[ n i n e ]

n i n et h e  a l p h a & t h e p r o t e c t o r

AMELIA ENTERED THE VIDEO STORE LOOKING AT HER PHONE. Stiles had proposed that they watched Rosemary's Baby that night, and who was she to deny.

She wasn't a movie nerd, yet she knew Stiles was and she wanted to do the things Stiles liked to do.

Maybe because she was beginning to fall for the Stilinski charm.

"Can someone help me find The Notebook?" She heard someone ask and she approached the aisle.

"Hey Jackson," she greeted him, making him jump. "You need help?"

"Uhm... I-I was just..."

"Looking for The Notebook?" She interrupted him, trying not to laugh.

"Lydia wants to..."

"Sure," she said before grabbing the DVD box, giving it to him. "I think this is what you are looking for?"

"Yeah... what are you looking for?"

"Rosemary's Baby. Can't find it anywhere."

"I'll help you. It's a horror movie so it has to be over there."

They both walked towards the horror movie aisle when they saw two feet peeking out one of the aisle. Jackson approached it slowly, Amelia walking behind him.

"Is that—?" She was going to ask, but Jackson interrupted her by shushing her softly.

When they reached the aisle, they both saw what they were fearing.

The body of the video store worker was shoved against the shelves, with his throat ripped out.

"Jackson," she whispered as they both stepped back, him hitting a ladder that made the lightbulb fall, making the place's lights to start blinking.

"Amy," he mumbled as he pulled her closer, making her hit his back. "Stay close..."

The girl couldn't believe the guy was trying to protect her. She was expecting him to sprint out like a coward, yet, there he was, trying to be the hero.

She even doubted to take out her crossbow from her bag, I mean, he seemed to have it covered.

Until she turned around and saw the thing she was fearing.

"Jackson, behind you," she said and he quickly turned around, still keeping her behind him.

There he was, in the shadows of the video store with his big red eyes and his enormous teeth.

The Alpha.

Before she could take the crossbow out of her bag, Jackson dragged her behind the shelves, keeping her against his chest.

"Amelia, I'm gonna distract it and you run to the door."

"What!? I'm not leaving you, you idiot," she whispered. "It's gonna kill you."

"Amy, please..."

The thing was running, knocking some shelves and making the DVD boxes fall on top of their heads.

"Jackson, stay here," she said. "I'll distract it, you run."

"What? You said you didn't want to do that."

"Yeah, but I can—"

They were interrupted by the sound of another shelf falling, they both hugged each other in fear, hearing as the wolf got closer.

"That's a scary mountain lion," whispered the guy.

"If you only knew," said the girl to herself. "Let's just... let's both run."

The heard as the one of the shelves fell, pushing the others like it was a domino effect. Jackson was quick to push the girl away, him getting trapped waist down between the shelf and the floor.

"Run," he whispered as she stood up, hiding behind a wall. She grabbed the crossbow from her bag and placed an arrow on it, waiting for the wolf.

She could smell it, he smelled different than Scott or Derek. She could smell anger, hunger and passion. Didn't know how she could smell that.

But then... she noticed he was confused as he approached the wall where she was hiding. She could hear it smelling.

Maybe she had a scent, like she could identify werewolves, he could identify her.

"Sealgair..." she heard a whisper that made her tremble, scare her even.

She had never been more scared.

She was about to leave her hiding spot and shoot the beast when she noticed that it didn't hurt Jackson, that it was gone.

The girl put down the crossbow and approached the lacrosse player, lifting up the shelves with all the strength she had and letting him free.

"You okay? Did it hurt you?" He asked her. She noticed how he was panicking, his breathing was quick and his pulse was accelerated.

"No, I'm fine. You?"

"I'll be okay..." she lied.

She never wanted to feel that scared again.

• • •

She saw as the Sheriff's car pulled up in front of the video store from the ambulance, and she was glad to see Stiles's dad getting out of it.

Jackson was next to her while Lydia was next to him. They saw as the Sheriff approached them.

The paramedic was checking on her while Jackson started to argue with the Sheriff.

"Why the hell can't I just go home? I'm fine."

