The Wolf Amoung Us

Summary: After having lost Peter to his obsession with power, Sydney was sure of one thing and one thing only: she needed to pull her life back together. With unexpected news that will change everything, will she become the strong alpha that she desires so much or will she struggle to keep it together until it's too late? Season 5: Peter Hale/OC

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Sydney however is all mine.

Chapter 21:

Charlie had been a little surprised when Sydney had confessed that she was going to be going on this little adventure solo. Charlie had thought she meant that Sydney was taking off to get home, which was fine by her, but when she followed it up by claiming that Ethan was already on his way back to the house, Charlie knew that solo meant she was completely on her own.

The excitement at not having a shadow almost outweighed the nerves at not having someone familiar looking out for her. Sure she was with three other people but she barely knew them and from what she had seem of Liam in the forest before, she wasn't entirely confident in his werewolf abilities.

Either way, she was in the middle of the forest, trekking through the trees behind Brett, Liam and Mason, while she looked around, trying to get a handle on where exactly they were. She felt a little naked without Ethan's comforting scent lingering in the air but nonetheless, she continued to stick with the guys. She knew that they'd be her best bet if something, or someone, decided to target them.

"Sure you know where you're going?" Brett asked, breaking the silence that had fallen over them. Charlie wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting to happen out in the middle of the forest but she knew that she had a point to prove to Sydney, she could take care of herself, she could survive without Ethan lurking in the shadows nearby, even if she already missed having him close enough to keep her safe. If that meant she'd have to be a little more cautious than normal, well then so be it.

"I know where I am." Liam fired back, clearly a little irritated by the idea of them having Brett with them. It was adorable really, how much Liam seemed to despise Brett when in Charlie's mind Brett was a decent enough guy, at least from what she'd seen so far. Sydney seemed to trust him enough to let her go off with him, and the two boys, so that had to mean something, right?

"So do I, middle of nowhere." Brett stated sarcastically and came to a stop, Charlie moving to stand beside him as he waved his hands out in front of him, as if that would prove his point.

Sure she hadn't been all that thrilled with the idea of looking for a hole in the middle of the woods but she was a little more excited than Brett, who seemed to be more annoyed that Liam had dragged them out into the 'middle of nowhere' as he had so nicely put it. He needed to understand that this hole had the potential to break the mystery surrounding Tracy wide open, plus the longer it took them, the later they'd be out and Charlie was almost more excited at that prospect.

This was a Sydney sanctioned adventure, her alpha had been on board with Charlie heading out with the boys, and alone no less. That involved a lot of trust and Charlie wasn't going to waste her freedom, she wasn't sure if she'd lose it again later.

Mason had pressed on, leaving Charlie next to Brett and Brett next to Liam, who was a good foot shorter than him. When a loud cry of surprise sounded out in the eerie forest, which was then followed by a hollow thudding noise, all three of the werewolves turned their attention to where Mason had been seconds ago.

If Charlie hadn't experienced Liam's dive into the hole nights earlier, she might've been a little more concerned but she wasn't. She was positive that Mason was okay and that he was just chilling in a hole nearby.

"Guys?" Mason's voice sounded out of a dark spot in the ground about fifteen feet away and Charlie knew that he had found the hole before he spoke again.

Liam and Brett looked at one another and then took off walking in the direction of the hole in the ground. Charlie didn't hesitate for a second before taking off after them, moving closer to the hole but keeping her body behind Brett's. He was clearly more experienced with the whole 'being a werewolf' thing and he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. Even if she didn't completely trust him, she knew that in a fight, he'd be more likely to come out on top, purely based on his skill level.

Liam, in her eyes, was still just a pup, barely able to control himself during the full moon, at least according to Stiles. Yes, for tonight, she'd gravitate towards Brett.

The two of them came to a stop on the edge of the hole and glanced down at Mason who was right where Charlie figured he'd be. He was rubbing his head, as though hurt, and she wondered if he had hurt himself during the fall.

"I think I found it." Mason stated and stopped the rubbing of his head.

"You and Liam have an affinity for finding giant holes in the ground, you know that." Charlie remarked, her voice slightly louder than normal because she wasn't sure what the acoustics were like inside the hole.

"Hey, at least we found them." Liam shot back. "How many holes have you found?"

"Oh my god." Charlie shook her head and let out a frustrated sigh at his question. She wasn't going to respond any more, not unless she had something valuable to add.

