Derek ran his hand over the sleek finish of the black Challenger, nodding in approval.

"We'll take it."

The car salesman looked between the two of them, wondering why they hadn't wanted to know anything more about the car other than its max speed. Maia smiled at the man, pulling a pen from between her breasts, "Where do I sign?"

Although Derek had walked away from her, he was beyond glad that she was back in his life, feeling a comfort he had not know since that night he'd left- it was like Maia was his own personal sort of balm against the hurt of the world. They were starting the process of getting things back on track but it wasn't like they had sat down and talked things out completely, not when Derek was the quiet, broody type and she simply preferred to get her way.

And more often than not, Maia Hale got her way.

Once the car was handled, the two made their way to the mall, Derek wary to be in such a public place. Maia sensed his discomfort and grasped his hand tightly, looking into his eyes evenly. "Look, things are going to be different now- I'm here," she said almost soothingly, pressing her free hand to his cheek and smiling.

The handsome couple walked inside, attracting more than a small amount of attention with Derek being a former fugitive and having a new, insanely beautiful woman at his side. Maia smiled at the people who probably didn't even remember her, stopping in whatever stores caught her eye. Derek didn't mind carrying bags or being the dutiful husband- in fact, he'd missed out on so much in the past year and a half, he really didn't mind it.

"Ooh, Manolos," Maia said, her eyes affixed on a pair of leopard-print shoes.

Derek really didn't care what she wore on her feet or any part of her, but he didn't mind the short dresses she favored- the low cut purple dress she wore today allowed his eyes to travel nearly the entire length of her long legs. Maia didn't notice where his attention lay before hearing his heartbeat quicken, the strong, masculine scent of his arousal filling the air. There had been several partners after Derek had left, but none of them had ever awakened her like he was doing now.

"Do you mind? I am shopping," Maia growled, blue-green eyes narrowing slightly in reply.

"Derek."

They both turned to the sound of a somewhat angry voice, Derek narrowing his eyes even further at the sight of Scott McCall. The young werewolf walked right up to Derek and growled, looking at Maia. "Who is she," he asked, Derek placing down the shopping bags before taking a menacing step towards Scott. "I don't know if we established our relationship well before, but if you haven't realized, I don't answer to you. I'm the Alpha, Scott-"

"No, you're a monster! I can smell you running through her veins! You made a wolf? For what?"

Derek's hands balled into fists and he attempted to restrain the roar coming from within him, not wanting to draw unwanted attention from the humans around him. "You don't know anything about me, about her! Back off Scott- I'm warning you," he growled, Maia watching the exchange before stepping between them and smiling at Scott. She extended her hand, the young werewolf staring back at her with suspicions raised, "You must be the Beta Derek was telling me about; I'm Maia- Maia Hale, Derek's wife."

"Wife," Scott asked, the Alpha male averting his eyes in discomfort.

"And mate- well, our wolves are mated to each other. We as humans- or whatever you want to call us- are working through a bit of an separation," Maia clarified, resting her hand over her chest and smiling at her dual heartbeats. She then flashed her eyes at Scott, the Beta stumbling backwards in surprise. He looked between Derek and the newly discovered wife, furrowing his brow, "I don't understand-"

Derek chuckled humorlessly, his eyes on Maia again, "Not surprising with your small brain."

"Can there be two Alphas?"

She looked at Derek, meeting his gaze and smiling wildly. "There are many pack leaders- but since we were mated to each other, as Alpha male and Alpha female of our own non-existent packs, the urge to go at each other's throat is quelled through our shared chemistry, our bond... Mostly. We're forced to lead, side by side," Maia said, leaning in to kiss her husband's cheek. Scott's hand balled into a fist and he breathed heavily, sensing correctly that Maia was a force to be reckoned with. Having one Alpha already put him in a strained position, but two Alphas were more than what he wanted to deal with- being without a pack put Scott in a tense relationship with Derek already and he could now feel that Maia's personality was both alluring and overwhelmingly smothering. He wasn't sure that he could resist a force like her and with Derek behind her- rather, beside her- he feared for the safety of Beacon Hills. "Have you told her about everything," Scott questioned, the Alpha male glaring at him. "No, but I will- after all, she's only just gotten into town. Leave it alone Scott, or I'll make your life a living hell," Derek replied shortly, feeling Maia's eyes fall on him. They weren't people to keep secrets from each other, not after she witnessed him literally rip himself apart and stood by his side. There wasn't any point in secrets, but now Maia felt that Derek putting off telling her what had happened in his time in Beacon Hills fed motives that were all too ulterior. "What about Lydia's life, Derek? You haven't even been to see her once- you're the Alpha, she's part of your responsibility!" Derek growled and Scott took a step back, fighting that subservience to the Alpha he had always sought to ignore. He wasn't meant to be a Beta, wasn't meant to follow Derek- Scott wasn't meant to be a werewolf. "What Peter did to her wasn't fair and neither was what he did to me, but I at least had someone there most of the time to help me out. I hate to say it- I do- but you were there for me: Derek, no one's there for Lydia and what she went through was much worse than what I did-"

"Shut up," Derek said, picking up the shopping bags and turning his back on Scott. "Maia, now."

