The Huntress {Stiles Stilinski}

Omega - Burns from wolfsbane

  Raelynn's P.O.V.

Melissa kept me in the hospital over the weekend to keep an eye on me, but all my bites and scratches are healing well. Stiles hasn't gone home all weekend, and I've been letting him shower in my en suite. He slept in my bed with me last night after Melissa agreed to remove all the wires and needles from me. My side is still a little painful, but other than that I feel fine.

"Can I shower before I go?" I ask, and Melissa nods. I sigh and walk into my en suite, turning on the shower and waiting for the water to heat up before climbing in. I wash my hair and scrub my arms, and something feels itchy. I stop and look down, seeing my skin red and blotchy. A burning sensation suddenly fills me, and I realize what's happening; I'm being burned by wolfsbane. I scream in pain, flinching away from the scalding water.

"Rae!" Stiles shouts, running into the bathroom and rushing towards me. Right now, I don't really care that I'm not wearing anything. I just want to get out of the water, but my body seems to be reluctant to move. "Rae, come on." Stiles hauls me out, and I land on top of him, soaking wet.

"What's going on?" Melissa calls as she hurries in, towels at the ready. Stiles takes them from her and wraps me up as I hiss through my teeth, trying to ignore most of the pain. "Rae, what happened?"

I can't tell her it was wolfsbane. "I, uh, I turned the temperature too high." Melissa tuts and rubs my arm before she walks out to carry on with her job. I turn to Stiles and stare into his eyes. "Take me home."

He nods. "I saw the temperature, Rae. It wasn't that hot."

"Someone put wolfsbane in the water system," I say. "Someone who wants to see if someone is a werewolf or not." I quickly get dressed and dry my hair, ready to go. "Ready?"

"Yeah," he says, nodding. "You hungry? There's a vending machine just down the hall."

"I could kill for some Reese's Pieces," I moan, licking my lips. He chuckles and takes my hand, pulling me down to the vending machine. I slot in some money, enough for us to have one each, and press the button. But the spiral doesn't spin all the way, therefore not releasing my candy. I growl and hit the glass. "Come on. You have a hungry, hormonal werewolf right here, you don't want to do this right now."

Stiles laughs. "Hey, chill. It just takes a bit of manpower." I scoff as I take my bag from him and he cracks his knuckles, wrapping his arms around the sides of the machine, using his hips to thrust against it in an attempt to make the food fall. "Just - Gah! It's not gonna work." He steps back and places his hands on the top of the machine, shaking it that way.

"Stiles, I don't-" I try to say, but we both gasp as the machine falls to the floor, the glass smashing beneath it. My hand is clapped over my mouth, staring at the now broken vending machine. "Is this your manpower?" He rolls his eyes and we both attempt to try and lift it back up as discreetly as we can. Suddenly, there's a blood curdling scream, and I know exactly who it is. "Lydia!"

"Rae-" Stiles says, as I run towards her room as best I can. The wolfsbane burns make my legs sting, but I ignore it. I jump through Lydia's dad and Melissa and rush into the bathroom.

"What the hell was that?" Melissa asks as they follow me into the bathroom. It's empty, the shower still running, but the window is open wide enough for someone to be able to climb out of. I turn round to Stiles and give him a look as Melissa goes off to search the hospital.


"Naked?" Sheriff says. "As in nude?"

"I'm pretty sure they mean the same thing," Melissa says as I walk behind her and Mr. Martin, "but, yes, as far as we know, she left her clothing - optional."

"All right, you checked the whole hospital, right?" Sheriff asks.

"Every last corner," Melissa answers. Stiles comes up behind me, his hand on my back.

"Nothing suspicious?"

"Nothing. She just took off."

"All right," Sheriff says to an officer stood beside him. "Let's get an APB out on a 16-year-old redhead. Any other descriptors?"

"5'3, green eyes, fair skinned and her hair is actually strawberry blond," I say, stepping forwards. They all give me a look and I shrug. "What, she's my friend? I want her found, too." Stiles steps forward and nods, and Sheriff grabs the back of our necks gently and moves us away from Melissa and Mr. Martin.

"What the hell are you two still doin' here?" he asks.

"Well, I've just been discharged, so we're ready to go-"

"Both of you, get your asses back home where they're supposed to be," Sheriff says, releasing us. We nod and walk out of the hospital, but not before Stiles quickly grabs the hospital gown Lydia was wearing.

The Jeep is waiting in the parking lot with Scott sat shotgun, so Stiles opens the door for me so I can climb into the back seat. Stiles hands Scott Lydia's hospital gown, and Scott looks down at it as Stiles gets in the Jeep.

