Hola! So glad those of you how faved, followed and reviewed the story thus far approve of it – I aim to please after all Anyhow, here's Chapter 2 with the appearance of more familiar faces.

Enjoy and review responsibly!

XoxoxoxoxoX

Time seemed to move quickly in Beacon Hills and for that I was grateful. Some towns lagged behind regular time, both mentally and literally, so this was refreshing. The people of the town were friendly enough but still distant as Nick and I were, after all, the newly arrived strangers in a town full of strange people.

Nick was enjoying his time at the hospital with Melissa, who was still struggling apparently to come to terms with her son's condition so Nick more than a little overwhelmed her when he told her one day that he and his adoptive sister had a similar affliction and if she had any questions to come and ask us. She's been texting the both of us at least three times a day since.

Working with Deaton was much more satisfying than I could have hoped for. Of course, it was sad working around dying animals occasionally but Deaton and I healed them as best we could, even taking away some of their pain temporarily. I still felt a tear to my eye every time it had to be done. We fell into an easy, unspoken camaraderie and thankfully no subject of how we came to know one another was ever brought up to fill the sometimes quiet voids in the clinic. That was something neither of us wanted to relive any time soon.

The only constant since we had arrived were the nightly glimpses of a beta's eyes through the shrubs, bushes and trees, their scents lingering and making no effort to conceal the fact that they were there. It had almost become a sort of amusement for Nick and I of an evening, sitting in the dark of one of our rooms, watching the window intently and then trying to guess who our little stalker for the night would be. So far there had been four constant nightly companions making appearances; three boys and a girl, all of whom seemed to be in their late teens. One memorable occasion had us witness a fleeting vision of red Alpha eyes and where Nick fell off his bed in shock. The scent that lingered afterward was uber-masculine; all burnt wood, old leather and pine with some cologne underneath it all that actually had Nick shouting after his retreating footfalls, "Hey, wait a minute! Where can I buy that cologne you're wearing? Help a brother out!" I sat stock still, just listening to the steady heart beat fade as something tick over in my mind…and in my core…the familiarity of the scent, like home that you hadn't seen in a while. This was all completely ridiculous, of course! I simply put it down to lack of gentleman attention and thought nothing more of it. Every night when the young eyes returned, I made the same entreaty to them as I had the first night: we were of no threat, we were here to help and if they had their doubts to ask Deaton on the subject. Whether they had asked Deaton or he had gone to them, I don't know. I never mentioned attempting contact and he never mentioned a follow up from the local pack. But despite all of this, they had left as mostly alone and no attempts to come any closer than the boundary of our house and the woods had been made.

With all the being said, it was why I found myself crouching low after coming home from a long day at the clinic to find an unfamiliar scent in my home. I was alone and Nick would not be home for hours yet, having been assigned the graveyard shift at the hospital with Melissa. I felt my eyes change as I inhaled deeply, trying to figure out which wolf it could be. To my surprise, it was a human; a human teenage boy who smelt quite similar to the wolves playing spy games in the woods. A human in a wolf pack? There's a new one. I could hear the frantic boy's heart beating out of his chest in the direction of the kitchen, thinking he was about to be ripped to shreds by an ambushed she-wolf Alpha. I stood up straight again and chuckled. Now this was all getting a little too ridiculous, even for me. I figured that I may as well put the poor kid out of his misery. I switched all the lights in the house on and spoke as loudly as I could.

"I know you're in here, kid. Look, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise but could you maybe come out and explain why you're breaking into my home at almost 11pm?"

I made my way to the kitchen and found, indeed, there was the boy on the floor starring up at me with cautious eyes. He couldn't be any older than the others, seventeen at most, with short dark brown hair and wide brown eyes that look like they were about to pop out of his head. Kind of adorable, in a twitchy way. I sink down on my haunches so we were at the same level. He was still so nervous, I could practically smell it so I offered him a kind smile and extended my hand.

