ART OF WAR

​Carter had driven herself and Kira to her brother's apartment complex, Scott and Stiles deciding to meet the two girls there. When Carter piled out of her car she instantly gritted her teeth, an extreme heat pricking at her skin. She glanced at Kira out of the corner of her eye before she began unbuttoning her flannel, removing the smothering clothing from her hot body.
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Kira looked over at the brunette, giving her a confused look when she saw that Carter was only wearing a white half-shirt that exposed her stomach and a pair of white high-waisted shorts. She shrugged, grabbing the Yukimura girl's wrist before dragging her into the building.
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The booming of the bass made their bones rattle as they made their way to stand in front of the sliding door, Carter could feel the ground beneath her feet practically shaking. When the door finally slid open, Carter released all of the air in her lungs as her eyes widened at the sight.
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"Derek can never know about this," Carter announced, her wide eyes never leaving the large crowd at the center of the loft, bodies painted with an array of neon colors.

Everyone had been illuminated beyond practical belief - the entire party was incredible, something that she was going to have to give Danny props to. And the twins flawlessly executed it, had her questioning if the place was even her brother's loft or a rave.
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Derek would murder Carter if he ever found out that she had given them permission to throw the party in his loft.
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She then looked down at her attire, feeling that she fit right in with everyone else. A tight white bralette exposed enough of her chest along with most of her stomach; entire outfit being illuminated with the black lights as they entered the loft.
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From beside her, Scott glanced down at the girl who was only a little bit shorter than, he sent her a small and somewhat nervous smile before he grabbed ahold of her hand. Carter's overwhelmingly warm body relaxed in content, allowing some of her warmth to be transferred to him as she laced her fingers along with his.
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But despite the fact that they had been a massive and booming party in front of him, Stiles continued to go on about a key that he had found on his key ring that morning. He swore up and down that he had never seen the key or even knew where it came from.
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Carter found herself agreeing with Stiles, realizing that it was bizarre for an unknown key to just randomly appear on your key ring. The rational side of her brain said that maybe his father had put it on there without telling him, but her instinctive side reasoned that nothing about the key and Stiles had said added up to anything - or that it didn't make any sense.
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"It just showed up there on my key ring this morning," Stiles shouted over the music, Carter and Scott tapping into their heightened hearing to understand what he was saying. "I asked my dad if he put it there but he said he didn't know anything about it."
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The True Alpha led his Were-Pheanix girlfriend through the dancing crowd, Kira trailing behind the three teenagers. Carter could tell that Kira was increasingly becoming more and more comfortable around them - especially after what they had done for her back at the police station, but she still didn't necessarily feel comfortable enough to go butting into their conversation. So, she opted to trail along silently, satisfied knowing that she hadn't come to the party alone.
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"It's just a key, right?" Scott confirmed, slightly confused as to why Stiles was so alarmed over a key. It wasn't exactly screaming danger or imposed as something life-threatening; considering everything else they have to deal with on a daily basis, a strange key had been the least of their problems.
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Stiles nodded, looking back at Scott and Carter. "Yeah, but it's not mine," Carter tilted her head, believing that the boy was looking too far into the situation than it really needed to be. "And I don't know how it got there or what it's for."
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Scott moved himself in front of Stiles, the three teenagers facing one another while Kira still dangled on the outside as she tried not to do or say thing wrong thing. Carter had a feeling that the raven-haired girl wasn't the type of person to just go up to a random person and make conversation, she was secluded; overthinking anything and everything she did and said.
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"You want to leave so we can figure it out?" Scott inquired, Carter's eyes widened in shock. They had just spent their night committing a felony and now they were at a raging party - Carter had no intentions on leaving the party until her and her boyfriend did something that could be considered fun and teenager worthy in any sort of way.
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"Uh..." Stiles contemplated whether or not he thought they should leave the party.

