A/N~ Hope everyone is enjoying this story, and will continue to do so. Please continue to read and review, I adore positive feedback. Even more than peanut butter, chocolate and caffeine. All of which I would probably mainline if I could get away with it. ~A

Chapter 8

Bo was studying Lauren's computer while her lady was at work. Although Kenzi was the de facto researcher for the pair of part-time detectives, Bo wasn't completely computer illiterate. Truth was though right now she wasn't even on the internet or trying to hack anything. Which was probably a good thing, she admitted to herself, her little buddy had confided to her that while Bo could kick ass with the best of them, hacking was beyond the succubus scope.

No right now Bo was studying her girlfriends past work. Apparently at some point in the course of her research on the fae, Lauren had made a study of where the higher concentration of fae were. At least along the western seaboard and on into Canada and down into parts of Mexico.

There were groups in and around Seattle and Tacoma, others in Portland, and as the succubus had jokingly expected several rather large concentrations scattered through different parts of California. Spread out throughout the state, some in the larger towns like LA and San Francisco obviously and from everything she had heard she wasn't really surprised to see there was a rather large concentration near Sonoma.

There were a couple of smaller towns that she had never heard of that had a surprisingly high concentration of the fae considering the small concentration of humans in the area. Towns she had never even heard of before, like Sunnydale. Which sounded completely charming and harmless until you read the name given to it by the original Spanish settlers, which basically meant "Mouth of Hell" in English.

She mentally cringed, as she continued to read and wasn't terribly surprised to read some of the details of some of the strange goings on of the town, including the fact that apparently the entire town had disappeared. People, pets, buildings had all vanished all in one night, including a stunning 72 churches. "Even humans aren't usually that religious," she said to herself, even as she thought, "Not without a reason anyway."

This was followed closely by the even smaller town of Beacon Hills, further north and more inland than it's supposed sunny counterpart. Beacon Hills was nestled within a valley surrounded by the foothills at the edge of the Cascade and Klamath Mountain Ranges. Perfectly idyllic until you started reading about all of the animal attacks, Satanic rituals, mysterious deaths and disappearances, etc. Especially considering the fact the population was less than 6000.

From what Bo had heard, the usual math was about one fae per one thousand humans. Beacon Hills boasted a whopping one per a hundred, the lady doctor offered no explanation for the unusually high concentration in her thesis, which made the rather dry reading all the more interesting for the succubus. She did love a mystery after all.

~O~

Derek had headed back to the loft that the Hales were using as a home to see about Cora. Their sister hadn't really been herself for several days now and the Alpha was more than a little concerned because their kind didn't usually get sick, either as fae or werewolves.

Stiles and Kenzi had decided to go get in a little more practice at their workout space which was an abandoned warehouse. Stiles was telling Kenzi about the Coach wanting to take the track team out of town for an intramural competition. Which would have been fine except none of the Pack felt safe going out of town with the Alpha Pack causing trouble.

The only positive about the whole situation was that one of the Alpha Twins was also going out of town having been recently added to the roster of the track team. "Because he cheated and used his "werewolf power," Stiles said with a scowl.

"So you're telling me that you don't use your powers when you're out on the field or track, or pitch or whatever you want to call it?" demanded gesturing with her hands vigorously.

"No we do not," Stiles said righteously, "No matter how tempting it is, not even when Jackson was here and I'm sorry but he totally deserved it."

Kenzi honestly couldn't tell if the Spark was telling the truth or not. She merely smiled at the human affectionately but the smile melted from her face as the scent of werewolf hit her. "Not Pack", her inner wolf howled. Even as the female wolf appeared in their path, Kenzi grabbed Stiles arm and tried to back track only to find the twins behind them, blocking their path that way.

Kenzi cursed herself vehemently, "Should have been paying closer attention."

"Well, well, well, what have we here? It is a lovely night for a stroll. Has Scott misplaced his pets then?" the older female said her nails actually clicking on the sidewalk as she sidled closer to the pair.

The twins boxed them in, but kept their distance, staring at the pair. Stiles may or may not have recognized Kali in the darkness but he definitely recognized the twins from school. He was cautious but friendly enough as he spoke to the older woman even as he placed his arm on Kenzi's. The Goth she wolf was sure it was more to know where she was than protectiveness, as the teen spoke to the Alpha in his most charming tone, "Good evening Ms. Kali. Yes it is a lovely night, are you taking in the air, as well. I know when you get to be a certain age, menopause may become an issue, those hot flashes, they can be a bitch can't they. Well we wouldn't want to keep you, I know the hormones can affect your temper. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

The twins were trying very hard not to laugh, and failing miserably. Kali just looked confused but beginning to realize that while Stiles had a straight face and a charming smile he was basically insulting the female Alpha, left, right and center. Kenzi was simply staring at the teen with her mouth open. Stiles was usually ballsy but this was impressive even for the younger humans standards.

Kali's confused anger had quickly cleared and now she was smiling but there was nothing charmed or amused about it. "Thank you ever so much Stiles, it is Stiles isn't it?"

Kenzi could sense the tension in her companion as Kali stepped closer but he only responded ever so politely, "Yes ma'am, that's me."

"Ah good we've been looking for you. Well both of you technically. Imagine our luck in finding Scott's best friend and lady love together." the she Alpha's throaty voice growled, "And of course your charm has helped in deciding which one of you we're going to take and which we're going to leave for Scott as an example. Decaulion wanted Scott to kill his own Pack members but considering he's never killed before, our Alpha thought he might need an example of how it's done."

