I was relieved to be walking inside of my house at the end of the day. I had been convinced that I would never get out of that school alive, especially with Gerard working there. The day had also continued to drag out as I anticipated the moment the last bell had rung. I demanded Lydia drive me home at once and did so without so much as an argument. I think she was about as done with school as I was. I also hadn't failed to notice that Scott had magically disappeared after our conversation about Isaac. When I asked Stiles, he told me he hadn't a clue where his friend had gone and he'd let me know if he heard from him.

"You look like you've had the best day ever." Andre called from the kitchen, earning a sharp glare from me. "That bad, huh? I thought Lydia was back today."

"She is." I responded as I walked into the room and collapsed onto a bar stool. "But, I've got a lot more problems now than I did before."

Andre chuckled softly and walked over to the fridge, pulling out a gallon of orange juice. "That seems to be the common theme with our lives." She noted and then poured herself a glass. Her eyes glanced up at me. "What new problem do we have on our hands today?"

"Derek bit Isaac, the kid I went to winter formal with. We think he's trying to build up a defense against the Argent's." I began, dropping my head in my hands as I recalled the information I had learned earlier. "Personally, I think biting innocent teenagers with no sense of self control is the stupidest plan ever. We all saw how well that worked out for Peter."

Andre hummed in agreement, bobbing her eyebrows and taking a sip from her drink. "Okay, so Derek sucks at being an alpha." She concluded with a slight shrug. "What's next?"

"Mr. Lahey was found murdered in an alleyway this morning. They suspect that Isaac might have done it. The police took him away at lacrosse practice this morning." I continued on, lifting up my head to look at her. "The problem with that…"

"There's a full moon tonight." Andre finished, her face falling as she realized the severity of the situation. "And he's a brand new werewolf."

"Exactly." I breathed out weakly and folded my arms only to let my head thud on top of them. "And we have no idea what to do."

"Have you talked to Derek about any of this? Does he know that Isaac is in custody?" Andre inquired, setting her glass down and crossing her arms over her chest. "Maybe he could help."

"I'm sure that he does, but I haven't seen him since he came to me at the hospital. In all fairness, I told him to stay away from me." I mumbled, still keeping my head down. "But, regardless, I don't know what he can do. It's not like he has magical powers that let him sneak past the dozens of deputies in the police station. Plus, the security on him is going to be crazy high. He's a murder suspect in a county jail."

Andre sighed and was quiet for a moment as she thought. "Let me help." She said, making me snap my head up to look at her. "I-I'll do whatever you guys need me to. Just like you, I don't want to see an innocent sixteen year-old boy die at the hands of a werewolf genocide."

"No way." I scoffed, shaking my head. "No. There is no way you're doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's not safe."

"So, that gives you the right to go out there and do that?" Andre countered, raising her eyebrows at me in questioning. "Tessa, you're younger than me. I should be the one to tell you when things are and are not safe. I am the adult here."

I let out an aggravated noise, knowing she was right. "Look, I don't even know what we're going to do yet. All I know is that I don't want anyone else involved if they don't have to be." I defended, giving her a pleading look.

"I don't have to be involved. I want to be involved. Just like you. In fact, you should understand that better than anyone." Andre stated firmly, nodding her head curtly. "It's about time that the both of us are on the same page and we can do better by working together. I want to help you and your friends. I see how much you care about them and how much they've done for you, and it's my duty as your sister to stick by your side. I want to protect you and make sure you're safe."

I lapsed into silence, processing her words. I felt a smile twitch on the corners of my lips and I couldn't help but let it show. In the midst of all the chaos, I was reminded that I still had someone who would always be on my side. Sure, Andre had kept my true identity from me, but she thought she had been keeping me safe. It was the same thing I had done with Allison and what I was doing with Lydia. Life had gotten a lot easier since we both understood we knew about the supernatural and I couldn't help but agree with my sister.

"You're right." I admitted, holding up my hands in submission. "You're totally right and I will let you know if we figure something out. I'm sure the boy's wouldn't mind some backup."

