Waiting on brownies to bake is among the hardest things I've ever had to do. And that's including accepting that my little cousin is now a werewolf and hiding it from his mom. Because that's still a thing we're doing, apparently.

"You want something to drink?" I ask Derek as I open the fridge door. "We got water, milk-Ooo, Melissa got juice!" I glance back at Derek. He sits in a chair at the table, watching me rummage through the fridge with a bored expression. "I also had Dr Pepper stashed in the pantry where Scott wasn't supposed to find them because he's the devil and drinks them all."

Derek shakes his head. "You realize that's a lost cause now, right?"

I nod mournfully. "He sniffed them out last week. It was horrible."

Derek snorts. "Just give me a water." I snatch two waters from the fridge and drop on in front of him before plopping down in the seat next to him where the bowl and spoon used to mix the batter is already waiting for me. He nods his thanks, which, whatever, I'll take it. "Scott's not going to like that I'm hanging around," he says suddenly after taking a sip of his water.

"He can deal," I say, pulling up a leg and tucking it under my other knee. "Besides, his reaction will be hilarious."

"His reaction might be dangerous," Derek argues. "Scott really doesn't like me, Ares."

"Well, I do," I counter, resting my elbow on the table and propping my chin in my hand. "And Melissa already gave you the okay, so it's not like Scott has a say about it anyway." I pause. "Besides, since when do you care about what Scott has to say?" I ask.

"I don't," he says flatly.

I nod. "Exactly, you don't."

"But if he gets mad enough he might shift," Derek goes on to say as if I didn't say anything. I roll my eyes at him.

"No te preocupes. I can take care of myself." He doesn't looked even remotely convinced. "Look, if he starts getting a little hairy around the edges, I'll just spray him with the water hose. We used to do that to the strays in my old neighborhood when they were acting up."

"Your old neighborhood sounds idyllic."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Why do you think I'm here, tonto? Obviously not for the wildlife." Derek makes a face, his eyebrows doing that thing when he judges people. "Whatever. Let's talk about something productive."

"Like…?"

"Like what happened after I left last night?" I offer. "You're alive, so obviously Scott got there in time."

"He wasn't too happy about it," Derek mutters. I crinkle my nose.

"You guys really need to work on that. But not the point. It's storytime. Go!" I point my finger at his nose, sticking the spoon in my mouth and waiting for Derek to start his story. His face goes blank for a split second.

"Scott dropped the bullet when he got there. It rolled under one of the counters."

"Whah' ah i'io'," I say around the spoon before popping it out. Derek clears his throat as I go on. "Wait, why did you even need that thing?"

"I needed the monkshood that was inside of it." He pauses. "I had to burn it and put it in the wound."

"Are you kidding me?" His expression is all the answer I need. He has this one scowl that makes it very clear how stupid he thinks your questions are. "That's… Kinda masochistic, ain't it?"

"I like to think of it as survival," he says dryly.

"So would some SM die hards." His face warps in disgust as I smile up at him sweetly. "So you went and pulled some weird Fifty Shades shit. Then what? Everything was okay?"

"Scott wanted to go to the Argents to get me to leave him alone," he says dryly. My head falls with a thump on table. "Apparently they're nicer than I am."

My head flies up and I narrow my eyes at him in confusion. "They fucking shot you!"

"I'm aware."

"Has he never seen Into the Woods?" I exclaim, throwing my hands up. "There's literally a whole musical number about how nice isn't always good and good isn't always nice!" My head drops back and I look up to the Higher Being. "He get's the stupid from his dad's side of the family," I declare, picking my head back up to see Derek's lips quirk at the corner.

"I'm sure," he drawls. I crinkle my nose at him.

"Asshole. What happened after he threw a bitch fit?"

Derek's expression goes blank, neutral. "I took him to see my Uncle Peter."

The name sounds familiar, but the fact that Derek took Scott to see his family before me beats any attempt to remember where I've heard it from. "Why haven't I met him yet?" I stick out my bottom lip. "I thought we were bros."

He levels me with a flat look. "Peter's in the coma ward in the hospital."

My stomach drops. Right. Peter Hale. Only survivor of the fire. Fuck. "Oh. Shit, I'm sorry, that was really insensitive of me." I duck my head. "Sorry."