With that Kali and the twins all lunged forward but whoever each was reaching for, didn't matter, none of them made contact. Stiles rushed forward and under the Alpha females grasp and merely placed his hand on her chest. The hand was glowing and suddenly Kali was up in the air about a foot off the ground before being slammed into the pavement. Cracks actually emanated out from where she had landed, but Stiles had already stood and faced the Twins.

Kenzi was already handling the duo though, she had grabbed the closer of the pair as he had lunged at her and used his own momentum to slam him into the wall of the closest building. A tanker truck drove by just as Stiles sent a blast of energy into the other twin sending him flying into the side of the truck. Luckily the twins sudden impact didn't perforate the side of the tanker, it merely put a teen sized dent in it.

The Spark grabbed Kenzi by the arm again and took off running in the direction of the warehouse. He was hoping beyond hope that they could make it there before they got caught because under Kenzi's instruction he had set wards around it both to keep any magical misadventures in and any unwanted guests out.

Kali and the wolf who had flown into a wall face first recovered the most quickly. Collecting themselves the pair of Alphas were about to take off after their prey. What neither of them saw was a red haired slender man who suddenly grabbed both by their collars and snatched them backwards and off of their feet, and once again slamming both into the pavement.

When the pair were joined by Ethan, who had flown into the tanker truck it was to discover the red-haired werewolf now armed with a pair of ASP batons. Dyson smiled as the three faced him in a crouched fighting stance. His expression didn't change, as the female Alpha roared in his face, "You're going to regret interfering in our games."

"Don't bet on it," the werewolf replied as he stabbed the tip of the ASP into Kali's abdomen and then brought it up sharply under her jaw. The twins attacked and he raked first one baton, then the other across their faces. Then his movements became even faster and a bit more staccato as the metal of the batons rang with each and every hit. By the time it was over the fae werewolf was still standing and putting the now retracted ASP wands back into their sheaths.

The other three werewolves were lying on the ground in various levels of consciousness, honestly more unconscious than conscious. He scented the air and found Kenzi's scent as well as something else faintly familiar. However, the memory of the scent was so old he couldn't really place it, so he ignored it for the time being.

Dyson had a few scratches and one rather deep claw mark on his side. "Now how did my little human get involved with you idiots." He shakes his head and begins to track Kenzi and her friend, ignoring the trio on the ground after their beat down. He may be an Omega but he had been a warrior for centuries, this lot hadn't stood a chance.

~O~

Derek and Peter were sitting in the loft trying to figure out what Decaulion's game plan was between the two of them. Peter may have been pretending that he didn't care but he was just as concerned about Cora as his nephew was. She was the youngest Hale left and the fact that he intended to have her as one of his Beta's if he ever got to be Alpha for more than a few psychotic weeks.

Currently the young woman was in her bed near the entrance to the loft and tossing and turning. Both Derek and Peter had snuck over and Peter had actually managed to take her temperature with their hands without the younger werewolf waking up. She was feverish and Derek was convinced that her temperature had risen. Other than that at the moment she didn't seem to be showing any other signs or symptoms of any illness.

"So other than trying to kill us all what do you think Decaulion's plan for us is?" Derek finally asked as he glanced in Cora's direction again. The Alpha asked his uncle, his voice barely above a whisper to keep from disturbing his sister.

Peter answered in kind, "I'm still trying to figure out which of your Pack he wants to recruit to his Pack. Lydia is a distinct possibility, or Scott perhaps. Although he and you are less likely, Duc always was one who appreciated the rare and unique. Honestly you and your Beta's really…aren't his type."

Derek's eyes flickered at his words an image of Stiles came to mind, he suppressed it though because he was quite sure the Alpha Pack were unaware of the Spark's abilities. Then something else occurred to the Pack Leader, "The spell that you used to bring yourself back from the dead, just how rare is it?" Then before his uncle he added, "As in after all this could he really be after the wolf that rose from the dead?"

His uncle snorted in amusement but did seem to be pondering the possibility as he studied his niece from across the room probably trying to determine if her breathing had changed since she had fallen asleep. "That might be a possibility but Duc and I used to be friends. I think he knows me well enough to know that if he and I were in a Pack together for any length of time…it wouldn't end well for either one of us."

"That's suitably vague," the young Alpha said tilting his head at his uncle, clearly expecting some sort of clarification.

"With all due respect nephew there's nothing vague about it at all," Peter said and there was a hint of his usual sarcasm in his tone. "It means exactly what it sounds like. To become a member of his Pack I would have to be the Alpha, to do that this entire Pack including Lydia, Scott and Stiles would have to be dead.

If I were in his Pack, with all of the other Alpha's, it wouldn't last long. I would want to be the ultimate Alpha therefore either Decaulion would be dead or I would."

"You emphasized Scott, Stiles and Lydia, why?" Derek asked even though he suspected the answer already.

His suspicions were confirmed when his uncle rolled his eyes at him and said almost in his normal tone, "You and Cora are family, you always will be Pack. I made Scott, he may not like but he's mine, my Pack, my Beta. I tried to make Lydia my Beta as well. The girl is a genius, who wouldn't want her as a Beta. Stiles is brilliant, at least on a level with Lydia but in a different way. He's a strategist, I haven't anyone to compare him to except my sister. Your mother was brilliant as well but I think Stiles could have run circles around her. He's also brave and loyal."

He observed his nephew before he added in a sly tone, "I offered him the bite you know?" At Derek's sharp look the Zombie wolf raised his arms in mock surrender as he added, "He turned me down, as I said, he's loyal to a fault. Perhaps it's him Decaulion wants although his taste has always run to born wolves, not turned ones before." He added thoughtfully, He is getting older though perhaps his tastes are changing?"

Their conversation ended abruptly, when Cora sat straight up in bed and leaned over vomiting copious amounts of black goo onto the floor beside the bed.