A/N: And we're back. Thanks to everyone's interest in story. My job ending up being super busy and then personal life got busy for while so I had to take a break from writing. Thankfully, I am back and working on the story so on with the show ….

Chapter Two

Lydia pressed the doorbell of the Derek's loft for the fourth time and received no answer. So, the next time she didn't release the buzzer until she heard the lock click and the door was pulled wide open by a blearily-eyed Isaac.

"Well, that certainly took you long enough." Isaac just blinked at the petite redhead. "Are you going to invite me in?" Lydia remarked with a raised brow at the werewolf's continued blank look she just huffed. "Oh, just get out the way," pushing the werewolf aside as she breezed in. She walked to the living room and sat down on the spacious beige sofa, which was a rather dignified sofa for someone like Derek. He seemed more like the type to have a used, beat-up old couch rather than a sofa. She suspected that it was probably more Genevieve's influence than anything Derek would select for himself. "As delightful as it is to look at this sofa could you inform Jackson, that just because we are officially on a break it's no excuse for him to stand me up and ignore my phone calls for day." She pulled out her phone and scrolled through her latest text messages paying no attention to Isaac.

"Lydia," Isaac grumbled confused as he scratched his head.

"That's my name." She said chidingly as texted Allison back.

"You're looking for Jackson?"

"Yes," Lydia drawled out. "I assumed he's here for some pack meeting or whatever it is you guys do out in the woods together." She replied dismissively before finally glancing up at the other teen to take in his appearance in a white t-shirt and rumbled pajama bottoms with his feet bare and hair in complete disarray. "Jackson better not have blown me off for some ridiculous adolescent sleepover."

Isaac merely blinked at her confused. "You're looking for Jackson?" He inquired again. "Here?"

"Yes," Lydia said succinctly as set her phone to the side to give Isaac her full attention. "We've covered this, twice as a matter of fact. Yes," she repeated slowly. "I'm here for Jackson." Isaac seemed to be completely oblivious, which is something Jackson used to complaint about before he left on vacation. She typically thought was Jackson just being Jackson since she'd fortunately never had to spent any time with his pack. But now she could see that Jackson was right on the money about this, not that she'd ever admit that to him.

"Jackson's not here. And we haven't had a pack meeting."

"If Jackson's not here, then where is he?" Isaac simply shrugged, which as far as Lydia was concerned was not an answer. She rose to her feet. "Fine, when was the last time you saw him?"

"I don't know two months—"

"What?" Lydia snapped. "Jackson came home two days ago! Are you telling me, you haven't seen him since June?" Before Isaac had even opened his mouth to respond she interrupted him. "You know what, forget it! Where's your Alpha? Where's Derek?"

"Lydia," Isaac sighed wearily as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Derek is with Genevieve. You should probably ask him about Jackson."

"Believe me, I will." Lydia replied as she stomped toward the door and left the loft.

As the door slammed shut, Isaac debated calling Derek to let him know that Lydia was on the warpath for Jackson or going back to bed. In the end, sleep won out and he headed back to his bed.


xXx

Sheriff Stilinski entered his kitchen to grab his morning cup of coffee and was unsurprised to find his son already there. This summer, Stiles seemed to have a new focus. Diagnosed with ADD at a fairly young age, the Sheriff had come to recognize the signs of when he really needed to worry. And judging from the collection of huge, dusty old books that his son seemed to be steadily studying from with a single-minded focus, this definitely merited further watch.

He grabbed his cup of coffee and sat down at the table across from his son and watched as the teenager flipped another page in the book while blindly stuffing his mouth with another spoonful of cereal. Shaking his head he sipped from the hot brew, it's any wonder the kid had not gotten milk driblets all over the page with the amount of attention he's actually paying to the spoonfuls. "So … should I be concerned?"

"Hu-What!? Dad!" Stiles said jumping his spoon clattering in the near empty bowl nearly spill milk onto the book. He fumbled to catch any excess liquid while simultaneously trying to conceal what he was reading. '"Concerned about what?" Stiles finally replied smiling too wide to pull off the nonchalant shrug he attempted.

"About these ancient dictionaries you've taken to reading. Not mention the fact that you jacked up the AC. It's been working overtime just to keep up with the populations of dust you're fuming through air with every page turn. Is this something I will need to be worried about?" Sheriff Stilinski gestured toward the books that cluttered Stiles' side of the table. He didn't bother mentioned the time he'd come home to find his son sprinkling black dirt around the perimeter of the house or finding him burying herbs around the house. It was all very strange really.

