✧☾ ATONEMENT ☽✧

━━━━ act one. full moon

four. full moon ━━━━

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THE FEELING OF SILVER MOONLIGHT ON HER SKIN WAS FREEING. The pain of the transformation would never fade but instead of fearing it, like she did when she was younger, she now embraced it. The rush of energy that coursed through her veins made her feel like she could take on the world. Her enhanced senses were able to pick up the most vibrant colors and melodic sounds. The world came alive around her. As though a curtain had been lifted, revealing what was truly surrounding them, only able to be seen by glowing eyes.

But it took her a lot of restraint to not completely lose herself in the seemingly endless energy that now filled her body. Nola knew that even giving in a little bit could turn the feeling of strength into that of invincibility. If she let go of her anchor, her hands would grasp for power instead and she'd turn into the monster that so many hunters believed them to be.

To prevent that from happening but still being able to fully embrace the nights of the full moon, she and Aiden had started a certain...tradition.

"You're distracted," Aiden noted.

His voice echoed through the empty warehouse they'd chosen as their playground for the night. There wasn't a living soul nearby to hear the strange sound of two wolves fighting.

"I'm not," Nola lied through gritted teeth, her words immediately followed by her fist.

Aiden dodged the punch with ease, grinning at her all the while. "No? So, you mean to say you really are this sloppy?"

She didn't give him the satisfaction of a reply. Instead, she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his waist, managing to push him against the ground. She threw her hair out of her face, now it was her turn to grin.

"You were saying?"

With a groan of effort, Aiden pushed her aside, rolling over so now she was laying on the ground and he was leaning over her.

"That you're distracted."

She scoffed, pushing him aside and quickly getting back on her feet.

Aiden stood back up as well. "Is it still about the plan?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," she objected.

He shrugged. "Fine." Then, without so much as a warning, he took off his shirt.

Nola raised a brow. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you something else to be distracted by."

She wanted to hit that cocky smirk off his face. The bastard was very much aware that his stupid idea worked perfectly.

"Come and get me, babe," Aiden smirked, challenging her.

She rolled her eyes. Then, taking him by surprise, she took off her shirt as well, standing there in her sports bra. "At least we're even now."

He quickly recovered from her distraction and gathered his strength. His eyes glowed a bright, fierce red as he bared his teeth.

Her own eyes were a stone cold blue as she roared at him and charged forward once again.

Alpha's were stronger than Beta's by nature, which meant Nola had no real chance of beating him. Unless she tried to be smarter. No matter how much she liked her boyfriend, there wasn't much else happening in his brain when he was caught up in a fight.

Instead of running straight at him, she changed course at the very last moment. She ran up to a steel supporting beam and jumped, using it as leverage to launch herself even higher. This caught him by surprise, giving her the opening she needed. Her claw connected with his jaw, throwing him off balance.

With a growl he recovered and came for her immediately. He threw a punch aimed at her cheek but Nola managed to evade it.

She aimed at his right side, knowing that was the side he always forgot to cover. Because whenever he merged with Ethan, that was the side covered by his brother. Her fist connected with his ribcage, making him stumble. But Nola didn't move quick enough and Aiden managed to crap a hold of her arm.

He pulled her down to the ground. The two of them once again ended up on the floor, with Aiden on top and Nola buried beneath him with a frown on her face.

A sigh escaped her lips as she turned back to her human self. "I really thought I had you there.".

"You did," Aiden admitted, pulling back his fangs as well. "I just happen to be stronger."

"No, you just happen to be a sour loser," she smirked.

"Shut it, Newcrest."

"Make me, Steiner."

He didn't hesitate, gladly granting her request.

Their lips met and the entire world disappeared. No time for patience or gentleness. Their noses bumping hard enough to bruise. Her fingers knotted in his hair, his hand on her waist. The two of them were devoured by fire, igniting their very bones.

He'd been right before, she was still mad about the plan. The mere thought of him chatting up some other girl made her physically sick with jealousy, an emotion she absolutely despised. But now that he was here, just the two of them in an abandoned warehouse, she'd make damn well sure to mark him as hers, even if the world wasn't allowed to see it.

