Authors Note/ Announcement (14 April 2013): Please go to my profile to vote what happens next in Hidden Strength!

A couple minutes after leaving the school, Derek's defenses had wavered enough that Willa managed to start absorbing some of his pain. It lasted all of thirty seconds before he realized what she was doing and quickly put a stop to it, putting up a wall of sorts. She growled at him, getting a growl in return. They locked eyes and Willa snarled, telling him to let her help. He growled back, refusing and telling her to stop.

Stiles looked over at them, half-yelling at them, "Stop with the barking or whatever! You're freaking me out!" Willa glared at Stiles, but both of them ceased the animalistic communication, continued silently to fight, Willa trying to help his pain, and Derek refusing to let her. The radio was playing, but other than that, there was no conversation, the only other noise being Derek's pained breathing.

The smell of blood was getting stronger, and Willa tried not to gag as she ordered, "Come on, we need to get your jacket off, I need to look at it." He hesitated, but she didn't, tugging at the leather, making it clear that it was coming of whether he wanted it to or not. Derek helped, as best he could, but Willa had to do most the work, not that she cared. They came to a stop light, and Stiles sent someone a text, dropping the phone and hitting the gas the moment the light turned green.

A ding came from the device, and as Willa finally managed to get the leather jacket off her mate, Stiles threw the phone down, grumbling. He glanced over at Derek and huffed, telling him irritably, "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats, alright? We're almost there."

Willa glared at her friend for even thinking that Derek would be nothing but perfectly fine as the injured wolf asked breathily, "Almost where?" Even in excruciating pain, the elder male was the one to think a bit clearer.

Giving him a look like it was obvious, the brunette sighed, "Your house."

"What?" Willa broke her glare and told Stiles anxiously, "No, you can't take us there!"

Tossing her an exasperated and confused look, he asked, "I can't take him to his own house?!" While she understood how it made no sense, she also knew that Derek's home was not an option in his current state.

Derek answered for her, "Not when I can't protect myself, or Willa." Mentioning her made her hum gently, trying to say she didn't need him to worry for her. Stiles sighed and muttered 'alright' and pulled off to the side of the road.

Turning off the engine, he shifted to face the two werewolves in his car, asking, "What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet, hmm? Are you dying?"

Willa shifted half way and barked a very vicious growl at her best friend. No, Derek couldn't die, she needed him. He was her mate, hers. They needed to find the Alpha, kill him, for both Laura and for her. Then they would be okay, everything would be okay, there would be a future, a long, long one. Stiles' reaction to the animal noise he didn't understand was to shriek and lean away from the glowing eyed, angry blonde.

A hand grasped hers, and Willa felt her teeth retract as she looked to see Derek's large hand enveloping her much smaller one. She whimpered, a kind of apology, before nuzzling his shoulder. She was absolutely terrified, her wolf was agitated, and the smell of wolfsbane permeating the car was not helping either. Derek looked over at Stiles and answered, "Not yet. I have a last resort."

Stiles looked nervously at his friend, who was still resting her head on Derek's shoulder, and pushed, "What does that mean, what 'last resort'- oh my God, what is that? Is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out." Willa growled again, although Stiles didn't notice. He looked like he was going to puke, as Derek pulled his sleeve up, revealing the cause of his pain.

It was a bullet hole definitely, and it looked completely fresh. Not even any regular healing, the wolfsbane was prohibiting any kind of repair to his body. Whatever kind of wolfsbane it was, it was making sure to take hold. There were black veins crawling up his arm, emanating from the bullet hole. She almost gagged again, just seeing it. Her mate, he was hurt, and seeing it made it worse. Derek gripped Willa's hand again, trying to comfort her despite him being in pain, and commanded Stiles, "Start the car. Now."

Maybe it was seeing Derek weak for the first time, or that Willa seemed to care so much, but he didn't listen and instead retorted, "I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, alright? In fact, I bet if I wanted to, I could drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road, and leave you for dead!"

