10

**Hi all—So it will be the usual. Derek and Amy argue (shock), more Argent drama and Stiles gets laid. Thanks for reading and for your wonderful reviews!

Scott flew into Jackson's house and moved swiftly up the stairs. When he got to Jackson's bedroom, he found the young man sitting at the edge of the bed, nervously biting his nails, his left knee bouncing a mile a minute. He seemingly didn't even notice the crowd of people and wolves circling the room, talking frantically. Scott joined Jackson at the edge of the bed, putting a hand on his shoulder. Jackson looked up at him, offering a weak smile to show that he appreciated his new packmate's gesture. "They've been at it for nearly an hour and a half," said Jackson, nodding to Derek and Amy, who were engaged in a heated argument near one of the windows. The rest of the pack watched them with great interest, preferring to remain quiet while the two alphas duked it out. Stiles, however, stood between them and did his best to play referee.

"Amy I don't know why you're fighting me on this. Gerard deserved to die. He was an evil, sadistic bastard," said Derek. "Where's the bad here?"

"Look, Derek I'm not arguing that point but my concern right now is the remaining Argents seeking revenge. The medical examiner will chalk this up to some sort of an animal attack or at least try to explain it away in the most logical terms possible. The Argents are going to know damn right well that a wolf was the culprit," said Amy. She looked over at Jackson with sympathy in her eyes. "And chances are, Chris will immediately suspect Jackson after everything that's happened."

"Fine," said Derek. "So what's your big plan Amy? Are you just going to sit in this house, waiting for Chris to pull up with his gang of hunters?"

"My plan right now is talking with Stiles, Scott and Jackson about what we're going to do," she said.

He scoffed. "So you're just going to cut me out of the equation?" He nodded towards Jackson and Scott. "No offense to the two of them but Jackson's only good for sitting there looking pretty and Scott gets confused watching Dora the Explorer. So you've got Stiles. Stiles. Really?"

Amy growled. "Watch how you talk about them."

"Yeah Derek," said Stiles, indignantly. "I'll have you know that last week Scott was able to operate a coffee maker successfully without any help from me. I mean it tasted like road tar and sand but still, score one for Scott. And Jackson, well…" he said, pretending to wipe tears from his eyes. "That man can make a pork chop that will make you have a religious experience. And me? Come on Derek, I'd like you to name ONE time that you were in a sticky situation and I didn't help you."

"Oh like the time you got me arrested? That time?" asked Derek.

Stiles struggled for an answer. "Okay fine so ONE freaking time. God that was, like, months ago. Move on."

"Derek if you want to compare packs," started Jackson, channeling some of the snark of his former self. "We make your betas look like the Three Stooges. Not like that's hard or anything."

"Typical," said Derek, frowning at Jackson. "You're a wolf for, like, five seconds and you already think you're the best at it. Well, listen up Mister Perfectly Coiffed Team Captain, I…" Suddenly Derek turned to Amy. His eyes narrowed. "I'm sorry but did he just refer to you guys as a pack?"

Jackson smirked. "Yeah 'cause I'd ever join the circus that you're running. The four of you probably dig holes in the ground to sleep in at night. Amy's my alpha. Which means she doesn't have to put up with your alpha male bullshit."

Derek rolled his eyes. "A pack of two? Yeah that's really intimidating. Good luck with that."

"Three," said Jackson, patting Scott on the back. "I'll help you count on your fingers if you have trouble with the math, Derek."

Derek sneered at Jackson before turning to Scott. "Scott?" he asked, looking at the boy expectantly.

Scott nodded. "It's true."

Erica and Boyd exchanged disappointed looks. Isaac sighed in frustration as he'd hoped Scott would someday submit to Derek's authority. In a way he felt bad for Derek, as no alpha relished the thought of their betas denying them. Isaac understood his alpha on a different level than his packmates. Scott and Jackson's decision to side with Amy was eating Derek on the inside.

"And don't forget me," said Stiles grinning.

Derek looked at him with wide eyes. "Humans are a liability to packs, not an asset Stiles."

"What if said human takes the Bite?" asked Stiles, eyes wide as he faked innocence.

Derek turned to Amy. "You offered it to HIM? Are you that hard up? Look at him. His arms are like wet noodles!"

