The forest was alive with the sounds of snapping branches and guttural snarls as Jacob and Peter fought each other.
Peter, in his monstrous Alpha form, was a nightmare of muscle, claws, and fangs, his red eyes blazing with primal fury. Jacob grinned through the adrenaline. He didn't need to shift—his human form was more than enough to meet the Alpha blow for blow.
They had been fighting for a while now—testing each other's strength, trading brutal hits. Jacob blocked a savage claw swipe, answering with a sharp elbow to Peter's ribs. The Alpha snarled and lunged again, but Jacob twisted aside, driving a crushing kick into Peter's knee. The joint buckled, but Peter stayed standing.
Peter growled and attacked again, this time with a brutal swipe meant to gut him. Jacob twisted, letting the claws pass inches from his ribs, and countered with a crushing uppercut to Peter's jaw, making him spit blood.
Peter answered with a brutal punch to Jacob's ribs that sent him sliding back across the forest floor.
Jacob looked at Peter with his glowing golden eyes and laughed. "This is fun." Then Jacob thought. 'Let's try my new ability.'
As Peter charged again, Jacob took a deep breath and—instead of dodging—he roared.
The force that erupted from him was invisible but devastating, a shockwave of raw power that ripped through the air like a hurricane. Peter was sent flying backward like a ragdoll, he smashed through a tangle of underbrush before slamming spine-first into a tree. Bark splintered and rained down, and for a few seconds, Peter lay dazed.
Jacob grinned. 'Cool. I love this ability very much.'
Peter got up, now almost losing his sanity, and attacked Jacob. They fought like that for about an hour, equally matched, and Jacob was enjoying the fight very much.
But after having his fun, Jacob used his dragon roar again and sent Peter flying away, crashing into a tree with a dull, echoing thud.
He cracked his knuckles. "Let's wrap this up. I've got a beauty waiting for me at home."
Then Jacob shifted.
Scales rippled across his chest, shoulders, and the backs of his hands, hidden beneath his clothes but strengthening him nonetheless. His dragon aura flared—an ancient, predatory pressure that made the very air tremble. Peter hesitated, his instincts screaming at him to run, but pride and rage won out. With a furious howl, he attacked again.
But this time, it was different. Jacob was stronger and faster.
Every attack Peter threw was blocked or deflected. Every strike Jacob landed hit like a hammer. His clawed slash ripped deep into Peter's chest, painting the forest floor with the Alpha's blood. A punch shattered Peter's snout. A spinning kick sent him crashing into another tree.
Jacob didn't stop. With a powerful drop kick, he shattered Peter's shoulder with a sickening crack, but the Alpha healed, snarling through the pain.
They clashed again, each impact sending shockwaves through the trees. Trunks splintered, leaves rained down, and the earth itself seemed to shudder under their fury.
Another hour passed in a blur of violence. But Peter was tiring. His breathing grew ragged, his healing was slowing and more wounds appeared on his body. Peter realized he was no match for Jacob and decided to run away while he still could.
With a frustrated growl, Peter turned and bolted deeper into the woods. Jacob didn't hesitate—he gave chase, weaving through the trees like a shadow. They fought as they ran, trading blows mid-sprint.
Finally, Jacob saw his opening. He tackled Peter, slamming him into the ground.
Peter, panting and bloodied, tried to rise—but Jacob straddled his chest and pinned him by the throat.
"Remember when we first fought?" Jacob said, a smirk tugging at his lips. "I told you I'd get my revenge."
Then he started punching Peter's wolf-like face—once, twice, over and over. Peter thrashed, snarling, but the fight was leaving him. His monstrous form melted away, leaving only a broken, bloodied man beneath Jacob.
Panting, Jacob stood. He looked down at Peter's battered body and sighed, satisfaction humming through his veins.
"That was fun." He said, before dropping to sit beside his defeated opponent.
After a while, Peter's breathing steadied. With difficulty, he turned his head toward Jacob, who was sitting casually beside him.
"You won, kid." Peter rasped. "So… are you going to kill me now?"
Jacob lay back on the ground, hands behind his head. "Nah. We don't have some deep grudge or anything like that. Honestly, I just wanted to fight you to see how strong I really am."
Then his tone hardened. "But whatever grudge you have against the Argents, leave Allison out of it. Because if you hurt her, I will kill you. And as long as you don't threaten me and the people close to me, I won't care about you."
