Chapter Three

I was running as fast as my legs could carry me, but not because I wanted to get away from someone, but because I wanted to get to someone as soon as possible. I was at the school, which is the last place I'd usually want to meet someone, but we had to meet here for reasons I couldn't remember.

I saw him, leaning against the front of the coach and I felt my smile grow as I leapt into his arms. He stumbled a little, but quickly regained his balance as he held me up with his strong hands gripping at my thighs.

'I'm glad you're here.' I murmured.

'Me too, though the meeting place is a little… interesting,' his voice was husky and I could feel a shiver run down my spine as my body responded.

My hands sunk into his hair, playing with the soft strands, 'I suppose… but no one will look for us here. We can be alone.'

His forehead rested against mine, he laid a soft kiss to my lips that made my heart skip a beat before responding, 'I like the way you think.'

I grinned against his lips before capturing them in a deep, passionate kiss that would have made my legs weak, had I still been standing. I felt him walking and taking us somewhere, but as long as he didn't stop kissing me I didn't care. I felt myself being gently laid down on the soft bus seats, and opened my eyes to see glowing blue orbs above me for a moment before his lips were back on my neck. He kissed all the way from the crook of my neck, over my collarbone and down to the tops of my breasts, nipping and sucking as he went. I heard him growl quietly at the sounds of pleasure escaping my mouth and my hands went to his hair, to encourage him to continue.

But then it all changed. I felt my pulse rising as the pleasure grew in my veins and I knew that I need to stop, but I couldn't find my voice.

'What's wrong?' he asked, of course he could hear my raising heart beat and see that my eyes had changed.

'Get away from me, please,' I said, my voice was soft but he wouldn't have had a problem hearing it.

'It's okay.' He tried to assure me, but I was passed the point of trying to control the change and I roared. He moved away from me and held up his hands in a bid to calm me down, but it wasn't working. The sound of his footsteps echoed in my ears as he tried to get away from me but I caught him and tore at his ankles, the sounds of him shouting in pain echoing in my ears as I dragged him towards the back of the bus.

'No!' I screamed, shooting up in bed. The sheets were tangled around my calves, my body was caked with sweat and my heartbeat was hammering in my ears. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand and saw that it was five in the morning, with a groan I threw the sheets away- I knew I wasn't going to be able to get any sleep after that so I decided to start the day with a run, to try and get some of this anxious energy out of my system.

Later that morning.

'So you killed her?' Stiles asked, looking to Scott for an answer as I joined them.

'You killed who?' I asked him, my brow cocked in question.

'I had a dream last night that I killed Allison on one of the schools buses. I woke up and I couldn't breathe.' Scott told me and when I came to a sudden stop, him and Stiles turned and looked at me.

'What's wrong? You look a little pale.' Stiles commented.

'I had a dream last night too. But I didn't kill Allison, I killed Derek,' I admitted softly, trying not to hyperventilate- the both of us having a similar dream couldn't be a coincidence could it?

'That's weird,' Stiles looked amused, but Scott and I shared a distressed look.

'It felt so real, I honestly contemplated going over to the Hale property this morning to make sure he was okay,' I said as we walked to the back of the school.

'It felt real for me too.' Scott admitted softly.

'How real?' Stiles sounded curious.

'Like it actually happened.' I told him, freezing in my tracks at the sight that greeted us after Stiles threw the doors open. One of the buses was covered in blood and sectioned off with police tape.

After helping my brother locate Allison- who was alive, thank god- I was one step away from hyperventilating over the fact that Derek might be dead… because of me. Students were waiting to hear if classes were going to go ahead, while Scott and Stiles were trying to calm me down, but I couldn't help it- if Allison hadn't been the one to get attacked on the bus, then who had? Derek?

'Stace, you need to breathe.' Scott told me, his hands on my shoulders while Scott rubbed slow circles on my back.

'No, Scotty I need to go and make sure Derek is still breathing,' I disagreed, glaring at the police officer who was standing at the entrance, refusing to let anyone leave.

'I'm sure he's fine- Allison's fine, right? So it had to have just been a dream.' Scott said, but even Stiles found that unconvincing if his scoff was anything to go by.

'Tell that to the cops out there.' Stiles snarked.

