As promised, second chapter up this week! Thanks for sticking with me! Only 3 more chapters left after this!

Chapter 13

Scott greeted Derek at the door of the Stillinski house looking annoyed, but whatever comment he was about to make died on his lips as he took in a barely conscious Becca in the Alpha's arms. The Beta's concerned gaze flitted from Becca to Derek with the unspoken question of what happened. He could tell Becca was in a bad way even without his wolf senses. Becca's ghostly pale complexion and her still shallow gasping breaths were enough.

He stepped aside, closing the door behind them and following Derek up to Stiles' room. Derek was greeted with much the same reaction by Stiles, except the youth never quite left anything unspoken. "Is she gonna be all right?" He pushed up quickly from his chair, setting it spinning as he moved to arrange the covers on his bed.

Derek felt Becca stir in his arms, a weary sigh breezing past her lips. "I jus' need to rest a minute," she mumbled as he set her down on the bed. "And my meds." She pushed up from the bed, apparently intent on getting her medication.

"Her bags are in my car." Derek tossed his keys to Scott and eased Becca back. "Scott'll get your meds." Stiles was hovering. His usual nervous energy kicked up about a hundred notches to the point that Derek could almost feel it pulsing from him. "Maybe you should get her a glass of water," he suggested, watching Stiles jump into action.

Scott returned behind a breathless Stiles, setting Becca's bags on the bed beside her. Derek helped her sit up, his hand bracing her back. "In my purse," she breathed, sounding exhausted. Scott looked almost embarrassed as he felt around in her purse, pulling out two bottles of medication. "Which one?" They looked to Becca. Eyes closed, she slumped against Derek's shoulder. "Maybe we should just let her sleep," Scott suggested, his voice filled with uncertainty.

"How does her heart sound?" Stiles asked, grabbing the two bottles from his friend and examining them.

"Sluggish," Derek replied, watching Stiles' somewhat surprised reaction as he read the label on one of the bottles before tossing it back into her purse. He wondered what was surprising.

Spilling a pill into his hand, Stiles capped the bottle and sat on the bed. "Becca," he called, giving her shoulder a gentle shake. Her eyes fluttered open, glancing at him. "Hey there," Stiles offered a goofy grin and she smiled, fighting to keep her eyes open. He pressed the pill into her palm. "There's your meds." She slowly lifted her hand to her mouth, placing the pill under her tongue. She grimaced as though she'd eaten something sour or bitter. "Here." Stiles grabbed the glass of water from the nightstand and held it to her lips and helped her drink.

"Thanks," Becca murmured as Derek eased her back down. "I just need a few minutes."

The three of them sat there a long moment until she drifted off to sleep, her breathing deepening and her heartbeat steadying. "So?" Stiles asked looking expectantly from Derek to Scott. "Did it help? Some of us can't hear her heart without putting their ear against her chest – and well – I'm not looking to mess with a kick ass hunter even when she's down."

"It's steadier," Scott supplied as Derek grabbed the blanket from Stiles' bed and draped it over Becca.

Derek moved to the window by Stiles' desk, motioning for the teens to follow. "So what have you found?" He nodded at the laptop.

Stiles slid onto his computer chair and began tapping at the keys again. "I've managed to hack into Carlie's Facebook account."

"Her Facebook account?" Derek hissed, leaning in close to Stiles as he spoke. "I've been gone for hours and all you've managed is her Facebook account?"

"I started with the police report of her disappearance, but that turned up a big ol' nothing. No man in her life for well over a year," Stiles defended. "But then I thought, what if she met the wolfman online?" He motioned to his laptop screen. "Girls put everything on their Facebook accounts."

"So what have you found out from her account?"

"Well, it turns out Carlie was pretty private as girls go." Stiles laughed nervously. Derek's patience was wearing thin. He needed to know who this wolf was. He needed to find it before it found a way to get to Becca or the others. "B-but I did find out she was on a dating site." Stiles tapped a few keys on his laptop and turned it so Derek could read the screen. "She downloaded this dating app, maybe one of the guys who checked out her profile is our guy."

"And how many guys checked out her profile?"

"Well," Stiles stalled, pushing his chair back a little. "A lot." A frustrated growl rumbled in Derek's throat. "But I can filter out a lot of them."

"How?"

"Well, that is where you come in," Stiles grinned up at him. "Tell me everything you know about the wolf. Did he have an accent? Did he speak fluent English? Any distinguishing marks?"

After a long round of twenty questions with Stiles, they were still left with little to go on. There was nothing defining about the wolf physically or in their conversations that could help whittle down the pool of potential suspects. Derek stood at the window, watching and listening for any sign of the wolf. There was none.

Turning back to the room, he forced himself not to hover over Stiles' shoulder as he worked. Derek had rarely seen him sit still for so long. The youth was busily tapping away at the keyboard and clicking at his mouse fully engrossed in his endeavour. Derek didn't want to distract him. He moved past Scott who'd nodded off in the chair next to his friend to the bed where Becca still slept.

