Maia walked into her house after Scott, slamming the door behind her, "Derek?"

The house was quiet and so the Alpha started pulling off the majority of her clothes, dropping them into a pile on the floor. Scott did the same and clad only in his jeans, followed her into the kitchen. "Want a beer," she asked in a monotone, her eyes affixed on the sliver of moonlight flooding through the window over the sink.

"How did you save me," Scott asked quietly, looking up at the Alpha over her drink.

"I bit Victoria Argent."

The back door opened and the pack entered, looking weary but instantly relieved when they saw Maia standing in the kitchen. Derek moved to take her into his arms, threading his hand in her hair and inhaling deeply. "Are you okay," he asked quietly, his wife nodding and half-smiling. "Yeah, I'm alright baby. Really, I'm fine." He looked at her before nodding and moving to hold her head against his chest, "We need a new plan- that was much too close of a call." There were murmurs of agreement from around the room and Maia took a step back to survey the weary faces before her, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears as she finally nodded. "So we can't save him," the Alpha whispered, biting down on her bottom lip. Scott looked up from the counter and met her eyes, shaking his head, "But we can't seem to kill him either, no matter how hard 'we' have tried."

Derek dismissed the comment aimed at him and agreed with the young wolf's statement, folding his arms across his chest. "We've never seen anything like the Kanima… And I'm afraid that every new moon will make him stronger-"

"Shit, the new moon is tonight," Maia muttered underneath her breath, moving to stare out the window.

"So we leave him to the Argents," Isaac suggested- his mind was on the pack, and keeping them safe; he didn't want that thing around his family or have anymore of them in danger ever again… they were, after all, the only family he had ever really had. But of course, Derek was not in agreement with his idea, the Alpha male looking at his pack seriously. "No. I'm responsible for turning him… and its my responsibility to put him down."

Maia closed her eyes and sighed, gripping the counter for support… because she was tasked with doing the same.

It was much later into the night that she sat watching the pack prepare for the full moon, knowing that in a few hours they'd have to be getting ready for school. "You know Lydia's having a party tonight and since Scott is going I thought-" Green eyes flashed up to look at Isaac, narrowing, "Not a chance; did you know about the Omega's plans Derek?"

"No," he replied, opening up a trunk to set up his and Maia's own chains for the nearing transformation. "And he's not an Omega anymore."

"Sorry, it's a bad habit. After all, we have to fulfill the Three," she replied off-handedly, her mind elsewhere on more important. But her words intrigued Isaac, the Beta looking to Derek for answers, "The Three?" The Alpha nodded and stood, pointing to the marking on the inside of the trunk. "Have you ever wondered what this is? Why Maia and I wear it on our flesh?" Boyd answered the inquiry, folding his arms over his chest confidently, "It's a triskelion- the circle of Three. More importantly is the spirals, which each mean different things when put in context: it could be past, present and future, or mother, father and child. But I think you wear it because of the wolf hierarchy. Alpha. Beta. Omega." Maia nodded, impressed, leaning against the wall, "Very good Marcus." Her husband agreed and looked at the triskelion on the trunk again, sighing. "My parents always told me to remember the Three. It was important to them that I realize that we can all rise to one or fall to another. Betas can become Alphas but Alphas can fall to Betas or even Omegas. Its all a matter of choice," Derek finished, his pack looking upon him seriously. When he was sure they understood the seriousness of the Three and why it was necessary, he went back to pulling the chains through the fixtures embedded in the cement floor, Erica eyeing them suspiciously. "I've always wondered why this was all necessary," she commented, Isaac smiling ruefully. "That's because you've never experienced anything like a forced transformation anymore. When I phased, all I wanted to do is maim something- I literally thirsted for human blood. And even though we had the chains then, I never used them because I had Maia, but maiming the Alpha is frowned upon in this establishment," the teen joked, Derek shaking his head even as he smirked. "That was an exception Isaac: you all really need to be locked up to keep you from running wild. The bloodlust that takes over werewolves- even Maia and myself- on the night of the full moon is the price we pay for our power. The ability to heal and truly live is balanced by the intense… desire to kill anything we can find during a full moon. As a mature wolf and an Alpha, just like I can control my phasing, I can control my urge to kill," Derek replied, his wife smirking and standing. "Mostly."

Over the next hour, most of the pack went off to bed, Derek still working in the 'dungeon' with Isaac watching over him. "You said that you can control it," Isaac said finally, breaking the silence of the hour. "I want to know how."

"The whole point to lycanthropy is becoming something stronger, deadlier, greater than the human self and during the full moon, you're forced to recognize that, to lose yourself in it. But you can't do that, not completely, or you'll never come back. There's stories of those who can't keep a hold to their humanity and those are the ones who have come dangerously close to exposing our secret to humans, if not for a responsible Alpha- they didn't have an anchor Isaac, a way to tie themselves to their own humanity. For me, Maia is my anchor. She's literally the one thing that keeps me tied to who I really am because she is everything to me, the only thing that truly matters anymore. Honestly, that's why we freak out on the night of the full moon, because I look at her and understand that to be with her I still have to be Derek and because she loves me so much, that I can still be myself. I do it for her. I come back for her."

