Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize. Lyrics belong to Marina and the Diamonds

A/N: A reviewer brought up the "I love you" in the last chapter and the fact that it was glossed over. Just to be clear: that was not the first time they exchanged that sentiment. There was a four month time skip between the last actual chapter of the story and first chapter of this story. I glossed over it purposefully to show that this wasn't a new thing for them. The plan was to write a bonus chapter involving his first time saying "I love you". The season is broken up into two groups of twelve episodes. There will be a break between the two and in that case, I want to be able to have something to write. Sorry for the confusion.

As always, thank you guys so much for reading!

Big Ugly Lofts

By: Ginny

You're too proud to say that you've made a mistake

You're a coward to the end

I don't wanna admit that we're not gonna fit

No, I'm not the type that you like

Why don't we just pretend?

Paige thoroughly scrubbed the blood from her face and then leaned heavily into the sink. Her mind replayed the night over and over again - it was like a foggy memory at this point. There were huge chunks missing. Realistically, she had been on the prowl the entire night - there should be a whole night's worth of memories. Instead, there was nothing.

When she left the bathroom, she found Scott, Stiles, and Isaac lingering in a corner of the loft while was Derek kneeling on the ground next to one of their makeshift cots, pressing a bundle of gauze to one of Cora's head wounds. Probably one Paige caused. The betas were both still very unconscious, so she'd have to ask later.

Instead, she asked, "Did we kill anyone?"

Scott and Derek shared a look and Paige felt her stomach drop. Was that one of the memory gaps? Had she killed someone and just repressed it now that she was human and in control?

"No," Stiles shook his head.

"Are you sure?" Scott questioned. "When you called, you said the throat had been ripped out..."

"Your mom let me into the morgue," Stiles informed him and everyone else in the room. "He had wounds that were human-made. He's one of two- there are two murder victims so far, all with the same wounds. They had their heads bashed in, their throats slit, and were strangled with string. Threefold death. I doubt Paige, Cora, and Boyd would have had the presence of mind to pick up some string."

Derek was nodding knowingly, which made Paige glad. If Derek didn't think they could have killed that guy, then they didn't.

"Who's the other murder victim?" Isaac asked, curiously.

"Huh?" Stiles seemed to snap clean out of whatever trance he had put himself into.

"You said there were two victims," the beta clarified. "Who's the other victim? Do you know?"

Stiles swallowed. "Heather," he told them, softly.

Paige had no idea who that was. But by the way Scott reached over and clasped his hand onto Stiles shoulder, she realized the boys must have known her. Or at least, Scott and Stiles. Isaac glanced at Paige to see if she had any clue either.

"You guys should go home," Derek said, gesturing to Scott and Stiles. "You have school tomorrow morning."

They both nodded and Stiles followed Scott out of the loft. Paige tiptoed over to Boyd. His wounds were slowly closing, but at least they were closing. There was still a dent in his forehead from where she had viciously bashed his head into the pavement. She hoped that healed cleanly before he woke up and could get mad at her.

"Well, it seems like everything's back in order," Isaac commented. "I'm going to my room, and I'm going to pass out."

She glanced back at him but he was already disappearing into one of the spare rooms. Confused, she turned to Derek. "He wanted a room here?" she asked. "I thought he said he didn't need it because he was living at his house?"

"I gave him a room here," Derek told her. "And he moved all his stuff in. He's living here now."

"Ah," Paige made a noise in the back of her throat and glanced back the way Isaac had left.

"I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to discuss it," Derek apologized as he began to collect the bloody gauze.

"Well, me being kidnapped and locked in a vault for a month probably made discussing it very difficult," she joked. But Derek still tensed up - must be too soon.

"After you were taken, I didn't think it was safe for Isaac to live on his own," Derek explained. "I wanted him where I could see him and protect him. And without you, the loft was just..." he trailed off.

"Big and empty?" she guessed.

