Sorry for the long wait!

To wayneximoff: hehe :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Wolf, only Loki.

"Tighten them," a voice said. Loki closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impending agony. Her teeth, sharper than normal, dug into the soft skin of her bottom lip as one of the orderlies began to twist the screws around the manacles. Stifling a shriek of pain, Loki instinctively flinched away, only to be aggressively pulled back into position by the person speaking. He let the orderly continue for several more agonizing minutes as Loki felt warm, sticky liquid run down her wrists. The tang of blood and infection made her gag. "That's enough."

Loki cracked her eyes open to see Valack in front of her. He smiled with fake sympathy at her, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Don't…don't hurt her," Loki mumbled, dazed with pain. Her eyes slipped shut again, exhaustion taking over even as she tried to fight it. "Leave Lydia alone." As she fell unconscious, Loki was distantly aware that Valack was responding, but she couldn't hear his words.

Maybe it was for the better.

*FLASHBACK*

The sides of the virtually empty road flashed by as Loki whipped through the streets leading her back to Beacon Hills. She'd heard something about a major traffic jam coming from the airport, and she was happy to have avoided that. The smooth, if loud, hum of her motorcycle was soothing to her, but not enough to squish the anticipation she felt as she drove closer and closer to Beacon Hills.

After three months of a frustratingly fruitless search, Loki was returning to Beacon Hills, still in the dark about Deucalion's whereabouts. She was also no closer to locating the rest of her family, either the Druids or the hunters. Not that she'd looked particularly hard for her mom's side, who she guessed would shoot her on sight, but still.

Loki was a tracker as a wolf, and had honed hunter instincts as a human. Not finding someone or something she'd set her mind to find after three months of looking was frustrating to her. Immensely so.

Scowling to herself, Loki revved the engine, kicking the speed up a notch. It wasn't that she was so eager to return to the empty penthouse, or even the small, supernatural-infested little town so much as she missed her friends.

Almost – almost – as much as she missed the twins. Which had surprised her. She had expected to miss Jordan and even Lydia, and of course Scott, but she had been startled when she found herself wistfully thinking of Kira's awkward, winsome presence, or missing Stiles's harebrained, sarcastic comments and spastic episodes. Loki expected that she wouldn't be seeing Derek again, and with a twinge of guilt, she was relieved. By the time they'd parted ways, Loki and Derek had reached a comfortable respect for one another, but Loki still found it difficult to be around him without thinking of the two dead Betas – his Betas – that she'd helped to torture and imprison.

Loki probably would have continued to drift away in her thoughts until she reached the penthouse, but something gave her pause. Slowing the bike down, Loki flipped the visor of her helmet up to look closely at the cruiser parked on the side of the street in front of a decrepit mausoleum of a house. Sure enough, it was Jordan's.

Pulling over, Loki tugged her helmet off completely, debating as she chewed her bottom lip. Obviously she shouldn't go in, because just because this house looked abandoned didn't mean it was, and she doubted Jordan would appreciate her breaking and entering, even if it was to see him. But still…something made her uneasy. .

Standing up, Loki took a hesitant step forward. Just as she'd made up her mind to wait for Jordan to come out the wind changed directed and blew towards her, fanning an all-too-familiar scent across her face.

Blood.

Loki burst into the mansion, which was even creepier on the inside. A chandelier was sprawled across the floor, and about an inch of dust covered the entire room. Loki dropped her eyes to the floor, studying the tracks that had been left there. One set of footprints, led down to the basement, and the other led back up. The set of footsteps leading down was treaded like a boot, but the other set was clearly someone who hadn't been wearing shoes.

Possibly Jordan…if he'd burned through his clothes again. But no, the bare feet looked bigger than the shoe prints, and that couldn't be right, not if it was the same person. Creeping down the rickety stairs, Loki strained her ears for anything. She could hear harried breathing, and the smell of blood was stronger as she moved closer to the bottom floor.

