♙𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄♙

( SELENE HAYDES )

𝐓𝐖𝐎: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐕𝐄?

"mom, i'm going to the store"  lydia yelled out into her empty room as she got out of her bed, the strawberry blonde didn't get a reply making her roll her eyes before she grabbed her phone off her bedside table.

"mom, do you hear me?" she called again grabbing her coat "of course, you didn't. you would've heard me screaming like a lunatic" she muttered as she sent a message to nicholas to meet her at the shop considering she didn't want to be alone with a whole pack of alphas on the loose.

"lunatic" the girl repeated as she stared at the full moon.

――――

"nicky, i swear i'm alright" selene spoke lowly into her phone as she travelled throughout the woods to find isaac, scott, and derek. peter had ordered her to go home, which she obviously didn't do.

"if lydia ends up finding your body, i will kill you" the boy muttered as he turned into the store parking lot waiting for lydia's car to roll up.

the girl chuckled at the boys statement considering it made no sense "sure you wi-!" she yelped before feeling her phone drop from her hands as her body was pushed up against a tree with a hand on her neck.

"selene!" nicholas yelled down the phone hearing the girls scream before the call cut causing the boy to groan on the other end as he slammed the steering wheel in frustration.

selene felt the hand leave her throat almost as quick as it touched it before feeling it on her head. looking up she met isaac's regretful eyes "shit! shit! shit! i'm sorry, i didn't know it was you" the boy started muttering apologies.

the girl let out a breath she didn't know she was holding before a small laugh left her lips. she moved her own hand to hold his as she gave him a soft smile "i'm alright. i'm okay" she reassured the boy.

"selene? what're you doing here?" scott asked as he and derek walked towards the two teenagers, scott and derek both sharing concerned looks.

"obviously helping you idiots out" the girl said sarcastically as she picked her phone up off the muddy ground, a slight crack now going through the screen. she quickly sent a message to nicholas so the boy didn't think she was dead.

――――

after receiving the message that selene was alright nicholas had made his way to the public pool. lydia had called him and said she needed him. the boy pulled his car into the parking lot beside the familiar blue jeep to see his lanky friend exit, both of them sharing the same look before running through the entrance of the pool.

"lydia? lydia are you okay?" stiles yelled as he ran up to the girl who stood with tears in her eyes, nicholas pausing his movements as he saw drops of blood by the lifeguards chair.

"i'm okay" lydia breathed out shakily "that, over there..." she pointed towards the chair. "not okay" she finished as stiles and nicholas both made their way to the front of the chair.

the body had his neck slashed with blood coating his skin, his eyes lifeless and skin pale as he hung over the side of the chair.

"yeah. all right. i'm going to call my dad" stiles said with a shaky breath as he pulled his phone out, nicholas going to touch the dead boys neck before stiles slapped his hand to stop him.

"i already called 911" lydia said to stiles making the boy drop his hand before an offended look crossed his face.

"you called the police before you called us?" stiles yelled before gesturing between him and nicholas, the latter walking over to lydia and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"i'm supposed to call you first when i find a dead body?" lydia argued with an incredulous look on her face before stiles started flaying his arms around.

"yes!" "no!" stiles and nicholas both said at the same time before nicholas rolled his eyes. "lydia, we're going home" nicholas stated with a shiver as he looked down at the strawberry blonde.

lydia didn't reply as she nodded her head instead and let the boy lead her to her car "i'll drive you home and walk back tomorrow to get my car" he said as he opened the passenger door for her.

"you don't have to do that" she said getting into the car, feeling guilty he was doing this for her.

"yes i do. i need to make sure you're alright" the boy said sternly as he didn't turn to look at her and instead closed the door before making his way to the drivers seat.

――――

"are you sure?" scott's distressed voice asked through the phone, selene guessing it to be stiles considering the boys ever really spoke to eachother with this much urgency. she and isaac were leaning against a tree, her head leaning against his shoulder. the dirty blonde listening in on the conversation with his advanced hearing.

"yep. throat ripped out, blood everywhere-- it's like the-frickin'-shining over here! if two little twin girls come out of the woods and start asking me to play with them forever and ever, I'm not gonna be surprised..." stiles rambled through the phone making isaac chuckle slightly.

"can you get a little closer to make sure it was them?" scott asked suddenly grabbing selene's attention making the girl push her body off the tree and make her way closer to scott, grabbing the phone out of his hands.

"stiles do not do whatever it is scott's asking" the girl scolded not wanting him to get into any trouble, her hand instinctively reaching for the locket stiles had gotten her for her birthday. the boys were like brothers to her and she felt like she had a responsibility to take care of them.

scott grabbing the phone back quickly "make sure it was them? scott, who else is going around ripping throats out?" stiles argued agreeing with selene at that moment.

"please, just do it" scott said before ending the phone and turning around to meet an angry looking selene who grabbed a fistful of his shirt with a threatening glare.

"if stiles ends up in some kind of danger i swear to god" she all but nearly growled before making her way back to isaac's side.

"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 stressed before being cut off by scott.