"It's fine, Ares," he says. When I look up at him, he arches his brows reassuringly. I didn't think that was possible for eyebrows to do, but I'm coming to the conclusion that Derek Hale has magical eyebrows.

"So the Argents were the one's that… that hurt your tio?" I ask hesitantly.

Derek's face darkens. "They're the only ones that could have. They were the only ones who knew about us."

"Oh." I look down at the bowl of batter left. Derek arches a brow when I push over to him. "You're not allergic like dogs are, are you?"

"I'm a werewolf, not a dog."

"That's not an answer. You already had a near death experience yesterday," I remind him. "I don't want a repeat."

He rolls his eyes. "I think I'll live." To prove his point, he swipes at the inside of the bowl and eats the batter on his finger.

"You're not cute," I say, throwing his earlier words back at him. He grins, and it's all teeth.

"I have it on good authority that I'm actually very attractive."

I snort. "Calm down there, Shallow Hal. Not all of us can make careers as underwear models." He shakes his head, but he looks like he's trying to hold back a laugh. "You know, actually I can see you on the cover of a young adult paranormal romance novel. Something really cliche and a blatant rip off of something else. It'll be a movie in two years." I hold my hands up and try to imagine said cover. "Starring Derek Hale as the dark and mysterious, yet gold hearted werewolf male protagonist Fenrir Wolfgang."

"His name is literally Wolf Wolf."

I ignore him and go on. "With Arianna Grande as Celine Luna, the naive teenage girl that thinks she can tame the monster inside."

"Moon moon?"

"Their love was forbidden. This summer, don't miss: Werewolf Diaries."

"You're horrible," Derek states.

I throw my head back and laugh. "Dude, it'll be great. It'll be a best seller. And if we write it right, then we'll also be teaching young girls everywhere that relationships don't have to revolve around sex and secrets and abusive behavior." I cock my head to the side. "Looking at you, Fifty Shades."

"You need to stop."

I grin up at him. "I'm just messing. You'd be in a TV show."

"I hate you."

"Obviously not, since you got me food."

"Never again."

"Oh, come on. You need some cheerful vibes, dude. We're living in a horror movie. We're allowed some fun before our untimely demise," I remind him.

"Right."

"Smile, Derek Hale. We're still alive."

He shakes his head, but the corners of his mouth quirks up just a bit before he schools his expression.

"Oh, good, you're alive!" Sonya says brightly, leaning back from the screen and grinning. "Warren told me how you called him and started crying because of your cramps last night."

I drop my head to my chest. "I misdialed. I was supposed to be calling you."

"I know." she pauses. "But you really gotta give him props for staying on the line for you as long as he did."

"I think I might have traumatized him." Next to me, my phone vibrates. I open the message and snort. Derek finally saw the shitpost I sent him earlier.

Derek
You're the worst human. Stop texting me.

"You did." Her tone is gleeful. "It was glorious." She props her chin in her hands. "Hey, what ever happened to that serial killer you met in the woods a while ago?"

"Serial killer?" I glanced up from my phone, pausing in the middle of my reply. "Oh! Derek, yeah, what about him?" I finish off my text and send it off.

I am the best human.
(A)

Sonya makes a noise in the back of her throat and I look up at her to make sure she's okay. "You're on first name basis with the serial killer you met in the woods?! Do you guys hang out?!"

I bring up a finger. "Okay, one, he isn't a serial killer, he's a huge dork in a leather jacket. Two, yeah, I guess we hang out." I bring up the small plate with the brownie I managed to hide away from Scott. "We made brownies today."

She squeals. "You invited a boy over, Ares, I'm so proud of you!" She claps. "I'd ask if you did anything devious, but I know how you are with that stuff."

"That you do, sister. And it's not like that anyway. We're just friends. I send him shitty tumblr posts and he threatens to never bring me food aga-"

"He brings you food?"

"It was his turn to pay," I tell her. Her eyes go wide before her expression warps into one I've learned to fear. Sonya thinking is never a good thing.

"Say, what's his name again?"

I narrow my eyes at her, notice how she clicks something on her screen and has her fingers at the ready on the keyboard.

