『Act I • Side A』

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

✨🌙🔮🌙✨

With unmitigated power cracking in the tips of her fingers, June felt unstoppable. She smiles down at the white feline snuggling her leg. "Good job, Anchor."

She briefly looks at Scott, who's still on the floor, in the aftermath of her powers. His werewolf form was forced out of him, and his eyes are filled with anguish.

Her amaranth eyes fade back to regular brown, her dark hair dishevelled as she slowly turns to look at her English teacher, the smirk on the latter's face telling her she's impressed. "Only I can help Cora." Jennifer says, looking at the unconscious girl before moving to the sole human in the room. "And I can tell you where Sheriff Stilinski is, but there is a pack of Alphas in this hospital that wants me dead. So I will help you... only when I'm out and safe."

Derek lunges at his former lover and throttles her, his eyes filled with rage. Scott catches him by his shoulder at the same time that June points her hand at the Alpha threateningly. 

Derek doesn't notice June in his fury, but Scott does, and his eyebrows crease. Betrayal clouds his soft features. The dark haired girl feels his hurt as a pang in her chest and she looks away from even as he calls out her name softly. Trepidation lingers in Scott, and June can feel every crack of it like it was her feelings. This connection... it makes sense now. 

"She was trying to get out." Derek seethes, tightening his grip on Blake's throat.

"I was trying to keep you from getting killed." She argues, struggling to get out of his grasp

"And why should you trust you? You killed innocents and hurt my sister." Derek's grip tightens. "Fool me once, but you can't fool me twice."

"Let her go." June demands, her energy pulsating through her fingertips. "She's telling the truth."

Derek's eyes slowly turn to look at her, and her heart gallops out of fear. When his grip on the Darach doesn't loosen, she blasts concentrated energy on the Alpha and smashes him to the wall behind. 

"June, what the hell?" 

The girl snaps her head to the voice of her best friend, perturbation on his features. Her heart pinches at the sight in front of her—at the way Stiles looks at her with disbelief, her brown eyes glassy with unshed tears. 

She holds her breath. I'm sorry. She wants to say, I'll never betray you. But she did, she betrayed Scott McCall. 

Derek is heaving, gasping for air as his hands clutch his chest. Like Scott, her powers made him succumb to his werewolf form too. What he felt now on his skin was pure, lethal wolfsbane. She could easily kill him. 

His thick brows contort and he looks at the girl with resentment. "I knew we should have killed you."

"No, Derek, shut  up, okay?" Stiles screams, moving towards his best friend. He holds her hand and bores his eyes into hers. "Why are you doing this, June? What did she offer you? I know you would never do something like this."

"You don't know anything about me." June counters, eyebrows furrowed. 

"She's sacrificing people, June." He continues, holding her hand tighter. "She has my dad hidden somewhere; who knows if he's dead or-"

"He's safe." June says it immediately, with conviction in her voice. 

Stiles holds back a relieved sigh, not sure if he should believe her when she just attacked his best friend and the Alpha. "Did she promise you that in return for you becoming this?"

The cat next to June hisses at Stiles, its topaz eyes menacing. "Is this that anchor-cat?"

"It's called a familiar." Jennifer answers. "What I gave June was a choice, and she chose the right one, whether you like it or not. Now that you know I have someone who can kill with a snap of her fingers, let me spell it out for you again. Get me out of here safely."

Before anything else can happen, the intercom blares, and a hesitant voice speaks. "Um, can I have your attention, please? Mr. Deucalion—excuse me, just Deucalion—requests you bring the woman calling herself Jennifer Blake to the ER reception. Do this, and everyone else can leave. You have 10 minutes."

All eyes in the room shift to Scott. Deucalion got a hold of his mother, changing their initial plan. June looks at Jennifer and furrows her brows. "You said no one else will be in danger." She says softly to avoid eavesdroppers. 

Jennifer realises that the woman on the intercom was someone important to them. She sighs, "He's not gonna hurt her."

"Shut up." Derek snaps. 

