The house held an eerie silence in the morning. Everyone, including Cora who hadn't much felt like staying in the loft, shuffled around the kitchen with minimal interaction. They were still reeling from the night before.
Mara was still picking blood from beneath her nails, the memory of Boyd's limp body still fresh in her memory. She imagined it was worse for the girls.
Her and Peter had taken him into the forest to be found by police. It was all too familiar.
Sure, they had saved Alan, but the loss of another teen weighed heavily on them, alongside the news another doctor had been found dead not long after.
It was clear nobody felt any better, when a gaggle of teens appeared on her doorstep late morning, in search of her nephew.
"I'm sure he's off licking his wounds. I wouldn't worry too much." She reasoned, though she knew it was weak. She leaned in her doorway looking down at the group. It didn't quaim their worries. Stiles especially.
"Okay, so are we thinking Derek's on, like, some extended getaway?"
"Why do you care?" She heard Cora snip from somewhere behind her.
With a resigned sigh, Mara retreated from the entrance, motioning for the teens to follow her inside. She supposed she'd have to get used to it. Stiles followed by Allison Lydia and Scott entered.
"Why do I care? Let's see... because over the last few weeks, my best friend's tried to kill himself. His boss nearly got ritually sacrificed. A girl that I've known since I was three was ritually sacrificed. Boyd was killed by alphas. I... do you want me to keep going? 'Cause I can, all right? For, like, an hour."
Mara put a hand on the teen's arm to try and calm the spew of words.
"You think Derek can do anything about that?" Cora bit back, rolling her eyes.
"Well, since he's the one everyone seems to be after, it's more like he should do something about it, yeah." Stiles snapped.
"He hasn't even been himself in years. Don't expect him to go solving other people's problems when he can't fix his own. He's nothing like I remember."
Cora's scalding tone seemed to shut Stiles up for a minute. Mara took the opportunity to lead everyone into the living area.
"What was he like then? Before?" Stiles asked nobody specifically, breaking the tense silence that had befallen them. He took a seat on the edge of the couch, beside Lydia, as Scott and Allison sat beside her, looking tense. Mara couldn't blame them, Scott especially.
Cole and Leila, who had taken a seat in the loveseat closest to the kitchen looked at eachother somberly, pondering the question, Cora watching them with the same expression.
It was Peter who answered, coming in from the foyer where they'd just been.
"A lot like Scott, actually." His low voice came as a surprise to the guests, causing them to jump in their seats as they turned to look at him. Particularly Lydia.
Mara tried not to react. They'd get used to him eventually. She could tell Peter was doing the same, keeping his ever calm, slightly sarcastic tone. They'd set him on fire after all, it wasn't one sided in her eyes.
Everyone else turned to look as well, allowing Peter to explain what they couldn't put into words.
"A lot like most teenagers... unbearably romantic, profoundly narcissistic, tolerable really only to other teenagers."
Peter's gaze seemed to drift from Scott over to his girls, to which Leila scowled. Stiles continued to pry.
"And so what happened? What changed him?"
Peter turned his attention back to the boy with a faint smirk gracing his lips, before his eyes were drawn to Mara's.
"Well, the same thing that changes a lot of young men... A girl."
There was silence once more, as the teens processed the information.
"You're telling me some girl broke his little heart? That's why Derek is the way he is?"
Peter shook his head, the smile falling away.
"Do you remember Derek before he was an Alpha had blue eyes? Do you know why some wolves have blue eyes?"
Stiles shrugged.
" I just always thought it was, like, a genetic thing."
Peter shook his head slowly.
" If you want to know what changed Derek, you need to know what changed the colour of his eyes."
"He killed Paige?"
Leila spoke suddenly, causing everyone to stare. Her attention was on Peter, waiting with furrowed brows for a response. Cole however, stared right at Mara, eyes wide. Mara couldn't stop the sick look she'd taken on as the image of the teen's bloodied pale form in Peter's as all those years ago in the woods returned. It was enough to confirm what Peter had said to Cole.