"Pshh , Dad. This is just some light reading off summer reading list" Stiles' slowly swallowed his cereal. "It's just … some sciency stuff that I'm trying out. You know to help me stay on top of things this year. I mean, it is my junior year after all."

Light reading, huh? Yeah right, not with his kid. "Since when do you actually read off the summer reading list?" The Sheriff asked settling his cup on the table to look at his son with dubiously questioning raised brows.

"What!? Now, you're complaining that I'm actually doing prep work for a class. Dad, I just don't know how you ever expect me to get into college if I don't buckle down some time to be studious. How—"

The sheriff stopped any further drabbles with a raised hand. "Alright, so you want me to believe that all this," he gestured to the piles of dusty books around Stiles. "Is just preparation for some class?"

"Y-yes. Yes it is and how dare you discredit my studious nature. I—

"What subject?

"Mm-what?"

"The subject, Stiles. What's the subject that has you studying so extensively?"

"Oh, you wanna know the subject?"

"Yes. And sometime today before you make my hair grow even grayer."

"Environmental science," Stiles clarified quickly.

"You sure about that chief?" Sheriff Stilinski narrowed his eyes at his son's confident nodding before calling him on his bullshit. "Stiles you got an A in your science class last year."

Stiles floundered for a minute before answering, "all the more reason to study … in preparation for the –uh-Herbology course that had Environmental Science class as a prerequisite."

"Uh huh."

"Well, how do you think I earned that A, without doing all this extra work?"

"Mm hmm."

The Sheriff traded looks with his son, doing extra credit wasn't all that surprising but Stiles rarely did it when he didn't have to. Before he could dig deeper, the phone rang. He rose with a sigh, and answered the phone. It was the station. "This is the Sheriff."

Stiles breathed a sigh of relief when his dad got up to answer the phone. His father was suspicious by nature and having to enlighten his Dad on why he buried wolfsbane or placed mountain ash around the perimeter of his house wasn't something he was looking forward to even trying to explain. He was quickly taken out of his thoughts however when he heard his father mention Jackson and missing. Subtly, he leaned forward to intently listen to his father's half of the conversation.

"Well, how long has he been gone? … Do they think he ran away? … Okay, keep me posted if the search party finds anything." The Sheriff met Stiles' gaze as he hung up the phone. "Stiles, I'm going to ask you this one time and I expect an actual honest answer from you."

"Dad—," Stiles started but drifted off by the serious look on his father's eyes.

" Not now. We'll discuss that later, believe me. But this is important, so don't lie to me Stiles, not about this. Where is Jackson Whittenmore?"

"I don't know."

"Stiles," the Sheriff snapped.

"Seriously, Dad I don't know where he is. I thought he was still on vacation. What's going on? Is he missing?"

"According to his parents, Jackson came home with his father two days ago. He went for a jog and hasn't been seen since. If you haven't seen him can you think of anywhere he might be?"

Stiles shook his head; his only thought was to check with Derek. But, he wasn't about to tell his father about the pack. "I can ask around, see if anybody has seen him."

"You do that." Sheriff Stilinski replied before he walked toward the stairs to finished getting dressed just as the doorbell rang. He changed directions and went to answer the front door. He was unsurprised to see the familiar sight of Lydia Martin on his doorstep. Every since the night of the lacrosse finals, the teenager was a familiar sight in his house. If it wasn't Scott than Lydia was usually at his door this early in the morning. "Morning, Lydia. He's in the kitchen."

"Good morning Sheriff," Lydia called after the older man as she watched take the stairs to change. She made a beeline down the hallway to the kitchen to see Stiles sitting at the table with several open tomes around him. "I need your help."

"Good morning to you to Lydia."

"Good morning, I need your help," Stiles rolled his eyes but gestured for her to take a seat, which she declined. "This is serious, Stiles, Jackson is missing."

"Yeah, I know."

"What? You know? How? I literally just told his idiot parents that he wasn't with me or at Danny's because his family isn't back from vacation yet."

"His parents must have called the station, my Dad was just notified. Given that the last time he was missing Scott and I had him, even if he wasn't the Sheriff they would have contacted him. Have you checked with Derek or the pack yet? Maybe Derek called a pack meeting." He suggested tracking Lydia's movement as she began to pace.

