The day after the full moon felt like the Monday to end all Mondays. Willa was sore and tired and just wanted to spent the entire day curled up in bed, preferably with her mate. At least she was wearing her own clothes today. After the near inquisition yesterday, she'd made Derek stop by her house so she could change. Her mom had already left for her shift at the hospital, and Scott never made it home from the weakened scent. She'd also made him let her off a block from the school, refusing another 'hunky stranger' incident with Lydia.

Her first class was blessedly uneventful. Mr. Darmuthe spent the entire time lecturing them on the history of Mesopotamia. And Willa spent it reading one of the books that had survived the Hale fire in the living room. This time, she was looking for something specific; mating. Yes, yes, she knew all the technical parts, she was well aware of it, and quite enjoyed it.

But on the night of the full moon, she had practically craved Derek's presence, the fact that she'd had to spend the day away from him at school and then at lacrosse tryouts, and then at the Argents had driven her crazy. So crazy that when she finally got to spend alone time with him, she'd been the one to ruin his shirt. It worried her, that the claim would drive her nuts. She was finding it very difficult to be away from Derek. Mostly the other day, but even today all she wanted was to just end the school day and be with him, be around him.

Willa finally found the chapter she was looking for, immediately zoning out completely from the lecture.

'Mates commonly find each other between the ages of 15-25, though it can be earlier or later. It's most common that mates be from the same pack, though it isn't unheard of for mates to be from separate packs. It is believed that the bonds between either two born-wolfs or with one born wolf is one much stronger than a pair of bitten wolves, though there is nothing to prove this. Born-wolves, however, seem to be much more drawn to their mates from greater distances. One of the greatest distance pulls was in England, in 1807. A born-wolf from the Moore pack was pulled to his mate in Ireland, a born-wolf from the O'Neal pack.

A mate-claim is considered the only thing among wolves to cure all. There are several recorded cases of a claim saving weaker wolves from being abandoned and killed by their Alphas. A mate-bond is one of the strongest bonds any wolf can experiences, and it is incredibly rare that any mate survive the other. There is usually hours between the deaths, if not a couple days. Many believe that the mate bond is a direct link of life-forces and that if one is two die, it is like poising the life of the other.

During a mate-bonds first full moon, both wolves experience symptoms very similar to heat, and if separated during the day, can find themselves incredibly agitated and lacking control. It is not uncommon that both mates spend the entire day and night in a room together. Most believe, though, that the first three full moons of a mate-bond are the most fertile and important to furthering the bloodline, especially for an Alpha and their mate.

Werewolves have their heat season in the fall, most often September through October. While some believe the symptoms can be lessened by dealing with it the first two weeks of the season, others believe it is easier to control until the last two weeks.

In recent years, it's become most common that, even should a mate pair find each other before the age of 18, the legal adult age to humans, they will wait to make their claims until both are considered of age, especially if there is an age difference. While a mate-claim in recognized as marriage among wolves, most will have traditional human marriages to avoid any suspicions to locals as to their closeness.

Alpha-mates tend to become almost as strong as their Alpha. When a mate is claimed by an Alpha, they 'rise' to the status of Alpha-mate, usually within a year or so of becoming such. When one mate becomes an Alpha, depending on the circumstances, the mate will rise within a half a year. While some believe it to be possible that the mate rise at the same time, there is no recorded case of such, and the simultaneous rise theory is based on an extremely strong bond that has yet to be found.

Mate-Claims are incredibly important in the process of a bond. While they are not necessary for a bond to be recognized, they dramatically increase the strength of a bond. Traditionally, the male would be the only one to make a 'claim'- a bite. More recently, it has become common that the stronger wolf make the claim in order to strengthen the pair together. Dual bites are considered to be only for drastic measures in case the other is in mortal danger. A dual-bite makes the pair susceptible to the others injuries, making separation difficult, and too much distance can physically damage the pair.'

Willa yelped and jolted out of her seat as the bell rang. She hadn't paid attention to the time, she'd been too busy reading the pages on mates. With everyone giving her odd looks, Willa felt her face heat up as she shoved the old book and the text book into her backpack and quickly hurried into the hall, immediately being met by Allison. They began walking to Chemistry, and the first thing the brunette mentioned was the lack of both Scott and Stiles in English.