"Who's Paige?" Allison spoke for the first time. Leila turned her attention to her...friend? Cousin? Another issue for another day. Mara's jaw relaxed, expression softening the slightest bit.
"When Derek was about our age, he went to Beacon too. It's true, he was a lot like Scott. That would make Paige his Allison."
The comparison was simple, but very clear cut as all the teens gave each other a knowing look. Leila continued, looking to Peter every once and while to confirm if she was correct.
"Paige was a violin protege. Derek enjoyed messing with her. Eventually that devolved into them not being able to stay apart. One minute, it's, "I hate you, don't talk to me." The next, it's frantic groping in any dark corner they could manage to find themselves alone for five minutes. Their favourite dark corner was an abandoned distillery outside of Beacon Hills."
The teens watched her closely hanging on to every word. They were probably struggling to imagine Derek so different. Stiles confirmed her thoughts.
"All right, hold up. How do you know all this? You just said that they were alone." He asked, eyeing Leila with doubt. She looked back to Peter, who responded with his ever cool tone instead.
"Back then, I wasn't just Derek's Uncle. I was his best friend, his closest confidante. That's how I know."
The teens eyed them with surprise. It wasn't hard to understand their confusion. After taking a moment to process, Stiles had more questions.
" Okay, so if Derek was a sophomore back then, how old was he? How old were you? How old are you now?" Peter sat for a moment, pondering the question.
"Not as young as we could have been, but not as old as you might think."
Everyone sighed at that. Stiles turned towards Mara.
"Okay, that was frustratingly vague. How old are you?"
She shrugged.
"Thirty one, and he's thirty five. Derek's twenty three. He was closer to Derek's age than Talia's." She turned towards Peter with a sigh, who'd fixed her with an annoyed look.
"Maybe people wouldn't be so scared of you if you cut some of the cryptic statements, yeah?"
He scowled at her, before turning back to the group to continue his story.
"Around the same time, we were having a gathering of the packs. Deucalion, Kali, Ennis...they were all there, before they decided to form their little all star team. There were more too. They would gather in Beacon to seek guidance from its exceptionally powerful alpha. Talia. There had been fighting between tem and the hunters. One of Ennis' wolves killed one of theirs and they retaliated. Cut him in half with a broadsword. Ennis was never particularly smart, and wanted to continue the blood shed. The others managed to talk him out of it."
"What does this have to do with Derek?" Cole interrupted in an irritated tone, seemingly growing tired of the story, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. Peter turned to her.
"Everything."
She eyed him with confusion, and a bit of annoyance. Mara was the one to clarify.
"Where there was loss, Derek saw an opportunity."
The wolves in the room had caught on if they hadn't already, but the humans looked on in confusion. It was Allsion who spoke once more, the vague look of horror in her eyes indicating her understanding of her closeness to Paige.
"An opportunity for what?"
Mara seemed to grimace, looking at the plush red carpet beneath her feet as she inhaled deeply to steady her breath.
"To be with her forever. He knew his mother wouldn't but he could convince Ennis to. Derek had Ennis bite her."
They sat silently once more, reeling.
"Why Ennis?"
Cora looked in between the adults with her narrowed eyes, slowly piecing together the things they'd left out.
Mara answered, feeling Peter's eyes bore into her.
"Because he was the only one dumb enough to do it. He needed a new pack member anyways. Not to mention helping Derek would get him in good with...the pack. It didn't take much convincing."
Cora continued insistently with the questioning.
"So did her turn her?"
Mara and Peter shared a dark look. He tried to keep his voice even, but even he was struggling.
"She should have. Most of the time, the bite takes. Most of the time."
Peter never looked away from Mara this time, the visions of black blood covering their hands flipping through both their heads, as their eyes seemed to glaze over. Stiles spoke next, in that familiar contemplative tone that indicated he'd almost put things together himself.
