Reading Time: 152 Minutes

Title: Changing Winds
Series: Betray The Moon
Series Order: 2
Author: halestrom
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Genre: Drama, Paranormal/Supernatural, Shifters, Time Travel
Relationship(s): Gen
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Violence – Graphic, Violence is no worse than Canon
Author Note: The magical world building has been heavily inspired by the podcast Old Gods of Appalachia. Once again a huge thanks to Harley for helping me out!
Word Count: 37,842
Summary: Derek might have finally found what he’s looking for deep in the mountains. He just doesn’t know if he can accept it, especially since he still has a lot of unanswered questions.
Artist: Lalaith Quetzalli

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Part 1

May 4th, 2008

“Have you been having any trouble lately?”

Derek stepped over a log and stopped, looking at the sky, and inhaling slowly. The last of spring was giving way to the summer, and like the past few years, it was just as humid. After two years on this side of the country, Derek still couldn’t believe how humid it could get.

“Derek, attention. Me. Jenna. Your sister. Not whatever backwater county you’re in now.

“I’m fine.”

It was a lie, and they both knew it. Derek was hanging by an angry thread, and he spent most nights curled up as a wolf. It was becoming harder and harder to change back. Two years without a pack had taken its toll on him. Even with the sporadic visits home to anchor himself had stopped working. He was at the end of his rope, and he needed to find, or make, a pack soon before he put a bullet into his head to avoid going moon crazy.

“Liar,” Jenna said. “Big fat liar”

“I’m not fat,” Derek said, beginning to walk again. He was anything but. The stress had leaned him out, and he had a hard time putting the muscle he once had back on. “I’m okay, I am. I have a plan, and I’m going to follow through with it. You know I’m not going to let myself go feral.”

Jenna sighed, a long dramatic noise that she extended just to annoy him. “We just worry lil’ bro”

“Well, tell Laura not to worry. She’s gotta focus on her job, and Cora needs to worry about finals,” Derek said, reaching the fork in the road. It was the end of the known trail, and Derek knew he would lose the signal soon. He stepped to the side, just in case another hiker was out this way, but he doubted it. He hadn’t seen another person in over a week.

“And what about me?”

“You’re a werewolf who works as a park ranger. I think you’re okay,” Derek said dryly. “Laura is a werewolf who decided she wanted to run into burning buildings for the rest of her life. And Cora is in high school. They’ve got it harder.”

Derek couldn’t help but smile. Laura becoming a firefighter would always amuse him, and he was just glad he had managed to keep from laughing when she had told him during his senior year.

“I’ll have you know that I had to drive all the way to the other side of the reserve today,,” Jenna said primly. Derek could imagine her sticking her nose up in the air.

“Was there a lost dog?”

“Kid actually, got himself turned around and wandered away from the road,” Jenna said.

“You’re a big damn hero,” Derek said, not bothering to hide his fondness.

Even though it was getting harder and harder for him to keep his humanity, the time apart from his family had done them good. It was easier to talk on the phone, and his relationship with his sisters thrived.

“Yes, I am,” Jenna said absently. Derek leaned against a tree and waited for her to get out whatever she was going to say. ”Are you coming home for the Fourth?

Derek sighed. “I don’t know, maybe? I think I’m close.”

“I wish you would tell us what you were searching for,” Jenna said softly. “Maybe we could help.”

“I don’t know what I’m looking for,” Derek said for the hundredth time.

He had never found a good reason to tell his family what he was doing, traipsing all over the country looking for something he had never been able to find. And it always led him back here, to the Appalachian trail, wandering through ghost towns. He wasn’t ever going to tell them about the actual ghosts he had found some nights when he was a wolf and sleeping in the broken husks of houses long deserted. The first time it had happened, he had been terrified, watching as a young man walked back and forth, an old lamp held up in front of him, calling out for something that Derek couldn’t hear.

He hadn’t stayed in that town a second night, and he had found out quickly that he could only see the ghosts as a wolf. These days, they didn’t bother him. They almost felt like company. Like he wasn’t alone in the world.

“—you need a pack,” Jenna was saying as Derek tuned back in. It was the same discussion every time his sisters talked to him.

He knew they had a calendar. They planned out who would talk to him between their schedules. Sometimes they would get Peter to speak to him or, rarely, his Dad. Never Talia. He had long since given up on her talking to him except when she had to.

“I know,” Derek said, as he always did.

“What about those twins you rescued?” Jenna asked.

“They’ve been adopted by another pack after the shit show with theirs,” Derek said, thinking back to Aiden and Ethan and praying that their new Alpha wouldn’t lead them astray. He thought back to Isaac, Jackson, Boyd, and Erica. “I’m not sure I want teenagers.

“This is what happens with you fuck with the laws of nature,” Jenna said darkly.

Derek kept quiet, not wanting to bring up that topic again. Stumbling upon Ethan and Aiden and seeing what their pack had let their Alpha to do them had been hard. It had been harder when he had seen the horror in the pack’s eyes when he had killed their emissary, and the spell the man had cast was gone. Derek hadn’t said a single thing when the pack had descended on their Alpha and killed him. The woman who had struck the killing blow hadn’t argued when Derek had taken the twins. None of them had, not even their mother.

“Yeah,” he said finally when the silence drew on for longer than needed.

“I’ve got to get going,” Jenna said, her voice back to the perky brightness from before. “Call when you get back into range?”

“Always.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Derek hung up, staring at the image on his home screen. Jenna had taken it for him last Christmas, the entire family squished into the frame and smiling wide at the camera. Even Talia looked happy, the tightness around her eyes missing.

He smiled at the phone, used to the heavy feeling in his chest these days when he thought of his family. Maybe that was his anchor these days; it certainly dragged on him. He sighed, slid the phone into his pocket, and started walking. He took the left fork, following the sign for Lost Cove.

Derek thought he would find what he was looking for at Dry Hill, but all he found was a dead town teeming with ghosts. Even though walking through them didn’t hurt, they didn’t even notice, Derek hated it. He felt like he was disturbing their peace, and he didn’t want to do that. They deserved to rest.

Sometimes he wondered if he was looking for his own ghost. Following clues that were nothing more than coincidences he had built up in his mind. He hadn’t seen or heard from the woman since Kate kidnapped him. Sometimes he wondered if it was all some sort of wolfsbane illusion. But the book he had in his bag made him feel like it wasn’t.

These days the search was the only thing that made him feel like getting up in the morning.

His phone rang, and he paused, pulling it out and frowning at the screen before answering.

“Stiles? Aren’t you in school?”

Somehow, giving Stiles a single book had opened a flood gate, and Derek had spent the last two years in Beacon Hills answering question after question as Stiles asked about ghost towns. And when Stiles realized that Derek’s research was progressing a lot slower than his own, Derek was suddenly inundated with power points presentations on the varying ghost towns around the country.

When Derek had left Beacon Hills, Stiles had given him a map with all the different towns marked out across the Appalachian Trails and a notebook with all the information he had gathered. Derek had been surprised but thankful and had told Stiles he’d send him some postcards. Postcards had turned into a phone number when Derek had come back from a two-week foray into the backwaters of Louisiana after visiting his Dad’s side of the family to a hundred new voice mails.

Apparently, Cora had gotten sick and tired of Stiles pestering her about Derek’s Ghost Town Trip and had given him Derek’s number.

Derek got used to the long rambling voice mails and texts. Even if they constantly reminded Derek of the other Stiles, he enjoyed the voice mails. Even if they often made him sad for what few connections he had lost when he had gone back in time.

“Uh, canceled,” Stiles said, his voice subdued. The connection was bad, and Derek walked back down the trail to get a better signal.

“Everything okay?”

“Uh. Yes. No? Maybe? Shit.”

“What happened?” Stiles was silent for long enough that Derek wondered if the call had dropped. “Stiles?”

“I saw someone die,” Stiles finally whispered.

“What!” Derek had a thousand questions, but he didn’t know where to start. “Who?” he finally settled on.

“This girl in my class,” Stiles said, sounding shell-shocked. “We were at a class assembly, the bleachers, right? And she just…had a seizure and fell and hit her head, and there was a lot of blood, and I can see why people were freaked out during the ten plagues because a river of blood is a lot, and this was a little stream, but it was still so much…”

“Stiles,” Derek interrupted, feeling something sick beginning to worm itself up into his throat. “Who?”

“Erica, Erica fuck. I don’t remember her last name. I mean, I should know her last name, right? We’ve been going to school since we were kids,” Stiles said, his words stumbling over each other as he tried to get all the words out. “I should know her last name.”

Reyes.

Derek managed to stop himself before he spoke. There was no way he should know her last name. He shouldn’t know her at all. Derek dropped to the ground with a thump, feeling something cold settle over him. He knew Erica’s seizures were bad; it was why he had bitten her. But he had never thought they would kill her. He had left the four teenagers he bit alone to grow up and grow old without him dragging them into a world they weren’t ready for.

But Erica was dead.

Derek pulled his knees up and pressed his face against them, doing his best to keep himself calm. It was harder than it had been, the wolf closer to the surface, and he wanted to throw his head back and howl, but Stiles was still talking.

“…and she only had like two friends, so I should know her last name because she only ever sat with them, but I don’t know if they are friends or not because they never talked,” Stiles continued to blather, his voice thick.

“Stiles,” Derek managed to get out, interrupting him. “Just breathe.”

He began to breathe in and out slowly, as much for Stiles as for himself, until he got both of them to calm down.

“I should know her last name. She’s in my grade,” Stiles repeated as his voice broke.

“You can’t know everyone. That’s not how it works,” Derek said, rubbing a hand over his face.

“She died right in front of me! She was behind me, and I heard her have the seizure right as we were leaving, and I turned, and I could’ve grabbed her, but I didn’t know what was happening, and I froze, and she fell,” Stiles said, descending into panic.

“Stiles, Stiles, listen to me. Okay. Where’s your Dad?” Derek said, not sure how to help with a panic attack from three thousand miles away.

“He’s working it. He got promoted. Voted, I suppose. I told you that. Sherriff retired, and now Dad’s the Sherriff, and he’s in charge, and he has to work.”

“Go find him. You’re his kid. He’ll take the time.”

“Busy, he’s busy,” Stiles repeated.

“Stiles,” Derek said again, this time infusing as much order into his voice as he could. “Go find him.”

There was a scraping sound. “Fine, fine.”

Derek pulled his pack off his shoulders so he could lay down on the dusty path, uncaring of the dirt on his skin or the sound of the animals in the woods. There was nothing around that could hurt him. He pressed a hand over his face and listened as Stiles kept talking as he went to find his Dad.

“…I mean, I don’t have a lot of friends, but I have Scott and Cora, and that’s good, right because I don’t need any more even though Cora likes to pretend I don’t exist sometimes, but it’s fine, but I don’t even know if Erica was friends with Isaac and Boyd, but they always sat together, so it had to be sort of friends right because otherwise did they just sit at the same table every lunch and not be friends?”

Derek sat up. “Stiles.”

“What? Yes, I’m finding my Dad, okay, but there’s a lot of people, and I’m making my way through a crowd. Excuse me, excuse me. I’m almost there,” Stiles babbled.

“Go talk to the other two,” Derek said carefully, wondering if this was the right thing to do. “Even if they weren’t friends, they should have friends so you could be their friend. Everyone needs friends.”

“I have Scott. And Cora,” Stiles said, sounding petulant.

“More friends, you should have more friends,” Derek amended.

“You don’t.”

“I have my sisters…and Paige,” Derek said. Paige was complicated, she was a junior in college and had plans to be a music teacher, but they had never really become close friends after joining his mother’s pack. There was too much history between them to make it comfortable. “And you.”

“Wow,” Stiles muttered.

Derek sighed. “I…well, siblings count. Trust me.”

“Fine fine fine fine fine fine,” Stiles repeated. “Dad!”

Derek jerked his head away from the sudden yell, wincing.

“Stiles! What are you doing here?”

“Derek said to find you, but I don’t know why I needed to find you. I’m fine. It’s not like it was the ten plagues of Egypt or something, you know, so it’s fine, really. Fine fine. What was her last name? I don’t remember her last name.”

Stiles sobbed, and Derek could hear clothing rustling.

“Derek?”

Derek sat up at the Sherriff’s voice. “Uh…hi…Mr. Sheriff?” he said, unsure what to call him.

“Told you, Noah’s fine.”

Derek winced. “Right, Noah, right.”

Noah sighed, and Derek could hear the fondness in his voice. It made something warm settle in his chest.

“Uh…I think Stiles is having a panic attack, and I’m a little far away to help,” Derek said before Noah could say anything else.

“I figured, shock,” Noah said softly. “He told you what happened.”

“Yeah,” Derek said. “I…uh…”

Noah sighed again. “Yeah. Hell of a first day.”

“Congrats,” Derek said weakly, unsure of what else to say.

“Thanks, kid, listen. Thanks for Stiles, I know he bugs you a lot, and I appreciate it. Not many people listen when he gets on a research tear,” Noah said.

“It’s…fine, I don’t mind,” Derek said, unsure of where this was going.

“I know, you’re a good kid, I appreciate it, and I appreciate you getting him to come find me,” Noah continued. “I gotta go, but I just wanted to thank you.”

“Uh…no problem. I hope uh…well. Hope Stiles feels better,” Derek said, stumbling over his words. Noah had always had a way of making him feel awkward. He reminded him of his Dad, and it was hard when he talked to Noah more than he spoke to his Dad.

“Thanks, you too.”

Noah hung up, and Derek pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen and letting out a shaky sigh. He put it down on the ground and dropped his head onto his knees, trying to deal with the flood of grief. Erica was dead. She had died in pain, and Derek prayed to whoever was listening that it was quick.

He prayed that Stiles would listen to him and talk to Isaac and Boyd, and neither of them would go down the same path as Erica. Forgotten. Derek had forgotten about her, he had left her behind, and she had died. He clasped his fingers behind his neck and tried to deal with the surge of guilt that threatened to overwhelm him. He could feel the wolf under his skin, clawing to get out. He felt pricks on his neck as he lost control of his shift. His teeth grew, and he could feel the hard ridge of his brow against his knee.

Derek felt adrift, weightless, and he shook his head, trying to get himself under control. His anchor had been fraying for a long time, and he knew he was at the end of his rope. He needed to find a pack, or he needed to end it, and he had a feeling that the woman wouldn’t let him go.