His lips left traces down her neck but she was too impatient and pulled his mouth back on hers. He chuckled against her lips, her entire body humming blissfully at the sound.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a little impatient?" Aiden mumbled, his voice hoarse.

"Once or twice," she grinned.

He held her gaze, his expression suddenly turning serious, as though he'd been able to read every single thought swirling through her mind. "You know you've got nothing to worry about, right?"

She traced his cheek with the tips of her fingers, enjoying the way he shivered beneath her touch. "I know," she lied, her heartbeat steady despite her fears.

He leaned closer but just when their lips were about to touch, a high-pitched scream filled the night sky. The sound made her entire body shake and fill with dread, as though death itself was breathing down her neck...The two of them immediately sat up straight, ears focused on the sound. But it was gone before either of them could determine where it was coming from, or who it had been.

"What the fuck was that?" Aiden questioned, out of breath.

Nola didn't reply, her hearing still focused. She had never heard anything like it before and the haunting feeling was still rattling her bones. Cars, birds, water, she could hear it all but nothing that gave her a clue to the source of the scream. Her heart jumped in her chest when her phone rang, the sound infinitely louder with her enhanced hearing. Wincing she reached for it, a small frown appearing on her face at the unknown number on her screen.

"Hello?"

Aiden frowned at her but she simply shrugged.

"Nola?"

"Scott? How the hell did you get my number?"

"Eh, well Stiles' dad is the sheriff so he did-,"

"Wait," she interrupted him. "Don't tell me. I don't want to get called into court as a witness."

Scott chuckled somewhat awkwardly, probably wishing he still had the luxury to pretend not to know about Stiles' morally questionable research skills.

"Why did your friend risk jail time to call me?"

"Well, we've kind of got a situation and I was hoping you were willing to help us out."

"That's strangely vague." She threw a questioning look at Aiden, knowing he was listening in. But his expression was enough to tell her he had no clue what this was about either.

Scott took a deep breath. "Listen, you said you were willing to do anything to show us we can trust you right?"

"Yeah," Nola said slowly, feeling Aiden tense beside her.

"Good because we could really use your help."

She nodded. "Of course, what do you need?"

"We told you about the Alpha pack right? They took Boyd and Erica, Derek's Betas. They locked them in a vault that prevented them from shifting for three months. But they've escaped and they're gonna hurt someone if we don't stop them."

The ground seemed to disappear beneath her, dragging her down into a hole of memories she'd spend her entire life trying to push away. Images of the night her life was forever changed flashed through her mind. She couldn't let that happen ever again and so, despite Aiden's warning glare, the answer was out of her mouth before she could think it through.

"Okay, what's your plan?"

"Meet us at the entrance of the preserve, I'll explain everything."

He ended the call, leaving her sitting there with shaking hands.

She inhaled sharply and got to her feet.

"Don't get involved Nola," Aiden said.

She put her shirt back on, her mind already made up. "I can't let them kill someone."

"Don't screw up the plan."

Anger flared up within her, sudden and bright. "The plan was for it to happen inside the vault."

Aiden shrugged. "So? This doesn't change anything."

"Of course it does! I'm not going to let someone innocent get hurt just so my dad can make a point," she snapped, barely able to breathe through the flames filling her lungs.

He frowned, looking as though he wanted to ask her something. Perhaps he should've. She'd never told anyone about the reason her eyes were blue and no one ever asked her either. Maybe he should've asked her right then and there. Maybe then her reasoning would've made sense to him. Maybe she should've stayed and told him herself, talked it all out and put all her cards on the table...She didn't.

"Don't come after me," she said, grabbing a hold of the last of her stuff before hurrying out of the warehouse.

She parked her car at the entrance of the park and hurried towards the fence, her breath catching in her throat when she saw Scott and three others waiting for her. Forcing down her nerves, she made her way over to them, the sound of her footsteps making them turn to look at her.

"Hey," Scott greeted her. "Thanks for helping out."

