The Hale Pack

by Missmusiclover573

What if Scott and Stiles hadn't separated that night in the woods? What if both boys had been bitten? Would things have played out differently? Or end in the same amount of loss and pain? *Eventual Sterek*

15. Training, sort of

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any of it's characters. If I did, Sterek would be canon.

A/N: Here you go, after too long of a wait, the pack returns.

The Hale Pack: Training, sort of

They shared a smile, then the sheriff left. Leaving the two wolves alone in the house.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"So, Coach Cupcake is interesting." Sheriff Stilinski stated, sitting at the kitchen table, placing two large pizza boxes on said table.

"Coach Cupcake?" Stiles asked with a bemused chuckle, setting three plates down.

"That's what he likes to be called." The sheriff explained while rolling his eyes and serving up pizza onto the plates. "Derek, son, grab two beers and a coke from the fridge." John called out to Derek, who was washing his hands at the kitchen sink.

"Yes sir," Derek complied, drying his hands as Stiles rolled his eyes.

"Why can't I have one?" Stiles asked, in a too innocent voice. Batting his eyelashes and putting on a puppy dog face. Both the sheriff and Derek rolled their eyes at the boy.

"Because you're underage and I'm the Sheriff." John stated as Derek approached the table, placing the drinks down, before taking a seat. He sat next to both Stilinski's, who were directly opposite one another.

"Yeah, but, I can't get drunk, so why does it matter?" Stiles asked while claiming a slice of pizza and shoveling it into his mouth.

"It matters bacau- Wait." The sheriff cut himself off, raising his hand with a confused look on his face. "What do you mean you can't get drunk? How can you not get drunk?"

"Our metabolism." Derek began, pulling his plate closer to himself. "It works faster than that of a normal human. So we get hungrier than most, medications and other substances, such as alcohol, are digested too fast for them to affect us." He explained, finishing by tearing a bite from his pizza.

"Then why do you want one so bad?" The sheriff asked Stiles, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"Because of the principle behind it!"

"Well, at your age, it's still illegal, principle or not." John announced, taking a bite of his own pizza, finally.

"Not in dog years!" Stiles argued, a wide grin stretched across his face, while the two elder men looked at him with 'are you kidding me?' looks.

"Fine." The sheriff finally sighed after a few minutes of staring. Before John had finished the word, Stiles shot up from the table and made a beeline for the fridge. "How do you put up with him?" The sheriff asked Derek with a raised eyebrow, only half jokingly.

Derek shrugged, a grin tugging on his lips. "I guess, because some higher power out there decided that we have to share a soul, so I kinda have to."

"Gee, thanks, love you too!" Stiles drawled, making his way back to the table. Lengthening his claws and using them to remove the bottle cap.

"You know, we have a bottle opener, son." John stated, raising an eyebrow.

"This is more fun and efficient." The sheriff didn't reply, simply held out his bottle, pointing the neck towards Stiles, who removed the cap instantly. He then turned to Derek, holding his hand out in offering.

"No thanks." Derek smiled and lengthened his own claws. "I've got my own."

Stiles grinned and sipped his beer.

John suddenly looked up at Stiles in alarm, "Hold on, what about your ADHD? If your Adderall isn't working anymore thanks to your super metabolism, then how have you been coping?"

Stiles froze for a moment, not saying a word. He picked up a slice of pizza and shoved it into his mouth, quickly followed by a swig of beer. He took his time chewing, really testing his father's patience. After a good minute, he finally swallowed and asked "So how did the conference go?"

John glared at his son while Derek looked at him in concern. "Stiles!" The Sheriff drawled in a warning tone. "How have you been coping? I can tell that that werewolf super-healing of yours didn't cure you of that, so how have you been handling your ADHD?"

"I just have!" Was Stiles' eloquent reply. "No the Adderall doesn't work anymore, but- I don't know how to explain it, things are different now, I don't- well I do still have trouble focusing on things that don't interest me, and still can't stay still for too long. But thanks to my wolf, I now pick up on things I would have missed before. My wolf helps me focus, sometimes he focuses on the wrong thing, like I do, but still. I'm coping well enough, but I promise that if it gets to be too much, I'll let you both know!"

Derek and John shared a look and Derek gave a single nod towards John, silently letting the man know that he's willing to rat Stiles out if he believes his mate is struggling. "Okay"

Stiles smiled in relief. "Wonderful! Now, how did the conference go?"

The sheriff hummed, taking a swig of his beer, before replying. "Not too bad, could have been worse." Stiles nodded. "So," The sheriff started, placing his beer back on the table. "The entire history of the male circumcision?"

Stiles cheeks burned red as both elder males raised their eyebrows at him.

"Hey, how about that mountain lion?" Stiles asked, trying to deflect the attention from him.

It didn't work.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

Stiles was startled a little after 10pm by his phone buzzing on the coffee table. He, John and Derek were watching some football game. Well, Derek and John were watching the game. Stiles was lying with his head in Derek's lap on the couch, enjoying their company as the sheriff sat in an armchair. He lazily reached over, grabbed his phone then answered it without bothering to check the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Stiles?" A soft voice asked through the phone.

