A/N: Many thanks to MidnightMoonWarrior who helped me brush up the chapter and kelevra79 who put up with correcting my SpaG mistakes.

weregrrrl13 Why Peter used Deucalion will become clearer in the next chapters ;)

hellomarthamay Sorry, I am afraid the next chapter with some sexy time is far away ...

Glad to hear you liked it so far AndiCullen104 and bugmama90

When she looked up, Allison saw the full moon through the tips of the trees around her. Even though it shone brightly against the dark sky, she could barely see the ground beneath her. As she looked around trying to get her bearing a wolf howled in the distance. A few moments later, another wolf answered from a different direction. The sounds made her skin crawl, her knees felt shaky even as they kept her standing. It felt like a threat, because she knew what hearing a wolf howl had announced the last time. Death was coming and for some reason she felt it was coming for her.

Ever since that night when they had been attacked by Peter at school she felt like this too often to be healthy. There were times when she thought she had it under control, those times scared her for entirely different reasons. When she had been with her aunt or her grandfather, they brought out a side in her that made her feel even more afraid of herself than of the sound of the howling closing in on her.

Not that she was not profoundly scared at this moment. The howls sounded a lot closer already; with the distance between them melting away a battle with the lethal creatures seemed unavoidable. Even though she had her crossbow in hand, it hardly seemed enough. There was a fear that would only go away if she was faster, if her bolt left the string and if she could reload before the second one reached her.

Walking up the trail, she looked for a good vantage point to prepare herself for the coming attack. If they came into range of her crossbow, she would drop them. Her father always said this was not how they do things but Allison did not care. Maybe she should not have been out here all by herself but if the wolves came close enough, she would not risk them having hostile intentions. It was their own fault for acting like this.

Her palms were sweaty and she dried them off on her jeans, never letting go of the crossbow for long. This part of the forest was at least familiar to her; here she had hunted her first werewolves, captured Boyd and Erica and then of course not far from here was the Hale house and that was a place she rather forget but knew all too well.

Allison spun around as she heard something snap in the underbrush not that far from her position. Despite the relative brightness due to the full moon, she saw nothing move with the exception of the branches and twigs moving with the wind. Then another snap, different direction but she still could not see anything. There were just trees, some fallen but otherwise the forest was empty. Yet, she heard something closer, approaching her position.

Then it was so close she could swear it was just a few feet away from her. Only at the last moment, she looked up to the tree tops. Glowing red eyes stared down at her, a werewolf still in humanoid form but with black fur and face that was completely transformed with huge fangs. His claws had dug deep into the trunk of the tree about eight feet over the ground.

Turning when she heard a noise, Allison saw a second werewolf sneaking up in the same manner, only it was more wolf than man with a brown fur. Her bolt flew at it but before she could reload the other one lunged at her. All she could do was look up to see the claws that tore through her throat. Feeling her blood pouring down her body, gargled sounds came out of her mouth accompanied by more blood. Before she had a chance to fall, the fur covered body slammed her into the cold dirt. Her body was in shock and there was almost no pain. Just the horror of attempting to scream and not being able to.

The red eyes curiously looked down at her as she tried to breathe but could not: even if her windpipe was not filled with blood the massive weight on her chest made it impossible. The beast came so close to her face that it blocked out the moonlight; its hot, stinking breath was the last sensation she was aware of as her life violently ended.

Allison sat up; panting like crazy as she woke from the nightmare she had been having for months in different variations. The one thing that was always the same was her being killed by a werewolf in the dark of the forest. So far she had not told anyone about it. After all it would just worry her father, if she told Scott or Isaac they would feel bad. Since the dreams started after they had rescued their parents she just took it as part of the price that Deaton had spoken about. It was not like they came every night, only when she felt particularly anxious and powerless.

Looking at her clock, she realised it was evening; almost time to head out on her patrol with Isaac. Since they would be doing a lot of scouting together, Isaac was napping on their couch. It actually made Allison happy, that her father was that comfortable with him staying over. Considering that Isaac had gotten his full moon rage under control the very first time, he was even slightly impressed. Not that she planned on making her father aware what her intentions in regards to Isaac were. Allison was sure her father was not that impressed.

