I woke up the next morning to the smell of bacon, lots and lots of bacon. I turned my head blearily, blinking out the drowsiness. Stiles and Lydia were in the kitchen with Jackson, who was complaining that they were taking so long. Scott and Allison were curled up together on the couch, Allison drinking coffee and Scott eating a bowl of cereal, apparently not willing to wait for Stiles and Lydia.

"Good morning," I greeted Scott and Allison as I got up sorely.

"Well hello," Allison said, "How'd you sleep?"

I didn't remember it that much, though I distinctly remembered my butt feeling sore, "Painful, my ass is on fire."

Scott choked on his Lucky Charms. I just shrugged and trotted away, taking a seat next to Jackson at the counter. Jackson took one look at her, "You look like shit," he stated, passing me his coffee. I nodded, and took a huge gulp of his coffee. Whether or not it was a placebo effect kind of thing, it woke me up immediately.

"Thank you."

"Stiles, make me OJ." Stiles rolled his eyes at the command, "You can get it yourself. Maybe that will stop your bitchin', I swear you're worse than Derek."

I snorted into Jackson's mug, which I decided to steal. At that moment Erica and Boyd came down the stairs, laughing loudly. Following them closely was Isaac and Peter.

Instantly the kitchen was delved into chaos. Stiles was yelling at them all to set the table. Jackson had taken up juggling the five plates in the air. Erica was on Boyd's back attempting to reach the glasses up high. Lydia shouted some unrepeatable curse words when she burned herself taking the toast out of the toaster. Peter and Isaac leaned over next to me. "Are they always like this?," I asked them.

"Mostly," confirmed Isaac.

Peter nodded, "Just wait until Derek gets down here." As Peter said that Derek came storming into the kitchen.

"Are you all deaf? I swear, I bit the most idiotic of people! High schoolers, what on earth was I thinking?"

As if on cue, all members of the pack gave Derek a big group hug. Derek turned bright red, fuming at first, but slowly relaxing.

Peter stayed with me near the counter, I guess he didn't want to touch Derek. Families are weird. I leaned close to Peter, trying to be as quiet as I could when I whispered, "Would you like to take advantage of this situation and eat the bacon?"

With an almost imperceptible nod he leaped over the counter, me following close behind. In the pan there was enough bacon for all of us, but in the minute that Derek and the pack were hugging it out Peter and I destroyed it.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Derek open his eyes and see Peter and I scarfing down the food. "Bacon!," he yelled loudly.

Stiles and Lydia whipped their heads around.

"Peter, a man's bacon is sacred," Stiles chastised.

Peter, his mouth full of bacon, pointed at me. I made a sound of shock.

"So it was your idea," Lydia said. "Sic 'em, werewolves."

Derek growled, Scott's eyes turned blue, as did Isaac's, Erica's, Jackson's, and Boyd's. I knew it was all in fun, but damn, werewolves were scary. I grabbed Peter's hand and pulled him out the screen door to the outside.

"Split up," he commanded.

I instinctively leapt over the railing and ran into the forest to the right, while Peter took off towards the left.

The door burst open behind us. I could tell by the footsteps who were following me: Jackson, Isaac, and Derek. I could hear Derek gaining on me, he was by far the fastest. I tripped over a root and stumbled slightly, that was enough for Derek to take me out.

I landed on Derek, straddling him, I pushed myself off. He was laughing hysterically.

"Do we have a truce?," I asked. Between laughs he nodded, "As long as you don't eat my bacon."

"Deal."

Isaac and Jackson finally caught up. Jackson was out of breath, as was Isaac. They sat next to us, Isaac on my side and Jackson on Derek's.

"Just a warning, Maria. Stiles is going to get you," warned Jackson.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said.

I don't know why I looked to my right just then, but I did. Three people, though I sensed they were werewolves, stood at the edge of the clearing we were in. I swallowed a huge lump in my throat.

Alphas.

I grabbed Isaac's hand as well as Derek's. When they looked at me I motioned with my head over to where the alphas were standing. When they saw, both Derek and Isaac's hands tightened around mine. They pulled me up with them, still not letting go. Jackson looked over and gasped. Derek put his hand on Jackson's shoulder. The men were incredibly scary. Nothing about them screamed dangerous, but they radiated this pure untempered power.

"What do you guys want?," asked Derek, his voice calm, showing no signs of fear or emotion, but telling from how hard he was squeezing her hand, he was freaked out of his mind.

The one in the middle, the one with dark brown eyes, spoke, "We are requesting an audience with your whole pack tomorrow night at sunset. We will meet you in this spot."

Derek nodded obediently as the men backed up and walked away.

What I said next was all I could think of saying, "Derek, those guys make you look like Hello Kitty."

Isaac snorted.