Howling to the Heart || Isaac Lahey

54.

The car ride was tense, mainly because Derek and Isaac were fuming while Neriah stared out the window, her body slipping into a state of numb. She never thought she would hear the two werewolves agree on something: hating Stiles.

"You want us to come in?" Derek asked, following Neriah up the stairs to her apartment with Isaac close behind.

Neriah fumbled pulling her keys out of her bag as she shrugged her shoulders. "It's up to you guys. I'm sorry for calling and asking to be picked up," she apologised quietly.

A hand gently grabbed her shoulder as they stopped on her floor, and she turned around to face a concerned Derek and Isaac. "I know we've had our...bipolar past," Derek started, dropping his hand from her shoulder, "but you're my little cousin and it's my job to look after you. I wish you didn't have to call me because of what happened, but I am glad you felt like you could call me."

Neriah gave him a weak smile, a little baffled by the concern he was showing. "And you were on speed dial," she added, and he chuckled as Isaac snorted.

She turned back around, walking down the quiet hallway, when suddenly she stopped at a weird feeling growing in her stomach when she noticed her front door slightly open down the end of the hallway.

"Derek," Neriah quietly murmured and seconds later he was walking past her as Isaac stopped at her side, the both of them watching Derek who cautiously opened the door wider.

"Who else knows you live here?" Isaac asked Neriah when Derek went into her apartment.

She looked up at him with furrowed brows. "Only Scott, Stiles, and their parents. Why?"

"Riah," Derek called out, stepping back into the hallway with a sullen face before Isaac could speak again. "You're gonna live with me for a bit."

"What? Why?" Neriah hurried down the hallway and Derek quickly stepped out of the way as she halted in the doorway, her face dropping as she looked at the scene before them.

Her usual clean and organised apartment was completely trashed. Her photo frames were shattered across the floor, the couch was destroyed with claw marks, the dining table and coffee table were in cinders. Even all the food in her fridge was on the kitchen floor.

"What..." Neriah breathed, slowly walking inside and hearing glass crunch under her shoes. "But why?"

"Bloody hell," Isaac mumbled, following her inside with Derek.

Neriah swallowed thickly before she remembered her room where all her most valued possessions were and she quickly ran past her living room, before throwing her bedroom door open to see everything was destroyed. Her desk, her bed, her clothes, her bookshelf. Everything was ruined.

"Who-I—Why?" she stuttered, shaking her head with disbelief. "Why?"

"Riah! Get whatever you can! We need to go!" Derek shouted from the living room with a hint of urgency in his tone.

A few seconds later, Isaac stopped beside her, gently grabbing her arm with a worried look. "He's right, Ria. We know who did this and we gotta go."

Neriah looked up at him with a broken expression. "Who did this? How do you know?"

He opened his mouth, but Derek cut him off, stopping behind them. "The Alpha pack was here."

Neriah's face fell as she looked back at her cousin. "Why would they come after me?"