Hi everyone! I'm guessing you're all as ready as I am for the finale on Monday (aka NOT READY AT ALL aaah) . Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it, and once more, thank you so much to all the people leaving lovely reviews, following, and favouriting.

*also, I realise I've been spelling McCall wrong *slams face into keyboard* so sorry! Thank you to CMT1992 for reminding me!

Monica: omg yes that last episode was just amazing and the Stiles/Lydia scene was so cute . I ship those ships as well- I do like the way they're going about all the relationships on the show. I haven't heard of Caiden though- is that Cora/Aiden? Haha, ooh, Elementary is another good one! weird that my email didn't work- but oh well. Hope you're having a good day!

Guest: wow, thank you so much! Always happy to be spreading the Scisaac feels that's actually one of the biggest compliments I think you can get! Have a nice day!

"I'm a brilliant actress, aren't I?" she grinned. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I don't mean to be rude- but I don't want you and your Beta. Or your human side-kick." She looked at Lydia, smile growing. "I want the Screamer."

"Well you can't have her." It was Stiles who spoke, moving to stand between Jennifer and Lydia, who was now semi-untied in her chair, her whole body shaking. He stood like he was actually providing a shield- like Jennifer couldn't reach her if he was there. Scott had to admire his friend for that; sheer guts in a situation like this. But it wasn't going to help them get Lydia out today. It wasn't going to bring Boyd back.

"I wasn't asking for permission." The Darach turned her attention from Scott to Stiles, her smile growing wider when he made no attempt to move. She experimented, taking a step closer. Stiles gulped, catching Scott's eye over her shoulder, and Scott glanced over at Isaac, wondering if they could coordinate an attack while her back was turned.

"Don't even think about it, Scott," her voice was like a strike of lightning through dark- a shock, and not a pleasant one at that. "Your beta will be dead before he can so much as lift a finger against me, and I can take you any day."

"I don't have a beta," Scott said evenly, for the second time.

"Silly. Why do you think your eyes turn red now?" She sighed. "I thought the Alpha was supposed to be intelligent." She wasn't looking at him when she spoke, but somehow it was like he could feel her eyes on him anyway, examining him with a cruel fascination as he spluttered and wondered how the hell she could possibly know that. Wondering if there was anything she didn't know. Wondering what she meant when she called Isaac his 'beta'- and he an Alpha.

He didn't have time to wonder much, though.

He jerked his head, signalling at once, and in a heated moment of adrenaline he was off, using one foot to propel the other forward in a kick that landed in Jennifer's side. She cried out in surprise, even as Isaac gripped her wrist and bit into it, fangs sinking into her flesh. Scott grabbed her neck with one hand-

And his fist closed around nothing. A glance to the side told him that Isaac was reeling on the ground next to him, black blood dripping from his teeth, a shocked look on his face. Stiles, still stood in front of Lydia, was staring in terror behind them. With a sinking heart, Scott turned to see Jennifer, unharmed, glaring at him from behind.

"Now that was rude," she said, and she held both her hands out, palms up, starting to mutter and murmur something in a foreign language. Scott felt the air around them tighten, as though the magic she was conjuring was sucking all the oxygen from the room, leaving them breathless…

"Hey." A loud voice cut through the room, breaking the spell like a splash breaking still water. Scott spun around, mouth agape in shock. Standing at the door, shirtless, and looking right at Miss Blake, were Aiden and Ethan. And, what was even more shocking, she was afraid of them.

"We know what you are," Aiden hissed, making his way into the room. "Darach." Ethan walked beside him, wavering as he took in Boyd, dead on the floor, and then Scott, Isaac, Stiles and Lydia, scattered around the body.

A few seconds ago, Jennifer had been all-confident, the grin never leaving her face. Now, with the twins here, any trace of a smile was gone, and for every step Aiden took forward, she took two back until her back was against the wall.

