31 CHAPTER 30

Malia had been fuming ever since she saw Lydia trying to wrap her fingers around Tristan and while she knew Tristan couldn't be less bothered by it, she didn't like the idea of the girl getting closer to Tristan. She's always hated girls like Lydia since her childhood.

"You're not going to say anything. She looks like she's out for blood, you know." 

Tristan just shrugged and continued with his assignments, choosing to do them in school rather than at home. 

Malia had gone to find Lydia and give her an earful while Allison kept him company, joining him in doing her assignments since it was better this way. 

"What were the both of you even talking about?" She asked curiously. 

Without looking up, Tristan answered. "Nothing. She did all the talking." He paused as he scribbled down some words only for him to strike it out as it turned out that it was wrong. 

Allison chuckled at the response she kind of expected. "Sounds self-conceited to me. Probably trying to get on Malia's nerves." She assumed. 

"I'm bored." She dropped her pen and whined, resting her head and hands on the desk as she looked at Tristan. "Are you bored?"

"Yes." He said, still focusing on his work. 

"Well since we can't hang out because my dad won't let me out after the curfew, how about you guys come to my place and let's hang out there." She suggested. 

Tristan paused and contemplated her words but shook his head. "Can't."

"Can't or you won't?" Allison was no fool. She knew just how he hated meeting new people but he was oddly more against it when it concerned hanging out with her in general. 

He repeated. "Can't."

She sat up and stared at him intently. "And why is that? Is it that you don't like hanging out around me?" Her tone was guarded as she asked that question, showing just how hurt she would be depending on his answers. 

Tristan paused his writing and looked at her for a full second before continuing writing. 

"It's not that."

"So what is it? Am I the problem?" 

"… A little, but it's more your parents."

She froze as he said that and her thoughts started dancing around as she came to her own assumptions. "Is it because we sell firearms?"

Tristan twisted his lips as she said that but she completely misinterpreted it. "You're not comfortable around firearms? Trust me, my dad is not what you probably think he is."

Tristan only grunted, all too happy that she came to her own conclusions and hoped she'd drop the invitation. 

"Okay, now you have to come to my house. My aunt just arrived and I think you guys will click well with each other." Seeing the look he was giving her, she clarified. "She's more like my elder sister than an aunt, and also less broody and fun than my dad. Oh, and she can be quite a tease at times."

"All the more reason for me not to go then." A new Hunter in town? Yeah, no way he was going there. He was trying his best to be very cautious because this was his first time being in the midst of Hunters and he didn't know how they operated. 

"Why not? I even told her about you and Malia." Allison gave a cute pout as he rejected her once again. 

Hearing her words, all Tristan's actions stopped as he looked at her with squinted brows. "Why?" His tone was a degree lower but she didn't notice it. 

"We were kind of talking about the friends I've made and that is obviously you both." She explained while propping up her head with her hands. 

"Hmm." He nodded. 

"I'm back. What did I miss?" Malia walked into the empty classroom with a smile on her face. 

"Please tell me you didn't get physical with her." A sense of uneasiness washed over Allison as she saw the bubbly expression on Malia's face. 

"Well, I didn't lay a finger on her if you're wondering, but I was extra …persuasive." Her tone sounded too smug for anyone's comfort as she sat down. "So what were we talking about?"

"Well, since I'm mostly bored at home, I thought of inviting you guys over since we can't hang out till late hours because of the curfew. But Tristan says he's not coming."

Malia looked at Tristan with a questioning face that asked 'why not?'.

'You can't be serious.' His eyes seemed to say as he returned Malia's stare. Though he was the one with a reduced sense of danger, Malia was the one who completely disregarded it. 

'It'll be fun. It'll just be like going undercover.' Tristan rolled his eyes at what she was insinuating while Allison watched in intrigue at their silent conversation. 

Before Tristan could reaffirm his choice, Malia beat him to it. "We're coming."

Allison cheered while Tristan just packed his bags to leave as he was done with his assignments.

They left the school and entered their respective cars only for them to be stuck in a hold up caused by none other than Stiles with a pale looking Derek Hale. 

"Woah, what's wrong with him?" Malia asked as she opened the door to get a better look. 

"His blood. It's some kind of poison. Probably wolfsbane." Tristan frowned as he sniffed the air and caught the faint smell of Derek's blood mixed with something else. "He's dying."

Stiles and Scott rushed Derek inside Stiles' Jeep and drove away, clearing the increasing line of held up cars. 

"The Argents got him." Malia stated. "Do you have any way to survive that?"

"I'm still weak against silver like most creatures of the night, but wolfsbane doesn't affect me like it does to you guys. Probably will make me dizzy for a while depending on the type but that's it." Tristan said as they drove away. 

Derek being injured was the Argents doing which meant Scott will be implicated sooner or later once the Argent finds out about his connection with Derek. 

"But he obviously can't get the antidote from them so he'll probably die, right?"

"Not entirely." He refuted. "They can either suck away the poison from his body or burn it away. If it's too deep already then they'll just have to cut out the infected part."

"Does Derek know that?" Malia questioned. 

"Maybe, maybe not."

