AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter also has a cliffhanger and focuses on Charlotte and her pack, but then the chapters after finish out 'Season Two' and brings us onto the next story line. There is so much in these next couple chapters, so if at any point you get confused, feel free to ask questions!

A couple takes the next step in this chapter…

WARNINGS: Language, Violence, Gore, Sexual Situations

ENJOY!

xxxx

Liam smiled a little bit as Caroline and Eric seemed to be roused from their drug induced slumber that he had put them in. He had poisoned them a little to keep them from being able to transform at all, and Eric's first exclamation was to Caroline, trying to see if she was alright. If he couldn't find a way to save her, then Stiles would never forgive him and Eric wanted his pack to be alright…wanted Liam to not be a part of it. Right now that didn't seem like something that was in his hands, but at the same time he was going to try.

"Why are you doing this?" Eric asked Liam. "I thought we were a pack! I thought that we were like family!"

Laughing, Liam shook his head. "A pack is bigger than family and you know it by now. You have your family and then you have your pack."

"THEN WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Eric screamed at him.

"BECAUSE IT'S MY TURN TO BE THE ALPHA! TO SHOW CHARLOTTE WHERE SHE WENT WRONG AND TO TAKE WHAT SHE ALWAYS WANTED!" Liam screamed back at him.

Caroline shook her head. "She saved my life…she saved all of our lives at one point or another and you know that. Why would you want to hurt her so bad?"

"She's the reason I couldn't leave," Liam said shaking his head. "I couldn't go anywhere without being reminded that she was my Alpha—that all of this power came from her."

"Then you owe her!" Eric yelled.

Liam looked at him, knowing deep down that it was true, but at the same time he didn't want to give into this. He had been thrown aside and yes, he had betrayed her, but what did Charlotte think she was doing? She just thought that she was going to get to have a new pack and then when he and Darren showed up, what? They were just supposed to realize that they were second fiddle now?

Actually, Darren had been perfectly fine because he had a bigger 'family', but it had never been enough for Liam and Darren had known that. Now Darren was gone and perhaps Liam should have been mad at Gerard instead of at Charlotte, but it was Charlotte's fault for that too as far as Liam was concerned. He just wanted to make her pay and that meant getting rid of her pack and then getting rid of her and once he was an Alpha as well…that meant that he could take out Derek and maybe he could run this town.

But what he didn't realize, was that Charlotte was closer to him than he thought.

"Charlotte calm down," Derek told her over the phone. "I will help you…"

Charlotte shook her head, tears in her eyes. "If he's done anything to hurt him, I don't think that I can control my actions toward him! I let him come back, and I know I haven't been the nicest, but he betrayed me! I thought we were on the track back to something better and then this! Working with Gerard and now attacking my pack?!"

"Charlee, if you don't take deep breaths then you'll never find them," Derek tried, smiling a little and nodding when she took a breath. "There we go. Now…focus and I'm on my way to you right now."

"No, Derek," Charlotte explained shaking her head. "Check on Isaac, Erica and Boyd. They are your priority right now. If I need help, I will ask you for it."

Derek sighed loudly. "I want to be there for you."

"You are," Charlotte told him with a sad smile, "in my heart—cheesy as that is."

"Please…be careful," Derek said even though he smiled.

Charlotte nodded and promised she would be, heading to where she was picking up a scent, but things were wrong. Liam was doing this to her on purpose and it was really making her pissed off because there was something wrong with her pack and she was the Alpha. This would be yet another full moon that she failed, and with that on her conscience, she was sure that she was going to snap. Was she destined to fail as an Alpha? She had done so well for so many years and then after it fell apart the first time…

After the first time, Charlotte hadn't been able to really get her footing back and now she had Derek back and she was trying and her pack was loyal to her, but still. She felt like everything was slipping right through her fingers and she didn't know what she could do about it other than fight back and redeem herself. How did things get so complicated? For some reason she had thought that things would somehow get easier, and yet they didn't…now she had to face her pack and so she focused on trying to smell them…hear them…anything.

"If he hurt you…" Charlotte whispered out loud.

