Chapter 23: Lunar Eclipse part 2

Scott was on his motorcycle riding alongside Allison's car as she was driving herself and Isaac into the woods. When they got out of the building, they didn't spare any moment to talk about what had just happened. They just went for the car and bike and just took off. Scott skidded his bike to a stop and Allison stopped the car when they reached the meeting point.

"You okay?" Allison asked as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"I didn't know what to say to him. I couldn't come up with anything but, what you did, it was awesome," he laughed out.

But Isaac came over to them with a sour look on his face as he looked down at his phone. "I still haven't got anything back from Stiles, you?" he asked sobering Scott up.

He checked his phone and saw that there was nothing from Stiles with him either. "I don't get it."

"Alright, well, we can't wait for him. Come on."

Isaac then took off into the woods and Allison was right behind him. Scott just stared at his phone and looked at the blank and dark road. He didn't understand, they had been delayed but somehow got their first? Scott tried to sniff for Stiles' scent but he couldn't pick it up. Actually, he couldn't pick up anything beyond the surrounding trees. He then looked up and saw that the eclipse had begun. They were beginning to lose their powers…and when the moon was fully darkened, they would be completely without them.

The three of them went to the overlook where they saw that there seemed to be a storm approaching from a distance.

"Cutting it a little close, aren't you Scott?"

They turned around and saw Deucalion beginning to walk out towards them, by himself.

"We got a little delayed," Scott tried to explain to him. "Where are the others?"

"Occupying themselves with…other pursuits."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "So, it's just you and me against her?"

"Oh, I think you'd be surprised what a good team we'd make." He then tilted his head. "Curious though…I would've expected there to be someone else with you. Where's your little friend Stiles?"

Scott's jaw tightened a bit. "Occupying himself with other pursuits," he said back at him.

That made Deucalion let out a small amused chuckle. "Come now Scott, you think that putting a little distance between the two of us will stop what's to come? You're smarter than that, despite what others might say."

Scott glared a bit at him before he looked over and leaned in close to Isaac. "Look, find Stiles and get to the root cellar. We'll keep Jennifer away long enough for you to get them out of there."

"How are you going to do that?" Isaac asked him.

"I have a plan."

Deucalion's back was turned to them as he looked out in the forest. His own powers were starting to wane due to the eclipse. But he was still able to pick up the scents in a good radius from where he was. Not too far from them, he could smell fresh blood, and the scent of a werewolf. That must be Stiles, but, he curiously picked up another scent. Something that smelled much like…actually, he didn't know if he actually could describe the scent. It was as if it was nothing, but was still something. It wasn't like anything he had ever encountered before. But, he put his glasses on. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Not when he was so close to achieving the perfection he craved for.

Derek and Cora quickly got back to the loft and then rushed on inside as they could smell a lot of fresh blood inside. They yanked the door open and froze at the sight. On the floor laid Kali, dead. Her body skewered with many shards of glass. Not too far away laid the Twins, in their fused form, motionless. In the center of the room stood Jennifer, completely calm and at ease. Lydia was crutched down in a corner, whimpering as she let loose tears of terror. Cora ran over to her while Derek stayed and stared Jennifer down.

"You did this, for me?" Derek asked her.

"I did this for us," she said taking a step towards him. "For anyone who's ever been their victim."

But Derek lost it and began to bare down on her. "Stop talking to me like a politician! Stop trying to convince me of your cause!"

"Fine!" she spat back. "I convince you of someone else's. Scott." That made him stop but still glare at her. "You can save his mother, Stiles' father."

"How?!" he cut in.

"I need a guardian. That's a role that could be filled in by the three parents I was forced to take, or by you."

"I can't help you. I'm not even an Alpha anymore."

"All I need is for you to help me get Deucalion in the right place at the right time."

"You just killed three of them on your own," he said giving Kali and the Twins' bodies another look. "What do you need me for?"

"You haven't seen Deucalion at his strongest. I have and if he has Scott with him then I don't stand a chance."

"Derek, don't trust her," Cora spat at him.

But Cora turned to look over at her. "Actually, you should really be pushing for your brother to trust me Cora. Especially if you want Stiles to live after today," she said giving her a pointed look.

"What are you talking about?" Lydia asked in a low voice.

"I'm sure you saw it Lydia. I felt it. Yesterday afternoon when you helped keep Stiles from shifting against his will. His power is almost to the surface. The Beast is about to emerge. Right now, the eclipse is keeping it back but when it ends, the Beast in Stiles will be unleashed. And Deucalion will move in to take his chance and ascend from a Demon Wolf to the Devil. If we don't stop him before then, none of us will stand a chance." She then looked at Derek. "The eclipse will work in my favor but the moon will only be fully immersed in Earth's shadow for fifteen minutes. That's the extent of my window. If you want to save the parents, Stiles and Scott, then you'll help me."