"Those two nimrods would probably take help from a monkey." Andre scoffed, rolling her eyes and then taking another drink of her orange juice. She eyed me. "Speaking of a certain nimrod…"

"No, Andre, I really don't want to do this right now." I groaned and I spun away from her, preparing to exit the kitchen.

"Uh, I don't care. I do." Andre said and I watched her pat her hand on the kitchen counter. "Sit down and talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about." I informed her, sighing and pushing hair out of my face. "He kissed me and that was all. And, ya know, the other thing is that I know he's still in love with Lydia. I'm pretty sure he kissed me because he thought he was going to die."

"Come on, Tessa, I really didn't pin Stiles as the type to do something like that." Andre admitted, shaking her head. "In fact, I always thought he kinda liked you."

"And why is that?" I asked lazily, raising my eyebrows up and not expecting a real answer.

"I saw the way he looked at you. His eyes would light up every time you entered the room and his posture would straighten as if you noticed he was slouching." Andre began, smiling slightly at the thought. "He was here so often, I was afraid you guys were dating and you were just keeping it a secret from me. I also noticed how much he worried about keeping you safe and protecting you. Stiles has always been there for you."

"So-so has Allison. And Lydia." I pointed out, but I knew my argument was weak.

"Stiles is someone who knows both sides of the story." Andre retorted, giving me a knowing look. "The longer you deny that Stiles might actually like you, the longer this takes for you guys to talk about what happened."

"That's the thing. I don't want to talk about it and I don't believe that Stiles likes me. Andre, he was in love with Lydia for like-like ever. There is no way someone can just fall out of love with her in one night." I argued, waving my hands around. "That's just not possible."

"Maybe it wasn't in one night." Andre murmured and then picked up her glass, wandering out of the room.

"Wait, what does that mean?" I called after her but she continued to walk. "Andre. Andre!"

"I'm picking you up. Right now. So, please, get dressed."

"Stiles, I know you like to think about me naked but I can assure you I'm wearing clothes."

"Shut the hell up." The boy snapped, his voice serious enough for me to blink and then frowned slightly at his scolding. "You know our super big, totally ginormous, colossally bad problem? Yeah, well, it just got way freaking worse."

"Why? What happened?" I demanded as I stood up from my desk chair and began digging around for socks in my dresser drawer.

"Allison just called me. She said that a person working for Argent dressed as a deputy was heading to the station with a box that had a wolfsbane carving on the front of it." Stiles explained quickly, sounding as panicked as I now felt. "The Argent's are getting ready to kill Isaac."

"Shit!" I swore, jumping on one foot to put on a sock while I pressed the phone against my ear with my shoulder. "How the hell are we supposed to get there before that deputy?"

"Allison is helping us out with that part. She-she said she would handle it."

"That is...slightly terrifying but also reassuring." I mumbled, bobbing my eyebrows and then bouncing around again to put on the other sock. "When are you going to be here?"

"Right now."

My head snapped up when I heard Stiles beep twice from his Jeep. I hung up the phone and then slipped on shoes, hurrying down the stairs. I could hear the TV from the living room but I didn't have the time to slow down and talk to Andre. Without a second thought, I sprinted out the front door and slammed it behind me. I nearly dove into his Jeep.

"Go!" I ordered and gave him a wild look. He nodded frantically and then slammed his foot down on the gas pedal.

Only a few minutes into our drive passed until Stiles' phone began to ring. I could see Allison's name light up across his phone and he answered, putting her on speaker phone.

"Hey, did you slow him down?" Stiles questioned, sounding hopeful.

"You could say that." Allison responded and I could tell she was being evasive. I couldn't help the proud smile that I had and shook my head at her words.

"Alright, well, uh, I'm with Tessa and we're headed to the station right now." Stiles informed her, glancing over at me. In that one second, I saw all of the emotions he was feeling. He was mostly terrified and concerned, but I could tell there were about a million underneath the surface. Naturally, I placed my hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze-silently reminding him that everything was going to be okay. We would figure this out.