"Jordan?" She whispered, moving a little faster. She reached the end of the stairs and saw him slumped against some metal shelves. Her heartbeat thudded in fear. His shirt was open, and he had a few long scratches on his chest that were smoking. His eyes were flickering. "Jordan!" Loki rushed to his side, placing a hand on his face hesitantly. He opened his eyes halfway, and a smile flickered briefly across his face when he saw her.

"Loki?" He mumbled, head-lolling.

"Loki!" Someone grabbed her arm, and Loki instinctively wrenched it free and whirled around. The Sherriff was behind her, holding his gun and flashlight. Loki slapped her hand over her chest, her heart pounding. She wasn't used to being snuck up on.

"God!" She said. "You startled me." He ignored her, bending over his deputy with wide eyes. He took note of the young man's unconscious state, and the bloody slashes on his chest.

"Help me," he ordered her.

Loki followed Melissa and Stilinski into the morgue. They carefully hefted the deputy's body onto the table.

"You said you were going to keep him on desk duty!" the nurse said accusingly as she surveyed the deputy's wounds anxiously.

"It was a minor noise complaint," the Sherriff muttered defensively, rubbing his temples. Loki stepped up to the deputy's side, taking his hand and squeezing. The Sherriff rolled his eyes at that, looking away, his disapproval clear. Loki didn't care.

"Well, he's not on fire," Loki murmured. She shrugged. "Maybe it's part of his healing process."

"I don't suppose you figured out what he is during your three month long absence?" Stilinski asked. Loki shook her head, smiling ruefully.

"Not a clue." Jordan jerked upwards suddenly, yanking his arm from Loki's grasp. The Sherriff reacted quickly, pulling Mellissa back and pointing his gun at Jordan. Clenching her jaw, Loki stepped in between the deputy and the two humans. She watched as Jordan's chest heaved as he fought to control himself, eyes glowing a bright orange.

"It's okay," Loki said, both to him and to the Sherriff. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see Melissa nudging Stilinski's gun down. Jordan blinked and the color in his eyes faded. Loki stepped closer to him, taking his hand again. She touched the side of his face gently, and he covered her hand with his own. "Okay?"

Jordan carefully extracted his hand from her grip, and raised a hand to his exposed chest. The slashes had healed, leaving nothing but a few bloody smears behind. He placed his hand across the previously wounded area, and his eyes widened suddenly, as though he'd just remembered something important.

"Scott," he said, looking up quickly. "We need to find Scott."

"His claws were different." Jordan continued to describe the unknown creature that had attacked him. "Twice the size of Scott's – more like…talons."

"Well, if that's the worse part, that doesn't sound too bad," Melissa commented. Jordan shook his head in disagreement. He wasn't finished yet.

"It's worse," he said. "They did something to me. I don't know how to describe it other than it felt as if the life was being drawn out of me through them. Through the claws."

"And now he's going after Scott," Loki said, cradling her chin in her hand thoughtfully. Her eyes were narrowed with concern and concentration, worried about her friend. Jordan nodded.

"Which got me thinking about what this guy can do," he continued. "The rule is that you have to kill an Alpha to steal their power, right?"

"But it's different for Scott," Melissa argued, looking at Loki for clarification. She nodded.

"You can't steal a True Alpha's power." Jordan shook his head.

"I think this guy can." Loki exhaled slowly, scowling. This didn't make sense. There was a natural order to the supernatural world, and whatever this creature was, it was messing with it. It bothered her. It bothered her a lot.

"Loki," a voice hissed. She turned her head, and saw Liam Dunbar lurking by the door. He widened his eyes at her, indicating that he'd heard the conversation inside the morgue, and she nodded.

"I'm going," Loki said, turning to leave. Melissa nodded, her shoulders relaxing slightly. Loki was nothing if not experienced in this area.