"See the necklace?" Liam asked, turning his attention back into the hole. Mason's cell phone lit up, the hole brightening instantly and he moved around in a circle while standing inside the hole.

He crouched down and ran his hands over the dead and dry leaves littering the bottom of the hole, Charlie listening to the sounds of the crunching foliage and letting out a contented sigh. She did like that sound after all, there was something almost soothing about it.

"No, I don't see it." Mason answered and turned his attention to the three of them standing next to the side of the hole above him.

Brett took a step forward and bent down, extending his arm into the hole. Mason latched on and he hauled him out, Liam supporting him as he stepped on solid ground. Charlie moved forward and used her palms to wipe the dirt off his shoulders, Mason throwing her an appreciate smile as she did so.

"How was the hole?" She asked with a smirk and Mason smiled right back at her, shaking his head in the process.

Mason bent over and examined the edge of the hole, running his fingers over the dirt mounded there. Charlie dropped down into a crouch next to him and looked into the hole, part of her wondering what it would be like to see the world from inside.

"Liam, I-I thought you said this was a sinkhole." Mason stated, pulling Charlie back to the task at hand. Yes, they were out in the forest for a reason, that reason being to find Tracy's necklace. That was much more important than wondering what it would be like to be inside the giant hole.

"It's a hole, what's the difference?" Liam countered with a shrug.

"I mean, look at all these handprints and look at all this dirt." Mason pointed out and the other two boys squatted down next to Mason, each and every one of them had a hand on the edge of the hole for stability.

"She didn't fall in here." Brett announced and Charlie stared at him.

Suddenly she had a million questions running through her mind, the most prominent one was 'who was digging the holes that people kept falling in'. She looked to the other two boys and Liam shook his head, now she was worried. If she didn't fall into the hole, did that mean she was trapped there? Had a hunter dug the hole hoping to catch her? Or was there something more sinister at work in the forest?

"She was buried." Liam proclaimed and Charlie sucked in a nervous breath.

Tracy had been buried in the hole? And if that was the case, how had she gotten herself out? Had she been buried while she was conscious or had whoever done that to her had the audacity to bury her while she was out cold? What the hell was going on here and why had Sydney left Charlie alone? At this point, Charlie would've given anything to know that Ethan was within hearing distance and that he'd come running right for her if she needed him.

"Intense." Mason gasped and Charlie immediately slapped him on the shoulder.

She fired a glare in his direction and they all made quick work of standing straight up. Mason lifted his hands up in surrender as she growled at him, clearly very freaked out at the prospect of being in the woods in the dark.

"Hey, whoa, no need for that." Brett broke out and gently set his hand on Charlie's shoulder, nudging her backwards and away from the hole.

"He's new to all this." Liam defended his friend and Charlie blinked her eyes, staring at Mason as he looked at her, his eyes wide with curiosity.

"Fine, but he has to start taking this seriously." She shot back and shrugged out of Brett's grasp.

"It's intense." Mason stated and kept his hands up.

"Well I know that." She huffed in response but her glare softened. Okay, maybe she could relate, he was new after all and she had been just as excited once upon a time. The whole idea of supernatural creatures existing must've been interesting to Mason and maybe he just didn't totally understand how truly dangerous being a werewolf was.

He'd just have to learn quickly, especially if he was going to remain a part of their world.

Charlie shook her head at them all and turned back to face the trail. There was something almost peaceful about being out in the forest at night but she didn't want to stick around after the boys figured out that Tracy had been buried there. If there was someone in Beacon Hills going around putting people in holes, what was stopping them from snatching any of them?

Before she could suggest that they get a move on, she heard one of the boys dropping down into the hole. When she turned her attention into the dark abyss, she rolled her eyes. Oh yes, of course it would be Liam, he just seemed like the kind of guy who jumped right into things, literally.

"Are we not done here?" Charlie murmured and Mason shot her a sympathetic look. He had to be just as freaked out as she was, didn't he? Someone had buried Tracy in the forest and left her to claw her way out, that was terrifying, so why were the boys sticking around, giving whoever was burying people the opportunity to do it again.

"Just hang on." Liam countered from inside the hole. Charlie clamped her mouth shut so that she didn't say something she'd regret later. If this was going to help them figure out what the hell was going on, then she'd stick it out a little longer, she had to. She had a job to do, a duty to her own pack, and Sydney would be appreciative of her if she managed to get some decent information.

