Welcome back to my Teen Wolf book series! I apologize for how long it took for me to get this first chapter. I was mostly late because I rewrote it a hundred times and also got pretty busy in life. But, here it is. I am so excited to begin this journey again and can't wait to see the reactions along the way. You all have been so amazing to me and I will never be able to put into words how happy I am.

Go on! Read! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I give all the right to CW and Jeff Davis. I do not own any of the characters or their plot lines. I only own Tessa, her sister, and her story line. This will be the only disclaimer given throughout the story.

"Tessandra Bradley!"

I let out an exasperated noise, clutching my hands to the side of the head. "Lydia, you know I hate it when you call me by my full name. We've been over this."

"And I hate it when you refuse to do anything I tell you to do." Lydia chirped back, giving me a sharp look. She barely gave me enough time to prepare before she launched a dress at me. "Stop complaining and try this on already."

"I don't wear dresses. Right, Allison?" I turned my head to look at the brunette who was perched on Lydia's desk chair on the opposite side of the room. Allison nodded curtly. "She knows this. Why is she the only one who listens to me?"

Lydia rolled her eyes. "I listen to you." She argued, but then shrugged. "I just choose to also disregard anything you have to say because I know better."

"Great." I grumbled and grabbed the dress, lifting it up to look at it.

As much as it killed me, the dress was actually a gorgeous piece of clothing. It was a white sundress that had lace detailing along the edges and it seemed to flow as I wiggled it in front of my face. Lydia had bought it on her last shopping spree and she enjoyed shoving me into clothing that made me uncomfortable. It was her favorite ploy to get me to act like a normal girl every so often, and she took great pleasure in watching me squirm. Regardless of how much I hated dressing up, I never hated spending time with Lydia and Allison. I didn't mind hanging out with Scott and Stiles, but we were always on the run or trying not to die. Hanging out with them was...normal and carefree.

"Oh, I know that look." Lydia hummed as she wiggled a finger in my face. Then, she planted her hands on her hips with a proud smirk. "You like it."

I took on an offended look and smacked my lips together. "Wha-I-I don't mind it." I responded, shaking my head. "Doesn't mean that I like it."

"Stiles would like it."

"Allison!" I snapped and jerked around to look over my shoulder at the girl who was now breaking out into giggles. She grinned at me devilishly while my cheeks turned a dark shade of red.

"What?" She questioned innocently once she calmed down from her laughing, chewing on her thumbnail. "Am I wrong?"

"How would you know what Stiles even likes?" I scoffed as I tossed the dress to the side and stood up from the bed. I marched over to grab my glass of water and downed it.

"Someone is defensive." Allison murmured, giving me a knowing look. "It's okay, you know? Humans have feelings and that is normal."

"I have feelings. Just like I have a strange feeling to strangle you." I snapped back at her, sending her a venomous smile. "Am I getting that right?"

"If I had a dollar for every time she gave us a death threat, I'd be able to buy a whole new wardrobe." Lydia said almost to herself as she shook her head disapprovingly and then hung the dress back up in her closet.

"Whatever you think you know, is totally wrong." I stated firmly, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm serious. Nothing is going on between the two of us."

"And that's the problem, sweetheart." Lydia replied as she patted me on the shoulder lightly. "Just get on with it already."

"It's not as easy as you seem to think it is." I told her, shaking my head and then moving away from her hand. "Seriously. Don't press on about it anymore. I'm done with this conversation."

"Alright, I got the memo." Allison held up her hands in mock surrender and then gave me a weak smile. "Sorry. Didn't realize it was so touchy."

"It's not. I'm fine." I responded quietly and then sighed. "Can we just go to lunch already?"

I remembered when my Dad died, the days went by so quickly. They had come and gone so fast that I barely had time to cope. Emotions were pushed aside and packed away until I had the chance to experience them. We had moved to Beacon Hills shortly after his passing and my mother's departure. I know why Andre had chosen it now. It never made sense to me how we had ended up here, but as I finally had the time to think on my own, everything fell together. She had chosen to come here because she was attempting to bring me closer to family-my real family. Maybe she was going to use it as a salvation and something to protect me from the harsh reality I was facing at the time. I couldn't decide if she had made a mistake or changed my entire life.

