CHAPTER 48

Tristan followed the scent he had caught during his time with Allison and her dad, doing his best to reduce his presence as much as he could because he knew he couldn't risk tipping the Alpha off.

The scent was somehow different from the foul stench he'd bore the full brunt of the previous night but there was just no mistaking that sizzling rage underneath. 

He could feel the scent getting thicker from one of the patients rooms and the claws on his left hand slowly extended as he neared the door. 

"What are you doing there?" He turned around and saw a nurse coming towards him but he felt something was weird about her. Her heartbeat was slightly erratic and her emotions were just all over the place. 

Fear? Panic? Irritation? 

It was a deluge of differently mismatched deep emotions a person could feel, but not one that was surface in this type of setting. 

"Visiting hours are not for a few hours, and only family members are allowed." She said but Tristan wasn't in any mind to listen to what she was saying as he contemplated knocking out the suspicious nurse but dropped the idea in the end. 

"Sorry. Must've lost my way." He turned around and left, heading back to Malia's ward. 

Whoever was in that ward was the Alpha, he was sure of that. 

"You're getting discharged, Malia." He said as soon as he stepped inside the room, making the pretending Malia look up in confusion. 

"Any reason for the abrupt decision?" She asked, not against the idea as the bed here was super uncomfortable. 

"The Alpha. He's here. In this hospital." He said. 

"What? How do you know that?" She immediately jumped out of the bed no longer keeping up pretenses since they were already living. 

"I still remember his smell. There's no way I could forget something like that." He explained how he picked up the scent and also his suspicions of the nurse that interrupted him. 

"So? What are we going to do with this piece of information?" She asked as they left the premises of the hospital to where their car was parked. 

"Either tell Satomi or go at it alone." He said. 

"But S-" 

"Satomi is not the only one seeking revenge. I'm just every bit as pissed off as she is, and even more." Tristan drove off after taking a last look at the hospital. 

°°°°°

Tristan thought about how he could draw the Alpha out of the hospital but he didn't have a solution for when the beast came out. 

He also needed to figure out the identity of the Alpha, but even if he could do that, dealing with the Alpha was not in his capabilities. It would be different if he let Satomi know, but… 

He wanted that man to die by his hands so much so that he didn't tell Satomi, who was furious that her child was attacked by a young Alpha, her words exactly. 

He also didn't want her to react all that much since it'll no doubt drag the entire pack into it and that would account for unnecessary casualties. 

Under all these reasons, he also wanted to have another drink of the Alpha's blood. He had never been interested in Satomi's blood and she also was the only one that didn't offer their blood when he was young. Either she knew the effects it would have on him or that she didn't know and was preventing any unforeseen circumstances. 

Even now he felt more stronger than he felt 24 hours ago which meant that there was something in the Alpha's blood that strengthened him more than anything had ever done. 

"Tristan, there you are!" His head snapped towards the undeniable voice of Lydia who was making her way towards their house. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked her with a frown on his face as there was no reason why she'd come to his house in the first place. 

"Well you and Malia didn't show up for school today and then I heard she was attacked by some animal." Lydia recounted as if she was reading a grocery list. 

"Thank you for the thought, but you could have just called. No need to come this far away just for a well-wishing visit."

"Well, what am I supposed to do!?!" Lydia shouted while Tristan deadpanned. 

"And I'm supposed to care why you're shouting?" Tristan asked. 

"Well, yes. Jackson broke up with me so of cou-" The door slammed shut in her face stunning her. 

"Who's that?" 

"No one. At least of importance."

Lydia as a girl was too entitled to herself that it just irritated Tristan sometimes when he listened to her whine. 

The only times you could get something out of her mouth that was genuine and smart were so few that Tristan had only seen it twice. And why should he disturb himself and his agitated mind by listening to her ear-grating jargons? 

°°°°°

[Allison Argent POV] 

"That wasn't a wolf, or a mountain lion…" Not it wasn't. She had scoured her entire memory and not a single recollection of such an animal came to mind. 

She looked at her dad who hadn't said a word throughout their drive home even as they entered their house. 

"Are you seriously not going to say anything?" Kate hadn't been exactly sneaky when around Allison, always dropping clues like breadcrumbs for the girl to follow, eventually leading her to the cheese. 

"Malia almost died!!" Her frustrations took a hold of her voice and she shouted at her dad who didn't look offended in any way at her rude behavior, irking her even more. 

"You know something, don't you? Why won't you tell me?" After the frustration came the anger which exploded in every direction. At her father, mother, aunt, herself, Beacon Hills, the stupid game yesterday… she felt weak all of a sudden. 

"Why won't you tell me?" Her voice grew despondent as the anger bled out, along with her strength. 

Looking at his frail daughter who was clearly showing signs of trauma caused Chris to once again curse Derek, the Alpha and the involved betas. He wanted to find a way to ease her into this but that plan was already buried by last night's attack. 

"You're not ready yet, Allison, and it's my fault not yours." He said softly but his words confused Allison more. Why was the truth suddenly becoming more complicated?

"What do you mean?" She asked. 

Chris sighed as he made a decision he knew he would never be able to take back. 

"It's time for you to learn about the secrets of our family." He took a deep breath and resolved to run through no matter what became of this. "Follow me."

Rather than resting, they left the house again but this time she was more nervous than agitated. She wondered what her dad wanted to show her and how it would explain the animal that attacked her and Malia yesterday. 

Chris drove them to an obscure location and then went underground, Allison growing more nervous since her father hadn't said anything, not even a single peep, since they left the house. 

"What are we doing here?" Allison couldn't help but ask as the silence got very unbearable for her and the bunker they were in didn't exactly exert 'safety'. 

"Showing you the truth." Chris finally said as they came to stop in front of a metal door and flickering lights. 

Allison gulped but nodded her head. Chris twisted the huge knob and pushed the door open and through the darkness covering the room she could see the silhouette of someone bound.

"This… is what it means to be an Argent." The lights turned on causing Allison to jump back in fright as her eyes met something that wasn't human. 

"This is a werewolf." Chris yanked the bounded Derek's face without an ounce of fear and showed it to Allison. "Our family has been hunting their kind for centuries now, a list which now includes you. Come."

Not having the strength to disobey her father, she dragged her feet towards her father, in front of the 'werewolf'. She didn't know how she was supposed to react with something like this that was beyond anything she'd ever thought of. 

"Then…"

"The one you saw yesterday is known as an Alpha. He's the one who sires new werewolves. They are bigger, stronger, more fierce than any other werewolf out there." Chris took his time to explain everything he could tell Allison at this stage. 

"Why us?" She asked. 

"It's been like this for centuries, Allison. It's our job to protect humans and also stop the werewolves from preying on the defenseless people." He clarified.

"Then yesterday…"

"The Alpha was trying to kill you, Allison."

"Why?"

"Because he has some grudge towards us. But know this, the next time he comes around, he'll do his best not to miss again. In the meantime, I'll try to prepare you as much as I can in the shortest time possible. Come on, let's go." Allison was brought out of the bunker by her father as she remained frozen because of what she'd heard. 

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