Aria finally sleeps for the first time in a week. She wakes up, realizing she'd slept for 12 hours and was crazy late for school. She finds a note on her bedside table that reads.

I know you haven't been sleeping lately, so I decided to let you skip out, just for today, don't tell the Sheriff! Love, Dad.

Aria grins, pulling herself out of her bed to realize she'd fallen asleep in her normal clothes. She stretches out her legs, working her way down the stairs to realize she had the entire house to herself. She pops in her 'The Rumble Strips' CD, and cranks it all the way up. For once she doesn't think about her Mom or Stiles. She lets her mind wander, innocently thinking of Derek Hale, or so she tells herself. She walks over to the door, intending to grab the mail, but instead finds herself face to face with Deucalion. He holds out her mail to her.

"Seventeen magazine subscription renewal? I thought you were better than that." Deucalion jokes, a smile on his face, "Mind if I come in for a chat?"

"Last time we did that you almost let your dog kill me." Aria snaps, "Or did you conveniently forget that?"

"Ah yes, that. I've taken some time to calm down." Deucalion explains, propping both of his hands on the top of his cane. "I'm willing to talk and compromise with you."

Aria glances around, innocently pulling out her phone and sending out a quick text to Derek while saying. "You know, I actually have other pressing matters to attend to, none of which include you turning me into a werewolf." She slides her phone back into her pocket.

Deucalion nods, licking his lips, "I see."

Aria nods, scratching the back of her neck, "So, if we could do this another time? Or you could just take no for an answer, because that's the only answer you're ever going to get. It'd really speed things along."

Deucalion takes a step towards her, "Perhaps I should rephrase my question, you should let me in. Or you should just tell me now whether you'd like to keep your brother or your father."

"Is that a threat?" Aria says quietly,her face falling. Her tough exterior being chipped away at.

Deucalion smirks, knowing he's caught her, "Can I come in?"

Aria steps aside, "Come in." She grumbles.

He finds his way quickly to her living room, sitting on her couch gingerly. "Tell me, Aria. What's it like? Your life? Your perfectly human life? Is it everything you've dreamed of and more?"

"It'd be a lot easier without homicidal Alphas running around in it, otherwise, it's pretty good." Aria sits down on the loveseat across from him, she leans forward on her knees, staring at him, "What do you want with me? Scott, he's a true Alpha, you don't need me."

"You know about that?"

"I'm not daft."

Deucalion chuckles, "Scott would never join us. Too much pride."

"What about me, then? What makes you think I don't have too much pride?"

"I don't entirely know you, you could surprise me yet." Deucalion says with a grin. Aria glances over as her front door is wildly thrown open, thrown violently against the hinges. Derek Hale stands in the doorway, he powerwalks into her living room. "Derek." Deucalion itches his jaw, "I figured you'd be on your way."

Derek walks right up to Deucalion, "What game are you playing, Deucalion?"

Deucalion glances up at Derek, as if he can see him, "No game. I just want to get the wheels turning. You've seen it, Derek, the wheels, churning away. Tell me Aria, have you told prettyboy about the red eyes?"

Aria stands up defiantly, "Shut up." She snarls.

"Tell me she wouldn't be a perfect werewolf." Deucalion muses, standing up as well, "Fiery, hot temper, quick to fight, loyal - more to a fault than anything, stubborn, all the qualities a true alpha should possess. Tell me you don't dream about the power."

Of course she dreams about it. It's all she really thinks about anymore. The feeling they must get from running through the woods, from being able to defeat any can of pickles.

She isn't about to admit that to anyone though.

Aria takes a step towards Deucalion, "Listen here, pal. This, this is just never going to happen. It's like Brad and Jennifer, it's just never going to work."

"Pop culture reference." Derek scoffs, rolling his eyes.

Deucalion puts both of his hands on the top of his cane, "But it's already happening, isn't it, Aria?"

Aria furrows her eyebrows, "No, sorry to disappoint you, it isn't. So what? A few flashes of red here and there? That means nothing." She insists.

"Tell yourself that. When the next full moon comes around, I'll be very interested in what happens. You'll be in more danger than anyone could ever imagine, Aria. So much, Derek Hale won't even be able to save you." Deucalion gives her a soft smile, "Beware, Aria. Fate always has a plan."

Aria's about to charge at him but Derek grabs her easily, his hands latching around her waist, pulling her intimately to him.

Deucalion turns around, giving them a little backwards wave, "Good luck to you all." As he's about to cross the threshold, "You'll need it."