"They're at the – "

"High school," Loki finished. "It's Senior Scribe night." Loki's mouth twisted into a smile as she anticipated seeing her friends again. "I know."

Loki turned into the school parking lot aggressively fast, and she felt Liam's arms tighten around her as his heartbeat spiked, jumping up a few notches. But she didn't have time to apologize for her risky driving. Slamming on the brakes too abruptly, Liam's balance stuttered again behind her. Managing to jump off her bike and steady the young Beta at the same time, Loki whipped her helmet off and began to speak.

"I'll find Scott," she ordered Liam. Warm rainwater slicked down her face and she blinked a few times to dispel droplets from her eyes. "Go find Stiles and Malia, okay?" Liam nodded, and took off towards the main building. Loki took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, casting her hearing out as far as it would go.

The sounds of fighting were clear…but where were they from? Loki's eyes snapped open, and she took off towards the overhang where they'd fought the Oni. Loki remembered Aiden laying across the ground, dark blood staining his lips, and she shuddered. Shaking those thoughts off, Loki ran down the stairs, splashing through ankle deep puddles.

When she reached the overhang, Loki saw Scott and Kira fighting against a tall figure with glowing blue claws. Just as she arrived, another person dropped to the ground in front of her. The scent that she could barely catch through the rain was unfamiliar, but he was definitely a werewolf. Something about his smell was odd though, wrong in a way that Loki couldn't understand. He rushed at the other creature, using the wall as a springboard and slashing at the man's face.

Loki came in from the other side, thrusting her claws into the enemy creature's back. He howled in pain, trying to fight both her and the newcomer at the same time. Finally, he managed to pick up the boy and throw him directly at Loki, sending them both flying. Both werewolves hit the ground hard, and the teenager on top of Loki groaned in pain.

Loki shoved the other teen off of her, perhaps harder than necessary considering he'd just tried to help her friend, and pushed herself up just in time to see the creature thrust its blue claws into Scott's abdomen. The crimson color of Scott's eyes faded back to brown, and Loki's own eyes widened with shock and horror. As she stepped forward helplessly, the faint sound of footsteps brought her attention briefly to Malia, Stiles, and Liam, who had just arrived.

But before any of the pack could react, Scott rose to his feet, his eyes glowing the red of an Alpha once again. The werewolf grabbed the hand that was clamped around his throat and tugged it away. Keeping a firm grip on the creature's wrist, Scott twisted it once hard. The man howled in pain as his bone snapped and broke through the surface of his skin. Scott plucked the claws embedded in his chest and tossed them to the ground.

"I don't know who you are," he said to the man cowering in front of him. "Or what you thought you were going to do, but I'll give you a choice. You can stay and I'll break something else, or you can run." The creature slowly rose to his feet, looking around at the gathered teenagers warily. He made eye contact with Stiles, who lifted his chin, gaze steely.

"I'd run," the sole human advised, not wavering once. Growling in frustration and pain, the man cradled his injured arm and took off into the night. Loki moved closer towards her friends, and they all turned towards the unfamiliar werewolf who'd helped Scott. He smiled, dropping his gaze to the ground as he approached them slowly.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He asked. Scott raised his eyebrows, and the boy smiled again. "I guess I look a little different since the fourth grade," he quipped. As he spoke, Scott's eyes widened in recognition.

"Theo?" He asked, clearly shocked. Malia eyed him warily.

"You know him?" she asked, suspicious.

"They used to," Theo answered. "Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again. But a couple months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, I just couldn't believe it. And not just an Alpha," Theo continued. "A True Alpha." Scott shrugged his shoulders a little awkwardly. He licked his lips.

"What do you want?"

"I came back to Beacon Hills," Theo explained. There was an odd gleam in his eye. "Back home with my family, because I want to be a part of your pack."

The five seniors pushed through the double doors of the school. Stiles was still muttering about Theo.

"I mean, we haven't seen this kid in years," he reminded his best friend. "You don't find that highly suspicious?" Scott smiled slightly, almost amused by his best friend's suspicion.

