Chapter 2

Scott McCall frowned at the girl lying on the hospital bed. His eyebrows felt like they had been permanently pulled together since walking into the room. Everyone who had been involved with the mysterious girl were furrowing their brows and wondering who the hell she was, just like him. Her long, fair hair was spread out over the pillow like a golden halo, making her face seem pale and pinched. She looked exhausted.

"They found her car across the road from the station. Looks like she swerved off the road," Sheriff Stilinski informed Scott and his mother, Melissa.

"That's probably how she sustained her head injury. It's only minor, though, so she should be up to questions fairly soon," Melissa added, catching the worried look that passed across the Sheriff's face. She glanced at Scott with hesitation in her eyes. She needed to tell him something, but not with the Sheriff there to listen.

"I've tried to find a connection between this girl and Derek Hale but so far we've come up empty. She isn't on the records and her car is still to be searched for some sort of ID. It's almost like she doesn't exist," The Sheriff explained, tiredly rubbing his face with a hand. This girl had him running up the walls with frustration. Where had she come from?

Melissa looked at her son again and then turned to the Sheriff.

"I'll let you know when she wakes up. It shouldn't be too long."

Sheriff Stilinski nodded at the nurse and then stepped outside, closing the door behind him. Melissa grabbed her son's arm and gave him a meaningful look.

"What does she want with Derek?" Scott asked. Melissa shook her head.

"That's why I called you. I think there's something you need to see."

She walked over to the girl and carefully lifted up her shirt, revealing three impressive scars. Scott looked up at his mother with widened eyes.

"It looks like…."

"I know."

Scott studied the scars closely. Claw marks, he realised.

"Either she got attacked by a large dog or…."

"She was attacked by a werewolf."

A sudden intake of breath alerted them that the girl was finally awake. She stared at the strangers leaning over her, alarmed. "What are you doing?" Kara meant for it to sound demanding but her voice was hoarse and weak. Melissa quickly dropped her shirt down and handed Kara the cup of water that sat on the table next to her. She took the much-needed drink of water and attempted to sit up.

"I'm Melissa McCall and this is my son, Scott. You're at Beacon Hills Hospital," She told Kara, glancing over at Scott. Kara's eyes moved over to find Scott standing at the edge of her bed, gazing at her intently. She felt afraid all of a sudden, small and intimidated lying in the hospital bed without a clue how she got there. Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

A strong wave of unknown power emanated from the girl and washed over Scott, the force of it sending him reeling backward. He regained his balance and stared at the girl.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know how that happened," Kara apologised profusely, wringing her hands with nervousness. The unexpected memory of her mother pushing back against the werewolf when it attacked engulfed her. She hadn't used her hands but yet managed to send the werewolf flying. What if that was what just happened now?

Slightly taken aback, Melissa glanced at her son to make sure he was okay, then turned to the blonde haired girl. "Can you tell me your name sweetheart?"

Kara hesitated. She didn't know these people and she had learnt to be wary of her surroundings. Especially if they were unfamiliar, which this place definitely was.

Kara saw something in the nurse's eyes then that made her want to spill everything that had ever happened to her. Was it concern in her eyes? Or maybe just a longing for the answer? Kara guessed it was both. She was a good judge of character, especially when it came to reading emotions. Years of deciphering whether or not her mother was about to lash out her by looking at her eyes had taught Kara to always be on high alert, ready for anything.

But the kindness in Melissa's voice told her that these people could be trusted.

"It's Kara," She cleared her throat purposefully. "Kara Grayson."

By this point, Scott was bursting with million different questions, but he decided that this one was the most important.

"Why are you looking for Derek Hale?" he asked. Kara inhaled sharply.

"How do you know I'm looking for him?" she fired back, sounding a little stronger than when she first spoke. It dawned on her then, what she had said at the police station. Stupid, stupid thing to do. Her main goal was to stay under the radar while she took care of some business and not attract any attention to herself.

"I need his help," Kara said simply.

"With what?"

Kara didn't reply. What was she supposed to say? See, I know about Derek's little wolf problem and since I have one of my own I was hoping we could work something out. Yeah, not happening.

Scott wracked his brain for a way to get her to talk. It was clear that Kara wouldn't spill her secrets anytime soon, at least not without a sign. A sign. Scott would be taking a huge risk here but he got the strong feeling that she knew about the supernatural. Kara had an aura about her that he could sense. It was powerful and intense, like something otherworldly.

With the risks in mind, Scott lowered his head and felt his eyes shift from brown to a brilliant yellow. He then looked up to face Kara, waiting for her reaction. She stared at him for a while, struggling to keep her face neutral while she organised her thoughts.

When Kara first made the decision to seek out Derek Hale she didn't think about any other werewolves that resided in Beacon Hills. Of course, she thought. Since Derek is an alpha he would have his pack.

