The Recovery

Chapter 20

Salvatore Boarding School for the Young & Gifted
Southwest Woods
Scott's POV

Wild and free, that was how I felt running around the woods with my fellow werewolves and though we raced with some occasional play-fighting, the female Omega and I maintained our Omega-ness.

Yes, I was having fun and had no worries on my mind, but I wasn't interested in forming new pack bonds.

The reason I offered the Pack and the Omega my kill and friendliness, I wasn't going to say friendship yet, was because I recognized Jed's scent from the envelope note and he kind of defended me but most of all I was following Lydia's suggestion, I was laying the foundation to secure ourselves the Pack and Omega's friendship and loyalty.

Between Jed, Wade and the witch who gave me the envelope, and maybe the Omega, Lydia and I were bound to at least get one solution to our problem back home, it was just a matter of gaining their trust and...

And I realized that I was planning on doing the same thing Theo did to us, I was planning to gain their trust and then exploit it, and I was going to go through with the plan anyway.

I had to because I was the Alpha and, as Derek once said about Alphas, I was the most dangerous of our kind, and I was more powerful, more animal than Betas, more animal than I've ever been.

I had to thank Stiles for reminding me that he was human, and I was not, because that reminder made it easy for me to be the animal that I was and put my pack above all else and do what predators did best and that was to survive by any means necessary, and as a wolf, my survival was interchangeable with my pack's survival and vice versa.

It seemed Peter finally got what he wanted, after all, I was corruptible and my resolve to do onto others what was done onto me said that I was corrupt at last, and I welcomed the corruption because it was going to see to my loved ones' survival and our enemies demise.

I only had to die twice to reach this stage, but I was going to ensure that I won't die for the third time anytime soon.

For now, though, I enjoyed myself.

Well, that was the plan until I noticed that something had Jed and his pack's attention a moment before the wind blew a scent that I was quite familiar with my way.
TRANSITION
Lydia's POV

"Can't you get an exact location?" I inquired Cleo as we walked through the woods.

"This is as accurate as I can get with just a shirt," She replied holding the school's map on a small board and Scott's shirt. "He's moving but he's around here. We..."

Cleo suddenly paused.

"Do you hear that?" She asked.

"Hear what?"

Cleo didn't need to answer because I noticed the surrounding quietness, an unsettling silence and stillness.

"Something is wrong," I said taking out the mountain ash container.

"We're not alone," Cleo responded letting the map and board fall to the ground a second before a wolf came into our line of sight walking toward us.

It stopped when it noticed that we had our eyes on it, and then it lifted its head a little and released a low howl.

When I saw its red eyes, I had a suspicion, a suspicion that was confirmed by the howl which induced familiar goosebumps on my skin and I couldn't help the big smile that took over my face because I was certain the brown wolf was Scott McCall, and he recognized me, but more than that, he howled for me.

Without thinking, I gave Cleo the mountain ash container and walked towards wolf-Scott.

"What are you doing?" She questioned.

"It's Scott," Was all I said.
TRANSITION
Hope's POV

One howl, I couldn't believe that one howl was all it took for Lydia Martin to let her guard down and approach wolf-Scott with complete confidence that he wasn't going to hurt her.

I could transform at will whenever I wanted, but I didn't trust myself to allow someone to get close to me in my wolf form or to be around people, except Aunt Keelin, but, somehow, Scott trusted himself so much that he actually ran towards the approaching girl, and she trusted him just as much.

She didn't panic, she actually met him halfway and kneeled to pet him, although she finally showed some logical hesitance before Scott gave her the go-ahead by first taking in her scent for a few moments, which seemed to calm him and excite him at the same time, if his ears and tail were anything to go by, licking her hand, all as though re-familiarizing himself with her, and then nuzzling against her with a whimper.

Lydia read all the signs correctly, something that seemed to erode her momentary hesitance, and cautiously reached for wolf-Scott's ears from the sides and gently stroked them as though testing with careful attention on his reaction.

I knew how being petted felt, Aunt Keelin was a pro and I enjoyed every second of her petting me when I was in my wolf form, so I knew that Lydia knew what she was doing when not even five seconds after beginning the ears massage, wolf-Scott gave in to her touch and released a pleasure-filled whimper with his body relaxing even more.

To my surprise, and probably to everyone's too, Lydia giggled like a happy child being tickled.

The sound was so innocent and not like a sound the girl who introduced herself during assembly, and they've seen and known since she arrived a few hours ago would make.

I was sure if Josie was around, she would have found it hard to resist developing a crush on Lydia just because of her cute giggle and how relaxed and bright she looked right now.

"I can't believe this," Lydia said, her voice smooth and warm filled with awe while her hands slowly and gently went to the base of wolf-Scott's ears, and with that move, she owed Scott McCall in wolf form. "You were evolving, weren't you?"

I didn't know what she was talking about, but I knew that I wasn't going to go back to being a loner after today and I hoped I would get to be in Scott's paws someday, and by someday I meant when Lydia and Scott have earned my trust and I trusted myself to let it happen and not a day sooner.
TRANSITION
Cleo's POV

From the moment I touched hands with Scott McCall during the break, I knew that he was a werewolf and a different kind of werewolf to the resident ones.

My encounters with his kind back home in Nigeria helped me identify what he was and his Alpha status after I saw a flash of Scott's memory, of him in front of a mirror with glowing red eyes, triggered by our skin contact.

Being that the only werewolf Lydia was close enough to be vulnerable around at the school was Scott and that the wolf had red eyes, I realized that the brown wolf was Scott in his wolf form and from what Lydia said about Scott evolving and the Alpha roar we heard earlier, I guessed he just recently accessed the rare true wolf form.

I only heard of Alphas who could shift into true wolves but never met one, until now, and I was honored because this was not an everyday occurrence, such Alphas were held in high regard in my village and the supernatural community even by non-werewolves, I couldn't wait to tell my grandmother and siblings and...

The thought came to a halt when I noticed that I wasn't the only witness, so was the resident pack and...

And, to my surprise, Hope Mikaelson was in her wolf form, and she wasn't as separate from the pack as I would have thought, she was a little closer and didn't seem to be on edge like usual, she looked, dare the thought cross my mind, a little relaxed, not as on guard as usual.

It seemed Lydia Martin and Scott McCall's presence was going to change a few things around here and the change was already underway and not in a minor manner.

The way wolf-Jed's tail wasn't as high as it usually was when I sneaked out to watch the wolves during the full moon, suggested the revelation of Wade's status as a fairy was only the beginning of the school being turned on its head, a lycanthrope werewolf was destined to lead a pack of cursed werewolves.

But I was probably getting ahead of myself.

I guessed the flag football game was going to be a good indicator of what was to come, and I looked forward to it.