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TWENTY SIX.

Sage was pushed into Coach's office for the second time that day, Stiles guiding her in with his hand on her back. After Harris' class with the crystal experiment and the failed test on Lydia and herself, the four teenagers, Allison and Scott following behind, seemed to scramble into the place. Sage was practically hyperventilating, her chest never taking simple breaths as she struggle to get her heartbeat regular. She had been snatched up by Stiles as soon as class was over, him muttering a string of profanity in her ear as they all tried to rush to the office. There was only one explanation for why she wasn't being effected by the Kanima's venom and that was that she was immune. Lydia, on the other hand, had no reliable evidence on why she wasn't the Kanima.

Scott seemed to feel the same way as he paced around the room, "Derek's outside waiting for Lydia."

"Waiting to kill her?" Allison asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"If he thinks she's the Kanima, yes. And if I am involved in any way with the Kanima, he won't hesitate to question me," Sage spoke up, biting the inside of her cheeks. "Whatever the hell is wrong with it, it's effecting me too."

"It's not her," Stiles protested, shaking his head in doubt.

Scott frowned, "She didn't pass the test, man. Nothing happened."

"It can't be her," Sage added. She, along with Stiles, has already stressed the idea at least a million freaking times. Someone else had to be the Kanima. Maybe it was Greenberg, or the creepy girl from her gym class.

"It doesn't matter because Derek thinks it's her," Allison started, looking in between her friends, "So, either we can convince him that he's wrong or we've got to figure out a way to protect her. To protect both of you." All heads turned towards Sage, who was just as capable of being hurt by Derek and his pack.

"He wouldn't do anything here, not at school," Sage dismissed. There was still a sting when she thought about the possibility of Derek sending his beta's after her. She figured he wouldn't do it, seeing as though he's really the only person she has despite all of this happening. They may no longer be friends, or even on the same side at this point, but she was all he has from his past. Their past. Which means she knew him better than anyone else.

"What about after school?" Allison opted, raising her eyebrows at Scott and Sage. Upon seeing mutual looks of defeat, she breathed out in exhaustion. "What if we can prove that Derek's wrong?"

Stiles stepped forward, "By three o'clock?"

"There's got to be something in the bestiary!"

"The nine hundred page book written in archaic Latin that none of us can read?" Stiles exclaimed, raising his hands above his head to throw them into the air. "Yeah, good luck with that."

Allison pursed her lips, staring down at the ground, "Actually, I think I know someone who might be able to translate it."

"I can maybe talk to Derek," Scott suggested, shaking his head in defeat, "Maybe let him give us a chance to prove that it's not her. But if anything happens, you guys let me handle it, okay?" He looked around, his eyes landing on Sage and Allison in particular. The two girls had a habit of throwing themselves in dangerous situations just for the hell of it.

"What does that mean?" Allison asked, wondering where he was going with his little heroism act.

"You all can't heal like I do," Scott stated, "I just don't want you getting hurt."

Sage watched as Allison shuffled through her bag, looking for the crossbow that was in it. She only knew where it was located because Allison was so insistent on showing her the weapon. Sage, despite being extremely uncomfortable with it, knew how necessary it was to carry around, especially when there was a Kanima roaming around. The crossbow was pulled out, and Sage watched as Allison held it up, "I can protect myself."

Sage frowned, turning to look over at her boyfriend. Stiles was already staring down at her, and she couldn't help but wonder what Isaac had told him while they were partnered together. She grabbed a hold of his hand, praying that he would only hold it tighter rather than jerk away from her. When she felt his fingers intertwine with her's, she let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. They were okay. She turned away from Stiles to look at Allison and Scott who were whispering to each other, Scott trying to convince Allison to reach him if anything happens.

"If anything goes wrong, you call me, okay? I don't care if your dad finds out; call text, scream yell, whatever. I'll hear you and I'll find you as fast as I can," Scott pleaded, trying to get Allison to understand how serious he was being. She nodded, and Scott leaned away from her face. "We have until three."