Sweat covered her and soaked into her clothing, there was just enough time to change, if she hurried. Even though the dream had left a numb after-feeling she found the strength and jumped up. Fighting off the lethargy, she peeled out of her clothing and threw them into the hamper before entering her bathroom.

Her first move was as always to set the dial to cold. There was something about the icy water hitting her body that made her feel alive again. It was only when she started shivering that she turned the water to warm and soaped herself up. Washing out the sweat out of her hair took her less than two minutes. Turning off the water she reached for a towel. After she had dried herself off, she used the hair dryer; with her hair still damp in some parts, she brushed it together going more for practical than pretty and set a new record in getting dressed.

Isaac was already up, looking more rested than she was. "Hey, are you ready?"

"Sure, we can grab a bite to eat on the way."

With that they left to head their assigned area, her father had insisted that she not go alone as he did. At first, she had protested then she had to agree that he was more experienced. Although the real reason was more likely that in her dreams she was always alone, she hated to admit it but she was scared to be by herself in the forest ever since, and Isaac did not mind accompanying her.

Of course, they would be able to cover more ground if they split but four groups, the twins each covering their own ground was already increasing their radius a lot. Once Scott got back with Derek and Cora they could almost double it. At least, if Derek agreed to come back. Given all the bad memories here, she would hardly blame him if she stayed wherever he had Cora had gone to.

They parked the car behind a shed, just in case a police patrol came by the road. From there they headed into the woods.

"I am glad my father asked you to stay over, even if it is just to make sure I don't go by myself after all."

Isaac nodded: "I think he can tolerate me as a friend."

"Yeah," Allison agreed with a sad sigh. "About that …"

Almost as if fate wanted to tell her that she should leave the topic alone, they heard something snap and went absolutely still. Then a rabbit hopped by in the distance. They continued on their way to the area they needed to cover.

"Well, not quite what we are looking for .. " Isaac said and after a long pause added. "Look, even if I was sure you had no feelings for Scott anymore, I know he still loves you - he is my friend, I just can't - it would be wrong."

Allison frowned, it was sort of what she had feared all along, she just did not have the heart to lie and say that she and Scott were totally over and that it should not matter anyway. Not just because Isaac would certainly realise she was lying. It was just so much easier just to focus on everything that had nothing do with Scott, then to actually think about that issue.

"I know - but he doesn't own me. I am sure he accepts that I have moved on," Allison said. "I'm not going to deny that there is still something - but I really want it to be over. It's making me feel like I'm not myself."

Looking to her side, she could not make out all the details of Isaacs face but she had the feeling he did not look too happy from what outline she did see. At this moment she wished she had brought the night vision goggles. It had seemed like she would not need it but the small sickle of the moon did not give off nearly enough light. Of course, she could use her flashlight but that would give them away and if she thought about it, so was their chattering.

"Let's talk about it, when this is over," she added.

At least, this was something they could agree on. It made this whole exercise a bit more awkward but then again she had to start it, it had hung over her head for a while and with talking things over with Lydia, it had just burned her into finally getting to the bottom of it. The bottom was exactly where she felt she was at for the moment.

The night went on long and tedious, they ate some of the sandwiches they had gotten on their way here but otherwise it was just silence interrupted by a few "Heh did you hear this?" Which most of the time she did not hear, given that Isaac's hearing was of course way better than hers. Making her feel completely useless, which didn't necessarily improved her downtrodden mood.

When they finally got home, they were too tired to talk. Allison wanted nothing more than to crawl into her bed and sleep off the frustration, when she finally remembered that she had wanted to call Lydia. It was 3 am and way too late now. Seeing Isaac head into the guest bathroom brought up the memory of her friend staggering out of it pale as a sheet. Aidan said she suddenly had felt unwell and that they would bring her home. She really had meant to call Lydia before heading out into the woods tonight.

Wondering if the Twins were already back or if she might catch them in the elevator, she realised she probably ought to send a text and call in the morning. Hey, Lydia overslept - but wanted to know how you are? Hope you feel better. Will call tomorrow. When Isaac came back - ready for bed, she asked him to remind her to call. Given how they never had time for her last year, Allison did not want to fall back into bad habits.

Then she went into her room, once more falling asleep in her clothes. Only this time she was spared another nightmare and when she woke up in the morning, it was not even that late. Taking advantage of the fact that she had slept in her clothes, she peeked out of her room. Isaac was already up, reading something and her father was in the kitchen.

