"You're late," Damon bellowed when Mae and Ty walked through the front door.

"I had some things to attend to," Mae sassed back. "Are you going to kill me for that?" She was really pushing his buttons and knew it.

Damon growled as he walked right up to her. "You are testing my patience, little girl."

Ty intervened in that moment, cautiously saying, "Perhaps it'd be best if Mae and I went upstairs. We'd both be out of your hair that way."

Damon looked at Ty with a vicious gleam to his eyes. "I have a far better idea in mind." Looking to Mae he added in, "It's time for you to relearn that your actions have consequences." Damon was going to make Mae behave one way or another - even if it meant punishing someone she cared about instead. He knew he shouldn't risk taking the lesson out on her in case he went too far, but he could do the next best thing in his eyes. Damon grabbed Ty by his collar and started pulling him towards the cellar stairs.

"Damon!" Mae exclaimed going after him. "What are you doing?!"

"Making sure you remember what you learn this time." Damon threw Ty down the stairs and followed.

"You can't do this!" Mae shouted as she practically ran down the stairs and over to Ty.

Damon turned around with eyes glowing as red as the fury in his soul. "I am the Alpha! I can do anything that I want! If I want to kill, I kill. I would have thought seeing your father last night would have made that very clear."

Mae stood in front of Ty protectively - She wasn't about to let what happened to her father happen to Ty. "I'm not going to stand here and let you hurt him for something I did!"

Ty was ready to accept the punishment if it meant keeping Mae from harm. "Mae, get out of here. It's fine."

"No it's not!" Mae was sick and tired of living in Damon's pack like this. It wasn't right – not by a long shot. "This isn't what a real Alpha does." Mae looked right at Damon and spat, "You're nothing more than a pathetic little Beta on a power trip."

Damon had enough of her insolence and changed into his wolf form. He let out a loud roar to prove his dominance, but while it sent Ty cowering to his knees it made Mae shift as well and roar right back.

Damon fully extended his claws as he stalked over to Mae across the large, open cellar. "You dare challenge me, girl?"

Before Mae could answer, Ty pleaded, "Damon, don't hurt her, please. She's just a kid."

"I'm not a kid," Mae retorted. "I'm a survivor." With that declaration, Mae let out another roar and charged towards Damon. She didn't care in that moment whether or not she lived through this battle with him. Mae was done cowering in fear and if she had to go down, she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Lydia, you're not making any sense," Stiles stated as he and Lydia walked through the woods towards the Hale House – towards Mae's house.

"We can't let her die, Stiles!" Lydia exclaimed for at least the tenth time.

"You keep saying that but what are we supposed to do?" Stiles threw his hand out towards the house that was now within sight. "You won't let me call Scott and you expect us to what? Go up there and say 'Hey, Mae, we're here to make sure you don't die today'?"

Lydia stopped walking and pressed her hands together. "I can't really explain it Stiles, but trust me on this. Okay? You've done it before I'm pretty sure you're capable of doing it again. Mae is in trouble, I can feel it. We need to get to her, now."

Stiles started walking again as soon as she did but there was something he still didn't understand. "Why can't we call Scott for some backup? We're not exactly capable of taking on a wolf pack, you know."

"Didn't I just ask you to trust me?" Honestly she wasn't sure why she didn't feel like they could call Scott but it just didn't feel like time. Lydia sighed as she thought about this then stopped because she sensed something. "He's killing her." She picked up her pace to a run towards the house.

As soon as she reached the front door, she started pounding on it. When the door finally opened, Lydia didn't recognize who the young man was but he couldn't have been much older than her. "Where's Mae?" she demanded to know.

Ty walked out onto the porch and closed the door behind him. "She's not home right now."

"You're lying," Lydia shot back and tried to get into the house but Ty stopped her.

"You don't want to do that," he warned.

"I'd let her through if I were you," Stiles stated once he caught up. "She's not as innocent as she looks."