He forced himself to breathe, take in the world around him, and calm down. He pushed the guilt down, out of his mind, and away from everything. He had been doing what he thought was right. It wasn’t his fault that Erica was dead. She had died as a werewolf, and he didn’t want her to end up the same way, so he had left them alone.

And she had still died.

Derek threw his head back and howled, unable to keep the guilt and grief buried deep anymore. He could hear the rustle as birds took flight, the scattering of small creatures as they ran away from Derek, away from where he was alone in an oasis of forest he had created for himself. Silent and still, and alone.

It took him a long time, and the sun was beginning to dip into dusk before Derek managed to gather the frayed ends of himself and change back. He felt too big for his skin, and the crawling sensation was worse than it had been in a long, long time, but he ignored it. He had gotten used to ignoring it. He wanted to get to Lost Cove so at least he’d have a roof to place his pack under before he accepted the change and spent the night with whatever ghosts haunted this town.

He stood, brushed off his pants, grabbed his pack, and took off up the hill. It wasn’t an easy hike, and normally Derek would be watching the woods around him, but he kept his head down and kept walking. He kept half an ear out for anything bigger than a mountain lion, but the forest was still.

Now and again, he heard a rustle, but the noise faded, and he dismissed it as nothing more than a mouse running from something or to something. He looked up as the sound changed, the world opening up, and he stopped at the edge of the ruins. He looked over the dilapidated houses, the trees growing out of the chimneys, and the rusted railroad tracks through the town center that nature was slowly taking over.

It was empty. They always were. Only an old, faded sign on the side of what he assumed was the general store told Derek he was in the right place. Lost Cove, North Carolina. Population 832. He sighed and started walking through town, looking from left to right. He could see the ghosts of old roads stretching into the forest where trees slowly caught up in height. There was a well overgrown with moss, and the water bucket had long since rusted away.

He stopped in the center of town, or what he assumed was the center. The frames of buildings all seemed to point towards this part, the well standing proud in the middle. He could see the rusted flag pole next to what he assumed was the post office, vines crawling up it, and flowers blooming all over the place. In another ten years, nature would consume the town, and there would be nothing left.

Derek dropped his pack and looked for something and found nothing. Another in the long line of disappointment.

He rubbed his hands over his face and pulled out his phone, unsurprised to see he had no service. He put his phone back into his pocket and grabbed his bag, walking over to the post office. They were always built to last, longer than the shanty towns that sprung up whenever there was work. It would be a good place to spend the night.

“What brings you here, stranger?”

Derek dropped his bag and turned, instantly on alert as he looked for whoever spoke. A figure stepped out of the woods, and Derek felt his hackles rise. Whoever this man was, he was a werewolf. Derek could smell it in the air, and from the way, the man stopped and shifted his stance.

The man took another step forward, and Derek realized just how tall the man was. He easily towered over Derek, and Derek had to fight from taking another step back so that he could tilt his head back and see him better.

“Just wandering through,” Derek said, calming himself down.

“Pretty far to be wandering through.”

The man crossed his arms, biceps bulging, and Derek couldn’t help the appreciative once over he gave the other man. It didn’t go unnoticed as the man smirked.

“Not that far, really,” Derek said, unclenching his hands and letting them hang by his sides. “Not for people like you and me.”

The man grinned, showing off bright teeth in tan skin before he flashed his eyes a dark golden color. Part of Derek relaxed, and he flashed his eyes back. The man tensed up, the grin suddenly forced and his eyes darting around.

“Just me,” Derek said, unsurprised at the skeptical look. “I don’t have a pack.”

If anything, the look turned more disbelieving. Derek sighed and spread his arms to the side. “Listen, I’m sort of a new Alpha and left my old pack. I’m looking for…”

He trailed off because he didn’t think he was looking for a new pack out in the middle of nowhere. Derek didn’t know what he was looking for. He was just following a hunch.

“I request permission to speak to your Alpha,” Derek said when the man didn’t say anything.

The man’s body changed, tensing up and shifting on his feet slightly. Derek tilted his head to the side, watching the man. The man looked back at Derek before his arms dropped down to his sides, and he let out a gusty sight.

“Don’t have one.”

Derek blinked. “What?”

“Don’t have an Alpha.”

“So, you’re an omega.”

The man shook his head. “Nah, not like that. I mean, technically, according to the spirit of the pack, yeah, I suppose so. But you don’t need to be werewolves to be a pack. Friends keep me sane, so it works out fine.”

Derek glanced around at the mention of the friends and extended his hearing. He couldn’t make anything out in the woods aside from a couple of birds slowly settling for the night. It was the odd hour at dusk as the diurnal creatures went to sleep, and the nocturnal animals woke up when everything was quieter.

“So, who do I talk to then?” Derek asked. “I’d like permission to stay for a while.”

“Stay where?”

Derek spread his arms around the dilapidated town. “Here, I’m searching ghost towns.”

“For what?”

Derek grinned. “Ghosts, of course.”

The man looked less than impressed. “Ghosts aren’t real.”

Derek grinned wider. “Neither are werewolves if you ask some people.”

The man opened his mouth and then closed it with a shrug. “There’s someone. I’ll need to go ask them.”

Derek crossed his arms, knowing better than to ask where they were. He knew the man’s pack could be hiding with magic. The man watched him for a moment before he tilted his head to the side, took a few steps forward, and held out his hand.

“Kapono Hale,” the man said.

“Kapono Hale?” Derek repeated, a little shocked.

He knew Hale wasn’t an uncommon name, but it was odd to meet a werewolf Hale that he wasn’t related to. And he definitely wasn’t related to the man in front of him. He looked like he had come from Hawaii or another Pacific island.

Kapono grinned. “Not of those Hale’s.”

Derek blinked. He knew his family was well known. They were one of the oldest packs in the world, but it was still odd to hear it phrased like that. Derek reached out to shake the man’s hand, nodding. “Derek Hale. I am of those Hales.”

Kapono’s face went slack with shock before a peal of laughter burst out of the woods. Derek tensed up, pulling the hand back and taking a few steps back, eyes shifting around the woods until he spotted a woman slipping out from the trees. She was short, lean, and had dark hair curling around her jaw. She stopped next to Kapono, still laughing as she softly hit him on the arm.

“Knew it was gonna come back and bite you in the ass one of these days,” she said, watching Derek with an openness to her face that surprised him. Derek knew she was something, but she wasn’t a werewolf. “Elia Fernandez,” she introduced herself, waving a hand. “Werejaguar.”

Derek glanced between the two of them and nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

“Sure thing,” Elia said, shoving her hands into her back pockets and watching him. “So, you really here hunting ghosts?”

Derek looked between the two of them and nodded his head. “I might as well as be,” he admitted. He didn’t know if he could trust them, but they were the first people he had seen in a week and the only people he had seen in any of the towns he had visited. “I’m searching for something, or someone, I guess.”

Their faces went blank, and they shifted again, their stances becoming defensive. Derek sighed and shook his head. He didn’t know what they were running from, but he wasn’t there to stop them either. “Not either of you.”

If anything, that made them tense up even more.

“So, who is this, someone?” Elia asked, her arms crossing over her chest. “Do you have a name?”

Derek shook his head. “No name, just a lot of stories that don’t make sense.”

Kapono tilted his head to the side. “Long way to come on a story.”

Derek grinned, knowing it wasn’t friendly. “The Hale’s already have an Alpha. I figured it would be better than being back there.”

They exchanged glances before Elia slunk back into the woods, and Kapono crossed his arms over his chest. “How’d you become an Alpha?” he asked, looking at him warily. “If the Hale’s have one.”

Derek stuck his hands in his pockets. It wasn’t the first time someone asked this since he had left home, and each time he had told the story, he was met with disbelief, but since his Mom had taken claim for Ennis’s death, no one could argue. The werewolf community wasn’t large, but they always knew when an Alpha was killed.

“Woke up like this,” Derek explained, deciding to tell the truth for some reason. “I was sixteen.”

Kapono’s eyes narrowed, but after a moment, he nodded. “Heard stories of a new Alpha, woke up out of nowhere. That was you?”

Derek shrugged. “As far as I know, I’m the only one. So, yeah.”

“So why no pack?”

Derek shrugged again. “Don’t have a home, don’t even know where to start making one. Most of the US is already taken, and I can’t encroach on anyone. Don’t want to kill anyone and take over. So, I’m sort of stuck.”

“And not feral?”

Derek grimaced. “Another moon, and I probably will be. It’s getting harder.”

Kapono nodded and turned his head as Elia returned, her arms crossed over her chest. She watched Derek for a long moment. “Grab your stuff, come on.”

Derek looked between them, waiting for anything else, but when it wasn’t forthcoming, he grabbed his pack and followed them into the woods. “Where are we going?”

“Home,” Kapono said. “Alice said you were welcome to come in.”

“She’s in charge?” Derek asked. “When did you talk to her?”

Kapono shrugged. “Before we came out. Alice doesn’t like to say she’s in charge, but she is. We’re mostly self-sufficient these days. Here”

Derek stopped behind them and looked at where Kapono pointed to a clearing in the middle of the woods. He couldn’t see anyone, and he couldn’t hear anyone. He looked between Elia and Kapono, who were watching him expectedly. He frowned and took a step forward.

“So, what’s the trick?” he asked, dropping his hands to the side and looking between them.

Elia sighed. “No trick, just magic.” She turned and walked into the clearing, and between one step and the next, she was gone.

Derek took a step back, his claws coming out. “Magic?” he demanded, looking at Kapono.

“Not a fan?” Kapono asked, his hands spread to the side.

“Last time I saw magic, he used it to help the Alpha abuse two kids,” Derek said, taking another step back, eying the clearing warily. “He and I parted on better terms.”

Kapono tensed up. “Oh?”

Derek nodded and looked up at the other werewolf. “The spell was broken, and the pack had a new Alpha.”

“You killed him.”

“No, but I helped hold him down so someone else could,” Derek said, looking at the spot Elia had disappeared to.

“Got blood on your hands then.”

It wasn’t a question, but Derek nodded anyway, looking back at Kapono. “I came here in good faith; I’ve been honest from the start, and I will be walking back out if I want to. Do you understand me?”

Kapono nodded. “It’s not what you’re thinking, but I understand.”

Derek looked at him for another moment longer, fighting down the urge to make Kapono submit and tell him what was happening. It was an urge he was having a hard time fighting the longer he went without a pack. Nature was beginning to take over what he had been raised to believe.

He nodded at Kapono and waited for the big man to step to wherever they were going. Derek was uneasy. He didn’t know what was on the other side of the barrier or what to expect. But it was the only thing remotely close to a lead he had, so he walked into the clearing.

He expected to feel something, but one second he was in the middle of the woods, and the next, he was in an old town that looked like half of it could have been a photograph of the area circa-1890 and the other half was inching itself out of the civil war and into the 1950s.

“Oh, I’ve been looking for this.”

Derek turned at the sound of a new voice, his back up and tense. He saw three women standing there, all in their early 30’s. He spotted a book in the arms of the first woman. He spotted his book.

“That’s mine,” Derek snapped, stepping forward only to stop when the first woman held up a hand. She was blonde, had blue eyes, and was smaller than the other two by a few inches, but Derek could feel the power rolling of her like an incoming thunderstorm. He stopped.

“The book did choose you,” the woman said, looking to the other two next to her. “And now it’s come home.”

Derek’s lip curled up into a snarl, but he kept quiet. The book had been in his backpack, and now it was in the woman’s arms. He knew it was magic and had enough personality to choose, but he still felt the loss keenly. He took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest and keeping quiet as he looked between the three of them, waiting for one of them to say something.

“Who are you?” the middle woman asked. She was the tallest of the three, dark eyes, brown skin, and dark curly hair held back by a bandana. She was dressed in jeans and a paint-splattered black t-shirt and had no shoes on.

“Derek Hale. And you?”

“Derek Hale,” the first woman said again, holding the book closer to her chest. “We’ve been expecting you.”

Derek glanced between the three of them and took another step back, getting ready to run. He didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like someone had tricked him into coming here.

“Don’t worry,” the third woman said. She had dark hair, dark eyes, and a wide smile. Out of the three of them, she seemed the most approachable. “You’re safe here.”

Derek raised an eyebrow at her and took another deliberate step back towards the woods.

“Yeah, I didn’t think that would work,” the third woman said before waving. “I’m Celia, and the woman with your book is my sister Alice, and the middle one is my other sister Lacie.”

Derek looked between the three women and raised an eyebrow. “Sisters?”

“Same Mom,” Celia explained. “Different Dad’s. It’s a whole thing you don’t need to worry about here.”

“And where is here.”

“This is Lost Cove.”

Derek looked around the town again before looking back at the sisters. “Thought Lost Cove was abandoned.”

“That’s what we want the muggles to think,” Celia said, her smile widening.

“…muggles?”

“Yeah, people who don’t know what we are or what we can do. You’ve read Harry Potter, right?”

“Yes.”

Derek felt like he was getting whiplash from the conversation, but underneath it all, he felt his wolf settle, and he didn’t know why. Whatever Lost Cove was, it welcomed him. He felt like he was back on Hale land.

“Well, I mean, it’s not the technical term, but we didn’t have a term, so the term muggles works as well as anything, right?” Celia explained, planting her hands on her hips. “Anyway, I think we should go and sit down and talk. You look like you’ve had a long way journey.”

Celia walked closer. Derek tensed up, and she stopped, holding a hand in front of her. “You’re safe here.”

“I don’t know that,” Derek said, getting ready to drop his pack and run. He would miss the pack; it had his things in there, but he wanted his life more. “I don’t know you.”

“The Goddess wanted you here,” Alice said, stepping forward, the book under her arm. “It’s why the book came to you. It brought you here, didn’t it?”

“The Goddess,” Derek repeated, thinking back to the woman he had seen and how confused she had been about the book choosing him.

Lacie stepped forward, standing shoulder to shoulder with Alice. “You’ve had a long road, Derek Hale, in both lives.”

Derek tensed up, his heartbeat beginning to speed up. “How…”

Lacie smiled and tapped beneath her eye. “I see more than most. Come, stay a while and at least rest. You came a long way, and you might find the answers here.”

