Notes: Not beta-read but I did my best to make it readable (hopefully). I try to stick to an update at the middle and the beginning of each month.

Weregrrrl13: Glad you liked other chapter, too - from now on there's a lot more Peter/Lydia time happening ...

sharonpij: The sheriff certainly is an interesting character in a difficult situation ;)

kylespencs: Thanks might take a while to get it all out :D

Chapter 18 No Time wasted

They didn't had to go too far. While Lydia was looking for the Jeep, Peter stopped suddenly next to a black Jaguar convertible. Even though the top was up, she recognized it right away. While she was not sure about the model, she was sort of impressed. It looked more stylish than Jackson's Porsche.

"What happened to the Jeep?" Lydia asked as he unlocked the doors.

Putting her bag in the trunk, Peter stepped around the car towards the driver's seat. "That's just for cross-country drives."

After Lydia opened her door, Peter did the same. As she saw no use in making a scene she got in the car. It looked rather tidy and almost new but the smell that came with new cars was long gone. She almost asked more but then decided against it: why should what car he drove and how long matter to her?

Peter started the Jaguar and drove off towards downtown, not saying anything else either. At the first traffic light stop, he did turn around and looked again at her neck.

"What?" she asked confused.

The last time she had checked there was nothing. It was not like it didn't hurt but compared to how it had felt after Jennifer had tried to strangle her this was nothing. Which was not surprising, considering the string had cut deep enough to cut off the oxygen to her brain for a moment, while Deucalion had just been holding her in place.

"You can't see anything - but I can see the imprint of his hand," Peter stated sounding a bit upset, after a moment he added: "It just irks me."

"Oh really?" Lydia shot back. "It irks you? Well, imagine how I feel!"

He sighed. "I'd never left you under their protection, if I had known what a rotten job they'd do."

Somehow Lydia had the feeling Peter had just brought it up to remind her again, that this wouldn't have happened if Aiden hadn't left her alone. His strategy did not pay off, if anyone was to blame it was Peter and Deucalion: Because without Peter's ritual Deucalion would never have gone after her or at least not tried to rape her. Yet, whatever Peter had done, Deucalion still could have decided not behave like a raging psychopath.

Lydia felt a shiver run over her back and goosebumps appear on her arms. She was angry and not just at Peter. She had been careless. Aiden wouldn't have left her alone if she hadn't encouraged him. Lydia had only done that because she had wanted to talk to Peter without having to worry that anyone was going to interrupt them. Maybe Lydia was a little bit mad at her friends for not letting her talk to Peter but she did understand their concerns to a degree. It was an overall infuriating situation.

Strangely, Lydia was glad that it was basically over. By going with Peter she could finally focus on her dreams to get to the bottom of this crisis.

"I want to figure out who that thing in the crypt actually is," she explained and deliberately added in a deprecative way, "so I can go back to my life without needing a constant watch dog on my door step."

"I admire your resilience but even if we eliminate that threat - there's still Deucalion to content with," Peter reminded her.

Lydia had the feeling he was almost glad that Deucalion was out there. It was probably the actual reason why Peter had not killed him. At least it was one very likely reason. She began to understand that Peter's reason for doing things could be fairly complex. In this case, he knew Lydia would need protection from Deucalion. Certainly hoping that eventually he could step up to that position. The real question was what would happen when Deucalion was the only threat left. She might be wrong but she would not put it past Peter to hoped that she might actually ask him to kill Deucalion. That would be the logical choice, not that she could imagine herself resorting to that. Which then might mean she needed someone to look after her and in Peter's mind that might be him as well. "How about we focus on one problem at a time?" Lydia took a deep breath. "At least Deucalion needs to actually show up to harm me."

Peter nodded. "That's true. Also, I doubt that apart from that attempt today, Deucalion is not going to be stupid enough to actually kill people. He doesn't want to get on Scott's bad side. Which I can relate to."

"As if you would have had a problem killing Deucalion," Lydia replied rolling her eyes. "Besides what he really wants is his powers back." She was certain that Peter could relate to that even better.

With a smile, Peter listened to her words. Once or twice, he glanced at her but mainly he was focused on the street. It reminded Lydia that she had stopped paying attention to where they were driving. Looking out the window she tried to find a street name but instead ending up memorising the Starbucks and the building next to it.

"He isn't going to get his powers back, at least not without your willing support. Frankly, we both know that you and almost everyone else is better off with me having those powers."

Lydia wasn't sure if she wanted to concede that point to him, but Peter did at least seem to be the slightly better alternative. Before she had a chance to say something, he stopped at another red light and turned to her. "Besides, I have the feeling, if the roles were reversed, you wouldn't enjoy yourself nearly as much. In fact, I think it might be the single most unpleasant experience you'll ever have. Probably the last one too."