The days that followed after the formal were brutal. They went by agonizing slow, three days feeling like three years. I often stared at the clock, cursing at it for ticking away the minutes that passed where my best friend wasn't awake. I tried not to look too long at Lydia in fear that the guilt might collapse on top of me. The pain I felt in my chest was so intense and so real that it sometimes felt hard to breathe. I found myself hopelessly wishing that it had been me. I knew that it never would've been. Peter would've never attacked me. That part angered me.

I had sworn off Derek completely after we had left the Hale house. I hadn't spoken a word to him in days, but that part was easy. His absence from the hospital made him conveniently avoidable. I wasn't sure what I would say to him. One thing was for certain, I knew there was absolutely nothing he could say to me. He had played us all. Regardless of whether or not Scott would've been cured, Derek was going to take that chance for himself. I had never thought of Derek to be selfish. He had seemed so intent on helping Scott as long as we helped him find out who the alpha was. His true colors had come out that night. Derek was not my brother.

Andre had brought me a change of clothes and some food to eat the morning after the formal. I hadn't left Lydia's side since we left the Hale house. Stiles and Jackson dropped me off after several minutes of worried arguing. Stiles didn't want to let me stay because he was concerned that Derek might come after me. I assured him that he wouldn't. Jackson hadn't said much and I wondered if what I had said to him before I left him last night had resonated within him. I almost felt bad but then I remembered how much of an asshole he was not just to me, but to Lydia as well. Sure, I had appreciated his concern for her when we were on the lacrosse field, but had treated her like garbage just hours before that.

It wasn't until mid-afternoon the second day that I was at the hospital that I stumbled across the stupid, spastic, and quite obnoxious boy lingering in my mind. Somehow, I had almost forgotten that Stiles had kissed me before he left with Peter to help find Scott. It had been his promise that he would make it back and we hadn't talked about it since. I was sort of glad that there was no time for conversation. I wasn't sure what to say. Sure, I totally had a crush on Stiles, but there was no way he had just magically fallen out of love with Lydia. I wondered if maybe he had just done it in the heat of the moment. Stiles was, surprisingly, unpredictable. He was smart enough to know exactly what he was doing, but I wasn't that lucky. I had no idea what he had been thinking before he kissed me.

On the third day, I finally had enough torment from the silence in the room. Lydia's mother had gone to speak with the police for another few hours and Mr. Martin's absence was nothing but expected. He continued to work even though his daughter was in a coma. Nonetheless, the stillness of the room was deafening. I would've welcomed the sound of the heart monitor but it had been tuned out. I couldn't recognize the tone anymore.

I was unable to stop myself from leaning forward in my seat. My fingers twitched as I glanced up at Lydia's face and swallowed hard, eyes drifting over the pale skin. Even in her state, she was still just as gorgeous as Stiles always described. I found myself almost getting jealous, a smile flickering across my face as a soft snort left my lips.

"You know," I began, my voice sounding foregin to my own ears, "you would totally be having a fit over the gown they're making you wear. I mean, that is totally not your shade."

When I got no response, I sniffed hard and tucked hair behind my ear. "I-I hope that you can hear me." I whispered, lacing my fingers together and resting them on the bed. "Actually, I'm kinda hoping that you can't. I think I've finally gone crazy enough to start talking to the air. My head is getting too cramped and I need to make some room."

Letting out a shaky breath, my eyes glanced around the room. I took in the boring painting of a scenery right beside the white board where they had been keeping up on her condition. Afterwards, they drifted towards the cross that hung on the left side of the bathroom door which was currently cracked. I could only see a sliver of the bathroom, but it was too dark for me to really make out anything. There were flowers and balloons sent from Lydia's "friends". The largest bouquet, though, was from Stiles and it sat on one of the tables in the corner of the room. Of course, they were all roses and there was a card that had his chicken-scratch writing on it. It held an apology and a promise that she would get better soon. Even despite the circumstances, Stiles still treated it as though there was nothing supernatural involved. We all knew better.