Derek turned to look from Jennifer to his sister and Lydia, who were looking at him with bated breath. He hated to admit it, but Jennifer had a point. He looked back at Jennifer and lowered his gaze submissively. Cora watched as her brother took off with her leaving the two of them alone with the bodies.

Cora moved to get Lydia to stand up with her. "Okay, Lydia come on. We have to go and get help."

"From who?" she cried out.

Cora found herself about to cry as well. "I don't know but we can't stay here." But before they could leave they heard movement behind them. The two girls looked back and saw that the Twins had separated into two again. They ran over to them with Lydia going to Aiden and Cora going to Ethan. Cora dimming senses were able to pick up a heartbeat from the two of them. "They're alive," she realized.

Lydia then looked over at her. "I know where we have to go then."

The weather in the woods was getting worse. The wind was blowing harder and the moon's light was beginning to dim as it became more shrouded in shadow. Allison and Isaac were trudging through this bad weather and heading deeper into the woods.

"Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" he finally asked her after fifteen minutes.

"I know we're near it," she said as she didn't stop. "Can you pick up a scent?"

Isaac shook his head. "I'm trying but I-" He froze. "I hear something…it's an emitter. One of your dad's."

"Are you sure?" Allison asked him desperately.

"It has to be," he said before grabbing her hand and running off with her towards it. The sound was faint and knew that there wasn't much time before he lost track of it when the eclipse was complete.

They ran, through the wind, trees and lightning with Isaac trying to hold on to the sound of the emitter. Their eyes widened when they spotted it dead ahead. The tree stump. The Nemeton.

"Okay," Allison said through the storm. "The cellar has to be around here."

Isaac looked around and spotted the doors. "Allison," he said as he pointed it out to her.

They ran over and pulled the doors open, and then jumped on in. However, the ground near them was starting to break apart. Allison got to the bottom landing where she quickly found her father tied to the support beam right next to her. Isaac's eyes were drawn to him and then to Melissa and the Sheriff tied not too far away. He ran to Melissa while Allison went to her father.

"Oh thank god," she cried as she dropped down next to him.

He smiled as she knelt in front of him. "You found us," he said in a small but content tone.

"Where's Stiles?" The Sherriff quickly asked them. "Where's my son?"

"And Scott?" Melissa cried out.

"They're coming," Isaac told them as he tried to get the ropes off Melissa. He would've used his claws to cut them apart but he couldn't bring them out. The eclipse was close to being complete and most of his power had been tapped. "They're on their way to help." But them the roof fully caved in and dirt and rocks started to quickly pour into the cellar. Outside, the wind picked up and the storm got even worse. They then pulled on the ropes faster and soon they were all coming loose. "Hurry!" Isaac yelled out as more of the cellar was caving in.

"Let's go!" Chris said as he got to his feet.

"I'm out," Melissa said as she got the last of the ropes off of her.

"Alright, let's get out of here!" The sheriff cried out.

Yet before they could move any further, the stairs fully collapsed cutting off their only way to escape.

Scott and Deucalion were slowly approaching the distillery that Gerard had told Scott about. The one where Derek had taken Paige and where Gerard and Deucalion went for their failed peace talks. Scott could see the spiral for vendetta still carved into the steel wall.

"You said you had a plan?" Deucalion calmly asked him.

"My first day in class, Jennifer sent all of us a message. It was the last line of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I have a message of my own to send."

Jennifer was making her way into the woods with Derek alongside her as they were moving for the Nemeton. Jennifer checked her phone and brought up a countdown she made until the moon would be fully eclipsed when she got a video message. She narrowed her eyes when she saw that it was from Scott. She then moved to open it and found herself staring at a spiral.

"You see this symbol?" Scott's voice rang out drawing Derek to look at the image as well. "It's a symbol of revenge." Then Scott moved to be in the video. "You talk about balance, about saving people but we know what you really want. Now you know where to find us."

Jennifer's eyes became focused as Derek's eyes went solemn. He wondered just what Scott thought he was doing.

Cora pulled the van up to the clinic and helped with carrying both of the twins inside and putting them on the tables that Deaton had gotten ready when Lydia called him. Both of the Twins were motionless as blood slowly poured from their noses and mouths.