All eyes turned to Damon who had opened the door and stepped outside to join them. "Friends of yours, Ty?"

Ty's posture straightened. "No, Damon. They're looking for Mae."

Lydia wasn't afraid of this guy. "We know she's in there."

Damon smiled and chuckled as a part of his act. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. Mae hasn't come home from school yet. But I'll be sure to let her know you stopped by." He could tell the red-headed girl was going to say something else so he was firmer with his words. "Good day."

Ty went back into the house first then Damon followed, locking the door behind him.

"Now what?" Stiles asked, looking at Lydia.

Lydia walked down the porch steps and back towards the car. "Now we call for backup."

It wasn't long before Scott showed up after getting filled in on what Lydia and Stiles knew. He had to admit that it was a bit weird but if Lydia said that this girl Mae needed to be saved then he was going to do whatever he could to do it.

"Hopefully they didn't close this off during the renovations," Scott said quietly as he moved some brush away from the tunnel entrance leading to the cellar of the house. Seeing that it was still open gave him so hope. "So far so good."

"Don't say that," Stiles said to him as he led the way into the tunnel. "Whenever anyone says that things end up going to hell."

Lydia shushed them both and went ahead of them. "We're close. I – I can feel her." She couldn't explain the pull she felt towards Mae, but it was there and she wasn't going to ignore it.

The three of them went down the tunnel and Scott managed to break off the metal bars that were blocking the path to the door leading down to the cellar.

"You sure know your way around," Lydia pointed out after Scott got the bars down.

"I haven't been down here since Kate held Derek captive," Scott admitted, "But not much has changed." That answer didn't hold much weight after he snapped off the lock and pulled the door open to the cellar. It was far more open and bigger than it was before. In fact, there was nothing in there except for a generator in the corner that was attached to a cage that was just big enough to hold a person. And within that cage was a bloodied Mae.

Lydia gasped when she saw this and ran right over to her but stopped when Scott grabbed her hand and said, "Don't touch that yet. It's electrified."

Stiles switched off the generator and Scott was the one to check to make sure it was safe. Upon finding it was, he snapped off the lock and opened the cage door. Scott instantly went to check on her pulse. "She's still alive."

"We have to make sure she stays that way," Lydia emphasized for the millionth time.

Scott was getting Mae out of there when they heard the door open upstairs. Stiles pointed out the obvious, "Someone's coming."

Scott quickly got the unconscious Mae out of the cage and carried her in his arms but they didn't get out of there fast enough before Ty came down the stairs.

"What are you doing?! He'll kill you all!" Ty couldn't let them take her as much as he wanted Mae to be safe.

"He almost killed her!" Lydia shot back. "Are you okay with that?"

"This is not your concern. Give Mae to me and get out of here. Now." Ty's eyes turned golden as he made his demand and was taken aback a bit when the one holding Mae returned that action by showing off his red eyes. "You're an Alpha?" Ty was having second thoughts now. Any Alpha had to be better for Mae than Damon. "Get out of here. Go!"

They didn't stick around after hearing that, but Lydia said a quick "Thank you" before following them.

Ty gave them as much of a head-start as he could before running up to tell Damon that Mae was gone.

Scott and the others were getting Mae into Stiles' Jeep when they heard a very unhappy roar coming from the house. "Drive!" Lydia exclaimed as she closed the door. Scott had already taken off on his dirt bike but Stiles was still fidgeting with the keys.

Lydia looked out the window and saw Damon charging for them. "Stiles, DRIVE!" Lydia shouted again and he finally got the keys in and the Jeep started before speeding off.

Damon chased after them for a little before stopping. This wasn't supposed to happen but there had to be a way to use it to his advantage.

Clara stood in the living room as Damon filled her in on what had happened when she was in town. "Mae was taken by another Pack! Damon, what if they know of the legend?"

"I highly doubt that a group of teenagers know the significance of the Blood Moon," Damon replied, unphased.

