Hello again. I know it has been a while for me since I last posted, but I had a serious writers block going on. I tried working on an outline of what I wanted to write, but it was looking horrible and I couldn't figure out how to fix it, so I decided to take a small break from this to get my head back in order. Go figure that watching Fight Club would get my mind going again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters.

As Derek was walking into the dining room to discuss everything that was going on, he was thinking about the Chlodulf that he used to know.

Regardless of when or where, they were practically attached to the hip. The two were found outside at all times of the day and night. They spent so many hours in the sun at the Hale house that Chlodulf used to get sunburnt near constantly. Laura used to say that the world would come to an end before they would ever be found separated.

Derek was pretty sure, when they were younger, that they were each other's only friends. Chlodulf used to tell him that the children his age were jealous that he was friends with a much older boy. Derek didn't really care about other people outside of pack, and Chlodulf was pack. All of the Hales loved him. Even Cora, his little sister, had her first crush on him, but she wasn't the only Hale to have a crush on him. Then the day that a part of Derek died came. The Hale house fire.

Derek was crushed when he and Laura had to leave Beacon Hills after the fire without telling Chlodulf that he was fine, but they had to get away before the hunters could hurt them. He made a promise to himself that he would come back and show Chlodulf that he was fine and well. Eventually they made it to New York and started a new life, but then the car accident happened to the Stilinski family.

As soon as they heard about the car accident, Laura went back to Beacon Hills to find out how Chlodulf and Loreto were doing. When she came back, Laura was in tears and told Derek that he could never see Chlodulf again. Another part of Derek died again that day. He never spoke about Chlodulf to anybody after that.

Yesterday, when Derek met Stiles, he was happy to meet him. He smelled so much like his childhood friend that he was able to pretend that Stiles was Chlodulf, minus the too much smell of chemicals and not enough scent of someone practicing with their spark. His eyes were so similar and his heart beat too fast. His hair was longer than Chlodulf had it at, whom insisted that a buzz cut was the best hair style to have. It would have been so easy to just hold the stranger to his person. Much like what he once did with Chlodulf. Derek was tempted to try to keep him, or at least make him able to come back, but he knew that it was best if Stiles didn't come back.

Now that he had Chlodulf again, and he wasn't sure if he was ever going to let him go.

Stiles sat at the table that the missing people and Derek were walking to. The table and chairs were taller than most with an L shaped bench that wrapped around two sides of the square table and two almost average looking chairs on the other two sides. If it was all average sized, it would look cozy, but the large size made it look too closer to a throne.

Derek sat on the side of the bench against the wall while Peter sat on a chair to his right and the other three on Derek's left. Stiles was left to sit directly across from Derek.

At first, Stiles thought that it was a scare tactic, or at least a way to show the chain of command, but then he noticed how the three sitting together were holding hands. He realized then that they weren't sitting that way for his benefit, but theirs. It was beyond obvious that the time the three spent being 'missing' had made them very close. They probably thought that he would take them away from each other. Damn, he was in a fine mess.

Derek chose this moment to direct Stiles attention back to him by clearing his throat, loudly mind you, and asked, "Chlodulf, how did you recognize nearly everyone in the room?" Derek chose to emphasize his point by waving his arm to the other four at the table.

Stiles sighed before answering, "Like I told you yesterday, my dad is the sheriff. There have been a few missing person cases lately, and in Beacon Hills one case is one too many. Dad usually has pictures of them on the table while I'm making dinner and he is rereading the cases."

Stiles pointed to Peter and said, "Peter was a coma patient and former burn victim. One day his burns essentially disappeared, and while the nurses were trying to get the doctors to find out why it happened, he disappeared himself. It seems now that he pulled a Houdini."

Peter crossed his arms across his chest with a smile. He looked smug.

He then pointed to Erica, whom was sitting in between her two boys, and said, "Erica Reyes has epilepsy. Her father claims that she had gone to the pharmacy to pick up her medication, but never came home. Security cameras in the area confirmed his story. They all showed her walking into the store, but after she came out she walked into a blind spot of one camera and did not come out in the next."

Erica looked down at her lap and Stiles could have sworn he heard bones creak. She looked sad.