Sage let go of Stiles' hand, moving to follow Scott. She wasn't going to just let him speak to Derek alone. Rolling her shoulders to try and prepare herself, she walked past Allison, giving a comforting squeeze on the shoulder. Just as she was waiting for Scott to open the door, she was hastily shoved behind the werewolf's back as he edged forward to catch the arrow that Stiles had fired by accident. Sage breathed out in astonishment, not only that Stiles was stupid enough to mess around with the crossbow but that Scott had heard it in time to push her out of the way.

"Sorry," Stiles muttered, handing it back over to Allison, who shoved it in her bag. "Sensitive trigger on that."

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Sage followed Scott out onto the field, her hands shoved tightly in the pockets of her jacket. It wasn't the leather one she normally wore, but it would suffice for the time being. Struggling to keep up with the large footsteps of the werewolf, she was forced to jog a bit. She would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't nervous about seeing Derek. The two had yet to speak to each other about anything going on, things having changed since formal between them. More importantly, things changing since Peter's death. Call her a child, but she wasn't going to speak to him until he apologized.

When she looked up, she wasn't the least bit surprised to see that Boyd was standing in the field of the field. She still felt like a part of his transition was her fault, seeing as though she could have sat with him but she just never realized. She hoped that Boyd saw her as a friend because she didn't want him believing Derek was one. Derek would just stab Boyd in the back, he would just build a castle of lies. Scott stopped in front of her, Sage standing a little behind him. It was ironic to see that Scott had his hand outstretched, like he was preparing for Boyd to come lunging towards them, her in particular, and attack. The irony is that she would be hurt even if he pushed her out of the way.

"I want to talk to Derek!"

Boyd didn't move from his position, his face a blurry mess with him being so far away, "Talk to me!" He shouted back, beginning to move forward. Sage grabbed a hold of Scott's shirt before he could walk further, knowing that this would only end badly for both of them if the two got into a fight. Scott turned to look back at her, then towards the grip she had on his clothing. He sighed and shook his head towards Boyd.

"I don't want to fight!" Scott said, glancing towards Sage who scowled before letting go of him. He advanced forward until Boyd and him were standing directly in front of each other, Sage nearing behind the two boys. If it came down to it, she doesn't want to be in the vicinity of two werewolves fighting. She'd been through that enough times to know it never ends well.

"Good," Boyd deadpanned, his eyes staying on Scott. From here, any person could tell the extreme difference in builds between the two boys, and it didn't go unnoticed by Boyd either. "'Cause I'm twice the size of you."

"True," Scott agreed, sizing Boyd up. Sage hugged her jacket closer to her body, wishing it would protect her from the world. "Really, really true. But you do want to know what I think? I'm twice as fast." Scott had grabbed a hold of Boyd's waist, ramming the werewolf into the ground to prove his point. Sage flinched, praying Scott didn't do anything stupid. In that time, she let her eyes roam to a man that had appeared out of thin air.

When Scott got up, he took notice of Derek standing there as well. The Alpha frowned, "She failed the test."

"Yeah, which doesn't prove anything. Lydia's different. Sage failed it too, are you going to go off and kill her?" Scott spat, moving back so he could stand next to Sage. She squeezed her fists tightly, barely taking notice of the stinging feeling in her palms when her nails connected with skin.

"No, because at night, Lydia turns into a homicidal, walking snake."

Sage stepped forward, glaring harshly at Derek, "I'm not going to let you kill her."

"Oh, who said I was going to do it?" Derek asked, raising his eyebrows in wonder. Sage turned back towards the school, her words getting stuck in her throat. Before herself or Scott could make a move to leave, Boyd had slammed Scott down onto the grass. As soon as the beta backed away from her friend, she dropped down onto her knees. The good thing was he wasn't seriously injured or she would know. The bad thing is that the wind was knocked out of him. "I don't know why you think you have to protect everyone now, Scott; even so, Lydia has killed people, and she's going to do it again. Next time it's going to be one of us."

