Let Me In

Chapter 8

The next morning Scott, Ethan, Isaac, Erica, Malia and Boyd all accompany Derek to where he had met with the Sheriff and where the dead coyote's corpse is.

Malia had insisted on coming refusing to believe the coyote was dead until she saw it with her own eyes, she needed to be sure as she would not allow another were-coyote into Hale territory. It didn’t matter that Derek said it was dead and that it wasn’t even a were-coyote at all but a regular coyote, she needed to see it for herself, plus she wanted to help search for Stiles, he was, as she declared quite unflinchingly, the only one she really liked after all.

They had all scented one of Stiles’ well worn hoodies before leaving that morning so that they could have his scent fresh in their memory to help with the tracking.

On arrival at the scene Scott had immediately bounded off to an area further ahead and not long after had hollered for the rest of them to come quick. It appeared that the coyote carcass had been torn apart overnight and some of it was near to where Scott sat crouched. Before Derek could state the obvious that yes that was the coyote he had killed Scott spoke “Can you smell it” he spoke eagerly? “Smell what?” Derek said in confusion, surely he didn’t mean the coyote, of course he could smell the decomposed remains, it was a bit hard to miss. “Stiles” Scott said in a whisper.

The whole pack froze at the mention of his name and then moving closer to Scott inhaled deeply. Erica was the first to sense it, sucking in a sharp gasp “Batman?” she whispered, looking around as if she would see him nearby. Derek could already smell it, he had smelt it as soon as he arrived just like he was used to, so he hadn’t responded to Scott, but his eyes widened now in hope that two others appeared to be sensing the same thing.

Slowly but surely the others were able to find the scent too, each of them spread out and attempted to track the scent further. Boyd was the first one to pick it up hollering to the others as he took off at a run following it swiftly. He came to a sudden stop at a stream and looked around frustrated, turning to greet the others who had just caught up “it’s gone” he said, annoyance evident in his tone.

“What about the other scent that was with it” Erica asks, they had all agreed that Derek had been correct in sensing that Stiles was not alone, but like Derek couldn’t pin point what the other being was.

“No that’s gone too” Boyd said in disgust whilst glaring into the forest. Derek sighed in disappointment, he had hoped that with more of them he would have more success now that he knew he wasn’t imaging things, but still he thought, at least there was some progress. They had another trail to map onto their new app that Danny would have ready by the time they got back according to Ethan. Fingers crossed they were now going to be able to make some headway in their search for Stiles.

“Look its past 2pm now we have been at this for hours, lets split up and head in different directions, if we don’t find anything in the next hour we will head back. Its going to take a couple of hours to get back anyway, so we need to make the best use of our time and the light”. Derek says, choosing to be responsible and not instinctively just insisting that they all stay out here until they find the trail again just like he wants to.

Silently they all made their way in different directions, promising to howl if they found anything. After an hour with no success they all met back at the same spot and agreed to call it a day, they had tried their best but they were tired and hungry so needed to refuel and recharge. They would come back tomorrow and try again they weren’t giving up, they were just making the best use of their resources. With a heavy look into the forest behind them they started their way home, all of them trudging disappointedly back to the loft whilst silently promising Stiles that they would find him soon.