A week later, Derek was pacing around the remains of the old Hale house. He was circling slowly, stopping here and there and inhaling deeply. He didn't like it. He was trying to place the scent, but it was infuriatingly difficult. It was like trying to remember the last item on a very important list but drawing a blank just as you're about to realize it.

Someone had been in these woods last night, that much was obvious. He had come for a run in his wolf form, just to let off some steam, but soon found the slightest of traces of the scent he was still trying to place. There was a disjoint between his extended scenes and his perception and it was highly agitating. Who, or what, was running around the pack's territory without permission? A buzz from his pocket interrupted his thoughts indicating a text message on the screen of his phone.

His eyes narrowed at the text from Stiles: "Your presence is required oh mighty Big Bad. Tonight. Pack meeting."

"Fine," he texted back and put the phone back in his pocket. He tried to refocus on the scent messing with him when the phone buzzed again. He growled and pulled it out.

"Bring snacks. You always skip your turn and I'm not picking up the slack of certain inconsiderate packmates."

Derek snarled. Fucking Stiles. Derek much preferred when the kid was terrified of him and convinced he was a crazy murderer. He really irked him in ways no one else seemed to be able to, not even Scott.

"Noted."

A moment passed before Stiles responded: "Bring Funions." Derek tried really hard not to crush his cell phone and barely succeeded.

A wise man once stated that all work and no play makes a dull boy, and Stiles was bored. Nothing much had been going on for a few months and for once there seemed to be an air of normalcy about Beacon Hill that was simultaneously pleasant and also horribly boring. So, instead of focusing on things like catching up on classes and practicing for the SATs, Stiles decided he was find out more about the new girl, Ana.

He didn't want to be a creeper or anything, he left all of the lurking and sneaking up on people to Derek. No, he just wanted to be friendly and make sure the new kid was doing ok. He would see her constantly in the halls and he observed their classes were parallel. He would wave and most of the time she would wave back, even occasionally smiling shyly from the other side of the hall before ducking into her next class. He found it was easy to loose her in a crowd, being there one moment and gone the next.

Whenever Stiles brought up Ana to Scott, his friend would appear not to notice. He asked Lydia about her because he knew she knew everything about everyone, but she only shrugged. She was in her English class and sat at the back of the room. "She seems to be painfully shy," Lydia said and shrugged, not too interested. Stiles even asked Jackson, but he only shrugged.

Unable to get the info he desired, Stiles entered challenge mode. On Wednesday he spotted her in the library, sitting quietly at a table with some books and a notebook out. Seizing the opportunity, he walked over to her and asked if he could sit with her. Ana gave a tiny smile and nodded, and made room for Stiles. He asked how she was liking BH, and she replied it wasn't too bad. He was about to ask where she was from, just to make chit chat, when she looked over his shoulder and quickly looked down at the table again. She quickly gathered up her things and apologizing, left. Stiles watched her go, confused as Scott came up behind him and asked what was he doing in the library.

So when everyone was sitting around Scott's living room, talking before Derek arrived, Stiles tried again to bring up the subject to Scott. Melissa was walking by when Stiles flung up his hands and walked out of the living room, fed up with Scott's glazed over look. "What's wrong?" Mom McCall asked as she pulled back her hair for her shift.

Stiles made a brief rant to Ms. McCall and she listened with strained patience. She shouted to Scott to pay attention, Stiles was having girl trouble. "Oh, my God, that's not what this is about!" he cried, exasperated.

So when Derek showed up and threw a bag of Doritos at Stiles, Stiles was not exactly thrilled. He snatched the bag from where it had bounced off his head and tore into it sullenly. Derek gave him a blank stare for a moment, and turned his attention back to the room as a large.

The chatter continued for a moment before Derek decided to cut to the chase. "We have another werewolf in our territory," he said, not bothering to raise his voice. The room quieted instantly and everyone turned to look at him, confused.

"What makes you think that?" Scoot asked, tilting his head up slightly.

Derek shifted ever so slightly, a modest slip of discomfort. "I could smell another, but it was difficult to pinpoint." Scott raised his eyebrows expectantly, but didn't say anything. Derek frowned and explained the situation he had encountered in the woods near the abandoned Hale house.

"So you could smell it but not?" Jackson asked, somewhat mockingly.

"Yes," Derek clipped.

"Do you think that this is a threat?" Liam asked.

Derek let his eyes meet Scott, in deference to his alpha. He felt a strange compulsion to forsake his usual stoic attitude. "I honestly don't know," he finally finished.

"Well, are we talkin' another alpha? beta? omega?" Stiles asked, piping up for the first time, wiping away orange cheese dust from his mouth. Derek tilted his head at him and narrowed his eyes. "I'm thinking if this is an alpha, couldn't they just mask their scent? Wouldn't that be the smart thing to do? Or if this is some passing Omega? I mean, is this a threat to the pack, to Beacon Hills or what?"

Derek was slightly surprised by the insight but also repulsed by it being from Stiles. Scott stood up and appeared to be deep in thought, which still looked like a puppy trying to figure out how to walk to Derek but he shoved that thought aside. For better or worse, this was his pack and he'd try to respect his alpha.

"We need a closer look, let's go," Scott declared decisively.

Derek was all for examining the situation further, but this was some new brand of torture. "It's so weird, when I try and bring it up to Scott or Jackson, or even Liam it's like the lights are on but nobody's home!" Stiles whispered harshly.

"Stiles."

"What?"

"Shut. Up."

Stiles glared at him and grumbled up his breath about wolfy douche bags. Derek searched around their part of the forest, using all his senses to try and find the lingering traces of the other wolf. It was faint, but still present, however it was seemingly everywhere, leading in no particular direction.

"So, what are your spidey senses detecting?" Stiles whispered after a whole thirty seconds of quiet.

Derek growled low, not really at Stiles but out of frustration. "I can't track it but its here."

"Huh. That's weird right?"

"Yes. Text Scott and tell him to meet us here. I think it is a little stronger in this area."

"Fine, fine, I'll make with the technology, Big Bad."

"Stop calling me that."

Stiles grinned as he hit the send button, "oh c'mon it suits you!"

Derek knew Stiles wouldn't see the glare in the darkness but nonetheless he did so anyways.

It took a painfully long time for Scott, Liam, and Jackson to meet up with them. Stiles sat on a stump and continued to talk about something that went in one ear and out the other for Derek. He tried to focus on being alert just incase there was a strange alpha lurking somewhere near by, masking its scent. Not that it made a difference when they arrived. Scott, his eyes glowing red in the dark stated he couldn't smell or detect any strange scents, neither could Jackson or Liam.

An uneasy feeling itched at the back of Derek's mind. Scott decided to call it a night at left with Stiles in tow and Liam and Jackson left as well. Derek found his way back to his loft and tried to sort out the puzzle.