Chapter Nine

I didn't know how long Scott, Stiles and I sat in the boy's locker room, in shock now that the identity of the alpha was revealed. But honestly I wasn't even processing that yet—it was Derek's betrayal that stung the most. I wanted to be pissed off with him, to be so overcome with rage that I could go and kick is ass. But all I felt was… numb. I trusted him and he broke that trust when he sided with Peter, the alpha who he had been so determined to kill not twenty-four hours ago.

'We should head home.' Stiles broke the silence, snapping me out of my thoughts, 'Stace are you okay?'

I frowned in confusion, and went to nod in answer to his question—that was when I felt the moisture on my cheeks and stood abruptly, heading for the door.

'I'm fine. I'll see you at home Scotty.' I threw over my shoulder, sprinting as soon as I was out of the building.

I was being pathetic, wasn't I? It wasn't like he had promised me anything and he had never outright said he wasn't going to stab us in the back and join the alpha's team. Okay, so maybe I did have a reason to be mad but I knew that the reason that wasn't the initial emotion was because I had started to form a friendship with him. In such a short space of time he had wormed himself into my small inner circle of friends, of people I cared about. So the anger wasn't going to come until the pain of betrayal had worn off.

When I finally got home, I was caked in sweat, my hair was sticking to various parts of my face and my clothes were glued to my body. Con—it was gross. Pro—you couldn't identify the tears among the sweat. Bonus.

'Stacey?'

My mothers voice broke me out of my mission to storm upstairs, I'd managed to get to the staircase and I paused half way up.

'Hey mom,' I forced a bright smile on my face and turned to face her. She was wearing light pink scrubs and holding a flask in her hand with her car keys in the other.

'Hey, did you run back from the school?' She frowned, clearly concerned.

'Yeah. Track try outs are coming up and I need to up my cardio.' I shrugged, waving my hand dismissively, 'have you got some pie for you dinner?'

'I have,' she glanced over at the container waiting for her on the table by the door, before her eyes returned to me—I almost winced at the concern I saw in them.

'Are you okay, sweetie?' Her voice was soft and it nearly tore down the feeble barrier I had put up.

I swallowed, forced a smile and came down the stairs to kiss her cheek, 'I'm great, mom. Have a good shift, I'll make sure you have some breakfast for when you get back, and I'll get the laundry started.'

She sighed, clearly not distracted like I was hoping she would be, but she glanced at her watch and stiffened, 'you don't want to talk about it right now, and that's fine. I have to go to work but I have my cell if you need anything alright sweetie?'

She caressed the side of my face and hugged me before grabbing her things and walking out the door. I took a deep breath when I heard her car drive away and made my way to the laundry room, once the load was started I went to the kitchen and heated up the rest of the pie for Scott—he would be home soon and I wasn't really hungry. I headed upstairs and showered, throwing my dirty clothes into the hamper and dressing in my comfort clothes—one of Scott's old shirts and some shorts that used to be my mom's in collage. I gathered up my dirty clothes and collected the rest from Mom's room as well as Scott's and headed down stairs to add them to a new load and put the other clothes into the dryer. I was just pulling the now heated pie out of the oven and when I heard the door open.

'Dinners on the table.' I yelled out, avoiding my brother and heading to the laundry room. I removed a load from the dryer and added the one that was in the washer.

I heard his footsteps hesitate in the hallway before he headed to the kitchen. I hid in the laundry room while he ate his dinner, anxiously waiting for the dryer to finish. He headed up to his room ten minutes before the second load finished. I had it all folded and put away in everyone's rooms within half an hour, grateful Scott appeared to be asleep. I set my alarm, closed my bedroom door, climbed under the covers and finally allowed myself to acknowledge the betrayal I had been pushing down until that point. I hugged a spare pillow to my chest and sobbed, drenching the cotton within minutes but I couldn't find it in myself to care. When I caught a whiff of Derek's scent that still lingered on the covers I cried so hard my chest hurt. I sniffled and held my breath when I heard my bedroom door opening. I caught the scent of my brother and I couldn't find the strength to pull up the façade I had been wearing all night, instead I shoved my face into the pillow I was hugging and continued to cry.

I felt Scott's body heat as he spooned me from behind and I rolled over, laying my head on his chest. He didn't say anything but he hugged me tighter as the tears continued to fall. I don't remember falling asleep, but I remembered feeling grateful for my brother's presence in that moment.

The Next Day

'Since when do the Argents think Jackson is one of the beta's?' I asked, confused.

'They saw the scratch Derek gave him at the lacrosse game.' Scott replied, sounding more and more antsy from the front seat.

'Well at least they only have one suspect,' I muttered, a little released, at least until I saw Scott's guilty expression.

'Actually… Allison's Dad asked Allison who you were and apparently he's seen you with Derek? Well you and Stiles, so you're also suspects.' Scott winced prematurely as if he was preparing himself for our reactions.

'WHAT?' I yelled, my face crumpling in panic.

'WHY ME?' Stiles said at the same time.

'When you stood in on that confrontation at the gas station, remember?' Scott reminded us, rubbing his ear.

'This is fantastic.' I muttered sarcastically, head-butting the window none too gently.

'Not the jeep.' Stiles mildly scolded me.

'Left here.' Scott said suddenly, the jeep's tyres squealed against the tarmac as he abided the instruction.

We pulled up into an empty car park, well empty aside from Jackson's Porsche and Argents car. Chris was leaning over the engine with Jackson, discretely getting a closer look at his neck. Stiles drove over to them and slammed the brakes with enough force that we all had to brace ourselves.

