***STILES***

By the time we get back to Derek's place, he, Scott, and Skylar are racing out the door. Hunter attempts to hug his sister, but she brushes him off. "Sorry, but they're chasing us," she says. "No time for that!"

"Who's chasing..." I begin. Then I hear rumbling echoing from upstairs. "Oh. Oh, that's..."

"Not good, I know," Scott says. He grabs my wrist and turns me around. "Come on, we're leaving!"

"And going where?" I ask.

"The cabin," says Derek.

"Really?"

"It's the best place for us to make our final stand!" He stays behind to make sure we're all running, then follows closely behind me and Lydia. Man, we really are the slowest ones here. Maybe Lydia's got a good excuse because she's the shortest in our group, but me? Not so much. I mean, I'm not tall like Derek or Hunter, but I've got pretty long legs - which are probably the only reason I'm the same height as Scott. I mean, seriously, though. I'm better than this. I'm not just some gangly kid with zero athletic ability. Even a wacky assbite of a coach like Finstock wouldn't keep me on the lacrosse team if I didn't show some level of potential.

Suddenly, I realize Lydia's falling behind a bit. That means either I'm subconsciously making myself accelerate, or she's slowing down. Unsure which is worse, I fall back into step with her and ask, "Something wrong?"

She shakes her head. "No. Why would there be?"

"You're looking a little pale," I say. I'm not kidding - even her always-lipsticked lips aren't as bright and shiny as they usually are. Is this some kind of banshee thing?

"I've barely had anything to eat all day," Lydia says, "but..."

I wonder if Scott could smell a...what was it he called me this morning? Oh yeah - "a sugar crash waiting to happen." Well, maybe he can't smell it, but...I fall even further behind Lydia so I can ask Derek.

He focuses his glowing eyes on Lydia for a second, then says, "No, I don't really see anything wrong. Maybe you're just reading too much into things."

"But just say-"

"Don't worry about it," Derek says. "As soon as we deal with these guys, I'll get us all fueled up. I know a really good pizza place in Hill Valley."

He's got that "Don't argue" look on his face, and I'm not going to push it. My favorite sour wolf needs to be allowed to keep his single-minded focus. I run on ahead, catching up to Lydia as we get back into the woods.

By the time we return to the cabin, Jackson's also caught on to Lydia's not-so-healthy appearance, and like me, he's expressed his his concerns. "I dunno," Lydia says. "I just...I think I'm getting a vibe."

"A banshee vibe?" I ask, dreading the answer.

"I hope not," she says.

"You'd scream for anyone who dies, right?" Jackson asks.

I raise my eyebrows. "Dude. Let's please not go there, okay?"

"Anyone, yeah," Lydia says. "Whether they're on our side or not. I think."

"You've not had much practice with this, we know," I say. I look around and see everyone else rushing through the cabin's front door. "Come on, let's get inside." Derek and I stay behind to watch Lydia and Jackson go in, then we follow them, closing the door behind us. "Now what?" I ask. "I hope we don't let them surround us before we make our move."

"Of course not," Derek says, doing a facepalm. "However could we be so stupid?" He leads us down into the basement, where he opens a hatch in the floor.

"Well, that's disgusting." Hunter leans over the open hole and wrinkles his nose. I don't know about him, but I don't smell anything, other than a tinge of earthworm-infused soil.

Aiden bites his lip. "I know, but...beggars can't be choosers." He's the first to venture into the dark, dirty depths.

"Where does this lead?" asks Allison.

"It resurfaces in another part of the woods about a quarter-klick southwest," Derek says. He pauses, clearly as surprised as any of us at his own use of military terminology. "There's no chance Deucalion's people are coming that way, so we'll be able to turn the tables on them."

"Then let's go already," Scott says. He gestures to Allison to climb down the hole. "I'll be right behind you," he says.

"Just don't lose your footing," she laughs. "I don't think I'm strong enough to take your weight on top of my head."

Yeah, but on top of the rest of you? I have to really work hard to resist the urge to say that out loud. Sometimes, there's no place for my sweetly snarky attitude. I'll just have to find such a place later. It's a sort of mental muscle that I can't allow to atrophy, because I don't have enough of the physical kind. I'm getting there, but I'm still no Scott or Jackson or Derek.

We all go through the tunnel single-file, crawling most of the way - especially Hunter and Derek and Aiden, being the biggest and tallest among us. One of us might want to invent a new super-bleach just for occasions such as these, when our clothes - and our bodies - end up coated in moist, gritty dirt that refuses to come out. Oh wait - isn't that what OxiClean is for?

Ahead of me, I hear Isaac cough and splutter. "Ugh," he groans. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this."

"What, swallowing dirt by mistake?" I ask.

"No, worse." I can't see it, not really, but I can picture him shuddering. "Somehow, a cigarette butt wound up all the way down here."

