Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1

Gently pulling back the draw string, Lydia took a deep breath and released the arrow. Watching the projectile fly past and completely miss the target. Groaning, she slumped to the ground, tossing her bow away.

“Your trying too hard” A voice said behind her causing her to jump skittishly. “Allison!” she snapped. Getting to her feet and turning to glare at her best friend who also happened to be her adoptive sister.

“What? I’m just say.” she said with a shrug going over to pick up the discarded bow. “Says the girl who never misses” Lydia muttered under her breath.

“I’ve had a lot of practice.” Allison pointed out. “Your family took me in when I was only 9 and I am still not as good as you and no matter how much I practice that’s never going to change” Lydia said.

Lydia never spoke about her life, before the Argents found her that day in the woods 8 years ago, she had been a lost little 7-year-old girl whose family had been slaughtered by werewolves right before her eyes. She should have died that day, but the Argents had taken her in and had adopted her as one of their own.

The Argents came from a long line of werewolf hunters. Their daughter Allison Argent was the next in line, for head of the clan and even though Chris Argent loved her like a daughter, Lydia would never be as good as Allison.

Trudging through the forest, Allison close behind on her heels. They made their way back towards the camp. Lately due to the recent string of werewolf attacks Allison’s dad has been sending out parties to scower the areas for any signs of werewolves in the vicinity.

Seeing the trees begin to thin out they came upon a clearing, with tents set up, barbed wire around the whole perimeter and men at every post.

Standing in front of a table talking in a low voice was Chris Argents, papers scattered around the table, with red circles along the areas that had already been covered.

“Allison, Lydia so good of you to join us” Chris said without even glancing up. “hey dad, listen…” “Don’t want to hear your excuses Allison. I told you not to venture out of the compound, not for any reason” He said.

“It was my fault. I was just practicing…” Cutting Lydia off he slammed his hands onto the table. “I don’t care if either of you have a million excuses. Have you forgotten Allison that someday you’re going to take over as head of all this” He said waving his hands around to emphasize.

“I can’t afford to have you making mistakes or worse getting yourself killed. Go to your tents we’re done talking” He said waving both girls off. Dragging Allison away before she could say anything else Lydia sighed heavily. “At least we got off easy. I thought it was going to be much worse” She said grinning at Allison.

“I’m glad you find this so amusing” Allison grumbled. Lifting the tent up and walking into their small living space. Collapsing onto her cot, Lydia groaned. “Allison, you really need to learn how to work your father or we’re never going to be allowed to leave this camp ever again”

“I really wish that he would trust me. I’m not that little girl anymore” Allison huffed.

“Well, not since you lost your v card to Isaac, you aren’t” Lydia giggled. Grabbing the pillow closest to her, Allison wacked her best friend in the face. “What? I’m just saying, speaking of which how are things going with pretty boy” She said effectively changing the topic.

“I don’t know” Allison groaned covering her face with her hands. “He’s great and all don’t get me wrong and a pretty good kisser but most of the time he’s just….”

“Dull, I believe the word your looking for is dull” Lydia said. “Yea, like you have a vast experience in dating. I believe your longest relationship was Jackson and all you did was kiss” Allison pointed out.

“Which means you still have your v card” Allison teased. “So, as for the whole experience thing. I would say that I automatically win” she said with a grin.

“Only because you cheated” Lydia shot back. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure it will happen to you one day” Allison said. Patting her head in sympathy. Rolling away, she glared. Flickering off the oiled lamp and almost instantly falling into a dreamless sleep.

A scream woke her up in the middle of the night, gasping she sat up in bed, drenched in sweat and breathing rapidly. “Allison?” she croaked glancing over towards her best friend and nudging her, “Allison wake up” she pleaded.

“What? Lydia” Allison mumbled rubbing at her eyes sleepily. “I think I heard someone screaming” Lydia whispered wetting her dry lips. “It’s probably just a dream. Go back to sleep, okay?” She said. Laying back down and pulling the covers over her head.

“I’m going to go check it out” She whispered. Throwing the covers off her body and scrambling out of bed. “Seriously” Allison hissed. Stumbling out of bed and following Lydia.

“Ya know, I think I’m starting to rub off on you. I’m usually the one who goes out and does crazy things that could potentially get us killed not the other way around”

“You don’t have to come” Lydia said. Creeping through the camp so as not to disturb anyone. “What? And miss all the fun” Allison laughed before quickly covering her mouth and looking around to see if anyone had heard.

“If you’re just going to get us caught maybe you should go back”

“No, no. I’m good” Allison whispered.