He nodded and disappeared into the kitchen.

"What?" a small voice mumbled behind Paige. She turned to find that Cora was blinking erratically at the ceiling.

"Hey," Paige greeted, stepping closer.

Cora's eyes found hers and she tensed up. "Where's Derek?" she asked.

"Right here," the alpha answered from the kitchen doorway. As the girl twisted to see him, she must have aggravated some injury, because she winced heavily.

"Ha," she let out a choppy breath. "Shitty reunion, huh?"

He shrugged. "I've had worse."

Cora stared at him for a moment, trying to gauge how serious he was, before nodding. She probably realized just how shitty some of his reunions had been. Then, she tried to push herself up - only to collapse back down. Derek immediately crossed the room and gently guided her back onto her cot.

"You had a long night and it would be better if you rested," he advised.

"We need to talk," she muttered, but already her eyes were closing and her head was lulling off to the side.

"We'll talk in the morning," he told her gently. Paige blinked. It was unusual to hear him use that tone of voice with anyone other than her.

The girl finally succumbed to sleep.

Derek caught Paige's gaze and jerked his head to the side, indicating that they should follow the beta's example and get some shut-eye.

For a moment, Paige thought it might just be easier to strip off her bloody clothes and sleep naked, before she remembered that maybe with Cora and Boyd sleeping in the same big room, that wouldn't be the best idea. Instead, she collected some pajamas and quickly changed. Derek opted to just strip down to his boxers. Paige tried not to roll her eyes.

"I missed you," he confessed, after they were both settled in their bed. "More than I ever could have imagined."

Paige nuzzled closer. "I missed you, too." Then she smiled. "Even without me, you managed to keep this place pretty clean."

"I know how to wash things," he insisted.

"Yeah, I suppose you do," she agreed. "So, she really is your sister..."

"You doubted her?"

"You never mentioned her," Paige said. "All I've ever heard about was Laura. Actually," Paige realized. "You don't talk about any family members except Peter and Laura. You've never talked about your mother or your father or anyone." And suddenly, she realized that that bugged her. Why didn't he want to talk about his family with her?

"It didn't seem relevant," was all he said. He pulled away a bit and closed his eyes.

Paige watched the shadows dance across his face as he fell into sleep.

Why didn't he want to tell her about his family? Wasn't she a part of it, now?

"Where's my car?" Paige demanded, into the phone.

"Your car?"

"Yeah, my car," she repeated. "I'm standing downstairs, looking at the spot where my car would normally be parked and it is not here. Did you return it to the rental place?"

"Isaac probably took it to school," Derek explained.

Paige pulled the cellphone away from her ear and made a face at it. "What?"

"When you were gone, Isaac kind of... got used to taking the Prius to school," he clarified. "He probably took it this morning without thinking. Why do you need it?"

"It's very early in the morning," she commented. "Why is he at school this early?"

"Cross country."

"Cross...what? When did that happen?" Paige asked. "I thought he did lacrosse. Why did he switch?"

"He didn't switch - lacrosse and cross country are two different seasons," Derek explained. He was trying to keep his voice calm but already she could hear the tension building. It seemed even after a day of relaxing and recovering, stress still managed to sweep in. "Why do you need the car, Paige?"

"Well," Paige huffed, popping a hip out even though no one was there to see the gesture. "Considering that Boyd was missing when we woke up yesterday morning, I wanted to stop by his place and see if he was okay."

"If he was okay enough to leave, he's probably fine," Derek rationalized.

"I want to check anyways," she insisted.

"Fine." And the line clicked dead. Paige pulled the phone away from her face again and frowned. What the hell? Had he seriously just done that?

She didn't need a car, she decided. Who needs a car when you're a werewolf? She could run at breakneck speeds - she was fine. So, fine on you Derek, she thought. Boyd didn't live that far anyways and by the time she got there, she hadn't even broken a sweat.