Stiles then pointed to Boyd and said, "Vernon Boyd is a quiet person that is part of a nuclear family that includes a sister. She came into the Sheriff's Station one day trying to report Boyd missing, but because of her young age she couldn't do it herself. When spoken to their parents, they said that there was no need to put in the report. They still believe that he simply ran away. My dad promised his sister that he would still treat Boyd as a missing person and look for him."

Boyd turned his head to Erica and, what looked to Stiles, sniffed her hair. He looked guilty.

Stiles finally pointed to Isaac and said, "Isaac Lahey lost his mother and then his older brother all before his junior year of high school. His father, his last living relative, never reported him missing, but neighbors claim that it has been weeks since they have seen him. After the discovery of his father's body and a search of the house, the department has their own beliefs as to why a report was never made. Right now my dad is looking for Isaac's body, convinced that his father killed him after he saw the marks in the freezer."

Isaac placed his head on Erica's shoulders and started to play with the tips of her hair. He just looked dejected.

To Derek, his three younger betas looked too much the way they did last night when they were crowded together against the wall playing with strings and hair. They probably knew that they would be found as soon as Derek told them a little about the incident with Stiles yesterday.

Peter decided that this was his moment to speak.

"Now, normally I wouldn't care, but this is a bit of a pride thing for me with how much work I put into helping these three hide," he even waved his arm to the people across from him. "Tell me how you recognized all of us when we have been playing house two towns over, and not a single person has realized who we are."

"It's Stiles," Erica answered for him. "Short of plastic surgery he would have recognized us before anyone els-

"Not really," Stiles interrupted. "My dad has been staring at most of your photos for weeks. I have been helping my dad post signs all over town in hopes that someone saw something. Erica is right about the plastic surgery part, but only because I have been staring at black and white photo so long that I have your faces and descriptions mostly memorized."

Derek could see what Chlodulf meant. When he met them, Erica was a short haired brunette with green eyes and didn't know how to put on makeup. Now her hair was longer and blonde, she wore colored contacts to make her eyes look brown, and went nowhere with nothing less than her red lip gloss. Boyd used to have a couple of inches of hair, blue eyes, and only spoke when he needed to. He cut it all off, wore black colored contacts, and spoke even less than before. Isaac once had his hair in a buzz cut, had brown eyes, and covered every inch of skin he could. He grew his hair out, wore green contacts, and is now not afraid to show off his arms.

Chlodulf drew Derek's attention back to him.

"Alright then, I answered your questions. Now you tell me what is going on."

Derek looked hard at Chlodulf from his spot. He was trying to figure out the best way to tell the man across from him what is going on. When he was younger, it was best to be blunt with Chlodulf about whatever was going on. Hopefully that fact stayed true.

"About that wolf you saw yesterday…"

Stiles looked confused as to where this could be leading, "Yeah, what does that wolf have to do with everyone in the room?"

Slowly, Derek answered, "That was not a wolf you actually saw."

"What do you mean?"

Derek sighed and closed his eyes, "I am a werewolf and the wolf you saw yesterday was me." He opened his eyes to show that his once green orbs were now red. "Actually, everyone in this room, but you, is a werewolf."

Stiles has always been able to process things quickly. One of the very few benefits to his ADD. Because of this, Stiles was able to help his father with the occasional case or two. Right now, his mind was processing that the man that claimed to be protecting the wolf pack was actually protecting a group of supernatural creatures. The very ones his father has been spending months looking for. He didn't quite know yet why Derek has kept them in the forest, but he did save him from Silver Bullet.

"Well at least now I know why you were naked," Stiles accidently spoke out loud.

All of the betas in the room looked to a blushing Stiles in shock at first. Then they all looked to a surprised Derek with leering looks.

"Tell me Stiles," Erica purred from her seat, "how much of Derek did you see?"

Derek gave a low growl that Stiles was sure meant she needed to drop the subject now.

"Dear nephew," Peter purred from his chair, "I must concur with Erica. Tell us, Chlodulf, did you get a chance to look below the belt."

Derek gave a deeper growl before scolding, "None of you have to be in the room for me to finish this discussion. If you want to stay here, then you better behave yourselves."

Erica crossed her arms and mumbled loud enough for Stiles to hear about how Derek was being no fun.

"Derek?"

"Yes Chlodulf?"

"How do you know how to say my name? For that matter, how do you know who I am?"

Derek looked to Stiles sadly before answering, "Do you really not remember me? We used to play together constantly. I think you even spent more time at my house than yours before you were ten."

