PROLOGUE

Beep. Beep. Beep. Waking up felt like being buried alive in reverse, gradually a suffocating weight was being lifted off of me. Beep. Beep. Beep. I moved my fingers, curling them into a loose fist and then relaxing them again at my side. Beep. Beep. Beep. My throat seemed dry so I swallowed heavily and slowly coaxed my eyelids open to stare at the white ceiling. Beep. Beep. Beep. I'd had just about enough of that sound, it was worse than an alarm clock. I turned, searching for the source, it was one of the machines I was hooked up to. Beep. Beep. Beep. I reached over, surprising myself with the sudden movement, and unplugged the infernal device. The room descended into merciful silence.

I eased myself up and slowly swung one leg over the edge of the bed and then the other. I still felt somewhat heavy, as though my body had been filled with sand. Every movement seemed to be met with a sort of resistance, like wading through deep water. It was dark outside, night, and thunder sounded in the distance. I glanced toward the closed door but there didn't seem to be any activity out in the hallway. I slid off the bed, my bare feet meeting the cold linoleum floor. I stood there for a moment, half expecting my body to fail, but it didn't. There was a bag on the table under the window that looked promising so I moved toward it. My steps were hesitant at first, I had to test and make sure that I wasn't going to topple over.

I was starting to feel a little more stable by the time I reached the table. I glanced back at the door again before unzipping it. I found some of my clothes there, a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and some sneakers. I reached back and untied the hospital gown, I let it fall to the floor and kicked it aside quickly. I was pushing through my remaining sluggishness with a new urgency. Eventually someone would come in, and I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see their faces, I didn't want to answer their questions or endure their exams. I didn't even really care how long I had been here. The thought of being bombarded by people was far more terrifying, I wasn't ready to pretend to be okay. I wasn't even sure if I could anymore.

I pulled on the jeans and paused at the new scar on my abdomen, the wound had healed. That meant I had likely been here a while. I pulled the t-shirt over my head and looked up, catching my reflection in the window. I looked pale, but I was always pretty pale, mostly I just looked tired. I smoothed down my dark hair, it had grown down to touch my shoulders. I sat back down to tug the sneakers onto my feet and held my breath when I heard someone passing in the hall. As soon as the footsteps faded I was at the door. I listened for a long moment before I was satisfied that the hallway was vacant before I opened the door. The hinges on the door seemed to whine in protest and I winced at the sound. Still no one came, so I stepped out into the hall and hurried for the elevator.

...

CHAPTER ONE

I leaned against the kitchen counter, my cell phone to my ear, waiting for the kettle to boil. I was only half listening as Selena went on about something to do with her ex, I propped the phone to my ear with my shoulder and tore open the packet. I dangled the tea bag into the empty mug, and made a sound of agreement into the phone so Selena wouldn't think I had fallen asleep or hung up. I liked Selena, she was probably the only real friend I had, it was just hard to pretend to be interested in her drama. Though it was really nice to have someone that I could share my secrets with. Secrets I couldn't even tell the people I lived with.

"So, have you heard from Declan?" Selena asked, seeming to be done with her rant.

I sighed, "No, but it's only been a couple of weeks. I'm giving him space."

"Well, I mean you did break up with him," Selena noted thoughtfully, "I guess that's fair. I still don't know why. He's insanely hot."

"I just want to be his friend, that's all," I noted lamely, there was a time when I had been completely enamored with him. However, it had been apparent for a while now that I didn't care about him as strongly as I should. It was better this way.

"Sure, whatever. The main thing is that he's your main contact to the coven, unless you decide to join up yourself." Selena noted, "I'm too young to be able to go to meetings and stuff like he could. So unfortunately I can't stand in."

"I know, and you know I won't join," I twisted the string around my finger absently. The Blanchett witches had never joined covens, we would work with them, but always remained independent. Selena wasn't finished with school yet so she wasn't allowed to join, but they would happily make an exception for me. They had even tried to make a play for me when my mom died six years ago. It was Selena's grandmother that had put her foot down. Eva was known for her Sight, and a well respected elder of the coven. They had tried to claim that she was my godmother and that I should be raised by her. She had insisted that I needed to live with family.

