** It's been a while since i updated this story but i couldn't find the inspiration for this chapter until recently. But here we go. Hope you enjoy. **

Chapter 14

Allison:

Both Lydia and I dragged ourselves into the house after leaving Scott and Isaac. Neither of us were happy about the situation but we knew it needed to happen. We just settled ourselves with the fact that we would be miserable for the week. Dad was still with Melissa but said he would be home soon.

We both flopped down on the couch and cuddled up together, both of us missing our wolves. The previous night didn't work out how I had hoped. Isaac was having control issues and was too worried about hurting me to do anything. So, we just lay down together and tried to sleep but Lydia and Scott were making so much noise that we stopped trying. Instead, we worked on packing a bag for him and then took the opportunity to go to the store so we could stock up on food for the guys for the week.

This morning, we sent them both off with kisses and promises from them to call when they reached the house.

"Is it insane that I already miss him?" I whined, leaning my head on top of Lydia's which was on my shoulder.

"No, I already miss Scott. I think it's because we consciously know that it will be a whole week before we see them again, well in person. I plan to facetime the shit out of Scott." She sighed.

"Yeah, me too. I feel stupid, or childish. I mean I literally just saw him 15 minutes ago and I just want to go hide under the covers and cry until he comes back."

"I know what you mean. But we promised them we wouldn't mope around."

"I know, I know. Fine then let's take our mind off of that at least. Tell me what I need to know about being mated to an alpha?" I asked, sitting up and turning to face her. she mirrored me, a contemplative look on her face.

"Well, I don't know if it's exactly the same thing for you. not because of the true alpha thing but because Isaac isn't really the overly possessive type to begin with. I mean look at Liam, he is super possessive and protective and he's not an alpha. Scott's always been the possessive and protective type, I saw that when you guys were together."

"Yeah, that's true. I mean Isaac has his moments but he's more the stand back and observe then jump right in and do something. But I guess I thought that would change with this."

"It might but not by much. I mean Scott's general character didn't really change when he became an alpha it just… multiplied. So, I think it would be the same for Isaac. He's always been more of an observer so that might increase. I think his biggest struggle will be the power thing. He might become a bit more aggressive but knowing him it will just make him more cautious."

"He has a fear of turning into his father so I can see that. its why we didn't do anything last night, he was too afraid of hurting me."

"He could never be his father. I don't think anyone could be that cruel." Lydia said with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, I don't either. Well except Gerard and Simon."

"Oh, I so don't want to go down that road right now. let's talk about something else. Like what are we going to do for the week to keep our minds off our missing wolves."

"Well, we have that cooking class with Malia and Theo on Wednesday. So, we just need to plan stuff for the other days." I said with a shrug.

"I'm sure at least one of those days is going to be a group activity with everyone and we can still go watch practice, which will occupy some time."

I nodded as I heard the door open, knowing my father was home. Lydia and I looked at the doorway and smiled when he walked in.

"Girls." He greeted, coming to take a seat in his favorite chair.

"Hey dad."

"how's Melissa?" Lydia asked.

"She's frustrated… and annoyed at the whole situation but she's okay. She understands why they need to go away."

"Yeah, we share her feelings on that." Lydia snorted.

"They will be fine. It's just a precaution, a good one."

"We know. it's just hard being away from them for this long." I admitted, a bit shyly since this was my father.

"I know." he smirked in amusement at us before his expression changed to a serious one. "Lydia, do you mind giving me a minute to talk with Allison?"

"Sure, I'll go call my mom." She answered before hopping up and skipping off to her room.

"What's going on dad?" I asked. He came to sit next to me and grabbed my hands, giving me a wane smile.

"I've been thinking about a lot about something Isaac and I talked about, and I think now is a good time to let you in on something. I probably should have done this before now but with so much going on and what you have been dealing with, I didn't want to add to that. But he made me realize that keeping secrets never really worked out well for any of us."

"Okay. Secrets about what?"

There's something I need to tell you and show you… about Kate." He said. I stiffened going to yank my hand back, but he held tight.

"What about her?" I asked cautiously. I might be doing better in that area and this new issue was occupying most of my focus, but I still wasn't completely okay with what happened. I was getting better, but it still weighed on me sometimes.

"I need you to know that if things hadn't gone the way they did in Mexico, then she still wouldn't not have left there alive. If it hadn't been you, it would have been me. I really wish it were me. I wish I had found her before you guys did that night." he sighed.

"But I thought you had somewhere you could take her. Some place that might help her."

"I did." he nodded. "And if she had shown or if I had been able to catch her back in November like I planned then I would have taken her there. But… by the time she kidnapped Liam, actually by the time she had kidnapped Stiles, that was no longer an option and definitely not when the Calaveras got involved."

"What do you mean? Why?"

