_____<•>_____

Like the first time Isaac snuck through Aspen's window, he crept out without disturbing her sleep. She sometimes wished he would stay for the rest of the night, but his father would surely see his vacant bed and question his whereabouts.

Just as Aspen thought she would get in some decent sleep, her phone blared through the silence of her room, and sure enough, it was Scott McCall summoning her to sneak out her window. Apparently, Stiles had once again listened in on his father's radio, and they had a lead on Derek Hale and were currently chasing him. To the boy's ill planning, it was not the iconic jeep she climbed in that night but Derek's car.

In the dark of night, as police sirens blared in the air, Scott's foot was slammed on the pedal, the car speeding onto a dark road behind a warehouse. It had been a while since Aspen threw herself into the werewolf business, but she never imagined herself being thrown around the back seat of Derek's car.

The car was already making strange noises, and Aspen was gripping her head to keep from passing out. A sudden flash of high beam lights shined through the back seat. Aspen looked back and saw a clear outline of a sleeker-looking car racing behind them in the dead of night.

"Uh guys incoming," Aspen warned, her hand blinding waving until she hit the back of the driver's seat to get Scott's attention.

"Faster?" Scott suggested, looking back with panic flooding his eyes, recognizing car to be Kate Argents. If it weren't for Derek's tinted windows, she would have had a clear view of who she was chasing. Scott's idea was that they drive the werewolf's car to lead them away from Derek as he ran from the police.

Stiles looked to him and nodded hastily. "Much faster."

With a vein already popping from his forehead, Scott shifted gears and took a screeching turn down an alley, causing Aspen to grip the seats in front of her. She had only woken up an hour ago, and she was already being tossed about like a rag doll.

They continued down the road but noticed Scott's speed lagging. Aspen lurched herself forward to look at his speed, barely passing seventy. "Hey Scott, I don't think you're really grasping the concept of a car chase here," her heart was already ramming against her head, afraid police would notice three teenagers driving someone else's car.

"If I go faster, I'll kill us," Scott argued, his knuckles turning white from his tight grip.

"Well, if you don't go faster, they're gonna kill us!" Stiles shot back, stealing a glance toward Aspen, who was nodding in agreement, her eyes still wide. With a frustrated groan, Scott shifted gears again and slammed on the gas, Aspen, and Stiles jerking back into their seats as the roaring engine cam to life with speed.

Noticing the darkness overcome the interior of the car, Aspen narrowed her eyes as she spun around to see that Kate's car had disappeared. "Guy's she's gone," some hope hung onto her tone for a moment, seeing that they were in the clear.

Stiles grabbed the radio from his lap and listened in on Sherif Stilinski's next command. If his father knew his son was listening in, it would surely be the end of Stiles Stilinski.

"All units, suspect is on foot heading into the ironworks."

Stile's jaw slacked and looked back to Aspen, who mirrored his expression, knowing they were less than a mile from where Derek was. Scott glanced between the two, occasionally looking back to the road ahead of him. "What? What is it?" he asked hastily.

"Keep right for Bronson, we're not too far from the ironworks," Aspen stated. She braced herself in the backseat when Scott made a sharp right. The tires screeched, followed by a loud and rather unmanly scream from Stiles.

After moving fast down the winding road, sparks from an arrow being shot down came to view. Upon a fire escape, Chris Argent was firring arrows down at Derek Hale, who was shielding himself with his arms. Skidding to a sudden stop, they were in the middle of the crossfire, Stiles popped the passenger door open. "Get in!" he shouted to Derek and pushed himself in the back seat, falling on Aspen's lap until she shoved him off.

Derek looked up to Chris Argent, who held determination in his eyes, wishing to kill the werewolf this very night. Upon seeing Derek make a dash for the open car door, the werewolf hunter reigned fire, and bullets flew through the air, wooshing just centimeters away from Derek's face. Aspen let out a yelp, ducking down while Stiles put his arms over her head. Scott didn't wait to press on the accelerator and race away, the gunfire becoming a muffled noise in the distance as they made it on a quiet road.

With heavy pants, Derek sat back in the seat, running a hand down his sweaty face.

"What part of laying low, don't you understand?" Scott asked angrily as he hit the steering wheel.

"Damnit, I had him!" Derek proclaimed, punching the side of the dashboard.

"Careful with the airbag," Aspen warned simply before Stiles hoisted his head between Derek and Scott.

"Who? The Alpha?" he asked with excitement.

"Yes! He was right in front of me, and the...damn police showed up!" Derek was seething with anger and frustration, his teeth grinding together.

"Woah, hey. They're just doing their j-jobs..." Stiles stammered off as Derek slowly turned his head to shoot a glare in his direction.

"Yeah, thanks to someone who decided to make me the most wanted fugitive in the entire state." Derek's volume rose as he was building up with annoyance. He passed his eyes over to Scott, placing the blame on him.

"He's not wrong," Aspen stated with a shrug, earning a look from Scott through the rearview mirror.

"Not helping June! And can we seriously get passed that? I made a dumbass mistake. I get it." Scott rolled his eyes, slowing his speed as he noticed they were in the clear.

"All right," Aspen squeezed next to Stiles to look at the two heated werewolves, quite literally feeling the heat radiating from their bodies. "Derek, how did you find him?"

He only looked at her, something in his eyes telling him to stay quiet as he averted his focus to the window.

"Can you try to trust us for at least half a second?"

Stiles scoffed with his nose in the air. "Yea, all of us." he received yet another look from Derek for his snappy demand, and Stiles cowered back, "Or just Scott, I'll be back here."

Derek sighed, seeing as there was no point in hiding anything from the curious teenagers. "Look the last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out. She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris."