"A lot of stuff has happened in the past few days and I think it's catching up to me now." I said, scratching at my forehead and letting my eyes drop down to the tiled floor. "Actually, a lot of stuff has happened in the last few months and I haven't even gotten the chance to process it all. I'm surprised I haven't totally gone out of my mind. Like-like…my dad died. My fucking Dad died, Lydia and I moved here so fast, it was almost like I was trying to move myself to another reality. I went to the funeral and then moved that next morning."

There was a shaky breath that left my lips as I willed myself not to cry. I had already cried too much in my lifetime, this last week including almost all of those times. I had always worried about making myself seem vulnerable, but I was almost positive that Peter had broken down that wall for me. Regardless of whether or not he was living, his presence still hung over me like a dark cloud. I could hear his voice in my head every time I shut my eyes and I could see his face staring right back at me. He always reminded me of how insignificant I was. Stiles and Scott would lose nothing if I were to subtract myself from the equation. And that was so obvious to me that it made me sick to my stomach. I had always thought I belonged but Peter showed me that I was wrong.

"I don't know what I'm going to do anymore." I whispered, my voice paper thin as I shook my head. I pressed my knuckles to my lips as my eyes stung violently. "I feel like I'm floating in a dark abyss and it's carrying me further away from my life. I'm not who I thought I was anymore, even though I tried to convince myself one last time. Allison can't even look me in the eye without looking like she might start crying. I had lied to her-someone she wholeheartedly trusted. Sure, Scott could lie to her, but she relied on me to never be that person. I was the one she counted on to be honest and I disrespected that in every single way possible. I disrespected your trust in the same way, Lydia. I-I saw the look on your face when I came to your house that night. You were hurt that I was lying to you and I continued to do it anyway. I can't decide if I'm protecting you guys or hurting you anymore. The line is so faded."

I felt the tear roll down my cheek despite the effort I had made to stop it. I quickly sniffled and wiped it away, trying to ignore that it had ever happened. The lump had grown so large in my throat that I found it impossible to talk anymore. When I looked at Lydia's emotionless face, it only became harder to breathe. I covered my face with my hands, inhaling through my nose and exhaling out of my mouth. Hearing my thoughts allowed was crippling and made me feel like a piece of glass. I was a piece of glass that was beginning to crack and anymore pressure would dabilitate me completely.

My head snapped up when there was a knock on the door. I quickly wiped my face and made sure that there was no indication that I had been crying. It swung open without me having to say anything and I let out a breath when I saw who it was.

"As if this couldn't get worse." I hummed sarcastically, my eyes glaring down the two boys who looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "What are you two doing here?"

"What are you still doing here?" Stiles demanded, analyzing me with a bewildered expression. "I thought you were home."

"You thought or you were hoping I was home?" I questioned, crossing my arms and raising my eyebrows up at him in questioning.

"Well, uh, both." Stiles answered honestly, grimacing and rubbing the back of his neck. "We were sort of hoping no one would be here because, well, we aren't supposed to be here."

"Imagine that." I mumbled to myself and I rubbed my eyes, exhaling sharply. "Whatever. Again, what the hell are you two doing here?"

Scott spoke this time, looking timid. "We came to check on Lydia." He admitted, nodding his head. Glancing over at Stiles, he cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, of course."

For a moment, I panicked. I had been so used to being alone with Lydia and looking over her that I was afraid to let anyone else touch her. Then, I remembered just who was with me. Scott and Stiles would never let anything happen to Lydia.

"No, o-of course not." I replied with a deep exhale. I rubbed my palms on my thighs and then rose to my feet. "I actually have a chance to run down to the vending machine. I'll be right back."

Smiling weakly at the two boys, I nodded and then walked across the room. I passed directly by Stiles who, to my surprise, suddenly reached out and took my hand. "What are you-?"

