Chapter 16: Puzzle

His eyes wouldn't leave her even if they threatened to close themselves.

Stiles had barely gotten any sleep at all. He only fell asleep without realizing, and not for long because as soon as he woke up he made an effort to stay awake after that.

He kept his bat closely by him and continuously texted Scott, Derek and his dad. All to make sure the perimeter was safe.

As he observed Catori sleeping restlessly, he couldn't take something off his mind. That wound in her neck, he knew what it was. He had seen it before.

Claws.

And claws to the neck meant that they were trying to get inside her head for whatever reason. Something they needed to look into for sure.

Suddenly Catori woke up startled, probably because of a nightmare.

"Hey, it's okay" He rushed to sit with her in the bed to comfort her.

The girl breathed heavily and her forehead was covered in sweat. She looked around, getting back to reality, and then glanced at Stiles.

He placed an arm over her and she cuddled to his chest, heaving a deep sigh in relief that it was only a dream. She was safe.

"Want to talk about it?" Seeing as she didn't say anything, he piped up.

"No" Catori broke away from the embrace and locked eyes with him.

Stiles could feel how terrified she was of remembering it all.

"Cat..."

"No, I barely remember anything anyway" She rushed to say. "But I don't want to talk about it"

"It's okay" He calmed her down, daring to hold her again. "You don't have to unless you want to"

Even though Stiles knew they would eventually have to talk to her, he knew it wasn't the moment. They would need for her to remember everything she could and tell them so they would finally have a clue of the other pack. She was their best lead. But for the moment Stiles resolved to just make sure she felt safe and comfortable.

Catori gently broke the hug and lied back on the bed, facing her back to him. It looked like she was trying to fall asleep again.

The boy lied on his side as well and cautiously placed an arm over her protectively. In a silent reminder that he was there and in the hopes that it would make her feel more secure.

She didn't complain, so he accommodated there gladly.

When the silence settled in his room, his mind began working again.

Being awake all night gave him lots of time to think. And one of the things that he realized was how he regretted the way he treated Catori. Sure, he had apologized before, but the guilt still ate over him.

Stiles felt like he had never been so wrong in his life.

So he took a look at her, ready to apologize again to lighten the weight on his chest.

Catori had finally managed to calm herself down a little. She wasn't one to get scared easily, but being kidnapped by a pack of werewolves who paralyzed her with Kanima venom and faced with a terrifying alpha would scare anyone.

Knowing Scott, Stiles and the Sheriff all had her back made her feel safe and having Stiles' arm over her did too. Not that she would admit this last thing, though.

"Catori, are you awake?" Stiles whispered after a while, slightly sitting up to get a better look at her face.

"Mhm" She sleepily answered, too tired to open her eyes again.

"Listen, I'm sorry about the way I treated you" He said, obviously feeling guilty by the tone of his voice. "I know I was a jerk, but I just-"

"You had already apologize"

"I know... But I wanted to do it again"

"It's okay" She didn't need an explanation to know his reasons.

Stiles just wanted to protect his friends, because he probably had seen so many things in that madness of a town called Beacon Hills and had probably seen his friend hurt so many times. He just didn't want to see them in danger again.

After living that terrible experience she could understand him better. Anyone out of their usual circle was suspicious of being a supernatural creature. And many of those were evil, like the ones that abducted her.

"No, I mean... I'm still sure that you're different. That you're something even if we don't know what" Slowly, he moved his hand so it rested over hers and caressed her skin with his thumb. "But you didn't deserve that"

Catori chuckled a little and turned around opening her eyes groggily to look up at him.

"It's okay, really" She offered him a sweet smile that had a goofy look to it because of the drowsiness. "It's not like I couldn't handle it. You didn't intimidate me"

"Thanks" Stiles replied sarcastically, sighing in annoyance.

Catori didn't say anything else. She just grinned in amusement and cuddled into Stiles' chest, embracing the feeling of safety that closeness provided her wkth.

Usually, she wouldn't have allowed herself or her pride by letting him know she sought that intimacy. But she was still scared and jumpy.

The both of them lingered on that position for hours.

*

The next day everyone went to school.

Catori stayed at Stiles' and he went to class despite his complaints. He didn't want to leave her alone but his dad begged him to go to class.

Fortunately, the Sheriff had the day off and assured he would keep a close eye on her. That was the only reason Stiles ended up leaving.

Catori thanked the man because he also called Lucy Hudson to tell her that her daughter was safe. Even if he had to lie a little not to mention the supernatural. And even Melissa McCall –Scott's mother –offered help if they needed anything.

Scott hadn't spoken with any of his friends in the entirety of the day. He had too many things on his head and didn't feel like talking.

He just felt so angry, hate directed towards the pack that did that to Catori. Just imagining anyone else going through that as well made his blood boil and his animal instincts to kick in.

But he knew he had to approach things carefully. Hence, he texted Derek and asked him to meet with him after class. Hale agreed.

So when the school day was over and he was walking to the parking lot to get his motorbike, he actually felt relieved to spot Stiles and Lydia chatting.

"Scott!" Kira called him before he could walk up to them.

He turned around to her, placing an arm over her shoulders, and greeted her with a small smile.

"Hi"

"What happened? Where's Catori?"

He was about to reply when Malia appeared next to them, listening to the conversation without a word.

"We're meeting with Derek in a while" Scott briefly explained. "We'll tell you everything there"

"And Liam and Mason?"

"Tell them to come too"

Kira nodded and went back inside to look for them. Malia followed.

Scott then approached the other two to join the conversation even if he could already hear what they were saying.