She shook her head and found the scent that she needed to, hurrying to them and seeing Liam outside the area just standing there waiting for her. He seemed to have that smile on his face that he always had when he was challenging Derek in the past and it suddenly made Charlotte's face change into that of a scowl. This wasn't a game and yet he was treating it as such, with the lives of Caroline and Eric in the balance—more if Liam got a taste for this.

"I won't let you hurt them," Charlotte told him forcefully.

Liam smiled at her. "I don't know, Charlotte…I think we both know that I could easily snap their necks. What are you going to do about it?"

"I can take you," Charlotte reminded him, her eyes flashing red. "And if I have to, Liam…I will kill you…"

"But can you live with that, Charlotte?" Liam asked her, noticing the look in her eyes. "If you kill me, then you become the monster instead…"

"No," Charlotte responded, shaking her head, "not if I kill you to protect them."

xx

Derek wanted to be with Charlotte right then, but she had brought up a pretty excellent point about his pack: they needed him. The sunrise was happening and they needed to be checked on, Derek smiling a little bit when he saw Phasmi there sitting with Isaac. Things were much calmer and Phasmi nuzzled Isaac's face, Isaac smiling at her, glad she was there for him. Then Derek set to helping Boyd and Erica, the three young wolves trying to figure out where to go from there because that was terrifying.

To top it all off, they were being filled in about what had happened and they weren't very pleased to hear about Lydia and Peter. Boyd and Erica wanted to get away from this, and instead of being forward about it, they went back to their homes and it was just Derek, Phasmi and Isaac. Derek smiled a little when he noticed that Phasmi and Isaac were holding hands, Isaac thoroughly exhausted, and then he swallowed. Something felt off as the sun came up and Derek didn't know what it was.

"Where's the mating scent?" Phasmi asked suddenly. "For some reason it smells like you're a normal wolf, really. Sure, Charlotte's scent is on you, but…"

Isaac nodded as Phasmi trailed off. "It's different."

"It feels different," Derek responded as he looked down at his wrist.

It was then that Derek's heart sank and he felt like there was a lump in his throat that he couldn't swallow down: the mating scar was gone. Whatever had been happening for them, the scar that showed that he belonged to Charlotte was now no longer there and he didn't know why, but he was heartbroken. Actually, he did know why—he was in love and the Alpha that he was in love with, was now easily marked by someone else. Shaking his head, Derek realized that Phasmi had come over to him, and her hand took his.

"You've just been busy, okay?" Phasmi tried to assure him.

Isaac nodded in agreement. "You've both had a lot on your plates—you can redo it. There's always a chance to redo it. A chance to start one…"

"Not happening," Phasmi said without even looking at him. "Derek, tell Isaac how much the mating scar sucks."

"It doesn't always suck, Phaz," Derek told her, catching her chin with his thumb and forefinger and smiling at her sadly. "It's a commitment, so it has its ups and down. It isn't easy, but most days it is worth it. All the days it is worth it. I've felt lonely, sure, but being connected to your sister, even when it feels like it's killing me, is the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Phasmi hadn't wanted to hear it, but at the same time she did—the only reason she wouldn't take Isaac as her 'mate' was because of how she'd seen this bond affect Derek and Charlotte. Her parents seemed to have it under control enough, but they weren't as young as their children and Phasmi didn't want Isaac to think that he had to be with her. Isaac, however, didn't think that he had to be with her…Isaac wanted to be with her. He loved her and though he hadn't said it yet, he was sure that he felt it.

He wasn't alone in the feelings either because Phasmi's feelings on the subject were why she was so terrified to mark him in the first place. Derek could tell that they were just trying to figure it out because of him and Charlotte, but the two young wolves weren't really all that much like Derek and Charlotte. They were jaded about love in the same way, and they certainly didn't fight as much. In fact, Derek hadn't seen them really fight at all except when Isaac first became a wolf.

"I'm more thrilled than you know to know that you love my sister that much," Phasmi managed to tell Derek, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. "You two are finally starting to act like adults and for that, I give you my blessing—not like you need it."

Derek smiled and hugged her back. "I appreciate it though."