"I went there first but Isaac was no help. He didn't even know Jackson was back in town. And his parents didn't think anything of it when Jackson just disappeared the night they came back to town – how negligent is that?" Lydia asked as she ran a distracted hand through her hair.

"Did you actually talk to Derek?"

"No, I tried but he wasn't at home. He's with Genevieve apparently and—,"Stiles rose and grabbed her shoulders stopping her in her tracks.

"Lydia calm down and take a deep breath. If you think something's wrong then I believe you."

Lydia shuddered releasing a deep breath. "You believe me?"

"Of course, I trust your instincts and if you feel something is wrong then we look into it. In this town lately, a feeling is all the warning you get before the shit hits the fan. Let me get dressed then we'll go see Genevieve."

"Okay." Lydia said with a relieved nod as she stepped back to allow Stiles to go get changed.


xXx

Genevieve stormed up the stairs into her bedroom and yanked the bathroom door open. A cloud of steam hit her immediately in the open door way, revealing Derek's stark figure as he finished wrapping a towel around his waist.

The sight alone was almost enough to distract her before she remembered the phone is her hand. "You called my mother?" She asked, shaking said phone at him.

"What?" Derek said confused.

"Don't you what me. We had a minor disagreement when I refused your gracious offer to move in with you and your response is to call my mother!"

"That's not what happened."

"Then you'll need to explain it to me because I don't see how you could think that talking my mother about our issues was a good call."

"Do you mind if I get dressed first?" He asked finally with an arched brow.

Genevieve arched a brow in return, causing Derek's brow to furl even further as his lips pursed and he widened his stance crossing his arms in response.

Genevieve stubbornly raised her chin, her eyes unwittingly trailed up and down his damp figure before meeting his mirth filled gaze and relenting.

"Fine, if you must. I'll be in the kitchen." Genevieve replied retracing her steps back to the kitchen, knowing that he would follow. A nude Derek was too much of a distraction.

Less than five minutes later, Derek entered the kitchen in jeans and a dark gray Henley. His hair which was slightly damp was pushed off his face. With raised hands he immediately plead his defense.

"First, I didn't call your mother about us. I called to ask some questions about pack dynamics with new wolves not bound familial bonds. She asked about the loft but I never said anything about you moving in or vice versa."

"Then, how did it come up?"

"It didn't, at least not with me. I've never talk to your mother about our relationship. But, just purely based on my observation if you were as defensive with her as you are with me she probably read between the lines."

Genevieve narrowed her eyes at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Derek ambled toward her until mere inches separated them as she leaned back against her island. "When you don't want to talk about something, you try to dismiss it as a joke. Then you become evasive and defensive whenever the topic is brought up, just like you're doing now."

She rolled her eyes snorting, "That's a surprisingly accurate assessment. And when did you become so good at reading me?"

Derek shrugged his shoulders. "I just happen to be a pretty observant guy." He nudged her chin up with his forefinger, his thumb caressing the soft skin there before his hand dropped to her waist. "So what did your mother say that's got you so upset?"

Genevieve smirked at the action.

"She asked why I was resistant to take my place in the pack by your side. She thinks that by living here," she gesturing to house. "And not in the loft, I'm sending you mixed signals. That I haven't officially accepted my role in the pack, which is obviously not the case."

"Alright. So, what is it then?"

"What do you mean? I've already told you—,"

"No," he countered interrupting her. "You actually didn't. You gave me some random excuse about not being married which is ridiculous because that's essentially what the bond is for people like us. Then, there was that thing about Isaac walking in on us—,"

"Hey, that wasn't an excuse."

"I didn't say it was. My point is that those are the only things you've told me. Not the actual deterrent that is preventing you from staying with me in the loft. That's what your mom and I are picking up on. So tell me what's really going on here?"

Genevieve averted her eyes from his beseeching gaze. She gently disconnected herself from his close form to move further down the island in attempt to take a few seconds to compose herself to answer the question. The truth was while she had reservations about moving with Derek it really had nothing to do with the pack or Isaac's presence and everything to do with her. "It's just … it's too much, if that makes sense."

She turned around to see the concern in his eyes. "I know with everything we've been through it seems like that more, but Derek, we've only actually been together for four months. Four months may seem like a long time to you but to me it's just four months."