Scott glared at our best friend while I focused on Stiles' pulse and tried to match my own heartbeat to his; I couldn't afford to change right now. Everyone looked up as the principal's announcement echoed in the halls.

I know you're all wondering about the incident that happened on one of the buses last night. But for now, classes will continue as scheduled. Thank you.

Students groaned while I growled in frustration and Scott held me still to stop me from charging out of the school with a firm grip on my shoulders.

'Listen to me, we're going to have to get through the school day, Stacey, and you're going to need to do it without going crazy if you want to check on Derek later.' Scott told me his voice gentle and when his words registered I calmed down and nodded.

We made our way to the first class of the day and I pulled out the notes I had already made on the subject he was going to cover today as he started to talk about the attack that had happened.

'What is that?' A girl near the front of the glass shouted and I leaped up from my seat with the rest of the students to gather in front of the window. There was a man being taken to an ambulance on a stretcher and when he sat up suddenly I bit back a scream.

'That's good right?' Stiles said, patting Scott's chest and my back, 'dead guys don't do that.'

'Stiles. We did that.' Scott whispered, mirroring my horror.

'Oh my god, Scott what have we done?' I gasped; he pulled me into a hug as he assured me it was going to be okay. But was it?

Lunchtime.

'Dreams aren't memories.' Stiles argued as we took out lunch to our usual table. I sat next to Stiles while Scott sat across from them.

'I think it's safe to say that this wasn't a dream, Stiles.' I rolled my eyes, taking a long drink of my water.

'Something happened last night, Stiles and we can't remember what,' Scott agreed with me.

'What makes you so sure Derek has all the answers?' Stiles said, unconvinced as he drank some of his water.

'Because during the full moon he wasn't even changed. He had complete control.' Scott sounded frustrated.

'That's true. And I need to see him anyway, Stiles.' I reminded him, earning a comforting arm over my shoulder in response.

'I can't go out with Allison tomorrow. I have to cancel.' Scott muttered, leaning back in his chair, completely defeated.

'No you can't do that.' Stiles said, removing his arm from my shoulders to dig into his food, 'you can't just cancel your entire life, okay.'

'He's right. Let's just hold off making any decisions until we've talked to Derek.' I agreed, reaching forward to squeeze my brother's hand in comfort before letting go.

'We'll figure it out.' Stiles assured him.

'Figure what out?' Lydia asked, sitting to Scott's left. I rolled my eyes at her appearance, while Stiles looked delighted. No one answered as Allison sat the other side of Scott, Jackson sat at the head table and Danny sat on the other side of Stiles. I bit back a laugh at Stiles as he looked around and smiled to everyone, looking like he'd just had his birthday and Christmas presents all at once.

'So I hear they're saying it was some kind of animal attack?' Danny said, looking over to Jackson. Scott and I shared a look before I stared at my plate.

'Probably a cougar?' Danny added.

'I heard mountain lion.' Jackson disagreed and I just snorted.

'A cougar is a mountain lion.' Lydia said, sounding annoyed when she noticed everyone's eyes were on her she added an innocent, 'isn't it?'

I held back a laugh that I knew would start an argument as I listened to the rest of the conversation.

'Who cares?' Jackson scoffed before he went on, 'the guys probably just some homeless tweaker who's gonna die anyway.'

I glared at him, but thankfully Stiles broke my concentration, 'actually I just found out who it is. Check it out.' He held his phone at an angle so that everyone else could watch the video clip that was playing.

The Sherriff's department won't speculate on details of the incident, but confirmed the victim, Garrison Meyers, did survive the attack. Meyers was taken to a local hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

I gasped when I saw the picture of the driver, recognising who it was immediately.

'We know that guy.' Scott said, sharing a look with me.

'You do?' Allison asked, her gaze flickering in between my twin and me.

'Yeah, when we used to take the bus, back when we lived with our dad. He was the driver.' I confirmed, looking down at the fries on my plate, my appetite suddenly gone.

'Can we talk about something more fun, please?' Lydia said, and for the first time in my life I found myself silently agreeing with her, 'like, where are we going tomorrow night?' She looked over to Allison who looked confused as to what she was talking about.

'You said you and Scott were hanging out tomorrow night, right?' Lydia asked, and I barely bit back a snort as I realised what was happening.