Eva was against me joining the coven, she always told me that there was a reason the Blanchett witches always stayed out. My mother had always trusted her, and I did too. Though I had been keeping a secret from her, from everyone. I had not told anyone about meeting Laura Hale. Talia Hale had been good friends with my mother, and I had met the Hales once or twice in the past. I had run into Laura while out for a run a few weeks ago, and somehow we had recognized each other despite all the time that had passed. We had talked some, and toward the end she had gotten cryptic. She had taken my number and said she wanted to call me in a few days. I hadn't heard from her since. A feeling of dread had hung around me ever since I hadn't gotten her call the next day. Something was wrong, but I couldn't bring myself to ask for help. I didn't know what it all meant yet.

The kettle started to whistle, "I'll see you tomorrow at school," I told Selena, "We can talk more then."

"Okay, good night."

I hung up the phone and turned off the burner, pouring the water into two mugs and plopping a tea bag into each. I turned and stepped into the dining room where my uncle was at the table, looking over some files for work.

"Here, this might help you focus, Sheriff." I smiled and set a mug down by his hand, I only ever called him Sheriff, he pretended not to like it but I knew that he secretly did. Sheriff Stilinski was my uncle by marriage, and he had handled raising two motherless children very well. I did always try to make it easy on him by getting good grades and staying out of trouble. He had enough on his plate with Stiles to worry about.

"Thanks Elise," He looked up and smiled at me and I saw a familiar flicker in his eye. It appeared occasionally when he looked at Stiles or myself and recognized our mothers there. Claudia Stilinski and Madeline Blanchett had only been half sisters, but they had shared a resemblance. I was told often that I looked like my mother, in fact, that was the first thing Laura Hale had said to me.

Upstairs there was a loud thump, as though something heavy had been dropped on the floor. We both angled our eyes towards the ceiling, Sheriff shrugged his shoulders dismissively and turned back to his files. Stiles was clumsy, so to hear banging around upstairs wasn't unusual. The kid was a walking disaster, like a car accident that is horrible but you just can't seem to look away. I sipped on my tea as I went upstairs and I paused at the doorway of Stiles' room.

"What are you doing, loser?" I asked as I entered the room.

He looked up from his computer and pretended to be offended, "Nothing! Getting ready for lacrosse tryouts tomorrow."

"Are you planning to finally get off the bench?" I asked and settled on the edge of his bed, kicking a pair of gym shorts to the side, "Because I'm running out bench related cheers."

"We'll see, I have a theory." He spun around swiftly in his computer chair, "Scott is the problem. He's keeping me in my low social status."

"What's the solution? You can't ditch him, you two definitely have a co-dependence problem." I laughed.

Stiles laughed and shrugged, "Not sure yet. I'm working on it. So, you'll be at practice tomorrow?"

"Have I ever missed a practice?" I rolled my eyes and took another drink from my mug.

He nodded and then was suddenly serious, "What about next year?"

I was a senior this year, which meant that things would change next year, "I won't make it to the practices, but I'll be at all the games. We'll see plenty of each other."

He seemed satisfied, "So you're going to the college around here then?"

"Yeah," I smirked, "Someone has to hang around to keep you two losers out of trouble."

"I am only a loser by association!"

"Yeah, it has nothing to do with your poor hand eye coordination and overuse of sarcasm," I noted sarcastically and stood from the bed, "Get some sleep, one of you better get off the bench tomorrow or I'm going to kick both of your asses."

"You wouldn't dare, you love us." Stiles waved the threat off and turned back to his computer.

I nodded, "Can't imagine why, though." I teased as I went out and into my own room. I set my tea down on the desk and started to get my bag together for school in the morning. When I was satisfied I had everything I sat in the chair by the window to continue the book I had been working on. I heard the phone ring downstairs at one point, but Sheriff picked it up after only ring so I didn't bother to get up. A few minutes later I had footsteps approaching my door and Sheriff was there, he had changed into his uniform and strapped on his gun and badge.

"Elise I have to go in, hopefully it won't be too late."

I nodded, "Okay, be careful."

He nodded and then started back down the hall, I heard him stop at Stiles' room to tell him the same thing before he went downstairs. He had pulled out of the driveway shortly after. About five minutes passed before Stiles was suddenly in my room, so excited he could hardly keep both feet on the ground. I looked at him and I gave a long suffering sigh before sitting my book aside.

"Please tell me you didn't listen to that call."

"That would be a lie," Stiles smiled smugly, "They are calling in everyone. All the guns, all the manpower, all the dogs. Guess why."

I raised an eyebrow, "Just tell me."

