Stiles looked at Derek."Hey, Sean… isn't it starting to smell kind of bad in here?"
Derek stared at Stiles blankly, a clear question mark in his eyes.
Sean studied both of them."Ah… yeah. It really does… kind of…"
"Like a dead body," Stiles said.
Sean nodded."Yeah. Exactly."
"By the way," Stiles added, "you're the one who's washing my car."
Sean raised his middle finger."Fuck off."
"Hey, man?! We're carrying an aged werewolf in my car, and I'm supposed to clean up his blood too?"
Sean chuckled."Stiles, look… the birds are chirping so nicely. Whoa, look at that one. That's a pretty bird."
Stiles clenched his fist."Sean… this place is closed off on all sides. If you don't want me to punch you straight in the mouth, shut up."
Sean grinned and raised both hands."Alright, alright. I'll help."
At that moment, Derek—who had been watching the exchange—snapped angrily,"You two… if you're done having fun, call Scott and tell him to hurry."
Stiles pulled out his phone and called Scott.
"Heeey, my handsome buddy," he said with a grin. "You leave me here with these savage men while you hang out with your precious hunter girlfriend. Did you find the bullet? Because if I stay here much longer, it feels like the smell of death is going to soak into me."
Sean laughed loudly from behind.
"How am I supposed to find the different one among a million bullets?!" Scott snapped.
Hearing Scott's muffled shouting, Stiles handed the phone to Derek.
"Still haven't found it?" Derek asked.
"How do you expect me to find it? This place is basically an armory! There are bows, arrows, and tons of bullets I don't even recognize."
"If you don't find it," Derek said coldly, "then I'm dead."
"Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing."
"If I die," Derek continued, "you'll be fighting the Alpha on your own. And honestly, I don't think you can do anything as people who were just thrown into this world."
He hung up.
A heavy silence filled the room. Everyone waited for Scott.
A moment later, Stiles's phone buzzed.
"Does 'Scandinavian Blue Tigerbane' mean anything to you?"
Derek's expression sharpened."It's a rare type of wolfsbane. He needs to bring me that bullet."
Watching the two of them talk so slowly, Sean lost his patience."Hey, Stiles tell Scott to hurry up. Because if this guy dies, Scott's going to be the one burying him. Add that as a note."
Meanwhile, Scott was having a family dinner at Allison's house…
Time flowed like water. As Scott rushed from Allison's house toward the veterinary clinic, things inside the clinic took a darker turn.
Sean was holding something like a small hand saw."Yeah… this is going to be new, even for me."
Stiles looked at them, dizzy."Uh… dude… are we really going to do this?"
Derek rolled his sleeve all the way up."Cut my arm off. Otherwise, I'm going to die."
Sean hesitated, teeth clenched."Argh… for this, I really—"
Sean and Stiles spoke at the same time."I'm going to have huge nightmares."
Just as Sean was about to move, the door burst open.
"Hey! What are you doing?!" Scott shouted.
Sean and Stiles stepped back instantly, relief washing over their faces.
"Man," Stiles said, "if you'd actually done that… I don't think I would've survived this."
Sean chuckled."Yeah, me neither. This was… too much for me. As a human."
Derek spoke impatiently,"Scott. If you brought the bullet, give it to me."
Scott quickly handed it over. Derek took the bullet but it slipped from his hand, spun across the floor, and dropped into a rectangular opening.
"Holy shit…" Sean and Stiles said in unison.
Derek collapsed.
"This guy passed out," Stiles said, kneeling beside him.
"Hit him once so he wakes up!" Sean snapped.
Sean stood up, walked over to the opening, grabbed the cover with both hands, and forced it loose with raw strength. After retrieving the bullet, he looked down at Derek.
"If you drop the bullet again," he said coldly, "you'll dig your own grave."
Derek split the bullet in half and pressed the powder inside directly onto the wound. He let out a sudden scream and collapsed again.
"You okay?" Sean asked.
"Yeah… aside from a lot of pain," Derek replied.
"Are you finally going to leave us alone now?" Scott said. "We saved you. If you don't, I'll tell Allison's dad."
"Can you trust him?" Derek asked.
"What do you mean?"
Derek didn't answer. He simply motioned for them to follow.
A while later, the four of them arrived at the hospital. When they entered a room, someone was standing by the window, staring outside. Completely still.
When Sean looked at him, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.
"Who is that?" Scott asked.
"My uncle," Derek said. "Peter Hale."
"He's a werewolf too?"
"He was. Before."
Derek paused."Six years ago, my sister and I were at school. Our house started burning. Eleven people were trapped inside. He was the only one who survived."
"Then how do you know they set it on fire?" Scott asked.
"Because they were the only ones who knew us."
"Maybe they had a reason?"
Derek's voice hardened."A reason? There were normal humans in my family too. They died inside as well. Children, old people, young… everyone."
Scott froze, unable to speak.
From behind, Sean muttered while staring at Peter,"For some reason… I think whoever did this is someone unhinged. Someone who doesn't follow rules. I don't know."
After that day, days passed, and as the full moon drew closer, the trio continued going back and forth to school as usual. One evening, when it got dark, Scott and Derek appeared on the roof of a market. The Alpha had acted once again and had killed the employee in the market.
After Scott and Derek finished their conversation, they left the place.
Derek said,"There's less than a week left until the full moon, and you're still chasing after classes, Scott."
Scott replied,"What else am I supposed to do?! And who made these rules anyway?"
Derek said,"It's the pack transition ceremony. You have time until the full moon to join his pack. After that, you'll be the next target, Scott. No—not just you. The same goes for Sean. But Sean realized this before you did."
After Scott and Derek talked, Derek decided to help Scott learn how to control himself during the full moon.
The next morning, Scott left the house early and went to school ahead of time.
Sean waited for Stiles.
Stiles arrived by car and picked Sean up.
Stiles said,"Hey, did you hear? Jackson and Lydia… the Alpha showed himself to them. He was where they were."
Sean replied,"I know. I was there at the time. Well, more like at a distance. I saw you, Scott, and Derek."
Stiles said,"Wait—Scott and Derek?"
Sean said,"Yes. They seem to get along pretty well, don't you think?"
Stiles replied,"Well… technically. We could say they're on opposite corners."
Sean smirked."No matter how much Scott changes, I can still see his good intentions. He's still the same person as before."
Stiles smiled."Yeah, he is."
Sean asked,"So what's your plan, Stiles?"
Stiles replied,"Actually, I was going to go see Lydia today. And I'll ask Danny a few questions. About Jackson."
Sean nodded."And after school today, I'm going hunting with Chris Argent. I think it'll help clear my head a bit."
Stiles said,"Be careful. You know, if he realizes you're a werewolf—"
Sean replied,"I'll kill him."
Stiles' eyes widened in shock."What?"
Sean said,"If he threatens me, I'll kill him. Who he is doesn't matter. I'm not strong enough yet, Stiles. Only the people close to me can know my secrets."
Stiles nodded. But a voice inside him told him that Sean was becoming a much more frightening character.
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Author: The next chapter... is quite interesting. Just read it, hehehe.