Today was just like any other day. I woke up, made my bed, got dressed for my early morning run. Tying my hair up into a neat ponytail, I crept down stairs- trying not to wake my step mom. As I grabbed my sweatshirt, I heard a key in the lock. Frozen in fear, I watched the door creep open to reveal my father.

"Daddy?"

"Hey baby girl," he breathed when he saw me. "What're you doing up so early? It's 5:30."

"I was just about to go for a swim. Why're you back this late? I thought you were staying in Beacon Heights for a few more days?"

He walked past me and slumped on the couch. "It's Beacon Hills, hills. Yeah, I was going to but he didn't want me there. So I left." I could hear the disappointment, maybe even the sorrow in his voice. He sounded broken.

"Who didn't want you there? You're the best agent. I don't know why someone wouldn't-"

He cut me off, "It wasn't work."

"Then who?"

"This isn't the time for this!"

"Daddy, you can tell me. I'm your little girl. No secrets. No judgments."

He looked at me for the first time since he stepped through the door. He had tears in his eyes, falling on his tan cheeks. My insides churned. This was the first time I've seen him cry since my birth mother had died after being hit head on by a semi. Since my dad had permanently moved to San Francisco to raise me. He hadn't been around much for the first five years of my life, but he hasn't missed a single second of the last twelve years.

"Scott. Scott didn't want me there." He spoke so low, I could hardly hear him.

"Who's Scott?"

"My … son." He looked away from me as he wiped the tears away from his face.

As soon as the word left his mouth, I could feel myself heating up with rage. "Your … what? Your son? Are you fucking kidding me?!"

He stood up, his six-foot body towering over my five-foot frame. His face was as red as a fire truck. "Penelope! You don't understand! You have no clue –"

"Yeah, I don't fucking understand. I don't have a fucking clue who the hell my own father is." I cut him off. Throwing my sweatshirt over my head, I ran out of the door before he could say anything else. I ran and ran until I couldn't breathe. I looked at my watch, 6:55.

I sat in my car in the driveway of my house for about an hour. I came home after my run, sneaking inside to grab my car keys. Not even bothering to change my clothes. I didn't want to face my dad. How could he have a son? He never once mentioned having any other family other than me or Steph- his new wife. How old is this Scott kid? Does he look like my dad or even like me? Does he have his eyes or his mom's eyes? Is he smart like my dad or athletic like me? Or is he none of those? Taking a deep breath, I calmly got out of my car and approached the porch.

Steph swung the door open, yelling. "I'm not uprooting my life just so you can be with your ex-wife! How dare you ask me to move away from my family to be with your old one?" She pushed past me.

"Steph? Hey, Steffie!" I walked over to her leaning against her car, sadness and anger in her eyes. "What's going on?"

"Your father wants to move us to Beacon Hills."

"What?"

"He feels guilty about leaving his family there, he wants peace or something. He wants to be a good dad."

"He is a good dad."

She laughed in my face. "He wants to be a good dad to his son. Who is the same age as you, by the way. Your father had quite the party seventeen years ago." She got in her car and sped away.

"Penny, come inside so we can talk." My father was standing in the doorway; he had heard everything his wife has just said to me. "I want to come clean about everything. You deserve that much from me."

I contently looked out the window as I watched tree after tree fade away into the distance. I pulled one of my headphones out, prepping to say something but the words just wouldn't come out. After my dad had told me about the child he had with his ex-wife and that he wanted to uproot me, we haven't really spoken. A few words here and there, which was it. Steph decided it was for the better that she didn't tag along. That baffled me, I mean; she was fine with me but not Scott? It's not like I was his biggest fan, but my feelings toward him were anything but his fault. I don't like the kid already, but only because he's been kept from me.

I had grown up alone. I had my mom when I was little, then my dad came into the picture and a few years later Steph came. But I never had a brother or sister, no cousins. No one. I grew up helping around the house instead of playing Barbie's. Occasionally, my dad would play dress up with me. But I wasn't the son he wanted- or neglected- and he just couldn't be a mom to me. So he found someone who could. Don't get me wrong, Steph was great but I really wanted my mom. I wanted a sibling to play in the back yard with.

