13. OMEGA

"Are you sure he doesn't know?", I asked Allison on the phone as I searched for Stiles. 

He spent every moment of his free time at the hospital, making sure that nothing happened to Lydia. Since the conversation I had with my grandmother Cahira, I had been on edge, which was nothing new for me. 

"Yes, Lorelai, oh my god. Can we talk later, I sort of have company over…".

"Yeah, yeah. Tell the company I said hi.".

I cut the call, manoeuvring my way through the busyness of the hospital. Turns out that Mr. Argent almost killed Scott for being with Allison, so she made a promise not see him anymore. They broke that promise several times already.

"There you are! I've been looking…".

"You're dirty…", Stiles muttered underneath his breath before letting out an air kiss.

The idiot was asleep, his body laid across three chairs, balloon in hand. I made awkward eye contact with Lydia's dad, and Ms. McCall, giving them a grimacing smile.

"Stiles, wake up!", I whisper-yelled in his ear, and he fell off the chairs.

"Did you bring dinner?", he asked innocently, rubbing his eyes.

"Do I look like a food delivery service? Come on, I'll get you something from the vending machine.".

I dragged him away from Mr. Martin's disapproving looks. 

"Dude, if you stayed there any longer, they would've gotten a restraining order! What were you thinking?!?", I asked him as he put the money into the coin slot.

"How does Reese's sound?", he yawned, punching in the number.

To his luck, the peanut butter cups got stuck.

"Seriously, come on… Got anymore magical druid wind to help me out here?".

I gave him a look, and he returned his attention back to the vending machine, hitting the glass. 

"Why don't you use some of that sarcasm to get it out?".

Stiles scoffed, shaking it vigorously, which only resulted in the machine toppling over and crashing to the ground.

"Oh my… We gotta get out of here before we get arrested for property damage!".

He was about to retaliate when a bloodcurdling scream filled the hall. His eyes grew wide which indicated that I wasn't the only one who heard it. Hopping over the vending machine, we raced into Lydia's room, along with her dad and Ms. McCall to find it empty.

"Stiles, call your dad, I'll call Scott.", I whispered, gazing out the window.

Taking out my phone, I dialled his number as I walked out of the room. Something about the way she screamed still left goosebumps on my skin. That was anything but normal. Scott had already known it was her and agreed to meet us at the hospital, he just needed something of hers to catch her scent.

As we made our way back to Lydia's room, we bumped into Sheriff Stilinski.

"All right, let's get an APB out on a sixteen-year-old redhead.", Mr. Stilinski directed to the other deputy before asking for any other descriptors.

"Five-three, green eyes, fair-skinned, and her hair is actually strawberry blonde.", Stiles immediately jumped in.

Shaking my head, Mr. Stilinski grabbed the both of us away from Ms. McCall and Mr. Martin.

"What the hell are you two still doing here?".

"Um… Providing moral support?", Stiles answered awkwardly.

"Uh-huh. How 'bout you prove your ass back home, where you should be?".

"Yes, of course. Right away, Mr. Stilinski. Come on Stiles, lets go.", I answered quickly, pulling Stiles towards the exit when I noticed the stolen item covered up inside his jacket.

We passed two people trying to work on the broken vending machine, which was still lying on the ground, and bolted away from the crime scene. 

"This is the one she was just wearing?".

Scott was already inside the jeep when we got inside. Stiles nodded with a tired expression.

"I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again.", Scott promised.

"All right, just shove the thing in your face and let's find her.", Stiles said as he put the keys into the ignition.

Just as he started the engine, he let out a gasp when the lights turned on. Allison was standing in front of the jeep. Scott began to panic, afraid that someone might see the two of them together. 

"I don't care. She's my best friend, and we need to find her before they do.", Allison argued.

"I can find her before the cops can.".

"Not the cops, Scott. Her father.", I stated as a matter of fact.

"I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs.", Allison added.

"Search party?".

"A freaken hunting party, Scott. Did you not learn anything these past few weeks? Allison, get in.". 

I moved to give her some space to sit, and we drove off. I swear Scott sometimes can be so daft. She mouthed a thanks and Stiles began his interrogation.

