CHAPTER FIVE, the tell

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"Oh hello, Jackson. What finds you here?" Iylah quipped, her lips tugged up into a small smirk as she approached the entrance door to the video store, seeing Jackson in the process.

"I'm going to find a movie?" Jackson responded, his voice trailing off as he furrowed his brows, looking at the brunette in question. "What do you think?"

Iylah sighed loudly. "I mean, what movie are you looking for dumbass," She remarked, rolling her eyes while being the first one to pull the door open and stepping inside the store with Jackson following.

Iylah could practically feel him rolling his eyes in annoyance through his response. "Lydia's with me. What do you think?"

"Ah. The Notebook." Iylah nodded her head in a understanding, practically knowing that the couple had an arguement moments prior about Jackson trying to convince Lydia to watch a different movie. She knew them too well.

"Do you happen to know where it is?" Jackson asked, in hope that he didn't have to ask one of the employees.

Iylah shook her head in confirmation, trying to hold in her laugh much to her enjoyment of the Whittemore's embarrassment. "Nope. Have fun with that."

The brunette walked away to find her own choice of movie, stepping through one of the aisles when she heard Jackson sigh to himself. "Can somebody help me find the Notebook?" Getting no response from any employees, the only sound echoing through the store is from the telephone ringing, confusing both Jackson and Iylah who walked out of the aisle she was in, with her brows furrowed in question as to why nobody was answering the phone.

"Hello?" Jackson called out, looking around the store as Iylah walked up from behind him. "Is anybody working here?" The sound of the telephone ringing continued to echo around the store, Iylah watching as Jackson turned around, sighing in disbelief thinking the store was empty apart from the two teens that stepped foot in there. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Whittemore." Jackson turned around at Iylah calling out his name, his brows furrowed for a moment when he noticed the slight crack in her voice, and her facial expression practically screamed fear. "Get out. Get Lydia and leave now."

"Why?" Jackson questioned, although not letting her respond as he followed her gaze before she could answer him, spotting what looked like someone's shoes, near the end of one of the aisles.

"What the hell are you doing?" Iylah hissed at him, seeing as Jackson began to move forward and towards the mysterious pair of shoes. Almost instantly catching the scent of blood, thanks to her were-coyote abilities, making her scared for the both of them. Especially the strawberry blonde who was still in her car, having no idea what was going on, too busy taking selfies.

She huffed out a breath, quickening her pace to catch up with the boy who stopped just at the end of the aisle and stared down at what was now revealed to be the dead body of the employee that was supposed to be working that night. Iylah went to step past Jackson but he reached his arm out to stop her, his face paled with panic.

Without thinking, he shuffled back, keeping his eyes on the dead body that Iylah had now seen, as a result of a loud shriek coming from her mouth before Jackson accidentally stumbled into the ladders, making them fall over in the process, along with the ceiling panel that the employee was trying to fix beforehand, creating sparks as it fell to the ground, the power in the store twitching slightly.

With heavy breaths, Iylah turned around, using her supernatural hearing to her advantage, when the sound of low growls were heard from the other end of the store.

For a moment, her eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw a familiar red glow shining in the dark shadows, knowing for a fact that the alpha had interfered and was responsible for the dead body. Taking a quick glance towards the boy beside her who had also noticed what she was staring at, she was quick to push him between one of the aisles with her following, the two teens hiding behind the shelves, although it didn't matter as the alpha already knew where they were.

As Jackson and Iylah stayed behind the shelves, all that they could hear, was the heavy breaths plumping from their mouths, the alpha's growls, and a few DVD's clattering to the floor until all of a sudden, they began to hear the shelves starting to fall like dominoes, one by one as it was coming closer towards the shelf they were hiding behind.

In a sudden movement, Jackson pushed Iylah out the way before the shelf from behind them fell, trapping Jackson underneath. A quiet groan came from the brunette as her cheek was harshly pressed against the floor. However, remembering where she was, she slowly turned around, pushing up on her hands slightly when she visibly panicked seeing the alpha hovering over Jackson. She watched as the alpha-like creature examined something on what she assumed was Jackson's neck, the boy closing his eyes on instinct.