Amy watched Derek for a moment, catching the scent of something coming from his skin. As it penetrated her nostrils, her eyes widened. "You're jealous," she said sounding more surprised than accusatory. "Stiles pushed you over the edge. You wanted to give him the Bite."

Stiles looked shocked. "Me? Really? I never would have guessed because you generally use most of our time together to either threaten me or punch me in the face. And let's not forget the excessive eye rolling and the, wait, is it bad that I'm kind of flattered?" he asked, turning to Amy.

She smiled and rubbed his arm. "No. It's natural to feel flattered. The Bite is a gift after all." She suddenly felt profound sympathy for Derek. "I wasn't rubbing your nose in it, I promise. I shouldn't have blurted that out," she said, looking at Derek apologetically.

The alpha male maintained his stone faced expression, while Erica stood up and went to his side, pouting. "I don't want our packs to be separate," she said. "Why can't we just be one big pack? Now we're going to be rivals," she lamented. "And, truth be told, if I ever get to bang Stiles properly, I'd like to do it without the possibility of disappointing you," she said to Derek.

Stiles turned crimson. "I'm going to need some ice water," he said, going to run downstairs, taking a moment to slap Jackson and Scott upside their heads for snickering at him.

"I don't want to fight with you guys," said Isaac.

"Yeah we've got enough trouble with hunters," said Boyd.

Scott stood up and sighed. "Okay so we're two separate packs. It doesn't mean that we won't need your help. Or that we'd deny you if you guys needed it."

"That's very true," said Amy. "We may be in different packs but we share a common bond and a common enemy."

Derek gritted his teeth. "You steal two of my betas and you expect me to be your bosom buddy?"

Jackson slid next to Scott. "YOUR betas? McCall and I never joined up with you."

"Derek, please don't be pissed. I promise you that Amy got us by playing fair," asserted Scott.

Derek snorted. "Playing fair? More like she banged Jackson and sold you some story to tug on those ever-present heartstrings, Scott. Real fair."

Scott and Jackson both growled, lurching forward towards Derek. "Watch your mouth," said Jackson.

Amy stopped them. "It's okay. He's just angry right now," she said, laying a hand on both of their chests. She turned to Derek. "He'll tone it down once the bruises on his ego heal." Her eyes glowed red. "Right Derek?"

The alpha male noted Amy's show of authority and thought it best to keep his mouth shut. "Oh how the mighty have fallen," said Jackson, under his breath. Scott touched his shoulder, a gesture designed to ask Jackson to tone down any insults for the time being. The young man nodded and sat back down on his bed. "So getting back to the original argument…I killed my grandfather today. My grandfather who also happened to be the leader of a band of werewolf hunters that will probably do everything in their power to make sure that I end up in two pieces by week's end. I need all the help I can get."

Amy sighed and touched Derek's arm. "Look I know you're beyond pissed at me right now. But we're wolves. We protect our own. I wasn't cutting you out of the equation before. I only meant that I wanted to discuss how we should handle things with the pack. If you truly want to help us then I'll accept that help with gratitude. We can even work as one pack for the time being. But if you can't agree then you'll have to take your pack and leave."

Derek softened, feeling Erica next to him, squeezing his arm in anticipation. "Okay," he relented. "We'll come up with a way to find the kanima master and get Jackson out of this mess with minimal werewolf casualty. I won't make any guarantees on hunters, though."

Amy agreed, knowing she'd remove the head of anyone who tried to harm Jackson, Scott or Stiles. She held out her hand. Derek hesitated before taking it. "Thank you," she said.

Derek nodded. "You were right. We're wolf. We'll look out for each other."

Erica shrieked with excitement and rushed to hug Amy. The young beta kissed her on the cheek. "I wish he'd taken you," she whispered. Amy smiled and rubbed Erica's back and squeezed her tightly.

Boyd grinned and even Isaac couldn't contain his excitement. Derek looked at his betas sternly. "This is only temporary. Don't get too excited. Once we figure this out we go back to being separate packs."

Derek's pack groaned in disappointment while Jackson and Scott had an internal celebration. Stiles got back from the kitchen and saw Erica hugging Amy. "I leave for, like, five minutes and all of a sudden its girl on girl? What the hell?"