"Lydia? Are you okay?" Stiles asked in concern, sitting up on the couch, Derek and John looking to him in concern.

"No. I need to talk to you. You and Derek. I know it's late but can I come over? Please?" Her voice was level and smooth, but Stiles knew that she wasn't as collected as she made out.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. What's up?" Stiles asked, biting his lip nervously as Derek rubbed his back soothingly.

"I've found something." Lydia announced, "Something that I.. I can't really explain. But I have a feeling that you can."

"Okay, whatever it is, I'll try to help." Stiles promised, nodding to himself. "Did you want me to come and pick you up?"

"Thanks, and no thanks, I'll be there in 10." She announced, then hung up the phone.

Stiles sighed softly, leaning into Derek. They had spoken about what to do when this situation arose. However, they didn't think that it would happen this quickly. Derek tugged Stiles towards him, so that his back was pressed against Derek's chest. Stiles quickly informed his father about what had happened earlier that day and about the picture Lydia had accidentally taken. The three sat in silence for just under 10 minutes. Soon they heard Lydia's car approach and pull up outside their house. Stiles reluctantly left Derek's comforting arms and headed to the door to let Lydia in.

He got to the door as Lydia was about to knock. The girl blinked as the door suddenly swung open, but gave no other indication that she was startled.

"Stiles," She greeted in a confident tone. Stiles nodded and returned the greeting, then stepped back from the door, silently inviting her in. Lydia straightened her posture and held her head up as she walked into the house. Stiles shut and locked the door behind her, then went to the kitchen and grabbed three bottles of water and a beer from the fridge, before leading her to the living room.

They didn't speak on the way, because neither was sure what to say. Derek and the sheriff had moved the armchairs so that they were closer to the coffee table and couch. John and Derek were each occupying an armchair, Stiles distributed the drinks, the beer being for his dad, then invited himself to sit in Derek's lap and gestured for Lydia to sit on the couch. The group sat in silence at first, trying to figure out how to start the conversation.

"So," Lydia began after a few moments of awkward silence. "What are you?" She asked confidently, looking calm and collected, but the two wolves could hear the girl's heart pounding in her chest. "I know that you two are not human." She announced to Stiles and Derek. "At least, not completely. It's apparent by Scott's sudden athleticism," The redhead stated then gestured to Stiles "Your sudden change in... interests and," She gestured at Derek next, "Your reappearance in town, right after your sister's untimely demise, and…" then Lydia pulled her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it then held it up so that the two males could see the screen. "This." The screen displayed an image. The image that they had seen earlier that day and allowed her to keep. The picture of the alpha. "That's not a mountain lion, or any other animal I've seen. I'm assuming you know about all of this Sheriff, or they probably would have found an excuse to talk alone."

"So." Lydia locked her phone and placed it in her pocket. "What is it and what the hell are you?"

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

It was exactly 6 am and Derek and Lydia were asleep in Stiles bed, with said boy awake between them. Lydia had, understandably, been skeptical at first, but after being shown proof, she was simply curious. The teenage genius' thirst for knowledge could not be sated, as she fired question after question at the wolves. None of the males minded, however, Stiles was happy, not only to have a non-supernatural friend know about the supernatural aspect of his life, but a friend who actually wanted to learn about the supernatural world as much as he did. Sure his dad wanted to know some stuff specific to Stiles and others like him, but they had an unspoken 'If I don't need to know, don't tell me.' rule set in place. Scott wanted no part in it all, and Derek grew up with it. Lydia being in the know was refreshing. Now Stiles only hoped that if and/or when Allison finds out, the girl will have a similar reaction to the redhead.

The other two were just happy that there was someone who could keep up with Stiles' conversations.

The three younger people in the house were a tangled mess of limbs above the covers on Stiles Stilinski's bed. Stiles was nestled in the middle, lying on his side, Derek, who was shirtless and only wearing sweatpants, was spooning him. One of Derek's arms was tossed over Stiles' waist and resting on Lydia's pale arm. Lydia was facing Stiles, her head nuzzled against his chest. Lydia had a leg tossed over the couple, her foot hooking around Derek's ankle. The girl was clad in an oversized t-shirt that belonged to Derek and a pair of Stiles' sweatpants, she had to cuff them, and pull the drawstring tight, but they were comfortable, so she didn't care. Stiles himself was wearing his Batman pajamas.

"Hey kiddo, Derek, time to-" The sheriff swung open Stiles and Derek's bedroom door, faltering when he noticed the teenage redhead lying on the couple's bed. "Wake up.."

"Good morning dad." Stiles greeted softly, smiling brightly at his dad before gesturing to Lydia, who, along with Derek, was slowly waking. "She got lonely on the couch"

"Right." The sheriff sighed, unconvinced. "I'll go make breakfast."

"No! We don't want Lydia to be poisoned, I'll be down in a minute." Stiles insisted, despite knowing that that's what his dad wanted him to say. The sheriff nodded and turned to leave, but Stiles stopped him. "Wait. it's 6am on a Saturday. Why are you waking me up?"

