The next evening, Beacon Hills carried the kind of tension that settled into your bones.
It was subtle to anyone ordinary. The streets still glowed beneath warm streetlights, cars still moved through intersections, and the town still wore its usual mask of quiet suburban calm. But underneath that surface, something had changed.
Aiden could feel it the moment he stepped out of the school parking lot.
The air was sharp.
Predatory.
Like the town itself was holding its breath.
Scott fell into step beside him, hands shoved into the pockets of his jacket. "Tell me we're not just wandering around hoping something happens."
Aiden glanced at him. "Something already has."
Scott frowned. "That's not an answer."
"It's enough."
Before Scott could complain further, the sound of heels clicking against the pavement made both of them turn.
Allison was approaching.
She had changed after school, trading her usual outfit for dark jeans, boots, and the kind of fitted black jacket that made it clear she was ready for trouble. More importantly, the bow case slung across her shoulder told them exactly how serious she was.
Scott's expression immediately tightened.
"Allison, no."
She raised an eyebrow. "No?"
"This is dangerous."
Her gaze flicked toward Aiden, then back to Scott. "That's exactly why I'm here."
Scott opened his mouth to argue, but Aiden cut in before he could.
"She stays."
Scott looked at him like he had just betrayed him. "Seriously?"
Aiden's tone remained calm. "If Kate is involved, Allison deserves to know."
That silenced him.
Because deep down, Scott knew he was right.
Allison's jaw tightened at the mention of her aunt's name. "You really think it's her?"
Aiden started walking again, forcing both of them to follow. "I know the scent from the warehouse. It matches the Argent weapons cache."
Scott frowned. "That doesn't automatically mean Kate."
"No," Aiden said, eyes fixed ahead, "but it means someone in the family is moving against the Hale line again."
The words hung in the air.
That was enough to make Allison's face pale slightly.
They reached the edge of the preserve just as night fully settled over Beacon Hills.
The forest stood dark and still.
Almost too still.
Scott inhaled sharply, his eyes flashing yellow for a moment. "There's blood."
Aiden had already caught it.
Fresh.
Close.
He moved first, slipping into the tree line with the quiet confidence of a predator who knew the forest belonged to him tonight.
The others followed.
Branches cracked softly underfoot as they moved deeper between the trees. The moonlight filtered through the canopy in broken silver lines, casting long shadows across the ground.
Then Scott stopped.
"There."
A body lay half-hidden behind a fallen log.
Not dead.
Injured.
A teenage boy from school—one of the lacrosse players Aiden vaguely recognized.
His shoulder had been slashed open, blood soaking through his shirt.
Allison dropped to her knees beside him. "Oh my God."
Scott crouched down, checking his pulse. "He's alive."
The boy groaned weakly, his eyes fluttering open.
"A… wolf…"
Scott and Allison exchanged a look.
Aiden knelt beside him, his voice low and steady. "What happened?"
The boy's breathing hitched. "Something attacked us… near the old Hale house…"
Us.
Aiden's expression sharpened. "Who else was with you?"
"Jackson… and a girl from senior year… they ran…"
Scott stood up immediately. "We need to find them."
Aiden nodded once.
"Take him back to the road. Call Stiles."
Scott hesitated. "What about you?"
Aiden's gaze shifted toward the deeper part of the forest.
"Something's still here."
Allison stood as well, reaching for her bow. "I'm coming."
Scott looked ready to argue again, but one look at her expression stopped him.
He nodded reluctantly. "Fine. Just… be careful."
Aiden and Allison moved deeper into the woods alone.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke.
The forest around them had changed.
The quiet no longer felt natural.
It felt staged.
Like something was waiting.
Then Allison's voice broke the silence.
"You really think Kate is behind this?"
Aiden glanced at her. "I think someone wants Derek exposed."
Her steps slowed. "To kill him?"
"Or draw Peter out."
That answer made her grip tighten around the bow.
Her family had always trained her to see the world in black and white—hunters and monsters, right and wrong.
But things were no longer that simple.
Not with Aiden.
Not with Scott.
Not even with Derek.
A branch snapped somewhere to their left.
Aiden moved instantly, pulling Allison behind the trunk of a large oak just as an arrow whistled past where she had been standing.
It buried itself in the tree with a solid thunk.
Hunter arrow.
Allison's eyes widened.
A second arrow came from the darkness.
This one Aiden caught.
His hand closed around the shaft mid-flight.
For a moment, even Allison stared.
Then a slow clap echoed from deeper in the woods.
A woman stepped from the shadows.
Tall.
Confident.
Blonde hair catching the moonlight.
Her smile was cold and familiar.
Kate Argent.
"Well," she said smoothly, eyes sliding over Aiden, "you're even more interesting up close."
Allison froze.
"Aunt Kate?"
Kate's expression softened for exactly half a second. "Sweetheart, you really shouldn't be out here."
Allison's voice trembled, more with anger than fear. "You attacked those students?"
Kate shrugged. "Collateral."
The word hit Allison like a slap.
Aiden stepped forward, placing himself slightly in front of her.
Kate's eyes narrowed with amusement. "Protective, aren't we?"
His voice was ice. "You're hunting Derek."
Kate smiled wider. "Of course I am. Peter's making moves, Derek's lurking in the shadows, and now there's you."
Her gaze sharpened.
"A new player."
Allison stared at her aunt in disbelief. "This isn't what we do."
Kate finally looked at her fully. "This is exactly what we do."
"No," Allison said, voice firming, "this is what you do."
Something dangerous flickered across Kate's face.
Then she laughed softly.
"Well. Looks like someone's been influencing you."
Her eyes moved to Aiden again.
There was something almost playful in the way she studied him.
"I've heard about you," she said. "The boy who walked into Beacon Hills and suddenly everyone's orbit started shifting."
Aiden's expression didn't change.
"Leave."
Kate smiled.
"Make me."
The air between them tightened.
Allison felt it instantly.
The kind of tension that came before violence.
Kate reached for another arrow.
Aiden moved first.
He crossed the distance in a blur, faster than human eyes should have been able to follow.
Kate barely managed to raise her bow before he caught her wrist.
The weapon snapped in half.
Her eyes widened—not with fear, but surprise.
Then she kicked upward, forcing space between them.
She landed lightly several feet away, breathing harder now.
Interesting.
She was better than most hunters.
But not enough.
Aiden's eyes burned faintly amber in the darkness.
"Last warning."
Kate smirked, though the confidence had cracked slightly.
"Oh, I think we're going to have a lot of fun."
Before either of them could move again, a howl split through the forest.
Deep.
Furious.
Derek.
A second later, another presence entered the clearing.
Peter.
His grin was feral.
"Well," he said, looking between Kate and Aiden, "now this is a party."
And just like that—
the real hunt began.