"Can you save them?" Cora asked Deaton. She was surprised that she was actually trying to save the Twins after everything that happened. But, right now, Jennifer was the threat. She took her brother and was trying to kill all the others, including Stiles and his father. If saving them worked against that witch then she would be happy to do it.

Deaton shook his head. "Only if they start healing on their own." He knew thought that with the eclipse almost complete, it would be all down to chance. Deaton was rushed off to do what he can to reset the Twins' broken necks and ready their bodies to heal.

Lydia looked down at Aiden's still form and began to pray that it would work out. Too many people were lost already, she didn't want to lose more.

The eclipse was over half way done as Scott and Deucalion were still waiting in the distillery for Jennifer to arrive. The only sounds they had for company were those of the wind hitting against the walls making it echo through the empty building. Then a shadow was forming through the fog blowing at the entrance. They watched as it then split to two. Jennifer and Derek then fully came to sight.

Scott's face fell seeing Derek standing with her. "What are you doing?" he asked.

Derek caught Scott's eyes. "This may be hard to believe but, I'm actually trying to help you save your parents. And your best friend. What are you doing?"

But Scott just stayed silent and didn't answer him.

"Oh, brother against brother," Deucalion said as he looked over at Scott. "How very…American." He then unfolded his walking stick. "Are you ready Jennifer?" He threw it to the side as he then started to take his jacket off. "Did you gather your herbs?" he asked mockingly. "Pray to your ancient gods and your oak trees? Slit a baby's throat perhaps?" He then started to advance towards her as his tone went harder. "Should we show them why you needed to sacrifice nine innocent people just to face me, or was it twelve?" Deucalion's whole face then shifted into a monstrous version of a werewolf then either Scott or Derek had ever come across before. His red eyes shined as they locked on to Jennifer.

Chris analyzed the staircase and saw no other way to get to the cellar door. But, even if they could, the door looked like it was underneath some debris too. "Blocked," he called out to everyone. He then looked over at Isaac who was on the other side of the cellar. "Anything."

But Isaac shook his head. But then the cellar started to crack even more. "Look out!" he yelled to Allison.

But Allison saw that a huge chunk of the roof was breaking apart above him. "Isaac!" she cried to him.

The sheriff ran over and pulled Isaac back and out of the way. But the shaking was making the cracks travel to where they were all huddled in cover as the support beams were starting to crack themselves. The cellar was fully collapsing. Isaac quickly moved to catch the support but couldn't shift to fully tap into his strength. Only his golden eyes became visible. The eclipse was too close to being complete at this point. He secretly didn't know how long he could hold it.

Deucalion charged for Jennifer but Derek intercepted him. He easily grabbed at Derek's throat but Jennifer moved in to send a burst of power at Deucalion, but it didn't seem to faze him. He just stayed standing firmly holding Derek before he turned to face Jennifer and then grabbed her throat with his other hand. He lifted the two of them up and laughed at the both of them. The two of them then broke free from his grip and dropped down to the ground. Derek got up first and moved to strike at the Alpha but Deucalion easily countered his blow and flipped him off into the air. Jennifer then moved to attack Deucalion but he struck her in the face. He then grabbed her by the throat and dragged her over to Scott who had been watching everything in shock.

"Kill her," Deucalion ordered him. "Do it." Scott just stood there, looking from him to her and Deucalion send a monstrous roar his way. The roar got to Scott and he fell to his knees and then lifted his head to show that he had now shifted. "Now kill her. The parents are dying. That storm you hear, she's burying them alive. It's her connection to the telluric currents. Kill her and it ends. You could save them."

"It won't end," she spat out. "As soon as I'm dead, he'll go and kill your best friend to take his power. He'll then go on and kill everyone you love, everyone that gets in his way. Even you Scott. He will betray you like he betrays everyone."

But Deucalion tightened his grip on her. "You want to save your mother Scott? Save the parents of your best friends. Then kill her and do it now, while there is still time. Become the Alpha that you're meant to be. Become a Killer."

But Scott remembered Deaton's words. Remembered why he was becoming an Alpha in the first place. He raised his eyes at Deucalion. "They're not dead yet."

"And who's going to save them? Your friends?" he asked mockingly.

Scott stood up. His eyes then flared up. "My pack," he said defiantly.

Deucalion then released Jennifer and quickly moved over to Scott and grabbed him by the back of his neck. He then grabbed his wrist and started to pull him forward. "Maybe, you just need a little guidance." He moved them so that they would be standing over Jennifer.

