DEAD MAN!
CHAPTER ELEVEN.
the alpha speaks.

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ADRIAN ALWAYS LIKED THE ART OF MOVIES. Since he was a little boy, he always would put one on to cheer him up- a habit Adrian had developed into his teenage years.

With the situation with Stiles stuck in his head, the Martin thought a movie would be a good idea to clear his head. So, here he was, in the local video store. He scanned the isles, looking for the movie, The Sixth Sense, due to Toby Valack constantly telling him to watch it.

The store was pretty empty, granted it was a late night. No one was working apart from a guy fixing the lights, who Adrian noticed wasn't there anymore. He shrugged it off, thinking he had gone to get something.

As Adrian successfully grasped the movie in his hand, a familiar voice rang through the store. "Can someone help me find The Notebook?"

The familiar voice made the teen boy chuckle, walking out of the isle to meet the captain of the lacrosse team. "Let me guess. Lydia?" A knowing smile crossed his face. "Didn't take you for a romantic movie guy, Jackson."

The rich boy rolled his eyes. "Whatever, man. Is anybody working here?" He asked him.

The redhead curiously looked around, seeing no one in sight. "There was one guy, but he must've gone out back."

Jackson shook his head. "You gotta be kidding me." He muttered under his breath. Just then, the lights flickered and buzzed around them, something catching both Adrian and Jackson's gaze.

The two looked at each other cautiously before taking slow steps towards where feet seemed to be poking out of an isle. When the two lacrosse players turned to peer through, their eyes widened.

The guy Adrian had seen working on the lights had his throat slashed, blood soaking his clothes as he stared lifelessly ahead. Jackson was first to move, staggering back and knocking into the ladder which was balancing a ceiling tile. It caused a disturbance in the lights; shutting them off.

Adrian's heart thudded as he looked around the dark store, his breathing growing heavier in panic. Jackson breathed heavily beside him too. "We need to get out of here, man."

"What about Lydia?" Adrian's eyes went wide with worry for his sister, looking towards her boyfriend. "Is she okay? Where is she?"

"She's in the car." Jackson told him, making Adrian worry more. Whatever killed the man was close . . . maybe even outside killing his sister as they speak.

The ginger boy turned his back back to run out of the store in order to make sure his sister was okay, when a growl came from the entrance. Adrian stepped back, his heart halting.

Two glowing red eyes that could only belong to the Alpha himself shone through in the dark light, taunting him. It was on all fours- just like a wolf- as it growled at him and Jackson.

Adrian felt his palms grow sweaty, his breathing picking up as signs of an early panic attack. Not here. Adrian begged himself desperately. Not now.

Jackson reached out and dragged him by the forearm, hiding them behind a DVD shelf. Adrian covered his mouth with the sleeve of his plaid shirt, trying to help keep their hiding place secret.

Jackson moved his head to see if the Alpha was still there and guessing by the way he jumped back, he was. The worst part of the situation though, was that Adrian knew this was no mountain lion like Jackson was probably thinking. No. This was an Alpha, the one who bit Scott . . . and the one who was going to kill them if they didn't escape soon.

DVD's fell around them as Adrian jumped, hearing shelves fall like dominos. The redhead patted the captain's forearm as a sign to move as he did so, but the popular boy had no time as a shelf fell on his lower half.

Adrian immediately bent down to lift the shelf, but Jackson shook his head. "No. Go! Get out of here!" He told the boy.

"I'm not leaving you here!" Adrian persisted, grunting with effort as he tried to lift the piled shelves off the boy.

He was just about to succeed when he heard a snarl behind him; coming closer and closer. The two boys froze, hearing the Alpha breathe above them like a dog.

The feeling of its long claws rested on both Adrian and Jackson's neck. The Alpha lowered the collar of Jackson's jacket to see his neck, releasing him once he saw whatever he wanted to see.

Then, his full clawed hand rested on the redhead's shoulder, his breath fanning into his ear. Adrian's lips wobbled as the Alpha spoke to him, feeling his knees weaken. "Somnum."

And with no control over anything, Adrian's world faded black as he fell to the floor.