"You and Derek are going to be training today, and if she'd like, Lydia can learn some basic self defence too." John said simply and left the room.

"O-kay." Stiles drawled, stretching out between his pack mates- wait. Pack mates? Where did that come from?- and sighing in content. "You guys up?"

"No." Lydia groaned, pressing her face further into Stiles' chest. Derek chuckled into Stiles' hair and used his thumb to trace shapes on Lydia's arm, specifically a triskele. Silently and discretely claiming her as a part of their makeshift pack.

"Come on Little miss genius, time to get up." Stiles whispered into the girl's hair.

Lydia groaned, but pulled away from her best friend and yawned, stretching her body out. "Fine, I'm gonna need a good breakfast if we're gonna be working out all day."

"Yup, don't worry. I'm a great cook." Stiles announced confidently.

Lydia hummed, flipped her hair over her shoulder and left the room. She paused at the doorway and turned to look at Stiles. "Can we stop by my house before we start, I don't really feel like working out in heels and a skirt."

"Yeah, of course. No problem."

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

An hour later, the sheriff, Stiles, Derek, Lydia and Scott (Whom the sheriff had invited over) were sat around in the kitchen, enjoying Stiles' homemade pancakes.

"So you actually got a picture of the alpha?" Scott asked Lydia in shock.

"Mmm hm" Lydia hummed and nodded her head slightly. "I already knew something was up, based on your 'oh so subtle' changes," Lydia drawled sarcastically, causing Scott to turn sheepish. "Then there were other clues that helped me figure out something out of the ordinary was going on. I'll admit, I didn't think it was anything supernatural, because I didn't believe in all of that." The redhead shrugged and shoveled a forkful of pancake into her mouth.

"Just how smart are you?" Scott asked incredulously. He had always thought that the Queen Bee wasn't very smart, just smart enough to pass her classes, and rather clueless. However, it appears that Stiles was right in his proclamations that the girl was a genius, or at least, a lot wiser than she let on.

Everyone else around the table chuckled, well, Stiles burst into hysterical laughter and almost choked on his food, but the others chuckled.

"I've been asked that question a lot lately." Lydia uttered, shaking her head. "I guess I played my role perfectly, huh?"

"Yeah, well, you don't have to pretend anymore. At least, not around us." Stiles assured with a soft smile.

Lydia hummed and continued eating her breakfast. "These are really good, Stiles" Lydia complimented as she mopped some syrup off of her plate with a pancake.

"I kn'w w'ight?" Scott agreed around a mouthful of chewed up pancakes.

"Gross," Lydia commented whilst cringing, pointing her fork at him. "Don't do that." The redhead demanded, taking a bite of her pancake, making a point of closing her mouth as she chewed. Scott just rolled his eyes at her.

"Oh, Lydia," The sheriff started after a moment, wiping his mouth with a napkin. "There are some clothes on the coffee table in the living room that you can wear for working out, they belonged to Stiles' mother. They're clean and look to be about your size, if you'd like? And there's a pair of sneakers that she brought a size too small by mistake, size 7?" He asked hopefully.

Lydia nodded in confirmation and smiled gratefully at the sheriff. "Yeah, that's my size, that'd be great, thanks. It saves me having to go to my house." Truthfully, the teen didn't really have any 'working out' clothes. She had skirts and tank tops for warm weather and a couple of pairs of flats. Only one pair or shorts, but no sweatpants or sneakers. She was definitely going to invest in some, though. Lydia had been interested in fitness and working out more, but, in order to maintain her image, she spent the majority of her free time with 'friends' and Jackson. Now she had another option, she was taking it. It had always been drilled into her head that the only way to get people to like you is to always look beautiful, hang around with the 'right' people, date a hot, athletic guy and don't appear to be too smart. Her life was flooded with fashion magazines, shopping trips, fake friends and dieting. Through all of that time, Lydia wished for true friends who accepted her for who she really was, who could see though her perfectly painted mask and wanted to know the real Lydia Martin. Now, it looks like she has found them. Of course, she's not going to drop her guard completely, that would be foolish, but maybe, just maybe, she can start letting down some of her walls and stop pretending to be someone that she's not.

"So, I was thinking that we could go out to the preserve, it's still private property, so there shouldn't be anyone around. That way, the three of you don't have to worry about letting your supernatural sides slip out a little." John suggested whilst finishing off his pancakes. Yes, the sheriff was eating pancakes. Stiles had decided (Been convinced by Derek, John and Lydia) that there is no need to keep the sheriff on a constant rabbit diet, as he could hear his father's heartbeat. Stiles can hear it beating strong and rhythmically and would know instantly if something was wrong.

"Yeah, there's -um-" Derek began, placing his fork down on his empty plate. "There's this place, out in the preserve, well it's really just a field, but my mum had it warded by our emissary. We can go and train there and the wards ensure that we can't be seen or heard by any one passing by. The wards will also push people away whilst we're there. Not physically, it just sends out a wave of energy that causes people to subconsciously avoid it, if they're not intentionally seeking it out." Derek explained, fondly remembering full moon nights spent running around the field with his siblings and other family members. Fully shifted into pure wolf form. It was a rare ability that he and both of his sisters inherited from their mother. A few of his cousins and one of his uncles also had the ability, but his brothers, father and other relatives couldn't.