'Yo,' Scott lifted his index finger in a wave, shifting his head a little out of the open passenger window.

'Sup!' Stiles yelled a little louder.

'Asshole.' I smiled brightly, avoiding the elbow my twin sent toward my abdomen.

'Everything okay?' Scott asked.

'Hey, Scott, Stiles and Stacey, isn't it?' Chris smiled in a way that sent a shiver of apprehension down my spine.

'I prefer your highness from my subjects, actually.' I said dryly, grinning when Stiles squawked in shock.

Chris' eyes hardened at my remark but I simply rolled my eyes.

'That was a joke,' I said looking over to Jackson who looked both worried and amused, 'what's up with the car anyway, asshat?'

Jackson smirked, not phased by me calling him names, 'no idea. I was just going to call a tow truck.'

'There's a shop right down the street, I'm sure they have a tow truck.' Scott offered with forced nonchalance.

'Yeah, we can give you a ride, hop on in,' Stiles added, reaching over my twin to fling open the passenger side door.

He climbed out and pulled the seat forward for Jackson.

'Come on, Jackson you're way to pretty to be out here all by yourself,' I smirked, but my eyes held warning which he read, causing him to start walking towards the car.

'Wait a second, guys.'

We all look over to see Chris starting Jackson's engine with no problem. I leaned back so he wouldn't see me roll my eyes—if it wasn't already obvious he was the reason for Jackson's sudden car failure, it was now.

'Told you I knew a few things about cars,' he smirked, giving Stiles and I a suspicious look before he left. I climbed out through the still open door and gave Jackson a once over.

'You alright?' I asked him, just to be sure.

'Aw, am I finally growing on you Stacey?' he smirked, making me roll my eyes.

'No, dumbass. Did that not seem remotely suspicious to you?' I gestured to his car before I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned on the Jeep.

'What do you mean?' he really was clueless.

'She means, Argent thinks your one of the beta's, idiot.' Stiles muttered, joining us on the outside of Roscoe.

'What?' Jackson squeaked.

'Being a werewolf isn't sounding so fun anymore, huh?' I smirked, laughing when he glared at me.

'You almost gave away everything right there!' Scott yelled, seeming to be vibrating with anger. Stiles and I shared a look and I stepped forward, getting ready to intervene if I needed to.

'No I didn't!' Jackson yelled back, not even a little intimidated.

'Yes you did! I could hear your heart beating from a mile away, literally!' he went to hit Jackson but at the last minute turned and hit the Jeep instead.

'Dude, my Jeep!' Stiles complained.

'He thinks that there's something wrong with you,' Scott continued as if he hadn't spoken, 'and now I have to keep an eye on you so that he doesn't kill you too!'

He moved to hit the Jeep again, but Stiles pulled him away, 'how about we just stay away from Stiles' Jeep?'

'Scotty you need to calm down.' I spoke up drawing my twin's attention, 'Jackson's a dumbass, sure but as long as he isn't a werewolf he's safe.'

'No he thinks—,' Scott started to protest but I interrupted him.

'Exactly—he thinks he doesn't know, if all he needed was a hunch then we would all be dead by now. He wants absolute proof, which he won't get from Jackson because despite his insatiable desire, he isn't a werewolf.' I spoke calmly in order to diffuse the situation, and I was happy when the anger and worry seemed to disappear from Scott's gaze.

'She's right.' Stiles assured him, slapping his shoulder affectionately.

'Now that we have that straightened out, I'm going to get out of here.' Jackson said with as much arrogance he could muster, but I caught his arm before he completely turned away.

'Seriously though, Jackson, stay away from anything involving the alpha. You have no idea how lucky you are to be separate from all this shit.' I said, being as sincere with him as I had ever been.

He looked like he was going to argue, but he must have seen how honest I was actually being and instead he snapped his mouth shut, nodded solemnly and left. A deep sigh left me as I watched Jackson drive away before I looked over to my two best friends.

'Now what?' Stiles asked, throwing his arm around my shoulder.

'I'm going to go and meet Allison—Peter threatened her yesterday so I'm not letting her out of my sight.' Scott said, his voice determined.

'Cool. You wanna go to the mall?' Stiles asked me, squeezing me closer to his side.

'Sure. I'll help you pick out a tux for the formal.' I smiled at him before teasing him, 'we both know how terrible your dress sense can be.'

'I have never been more offended than I am right now.' He gasped in outrage, holding his free hand to his heart.

My head tipped back in laughter, 'I'll take that as a challenge.' I told him, moving from under his arm to climb into the backseat, ignoring my twin who was shaking his head at us.

'Noooooo!' He said, very over the top, making me laugh again.

I noticed my twin's eyes going soft as he saw me smiling and I shoved his shoulder to reassure him that I was fine. Well as fine as I could be; ever since last night he had been watching me like a hawk, scared that I was going to break down again. I hadn't said anything because he wasn't smothering me, and if watching me made him feel better I wasn't going to complain about it, because if it was the other way around I would have been a lot worse.

'Well this is my first Saturday not volunteering at the hospital in forever so prepare yourself for a long day, Mechi,' I sent him a wink when he glared at me for using my nickname for him—it was an abbreviation of his full name.

We dropped Scott off at the entrance to the preserve—apparently Allison was practicing her archery with Lydia. As soon as he left I jumped in the front seat and took over the music—one of the many reasons Stiles and I got along so well was our similar taste in music. We both liked a variety of genres and so we were able to jam out to Eminem, Florence and the Machine, Selena Gomez, Shawn Mendez and even some songs from High School Musical that Stiles would straight up deny knowing the words to, without any judgement from Scott.

