**Surprise, another chapter. I won't hold you. Enjoy. **
The party was still going strong when I stepped out onto the back porch. I could hear Isaac cracking up inside the house at something Stiles was saying, and I smiled. he loved the party and having everyone there. But I'm pretty sure he loved the Black Forest cake that we ordered for it more, since that was his favorite. He's had three pieces already and made sure to put away a piece for mom, which she devoured when she got home about an hour ago. She hung out for a while but was tired after her shift and went up to her room to rest.
He was shocked when he got into the house and saw what everyone had done. The house was decorated a lot like we did for our mini dance complete with a welcome home banner that I'm sure Lydia drew since she was the only one here with any real artistic talent. He was even more surprised when presented with a gift that everyone on the team chipped in to get him, a new lacrosse stick. His was damaged when he was tossed back after the blast.
I had been playing a game against Cora when I saw Malia get up and disappear out here a few minutes prior. I knew she had to be overwhelmed being surrounded by so many people, over half of which she didn't know. But she looked to be having fun with everyone, though she did stick close to either me or Cora for most of the night.
she was sitting on the steps staring up at the sky, her arms wrapped around herself , rubbing he hands briskly against her arms, against the cool night air. I was really happy that I thought to grab a throw on my way out here. I shook it out and wrapped it around her shoulders before taking a seat next to her. She smiled at me, snuggling into it.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Yeah, just getting a bit stuffy in there. Everyone's been great though. I just thought I would come out for some fresh air."
"No, I get it. there's a lot of people crowded in one room." I said and she nodded. she looked back at the stars with a small smile on her face. "Do you know anything about the stars?"
"Not really. I just like looking at them. Back in my den I would just look at the sky at night. I would make up stories about them and give them weird names." She giggled. I grinned and moved closer to her.
"Well, you see that big one there, that's Ursa Major and the little one next to it is Ursa Minor." I said pointing to different constellations. "And if you squint you can see Orion just in between them."
"Really?" She asked, her big brown eyes on me. I shook my head.
"Nah, not really. It just sounded smart." I shrugged. She laughed, nudging me with her shoulder. "I have no clue which ones are which, but I understand about looking at the sky. I do that sometimes when lying in bed. It's peaceful."
"It is. It's the only time I seem to be able to shut my brain down." she said, sighing wistfully. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her against me prompting her to lay her head on my shoulder.
"Are you still struggling?"
"No, well not like you mean. I haven't shifted since I've been home. Kind of scared to, not sure if I would be able to shift back so I don't even try. Though with the full moon coming next week I'm not sure I will have a choice."
"Don't worry about the full moon. I know we haven't talked about it yet, but Derek and I have that covered."
"You mean eyebrows?" she asked, the nickname she gave him after I introduced them in the preserve. I laughed, nodding. "That's good. I was worried about it and being home with my dad. I don't want to hurt him."
"You won't. I won't let you, promise. Did you want to try shifting back and forth? Maybe not tonight but I'll help you if you want. Just so you can get use to it."
"I do, but you have already helped me so much, I don't want to take advantage."
"You're not. I'm offering, remember?"
"If you're sure, I would love the help. Thanks."
"No problem."
"Why are you doing all this for me? I mean I'm grateful, but I don't get it."
"Because you're worth it." I shrugged; it was really as simple as that. granted I also did it for other reasons, like being totally and hopelessly in love with her but she was worth helping even without that aspect of things.
"Hey, I'm going to head out." Derek said from behind us. We both turned to look at him. he was leaning in the open doorway, smirking at us.
"Okay, thanks for helping today."
"Of course. I was happy to, it was fun. I told Isaac, I'll be back tomorrow to hang out with him while you're at school."
"Oh, good. I was worried about leaving him here. I'm sure he'll be fine but still."
"I know. I don't think anything will happen, but I'll be here to make sure of it."
I nodded.
"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Night guys."
"Night." I said.
"Night, eyebrows." Malia said and I snickered. Derek rolled his eyes before pointing at us.
"That is all your fault, I hope you know that." he said.
"Oh, I know. I just wish I could have recorded your first reaction to it." I grinned. He huffed before turning around and walking away. Cora was right behind him, laughing at her brother as she waved goodbye. Before we could return to our conversation Danny and Lydia stepped out to tell us they were leaving as well. Lydia promised Malia that they would get together, along with Allison and Cora, for a girls night soon. Malia nodded happily at her.