The sheriff nodded, unaware of Derek's thought. "That's perfect, are you sure the wards still work?"

"Yes, they need to be activated by the claws of a Hale, but they work."

"So only you can activate them?" Scott asked for confirmation, thankfully, without food in his mouth this time.

"Yes and no." Derek replied with a slight shrug. At the confused looks around him, Derek continued. "Hale just refers to a member of the Hale pack. For example, Stiles, you and I are a part of the same pack, as we are mates. However, you wouldn't be able to activate the wards for two reasons. 1) We haven't completed the bond yet. 2) The pack isn't complete without an Alpha, so we're technically Omega's, even if we have others whom we consider 'pack'."

Stiles and Lydia both nodded in understanding, absorbing the information, whilst Scott and the Sheriff looked slightly confused.

"Right." The Sheriff drawled, standing up from the table. "Well you guys go get changed, I'll take care of the pots. Scott and Stiles can change in Stiles' room, then it's between Lydia and Derek over who uses my room and who uses the bathroom." Stiles looked like he was about to protest, but John cut him off. "No arguing, We're going as early as possible because I'm at work at 6, so we need to be as productive as possible. I don't trust you to not distract Derek as you change. However, I do trust you to keep Scott from lying down and going to sleep, now go." Stiles sighed and muttered something under his breath, then made his way upstairs, Scott trailing behind him.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

Stiles groaned as he was tossed to the ground by Derek, Scott landing next to him a second later. Scott flipped up and charged at Derek immediately, only to be thrown down again. Stile flipped to his feet and charged at Derek, preparing to jump over the elder wolf. At the last second, a mere half a meter from Derek, Stiles dropped, hitting the ground and sliding through Derek's slightly parted legs. Stiles didn't hesitate once through, he swung around and kicked Derek in the back of his right knee. As Derek stumbled to the ground, Scott ran over to the pair and sent his elbow crashing down between Derek's shoulder blades, keeping the wolf down long enough for Lydia to arrive. Lydia started to approach the three, the second Stiles got the upper hand. Once Derek was subdued, Scott and Stiles stepped back and the redhead did her part.

Remembering what she had read and been told, Lydia allowed herself to visualise her intended result. Keeping her eyes firmly on Derek, the girl tightened her fist slightly and shot her hand into the air. She released a handful of mountain ash that looked like it would barely fill an ash tray. But she didn't allow herself to think that, simply kept envisioning that perfect circle that would protect her pack.

To her, only mild, surprise, it worked. Derek was trapped in the circle, unable to break free or harm anyone (In the case that he really was a bad guy.) Letting out a gleeful cheer, she high fived Scott and Stiles, both of whom were also looking pleased with themselves and Lydia.

"Great job," The Sheriff complimented, accompanied by a clap of his hands. "Now, Lydia, we just need to train you with some self defense because there won't always be one guy to face."

"And they won't always be subdued by mountain ash." Derek announced, his tone tense and posture stiff. "Speaking of which, can you get me out of here?" It was more of a demand than a request, but with how Derek was behaving, Lydia couldn't bring herself to care.

Scott was half tempted to make a joke about leaving Derek in there, but even he could see that something was up, so he bit his tongue. Something was wrong, but Scott was too afraid to ask.

Lydia quickly moved to break the circle and free Derek from his imprisonment. The second she did, Derek all but leapt out of the trap, all signs of discomfort rapidly draining from his body. "That's how they did it." Derek announced, eyes fixed on the ground as if it was the most interesting thing on the planet. He didn't really want to explain this to them yet, but he needed to get it over with before they started staring at him like a kicked puppy and bombarding him with questions. "The hunters, t-they- fuck." Derek sighed, still refusing to look up. "They trapped my family in the basement by surrounding all the exits with mountain ash. So that they couldn't escape as their own home burnt down around them."

No one knew what to say. There wasn't really anything that they could say that wouldn't sound cheesy, or insincere, or patronising. "Next time, someone else gets closed in by mountain ash." He mumbled before looking up with a face of stone. "Now, time to teach Lydia some self defense. You ready?" He asked the girl, not giving her a chance to reply before starting his 'lesson'.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

8pm that evening, Scott was sprawled over an armchair, wearing a clean pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. The other arm chair was occupied by Lydia's jacket, the girl in question was out of the room, originally getting changed, but the boys heard her phone ring, so she was taking a while. Stiles and Derek were snuggling on the couch, Stiles in his usual Batman pajamas and Derek in only a pair of sweats. Three large pizza boxes sat on the coffee table, two of which were empty, the other one wasn't far behind. Empty bottles of coke were scattered across the table in disarray, a random movie was playing on the TV, but no one was really paying attention to it. They were all exhausted, drained of energy by their hectic day.

