Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf and any recognizable characters/elements in this story that are derived from canon are not owned by me. This story is for entertainment only, and I make no profit from any stories posted to this site.

Author's Note: As this is my first fanfiction story I have ever posted, your reviews would be greatly appreciated! Any feedback is welcome, but please, give constructive criticism, not hate. :)

A Conversation

As Cora trudged through the loft on a Wednesday afternoon after school, the silence was thick. She noticed her brother reading a beaten up copy of one of his old books, sitting upright in the loft's single couch. He was waiting for her. Naturally, Cora wasn't one for petty conversation, but she knew he wasn't waiting for her to ask her how her day went. A conversation needed to be had.

It wasn't that Cora was trying to hide her past in South America from her brother. Quite honestly, she had a trouble remembering it. How she got there, the places she stayed, the people she met. All of it was a blur to her. But she remembered the tough times; she didn't want that to be all she had to tell her brother of the life she lived outside of Beacon Hills. She wanted to find a way to explain everything to him in a way that wasn't too harsh, or brash; because contrary of what most people thought about Cora (brazen, rude, tough, snarky), those weren't the words her brother would have used to describe her six years ago.

Six years ago, when Cora was ten and Derek was eighteen, Derek would have said his little sister was reserved, kind, respectful, and innocent. Derek knew that Cora was everything a Beta should be, because Cora understood the importance of a strong pack-something she learned from their mother. But after the fire, when Cora was alone, and thought she had no family, she learned the concept of solitude. And for the last six years, solitude was all that Cora understood.

"We need to talk," Derek's voice was thick. No emotion was visible from his face. She knew he was serious, and there was no putting off this conversation any longer.

"I know, so ask away," she responded with a heavy sigh. She too, was expressionless, not wanting her brother to see any traces of nerves or vulnerability. She sat down across from him in one of their newly acquired chairs that matched the couch. It was big a comfortable. A safe place.

"I was thinking maybe you could start at the beginning. Perhaps you can explain how you're alive?" His eyebrow quirked, almost as if it was obvious as to what his first question would be.

And with a sigh heavier than her first, Cora launched into her explanation of her where about for the last six years. She told her brother of how she wasn't in the basement at the time of the fire. She had gone to the living room to grab the restraints their mother had forgotten to bring down for their cousin Andrew's first full moon. She realized that they weren't in the living room, and hollered to her mother about how she was going to check the upstairs den. By the time Cora came down stairs with the restraints, she could feel the heat radiating from every corner of the house. She tried to enter the basement to get her family out, but the door wouldn't budge. She heard their father from the basement, telling her to get out of the house. And being that the house was surrounded by mountain ash, Cora had no other option than to jump out of the second story window from her room.

Derek listened intently, focused on Cora's words. His blank expression remaining stagnant, never showing a shred of emotion. Cora attempted to keep her voice as even as possible as she recounted the night her childhood came to an end.

"I still don't understand. You knew me and Laura weren't home. We were away at school. You could have gone to the police station and told them what happened. They would have called us. You would have been with us." Derek's voice was harsh, almost scolding. Cora looked at him pointedly.

"Don't you think that's what I intended to do? I hadn't been within a fifty foot radius until that hunter caught me by the throat." Her voice was sharp, laced with fury at the thought her brother assumed her to be incapable of knowing basic protocol for an emergency situation.

"What hunter?" He interrogated, with questioning tone. Suddenly his interest was piqued- and Cora noticed.

"She was blonde. Thin. Long Hair. Brown eyes. I didn't exactly get a chance to ask her for her name. I was too busy being paralyzed from her shocking me, and her shoving what she told me were you and Laura's ashes in my face, and her telling me that I would end up like the two of you, and like mom and dad if I didn't get out of Beacon Hills and keep my mouth shut."

Derek soon realized that another conversation would soon need to be had- a conversation where he had some explaining to do. "Continue," he replied.

"I ran. I just kept running until I saw the sun. And when the sun came up, I went to a little diner across town, where no one would know who I was. I used a payphone and I called Maria, the Beta from the pack out in Texas. Mom always liked Maria. And she was the only other were-wolf contact I had."

