That Monday, Mae really wasn't paying much attention to her classes. It was a good thing she wasn't called upon to answer any questions because she wouldn't have been able to. On top of everything else in her life, Mae really didn't need the scoldings of her teachers on top of it.

Her mind kept going back to the same thing over and over again. If she was this key thing that could unlock an ultimate evil in Beacon Hills…then why was she still there? Why hadn't she gotten the hell out of dodge yet? Wouldn't that make everything easier for everyone if she left? If the key wasn't anywhere near the lock then the evil would never be released. That felt like the was the best thing that she could do and yet…it was the last thing that she wanted to. Mae hated not having all the details and not knowing for sure what was going on and what her role in it all was. Until she had all her questions answered, she couldn't make an official decision. At least not one without a whole lot of regrets tied to it.

At lunch, Mae found she wasn't really hungry. She kept spinning her uneaten apple on the table to just pass the time. Cello playing at lunch wasn't an option because for one thing she didn't bring it with her that day and another, ever since Ty gave it back to her she hadn't even opened up the case. She couldn't explain it, not really, but she wanted to put distance between who she was and who Paige was…and yet…she was starting to feel like they were more similar than she cared to admit.

Mae was pulled from her thoughts when one moment she was sitting alone and the next Scott and the rest of the pack came over and sat down. Scott and Liam sat on each side of her, Kira next to Scott on his other side, then Stiles, Malia, and Lydia across from them.

"Uh..hi." Mae said as she scooped up her spinning apple so Stiles could set his lunch tray down. Everyone gave her a similar greeting then started talking about classes and such. It was refreshing not to talk about the 'elephant in the room' but it was also weird sitting with everyone at lunch. Mae, even back at her old school, never really sat with a crowd. She was either solo or playing her cello during lunch. This was…different, but she really couldn't complain, especially with Liam being there.

The refreshing thoughts were thrown aside when Mae looked up to find Lydia staring at her. "What now?" Mae asked in an relatively annoyed tone.

Lydia tilted her head like she was examining Mae, "Just thinking" she replied.

Mae really didn't like that answer, "About what?", she asked. The rest of the conversations going on at their table seemed to cease as they waited to hear what Lydia had to say. Mae took a bite of her apple as she looked at Lydia, waiting for her reply.

Lydia narrowed her eyes a little in thought before speaking, "Stuff".

Mae could feel her temper and frustration growing which made her claws start to grow and her eyes start to change. Scott noticed this and quickly turned to face Mae better. He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Mae…calm down."

She looked at Scott with her yellow eyes and replied, "Getting harder to do that when no one will give me a straight answer about anything!".

Stiles looked at Lydia and said, "Will you please just tell her what you were thinking about!" he then quickly looked around to make sure no one was noticing what was going on.

Lydia sighed, "This isn't the place to talk about that." She replied.

Malia then said, "Well she's gonna pop if you don't."

Mae glared at Malia when she said that. Malia's perceptions of things were honestly getting on Mae's nerves.

Liam saw the glare and said to Mae, "Don't bite my head off for saying this, but take deep breaths." it worked for him, at least sometimes it did.

Lydia rolled her eyes, "I don't think Paige…died, died."

Hearing this made Mae calm down and yet get more riled up at the same time. "Explain!" Mae practically yelled at her.

Lydia gestured to Mae, "See I said this wasn't the place to discuss this."

Mae closed her eyes and focused on her anchors, and did as Liam suggested by taking deep breaths, to make sure she didn't fully wolf out on them. Once she was calm she opened her eyes and they were back to normal. "What do you mean you don't think she died, died?"

Lydia took a sip of her soda before saying, "I can't really explain it. It's more of a feeling. It's just…the more time I spend with you the more it feels like, you have to be kept alive this time but doesn't really feel like you died in the first place. At first yes it felt like you should be dead but weren't but now it's more like…you never were. It's complicated." Lydia shrugged a little and continued her lunch.