Peter's eyes narrowed. "Does that include my beta?"
"Yes. That includes Scott, and Stiles, too. And definitely don't touch the redhead you saw me with at the video store."
Peter smirked. "But I want Scott in my pack."
Jacob snorted. "If you want a beta, make more. And stay away from Scott. Why are you so obsessed with him anyway?"
"It's not obsession." Peter said flatly. "It's just… harder to make betas than you think. Most people don't survive the bite."
Jacob thought to himself. 'It was very easy for Derek.'
Peter said. "By the way… what are you?"
Jacob shrugged. "I don't know what I am. I awakened my bloodline the day before I met you that night in the woods, and my parents are dead, so there's no one left to tell me what I am."
Standing, Jacob dusted himself off. "Alright, time for me to go. If I were you, I'd run and hide. In your condition right now, anyone could kill you—especially Derek. And he's probably looking for us right now."
A smirk tugged at his lips. "And just a heads up—if I meet Derek in the woods, I'll tell him exactly where you are. See you around, Peter. Good luck surviving the night."
With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Peter—broken and beaten—in the dirt.
The forest fell eerily silent, and Peter panicked. He started crawling away, trying to leave and hide until he recovered.
---
After an hour of walking, Jacob muttered to himself. 'I didn't realize during the fight, but we went really deep into the woods.'
He decided to run, using his supernatural speed to cover ground quickly.
Before long, he came across Scott, Stiles, and Derek. Both Derek and Scott had traces of blood on them. Though their wounds were healed, they were clearly wounded by something.
Jacob stopped in front of them. "What happened to you guys?"
Stiles immediately ran up and hugged him dramatically. "Great, you're here! Please save us! Something's hunting us and we have no idea what it is!"
Jacob pushed him away and focused his senses. His gaze shifted toward a dense patch of bushes about ten meters away, where two glowing white eyes peered back at them.
"Look." Jacob said. "It's over there."
Stiles peeked from behind Jacob's shoulder. Derek and Scott turned in the same direction and spotted the creature too.
Jacob glanced at Derek. "You have no idea what that is?"
"Never seen anything like it." Derek admitted.
"Can't you and Scott beat it?" Jacob asked.
"It's not that strong." Derek replied. "But it's fast—and we had to protect stupid Stiles, so it managed to cut us with its claws."
Jacob smirked. "Alright, let's see what we're dealing with."
He took a banana peel and casually tossed it near the bushes where the creature was hiding.
The creature couldn't fight the urge to step on the banana peel for some bizarre reason, so it got out of the bush, stepped on it, slipped, did a perfect 360° flip, before sprawling flat on its back like a cartoon character.
Stiles shone his phone's flashlight on it and blurted. "Damn, what is that thing? Looks like a zombie… but it's way too fast to be a zombie."
The creature rose to its feet. It was about six feet tall, humanoid but twisted—pale, smooth, hairless skin stretched over a hunched frame, dagger-like teeth, long sharp claws, and glowing white eyes.
Jacob thought. 'Well… this is new. That thing never showed up in the Teen Wolf series. But this isn't just a show—it's a real world filled with supernatural creatures. So I guess it's normal for supernatural freaks to show up everywhere.'
Jacob released his dragon aura, and the creature froze instantly in fear, its glowing eyes locked on Jacob, every muscle trembling. It didn't even dare breathe too loud.
Derek and Scott felt Jacob's aura as well. For a moment, both of them stiffened in fear, but since it wasn't directed at them, the pressure quickly eased.
Scott asked. "Jacob… do you know what that thing is?"
Jacob nodded. "Yeah. I read about it in the bestiary. It's called The Rake. A cannibal creature that lives in the woods—usually feeds on animals, but it eats humans too."
Stiles gulped. "I think I should read that creepy book of yours when we get back."
Jacob smirked. "You should. It can save your life. If you had read it, you'd know The Rake is terrified of bright light. All you had to do was turn on every flashlight you had, and it wouldn't have dared to come near you."
Stiles muttered. "Yeah… I really need to read that book."
Jacob turned to Scott. "Go kill it."
"What? No! I—I can't. Why don't we just let it go?" Scott stammered.
In a blur of speed, Jacob appeared in front of the frozen creature. His clawed hand plunged into its chest, piercing its heart. The Rake collapsed instantly, dead before it hit the ground.