"Do you see anything?" Mason questioned, his eyes never leaving Liam's body as the kid in the ground used his phone as a flashlight, searching the bottom of the hole for the leaf shaped necklace.

Liam did a few circles of the hole, running his hands through the dried leaves and Charlie silently prayed that he'd find something soon. The longer she was out there, the more freaked out she got.

"Why isn't it here?" Liam said more to himself than anything.

"She probably came back for it." Brett pointed out. Logically that made sense but if she had been the one buried in the hole, there wasn't anything in the world that would give her the desire to go back, not a necklace, not anything, no matter how important it might've been.

Liam jumped out of the hole with such finesse that Charlie found herself rather impressed at how fluidly his movements were. He tossed the hood of his sweater over his shoulder and locked his eyes on them, hesitating on Charlie to see if he could gage her emotions. She tilted her head to the side, egging him on because he clearly had something more to say, she knew just by the look on his face.

"I don't think this is the one." Liam confessed and the other two boys looked back down into the dark abyss.

"What do you mean?" Mason shot back.

"It was closer to the bridge, much closer." Liam exclaimed and Charlie found herself agreeing with him. She looked around at their surroundings, none of it seemed very familiar to her and she had been right there with Liam the night he had fallen in the hole.

"I think it was wider too." Charlie added and Liam looked at her, giving her a small nod of appreciation. "It was closer to a tree, wasn't it?"

"I think so." Liam said. "This is a different hole."

"Then who crawled out of this one?" Mason asked and Charlie shivered at the thought.

As if one hole where someone had been buried wasn't bad enough, now there was another hole somewhere else, and who knew how many more there were littering the forest floor. She crossed her arms over her chest, sucked in a breath and tried to remain calm. Whatever was going on in Beacon Hills was really starting to freak her out.

Maybe she hadn't overestimated the stories that Sydney had told her after all.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Charlie was exhausted when she walked into the front door of Sydney's house, but sleep wasn't going to be easy to come by, not with Bruin's shrill screaming echoing through the house. Bypassing the living room, Charlie headed right for the kitchen, locating the source of all the noise.

Bruin was in Sydney's arms being gently rocked back and forth and the frazzled look on her alpha's face rendered Charlie speechless. In the few weeks that Bruin had been a part of their world, she hadn't been known to scream this bad, which had to mean that something wasn't right, something was affecting the baby in Sydney's arms.

"Hey Charlie." Sydney let out a frustrated sigh as soon as she spotted her beta. Aidan and Ethan were nowhere to be seen but she could hear them, most likely in the basement trying to get away from the ear piercing cries of baby Bruin. "I put your dinner in the fridge."

"Uh, yeah, okay, thanks." Charlie replied, unsure of how to approach the situation. On one hand, she was a little concerned about Bruin's wailing and she wasn't aware of what was going on. On the other hand, Sydney seemed to be speaking to her like this whole ordeal was just a run-of-the-mill incident involving a crying baby.

"Sorry about the noise." Sydney tried to tease but when Bruin let out an especially loud, ear drum rumbling scream, Sydney winced and turned her back to Charlie, shushing her baby in an attempt to get her to calm down. Charlie listened as Sydney murmured sweet little reassurances to Bruin and a smile crossed her lips.

"How long as she been like that?" Charlie asked, her voice louder than usual so that she was sure Sydney heard her over the screaming.

"Uh, half an hour maybe." Sydney replied and glanced over her shoulder, which is when Charlie noticed that her eyes were glowing red. Was she trying to get Bruin to submit to her? Was she using her alpha status as a tool to get the baby to stop crying? Charlie was both impressed by her innovative touch but also still a little concerned; babies didn't recognize pack hierarchy, did they?

Well, if they did, Bruin was certainly at the top of the chain of command.

"How come the twins aren't trying to help you?" Charlie pressed, hoping that her alpha was still willing to converse with her. If she had been the one in Sydney's position, she would've been a lot more frustrated and more prone to blowing up at other people around her, so keeping that in mind, Charlie didn't want to push her luck too much.

"I told them that I got this." Sydney turned around and faced Charlie, readjusting her hold on Bruin so that her head was on shoulder, then she began gently patting the baby's back. "She's my baby, I can handle her on my own, or so I'd like to think."