"You're not going to google him. That's creepy."

"I wasn't going to google him." She pauses. "I was going to facebook him."

"You're horrible."

"I need to know if he's hot!" I make a face. "Ares, come on! I refuse to be the girl who's best friend ran away to California and hooked up with someone who isn't even that hot!"

I drop my face in my hands and just breathe. Let it be known that Sonya is rather picky about these kinds of things. When I look back up, she's staring at me expectantly. "He's attractive."

"Is he my type? Can I call dibs for when I can afford to go visit you?" I narrow my eyes at her and she holds her hands up in defense. "Okay, geez, no going after your man. I'll make sure to tell Warren." I roll my eyes.

"He isn't my man."

She waves a dismissive hand and changes the subject. "Hey, there's a game you need to get. You collect cats, it's great. You'll love it."

She knows me so well.

"My old man is a bad ma-"

"Que te vas una ves m-"

"Yo te di todo mi amor y-"

I drop my phone in the cup holder at the next song, some top KPOP hit that Aaron and Alicia must never know is on my playlist. The level of dishonor it would bring down on the family would ruin us.

Flashing lights at the movie rental store make my stomach sink, more so than the ominous text that Derek had sent not fifteen minutes earlier.

"Dammit," I mutter, pulling up a next to the other cars. There's already a crowd forming, and the deputies are doing the best they can to keep them back. I jump out of the Turtle, locking it behind me before joining the crowd. It isn't too big, but big enough so that I can push to the front without being noticed. There's an ambulance with two kids in the back and… yup, that's Stiles standing by the Sheriff's cruiser.

"Stiles!" I call out as the Sheriff talks to the boy by the ambulance, a frat looking kid who's name is probably Chad. Stiles whirls around when he hears his name and his eyes go wide when he sees me in the crowd. He glances back at his dad before ducking around the cruiser and meeting me by the crowd barrier.

"What are you doing here?" he demands, grabbing my arm and pulling me past Deputy Paulson, who just rolls his eyes at us, and to the car. I shake my sleeves over my hands and cross my arms as he looks down at my PJ bottoms and boot slippers-new as of Scott's last paycheck. "Why are you in your pjs?" His eyes go wide and he leans in. "Are you even wearing a bra right now?!"

My head falls back. "Stiles, you creep!" I smack his arm before tucking my arms across my chest again. "I was about to go to bed when Derek texted. And then Scotty started acting all antsy." I glance at the Sheriff and the kid that's yelling at him about wanting to go home. "If your dad sees me, I couldn't sleep and piratebay was acting up, so here I am."

Stiles frowns. "Derek texted you?" I nod once, looking around. Dude had to be around somewhere with Scott. "What'd he say?"

I shake my head. "Dude was pretty vague about it. Said the Alpha was out again."

Stiles' head rolls to the side. "And you believed him?"

"Even if I didn't, Scott felt something too," I tell him. Stiles runs his hand over his buzzed hair, looking past me. His eyes go wide and he throws out his hand, pointing past his dad.

"Whoa! Is that a dead body!?"

Two EMTs bring a stretcher out of the store. There's a white sheet over the form on it, and an arm is hanging over the edge, swaying with the movement. Which, wow, morbid. The crowd erupts in chatter and Sheriff Stilinski throws a glare at Stiles, who ducks back into the cruiser, shutting the door and leaving me standing alone. Traitor. The Sheriff's face warps into confusion at seeing me, only to be replaced with a very done look when I wave weakly at him.

"Everybody back up, back up," the Sheriff says, pushing everyone back as the body is led to another ambulance. Once he's done, he drops by the cruiser and levels me with a flat look.

"And what, may I ask, are you doing here?" he demands. "You didn't even work today."

"Piratebay was down," I tell him.

"Piratebay."

I crinkle my nose at his tone. "It's this website that lets you-"

"I know what it is, Ares." He shakes his head. "You shouldn't even be over here."

"Stiles let me over." I nod over to the two kids behind the ambulance. "Are they okay?"

The Sheriff sighs. "They just found a dead person. They're probably going to need counseling." He pauses, glancing back at them. "Or really good drugs, considering who their parents are."