Scott gasped as he then looked over at the monster Alpha. "I forgot to tell you something. Something that Gerard told me. Deucalion isn't always blind." Scott's mind went back to when he had been in Argents' office and saw the flash bolts on the table during his interrogation with his father. When Allison had set off the gas grenade, he had grabbed one of them from the table and pocketed it. He now took it from his pocket and threw it down. The light flashed and Deucalion's infrared sight made the flash blinding.

However, at that moment, high in the sky, the moon became fully eclipsed. Now Scott face was normal and his claws were gone. He looked over and saw that Derek and Deucalion were normal as well.

"The eclipse," Deucalion cried out. "It started."

Scott then looked and saw that Jennifer was missing. "Oh no."

Stiles was laying motionless in the front seat of his wrecked jeep that was spewing steam from its wrecked engine. The cut on his head was still dripping blood as his breathing was faulting. The storm outside was worsening but there was also dark fog entombing his jeep. The hard winds weren't making it dispel or change course. It stayed encircling the Jeep as if it were the eye in a hurricane with the fading light of the moon shining down from above. Slowly but surely, the moon then became fully hidden by the Earth's shadow becoming fully eclipsed. The boy inside was now powerless; human.

Just then, within the dark fog, a fly emerged and flew its way into ruined hood of the jeep and made its way for the air conditioning vents. Soon, the inside of Stiles' jeep began to get filled with a faint buzzing sound. The fly pushed its way inside and then flew for the unconscious teen. Soon, the buzzing stopped and he started to stir. Stiles' eyes slowly started to open as he saw the raging winds tearing their way through the trees. He then grit his teeth and felt the pain shooting through his body. His eyes flew to the window and he saw that the moon was gone. The full eclipse had started and he was now without any of his werewolf powers, but he refused to be powerless. He then reached for the bag next to him and pulled out his back up plan. He stepped out into the woods and ran as hard as he could.

The rumbling intensified and the debris was falling into the cellar faster and harder than before.

"Is it me or is this place getting smaller?" Isaac cried out. The sheriff was now moving to hold the beam as Isaac's arms were giving out now that he was fully human and powerless again. "I can't hold it."

Allison, Chris and Melissa moved to try and help hold it up but it was still collapsing. It seemed like it would fully fall on them when suddenly a bat was moved for the center of it and held it up. Everyone looked up and saw that the hand attached to it was Stiles'.

The sheriff looked at his son and saw that he looked a little ragged, and had a cut on his head, but seemed okay. He then looked over and saw the bat that he had used to support the beam with. "I always said aluminum was better than wood."

That only made Stiles move to hug him. "Well, I knew that without my claws, I might need a little something extra," he chuckled out as he tightened his hold on his father.

But their reunion was cut short when another part of the roof started to collapse and let in debris. Stiles' father looked over at the bat holding the beam as it was now starting to shake in its place.

"That's not going to hold it for long. It's picking up."

"It has to be Jennifer," Allison cried out.

"Is there anything you two can do?" Melissa hurriedly asked them.

But Isaac shook his head. "No. We're both powerless."

"Until the eclipse ends," Chris yelled out. "It should only last for a few more minutes."

But then another part of the cellar started to crack up and debris began flooding in from a new spot forcing all of them to practically squeeze together.

"If we have that long," Stiles spat out.

Scott looked around for Jennifer and his eyes widened when he spotted her, but as a scratched up monstrosity. She was running for him and shrieked inhumanely as she took him and tossed him to the wall. She then went to attack Deucalion. She grabbed him and threw him to the floor where she then started to slam his head against the concrete floor to try and crack his head wide open. She then went and began to brutally beat him.

"Jennifer," Derek cried out making her stop and look at him. "He doesn't know."

"Know what?!" she shrieked at him.

Derek calmly stared at her hideous face. "What you really look like," he said to her softly. That made her look away from him and look down at Deucalion who was gasping in pain on the floor. "He knows the cost of bringing Kali into his pack but he's never seen the prices you paid."

Jennifer then looked back at him as she settled her breathing. "No," she gasped. "No he hasn't." She then knelt down and placed her hands over his eyes.

A moment later, Deucalion started screaming out in pain. It stopped when Jennifer removed her hand and Deucalion opened his eyes. He started blinking them as everything started coming into focus. For the first time in years, he could actually see. Truly see. Both Derek and Scott were looking out in shock at seeing Deucalion, for once, looking lost for words.

But Jennifer stayed resolute. "Turn to me," she said to him. Deucalion just kept looking out, taking in the fact that he now had his vision back. "Turn to me!" she screamed at him. That got Deucalion to slowly turn over to look at Jennifer's hideous face. His eyes widened and he blinked at Jennifer then reverted back to her unscarred self. He then moved to strike at him but she started to get light headed and began to lose her footing. Derek moved in to catch her before she could fall. "What is this?" she gasped.

