CHAPTER 39

Their ride to school was mostly without any hiccups since they had the car checked the day before. It would have been a seamless drive if not for the fact that under some freak coincidence, Allison's father's car somehow ended up trailing them which made them quite awkward even though the man was a car behind. It wasn't as if the man knew what they really were so there really was no need for them to be this jumpy.

"Hey, Tristan~" Tristan ignored Kate and only greeted Chris which seemed to amuse the weird aunt of Allison even more. 

"Bye dad!" Allison didn't even wait to hear what her father wanted to say and dragged Malia inside the school, leaving the two men awkwardly standing there staring at each other. 

Cough cough. 

"Animal attacks have been getting more rampant so you both should try getting indoors after school." Chris gave a perfunctory warning before entering his car and driving away as Kate waved to Tristan. He just really didn't like that woman for some reason.

Entering the halls, Tristan walked towards his locker and started exchanging his books for the ones he needed for the next few class. 

"What did my dad tell you?" Allison asked. 

She was wearing a white frilly dress under a checkered brown jacket and a beret. 

Tristan wore black jeans and a blue long-sleeve shirt with the top button undone, showing the white shirt he wore underneath. "Nothing important."

"Oh, then that's good. He has been extra pestering today for some odd reason." She said lightly while the two others who were with her showed no expression on their faces as they waited for Tristan to finish sorting his books. 

"What do we have this morning?" Malia's question got a deadpan look from Allison. She wore tight jean shorts that hugged tightly to her figure and a tank top underneath her open flannel, complimenting her looks with a pair of black boots. 

"I sometimes don't understand how you can forget what you have for the period of the day." Allison shook her head exasperatedly, fully aware of Malia's antics. 

"Physics." Tristan replied and threw his bag over his shoulders. "Let's go."

…

While Tristan went to class, in another hall in Beacon Hills High, Stiles and Scott rushed through the halls as for some reason Scott was very panicky today due to what happened the night before. 

He had overheard what Allison's dad had said to Tristan and that had triggered some repressed memories of the previous night, mostly the ones of having his claws slash through flesh, whose flesh he didn't know. 

"Don't you think you're overreacting?" Stiles pointed out as he dodged the hordes of students to keep up with Scott. 

"You seriously think I'm overreacting? My boss…"

"Alan Deaton."

"… a veterinarian."

"A psychotic murdering werewolf."

"… is the Alpha."

"Is a 5 foot monstrous wolf that almost killed us." 

Scott rolled his eyes at Stiles' split attention on the main detail. Unfortunately he didn't have the strength to point out Stiles' antics since he just dipped himself in something more dangerous than he ever thought. 

Due to Derek's insistence, he had to find a way to all the Alpha and prove that Deaton was innocent and while his plan had worked serendipitously, he was awfully lacking in a follow-up when the Alpha actually showed up and almost zilched Derek. 

If that was the end then he might have just chucked it up to a bad night's luck but then the Hunters had shown up and that was when he blacked out. 

It suddenly devolved into a three-way fight between him and Derek against the Alpha and the Hunters. He didn't remember much, just remembered striking his Alpha in a pitiful attempt at rebellion but a single swipe of the Alpha's claws had torn open his chest with four long claw gashes. 

Bombarded all those sensations, his fuse was lit and he turned into a berserk wolf, falling easily to his Alpha's call. 

The Hunters almost got him. 

That thought rattled him so much that he could even feel the phantom pains of having his skin blasted apart and his bones broken as he was shot with wolfsbane-laced bullets. 

"Well I'll admit it can get a little worse considering that another full moon is just around the corner." Stiles added. 

"Yeah, and that's such a ball of comfort." Scott retorted sarcastically. 

"See? If you still have sarcasm then that means you're not at your end yet." Stiles quipped jovially, just content in enjoying another moment of life after surviving whatever last night was. 

Scott gained a confused look as he looked at Stiles. "I thought sarcasm was a coping mechanism."

"It is. Usually for smart, anti-social, or physically weak men. You, my friend, are in none of those categories." 

… 

A man in a lab coat could be seen tending to a group of happily barking and wag tailing pets. He left the little animals and went out the examination room but not before stealthily putting two old bottles into his pockets as he heard the bell on his front door ringing, signifying a customer entering. 

"Sheriff Stilinski." He let out a silent sigh of relief. 

Noah Stilinski, Sheriff of Beacon Hills, visited the animal clinic with a German Shepherd K-9 for a check-up. 

"Deaton. Brought this boy here for his check-up. Time to get his stitches out." Noah and Deaton laughed as Deaton carried the dog to the examination room. 

"I was in the middle of cleaning up these little beauts before you came." He said as they came into a room where a herd of puppies was playing together on top of the table. 

Noah waved his hands for him not to worry. "Don't worry, I'm not in any rush."

Resting his back against the wall, Noah watched with a little smile on his face as he watched the doctor tend to the small furries with tender care and a healthy dose of familiarity. 

"So, uhm, I was wondering if I could pick your brain for something that's been bothering me." Noah said offhandedly after watching Deaton work for a while. 

