Stiles was still panting by the time he reached the Hale house. The scene with Jackson's car kept playing through his head and it scared the hell out of him knowing that he was even capable of something like that. Of course he knew that being a werewolf meant he had super everything and that he was angrier than most, but knowing it from books was far different from experiencing it. If he could stop a speeding car by simply pulling on it, how much more can he do? How much more will he do?

"Derek!" He yelled. He didn't care about his earlier notion that Derek had to trust him first before they talked again. He needed help and there was only one person who could give him that.

He wasn't sure if Derek actually lived in the Hale house, it looked abandoned and not at all fit to live in. At first he thought that maybe Derek lived in an apartment somewhere in town and only took their training here so they wouldn't wreck his much nicer house. He really wished that wasn't the case. If Derek wasn't here, he had no idea what he would do. Or who could stop him if all these emotions got the best of him again and he ended up hurting someone worse than he did Jackson.

There was a pile of freshly dug dirt by the side of his house. He could tell it was fresh not only by looking at it, but by the strong smell of something buried inside. He didn't know what it was, but the horrible stench was enough to keep his mind on the here and now.

When Derek came out and talked to him, Stiles told him everything that happened.

"This is the third time in one week that you went out of control." Derek said, "The first time it was because of the full moon, but yesterday and today? I don't understand how you keep slipping."

"I know." Stiles replied, "I'm sorry."

"I don't care how sorry you are Stiles. You don't have control which means you're a risk to our kind, especially with that family of hunters around. You have to stay out of situations that might affect your control."

Stiles frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I mean that until you learn control, you can't play lacrosse."

Stiles' jaw dropped. He had to give up lacrosse? But he only just got to play. For once his father could sit in the stands and watch him actually play instead of sitting on the bench. This was his one chance to impress Lydia and make his dad proud. How could he give that up?

The look in Derek's eyes however let him know how serious the older werewolf was about this and he knew he was right. It was only his first official week as a werewolf and already he slipped twice. The second time he actually got someone physically hurt! If he slipped a third time, he was afraid of what he'd do. Afraid that he'd do more than just cause a car accident. And as much as he loved to play lacrosse, he loved not being a killer a lot more.

"Okay."

Seemingly satisfied with Stiles' easy acceptance, Derek stood up and began to walk back to the house.

"How'd you do it?" Asked Stiles stopping Derek from going further.

"Do what?"

Stiles stood up and faced him, "You may have been gone for six years but that doesn't mean that the people of Beacon Hills have forgotten about Derek Hale, sports star. When Coach Finstock's not busy comparing his players to you, he's busy bitching about what a missed opportunity you were. So how'd you do it? How did you play all those games without losing control of your aggression?"

For a second, Derek looked stunned that Coach Finstock, who was only an Assistant Coach when he was in school, seemed to speak so highly of him.

"I was born a wolf Stiles." He said finally, "I've had my whole life to train myself and control my urges. I also had my Pack to keep me sane."

Stiles looked confused at the last statement and Derek elaborated.

"Your Pack is your strength." He said, "Having a Pack not only makes you physically stronger but it calms your wolf enough that it gets easier to control. I was hoping that I could provide you with enough stability until we find the Alpha or find another Pack."

"So that's why I've been out of control? Because I'm in a Pack of two with no Alpha?"

Derek's silence was all the answer Stiles needed. He didn't want to bring it up to Derek but he started to wonder if maybe joining the Alpha was his only option. To be honest, he wasn't sure why Derek was insistent that the Alpha was bad news. From where he was standing, the Alpha hadn't done anything other than turn him into a wild, out of control, angry beast. He wasn't hurting anyone and if he could really help Stiles keep a tighter hold on his control so he doesn't end up hurting anyone else, then maybe it was worth it to consider joining him.

"Are you sure it's the Pack thing?" Stiles asked, his thoughts about the Alpha got him thinking about another possible reason for him losing control.

"What else could it be?"

Stiles took out his phone, searching for something. "The men that shot me on my full moon, you called them hunters and you said that, that they've been hunting werewolves for centuries."