"Healing him made you weak. Just like healing Cora did to me," he softly explained to her. "You'll have your strength back in just a few minutes."

"Then you do it," she said to him. "Kill him."

But Derek shook his head. "No."

Jennifer narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"It's like my mother used to say: I'm a predator, but I don't have to be a killer." He then moved to tighten his hold on her throat. His posture then turned hostile. "Let them go," he demanded.

But Jennifer moved and pushed Derek away. She then moved to attack him for a moment before she just looked pitiably at him. "Oh Derek," she muttered.

She then stepped away to head back for Deucalion but Derek ran for her again. Jennifer struck at him and kept striking at him ferociously. Derek began to feel a great amount of pain with every blow he took. It was reminiscent of the pain he suffered from Cora and Boyd during the full moon when they were lost in their shift and he was trying not to hurt them. Jennifer wasn't letting up in her assault this time. She wanted nothing to stop her from getting her revenge.

But, outside, the shadow began to pass over the moon and its light began to shine again. At that moment, Derek's head shot up and he caught her wrist. He then flashed his blue eyes at her making her gasp in surprise.

"Your fifteen minutes are up," he growled before he tossed her to the side.

Scott then got up as he felt his own power return and moved to try and stop Jennifer from trying to escape but she then threw mountain ash into the air before it fell into a circle around her.

"It's like I told you Derek, it's either you or the parents!" She then looked over at Scott. "I guess I'm just going to have to take them now. Them, and also your best friend. In a few minutes they'll all be dead and I won't even need a lunar eclipse to kill a Demon Wolf. Not to mention not have to worry about a Beast running around trying to hunt me down."

Over at the cellar, everyone was still huddled together as the wind outside seemed to blow harder. The bat holding the beam above them up was starting to bend.

"It's starting to give out," Melissa cried.

Chris went to embrace Allison as the Sheriff grabbed onto his own son. Melissa then went over and grabbed hold of Isaac as the rumbling started to get louder. But then moonlight started to pour into the dark cellar and reflected off some broken glass and shine its light on them.

Isaac gasped as he felt his strength begin to rush at him and his eyes let off their golden glow. Just then the bat fully bent and gave away and Isaac then broke free of Melissa's hold and then went to push on the beam to try and keep it up. Stiles broke free from his father and rushed to help him. However, the beam wasn't being raised any higher.

Isaac thought that was odd because surely the two of them together should be able to hold it steady. But it felt like Stiles was hardly helping at all. "What's wrong? Help me push it!" he said to him.

"I…I am," Stiles grunted through gritted teeth. "I'm trying!"

Stiles was pushing as hard as he could, but for some reason, he didn't feel any different. His arms felt like toothpicks and his insides felt as heavy as lead. He wasn't feeling like his old self.

Scott was glaring hard at Jennifer as she smirked at him. Scott knew that he just couldn't stand there. Not with their parents, Stiles, Allison and Isaac's lives in Jennifer's hands. He went and began to move for her. He could feel the invisible barrier of the mountain ash pushing on him.

"You tried this once before Scott. I don't remember you having much success," she smirked at him.

But Scott moved closer and started to begin forcing his way in. Blue light shined from his hands as he pushed harder and soon through his whole body. Scott stood his ground and kept trying to force his way through to try and get to her. Jennifer's face fell a bit as she watched as Scott's golden eyes shined at her as he kept fighting to get through. Both Derek and Deucalion were watching as Scott kept trying to get in. Scott's golden eyes then started to tint a bit before they fully turned into a bright red. When they did, Scott took a step inside making Jennifer gasp. Scott then took a second step and the blue light faded and the mountain ash line broke.

When the barrier collapsed, its force pushed Jennifer down to the ground as she stared up in shock at the young man. "How did you do that?" she gasped.

Scott just looked down at her sternly. "I'm an Alpha now," he declared out to everyone present. "Now, whatever you're doing to cause this storm, make it stop, or I'll kill you myself. I don't care what it does to the color of my eyes."

Jennifer just stayed there, staring up at Scott who was glaring down at her.

"It won't change the color of mine, so allow me!" Deucalion then pushed his way through and struck his claws directly through Jennifer's throat. She gasped and held her throat as blood splattered free. They all watched as her beautiful face fell away and she was back to her monstrous form. She let out a few whimpers before she fell lifelessly to the ground.

Over at the cellar, everyone was helping to push on the beam when the wind suddenly died and the pressure on their hands lessened. The roof seemed to stop caving in and everything around them settled.

