Chapter 153: Saving Peter

Allison and the girls arrived at the school gate just as a shadow portal opened and Scott, Derek, Stiles, Aiden, Isaac, and Boyd stepped out.

Allison blinked in surprise. "Guys? Why are you here? Did you come to save Peter too?"

Stiles raised an eyebrow. "Save Peter? No, we came to grab some herbs. What are you talking about?"

Cora answered. "Lydia had a vision. She said Peter's in danger… dying, even. She brought us here."

Stiles glanced around, his eyes narrowing. "Aside from us, I don't hear or sense anyone else nearby."

Derek and Cora exchanged a look.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cora asked.

Derek nodded. "Yeah. He's probably down there."

Stiles frowned. "Down where? Can you two stop being cryptic and actually explain?"

Instead of answering, Derek walked over to the large Beacon Hills High School sign. He inserted his claws into a hidden lock embedded in the wall. With a click, a concealed door slid open beneath the sign, revealing a hidden stairway.

As they stepped inside, Stiles asked. "Wait, your family vault is under the school? But why would your family build a vault under a high school?"

Cora shrugged. "The vault was here first."

Isaac raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you worried someone might break in and steal your stuff?"

Derek shook his head. "The vault can only be opened by Hale claws."

Stiles opened his mouth to ask more, but Scott held up a hand. "Shh. I hear voices, and I smell blood. Someone's dying."

Lydia whispered. "It's Peter."

They moved down the stairs silently. Inside the spacious vault, they saw three men in black tactical gear, rifles strapped to their backs and sidearms holstered, packing items from the vault into crates. In the corner of the vault, Peter lay slumped against the wall, black blood oozing from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. His claws and fangs were out, but he was clearly dying.

Scott said. "Boyd, Isaac, Aiden—take those guys down. Don't let them escape. We'll check on Peter. Derek, find those mushrooms. Maybe they can help."

Boyd and Aiden flashed forward with supernatural speed, closing in on the three intruders. 

The three men noticed Boyd and Aiden but they didn't see Scott and the rest of the pack. They smiled, and didn't panic, and one of them said. "You two are Vernon Boyd and Aiden Steiner. We didn't go looking for you, idiots. But you came to us by yourselves."

Aiden's eyes glowed blue. "Who are you people?"

One of the men said. "You are just a Beta now, huh? That makes this even easier."

He tossed a smoke grenade at them, purple smoke billowed out instantly.

As Boyd and Aiden disappeared into the cloud, the man grinned. "That was easier than expected. Honestly, I don't get why that bitch warned us about Boyd. Doesn't seem like much."

Another one laughed. "Who cares? That's fifteen million for Boyd and six for Steiner. Twenty-one million, split three ways, That's seven each."

But then a voice spoke behind them.

"Oh, counting your chickens before they hatch, huh?" Isaac asked casually.

The three men spun around, startled. "Isaac Lahey?! Where did you come from? How many of you are here?"

At that moment, Boyd sneezed and stepped out of the purple smoke with Aiden beside him, completely unaffected. Both were grinning darkly.

"What…? Why didn't it work?" One of the men asked in panic. "That was wolfsbane!"

Boyd smirked. "Maybe your wolfsbane expired."

"That's impossible..."

"Shut up!" Another barked. "And just shoot them!"

The three men raised their rifles, but before they could fire, their arms were grabbed, each by a werewolf.

Without another word, Boyd, Isaac, and Aiden knocked them unconscious and dragged them back toward the others.

Meanwhile, Derek found a jar filled with wild reishi mushrooms and rushed to Peter's side. He crushed and fed them to him carefully.

But nothing changed.

Peter coughed up more black blood. "Don't bother, Derek." He rasped. "I'm already dead."

Scott took his hand and tried to absorb his pain, but nothing happened.

"I can't take his pain. Whatever they did to him… it's killing him fast. He doesn't have much time left."

Scott stared at Peter's barely-breathing form. 'Peter's a selfish asshole.' Scott thought. 'But… he got better in the later seasons. And honestly, he was one of my favorite characters when I watched the show. So… screw it. I'll give him the Bite. If he ends up betraying me, he'll wish he'd died tonight.'

Without another word, Scott's eyes flared red, his fangs elongated—and to everyone's shock, he leaned down and gave Peter the Bite.

Peter's eyes widened. Despite the pain, he managed a say. "So that's what it takes for me to finally get into your pack, huh?"

Scott smirked. "Don't get too excited. The pain you're about to feel will make you wish you were dead. And Peter—if you betray me, I'll make you wish you were never born."