'Um, we were thinking of what we were gonna do,' Allison said, somewhat reluctantly.

Scott and Stiles looked horrified and I was really having trouble not laughing out loud.

'Well, I am not staying at home again watching lacrosse videos, so if the four of us are hanging out, we are doing something fun.' Lydia stated, looking over to Jackson.

Scott looked over to Allison, who was drinking her water with a crinkled brow.

'H-hanging out?' Scott stuttered, sounding worried, 'like the four of us?'

Stiles shook his head and covered the bottom half of his face with his hand. I tried to cover my laugh with a cough. Nailed it.

'Do you wanna hang out, like us and them?' Scott said, not fully believing the situation he had gotten himself in.

'Yeah, I guess. Sounds fun.' Allison said, rather unconvincingly but from the looks of my brother's defeated position, he didn't realise she was only agreeing because she didn't want to hurt her friends feelings.

'You know what else sounds fun?' Jackson said, leaning forward and picking a fork up off his dinner tray, 'stabbing myself in the face with this fork.'

'Go ahead, I could use a laugh,' I said, unable to stop myself. Stiles winced next to me, but I heard my twin's silent snort of amusement.

Lydia snatched the fork from him and slammed it down on his tray, 'how about bowling? You love to bowl.' She tried to convince him and I just rolled my eyes at how obnoxious Jackson was being, while Stiles stress ate his fries next to me and sent "what is happening?" looks to Scott across the table.

'Yeah, with actual competition.' Jackson said, his ankle resting on his thigh.

'How do you know we're not actual competition?' Allison asked, clearly trying to diffuse the situation before Lydia snapped. I was definitely right about her- she was a sweet girl and perfect for my brother.

'You can bowl right?' Allison asked Scott and Stiles and I just shared a look, knowing that my brother wasn't exactly the best athlete beyond lacrosse.

'Sort of,' Scott conceded and I wondered if he was remembering the time he had almost broken my foot at a birthday party when we were eight.

'Is it sort of or yes?' Jackson asked as he leaned forward, an arrogant smirk on his face.

'Yes.' Scott said, sounding confident, 'in fact, I'm a great bowler.'

If I hadn't been so shocked in that moment, I would have face-palmed, and from the looks of it, Stiles would have as well.

After Lunch

'You're a terrible bowler!' Stiles shouted, smacking Scott's back while I laughed at the whole situation.

'I know! God, I'm such an idiot!' Scott muttered as we walked down the stairs.

'It was like watching a car wreck. I mean, first it was the whole group date thing. And then out of nowhere comes that phrase,' Stiles' head fell into his hands.

'Hang out?' Scott sounded like he still couldn't believe it.

'You don't hang out with hot girls, okay? It's like death. Once it's hanging out you might as well be her gay best friend. You and Danny can start hanging out.' Stiles said, his hands gesturing frantically as he spoke, I was walking the other side of Scott, still highly amused by the entire situation.

'How is this happening? We either killed a guy or we didn't,' Scott said, sounding panicked and the reminder of that sobered me up immediately.

'I don't think Danny likes me very much,' Stiles commented, clearly not listening to Scott anymore.

'I asked Allison on a date and now we're hanging out?' Scott carried on, plainly lost in his own problems.

'Am I not attractive to gay guys?' Stiles asked, sounding genuinely concerned, his expression making me giggle.

'You're adorable,' I assured him, grinning when he gave me a half smile and pointed at me in thanks.

'I made first line and the captain wants to destroy me… and now… now we're gonna be late for work.' Scott realised glancing at the time on his phone, he grabbed my arm and pulled me along with him.

I could hear Stiles shouting after us as we left, but I wasn't paying him any attention, 'what about Derek?'

'We'll go after work. We can't afford to miss this, Stace,' Scott's eyes were remorseful and I accepted the helmet off him with a sigh.

When we got to work we apologised to Deaton, but he assured us being all of two minutes late wasn't a crime. The shift got interesting for a minute when Sherriff Stilinski came in to ask questions about the kind of animal that attacked the bus driver, but other than making my anxiety spike, I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. After four hours, our shift finally ended and while Scott went to the hospital to try and bribe mom with some take out, I headed to the Hale property, gratefully accepting Scott's bike for transportation.