Lydia shuffled into the room, her phone clenched in her hand. "So, Allison is close to finding out about werewolves." She announced, gathering the attention of the males in the room while snatching another slice of now lukewarm pizza. "She was just telling me about all this stuff she learnt about her family's history and an old legend that's related to them or something.." Lydia paused, taking a large bite of pizza. Unlike Scott, she actually waited until her mouth was empty to continue. "She asked me about some stuff, thankfully it was all stuff that I could back up with a set of book that I own. Well, I could if Allison knew Archaic Latin." Lydia shrugged and finished her pizza. "Anyway, there was some other stuff but that can wait until the morning. I'm going to bed." Lydia announced, stifling a yawn before grabbing her jacket, leaving the room and heading upstairs.

"She's going to our room, isn't she?" Stiles asked Derek after a moment. "Yes." Was the grumbled reply. Stiles yawned and stretched out. "Guess we're in for another puppy pile tonight."

"Werewolves don't have puppy piles." Derek protested with a slight growl.

"Keep telling yourself that, Sourwolf." Stiles half teased as he stood up to go to bed. "C'mon Scotty, bedtime." Scott stood with a slight wobble and moved towards the stairs. Apparently too tired to fully register what was going on. Stiles and Derek made quick work of turning off the tv and making sure the doors and windows were locked, before climbing the stairs and joining their makeshift pack in what totally was a puppy pile.

The group slept through the night, blissfully unaware of the pair of glowing red eyes, glaring at the house.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"I could feel his anger, like, actually feel it. Not directed at me, just, strong anger, especially when he drew the spiral." Scott babbled on Sunday night, relaying his experience with the alpha to Derek and Stiles who had been waiting for him when he got home. Lydia had gone over to Allison's house to help her learn more about her family history, hoping that helping her find out about everything would make her lean more towards her friends than psychotic family.

Derek and Stiles tensed at the mention of the spiral, Derek more so. "Wait, what? What'd you just say?" He asked for confirmation.

"H-he drew this-this spiral on the window of my car. In the condensation, you know? What? You have this look, like you know what it means." Scott stated.

"It means revenge."

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

The next day at School, things were easier for most people. People who embraced the comfort of false security in believing that the animal behind the recent attacks was dead. The same couldn't be said for Scott, Stiles and Lydia. Yet, they managed to keep pretending during the day and kept it together. The three were wearing matching leather jackets. All of which Stiles had 'borrowed' from Derek. "He has four more, he won't care."

"He has seven identical leather jackets?" Lydia asked incredulously and they joined Allison and Jackson at their lunch table.

"One for each day of the week." Stiles grinned.

"The what of who?" Jackson asked Allison with a raised eyebrow, looking very unimpressed as Lydia sat next to him.

"The Beast of Gévaudan," Allison repeated excitedly gesturing to the book in her hands.

"It's the historical name associated with the man-eating wolf, dog or wolf-dog hybrid" Lydia started, earning her a pleasantly surprised look from Allison and a confused look from Jackson. "which terrorised the former province of Gévaudan in the Margeride Mountains in south-central France between 1764 and 1767."

"That's right," Allison nodded with a smile "La Bête was estimated to have been behind 210 attacks; resulting in 113 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. The beast became so infamous, that King Louis XV sent two professional wolf-hunters to Gévaudan. Over the next four months the pair hunted for Eurasian wolves believing them to be the beast. However, as the attacks continued, they were replaced in June 1765 by François Antoine, the king's harquebus bearer and Lieutenant of the Hunt."

"On September 20, 1765, Antoine had killed his third large grey wolf measuring 31 in high, 5 ft 7 in long, and weighing 130 lb. The wolf, which was named Le Loup de Chazes, was said to have been large for a wolf, like, really large. They identified this wolf as the culprit by attack survivors who recognised the scars on its body, that they'd inflicted by defending themselves."

"The wolf was stuffed and sent to Versailles where Antoine was received as a hero, receiving a large sum of money as well as titles and awards." Lydia took over again, "However on December 2, 1765, another beast severely injured two men. A dozen more deaths are reported to have followed attacks by la Besseyre Saint Mary"

"Interesting, really," Jackson snarked and turned to Allison, "What does any of this have to do with your family?"

"It is believed that the actual La Bête was trapped and killed by a renowned hunter who claimed that his wife and four children were the first to fall prey to the creature. He shot the creature with a blessed silver bullet of his own manufacture and upon being opened, the animal's stomach was shown to contain human remains." Allison recited from the book then looked up at Jackson who was raising an eyebrow. "His name was Argent."

Jackson rolled his eyes and looked unimpressed, "Your ancestors killed a big wolf, so what?" He smirked, "My ancesto-" Allison cut him off whilst turning the page of her book.

"Not just a big wolf. Take a look at this picture." She demanded and held the open book up for him and the others to see. "What does that look like to you?" Lydia's breath caught in her throat and the two werewolves at the table could hear her heart speeding up as her eyes fixed on the red eyed monster in the picture. She vaguely heard Jackson say something about a big wolf. She could hear her name being called, but didn't register it until a familiar hand settled on her arm.