'What about us?' I sang, dramatically placing my hand on Stiles' arm.

He waved me off, 'what about trust?' He sang back.

'You know I never wanted to hurt you,' I held a hand to my heart.

'And what about me?' He wiped away a tear that wasn't there.

'What am I supposed to do?'

'I gotta leave but I'll miss you,' we sang together, finishing off with the chorus before we climbed out of the Jeep. I managed to get some sick snap chat videos that I'd sent to Scott and saved to my phone.

'No one else better see those, Stace,' Stiles warned me, throwing his arm over my shoulders as we entered the mall—a common habit of his.

'No one ever will… unless I need to blackmail you for something,' I smirked evilly, laughing when he dramatically shoved me away.

'So where to first?' Stiles asked, glancing around the place as if he were a little overwhelmed.

'Hmmm… lets get your tux first and then we can catch a movie… or hit the arcades.' I linked my arm through his and dragged him towards the tux store without waiting for his okay.

'Sure I love that plan,' he said, sarcasm apparent in his voice.

'Don't pout, Mechi,' I said, flicking my hair over my shoulder and out of my face, 'you know I hate clothes shopping so it's better if we get this out of the way first.'

'Yeah, yeah,' he huffed, following me around and looking at a few options, soon we had a decent amount and I sent him to start trying them on while I scrolled through my phone.

'This one?' It was completely black down to the bowtie, shirt and everything.

'I like it, dark and mysterious, but I think it makes you look a little pale.' I told him honestly.

He huffed but went to change into another without a word—he trusted my opinion just like I trusted his. I had prevented many fashion disasters over the years. I wasn't a fashionesta in Lydia terms, but I wasn't afraid to give my opinion when I didn't like something.

'I like this,' he told me just before he stepped out of the changing room and when I saw it, I had to agree.

This one was navy blue with a white shirt and black tie. It didn't make him look pale and it was already pretty nicely fitted to his form.

'That's the one.' I said, completely sure, 'do you wanna try on the others to be sure?'

'Nah, I like it, you like it that's good enough for me,' he said, ducking back in to change back into his normal clothes.

I laughed at his eagerness; he hated shopping just as much as I did so I wasn't surprised by his determination to get out of here so fast. Once he was done, he placed the rejected ones back on the racks and paid to rent the tux on the night of the formal, which was this Friday.

'Next?' I gestured towards the movies and he nodded eagerly.

We went to look what was showing and saw that the new Deadpool would be showing this afternoon, but it wasn't going to be until two so we decided to get some lunch first. We had just sat down at McDonald's when Scott texted me.

Scotty: Hey are you and Stiles still at the mall?

Me: At the mall we are.

Scott: Is it cool if me and Allison come and hang with you? Her dad is smothering her and mom just got back to ours so I don't wanna take her there.

'You cool being third and fourth wheels?' I asked Mechi after I washed down a bite of my burger with water.

'Sure, but we're not sitting at the back. They're not ruining this movie for me by making out the whole time.' He said firmly and I nodded in agreement; we had been looking forward to seeing this for a while.

'We can always split them up?' I smirked deviously.

'I like the way you think,' Stiles ruffled my hair, making me wrinkle my nose before I shot off a quick text.

Me: Sure, we're going to see the new Deadpool movie. It starts at 2. I'll get you tickets—DON'T BE LATE.

Scotty: thanks Stace.

Me: xx

'Done, no going back now,' I joked, dipping my remaining fry into Stiles' ketchup before putting it into my mouth.

'They'll probably be late,' he rolled his eyes.

'I told him not to be, but we have twenty minutes of adverts before the movie starts,' I shrugged, slurping down my water, sucking harder when I saw Stiles' annoyed face.

'Dude, it's empty!' He complained, tossing his rubbish on the food tray and taking a sip of his own drink.

I stuck my tongue out at him as we both stood. I grabbed our tray of trash and emptied it in the bin and caught up with Stiles who was already at the door.

'I'm excited for this movie. I hope it's as funny as the first one,' I mused as we walked back to the theatre.

'Me too. Ryan Reynolds might just be my new favourite funny actor.' Stiles commented, his arm coming to rest on top of my shoulders.

'Maybe?' I gasped, my hand going to my heart, 'he is the king of funny actors!'

'What about Kevin Hart?' he protested with a raised brow and a smug smile knowing he had me.

'Ugh fine, I concede that you have a point,' I didn't pout but it was a close thing.

We walked in silence for the remainder of the short journey and imidately went to concessions to see what snacks we were going to have for the movie. I was just thinking of asking Stiles if he wanted to split a large popcorn when his gentle voice snapped me out of my thinking.

'Stace,' his gentle tone was reserved for when he was worried about what he was about to say, when he didn't know how I was going to react, 'Scott told me about last night.'

I stiffened and he had to of felt it; his arm was still around me. I felt my defensive hackles rising, but I forced them down—this was Stiles one of my best friends. I could tell him anything, and while he might not approve of my feelings he would listen.

'Yeah… I was—I am upset about what Derek did to us.' I shrugged, accidentally throwing his arm off me, but I just linked my arm through his instead.

'I get it,' he assured me, 'he was supposed to be on our side and he betrayed us.'

'Exactly!' I was relieved Stiles could see where I was coming from, 'I was starting to trust him and he shattered that the moment he stood by Peter.'

