Chapter 10

Stepping into the high school, Stiles took a deep breath and tried to relax knowing that his tension would be obvious normally to the werewolves. Now that he had his tattoos finished he felt significantly better. He knew that unless he did something to break the spell, his hip sigil would make it seem that everyone would see what they expected to see when they looked at him. That means that they shouldn't detect anything new or unusual, but the wolves had a lot of senses and he wasn't 100% sure if it would work against their hearing and noses as well as their eyes.

"Bro" Scott said causing Stiles to jump at the unexpected sound as Scott smiled and laughed at the teen's reaction.

"Scott! I swear I am going to buy a bunch of bells for all of you until you stop that sneaking up crap!" Stiles complained to the completely unrepentant werewolf.

"Dude, you need to relax" Scott said with a smirk and Stiles groaned at the look dancing in his eyes. "So…Allison and I met up yesterday" he started and Stiles had to physically restrain himself from rolling his eyes as the newest chapter of 'Scott & Allison' was detailed as they walked to first period even though he was happy that things seem to be working out. Happy Scott was way better than mopey Scott!

The rest of the morning passed fairly quickly and soon Stiles was leaving English class where Ms. Blake was still managing to impress Lydia and most of the class. Even Stiles had to admit that she was one of the better teachers in BHHS and made their English class enjoyable even for the less than committed students. There had been no other signs beyond the general uneasiness that Stiles still felt, but he noticed that he was detecting it in other places as well including the library and outside the teacher's lounge. Whoever was responsible was very subtle. Stiles had tried to cast the 'true seeing' spell once when he had detected something in the library but it was only partially successful and he couldn't find anything and then a crowd had come in and he had to end the spell prematurely.

Walking in to the cafeteria he spotted the unholy trio sitting at a table off to the side and Stiles steeled himself and made a rash decision and headed right for them ignoring the look on Scott's face as he saw Stiles walk past. Sliding into a seat next to Isaac and across from Erica Stiles smirked at the looks of surprise on the leather club. "So, how is everyone? Everyone feeling better?" he glanced at Isaac and ignored the annoyed expression. "Any new information?"

"What are you doing here Stiles?" Isaac said sounding way more annoyed than he had any real reason to in Stiles' estimation.

"Since Scotty seems to be avoiding things, I thought I would see if you had any updates about the…situation we are having" he looked at the betas and all three shifted their eyes away. "Guys, I can't help if I don't have good information."

"And how can you help?" Boyd asks looking amused at the smaller teen's look of outrage and fake hurt.

Stiles instead looks at each of the betas in turn before sighing. "Dude. Are you seriously putting your lives in Derek's planning abilities?" he asks with a snort.

Boyd turns to hide his smile but Erica frowns while Isaac looks offended but Stiles can tell the mark hit home. "Look, I get it that Derek is the Alpha and all, but that doesn't automatically mean he got a brain boost with all those new muscles" Stiles mutters and sees Erica's eyebrow go up in amusement.

"Derek doesn't want you involved" Boyd finally tells him and ignores the looks from the other two betas. "And after the last incident, we are inclined to agree" he finishes and Stiles sees Erica flinch while Isaac looks confused.

Stiles rolls his eyes at the beta's explanation. "You know that I would have been targeted because of Scott no matter what. Is this situation different? Is being Scott's best friend not a risk?" he prodded.

"Then maybe you should put some distance there" Erica suggested sadly and Stiles looked at her like she was nuts.

"I don't abandon my friends" Stiles says standing up before he said or did something he would later regret. "Any of them" he adds as he turns to rejoin Scott's table as he notices the twins walk into the cafeteria.

"What was that?" Scott whispered and Stiles glared over at the betas who were now steadfastly ignoring them.

Stiles shakes his head. "They are not in the mood to share" Stiles mutters "so it looks like I will be talking to you-know-who directly" he declared and saw the concerned looks from Scott and Lydia and the condescending one from Jackson.