"I know," Phasmi responded as she pulled back. "Now, I think we should get some things packed up and get them taken to the new place soon. Also, we need to figure out where Charlotte is and then maybe go and see if there's anything back at the Hale House that we need. I mean…it was a base for you for a while and you left so abruptly."

"You're right, Charlee found us a place," Derek mused, nodding.

"I hear it's big enough for all of us and has a place to train," Isaac piped in, pretty excited about it. "V also says that it's nicer than this place…"

"Anything is nicer than this place," Phasmi responded motioning her hands around. "Fuck this place—no offense, Derek."

Derek chuckled. "None taken, but maybe you and Isaac should take care of the packing because I need to find Charlee and the sooner the better."

"Is it harder now?" Isaac asked slowly, wondering if he was stepping on toes here. "I mean…the bond is broken…"

Honestly, Derek clenched his fists at the mention of that, but he also knew that it wasn't Isaac's fault that the bond was broken. Phasmi gave Derek's shoulder a pat and then Derek just nodded, aware that Isaac was just trying to ask questions about things that he didn't know the answers to. He wanted to understand because someday he intended on making Phasmi his mate and Phasmi had ideas about that on her own. She wasn't ready to make Isaac her mate, but she was ready to take things to the next level.

Phasmi wanted the kind of love that Derek and Charlotte had with much less of the angst and the mess, and she could tell Derek's feelings all in his eyes. He was worried and scared and protective, but behind all of that there was love and Phasmi was glad that Derek was so devoted to her sister. It was going to be harder to track her down, but Phasmi knew that as cheesy as it sounded, Derek's and Charlotte's love would pull them through. They could get through anything—even Liam being as terrible as he was being right then.

"What do you think Liam will do to the pack?" Phasmi asked slowly.

Derek shrugged gently. "I think he's capable of pretty much anything."

"Then we find Charles because if he hurts them," Phasmi began shaking her head, "it's possible that Charlotte will kill him."

"We definitely can't have that—she'd never forgive herself afterward." Derek explained nodding. "Let's go and find your sister."

xx

Charlotte was really upset that Liam was acting like everything was fine, going for him and finding a rod against her stomach. There was a surge of electricity that went right through her, making her scream out as her eyes flashed red, making her suddenly feel like this was what the plan was all along—get to her not to the others. They were just his way to get her there and yet…he had that look in his eyes like he didn't care about them either and that scared Charlotte a little bit. She was never going to let them just be collateral damage even if that was all that Liam thought they were good for.

"I won't let you hurt them!" Charlotte screamed, going for him again and knocking the rod out of his hands. "I AM STILL YOUR ALPHA!"

With that, Charlotte wolfed out completely, roaring at him as he tried to go for her throat, instead feeling a bit of terror because that was the power of the Alpha. He, however, was anticipating it. So, moving for a moment, he sprayed her with something that burned, making her think that it was probably something with wolfsbane in it. Then, when she was weak from having ingested enough in it, Liam carried her down to where the others were and smiled as they tried hard to get out of their chairs.

"How can you do this?!" Eric asked, shaking his head sadly. "When you kill your pack, what will you do? It makes you an Omega. It makes you the weakest part."

Caroline nodded at that. "Charlotte told us all about the hierarchy of wolves. If you betray us like this, it's as good as becoming the weakest that you could be. If this is for power, you're going about it the wrong way."

"Not if I kill you two, make her watch to punish her, and then kill her and take her Alpha powers away from her," Liam pointed out with a smile on his face. "As long as I kill her, I ascend to whatever powers I want. Then, I can make more wolves—better wolves."

"What makes you think that they won't betray you like you've betrayed me?" Charlotte asked him slowly, feeling weak, but feeling angry and determined too.

Liam looked directly at her, getting down so they were at eye level. "I will break them if they try, Char."

"That's not how you run a pack," Charlotte told him shaking her head. "You're supposed to guide and support, not dominate and shut down."

"Perhaps this is why you're failing again," Liam pointed out, grabbing a crude looking knife and moving to Eric. "You don't know how to run a pack, so you just shouldn't have one."

