( SHE WOLF. )
CHAPTER TEN.
hale no.

THEY ENTERED THE building. It was an abandoned warehouse, nothing more. The walls were made of concrete and steel, supported by metal beams. It smelled vaguely of oil and corroding metal. Windows lined the perimeter of the roof, making the dark sky partially visible. There were dozens of hanging lights casting pools of golden light on the dusty ground and open stairways along the walls.

"This is where they live? Erica, what is going on? Are you kidnapping me?" Katie stopped following Erica as her eyes rolled over the many things scattered across the floor of the warehouse: a rusty subway car, upside down buckets, desk chairs, traffic cones, wooden crates and dusty tires.

"No, Katie. I'm not kidnapping you," Erica scoffed, walking up to Katie and grabbing her arm.

"Well then what are you doing?"

"You said you'd trust me," Erica reminded her.

"That was before you brought me to a random building full of junk in the middle of the warehouse district where nobody goes," Katie countered.

"Some people come here," Erica replied hesitantly.

"Yeah, criminals and warehouse workers. That's it! Not to mention you still aren't telling me a single thing and you drove here in some really nice car; the same one that the creepy man drove you out of school in," Katie said incredulously as Erica dragged her deeper into the warehouse.

"Katie—"

"Erica, do you have a sugar daddy who has some secret personal vendetta against me?"

"Katie, stop talking."

"Why? Erica, I am freaking out and I don't know—"

"Who's this?" an unfamiliar voice said from behind the subway car, cutting off Katie's rambling. A figure stepped into view, hands crossed over his chest. He was tall, about six feet, and strong. He had dark, trimmed facial hair and piercing grey eyes. It was the man from the car.

"This is Katie," Erica began, grabbing Katie's hand. Katie looked down at the hand, furrowing her brow. "Derek, she needs help. Help from you."

"And why would I help her?"

"She saw it tonight, the kanima," Erica explained, eyes darting back to Katie.

"The what?" Katie queried.

"Shh," Erica's eyes widened in warning.

"What did you tell her?" Derek asked in annoyance.

"Nothing yet— but Derek, I think she's supernatural."

"What?" Katie couldn't help it as she looked from Erica to Derek in disbelief. "I'm not supernatural."

"Just wait, Katie. Trust me," Erica pleaded while Derek rolled his eyes.

"What makes you think she's supernatural?" he asked.

"She's seeing things. Things that can only be explained by the supernatural."

"Can I please be included in this conversation? What the hell are you two talking about? If supernatural is code for extremely close to calling the cops then yeah, I am," Katie butt in, pulling her hand out of Erica's grasp.

"Not now, Katie," Erica warned through gritted teeth.

"Stop berating me like I'm a little kid," Katie stepped backwards, putting herself farther away from both Erica and Derek.

"I know you aren't a little kid. Just let me talk for a minute."

"Both of you, stop it," Derek scolded, voice suddenly rising as he stepped towards the two. He sighed before speaking again. "Come with me."

Erica stepped forwards, looking tentatively at Katie to follow.

"Hell no," Katie stated. "No way. Tell me what you need to tell me, but tell me here. I'm not following either of you any further into this apocalyptic Costco."

"Fine," Derek nodded, turning back around. "But keep in mind, you're gonna be the one talking, not me."

Katie looked at Erica in confusion before Derek asked the first question.

"We'll start at the beginning. What did you see tonight?"

"I don't know—" Katie said.

"Yes, you do."

"How would you know?"

"You wouldn't be here if you didn't," Derek shrugged.

"Actually, I'm here because I don't have a clue!" Katie's voice rose to a slight panic before she got it under control again, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

"Well, I do. It's called a kanima. Now, there's a lot of background that you're missing out on, but that thing you saw— It's a shapeshifter. It won't hurt you, not unless you have any murders you'd like to fess up to. According to legend, it only kills killers."

"What?"

"Katie, just listen," Erica told her, sitting down on what looked like a metal beam.

"It's a supernatural creature. It doesn't follow the laws of nature. You see, in the daytime it's a normal person. It looks just like any other human. In fact, it doesn't even know what it's doing in the night."

Katie turned back to Erica with wide eyes, not entirely believing a word that Derek said. But in the back of her mind, somehow, she knew it was true. A chill ran down her spine as Derek spoke.

"So I saw a supernatural shape shifting lizard man on someone's house? That's what you're telling me? And I'm supposed to believe that?"

"It's really not my problem whether you believe it or not, but if Erica's right about you, then at some point you're going to have to," Derek elucidated.

"Right about me being supernatural? Well, I can assure you that I'm not turning into a giant lizard every night and killing people," Katie retorted.

"But you are something, aren't you? I can hear it in your heartbeat. What's been happening?" Derek prodded, tilting his head.

