𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐄𝐅𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒
im not in danger, im the danger

IT WAS THE same night that they busted into the bank vault and found Boyd and Derek's sister who he thought was dead. Now, they were trying to hunt down the two beta's who have no control over themselves.

Running into a field full of fireflies, Hope came to a screeching halt when she saw Boyd holding up a small shed, growling at two little kids. "Hey!" She shouted and threw out her hand, sending a wave of magic that knocked him backwards a few feet. "Pick on someone your own size!"

Boyd got up as the two kids cowered behind the fallen shed. He turned to the tribrid, eyes glowing brightly and canines on show. He growled loudly and charged at her.

She ran forward, and using her werewolf strength to throw him away from her. She then leaped into the air and sent a powerful punch to his chest, making him stumbled backwards.

He jumped up, doing a front flip before crouching and glaring at her heatedly with golden eyes.

Rolling her eyes, Hope shouted, "Exsurgo!"

Boyd was picked up like he was a feather in the wind before being flung far into the woods, a loud thud being the only and last thing Hope heard before silence.

Turning around, she pushed her hair out of her face and approached the two children who were holding onto one another tightly. "It's going to be alright. The big scary man is gone and he won't try to hurt you anymore." They ran into her arms and she let out a surprised breath before slowly wrapping her arms around them.

"Are you okay?" The girl asked Hope, frightened. Her big doe eyes staring up at the auburn haired girl.

"You shouldn't worry about me, I can protect myself." Hope bent down and gently moved their hair out of their faces. "When you go home tonight, don't tell anyone about this, alright?" She gave them a small smile. "Can you keep this as a secret?"

They both nodded eagerly and wrapped their little arms around her. The little girl looked at Hope in awe, her mouth wide open. "We won't tell anyone because we have an angel who protects us."

Hope softened and ran her hand through their hair. "I'm no angel, but I will protect you. Come on." She gripped their hands and walked them home, and made sure to keep a look out for Boyd and Cora.

HOPE FLIPPED OVER a tree, landing on her feet, one hand on the ground as she flipped her hair back to keep it out of hef face.

"Is it them?" Scott questioned, looking down at the foot prints when he noticed the tribrid arrive.

"We're not the only ones that decided to stick together," Hope spoke up, standing straighter.

"Is that gonna make it easier or harder to catch them?" The McCall boy asked, sighing at the fact two blood thirsty beta's were working together.

"I don't know," Derek admitted which made Hope roll her eyes at him.

"Of course it's going to be harder," she spoke up and then un-crossed her arms. "I just rescued two children from being attacked by Boyd." She turned to them and bit her lip. "And it was like any hit I gave didn't faze him at all."

"Are they gonna do that to everyone they find?"

"Everyone and anyone." Hope nodded, closing her eyes briefly just as a distant echoing scream filled the void. She shivered at the loud scream and opened her eyes. "We need to get going now."

A FEW MOMENTS later, Hope jumped over Isaac, hitting Cora in the chest with her feet so hard that she went flying into a tree. She flipped herself forward, landing in a crouch as she looked at Cora with narrowed eyes.

As Cora growled at Hope, she growled right back at her, loudly might she add, and Cora zoomed off into the woods.

As Isaac, Derek and Scott went after her, Hope briefly glanced at the human girl that had watched the interaction. "Ad Somnum." The girl was knocked out, falling to the ground with a thud. "Sorry," she whispered, wincing before running after her friends.

She listened to the sounds of thumping footsteps and heavy breathing to make sure she was going towards them.

When she finally caught up to them, they had stopped and was talking to one another.

"This doesn't make any sense. The public pool is all the way on the other side of the woods. We haven't tracked them anywhere near there," Derek explained, not believing that they could've already killed someone.

Moments before, Stiles had called informing them that Lydia had found a dead body at the pool with his throat slashed.

"Derek, they killed someone," Scott spoke up, shaking his head.

"Not likely." Hope shook her head. "There could be someone else out there. Possibly using Boyd and Cora as distractions. There is no way they could've done this, anyway. We've been almost on their asses since they got loose."