Clara was doing her best to keep her temper in check but this was going too far. "You can't know that."

"Perhaps it's for the best." Damon poured himself another drink and moved over to the sofa.

Clara had no idea where the hell this was coming from. "Mae getting taken by another Pack is for 'the best'? Please explain your logic or lack thereof."

Damon bolted to his feet and clasped his hand tightly around Clara's throat. "Do you want to end up like your husband?" he growled before releasing her. "Let Mae have a taste of what life outside of my Pack is like. Let her be happy for a little while. Because when it all gets ripped away from her, it'll make the sacrifice even sweeter."

Clara rubbed her throat where he had grabbed her while she had her doubts about this plan. Damon was clearly set in his ways so she would have to go along with it – at least for now. "Mae will need to be in your possession by the Blood Moon."

Damon was very certain that things would go his way even with this change of events. "And she will be."

Clara sat next to Damon with her own drink and sighed. "Where is Ty now?"

Damon gestured towards the ceiling. "He's in his room."

"You didn't punish him?" Clara was shocked to hear this.

Damon finished off his drink. "I wanted to but decided against it. If my son is going to be of any use to me, he needs to be in one piece when I need him."

Mae was a faster than normal healer but with all the wounds she received from her Alpha, it still took awhile for her to wake up. When she did, it freaked her out to realize that she wasn't in the basement of her house – or even in her house for that matter.

Stiles was sitting in the corner waiting for her to wake up. It was agreed that since he was the most familiar face that he should be the first one she saw. "Hey, you're awake. You okay?"

Mae painfully scrambled as far back as she could on the bed she was on without taking her eyes off Stiles. "What did you do? Where the hell am I!"

Stiles stood up but didn't try to go over to her because she was really freaked out. "We rescued you. Surprise!"

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into!" Mae shouted back.

Stiles laughed at the assumption. "I've been a part of werewolf related stuff long before you came along. So, I'm pretty sure I know what I'm in for."

"How did you know I'm a werewolf?" Mae asked, because she sure as hell didn't tell him.

"Didn't until Scott got a whiff of your scent," Stiles explained. "But when that Ty guy showed off his eyes it was a pretty safe assumption."

Mae felt like her head was spinning. "Scott?"

"Scott McCall, he's an Alpha," Stiles went towards the door, offering "I can go get him if you want."

"No," Mae groaned as she started to get up. "I have to get out of here. If Damon finds me here, he'll kill you all."

"We've survived worst," Stiles assured – even though he knew not all have them have survived – but didn't get out another word before Lydia came in.

Looking to Mae she said, "You, in bed," turning to Stiles she added, "You, get out."

Stiles wasn't going to argue with that and went downstairs.

Lydia went over to Mae and inspected her more visible wounds. "You're not dying on my watch."

"Who the hell are you?" Mae thought this girl was trippy and she couldn't handle anything else right then.

"I'm Lydia, I already told you that at school." Lydia sat at the foot of the bed with a sigh. "You have to explain something to me, Mae. I feel like you're already supposed to be dead and yet I also feel like I can't let you die. Care to shed some light on that?"

Mae just stared at her blankly before sassing, "I want a lawyer."

Lydia rolled her eyes at that remark. "You don't trust us, I get it. But we are here to help you, so please let us."

"I didn't ask for your help," Mae retorted. "I had things under control."

"Getting slashed up from head to toe then being locked in a cage is hardly having things under control." Lydia got up with a sigh. "But fine, have it your way. Don't bother trying to leave the house. Stiles put up the Mountain Ash barrier to keep any unwanted visitors from coming in."

Mae looked at Lydia like she was insane and said just that. "You people are insane."

"Honestly, I think we need a little insanity in order to get through what we go through." Lydia shrugged a little bit before taking her leave. "Get some more rest and when you're ready come downstairs if you can."