"To be fair, it's not like her dad's around to help." Charlie pointed out with a smirk and Sydney shook her head, a hint of a smile on her face as well.

"Yeah, his loss right." Sydney teased right back and tipped her head to the side, pressing a kiss against the top of Bruin's head, but her lips lingered there. Charlie watched as the veins in the little girl's head turned a dark colour and then flowed into Sydney's body, the woman literally attempting to 'kiss it better'.

At Sydney's motion of drawing out the baby's pain, Bruin's cries lessened the slightest little bit, apparently whatever was bothering her had been some sort of physical pain and not the usual hunger or thirst pains.

"Do that again." Charlie egged her on and Sydney nodded her head in understanding. This time, instead of drawing out her pain via a kiss, Sydney slipped her finger into Bruin's hold and drew her pain out that way, the baby's cries nearly came to a stop, small whimpers sounding out from the girl instead of ear piercing shrieks.

"Is that cheating?" Sydney asked with a relieved smile as Bruin began cooing. "Did I just cheat at being a mom?"

"I don't think so." Charlie shook her head. "I think we can call that 'being innovative'. You used the advantages that you had."

As the baby in her arms slowly shut her eyes and began drifting off to sleep, Sydney carefully stepped closer to Charlie and proceeded to motion towards the table, where the two of them promptly sat down. Charlie simply watched Sydney with her baby and found herself wondering if this is how it would always be.

She knew that Sydney had faith that one day the girl's father would come back to her but at the same time, she had already spent months without him by her side. Charlie didn't know all that much about Eichen House, but she knew why Peter was locked inside, and part of her didn't figure that the people running the place were just going to let the man waltz out the front doors, not without some sort of protective measures in place.

Did that mean that the Peter that came out, if he came out at all, was going to be the same Peter that went in? Charlie had her concerns but she wasn't going to voice them, not when Sydney needed to cling to the hope that one day he'd be right there with her, the two of them raising Bruin together.

"How was your evening?" Sydney asked and looked right at Charlie, who was still thinking about Bruin's father.

"Freaky actually. We went back to the forest and found another hole, a different one from the one that Liam fell in the other night." Charlie explained.

"There's more than one giant hole? Jesus, who has time to dig more than one giant hole, you know what, that's not even my biggest concern, my biggest concern is how would someone dig more than one giant hole without being seen. That'd have to take forever, right?"

"I don't know." Charlie shrugged in response. "But we came up with a theory."

"Alright, lay it on me." Sydney waved her one hand at Charlie, motioning for her to keep talking.

"Well, Liam figured that Tracy was in the hole at some point because he saw her necklace in the one he fell in, so when we went to go see if we could find her necklace, things got a little creepy. After Mason fell in and we got him out, he sort of theorized, with Brett's help, that whoever had crawled out of there was in the hole, like a trap right?" Charlie explained and Sydney just stared at her with a look of total confusion on her face. "Weird, huh?"

"Very much so." Sydney replied hesitantly. "So you guys think that there's someone out there putting people in holes in the middle of the forest?"

"Yes." Charlie nodded her head confidently. "Cool right?"

"Cool? Uh, sure." Sydney said hesitantly. "Someone's really putting people in giant holes in the middle of the forest?"

"We think so." Charlie shot back nonchalantly. "Have I told you how much I love being in Beacon Hills lately?"

Sydney's eyes widened at Charlie's admission and she shook her head, trying to figure out how she felt about all this. It was the first time that Sydney had allowed Charlie to go off on her own, without Ethan acting as her shadow, and now the girl was explaining that her and the boys she had gone exploring with had a theory that there was someone leaving people in giant holes in the forest. How did that not scare Charlie as much as it scared her?

If something had happened to them out in the forest, then Sydney would've felt awful, she would have been devastated, and all because she had let Charlie go off gallivanting without someone there to watch over her.

"I don't think you should be going out by yourself again." Sydney said in a low voice.

"Wait, why not? Nothing happened to me."

"Well-"

"If I promise to call you all the time that I'm by myself, will you let me go out without a shadow still?" Charlie was pleading and Sydney sucked in a breath, contemplating what she could do.

