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 50:

There hadn't been enough time for the twins to relay to Sydney what they had witnessed before she had to take off with Charlie to meet up with the Argents. Nonetheless, the scene that Aidan had watched unfold in front of him at the bridge within the preserve hadn't left his mind and it wasn't until Sydney wandered back into the house with Charlie by her side, that he spoke a word about it to anyone.

"How were the tunnels?" Aidan asked as he rose up from the couch in the living room, heading for the front door to greet his female pack mates. "Did you find what you were looking for?

"I don't know." Sydney answered with a slight shrug. She flipped her arms back and let her leather jacket fall off her body, catching it before it had a chance to drop to the ground. She held it in her hand and made quick work of hanging it up at the front door. "Definitely learned a lot."

"Like what?"

"Like that we're all pretty much destined to be killed by the random beast running around Beacon Hills." Charlie supplied, looking around the main floor of the house with the hopes of locating her father. She didn't see him anywhere, nor did she see Ethan, and at the sight of only Aidan, she cocked her head sideways and lifted her arms up as if to say 'where's everyone else'.

Aidan peered around and looked behind him, furrowing his eyebrows before looking right back at Charlie.

"Your dad's upstairs." He said calmly. "He went up there with Bruin a little bit ago to see if she'd calm down enough to nap."

"Then that's where I'll be heading." Sydney announced and made a move to brush past her two betas. Aidan lifted a hand up and gently gripped her bicep, stopping her dead in her tracks. Sydney looked down at where he was gripping her, then she brought her eyes up to meet his, only she had brought out her alpha irises. "What?"

"We need to talk." Aidan said lowly and Charlie gave Sydney a pat on the back before taking off in a jog for the stairs. Aidan didn't say anything, nor did he peel his hand away from her, until Charlie was in the upstairs hallway and he heard her greet her father.

"This better be important." Sydney grumbled but by the lack of smile on Aidan's face, she knew that he was deadly serious. Whatever he needed to say to her wasn't going to be anything she should've been taking lightly.

"Trust me, you'll want to hear this." Aidan remarked and tugged gently on her arm, ushering her forward so that she was heading for the living room. He followed closely behind her and when they reached the couch, she let out a sigh and flopped down, Aidan dropping onto the cushion next to her and twisting his body in her direction.

She relaxed into the back of the couch but her eyes never left his. Whatever he needed to talk to her about, she wasn't going to fluff off. There were rare occurrences when Aidan knew how to be serious and this was apparently one of them. Apparently when he had gone in search of Deucalion, he had seen, or sensed, something that he deemed relevant to her pack.

"Spit it out." She murmured and reached a hand over, setting her palm on his knee. Aidan shifted away from her touch though and sucked in a breath. She narrowed her eyes in on him and waited patiently for him to get to it, he had something to tell her and she had a limited amount of time to listen. She still had to take Steve to the vet clinic before he took off for home and she knew that the sooner Aidan said his peace, then the sooner she could grab Steve and head out.

"We found Deucalion." Aidan confessed and Sydney poked his thigh, signaling for him to keep talking. "We tracked him through the preserve and we managed to locate him at the bridge over the stream but we weren't the only ones that spotted him."

"What do you mean?" Sydney hissed. "Who else would even know about him?"

"Theo's pack of chimeras attacked him, they all went at him at once and I guess there were just too many of them for Deucalion to fight off…they brought him down, they took him away." Aidan continued and Sydney let a small growl escape her. "Ethan and I didn't follow them, honestly I don't think it would be that hard to pick up their scents from the bridge if you wanted us to-"

"Nope." Sydney raised her hand up, cutting him off as she did so. "I want you and Ethan to be smart about this. I want you two to stay alive and until we know more about whatever the hell Theo's planning then you and your brother aren't going to be tracking any chimeras anywhere."

"Got it." Aidan nodded and even though he was the tiniest little bit exasperated by her demands, he also knew that she had a point. They were a pack, they had to stick together, and so long as no one was directly threatening them, then they weren't going to go around poking any bears with any sticks. This was a sleeping dog that would be better off left alone. "I just thought you should know that though, that Theo has Deucalion, or if he managed to get away after we left, that Theo wants Deucalion."