The drive flew by as I only had one thought on my mind: I need to see Derek. I had been so focused on making sure I hadn't hurt him that I hadn't given the earlier events of my dream much thought. I wasn't going to start now either- that dream was out of the blue and I definitely didn't have feelings for Derek. I mean sure, I thought he was attractive, but who the hell wouldn't? It was just a weird dream and it probably would never happen again. The brakes on Scott's bike squeaked as I came to a stop. I threw the bike to the ground, on the other side of the porch and unclipped the helmet, taking a deep breath as I walked to the front door.

I went to knock and then chickened out. What if he wasn't here? What if I had actually hurt him? I ran my hand through my hair as I paced up and down on the porch, I was trying to focus my hearing to see if I could detect a heartbeat, but all I could hear was my own heartbeat pounding in my ears. This was getting ridiculous; with a huff I whirled around and held my fist up to knock, only to be pulled inside by a hand on my arm. I squeaked in surprise and when I heard the door creak shut I looked up to who had grabbed me, and was met with Derek's blue orbs.

I felt my face soften with relief and I was about to tell him how happy I was to see him alive, when he slapped his palm over my mouth. I narrowed my eyes in annoyance but he gave me a look that told me to be quiet, and when he pulled me over to a window on the second floor, I could see why- there was a police cruiser outside. He let go of me, and I stood back as he went to the window. I didn't know what he did, but I heard a dog barking and not long after I heard the car drive away. When it was gone, Derek turned around and simply quirked a brow at me in question, though his expression did transform into surprise when I basically leaped into his arms.

'Stacey?' he murmured, his chin resting on top of my head, I felt his arms wind around my waist after a moment and he hugged me back.

'I'm just glad you're okay.' I mumbled so quietly that if he didn't have supernatural hearing, he wouldn't have been able to hear me.

'Why wouldn't I be?' He asked, the question bringing me back to the reality of the situation. I had been so happy that Derek was actually okay that I had leaped into his arms, something I'm sure he hadn't appreciated- he didn't seem like much of a hugger. I felt myself stiffen before I gently pulled away from him, inwardly cursing myself and avoiding his gaze.

'I'm sorry- I had a dream- I thought you were- I didn't mean-,' I ran my hand through my hair as I spoke, when I failed to form a sentence for the forth time I decided to shut up.

Derek's lips twitched a little, almost suggesting that he was fighting a smile and all of a sudden I was too, though that faded when we both heard footsteps approaching outside. Derek walked back to the window, while I stayed where I was stood, a few paces behind him.

'I know you can hear me. I need your help,' Scott's voice echoed throughout the house.

Derek turned and gave me a look. I nodded in answer to his silent question. Surprising me, he grabbed my wrist and gently led me down stairs, where we met Scott on the porch. My twin wasn't surprised to see me there and after sending me a nod of acknowledgement, he looked over to Derek and waited for him to speak.

'I know we were a part of you getting arrested. And that we basically announced you being here to the hunters. I also don't know what happened with your sister.' I gave Scott a look that he ignored, 'but I think we did something last night. I think my sister and me might have hurt someone… really hurt someone. We each had dreams about… someone, but someone else got hurt. And it turns out that part of the dream might have actually happened.' Scott's voice trembled and I stepped out from behind Derek to stand next to him, squeezing his shoulder comfortingly.

Derek's eyes flickered from my twin and over to me. The way he was staring at me made me fidget; he was looking at me like he was trying to figure something out and a part of me was a little afraid as to what that something could be.

'You think you two attacked the bus driver?' He asked eventually, his eyes still on me.

'I think we had something to do with it. The dream was too real for it to be a coincidence.' I admitted, my voice soft with emotion.

'Did you see what we did last night?' Scott blurted out.

'No.' was Derek's answer.

'Can you at least tell us the truth?' Scott asked, continuing when Derek gave him a slight nod of assent, 'are we going to hurt someone?'

'Yes.'

'Could we kill someone?' Scott sounded afraid of the answer, and honestly so was I.

'Yes.'

'Are we gonna kill someone?' I asked, my nails scraping against my skull, as I looked Derek in the eye, I swear the steely blue orbs softened for a millisecond before his impenetrable mask was back in place.

'Probably.'

