AN: Please heed the M rating on this story. Lots of violence, death and other mature themes to come.

Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine

Alpha She-Wolf

Chapter 13

The next morning Derek and Erica ordered their pack to resume their normal routines while they assisted the sheriff's department. The Whittemores volunteered to stay at Wolf's Run and watch Connor while everyone went about their days. Erica and her mate weren't at the station long before more bodies were found.

The bodies of Miguel and Amelia Vasquez were discarded on the side of the road just outside of town in the early morning. They showed signs having endured intense torture; they were bruised and beaten, their fingernails, toenails, and some of their teeth had been ripped out and Amelia's lower abdomen had been cut open and dissected.

"Alpha Hale." The coroner asked. "Is anything missing from her body?"

Derek sniffed the air. "No."

"Then why open her up?" The sheriff asked.

Derek gave Erica a sympathetic look before turning to answer the man. "According to The Council, Miguel and Amelia are were-coyote mates. Were-coyotes are an extremely rare genetic mutation from were-wolf bloodlines. Male coyotes are far more common than females. Most female weres have a different internal anatomy then their human counterparts. I imagine that Amelia was the first female were-coyote Maxwell had encountered, and he dissected her for research purposes."

"Her cause of death is obvious," the coroner said. "The blood loss, they opened her up while she was still alive. I just don't understand the missing nails and teeth or what killed the male. The torture was severe, but I don't see a death blow."

"The teeth and nails are gone because he took their claws and fangs." Erica said in disgust and disbelief. "Derek, are coyote mate-bonds similar to ours?"

Her mate's look got darker and he nodded.

"When you died, and I thought we couldn't bring you back…I wanted to die too. The only thing that kept me alive was that our pack needed me… Do you think that's what happened to Miguel?"

"Yes." Derek said. "They were mated for twenty years, and had no children. There would have been nothing keeping Miguel from following her to the grave once their bond broke."

Erica felt like her heart had stopped. Was this her fate? Dying a violent, bloody death while her mate watches and he dies from a broken heart?

"Are you saying that its possible for supernaturals to die from a broken heart?" the coroner asked.

"Not all of us. But a few species of us mate for life. Once you find 'the one', there is no other one after that…except for the rare cases of Triad mate-bonds…" Derek told the man, before walking over toward her. "I think Erica and I are going to head back to the station. Seeing a dead mated pair in this state isn't sitting well with us."

Erica didn't say a word as they walked to Derek's car and drove away from the scene. Seeing a dead mother and child, people she knew, was enough to give her nightmares last night but this was something else entirely. When Erica looked at the bodies of the Vasquez's she slowly began to see herself and Derek instead of Miguel and Amelia. It was a strong possibility that the conflict with Maxwell could end with her and her mate dead. And if this conflict didn't kill them the next one could. The Hale Pack's duty to Beacon Hills was to protect it from threats. Would there always be something that their pack had to face that could end in their deaths?

"Derek, when you were growing up, how many times did the pack have to face an enemy?" She asked.

"Not often. No one was willing to test my mother's rule. There were a few rouge packs, but those situations were easily talked down… and then there was the time hunters killed my dad and some family members… but it was never like these past few year have been." He sighed. "Beacon Hills and the nematon haven't been guarded by a strong established pack since the fire, we're still a new pack, we don't have a reputation yet. But once we do, there will be less fighting; especially now that people know about the town secret and won't ignore and brush off things. Evil tends to attack populations that are ignorant and unprotected. This town is neither anymore."

"So, there's a chance that we wont end up like that?" She said softly, "That our pack and any children we have wont have to see us tortured to death?"

"There will always be something, but once we have a reputation the risk of dying bloody will be less. But I can't guarantee it wont happen."

Say what you want about Derek Hale, he was a lot of things, but he wasn't a lair. He told her the truth always, even if she didn't want to hear it.

The drive was quiet the rest of the way to the station; Erica lost herself in her own thoughts. She was beginning to question if they would be able to ever find Maxwell. She was a Hale Alpha, she was supposed to protect the residents of Beacon Hills from harm and what did she have to show for it; four dead bodies and six missing people. Henry Maxwell had driven her home into a panic and had her and her mate doubting their abilities as alphas.

Derek felt the pressure to do great things and be a great alpha; to be like his mother, and he felt that he was failing his ancestors, his pack and Erica. Erica didn't have the family legacy to live up to; she just didn't want to let her mate and pack down. They were both drowning in a strange cocktail of self-pity (for failing as alphas) and pure rage (towards Maxwell). They needed to do better, they needed to find this guy and stop him. Not only to save the missing people from torture and death but to prove to themselves that they were capable of protecting their town and pack.

They arrived at the station and headed straight for Stilinski's office, spending the next hour holding each other and listening to the deputies and agents talk through all the evidence to track down Maxwell. They stayed like that until a call came in.

They found more bodies, but this time the Sheriff had caught the guy who was dumping the bodies in the act.

"Where have I seen this guy before?" Erica said as she and Derek observed the interrogation of the man that was caught disposing Maxwell's latest victims.

"Wolf's Run." Derek growled. "He was working with the Argents."

Erica growled with him, and the sound carried throughout the station, alarming supernatural and human alike. The Argents haven't left town; they had joined Maxwell. Erica and Derek were pissed.

"Are the Hale alphas here?" the hunter asked the Sheriff. "Have they realized that they are at fault for this? Chris and Victoria were going to leave them be until they saw Allison was turned into a thing. They consider it an act of war, especially with how the female threatened them. They are ignoring the code now, they intend to help Maxwell wipe all the freaks in this town out."