"What if you're wrong?" Scott spat out, wincing when Sage put one of his arms around her shoulder to set him up.

"She was bitten by an alpha, it's her."

Sage whipped her head around, "Oh yeah? You saw that thing, Derek. It's not even like you guys."

"But it is!" Derek exclaimed, "We're all shape shifters. You two don't know what you're dealing with. It's happens rarely and it happens for a reason."

"What reason?" Scott input, leaning up a little bit more so he could properly meet Derek's eyes.

"Sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are." Derek reached a hand out to help Scott, in which he grabbed a hold of it and was lifted up. Sage kept her butt firmly on the ground, uncaring about the fact she was practically sitting in mud. When Derek stuck his hand out again for her, she glowered at him before picking herself off the ground, avoiding any and all help from him.

"I'm good," She hissed before moving to stand next to Scott.

Derek sighed, his eyes staying on her's, "Just remember, even you've called her coldblooded."

"What if she's just immune just like I am? What if she has something inside of her that makes her immune to the bite? Which is why neither of us got paralyzed? You can't sit there and tell me that you don't at least have that suspicion in your mind because it were me instead of Lydia, you wouldn't hesitate to try and convince them not to kill me."

Derek clenched his jaw at her, moving closer to her face, "No one besides your family has ever been immune to things, Sage. It's never happened before. There's no way—"

"What about Jackson?" Scott interrupted, making both Sage and Derek shoot their heads up. The Alpha turned to look at the blonde with a look of accusation, as if he thought she told the rest of the group about how Derek's little bite mishap with Jackson went wrong. Sage hadn't realized until now the possibility of Jackson actually being the Kanima. "That's why you tested him, isn't it? Because you gave him what he wanted, didn't you?"

"Scott—" Derek went to speak, but was, once again, cut short.

"Peter said the bite either kills you or turns you. You were probably hoping that he would die," Scott laughed, completely baffled while Sage's body froze. She never really thought about Derek actually caring so little about Jackson that his death would be meaningless. "But nothing happened, right? And you have no idea why, do you? Either of you." Sage's stomach churned when she noticed Scott glance over at her. So the secret was out about her knowing Jackson had been bitten.

"No," Derek snarled through his teeth.

Scott's eyes widened a bit more, "Well, I have a theory. Lydia's immune and somehow she passed it onto Jackson. You know I'm right!" Sage stepped away from them, tugging at her jacket. She was getting more anxious by the second, mostly because she was worried that everything was crumbling to the ground.

Once again, Derek disagreed, "No!"

"You can not do this!" Sage snarled, turning back towards Derek. "How do you if you kill her, you won't kill me too? Huh? Are you willing to take that chance just on an assumption?"

"Look, I can't let her live!" Derek retorted, his anger fueling just has much as her's was. He stepped forward, and for a second Sage thought he was going to strike her. Upon realizing just how close they were, Derek sighed and stepped away. "You should have known that."

Sage grimaced, "I was hoping we could convince you, but since I know you so well, Derek, I wasn't counting on it." She glance back towards the school, backing up until she was arm to arm with Scott. He replicated the same smug smirk that she was wearing, the two of them watching as Derek growled before tugging Boyd along, the two disappearing to find Erica and Isaac. Almost immediately after they vanished, Sage turned to Scott. "I'm running from the outside, run through the inside to make sure they got out, alright?"

Scott nodded, and Sage turned to leave before a hand gripped her bicep, stopping her, "Be careful. Stiles will kill me if you get hurt."

Sage rolls her eyes but nods none-the-less. She started to run off the lacrosse field, hoping that she could make it to her group of friends before Derek did. There was the overwhelming fear that Jackson actually was the Kanima. Scott hadn't been the one to voice it, in fact, no one had, but the idea was still present. If Lydia was the Kanima, and if Jackson had been bitten the same time as Lydia, what was stopping him from being behind all of the murders? Hell, he was the one that shoved her into Coach's office to talk about how he was beginning to feel weird.