"They found a body!" Stiles said triumphantly, "Well, some joggers did, in the woods. They know it was a woman probably in her late twenties. Maybe murdered!"

When Stiles got really excited about something he reminded me of a small poodle, that kind that shake when they get overstimulated, "That's awful."

This seemed to reign him in a bit, "Yeah, it's awful, but I haven't even told you the good part yet."

I crossed my arms impatiently, "What's the good part, Stiles?"

"They didn't find the whole body, they only found half."

I eyed him, "You're not going out."

"What?! Come on Elise! We have a chance to find a body."

"Half of a body."

"Whatever, this town is so boring, come on. We need some excitement." He argued.

I shook my head, "You need to get some sleep before school tomorrow."

He threw his arms up in silent argument before storming down the hall. I bit my lip, a woman in her late twenties. The feeling of dread I'd had ever since not hearing from Laura suddenly intensified. I moved over to my desk and unlocked the top drawer, pulling my mother's old spell book out. Blanchett witches didn't use spells very often, but we could if we needed to. I had already looked through the book over a hundred times, I knew there was little in there that could help me, but I needed to look again.

I thought back to meeting Laura, I had instinctively liked her. She offered a connection to my mom. Laura had told me she wanted to be friends, and I had felt the same. Somehow meeting her seemed right, being her ally and friend seemed right. I hadn't needed to know her more then a few minutes to understand that we were connected somehow. When she hadn't contacted me I had gone looking for her, I went to the Hale house and kept my eyes peeled while on my runs. She never made contact. The thread of the connection I had felt seemed empty now. Now there was a body of a young woman in the woods, I had an idea of who it could be.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a crappy jeep starting downstairs, "Dammit, Stiles!"

I slammed the spell book closed irritably, and thought about going after him. No, that would be pointless. I wanted to go out myself and find answers, but tonight was too risky, there would be too many people out. I would have to try and find a way to identify the body some other time. I just hoped Stiles didn't do anything too thoughtless.

...

"I got caught," Stiles told me over my cereal the next morning.

"You mean to say that one clumsy teenager was spotted by one of the many police officers and search dogs in the area?" I replied drily, "I'm all astonishment."

He swallowed his bite of cereal and then stuck his tongue out at me. I eyed him, fairly certain he hadn't been out there alone. I was sure he had at least attempted to enlist Scott in his shenanigans, the fact that the asthmatic one hadn't been found out as well was pretty impressive. I didn't push it though, I had bigger things on my mind. The other half of the body hadn't been found, and from the way the Sheriff had talked about a positive identification was unlikely without the other half.

The entire drive to school I was debating whether or not to tell Selena, perhaps her grandmother had seen something. I finally decided against it, I still wasn't entirely sure that it was Laura. If it wasn't and Laura was still out there somewhere then she probably didn't want me to tell anyone that she was in town. I had the sense that she was trying to keep her presence here a secret, for reasons she hadn't told me in our first meeting. Besides, if Eva had seen something she probably would have also seen that I was somewhat involved and she would have made contact by now. So when I met Selena in the parking lot I didn't bring it up.

"So I heard they found a body in the woods last night," Selena said as we walked to our lockers, "Did you find out anything from your uncle?"

"Not really, I know it was a young woman," I started to work on my combination lock, "They don't know who yet."

"Was she, you know, murdered?" Selena leaned against her locker and looked at me, eager for the gossip.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Why are you so curious?"

"Because something like this hasn't really happened in Beacon Hills in like..." She stopped herself and quickly turned to open her locker.

"Six years?" I finished for her.

"Yeah," Selena sighed and started sorting through her books, "Your'e right, let's talk about something else."

I nodded in agreement, "Are you going to come to the practice with me after school?"

She crinkled her nose and swept her dark hair off of her shoulder, "Sorry, it's way too boring. I know you go because you love Scott and Stiles, but they don't even play." She inspected the dark purple manicure as if simply talking about lacrosse was boring.

"Well, I'm still going," I replied and caught my reflection in the magnetic mirror I had stuck on the door of my locker.

The very first thing Laura had said was that I looked like my mother, she was right of course. I had the same brown eyes and hair, the same nose, the same mouth, the same everything. Nobody knew who my father was, and there were certainly no clues to be found by looking at me. The only real difference was that my mom had kept her hair long while I kept mine cut above my shoulders and angled. I tucked it behind my ears and closed the locker door, feeling tired.

"I'll see you after class." I told Selena and went to go to my first period, weaving my way through the busy halls.