"Lydia?" Jackson's voice cut through her daze. All traces of the asshole were gone, this was the real Jackson, her Jackson was here, making sure that she was okay. Lydia looked up at him and felt comfort at the concern swimming in his eyes. "What's wrong?"

"That picture," She said, glancing at Stiles who gave her a slight nod, understanding her unspoken question. "It looks," She fished her phone out of her pocket, quickly finding the picture of the alpha and holding it next to the picture in the book. "Like this."

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"Okay, you ready?" Lydia asked Scott as they stood on the lacrosse field during the second half of their lunch break, her phone in hand and a grin on her face.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Scott asked nervously as his hands were taped together behind his back. Lydia had decided that she was going to make it her personal science project to understand and possibly control the shift. So, she had Stiles steal one of Coach's heart monitors. She hooked said heart monitor to Scott first, as she and Stiles were out for a little revenge.

"Yes." Lydia said confidently, sharing a smirk with Stiles. "Besides, consider this payback." Scott's eyes widened so fast, Stiles wouldn't have been surprised if they had bulged out slightly, like in cartoons.

"For what?"

"For ditching school with Allison." Stiles stated calmly, picking up a Lacrosse stick.

"Preventing us from seeing our best friend on her birthday." Lydia smiled, handing Stiles the first ball, satisfied at Scott's petrified look. "Then getting caught, so now we can't see her outside of school."

"Ready?" Stiles asked, not giving Scott a chance to reply before hurtling the first ball, which hit Scott hard in the gut. Lydia laughed wholeheartedly as Stiles continuously hit Scott with Lacrosse balls, unaware of Jackson and Allison watching them.

After about five minutes, Scott's heart rate was dangerously high, his two best friends could tell that he was close to shifting as he fell to his knees. "Scott?" Allison's voice called out in concern. Immediately, Scott's heart rate began to slow down. Stiles and Lydia shared a surprised, but knowing, look as Ally jogged over to them, as Jackson sauntered behind her. "Are you alright?" She asked, shooting a wide eyed glance to her best friends.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's not what it looked like, they're helping me." Scott explained dazedly as he stumbled to his feet.

"Helping?" She responded in disbelief

"Yeah,"

Stile took over, trying to defend himself. "Scotty here, needs to increase his pain tolerance." Stiles flailed his arms around wildly, trying to justify their actions. "We were just helping him out so that during games, he can get through without collapsing in pain every thirty seconds."

"And, what if you hurt him too much?" Allison asked, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"We wouldn't do that." Stiles insisted.

"Besides, we've got him hooked up to a heart monitor, we'd know if something was wrong."Lydia stated with a slight shrug, holding up her phone for Allison and Jackson, who had finally reached the group, to see.

"And, Scott's mum is a nurse and she made sure that Scott and I know basic first aid." Stiles stated and Scott nodded in agreement.

"It's true, she even test's us every three months to make sure that we remember everything." Scott went to move his hands, only to realise that he couldn't. Allison giggled and helped Scott dispose of the tape.

"Exactly," Stiles beamed, ignoring the tape on Scott's wrists, then gestured to Lydia. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that Lydia has probably learned how to help heart attack victims, just because she was bored."

Lydia smirked. "Nope, I wanted to learn about that, it was epileptics that I learnt about because I was bored. Although, I'm glad that I did because a week later, Erica Reyes had a seizure in class, it was actually rather terrifying. I was the only one who knew what to do. Not even the nurse was sure about how to help as we waited for the ambulance." Lydia ended with an annoyed glare at the ground. "After that, I tried to invite her to sit with me at lunch and during class, but she thought I was pitying her, so always said no."

"Don't take it personally, she acted the same way when Scott and I tried to befriend her during middle school." Stiles informed her, sadness and disappointment seeping into his voice.

"Well, I was gonna try to switch so I could work with Scott, but now I'm not so sure." Allison said shyly, and looked around at her friends, who looked slightly confused. "Erica is my lab partner."

In that moment, the group came to an unspoken unanimous decision. They would do everything in their power to befriend Erica Reyes and Allison was the perfect start to that goal.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"You think he's the alpha?!"

Thump

"We're about to find out."

Thump

"What was that?"

Thump thump

Howl

Thump Thump Thump

Red eyes

ThumpThumpThump

Claws

Blood

So much blood

"DEREK!"

ThumpThumpThumpThumpThumpThump

"Stiles! Run!" Arms grabbing him.

Being dragged from his mate.

Anger

Pain

Fear

"Derek"

"Not dead."

"No.

"Derek."

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"Lydia, I'm going alone."

"No, Allison. Something isn't right and Scott is my friend. I'm going, you and Jackson wait here." Lydia insisted as she marched towards the school. She had gotten a text from Stiles earlier asking that she go to the school with some mountain ash, hoping to trap the Alpha. She had just changed into jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt and the leather jacket that she had 'borrowed' from Derek, when Jackson showed up, surprising her, planning on a date night.

At almost half past 8, the couple made their way to Allison's house after learning that Erica had never shown up at Allison's to work on their project. Worried that the girl had been victim to another seizure, they planned to go check if the girl was okay, only to be informed that Scott had requested that Allison meet him at the school.