The younger beta was just leaving his house when he caught sight of Paige. He rolled his eyes and kept walking towards the bus stop a block or so down.

"How are you?" Paige asked, ignoring his initial reaction to her presence.

"Paige, I really don't need this right now," he told her, yanking his backpack higher up on his shoulder.

"I'm just checking in on you," she said, frowning.

"No, it starts off as you checking in on me," he began. "And then it's us acting friendly, then it's you needing help with something supernatural, then it's me risking my life, and then it's me dying for you. No thanks. I'm out. I'm not part of the pack. I'm not part of this life anymore."

"You can't be serious," Paige sputtered. "Those alphas locked you in a cage for months. They killed Erica. You just... you're just going to peace out on us?"

"Yeah, Paige, I am." The bus was revving in the distance. "I lost my only friend. I have no one and I'm not about to lose my life. Not for the pack that got Erica killed."

The bus pulled up and Boyd stepped away from her. Without thought, she shot out a hand and gripped his arm. The fact that he was blaming the pack for Erica's death certainly rubbed her the wrong way. And after her talk with Derek this morning, she wasn't in the best of moods to begin with. She just wanted to lash out. "We didn't get Erica killed," she snarled. "You two made the choice to leave. You left the pack for dead - but we pulled through. Without you two, we stopped the kanima and destroyed Gerard. Everything would have been fine. You made a mistake in leaving - and then you got caught and she got killed. It was the poor judgement of two teenagers that got her killed. Don't forget that." And then she let him go.

She didn't wait to see his expression before she walked away. Once she was a safe distance, she took off into a sprint and didn't halt that pace until she was home. This time she did break a sweat, but she couldn't tell if it was from the exercise or the guilt.

"Did you check up on Boyd?" Derek asked once she made her way up into the loft.

"Yeah," she replied and that was the end of the discussion.

Cora was awake and eating a healthy meal of egg whites and whole grain toast. Paige tried not to think that it was too weird that the girl was wearing her clothing - and very little of it at that. Just a sports bra and some cargo pants. "We're out of milk," she announced just as Paige was reaching into the pantry to grab some cereal.

Paige wasn't sure if she liked that Cora was using the pronoun "we", but she decided not to push it. "Then I guess I'll have some toast," she offered.

"The only slices left are the ends," Cora informed her. "I don't know if you like that kind of thing."

"I don't," Paige groaned.

It seemed Derek could keep a house clean but a pantry empty. Or maybe that was a result of Isaac living with him. Growing teenage boys need food, don't they?

"I will... go grocery shopping," she decided. She left the kitchen, passed Derek finally putting away Boyd's unused cot, and said, "I'm taking the Camaro for some groceries. That okay?"

"Sure." Derek tossed her the keys and she went to make a list.

Shopping for a loft full of werewolves was a completely new experience - not that when she had been shopping for just her and Derek, she hadn't been shopping for a loft full of werewolves. This time it was more like a family... like a pack again.

Erica was dead. Boyd wasn't coming back. Jackson was permanently in London. Scott would never submit to Derek. Fine. That was all fine because Isaac was still there. Cora had been discovered to be alive. And Paige certainly wasn't going anywhere. Maybe they could make and keep their pack this time.

When Paige was younger, her mom would always do the grocery shopping. About a block away from their house in Chicago, she would call the home so that Wyatt and Mr. Flanagan knew that their service was required to bring the groceries into the house. Glancing back at the pile of groceries in the backseat, Paige thought about calling the loft. Except... she was much, much stronger than her mother.

Paige very easily carried all of the bags, though she had to put some down to open the downstairs door. She was so preoccupied by the groceries that she didn't catch the subtle ache in her chest that normally would have told her something was wrong.

Before she could reach out and open the door to the loft, the door opened all by itself and out walked a blind man being led by some barefooted woman. Right behind them was a tall, broad, brutish man. Their scents hit her all at once - they were alphas. All three of them. And then the scent of blood reached her nose - Derek's blood.