I couldn't focus on anything else all day, I doodled in the margins of my notebooks during classes. I had to go out and fine answers after the school, I could do my own search of the woods. I went running most days so it wouldn't seem unusual. I was so eager to get out there and search that I almost regretted telling Stiles that I would be the lacrosse practice after school, but then again I would feel bad if I skipped it. I found them in the hall after my last class, standing by the lockers.

"Hey guys," I greeted and followed Scott's gaze to a girl I didn't recognize who was talking to Lydia and Jackson, "Who's that?"

"Her name is Allison Argent, she's new," Stiles answered for a seemingly distracted Scott.

Argent. The name sounded familiar, I filed it in the back of my mind hoping that it would come to me later. "So, have you guys heard about the party this Friday?"

Scott finally glanced up, "Yeah, do you think you'll go?"

I shrugged, "Maybe, but you know I'm not much for parties."

Stiles nodded, "I might go, do some networking... you know."

"By 'networking' do you mean, stare at Lydia like a pathetic puppy?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Exactly."

I laughed, "You boys get to the locker room, one of you is getting off the bench this year. So focus."

I found a spot on the bleachers and settled down, there were others who came to watch practices. Lydia and Allison Argent were there, Lydia having already claimed the new girl as a friend. I shook my head absently and leaned back, I don't know if I would have the patience to be Lydia's friend. It sounded like an exhausting task, it wasn't that I didn't like her. I had a feeling I would like her very much if she would actually be herself. Then again she had also been ignoring Stiles for forever, and I couldn't as easily forgive a slight against him. He may only be my cousin, but he was the closest thing to a brother I was likely to ever have.

I took out my notebook and started doodling in it absently, I was hoping that maybe a this would prompt a vision of some sort. Psychic drawing, just letting your hand move of it's own accord and then you end up with a drawing or message that could offer some hint to something you seek. I glanced up quickly when I saw that Scott was being sent onto the field to play goalie.

I smiled and dropped my pencil onto my lap so that I could cup my hands around my mouth, "McCall!" I cheered and clapped.

At the other end of the bleachers I felt Allison looking at me now, but I just focused on the field. I was still trying to figure out her last name, Argent, I knew it was something important. It felt like something I had heard my mother say, which made me wonder if the Argents had any ties to the coven. That could be promising, to have another acquaintance I could discuss the supernatural with. I could never bring myself to tell Stiles, he would get way too excited. Besides, telling Stiles would mean telling Scott too, and I wasn't up for that.

I had to close my notebook and sit it aside when Scott took the first ball right into his face mask and I grimaced sympathetically. When he caught the next one I was both shocked and extremely pleased. I figured it might not happen again so I stood up and cheered loudly, hoping to keep his confidence up. It turned out I shouldn't have worried, because it just kept happening. I had seen Scott practice here on the field and one on one with Stiles. He had never been that good. I should have been thrilled watching him out there, but there was suddenly a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach. I had seen Stiles and Scott practicing not that long ago, Scott hadn't been anywhere near this level of skill. To his credit he seemed just as surprised by his own performance. I found myself doodling distractedly in the notebook, just drawing huge chains of loops. When practice ended I started to gather my things and opened my notebook to where I had been doodling. I had somehow drawn a wolf. I stared at the drawing for a moment before closing it quickly and shoving it into my bag.

Normally I would have gone straight home and gone about the rest of my day independent from the boys, but today I waited in the parking lot. They came out together and started straight for Stiles' Jeep. I went to meet up with them in front of it.

"Hey! Scott, you were amazing out there, you might get some playing time this season if you keep that up!" I beamed and held up my hand for a high five, which he happily met.

"Thanks, Elise. I guess all that cheering you've done for us on the bench finally paid off."

"If he keeps that up he's going to make first line for sure, and leave me all along on the bench," Stiles nodded, "The look on Jackson's face when he caught that ball... priceless."

"Careful though, Jackson is a tool, but he's an insecure tool. He'll lash out if you threaten his legacy as the best," I noted absently, "So where are you guys going?"

They both suddenly looked uncomfortable and exchanged a look, "We were going to go on a hike."

"A hike?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Stiles responded simply.

Scott was the one that cracked, "I lost my inhaler last night in the woods. We need to find it, those things are pricey."

I rolled my eyes, "Come on, let's take my car. I'll help you look."

They seemed to hesitate but I motioned them on and they both fell in line behind me, "So I guess you weren't alone in the woods last night after all?"