"And?" He asked with a raised brow in confusion.

"Derek we've been moving really fast together and it's just too much, too soon. And before we cross that bridge of moving in together I want to get settled into the idea of us as a couple."

"Are you kidding?"

"No, why would you think I'm kidding."

"Genevieve, you're not exactly living alone now. My clothes are in your closet, one of my cars is in your garage. Not to mention that you haven't slept alone since I bit you. So exactly how aren't we living together?"

"That's exactly my point. It's like we bypassed a significant part of relationship building. We haven't really even been on a real date. I can't explain it. Technically, I know we're kind of living together. But, I have lived alone and on my own since I was 17 years old. That kind of independence is very hard to give up and now I'm in the middle of a committed relationship without having a chance to really get used to being more than just me to part of us."

"I never asked for that." Derek replied quietly. "I knew who you were when we started this and I never asked for you to give any of that up for me or for the pack." He shifted closely until he framed her face between his hands, caressing her cheek. "Genevieve, the only thing I want from you is you."

"I know. I" she started only to break off at the sound of the doorbell being rang repeatedly. She shared an exasperated look with Derek at the interruption. "… Should get that." She said as the doorbell rang urgently twice more before she turned and left the kitchen to answer the door. To her surprise when she pulled open the door, Stiles and a shaken Lydia were there. "Lydia, Stiles, what's wrong?"

"It's Jackson, he's missing." Lydia replied.

"Come inside," Genevieve held the door open and waited for the teens to follow her to the living room where Derek had stood waiting. "Why do you think Jackson is missing?"

"We don't think it, we know it. His parents called my Dad, who questioned me and we have no idea where is he." Stiles added unsurprised to see Derek there with Genevieve.

"I thought he wasn't due back until Monday."

"He was but his Dad had meeting that he couldn't reschedule so he came back on Thursday. We were supposed to have a date but when he stood me up for what I figured was pack thing. Only Isaac told me this morning that he hadn't seen Jackson and his parents thought he was with Danny when he didn't come home. Danny's not in town."

Genevieve nodded quietly, her eyes meeting Derek's across the room; she knew that they were both thinking the same thing. The only way a werewolf could fall off the radar with the pack bond and not cause any fluctuation in the bond was if they were injured but alive. And given the danger surrounding the Hale Pack due to the imminent arrival of the Alpha Pack, Jackson's disappearance was not at all innocuous. This wasn't some teenager going off radar to hang with his friends. This was a deliberate and calculated action to weaken the prevailing pack. The Alpha Pack had arrived in Beacon Hills.

"Look, we know it's a lot to ask. But, you always telling us to trust our instincts and mine are screaming that something is wrong and Jackson is in trouble. And we need to find him before its too late." Lydia continued as she observed the glances between Genevieve and Derek.

"We believe you. Derek and I will find Jackson," Genevieve said as she broke her gaze with Derek and reached out to give Lydia's hand a squeeze in comfort. "You and Stiles should go and talk to Scott to let him know what's going on."

"Okay, but how are you going to find Jackson? No offense but my Dad has had a search team out for hours and they haven't found anything."

"We've got something they don't have."

"What, a superior sense of smell," Stiles scoffed at Derek.

"No, my dick it acts as dividing rod, you little dipshit," Derek's eyes flashed red. "I'm his alpha I'll find him."

"Wow that was super unnecessary." Stiles remarked.

"Anyway," Genevieve started ignoring the other Alpha's crass comment to Stiles. "Derek can track any member of his pack." Genevieve explained as she walked the teens to the door. "We'll call you if—when we find him." As soon as they exited her house, she returned to the living room where Derek was in the process of pulling on his shoes.

"It's the Alphas, it has to be."

"I agree but what are you planning to do? You can't just go blindly looking for Jackson it could be a trap."

He paused to glance at her. "What do you suggest then? You heard Lydia; they've had him for two days without anyone knowing. You've told me that Lydia's instincts are strong and rarely wrong. We have to find him now."

"Derek, you know how Deucalion operates, he doesn't just take a pack member. He always warns first to give the Alpha the opportunity to join him. We need to be smart about this and think before we go off half-cocked and someone gets hurt."

Derek sighed. "You're right."

"We have to think like the Alphas. Everything I've ever been told about Deucalion is that he is very methodical – he wants to get your attention to let you know he's in your territory."