Lydia swallowed hard. She remembered all too well how Deucalion had threatened her, his fingers closing around her throat and those ice-cold eyes staring at her filled with hate. He certainly would have enjoyed hurting her. Deucalion was unable to get back at Peter, therefore he would have made Lydia pay for Peter's sins.

"Heh," Peter said as he gently touched her chin and lifted it up. "It's not going to happen, I won't let it. As long as you are with me, you'll be safe."

"Funny," Lydia replied with a bitter tone which caused him to remove his finger. "If not for you, I wouldn't be in danger in the first place. Deucalion would be happily psychotic somewhere else, even Miss Blake would have not tried to strangle me if it wasn't for my prophetic doodlings. Which I might point out, I'm only doing since you tore me up and left me on an icy cold lacrosse field to die. Not to mention the part where you nearly drove me insane and then drugged and .. forced me into this absurd sex ritual. So safe and you is not exactly a combination that comes into mind."

Her throat ached after her long rant. While Peter had driven on after the light turned green again, he listened to her getting all out. He certainly didn't look amused anymore. It took him a while before he had thought up a reply. Lydia was not surprised that he would try and prepared herself for some excuses. "I know, I've used you and you've every reason to hate and avoid me. Believe me, that's why I stayed away. But you know, that despite what you might feel, you will be safe with me."

Looking out of the window, not fully concentrating on it but loosely taking in the landmarks, Lydia let out a deep breath. However mad she was at him for the things he did, the truly awful thing was not just that her logical side told her that given a small margin of error she was reasonably safe with him. What really upset her was the fact how safe she had felt that night when he had invited himself into her bed. It had been ages since she had slept so well and she had been so content laying in his arms. Lydia shook her head at the thought, it was so unreal.

"As long as I'm useful to you, I've no doubt about that."

Being antagonistic seemed like the right approach, although she was doubtful how well she could keep it up. Unlike the others, she neither had the will or energy to dislike Peter. After all there were things about him she did like and with her dating history she could hardly claim that him having left a trail of torn up bodies was an actual deterrent. If the twins could claim past abuse as an excuse for murdering their own pack that same reasoning should also apply to Peter. After all he had only killed those who had actually helped murder his family. While Ethan and Aiden in their joint form had gone as far as tearing out their emissaries throat. Neither of them even tried to claim she had been involved with the abuse.

"So then you are permanently safe, as I can't imagine a smart and beautiful banshee ever not be useful," he smiled and looked over to her a bit longer than usual.

With a scoff, she peered out of the window focusing more on where they were going. A sign read Spring Lane and that seemed almost funny given that spring had just started. When it went out of sight, she decided to ask how far away they were.

"Oh, not far, but if you hope to remember the location of my apartment - it won't work," he explained with his usual amount of smugness. "It's protected by a spell - no one who means me harm can find it."

"A spell?" she said with a raised eyebrow.

He laughed softly. "I told you the apartment is owned by a witch. Whoever resides in it for some time, falls under that protection."

"How convenient for you."

"It could be convenient for you as well," he smiled at her as he took a turn. "See and here we are."

The street did not seem familiar but that night she had been thinking about other things and not really paid attention to where she had come from. Curiosity got the better of her and she just had to ask him. "How long would I need to stay at your place until I was protected as well?"

"A couple of weeks?" he suggested with very innocent sounding voice.

This time it was her who was laughing. "How about we figure this out and have me moving back to my house before spring break ends?"

"Yeah, how about that?"

The car pulled into the underground parking garage and Lydia was looking forward to move her legs her again. She was not even going to bother with his snarky remark. But once he finally had parked and opened his door, she saw him become tense and sniffing. Clearly something was wrong.

"Who is it?" she asked worried.

"Hmm, I assume when you fetched the crystal from Yoon the twins were with you?" he asked.

"Yes, sort of, Ethan followed me into the store."

Wondering why Peter brought that up, whether the twins might have found them. After all, weren't werewolves supposed to be able to heal from gunshot wounds?

"I guess, Ethan probably decided to have second look without you." The look he gave her clearly showed that he was somewhat displeased with the situation, like it was something foreseeable and dumb.

"You know who shot him, don't you?" She said and hoped it was not Yoon.

Instead of an answer Peter got out of the car and slammed the door shut. Lydia unfastened her seatbelt and quickly did the same. Walking around the car, prepared to demand an answer. Only he had walked on to an really old crummy looking four-wheeler. The back was covered by a tarp but the co-driver door had blood on it. There were sprinkles on the floor as well. Someone had tried to clean it up but some smears remained.

"Is that Ethan's blood?" Her voice almost failed her.

