Author's note: If you haven't read my one-shot 'Mate' yet, please do.

(July)

When they reached the edge of the woods, Kim already knew where they were heading. She didn't say anything; there was no need to interrupt the carefree conversation she was having with Peter, especially not by mentioning the ruins of the once grandiose Hale house.

Kim remembered the days she had spent there all those years ago, before, but mainly after her father's death, waiting for her mother to arrive and take her home. Ever since those days, she had been keeping in contact with Peter, the creep she despised in the beginning but who turned out to be quite a good friend. Even after the fire she visited him in the institute once or twice a year, waiting for the day he came out of that catatonic state.

The car slowed down before finally stopping not far from the house. They both got out and walked up to the front door, standing in front of it in complete silence. Then Peter pointed at the door and said, "This is what I've been talking about."

Raising her eyebrows, Kim turned to the man. "It's a door," she stated.

"Thank you, Kim, but I'm perfectly aware of that."

"The freshly painted front door of the Hale house," she corrected herself. "Why are we here?"

"Because there was a symbol on it a few weeks ago," Peter explained with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Peter, can you be more specific?" The werewolf rolled his eyes as he pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans. It had only taken him a few seconds to finish whatever he was doing then showed Kim the doodle on the screen. "Oh, God, are we seriously going to play Draw Something?"

"This," he started, ignoring her question, "is the symbol of an alpha pack. They are here, possibly for Derek." Seeing her confused expression, Peter ran a hand through his hair. "It's an entire pack of Alphas. There are no Betas among them, and they are not exactly kind. Ever since we found this symbol on the door, we've been looking for them."

"We?"

"Derek, Isaac, me, and Stiles also helped out every once in a while."

She had no idea why it was important. There were four of them to deal with the Alphas, they had the Argents in Beacon Hills as well, so why would they need her from all people? It had been a while since she had last hunted - she wasn't even sure if she could still do it. "And why do you want me to come here and see this?"

"Because we found out who their leader is."

"Really?" she asked. "Do you have a name?"

Peter hesitated. He looked down at his feet, shifting his weight with his hands stuffed into his pockets. "Deucalion," he finally announced.

"No."

Deucalion. It couldn't be true; it wouldn't be fair to her to face him after all those years. The man she once had a stupid little schoolgirl crush on, the one who thought her most of the things she knew about werewolves, the one she didn't want to leave after he was blinded by a fellow hunter, and the one a part of her probably still loved. Or not, she wasn't sure about this one.

"It's him," the werewolf confirmed. "This is why I want you to help, because you know him better than any of us."

"I knew him, Peter, that's different," she corrected him.

He didn't believe her because he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Look, he changed more than I could handle. I should have known. Maybe he was a little bit afraid of himself back then, when he came to see me. And what did I do? I pushed him away."

"Wait, are you blaming yourself now?"

"No, it's just that," Kim started but couldn't finish the sentence. Of course a part of her was still blaming herself. After all, Deucalion had been there, sitting on her bed and waiting for her, utterly vulnerable at that moment. All he needed was a little push and she gave it to him the moment she sent him away. "I don't know. But what do you think I could do for you guys?"

Peter raised an eyebrow. "Talk to him?" When she gave him a hard look, he raised his hands. "Okay, we don't know yet," he admitted. "When the opportunity comes, we'll know."

"And then what? You call me to travel here ASAP?"

"Or you should just stay here. I have a spare room in my apartment."

It was such a ridiculous idea that at first she thought he was joking. But when he didn't laugh, she bit her lower lip and took a step back. "So I should move into your apartment? Peter, I believe I had a reason to call you Creep back then."

"We aren't teenagers anymore. What do you say?"

On second thought, it wasn't such a bad idea. "Fine, let's do it," she agreed. "But I don't want to talk to him until it's absolutely necessary."

And so they agreed, and a few days later she was living in Peter Hale's apartment.

(August)

Almost a month had passed and before she first talked to Chris Argent. Kim knew him well enough; her father was always talking about the younger Argent as a great talent, an expert of many things a hunter had to know.

They had met in a parking lot, out of sheer coincidence, but after a quite long chat over a coffee he invited her for lunch, and also planned to introduce her to his daughter. In the end Kim didn't meet the girl who was out with a friend of hers and the lunch passed with a series of stories from the past few years. Chris told her about his plan to keep themselves away from werewolves and hunting which ended in the young woman raising the glass of wine with a smile.

"Isn't it nice to have a normal life, one without werewolves and other creatures?" she asked before taking a sip of her drink.

"I'd call it weird, not nice. I'm not exactly used to normal," he admitted, his blue eyes on her.

Kim let out a carefree laugh. "Come on, admit that it's good. You don't necessarily have to worry about being killed, no late nights spent hunting in the woods, and you can also find yourself a new hobby."

"I don't know about you, Kim, but with all those werewolves around, it's not that easy to forget your old lifestyle. Maybe it'll take a few more weeks or maybe a few months."