"Lydia, I think you just everyone even more confused." Stiles pointed out and Malia nodded in agreement.

Mae was included with that statement and couldn't deal with it right then so she grabbed her backpack and left the table.

Mae was planning on ditching school when she heard Scott call out to her. She turned around in the empty hallway to find Scott and Liam coming after her. "Where are you going?" Scott asked worriedly.

Mae threw up her hands as she said, "Don't know but am tired of being here around everyone. You're my alpha, and that's my pack, and I really appreciate that but I'm not used to all this heavy duty supernatural drama okay? I'm not. One minute I'm just a sixteen year old werewolf trying to live as normally as possible and the next I find out I'm some reincarnation or something of a girl who was killed at a supernatural altar and because of that now I'm some bloody key to unlock hell on earth! This is too much for me to deal with." She had to catch her breath after getting all that out. Mae then held up her hands and backed up before turning around and walking away.

Liam and Scott continued to follow her.

"What if Damon finds you?" Liam asked her worriedly.

"What's the difference of him finding me here or anywhere else?" Mae retorted.

"At least here you're more protected with everyone around. He wouldn't do anything to risk exposure." Scott replied.

Scott and Liam hurried up to get in front of Mae to get her to stop walking. "If you have to go will you at least let one of us go with you?" Scott said, then Mae crossed her arms, "I don't need another babysitter thank you very much".

Scott sighed, "It's not a babysitter, it's a precaution".

Liam then quickly volunteered, "I'll go".

Scott looked at Liam, "What about your book report?"

Liam replied, "Already handed it in". That was the truth, he did hand it in. Now the quality of the book report was an entirely other story.

Scott looked at Mae in question and she gave up, "Whatever, let's go." Mae walked past them again and Liam quickly followed with probably a little too much jump to his step.

Scott stood there and watched them go, a subconscious part wishing that he was the one that went with Mae instead of Liam.

Since Mae really had no clue where to go since she really hadn't had time to see much of Beacon Hills, Liam took her to a diner since they both pretty much missed lunch. Mae was finding her appetite was back and was more than willing to go there. They sat in a booth near the back of the diner and enjoyed their lunch.

"Lydia really rubs you the wrong way doesn't she?" Liam asked between bites of his burger.

Mae let out a breath before she popped a fry in her mouth, "That's one way to say it. I don't know why but she…yeah. She rubs me the wrong way". Mae ate another one of her fries as Liam replied, "You'll get used to her eventually".

Mae picked up her milkshake and before taking a sip she said, "I don't think eventually is going to get here soon enough". Mae and Liam had a chuckle about that then they continued their lunch.

Meanwhile at the high school:

It was time to change classes and in the hubbub of the crossover Scott went to Lydia's locker while she was getting her books. "Hey Lydia, can I ask you a favor?"

Lydia turned to face Scott briefly, "What is it?" She asked as she removed some things from her locker.

Scott adjusted his backpack and said, "Could you not mention your…feelings about Mae in front of her anymore? The stress of everything is really getting to her and the last thing we need is her…wolfing out in front of everyone."

Lydia sighed, "Fine, whatever. But maybe you should be more focused on your own girlfriend instead of the copy of Derek's dead one."

Scott looked like he had no idea what she was talking about so Lydia clarified. "You obviously didn't see Kira's face when you tried to calm Mae down by touching her shoulder. I think it was a mixture of territorial and jealous."

Scott shook his head, "Mae is my beta and my friend. That's it." he was a bit defensive with his reply.

Lydia raised her brows like she didn't believe him, "Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that." The bell rang out over head, "Well, better get to class." Lydia then walked away, leaving Scott with honestly no real idea as to what had just happened.

Meanwhile at Damon's house:

Damon was cooking something in the kitchen when Ty entered. "Well? Have you made any progress?" Damon asked.

