AN: Sorry this has taken so long.

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Jamie sighed as he sat at home that night. Stiles and Issac were staying with Erica tonight. Emily had asked for the key to Peter's place so she could get something from there for the kids tomorrow. Jamie felt like he should ask questions but after the trying day they had all just had he decided to let it slide. Besides he really didn't want Stiles in the house when he was talking to Maybele. Not that there is anything wrong with her and goodness knows Stiles loves the loon. BUT Jamie also knew that what he was going to ask her about would be warped by his sons over active imagination. They had just gotten Stiles to stop telling everyone... EVERYONE... that Peter was a dragon. What he would come up with next was anyones guess.

So after a single fortifying shot of liquor Jamie picked up the phone.

"Jamie, is everything alright?" the lady on the other end of the line asked with concern.

He sighed and told her all about Izzy and her condition. Then had to spend another 20 minutes telling her about Stiles and the other kids, before he was finally able to get down to the root of his call.

"So you have been looking into this fire?" She asked, and he made agreeing nosies. "That happened years ago?"

"Ummhumm"

"To a man Haravat all but adopted?"

"Yes Maybele." Jamie said exasperated.

"Ok..." She drug out the word. "And you have the audacity to call my herbal shop weird."

Jamie ran his hand down his face in an effort to not hang up and/or cuss in frustration. "Yes I'm a hypocrite now can you please tell me if there is any weir... wicca... stuff" He said waving his hand regardless of if she could see it or not. "about the ash I found?"

"Well I highly doubt they were using it for medical purposes." She tried to joke, Jamie scrubbed his face again. "The Rowan family of trees have always been symbols of protection especially against witchcraft. There is one book..." She trailed off and began digging. "Here it is. Rings and perfect circles are know as great protection from evil. But a ring of Mountain Ash lain by with noble purpose can neither be broken or crossed by anything inhuman.(1)" She read out.

"So it it for protection?" HE sighed. "The Hale's are an old family. It was probably one of their superstitions." Jamie had hoped that the ash would be the break in the case he'd been looking for. The only other lead he had was the new Spanish teacher had left the day after the fire.

"Maybe. Either that or the people setting the fire thought they were inhuman. From what I've read a ring of mountain ash was used to trap witches in there homes during the 15th century.(1)" She told him.

He nodded with another sigh. It still felt like a defeat having gotten his hopes up. "I'll look into it. Thanks Maybele. Maybe you could come down and stay for a few weeks. Stiles would love it... and Izzy... She hasn't got much longer." He told her choking up.

"Isabella is strong. She'll be ok. Let me take care of the shop then I'll be right down. Take care Jamie." She added softly before they ended the call.

Jamie drug himself up the stairs and collapsed into a sobbing mess. He was alone for the first time in over a month and he finally just let all the hurt and pain of Izzy's decline and approaching sweep over him. He lay there weeping over all the time they were suppose to have. The daughter and second son they'd planned. Though he loved Issac to bits Jamie still wished Izzy could have given him more children. He fell into a deep but uneasy sleep. In the morning he woke with the sound of a mournful howl ringing in his ears and the memory of flashing blue eyes and white fangs.

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Emily lay in bed the next morning just starring at the ceiling. Even after a good nights sleep she still couldn't forget the image of Peter's eyes or the sound of his whine in her head.

'There's no such things as werewolves.' She thought. 'Surely someone would know if a whole family... pack...? of them were in town.' The Hale's were pretty private people but she'd see Talia and the other Hale ladies shopping in town, down at the farmers market, doing all kinds of normal human things. IT was impossible to believe that they could be supernatural creatures. Like something strait out of the mind of Stephen King, or Dram Stoker.

She finally decided to get up and face the day. Even if all they did today was annoy a few people it would put this nonsense to rest once and for all. How a quadriplegic man was going to tell them which number to call she had no clue. But if it brought Stiles as measure of piece with his mothers fast approaching demise then she would sit there and call every number in that book.

That decided she headed down to get her family's breakfast started. When the kids told David what they were doing he looked at her. A whole conversation passed between the two before he nodded. It was for the kids so he didn't object to bothering a few strangers.

So just after they had eaten and dress her and the 4 kids headed for Peter's home to get the Rolodex. Emily sighed when she saw the thing there had to be over 100 numbers in there. Looking at all the names, some with multiple numbers, she hoped he was a werewolf, or hell a dragon, just so she didn't have to make good on her personal pledge to call each one.

