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Lacy here! Got the next chapter of Effie all ready for you. Here we have our continued introduction to Malia, who I have grown to like. Sorta. It's complicated, but doesn't translate into Effie. Which is a first for me, if her attitude towards Scott most of the time didn't indicate that. Anywho, not a whole lot on the personal front for Effie, but there will be more of that next chapter when Derek comes home. Promise. For now, read on!

Disclaimer: I own only Effie.

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~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie stood at the entrance of the coyote den, the other animal's scent nearly overwhelming to her. She didn't dare go in, knowing whatever lived in there would not be happy to smell a fox in their home. Coyotes and foxes didn't exactly get along in nature, she had no doubts about it being the same with werefoxes.

Hearing very girly screams, Effie turned away from the den, her eyes rolling. It's a good thing they were out in the woods alone.

It didn't take long before Stiles was shining the flashlight back in Effie's direction and she knew Scott would be checking out the den. She wanted to warn him against leaving their scent behind but figured he'd get it on his own. Again, coyotes didn't get along with wolves, either. Sticking were before either wasn't going to make a difference.

She stood at the opening of the den as Stiles led Scott in, only squatting down to get a better view.

"It's a coyote den," Stiles said to Scott.

"Werecoyote." Scott corrected.

"You see this?" Effie saw Stiles pick up a jacket. "It's Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo."

"We shouldn't be in here." Scott said.

"What'd you mean?" Stiles asked.

"She's not going to come back here now." Scott pointed out. "We just invaded her home. Our scent's going to be everywhere."

"Well, if she's not going to come back here," Stiles said. "where's she gonna go?"

"I dunno," Scott admitted.

"Can you track her now?" Stiles asked. "Do you think you have her scent?"

"Maybe," Scott said. "but I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf. And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

"I can help." Effie spoke up. "I can shift fully and with you leading me, we should be able to get a hold of her scent."

Scott shook his head. "Until I have full control, I don't feel comfortable trying to lead you, Effie." he thought for a moment. "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think that's a little out of my boss's league."

"But more of our dad's." Effie connected the dots.

Stiles nodded. "Yeah, I think it's time to call him in."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie stood between Stiles and Scott as John followed Rafael back towards the den. "Scott, I really hate your father."

Scott sighed. "Trust me, you're not alone in that one. I'm sorry for what he's doing."

"Don't apologize for him, Scott." Effie scolded gently. "After all these years, I think it's time he learns to apologize for himself."

"I wouldn't hold out for that one, kid." Stiles said as they watched John and Rafael stare each other down.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie froze as Mr. Yukimura called Stiles to read in front of the class. Knowing about his inability to read in dreams and not knowing if he was really awake or not, standing in front of class was the last thing Stiles needed.

Before she could do or say anything, Stiles stood up to do as he was asked. Effie was on the edge of her seat as she watched Stiles take his place and look at the book. When she saw him clench the sides of the podium, she reached over and smacked at Scott's arm, to get his attention. They both watched Stiles as he paled and looked out over the class, his eyes unfocused and a sweat breaking over his brow.

They were out of their seats at the same time, rushing to Stiles, steadying him as he fought the panic building in his chest.

"We should take him to the nurse's office." Scott said to the teacher while Effie focused on Stiles' breathing.

"Deep breaths, Stiles." she said softly. "Come on, listen to my breathing and mimic it."

They quickly got him out of class and, instead of to the nurse's office, to the nearest bathroom.

"Stiles, listen to me, man." Scott spoke to him. "Is this a panic attack?"

Stiles stumbled his way over to the sink, staring himself down in the mirror. "No, it's not. This is a dream. It's just a dream."

Effie shook her head. "No Stiles, it's not a dream. You're awake, I swear."

"Okay," Scott started thinking of a plan. "what do you do? I mean, how do you tell if you're awake or if you're dreaming."

"Fingers." Stiles panted. "You count your fingers. You have extra fingers in dreams."

Scott held up his hands. "How many do I have? Hey, look at me. Come on, Stiles. Look at my hands and count with me."

Effie held Stiles by his sides, keeping him as steady as she could while he and Scott counted out his fingers. Once they reached ten, Effie felt her brother's breathing slow as he realized he was awake and not actually stuck in his own mind as he was fearing. He pushed Effie's hands off gently and slid to the floor, leaning against the wall. Scott and Effie knelt around him.

"What the hell is happening to me?" Stiles asked desperately.