Ty took a seat at the kitchen counter, "I gave her back the cello as a peace treaty. It's the first step of me getting close to her again. Once she sees the letter I wrote to her inside I expect her to contact me".

Damon looked pleased, "And what did this letter consist of?" He asked.

Ty took an apple from the fruit bowl on the counter and replied, "Whatever it takes".

Damon turned around and looked at Ty proudly, "Excellent".

Ty was still uncertain about what Damon's real motives were but until he had some sort of…reason, he wasn't going to doubt his alpha. Ty just smiled in thanks, got off the stool at the counter, and left the kitchen.

Once Ty left, Vanessa entered, "He still doesn't know what you plan to do with Mae?" She asked as she stood next to Damon.

Damon looked at Vanessa and replied, "No, and I do not intend to. As your husband pointed out he and Mae are quite close, connected even. Despite Ty's loyalty to me I am not going to risk anything getting in the way of him getting Mae back here before the blood mood rises."

Vanessa placed her hand on Damon's shoulder, "She will come back and you will become the most powerful alpha in the world. I'm sure of it." Vanessa slid her hand across Damon's shoulders as she walked away to leave the kitchen.

Damon continued to have a grin on his face for two reasons now.

Meanwhile at the Animal Clinic:

Derek was pacing back and forth in the back room as he waited for Deaton. When Deaton finally came in Derek started right in on him, "How certain are you that Mae is this key?".

Deaton replied calmly, "Without seeing her for myself I cannot be absolutely sure. However based off what I've heard from several people, it sounds like she could be it".

Derek replied, "So you really don't know anything for sure?".

Deaton shook his head slightly, "Not completely but Derek you have to understand, if Mae is the key and if she does get sacrificed at the Nemeton an evil unlike any other will be awakened. Nothing you have seen would even compare. Mae needs to be kept alive at all costs, but I don't need to tell you that do I?".

Derek was silent because there was no need to answer that question and Deaton knew it.

Mae and Liam had a pretty normal day and they ended up back at Scott's house. No one seemed to be home so they stayed downstairs. While Liam was flipping through the channels on the TV, Mae was humming something. "That sounds pretty." He commented.

Mae didn't even really realize she was humming until he mentioned it, "Thanks. I usually play it on my cello but haven't been able to for the past few days".

Liam turned off the TV and looked at Mae, "Is your cello here? I'd like to hear it, if you're up for it".

Mae thought about it for a moment and said, "Sure. I'll be right back." Mae got off the couch and ran upstairs to grab her cello out of the guest room. It would be nice to play her cello for Liam. She wasn't gone long when she came back down with the cello case in hand.

Mae opened up the case and found an envelope in there addressed to Mae with Ty's handwriting. She was not willing to open that at the moment so she tossed it on the coffee table.

Liam saw it and asked, "Important?".

Mae was setting up her cello as she replied, "Don't know yet. I really don't want to read it right now".

Liam already knew better than to push things with Mae so he didn't say anything more about it. Liam got comfortable on the couch as Mae pulled the bow across the cello strings and began to play the song she was humming.

Derek was outside of Scott's house to check in on Mae and try to convince her to see Deaton. The answers he could give her may not be the ones they wanted but they could at least keep Mae's mind from going crazy with all the unknowns going around. Derek was about to knock on the door when he heard Mae's cello playing. It instantly brought him back to the day he first met Paige, just like her playing had that day at the school. Against his better judgement he went let himself in so he wouldn't disturb Mae's playing. To say he wasn't pleased to find Mae was playing for Liam would be an understatement. It was probably a childish thing to do but he cleared his throat to get their attention, which it did.

Mae stopped her playing and looked up to find Derek there. She wasn't expecting him and in all honesty hadn't sensed him at all. She started putting her cello away when Derek said, "If you're not going to have the security system up then you should at least be on alert". He was looking at Liam as he said that, as if he was accusing Liam of not being responsible for Mae's well being.

"Forgive me for taking a little break from the supernatural." Mae replied sharply.

