Warnings:

Bamby

Stepping out of Coach's offices, closing the door behind me, I turned my phone back on so I could tell Mum the good news. Only thing was, as soon as my phone turned on I was bombarded with over a dozen messages from her, all of which were panicked.

Opening a voicemail, I brought the phone to my ear to hear the messages.

"Angela, I know you're in your interview, but I need you to call me back as soon as you can."

"I have an injured werewolf at the hospital and I don't know what to do. Where are you?"

"Isaac is scheduled for surgery. I need you, Angela. Please, pick up."

There were more messages, getting more and more panicked, but I didn't need to listen to anymore. I knew something was clearly very wrong.

Starting down the hall, I headed for Scott's room, one hundred per cent sure Mum would have been calling him if she couldn't get a hold of me. Reaching his classroom, I took a breath before knocking on the door. A few seconds later the door opened, revealing a teacher I'd never seen before.

She was pretty, tall, with lovely thick hair a few shades lighter than mine. She was dressed in a nice white and black polka dot blouse, a black pencil skirt, and simple nude heels.

"Hi." She smiled. "Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, sorry to disturb your lesson." I smiled back- faking only half of it. "My name is Angela McCall. I'm Scott's sister," I explained. "I'm really sorry to do this, but there's been an emergency."

She hesitated. "Oh…"

"If you're worried about me breaking him out you can contact the front office. I'm on his guardian list. Second below my mum. I'm allowed to take him out of class," I assured her.

It seemed to work. She relaxed a little, her smile coming back quickly before she turned to her class again. "Mr McCall?" she called.

Scott- who I'd spotted sharing notes with Allison- looked up, startled. That was until he saw me. Confused but not as alarmed, he stood from his seat collected his things, and walked over to us.

The teacher stepped out of the classroom as Scott came over to stand by me and turned to his teacher, waiting for an explanation.

She turned to my brother, giving him a straight but serious look. "Uh, I'm sure it's an emergency if your sister needs you to leave school, but I'm gonna give you a warning in the nicest possible way. I am well aware of your attendance record. I don't wanna see you slip back into old habits."

"I won't," he assured her before I could say it myself. "It's gonna be different this year."

But she didn't look convinced. "Resolutions are only good if you stick with them, Scott."

"I will." He smiled confidently, speaking the truth. "I promise it won't be ephemeral."

I chuckled lightly as I grabbed his arm. "Thank you so much. And, once again, sorry for disturbing your class," I told the teacher before pulling Scott along, down the hall.

The teacher stood there, watching us as we walked down. We didn't move too casually, because there was an emergency. But at the same time, we didn't move too quickly, because we didn't want to arouse suspicion.

Once we were around the corner and nearing the exit, Scott turned to me, concerned. "You wouldn't have taken me out of class unless there was something wrong," he noted.

"You're right." I nodded, moving to open the door for him. "Turn on your phone."

He reached into his bag and pulled out his phone as we headed for his dirt bike- the parking lot was pretty much empty now that everyone had filed into classrooms or left the premises. Turning on his phone, he read a few of the messages before looking up at me with wide and worried eyes.

"Exactly," I said as we came to a stop by his bike. "So, let's get going."

He quickly reached into his bag again, pulling out the spare helmet he had, and handed it to me. As I put it on he put his own on- which had been hanging on the handlebars of the bike. I waited until he was seated before swinging my leg up and over, taking a seat behind him. With that, he turned the bike on a sped off, hurrying towards the hospital.

…

Mum met Scott and me at the front of the hospital before she brought us in to lead us to Isaac.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" Scott asked her, having found out through one of her messages that Isaac had been brought in last night.

She sighed. "Honestly, I was hoping I didn't have to."

He paused, a frown on his face as he turned to her. "What do you mean?"

"My thoughts exactly." I gave Mum a pointed look as I stood next to Scoot.

Mum looked at both of us before setting her eyes on Scott. "Everything that you've been doing the extra reading, the summer school, saving up for the bike even though it scares me half to death. Honey, I just didn't wanna disrupt a good rhythm."

"It's not gonna stop," Scott assured her. "I-I'm gonna be better this year. A better student, a better son, a better brother, a better friend, a better everything. I promise."

