Love's Spiral

Gerard had collapsed again onto the cold, concrete floor. There was no way he’d get up from it. With Gerard down, the kanima was distracted by it’s lack of leadership. It’s hold on Allison’s throat was released slowly.

Allison managed to outsmart him and elbow the monster in the face. She ran from the kanima, getting out of its reach.

Spencer turned her head and the sound of a vehicle outside the building. “Do you hear that?” She asked Derek, getting to her feet. Spencer was up in time to see Stiles’ blue jeep burst through the side of the warehouse.

Stiles drove through the wall until it slammed into the kanima, knocking it over. It was flung backwards at the impact of the jeep.

Spencer smiled at the side of Stiles being the hero. She joined Scott at his side and leaned over. “That’s our best friend.” She said, proudly.

Stiles eyes were squeezed shut with his hands on the wheel. “Did I get him?” he asked, peeking through one eye and glancing to Scott.

The kanima was knocked down, but it certainly didn’t stay down. It got to his feet and jumped onto the hood of the jeep, making Lydia shriek from the passenger seat.

“Whoa!” Stiles shouted as the kanima hissed at him. Stiles tried to push his door open but it wouldn’t budge.

Lydia got her door open and quickly jumped out of it.

Stiles followed Lydia out through her door and hurried away from the jeep, practically throwing himself at Scott and Spencer.

“Jackson!” Lydia shouted, approaching the lizard with a key raised in her hand. “Jackson!”

“Lydia!” Stiles shouted, realizing that Lydia hadn’t followed him. He tried to run back to get her away from the beast.

Spencer and Scott grabbed his quickly, holding him back.

“Let me go!” Stiles argued.

Spencer only tightened her hold, noticing that Lydia was slowly gaining Jackson’s attention. “Wait, watch.”

The kanima raised its hand, but paused noticing the key between Lydia’s fingers.

Lydia gasped, breathing heavily, unsure what was about to happen to her.

They were afraid, at least until they noticed that Jackson was managing to switch back. The scales covering his body were fading right before their eyes. Jackson grabbed the key from Lydia and held it between his claws. He stared at the key and then looked to Lydia. Inside, Jackson was recalling everything that he had done. He took a few steps back from Lydia, who seemed to be sad still.

Spencer heard Derek move. She glanced in his direction and noticed that he was crouched on his knees like he was prepared to attack. Spencer saw Derek’s eyes move past Jackson. She followed his gaze to see Peter hiding with his claws and teeth bared.

Jackson stood out in the open, between the two. He raised his hand out to the side, like he knew what was going to happen to him.

Spencer looked back to Derek who was now on his feet. “Wait a minute.” Spencer said, quietly, figuring out the plan. She glanced back to Jackson who was nodding, accepting his fate.

In that second, Peter climbed out of hiding and Derek hurried forward.

“Derek, stop!” Spencer shouted at him.

It was too late. Derek stabbed Jackson through his stomach and Peter had him at his lower back.

Lydia gasped at the sight.

The Hale men raised Jackson into the air as he coughed from the pressure on his abdomen. After a couple minutes, to be sure that he had been punctured, Jackson was released and both men stood away from him.

Jackson fell to his knees, but Lydia caught him before he could fall further.

Spencer walked over to Derek. “What the hell was that?!” she demanded in a hushed tone.

Derek gave her a hard look, but she already knew the answer. He had done what she thought was right. Spencer took in a deep breath, shaking her head.

Isaac backed up, standing next to Derek, sandwiching the alpa between his betas.

Derek put a hand on Isaac’s shoulder, surprised Spencer at the smallest sign of comfort for Isaac.

Spencer watched as Jackson coughed and stared into Lydia’s eyes.

“Do you - do you still…?” Jackson begged, not being able to finish.

“I do.” Lydia responded quickly.

Spencer brought her hand up over her mouth, feeling an overwhelming sense of emotion. She felt a water drop fall onto the tops of her fingers and realized she’d begun to cry.

Lydia nodded furiously. “I do still love you. I do, I do still love you.” She continued to repeat it.

Jackson leaned his head forward and let it fall to her shoulder. The key fell from his grasp, clanging against the concrete.

Lydia sobbed, noticing that Jackson wasn’t breathing anymore.

Spencer turned herself into Derek’s chest, holding his shirt tightly. She felt his hand slowly move up to her shoulders. Spencer thought too hard about it, realizing this could happen to Derek or anyone of her friends.

“Where’s Gerard?” Allison said.

“He can’t be far.” her father answered.

Spencer turned her head towards Jackson when she heard the sound of nails scraping the floor. Her jaw dropped at the sight of Jackson moving.