Meanwhile, Scott and Stiles helped Lydia out of the chair, each supporting her with one arm. Isaac just stared at Boyd, an empty look on his face.

"Don't come any closer," she said, in what was halfway between a demand and a plea. "You can't kill me."

Aiden cocked his head to the side. "Deucalion wants you alive, that much is true. But he didn't say anything about not hurting you." He spared a single look at Lydia- not much, but enough for everyone in the room to see an anger that one wouldn't expect from an Evil Alpha Twin.

"What, you… care about the girl?" Jennifer said, trying to maintain her cocky demeanor. "Sad I hurt her? Do you even know what she is? A Banshee." She spat the word out like it was poison to her lips.

Scott glanced at Lydia- but she looked just as confused and afraid as he felt.

Aiden growled, an animalistic sound that came from deep in his gut.

"You're done talking to me." In one swift motion, he pressed a hand against his brother's shoulder, and Ethan did the same to him. Slowly, they began to meld together, growing and shifting in a transformation that was impossible to look away from.

The Darach, for all her power, shrunk back as she watched, panicking. Scared.

When the monster wolf was in all its glory, growling and hissing, tearing down desks on its way to get to her, she let out a cry in another language- a haunting sound that would become a recurring nightmare for Scott in the days to come. The room went dark.

When the lights came back, she was gone, as was Boyd's body.

Nobody said anything for a long time after that. For a while, the Alpha's monster wolf tore through the room, head flicking in each and every direction, searching for the Darach, and howling when it found nothing before returning Aiden and Ethan to their respective forms. Lydia whimpered and leaned her head on Stiles' shoulder, eyes wide, staring at something that nobody else could see. Isaac put his hand where Boyd used to be, and left it there. Scott looked at everyone, and wondered when everything had gone wrong.

Then Lydia spoke.

"Can we get out of here now? Please."

"Indeed." A loud, unimpressed voice came from the doorway, and Coach Finstock stepped in, hands on his hips. "Can you please return to the cafeteria, where all students are supposed to be right now? And, while you're at it, could somebody explain to me what the six of you are doing here that's been making all that noise?"

"I- uh, we…" Stiles spluttered, looking to Scott for help, but his friend was standing open-mouthed, barely registering the teacher at the door.

"We were practicing," Ethan ended up saying. "Lacrosse."

"You. Were. Practicing. Lacrosse." Finstock surveyed each and every one of them, eyebrows raised. "Lydia, too?"

"She's been on the sidelines since first grade, coach. She just wants her chance," Stiles said, when Lydia was unable to say anything. She glared at him.

If it had been anyone else who had found them, this would've probably resulted in a detention. In fact, there was no probably about it. It just so happened that Coach Finstock was the one guy in school who honestly didn't care about six teenagers demolishing a classroom at lunch.

"Look, I don't want to know what you're really up to. Just know that if you get caught, they'll probably threaten to take you off the team. If that happens," he leaned towards Scott, addressing him, in particular, "I will reign down on you with the wrath of Satan. Is that understood, McCall?" His priorities were definitely in check.

"Yes, Coach."

With a last glare at the group, he pointed to the door.

"Everybody out. Now."

Stiles, with Lydia leaning on him for support, was the first to file out.

"But are you really, truly sure-"

"I told you, I'm fine," Lydia said, cutting Stiles off as he asked, for the umpteenth time, if she was okay.

"You've been through a lot, Lydia. Nobody's expecting you to be fine," Scott said gently. She sighed, but gave him an appreciative smile before she replied.

"Well, I'm a lot tougher than I look. Honestly, I'm okay. Except, obviously, I am on the verge of writing an angry letter to the school board requesting that they be more selective with their staff. I mean, that oaf of a coach is one thing, but hiring freaky human-sacrificing non-human creatures to teach English? Not cool."

"I couldn't agree more," Scott said, meeting Isaac's eyes. Isaac hadn't said a word since they'd left that room, but he didn't have to. Scott knew what he was thinking- because he was thinking it to.