"Are you okay?" My dad asked as we pulled in to a dinner parking lot. I nodded in his general direction and walked inside.

Sitting down in a booth towards the back, I saw a group of teenagers. They looked happy. A tall, pale boy with dark blond hair and bright blue eyes snapped his head up when my dad walked in. They looked like the recognized each other. My dad waved at him, but he just sighed at walked toward the bathroom.

"What was that about?"

"I, uh, had to question him while I was here. He didn't like me much."

"Oh." I snuck another glance at the group; the pale boy was watching me as he sat down with another boy. I smiled at him. He looked down at his food.

A waitress came and took our orders, as my dad wadded up a napkin and threw it at me. "Oh, so mature. Ha-ha. Good one." I said sarcastically.

"What do you think so far?"

"This is a cute place."

"I mean about the town."

"It's nice. There are a hell lot of trees. I haven't seen any deep water." I spoke softly. A little worried I wouldn't be able to have my last connection to my mother.

"Well, we just got here. There's a perfect place for you. I'll show after we eat."

After we ate, I made my way towards the bathroom but was stopped by the tall boy I saw earlier. "Um, excuse me." I said as I tried to maneuver around him but he wouldn't let me pass.

"How do you know that guy you were with?" He put his hand on my shoulder; he was towering over me, looking down at me. His voice sent waves through me. It was so innocent yet manly.

"He's my dad…" His jaw dropped open slightly. "Why? Oh my gosh, are you Scott?"

He looked at me confused but snapped back to normal. "No, I'm not Scott. You know about Scott?"

"Then who are you?" All of a sudden I smelled familiar cologne and the tall boy walked away before he answering me.

"Stay away from him, Pen." My dad whispered into my ear as he kissed the top of my head and escorted me back to our SUV.

"Who was that kid?" I asked.

"No one you should bother yourself with. Trust me."

"I thought he was Scott, but he kind of freaked when I asked him if that was his name." I admitted, earning a grunt from my father. "He smelled like he was a –"

"He's not Scott." He cut me off. "Penelope, please don't run around town asking people if they're your brother."

"Half-brother." I snapped back at him. "And you don't even know what I was gonna say, so," I stuck my tongue at him. My feeble attempt to lighten the mood.

We pulled to a decent sized house and my dad got out. "This is it." I looked admiringly at the home that was now ours. There were giant double doors in the front of the house, with big windows on either side of them. It was similar to our old house in San Francisco, but not the same. Light blue and off-white. The same colors my mom had painted the old house before she passed.

"I love it!" I ran up to him and hugged him tightly as he was going inside.

From the corner of my eye I saw a banged up blue jeep pull into the driveway a few houses away, and saw the group from the diner get out. I gasped when the kid from earlier looked right at my father and I. I turned to face him when I saw him walking towards me, but it seemed like a dark haired girl was trying to pull him back. He shook her off and continued coming towards me.

"Hey," he finally returned a smile. "Remember me?"

"Yeah, you're the kid with no name. Am I right?"

"Sorry, um, I'm Isaac Lahey. You are?"

"Penelope McCall." I held my hand out for him to shake but he just looked at it. "You shake it."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me into him; with his other hand he pulled my hair back and whispered in my ear. "Stay away from Scott. He doesn't need this." He let me go, running off to join the rest of the group inside the house down the street.

*ISAAC'S POV*

"Isaac, what the hell was that?!" Alison screamed at me when I walked inside mine and Scott's house.

"I just asked her name. Nothing else happened." I lied, pushing past her and sitting on the couch beside Scott; who had his head in his hands.

"No, I saw the whole thing. You pulled her hair!" Alison quipped from the doorway.

"You did what?" Scott said, not bothering to look up.