Willa reacted instantly to the threat and her hand pulled from Derek's and she grabbed Stiles' upper arm in a vice-like grip, promising him in a voice that dripped venom, "Start the car now, Stiles, or I'm going to rip your throat out, with my frickin' teeth." Her wolf wanted to just do it, but allowed her to settle with the threat, along with baring her now massive canine teeth, while her eyes were blazing like the sun was behind them.

Stiles gulped and nodded weakly, turning the key as Willa let go of him. She shifted to be directly behind Derek, wrapping her arm around the front of his shoulders, her chin resting on his shoulder as she let out a harsh breath. Leaning his head against hers, his hand engulfed hers again, holding onto it tightly. She whined again, pushing harder to try and take at least some of the pain. It would be better than watching him suffer, it hurt knowing she could help and he wouldn't let her.

Derek's eyes were closed as he murmured a 'no' to her. Stiles glanced over at the two of them and finally asked his friend, "Why did you say that? To Scott, that you couldn't loose him. It's not like he's the only werewolf in town, anymore. Why's he so important to you?"

Turning her head a little to look at Stiles, she watched him for a moment, then answered, dodging the question entirely, "This isn't a conversation to have right now, Stiles. Especially while you're driving."

Her very blatant avoidance of the question visibly irritated Stiles, and he challenged her, refusing to drop the subject, "No, this is definitely a conversation we should have right now. Because I'm driving, I can't reach over and strangle you or him like I think I'm going to want to." Willa was quite sure that if Stiles had been a werewolf he would have been growling and shifting at that point.

She met her best friend's eyes in the rearview mirror, remaining adamant, "We are NOT having the Derek conversation while he is in your passenger seat, being a stubborn ass!" Willa growled slightly, directing the last half of her sentence towards the older werewolf who just huffed something that gave another 'no' impression.

Stiles was still glaring, at the road now, but his perpetual curiosity made him switch topics, "Why is he a stubborn ass, and why do you keep growling at each other like a pair of angry puppies?" If the situation had been any less dire, Willa would have been rolling with laughter at the thought of Derek resembling a puppy in any way, shape, or form. The only kind of puppy her mate could ever resemble was a hell-hound puppy, and that was on his best days.

But the wolfsbane was crawling through his system and there was a chance she could loose her mate in the next few hours so the comparison didn't receive it's deserved laughter. Instead, Willa just answered him, happy that Stiles had let the topic change, "He won't let me help. I could ease the pain if he would stop being so goddamn Derek-ish for a minute."

Her description of 'Derek-ish' did get her a snort of laughter from Stiles, mostly because of the younger boy's idea of Derek-ish. In this specific case, Stiles' idea of it was rather appropriate to Derek's attitude, even with Willa involved.

The werewolf in question was only half conscious, but aware enough to prevent Willa from taking any pain. Stiles was slightly confused after the brief amusement of her response, and the blonde picked it up, explaining further, "It's one of those stupid little benefits of being a werewolf. We have some magical ability to ease the pain of another wolf. There are certain conditions and circumstances that have to be in place, but it's possible."

Nodding, Stiles sighed, "So he's on his death bed but won't let you help. Why won't he let you help?" Of course the one time he manages to return to a topic is the one time Willa doesn't want to discuss it. He wasn't going to drop it, she was very well aware, but had been hoping that she could at least have distracted him a bit longer. Derek groaned slightly as the car jolted when it hit a slight bump.

The blonde finally just resorted to pleading and compromising, "Stiles, I promise we can have this entire conversation you insist on having after we save Derek. But right now, I can't have it with you, not now. Please, just wait." The ADHD sophomore let out an agitated sigh, but nodded in agreement, understanding that no matter how hard he pushed, he would get no where for now.

—0—0—0—

"What am I supposed to do with him?" Derek's defenses had finally weakened enough an hour ago for Willa to start absorbing some of the pain, only to find it would sting, strongly. She could only take tiny amounts for about a minute before it would start to burn. But she hadn't stopped, mostly because she didn't want Derek to be smug about being right to bar her broom helping.

Stiles had finally gotten a call from Scott, who was currently groaning, "Take him somewhere, anywhere." Her brother was starting to panic, mostly when Stiles had told him about Willa's behavior and refusal to say why she cared about what happened to the former murder suspect and all around broody-wolf.

