☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒

CHAPTER FOUR; 04.

The following day at school, Sage avoided Stiles and Scott. She was still pissed off that Stiles barked at her when she was just trying to help. The whole 'pack initiation' thing wasn't at all true, and she really felt like banging Stiles' head into his precious jeep. He cared more about the damn thing than he did people. So, whenever Stiles attempted to speak to her she turned in the other direction. Scott hadn't even tried, realizing that if Stiles wasn't getting anywhere with the blonde, he definitely wouldn't either.

After school, there was an awkward car ride home that involved herself and a certain brooding werewolf. Sage also happened to be avoiding Derek Hale, of whom seemed to swim in a pool of lies. She didn't feel right being in a car with him and not knowing what he was doing the night of the accident. She hoped that if he was involved, he would have told her by now.

"So, how was your day?" Derek asked, breaking the silence. Sage snorted and turned on the heat, kicking her shoes up on his expensive dashboard. She didn't see why he was acting so casual about the whole ordeal when in reality, she was practically steaming.

"It was great," Sage deadpanned, making sure her sarcasm was as evident as her anger. "Really appreciating the fact that you didn't even bother telling me you killed someone."

Derek sighed, and Sage couldn't help but become even more pissed. "Scott said I was the one who did that on the bus, didn't he?"

"Right now, I believe Scott McCall more than I would ever believe you. Where the hell were you that night? More importantly, what were you doing?" Sage interrogated, looking over at him. Her jaw was the only thing keeping her from spilling out an array of cuss words, and trust that she would do it.

"It's not your concern, Sage. Be a teenager."

"Be a teenager? Be a teenager? Derek, my whole family had their faces burned off in the house that we're now living in. My abilities are going haywire, and Beacon Hills is literally turning into a shitty, horror film where someone dies every week! I'd like to acknowledge that the blonde always dies first, and I don't want to die! So, no. I'm not going to be a teenager. I grew up a hell of a long time ago, and you of all people should know that."

Sage felt out of breath, her hands gripping the sides of the car to keep her from doing something stupid. He hit a nerve, and she wasn't going to lie. She thought coming back to Beacon Hills would be a temporary thing. She didn't know that she would be staying in the town where her family went up in flames. She sure as hell didn't know that the kid she used to play on the slides with in primary school would turn out to be a fucking werewolf.

The car went back to being silent after Sage's outburst. Derek didn't answer any of her questions, or even acknowledge that she finally talked about her family. It was a soundless ride back to the Hale house.

☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒

Stiles looked up from his computer when he heard a knock on his door. He initially thought that it might have been Scott coming to freak out about killing Allison, or something related to werewolves. He was partially correct with the latter. The short, blonde girl standing at his doorway was definitely something. She was wrapped tightly in the leather jacket she hadn't worn in a few days, her hair in a ponytail as she looked towards him. Sage raised her eyebrows, and waved towards him with her hands still in her pockets. "Are you going to let me in, Stilinski?"

His mouth went wide, and he was gaping like a fish before letting out a series of nods and holding the door open so she could walk through. He was home alone, his dad being called in on a robbery a few hours ago. Stiles wasn't even taking the chance of leaving the house, not when his dad practically said he would kill him if he left after curfew.

"Um, so, what are you doing here?" Stiles asked once they got to his room, scratching the back of his neck while watching her look around. She must have gotten a kick out of the posters on his wall because she turned around to look at him with a ghost of a smile on her face. "I mean, not that I don't want you here. It's just you were ignoring me all day today and—"

"You were a dick to me. Obviously, I'm going to ignore you. But, Derek is being a bigger dick, therefore your dick comment has been subsided for the time being," Sage bluntly told the boy. She started to pull off her jacket while Stiles stood there awestruck at the girl's comment. You could definitely tell that Hale's had raised her.

