A/N: I went on what I'm calling a writing binge last night and wrote and edited 3 chapters of this story. I thought, instead of drawing it out, why not just post them at the same time? That way I don't forget what I've posted and what I haven't, and you guys can read what I've got here. Chapter 11 is where I stopped, and it might be a little while until you get anything after that, but there's no cliffhangers at that point, I can promise you that.

"Why, Miss Martin, you made it," Deucalion said as he saw Lydia approaching. "I was almost afraid you wouldn't show."

"Yeah, well, I was having a hard time ditching the babysitters," Lydia said, faking nonchalance, flipping her hair over her shoulder. "Ever since that time that Derek caught me at Minnie's, they've been watching me like a hawk."

"I'm glad you could make it, then," Deucalion answered easily, and that's when Lydia got a chance to look around. She noticed the rest of the new pack. Even when Lydia was hooking up Aiden in Boston, she never saw any of the pack other than him and Deucalion. Thinking about it now, why hadn't she seen these guys before now?

"You've met my new pack, I see," Deucalion said, taking notice of Lydia observing her surroundings. "It was such a shame the other ones died. I had to make some more."

Lydia felt disgust in her stomach, but didn't dare say anything. She saw the look that Aiden was giving her.

"What do you want, Deucalion?" she asked. She was tired of playing games. She just wanted this whole thing to be over.

"Here's the deal, Miss Martin," Deucalion said. "I want your daughter. I can give her everything she'd ever want, that she'd ever need. She'd have Aiden here to keep her safe. I can train her to be one of the best alphas ever. She was born an alpha, you know."

"I knew that the very first time she shifted," Lydia said.

"Yeah, you always were one of the clever ones," Deucalion said darkly. "I've been watching you for a while, Miss Martin. I know the struggles you've had raising your daughter. Her name's Kristy, isn't it? How you worked two jobs and went to school to make a better life for her. Give her to me and I can ensure that she'll have everything she'll ever need and then some. You won't have to struggle to take care of her ever again."

Lydia sighed and then said, "I'm not giving her up. Not for anything, and I'm sure as hell not giving her to you."

She heard the slap before she felt it, and the next thing she knew, she was on the ground. The pack was laughing, and Aiden's hand was in the air, so he had been the one to hit her. Deucalion's hand was around Aiden's wrist as he said, "Now, now, Aiden, she's our guest. Try not to hurt her too badly."

Lydia sighed, pulling herself up off the ground. Her cheek, where Aiden had slapped her, burned like hell and she knew she'd have a bruise there to cover up later. Dusting off her dress, Lydia cleared her throat, glaring at Aiden, "Feel better?"

He just shrugged. Lydia wanted to kill him for the look he was giving her, the fucking bastard.

"I tried to reason with you, Miss Martin," Deucalion said. His eyes were dark and he was speaking very quietly. Lydia remembered from the run-ins she had had with Deucalion in Boston; he did that when he was very serious. "Now, we can do this one of two ways. "You can hand your daughter over to us. We will ensure her safety, and you will never have to worry about her ever again. We'll never come after you, and we'll even leave Ethan with his pathetic little pack he seems to have adopted. Or, you can refuse so and you will die. And I'll even be a nice guy about this. Hand over Kristy, or die. If you choose your life instead of hers, I promise we will never go near her ever again."

Lydia closed her eyes for a moment, trying to swallow the need to cry. She wasn't going to give them the fucking satisfaction of seeing her break apart. Taking a few deep breaths to keep a handle of her control, Lydia opened her eyes when she felt stable enough and said, "Can I think about it?"

Of course she wasn't going to think about it. She knew that Kristy's life would trump hers in any situation; it was a mother's job to make sure her children were safe. But she couldn't tell that to him right now, because she knew that he'd kill her right on the spot. She needed extra time to get things in order. She needed to write up her will, and she needed to make sure that Kristy was safe.

"Is it that difficult of a decision?" Aiden snapped. Deucalion held up his hand.

"Aiden, it's a huge decision," he said. "I'll tell you what, Miss Martin," he said, acting as if he was doing her a favor, "Meet me here in three weeks, on the full moon, and we'll make the exchange. But I may remind you one more time, if you come alone, you are going to die."

Lydia swallowed nervously before nodding and turning around, practically running out of the preserve.

-x-

Stiles was a light sleeper. He had been for a long time now. Dealing with supernatural bullshit had made him that way. Lydia knew this but tried to sneak in anyway. By the time she got in the window, Stiles was there to meet her, baseball bat in hand.

