This chapter is mostly Laura-centric but don't worry, there's going to be lots of Sterek meshed in there and maybe the introduction of (for the case of this fic) loner Scott McCall… maybe, if I can fit it in there…

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

The next day Laura Hale awoke earlier than normal. Something was off. As she lay in her bed dreaming, her mind went to the woods, more specifically the Hale Manor, she heard growling and snarling and then eventually a howl that awoke her. The problem was that the howl sounded more real than something that she just thought off in her mind. Laura, at age twenty-seven, got dressed and ready at three o'clock in the morning, a time where the sun was still down and the moon was still the only natural form of light anywhere besides the stars. Laura made sure that she walked quietly out of the house, careful not to wake up her werewolf brother and hellhound friend. She made her way out of the house, locking the door behind her and began her trek to the woods. As the reigning alpha in the area she had to investigate anything weird that was happening, and hearing what sounded like a real, distant howl was something to be investigated.

She knew right away that it couldn't be a regular wolf's howl… there hadn't been wolves in California for quite some time and even if a wolf had wondered into the woods, she wouldn't have felt this off about it.

She also ruled out other hellhounds. The reason why? Hellhounds are extremely rare. Despite having large litters (typically with the minimum number of seven pups), most pups always seem to die before their first year. Whether it's due to being abandoned by the parents who deem their children unworthy to raise it or if it competition amongst siblings and other pups or simply just other, natural causes no one really knows. The idea alone that she and Derek found Stiles the night of the Hale fire was something to be amazed about.

So here was the alpha Laura Hale, making her way throughout the woods in what would be a three hour investigation of the woods and in those three hours she would find nothing… but that didn't make her feel any better, in fact it made her feel worse. Not finding something that would at the very least calm her nerves or give her an idea of what made the sound really put her more on edge. Regardless she had to return home before the boys woke up (Derek being her main concern for Stiles was always a late riser). She got into the home and was able to start on breakfast just as Derek was treading down the stairs.

"Morning Laura." Derek greeted in his usual rough manner as he helped himself to a cup of coffee that Laura had made.

"Good morning Derek." Laura sounded in her typical manner, not wanting to show any of her worries or suspicions of what she heard that night… at least not yet. "Stiles not up yet?"

"I'm sure he'll get to it eventually."

Laura nodded and focused back on her cooking. Moments of silenced passed before she spoke again. "I've been thinking… it's still summer and school starts next week… perhaps we should get some school supplies for Stiles and let him go to school."

Derek stopped sipping his coffee for a moment and glanced at his sister from over the rim of his mug. "You're kidding, right?"

"Well why not Derek? He may be a hellhound but he's also just a regular sixteen year old kid. Plus, he seemed really down yesterday about not having any friends…"

We're his friends… Derek wanted to say but the sentence died out before it could even reach his lips. As of late Derek had become more and more protective—no, far worse… possessive—over Stiles and his wellbeing. Raising that sentence now, to his sister of all people, would raise awareness to that fact and since it is his sister that he is talking about, she will pick up on that not really subliminal message and tease him for it.

Little did he know was that Laura already known of Derek's protectiveness over Stiles. It had been apparent when Derek first went back for Stiles the night of the fire. What's worse, Laura had already realized years ago that Derek probably felt more for the hellhound that he let on, or rather, than what he notices. Laura continued on with the current topic at hand. "Besides Derek, Stiles need to socialize, not just with us but with others. Socializing's always is a good thing if you want to get farther in life."

Derek scoffed softly. "I'm not social and I'm pretty far in life."

Laura rolled her eyes and laughed to herself. "You work outside of town doing construction work… at least I have an office job at a law firm in town that can help pay for that ridiculously expensive car of yours."

"You did say you would help pay for it for my twenty-third birthday."

"Yes but I didn't expect to still be paying for it two years later Derek. How much are you chipping in for that Camaro of yours anyway?" Derek remained silent and began to drink the remainder of his coffee in a slow manner. "Derek… answer me. How much are you paying for your own car?"