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Derek, Scott and Isaac approached the Argent house cautiously. It was just after nine in the evening and the television was on, set to the news broadcast about Gerard's death. The three wolves peered into the windows to see Chris looking despondent, Victoria looking angry and Allison generally conflicted.

"Have you spoken with her today?" Isaac asked Scott.

"Yes," said Scott. "She hated Gerard so she isn't exactly in mourning. She's sticking around to make sure that her family isn't plotting anything."

"Then why are we here?" asked Isaac.

"Because I don't trust any Argent. Including Allison," said Derek. "We need to keep an eye on things here if Chris decides to make his move."

Normally Scott would argue Allison's intentions but decided against it. Derek had venom in his eyes for the beta since finding out about Scott's decision to join Amy's pack. He had only went along with Derek and Isaac to make sure that Derek didn't have a meltdown on Chris that could potentially harm Allison.

"Guys has anyone stopped to consider that Gerard could have been the kanima master?" asked Isaac.

Scott sighed. "It had crossed my mind. But something about the way the master spoke to us when he or she possessed Jackson…they didn't talk like Gerard. It was very different. Whoever it was …they were much angrier. There was this hatred in the voice."

Derek watched Victoria carefully. The woman certainly had evil in her eyes. She chose to clean the house, not paying much mind to her grief-stricken husband and confused daughter. Derek wondered what she could have been thinking at that very moment. "Anger and hatred you say? I want to get closer to the house," said Derek. "So I can hear them."

Meanwhile, Stiles, in his attempt to avoid Erica, went into the study and began doing additional research in order to locate the kanima master. However, his efforts earned him just the opposite result because Erica followed him into the study. She lounged on an easy chair a few feet away from him, promising Amy she'd keep an eye on him while the alpha took Jackson and Boyd into the living room to go over what she and Stiles found at the county clerks office.

He sat at Jackson's father's computer, periodically turning his head to see the young beta female watching him. She twirled her hair nervously each time she knew he'd caught her. Finally, after an hour, he grew tired of the game. He sighed. "So any theories on the kanima master, Erica? Anything besides sitting and staring at me? It doesn't necessarily have to be about the kanima master. It could be anything," he said, shrugging. "Like who's your pick to win the Stanley Cup? Got any ideas on who might be on the next Dancing With The Stars? ANYTHING?"

She smiled weakly. "No. I just like looking at you," she said softly.

He put his head on the desk and groaned.

"I'm not so bad," she said. "I'm no Lydia Martin of course. Thank God," she said under her breath.

Stiles lifted his head. "Yeah because you're so invisible at school now. You've been the primary topic in the boy's locker room since you were bitten. Lydia's been dismissed as old news."

She moved to the side of the large chair and patted an empty space. "Come sit with me."

"Erica I've got a lot of shit to…"

"Come on," she said. "Take a short break and come over here."

"This isn't going to end until one of us dies, is it?" he asked.

"Nope," she said. "Come. Here."

He threw his hands in the air, admitting his defeat and kicked his sneakers off before going to get in the chair. She stopped him. "Lock the door," she whispered. Stiles gulped and did as she requested. He slid into the chair and put his feet up and she pressed into him, a sly smirk playing at her mouth. "Much better," she said.

Stiles nervously fidgeted until she placed a hand on his chest. "Settle down."

"Sorry," he said. "Beautiful girl laying next to me right now. My mind's not working at normal levels. Or at any level besides 'holy shit'."

"I'm not concerned with your mind," she said, gently taking his face in her hands and kissing his lips. To her surprise, he reciprocated the kiss and wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. She groaned while he playfully nibbled at her neck. Erica guided his hands, sliding them down from her neck to her breasts. He tugged the straps of her top and bra down and eagerly buried his face in her chest, becoming more thrilled at each little peek of her skin.

Erica could feel his excitement against her and she reached down between his legs, grinning devilishly. "Isn't this way better than research?"

"It's way better than breathing," he whispered hoarsely. "How-how far do you want to take this?" he asked.

