Chapter Two

Stiles and the new boy walked through the forest trying to catch her scent, constantly sniffing as he wondered aimlessly until he happened to stumble on it by chance. He held up his hand to get Issac's attention "Smell that?"

"What?" Issac bounced in his spot as he tried his hardest to sniff out what 'that' was

Stiles groaned "That dog like smell. There are two distinct scents like it. Try to focus on them"

Issac closed his eyes and concentrated "Y-yeah, I got them. Which one do we follow?"

Stiles sighed, this boy couldn't even smell the difference between genders "You notice that sweet scent, kind of like strawberries"

"Y-yeah" Issac kept his eyes closed as he concentrated on the smell "what is that?" it smelled a little like Stiles was describing but not quite. It was also heavily mixed with the scent of wet dog making it sickening sweet yet somehow that made it all the more desirable to his own body.

"That's female pheromones. Those are the ones we need to follow. Try to keep track of them at all times and see where they go. It's not as reliable as tracking the uniqueness of her scent but she is the only Female werewolf in these woods... hopefully"

"What about the other scent?" Issac asked before getting his own out "We should tell Derek about it. It might be the guy he's looking for"

"I'm sure Derek has already found it. His sense of smell is much better then ours and he likes to boast about what a great tracker he is"

"Still" Issac pressed Derek's name on his phone and presented it against his ear "It's ringing" he told Stiles who rolled his eyes.

"You find her?" Derek immediately asked

"No but we found her scent" Issac informed

"Good for you. You want a gold star?" Derek's voice dripped with sarcasm

Issac blushed as he suddenly felt insanely stupid "We also found the other werewolf's scent"

"... where?"

"I... I don't really know where we are but both of there scents are all over the place"

"The new guy is probably tracking her. Probably hopes she's part of our pack"

Issac nodded before remembering Derek couldn't see him. He just felt so bloody ackward around Derek. Although he joined the pack to get free of his dad he was still worried Derek might turn out to be exactly like him.

"Alright I need you to mark your scent in the area, otherwise I'll have to backtrack and follow your scent from where we started"

Issac blinked "How?"

"... I need you to cut your hand and smear some blood on a tree"

Issac's widened

"The strong scent will be easier to detect from a distance so I should be able to find it quickly"

"D-do I have to?" Issac tried not to let his voice come out a whine.

"It will heal almost instantly remember? Besides it's either that or pee on the tree"

"I think I'd prefer the second one" Issac blushed

Derek loudly groaned "Fine but get a little ways away from the area first otherwise your scent will mask their's"

"Right" Issac, still red faced, hang up the phone.

"I'm not doing it" Stiles had his own blush

"Huh?"

Stiles rolled his eyes "I'm NOT 'marking' this place"

Issac blinked "How'd you know-"

"Jeez, We're Werewolves remember?" Stiles glared "We have super hearing! Don't you know ANYTHING!"

"Hey give me a break!" Issac glared right back "I was just turned last night!"

"Right right, just go find a tree to pee on" Stiles insisted

Issac blushed crimson before storming off into the woods. He handled his business before coming back and jumped when Stiles suddenly through something at him. It was a small bottle of hand sanitizer.

"I usually use that for cleaning blood off my hands" Stiles rolled his eyes as he started following the girl's scent "Really glamorous, the life of a Werewolf, right?" he sniped

Issac cleaned his hands as he followed after "So... you weren't given a choice about turning?"

Stile sighed "No Scott and I were being stupid and going on an 'adventure'. You heard about that dead body they found near the beginning of the school year? The first one? A woman got tore in half in the woods. Since my dad is the sheriff I heard him talking about it over the phone. I decided to get Scott and hunt down the body in the woods as if we were in a Stephan King novel. We got attacked by the guy who killed her, a werewolf. The bites we received were fully healed by the next day and slowly we figured out what it was that attacked us and what we were. Later we found out the girl was an Alpha and she was killed so the one who bite us could become an Alpha... the girl was Derek's older sister. He came down here to avenge her... turns out the guy who killed her was their uncle who had then gone on a murdering spree... years ago their used to be a large werewolf pack in town but they were murdered by hunters, not just the adults but children were trapped in their house and burned alive. This guy survived the fire and went 50 shades of crazy. After years of being catatonic the second he woke up he started killing everyone even slightly responsible. Scott and I helped Derek stop the guy and Derek killed him for murdering his sister. That was how Derek became an Alpha" Stiles didn't really think as orderly as most people so that Abstract explanation probably confused the boy a bit. Still hopefully he got the point "Bet Derek left all that out"

"Y-yeah" Issac admitted

"Of course he did" Stiles scoffed "He wasn't about to tell you what the life of a werewolf is really like. All that, it's NORMAL for us now. You better get used to it because you literally just ruined your life with one stupid decision... and as Derek pointed out you get to live like this for eternity. Brilliant isn't it? What an amazing gift"

"It can't be all bad" Issac insisted "I mean you and Scott never even got to play on the lacrosse team before. You were professional bench warmers and now look at you. You're one of the star players and Scott is TEAM CAPTAIN!"