Boyd.

Scott hadn't known him all too well. But he had known him enough. Enough that it felt like a terrible wrong that he would never get to know him. That he would never see him round in the halls at school; never work with him to defend Derek, never borrow an eraser in Algebra.

"I say we all ditch school," Stiles said. "No way am I sticking around after all that. I don't know what Aiden and Ethan were doing there, but I don't even want to find out right now."

"Retail therapy?" Lydia said sarcastically.

"Re-grouping," Stiles asserted. "Come on, guys. Who here can honestly say that they'd be able to function in class right now?"

"Well, thanks to all the crazy earlier this year, my attendance record is looking scrappy anyway," Lydia said. "What's one more unexplained absence? We can all go back to my house. No offence, but I'm not hanging out at the Deputy's place when I'm supposed to be at school," she shot Stiles a look.

"You in, Scott?"

Scott glanced at Isaac. "I'm not sure…"

"I think it's a good idea," Isaac said. "But…"

"But? Why is there always a 'but'?" Stiles complained to no one in particular.

"But we should really find Aiden and Ethan. They definitely know more about this than we do," Scott finished, and Isaac nodded.

"That woman- the Darach- she killed Boyd. If the twins know something about her, we need to make sure we know, too," he said, voice cracking just a little. Scott pretended not to notice, for Isaac's benefit.

"It shouldn't take too long," he said to Stiles. "We'll be right behind you. You get Lydia out of here, make sure she's alright."

"Excuse me? I'm right here, I can hear you, and I'm telling you, I am fine," Lydia said. Stiles and Scott shared a look, and she folded her arms across her chest, raising her eyebrows.

"You're waiting for me to go into shock," she realised, half-angry, half-pleased.

"Yes we are," Stiles said blatantly, linking his arm through hers. "Come on- we'll take my car." He nodded to Scott and Isaac, half-marching Lydia towards the car park. Scott waited until he could no longer see them until he turned back to Isaac.

"Any idea where we can find those twins, then?"

"I'm not sure about Aiden," Isaac said. "But I think I might know where Ethan is."

Scott leaned in expectantly.

"Well, you know where he was this morning, right?" Isaac elaborated. "Or rather, who he was with."

"Danny," Scott said. "Of course." He grinned appreciatively. "Guess we should start checking empty classrooms."

"Yeah," Isaac gave a small grin in response.

The two started walking through the corridors, surveying the windows and doors carefully, each listening out for familiar voices.

"You don't think we should- split up, do you?" Isaac asked once they'd covered the floor without success.

"I don't think so. If we find him and he's mad- well, we might need to help each other out to hold our ground if they wolf out on us," Scott said. Isaac nodded, but he was frowning. "Unless you want to split up?" Scott added.

"No," he shook his head adamantly. "It's not that. I just…" without warning, he slammed his fist hard into a passing locker. Scott heard the collision of flesh and metal- the sickening thud and crack of Isaac's bones breaking, and he winced. "It's taking too long," Isaac said, too frustrated to register the pain. He would heal anyway.

Even so, Scott took his wrist gently in his hand, guiding him away from the locker and examining the broken knuckles. "Hey, easy," he said soothingly. "This looks nasty."

Isaac stared at Scott's hand where it held his own- his fingers likely tracing the rapidly swelling flesh- the shock of it making him forget his anger for a moment.

"What are you doing?" he said in a low voice, and Scott looked up, startled.

"I- I'm seeing if your hand is okay."

"It'll heal," Isaac said, and he was looking straight at Scott now. "It doesn't matter."

"You're still hurt," Scott said, suddenly feeling guilty, but not knowing why or what for. Isaac dropped his gaze back to Scott's fingers circling his wrist, and even though Scott had meant nothing of it, he understood now that holding Isaac's wrist was something far more invasive and personal than anything he had intended. That bizarre feeling of being caught out came over him again, and he loosened his grip at once. Before he could completely let go, though, he felt something warm holding his hand in place, stopping him. Now it was his turn to stare.