"Don't we all." Sydney responded with a heavy sigh. "Thanks, you did good today."

"It was nothing, I should be thanking you for letting us go."

"You don't actually need my permission, you know that right?" Sydney quipped and tipped her head to the side.

"You're my alpha, I do what you tell me to do. I'd rather ask for permission than have you get mad at me for something that you didn't really want me to do." Aidan explained and offered her a small smirk. "I've seen you mad before, I don't want to ever have that anger directed at me, or my brother for that matter."

Sydney snorted at him but didn't say a word. She gave his knee a rough pat and stood up, wandering around to the back of the couch where she paused and ran her fingers through Aidan's hair. He tipped his head back and met her eyes, smiling lazily at her as she repeated the motions a few more times before finally pulling away from him completely and making her way to the stairs.

When she reached the bottom step, she glanced back over at Aidan and couldn't help but smile at him still sitting on the couch, only now he had a book open on his lap. Whether he was reading for fun, or researching to help the pack, she didn't care, he was her beta, loyal and true, and she wouldn't trade him for anything.

Tearing her eyes off of one half of the double mint twins, Sydney made quick work of ascending the stairs and when she reached the top, she paused and listened in on Charlie talking in hushed tones with her dad. She knew that he was planning to leave that night, but it didn't make it any easier on her youngest beta and even if Charlie didn't want to go with him, she knew that she'd miss her dad once he was gone. If losing her parents had taught her anything, it was that not having a loving parental figure around always sucked, no matter how much fun a person could claim to be having.

Charlie's voice ceased and Sydney took that as a signal that she was done talking to her dad. Sydney figured that Charlie had picked up on the fact that she was on the second floor with them and when a laugh erupted from Steve, who was tucked away in her room, Sydney surged forward. She rounded the corner and stepped into her bedroom, looking at the father/daughter duo sitting comfortably in her pillows.

A smile spread over her face and she stole a quick glance over to Bruin's crib, where her baby girl was settled in but not yet asleep. Sydney sauntered in and climbed up onto her bed, walking up the length of it before taking a seat next to Charlie, sandwiching her against her dad.

"What'd Aidan want?" Charlie asked and let out a soft sigh. It was getting late and Sydney figured that the younger girl would be tired, especially after their adventure into the tunnels. She just hoped that Charlie would sleep soundly that night and not suffer from nightmares containing the things that they had to deal with while they were all awake. "To profess his undying love for you?"

"Ha ha." Sydney mimicked sarcastically and shook her head no. "He wanted to talk to me about his attempts at tracking down Deucalion today."

"Attempts? Does that mean he didn't actually do it?" Charlie tilted her head sideways and let her forehead rest against Steve's shoulder.

"Well no, him and Ethan managed to track Deucalion down but Theo's pack got to him." Sydney tried to explain and Charlie popped back up into an upright position. Clearly she was interested in what Sydney had to say. "I guess Theo wants him for something, honestly I have no idea what though. If you have any theories, I'm all ears."

"I have no idea." Charlie sighed and Steve gave her knee a reassuring pat.

"I'm sure you girls will figure it out." He added in quickly and Sydney fought off the urge to huff.

She was tired of having to figure things out, she just wanted straight answers. She wanted to wake up in the morning with a cut and dry mission to get to and if that meant she'd have to end a life, then so be it, so long as the life that needed to be ended was on the bad side. Sydney was tired of all the unknowns, she just wanted Theo's plan to be revealed, she wanted a way to defeat the Dread Doctors and a method to either help or end the new threat in the form of the beast.

She didn't want to sit around coming up with theories or potential solutions, she just wanted to do something.

"You hear from Deaton yet?" Sydney asked, changing the subject before Steve and Charlie could continue with the topic at hand. "Does he know we're coming or is this visit tonight going to be more of a break and enter type deal?"

