A/N: I actually started this chapter five days ago, so I don't feel like it's as crappy as the past few. You guys should be proud of me, I'm conquering my laziness. :) (Even though the chapter is a day late thanks to the 4th of July and me being out so late) (btw if you celebrated yesterday, I hope everyone was safe!)

Eh, kind of emotional towards the end. Just warning ya. 

Also I WROTE A LONG CHAPTER. IT'S ALMOST 4000 WORDS. YESSSS

Stiles

Cora seemed to be taking control of the situation. It was supposed to be more of a group decision, but no matter how many of us voted no, Cora was still going to go through with it. She trusted, for some stupid reason, that Aaron wasn't going to turn on us. Derek wasn't agreeing with her, which turned into a screaming match between the two of them while the rest of us sat off to the side and didn't dare speak up. 

Finally, Cora crossed her arms and sat down on the edge of her bed. "Derek," she said calmly, her face still red from yelling at her brother. "I'm not saying I trust Aaron. I'm just saying that we can't fight something that we have no information on. Aaron created the creature, he knows it weaknesses. We can't trust him, but we need him. If it goes south, that's on me. I get it. I just don't think Colin, of all people, would intentionally put us in danger. He said that himself."

"She has a point," I mumbled from behind Derek. He turned his head and shot me a glare, but he didn't scare me, so I just shrugged in response. I wasn't going to say Cora was wrong, because she wasn't. Getting Scott and the others back would be hard without knowing how to defeat, or even weaken the thing we were going to have to fight. 

"It's not your decision," he said to Cora, and then turned back to me and grumbled, "Or yours." He crossed his arms too, mirroring his sister. One thing they had in common, stubbornness set aside, was their angry face. "We can all vote and majority rules. Just keep in mind who we're dealing with." He looked around the room, giving everyone a hard stare. "This is not like the last time we dealt with the enemy. Aaron is stronger, smarter, and far more capable of damaging us than anyone else was. We have to be careful. We have to have backup plans for when he turns on us."

"If," Cora corrected him. "If he turns on us." I couldn't see Derek's face, but I assumed he was narrowing his eyes at her, or something equally as Derek. Cora didn't stand down from his intense glare though, because she knew he couldn't do anything about it. She could go against every single thing he said and he'd never do anything but sigh and try to find a way around her inflexibility. He would try to twist his words into something she could agree on. 

"Fine," Derek conceded. "If Aaron turns on us, we'll need something to fall back on, so we can still save our friends." 

Cora grinned in satisfaction. "Alright, so we vote. There's seven of us, so four votes wins. You can only vote once," she explained, pointing an accusing finger at Charlie. "I'm talking to you, buddy." 

Charlie threw his hands up in defense, but he was wearing a large, lopsided grin. "I would never," he said sarcastically, only making Cora shake her head, despite the small smile she was trying so hard to hide. She took a deep breath and stood back up, looking around the room. "Hey, what if I vote with two hands. Is that allowed? Like, one vote per hand?"

"Charlie, you're going to get your teeth knocked down your throat by a girl. Is that what you want?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Charlie smiled sheepishly and shook his head, mumbling a not so sincere apology that did nothing to make Cora stop glaring at him. "Alright, Cora. Stop trying to explode him with your non-existent mind powers. Let's do this vote thing now and get it over with."

Cora sighed, crossing her arms over his chest again. "Alright, anyone who votes that we meet with Aaron tomorrow night, raise your hand." Cora raised her hand high above her head, along with Charlie, Will, Kara, and myself. Thomas and Derek stood there, both frowning. "So it's settled. We leave tomorrow before the sun sets," Cora stated, uncrossing her arms. She smiled triumphantly and stepped closer to Derek, then tapped his nose. "You lose, big brother." 

"Whatever," Derek grumbled. "I hope you're right about this."

+++

Derek wasn't happy with me, considering I voted against him and agreed with his sister, but he got over it by the next day. We had to spend the entire day coming up with plans for different situations, and all of them were terrible, but it's all we could come up with. Eventually, it was time to leave and suddenly I didn't feel like going. I had a bad feeling about this, but we had no choice. I just couldn't shake the feeling that someone was going to get hurt. 