It didn't take a second before the alpha locked eyes with Iylah, the brunette panicking and began to shuffle backwards. Of course she would try to fight back using her supernatural abilities, but Jackson was there and conscious so he would still be able to see her if she exposed her fangs.

Iylah dropped her head to the floor, sighing in defeat when the alpha very easily caught up with her and hovered over the girl. She glanced at Jackson before turning her head back and flashed her eyes blue, followed by a whisper as she spoke. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you," The alpha answered, their voice coming out more as a quiet growl as they stared at the brunette below them. "Moon."

At the mention of her nickname that only her family and close friends know, Iylah widened her eyes as she stared at the alpha, more scared that it knew more about her than she expected. But, before she could question any further, the alpha threw her towards the shelves, the brunette hitting her head on the material as the alpha ran away, which was next followed by the sound of glass smashing as it threw itself through the window, running past Lydia in the car who let out a shriek of fear at the sight.

"Lydia." Iylah whispered, hearing the girl scream from outside through her ringing ears. The Stilinski pushed herself off the floor, looking dizzy as she attempted to rush towards Jackson, not thinking for a second before using her supernatural strength to lift the shelf off him. As Jackson slowly pushed himself off the floor with a sigh of relief, Iylah then noticed the look of confusion she received from him, surprised to see how much strength she had. With a simple shrug, Iylah didn't hesitate to excuse. "Eight years of gymnastics."

"Now, go and see if Lydia is okay. I'll stay here and call my dad. Go!"

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It wasn't long before the ambulance and police arrived to the scene after Iylah made the call to her father. The were-witch was sat beside Lydia in the back of the ambulance van, holding the girl's hand in comfort as her own boyfriend was too busy yelling at everyone for no apparent reason.

"Iylah." The brunette turned her head slightly at the sound of her father's voice to see Noah walking over, a look of concern showing on his face as he spoke. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just hit my head quite hard, that's all," Iylah mumbled, sending the man a smile of reassurance, but that didn't stop him from worrying, especially remembering what happened six years prior.

The Sheriff nodded, turning around to approach the Whittemore boy who caught his attention as he spoke. "Why the hell can't I just go home? I'm fine."

Noah pursed his lips, tilting his head slightly at the teen. "I hear ya, but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just wanna make sure you don't have a concussion."

Jackson scoffed in annoyance, narrowing his eyes towards the man, having no care in the world with how he was speaking towards him. "What part of 'I'm fine' are you having a problem grasping? Okay, I wanna go home."

"And I understand that." Noah nodded politely.

"No, you don't understand," Jackson was quick to snap at him, unaware of the glare Iylah held on her face at how he was speaking to her father as he continued. "which kind of blows my mind, since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you!"

"Jackson!" Iylah shouted, the boy turning around at her voice to see the glare she held on her face harden. With a simple huff, he turned around to face Noah once again.

"Okay, now, I wanna go home!" Jackson yelled, waving his hands around.

Stiles, who had arrived with Noah, stood outside the car and behind the car door, before he was quick to interrupt Jackson yelling at his father as he pointed towards the stretcher where the dead employee's body rested. "Oh, whoa, is that a dead body?"

Noah followed his gaze before turning his head back to send his son a pointed look. Stiles sighed before going over towards Iylah to check if she was okay, who smiled upon seeing him. During this interaction, Noah turned to a few citizens that were surrounding the scene before giving them an order. "Everybody back up. Back up."

Iylah pinched her brows together, along with her facial expression showing pure confusion at the familiar voices ringing through her ears. And thanks to her supernatural hearing, the brunette could hear a male voice speak from a distance.

"Starting to get it?"

Iylah slowly began to turn her head to look up towards the roof of the store to see three shadow figures hovering over the roof as they watched the scene taking place when another voice spoke, recognising it was Scott. "I get that he's killing people, but I don't get why. I mean, this isn't standard practice, right? We don't go out in the middle of the night murdering everyone, do we?"

"No. We're predators." Derek informed Scott and Jason who was also at the scene when the former of the siblings wasn't particularly staring at the scene but at one person who sat at the back of wn ambulance van. Seeing this, Iylah sent him a smile of reassurance, letting him know that she was okay before hearing Derek speak once again.