Derek glanced behind him, seeing the clearing behind him; he could see the remains of the other town in the distance, half-hidden by trees. He looked back, seeing Kapono and Elia standing to the side, watching him with a wary look that was at odds with the openness he saw in the three women.

“Okay,” Derek said before he could stop himself, letting himself relax a little bit. “Until the next full moon, and then it would be safer for everyone if I were on my way.”

Celia clapped her hands together and rushed over, throwing her arms around him. Derek tensed up in confusion. He couldn’t remember the last time he had had a hug, and he didn’t know what to do, especially since he didn’t know her.

“Uh…”

“Oh! Sorry!” Celia said, stepping back and grabbing for his hand and shaking it instead. “We don’t get new people here that often. It’s exciting.”

“What is this place?” Derek asked, looking around the small town. He could see more people in the distance now, and as he watched, more and more people appeared.

“It’s a sanctuary,” Celia explained, tugging him behind her as she walked.

Derek glanced over at Kapono and saw the man looking at him in amusement before shaking his head at Celia, clearly amused and used to her antics. He looked back to try and see the other sisters, but they were gone. Derek stopped, looking around for either of them but mostly looking for Alice. She had his book, and she might be the person the book was looking for, but Derek had carried that book for almost six years, and he wanted it back. He felt like he needed to say goodbye like it was an old friend. And read it once more even though he had read the book cover to cover enough times, he had it memorized.

“Everything okay?” Celia asked.

Derek nodded his head. “Yeah,” he lied, looking at Celia. “Just getting my bearings.”

He could see the disbelief, but he had grown up the only boy with four sisters and only cousins for girls. He knew how to handle the look.

“Is there a place I can stay?” he asked instead, carefully extracting his hand and gripping the backpack. “Also, is there cell service here?”

Celia watched him for a moment before she sighed. “We have service, but there’s some rules you need to know first.”

“Don’t talk about fight club?”

Celia grinned and hooked her arm through his. “That’s the first one.”

“And the rest?” Derek asked, looking around as Celia walked them through town slowly. There were easily fifty people wandering around, and he wondered how many more there were. And how many were supernatural. Celia had said this was a sanctuary, and Derek wanted to know who from and why more people didn’t know about this place.

“Don’t provoke a fight, don’t be a dick, contribute to the town, and don’t poke into business that isn’t your own,” Celia recited. “As well as the normal, don’t steal, cheat, lie, murder, etc. We want this to be a safe place, and it doesn’t matter what your past might be. We want people to feel safe.”

“if you don’t poke, how do you know you can keep people safe?”

Celia stopped and turned, looking into the distance. Derek turned and saw a mountain peak rising above the town, green and lush, but it looked darker than any surrounding it. “The Goddess helped make this place for people like us to find safety, but the Mountain is dangerous. People who try and destroy what the Goddess made will get eaten.”

“Eaten?”

“The mountain,” Celia said, a sad smile on her face as she turned to look at him. “My Daddy was one of those. He always had a head for numbers and was too smart for his own good. He came here for work, and he wanted to be rich, but he could never quite make it. So, he used that head for numbers to rob others of their hard-earned money. No one could figure it out for a long time, but the mountain knew. The land always knows when there’s something foul in the air. He used to work for the railroad back in the day, and when they were blowing up a tunnel, the mountain swallowed him up. They said it was old dynamite that blew early, but he was the only one killed. The mountain knew what he had done, and it took him back.”

Celia looked back towards the mountain. “Life is about balance, and when you put nothing but bad into the Earth, eventually, the Earth will use you to grow something good.”

Derek felt a chill run down his spine as he looked at the mountain, now looking more forbearing and dangerous. “Railroad?” he asked around a dry throat.

Celia nodded. “He came here for work during the Great Railroad Race.”

Derek turned and looked at her slowly. “Wasn’t that in the 1800s?” he demanded.

Celia smiled. “Yeah, Daddy never made it to see the West coast, but man, he loved this side of the country. Met Mama and had me, died a few years later before I knew him.”

Derek opened his mouth and closed it again. He knew he should never ask a woman her age, but he wanted to know.

Celia tilted her head at him. “1889.”

“What?”

“August 12th, 1889. It’s my birthday.”

With that, she turned and started walking again, leaving Derek behind. He looked around the town again, at the shops hidden behind a ward so powerful that no one had ever heard of the town. If Alice and Lacie were anywhere near Celia’s age, then he had no doubt that this town wouldn’t be found unless the sisters wanted them to find it.

“Come on, Derek, I gotta show you your place.”

Derek took another long look at the mountain as the mountain began to set behind the peak casting long shadows across the town. The lights slowly started to come on, a mix of old lanterns and newer electrical lights that bathed the streets in a warm glow.

He could see Celia standing at the crossroads in what he assumed was the town square. She was half turned towards him, smiling patiently at him as if she had all the time in the world. He supposed she did if she was as old as she said she was.

Celia met his gaze, and her smile widened into something welcoming. Derek felt a brush of wind against his back, feeling like it was urging him forward. A feeling of peace was beginning to settle over him, and the ache that he hadn’t realized had settled into his bones was gone. He had been searching for something, and now he hoped he finally found it.

With a smile, he walked toward Celia.

Part 2

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

Derek rolled his phone between his hands and looked out across the town. He had been given a room on the second floor of the general store. It had a balcony that overlooked the town square where he could watch people wandering around the town. He had done little else but sleep for the first two days. Sleep and eat. He had woken up the first morning feeling more well-rested than he had in a long time. The aches that he had gotten used to the longer he was without a pack were gone, and for the first time in six months, Derek felt fully in control of his shift again, even if it still hurt.

He looked down at the town square, seeing the distinctive figure of Kapono walking next to Celia. Kapono was carrying a basket of something, and Celia was holding a cup of something between her hands and taking sips from it from time to time. They looked comfortable, like two people who had spent a lot of time together.

There were others about, wandering all over the place, and he could see a few children running towards an old-fashioned schoolhouse with a basketball hoop outside. Everything felt syrupy slow, like the world had finally let him take a breath and relax for the first time in a long time. He could hear the wind rustling the trees and the birds singing as the sun got brighter. It was going to be a warm day, and Derek felt a sort of laziness overtake him for the first time since he had come back in time, since before the fire. He didn’t remember a day when he didn’t feel on edge.

It was the lack of cars, Derek finally decided.

No engines were revving, no exhaust, no loud motor running to wake him up from anything. He looked down and spotted Celia now standing and talking to one of her sisters, Alice, standing with their heads bowed together. The rest of the people gave them a wide berth, and he fought down the urge to listen in. Finally, Alice threw her hands up and walked away. Derek watched her go before he pushed herself away from the railing and let himself back into his room. Whatever argument that was, he wasn’t going to worry about it. He knew first-hand how often siblings fought.

The room was small but had everything he needed: a bed, a desk, a small microwave, and a coffee maker in the corner. There was an attached bathroom with a shower. It reminded him of a small bed and breakfast room, and most importantly, he was the only occupant. Celia had grinned when she told him they didn’t often have guests before leaving him alone.

Considering how hidden it was, Derek wasn’t surprised, but he appreciated it. The town was quiet, and the past nights had been amazing, being able to stare up at the sky without city lights blocking the stars.

He heard footsteps, and he grabbed a shirt to pull before someone knocked at his door. He pulled the door open and nodded at Celia, who smiled at him.

“Sleep well?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I did,” he said, stepping to the side to invite her in.

She smiled up at him and stepped in, glancing around. “All moved in.”

“Well, what I can,” Derek said, looking to where his pack was sitting in the corner. He had unpacked, but he didn’t have a lot of stuff either. “Are there laundry machines here?”

Celia nodded. “Down in the basement.”

Derek snorted, shrugging when Celia raised an eyebrow at him. “Hidden town that looks like it doubles as a western movie set? I know it’s modern times, but laundry machines don’t exactly fit in my mind, you know?”

Celia shrugged. “I suppose. I’ve never spent a lot of time out in the big cities. Not for a couple decades now.”

Derek was blown over again at how old Celia was, and he still had trouble wrapping his mind around it. She had been alive before anyone he knew. She had seen the turn of two centuries, multiple wars, and countless other events. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what she had gone through, the sort of life she had led.

He didn’t know how she could live that long and still be happy. She was smiling openly and without a shred of darkness in her eyes. Derek felt worn down just in the 40 odd years he had lived over two lifetimes. Even when a good night’s rest, his legs still felt leaden, and he knew it wasn’t just the lack of a pack bond keeping him down.

Peter liked to throw the word depression around, and Derek couldn’t fault the man. But he didn’t know how to talk about his experiences with anyone—becoming an Alpha, killing Ennis and Kate. Those were things he could talk about. But how did he talk about a fire that killed his whole family when they were alive. How could he talk about Peter killing Laura when Peter was one of the few adult members of the pack who reached out to him constantly.

“It’s cool,” Derek said when he realized the silence had gone on for too long. “Sorry. Lost in my head.”

“A brain does that,” Celia said, nodding firmly. “It’s a trap. It thinks its way into corners.”

“So what? I should ignore my brain.”

“Well, not completely, but maybe start listening to another body part from time to time,” she said, reaching out and rapping a knuckle over her chest. “It’s what my Ma used to tell me. Brains good, hearts good, gotta listen to them both; otherwise, you’ll be miserable.”

“Only listening to your heart will make you miserable?” Derek asked, crossing his arms over his chest and fighting the urge to rub the spot she had touched.

“Hearts got a soft spot for everything in most people. You gotta temper it with the logical brain. I could fall for every set of pretty eyes I wanted, but I also know that every set of pretty eyes might be attached to something bad. It’s about making a compromise.”

“Is that why you’re so happy?” Derek asked before he could stop himself.

Celia paused and seemed to think for a moment. “Perhaps. I like to think I listen to both before deciding, but that could just be because I’m old, and I know better.”

“You’re not old,” Derek said.

“I’m 118 years old,” Celia said dryly. “I think that classifies me as old.”

“You’re the youngest, right?”

Celia nodded.

“That means you’re not old. You’re younger than them. The distinction is important,” Derek explained with a grin. “It’s all relative.”

Celia grinned back at him. “How well does that work for you?”

“A lot better now that I don’t see my sisters often,” Derek said, his smile fading as he thought about them.

He wanted to see his sisters more. He missed them every day but knew things were better this way. They could talk now like they had when Derek was younger. It was easier now that he wasn’t rubbing against Talia the wrong way and causing a trickle-down effect that made everyone on edge around him. The Cold War at the Hale house was finally over.

Celia sighed. “None of that face, c’mon. Put your shoes on. We’re going for breakfast.”

“What face?” Derek asked, even as he put on his shoes and followed her out the door.

“The sad one. It doesn’t suit you.”

“Sadness doesn’t suit me?” Derek asked, frowning.

Celia glanced at him. “Well, honestly, you look like one of those people that suits all expressions. But I hate seeing sad looks on people, so yes. It doesn’t suit you.”

Derek shrugged. “It’s been a rough go.”

“How long?”

“How long what?”

“How long have you had a rough go of it.”

Derek thought about it. “Four years, give or take a few months.”

Celia stopped at the bottom landing and crossed her arms over her chest. “Lacie said you were on your second life. Wanna try again.”

Derek stopped and looked at her. “How can she tell?”

“She sees things we can’t explain. You can ask her if you like. I don’t know if the answer you have will be the one you want,” Celia said. “The Goddess. She doesn’t work like us mortals do.”

“Are you mortal?”

Celia nodded. “I can die, I can be injured, and at some point, I will be laid to rest, but my family is from a long line of sparks, and we’ve dedicated our lives to the Goddess, and in return, she allows us to live for a long time until we’re needed.”

Derek nodded at the explanation and turned his head to the side. “It’s been a rough go for oh, about, fourteen years, give or take.”

“That is a long time to be fighting,” Celia said, beginning to walk again.

Derek followed her, looking around as they walked through town. In many ways, it reminded him of Beacon Hills, the Mom and Pop shops everywhere, and how people kept stopping and talking to each other. He smiled as he passed the library and hoped the three librarians were fine. He got emails from Mrs. Whelan from time to time, updating him on her son and what was happening at the library, and it always made him happy to see it.

“So, a little run down,” Celia said, nudging him towards a small diner with flashing neon lights that were bright enough that it was easy to see the glow even in the sun. “We have 232 people here. The majority of them are supernatural in one form or another. The rest are related to supernatural creatures or born into families. We predominately have shifters, but also a good contingent of kitsune and magic users.”

“Druids?” Derek asked as he stepped into the diner, looking around. He had seen pictures of diners from the 1950s, and this looked like it had been dragged right out of the textbook. He half expected to see a woman in an old diner uniform snapping gum and on roller skates.

“Some, they tend to pass through. Druids don’t do well here, too fluid for people who claim to want balance,” Celia said, taking a seat at a corner booth.

Derek sat down, glad she had taken the seat that put her back to the door. The look on her face told Derek that she had done it on purpose.

“So, you weren’t kidding when you said this was a sanctuary,” Derek said.

“We accept a lot of people who need help, and we help those people as much as we can,” Celia explained, turning over her cup.

Derek glanced up as a waitress dropped by, filling both of their cups with coffee without saying anything before she was gone. Derek looked after her, wondering if he would get a menu or not. He looked back at Celia. “How does it work? The magic?”

“You know what ley lines are?”

Derek nodded. “Points that are in some way connected to ancient structures or landmarks. Most people believe they hold a great deal of power.”

“That’s part of it,” Celia said, holding her cup in both hands and blowing on the hot coffee carefully. “There’s the visible marks, and then the invisible ones. Lost Cove is a convergence point, an anchor if you will, that allows the supernatural world and the natural world to interact. There are a few such places worldwide, and each of them is connected to the supernatural world. Lost Cove is also the only place with two such convergence points, so it is a place of great power.”

“Which are?”

Celia turned her head. “The mountain,” she said before turning her head in the other direction. “And the well.”

“The well?”

Celia nodded. “This town used to be known for lumber before we took it over and allowed the industry to die off, leaving nothing but supernatural creatures. But, the well has always been there. Long before settlers came, long before the Puritans, and perhaps even before humans walked on Earth, it isn’t deep, but the water is always clean and cool, and it is always there. It has never run out of water, not even during droughts. There has never been a recorded instance of the water going bad. It is just simply there.”