"By doing what?"

"I don't know. Interrupt a pack meeting, encroach on your territory, take a hostage—,"

"That's it."

"What is?"

"Encroach on my territory."

"Why-how are you so sure?"

"Instinct, but more than that, while, I've never met him, Laura did. The only thing that she would ever say about him before the fire is that he envious of our territory because it was so vast and has been in my family for years. He coveted it. To hear Peter tell it, he wanted my mother and the land she came with."

Genevieve nodded thinking it through. "That makes sense I guess. But if he wanted to say make statement that Alpha Pack is here, where would he put it?"

"The house."

"Then, that's where we should go first. I'll get my shoes and then we can go." Genevieve said as she walked to the closet and pulled out a pair of boots when she noticed her jogging shoes in the back of the closet. "Derek, I think I have an idea." She dropped the boots for the jogging shoes and closed the door.

Twenty minutes later they were running side-by-side through the woods to get to the old Hale house. To keep up appearances' for the story they would tell if they found Jackson, they both changed into appropriate jogging gear.

They slowed down as they came upon the clearing just in front of the Hale house. "Can you feel him?"

Derek scanned the area around them searching for any life signs. As they were within a few feet of the porch, he saw a body laying the on porch. "There's a body on the porch, it has to be him."

"Are you sure?" Genevieve asked breathlessly as she attempted to narrow her eyes to see if it was him.

Derek stopped to breath in deeply taking in the scents in the air around him. He filtered all but one familiar scent and honed in on it blocking everything else out. "It's him but there's a taint on it." He ran to the steps of porch putting a hand out to stop Genevieve from following him.

"Tainted how?"

Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath inhaling the scent surrounding Jackson's prone body and this time he detected a hint of blood under the taint. He opened his eyes at glanced her, beseeching her to stay back. "Let me examine him and see what it is, first."

Genevieve nodded and held her position as she noted the seriousness in Derek's face and eyes. "I'll wait here."

Derek walked up the stairs to see Jackson unconscious lying on his back. His eyes were closed and his skin was pale. He was dressing in jogging shorts but his shirt was shredded and stained red. He gently lifted the edge of the shirt and the discovered the cause of the taint and the blood coming off of the teen. "Jesus," he muttered.

"What? What is it?" Genevieve asked from her position at the bottom of the stairs.

"What's wrong?"

"You were right; they were definitely leaving me a message."

"What do you mean?"

"Take a look at this?" Derek waved her forward and she bounded up the stairs walking to the other side of Jackson's body.

"Is that what I think it is?" Genevieve asked as she slowly knelt next to the body to examine the symbol for the Alpha Pack that had been savagely carved into Jackson's chest. The symbol was a mix of black pus and blood. She gingerly touched the angry red, scarring that was left on Jackson's chest. "Can you wake him up?"

"I can try why?"

"Since his parents reported him missing we'll have to call the police to let them know we found them. If he's conscious, it'll be less that wel have to explain. He can decline medical assistance; we can take him to the loft and get Alan to help heal him."

Derek placed his hand on Jackson's arm. "Jackson, wake up." There was no response so he tried again this time placing both hands on Jackson and calling him. Again there was no response. So he tried one more time with both hands on Jackson and his eyes bleeding red as he allowed the full force of his Alpha's mantle to cede into his voice. "Jackson. Wake up."

Jackson's eyes shot open and he began gasping for breath. Then, nothing.

"He's going into cardiac arrest." Genevieve said as she added her hands to Derek's on Jackson's chest. "Hold him down," she ordered before closing her eyes and channeling her ability willing the electricity to revive Jackson. He convulsed once and then again. She was so intent on honing her ability on Jackson to save his life that she didn't realize that his heart had slowly began beating beneath her fingertips. It was only when he was breathing normally that she opened her eyes and saw Derek watching her with surprised on his face. "He's alive."

"Your eyes," Derek mumbled as he watched Genevieve eyes shift from a vibrate swirling silver to her normal brown.

"What?"

"Whatever you did worked." Derek said as he released Jackson to shift onto his feet as he watch the black pus and blood slowly fade away as the wound on Jackson's healed itself. "What now?"

"Now, we call the sheriff." She took her phone out of a pocket arm band and dialed 911.


Thoughts?

The next update should be in a couple of weeks if not sooner.