'Maybe he had a reason,' Stiles said, shrugging when I looked at him as if he were crazy, 'look I trust the guy about as far as I can throw him, but I saw the way he looked at you when you weren't looking. He cares about you, Stace and I don't think he would have gone to Peter's side without a good reason.'

That stumped me for a second, for two reasons: I never even considered that and I'd never expected Stiles to be fighting in Derek's corner.

'Why are you defending him?' I asked, frowning as I processed all of this new information.

'Because you're one of my best friends,' he ran his free hand over his buzz cut, 'and I don't want you hurting if there's a reason you shouldn't be.'

'Thanks Mechi,' I hugged him, feeling incredibly grateful for the people around me in that moment.

I kept my arm in his when we parted.

'So, what do you want?' he asked, gesturing to the concessions.

'I'm that hungry after lunch, so you wanna split a large popcorn?' I asked, smiling when he shook his head in amusement.

'Sure, I'll grab that while you get the tickets for Allison and Scott.' He pulled out his wallet, waving off my offer of money as I had paid for lunch, and I went to get the extra tickets.

Allison and Scott arrived at 1:58 and honestly I was pretty impressed. It must have been Allison's influence because Scott had never been early or on time to meet us in his life. I greeted Allison with a bright smile and Scott with a hand ruffling his hair before I handed them their tickets and took the sodas off Stiles when he joined us.

'You guys want anything?' I asked, catching the popcorn Stiles threw into my mouth, 'we have time before the movie starts.

'I'm not really hungry,' Allison smiled, holding my twins hand.

'Me neither,' Scott lied; I could hear his stomach rumbling but knowing him he didn't have his wallet.

'Grab my cash out of my pocket will ya?' I asked Scott, seeing as I was holding two large sodas and didn't have any free hands. He did as I asked and frowned in confusion.

'Can you go and get another large popcorn and a few sodas? I'm starving and parched,' I added when Scott eyed the food we had already bought.

'Sure,' he said with a disbelieving smile, leaving Allison to stand with us.

The poor girl looked a little scared but I bumped my arm against hers and offered her a bright smile.

'So, you and my brother, huh? How's that going?' I asked, laughing when her face coloured in embarrassment, 'I'm just messing with you.'

Allison laughed and I joined in with her, wanting her to know I genuinely was kidding.

'So, how are you liking Beacon Hills? The obsession with Lacrosse bored you to tears yet?' I wondered, cheering when I caught some more popcorn in my mouth.

'It's okay. I'm still finding my bearings I guess.' She shrugged and I swear she was seconds away from twirling her hair nervously.

'Cool. Have you seen the first dead pool movie?' Stiles asked, clearly noticing her anxiety as well.

'Yeah I loved it, it's so funny,' she grinned and I knew then and there we were going to be good friends.

By the time Scott joined us we were well into a debate over the best High School Musical movie—Allison loved the first one, Stiles loved the third while I was convinced the second was the best, hands down.

'But Troy doesn't screw up in the third one!' Stiles pointed out, 'he totally breaks her heart in the second and flakes out on his friends!'

'Yes, but they work it out, Stiles! And how is Gabriella breaking Troy's heart in the third any better when she tries to cancel on him for prom?' I was seconds away from throwing my soda at him.

'You guys are crazy,' Allison started to argue and I saw Scott's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at how comfortable she had gotten in the five minutes he'd been gone, 'the first one is the best! They stand up for each other, break stereotypes and become a power couple in one movie!'

'Uhh… guys,' Scott interrupted us and jumped a little when we looked over to him simultaneously, 'the movie's started, and we should go in.'

'Oh right. We'll finish this another time.' I declared to Stiles and Allison before heading into the movie.

'Stace,' Scott caught up with me; he must have given Allison the sodas because he was only holding popcorn, 'what about your stuff?'

'They're for you and Allison,' I told him, giving him a sheepish smile, 'I know you lied about being hungry and what girl doesn't want popcorn in a movie?'

'You didn't have to, but thanks, Stace.' He kissed my cheek and I offered him a bright smile before he fell back in step with Allison.

We managed to snag some good seats in the middle and not at the back, much to Mechi's relief, and mine. The movie was great and a comedic masterpiece. Time went by pretty quickly as we laughed at Ryan Reynolds as Dead pool and before I knew it we were heading out to the parking lot to go home.

'This was fun, we should do it again some time,' Allison smiled, seeming genuinely happy.

'Allison,' I gasped a hand dramatically going to my chest, 'was this our first date?'

She laughed and linked her arm through mine, 'of course it was, didn't you know? For the next one I'm thinking a romantic dinner underneath the stars.'

'A girl after my own heart,' I sighed sadly, sniggering with Allison when the boys looked at us as if we'd each grown an extra head.

'Anyway, I'll see you guys later?' She asked, hugging me and getting a clap on the shoulder from Stiles.

'Sure,' I smiled, heading back to the Jeep and letting them have their moment, 'so, what tunes should we have on the way home?'

'I vote for whatever will annoy Scott the most,' Stiles said, starting Roscoe's ignition.

'So High School Musical then?' I grinned, knowing how much he hated it.

'Like you even have to ask,' he scoffed, grinning at his friend when he joined us in the Jeep.

Thirty Minutes Later

'You and Stiles knowing all the words to every song in those movies is not natural!' Scott huffed, clearly annoyed as we walked into the house.

I threw my head back and laughed, 'Scotty we both know you're the biggest HSM fan, you don't have to lie to me. We will accept you as one of our own.'

I stepped forward as he stepped back, towards the stairs.

'Please stop,' he begged.