"We came to check on you, too." Stiles told me, his eyes staring a hole directly through mine once I looked up to meet his gaze.

"Well, I'm fine. I'm not the one lying in a hospital bed, Stiles." I murmured, the shaky smile still on my lips. I retracted my hand from his own and then left the room before there could be any further protest.

Once I was out of the room, I let out the breath I had been holding. It had also been one of the first times I had left the hospital room entirely and it felt awkward. It felt wrong and I wanted to turn around and run back to where Lydia was. I knew that I needed to let Scott and Stiles have their time with her so I refrained from doing so. Glancing around my environment, I wrinkled my nose. I had spent enough time in waiting rooms and this one was just as bland as the other one. No one sat in the chairs outside of her room and it looked like none of the magazines had even been touched. Doctors and nurses bustled around, their low murmurs crowding my head.

Finally, I got my feet to move and I wandered down a hallway. I passed by the vending machine and found myself pushing through the door that led to the bathroom. I knew there was one in Lydia's room, but I needed out while they were there. Once I got inside, I made sure that the door was locked and that I was the only one inside the bathroom. I decided on a sink to lean over, letting out deep breaths to try and relax myself. It was impossible. My hands gripped the sides of the sink until my knuckles were white and loose pieces of hair fell in front of my vision. Eventually, I leaned my head up to look at myself in the mirror.

A lump formed in my throat the longer I looked at myself. I looked tired and disheveled. There were dark rings beneath my eyes that were stained red with the lack of sleep and crying that I had done. The braid I had put my hair was falling out and long pieces were framing a face that looked void of anything joyful. It looked like someone who had just lost everything and I almost felt like that. My chest felt tight and my emotions were riding the craziest roller coaster.

For a moment, I shut my eyes as if to rest them and I never would've known what a mistake that would be. As soon as the darkness clouded my vision, images of that last month flashed through my head. Everything that Peter had put us through suddenly replayed in my mind like a horror film. It started with the bus, and then the video store. It was all from the beginning and I could hear all of the sounds, feel everything, and I felt like I was standing in the middle of it all.

When my eyes fluttered open, I found myself standing in the middle of a forest. I wasn't sure exactly where I was, but I knew that it wasn't somewhere good. I turned in a slow circle to gather my surroundings. My breath swirled in front of my face and goosebumps rose on my arms from the cold. Looking down at myself, I saw that I was dressed in an outfit similar to the one I had worn to the Hale house. My brow furrowed and I swallowed hard, shaking my head.

"What the hell is this?" I breathed out, my voice sounding a lot louder than I had anticipated. It echoed around me and carried for miles.

"Would you believe me if I told you this was all a part of your own imagination?" A voice responded, the familiarity of it sending chills down my spine and I refused to turn around. I knew who I would see if I did. "This is all in your pretty little head, Tessandra."

"Wake up." I begged, lifting up my hands to clutch the sides of my head. I could feel my knees shaking and I tried to steady my breathing. "Come on! Wake up!"

"Oh, come on." Peter hummed from behind me and I could hear his footsteps getting closer, twigs crunching consistently. "I thought you're supposed to be the tough one. You aren't supposed to be afraid of anything."

"Please, just open your eyes." I continued to plead, trying to do something before Peter could reach me but I could feel him getting closer with each passing second.

"Or is that what you want everyone to believe?" Peter then whispered, his voice right beside my ear. I could feel his presence surrounding me now. "You keep up the facade so no one is disappointed when they get to know the real you. You're pathetic, Tessa, honestly. You were never meant to be a Hale."

"Shut up!" I screamed out suddenly, whipping around to face him. My face was masked with fury and my chest heaved as I stared Peter directly in the eyes. He was just as I remembered him and it was almost as if he had never died in the first place. All of this seemed so real and, at the moment, I was working hard to distinguish fantasy from reality. "You never even got to know who I really was. You just wasted time trying to get my friends killed."

Peter chuckled, not phased whatsoever by my outburst. He shook his head slowly and then crossed his hands in front of him. "I already completed my evaluation of you the second you moved here." He told me, shrugging his shoulders. "I didn't even have to ask any questions to understand who you truly were."