She hated to admit it, but he was right and she could perfectly relate to that. With a long sigh, Kim ran a hand through her dark blond hair. "You see patterns and strange things everywhere, right?"

Chris flashed a knowing smile at her. "Did you quit?"

"Right after my father's death," she replied without hesitation.

After the lunch they agreed to meet again later, and hopefully even Allison would be able to join them. Kim didn't even try to hide the fact that she liked him since he was the one who had thought her a couple of pretty crazy but awesome things back when she came here with her father and Deucalion. Somewhere deep inside she thought of him as one of her mentors, and she knew that he was aware of that.

With a smile on her lips, she stepped out of the apartment.

The elevator's door opened and Kim's blood froze in her veins within a nanosecond. She had known he was in Beacon Hills, hell, this is why she agreed to stay for a while, but almost literally bumping into him so soon wasn't exactly what she expected. Silence ruled those moments while her mind was racing, but it was only her breathing and heartbeat that could give her away. After all, it had been long years since they last met, there was no way he could recognize her from there.

Kim slowly took a step back. Then another. Her gaze shifted to the right where the stairs were, the perfect opportunity to get out of the building without having to be so close to him. The thought was dreadful and heartbreaking after all they had been through before and part of her believed an honest conversation would make their plan a lot easier. Shaking her head to get rid of this thought, the young woman turned around and as calmly as she could walk towards the stairs.

"Didn't you want to get in, Kimberly?" Deucalion asked, his neutral tone stopping her immediately.

So he recognized her. Was it her scent?

Clearing her throat, she said, "I think I left something back in the-"

"Don't be childish," the alpha interrupted her as he put his hand on the edge of the door to keep it open. She didn't move, so he asked, "Are you still afraid of me?"

Could it be fear? She honestly didn't know the answer because all she had on her mind was the confusion she felt when it came to him. Looking around, Kim let out a long sigh and stepped into the elevator, standing next to him. "I haven't seen you for years," she started as the door closed. "How should I know if you've changed so much that killing me wouldn't be a problem for you?"

"Stop the lift, please," he said. When she didn't answer, he put his palm on the back of his neck. "I don't want to hurt you, darling; all I want is a normal conversation without being interrupted. Also, I believe I told you I wouldn't hurt you. Never."

"Sorry if I don't believe it," she replied with a roll of her eyes, but pushed the red button nonetheless. The elevator came to a halt and she took a few steps back to lean her back against the wall.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to hear that, but it's still true."

"What are you doing here?" Kim asked, hoping they could get this conversation over with as soon as possible. "Have you been following me all the way to this building?"

Deucalion shook his head as he reached out to touch her face. It was a surprisingly tender movement, one she had been used to before, but now it was strangely unfamiliar. "Seriously, what do you take me for?" he asked, his voice low and calm as he spoke. "I live here, in the penthouse."

"Wow, not bad."

Flashing a smirk at her, he leaned down to bury his nose into her hair, taking in her scent. Kim knew very well what he was doing and she couldn't help but close her eyes. "You can visit me whenever you want," he said.

For a second, only for a second she was thinking about saying yes, accepting his invitation, but her mind quickly pounded the alarm. "Thanks, but thanks no," she replied with a sigh. "I don't even know why you moved here from all places."

"I have something to take care of," the werewolf explained as his nose slowly moved down her temple. "While I'm here, you can come whenever you want."

"Do you know when was the last time I trusted you without the smallest hint of fear? During my father's funeral," she said, her voice shaking as his lips brushed against the bridge of her nose. "We didn't talk, I don't even know if you knew I noticed you, but your presence itself was enough to calm me down."

It was true. She had been sitting there next to the grave, her mother on her other side, crying and trying to understand how something like this could even happen. A hunter killing another one; no one ever expected to experience anything like this. Of course, Gerard Argent wasn't stupid. Apart from Deucalion he was the only survivor, therefore most people believed him when he said it was a trap.

Then she noticed him standing a bit far from them, one of his Betas there to help him. The moment her eyes fell on the familiar face, Kim felt a rush of relief running through her. She wasn't scared anymore. That time she had no idea what he would turn into only a few days after the funeral, so his presence only made her feel safe. He was there for her, only keeping a safe distance because of the hunters who were possibly looking for him.

Feeling as his lips found hers brought her back to the present, but with his body now pressing her to the wall she couldn't resist. Years had passed, she knew what a monster he became, but his presence itself was still enough to make her weak.

"This worked the other way around as well," he pointed out quietly.

"It's not fair, Duke."

"You started it back in the animal clinic, remember?"

He was right. In the end, Deucalion stopped and let her go. He didn't start asking questions about why she was in Beacon Hills, but there was something in the way he acted that made him suspicious.

Author's note: I hope you liked it. The Peter/OC part is something I kinda have to do, but think of the title of the story. I mean, so far I'm only using Peter, but who knows...