"This is the one she was just wearing?" Scott asks, needing to be sure. Stiles and I nod, and he sees how panicked I am as I bite my nails. "I'm not gonna let anyone hurt her. Not again." He rubs my arm gently and I give him half a smile.

"All right," Stiles says, starting the Jeep. "Just shove that thing in your face and let's find her." He turns on the headlights as Allison appears in front of the car. "Wow!" Allison jerks, not expecting the bright light, but runs round to Scott's side.

"What are you doing here?" he asks, leaning out. "Someone's gonna see us."

"I don't care," Allison says. "She is my best friend, and we need to find her before they do."

"I can find her before the cops can," Scott assures.

"How about before my father does?" she asks.

My eyes widen and I lean forward. "He knows?"

"Yeah," she nods, sending me a smile. "I just saw him and three other guys leave my house in two SUVs."

"Search party," Scott suggests.

"More like a hunting party," she adds.

"Get in." Scott opens his door and Allison climbs over him and into the back seat with me.

"Rae," she whispers, hugging me and taking me by surprise. I wrap my arms around her and squeeze her tight. "I know this probably isn't the best time, but Mom picked up your dress for Kate's funeral."

I nod and smile sadly. "Didn't expect her to do that."

"All right, but if she's turning, would they actually kill her?" Stiles asks. Allison and I sit normally, our faces facing the back of the boys' heads.

"No," I shake my head. "There's a code. And they abide by the code, especially with someone as young as Lydia."

"Well, they won't tell me anything," Allison says. I look over to her. "All they say is, 'We'll talk after Kate's funeral, when the others get here.'"

"What others?" I ask.

"I don't know, they won't tell me that yet," she sighs.

"Okay," Stiles says, "your family's got some serious communication issues to work on. Scott, are we going the right way?"

All of us look at Scott, who's head is sticking out the window and smelling the air for Lydia's scent. "Take the next right." Stiles veers the car right, and I hold onto Allison as I nearly fall.

I make a small noise as I hit my arm against something hard, and Stiles turns his head slightly. "Son of a bitch."

"Rae, how are your arms?" he asks.

"They're okay," I mutter. "Except for the agonizing pain."

Allison looks at me and shuffles closer. "What's happened to your arms?"

I don't want to lie to her; I've done that my entire life. I take off my coat and roll up my sleeves and show her the burn marks. Her eyes widen as she looks at them. "They're burns from wolfsbane. Someone must've put it into the hospital's water supply to look for werewolves. And they found one."

Her eyes shoot up to mine. "You're a -"

"Please don't tell dad," I beg. "He'll kill me, or throw me out of the house or . . . I don't know but he'll do something awful."

"Of course I won't," she sighs, moving a strand of my hair from her face. "I'm glad you told me."

"I don't want to lie to you anymore, Alli," I say gently. "I've lied to you my entire life about what's really out there. No more secrets, yeah?"

"Deal," she says, and we look up as we come to a stop outside the preserve. "She's out here?"

"Oh, God," I sigh. We climb out of the car and follow Scott, who is still sniffing the air for Lydia's scent. He walks a little way in front of us so he doesn't confuse our scents with hers. He stops walking, and I look over to see we're beside the Hale house. "She came here? You're sure?"

"This is where the scent leads," Scott nods. Stiles walks in front of us, looking around for any sign that Lydia was here.

"All right, but has Lydia ever been here?" Stiles asks.

Allison shakes her head. "Not with me." Stiles walks ahead again, and I stay back with Allison and Scott. "Maybe she came here on instinct, like she was looking for Derek."

"You mean - looking for an Alpha," I say.

"Wolves need a pack, right?"

"Not all of them," Scott says.

"But would she have been drawn to an Alpha?" she asks. "Is it an instinct to be part of a pack?"

"Yeah, we're - we're stronger in packs," Scott confirms.

"Like strength in numbers."

"No," I say, shaking my head. I keep my eye on Stiles to make sure he's not in any danger. "Like, literally stronger, faster, better in every way."

"That the same for an Alpha?"

"That'll make Derek stronger too," Scott says. I was filled in on everything that happened the other night when Stiles finally told me.

I turn to watch Stiles flick some leaves out of his way so he can kneel down beside a tree. "Stiles, what are you doing?"

"Woah, hey, you see this?" he asks. I walk over and bend down beside him. "I think it's a tripwire." Allison comes over, too, as Scott carries on looking around. He lifts it up, but nothing happens.

"Stiles-" Scott groans from behind us.

"Yeah, buddy," Stiles says, and we all turn. Our eyes widen as I snort. "Oh."

Scott is hanging upside down from a wire connected to his ankle, his arms falling down past his head. "Next time you see a tripwire - don't trip it."

