"Mrs. Hale?"

Maia looked up from her phone to see Stiles standing in her doorway, the human seeming more skittish than usual as he met her eyes. She hadn't seen him since earlier in the week when the Kanima had attacked, her mind occupied with more pertinent matters. "Come in Stiles." He moved to stand in front of her desk, swallowing nervously, "I shouldn't be telling you this- being that it is an ongoing police investigation and everything- but my dad is too close to this case… and the Kanima for comfort. I need you to look at this. Please."

He handed her a yearbook and Maia's eyes flashed up to him, Stiles already pulling out a stack of papers from his book bag. "2006. This is the year I graduated, Stilinski," she murmured, the teen nodding. "Yeah, I know." In the folder that Stiles gave her next was photocopied pictures of all the evidence from the Kanima killings he had apparently taken via iPhone, Maia's careful eyes darting back and forth over the new-found information quickly. "Your father put all of this together," she questioned, Stiles nodding again as she stood.

"We have to call Derek."

The Alpha walked into the only veterinary clinic in Beacon Hills, Isaac right behind him as Dr. Deaton looked at his only frequent customer who wasn't a pet owner. "Derek Hale. Nice to see you again, filling the role as Alpha well." He half-smiled at the doctor's chiding before letting himself behind the front desk, almost curious at how easy it was, "No more Mountain Ash wood?"

"Since the former Alpha trying to kill me is dead now, I figured it was a little pointless. Come back; Scott's waiting."

"Scott?"

Isaac was instantly on edge at the fact that the young Omega was there, narrowing his eyes- Maia had only told them about Scott joining the pack after she had returned home from a late night with blood on her lips: the price of McCall's entry into the pack and his penance for having left in the first place. He was leaning against a counter when Derek and Isaac walked into the room, the still-healing wound on his throat like a bright flashing sign of subservience to the Alpha. "I didn't know that you were bringing the pup," Scott said through his teeth, still resisting the forming bond-ties to his new pack mate, a tie he could feel even stronger when Isaac was standing in the room. "You don't have to worry about me being here McCall; trust me, I'd rather not be-"

"You don't have to worry about me trusting you."

The Beta bared his teeth at the newcomer, irritated, "Then the feeling is mutual, mutt."

"Enough you two," Derek finally snapped, his once-blue eyes now alive with fire. "I don't fucking care about this pissing match the both of you plan on having- now is not the time or the place, so shut the fuck up with the bickering. Before I have to rip into you like a side of beef."

"Well Derek, now that that's been addressed, I need to know- before I give you my help and expertise- whether or not you plan to kill Jackson or save him. Because I won't help you murder an innocent; I'm afraid that's your specialty," Dr. Deaton said, smiling at the dark look that came into Derek's eye.

Derek's reply was sharp and vicious, "Then I guess you should know I plan to kill him, of course. He's dangerous."

"No, we're not going to kill him. We're going to save him," Scott replied firmly, the Alpha glaring at the resistant fledgling. He took a menacing step towards Scott, intent on putting him in his place- beneath him- once and for all. "I hate to tell you this, but you don't have a say in what my pack will and will not do, child-"

"Maybe not, but Maia does."

At the mention of his wife Derek froze, overcome by an inexplicable feeling of… servitude to Maia- it was almost as if he could feel himself beginning to fight against her wishes and orders, but finding himself unable to.

Deaton spoke up then, swallowing as he watched Derek's gaze burn, "So it has been decided then."

He turned to his spice rack of small jars, going throughout them before dismissing them all. "There's nothing here that will be an effective defense against the Kanima's paralytic toxin. I'm not sure why you came to me Derek, especially when you have everything you should need to defend yourself at your fingertips-"

"The Hale archive has been literally wiped out. When I first moved back, I searched high and low for it- there's nothing left. I have no information except the bestiary and Maia finished her translations, but as with everything in archaic Latin, its cryptic more than anything," Derek replied, folding his arms over his chest in frustration. "If I could just find it's weakness… There's nothing other than the fact it can't swim."

That seemed to peak the veterinary's interests, Dr. Deaton shaking his head and looking at Derek. "Now that doesn't make sense- everyone in town knows that Jackson is the swim team captain. And if the Kanima can't swim, that means its manifesting a weakness of its master."

"And that means we're trying to catch two people," Isaac murmured, furrowing his brow.

His phone began to ring and he picked up immediately, knowing that it was Maia- all communication between the two Alphas was currently going through him. "You're on speakerphone mama bear- say hi to papa bear, the stray and the vet. What's up," Isaac asked, holding his phone out so that everyone could hear.