At that moment Stiles was dragging his form down the stairs, he stretching and yawning as he did so. "Good morning werewolves…" He greeted as he went to the fridge and pulled out the orange juice."

"Good morning." The Hale siblings chimed in together Derek additionally thinking… Saved by the Stiles.

The human 'bell' then sat before Derek after he put the orange juice back in the fridge after getting a glass. He took a sip of his juice sleepily, yawning again after his drink. "What's with the yawning Stiles?" Laura asked the hellhound.

"I don't know really…" Stiles replied, another yawn coming in at the second half of his reply. "I guess I didn't get a good sleep last night… had weird dreams."

Laura flinched but quickly brushed it aside as she finished breakfast. "I see. Well breakfast is done so help yourself." Laura then got herself a glass of coffee and began to sip it slowly while glancing out the kitchen window. While Derek and Stiles helped themselves to some breakfast Laura couldn't help but wonder if perhaps maybe Stiles heard something as well. And what about Derek? He wasn't acting like he heard anything… but maybe because he's a beta and his hearing isn't as refined… but then would Stiles hear the sounds too? He is a hellhound and perhaps his hearing is better than that of a regular wolf's but…

She sighed, for she felt a headache coming on. She rubbed her temple with her free hand as she took another sip of coffee. "Laura?" Stiles sounded as he looked at her, he holding a plate of food in his hands. "Did you want any breakfast at all this morning? You're not taking any."

"Nah I'm good for this morning. I've… got something on my mind."

Stiles smiled, more like grinned. "Boy troubles? Please tell me its boy troubles."

Laura laughed and shook her head. "Why would I want boy trouble when I already have you two bothering me as it is?"

Stiles hissed in false pain as he made his way back to the table. "That injured me… I think my heart is broken."

"Shut up." Derek said thickly, he glaring at Stiles.

"What? Brooding wolf…"

Laura smiled at them, knowing full well that Derek was getting jealous over a little bit of harmless play-flirting (that Stiles always does so it really shouldn't be a big deal). "So Stiles, what are you going to do today?"

"Probably the same as always. Stay in the house, read random lessons and do random work and chores and not go outside in my hellhound form in broad daylight… or any type of daylight for that matter." Laura chuckled, for she had no other response. "But actually… in all seriousness…" Stiles stated slowly, "I really do think I heard something last night… at first I thought I was dreaming it but now… something is off… isn't there?" With that Stiles glanced at Laura and their eyes met up.

So he did hear it too… Laura thought.

Derek looked at his sister and the hellhound. "Heard what?"

"Eh?" Stiles sounded, suddenly looking at the werewolf as if he grew a second head. "How could you not have heard it with your werewolf hearing? Hell, I have worse hearing than you do."

"Stiles, it could be because of your danger sensitivity." Laura stated but it sounded more as if she was thinking aloud than actually saying a statement. "Hellhounds do have a higher sensitivity to danger due to the fact that, like banshees, they are omen bringers."

"Hey…" Stiles sounded in an almost dejected tone. "I have not once brought upon an omen… good or bad."

"But you're still sensitive to it and you have given us warnings before. Like the time when we were younger and those humans surrounded the house thinking about forcibly bringing us into custody for suspicion of our own family's murder."

"Please Laura…" Stiles began, "any regular dog would have done that when they feel something off around the home. In fact they're called 'guard dogs' in the real world."

"Yes but you were only, at most, two months old at that time. Not even a puppy training to be a guard dog would sound the alarm as you did. You were going off at the windows and doors."

"Just call me Guard-Dog Stiles from now on I suppose…"

"But seriously Stiles… perhaps you heard it because you're warning us of another impeding danger."

Derek spoke up then after forking another bite of eggs into his mouth. "So I'm guessing you heard this sound last night too?"