Carter spun to look around for a moment while Stiles thought about his decision, but suddenly, a pair of unfamiliar lips smashed against her own. Her eyes were wide, a girl with a neon orange wig pressing her lips roughly against her own.
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"Okay, she has a boyfriend," Stiles defended, a strange surge of emotions coursing through his chest, seeing as though Scott had been rendered paralyzed in shock, jerking Carter's arm back causing their lips to pull apart before he pushed her into Scott's chest. Scott, Kira, and Carter's mouth were all gaped open in surprise, unable to form coherent words as they tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened.
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The girl just smiled, acting as if kissing some total stranger was perfectly normal. She leaned forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Stiles' cheek, "Happy Halloween!" She cheered, backing away from the group of friends before disappearing into the crowd.
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Carter immediately wiped the back of her hand over her lips, trying to remove the neon lipstick from her mouth. She waved her tongue over her lips multiple times, the taste of stale rubber and lipstick singed her taste-buds as she then tried to wipe off the large smear of lipstick off the back of her hand.
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"It can wait," Stiles assured, Carter rolled her eyes as he pushed his way through the crowd in search of the girl who had just kissed him and Carter.
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"I can't believe she kissed you," Kira shouted over the music, glancing toward Scott and Carter who were unsure of what to do now that Stiles had vanished.
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"Yeah, me neither," Carter replied, knowing that she desperately wanted to drag Scott off with her and dance until they couldn't move, but she also didn't want to leave Kira alone with people she didn't know. She sighed, "I'm gonna go get something to drink."
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Scott nodded, the brunette giving him a smile before turning away from them and pushing her way through the dense crowd. Everyone was moving along to the beat, the bass booming and bodies were in a scramble of jumping and shouting.

She finally broke through the crowd, letting out a sigh of relief to be out of the mass of people and have her dark eyes lock onto the cooler. Several brands of beer were inside, resting in the ice - Carter knew that she couldn't get drunk, but she didn't want to drink either. Hands plunged into the cooler, searching for something other than alcohol; she was lucky enough to find a bottle of water.
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Carter would have been lying if she said that the surges of heat weren't getting to her; it hadn't helped that the loft was already beyond hot as heat radiated off of the dancing the bodies. The youngest Hale twisted off the cap, taking a gulp of the water when Scott made an appearance. He intervened his way between the people in the crowd, finally being able to make it to the back of the lost where Carter resided.
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Carter's lips instantly pulled up into a smile, "Where'd Kira go?"
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Scott pursed his lips, shrugging his shoulders slightly, "I took the honors of properly introducing her to Lydia, so I could come and find you."
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"Is there any specific reason you, Scott McCall - needed to be alone to find me, Carter Hale?" Carter mused in a teasing manner, pointing a finger at her boyfriend before turning the digit on herself.
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She tilted her head, a cunning smirk on her lips as Scott's eyes followed her every move. He still had a hard time believing that he was actually dating Carter - the seemingly perfect girl that he thought deserved someone so much better than himself. Carter had him in constant overdrive, unable to piece together coherent thoughts and sentences in her presence.
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Carter slowly approached him; Scott swallowed hard while she swayed her hips and tossed her water bottle to the side. Her delicate hands trailing from his hands up along his arms, the pads of her fingertips softly brushing against his skin; the heat radiating off of her alone was enough to set his nerves on fire.
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Scott's lips were slightly parted, her hands moving to rest upon his broad shoulders as her smirk continued to stretch out into a grin. Her hands continued along their commute until they reached the nape of Scott's neck, fingers tangling themselves in his soft hair.
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He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could, Carter's plump lips smashed themselves against his causing his words to get lost in translation as they settled on his tongue. She heard Scott's breath get caught in the back of her throat, finding the gesture unexpected even though her sensual body language obviously screamed what she wanted.
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An overwhelming surge of pleasure rippled through their bodies, Scott's hands immediately gripping onto Carter's exposed waist, one beginning to move lower down her back than the other. She grinned against his lips, knowing that he was always a bit hesitant on doing things such as grabbing her ass.
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Their kisses were desperate and feverish - the couple had been dating for a few months, but they still had yet to even come close to making out. Scott, as he had said before, wanted to take the entire relationship slow, but Carter would be lying if she said that she wasn't in desperate need of ripping their clothes from their bodies.
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Carter's arms untangled themselves from his neck, moving her hands to his chest, the boy pulling her even closer to his body. She slowly allowed her hands to travel downward, moving up and down the length of his torso, her body arching into his. Scott's own hands moved from her exposed back toward her hips, which were already pressed against him. She returned her hands to rest upon his shoulders, allowing them to travel down his arms, slipping her tongue between his lips pressing against the perfect spot with the right amount of pressure causing Scott to let out a moan.
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Scott fought for control as she cupped Scott's hands with her own, moving them backward until they were firmly planted on her ass. And with that, he was tightly gripping onto her ass before hoisting her up, her long legs wrapping around his body.
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She quickly regained control, one hand cupping his jaw while the other feathered along his neck and collarbone. The intensity in their kisses grew - the crave they held toward one another had taken control, desperation mixed with lust had outweighed everything else that was going on in their lives.
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A saddened gasp escaped her lips when Scott pulled away; she felt her swollen lips pout in protest. Carter Hale was nowhere near done with Scott McCall, nor was she ready to be done. Scott grinned at her reaction, dipping his head before placing his lips against her neck, teeth nipping at her skin before she felt him focus on one spot, her back immediately arching as she felt herself let out a small moan. A smug grin broke out on Scott's face, sucking on the place until he was sure that his mark would be made on her body.
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He continued up after that, his lips slowly trailing along her jawline before their lips reconnected.