Jackson’s eyes shot open and he took a deep breath. He slowly got up and onto his feet. Jackson raised his head, looking to the ceiling, and howled loudly.

When the howl was over, Lydia ran forward into Jackson’s arms, relieved that he was alive.

Spencer shook her head, not at all believing everything that she was seeing. She used her free hand to wipe the tears off of her face. Spencer held tightly to Derek’s waist and looked up at him. “He’s a werewolf?”

!@#$#@!

The pack found their way home, or at least to the subway hideout. After making sure that Jackson was well-taken care of for the night until they were to begin training him the next day.

Spencer led the way downstairs and then turned to Isaac. “You may want to find your headphones again.” She said, knowing that her and Derek’s conversation might get heated.

Isaac closed his eyes, sighing. “I’m finding the only thing drowning the two of you out is the screamo stuff. And trust me, its not exactly a lullaby.”

Spencer smiled. “I’m coming up with a solution to that, I promise.” Spencer dragged Derek into his train car and the two began to change out of their bloodied clothes. Both grabbed new clothes from the top of Derek’s clean pile. Spencer studied him for a moment before speaking. “So…” She started. “Peter.”

“What about him?” Derek asked.

“What exactly does he think is going to happen now? Does he think he’s joining the pack?”

Derek shrugged after he pulled off his shirt. “It never really came up.”

Spencer furrowed her brow. “So, you’re telling me that he just wanted to help with Jackson?” she questioned. “That’s it?”

“Yeah.”

“And you’re not at all suspicious of that?” Spencer sat onto the edge of the bed to more easily take off her jeans.

“Even if I should be, it shouldn’t matter. He’s not strong enough to kill me.”

“Not yet.” Spencer clarified. “He only just woke from the dead. Give him a few months and he’ll be the one slashing your throat.”

“Red, stop worrying about Peter. He’s not going to be a part of the pack. It’s just gonna be you, me, and Isaac for a while.”

Spencer pulled on one of Derek’s large shirts. “So there’s no plans to make the pack bigger?”

Derek grumbled. “Not at the moment.”

“And what about Erica and Boyd? Aren’t you worried about them?”

“They made their choice. They thought they weren’t safe so they left. They’re gone. Looking for another pack, most likely.”

“Yeah, but we’re safe now, right?” Spencer said. “Maybe they’ll come back?”

Derek paused. “You should know we’re never safe.”

Spencer sighed, falling back to the bed. “Yeah, and it doesn’t help that we’re basically living in one giant trap.”

“What do you mean?” Derek asked.

“Well, there’s only one way out of here. And that’s up the stairs. I don’t know if you’ve watched any horror movies, but stairs are a no-go.” Spencer bit her lip. “I don’t think this place is cutting it anymore.”

Derek leaned against the wall of the train car with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re right.”

Spencer smiled and tilted her head up. “I am?”

Derek nodded. “We need to find some place more ideal.”

“Maybe an actual apartment?” Spencer suggested. “With rooms and a kitchen?”

Derek laughed. “Maybe.” He sat next to her on the edge of his bed.

“Can I help?” Spencer sat up, excited. “I wanna help.”

“The money won’t be a problem.” Derek insisted.

“I wouldn’t be able to help much with that.” Spencer admitted, shyly. “My mom only gave me some of what she got from my dad. I won’t get more until I turn eighteen and then twenty-one. I mean finding a place.”

“Yes, you can help.”

Spencer showed a large smile and threw her arms around Derek.

Derek was surprised by the action and fell back onto the bed.

Spencer laughed. “I’m sorry.” She pushed herself off of him a little bit, holding her chest above his own.

Derek tucked one of his arms behind his head. “You’re always surprising me.”

“Keeps you on your toes, doesn’t it?”

Derek nodded. “Yes, it does.”

“I’m just so excited.” Spencer told him. “To actually have a home again. With the pack. Its like having a family again. Don’t you think?”

Derek thought for a moment. “Maybe.”

“And if any one of us deserves that, it’s you.”

Derek looked away from her, but Spencer put a finger on his chin to turn it back.

“I know it’s been hard since Laura, but everything is okay now. We’ve got the pack, and the kanima is taken care of. We can finally fix everything.” Spencer sighed. “Go back to normal.”

“What’s normal?”

Spencer smiled. “It’s you and me. Safe. In an apartment. Focusing on strengthening ourselves. And Isaac.”

“This doesn’t mean that we’re - ”

Spencer interrupted Derek. “Together. I know. But that doesn’t mean we can’t keep doing what we’re doing.” Spencer smirked, leaning down to kiss his jawline.