Scott turned off the car's engine as the two of them got out and looked up at the home of Stiles' childhood friend Heather. Her mom and Stiles' mom had been good friends so the two of them had spent a lot of time together growing up but since she when to the private Beacon Hills Prep Stiles hadn't seen her much in the last few years. "Are you sure about this?" Scott asks looking at the crowd going in to the girl's house.

"Trust me Scott. Heather and I go way back and she made a point of calling me to ask me to come to her birthday party. She is turning seventeen and even said it was fine if you came too" Stiles assures him. "Besides, it has been nearly a year since I last saw her" he adds.

"Stiles!" a girl's voice rings out and Stiles turns just in time to catch the body that was flying towards him and all of a sudden he is being kissed and kissed well.

"Heather?" Stiles gasps when she pulls back. Stiles can hear Scott snickering behind him "Happy Birthday" he remembers to say.

"I'm so glad you were able to come" Heather gushes. "Hey, come help me get some wine for the party, k?" she says grabbing his arm. "Have fun!" she yells at Scott as the girl she was with comes over to talk to the laughing teen.

"Heather?" Stiles says with a laugh as she pulls him down the stairs into the cellar.

"Remember that agreement we made when we were twelve?" she asks with a daring look and Stiles blushes.

"You mean about being virgins?" Stile stammers but Heather cuts him off with another kiss and he feels her hands grabbing onto his neck.

"Well I am seventeen and I am tired of waiting so guess what you can give me for my birthday?" she asks with a wink and Stiles feels his eyes widen but he nods quickly and she smiles.

Heather presses him against the wine rack, kissing him, and Stiles isn't exactly sure if this is a good idea or not but he is definitely enjoying it and decides that it wouldn't necessarily be the worst idea until all of a sudden he feels a wave of intense 'wrongness' that almost puts him on his ass. He pulls back gasping for breath.

"Stiles?" Heather asks him looking scared. "You look pale" she presses a hand to his face "and you feel really hot." She pulls back and stares into his dazed eyes and her expression hardens. "Okay, go upstairs to my room and I have some medicine that might help and then lay down. I will be up with some Gatorade and crackers after I get the wine for the party" she assures him.

Stiles was going to make some protest but he barely opens his mouth before she cuts him off and sends him stumbling to the stairs. He has a flash remembering when they both were stuck together at her house long ago when they both came down with chicken pox and Stiles feels guilty for ruining her party and plans. Once he was out of the cellar his head started clearing so he continued up the stairs until he got to her bathroom and was able to splash some water on his face. Looking into the mirror he was feeling a whole lot better and he took in a deep breath and realized that his stomach, which had been having sharp pains, was now fine.

"What the hell?" he muttered before he remembered the crows! Frowning Stiles headed back downstairs and looked around but didn't see Heather anywhere but he did see her friend who had been talking to Scott. "Have you seen Heather? Or Scott?" he asked the girl.

She looked at him surprised. "I thought she was with you? And your friend is by the pool. I left when he started showing all the photos of his girlfriend" she said with a disgusted sigh and Stiles almost laughed. He looked around but didn't see her in the kitchen either so he wondered if she was still in the cellar so he headed down there.

Stepping off the stairs Stiles looked around but didn't see any sign of Heather, nor did he feel anything strange in the place. Making sure no one was around he reached out with his magic but he didn't sense anything unusual. Shaking his head he left and just as he stepped out of the kitchen he ran into Scott. "Dude! Where have you been?" Scott asked him.

Stiles told his friend about Heather grabbing him and her suggestion but he got ill and had to come upstairs and now he couldn't find her and was about to express his worry when he saw the slightly sick look his friend was giving him. "What?" Stiles demanded.

"Bro. She wanted to hook up and you got sick and ran. Maybe she is embarrassed and is avoiding you" Scott gently suggested and Stiles smacked his face at the thought. He had been so overwhelmed by the feeling that he never considered that Heather might interpret as something against her. He flushed with shame and embarrassment for his friend and just wanted to reassure her that it wasn't about her but he started to think that Scott might be right. And if they hung around then she might avoid her own birthday party so he decided that he should head out. He alerted Heather's friend that they had to leave and dragged Scott out and he hoped that she would be able to salvage her night. Stiles decided he would call her tomorrow to clear things up.