"You're a werewolf Mae, among other things, you don't get a break from the supernatural". Derek reminded her.

Mae had a look of 'you really don't have to remind me' on her face after Derek said that, which made Liam decide to change the subject, "So, Derek, what are you doing here?".

Derek looked at Liam, "I could ask you the same thing and where is everyone?"

Mae and Liam both shrugged, "We haven't seen them since lunch. Liam and I skipped."

Derek didn't look amused by the information Mae just gave him. "Scott let you do that?"

Mae which made her get up and go over to him to say, "I don't need anyone's permission to do anything". While that may be true, Mae is at least willing to compromise on some things…sometimes anyway. Mae was going to leave it at that then let her mouth run away with her by saying something she was going to regret, "Because you see, the last time someone forced me into something I ended up dead so I'm not really into the whole permission thing anymore". It was obvious that Mae didn't fully realize what she had said until the words came out of her mouth.

Derek's expression briefly showed how her words hurt him before he went stoic. Derek didn't say a word as he turned around and left Scott's house. Mae tried to stop him, "Derek!" She called out and followed him out the door, "I didn't mean it…" She said to him but he didn't acknowledge her words because he got into his car and drove off.

Liam followed Mae outside and placed his hand on her back in a comforting way. "He'll get over it". He said, trying to make her feel better.

Mae wiped the tears from her eyes and replied, "I don't think he will".

Meanwhile at Kira's house:

Scott drove Kira home on his bike after school. After she got off and gave him the extra helmet back she said, "I'm sorry we haven't been able to track down the rest of the legend. It's a pretty old one, and no one my mom's contacted can remember all the details. Apparently it was more of a fairy tale than a legend".

Scott knew all that was important but there was something else on his mind. Before Kira could say anything else he asked, "You don't think I have a thing for Mae do you?".

Kira was caught off guard by that question, "What? Why do you ask?".

Scott replied, "Something Lydia said. So do you? Because I don't".

Kira moved some hair behind her ear feeling a bit embarrassed, "For a moment, yeah I did. It's stupid I know".

Scott took Kira's hand in his and said, "There's nothing you could do that would make me think you're stupid".

This made Kira smile and the two shared a kiss before Scott started up his bike and headed home as his subconscious, on some level, was calling him a liar.

Mae and Liam were in the living room at Scott's house as silence hung in the air. Mae was still beating herself up about what she had said to Derek, wondering how she could have said something so hurtful to him. It was a deep rooted regret and wished she could take it back.

Liam didn't know what to say to Mae that might be helpful so he just kept quiet and tried to ignore the part of him that was glad there was more of a rift between Mae and Derek. Liam felt like a selfish jerk for thinking it and yet it didn't stop him. Finally Liam had to say something so he asked, "Are you going to open that?".

Mae had heard Liam speak but the words didn't connect with her, "What?" She asked then Liam gestured to the letter from Ty that was previously thrown on the coffee table. Mae looked over at it and with a sigh she grabbed it, "I probably should at some point but right now, no. This is the last thing I want to deal with". Mae shoved the envelope in her back pocket. After that, silence hung in the air again. "I have got to get out of here". Mae said suddenly before getting up from the couch and heading for the door.

Mae didn't get very far because Scott was coming in just as she was planning on heading out. "Where's the fire?" He asked Mae as he set his helmet off to the side.

Mae sighed because she knew that he wasn't going to let her go anywhere without a bodyguard. She had something in mind that she had to do and really did not want anyone else tagging along with her.

"Mae?" Scott asked again with a questioning look on his face.

She crossed her arms and said, "I need to take care of something". Mae tried to walk past him but he stopped her.

"Someone's going with you then" Scott told her flat out.

Liam got up from the couch and went over to them figuring that he'd be the one to go with Mae. Something Liam was more than willing to do.

"Scott, please. This is something that I need to take care of alone". Mae told him.

