The morning after arriving in Beacon Hills, Drake woke before sunrise.
That in itself wasn't unusual.
What was unusual, however, was the fact that he could hear nearly the entire town waking up.
Heartbeats.
Footsteps.
Cars starting.
Arguments.
Birds taking flight.
A woman crying three streets away.
A dog barking at something in the preserve.
Drake opened his glowing eyes slowly.
"Your control slipped while you were sleeping." Ciri's sleepy voice muttered from beside him.
Drake sighed.
"Sorry."
"You're not apologising to me." She smirked without opening her eyes.
Drake rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.
"I forgot how loud the world is."
"It'll settle down once your instincts adjust."
"And if they don't?"
"Then I'll knock you unconscious until they do."
Drake snorted.
"Such a loving girlfriend."
Ciri finally opened one eye.
"I am loving."
"You threatened to knock me out."
"You'd heal."
"Fair point."
A comfortable silence settled between them.
Then Drake froze.
Ciri immediately noticed.
"What is it?"
"There's a body in the preserve."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly.
"How fresh?"
"Very."
"Human?"
Drake listened carefully.
"…Half."
Ciri sat upright immediately.
"The story's beginning early?"
"No." Drake narrowed his eyes.
"This isn't Scott."
Within minutes the pair were dressed and moving through the preserve.
The forest welcomed Drake like an old friend.
Animals moved around him without fear.
The trees themselves almost seemed alive beneath his senses.
Ciri followed quietly beside him, one hand resting near the hilt of her sword.
They reached the body fifteen minutes later.
Or rather… half a body.
Drake stared silently.
The corpse belonged to a man in his late twenties.
His torso had been ripped open.
Claw marks covered the trees.
But what disturbed Drake wasn't the violence.
It was the smell.
"Not a werewolf." He muttered.
Ciri crouched beside the body.
"Kanima?"
"No venom."
"Wendigo?"
"No bite marks."
Ciri frowned.
"Then what?"
Drake's eyes glowed faintly.
"…Something old."
A twig snapped nearby.
Both of them vanished instantly.
Seconds later Sheriff Stilinski emerged from the tree line alongside Deputy Parrish.
Drake blinked from behind a tree, observing quietly.
His adoptive father looked exhausted.
Older than Drake remembered.
Tired.
Lonely.
Drake felt something uncomfortable twist in his chest.
Emotion.
Real emotion.
Ciri glanced toward him softly.
"You should go say hello."
"Not yet."
Noah crouched near the body.
"What the hell happened here…"
Parrish looked pale.
"Animal attack?"
Noah stared at the damage.
"…No animal I've ever seen."
Drake watched his father carefully.
Then his hearing sharpened.
Another heartbeat.
Fast.
Terrified.
Human.
Without warning Drake vanished.
Noah never even saw him move.
A scream echoed deeper in the preserve.
Parrish drew his weapon.
Noah turned sharply.
"What was that?"
Neither of them knew a massive black blur had already crossed nearly half a mile.
Drake found the girl seconds later.
Sixteen years old.
Pinned against a tree.
And standing before her…
A creature.
Tall.
Gaunt.
Grey skin stretched tight over bone.
Long claws.
Empty white eyes.
The thing hissed.
The girl sobbed.
Drake stepped from the shadows.
The creature turned instantly.
Its instincts screamed danger.
Good.
Drake's eyes slowly shifted from gold to crimson.
"Interesting." He muttered.
The creature attacked first.
Big mistake.
The forest exploded.
The creature never even touched him.
Drake caught its throat mid-lunge and slammed it through three trees.
The ground cracked beneath the impact.
The monster shrieked.
Drake stared down at it blankly.
"You smell wrong."
The creature tried to slash him.
Drake ripped its arm off.
The girl screamed.
Drake paused.
Right.
Normal humans didn't enjoy seeing that.
The creature regenerated partially.
Drake frowned.
"Oh, you regenerate too?"
The monster suddenly looked nervous.
It should have.
Drake smiled.
The next impact shook the preserve.
The creature died badly.
Very badly.
Ciri arrived just as Drake finished crushing the monster's skull beneath one hand.
The terrified teenage girl stared at him like he was somehow even scarier than the thing that attacked her.
Fair.
Drake slowly stood.
"You're safe."
The girl shakily nodded.
Then promptly fainted.
Ciri looked between the unconscious girl and the corpse.
"So."
"So?"
"That was excessive."
"It regenerated."
"You ripped its arm off."
"It annoyed me."
Ciri pinched the bridge of her nose.
"You can't keep solving every problem through overwhelming violence."
Drake looked genuinely confused.
"Why not?"
"Because normal people don't do that."
Drake glanced toward the corpse.
"…I'm starting to think I'm not normal."
Ciri burst out laughing.
"You only just realised?"
Drake ignored her.
He crouched beside the creature's remains.
Its body was already beginning to decay unnaturally.
Black veins spread across the skin.
"Magic." Ciri muttered.
"Dark magic." Drake corrected.
A familiar voice suddenly echoed through the trees.
"FREEZE!"
Drake slowly turned.
Sheriff Stilinski stood twenty metres away with his gun raised.
Parrish beside him.
Both frozen in shock.
Noah's eyes widened.
"…Drake?"
Drake stared at him silently for several seconds.
Then smiled faintly.
"Hey, Dad."
The gun immediately lowered.
Noah crossed the distance in seconds.
Then punched Drake directly in the chest.
Hard.
Drake blinked.
"…Ow?"
"You vanished for six years!" Noah shouted.
"Technically seven."
Noah looked ready to commit murder.
Then he pulled Drake into a crushing hug.
Drake froze.
Noah's heartbeat was frantic.
Relieved.
Emotional.
Drake slowly hugged him back.
Something warm settled in his chest.
"…Missed you too." He muttered quietly.
Parrish stared at the scene in confusion.
Then toward the corpse.
Then toward Drake.
"…Sheriff?"
Noah sighed tiredly.
"Deputy, I have absolutely no idea what's happening anymore."
Ciri walked forward politely.
"Hello."
Parrish blinked.
Noah looked between them.
"…You brought home a girlfriend?"
"Apparently." Drake answered.
Ciri smirked smugly.
Noah stared at the destroyed trees.
Then the corpse.
Then Drake.
"…How much paperwork are you about to cause me?"
Drake considered the question honestly.
"…A lot."
Hours later the body had mysteriously disappeared.
Mostly because Ciri opened a portal and dropped it into an active volcano.
Parrish chose not to ask questions.
Smart man.
Back at the station Noah finally cornered Drake in his office.
"You're explaining everything."
"I can explain some things."
"Start with why your eyes glow."
"No."
"Drake."
"It's genetic."
Noah narrowed his eyes.
"That is the worst explanation I've ever heard."
Drake shrugged.
"It's technically true."
Noah sighed heavily and collapsed into his chair.
"You look exactly the same as when you left."
"Good skincare routine."
"You're impossible."
"I've heard that before."
Noah studied him quietly.
Then spoke softly.
"…You really okay?"
Drake paused.
That question hit harder than expected.
For once… someone genuinely cared about the answer.
"…Yeah." He answered honestly.
And for the first time in a very long time.
He meant it.