The brunette male glanced over at the pair of werewolves. Both looked god-awful now, Willa starting to loose energy from trying to help Derek, and Derek just looked absolutely horrid, pale and drawn out, like he'd been ill for years. Sighing into the phone, Stiles alerted Scott, "By the way, he's starting to smell."

"Smell- like what?"

"Like death," Stiles stressed. Willa was lying down in the back, though still holding onto Derek's hand, and just offered a small whimper in agreement. And it was worse on her, the wolfsbane spreading up Derek's arm was trying to start the decay of death prematurely. The scent had hit Willa and Derek before the only human in the car.

Scott finally suggested, "Okay, uh, take him to the animal clinic."

Willa was only half aware of the conversation at the point, as she shifted her body slightly. Her brother and Stiles exchanged a few more words before the exhausted male sighed and handed the phone to Derek, telling him, "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you."

Derek took the phone with his good arm and Stiles looked back at Willa, telling her in a low voice, "You aren't looking that great yourself, Wills."

Blue eyes glared up at the driver as she mumbled back, "You're such a charmer, Stilinski. S'a wonder you're single." Her response was a glare, before he turned away. They were all on edge, cranky, and in some kind of pain, one way or another. And Stiles was still upset with her about the nearly-arm crushing grip she had had on his arm earlier.

As Derek hung up on her brother, Willa took the opportunity to do something incredibly stupid. She opened her mind up and yanked a massive portion of Derek's pain, only to yelp and let go of him, her back arching up in pain as inky black tendrils appeared on her forearm, shrieking and writhing as the pain slammed into her, much like she had gotten shot.

Stiles panicked, words pouring out of his mouth a million miles a minute as he tried asking her what he should do. Vaguely, the beta was aware of Derek just yelling for Stiles to get to clinic fast. Her mind was hazy from the pain, and she felt that odd tingling yet incredibly acidic pain that came with any kind of wolfsbane related injury, and her body continued to rise, fall, and contort to try and get away from the pain. The only reason Willa could take any of Derek's pain was because she was his mate, not because she was an Alpha. If an Alpha were dong what she was doing, they could be able to absorb and dissolve the pain. All Willa could do was take a share of it, and feel exactly what he was feeling.

They must not have been far from Deaton's office, because as the pain finally faded out, her vision returning without the black spots and blurriness, she saw the boys moving to exit the car. Before either could try and help her, she sat up, telling them she was fine and climbing out on her own, immediately coming to Derek's side and helping him move towards the back of the clinic.

With a renewed sense of urgency, Stiles had practically sprinted to where the spare key was and was unlocking the metal roll-up door. As the high-school student turned the lights on, Willa helped Derek into the small back room, letting him slump onto a pile of dog-food bags to rest, his heavy breathing alerting the entire trio that just moving was becoming a massive effort. While Willa crouched to look at his arm again, Stiles' phone dinged and a moment later, he asked, "Does 'Nordic Blue Monkshood' mean anything to you? Either of you, anything?"

The blond shook her head, only recognizing 'monkshood' as another name for wolfsbane, but Derek panted out, "It's a rare form of wolfsbane. He needs… he needs to bring me the bullet." Rare, that was never a good word to combine with 'wolfsbane', it meant that it was probably more harmful than normal wolfsbane, and to werewolves, plain old wolfsbane was pretty damn bad.

Stiles didn't seem to realize it, just glancing at Willa in confusion, before asking, "Why?"

There were so many horrid things she wanted to say to Stiles. She wanted to shout and holler and yell to just tell Scott to bring the damn bullet and help her with Derek. Maybe even flash her eyes and growl, but Derek prevented her from doing anything that stupid and just said between heavy breathes, "Cause I'm gonna die without it."

That was when it all went to hell. Stiles started freaking out and sent Scott the text telling him to hurry up and bring the bullet, while Willa forced her mate to stand, then proceeded to help him stumble through the clinic until the reached an exam room. Stiles had joined them, hitting the lights again while Willa helped Derek peel his shirt off, asking tersely, "You gonna tell me what that last resort is yet?"