"Oh? Well shoot, but I'll remind you that my field of expertise is very narrow so I might not have answers that'll satisfy you." Deaton alleged. He was after all just a county veterinarian, the scope of things he knew was as limited it could get. 

"No problem. I'm just in need of a second opinion. An educated one." 

Putting the puppies in their cage, he helped Noah's dog to climb the table and brought out a few bottles of drugs, antiseptic and also a pair of scissors plus a few surgical equipment and started working on the bandage wrapped over one of the dog's legs. 

"I don't know if you've heard, but lately animals have been running out of the Beacon Hills Preserve. Even going as far as stampeding each other. We've also gotten a few calls about houses leaving around the preserve having their pets barking and growling, sometimes through the night. If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was some sort of horror flick trip. Haha."

Adjusting his glasses to get a better view of what he was doing, Deaton replied to Noah's query with a mildly stressed and exasperated tone, something the Sheriff wasn't actively paying attention to. 

"I heard about the animal's bit. Honestly it's mainly conjecture on my part, nothing conclusive." His tone was unsure as if he too didn't have much faith in what he was going to say. 

"Don't worry. Just give it to me."

"Well, it's a commonly known phenomenon in the wild that weaker animals tend to migrate when their habitat is invaded by a predator, mostly when the predator starts hunting them regularly." He stroked the dog's fur to soothe the slight pain the animal felt at the injection he gave it. "~See it doesn't hurt that much~" 

"So going by that, is a pack of wolves enough to drive the animals out, or cause them to go into a frenzy?"

"Wolves?" 

"Yeah, I know we kinda crossed that over but a lot of people have been claiming that they've been hearing wolves howling. Even a few of my deputies have heard the howls." This case was really getting to Noah as it would question his capabilities as a County Sheriff if he couldn't even identify the animal that's been killing people around here. More damning in his report would be if he couldn't stop it. 

"Well wolves hunt a lot and being in packs means that they have to do it regularly to feed everyone. It's highly probable. But for it to affect the Preserve, we might not be looking at just one small pack of wolves but instead a large one, or maybe even more than one pack… If it's really wolves." Deaton petted the head of the dog as he was done with its last treatment. "~Don't worry, bud. You'll be running everywhere in no time~"

Noah nodded at Deaton's words, believing it more than his previous assumptions of a mountain lion causing the killings. He's also seen Stiles researching a lot about wolves recently so maybe his overly sarcastic son was up to something. 'Hmm, I should look into that to make sure he doesn't stick his head in another dump hole.'

"I see. Well thanks for your input, Deaton." Noah said. 

"Don't worry about it. Glad to help in any way I can."

Deaton bade goodbye to the Sheriff as he took his dog away and released a despondent sigh as he was once alone in his clinic. "Right. Scott's probably not coming today. Should dock that out of his pay." He nodded his head at that thought and continued his day job, hoping to close early today since he was sure his part-time helper would be skipping. 

… 

[Malia Tate POV] 

On one of the rare times that I am alone, I walked aimlessly through the prisoned halls of Beacon High looking for something to take away my attention before the next class starts.

I had a class with Lydia and the girl just kept getting on my nerves with that irritating derisive smirk that was always flashed my way. 

I don't know what she thinks she's up to with trying to get Tristan to hang out with her but even from classes apart, I can see her already failing woefully. 

"Well, library it is then."

Locating the library moments later, I looked for a quiet spot to pass the time as I glanced through books, hopefully learning something in that endeavor. 

I was about to branch over a shelf when I saw someone I was at least familiar with. 

"Hey Boyd." I lowered my voice not to disturb the other student reading and that prissy librarian. 

It was a bit funny how startled he was when he was called but I didn't say anything as I sat opposite him. 

"Oh… hey… Fancy meeting you here." His voice was awkward, something that just made me cringe. 

"What's up with that tone?" 

"…"

"… Great! Don't tell me it's something as stupid as talking with a girl."

He let out an embarrassed chuckle as my words likely hit the spot. "Well, it's kind of weird when a girl like you is sitting down with a guy like me." He used his eyes to point at a few people looking at us but I just ignored them. 

"Girls like me?" I was genuinely confused by what he meant by that. 

"Uhm,… y'know…"

"No, I don't."

"*Sigh* It causes quite a stir when… well h-hot girls like you sit down with a… guy like me… who doesn't have any friends."

Oh that was what he meant! Well it's not like I understand much about high school traditions but I could relate to what he was saying. Basically he was an Omega in the midst of different packs. It was bound to be quite uncomfortable when renowned pack members started hanging around the Omega. 

"Well you'll have to deal with it since I'm bored." I said to him plainly but all he gave me was a flat stare. "How about showing me a book I can read to pass time?"

"Well, that I can do. Any interest?"

"Nope. Just give me something."

"Well you can run over this one. It's gothic literature but it's quite appealing…" All he needed was to get into his zone and Boyd started talking with me, forgetting about his initial anxiety and helping me pass my time. Two stones with one bird.

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