Salvation

Chapter 1

His musky scent wafted under her nose, carried systematically by the California forest wind. She could always smell him before she could hear him, just one of her many now enhanced abilities. His scent was always strong, either from consistent sweating whilst he dodged near death experiences or he piled on way too my cologne in his daily morning routine. Lydia was perched on a fallen Redwood whilst she made a straight edged triskeloin in the dry dirt with her brown leather Mary Janes. She sighed deeply as he came into her field of hearing, every animal scattering for protection.

 “You’re here early,” he announced as he walked through an opening in the trees, his voice echoing lightly off the surrounding trees.

 “Nice to see you too,” Lydia replied sarcastically.

 “I didn’t give you the bite so we could be friends. I changed you because I want warriors.”

 “Well I don’t see, hear or smell any of your other ‘warriors’ coming to this meeting you called,” Lydia always turned witty or sarcastic when it came to Derek's secretive nature.

Derek turned on his heels and listened intently for the rest of his pack. Lydia could now finally hear the patter of their feet, speed walking so they didn’t seem in too much of a hurry to get there.

 Derek stood unnaturally still as he waited for them to show their faces. Lydia could feel his blazing gaze even when she was sat behind him. Isaac and Erica finally walked through the same opening Derek had, both with their heads down and waiting for their punishment.

 “I won’t comment on your tardiness today, I’ve had to accept that you two will always be late,” Derek mumbled, “But we’ve got bigger problems.”

 “Like what,” Isaac asked.

 “Alpha’s," Derek said, shaking his head before repeating, "A pack of Alpha’s.”

 “Is that even possible?” Erica questioned.

 “Yes it is. I don’t know how or why they can exist as a pack but they do. They’re in heading in the general direction of Beacon Hills and I think know what for,” Derek explained. He looked to the ground where Lydia’s feet were to see the straight edged triskeloin she had etched in the ground.

 “What is that?!” Derek exclaimed, directing the question towards Lydia and pointing at her feet.

 “It’s a triskeloin. You should know that, you have a huge one inked on your back,” she answered bemused.

 “Mine does not look like that. That one has straight edges, mine has curved edges,” Derek crouched before Lydia, observing the disturbed dirt.

 “I saw it carved on a tree when I was walking here, I assumed that you’d done it when you were younger or something,” Lydia responded.

 “We saw it too,” Erica cut in, looking to Isaac for reassurance. He nodded quickly in agreement.

 “Take me to it. Now!” Derek demanded, heading through the opening in the trees. The three of them scavenged after Derek, giving him directions in which to go, not that he needed them when he picked up the scent of another werewolf. He tracked down the tree easily. The straight edged triskeloin engraving looked less than an hour old. Splintered wood still hung out of the craving, untouched by weather nor elements.

 “This is bad,” Derek muttered to himself several times, getting progressively louder, “This is very bad. This is not my triskeloin. It’s theirs.”

 “Whose?” Isaac asked, confused at who he was referring to.

 “The Alpha pack’s, where you not listening to me at all?” he scorned Isaac. Isaac closed his mouth in defeat.