"Hey Scott," Stiles said, filling the empty space, once again. "I'm staying over tonight; I already told my dad. I'm going to go hang out in your room so Allison and Isaac can have some privacy. Here's the keys to the jeep so you can take Malia home." He said dropping the keys in my hand.
"Thanks man. I'll be up soon."
"Take your time. I'll just take over your bed in the meantime." he grinned. I snorted. "Malia it was good to finally meet you. Hope you come around again soon."
"Good to meet you too. its nice to put a face with the stories Scott's told me."
"Don't believe a word he says." He warned her before heading back inside, closing the door behind him. I shook my head turning back to her.
"So that's the infamous Stiles. You're right, he's hilarious. What was it he was saying earlier, about you and him being a couple?" she asked. I groaned, really wishing he hadn't brought that up. he was ranting to Lydia about it, and she cracked up remembering that rumor.
"We were never a couple." I huffed. "Its just that we've been friends for so long, and usually do everything together. some people believed we were a couple and were hiding it."
"I can see that. you two would make a cute couple. Actually, seeing you, Stiles, and Isaac together, you guys are so adorkable… I think I used that right." she said, a cute little crinkle forming between her brows.
"You did, and Lydia and Cora say the same thing." I snorted.
A loud squealing laugh had me tilting my head towards the door to listen, making sure everything was okay. It was Allison squealing, telling Isaac to stop tickling her. I heard his soft chuckle follow and realized they were just playing around. I could also hear a video game sounding, so my guess is Isaac was trying to get her to slip up. grinning I turned back to Malia. my smile dimmed seeing her chew on her bottom lip and staring at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked in concern.
"Nothing, not really. I'm just thinking… I know you said we would talk this week about my mom and sister. And I was wondering since we are alone and I don't have to be home for at least another hour, if we could do that now."
Oh, that's what's troubling her. I guess now was as good a time as any.
"We can do that. I had actually thought to bring it up with you tonight anyway if I had the chance. But are you sure you want to know? it's not… pretty, what happened."
"I am, I've been thinking about since I asked on Saturday. I figured it wouldn't be a fairytale, not like the one you told me when you found me." She grinned. "but I think I deserve to know."
"You do. I just hate how much this might hurt you." that was the very last thing I wanted to do. She turned to face me; her face set in determination.
"I'm a big girl. I can handle it."
"yes you can." I said as I took her hands in mine. "Okay, so there are a few branches to this story so let me start at the beginning."
"You're not going to start with 'Once Upon A Time,' again, are you?" she asked. I laughed.
"No, I'm not starting there. Okay, so the person who left you at the firehouse, her name was Talia Hale-."
"Hale? You mean like Derek and Cora's last name?"
"Yes, she was their mother."
"She died, right?"
"Yes, about 6 years ago."
"Oh, that's sad. I would love to have met her if she saved me." she sighed. "Sorry, keep going."
"No, its fine. Ask whatever you want, whenever. Anyway, Talia took you to protect you, like I told you in the woods. And who she was protecting you from was your birth mother."
"Wait, what? My birth mom? Why?" she asked, not understanding. I grimaced.
"Your bio mom is a coyote like you. And… this part is pretty much a guess; this is just what I heard. But when werecoyotes give birth to their first child, not sure if it has to be one gender or the other, a part of their power, what makes them strong, is transferred to that child."
"How-." She started and I shook my head.
"I don't know the ins and outs of it. I can ask my boss tomorrow and see if he knows anything. I was just told that's what happens. But your bio mom, her name is Corrine by the way, didn't like that. she didn't want to lose her power. Honestly, she wanted to terminate the pregnancy in order for that not to happen." I tried to tell her as gently as possible, but she still looked hurt about it. instinctively my fingers squeezed hers and I rubbed soothing circles across the back of her hands. "Talia tried to get her to believe that you were a blessing, but Corrine didn't want to hear it. Talia knew that if Corrine were allowed to keep you she would kill you to get her power back, so she took you, right after you were born. She couldn't keep you herself because it would be too obvious and Corrine wouldn't stop trying to hunt you down, so she left you at the firehouse with the only information being your first name."
I stopped there to give her a minute to process that. she was staring at her lap, and I could smell the salt from tears.
"You okay?"
She nodded and looked up, eyes brimming.
"Yeah, it just kind of hurts that she didn't once want me. I guess I always thought that she couldn't keep me not that she didn't want too." she shrugged.
"I know, but you still ended up with an amazing family."
"I did but then she had to take that from me too, I guess. I mean she is the one that killed them right? Since you said it wasn't me. How?" She asked when I nodded.