'Living in my own world, didn't understand, that anything can happen, when you take a chance,' I sang into my fist, which was my makeshift microphone.

'No!' Scott covered his ears and headed for the stairs but I just sang after his retreating form, snap chatting it for Stiles.

'Never believed in what I couldn't see (oh), I never opened my heart (oh) to all the possibilities, ooh.' I stopped filming when I heard his door slam and laughed all the way to the kitchen.

Stiles replied with an offended look on his face, which I took a screenshot of before replying with a picture of the floor saying he will never understand our brilliance. I put my phone in my jeans pocket and started to make some dinner—mom shouldn't be working tonight, but she was still upstairs so I assumed she had overslept and had forgotten to make dinner. I decided on turkey tetrazzini and I had the ingredients out and had just put the almost finished product into the oven when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I wiped my hands on a towel and answered it without looking at the caller ID.

'Hello?'

'Stacey,' he said and then carried on more urgently, 'don't hang up.'

'Give me one good reason why I shouldn't.' I demanded, barely biting back a growl.

'Peter wants me to go after Jackson. He found out he wanted to be a werewolf somehow and he wants him taken care of.' Derek told me, sounding extremely weary and tired.

'And you're telling me this why?' I said carefully, wondering if this was some kind of trick.

'Because I want you to stop me.' He said simply.

'Why?'

'It's complicated, Stacey.' He sighed and I rolled my eyes, annoyed.

'It always is, Derek.' I muttered, running a hand through my hair, 'I'll save Jackson, thanks for the heads up. When this shit is over, you're giving me an explanation.'

'You got it.' I could hear a smile in his voice and it made the ball of rage in my stomach thaw a little.

I hung up the phone without another word and headed up to my room. I had an hour before dinner would be ready so I made sure I was ahead on my homework—which I was—and squeezed in some studying with Scott for the finals next week. I closed my chemistry book in exasperation, glad to be done with it for the evening. I looked up to see my twin giving me a sympathetic smile.

'You done?' he asked, closing his own workbook.

'Thankfully. Are you caught up on your homework?' I sat up on his bed and crossed my legs so I could make eye contact with him easier.

'Yeah. I need to make sure I keep my grades up for next semester,' he sighed, running a hand through his hair and leaning back in his chair at his desk.

'I'll make sure you do.' I promised him, shuffling to the end and hanging my legs over his bed to the floor, 'Derek called me earlier.'

'What?' he startled, dropping his pen, 'why?'

'Apparently Peter wants him to go after Jackson tonight. He wants me to stop him.' I told him, making sure I kept my voice down.

'Why would he tell you that? What if it's a trick?' he frowned.

'I thought that, but he didn't sound like he was trying to trick me, he sounded… exhausted. I think he wants this to be over just as much as we do.' I admitted.

'I'll go with you,' he said, his voice firm.

'Thanks Scotty,' I smiled and then startled, 'the tetrazzini!'

With that I bolted out of the room, ignoring Scott's amused chuckle as I sprinted to the kitchen. The gods must have been watching over me because it wasn't burned. I placed it on the side to cool down before I served it and shouted Mom and Scott down. But when I didn't get an answer I frowned in confusion, before I could think more of it the doorbell rang.

'Mom! Scott!' I tried again as I headed for the door, but I didn't get an answer. I pulled open the door and shouted over my shoulder, 'it's gonna get cold and cold tetrazzini is not tasty tetrazzini!'

Then I turned to face the visitor and almost visibly jumped, but I managed to catch myself in time.

'What the hell are you doing here?' I growled, I felt my eyes flash because his flashed in response but I just didn't care.

'Well hello to you too,' he said sarcastically, making me roll my eyes.

'I'll repeat—what the hell are you doing here?'

'I have a date, with your mother,' he said, smirking when I visibly jolted in surprise—I hadn't been expecting that.

'My mother?' I clarified, 'you have a date with my mother?'

'That's correct.' He smirked and I moved to slam the door in his face but he stopped me easily.

'Really? Slam the door in my face? Come on, Stacey.' He sounded disappointed, which just irritated me, 'take a second to think that through.'

'I did and I just took a few more…' I bought my index finger to my pursed lips mockingly, 'and it still sounds like a good idea.'

I slammed the door again, managing to shut it and I locked it swiftly. Though in all fairness if he really wanted to get in here, a locked door wasn't gonna stop him. The doorbell rang.

'Stacey! Could you get that please?' My mom shouted.

'I already did, it was a door to door salesman!' I yelled back, 'he'll go away, if he doesn't, I'll call the police!'

'Just make sure it's not my date!' She yelled back as the bell went again.

'It's not!' I assured her, running up the stairs to my twin's room.

'Peter is at the door,' I breathed, knowing Peter could hear us anyway.

'What?' Scott started, almost falling off his desk chair—Stiles would have been proud of his clumsiness.

'Peter is here to take mom to dinner,' I told him patiently, cringing when I heard the bell ring again. I grabbed Scott's abandoned pen and scribbled something on a spare piece of paper.

You and Stiles follow them, I'm gonna take care of Jackson.

My twin read my words, but hesitated before nodding. Clearly he wasn't happy with me going alone, and I wasn't either but it couldn't be helped. The doorbell rang again and I went to answer it with a growl.

'Stacey! I don't think that's a door to door salesman!' Mom yelled as my feet hit the last step on the stairs.

'Yeah! I'm checking now!' I shouted, yanking the door open to Peter's smug face, 'you don't give up, do you?'