Derek gestured to Hope, showing that he agreed with her. Or, at least trying to convince himself that it wasn't his beta's. "How are they moving so fast?"

"Derek!"

"But, they can't be that fast on foot!" Derek yelled at Scott.

"They killed someone!" Scott exclaimed, taking in a deep breath. "Some totally innocent kid is dead... And it's our fault."

Hope looked down, biting her lip. Maybe if she wasn't so sad that she couldn't get back home and having to be cheered up, maybe she could've stopped all this from happening.

Derek sighed and something in his green eyes looked distant. "It's my fault."

Hope opened her mouth, ready to tell the slightly older man that he was wrong. But, Scott spoke up abruptly, "We need help."

"We have Isaac now." Derek gestured to the curly blue eyed boy who stood by Hope's side. The blonde felt like he was safe with her by his side seeing as she was the strongest out of them all. Plus, she smelt really nice, even for being in the woods for the past few hours.

"I mean real help," Scott said and Isaac looked up, scoffing. "They're too fast for us, for all of us. They're too strong, too rabid." He then gestured to Hope, "and she hit Boyd with her magic and he simply got up and ran off. It was like he wasn't affected."

"We'll catch them," the tribrid stated, holding her head up high.

"What happens if we do? We just gonna hold them down until the sun comes up?" Isaac asked the million dollar question.

Derek opened and closed his mouth before sighing. "Maybe it would be easier just to kill 'em." He looked down at the ground, pursing his lips.

Scott shook his head. "Killing them isn't the right thing to do."

"What if it's the only thing to do?" Isaac asked when no one else said anything. "If we can't even catch them, what else do we do?"

"Find someone who knows what they're doing."

"Who?"

"Someone who knows how to hunt werewolves," Scott stated like it was the obvious.

"Chris," Hope breathed out and bit the inside of her cheek. "Are you sure he would even want to help?"

He nodded. "He'll want to."

ABOUT HALF AN hour later, they now stood in the woods with Chris Argent. He had been hesitant with helping them, especially Derek, but soon warmed up.

"Where's the last place you saw them? You're tracking them by print?" The hunter asked, wanting to get an idea of what they did and how they did it.

"Trying to."

"Well, then, you've been wasting your time. There's only one creature on earth that can visually track footprints, and that's man," Chris stated and looked up at them like they were stupid for not knowing the different. "And if you're not trained like me, you have no idea that this print is Boyd's and these..."

"—are Cora's." Isaac finished, nodding his head.

"Nope." Chris shook his head. "They're yours. You trampled Cora's as soon as you walked over here."

At his words, Hope raised her brows. "Huh..." she trailed off, feeling kind of stupid now. But, hey, it's not like she has gotten enough sleep the past few nights..

"Listen, I know the four of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon, but that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Cora, who have fully given in. They put the pedal to the floor where you four are barely hitting the speed limit," he explained to them.

Hope nodded along, understanding where he was coming from. Seeing as she never once tried to hold herself back on full moons, she could feel the tingling in her body, wanting her to transform into a wolf. For some reason, the moon in this universe called to her more. And it even seemed to affect her magic, too. It was like she was a soda can that had just been shook, ready to explode.

"So, what do we do?"

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to a hundred Miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to track them. If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two Miles, which means we can draw them to us..." Chris threw a net at Scott. "Or into a trap. Full moon does give us one advantage. They'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared." He then threw them night vision goggles.

"Thanks, but I've got my own," Derek spoke up, flashing his red eyes.

"Just remember, we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed, but it's there, reminding them how to mask their scent, how to cover their tracks, how to survive," Argent explained while they over looked Beacon Hills. He then looked to Derek. "When's the last time you saw your sister?"

"Nine years. I thought she died in the fire."

Hope blinked rapidly and looked away, the picture of her mother burning in front of her flashed in her mind. She cleared her throat and looked back out at the town below them.

Isaac looked over at her upon feeling the shift of the atmosphere. He saw the look in his eyes and frowned, worrying about her.

"Do you feel like you have a lock on her scent?" Derek shook his head. "Scott, how confident are you in your skills?"

"Honestly, most of the time, I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell."

Hope giggled which made Argent look at her. "What about you, Hope?"

