When Stiles woke up, Kali wasn't in the room. He could hear laughter coming from downstairs and when he entered the living room, Kali and Scott were sitting there, she was already dressed, and they both had coffee. Stiles was well aware that Scott already knew he was there but he could at least try and sneak up on-
"Hey, Stiles."
-Kali. She looked back at him and smirked at his shocked expression. "What?" She asked.
"How did you know I was there? I know Scott has creepy good hearing, but you?" he whined.
"Your reflection in the picture," She gestured at a portrait, where, of course, Stiles could be seen. "You aren't that sneaky. It isn't like it's a bad thing." She grinned up at him and he sighed.
"We're going to go get lunch in a bit, wanna come with? I'm introducing her to Allison," Scott said. Stiles shook his head.
"Nah, I've got somebody I need a thorough explanation from," he muttered, and Scott nodded, having already witnessed Derek's weird behaviour. "We talked last night and he was being all edgy," Stiles barely whispered, knowing Scott would pick up on it.
"Alright, that's cool," Scott nodded. "Some other time." Kali got up to go make Stiles a coffee, and they started having a hushed conversation.
"Derek snuck in here last night and he was all distracted, do you have any idea what's up with him?" Stiles asked. Scott shook his head.
"Erica knows, I can tell, but it has to be something pretty bad if he's like this over it. He's moping, Stiles. Moping. Not brooding, not sulking, moping." Scott hissed. Stiles' eyes widened.
"You're kidding," He muttered. "Derek doesn't mope. Have you talked to him about it?"
"I tried, but he's all closed off. You'll have to talk to Erica before you try talking to him," Scott suggested. Stiles was about to reply when Kali walked back in, regarded them in confusion, but handed Stiles the coffee anyway and sat back down.
"So, I should probably go and unpack," Kalila told them, and Stiles noticed her stuff was already by the door. How had he slept through all that? "Sty, you need any help with the fort?"
"Nah, Scott can help me take it down," Stiles said, patting Scott on the back. Kali nodded and hugged both of them tight before kissing their cheeks in a sisterly way. "I'll see you guys later!" she grinned and headed out.
"Okay, so you really have no clue what's up with Derek?" Stiles asked. "Don't you have, like, Beta intuition or something?"
"No, I have no clue what's happening. You go talk to them while we're at lunch, Derek trusts you more than me."
"But he doesn't trust me!" Stiles exclaimed.
"Whatever," Scott said as they started walking toward Stiles room to clean up the fort. "Just do it, please."
"Fine, but if I die, it's all on you!" Stiles told him.
"Thanks, Stiles," Scott said, relieved.
Kali sighed as she balled up the last of the sheets and looked around her living room. The apartment had nice hardwood all through but the walls were atrocious, so she'd already been to the paint store and there were several brushes and paint cans laying in the living room. Her luggage was all unpacked and tucked away and she'd belatedly realized she had no bedding, so she'd have to go buy some tomorrow. She had an hour before lunch with Scott and Allison, so she walked over to the master bathroom and turned on water for the shower. Her water and electricity had been turned on a day in advance to her return, so it didn't take long to heat up.
While it was heating, she pulled a briefcase from under her bed and unlocked it, flipping the top open. Inside were four dusty books at lease a couple centuries old and one thinner one written a year ago by the expert she'd been working with. It was a summarized version of most relevant werewolf lore, and she took that one out before locking the briefcase up again and sliding it back under the large bed. She left the one book on the uncovered mattress and returned to the bathroom, peeling her now dusty clothes off and stepping into the hot water.
Emerging twenty minutes later with dripping wet hair, she towelled herself dry and pulled on a striped long sleeved loose sweater and black leggings and a thick belt wrapped around her waist. She didn't want to bother with doing her hair, so she pulled it up into a long ponytail, wearing a tan beanie overtop. Her car was ready to be picked up, so she called a cab and grabbed her wallet, locking up quickly and rushing down to meet it, slipping on a pair of black wedge boots. She texted Scott on the way to the shipyard, letting him know she'd meet him at the Diner, and then went to get her baby.
When she saw the Audi, she squealed in excitement and ran over to it, running a hand over the smooth exterior. She glanced up at the blonde beta wolf leaning against it. "Thank you so much for getting it here safely, Rickon."
