Every faction conditions its members to think and act a certain way. And most people do it. For most people, it's not hard to learn, to find a pattern of thought that works and stay that way. But our minds move in a dozen different directions. We can't be confined to one way of thinking, and that terrifies our leaders. It means we can't be controlled.

You either hang on to your morals and die or do whatever it takes to survive.

That was what she was always told.

So why did it feel like she was losing herself?

Derek Hale was her protector - not that she needed one, anyway - but he had always been there for her. And then the Hale family fire happened and she saw Derek change. He became distant with her. Claire was 22 years old, a year younger than Derek, they were best friends, their mother's raised them together in the same neighborhood, until her mother died because of an alpha..

A pack of Alphas, to be exact.

Which is exactly why Claire was back in Beacon Hills - because she had tracked them here.

"You sure he's in Beacon Hills?"

"Positive." The dark haired girl replied into the phone as she got out of the Maserati. "Duncan said they were still here."

"I really hate that big mouthed geek."

The dark haired girl chuckled. "You're just upset that I didn't bring you with."

"That too. Just be careful - there's a lot of stuff going down in that freakshow town."

"Yes father."

"Claire."

"Relax, Feliz, I can take of myself."

"He better be worth it for me to allow my baby sister to go to a town that is riddled with supernatural freaks."

"First of all, I didn't ask for your permission and second, you're forgetting that we are some of those supernatural freaks."

There was a sigh on the other end of the phone. Claire laughed and snapped the cellphone shut, through it into the driver's seat through the open window. Night had fallen quickly, Claire noted as she glanced around the small town of Beacon Hills. She wondered where she should start her search for Derek Hale.

It really didn't take long to find the old Hale Manor. The fire had done it's part - kill the innocent people and take the life from the Manor, too. It was sad, her memories of the house that was once filled with joy and laughter was now covered with ash.

If we forget who we lost, then we forget who we once were, and if we forget who we once were, we lose sight of who we are now.

She remembered Laura, the elder Hale sibling, the one that was popular as all hell on earth. Laura didn't like Claire so much, always thought Claire was bad for Derek. She remembered what happened that night, six years ago. Claire had found out the plan about Kate and the fire, tried to stop her, but end up getting shot with wolfsbane and tortured to a point where she thought she might never live to see another day.

The leaves crunched just behind her and she could feel her heart hammer against her chest.

"Who are you?"

She turned around to see three boys.

Raising an eyebrow, Claire wondered who they could be. "Who are you?"

"We asked you first." The sandy brown haired boy said.

"I'm -"

"Claire?"

She looked up and peered behind the three boys, where the voice came from.

The past doesn't change no matter how much time you spend thinking about it. Good and bad all add up to the whole. Take away one piece, no matter how small, and the whole changes. Whether it's optimism, pessimism or fatalism, She didn't spend her time wishing for the past to be different so present would be different, too. She controlled her future with what she chose now.

You never really realize how thick your fog was until it lifed.

"Derek." Claire pushed her way through the boys and was very well aware of their eyes following her every move. She didn't care. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nearly hugged the life out of him.

Derek had hugged her back.

Her knees nearly buckled when he did.

"Where have you been?"

"I've been tracking a pack, tracked them all here, to Beacon Hills."

"An Alpha pack, by any chance?" the same sandy blonde that spoke earlier asked.

Claire nodded.

"Claire, this is Isaac, Scott and Stiles."

Author's Note: Well, what do you guys think? Should I continue this? Reviews would be awesome!