—

For all the power she possessed as a werewolf, none of it mattered the instant Lydia sat down. She'd been in a bad mood all day, having to actually be at school, and then adding in what she found out about 'mates'. But it all got shoved into the back of her mind when Lydia and her group sat at the table Willa had chosen, Allison among them.

Lydia immediately began to talk on and on about the party, how it had been so much fun and a dozen other things Willa didn't care about. There had been no mention of 'hunky stranger' or early departures, which meant that nothing had been suspected, much to Willa's relief.

That relief was crushed when Jackson spoke up, asking Willa directly, "What's up with your brother, McCall? Since when did he get so good at lacrosse?"

Willa had her sandwich halfway to her mouth, but froze when all eyes shifted to her. Looking between everyone, she put her food down and just shrugged, stammering, "He, uh, he spent a lot of, um, lot of the summer, you know, pr-practicing."

"You're scaring the poor kid, Jackson. Whatever problem you have with Scott, leave Willa out of it," Danny shot at his best friend. Willa shot a relieved glance at the lacrosse goalie, thankful for the defense. In return, the older boy smiled at her, nodding silently. Now she knew why everyone liked him so much. He was a genuinely nice guy.

Honestly, she didn't even know people knew that Scott was her brother, let alone her name, but it was kind of nice to know that people did. Lydia was eyeing her lunch tray then asked out loud, "For such a tiny girl, you eat a lot." Allison looked a little surprised as she looked at Willa's lunch as well.

She had almost as much food on her tray as Jackson did. A turkey sandwich, a cheeseburger, two servings of french fries, a salad, an apple, a bottle of water and can of soda. Thank god she'd already finished the chicken strips she had gotten as well. Willa just gave a weak shrug before biting into her sandwich again, swallowing and answering lamely, "I, uh, I've got a really fast metabolism."

Danny and the other lacrosse players laughed at her, and Allison even smiled. Lydia smiled too, but it was more sarcastic smile than anything. Jackson didn't even react, he just eyed her as suspiciously as he did her brother. Lunch went as smoothly as it could after that, although Jackson kept watching her like she was about to grow a second nose.

Lydia attempted to get her and Allison to go out that night, seeing as the party had been last night, and now there were no Friday plans. But Allison held to the 'family' night excuse, and Willa was able to coherently lie that she had promised to make dinner for her mom and brother. The bell had saved them from any further discussions, and Willa had practically shifted to get out of the cafeteria.

Allison insisted on passing notes during Economics with Finstock, asking about Scott and why he disappeared. All Willa could do was say she thought he was sick, that she had only been at her house a few minutes that morning to change. Any mention of her love life was like a guarantee to get the subject over to that.

PE was completely focused on how Willa had spent the night with 'hunky cousin Jacob'. They'd been assigned to pair up work on stretching. It was literally the entire class that Allison had interrogated her about Derek. Then the awkward conversation about being safe, and then another discussion as to how it was that Willa's sex life was alive and kicking with such a protective brother and nosey friend, while Allison had gotten ditched.

In the locker room, Willa had texted Scott that he owed her so much for covering for him with both attendance by bringing in a forged note to excuse his absence, with Allison for saying he was sick, and then mentioned that Jackson was really convinced he was on something. As the final bell rang, Willa found herself getting more and more anxious.

She'd been worried enough about being a mate, and then she read about heat. It had said heat season for werewolves was in September and the first half of October. Well, September first was in a couple of days, and the last thing she needed to worry about was being in heat! Especially at sixteen. Being the researching worry-wart she was, she had found a chapter that was more specific about heat, and it hadn't helped her much.

Apparently, since she was a claimed mate, the extreme urge to be with Derek would be increased two-fold. Add that in with it coinciding with their second full moon as mates, and Willa was seriously starting to wonder if she should fake running away and just hide out at the Hale place with Derek. Because apparently, as a female wolf in heat, she was ten times more likely to loose control and cause serious damage if she ignored her…. 'natural urges'.

Willa spotted Derek across the street from the school and immediately felt much calmer. It was a nice affect of the claim, feeling calm the closer they were. She wove her way through the parking lot, waving to Allison as she passed, along with Lydia when the strawberry blonde said her goodbyes.