Derek remembered Maria, she was beautiful, and came from a good pack. Her alpha was well respected, but not as much a pillar to their community as Talia was. Maria was maybe a year or two older than Derek.

"I told Maria what happened. She told me to stay in Beacon Hills, but to stay where people could see me. To stay where someone would notice if I went missing. So I stayed at the diner. Later that day Maria and her mate were there at the diner. They picked me up and we went to a hotel. The next day, she had a passport made for me, and a plane tickets And I was on a plane to South America the day after that. She had contacts in Colombia."

"Did they treat you well?" Derek's voice was gruff, alarmed. South American wolves were not the same as any others. Many omega's roamed free, and their mother had taught them that not even the Beta wolves had sense of loyalty to their packs. They were feral, usually more animal that human. They were to be feared, not trusted.

"Yes. They weren't exactly kind, but I was accepted. They liked Maria, so they took me in. They had a big house in the city. I got my own room and there were kids my age, so I wasn't the youngest in a house full of adults. I went to school. They taught me the language. They tried to protect me. I got used to things."

"They tried to protect you?"

"Omegas are different there. They attack if you feel you're on their territory. Funny thing about omegas: technically they have nothing; yet feel they have a right to everything." Cora shuddered at the encounters she had with vigilante wolves attacking her and her friends. They would come out of nowhere, sometimes in the middle of day. Walking back from school, or on her way to dinner. She would fight the rogue wolves as much as she could. She remembered how her body would be bruised and aching the next day. She remembered the pain from the loss at the few pack mates she lost, as they tried to defend her. She refused to let her eyes swell. She didn't do tears.

Derek moved to another subject. "How did you hear about there being a Hale alpha in Beacon Hills?"

"Maria called. Apparently her pack's emissary and Deaton are good friends. First, Deaton called asking about Alpha inheritance. He called a few months later about information on Kanimas, and then a few months later: Alpha packs. I overheard Maria telling my alpha about how Deaton let slip that a Hale was alive, but she didn't want me to know. She wanted to be sure herself. But I didn't give her the chance. I took a plane to Los Angeles two weeks later after I pooled all my money together." Cora had begun to relax into the conversation now, no longer being worried of her brother's opinion of her actions. Her actions were necessary for survival.

"When did the Alpha Pack find you?"

"I went home. I figured maybe the alpha was there. Instead, I found Ennis and Kali. Ennis remembered me. They took me. Threw me in the vault. Erica and Boyd were already there."

Derek shuddered at the mention of his two young Betas. The Betas he had turned with the false promise of a better lifestyle. The Betas he had disappointed. His face turned from a stagnant calm, to a slight frown, attempting to remain hard and questioning, but only looking vulnerable and uncomfortable. Cora remained silent. She too felt the sting at the thought of the two wolves she had come to know and appreciate during their time together.

Both were-wolves remained silent. They both realized that they had come to the end of Cora's story. Derek no longer had questions for Cora, and Cora was unsure of how to end the conversation. The air was thick in the loft for several moments, and Cora soon seemed to feel uncomfortable.

"Do you want to go back?" He asked her, after he regrouped himself.

She looked at him. The question confused her. Did he want her to go back? Did he no longer want her there? Did he still consider her as pack? She couldn't tell from his expression.

"No." That was all she said for a response after several long seconds of pondering. Because even if Derek didn't want her there, even if Beacon Hills was a supernatural town full of tragedy and strife, and even if something bad was bound to happen before she could even settle into a new routine, Beacon Hills was her home. She had run from it as a child, but it was time for her to face it.

Derek's face looked up. A quick glint appeared in his eyes that had seemed to soften since the beginning of their conversation. The right hand corner of his mouth tugged ever so slightly as he responded, "Good."

Derek got up, threw on his leather jacket and asked her if she was ok with pizza for dinner. The corner of his mouth still upturned. Cora realized in that moment, everything would be alright. Maybe she had changed over the last six years, and maybe Beacon Hills was still a town of supernatural tragedy. But she had her brother. And as she hopped in the passenger seat of the truck, her smile mirrored his. One corner turned upwards, as they rode to the pizza place in a comfortable silence with a single thought running through her head.

The conversation hadn't been so bad.