She rolled her bright blue eyes and faced him. "I'm great."

"All right." Argent nodded. "The problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school, they're right in the middle of beacon hills."

"They're not gonna kill everything they see, are they?"

"No." Chris shook his head. "But there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point, they get full," he explained, turning his head to look them all in the eyes. "But Boyd and Cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill, for some primal apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need gets satiated?"

Hope remembered the feeling when killing those nazi vampires, and she sometimes still craved that feeling. So, she knew the feeling of wanting to be satisfied but never getting anywhere near it.

"We can't kill them." Scott was fast to put that point across.

"What if we can't catch 'em?" Hope asked, tilting her head as a plan came to mind. "We'll need to contain them." She turned to Scott. "There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

"You want to trap them inside?" Derek asked her, shocked, but impressed. She wasn't just pretty, but she actually had ideas. Which, at this point, he should've be surprised by her. She is from another world and knows how to hold her own.

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door, no windows or access to the outside," she explained, looking between them. "The school does have a boiler room right?"

Scott slowly nodded. "Yeah. It's just one big steel door."

"Then it's perfect!" Hope nodded and clapped her hands together.

"You're sure the school's empty?" Argent asked, making sure.

"It has to be. There can't be anyone there this late, right?"

Chris nodded and then gestured to the bags at his feet, and pulled out something from them. "These are ultrasonic emitters." He showed them a flashlight looking thing, shoving it into the ground. "It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run." He pressed a button and the werewolves covered their ears immediately.

Though, it wasn't as loud to Hope as much as it was to the other werewolves because they have the heightened hearing like vampires.

"Gives off a high-pitched frequency that only they can hear," Chris finished, looking over at the group with no emotions on his face.

"God, no kidding!" Isaac complained and Argent just turned it off, with a smirk.

"These are gonna drive them to the school?"

"And then it's up to you to get them into the basement," Argent told them, handing them all a couple of ultrasonic emitters.

Hope gripped them on her long delicate fingers, and tilted her head.

"Does anyone else want to rethink the plan where we just, uh, kill 'em?" Isaac questioned, frowning and tilting his head side to side.

"It's going to work." Scott nodded. "It'll work."

HOPE RAN THROUGH through the woods, a few emitters being heard behind her, telling her that the others have already turned their's on.

She ran up a broken tree that was in the shape of a ramp and flew through the air, doing a front flip before slamming an emitter into the soft ground. She then ran forward yet again and went slightly to the left, making sure to leave a path for the blood thirsty beta's.

As a howl was heard, she knew right then and there, the plan was working. She pushed herself forward, making sure to keep a normal werewolf pace just in case someone decided to join her.

"They're going over it," was what Hope heard as she joined Argent and Scott.

"What are you guys talking about?" She asked, but neither answered before they were running towards Derek.

"The red doors, someone has to get them open," Argent spoke urgently.

"Someone has to drive them inside."

"I'll go," Chris said but Hope stopped him him by holding up a hand.

"No. I'm faster." As she went around the corner, she saw Allison on top of a bus, shooting arrows at Boyd and Cora's feet, making them go running into the school. She ran forward, closed the door and locked it before looking up at Allison who stared down at her in surprise before running away.

The tribrid took in a deep breath before running into the school, and upon seeing Derek and Scott running down to the boiler room, she ran after them, closed the door behind her, and ran down the stairs behind Boyd and Cora.

And as Derek and Scott closed the boiler room door — Boyd and Cora inside — did Hope join them by their sides.

"You hear that?" Scott asked, looking around with narrowed, confused filled brown eyes.

"What?"

"Three heart beats."

Hope let out a shaky breath and already looked ready to barge into the room.

Derek let out a sigh, briefly closed his eyes; and then glanced over at the teenagers. "Close the door behind me."

"They'll kill you," she blurted out with wide eyes.

"Maybe. Maybe not." He shrugged, seemingly not caring whether he would die or not.

The seventeen year old girl shook her head and grabbed the door handle. "If you're going in, I'm going in."

"What? No!" Scott exclaimed, shaking his head at Hope who simply ignored him.

