"A body? Whose body?" Stiles asked, feeling his dread ratchet up higher every passing second. How could they really be going from calm to a body? There really should've been multiple steps in between. So much for Derek and Chris Argent's eyes around town.

"Is it someone we know?" Isaac asked quietly. Stiles could hear the fear in his voice. They couldn't lose anyone. Not after they'd come so close before.

"We don't have an ID on them yet, but it's no one I recognize," his dad replied. They all let out a sigh of relief. There was someone dead and that was terrible, but at least it wasn't someone they knew.

"So what's with all the commotion? I mean, not that it's not a big deal, but why were you trying so hard to get in touch with us?" Stiles wondered. Maybe his dad was finally willing to keep him in the loop for the more interesting cases? Stiles had always talked about going into some sort of law enforcement when he grew up. At least, that had been the plan before. Things had obviously changed a lot recently, so he wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"It's not about who died, it's about how they died," his dad mumbled over the line. What the hell did that mean? "I want you to get everyone and wait for me at the house. Derek too."

"Um, yeah. We'll call everyone and head over now," Stiles agreed. He didn't argue when his dad sounded like this.

"I should be there in a couple hours. Be safe," his dad said firmly, before ending the call. Stiles stared at his phone for a few seconds after, trying to figure out how worried he should be. With the way his dad sounded, there was definitely something to be worried about. At least he knew the most important people in his life were safe for now. They just needed to make sure it stayed that way.

"I'll call Derek, so he can't ignore a text. He'll be able to bring Erica and Boyd," Isaac said, stalking off a little ways to do just that.

"I'll call Lydia," Allison volunteered.

"I'll see if Deaton has heard anything. And text my mom to see if there is anything she can find out at the hospital," Scott said.

"And I'll just stand here and do nothing," Stiles sighed, shoving his phone back in his pocket. Things like this weren't supposed to happen anymore. It wasn't like the world had exactly changed, but everyone was finally happy and safe. Why would the universe give them that, just to snatch it away again? Maybe his dad was overexaggerating his worry, but Stiles' gut told him this was only the beginning of something really bad. He hoped their luck hadn't run out.

"Derek was with Erica and Boyd, so they'll probably beat us to your house," Isaac said, walking back over to him. Stiles nodded in response, staring down at the floor. "Hey, it's gonna be okay." Isaac wrapped him up in a hug and Stiles pressed his face against his neck. What he wouldn't give to go back a couple of hours, when his biggest problem was figuring out a Halloween costume.

"Nothing is ever easy when it comes to our lives," Stiles sighed.

"But we always make it through," Isaac pointed out. Not without bloodshed and new nightmares, but Stiles didn't have to remind Isaac of that. They still woke up occasionally covered in sweat with a scream caught in their throats.

"I was getting kind of used to life being something we enjoyed, instead of something to survive."

"Well, it might get a little tricky for a while, but we're in this together. And I always enjoy the time I spend with you," Isaac said, scratching the back of his neck a little.

"Since when did you become the optimistic one?" Stiles wondered, finally pulling back to look up into Isaac's eyes.

"As unnatural as it is for me, if that's what you need, I'll give it to you," Isaac chuckled, pressing a kiss to his forehead. Those would never get old.

"My mom said they are doing the autopsy now, so she'll try to get some more information after they've been at it for a while," Scott said, walking back up to them with Allison by his side. "And Deaton hasn't heard anything, but that's not surprising, since we don't even know if it's our kind of thing yet."

"Should we keep our fingers crossed that this is a run of the mill serial killer and my dad just got spooked?" Stiles joked. Since when would that sort of thing be a relief? What were their lives?

"Lydia is on her way to your house. And my dad is going to call some people and get back to me if he finds anything," Allison said, flicking her eyes suspiciously at their surroundings. Stiles didn't think they were about to be ambushed in the middle of the mall, but Allison was the kind of girl who was always ready for a fight. Hopefully this wasn't another Argent coming to town, so she'd stay on their side.

"We should go. If Derek has to wait long for us to show up, he'll probably break into your house," Isaac said, grabbing Stiles' hand and dragging him over to the exit. Scott and Allison were right behind him and now Stiles was kind of glad that they'd all ridden together. It felt safer to have more backup, just in case something happened. This rarely went well when they were separated. Stiles couldn't stop his shiver at the thought of what went down with the Alpha pack. Isaac noticed his distress, raising their clasped hands and kissing the back of his.

"It's gonna be fine," Stiles said as confidently as he could. He'd been working on his magic, so he'd be able to handle anything that came their way. And maybe if he kept saying that to himself, he'd start to believe it.

"Did we really all need to come here?" Derek grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning against the living room wall. Stiles offered him a place to sit, but of course Derek couldn't be a normal person and relax. "I should go out to where they found the body and look around myself."

"And leave evidence that you were there and make yourself a suspect? Do you miss being wanted for murder?" Stiles scoffed. Isaac pinched his side, giving him a pointed look. So maybe referencing Derek's sister's murder wasn't the most polite thing to do, but he was stressed out. "Sorry."

"Where's Peter? You don't think he might be involved, do you?" Scott asked. Stiles noticed Lydia bristle at the mention of everyone's least favorite werewolf.