And in that moment, Carter knew that she could stay like that forever.

→

When Carter got to the door leading to the roof, she was weary as she felt a cold chill run down her spine like wet-slippery spiders. Scott's hand tightened in hers before he stepped around her, pushing open the door to see the empty roof. Her eyes narrowed slightly, feeling the same wave of nausea and warmth sweep through her like it had when she was at the police station yesterday.

She just couldn't put her finger on what was wrong.

Scott's thumb ran over her knuckles as they escaped the madness that was occurring in the loft below them, perching themselves on the skylight while peering out into the night. Carter watched with misty eyes, beginning to wonder what her life would have been like if she hadn't been born into the Hale family - to be completely and blissfully unburdened by the supernatural realm.

"Um, I was going to tell you something before we...you know," Scott began, his voice cutting through the silence. Carter glanced over at him, trying to push the unwelcome coldness out of her body as she turned to face him, playing with the tips of his fingers as a distraction.

"What were you going to tell me?" Carter asked, nervously biting on the inside of her cheek.

"When you left to go and get something to drink, I couldn't find you." Scott announced, Carter stared at him warily. "Well, I couldn't exactly see that well so I used my eyes, you know?" He continued, underlying the message about his using his supernatural sight. Carter nodded unsure, but pressed him on nonetheless. "I don't know - I might have been seeing things, but there was something around you, like an aura."

Carter automatically knew what he was talking about, "What did you see?"

"It was really bright, almost blinding. I had a hard time looking at it," Scott stated, raising his gaze to meet hers. "It was, like, this fire surrounding you - almost like you were consumed in flames. The aura started at your feet, trailing up your entire body but it stopped once it reached her shoulders - only a small amount of it framing your face."

Carter instantly knew that Scott wasn't telling her everything he saw, "Scott, what else did you see?"

"Wings," Scott whispered, looking down at their intertwined hands. "Enormous in size and had to at least be ten-feet in length each. They were outstretched by your shoulders, swiftly moving with each step you took. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

"I don't know what it is," Carter muttered, the fact that she had no idea what it meant or what it was, scared her beyond belief. When she was turned into a werewolf, something happened to her abilities, like, suddenly the Pheanix side of her mind was in hyper-drive; throwing things at her left and right. "It showed up a few weeks ago."