He stood up and glanced at the stunned expressions on his pack's faces. "You all know I couldn't let him die. For Derek. For Malia. Besides… someone's gotta deal with the nasty, disgusting creatures none of us want to fight, like that fiend Boyd fought, remember."

Just then, Peter began screaming and convulsing violently as the Bite took effect.

Aiden shivered. "Just watching this reminds me of the night Scott gave me the Bite. I never want to feel pain like that again."

Derek, Cora, and Malia all muttered in unison. "Me neither."

Scott turned toward the three unconscious mercenaries that Boyd, Aiden, and Isaac had captured. "Peter will pull through. Let's find out who these guys are."

He, Stiles, and Derek knelt beside them and carefully inserted their claws into the backs of their necks to read their memories. But just as their claws made contact, a faint click sounded inside the heads of the three men, followed by a sickening internal pop.

All three men jerked and then lay still, dead.

Scott, Stiles, and Derek pulled back quickly and stood.

"What happened?" Allison asked.

Scott's face darkened. "Whoever sent them implanted a kill switch in their heads. The moment we tried to read their memories, their brains exploded. Looks like they're connected to the Benefactor."

Stiles said. "Whoever this Benefactor is… they're cruel. And smart. That's a terrifying combo."

Scott nodded. "Stiles, I'll open a portal to the ranch. Take these guys' bodies to Chris and Victoria. Have them go through their gear, maybe there's something useful. And ask my dad and Uncle Noah to check if these guys are in any database."

"I'm going with Stiles." Allison said.

"Me too." Malia added.

Cora stepped forward. "Scott, can you send me, Lydia, and Erica to the shopping mall? We need to drive our cars back to the ranch."

Scott opened a shadow portal to the ranch, then after five minutes, he opened another portal to the mall. Stiles, Allison, and Malia disappeared through the first one with the bodies. Cora, Lydia, and Erica went through the other.

After they left, Scott turned to Derek, took the jar of Reishi mushrooms from him, and said. "Watch over Peter. Explain everything about our pack once he stabilizes. Boyd, the others, and I are going back to help Deaton and my mom heal the rest of Satomi's pack."

He opened a shadow portal once more and stepped through, followed by Boyd, Isaac, and Aiden.

Back at Satomi's, the group helped Deaton and Melissa heal Satomi's pack.

After they were done, and were preparing to leave, Satomi approached. "Thank you. All of you. You saved my pack."

Scott nodded. "You're welcome. And… Satomi, you've seen the Deadpool, right?"

She sighed. "Yes. Noshiko showed me. Every member of my pack is on it."

"We're going to find the bastard behind it." Scott said. "In the meantime, please—stay safe."

Satomi gave a soft nod. "I will."

"I know you're a pacifist." Scott added. "But I suggest you protect yourself and your pack. Don't die without resistance."

Deaton stepped forward. "Satomi-san, we've known each other a long time, and I know the kind of person you are. But Scott is right. Not everyone wants peace. Some people just want to watch the world burn. So please, protect yourself and your pack, old friend."

"I'll try." Satomi said quietly.

After that, Noshiko drove home, and Scott opened a shadow portal back to the ranch. He and the others stepped through.

Back at the ranch, Melissa said. "Alright, everyone, go take a shower. I know we're immune to that virus, but I still don't want it lingering in our home."

Everyone nodded and split off to clean up. Afterward, they gathered again in the pack house's living room.

Scott turned to Stiles. "So? What did you find out about those three guys?"

Stiles frowned. "Not much. My dad and Rafael couldn't find anything. No IDs, no fingerprints, no names. These guys are like ghosts."

Scott looked toward Chris and Victoria. "What about you two? Don't you recognize their gear or something?"

Chris shook his head. "No, but we found yellow wolfsbane bullets on them. They even have fíorchraiceann—you know, the potion that keeps a shapeshifter in their transformed state after death."

Scott asked. "Didn't you find any phones on them or something that could help us figure out where they came from?"

Victoria said. "We found an encrypted phone on one of them and gave it to Noah, but I doubt he can get anything out of it. Whoever they are, they're very careful."

Scott sighed. "Alright. Nothing we can do about them for now." He looked at Stiles and said. "Did you tell Uncle Noah about the assassin—the one who infected Satomi's pack with the virus?"

"Yeah." Stiles said. "He's already on it, with Parrish and your dad helping."

"And the three bodies—did you get rid of them yet?"

"I burned them." Stiles said with a nod.

"Good." Scott said. "Now let's have dinner and wait for Derek to bring Peter here so we can ask him what those guys wanted from him."

To be continued... 😊