"Morning," Isaac said looking up from his book. "Your father offered to make breakfast."

"How nice of him," she replied. "Be ready in a few minutes."

That was not really what she needed, breakfast with her new not-really-boyfriend and her father. She freshened up and eventually braved the situation. Luckily, her father mostly talked about how uneventful the night was, if they heard or sensed anything of importance. The Twins had not called in yet so Chris would go up and talk to them later on. He was sure that nothing happened on their end either.

By the time they were finished, Isaac offered to do the dishes and reminded her to call Lydia. While she had thought of it, she was giving him a big smile anyway. Allison liked that he had remembered. With her father going upstairs, she decided to go to her room to have a quiet call with Lydia.

There was no reply to her text but since it was almost 10 am she hoped that Lydia was up already. The phone rang a couple of times and then went to voicemail. "Heh this Allison, just calling as promised, are you feeling better? Hope it is not something you ate?"

She added the latest part, just so Lydia would not think they thought she had had a bad dream again. While they all hoped to get more information, Allison was really concerned about Lydia. Besides, she did not doubt that Lydia would say if she had important information. Then she realised that she owed someone else a call.

"Allison, finally - have you talked to Lydia?" Stiles greeted.

"Yes, she was here for the meeting."

"How, did that go by the way?" He said before telling her that he was putting her on speaker.

Allison went on to tell him and Scott what they had come up with. They definitely agreed with checking out Peter if they could find him. She went on to tell them about their nightly surveillance and how they had not come up with anything.

"But there haven't been any new attacks?" Scott asked.

"Not that we know of."

To which Stiles added that this was a good thing, before coming back to Lydia. "So was she okay?"

"Yeah, I think she got a stomach bug or something. She looked a bit pale and the Twins drove her home. We talked a bit before the meeting and from what my dad told me, she does feel a bit left out because she is not on the taking action side of things. Lydia did make some great remarks during the meeting."

Scott sighed and then said: "Well, we just don't want her to get hurt again."

"But she is like actually sick, have you talked to her since then?" Stiles sounded worried.

Allison was not sure if he was still having a crush on her or if he was simply worried as a friend. If she was sure about one thing, it was that Stiles was just a friend to Lydia. Not that she would rub that in, it was bad enough for him that after Jackson, she had gone straight back to jock dating and then to Aidan. The worst thing of course, was that Lydia was assuming that Stiles saw things the same way or if she knew more, she acted if she did not.

"I left her a message and a voice mail, I am sure she will call back soon and if not, I will."

"I will call her as well ... or you think that might be a bit much?" Stiles wondered out loud, obviously Scott was not thrilled by the idea.

Allison had to agree, while some attention might not hurt, Lydia certainly hated if she had the feeling the others were conferring behind her back about her. It did seem a bit excessive, it was not like they had not seen or talked to her for days. "I think Scott might have the right idea, if you also call her and know about her being maybe slightly ill, then she is going to feel like we control her or something …"

"Yeah, okay - but you'll call me?" Stiles asked.

"I'll text you at the very least."

"Good, there is something else, Allison, Stiles had an idea for something you might want to look into as well."

"Yes, of course," Stiles cleared his throat. "I kept thinking that there could be some animals involved, you could do a search for missing animals - huge dogs, maybe zoo animals. If there is actual someone playing Frankenstein- he will have to get his body parts from somewhere."
"That is a good idea, I will look into that," Allison sighed. "I just hope you can get Derek and Cora back here, I have the feeling we are not covering enough ground."

"Who knows with him?" Scott said. "He left for a reason and Cora hasn't been here for years."

"Talk to Lydia if she doesn't call you back, make up something so you have another reason to call her, okay?"

Allison rolled her eyes at how demanding he sounded, not to mention the detailed instructions as if she could not figure that out on her own. "Yes, I will make sure she is okay, Stiles!"

Now, she was convinced that Stiles was still crushing on Lydia. Which meant more drama if they were to hang out more often. Especially with Lydia cuddling up to Aidan like that, which was a disturbing new trend. While she pretended that Aidan was just a distraction, she noticed that he had felt down and that was not at all like her. Although it seemed since her ordeal she had become a bit more concerned about the well being of her friends.