He swung when he heard the noise, but Lydia had ducked out of the way quickly and he ended up hitting air. He looked to see who was in his apartment, letting out a deep breath before saying, "Jesus Christ, Lyds! I almost hit you!"

"Sorry, Stiles," she said, shrugging. "I guess I should've used the front door, but I wanted to get in without alerting you."

When Stiles' breathing went down, he said, "Where were you? Ethan wasn't too clear about that."

"I had something I had to do, and I had to do it alone. So that's where I was. How's Kristy?"

"Fine," Stiles said. "She went right to sleep after you put her to bed. So, you wanna tell me where you were?"

"I'm sorry, Stiles, but I just can't do that."

"Lyds, we're worried about you. You're lucky that Ethan trusts you so goddamn much, because I tried to call Scott to tell him but Ethan wouldn't let me. Said that you knew what you were doing and he trusted you not to get yourself killed. I'm really worried about you, Lydia."

Lydia said, "Look, Stiles, I don't want to fight, okay? I really don't want to have an argument with you."

"Did something happen?" Stiles asked. Lydia could tell by the look on his face that he was concerned now. Just fucking peachy.

"I'm fine," Lydia said. She couldn't tell him where she was, or what Deucalion wanted. As much as she needed the extra support right now, she couldn't let him, or anyone else in the pack know. They'd try to talk her out of it, and that's just something that wasn't going to happen. She sighed, "Look, Stiles, if you don't mind, I'm beat and want to go to bed."

Stiles nodded, muttering a "fine" as she turned and left the room.

-x-

Something was up with Lydia. Stiles had figured that out. The next morning, while Lydia was still sleeping and Kristy was playing with her blocks, Stiles sat on the couch, trying to figure out what the hell Lydia had gotten herself into. Stiles refused to let someone else get hurt because of supernatural bullshit. He remembered when Erica and Boyd were kidnapped, and when they thought Cora's life was in danger. He remembered about all those bitches who had hurt Derek and he thought about every single person that the Darach had gotten her hands on. He couldn't let anybody else get hurt. Hell, Erica and Boyd were hurt enough that they moved all the way on the other side of the fucking country because they couldn't stand to be in Beacon Hills anymore.

But, Lydia was different. This was the girl that he'd loved since the third grade. If there were such a thing as soulmates (which, Stiles wasn't sure about that yet. If there was such a thing as werewolves, why not soulmates?) Lydia would definitely be Stiles'. She meant the entire fucking world to him and he would go to any lengths to ensure her safety. Hell, he would make a deal with the fucking devil if he had to, to make sure that she didn't die or get hurt, and to protect Kristy. He was in this to win it.

Lydia Martin was stubborn. She'd been stubborn for the last twenty-four years of her life. Stiles was pretty sure that she had been born stubborn. She didn't do anything unless she damn well wanted to (a trait that Kristy inherited, too) but Stiles was not going to let anything happen to them. Lydia was pack, and so was Kristy, and to Stiles, that meant family. She fit in so well, and there were so many feelings that had resumed since she started up a life here. Finally, Stiles sighed and dialed Ethan's number. He was going to get to the bottom of this no matter what.

"Hey, Stiles, is everything okay?" Ethan asked when he picked up the phone.

"Do you honestly know where Lydia went last night? I need you to tell me the truth."

"I don't know," Ethan answered honestly. "She just told me that it had to do with Kristy's safety and that it was really important. I trust her to do the right thing, Stiles."

"Why?"

Ethan sighed, "Because she's a mother and she's a good one at that. She's going to do everything she can to ensure Kristy's safety."

Stiles sighed, "Yeah. That's just what I'm afraid of."

-x-

When Lydia told Scott that she wanted to visit the Whittemores, he had decided to let her go alone, as long as she had her cell phone with her. She had nodded and got Kristy ready to leave with her. They made their way down to Mr. Whittemore's office downtown. Lydia hadn't talked to Jackson in years, but his parents were always really sweet to her. Even now, Mrs. Whittemore sent Lydia a Christmas card every year and sometimes she'd call just to see how Lydia was. That was how Lydia knew that Mr. Whittemore would help her.

"Lydia Martin?" he asked when he saw her sitting there, almost disbelievingly. "It's been a long time."

"Hey, Mr. Whittemore," Lydia said. She picked up Kristy and carried her into Mr. Whittemore's office with her. She set her down on the floor with her blocks as Mr. Whittemore said, "Wow, she's beautiful. She looks just like you."