"Of course," Nola replied, eyes drifting towards the other three men. She was very much aware of Derek's gaze resting on her, meassuring her.

"Oh, this is Isaac," Scott introduced the teenager, who she knew to be Derek's Beta. "That's Derek and this is Chris Argent."

At the mention of the last name every bone in her muscle in her body tensed, she couldn't help it. Still, she forced herself to hold the man's gaze, his blue eyes following her like a hawk. The son of the man who murdered her mother...

"He, ehm, used to be a hunter," Scott explained, sounding somewhat apologetic.

She tried to bury her fears and forced herself to breathe in and out, feeling her body slowly relax. Though she couldn't quite manage to keep the sharp edge of tension out of her voice when she asked; "Does that mean you plan on killing them?"

"No," Scott answered immediately, firmly.

It didn't go unnoticed by her how Argent and Derek shared a knowing look. They both knew they might have no other choice...

"Okay," she said slowly, turning back to Scott. "Then what is the plan?"

"Listen, I know the four of you are focusing half your energy on resisting your own urges under the full moon," Argent spoke. "But that puts you at a severe disadvantage to Boyd and Erica, who have fully given in. They put the pedal to the floor while you four are barely hitting the speed limit."

"So what do we do?" Derek asked, looking very displeased with Argent's words.

"Focus on your sense of smell. Actual wolves are known to track their prey by up to a 100 miles a day by scent. A trained hunter can use scent to track them. If the wind is with them, wolves can track a scent by a distance of two miles, which means we can draw them to us or into a trap. The full moon does give us one advantage. They'll have a higher heat signature, which makes them easier to spot with infrared."

He tossed Isaac a pair of binoculars and was about to hand them out to Derek too.

But the Alpha stopped him by glowing his eyes bright red. "Thanks but, I've got my own."

"Just remember, we're not hunting wild animals. Underneath those impulses are two intelligent human beings. Don't think they can't rely on that human side. It's suppressed, but it's there, reminding them how to mask their scent, how to cover their tracks, how to survive."

Nola crossed her arms over her chest. "Okay and after we've tracked them down? Then what?"

Argent inhaled deeply, a thousand thoughts seeming to rattle his brain. "Alright. The problem is when they breach the woods and hit the residential area. Once they're past the high school, they're right in the middle of Beacon Hills."

"They're not gonna kill everything they see, are they?" Isaac asked, frowning.

"No," Argent said. "But there is an important difference to recognize. Wolves hunt for food. At a certain point they get full. Boyd and Erica are hunting for the pleasure of the kill for some primal apex predatory satisfaction that comes from the ripping of warm bodies to bloody shreds. And who knows when that need gets satiated?"

"Thanks for that image," Nola mumbled softly so only Isaac, standing right next to her, could hear.

A small smirk flashed over his face, though he looked a little pale.

"We can't kill them," Scott said, still sounding determined about that fact.

"What if we can't catch them?" Derek countered.

Argent looked between the two of them. "Then maybe we just need to contain them. There's no one in the school at night, is there?"

"You want to trap them inside?" Derek asked, immediately understanding.

"If there's somewhere with a strong enough door, no windows or access to the outside."

"What about the boiler room?" Isaac offered. "It's just one big steel door."

Argent nodded. "You're sure the school's empty?"

"It has to be," Scott said, sounding hopeful at the plan that was slowly starting to form. "There can't be anyone there this late, right?"

"I don't think so," Nola agreed.

"Alright," Argent said as he reached into the bag he'd put on the ground. He took out something that looked like a little silver lantern and pushed a button on the top. Immediately a high pitched noise assaulted her ears, making her wince. "These are ultrasonic emitters. It's one of the tools we use to corral werewolves, pushing them into a direction we want them to run. Gives off a high-pitched frequency that only they can hear."

"No kidding," Isaac groaned, covering his own ears.

A small, satisfied smirk flashed across Argent's features but it was gone before she could be sure of it. Then he reached inside the bag again and handed each of them a few of the emitters.

"These are gonna drive them to the school?" Derek asked.