"When you offered it to me, you said, "if it doesn't kill you."."
"If." Peter replied simply, confirming to Stiles, and Leila.
The rest of the teens continued to look on in confusion. Mara looked down, swallowing the growing lump in her throat before she continued.
"He asked what was happening to her. He knew the answer, though. It didn't matter that she was young and strong. Some people just aren't made for this. But she fought. She struggled desperately, trying to survive."
She had to take another pause, her chest growing tight as she tried to continue. She began to notice the blurred edges around her vision, as wetness collected. She breathed deeply once more, trying to steady herself. Peter continued for her again.
"She was in pain. She begged him to help her, to end it."
He paused briefly, allowing them to process. Everyone began to take on the dark expression the Hale's all shared.
"Taking an innocent life takes... Something from you as well, a bit of your soul... darkening it, dimming the once brilliant, golden yellow to a cold, steel blue."
Mara looked up then, eyes still wet with unshed tears. Her girls shared the same look. She'd never wanted them to know. The knowledge brought nothing but pain, and she'd wanted to preserve their memories of both teens. It was becoming clear they couldn't protect them anymore. They weren't children. It hurt, but they were old enough to know the truth.
All the teens looked quite sick.
They sat silently, mostly staring at the floor.
Surprisingly, it was Lydia who spoke to her next, her attention completely on mara, tone tentative.
"How did the Alpha's come together then? Why did they turn on their packs?"
It was a good question, and one they'd need to understand to fight the wolves with them. Mara looked up at her.
"Remember we said all the alpha's had gathered? Deucalion was once a great leader himself. He wished to strike peace with the hunters. Talia took him to Deaton to talk him out of it."
They looked at her confused, and she mirrored it.
"He's our emissary…"
They continued to look on at her.
"Every pack has an emissary. They're a real druid, no darkness. Healers. They give great advice. Deaton was Talia's, like his sister Morell is Deucalion's."
The teens on the couch were all wide eyed looking between each other as they learned their guidance counsellor worked for the Alpha's. Mara kept going.
"They tried to talk deucalion out of it, but he believed he could bring peace. So he went to meet with their Leader."
Her eyes focused on Allison, to the girl's surprise.
"I believe we're all familiar with Gerard."
A dark energy accosted the room as thoughts of the sick old man crept into their heads once more after months without. Allison understood then.
"He betrayed them. He was the one to blind Deucalion." She stated simply, sounding drained. Mara fixed her with a sympathetic look.
"He also betrayed his own men. He killed them to blame the wolves. Talia and Deaton tried to warn Duke how far he'd go."
The informality slipped out, and surprised her too. She hadn't thought of him in years as the man he once was. The man he'd killed. The kids seemed to glaze past it, focused on the horrible revelation.
"After Deaton treated him and said he was blind, one of his beta's turned, trying to steal his power. When his eyes went red, he looked at the man, before shredding him. That's where it all began."
"So he can see sometimes?" Cora asked to confirm and Mara nodded.
She could almost hear the faded cries. 'My eyes' they'd both screamed. Heartbroken, and lost to everyone from that day. Her thoughts drew her to Peter, who shared her dark look as if he heard it too.
It was not a time they enjoyed reflecting on. So much for sleeping that night.
"So what do we do?"
It was Scott who spoke this time. She looked up at him, suddenly recalling the first time they'd met. How young he'd looked then.
He'd been so dopey, and clumsy. Very unsure of himself. All doe eyed. Starkly different from what she saw now.
There was confidence in his eyes now, alongside the beginnings of weariness. When he asked her the plan, he was no longer desperate. He sounded sure.
He would be a great alpha, eventually.
Perhaps three wouldn't be so bad.
Her tone shared the same sureness.
"Now, you guys go home. Stick together. Until we know what everything and everyone is here for, we can't make a move. If we're smart, we might avoid a fight all together."
The teens nodded, and seemed to agree.