"Jackson," whispered Amelia, but he didn't listen to her.

"I hear ya, but the EMT says you hit your head pretty hard. They just want to make sure you don't have a concussion."

"What part of «I'm fine» are you having a problem grasping? Okay, I wanna go home!" He exclaimed. "Amelia is fine too, right?"

She was about to talk when the sheriff interrupted again.

"I understand, Jackson."

"No, you don't understand! Which kinda blows my mind since it should be a pretty basic concept to grasp for a minimum-wage rent-a-cop like you! Okay, now I wanna go home!"

"Oh, whoa, is that a dead body!?" Someone exclaimed and Amelia recognized the voice. Instead of looking towards the body, she looked at Stiles.

He gave him a reassuring smile as she stood up from the ambulance, letting the paramedics put the body inside.

She walked towards the guy, still being covered by the blanket the guy from the ambulance gave her. Stiles looked at her with a tiny smile, placing his hands on her arms, rubbing his palms agains the blanket.

"What happened?" He asked and she shrugged.

"I'll tell you but... I just wanna go."

"I'll tell my dad to drive you home," he whispered but she shook her head.

"No, I was going to be with you tonight, remember?"

Stiles seemed to remember, and it clicked why she was at the video store in the first place.

"Rosemary's baby," he said. "I have it on digital, you didn't have to look for it."

"You should have said that before I encountered the alpha," she whispered the last part. "I have so much to tell you."

"Well," he said before grabbing her hand. "Why don't you tell me on the way to my house?"

She smiled a little before nodding. "I have so much to tell you," she mumbled.

• • •

"Stiles," called him the girl as he closed the computer.

They were both watching movies and eating popcorn with gummy bears. She would only eat the red one.

It actually had a dark meaning, which was that the red one had the color of blood so when she rips off the head, it's more accurate.

"Yeah?" He said, both looking at each other.

"At the video store... I let Jackson be the hero."

Stiles looked at her confused. What did she meant by it?

They were both laying on the bed, staring at each other as their heads rested on the pillows.

"What do you mean?"

"I could have grabbed my crossbow and kill the Alpha, but I didn't... I couldn't."

"Why?"

"I don't know... There was something stopping me from doing it..."

Stiles ran his fingers through her hair, trying to calm her.

"Maybe... it was because you knew that a werewolf, even if it is scary and a murderer... it is a person. And like I told you before, Amelia..." he said her name in a whisper. "You are not a killer."

The girl smiled at that before placing her head on the guy's chest, letting him wrap her with his arms.

"Thank you, Stiles..." she said. "You are the only thing keeping me human right now."

• • •

"Just a friendly reminder," said Mr. Harris, "parent/teacher conferences are tonight. Students below a "C" average are required to attend. I won't name you, because the shame and self-disgust should be more than enough punishment."

"I like that guy," whispered Amelia to Stiles and he looked at her before noticing that he was standing right in front of the two.

"Has anyone seen Scott McCall?"

Amelia looked over the werewolf's usual spot, noticing she was done.

She was clearly failing Protector 101.

The door opened, letting Jackson inside. Stiles looked over to Amelia as she kept her staring on the captain of the lacrosse team as he entered the lab.

Mr. Harris approached Jackson's desk, leaning in to talk to him.

"Hey, Jackson," he whispered, but Amelia heard. "If you need to leave early for any reason, let me know."

The girl turned around to look at Stiles. "Why didn't I get that kind of treatment?"

"Well," he started, "if Mr. Harris is indeed human and not a lizard as I think he is, he would be terrified to talk to you like the rest of us are."

"Am I terrifying?" She asked him and Stiles nodded.

"Oh yeah. I find it hot though," he admitted before looking back at his book. Amelia couldn't help but to smile.

"Everyone, start reading chapter nine," said Mr. Harris as he walked to the chalkboard. "Mr. Stilinksi." Stiles looked up from his book. He now had the yellow highlighter between his lips as he stared at the teacher. "Try putting highlighter down between paragraphs. It's chemistry, not a coloring book."

Amelia held her laughter as Stiles spit the tap of the highlighter.