Argent nodded. "And then it's up to you to get them into the basement."

"Does anyone else wanna rethink the plan where we just, eh, kill them?" Isaac offered.

Nola glared at him.

"It's going to work," Scott spoke with genuine conviction.

"It'll work," Derek agreed.

They settled on the route each of them would take to the school and then went their own separate ways. Nola had five emitters and would follow the northern trail from the parking lot down the sports field in front of the school. She ran down the moonlit path, dropping the first emitter at the entrance of the parking lot. She couldn't describe exactly what it was she was feeling. On the one hand the guilt of betraying her own pack was making her heart feel heavy. On the other hand she knew she would never forgive herself if she just stood by while two werewolves were running rampant. She hadn't listened to her own conscience in a long time and she knew this time she had no other choice but to do so.

As she ran through the night, present and past became a blur within her memories. After her mother had been killed, she lost her anchor, the one person who had always grounded her during full moons. It took her a long time to relearn control, too long...Shaking her head she pushed those memories aside, she had to stay focused. In the distance she could already see the school, she was nearly there. At the crossroad she dropped the fourth emitter, becoming a little more used to the sharp pitch when she activated it.

The fifth and final emitter she put at the edge of the lacrosse field. Then she made her way towards the front of the school, where Isaac was already waiting. Before she could ask him what the next step was, a menacing howl disturbed the peaceful night. Her ears caught the noise of a fence rattling, they were coming from the direction of the sport fields.

"Here we go," she breathed.

"Great," Isaac muttered, his claws at the ready and his amber eyes glowing.

They watched as the two wolves crossed the parking lot, running straight towards them. Nola braced herself, watching their every move. If they entered the school from this side they would never get into the boiling room. So it was their job to make sure they didn't enter the door behind them.

Right when the two werewolves were about to charge, Argent came driving around the corner, loudly sounding the horn of his car. The noise startled them and drove them to the other side of the school.

A trembling breath left her lips. She might've been able to hold her own in a fight but that didn't mean she looked forward to doing so. "I can't believe that worked."

"We're not done yet," Isaac sighed. "Let's find the others."

Together they made their way to the front of the school where Argent was just getting out of his car. "Derek and Scott got them trapped inside," he said, sounding relieved even though he was trying to hide it.

Just when she was about to finally relax, a pained roar reached her ears, putting her right back on alert. "Something went wrong," she said, already starting to run before her sentence was even finished. As they hurried through the hallways, a soft golden light slowly replaced the cold blue of the night. Whatever had gone wrong...it would soon be solved by the sun rising.

"Scott?" Isaac called out. "Scott, the sun's coming up!"

They quickened their pace and reached the boiler room just in time to see Scott pull the door wide open and hurried inside. Her heartbeat quickened with dread as she hurried down the stairs with Isaac on her heels. They followed Scott inside the boiler room, catching sight of the scene in front of them together.

Derek was seated on his knees, wounded and bruised. Beside him lay his two Beta's, unconscious. He had sacrificed himself to save them. If the sun hadn't come up, they would've killed him. He would've rather died himself than kill his Beta's.

And Nola realized right then and there, her father would not get his way so easily this time.

✧☾ NOTE ☽✧

Hey guys! I'm back! Apologies for disappearing for a while there.

I personally really like this chapter. Nola and Aiden are a very badass, hot couple me thinks and I enjoy writing their dynamic so much. But cracks are starting to show already. Communication really isn't their strength...Oh and of course I can't write a teen wolf fic without adding a needless "let me take off my shirt" scene ;)

Also, as mentioned earlier, I made some changes to the story. I decided to let Erica live and remove Cora's character from the story. I made this decision because I believe Erica was a much more interesting character and should've been developed more. Also, Cora's existence always felt a bit random and like a bit of a plothole to me. So I decided to change that. Erica won't take over Cora's storyline completely. I will instead write some new scenes for her as well. I hope you guys are excited for this change!

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments and don't forget to vote! As always, thank you guys endlessly for supporting this story. Hopefully I'll see you soon!

xx nelly

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