"While you're lucky it's not closer to a full moon and I didn't go full-on Alpha on you, this really isn't how I wanted to be introduced to the members of the pack around here. I'm Scarlett by the way, Scarlett Keats. And you are?"

Slowly but without hesitation, the kid took my hand and gave it a firm shake. "Stiles Stilinski."

"You're the sheriff's kid? And you run with wolves? Huh, interesting. Come on, get up off the floor, there's no need to be crouching in a corner anymore. Maybe you can get some answers you've obviously been sent here for and you can answer some questions of my own. Want anything to eat? I'm starved."

I stood up again and made my way to the pantry.

"PB'n'J would be great, actually." I heard a significantly more enthusiastic reply.

"Coming right up." The room was silent as I made our sandwiches but somehow it wasn't uncomfortable. It was odd, the young human completely unafraid and relaxed in a strange and unknown Alpha's kitchen, looking around with interest at the house and at me. I handed him his share of the food and we began to tuck in. "So, care to explain why you're breaking and entering on a school night?"

"Well," Stiles began as he gulped down a mouth full of bread. "Boyd and Eric were called home by their parents; Isaac was staying back with Derek and Peter for more training and Lydia, Jackson, Scott and Allison were all out on a double date, so Derek decided to send me instead. And don't worry about the breaking and entering thing; it comes in handy when your father is the sheriff of this town."

I frowned a little in contemplation. "So Derek, who I'm assuming is the Alpha here," Stiles nodded in agreement so I continued. "Couldn't be bothered sparing one of his betas to do this and sent a human in without any protection in a house with two werewolves? Doesn't seem like the brightest bulb in the box really. Or the most responsible either."

"He has his fleeting moments of brilliance but you're right. I politely asked him to send someone else or even do this himself but there was some sort of threat made about teeth and my throat and painful deaths, a lot of growling involved and I kind of zoned out after that. He's such a sour wolf sometimes."

I had to giggle at that. Heh, sour wolf. "So what exactly did he send you here to do anyway? No offense, Stiles, but you're not exactly a threat to me or to my brother. What did this Derek hope to accomplish with you coming here?"

"Oh, he seems to think it's a little too suspicious that he can't immediately see anything wrong with the two of you and thought maybe there'd be some incriminating evidence in your house, like the basement out of Saw type shit. But I've been here a good hour and was just about to get out when you get home."

"And?"

"And what?"

"Any incriminating evidence?" I asked slyly.

Stiles laughed. Something about this kid I liked; maybe he reminded me of a young Nicholas, without the flamboyancy. "Nope, nothing! And more than a little disappointed to find no basement with chains and the like. Not even any kinky lingerie lying around! What kind of she-wolf are you?"

"So sorry to disappoint you, I'll try harder next time."

"See that you do. So, can I ask, what are you doing in Beacon Hills anyway? You're not some secret spy for the Alpha Pack are you?"

"I think if I was a spy I probably would have murdered your ass and buried you in a shallow grave out back already so no, I'm not. Besides, I'm here as a favor to an old friend, Deaton."

"The vet?" Stiles asked surprised. I nodded. "That guy is just a barrel full of mysteries! Derek doesn't completely trust him, even though his mom used to go to Deaton for were-advised before…well, I won't go into it. I like my throat in its un-disfigured state, thank you very much. How does he know you and your brother and why did he ask you here? Derek damn near went on a rampage when he found out."

I was starting to not like this Derek character more and more. Seriously, threatening someone like Deaton and then forcing Stiles, A HUMAN FOR GOD'S SAKE, to do his dirty work? Wow, just wow. And not the good kind of 'wow'! My face must have darkened a little, judging by the apprehensive look that flitted across Stiles' face.