"What part of, Derek he didn't hurt me, are you not understanding?" Aria groans. She's sitting atop her bathroom sink as Derek fusses over her. Pointing out the smallest scratches with a snarl. "I'm fine, really."

"What about this scar then- huh?"

"I fell when I was ten."

"Mmm." Derek grunts, giving the scar a glare as he moves on.

Aria grabs his hands to make him look at her, "Okay, you can stop now, really, I'm fine." She reassures, "But he, he threatened Stiles and my Dad."

Derek looks down at their hands for a moment before looking back up at her, "You don't have to worry about anything. We'll keep them safe. We'll keep you safe." He lightly kisses her knuckles.

"What's going to happen on the full moon?" Aria whispers.

Derek releases her hands, walking away from her for a second, scratching his jaw. Then he turns back to her, "I might be wrong. You might give off some subsection of the Heat."

"The Heat? Uh, human talk please?"

"The Heat is when a werewolf, a female werewolf, gives off a type of heat that makes her irresistable and really.." Derek's cheeks flame. He appears to bite the inside of his cheek for a moment, "Sexually hungry." He clears his throat then as Aria smirks away, "I think you'll give off a type of Heat that makes you irresistable to bite."

Aria's eyes widen, "So what am I going to do? All of these people who are supposed to be protecting me are going to want to rip my neck out. I'm not usually a damsel in distress but when it comes down to guys that are a dozen times stronger than me, it tends to become an issue."

Derek shrugs, "We might just have to lock you up until the full moon is over."

"But you can't do it. You'll know how to unlock it."

"I wouldn't ever bite you." Derek promises, looking sternly into her eyes.

Aria rolls her eyes, scoffing, "Weird, was it only a month or two ago that you had a different stance on that?" Aria scratches the back of her head, "Must be temporary memory loss from the Heat thing."

Derek sighs, pushing away from her, "We need Lydia and Stiles."

"You want to pull my little brother and best friend into this- no way-" Aria jumps off the counter only to have Derek pin her against it, his hands on either side of her.

"I have to keep you safe."

"What about them?"

Derek looks into Aria's eyes for a few moments, slowly blinking, "I don't do this very often, but when I do, it means something. Aria, I promise to keep them safe."

"You don't make promises often? That's depressing."

"I prefer honest."

"Depressing. The sentiment is nice, otherwise."

"Call them."

So that's how Lydia, Stiles, Derek, Aria, and Scott stood in front of a large vault with various chains lining their arms. Lydia hastily fixed her pink lipstick as Stiles watched on, probably wishing he was her pink lipstick.

"Bad time to mention I'm claustrophobic?" Aria asks, putting a hand on her hip. Staring at the vault with increasing unease. "Who's to say I'll even give off this Heat or whatever?"

"Deucalion seemed pretty sure about it. We can't take chances." Derek looks at the chains, "We need more, lots more."

Stiles holds up the chains, "Really? You think you're that attracted to my sister? Trust me, we don't need more chains. If anything, we should just chain you up because you're the only real risk besides the Alphas."

Derek's eyes flash blue, "For the last time Stiles-"

"I'm listening." Stiles drops the chains to the ground, "What do we do if the Alphas come here? Huh? Probably wouldn't take that many Alphas to rip off the chains, right? Lets play the, how many Betas does it take to screw in a lightbulb game? Do you know how many Alphas it would take? Probably one."

"Stiles is right, we're putting Aria in danger just locking her in there." Scott says, folding his arms over his chest, "We need to find out which one of us the Heat will be the weakest for."

"So Derek is out, try again next year." Stiles smirks.

Scott bites his lip, "It should be me."

"You?" Lydia, Stiles, Derek, and Aria say at the same time.

"Well yeah, I'm not attracted to Aria." Scott says with a pointed look towards Derek, "And we're running out of options, because Issac would be at the ready to rip her throat out. Basically I'm the only one that isn't attracted to Aria-" He pauses, "No offense or anything, Aria-"

"I would usually take offense to that but for today you're the saving grace, so I'll let it slide." Aria sighs, "So what, we lock Scott in there with me? What if he bites me instead? He's an Alpha, so he can do that."

Stiles hits his forehead, "That's it! We need to lock a beta in there with you! Betas can't change people!"

"So Issac?" Derek says weakly. "Didn't we just veto him? Besides, he's weak on full moons, he'll change and kill her."

"We've been working on that, actually." Scott pipes in, "He's ready for this."

Aria wasn't.