He pulled out his phone and did something before handing it to me. I took it and looked to see a picture of a family on it. a man and woman, both older, a guy probably in his late teens and two small girls, all smiling at the camera. He reached over and swiped pulling up another picture. This one of a house on fire. The picture was crystal clear, and my breath caught.

"What is this? Dad, what is this?" I asked looking up at him. I could feel the sting of tears dreading what he was going to say.

"The family was the Schalls. They were a family of shifters that I helped relocate a long time ago to keep them safe from Gerard."

"Were?" I whispered, feeling my heartbeat speed up.

"The younger guy, his name was Tony. He met Kate while he was studying at university."

"No." I said, shaking my head. My hand clutching the phone as I felt the tears falls.

"This fire was set around this past Christmas."

"No, she… she wouldn't. Not again."

"I'm sorry baby, but she did. This time there were no survivors."

"Dad." I croaked.

"I know. I know. I was hesitant to show this to you because I didn't want you to have any more bad memories of your aunt. But Isaac made me realize that trying to keep this from you, even to preserve those good memories you had of her was not a good idea. You need to know what she was capable of. I don't know if Derek's family was the first she did this to but this, this was definitely the last."

"How could she do this? How could she be so cruel." I sobbed, dropping the phone, and wiping my eyes.

"I don't know honey, I really don't." he said, his own eyes brightening. "When I think about Kate, I think about the girl I grew up with. The funny, wild child that loved a new adventure but was never hurtful or manipulative. I'm not sure when that changed but it did and by the time we got to Mexico it was already too late to help her. She was never going to be that girl again."

I reached out and pulled my dad into a hug and we both cried for lost family. He mourned his sister and so did I really. As much as I hate that she's really gone, as much as I miss the person, she used to be I couldn't look past what this meant. She was really gone. she had been for a lot longer than just a couple of months. She was gone back when she killed Derek's family, when she was changed into a shifter and she was gone when she set this new fire, killing another family, taking more innocent lives.

"Thank you." I whispered against his shoulder. He pulled back to look at me, eyes red rimmed.

"For what?"

"I've been coming to terms with what I did, but I have been living in this fantasy that if she hadn't forced my hand that she could be saved, that we could be as close as we used to be. But that was never going to happen. I get that now. And even though I still mourn her and still feel for what happened, I understand now that she hasn't been my Kate in years." I sighed. "I didn't kill my aunt, my family. I killed a monster. I'm still not completely okay with that but I can live with it because in doing what I did, no other family has to go through a lose like this."

My dad studied me before chuckling and shaking his head.

"Isaac was right."

I was confused and gave him a questioning look. he just shook his head. A knock on the door interrupted us. Dad wiped at his eyes before getting up to answer. I made my way to the bathroom, splashing water on my face. I looked in the mirror and thought over what I was just told. Even though I know Kate was responsible for her own actions I knew that part of this was Gerard's fault. He did this to her, he turned her into a monster long before she was changed into a shifter. He needed to be stopped and I planned to do everything in my power to help stop him.

Exiting the bathroom, I was met with voices and laughter. Dad met me in the hall, smiling.

"Who's here?" I asked.

"Apparently, the pack decided today was movie day." He told me. I quirked a brow as Lydia's door opened.

"Did I hear the door?" she asked.

"Yes, you girls go enjoy yourselves. I'm going to get some work done and I'll be out in a while to join in." Dad told us, giving us both kisses on the forehead before heading for his office.

Lydia and I both looked at each other then made our way down the hall to the living room. We saw everyone gathered, pillows clustered on the floor, arranged in groups in order of who would sit where. Everyone had their preference.

"Liam, if you don't stop eating the candy there will be none for the movies." Theo sighed from behind us. We turned to see them both carrying snacks, Corey behind thing carrying drinks.

"You shouldn't have given me the candy bowl then." Liam told him, shrugging and popping a handful of skittles into his mouth. Theo shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"What's going on?" Lydia asked as the guys passed us and everyone started to settle. Stiles was messing with the TV, setting it up for a marathon it looked like.

"We figured you girls would be sad about the guys having to go away. So, we thought we would keep you company for the night. we got a bunch of movies to watch, and a crap ton of snacks and we are ordering pizza later." Mason explained as he grabbed the drinks from Corey and placed them on the table.

"Here, we set this up for you." Malia said pointing to a giant beanbag chair that I recognized Stiles having bought sometime within the last month. Theo and Liam settled in their usual spot in front of the sofa on some pillows, Theo having confiscated the candy from him, making him pout which he then kissed away.

"Guys, you didn't have to do this." I said, though I felt warmed and happy that they did.

"We know. But that's what family does." Stiles shrugged taking a seat on the chaise and pulling Malia down with him. Lydia and I joined them on the bean bag chair. A bowl of chips was passed to us.

Everyone quieted down as Stiles put on the first movie. Even though this wasn't the move conventional of families it was still a family, and I was so grateful for it.