It took us an hour to arrive at the spot Aaron wanted us to meet. He was already there when we pulled up to the small house, sitting on the porch with Colin and two other teenagers surrounding him. Derek lead the other six of us, so he stayed in the front and made sure we stood behind him. Cora didn't really count though, so she stood next to Derek. 

"You made it," Aaron said calmly, giving a small smile that would seem welcoming if we didn't know what this man was capable of. He then looked at Colin and waved his hand. "You are all dismissed. I don't want to scare our guests away." 

As they started to leave, Derek spoke up. "Wait," he said, making the three kids freeze. Aaron raised a questioning eyebrow, glancing at his people. "Colin can stay. The other two have to go." Derek crossed his arms and spread his feet apart, taking his intense stance that usually intimidated people, but Aaron didn't seem like the type to get scared easily. 

"Colin, come back here. You other two, go inside and wait for us," Aaron commanded. They listened without hesitation. Colin ambled back over to stand beside Aaron, his eyes staying fixed on the ground. "I take it you trust Colin? I mean, we've had our ups and downs, but he's a good soldier. It's wise to put trust in him."

"We came to hear what you have to say about the thing that took our friends," Cora said, ignoring his question. She took the same stance as Derek and crossed her arms. "We do not trust you, nor will we be working with you. We will tolerate you until we find our people, and no longer. You will not be taking us anywhere without telling us where it is first. You have to tell your little army of followers to keep their hands off of us. If you try to stab us in the back, the outcome will not be pretty for you. Are these terms clear?"

Aaron smiled and folded his hands in front of him. "Crystal," he nodded. 

"Good," Derek grunted, relaxing slightly. "Now tell us everything so we can get to our friends as soon as possible."

+++

Aaron didn't have much for us to go on besides what we already knew, thanks to Colin. He told us where we might find the creature, but there was no guarantee that our friends would be in the same place. Cora was forcing Aaron to come with us, just in case he was setting us up for a trap. 

We drove behind Cora as we made our way to the address Aaron had given us. Derek seemed worried, which was understandable. He wasn't talking much, mostly because Charlie and Thomas were in the backseat doing all of the talking. We couldn't get a word in even if we tried. They were going on about something I didn't care enough to listen to when we arrived. I put the jeep in park and turned off the car, taking a deep breath. Derek was probably going to tell me and Thomas both to stay put, but it wasn't going to happen. 

"Stiles," Derek said, staring down at his lap. "It's going to be dangerous and you know humans can't heal from this. I think you should-"

"No," I cut him off, opening my door. "I'm going with you." That was the end of that conversation. I jumped out of the car and joined everyone else near the edge of the trees. They were watching the building that was about a hundred feet away. It was quiet. I jumped a little when someone grabbed my waist, but relaxed when I saw Derek. He smiled weakly and kissed my cheek. 

"We can't wait much longer," Aaron said quietly, crossing his arms over his chest. "The creature doesn't stay in one place for a long time. We have to catch it off guard. If we don't make our move soon, we'll miss our chance." He looked through the trees nervously, and I didn't have to be a werewolf to know he wasn't telling us something. 

"Why is your heart racing?" Cora asked suddenly. Aaron turned, facing her as she glared at him accusingly. "What are you so nervous about? Are you planning something?"

"No," he replied firmly. Cora didn't accuse him anymore, so he must've been telling the truth, but she still looked at him suspiciously. Derek only held onto my waist tighter, as if letting me go would get me killed. "I'm just. . . scared," he admitted quietly. "I never meant for things to get this out of hand. I wanted the humans gone, not the world's entire population. This things kills whatever gets in its way. I can't control it."

"How do we kill it?" Charlie asked, stepping closer. "You said we could scare it off, with enough of us, but it has to be killed. You realize that, don't you?" 

Aaron nodded slowly, staring at the building with tear filled eyes. "That creature is a person though. They didn't ask for this. I meant for her to still have a life, like Colin and the others. I just wanted something stronger, not something monstrous. I don't know if she even gets the chance to shift back into herself anymore. I may be cruel, but I'm not heartless."