"Listen, I'm sorry about saying that in the car," Stiles spluttered out, rubbing on his arm as he walked over to his bed while Sage occupied a spot in his desk chair. "I was just tired and irritated—"

"Stiles, it's fine. It may have pissed me off but you're the only one I can talk to at the moment," Sage admitted, giving a slight shrug to ward off his concern.

Stiles cracked a smile. "Taking me up on the offer?"

"I figured I might as well come over since I said we were hanging out," Sage confided, trying to come up with a better excuse for not having anywhere else to go tonight.

Stiles resisted the urge to wince at the words hanging out because, once again, they were brought up in a situation he wasn't comfortable with. He was totally being gay-friended. Is this what his life has come to? A hot girl sitting in his room wanting to talk to him about problems? What he really wanted to do was grab a hold of her and just kiss her.

Yeah, they barely knew each other but come on. "Alright, so what exactly did you want to talk about?"

"Last night, actually," Sage said, pursing her lips.

She hated to bring it up again, but she really needed to tell someone other than Derek. She contemplated the whole idea on the way here— and she really, really had to pep talk herself because this wasn't something she was going to share with anyone, especially Stiles. "What about it?"

"You asked me about what happened the night of the party. Do you still want to know?"

"Yeah, of course," Stiles answered, nodding his head. Sage sighed before turned around to scramble through some things on his desk. When she caught sight of something that would work in her favor, she turned back around to hold up the object. "Tape?"

"No. The sharp part that cuts the tape." Sage pointed towards the tape dispenser that was sharp enough to cut someone. "Now, hopefully this works. Otherwise, you're just going to be bleeding."

"Whoa, wait. What?" he asked, shooting eyebrows a mile high as she handed the dispenser to him.

"I need you to cut yourself. Even if it's just a prick."

Stiles was absolutely baffled."Why?"

"Stiles, just do it," Sage instructed, pleading for him to do it with no questions asked.

Stiles sighed before bringing the sharp edge to his finger, moving it to the side so that he got a small cut on his thumb. It didn't hurt, but he was still confused as to why she made him do it. Looking up from his bleeding scratch, he noticed that Sage was grinning down at her own thumb, excited. When it was shoved in his face, he noticed that there was indeed a replica of his own wound. It just wasn't bleeding like his.

"What the hell?" Stiles asked, more to himself than anything. "How is that even possible?"

"I can connect to a pack, and somehow, you're in that pack. Jackson and Scott are, too. I'm pretty sure that if anything happens to Lydia and Allison, the same thing will happen like it did here. It's never happened before, I've never gotten the same injures as a human. It was only Laura, Scott, and Derek, and they're all werewolves," Sage explained to Stiles, trying to take it piece-by-piece so that he could process everything.

His mind was spinning with thoughts, and he really didn't know what to think anymore. "So, why weren't you split in half like Derek's sister?"

"Well, she wasn't a part of the pack anymore. She went missing and I guess it broke the connection." Sage moved from her spot in the chair to the open selection beside Stiles on the bed. "It wouldn't matter anyways. I may be physically affected by injuries, but I can't be killed by someone else's infliction. I don't bleed because it's not my body producing the wound. So, it just hurts like hell and takes a while to heal."

"Then, why aren't you hurt from Scott being shot?" Stiles asked, nodding towards the smooth skin on her arm, the same place Scott was hit with Argent's arrow.

"He's a werewolf. He heals quickly," Sage explained, looking at him as if he were stupid. "I thought you knew that."

Stiles glared at her. "I didn't know if the werewolf laws applied to you, Sage. I apologize for not being informed on whatever the hell you are one-o-one."

"Don't push it," Sage retaliated. "Now that you know I'm also a freak of nature, do you want to watch a movie?"

"Sure. Want to watch The Healer?"

"I will hit you, Stilinski."

"No puns, got it."