He studied her for a long moment. There was a little more colour in her cheeks than earlier. Yet the circles beneath her eyes were darker, making her look more exhausted every time he saw her. He tried to ignore the stark contrast between Scott's strong, steady heartbeat and Becca's faltering one. He thought of Rowan's request, wondering what Becca would think. Would she accept it as Rowan believed? Or would she see it as a curse rather than a gift? And then there was the possibility that her body would reject the bite. What if the bite killed her instead?

"Damn I'm good!" Stiles exclaimed, his triumphant smile turning to a sheepish one as Derek glared at him from beside Becca. "Sorry," he whispered though the damage was done. Not only had he woken Scott, but Becca was beginning to stir.

"How long was I asleep?" Becca mumbled, sitting up and glancing around at them.

"Not long," Derek assured and Scott and Stiles both nodded when she glanced their way.

"What'd I miss?"

"There's nothing new," Derek lied, sending Stiles a warning look. "You should get some more rest."

"So, you found something, then?" Becca asked, looking Stiles in the eye. Derek watched the boy squirm, willing him to lie. "C'mon, I can see you're dying to share," she coaxed, offering him a winsome smile. "Rowan's had some of his best people working on this so I am gonna love rubbing it in their faces that a high school senior outsmarted them."

"Junior," Stiles corrected and Derek groaned.

"Right, even better."

Stiles glanced nervously at Derek. "Just tell us what you found," the Alpha grumbled.

Stiles sprang to his feet. "So, I managed to whittle down a list of a little over a hundred men who checked out Carlie's dating profile," he paused, beaming at each of them before he continued. "To – drum roll please," he paused again, but Derek's glare had him quickly resuming. "Ten!"

"Ten still seems like a lot," Scott shrugged, "What? It's not like we can go knocking on ten doors trying to figure out which one is our guy."

"Did you not hear me say there were over one hundred?"

"Yeah, and that is great. It's just we're still not sure who we're up against."

"How'd you do it?" Becca asked, interrupting the bickering friends.

Shooting Scott one last disapproving look, he turned to Becca. "Well, first I got rid of anyone who lived outside the U.S. and then narrowed it down to Arizona and California, figuring our guy would have a connection to one or both places." He picked up his laptop and sat on the end of the bed. "I might've been able to narrow it down more if Derek had remembered anything useful from his conversations with the wolf –"

"Conversations?" Becca glanced at Derek, her eyes narrowing.

"—Not that you can really blame him, Derek's not exactly a gifted conversationalist."

"You spoke to the wolf?" Becca demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.

"He threatened, I threatened back," Derek shrugged, turning his attention to Stiles. "So, who are these ten men and where can I find them?"

"O-kay," Stiles glanced at the computer screen. "Bachelor number one is Jake Goodall, he's a fireman in Sacramento," Stiles began in a game show host voice. "Lucky, number two is George Strunk, an engineer in Phoenix." Stiles glanced at the others. "Yeah they don't sound like our guy to me either. Then there's Fred Holder – no wait – he works security downtown. My dad said he's applied to be a deputy half a dozen times, but always fails the physical. I'd doubt he's our guy."

"Fine, who else?"

"Next we have, Henry Dufour. He's originally from Montreal, Canada. He played semi-pro hockey and now he coaches at the arena. Then there's Will T—"

"That's him," Derek declared, the hat trick comment leaving him almost certain Henry was their wolf.

"I didn't even finish his name."

"No, I mean Henry," Derek replied impatiently.

"How do you know?" Becca asked, leaning in to study the man's photograph on the dating site.

"Something he said about a hat trick," Derek explained. "It's when a player scores three goals in a game."

"I know what it is—" Becca replied, rolling her eyes.

"That's what you're going on?" Scott sounded uncertain.

"Are you sure? I mean wouldn't he have a French accent?" Stiles asked on his feet and pacing again. "Do you think he's at the arena?"

"I'm going to find out." Derek declared, moving to leave. Scott stepped in front of the door to stop him while Becca and Stiles called after him. "Move," he growled at the Beta his eyes glowing red.

"You shouldn't go alone," Becca insisted. He turned to see her rummaging through her duffel.

"You're staying here."

"Derek, she's right, you shouldn't go alone. I should go with you," Scott moved to Derek's side.

"And what if the wolf is waiting for me to leave again so he can get to Becca?"

"Two high school kids are not gonna be able to fend off a werewolf if you're right," Becca countered. "No offense," she added glancing between Scott and Stiles.

"None taken," Stiles assured. "She does have a point."

Derek raked his hands through his hair, wishing everyone would just stop talking. He knew they were right, but was bringing them all with him really an option? He briefly considered driving them to Rowan's and locking them behind the gate, but somehow he knew it would only make things worse. "Fine, but you're all staying in the car."

He ushered them all out of the room, pulling his phone from his pocket and dialing Rowan's number. "Meet me at the arena," he said and hung up without waiting for a response. If he couldn't get them to stay where it was safe, at least he could call in back up.