"Yeah, noted," Stiles says, looking at me and Allison. I smile back at him, trying not to laugh as all three of us go over to help him down.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Scott says quickly, throwing his arms about to stop us. "Someone's coming. Hide." We turn round to try and see who it is, but it's too dark. "Go!" Stiles grabs my arm, turning me round. I grab Allison and we sprint down to a thick tree, squeezing behind it so no one can see us.

"Scott," comes my dad's voice. I strain my hearing, using my new werewolf abilities, to listen in to their conversation.

"Mr. Argent," Scott answers.

"How you doing?"

"Good. You know, just hanin' out." I have to fight the urge to laugh at the irony in that sentence. "Is this one of yours?" Scott asks, referring to the tripwire. "It's, uh, good. Nice design. Very constricting."

"What are you doing out here, Scott?" Dad asks him.

"Looking for my friend," Scott answers honestly.

"Ah, that's right," Dad says tactically. "Lydia's in your group now, isn't she? Part of the clique? Is that the word you use? Or is there another way to put it? Part of your pack?"

"Actually, clique sounds about right to me," Scott says. I'm at the front of Stiles and Allison, so I peer my head around the tree and look to see my dad crouched in front of Scott, eye level.

"I hope so," Dad replies. "'Cause I know she's a friend of Allison's, and one special circumstance, such as yourself - one, I can handle. Not two."

"No."

"Scott, do you know what a hemicorporectomy is?"

"I have a feeling I don't want to."

"A medical term for amputating somebody at the waist," Dad continues as if he's never heard Scott answer. "Cutting them in half. Takes a tremendous amount of strength to cut through tissue and bone like that." He reaches up and indicates a line through Scott's middle as to where he'll be cutting. "Let's hope a demonstration never becomes necessary." He stands up and walks away, but if we don't move he'll see us.

"Go, go, go, go," I say, motioning for Allison to run around the trees so we're still hidden in the shadows.

Allison gets to Scott first, and I go over to the rope that's keeping Scott up, looking at it. "You okay?"

"It's just another life-threatening conversation with your dad," Scott jokes. I chuckle from where I'm stood.

"Guys, help me with this," I say, and Stiles and Allison come over to me. There's a sound of someone landing, and we turn to see Scott stood there with a smile.

"Thanks," he says. "But I think I got it."

"Yeah," Stiles says sarcastically, and I laugh with Allison.

"Comin'?" Scott asks after we stand there for a moment.


We look for a couple more hours before Scott loses her scent, and we have to go back. Stiles drops Scott home first, as it's closer, and then drops me and Allison home. I grab my bag from the back and kiss him quickly, and he smiles after us as we walk up the porch to our house.

"And where have you been?" Mom asks as soon as we get through the door. Dad must still be out looking for Lydia. Allison glances at me and then I narrow my eyes at Mom. She didn't know where I was for an entire weekend? "We called your cell several times, Raelynn-"

"I was in hospital," I interrupt, and her eyes widen. "Because I got attacked by something. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to sleep before I have to go to school tomorrow." Allison has a smirk on her face, and she follows me up the stairs.

"I've never heard you talk to them like that before," she says quietly, following me into my room. I flop on my bed, pulling on my pajamas.

"Yeah, well, I've had their crap for seventeen years of my life," I complain, quickly brushing out my hair and grabbing my toothbrush. "I'm not taking it anymore." I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth, heading back to my room. I lay on my bed and play with my bracelet, when someone knocks on my door. "Come in."

Mom walks in, holding a black dress in a dress-bag. "This is for the funeral tomorrow."

"Thanks," I say, eying her carefully. "Could you put it on my desk?" Mom nods, placing it nearly over the chair and then puts the shoes down beside it. Heels. She's making me wear heels.

"How you doing?" she asks, sitting beside me on my bed.

My eyes snap to her, confused. "I'm doing fine, I guess." She gives a small silence before I stand up and close my door, leaning against it. "You know, Mom, Allison isn't here. You don't have to pretend to be nice to me. And she knows, so-"

"I wasn't pretending, Rae," Mom says, standing up, too. "I told you, I feel awful for the way you've been raised. I want to start fresh."

"Mom, come on, it's a little late for that," I say, chuckling nervously. "I - I can't just start to like you guys straight away."

"Don't you love us?" she asks carefully.

"Of course I do," I sigh. "You're my mom. I'll always love you. I just don't particularly like you for making me lie to my twin sister for seventeen years."

Mom nods in understanding. "You're going to look beautiful tomorrow, Rae. And you know Kate loved you, right?" I nod and she smiles, walking out of my room and leaving me wondering why she suddenly has a guilty conscience.