“So, the convergence point has a convergence point?” Derek summarized.

Celia nodded. “And as such, we can draw the power for the wards around town to let us keep people safe.”

“It also helps you’re in the middle of nowhere,” Derek pointed out dryly.

Celia smiled and put her cup down. “That is helpful, yes. But, those who are not supernatural don’t often go looking for it. The wards read intent. We have seen people wander right through the clearing you came through and not notice a thing. Intent is just as important to magic, especially witch magic.”

“I know druid magic is based on balance, and if they go bad, they turn into darachs,” Derek said, thinking of Jennifer and wondering where she was. And if Kali had tried to kill her or not. “Is intent the reason why there are bad covens and good covens?”

“Have you met a bad coven?” Celia asked, sobering up.

Derek shook his head. “I’ve heard of them and read about them, but I’ve never met one. And I hope to keep it that way.”

“Probably for the best. Bad covens are rarer than people expect. Most covens exist on a morally gray plane, which is expected. Witches need spells, ruins, and plants to help them. All of that requires a sacrifice, so it can never be neutral.”

Derek took a sip of his coffee. “And yours?”

“We look to the Goddess to guide us,” Celia said slowly. “She is not good. She is not evil. She simply is. The Goddess is everything around us. She is the sunset and the tornado. She is the rustling of leaves in the wind and the lighting strike that burns a town to the ground. She isn’t good or bad, she simply is.”

“How is that different than a druid?”

“Because we understand that each action has a reaction we cannot control. Druids seek to control the balance, which can be dangerous if they see too many things they see as good or bad. They may do something to tip the scales the other way on purpose. But the act of balancing the cosmic scales simply by reacting to events changes the scale itself. My sisters and I just try to make sure everything we do, be it good or evil, evens out in the end. I may hunt a buck for dinner, but I save a bird which will help pollinate and allow other animals to be born,” Celia explained, staring at Derek intently.

Derek set his cup down and leaned back, feeling like Celia was judging him, but he didn’t know what he needed to do. “So, you do what is right for you but might not be considered right by others.”

Celia nodded, a faint smile on her face. “Yes, exactly.”

Derek looked down at his cup, thinking about Kate and how terrified his family had been for months after. They all expected hunters to show up, but they never did. Derek knew hunters better than he wished, and he knew the majority of them thought they were animals, and killing Kate the same way a human could kill another human didn’t fit into their worldview. But he still worried that the Argents would come for his family one day. Derek kept an ear out, wanting to make sure Gerard wouldn’t come for his family. Last he had heard, Gerard was in Canada, and Victoria and Chris were in France with the rest of the Argent clan. Derek hoped they stayed there.

“I know what you mean,” he said finally. “Sometimes you do a bad thing for a good reason and hope it works out for the best.”

He felt a hand rest on top of his, and he looked up to see Celia smiling at him. “And sometimes the bad thing isn’t as bad as you think.”

“Most would argue killing isn’t a good thing,” he said, tugging his hand away slightly.

Celia let him go and leaned back as the waitress appeared with two plates. It was good diner food, the kind that Derek had grown to love in the past few years. Crispy hash browns, eggs done perfectly with a runny yolk, and enough bacon on the side, he was sure there would be a pork shortage soon. She returned with a plate of toast, crispy with butter melting on top of it.

“I didn’t order anything,” Derek said, even as he grabbed his knife and fork.

“No menus, not enough people. Mostly we show up, and they give us food. Julia, the chef, likes cooking,” Celia explained. “We mostly work on favors here. Don’t be surprised when they come and ask you to help move something at some point. Werewolves have strength, and we need that for a raisin’ and plowin’.”

Derek nodded and dug into the food, eating happily. It was good. Everything tasted fresh, well made, and he couldn’t taste any old oil. The waitress reappeared and filled up their coffee before leaving, still not talking. Derek watched her go this time, something niggling at his mind, but he didn’t know what.

“Werewolf,” Celia said.

Derek looked back at her. “What?”

“Marie is a werewolf, same as you, same as Julia,” Celia explained. “She’s a lot chattier usually, but she’s never been around an Alpha werewolf before, so I think you make her nervous.”

“How does that work? A lack of Alphas? Wolves need a pack.”

“You don’t.”

Derek snorted. “That is less true than you think. The woman gave me a few years, but I’m finding it harder and harder to stay in control. It’s why I said I’d stay until the full moon. I’m not safe to be around. I don’t think I’ll be able to change back after that.”

Celia leaned back against the seat, cupping her coffee in her hands. “Aren’t you?”

Derek glanced up. “Aren’t I what?”

“Safe?”

Derek leaned back, mirroring her pose, and shook his head. “Most nights when I was searching, I’d sleep as a wolf because it was safer for me, but the shift back to human got harder and harder with every full moon that passed. And it hurt more. The first time I did the full shift, it hurt, and it’s starting to hurt again. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I’ve read the stories about feral Alphas, and I know I’m on the verge of going moon crazy.”

Celia hummed. “You sure?”

Derek narrowed his eyes. “Pretty damn sure.”

She grinned at him. “You asked us how we have werewolves with no Alpha,” Celia said, taking a sip of the coffee. “The Goddess provides for us all, and we are in a convergence point, twice over. Our werewolves are omegas, but they are not feral, and they won’t become feral. But they lack the pack bonds, and they do suffer for it. Full moons are lonely, and no one can miss the pain in their howls as they run in the woods looking for a pack they cannot find.”

Celia raised an eyebrow at Derek. She smirked. “For now.”

Derek set the cup of coffee down and sighed. “I can’t be…” He trailed off, unable to complete the sentence because he didn’t know what he couldn’t be.

“Can’t be?” Celia prompted, waiting for Derek to talk. He just stared at her long enough she smiled and shrugged. “See, the thing is. The book that Alice took from you. It’s ours. It’s been ours since our legacy began, in one form or another. Originally it was oral traditions, and then those stories got written down, and we added to it. Each of us that adds to it imbues it with power, and eventually, the book was filled with so much power it created life.”

“The books alive?”

Celia nodded. “Of sorts. We aren’t druids, and we aren’t witches. We’re sparks.”

“Sparks?” Derek asked, thinking back to Stiles a lifetime ago and his ability to harness mountain ash.

“We are of the Goddess. We don’t need to chant to use our magic. Our magic doesn’t exist in the service of the balance. We simply are. We are life. We are the Earth beneath your feet,” Celia explained. “Each of my foremothers that put a little bit of ourselves into the book gave it a little bit more life.”

“And so, it’s alive,” Derek said softly. “Can it think?”

Celia grimaced. “Can a tree think?”

“No.”

“Is the tree alive?”

“Yes.”

Celia shrugged. “Life is a broad term for so many complex situations. A tree will grow and search for what it needs. It will do its best to propagate and spread more life. It exists in harmony with the rest of the world, but it doesn’t think as a human. The same way a werewolf doesn’t think like a human.”

Derek sighed. “No, I suppose not. So, what does that mean for the book?”

Celia shrugged again. “No one knows. Sometimes it disappears for a few years, and then it comes back to us, bringing someone. This time it was gone for a long time, and when it came, it brought you.”

“So, I’m here because of destiny? Kismet?”

“Who knows,” Celia said with a smile. “Well, the Goddess does. I am sure the book does as well, but most of all, nature provides a balance. We needed an Alpha; you needed a pack. Is this such a bad thing?”

Derek looked out the window as he cradled his cup of coffee. It felt too easy, like everything had been handed onto him on a silver platter at the last moment, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. He had been fighting for so long, and now he didn’t know what to do.

“It’s too easy,” Derek said. “Nothing is ever this easy.”

“Who says?”

“Life,” Derek said with a bitter chuckle.

He rubbed a hand over his chest where he could feel phantom claws from a lifetime ago. The way he swore his arm ached from being shot by Kate. There were nights when he woke up gasping for air, expecting to see smoke. Wolfsbane, fire, it didn’t matter. Each gasp of clean air felt wrong because it wasn’t what he expected. He finally looked back at Celia and saw the sadness in her eyes, making him shift uncomfortably.

“Life hasn’t been kind to me. Love hasn’t been kind to me. Kindness is not something I have a lot of experience with. Not anymore.”

Celia reached out, resting a hand over his and squeezing gently. “Just because you have had a rocky path doesn’t mean it can’t smooth out. Is it so hard to accept?”

“Yes.”

Celia squeezed his hand again before leaning back. “The world has done you a disserve, Derek Hale.”

“You learn to deal with it,” Derek said with a shrug of his shoulders, looking back out the window at the town that bustled past. He could see people glance his way and then look away, and a few faces looked familiar. He could see Kapono towering above someone else, laughing at something. He could see Elia walking arm in arm with another woman as two small children ran ahead.

“I don’t think you’ve dealt with it at all,” Celia said suddenly.

Derek looked back at her, seeing the furrow in her brow that suddenly made her seem her age. “What?”

“You had a hard life, and then you were thrown into another life that was just as hard, if not harder,” Celia said. “Have you dealt with it? Or are you just pushing forward?”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” Derek asked. “I’m not letting it drag me down or let what happened to me change who I am.”

“Just because the pain doesn’t drag you to the ground doesn’t mean that it ain’t slowing you down,” Celia said. “You need to talk to Lacie.”

“Lacie?”

Celia nodded. “She went on a walkabout a couple of years back. Wanted to get out and see the world for a little bit. We all do it sometimes; as long as there’s two of us here, we can maintain the wards. She came back with a psychology degree.”

“You guys can’t leave?”

“Oh, we can leave. We just can’t stay gone. Weekend trips, a couple of days here and there. It’s fine, but we need to come back soon,” Celia explained. “But don’t change the subject.”

Derek sighed. “We’ll see.”

Celia hummed and picked up her coffee again. “Oh, good.”

“Good?”

“Sai is here.”

Derek looked up as the door opened, and a tall, lean man stepped inside. He had dark hair and tan skin. He was dressed in jeans and a flannel and had the hunched look that people who towered above others sometimes got. The man glanced around, waving to Marie before walking over and sitting down in the booth next to Celia.

“Hey there,” he said with a nod, staring intently at Derek. “Sherriff Sai David.”

The Sheriff held out his hand, and Derek shook it, his eyes drawn to the other man’s face and easy smile. He found himself smiling back, his heart racing a little bit. The man had a comfortable air about him that he found reassuring. Derek wondered if it was a trick Sherriff’s learned to put people at ease. “Derek Hale.”

“Alpha,” Celia interjected.

“I am an alpha,” Derek said, glaring at Celia, who smiled back at him unrepentantly.

“No pack, though,” The Sherriff said. Not a question, Derek noted.

Derek shook his head. “Just a lone wolf,” he said with a smirk.

The smirk turned into a smile when the Sherriff chuckled. “Fair enough. Me? I’m just a plain old human.”

“But related to someone here, I suppose?” Derek asked, glancing at Celia. “I was informed most people were, at least tangentially.”

“Long druid line,” The Sherriff explained. “My many times great grandfather was Celia’s Aunts father.”

Derek opened his mouth and paused, trying to parse that out. “What?”

Celia laughed. “Mama has two sisters, and all of them have different Dad’s. Nana Janie fell in love with his ancestor, and they had Eliza, my aunt. Mama’s Pa was Seek-Wisdom Goodwin.”

“Seek-Wisdom,” Derek repeated. “Seriously?”

Celia pressed a hand over her chest. “Honest. He was a good God-fearing Puritan man, till he met GrandMama, that is. Nana Janie met Sai’s great-granddaddy when her and Mama hopped on a ship with the East Indian Trading Company to get away from the Witch Trials. Met his Granddaddy, had Eliza, and then she left to keep wanderin’. His Granddaddy had another kid, and here we are today.”

“And you found this out, how?” Derek asked, his brain whirling as he tried to keep track of everything.

“We always know blood,” Celia said. “We don’t have many. His Granddaddy was a little odd.” Her smile turned a little sour. “Takes a lot of magic to make one of us, and it can eat a man alive. Usually does.”

The Sherriff nodded. “My families always had a little bit of magic, but not enough to do anything major. We’re pretty good at always ending up where we need to be. Mom and Dad moved me here when I was a kid, right before the tech boom, and Dad made a lot of money. I never knew what I wanted, so I started traveling as soon as I turned eighteen. Took me three years, but I wandered into this place about two years ago. I arrived just as they needed a new Sherriff, so I took the job and learned. Lived here ever since. I’m just really lucky. No magic. Just, lucky.”

“I thought the Irish were supposed to be the lucky ones,” Derek muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So, it’s you, Alice and Lacie, and then the Sherriff —.”

“Call me Sai,” Sai interrupted.

“—Sai is your cousin, and then you’ve got a Mom and an Aunt. Are they alive? What about your Nana?”

“Nana Janie got taken in by the Salem Witch Trials when she was wanderin’ and drowned,” Celia said softly. “She coulda survived, but she was old, and she didn’t want Mama and the Aunts to get in trouble. So, she let the Goddess take her. Her sisters had been dead a long time by then. And Mama, Aunt Eliza, and Aunt Faith had been takin’ care of the wards for a while by then.”

“She ran from the witch hunts and got caught up in them here?” Derek asked softly.

Celia sighed. “Yep, bad luck. As I said, we can die. It’s just a little harder than most.”

Derek blew out a breath. “And I thought my family was complicated.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Sai muttered, jerking a thumb at Celia. “She’s got no kids, Lacie doesn’t, and neither will. Only Alice has kids.”

“How old are they?” Derek asked, wondering if more kids were running around. He had seen a couple, but there weren’t as many as he thought there might be.

“Holly’s what, 86 now?” Sai asked.

Celia nodded. “Daisy’s almost 55, and Rosie is 35.”

Derek sat back in his seat, eyes wide. “Right, well.

Celia and Sai laughed at whatever was on his face. Derek shook his head and picked up his coffee, looking back out the window as more people passed. “How many werewolves?” he asked after a moment, looking back at Celia.

“We have seventeen,” Celia said. “You’ve met Kapono and Marie. Kapono is sort of the head Omega right now. He’s been here a while, but Elia’s wife Natalie is his second. The rest have trickled in over the years, on purpose or by accident. We’ve had some that didn’t want to stay or that we didn’t fit in, so they moved on.”

