CHAPTER 78

He was already fed up with everything that was happening around him, so rapidly so that it felt as if everything was moving while it stagnated.

And then the thing he dreaded the most happened. 

"W-what did you say?" 

"Jackson's the kanima, and we're killing him, and you are going to help us."

He looked appalled as he heard Derek repeat the words he thought he had misheard. 

"Why?!" He had ended up shouting which made Derek's eyes narrow, along with that of Isaac and Erica, but he was too focused on Derek's words to quickly notice. 

"He's already killed four people, Scott. He's only going to continue growing stronger the more he kills and not to mention the fact that he killed a Hunter the other day, he is being controlled by someone to carry out a bloody vendetta." Derek patiently explained to Scott in hopes of getting Scott to understand where they stood but he overlooked a simple fact. 

Unlike Erica and Isaac whose minds could easily be warped and affected from the bite, also the fact that they were bitter teenagers, Scott on the other hand was a very sheltered child with rock-steady morals. 

"We have to stop him now before his killings go out of hand. Doing so will also draw out whoever is controlling him." He added. 

Scott looked at Derek, and then at Isaac and Erica and what he felt from them was complete apathy when it came to killing a teenager like them. 

"I can't." He said, looking at Derek dead in the eyes. 

"What?"

"I said I can't. I won't help you kill Jackson."

Derek groaned at Scott's bullheadedness. "He's not some innocent victim, Scott. He's killed people."

"Not by choice, you said it yourself that he's been controlled." He countered. 

Derek sighed, knowing that he couldn't change Scott's mind as it was. 'What an infuriating beta. Guess in death you still find ways to annoy me, Peter.'

"So what are you going to do?"

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Scott said and released a low growl, showing that he has already shifted to his werewolf form. "I'm going to stop you from killing him."

Derek raised his hand to stop Isaac and Erica who were already baring their fangs and looked at Scott with an amused smile and asked. "Are you sure you want to stand against me, Scott?"

Scott didn't falter even as his furs stood in their ends, acutely warning him of the danger of his answer. "Yes, I am."

"Well then, that's too bad." Derek muttered as the smile left his face and his eyes lit up in scarlet red. "Too bad indeed."

Before Scott could make any sort of movement, his eyes spun in a dizzy spell and pain assaulted his sides. His eyes gained their balance and then confusion as he found himself on the ground. 

"Do you know the other reason betas like being in a pack and follow an Alpha?" 

Scott gasped as Derek lifted him up by the neck and looked him dead in the eye.

"It's because the pack gives them direction, a sense of purpose if you will, that increases their bond with the pack, strengthening them even further."

Scott gasped as Derek drove a knee to his stomach after which he felt a hot searing pain across his chest only for him to look down and see bloody claws gashes across his chest. 

"Arghhhhhhh!!"

The pain was so much that it made his reasoning snap and the only thing that remained in his mind was to kill Derek. 

Not caring about Scott's mental state, Derek continued speaking. "That is exactly what you lack, Scott. It's something that Erica and Isaac have, meaning it will only take time before they become stronger than you. Make up your mind Scott."

"Do you want to become my beta, or would you rather be an omega?"

What he got as a response was the roar of a berserk werewolf which elicited a chuckle out of him. "Quite the unruly one, aren't you."

Scott rushed at him but Derek leisurely dodged what he perceived as a weak attempt to maim him meanwhile Erica and Isaac looked on with apprehension as even they could feel wariness just by looking at Scott's ferocity, an acute tell of the danger the beta possessed should they fight against him. 

Then they looked at Derek who was dodging and turning Scott's body to a bloody rag without any transformation except his red eyes and claws with an expression of eerie boredom. 

Scott fell to his knees and his transformation came undone. His face was pale with the amount of blood he had lost and the weakness that came with being injured by an Alpha. 

"You won't survive long with such a weak resolve, Scott." Derek said, his voice showing a plea for understanding. "You are no longer human Scott, unfortunately you are not."

Those were the last words Scott remembered hearing before he blacked out from the fatigue. 