Shaking his head, Peter turned to her. "No, that would be Rubèn's blood. There is however blood from another wolf under that tarp covering the rear."

"Who is Rubèn? And why is he bleeding when Ethan is the one who got shot? Where's Ethan?"

Lydia frowned, the way Peter had phrased it, it was only his blood in the back, not his body. She felt somewhat sick in her stomach, fearing that Ethan might be dead. Then it occurred to her that someone must have driven the car. Maybe some who dropped transported his body somewhere and then came back here with this Rubèn.

"Good questions, let's find out", Peter said and walked over to the trunk of his Jaguar. With her bag in hand he let her up to his apartment. On the way he added. "Seriously, this wasn't how I hoped for you to meet Rubèn and Naira."

Lydia was getting a strange feeling. "Who are they?"

"My new pack." Peter said with pride.

The answer wasn't a real surprise. Being an alpha again, it was to be expected that Peter would turn people. What Lydia hadn't counted on was him starting so soon. It had barely been a week.

"You don't waste much time, do you?" She remarked as they walked down the corridor.

He have her knowing smile. "You know how I like to plan ahead."

Lydia rolled her eyes. Peter had been the one who had come up with an emergency resurrection plan just in case he got killed. She shuddered to think how much planning he had done in the past months. Maybe even since before the Alpha pack and dark druid problem had been resolved. She watched how he unlocked the door to his place and held it open.

As Lydia stepped into the apartment she braced herself for whatever dangerous, possible unhinged pack members were waiting inside. Instead she saw a tall Latino man lying bleeding on the couch. There were huge gashes on his chest, probably from a fight with Ethan, she thought. Next to him kneeled a Native American woman with a very worried expression.

Lydia barely noticed Peter shutting the door behind her, her gaze was mostly fixed on that horrible looking wound. A normal person would be dead by now and the man who had to be Rubèn didn't seem to do very well. His shirt hung by his side, half torn and half undone. Naira had placed a wet towel on his head and it also looked like she had cleaned the wounds.

"Naira, what did I tell you about fighting with the other werewolves in town?"

Lydia felt Peter pushing past and saw how Naira rose to her feet. There was another emotion besides concern for her companion on Naira's face: guilt. Placing her overnight bag on the chair by the dinner table, curiosity got the better of Lydia and she followed Peter within a few steps.

"We didn't start the fighting!" Naira's voice trembled a bit but not with anger.

It was clear that they had to be behind Ethan getting shot. Still, Lydia found it hard to outright hate the woman given how worried she was about her companion. Also knowing the twins' tendency to starts fights and engage in often unnecessary violence made her want to know what happened first.

What she saw looked by no means one sided. Naira's thin white blouse was stained with blood in a way that made it seem as if it had soaked through another item of clothing she had worn on top of it. That was a lot of blood.

Peter moved his head as if he was sceptical about her assurance on who started the fight. "Don't worry, he is going to make it," he said after looking closer at the wounded beta on the couch. "By the way, this is Lydia. Lydia meet Naira and bleeding over here is Rubèn."

"Hi," Rubèn said weakly as he raised his hand for a little wave. Only to flinch in pain. Naira nodded shortly but was too preoccupied with her concern for Rubèn. "He's barely healing."

Laying a calming hand on her shoulder, Peter explained. "That's because those wound were made by an alpha."

"I told her," Rubèn added with a sigh. "She's just overprotective."

Peter clearly was thinking about something else and knowing that nobody's life here was in danger, Lydia just had to ask. "What happened?"

Naira looked at her then to Peter. "He got the book from Yoon, when this other werewolf showed up. She said the store was closed, he argued with Rubèn, than he started to shove, Rubèn shoved back. By the time I got out of the car .."

Ruben sighed. "He had started slashing me up".

"So you shot him," Peter finished the tale.

Seeing the look on the woman's face made Lydia's heart drop for a moment. She had to remember that werewolves didn't necessarily die from gun shots as easily as humans, especially not if they were alphas. That still begged the question what Ethan's blood was doing on the rear of their Jeep.

Naira crouched down next to Rubèn running her fingers through his hair. "Yes, it was surprisingly effective. However, Yoon made me take him to the animal clinic. I put him in the back, helped Ruben into the Jeep and then dropped him off there."

Lydia let out a sigh of relief. Deaton would know what to do, he had fixed the twins up before.

"Good," Peter said sounding a bit angry. "The last thing we need right now is a blood feud."

"What was that guy doing there anyway?" Rubèn asked.

It was obvious he was in great pain and Lydia hated to think that their account of what happened was true. She could not imagine Ethan lashing out at someone just for a simple shove. Ethan had seemed to be determined to avoid unnecessary violence.