Mae blinked a few times before slouching down into the bed. "This is a weird dream or a hallucination. It has to be. This is too weird not to be."

After a little while longer, Mae slowly made her way downstairs to find Stiles and the one she assumed to be Scott asleep on the floor while Lydia was on the couch. Was it really that late? That didn't matter, Mae didn't intend on sticking around so she headed for the door but of course wasn't able to get through because of the Mountain Ash barrier. "Okay, so that was true."

"You're awake." Mae turned around to find the one she assumed to be Scott getting to his feet. "I'm Scott," he greeted. Looks like her assumption was correct.

"I want to leave," she replied, pointing to the door. "Get your Emissary to take it down."

Scott wasn't sure what she was talking about but then it clicked. "Oh, you mean Stiles? He's not my Emissary. He's...Stiles."

Mae didn't care one way or another. "Look, it really doesn't matter to me. Just let me out of here. It'll be for your own good."

Scott was calm and kind with his words. "I know that I don't know you but I do know what your Alpha did was wrong. If he does manage to track you here he won't be able to get in. So why don't you try and have a peaceful night?"

Mae slowly crossed her arms because she wasn't fully healed yet and thought about what he had to say. Finally she caved. Why she caved she didn't know but she did. "Alright, fine, I'll stay. But tomorrow, I'm gone."

Scott wasn't going to argue about that right then. "If you feel that way in the morning, I won't stop you."

Mae narrowed her eyes at him. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch," he swore. "I'm not going to keep your prisoner, Mae. I just want to help keep you safe."

Mae opened her mouth to speak but abruptly closed it because she was too tired and too sore to figure him out. So instead she simply said, "I'm going back to bed," and went upstairs.

Scott went back to his spot on the floor as Stiles asked, "Did she mention Derek at all?"

This was the first Scott had heard of a connection between Derek and Mae. "No, why?"

Stiles rolled over and explained, "Because Mae's the girl I told you about before – the one Derek asked me about."

Scott felt like he needed more details so he made the decision to call Derek first thing in the morning.

Mae woke up that Saturday morning like every other time the past couple weeks - from a dream that felt very real. It almost felt like a memory...one that wasn't hers. There wasn't time to really think about all that because there were more pressing matters at hand.

Mae climbed out of the bed far easier than the day before because she was almost fully healed. Granted she wasn't ready to go and try to attack anyone quite yet but still it was one hell of an improvement. After pulling on her shoes, Mae went downstairs and was surprised to see Derek there. "Derek?" Mae just about ran into his arms.

Derek held her, saying "I shouldn't have let you go. I should have been there for you."

"You couldn't have stopped me, and you're here now." When she pulled back from the hug she asked, "How are you here? How did you know I was here?"

"Scott called," he explained. "We go back a ways."

As if on cue, Scott came into the living room. "Still want to leave?" he asked Mae, still willing to let her go if she wanted to.

"You're trying to leave?" Derek wasn't about to let that happen. "You're safe here, Mae."

"So I've been told," Mae sighed. "Even if I am safe here, it's only temporary. There's no way Damon is going to just let me go. He doesn't operate like that. And if I don't go back soon he will come after anyone who helped me. I don't want that on my hands."

Derek looked at her with pleading eyes. "Mae, please. Just give it another day at least to think about it."

Mae looked away before meeting his eyes. "Fine, one more day." Turning to face Scott, she asked, "What's for breakfast?"

Scott led Mae into the kitchen just as Stiles was leaving it. Stiles went over to Derek and asked, "So what's the deal with this girl?"

Derek really didn't have any intention of telling him that. "None of your business."

"We risked our lives to blindly save her because of a hunch Lydia had," Stiles retorted. "I'm pretty sure that made it our business."

Derek crossed his arms as he looked at Stiles. He didn't want to tell him what was going on but he knew Stiles wouldn't let it go until he had an answer. Well, that and he knew that Peter told Stiles the story so it wouldn't need much more of an explanation. "Mae is Paige's – for lack of better term – reincarnation."