“Then shut up” Lydia said strutting forwards.

“I just have one more…”

“Nope” Lydia said cutting her off.

“But you haven’t even heard what I was going to say” Allison said. “Don’t care it’s probably stupid anyway”

“I was just going to say that we don’t have any weapons on us so, potentially going out into the forest where there could be werewolves lurking around is all kinds of stupid” Pausing, she mentally cursed Allison. Damn she’s right, Lydia thought.

“Fine, go back and get what we need” She said watching Allison run off.

Heading back into the forest deciding not to wait for Allison. She would catch up in a minute anyway. It was pitch black now the sun having set hours ago, and she couldn’t see a damn thing.

“Maybe, I should have waited for Allison” she muttered low under her breath. A twig snapping behind her caused her to freeze. “Allison?” she whispered. Hoping that she would get a response back.

Hot breath hit the back of her neck and she could feel a single drop of sweat sliding down her forehead. Turning slowly, she was met with a pair of piercing red eyes and suddenly she was running almost tripping over her own feet as the beast barreled after her.

“Allison!” she screamed not caring if anyone else heard considering she was about to be monster chow. Stumbling through the dark her palms sweaty and her heart racing in her chest. A click beneath her right foot caused her to freeze and suddenly a steel jaw trap snapped around her ankle and that’s the moment she let out a blood curdling scream of pain.

Clutching her leg in agony she howled. Feeling the tears streaming down her face as she sucked in a deep breath. Reaching out to try to pry the jaw apart she let out a hoarse scream the second she moved the jaw even a little. Taking deep breaths, she closed her eyes. Opening them, she noticed that the beast that had been chasing her was surprisingly gone.

Squeezing her eyes shut she began to count to ten inside her head to block out the pain and pray that Allison would get here fast before she blacked out. “Wow, walked into one of your own traps and here I thought hunters were smart” A voice from the shadows said causing her to jump.

Footsteps came closer through the dark and suddenly a boy emerged, bathed in moonlight his eyes flashing blue for only a second he couldn’t have been more than a few years older than her and there was no doubt in Lydia’s mind, he was a werewolf.

“Quite the predicament you’ve got yourself in, haven’t you” He said crouching down, flicking the steel jaw trap. Hissing in pain she jerked which only caused more pain.

“So, what now? You going to kill me” She said through gritted teeth as she was on the verge of passing out. “I’m sorry? You seem to have mistaken me for some sort of barbarian” he said.

“You’re a werewolf” she hissed.

“Nice deduction Nancy drew, you come up with that one all on your own. Here let me give it a shot. Human, judging by the smell, seems to hate my guts, and knows that I’m a werewolf. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say…. Hunter. I’m right, aren’t I? Do I get a prize for guessing the correct answer?”

“No, but you get a silver arrow through your skull” A voice said from behind him and a smile slowly stretched across Lydia’s face, Allison. She always did have impeccable timing.

“I don’t know Scott, what do you think? Do I get a silver arrow through the skull?” The boy said standing up and not even glancing behind him.

“I’d say today’s your lucky day” A voice said behind Allison. Whirling, Allison let out a gasp as the bow was ripped from her hands and effectively tossed aside. A boy, Scott stood looming over her.

“What happens now?” Lydia said. Her eyes fluttering and she looked about to keel over, her face a stark white, sweating profusely and she had never experienced pain like this before in her entire life.

“Stiles?” Scott asked. Raising his eyebrows at the other boy.

“What the hell is a Stiles?” Lydia murmured. Black dots appearing at the edge of her vision. “That would be me” The boy in front of her said. Kneeling and ripping the steel jaw trap apart.

She barely had time to cry out before the world tilted as she fell, finally blacking out.

Waking up on the cold stone ground her back ached and she could feel pain radiating from her right ankle in extreme waves. “Allison?” she croaked. Trying to raise her head but she felt sluggish and weak.

Feeling a hand on her forehead she turned and felt her best friend kneeling next to her. “Where are we?” Lydia whispered. Trying to turn her head to see their surroundings which was difficult when she could barely move.

“Don’t know some kind of underground cell, I think” Allison whispered back.

“That’s a pretty good interpretation, you figure that one out all by yourself” A voice said coming out of the dark. Stiles, the boy from before.

“What do you want with us?” Allison said. Standing up to glare at him, the boy smirked as he came closer.

“Want with you? We don’t want anything but you both are useful bargaining chips that could end this war.”