"He was there earlier watching over Lydia. Probably smelled something," Peter shrugged it off. "Let me get you something to speed up the healing process. On second thought, why don't we get him into the guest bedroom first?"

While Naira's face lit up, Lydia felt herself frown. "And where am I going to sleep?"

Peter smirked. "Well, in my bed of course." Just as she wanted to protest, he added. "Don't worry, I'll stay out here on the couch. Awaiting the results of your dream quest."

Pouting she crossed her arms. She did not like the thought of sleeping in his bed, even if he stayed out on the couch: which Peter had to or else she wouldn't be able to enter into dream with the thing from the crypt. It was the fact that Peter changed the terms that easily. She had counted on having her own space. Instead she was now shoved into his private space and it made her feel uneasy.

Part of her even went as far and wondered if Peter had planned all of this: luring Ethan back to the bookstore, sending his betas there, knowing that Aiden would rush out to see to his injured twin. Only that it made no sense for him to come too late to her , if those three acted they were rather brilliant at it because it felt real.

Either way it would not change her current situation. For everyone else the situation was settled anyway.

Peter went over to a drawer in one of the many corners of the large living loom. Naira helped Rubèn up, he had troubles leaning on her, as she was a bit taller than he was. With a shrug Lydia went over and offered to help. Rubèn leaned on her while Naira supported him now by holding his arm. His chest started to bleed a bit more and a few droplets fell on the carpet. Lydia saw they were not the first ones.

Moaning in pain, Rubèn grinded his teeth together. He tried his best to walk but Lydia felt his weight resting on her shoulders. The smell of his blood was so strong in her nose that she began to feel a bit nauseous. Luckily, the couch was not far from the guest room. Naira reached out to open the door. Determined they walked on and as they passed the door Lydia fumbled around until she found the light switch.

They walked him over to the bed but before he could lie down Naira told him to wait a second and removed the remains of his shirt. Afterwards he sunk down guided by the two of them. He clearly was glad to be able to lie still again. The bed was longer and wider than the couch so he rested far more comfortably.

"Thank you," Naira told her as she made him more comfortable. "Sorry, about shooting your," she paused a moment, "friend -boyfriend?"

"Oh, I don't have a … in any case that is the other one" Lydia replied a bit confused about Naira knowing about her connection with the twins.

As she thought about it, she realised that it made sense that Peter told them about the other werewolves. From their exchange it made sense that they figured out that the alpha they had dealt with was one of the twins. Which was kind of hard to tell if you did not saw them together. They probably also had a rough idea to stay away from the Argents.

"So Peter, turned the two of you, a few days ago?" she decided to ask regardless of whether Peter could hear her in the other room. It sounded anyway that he had gone into that part that became the kitchen.

"Not me," Rubèn said trying to smile, "I'm a born werewolf."

"Yeah, he was all on his own, at least till he met me a couple of years ago. When Peter said he was going to regain his alpha powers, he offered Rubèn a place in his pack and to give me the bite."

Naira sounded very happy with the arrangement despite all that had happened. It was obvious that those two were an item. In a way it made sense that she wanted to be like Rubèn. Lydia wondered if Naira had known the risk.

"But couldn't that have killed you?" Lydia asked curiously.

"Yes, it might have," Peter said from the door. "But to some it's worth the risk."

Taking Rubèn's hand Naira smiled with so much love at her partner. "Saying no to the bite never even occurred to me. The whole prospect of being even closer to him, was all the reason I needed."

Strangely enough seeing those two being so affectionate, him looking at her with a smile despite the pain he was in, Lydia had to think of Ethan and Danny. Wondering if Danny knew, whether he would eventually on his own want to become a werewolf just to be even closer to Ethan as well. Maybe that was the way to go about it, Lydia wondered.

Carrying a bowl with some strange looking powder Peter had approached the bed while her question had been answered. He put the bowl on the nightstand and sat down. "This should help to speed up the healing process."

They both watched as he took some of the substance between his fingers and let it snow into an open gash. Ruben groaned in pain.

"Oh yes," Peter explained, "I almost forgot - that tends to hurt."

"At least the wounds have not closed yet," the bleeding beta added.

Naira looked sceptical as she held his hand more tightly. "Why is that?

Going on with the treatment by pouring more of the pulver into the gashes, Peter calmly answered the question completely unfazed by Rubèn gritting his teeth together. "The wounds heal on the outside first. While they might eventually heal on their own on the inside, this way the herbs can still do their magic on the inside. If they wounds are already closed," Peter shrugged while trickling the last of it over the open wounds. "they either need to be reopened or it has to be made into an ointment which is also less effective. There - that should do the trick."