"Where's Scott?" Allison asked shortly afterwards.

"Isaac's." Stiles answered and then looked over at me again, now looking guilty. My eyebrows slowly rose up and I took on a hurt look.

"You told me you would let me know."

"I'm sorry. I was in detention and I wasn't exactly in the right head space to remind you of that ten minutes ago." Stiles hissed back, shrugging weakly.

"Hey, guys, focus!" Allison ordered over the small microphone. "Does Scott have a plan?"

"Yeah, but not a very good one." Stiles answered, taking a deep breath as he stared ahead at the road. "And, unfortunately, we don't really have any time to come up with anything better."

"Great. I'll talk to you later." Allison mumbled with a weak sigh before she hung up the phone.

I watched as Stiles leaned forward and looked out the window at the moon, which stared back at us in it's full form. It was like a constant reminder that things were a total shit show and we were racing against experienced hunters to save a newly turned werewolf.

"So...what exactly is the plan, here?" I asked, clearing my throat and turning my head to look at Stiles with a pained expression. "Because you don't sound very confident."

"That's because I'm not." Stiles replied, bobbing his eyebrows and pressing his lips tightly together. "Scott isn't going to be with us tonight. He asked Allison to lock him up at Isaac's so that he wouldn't lose control. If Gerard catches him, he'll kill him without a moment of hesitation. That means we won't have our werewolf."

"Dammit," I hissed, knocking my head lightly against the seat. "So, what are we going to do?'

Stiles was quiet for a few moments and I stared at him, watching as his fingers began to rap against the steering wheel. "Promise you won't hit me while you're driving? Or scream? Because I really can't deal with either right now."

"Stiles, what did you do?" I asked lowly, turning my seat so that I could face him and I raised my eyebrows. "You have three seconds."

"We need someone with supernatural abilities, okay? Without Scott, we have no one. So, I-I had to call in some reinforcements." Stiles spluttered, glancing between me and the road quickly. "We're...going to pick up Derek."

"No. No way. Absolutely not. There is no way we're bringing Derek." I refused, crossing my arms and shaking my head adamantly. I waited for Stiles to tell me that it was just a joke and that Scott would be coming with us instead, but he remained silent. "Oh my, God. You aren't even kidding with me right now."

"What other option do we have? Plus, Derek is Isaac's alpha. He can at least try to control him while we're there." Stiles justified.

"Why are you defending bringing Derek Hale with us? You've been against him since the day that you met him." I demanded, rolling my eyes and turning away from the boy. "All of a sudden he is our help? He is the reason we're in this mess in the first place."

"Which is why he's going to help clean it up." Stiles said, nodding his head. "Tessa, I know that the last thing you want to do is see him right now, but you can't actually think we couldn't use his help. Unless you have another supernatural being up your sleeve."

"I wish I did because then I wouldn't have to be around that selfish asshole." I scoffed. "What if he outs Scott? Or-or gets the rest of us in trouble? Who's to say he won't turn his back on us again?"

"We're doing him a favor by trying to protect his beta." Stiles answered, turning down a dark lit street that I knew we would find Derek on. "He owes it to us to not be a selfish asshole, as you so beautifully put it."

"Whatever." I grumbled, knowing that Stiles was right.

There were a few moments of silence where I sat thinking over the fact that we now had to ask Derek for help. I couldn't stand being in the same vicinity as him and I really couldn't handle whatever he had to say to me. I hoped that maybe he wouldn't say anything at all and respect what I had asked of him at the hospital. I doubted it.

"I never realized that Scott wasn't the only person hurt by what Derek did." Stiles then said, his voice cutting the air like a sharp knife. I stiffened at his words and I knew that he saw that, but he refused to back down. "You have to talk to me."

"There's nothing to talk about. Derek betrayed us and is now putting all our lives in danger because of a stupid mistake he made." I muttered, avoiding eye contact with the boy and staring out the window. "He-He thought he could just walk back into my life and-and apologize for what he did. Andre would never do something like that and he's supposed to be my family, too. I don't understand how he could do something so selfish?