Charlotte's eyes showed that of pain as Liam began to slice into Eric's arm, Eric screaming out in pain and Charlotte yelling at Liam to stop. The tears that had formed in Caroline's eyes began to fall, and she suddenly felt as though maybe this was the end…but it couldn't be, right? If they were all connected and could all feel the losses, then Phasmi had to find them, right? Derek even since he and Charlotte were mates and all. This couldn't be the end…even though the end was exactly what it felt like.

"Already begging me to stop," Liam said with a smile. "You didn't last as long as I thought…"

Charlotte squirmed, fighting against the restraints. "Your quarrel isn't with them!"

"OF COURSE IT IS! THEY REPLACED US!" Liam bellowed, losing his patience.

"They never replaced you," Charlotte answered and Liam was stunned a moment at the honesty behind the words.

"All she did was talk about you and Darren after a while," Eric admitted with a nod, trying to ignore the stinging sensation as his body was taking a little more time to heal than normal.

Caroline looked at Liam. "Then above all else she forgave you and Darren and welcomed you both back. After walking out on her and trying to kill Derek, I think she was allowed some time to try and forgive you."

"No," Liam said shaking his head, going over to Caroline and stabbing her in the side. "No, It's not her who should forgive, it's ME! I WILL KILL YOU FIRST!"

Seeing Liam go at her pack like this, Charlotte found the strength to break the restraints, going for Liam with full force. He wasn't expecting it at all, Charlotte's teeth elongating and piercing right through the flesh on his neck, killing him the way that she seemed to kill them all. Ripping into his throat, Charlotte felt the blood splash her tongue and while she felt sick to her stomach, she also didn't feel a lack of power. In fact, quite the opposite—she felt like she was almost absorbing Liam's power and adding it to her own, therefore keeping it within the pack, and that made her pull away and lose every ounce of wolf.

Her mouth was blood stained and Eric and Caroline were completely stunned that she had done that, but Charlotte was the most stunned. Psychotic or not, Liam was one of her Betas, and that meant that she had just killed a member of her pack. How exactly was she supposed to live with that? Trying to shake it off even though she felt sick to her stomach, Charlotte untied Caroline and Eric and helped them out, falling to her knees on the ground as a familiar scent caught her: Derek. Why it wasn't as strong as normal she didn't have time to figure out, but the tears began to spill from her eyes as he neared them.

"What happened?" Derek asked, but he could tell from the smell of the blood on Charlotte that Liam was dead and it was her doing.

Eric swallowed as Caroline remained silent. "She killed him."

"Eric…" Charlotte said slowly as she looked up at him.

He had said it with such disappointment and anger that Charlotte could barely handle how it felt inside. Her heart felt broken because Caroline wouldn't even look at her, and it was then that the tears really began to flow. Derek told them to head back home together, both of them more than happy to leave the two Alphas there, Derek getting on his knees and pulling Charlotte to him, keeping her wrapped in his arms. She was devastated at her own actions and now the pack seemed to be against her and it made Derek angrier than usual: she was just doing what she thought was best and protecting her pack. Why were they punishing her like this? Their own Alpha?

"He just wouldn't stop," Charlotte tried, crying some more. "Derek…Derek, this was my fault too. What am I doing? I'm a terrible Alpha. I don't want to be one anymore."

Derek shook his head. "Shhh, shhh…don't say that, Charlee. You're the best Alpha there is—they'll come around. You were protecting them."

"From my own mistake!" Charlotte exclaimed painfully. "This was all my fault!"

"A lot of things are your fault," Gerard told them, making both Alphas look at him rather startled. "I can help you with that though…"

xx

Isaac and Phasmi were having a lot of fun packing, Isaac feeling pretty good about being able to be in Phasmi's room because it was so like her. Actually, he was wondering about the house they were going to be living in and since he hadn't seen it yet, it was only normal for him to be curious. This was Phasmi's room—a reflection of her personality—and it was probably going to be different once she spread her wings. Sure, she'd be living with other wolves still, but it wouldn't be under her parents anymore.

"How many bedrooms are there?" Isaac asked her slowly, wrapping some newspaper around some valuable pictures.