Erica's claws and fangs descended and she felt the rest of her begin to shift. She didn't know who she was angrier with; herself or the Argents. She didn't regret turning Allison, she never would, her friend was much happier as a wolf. But maybe if she hadn't threatened Chris and Victoria so colorfully on Friday, they would still be willing to assist in the search for Maxwell instead of joining him.

"Erica, you did what you had to do. They were threatening to exterminate our pack. They came to our home with weapons intending to kill you all just because I was arrested. Don't blame yourself for their decisions." Derek said taking hold of her hand. "Hunters will look for excuses for war in everything, if they don't like the way a supernatural is acting, they will find an excuse to kill. They don't like that you stood up to them or that Allison made her choice of Pack over blood."

Erica took a deep breath, and focused on her mate's heartbeat, using the strong and steady rhythm as an anchor to reverse her shift. He was right, it wasn't her fault, she couldn't blame herself for the fucked up thought processes of Hunters. "Who's body was he dumping?"

"Actually he was dumping two bodies." Agent King said walking into the room, "We found one still in his truck after the sheriff chased him down. They were both male and fae. Gavin Peirce was an elemental fae, he was dissected and most of his major organs were missing. Noah Johnson was what they call a blue blood, he was drained of blood completely, while he was still alive."

"Blue Blood fae are basically human, but their blood has restorative properties." Derek said, "Peter told me that the blood of an adult can to anything from healing a scrape to curing cancer."

Agent King wrote that down on her notepad. "That explains why he wasn't dissected, there was nothing in his body valuable to Maxwell but his blood." She said before looking back at the alpha-pair. "but I found something interesting about the bodies we haven't found… Bill King, Jason Royce, Betty Cameron and Richie King, all eighteen and younger and all a species of were-cat."

"The Council told us that Beacon Hills has the largest and most diverse were-cat population in the Western US." Erica said, "Is there a black market for young were-cats?"

"Yes, if you get them young enough they can be broken so they can't shift back to human form. They can then be sold as exotic pets to unsavory individuals." Agent King said with tears forming. "But Bill and Jason are too old to be broken, and Betty, she's eleven they would have to break her quick before she starts menstruating…once she's fertile she'll be able to control her shift…oh dear…"

"Oh god no." Erica said, realizing what the agent had realized.

"They want to breed her don't they? They'll break Richie and sell him, but if they breed Betty with others…they'll be able to break and sell any cubs she gives birth to." Derek said disgusted.

"Were-cats aren't as strong as were-wolves in human form… and we are vulnerable to wolfsbane …it causes us not to be able to shift. They could easily keep them all subdued for as long as possible. Bill and Jason wouldn't be able to save themselves or those cubs if they are constantly dosed with wolfsbane." Agent King said in a detached voice. "What do I say to the families? My own family?" She muttered while leaving the room.

Erica and Derek growled again, only this time it was louder and a few people were startled form their seats in the bullpen just outside the observation room.

"I'm going to kill this asshole." Erica said. "I'm going to make it hurt. After what he's done and what he intends on doing… he deserves it. My parents would forgive me…Mother Moon would forgive me for taking this monster's life."

"No, We'll kill him together. Let him know what you do when you harm people under the Hale Pack's protection." Derek told her. His eyes were glowing and there was a tiny grin on his face. She smelt his bloodlust; it was as strong as hers was. They were going to rid the earth of Maxwell, as a mated pair.

Erica was pulled from her bloody fantasies when the Sheriff started calling for a medic. She saw the hunter was foaming at the mouth and smiling.

"He took a damn suicide pill before they arrested him." Derek growled after smelling the odor coming from the interrogation room. "He hasn't given the Sheriff any information and now he's going to die on us!"

The Sheriff and a deputy with a medical kit had placed the man on the floor of the interrogation room and were trying to save his life. I didn't work. Erica smelt the stench of death coming from the man; there was no saving him.

The man used his last breath to devastate Erica, her mate and the Sheriff. "It's recess time at the elementary school isn't it?" He said with a smile on his face.

As the man died and the Sheriff started to shake the man yelling at him to tell him what he meant the phones at the station started to ring.

"Shots fired at elementary school." Deputy Parrish yelled. "Let's go people."

They arrived on the scene last because Derek had to wrestle the keys away from a distraught Erica and John, insisting they were too emotionally invested to drive. Erica was a mess because she sensed fear and pain coming from three of her betas, and John was distressed because Juliet's grade had recess around this time of day and the hunter made a point to mention recess to John before he died.

They arrived on scene and Parrish briefed them on the situation. "Five teachers injured, three kids injured, we're still taking roll to see if anyone is missing. Everyone uninjured has been returned to their classrooms and the principal will let us know who is missing."

Erica sniffed the air. "Wolfsbane. Hunters." She said before running towards an ambulance.

Marin was standing over Rosalyn. They both had been shot in the arm but Marin's wound was patched up, she was chanting over Rose; drawing out the poison.

"She'll be fine." Marin told Erica.

"The pups…they were going after the pups. Tried to stop." Rosalyn said before passing out.

Erica and John ran into the school and nearly knocked down the principal, who was on her way outside with a tearful Raul following her.

"Sheriff, we took roll and two students are missing." The woman said. "Diego Hale and… I'm so sorry…your daughter is missing as well."

John collapsed and began to cry. Erica simply howled.

They took Diego and Julie.

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