Immediately, alarms sounded in Lydia's mind, but nothing she could say would convince the other two not to go. She couldn't exactly tell them that there was a psychotic murderous Alpha werewolf who's into teamwork out there killing people and trying to convince Scott and Stiles, who are teenage werewolves, to join his pack. At least, not without them driving her straight to Eichen House.

"Lydia, he asked me to meet him, I'm sure everything is okay. J-just, let me do this. Okay? He's my boyfriend and I'd really like to talk to him alone" Allison practically begged, giving Lydia her best puppy dog eyes.

Lydia smiled sympathetically and placed a comforting hand on Allison's arm. "I completely understand Ally," Allison returned a warm, grateful smile. "But no." The smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with a pissed off look.

Lydia removed her hand from Allison and began to stride towards the school again. Until Jackson called out. "Wait."

She sighed and turned towards him. "What?" She snapped, frustrated that she'd been trying to get to Scott and Stiles for over an hour, only to be stopped at every opportunity.

"Do you see that?"

"See what?" Allison asked in confusion. It was then that Lydia noticed that Jackson wasn't looking at them. "The hood on that piece of crap jeep looks crappier than usual." The three walked towards the Jeep and found that the hood was completely bent with claw marks all over. Jackson traced the claw marks with his hands.

"What is that?" Allison asked. "I thought the mountain lion was dead."

"It's not a mountain lion." Lydia all but growled. "It never was." She moved to the passenger side door of the Jeep and opened the door. "He really should lock this thing." she muttered as she leaned into the vehicle. "But at least now I have more than just magic fairy dust.

"What are you doing?" Jackson asked his girlfriend incredulously,

"Getting weapons." Was the reply Lydia gave as she retrieved a cloth covered box from the glove compartment. The box itself was made of mountain ash, the felt on the inside had been soaked in wolfsbane. The box contained two guns, one was a customised Nickel Taurus PT92 with a Mountain Ash grip. The gun held 18 9mm wolfsbane bullets. 17 in the clip, 1 in the chamber. The cloth around the box was specially designed to keep the wolfsbane and mountain ash from affecting Stiles as he drove. The guns were kept in the car as a backup for herself and the Sheriff. Well, mainly the sheriff if he ever needed it. Lydia was taught to use them both as a precaution in the event she needed a gun desperately. She was sure that this was a justifiable reason.

"Woah." Allison and Jackson gasped in unison as they noticed the gun. Although, Allison's was more admiration than horror.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing." Lydia stated with an eye roll, making sure the safety was on before tucking the gun into the back of her jeans.

"Nickel Taurus PT92, right? Semi-Automatic. "Allison asked with intrigue, "It must be customised though, based on the grip. Can I take a look?" Lydia gave an impressed look and handed the gun to Allison.

"That's right. Mountain ash." Lydia informed her best friend before continuing to search through the glove box. "You know about guns?"

"Yeah, my dad's a firearms dealer, registered of course, he taught me a thing or two." Allison stated with a smirk.

"Perfect, that one's mine, but you can use this." Lydia handed Allison a second gun. "Beretta 92FS." Allison took the gun, giving Lydia her own back.

"Good weight." Allison commented, handling the gun. She checked the clip quickly. "15 bullets. 9mm." She returned the clip and continued inspecting the gun "Double action." She nodded to herself. "This'll do."

"Do I get anything?" Jackson asked defensively.

"Have you ever handled a gun?" Lydia asked incredulously, raising an eyebrow. Jackson started to say something but she interrupted. "A real gun?" Jackson grumbled. "This is not time for games or messing around. My friends are in trouble. If I have the chance to help them, I'm going for it."

"Are you sure that you know what you're doing?" Jackson pressed, in slight annoyance.

"The Sheriff, Stiles, Derek and even Scott have been helping me learn self defense and how to handle weapons, including guns. If I'm going to use that knowledge for anything, it will be to help them!"

"If you're so convinced that something is wrong, shouldn't we be calling the sheriff?" Jackson demanded.

"No. He's working. The only way that he'll be able to help is if he comes with others. That'll just make things worse. Trust me. Please Jacks, if you're ever gonna trust me, trust me now." Lydia insisted. "You can stay here, or you can take this." She grabbed Stiles' wooden baseball bat from the back seat and gave it to Jackson. "And help us save our friends." She grabbed the spare flashlight, a leather pouch and two gun holsters from the glove compartment. "You got a belt?" Allison nodded. "Good, take this." Lydia demanded, handing the girl one of the holsters.

She wrapped the strap of the other holster around her right thigh and secured her gun. Lydia proceeded to attach the pouch to her belt, retrieved the plastic bag of mountain ash from her bag and poured some of it into the pouch. To their credit, neither Jackson nor Allison questioned her this time, just stood back and watched. Lydia sealed the pouch and bag securely, placing the bag in her back pocket for back up. She placed her phone in the other back pocket, pulled a hair bobble from her bag, dumped her bag on the seat, tied her hair back, then shut the car door. "We've got work to do." She stated, turning on the flashlight and marching towards the school.