After she had showered and dressed in something that had not been slept in, her father was back and said that the twins had not seen or heard anything unusual either. They all would head out again tonight. Allison mentioned the research Stiles had thought about and she and Isaac went to her room to look into it.

They did spent a few hours, looking up disappearances in and around Beacon Hills and finally discovered that Stiles' idea was not that bad. Two of the major Zoos closest to them had reported that a lion, two leopards and a bear had been stolen. A circus was missing a tiger and a Wild Reserve was reporting two missing there were several instances were really large dogs had been taken. In Beacon Hill's alone two big guard dogs had been stolen from a scrapyard.

Broadening the search, they actually discovered that there had been two more animal killings on the I-5 in the two weeks before they had started in Beacon Hills. They needed to tell the sheriff, so he could get Agent McCall on it and maybe out of their hair. When they finally stopped investigating this, Allison felt her stomach rumble.

It was late already, past 2pm and still no call back from Lydia. At least she honestly had some news to tell Lydia. Except she ended up with the voice mail once more: "Lydia, heh, we found out something, maybe you want to look into it as well. Call me."

After dinner there was still no phone call. She wondered maybe if they should drive by her house, just so Isaac could listen if Lydia was there and okay. That was still some time off, they explained to her father what they had discovered and he told them to print out the information and that he would hand it over to the sheriff. Whom he was seeing anyway before he would go out.

In the midst of them preparing the information, Allison got a text from Lydia. I am fine. Glad you made progress. Will call you tomorrow.

"Wow, that was short," Isaac said when she showed him the message.

Allison was not sure she liked the tone of it, while Lydia was always pretty precise in her comments; this seemed short and impersonal even for her. "Would you mind, if we drive by her house - I just want to make sure she is there and okay. Not knock … just …"

"... me listening in on her?" he finished the thought for her.

"Yes, I don't want to give her the impression we are checking up on her."

"If it means that much to you."

Isaac still did not like Lydia that much, most of the time it was not that apparent but sometimes it showed through. Just as she wanted to claim that she was not the only one who cared about Lydia, she realised that she had almost forgotten something. "Omg, I need to text, Stiles!"

It might be premature but there was no reason to worry him, if she found out something was up with Lydia then she could always inform him once she had fixed the problem.

Not that Lydia acting strange was always a sign that something sinister was going on. On occasion it was just a normal problem Allison tried to remind herself of that. Maybe Lydia had eaten something at the restaurant with her parents that did not agree with her. After all they tried to get her to eat all kinds of new fancy meals every time they went out.

Figuring it was better to be safe than sorry, she stopped her car almost two hours later as close as she dared in front of Lydia's house. Isaac sighed, slightly annoyed but rolled down the window and listened.

"And?" Allison finally asked.

"There is nobody else in the house, except Lydia in her room and I believe the second heart beat I'm hearing is from that dog with the stupid name."

"Well, if your parents tell you fashion brands are the most important thing ever, it's not that surprising that an 11-year old names her dog after one of them."

She knew he got him there, it was not like Lydia was the was she was for no reason at all. The important thing was she had come far from being the snotty freshman that had laughed at the idea of Isaac asking her out. Also Allison had told him that boys had no right to expect girls to say yes just because they were interested. To which he had replied that it was the way she had humiliated him in public and that had hurt. She had wanted to point out that maybe then asking her in front of others was not the smartest thing to do.

While Lydia was more confident by the time she knew her, Allison was pretty sure she would have laughed as well. Not out of mean spiritedness but out of nervousness. It was always so embarrassing when a guy you did not know came out of nowhere and expected you to go out with him. Since that particular event still was such a sour spot with Isaac, she had decided to let it rest.

"I don't really see what Stiles sees in her. Why he is making such a fuss. She's still a diva, probably sits there, reading a book on god knows what, being too bored by what we're doing." Isaac rolled up the window and added: "She's okay, her heartbeat is pretty normal, so can we please go?"

Allison started the car and drove off. "Come on, we can be glad she does not want to be out there with us, we'd need to keep an eye on her. Then you'd probably have to go with her, while I'd have my dad watching me."

"Okay, that we don't want - at all," he agreed with her.

The rest of the night was as uneventful as the one before, with the exception that this time she brought night vision goggles and saw a lot more. Frustration was setting in sooner than last night and she wondered even more if there was some intelligent force out there, that knew they were out on patrol, and as soon as they had to stop their patrols for exhaustion the killings would be back.