Stiles was feeling determined and not very happy. After the fiasco at Heather's party last night, combined with Derek's orders to the pack to keep him out of the loop, Stiles was stewing in frustration on multiple levels. Derek's decision was beyond stupid, it was dangerous. Sure Stiles realized that he was the human and as far as the Alpha knew, Stiles was fragile and weak, but things were changing and while he didn't have the world's Sorcerer Supreme in his head giving him advice and instruction any more which meant that he wasn't anywhere near as powerful without Stephen augmenting his powers, he was hardly helpless. Even without his magic, Stiles was smart and had proved his intelligence was useful to their success and keeping information away from him was not just dumb, it was reckless. Stiles realized that until the pack knew the truth this coddling wouldn't stop and yet he still wasn't quite ready to let them know.

Stiles pulled into the bakery parking lot and spotted Derek's Camaro and grinned evilly. The Alpha was seriously going to regret stopping today at his favorite place. Stiles had seen the box from Celeste's bakery at Derek's before and figured that the guy had a bit of a sweet tooth even if he would never admit it so he had made it his mission to get to know Celeste and her sister. It didn't take long and he managed to kill two birds with one stone. First he was able to cut his dad off from her pastries when he caught him with one of her tarts and second, to discover that Derek usually came by to pick up an assortment of cookies.

Stepping in to the shop he spotted Derek's leather jacket still in line as the man was at the register talking to Celeste as she filled a box with cookies. Stiles watched as the guy suddenly tensed up and then his shoulders sagged in defeat as he turned around and glared at Stiles. "No" he grunted but Stiles didn't reply, just started whistling as he stood behind Derek as he turned back around in an attempt to ignore the teen.

Normally Stiles couldn't keep quiet if it killed him, but today he knew that his silence, discounting the whistling, was probably doing more to drive the Alpha crazy than anything he could have said. Stiles knew he was winning when he heard the low growls were coming from Derek as he paid for his cookies and turned to leave but Stiles 'accidently' blocked his way. "The usual Celeste. Thank you!" he called over Derek's shoulder before looking back at the Alpha with a smirk before it dropped off and he put on his 'disappointed' face. "Derek" he said in a flat tone.

"Stiles go home and stay out of it" he said tiredly but Stiles just raised an eyebrow at the man with a disbelieving look.

"Really? You think that will work? Have you met me? Derek we need to share resources and that includes information" Stiles told him but Derek wasn't listening and tried to step around the teen but Stiles moved to block him.

Derek grabbed for Stiles' shirt and pulled him close, fist twisting Stiles' shirt. "Stiles, for the last time, you need to…" Derek's voice trailed off as he leaned forward and inhaled deeply with a confused look on his face. "What's going on?" Derek muttered "why do you smell different?"

"You're making a scene" Stiles whispered and Derek let go and stepped back looking around and spotted Celeste eyeing the both of them with a concerned look. "By the way, has dad tried to sneak in recently?" he asks Celeste suddenly causing the woman to shake her head and look at him slightly confused for a second.

"I told him he was limited to the vegan cookies, as per our agreement" Celeste chuckles and Stiles smiles brightly. He figured that at least two of the deputies were probably buying for his dad, but he would deal with them later.

"That's just cruel" Derek mumbled and Stiles looked at the Alpha in shock.

"Was that a joke? Did Derek Hale actually try to say something funny?" he gasped with an exaggerated look of astonishment.

Derek rolled his eyes and stepped around Stiles who grabbed his arm causing the man to glare at Stiles' hand causing the teen to let go with a placating gesture. "Just tell me if there is anything new" he pleaded.

Derek looked at Stiles and the teen could see the conflict in the older man's face and also the moment he gave it up. "Nothing new. We have been looking for them, but aside from the twins, we haven't been able to confirm anything. Peter thinks there are maybe a dozen total, six or seven alphas and the rest new betas."