Phasmi smiled at him. "Well, there are four. Five bedrooms was a little pricy, and we really liked the added space. Besides, do you see Derek and Charles setting a 'good example' and sleeping in separate rooms? No, I think not. As it stands though, I wish I was going to have a roommate of the female variety…blanket forts, Isaac. Blanket forts."

"You and I can build blanket forts," Isaac suggested with a shrug. "We can't let the whole idea go to waste. Just you, me, Derek, Charlotte and Eric then?"

"Yeah," Phasmi nodded slowly. "Caroline will still be living with her mother and her brother, Boyd and Erica have families to go home to, and while Artemis has been talking with Charlotte about being part of the pack, she too has a family to go home to. Charlotte is my Alpha, sure, but she's my sister and being away from her is hard for me—I mean I wanted to be part of her first pack so badly, but I just…didn't want to leave Mom you know? Eric is in our pack now and he's family too and so are you. Derek's pack is our pack to, and the sooner you know that the better, okay? We're all basically one big happy pack family."

"Is it hard to leave your Mom now?" Isaac asked her slowly.

The subject of family wasn't exactly his favorite because he had none, but at the same time he knew how important it was to Phasmi. Talking about them and being around them made him happy not just because she was happy, but because somewhere along the way, they had even become important to him. Now he was helping her to move out with him and there was no telling what she was really feeling unless he got it out of her somehow.

"She has Dad," Phasmi replied with a shrug, smiling at Isaac. "I mean, she acts like we have to trust that he's always been here for us without being here and I trust her. It's not just love that keeps her with him and it's not even being mates."

Isaac nodded slowly. "Then what is it?"

"Trust," Phasmi told him. "She trusts him more than anyone in the world and they fight, and she's been lonely, but he's her one. I know that's sappy, but he is…and he's my Dad. I'll be pissed as Hell at him for a while longer, but he'll come clean because I've seen that look on his face, you know? That look that says that he can't understand why he was ever away from her. That look that says that he loves her more than anything—that he'll fight Chris Argent off with a stick for her. It's the same look Derek gets with Charlotte and vice versa."

"Chris Argent?" Isaac asked suddenly. "What?"

"Please," Phasmi said with a laugh, "he's been into my Mom since they were young and then Dad showed up out of nowhere flaunting his Alphaness and everything and stole her away from him. She became dead to the Argents and ran off with Dad and entered into the whole courtship of mates."

Isaac smiled a little bit. "Your mother is hot."

"Where do you think Charlotte and I got our good looks from?" Phasmi asked before plopping down on the bed next to Isaac. "Our parents are really attractive…"

"God, what is it about you?" Isaac asked suddenly.

He sounded a little breathless and Phasmi wasn't sure how to respond as he pushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. Sure, he missed her blonde hair, but at the same time he was attracted to her because of so much more than her hair color. Phasmi had dyed her hair to make a statement to her father and now she was warming back up to him and Isaac understood that—there was nothing that could replace the love of a father. Smiling at her, Isaac leaned in, letting his lips touch Phasmi's, sighing with content as she did as well, groaning when suddenly Phasmi was on his lap.

These feelings between them hadn't been one sided, and Phasmi wanted so desperately to just be with Isaac. He was her match and while she wouldn't let him give her a mating scar, she was perfectly alright with him biting just to bite, pushing him back onto the mattress and kissing down to his ear. For some reason, Isaac hadn't really seen it going this way because he thought he'd be the one making all of the moves, but then again Phasmi was a Graceland: they all tended to have a little bit of a control 'problem'.

"V, wait," Isaac said suddenly.

Phasmi took a deep breath. "Isaac…I think it's my turn to try and have sex with you."

"What changed your mind?" Isaac asked, feeling rather nervous.

"We're not in a car," Phasmi replied with a shrug.

That made Isaac chuckle, but he wasn't really getting any more confident as Phasmi kissed him again and then started to move his t-shirt up his body. Still he let her, taking off his shirt and tossing it to the side and then smiling as Phasmi took her shirt off. This was the farthest that either of them had gone with anyone before and Phasmi found herself blushing, Isaac too—his face was beet red and it made Phasmi lean forward to kiss him as she moved Isaac's hands to cup her breasts.