❚ ❚ ❚

When Adrian finally came back into the real world, his head felt like someone was beating it open as sirens wailed all around him. There was police cars and ambulances lining all around the store, Adrian confusedly looking between them amongst the chaos.

His knees felt like jelly as he tried to get up, almost falling only to catch himself on the ambulance last minute. A few people noticed him awake, a woman running over to sit him down. "Please stay sitting. You must've fainted from shock. We have a few questions to ask you."

Adrian spaced out on all questions, his mind giving him some of their own. Where was Jackson? Was he okay? Was Lydia unharmed? Is the Alpha gone? Did anyone see it? What had he said to him before he blacked out?

"Adrian?" A voice Adrian had heard before spoke, coming closer to him. The voice was familiar, but not enough to put a name and face too. It was only when Noah Stilinski was by his side did the Martin rememberer his voice. "Are you okay?"

"W-Where's Lydia? Where's my sister?" Adrian's eyes were wide and frantic as he searched the scene for the strawberry blonde, not catching sight of her. Out of panic, he stood again, the woman and the sheriff holding him back trying to calm him. "Where is she?"

"Just calm down, son." Noah told the boy, trying his best to coach him through his panic.

"No! You don't understand!" He cried out. If the Alpha had gotten ahold of Lydia, who knows what type of state she would be in.

"Oh woah, is that a dead body?! What's- Adrian!" Another voice shouted over the sirens, obviously hearing the commotion the teen was causing.

"Stiles! Get back in the car!"

Stiles didn't listen to his dad. Instead, he took place of his dad and the woman holding Adrian, speaking to him. "Hey, Hey, Hey. It's okay. Calm down."

"No. No, no, no, Lydia-" the Stilinski boy cut him off.

"Is fine. Her and Jackson are over there, look." He pointed over to another ambulance where Lydia was sitting in, stroking Jackson's arm while he talked to a police officer rather angrily. Adrian let out a sigh of relief, Stiles stroking his back. "See, they're okay. Are you?"

"The Alpha speaks." Adrian breathed out, looking fearfully into Stiles' eyes. "He spoke to me, Stiles."

Stiles's eyes widened. He hesitated, wondering if now seemed to be the right time to even ask him. But yet again, when would the right time ever be? "What did he say?"

Adrian gulped, shaking his head. "I-I don't know."

The buzzcut just hugged him, whispering sweet nothings and soft words to reassure him. Normally, Adrian Martin would shove him away with a mean comment . . . but not this time.

This time, the redhead clung onto the Stilinski tightly, blinking to stop from crying. He'd almost died that night . . . but the Alpha didn't kill him. Why?

Adrian didn't want to think about it. Right now, all he wanted was Stiles.

❚ ❚ ❚

Adrian's mum kept him and Lydia off school the next day, stating their experience was too traumatic for them to go. Adrian wasn't really fussed, pulling out his phone to inform Stiles and Toby he wouldn't be in today.

Miss Martin had rushed off to the shops to get Lydia something when her son came trudging downstairs, getting something to drink.

As soon as the glass was full, a hand latched onto Adrian and pushed his body up against the kitchen wall. Derek Hale put a finger to his lips, silently telling him to be quiet to not alert his sister. "W-What the hell are you doing here?!" Adrian half listened, speaking quietly enough so Lydia couldn't hear upstairs.

Derek ignored his question, glaring at him. "What did you see at the video store?"

"What do you think Sherlock? The Alpha of course." Adrian spat, seemingly forgetting this man could snap his neck if he wanted. "He spoke to me, some type of foreign language."

Derek paused, almost in a moment of disbelief. He let go of the Martin, backing away to just stare at the boy. Adrian watched him curiously. "D-Do you know what that means?"

Derek slowly nodded, closing his eyes with a sigh. "It means that not only is the Alpha after Scott, he's after you as well."

Adrian blinked, his head bowing in confusion. "Me? Why me? I have nothing to do with this!"

"Yes, you do." Derek nodded, Adrian shooting him a baffled look. "He wants to use you. He's clocked onto the fact that you're like Scott."