"Aaron, we've seen this creature before. Sure, it kills humans and wounds werewolves, but it's not undefeatable," I said, kicking at the ground. Derek was still holding onto me and probably wouldn't let go until we had to move towards the creature. 

"No," Aaron mumbled, looking up to meet my eyes. He seemed vulnerable for the first time, but also confused. "You couldn't have seen this before. I created her a month ago, but the serum I gave her wouldn't have allowed her to shift until after her heart stopped. This creature is far worse than what you've dealt with in the past."

Aaron's words were gradually putting themselves together, like a puzzle that didn't have all of the pieces, but you could still figure out the picture. Kara must have realized the same thing I did because after a few moments of letting the words sink in, she had him by his shirt and was slamming him into a tree. She had to have been pretty pissed off to take on a werewolf like that.

"I will kill you," she spat, narrowing her eyes. "Tell me you didn't turn my best friend into a monster!" she half screamed, her voice breaking towards the end. I felt Derek's arms leave my waist, so I knew he was going to stop her, but I didn't want him to stop her. I grabbed his wrist, holding him back. When I looked at him, his eyes were glowing and his fangs were out, which meant he was going for Kara, but for Aaron. "Tell me!" Kara yelled, eyes watering. 

"I-I can't tell you that!" he responded, grabbing her hands to try and pry them off of his shirt. "Let me go. It's going to hear us," Aaron whispered, voice trembling. Kara's grip tightened, knuckles turning white as she gradually lowered him to the ground. She shoved him backwards into a tree and turned, running into Derek. He wrapped two arms around her and she buried her face in his shirt, her soft crying turning into gross sobbing. "I. . . I'm sorry," Aaron tried weakly, shaking his head. He didn't get up off the ground until Charlie forced him to his feet. 

"Come on, we've got to move," Charlie said, nodding towards the building. Derek nodded, running a hand through Kara's hair and kissing her head gently before pulling away. "Kara," Charlie said, hesitantly stepping towards her. He smiled sadly and hugged her, then kissed her cheek. "We'll find a way. We always do." 

"Let's move out," Derek said authoritatively, pushing Charlie and Cora through the trees. Cora had her eyes on Aaron, making sure he didn't run off. I walked behind them with Kara, Will, and Thomas. Will had an arm around Kara's waist, which seemed to comfort her, so I didn't say anything. 

Once we were right outside of the building, we let Aaron lead us inside. Cora had to pick the lock, but it didn't take long. I just hoped it wasn't too loud. The only thing we had on our side was numbers and the element of surprise. The first plan had been to try killing the creature, but now that we knew it was Lydia, we couldn't kill her. 

"It doesn't seem like anyone's here," Thomas whispered, which was answered by Charlie shoving his hand over Thomas' mouth and dragging him along like that, keeping his mouth covered. They were moving slowly, so they didn't make too much noise, but Thomas was right. It was too quiet. 

"I think we should give up and look tomorrow. Maybe she already left. You said she wouldn't stay in one place for very long," Will said quietly as everyone came to a stop in the middle of a hallway. There were four doors spread out along the length of the small space and the only lighting was the moon shining through the holes in the roof. 

"I think she knows we're here and is ready to kill us," I shared, even though my opinion probably wasn't wanted, or needed at the moment. "Will's right, surprisingly. We should-" I didn't get to finish my sentence, because an ear-piercing scream filled the entire building. The werewolves covered their ears, falling to their knees. The rest of us looked around frantically, trying to find something to do, but what? "That was a banshee scream," I pointed out, trying one of the doors. It was locked and all of the people with werewolf powers were still lying on the floor in pain. 

"What the hell is that?" Thomas asked, pointing a shaky finger towards the end of the hallway. 

I turned slowly until I saw it too. A creature ten times the size of the ones we'd been fighting. It stared back at us with glowing red eyes, growling low, but loud enough to be heard. "That would be Lydia," I muttered with a nervous gulp. "Guys, now would be good time to get the hell up!" I yelled frantically, yanking on Derek's arms. He drowsily got back to his feet. He was in no condition to fight, nor were the other four werewolves who were slowly getting up off the floor. 