"Co-Captain" Stiles informed "Scott is a bit touchy about that actually"

"My point is someone who used to be a severe asthmatic is a captain of a sports team and one of the best athletes in school. Came on, how can that be such a bad thing"

"The werewolf hunters saw us play, figured out what we are, and tried to kill us" Stiles informed. Noticing Issac stopped walking Stiles stopped to and looked him straight in the eye "Everything good thing Lychanthropy gives you is tainted. It will all come back to bite you. Keep in mind it's only been a couple months since Scott and I were turned and all that shit I just told you about happened in that short time. Oh and let's not forget that Derek just told me that I'm not allowed to go to college because he doesn't want to separate the pack..." Issac's eyes widened in shock "Okay that's not exactly what he said. He said if I wanted to go I would have to go to the one in town. I don't know about you but I wanted to get out of this place at some point. I wanted to DO something with my life. Being good at lacrosse means nothing because Derek won't allow us to take any college scholarships for it and if you had any dreams about doing it professionally you can kiss that goodbye to"

"Maybe I just wanted to play for fun" Issac shrugged "... I know you don't know much about me but I can guarantee you. Whatever bad that might come with this is nothing compared to what my life used to be. At least we have each other right?"

Stiles rolled his eyes "You think we're friends now just Derek ordered it?" then paled when he saw the shattered look the boy was giving him "Sorry man, that was harsh. Scott and me haven't had the best experience with Derek or any other Werewolves... we probably should keep an eye on each other. It can be dangerous out here"

"Isn't that why we have Derek?"

Stiles sighed "I'm sorry but whatever it is you were hoping to gain from Derek and this pack he's building you're not likely to find. I know Derek. Whatever he's got planned for us... it isn't good" seeing the boy sink further in his misery Stiles walked up to him and put his hand on the guy's shoulder "Which is why it's all the more important we look out for each other. Derek might not have your back but Scott and I do"

###

Scott looked up at the night sky. They had been searching all day and the moon was now in full bloom "Aren't you worried that Issac kid might flip out?" he asked Derek, who was walking a little ahead of him.

"I gave him a sedative before we went out" Derek assured "I don't expect Lydia to put up much of a fight for them so he should be fine. Stiles should be able to talk her down... he's pretty good at that given how he handles you. He'll be useful for recruiting others when he's older"

"I thought you hated Stiles"

"He's certainly more annoying then most pups and often speaks without thinking but he's a good addition to the pack. Might not be all that strong but packs need brains to survive just as much as brawn. You'd make a good defender when your older as you seem to have developed a greater strength then most pups"

"Could you quit calling me 'pup'" Scott glared

"... no"

Scott scoffed and remained quite for a moment as they walked through the forest but then remembered he had a question "Why am I so much stronger then Stiles? I mean we were turned at the same time so shouldn't we be at equal strength?"

"It's because you were severely asthmatic and physically very weak so the Lychanthropy Venom had to work extra hard to correct your biology. This increased your strength and speed more then usual as the Venom fixed your lungs and searched much harder for other biological imperfections. This also meant that since the physical changes were more dramatic it was more likely to kill you. In truth the best person to turn is someone near death already as the Venom will make them extremely powerful as it fixes them and since they are about to die anyway it isn't as tragic if they do die on you as you're already prepared for it" Derek repeated one of his mother's lessons to his sister. Derek had been in the room but he wasn't really the person being taught the Alpha stuff. His sister had been a natural born Alpha. It was rare but it did happen occasionally. It sadly meant that when she was older she would have to leave the pack to start her own. Their mother was planning on giving her Derek and most of the children when they all grew up. Although mom had wanted her to stay in town so both packs could look out for one another but she said it was ultimately the new Alpha's decision where the young pack would go.