"I'm a little more concerned about the guy who just tried to kill me," Scott reminded Stiles. Before their conversation could continue, Malia's phone buzzed. They all stopped walking as she held it in front of her face, reading the message. After a moment of stoicism, a broad, relieved smile broke its way across her face.

"I'm in!" She exclaimed. "I passed." She sounded shocked, but extremely pleased with herself. Stiles laughed, shoulders relaxing slightly, and he threw his arms around his girlfriend.

"Thank god," a new voice said. Lydia stalked up to her friends, looking annoyed. "Where have you guys been? The entire senior class is – Loki!" Lydia stepped forward to hug the girl, who laughed, returning Lydia's embrace. Loki wrapped an arm around Lydia's waist as they broke their hug, turning back towards the others.

"So are we doing this?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Loki stood in line behind Malia, just in front of Scott. She watched as the others wrote their initials on the shelves of the library. As Kira took the marker from Lydia, she surveyed the writing, biting her lip in uncertainty.

"This isn't vandalism...right?" She asked, sounding nervous. Lydia shrugged, stepping backwards to join Stiles.

"Not…technically." Loki laughed, watching as Kira wrote her initials before handing the marker to Malia. The were-coyote hesitated for a moment before she wrote, but when she stepped back she had a self-satisfied smile on her face. Loki pressed the marker tip to the metal shelf, carefully, deliberately writing an L and then a C. Stepping back, Loki handed the marker to Scott, who took a deep breath as he studied the other initials his friends had left.

As Loki watched, Scott wrote his own initials, and then after a moments hesitation, wrote two 'A's' just underneath the 'SM.' It didn't take a genius to figure out what – or rather who – they stood for. Scott blinked a few times, and then shook his head, handing the marker to the next person in line and stepping back. He wrapped his arm around Kira's shoulders, rubbing her bicep.

"She would have been with us," Stiles said softly. Scott nodded, smiling slightly.

"Yeah," he whispered, kissing Kira's forehead. Lydia's eyes were faraway as she smiled.

"She still is."

*END FLASHBACK*

Hanging in her cell at Eichen once again, Loki snapped out of her dream – a repeat of the day that had started everything leading up to the present. A repeat of the first day of senior year. When the werewolf strained her hearing, she could hear Valack talking to Lydia a few cells down, asking her about the same topic.

"The beginning of senior year," he was saying. "What happened after that, Lydia?"

"You're not real," Lydia murmured in response. She sounded dazed.

"Tell me Lydia," Valack persuaded. "Tell me what happened to them. What happened to your friends?"

"I don't…I don't remember," Lydia protested.

"It started just after you began senior year. What happened?"

"I don't remember," Lydia repeated, sounding near tears due to frustration and fear.

"What happened to Kira?" Valack continued. Despite the fact that there was no response, he continued with the questions. "Tell me about Parrish."

"Jordan…" Loki whispered under her breath, closing her eyes as she pictured her boyfriend, eyes glowing and flames surrounding him.

"And Malia," Valack continued as Loki refocused her hearing. "What happened when the Desert Wolf finally found her?" Loki groaned, straining against the chains that kept her in place at the mention of her friends. "I know you remember what happened to Stiles. And you remember, you must remember…how Loki ended up back here?"

"I can't remember," Lydia insisted. Valack sighed, sounding more resigned than truly disappointed.

"That's alright, Lydia." He consoled the Banshee. "There are other ways to get to the details. This special device is designed for trepanation, the medical art of drilling into the human skull." Loki's eyes snapped open and she shook her head in panic, wincing as pain rang through her head. "Let me show you how it works."