Lydia smiled.

"So," he said, once she was sat down, "is this business or pleasure? Jackson hasn't said anything about you lately, so –"

"Jackson and I aren't together, Mr. Whittemore –" she started, but he held up his hand.

"None of that. You aren't sixteen anymore. Call me David."

"Okay, sure," she said. "Anyway, this isn't a social call. I want you to help me draw up my will."

"How old are you now, Lydia?"

The question didn't surprise her, to be honest. People would think that she was a little young to be thinking about that, but because she had Kristy, she needed to make sure that she was well taken care of in case anything happened to her. When she told David that, he nodded and said, "It's nice to know you take your daughter's safety seriously."

"Of course I do," Lydia said. "Look, I'm not the snobby sixteen-year-old I used to be. Things have changed. Times have changed. My daughter may have been unplanned, but I love her more than anything else in this entire world. I want to make sure that if anything does happen to me, that she's going to be well taken care of."

"Okay, sure," he said, getting out a paper and pen. "Let's do this thing, then."

Two hours later, the will was written. David watched Lydia for a moment afterwards and then said, "I have to ask. You're not in trouble or anything, are you?"

Lydia sighed before answering, "Kinda. It's not legal trouble, and that's one of the reasons I need to make sure Kristy's taken care of."

"Is there anything that can be done?" He looked around, even though they were the only two in the office before adding, "Is it a wolf problem?"

She was a little surprised, "Did Jackson fill you in, then?"

David nodded, "Yeah, about a year after he left for London. I didn't believe it myself until he changed in front of my eyes. He explained full moons and everything. Maybe he can help you?"

"Look, I know he's your son and I respect that. Hell, he's probably even changed a lot since the last time I talked to him, and I can accept that. But there's nothing anyone can do for me. I've gotta do this myself."

He nodded, and as Lydia got ready to leave, he said, "Hey, Lydia? Don't be a stranger, okay?"

Lydia nodded, "Thank you. I mean for everything."

-x-

The pack had a dinner night at Scott and Allison's that night, and they all pretty much knew about the night before, so Lydia went over there prepared to be drilled for information. Kristy played with Melanie before dinner, while dinner was cooking, and Lydia was cornered.

"You wanna tell us where you were last night?" Scott asked Lydia. She sighed.

"I can't. Not yet."

"Lydia," Ethan said, speaking up, "you promised that you'd fill me in. I mean, I trust that you'd do anything to keep your daughter out of danger's way, but that might just add to the problem, honestly."

"I've got something in the works," Lydia said to them. "Needless to say, pretty soon you won't have to worry about Deucalion or Aiden ever again."

"So that it, then?" Stile asked. "You're not going to tell us?"

"Guys," Lydia said, really hating the fact that she couldn't tell anyone anything, "I'm going to ask you to trust me. Please."

Lydia could tell by the look on his face that Scott didn't want to let it go, but he did. Conversation changed to sports and the weather and Lydia was free – for now. She knew it'd come up again.

She wasn't wrong, either. Later that night, as they were getting ready for bed, Stiles took Lydia's hand in his and said, "Are you sure you can't tell me what's going on? I mean, what's with all the secrecy?"

"It's just something I've gotta do," she answered. "But I don't want to think about that right now." She threw her arms around his neck and leaned in for a kiss. Tilting his head, he welcomed the kiss and pretty soon the kiss turned hungry. They continued to kiss until they needed to break apart for air, and Lydia said, "Stiles, please. Please make love with me."

He looked a little confused at first, but then nodded. The sex was different this particular night than it had been before. It was slower, gentler, and Lydia felt the need to really take the time to take Stiles apart. She was trying to show him that she finally loved him, the thought came to her earlier that day, but was afraid to say it. She couldn't die knowing that she left Stiles all alone with those memories. She needed him to be brave, to take care of her daughter for her. She needed him to do that for her.

When they came down from their high, Stiles wrapped his arms around Lydia, as if he was trying to protect her, and drifted off. Lydia lay awake for several more hours, just thinking. Lydia prayed that Stiles was going to be okay when she was gone – he just had to. She left guardianship to Stiles in her will, and she knew he'd treat Kristy right, that he'd take care of her. The whole pack adored her, after all. She was just hoping that she was doing the right thing. She really didn't have anybody to talk to about this; everybody would be more concerned about her well-being. She finally drifted off, praying that the pack would be okay after everything was said and done.