All Shades of Blue

23

Nora made way to the abandoned subway station to see Derek. She arrived as Erica said, "It's not like we want to."

Derek growled. "What do you want?"

"Since I just turned 16 a month ago, I wouldn't mind getting my license. I can't do that if I'm dead, you know."

"Well, I told you there was a price."

"Yeah, but you didn't say it would be like this," Boyd replied.

Derek frowned. "Yeah, but I told you how to survive. You do it as a pack. And you're not a pack without an Alpha."

"We know."

"You wanna look for another pack? How are you even gonna find one?"

"We think we already did."

"Like, all of a sudden, we heard this howling. It was unbelievable," Erica said.

"There must have been a dozen of them," Boyd added.

"Maybe more."

Derek said, "You know what the Beau Geste is? If they modulate their howls with a rapid shift tone, two wolves can sound like 20."

Erica sighed. "Look; that doesn't matter, okay? There's another pack out there. There's got to be. We've made up our minds."

Boyd nodded, glancing to Erica. "Yeah, we lost, Derek. And it's over. We're leaving."

Derek growled. "No. No, you're running. And once you start, you don't stop. You'll always be running."

A figure startled Nora after Erica and Boyd had left. She turned to see Peter Hale.

Peter smirked. "It's quite a situation you've got yourself in here, Derek. I mean, I'm out of commission for a few weeks and suddenly there's lizard people, geriatric psychopaths, and you're cooking up werewolves out of every self-esteem-deprived adolescent in town. I see you have a mate. She's practically a luna."

"What do you want?" Derek asked in annoyance, stepping in front of Nora.

"Well, I want to help. You're my nephew. The only relative I have left. You know, there's still a lot I can teach you. Can we just talk?"

"Sure, let's talk," Derek said, punching Peter.

Nora winced. 'I'm headed to the lacrosse game.'

'No work?'

'I finished early. And I don't know why, but I just have a concerned feeling about tonight.'

'You want me to keep an eye on Mateo?'

'No, that's all right. He likes watching the game. He adores balls. Doesn't matter if it's a basketball or a baseball. If it rolls, he's in love.'

Derek chuckled. 'I'll see you later then.'

'You're not going?'

'I'll probably watch from the sidelines just to keep an eye on things.'

'Fair enough. See you later.'

'See you.'

Nora, holding Mateo, got to the locker room and stood next to Melissa and Scott.

""Good morning,"" Coach began. ""In less than an hour, aircraft from here will be joining others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in the history of mankind.""

"What?" Melissa asked.

Coach continued. ""Mankind. That word should have new meaning for all of us today."