She giggled. "We're temporarily Pack right now. I say we take advantage of that." She reached into her purse and extracted a condom, holding it up with raised eyebrows. "I want to give you something that will make you grin every time you hear some guy talking about me in the boy's locker room."

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"Fanny Wigglesworth?" asked Jackson. "You made that up."

Amy shook with laughter. "I swear I didn't," she asserted.

"So what ended up happening?" asked Boyd. "Am I going to have to call Derek's new girlfriend Fanny? I don't think I can do that with a straight face."

"See I'd have a worse time with the Wigglesworth," said Amy.

"I've got a problem with all of it," said Jackson. "Anyways," he said, taking a spot on the floor next to Amy and Boyd. "What did you and the Boy Wonder find at Fanny's place?"

"Wait," said Boyd, sniffing the air and looking towards the study. "Are…Stiles and Erica doing what I think they're doing?"

"I heard it earlier but I was hoping neither of you would notice," said Amy, chuckling. "But I forget I have two werewolves sitting next to me."

Jackson listened intently for a moment before cracking up laughing. "Well," said Jackson. "The poor kid had to lose it sometime. I had visions of McCall and I trying to get him dates at the retirement home."

Boyd giggled. "Well Erica's only been talking about him non-stop for about a month now. I guess it was inevitable that she'd break him down."

"Hey as long as they aren't doing it in the kitchen," said Jackson. "You guys know how I get about that."

"Alright let's give the kids some privacy and focus on the task at hand," said Amy, placing a document box on the floor in front of them. "So I got the address of your mother's apartment. The one she shared with Chris Argent."

"How'd you do that?" asked Jackson.

She sighed, extracting a piece of paper from a manila envelope. "It was listed on her marriage license. Signed and notarized by the magistrate herself."

"What? Marriage license?" asked Jackson, taking the sheet from her. He saw his mother's name in bold letters. Next to hers was the name of the future groom. "Who the hell is Michael Bowen?"

"I wouldn't have known had I not been a werewolf," said Amy. "Mike Bowen was a hunter. The Bowens were always extremely close to the Argents. They had a big falling out. Right around, shocker, 1995."

"A big falling out right around the time I was born," said Jackson, looking down at the paper. "Someone set Mike Bowen up."

"Or blackmailed him," said Boyd. "All in order to remove any possibility of anyone finding out that Chris was Jackson's father."

"Bingo," said Amy. "According to Stiles' research, Mike never served jail time for Catherine's murder. In fact, no one even knew about Mike until six months AFTER Catherine's death and there was little to no press coverage on him. So there was certainly some mutual back scratching in that scenario. Anyway, whoever blackmailed Bowen wanted any possible suspicion off Chris Argent and fast."

"And forged my mom's signature. Whoever it was knew about my mom long before her death. This license is dated in January of 1995. Months before I was born," said Jackson.

"But don't both the man and the woman have to be present when filing a marriage license? That could mean that two people were involved," said Boyd.

"No," said Amy. She handed him a general information page from the clerk's office. "Some towns and cities differ but good old Beacon Hills only needs one person."

"But who could it be?" asked Boyd.

"It's either one of the Argent's. Or my grandfather Jack," said Jackson.

"But didn't Chris say that your grandfather knew nothing about his hunting?" asked Boyd. "My money's on one of the Argents."

"I tend to agree," said Amy. "But which one? I mean if it was Gerard, then great because Jackson's taken care of that. But I want to find out for sure. Jackson, have you ever met Allison's mom?" she asked.

"No," he said. "Anytime I've ever picked Allison up from her house she's always been waiting at the end of the driveway. I've never gone in to meet the mom. She works at the school but I've never spoken to her."

"Boyd, how about you?" asked Amy.

"I've had to go to the office a couple of times. She seemed kind of snobby. But not like a bitch or anything," said Boyd.

"Hmm," said Amy.

"What is it?" asked Jackson.

"Well when you were possessed by the kanima master and spoke to me in the kitchen it got pretty nasty. Lots of werewolf slurs and below the belts to Stiles. After speaking to Chris I didn't get the sense that he'd say something like that, even in anger. I'm trying to think of who would," she said.

"Um…" said Boyd, looking in the direction of the study. "I know this may not be the best time to bring this up…but Stiles is really loud in bed."