Stiles shrugged innocently, "I didn't want Scott to get into trouble."

"Fair, since I'm sure you basically dragged him out there," I laughed, "You boys shouldn't have done that though."

The conversation quickly went back to lacrosse for the drive out, and continued when we parked and started out through the forest the way they said they had gone the night before. Scott was clearly excited about his success on the field, and I was able to at least appear to be excited for him as well. Yet, the pit in my stomach informed me that things weren't all what they seemed. The conversation was still on the practice when my phone rang. It was Selena, so I moved to walk a little apart from the boys to talk to her.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, glancing sideways to where Scott and Stiles were rambling on ahead of me.

"So did you hear about the new girl? Allison Argent?" Selena asked quickly, her tone was urgent and a little anxious.

I stepped over the decaying trunk of a fallen tree, "Yes, I saw her, that name sounds familiar."

"Well, it should. The Argents are hunters, werewolf hunters." She replied seriously, "Which is weird because why would they be here? There haven't been werewolves here since the Hales, and they are long gone now."

"That is strange," I chewed on my lip, "I think I remember my mom talking about an Argent."

"That's not all though, grandma says she's been feeling something coming. Something big and bad," Selena sighed, "She wanted me to tell you to be on your guard. She thinks that some of the remaining Hales are coming back. She says that if that's true then they will be involved in something dangerous."

"Why would I need to be warned then?" I heard Stiles saying something about 'lycanthropy' and I jerked my head up to look at them, they appeared to be joking.

"Because, she says that the Hales and Blanchetts have always been bound together in some way. Like destiny or something keeps bringing your families together, for better or for worse."

I had heard that before, Laura had said something like that to me when we met. It had been toward the end of our time together, when she had become more serious cryptic. She had said that Talia had told her that my mom always said our families had entwined destinies. I cast a glance around the trees quickly with a sudden feeling that we weren't entirely alone in the woods today, "Thanks for the call Selena, I'll see you at school."

I hung up and went to join the boys, I needed to find out what had happened to Laura. I had to figure out whey she was here in the first place. She said she was looking for answers, but about what? I had a sudden certainty that Stiles and Scott knew something more about the body then they were letting on.

"Okay guys, so you're both acting weird. As in, weirder than usual," They both looked at me, "What's going on?"

Stiles caved this time, "Scott found the other half of the body last night."

"Yeah, after I dropped my inhaler." Scott confirmed.

I sighed impatiently, "When you find a dead body, or part of a dead body, you need to tell someone."

"Well, I told Stiles."

"Yeah, and we're telling you now." Stiles chimed in helpfully.

"Someone with a badge! Someone like your dad, you know, the Sheriff." I rolled my eyes impatiently.

"We didn't want Scott to get in trouble for being out here last night, that's why we're out here again today. We'll find his inhaler and the body and then call it in, it's all good." Stiles noted defensively, "It's a fool proof plan."

"Yeah, you're a couple of geniuses," I shook my head but moved to continue into the trees, if it was Laura this was the fastest way I would find out, "Let's get this over with then."

They both seemed very relieved as we continued on a short ways then Scott stopped suddenly, looking puzzled, "That's weird, I thought it was right here. The deer came running, I dropped my inhaler and..." He was kneeling down at the base of a tree, picking through the leaves.

"Maybe the killer moved the body," Stiles replied nonchalantly.

"If he did I hope he left my inhaler, those things are like eighty bucks."

I was only been half listening, as soon as I had gotten within a few steps of the tree I had felt my blood turn cold, as though ice water had been injected into my veins. I shivered and knew that I was in the presence of death. Whatever answers there were in these woods I was getting close to them. I wandered a few steps from the boys as they chatted and then there she was. Laura Hale stood in front of me, she met my gaze. Her eyes were the same as before, but there no life in them now. I kept her gaze, hoping she would speak. Then she just started walking directly at me, I expected her to stop but she continued, passing through me as if I weren't even there. I gasped and stumbled back half a step and even though the warmth suddenly returned to my body I still trembled slightly. I spun around abruptly to see where she had gone, though I doubted she was still there. So, while the boys were still oblivious somewhere behind me I was the first person to notice the stranger.