She got a grunt in response as the pair reached the metal table that normally held cats or dogs, and Derek allowed Willa to turn his arm, allowing her to look at it in the exam light. The tendrils that were crawling from the bullet wound were now thicker, almost rope-like, and gaining a pinkish edge from the blood it was poisoning, though they seemed to fade more the higher up his arm the got, and hadn't reached his shoulder yet, which was a very good thing.

Stiles looked over, and his need to gag at the sight of the infected bullet wound paired with his nerves and fear of the two highly agitated werewolves made him start to ramble, trying to make the wound seem less severe almost, "You know that really doesn't look like anything some Enchinacea and a good nights sleep couldn't take care of."

Two sets of eyes turned to glare at the human male, though both were normal, non-glowing colors, and Derek told him, his breathing labored and inconsistent, "When the infection reaches my heart, it'll kill me."

Of course, that didn't settle well with Willa who growled, her eyes flashing as he moved towards the cabinets and drawers behind him. Stiles glanced at his friend before asking, sarcasm masking the fear, "'Positivity' just isn't in your vocabulary, is it?"

Derek didn't seem to care about Stiles' opinion, not like that was a change, and continued searching through the drawers, telling the pair behind him, "If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time… last resort."

Willa snarled, asking shortly, "You gonna let us in on it, or should we freaking guess?!"

The wolf glanced over his shoulder before returning to the drawer, only answering when he held up an electric handsaw, "You're gonna cut off my arm."

That didn't even begin to settle with Willa, who argued, "Are you freaking kidding me?! That was your last ditch effort, loose a damned limb?! No, I'll… I'll bite you." She didn't mean it as a threat, a sarcastic comment, she literally meant that she would bite him. Not for just the sake of doing so, but in a second mate claim.

Blue eyes flashed at her, Derek immediately rejecting the idea, "Nordic Blue Monkshood doesn't dissolve quickly, it would only transfer it to you and instead of killing you, it'd leave you in agony for at least a week!"

Stiles interrupted, "For those of us not in the loop, how the hell would you biting him help us?! It'll just poison you, this isn't snake venom, you can't suck it out!"

The blond yanked the saw out of her mate's hand and threw it onto the table, out of his grasp, and snapped at Stiles, "The bite would be a mate claim!" Not caring about the implications, she told Derek, "I'd rather be in pain a week than watch you die!"

Both Willa and Derek resorted to growling and snarling and barking at each other, leaving Stiles completely out of the argument. For a good three minutes, Willa tried to make Derek concede and allow her to double up the mate claim bond, knowing that while it would make any separating more difficult, especially in heat, that it would save him and all his limbs. Derek continually refused, reminding her that he'd only claimed her in desperation with no other option when the Alpha tried to kill her, and they still had an option here, something far less difficult. It was only when he reminded her that the bond could have massive physical repercussion did she concede.

Despite being the one to admit defeat, she was still upset and snapped, "Fine, we'll cut your damned arm off!" Her sudden outburst of actual human speech startled Stiles, who had picked up the saw, now dropping it.

While Stiles began panicking, asking what happened if Derek bled out, Willa tied the latex strip around Derek's bicep while he told the younger male, "It'll heal if it works." Even though she was now going along with it didn't mean she liked it, and scowled when he said 'if'.

She tugged the tie particularly tight, shooting a glare at her mate when Stiles confessed, "Look, I don't know if I can do this. You know, the cutting of flesh, sawing of bone, and especially the blood!" Honestly, Stiles looked almost as bad as Derek at just the idea of amputating the poisoned arm, and the blonde teenager was shocked he hadn't completely emptied his stomach yet.

Derek huffed as Willa gave another yank to the knot in the latex, then asked Stiles, exasperated, "What, are you faint at the sight of blood?"

Willa finally looked at her friend, raising her eyebrow. If he was faint at the sight of blood, it would have been news to her. Stiles looked just as exasperated and shot back, "No, but I might be at the sight of a chopped-off arm!" While the point was valid, she was more concerned with her mate at this point.

Her mate was halfway through threatening to cut off Stiles' head when Willa intervened, taking control, "We don't have time for this! Scott isn't here, we just have to do it!"