"Well, again this is going off of what I was told and the person who told me, their memory was a bit fuzzy. They could only piece together the full story from what they could recall. So, when you were nine you were in the car with your mom and sister and you were still a bit mad at your mom, right?"
"Yeah, we had gotten into an argument earlier that day, I can't remember why though."
"I don't know that either. But you were still angry, and you were riding down the road, when your mother skid off the road and crashed. You thought you had killed them after the crash when you shifted for the first time. But that's not what happened. I don't know if you can remember this and if not then don't try to force it but while she was driving down the road there was another car facing towards you guys. They had their headlights on high, blinding you all. There was someone standing in the middle of the road, and she shot at you guys, that's what caused you to crash. I don't know if it was the bullets or the crash or a combination of both but whatever it was but that's what killed them and caused you to shift for the first time. it was a reaction to what was happening."
"So, I didn't shift before hand and cause her to crash?"
"No, it was because of the crash and seeing what happened that caused you to shift. Its instinct when being attacked."
"But I did something to them. I remember… I remember…"
"That wasn't your fault Malia. Yes, after they were already dead you did do something but again that's instinct. For coyotes when they smell blood they attack. But you didn't kill them."
"Why did Talia leave me at a fire station instead of taking me to another shifter family or something? I mean she had to know that it was possible I would shift one day."
"I don't think she planned to just leave you and never see you again. I think, that if she hadn't died, she would have come for you. If for no other reason than to explain things. But she never got that chance. She may not have known what happened until after the crash. By then everyone thought that you had died as well."
"But what about my birth dad? she couldn't leave me with him or something? Was he not a shifter?"
"So, that's one of the other branches of this story. Your bio dad is a shifter, but he didn't, doesn't, know about you." I told her, she blinked. "When Talia left you, she made a decision to erase any knowledge of you or Corrine from his mind."
"But why? Wouldn't it have been better to be with him? I mean I love my dad but if my bio dad had been around maybe none of that would have happened." She said, her voice cracking.
"She didn't do it to be malicious or anything. she did it to protect you. You're bio dad is Talia's brother. If Corrine knew you were with him, which automatically would have meant you were with Talia since she was his alpha as well as his sister, then she would have kept coming. She wouldn't have stopped hunting you."
"Wait, my dad is her brother? So that means that Derek and Cora are my cousins. But I only heard them mention one other person in their family and if I'm going by what Cora has said he's an asshole."
"Well, he can be but there's some animosity between all of them. He's not a bad guy per se, just impulsive and doesn't sometimes think things through before he does them."
"You said she erased his memory, so he doesn't know about any of this or me. Should we tell him?"
"I actually do have plans to tell him. it's part of a deal I made with him. But its up to you if you want to be a part of that conversation or not. I can tell him the basics of what I told you but not tell him who you are."
"But what if I want to meet him?"
"Do you? if you want I can arrange for that when I tell him. I don't want to overwhelm you. its why I'm telling you first to give you the option and space to think about what you want to do."
"I think I do, if for no other reason than to just know him. But what if it turns out he doesn't want anything to do with me either?"
"That won't happen. I know for a fact that once he knows, once he meets you, he will want you to be a part of his life. And even if for some ridiculous reason that were the case, you still wouldn't be lacking in family. You have Cora, Derek, and your dad. And you will always have me. We're not family but I told you before, you have me for as long as you want me."
"I know, thank you. And thank you for telling me. I still feel bad for what happened but at least now I can try to stop feeling guilty and like it was my fault. What ever happened to Corrine?"
"That is another branch of the story, one which we do not have to go over right now. I actually think that would be better left until you decide on whether or not you want to meet your father and I can explain it to both of you at the same time. It also would involve me explaining a few other things first, like how I know all of this."
"How do you know all of this? You said someone told you. Who and why?"
I sighed.
"Malia, I am happy to tell you whatever you want to know. You don't even have to ask. But are you sure you want to know that right now, tonight? you already have a lot to process with what I have already told you and you have a big decision to make. I don't want to overload you."
She chewed on her lip and thought about that, and I watched her quietly, letting her think. I wanted so badly to kiss her and stop her from doing that but now was not the time. Right now, holding her hands, having any kind of physical contact with her at all was going to have to be enough. But one day, I hope…
"No. I mean I want to know because it seems like it's important but you're right, I do have a lot to think about already. Whatever it is can wait until another time. at least until I can figure out what I want to do about my bio dad. What's his name anyway?"
"Peter."