"Is it over?" Melissa gasped out.

Isaac was breathing hard but was smiling. "Yeah, I think it is."

At that, the sheriff laughed and went to embrace Stiles who returned it fully, but he wasn't smiling. He looked a bit troubled. But he separated from his father when his phone started ringing. His eyes widened when he saw who was calling.

"Scott?" he quickly asked as he picked up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Scott quickly asked him.

"Yeah. I'm fine. We're all fine. You?"

Scott went and looked over at Derek who was looking a little sullen. "Sort of," he answered.

"Think you can come get us?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Great, okay but uh…bring a ladder."

That made his father, Melissa and Isaac let out small laughs while Chris and Allison just breath out in relief.

Over at the clinic, Ethan and Aiden's chest began to rise and fall normally and their eyes began to open as they looked up at the faces of Lydia, Cora and Deaton. Cora moved to help Ethan to sit up while Aiden just laid on the table staring up at Lydia.

"I knew," Aiden muttered as he rubbed on Lydia's hand.

"Knew what?" she asked.

He then smiled. "I knew you liked me."

He then grasped her hand as Lydia rolled her eyes and looked away from him. But, she was smiling too.

Deucalion was taking a moment to take in the fact that he could really see again. He was looking around at the place where he had lost his sight and couldn't help but think it was poetic that it would be where he got it back. He also saw that Derek and Scott were blocking the way out of the building and staring him down.

"My mother told me that you were a man of vision once." Derek then shared a hard look with Scott who looked back at him softly. That made Derek let out a heated breath. "We're letting you go because we hope you could be that man again."

"But, if you're not then having your eyesight back won't matter, because you'll never see us coming." Scott warned him. "Leave us and leave my friend Stiles alone."

With that, they both turned and left Deucalion to stare after them with narrowed eyes.

Scott and Derek pulled up close to the Nemeton in his car and they moved to get a ladder that they borrowed from Deaton to help the others. The skies were somewhat alight as the sun was close to rising but the full moon was still visible. They helped all of them leave the cellar one by one. Scott embraced his mother in a tight hug before he went to hug Stiles. As he hugged him, he narrowed his eyes as he felt that his friend wasn't returning it as hard.

"Stiles?" he said as he separated from him. "Something wrong dude?"

Stiles was looking down at his hands before looking up at Scott. "Scott, could you bring your claws out?"

Scott was taken aback by that. "What, why?"

"Just, please Scott," Stiles said to him softly.

Scott gave him a look of concern but nodded just the same and then freed the claws in his hands. "What's this about?"

"This." Stiles then brought out his hand in the same motion but nothing happened. "I can't bring out mine."

That made Scott and all the others turn to look at him.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked.

Stiles looked up at him. "I…I can't shift."

"What?" Scott asked narrowing his eyes in confusion.

Isaac then looked up at Stiles' forehead. "Stiles, the cut on your head. It's not healing."

Stiles went to wipe at his forehead and saw that the cut on his forehead was as inflamed as it was when he came to after his crash. "And I didn't get my strength back when the eclipse was over," he added in realization.

Scott shook his head before he then showed off his new red eyes to Stiles as he tried to heighten his senses and lock them on his friend. A moment later, Scott's face fell. "Stiles, your scent."

"What about my scent?" he asked.

"It's…different," Scott answered in confusion. "You don't smell like…you."

"No," Derek mumbled. "His scent is the same. It's just…less. Without the wolf."

"Wait," Stiles' dad said looking at each of them. "What are you trying to say? What's wrong with my son?"

Stiles looked at the palms of his hands for a moment before turning up to face them. "I lost my powers. I…I'm not a werewolf anymore."

The silence after that was deafening.

Chris was in his office, dismantling his guns and putting the weapons back into their cases. Allison was standing by the doorway with her arms folded, watching him do so.

"So, now what? Back to storage?" she asked him.

"That's the plan," he said putting his unloaded pistol into his molded place in the case.

"What if I've got a different plan?" she said making him turn to look at her. Allison then started to move into the room. "Deaton said that what we did to find you, that it might draw things here. That Beacon Hills will be made kind of a beacon again."

Her father looked away and moved to close the case. "I hope not."

"Well, I was thinking that maybe I should be prepared. Learn to be a better fighter; learn all the things that you could still teach me."

"And maybe a few things more?" he muttered.

She nodded but her eyes narrowed seriously at him. "But, we're going to have a new code."

She then chanted out in French and when she finished, Chris let a small grin come upon his face.

"We protect those that cannot protect themselves."