I exhaled a laugh of defeat and shook my head in denial. Scott walked to the end of the porch and leaned on the fencing, something told me he needed the support. I turned my back and sat down on the steps, resting my head between my knees as I listened to Derek as he continued to speak.

'Look, I can show you both how to remember.' His voice was sure, confident and for whatever reason it soothed my frayed nerves a little, 'I can show you how to control the shift, even on a full moon.'

'But?' I mumbled against my legs, elaborating when my question was met with silence, 'what do you want in return? You're not going to help us for free.'

'You'll find out what I want when I need it.' He promised, sounding a little closer to me, 'but for now, I'm going to give the both of you what you want. Go back to the bus. Go inside. See it, feel it. Let your senses, your sight, smell, touch, let them remember for you.'

I felt the ball of dread that had been present since I woke up that morning grow as I processed what he actually wanted us to do. I realised then, it wasn't dread churning in my gut, it was fear. I was terrified that I had played a part in the bus driver's critical condition; I was terrified of finding out the truth.

'That's it?' Scott didn't sound convinced, 'just go back?'

'Do you want to know what happened?' Derek asked.

'That depends.' I muttered, looking over to them, hoping my expression didn't betray my fear, 'on whether I hurt the bus driver as much as I did the person in my dream.'

'You'll never know if you don't try to remember,' Derek murmured, not quite meeting my eye.

'I want to know if I hurt him.' Scott said, drawing Derek's attention away from me.

'No you don't,' Derek said, the faintest of smiled on his face, 'you want to know if you'll hurt her.'

My twin looked away from his stare but both of us knew he was right. Scott got a text from Deaton asking him if he could start a little earlier, and seeing as I had the night off I stayed behind as he drove away on his bike. He promised to pick me up after work so we could check out the bus together before he left.

'For what it's worth…' I started, standing and facing him as I spoke, 'I'm sorry for my part in you getting arrested. I couldn't completely convince myself that you had killed someone to begin with, and when I found out who it was… I knew for sure that you weren't behind it. I'm sorry. And thank you. For the help.'

I turned to leave and I had taken about three steps when Derek's voice stopped me.

'What made you so sure?' For the barest of moments, he sounded vulnerable.

I span around and faced him, a small but sad smile playing on the corners of my lips, 'when I was little I didn't have many friends. There was Stiles but he was really Scott's friend first, and believe it or not Scott and I weren't always so close. So when I was younger I was mostly alone, until Cora came up to me one day, told me she liked my hair clip and that I was her best friend. We were inseparable after that and she was always talking about her family, her weird uncle Peter, her sweet big sister Laura… and her protective older brother.'

Derek's eyes appeared as if they were glistening with tears, but that might have been because I was barely holding back tears myself. I cleared my throat, trying to remove the ball of emotion that had suddenly formed.

'That's how I knew. There was no way that the older brother Laura looked up to could be a murderer. And there was no way he'd kill someone who was family.'

'It's that simple?' His voice was soft, that if I didn't have my newly attuned hearing, I wouldn't have heard him.

'It's that simple.' A small, soft but genuine smile formed on my lips.

'Thank you.' He said so quietly, I wasn't completely sure I hadn't imagined it; I nodded in acknowledgement anyway, turned and left. I couldn't have been sure, because I didn't turn back, but I could have sworn he was watching me walk away.

Later that night.

'Just us, Stiles. Someone needs to keep watch.' Scott said as we approached the fence separating us from the school bus.

'How come I'm always the guy keeping watch?' Stiles complained.

'Trust me, Stiles, if we could switch I'd happily be the one keeping watch,' I muttered, climbing over the fence and leaving them to their squabble.

'Thank you, Stacey!' Stiles shouted after me, making me roll my eyes fondly.

It took me about twenty steps to reach the door of the bus and with a deep breath I slid it open and stepped inside. I stared down the isle and for a moment the image of Derek being dragged down there flashed through my mind, only to be replaced by the bus driver's face as he screamed out for help. I growled protectively and reached my hand out, wanting to help the clearly injured man but I turned back when I heard someone else join me on the bus. It was my twin, fully transformed and when he took in the scene as I had he reached forward for one of the drivers hands and I reached for the other. As quick as a flash, a hand shot out, claws imbedding into Scott's chest and slicing across my cheek. The hand I had reached out went to my face, only to be covered in blood when I pulled it back. I noticed my brothers wound and growled, completely furious. I went to crouch down, planning to attack the red-eyed wolf for revenge when my twin pulled my arm and dragged me out of the bus.