She snatched the saw out of Stiles' hand, and in response almost, Derek's body jerked and heaved. The older male coughed as he puked black blood onto the stone floor, Stiles immediately shrieking, asking in a half-panicked half-queasy voice what it was. Willa gagged slightly at the smell as Derek answered, "My body, it's trying to heal itself."

Stiles managed to stammer that his body was doing a horrible job rather than puke, and Derek shouted for him to do it. Willa shoved the handsaw at Stiles, then came around behind Derek, pinning his arm onto the table by holding him down at the shoulder and elbow and just rasping, "Hurry up, Stiles."

As upset and mad as she was, Willa was scared, absolutely and completely terrified. She was so frightened this wouldn't work, and that she wouldn't be able to double the claim in time to save him. It didn't scare her that she would most likely die within a few hours if he did, she would probably welcome it. What scared her is that she was this panicked, this scared, this petrified over the entire thing. Willa had spend so long being afraid, it was like she was human all over again, something she didn't want.

Before Stiles could actually do anything, Scott burst into the room, looking between the saw on Derek's arm, Willa using her weight to hold him down, and Stiles, asking, "What the hell are you guys doing?!"

Stiles immediately dropped the saw, sighing, "Oh you just prevented a life time of nightmares." Willa got off of Derek within an instant, and could smell the wolfsbane on him, but she couldn't tell if it meant he had the bullet. It was just a general stink of wolfsbane.

Derek glanced over at the new wolf arrival, asking, "Did you get it?" Scott snapped out of his shock of the position he had just found them all in and nodded, stuffing his hand into his pocket and yanking out the bullet, handing it over. Willa hissed as she saw the massive copper sniper bullet. Standing up, though swaying slightly, Derek looked at it, not even sparing a glance when asked what he was going to do, just answering, though his words slurred, "I'm gonna…"

The bullet clinked and rolled as Derek collapsed to the ground, eyes closed. Willa's eyes flashed and she dropped next to her mate, Stiles running around the table to join her, while Scott dove after the bullet. The blond began shaking his shoulders, pleading with him, "No, Derek, don't do this, come on! Wake up, please, please, Derek!"

She didn't hear either Scott or Stiles, that the bullet was out of reach in a drain. All she could focus on was that her mate, hers, was dying in front of her. The bite didn't work if the receiver was unconscious. Unaware, yes, but they still had to be conscious. Willa continued shaking, even slapping him, pleading and imploring him to wake up, tell her what to do. Finally, Scott yelled he got it, and Willa looked up, indeed seeing the bullet.

Stiles leant over and muttered 'please don't kill me for this', though she wasn't sure who to, and punched Derek in the jaw, stumbling back as he began to swear, clutching his fist. Derek had jolted awake, and Willa let out a quick sigh of relief, before pulling him up, asking, "What do I do?"

Derek dug through the empty drawer again, and told her, his voice still slurred, "Get the powder out of it." Scott and Stiles were too shocked and panicked, while Willa had a cool head, realizing this was the only chance she had at being able to help her mate. She studied the copper for a millisecond before grabbing half in her teeth and pulling, ripping the copper like it was paper, the wolfsbane and a bit of gunpowder spilling out.

Stumbling back over, Derek had a lighter in hand and quickly lit the pile of dried herb and explosive, all four taking a step back when it flashed, blue smoke curling up from it. The three high school students could only watch as Derek gathered the ash into his hand, hesitating only a second before dumping it into the bullet wound, then pressing his finger in, howling in absolute agony as he crashed to the floor.

Willa shrieked and Scott had to hold her back from dropping onto the ground after him. She whined and whimpered as Derek writhed on the floor, growling and groaning as another round of wolfsbane hit his system. But this time, they watched as the black vines receded from his arm, blue smoke pouring out out of the bullet hole before it closed up, then vanished.

With her brother still holding onto her, she held onto him, absolute relief consuming her as Stiles cheered loudly, like it was some kind of special effect or something. Scott let go and asked, "Are you okay?" Despite always saying how much he didn't like the Hale beta, he still didn't want him to die, and that was good as it got in Willa's eyes.