“Seventeen,” Derek murmured. “All without a pack?”

Celia nodded.

“Horrible thing,” Sai said, shaking his head and looking at Derek with mournful wide brown eyes. “Always makes you hate the full moon. Wolves ain’t meant to sound lonely. We all do what we can to help, but it’s not the same.”

Derek sighed, finishing up the rest of his coffee. “I’m not agreeing to stay,” he said slowly, ignoring the twin smiles from both of them, “but I can meet them if you want. But! I’m not promising anything.”

---

Derek fought to keep from fidgeting as he looked around the wolves in front of him. Kapono was the biggest, by far, towering over the rest of the group, but Derek had learned a long time that size meant very little. He was so used to his pack being his family, being people he had known. Even Erica, Isaac, and Boyd had been a known quantity to him. They all had Beacon Hills in common.

All the wolves in front of him were unknown, people who had trickled here over the years and stuck around for one reason or another. Despite that, they didn’t look as unhappy as he thought they would, unlike Derek. He often felt like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and each step made him want to crash to his knees and just give up.

Except the last time he had tried that, the Goddess gave him a choice, and he hadn’t changed his mind. Derek didn’t want to die.

“How’d you become an Alpha without a pack?” one of the men asked, a burly-looking man who wouldn’t have looked out of place on a farm.

“Woke up like this,” Derek said blandly. He could see the skeptical looks, and he sighed. “Seriously,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I was sixteen, went to sleep a beta, woke up an Alpha.”

“That can happen?” someone else demanded.

“Only to born wolves,” someone else interrupted. Derek opened his eyes and looked for the source, seeing the woman he had seen walking with Elia earlier. “It’s an old myth that the Moon will make an Alpha in time of great need.”

“Right,” Derek said, willing to go along with it for now. He didn’t know how else to explain it.

“You’re a born wolf?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah?”

The mood in the room changed as people shifted, and Derek looked around, seeing the varying looks, and realization struck him. “You’re all bitten?”

“I’m not,” Elia’s wife said.

“What’s your name?” Derek asked, peering at her.

“Natalie,” she replied. “But, I was born a wolf. I’m the last of my pack. Hunters got us. Not that anyone did anything about it. Burned the whole fucking place down with everyone inside. I’d gotten detention, and so I wasn’t home.”

Derek felt his lip curl up. “Argents?”

Natalie’s face fell before she scowled. “Who else?”

“She’s dead,” Derek said, meeting Natalie’s eyes. “The woman, Kate? She’s dead.”

“She’s the one?” Natalie asked, taking a step forward, eyes wide. “How do you know?”

“Because she tried to do it to my family, I snapped her neck myself,” Derek said, letting the feral grin out as he thought back to that night. He had thought he would feel guilt over time, killing an injured woman, but it had never come. There was just a bone-deep satisfaction each time that Derek never wanted to lose.

Derek found himself with his arms full a second later, Natalie holding him tightly as tears soaked his shoulder. Derek paused for a second before he wrapped his arms around Natalie and held her tightly, letting her cry it out. Derek glanced around the room, seeing people watching them with various emotions. Mostly he could see longing.

“Wolves need to be touched,” Derek explained, still holding onto Natalie. “I know humans don’t often reach out and touch, but we do. We need it. It helps create a sense of pack, which is safety for us. Don’t try and fight it, especially with each other. With non-werewolves, if you’re close to them, let them know and set boundaries. But stop holding back.”

The air in the atmosphere changed, and he could see people subtly shifting, everyone slowly pushing together, and Derek could see arms and legs brushing, one or two people holding hands. Kapono picked up the nearest person and hugged him, getting a laugh from everyone.

Natalie finally pulled back, wiping her eyes. “Sorry about your shirt.”

Derek glanced down and shrugged. “It’s seen worse.”

Natalie sniffed. “Yeah. Fuck. So, she’s really dead, and the rest?”

“Around, but I know most of them on sight, but they don’t know me. So don’t worry, I don’t mind dealing with them,” Derek said, praying for the day he met Gerard Argent in a dark alley and snapped his neck.

“And they didn’t come for your pack?” Natalie asked, still wiping her eyes.

“I’m Derek Hale,” Derek said softly. “I should’ve started with that.”

Natalie stilled, her eyes wide. “Talia Hale’s son.”

“The one and only. Literally.”

“Is that a big deal?” someone asked.

“Hales are the original werewolves,” Natalie said before Derek could speak.

“Maybe,” Derek cautioned. “We’re maybe, we don’t know, and we don’t claim it.”

“Everyone knows, just because you lot don’t claim it doesn’t mean it’s not true. You guys anchor the West coast,” Natalie scoffed. “I remember my Mom telling me I should try and meet you. Marry in or something.”

“Oh Jesus,” Derek said, feeling his face heat up. “What pack?”

Natalie wiped her eyes again. “Right, I’m Natalie Woodrow.”

Derek felt something seize in his chest. “Oregon,” he said softly. “I remember that I thought everyone had died.”

Natalie nodded. “I let them think that. Ran and kept running right until I stumbled into here. Natalie Woodrow died with the rest of her pack, but Natalie Fernandez is learning how to be happy again.”

Derek nodded his head, wishing he could tell Natalie what he had gone through, but he knew he couldn’t. There was no way to explain. “Well, it’s nice to meet you finally. I’m sure your Mom is looking down on this in amusement.”

“Especially since you are way too young for me,” Natalie muttered. “How old are you?”

Derek shrugged. “Nineteen.”

“Jesus fuck Mary on a pogo stick,” Natalie said, shaking her head. “I’m old enough to be your Mom.”

“Laura’s 25.”

“Sister then,” Natalie said, sniffling one last time. “But enough about this.”

“I dunno, I find it amusing,” a cranky man sitting in the front said. “but sure. So, we’re not going to all turn into Alphas?”

“No,” Natalie said. “Born wolves aren’t better than bitten wolves, despite what some people might say, but there is a connection to the Earth that we have had since birth. We are born of the Moon and the Earth, and as a result, we do things a little differently. Born wolves can achieve a full shift; bitten wolves cannot.”

“Can you?” the same cranky man asked, looking at Natalie.

She shook her head. “No, as far as anyone knows, only the Hale family can achieve the full shift.”

Derek shifted as everyone turned to look at him, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Not all of us, only the Hale Alphas. Many others can achieve a partial full shift, but into an actual wolf? That’s hard.”

“Can you do it?”

Derek paused for a second before he sighed and nodded. “Yeah.”

The crowd began to murmur until a new woman spoke up. She was tall for a woman, with bright blue eyes and blonde hair. “Can you show us?”

Derek shook his head. “No, my control isn’t that great right now, and I don’t want to unless I have to.”

“How come your control is bad?”

Derek felt like he was in the hot seat, and he forced himself not to run away. “I don’t have a pack. Werewolves need packs, and Alpha’s need them more than most. The pack acts as an anchor to the extra power an Alpha can wield.”

He looked around the room, seeing the confused looks on everyone’s faces. “None of you know any of this?” he asked.

“I try to tell them, but they don’t listen,” Natalie muttered, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring again.

There was an awkward shifting, but no one spoke up to defend themselves. Derek glanced around the room again, and he could see them differently this time, the wary looks on their faces as they looked at him. He could see anger and denial. The same look he had seen on Scott’s face a lifetime ago.

Derek bit the inside of his cheek. “Were all of you attacked?” he asked softly. “By random Alphas?”

Slowly, one by one, everyone nodded their heads. Derek rubbed the back of his neck and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “First of all, I need to apologize for that,” he said, opening his eyes and looking around. “We do our best to police ourselves, but a feral Alpha is strong, and by the time we realize it’s happened, it’s usually too late, and they’ve already bitten someone. They are not the norm. There are roughly two hundred Alphas in the US at any given time. Packs are often long-lasting and have a lot of history. They’ll be the families that are well entrenched in a town. My family has owned the land we live on since the mid-1800s, when my family emigrated from Europe. The house we live in was built in 1878, and it has survived since then. Packs are families, and it takes a huge trigger for an Alpha to go feral.

“Our pack anchors us, and most of the time, it is the loss of a pack that will cause an Alpha to go feral. And it is very hard to kill an entire pack—”

“—what about Natalie’s then?” someone interrupted.

Derek inhaled and glanced over at Natalie, seeing the tightness around her jaw. He could imagine what had happened, but there was no way to know it in this lifetime. “Hunters. Supposedly they’re supposed to help police the Supernatural world, but they tend to be bigots and zealots who hate anything non-human. There’s codes they say they follow, but most of them don’t. There are tools for Hunters to use to put us on the same playing field as they are. We can go over it later.”

“Don’t we need to worry about it now?” someone asked, their voice higher than it had been.

“No, if what Celia told me was true. This place is a sanctuary, and you’re safe here. We will go over what to watch out for if you leave, but as long as you stay close to here, you should be fine,” Derek said, doing his best to extrude a sense of calm. It seemed to work as everyone settled down. “There’s a lot of information, and I’ll do my best to tell you. And Natalie can as well.”

“Are you going to be our Alpha?”

The speaker was a young woman with blonde hair and dark eyes. She reminded him of Erica. Grief struck him as the memory of the call with Stiles sprung to the forefront of his mind. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply for a second, pushing it down before opening them and looking around the room. He could see the tentative hope blooming in their eyes, and he felt something heavy sit in his gut.

“I…don’t know,” he admitted. “I’ve got…a lot I need to deal with. It wouldn’t be fair to everyone.”

The cranky man from before snorted and shook his head, standing up. “Sounds about right for Alphas,” he said before he turned and walked out the door.

Derek watched the door swing shut; the sound oppressive in the silence that followed. He looked around the room, seeing the disappointment, and scrubbed both hands over his face.

“Full moon,” he said finally, not minding the lie for the moment. It gave him time to think. “Creating a pack bond with this many people would need to happen on a full moon. I’ll know for sure then.”

No one spoke, but Derek watched as people began to trickle out in groups until he was left alone in the room with Natalie, Kapono, and the girl who reminded him of Erica.

“I hope you stay,” she said softly. “I got bit by an Alpha from a different pack. I was born human in mine, and my Alpha didn’t believe in keeping those he didn’t bite. But we always heard stories of the Hale pack. My pack’s Alpha thought you guys were weak because you accepted people from other packs. I always thought it sounded like a fairytale.”

“What’s your name?” Derek asked, feeling uncomfortable in the face of the hope on the woman’s face.

“Lea Ovesen.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand and fighting the urge to stick them into his pockets.

Lea smiled and shook it. “You too, Alpha Hale.”

“Just Derek is fine,” he said, managing a tight grin.

Lea smiled and nodded her head before she turned and left, waving goodbye to Natalie and Kapono.

“Man, you are bad at this,” Kapono said, clapping him on the shoulder.

Derek pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t exactly have a lot of experience with this,” Derek muttered, shaking his head. “I had a pack of one until I turned eighteen, and then I’ve been on my own for the past year and a half.”

“Why don’t you want to stay?” Natalie asked, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Derek said slowly, still unable to articulate how he felt. “I’ve got a lot of baggage, and you know the emotional toll that can take on the betas. It wouldn’t be fair to them.”

Natalie scoffed. “We’ve all got baggage, dumbass. Some of us just are trying to put it down.”

Derek watched as she turned and left, leaving him with Kapono, who dropped an arm around his shoulders and leaned against Derek.

“Real bad at this,” Kapono said, tapping the side of Derek’s head. “We need an Alpha; you need a pack. It’s not rocket science.”

Derek tilted his head back to stare up at the other man, shaking his head. “It’s not that easy.”

“Life sucks sometimes. You might as well take the easy route when you can.”

Derek huffed but didn’t say anything. He didn’t know how to explain how he felt because he had spent a long time pushing everything down. Even though he knew his time was running out, it was easier to be alone.

Part 3

May 11th, 2008

Derek looked up as a woman slid into the seat across from him. “Lacie, right?” he asked, setting down his coffee and marking the book he had been reading with his finger.

“That’s right.”

Lacie smiled and leaned her elbows against the table, staring at him. Derek began to fidget after a few seconds, wondering what she was looking for.

“Can I help you?” he asked, fighting the urge to grab his phone and fake a phone call. He knew Lacie would see through that. Derek remembered what Celia had told him about what Lacie had done when she had left Lost Cove.

“I was thinking I could help you,” Lacie said.

She seemed calmer than Celia, less in your face, but Derek didn’t want to let his guard down. He didn’t know her well. Derek wanted to be better, but he had had his trust broken too many times for it to come easily for him.

“How?” he found himself asking before his brain caught up. “I don’t really think anyone can help me.”

Lacie propped her chin upon her hand and grinned. “I’m not anyone.”

“No, that’s been made quite clear in the past few days,” Derek said, thinking back to the glare Celia had given him after the meeting with the werewolves. People were eying him warily where they had been cautiously open previously. Only Kapono and Natalie were talking to him; everyone else was giving him a wide berth. Even Marie had barely agreed to bring him coffee.

“People aren’t good with outsiders here,” Lacie said with a shrug. “And you made yourself an outsider by choice. Why?”

Derek’s eyes narrowed. “Well, they say practice makes perfect.”

“Do you believe in the soul?”

“As a concept? Sure. Reality? I’m undecided,” Derek said, grabbing the bookmark and setting it in the book. He had a feeling he wouldn’t get back to reading anytime soon.

“It’s reality, but it’s not what people think it is,” Lacie said, her eyes going hazy before they began to glow slightly, a whirl of green and blue that soon took over her entire eyes. Derek stiffened, unable to look away from her eyes. She raised a hand and traced it over something in front of him, and Derek felt something. “A soul is a summation of your life. I can see your hurts, your joy. I can see the love you’ve felt and those who have loved you. We are not made to be alone, and each interaction that leaves a mark on you leaves a mark on your soul.”

Her face dropped, the corner of her mouth pulling down into a frown that didn’t suit her. “Your soul has been hurt many times.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Derek muttered, fighting down the urge to shift and run back to the clearing and away.

“Shadows,” Lacie said, the green and blue fading from her eyes, leaving them brown again. She managed a smile at him, but Derek could see the tense lines around the corner of her eyes. “You’ve seen the Goddess.”

It wasn’t a question, but Derek nodded. “Twice, sort of. The first time, she was made up of fireflies, but the second she was human.”