"Uncle Peter," Derek mutters.

I'm so totally not surprised to learn that evil creeper was ever a smoker. "Now I know what a-"

"Please don't say 'TV dinner,'" Derek says.

"Actually, I was gonna say 'a turd crawling through Satan's butthole.'"

There's the snark I was waiting to break out. And then there's Derek taking his turn to choke on dirt for a second, mostly from trying not to laugh.

When we emerge from the secret passageway, the sunlight blinds us for a moment. We all take some time to let our eyes adjust, then Derek leads us back towards the cabin. By the time we get down there, the Alpha Pack has already gathered near the front door. Deucalion, in particular, has found his way to the spot where we buried Ethan. Now how could he do that despite being blind?

He scuffs his shoes on the freshly-turned earth. "They took the time to bury him," he says. "See? These people waste their time on such stupid sentimentality."

To my left, Aiden clenches his fist. To my right, Derek sneers at the sight. As for me, I'm surprised to see that there are so relatively few Alphas in this Pack. Only five, not counting Deucalion. Well, there would've been seven with the twins included, but that's no longer the case.

"You can't let these human feelings hold you down!" Deucalion yells. Is it just me, or is he looking our way? "That's the quickest way to put your powers to waste! As you've already found out to your cost, Aiden!"

"All right, that's it!" Before anyone can stop him, Aiden leaps forward, wolfing out and snarling at his erstwhile boss. "You're dead!"

Deucalion sneers all over again. "Good luck. Even with the rest of your newfound friends on your side, you can't possibly defeat us all."

Where Aiden was standing just seconds ago, there lies a large fallen tree branch, one of the kind that I've seen people whittle into walking sticks for hiking. I grab it slowly, and then Derek grabs the hem of my shirt. "No," he says. "You're not gonna-"

"What, we're just gonna let him take these guys alone?" I reach down to peel Derek's fingers off my flannel. He must not even be trying to hold on, because he lets go shockingly fast. Then I run out and join Aiden, holding the big stick like a fighting staff.

"Who's this?" Deucalion snickers. "Oh, a human. How embarrassing. Derek sends his least-powerful associate to fight in his-"

"There's another difference between our packs," Derek says as he and Scott come out of the woods and cross in front of me and Aiden. "In mine, independent thought isn't a crime."

I turn around to see Allison and Skylar making their way out from behind the trees as well. Then I spot one of the Alphas trying to sneak up on Derek. I run after him, brandishing my staff and whipping it right into his jaw.

That's when the fight breaks out. Alphas target each and every one of us. Deucalion goes after Derek, and his lesser Alphas get the rest of us. But none of us are the easy pickings they probably expected us to be. The two girls are particularly dangerous, especially Skylar. Remind me to never get her pissed off - she might just bite me and drain half a pint of my blood in one gulp. Which is exactly what she does to her Alpha.

As for the rest of us - those who are werewolves, anyway - they engage in hand-to-hand combat, mostly. I'm the only one using a weapon, because I'm the only human among us. The staff serves me pretty well, but only when I'm keeping my angry Alpha out of arm's reach. When he gets closer to me, that's when things really start getting hairy - pun intended. It's all I can do to push his face away from me so he can't bite me, but as for his claws? They're shredding my clothes, and sharp jolts of pain in my midsection tell me my meat suit is being breached too.

I take a look around and see I'm not the only one taking a beating. Scott has bruises forming on his cheek - and with his skin so dark, they really have to be major bruises to show like that already. Allison's dirt-matted hair is now getting caked with blood - although I'm pretty sure it belongs to her opponent. And Derek has a fresh cut on his face, his blood getting stuck in his stubble.

Agony tears through me, and I realize I've been distracted too long. My Alpha slashes his biggest cut yet to my torso. I get one last burst of energy and staff-whip him in the skull, finally knocking him down for good.

But that looks to be my downfall. I find myself growing lightheaded, very fast. I fall to my knees, clutching my arm against my chest. And then I realize I've been cut not only there, but near my armpit as well. Isn't there some major artery in that part of the body? Or is that the arm?

"Oh shit." I realize my arm's been cut as well. Blood pours from the gashes, making me sick to my stomach.

I'm hyperventilating. Panicking. Oh God.

"Help...me..." I can't speak in any level above a stage whisper at this point. My eyes flutter shut, and I try to force them open, but they refuse to stay open for more than a second at a time.

Scott and Allison see me struggling, and run to my side as soon as they deliver final, fight-ending blows to their own Alphas. What can they do, though? Can one of them bite me? Can a Beta turn a human, or can only Alphas like Derek do that?

My eyes open again, giving me a photographic impression of Skylar biting and punching out Aiden's alpha. My eyes close, and all I sense is a rushing in my ears, along with what sounds like a scream somewhere in the background.

Don't let that be Lydia.

Don't let me die.

Please...