As Willa slipped into the black Camaro, she held out the old book to Derek. The black haired man looked confused, taking it before seeing the sticky notes the ever-studious Willa had marked pages with. He frowned as he opened to them, scanning each page before flicking to the next, then the next, then snapping it shut and tossing it into the back seat of his Camaro, practically peeling away from the curb.

The ride was silent for a good five minutes before Willa spoke up, "Did you know any of it?" He looked over at her, and the irritation immediately left his face, seeing that she wasn't looking at him, instead her denim blue eyes were focused entirely on her fingers that were twisting themselves together nervously.

He exhaled, running a hand through his hair as he did his best to not frighten her, "I knew that a mate-claim would save you from the Alpha the other night. And that it'd be hard to go about normal life on the full moon." Derek looked over and saw how red she was turning. Despite it all, in the end, Willa was still a kid, she was still a shy, timid individual who got tongue tied and jittery in any situation that required adult conversation.

Willa glanced over at him finally, her heart thumping like the baseline of a techno-song and her entire face turning a new color of red. It was kind of adorable. He reached over and grabbed one of her tiny hands in his much larger one, trying to ease the entire situation, "Don't worry, okay? I promise, it will all work out."

She smiled weakly. She wasn't worried about how it would work out. It all would, she knew that, she'd do whatever she needed so that it would. What she was worried about was one of the most awkward things she could think about discussing. Willa could barely watch kissing scenes in movies without turning red, how the hell was she supposed to discuss… Chewing her lip, Willa finally blurted out, "What about heat?"

Thank god they were close enough to the woods that no one was on the road. The blunt change in topic made Derek swerve before he recovered. Willa was sure if he had been drinking something, he would have spit it out. She waited patiently as he turned onto the side road that he generally parked his car at, before turning it off.

Neither made a move for several long, tense moments. Finally, Derek scratched the back of his head and sighed, "I didn't exactly think that far ahead." He glanced out the window for a second, before both got out of the car and started walking towards the Hale house, Derek's arm wrapping around her by instinct as he continued, "My cousin Jamie usually took me and my siblings in during it, and my other cousins. I remember my parents once mentioned using an old herbal mixture to help during the day when they had to go to work."

Willa nuzzled in closed to Derek, feeling him tense slightly at just having to talk about his parents. It was hard for him to talk about his family, but he seemed to get better about it when the knowledge was needed, like now. That didn't mean it got easier, and Willa felt that familiar irritation that she got whenever something was difficult for Derek to talk about. She didn't like it.

Nodding slowly, she began rambling, "It will start in a couple of days, and the full moon will coincide with it. Plus with the claim it will make it harder, not to mention I'm sure Scott's going to notice something, I mean, he's not that stupid, plus the Argents-"

Immediately, Willa fell silent as Derek pressed his lips against hers, pulling away for her to blink a few times before flushing. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to her forehead, calming her down, "We'll figure it out. Besides, it isn't like it's impossible to see each other. But it might not be a bad idea to bring some of your clothes over to my house. Just in case."

—

"How much does she hate me," Scott questioned miserably, moping his way into the kitchen as she came in the back door with groceries. Willa wanted to through the bags in her arms at him, desperately. She'd spent a hour going over books with Derek trying to find anything about herbal soothers, although they hadn't found it, before getting a call from her mom that she wouldn't be home for dinner.

Setting the bags onto the kitchen counter, the blonde sighed and told Scott, "Allison is upset you just ditched her, but I told her you weren't feeling well, and that you had stayed home today because you were sick. Which reminds me again, you seriously owe me! I had to deal with Lydia and Jackson by myself!"

Scott hopped onto the counter and lean against the wall, thanking her, "I owe you for, like, the rest of my life- Dude, what's that smell on you?"

Willa had started washing vegetables and glanced over her shoulder to see that he was leaning forward. She'd wondered when he would start noticing the distinctly not-Willa smell that seemed to always be on her now. But she decided it be best he come clean first, and shot back, "You're half way across the room, what the hell are you talking about?"

Her brother squirmed and she listened as his heart rate skyrocketed as he struggled with telling her the truth or lying. She really hoped he went with the truth, or else she was going to through one of the carrots she was washing at him. Finally, he answered, "You know how Stiles joked I was a werewolf?"