"Derek, that night in the warehouse… She was all I could think about," Isaac murmured, looking up at the Alpha.

He only smiled sadly and nodded, "I get it: you love her. It's what we were made to do."

"How do we do this," Maia questioned, looking over at her mate.

Derek slid the car into park, his eyes straight ahead and jaw set. "She's one of us now Mai- yours. And so tonight, we call for her," he murmured quietly, his thoughts on the night ahead. However, his wife shook her head, "She is an Argent, Derek. And that is something neither they nor we can stand for. I refuse to have an Argent in my pack, even if Victoria's only an Argent by marriage."

"Did you think I was suggesting that we actually run with her? No, I want to kill her just as much as you do for her trying to kill you and Scott. No one fucks with my pack."

"Exactly."

Both of them got out of the car, slamming the doors behind them as Maia grabbed a shopping cart and headed into the store. "Time to feast. The wolf is hungry- in more ways than one," the Alpha smiled, eyeing her mate. Derek only chuckled and reached out to pat the top of her head, "You can wait until tonight."

They filled up the cart quickly, Maia moving to get a second as Derek stared at the various types of alcohol available to him, waiting.

"Big night tonight?"

Derek turned to the sound of a male's voice, seeing the taller blonde man coming down the other side of the aisle. He half-smiled and shrugged, silently analyzing the newcomer. "Nah man, my wife and I just having a night to ourselves," Derek lied smoothly, the man smirking and nodding, moving to the shelf. "This wife, she a classy dame or more… wild broad," he questioned, looking at the Alpha out of the corner of his eye. "Maia's an animal." The man grabbed a blue bottle and looked it over before approving it, "SKYY vodka. Only distilled four times, nice concentration- I've heard that even the unflavored version taste good, to women at least. Take this and have a good time…" Derek was in the process of taking the bottle when Maia made her appearance at the front of the aisle, the male turning so quickly he dropped the vodka, the glass shattering on the floor.

Upon seeing who Derek had been talking to Maia snarled, trying to diffuse the situation, "Baby-"

Both of the men were bent over, picking up the glass, the unnamed stranger apologizing underneath his breath. And then Derek went for a particularly sharp piece of glass, slicing open his palm when his hand grazed over it, the blood welling up from the wound. His eyes snapped up as he heard the male emit a grisly growl, seeing burning crimson eyes and feeling his wolf rise within him. "You're an-" Maia stepped into the deadly staring match between the Alphas, inflicting her own eyes on the familiar face. "Back off mongrel. Or you'll have to deal with me," she said threateningly, her lips pulling back over her teeth- he was already in a shit load of trouble for even thinking to approach Derek. In all honesty, he probably wouldn't make it away from Beacon Hills with his life; but Maia had to keep her calm, restraining Derek without making a scene.

"Leave."

The vagrant wolf snarled at her and then he was gone, Derek still riled up by the encounter. "That's not supposed to happen, other wolves straying into our territory and especially not another Alpha. Maia, I have to go after him-" She turned around to push him in the shoulder, sensing the humans coming to clean up the mess from the shattered bottle, her face fierce. "No, that is the very last thing you need to focus on. We can deal with the mundane wolf shit later- after we get a handle on the Kanima. After tonight."

At the mention of the night that awaited them, Derek snatched a few more bottles off of the shelf and moved to checkout, more than ready to get his mind off of things he didn't have the time or energy to do and get himself on top of what he could handle.

Maia.

She stood out in the backyard, staring up at the darkening sky, feeling that all-too familiar feeling of her stomach tightening into knots as her wolf awakened. Maia's hands were clenched into fists and her body was rigid, the Alpha allowing her eyes to blaze freely for once.

"Baby."

Derek leaned in the doorway, his arms folded over his chest as he looked at his wife's back. "Do you know what this moon is? Can you feel it," Maia asked quietly, feeling a sudden ache twist in her stomach that left her breathless. "This has to be the most painful moon." He agreed, swallowing with some difficulty, "The Worm Moon." A shiver raced up Maia's spine as the first hint of the rising moon showed itself to her, the woman moving to smile at her mate. "Up for a little S&M?"

Derek pushed his wife back into the dungeon, pulling off his tee shirt before moving to slam Maia into the nearest wall, hoisting her up around his waist. "I want to eat you," she said breathlessly as Derek made quick work of her clothes and started feasting upon her neck, his nails digging into her flesh. He growled deeply within his chest and looked at her, feeling her teeth biting at his lips, "I could tear you to pieces-"

"Then rip away."

He was in the middle of doing just that when the door opened, both of them pausing the pack entered. "Whoa, hey," Erica said, walking in on Derek and Maia panting on the floor, the Alpha female looking more than a little fevered. "Hello there Erica." Derek released his wife's hands from the smaller set of manacles he had installed on the floor before looking at his pack, grabbing for his jeans.