She stepped over and helped Derek up as he replied sarcastically, "Well, except for the agonizing pain." The blonde couldn't help but smile, and didn't care that her brother or Stiles were standing right there. So she wrapped her arms tightly around the shirtless wolf, nuzzling her head into his bare chest slightly. Her smile widened as she felt two incredibly strong, warm arms wrap around her as well. His heart rate was normal, he no longer smelt like death, and he even teased, "Worried about me?" Stepping back, she punched him gently in the arm, still grinning widely.

A hand grabbed her wrist and tugged her back, making her yelp, and she spun to see that both Scott and Stiles were trying to put distance between the pair, looking the exact opposite of happy. Her brother was glaring at Derek and stepped forward, putting himself between his sister and the other beta, telling him, "Okay, we saved your life. So you're gonna leave us alone now, got that? All three of us. And if you don't, I'm gonna tell Allison's dad, I'll tell him everything-"

"You're going to trust them," Willa interrupted, absolutely incredulous. Yanking her arm out of Stiles' grip, she shouldered past her brother and stood next to Derek, who immediately shifted his footing to place himself in front of her a bit, out of instinct and habit. She hummed slightly, leaning against him a bit as she rebuked her brother, "They're hunters, Scott. You think just because you're seeing their daughter they won't hurt you? Or me?"

Scott growled and argued, "At least I know where they stand! Get away from him Willa!" Willa snarled and moved closer to the eldest wolf in a show of defiance, her eyes brightening as they faded from blue to yellow.

Stiles, who normally managed to hold his temper best when everyone else was close to blows, was just as upset that the blonde was seemingly choosing Derek over then and snapped, "Why don't we have that 'Derek conversation' now?! Seems like the perfect time, since we're all here!"

Derek growled defensively, moving his arm out to block anyone from getting to her easily and shifting half way in protection, while Willa moved closer, her hand resting on Derek's shoulder as she allowed a half-shift as well. Scott reacted by shifting halfway too, though he didn't seem to realize it, and Stiles just glowered, though the slight fear he felt caused him to step backwards slightly as he realized he was physically the weakest one in the room.

Willa spoke first after the wolves all snarled at each other for a good minute or so, remaining close to Derek, "Fine, we can have the conversation, but everyone calm the hell down!" To show what she meant, Willa pulled her wolf back entirely, taking a deep breath and calming down best she could. The older beta followed suit, standing up straight from his leant-over position, pulling back his wolf. Scott blinked and realized what they were doing and just shook his head to pull himself out, which made him look like a dog.

Stiles just tried to stop glaring, although he didn't make that much effort really. Her brother didn't even bother to hold back the absolutely deadly glare directed at Derek. Willa placed her hand gently on Derek's arm, murmuring for him to grab his shirt, before lifting herself to sit on the metal exam table, sighing, "You can ask me whatever you want, but only if you really want to know the answer."

Stiles, surprisingly, was the quicker and asked, almost the moment she stopped speaking, "Why did you offer that 'mate claim' or whatever bite to him?" Scott looked back at Stiles, shocked. She had forgotten that her brother hadn't been there when she put that out there, and hadn't been thinking about saying it around Stiles.

Of course Stiles just had to start with the hard ones, not anything easy, nothing to ease either boy into the entire situation. Derek had returned to stand next to her, the bloody shirt sleeve rolled up, as Willa answered, completely honest, though choosing words and phrases carefully, "Mate claims are considered a 'heal-all' among werewolves. It's been documented several times the bite to claim another wolf as a mate has saved wolves from wolfsbane poising, mistletoe poisoning, mortal wounds, from death by Alpha, all of it has been cured or reversed from a mate claim bite."

She was rather proud of herself, for not loosing patience and picking such a non-incriminating answer. But Stiles was just as clever as her, if not more so, and continued, "So you offered to basically get married to this guy," he gestured to the seemingly calm yet very broody Derek, "All so we wouldn't have to cut off his arm? Everything I've read has said wolves and werewolves mate for life, and I know you know that."