"We don't have to be killers."

Jason sighed to himself, taking a glance over at Derek with his brows furrowed in question as he spoke. "Then why is he a killer?"

"That's what we're gonna find out."

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As much as she hated being in school, Iylah never realised how bored she was being at home alone while the other two residents of the house were either at work or school. Iylah was checked out okay after what happened at the video store, but Noah advised for her to have a day off, so she could rest. She had good grades anyway — perks of being best friends with Lydia Martin.

However, before Stiles left for school, the coyote had managed to catch him beforehand, passing him what looked like a gift bag that you would give to someone for their birthday, and the only message he received was to make sure he passed it on to Allison.

Iylah never said why, since she kind of guessed the Argent wasn't comfortable with people in school knowing about her birthday, in case of misunderstanding why she was older than them.

Iylah had a good guess that the reason behind it was due to her moving around a lot. But of course, that didn't stop Lydia and Iylah, the former of the two slipping balloons and her own gifts into Allison's locker the day before, since the girl had taken it upon herself to take the day off as well.

Apart from the few messages from Scott checking if she was okay, Iylah used her free time to watch tv in her room until she fell asleep. The next time Iylah woke up, she found even more messages on her phone from Allison, her father and the three musketeers making her sigh to herself.

Iylah hummed to herself, beginning to walk out of her room, having a one way conversation with herself as she spoke. "I'm bored. Who can I bother today? Oh, I know. I'll think I'll check on Derek. He's probably lonely, plus he might get caught by hunters. I never know these days."

Simply slipping on a pair of sweatpants, a hoodie over her t-shirt and her sneakers, she left the house, not forgetting to lock the door behind her before starting to head towards the Hale house, being careful of hunters herself.

As soon as she arrived, she walked through the front door, the sound of rock music echoing around the house, making Iylah instantly roll her eyes, turning on her heel to see Derek hanging on the top of the doorframe, doing pull-ups.

Catching her scent, the man sighed before he dropped to the ground, turning off the music before turning around to face Iylah who wore a look of disgust. Mentally rolling his eyes, his brows then furrowed in question, asking. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in school?"

Iylah folded her hands together, pursing her lips at the Hale. "I was advised to take a sick day, according to my father so I could rest."

"So, why aren't you resting at home?"

"Never mind, me." Iylah was quick to wave him off, changing the subject as she spoke, the look of disgust still clear on her face. "What are you doing showing off your non-existent muscles to absolutely nobody?"

Derek scoffed. "I have muscles, I don't have a clue what you're talking about. I'm like the Hulk."

"Okay." Iylah trailed off, giving the werewolf a strange look. "You keep telling yourself that, plus, if I say that, it's just wrong. And I'm sorry, but do you look like a green giant?"

"I have mus-" Derek went to defend, only to cut himself off when activating his supernatural hearing to listen in on the noises coming from outside the house.

"What now?" Iylah sighed loudly, and Derek was quick to hover his hand over her mouth again, gesturing for her to be quiet before she joined in on hearing out for the noises coming from a distance.

"Come on," Derek muttered, rushing over to hide in a dark shadow corner of his house with Iylah following, the two supernaturals staying quiet upon hearing the front door being kicked open.

"No one home." The two supernaturals heard one of the hunters call out.

Derek and Iylah both practically rolled their eyes when they heard the follow up person, recognising their voice instantly. "Oh, he's here. He's just not feeling particularly hospitable."

Another hunter smiled smugly, the next one to speak up as he was quick to come up with his own pathetic joke. "Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard."

"Really? A dog joke?" Kate practically scoffed at the hunter, and surprisingly Iylah agreed with the woman at how horrible the joke was. "We're going there, and that's the best you got?"

"If you wanna provoke him," Kate continued her speech, starting to look around the home as she continued. "say something like, 'too bad your sister 'bit it' before she had her first litter.' 'Too bad she howled like a bitch- when we cut her in half!" She raised her voice at the last part, knowing that would grab Derek's attention.