Kara had good intentions, but Derek didn't know that. If things got out of hand Kara knew she could take down one werewolf, but a whole pack of them?

If it came to that then she didn't stand a chance.

"You're one of them," she said flatly. Scott raised his eyebrows.

"So you know?"

Kara scoffed quietly. Obviously.

"Is that why you need Derek's help?" Scott asked. Kara opened her mouth to reply with something vague but voices outside of the room drew her attention to the officer standing in the hallway.

"Crap," she muttered. "Please tell me he isn't here for me."

Scott and Melissa shared a look.

"The Sheriff just wants to ask you a few questions. They found your car on the side of the road," Melissa said quickly, seeing the fight or flight instinct in the blonde's eyes.

Kara turned her focus to Scott. If she was going to get Derek's help, she needed someone with connections and influence on her side before she faced the pack. Someone like Scott.

Stepping outside of the hospital was like walking straight into the path of a tornado. Great gusts of wind ripped through the air, making Kara feel unsteady on her feet. She was still a little shaky from the minor accident last night, even though the cut on her head had been stitched up while she was asleep and any belief of a concussion had been squashed by a quick scan.

Kara wrapped the cardigan Melissa gave her tighter around her body and followed Scott through the parking lot.

"Where exactly are we going?" she huffed, struggling to keep up with Scott's long strides. With some help from Scott's mum they had managed to give Sheriff Stilinski the slip so that Kara could explain to him why she needed to see Derek.

"We are going to talk to Derek. And the pack," Scott added. Kara's eyes widened. She wasn't ready. She hadn't figured out what to say yet or how to convince them. Convince them that she was on their side.

It had been different with Scott. He had listened intently to her story and it had been so easy to talk to him. Kara could tell he had a kind soul that went to great lengths to protect people, even strangers. That was why it hadn't been difficult to talk.

"What?" Kara spluttered. Scott turned to look at her, frowning.

"I thought this was why you came to Beacon Hills."

Kara bit her lip and came to a standstill, crossing her arms.

"I guess I just thought I would have more time to figure things out," she sighed. The last few weeks had been a blur of grief and highways. Despite having plenty of time to think while she was on the road, Kara's thoughts were still scattered. She supposed losing everything, including a parent, in one night did that to a person.

Scott handed her a helmet, gesturing to his bike. He noticed how the drawn look on Kara's face made her seem ten years older than the cautious girl lying on the hospital bed.

"How old are you?" Scott blurted out, taking Kara by surprise.

"Twenty."

Scott hadn't given much thought to her age, but twenty surprised him. She seemed closer to Derek's age. Maybe it was just the guarded expression or the observant eyes.

"How old are you?" Kara asked, her curiosity winning over.

"I'm seventeen."

Kara raised her eyebrows.

"That is pretty…"

"Young?" Scott finished for her, swinging a leg over his bike. Three weeks ago Kara would have refused to get on a motorcycle for fear of injuring herself, but present day Kara didn't give the bike a second glance before jumping on and pulling down her helmet visor.

The building was quite tall, with a good amount of levels to accompany the many flights of stairs. Kara thought that it had an industrial feel to it and closely followed Scott up the stairs, heading towards to the top of the building. That feeling was only reinforced at the sight of a large, faded sliding door. Kara looked at Scott, who gave her a reassuring smile before opening the door to reveal the faces of the protectors of Beacon Hills.

Kara stepped into the room cautiously, reminding herself to stand tall and remain confident. Or at least give the impression of confidence, since her nerves were a tangled mess inside of her stomach. They won't trust me if I'm too nervous to talk.

She breathed in deeply and exhaled out her anxiety, leaving only confidence and a sense of peace. If this didn't work, Kara would figure something out. She always did.

A few of the people standing in front of her looked moderately friendly, but Kara could see the questioning look in all of their eyes. Some more than others. One person, in particular, caught her eye.

A dark-haired man stood rigidly in the centre of the room, arms crossed. As if his body language wasn't enough to tell Kara she wasn't welcome, he turned and whispered something into the ear of another man, who raised his eyebrows in response. Kara knew it was perfectly reasonable for them to feel wary of her. Here was this complete stranger, who they knew nothing about, coming into their town and demanding to see the alpha. This stranger could very well be their enemy, so all Kara had to do know was convince them otherwise. It should be easy, considering her intentions were good and honest.

Easier said than done.

"Guys, this is Kara," Scott introduced her to each person gathered in the loft, leaving the unwelcoming man for last.

"So you're Derek Hale," Kara stated, folding her own arms. Two can play at that game, she thought triumphantly.

"I heard you wanted to talk to me?" Derek questioned. He didn't like this girl. Something about the situation felt wrong and out of place. They didn't know anything about Kara other than her name and Derek would be damned if he let this stranger walk into this town and screw everything up.

