Escape

Olivia didn’t know why she was still with Theo, she didn’t know why she couldn’t just walk away… well that wasn’t entirely true. She knew exactly why she stayed… why she put up with the bruises and the pain. Her pack. The pack were the most important people in her life and if putting up with Theo’s abuse would keep them out of harm’s way, then she would keep up the façade.

Standing at her locker sorting out her books, Oliva let out a squeal and tensed as someone wrapped their arms around her waist from behind. Relaxing as warmth washed through her, she closed her locker door with a loud bang and turned as whoever it was let her go.

“What’s going on, Skittles?” Jackson asked as they headed towards the cafeteria.

“Nothing,” Olivia replied with a shrug, keeping her gaze on the ground and hoping that she’d been successful at covering up her lie, “Why do you ask?”

“You haven’t been to a single pack meeting in nearly three weeks, the pack hardly see you in school and you tensed under my touch as if you were scared of what I was going to do,” Jackson explained, stopping her before they entered the crowded cafeteria and looking at her, “Everyone is worried… I’m worried.”

“There’s nothing to worry about,” Olivia reassured him with a small smile, hearing someone call her name and turning around to see Theo making his way towards them, “I’ve got to go.”

“You’re still coming over tonight to work on our English project though, right?” Jackson inquired as Theo reached them.

“Of course.”

“Good, I’ll meet you out by my car after school,” Jackson said, ignoring Theo’s glare and hugging Olivia before heading into the Cafeteria.

“What was that about?” Theo asked as soon as Jackson was gone.

“We were just discussing our English project,” Olivia lied as she pushed open the cafeteria doors, “It needs to be finished by the end of the month and we haven’t even decided on what book we want to base it on yet.”

Grabbing herself some food, Olivia glanced over at the pack’s usual table and felt sadness wash over her. She missed them, she missed listening to Stiles’ chatter and the way she would cuddle with Isaac during the pack’s weekly movie night… but most of all she missed Derek.

The rest of the school day went by slowly, but finally the bell rang and Olivia headed out to meet Jackson. Making her way across the car park, Olivia spotted Derek’s black Camaro and watched as it drove off.

“You ready to go?” Jackson inquired as she reached him, snapping her from her thoughts and earning a nod in response, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Olivia said as she fastened her seat belt, but the truth was that nothing in her life was okay and it all started when Theo arrived in Beacon Hills, “Hay Jax, is there a pack meeting tonight?”

“Wow, it’s been a while since you’ve called me that,” Jackson replied with a smile, “There is a pack meeting tonight and Derek really wants you to be there, but he said that he would understand if you didn’t want to.”

“Why didn’t he ask me himself?”

“I don’t know,” Jackson told her, but Olivia knew that he was lying and simply stared at him until he continued, “He thinks that you’re regretting choosing to join his pack and, as much as he would kill me for telling you this, he’s hurting.”

“Choosing to join his pack was probably the only good decision I’ve made recently,” Olivia mumbled, running a hand over her face and glancing over at Jackson, “Can we maybe work on our project at the Hale house rather than yours?”

“Sure.”

The duration of the journey over to Derek’s was spent staring out the window and trying to put together an apology in her head, but nothing she thought of seemed to cover everything that she had to be sorry for. Looking up at the house as Jackson brought the car to a stop, Olivia took a deep breath and followed him inside.

As soon as she walked in, she found herself engulfed in a tight hug and smiled as she wrapped her arms around Isaac.

“Hey pup,” Olivia whispered in his ear, causing him to tighten his hold a little and bury his nose in the crook of her neck as he inhaled her scent.

“Welcome home,” Stiles said with a grin from behind Isaac.

“I’m sorry,” Olivia stated, drawing everyone’s attention to her as Isaac let go and returned to the sofa, “I’ve been a really bad friend these past few months and… I have no excuse for the way I’ve been acting.”

“We know why you’ve been acting the way you have,” Scott announced.

“How?”

“I didn’t take a genius to work it out,” Stiles told her, “I know you Liv and I know that this pack means the world to you, why didn’t you tell us what was going on?”

“I didn’t want anyone to get hurt… at the time, it seemed like my only option was to play along and then as more time passed it was just easier to pretend,” Olivia explained, noticing the way the wolves tensed and turning around as the door slid open to reveal Theo.

“I have to give you credit, Olivia, you actually had me fooled,” Theo admitted as he entered the house, “For months you’ve been playing me, breaking my rules…”

“I…” Olivia started, falling silent as Theo growled at her and flashed his eyes.

“I don’t want to hear a word from you,” Theo snapped, causing Olivia to flinch and lower her gaze to the ground, “Let’s go.”

Knowing better than to argue with him, Olivia obediently stepped forward and glanced back as someone grabbed her arm. Meeting Jackson’s eyes, Olivia felt her heart clench at the pleading look in his eye and hugged him as a deep, guttural snarl broke through the silence.

“What’s going on?” came Derek’s voice from behind her, “What’s he doing here?”

“Nothing,” Theo replied, moving over to Olivia and pulling her away from Jackson, “We were just leaving.”

“Let her go,” Derek warned as the rest of the pack got to their feet.

“I think you’ll find that she’s with me, if you don’t believe me then ask her…” Theo stated, glaring at Derek, “Now, get out of the way, Hale.”

“Liv?” Derek added, ignoring Theo and turning his attention to Olivia, “You don’t have to go with him, but it’s your choice…”

“I…” Olivia mumbled, feeling Theo’s claws digging into her skin and ripping her arm out of his grip, “I want to stay.”

Stepping up beside her, Derek flashed his alpha eyes and growled as Theo flashed his own back at Derek in challenge. Throwing Olivia one final look, Theo turned and left without another word. Spotting blood trickling down her arm, Olivia headed into the kitchen and retrieved the first aid kit from under the sink.

“Here let me do it,” Derek offered, motioning for her to sit down and laying out what he would need on the side.

“Thank you,” Olivia said, causing Derek to look up from what he was doing with a frown, “You could have just let us go…”

“No, I couldn’t have,” Derek interrupted, focusing on cleaning up Olivia’s arm and continuing, “You’re not just pack, Liv…”

“I don’t regret choosing to join your pack, Der… I’ve never regretted that and the things I’ve done recently weren’t done to hurt you, they were done to protect everything you’ve built. The idea of you losing everything you hold close again… I couldn’t watch you go through that.”

“You should come to me,” Derek told her softly, “We could have figured it out together.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You don’t have to apologise, I’m just glad that you’re here,” Derek replied with a smile, bandaging her arm and pulling her into a hug.