"derek, they killed someone" scott said empathetically trying to get the man to see what they had done. selene wouldn't let herself process it not believing that boyd could kill someone.

"how are they moving so fast?" derek asked himself ignoring scott completely as he paced back and forth.

"derek!" scott tried again before derek's stressed voice cut him off, the mans eyebrows creased with cheeks puffing in and out.

"but they can't be that fast on foot!" derek said before scott's patience wore up and he was now yelling. selene honestly felt bad for derek, finding out his sister was still alive to find out she may have just murdered someone may not have been the best way to reunite.

"they killed someone. some totally innocent kid is dead... and it's our fault" scott said with a frown pulling on his puppy dog features.

"it's my fault" derek said glumly taking the blame and not letting the others feel like this was any of their fault. he was the one who had turned them as well as fail to protect them.

"we need help" scott said as selene started to grow worried as what the boy was about to suggest doing.

"we have help" derek said gesturing to isaac and selene who just shared a look with eachother briefly.

"i mean real help!" scott said making isaac let out a scoff and selene grow an offended look. scott was really getting on her nerves today. "they're too fast for us, for all of us. they're too strong, too rabid..."  he trailed off.

"we'll catch them, alright" selene said to both males trying to get them to calm down as she finally decided to take charge seeing as they were both doing horrible jobs. "we need someone who knows what they're doing" selene said with a small smile turning to scott hoping he'd get what she's suggesting.

"someone who knows how to hunt werewolves" scott nodded in realisation making derek look between them sceptically and isaac roll his eyes at the twos weird communicating.

――――

selene, isaac and derek sat in derek's car as they watched scott talk to chris, the argent man looking annoyed at the dropped eggs. the girl frowning that there would be no omelettes for breakfast tomorrow morning.

"do you think this is gonna work?" isaac asked turning to derek before turning back to look at selene who had her arms crossed in boredom.

"nope" derek said simply as he didn't even meet isaac's eyes but instead just looked forward.

"me neither..." the boy said not knowing what else to say, he looked back at selene needing help but the girl just shrugged not knowing what to say either. "so, your, uh... sister?" isaac asked making selene's eyebrows scrunch as she leaned forward and slap the boy on his arm.

derek also giving the boy a deathly glare making him shrink back into his seat "sorry, i'm sorry" the boy said in defeat as he raised his arms also turning to selene who only glared at him.

selene's face suddenly changed as she shot forward in between the front seats and began hitting derek's shoulder repeatedly. "derek, go, go!" she urged making the man grunt before starting the car and pushing her back into her seat by her shoulder.

――――

"you're tracking them by print?" chris asked as he looked at scott, isaac and derek with a disappointed but not surprised look. selene stood besides the man with her arms crossed.

"trying to..." scott trailed off, the footprints on the ground looking a bit too big to be a girls.

"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 scolded, selene squatted slightly to drag a hand across the mud. a surge of magic shot through her that felt familiar.

way too familiar to be boyd or cora's. she'd felt this persons energy before and nearly laughed out loud at who's it was. the look on her face must've made her look mad but she found the situation hilarious.

"and, if you're not trained like me, you have no idea that this print is boyd's and these--" chris started before being cut off by isaac who looked smug.

"are cora's" what an idiot selene thought before looking up at the boy with a shit- eating grin. she felt a small turning in her stomach when looking at his clueless face. he was so cute.

"nope-- they're yours. you got rid of cora's when you walked over here" selene pointed out to the boy, which made his face drop. selene stood up from the ground brushing dirt off her legs before stepping to stand besides isaac.

"listen, I know the three 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 three are barely hitting the speed limit" chris explained well sighing, none of the boys in front of him understanding.

"so, what do we do?" derek asked as he got impatient. selene could understand why he was so impatient, he'd already lost erica and found out his sister who he thought was dead wasn't dead.

"focus on your sense of smell. actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to a hundred miles a day by scent" chris said getting impatient now. she knew that she'd get scolded by the man when they were home for getting herself involved in the first place.

"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... or into a trap. the full moon does give us one advantage-- they'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared." chris said as he pulled out night goggles from his duffle bag. he threw a pair to selene before turning to derek.

"thanks, but I've got my own" derek said smugly as he flashed his eyes red, selene rolled her eyes playfully at the mans behaviour. 

"just remember, we're not hunting wild animals. underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings" chris pointed out making selene nod her head in agreement. she may not have been the best of friends with boyd but she knew how smart he really was.

"when's the last time you saw your sister?" scott asked turning to derek, the mans face now going stone void of any emotion. but selene saw straight through him, she always saw what he tried so hard to hide.

"not in years. I thought she died in the fire" the fire. derek had lost nearly everyone in it, his mum, cousins, aunts, uncles. the girl sympathised with him. for all the hurt and loss he'd been through he was still standing.

"do you feel like you have a lock on her scent?" chris asked. selene doubted he would, he hadn't seen her in nearly 10 years. it was near to impossible to remember a smell for that long.

"scott, how confident are you in your skills?" chris asked knowing derek wouldn't be able to do this without getting distracted by his emotions.