"I haven't heard from him." Steve answered with a saddened shake of his head. "I'm hoping that doesn't mean anything bad."

"Well this is Beacon Hills we're talking about." Charlie jeered. "I think at this point you can count on that meaning something bad."

Steve shook his head at her but didn't bother responding. He wasn't going to deny it, Charlie had a point, they weren't in Colorado where bad things happened less than in Beacon Hills, they weren't anywhere near Colorado and ever since he had arrived at Sydney's house, bad things had continued to happen. They weren't going to catch a break simply because Steve hoped that bad things didn't happen.

"I'm taking Bruin." Sydney whispered and Charlie jerked her head around to look at her. "I figure if something's awry, then I'll be able to sense it before we actually get inside. Best case scenario, he's fine and he gets to meet Bruin, worst case scenario, Steve stays in the car with her while I fight off whatever's gunning for us."

"That doesn't sound like a very good plan." Charlie mumbled.

"Well it's the best I've got." Sydney shrugged in response. "Come on Steve, let me get my baby girl ready to go and then we can head out. How's that sound?"

"Dad!" Charlie barked and he looked over at her. "You're okay with this plan?"

"Charlie, have a little faith, I'm not totally defenseless when it comes to the supernatural, plus Syd's as fierce as they come. If anything seems out of place, we'll call for backup, does that make you feel better?" Steve countered.

"I guess."

"Good." Steve's eyes widened at her, daring her to say another word. "We shouldn't be long."

"Okay." Charlie rolled her eyes, wondering what exactly her dad and her alpha were getting themselves into.

No one said another word though as Steve climbed off the bed and headed back down the stairs to get himself ready. Charlie stayed sitting on the bed while Sydney made her way over to the crib, lifting Bruin up and pressing a kiss against the top of her head. She simply watched her alpha getting Bruin ready to go without saying another word in objection.

She just hoped that they knew what they were doing.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

Nothing had seemed off when Sydney arrived at Deaton's vet clinic, in fact, she could smell Scott, who she had seen not too long ago in the tunnels. If he was here, then that had to mean they'd be okay.

Steve knocked on the back door and when Scott poked his head out, he forced a smile in Sydney's direction, Bruin was safely tucked into her car seat, which was dangling from Sydney's hand at her side. Quickly, and without a word, Scott stepped out of the way and waved them forward, waiting until both Sydney and Steve were securely inside before he pulled the door shut behind them.

"He's in the back room." Scott directed them and Sydney led Steve through the narrow hallway until she could hear the man in question.

When the two of them walked into the room where Deaton stood hovering over a laying down Malia, they remained quiet. Sydney looked back behind her, searching for Scott, but he was busy doing something else. She knew he was still around because she could still smell him, and hear him, but she couldn't see him. Oh well, Scott wasn't a threat to her, or Steve for that matter, and it wasn't like he didn't have other stuff of his own to do.

"What happened to her?" Steve was the first one to break the silence and as he watched his good friend treating a rough looking wound on Malia's side, he studied the girl on the table too. She wasn't moving around that much but every so often, when Deaton would put pressure on the injury, she'd let out a pained grunt, yet no words came out of her mouth.

"She was shot." Deaton answered calmly and turned his head to face Steve with a polite smile. "Nice to see you Steve. I see you've brought friends."

"You know Syd." Steve replied but looked down into the car seat still within Sydney's grasp. "This is her daughter Bruin."

"Daughter?" Malia lifted her head up and looked right at Sydney, who held the young werecoyotes eyes before flashing her a small smile of her own.

"I didn't know you'd be here." Sydney retorted and Malia dropped her head back down to the table, letting Deaton continue to treat her wound. "Since you are though, who shot you?"

"Theo." Malia answered quickly.

"Theo shot you?" Sydney narrowed her eyes in on the girl and wandered around the table. She hauled Bruin's car seat up and gently placed it on the counter along the wall, then she took a step closer to Malia and looked down at her, meeting her glowing blue eyes. Sydney matched her with her red irises and when Malia let out a hiss of pain, Sydney made note that her eyes reverted back to their usual colour.