Katie chose to ignore Derek's comment about her heartbeat. "My hands. They glow. They glow when I'm scared or upset or angry. It just started. And something happened a while ago that I haven't been able to get out of my head. I punched a kid and he came to the police with burns on his face. He said I did it. Everyone agrees now that it was something else but I just— I feel like somehow I did do it. Because in that moment..." Katie paused, looking down at her hands and then at Erica, "In that moment, I wanted him to burn."

"Fire? Fire comes out of your hands?" Derek clarified.

"Not fire, heat. Or something, I don't fucking know. I'm convinced that I'm going insane. And it sounds like you two are already crazy."

"You're not insane," Erica spoke up, shaking her head.

"Then what the hell is happening to me?"

"You're supernatural, Katie."

"What the hell does that even mean?"

"It means you're not like other people. It means you can do things other people couldn't dream of. Just like me," Erica said, standing up.

"You?"

"A werewolf," Derek said. When Katie looked back at him, his eyes were glowing red. Katie jumped back, grabbing onto the thing closest to her that happened to be a large hose. Seriously? Katie then looked around for something better, more useful, but Erica stopped her.

"Hey, Katie. You're okay," Erica reassured her, stepping forwards and placing her hands on the hose beside Katie's. "Nobody's gonna hurt you. Derek and I, we're both werewolves. He's the alpha. I'm a beta."

Katie stared into Erica's brown eyes, slowly dropping the hose. "Well then what am I?"

"I don't know." That was all Derek said before walking away. Katie stood there in shock for a moment, watching in confusion as Derek disappeared behind the subway car once again.

"Where did he just go?"

"I don't know. He does that, he walks away mid conversation. I think he's thinking," Erica explained, stepping back to give Katie more space. Katie shook her head and slumped onto the ground, leaning her head back against a steel pillar.

"This isn't a joke?" Katie asked hopelessly as Erica sat down in front of her, leaning back against a wooden box.

"No. It's not, not at all."

"So that's what happened to you then? You turned into a werewolf. That's why you came to school so different. Why you are so different now. It's why you're acting so weird and why you won't explain things. Right?"

"Yeah."

"Is that why you ignored my calls for days and didn't text me back?"

Erica sighed and glanced in the direction Derek had disappeared. "Derek said I shouldn't. He said it would risk me being exposed. There was that and the fact that he had us training all day."

"You could've sent a text," Katie muttered. "I waited for hours in that library."

Erica looked down in shame.

"At least look at me," Katie scoffed, "I called you like a hundred times."

Erica looked up, meeting Katie's eyes. Katie tried to hold back a tear as she stared back at Erica. She cursed herself for being so terrible at hiding her pain.

Erica stood up and walked over to sit beside Katie. Katie kept her gaze fixed forwards, not wanting to break down in Erica's amber eyes. Erica pulled her hand up to Katie's face and forced Katie to look at her.

"I'm really sorry. I know I owed it to you. And I know I'm way past making excuses but I just need you to know that it hurt me to ignore you. If I could do it again I wouldn't have listened to Derek but I was so scared. I didn't know what was happening and he seemed like he knew what was best so I did what he asked." Erica didn't break her gaze, making a point of not pulling her eyes away from Katie's.

Erica's soft hand on Katie's cheek made it hard for her to focus. Katie's heartbeat was drumming in her ears for what felt like the thousandth time that day, but this time it was a different pounding. It was less of a tightness, it wasn't an urge to run like it had been with the kanima. This heartbeat was tying her to the ground, forcing her to stay. If she could, she'd stay here forever.

Finally, Erica pulled her hand away, allowing Katie to manage her thoughts. She wiped away a tear she hadn't even realized she'd let fall. Katie let out a soft laugh, "Well, if anything warrants forgiveness I'm pretty sure turning into a damn werewolf and practically saving my life from a lizard man makes the cut."

"Does that mean . . ?" Erica trailed off.

"Yes, I forgive you," Katie nodded. Erica's face brightened. She smiled, a real smile. Katie couldn't help but let a smile flicker onto her face too, despite it all.

After a moment, the questions resurfaced in Katie's mind. "Do your eyes glow? Like Derek's?"

"Don't be scared," Erica advised as she leaned towards Katie slightly. Erica's eyes slowly morphed from a warm brown to a bright, golden yellow. Katie would've been terrified if it weren't for how beautifully mesmerizing the glowing colour was. Erica leaned back as her eyes returned to normal.

"It's gonna take me a while to get used to those," Katie commented.

"Me too," Erica nodded with a laugh.

"Do you turn into a literal wolf on full moons? Should I put steel bars on my windows from now on?" Katie asked, causing Erica to chuckle.