"Derek, we have a very serious problem," Maia said, the Alpha's eyes flashing down to the phone in Isaac's hand. "Sherriff Stilinski is damn close to finding out who the Kanima's master is and we cannot let the police get to the son of a bitch before we can."

"What do you know," Derek questioned, taking the phone from Isaac to check the files coming in.

Maia looked at Stiles as they sat down in a private corner of the still-as-of-yet off limits library, sighing, "I got ahold to some files from the station and in it, I found out that three of the four victims are twenty-four… the same age as us. I don't know if that means anything, but it does mean that we need to be careful: we're closer to this than we think. The couple in the trailer killed after Jackson destroyed the library were Sean Long and Jessica Bartlett, but here's the thing: Sean was killed inside of the trailer, but Jessica wasn't. She died after, at the hospital, by suffocation.

"She had just given birth Derek."

"So you think that because she was pregnant and Jackson's biological mother was pregnant when she died that it or he couldn't bring himself to kill her," Derek questioned, the line quiet for a moment. The female Alpha shook her head and ran her fingers back through her hair, having already figured out the myth surrounding the Kanima. "No, its part of the rules- Derek, the Kanima kills murderers. It couldn't kill mother and child because the child was an innocent. That's why we have to be careful, because we, unfortunately, fit the pattern all too well."

Scott looked at Isaac and swallowed, unsure if he should speak, "But your father doesn't fit… unless, by chance, he had happened to kill someone."

"And that, unsurprisingly, wouldn't surprise me in the least," Isaac replied darkly.

"He fits the pattern," the woman murmured after a moment had passed between the wolves. "Tucker Cornish- the mechanic that became the second victim- Derek, you of all people, should remember his best friend… He was a real hard ass, but he was your friend too."

He went silent before his eyes flashed up to Isaac's face, knowing another that had come before him and seeing that visage reflected in the Beta, "Yeah, I remember; his name was Camden. Lahey. "

"Wait, my brother? No, it's not possible- Camden was killed in Iraq two years ago-"

"Yeah, but if something happened before he died and he was involved, the pattern makes sense. But no matter what, I have to find out how these kids are all intertwined. Derek, I need you and Alan to figure out how to stop Jackson. Before he kills somebody else… or one of us," Maia said before ending the call abruptly and looking at her phone. She let out a sigh before dialing a number and walking away from Stiles, knowing that while things were starting to fall into place, that they were becoming much more complicated than she thought they could ever be.

Derek kicked off his boots after shutting his bedroom door behind him, intent on talking to Maia whether she liked it or not.

She was sitting at her vanity, dabbing on some rouge to tint her lips a darker shade of red when her eyes flashed up to look at her husband having expected him to be home much later in the evening when she had already gone. Derek came up behind her to rest his hands on her shoulder, the Alpha unsettled by how carelessly he touched her, "I'm sorry, but I have a very important meeting- no time to fight tonight."

He only chuckled and allowed one hand to smooth down the large curls her hair had been shaped into for the evening before moving to stroke her throat, his voice soft and unthreatening when he spoke.

"I don't plan on fighting you."

Maia felt a shiver race down her spine, swallowing before attempting to stand, feeling his hold on her tighten fractionally. "I'm going to be late Derek-"

Gripping a fist full of her hair, Derek smashed her face into the vanity table before promptly wrapping his hand around her throat and holding his head back against his stomach. "You aren't going anywhere tonight baby- not until you start fucking talking! And you already know better than to resist or struggle with me holding your head like this; I'll snap your neck and rip your head clean off before you have a chance to phase. So now sweetheart, we're going to have a little chat… What are you plotting that has you running for Mayor, working underneath Gerard Argent and having meetings at very strange times of the night," Derek asked, looking at her reflection in the mirror. He gave a gentle tug to show that he was completely serious, Maia letting out a wolf whine before nodding with some difficultly. "Alright Derek, alright. Remember how I said that we have to integrate ourselves back into the society of Beacon Hills- to assimilate? That's what I'm doing as Mayor; getting us back into the fold and effectively taking control of this city. Do you know how many wolves would come, wanting to join our pack? And working at the school is how I keep an eye on the pack and Jackson and all the other humans entangled in this web we've woven."

"And tonight? This 'meeting'?"

Maia glared at Derek, gritting her teeth as she spoke, "I have someone who can help us with the Kanima problem, but given your lack of expertise in keeping your cool, I'm taking care of it tonight. Now let me go- I'm late."

He gave a growl before releasing her, his wife rising up in a blinding movement to kick him in the chest with a heeled foot. Derek flew back into the dresser and Maia snarled at him, grabbing her phone and purse.

"And I'm warning you now, if you ever touch me like that again, I'll kill you Derek."