The two walked away, Maia driving rather slowly for her as they made the trip back to her parents' house. They'd moved out years ago but the house was in her name, the Alpha female wanting to keep at least a few ties to Beacon Hills.

"So your Beta is actually an Omega and a tough one at that," she noted quietly, Derek's eyes flashing angrily. "Scott's a hardheaded little fuck and sooner than later, he'll return to the hand that feeds. Like he said, I helped him out when he was going through the change- if it weren't for me, he'd be dead. Scott McCall owes me his goddamn life," her husband replied as he stared out of the window, holding his hand before his face and staring at his claws. Maia was quiet again before turning to look at Derek from behind her sunglasses, knowing he could feel her gaze, "Who's Lydia?"

"A girl who Peter mauled about two weeks ago, just before… he died. Scott's wrong about her though- she's not a wolf, because if she was, you and I both know she would have been on her feet soon after. No, she's still lying in a hospital bed- I have no need for humans in my life; I have to focus on… other things."

Maia pulled into the driveway of the small two-story home, stepping out and smiling up at it.

He followed his somewhat estranged wife into the house, dropping her bags in the foyer and turning to look at her. Derek warred with himself with what he was about to say, swallowing painfully, "Mai… are you really thinking about sticking around? I mean, for good- you said that you were staying but I know you."

The slightly shorter woman turned to face him, considering her words and options carefully.

"I don't know," she admitted, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ear. "Is there truly any point for me to stay? Sit here in this uncomfortable… tension with you for the rest of my life? I really don't know if I can do that Derek. Things changed- some for the better, and a lot for the worst- but she keeps pulling me back to you and I won't fight my wolf, my true nature."

Derek looked at her from across the kitchen and crossed the room in two long strides, cupping her face in his hand before kissing her roughly. He fisted a hand in her mane of curly hair, growling deep within his chest at the feel of her lips against his, at the power in her body- she attempted to let him have control, but this woman was never meant to be dominated. Derek smiled and gripped her waist, moving to kiss her neck, pressing his lips to the spot where her pulse raced quickest. Maia pulled at his short hair, tilting her head back to give him her neck, her breath coming quickly as she pressed her hips into his. She could feel her wolf roaring within her in righteous female indignation at Derek, blue-green eyes watching the red eyes and long snout of her wolf attempting to phase within her. Derek pulled away, knowing he couldn't handle another fully-grown Alpha in such a small space and growling, "You don't have any control over her, do you?"

"Enough to keep me halfway sane," Maia replied, breathing heavily. "But I don't keep her chained- no, my wolf rages within me like the animal she is! I'm not going to muzzle her!"

He pulled off his jacket and walked off through the house, needing a moment to clear his head.

Things were not going to work out well if Maia let her wolf continuously claw at the surface- it would be much too easy just to let the beast run free and Derek knew that once an Alpha wolf was unleashed, even those with the most control could wreak havoc all over the town.

And he did not need any of that bullshit with the Hunters still around.

As Derek paced, he thought of how things could work out in the long run, knowing that even when Maia was human that she was a handful- her becoming a werewolf had only further complicated their relationship, with the two of them butting heads frequently. And now that she was an Alpha… Maia was right about them not wanting to kill each other like other Alphas did, but it wasn't like Derek didn't want to hit her: he could beat the shit out of her for days and do it with a smile. Long buried feelings clawed to the surface and old wounds reopened the more he thought about the past- Derek knew that they couldn't exist in such a hostile environment for long, not with the urge to kill each other growing. He felt his face grow dark before smirking wickedly, thinking of how he could use training to invoke a certain sort of reprisal while taming her the best he could.

He reached up and pulled his shirt over his head, moving to look at Maia.

"Let's go."

Maia stood in the dark, looking at the crescent moon above and giving in to the urge to howl.

She then flashed a smile at Derek, pulling her hair over her shoulder as she gave him her back. "I need help with my zipper," Maia said, running her tongue over her teeth. He moved forward and snatched her back by her waist, trailing his claws down the back of her neck before thinking that it wasn't a good idea. She went rimrod straight, snarling loudly and pulling away before ripping her dress to shreds in front of him.

