47: Old Blood [1]

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The woods were calm as warm sunlight filtered through the autumn leaves. In the middle of a clearing stood the Hale Manor, once grand but now a shattered, charred ruin.

"Chris wants us to wait." Enri reminded.

Kate groaned, rolling her eyes at Enri's reminder.

"Yeah, I've heard that a million times." She muttered. "To death."

"And that means we're not supposed to kill him." Brock chimed in with a hint of sarcasm.

Kate smirked, her lips curling into a sly grin. "True, but that doesn't mean we can't stop by and say hello."

She swung the spear taser over her shoulder, the static hum buzzing ominously as she stepped toward the crumbling manor, Enri and Brock following close behind.

Inside, Derek's breaths were short and labored as he pulled himself up from the floor. His chiseled muscles glistened with sweat, flexing with each movement. The triskelion tattoo on his back shifted as he strained through his workout.

He paused, nostrils flaring as the unmistakable scent of wolfsbane and silver flooded his senses.

A sudden loud bang echoed through the empty halls as the front door was kicked in. Eric entered first, cocking his rifle as he stepped over the threshold.

"No one home?" His voice bounced off the worn-out walls of the abandoned manor.

"Oh, he's here." Kate said, a malicious glint in her eye as she scanned the room. "He's just not feeling very hospitable right now."

Brock snickered as he wandered through the house, casually inspecting the empty rooms ahead.

"Maybe he's out back burying a bone." He joked.

Kate turned to him with a deadpan look.

"Really? A dog joke?" She shook her head in disbelief. "We're going there, and that's the best you've got?"

With a sigh, she walked into the dilapidated living room, noticing a shirt tossed carelessly on the floor. She crouched down and picked it up, her smirk widening.

"If you really want to piss him off, you say something like, 'Too bad your sister bit it before she had her first litter.' Or maybe, 'Too bad she howled like a bitch when we cut her in half!'"

At that moment, a deep growl resonated through the manor, reverberating in their bones.

Before anyone could react, a massive claw came from the shadows and smashed Brock's face into the wall, splintering the wood with a sickening crack.

Eric swung his rifle up and fired, but his bullets missed entirely as Derek moved with blinding speed, grabbing him and hurling him to the floor like a rag doll.

Derek's amber eyes flared with fury, and his lips curled back to reveal sharp, elongated canines. He crouched low, muscles tensed, preparing to launch himself at Kate.

Kate, however, wasn't fazed. She smirked, raising her taser provocatively, practically daring him to attack.

With a feral snarl, Derek lunged at her, claws extended toward her throat, his eyes blazing with vengeance. But Kate was ready. With precise timing, she sidestepped and drove the taser deep into his gut, sending volts of electricity coursing through his body.

Derek crumpled to the floor, muscles convulsing uncontrollably as the shock ripped through him. His body writhed in agony, but Kate only smiled, amused by his suffering.

"Wow." She teased, looking over his muscular frame as he lay there twitching. "You really did grow up in all the right places."

Kate was toying with him now, the taser still embedded in his gut as she paced around him, circling like a predator.

"I don't know whether to kill you or fuck you." She mused, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

Derek growled weakly, attempting to pull himself together, but she wasn't done with him.

"You never learn, do you?" She mocked, driving the taser harder into his chest. The force sent Derek flying back a few feet, leaving him sprawled on the floor, barely conscious.

His vision blurred as he watched her boots click ominously toward him. He tried to move, but his limbs wouldn't obey. His body was numb, his senses overwhelmed by the searing pain.

"900,000 volts." Kate said with a smug grin, crouching down beside him. "You never were good with electricity… or fire."

Derek looked up at her through narrowed eyes, his gaze full of hatred. The woman standing before him wasn't the one he had once known. Those brown eyes he had once loved were now cold and filled with malice.

Kate leaned in close, her voice soft but cutting as she whispered, "I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, Derek. Maybe we can help each other out."

She stood up, casually pulling a chair toward him and sitting down, as if this were a friendly chat. "Yes, your sister was hacked to pieces and used as bait to try and catch you. A rogue Alpha is bad for business. Too messy. But here's the part that'll really hurt, we didn't kill her."

Derek's eyes narrowed suspiciously. He wanted to reject everything she was saying, but something about the steady rhythm of her heartbeat told him otherwise.

She wasn't lying.

"We found bite marks on your sister's body." Kate said, her voice low. "What do you think caused those? A mountain lion?"

She stood and walked past him, flipping off the taser. Derek slumped against the wall, his body still trembling from the electrical shock.

"Why are we not helping each other out?" She asked, a taunting tone in her voice. "Simple. You want the Alpha that killed your sister, and we want him too. All you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of the rest. Problem solved. You get your revenge, and we all go home happy."

Derek stayed silent, his breath heavy and uneven. His mind raced. He didn't know who the Alpha was either, and Kate knew it. Her smirk widened as she caught the truth in his silence.

"Unless." She said, leaning closer, her eyes gleaming, "you don't know who he is either."

She scoffed and reached behind her back.

"Guess who just became totally useless."

Kate swiftly pulled out her pistol and fired. Derek barely dodged the shots, using the last of his strength to bolt from the manor and into the woods.

Kate watched him run with a twisted smile. "Run along, pup."

Derek sprinted through the dense trees, his heart pounding with both rage and desperation.

Everybody wanted their hands on the Alpha. He couldn't let them tarnish his family's name any further.

The Alpha was his to kill.

And he would find him before the Quileutes or the Argents ever got close..