Chris was starting to believe that Allison would become a good leader, one that could re-establish the good name and grace of their family. He wouldn't admit it but he thinks its largely due to Scott McCall and the rest of his friends. Allison then walked out of the office to head for her room and he happily watched her go before his face fell when his mind went on to something else. To a development that one of those friends had presented. Stiles Stilinski. He wasn't a werewolf anymore. He had become human again, which was something that had never been seen or heard of except in legends and unreliable lore about werewolves. He especially wanted to stay and find out how that happened. For some reason, he didn't think that boded well, for the teen and maybe for all of them either.

Sheriff Stilinski moved for the distillery with a few of his deputies. He was going to try and collect the body of Jennifer Blake, exactly where Scott had told him that she was left at. It was the final thing to do so that they could wrap up this nightmare that had been plaguing his town. For the first time in a long time, he was feeling a sense of mental closure to everything that had been going on in this town since the deaths started. For now, he was able to rationalize the cause and reason why it all happened, even if it was still quite irrational to him.

He stepped on inside the distillery but froze when they found the place empty. There was nothing there but a few spots of dried blood that seemed to drip away and lead to the outside. The sheriff narrowed his eyes at it, wondering what this could mean, when he raised his head up and his eyes fell upon the stern face of Agent McCall. He then let a frustrated breath out.

Derek and Cora were moving out of the loft with the last of their things. They both turned and gave the place a final look before they closed the door and headed out. They headed out of the building and began to move for the car but froze when they saw Stiles standing there, apparently waiting for them.

Derek narrowed his eyes at him before turning over to his sister. "Don't take too long," he told her.

She nodded as she handed him her bag and he moved for the car. Stiles moved to head on over to Cora but shared a look with Derek as they passed each other. He couldn't tell if Derek was annoyed, angry, or just both. He went to stand in front of Cora who was looking back at him a bit blankly.

Stiles went and put his hands into his pockets. "Are you okay?" he asked her softly.

Cora nodded. "Mostly. I still have a bit of a headache and my stomach keeps turning a little from time to time but it's much better than how I was feeling when Jennifer did whatever she did to me."

He nodded. "Well, I'm glad you're okay. I was worried about you."

"Thanks. How's your dad?"

He tilted his head a bit. "Still kind of thrown by all of this. He's been asking me some questions. Actually, a lot of questions but they're ones I can answer for him now."

Cora's eyes then narrowed. "Except the one that you can't. That none of us can't."

Stiles gaze fell a bit. "How did I lose my powers?" he mumbled

"No sign of them at all?" she asked hesitantly. Stiles closed his eyes and shook his head. She could easily pick up how he was feeling. "I'm sorry."

"Thanks," he mumbled. "But hey, if it's what I have to deal with to have my father and everyone else back, then it's a small price to pay." He then cleared his throat. "So, you're really leaving?" he asked moving away from that topic.

She let out an exasperated gasp. "Yeah. When I came back to Beacon Hills, I was kind of hoping that it would feel like I was coming back home. But it's not."

"It could be, if you stayed and gave it a second chance."

"I did," she said to him in a near whisper. "This place…there's just too many bad memories here. Too much pain. It's not my home anymore."

Stiles nodded. "I get it." He could understand that. Cora lost her whole family here and had come back to only suffer more loss. More pain.

But Cora's face broke into a small smile. "I should thank you though."

Stiles raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Thank me? For what?"

"Thanks to you, I actually have at least some nice memories here."

Now Stiles smiled teasingly at her. "Just nice? I think our time together was a bit better than that."

That made Cora smile become teasing as well. "If it was then I think we know whose end had more to do with it?"

"Keep telling yourself that, and you might start to believe it," he laughed out a bit. That made Cora shake her head but laugh a little just the same as her cheekbones inflated and her smile widen. That made Stiles happily sober up as he calmly looked at her. "You have a real beautiful smile. I'm glad I got to see it at least once."

Cora sobered up but still kept her smile pasted on her. She then moved in closer and Stiles met her in a small kiss. One that had the both of them smiling into. It lasted for a moment before a horn went blaring and they broke apart to look at Derek, in the driver's seat, looking at them both through the open window with a bit of a annoyed glint in his eye.

"I better go," she said as she looked back at Stiles with a small smile still on her.

"Yeah." But before she could fully pull away, he moved in and gave her one quick, last peck on the lips before he let her go. Cora walked over to the car but turned and gave him one last quick wave which Stiles returned. She then stepped into the passenger seat of the car next to her brother. Stiles then looked over at Derek who gave him a bit of a stink eye before he went and put the car in drive and then they took off. Stiles watched them go with a teethy smile. "Oh…if Derek ends up coming back then I'm so dead," he mumbled to himself through his smile.