"He's out of town, as far as I know. He doesn't exactly keep me apprised of his comings and goings," Derek grunted.

"Hopefully one of these days he sticks to the going part and stays gone for good," Lydia sneered, petting Winnie with an icy look on her face.

"I don't know. He's pretty handy to have around, just in case we need to kill someone," Erica shrugged, leaning back against Boyd.

"Killing should be our last resort," Isaac reminded her, spinning the ring on his finger. He always did that when he was anxious.

"Your naivety is so precious," Erica cooed teasingly, poking her bottom lip out at him. "In the real world, sometimes there isn't a choice."

"Right," Isaac muttered, not rising to the bait. Stiles had no such hesitation.

"Don't act like Isaac hasn't been through just as much shit as you," Stiles snapped, glaring at her. "Lest you forget he literally died during a rescue mission to save you."

"Easy," Isaac warned, looking between the both of them. Erica was usually pretty chill these days, but she still had her moments where she liked to rile people up. And Stiles was too stressed to let it slide this time. Not when it was aimed toward Isaac.

"Forgive me if I lack empathy after Boyd and I were held captive for months," Erica huffed.

"I seem to recall the only reason you were in that position was because you decided to run away from your problems. So which is it? When running away like a coward doesn't work, you go full maniac and turn to murder?" Stiles challenged. Boyd started growling deep in his chest and Erica's eyes flicked between brown and yellow. He'd probably gone too far again.

"Enough!" Derek snapped, moving to the center of the room and flashing his red eyes at everyone. Stiles felt less than nothing at the display, but the Betas dropped their heads in submission. "We've got enough to deal with without you two bitching at each other. So if you can't be mature, shut the hell up."

"Uh oh, dad's going to threaten to turn the car around next," Stiles snickered, elbowing Isaac in his side.

"Is that your way of saying that if we don't have anything nice to say, we shouldn't say anything at all?" Erica asked innocently. Derek rolled his eyes, moving back to his spot on the wall. Stiles and Erica liked to egg each other on, but it was like a sibling thing. They didn't actually hate each other, it was just a way of blowing off steam.

"Your dad's here," Isaac said suddenly, sitting up in his seat. Sure enough, Stiles heard the sound of his car door closing a minute later. Werewolf hearing was crazy. Everyone was serious as they waited for him to enter the house, knowing the time for joking was over. Stiles was still holding out hope that this was going to be a false alarm, but he knew that was just wishful thinking.

"Stiles," his dad said in relief, as soon as he walked in the door. He looked around the room, checking to see that everyone was safe and accounted for. They'd all grown on him in the past few weeks that they'd been around. Even Derek, although the older man still preferred to make himself scarce. He only willingly spent time with his Betas and that was stretching it.

"Well, seeing as you've raised the collective blood pressure of the group, you want to tell us what's going on?" Stiles asked, wanting the band aid ripped off as soon as possible. Once they knew what they were dealing with, they could start coming up with a plan. And he could start looking in his books for any spells that would help.

"There was a body found in an alley a few miles from here, between two empty buildings. A man we think is in his early 30s, although we don't have an ID yet. He wasn't found with any personal effects," his dad explained, completely serious. Isaac bristled at hearing where the body had been found, since it was similar to where they'd been ambushed by the Alpha pack.

"And that's terrible, but I still don't understand what that has to do with us."

"He was bitten." Stiles couldn't help glancing over at Derek, trying to gauge his reaction. He didn't have one, as straight-faced as ever.

"An animal attack?"

"That'll be what the official record states, but we all know it's never an animal attack in Beacon Hills."

"And you think someone in this room did it?" Stiles asked carefully. Pointing fingers would only end poorly.

"I'll admit, the thought did cross my mind. I thought maybe this was done in self defense and no one thought to tell me about it. But adding all the pieces together leads me to believe it was someone else."

"And what pieces would those be?"

"The multiple bite wounds for one thing. Plus the fact that the victim was stripped down to his underwear," his dad listed off. "But the biggest one was what I got from the preliminary report from the hospital."

"Which was?"

"The victim was completely drained of blood."

"They bled to death?" Scott asked.

"And there wasn't a drop on them."

"They were exsanguinated," Lydia said knowingly. Everyone's eyes moved to her as they waited for her to continue. "When a person dies from blood loss, that doesn't mean all the blood leaves their body. They would be dead long before that happened. And since a dead person's heart stops beating, the blood stops flowing. Someone had to purposefully remove all the blood from that body."

"Why would someone do that?" Allison asked in disgust.

"You're sure that they were werewolf bites?" Scott questioned.

"They match other werewolf bites I've seen."

"That doesn't make sense," Derek said, finally piping up from his spot. "Werewolves kill, but we don't care about blood."

"Unless it's not a typical werewolf," Stiles mumbled, glancing over at Isaac. He could tell that his boyfriend was recalling their little joking moment from that morning as well, because he had a look of resignation on his face. But all of the clues were leading them toward one direction. And no amount of denial would change it.

"Don't say it," Isaac groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. But Stiles had to.

"Vampire werewolves."