'Rarely.' He smirked, stepping over the threshold causing me to move back to keep him out of my personal face, 'so what have you and your brother planned?'

I pretended to look confused, which clearly didn't fool him.

'Come on, Stacey—I'm not an idiot. You managed to get away from me at the school, and I know that was your idea,' he paused to step into my personal space, 'and now you come back from upstairs ready to let me into the house, so I'll ask again. What is your plan?'

I stepped away and smirked in amusement, 'are you afraid, Peter? You're an alpha that can transform into a hideous monster and you're scared of what the teenagers are planning?'

He smirked, but it was clear that he wasn't amused. His eyes shifted to an alpha red and I felt my own change in response. I shook my head, getting back in control and glared at him when my eyes returned to their usual brown.

'I'll tell her.' I said, knowing I wouldn't but I was stalling.

'That I used to be a catatonic invalid with burns covering half my face?' he laughed lightly, the sound making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, 'no, you won't because you're too smart for that.'

His hand came up as if he was going to caress my cheek and I stepped out of his reach.

'If you hurt one hair on her head I swear to god… I will kill you.' I growled, my claws grew in my anger.

'I believe you.' He said, staring at my hands before looking up to me with a smile, 'but you have nothing to worry about. I have been in a coma for six years, is it so hard to believe that I'd want to have dinner with a beautiful woman?'

'Yes, when that beautiful woman just happens to be my mother.' I retorted with a glare, 'do you really expect me to believe that's just a coincidence after you sent that text to Allison from her account?'

He full on grinned now—he was putting me more and more on edge and I was pretty sure he knew it. He wanted to know how far he could push me before I snapped, the asshole.

'Alright, you caught me,' he held up his hands in mock surrender, 'maybe I've come up with an idea, like how it might be easier to convince you and your brother to be part of the pack if your mother were a part of it as well.'

I growled, it was a threatening sound that made Peter's smug expression grow tenfold.

'She better come back from this dinner without the bite of an alpha Peter or I swear to god—,' my threat was interrupted by Peter.

'You need to understand how much more powerful we are together. You and me and Scott and Derek.' Peter said, stepping forward and causing me to step back, 'did you know that some of the most successful military operations during the Second World War were the German U-boat attacks?'

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms over my chest, 'did you know that the German's lost that war? That their leader committed suicide? You sure that's the analogy you wanna go with?'

He laughed, 'I'll think you'll find that most historians would argue that was due to a failure of leadership.' His eyes hardened before he continued, 'and trust me, we don't have that problem here.'

It was my turn to laugh, 'I'm pretty sure that we do.'

'I'm ready. Sorry that took so long.' She apologized, grabbing her purse from the side table, kissing my cheek before moving to leave with Peter.

'Mom,' I shouted after her, smiling when she hesitated and looked back at me, 'have fun, be careful and stay in public.'

She smiled in amusement and confusion before leaving with the psychotic killer of Beacon Hills. Peter rolled his eyes at me before offering my mom his arm and leading her to the car. I sprinted upstairs and gave my twin a nod, which he returned before climbing through his window and heading after them. I went to my room next and grabbed my leather jacket and keys before pulling my phone out of my jacket and dialing Jackson on my way to the door.

'Hey asshat, where are you?' I asked, locking the front door as I spoke and heading toward Scott's bike.

'Stacey, always a pleasure,' he said sarcastically, I could hear weights clanging in the background, 'I'm at the school, working out.'

'Great, I'm on my way.' I started pedaling at a inhuman speed, 'do me a favour and tell Derek to go and fuck himself if he comes offering you the bite, he just wants you dead.'

'Um—sure thanks,' he said, I could hear him gulping through the phone.

'He's there right now isn't he?' I guessed, pedaling faster—I was like two minutes away.

'Yeah,' he breathed before the phone went dead.

I made it there in under a minute and I was in the gym in thirty seconds—just in time to see Derek shove Jackson with enough force to throw him to the floor.

'Dude, pick on someone your own size,' I muttered, offering Jackson a hand to help him up, which he took after a second of hesitating.

'Stacey,' Derek practically sighed in relief.

'That's me,' I said brightly, too brightly—I had literally just been crying over his betrayal last night and I didn't know how to act around him.

'What's happening?' Jackson asked, practically on the verge of a panic attack.

'I'm not sure yet,' I said honestly, looking over to Derek with a raised eyebrow, 'how do you wanna do this? You want to just let him go or do I need to kick your ass first to make it more believable?'

Derek rolled his eyes, but I saw him fighting a smile that annoyingly thawed my anger at him a little bit.

'Why do you sound so eager to try and kick my ass?' Derek asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

'Well I'm not gonna lie, your betrayal still stings like a bitch,' I told him bluntly, pleased when I saw him wince.

'Stacey…' he started but I held up my hand to cut him off.

'Jackson you should leave,' I looked over to him, giving him a stern look, 'go home and stay there, okay?'

'S-sure,' he stuttered, moving to grab his things from his locker but he hesitated at the door, 'will you be alright?'

I felt my brows rise in surprise—was the arrogant Jackson Whitmore actually concerned about me?

'I'll be fine, Jackie, Derek couldn't kick my ass if he tried,' I assured him, even if I was lying through my teeth.

With a nod he left and I pushed his behaviour into the back of my mind, a possible friendship with Jackson was low on my list of priorities in that moment. Instead I faced the amused looking werewolf in the room with me.

'Alright. You can explain,' I told him, taking a seat on one of the benches and forcing my behaviour to read as uninterested.

'Not here.' Derek shook his head and gestured for me to follow him, which I did, pulling out my phone to text Scott on the way.