Isaac's other hand was there, holding Scott's to his own- gently but firmly telling him that he did not want him to let go. He became acutely aware of a rising heartbeat, but he didn't quite know if it was his own, or Isaac's. What he did know? Isaac was holding his breath just as tightly and clumsily as he was holding Scott's hand.

"It doesn't matter," Isaac said again, throat dry. "But you still…" it was that look again. The look that a baby gave their parent- that a teenager gives their idol, that a puppy gives its carer. The look that made Scott feel glad and scared and reassured and uncertain.

"Yeah," he said, because he didn't know what else to say. This was weird, he thought. Somewhere in the back of his mind. But it was the very back of his mind. At the front of it was Boyd's body, and Ethan's empty chair in class, and Derek still alive, and Lydia crying quiet tears in the chair, and his own red eyes, and Jennifer's threats, a circle of gasoline, Stiles crying, and Isaac's broken hand.

Isaac took a shuffled step closer to him, mouth half-open, as though he were about to ask something.

Laughter interrupted him.

It was loud, and it was coming from the room directly above them- a laugh that you didn't need to be listening for in order to hear. Most importantly, it belonged to Danny.

"Up there," was what Isaac ended up saying, and Scott, too strangely dazed to form a response, just nodded. Isaac's hands fell away from his, and the sudden cold caused goose-bumps to rise on his skin- but if he noticed it, he blocked it from his mind. He was already racing up the stairs.

Being friends with Stiles meant that Scott had experienced a lot of awkward moments in his life. But crashing into a biology lab classroom to interrupt a shirtless Ethan and Danny's escapades against the sink was up there in the top 10 list.

"Shut the door," Ethan was the first to break the silence that fell when they crashed through the door, and Isaac- who, the poor thing, looked even more out of place than Scott did- hurried to do just that, determinedly looking at the floor while Ethan and Danny released each other. Danny pulled on his shirt at once, abashed and thoroughly annoyed.

"What's this about?" he said, eyes going from Scott to Isaac.

"We- uh- we needed to talk to Ethan," Scott stammered.

"It couldn't have waited?" Danny retaliated.

"Not really."

"Actually," Ethan said, not bothering to put his shirt on as he walked up to Scott. "I don't think there's anything I have to discuss with either of you."

"I beg to differ," it was Isaac. He paced up until he stood directly at Scott's side, and he tilted his head as he looked at Ethan.

Ethan just smirked at Isaac before turning his attention back to Scott. "He's cute. But I'm afraid your little side-kick isn't all too intimidating. I've still got nothing to say to you. Now, if you'll excuse me- this room is taken. If you two want to mess around ,go get your own room."

Even Danny had nothing to say to that. He just glanced from Scott to Isaac, eyebrows raised.

"I… you can't just-"

"Look, either you leave, or we will," Ethan said tiredly. When neither Scott nor Isaac made any kind of movement towards the door, he sighed, nodding to Danny.

"Let's get out of here." Danny shot a glare at Scott and Isaac on his way to the door, Ethan with a hand rested on his waist as they walked. Scott was still standing, in complete shock. Get your own room. It hadn't been malicious. It wasn't some stupid slur. He'd said it like it was an actual suggestion. But why the hell would he-

The creak of the door snapped Scott out of it, and suddenly the disappointment on Isaac's face was piercing him, spurring him into action.

"Ethan," he called out, catching the door just before it closed. "Wait."

The Alpha didn't turn around, but he did stop walking. He whispered something in Danny's ear, and his boyfriend nodded, somewhat reluctantly, kissing his cheek before he continued on his own down the stairs.

"What do want, McCall?"

"Answers." Scott said. "Look, that creature- the Darach- you knew who she was. I just want to know how. And why. Why were you there?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Ethan scoffed.

