"We have arrived Mayor Hale," her driver said, turning around to look at her.

She seemed rather distracted for a woman on her first few days on the job, the man getting out to open the door for her. Maia looked up from her phone and stepped out of the city car, smiling, "Thank you."

Maia quickly ascended the stairs into City Hall and was joined by her assistant, the young woman coming to her with a fresh cup of coffee and a rather thick binder full of work to be done. "Good morning Mrs. Hale," the assistant said rather cheerfully, taking Maia's coat and purse as they exchanged their light burdens.

"Good morning to you Katherine. So how is the Governor's seat looking for us," Maia questioned lightly as she opened her office and prepared for her day, flinging the curtains open to stare out at the morning.

"Oh, we're just polishing it for you now, ma'am.

Over the course of the morning Maia threw herself into her work, making endless phone calls and having several meetings with high-powered attorneys and talking with new campaign managers for her next bid – that of California Governor.

Maia finally took a break and stood up from her desk to look out over Beacon Hills, "Hmm, with a two-year wait, I could run for fucking President. Well, after we get through shit at home…"

There was a knock on her door and she looked over her shoulder as Katherine popped her head into the office, smiling kindly. "Excuse me, you have a visitor Mrs. Hale. I think you should see him." Maia turned and smiled widely at Derek as he walked into the room with a stack of takeout boxes in his hands. "Hey, thought I'd be a Stepford Wife and bring you lunch, since I forgot to pack it and all," he said warmly as he teased her, moving to kiss her with a half-smile. She took her husband's face in her hands and looked at him happily, pressing her lips to his twice, "Hey, don't beat yourself up about it – you're a good wife, honey."

"Do you need anything else, Mrs. Hale," Katherine questioned as she watched them pull away from each other and Derek make himself at home. Maia moved to her desk and picked up a large manila folder, holding it out to Katherine, "I need you to take these down to the Board of Directors – they are the proposals for the new park and housing development, so I need you to call me as soon as they have them in their hands. As well Katherine, I need you to call Kent from Fitzgerald and Associates to remind him to have a long, hard look at the finances in the city government. I want to make sure everything is in line before we start sinking the people's money into big projects, alright? We don't need to go broke so early into term…"

Katherine nodded and Derek was impressed by how together Maia was, the assistant excusing herself from their presence, "I'm on it ma'am. Oh, and I'll tell everyone not to disturb you during your lunch."

"Thank you Kat."

Maia finally turned to look at Derek, seeing him smiling at her with eyes fixed on her face, "What?"

"Nothing, you just look very… fulfilled with this and I have no idea why," he replied with a shrug, holding out a Styrofoam container to her. "Here, eat up – steaks."

Maia moved to sit beside him on the arm of his chair and he gave her another generous once-over, taking in her tight nude pencil skirt and electric blue peplum top. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked away from her, knowing that with the full moon approaching they could really do some damage that this office wasn't prepared for. "So this is what you do all day, Mai? Sit in a crappy office and talk politics," Derek teased to take his mind off of her, Maia seeing how playful his crystal blue eyes were. She then laughed and shook her head as she started to eat her lunch, her stomach growling quietly in anticipation, "My office is amazing babe and I don't talk politics – I talk change. I'm making things better socially in Beacon Hills, preparing it for the pack; this should be a place to grow and prosper, to… raise a family. And now that we don't have to deal with the hunters and the fucking Kanima-"

"Do we have any information on Gerard and his disappearance?"

"Unfortunately not," Maia said scathingly, crossing her legs and baring her teeth. "The old man was more wily than I first thought…"

Derek sighed and reached out to rub her knee, feeling how unusually warm she was, "Don't worry about it; I doubt he has the stones to show his face in Beacon Hills again." Maia felt his fingers splaying out across her leg and the room suddenly felt much smaller than she remembered, swallowing as she turned on him. "Hey, Derek." He looked up from his lunch at his wife, her large green eyes searching his as he wondered what she was up to.

"Honey, please tell me you've always had a fantasy of being a big shot politician and screwing your secretary on your desk," Maia murmured pointedly, her husband cocking his head and staring at her. "No… but I'll tell you any way." She growled and drug him to his feet by his collar, Derek picking her up around his waist with ease. He carried her around to the other side of the desk and cleared it off with a swipe of his arm, pushing her skirt up around her hips.

Maia tilted her head back as he dragged his teeth down her throat, letting out a quiet gasp. She pressed herself into Derek and wrapped her arms around him, the male moving to kiss her. He ran his fingers through her silken curls, holding her even closer against him as their gentle kissing began to deepen. "Jesus Maia, you're on fire," Derek said as she ran her hands underneath his shirt, dragging her nails down his stomach.

"Then throw yourself in the fire and be consumed, love-"

There was another knock on the door and the two broke apart, Maia's shallow breathing the only sound that filled the room. They shared a brief look before Maia found her voice, clearing her throat, "What is it?"