"You knew?" Scott asked, looking up at the brunette with wide eyes. Carter dodged his gaze, nodding her head. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Carter pulled her hand out of his grasp, running her bodily extensions over her face. "Because I didn't know what to say to you, Scott - I don't know what it is and I don't know what it means. With everything that we've seen, what's surrounding me would be enough to make run for the hills." She was getting worked up, the persistent pressure building up at the base of her skull was adding fuel to her fire. "I mean, for all we know Were-Pheanix's could be some sort of harbinger for death or something."

"Car, calm down," Scott stated. "It didn't look that bad to me."

"I look like a flaming-bird that was created to guard the gates of hell."

"I guess I saw something different," Scott assured, dark eyes roaming over the features that made up Carter's delicate face. "To me, it kind of looks like it's, uh, protecting you. Armor made of fire, covering your entire body. It doesn't look like something that was meant to guard the gates of hell to me."

Carter opened her mouth to speak, but both her and Scott tensed when their heightened hearing honed in on a loud roar emitting from outside the complex. The youngest Hale's face drained of all its color, a sick feeling settling in the pit of her stomach as another wave of the unwelcoming cold surged through her fiery body.

Something had happened to Derek and Lydia.

"Derek," Carter whispered.

And with that, the couple grabbed one another's hand before they went barreling back down the stairs and into the loft. By the time they were scrambling through the door, everything was silent and the entire mass of bodies had been rushing toward the door in a hasty fashion.

Carter's jaw clenched when she saw that Derek was standing in the middle of the loft, his face a furious mess as he watched everyone begin to depart from the black light party. Lydia, who was being held up by Danny and Aiden, grew weaker and weaker because of her hypothermic state.

Aiden turned to look at Danny, "Get her out of here."

"Go find Scott and Carter," Lydia plead, giving him a frown as Danny took the strawberry-blonde away before things got ugly and she was in the crossfire.

Carter caught sight of the black hooded figures all around the room, practically invisible through the stampede of people rushing to get out of the loft. From the opposite side of the room Allison and Isaac were supporting a weak Ethan as they walked back into the room.

When all of the strangers finally disappeared from the loft and all of the supernatural teenagers were left, the black hooded figures turned around in skin-crawling sync. Aiden realized that their dark and empty eyes were staring right in his direction.

"Guys, they're all looking at me," Aiden called out, his words hesitant when he noticed that they all began to take single steps forward. "Why are they all looking at me?" The dark figures continued to move forward, take a single haunting at a time. "Guys!"

It was as if Aiden's panicked tone triggered something in the werewolves, Scott, Derek, and Carter all advancing toward them to try and stop the figures from getting any closer to the cornered werewolf. The hooded figures had been prepared, though, one of them managing to kick Derek in the back, sending him to the ground.

Scott was next, throwing his arm out to hit one of them only to watch as it did a somersault into the air before morphing into a dark cloud of smoke. Carter tried her fate last, rushing forward but was sent soaring across the room when the figure sent his hand across her face. She let out a string of groans as she hit the ground, Derek leaping up as he bared his fangs and claws. His hands wrapping around the base of the figure's neck before turning it and snapping it.

The hooded figure quickly recovered, grabbing Derek's arms and tossing him into one of the neon painted pillars, sending Derek to the ground for good. He let out a small groan as a fiery pain shot down his and Carter's spines.

Scott was the only werewolf standing, refusing to allow those things anywhere near Aiden, even though his determination hadn't been enough for him to successfully beat one of them. A figure approached the teen Alpha, dodging his blow and sent a hard shove into the werewolf's chest. Scott was down, back arching in agony as he gasped at the pain that was rushing to the surface. He heard a similar gasp come from a couple feet away, knowing that his inability to fight the figures was causing involuntary pain to his girlfriend.

When the smoky figures noticed that the ones who were capable of fighting were down, they returned back to their purpose of going after Aiden. The teenage boy stepped back even further, trying to create as much space between the figures and himself.

It hadn't been enough.

Isaac quickly