Erica looked at the chains on the wall hesitantly, her eyes flickering to Maia's face, "And you are sure this is necessary?"

"We can't have you running all over town, now can we Erica? Its necessary," the Alpha replied as she pulled on her tee shirt, turning to Boyd and leading him to a set of manacles. Derek and Maia chained the pack up before looking at one another, Derek watching his wife's burning eyes. "Alright. I have to chain you up, before either of us phases-" She sucked in a sharp breath and looked at Derek, baring her teeth. "We have to hurry." Maia began to do the cuffs and chains around his arms and neck, attempting to get through it. He looked at her claws and shook his head jerkily at her, already half-phased, "Chain yourself up Maia." She looked at him and nodded, reaching out to pull the own cuffs around her wrists. Derek's wolf was eyeing her, the female starting to bow down to his will. And then a howl split the silence, a foreign sound that Derek had never heard before.

The other Alpha.

Without a second thought, Maia got up and started to walk away, Derek roaring at her. He strained against the cuffs, knowing that he had to stop her from making a very big mistake, but unable to phase back. The younger wolves were snarling through their own transformations, knowing that they as a pack were incomplete without Maia. She paused in the doorway, allowing her wolf to overcome her, bursting out of her flesh. The howl came again and she started running, knowing that he was calling out to her.

Derek tore at the concrete, biting at his own wrists to try and go after his wife. And there was another wolf standing in front of him, sandy-haired and yellow-eyed. Isaac looked at him seriously and snatched at the chains with both his claws and teeth, breaking the metal before going after Maia. Derek cast a glance over his shoulder to the two younger wolves, knowing that they were safest there.

The two wolves ran on, side by side, following after Maia's scent deep into the woods. Derek called out to her before running up to the highway, Isaac moving to smash himself into the Alpha as a bright pair of headlights bared down upon them, the car having clipped the young wolf. They both rolled over onto the shoulder and Isaac yelped, favoring his injured shoulder as it healed. Derek nudged him with his nose before looking into the woods, seeing a pair of red eyes glaring back at him. Placing himself between the second Alpha and his own Beta, Derek snarled, a grisly sound emanating from his chest. The Alpha barked loudly and snapped at him, before a large shape- much larger than he knew Maia was or anything else he had seen or felt- smashed into his back, a pair of massive jaws clamping around the back of his neck. Derek heard Isaac whimper and yelp before the jaws jerked, sending him spiraling into the darkness.

The second Alpha male picked up one of Derek's legs in his mouth and started to pull him into the depths of the woods, knowing that he still had a job to do.

Maia stood in the basement of the Hale house, having regained tentative control over her wolf, still feeling the moon calling out to her. She looked up at the male as he dragged Derek down the stairs, the wolf panting from the exertion. "What took you so fucking long," she asked, the voice of the Alpha emanating from her in a deep, rolling bass as she moved to grasp Derek's leg, the second Alpha baring his teeth at her. "I don't see you fighting off a transformation and dragging a fully grown Alpha nearly six miles. Not to mention, I had to keep putting him out." Maia narrowed her eyes but didn't speak, walking over to where a hole had been dug through the floorboards, peering down at the burned and charred remains there.

"He buried him underneath the floor," Maia asked to the open air, scoffing. "How sentimental- Derek brought him home."

She looked at the Alpha and set her jaw, preparing herself for the betrayal- her husband might never forget her. "Open the window." He moved to do as she asked, the Alpha female reaching down to brush some of the dirt out of Peter Hale's hair lovingly, "Its time to wake up, brother…" She broke Derek's arm and forced him to phase, her husband looking at her in confusion as pain coursed through his body. "Maia!" She only looked at him and broke his arm again, continuing to break it until it was bloody, her eyes trained on his face, "I'm sorry Derek." She thrust his arm into the hole, restraining her husband as he tried to move. He attempted to pull away, his eyes meeting hers before realizing that she wasn't going to help him, that she had actually turned against him. "Why?"

"Because I need help. We need help Derek!"

The second Alpha threw open the window and light flooded the room, Derek baring his teeth at Maia. She turned to her partner in crime, her eyes ablaze, "Go, now!" Maia turned back to see Peter's hand wrapping around Derek's arm, his fingers piercing the Alpha's flesh. His eyes flew open and Maia watched as the Alpha male's eyes went from red to his natural blue, Peter moving to dig his undead teeth into his nephew's forearm. Derek roared as the veins in his face bulged, his mate moving to punch him, knocking him unconscious.

There was the creaking of floorboards behind her and Maia straightened up slowly as she came face to face with the oldest Hale, the male looking her over generously. "Maia Wyndham- my, have you grown," he said, looking her over. She smiled, baring her sharp fangs and moving to press her claws to his face, "Lycanthropy seems to suit me well, don't you think?"

"I do. So, what brings you to my grave," Peter asked, seeing the woman's eyes glow.

"I have a job for you…"