"I can try something, but it probably won't work," Kara offered, stepping in front of everyone. She took a deep breath as the creature moved closer, slowly for some reason. Kara raised her hands in front of her face and started mumbling under her breath. The creature stopped moving for a second, making a pained noise, but it didn't stop her. I could tell Kara was starting to get tired. 

"Derek, she's not going to last," I said, looking at him nervously. He squeezed my hand assuringly and then gently pushed me back. Thomas and I stood back in the corner, away from the fighting. Derek grabbed Kara's arm and pushed her back too, despite her protests. "Kara, over here," I hissed, wrapping my fingers around her wrist to pull her closer.

We watched closely, wincing each time someone took a hard blow and smashed into the wall. They tried so hard to take down the creature, but they were only damaging themselves. I thought they'd eventually give up and run, but they didn't. I was getting more nervous as the seconds ticked by. Aaron was unconscious already and Will was barely standing. He swayed with every move and when he tried to claw at the creature, he missed. Derek was bleeding from too many places to determine what was the worst. Charlie was just throw into the wall, knocking him out too. Will gave up after the creature threw him across the floor. 

"I can't take this," Thomas said, his voice shaking. "Charlie could be dying right now."

"Don't move," Kara said through her teeth, grabbing a hold of his shirt. "You'll die for sure." She looked nervous herself, but didn't mention that. She was trying to be strong, even though she knew that thing out there, trying to kill all of her friends, was Lydia. "Derek's on his own. . ." she mumbled, her face draining of color. I looked away from her, focusing on Derek, willing him to just run away. 

That was when he jumped into the air, claws extended to tear at the creature's face, but he didn't make it far. Claws ten times bigger than his pierced through his chest. Derek's body stilled and he cried out in pain as he was thrown across the floor, sliding just a few feet from us. 

"Derek!" I screamed, knowing I shouldn't go after him. Kara would've stopped me, but I was scrambling to my feet too fast for her to catch my shirt. I fell to the hard floor, ignoring the pain shooting through my body. I grabbed his face, hoping he was still awake and not dead. "Derek, look at me. Derek!" I quickly looked behind me to make sure the creature wasn't going to kill me, but it was gone already. Whether it just wanted to leave, or we actually scared it off, I had no idea. 

"Stiles," Derek whispered, wincing as he tried to talk. I held his head in my lap and kept my eyes on his, even as Kara rushed over and began examining his wounds. "I-I. . . love-" he paused, blood staining his lips as he coughed. "you," he finished. "I love you." 

"Stop it," I muttered, wiping my tears off his face as they dripped off my nose. I couldn't stop myself from crying. "You're not dying. You can't." 

He tried to laugh, but that only hurt him more. He raised a bloody hand and cupped my chin, smiling softly. "It's. . . okay." He squeezed his eyes shut as Kara pressed on his stomach, trying to stop the bleeding. It wouldn't help if the claws pierced all the way through him. "You're. . . strong. Take care. . . of. . . Ben." He coughed again, more blood. I was crying harder, but Derek remained calm, just holding my face in his hand. We kept looking at each other. 

"Derek," I said as his eyes started to close. "Derek," I said louder, but he didn't respond. 

"We're losing him," Kara mumbled. "If we don't stitch these up and start the healing process, he'll die." She was shaking too much to be handling a needle, but lucky for us Cora was still strong enough to move. She crawled over to us, pushing Kara out of the way. 

"No big deal," she whispered, touching Derek's cheek. "We can fix this, big brother. You've always been there for me, so now it's my turn to save you." She took a deep breath and gave me a reassuring smile, then turned to Kara. "Go to the car. There's a first aid kit in the glove department. It has a needle and thread." Kara nodded and took off at a sprint. 

"Cora," I said hurriedly, pressing my fingers against his throat. "He's not-"

"I know," she cut me off. "I know he's not breathing. Push on his chest, I have to keep pressure on