“What did she tell you?”

“That she chose me,” Derek said. “She was quite insistent about it.”

Lacie smiled ruefully at him. “The Goddess does not see the world as we do. She does not feel the same as we do. She doesn’t feel sorrow, and she doesn’t understand regret. She is the Earth, and the Earth is not capable of that. She will raze a town and build a garden in its wake.”

“I got that impression,” Derek said dryly. “She gave me a choice, to live or die.”

“And you chose to live.”

Derek shrugged.

Lacie leaned back. “Are you?”

“What?”

“Choosing to live. You’re alive, yes. But what sort of life have you had?”

“You said it yourself, a rough one.”

“Stubborn,” Lacie said, sitting back and turning to smile at Marie, who put a plate of food and a cup of coffee in front of her.

Derek glared at Marie’s retreating back and pulled his cup of coffee closer. “Do you expect any different?” Derek demanded. “You know I got dragged back from my world and shoved into this one without my say so, and I did my fucking best to make sure my family survived, yet I lost them all anyway. I lost my home, and I lost my family, my friends. I lost everything.

“And then let’s go back to the first life, shall we? I called it something different then because I was younger and didn’t know, but I know better now. I got raped, and my whole family was burned alive except for two sisters and my uncle. My Uncle was in a coma for years before he woke up and killed my sister because he wanted the power. So, suddenly I was alone, and I had to kill my uncle before he hurt more people. Then, I was dealing with a power I didn’t want or know how to deal with, and I did my best, but two of the betas I bit died anyway. I gave up my Alpha powers to save my sister, who left me to go back to a pack where she is safe, and I don’t even blame her for it.”

Derek jerked his head away from Lacie’s sad look, looking out the window and the people wandering around. “And along the way, I got raped again, but all I can remember is how much I wanted it, but I was under a spell, but even when the spell wore off, the feeling I had at the time still feels correct. So now I’ve got to reconcile what my mind and body tell me with what I know to be true.”

He fell silent, feeling wrung out after the words pouring out of him. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back to rest against the bench seat so he didn’t have to see anyone. “The last thing I remember is being shot, and I woke up, sixteen and an Alpha, and being choked out by my Mom because she thought I was someone else. Sure, I might have saved my family in the long run. But I still lost everything. I still have to carry all the memories of my life before and all the hurt. I look at my Uncle and remember the feel of his claws in my chest and see Laura’s body cut in half.”

He let out a harsh chuckle. “The day I arrived here, I got a call from a kid I know back home, and one of those beta’s I had bitten and died, died again. In a world where my family died, she lived longer. She made it to sixteen, but now she’s dead at fourteen. And all I can think is if I had bitten her, she might still be alive today. My Mom asked me to leave because she couldn’t reconcile me with the image of her son. My leaving made everything better for my family. They’re happier now, they laugh more, and I’m over here in a fucking ghost town, alone.

“So, tell me again how I’m not choosing to live. I’m alive, and I’m living the best way I know-how. Alone, because that is what the world keeps telling me. It’s what your precious Goddess keeps telling me through actions in this world. I am best alone.”

Derek felt wrung out, and he grabbed his book and stood up, glancing at Lacie, who was watching him with wide, haunted eyes, and for a second, he felt guilty, but it faded as the anger took over again. He glanced to the side and saw Marie with both hands pressed over her mouth with her eyes filled with tears. Derek glanced away from the pity and left.

He made it as far as the entrance to the building he was staying in before he broke. He dropped his book and managed to get his sweater, shoes, and jeans kicked off before he gave into the shift, ignoring the whispers he could hear in favor of the need to shift burning inside him.

It burned like it had the first time. He was too close to losing the last of his humanity for the change to come naturally. He managed to bite back the scream as he felt his bones break and heal. His skin burned as hair sprouted, and he tasted copper as his teeth shifted and changed. He was panting by the time he finished, and he could hear people whispering even louder. He shook his head once, glancing around and seeing the crowd of people staring at him. He snarled, unable to help himself, and it was enough to make people back away.

The smell of fear filled the air, and he took a step back, not wanting that at all. He shook his head, turned, and ran, heading for the clearing he had come through. He could see the forest in the distance, and he sped up, ignoring the shout of his name as he burst through whatever magic was hiding the town, and he ran.

Derek didn’t know how long he had run for or where he had ended up before he collapsed, finally at the end of his ropes. He was panting, lost in the woods in the middle of a mountain range. He didn’t know if he was north or south of Lost Cove. If he was even in the same state. He didn’t even know how long he had been running. It was still daylight, but it could’ve been an hour or six for all he knew.

He pressed his head between his paws and closed his eyes, whining deep in his throat. The forest was empty. Even the birds and insects had gone quiet. The silence stretched even as Derek got his breath back, and he kept expecting the sounds to come back the longer stayed still, but the woods kept silent.

Slowly, he raised his head, looking around and seeing where he was for the first time. The woods were dense with old trees whose branches twined together like lovers’ fingers stretching towards the sky. The sun barely broke through the thick leaves overhead, and the few beams that did disappeared each time the wind rustled the branches. He could hear a river bubbling nearby, but there were no fish, no croak of frogs, no sounds he usually associated with a river. There was no life.

Derek tilted his head back and sniffed, smelling nothing but earth. He stood up, his legs shaky for a second before he steadied himself and sat down on his hindquarters, looking around. He could see where he had come from, the only opening that led into the clearing, but there was no way back except the way he had come. He turned his head, looking ahead at the wall of trees that stood in his way, and dropped back down onto his stomach, staring at the blockade.

“Well.”

Derek flinched, twisting and leaping away from the sudden noise next to him with a yelp. He felt the fur bristle up his spine, and he snarled. The clearing had been empty, but a woman was standing at the entrance, half bathed in shadow. Derek flashed back to meeting the Goddess, but his mind caught up, realizing it wasn’t the Goddess. It was Alice.

He watched as she walked across the clearing, trees, and roots beginning to bend and move as she walked closer to the wall of trees until a chair had formed. She sat down, crossed her arms, and stared at him. She was dressed in a flannel shirt and jeans, mud-crusted boots up to her knees, and was pulling off a pair of gardening gloves to drop onto her lap. Derek dropped back to lay on his stomach and stared at her, not bothering to change back.

“My sisters can be a bit much. They mean well, but they sometimes forget what the world is like and how much hurt can exist in it,” Alice said after a second, tapping her fingers on the root that made up the armrest.

Derek stayed where he was.

Alice tilted her head to the side. “Just so you know, pretty much every shifter heard the story, so they know all of that. And I do not doubt that everyone else will know soon. Secrets don’t last long in this town.”

Derek shrugged.

Alice watched him, the silence stretching between them, but Derek didn’t feel the need to move. Even with Alice there, this part of the forest was peaceful, and he felt at ease in this skin. It had been a long time since he felt at home when he was human. Being a wolf was simpler, easier, and he knew he could let himself go and join the wild packs and be happy as the human part of his mind atrophied and died.

Alice tapped her nails against the root. “So, what’s the plan then? Stay a wolf.”

Derek shrugged a shoulder, causing Alice to raise an unimpressed eyebrow.

“Really?” she demanded, the tapping stopping. “That’s your grand plan.”

Derek watched her evenly. He had run away for a reason. Alice sighed and leaned forward, bracing her elbows on her knees as she stared at him.

“Celia and Lacie? They grew up with my Mama and my Aunts here. They’ve been safe their whole life, even when they left, they got lucky, and the Goddess protected them. Sure they’ve had some pain because life always has pain, but not the sort I’ve seen,” Alice said softly. “Not the sort you’ve had to deal with.”

For a second, it almost looked like she pitied him, but the look was gone in a second, but it was there long enough Derek tensed up, lifting his head to watch her, wondering where she was going with this.

“The problem is that pain’s never gonna go away,” Alice continued, shrugging. “It’s going to be with you for the rest of your life. It’s gonna drag you down, and there’ll be days when you’re going to feel like there’s a boulder on your shoulders. And you’ve had to carry it by yourself for a long time. I couldn’t do it. I had my Mama for a long time, and then I had Celia and Lacie, and it’s been the three of us. I had my husband, Goddess rest his soul, and I have my babies, my little peas in a pod. We have the town. I’ll never be alone. But you’ve been alone for most of your adult life for so long that I bet you don’t even know how to lean on people. I bet you look at something good and think it’s too easy, so it mustn’t be real.”

Derek adverted his gaze, turning to look in the direction of the river. He snuffed slightly.

Alice sighed. “It’s real hard to have a conversation when you can’t speak.”

Derek tilted his head and rested it on his paws, looking away from Alice. He didn’t want to speak. He had already said too much in anger, and now everyone knew. He heard footsteps, but he didn’t turn, not even when Alice sat down next to him. He tensed at the hand on his back but stubbornly kept his eyes away.

“Are you afraid to heal?” she asked softly. “Or are you afraid that if you start to heal, you’ll have to face the knowledge that people hurt you?”

Derek finally turned and gave her an unimpressed look. He knew people had hurt him; he was easy to hurt.

“That is one unimpressed face for a man who doesn’t have eyebrows right now,” Alice said, keeping her hand on his back. “It’s gonna hurt more to deal with it. But it’ll get better after. It’s like a broken bone, it hurts to set it, but it heals stronger.”

Derek just shrugged again.

Alice sighed. “Right, werewolf. Seriously, change back. This is impossible one-sided.”

Derek sat back up, dislodging her hand and taking a deliberate step away from her before flopping back down onto his stomach. Alice fixed him with a glare, reminding him enough of Mrs. Cailleach that he felt something cold settle into his stomach. He missed Beacon Hills more than he could explain.

Alice sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. Derek turned back away from her, looking out into the woods. The sun was beginning to set, and he could feel the chill in the air, but he didn’t feel cold. He watched as the trees got darker. He could still see, and he expected something living to come out, but the forest stayed stubbornly silent.

Animals ran when he ran past. The world knew he was an Apex predator. Even the other predators had something in their hindbrain that warned them of the danger when he was around. But if he stayed still and silent, they would eventually come back, and he could watch as the animals went and did whatever they usually did. It fascinated him, and between the animals and the ghosts, he had been amused most nights when searching for Lost Cove.

He turned his head back to Alice, seeing her watching him intently. She seemed content to sit quietly and wait him out. Derek knew she was old, and he wondered if time passed differently for them. He had no doubt he’d be old and gray before she had aged a decade.

He huffed, shaking his head and sitting back onto his hind legs. He kept his eyes closed, focusing on his anchor, the sense of peace it gave him as he dragged his body back into its human form. It hurt, and by the time he finished, he was aching, braced on hands and knees, and panted as his healing finally took over and took the pain away.

“Is it always that bad?” Alice asked carefully.

Derek shook his head and sat back on his heels. “No, it’s getting worse,” he admitted.

Alice nodded, watching him for a second before she raised an eyebrow. “No clothes?”

Derek shrugged. “Unless you brought my pants with you, then no.”

Alice shook her head. “Can’t say I did.”

Derek dropped onto his ass and pulled his knees up to his chest, covering himself up. “Better?” he asked.

Alice smirked. “You know that buildin’ you been stayin’ in?”

Derek nodded.

“Been in the family a long time. Mama used to run a parlor house.”

“Parlor house?”

“Yep, you’d pay for a room, and if you were lucky, you could pay for a woman,” Alice said without a hint of shame. “Ma always made sure to take good care of her girls. Five days of work, full room and board, and two meals a day. It was well known back in the day.”

“A brothel,” Derek said, both eyebrows raised.

“Good money, and if you were in a good house, it weren’t the worst work,” Alice explained. “Ma made it well known that any man who abused one of her girls would end up regretting his life choices.”

Derek fought the urge to bring his legs closer to his chest.

“So, point of the story is. You ain’t got nothin’ I haven’t seen before and in a lot worse shape than you,” Alice said with a shrug, leaning back on her hands.

Derek shrugged his shoulders. It was just a body, and his had been used against him enough times that he didn’t care much about it. Derek tilted his head to the side, listening for any sound of animals rustling about now that he was human again, but there was still nothing.

“Why aren’t there any animals?” Derek asked, glancing around as if they would magically appear.

“Because of what this place is,” Alice said, running a hand over the tree fondly. “Celia told you about what makes Lost Cove powerful, right?”

“There’s an intersection of two Nemeton‘s here,” Derek recited. “The well and the mountain.”

Alice inclined her head. “The mountains a bit of a misnomer. The mountain is a large place, there’s a lot of powerful things here, but there’s only one source of all that power.”

Derek watched Alice, feeling the curiosity build. “Which is what?”

“You know why the two nemetons are rare?” Alice asked instead.

Derek shook his head. “No, I just know that they’re sources of great power.”

“There’s different types of nemetons, and some of them are opposite, and some are the same, and like magnets, opposites attract to build power, and those that are the same repel each other,” Alice explained, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward, bracing her elbows on her knees. “It’s why you won’t ever find two earth nemetons together.”

“Earth? Like Earth, Fire, Air, Water?” Derek asked.

Alice smiled. “Some things ain’t complicated. Like an earth nemeton, like the tree in the Hale lands. But it can also be more complicated sometimes. Stonehenge was built on a Nemeton, and the power-infused the stone, but the stone is also the Earth. So, while stone and tree might be different, they are the same sort of nemeton.”

“What would a fire Nemeton be?” Derek asked.

“Maelifell Volcano in Iceland,” Alice said. “Water’s the Dead Sea, and air? Air is a complicated one.”

“How come?”

“Because it moves,” Alice said softly. “It is a surge of power that follows extreme events, and we cannot predict it. It will show up and ravage a town and then disappear.”

“Like a hurricane?”

“Perhaps, but not all hurricanes are nemetons, just like not all trees are. And sometimes, the rain can be a Nemeton if the power is there. Nothing’s set in stone,” Alice paused and grinned. “’cept Stonehenge maybe.”

Derek rolled his eyes, but he smiled slightly at the joke. He rubbed a hand over his chin, thinking about what she had said. “So, the well is water, I’m guessing, and the mountain is Earth?”

“Partially correct,” Alice said before smiling sadly. “You know why there’s so many Ghost towns on this mountain?”

“Railroads, logging, life moving on,” Derek guessed.