About halfway through the scary movie they decided on watching, not The Healer, Sheriff Stilinski walked into his son's room. He came just to let him know that he was home, and to make sure that Stiles was home too, not off defying the police enforced curfew. He was absolutely shocked when he saw Sage sitting down on the floor next to his son, a blanket pulled up to her chin. Both of them jumped when they heard Sheriff Stilinski speak, having not heard him open up the bedroom door in the first place.

"Holy shit, Dad!" Stiles gasped out, jumping a mile high while Sage just laughed at the boy's reaction.

"Hey, Sheriff. How're you?" she asked casually, grabbing the remote to pause the movie.

Sheriff Stilinski flicked on the light, smiling politely at Sage. They hadn't really spoken since he arrested Derek, but she couldn't hold that against him considering he made an oath to uphold the things happening in this town. She could hold it against his son though, but she was past it. She actually wanted Derek behind bars as much as any other person right now.

"I'm good. It's nice to see the two of you getting along again," Sheriff told the pair. "But shouldn't you be getting home, Sage? There's a curfew around town."

Sage looked over at Stiles then nodded, throwing back the blanket that she and Stiles shared. She knew that the Sheriff was right. She didn't care about the curfew, actually she's pretty sure no one did, but she did care about the Sheriff liking her. Derek is the one people are supposed to hate out of the two, not her.

"Yeah, I better go. Stiles, could you give me a ride?" Sage asked, slipping on her jacket.

Stiles nodded and got up as well, starting to pull on his shoes just as the Sheriff's phone started to ring. Both teenagers looked up from what they were doing. No one would be calling Sheriff at this time unless it was an emergency.

"Hello?" Sheriff Stilinski answered, his eyebrows furring as his shoulders got tense.

Stiles watched as his dad's face morphed from protective father to leading sheriff in a split second. That's when he knew that something had to have happened; he was well aware of the different faces his dad makes when he gets a phone call. He anxiously waited for his dad to finish listening to the person on the phone. "Alright, I'll be there as soon as possible."

"What happened?" Stiles was the one to ask as soon as his dad hung up, standing next to Sage who was waiting to hear what Sheriff Stilinski had to say as well.

"Garrison Myers just succumbed to his wounds. I have to go to the hospital," Sheriff told the two. He went towards the door before turning around to point at his son. "You come straight home after dropping her off, okay?"

Stiles nodded and watched his dad leave. He turned towards Sage to see that she had tears brimming in her eyes, immediately alarming him. "Hey, hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Derek killed him. He actually killed that man."

Sage couldn't believe it. She had seen Derek kill people who deserved it before, but she never thought he would just kill an innocent man out of rage. The only plausible reason for him to do it would be out of anger about Laura. Whether it was him wanting to get back at the town in some sick, twisted way or just him being him and taking it out on the first person he saw.

Stiles didn't say anything, he just chewed on his lip as he watched her try to swallow down the tears. He didn't know if she wanted him to hug her or not. He was afraid if he tried that she would bite his head off or something. It seemed like the kind of thing for her to do. When he saw her let out a tear, he took the chance and wrapped his arms around the blonde. She was shocked at first, her whole body freezing up as she tried getting used to a boy's arms around her body. The last time someone hugged her was when Laura said she was leaving. Derek never did hugs.

Sage finally let her arms relax around the tall boy, tightening her grip as she hugged him back. It was a simple hug and she didn't think much of it. Sadly, Stiles did, and his heart rate began to speed up. In fear of her hearing it with her head on his chest, he pulled away from the embrace and gave a nervous laugh. "Ready to go?"

Sage nodded, wiping under her eyes to get rid of any stray tears. Taking a deep breath, she collected herself and smiled. "Yeah, let's go."

☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒

"Derek, I know you're here! I know what you did!" Sage shot off the couch in Cora's room, jogging down the hallway to see Scott standing in front of the door. Their eyes connected and she shook her head before shrugging. She hadn't seen Derek all night, he was probably off killing another innocent. When she got home, he wasn't at the Hale house.

"I didn't do anything," Derek's voice came through the shadows, making Sage's arms cover with goosebumps. Where the hell was he?