Lydia felt a bit out of place standing by the door and looking at the three werewolves. There was something almost unnatural about the scene but she was not sure why she felt this way. Maybe it was the fact that those two actually seemed to like Peter. Making her wonder what they knew about him, what he had told them about the others and especially her. After all, for some reason Naira was aware that there was something going on between her and one of the twins. It begged the question whether the boyfriend was her assumption of if Peter had described him as such.

"Shouldn't we dress the wound?" Naira asked finally.

"It will heal and since I doubt you want to sleep on top of him while they are still open, it would be useless. They will close within the next two hours."

"Maybe I should take care of the mess we made until then," she said and let go of Rubèn's hand.

Peter shook his head. "That can wait, I'll go back to the garage and take care of the blood in the car."

With that he took the bowl and got up from the bed. Lydia used the chance and left the room ahead of him giving a passing nod at the other two werewolves. Before leaving the room Peter turned around and suggested that Naira should get rid of the bloody clothes and take a shower. "Might not be the worst idea for you as well," he told her as he closed the door on the guest room.

Lydia sighed, after that encounter by the shower with Deucalion that was like the last thing on her mind. But she did felt sweaty and dirty. "Maybe I could take a bath?"

The way Peter's face lit up made her regret that comment for a moment. But she quickly recovered and added. "By myself and before that I like to call the clinic to ask about how Ethan is doing."

"Counter proposal - you take the bath now, I go and take care of the car, when we're both finished we call the clinic or one of your friends. It's too soon right now."

"Too soon for what?" Lydia felt he was agreeing to her calling mostly for his own reasons. She was convinced that if he could he would make sure she was entirely cut off from her friends. While it might do some good to have a bit of distance as long as this threat was still going on, she was not okay with that happening.

"Find out how Ethan is doing. I'm sure he pull through but give the doc a bit time to work on him."

"Oh," she said but still felt this was not everything. Then it occurred to her. "You want to know what the Sheriff has done about all of this. You want me to call Stiles."

"So smart," Peter said with a proud smile as he took a step closer to her. Then he seemed to decide differently and just said: "Well, you know where the bathroom is."

"Yeah," Lydia replied and picked up her overnight bag. From the corner of her eye she saw Peter picking up something from one of the kitchen cupboards and then he left the apartment. Pausing for a moment at the bathroom door she listened whether he would lock them in but she did not hear anything.

Deciding it was best to get this over quickly, she strode to the bathroom and let hot water into the tub. Then she locked the door to the living room and opened the other door that lead into the bedroom. Her bag still in hand she stepped inside looking for the light switch. Lydia was not sure what she had expected but she was sure that it was not such a normal looking room.

Then again, not too normal, as it seemed a bit like taken out of a catalogue. There was really nothing here to make it personal. It was all function, with a huge impressive king-sized bed, a sleek wall of sliding doors made of frosted glass and one trunk at the foot of the bed. She wondered how much of this design belonged to the witch and what of this was actually Peter's design. The spartan appearance really put the emphasis on the bed.

Lydia shrugged of her feeling of unease and decided to make herself at home. Putting her bag on the bed, she opened it and got out what belonged into the bathroom. She took out her nightgown: a black one that was the least revealing she had found under the pressure of packing quickly. It had this wide lace part over her waist almost up to her breasts, but made up for it by being bottom long and having these long silky trumpet arms.

As she thought about it, she had not worn in over a year, as the lace part was directly where the gashes in her side were. While those had faded to thin white lines, she had not worn it, fearing it might shown them even though the dark pattern. Throwing it on the bed, she took out what else she needed and put the bag down on the floor.

Then she made her way back into bathroom, to check on the water but also to brush her hair. She had washed it so often or at least gotten it wet in the past days, that she decided to pin it up. It was not easy with the utensils she had brought along but by the time the tub was full and at the right temperature, she was done.

She looked for towels. Lydia remembered that Peter had not brought them in from the bedroom the last time, so she figured they were somewhere else. There were just two towels near the wash basin and a bathrobe where he had hung that dress he had given her. That had to be enough, if he came back earlier she could always sent him out for towels. It was not like he would have a problem bursting in through the door.

Lydia briefly thought about locking both doors but the thought of Peter coming in was not really bothering her enough. While she doubted that Naira would come looking for her it still felt right to have the door going to the living room locked. Who knows maybe the female beta would go looking for towels as well. Then again maybe she should have asked her, as Naira obviously had the keys to the place.

With the tub of water looking so inviting, she got rid of her clothes and then stepped inside the water. Near the tub were some cosmetic products, liquid soap, a sponge and some pricey looking sandalwood bath oil. While it was not exactly her fragrance, she put a few drops of it in the water. If this took longer, they would need to get a few things for her.