He found the picture he was looking for, it was the picture of Allison and her father that he found on Facebook. He showed it to Derek and pointed at the man in the picture.

"Recognize him?" He said.

Derek's eyes turned blue the minute they locked on the blonde man in the picture.

"How do you know him?"

"Kind of hard to forget the man who shot me with a crossbow." Stiles said sarcastically, "But other than that, I don't know him. Her though, I know. She's his daughter, Allison Argent. She's a new student and she's in like all of my classes."

"Stay away from her."

Stiles rolled his eyes and took his phone back.

"That's what I'm trying to tell you." He said, "It's not that easy. She's sort of dating Scott now and I think maybe close proximity to a werewolf hunter is making me more angry than usual. Is it possible?"

Derek closed his eyes to take back control. When he opened them again, they were back to their usual green color.

"Does she know about you?"

Stiles shook his head. After finding out that Allison's father was a hunter, he went through all of their interactions in his head (which wasn't much). He tried to remember if she did anything that even hinted that she knew about werewolves but there was nothing. It was almost like she was just another regular high school girl.

"No, at least I don't think so."

"Good. Keep it that way."

Stiles held in the sarcastic response that almost came out.

"Duly noted." Stiles said, "So it is her. She's why I've been losing control?"

"Maybe." Derek replied, "It doesn't matter. Even if it's not her, you have to stay away from her Stiles."

"I already told you, she's sort of dating my best friend and -"

"Then make him stay away from her."

Stiles took a step back not expecting the vehemence in Derek's voice. Derek didn't notice this, he just plowed on with his warning.

"The Argents aren't like other hunters." He said, "This is more than just a job to them. Hunting is their legacy. It's their sole purpose in life. They've been doing it for centuries. Other parents teach their kids how to paint or sing, the Argents teach theirs how to trap and kill werewolves. They call us the monsters but the truth is, they're the killers. This man has more blood on his hands than I do on my claws."

Stiles let this sink in. He knew that Allison's father was a hunter and that Allison might be one too. He thought it was just them, he never, for one minute thought that hunting went farther than two generations of the Argent family. But centuries? Finding out about all this werewolf business as a sixteen-year-old gangly teenager was bad enough, he couldn't imagine knowing all of this growing up and being told that it was my job to kill them. That kind of burden at such a young age would surely take its toll on the body and especially the mind.

And yet Allison Argent remained bubbly and happy as ever. The few times he looked into her eyes, he never saw any sign that she was carrying something bigger than high school drama.

"Well, if it's this big, scary family legacy then how come Allison doesn't know a thing about it?"

"How are you so sure she doesn't?" Derek challenged. "The first week you had classes with her you didn't even know you were a werewolf let alone that the Argents are hunters."

Derek did have a point. And no matter how close Scott and Allison have gotten over the past few days, Stiles just never really clicked with her. Yet despite that his instincts were telling him that Allison was completely innocent in all of this.

"Beacon Hills has a long history with the supernatural Stiles." Derek continued, "The Argents wouldn't risk bringing their precious daughter here if she didn't know anything about werewolves. She knows Stiles and it's only a matter of time before she figures out your secret. And when she does, the Argents will kill your family just to get to you. Don't believe me? Look around you."

Stiles looked around uneasily and his eyes immediately found the remains of the old Hale Manor. Suddenly, the charred remains of the once magnificent building told a very different story from what Stiles remembered. Six years ago, the fire was ruled an accident caused by a lit cigarette that was left carelessly on the carpet. It was what got his dad to really quit smoking after years of saying he would.

But if Derek was right, then that meant the Hales were - it meant that they were murdered. Hunted and killed for being werewolves.

"My dad's human and so is Scott and Melissa. The hunters -"

"They won't care! All they'll see is how close they are to you. They say they have a code, that they'll only kill dangerous werewolves. But there were people in my family that were perfectly normal. My cousin was pregnant with a human child. M sister, Cora, was your age and they decided it was a good idea to burn the house with them inside it just to get rid of a few werewolves. So don't think for one moment that the hunters won't do the same to you."

Stiles gulped, "How do I keep them safe?"

"You keep the Argents from finding out about you."