Scott looked at Mae and asked, "Can I at least give you a ride to wherever you're going? I won't interfere unless your safety depends on it, I promise".

Mae thought about it for a moment then said, "Fine".

Liam looked disappointed that he wouldn't be going with her but she didn't see that, Scott did though.

"Stiles will be coming over in a bit so you can hang out here if you want". Scott said to Liam as he picked his helmet back up.

Liam replied, "I'll be here. It's not like I have anything else to do".

Mae and Scott then went outside. As they were putting on their helmets Scott asked, "Where are we going anyway?" To which Mae replied, "The cemetery".

As promised Scott hung back and didn't interfere with what Mae wanted to do. She sat in front of Paige's gravestone and just looked at it. She kept reading over the name and the dates and it all felt so surreal, like a part of her knew that name shouldn't be etched in stone or something. Mae expected the stone to need some cleaning since she figured Paige's parents would have moved away from Beacon Hills but it was as clean as it would have been upon placement and there were even flowers in a vase next to it. Had Paige's parents not moved away after all? Would this be another thing that she would have to worry about on top of everything else? These thoughts and worries were swimming around in the deep end of her brain when a far too familiar voice pulled her up for air.

"Mae?" Derek said in surprise since he didn't expect to find her there. Mae turned quickly to face him and saw a bouquet of flowers in his hand that matched the withering ones in the vase. In that moment it clicked in Mae's mind; Paige's parents weren't the ones bringing flowers to Paige's grave and cleaning the headstone…it was Derek.

Mae looked just as surprised to see him standing there as he was to see her. She got up from the ground and brushed off her pants. "Hi". Mae said lamely and felt ridiculous for saying it. Why couldn't she have come up with something better than that?, she wondered.

"Hi" Derek said back with uncertainty of what else to say in that moment.

Mae started to say something then stopped so she could take the time to think about what she wanted to say as opposed to coming right out with something again. "I'm sorry Derek, for what I said earlier. I wish I could take it back. I'm so sorry".

As Mae was speaking, Derek was replacing the withered flowers with the fresh ones. He heard what she said and he had a hand placed on Paige's headstone as he replied, "I'm not sure what got to me more. The fact that you said it or the fact that you said it like it happened to you and not to Paige".

Mae bit her thumbnail anxiously before replying, "I never should have said it at all Derek. Can you please forgive me?". There was a pleading look on her face as she looked at him.

Derek turned around to face Mae and stood up. "There's nothing to forgive." He said, "You were right. If I never interfered then Paige never would have died. So I'm going to make things easier for you this time around and take myself out of the equation".

Mae didn't understand what Derek was saying, "What do you mean?" She asked because she couldn't accept what she thought he was trying to say.

"I mean, I'm going to leave you alone Mae. You don't have to worry about me ruining your life this time". Derek didn't say another word as he walked away leaving Mae standing there feeling like her heart had just been ripped out of her chest.

Mae stood there for…well she honestly didn't know how long but she knew one thing for sure; she wasn't going to leave things like that between them. She couldn't, even with a part of her tugging to have her go back to Liam, she couldn't leave things like that with Derek. With nothing else on her mind except for that she took off running and wouldn't stop until she saw Derek again.

Meanwhile Scott was talking on the phone with Kira when he realized that Mae had been gone a bit longer than she said she'd be. He told Kira that he'd call her back and went to check on Mae. When he discovered that Mae wasn't there he had a 'crap!' look on his face and picked up Mae's scent to follow. Once he caught it he rushed back to his bike, got on and took off in hopes of finding her before anyone else would. Unfortunately along the way he would lose track of her scent and have no clue as to where she had gone…