He was dressed all in black and seemed to be only a few years older than us, maybe 23 or 24 years old. I had the same sense of recognition I'd had with Laura, like I knew him. She had talked about her younger brother Derek, he seemed a likely candidate. He was extremely handsome and had those intense eyes. Except his were more closed off then Laura's had been, guarded. I tried to reconcile the person in front of me with the blurry image of a teenager I had conjured up of him from my limited memories. He was staring at me, his expression gave a small spark of recognition. His eyes dropped down to my hands, I hadn't realized that I had balled them into fists so tight that my nails had pierced the skin of my palms. I raised my palms to look at them, feeling for a moment as if they didn't belong to me. When I finally felt the sting of the cuts it helped pull me back into the present. I wiped my palms on my scarf, as if that would do any good and then looked back up at Derek Hale. At this point Stiles noticed him standing there as well and quickly, though not very subtly, got Scott's attention.

Derek Hale moved to close some of the distance between himself and our little group, "What are you doing here?" Nobody responded, "Huh? This is private property?"

Both of the boys looked at me as if I were supposed to pull a decent excuse out of thin air. Granted, normally I would probably be the most competent of the group but I was still shaken, and my eyes had started to scan the trees for Laura again. When it became clear I wasn't going to be of any help Stiles unsuccessfully tried to come up with something, "Uh, sorry. We didn't know."

"We're just, looking for something, but..." Scott trailed off under Derek's piercing gaze, "Forget it."

Derek turned to me now and I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jacket self consciously, and raised my chin defiantly against my earlier weakness, "You know, there are some pretty convincing essays on the existence of Sasquatch. Most of them are armchair anthropologists of sorts, we're more the hands on type." I quipped and I heard Stiles chortle slightly before a glare from Derek silenced him.

He raised an eyebrow and then pulled an inhaler out of his pocket and tossed it to Scott without a word and turned to walk back the way he had come. Well, he was certainly less friendly than Laura, but then again he was probably here looking for her. If it had been Laura's body it would make sense that he would have moved it if he had found it. Laura had talked like she hadn't let Derek in on what she was doing here either, so I was willing to bet he had almost as many questions as I did. Either way his presence seemed to confirm that something big was happening. It also seemed to confirm what I feared, that it was Laura who had been killed. It seemed almost certain, seeing Laura wasn't necessarily an indication. She could have simply been the form my vision took because I was preoccupied with her whereabouts. Though, that didn't seem as likely.

I looked after Derek Hale, I wanted to catch up to him. I wanted to demand answers, but that wasn't an option with Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb present. So I shook off the urge and turned my focus back to them and did my best to continue acting normally. I didn't need these two getting tipped off that I might know something of interest.

"Alright, come on, I gotta get to work," Scott mumbled.

Stiles stopped him suddenly, "Dude! That was Derek Hale, you remember him right? He was only a few years older than us?"

"Remember what?"

"His family! They all burned to death in a fire like ten years ago."

"Six," I corrected automatically and they both turned to look at me, "Remember? They died the same day as my mom."

Stiles deflated a little bit, "Oh, right."

"I wonder what he's doing back," Scott said in an attempt to steer the conversation away from death.

Stiles just shook his head and shrugged to indicate that question was entirely lost on him, "Come on."

I nodded, "Let's go, before the Blair witch comes and puts one of you in a corner."

Stiles glared at me, "Why would you even say that? You know that movie gave me nightmares!"

I laughed and started back toward the car, "Oh I know."

"I didn't sleep for weeks!"

"Want me to dig our old night light out when we get home?" I asked, glancing over my shoulder to where Derek Hale had disappeared into the trees, if I had my directions right he had been heading toward the remains of the Hale house.

I dropped them both back off at the school where Scott could get his bike and Stiles could get his Jeep. I watched them both leave the parking lot while I sat there, lost in thought. I strummed on my steering wheel in frustration before finally deciding, it was time to talk to Eva. Fifteen minutes later I was parked in front of her house and hesitated a few moments longer before I got out. Selena's car wasn't here, and that was a relief. Eva opened the door before I even had a chance to knock.

"Good evening Elise, come in," She greeted kindly and followed her into the kitchen and sat down at a table, politely declining any food or drink.

"Selena delivered your message to me," I told her, she was stirring some sort of soup in a pot on a stove and she nodded calmly at this so I continued, "I knew that the Hales were back. Well, I knew Laura was back. I ran into her a couple of weeks ago, she was supposed to get in touch with the me next day but she never did."