Derek stared into her eyes, not blinking. He licked his lips and slowly nodded. "Fine. But you stay behind me. I'll take most of the blows."

She gave him a smirk. "If I have anything to do with it, you won't get any blows."

"You'll get hurt, Hope," Scott said, grabbing her arm gently with worried eyes.

"I'll be fine, Scott," She told him gently and then looked back over at Derek. "And I'll make sure Derek will be fine, too."

Derek rose a brow and then gestured to the door which the auburn haired girl opened.

Together, they walked into the boiler room, Scott closing the door behind them.

Walking around the corner, they stopped when they came face to face with two growling beta's who were breathing heavily, looking ready to explode.

And right when they launched forward, Hope put up a force field, throwing out her hands in front of her, making a circular motion. A blue light emerged and then expanded in front of both of them, making the beta's go flying back when they ran into it.

Derek briefly glanced at her as the shield dissolved before running at his beta's who were already standing up. He began punching and kicking them. They just kept kicking, biting, and even scratching him, blood flying everywhere, along with pieces of his shirt.

"Hey!" Hope shouted and when they continued to tear into Derek, she snapped, "I said hey!" She balled her hand into a fist.

The beta's crumbled to the floor, growling and whimpering in pain. But, the pain only lasted a second before they were angrier than to begin with.

And before Hope could have the time to utter another spell, Boyd literally threw Cora at her. They stumbled back, falling to the floor. Cora began punching Hope repeatedly in her face, and scratching at her chest.

Hope screamed out, and a burst of energy flung Cora upwards towards the ceiling before she roughly landed on the floor. Her temple was the first thing to hit the concrete, and she went unconscious.

The tribrid whimpered and gritted her teeth as she sat up. Her hands flung to her chest and she closed her eyes, one singular tear sliding down her cheek, landing on her arm.

Opening her eyes, she saw Derek fall to his knees after knocking Boyd out. Both of them had many injuries, covered in blood, and their shirts were ruined.

After a few seconds, Scott slowly opened up the door and hesitantly walked in. His eyes widened at the sight of Derek and Hope who were covered in blood, and laying right beside them was two unconscious beta's.

"Oh my god," he breathed out and ran towards Hope, helping her up to her feet. She struggled a little and fell into his arms, breathing out heavily.

"There's a teacher. I'll take care of her," Derek panted, out of breath and pain. "Help her take them out of here."

Isaac came into the room, his blue eyes filling up with worry when he noticed Hope's hurt figure in Scott's protective arms.

"Get them out," Derek gruffly stated, and stood up on his own, wincing a little.

"I got her," Isaac breathed out and reached for Hope, his arms wrapping around her waist. "You get them."

Scott watched Isaac help Hope out of the room before turning his attention to Boyd and Cora. "She'll be fine," he muttered to himself before picking the beta's up.

LATER IN THE night, Hope was laying down on her bed, healed but scarred. Her hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and she was wearing leggings and a much larger hoodie. It was one of Isaac's which he allowed her to borrow. He said something about her needing it more than him.

She was writing in her diary, something she has written every important memory in. She sighed heavily and closed it before laying it down on her pillow. She ran her hands over her face and closed her eyes.

A knock on her bedroom door startled her out of her thoughts, and she simply moved her hand, unlocking and opening it.

Stiles' wide eyes and opened mouth was what greeted her and she snorted loudly. "Damn! That was cool!" He walked into the room and closed the door behind him before awkwardly turning to face her. "Are you okay?"

Hope pursed her lips and slid to the edge of her bed. "I'm fine, Stiles." She looked up at him and licked her lips. "Are you okay? I heard that you and Lydia found a dead body."

He huffed and placed his hands on his hips. "She found it and didn't even call me first. I swear, that girl is annoying. I am the one that you guys are suppose to call first. Not the cops!" He rolled his eyes and then rose his brows at Hope when she began laughing.

"You're definitely unique, you know that?" She rhetorically asked, smiling up at him.

He smiled and looked happy for a second before frowning deeply. "Wait... is that a good thing?"