Dropping the groceries, she distantly heard the eggs shatter.

"That's unfortunate," the blind man commented lightly.

She shifted before she knew what she was doing. And then, she paused. Attack them? Do it here? Now? There was blood, but that didn't mean Derek was dead - maybe just injured. Go look for him? See if he was safe? What about Cora? Where was Cora?

Settling her thoughts, she reached out for Derek's heartbeat.

It was still there.

Sprinting around the smiling alphas, she stumbled into the loft. In the very middle of it, Derek was lying in a pool of his own blood. Cora leaned over him, trying to put pressure on some wound on his abdomen.

"What happened?" Paige demanded. She very nearly pushed Cora out of her way to come kneel next to Derek. Using claws she still hadn't put away, she ripped off his shirt and exposed the wound. There was a pole situated right next to the wounded alpha. The circumference was just the same size as the wound on Derek's stomach. Gingerly rolling him over, she found a matching hole. They had stuck a pipe through her mate.

A low growl echoed in the back of her throat, but Derek reached out and put his hand around her wrist. He could barely grip it, he was that weak. "Stop," his eyes said.

Fine. She would kill them tomorrow.

For now, she pulled the rest of his torn shirt away and ordered Cora, "There is a plastic covering in the closet in the spare room. Go get it." The girl shot her a look, but did as she was told.

"God, Derek," Paige muttered, using the shirt to put pressure on the wound. Cora returned and Paige commanded, "Grab his other arm." Together, they pulled him to his feet and Paige slid out from under his grasp to arrange the plastic on their shared bed.

Cora helped him onto the bed and he spread out with a groan.

"How long will that take to close?" Cora asked. Derek didn't bother to respond so Paige shrugged.

"Anywhere from an hour to a few hours," she estimated. "But we can probably speed it along, or at least reduce the pain."

"It's fine," he grunted from the bed.

"Oh, shut up," Paige dismissed. Quickly, she crossed the loft, poked her head into one of the spare rooms and rustled through some of the boxes they hadn't just yet unpacked. Grabbing the peroxide and bandages, she made her way back into the main room.

"But Derek," Cora was saying - only to be cut off.

"No, Cora," he snapped. "Not a word." Paige felt like she had missed the first part of whatever they were saying. She'd worry about it later - there were other things to get done right now. With knowledgeable hands, she cleaned, disinfected, and bandaged the wound. Derek didn't make a peep the entire time. Instead he kept his eyes closed and his face as neutral as possible.

Paige went to throw out the bloody tissues and Cora followed her for a glass of water for Derek.

"What happened?" Paige asked, tossing the tissues in the garbage.

"They showed up," Cora shrugged as she reached for a glass. Paige was getting annoyed by how well this girl knew the layout of their kitchen.

"And...?"

"And that's it," Cora snapped. She filled the glass up.

"Did they say what the fuck they wanted?"

"No," she turned off the water and tried to walk away. But Paige had heard the way her heart jumped. She was lying.

Paige reached out and grabbed her arm, twisting her back to face her. "You're lying," she accused.

"Let go of me," Cora said softly.

"Not until you tell me what they said," Paige insisted. Her grip tightened when all Cora did was scowl deeper. She almost looked like Derek in that light. In fact, her grip was so tight that the glass of water dropped from Cora's hand.

Before it could even shatter on the floor, Cora had already pulled away and taken a swing. Paige ducked it, letting it breeze right above her head. Then she turned around and let her leg fling out. It caught Cora right in the face, snapping her head to the side. Paige caught her footing and snapped a hand out to grasp her throat and push her against the kitchen wall while she was still dazed from the kick to the face. Her claws dug into the flesh of her neck hard enough to draw blood.

"Why did they come here?" Paige asked again, this time with a growl.