Kara eyed his twitching jaw with consideration. It made her feel defensive, the way Derek was questioning her. But if she came off as defensive, it would seem as though she had something to hide.

Kara did have things to hide, but now was not the time to reveal all.

"I need your help," she started, preparing to launch into her explanation.

"Twelve years ago my mother and I were attacked by a werewolf. She was bitten, but she didn't turn."

Great, Derek thought with an internal eye roll. She's here for revenge against the alpha that killed her mother.

"So she died?" Derek asked with a hard look.

Kara inhaled sharply and Scott shot Derek a glare at his insensitivity. Kara nodded.

"Three weeks ago,"

"Wait a minute," Peter Hale held up a hand, a disbelieving look on his face. "You're telling me she was bitten twelve years ago and she only passed away last month?"

Kara could only nod her head since her throat had closed up with emotion. God, this was harder to talk about than she had realised, since the only person available for her to talk to was herself. And even though she felt like a fumbling mess most of the time, she liked to think that she hadn't quite reached that level of instability yet.

"My mother never really turned. The full moon affected her differently to how it was supposed to. I never saw any claws or fangs and only her eyes changed," she explained, throat constricting when she remembered how Ella's eyes had turned from green to an iridescent blue.

Derek and Peter shared a knowing look.

"Did the bite heal?" Peter asked. Kara nodded and watched Peter grimace.

"What?" she demanded. "What is it?"

"We know someone who healed from an, ah, alpha's claws without turning," he said vaguely. Stiles' eye twitched, realising that Peter was talking about Lydia.

"Don't forget to tell her who that alpha was," Stiles accused. Peter narrowed his eyes at the pale boy, who flinched.

"We all make mistakes."

Derek looked at Kara and watched her expression change to one of confusion.

"Tell us what happened to your mother," he instructed, voice slightly less hostile. He tried not to feel any sympathy for her. People died all the time. He had no reason to care about this stranger's past—at least not yet.

Kara explained how she would have to lock up her mother in the basement, but that it was just a precaution, since Ella spent most of the full moon shrieking in agony and not, well, becoming an actual werewolf.

"She would go completely berserk," Kara said, lost in the memory of her mother.

That was one of the things that still troubled Kara. Her mother's screams echoed in her head every time she thought about her.

The pain made her weak, Kara told them. Not to mention extremely ill. Within a few years, Ella had to quit her job because she was so fragile, leaving Asher to support the family. Kara paused when she mentioned her brother's name. She could not speak about what he had done, his betrayal. It was almost more painful than Ella's death.

Maybe that was because Asher's act of betrayal was the second of the four terrible events in Kara's life.

She gave more details on her mother's condition, like how she was always in pain on the full moon.

"There was something keeping her from fully shifting. I think that why it was so painful for her," Kara said, gauging their reactions.

Derek uncrossed his arms and ran a hand through short hair, trying to make sense of what Kara had just relayed to them.

"That doesn't make any sense," Stiles spoke up. "I thought that if you get bitten you either die straight away or turn. What kept her from fully shifting?"

"That's what I came here to find out."

"I had to work on the night of the last full moon," Kara sighed, preparing herself for what she was about to say. The suppressed memories that were about to surface.

"My shift ended later than I thought it would. Too late to lock her up in the basement. When I got home my mother had—" Kara's voice broke.

Hyper-aware of the many pairs of eyes on her, she silently picked up the pieces of her shattered resolve and taped them back together. Hands shaking, Kara continued with a distant, logical voice. She had practiced controlling her voice in the many hours spent driving in the car. She had forced herself to relive her past until it became someone else's, until she could speak without her voice letting it become flooded with grief. Without letting it betray her.

"She tore herself apart. It was the first time her claws had appeared and I guess the pain was too much for her to bear."

Saddened eyes gazed pityingly at the girl with a disastrous past. Hapless as she was, Kara had become determined to not let the catastrophes in her life pave the way for an unfortunate time in Beacon Hills. Kara would be damned if she walked out of this town empty handed.

"I need to find the alpha that bit my mother. I have a strong feeling that whoever they are, they know why my mother didn't turn," Kara finished. She stayed silent for a while, letting everyone absorb the information.

She heard Isaac mutter a "holy crap" and turned to Scott, but it was Derek who asked the question on everyone's mind.

"How do we fit into this?"

Kara bit her lip, dreading the reaction to her next statement.

"I was hoping you could help me track down the alpha."

Derek raised his eyebrows and looked at Scott. He tried to assess the younger wolf's thoughts, hoping that he would share the notion that agreeing to help this girl would get them into all kinds of trouble. Instead, Scott looked like he was ready to throw himself into helping Kara.

"And why should we help you?" Derek asked the all-important question. Kara smiled, relieved to be done with talking about her family. This was the fun part.

"Because I have something you don't."