“Also, partially correct,” she said. “It all has to do with the railroads. The mountain don’t like it when people tried to burrow through it. Railroad men came and tried to push their way through it, but people kept dying. Mostly immigrants and some of those immigrants were magic as well. The Nemeton was fed by their magic and grew stronger, but the railroad men kept wanting to blast their way through. So, pack up, move towns, pack up and try again, only for the same thing to happen.”

“When did it stop?” Derek asked softly.

“When the blood got to be too much. Town they were in at the time got ravaged by a fire.”

“Dry Hill,” Derek said softly, remembering the story he had told Stiles. “That’s what happened? The…mountain made the explosion.”

Alice shook her head. “What killed everyone?”

“Fire,” Derek said softly. “The fire killed everyone, except for 13 women.”

Alice nodded her head again. “Ma was able to stop it spreading to the parlor house she was runnin’ at the time. Saved all those women, but she couldn’t save anyone else. We’re powerful, but we are still only human, mostly. Can’t go up against nature. And we didn’t have the wards like we do now.”

Derek bit the inside of his cheek before what she had said caught up to him. “Your Mother was Marci Amis?” he asked softly.

Alice nodded. “Yeah, didn’t you know that? We introduced ourselves.”

“I never got your last name,” Derek said before looking back the way he had come. “Is the parlor house I’m living in the same from Dry Creek?”

“Naw. It wasn’t worth the power it would take to move it,” Alice explained. “People survived; the house was a little singed up, so we took the foundation stone and moved to Lost Cove.”

“Foundation stone?”

“Every house has a foundation, and if you’re lucky enough to build a house when you got power, you put a foundation stone in it. It grows as the house grows, collecting the whisps of magic in the air and helping strengthen everything,” Alice explained. “Like a small version of Stonehenge.”

Derek nodded. “But, not the mountain because it isn’t an Earth Nemeton; it’s a fire Nemeton?” Derek asked, glancing around him. “How come?”

“Fire, the world’s original purifier. Church says water purifies, but that’s a crock of shit. Water? It’s life. You need water to live, to grow things. You need earth to grow things. Air for oxygen. But fire? Fire purifies the shit outta everything in its path, leaving a clean slate. Railroad men tried so hard to blow up the mountain that finally, it fought back. Immigrant deaths were nothin’ back then, but a town full of nice white church-fearing folks? Now that was front-page news. So, they found a new mountain that ain’t got fire.”

Derek sighed. “So, there’s fire in the mountain?”

“Under the mountain,” Alice said with a smile. “Two nemetons meet under the mountain, and the creek you hear is the product.” She stood up and waved a hand. “Come with me.”

Derek watched her for a moment before he stood and followed her. The trees parted in front of her, branches slithering like snakes to form a door she walked through. Derek hesitated for a second before he followed, expecting the tunnel to be longer, but it was another few steps, and he was standing on the other side by a creek that bubbled softly, whisps steam rising from the surface.

“Magic, good magic, is about creation, you do it to make something. Something to help, something to make sure a baby wakes up another day, that the fields will yield a good crop, to protect. Bad magic is when you do something only for yourself,” Alice said, crouching down and running a hand through the water. “Fire and water met and created this, a warm creek. It doesn’t seem like much, and the creek itself ain’t a nemeton, but the fire changed the water just as much as the water changed the fire. They mixed.”

Derek knelt next to Alice, reaching a tentative hand out and feeling the heat, but he stopped before touching. He looked over at her, waiting for the nod of her head before he dipped his fingers into it. It was cooler than Derek expected, but it chased away the chill he hadn’t realized he felt. He trailed his fingers through the water, not seeing any fish or anything. “So, why no animals?” Derek asked, getting back to the original point.

Alice laughed. “Cuz most animals ain’t gonna drink warm water, especially when there’s other, cooler cricks around.”

Derek pulled his hand back and rolled his eyes. “So, why tell me all about nemetons just to tell me that the animals don’t like warm water?”

“Because of what you are,” Alice said, dipping her hand in the water again, swirling it around, and disturbing the bottom silt. “See, I ain’t know why the Goddess brought you back, but me and my sisters we could find out if you wanted. But even if you didn’t, you’re like the nemetons here. You were one person and brought back into another person, and now the two of you have created something better.”

She turned her head and looked at him. “Thing is, you lost a lot. Just like the water and fire when they mix. You have to lose to create something. Nothing is free. But you got something amazing outta it. I get that your family ain’t really yours anymore, and I couldn’t imagine losing my sisters the way you lost yours, but they’re alive. The combination of memories and time created a situation where people lived, and there had to be a reason for that.”

Derek looked away from the intense look in her eyes. “I can sort of see your point,” he said softly. “But where does that leave me?”

“As something new,” Alice said, running a hand through the water and scooping it up. “Something you’re still forgin’. You been through a lot, more than most people should have to bear, but you’re still here. You didn’t have to let the book bring you here. You coulda found someplace and stayed, but you kept searching. How come?”

Derek opened his mouth to say something flippant and stopped, instead looking down at the water running clear again. He reached out and ran a hand through it, feeling the warmth. “Curious, I suppose,” he said softly. “I wanted to know why the book showed the cover that it did to other people. Out of everything it could have, Ghost Towns in the Appalachian Mountains was odd. Especially since it was a real book.”

“And you found us,” Alice said, nodding her head. “So now what.”

“I don’t know,” Derek said, settling back on his heels and glancing up to see the starry skies through a break in the tree. This far from civilization, Derek could make out the milky way, the array of colors spread across the sky like a painting. “It seems too easy to just stay here.”

“Because things ain’t ever been that easy?”

Derek nodded. “I’ve never had the easy path. It feels like a trick.”

“No tricks, but I guess you gotta see with your own eyes.”

“I know you guys need an Alpha, but why do you want me so badly? There’s got to be others? Or a shitty Alpha you can have Natalie or Kapono kill to take over?” Derek asked.

Alice sighed. “Yeah, but they ain’t your kind of Alpha.”

“My kind?”

“You woke up an Alpha, right?”

Derek nodded.

Alice nodded again. “See, three ways to become an Alpha, right? Murder, giving it up, or passing it on when a family member dies. But the thing is, death is one of those things that straddles the line between good and bad. It isn’t either one. It simply is. No positive, no negative. Sometimes it’ll tilt a lil bad when an Alpha is murdered, and sometimes it’ll tip a lil good when an old Alpha passes the power onto someone they love, and dyin’ of old age just keeps it neutral.”

“Okay,” Derek said slowly, unsure where this was going.

“You woke up an Alpha. You don’t exist in the equation. You’re a free radical,” Alice said with a smile. “The Goddess chose you, for whatever reason. She chose you. She gave you the power, and I ain’t ever heard of that before. Sure, I’ve met an Alpha or two that had to become one because they were needed to fill the power vacuum around them. They had a pack but no leader, and so they became one. But they weren’t dragged from another life.

“But you were. You were a beta by your own admission, and the Goddess coulda kept you one when you came back, but she didn’t. She chose to make you an Alpha, and that means something.”

Derek looked away from Alice. “Killed someone as well, first day back. Ennis. He bit someone I cared about randomly, but I remember him and what he did in my world. And how many people he hurt. So, the Goddess might’ve chosen me, but I’m an Alpha straddling death as well.”

Alice laughed, throwing her head back and letting the sound echo around the forest.

“What?”

Alice shook her head. “Sure, maybe. But you ain’t gonna be more werewolf as you kill Alphas, right?”

“No, it doesn’t work like that, it just…” Derek trailed off, tilting his head to the side. “Nothing happens. As far as I know, no one told me any different.”

“Celia told you about the types of magic, yeah?”

“Druids, witches, sparks.”

“Right, so what’s the difference between an Alpha spark and my spark?”

“Uh…” Derek was at a loss for words, and he shrugged.

Alice sat back on her butt, crossing her legs and resting her arms against her knees. “Right, so, a lot of this is conjecture because we sure as hell can’t study this. But what makes a werewolf, a werewolf, is the collision of science and magic.”

“Science and magic.”

“Genetics mostly,” Alice explained. “See, you know humans can be born to two wolves,” she started, waiting for Derek to nod. “So, those humans have kids and get married and move away, and those kids have kids and so on until we got humans who got the werewolf gene in them but ain’t werewolves and don’t know they’re werewolves.”

Derek nodded again. “Makes sense. How did you figure all of this out?”

“I sure as shit didn’t,” Alice said with a smile. “When I was growin’ up, people still thought women got hysterical because their uterus was movin’ around their body like a damn pinball machine. Nah, this is my youngest, Rosie. She’s a geneticist. My husband was a human born to a pack, and she was always fascinated by it. She just doesn’t know how to study it because outin’ the supernatural isn’t smart. So, she spends a lot of time lookin’ over genealogy and trying to find people who died due to bite rejection.”

“Bite rejection?” Derek asked, staring at Alice. “What about it?”

“Well, her theory is people reject the bite because they ain’t got whatever gene it is that makes someone a werewolf. It’s where the magic and science mix. You got the gene to be a wolf, but you ain’t showin’ up until the magic is passed into you via a bite, and you become a wolf,” Alice explained, leaning back on her hands.

Derek rubbed both hands over his face. “What happens if someone rejects the bite and they’re saved?”

“Not possible.”

Derek sighed. “First time around, the girl I was interested in met me at the school, and she got bitten by Ennis. She was dying from the bite rejection, and I killed her to make her pain stop,” Derek said, ignoring how Alice frowned. “This time around, I woke up the same day she got bitten, and I got to her, and I kept pulling her pain out. I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t see her die again. So, I kept pulling, and my arms turned black, and I was coughing up black goo, and finally, she survived.”

Alice stared at him. “So, you woke up an Alpha and stopped a bite rejection?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well now, that’s interestin’,” Alice said slowly, staring at him, her blue eyes intense. “What happened to the Alpha who bit her?”

“I clawed his throat out. He wasn’t expecting me to be an Alpha, and it gave me a split second,” Derek explained, still staring at the water.

Alice was silent for a long moment before she clicked her tongue and hummed. “Well, I gotta theory, ain’t sure it’s true.”

“Better than anything I’ve thought of.”

“Second part,” Alice said. “You said you ain’t get more wolf if you kill an Alpha, so what happens to the spark? It’s magic, right? So, what does it do? Gives you a lil bit of magic.”

“Like you?”

Alice chuckled. “Ain’t no one like me. You tho, you might be able to do some of the hedge witch work. Simple things.”

“Like?”

“Dunno, start a fire. Make sure plants grow. Find water,” Alice said with a shrug. “Magic and wolf don’t mix well, it’s usually one or the other, but that doesn’t make it impossible. We can do some testing and see what happens.”

Derek paused. “I…knew another spark in the other lifetime. He was able to create a mountain ash barrier.”

Alice nodded. “Hard work, so it must’ve been easy for him.”

“That’s hard work?”

“Keepin a bunch of wolves inside? Yeah, a lot more than people think. Gotta have a lot of belief.”

“Kanima.”

“What?”

“it was to keep a kanima in.”

Alice paused before she chuckled. “You lived an interestin’ life. Kanima? Those are rare.”

Derek nodded. “So I’ve been told. He was okay at the end, though, turned into a wolf through the power of love,” Derek explained, spreading his hands to the side and wiggling his fingers.

Alice snorted, raising an eyebrow, and he watched as her amusement turned into disbelief. She shook her head. “No.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I bit the kid because he was blackmailing me into it, and I was stupid. Ended up turning him into a kanima, there was a whole series of events beyond his control, but it wasn’t until his girlfriend got to him that he could control himself.”

Alice opened her mouth and then closed it, shrugging. “I got nothin’.”

Derek let the silence fall for a moment before he looked at Alice. “How long do you live?”

Alice tilted her head to the side. “Long as needed,” she said. “One day, the Goddess will need me, and I’ll walk into that fire for her, and when I do, I’ll go back to the ground, let my bones become dust to feed the Earth.”

“And your sisters?”

Alice shook her head. “Nah, they help anchor me. They’ll go back to being human and age like everyone else when my time is done, and then my sweet peas will take over for us. Circle of life, even we can’t fight it forever.”

“Sweet peas?”

“I got three babies, they as thick as thieves, like three peas in a pod. I call ‘em my sweet peas because they’re the best thing that ever happened to me,” Alice explained.

Derek thought about that for a second, about the life she had even though she had been tied down. He looked down at the river. “Do you ever feel trapped…by how your life has gone?” Derek asked, trailing his fingers in the water again.

Alice reached out and hovered her hand over the creek. Derek watched as the water rose and swirled around her fingers. “I always got an affinity for water, you see. Celia’s all fire, and Lacie is earth. There always needs one of each to brace the wards. Air’s all around us. But see, Mama had an affinity for fire. But she had six siblings. Nana just kept on poppin’ em out. She loved kids. And Mama was the youngest. We don’t have a choice about the family we’re born into, but we sure as shit have a choice about if we choose to serve the Goddess as the anchors.”

Derek nodded his head. “And your kids?”

“All want to do it. We make sure they know the cost and know the price. And one of them will take over as anchor for me, but we never choose that person. The Goddess chooses who that’ll be,” Alice explained, dropping her hand and letting the water fall back into the creek. “And we get a long life before. My babies have a life. They are living right now. Exploring the world. We ain’t prisoners, we can do what we want before we’re called into service And I ain’t never regretted a single damn day of this.”

Derek nodded his head. “Just for once, I’d like to have a choice,” he admitted. “And not a choice between a bad option and a worse option. Just a choice I can make for myself, where there isn’t a negative to either side.”

Alice sighed. “I hope it happens for you, kid. I really do,” she said, standing up and ruffling his hair, reminding him of his Mom. “C’mon, change back, so I can get you black without flashin’ the whole town again.”

Derek stayed where he was, looking back out across the water, thinking about what Alice had said. “You said you could look into my past,” he said softly. “Would that tell me why She chose me?”

Alice crouched back down and looked at the water. “Won’t be easy. It would be better if you had the pack to help anchor you.” She held up a hand to stop him before he spoke. “Ain’t gonna say no, just giving you the information you need. This is big magic. My sisters and I? The land grounds us, you ain’t got shit keeping you down right now. Except maybe stubbornness and spite.”

