The house was silent as Maia got out of bed and started to dress, casting a wayward glance back at her sleeping mate. She knew that things had been tense and strained since she had come home- mostly because of her and the secrets she was keeping- but even under all of that, she knew that the life she and Derek shared was worth fighting for.

And she at least could see where they would need allies.

She had to save their family...

Scott jerked awake to the sound of a soft rapping against his window- which was on the second floor of his house- allowing his claws to lengthen before moving to throw the glass open and snarl. Maia Hale was perched on the windowsill as if she were simply standing at the front door, looking at him calmly, "Well, can I come in?"

"Not a chance."

"Its just me Scott- Maia- and no one else. Look, I came to see you because we need to talk about Jackson," Maia said pointedly, seeing the shocked look dawn on his baby-like features. "Yeah, I know and I know that you know. And unless you want to help me stop the whacked-out little psycho, I'm going to have to tell Derek and he's going to kill him."

She slid into the room and Scott grew less wary, looking at the ring on her left hand as she twisted it absentmindedly. "You're doing this for him, aren't you? For Derek," he asked as he watched her seem to sink inside herself a bit, Maia half-smiling sadly. "I can honestly say that he is the single most important thing in my life Scott and I will do anything to protect him; the Kanima spared him once but I doubt it'll do it again. Derek's going to get himself killed trying to be the big, bad wolf of Beacon Hills…"

"So why do you think Jackson was paralyzed by the venom test if he is the Kanima," Scott questioned quietly, the older female shrugging. "Maybe it only works when he is in human form, but hell, I don't know about anything anymore Scott; I just know that I have to get close to him. Study him and try and figure out what he is."

Scott chuckled humorlessly and shook his head, "That'll never happen."

"I figured that, but the bigger problem than stopping Jackson is protecting everyone. My pack, Derek… Allison," Maia murmured as she took a seat at Scott's desk and sighed. He looked at her sad eyes and swallowed, knowing some of the history between the Hales and the Argents. "You would do that for me?" She half-smiled and nodded, drawing one of her knees up to her chest, "I've already said it: my blood runs through your veins Scott McCall. That makes us family, wolf-siblings and I'm pretty much forced by biology to keep you alive… and happy, even if the ways to achieve those goals seriously conflict, brother."

Maia looked around Scott's room and tucked her hair behind her ears before sighing again, looking at the young Omega. "I know that most likely Derek's going to finally make his move tomorrow night- on both Jackson and Lydia- and the only chance we have to work this out is to move Jackson to safety… now; Lydia is not going to be an issue come tomorrow when I tell him for sure that she's not the Kanima. Your friend Stiles is the Sherriff's son, right," she asked, her eyes darkening as she began to calculate their plan. When Scott nodded, she stood and moved towards the window, "Get him to commandeer a prisoner transport truck from the station and meet me- you, Allison, Stiles- in the woods near Hale House. One hour Scott. One."

She disappeared into the darkness then, leaving the young man to ponder how strangely his life had taken a sharp left turn in such a short amount of time.

Jackson was sleeping when a lean, dark figure slipped into his room, snapping awake at the sense of danger that surrounded him.

"Jackson…"

The voice was haunting and almost ethereal, if it hadn't been for the earthy, undeniably human sounds woven through each of her syllables. He sat up and sought out who had spoken, looking up at Maia Hale with malice in his eyes as she stepped into a sliver of moonlight. "Get out-" His words died in his throat as he took her in, her hair falling in tight curls to her waist, her large red eyes piercing and hypnotizing. She was naked, her hardened body in display for him as she half-smiled, "Now, is that any way to greet someone who gave you back your life?"

"What do you want," Jackson asked, breathing hard as he tried to control his body's reactions to her; he knew she could sense everything in the room more acutely than he would ever be able to.

"To give you another chance…"

Maia held her hand out to him as he slipped under her spell and Jackson moved to wrap his fingers around her, a separate piece of his mind warning him of the dangers of the Alpha female, but he strangely couldn't force himself to care anymore. She held his gaze as she led him out of the house, pulling him through the woods, a soft smile dancing across her lips. Jackson was as influenced as anyone could be and she continued to walk, hearing soft voices ahead.

The three teens looked up as Maia appeared, Stiles feeling as if he had swallowed his own tongue while Allison and Scott tried to keep their eyes off of her.

"Hey Scott? I could use a little help here," Maia murmured, her eyes still locked with Jackson's. She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck before gently pressing her lips to his, eyeing Scott as he came up over Jackson's shoulder. With a blink and a gentle nod, Scott received the signal and clubbed Jackson on the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. Maia dropped him and wiped her mouth, swallowing, "Ugh, he even... tastes disgusting. Bitter."

"Umm, Maia? You might want to put some clothes on before Stiles passes out from a lack of oxygen; he keeps forgetting to breathe," Scott said, trying to avert his eyes as he drug Jackson to the transport truck. Maia only smirked and trotted over to a tree, getting dressed from where she had left her clothes earlier. "I had to be prepared to phase; clothes get in the way of that."

They chained and shackled Jackson to the floor, the teens looking at Maia, "Now we have to wait. Keep him comfortable until I can work things out with Derek and the bestiary. Stay safe, kids."