The boy's ear must start burning, because he looks up from the redhead-the same that all but threatened Scott at his game-and narrows his eyes at us.

"Was it… was it another animal attack?" I ask hesitantly. Sheriff Stilinski shakes his head, looking very tired.

"We don't know right now." His expression hardens. "Even if we did, you know I can't tell you. You're hanging around my kid too much, he's rubbing his bad habits off on you."

"Hey!" Stiles squawks from inside the cruiser. I roll my eyes.

"I have enough bad habits on my own." I unfold my arms and hold out my hand for him to see. "See my nails? Bite them all the time."

"Go home, Ares," Sheriff Stilinski drawls, motioning to Deputy Paulson to come over. I throw my head back and groan. "I mean it, young lady." He points a finger at my nose. "Straight home. And I want you texting Stiles when you get there." He turns to Pauly. "Make sure she gets to her car."

My shoulders slump and I throw my head my head back. "Oh my god, you're such a dad!"

"Don't make me ground you," he warns.

"Legal adult, Sheriff." I stick my arm out for Deputy Paulson to link his through mine. "Come on, Pauly. Escort me to my car," I say in my best snob voice.

Pauly snorts and the Sheriff mutters something under his breath that sounds a lot like smartass.

"You know, you probably shouldn't antagonize him like that," Pauly says as he leads me through the crowd to my car. I shrug.

"He loves me. I'm his second honorary Mexican child." I look up at the Deputy. "You working tomorrow?" He nods as I fish my keys out of my pocket. "I'll bring you a brownie if you tell me what happens here after I leave."

I grin up at him and he shakes his head. "Why did you get hired?"

"I do really good interviews. So deal?"

"Make it two brownies and I'll consider it."

"I can't promise two, but I'll get you one big one," I tell him, peeking into the Turtle's backseat as I unlock the front door. "And you can't tell the Sheriff. Or Stiles. I'll never hear the end of it."

"Don't forget to text the kid when you get home, Ares," Pauly says as I hop in the front seat.

"Take notes for me!"

He closes the door for me as I turn on the car and doesn't walk away until I'm pulling out of the parking lot.

Good ole Pauly. I should get him a fruit basket sometime.

Driving in the preserve at night is just as terrifying as driving in one of the sketchier neighborhoods back home where the wannabe gangbangers like to hang out. If not more. At least back home I knew where the creeps liked to hang out.

I manage to find the Hale House without getting killed by a skinwalker or rogue Alpha. Scott is standing on the porch with his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. Derek is standing at the door, looking like he wants nothing more than to push the kid off the steps. I shake my head and throw the Turtle in park. Scott jumps down the steps as I step out of the car, not bothering to turn it off or close the door behind me.

"Qué pasó?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I meet Scott in front of the headlights. "Por qué tienes esa cara?"

Scott throws his arm back and gestures at Derek. "Tell him I have a life outside of this crap!"

I frown in confusion, but look up past my cousin to Derek. "Scott has a life outside of this crap."

"Not anymore, he doesn't," Derek snaps, and okay, someone's being crabby. "He has a week until the full moon."

I nod. "Okay, fair point."

Scott's face screws up in the ultimate betrayed expression. "He broke my hand!" Derek rolls his head back and throws a glare at Scott.

"Derek!" I throw my arms up. "I said no to using pain as an anchor!"

"It's the easiest and fastest way for him to learn," Derek counters calmly. "It'll keep him human." He pauses. "Besides, I barely touched him."

"My fingers were crushed!"

My head falls back. "Oh my god! Will you two stop fighting for, like, five seconds!" They both fall silent. Scott has his arms crossed with what looks like a pout on his face. Derek scowls at the trees as if they personally offended him. "Derek, dude, as much as you want to, you are not allowed to beat Scott up!" Derek looks very much like he wants to argue, but closes his mouth when I raise a finger at him. "Que no." I turn back to Scott. "What's this shit about having a life?"

"I am failing chemistry!" Scott exclaims, throwing his head back. "I have to be at the parent teacher conference tomorrow night and he wants me to be out here!"

My brows furrow. "Oh." I look back up at Derek. "Scott isn't failing high school over this," I say sternly. "He's going to that conference."