She giggled and nodded. "Of course it's a good thing." She stuffed her hands into the hoodie which caught Stiles' eyes. "What?" She asked when his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Isn't that Isaac's hoodie?" He noticed the number on it, and then glanced at a mirror that she had by her bed, and he noticed the last name 'Lahey' on the back of the hoodie. He pursed his lips. "Why are you wearing Isaac's hoodie?"

She furrowed her perfectly plucked brows. "He gave it to me after what happened tonight. He was kind enough to help me here."

"If it was that bad, then you should've told me;" he told her, huffing. "I would've been here. I would've helped and protected you."

"I don't need protected, Stiles." She rolled her eyes. "I do the protecting, remember?" She sighed and then brought her hands to her lap.

"You do the protecting?" He scoffed and threw his hands up to his sides. "You just got beat up tonight to the point you couldn't move. You needed someone else to help you home. And you couldn't even protect Derek. He got beat up pretty badly, too."

Hope swallowed thickly and stood up to face him. Well, as best as she could seeing as she was like a foot shorter than him. "Are you really yelling at me because I didn't fight bad like everyone wants me to? Boyd is a innocent boy who got his life turned upside down. He is nice and I didn't want to hurt him. And I saw what Derek was doing. He wanted to wear them out, but I wanted to protect him. So, I got in the way so I could be the one to be beaten up. And I was. I could hardly move because of the pain and now you're saying I didn't do a good job? I know I didn't! I am a disappointment and you better get used to me disappointing you more often!"

He blanched and blinked rapidly at her reaction. "That's not at all where I was going with that, Hope. And what do you mean that you're a disappointment? You're amazing, unique, smart, and a badass."

She scoffed and turned her back to him. "I was too busy feeling sorry for myself. I couldn't find my way home and I gave up weeks ago. I didn't even know Boyd and Erica was missing until a few weeks ago. I couldn't protect them. Erica is dead because I wasn't paying enough attention to those around me. Isaac got hurt because I didn't stop him from trying to find his friends. Derek is beat up right now because I froze for a second back there. And don't get me started on the night you got kidnapped and beaten. I just keep screwing things up. I don't deserve any of you and I feel like my brain is going to explode!"

"Hey, hey, it's alright." He gripped her shoulders and turned her around to face him. "You're not a screw up, okay?" He made her look him in the eyes, and he frowned upon seeing that she was crying. "Like I just said — you're Hope Mikaelson, the almighty tribrid who can kick anyone's ass. And you're allowed to feel sad and have a moment or two by yourself. You don't always have to be the hero. You don't always have to be selfless. And sometimes you shouldn't protect, you should be protected."

He pulled her into a hug. One of his arms went around her waist while the other hand buried itself inside her long and soft hair. "Maybe you shouldn't be Hope Mikaelson all the time. Maybe you should be Hope McCall and rest. You need it."

She pulled back and sniffed, allowing him to wipe away the tears. "So you're saying I don't look good?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "You always look good. But, uh, you would look better in my hoodie, not Isaac's." His face turned a dark red and his eyes widened at his own words.

She covered her mouth with her hands and giggled. "Are you jealous? Of a hoodie?"

He scoffed and made a 'pfft' sound with his lips. "As if!" He then chuckled when she rose one eyebrow at him. "So... do you want to watch a movie?" He changed the subject and scratched the back his head. He still wasn't so used to having long hair.

That reminded him — when his hair finally grew out, he was happy by the surprised look on Hope's face. Her eyes were wide and then she giggled before running her hand through it. She commented how she liked it more now, so ever since, he secretly vowed to himself that he would never shave it off again.

"Sure!" She exclaimed, deciding to play along with him. She didn't understand what the big deal was about the hoodie, but she loved it when he blushed and fumbled around. It was cute. "What do you want to watch?" Right when he opened his mouth, she snapped her fingers. "Star Wars, yeah?"

He blushed again and nodded. "Yeah. We only finished the first three. Now we have to finish the rest." He headed towards the box of movies that she keeps in her closet, and began to look for the movies.

Hope just stood there, watching him with a smile on her face. She was so glad she had someone like Stiles to always cheer her up no matter what. She was truly grateful to have him in her life. And she hoped to never lose him. Ever.