before folding his arms over his chest and staring at the bruises for a good couple of seconds. "I don't see anything," he declares, raising his eyes to glare at Allison.

Ophelia stands up briefly to peer over, then drops back down onto the chair with a shrug. "Neither. It looks like a bruise. Same as before."

"Look again," Scott urges.

It seems that everyone except Ophelia and Derek, are seeing something in the bruises displayed on the two teenage girls. From the former's observations, Lydia still seems a little uncertain, but Allison's theory about a pattern is so wild that Ophelia didn't blame her friend.

"How is a bruise gonna tell me where Boyd and Erica are?" Derek questions impatiently, looking around the group.

Scott sighs, clearly beginning to get frustrated that neither of the people most experienced with the supernatural are even open to noticing something. "It's the same on both sides! Exactly the same," he firmly points out, looking to Ophelia with a look as if saying, 'Get your ass over here and help.'

"It's nothing," theHale repeats.

"Pareidolia."

Ophelia looks over to Lydia with her eyes narrowed in confusion. "What the fuck?"

"Seeing patterns that aren't there?" Lydia tries, as if she thought she's dumbing it down to everyone. Where in reality, her explanation is only making it more complicated. "It's a subset of apophenia."

"Apo-what?"

"They're trying to help," Scott tells Derek sincerely .

The man stares at him for a few seconds incredulously, before momentarily turning his eyes over to the two girls standing opposite them. "These two?"  Derek points to Lydia, then looks back to Scott. "This one, who used me to resurrect my psychotic uncle- Thank you."

Ophelia grimaces as she locks eyes with Lydia, who only looks annoyed with the conversation. "Sunshine, shut the fuck up," she whispers.

"And this one," he continues, now looking at Allison. "Who shot about thirty arrows into me and my pack."

Stiles nudges the hybrid in warning when her jaw drops open, the information new to her. "Okay, all right, now come on," he interrupts before Allison can retort something angrily. "... No one died, all right?" At this, Ophelia purses her lips together, focusing her eyes onto the specks of mud on her Doc Martens. "Look, there may have been a little maiming, okay? A little mangling, but no death! That's what I call an important distinction."

"My mother died."

At the cold voice that is directed to herself, Ophelia forces herself to meet Allison's stony glare. "Okay, firstly," she begins, her voice full of aggravation. "It was self-defence. Secondly, I don't reg-" Her lips snap shut when Lydia elbows her a little too harshly, her eyes wide in warning. The warning might be a little too late. "No, let me finish!" She sighs when no one makes a move to stop her, either too scared of what she might react with, or internally thinking that she has the right to voice her thoughts to Allison.

"Oh, God help us all," Stiles murmurs to himself, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Allison, your mother was going to kill me. I might have had no humanity then, but I didn't want to die." She clenches her jaw tightly as the former huntress just stares vacantly at her, not showing any hint of a reaction to her words. "I'm sorry it ended up the way it did, I really am. I wish for no one to ever lose their mother. But it was either me or her."

Ophelia remembers that Scott had told her to not mention to Allison how Victoria Argent also planned to kill him, something that he promised her to leave out so he could have the job to break the news himself. But seeing as how the boy is looking at his shoes and staying dead silent, she realises that he still hasn't told Allison what she deserves to know.

Allison sharply inhales as she thinks over her next words carefully, fully aware that if she is to say the wrong thing, in the next three seconds she could be dead. Just like her mother. "That's the problem, Ophelia," she calmly voices. "You think it's all about you."

"Okay, that's enough for today," Lydia interrupts swiftly, stepping in front of the pair of bristling girls, knowing that another word from Allison would cause the blonde to say or do something that she would later immensely regret. "We're just trying to help," she adds, glancing back over to Derek. "We want Boyd and Erica back just as much as you do."

The man looks between the two injured girls. "You wanna help? Find something real."

When he turns his back ready to leave, Ophelia plasters on a small smile to Lydia and mutters, "I'll be right back." Running after Derek, she grabs onto his arm just before he can leave the classroom. "Oi, what the fuck was that?"

Derek goes to say something, but closes his mouth when Scott joins them, his eyes pleading with the older werewolf. "Give her a chance. Okay? They're on our side now." He then looks over to his friend in disappointment. "And you just made things worse."

Her jaw falls slack in disbelief, and she scoffs, her eyes glowing a bright red to visibly display the anger that has risen at his words. "Oh, fuck you, Scott-"

Derek places a hand on her arm, raising his eyebrows pointedly. Ophelia takes a deep breath in through her nose and takes a step back from the teenager, trying her hardest to restrain herself from punching him square in the face. The Hale's eyes return to Scott as he replies, "Well, then maybe you should tell her who else she had with Ophelia that night."

As he opens the door and walks out, Scott turns to the hybrid with his eyes shining with regret. "Fi, I-"

Ophelia holds a hand up to him, another scoff leaving her lips at his expression. "Shut up. Scott, I really don't have the energy right now."

Without another word to him or anyone else in the group, Ophelia jogs after Derek who, surprisingly, is waiting for her hidden around the corner outside. He begins walking in the direction of the exit doors in silence as she falls into step beside him. "You said the right thing," he eventually speaks up.

Eyebrows raised, Ophelia spares him a glance in surprise as she pushes open the double doors, the cool air hitting them both in the face like they had opened the door to a freezer. "Really? I didn't 'make it worse'?"

Derek rolls his eyes, and they pass a group of students walking to their next class. "Everything you said was true. It was either her or you."

Finally reaching her parked car, Ophelia sighs heavily as she opens the driver's door to grab her bag sitting on the floor. "I guess..." Slamming it shut and clicking the lock to the vehicle, she frowns in thought. "You don't think it could've gone any other way?"

"A way where she wouldn't have died?" When she nods, he softly sighs. "No. No, I don't." He gives her a look filled with sympathy, something that is rarely seen on the man, if ever. "You don't have to be best friends with her. But if you want to stay friends with the rest of them, you just have to not kill her."

"Easy," she mutters. "Yeah, that'll be easy as pie." Derek chuckles, and the noise causes the girl's head to snap upward, questioning herself whether it had happened at all. "Did you just laugh?"

In a flash, Derek's face returns to being blank. "No," he quickly denies.

A smile stretches on her lips, and she lightly chuckles. "You laughed, bitch."

"Don't 'bitch' me."

"You definitely laughed."

"I didn't!"

"Der, you laughed." Ophelia cackles at the annoyance she can sense radiating off him in his chemo-signals, and tears spring to her eyes when he finally has enough and growls at her. Clutching a hand on her stomach, her chest heaves up and down as she tries to catch her breath. Stifling another burst of laughter, she grins once more at him. "Fine, it never happened."

Derek's eyes narrow and he curtly nods. "Good. Get to class, I'll find my own way home." Ophelia giggles to herself as she skips away from the man, oblivious to how a genuine smile stretches on his lips as he shakes his head at her. "Fucking hell."

𝘏𝘪 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴!!

𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘦'𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘖𝘧𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘭𝘪, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 🫠 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦... 𝘍𝘜𝘊𝘒 𝘝𝘐𝘊𝘛𝘖𝘙𝘐𝘈

𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳,
𝘓𝘪𝘷 𝘹𝘹