"All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?".

"I don't know. They won't tell me anything, okay? All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here.'", Allison answered.

"What others?", I jumped in.

"They won't tell me that either.".

Stiles commented saying that her family needs to work on their communication issues before asking Scott if he was going the right way. 

"Can you feel her out, like what you did with Scott and Derek?", Allison looked at me hopeful as Stiles took a sharp right.

I closed my eyes in concentration, focusing on the scream she let out as it was still embedded in my brain, but it didn't work. 

"Nothing, it's like something is blocking me out. Just like that time I tried to see her memories.".

I was getting frustrated, no matter how hard I tried, it felt like my abilities were working against me. Allison noticed my disappointment, giving me an understanding smile. 

Scott told us pull over at the side of the road, and he sprinted into the woods. We had to run to keep up with him. It wasn't long before I realized where we were heading towards.

"Derek's house?", I questioned.

"Yeah, this is where the scent leads.", Scott said, slightly puzzled.

"All right, but has Lydia ever been here?", Stiles was just as confused as the three of us.

While Allison and Scott discussed theories on why she would wind up at the Hale house, Stiles and I looked around for any clues. 

"Have you ever noticed how it's always the two of us that team up when we have to investigate?", I pointed out, trying to break the silence.

"Um, yeah. It's because we're awesome at it. And I've been thinking about why you can't seem to get a connection to Lydia. What if she's not a werewolf…", he trailed off, staring at something close to the ground.

"What is it?", I asked, crouching down beside him.

He called out for Scott and Allison to come check it out.

"It's a tripwire.", I recognized as Stiles pulled on it.

"Stiles…", Scott's voice caused us to turn around.

"Next time you see a tripwire? Don't trip it.", he said, hanging upside down. 

The three of us chuckled as we moved towards a dangling Scott to cut him down, but he stopped us abruptly- someone was coming. Stiles grabbed both Allison and I, pulling us towards the trees. Turns out that the intruders were Allison's dad and his hunter friends. 

We couldn't hear what was going on, but I assumed it wasn't good. As the coast cleared, we ran back to Scott, attempting to figure out how to get him down. We heard a soft thump, I guess claws really did come handy. We began trekking back to the burnt down house when Scott pulled me aside to talk. 

"You okay?", he asked.

I nodded and was about to walk away when he stopped me.

"You do know I can tell when you're lying, right?".

I ran my fingers through my hair, letting out a sigh.

"Well, it doesn't help that my druid abilities have been all over the place. And then my guilty conscious and PTSD from Derek ripping out Peter's throat keeping me up at night… Oh, and did I forget to mention that I'm sleep walking again? Yeah, woke up in the middle of the woods the other night… Other than that, I'm fine.".

Scott gave me a reassuring smile, "If you're wondering, Allison isn't mad at you. And don't worry, we're going to figure this out together, okay?".

"Scott's right.".

Allison's voice made me jump. She laughed, throwing her arm around my shoulder. Even though it was weird that we bonded in a place where our entire lives changed forever, I was grateful for the moment we shared.

∞∞∞∞

"Oh my god you're back! Where have you been?!?".

The blue-eyed, curly brown-haired boy looked at me with surprise when I recognized him.

"Isaac?", I waved my hand in front of his face.

"Sorry, Lorelai… It's good to see you… Um, my dad and I had to go on a trip, but we're back now.", he answered softly, looking down at his shoes, before making eye contact with me again.

"Yeah, I can see that… The library wasn't the same without you…".

I lingered a little too long on his slightly bruised face, and he turned his head away from my gaze. 

"Which way are you headed?", he asked, closing his locker door.

"Um, Chemistry, you?".

"English… It's in the same direction, I can walk you… If, if you want?", he asked, looking down at his shoes before a slight smile played on his lips.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I don't mind.".

I bit the inside of my cheek, a little flutter in my stomach. The last time this happened was with 'you know who'. Pushing down the memory of the obnoxious newly turned Alpha, I strolled beside Isaac in comfortable silence.

