Born from Darkness (Sterek)

Derek's POV

I was already shifting before the thing wearing Scott's skin took a step inside.

The red glow in his eyes wasn't just Alpha—it was wrong. Blood-red, warped, crackling with something unnatural. A dark spirit had sunk its claws deep into him. His entire presence was rotting from the inside out, leaking black tar across the wooden floor.

"Scott?" Lydia whispered, stepping forward.

The creature tilted its head—and smiled.

"Not anymore," it purred, voice layered, two-toned—one Scott's, the other deep, ancient, feral.

"Back the hell off," I growled, baring my fangs.

He laughed, slow and cold. "Still playing the protective boyfriend, huh, Derek? You failed him once. You'll fail again."

"I'm not failing him ever again."

Without warning, the shadows behind him twisted—and suddenly, the house was full of them.

Spirits.

Smoke-like monsters with warped, screaming faces erupted from the dark corners of the room. They shrieked as they lunged, spectral claws swiping for blood.

"MOVE!" Peter roared.

Cora shifted fully, slamming one of the creatures mid-air and pinning it to the wall. It wailed like a dying animal before evaporating into smoke.

Ethan and Aidan flanked me instantly, twin growls vibrating the walls. They charged the closest spirit—Aidan grabbed one by the throat, slamming it down, while Ethan ripped another apart mid-lunge, smoke bursting like popped ink sacs.

"Lydia, shield Stiles!" I shouted.

She dove toward the couch, hands trembling but steady, pressing one palm to Stiles' chest and the other against the air. A glowing banshee pulse rippled outward, forming a protective barrier of sound around him.

"I've got him!" she yelled.

Kira spun her katana into her hand, electricity snapping along the blade. "These things don't die easy."

"They don't need to," Peter snarled, eyes burning blue. "Just give us enough room to tear that thing off Scott."

Scott—or the thing inside him—clapped mockingly, watching from the threshold like a king commanding chaos.

"You don't get it," he said. "This isn't a possession. This is an ascension."

He raised his hand—and a wave of force blasted through the room like a shockwave, knocking furniture over, cracking windows, and sending me flying backward into the wall. I tasted blood.

"Derek!" Cora screamed.

I forced myself up, ribs protesting. "I'm fine—keep him off Stiles!"

The twins were locked in combat, claws tearing at the corrupted spirits that poured in like ink from the cracks of the world. Kira sliced through another one, lightning flashing across her blade and burning the creature into a smear of ash and smoke.

Peter vanished in a blur of speed, appearing behind Scott with claws already swinging. But Scott turned without looking—and caught his hand mid-strike.

"Old dog," he hissed. "Still barking."

Then he flung Peter across the room like a ragdoll. He crashed into the bookshelf, splinters exploding around him.

"Peter!" I shouted.

"I'm fine," he groaned. "Just mildly concussed."

I shifted fully, letting my Beta form explode outward. My claws burned, my fangs bared, my heart a war drum in my chest. I charged Scott with a snarl—