Scott smiled at Kara, a knowing look crossing his features. "Show them what you showed me."

Kara nodded in his direction and closed her eyes, raising her arms so that they were parallel to the ground with her palms facing downwards. She reached into the depths of her mind and grasped onto the power that made her supernatural. Kara opened her eyes and focused that power on all of the people standing in front of her. There were grunts and groans of pain as every werewolf in the vicinity pressed their hands to their head as a result of the piercing pain inflicted upon them by the powerful girl. The only one not affected by Kara was Stiles, who was human. Kara extinguished her power and the pack looked at her incredulously.

"What the hell was that?" Derek demanded, now knowing what the bad feeling was about. Kara was supernatural and the fact that he didn't know what she was or the extent of her power worried him.

"I just identified every werewolf here by sending out a high sound frequency that only wolves can hear," Kara stated with a small smirk.

"And that's not the only thing I can do."

The pack stood in a circle around a small table, working out if they were going to take up Kara's offer of helping them or not. They were each thinking about the pros and cons of agreeing to help this stranger, the main con being that it seemed Kara was powerful enough to turn on them at any moment. The positive aspects of having an ally like Kara were numerous, though, and most of the pack was all for sealing the deal. Stiles and Derek were having a little trouble getting over the dangerous possibility of being betrayed.

"I mean, how much do we really know about this girl? She could have a super weird fetish for oh, I don't know, collecting the claws of werewolves!" Stiles argued, hands flying as he made his point. Everyone glanced over at the blonde girl who stood in front of the floor to ceiling window, watching the brilliant sunset with a smile on her lips. "Yeah, real threatening," Isaac muttered.

"I know it's risky to trust her, but I think with the rival pack coming we're going to need all the help we can get," Scott stated pointedly. Derek sighed, knowing that he was right. They had gotten lucky with the whole Jackson/Kanima fiasco and Derek wasn't sure they could handle another potentially dangerous pack without any extra help. And Kara could certainly provide extra help.

With the pack staring up at him expectantly, Derek nodded, "Fine."

Scott hurried over to Kara to tell her that they would help her find the alpha in question and Derek watched her eyes light up. She thanked Scott and her gaze slipped over his shoulder to the pack, flashing everyone a grateful smile. Derek turned away for a moment, finding the action it frustratingly endearing.

"That's the only reason you came? To find the alpha that bit your mother?" he asked Kara, trying to make sure that there wasn't any chance of her deceiving them. Derek was too distracted by Stiles tripping and knocking a lamp over to notice the blip in Kara's heartbeat when she nodded in answer. But Peter did.

Peter Hale noticed everything.

Kara squirmed uncomfortably under his scrutinising gaze. There was something she had to ask and she was sure they wouldn't like it. While the Grayson's had been a wealthy family after Ella became too sick to work their financial state slowly deteriorated. It was difficult, but they were able to manage with the steady income of Asher's work in the army. Kara took what little money was left when she headed for Beacon Hills, but it wasn't nearly enough to rent an apartment or anywhere else suitable enough to live in.

Hesitantly, Kara said, "I kind of need a place to stay."

It had taken some convincing on Scott's part to get Derek to agree to have Kara stay at the loft. Her argument had been that they wouldn't see much of her since she would be out either trying to find the alpha or applying for jobs in the area. But it felt strange for Derek to have someone who wasn't a member of his pack stay in his home.

It was part of the deal, so he obliged.

Kara felt a great weight lift from her shoulders when Derek nodded, a sigh of relief escaping her mouth. That was one burden she didn't have to carry, at least for a while. Living out of a car was awfully constricting, and she hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in quite a while. Doesn't mean you'll get one here, Kara told herself tenderly.

"I'll show you where you can sleep," Derek said, signaling the end of the pack meeting. Kara followed him into the small spare bedroom and admired the bed that sat in the corner of the room, a wistful look on her face. God, a bed. It seemed like months since she'd had a proper room to sleep in.

Derek turned to leave the room but Kara called out for him to wait.

"I know you don't trust me," she began, and Derek waited for the why-you-should-trust-me speech. "And I don't expect you to."

"Just know that I'm here to do what I need to do and as soon as I have achieved that, I'll leave," Kara said. There is no point in me staying anyways.

A part of Derek wanted to ask where she would go after Beacon Hills, but the truth was that Kara would not have an answer for him. She couldn't bring herself to think about the future any more than she already had. Everything was already moving too fast for her to comprehend.

Seeing the genuine look in her eyes made Derek think that maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all, but it wasn't enough for him to drop his guard completely.

"Okay."

And with that he left Kara sitting on the bed, wondering what her next move was. This made her think of Ella. Actually, everything made Kara think of her mother.

This was because the death of Ella Grayson was the third terrible event. The first three disasters tore Kara apart and sent her life spiraling, but the final event gave her back what she'd lost in life.

Purpose.