Sour Wolf - A Derek Hale Fanfic *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 37 - A Potential Threat?

They all stood crowded, ushered to the farthest part of the lacrosse field bleachers. Rays of sun spread out across the field, not a single cloud in the sky. And a warm gentle breeze blew around them. Adelina sat with her shoulder pressed to Allison's. Lydia sat behind them and up one step. Leo stood next to Adelina, adopting his protective attitude towards her once again. An action that warmed her heart. Scott and Stiles stood trying to calm the pacing Isaac, whose eyes were glowing a vibrant golden hue. And Derek stood calmly infront of the group, having arrived after an angry phone call from Isaac promising unsavoury things about Michael. Despite his folded arms and relaxed posture, Adelina could see Derek's eyes flickering to hers worriedly. So she sent him a reassuring smile letting him know she was okay.

It was now lunchtime, just a few hours after Adelina spoke to Michael. The way his cocky, confident expression turned into something more dangerous in a split second played in her mind. Despite finding him irrefutably annoying, there was something charming about him, though she knew he could never sway her. She just simply didn't feel any attraction toward him. She'd be lying if she didn't think he was a good looking guy. He was, and he knew it. But that was part of his charm.

But after that encounter with him, after the dark look in his eyes and the way he approached her so sinisterly, she couldn't see that charm. Instead she saw something spine chilling, masked by something beautiful. Something that had been crafted so meticulously to appear innocent and charming on the surface, yet hid darkness and danger underneath.

That's what Michael was. The perfect actor and my has he played his role expertly. Adelina was the only one who saw the hidden side to Michael Jones, the only one who saw what he was really capable of. Or so she thought.

"I'm telling you!" Stiles started dramatically, letting out an exaggerated huff of air and throwing his arms recklessly above him, "There is something off about him, am I the only one who sees it?"

Scott took a step forward, "Stiles, his heartbeat didn't rise or fall once, it was smooth. He was telling the truth."

With an incredulous look, Stiles argued his point further, "Okay. Maybe he was telling the truth. Or maybe he knows how to control his heartbeat to keep eavesdropping little werewolves unaware of the truth."

"As much as I hate to admit it, Scott's right." Isaac almost growled out, still angry. Though his eyes had returned to their normal crystal blue, showing he had calmed down at least a bit.

"Stiles might be right too. Nothing is ever this simple for us." Allison chimed in gently, attempting to ease the tense atmosphere.

With both hands pointing at Allison, Stiles smiled, "See?"

"And he was the only who had a bad feeling about Matt and look at how he turned out." Lydia added with a sigh.

Hearing this, Adelina lifted her head. Matt? Where had she heard that name? "Wait, Matt?" She questioned.

"He's the one who controlled the kanima last year." Derek spoke for the first time since he arrived at the school.

"Oh, I thought he sounded familiar." She muttered as she started playing with her hands that were rested in her lap. The others looked at her confused, none of them telling her about Matt or the kanima. But Derek already knowing that Adelina basically knew most things, so wasn't at all surprised that she heard about Matt.

Deciding not to press on the matter, Scott spoke again, "We have to start trusting that not everyone we meet is going to have some evil ulterior motive."

"Yeah." Stiles sighed, "Except everyone we do meet tends to have an evil ulterior motive. I mean seriously. How many times has someone's heartbeat been smooth and it turns out that they just know how to control it?"

Allison groaned, "And that's another good point. Both of you are right. That's what makes this so frustrating."

"I still don't like him. He got way to close to Ady and he has this weird obsession with her." Isaac puffed angrily, returning to pacing whilst his hands rhythmically clenched and unclenched at his sides.

"Then we keep an eye on him. Until we find proof that he's involved in something bigger, we just observe him. We don't trust him and we don't get close to him. But most importantly we keep him away from Adelina." Derek spoke calmly. He didn't want to choose sides between them despite already harbouring hate for Michael. He completely agreed with Stiles, there was something off about him. But at the same time Scott was right, just having a feeling about someone isn't enough, they needed proof.

"I'm good with that. I don't like the guy and I don't like him being near Ady." Leo shyly spoke, he still wasn't used to being around everyone, let alone discussing and being included in the plan.

Adelina offered the awkward boy a small smile when he turned to face her.

Stiles placed his hands on his hips, "I agree with you but I feel like we should still be doing something more."

"Ady what do you think? I mean you're the one who's spoke to Michael the most." Lydia suddenly asked, making the group fall silent as they turned expectantly to Adelina.

Being thrown slightly off guard by the sudden question, Adelina sucked in a breath before saying what she thought, "I think that Michael might be more dangerous than we think. At first I just thought that he was being a typical teenage boy and chasing after a girl that wasn't interested. But then in the locker room today, when he spoke to me and when he-" her eyes unconsciously found their way to Derek's, "when he pushed me against that locker..." Derek looked down, his jaw clenched. She drew a short breath before continuing, "I felt scared. There was just something dark about the way he looked at me. And maybe I'm just being paranoid, I wouldn't be surprised. But I'm really creeped out."

It was silent for a few seconds after that, no one being able to say a word. Adelinas eyes fell to her lap as her shoulder sunk. It was only she felt a comforting hand squeeze her shoulder that she looked up at Leo giving her a sympathetic smile. She returned the gesture by reaching out and squeezing his hand. Then her eyes found themselves caught in Derek's green orbs once again. His brows were furrowed upward slightly and his lips slightly parted as he stared at her, a soft yet angered expression on his face.

"Then we stay away from him. And we find out what we need to know so we can be sure he's not a threat." Scott spoke. His words were confident yet reassuring as he nodded at Adelina. She gave him a small which he comfortingly returned.

Then the bell rang, signalling the end of lunch. It also signalled the start of a new question, was Michael Jones a threat?