'Stacey? Stacey?' Scott's voice pulled me out of my daze and made me aware of the urgent beeping horn and the flashlight shining in on the bus. Without a word, we left, leaping over the fence and climbing into the jeep easily.

'Did it work? Did you remember?' Stiles asked as he pumped on the gas.

'Yes-,' My twin started but I cut him off, practically giddy.

'We didn't do it Stiles! We were trying to help him!' I grinned, noticing that the boys in the front smiled as well; apparently my happiness was infectious.

'If you didn't do it, then who did?' Stiles wondered.

'Whoever it was, it was the same one that bit us.' I said, recognising the eyes, 'and I know what you're thinking Scotty and it wasn't Derek.'

'How do you know that?' Scott turned around in his seat to face me.

'I just do,' I shrugged; I had no evidence unless I could offer up my instincts, 'you have it out for him because he's the only other werewolf we have met. But do you really think that he is the only shape shifter in Beacon?'

'Until you said that, yes, yes I did.' Stiles said sarcastically.

'Think about it. Allison's family are hunters, right?' I waited for Scott to nod in confirmation before I continued, 'and she said they move around a lot. I don't think that's for firearm deals. They move to where the supernatural creatures are. Do you think they'd come here for just Derek?'

'She's right, man. I hadn't thought of it like that but she has a point.' Stiles agreed with me.

'Then why is Derek being so shady if he doesn't have something to hide?' Scott wasn't quite as ready to give in.

'Scott, we all have a past, and if I were him I wouldn't exactly be forthcoming to a bunch of teenagers who doubted everything I said and had me arrested for my sister's murder.' I gave him a look as I sat back in my seat, my arms crossed over my chest.

'I guess.' Scott sighed.

Stiles sent me a smirk in the rear view mirror that I reciprocated; we all knew what "I guess meant." It meant he knew I was right but he didn't want to outright say it, and for now that was good enough for me. With a sigh, I stared out of the window, wondering how different my life would have been if Cora hadn't died in that fire. Would we still have been friends? Would she have stayed in Beacon or left with her brother and sister? What if. What if. What if. Questions that only result in self-torture. Cora and I may not have been friends long before the fire, but she was the first person to accept me for me and even at nine years old I had known that was rare. I missed that acceptance and I missed our friendship.

The Next Day

'So while your brother is out kissing the lips of the daughter of a family of hunters that want him dead, you get to keep me company.' Stiles said as we pulled into the gas station, his arms flailing around as he sat in the passenger seat of his own car. I was the only person he let drive his beloved Roscoe when he didn't feel like being behind the wheel himself. I had gotten off from the hospital at six, and dragged out to the movies for six thirty.

'Lucky me,' my tone was sarcastic and I laughed at the mock offended look on Stiles' face as I exited the car, 'I'll get this.'

He went to protest but I just shut the door in his face, careful not to slam it because I knew he would only complain. I noticed him placing his ear buds in, knowing it took a while to fill his beloved Jeep. As I took the fuel pump and placed it into the Jeep, clicking it on I suddenly wished that Stiles had gotten out with me because the silence across the garage was making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The tank was half full when I heard the purring of a familiar engine join me at the fuel pump on the other side.

'Hey.' I smiled at the blue-eyed man.

'Hey.' He returned, taking the pump and putting it into his car.

I opened my mouth, and if I was honest I had no idea what I was going to say, when two other cars pulled into the lot, parking behind Derek and in front of him. I frowned and stepped around the pumps separating me from him and went to casually lean against the pillar next to the pump that was pouring the fuel into his Camaro.

Derek looked like he was about to tell me to go back to Stiles but I just shook my head slightly and smiled, making it look like we were having a conversation to the people who were exiting the cars. I saw Allison's father hesitate in his confident strides towards Derek for the briefest of moments before he continued.

'Nice ride.' Chris commented, I looked over to him and fought the shiver that wanted to escape down my spine.