"I can't believe I was stupid enough to almost lose the chance to get to know Catori" Stiles was telling Lydia, who smirked in response.

The boy smiled himself, glad that his friend finally changed his mind about Catori. However, he casually positioned himself next to Stiles and nonchalantly walked beside them.

The other boy glanced at him, acknowledging his presence, and sighed in annoyance.

"You heard that, didn't you?"

"Not unless you want me to" Scott allowed himself to smirk at him.

Stiles rolled his eyes to hide his annoyance and embarrassment and stared at Lydia to pretend like Scott wasn't even there. The boy noticed this and laughed.

"Are we meeting Derek again?" The girl leaned over slightly to glance at Scott without Stiles getting in the way.

"Yep"

"Great surprise"

*

The three friends had resigned themselves to put up with Derek's lecture as well with the repetition of the recent events. Having to tell everything and revive it to on top of all making him angry.

But at least now Kira, Malia, Liam and Mason –as well as Derek, of course- knew everything. Hopefully, they wouldn't have to repeat their quest to the Nemeton and what they encountered there.

Everyone was mostly silent except from the occasional mumbling.

They were all waiting for Derek to say something, and thinking in the meantime since they all arrived to the conclusion that something even bigger than they thought was going on.

"Let's sum up" Derek stood with his arms crossed over his chest. "How did this all begin?"

"The missing girls, right?" Scott asked his best friend, who was too busy typing on his phone to hear him.

"Stiles" Derek called him calmly.

The boy didn't hear him.

"Stiles, who are you texting?" Malia insisted, loudly and sternly.

"No one" At last he looked up, just then acknowledging all of them staring.

"It's Catori, isn't it?" Kira smiled a little.

"I'm worried, okay? Shut up!" He quickly saved his phone and focused his attention back on the rest. "You should have seen how freaked out she was"

"It all started with the missing girls" Liam repeated for Scott, glancing at his friend Mason, who observed with intrigue. "The case your dad had"

"Yeah" Stiles licked his lips as he prepared to speak up. "Then the museum, where the werewolves stole that... triquetra thingy"

"And after that Scott and Stiles were attacked" Malia observed, briefly motioning over to them.

"Before we say anything else, I just wanna point out that it all happens to revolve around Catori and that I was right" Stiles made a pause and acted nonchalant to the annoyed glares his friends threw him. "That is all"

"I thought you liked Catori" The redhead smirked at him with superiority.

"That doesn't negate my statement, Lydia" His crankiness on the subject made her smile a little.

"Anyway..." Derek dragged his eyes away from Stiles in annoyance. "Next Catori was taken, right?"

"Yeah" Scott nodded in response. "We still have no idea why, though"

"I..." The restless boy cleared his throat. "I might have another clue"

He remembered that wound in Catori's neck shaped like claws. And even if he tried to conceal it, he felt himself blushing when he remembered what Catori and himself were doing when he felt it in her nape.

"What is it?"

"Catori had something in her neck... like they had stabbed her with claws in the nape" He frowned and grimaced a bit at the thought of the pain she must have gone through.

"So it was a werewolf" Kira observed. "Maybe George?"

"Why would they do that to her neck?" Liam was confused, just like everyone else.

The pack erupted in loud mumbling that only Scott and Stiles didn't participate in. The two boys looked at each other.

One more person was silent. Derek. His face had shifted completely, from calm and collected to shocked and panicked, and only Stiles had noticed.

"What does that mean, Derek?" When the latter piped up, the racket died down.

He had asked despite the fact that he knew. Just like Scott did, just like Lydia probably did too. The rest of them knew as well, but hadn't realized what it was yet.

"When a werewolf does that is for one thing only" The older boy replied, clenching his jaw. "Information"

They all grew extremely silent, turning the environment of the room heavy and uncomfortable.

"Were..." Malia broke the silence, staring at Derek in inquire. "Were they trying to get into her head?"

"Most likely" Scott replied for him. "And we need to find out why"

"I knew there was something different about her" Stiles mumbled to himself, not really wanting to openly voice his thoughts out again.

"Alright" Derek adopted a thoughtful expression for a moment. "We need to know more about that pack, about the triquetra and about Catori"

He was right, since even though they had a little bit of information for each of those things, it wasn't nearly enough to figure everything out.

"I'll look more into the damn pack" The alpha sighed. "Maybe this time I'll get more information"

"What about the rest?" Asked Mason softly.

"You guys talk to Deaton" Derek told Kira, Malia, Liam and Mason. "He probably knows more about why werewolves would be interested in a triquetra amulet"

"What about Catori?" Scott looked at his friends. "Are we supposed to just figure out why they wanted to get into her head?"

"Since you three are closer to her, you should try and make her remember what happened at the Nemeton" It was obvious by his expression that he wasn't too happy with the idea, but that it was necessary. "Maybe then we'll get some answers"

"Are you crazy?" Stiles exclaimed, outraged. "She's still in shock and nearly traumatized, we can't just-"

"Don't rush her" Derek defended himself, lifting up a hand in a soothing gesture. "Just... try it"

Stiles quickly looked at Lydia and then at Scott. Clearly, they didn't want that either. But they had to do it.

He just resigned himself, knowing Derek was right, and sighed sulkily.

"Let's hope we clear something up" With Derek's words, everyone proceeded to leave.

Each of them had a task to do. And hopefully their success would mean a big step, and that would help to solve the mystery.

It was all like a puzzle, and they needed to figure out how the pieces fit together. Then everything would make sense.