"I needed his help, apparently I should've gotten someone else." Malia admitted with a frustrated tone.

"Help with what?" Sydney found herself asking before she had a chance to really wonder how much she wanted to do with Malia. It was too late though, she had already asked the question and now she seemed interested. Well, in all honesty, Sydney didn't know that she wasn't interested. Whatever Malia had been up to before seeking out the clinic was clearly dangerous and she had apparently needed Theo's help…Sydney didn't particularly like Malia but that didn't mean seeing her in pain was something she enjoyed.

"I was trying to find my mother." Malia answered honestly.

"Why?" Sydney fired back and she felt her heart start to pick up in pace. Malia's mom, Peter's lover at one time, no, no she already didn't like where this was going. If Malia was trying to find her mother, then what did that mean for Sydney?

"So that I could kill her." Malia said in a low voice and Sydney listened for anything to signal that Malia was lying to her. Wait, why would Malia want her mother dead though? If Sydney was in her position, surely she'd be seeking out her mother in order to get to know her, maybe get some answers to questions, but definitely not kill her.

"You were trying to find your mom so that you could kill her and the best option that you could come up with to help you was Theo?" Sydney quipped, trying to understand Malia's logic.

"Well yeah, anyone else would've tried to stop me." Malia pointed out using a tone that suggested Sydney was an idiot for not already knowing that. "Theo was supposed to help me kill her."

"First thing's first here," Sydney started and waited for Malia to be looking right at her. When the werecoyote held her gaze, she kept going, "if you wanted someone to help you kill your mother, you should've at least considered asking me."

"You? Why would you want to help me?"

"Usually I wouldn't but I'm not a big fan of the idea of your father somehow managing to reconcile with your mother."

"You mean because you're with Peter now?" Malia quipped and Sydney bit back a growl. "You'd help me kill my own mother because you're jealous?"

"Does that really matter, the goal is the same." Sydney argued.

Deaton pressed his hand against Malia's side one more time and when he pulled it away, he helped the girl sit up on the table. Steve forced a smile at her and then turned his attention to the very vet himself.

"Can we talk in private for a few minutes?" Steve asked. "I was hoping you could help me out, I'm looking for a contraceptive that works on werewolves."

Sydney shook her head with an amused smile and watched as Steve disappeared out of the room with Deaton next to him. She listened carefully as the two said a few sentences about their past and all the things that they had been dealing with recently and when she felt that Steve had settled in to a nice, comfortable conversation with Deaton, she turned her sights back to Malia, who dropped her feet down to the floor and lunged forward, moving away from the table.

"I don't have to call you step mom or anything, do I?" Malia asked and Sydney let out an amused snort. However, when she met Malia's gaze, she took note that she was being completely serious, okay, huh, well that was unexpected.

"Uh no, you can call me Syd, that's fine with me, in fact, if we could both just pretend that the whole step mom thing isn't actually true, I think maybe that'd be for the best." Sydney replied with a small, teasing smile. "But if you want to meet your half sister, that's a different story."

Malia reluctantly wandered closer to Sydney, who moved side by side with her, heading over to the counter where Bruin resided, still tucked away safely in her carrier. Sydney reached in and unbuckled the straps holding her in place, then she lifted the tiny little girl out of the padded seat and hugged her against her chest.

"She smells like him." Malia remarked. "Not a lot, but it's there."

"I know." Sydney smiled at her. "Seriously, if you want help in the future taking down your real mom, just call me. I could go for an adventure right about now."

"I'll keep that in mind." Malia remarked and lifted her hand up. She made a move to reach out to touch Bruin but stopped in her tracks and looked at Sydney, seeking permission. When Sydney gave her an encouraging nod, Malia ran the tips of her fingers down Bruin's back, the baby letting out a soft coo in response. Malia repeated the motion, this time she continued it all the way through and began moving her fingers in a circular motion.

"I can't believe you trusted Theo though." Sydney joked. "No offense, that was a dumb move."