The guy leaned in towards Danny, Jackson's best friend, talking to him.

"Hey Danny," called him Stiles, "can I ask you a question?"

"No," replied the goalkeeper of the lacrosse team, making Amelia chuckle.

"Well, I'm going to anyway," informed him Stiles, "uhm, did Lydia show up in your homeroom today?"

"No," answered Danny.

"Can I ask you another question?" He said again, making Amelia bit her pencil.

"Answer's still now."

"Did he tell you what happened last night to him and Lydia?"

"No, he didn't. He wouldn't tell me."

"But he's your best friend." Danny shrugged as Stiles leaned in a bit more. "One more question..."

"What?"

"Do you find me attractive?"

Amelia turned around to look at Stiles in confusion, seeing as he fell off his chair. What the hell did she see on him?

• • •

She was doing her common patrolling around the woods, bow in hand when she heard footsteps.

She heard someone walking.

Werewolf.

She tensed the string of the bow, quickly turning around in a hundred-eighty degrees just to see Derek Hale, less that a foot away for her, with the point of her arrow too close to his heart.

"What are you doing here?" She asked him as she put the arrow down. "Scott isn't with me."

"I'm not here for Scott, I'm here for you."

"Me?" Amelia asked as she put the arrow with the other. "What would you could possibly want from me?"

"You saw something, didn't you?" He said, making her tense. "I can hear your heartbeat... you got nervous."

"I didn't see anything," she whispered.

"Did you forget I know when people lie. Your heartbeat gives it away." He moved closer to her, scaring her a bit. "You saw the Alpha... Did you feel something?"

"Like what?" She asked.

"You were scared... he scared you," he said, "you stink it! I can smell the scare of you."

"So what? Wouldn't you be a bit scare if a big bad wolf tries to kill you?" He probably wouldn't, still, she had nothing else to defend herself with.

"Supernatural hunters aren't scared of wolves."

"Well, I'm in training..."

Derek chuckled. "He provoked that on you because he wants you to fear him. If you fear him, he can control you."

"Why would he want to control me?" Amelia asked.

"Because you are linked to Scott McCall. The pact you did? It's more than just words, Amelia, you created a supernatural link between the two of you... I think you know what that means."

She had an idea, but she didn't want it to be true.

"And what would be that?"

"Well... you just stopped being a supernatural hunter... you became a Protector. The first of your kind." The girl raised her eyebrows. "You now protect the supernatural, instead of killing it. A real supernatural hunter would have killed me and Scott a while ago."

The girl stared at Derek in disbelief. He was lying. She was a hunter.

But it now kinda makes sense.

Why didn't she kill the Alpha when she got the chance?

"Now that your job is to protect Scott, the Alpha wants you dead..."

"Why would he want me dead? I'm protecting his beta."

Derek scoffed. "You don't get it, do you? The only one that can give protection to a Beta is the Alpha... he can't let Scott trust you more than he trusts him."

"Well, he's close. Scott doesn't trust me..."

"But he will," said Derek, so sure of himself. "And when he does, the Alpha loses him for good. That's why he wants you to fear him, Amelia... he wants to kill you."

Amelia stared at Derek for a few seconds. This man was telling her that the Alpha wanted her dead, and that wasn't reassuring. Now, she needed to prove that she was still a supernatural hunter, yet she couldn't do that.

Derek Hale was under her protection now, so was Scott McCall.

Unless another supernatural creature comes to Beacon Hills before the Alpha decides to kill her, she would have to kill him first.

She needed to kill the alpha.

"Okay, I believe you," she finally said. "I don't know what my dad would think if he finds out I'm a protector now."

They both walked through the woods. She didn't know why Derek wanted to stick around with her, probably it was because she was the "protector" and he knew he wouldn't get hurt around her, or maybe he wanted to scare her a bit more.

"So, if Scott begins to trust me," she said and Derek nodded, "I become his Alpha?"

"Not quite," he tried to explain, "you have to understand: this hasn't happened before. None Sealgair has ever offered to protect a supernatural creature. You are the first. You won't become his Alpha, but you'll become part of his pack. And that's what the Alpha doesn't want: Scott having his own pack."