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Izzy looked at Emily inquisitively. It was Sunday, the kids were rarely up and here this early. "They are now convinced Peter is a werewolf and that in his contacts," She held them up "Is another that will turn you and the change will cure your cancer." Emily explained.

Izzy's eye went soft and tears gathered in them. "Oh Haravat, Issac." She said holding out her arms. The two boys rushed to her and hugged her gently. In the past couple of weeks she'd become so weak that if she was grabbed or hugged very hard she would bruise. Issac had cried himself sick after he'd bruised her neck from clasping her. "Boys. I know it's hard but there is no miracle cure for my..."

She was cut off by a deep rumbling growl. They all looked at Peter's bed. He was still supine but his eyes were beta blue and turned toward her. His head was in Erica's lap where she had placed it and had been brushing his hair.

"See mom." Stiles said with Scott and Issac nodding in agreement. Izzy's mouth just hung open while Emily clutched the Rolodex. After several heart beats the growl morphed into a whine as Peter slowly turned his eyes to Emily. He could smell her fear. She was standing there between the two beds terrified. But he took it as a good sign that she was even there. That she hadn't taken the kids, or at least Erica, and fled.

"Mom what's the matter?" Erica asked when Peter whined while looking at her.

"I... I just..." She looked down at the floor "I can't believe all this. I've had a whole day to go over it in my head, but I just can't. Werewolves? How can any of that be real? The Hale's were NORMAL people. They had jobs and their kids went to school. Someone would have noticed if the kids and Peter took off school every full moon." She said sitting on the end of Izzy's bed.

"People did notice." Issac said softly sitting beside Izzy. There was the soft mechanical noise of both beds being raised and Erica and Scott settling on either side of Peter before he continued. "That's what happened isn't it Uncle Peter? Evil people found out."

"Werewolf hunters." Stiles interjected.

Issac nodded. "And they hated that you guy were here and alive so they killed them. They tilled our family because they were werewolves."

The ladies were silent with tears in their eyes. Izzy hugged her boys close the way Issac spoke of the supposed hunters broke their heart. There was several long moments of silence as everyone thought about it. Then it was broken by a mournful howl running through their pack bonds. They all looked at Peter and found tears running from his eyes. Even though he was saddened Peter was also thrilled that Issac had casually claimed all Peter's old pack as family.

Stiles jumped down and rushed to him. He sat in the man's lap and wrapped his arms tight around him. "Don't you worry Uncle Peter. I promise that as soon as Mom gets better we'll find the people that did this and throw then in a prison worse than Azkaban. And if there isn't one we'll build one just for them."

"YEAH!" Erica and Scott chorused hugging him as well.

"We'll find some dementors." Erica told him "And make them relive all the bad things they have ever done."

"Yeah." Scott said. "Then we'll have Uncle Jamie talk at them in his disappointed voice." He added causing both ladies to chuckle. Scott was so innocent. With all that had happened to the other children before they had come together, they had matured much faster than him. He was so sweet the whole dysfunctional little family were glad Scott hadn't seen the evil in the world just yet.

Another silence fell as Emily put down the contacts and stood to gently wipe away the tears from Peter's face. She them kissed his temple. "I'm not scared of you Peter. And if that is true we will do everything in our power to protect you and bring down the people that killed your family. Now." She said with a finality pulling out her phone "How are we going to know which numbers to call?"

"We can say a letter then Uncle Peter can growl if it's right." Erica suggested. Her and Stiles were defiantly strategists. But Stiles tended toward more WAY out of the box solutions while Erica's were more practical.

It took a long time as they were saying the alphabet slowly so Peter's with his delayed reaction time could respond. Finally they got the letters Burk, and Emily called out Burkhart, that was the only name with those letters. "But which one there are several here. Hattie, Nickole, John, Mary Ann, Cora." she listed quickly.

"Say them slow like with the letters." Scott suggested.

His eyes flashed when she said the name Nickole. "Nickole it is." Emily said dialing. Peter closed his eyes this was exhausting. He'd not done so much before. But his new pack were here and needed him. What was a little tiredness compared to protecting a pack-mate that had already put herself in danger protecting him?

"Hello is this Nickole Burkhart?" Emily asked as the phone was answered.