In movies, she'd seen all sort of love shows—TV shows too—but this wasn't the same…all those helped with was her knowing that hands were supposed to move everywhere. Add in all the knowledge from sex education classes and she knew as much as anyone really did the first time out about how it was really supposed to go. All she knew as they continued to take their clothes off, was that she liked the feeling of Isaac's hands on her body and he liked the feeling of hers on his. The skin on skin contact was comforting, and sensing it would probably be easier with him on top, Phasmi turned them over and settled on her back.

"You're so beautiful," Isaac breathed as he stroked her hair, slipping his hand down her body to between her legs. "Just tell me if I'm doing it wrong…"

Phasmi smiled and her mouth gaped a little. "You're doing it just fine…"

"I've only heard things, never tried it out," he said gently.

"Everything is good," Phasmi told him smiling. "Everything is good."

Nodding, Isaac kissed her again, stroking between her legs and swallowing her moans before he felt like he'd touched enough to make the next step easier. They weren't completely unaware of things that people did, and very slowly, Isaac slipped inside, letting Phasmi adjust, trying not to be dissuaded by her whimpers as he pushed in. Instead of going all the way in at first, Isaac moved gently in and out, until Phasmi gripped his backside and pulled him flush against her. She wanted to get that part over with and even though she cried out softly in pain, she kept him there and he stayed perfectly still for just a moment.

Chests heaving together, they both felt a little awkward, but Isaac went back to kissing her, Phasmi smiling a little and hooking her arms and legs around him. They then tried to get a rhythm down, which took a little bit, but soon they were moving together, treasuring each other and the other's sounds. Isaac reached his breaking point first, but he felt really embarrassed that Phasmi hadn't yet and moved his mouth down her body to her nipples, paying close attention as he then let his thumb venture back down to her sensitive bud and he rubbed at it until she reached her breaking point too.

She might have been a bit sore, but she held Isaac close and kissed him, glad that he was with her and glad that she'd taken this step. He was the only one for her as far as she was concerned, and Isaac seemed to feel the same way, holding her tightly against him and nuzzling his nose against her hairline. It was normal to want to snuggle and show affection after sex, but for wolves, the nuzzling was almost more fulfilling than the sex itself, and the skin on skin contact kept them as intimate as could be.

"I love you, you know," Phasmi said suddenly, letting her fingers traipse along Isaac's damp skin as Isaac's ran through her hair. "I just want you to know that."

Isaac smiled and nodded. "I love you too, V."

"Good, because otherwise…" she teased, laughing when he did. "Do you wanna maybe share a room in the new place? Makes it easier to make blanket forts…"

"Yeah," Isaac laughed, kissing her lips gently and then looking her in the eye, "it makes everything easier."

xx

Charlotte moved to step in front of Derek, who was annoyed because he wanted to step in between them instead. Gerard had made it painfully obvious that he just wanted to kill Charlotte and Derek wasn't about to let that happen to his mate. Smirking, Gerard moved to electrocute Derek, Derek falling to the ground as Charlotte moved for Gerard and got a knife in her stomach that was definitely laced with wolfs bane. There was no way that she was going to get through this and she knew.

"Take me, just leave Derek out of it," Charlotte told Gerard quickly, shaking her head. "Just…just let him go."

Gerard smiled. "You're in no place to be making demands, Charlotte, but I'll tell you a secret: I want Allison to get to destroy him. My quarrel is with you. He can stay here and remember how he couldn't save you."

"As long as he's safe," Charlotte responded.

"Charlee, don't," Derek tried, but he got shocked again and then in the blink of an eye, Charlotte and Gerard were gone.

Note: So the pack is mad, huh? AND CHARLOTTE KILLED HER OWN BETA! Plus, Matthew, man. Papa Graceland has a past you all want to know about, right? WELL HE HAS A CHAPTER COMING SOON, CHALK FULL OF HIS PAST AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR CHARLOTTE'S FUTURE. You just gotta be patient and let me get us there. ^.^ Feedback is always appreciated!