Jacob stepped aside, leaning against a tree as he retched. He quickly pulled himself together, wiping his mouth.
Stiles, who saw Jacob kill The Rake, was scared but tried to mask his fear with sarcasm. "So… Mr. Tough Guy still pukes after killing something, huh?"
Jacob shrugged. "That's natural, I guess. It was my first time killing something other than bugs."
Scott frowned. "Couldn't you just… let it go?"
Derek turned on him. "Let it go? Scott, that thing was a cannibal. It tried to kill us. If it had been normal humans out here instead of us, they'd be dead already. If Jacob hadn't killed it, I would have."
Jacob looked Scott in the eye. "Scott, there are creatures you never spare if you run into them, and The Rake is one of them."
He crouched, picking up fallen branches. "Now, help me burn it. We can't risk leaving a monster's corpse in these woods. The last thing we need is some paranormal investigator stumbling upon it and bringing a media circus to town"
The four of them gathered enough wood and piled it over the creature's corpse. Jacob flicked open a lighter and tossed it in. Flames quickly consumed the body, the fire crackling in the night as the smell of burning flesh drifted through the trees.
While they watched the fire burn, Derek glanced at Jacob. "What happened to Peter?"
Jacob smirked. "I beat his ass and left him lying in the dirt, deep in the woods."
Derek opened his mouth to ask which direction, but Jacob cut him off. "If you're thinking about going after him—don't. I left him really deep in the woods. I walked for an hour, then ran at full speed for another ten minutes before I ran into you guys. You can imagine how far that is. Besides, he's probably already gone. And who knows what other things are hunting out there this late at night? It's dangerous to be alone in the woods at night, even for a werewolf."
Derek thought about it, then reluctantly gave up.
Scott asked. "Jacob… did you tell him to stop bothering me?"
Jacob nodded. "Yep. I told him to stop messing with you and Stiles. So even if he asks you to join his pack, he'll have to ask nicely."
Once The Rake had burned to ash, Jacob stretched. "Alright, you single losers, I'm heading home."
Stiles raised a hand. "Wait—before you go, how did you make that thing show itself and slip like that?"
Jacob grinned. "Oh, that? I used this."
He pulled a banana peel from his pocket and held it up.
Stiles blinked. "Are you kidding me? A banana peel?"
Jacob smirked. "Not just any banana peel. This is one of the inventions from my crazy supernatural scientist friend."
Then, without warning, Jacob tossed it on the ground. Scott, overcome by some strange compulsion, suddenly ran forward and stepped on it.
He slipped, did a perfect 360° flip in the air, and landed face-first in the dirt.
Jacob doubled over laughing. "See? Magical powers. When I throw it, the target has to step on it. They can't resist."
Stiles's eyes lit up. "Cool! You got more?"
"Yeah." Jacob said. "But I left the extras at home."
Scott got up, fuming. "Jacob, I'm going to kill you."
Jacob grinned. "Don't be mad. I was going to use it on Stiles, but he's a normal human—he might have gotten hurt. And I already used that farting medicine on Rocket Man over here..." He pointed at Derek. "So you were the only option left."
Derek groaned. "Damn it, stop bringing that up. Scott, let's teach him a lesson."
Jacob stepped back, smirking. "As much as I'd love to beat your asses, I don't have time tonight. Maybe next time."
And with that, he sprinted off, shouting over his shoulder. "Good night, idiots! See you later!"
Scott stood there, fuming. Derek was red with anger and embarrassment, while Stiles laughed his head off—until Derek glared at him.
The laughter died instantly. Stiles hid behind Scott. "Uh… Scott, I think we should leave too."
Scott didn't answer, just started walking. Stiles followed, glancing back at Derek, who was trailing behind them.
"Scott." Stiles whispered. "Was that banana peel really magical?"
Scott sighed. "Yeah. The moment Jacob threw it, all I could think about was stepping on it. I couldn't fight the urge."
Stiles grinned. "Cool. I've got to get one from him."
Derek said. "I'm more surprised by how strong Jacob is. Do you guys even know what he is?"
Stiles shook his head. "No we don't, and he doesn't know either. But he's our friend and that's good enough for me."
"You trust him?" Derek asked.
Scott said firmly. "Yes we do. Although he likes to prank people, I trust him. We both do. And I owe him a lot because if it wasn't for him, I would have lost control and killed someone on the full moon."
To be continued… 😊