Disclaimer: I still don't own Teen Wolf. Lucky you, Jeff Davis.

CHAPTER 6: Hale

"She knew about werewolves?" Stiles asked incredulously.

Scott, Stiles, and Kira were at the lacrosse field getting ready to practice. It was Sunday morning and Scott felt drained from lack of sleep and the events from the previous night. He still couldn't believe that Rose knew.

"Yeah," Scott said. "She and Derek were friends. They might have been a couple a long time ago. I actually met him once before and I thought he was her boyfriend."

"Wow. What are the odds that her cousin would later become a werewolf and be trained by her ex-boyfriend?" Kira said.

"She would've really come in handy when we had half-pipe Derek around," Stiles said. "Hey, what if she's the Benefactor?"

"She's not, Stiles," Scott said defensively.

"Think about it. None of this dead pool business started until she came to town," Stiles said.

"I still think she isn't the Benefactor. And don't tell her anything about the dead pool because I left that part out. I don't want her to get worried. I'm supposed to meet up with her later today to talk about exactly how she found out about werewolves. I also wanna ask her about Laura."

"Why do you all of a sudden wanna know about Laura?" Stiles asked.

"I think they were good friends. She might be able to tell me how Laura was as an alpha. I'm still figuring out how to be one. I need to be able to help Liam and protect him and Derek's not exactly a great example."

"Why is that?" Kira asked.

"Because he sucked as an alpha," Stiles responded.

"So are you really close with your cousin?" Kira asked Scott.

"Growing up, she took care of me. Then she went off to college in Seattle and that was the last time I saw her. She had a pretty rough time here at the end of high school."

"Yeah, there was a whole rape scandal about her," Stiles said. "On the night of prom, she was found injured and in her underwear roaming around the woods. She never said who raped her and claimed she tried to commit suicide."

"But we don't know if she was actually raped or if she really did try to kill herself," Scott jumped in. "We don't know what happened that night."

Rose stood in front of the remains of the Hale House sadly. This was where Derek and Laura lost their family. This was where Kate destroyed one of the most powerful packs.

She clenched her fists at the thought of Kate Argent. Out of all the Argents, she hated Kate the most.

"What are you doing here?" Derek asked behind her.

"Why do you care?" she asked him without turning around.

Derek walked forward and stood beside her. After a moment of silence, Rose turned to leave.

"Rose," he said, grabbing her arm gently.

"Let me go, Derek."

"There's something I want to say."

She stood still but didn't turn to face him.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Laura. I know I should've, but I didn't want to interfere in your life."

Rose finally faced him.

"Is she really gone?" she asked.

"Yeah, Peter cut her in half. There was no way she could've survived."

Rose took a deep breath, willing herself to stay composed.

"I'm sorry, too. I'm sorry about what happened in the past. I don't know why I did it, but I just wish you would forgive me and we can go back to being friends."

Derek knew exactly what she was talking about. He could feel himself wavering in his determination to hate her. Seeing Rose mourn for his sister made him realize something. At the time of Laura's death, Derek was the only one who grieved for her, who cared that she left this world. But there was another person who cared and he had done everything to push her away since she reappeared in his life. Maybe it was time to bury the hatchet.

"Come with me," he said gently.

"Where are we going?"

"To my family's grave," he said, walking deeper into the woods.

Later that day, Scott walked into a coffee shop and sat down at a table at the back near the noisy coffee machines, waiting for Rose. He was interested in hearing her side of the story and how she came to know about werewolves.

His cousin arrived a few minutes later and sat down across from him.

"I'm gonna grab a cup of coffee, you want anything?" she asked.

"No, I'm good, thanks."

Once she was all settled with a hot cup of latte in front of her, Scott got down to business.

"Tell me everything," he said, mirroring her words from last night.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"How you met Derek. Did you date him?"

"No, I didn't," Rose answered. "But we were good friends. We had a few classes together and bonded over the fact that we both didn't grow up with fathers. I don't know if he told you, but his father was killed when he was nine. He was a human, but became a werewolf to be with Mrs. Hale. He was killed by the Argents for defending himself against one of their members and biting him.

Anyway, Derek and I were assigned partners for a science project in the ninth grade. We were supposed to study the phases of the moon. On the night of the full moon, Derek told me to stay at home but I didn't listen. I went to the woods with a telescope and out of nowhere, Derek came running through the trees and tried biting me. Peter and Laura pulled him off me and they left.