Scott was sitting in the animal clinic with Deaton as he thought of the fact that Derek was leaving today with his sister.

"I honestly don't know if he's ever going to come back. Part of me hopes so, but part of me hopes that he'll be okay, somewhere else," he jokingly added before he sobered up as he thought about what had happened before he had come here. How his father had knocked on his door and Scott answered it for a second before slamming it shut again. "My dad doesn't look like he'll be leaving for a while but just because he's staying, doesn't mean he's welcomed." He then thought on the latest thing to fall on their laps. "Then there's the thing that none of us could've expected happening."

Deaton nodded. "That Stiles apparently isn't a werewolf anymore." Stiles reversion back to being a human again had, needless to say, gave everyone quite a shock. Deaton for one was at a loss for what it meant.

Scott sighed. "And we have no idea how or why." Stiles was putting up smiles around them and was trying to keep calm but Scott could sense how all of this was affecting him. He knew that not knowing what was behind it what was bothering Stiles. Bothering all of them actually. None of them knew what to make of this or even how this happened. If it was because Jennifer had done something to him to make sure that there wouldn't be a Beast like she vowed, or if it was a result of their sacrifice to find the Nemeton, or another reason altogether. "And that's not the only thing we have to figure out. There's also what you said would happen. Me and Stiles could feel it, and I can't help but remember that quote that Jennifer shared with us that first day in class. It's like I'm looking right into the heart of an immense darkness."

"So, what do you do instead?" Deaton asked him.

"Look for my friends."

The twins seemed to be staying a bit longer in town with Aiden being around Lydia and Ethan sticking close to Danny. He also saw that Allison and Isaac seemed to have started to be around each other more. His heart had felt the loss but Stiles had been there to comfort him. Scott, likewise, helped Stiles with his feelings of how it was that his father now seemed to know about what was truly going on. Stiles could feel a change between them but Scott, having gone through this with his mother, assured him that his father just needed some time before he could wrap around all of this.

"What about Ms. Blake?" Deaton asked.

"I don't know. Back at the distillery, Stiles' dad tried to collect her but the body was gone. He said, that it looked like she hadn't been taken or dragged away. More like she had just gotten up and left."

That made Deaton stiffen.

Jennifer was crawling through the darkened woods with as much strength as she could muster. Her mind couldn't help but turn back to all those years ago when she had been in a similar position. Hopefully, she could save herself again the same way she did then. She crawled and pushed her way towards the Nemeton. She could feel its growth in power and taste the salvation that it could offer her.

"Please," she cried as she was only a few inches away from the stump. "You saved me once before. Save me again," she grunted as she pulled herself to it. She was almost at the base of it when her hand was grabbed and she was turned savagely around to face her attacker. She coughed out in amazement at the sight of Peter Hale. "Of course it's you. Everyone else suffers but somehow you come out on top. And, now that Scott's an Alpha you'll be able to steal it from him. You'll be an Alpha again."

Peter eyes tightened at her. "Again? Again?" He then went and tore her throat. "I am the Alpha!" he spat at her corpse. "I've always been the Alpha!"

That night, Stiles was blankly staring at his bathroom mirror as he was getting ready for bed. He looked over at his honey colored eyes as he focused but didn't even see a glimmer of change in them. It had been a routine he had taken recently. Whenever he got up he would go in the mirror and try to see if there was any change or sign that his power was returning that he would repeat again before he went to sleep. But, just like before, nothing. He couldn't help but grudgingly think that everyone else lost their powers during the eclipse but got theirs right back, why couldn't he? That night, he thought that he would not only get his power back but would come back with a rare power not often seen in werewolf kind. His heightened senses, his strength and his other abilities, all traces of them were completely gone. It was as if he had never even been a werewolf at all.

Stiles' eyes narrowed into a hard glare and he went and suddenly slammed his hand, hard, into the side of the bathroom wall. He grit his teeth as the pain traveled from his hand, up to his arm to his head. The place where he hit, not even a scratch. He turned around and rubbed at his hand that was now getting a spot of red from the inflamed skin which wasn't healing. Stiles stopped by the foot of his bed as he took one look out the window, at the moon. His eyes narrowed at the sight of it. Before he looked away to lay down, the honey brown shade of his irises suddenly went black before flickering back to normal.

A/N: Thank you for enjoying my story. I have a sequel planned and a poll has been set up on my profile for the title for the next story. Help me pick one as I'm stuck on which one is the best.