"Hey, Isaac, are you sure you're okay?", I reached out, gripping his wrist lightly as we stopped in front of Mr. Harris' class.

His body tensed at my contact but relaxed a few seconds later. He nodded, saying that he'd catch me later. He gave me one of his nervous grins again, before going his own way. 

I sauntered into class, Mr. Harris giving me the ol' stink eye as I took my seat next to Scott.

"I heard your heartbeat pick up, everything okay?", Scott asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Uh, yeah. Peachy.".

Mr. Harris passed down some test papers. Usually, I would be prepared for a scenario like this, but ever since coming to Beacon Hills High, I've been constantly behind. There goes my whole early admission to college plan.

"All right, it's causing me severe mental anguish to say this, but he's right…", Stiles said, barely whispering.

"Who's right?".

Scott filled me in that Lydia stole a liver from a corpse in the graveyard. They decided to have a conversation with Jerkson, but the douche won't help them look for her.

"While we scout the woods, Lorelai, we need you to use your Spidey tingles on Lydia. I know you said it didn't work before but it won't hurt to try again, right? What if the next body part she steals is from someone who's still alive?".

I reluctantly nodded, worry flooding through my body. 

"This is a pop quiz, Mr. Stilinski. If I hear your voice again, I may be tempted to give you detention for the rest of your high school career.", Mr. Harris stated, irritation on his face.

"Can you do that?", my idiotic friend blurted out.

"Well, there it is again. Your voice, triggering the only impulse I've ever had to strike a student repeatedly and violently. I'll see you at three o'clock for detention.".

Scott and I snorted, turning around to shoot Stiles a smirk.

"You too, Mr. McCall, Miss. Maolán?", Mr. Harris added.

"No sir.", we said in unison.

As we proceeded to answer our pop quiz, a cold breeze blew the classroom, causing me to shiver. I looked around to see if anyone else seemed to notice it, but it was just me. I could feel my grandmother's pendant grow warm inside my jeans pocket. 

I stopped wearing it after I winded up in the middle of the Beacon Hills Preserve that night. Now I just carry it around in case I needed Cahira's help. I locked up her journal in a box which I kept right at the back of my closet. I hadn't had the courage to go back to the garden shed to inspect the bow staff after she told me what it meant.

I decided to take a page from the Stiles Stilinski survival guide and ignore my problems until they go away. Yes, I was a coward, but when the fate of a town and its people lie in your hands, it makes you do some very stupid things, like hide. 

I never told anyone about it yet, I couldn't bring myself to. I needed more time, which I'm pretty sure I was running out of.

"Hey, will you do me a favor?", Scott whispered, distracting me from my spiralling thoughts.

"I know this is going to be hard, but will you be able to go with Allison to her aunt's funeral?".

"Sure. I was planning to anyway. With everything that's going on, she's gonna need some extra support. And she's my friend too.".

He gave me a grateful smile as we packed up our stuff after Mr. Harris collected our pop quiz papers. I bolted out of there, saying goodbye to Scott and Stiles, heading towards the library. It was deserted as always, and I took a seat on the ground beside the last bookshelf at the back.

Whenever the pendant heated up, it was usually a message from Cahira, hinting that she wanted to talk. I pulled it out of my pocket, staring at it, waiting for something to happen. After ten minutes, I stood up, shoving it back into my bag, and let out a frustrated grunt as I left. I was so sure that the cold wind I felt in Chemistry meant something…

∞∞∞∞

"Thank you so much again for doing this, Lorelai. I know it isn't easy.".

Allison squeezed my arm gently as we got out of the car. Being at a graveyard again brought back memories of my dad's funeral. I shook it off reminding myself that I was here for Allison. Mr. Argent gave me a nod, while Mrs. Argent didn't really bother whether I was there or not. 

Making our way towards the grave, Allison and her family were swarmed by the paparazzi who yelled out questions concerning Kate's betrayal. Between her mom and her dad, they shielded us, rushing over to where Kate was meant to be buried, along with the cops shouting back at the journalists to stay away.

"I knew this was a bad idea…", Mr. Argent shot.