Stiles first response to that was not what Derek expected. An apology or a simple no was to be expected.

Instead he heard, "So that was you?" That got Derek to stop looking at the table like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Rubbing the scar underneath his hair, Stiles answered, "My mom and me got into a pretty bad car accident. We both ended up in a coma for a long time. Mom never woke up, but I did at the price of most of my memories and a scar. The doctors said that the more objective stuff, like reading and math, were fine, but the personal things would probably not come back."

Derek was starting to feel a little better about Chlodulf not remembering him.

"I have some fuzzy memories of playing with a kid older than me, but the only thing I had to go off on was that your house was in the preserve and had a decent sized family. I did some research a couple years back, and came up with the name Hale and the fire that happened here. By chance, I ran into the trees with our initials and started to follow them here."

Even though Derek didn't smile, Peter noticed a spark in his eyes that was not there before. To Derek, Chlodulf just came back from the dead.

"Say, Derek," Stiles began to ask, "How did everyone in the room become a werewolf?"

"Well, Chlodulf," Peter answered for Derek, "Derek and I are, what is called, a born werewolf, meaning we were born this way."

To say that Stiles was having a hard time not laughing at the reference was an understatement, regardless of how unintentional it was.

"I met Boyd, Erica, and Isaac individually while in the forest by the river and lake," Derek kindly distracted Stiles. "They all needed something, whether it was a cure, a pack, or getting stronger. I offered them a chance to get it, but I did warn them about the price that they would have to pay."

"I had to give up my dad so I could get my cure," Erica said.

"I had to give up my sister in order to get a pack," Boyd muttered.

"I didn't have anything to lose, really. I just needed to get stronger to protect myself," Isaac whispered barely loud enough for Stiles to hear.

"But I did warn them about the hunter," Derek insisted.

"By the way," Stiles asked, "why is Silver Bullet trying to kill you?"

Derek asked back, "Silver Bullet?"

"Yeah, it's been what I have been calling the hunter: Silver because of his graying hair and Bullet because, well, he did try to kill me with a gun."

Stiles could see that Derek was shaking his head with a small smile with no teeth, but only the betas could hear Derek commenting about how some things just never change.

He then sighed before answering, "Laura came back to Beacon Hills a few months ago by herself. We were sure that after 10 years that it would be safe enough for us to come back. She actually found the hunter that was in charge of the arson of the house."

Derek gave a small smile before continuing, "To say she took care of her with prejudice is an understatement. On my way here, the arson's father, the hunter that you met, started to hunt my sister."

Derek sighed dejectedly before continuing, "I thought we would be able to rebuild the house together, but I found her dead at the front porch. I buried her and a few days later Peter found me sitting by the grave I dug right after he got out of the hospital. We were going to buy back the house from the county and get contractors to rebuild the house when Peter and I became the hunted."

He then began, what looked like the closest to imploring Stiles has seen Derek do, "It really was fine with just me and Peter. Even with Erica, Peter protected her while I ran interference with the hunter. But I turned Boyd and Isaac, and we weren't able to do that anymore."

Derek rubbed his eyes tiredly before continuing again, "I made a deal with the hunter, more of a spell really. We went to a witch, well a spark is what she is called, and now I get hunted as a wolf while Peter makes sure that they stay away or are hiding in our 'den' from sunrise to sunset." Derek even made the air quotes in that last sentence.

"Wait, what's a spark?"

"Well, Chlodulf," Peter answered, "a spark is a person that can sort of do magic. While a witch is said to do magic based off of ability, a spark does their work through will alone. The stronger the will, the more potent the spark."

Stiles nodded his head in understanding.

"So I am guessing that you met a very powerful spark that set up a spell that doesn't take away your will, but I'm sure is dangerous to break by force."

"Exactly," Peter answered.

"And it is also safe to assume that you all have been staying in this house."

"Yes," Derek responded with a raised brow

For a pregnant pause, Stiles looked at Derek before saying, "You do realize that now I know this, none of you are spending another night here."

Now I am sorry to say that I will not be able to post for about a week at least. I am moving in a few days, and I am really not sure how long it will take me to get to my new address and get everything in order. Regardless, I will continue writing this story, just don't expect anything for a while. I hope you guys enjoyed what you read. I would love to get your reviews and PMs as a going away gift. Thank you for your continued support.