"He won't!" Jennifer bargains, and her eyes swivel to the teen wolf. "Scott, you know why. Tell them."

Derek, back in his human form, turns to his mentee with confusion. "What does she mean?"

Jennifer looks at Scott expectantly, but once she realises he is not about to say anything, she enlightens them. "You're not the only one he wants in the pack." She tells Derek. "Deucalion doesn't just want an Alpha pack; he wants perfection. That means adding the rarest of Alphas to his ranks."

The witch steps back, her head spinning. Surely not.

Peter finally breaks his silence. "A True Alpha."

June gasps, both hands slapping her mouth as her eyes widen with shock. Questions swirl in her mind, and she slowly steps backwards, away from the Darach. "You said no one else will be in danger." She repeats, but this time her voice is breaking.

"There is only one God, Juniper." Jennifer says eerily. "Kill Deucalion before he can kill you and get the hell out of this town."

"The Selene..." Peter realises, his blue eyes sparkling. 

"Wait, hold up." Stiles raises his hands, shaking his head in confusion. "One thing at a time, what is a True Alpha?" 

"A kind that doesn't need to steal his power from another." The former Alpha answers. "One that can rise by the force of his own will. Our little Scott."

"And the Selene?"

"It doesn't matter." June snaps before Peter can reply, forcing herself to remain steady. Peter smirks, knowing exactly what the implication of the answer is. "We have to find a way to save Scott's mom."

"No." Scott says. "We need to get her out of here."

"But your mom--"

"My mom said that there's another ambulance coming in twenty minutes, and I don't think we've been here that long. So if we get to the garage and get to the ambulance, we can get out of here."

"The twins aren't just gonna let us walk out." Peter says.

Scott replies in an instant. "I'll distract them."

June finds the words leaving her tongue before she can stop them: "I'll come with you."

"Based on what we found out, it's better you don't." Says Peter.

Scott tilts his head in confusion but doesn't question him, the betrayal from June still taunting him. 

"I'll help you." Derek tells Scott.

"I'm sorry, Derek, but I'm not going anywhere without you." Jennifer says.

The door opens, alerting everyone, but it dies down when a sun-haired girl stumbles inside, clearly hurt. Surprisingly, it's Stiles who rushes towards Eliza's side, holding her before she can fall down. "Eliza? Are you okay?"

The blonde witch looks up to show him the new scratch mark on her chin and another wound on her forehead. "Shit." Stiles curses and gestures to the others. "Someone, please get the first-aid. Please."

"No! I'm okay, just a little... tired."

"I think you have a concussion." Stiles corrects her, tucking a blonde strand behind her ear. Her usual azure eyes are now cloudy, like before a rainy day. "Stay with me, don't faint."

Eliza scoffs. "I don't faint."

"Who did this to you?"

She squints her eyes as she recalls. "That lady with silky hair."

"Kali." Jennifer says, eyebrows furrowed.

"I think she's planning to escape on an ambulance." Eliza says, holding her forehead due to her splitting headache. "She killed the driver... I tried to stop her."

"Does she know our plan?" June asks.

"Whatever it is, we have to move now." The True Alpha says.

━━☆⌒ . ⌒☆━━

Thirty minutes ago

The smell of blood sends June into a frenzy. Even if the werewolves could speed heal themselves, the steely scent lingered and twisted the witch's stomach.

Hold it in. She tells herself and repeats it in her mind, like that would stop her from gagging. The sight of blood became accustomed to her after looking at it so often since Blake started her sacrifices, but the smell was a different story.

June isn't fighting, although Ethan almost convinced her to with the way he continuously lunges at her. All she does is defend herself using a steel tray that is on the verge of breaking into two—not a very formidable shield.

She doesn't want to fight back. She knows she will lose, Lunar witch or not. Right now, she has no control over her powers. The first time she attacked Ethan was not on purpose and when they went to save Deaton, it was because Scott was with her.

Alone, she's just an average teenager with no experience in martial arts or sports.

In other words, she's useless.