Mae didn't stop running until she reached Derek's loft and barged right in without any warning. Derek was sitting on the spiral staircase when Mae arrived and started right in one him. "Who the hell do you think you are?! You do NOT get to do that to me! You do not get to rip yourself out of my life without my permission! I want you in my life, I need you in my life! So bugger for you but you do not get to do that to me! I'm not going to let you!" Mae yelled at him with every step she took towards Derek who was slowly getting up from his seat on the stairs and just as slowly made his way to her. "What do you think Paige would say about how you treated me? Oh wait, I know, she'd say that you were an jackass because that's exactly what I'd say! If you loved her at all how could you do that! I screwed up with what I said but that does not give you the right to do what you did. I mean my god I can't explain it but I love you just as much as she did, maybe more!" Mae couldn't believe that last part had come out of her mouth. She had a thing for Liam, she knew that, she felt that, but in that moment she realized that what she felt for Derek went far deeper than that.

Derek was right in front of Mae at this point as she kept yelling at him and when she said those words that she loved him as much as Paige did, maybe more, he did what he wanted do since…well…pretty much since he laid his eyes on her. Derek leaned down and pulled Mae close. He kissed her with love and longing and never wanted to let her go. Mae was caught off guard by this action but that didn't stop her from returning Derek's kiss with the same love and longing as she wrapped her arms around him. In the back of her mind she couldn't help but find…not really amusement but something like that, because Derek was not only Paige's first kiss but hers as well.

Neither Mae or Derek wanted that moment to ever end but the shrill of Derek's cell phone caused their kiss to break. When they parted they looked into each other's eyes with a bit of breathlessness. The technical age difference between them did not make contact with their minds in that moment.

Derek's phone continued to ring so Mae said softly, "You should get that".

Derek didn't take his eyes off her as she removed her arms from around him so he could answer his phone. Even as Derek answered his call from Scott, his eyes never left Mae. "What?" Derek spoke into the phone, "She's fine Scott. I'm looking right at her".

Scott was on the other end of the line sitting in Stiles' jeep with Stiles and Liam because they were getting ready to go out and look for Mae. Scott was relieved yet frustrated with the situation. At least he knew she was safe since Derek just said she was with him. "She's with Derek". Scott informed the other two in the car. Liam didn't like that and Stiles looked relieved too. Scott continued his conversation with Derek, "Please keep an eye on her".

Stiles then said loud enough into the phone, "And tell her she pretty much gave us all freaking heart attacks! Thank you!".

Scott looked at Stiles with a 'was that really necessary?' look on his face and Stiles just shrugged.

Scott then told Derek, "We'll be at Stiles' house". On that note, Scott ended his phone call with Derek.

Derek listened to everything Scott, and Stiles, said and hung up after being told where they were going. "I'm guessing you heard that?" Derek asked Mae as he set his phone down on the table.

"Kinda hard not to with the super hearing and all". She said jokingly but yeah, she did hear everything. "I really didn't mean to make anyone worry". Mae then put some hair behind her ear and said, "So…Did that…I mean…Do we…I don't know what I'm trying to say". She let out a chuckle because she felt really foolish in that moment.

Derek just smiled and said, "Then don't say anything", as he brought her close again so they could pick up where they left off.

Mae had a smile on her face as she wrapped her arms around Derek's neck and said, "No argument here".

Derek chuckled, "Now that's a first". Mae had a playfully offended look on her face before their lips met again.

For the next couple hours Mae and Derek didn't do anything beyond kissing. In fact they did more talking than anything else. Even with all the complicated feelings between them among everything else, the two of them together just felt right. It felt right to the both of them.

At one point when Mae got up, Derek saw the envelope sticking out of Mae's back pocket. His curiosity was getting the better of him in that moment when he asked, "What's that?".