Cora kicked her flat in the stomach, causing her to let go and stumble back. Paige had not been expecting that amount of force behind the kick. As she caught her breath, she let go and shifted. If this bitch wouldn't tell her why these alphas had come into her home and had stuck a pipe into her mate, she was going to force the answer out of her.

Something sharp caught her neck and for a moment she felt her feet leave the ground. On instinct, she let herself go limp so that when she did land, it wouldn't cause too much damage. Her head hit the floor and blackness danced around her vision.

"Leave the room," Derek ordered.

Paige listened to Cora's footfalls as she beat a hasty retreat. Good riddance - Paige was beginning to truly dislike this girl. It didn't seem to matter that she was Derek's sister and therefore family - she was still a new source of annoyance for Paige. Gingerly, Paige pushed her stiff body into a sitting position - her joints protesting with each stretch of her body - and looked up.

Despite his injuries, Derek had made the trek into the kitchen and apparently had had enough energy to pick her up by the neck and toss her across the room. He leaned heavily onto the kitchen table and hugged his bandaged wound.

"You shouldn't be walking around," Paige accused.

Derek's expression didn't change so Paige stood up and reached out to help him back to their bed. He shifted a step away from her and shook his head.

"Don't ever attack my sister again," he told her, his voice dangerously low.

"She swung at me first!" Paige insisted.

"I don't care," he snapped. That was usually his tone of voice that indicated that the conversation was over, but he didn't move. Instead, his adam's apple bobbed in this throat like he was trying to make up his mind. Paige could feel the deep throb in her chest and knew he was projecting that emotion onto her, probably unintentionally. Why was he so upset?

"What did they want?" Paige finally asked. Derek said nothing, but the adam's apple stopped bobbing. She tried again. "Cora wouldn't tell me and I think you told her not to tell me so it must be important. What did they say?"

"I don't think we should see each other anymore," Derek responded instead. Every organ in her body dropped clear to her feet and she reached out to grab at the counter behind her.

"What?"

"I appreciate everything you've done for me, Paige," he told her. "But I think I was trying to turn you into something you're not and this relationship into something it isn't. After I lost my family, I wanted that kind of connection back and I believe I turned you into some kind of substitute. I turned the pack into a substitute family. But it was never the same - it was a weak projection of the family I had lost. And now I have my real family back - Cora is alive. I've realized that I couldn't substitute that, especially not with you. You abandoned your own family, after all."

Paige cut him off. "I didn't abandon them - I, I stayed here when they left. That's different. And I did it for you, Derek. I let them leave and I stayed for you, for this family!"

He shook his head. "It's only a matter of time before you leave this family too. This is destined to end up badly, anyway, Paige. You were always so young, so naive. You act like a child. The mate of an alpha can't be that immature. She can't attack the betas in the pack."

"She attacked me first!" Paige shouted back at him and then winced at how childish it sounded. Something about all of this felt so wrong - maybe how sudden it was, maybe the fact that her own pain was mingling just as strongly with Derek's in the core of her heart. But despite how wrong it felt, she still felt panicked and hurt. This was everything she had ever feared - losing Derek, whether because he died or he no longer wanted her. "Mates are for life," she tried in a small voice. "You can't just put me aside and pick another one."

"I don't want another one," he said emotionlessly. "I don't need another one. I could only be mated with someone I trusted, I've come to realize. And I don't trust anyone. I don't trust you. I never have and I never will." Paige nodded swiftly, because in her heart of hearts she knew he wasn't lying about that. He would never trust her and that was that and why the fuck had she stayed to begin with? Why had she thought that the longer she stayed with him, the more likely he would trust her? Her eyes started watering, but she didn't brush the tears away. It was like she couldn't move. Derek finally swallowed and said, "Trust is a big part of love. And if I can't trust you, I don't love you either."