"You have a conference call from one your campaign managers," a quiet voice said, Maia brushing a few strands of hair back from Derek's forehead. He kissed her and pulled away from her, smiling half-heartedly as he pulled her skirt down. "Give me a minute to finish… my lunch."

"I'll have them hold ma'am."

Maia looked at her husband and sighed, running her fingers through her curls. "So, I get off in a few hours…" Derek kissed her and cleaned up their lunch, nodding, "I'll bring the truck, have a little parking lot nooky-"

"Derek Hale," she said sharply, laughing in disbelief.

"You better be glad I'm even letting you take that phone call, Maia. And you know as well as I do that we're not going to make it home before we're ripping each other's clothes to shreds," Derek replied as he pulled her to him by her waist. She swallowed and looked hotly at his mouth, "Get out Derek, preferably now. I have to work baby."

He smiled and kissed her chastely before leaving her office, the woman taking a much needed breath.

Maia then moved to pick up her phone, looking at the papers strewn across her floor, "Hello, Mayor Hale here…"

Derek pulled the bedroom door closed behind him as he scratched the back of his neck, moving quietly down the hallway. He turned to look at a long, sinewy sillohute standing in front of one of the windows, pausing.

"Isaac," he murmured, wondering why he was up so late. "You alright?"

"Can't sleep – nightmares."

The Alpha motioned for him to follow, the two making their way downstairs to the kitchen where Derek promptly opened up a bottle of aspirin. Isaac raised an eyebrow at him as he took a seat at the table, leaning forward to rest his weight on his elbows, "Aspirin? Thought that shit didn't work on us…"

"It does when you take enough," Derek replied just before taking nearly half of the bottle, grabbing himself a bottle of water and groaning. He rolled his neck and shoulders as he sat, the younger wolf giving him a knowing smirk. "The big bad give you a rough time," Isaac questioned, Derek narrowing his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. "Why can't you sleep?"

Isaac's eyes flickered towards where he could sense Maia sleeping, the Beta allowing his hands to drop and curl into fists on the table top.

"You've seen my scars, haven't you?" When Derek did not respond, his fledgling continued, unable to meet his eyes. "Things around here were pretty bad after you left – like I said, Deucalion and his followers were attempting to cull us. Mostly, he just took shots at us though: a bite here, a scratch there, a training session gone awry. You know that respect is paramount to survival in the pack… and what happened to get me these scars was caused by me standing up for myself. I remember fighting with Deucalion and he bit down too hard on my hamstring – sliced it clean in half with his teeth. I fell, whimpered like a pup, calling out for an absent Alpha. He moved to take my defeat, you know by locking the jaws around the neck, but for some reason, I couldn't let him do it. Something inside of me refused to let him put me down like that."

"And so you stood, on a torn hamstring, up to an Alpha male… Are you insane?"

Isaac looked up at Derek in a manner that reminded the older male of himself, his eyes dark and defiant, his jaw held taught. "He rose up above me, teeth bared – and he was prepared for the kill. But then Maia came between us; she stood toe to toe with that big bastard, challenging him for me. I thought that I was safe then.

"But I never saw her claws coming."

The two of them were quiet for a moment, Derek letting out a quiet breath before he spoke, his hands folded before him. "You do know why she did it though, made you an example for them all? To keep them from thinking that she favors any of us… to keep order in the pack. You shouldn't have nightmares about – about Maia, because you know that she would do anything for you, that she has done everything necessary and everything she possibly could for you," he replied sincerely, looking at his fledgling and attempting to convey his strongest emotions to him. "Strangely enough, the nightmares I'm having aren't about Maia – there about you Derek."

"Me?"

"You," Isaac said bluntly, his eyes glowing amber as he leaned towards Derek. "Because you abandoned us, even despite your promise that you would never do that! You brought us into this life with a false sense of security and a bunch of promises you never cared to keep – that was my darkest moment and you were not there."

Derek's nostrils flared as his hand griped his glass hard enough to cause it to crack, the Alpha trying to control himself, "I can see now that you are not as willing to take me back as Maia and the others were. But it figures, your loyalty-"

"To Maia is stronger than it could ever be to you."

The two werewolves looked at each other, Derek setting down the fragile glass before standing, smirking coldly at his fledgling. "Did you ever think that I did not know that? You are my Beta because I have to keep you close, because I know that if any of my pack were to kill me on her orders… it would be you," he replied quietly, dragging his nails across the table to where Isaac sat. "So in light of this little revelation of ours, I want you keep your distance from her and myself – wouldn't want me to get any ideas about a coup against my life and take preemptive action on either one of you, now would you? And walk lightly: because I could kill you… just as easily as you could make an unsuccessful attempt on my life without a second thought.

"Sleep well, Isaac."