"I trust you, I do," she told him. "But with school starting," she gestured to me, "and you starting college. It just didn't feel right. And I'm still getting used to all of this. We've only just gotten back to normal."

After Mum found out about Scott and me being werewolves things were awkward, confusing and tense. It did not go as smoothly as any of us would have liked.

With Jackson, Matt and Gerard going around killing people, we had a distraction that brought us all together, but once that was dealt with we all knew we had to face the facts and have a family talk. So, one night, Mum had ordered us a family dinner which we ate, together, at the dining room table. That's where we had the talk.

Everything was explained. Questions were asked and answered. Concerns were brought up and eased. Compromises were made, and rules were put into place.

By the end of the talk, Mum knew all there was to know. She knew when, where and how Scott and I became werewolves. She knew Peter was also the guy she'd gone on a date with and that he'd died- although we didn't tell her about the coming back thing. She knew the truth about all the deaths. She knew Derek was an Alpha, and that we weren't part of his pack. She even knew about my heats.

Scott and I had promised that we would keep her in the loop if anything were to change. We would make sure she knew when and if we ever had to go out, especially when it was wolf-related. We assured her we could control ourselves during the full moon, and also explained that sometimes we might need to leave to let off some pent-up werewolf anger.

By the time we'd all finished eating we were all on the same page… at least that's how it had seemed. Today had proved that wrong.

I gave Mum a small, sweet and reassuring smile. "Everything is fine. You can trust us. We can handle this and everything else. Promise."

Slowly, she nodded, a small smile of her own forming. "Okay. He's in room 215 if he isn't already in surgery."

"Thank you." Scott leaned forward to place a quick kiss on her cheek.

Once he stepped back I kissed her other cheek. "Thank you."

The two of us then turned and headed down the hall, hurrying for the elevator.

We may not be part of Derek's pack, but that doesn't mean he, Isaac, Boyd or Erica didn't matter to us. They were friends… almost like family, actually. So, if any of them needed us, we would do whatever it takes to help.

"I can't take him on my bike," Scott noted as we stepped into the elevator.

"It's fine. I'll grab Mum's keys on the way out," I told him, reaching to press the button for the second floor as the doors started to close.

Suddenly, right before the doors could close, a stick was put between them, causing the doors to open again.

Following the length of the stick, Scott and I found ourselves looking at a well-dressed and handsome- in a prim and proper kind of way- blind man. He stepped in, moving to my left while Scott stood on my right. We stayed silent, watching, waiting.

"Would you hit the button for the second floor, please?" the man asked.

Scott looked to the button, knowing I'd already pressed it, but shrugged anyway. "Yeah." He reached forward and pressed it again.

"Thank you."

The ride up was silent, and a little tense. The whole way up I couldn't help but feel something tugging inside me, telling me I was missing something. It was like my senses were trying to pick up on a smell that wasn't there. Like they were being tricked or something…

I frowned, glancing at the man. He had a particular smell. It was different from most people… but that might be because of his ailment…

The elevator dinged, the doors opening.

Scott and I started forward, but I didn't get far before the man reached out and gently grabbed my arm. I came to a stop, looking down at his fingers as they rested on me.

"You wouldn't mind helping me out for a second, would you?"

Looking up, I met Scott's eyes. He glanced from my eyes to where the man was holding me. I could see part of him wanted to tell the guy to let me go, but the other part also wanted to help.

"Um… sure," Scott agreed, giving me a reassuring nod.

Knowing he was right there and okay with helping the guy, I relaxed a little. "No problem."

The man gave a smile of his own. "Thank you. You're so kind."

…

After dropping the guy off at the room he'd led us to, Scott and I started to search for Isaac. We walked with haste, moving through the hallways, dodging patients and staff, knowing our time was running up- if it hadn't already run out.

But when we finally got to Isaac's room… it was empty.

"You don't think he's in surgery…" Scott turned to me, "do you?"

I gave him a look that said everything I was unable to say with words. Yeah… I do.

Continuing down the hall, still moving quickly, we came to the next hallway, hoping maybe we could find him somewhere don't this way. Maybe Mum had gotten the room number wrong? Maybe he was getting prepped for surgery? Maybe we could still find and help him?

As my mind wondered and hoped, we made it to the next hallway. Coming to a stop, we looked to our left and then to our right, unsure which way to go. That was until we saw someone dressed in staff surgical clothes rolling a patient into the elevator. As the person turned the wheelchair and reached for the buttons, Scott and I saw who the patient was.