I scoffed, my tone bitter as I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I'm sure you did." I spat. "Was that while or after you locked me and my friends in the high school and tried to have us killed? Or maybe it was when you took the life of an innocent movie store clerk and left my best friend scared for life? Or-or was it when you left Lydia in a fucking hospital bed with a low chance of survival, Peter? Huh? When was it?"

Peter was quiet for a few moments as he processed what I had said. "You would never understand what it's like to do things that benefit your own survival." He responded calmly. "You work so hard to protect everyone else and you let yourself become harmed in the process."

"That is what you do for the people you care about." I shot back with intensity. "I care about my friends and I would risk my life any day if it meant they were safe. You were willing to risk Derek and I for your own personal gain. You would never understand what it's like to do things that benefit the people you love."

I watched as Peter's lips curled into what looked like a satisfied smile. "Oh, but haven't you sworn off Derek after he took my life?" He inquired, cocking up his eyebrow. "Your own brother."

"Don't call him that." I snapped through gritted teeth, narrowing my eyes. "He is not my brother."

"Sure he is." Peter argued, nodding his head curtly. "After all, he did everything to protect you, Tessa. You think he truly gave a damn about Scott or Stiles? You had no idea that he did this all for you."

"He became an alpha and betrayed Scott for me? Wow, how heroic of him." I responded with a shake of my head and roll of my eyes. "That doesn't make any sense, Peter."

"If it weren't for you, Derek would've never teamed up with Scott to find out who the alpha was." Peter explained and his expression was serious. That was the part that unnerved me the most. "He wanted to exterminate the alpha to make sure you weren't harmed in your time living here, regardless of whether or not you found out your true origin. You were the last family member he had left."

"Do you mean that...he killed you because he wanted to make sure I would be safe?" I questioned, my brow furrowing as I crossed my arms over my chest.

"That was I do believe, yes." Peter answered, the silence that followed after his statement nearly murdering me.

I began to shake my head rapidly. "No, this is insane. You're not even real and I'm not actually here right now." I said and held up a hand, backing away from Peter. "I wanna-I wanna wake up now. Let me wake up!"

Suddenly, I felt my foot catch on something as I walked backwards. The world spun in front of my eyes and the second I thought I was going to hit the forest floor, my eyes snapped back open. With a sharp gasp, I shot up from the vertical position I was now in. I was on the floor of the bathroom at the hospital and I scrambled to my feet, looking around. My eyes went downwards to observe what I was wearing, and I was relieved to see an old band t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants. Letting out a breath of relief, I pressed my palm to my forehead and blinked my eyes a few times.

"Hey, unlock the damn door! This is a public restroom, lady!"

"Shit," I swore underneath my breath and sprinted over to unlock the door, it swinging open rapidly. An older woman came in looking angry but I ran out before she had the chance to tell me off.

As I scurried down the hallway, I felt my chest moving up and down rapidly. In the most blunt way possible, I was terrified. What I had just seen had seemed so real and Peter had looked like he was breathing right in front of me. I guessed that maybe I hadn't exactly coped with the fact that I had watched two people die right before my eyes-murdered carelessly. Regardless of who they were, there was still blood and life leaving their expression. Kate's blood had sprayed across Allison and I. I had once felt Derek's blood hit my face. These past few months had gone by so quickly that I never stopped to really digest what had happened to me-to all of us. I had seen more dead bodies in the last month than I had ever seen in my entire life.

"Hey,"

Someone caught me by the arms before I had the chance to slam directly into their chest. Once their hands touched me, they brought me back to the universe and my eyes snapped up to look at the mystery person.

"Derek."

His name tasted bitter on my tongue and I felt bile rise up in the back of my throat. My eyes flickered across his face as if to really understand that it was him and not just a stranger that looked like him. The shake all across my body only worsened in his clutch.