"Betas? Why would they have betas? I thought they were an alpha pack?" Stiles wondered and saw the exasperated look on Derek's face. "What?"

"They are fodder, pawns to use against us and once their usefulness is over, they will be killed like the other betas. Peter found that they have done this before" he informs the shocked teen.

"These guys are crazy" Stiles declares and Derek snorts in amusement.

"Glad to see you finally figured it out. You need to stay out of this Stiles. Right now you are just the human friend of Scott so you can avoid being a target. They are only interested in us" he says as he pulls away and exits the shop.

Stiles glares for a minute before turning around to pick up his order from Celeste. She makes sure he is alright but he waves it away telling her Derek is a family friend. He decides not to comment on the look of doubt on the woman's face.

He frowns looking at the display not sure whether he should go with the cauliflower or broccoli for their vegetable. To be honest, neither really appeals but he needs to find something to balance the meal. He smirks and grabs the broccoli and decides that he will offer red meat with this and save the more acceptable veggies to go with the fish and chicken he was planning to pick up. Bribery may be a crime normally but Stiles isn't dumb enough to not use it when he needs to with his dad.

Stiles moved on to the meat section to look for something that would be enticing enough to get his dad to willingly suffer the indignities of broccoli. Spotting a deal on steaks he thought back and realized it had been some time since they had them so he felt it was probably okay and if he added a small potato he could also add a salad. He tossed them in his cart as he felt a pulse that reminded him of Derek and he glanced around wondering if he might be able to catch the Alpha doing something so pedestrian as grocery shopping.

He didn't see Derek or any of the other members of the pack but he was sure that he was sensing 'werewolf' in the store when he spotted the massive guy who was glaring at him. Shaking his head he pushed his cart towards the milk section while trying to keep an eye on the guy without being too obvious about it. He glanced back and the guy was gone and Stiles was about ready to think he was imagining things when his cart slammed to a stop and he spun around and saw the guy with his hand on the cart and a superior smirk on his face.

"You should be more careful and watch where you are going" the guy said and Stiles got a vibe worse than any even Peter had ever managed.

Stiles looked at the guy and noted him with a rather unimpressed expression. The guy, bald, was jacked up way more than Derek and looked like a steroid overloaded douchebag. Stiles was pretty sure that Jackson on his best day couldn't manage what this guy did without trying. "Oh sorry, I guess I didn't see you there…perhaps you should try working out more" he snarked and added a mark to his tally when he saw the twitch in the guy's cheek. He really should start keeping score of how many times he could drive an Alpha nuts.

"I'm surprised you are here all by yourself" the guy sneered and Stiles noticed the flaring of the nostrils that only someone who hung around werewolves would notice.

"Well, now that I have finally got to double digits I am allowed out with a a sitter, so…" Stiles says with a smile just as he jerks his cart back catching the guy by surprise and freeing his cart.

The guy almost growled and Stiles would bet if there hadn't been other people around he would have without restraint. "Hale shouldn't have let you wander off" he says with a snarl.

Now Stiles had started thinking since the guy had first showed up and he figured he could play this two ways. Sure he could be all cool and collected and show this guy he wasn't intimidated but he had quickly surmised that this guy was not on 'Team Alpha' for his brains so it was option two. Plastering a look of utter disdain on his face, Stiles looked at the Alpha with the most annoyed, pitying, and 'done with' expression he could manage, he had seen it enough times on the face of one Lydia Martin that it was rather easy to duplicate. "Oh my god, you are one of Derek's biker friends aren't you?" Stiles groaned and rolled his eyes.

It took everything not to laugh outright at the sudden look of confusion on the guy's face as he reared back like Stiles had smacked him on the nose with a newspaper. "Biker friends? What?" he stammered in confusion.

"Look, I will tell you what I told your buddy Mr. Leather scowl at the bakery. I am not getting my dad to leave him alone. If Hale wants the police to stop following him around, then maybe he should try looking less like a serial killer, but I'm not interested in being his PR guy. He may think getting teenagers to join some kind of biker gang makes him all that, but it's not. It is kind of pathetic" Stiles looks at the increasingly confused werewolf with a look of pity.