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

But he didn't stop there. "To be perfectly honest, I don't think I mind the idea of one day having children," he confessed. "I know I fuck things up, but I'd be willing to have children if their mother was worthwhile. I just don't think - I mean, given how immature you are, how easily you gave up your family, and how I could never trust you - I don't want to have children with you."

They stood in silence for a few moments, both looking at each other but neither one actually seeing the other. Paige honestly had nothing to say.

All of that... everything Derek had said had been fears, regrets and insecurities Paige had held close to her heart. And then to hear Derek say them... to accuse her of abandoning her family, to tell her that she was too young, that he didn't trust her, that he would have children with another a woman, but not her. Everything she had secretly feared, and there was Derek, confirming it.

"I'll get you a ticket to Chicago," Derek finally broke the silence. "I don't want you here with the rest of the pack."

Paige nodded, again, numbly.

Swiftly Derek exited the kitchen. Paige spent a few more minutes situated against the counter, blinking at the brick wall opposite her. Finally, she wiped her eyes. She was nothing if not her father's daughter and a werewolf to boot - she would preserve as much dignity for herself as she could. She straightened her still-bloody clothing and squared her shoulders. While he was buying her ticket, she would change and pack up her things.

It was odd, she realized. When she had left her big empty house, she had had four boxes. When she had left the subway station, she had had only a suitcase. But here in the loft, she had built up a life. She had too many things to just fit in a suitcase so she left a lot of clothes for Cora, left a lot of pictures because she knew she wouldn't want the reminder, and she left her heart. It seemed like she didn't have a choice. Despite Derek not wanting her as a mate, they had still mated, they were still linked. Her heart would always be in this loft, with him.

Derek absently handed her the ticket he had printed out just as she finished packing.

Without a word, she took it and went outside to call a cab.

They didn't say goodbye.

The airport was crowded - it seemed she wasn't the only one desperate to get out of Beacon Hills. Paige should have been ashamed that all she had to her name was a carry-on bag full of clothing, but she really didn't care. Her entire life had just been dragged out from underneath her and every fear and insecurity she had had in her relationship with Derek had been used against her. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong, but what did it matter? She had stayed for the pack and now the alpha had confessed he truly didn't want her?

Paige took her bag and sat in the lounge, hoping that getting off her feet would calm her down.

Her phone rang.

Oh, she had forgotten about her phone. Technically it was Derek's - he had paid for it. Actually, he paid for everything in the relationship. Paige had never been uncomfortable with how financially dependent on him she had been, not until now. She still had a debit card in her wallet that connected to his bank account - she should get rid of that.

"Hello?" she answered the phone.

"Paige?"

"Isaac?"

"Where are you?"

She glanced around. Should she answer him honestly? It would be an injustice not to, she decided. "I'm at the airport," she told him. "I'm going back to Chicago. Derek and I broke up."

"What?" Isaac's voice hit up a note. "Why?"

"It just... wasn't working, I guess," she said softly. It hadn't been working for Derek, apparently.

Isaac was quiet for a bit before saying, "I guess a lot of things aren't working with Derek right now."

"What do you mean?" Paige leaned back farther in her chair.

"I was calling to see if you could talk some sense into him," he said. "I came home from school and he told me the living situation wasn't working, not now that Cora was there. He just told me to leave. I sold my dad's house, Paige. Derek had suggested it so that I could start saving up for college. I have nowhere to go."

"Calling all passengers for flight B302," the intercom squeaked.

Paige glanced up at the board with her flight schedule on it. Getting rid of Paige was one thing, she knew - especially if he truly felt like he could never trust her and could never love her. But getting rid of both Paige and Isaac in the same day was suspicious. She hoped Cora had nothing to do with that, otherwise Paige would have a few things to say to that girl. But truthfully, now that she was calmer, Paige was beginning to realize the visit with the alpha's had probably encouraged Derek to push them away. She had no clue why, but she certainly wasn't going to find anything out while in Chicago.

Well, fuck that.