"Got it," she said, "but I'm not a werewolf. How could I be part of his pack?"

"You don't need to be a werewolf, you just need to help each other. Wolves are better in numbers. Not only stronger, but faster, smarter, all their strengths get increased. Without a pack, you are an Omega. The weak. That's what the Alpha would become if Scott refuses to join his pack. He needs Scott."

"That's why he wants to kill me. I would help Scott create his own pack."

"The minute Scott begins to trust you... he's doomed."

"And what about you?" She asked to him, making him raise his eyebrows. "Do you trust me? Am I part of your pack?"

"I do not trust you, yet, I stick with you because I owe you my life... twice." The girl chuckled. "I'll repay you by preventing the Alpha from killing you."

"Well, that sounds nice." He smiled. It was the first time she had ever seen Derek Hale smile. "I understand why Scott doesn't trust me, I mean, I did try to kill him several times... why don't you trust me? I did save your life... twice."

"I don't trust hunters. The Argents were responsible for burning my house and killing my family."

"Yeah but those are the Argents. They are humans pretending to be real hunters. And I'm not like them, I'm a protector, you said it yourself."

"You aren't a protector yet. Scott doesn't trust you, I don't trust you. You can still stab our back at any time just to please your dad."

"Still, you guys are under my protection. Scott because I did a pact with him, and you because Scott needs you," she let him know. "Your life has suddenly become important in Scott's life, even if he doesn't trust you either."

"It sucks when people doesn't trust you."

She smiled. "Tell me about it."

"What are you doing in the woods anyway?"

"Doing my job."

"You said Scott wasn't with you."

"Oh, he isn't with me, but I'm with him all the time."

The girl pointed at two people walking through the woods, a girl and a guy. Scott and Allison.

"It's her birthday today and he decided to make her skip class was the best way to celebrate it with her," Amelia explained. "You better go... it's not that fun to be around here."

"It's not that fun for you either... come on, follow me."

• • •

"I don't know if being in your haunted house is better than patrolling Scott and making sure he's okay," admitted the girl as she kicked around the burned furniture while Derek exercised. "Are you trying to impress me or something?"

"I doubt like someone like you would be impress," he said as he jumped down, ready to do push-ups. "I bet you can do hundreds of this without blinking."

"Maybe," she said between laughs.

Suddenly, Derek stopped talking, standing up from the floor and looking outside.

"Hide."

"What?" She asked.

"They are here."

Amelia didn't have time to ask who as she was running upstairs, hiding behind a wall. She grabbed her bow and placed an arrow on it, tensing the string.

Someone kicked the door, and she saw through the reflection of the broken glass of the window that it was two men and a woman.

Argents.

"No one home?" Said one of them. The one with the rifle.

"Oh, he's here," said the woman. Scott said that it was Allison's aunt Kate. She wondered what was her fascination with Derek. "He's just not feeling particularly hospitable."

"Maybe he's out burying a bone in the backyard." Amelia squeezed her nose. Bad joke.

"Really? A dog joke?" Asked Kate. "We're going there, and that's the best you got?" The woman walked towards the living room. "If you wanna provoke him, say something like... Too bad your sister 'bit it' before she had her first litter." Oh no, not his sister. "Too bad she howled like a bitch... when we cut her in half!"

Amelia raised her eyebrows when she heard the howling and one of the men screaming, being tossed to the wall.

She saw as Derek climbed the walls and the stairs, showing them their teeth before kicking the other hunter down.

Amelia got down the stairs and tensed her string, aiming at Kate, but that didn't stop him for electrocuting Derek.

"Another hunter, Derek?" Asked Kate as she saw the girl. "Wasn't enough with the first one?"

What was she saying?

"Put your bow down, I'm not here to hurt you, kiddo..."

The woman turned around to look at Derek, who was groaning in pain on the floor. She could easily let go of the arrow and shoot her, but then she thought of Allison.

It was Allison's aunt. And Allison was on the list of people she needed to protect.

For Scott.

"Let's have some fun."