** COMPLETED **
Growing up in Beacon Hills, Wren Martin's life was as normal as any teenagers. With her sister Lydia, and her two best friends, Scott and Stiles by her side, everything was fine. That was until Stiles came up with the genius idea to...
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Chapter Thirty-Two ⊚ Visionary ⊚
"They were there for two days, waiting. Hiding. That's what we're taught to do when the Hunters find us- hide and heal." Cora said after telling a story to Stiles and Wren about Derek when he was a teenager. "Okay, so, is two days standard, then, or are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?" Stiles said impatiently making Cora turn to them, "Why do you care?" She asked and Stiles looked at her appalled.
"Why do I care??? Let's see... Because, over the last few weeks my best friend tried to kill himself; his boss nearly got ritually sacrificed; my other best friend suddenly has visions; a girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed; Boyd was killed by Alphas... Do you want me to keep going? 'Cause I can, all right? For, like, an hour." Stiles said and Wren raised her eyebrows at him, "You think Derek can do anything about that?" She asked making him shrug and glance at her.
"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah." He said and Cora sighed and shook her head, "I don't know... There's something different about him now. He wasn't like this when I knew him." She said.
"What was he like?" Wren asked and Cora went to answer but someone else did first, "A lot like Scott, actually." Someone said making them look over to see Peter walking down the spiral stairs. "A lot like most teenagers- unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers..."
"And so what happened? What changed him?" Stiles asked, "Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men... A girl." Peter said making Stiles scoff. "You're telling me some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way he is?" He asked. "Do you remember Derek, before he was an Alpha, had blue eyes? Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?" Peter asked and Stiles shrugged, "I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing..."
"If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the color of his eyes."
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While rain continues to run in rivulets down the windows, Stiles turns a confused look on Peter. "Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you? How old are you now?" Stiles question and Peter shrugged, "Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think." He said making Stiles squint at him and scoff.
"Okay, that was frustratingly vague." He said before turning to Cora, "How old are you?" He asked. "I'm seventeen." She said and he nodded. "See! That's an answer. That's how we answer people!" Stiles said and Cora pursed her lips, "Well, "seventeen" how you'd measure in years..." She said making Wren chuckle. "All right, I'm just gonna drop it. What happened to Derek and the cello-girl?"
"What do you think happened? They were teenagers- one minute, it's "I hate you, don't talk to me," the next, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes. Their favorite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."
"Hold on- how do you know all this? You just said that they were alone." Wren asked and Peter sighed, "Back then, I wasn't just Derek's uncle. I was his best friend, his closest confidante. That's how I know."
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"Our mark for vendetta..." Peter said as he drew a spiral in the condensation on the window, "Man, you guys really take that revenge thing to, like, a whole new level, don't you?" Stiles said and Cora shook her head.
"It's not just revenge. Losing a member of your pack isn't like losing family. It's like you lose a limb." She said and Peter nodded, "They wouldn't even let him see the body." He said and Cora raised her eyebrows. "I don't get it- what does this have to do with Derek?" Cora asked and Peter turned to them, "Everything. It's never just a single moment; it's a confluence of events. Personally, I looked at Ennis' circumstances, and I saw a profound loss. Derek saw something different. He saw opportunity."
"Opportunity? To do what?" Wren asked and Peter sighed, "To always be with her. I kept telling him not to do it. Every day, the more he thought about it, the more convinced he became. You know teenagers... I bet he even blames me! He's probably convinced himself the whole thing was my idea-"
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"They keep us connected to humanity. But, they're a secret, even in the pack- sometimes only the Alpha knows who the Emissary is. Derek and I had no idea about Deaton." Cora said as as they talked about emissaries and Peter nodded.
"Or his sister, Morrell." Peter said making Stiles and Wren look at him shocked, "She's an Emissary, too?" Wren asked and Peter nodded. "For the Alpha Pack." He said and Stiles still looked at him appalled, "Our guidance counselor??? Why the hell don't you people tell me any of this stuff, huh??? I shared some really intimate details with her!"
"And did she give you good advice?" Cora asked making him look at her and nod, "...Actually, yeah." He said. "That's what they do. That's what Deaton used to do for Talia and that's was Deaton has been training Wren to become." Peter said.
⊚
"Ennis? Why would he choose him?" Cora asked ans Peter shrugged slightly, "Why not? Ennis needed a new member for his pack. Paige was young and strong. Doing a favor for Derek meant Ennis would be in good with Talia- back then, everybody wanted to be in good with her." He said and Wren furrowed her brows.
"He doesn't remember it was Ennis, does he?" She asked and Peter shrugged, "If he does, he keeps it to himself." He said. "So, then what happened? Did he turn her?" Stiles asked.
"Almost. He came at Ennis- a fifteen-year-old boy against a giant. There was no reason for him to fight... She'd already been bitten. He knew the answer, though..." Peter trailed off. "So, did she turn?" Stiles asked and Peter slightly shook his head, "She should have. Most of the time, the bite takes. Most of the time..."
"When you offered it to me, you said, 'If it doesn't kill you..." Stiles trailed off and Peter nodded, "If. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't meant for this. But, she fought. She struggled desperately, trying to survive... I remember taking her body from his arms, to the woods... to a place where I knew that it would be found...Another in a long line of Beacon Hills animal attacks."
"And what about Derek?" Cora asked and Peter sighed softly. "Taking an innocent life takes something from you as well... A bit of your soul. Darkening it, dimming the once brilliant golden yellow to a cold, steel blue... Like mine." Peter said before flashing his blue eyes.
⊚
"What? What's this-what's this look on your face?" Cora asked making Stiles look at her, "What look?" He asked and she rolled her eyes. "The kind of look that makes me want to punch you." She said making Wren laugh quietly while Stiles eyes widen, "Oh, my God- you are so Derek's sister, I forgot."
"Well, what's with the look?" Wren asked and he glanced at her and sighed, "I just don't believe him. All right, in Miss Blake's class, we're reading Heart of Darkness, and it's in first-person, right? Narrated by Marlow. The thing is that he's an unreliable narrator. You know the details of it have changed, you know, just because of his perspective." He explained and the girls nodded slightly.
"Well, then we heard the story from Peter's perspective..." Cora said and Stiles nodded, "Right, and I don't think we got the whole story." Stiles said and Wren raised her eyebrows at him. "So, what...? Are-are you just gonna ask Derek about the girl he fell in love with and then killed?" She asked and he sighed.