Isaac.

The person- who I had a feeling wasn't a doctor or nurse- paused and looked up, his eyes meeting ours. He was a large man, every part of him screaming power and strength. Strength beyond that of a human.

I sniffed the air and caught a distinctive scent I knew all too well.

Alpha.

With a grin on his face, the Alpha pressed the button to close the elevator doors.

Scott and I extended our claws at the same time, both of us growling lowly and dangerously. Then, without missing a beat, we were running. Fast and hard, determined to reach the elevator before it was too late.

Watching us with that smug and amused look still on his face, the Alpha actually stepped to the side to let us in, right as Scott and I leapt towards the doors before tumbling inside right as they closed.

I was on my feet first, putting myself between the Alpha and the two boys. Eyes glowing their golden yellow, teeth now pointed to fangs, and cheeks now layered with hair, I growled at the red-eyed werewolf before me.

He roared and grabbed my shirt, flinging me against the wall right as Scott got to his feet as well. I landed on the ground hard and heavy, with a pained groan. The Alpha grabbed Scott with both clawed hands and threw him up into the ceiling of the elevator, breaking the frosted plastic sheets covering the lights.

As Scott landed in a heap I jumped onto the Alpha, trying to get him in a headlock. But I was nothing but a nuisance to him. He was too big and too strong for me.

Reaching back, he grabbed my shoulder before he yanked me over and slammed me into the wall again, though this time I was upside down. The air was forced out of my lungs at the impact. Before I could catch my breath, or myself, I fell right on top of Scott.

The Alpha growled as he reached down, his fingers curling around my neck as he lifted me off the ground. His foot pressed down on Scott's throat, keeping him down there as his eyes looked into mine.

He tightened his grip on my throat, squeezing the air from my lungs. "Don't you realise what you're dealing with? I'm an Alpha."

The elevator dinged, the doors opening again.

Suddenly someone attacked the Alpha from behind, causing him to let me and Scott go. My brother managed to catch and pull me away as the Alpha stumbled back, his attacker moving around his side so he could see them as their claws remained in his back.

It was Derek.

"So am I." Derek quickly turned and flung the Alpha out of the elevator before reaching over to press the button so the doors closed again. Once the doors shut he turned to Scott and me, his eyes focussing on my brother. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

…

Derek had driven us to the Hale house in his car. I'd sat in the back with Isaac, resting his head in my lap while he was laid out across the seat. Derek had kept looking back nervously here and there as Scott turned around to check on us a few times as well.

Now carrying Isaac, Derek hurried into the burnt down house and towards the first room on the left. Scott was behind us, on the phone to Stiles. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, and usually I'd listen in, but at that moment I was more focused on Isaac.

Setting him on the table, Derek then moved over to the vines that fell down into the hole Peter had been buried in. I moved to Isaac, unwrapping the hospital blanket that was around him.

Finished with the phone conversation, Scott came over to us, looking around at the collapsing house. "You don't still live here, do you?"

"No," Derek answered, pulling some of the vines apart, taking some of its flowers. "The county took it over, but there's something here that I need. It'll help heal a wound from an Alpha."

Scott looked confused. "Yeah, but it did heal."

"Not on the inside," Derek told him.

Scott looked over to Isaac then, before his worried eyes met mine. There was a pause as if he was wondering if I knew more than him before he looked to Derek again. "Hey, are you gonna tell us who that was back there? That Alpha."

"A rival pack. It's my problem." That's all we were going to get from Derek. With a handful of the flowers, he came over to the table, looking from me, to my brother. "I know you both wanna help, and you did. I owe you one. Now go home. Go back to being a teenager," he told Scott before looking to me. "I'll call you later."

But I stayed exactly where I was, shaking my head. "If you think I'm leaving you after-"

He cut me off. "Angela, you don't want to be a part of this. Trust me."

Looking into his eyes, I could see he wasn't pushing me away because he didn't want me there, he was doing it for my own benefit. Whatever was going on, it was serious, and seriously dangerous. He didn't want me in the middle of that. He didn't want me to get hurt.

I could understand and respect that, but only to a point. He knew that, too. As much as he wanted me gone, we both knew it wouldn't last long, not after today. I was part of it now, whether he liked it or not.