"I haven't had my first full moon yet. I don't know what's gonna happen, but so far I can grow claws and fangs. I have enhanced hearing, enhanced strength, enhanced smell, sight, speed, and agility. It's like superpowers. But like all great superhero movies, the power comes with a price."

"I forgot you were a movie geek," Katie grinned.

"Not a geek," Erica defended, "More like a movie enthusiast."

"Yeah, whatever," Katie smiled. The gravity of the situation hadn't yet dawned on her. "What's the price?"

"Well for starters, full moons are dangerous before you learn control. I could turn into a murderous monster and Derek said he's going to have to chain us up. And then there's the hunters."

"Hold on, who's us?"

"Me, Boyd, Isaac."

"Whoa, what? They're all werewolves? Since when?" Katie exclaimed, sitting up.

"Well, for me it's been eight days. For Boyd, four. For Isaac, more like two weeks," Erica counted off on her fingers.

"Oh my god."

"And the full moon is in nineteen days."

"You said hunters?"

"Oh yeah, there's like a dozen of them here in Beacon Hills. They're lead by Allison's family. They think all werewolves should be dead, or it seems like it at least."

"The new girl?"

"Yep."

"Have they tried to kill you yet?"

"No, but y'know Derek? One of them burned his house down. He lost everyone. He doesn't have anyone left. The arsonist is dead too now, but it just shows what they're capable of. Mass murder."

They were silent for a moment while Katie tried to process all the new information. She knew it was true. There had always been something weird about Beacon Hills. There were so many things that nobody could explain, so many times that Katie would walk down a street and get a weird hunch. There was always the feeling that there was something more— one more piece of the puzzle missing, and if only you could find it you'd be able to see the big picture.

"Please tell me Scott's a werewolf," Katie suddenly said.

"Why would you want Scott to be a werewolf?"

"Because that means I'm still better than him at lacrosse. It also makes me less concerned for him and Stiles' weird behaviour. I'm starting to think they're running a drug dealing business."

Erica laughed, shaking her head. "He is. A werewolf, I mean," Erica clarified, "He's not with Derek though, for some reason he's dead set on being different. Very self-righteous."

"So what is he then? If you're a beta and Derek's an alpha."

"The lone wolf is called an Omega, but Derek says he's the alpha of his own pack."

"Who's his pack?"

"Allison, Stiles, Lydia, and maybe Jackson," Erica nodded.

Another silence.

"Jackson?" Katie retorted incredulously. "What am I supposed to do now? Now that I know?"

"Pretend you don't know."

"Even to the people who do know?"

"Well, no. I'll talk to Derek about this but I was thinking you could help us."

"Help with what?"

"We're trying to figure out who the kanima is," Erica explained. Watching as Katie's face glazed over in fear. Flashes of the scaly face resurfaced in Katie's mind, making her shiver.

"It's okay, Katie. We won't let anything hurt you. I won't let it touch you," Erica grabbed Katie's hand. Katie nodded, letting Erica's touch calm her.

"Do you have any idea who it could be?" Katie asked.

"Derek has a few ideas," Erica trailed off, eyes darting to the train car sitting in the middle of the room. "Katie, you cannot say anything. I'm not kidding. You can't do anything or treat them any differently," Erica's voice took on a very serious tone as she said this.

"I know them?"

"Yeah, you do."

"I'm not going to say anything, Erica. Who are they?" Katie asked again, eager to know. At the same time, she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Erica glanced to the side, looking to see if Derek was watching or listening. She sighed before speaking, leaning in closer to Katie's face. "Well, today Derek did a test. The kanima's venom, it paralyzes. Yesterday, during the lacrosse match, the kanima attacked me, Derek and Stiles in the school pool. Derek got some of the venom from a mirror shard, he kept it."

"Are you okay?" Katie asked, shocked at how calmly Erica was recounting this.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Katie," Erica waved her off, continuing her explanation. "Y'know how a snake can't be poisoned by their own venom?"

"Sure," Katie shrugged.

"We thought it might be Jackson. But he passed the test, the kanima's venom paralyzed him."

"Why? Why did you think it was him?"

"Because he was bitten by an alpha which means he should turn into a werewolf, but he hasn't. His body's rejecting the bite, and therefore unimportant to us," Erica said with a sliver of a smile.

"So then who do you think it is?"

"You cannot tell anyone," Erica repeated.

"I won't."

Erica leaned in closer, eyes trained on the subway car. "It's Lydia."

AUTHOR'S NOTE.

( word count: 2740 )

did you guys like my pun in the chapter name? very hilarious ik.

this chapter was mostly just dialogue but i hope u don't mind, now we can get to the fun part <3

i know it's been FOREVER but if anyone is still reading this, i love u so much and i'm really gonna do my best to update.

love,
skye