"No!" Loki shrieked in protest, in fear for her friend. "No!" She screamed again, thrashing against the chains, trying to rip through the metal so she could get out, so she could save her friend. Almost before she knew what was happening, an orderly had punched the code into her cell and stormed in. He brandished a Taser, the weapon crackling with electricity. As Loki continued to wail, he stepped forward and jabbed it into her side. The orderly then stood back, smiling sadistically as the werewolf's broken body jolted and convulsed, and fresh blood ran down her wrists and forehead.

*FLASHBACK*

Lydia sat down in the open seat at the lab table next to Loki and began to pull out her things - a notebook, a textbook, and her pencil case. Kira sat at the lab table adjacent to the other two girls. Just before the first bell rang, someone else walked into the class. Scott.

The Alpha walked over to Kira, taking a seat next to his girlfriend and pulling out a textbook. Kira smiled at him happily, before blinking in surprise, realizing what his presence in the class meant. She shot Lydia and Loki a surprised look.

Lydia shook her head slightly, clearly as confused as Kira was. The Banshee then looked at Loki, who just shrugged and shook her head, motioning for Kira to say something to him. Kira shook her head, eyes wide. She didn't want to offend her boyfriend by questioning his class placement. Lydia rolled her eyes, giving Kira a look that clearly meant, "he's your boyfriend," and turned back to the front.

"Scott?" Kira asked, quietly, her voice gentle. He turned towards her. "Are you in the right class?"

"AP Biology," he responded, nodding his head. Loki and Lydia exchanged another look.

"Do you know what AP stands for?" Lydia asked, meaning it sincerely. Scott turned towards her, smiling. He looked amused at her question.

"Advanced Placement," he said, laughing. He opened the textbook in front of him. It was heavily highlighted and bookmarked. Loki shrugged, shaking her head in disbelief. He did know what he was doing.

"Welcome to AP Biology," the teacher said, shutting the door as the second bell rang. Loki remembered that her name was Mrs. Finch. "Let's see who's awake. Can anyone tell me what plasmids are?"

"Circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins," Lydia responded without missing a beat.

"Nicely stated, Lydia," Mrs. Finch complimented. "Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?" Lydia's mouth dropped open.

"Uh…" she said, for once not having an answer. Mrs. Finch turned to Loki, raising her eyebrows in a prompting manner.

"Um…B-12?" Loki answered, the lilt in her voice indicating her lack of confidence in the answer. Mrs. Finch smiled slightly, looking a mixture of impressed and slightly irritated.

"Nice guess, Loki," the teacher said pointedly. Loki shrugged, glancing back down at her notebook and carefully writing the answer out so she'd remember it later. Mrs. Finch was already moving on. "Mr. McCall! Did you know the answer?" Scott looked up, eyes wide.

"Um. No," he responded honestly.

"It's a common test question," Mrs. Finch said. "What's your number one college pick?"

"Um…" Scott responded.

"Stop saying um! All of you," Mrs. Finch ordered the class.

"Sorry," Scott apologized quickly. "UC Davis." Mrs. Finch nodded approvingly.

"Good choice," she said. "It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class if that's what you're hoping for." She turned her attention away from Scott and to the rest of the students. "Who else thinks that they're in the right class?"

Everyone in the classroom slowly raised their hand, Theo being the first to do so. Mrs. Finch nodded again.

"Good," she said. "Then you'll all be prepared for the test tomorrow." There was a chorus of sighs throughout the classroom. "Don't be so disappointed," Mrs. Finch told them. "This test is specifically to help you determine whether you should actually be in AP Biology. You have two weeks to drop. Tomorrow's test will just weed out the ones who shouldn't be here." She walked forward, placing a hand on Scott and Kira's lab table. "And that could be any of you."

"Loki!"

"Stiles," she replied, watching with amusement as the human stumbled up to her.

"I need you to do me a favor," he said. Loki raised an eyebrow, surprised. As she continued to walk, she nodded, motioning for him to continue. "I need you to call the twins." Loki laughed at this odd request, pausing at her locker. As she answered she began to flip the dial.