"We'll figure it out." Scott reassured. "You're gonna be okay."

"Am I?" Stiles questioned. "Are you? Scott, you can't transform. Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt, and I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this." he shook his head. "We can't, we can't help Malia, we can't help anyone."

Effie bit her lip to fight the tears caused by the hopelessness in Stiles's tone. It had been years since she'd seen him so defeated. She reached out and took his hand in both of hers, holding it in her lap, grounding them both.

"We can try." Scott said as he sat completely on the floor. "We can always try."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie's head whipped around as she and Scott helped Stiles up. "Scott."

Scott nodded. "Yeah, I smell her too." he looked at Effie. "Follow but stay back with Stiles."

"She's chasing Kira." Effie pointed out. "She's my friend, I can't just do nothing."

"You're not." Scott reminded. "You're backing me up, in case she's too much."

Effie sighed. "Alright, go."

She watched Scott take off, holding Stiles steady until he was okay to run, then they darted after their friend. Effie followed Scott's scent towards the locker room, finding the window on the door shattered and crashes coming from inside.

Before they could move inside, the coyote from the other night came charging out of the room, baring its teeth at Stiles and Effie.

Effie let out a low growl, her eyes flashing and the coyote took off.

"I'm really liking that new defense," Stiles said casually.

Effie laughed. "Yeah, it comes in handy."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie stood off while Kira tried to calm her father. Effie could definitely understand the annoyance creeping into the other girl's tone. She'd lost count of the number of times John had talked to her until she was ready to hit him, simply because he was worried about her. And the number of those conversations that involved Derek? Well, Effie tried not to think about that.

"Kira," Effie stepped forward. "hey, why don't we get outta here now that they're done talking to us?"

Before Kira could answer, Mr. Tate's voice echoed.

"Where did you get that?!" they turned and saw the distraught father rip a doll from Stiles's hand. "Where did you find this?"

Mr. Yukimura stepped in front of Effie and Kira, as if protecting them from the man.

"It belonged to my daughter." Effie heard Tate whisper.

John came forward and stepped between the boys and Tate. "Mr. Tate, I don't know how you heard about this. If you got your own police scanner or what, but you can't be here."

Effie watched as her father went to push the man out of the locker room, only for Tate to jump and John to look at him suspiciously. John moved Tate's jacket aside and found the man was carrying a gun.

"I have a permit." Tate defended himself.

"California schools are gun free zones," John said, his sheriff side overriding the understanding father. "permit or no permit. You need to leave, Mr. Tate. Now."

Tate stuttered before collecting himself briefly. "You find that animal. You find that thing."

Effie shut her eyes, turning her head away from Tate. If only he knew who that animal really was.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie watched from the top of the spiral stairs as Aidan and Ethan beat on Scott, trying to get him to trigger his alpha side, to stop being afraid that he'll hurt someone or be stuck that way if he shifts. She recalled Stiles telling her about how he did something similar when Scott was first turned to help him with control. And while it humored Effie to watch Scott get beat on, seriously, it was awesome, Aidan seemed more eager to just beat on Scott then to help him.

Ethan reached out and stopped his brother.

"What?" Aidan demanded. "I thought we were helping him."

"You help too much," Ethan said calmly.

Effie made herself known. "Get off him, Aidan."

He glanced back at her. "What makes you think I'll listen to you."

Effie smirked before her eyes flashed lilac and she held up her hand, which was sparking. "This. Or do you want another shock like the hospital? I'm pretty sure, separated from your twin, it'll hurt a lot more."

Aidan looked away from Effie, towards his brother and then Scott. He climbed off the dazed alpha with his brother's help. Effie walked down the stairs, watching Scott as his breathing slowly calmed and he spit blood from his mouth.

"Anger's not his trigger any more," Effie said softly. "he's got too much control over it."

"Then what'd we do?" Stiles asked.

Effie sighed. "Pray, that when the time comes, he can actually handle the fear."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Riding on the back of Scott's bike so they didn't have to bring a fourth vehicle had seemed like a good idea before they left the loft. But, as Scott tore after Stiles's jeep, Effie was regretting her decision. She held tightly to his jacket as they took another curve and could swear she felt him laughing. If she wasn't depending on him to stay alive, she'd shock his ass.

They stopped at the entrance for the reserve and she climbed off, perhaps a little faster then a calm person would have. Removing her helmet, she released her hair from the bun she'd put it in for the ride and looked around at the others. Lydia climbed outta Stiles's jeep with him while Allison and Isaac stood from the hunter's car.