"Do you think that she is the poor woman whose body they found?" Eva asked and rested the spoon precariously on the edge of the pot. She rubbed the knuckles of her left hand, arthritis bothered her sometimes. Even often joked that her joints were becoming a better Seer then she had ever been.

I shrugged, "I'm not sure."

"What do you feel?" She asked her dark eyes sparkled, framed in laugh lines. Apparently this was a teaching moment.

I bit my lip, "I feel like it is her, but I can't know for sure."

Eva nodded, grim again, "In this matter I am also unsure, though if I were to venture a guess I would say that Laura Hale has passed from this world."

"Derek Hale is in town, I saw him today."

"Yes, I sensed that he was coming," She picked up the spoon and resumed stirring again, "He is not the dangerous one. There is another, a dark thing. Powerful and filled with rage."

"You mean another werewolf?"

"I believe so."

"Then it's probably an alpha now, if it killed Laura," I noted grimly, that was problematic.

"Yes, this new alpha has a cold, dark heart. Like any villain it can justify the slaughter that it would commit, and it is motivated by something. Yet it will not stop when it should, killing will always come too easy to it." Eva looked at me, "White witches must always try to save people, but innocent lives have already been taken by this creature. I can assure you that it is beyond saving."

I nodded, "You're saying that I might have to kill it."

"Yes, if you are the one to face it. For which I am very sorry." She sighed and balanced the spoon on the edge of the pot, she rubbed her hands together, "As for Derek, he can still be saved. I see two paths set before him, which one he will choose I cannot say. One path will make him your ally, and lead him away from darkness. While the other will make him your enemy, and he will be lost in the shadow of the alpha. What impression did you get from him?"

"Nothing, it all happened too quickly, but I know he recognized me." I sighed, feeling tired.

She nodded, "He is lost, a tormented soul. Damaged by grief, guilt, and bad decisions. I will have to tell the coven what I have seen, they already know something is amiss." Eva went to take my hand, "You must get an impression of him. They will want to know if you think he is a risk to innocent lives. I will buy you time to form your own opinion on the subject."

"Thank you Eva." I said, though I didn't really feel much better.

...

Scott and his newfound athleticism made first line on the team after an incredible display of abilities on the field. Despite everything else that was going on I couldn't turn a blind eye to the changes going on with him. I hadn't seen him use his inhaler once since before he and Stiles had gone out looking for the body that night. I had a feeling that there was something else the boys weren't telling me. Stiles was acting ten times more squirrelly then usual. I tried to dance around the theory that Scott had been bitten by the new alpha. Just like with Laura, that conclusion made a lot of sense, but I didn't want it to be true. Especially since he was going to the party with the daughter of a family of werewolf hunters, on a full moon. I told myself that there would be any other number of reasons why he was suddenly doing so well on the field. Perhaps he just hadn't needed to use his inhaler in front of me, that was plausible.

On the day of the party I waited for Stiles to leave and then I went into his room, this was something I would never have dreamed of doing before. Then again he had always told me everything in the past, even things he didn't want his dad to find out about. I really only wanted to look at one thing, his browsing history. If something was really going on with Scott then Stiles would be the person most likely to notice. I knew Stiles well enough that if he suspected something he would have researched it, he could be shockingly thorough when it came to something that sparked his interest. I sat down at his desk and opened his computer, it wasn't locked, which somehow made me feel worse. I pulled up his search history and felt my heart drop into my stomach. He had been researching werewolves, he had been researching them a lot.

I exited it out and closed the computer quickly, I needed to get to that party. If Scott really was a werewolf and he started to turn there... I didn't want to think about what that would mean. I paused on my way out, something about the back of the computer chair catching my eye so I knelt down to inspect it. There were slashes in the back of the fabric, clean parallel slashes. I held up my fingers and found that my finger lined up with them very conveniently, as if they had been made by something with claws. Scott had been leaving here earlier when I had gotten back from my run and he had seemed agitated. I sighed and hurried out, so much for my plans of keeping them out of the realm of the supernatural. Stiles just had to go try and find that body.

Stiles was easy enough to spot once I got to the party, I took a drink so that I didn't seem out of place and then looked for Scott. There was no sign of him or his date yet. I didn't mingle but moved around the edges of the party watching and waiting. I made my way outside and wove through the people to keep to the shadows. At some point Scott did arrive, so far he still appeared to very much human. It was nice to see him having a good time, that eased my stress a little bit. I couldn't actually think of when either of the boys had gone on a date, and I felt pang of guilt for not being more excited for him. Maybe Stiles and I both just had an active imagination about this and he was actually the same Scott he had always been. The slashes in the chair, could have been Stiles messing around. I moved around a group of people and bumped into someone in the shadow of the pool house. My untouched drink sloshed out of the plastic cup and onto my hand.

