Monsters | Stiles Stilinski

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟕𝟔

STILES OR THE NOGITSUNE...

That was the question swirling around in my mind like a broken record player.

Stop thinking about it, I told myself, just think about the plan. The plan, right. Where were we with that? Oh, yeah. We hadn't even started, I was too thrown by trying to decipher who was stood in front of me.

This was going to be much harder than I thought.

I heard the rattling of handcuffs beside me and I turned my head to see the Sheriff stood with them in his hands.

The plan...

Stiles' jittery movements were quintessentially him but it was so hard. I longed for it to be him but I knew deep down there was no logical way for it to be him. Why would the Nogitsune hand over the reigns to Stiles again when he'd fought to take over his mind and body?

It was like I said, I'd lost too much to rely on hope.

"You want to handcuff me?" He said, his voice quivering with anxiety.

The Sheriff left my side and he walked down the three steps into the loft, "If my son is still here, if there's still a part of him standing here in front of me, then he'll put these on willingly and he'll come with me, because he knows I'm here to protect him from himself and from others."

I followed him slowly, a few steps behind but still close. I had to be cautious. While the Nogitsune was powerful I still had the Sheriff to protect. I'd be damned if I let him hurt Stiles' father. If there was any way we managed to save Stiles and he found out he'd unknowingly hurt his dad ...

Like I said, I'd put myself in danger before I let the Sheriff get hurt.

"Alex, you know me." Stiles begged, "You trust me ... right?"

I looked at him hesitantly through my lashes. The way his voice shook tugged at my heart. It was almost as if he was forcing me to let my guard down and I had to remind myself of the strong possibility that this was all just a game ... another trick.

"I trust Stiles." I responded, shocked at how strong my voice remained, "And I know that Stiles would comply."

He gave me that look — the one that fucking tore me apart. It was the hurt that ripped through his eyes, the look that spoke louder than words. It was one that said, it hurts that you don't trust me, but slowly he lifted his hands to allow the Sheriff to cuff him.

I watched with baited breath the entire time. I didn't dare blink. My whole body was tense and I was on edge. I had visions of the Nogitsune grabbing the Sheriff and hurting him. I almost wanted to take the cuffs out of his hands and put them on Stiles myself.

When he dropped his head — his chin touching his chest — something edged me forwards. Maybe it was intuition but Stiles hiding his face? No, that wasn't something he would do.

I took a step towards the Sheriff, my hand itching to reach up and guide the Sheriff away — to take his hands off the cuffs.

The sound of them locking echoed so harshly throughout the loft.

Once they were firmly fixed in place he rose his head again. He'd only moved a millimetre but I knew ... I fucking knew it wasn't him and even though I'd told myself not to rely on hope there was a small part of me that was beyond heartbroken.

The way his brow arched upwards and he looked at us through his lashes forced chills to run down my spine. The last time I'd seen him, he'd twisted a sword buried deep within my stomach ... all for a little pain he so desperately wanted to take from me.