Allison was sure that if their suspicions were right and Peter was behind this he would just wait. His speciality seemed to be to creep around and wait for the right moment to strike. Although, she was not sure how he might have found out about the patrols. Then, of course, the area they covered was not big enough between them and he might just be active in another area - whoever it was. Allison was trying to be open minded - but she almost hoped it was Peter. She hated that he was walking around while her aunt stayed dead.

The crowning moment of the night was of course when they got a flat tire. She texted her father that they would be late, he replied that he was coming home later anyway but if they needed assistance he could come over. As if she needed help for changing a tire, especially with one eager helper around already. They ended up fussing around and by the time they had changed the tire and gotten home, they were dead tired.

Moments after them the Twins came back, reporting on how useless this effort was but that they were willing to give it one more night. Then they really should rethink their strategy, like questioning their suspects. While they had no idea how to find them that might be something they still had a greater chance of doing.

Allison was too tired and too much in agreement with this not really being successful that she did not give much an argument. They took the elevator and she gladly left those two behind, sitting down on the couch to send another text to her father. Back home. Twins didn't see anything either. Did you?

Then she just laid back and closed her eyes. It had occurred to her that maybe he did stay out longer because he had found something. Hopefully, not a dead body, she thought.

"Worried about him?" Isaac asked and sat down next to her.

She nodded. "Mind if I wait here till he comes home or texts back?"

"Not at all."

That was about the last thing she remembered for the night, it was not until early in the morning that she felt her father shaking her softly by her shoulder, that she became aware that she had spend the night on the couch. The grave look on her father's face was the first thing that struck her, and then she realised that her arm and leg were draped over Isaac's body. Thankfully both of them were fully dressed.

"Hi, dad, did you just come home?" she asked with a certain feeling of embarrassment.

Slowly, removing her leg, she turned to her father. Her cheeks were probably bright red considering how warm she felt.

"No, I came home a few hours ago. , found you both asleep on the couch. Decided not to wake you," her father told her, then looked past her. "I know you are awake, Isaac."

"Morning, Mr. Argent."

Isaac sounded about as unhappy and embarrassed as she was. At least, her father was not armed, so she figured that it was a good sign. Thinking about it, he could have done something yesterday. He let them sleep on the same couch. No doubt realising they were very tired. Just as he probably had been. Isaac shifted away from her and they both sat up.

"I think I need to go to the bathroom," he stated and then was gone in five seconds.

Her father gave her his what-do-you-think-you-are-doing-young-lady look and she cringed a bit.

"This is so embarrassing - but you don't think there is anything going on between us, do you?"

"I don't know, yesterday I thought - not. Today I find you practically wrapped around him."

Allison never knew she tended to cuddle up in her sleep, as whenever she had fallen asleep in Scott's arms, she had started out this way and then woke up alone.

"Yeah, about that - we're just friends. I don't know why did that. I was asleep. I wanted to wait 'til I heard from you. Guess we fell asleep."

"I recommend being more careful."

"What could happen? It's not like he could accidentally bite and turn me, he is not an Alpha. I don't get why you are so freaked out about it in the first place. I could be dating a lot of worse guys than Scott and Isaac."

She could see in her father's eyes that this subject was not open for discussion. Which also meant that he had no good arguments to make. It was not like she did not know there was some danger involved. Allison remembered Isaac freaking out in the janitor's closet when one of the twins had locked him in. However, she had hurt him far worse than that before.

"I'll go get dressed," she finally said.

Moaning as she realised that this was the third time in a row she had slept in her clothes. When she stepped out of the shower, she heard her father say something to Isaac, but she could not really make out what it was. Then a door closed and Allison decided to get dressed to see what was up.

What followed was probably the most awful breakfast she could remembered. It was her turn but having Isaac and her dad sitting behind her as she prepared the food, was topping all previous awkward silence experiences. Finally, she came up with a question to do something about it.

"Heh, did you give the information about the missing animals and the other killings to the sheriff?"

"I did, he said he will make sure that Scott's father looks into it. I have a feeling he'll be interested in doing that, especially now that Scott is on the trip with Stiles, I don't think he even knows how soon they plan on coming back. John has been abstruse on the purpose of the trip, so hopefully that rids us of him for a while."

