Author's Note: THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYZ, YOU'RE THE BEST! I knew I could count on you! Now, if only we could keep that up for the rest of the story... ;) I hope you all like this chapter!

Chapter 12

When Amy plopped her backpack down in the middle of the kitchen and was met with no greeting from Derek, it became quite clear that she was alone in the apartment. The silence was a far cry from the usual ruckus caused by her, Derek, and Isaac (and, sometimes, Scott and Stiles). Her solitude was both a relief and a cause for unease. On one hand, it meant that she didn't have to mask her internal panic, but, on the other, it meant that something could be wrong.

She shot him a quick text that read, I'm at home, where are you?

In the meantime, she figured she ought to start on her homework. Despite the fact that she was now well into the second half of her senior year (at which point slacking was more or less required), she had an inordinate amount to catch up on – not to mention, working would take her mind off of other things.

After a little over an hour, Amy had gotten through about seventy pages of the novel she was supposed to read, The Sun Also Rises. She still hadn't received a response from Derek, and she was growing concerned. She tried calling him but, as she'd anticipated, there was no answer; so, she decided to do what she always did when Derek wasn't around or she couldn't get in touch with him – she called Stiles.

"What up?" was his unexpectedly carefree reply. His tone, combined with the fact that she'd just been doing schoolwork, was a throwback to her first few months in Beacon Hills, before the proverbial shit had hit the fan and back when she had a normal life. She felt an excruciating pang of nostalgia and forced herself to avert her thoughts before she suffered another panic attack. God, she was an emotional wreck…

Her hands shook as she said, "Hey, um, is Derek with you by any chance?"

"Negative, why?"

"Because he's not here and I don't know where he is," she said, all in one short breath. "I texted him, but he didn't answer."

"You sound worried," he noted evenly, "Are you worried? I'm sure everything's fine. He said he was going to see Isaac today, right? I'm sure that's where he is. Last time I checked Derek's not the best with a cell phone… Or technology in general, for that matter – don't you remember the incident with your iPhone charger in his Android?"

Amy nodded grimly despite the fact that Stiles could not see her. The words that came to mind were 'Just because you can make it fit doesn't mean it's supposed to!' Luckily, he hadn't caused any permanent damage to either device.

"You're probably right, he did say he was going to visit Isaac," she conceded. "Just let me know if you hear from him, m'kay?"

"Yeah, sure, will do," he said dismissively. "By the way, I'm on my way to meet Scott at the vet's office, apparently he and his boss have something they want to discuss – really mysterious stuff, so once again I'm walking into a situation with absolutely no clue what to expect, which is always fun. I'll keep you updated – talk to ya later, Ames."

"Sounds good. Bye, Stiles." She hung up and, strangely, felt slightly calmer; Stiles seemed to have that effect on her.

After around twenty halfhearted minutes of doing math problems, there was a sudden knock at the downstairs door. Amy felt her entire body go rigid as a board. It obviously wasn't Derek because he wouldn't need to knock on the door to his own home, and she wasn't expecting anyone. The last time this had happened… The last time this had happened was the Gerard Incident.

Naturally, she made no move to answer the door and instead stayed stock-still in her seat. She was so tense that her pencil snapped between her fingers without warning, sending bits of wood everywhere. When she heard the noise again – this time more forcefully – she stood to look out the window. To her surprise, the person knocking was a woman that she didn't recognize. All Amy could tell from her downwards-looking vantage point was that she had sleek brown hair that was a bit lighter than her own due to a smattering of blondish highlights.

When she still refused to answer, the woman began banging again. "Hello," she said impatiently, "I'm looking for Derek Hale. I know someone's in there, I can hear you breathing."

Amy scrunched her nose, confused. She was on the second story – the only way someone would be able to hear her breathing was if…

If they were a werewolf, she realized abruptly.

Now thoroughly intrigued, she began to tiptoe down the staircase with the utmost caution. She knew it was probably stupid, but why would an unfamiliar female werewolf be looking for Derek? She had to get to the bottom of this...

When she appeared at the door and opened it, the woman looked taken aback. Now that she had time to scrutinize her, Amy noticed she was breathtakingly beautiful and looked to be several years older than she was, probably around Derek's age. The most prominent features on her square face were her large, chocolate-colored doe eyes and full, heart-shaped lips. Her skin was unseasonably tan, which suggested some sort of exotic heritage. Once she caught a whiff of her scent, Amy's suspicions were confirmed: she was also a werewolf, and Amy was one-hundred-percent certain that she didn't like her.

"Oh," the woman gasped. "You're not Derek at all."

"No, I'm not," Amy said bluntly, stifling the urge to roll her eyes. "Who are you?"

"My name's Lyssa Alvarez," she said in a bubbly tone, sticking her hand out for Amy to shake. The latter simply eyed it mistrustfully and offered no introduction of her own. When it became obvious that Amy was not going reciprocate her friendliness, she withdrew her hand awkwardly.

"What do you want?"

'Lyssa' seemed flustered, but recovered quickly. "I'm looking for Derek Hale," she said. "Do you know where I can find him?"

Amy crossed her arms over her chest and leant against the doorway. "That depends on why are you looking for him," she stated.

