Chapter Text
Derek crouches low as he moves forward. Scott is to his left, Stiles to his right, their heartbeats and breaths quick, but steady. Jordan is on the opposite side of the clearing, coming towards Derek, his footfalls no more than a whisper in Derek’s ears from this distance. Malia is between Stiles and Jordan, while Kira and Lydia are between Parrish and Scott.
They’re moving quickly, between running and speed walking, as they close their circle around the clearing that contains their quarry, a fay. The creature wasn’t hard to track, even Stiles, with his human nose, had been able to smell them before they even entered the preserve. The fay’s scent is warm and welcoming, like freshly baked pancakes and cinnamon, like apple pie that just came out of the oven. The smells of home.
At the edge of the clearing everyone stops, staying in the shadows, as Scott steps out of the trees. The fay waits patiently for Scott approach them. They’re sitting in the grass in the middle of the clearing, cross-legged, relaxed. The fay’s back is to Derek, so he can’t see their face, but he’s pretty sure there’s a daisy chain circling the creature’s head.
‘Hello,’ the fay greets Scott. The greeting sounds like it was given through a smile.
The fay’s leisurely attitude disturbs Derek. Nothing should be this comfortable when surrounded by a pack as powerful as theirs.
‘Hello,’ Scott replies, politely, but reserved.
‘You do not seem to be happy with my presence,’ the fay says, tilting their like they’re confused.
‘Should I be?’
‘Most are.’
‘What do you want?’
Derek nods approvingly. It’s always best to get right down to business when it comes to otherworldly creatures.
‘To make life better. What else?’ The fay stands up, unfolding its long body and brushes their hands down their clothes. They’re tall, at least a head taller than Derek himself. Sweeping their arms around the clearing they ask, ‘Would you be so kind as to invite the rest of your pack into the clearing?’
Though framed as a request, it’s not. Still, they all wait for Scott to give the okay. Scott nods, and they step into the clearing with no idea what to expect.
There is a lot of mythology on Fae, or the Fair Folk. So much, in fact, that it would take several lifetimes to sort out what is fact and what is fiction. There are some things all stories agree on. Fay are beautiful, usually in the way that a shark is beautiful, a beauty that should be observed from a safe distance. They’re old, even though they don’t always look it, and more connected to nature and the universe than any other being. The Fae come in all varieties, short, tall, skinny, fat, with wings, without eyes, two legs, fins, blue skin, part animal, part stars. There’s isn’t much Fae can’t do, except lie. Which means that when this fay said they wanted to make life better, Derek knows they were telling the truth, but Fae are also crafty; telling a lie isn’t the same as omitting part of the truth. So, who exactly do they want to make life better for?
The pack forms a half-circle in front of the fay, with Parrish and Kira at the ends, at the fay’s side, to cut off the fay’s escape route in case they think of running, and Scott is in the middle. Derek stands next to Scott and can finally see what the fay looks like. They remind him of the elves in Lord of the Rings, elegant, with long, soft looking hair, and a youthful face. The eyes are a little too large for the face, reminding Derek of bug eyes, and pointed teeth are bared by the wide grin on the fay’s face.
The fay moves their gaze from one packmember to the next, scrutinizing each of them carefully before moving on, and with each person their grin fades a little more.
‘Such sadness. Such loss.’ They shakes their head, mouth turning down in pity. ‘I can feel no hope. No love.’
‘It’s hard to hope when what your love keeps being ripped away from you,’ Stiles bites out.
Scott throws his friend a warning glance, but Stiles doesn’t seem to notice, he’s completely focused on the creature in front of him.
Derek can’t blame Stiles for being angry at the fay’s words. Things haven’t gotten better, not in Beacon Hills, and not within the pack. Scott, Kira, Lydia and Stiles were supposed to go to college last fall, Malia wanting to stay behind to help Derek with renovating the house he’d just bought, but things were so hectic none of them dared to leave Beacon Hills. And after what happened with the truth pollen at the start of spring, Scott barely managed to hold the pack together.
A pissed off witch sent each of them a bouquet of the damn flowers. The small, yellow and white flowers looked so beautiful and innocent, none of them suspected what would happen when the flowers started blooming that night. It took them almost a day to realize what had happened. By the end of the week, when the effects had finally worn off, those of them in a relationship were once again single, Braeden left, Parrish nearly went back to the army, Stiles moved out of his dad’s place, and no one could look at each other for a month.
They’d chased off the witch and undid the damage he’d done, but they haven’t really been a pack since.
On the upside, nobody has died in almost a year. Hayden, Liam and Mason are even about to finish their junior year with good grades. Which is also why they weren’t allowed to come tonight, they have finals this week.
‘But true love doesn’t need hope to survive,’ the fay says. ‘It’s—‘
‘—the most powerful thing in the world?’ Stiles finishes with a snort.
The fay doesn’t hear, or simply ignores, the sarcastic tone. ‘Exactly,’ they exclaim, eyes shining with excitement.
‘There is no such thing as true love,’ Derek can’t help saying. ‘True love and happy endings only exist in fairy tales.’
‘No, they do not,’ the fay says firmly, as they turn their eyes land on Derek.
Their eyes are not shining from excitement, Derek realizes. They’re actually shining, like small stars.
Scott growls, crouching down and tensing for the attack. Derek mirrors him, and from the corner of his eyes he can see Malia doing the same. The glow of the fay’s eyes reflects off Kira’s raised katana.
If they doesn’t stop the lightshow soon, the fay is going to be ripped to shreds.
‘I know exactly what to do,’ the fay grins, seemingly unperturbed by the treat before them.
Scott and Malia jump forward at the same time, and Derek shifts into his full wolf. Stiles draws his guns and lines up his sight. Kira lets lighting run across the blade of her katana. Parrish’ eyes start glowing like embers, his clothes smoking. Derek hears air filling Lydia’s lungs, as she digs her feet in the ground.
None of them are fast enough.
The fay’s glow burns brighter fast.
Derek pumps his legs harder, he’s faster than any of the others, his body built for speed.
The light is almost blinding now, like a supernova.
The scent of apples mixes with gunpowder when Stiles fires his guns.
Derek jumps for the fay’s throat.