…

[With Derek in Stiles' Jeep] 

"A Hunter shot you? Bro, you look like death right now." Stiles felt extremely queasy as he saw the pale skin of Derek and the black blood that was coming out of his orifices. "Scott, what are we going to do with him? I suggest we dump him at the roadside."

Scott reeled back in shock while Derek glared at Stiles from the back seat. 

"If I die, then there's nothing between you, the Alpha and the Argents. Just know that if I die, you're dying too."

Derek's words rendered Stiles speechless at the not-so-veiled threat in his words. "Wow. Just wow, dude. Nice persuasion tactics there."

"Not now, Stiles." Scott looked at Derek through the rear view and winced at the poor state he was in. "Is there any way we can get rid of the poison?"

"Unless you know a way to get me a sample of the bullets I was shot with." Derek retorted sarcastically, irritating Stiles so much so that he hit the brakes on the car. 

"Okay, listen man. We're trying to save your life here, so how about laying off with the threats and sarcastic replies, huh? You're half dead already and if I was you, I'd save all the smart-ass energy you're oozing." Finishing his piece, he started the car again and drove towards Scott's home since they had to stash Derek's decaying body at someplace. 

Feeling the palpable tension in the air, Scott tried to ease it by bringing them back to focus. "We obviously can't get the bullets from the Argents so what else can we try?" He asked Derek. 

"…We either burn it out or cut the arm off." Derek's words sent a chill down Stiles and Scott's spine. 

"There's no need to be that extreme, right? Right?" Stiles was outright spooked. All that from just a bullet wound?

"Either that or I die. If the poison reaches my heart then I'm dead. Those are the only options we have."

They got to Scott's house and carried Derek in up to his room and dropped him on the bed. 

Stiles rushed out of the room the next second and after a few things falling down, he came back with a small gas canister and lit it up. "So who's burning him up?" He asked excitedly. "Here." 

He shoved the canister into Scott and stood at the side of the room to watch the morbid action of a human burning another human. 

Scott just shook his head at his friend's antics and lit the gas up. "Here goes nothing."

….

[At the Argents] 

Tristan and Malia arrived at the Argents just as an SUV pulled up to the garage with Chris and a young woman highlighting it. 

"Tristan, Malia. What brings you guys here?" Chris called out to them with a harmless smile on his face as he opened the booth of his car. 

"Allison." Tristan gave a curt reply to which Chris nodded. 

"Come help me with these." He beckoned at the both of them. "This is my sister, Kate."

"Ho~. So these are the friends Allison mentioned." She whistled as she saw Tristan. "Looking good there, sport."

They carried the foodstuffs into the kitchen which alerted Allison making her come down. 

"I'm cooking." Kate said and shooed them all away from the kitchen, all except Tristan. Allison had mentioned how apathetic he usually was and seeing the boy being true to her niece's observations just made her want to tease him and see his breaking point. She's always had a very mean sadistic streak to her. 

"You're helping me prepare. Can you cook?" Seeing him nod and going ahead to wash the vegetables made her smirk. 

As they cooked, she made light conversations only to have him reply with a word or two. 

"And here I thought that with that jacked body of yours, you'd be getting all the girls. Kind of a waste if you ask me." She slapped his biceps with a ladle and a small laugh. 

"Don't need it."

"Aww~." She cooed at his reply. "I always forget how beautiful teenage love is. Don't worry, you'll understand when you grow up." 

She's always had a soft sadistic spot for the tall, handsome, jacked and broody type but unfortunately Tristan was a little too young. She couldn't help but reminisce about her past with a particular broody wolf and laughed in nostalgia. 

"Sooo, what do you think of Allison?"  She asked casually, acting as if she didn't notice the stare the young man was giving her. 

"She's… nice?"

"Is that a question or a compliment?" Oh God! The boy just kept tickling her fancy. He was like a little lost puppy that only needed her to wrap her chains tightly around his neck. "I'm asking for your honest opinions of my niece."

"… She's nice." He repeated his former words which earned him a snort from Kate. 

"I know she's nice. What I meant is if you find her cute or hot. Personally I think she's a mix of both. You'd be lucky to snag a girl like her. Tray please." Their conversation continued as they kept cooking. "I think there's hope of a crush forming if you play your cards right. Know what I mean?"

Sigh. 

"Can you please stop this, Kate." The tired expression was gone from his face as he turned to her. "I couldn't care less if she has a crush on me. There's no chance of anything happening between us."

He meant every word he said as there was no way he'd take a liking to Allison, not when he had Malia. 

Surprised at his strong reaction and seriousness, Kate's amusement shot through the roof as she sauntered towards him to tease him more, wanting more of his reactions. 

"And what makes you think that?" She drew her hands along his chest only for her to be surprised as her hand was caught by a strong grip and raised above her head. 

"I won't say it again; stop." He said with a tone of finality and let go of her hands and walked away from the kitchen. Kate just somehow got on his nerves in a way he didn't know how. 

He didn't see the wide smile that stretched across Kate's face as she was successful in drawing out his reactions. 

"He's cute. You better snatch him up, Allison… or I might."

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