It only took a second for the Darach to slap a hand over the witch's mouth before dragging her to one of the ERs.

June's heart thuds in fear but Jennifer just smirks, enjoying the sight of her squirming.

"What do you want?"

Her teacher smiles, almost empathetic. "I know you think I'm a villain, but believe it or not, I want what's best for you. Remember what I told you before? There is only one God. You have the strength to overpower everyone."

June is listening, but the Darach's words seem to float over her head. "Because I am a Lunar witch."

Jennifer's malice-laced expression widened, sending chills to June. "Oh, Juniper, we both know you're much more."

June's peridot eyes widen and she holds her breath as if that can make her disappear. "I have no idea what you're talking ab-"

Within a second the woman speeds in front of June, her grip on her throat. June gasped, or at least, tried to. Jennifer was blocking her trachea, her eyes glistening with a lust for power. She leans forward to whisper in June's ear, "Descendant of Sakura Sato, welcome back."

Jennifer lets go of her throat as a chasm forms between June's brows. "S-sakura Sato?"

"The first Selene."

Selene— there was that word again. Everyone seems to think she was it.

"And I'm her descendant?"

"Existing at the same time as a True Alpha."

Juniper's brows deepened. "True Alpha?"

Jennifer merely laughs, "You'll find out soon enough. Anyway, I have a gift for you."

"I want nothing from—"

"Oh, hush!" The Darach hisses, and the fear June feels urges her to comply. She watches silently as the woman saunters to the other corner of the room and picks up a box the size of her television. Whatever was inside, it was moving. 

"What's in that?" Asks June, terrified. 

She doesn't respond, but just opens a box in time for a furry white creature to pounce out of it in front of June. She screams in shock but her eyes widen when she sees the all too familiar cat, with yellow eyes narrowing on the Darach. The cat stands almost protectively of June, hissing threateningly to Jennifer.

The older woman is unfazed. "That's your familiar." She explains. "Like an anchor for werewolves. She chose you and thus holds all your powers. She'll deliver according to your will, unleash power sheathed within you. She'll help you reach your destiny."

June blinks, trying to process the information. "That's why she keeps following me..."

"Think, Juniper." Jennifer insists, "Whenever you were able to use all your power, wasn't she around?"

The girl's eyes widen. She did see the cat outside the bus when they entered the motel, and when she and Scott went to rescue Deaton. Realisation strikes her like lightning. Do her parents know about it? Or have they kept that a secret too?

"Yeah... she was." June answers, tears clouding her vision. Her whole life has been carefully braided with lies and deception to mislead her. Just how many secrets are yet to be unfolded?

"You have to kill Deucalion." Jennifer then says. "You have that power, especially now with the familiar."

 June shakes her head violently. "No! I am not a killer."

Jennifer rolls her eyes. "Stop acting like Scott. You aren't Spider-Man. You are a witch. Witches hunt and kill werewolves. You are living wolfsbane, Juniper, don't you understand?"

"I don't understand." June holds her breath when the cat comes closer, looking at her with curious eyes. "Why are you telling me all this?"

An unreadable expression takes over Jennifer's features. "I want Deucalion gone for good. The only ones in power to do that are you and Scott. I'd rather have you finish that."

More confusion. "Scott?"

Jennifer ignores her. "I need to get out of the hospital. Attack Scott and attract them to you, they need to see your true power."

"I am not going to attack-"

"Yes, you are. Because I am giving you a choice— you accept my aid and kill Deucalion, or I kill your familiar and let the Blind Alpha kill your little lover."

June knew Jennifer was bluffing but when the cat purred encouragingly at her, a strange feeling engulfed June. Unbeknownst to her, when she feels the surge of power gifted by the cat, her eyes glow in amethyst for a fraction of a second.

a/n: hey!! i know it's been a while but I am DETERMINED to finish this book no matter what lmao. i decided to reduce the span of the entire book to make it easier for me to finish and make more exclusive to read as well! pls bear with me until then 😮‍💨

comment comment!! i love seeing them:)