Scott made his way up the stairs, trying to get to Sage and find Derek. "You killed him!"

"He died," Derek disagreed. Sage looked around herself, feeling uncomfortable at the way he was speaking so darkly. The last time she heard his voice that way had been when he got into a fight with Laura just before she left.

"Just like your sister died?" Scott called out.

Sage closed her eyes, knowing this wasn't going to end well. "His sister went missing. We came here looking for her."

"You found her," Scott said. Sage winced, Scott's words cutting her deep. They did find Laura, just not the way they hoped. Even though Sage knew that Scott didn't mean to hurt her, she still felt pain when he talked about Laura's death so carelessly. The woman had been a surrogate sister to her, and she was still going through the five stages of grief.

"I found her in pieces!" Derek snarled. Sage started walking forward, wanting to meet Scott halfway on the stairs. "Being used as bait to catch me."

"What?" Sage asked, speaking up for the first time. He, once again, kept another secret from her. She knew nothing about someone using Laura as bait to lure Sage and Derek into town. If anything, she thought that coming back to Beacon Hills was just going to be a visit— find Laura, leave town, search for a new place to live, and start over.

"I think you killed them both," Scott disagreed, standing next to Sage at the top of the stairs. "And I'm going to tell everyone. Starting with the Sheriff. "

"Scott—"

Sage didn't even have a chance to tell him not to because he was tumbling down the stairs. Sage cried out, turning to see Derek standing next to her. He glanced over for a second before turning his attention back to the teen wolf that was angrier than he'd ever been. Derek was quick to react, jumping down the flight of stairs, not even bothering to use them. The blonde saw the whole thing turning to hell so she tumbled down the stairs as quickly as she could, taking them two at a time. Scott had grabbed a hold of Derek's shirt, and her best friend was now airborne, flying straight into the wall.

"Scott, stop!" Sage yelled, running into the room after him.

"Huh, that was cute," Derek said. She noticed he had transitioned and her whole heart dropped. He better not hurt Scott. "Stay back, Sage."

She did as told, knowing that coming between two werewolves would equal a dead her, even if it was on accident. She watched as Scott was flung into a wall, then as Derek proceeded to slam him into the dining room table. After a few blows, she was growing more concerned. Why can't Scott just give up?

After Derek slammed the boy into the ground, she found herself closing her eyes, trying to hum out the sound. She was never one for things like this, especially not when Derek was allegedly a killer and is fighting one of her friends. She was more shocked though when she felt a stinging sensation in her abdomen, and looked to see that Derek had swiped Scott. She was utterly defeated.

Derek and Laura had both understood how Sage's ability worked, so they would always try their hardest not to get into fights because she would be the one left to feel the most pain. Derek obviously forgot about this upon fighting with Scott because now she was gripping her stomach as the pain flooded her ability to see and think straight.

"I didn't kill him. Neither of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine."

Sage choked out as Derek uttered the words out. She could hear that he was telling the truth. She just didn't know why he hadn't told her sooner, or even in the car. If he was innocent, he had nothing to hide.

"This? This is all your fault! You ruined my life!" Scott snarled at Derek. Sage leaned up against the door frame as she watched the two, holding her — Scott's — wound.

"No, I didn't," Derek denied.

"You're the one who bit me!"

"No, I'm not," Derek hissed out.

Scott was absolutely dumbfounded. "What?"

"I'm not the one that bit you. Sage has been trying to tell you this all along," Derek told the boy. Sage snorted, giving a thumbs up to the two boys when they finally acknowledged her existence and the fact that she was still breathing. At this point, the scratches on her chest were healing, giving her the ability to properly stand straight.

"There's another," Scott realized, his eyes widened. Sage felt her eyes narrow as she stepped forward, moving to lean on the couch that Scott was sitting down on.

"It's called an alpha," Sage mused to the boy. "It's the most dangerous of your kind. You and Derek are betas."