"I…no. You are part of Hale's pack" the guy grumbled and started looking angry at the direction of the conversation.

"Pack? Dude, watch an episode of 'Sons of Anarchy' or something, no one calls it a pack. That's just stupid" Stiles snorts. "I mean Hale's weak, sure he does the 'bad boy' thing with the leather and the car, but I don't see him as a 'pack leader' or whatever it is you all call yourself." Stiles shakes his head struggling to keep his smile to a minimum and loving the fact that the guy is totally lost because, thank you magic, his heartbeat sounds perfectly level and normal so all of the guy's senses are telling him that Stiles isn't lying.

The guy opens his mouth several times without saying anything and Stiles just looks at him in sympathy. "Look…" Stiles looks at the guy with an expectant expression but he just stares so Stiles sighs heavily "what's your name dude?"

"What? Ennis" the werewolf replies automatically without really thinking about it and then he frowns when he realizes what he just did.

"Ennis? Right. Okay Ennis, you go back your friend Mr. Hale and you tell him I am not interested in getting him out of trouble. He doesn't like the cops? Then act like a regular person" Stiles snorted as if the very idea was funny. "And tell him to stop sending his gym buddies to bug me" he rolls his eyes and moves away leaving the alpha behind looking totally scattered.

It takes about three minutes before Stiles feels the guy leave the store but he doesn't react or do anything other than continue shopping and finishing his chore. He can feel his heart pounding but knows that the sigil prevented the alpha from hearing it or figuring out that Stiles was both afraid and lying. He figured that having Derek and the pack's scents on him is what attracted the guy, unless they were being watched and he wouldn't discount the weirdo twins from doing that. He was also pretty sure that whoever was the real brains behind this wouldn't be as easily distracted as 'Steroid Steve' back there.

Stiles loaded his jeep with the groceries and headed back home. He waited till he was inside the house before he cast a quick spell that would guarantee no one could hear him outside of the kitchen, even if he was screaming, before he picked up the phone and called Isaac, the only one of them whose number he had. Really needed to fix that, he thought.

"Stiles?" he could hear Isaac's confused answer.

"Just met one of the Alpha's. Bald gym bunny? Not too smart?" Stiles heard the beta suck in a breath in surprise as he must have remembered the guy from when he was attacked.

"Stiles!" Derek's voice comes through the phone, the anger and concern clear. "What happened?"

"What?" Deucalion's voice is velvety smooth with a trace of irritation as he tilts his head at the alpha in front of him.

"He didn't know Hale was a wolf. The kid thought he was in a biker gang. Thought I was his friend" he added with obvious distaste.

"He was obviously lying" Kali said looking at the other alpha with a smirk. She might prefer Ennis over the other alphas, but position in the pack was always shifting and she had given up too much to settle for anything less than being right after Deucalion.

"I can hear a lie Kali" Ennis snarled "and he smelled normal. Seemed more annoyed that I was bothering him. No fear" he looked back towards their leader. "If he knew anything, he would have been wetting himself" Ennis declared.

Deucalion frowned. He had been almost certain that the sheriff's son was involved with either the omega or the pack, possibly even as a human member. He had been seen around the Hale pack on more than one occasion and he seemed to be in the middle of things but if Ennis was correct, if he had any idea that he was facing an alpha, the boy would have reeked of fear and Ennis would not be mistaken about that. Instead it appeared that the boy had apparently been more annoyed than afraid. He glanced over at the twins and frowned. "You two said that the boy was involved" he stated, his unhappiness clear despite the even tone.

"We said it seemed possible" Ethan reminded the alpha respectfully. "Stilinski is McCall's friend, and as near as we can tell McCall isn't in Hale's pack. He's an omega and the human is his friend but we haven't been able to determine whether he even knows his friend is a werewolf. He knows the others, but they don't really interact."