Lyssa finally seemed to grow weary of Amy's standoffish demeanor and placed her hands firmly on her hips. "I'm sorry," she said edgily, "I didn't catch your name."

"That's because I never told it to you," she drawled with equivalent sass. "I'm Amy, and Derek's not here."

"Do you know when he'll be back? I really need to talk to him, it's important…"

"I don't know when he'll be back, but if you let me know why you're looking for him, maybe I can help." The way she offered this, though, suggested nothing of the sort.

"I'd rather not talk out here – it's a bit of a sensitive topic, if you catch my drift…"

Clearly, she was looking to be invited inside; Amy humored her. "I guess you can come in," she allowed, stepping aside so she could enter the building. She followed her up the stairs to the door to her apartment and Amy gave this strange woman another scornful once-over before stepping through the threshold.

"So, how do you know Derek," Amy interrogated the moment they made it inside.

"Oh, I don't," she sputtered. She seemed almost apologetic for having misled Amy. "I've never met him, I've only heard about him."

Now, she was even more perplexed. Brows knitted together, she asked, "Then why are you here?"

"I'm here to warn him – I'm from a few towns over, and just a couple of days ago my entire pack was slaughtered by hunters. I'm the only survivor."

"What hunters?"

"It's the Grimm family, and they're headed this way. I desperately need a pack and I heard that Derek is the Alpha in this area, so I was going to ask if I could join…"

Amy was still hung up on the hunter comment. "The Grimm family? Like the Brothers Grimm? Are you serious?"

"Yeah," she said sadly. "Strange, I know… I couldn't believe it either. I'm kind of new to all this, actually, but my packleader warned us against becoming omegas, hence why I'm here."

"I assure you you're not as new as I am," Amy said wryly under her breath.

"Are you one of Derek's packmembers?" she asked.

"Yeah. I was turned a little over a month ago, so I'm super new to all this."

"Oh, wow. I've been like this for a couple of years, but there's still so much that I don't know."

"Tell me about it," she mumbled. Amy suddenly caught herself becoming too familiar with this woman, and scowled to herself. Despite the fact that she seemed easy enough to talk to, she refused to trust her.

"So… When do you think Derek will be back?" she questioned uncomfortably. Amy's instinctual dislike for her radiated throughout the apartment like a thick fog, and Lyssa would have been an awfully incompetent werewolf not to notice it. There was something distinctly territorial about it, which she found interesting; she suspected Amy was more than just Derek's packmember.

"I was telling the truth when I said I don't know," she confessed. "Hopefully it'll be soon, though."

Then, in a sequence of events that seemed impossibly coincidental, the two girls' keen sense of hearing detected someone trudging up the fire escape – it was undoubtedly Derek. Clad in his customary leather jacket and a pair of jeans, he slid through the window that bridged the living room and the kitchen.

"What's going on here? Who are you?" he asked accusatorily. He had experienced a rush of alarm associated with the need to protect Amy when he realized that she was not alone in the apartment, but this sentiment was subdued slightly when he saw that there was no ostensible danger.

"My name is Lyssa Alvarez," she said eagerly. "I came here looking for you – you must be Derek Hale, right?"

He eyed her with a wary expression that was identical to the one Amy had used when the woman first introduced herself. "I am," he allowed.

"You're the Alpha in this town, right?"

"I am," he repeated. "Why?"

"I was just explaining it to Amy," she said, recounting what she had told the girl in question several minutes prior to his arrival.

When she was finished, Derek's eyebrows were knotted together in confusion as he said, "The Grimm family never ventures this far west – they operate exclusively on the East Coast." Clearly, he was not buying her tale.

"Something must have changed," she insisted sincerely. "I know you both must feel it too…" she trailed off cryptically.

"Feel what?" Amy interrupted with annoyance.

"Like something big is about to happen. It's like this tug in the pit of your stomach and you don't know exactly why, but you just feel it."

Amy and Derek locked eyes – they did feel it. They'd been feeling it since he became the Alpha, since Gerard arrived in Beacon Hills. It was during this moment of silent understanding that Lyssa became absolutely certain that the two of them were far more than just an Alpha and his packmember; furthermore, she could sense that they believed her, even if they didn't want to.

"So, you want to join my pack," Derek stated coolly. "Obviously, you're going to have to prove your loyalty."

"Of course," she agreed, nodding keenly. "I'll do whatever you want."

At this, Amy bristled visibly. Derek, however, was unfazed. "I'll discuss it with my other packmembers before I tell you just what you'll have to do. Are you staying in Beacon Hills?"

"Yeah, I'm staying at a motel in town. Here's my number, so you can contact me." She dug a thin slip of paper out of her pocked and handed it to him, and it irked Amy to no end that she'd had it ready to go.

As she started towards the door, she turned to them and gushed, "Thank you so much for this opportunity. I promise you I won't disappoint you."

Arms crossed, Amy only uttered, "We'll see." And then, without further ado, Lyssa was gone.

Author's Note: So, picture Lyssa as Leighton Meester (Blair from Gossip Girl, one of my favorite actresses lol). What do you guys think of her/the chapter in general? And I'm sorry that the whole pregnancy scare thing wasn't really discussed much, but there will be time for that in the future ;) I'd really love to have as much feedback as last time! Love you all!