"Mai-"

Derek undressed as the naked woman ran off through the forest, phasing with ease and running after her. His wolf stretched his legs, that primal mind overcoming the logical, human one, muscles flexing, bulging and pulling underneath black fur. Maia was still on two feet, hearing Derek's wolf behind her and smiling, throwing the scent of her own arousal into the air for him to follow. The Alpha male skidded to a stop, wary, as he caught Maia's unique, heady fragrance, baring his teeth and growling at her. He knew exactly what she was trying to do, distract him from gaining some amount of control of her- because Maia knew his plan and would only agree to what he wanted on her terms.

The Alpha female threw herself onto all fours, allowing herself to let out a roar as her flesh rippled and ripped apart, being replaced by fur as white as snow.

He saw the white shape streak in front of him and turned, going after her as his rage overcame him. With a leap, Derek overtook her with ease, his pack mate barking at him as their hardened bodies smacked together. Derek pinned her down, his paws on her forelegs and his claws digging into her flank, growling low in her ear. She attempted to struggle before Derek clamped his jaws around the back of her neck, letting her know with a soft bite that he could snap her spine. And then Maia raised her hackles underneath him, Derek scrambling for leverage that left their hips mashed together in a way that made him want to take her in the dirt, snarling and biting like they used to.

To his shock, Maia phased, falling from Derek's teeth and rolling over onto her back. She didn't move to disengage herself from him, instead digging her nails into his side and looking up into the huge red eyes that she knew so well. Derek shifted, panting as he looked down at her, prone and seductive beneath him.

"You let me catch you."

"I wanted you to catch me. To have me in the dirt," Maia replied simply, Derek's fingers digging into the dirt beside her head. "I am trying to help you by doing this, Mai! You need to control your urges and not try and control me," he snapped, breathing heavily. She looked at him with audacity on her face, propping herself up slightly, "Isn't that the very thing you're trying to do right now Derek? You put my wolf beneath you-" He was her mate- and as wolves, nothing mattered other than the two of them running side by side- but when she was human, when she could remember their past and think straight and had all of the cunning of a woman, Maia was a vindictive bitch and she clawed at Derek's skin worse than his own growled and snapped his teeth at her, "Your wolf belongs beneath me!"

Maia phased again, swiping a paw at his face before darting off through the trees again. She sought to clear her head, needing to get away from Derek and the way he turned her heart upside down every time he put her in a position where their statuses as Alphas forced them to butt heads again. "Mai!" Derek went after her again- this time without phasing- pausing when he found her backed against a tree, hackles raised, teeth bared and with a grisly snarl building in her throat. He raised his hands, standing before her naked and refusing to let the animal inside of him answer her challenge. "What Maia? Are you really going to attack me? Exact some revenge for what? Something that I had no control over-" She couldn't control her own anger, smashing into Derek with enough force to crush his sternum, knocking the air out of him. Maia roared in his face, her breath hot as she salivated with the want to kill, her paws on his shoulders and pinning him to the forest flow. His lungs burned and all Derek wanted to do was lay there and mend his broken bones, raising his arm up and knocking her off of her feet. He then wrapped his hand around her throat, keeping Maia on her back and snarling at her.

"I will kill you," Derek growled, tightening his hold on her. "Mate or not. Is that clear?"

Maia found her voice, struggling to reign in the snarling beast that sought only blood, "Crystal."

The way Derek held her was beyond intimate, the female's belly quivering as she fought against the urge to struggle. She felt her cheeks darken and turned her head so that he wouldn't see her, feeling the length of his muscular thigh pressed into her side. Derek sniffed the air and felt his eyes roll, his teeth snapping together loudly.

"See Mai, this is why I can control you because my wolf doesn't seek anything other than control and power-"

"That's a fucking lie if I've ever heard one."

She contorted her body until she was in the right position to throw her legs around her husband's waist, pulling him to her and gripping the back of his neck. Derek froze as he felt her razor-sharp talons press into his spine, knowing she could sever his brain stem if she truly wanted to- he'd done the one thing he's sworn he wouldn't do: let her catch him off guard.

Maia breathed against his mouth and searched his eyes, baring her teeth, "I wanna hear you howl…"

Derek fought the urge to bite her as she slipped her tongue into his mouth, indulging in her heat and closing his eyes. She smiled against his lips and reached down to grab one of his firm buttocks, digging in with her claws until the scent of blood reached her. He in turn gripped a muscular thigh, undoubtedly bruising it from the pressure before Maia rolled them over so that she could straddle him. She felt him stir fully then, smiling and looking down at him. Derek sensed himself about to lose control with her and grabbed her hips to keep her from moving on him, baring his teeth at her. "Get off me," Derek growled out as his wife licked her lips.

"Fine, but if don't want me," Maia started, taking lithely to her feet. "Don't kiss me."

"If I recall correctly, you kissed me."

She smirked and started walking away from him, knowing he would follow, "And if I recall correctly, you kissed back."