"He went up to her and she held her hand out to him, then he just pulled her into him and pulled her hair! Seriously, what the hell was that Isaac?"

"She smelled funny. Not bad, but not human. I don't know. I just told her to stay away from Scott then left. It was nothing."

Scott slowly lifted his head out of his hands, glaring at me, "You did what?" Before I could say anything, Scott had me pressed against the wall with his claws two inches from my face. "Don't make those decisions for me." He let me go and went upstairs.

"Um, Stiles, can you take me home now." Alison asked from the doorway, where she remained the entire time.

"I don't think I should leave Sc-"

"Now, Stiles. Now." She went over to him and pulled his hand until they were out of the house. She softly closed the door behind them.

I waited until I heard them drive off before heading upstairs to apologize. I heard a crash and ran into his room. He looked at me, standing next to a giant hole in the wall above his bed. "What happened?"

He sat down, his breathing was shaky. He balled his fists up, and then he let them fall open. "He didn't even notice me. He claims he wants to be in my life. Then he disappeared for a few days, and then he shows up with some chick that says she's his daughter. My sister? And he didn't even look at me!" He looked up at me. There were tears in his eyes. He looked like he couldn't even breathe. "And you told her to stay away from me?"

Shit. "Scott, you're my best friend. I don't want to see you like this. I thought I was helping. I thought, I thought she was only going to get in the way of your life. Something's off about her." I sat down next to him, patting his back when we heard a cough from the doorway.

We both looked over at his mom. She was just standing there. Watching us. Her son, crying, and the boy she took in when he had nowhere else to go, trying to comfort him. "Your dad's back?" Scott and I nodded at the same time. She walked away without another word.

"What do you mean something's off about her?" Scott said annoyed. "You're turning into Stiles, dude."

"Stiles is usually right."

*PENELOPE'S POV*

"Wow, Pen, you're tail looks amazing!" My father beamed as I bobbed my head up for air. He had made good on his promise to show me a place for me to bask in my special ability. He was watching me swim around a quiet, yet deep pond. "When did it change?"

"Um, after you told me about Scott." I replied as I dashed away from him, splashing him with my tail as I hit the water. "I like it. It's quite nice. It's bigger, heavier, but it doesn't weigh me down!" I called out to him from about five feet away. I caught a heavy scent. It was musky and wild, but also sweet. "Dad, someone's here."

He got up from the dock and searched the immediate area as I dove deeper into the shallow water. I could faintly hear him calling out at someone, but I was too focused on staying invisible. Swimming a few feet deeper, I poked my head out of the water.

"I don't know what you think you saw, but there's nothing out here." I heard my dad lying to someone. I could his heartbeat beating rapidly.

"I saw someone here with you? Where'd they go?" An unfamiliar voice pleaded.

"Stiles, listen to me, there's no one else here. Why would there be? Where would they be hiding? In the water? Wouldn't they need air?" My dad tried his best to convince this Stiles character.

I hid behind a dock post, peaking out to see my father standing in front of the water with Isaac and two other boys. "Isaac?" I whispered to myself but he seemed to have heard me because he looked up and in my direction. One of the other boys looked, as well.

"Scott, go home. It's a little late for you to be in the woods." My dad's heart was beating faster than I could swim, which was faster than a dolphin or a shark.

"Did you hear that?" Isaac asked the other boy that was looking at me.

He nodded and ran towards the water, his dark brown eyes piercing my green eyes. He pushed off my dad and Isaac as they tried to grab him, and cannonballed into the water.

I was frozen. He saw me? They could hear me? How was that possible? I was catapulted out of my thoughts to the sensation of a claw tugging on my tail, pulling me underwater. I saw the boy. He had fangs, claws, hair on his cheeks. "Scott?"

He nodded, holding his breath, and pointed up. I swan over to him, wrapped his arm around my shoulder and swam him back to the surface. "What are you?" His voice sounded just like my father's. Suddenly, his fangs and hair retracted. He looked like he did on shore.

"What are you?"

"Werewolf."

"Mermaid."