Brother || Teen Wolf

Chapter 52 - Eye Opener

Convincing Derek Hale to spare an enemy life was tremendously difficult, as Scott came to learn in the Argent family's silent basement. Heavy chains were at his feet, the shackles pried open by his own hands as he had torn them away from Derek's wrists, and the unnerving sound of droplets of water falling into a puddle threatened to drive him closer to insanity with every passing moment. Dealing with a hard-headed beast in this setting was madness, yet Scott forced himself to remain in place, right where his enemies could find him. He needed the looming presence of the hunters to make Derek see.

From the piled weapons in a corner of the room, to the sharp daggers neatly aligned on a nearby table, everything in the room represented a threat to anyone with a tendency to become slightly hairier every time the moon was full. Danger was everywhere around them, and it had been there for a long time. It had taken Scott quite some time to understand what was going on behind the scenes, to see the gears shifting behind the seemingly unrelated incidents that had taken place in Beacon Hills. If only he had seen it sooner, maybe he wouldn't have had to witness the betrayed look on Allison's face as she saw him shifted earlier that evening.

Running away from her and her family of hunters, losing himself in his desperate pursuit of a mentor, someone to guide him through one ordeal too many, he had focused all his senses on finding Derek; and when his nose led him straight to the Argent home, he understood. It was them, it had been all along.

The Argents may not be responsible for the revenge that ensued, but seeing the spark of insanity that danced in Kate's eyes back in the school parking lot, Scott had little to no doubt she had been the one to light the match and shove every soul into the Hale house into a blazing hell. The Hale family home was turned to ash by her hand, depriving Derek of his family and Peter, of his sanity. However, as hateful as it had been, the act did not justify Peter's thirst for vengeance in the slightest, especially after Scott had come to question how he became an Alpha in the first place, when Laura had been the one to hold the title.

Alan Deaton disclosed that information to Scott, who had taken it upon himself to share it with Derek in the hopes of making him realize how much of a liar and a psychopath Peter truly was. At first, Derek didn't believe him. He didn't want to listen, too caught up in his habit of throwing himself head first into danger, leaving teenagers to clean after his mess every time. But this time, Scott hadn't wavered. Derek was weak, barely standing on wobbly legs and washing away the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, and forcing him to stay where Scott wanted him to stay had been almost too easy.

The puppy-eyed teen swallowed hard, bracing himself for the revelation he was about to make. The last clue that proved Peter had ended Laura Hale's life was a simple shape, one that he had drawn in the vicinity of where his other crimes had taken place. A spiral that had been found next to Laura Hale's cold body, and Scott had a picture to prove it.

The crumpled piece of evidence was snatched away from Scott's hands, leaving bruised skin behind. He barely felt it, for his eyes were solely on Derek and the crestfallen expression that fell on his features as he could no longer deny the truth. And thus, another ordeal began for Scott. Derek's alliances changed swiftly, and after arguing for what seemed like months that they should all help Peter, he was rushing outside, determined to kill the very man he had sworn to protect.

Scott was left to run after him, already out of breath and falling behind as Derek reached the edge of the woods. His injuries were long forgotten, and although his entire body still screamed in agony, anger was a powerful fuel and he had plenty of it. The older wolf only slowed down once he had reached his destination, a place he and Peter knew all too well, and that Scott had come to dread even more each time he came near. The ominous ruin of the Hale house was in sight, its dusty smell reaching Scott's nostrils and entering his lungs. It was the place where it all started, and it was the place where it would all end.