Allison's parents began bickering amongst themselves about how someone decided to hold a public funeral for Kate to make a point. When Allison asked who was involved, they both brushed off her question.

"They've been doing this to me all week.", Allison murmured under her breath.

Suddenly, the hair on my arms stood up, and a weird eery chill went through my body. A man, with grey hair and a frown on his face started walking towards us. 

After greeting Mr. and Mrs. Argent, he approached Allison asking if she remembered who he was. His voice sent my already anxious heart into overdrive. Allison nodded before she shifted her gaze to a nearby tombstone. I immediately knew which two idiots were hiding behind it.

The stranger directed his attention back to Allison, "Considering I haven't seen you since you were three, I don't suppose I can assume you'd call me 'Grandpa.'. So, if it's comfortable, call me Gerard for the time being… But I'd prefer 'Grandpa.'.

They smiled at each other before Gerard turned to me, "And you must be Lorelai.".

He shook my hand firmly. In that moment, two images flashed through my mind- my grandmother's smiling face and Gerard holding a sword, dirt smudged all over his clothes.

He gazed at me, like he was trying to place my face as I stood up.

"Um, I can always sit at the back if you wanna be here with your family.".

"It's fine, I'm sure Allison here would appreciate the company.", he said, moving to the other side of Mrs. Argent.

Allison let out a breath of relief as she glanced back to the tombstone where Scott and Stiles were hiding. I tuned out most of the service, my mind traveling back and forth to my dad's funeral. 

My mom decided to scatter his ashes in the Mississippi river instead of a burial. Ms. Amelia advised that he would be more at peace there than at his hometown. At the time, we didn't know how right she was.

Speaking of my mom, she seemed to be doing okay now. She loosened her overprotective grip over me the past few days, we even went a whole night without her bringing up what happened at the school when Peter decided to try and kill everyone.

As soon as the funeral was over, I didn't go back with Allison to her house. I didn't feel comfortable being around Gerard, especially after seeing my grandmother in his memories. I wondered how they knew each other. 

Stiles was supposed to pick me up, but his phone was off, so I decided to take a slow stroll. It wasn't long before I realized that I ended up at the burnt Hale house for the second time that week. Now that I was here, I thought I'd keep an eye out for Lydia.

"What are you doing here?".

I hadn't seen Derek ever since he slit Peter's throat and became the Alpha. He still looked the same, however you could feel the power radiating off him. 

"Um, I'm not entirely sure…".

He looked me up and down before slowly walking towards me.

"I've been meaning to talk to you. We're going to need your help, Lorelai. Now with Gerard in the picture, you should really consider joining a pack. My pack.".

I frowned at his candidness. 

"We? I don't remember Scott agreeing… Wait. Jackson… You bit him, didn't you?".

Derek looked away, scratching the back of his neck.

"Oh my god, are you serious? Out of all the people in the entire world, you couldn't have found someone who wasn't a total obnoxious asshole?".

"Listen Lorelai. We have to do whatever it takes to protect ourselves. I was hoping you would talk to Scott and-".

I held up my hands to stop him.

"I'm not getting involved Derek. Despite everything that's happened, I still don't know if I can trust you. And we have Lydia to worry about now.".

I could still hear her scream lingering in the back of my head. Shaking off the shivers, my phone vibrated from inside my pocket. It was a text from my mom saying that she needed me home.

"I, I gotta go.", I said, turning around.

He didn't say anything, or try to stop me, and I heard him sigh as I walked away. I didn't need my druid abilities to know that Derek wasn't going to just stop at Jackson, he needed at least two more Betas to ensure his power. 

My connection with the newly transformed Alpha had grown weak and I could feel the link slipping away fast. Maybe it was the lack of a mutual enemy, or the fact that my abilities have been AWOL. 

There were too many things coming into play here, and half it didn't make sense. All I knew was that it was connected to the prophecy Ms. Amelia told me about. Since I couldn't get a hold of my dead grandmother, and Ms. Amelia refusing to talk about this over the phone, there was one other person I could trust- a very mysterious neighbourhood veterinarian.