Damn Stiles and his thorough research. Willa tensed but nodded, still remaining calm, "Yes. I would have rather claimed him as my mate for the rest of my days than cut off his arm."

It was Scott's turn as he pushed, "You've barely known him three months, Wills! Why would you give up your chance at meeting someone you actually love for Derek Hale?" Scott was loosing his cool a lot quicker, though Willa assumed it was the idea of his baby sister having any kind of love life on top of possibly being involved with Derek.

Which meant there was more than likely going to be some kind of bloodshed that night, but it was going to happen eventually whether she liked it or not. Running a hand through her hair, the blonde twin reminded softly, watching her brother like a hawk, "I told you to only ask questions you wanted answers to. Scott, do you really, honestly, want to know why? Do either of you actually want to know why I was so scared to loose Derek?"

Both boys nodded adamantly, quickly. They probably didn't, they hadn't thought that far ahead, but she had promised, and they were going to find out anyway. But she was still scared that she could lose her brother, her best friend.

Stiles picked up on her hesitation, and actually managed to calm down a bit, attempting to encourage her, "Wills, we love you, you know that. No matter what." Derek inclined his head slightly at that to the youngest Stilinski in Beacon Hills, not that Stiles understood why.

Willa smiled, though it seemed a bit morose, and took a breath, before telling the two boys who had been in her life the longest, "The only reason Derek was against me claiming him was because a dual claim can have physical repercussions." It was a bit cryptic, but Willa would was still hoping there was a chance she could wiggle her way out of the conversation.

But Stiles, he was smart, smarter than Scott, and figured it out first, jaw dropping. The only one who didn't understand shook his friend, asking him 'what' several times before Stiles snapped out of shock enough to tell Scott, though his eyes were focused completely on Willa, "Derek already claimed her as his mate. And she's totally okay with it!"

She was right, all hell broke loose. Scott shifted completely, and lunged at Derek, knocking the taller male away from his sister and onto the floor. Stiles surged forward too, only he grabbed Willa and yanked her away from the brawling pair. Willa snarled and easily removed herself from Stiles' hold, diving into the fray. After trading a few punches and scratches, the blond got her claws into her brother and flung him across the room and into the brick wall, the impact forcing Scott out of his shift.

Derek stood, growling still but shifted completely down when he noticed there was a cut on Willa's cheek. Scott was disregarded by the elder immediately as he held Willa's chin, who just sighed that she was fine, it was healing. And it was, but that didn't stop Derek from checking the rest of her for any little scratches, with Willa telling him he was being ridiculous. The overprotective action was more for show, and Willa was aware, but at this point it was somewhat necessary, a show to her brother and unofficial brother that Derek was a good mate, that he would never hurt her.

Stiles helped Scott up and they watched Derek and Willa interact for the short minute, before Stiles stepped closer, and Derek went into defense immediately, eyes glowing in warning. That made Stiles step back, but Willa held onto Derek's arm, whining slightly. She didn't want any more fighting, as upsetting as this all was. The older beta huffed in response, but allowed himself to straighten into a more neutral position, keeping his eyes firmly on the other two males.

When no one tried to rip anyone's throat out again, Stiles stepped forward once more, hands up in surrender and spoke calmly, almost like he was mediating a war, "It's not exactly something I want to think about, you dating, Willa. And then you go and tell us you're in a permanent relationship? It's not exactly the easiest thing to process."

Scott said nothing, though it was for the better with his short temper, and Willa sighed, "Well, when was I supposed to tell you I'm dating Derek? After you two had him arrested, or when he saved Scott from the Argents?" Another round of growling came from Scott, this time answered with a snarl from Derek, cautioning the young beta against doing something stupid.

The blonde kept her hand on Derek's arm, and Stiles glanced over at Scott, but remained in front of the McCall male. Stiles looked back at Willa and pointed out, "Well, you have to admit he gives off a 'serial killer' vibe." She had to chuckle at that, earning a growl in indignation from Derek. Her friend had a point, he didn't give off a 'gentle and loving' impression.