"Yes, and this is?" the young lady on the other end of the phone asked politely.

"Hi, about that..." Emily blushed darkly. "This may sound a bit strange."

"It's alright. Just tell me what's going on." The lady said kindly.

Emily was a bit surprised at the calm patience in this persons voice. "Well, my daughter and her friends have adopted a man by the name of Peter Hale..."

"Peter!" She exclaimed. "He's still alive! I... I thought... the fire..." She trailed off sadly.

"He's alive. He's in a vegetative state, but he's not on life-support. Over 50percent of his body is covered in burns and he's all most unresponsive." She explained

"What do you mean almost?" The lady asked

"Well. That's where it gets strange. Last night there was a man here, one that we all think meant Peter ill. And after he left we... he heard, in our heads, Peter growling, and his eyes turn an unnatural blue." She explained feeling like a loon.

"Peter if this is true respond aloud." There was a thread of command in her voice that had Emily's spine straiten. Peter let out a low rumbling eyes flashing again, the sound seemed to move through them even as it trailed into a whine. Emily didn't know how, or even how she knew, but there was a message in that noise.

"Put me on speaker please." Nickole asked. Emily did so laying the phone on the table between the beds.

"How did he hear you?" she asked not raising her voice.

"Werewolves have very good hearing. They can pick out pack members by the beat of their heart. Though most bitten wolves believe it is that heart beat they follow when hunting for a lost pack-mate it's not. They are subconsciously following their pack bonds which thrum not unlike a heart beat." She explained. "Why have you called me now?"

"We met Peter here in the hospital because my daughter became friends with a cancer patient's son. Over the past couple of years we have all grown very close. Peter and Isabella now share a room and the kids call him their Uncle. Isabella's cancer is growing worse by the day and when the kids figured out Peter was a... werewolf they demanded that we find a way to turn her as a cure for her illness." Emily explained still feeling silly talking to someone about this.

"Yeah." Stiles said. Can you help us?"

Nickole chuckled. "Who's that?"

"I'm Stiles..." He paused getting a flash of red in his mind. "What's the red mean?" He asked looking at the man instinctively knowing it was from Peter.

"Red? What red?" Nickole asked

"In my head, there was just red."

"Was it from Peter?"

"Yeah. Do you know what it means?"

"Yes I do. You said Peter's eyes turned blue. Well there are three colors of werewolf eyes. Blue, gold and red. Red means alpha while the other two are betas or omegas. If Peter flashed a red at you that likely means you are the alpha of your pack."

"Why Stiles?" Izzy asked. "I'm Isabella, Peter's room mate by the way."

"You mean because he's a kid?" Nickole asked the mothers made agreeing noises. "It's not something that depends on age, or even maturity. Alpha's like Stiles and I are born leaders. When placed in group projects other members will instinctively look to us for guidance. The other children, they follow him like ducklings correct?"

"Yes. How did you know that?" Emily asked.

"It's because of Peter. Even though they are human their primal instincts are enhanced by being in a wolf pack. Since they are children they embrace the heightened senses though there are likely noticeable changes in you as well if you take a step back and look at who you were before meeting Peter. It's a slow change that happens over several months as your pack bonds grow and strengthen.

"Sorry to cut this off here, but I have a class in... 15 minutes" She said in shock. "I'll call you back at this number and we can arrange a day for me and a couple betas to come out and teach you more about all this. For now avoid wolves bane and pure silver. Any immediate questions you need answered?"

"There was a man that came by yesterday. He lied about how he knew Peter, I think he may have been a threat." Izzy told her.

"Hum... IF the guy was human there's not much you can do about a hunter, if that's what he was. But to keep out any supernatural creatures, get some mountain ash and put it over door ways and window sills and things of that nature. Now I really have to go."

"Thank you so much you have been beyond helpful." Izzy said ending the call.

After a drawn out pause Emily giggled. "Werewolves." She then dissolved into laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of it. Izzy joined her in giggles.

Stiles looked from Peter to the others. "Mom's are weird." Erica and Scott nodded which only made the two ladies laugh harder.

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AN: Sorry for the wait... and the shortness. But there was more action in this chapter.

Before anyone asks: Nickole was so trusting because they called on her personal number which few people know. She could hear their heartbeats so they weren't lying and Peter's growl let her know he trusted these people. And Stiles saying he could receive information through the bonds solidified her trust in these people.