"Yeah, no kidding." Malia scoffed. "I think I've learned my lesson this time."

"I'd hope so." Sydney bowed her head. "Look, I know we're not the best of friends or anything but if you ever need my help, with anything, you can call me."

Malia paused in her ministrations and took a step closer to Sydney. She turned her back to the counter and stood right next to her, their hips brushing, which drew Sydney's attention to the younger girl beside her.

"I appreciate that." Malia stated. "The uh, the same goes for you."

"Thanks." Sydney mumbled, unsure of where to go at this point. She didn't want Malia to get the wrong idea but Sydney was no longer aware of how she really felt about the girl.

On one hand, she was Peter's daughter, she was jealous because of that fact alone, but it wasn't like Malia had chosen him as her father. She had a loving parental figure in the man that had adopted her, it wasn't like Malia was going to be looking for a loving family in the form of Peter Hale.

On the other hand, Sydney didn't really want to get to know the girl standing next to her. Malia was a part of Peter's past, a part that she would've rather stayed there.

"You're not so bad." Malia said in a low tone.

"Neither are you." Sydney replied. "You're brave, strong, smart-"

"You should stop before I start thinking you actually like me." Malia cut in and when Sydney met her gaze, she could tell that Malia was teasing her.

"Wouldn't want that." Sydney shook her head with a grin.

Malia let out a soft, contented sigh, and Sydney felt her lean against her side. She continued to cradle Bruin in her arms while also basking in the feeling of Malia's body against hers. She shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, she shouldn't have been instantly against Malia from the beginning, they weren't enemies, they were allies. They shared a lot of the same traits, they were both fierce, strong and loyal, they'd both do whatever they could to protect those that they loved, and now they both shared a mutual dislike for the one and only Theo Raeken.

"I should go." Malia piped up and jerked her body away from Sydney's. Sydney nodded her understanding but gently took hold of her wrist, holding her in place.

"I'm sorry, for everything." Sydney breathed the words out.

"Me too." Malia dropped her eyes down to the floor and Sydney let go of her, no longer having anything left to say. Malia took off quickly and disappeared out of the back room, leaving Sydney all alone with Bruin.

She sucked in a breath and said a little prayer in her head for Malia, she wanted the girl to be safe, she wanted her to be okay and maybe one day, they could even call one another friend.

When Steve and Deaton stepped back into the room, Sydney forced a smile onto her face and waited patiently for the two men to say something to her.

"This must be the infamous Bruin." Deaton commented and moseyed on over towards Sydney. Without asking him if it was okay, she offered the baby to him and Deaton gathered Bruin into his arms, gently rocking her back and forth.

The baby stared up at him with bright, wide open brown eyes and when a red flicker passed through her irises, Deaton barely even flinched. Sydney covered her mouth and looked at the vet, wondering if he knew what the hell caused something like that to happen. She had witnessed it a few times before but no one around her could offer up much on the subject matter.

"You know, your eyes did that as well when you were a baby." Deaton remarked, giving her a smile. "I think your daughter has inherited the Vance eyes."

"You're saying her eyes are hereditary?" Sydney asked in a disbelieving tone. "That's all that is?"

"I wouldn't say that that's all it is but it's certainly a sign of things to come. You have a beautiful daughter."

"Thanks." Sydney sighed.

An awkward silence fell over them all, Deaton continued to hold Bruin, looking her over as he did so, and Sydney kept her eyes trained on the man in front of her, the very man who had known her mother when she was still alive.

She had so many questions, so many things she wanted to hear him say, but she didn't want to be rude. He'd tell her what she needed to hear, when she needed to hear it, it was just the type of person he was. Steve cleared his throat, sensing the awkward tension, and drew everyone's attention towards him.

"Now Doc, can we get back onto the topic of that werewolf contraception I was asking you about earlier?" Steve broke in and Sydney was thankful for his words, no matter how much she didn't want to think about the topic he was bringing back up.

XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX

And here we have the alpha werewolf making alliances with the werecoyote...how do you guys feel about that?