"So what are you doing now? Playing both sides," Allison asked harshly as Maia started to stalk away, the other woman turning back to her. The Alpha approached them, indignant that she would even think to question her motives. "No Allison, I'm not playing both sides- I think I've made my allegiances very clear and there's no questioning I know which side I stand on. What I am doing is protecting all of us: there is something going on with Jackson that none of us understand and I will be damned if another… innocent soul is lost because of Derek," Maia replied venomously, her hackles raised. "Or an Argent."

"What are you talking about," Allison asked, searching her eyes.

Maia turned her back on the girl and started back to her home, calling back to Scott, "Keep a lid on your fucking girlfriend!"

Derek was still asleep by the time his mate made it home, sprawled out naked across the bed. She felt her stomach curl into knots as she looked at her husband, approaching the bed before taking a moment to realize that she reeked of teenage lust and needed a very hot shower before attempting to get anywhere near him.

She was just stepping into the shower when he appeared in the doorway, eyes half-lidded and running his fingers back through his hair. "Can't sleep baby," he asked, Maia turning to look at him as she rubbed her body down in heavily scented wash. "I woke up and you weren't there." His wife smiled and shook her head, turning to stick her head underneath the heavy spray, "I just went for a run; I'm home now. Go back to bed and I'll join you in a second."

"Why don't I just join you here?"

He moved into the shower with her, cupping her jaw in his hand before kissing her roughly, Derek looking at his mate. Maia had already prepared herself to be slammed up against the wall but the pressure of Derek's hand around her neck was tight and uncomfortable, the woman struggling to take a breath. "I just kissed him- its no big deal," she said with some difficulty, her husband tightening his grasp as he growled.

"Jackson, really," Derek asked, searching her eyes. "Isaac not enough for you anymore?"

"Don't!"

Maia looked at her husband and pulled his hand away before kissing him, her lips whispering against his, "Just… don't." He looked down at her, feeling her fingers pulling gently on the small hairs at the back of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body to his. Derek stroked her hair back and swallowed, looking at the woman in his arms- she was his mate, his soul… his absolute everything. She found herself pinned against the shower wall, this time with her legs wrapped around Derek's waist, the Alpha male kissing her feverishly as he pulled their bodies together.

"You are mine Maia," Derek said lowly in her ear, feeling his eyes burn as he stared at her shoulder. "And you belong to me…"

"What the fuck…"

Jackson woke up inside of a metal room, bumping his head on the roof. He attempted to reach up and touch his head before finding that he was pretty much immobile, knowing exactly who had gotten him into this predicament.

"Maia!"

Stiles and Scott stood outside of the van, looking at it nervously. The young werewolf swallowed as he heard Jackson trying to break the cuffs, knowing that he couldn't take the Kanima on his own, "Stiles, what if he- it isn't trying to kill us? I mean, the Kanima didn't kill you at the garage and it didn't kill any of us at the pool; Maia said it herself… there's something going on with all of this that we just don't understand."

"Then we should… you know, kill him. Avoid making it messy for everyone," Stiles murmured, swallowing as his friend turned to face him. Scott shook his head and sighed, leaning against the van. "Do you remember taking down Peter Hale? Jackson was there- Jackson helped us! We can't just kill him-"

"Scott, he's already killed two people! And those are the only one we know of!"

The Omega and Stiles stared at each other, the wolf feeling as if he was out of options. "And I know that he was just doing it so that Derek would bite him," the human said quietly, trying to reason with his friend. Scott defended Jackson, not knowing that the imprisoned teen was listening to his every word, "He just doesn't know what he's doing, just like I didn't when I first began to turn! That asshole Derek kept me from killing and Jackson- he has nobody to teach him! Maia is at least trying to do something, to save him and I'm going to help her. I have to call."

Jackson's eyes began to tear up and he allowed his head to hang, knowing that the end to his life seemed much closer now than he ever thought it could be at the tender age of seventeen.

Derek and Maia were in the grocery store stocking up on food, looking every bit the normal couple they sought out to be. He walked behind her, one hand on her shoulder to keep her close to him, smiling softly.

"You know, this is exactly how I wished life would be," Maia murmured, looking up at him as they paused in one of the aisles. "Minus the Kanima, of course."

"I understand what you mean. It's having the house and the kids and being happy… And you are, right," Derek asked quietly, looking down at her. He would have been blind to mistake the way her smile faltered and the sad look that flitted across her features, Maia recouping quickly to beam brightly at him. "I am Derek. I'm happy."

Her phone began to ring and she whipped it out to stare at the screen briefly before smiling, returning it back to her pocket.

"Alright big dog, I have to go take care of some stuff at City Hall. Think you can handle making dinner without me," Maia asked, her husband getting a dark look in his eyes. He took the cart from her and pushed on a little ways, curious as to where she was going, "What are you up to Maia Hale? You've been disappearing on me quite a bit as of late…" She only smiled and shook her head, moving to kiss his cheek. "Don't worry about it baby. You'll see soon enough."

Derek smirked as she started to walk away before calling out her name, pulling out his phone to read his translations from the bestiary, "I read over some of the text and although you were right about the translation, you missed one word. Its 'master', not 'friend'. The Kanima seeks a master-"

"And that means someone is controlling it," Maia said quietly, her thoughts turning to Jackson. "I gotta go.

"Be safe."