"Of course. I'm the alpha. It's only normal that I hear something like that…" There was a long pause of silence before the alpha spoke up again. "I'm going to go investigate after work today so you guys are going to have to cook something yourself or order in or something. I'll get to the bottom of this. Don't you worry." With that she put her mug in the sink, washed it out and began to leave the house to go to work.

"Do you need any help?" Derek asked, turning in his seat to that he could see his sister.

"No it's fine. Watch over Stiles, make sure he doesn't get lonely… we'll talk about what we were discussing earlier when I come back."

"Fine, whatever."

Stiles watched with worried eyes after Laura. "Be careful…" He muttered.

The alpha turned back to face him and smiled gently. "I will. Thanks Stiles. I love you guys." With that the alpha left the house… little did the boys know that in that moment, that would be the final time they would see Laura Hale alive.

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

It was late at night when Laura was able to park her car at one of the reserve's parking lots and wander into the woods in search of the creator of those strange sounds. Work was really on her back today and with all the work they piled on her, she couldn't leave until an hour after she was supposed to leave… that really cut into her search time. She didn't want to stay out too late and worry the boys but at the same time she wanted to give herself enough time to do a thorough search of everything and anything she may find. She made sure to text both Derek and Stiles to tell them that she got off of work later and would be going home later than originally planned.

Not that she really worried about those two.

She worried, that was a fact. She was their sister and friend; of course she worries about them. But as long as they're together then she knows their find. Derek won't let anything bad happen to Stiles and Stiles will make sure Derek isn't always lonely. Regardless they'll watch over each other so even if something were to happen to her; she'd be okay just knowing that they're together.

Of course she would rather not have anything happen to her too. She would love to be there on the day when those two finally get it through their equally thick heads that they love each other. She smiled and giggled faintly as that thought crossed her mind. That would be a sight indeed. She could just see it now… those two professing their love, blushing madly (yes, even her brother Derek, the brooding beta) and realizing that they should have done that (professed) eons ago. And as one could probably tell, Laura is very supportive of her brother's and the hellhound's relationship; for it to both continue and strengthen. And wouldn't it be something to also attend a marriage between the two (like that would happen due to Derek's stubbornness, Stiles' awkwardness and this day and age still not accepting gay marriage). That would be so amazing.

Laura stopped in her tracks and shook her head. Focus, girl. Focus. There was work to be done, she couldn't be here thinking about her family back home. Huh… family… The alpha thought blissfully to herself. Even though it was just the three of them… they really do have—

Grrr…

Laura tensed and immediately went after the direction of the sound. I have you this time… you're not disappearing again. Laura thought with determination as she ran through the woods, relying on her alpha speed and agility to get to her destination as quickly as possible. She eventually came into a clearing where there was a man standing, hunched over, the moonlight shining in through the trees. Laura panted as she watched on silently, her nose trying to pick up a scent form the man before her. When she did her eyes widened. "… Uncle Peter?" She sounded, unsure of herself. She began to walk forward into the clearing towards him, she glancing around to make sure no one else was around… or maybe it was because she wanted to make sure she was still awake and not dreaming. She thought all of her family had died in the fire… if so then why was…? "Uncle Peter… how are you—"

Peter turned at the waist and looked at her, his eyes shining brightly in anger, his claws extending, his fangs protruding… he was in the middle of a shift. He snarled at her and launched himself at her.

Laura first felt his claws grab her… how stupid could she be? She let her guard down just because he is family…

Next she felt the claws dig into her torso… there was no way she could react fast enough. She may be an alpha but she was not only caught off guard but she was just a female, and females, even alphas, are weaker than the males… why did she let her guard down?

Next was the sensation of her being torn in two… this was something she never would wish onto anyone. It was horrible… it was painful… tears stung her eyes but it wasn't due to the pain… no, it was something far worse.

Derek's and Stiles' faces flashed in her mind at the last moment, just as she was being finally ripped apart, like a flimsy piece of paper…

As her tears hit the floor she thought her last, and final thought…

I'm so sorry…

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

Stiles awoke with a jolt.