"Huh… I don't know why I was expecting something like Alexander or David. Peter makes me picture a guy with glasses, khakis, and a polo. That's not how I ever pictured my dad." she said. I couldn't help the laugh that burst out when she said that. envisioning Peter in glasses wearing preppy clothes was hilarious to me.
"Yeah, that's definitely not what he's like, at all. You've seen the old Bond movies right? well picture that in a way. first time I really met him he was in dark clothes and a long leather coat, slicked back hair, and all."
"See now that makes him sound like a vampire. Wait, are vampires real?"
"hmmm… that actually fits better. Not Twilight vampires but maybe like modern day Dracula or something. and as far as I know vampires do not exist but don't quote me on that. it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they actually did and I have just never run across one before."
"Yeah, let's just hope they don't."
"I agree. Now, I think it's time I get you home before it gets any later." I said, tilting my head when I heard a car pull up. "And I think that's Allison's dad coming for her right now."
She nodded and stood, holding out a hand to pull me up. I happily excepted it, keeping hold of it as we went back into the house. Isaac was just answering the door for Argent and Stiles was coming down the stairs.
"Hey dad." Allison greeted him with a hug as soon as he was in the door.
"Hi honey. are you ready?"
"Yeah, let me just grab my jacket." She said, heading for the dining room where her jacket was hanging off a chair.
"Hey Argent, there's someone I want you to meet." I said, tugging Malia in close. I had talked enough about him that she knew what he was, and it was making her nervous. "Malia this is Chris Argent, Allison's father. Argent, Malia Tate."
"It's nice to meet you. Scott has mentioned you before. How are you adjusting?" he asked with a soft smile, trying to put her at ease.
"Okay I guess. It still feels weird sometimes, being human. But I think I'm doing okay." she shrugged. "Scott's mentioned you too. he said that you were a…"
"Hunter?" he finished, not at all offended by the shaking in her voice. "Yes I am, but I've been reevaluating things recently. I'm not active at the moment. I am happy to hear you are adjusting."
"Scott's been a big help with that." she said, clinging to my arm.
"I'm sure he has, he seems to be really good at that, helping." He nodded. "Well, we should get going. Allison?"
"I'm here. Let's go." she said.
"And I should get you home." I told Malia. she nodded.
"If you don't mind, I can take you since I'm headed out anyway." Argent said. her eyes widened and she looked at me. I pulled her slightly away from the group.
"Hey it's okay. He would never hurt you. If you're not comfortable with that I can still take you, its not a problem." I whispered to her, bracing her arms. She looked at him and then back at me.
"You trust him though, right?" she said quietly.
"With my life." I told her sincerely. She took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay, if you trust him then so will I. I'll just text you when I get home." She said before heading back over to the others. "Sorry, that would be great if you don't mind giving me a ride."
"It's perfectly fine. I don't mind at all. Let's get going." he said, heading back out the door with Allison right behind him. Malia waved to Stiles and Isaac as I walked her out. she turned back to me, throwing her arms around my neck.
"Thanks for inviting me. this was fun. Hopefully, I can hang out with you all again soon?" she asked.
"Anytime." I sighed, pressing my nose into her neck for a quick sniff. I squeezed her tight before letting go. She bounded down the steps and climbed into the backseat of the SUV, waving as Argent pulled off.
I went back inside, closing the door and leaning back against it, closing my eyes, and relishing the feel of holding her again.
"Oh. My. God. You two are so cute together." Stiles cooed. I opened my eyes to see him staring down at his phone, Isacc peering over his shoulder.
"You really are. That could be a hallmark card right there." He said, pointing to the phone.
"Stiles, what did you do?"
"Huh… oh nothing." He said, backing away and fiddling with something on the screen.
"You took a picture, didn't you? Of what?" I sighed.
"Just of you two.. hugging. Nothing major." He shrugged, not looking up.
"What are you doing now?" I asked, walking closer. He stepped further away.
"Just sending a text." He murmured.
"To who?"
"Nobody." He said putting his phone away. "So, what do you want to do now?" he asked with a not so innocent smile. I narrowed my eyes when I hear a soft ping sound from upstairs, then rustling.
"Oh my God Scott, you two are so precious." My mother shrieked from her room.
"Stiles." I growled. He giggled like a fiend as I chased him through the dining room where he evaded me and flew up the stairs. Isaac fell to the floor laughing.
**So, Malia knows, Scott is lovesick, Stiles is being a little shit and Derek has a new nickname lol. Next up talking to Peter. Hope you enjoyed. **