“That’s not what you want.” Derek reminded her. “It’ll never be safe enough for you to have what you want.”

Spencer stopped the kisses to his neck and looked to him. “It might be. Someday.” She shrugged. “I know how I feel about you, Derek. Seeing how Lydia was with Jackson tonight proved that to me. It might not be the most conventional relationship, or even a relationship at all, but I’m okay with that.”

“And if I’m not?” Derek questioned.

“You are. Whether you’re willing to admit it, you don’t want to lose me either. I don’t need you to say it for me to know it.”

“So, how do you know it?”

“Well, you haven’t pushed me off of you yet.” Spencer joked. “And I can’t tell you how many times you’ve put yourself between me and line of fire. There are different way of telling someone that you care than actually saying it.”

Derek nodded, actually agreeing with her.

Spencer smiled, “So, you care?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” Spencer rolled herself off of Derek and laid her head on the spare pillow. She smiled recalling something else they needed to talk about. “So, about Isaac…”

“Oh, right.” Derek remembered. “What happened with him?”

“He kissed me.”

“Isaac?”

Spencer nodded.

“Shy, quiet, and nervous Isaac?” Derek asked, just to be sure he heard right. “He kissed you?”

Spencer laughed. “He did.”

“Wow.” Derek said, still hardly believing it. “And you let him?” He looked to her.

“I had to. I didn’t realize it was happening until it happened.”

“So, he forced himself on you?” Derek clarified.

Spencer shook her head. “No, he told me. He told me he would, but I was… I don’t know what I was.”

Derek looked to the ceiling and laughed.

“You’re not mad?”

“Are you mad?” Derek asked her. “That he did?”

Spencer thought, furrowing her brow. “I guess not.”

Derek shrugged. “Why would I be mad? It’s just Isaac, right? So, he’s got a crush.” Derek rolled over and hovered over her. “He’ll never kiss you like I do.” He leaned down to kiss Spencer, pulling her lip lightly between his teeth as he pulled away. “Or touch you.” Derek teased her, letting one of his hands travel down her body to squeeze her thigh.

Spencer gasped. “You’re an awful person, Derek Hale.”

Derek smirked. “I can be worse.”

Spencer bit her lip momentarily. “Prove it.”

“Just remember, you asked.”

!@#$#@!

A loud clanging woke Spencer from her sleep. Peaceful sleep if she remembered. Her body was sprawled out in the bed as she laid on her stomach. Spencer’s head shot up at the sound of the clanging. Her messy red hair fell in a heap all around her. Her eyes opened to see Peter holding two metal trash can lids in his hands. Spencer groaned, dropping her head back to the pillow. “What are you doing here?” She asked closing her eyes.

“Funny you should ask.” Peter stated. “I was about to ask you the same.” He bend over, tilting his head a little to try to meet her eyes.

Spencer opened one eye and looked around. She sighed. “This isn’t my train car, is it?”

“Nope.” Peter said, popping the ‘p’ in the word.

“And I’m - ”

“Naked.” Peter finished. “Yes. And in bed with my nephew.”

Derek sat up, realizing the situation. He pointed to the doorway of his train car. “Get out.” He grumbled, then reaching to pull the sheet over Spencer’s back, covering her with it.

“Is this part of the training that you’ve got now?” Peter asked Derek. “If so, we might want to try a different direction with Jackson.”

“Peter, I swear to God, I will kill you. And this time, you will stay dead.” Spencer threatened the older wolf.

“Out!” Derek shouted.

“Okay!” Peter said, defensively. “I get it. I’ll get out, but, please, warn somebody before they walk in on you after sex.”

Spencer reached under the bed to pick up a spare scrap of sharp metal from the train. “You’re not even supposed to be here!” She screamed, throwing the piece towards him.

Peter rushed out before he could be skewered and the metal bounced off the train wall falling to the floor.

Spencer turned over onto her back, holding the sheet and securing it above her chest. “What the hell is he doing here?”

Derek got out of the bed, finding a pair of pants. “I didn’t know he would be.” Derek admitted. “I didn’t even think he knew where we were here.”

Spencer groaned. “Where’s the shirt I had last night?”

Derek threw Spencer a shirt, but it wasn’t the one she’d been wearing.

“This isn’t the same shirt.” She pointed out.

“So?”

Spencer pulled the shirt on anyway. “The amount of laundry you go through is astonishing. That shirt is still clean.”

Derek shook his head. “No, it isn’t.”

“I was wearing it for all of ten minutes. What the hell happened?”

Derek narrowed an eye at her, gesturing to the messed up sheets.