Still, I would do what he wanted… for now.

Holding Derek's gaze still, I called out to my brother. "Come on, Scott. Let's go home." Walking around the table, I reached over to press a quick kiss to Derek's cheek. "If I don't hear from you, you'll be in a world of trouble," I warned before moving around him and towards the exit.

Scott was right there, about to leave as well, before he paused, his hand reaching up to brush his arm where the tattoo had sat last night.

"Uh... hey, Derek." He turned back to The Alpha as both Derek and I looked at him, waiting for him to go on. "If you wanna repay back that favour now… there is something you can do for me."

…

I stood behind Scott as he sat on a chair that was in decent enough condition so it could take his weight. Stiles was beside me, arms folded over his chest as he looked to Derek and Scott. Derek sat on a box in front of him, looking at his bare arm now that his denim jacket was gone, leaving him in just a light grey tank.

Stiles had come by, like Scott told him to, and told us about what had happened at school. He filled us in on the fact that while in class, talking to Lydia about his theory something bad was coming, a crow had flown into the window and broken its neck.

Then, apparently, a whole swarm of crows had followed suit, flying into the window to the point that they either broke their necks or broke the class. Within minutes the room had erupted into chaos as the birds attacked people in their panic.

It was concerning, obviously, but there was nothing we could do about it right now. We needed more information, which was going to take time. At the moment, we were going to focus on one task at a time.

Derek nodded, his red eyes looking to Scott's arm. "Yeah, I see it. It's two bands, right?" He pointed to where Scott's tattoo had sat last night. "What does it mean?"

Scott paused, thinking it over, before shrugging. "I don't know. It's just something I traced with my fingers." Reaching over, he drew the pattern in the dust on the small table next to Derek.

We watched, seeing him draw a small circle within a large one.

Once Scott was done, Derek turned to look at him again. "Why is this so important to you?"

Pausing again, Scott then asked his own question instead of giving an answer. "Do you know what the word 'tattoo' means?"

Stiles leaned forward, telling Derek the answer so he wouldn't have to guess- not that he would have, seeing as it was a rhetorical question. "To mark something."

"That's in Tahitian," Scott noted. "In Samoan, it means 'open wound'," he told us, earning surprised and impressed looks. We weren't completely used to the new Scott who researched and studied. "I knew I wanted to get a tattoo when I turned 18," he went on. "I always wanted one. I just decided to get it now, to make it kind of a reward."

"For what?" Derek asked.

Scott looked over his shoulder to me for a moment. I'd asked the same question when he told me he wanted to get a tattoo. I was the only one who knew the answer.

Sighing, he turned back, looking to the ground as he answered. "For not calling or texting Allison all summer. Even when I really wanted to, even when it was so hard not to sometimes. I was trying to give her the space she wants." He sighed again. "Goin' four months later, it still hurts. It still feels like a, uh…"

When he didn't finish his sentence, Stiles finished it for him. "Like an open wound."

"Yeah." Scott nodded, still looking to the ground.

Derek looked up then, his eyes meeting mine. We both knew what Scott was feeling. We may not have shown it, but we'd both been going through a hard time during our breakup. Neither of us had taken it well.

Reaching for the table beside him, Derek grabbed the blow torch that sat there. "The pain's gonna be worse than anything you've ever felt," he stated, knowing it was best just to say the truth so Scott could prepare.

"Ah," Stiles shifted on the spot, already feeling nervous and queasy, "that's great."

Still, my brother nodded, determined to go through with it. "Do it."

Derek lit the blow torch then.

I stepped closer to Scott, resting my hands on his shoulders. "You sure about this?"

"I'm sure." He sounded pretty confident about it. More confident than I was feeling.

"Oh, wow. That's a… that's a lot for me." Stiles shook his head, knowing his limits. "So, I'm gonna take that as my cue. I'm just gonna wait outside." He started for the exit.

"Nope." Derek reached out and grabbed Stiles, stopping him. "You can help hold him down."

"Oh, my God," Stiles groaned, coming over to stand next to me. He knew better than to argue.

Derek moved closer to Scott, getting ready to start. With one short and determined nod from my brother, he then brought the flame to his skin.