Me: Jackson's safe. I'm heading somewhere with Derek to talk.

Scotty: Be careful. The Argents are still out there and they think you're one of the Betas.

Me: I know. How are things with Peter?

Scotty: Under control. I had Stiles run in the back of them—safe to say the dates over, well as soon as the police report has been filed anyway.

Me: Great. Good thinking Scotty and kudos to Stiles for risking denting his beloved Roscoe.

Scotty: Seriously, you should have seen his face when I suggested it.

Me: Haha. I can imagine.

'So where are you taking me?' I asked, leaning against the passenger door of his beloved Camaro.

'To the house. We can talk there,' he sounded sure but I wasn't convinced.

'You mean the same place where Kate ambushed you and tortured you for an entire afternoon?' I said sarcastically, noting that his lips turned down in defeat—obviously he realized that I did in fact have a point.

'Fine. Do you have a better suggestion?' He snapped, looking over to me.

'Yes, keep your eyes on the road,' I rolled my eyes before looking out of the window myself, 'and it's fine. I'm sure we'll survive.'

Derek snorted but otherwise went quiet and we spent the rest of the drive in silence filled with tension. I used the time to sift through my thoughts—there must be a reason that he had joined Peter and it had to be a good one if he was going out of his way to tell me—right? I felt my anger completely fizzle out as I considered this, what if he joined Peter because the only other option was death? What if he was using his position to get close to Peter and inevitably kill him when he had the chance? I rolled my eyes at myself and forced the 'what ifs' swarming my mind to shut it. I was going to wait for Derek to tell me what was going on and that was that. I looked up when I felt us come to a stop and frowned in confusion when I took in our surroundings. We were at a Diner just outside of Beacon Hills. How long had we been driving for?

'You're right, the house isn't safe and at this time of night we can talk without being overheard.' He told me when he saw my confused expression.

'Okay,' I breathed, suddenly nervous.

What if his reason wasn't what I thought? What if this was a ploy to get me alone and kidnap me? To force me to join them?

'Are you alright? You reek of fear,' Derek told me, holding the Diner door open for me to walk through first, which I did.

'You're not going to kidnap me are you?' I asked, trying to sound like I was joking but it was clear by his expression that he didn't find me funny.

'No, I'm not going to kidnap you,' he muttered, shaking his head as if he was disappointed that he even had to say that.

'I'm sorry but until you give me a reason not to I'm gonna be on guard, you're on the alpha's side after all,' I gave him a look that actually made him frown in realization.

'Fair enough.' He led me to a booth at the very back away from the four other patrons that were in the Diner.

I slid in the seat with my back to the restaurant and Derek slid in opposite me so he could see the rest of the room as well as me.

'So. Talk,' I ordered him, knowing I wasn't going to be able to think about anything else until he filled me in.

'Peter is too strong for me to defeat by myself, I tried and failed, miserably,' he rolled his eyes, annoyed with himself, 'so I pretended to join him, to get close enough to him so that I can take him down when he's least expecting it.'

I narrowed my eyes as I studied him, looking for any trace of deceit, but his heartbeat remained steady and his eyes were sincere. I sighed, the anger completely leaving me and nodded in acceptance.

'Okay,' I said simply, picking up the menu on the table and looking through the specials.

'Okay?' Derek parroted, shocked that it had been that easy.

'Yeah. I get it and I'm not mad anymore, but you betray me again and I will personally have Deaton chop off things you would rather keep,' I promised him with a light tone, biting back a grin when he visibly paled.

'I hate you,' he grumbled, picking up his own menu.

'Sure you do,' I winked, laughing when he glared at me.

I was saved from hearing his retort when a waitress came over. Her nametag said Diana and I offered her a smile that she returned but it was clearly forced.

'What can I get you?' She asked, her notepad out and ready to take our order.

'I'll have a cheeseburger and fries with a diet coke please.' I told her, folding my menu shut.

'I'll have the same but with a sprite.' Derek sighed, looking incredibly tired.

Diana nodded, wrote it down and scurried off to the kitchen.

'So, you been up to anything interesting lately?' I asked, grinning when he gave me an unimpressed look, 'besides following Peter's every order.'

'Do you really need me to answer that question?' he said incredulously.

'Fine, I guess not,' I rolled my eyes dramatically, 'I went to the movies with Stiles, Scott and Allison today. Deadpool two is hilarious, encase you were wondering.'

'The first one was great.' He admitted, a small smile on his face, 'Laura forced me to go and see it and she wouldn't stop bragging about being right after it made me laugh.'

'I think me and your sister would have gotten along great,' I smiled, thinking of the female Hale that I had known. I wondered if we would still be friends now, if she were alive.

'You would,' he said so quietly that I almost didn't hear him, but I did and at his sad tone I reached across the table and squeezed his hand comfortingly. He stared at my hand on top of his for a while before he moved to gently squeeze my fingers. I felt my heart skip a beat and silently prayed that he didn't hear it.

'So lets talk about happier things,' I decided, smiling at Diana in thanks as she placed the food in front of us before walking away.

'Such as?' he cocked a brow, shoving some fries into his mouth.

'Where were you in the six years you left Beacon Hills?' I asked, taking a sip of my drink.

'In New York,' He answered, a small smile playing on the corners of his lips, 'Laura was convinced that it was the perfect place to start fresh, though it was obvious she just moved there because of me.'

'What do you mean because of you?' I wondered, taking a huge bite of my burger that made Derek raise his brows in amusement.