I didn't see Derek for about a week. He wasn't going to school and they said he had mono. I went to visit him at home. Peter told Mrs. Hale that she should make me forget what had happened, that I was a liability. She decided not to. She told me that Derek needed a human friend to keep him sane, that it would help him live a normal life. She wanted him to have friends, to enjoy being a teenager."

"What was Derek's mother like?" Scott asked. He had always wanted to ask Derek, but thought he would never tell him. Derek was very private about his life, especially his past.

"She was strong, beautiful, she had an air of elegance about her. I always thought she was some kind of werewolf queen. She was really smart, too, and every other pack in the area sought advice from her.

So with Mrs. Hale's blessing, I got closer to Derek. He confided in me about everything - how he was frustrated that he struggled with his shift despite being a born wolf, how sometimes he wished he could be a regular kid and play basketball and have a girlfriend. I told him everything, too. We were best friends, but only outside of school."

"Why was that?"

"It was mutual really. Derek needed distance. He thought that being too close to me would get me hurt one day, and I needed separation. At school, I was a normal girl. I had my friends and theater and swimming and I didn't need to worry about werewolves. Outside of school, I was the best friend of a teenage werewolf. I even helped him during full moons. One of our traditions was to watch the sunrise after a full moon. It was like our reward for getting through another month.

Peter didn't like me, though. He felt threatened that I was taking Derek from him. Once, he submitted an application on my behalf to a boarding school in London. I was shocked when I got the acceptance letter. He even offered to pay my tuition. It was tempting, but I didn't want to leave my mother alone in Beacon Hills, and I didn't want to leave the Hales. Derek was so mad when he found out.

Then there was the fire. We were in class when our teacher sent him to the principal's office. Derek and Laura were devastated. Derek wanted to kill the Argents for what they did, and I wanted to help. For almost three months, they stayed in their family vault under the high school which was heavily protected. I helped them get food and things like that. They would go back to the house often. Mrs. Hale's claws were somewhere in there and they wanted to find them. In the end, they couldn't find them and they left Beacon Hills after Laura officially graduated. I wanted to go with them, to become part of their pack, but something happened."

Scott had a feeling he was about to find out why Derek seemed to dislike his cousin.

"I shot Derek with an arrow."

It wasn't the answer that Scott expected.

"Like a hunter's arrow? Why?"

Rose looked down at her coffee cup.

"I've asked myself that same question countless times. There was an incident on prom night. I went to prom but Kate Argent attacked me. She used me as bait to draw Derek and Laura out. Laura was out of town at the time, so it was only Derek who tried to help me. It's a long story and I'm sure you heard a version of it. The rumors aren't true - I wasn't raped or assaulted by some creep, but I let everyone think that because no one would've believed the truth anyway."

"But what does all that have to do with you shooting Derek with an arrow?" Scott asked.

"Derek had an interesting theory. He said that I blamed him for ruining his life. If it wasn't for him, I would've enjoyed my prom night with my boyfriend. My boyfriend dumped me after prom - he couldn't deal with all my lies and secrets. Derek felt guilty for what happened to me and he really thought I hated him for it. I was learning to protect myself with a bow and arrow at the time, and I shot him."

"And what's your version of it?"

"I have no idea why I did it. That night was such a blur, I can barely remember it. I just don't know."

Scott sat back in his chair and mulled over her story and Rose sipped on the rest of her lukewarm coffee.

"Was Laura a good alpha?" he asked suddenly.

"Yes, Mrs. Hale taught her well."

"What made her a good alpha?"

Rose thought about it for a moment. "She was decisive. She had a vision of where she wanted to go and how she wanted to get there. She protected me and Derek from the Argents and from other packs. Laura was very skilled, too. She was a full wolf like her mother, was fast, cunning, but most importantly, she knew how to separate her emotions from situations. She was good at seeing things from an unbiased point of view. You would've gotten along well with her, Scott. I'm sure you're already a great alpha and so was she."

I kind of wish Laura had been brought back to life. She could've been a really good teacher to Scott. In the next chapter, I jump right into "Time of Death." Sorry if the transition is a bit choppy. :/

Reviews please?