"You need me to call the twins," she repeated, yanking the door open. "Okay, easy enough. But why?"

"Because I was talking to Theo," Stiles began, making Loki groan. The smile slid off her face, and Stiles held up a hand. "Let me finish! He told us that he the reason he wasn't in the pack of the Alpha that turned him was because he was dead by his first full moon."

"So?" Loki asked, putting her history book away.

"So, the Alpha was dead because he had been killed by two of his Betas – twins." Loki froze. She turned towards Stiles slowly, her expression natural and impassive.

"And?" She prompted, voice suddenly very calm. He stared at her.

"And – and what?" he asked. "Isn't that enough? Can't you just call the twins and ask them if they know if their former Alpha turned a teenager right before they decided to defect and kill everyone in their Voltron Wolf form?" Stiles scratched his jaw, grimacing as he finished his sentence. "Okay, so maybe don't phrase it like that, but you know what I mean." Loki shook her head.

"Listen to me closely," she said to him. "I am not going to bring that topic up with the twins unless you give me a very good, very specific question to ask. And my just asking them if they know if their Alpha turned a teen is not good enough. Try again." Stiles groaned, thinking for a moment.

"Okay, fine. When Ethan told us about how he and Aiden killed their pack, remember what he said? He said they killed all of them. And Theo just told me that the reason he knew that the Alpha died was because another pack member told him. So – it doesn't add up." Loki rolled her eyes again, and Stiles stared at her imploringly. "Loki, please."

"Fine," she snapped, pulling her phone out. She dialed Aiden's number, knowing the more aggressive twin found it easier to talk about that night than Ethan did. Even so, she wasn't looking forward to this conversation. He picked up after the second ring. "Aiden, you want to do Stiles a favor?" Loki asked. The human glared at her.

"Not particularly," Aiden replied. "But I'll do you one. What's up?" Loki sighed.

"Okay, look, I'm sorry in advance. But – there's a new kid here – someone who says he knew Scott and Stiles when they were younger, a werewolf. He says that he was bitten by an Alpha who he never met. By his first full moon the Alpha was dead. Killed by twins." Aiden was silent on the other end for a moment, and he took a deep breath. Loki waited patiently - and guiltily - as he controlled his fear and anger enough to answer.

"Okay. What's the question?"

"Stiles said that this kid claims one of the Alpha's other Betas found him and told him what happened. But Stiles thinks he's lying because he remembers that Ethan told him and Scott that the two of you didn't leave survivors." Loki listened for a minute. "Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay, bye. And – I'm sorry again." Loki dropped the phone from her ear and sighed.

"What did he say?" Stiles exploded at her immediately.

"Jeez. Calm down." Loki slid her phone into her back pocket. "He said that it's possible that Theo's telling the truth. He said that he can't remember the Alpha having turned a teenager in the weeks before they killed him, but that it's possible they wouldn't have noticed. He also said that he thinks they killed all the pack members, but it was a long time ago and he's not sure." She glared at Stiles. "Happy?"

He scowled back at her

"Yeah. Yeah. Thanks."

Loki was in the library, studying, when Lydia came up to her. The redhead dramatically slammed her hands down on the desk, causing Loki to look up. Sighing, the dark skinned girl took out one ear bud.

"What is it?"

"I need you to do me a favor," Lydia said. Loki groaned, closing her eyes.

"Why does everyone need favors from me today?" Lydia stared at her, confused. "What, you want me to call the twins too?"

"Of course not," Lydia scoffed. "I want you to call Deputy Parrish." Loki stared at Lydia, mouth gaping, and the Banshee smiled innocently back.

"Okay, why?" Loki asked, rubbing her temples. Lydia sat down beside Loki, glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

"You know Tracy, right?"

"Nope," Loki said, re-opening her history textbook. Lydia scoffed again, grabbing the book and slamming it shut decisively.