Adrian laughed bitterly, shaking his head. "Last time I checked, I didn't have claws growing from my fingertips. I'm not like Scott."

"Well, you may not be a werewolf." Derek claimed, staring at the boy. "But you are supernatural."

Adrian sent him a horrified look, quick to shake his head. "What? I'm- no! No! You're crazy!"

"You are. I can smell it." Derek explained, dryly laughing. "I thought you of all people would know."

"Must've slipped passed my mind." Adrian muttered, fists clenching by his sides as a tension grew between them.

Derek sighed. "Look, if you don't know what you are then the Alpha will be after you more. He wants to bite you, strengthen your powers to the point where even you will notice them. He wants you as part of his pack." He told him seriously, no joking tone whatsoever.

Adrian sighed, his mind telling him this wasn't a joke, that Derek Hale was really telling him the truth. When the redhead opened his eyes to question the werewolf more about what he was, he was gone.

Adrian cried in anger, almost knocking the glass over as he laid his head on the table.

❚ ❚ ❚

"Alright, Lyds. Mum wanted me to check up on you." Adrian sighed as he entered his sister's bedroom, seeing her sprawled out on her bed. The medication bottle to ease his sister's nerves laid on her bedside table, a few having been taken.

Lydia lifted her head up to stare at her brother, a distant look in her eyes. Adrian snickered, having a bit of fun with it. "I bet you can't say 'I saw Suzy sittin' in a shoeshine shop' ten times fast."

A competitive glint shined in Lydia's green eyes, accepting the challenge. "I saw Shuzy-" it began confidently, but then the strawberry blonde got confused. "Uh . . . I shaw,"

Adrian laughed, sitting on his sister's bed shaking his head. "You are so out of it." He mumbled, considering videoing her for blackmail.

Before he could get his phone out, Lydia's face fell as she leaned down on her bed. "I saw . . ." She muttered.

Adrian immediately bent down to her level worriedly, removing some hair carefully from her face. "What did you see, Lydia?"

"Something." She whispered.

"Something? Like a mountain lion?" Adrian tilted his head, trying not to ask too many questions.

"A mountain lion." She repeated, smiling before it fell back to her unsure face.

"Are you sure that's what you saw or is that what the police told you you saw?" Adrian tried again.

"A mountain lion."

Her brother sighed, picking up a stuffed giraffe he had gotten her when they were little as he held it up to her. "What's this?" He gently asked.

"A mountain lion." She nodded.

"Okay, you're too loopy for questions." Adrian placed the giraffe back, stroking her strawberry blonde hair. "You need to rest up." He helped his sister under the covers, tucking her in as he prepared to leave.

Just as he turned his back to Lydia, her phone ringed. Adrian picked it up and must've pressed the wrong button as a video began to play. It was from the night at the video store, when Lydia was in the car.

Adrian's breath halted when the glowing red eyes of the Alpha displayed on screen for a few seconds before it ended. The redhead took a few seconds to collect himself, quickly sending the video to himself and Stiles before deleting it from his sister's phone.

❚ ❚ ❚

Stiles jumped when Adrian burst through his bedroom door, panting heavily to prove he had run the whole way to his house. Stiles released a breath of relief, going to hug him but Adrian stepped back. "Did you get my message?"

Stiles bit his lip, nodding before getting his phone. "Yeah, I've been trying to call Scott but he hasn't answered. Him and Allison skipped school today."

Adrian's green eyes widened, face palming. "Right! It's Allison's birthday! God, I should've texted her or something. Lydia's gonna moan and hate me for that later." He sat on the boy's bed.

Stiles chuckled almost nervously, playing with his fingers. "I don't think anyone could hate you, Adrian."

The Martin raises an eyebrow at the boy. "Not even you?"

Stiles snickers. "Especially me." He kindly smiles at him, the boy smiling back slightly.

The two jumped when a knock came from the door, Noah Stilinski. He wore a black shirt with a plaid shirt on top, giving them a small smile. Adrian smirked back, linking the familiar clothing style between the father and son. "Please tell me I'm going to hear good news about this parent/teacher thing tonight."

"Depends on how you define 'good news'." Stiles weakly smiled, playing with something in his hands.