...… 

[Tristan Hayes POV] 

"And that's wraps for the Battle of Gettysburg." I breathed out after finally managing to finish the History assignment from the day before about an essay on one of the country's past battles/wars fought. 

I even skipped training for today just so I can finish the assignment. Allison's grandfather wasn't taking any chances and being part of the lacrosse team could not be used as leeway for failing a few courses. 

'Coach even threatened to bench me for the next matches if I don't get my grades up.'

I was about to wrap up for the day when somebody skidded to a stop in front of me, sending unhealthy amounts of panic signals that could trigger a panic attack. 

"T-Trist-tan, I-I finally found y-you." He said through raspy breaths. Anyone could tell from his sweaty appearance and heavy breaths that he was thoroughly shaken. 

"Can I help you with anything, Stilinski?" 

He nodded and pointed in a direction before managing to gasp out what he wanted to say. "Scott.. He needs help! I think he's dying!"

I frowned at that, my mind already going through what even I would consider the worst scenarios. 

I could tell Stilinski wasn't lying. With the way he looked and the way his emotions flared around like a painter's palette, he'd have better luck forming a coherent sentence than lying in such a state.

"What happened to him?" I remained standing and asked him. Me helping McCall out from whatever deathbed he is lying on will depend on what actually put him there. 

"D-Derek… He fought Derek!"

Now that's an interesting twist. 'Did Derek finally lose it and put his own beta on death's door?'

Not surprising, McCall was absent from school so Stilinski took me to his house after I made sure no one was watching me from the school, i.e Gerard. 

The moment I stepped through his door, I felt a tiny prick on my skin and a sniff of the air told me that the house was lined with mountain ash. 'Smart.'

I could already smell the rotten flesh and helplessness of a limping prey struggling to escape a stalking predator. 

"Can people please learn how to finish off their kill?" I muttered as I followed behind Stilinski to McCall's room. 

There on his bed was the sweaty and bandaged boy, struggling to take in breaths of air. 

"Please do you know what's happening to him? He's been like this since morning and his wounds aren't healing."

I leaned in closer and cut open a part of the bandages with a flick of my claws and looked closely at the wound. 

"Well, oh shit."

"Oh shit.. Oh shit?" Stilinski came to my side and looked at the wounds before grimacing. "Is it a good 'oh shit' or a bad 'oh shit'?"

I looked at him with a half-confused slightly amused expression. "When has an 'oh shit' ever been a good thing?"

"… Oh shit." He said as realization dawned on him. 

"But there has to be something you can do, right? Please!" He begged but looking at the wounds, while there was indeed something I could do, I wasn't going to do it as I had no interest in taking his pain as mine. 

"The problem isn't from the wounds but from Scott himself." 

"I don't understand. What do you mean by that?"

"He's stopping himself from healing because of an emotional imbalance."

"A psychological to physiological effect?" He asked and I nodded. 

"From the emotions I'm feeling from him, it's mostly guilt, lack of confidence, self-blame, and lastly a good dose of despair." I then looked at McCall who was trying to listen to me. "What's killing you is a self of identity, more specifically a supernatural identity. Your supernatural side has nothing to hold onto or drive it forward. That is what is killing you."

His eyes dimmed and it was then that I finally understood what must have gotten him into such a state. 

"Must all werewolves kill? Is it a must that we must become killers?" 

"No, it's not." I said, and then continued before his hope could get any higher. "It's just that those who are prepared to kill are the ones who live longer. Don't make the mistake of thinking of the supernatural world as the same with the human world. It's literary survival of the fittest for us. Our law follows the rule of the jungle."

He let out a self-deprecating laugh as he heard what I said. "In other words I'll have to kill."

I shook my head at him. "Not necessarily. You only need to be strong enough to make the choice of whether or not to kill when faced against someone who wants to kill you."

He fell silent as he digested my words but I wasn't done. 

"Remember there's no one to exact justice for any wrong done to you. No judge, only an executioner if you're not strong enough. What happened to Derek is a prime example so when you make your choice, remember that it's not just for you but for those around you as well."

"Your wounds will start healing once you fix the shambles in your mind. Tashi delek(good luck), Scott McCall."

With that I left the both of them to rethink their life choices. 

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