Spencer’s jaw dropped. “Seriously? How the hell - you know what? It’s probably better that I don’t ask.”

“Or…” Derek put a knee on the bed and leaned over to kiss Spencer. “I could just show you again.”

Spencer smiled and hummed against his mouth as he kissed her again.

The clanging sound started again and Peter came to the doorway. “Ah!” He shouted. “None of that. There will be no werepuppies today!”

Both Spencer and Derek groaned, looking in Peter’s direction. “Get out!” The both shouted.

“Let’s go!” Peter said, leaving the room again.

Spencer shook her head. “Really though, I thought for sure that his senses wouldn’t be the same after becoming a zombiewolf.”

“I heard that!” Peter called from the main room.

“You should go get dressed.” Derek told Spencer.

Spencer nodded, smiling. She waved a finger to beckon him to her. Spencer kissed him once, not really wanting to stop.

Derek had a hard time pulling away, but when he did, he shook his head, backing off of the bed. He let out a hard breath.

“I’ll go get dressed.” Spencer groaned, climbing out of the bed. She picked up her pile of bloody clothes from last night before she left. Spencer pulled down the large t-shirt as much as she could to cover what needed covering. As she passed Peter who sat on a crate, she snarked at him. “Cockblock.”

“You’ll thank me later.” Peter insisted.

Spencer shook her head. “I doubt it.” She went into her train car and dug through her pile of clothes for something easy to move in for training Jackson. “Hey, Isaac! You up?” she shouted to the car next to her.

“Yeah!” Isaac said, quickly appearing at her doorway. “What’s up?” He asked, before noticing that she was only wearing a t-shirt. Isaac turned beet red and quickly disappeared from the view. “I am so sorry.”

Spencer smiled and went to the doorway, leaning out. “No need. At least I was dressed.” She went back to her room and quickly changed into clothes she found. Spencer came out dressed in a yellow shirt and a pair of loose skinny jeans.

Derek came out of his car, as well, and Isaac froze.

Spencer noticed Isaac’s nervousness and laughed quietly. “Isaac, it’s okay. He knows.”

Isaac’s eyes bugged out. “He knows?”

Spencer smiled at the beta and slapped his chest once. “I think he’s actually proud.”

“I wouldn’t say proud.”

“I would.” Spencer insisted. “Takes a lot of guts to kiss the girl the alpha sort of has a claim on.” She joked. “And now that you’ve lived to tell the tale…”

“While I’m glad Isaac is finally living up to his potential as a werewolf, we should really get going.”

Derek nodded, looking to Spencer. “Does Jackson know where to meet us?”

Spencer pulled her phone from her back pocket. “I will text Lydia. Just to be sure.”

“Good.” Derek said. “Let’s go.”

!@#$#@!

The car ride over to the hale house wasn’t a fun one. Spencer wasn’t especially happy that Peter was riding with them and that she was demoted to the back seat. She scowled from the back of the car the whole drive and was thankful to get out and stretch her legs. “Maybe we should look into a more pack-friendly car while we’re apartment hunting.”

Peter raised a brow at her statement and looked to Derek. “Already moving in together?”

Spencer rolled her eyes.

“Not just us.” Derek said quickly. “Isaac, too.”

“Oh, yay.” Isaac cheered sarcastically. “Just what I always wanted. To share a place with a couple who can’t keep their hands off of each other.”

“At least it’ll be an actual room and possibly a real bed.” Spencer said, trying to be optimistic.

“Yeah, I won’t get my hopes up.”

“I’ve got some money, Isaac. From my dad and from working. If we find somewhere to live, I will do everything in my power to make it a home for us.”

Isaac smiled at her, finding another quality about her that he liked. The then continued to the house, pausing when he noticed something on the front door.

Spencer saw it too. It was like Derek’s triskele tattoo, but instead of curves, it had straight lines and angles. She walked up to it and touched it, the still wet paint rubbing onto her finger. “What the hell?” Spencer cursed under her breath. She rolled her eyes. “Stupid kids.”

“You haven’t told them everything yet, have you?” Peter asked, glancing at Derek.

Spencer looked to the alpha, too, noticing that Derek avoided her gaze.

“What do you mean?” Isaac asked.

“Derek?” Spencer called. “What is this?”

Peter leaned against a tree he stood in front of. “Why do you think Derek was in such a hurry to build his pack?”

“Strength in numbers. It could just be him and Scott. If you can even count Scott at this point.”

Peter shook his head. “When there’s a new alpha, people take notice.”

“People like who?” Isaac asked, turning to the door, joining Spencer on the porch. “What does this mean?”