"No problem, Kali, anything for you." He said in his Scottish accent. Kali grinned and hugged him quickly. "You be careful, lass, you haven't got us around to get you out of trouble anymore." he warned as she slid into the driver's seat. Rick handed her the keys and she smirked up at him.
"Awe, Rick, you know I can take care of myself. I'll be safe." She started the engine as he shrugged and waved her off. She beeped twice at him before heading for the Diner, where Scott was already waiting with Allison. They met her in the parking lot, and she gave Scott a hug before turning to Allison.
"I'm Allison, it's nice to meet you," the other girl smiled and Kali grinned in return.
"Same to you, I've heard many good things." She said, and then the girls headed inside with Scott following quickly, surprised and relieved at how well they were getting along.
Stiles took a deep breath before walking into Hale house, half expecting for Derek to be there to give him Hell about missing the pack meeting, but instead, Erica and Isaac seemed to be the only ones in the immediate premises, so he considered himself to be temporarily lucky.
"Hey, do you guys know what's up with Derek?" Stiles asked, and both looked up at him from the sofa.
"Yep," Erica said shortly as Stiles came closer, standing a few feet away.
"Are you going to tell me?" prompted the confused human. The wolves looked at each other for a minute before Isaac sighed.
"He's recognized his mate, finally. Usually it doesn't take that long." The boy explained. "And now he's freaking out because his mate is a human, and he doesn't want to get her involved with all the crazy supernatural danger here."
"Which is utterly stupid," Erica cut in, "because when threats find out that she's his mate, she'll be in even more danger not knowing. So that's why he's acting weird."
"It's Kalila, isn't it?" Stiles asked in realization. "That's why he left my house in such a rush last night! Aw man, why does she have to get involved? I want to have at least one normal human friend!" He complained. "Why? Can't Derek just find another mate?"
"No, Werewolves mate for life. There's only one mate out there for each of us." Isaac said. "And if Kalila's living here, it's only going to be so long before the wolf in Derek can't resist claiming his mate. So right now, he's having an internal guilt-freak out thing."
"Why can't he just live without a mate?"
"You don't get it, do you?" Came Derek's voice from behind Stiles, who jumped and whirled around. "Once you find your mate, they become your anchor, they're everything to you. Because I'm Alpha, I care for my pack and am leader, but when the Alpha takes a mate, the responsibility is shared. Since the Alpha mate is also an Alpha in their right, they can do their own thing, but in most cases, mates agree with each other. They're often mostly opposite, so it works in the fact that they balance each other out."
"It has to be Kali?" Stiles asked defeatedly.
"I don't want her in any danger either, Stiles, but yes, it has to be her." Derek said, guilt in his voice. "There's nobody else, and I need an Alpha mate."
Stiles blew out a long breath. "Fine. But we aren't going to tell her yet. We'll introduce her to the pack and if she seems to get along with everybody well enough, we'll tell her."
Derek nodded. "So when are we going to introduce her to the pack, then?"
"Well, I promised I'd get a couple people to help paint her apartment next weekend," Stiles said. "So we can do it then. Think you can wait a week?"
"Most likely," Derek said. "It'll take some restraint, especially with the full moon on Wednesday. That's when my control will be stretched to its thinnest."
"I'll keep her away that night," Stiles agreed. "Let's just hope nothing goes seriously wrong."
"Five bucks says he just jinxed that," Erica told Isaac.
"I'm not taking that bet, the odds are in your favour," he retorted. They both left the room at Derek's harsh glare.
"Okay, I'm gonna go now," Stiles said, walking toward the door.
"That's probably best. You smell like her, and that scent is starting to wear on my restraint," Derek growled. Stiles yelped and booked it to his Jeep, pulling out his phone to warn Scott.
A/N: Okay, so it'll probably be one more chapter after this before Derek and Kali meet, I do have a plan for how they find out about her knowledge of Werewolves and all that, so yeah. Like I said, I don't mean to update this fast, and when I get off the Long weekend, I won't, but I have all the time in the world currently because of Thanksgiving, so, yeah. I'm wondering, though, and I need you to tell me, do you like the shorter chapters, like 1-2 thousand words where I can update a lot faster or the longer chapters, ie 4-6 thousand, where it takes me a couple weeks? Review, please! I never actually thought this story would be as popular as it's getting!