"Tessa-"

"Get the hell off of me." I snapped, shoving his hands off my arms and not even bothering to take into consideration that we were somewhere public. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I-" Derek stammered and then let out a deep breath, scrubbing a hand down his face. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

I let out a bitter laugh. "You're right. I don't believe a goddamn thing you say to me. And I never will again. I made that mistake once." I spat and went to walk around him, but he blocked my path. "Scott and Stiles are here."

"They just left. A doctor was getting ready to check on Lydia so they left." Derek told me, shaking his head and refusing to get out of my way. "I had to come check on you. Andre told me that you'd be here."

"Andre told you?" I repeated and raised my eyebrows to which he nodded. "Right. So, you went to my house and, I guess, begged my sister to tell you where I am. Wouldn't it be obvious where I might be?"

Derek rolled his eyes. "Could you stop giving me an attitude for three seconds?"

"Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed, my eyes widening as I resisted the urge to slap him across the face. "I should stop giving you attitude for three seconds? Are you delusional, Derek?"

"Of course, but, I was hoping that maybe you would listen to me." Derek said, his eyes darting around the hospital as a few nurses whispered to each other but continued to keep walking. I wondered if people were still on the fact that Derek had once been a murder suspect. At this point, I didn't care.

"Why should I have to listen to anything that you have to say?" I demanded, crossing my arms over my chest and giving him a harsh stare. "You betrayed Scott, Derek. You led us on and then took everything that we worked for away from us. You looked Scott right in the eye and were going to take the cure for yourself. How could you do that? Is it the same way you could leave us when I begged you for help during the full moon? Or-or maybe it was when you let Peter come after Scott in the school bathrooms?"

Derek's eyes suddenly widened in shock, looking like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "How did you-"

"It doesn't matter how I know. What matters is who you really are." I growled, taking a step towards him as I looked him in the eyes. "We risked our lives for you. We risked everything. And you just turned out to be a liar and a coward."

"Tessa, stop." Derek hissed through his teeth as he glared down at me sharply. "You don't understand."

"And I don't think I ever will, Derek. There is nothing you could ever say to fix what you did." I uttered, my voice cracking and I cursed at myself. I could feel my eyes beginning to sting for what felt like the millionth time today and I fought desperately to keep my emotions in check. Derek was the last person I wanted to cry in front of. "I trusted you. You-you are supposed to be my brother. But, now, I-I can't even-"

"Please, Tessa, wait." Derek begged as I tried to walk around him and I simply shook my head.

"No, Derek, it's over. I'm done." I told him, my voice serious and stern even though I looked at him with a sober gaze. "And, if you really want what is best for me, just stay away."

I forced my feet to walk down the hall even though there was a part of me that didn't want to. There was still the smallest part of me that wanted to believe that Peter was right. It wanted to believe it because I wanted to have more family. Of course, I appreciated Andre and everything she did for me but, Derek had given me a sliver of hope. I had really thought that I might've found my real family and who I could belong to. He had crushed that with the intensity of an iron fist and, for that, I would never forgive him.

Without turning back, I continued down the hall until I got back to Lydia's room. Once there, I shut the door behind me and leaned against it with a heavy sigh, my head now swirling with the two things that had just happened to me. I hoped that, as crazy as it sounded, I had just passed out in the bathroom and hit my head. That would explain how I had experienced that conversation with Peter. I would then forget about my conversation with Derek and never tell anyone that it had even happened. He was foolish for showing up here in the first place.

I stumbled back over to the chair and let my body sink down into it. Another deep sigh left me and I let my eyes flutter shut for a moment. There was only darkness-no sign of Peter or dead bodies. There was nothing but me and everlasting darkness.

I realized that this moment was the beginning of a very long road ahead of me.

A/N: BOOM! First chapter is done. I decided to do sort of a filler chapter because that was how I started the first book and I decided to add in some character interactions. I thought of the Peter one on a whim and thought it might spice up Tessa's story a little bit.

Please, please, please leave reviews. I love them so much and they inspire me a whole crap ton. And if you're still here from the last story, let me know!

Thanks, ya'll.

-Laura