"Listen to me!" The redhead insisted. Loki turned towards Lydia; lips pressed together with thinly veiled irritation. Lydia smiled back nervously. "She's in our grade. She's been having night terrors." Loki shook her head in disbelief, but Lydia plowed on. "Just wait. I think there's something more to it. Something just feels…off. Neither of us have any other classes today. I want you to get the Deputy to meet us at Tracy's house so we can figure it out."

Loki sighed, pulling her other ear bud out and turning her music off. She was tired of things happening in Beacon Hills and had been hoping for a quiet senior year. But she also knew better than to ignore Lydia when she had these premonitions.

"Fine."

Jordan was waiting for the three girls when they reached the house. He was a little confused by Loki's request that he help her and Lydia with something, but she had promised that she'd explain what was happening when they got there. As it turned out, Loki didn't know exactly what was going on either.

Tracy led the others into her bedroom as she explained about her night terrors – that she'd woken up to a bird pecking her window only to see a figure there, and that later that night she'd found the skylight open, even though she claimed that it couldn't be opened.

Lydia requested that Jordan check the room for anything unusual and he agreed, realizing why she wanted him there. Lydia wasn't saying much, but he was guessing that she thought something supernatural was at play here, but didn't want to frighten Tracy. She was asking for his opinion as a police officer who she knew wouldn't ask unwanted questions.

Jordan walked over to the window, tugging on the lock. He checked it carefully, and then unlocked the window and slid it open. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

"I don't see any signs of an attempted forced entry," he told the three girls. Tracy's shoulders relaxed slightly at his words, clearly relieved. "You said something about birds, Tracy?"

"The bird was at the skylight," she responding, casting her eyes upwards. "The one that woke me up." Jordan followed her gaze.

"Can I take a look?" He asked. Tracy nodded. The deputy climbed onto a chair so he could look more closely at the skylight. He noticed something odd and frowned. The latch was open, unlocked. "You said the skylight was sealed for weather proofing?" The teenager nodded, eyebrows creased in concern.

"Yeah. Why?" Jordan placed his hand against the glass and pushed. The skylight opened with no resistance. As he opened it, a smell hit Loki.

"Ugh," she said, covering her nose instinctively. Jordan shot her a look, noticing her watering eyes. Pushing the skylight farther open so he could see out, he realized immediately what she was reacting to. The wooden edge of the skylight was covered with scratches and blood, and just beyond the edge were dozens of bird carcasses, all mangled and bloody. Eyes wide, he shot a look at Lydia, who stared back.

"What is it?" She said, looking impatiently from Loki to Jordan. As soon as she'd asked the question, all three of them instinctively turned to look at Tracy. She looked confused and terrified. Noticing this, Jordan pulled the skylight shut and latched the bolt, shaking his head quickly at the Banshee.

"Nothing." Loki turned towards Tracy, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Listen," she said in a soothing voice. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine. It was probably just first day jitters." Tracy looked up at Loki, uncertain. She didn't quite believe what the girl was saying, but something about her voice was very convincing. "Don't worry about it for now, okay? We'll figure this out." Loki smiled warmly. "I promise."

"I can't do anything official right now," Jordan told Lydia and Loki as they left Tracy's house. "But I can come back after my shift tonight and watch the house for a couple hours." Lydia nodded, looking a little tentative.

"Are you sure? I mean, that's your time." Jordan smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I wouldn't do it if I didn't think something strange was going on." Lydia still looked concerned, and Loki could guess what she was thinking. She didn't want anything to happen to Jordan because she was concerned about something.

"I'll stay," Loki offered, looking at Jordan. He turned towards her, looking slightly surprised. She smiled at him innocently. "Keep you company."

"You have school tomorrow," he reminded her. He glanced at Lydia. "Both of you do."

"Actually," Lydia cut in. "Between the two of us we have three classes tomorrow. And one of them is Loki's art class." Jordan's mouth dropped open, and he stared at the two girls in disbelief.

