#jackson tw

“Oh look, were almost there, just about ten more miles, which of course means like a half an hour on these back roads, but I’m telling you, the lake house is so gorgeous the drive was worth it.” Upon hearing no response, I sighed, thinking Jackson was just frustrated at being told to leave Beacon Hills. Or, at least, that’s how he saw it . The night before last, there had been a terrific fight between the Beacon Hills wolves and their latest enemy. In an attempt to save Allison, Jackson had ended up with blood on his hands, and a dead body at his feet.

Ever since that night, Jackson had been different. Sure he was always moody and snippy, but now he was flat out cruel, yelling at Stiles over nothing, fighting with Isaac over a technicality. That’s when Scott found me. I had been cleaning out my locker at school, getting ready for the upcoming four day weekend like everyone else, when the worried alpha had appeared seemingly out of no where.

He explained that Jackson had become a problem and that it was best if left town for a bit to clear his head, and that I was the only one that could take him. Upon my protests, he calmly reasoned that he couldn’t go because he had to watch over the rest of the pack, Jackson hated Stiles, didn’t like Isaac, wasn’t close with Allison, and it would be incredibly tense if his ex-girlfriend Lydia were to take him. I had begun to argue but the desperate, tired look on Scott’s face told me that there was no other way. So I accepted it. Jackson, on the other hand, hadn’t taken it as well. He saw it as Scott sending him away, just like his biological parent had, as a betrayal.

Taking my eyes off the road, I looked over to find a sleeping figure of Jackson Whittemore curled up against the window. I turned back to the foggy street, a small smile forming on my lips a peaceful Jackson.

As the car pulled up in the stony driveway, Jackson let out a sleepy breath and righted himself in his seat.

“Where the hell did you take me?”

“I brought you to my lake house, I figured it was where you could clear your head.” Jackson gave me an all too familiar glare, paranoia creeping into his words

“ McCall put you up to this didn’t he?” I heaved a sigh, tired of dealing with his paranoia.

“Because I’m not allowed to do anything nice? Heaven forbid I wanted to give you a break because I care about you and hate seeing you like this.” Stepping out of the car, Jackson laced his words with venom.

“Excuse me for not believing Scott McCalls errand girl.” With a dramatic door slam, Jackson stalked off into the woods opposite the lake.

After taking all the bags to the house, I resigned to the fact that Jackson wasn’t coming back anytime soon. However, as the sun began to set, I began to get the feeling in the pit of my stomach that something had happened. Stepping into the mud room, I gathered all the necessary materials; a flashlight, water, bug spray and various other things that might help me find the lone wolf. Just as I was stepping out the back door, facing the daunting darkness blooming in the woods ahead of me, my phone rang.

“Hello?” On the other end, Scott’s cheery voice rang out

“How’s he doing?”  I sighed

“You know the usual, sarcastic remarks, bitter humor, and of course a dramatic exit.” There was a pause

“That bad huh?”

“Yeah, that bad. I haven’t seen him in a few hours, so I’m headed out to look for him.” Scott sighed on the other end.

“I’m sorry if I had known, I would’ve just taken him, I-” there was a slam and heavy breathing in the background

“Scott!!” I could hear Stiles frantically trying to get words out on the other end, and that did nothing for my nerves. I waited to something, but all I could make out was Stiles talking quickly, and he was too far away from the phone.

“Are you still there?” Scott’s voice sounded like it usually did, like he was trying to be calm, and he was succeeding, but only barely.

“Scott, what the hell is going on?” Before Scott could respond, there was a scuffle and Stiles’s voice came over the phone.

“Can you see the sun?” I shook my head in confusion

“Stiles what is going on?!”

“Can you see the sun?!” He was nearly yelling into the phone at this point, his voice full of sheer panic.

“Yes, I can, but its setting, and I have no idea what’s going on.” There was a pause, and in the silence, I felt as though my heart was going to explode as panic began to take hold in my chest.

Scott’s voice came back on the line.

“There’s an eclipse tonight, he’s going to turn, and it’s going to be the worst one yet, you need to get him inside and locked up, now.”

“Scott, what do I do after I do that?” His voice was full of regret,

“Get the hell out of there.” There was a click, and the line went dead.

Sprinting through the woods, I did everything I could not to scream for him, but I had nearly run the length of the property, and still hadn’t found him yet. Taking a turn, and praying I was right, I looped back towards the lake, hoping that’s where he had taken his little walk.

“Jackson!” There was no response, and the near silence in the woods was grinding on my nerves. My breath was coming in heavy pants, as I was trying to outrun the moon, which was rising steadily in the sky. The only sounds that could be heard was the water lapping on the shore, which grew louder as I neared the lake.