That seemed to have broken the ice as they were finally able to talk about the last night and what they had discovered or more precisely what was not discovered. Especially, the conversation with the twins, which lead Chris to suggest a new strategy. They would wait for Scott to return, an then resume these stake-outs with full force. Today and tomorrow, the three of them would take a look at the Nemeton and the surrounding area.

The Twins certainly liked the idea, they had been humouring them anyway and the positive side effect was of course that Aidan could spend time with Lydia. There was no call back by midday, not even a text but Allison did not want to pressure her. If she was feeling sick due to some stomach bug, she would not anyone to see her throwing up. So if Aidan got the heat for that, it was fine with her.

Even if she was not sick, not joining them on their excursion through the woods was not that bad a decision. It was exciting to go out and hunt as long as something was there to hunt. Sitting around and waiting was terrible way to spend the time. Since looking around involved her father giving her another lesson on tracking animals while Isaac used his other senses to see if he could pick up anything else, Allison was glad when her phone rang.

At least until Stiles told her, that Derek had declined to come back. It was of course more of an 'I will think it over' but Allison figured that it had to mean no. For what was there to think over? Especially, now that they had a theory that maybe Peter was involved. That had to be a good enough reason to at least want to check things out.

Her father decide it was too early to decide and that at least with Scott in the mix, they could cover more areas and that maybe the Sheriff might find a lead on where Peter or Deucalion were at. At least with Peter, they might expect him to be still in Beacon Hills. Someone must have seen him or have a clue where he was living. He had mentioned an apartment downtown to Stiles, so that was where they were focusing on now.

Their search did not yield any results, although it seemed like someone had been there recently, which might as well have been anyone, considering that they all had stumbled around here before without even knowing the significance of the place.

It was the next day, when things got interesting. Relatively well rested, they had headed out to the Nemeton even earlier than on Monday. After two hours, in which she misidentified about half of the tracks they found, Isaac noticed a strange smell. Following it, they discovered a shallow grave that had been partially dug up by some wild animal some time ago. What stuck out were some bones and the ends of ragged clothes.

Allison was really grateful that most of it was still covered with dirt, as it allowed her to look away, when her father took a closer look. All he could say, was that the remains had been here since before November. Then they decided to call the sheriff, the decay was making it hard to say anything past the approximated height and from the bones only a forensic expert could tell the gender.

Besides they did not want to leave their marks on the corpse in case it was not a supernatural crime but an ordinary one. It did conclude their scouting for the day. All they could do was go home and wait until they got more information. Allison texted Lydia again, hoping that this might spark her interest, but all she got was another text, telling her that she would meet with Aidan tomorrow and maybe come over.

Later in the evening, the sheriff came by to tell them about the preliminary findings, but that was not all he had to say. There was something about the look on his face that told them instantly something had happened.

"Yeah, there has been another animal killing. This time it happened near the hospital, a nurse Kelly Sutcliff, whom Scott's mum had been working with."

"Again, no witnesses?" Allison asked.

"She was parking at the far end, nobody was around, and she was dragged off into the woods, pretty grisly. Melissa noticed her car, and when she came in for her shift and Nurse Sutcliff did not show up for the shift, they looked and found blood and drag marks."

"Damn", Isaac said, "I probably should head over, so she doesn't have to be alone."

A thought that even found her father's approval judging by the look on his face, however the sheriff had more news for them.

"That is very good of you, but when I drove Melissa home, Scott and Stiles had arrived back," he sighed. "I suggest we delay the necessary talk till tomorrow. Then we can all have another intelligence meeting or whatever you want to call it. This is really bad, we got over a dozen people dying violent death in this town, it's never been this bad."

The end result was that they phoned Scott and Stiles, trying to find out how his mother was and sharing the news about the corpse. Much to her surprise Scott seemed less than upset about Isaac staying over and sleeping on the sofa. He even suggested it was better he stayed over, since his mother was pretty shaken from finding her friend's corpse and he hoped she would be able to get some rest.

They all agreed to meet after dinner and figure out the best approach the situation.

A/N: Hope the POV change was not too distracting but since Lydia can't be around for everything I need to use other characters on occasion. Next chapter will be more Peter/Lydia as promised.