"honestly, most of the time, I'm trying not to think about all the things I can smell" scott said making selene stiffle a laugh which got her sent two scolding looks and two amused ones.

"all right-- 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" selene was glad in that moment she didn't have any family living here to worry about. perks of a dead dad and mother hundreds of miles away.

"they're not gonna kill everything they see, are they? isaac asked as he suddenly stood straighter, his arms tightened in their crossed position. he felt like wrapping his arms around selene, just so he really knew she was there

"no... but, there is an important difference to recognize. wolves hunt for food-- at a certain point, they get full. but boyd and cora are hunting for the pleasure of the kill-- for some apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. and who knows when that need gets satiated?" the tone of chris' voice didn't sit right with selene. they were still human beings, before all of the full moons, they were still human.

"we're not killing them" selene spoke harshly before looking at chris and derek, she refused to lose boyd as well as erica and she didn't feel like cora deserved to die. the girl still had a whole life to live.

"what if we can't catch 'em?" derek asked looking her in the eye before turning to chris needing a solution.

"then maybe we just need to contain them. there's no one in the school at night, is there?" it seemed like a smart solution selene told herself, but why was her hand twitching with hesitation at the idea.

"you want to trap them inside?" derek asked incredulously thinking it was crazy.

 "if there's a strong enough door, with no windows or access to the outside..." chris said before a lightbulb went off above isaac's head making him speak up.

"what about the boiler room? it's just one big steel door" selene felt herself smile slightly, proud of the boy for actually using his brain. he tended to act like he didn't have one which stressed her out.

"you're sure the school's empty?" chris asked not wanting any casualties to happen.

"it has to be-- there can't be anyone there this late, right?" scott clarified turning to selene waiting for an answer. she nodded her head well gulping.

chris nodded before walking them all over to his car and opening the boot, a whole load of what looked like animal traps layed out. he picked up a small box machine thing. "these are ultrasonic emitters-- it's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run. it gives off a high-pitched frequency that only they can hear." he said before pressing the button.

derek, scott and isaac all began holding their ears in pain before selene grabbed isaac's head and pulled it down to her shoulder trying to block it out for him. for a girl didn't do boyfriends she sure didn't act like it.

"god, no kidding!" isaac mumbled into her shoulder making her shake her head slightly before chris turnt it off. isaac not lifting his head, getting lost in the smell of her kiwi shampoo.

"these are gonna drive them to the school?" derek asked as he avoided looking at isaac and selene, whatever feelings he had for her from a few months ago still stinging. it was wrong he told himself. "and then, it's up to you to get them into the basement" chris told them before stuffing three transmitters into another small duffle.

"does anyone else want to rethink the plan where we just, uh... kill them?" isaac asked now lifting his head making selene scowl before slapping his arm making him groan in pain.

"we spoke about this, you gotta stop that" the boy all but scolded her making selene laugh remembering when she constantly did it in the changing rooms when the kanima situation happened. "it's going to work. it'll work." scott said confidently, not wanting anyone to die this time. 

――――

isaac and selene stood side by side by the school buses waiting for a signal from someone telling them to run or set the transmitters off. they had stood in silence for the past five minutes. she didn't know think something had happened in the past two hours to make it awkward like this. but she was obviously wrong.

"what were you going to tell me before?" he suddenly asked as he turned his head to look down at the girl he was surely in love with.

she looked confused for a second trying to remember what he was talking about. isaac thought she looked so perfect standing there in the moonlight, mud on her skirt and matted hair. he could've stared at her for hours he told himself.

she let out a sound of realisation before beginning to sway on her feet "don't leave me" she said simply. her voice had deceived her though, a slight tremble in her words. he could only look at her, not moving his eyes once. he was confused by her words.

"don't leave you?" he repeated in a question. where did she think he was going?

"just don't leave me" she found it embarrassing to even request, but she couldn't risk it. some small part of her just wanted to shrivel up and dissolve into the floor. the boy started smiling at her nervous look, her starting to frown at the look.

"why would i ever want to leave you, i-" isaac was cut off as a running chris and scott came towards them yelling for them to get into the school. isaac cursed the universe for not being on his side. he grabbed her smaller hand in his and dragged her with him through the school.

"the back doors-- someone has to get them open" chris yelled to the three, selene knew there was no way she'd be able to outrun two blood thirsty werewolves.

"someone has to drive them inside" selene told the men besides her, she knew somehow that they'd never let her do it so what was the point of offering.

"i'll go" chris volunteered before selene's eyebrows scrunched, chris was human and no matter how many years training he had, he'd never be able to do it. she refused to let allison lose another parent.

"no, i'm faster" isaac said grabbing the transmitter getting ready to make a run for it. selene grabbed his wrist stopping him. the boy looked down at her with a small smile before kissing her forehead and running.

"idiot" the girl swore under her breath as she watched the boys retreating figure. scott and chris shared looks before beginning to push her in the direction of a broom closet not wanting her out when they get into the school.

in that moment selene haydes felt completely and utterly useless.