Sage had to shove through the crowds of departing teenagers, getting a few cuss words and yells when she accidentally pushed them too hard or made them stumble. In her defense, she was literally running to try and save her friend's life. She tripped out into the parking lot, completely out of breath from having to run, and heard the sound of tires squeaking. When she gained the strength to look up, she was both surprised and relieved to see that it was a familiar, powder blue jeep.

"Oh thank god," She huffed before jogging over to the window of the passenger's seat. Allison was sitting there, and Stiles had leaned over in his seat to nod towards the back of the car. "Scott's on his way." She went to get into the back, shoving her body in between Allison and Stiles, cringing when she almost hit her boyfriend in the back of the head with her boot. "By bad." Plopping down next to Lydia, she gave her friend an over-exaggerated grin. "Are you excited for our study group?"

"Overjoyed," Lydia deadpanned, rolling her eyes. Sage frowned before looking to the left of the strawberry blonde to see that Jackson was glancing at her. When Lydia looked away, Sage mouthed a simple 'Are you okay', only for him to give a nod. She sighed and leaned back into her seat, tugging her hands through her unruly hair. So much for detention.

It had taken about ten minutes to get to Scott's house from school, having nearly shoved Lydia out of the backseat just to get her to shut up. Sage was the last one to leave the car with Allison's help, tripping ungracefully onto the cement ground while Stiles tugged at Lydia's arm. She was non-stopping asking questions at this point, "If we're studying at Scott's house, then where's Scott?"

"He's meeting us here, I think," Stiles cleared his throat, "I hope."

Sage followed after the two, Allison at her side while Jackson walked in the back, "We have to watch her."

"I have to talk to her anyway," Jackson mumbled, one hand gripping onto his backpack tightly as his eyes roamed around the neighborhood. As soon as they got into Scott's house, thanks to the duplicate key that Stiles made, the sound of locks and door knobs turning attracted enough attention for all three teenagers to turn and see Stiles securing the door.

Letting out a fake laugh, Stiles noticed the look of irritation on Sage's look. He could have been a little bit more subtle with his actions. Lydia's eyebrows seemed to raise to the top of her hairline in accusation. Stiles coughed, "Uh, there's been a lot of break-ins." When an awkward silence fell through the room, her boyfriend took it upon himself to grab the stray chair near the staircase, moving it under the door. "And a murder. Yeah, uh, it was bad."

Sage cleared her throat, making Jackson look over at her. When her head jerked towards Lydia, he sighed, closing his eyes for a second, "Lydia, follow me." He started walking without making sure she was following, but as soon as a 'seriously' fell from her mouth, he could hear her heels on the floor as she complied. As soon as they disappeared, Sage moved to hit Stiles in the shoulder.

"You couldn't have been less suspicious? Geez, Stiles!" She whispered, glaring at him. He narrowed his eyes at her, and went to snap back but Allison interrupted them when she started to dial a number. Sage glanced over, watching as the phone was put to the brunette's ear, recognizing that it was actually her own phone. "Are you calling Scott?"

"Yeah, sorry I took your ph— Hey, it's me. You need to get here now. Like right now," Allison said, having cut off her own sentence when Scott answered. Sage walked over to the window, pulling one of the curtains aside to see that Derek and his pack were standing out in the street, all of them looking prepared for a fight. Stiles and her exchanged a look before looking back to Allison who was saying a quick goodbye to Scott.

"So, now what do we do?" Sage asked, looking in between the two. "I mean, Derek's not going to stop until she's dead. Slutty, twin me is going to be more than willing if it means she can get into Derek's pants, Boyd is going to whatever is asked, and Isaac's too much of an asshole not to want to kill Lydia."

"We wait for Scott to get here."

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They were getting tired of waiting.