"Besides, the other omega Jackson, seems to pretty much despise the guy" Aiden adds. He had been making connections with some of the more popular students at the school and there had been more than a few girls who were willing to share all the gossip with the chiseled Alpha. "Apparently he has been chasing after the guy's girl for years and doesn't get the message. He's pretty pathetic" Aiden sneers.

"Jackson's friend Danny says that Stiles and McCall were pretty much loners until McCall suddenly got better at Lacrosse" Ethan says not pointing out the obvious. "Now McCall is popular and was even dating the Argent girl last year, getting fairly popular on his own. Stilinski wasn't. He might have dropped the guy with all the new attention he was getting" he offers with a shrug.

Deucalion considers the situation. If the boy is involved, threatening his family might help paralyze the local authorities and keep the police out of their affairs. But if he isn't, then targeting him could have the exact opposite effect. It would be like sending up a warning flare to Hale, the Hunters, and civilians. They could not afford for the Hunters to unite with an 'educated' police force. "Keep an eye on the boy" Deucalion instructed the twins with a quick nod. "See if you can figure out what he knows. He might know about McCall even if he doesn't know about Hale."

Ethan and Aiden both nod and Deucalion quickly turns to other issues. The betas have information on the pack's families and Kali reported that she has taken on a position at the hospital and thinks she can get Ennis some scrubs so that he will blend in if they need to target the place. The omega's mother works there after all.

Stiles is reading through the book on Necromancy and summoning spirits when his dad knocks and opens the door. "Stiles, I have to go out and I want you to say in tonight. No going to Scott's" the sheriff says and Stiles can tell something bad has happened but his dad has his determined face so he just nods in agreement and his dad leaves.

Reaching under his bed, he pulls out the police radio and scans until he catches the report of an unidentified female body found in the woods. Stiles turns pale and feels his heart start pounding. After her party, Stiles tried calling Heather but she didn't answer or respond and then his dad came home to ask him if he had been at the party. Stiles ended up going to meet with Tara and making an official statement as it seemed that she disappeared from the party and her parents' had reported her missing the next day.

Stiles had told Tara about being in the basement and feeling nauseous so he had gone upstairs and by the time he came back she was gone. He did not mention her offer of sex as it was definitely not something he wanted his dad knowing. Stiles mentioned Heather's friend and Tara said she had already talked with her. It appeared that Stiles was the last to see her, and he had wondered if he was a suspect but Tara had told him that a number of guests had seen him both when he was looking for her and when he left with Scott.

"Was there anyone there you didn't recognize or know?" Tara had asked and Stiles racked his brain but he could only tell her that he didn't really know Heather's crowd since she went to B-Prep and he hadn't seen her in nearly a year.

Stiles and the Sheriff had both gone over to her house and spoken with Heather's parents as family friends and they had asked and Stiles had walked his and Heather's dad through his last encounter. He didn't miss the looks when he told them that she was getting wine for the party, but Stiles didn't think it really mattered in the grand scheme of things.

It wasn't until later when Stiles had spotted his dad's paperwork that he saw notes that indicated that the cellar window had been damaged and there were tracks outside that might be someone being dragged. Since then, Stiles had been on eggshells waiting for some news about Heather while hoping that it would all turn out to be a huge mistake. He had looked over his books, but he couldn't think of a spell that would work on such a mundane situation. Most spells required strong knowledge of the target and the truth was that they had drifted apart over the years despite their earlier closeness.

After a restless night, Stiles finally dragged himself out of bed, showered and was getting breakfast before heading to school when his dad came in with a look of sadness and Stiles felt his stomach drop. "Heather?" he whispered and Noah just shook his head and pulled Stiles into a crushing embrace.

"We found her body last night" Noah told his son and Stiles felt himself go stiff at finally hearing those words.

Stiles ended up staying home from school that day to be close to his dad who was more affected by this murder than he wanted to admit. Heather had played in their house and Noah had had to tell her parents that their child was dead and that was never easy. Stiles tried to be gentle but he had to know so he pushed and his dad finally told him that she had definitely been murdered. They were unsure of the exact cause as she had a head wound, signs of strangulation, and a slit throat.