'Black cars though.' He shook his head, looking down to the car as he continued to walk, 'very hard to keep clean.' He scrubbed at an imaginary blemish on the hood of Derek's car, 'I would definitely suggest a little maintenance.'

I looked over to Derek, desperately holding back the scoff that wanted to break free. Derek's face was stoic and casual, but I could tell he was anything but; he was paying close attention to everyone around him, preparing to defend himself in the event of an attack. Chris leaned down, taking a bucket of water and a long handled sponge. He washed Derek's window as he spoke and I fought the urge to make a sarcastic comment at the obvious threat behind his words.

'If you have something nice, you wanna take care of it, right? Personally I'm protective of the things I love. That's something I learned from my family. You don't have much of that these days. Do you?'

I didn't need to look over to Derek to know that he was pissed off, and honestly so was I. I cleared my throat to draw his attention to me; apparently remaining quiet in this integration wasn't going to happen.

'You're Allison's father, right?' I tilted my head as if in thought, 'you know she's talked about you before. From the description she gave I imagined someone different. She makes you out all warm and loving… but you're actually kind of a dick.' I cocked my brow as my lips tilted down into a fake frown.

'Who are you?' Chris asked, surprise glinting in his eyes as he spoke.

'I'm your daughter's boyfriend's sister.' I smiled at him sweetly, being careful to not mention their whereabouts tonight- I knew Allison had to sneak out to go bowling with the others.

'How do you know Derek?' Chris asked but I was saved from answering when Stiles joined in on the conversation.

'Hey Mr Argent,' Stiles said, coming to stand beside me.

'Another friend of Allison's I take it?' Chris smirked, but there was nothing humorous about it.

'Stiles Stilinski pleased to meet you,' Stiles said, his tone sarcastic.

'Shouldn't you be at home? There is a curfew.' Chris said, crossing his arms over his chest. I was about to snap at him again, but when Derek came to stand right next to me, my jaw snapped shut in surprise.

'We were just leaving.' Derek's tone hinted that he was dismissing them while also protecting us.

'Alright. I see you've got my message.' Argent smiled and backed away, nodding at the men in the car behind to leave.

'Oh we got your message alright.' I smiled sweetly at him and then mumbled under my breath, 'dickhead.'

I held my breath until the cars were gone and then released a heavy sigh.

'Well he was…intense.' Stiles commented making me snort.

'Yeah. He's on my shit list.' My tone was final as I stared where the taillights had disappeared.

'We need to get going if we're gonna catch that movie, Stace.' Stiles reminded me, pulling me out of my daze and heading back to the Jeep.

'Right.' I turned to join him, patting Derek's arm, 'see you around Derek.'

I could have swore I saw a genuine smile on his face as I retreated, and it made a smile form on my own lips as I climbed behind the wheel of Roscoe.

'Should we tell Scott about that… or?' Stiles said as he tapped on his phone.

'It doesn't matter what I say Stiles, we both know you've just texted him a detailed account of what just happened.' I cocked my brow, daring him to prove me wrong, but he only offered me a sheepish smile that made me shake my head fondly.

A few hours later

'What?' I heard my twin's voice thundering from his room and I was there in three seconds flat.

'What's going on?' I asked, leaning against the doorframe, my arms crossed over my chest.

'The bus driver… he died.' Stiles informed me from where he was sat at the end of Scott's bed.

'Oh,' my brow crinkled, sad that the man had lost his life. He was always friendly to Scott and me.

'I'm going to see Derek,' Scott said, my spine stiffening at the anger in his tone.

I didn't even bother to question him, knowing it wouldn't do me any good. I grabbed mom's car keys from the bowl by the door and drove us to Derek's property. Scott jumped out of the car before it had even stopped, thundering into the destroyed house with purpose in his steps.

'Derek!' He yelled, I walked in quietly and gently closed the door behind us, 'I know what you did!'

'I didn't do anything.' Derek's voice echoed off the walls, Scott started to walk up the staircase while I remained at the bottom, my back resting against the door. As long as I could help it, I wasn't getting involved.

'You killed him!' Scott was half way up the stairs.

'He died.'

'Like your sister died?' Scott said, I inhaled a sharp breath at his question, having to restrain myself from yelling at him, I loved my brother but sometimes he could be such an idiot.