Soaking in the tub with just her head out of the water, she tried to relax. It was almost impossible though. Peter's apartment was not exactly the place that made her feel comfortable. Her thoughts drifted over to Rubèn and Naira. Their presence didn't threaten her but it made her wonder about Ethan, she felt like she sort of had brought him into this situation.

It didn't made it better that the whole conflict had started for no good reason. If Ethan was indeed the one who had struck the first blow, it was certainly because the whole situation was so frustrating. Lydia shouldn't feel guilty about that, but she felt that she had made things more difficult. No matter how hard she tried to relax she only grew more restless.

When she kept her eyes open, she remembered the last time she had been in here and the way she felt around Peter. Then when she closed them this slight pang on her lip and the pain in her throat brought back the recent memories of Deucalion attacking her. So she stared at the ceiling trying to think of something distracting but somehow that came around to one topic.

The doorknob being turned startled her and she splashed the water around her.

"Everything alright?" Peter asked from behind the door.

"I'm missing towels," she replied sharply.

Lydia found she was actually glad to hear his voice. It was so bizarre that after the twins had found out, she could barely be in the same room with them, but after this evening's assault she was actually glad to have Peter around. She wouldn't go as far as to say she did feel safe with him, but certainly his presence had an uncanny calming effect on her.

"I thought you might not find them," he told her, "but since you locked the door ..:"

Lydia interrupted him. "Only this one."

She didn't had to wait long until Peter found his way through the other door with two fluffy, white towels. Sitting with her back to the second door, she found herself turning back at this awkward angle.

"You know it might be advisable to sit facing the door you didn't lock," he suggested almost casually.

It reminded her of those movies where the spies and assassins would always chose places that allowed them to observe her surroundings. Which was not exactly paranoid behaviour on part of the spies, as it wasn't in her case either as someone was actually after her. Yet, it still seemed like a dreadful way to live: constantly expecting an attack.

Leaning back Lydia shrugged with her shoulders. "What for?"

"To be alert - in case someone non-friendly comes through the door."

With a disbelieving laughter, she replied. "Yeah, because seeing Deucalion or whatever thing killed those people a few seconds earlier is going to make such a difference to me. Besides isn't this place magically protected?"

Coming a bit closer, Peter then stopped at the wash basin: "Yes, it was more a general suggestion given that it made little sense to lock the door."

"Force of habit," Lydia replied not feeling in the mood to explain her reasons in detail. "Thanks for the towels but I can take it from here."

Waiting for a comment, another request or even a touch she eventually turned her head back and found that the bathroom was empty. The unlocked door was not fully closed. Lydia got out of the tub hoping that Peter would not change his mind. While the water slurped into the drain, she pushed the door shut and locked it as well. Dripping water to the floor she finally reached for the towels and began drying herself off. Then she took her time using the body lotion she brought. There was no reason to let her skin get any more tense, she had been bad at taking care of herself lately anyway. Maybe it was a side effect from her being a banshee given that her face looked still flawless despite not peeling herself in two weeks.

The whole exercise gave her the opportunity to think a bit more about her situation. The most important thing that occurred to her was to remind herself that kidnapping her to keep her safe was more than just an excuse. It did not make Peter's actions okay but Lydia had to stay under someone's watchful eye at all times anyway.

Peter was the only one who was aware of just how dangerous that thing from her dreams was. There was the fact that he could keep her safe from it in ways that her friends could not. While Deucalion was only a problem because of Peter, he still would easily keep her safe from him. Unlike the twins she need not fear that Deucalion could manipulate Peter into trusting him or at least doubting her.

As for someone protecting her from Peter, she had been under worse duress from him without anyone helping. Whatever else Peter might want from her aside from figuring out who was behind the killings was going to involve teaching her more about her abilities. That was something that wouldn't happen with the twins or Scott and Stiles around. Lydia wanted to know more about what she was capable off, there had been enough surprises related to her being a banshee already.

The towel wrapped around her, Lydia finally unlocked the door to the bedroom again, finding that room empty as well. Beside her nightgown on the bed lay a long black satin morning robe. Lydia briefly wondered if he had bought this one as well for her but it might as well be a leftover from the previous owner of the apartment. Given the time she would spend with Peter, Lydia was determined to find out more about the witch who had left this place to him.

Dressed in her nightgown and the black robe, she went out to the living room a couple of minutes later. Peter was sitting on the couch, the small table in front of him was occupied by a laptop, next to it lay an old book and a hand scanner. He looked up at her with a subtle smile on his face. "How about we make that phone call?"

"To Stiles?" she asked and came closer.

He nodded and now she saw a cell phone lying between the laptop and the book. Lydia had actually for a moment forgotten about Ethan, being so preoccupied with her determination to make the best out of this situation.