The description caught his attention for some reason but he didn't have the time to investigate until his father had finally passed out after showering. Stiles called the station and told them not to call unless it was dire for at least eight hours and Tara promised to let the sheriff sleep. Hanging up he started reading and two hours later he found it. The three-fold sacrifice. A blow to the head, strangulation by garrote, and a cut throat. That means that Heather wasn't murdered, she was sacrificed.

But he didn't know why or who but right now the only ones they were worried about were the Alpha Pack and this didn't feel like something werewolves would do. Sure, tear out your throat with their claws or their teeth (looking at you Derek) but the rest? No, this was something new. Stiles reached out to Martinique and Wong to ask if they knew anything and decided that he needed better resources. The Majestic Library was great for studying Sorcery with at least some information about the other domains, but Stiles needed to find the other domains' equivalent to the library if he was going to figure this all out.

Stiles frowned at the message on his phone. Why on earth did Lydia ask him to come to the school at night? Not that it really mattered he sighed resignedly. Here he was driving to the school anyways and he knew that he probably always would respond when Lydia called despite her 'perfect love' for Jackson. Turning the corner he frowned as he saw the flashing red and blue lights of the police cars outside the school and he started worrying when he spotted his dad's cruiser. Parking quickly he ran up to be stopped by Tara and another one of the deputies. "Is my dad okay?" Stiles demanded breathlessly.

"He's fine Stiles, promise. He arrived with us after they found the body" Tara told him and he looked at her in surprise.

"Body?" he repeated not sure exactly why.

"Stiles why are you here?" Tara asked him directly and Stiles was startled to see the deputy looking concerned.

"Lydia…Lydia Martin. She sent me a message to come to the school, said she needed me" Stiles pulled out his phone and showed Tara the texts.

Stiles notices the woman's shoulders seemed to relax a bit as she led Stiles towards the building. They walked through and out towards the pool where a crowd of officers had gathered and Stiles saw Lydia standing off to the side looking sick. He broke away from Tara and ran over to Lydia and grabbed her arms. "Lydia, are you okay?" he demanded.

Lydia barely seemed to register that Stiles was even here when he felt it, a sick, palpable feeling of wrongness that caused him to turn around and look for the source. He saw the body on the lifeguard stand, throat slit and blood all down the guy's chest and his chair. Stepping closer, drawn by the malevolent aura of pain and darkness, Stiles felt his stomach turn at the sight. It wasn't the dead body though that was almost too much, no the sense that he had been 'wronged' just pounded against Stiles' senses. Glancing at the boy for any clues he spotted a ring and his eyes widened. A purity ring?

"Stiles?" his dad's surprised voice shook him out of his review of the scene as his dad came over. "Lydia called you?" he asked sounding a bit surprised.

"Yeah. She didn't tell me why, but just that she needed help. She found the body?" he asks his dad glancing back at the still disoriented girl. His dad nods and Stiles takes a deep breath "She must be in shock and connected me with the police so she called both of us. Can I take her home?" he asked quietly and the Sheriff seemed to relax at his request.

"Please. This is the third body, all killed the same way" he looks at the boy shaking his head and Stiles realizes that he wouldn't be sharing this if he wasn't so rattled. The guy was just a year younger than Stiles and if Heather had bothered him, this was probably another blow.

"Third? Who's the other one?" Stiles asks and his dad tenses as if he suddenly remembers who he is talking to. "Dad, if it's one of my friends" he says looking suitably worked up.

"I don't think you know her kid. Marilynn Roberts" Noah says with a sigh and sees the flicker of recognition from his son. Enough that he probably recognized the name but not a close friend. "She and her girlfriend were camping in the woods and something attacked them. The girlfriend was knocked out and when she woke up, Marilynn was gone. We found her body a few hours ago."

"They only took Marilynn, not her girlfriend?" Stiles looked thoroughly confused but then he remember the purity ring. "Dad! Did the girlfriend say why they were camping in the woods?" Stiles suddenly demanded.

The sheriff closed off immediately and Stiles knew that he had hit on something. "Stiles, you need to go."