Looking over her shoulder again, she finished, "Not so much a joke now, huh?" If the situation was so serious, Willa would have laughed at how stunned her brother was. He literally looked like someone had just told him he was going to be a father.

He shook his head, snapping himself out of it before asking, very confused, "H-how did you know?! I'm serious, you know! Last night, I turned into a werewolf! And then got attacked by hunters! Oh, and then Derek Hale-"

"He saved your ass, Scott," Willa growled. She stopped washing vegetables and turned to face him, leaning on the counter. Her brother was frozen again, this time from his sister growling and defending Derek.

Scott just stared at her before bursting out, "He turned me into a freaking monster, Wills! I could kill someone, and there are people trying to kill me!" Immediately, Willa's body went on the offensive at being called a monster, though she knew he didn't understand yet. While her brother was fairly intelligent, he could be a bit dense at times.

Deciding that seeing was believing, she let her eyes glow, which made Scott fall off his kitchen perch as she told him, "You aren't a monster, Scott. You aren't normal anymore, but you aren't a monster. And neither am I." Scott swallowed as he stood up, taking a step closer to see that Willa's eyes were indeed glowing yellow like his did. She watched him carefully before returning to the sink, continuing, "Look, it's not easy, I'll give you that. It is hard, you have to learn control, but you aren't alone."

She felt Scott come stand beside her and spotted the peeling in his hand. Willa smiled over at him before handing him a cucumber, then grabbed a carrot herself, letting her claws extend and began peeling the orange root veggie in her hand.

Scott was watching her, a little confused and shocked still, but he didn't say anything for a bit, letting the fact that his sister was a werewolf as well sink in. Finally, he regained his voice and asked, "So, uh, how long have you been a, you know?"

Tossing him an amused smile, she filled in the blank, "A werewolf? About three months. I was bitten, like you were. So I'm not that much farther ahead on the learning curve." That seemed to make Scott relax more.

Another silence fell, this one more comfortable, as they peeled vegetables before Scott questioned, "So, uh, how did you not loose control during the full moon?"

Willa took the carrot from Scott as he finished peeling it, and began chopping it, retracting her claws and using a normal knife as she answered, "Well, my first full moon was hard. I snuck out and got as far into the woods as I could, away from anyone. But, since then, I've found an anchor. I have something that keeps me rooted in my humanity, but I've also accepted that I'm not human, not completely, anymore. It's hard, trying to deal with a whole new piece of yourself, but you'll get the hand of it. And, if you can't, you have me."

The smell of Adderall and curly fries hit her before the familiar voice added on, "And me, whatever we're talking about. What are we talking about? Oh yum, Willa food."

The blond smacked her best friend's hand away from the zucchini on the cutting board as Scott told him, "About me being a werewolf. And how Willa has been handling the full moon and being one for three months."

That got Stiles to freeze for a whole minute, before he started stammering idiotically, making incoherent syllables before shouting, "WHAT?!" Willa chuckled slightly as she moved onto the cucumbers and Scott filled in the ADHD sophomore on Willa's 'condition'.

Stiles jumped onto the counter, stealing a piece of carrot that had been soaking in marinade, and stated, "I'm appalled that you kept this from us until now. I mean, we could have helped, you know. So, great, now I've got to werewolf buddied to chain up on a full moon."

Her brother and friend practically jumped out of their skins as Willa growled, her eyes glowing, and she hissed, "I don't need to be chained up on a full moon."

Holding his hands up in surrender, Stiles agreed, "Okay, no chains on the full moon for Wills, copy that."

Pulling back her wolf, her eyes faded back to blue and she smiled, then returned to cooking. The rest of the night was uneventful. Mostly Scott and Stiles discussing lacrosse and the occasional question being asked of her. Though, the whole topic of werewolves was avoided as much as possible because of Scott being so uncomfortable with it, and Stiles a bit too afraid that one of the McCall twins was going to 'wolf out' on him.

—

Authors Note: So, Stiles and Scott know she's a werewolf now! And you got some cute McCall sibling time. And I finally finished the first episode off woohoo!

As for the time-line distortion. Yes, technically the party is supposed to be on Friday, but it all got screwy, plus gives some time for things to be awkward between Scotty and Allison.

Next chapter: several close calls of Scott catching Willa with Derek!