He had fallen asleep in his room after getting a text from Laura that she got out of work later and would thus be getting home later. After sending his reply he felt some fatigue (from being bored in the house) and decided to take a nap.

He looked around his room, his eyes being ruby red. Something happened. Something happened. His heart was racing; he couldn't sit still on his bed. He stood and began to pace the room. Something happened. He began to whimper to himself, he felt like a dog with his ears flat against his head and his tail tucked tightly between its legs. His whimpering didn't—couldn't stop. He ran his hands over his face and with frustration sat down heavily onto his bed.

Something happened… but what? What could cause him to react like this? Whimpering solemnly he reached for his phone and texted Laura with feverish speed and worry.

Laura… something's off. Are you okay?

Stiles put the phone on the bed and stared at it. When it didn't buzz after five minutes he stood with an agonized whimper and began to pace. He eventually reached for his phone and sent another text.

Laura… please respond. PLEASE! Are you okay?

Stiles felt like he was going to go into cardiac arrest any moment. He threw down his phone on the bed again and just stood, staring at it with one foot tapping on the floor in nervous impatience. At that moment the hellhound heard the front door open. Stiles didn't hesitate and rushed out of his room and down the stairs faster than he's ever gone down the stairs in his life. Running into the living room he skidded to a stop and his heart dropped.

Derek was a mess. Something had definitely happened. "Derek!" Stiles nearly hollered. "I texted Laura and she didn't reply back."

"Same here." Derek replied, his voice actually sounding weak. As Stiles reached him he noticed that they were both shaking.

"What happened? All I got was this sudden…" Stiles couldn't even describe it. It felt as if the world tipped over to one side all at once and everything got shifted.

"I know." Stiles felt like crying. He began to whimper again and rub his arms in nervousness. He was making his way out of the living room and into the kitchen, Derek following close behind him. "Stiles, stop." Derek nearly commanded, he talking about the whimpering. Stiles only whimpered in response. He couldn't stop. He felt as if his heart won't stop racing, his stomach won't stop turning… his pacing definitely won't stop. "Stiles! Stop!" Derek yelled as he reached out to the teen. Stiles whimpered loudly in retaliation but was then pulled quickly into the werewolf's arms in a tight hug. "Shut up." Derek sounded gruffly. "You're making me more nervous… just shut up. And stop that damn pacing."

The hellhound was panting heavily but he felt calmer in Derek's arms. He was gasping for air, his hands grasping onto the werewolf's shoulders and his head resting on his chest. "Sorry… I don't think I can… some-something else is happening…"

Derek blinked and thought back to what Laura said that morning about hellhounds having a higher sensitivity to danger. "What, Stiles? What else is happening?"

"I… I don't know!" Stiles blinked away hot tears, his red eyes wavering with the bundle of nerves that were shaking through the hellhound's body. The more this went on the more Stiles was not able to breathe… it was like he suddenly became as asthmatic and couldn't breathe.

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

"Ah, this bites." Scott McCall said as he stomped through the woods. "Damn it man, why the hell did I come into the woods by myself anyway?" Oh, yeah, that's right. 'Cause I have no friends.

Scott McCall had always been asthmatic and kind of awkward, those two combination making him unable to make any decent friends. The other kids at school called him the Lone Loser Scott McCall. And sadly he was used to the insult since he had been hearing it for years. But it wasn't his fault that he couldn't really do any cool things at school, this including sports, all because of his asthma. He tried hard to make friends but the sad truth was that when you don't do anything cool you just automatically make no friends and Scott McCall never does anything cool. Just this whole summer he stayed indoors the whole time playing video games and 'training'himself to get ready for lacrosse tryout (though he seriously doubt he'll make the team with his Goddamn asthma).

So now here he is, trying to get some sort of a cool summer story by wandering in the woods by himself without any permission from his mother (oh, he's a cool kid) in the middle of the night. Of course his only source of light was the moon and his phone, not that it really offered any real light, but he wasn't using it now anyways. He was just trudging through the woods, trying to find anything cool, or interesting. Scott then realized that his one of his shoes became untied and be bent down to tie it. The next thing he knew was that he felt the earth shaking underneath his feet. Looking up he noticed a stampede of deer rushing towards him.