"We have some…history together, you could say. He helped me and Nick in a time of great need and neither of us would probably be alive without him or others like him. I won't go into it either. I like your throat un-disfigured as well." There's that insane smile again! "But about three months ago, Deaton asked as to move here, saying something about wanting us close by just in case. We had no idea about the pack here or the other Alphas that seem to be stalking around until the day we moved here and we weren't terribly impressed with him ourselves. Deaton wants us to help you get rid of them; that is, if our help will be accepted. Nick and I, well, we have experience with packs like this one and that's why Deaton called us in. He thinks we can be of value to your pack but," I made a vague sweeping gesture. "Since sour wolf out there has done nothing except stalk the woods at night, we haven't exactly lived up to our potential yet."

Stiles nodded slowly, taking all the information in, probably to relay to Derek when he left. I hoped that maybe once he heard what Stiles had to say he would stop sending teenagers to stalk my home and lay off, either to leave us in peace for good or to accept our help so we could all move past this. But judging from what I've heard about the resident Alpha, a smooth compromise seems unlikely. "So…you're not here to fight over territory?"

I sighed exasperatedly. "God, no! Honestly, I never understood why other Alphas, particularly males, think that any wolf with red eyes is ready to slit a throat to get more land. There's only my brother and I and we're certainly not looking to expand the pack anytime soon. Besides, why fight for space when you can move around freely? A lot less hassle than losing an arm because someone pissed on a tree that you pissed on first."

"Charming image."

"Thanks, I thought so too. But when you've dealt with enough male Alphas in your time, you tend to see a pattern. It's either fight for land or fight for mateship to increase power. Another long story. You might want to leave that little euphemism out though; your Alpha seems like kind of humorless son of a bitch that wouldn't appreciate a girl making fun of a man's territorial nature."

"Noted." Stiles replied with a smirk. Suddenly his phone began to buzz and hum in his pocket and he looked at the screen nervously, unsure whether to answer it or not.

"Derek?" I guessed. Stiles nodded apprehensively again, fingers twitching between answering the call and hanging up. "Give me the phone. I think I need to give this guy a piece of my mind first." I plucked the phone quickly out of Stiles' hand before hitting the answer button.

"Stiles –" Came the authoritative grumble down the phone before I cut him off.

"Hello," I began sickly sweet and hyper-feminine. "This is Beacon Hills Circumcision, you flop 'em, we chop 'em, how may I direct your call this evening?"

Stiles looked like he was either going to fall flat on his face laughing or wet himself in fear over what this Alpha will do as punishment for allowing this to happen. He settled on poorly concealing snickers behind his hand, eyes wide with mirth.

"What the fuck? Who the hell is this? Where is Stiles?" Derek growled viciously down the phone.

"Down boy," I chastised, sweet tone still in place. "Mr. Stilinski is perfectly fine, you know, considering you sent him, a human, to break in my, an Alpha's, home in the middle of the night. Not a particularly bright plan but you're just lucky I happen to like the kid. If it had been anyone else, say, your charming self, then they may have not been so lucky. Seriously, what kind of stupid ass stunt were you trying to pull? Are you trying to get your pack killed?"

"I did mention that sending Stiles was a bad idea –"

"Shut up, Peter!"

"Well, he did. So did I, matter of fact."

"ISAAC!"

Stiles was still trying, and failing miserably to conceal his laughter, his whole body shaking and I'm not trying to hide one bit how absolutely pathetically hilarious this whole situation was. Whatever. I will probably pay for this later but right now I felt as though I'm getting my own back from an Alpha I'd never met for a boy who broke into my house. Felt good.

"Amusing as this is to listen to; I should probably let you all go. I'll send Stiles on his way, safe and sound, and you can go back to…well, growling I guess, that's all I can hear right now. But please keep this in mind, Derek. My brother and I are not here to fight you. We are here to help you fight the Alpha Pack and whether you accept that help is up to you. It's been three weeks now, we're not a threat to you and you know this. Accept our help and you can stop spying on us. Don't accept out help; we get to live here in peace without being harassed every damn night. Until you decide then, Derek, good night." And with that I hung up the phone.

