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“Will you please stop pacing? You’re making me nervous,” Danny said from where he was sitting on his bed. “You said we had to talk and now you’re pacing. This looks like you’re trying to break up with me.”
“What? No!” Ethan said, stopping short. “No. I’m not going to break up with you.”
“Then what are you doing?”
“Okay. Look. I need to tell you this. Please don’t freak out. I’ll – I’ll leave if you want me to.”
“Okay,” Danny said slowly.
“So I need you to remember this is me and I would never hurt you.”
“Wait. Is this about you being a werewolf?”
“What? How do you know that?”
“Because Stiles is as subtle as a fire truck?” Danny said. “He and Scott would talk about it in chemistry or the hallway all the time last year. I just don’t know how you and Aiden fit into all of this.”
“You knew?” Ethan asked. ”Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted you to tell me when you wanted to. I didn’t think you’d panic like this though.”
“Oh. So how much do you know?”
“Stiles is human. Scott and Isaac are werewolves. Boyd and Erica were. I don’t know what happened to them. Something weird was going on with Jackson. Isaac didn’t actually beat you up in the hallway. And something’s up with Lydia.”
“Ah, she’s a banshee.”
“She’s a what?”
“A banshee. It’s a thing.”
“Why did you and Aiden come here?”
Ethan started pacing again. “Aiden and I were working with this Alpha, Deucalion. He – we owed him. He wanted to…well, Scott’s special. The vast majority of wolves become Alphas through death, whether they kill the previous or the previous one dies from natural causes. Scott…he’s a True Alpha. He became one because he earned it on his own. Deucalion wanted to prevent that. He wanted Scott to kill someone. And he wanted Derek to join us. And to join us…You’re going to hate me.”
“I promise I’ll keep an open mind. What could you have done?”
“Aiden and I killed our original Pack. And then we killed our Alpha. When you kill your betas you absorb their power. So we helped Derek kill Boyd.” Ethan turned to face Danny. Danny was staring at him with wide eyes.
“Deucalion told Derek he had to kill one of his betas or we’d kill all of them. Derek refused to…so we helped him.”
He started pacing again. “Deucalion told us to find out who Scott and Derek’s weaknesses were. Ennis was watching Beacon Hills for the last six months so he had an idea, but Aiden and I were supposed to really figure it out. He knew you were friends—,”
“You were going to use me to get to Scott?”
“I-yes. But I liked you too much. Aiden kept telling me to stop hanging out with you after we realized Lydia was the weakness. But I didn’t want to. And then…things went crazy. Kali’s former emissary wasn’t dead and was behind all the murders and she tried to kill all of us…and Deucalion’s gone. And Scott said we could stay and…I don’t want you to hate me. But I’ve done a lot of horrible things.”
“You have to give me a minute,” Danny said. “This is – this is a lot to take in.”
“I can go,” Ethan said, inching towards the door. “You should talk to Stiles and Lydia. Scott too.”
“Don’t go,” Danny said. “I just have to process.” He took a deep breath. “Okay. You came here to terrorize Scott and Stiles and Derek Hale. And then…you fell in love with me?”
Ethan nodded slowly.
“Come here,” Danny said. “Sit.”
“Don’t encourage Stiles with dog jokes,” Ethan said but he did go sit down next to Danny.
“Oh God he must be a pain in the ass,” Danny said. He took Ethan’s hand. “You were really worried about me when you brought me to the hospital.”
“You have no idea,” Ethan said. “And when I realized it was mistletoe…”
“Who was the murderer?”
“Miss Blake. She killed Mr. Harris too.”
“This is a lot to take in.”
“Do you want me to go? To call Scott?”
“No. You’re staying in town, right? You’re not leaving, right?”
“No. We’re staying. At school too. Even though…Aiden and I are kind of nineteen.”
“You’re nineteen. Of course you are,” Danny shook his head. “Whatever. Will you go to Homecoming with me?”
“What? After everything I just told you, you’re asking if I want to go to Homecoming?”
“Yes. I want to go to Homecoming with you. So yes or no. Will you go with me?”
“Of course I’ll go to Homecoming with you,” Ethan said. “But I still don’t think that you’re thinking this through enough.”
“I’m going to punch you if you tell me to think it over or talk to Scott,” Danny said. “You love me and you’re not going to hurt me.” He tugged Ethan closer and kissed him. “We’re fine, okay?”
“Okay.” He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “I did not expect today to go like this.”
“You really thought I’d run for the hills?” Danny asked, turning to face Ethan.
“Kind of. I mean, people don’t usually take the whole ‘werewolf’ thing well. Scott’s mom wouldn’t talk to him or look at him for a week after she found out. Admittedly she did see him with fangs and claws right after he threw Jackson across the room.”
“Am I going to have to ask Jackson what went on with him?” Danny asked.
“If he’ll talk to you. Aiden says Lydia can’t get him to respond. He’s not too bothered by that considering he’s sleeping with Jackson’s ex.”
“If Aiden hurts Lydia I will find a way to hurt him in return.”
“Ask Deaton.”
“Wait. My vet?”
“Yup.”
Danny lay back and turned on his side to keep facing Ethan. “Hey. Since you’re in love with me I feel this is a good time to tell you that I’m in love with you too.”
“Really?” Ethan asked, starting to smile.
“Really.”