"No, Derek! Don't-" Iylah tried to stop the Hale knowing he was provoked, but it was too late as the man turned the corner, throwing the hunter to the wall who screamed. He jumped up onto the railing of the staircase, throwing himself over before swinging on the doorframe and kicked the other hunter hardly in the chest who flew back from the contact.

"Oh, I am friends with a complete idiot." Iylah whispered, sighing to herself before her eyes widened hearing the sound of Derek groaning in pain, along with an electric stun baton. Iylah stayed where she was, courtesy of Derek telling her before he went off into werewolf mode, before activating her supernatural hearing to listen in.

"Wow." Kate stared at Derek who fidgeted on the ground, still feeling the pain from the electric stun baton. "This one grew up in all the right places. I don't know whether to kill it or lick it."

Iylah stayed in the dark hallway, looking away slightly as she silently gagged in disgust, knowing Derek and Kate's past.

"900,000 volts." Iylah heard Kate chuckle, along with the sound of her weapon zapping. She hated to stay standing in the dark but Derek didn't want Kate to know the girl was there. "You never were good with electricity, were you?" The Argent woman sighed. "Or fire. But, I'm more referring to Iylah on that one."

The Stilinski leaned back against the wall, her eyes currently closed when she opened them with her eyes instantly flashing a bright blue in anger at that comment.

Derek still struggled with the pain, although he narrowed his eyes with a glare towards the woman at the mention of Iylah, in which Kate ignored as she continued. "Which is why I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. And, well, maybe we can help each other out. Yes, your sister was severed into pieces and used as bait to try and catch you. Unpleasant, and frankly, a little too Texas Chainsaw Massacre for my taste, but quite true."

Kate chuckled to herself as Derek managed to sit himself up, leaning against one of the doors, listening as she continued. "Now, here's the part that might really kick you in your balls. We didn't kill her. You think I'm lying?"

Through panting breaths as the Hale was still suffering from the aftershock to the electric stun baton, he seethed. "Wouldn't be the first time."

"Sweetie." Kate hummed, approaching closer to the man and crouched down in front of him as she spoke. "Well, why don't you just listen to my heart and tell me if I am. Okay?"

With both Derek and Iylah listening to Kate's heart beating, the woman trailed off in a whisper voice, leaning closer to Derek's ear. "We... didn't... kill... your sister." Iylah pinched her brows together in confusion after hearing the woman's steady heartbeat, although she still held the angered look on her face as she clenched her fists, hearing the woman continue. "Do you hear that? There's no blips or upticks. Just the steady beat of the cold, hard truth."

The blonde stood back up straight, turning back to the Hale werewolf to explain. "Found bite marks on your sister's body, Derek. What do you think did that?" She chuckled in a mocking way before adding. "A mountain lion?"

Kate closed her stun baton down, going to elaborate more. "Why aren't we helping each other out? You might as well admit what you've been guessing all along, which is, the Alpha killed your sister. And all you have to do is tell us who he is, and we'll take care of it for you. Problem solved, everybody goes home happy." She stopped upon noticing the look on Derek's face, making her raise her brows in question, already theorising. "Unless, you don't know who he is either."

Kate laughed, turning on her heel slightly. "Wow. Guess who just became totally useless?"

While that was happening, Iylah noticed one of the hunters gaining consciousness, slowly standing up when his eyes widened at the sight of Iylah. He pulled his gun out on instinct, turning his head slightly and opened his mouth to inform Kate about Iylah's presence. However, before he could, Iylah flashed her blue eyes and growled at the man before jumping towards him and kicking his gun to the ground, shoving his body against the wall before spinning him around and throwing him towards Kate, using her coyote strength.

Due to Kate being distracted by Iylah's presence along with the hunter flying towards her, Kate had barely dodged him in time, with the Stilinski using this as her chance to grab Derek, helping him up off the floor before both stumbling forward to get out the house, hearing Kate fire multiple bullets towards them, followed by her yell as the two supernaturals managed to escape, running away from the house.

"I see you, Iylah!"

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

MEGAN SPEAKS !

just derek and iylah being a
comedic duo >>>

thanks for reading, i love you all!! <33