“End this war? This war will never end, your killers and monsters and Chris Argent will never negotiate with you” Lydia said. Her voice coming out slightly delirious.

“You don’t know anything, your kind of clueless, you know that?” Stiles said.

“If Lydia doesn’t get help she’s going to die, she’s already started getting an infection” Allison said. Grabbing the bars and trying to reason with him. “And isn’t that just a shame, one more hunter dead. Compared to the thousands your kind has killed of mine.”

“But you do have a point, if the hostage dies then there is no point in negotiations. I’ll have Deaton look after her” He said. Turning on his heels about to stalk off Lydia called after him.

“If you’re not the bad guys then why have bodies been turning up all around our campsite and on a full moon no less” she panted feeling the urge to lie down and go to sleep.

“That is the question, isn’t it?” he muttered low under his breath.

“That’s not an answer” she snapped feeling her aggravation coming back. “Well, that’s as good as your going to get sweetheart” he said finally disappearing up the stairs.

“We are so screwed” Allison whispered in the dark.

“Yea, something like that” Lydia agreed.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

Closing her eyes, she lay her head against Allison’s lap and prayed that help would come soon. She doubted it, more than likely no one even knew where she was. They were all alone.

Light came from the doorway and she opened her eyes to see the boy Scott standing there, shuffling back and forth awkwardly on his feet. “I…uh...I… thought you might like a blanket, it gets kind of cold down here.” He said his voice coming out soft and boyish.

“My friend needs medical attention” Allison said giving the boy a death glare that made him shrink in fear.

“Stiles has already contacted Deaton he’s our healer” Scott said in a rush fidgeting from Allison’s glare. “What kind of name is Stiles” Lydia mused. Her voice coming out weak and soft.

“You must be cold” Scott said in a rush avoiding the question as he went to the bars sliding the blankets through. His fingertips brushing Allison’s causing her to jerk back fast like she had been burned.

Gently placing the blanket over Lydia to shield her from the cold. “Do you need anything, I mean are you ok, I can get you something” Scott blurted his words coming out in a rush.

“How about you let us leave” Allison bit out and Lydia watched as Scotts face began to fall. He almost looked like a kicked puppy and just for a second Lydia thought she saw Allison look almost sad, well she always was too nice for her own good.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible at the moment” A voice said from the doorway and Lydia glanced up to see an older man standing there, probably in his mid-thirties.

“At least, not on that leg” He said going to unlock the cell door as he stepped through and knelt on the ground.

“This looks bad, you’re lucky though it could have been a lot worse”

“Yea, I feel real lucky” Lydia snapped. Her aggravation beginning to grow. “All right, shall we get started” He said ignoring her.

After he had fixed her up as best he could surprisingly Lydia found that the leg didn’t hurt as much as it previously had and she had to wonder if it was voodoo medicine.

The door to the cellar, because that was pretty much what Lydia assumed they were being held in, opened. Standing at the top was Stiles as he made his eye down the steps he went over to the cell and opened the door.

“Let’s go” He said.

“Where are, we going?” Allison asked as she helped her pseudo sister up. Leaning against her Lydia slowly made her way out of the cell.

“You don’t ask the question, you just follow” He said. Grabbing Lydia by the arm and almost dragging her up the stairs.

“Hey! What are you doing? Stop!” Allison yelled as he continued to ignore her. “Your friend’s too slow and I don’t have a lot of time to waste” He said in reply.

“I’ll show you slow just wait till I’m healed and you’ll find out what it’s like to not have children” Lydia muttered darkly.

“Aww your so cute when your pretending to be serious” Stiles teased only to earn a death glare from the strawberry blonde.

“Please just give me something, anything to hit this smug bastard with” She muttered low under her breath.

“I’m a werewolf you know, I can hear you” he said glancing at her sideways. “Good, maybe I want you to hear” She said letting out a huff.

“And maybe I really wanna push you down the stairs” He said grinning at her.

“I feel like you’re enjoying this” She said with narrowed eyes.

“Oh, believe me, I am” He said and she could hear the laughter in his voice.

Walking along the gravel covered ground they fell into an uncomfortable silence and Lydia could feel the stares of every werewolf as they walked by, feeling Allison brush against her she grabbed her best friends hand for support and gently Allison squeezed it for comfort and she felt her anxiety lesson knowing that Allison was with her.

“Stiles!” A voice yelled causing them to freeze as Scott came running towards them, tripping, and nearly plowing into Allison in the process. “Whoa” he said grabbing her shoulders to steady himself and Lydia could see Allison tensing.