Stiles now let loose a roar of laughter, doubling over and pounding the tiles on the floor with his fist while I clutched at my stomach. This situation shouldn't be so funny but it was, like two little kids prank calling the cranky old man down the street. After a good ten minutes we both come up for air panting and giggling between breaths. I smiled warmly over at Stiles.

"You'd best be on your way. Not that tonight hasn't been peachy and all, but I'd rather not have the big, bad wolf barging down my door because he can't take a joke."

"You don't know the half of it! But I'll probably be missing a head the next time you see me, he sounds pissed."

"That he did. Oh well, just tell him I overpowered you. After all, I am a werewolf so while it's still a lie, at least it's a plausible one." I suggested as we walked towards the door. How had I not noticed the old, beat-up jeep across the road before?

"Good idea. Say, can I get your number? I mean, forward, yeah, I know, but you seem like an awesome person and even if Derek doesn't want you at the 'lair' then at least I can introduce you to the others another time. I think we're gonna need someone like you around, whether Derek thinks so or not."

A little overcome by the sweet, jittery kid in front of me I gave him a quick hug before letting go. Now I wasn't the only one a little overcome, I could smell it on him. I snatched his phone out of his hand again and quickly typed my number into the contacts list before handing it back to him.

"Take care of yourself Stiles; I guess I'll be seeing you around."

"You too, Scarlett. I'll see you later." And with a parting salute he took off for his jeep, starting it after a few spluttering tries and then driving noisily down the street. I went back inside the house and closed the door, leaning against it. What a night! I would certainly have a story to tell Nicholas when he arrived home.

XoxoxoxoX

"You did what?!" Nick cried in disbelief. I sat on the couch more than a little stunned at his reaction as he flung his arms about wildly. I had thought that he would have sat with me and had a good laugh at the inept Alpha's expense and be happy that I had made friend in Stiles but apparently I was very wrong. Suddenly I was the eleven year old being screamed at for breaking his Spice Girls CD…even then all the signs that Nick would grow up to be a little more 'creative' than the other boys were there.

"Calm down, would you? Look, if anything I think that Sir Sour Wolf knows that I'm not taking this as seriously as he thinks we should be and therefore it eliminates us as a threat in his eyes. I don't see why you're getting so worked up over it!"

"You don't see?" Nick exclaimed, eyes flashing icy blue. Shit was about to get real. "How can you NOT see, Scarlett?! What you did was completely stupid! So yeah, he might not think we're a threat anymore but how are we supposed to be of any help to the pack now? Or to Deaton? Not only that, you could have put us in real danger!"

Okay, now I was up standing, glaring at my brother angrily. No, not me; I understood that what I had done was stupid and childish and possibly life threatening but the she-wolf? No, she was proud and was itching for more. And she did not take kindly to a beta talking down to her like she was a child. I felt the rumble of dissent echo in my chest before I suppressed it. No need to wreck the house over a stupid argument.

"Oh really?" I snapped back at him. "And how, pray tell, have I put us in danger?"

"You goaded an Alpha who is already weary of us in HIS territory! Do you not understand that? After all this time? For God's sake Scar, you SHOULD know better than this! What if you took it too far, huh? What if he's waiting for the right opportunity to take you down, take both of us down just because you don't agree with his managerial style? Does it sound like it was worth taking him down a peg now?"

No, you're right. "YES! It was worth it! And if Derek had wanted to kill us he would have done so already! If a seventeen year old human boy can break into our home without any assistance, how well do you think we'd fair against him? Or his betas? Huh? We wouldn't! It was harmless fun and you know what? If he doesn't accept our help then fine! It's his war and frankly I'd be pleased if he didn't drag us into it and get us killed in the process. You said it yourself, Nicholas, this town holds infinite possibilities for us; I'm simply exploring some of them, even if it means messing with a subpar Alpha!"