“It’s their symbol.” Derek finally said. “It means they’re coming.”

“Who’s coming, Derek?” Spencer questioned.

“Alphas.”

“Alphas?” Spencer stressed the ‘s’. “Like plural?”

“More than one alpha?” Isaac asked, wondering if that was possible.

Derek hesitated before answering. “A pack of them.”

Spencer froze, recalling the dream that she had while she was passed out in Stiles’ bed. She shook her head. “No way.”

“An alpha pack. And they’re not coming.” Peter clarified. “They’re already here.”

Spencer couldn’t believe it. What was going on with her? How did she know that before she was told about them? Spencer put a hand against the door frame to keep herself from falling over. Her other hand flew to her head as the dream replayed again. “This can’t be happening.” Spencer gasped.

“Spencer?” Isaac asked, catching her. “What’s wrong?”

Spencer looked to Derek. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I - ” Derek went to answer, but Peter cut him off.

“As much as I wanna help Jackson, I can’t be a part of these marital spats. And your student is here.” Peter smirked and quickly ran from the property.

Spencer groaned as she saw Lydia’s car slowly pull forward, parking next to Derek’s.

Both Lydia and Jackson climbed out of the car.

Jackson sauntered over standing between Derek and the others. “So, are we doing this, or what?”

Spencer nodded, pursing her lips. “We’re doing this. Get inside.” She ordered, turning the knob on the door and pushing it open.

Jackson nodded and stepped up onto the porch, slowly entering the house. He stopped at the door. “Graffiti.” Jackson pointed out. “That’s sucks.”

Spencer shook her head. “Just get in the house.” All of them filed in and Spencer looked to Lydia. “Were there any outbursts last night?”

Lydia furrowed her brow. “Outbursts?”

“Was there any point in the night where Jackson almost ripped your head off?” Spencer re-worded.

Lydia shook her head. “No, there wasn’t.” She was still lost about what was going on with werewolves and kanimas, but she was trying to keep up.

“Good.” Derek said, joining Spencer at her side, crossing his arms. “That means you’ve got most of your control down. So you should be able to shift.”

Jackson raised an eyebrow, catching on. “What now?”

Spencer nodded. “Now, pretty boy.”

After a few moments of concentration and silence, Jackson was able to shift into his werewolf form. The studied his claws, still taking it all in.

“Now,” Spencer continued, “Come at me.”

Jackson snorted a laugh. “Are you serious?”

Spencer stepped towards him into the middle of the room, avoiding the hole that once held Peter. “As a heart attack.”

Jackson shook his head. “I can’t do that. I could kill you.”

“I wouldn’t underestimate her.” Isaac warned Jackson.

Spencer glanced to Isaac, then back to Jackson.

“I’ve hurt you before.” Jackson reminded her.

Spencer laughed. “I’m well aware. And you’ll get what’s coming to you for that. But then, you were a big, bad kanima. You’ve never been in control of yourself. So…” She held her arms out to her sides. “Show me what you’ve got.”

Jackson shook his head, but stepped forward anyway. He swiped at her with his claws.

Spencer managed to stop each try by hitting the palms of her hands against his forearms. “C’mon, Jackson, you can do better than that.”

Jackson lowered his hits, trying to get at her stomach, but Spencer grabbed his wrist, throwing him on the ground and putting her foot to his neck.

“Jackson!” Lydia shouted.

Jackson coughed at the pressure on his throat.

“Red, stop.” Derek ordered.

Spencer dropped Jackson’s arm and back up to the foyer.

Derek followed after her. “What was that about?”

“You should have told me about them.” Spencer insisted.

“I was planning to.”

“When? When it was too late? When they were already here?”

“After the kanima was gone.” Derek told her.

“Then you should have said something last night.”

“I couldn’t.” Derek shook his head. “You were just so...calm. I didn’t want to ruin that.”

Spencer scoffed.

“But I saw how you were. With the kanima last night. It was like you were a different person. Some sort of warrior I never expected you to be.”

“Don’t even lie, Derek. You knew what I’d be when you changed me. That’s what you wanted!”

Derek disagreed. “That’s not - ”

“I need to go. I need to get out of here.” Spencer rushed out of the house.

“Don’t tell them.” Derek stressed as she ran from the property.

Spencer assumed she meant Stiles and Scott. Mostly because those were the only people she would ever run to. Once she made it to the main road, Spencer pulled out her phone to dial Stiles’ number.

“Is everything okay?” Stiles asked when he answered.

“What are you two doing?” Spencer answered with a question.

“Going to the lacrosse field to practice. Why?”

“Would you mind making a detour and picking me up?”