“Jackso-” I began to yell, before tripping over one of the many tree roots sticking out of the ground. I thrust out my hands to break my fall, but it didn’t do much, as once my hands hit the ground, my elbows didn’t brace and I was met with a face full of dirt. Sitting up, I wiped my hands over my face, and heard a groan, though I was certain it hadn’t passed from my own lips. I turned, to see that what I had tripped over hadn’t been a tree at all, instead, it was Jackson. I reached out to shove him for being so ridiculous, how could it even be remotely logical to be on the forest floor, but then I saw how he was laying and held back. He was curled next to a large tree trunk, which had obscured him from view, and was tucked inside a pair of outstretched roots that formed a semicircle. I reached out a hand and gently placed it on the small of his back, but he flinched away with a hiss, causing me to jump due to the speed of it. Jackson turned to face me, his forehead gleaming with sweat, a pained expression on his face.

“You need to come with me.” He struggled to move from where he was sitting, as though the words simply wouldn’t come.

“I can’t.”

“You have to,” I saw his jaw twitch and through gritted teeth, he stated slowly,

“I can’t.” He was still facing away from me, and I was so desperate to get him to come with me, I reached out again,

“Jackson please-” In a split second, his head whipped around, and he faced me, his eyes gleaming blue. Omega. My own eyes widened in fear, but I had to get him to come with me. Pointing at the moon, which was full and rising quickly in the sky,

“Jackson, please, that means things are about to get a lot worse for the both of us if you don’t come.” Taking a deep breath, Jackson rose to his full height, towering over me, but he quickly hunched back over, clearly in more pain than I could ever see.

He took a few steps forward before he stopped again, and it took all I had not to scream in frustration, as there was no way we could ever make it back to the house at this rate. Steering him towards the lake and along the shore, we quickly made our way to the boat house, the only other place I could think of that was suitable to house a werewolf in transition.

Within ten minutes we had arrived and I was fumbling through a potted plant for the key, while Jackson stood behind me, groaning with his hand held firmly on his side.  Thrusting the key into the lock, I heard the tell tale click of the door unlocking and flew into the supply room, looking for anything that might hold Jackson. Right away I vetoed fishing wire, but was stuck between rope from a sailboat or chains that we used for towing the boat. I turned to jackson holding them both up, and he gave me his best attempt at a skeptical look.

“Just pick one!” I nearly screamed, the panic bubbling in my chest. He pointed to the rope, before slumping over next to the only window in the shed. I did my best to focus on tying knots and not on the fact that I was in fact tying up my sort of boyfriend. Using the only knots I could remember from when I actually went sailing I tied them twice on both wrists, to ensure his safety and mine. Once they were secure, I couldn’t look at his pain stricken form, so I glanced out the window, just in time to watch the moon go from pure white to blood red; the eclipse had begun.

Right on cue, Jackson cried out, and that cry turned into a low growl, leaving me scrambling away from him. Sitting opposite him on the floor, I saw his blue flash, but as soon as he blinked it was gone. He was fighting it.

That when it hit me. An anchor, that’s what Scott always did when there was a full moon, that Derek had taught him, he needed and anchor to focus on. Cautiously, I moved across the floor, just out of Jackson’s reach.

“Jackson,” he looked up, his face contorted and eyes gleaming, only to lunge out at me. Determined not to lose ground, I pressed on

“Jackson look at me.” He did as I asked, but only briefly, before hissing in pain.

“Look at me, focus on my voice. You can do this, just focus on me.” He continued to struggle against his restraints. In a desperate attempt, I lunged forward, resting a hand on his leg.

“Jackson, focus on something, focus on the sound of the waves outside, or how you feel after lacrosse, or even,” what I was about to say hurt me more than he would ever find out “or even Lydia, just something.” With his eyes still closed, I thought I had lost him and prepared to run, but Jackson grabbed my wrist, his grip harder and colder than steel.

For a moment, as brief as it was, I was afraid for my life, afraid of what he would do, but he stayed like that, eyes closed, fighting a battle inside himself that no one could see, his grip remaining on my wrist.

We stayed like that for a while, not moving, the only sounds were our separate breaths, until I looked up to see the pale glow of the moon, no longer red with eclipse, but white, casting a pale circle on the floor around us.

Finally, Jackson lifted his eyes up to look at me, and his eyes were their natural blue. Sighing in relief I tried to stand but my stiff joints screamed in protest. as I struggled, I heard a deep chuckle come from Jackson’s direction before feeling a tug on my wrist. Before I really knew what was going on, I felt myself crash into something warm, and instinctively tucked my head under Jackson’s chin. His arms wrapped around me and I felt the familiar blush creep into my cheeks at feeling so happy. In a low, tired voice, he whispered,