Standing up, she grabbed her bag. "Hey, Isaac," she said. "Change of plans: I'm not going to Chicago."

"Okay..." Isaac trailed off. "Are we going to talk to Derek?"

"Nope," she decided as she walked away. "Do you think Boyd will take us in?"

"Not at all," he told her. "He won't even look me in the eye at school. What about Scott?"

Paige thought about it as she flagged down a cab. "He'll take you in, in a heartbeat."

"Not you?"

"No," she said as she hopped in the cab. She quickly made up her mind. Pressing the receiver of the phone against her collarbone, she told the cab driver, "Downtown, please." To Isaac she commanded, "Go to Scott's. Stay in school. I'll stay with Peter and I'll be around."

"Peter? Is that a good idea?"

No.

"Yes," she responded. "He's my werewolf uncle-in-law. He'll take me in, if only to tick off Derek when he finds out."

"If you're sure..."

"Yes," she decided. "We'll figure this out. The alphas came to the loft when I wasn't there. Neither Derek nor Cora would tell me what they wanted - but I'm willing to bet it's connected to how Derek is acting now."

"Don't make excuses for him," Isaac suddenly snapped. And then Paige wondered what exactly Derek had done or said to Isaac to make sure the boy wouldn't come back.

"Okay," she said softly. "No excuses."

"Be safe," Isaac told her.

"You, too," she replied. And then they hung up.

Paige used the Derek's debit card one last time to pay the cabby and then she used her claws to cut it up. It was time to cut herself off from needing him - in anyway.

Using her werewolf sense of smell, she tracked Peter to a building near the north side of the downtown area. It was pretty savvy and Paige really hoped he was using legal means to pay for it. He was on the third floor and he answered on her third knock.

"You're a long way from home," he noticed.

"The loft is only fifteen minutes from this place," she snarked. "Hardly a long way."

"Really? Because I was checking up on Derek's credit card history and it seems he bought a ticket to Chicago," Peter shot back, still leaning in the doorframe, immobile. "I'm assuming he was sending you away. And yet, here you are."

"If he thought it would be that easy, he was wrong," Paige informed him. "Also, I'm not going to ask why you have access to Derek's credit card history or how you've been using that access. You going to let me in?"

"What?" Peter glanced back into his apartment. "You think I'm going to let you stay here?"

"Yes," she said simply.

"That's rather presumptuous."

"Listen," Paige took a step closer. "Right now there is an alpha pack in Beacon Hills and they are not friendly at all. Today, they put a pole through Derek. A few days before, they tried to kill Derek and Scott using Boyd, your niece, and I as the weapons. A month before that, they kidnapped me. A few days before that, they killed one of Derek's betas. Two months before that, they kidnapped your niece and two betas from Derek's pack. Do you really think that so long as you're in this town, you're going to be left alone? You are a spineless, manipulative man who only looks out for himself. Surely you understand that eventually you won't be able to squirm out of the alpha's notice. Especially not if they think you want to become alpha after Derek."

"I won't be alpha after Derek," Peter reminded her. "You will be."

"That's beside the point. We work better together. We will survive better together. It's in your best interest to keep me around," she finished.

He looked her up and down. "Just so long as you remember that this isn't a kind act from my bleeding heart. This is self-preservation."

"Of course," Paige nodded. "I told you - you're a spineless, manipulative bastard."

Peter just chuckled and let her in.

"I expect you to pay rent," he informed her.

"That's fine - I was going to get a job anyways," she said, surveying the apartment. The building was pretty modern, but Peter's apartment was still pretty small - only one bedroom. Paige would be sleeping on the couch, it seemed. The whole apartment was littered with books, most of them old and dusty. But it still smelled pretty good.

Paige nodded after she was done looking around.

She could do this.

You're never gonna love me, so what's the use?

What's the point in playing a game you're gonna lose?

What's the point in saying you love me like a friend?

What's the point in saying it's never gonna end?