"How do you – what?" He asked, laughing. Loki grinned.

"Well, I was home-schooled for most of my life, and Lydia's a genius." Loki smiled in a smug manner. "We both had enough credits to graduate last year." Jordan shook his head in disbelief, and Loki turned to her friend.

"Now," Loki said. "She's going to bring me back to school so I can get my bike, and then I am going to meet you." She turned back towards Jordan. "Here at midnight." Jordan sighed, shaking his head. He knew that he wasn't going to win this argument.

"I'll see you then," he said, with an affectionate smile.

Loki climbed into the passenger's seat of Jordan's cruiser just before midnight. She held out a steaming paper cup to him, smiling.

"How did you remember?" he asked, laughing as he took a sip of the hot beverage. He couldn't remember the last time he'd told her his coffee order, but it was prepared just how he liked it. Loki shrugged, taking a sip of her own latte.

"Because I'm smart," she replied cheekily. Jordan laughed again, turning his attention back towards Tracy's house and focusing on the window of her room. Suddenly, the hairs on the back on Loki's neck prickled, and she turned around, peering out the window in the back. She'd felt like something had been watching her, but there was no one there.

"What is it?" Jordan asked, turning to look in the same direction.

"I'm not…I don't know," Loki said slowly. "I thought I heard something…never mind." Loki tucked her bare feet up onto the seat, and Jordan noticed something.

"You have a tattoo," he pointed out, eyes drawn to the small, black mark on the arch of her foot. Loki reached down absentmindedly as though to touch it before pulling her hand back and settling it on her lap.

"More of a brand than a tattoo," she murmured. Frowning, Jordan was about to ask what the meant when she began to speak, her eyes far away. "I need to tell you something." She said to him, for once dead serious. "Remember when you asked me why my eyes were blue?" Jordan nodded catiously.

"And you got upset." Loki grinned humorlessly at his response.

"Yeah. Well, now that the shock of finding out everything has worn off, I think I should tell you." Loki fell quiet for a minute, and then amended her previous statement. "I should have told you a long time ago. And now I suppose I have a good seg-way into it. This is the symbol of my old pack," she told him, motioning to the mark again.

The werewolf turned towards the deputy, and Jordan nodded, encouraging her to continue silently.

"It was a pack of all Alphas," she began. Not meeting his eyes, she continued to tell him the story of how she'd become a part of the pack, and how the pack had operated.

Jordan remembered Loki's words to him, months ago, just after he'd first found out about the supernatural world. What had she said? "I'm not a good person." He had told her that he hadn't believed that, and now, even that he knew the truth, he still didn't. Loki had finished talking, eyeing him apprehensively.

"What happened?" He asked, when it was clear that she wouldn't say more without prompting.

"Two of them are dead," she said. She spoke matter-of-factly, but Jordan saw a brief flash of pain shoot through her normally well-guarded eyes. "Two of them are in London. And one of them…well, that's what I was doing this summer." Jordan nodded. He leaned over and took her chin in his hand, making her look at him.

"Listen. Thank you for telling me," he said. She raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm glad to know, but it doesn't matter to me."

"It doesn't matter?" She repeated. "Jordan, I was an accomplice to dozens of murders, and you're a cop. How does it not matter?" Jordan weighed his words carefully before he spoke.

"Because – remember those weeks when you were trying to help me figure out exactly what I was?"

"Yeah, to no avail?"

"Sure, but – that's not the point. The point is, you told me one day that there's a hierarchy to the supernatural world. You fit into that hierarchy in a way that the cop in me can't approve of." Jordan squeezed her hand. "But the other part? Whatever else I am? Somehow I know that that part can at least understand why you did it." Loki held his gaze, taking a deep breath. Her shoulders shuddered as she exhaled, a great weight lifted off her chest.

"Thank you," she whispered.

er. so. this is rough (i say that a lot).

please please leave a review and tell me what you think!

thank you!