"And another thing," I raged on, holding up my hand and sitting up in my seat. "How would Peter even know that Derek did that to protect me, huh? How would he even freaking know that everything he did was because of me? That's supposed to make me feel bad."

"Peter told you that? When-when exactly was this?" Stiles asked, looking puzzled and returned the look for a moment until I suddenly realized what I had done.

I hadn't exactly planned on telling anyone about what I had seen at the hospital. There hadn't been much after that, but it had still sat with me since then. I had been so upset in the current moment that I hadn't even bothered to remember that Stiles didn't know. This was a secret I had been keeping from everyone.

"Uh, he...he told me...in a-a dream." I stammered, figuring there was no way I could lie my way out of this.

"In a dream?"

"Yes."

"When?"

"Uh, at the hospital. When I-I went to the bathroom."

"I thought you went to the vending machine."

"Nope. I locked myself in the bathroom, passed out, saw Peter and he screamed at me, then I woke back up." I explained awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck and now really trying hard to avoid eye contact with him.

I almost launched straight through the windshield when Stiles slammed on his breaks aggressively, the wheels squealing against the pavement. I planted my hands on the dash and gave him a wild look. Before I could even say anything, Stiles began to speak.

"Look, I don't care how stubborn you are or-or how brave you think you have to be but you can't keep hiding things like that from me. I-I care about you and I need to know if there are things that are bothering you." Stiles said, turning in his seat to face me head on. "You are one of the most important things to me and knowing that Peter is coming to you in dreams is insane. I highly doubt that it was a pleasant experience and it sounds like he was trying to-to make you believe things that aren't true. It is not your fault that Derek killed Peter, Tessa. Not for one second have we ever blamed you."

My hearing had seemed to shut off when Stiles said that I was one of the most important things to him. Jaw hanging slightly slack, I could only stare at him after his small speech. He stared back at me and for a moment, I felt it. It was the same feeling I had gotten when he had been holding me just before he left to go with Peter. His eyes were holding a look I found familiar, but I tried not to get my hopes up.

Then, as if it were a dream, I saw Stiles' eyes flash down towards my lips briefly. My heart nearly stopped in my chest and my breathing fell short. He swallowed hard and, before my very eyes, he began to lean in.

"Don't even think about it."

I jumped and let out a loud shriek at the sound of a voice coming from my side of the Jeep. I leapt across the seats towards Stiles and he caught me instantaneously. My head whipped around to find the source, and I let out an infuriated growl.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded, glaring at him sharply. "Are you insane?"

Derek rolled his eyes and then pulled open the door. I took that as my cue to get in the backseat and awkwardly found my way there. Once I was settled, Stiles made a U-turn and began making his way towards the police station.

"Why is this another one of those situations where you didn't tell me that Tessa was going to be here?" Derek asked, raising his eyebrows and giving the kid an irritated look.

"Would you have come?" Stiles countered, glancing at Derek for a moment. "Besides, she's a part of this whether you like it or not. You shouldn't have screwed up otherwise she wouldn't have to be in this position."

"Please don't talk about me like I'm not here. Even though I agree with Stiles." I piped up from where I sat but I received a glare from both men in the front seat. "Okay. Nevermind."

It was only a few minutes until we pulled up in front of the police station, my stomach sinking as I thought about what was going on inside. I wasn't sure if Isaac had begun to shift yet and, if he had, we were in for a hell of a ride. We hadn't even been able to contain Scott during his first full moon and who was to say Isaac would fair any better? There was also a part of me that was worried he might be angry at me for ditching him at the winter formal. What if he wanted to kill me for abandoning him when I had dragged him to that dance? It was selfish of me to be concerned about my safety, but I couldn't help it.

"Okay, now the keys to every cell are in a password protected lockbox in my father's office." Stiles told Derek as they both leaned forward in their seats to look through the window where a female officer stood, unaware of our presence. "The problem is getting past the front desk."