Mae turned around and realized that he was talking about the envelope, "Oh, it's a letter from Ty that was in my cello case. I haven't read it yet". Derek did not look pleased about that which made Mae say, "I'm sure it's nothing". She pulled the envelope from her pocket and said, "And I'll prove it". Mae sat back down on the couch and laid back so Derek's leg was like a pillow again. She tore open the envelope and read the words Ty had written. The letter read:

'Mae, I don't know where to begin really. Saying I'm sorry for what I did and what I didn't do isn't good enough. You didn't deserve what Damon did to you and you didn't deserve my betrayal. You have been my friend for as long as I can remember and I threw all that away because I was afraid of what Damon would do to me. That fear drove a wedge between us and I hate it. Mae I promise if you come back things will be different. I will make sure they are different this time. You are my family Mae, please come home. -Ty'

Mae's eyes read over the words of the letter then she folded it up. "Ty wants me to come home". She repeated to Derek softly as she folded up the letter in her hands.

"You're not considering it are you?" Derek asked in reply.

"Considering going back to Damon's pack? No way. Considering trying to get Ty away from Damon too? Definitely". Mae said like a girl with a mission.

Derek wasn't too keen on the idea but kept that to himself so instead he said, "The pack's meeting up at Stiles' house. I should probably take you over too. They might have found something helpful".

Mae didn't move a muscle because she just wanted to lay there and feel safe and loved for a little while longer. "Just another minute".

Derek wasn't going to argue with her on that because he didn't want to leave just as much as she didn't.

Eventually Mae and Derek did leave the loft but they did not go to Stiles' house. Instead they went to the school's parking lot. Before they left the loft, Mae called Ty and asked to meet up. She knew better than to go alone so she asked Derek to come with her. Derek didn't like the idea of meeting up with Ty, since he really didn't like Ty, but Mae asked Derek to go with her so he would.

Mae was leaning against Derek's car as she waited for Ty to show up. "He's late". She commented as she looked at the time on her phone.

"Maybe he is finding it harder to get away from Damon than he thought it would be". Derek replied trying to give her a legitimate reason as to why Ty was late.

"You're probably right, and that's what's worrying me". Mae replied.

Mae didn't know that she was playing right into the plan to get her back to Damon before the blood moon. The first step was to get her to contact Ty for a meet, which she did. The next step would be to gain her trust and the trust of her pack; which Ty was more than certain he could do, and last…well Damon would be taking it from there.

Ty was deliberately late to the meet to make her think that Damon was making it hard to get away. To make the lie into truth Damon clawed Ty's face right before he left the house. It wouldn't be fully healed by the time he would arrive, it would give him more reason to get Mae to want to get close to him again.

Ty arrived at the school and headed to the parking lot. When Mae saw him she moved away from Derek's car while Derek looked around on the defense in case Ty brought back up. The scent of blood caught Mae's attention and she hurried closer to Ty. "Oh my god". Mae said as she turned Ty's face gently to get a better look at the wound. "Why did he do this?". She asked with worry in her eyes.

Ty replied, "Because I was coming here to meet with you". Ty didn't lie which made this all the more perfect. Mae would just perceive his truth a bit differently than what his truth actually was. Ty's knack for that was one of the things Damon kept him around for.

Mae could feel her anger rising, "Ty, you have to get away from Damon. Scott, my new alpha, he's a true alpha. He's nothing like Damon, Ty. Please leave his pack I'm begging you".

Ty shook his head a little then winced from the motion of it. "Do you really think Damon would let me go so easily? He's already looking for blood because you left, which reminds me…he has a message for you. Damon says that if you aren't back in his pack by the next full moon then blood will flow".

Mae looked angry yet worried, "I'm not coming back". Mae said this firmly, there was no way she was ever going to change her mind about it.

Ty moved some hair out of her face as he said, "I know, so just be prepared for what Damon has in store because of it". Ty leaned down a kissed Mae's cheek before backing away and taking off.

Derek practically growled when Ty kissed Mae's cheek. When Ty took off, Derek went over to Mae. "What was that about?". He asked to which Mae replied, "It was a warning. Damon's coming for blood if I'm not back by the next full moon".

Derek thought about the timing for a moment then he said, "Mae, that's in a few days". Mae knew this and nodded, "I know, which is why we need to figure out what to do about it…and soon".

(End Chapter 9)