Derek sighed "It's also good to turn someone with some kind of serious disability. It might be riskier then someone healthy but if they survive they will end up much stronger and most people in that condition are willing to take the risk if it means they can walk again or be free of seizures or asthma attacks or even genetic mental diseases like schizophrenia... most of these people will also be extremely loyal to the person who turned them as they often view their new Alpha as their savior... Peter was probably expecting you to act like that but the idiot didn't realize in order for something like that to work you need to offer the person a choice before turning them. Otherwise you're just the monster that attacked them... sometimes forced turnings work if the Alpha is as clever as he is a bastard. You need to completely cut the beta off from all ties and make them believe your their only option... Peter tried to do that with you but he was too impatient and you were far too stubborn. If he was smart he would approached you in the woods as a wolf then turned into a human in front of you before offering you superpowers. You would undoubtedly freak out at first but then he could have just followed you around for a while, protect you from bullies well explaining the perks of being fuzzy. Peter had a wicked silver tongue and could convince people to do anything... if he'd stuck with his strengths he could have gotten you to submit to him the same night he turned you... you probably wouldn't hate yourself so much if he had given you a choice"

"I don't hate myself" Scott insisted

Derek gave a disbelieving snort "I can hear your heart beat Scott. You're lying, albeit mostly to yourself. Being a werewolf doesn't have to be as bad as you and Stiles seem to think. Yes there are some draw backs but it has it's rewards to, just like everything in life... and your going to have a very long, very exciting, and very meaningful life. Most humans don't get to say that... Although I suppose I should be grateful Peter was in such a hurry to build a pack. If he had turned you properly you'd no doubt be in his pack by choice and I would have had to kill you to get to him... Peter never would have accepted an honorable challenge for his throne and would have used his betas as Canon fodder to weaken me before going for the kill himself... bastard didn't understand just what the point of an Alpha was"

"And what's that?" Scott rolled his eyes but then found Derek's locked on his.

"An Alpha is supposed to protect his pack at all cost, even if it means giving his life for them. Peter wanted an army, not a pack, it's like he never heard a thing my mother ever said to him in the 2000 years they knew each other"

"T-two THOUSAND years!?"

Derek smiled "We're immortal Scott. My mother was around to see the fall of Rome and Peter was right there beside her. He was only a few years younger them her. Not much of a difference after so long but somehow he always remained her little brother... I suppose it makes sense he went insane after she was gone"

"... you miss him? After everything he did? Even after you KILLED him!?"

"He was my uncle... I remember him helping me get in and out of all kinds of mischief. The man that turned you... he wasn't the man who helped raise me. Something in him snapped after losing our entire pack. The man I knew wouldn't hurt a fly let alone his own niece... even after I found out it was him I still had trouble accepting it. I was even willing to join him for a bit as I struggled to come to terms with the monster he had become. I killed him because I had to. Even after everything he did I would have let him go if he had just stopped. Wouldn't you do the same for your family"

Scott was staring at Derek like he'd never seen him before.

Derek's ears twitched as he heard something. He quickly grabbed Scott, covering his mouth as he hid them behind a tree.

A man suddenly came running towards them but he tripped on a wire which yanked him into the air by his feet. Suddenly humans approached him. They were dressed in black and carrying hunting gear. An old man wore a sadistic smile as he got next to the captured man.

###

Lydia felt her skin burning. She hesitantly put a hand to her lips and felt the blood trickling down her chin. She looked down at the rabbit and didn't know how to feel. She killed it. She sank her teeth into it's fur covered flesh and snapped it's neck... she fucking ATE it... and it tasted so good. Somehow the raw meat of a fresh kill tasted better then anything she had ever eaten. She was laying on the ground, her body had changed. It was now covered in fur of it's own. She had claws, fangs, her legs even had an extra bend going the wrong way. She looked like some red wolf that walked on two legs. At least she still had thumbs. Strangely now that she had eaten her mind was so much clearer yet her head still pounded well her blood boiled. It felt... so... good...

"Lydia?" She looked up as Stiles walked over to her, a boy she recognized from school right beside him but she never taught his name... she never cared.

"Lydia?" Stiles repeated slowly inching over but it wasn't fear of her she saw. He was scared he might spook her. Here she was a literal monster but Stiles still looked at her with those same longing eyes. He crouched down next to her and calmly took off his coat before putting it over her shoulders, covering her nakedness "... nothing is going to be okay"

She was shocked by his bluntness.

"What Peter did to you can't be undone. You will have to live with this curse for the rest of your life... but you will live. I know how strong you are"

She snorted

"It's true" Stiles insisted "You are one of the strongest people I know. You might like to pretend you're stupid but I've seen how brilliant you are. The person you show to the world isn't the real you. You're so much more, and that person, the person I know you really are... is stronger then this. Listen to your heart"

She raised an eyebrow

"I mean it literally, listen to it, center yourself"

She tried

"Just listen to it. The fast wild pulses, now try to get them to slow. Take deep calming breaths, sloooowly"

As he spoke and walked her through it she felt her bones snap again, although it was far more painless then the first time. The fur on her body completely retracted into her skin, leaving her body smoother then it had ever been. Her long red hair still flood from her head.

She opened her eyes and down at her once again human hands.

"It's a brave new world Lydia" Stiles informed "Let me show it to you" he held out her hand and she took it without reservation.

As he helped her stand she asked "What... what am I?"

"We" Stiles stressed the 'We' "are Werewolves"