"You want the number?" As she spoke she noticed that her voice was still a bit strained.

"You know it without your phone?" Peter said as he reached for it.

"I've got a pretty good memory." Technically she had never really bothered to remember her numbers but she was pretty confident she could recall most of them. Stiles' number came to her quite quickly.

"Well, that is good to know - but I actually have his number."

That surprised her a bit, then again it was not like the number was unlisted and maybe Peter had acquired all their numbers at some point. He certainly like to be in the know. Whatever he had prepared since she had last seen him before this mess started, Lydia had no doubt he had been thorough. If Peter had come up with a back up plan while being pre-occupied with his revenge scheme amidst Derek's abduction by Allison's crazy aunt, whatever he had set up now was certainly much more thought out.

"Mind if I make myself a tea?"

"My kitchen is your kitchen," he said and then told her where the tea and the mugs were. "I'm afraid so my tea selection is not as fancy as yours."

Lydia shrugged. "I'll find something. Why don't you go ahead and call Stiles - find out what you need to."

The look he gave her was interesting. Peter was probably wondering what was going on, given that she had been rather keen on this call earlier. If possible she would keep him guessing about her motives a while longer. As she took the water boiler and set up it, she heard him dial already.

Leaning back on the couch, Peter listened to either a long voice mail or Stiles' rambling on.

"That's an interesting way to start a conversation, Stiles. Whatever happened to basic manners?"

Peter was clearly amused and she heard his faint laughter as he listened to the reply. Then with an exaggerated eye-roll he continued. "Hostage would imply that I'm making demands on you." He looked at her almost boastful. "I've everything I want right here."

While she prepared her mug with a bag of peppermint tea, she was not sure whether to feel flattered or threatened. Lately, when she was in doubt of her emotions she decided to go for both.

"I've no intention of harming her, it's quite the opposite. But if I wanted to," Peter smiled smugly which Lydia could see as he was still looking at her, "your impotent threats wouldn't impress me. If you paid attention you should know by now, that I'm more powerful than I ever was. It's about time you start changing your tune, I've no intention of humouring you anymore."

Feeling threatened was probably the more reasonable response. With the water ready, she poured it into the cup and added some sugar before joining Peter on the couch, just after he asked with a scoff. "You and who? The non-injured half of the twins?"

There was a longer pause and she almost wanted to ask Peter to put the conversation on speaker. Instead, she made herself comfortable on the couch and noticeable perplexed him by leaning against his side. It might have been the burning hot tea water inside the mug in her hand, but he didn't move. With a brief pause he continued with the phone conversation.

"I've no need to lure you away to get to her. If I had, I certainly made sure I'd be there the second you left …" he sighed and gave her a strange look. "But you're right, those were my betas, you're lucky I've ordered them not to start a feud."

It didn't surprise Lydia that Stiles had figured out that Peter's betas had been involved. However, it still didn't answer her concerns about who actually started the fight. Lydia knew Peter would stick to the version she had heard, even though he did seemed somewhat rattled. Not that it threw him off very much.

"Who do you think dropped him off at the clinic? My betas didn't start the fight." She smiled, knowing she had been right but also because she could imagine that her reaction would leave him wondering. Not that it stopped him from being as condescending as ever when he was on top. "But given the outcome of them being surprise attacked by an alpha, you wouldn't want them on the warpath."

As the mug grew heavy in her hand she decided to put it down but farther away from the computer which made her stretch to the side. The mug clanked a bit as Peter's sudden annoyed reply startled her. "Because it is not me you've to worry about. You've invited something powerful and undead to Beacon Hills, that is killing people and it will kill even more as it grows stronger with each kill. Your idiotic alpha twin left the only person who has a chance of even figuring out what we're dealing with all by herself."

Lydia was getting the feeling he was genuinely upset about that, even though it was certainly not for the sake of her well being, the undead enemy was doubtlessly worrying him. While she couldn't be sure she had the feeling Peter wasn't just talking to Stiles anymore. But whether it was just him or others, Peter had little patience for what they had to say.

"No, of course not, why would I care that we got the FBI in town? That it is just a question of time until more hunters come into town who mostly likely cut you and all the other werewolves in half, before they even glimpse at what is truly going on. I don't care about that at all."

Under all that sarcasm Lydia was sensing that there was something more than just logical motivations, if she didn't knew better she would almost say, Peter was afraid of the trouble these killings might invite to the town: Trouble for werewolves and supernatural creatures such as herself.

"Apart from Deucalion choking her when he assaulted her in the bathroom, I think she is doing fine. But don't worry, she's way stronger than any of you give her credit for."

As he answered the question about her, Peter began playing with her hair. Wrapping a strain around his finger, it was like he was compelled or maybe he was just trying to flatter her. It might have been terribly sweet if he was not the one tormenting her so much that she had proven that she was that strong.