Stiles looked back at the remains of the Hale house. He remembered his dreams of dying in a fire. He pictured his dad, Scott and Melissa dying the same way Derek's family did. His eyes shifted and became the brightest shade of gold it had ever been.

That would never happen. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt his family.

OoOoO

Scott had a plan, well he hoped he had a plan. He needed to secure the car for Sunday when he would have his date with Allison.

Allison. Just thinking of her made him smile bigger than he ever thought he would. He couldn't help it, she was… she was everything. She was perfect and beautiful and amazing and Scott was so lucky to have her in his life. Especially considering he was anything but a catch, he just had to do everything he could to keep her happy and not think about how much better she could do.

And to do that, he needed to secure the car for their date so he needed to be the perfect son until then. Decision made, Scott got started on a packed dinner for his mom. He couldn't really cook per se, but he could give it a shot, maybe he was a natural cook.

Twelve minutes later, the pan was in the trashcan and Scott was on his bike to the nearest diner.

OoOoO

The hospital was quiet and empty save for the few nurses walking around and the odd patient or so. Scott was used to this, being a small town hospital, Beacon Memorial was hardly flooded with sick and injured people. Usually it's just people who get into the odd accident or so and patients with fever, pneumonia or some other easily treated illness. Sometimes Scott would wonder if his mom's low salary was partly due to the hospital not getting a lot of patients. After thinking that, a part of him wished that the hospital would get more patients, maybe that would get his mom paid more.

This was a thought that Scott McCall would regret in the days to come.

"Hey Scott." A blonde nurse at the nurse's station greeted Scott as soon as she saw him.

"Hey Emily." Scott smiled.

Emily was a young nurse who started working at the hospital about six months after his mom did so it was kind of up to his mom to show Emily around and tell her how things were done. He would never tell anyone this but back when he was younger and Emily would babysit him, he had just the tiniest crush on the blonde.

"Is my mom here?"

"No Honey," The nurse replied, "She's with a patient. It's a VIP so she might take a while."

Scott was disappointed he couldn't see his mom and ask her about the car but he was used to this. Times like these were just further proof of how good his mom was at her job.

"Oh, could you just tell her I stopped by and give her her dinner. You can help yourself to the extra cheese burger there if you want."

Emily laughed and accepted the bag, "Always a treat when you visit Scott. Is there anything else I could help you with?"

Scott thought for a minute and without Allison to fill his mind, he flashed to his deal with Jackson. He wanted to say he regretted it and would go back in time to stop himself from making the deal, but, much as he hated to admit it, training with Jackson has helped his game a lot. And again, he didn't have to tell Jackson anything he found out about Stiles, it's not like the jerk could read his mind or anything. He also remembered wanting to ask his mother about Stiles' symptoms but either he kept forgetting or something kept coming up.

"Actually, how much do you know about —"

The sound of ambulance sirens interrupted Scott. They were on the first floor near the emergency room so Scott could hear the sirens loud and clear.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Probably an accident or something." Emily frowned, "That's what we usually get. Though I don't know why everyone's panicking."

"Terence!" The blonde called the attention of a nurse coming from the ER, "What's going on?"

"Car accident, some kid out on a joy ride who hit the brakes too soon while going too fast. The seatbelt dug into his shoulder and dislocated it. The big deal is that it's the Whitmore boy and he denies everything. He's threatening to sue everyone around him."

Emily and Terence started talking about their opinions on the Whitmore boy while Scott just stared at the ER door.

Curious, he slipped away from the preoccupied nurses and, abandoning his mother's golden rule when visiting the hospital, slipped into the emergency room.

There were two other patients in the ER other than Jackson who were getting treated by a doctor.

"I already told you it wasn't my fault!" Screamed Jackson, "The car malfunctioned and stopped suddenly."

Scott watched the doctor treat Jackson, he wondered what happened to him. Ever since Jackson got his precious Porsche, he never missed a chance to show it off and how great he was. There was even a rumour going around (probably spread by Jackson himself) that he was a street racer. Even without that rumour, he found it impossible that Jackson would get into a car accident in a straight road with no traffic.

AN: Who doesn't love more Derek, right?

Updated: July 13, 2021