Stiles thought the name sounded familiar and it finally clicked. "Whoa...Paige? As in Paige, Paige. Your Paige!" When Derek nodded, Stiles thought his brain was going to explode. "How did that happen?"

"Deaton said Paige was reborn as a reward for her sacrifice at the Nemeton," Derek explained. "Beyond that, I can't answer it."

Stiles let out a 'mind-blown' breath. "No wonder Lydia said it felt like Mae was already dead." After a moment he added in, "But why, besides the obvious, is it so important for her not to die this time?"

Derek wasn't too keen on the question. "Stiles. The obvious answer is probably the correct one." Ending that particular conversation, Derek joined Scott and Mae in the kitchen.

The group was just about done with breakfast when Lydia came into the McCall house with a suitcase in hand. "This should be everything you might need," she stated, setting it down on the table.

Mae's eyes went wide at the sight of how big it was. "You packed enough for a month."

Lydia waved her hand like it was nothing. "Hardly."

Mae wasn't even going to touch that topic right now and asked Scott, "Where are you parents? Aren't they going to wonder why you have a strange girl crashing here?"

"It's just my mom and it wouldn't be the first time a friend of the werewolf variety has crashed in the guest room." Scott didn't want her to worry about that. "It's not going to be a problem."

Lydia sat in the chair next to Mae and smiled. "You care to tell us anything more about your story?"

"You first," Mae shot back, dropping her fork onto her plate and crossing her arms. "Why do you keep going on saying you feel like I'm already dead?"

"I'm a Banshee," Lydia simply answered. "It comes with the territory."

Mae almost let out a laugh then realized she was serious. "No shit, really?" She'd heard of Banshees before but never knew of anyone who'd actually met one. Mae looked at Stiles to ask, "If you're not a Druid, then what are you?"

"Human," he answered with a mouthful of waffles.

"Okay...any other weird beings in this pack I should know about before they randomly appear?" Mae looked at those present, Derek included, and waited for an answer.

Lydia was the first to say something. "Kira's a Kitsune, but she's still with the Skinwalkers. And Malia is a Werecoyote but she's...out of town at the moment. That's about it for the non-Werewolf varieties."

"So this is a ragtag pack with a teenage Alpha?" Mae laughed at that as she looked to Derek. "And I'm safe here?"

"True Alpha," Derek corrected.

Mae didn't think she heard him right. "What?"

"Scott's a True Alpha and this 'ragtag pack' has been through more than you can imagine." Derek didn't hold back with his words because it was about time to give credit where it was due.

Mae turned to Scott and looked as if she was examining him. "True Alphas are like one in a million. How the hell did you manage that?"

Scott finished his waffles and chuckled lightly. "Long story."

Ty cautiously entered the kitchen where Damon was sitting at the counter. He was afraid to ask what was on his mind but he had to know. "I apologize if I'm bothering you but...when are we going to get Mae?"

"We're not," Damon replied before sipping his coffee.

There was no way Ty heard his correctly. "We're not?" Honestly he didn't want them to go after Mae but to actually hear Damon say that they weren't going to was beyond unexpected.

Damon wasn't about to share his plan with Ty. His son has proved less than worthy in his eyes. "Are you questioning my judgment?"

Ty instantly dropped his head. "N – no. You know best."

"I do," Damon agreed. "Be sure not to question my word again. I only spared you from punishment because you dealt with Kyle's mess. I won't be so lenient again."

Ty nodded in understanding. "Understood." He was about to leave but Damon spoke again.

"Be sure the guest room is ready for this evening." Damon finished off his coffee and set the mug aside.

This was the first time Ty had heard anything about a guest coming. Hell, he didn't even know who want to come see them. "For who?"

Damon grinned a bit darkly when he answered, "Shaiya is coming."

End Chapter 5