Charlie was her responsibility, Sydney was well aware of that, and she wasn't as familiar with Beacon Hills, or the weird goings on, as her, or the twins, but she had a point. Nothing happened to her, not yet anyways, but it was lingering threat in the 'not yet' that had Sydney concerned. She could let Charlie off without a shadow for now, but if something happened to rattle Sydney even the slightest little bit, then it was right back to having a stalker in the form of Ethan.

"You call me every hour on the hour or I send out a search party." Sydney countered.

"Fine."

"And if you're going anywhere other than where you're supposed to be, you let me or the twins know."

"Sounds good."

"Okay and I want you in this house by eleven and not a second later." Sydney doled out more conditions. "I also want to know who you're with when you're not at school."

"Okay mom." Charlie grinned at her alpha and Sydney rolled her eyes at the name calling. "I swear, I will follow and respect your rules."

"Good." Sydney muttered and then perked up at one last condition. "And if anything, and I do mean anything makes me feel the slightest bit uncomfortable, you will have a tail on you so fast-"

"Understandable. Thanks Syd." Charlie leaned forward and smiled at her. "You really are the best, well aside from my dad."

"Okay." Sydney bowed her head and took in the sight of a slumbering Bruin who was lying against her chest, her head on Sydney's shoulder. "I don't want anything to happen to you, or anyone for that matter."

"I know." Charlie murmured and realized how serious all this was to Sydney. Sure to her it was an adventure but Sydney was a veteran when it came to stuff like this, she knew the consequences, she'd seen what could happen, and maybe she had a point. Charlie didn't really know what to expect, so the least she could do was respect her alpha's rules, after all, they were merely put in place to protect her.

"All that aside, did you at least have a little bit of fun?" Sydney asked with a sparkle in her eye, clearly itching to get herself out and involved in whatever it was that was going on.

"Yes!" Charlie fired back with an enthusiastic smile. "Mason is just the most adorable guy ever, and Liam, he's funny, oh and Brett, well he's just nice on the eyes."

"Yeah, well, he's someone that you should respect too." Sydney stated and smiled at her. "His alpha's been around forever, she's…well she's just someone that you shouldn't mess with."

"Is that why you wanted to talk to him privately? You wanted to ask about his alpha?" Charlie questioned and tilted her head to the side in curiosity.

Sydney sucked in a breath and shook her head no, "there's a little girl in Satomi's pack that I know, her name's Sam."

"How do you know her?" Charlie leaned forward and lowered her voice, but the wonder was still in her tone.

"I saved her from being left in a closet when the hospital was being evacuated a long time ago. Then after that, I took her in for a few days so that she wasn't in any direct danger from the dead pool I told you about. She's…well Sam's a little special to me and I just wanted to see how she was doing." Sydney explained and peered down at Bruin, pressing another kiss against the top of the baby's head.

"And how is she doing?" Charlie asked.

"Brett said that she was fine, Satomi's having a little trouble- see, Sam doesn't have any parents left."

"Oh, like you?"

"Yeah, a little, but at least she has pack. Brett told me that it was pretty clear that Sam missed her mom, so I told him that if Satomi ever needed me for anything that she could contact me. I just…there's something about Sam, something there that I can't seem to let go of."

Charlie leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, "motherly instinct maybe. It's good that you care about her."

"I guess." Sydney let out a soft sigh and gently shook her head. "Anyways, your dinner's in the fridge, maybe you could relay what you know to the twins so they're on the same page?"

"Will do."

Without another word shared between them, Sydney stood up, carefully readjusting Bruin in her hold, and headed for the stairs. Charlie watched her go, wondering how much longer Sydney was going to pretend that it didn't bother her to not have Bruin's father around.

It had to be grating on her, plus there was all the withdrawal symptoms she was dealing with. No, Charlie definitely didn't envy Sydney at all.

She did hope that she'd be okay though, Sydney was a strong alpha and Charlie wanted nothing more than to see her succeed, after all, if she didn't, that meant that her betas, which included Charlie, wouldn't end up in a very good position.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Thank you to those of you that are hanging in there. I'm trying to update a little more frequently so that you get more content faster but I'd still love to hear from you guys.

Special thanks to WickedlyMinx and poorxbrokexcollegexkid for their reviews

Guest: Okay, I swear that Sydney meeting up with other pack members is coming. She'll totally be on Stiles' side and she won't exactly like the way that Scott first reacts to Theo. As for Stiles killing Donovan, well there's a lot of Sydney and Stiles interacting after Donovan's body disappears...