"Ah!" The teen yelled as he tried to move out of the way. Of course he was too slow and got hit by a dear instead, his inhaler flying out of his jacket pocket and landing somewhere in the woods. "Oh, no! My mom's going to kill me." Scott groaned to himself when he realized the inhaler was lost after the deer herd stampeded away. This is when his phone came in. Using the light from the screen, Scott began to scan the floor for his inhaler, being unaware of anything else that the light didn't show for it was in fact really dark.

He searched for a while, his light eventually crossing over a woman's face. Scott did a double take and moved the light back, realizing that it was a dead woman's face that he just uncovered. Scanning the light over the body he realized that it was a dead woman's face that belonged to half a body of a woman. He screamed in shock and stumbled backwards and down a small ravine. He tumbled down the sides of the ravine and landed on his side. He groaned in pain and tried to stand while also trying to get over the shock of discovering a dead body.

Suddenly he heard a noise and when he looked over to the location of the sound he saw a pair of red eyes glaring at him. Scott froze in his place, realizing that the red glaring eyes were moving towards him and it belonged to a ridiculously large animal. Scott knew that he should have done something other than just standing there but the double—no triple—shock of not only being run over by a herd of deer and discovering a dead woman's body but now he was having a face off with a wild animal, Scott couldn't move at all. Instead the animal launched forward and Scott screamed, he soon feeling the pressure of the animal's teeth on his side.

Screaming again, Scott abandoned the thought of his inhaler and tried to escape form the animal, eventually stumbling out onto a road and almost into an oncoming car. Luckily the car maneuvered around him and continued on, but Scott stood there in the middle of the road, his side bleeding from this animal's bite, his body being bathed in the moonlight from above.

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

Derek placed a mug of hot tea before the teen hellhound who had finally just calmed down enough to sit at the table long enough for tea to be prepared. Stiles muttered an exhausted 'thank you' and then suddenly chugged the tea down in one gulp. Derek watched the hellhound with concerned eyes. Faintly he remembered when Stiles first chugged down an extremely hot beverage… both he and Laura were afraid that the young hellhound (Stiles was one years old in normal years but around three in human years) had burned his throat but he was completely fine and was in fact asking for another glass (Derek thinks it was hot chocolate). "How are you?" Derek asked awkwardly. He had held the hellhound while he was crying, gasping and shaking in his arms. Derek actually had to pick Stiles up in his arms bridal style and carry them to the couch so that they'd both be comfortable… but Derek hadn't done something like that with Stiles since he turned four in normal years (ten human years).

"I feel like crap." Stiles answered honestly. "What the fuck was that?" The hellhound glanced up at the werewolf, his eyes also back to Stiles' natural human eye color, brown.

"It was… an omen."

"I got that." Stiles chuckled to himself. "That… that was horrible. I… where's Laura?"

"I don't know." Derek replied and with that he tried to call her again. The phone rung and rung but eventually it went to voicemail… again. "She didn't pick up."

"Oh, God, Derek. What if something happened to her? What if… what if she's hurt—or worse? Derek she could be—"

"Shut up!" Derek interrupted roughly. Stiles began to pant heavily, kind of hurt at Derek's roughness, though he has always been a bit on the rough side, this was not the time for that. "She'll be fine."

How can you be so sure? Stiles wanted to ask. You felt it too…

With that Derek sat down heavily in the seat beside Stiles. "She'll be fine." Derek repeated again as if he hoped that saying it again would make it come true. But both of them knew that something did happen and if the alpha didn't come back by morning… then Laura Hale would definitely not be fine.

*The Hellhound of Beacon Hills*

End of chapter 2! As always please review! And look! I was able to fit Scott in there perfectly. *smiles* so review dammnit! *grins*