-Teen Wolf-Sterek-Teen Wolf-Sterek-

"Scott?" Allison called out. But was immediately shushed by Lydia. That effort was proven pointless when Allison's phone rang. "Stiles?"

"No, it's me, where are you?" Scott asked urgently.

"At the school, why didn't you answer my calls?"

"Where are you right now?"

"On the first floor."

Lydia snatched the phone from Allison. "Scott, it's Lydia, we're near the science labs. Not far from the pool. Where is he?"

"I don't know, we trapped him, but he got out. Get to the lobby, we'll meet you there." Lydia quickly agreed and hung up the phone, heading to the arranged meeting place.

"Why did you come, what are you doing here?" Scott asked Allison the second he saw her.

"Because you asked me to."

"What?" Allison held up her phone, showing him the message. "Why do I get the feeling that you didn't send this text message?"

"Because I didn't."

"What's going on, if you didn't send this, then who did?" Jackson demanded angrily.

Lydia, Stiles and Scott shared a knowing look as creaking sounded above them. Scott grabbed Allison's hand and pulled her out of the way. "Run." The couple and Jackson took off in a sprint, unaware that Stiles and Lydia had stayed behind, until they heard a gunshot. They spun around to see Lydia aiming her gun and Stiles charging at a large beast with glowing red eyes.

The injured, packless Alpha was quickly overpowered by Stiles. Lydia was able to shoot the Alpha in the leg and stomach, causing the Alpha to collapse in pain, which is when Lydia moved in to create the mountain ash circle. Unfortunately, she got too close and the Alpha's clawed hand grabbed her ankle, and he pulled her to the floor.

"Lydia!" Several voices cried out and she heard footsteps rushing towards her. They weren't quick enough. Lydia cried out in pain as claws and teeth dug into her sides.

Furious howls flooded the school as the Alpha was torn off of her by Scott and Stiles. Despite her pain, Lydia staggered to her feet, and approached the fighting wolves. By the time she was close enough, the alpha had been rendered unconscious.

"Stand back" Lydia gasped out, hand clenched around a handful of mountain ash. Scott and Stiles did as they were told, just in time for a circle of mountain ash to fall around the beast.

"What happened? What is that?" Jackson asked, flooded with anger and fear that left him trembling, though he tried to hide it.

"It's a werewolf. More specifically, an alpha" Stiles stated, standing up and turning to face his friends. "The same alpha that turned me." Stiles was fully wolfed out. Glowing eyes, claws, fangs, everything. Jackson jumped backwards in fear, and Allison stared in shock.

"And me." Scott announced nervously, Allison looked at him with a soft gasp. However, she didn't run away screaming like Scott had expected, instead, she stepped closer, until she was close enough to place a hand on his cheek, eye's drinking in every feature on her boyfriend's face.

"So, that's how you beat me to my house, on your bike." She whispered, causing Scott to chuckle, his nerves melting away.

"Yeah, I guess that wasn't very subtle, was it?" Allison giggled and shook her head, giving her boyfriend a chaste kiss. When she pulled away, Scott's face was normal again.

Stiles and Lydia chuckled at the exchange, whilst Jackson remained horrified and slightly catatonic. Stiles went to make a witty comment, but suddenly his head shot towards Lydia, who was swaying on her feet.

"Something's not right." She breathed out, before collapsing. Stiles lunged forward, catching the girl before she could hit the floor.

"Stiles?" A familiar voice called out. Gaining the attention of all of the conscious people in the room.

"Derek." Stiles exclaimed in relief as his mate staggered into view. He passed Lydia to Jackson, who laid her down gently on the floor, and rushed over to check on his mate.

"What happened?" Eyes fixed on the bleeding Lydia, Derek allowed Stiles to support him as they made their way towards the injured girl. He paused halfway there when a scent hit him. Derek's heart sped up, his eyes flashed blue and his breath caught in his throat. "You caught him."

"Yeah. But he got Lydia. She's been bitten. Sh-she passed out. The bite can either turn you, or kill you. Right? What does this mean? Is she going to die?" Derek ripped his eye's from his sister's killer and looked at the teenage genius he had already begun to care for. Stiles held Derek tightly as they slowly made their way to her.

"I don't know. If her body was rejecting the bite she would be throwing up black blood." By then, they were by her side "If her body was accepting it, we'd be able to smell her scent changing by now." Derek's voice was soft as he knelt down, running his hand through the girls hair.

"W-what the hell is all of this? You're a part of this too? Is Lydia going to become whatever you are?" Jackson demanded in fear and anger. Before anyone could reply, a cold, dangerous voice spoke up.

"Well, well, well, isn't this interesting." Kate Argent stood in the opening to the room, heavily armed, flanked by Chris Argent and ten other hunters. "Turns out that there're more mutt's than we thought, Chris. And our little Ally is amongst them."

A/N: I am SO SORRY for the HUGE delay! But from now on, unless stated otherwise. A new chapter will be up each week, between Friday 10am and Monday 1am, London time, that is.