Tension practically choked the air, and it took Willa clearing her throat dramatically to pull all the eyes from the glaring to her. Scott was pissed, but concerned as well, although fury was the predominant emotion for him. Stiles seemed a bit more understanding, though that didn't mean he lacked any anger. Sighing, Willa told her brother firmly, "Derek wasn't even going to make a claim to me until you got bitten."

That quickly startled Scott, who's eyes nearly bugged out of his head at the misguiding accusation, and Willa continued, "I was only bitten as an experiment, and when the Alpha bit you, he tried to kill me, he didn't need the 'test subject' anymore."

Derek nodded in corroboration, adding finally, "It's an unspoken rule, no matter how old when you meet, wolves wait until legal adulthood to make claims. The only exception is when the other's life is in danger."

Stiles seemed to be the only one able to digest any of that rationally, while Scott was just battling his temper. Which the ADHD lacrosse player noticed, and tried to make the entire topic more neutral, despite how upset he still was, "So, what, even if Willa had wanted to make the claim say, last week, and you hadn't already done it, what then?"

Willa was insanely relieved, the first time in the conversation, and indulged Stiles' curiosity, "If he wasn't dying, he wouldn't have let me." Scott was calming down just barely, but he hadn't tried attacking Derek again, and that was always a good sign.

The need to understand most anything that had to do with his two best friends was overwhelming apparently, and Stiles found another question, "What are the physical repercussions of a dual bond? I mean, obviously they're pretty bad if King Broody would rather cut his arm off."

While it wasn't meant as an insult, Willa felt her wolf bristle at the remark. None the less, she answered, "When one is hurt, so is the other. Distance and separations become almost impossible. We'd be two birds with one stone for hunters. Like the Argents."

She made a point to stress the last part to her brother, and Scott only retorted, "Well, they're a lot nicer than Derek!" That upset both Willa and Derek equally, eyes flashing and growls vibrating through their bodies. Her brother was so dumb he thought that the Argents were nice? Nice wasn't shooting you through the arm with an arrow. Nice wasn't burning innocent people alive because of who they were.

If Scott thought the Argents were nice, it was time he got a reality check. Clenching her fist tightly, Willa suggested to her mate, "Derek, I think it's time you show Scott just how… nice the Argent hunters are." Derek glanced over at her, picking up her point immediately and nodded. It was time for Scott to see what could happen when the wrong people were trusted.

—0—0—0—

Whatever had happened between Scott and Derek at the hospital had definitely made Scott let inclines to have an aneurism about what had transpired at the clinic. While he'd been 'meeting' Peter, the catatonic and permanently scarred survivor of the Hale fire, Willa had made Stiles go home, then stolen his Adderall to force him to finally sleep, promising to return it when she saw him at school the next morning.

Both McCall twins returned home at the same time, moving around each other awkwardly to enter the house. Willa escaped into the kitchen under the guise of making something to eat, and Scott followed silently. He sat at the table while Willa put a pot of water on to boil, for Ramen, speaking up only when she stood fairly still, "He knows I don't like him, or him… you know, being with you. But I'd rather you be dating him that not be here at all."

Willa looked over at her brother, studying him before she replied, speaking cautiously, "I know, and I don't expect you to like it, Stiles either. He makes me happy, though. Even before you were bitten, I liked spending time with him." She couldn't help the small smile that came to her face just thinking about the summer spent with the elder wolf.

Scott tried his best to suppress the growl, though didn't have much success. Thankfully, Willa just chuckled at his over protective nature and opened the package of Ramen noodles, dropping the block of them in as the water boiled. When she crumpled the wrapper, tossing it in the trash can, he commented, "He seemed, uh, seemed to-"

"Scott, lets just settle with you not killing and just tolerating my boyfriend for now. You don't have to try and like him," Willa cut him off. She knew that he was trying to be mature about the whole thing, and she had no doubt Derek had said something about her worrying over loosing her brother or Stiles over him.

The lacrosse player let out a relieved breath and agreed, happily dropping the topic of his sister being anything other than innocent and pure.

—0—0—0—0—

Authors Note: Hey guys sorry this took so long! School and stuff. My apology is making this long! Anyway, I hope you all like this, little bit of Scott and Willa at the end for you guys! Comments and reviews please!