Nick growled and paced up and down a little more. His canines had descended, rendering his lovely olive face almost unrecognisable. Normally i would have rushed forward, pressed my small hands into his face and soothed him until he was my handsome brother again, until no more of the wolf showed on his face. But my own wolf was rather affronted that her beta, her offsider and a person so much lower on the wolf scale than herself thought he could get away with growling at her like she was some wimpy omega. Without warning, like having an outer body experience, I felt my clawed hand extended with lightening velocity to wrap viciously around his throat, throwing him against the wall with fangs beared and eyes flashing murderously.

"I will not tolerate being talked down too Nicholas; not by you and not by anyone. I am the Alpha of this pack, small as it is, and it is not up to you to question my authority. Do so again and you will feel the full extent of my displeasure." She growled out, the sound rough and inhuman. She grinned wolfishly and vindictive as Nick's face slowly and painfully transformed back to its human state, brown eyes bulging slight, breathing laboured. And that's when I took back over again. I pulled the she-wolf inwards to that dark space in me where she resided, not without some reluctance, her urge to fight still lingering in my veins. I promptly dropped Nick to the floor as he gasped for breath and I stood there in shock. It had been so long since I had lost control of myself, especially with Nick, and I realised how serious now this all truly was. Two lone wolves in a town run by a moody and irritable Alpha already under threat by God knows how many other Alphas and I had just pissed him off even more.

"Oh God, what have I done?!" I cried out, tears flowing down my face. I dropped to my knees and crawled over to Nick, drawing his head under my chin and rocking him back and forward as his breathing and heart rate evened out. "Nick, I'm so sorry! You're right, you were right! I've fucked up; I'm so sorry, please forgive me!"

I heard a little breathless chuckle leave his lips and a soft kiss placed under my chin. "You keep forgetting what I am sweetness. Nothing I couldn't have handled. Besides, that's not even the worst Alpha you've gone on my ass!"

"That's no excuse you idiot! I lost control just over a petty argument!"

"Yes, but you've admitted that you were wrong and I know as an Alpha that's hard for you to do. Look, in the future if this Derek guy makes any grand gestures like sending teens out to our house, don't bite back. We've got enough on our plate without adding him to the equation."

Many swift kisses I rained down onto his hair. "You're right. You always are. I'll be more careful from now on, I promise. Honestly Nick, at times like this I wonder why whatever gods there be decided to make me the Alpha instead of you. You're so much better at this than me."

"Oh hush," he responded fondly while pulling us up from the floor. "Scarlett you were born for this, even if the way it came about was less than ideal. You are an amazing leader and any 'insolent' behaviour on my part is for your concern and your concern only. Like I said, it's my job to keep you safe."

"And it's my job to protect my pack which," I pointed at the Nicholas sized dent in the wall. "I appear to be doing a very poor job of."

"I'm still alive aren't I? Look, it's been a tense few weeks for us and we both snapped, it happens with people like us. How about this? Since it's almost two in the morning, we hit the sack and just sleep in until whenever tomorrow? We've both got the late shift so we'll have a relaxing girls' day in tomorrow."

"I really forget how feminine you are sometimes; more feminine than me and that terrifies me."

"Not sure if compliment or insult but okay. Deal for tomorrow?"

"Deal, sounds perfect." With one last hug we made our way upstairs and into our respect rooms. I was too exhausted to be bothered with showering or pyjamas so I stripped off all my clothing and climbed into bed. I laid awake, tossing and turning, listening to the quiet whisper of the trees outside my window before my aching eyes finally fluttered shut and my body sank into the mattress with the strangely familiar and unnerving scent of old leather, burnt wood, pine and cologne floated through the room.

