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Chapter 11

Derek was on edge when they got back to the gate. He listened intently, surveying the woods for any signs of danger before keying in the code to unlock the gate. Once within, Derek turned his attention to the house. He frowned unsettled at the stammering cadence of Becca's heartbeat. He tried to tune it out, concentrating instead on the conversation between Becca and Stiles.

"How do you all know each other?"

"That is a long story." Derek was happy Becca couldn't hear the telltale hitch in Stiles' heartbeat.

"Well, with the way this is going, I think we've got some time," Becca pressed with a chuckle.

Stiles' nervously cleared his throat. "Well, see Scott's parents got divorced and his mom thought he could use a male influence – so she signed him up with the big brother program."

"Derek's a big brother?" Becca asked, sounding a doubtful. Derek imagined Stiles nodding all the while trying to keep a straight face. "He just seems kinda – I don't know – intense, ya know."

"Yeah Derek is all about the intensity." Stiles chuckled and Derek could hear the boy fidgeting. "I'm pretty sure he practices his death glare in the mirror."

Derek's attention was pulled away from the conversation by the sound of Scott chuckling beside him. He turned and glared at the younger wolf, which only made Scott laugh harder. "It is a little too perfect."

Derek's hand shot out cuffing the Beta behind the head. "Get in the car," he directed, moving around to the driver's side.

"Where're we going?"

"To get some dinner," Derek replied, sliding behind the wheel. "It's going to be a long night and I don't want it made longer by Stiles claiming he's dying of starvation."

After they'd eaten, Scott and Stiles had called their parents claiming they were sleeping at the other's house. Stiles set up the missing person's database on Becca's laptop so they could split into two teams. Derek left Scott to fend for himself after about half an hour and went outside with the excuse of checking the perimeter.

There was no sign of the wolf, leaving Derek with plenty of time to consider Peter's abduction. Scott's question had been a valid one. It almost seemed more likely that Peter had teamed up with the wolf than his being caught unaware by the wolf. The blood on the floor had been Peter's there was no doubt, but Peter had planned around his own death, what was a little blood.

When he returned from his third trip outside, Stiles motioned for him to be quiet, nudging his head at Becca who'd fallen asleep. Stiles had moved to the floor, his back against the front of the couch where she slept. Derek moved to the window. His arms crossed over his chest, he leaned against the frame and stared out into the darkness, listening to the three heartbeats in the room behind him. Soon enough they'd all leveled out calm and steady like their breathing, and Derek knew everyone else was asleep.

Derek's eyes snapped open, his gaze shooting to where the others still slept. He pushed up from the ground beside the window and quietly moved toward the door. He caught the scent again, the scent that woke him. Moving out into the hall his eyes shifted to red and his claws digging into his palms as he fisted his hands.

"Down boy," Rowan chuckled, sauntering toward him. "You really are a good guard dog."

A low growl rumbled at the base of his throat at Rowan's taunt but he forced himself to shift back to human. "What're you doing here?" Derek asked in a hushed voice, glancing back
to the living room.

"This is my house, last I checked," Rowan replied, pushing past him and entering the living room. "Ahh, I see. You didn't want me to know you had a slumber party without inviting me." Rowan teased absently, but Derek didn't miss that his voice had lowered to a whisper as he moved to Becca's side. Rowan stood watching her sleep a moment, a frown tugging at his brow and Derek knew he was listening to Becca's heartbeat. Even to Derek it sounded weaker and more erratic than only a couple of days before. Her skin looked paler, the dark smudges beneath her eyes more pronounced than just the night before. Derek understood the unspoken accusation when Rowan shot him a questioning look.

"The wolf has made his presence known."

"To her?" Rowan hissed, closing the gap between them. "All you had to do was watch over her – here," Rowan threw up his hands gesturing around him. "Behind an impenetrable gate, with everything she could possibly need. So short of you letting the wolf onto the grounds, how could it make itself known to her?"

"Rowan?" Becca's hoarse whisper had them both turning her way. She sat up, smiling sleepily at him as she raked her hands through her hair. "You're back."

"You sound surprised." Rowan chuckled softly. "Or is that relief?" He sat on the couch beside her, knocking Stiles awake.

"What the – who are you?"

"I could ask you the same thing as you're in my house."

"This is Stiles," Becca chimed, gesturing to Scott who was now also awake and adding, "And that's Scott."

"And you all had a sleepover party here last night, because…" Rowan glanced between the two teens, his gaze falling to Becca's sketchbook on the ground next to Stiles' laptop. He reached out, picking it up and studying the drawing of the woman they'd spent the night seeking to name. "This is a great drawing of – oh what was her name? Carlie…Carlie Bishop?" He turned to Becca. "Have you remembered more about that night?"

"Wait, you knew who this was the whole time?" Stiles let out an exasperated huff. "Why didn't we just ask him in the first place?" He asked, looking to Derek

Derek pulled his Camaro onto the road behind Stiles' jeep, following him and Scott back to the Stillinski house. His senses hypersensitive he watched and listened for any sign of the wolf as they drove. He could hear Stiles drumming his fingers on the steering wheel of his jeep as he drove.

"What was that guy's problem? Can you believe he made us leave without breakfast?" Stiles asked sounding exasperated. "I mean Becca offered – but no-oh. It's not like we invited ourselves over or something," he ranted. "And who was that guy, anyway?"

"Didn't you say he was Becca's uncle?" Scott offered, sounding distracted. "He smelled strange," he mumbled.

"Strange? Strange how?"

"I don't know," Scott murmured. "Just different, somehow."

"Different, like not human? Or—?"

"I don't know," Scott cut-in impatiently. "Just different. I don't know what it means."

Silence fell between the two teens as they turned onto Stiles' street. Derek parked behind the jeep. Stepping out of the car, his gaze darted up and down the street for any sign of the wolf. When he turned his attention back to Stiles and Scott he was surprised to find them leaning against the back of Stiles' jeep, waiting for him.

"So, what's the deal with that Rowan guy?" Stiles demanded, breaking the silence.

"He's Becca's uncle." Derek moved to lean on the hood of his car, his hands digging into the pockets of his leather jacket.

"Ri-ight," Stiles replied sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest. "Just her uncle. Maybe I should rephrase the question."

"He's not human, is he?" Scott asked, pushing away from the jeep and taking a step toward Derek.

"Believe me, you don't want to know," Derek replied, his gaze meeting Scott's for a moment, before turning to Stiles. "I need you to look into Carlie Bishop. Try to figure out who in her life our wolf could be." Stiles' mouth opened to respond, but Derek gave him a look that let the teen know he wasn't in the mood for any witty comeback he might have. "Scott, you stay here with him and look out for the wolf." He moved back to his car door. "You call me at the first sign of him."