"Eventually," he smiled and Lydia felt his hand on her shoulder. "First, I want to emphasize what a colossal waste of time and energy it would be to try and find me. Because you won't, you could walk right past this building and wouldn't see this place. With what's out there - that is the safest place Lydia could be." The last sentence was as much for her as it was for Stiles.

"Ah the emissary straight out of retirement."

Finally, confirmation that Stiles was not alone and that they were in fact at Deaton's. Her excitement was overshadowed by how much Peter's face seem to darken when his sister's former emissary got involved in the conversation. "I hope he gives Scott better advice than he gave to my nephew. I wonder what matters more to the good doc: Stopping the killings or keeping his true alpha safe?"

This was getting interesting, Lydia had been aware that there was something going on between Deaton and Peter that went beyond the druid being overly mysterious. Suddenly Peter's demeanor changed again. "Too true but I've hopes you might overcome that deficit eventually, Scott."

Lydia looked at him, she was not sure what it was, but the way he said it made her grin. Scott might have his heart in the right place but sometimes Scott rubbed her the wrong way. Like the last time he had come over to her house.

"Oh very well, I'm growing tired of this conversation," Peter was clearly annoyed again. With a near sigh, he continued and signalled her to take the phone. "Waste your time looking for me or run around aimlessly in the woods."

He opened his hand and Lydia took the cell phone. "Hey, how is Ethan doing?"

From following the one sided conversation she was sure they were at the clinic and that Stiles, Scott and Deaton where there. Naira had said she had dropped off Ethan there, so the real question was whether Aiden was there as well. She didn't need to wait long to find out, as it him who replied full of confidence that Ethan was going to recover in the next 48 hours, before he added what she had feared. "Then we'll come looking for you!"

"I really wish you wouldn't."

Lydia had just thought a few seconds about her reply. It was not like there was a special way of putting it that would magically convince the others that they had better invest their energies into the ongoing problem. Instead she decided to just say what she thought. From the smug and slightly curious look on Peter's face she knew it at least benefited her overall strategy. Since her friends could do little to nothing to help her that was all that mattered to her.

If she was honest, she didn't really felt like she was in particular need of saving at the moment. Which didn't really endear her to Scott's next assurance. "Don't worry about us, Lydia. We're not going to abandon you."

"That's good to know," she said rolling her eyes as if anyone had a doubt that this would be his attitude. The noble hero to the rescue, not even considering that she might have been serious or to ask her what she wanted. Maybe it was time to remind him of the consequences of his last heroic rescue. "But I think you're forgetting about something - two undead somethings to be precise. Both are roaming around Beacon Hills killing off random people. I know I can figure out what one of these things is. Like it or not, it makes sense to do that right here with Peter's help."

"Lydia, you can't mean that, can you? Is he making you say that?"

On the one hand, she found Stiles' concern for her quite touching and wished she could make it clear that she was - given the circumstances - doing fine. On the other hand, it seemed that the mere notion of her willing to accept Peter's help was so horrible to him that he needed to pretend it was forced upon her. While coming here had not be her decision, wanting to stay and see this through was.

"It's a logical conclusion, if you actually paid attention to the facts and not let your personal bias make your decisions for you, then you'd see that."

Hoping to sound not too aggressive, she also wanted to make clear that this was her talking, that she could still make rational decision. One reason why she didn't mind staying was also that it would end the debates whether her thoughts on what was going on could be taken seriously. "If you want to do something for me, convince your father not to get my parents involved. Beacon Hills is not safe for them, Deucalion or whatever else is out there might see them as a target. I'll call you once I've discovered something helpful."

Then she hung up and handed the phone back to Peter who looked at her as if he was still trying to figure out where that had come from. Lydia took it as a good sign that he wasn't looking smugly at all. It gave her the confidence that she could learn to hold her own against him. As she asked him about something to eat before going to sleep and tackling the thing in the crypt, she purposefully leaned against him.

Not because she needed or even wanted to be that close; earlier she had noticed that when she had initiated the contact it had seemed to throw him off a bit. This time she paid closer attention to his reaction and it became clear that there was something about her seeking contact that confounded him. While Peter didn't seem put off by it, was obviously not sure what to make of it. Lydia was sure throwing him off his game was probably not the first thing that crossed his mind. She wasn't planning on starting to play elaborate mind games with him but she hoped by continuing to throwing him off, she'd eventually would be able to figure out more about his true motives.

It was like peeking through a closed curtain, you didn't see much but if you ruffled it a bit, you might get a peek through a small gap before it moved back into place.

BTW, I'm starting with chapter 30 tomorrow ...