Scott screamed out in pain as he struggled against Stiles and me. We tried to hold him still so Derek could work on the tattoo, but the longer the flame was pressed to the skin and the more Scott screamed, the worse I felt.

Pain flashed in my arm. My eyes began to glow golden yellow as I looked down to where the pain was beginning to form. It was in the same place Scott was getting his tattoo.

What the…?

Before I could say anything though, Scott let out a loud and pained roar as the flame got even closer to his skin. At the same time, my body reacted without my say, flinching and pulling back.

"Hold him!" Derek yelled, looking to both Stiles and me.

Gritting my teeth and squeezing my eyes closed, I reached forward and grabbed Scott with all my strength, holding him in place. My grip on his shoulders tightened as the pain in my arm increased.

I wasn't sure what was going on, but I knew I wasn't going to mention it to anyone. It wasn't the first time I'd thought I was feeling Scott's pain. It probably wouldn't be the last. That just made me think it was some psychological thing. That had to be it… right?

…

I looked up at Derek as he tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. "I got the job by the way."

"Your interview was today," he sighed, his hand falling to my shoulder which he then gave a light squeeze. "I'm sorry, I forgot."

"It's okay." I smiled lightly. "You can make it up to me." Leaning onto my toes, I pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Text me when you get to yours and I'll come over. Spend the night."

"I'll order pizza."

"God, you're perfect." My smile grew as I pulled back from him and stepped away, looking over to Isaac- who was now healing properly, thanks to Derek. "Let me know if he gets better or worse."

"I will," he assured me.

Knowing he would do as I asked, I then turned to meet Scott and Stiles in the front room so we could leave.

"Well, it looks pretty damn permanent now," Stiles noted, nodding to Scott's tattoo.

"Yeah." Scott looked down at it proudly. "I kind of needed something permanent. Everything that's happened to us everything just changes so fast. Everything's so, uh… ephemeral," he noted, rolling the long sleeve of his white shirt down.

Stiles gave a contemplating hum, his hands on his hips before he looked up at Scott. "Studying for the PSATs?"

"Yep."

I laughed lightly, grabbing Scott's untattooed arm. "Come on you two, let's get out of here."

Scott moved forward, reaching for the door before opening it. He was about to step out onto the porch but paused as he looked to the door. "You painted the door," he noted, confused. "Why'd you paint the door?"

"Go home, Scott," Derek called back.

Scott's confused frown grew. "And why only one side?" Before anyone could stop him, Scott extended one claw and ran it down the fresh paint, peeling it off.

Underneath we could see some kind of black paint. That prompted Scott to claw at the rest of it, scratching all the paint away until he revealed what was hidden under the fresh red paint.

"Scott," Derek warned, coming over.

But it was too late, Scott had already uncovered the image. It was like the triskele, but instead of swirls, the three branches coming from the image were sharp and straight, less welcoming… more menacing.

"The birds at school and the deer last night just like the night Angela and I got trampled by the deer when we got bit by the Alpha." Scott turned to Derek, body rigid. "How many are there?"

Looking at each of us, arms folded over his chest, Derek gave in and told us the truth. "A pack of 'em. An Alpha pack."

"All of them?" Scott and I asked at the same time.

"How does that even work?" Stiles questioned, having a good point.

Alphas are strong. They're leaders. They're powerful, and sometimes that means dangerous. Having a pack full of them was not something that could be easily controlled. I couldn't imagine it working as well as a normal pack would.

"I hear there's some kind of a leader," Derek explained. "He's called Deucalion."

Scott turned to me accusingly. "Did you know about this?"

"No," I answered without hesitation. It was the truth. I had no idea about an Alpha pack. "But I knew he was dealing with more than just Erica, Boyd and Peter," I admitted, my eyes flicking to give Derek a guilty glance. "Everyone was too worried for it to just be about a couple of missing teens and an asshole."

Derek sighed, lowering his eyes as he told us more. "We know they have Boyd and Erica. Peter, Isaac, and I have been looking for him for the last four months."

Scott turned to him again. "Let's say you find them. How do you deal with an Alpha pack?"

Derek looked up at both Scott and me then. "With all the help I can get."

"Where is she?" Isaac suddenly spoke up. We all looked over, seeing him sitting up on the table Derek had set him. "Where's the girl?"

Derek frowned, confused. "What girl?"

Bamby