Derek glares down at me for a second before dropping down the steps. "Ares, do you not understand that there is something out there wanting to kill him?"

"Yeah, his chemistry teacher, if Stiles is telling the truth." My head drops to the side. "Dude, what's, like, two hours a day for him to do his homework?"

"That's what I was trying to tell him!" Scott exclaims. "I have a life! If I fail I can't play lacrosse!"

Derek lets out a low growl and I look back at Scott flatly. "Not helping, mijo." I turn back to Derek. "Come on. You still went to school when you were being wolfy, didn't you?" Derek glares at Scott over my head. I snap my fingers under his nose and his blinks in surprise. "Hey, aqui. He needs to go to school. He needs time to study."

"I need time to be with Allison!"

Derek and I both turn to glare at Scott.

"Scott. Car. Now."

Scott glares at both at us before turning on his heels and stomping to the Turtle like the child he is.

"You know he'll still be able to hear us, right?" Derek drawls as the door slams shut.

"Yeah, but this way he can't say something stupid and just make you mad," I tell him lightly, rolling back on my heels. "Seriously though, you needa give him time for school stuff, Derek."

He shakes his head. "I get you want to help him, but he needs to focus on the alpha. He's the only one that can get its attention."

"Alarming point, but how about this counter argument." I narrow my eyes at him. "If your anal training is the reason my little cousin has to repeat his sophomore year, I will have Deaton neuter you."

Derek stares down at me with narrowed eyes. Behind us, Scott's laughter echoes from the car.

"Scott, you'll be right there next to him if you don't start listening to him!" I shout over my shoulder. His laughter immediately dies off. I look back up at Derek. "Two hours a day to study and do homework, and then he's yours to torture as you see fit," I offer.

"Are you sure that's the deal you want to make?" Derek asks. His grin is nothing if not feral. My inner Sonya tells me that it's super hot, Ares, post it on instagram. My inner Sonya needs to shut up.

"I want him to pass, but I want him alive too, dude." I shift my foot, the rock I had been standing on finally getting too annoying to ignore. "So the alpha went after some random guy this time?"

Derek shakes his head in annoyance. "I dunno. It's too early to see a pattern."

"Maybe they just hates people working minimum wage jobs." I pause, the weight of my words sinking in. "Well, I'm fucked."

He rolls his eyes. "I don't see it coming after you just because of your job."

"You don't know that!" I pull my arms tighter around me. "Anyway, I'm bribing Pauly to tell me what he finds out tomorrow. I'll let you know if it's anything helpful."

Derek's face warps in an expression that's gone before I can place it. "The deputy."

I grin. "You saw him! He's great. He works the front desk with me sometimes and if he's in a good mood and I complain enough, he'll buy me candy." I pause, smiling. Pauly really is the best. "Anyway, he's easy to bribe. His wife is trying to put him on a diet, so it's been awhile since he's been allowed sweets."

Derek looks almost relieved, so I put it down as him being happy we're getting some inside info.

"Can we go now!?" Scott calls from the car. "I have a quiz tomorrow and I still need to study!"

I roll my eyes. "I guess I'm leaving then. Want me to bring you food before I go to work tomorrow?"

"It's fine."

"I'll bring you something healthy."

"I don't need-"

"Shut up and let me feed you." I turn on my heels. "And I swear to god, if I have to come out here one more time at night wearing my pjs, I'm murdering both of you," I warn both Scott and Derek. "I don't care if you're werewolves. I've seen enough shitty horror movies, I can do it if I wanted to."

I might have to make Sonya and Warren help, but we'll burn that bridge when we get there.

Merry super late Christmas/Happy Holidays/New Year! Hope everyone had good breaks and holidays! Welcome to new followers, thanks to those who reviewed. Keep those coming, because they're great and I really appreciate them. In case anyone is curious, the songs Ares listens to are "Off to the Races" by Lana Del Rey, "Habla Blah Blah" by Gloria Trevi, and "Si Una Vez" by Selena.

Kudos to those who knows what game Sonya is talking about.

Translations

1 No te preocupes - Don't worry
2Por qué tienes esa cara? - Literally "Why do you have that face?" (Why are you upset, pretty much)