CHAPTER 53

"Scott just confirmed that your Uncle is still in the hospital." Tristan said after getting off the phone with the young beta.

The expression on Derek's face was not one of amusement but of pure malice, hatred and confusion.

Derek looked at Tristan and Malia, a little bit uncomfortable, "And how are we going to draw him out of the hospital?"

Malia looked at Tristan who did the same before the both of them shrugged in negative admittance. 

Derek looked at them as if they were joking but seeing the honest expressions on their faces, he was forced to stop himself from lashing out. 

"Hey, we broke you out of your torture chamber. The least you could do is think up something to show your value." Malia retorted after seeing his expression.

"Value?" Derek asked astounded.

"Well yeah. You don't expect us to free you and deliver the Alpha to you on a golden pedestal, do you?" Malia asked sarcastically. 

Derek was taken aback in realization that the two teens before him were nothing like Scott and Stiles who could pressure into submission. Just like him, they both were fierce killers. "You're right." He admitted. 

"I haven't talked to Peter for so long so I don't know what went through his head." He said. 

"But that doesn't matter, does it? He killed family for power, that's unforgivable." Oh right, Tristan wasn't hearing it. 

He knew what Derek was subconsciously trying to do. He was unknowingly trying to validate Peter's actions based on his former relationship with the man. 

Derek fell silent and thought of how to draw his uncle out of the hospital but couldn't think of anything that wouldn't draw attention. 

"I don't think we can draw him out quietly without drawing the attention of the Hunters. Any commotion in the hospital will be quickly reported to the Sheriff's office and they have people in the force." 

"Then that means burst in and burst out?" Malia asked. 

But Derek shook his head. "We can't risk it unless we have no other choice."

At that point, Tristan suddenly gave a suggestion. "How about we have Scott draw him out like before?"

The other two people in the room frowned as the memories of that night played in their heads in different perspectives. 

"How is that any different than announcing what we are doing from the Hunters?" Derek asked confusedly. 

"Maybe we don't need to do it that secretly. It doesn't matter as long as we get to him first." Tristan reasoned. If the Alpha left the hospital on his own then that was okay but everybody involved with the Alpha was impatient about when next he was going to show up, which was why Tristan wanted to get to him since he was the first one who had gotten the slip up about who the Alpha truly was and where he was at. 

"You mean we have to kill him first before the others get to us. You realize we're talking about the Alpha right?" Derek looked speechlessly at Tristan but the boy only gave him a 'so what?' look. "The same Alpha that we both could barely fare against?"

"Yes. Do you have any other capable person in mind?"

"You could call Scott." Derek suggested but the only reply he got was Tristan's silence and a deadpan. 

Tristan looked at him dryly and said, "I said someone capable." While he didn't have anything against Scott McCall, the boy was not someone he could see himself coming to trust with a daunting task. 

Though the possibility of Derek betraying them was at 50%, he could trust the remaining 50% that Derek could potentially hold his own against the Alpha if the three of them attacked. 

Even if Scott could somehow reject his Alpha's call, he wasn't strong enough to fight him. He lacked something all three of them had – conviction. 

Simply put, he had no substantial reason why he was fighting against his Alpha. Something as flimsy as getting his normal life back, when he was no longer 'normal' in a sense, wasn't going to cut it. 

"And besides, if we include McCall then he's no doubt going to become a burden. He can't fight for shit and the most he's ever gotten was going rabid against the Alpha. So yeah, no thanks." Malia added.

They didn't say anything else and left the house, each contemplating how they were going to survive through the night if they failed to kill the Alpha before the first light of dawn. 

The only thing was that they actually needed Scott to draw the Alpha out and then corner him when he's a long distance from the hospital or any public settlement. 

... 

While the odd trio were making their way through the forest due to not wanting to be identified with Derek, Kate was furious as she came back and saw the empty basement where they had Derek changed. 

She was supposed to switch with Chris since it was his turn to train Allison today but upon her arrival, she found the basement empty with proof of there being somebody helping Derek out of his bindings.

"Fuck!" She exclaimed frustratingly. "Chris is not going to like this one bit." Thankfully she was wise enough to inform him through a text rather than calling him. 

"Everyone move out! Get your sorry asses out there. I want Derek's location and whoever helped him. Pronto!"

The Argent Hunters immediately jumped into action and moved out in different directions, each in constant communication with one another as they called out routes and patrol logs every few minutes, forming a tight net as they went deeper in the Preserve. 

"Deigo, Pasco, I want you two to keep an eye out on the hospital in the off chance that they took him. Unlikely, but at this point we're working on speculations." She ordered the remaining guys with her but then remembered something. 

There was something else. 

Chris had an inkling of what it might be but he didn't tell her anything, only said it was just wild speculations that wasn't true in any way but that alone was cause for worry. 

She was almost forced to consult their father for his bestiary but that alone would have clued him in that there was something in Beacon Hills that they were finding hard to handle. 

She was tempted to call Chris and have a serious discussion with him but stopped herself at the last minute because she knew, more than anyone, that Chris was the farthest from incompetent. He would never compromise his family safety for anything in the world. 

So if he said she shouldn't worry about it for now, despite her bubbling curiosity she wouldn't. 

"Be cautious out there. There's something other than a werewolf prowling the nights along with the betas." She advised. 

... 

Chris was a second away from storming out of his house after he got Kate's text but only one thing stopped him. 

Allison. 

They had been in the middle of an archery lesson when he had gotten the text that soured his mood. 

Instinctively, he knew something was wrong or something was about to go very wrong and he needed to be outside but when he thought of Allison's safety, he hesitated. 

He still remembered the night when Allison and Malia were almost killed by the Alpha and if not for the timely arrival of Derek, Malia would most likely be dead but that wasn't all. 

That 'thing' was also there. When they tried forming a perimeter around the Alpha only for him to escape again, they had later found out that it had killed two of their men. Ripping one of their hearts out and snapping the neck of the other. 

The reason why Chris knew was that he had personally cased the environment where they died and he found two sets of footprints near each other; one an animal's and the other a human. A human who could keep up with the blinding speed of an Alpha. It definitely wasn't Derek so it could only be whatever that thing was. 

"Dad, is something wrong? You've been looking stressed ever since you checked your phone." Allison's concerned voice brought him out of his contemplative reverie. 

"It's…" He thought of giving her his usual lie but remembering that she was somewhat aware of what they do, he decided not to. "Your aunt to texted and said Derek escaped with the help of someone."

"Who?" She asked curiously. Ever since she came to know of a whole new world behind the veil she had been ignorant of, she had been eager to learn everything she could just for her to no longer feel the fear she felt that night. 

Chris shook his head with a sigh. "We don't know. It might not even be a werewolf."

This time she was really surprised. "If it's not a werewolf then what is it?"

Chris smiled as he saw the burning curiosity in her still innocent eyes and almost felt sad with guilt. "There are a lot of supernatural creatures out there, Allison. We sometimes come across accidents where we can't identify the guilty supernatural species unless we come face to face with it. All we know about this one is that it's fast, very fast, and also drinks a lot of blood."

Allison tapped her lips in thought until something came to mind so she asked. "You mean like a vampire?" But Chris shook his head then explained. 

"Vampires haven't been seen since forever and if one was here in Beacon Hills, trust me, the situation would have been more dire and the body count just as many."

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