"I'll distract her." Derek replied automatically, making it sound like it was the easiest plan in the world. Stiles and I both reacted as he went to get out of the car.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Stiles exclaimed as he grabbed Derek by the shoulder. "You?"

"I hate to break it to you, but you're probably one of the last people they would want to see in that station." I reminded Derek with a small grimace. "You were just accused of murder."

"You're not going in there." Stiles stated, giving Derek a steady glance but it faltered the second the werewolf glanced at Stiles' hand still placed on his shoulder. "I'm taking my hand off."

"I was exonerated." Derek then mentioned, glancing at me in the rearview mirror.

"You're still a person of interest." Stiles pointed out, shaking his head.

"An innocent person."

"An-you?" Stiles scoffed and disbelieving laugh passed through his lips. "Yeah, right!"

"Stiles, stop it." I grunted, giving him a sharp look in effort to shut him up. As much as I hated that we had to get his help, we needed it from Derek. He was the only werewolf on our side who was willing to make sure an innocent kid didn't die tonight.

"Okay, fine. What's your plan?" Stiles relented, letting out a sigh and rolling his eyes.

"To...distract her." Derek responded, but he sounded more confident than he looked. My eyebrows rose up at him in questioning. His own eyes narrowed at me. "What? Do you have an even better idea, Tessa?"

"How are you going to do that?" Stiles interrupted, obviously trying to get the focus off of me. It was almost instantaneous-like the second Derek even looked at me, Stiles was jumping in. "By punching her in the face?"

I let out an internal groan as I watched Stiles jut his head out like a chicken, bite down on his bottom lip to bare his teeth, and make an awkward grunting noise. I let my body flop back into the seat as I covered my face with my hands, understanding just how big a mess we had gotten ourselves into. Just as it seemed like everything had gotten better, they had literally gotten even worse than before.

"By talking to her." Derek answered, thoroughly unamused with Stiles' suggestion.

"Okay, alright, give me a sample." Stiles requested. "What are you gonna open with?"

There were a few seconds that passed where Derek's mouth opened and closed like a fish. His eyes darted around the Jeep and I could tell he was trying to find something to say, but inevitably came up with nothing.

"How have you ever had girlfriend's?" I muttered, while my eyes stared upon him with bewilderment. "I mean, dead silence? That's your big opener?"

"Do you have any other ideas?" Stiles questioned, looking somewhat bored now.

Derek looked up to the sky as if he were thinking. "I'm thinking about punching you in the face."

"Isn't that like a constant occurrence, though? Not really special." I pointed out as I sat back forward in my seat and let my head sit in between the two men up front. "Sometimes I feel that way, too."

"Wha-are you serious?" Stiles squeaked as he looked at me with wide eyes. I simply shrugged in response. "You know what? Fine. You go in there and do whatever the hell you want. I don't care anymore."

"Great." Derek grunted and then jerked open the door of the Jeep, climbing out and then striding inside. I watched him go until the door shut and then pulled myself back up to the front seat.

Once I was there, I also hopped out of the door Derek had gotten out of and began making my way towards the station. Stiles followed closely behind me, and we lingered in the foyer as Derek entered the front office.

I had to cover my mouth to stifle the laugh I had when I saw Derek smile handsomely at the front desk lady who was clearly buying it. He began to lay the moves on her and Stiles grabbed my hand, gently guiding me through the room. The deputy didn't so much as glance in our direction and, as soon as we were close enough, we began to sprint down the hallway towards his father's office.

Stiles opened the door and we entered the dark room. He released my hand to scurry across towards a small box hanging on the wall, pushing in the numbers.

"How exactly do you know that?" I questioned, my brow knitting together as I gave him a look.

"It's my birthday." Stiles answered calmly with a gentle shrug, glancing at me before returning back to the small box. He pulled the lid off and my knees nearly buckled beneath me when I saw that there was nothing inside. At the same moment, we heard the sound of keys jingling and I whipped around to face the door.

"Oh, no." I muttered, my body stiffening in fear. "I-I thought Allison slowed him down?"

"Not long enough." Stiles uttered and then ran across the room back towards me. "We gotta go!"

