Chapter 4

Cause you never think that the last time is the last time.

You think there will be more.

You think you have forever, but you don't.

~Meredith Grey, Grey's Anatomy~

Her grumbling stomach wakes her just when it's about to get light out. It must be five or six am. When was the last time she ate? God she's hungry and thirsty. First task… food. How to get some, she has no money and no friends. Hunting is a no go considering the amount of wolves and hunters in town. And while she's not above stealing, she's really not very good at it.

''Malia you're being too aggressive, you need to be subtle. Take it without them even realizing it until it's too late.'' Braeden coaches her as Liam lay on the ground groaning after Malia 'subtly' robbed him.

''Why? I'm stronger and faster so why can't I just take it and run?'' Malia asks frowning.

''Dinners ready,'' Melissa softly says from downstairs, knowing everyone with supernatural hearing would hear and head towards the kitchen and those who couldn't hear her? While they might not hear her call, they'll sure as hell hear the others tripping over themselves (and each other) to get to the kitchen.

''Why don't we try this again tomorrow, Malia?'' Braeden says as she hears the footsteps entering the house or more specifically the kitchen.

''I'm going to have to do this again?!'' Liam asks frozen in the door opening.

''Fine'' Malia answered uninterested, not seeing the point of this particular exercise. Why steal your enemies weapon if you can beat them with or without it?

''No… not fine!, Braeden? Malia?'' Liam asks as the girls leave bypassing him to go downstairs ''I won't be here tomorrow!''

''Yes, you will,'' Braeden says calmly, while the corners of her mouth tick upwards slightly.

That next training session never did come. By the next morning their safe house had gone up in flames and not everyone had escaped with their lives.

That day instead of learning how to steal with stealth, she learned that red wolves bane brings even the strongest werewolves to their knees. Not by poisoning or maiming them, but by putting them in a deep sleep… so deep they wouldn't even wake up until they were literally on fire.

And they didn't. Two members of our pack died that day, consumed by the flames. The hunters had killed two more so called 'monsters'.

Wanna know the kicker? Those so called monsters they killed, whose deaths they celebrated and drank to? Well those 'monsters' weren't actually monsters, not in our book nor in theirs.

Braeden, a human who dedicated years of her life to hunting down the notorious desert wolf. Sure according to the hunters she picked the wrong side but they still respected her, still held this stupid believe in their heads that she must be playing some angle, for their side of course.

And Mason, a human who's always been on the wrong side. Their view of him? Well according to them he was a poor kid indoctrinated from a young age, a lost cause. Others believed, he like many other humans aiding the supernatural suffered from Stockholm syndrome… Yes he was on the wrong side but only out of fear and survival, he needed to be saved and rehabilitated.

Funny how they viewed us, acknowledging some facts but ignoring others. Yes, Braeden was sleeping with Derek Hale. Much like Kate Argent had just before burning the Hale family alive, difference? Well one should be enough, his name? Alex… short for Alexander. A rambunctious three year old and his father's name you ask? That would be Derek Hale, or as Stiles would say 'our one and only sour wolf, Derek Hale' and his mother's name? You guessed it, her name's Braeden 'just Braeden'.

Mason, that poor indoctrinated kid who suffered from Stockholm syndrome? Well he laughed at their assumptions saying that if he was brainwashed by anything it would have to be love. Love for his friends and the love he shared with his invisibility expert of a boyfriend.

Pulling her thoughts away from the past an idea strikes her. She gets out of her temporary home, shifting back into her human form putting on her clothes.

Today she's going to school, back to high school. The key is getting there early, before there are any students or staff on the premises. And considering she doesn't have a ride, she better get a move on. Easier said than done because getting a good night of sleep doesn't make up for the fact that she's malnourished and has been for a while. Her stomach grumbles in protest as she sets of to the school without a bite to eat, nor the clear prospect of any in the near future.

Hunting is difficult when you yourself are considered prey. Even when they caught something they couldn't be sure it was safe to eat… they learned that the hard way. Then again they'd learned many things the hard way over the years. And as the war drug on both sides became, ironically enough… more and more animalistic. And the lessons they learned only became harder and crueler.

She shakes her head as if that would clear it of her harsh history and the dizziness that seems to accompany it. She keeps walking through the familiar streets, closing in on the school.

When she finally gets there, she heads straight for her destination the 'Beacon Hills High' sign. Sluggishly she reaches it and turns the seal to open the Hale vault with her claws, not one step down and her vision begins to spot. The second step she doesn't even feel, as she reaches the third step her world begins to tilt and before she hits the fourth step her world has gone black.

…...

Groaning she gets up, her head not agreeing with her plan of being productive. The upside? she's not making the mistake of opening her eyes straight away again, lest she be blinded by the florescent lights. Her senses have been all messed up since she got to this time, like right now she could swear she smells food, what is that… popcorn?

She's pulled out of her musings by a small problem.

''Who are you?'' a voice asks.

That's the small problem.

A/N: this chapter is short for dramatic purposes, just wanted the little cliffhanger there.