"You know, you've made a lot of empty promises to kill me as of late," he replied scathingly, his wife taking a menacing step towards him with her teeth bared. "Like I said before, you know me well enough to know that I don't make idle threats," Maia replied venomously before disappearing into the night through the open window, pausing once to flash a deadly glare back at her bedroom.

Maia was smoothing down her hair as she walked into the upscale restaurant of Beacon Hills' downtown district, smiling as she handed her coat to the maître-de. "Hi, I am meeting my party here- the reservation is underneath the last name 'Wyndham'," she said warmly, ignoring the blatant stares of men as she led through the restaurant to a more private back room.

There was a tall, undeniably masculine figure standing before a small fire that crackled upon the hearth, his back turned to Maia. She could see his long fingers stretching towards the flame, swallowing as she adverted her eyes quickly.

"Wonder how it would feel to burn, darling," she asked quietly, receiving a quiet chuckle.

"No my love; I'm afraid that I know exactly how it feels to be the moth, drawn to the flame…"

He turned to face Maia, smiling with a saber-like grin at the Alpha as he moved to greet her, "You look quite stunning tonight, even if that little wrinkle sits between your brows. And I must say, I am finding myself becoming partial to it, dear." She half-laughed, taking in his six-foot-two frame and closely cropped blonde hair before wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yes brother, continue to tease me…"

The man kissed her deeply, sensing how her all too-familiar lips moved unwillingly underneath his before pulling away, placing one last kiss upon her mouth after for good measure. "Alright, I give in. I could smell the worry on you the second you walked through the door and though I joked about the crease on your forehead, I know that it is not something you make a habit of sporting. What is the matter Maia," he asked her in a rolling, velvety baritone, pulling her over to the private table that awaited them. She swallowed and tucked her hair behind her ear before speaking, looking up from her hand to meet his eyes, "I found him." Her companion from the evening nodded and sat back in his seat, trying to resist the tightness settling into his features.

"Ah, I see."

"I just hope that you understand that nothing," Maia said forcefully, sitting up straighter. "And I mean nothing has changed with where we stand. Is that at least clear?"

Cold blue eyes narrowed the tiniest bit and the male folded his arms across his chest, "That at least, is very much clear to me now."

She nodded, the waitress making her arrival to take their drink orders. When the woman had gone, Maia looked at the man sitting across from her, taking in the dark look in his piercing eyes. "So now that you have made your point, again, I will ask… what is the matter here? And more importantly, why am I here," the werewolf questioned in clipping tones, the Alpha narrowing his eyes at his words. "You're here because I called for you and that you will not- cannot- question, love. There are things happening here in Beacon Hills that… my husband's pack won't be able to handle. It is much too soon to tell him of the developments in our species that happened in the space of two measly years- we don't need his head exploding just yet. But I do need your help," Maia replied, the wolf sighing in irritation. "It doesn't seem like you need me for much of anything anymore-" The Alpha called his name sharply and he submitted before reaching into his jacket pocket, pulling out a small manila envelope. He slid it across the table to Maia, sighing once more, "She's not an easy person to pin down, with her working in the entertainment business behind the scenes and all, but luckily for you your friend Kara is working in Beacon Hills. Concert promoter, does a lot of the underground shows."

Maia opened the envelope to retrieve seven concert tickets, looking at the male curiously.

"I figured that you and the pack would want to have a chat with Ms. Simmons and those are the keys to the gate; only way you'll get close to her. Call it wolf intuition," he replied smoothly, quirking an eyebrow at her. The Alpha smiled before standing and turning to the door, her date's sharp voice calling out to her, "You would think that after not talking to each other in more than a month and a half Maia, you'd have more to say to me than having me run an errand for you and fetch your ball, wouldn't you say, la loba?"

She turned back to the male wolf, her tone icy, "And what would you have me say?"

He gestured to the chair where she had once sat, seeming satisfied once she had returned to her place and smiling. "Now, I am curious, my sweet Maia, as to why such a… creature as yourself can go from striking fear into the hearts of prey to playing house with a man who walked out on you after Joshua died and he 'cursed' you with the life we both live and share now-"

"Don't you ever say his name."

Maia's voice was cold and hardened, her eyes fixed on the man's face. "And as for my… family, that is personal and none of your business. If me being back with Derek wasn't enough of a hint, whatever we had in the past is over now- and if that is a problem for you, you should tell me now, before we allow things to get messy. Especially after my husband and fledglings become involved… And so I am asking you as a friend and partner to give me your word that no matter what, in the end, what I asked of you earlier will be seen to," she said quietly, the force in her words both deliberate and effective.

"Am I even allowed to ask why? Even when you know that you've already forced my hand," the man asked, a growl in his undertone.

"Because we never know what the future holds for us… I'm just doing what I can to make my children's safe."