“Sorry” He said grinning at her. “For a werewolf, you are extremely clumsy” Allison mused and Lydia could swear she saw a small seep onto her best friend’s face, now she was really imagining things there was no way that Allison would ever like a werewolf she hated them as much as Lydia.

“Stiles is clumsier!” Scott yelled startling them. “And he’s usually nicer but he really doesn’t like hunters, so if he said anything to offend you I’ll apologize on his behalf”

“It’s hard to believe that sour wolf over hear can get any nicer than he has already been” Lydia gushed the sarcasm dripping from her voice. Something she said must have been funny because the next thing she knew Stiles burst out laughing clutching his stomach.

“What? Did I say something funny or did I just miss a very bad joke” She said crossing her arms to glare at Stiles.

“No princess, I’m not the sour wolf in this pack” He said grinning and now he was really starting to scare her. She preferred the grumpy stiles. It made him seem less human.\

“Let’s go, Derek wants to talk to them” He said laughing a little when he said Derek’s name, like it was joke.

Stiles began dragging her again and she was really beginning to feel like a puppet, being pulled by invisible strings. Arriving at the large house on the end, Stiles knocked once before barging in.

“Hey sour wolf you home” He yelled and that was the moment that she finally got why he had been laughing at her.

“Stiles how many times have I told you not to barge in without permission” A voice said from the dark.

“Hey, I knocked. What more do you want from me?” Stile said. Letting out a snort.

“How about some decency” He growled.

“Ooh, sorry. I think we’re all out of that” Stiles said.

“Allison” Lydia whispered leaning over. “Yea?” Allison hissed looking between both werewolves.

“Did we somehow wind up in a gay werewolf erotica novel?” She whispered and Allison let out a squeak covering her mouth to suppress the laughter waiting to explode, it didn’t matter though because them being werewolves they heard it anyway.

“Oh, yea” Stiles said jerking her in front of him. “Better watch out with this one, she thinks she’s real funny” He said squeezing her arm and making her wince.

“So, basically a female you, great” He said rolling his eyes. Going over to the table, despite how much she hated it Lydia had to lean against Stiles as she hobbled over to the chair.

Allison followed Scott and watched as he pulled the chair back. “A gentleman, I guess not all werewolves are pigs” Allison said smiling softly at Scott as she sat down.

“Hey!” Stiles and Derek yelled simultaneously. “Nice one” Lydia said high fiving Allison.

“It’s like there not even afraid of us” Derek said.

“News flash we aren’t, it’s kind of our job not to be afraid of you, we wouldn’t be very good hunters if we cowered at the sight of a couple of pansy wolfs” Lydia said.

“you’re not going to be saying that for long, you forget, you’re the hostage’s and we hold all the power over Chris Argent and once he agrees to our demands…”

“Hunters don’t agree to demands! No matter who it is. Even if it’s the leader himself. We’re not giving you monsters anything!” Lydia yelled as Derek’s temper sky rocketed.
Letting out a roar his eyes flashed red as he stood up and the table fell knocking her back and out of the chair. Crying out as she landed on her bad leg, the pain flaring up. clutching her leg, she doubled over squeezing her eyes so as not to cry. She would never give any werewolf the satisfaction of that.

“Derek that’s enough” A voice yelled, surprisingly Stiles. Feeling a hand on her ankle she opened her eyes surprised to see Stiles kneeling. Gently touching her ankle in a soft touch and suddenly the pain began to leave her dissipating as if it was never there.

She could see his eyes scrunching up as if he was in pain, but she didn’t exactly know what was happening.

Finally snapping out of her daze, she jerked. “Don’t touch me” She yelled glaring at him. “You are so stubborn! You think werewolves are monsters but you don’t even know us” He shouted.

“I know you plenty enough, I’ve seen what you do first hand. I don’t need to know you”

“you’re just taking it on face value that we’re killers, you humans are such hypocrites” He said bitterly.

“Don’t talk to her like that” Allison yelled.

“All right, that is…” A siren broke out, cutting Derek off.

“What’s wrong? What’s happening?” Lydia said. Trying to stand up but nearly falling over.

“Someone’s breached the perimeters” Derek whispered. “It’s probably Chris Argent trying to get his daughter back” Stiles said pulling back the curtains to pear outside.

“No” Derek breathed. “Something doesn’t feel right” He whispered.

Dread began to fill Lydia and she couldn’t help but feel like something very bad was about to happen, it was the same unmistakable dread that had filled her when she had woken up to that scream several hours ago.

“Something bad is about to happen” she whispered and of this she was certain of.