"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked the question they were all thinking.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter." Scott reminded.

"Actually," Isaac piped up. "we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter."

"And," Stiles spoke up. "again with the not helping."

Effie rolled her eyes. "Knock it off."

Scott looked back at Allison. "Did you bring it?"

Allison opened her trunk and removed her tranq rifle. She looked uncertain but her hands held the gun as if it was an extension of her arms.

"Let's get going," Effie said. "I really don't wanna be out here after dark. Again."

Before they could move, several gunshot rang out in the silence.

"Mr. Tate."

Effie saw Scott pullin his helmet back on and cursed before doing the same. He wasn't going alone. As he revved the engine, she climbed back on the bike and held on as they took off into the woods, Stiles's shouts drifting.

"What are we going to do, Scott?" Effie asked as they drove. She was thankful for their super hearing so they could talk over the engine.

"Find Malia." Scott said simply. "Hopefully before Mr. Tate does."

"I meant you, Scott." Effie said. "You're still afraid. Can you push that aside to save Malia?"

She felt Scott heave a sigh. "I hope so."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie gasped, grabbing her head with both hands as Isaac's cry of pain echoed in her ears. She felt Scott reach for his own head, causing the bike to tip and slide from underneath them. The two fell to the ground, rolling with the fall so they landed on their knees and stomach.

Ripping her helmet off, Effie shoved her hair from her face and looked around. "Isaac!" she panted as she listened for an answer from her pup but none came. She went to go find him but Scott's hand on her arm held her back. "Scott, Isaac's hurt!"

Scott looked at Effie, determined but scared. "I know, but Allison's with him. I need you here, Effie. I can't do this alone."

Effie looked at Scott, hearing the desperation in his tone. "Scott, whether we're with you or not, you're never alone. Your pack is always there."

"I know," Scott nodded. "I do know that. But I still need you, please."

Effie paused before giving a stiff but sure nod. "Alright, I'll stay. But Scott," she gripped his hand on her arm. "You have to prove you're the alpha I know you are. No more fear, no more doubt."

"Deal."

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Effie slid to a stop behind Malia while Scott landed in front of her. The coyote growled and dug at the ground, trying to intimidate Scott out of her way. She glanced back at Effie, her hackles rising as her growling grew louder.

'Howl Scott,' Effie thought to herself, her eyes lilac as she watched the alpha. 'Come on, howl like the alpha you are meant to be.'

Scott looked up slowly, his eyes piercing ruby red. Effie watched as he inhaled deeply and let out the loudest howl Effie had ever heard. She felt her fox respond to his, her power nearly triple and the runes fade from her body. Apparently, when her fox was at its strongest, her Spark was smothered.

Malia backed down, her fur receding. Effie stood, shedding her long sweater as the coyote became the human girl for the first time in eight years. As Malia looked herself over, disbelief on her face, Effie approached carefully and laid her sweater over the shaking girl's shoulders.

"It's over, Malia." Effie said, kneeling beside her. "It's all over." She looked at Scott, who looked shocked by his own actions. Effie smiled at him, pride shining on her face. There was her alpha, and she had no problems admitting it.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

Leaning against the side of their father's truck, Effie watched with Stiles as John knocked on the front door of Malia's house. Stiles leaned through the front passenger window, concern etching his features as they waited. Effie had her sweater folded over her arms, a slight wrinkle marring her nose.

"I never realized," Effie spoke softly. "how weird it was to have another person's scent on my clothes."

Stiles chuckled. "I'm pretty sure, before you were turned, you never even noticed."

Effie mirrored the chuckle with a soft one of her own. They turned back to the house just in time to see Mr. Tate hug Malia tightly, the girl returning the affection. John backed away slightly and turned to give his kids a nod.

Effie went to climb back into the car when she noticed Stiles exhale loudly, in relief.

"Stiles?" she questioned.

Stiles beamed at her. "I can read again."

Effie saw what he'd been looking at, the words on the side mirror, and a huge smile broke across her face. She gripped Stiles's arm through the window, the two laughing in celebration and relief.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~

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And there we have it! Stiles can read again, Scott can shift and Allison and shoot. If only those were the only problems they're going to have. I really hate this half of season 3. Don't mess with Stiles, seriously. Let me know what you think, flame policy stands and thanks for reading!

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