Stiles pulled open the door and we began walking down the hallway at a fast clip, moving through the station. It was when we came around the corner that we bumped into someone who looked like a regular deputy. But, as my eyes scanned over his body, they noticed the large gash coming from the side of his leg. That had been the distraction.

"Oh, sh-"

Stiles went to run and pull me with him, but the deputy grabbed him by the shoulder roughly. He pulled Stiles against his chest with one arm, clamping a hand over his mouth. I was still reeling from my whiplash and the henchman took that as his opportunity to grab my shoulder. With strength unbeknownst to myself, he slammed me up against the wall and my head knocked against it with just enough force to send my vision spinning. I could hear Stiles' yelling wildly but it was muffled by his hand and I swayed on my feet. The pain took a second to settle in, but I had no choice as my vision began to darken.

I awoke to the sound of a siren going off, a light flashing behind my closed eyelids. The sound made my head throb even more than before and I let out a groan, reaching up a shaky hand to cover my ears.

Slowly, my eyes began to blink their way open and I saw Stiles just a few paces away from me. I let them travel around the room and I saw that there was a cell with the door open, void of any life. I tried to comprehend what was going on, but didn't get the chance when a loud snarl erupted above the shrill noise of the alarm. The deputy cried out in fear as the other body grabbed him by the lapels and laid him flat against one of the tables just beside the cell.

"Isaac," I breathed out in horror, unable to find the strength to move from my spot. Suddenly, someone had grabbed my arm and was sliding me across the floor, pushing me behind a desk. I looked at the person now sitting next to me. "Stiles?"

"Hey, it's okay." Stiles assured me as he knelt down in front of my form. His eyes glanced across my face and I saw his lips purse when he looked up towards the side of my head. Gently, he reached up his hand and touched a spot. I immediately winced. "Yeah, that's probably gonna hurt."

I could hear Isaac growling and roaring as he attacked the deputy, the man still screaming out in what sounded like pain. Then, I heard a body dropped and I looked around Stiles' to see that the deputy was now on the ground, motionless.

"Oh, my God." I uttered as I slowly crawled forward on my hands and knees, managing to stay hidden but still get a good look at Isaac.

Isaac Lahey didn't even look close to himself. His face was entirely transformed into his wolf form and the sight of it unnerved. Isaac's features had always been gentle and soft, one that comforted me no matter the situation. He'd never been aggressive or as angry as he was right now, and it seemed so out of character. When I looked into his glowing golden eyes, I couldn't even find the boy I had taken to winter formal. He had been corrupted by a gift bestowed upon him by someone who had no idea what they were doing. The guilt and the worry of what was going to happen next settled in and I felt my eyes swelling with unshed tears.

I jumped when I saw a foot come down on the syringe that had fallen from the henchman's hand onto the floor. I followed the leg and was relieved to find that Derek was the owner of said foot, and he looked highly unhappy. Returning my attention back to Isaac, my heart nearly stopped when I realized he was now looking directly at me.

"No, wait, Isaac!"

My voice was followed promptly by a loud roar, my hands instinctively going to cover my ears as I felt my body get pulled back into Stiles' chest. His arms wrapped around my protectively and I squeezed my eyes shut, unsure of what I would see if I opened them. I then heard a small whimper and they fluttered open to find that the boy had crouched down into a ball on the floor, covering his head with his arms. Eventually, he lifted his head back up and I let out a sigh of relief when he had returned back to normal. He was afraid, but he was Isaac, again.

"How did you do that?" Stiles asked, his voice shaking as he tried to get his breathing to steady.

Derek turned over his shoulder to look at Stiles. "I'm the alpha."

A/N: First off, I'd like to apologize for this chapter coming so late. I was going through some stuff in real life that I had to deal with and I got super busy with spring activities and what not. But, I am glad that this chapter is out! I hope ya'll enjoyed it as much as I did!

Please leave reviews. Special shout-out to Brooklyns Finest Hufflepuff for her review. It was so sweet and made my whole day!

-Laura