"I define it as you getting straight A's with no behavioural issues." His dad replied quickly, his mind trained now by this point on how to answer his son.

Adrian held in his laughter as he leaned back and enjoyed the conversation between the two. Stiles shot him a playful look before cringing at his father. "You might wanna rethink that definition."

"Enough said." The sheriff huffed.

Adrian weakly raised his hand. "If it makes you feel any better, Sheriff, my results aren't gonna be that thrilling either." He gave a sad smile.

The older Stilinski was quick to reply. "Please, Adrian, call me Noah." And with that, he walked out of the door, leaving the two boys by themselves again.

Adrian heard Stiles sigh, checking his phone again. The redhead smiled sadly at him. "He's probably disconnected. He wants to spend time with his girlfriend."

"Yeah, well why can't he do that when there's not an Alpha on the loose?!" Stiles' sudden outburst made Adrian raise his eyebrows in surprise. The hazel eyed boy sighed, immediately apologising. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap, I'm just stressed."

"Pretty sure we all are at this point." Adrian lightly chuckled, slight pain behind his words. "It's a difficult time . . . for all of us."

Stiles noticed his distant voice, his face contorted into worry as he tilted his head. "How have you been holding up?"

"Well, I guess as well as anyone can be." Adrian dryly laughed. "But, that's not too well now, isn't it?" Stiles didn't say anything, proving he was right.

"Is it . . . just the supernatural that's been bothering you?" Stiles raised his eyebrows. "Anything else . . . you've recently found out?"

"What are you implying?" Adrian's eyebrows knitted together.

Stiles was quick to shake his head. "Wha-nothing! Just-Just curious."

"Well, apart from Derek showing up to my house, nothing." Adrian lied, shaking his head.

Stiles' eyes bulged out of his head. "Wha- Derek?! As in Hale?!"

"What other flippin' Derek do we know?" Adrian scoffed. "Yes! He came into my house . . . talked to me."

"What did he say?" Stiles got off his desk seat, sitting beside the young Martin who bit his lip.

"H-He said the Alpha is also after me." Adrian stated, keeping his eyes glued to the ground. "He wants me in his pack along with Scott."

Stiles frowned in confusion. "That doesn't make any sense. Why would he want you in his pack? You're not supernatural."

"Well," Adrian sucked in a breath. "According to Derek, I am. I'm something, and the Alpha wants to bite me to strengthen my powers."

"Strengthen? Meaning you already have them?" Stiles questioned, confused.

"Yeah, I'm just not noticing." Adrian sighed, nodding along with the teen. "I don't feel any different. Derek may just be messing with me, but somethings telling me he's right. I mean, why would he joke about that?"

Stiles sighed. "He wouldn't. So . . . you're supernatural?" He asked, turning his head.

Adrian couldn't help it, he let out a sniffle. Tears leaked through his eyes as he nodded. "I guess so." He whimpered.

Stiles reacted fast, pulling him in for a hug Adrian was too weak to not accept. He hates to admit it, but he liked Stiles' hugs. He liked the feeling of his arms around his frame as he inhaled the smell of cinnamon. It was nice. It was comforting.

"Hey, we'll figure this out. I promise, I will spend my last dying breath trying to figure out what you are. As for the Alpha? He's not getting to you, not as long as I'm around." The buzzcut shook his head.

"I don't need your protecting." The redhead stubbornly shook his head, trying to weakly pull away but Stiles wouldn't let him. In the end, he allowed the affectionate action.

"I didn't say you did." Stiles chuckled. "But, right now, I need you. And if that Alpha's your problem, he's mine too." He declared.

"Will I ever get rid of you, Stilinski?" Adrian smiled lightly in an attempted joke, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

Stiles smiled, hugging him tighter. "Never."

A U T H O R. N O T E
lowkey surprised there are only twelve episodes in the first and second season of teen wolf. oh well . . . i'm not complaining due to how much i feel like i've been writing each chapter.

side note, allison and scott were hella cute together! my friend is gonna kill me because i said that but like . . . they were cute and innocent. the first love vibes hit me hard!

GIF MADE BY ME !
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