Aspen's eyes perked up to the familiar name, wondering his significance to all of this. Stiles was quick to lurch himself between the two werewolves again with squinted eyes, the name bringing horror to his mind. "Our chemistry teacher?"

Derek rolled his eyes, "I don't know yet."

"Well, what's the second?" Scott asked, his voice fading with the blasting air condition. 

Derek fished into his leather jacket pocket and pulled out a folded paper, the sound crumpling as he revealed a drawing of something all too familiar. Aspen moved forward in her seat, her eyes slowly widening as she realized where she'd seen it before. "Oh, hell..."

"It's some kind of symbol," Derek said.

Scott dragged a sigh as he shook his head, also knowing where it was from. Derek noticed both Aspen and Scott's reaction to the drawing and knew they were familiar with it. "What? You know what this is?' he asked nimbly.

"Yea," Scott bit down on his tongue, "I've seen it on a necklace."

Aspen could feel Scott growing upset and decided to tell Derek herself.

"Allison's necklace."

<•>

"I swear these boys are asking for a death wish." Aspen was leaning back against her locker, massaging her temple as Isaac stood in front of her. She had just finished explaining last night's events after he had asked why she looked so tired that morning. "Scott and Allison haven't even spoken in days. There's no way he's going to be able to convince her to give him the necklace."

"Maybe he just has to ease back onto her good side," Isaac shrugged, someone brushing passed him as they rushed to the cafeteria. 

Aspen crossed her arms over her chest as she lowered her tone, not wanting to risk Scott hearing her. "That's what Stiles said, but it'll be a disaster. He told Scott to remind her of the good times, but that'll only hurt her more. There's a reason she broke up with him, and if he tries coaxing her back in with memories, she'd push away. And Stiles' stupid plan order is 'get the necklace, kill the Alpha, get cured, get Allison back...'" Aspen mimicked Stiles tone as she rambled on.

Isaac saw Aspen building up with anxiety, this werewolf stuff clearly taking a toll on her mind and sleep. He watched as one of her hands pulled at a loose thread on her cardigan and sighed, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, how about we talk about you for a second."

Aspen's forehead creased, "What?"

"Have you cracked a marble yet? If you say Derek is coming close to finding the Alpha, it'll only be a matter of time before he attacks, and you're not ready."

Aspen rolled her eyes, knowing what he was saying was true. She hasn't had the energy nor the willpower to embrace the pain she felt from cracking one of her marbles. She thought maybe her power could wait, but she knew Scott needed all the help he could get to defeat the Alpha.

"Yea, I know you're right," Aspen admitted, "I'm already delayed as it is. There are still preparations to be made for the formal, and I don't have a dress." Aspen caught her words and quickly sucked in air as she saw Isaac smiling down at his shoes. "we're still going together, right?"

Isaac was quick to nod, making Aspen smile with relief. "Yeah, I'll meet you there."

The moment was quickly filled with awkward silence that Aspen truly despised. She didn't understand their relationship yet and was waiting for the moment until he brought up the subject. Aspen loudly cleared her throat as she pointed over her shoulder, "I've got to meet the girls in the cafeteria. Dress talk and whatnot."

The two exchanged a quick and awkward goodbye before Aspen rushed toward the cafeteria. She wedged her way through a swarm of seniors before spotting Lydia and Allison giggling away at a joke Jackson told them. Aspen's heart skipped a beat upon seeing the golden boy. He only confronted her yesterday, and she could still remember the sick way he looked at her. She wondered if he had already approached Scott with his threat to tell Allison that he was a werewolf. Losing her appetite, she changed her mind last minute to grab a tray and instead plotted down in the seat next to Allison.

"Hey," Allison chimed after recovering from her laughing and wiggled in her chair to face Aspen, "we were just talking about dress ideas, and I think you would look great in red."

Lydia shook her head, disapprovingly, "No, no. I said she would look good in maroon."

Allison whipped her head around with furrowed brows, "Maroon is the same thing as red."

"If they were the same, they wouldn't have two different names now, would they?"

Allison only gave her blank expression before turning back to Aspen, who was filling her hungry stomach with water as her eyes were glued on Jackson's back. He was turned around in his chair with a bitten apple in hand, staring daggers across at Scott McCall. "Aspen."

She blinked a few times to part from her trance, "Hm?"

Lydia rolled her eyes and leaned forward, "When should we go shopping? Because I have to have a dress fitting at least a few days before the formal."

Aspen shrugged, not understanding why she would bother asking someone who only went shopping twice out of the year. "I dunno. I'm available whenever so you can just let me know when."

"Great. Now while you and I have dates, our Allison here is still going rogue. Any suggestions?" Lydia slid her chip bag toward Aspen, observing that she hasn't eaten.

Aspen caught Allison rolling her eyes as she poked at her meatloaf, a frown settling on her lips. "Don't you have a connection with the whole lacrosse team? Just ask one of them." She quickly made a grab for the chips and stuffed a couple in her mouth.

"Guys seriously, I don't mind going alone. It's not a crime." Allison piped in.

"It is a crime if you think I'm letting a hottie like you go alone. I won't have it." Aspen hid her smile, eating another chip. Lydia had her moments, but overall she was a uniquely good friend in her own way.

Suddenly a loud crack was heard throughout the cafeteria followed by the clinking of silverware, everyone falling quiet beside the distant mumbling questioning what had just happened. Aspen noticed Jackson had disappeared from his spot and was now standing next to one of the vending machines, munching on his apple with a smirk. When her eyes met Scott, she saw the cracked lunch tray in his hands, his breathing heavily as he starred down. Stiles was sitting by his side, his eyes wide as he mouthed an 'oh my god' while hiding his face.

"I swear he's on steroids," Lydia commented, taking a bite from her salad. Allison's eyes were locked with Scott's for a moment, wondering what had gotten into him. But only one at the table knew what was going on.