'My sister was missing,' Derek was furious; it was practically dripping from every word, 'I came here looking for her.'

'You found her.' Was Scott's snarky response.

'Scott.' My tone held warning, but it was nothing compared to the anger in Derek's words.

'I found her in pieces! Being used as bait to catch me!' He thundered.

'I think you killed them both,' Scott wouldn't listen and I was a hairs width away from punching him in the face, 'and I'm going to tell everyone starting with the sheriff.'

He'd reached the top of the staircase now and he barely had time to look one way before Derek was on him, throwing him down the stairs. I stayed against the door, knowing that the tumble wouldn't hurt him… much. I winced when he landed on the ground at my feet with a thud. When Scott looked up, fully transformed and roared at Derek, I rolled my eyes. This wasn't going to end well. Derek was in front of Scott in one leap and before I could blink, Scott had thrown Derek through some drywall. I huffed in annoyance and walked through the giant hole in the plaster to see Derek dusting himself off, looking thoroughly pissed off. After flickering my eyes over his form and determining him he was fine I went to sit on the sofa to my right; I had a feeling things were far from over.

Sure enough, Derek shrugged off his jacket and transformed himself, roaring at Scott and repeatedly slamming him into a wall and then the table behind him. Scott attempted to swipe at him, but Derek punched him in the jaw and threw him onto the floor. Scott used the side of the table to prop himself up and with a growl, Derek slid across it, kicking Scott with enough force to send him flying into the wall with a thud. My twin pulled an ore from somewhere and swung it at Derek, but he dove out of the way and when he tried to hit him again, he rolled on the floor before snagging Scott's ankle and flipping him over. The golden-eyed wolf rolled onto his back and Derek grabbed his throat, lifted him from the ground and slammed him to the floor twice. When he tried to get up, the blue-eyed wolf kicked him in the abdomen, causing him to soar through the air for a few feet. Scott jumped onto the small table with a roar and went to jump on Derek, but the former landed a swipe to his chest hard enough that I heard bones crack.

Derek turned and cracking could be heard as he returned to his human face. I looked down to my brother on the floor and noticed he had returned to human as well.

'Are you done having your temper tantrum?' I asked, my brows raising to convey my annoyance, 'get it all out of your system?' I looked over to Derek; giving him the same look I was giving my twin.

'Shut up, Stacey.' Scott growled as he stood.

'I'll take that as I no.' I huffed, leaning back into the sofa cushions, 'you know this sofa is quite comfortable.'

Derek's lips twitched with humour as he observed me, but when he looked back to my brother, the annoyance was evident in his expression, 'I didn't kill him. None of us did. It's not your fault and it's not mine.'

'Not your fault?' Scott yelled, stepping toward him, 'this is all your fault! You ruined my life!'

I sighed and rolled my eyes- my twin's inability to think through his anger was not one of his best traits.

'No I'm didn't!' Derek shouted back.

'You're the one who bit me!' Scott insisted.

'No I'm not!' Derek didn't even blink, but I could tell he was getting more and more annoyed with having to explain himself to someone who obviously didn't believe him.

'What?' My twin asked.

'I'm not the one who bit you.'

Scott looked down to his chest and zoned out for a moment. I assumed he was having another flashback, and when he collapsed next to me on the sofa, I knew he realised his mistake.

'There's another.' Scott realised.

'Did I not tell you that?' I rolled my eyes and lightly smacked his shoulder, 'you should really start listening to me, Scotty. It would save you the embarrassment of getting your ass kicked.'

Scott rolled his eyes but sent me an apologetic look before we both looked up to Derek as he explained exactly what we were dealing with.

'It's called an alpha. It's the most dangerous of our kind. You, me and Stacey, we're beta's. This thing is more powerful, more animal than any of us.' Derek paused, before going on, 'my sister came here looking for him. Now I'm trying to find him. But I don't think I can do it without the both of you.'

'Why?' I asked, slightly surprised that we could help him in any way.

'Because he's the one that bit the both of you. You're both a part of his pack. It's you two. You're the ones he wants.' Derek said, his eyes flickering between us both as he read the effects his words had on us. I couldn't speak for my twin, but I was freaking out. I didn't want to be wanted by a psychotic werewolf with biting issues.

'Sure. Why not?' I muttered, running my hands through my hair.