"Dad, trust me on this, were Marilynn and her girlfriend in the woods to…be alone? Like for the first time?" Stiles whisper yelled.

The sheriff's eyes widened as he grabbed Stiles' arm in surprise. "How did you know that?" he demanded.

"Look at the guy's hand" Stiles said pointing at the body. "That's a purity ring" he told his dad and saw the man's confusion. "Heather was talking about wanting to lose her virginity at her party" he added and saw the sudden narrowing of the sheriff's eyes.

"Stiles…" his voice was definitely not a happy one.

"Dad, all three of them were…virgins" and Stiles saw his dad looking at him like he was nuts. "And they were killed using a method called the three-fold death."

"What the hell are you talking about" the Sheriff demanded in a shocked voice.

"It's an ancient way of committing human sacrifice" Stiles answered and saw his dad's eye start to twitch. "You always say one is chance, twice coincidence and three times pattern. You have three virgins, all sacrificed in a ritual manner" Stiles explained as the Sheriff turned an interesting shade of red.

"Stiles, you need to stay off that crap on the internet" he huffs "and you are supposed to be taking Lydia home. Go. Now!" he says and walks away before Stiles can reply and he wants to scream in frustration.

He walks over to Lydia who is looking a lot more together. "Why didn't you call me first?" Stiles tells Lydia who looks thoroughly unimpressed.

"I'm supposed to call you before I call the police when I find a dead body?" she asks with an arched expression.

"YES!" he yells. "Always call me first!" Stiles moves them to his jeep and load them up. He will try again with his dad tomorrow but for right now he's got another problem to deal with. His virginity, while once embarrassing and annoying, might now be fatal. He wonders if he can craft a spell that makes him appear to not be a virgin.

Grumbling as he stomped out of the locker room, Stiles sent daggers with his glare at Danny's back and he was sure the goalie was fully aware of them despite his amusement. Stiles had been trying to explain his virgin sacrifice theory to Scott and how it was now life-threatening necessary for Stiles to have sex. Danny had offered and Stiles had actually had a moment of warm appreciation for the guy before he dropped the punchline leaving Stiles floundering. "Tease" he muttered at the goalie and manfully ignored the giggles coming from Scott and Isaac.

"Okay ladies! You have gotten badly out of condition so I think a nice five mile run through the woods will be a great warm up!" he yells and blows his whistle drowning out the groans from the team. Stiles didn't think it was particularly inspiring for Finstock to have them run while he chased after them on his golf cart screaming to run faster.

They were nearing the end of the run, heading back to the school, when there was a sudden commotion from the front of the group. Stiles picked up his pace as Scott and Isaac had already run ahead even though he had been doing well keeping up so far. "What?" Stiles demanded as he rounded around the tree and saw all the guys circled around something. Looking up he saw the body lying against the tree and he sucked in a breath. Another victim?

Stiles glanced at the body and spotted the head wound on the guy as well as the slit throat which meant that this was definitely another sacrifice. Stiles looked at the boy's face and flinched, recognizing Kyle from school. "Is that Kyle?" he hears one of the other guys ask as Finstock jumps into the crowd and orders Jackson to run back to the school to call the police while he orders everyone away from the body.

Stiles looks at Scott who is looking significantly less happy about this latest development. Isaac looked a bit sick when Stiles realized that neither Isaac nor Scott had seen the victims before, they had only heard about things. Now they were having to face the reality of it without any filters. Stiles glanced to see if he had a purity ring, but he couldn't see Kyle's hand.

"Now do you see Scott? This is number four!" Stiles whispered to the teen and he looked around and saw the horrified faces of his teammates.

"All of you! Back to the locker room. Lahey! Find Jackson and help guide the police here" Finstock instructs and the group starts back towards the gym, Isaac running ahead.

"There goes your theory Stilinski" Danny says looking unsettled. Stiles looks confused at the teen's comment. "Kyle wasn't a virgin" he explains and Stiles startles. Not a virgin? Then why was he picked? And his wounds definitely screamed sacrifice.