XoxoxoxoX

Almost a week had passed since I had found Stiles crouched, cowering in my kitchen and then proceeded to prank call his Alpha and besides the odd text from said human updating me on the pack's movements or the occasional mood swing of Derek, there had been no further contact. Even the night visits from the betas on the edge of the woods had stopped the night after Stiles' visit. Whether it was because Derek had sufficient evidence that we weren't a threat or having become fed up with my antics had decided not to bother one way or the other. The only constant that seemed to stick was the dreams, becoming so graphic and intense that Nick had taken to sleeping downstairs during the night, mumbling something about pheromones and sexual frustration as he stomped down the stairs. It wasn't my fault! It was as though that mystery scent had leaked into my room, night after night, and it only fuelled the frustration and graphic dreams. For a paranoid moment I had placed the blame squarely on Derek, where he had snuck into my room and rubbed himself on my bed as punishment but that seemed unlikely. Besides, I would have known if another person, human or wolf, had broken into my home again…right?

It was another Friday and Deaton had left the clinic for the night, and saying he would see me on Tuesday. I was sweeping up a little and tending to one of the dogs when I caught a scent, one that I was not familiar with. It stuck out against the stench of disinfectant, animals and Deaton's own scent. I let out a startled growl and spun around to find yet another damn teenager standing behind me; another one of Derek's pack. He looked the be the same age as Stiles, seventeen at most, with black slightly curled hair, tanned skin like Nick and a jaw line that seemed slightly off centre, like he'd been punched in the face and it had just kind of stuck there. His own eyes were glowing gold in warning, ready to defend himself if need be but his stance was not aggressive.

"You're Scarlett, right?" he asked hesitantly.

I nodded slowly. "And you'd be one of Derek's little betas right?" I flared my nostrils just a little. "But you're not one of the ones that have been visiting me at my home."

"No and technically I'm not in Derek's pack; it's a long story. But Stiles told me about you, seems to think you're some sort of superhero."

I relaxed my own stance a little and chuckled. "Yeah, that kid gets some crazy ideas when he wants to. So, you gonna introduce yourself?"

"I'm Scott, Scott McCall."

"Oh, so you're Melissa's son!" I said in realisation. His eyes narrowed a little and I backtracked. "Nothing suss, kid! My brother works with your mother at the hospital and Deaton mentioned that you used to work here before the whole wolf thing got serious." He visibly relaxed and sent me a small smile. "So what are you doing here, Scott? Derek sending more people to spy on me again?"

"No but he asked me to come here to tell you he wants you and you're brother to meet him tomorrow at the abandoned subway station downtown; something about the offer you made last week."

So Sour Wolf wants to finally meet face to face? Wonderful. "And he sent instead? Why didn't he just come himself?"

"He also mentioned something about a prank call, your throat, his teeth; I don't know, he wasn't in a particularly good mood today."

"Seems to be a recurring trend, I see." Scott laughed just a little then stopped himself up short, as if Derek could hear him having fun at his expense. "Very well, tell Derek my brother and I will be there after noon."

"Okay, I'll let him know." Scott turned to leave the room and then faced me again. "Hey, um, is it true?"

"Is what true?" I asked confused.

"Stiles said that you answered Derek's call by saying it was the Circumcision Clinic?"

I threw my head back and laughed. "Yeah, yeah that's true."

It was Scott's turn to laugh. "Man, Stiles was right. You are pretty cool."

"I aim to please; now go and tell Derek the news before he has another conniption fit. I really can't be bothered dealing with again tonight."

Scott nodded and with a wave quickly left the clinic leaving me standing there alone and now more than a little nervous. So Derek finally wanted to meet with us about the Alpha Pack? I had had previous experience with male Alphas and none had gone particularly well; I was afraid that tomorrow would be no exception. Even with Nick there, taking on a male Alpha was a daunting challenge and if he was calling us in to finish us off then we were in a lot of trouble. At the same time there was a little thrill of adrenaline surging through me at the thought of finally meeting Derek, which was odd, seeing as I had only heard him growling over the phone and in no way found any quality of the man attractive, at least from what I had heard. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and hit speed dial. Soon Nick's cheery voice filled my ears.

"Hey gorgeous, you up for an excursion tomorrow...Good, well wear something nice because we're going in and if we go down, I at least want to go down in style."