CHASING PHANTOMS // TEEN WOLF [bxb]

YOU CAN'T RUN FOREVER

***

When Allison arrived at the loft for the pack meeting that night, she took one unimpressed look at the man sitting on the spiral staircase and then pivoted to Derek.

"I thought I told you to keep Peter away from him," she said with contained exasperation, not trusting Peter on a good day and certainly not with Jake at his most vulnerable.

"I try to keep Peter away from me," Derek deadpanned flatly without looking up from the book he was pretending to read on the couch so he could actively ignore his uncle.

Even Peter bobbed his head slightly to the side in consideration because that was fair of his nephew. "I don't like you either, sweetheart," he told Allison simply, making an oh well, nothing we can do gesture.

"No one in this stratosphere likes you, Peter," Lydia said flatly from one of the kitchen barstools while inspecting her manicure.

Kira felt like she was missing something as she regarded them from the stool next to her but she was glad to be included.

Meanwhile, Aiden and Ethan were standing on the other side of the counter with Aiden glaring daggers at Isaac munching on the bag of chips he'd snatched right out of his hands.

To regroup, Scott walked over to the planning table in the center and placed down the Shugendo scroll they'd taken from Kincaid after he raided Katashi's silver finger from the FBI vehicle.

Kira peered over his shoulder to look at the inscriptions that were centuries old. "Does it tell us how to save Stiles?" she hoped.

"Deaton said that to free him, we need to change the host," Scott explained, leaning his hands on the edge of the table.

"How do we do that? Like an exorcism?" Aiden asked quizzically, folding his arms when Lydia audibly sighed. "What?" he asked offendedly since his question was reasonable.

Lydia wondered why the stupid ones had to be so pretty. "He doesn't need an exorcism," she told him simply.

"He needs to take the bite," Derek impatiently clarified, facing Scott from the other side of the table. He watched his face carefully to see if he was ready to do what had to be done.

"And what if that kills him?" Allison asked, her nails biting into her palms at the reminder of her mother. She'd taken her own life for the code but she could have just as easily died from the bite itself.

"Then he dies anyway," Isaac answered seriously, his usual sarcasm gone. It was a possibility they had to come to terms with.

"How unfortunate," Peter tsked from his perch on the stairs, smiling when it was clear they'd all forgotten about his presence.

"If only there was someone who could find out exactly how this ends," he contemplated wishfully, innocently looking in the direction of the guest bed Jake currently slept in.

"We already thought of that," Ethan defended, hating going in circles.

"Your mistake was thinking it was up to any of you," Peter shrugged, rising to his feet to descend the steps. "You can mention it all you want but he's the one who has to have the vision," he spelled out.

"He doesn't control when they happen," Allison reminded impatiently, less than enthused by Peter's input. If Jake could, he would've already done it.

"There are always exceptions," Peter countered. "I've seen it," he added with a cryptic look at Derek.

The other man stared at him and wondered what he was hiding with that pointed glance, if he knew what they did about Nicholas, but Peter revealed nothing else and Derek heeded Deaton's warning to keep the information under lock and key so he failed to rise to the bait.