'I got offered a place at Columbia.' He said quietly, 'Laura knew I would have blown it off if she hadn't made us move there.'

'That's amazing! Columbia is one of the top universities in New York,' I tried to steer the topic away from his sister—it was obvious by his tense shoulders that he didn't want to talk about her and I couldn't understand, he'd only lost her a few weeks ago, 'what was your major?'

'I majored in History with a minor in English—I graduated in the summer.' He cleared his throat, but I could hear the pride in his voice.

'You must be proud, that's awesome!' I grinned and flushed a little when I realized I had been loud enough to attract the attention of the four other people that were in the Diner. I sunk down in my seat and threw a fry at Derek when he smirked at me.

'I was wondering…' when Derek groaned, I grinned, 'can werewolves get drunk? Does caffeine affect us? What other supernatural creatures are there?'

'We can't get drunk, caffeine affects us like everyone else and that question is gonna take longer than this meal to answer.' Derek shrugged, finishing off his burger.

'Another time,' I waved him off, finishing my drink and checking the time—I almost spat it all over the blue-eyed wolf when I saw how late it actually was.

'Dude it's one in the morning!' I gasped, wincing when I saw the unanswered texts from my twin and mom.

Scotty: Is everything ok?

Scotty: Stace? Text me back soon or I'll call Stiles.

Scotty: Or Mom.

Scotty: Or the Sherriff

Scotty: STACEY!

Mom: Sweetie, where are you?

Mom: Your not with Stiles or Scott so where are you?

Mom: Scott said you were at Lydia's. Stay out as late as you want, but don't tell your brother I said that.

'Well that's one thing at least.' I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

'What's wrong?' Derek asked, frowning in concern.

'Scott and Mom were asking where I was,' I told him, typing a reply.

Me: Sorry Scotty I lost track of time, thanks for covering with Mom. Be home soon.

Me: Thanks Mom, I would have told you but it was a last minute thing and I didn't want to interrupt your date!

'Are you ready to go?' I asked, not wanting to outright tell him to take me home. I pulled out two twenties and put them on the table to cover the food, Derek looked bemused which made me laugh, 'I got it, consider it a congratulations for your degree.'

His expression turned soft and a genuine smile lit up his face and I found myself wanting to commit it to memory and so I did.

Derek blinked, 'did you just take a photo of me?'

I laughed and slid out of the booth so he couldn't take my phone from me, 'maybe.'

He rolled his eyes and followed after me, 'now I don't feel bad about the picture I got of you.'

I laughed, 'yeah right—wait, what?' I turned around and cocked my brow at him, the street lamps in the car park only illuminated half his face but it was enough.

'I didn't say anything,' he shrugged, sliding into his car without a care in the world.

'Derek Hale!' I laughed and got into the car with him, 'I thought you'd be above using pictures for blackmail.'

'Blackmail?' He parroted as he started to drive back towards Beacon.

'Yeah, you should see the pics I have of Stiles.' I said seriously.

He snorted, 'I can imagine.'

I yawned, pulling my jacket tighter around me. I debated leaning the seat back but I knew I would just end up falling asleep.

'Stacey?' Derek said but his voice sounded far away and I was only able to offer up a 'hmm,' in response.

'What's wrong with her?' I heard a voice ask, but I ignored it and nuzzled deeper into my covers in a vain attempt to go back to sleep.

'Nothing. She fell asleep on the drive back and I couldn't get her to wake up.' Another voice answered, sounding like it was coming from underneath me. How?

'Shhh,' I groaned, irritated that I was being disturbed.

I jolted when I was put down somewhere, but after I inhaled I realized I was on my bed. I was more than happy to fall back asleep but someone was tugging at my feet. I kicked out and didn't make contact with anything, but it just happened again five seconds later.

'Stop,' I complained, trying to kick them away but I was prohibited by a strong hold on my thighs.

'Your shoes need to come off,' a deep voice replied and I sighed in irritation and defeat. I stopped struggling and smiled when I heard my shoes fall to the floor with a thump. I almost screamed when I felt my arm being grabbed, but I relaxed when I opened my eyes and saw Derek standing sheepishly over me.

'You need to take off your jacket,' he said after clearing his throat.

I blinked at him, feeling disorientated and confused. What did he want? I frowned and pointed at his jacket.

'If you don't want to wear it then take it off.' I mumbled before rolling to the opposite side of the bed.

'Stacey!' he scolded me but I thought I could hear laughter in his voice.

'Stacey's tired,' I mumbled into my pillow.

'You can sleep when you take off your jacket.' He told me, rolling me onto my back with a hand to my arm.

I sighed sleepily and held up one of my arms. He looked confused until I gave him a pointed look and waved my arm in his face.

'Pull,' I mumbled, frowning in confusion when he looked like he was fighting the urge to laugh, 'Derek, pull.'

He rolled his eyes but did as I asked and pulled the sleeve of the jacket, catching my arm when I nearly fell backwards off the bed. I threw my jacket onto the floor and yanked Derek onto the bed, my sleepy brain just thinking of needing his heat now my jacket was gone. He landed on the bed with a bounce and I nuzzled into his side.

'You're warm,' I smiled happily, inhaling his scent. He smelled like leather, the woods and fresh rain and oddly enough it comforted me enough to allow me to fall into unconsciousness.

I hope you enjoyed this update! Please review and let me know what you think—I put a lot of time into this one; it took a while to decide how it was going to go. I really wanted some scenes between Stacey and other characters that didn't involve werewolf business so I hope you enjoyed that! See you next time :)