"Sorry," I apologized absently and looked up to find Derek Hale standing in front of me. He hadn't even seemed to notice me until I spoke, he had been staring intently across the pool at something.

I followed the angle that his gaze had been, and found myself staring at Scott, who was dancing with his date. Why would Derek be watching Scott? Perhaps he wasn't, maybe he was watching Allison. She was an Argent after all, but I didn't think she knew anything about her family legacy. I wasn't getting the impression of Derek that he would be out hunting the daughter of a werewolf hunter. He probably wanted to keep his presence here a secret from them for as long as possible. So he had been staring at Scott, which mean that Scott was the reason he was at this party. There could really be only one explanation for that.

My thought process must have played out on my face because when I looked back at him he was watching me carefully. As if he couldn't decide if I was dangerous or not. I looked up at the sky, it was slightly overcast and I couldn't see the full moon yet. I knew it was there, I could feel it. Just like anything from the supernatural world witches draw power from the moon. Full moons gave my power a boost, it was actually somewhat distracting. All night I would feel the hum of magic in my veins, I could feel it building now. A beam of silver moonlight cut through the shadow and touched the exposed skin on my forearm. I felt the light tingling against my skin. If I was beginning to feel the affects then Scott would be too, and it would be quite different for him. I looked at Derek again and then across to where Scott had been. He was gone and Allison was standing there looking puzzled, she paused for a moment before starting into the house.

"Damn!" I sighed and set my drink down before starting out of the party quickly. When I remembered to glance back for Derek he was gone, but that wasn't important. Derek could control himself under the moon's gaze. My priority was Scott. I left the back yard through a gate in the back and hurried around the house that way. By the time I got there Scott and his mom's car were nowhere to be found. I hurried to get into my own car, hunters would be out on the full moon. Even if Scott went home he would definitely end up outside again where he could get killed.

I drove quickly home and hurried up to my room to change, I didn't have time to make any spells to put him to sleep or trap him. I would have to make do with what magic I could muster. Under the full moon that probably wouldn't be a problem, though it would definitely be frustrating. I just had to find him and keep him away from people, hopefully I could knock him back to his senses. Scott was a smart kid, with help he could definitely fight through his instincts.

I changed into all dark clothes and my sneakers before I went back out, I knew that tonight what Sight I had would be heightened. So rather than go to Scott's house I let my instincts be my guide. I parked at the entrance to some trails leading into the forest and got out. I pulled the hood of my jacket up and hurried into the trees. When a feeling of urgency overtook me I started to run. I was no werewolf but I had always been a good runner, I ran a ways and slowed to a stop to get my bearings again. That's when a flash of light to my left caught my attention. I moved to press myself against a tree quickly and gaze in that direction. All of my senses were heightened by the moon and I could make out three men moving through the forest.

One raised a crossbow and fired at something in the distance and a werewolf cried out as an arrow pierced his arm and pinned it to the tree behind him. It was definitely Scott, I could feel it even though he was unrecognizable. There was no denying that he had been bitten, Scott was a werewolf. Which was just the cherry on top of the super dangerous supernatural mystery ice cream sundae I was being served. I pushed that thought aside and focused on getting him out of this situation. Magic flared to life like fire in my veins as I called for it, and at my beckoning the wind suddenly whipped up. The trees creaked as they swayed under its influence and leaves were thrown up in the faces of the hunters as it blew. It was a bit stronger than I should have made it, it was hardly subtle, but I would rather be safe than sorry when saving Scott's life.

As the hunters raised their hands to shield their eyes from debris being blown at them a dark figure shot out of the shadows and tossed one of the hunters aside then vanished again. While the Hunter with the crossbow was looking around for his companion the dark thing tossed the other against a tree. The third drew his gun but Derek had already plucked the arrow from Scott's arm and they were running. I let the wind die and nodded, the pain had shocked Scott back to his senses. I could feel that the danger had passed. I knew I wouldn't be able to catch up with the werewolves anyway so I turned and quickly moved back toward my car. I didn't particularly want to get spotted by the Hunter either, though white witches and werewolf hunters did not have an inherent hostility toward one another. I would rather not deal with that tonight.