"Well, I'm not," Scott said. "Look, she killed Boyd. Do you get that? She killed him. I want her gone. I want the dying to stop. From the looks of it, you guys aren't exactly on good terms with her either. Maybe we want the same thing. Maybe we should be…helping each other out on this one."

Ethan was listening now. "Listen. All you need to know about the Darach is that she's bad news. She's the one who's been sacrificing all these people. You and Derek, you like to think of us as the Bad Guys. You've got it wrong. The Darach is more ruthless than Deucalion himself. She's hurting the innocent. She's a murderer."

"She's our English teacher."

Ethan almost smiled. "Why do you think we were in that stupid class? We were instructed to keep an eye on her."

"Well, nice work," Scott said, unable to keep the anger out of his voice. "She killed Boyd, and she nearly got to Lydia. You'd think at least Aiden might give a damn about that."

"We can't stop her every time," Ethan hissed. "And our priorities are with the pack."

"Really? So if it had been Danny-"

"Don't." Ethan stopped him. "Don't talk about things you don't understand."

"He's my friend," Scott said evenly. "So I think I will. And I think you should know that if anything happens to him, I will come after you."

"Nice thought. But I don't intend on anything happening to Danny." He was honest, and Scott was relieved.

"One more thing," Scott said. "What does she want?"

"What?"

"The Darach. I mean, these are murders, but they aren't just murders. She's sacrificing them. That means she wants something, right? So what is it?" He narrowed his eyes when Ethan didn't respond. "It's something to do with Deucalion, isn't it? She's a threat to him?" He guessed.

"She's a threat to all of us," Ethan warned. "You too. Don't think you and your friends are safe here."

Scott thought of Boyd. "I know my friends aren't safe."

"You must know, then, the only way for that to change," Ethan said. He came closer, almost whispering. "Join the Pack."

"That isn't going to happen."

"Just think about it, will you?" Ethan said imploringly. Unlike Deucalion, he wasn't threatening Scott. "Look, Deucalion gets what he wants. That's just the way it is. He wants you in the Pack- and that's for a reason, Scott. You'd fit in here. You'd be important. You'd be able to keep everyone safe."

"Yeah, because killing all my friends to get into his lousy pack leaves me with tonnes of people whose safety I care about," Scott said sarcastically.

Ethan shook his head. "Maybe you won't have to. Maybe he'll just let you in. There's something about you, Scott- when he talks about you. It's different to how he sees the rest of us. He needs you to be in the Pack. He needs you on his side. I think it'll be a lot safer for everyone if you just do as he asks. And with you on our side, the Darach will be brought down a lot faster."

"I don't understand," Scott said, shaking his head. "Why does he want me?"

Ethan shrugged, and was about to say something else when he caught sight of someone over Scott's shoulder. Aiden- arms folded across his chest, looking extremely unimpressed. Ethan sighed, shaking his head.

"Think about it, McCall," he said seriously. He turned on his heel without another word.

Scott dragged a hand over his face- anxious and angry despite having finally gotten some answers out of Ethan. He glanced back to where Aiden had been a moment ago, but he seemed to have vanished when Ethan did. It was then that he noticed Isaac standing in the doorframe.

"So, Deucalion wants you in the Alpha Pack," he stated blandly.

"I guess so."

Isaac fidgeted. "Scott, I think we need to talk about it," he said finally, and Scott spun around sharply, eyes wide.

"Talk about…" he trailed off, a thousand things that they could possibly have to talk about flashing before his eyes, and a feeling of dread came over him.

Isaac came to stand in front of him, serene as he had ever been.

"Your eyes," he said heavily. "Your red eyes. You said your boss might know something about it- well, I think we should find out. Now."

Please do review and tell me what you think, guys . Any act of following, favouriting, of feedback-ing is greatly appreciated. Good luck surviving the finale! Something tells me we're going to need it…