Derek trailed a hand through the water, feeling the warmth seep into his bones. It felt too easy to be giving in and agreeing to take over the pack. Things hadn’t been easy for him for a long time, and he knew he had trust issues on trust issues. But a part of him was beginning to feel comfortable here even though it had only been a few days. He trailed a hand through the water again and inhaled deeply.

“Okay. I will, try that is. I’ll try to be the Alpha.”

Part 4

May 14th, 2008

Derek looked up at the knock on his door. He finished pulling his shirt on and walked over, pulling it open.

“Hey,” he said, tilting his head to look at Kapono.

“Hey, boss,” Kapono said with a wide grin, stepping past Derek without waiting for an invite. “You done playing hermit?”

Derek fought the urge to cross his arms over his chest defensively. “I needed some time,” he said, refusing to back down.

In the three days since he had talked to Alice, Derek had taken his time to go over everything she had said and tried to get his head on straight. It hadn’t been easy, but it had been easier than expected. The quiet bustle of the town outside was calming, as was the knowledge that nothing could follow him here. He believed them when they said he could be safe from everything. He could make a home.

“Sure, sure,” Kapono said, clapping him on the shoulder as he looked around nosily. “Alice says you’re gonna stay.”

Derek nodded. “Yeah.”

Kapono grinned even wider. “Sweet,” he said, pulling Derek into a tight hug.

Derek tensed up before he forced himself to relax. He had told the other wolves that they needed to touch each other more, and he wasn’t an exception. It had been a long time since Derek had gotten more than a brief hug from a family member, and even then, they had gotten fewer and further between. Even his Dad had barely hugged him the last time he had been home.

“You said we had to wait for the full moon, right?” Kapono asked.

Derek sighed. “It’s easier to do it during the full moon, but it’s not impossible to do it any other time. We usually wait. That way, we can get used to the new pack member before building a bond with them.”

“So, we can do it now, then?” Kapono asked, taking a step back, still grinning. “Ain’t no way you can know us all before the moon, so why bother?”

Derek opened his mouth to protest and saw Kapono’s smile waver. There was a wealth of hurt there that Derek didn’t understand. Derek stopped himself from speaking and inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly. “Sure,” he said before he could talk himself out of it. “Why not.”

Kapono’s grin, somehow, got wider, and he clapped Derek on the shoulder hard enough that if he weren’t an Alpha, he would’ve stumbled.

Derek managed to smile back at Kapono. “Get everyone and meet me in the town square. I need to ask the Amis’ something.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Kapono said before he turned and left, leaving Derek alone.

He braced his hands on his hips and dropped his head forward, taking a few deep breaths to calm down. He thought of his old pack and how he had been alone for so long. Something akin to hope began to flicker somewhere in him, a warm sensation that made breathing difficult for a second. He inhaled sharply again and exhaled.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Derek flinched at the sudden sound and turned, spotting Celia leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and a smile on her face. Derek forced himself to relax. “Just thinking.”

“I know. It’s why I offered a penny,” Celia said, rolling her eyes in a manner that reminded him of Laura. It hurt, and he missed his sisters a lot. They’d call him an idiot and tell him to accept the pack, that they wanted him to be happy. It hurt thinking about them, but it also helped him knowing they would want this for him.

“Lots of changes in a short time,” he said, absently rubbing his chest. “Still trying to wrap my head around them.”

Celia nodded. “Alice said you were staying.”

Derek nodded. “That’s the plan. We’re gonna do tentative pack bonds now.”

“Because you want a pack, or because you wanna know what happened?”

“Is both a decent answer?” Derek asked softly. “I want a pack, but I also want to know what happened. Am I a bad person for not minding that this is killing two birds with one stone?”

Celia shook her head and smiled. “Nah, it’s just being alive.”

Derek nodded and glanced towards the window. “Back home, we have a clearing we go to. We’ve been using it since my Mom was a kid. But I don’t know where we could go here. What’s important and what isn’t. Is there someplace better than another?”

Celia looked thoughtful. “Somethin’ against using the town center? Nemeton is right there in the well, and it’d be good for the pack.”

Derek looked back. “Can I?”

“Wouldn’t be the first time. Town center is the center for this reason. There is a lot of power, and we got a lot of supernatural here,” Celia said with a shrug.

“Thank you,” Derek said sincerely, rubbing the side of his neck as he looked around. There was nothing he needed to grab. There was no book he needed, no ritual. Nothing. And yet he couldn’t make himself take another step towards the door. Doubt was beginning to creep in. Everything was too easy, and he couldn’t handle it.

“Still offerin’ a penny,” Celia said.

Derek snorted. “My thoughts aren’t worth a penny,” he muttered, finally looking back at her. “It just feels too easy, still. I can’t get that out of my head. That the other shoe is about to drop.”

Celia shook her head. “Alice told us some of what you told her, as well as what everyone heard. Is it really so hard to believe that this grass is a little greener?”

“Yes.”

Celia paused before she chuckled and shook her head. “Well, can’t fault you there. It’s this easy because it’s supposed to be. The Goddess put you back on the right path, and it brought you here. A thousand things could’ve happened, but they didn’t, and now you can have the chance for a good life. So, take it.” Celia paused, and a dark look crossed her face as she looked away. “If you don’t, it’ll pass you by, and you’ll be alone.”

Derek opened his mouth to ask but stopped himself at the last moment. He knew what the heartbreak on her face meant, especially in a family where old age seemed to be a myth. He had never found someone to love like that. Whenever he thought he was in love, it had been a lie or ripped away. It was just so much easier to be alone this time around than to risk his heart again. His mind flashed to Stiles, the old Stiles, the one who had always stood behind him even when they didn’t get along. That was the person Derek had wanted. Someone like Stiles, someone who always had his back. But that Stiles was gone, and the Stiles he had was nothing more than a kid.

“You’ve got a family here,” he said softly.

Celia chuckled, the sound a little more choked than it had been. “So could you.”

Derek blew out a breath. “Fair.”

She managed a tight smile, some of the open joy on her face gone. “C’mon lead foot,” she said softly, holding out a hand for Derek.

Derek glanced down at it and then up to her face before he nodded and took her hand. He let her lead him outside, and he could already see the wolves gathering. It was easy to see the wariness in their eyes and the stiffness in their postures, but he could see them standing closer than before. Shoulders touching, a few holding hands. Kapono had his arms draped around Natalie and a woman Derek hadn’t met yet.

Derek felt awkward as everyone turned their eyes towards him, watching him warily. He knew that wariness. It was a wariness born of pain and disappointment. Derek didn’t want to make it worse, not when he also knew that pain.

Celia dropped his hand, leaving him alone in front of the pack. He was aware of the others in the town gathering around them, forming a circle around the pack, but it didn’t feel aggressive. It felt welcoming. He glanced around, seeing people he had met or seen over the past week since he had been here.

“You doing this?” the cranky man who had left first the last time Derek had spoken asked.

Derek looked at him. “What’s your name?” he asked, knowing he needed to figure this out.

“Sean Wolfe.”

Derek paused. “Really?”

Sean looked grumpy and nodded. “I know. Trust me, I know.”

“Right,” Derek said, glancing around again before settling back on Sean. “I am.”

“What about the full moon?”

Derek sighed. “It’s stronger at the moon, and there’s a lot of tradition around it for obvious reasons. The bond won’t be as strong until then when we shift under the power of the moon, but it will be there.”

Someone else cleared their throat, and Derek looked to see someone else. “Yes…?”

“Mina Russo,” the tall woman said. She looked like she was Derek’s Mom’s age but had a lined face that spoke of a hard life. “Full moons are hard. Never had much control.”

She spoke rapidly with a strong East Coast accent, but Derek couldn’t place it. Her words were clipped, and she seemed like the sort of person who didn’t speak more than they needed to.

“It’ll be easier with an Alpha and a bond,” Derek said. “That I can promise.”

Mina eyed him warily but nodded her head. “Alright.”

Derek glanced around, seeing that no one else wanted to speak. He looked back at Natalie and raised an eyebrow. “You know what to expect or have seen it, I’m guessing? Want to go first?”

Natalie glanced over Derek’s shoulder, and he turned to see Elia standing there, holding their kids’ hands. Elia nodded, and Derek turned back to Natalie, who was smiling a little bit now, a look of wonder in her eyes.

“This will be messy,” Derek said, raising his voice, thinking of the two kids and not sure what people had seen before. “And bloody. So, uh…be warned?”

He waited a moment and then looked at Natalie, managing to smile even though he felt nervous. Derek glanced down at his shirt, glad it was black, before he looked back at Natalie and held out his hands to her. She smiled nervously at him, and he was glad that he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. She tugged off her shirt, leaving her in a white undershirt.

Natalie stepped forward and placed her hands in his, and they pressed their foreheads together, both breathing softly for a moment with their eyes closed. Derek always thought this moment was intimate, the calm before the storm as whatever tension faded in that instant. He should’ve done this with the kids he had bitten the first time around. Maybe it would’ve made things easier.

Derek opened his eyes, letting the shift overtake him. It ached, his teeth growing and changing, the bones healing slowly enough that he felt the pain. He could feel his face shift and the muscles pull, and he knew it wasn’t right. He bit back the grimace and let his vision shift, everything suddenly becoming clearer. The pain faded slowly, and Derek took a deep breath, aware of the silence in the town. He raised a hand, cupping the back of Natalie’s head while he squeezed her hand with his other.

“Run with us,” he said, his voice loud in the clearing. It was so quiet with only him speaking, but he powered on. “Hunt with us. Join with us.”

Natalie’s eyes opened on the last one, her face shifting and eyes flashing yellow as she tilted her head to the side. Before he could stop and think, Derek dropped his head down and bit her shoulder, picturing Natalie as his pack member, the two of them running in the woods, the howls under the light of the full moon as they brought down a buck as a pack.

The bond snapped into place almost instantly, and the two of them tilted their heads back and howled, the sound echoing, haunting in the silence of the mountains. Derek dropped his head, feeling a lightness come over him as the bond shifted between them before it settled, stronger than he had expected. He inhaled deeply, an ache he hadn’t been aware of fading almost instantly, making his shoulders feel better. The tension he didn’t know he had been carrying was gone.

He raised his head and looked at Natalie, glancing at the bite already beginning to heal. She looked younger and happier, and the lines around her eyes had faded slightly. She was grinning, her eyes shining as she pressed her free hand against her chest and inhaled deeply.

“I forgot,” she said around a sob. “I forgot what this felt like.”

Derek nodded. “Me too,” he said softly, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply. He felt a hand squeeze his, and he opened his eyes to meet hers as he squeezed back. “Welcome, Natalie Fernandez. Welcome to you and your family.”

He glanced over his shoulder at Elia and their two children, smiling at the three of them. “May you only run for joy.”

Elia grinned and inclined her head, and Derek turned back to Natalie. Keeping ahold of her hand, he tugged until her hand was on his shoulder, and she was standing a little behind him but to his left, keeping the connection. Derek glanced around the pack and could see the trepidation on some and excitement on others. He glanced at Kapono and nodded his head, holding out a hand.

Kapono looked around and stepped forward, taking Derek’s hand. Derek tilted his head back and smiled a little. “You’ll need to crouch for me to bite.”

Kapono nodded with a grin. “So, what do I do?”

“Press your forehead against mine,” Derek said, tilting his head up, waiting for Kapono’s to lean in.

“Close your eyes and just breathe with me,” he said, closing his own eyes as the two of them breathed for a second, finding a moment of calm. Derek let his face shift, and this time it didn’t hurt. There was no ache and no taste of blood. “And when I’m done speaking, shift, and I’ll bite.”

Kapono nodded his head. Derek let the moment stretch before he reached up and cupped the back of Kapono’s head, squeezing his neck gently.

“Run with us,” he intoned, listening as Natalie spoke with him, their voices mingling easily. “Hunt with us. Join with us.”

He felt Kapono’s face shift, and he opened his eyes to meet flashing yellow. Kapono ducked down, tugging his shirt to the side. Derek leaned in and bit down, thinking of Kapono standing at his shoulder, tall and proud and easily making friends where Derek failed. Of his bright smile and easy ways and how he made people feel welcome. He felt the bond snap into place. Derek threw his head back and howled again, Natalie joining him and Kapono following a second later.

Derek waited for the echo to die down before squeezing Kapono’s arm. “Welcome, Kapono Hale.”

Kapono inhaled sharply and swayed slightly, stumbling. Derek braced him, one hand gripping his arm to keep him upright. It took a moment before Kapono shook his head and straightened up without any issues, but Derek kept a hand on his arm. Like Natalie, he looked lighter, the lines around his eyes and the tension gone from his shoulders.

“Wow,” Kapono said, his eyes wide and face flushed. “That feels. I feel…”

Derek grinned. “Yeah. Like I said, we’re not meant to be alone.”

Kapono nodded, looking down and then around as if he was seeing the world anew. “I…wow.”

Kapono seemed to be at a loss for words, and Derek knew it would take time, so he just tugged Kapono’s arm, moving him towards the left. Natalie reached out and took Kapono’s arm. As soon as she did, Derek let go, watching as she pulled Kapono’s hand onto her shoulder, setting his hand over where Derek had bitten.

“Don’t let go,” Natalie said softly.

Kapono nodded and stood next to her, keeping his hand where she had put it. Derek glanced between them and looked back out to the crowd. “Who’s next?”

Lea stepped forward, her arms crossed. “Can I go next? I’ve always seen this and never got to do it.”

Derek looked at her and glanced at Kapono before looking back at Lea, who barely cleared five feet. “Can you wait until we shorten the line slightly?” he asked gently, not wanting to say no.

Derek relaxed when Lea laughed and nodded. “Sure thing.”

“Why does it matter?” someone asked.

Derek didn’t see who was speaking and nodded to Kapono. “His hand is resting on the bite, where the blood I drew is, even though the bite healed quickly. It’s a connection, and as more people join the pack, the connection will continue to grow as the circle grows. We try not to smear the marks.”

He glanced around, waiting for any more questions. When no one else spoke, he held out a hand, waiting for someone to step forward. There were nervous looks, and for a second, Derek wondered if he’d have to choose. He knew it was bad luck, supposedly, and he didn’t want to do it, but he also knew the people here didn’t understand. Before he could, a middle-aged man with dark hair, tan skin, and a thick beard stepped forward, looking nervous, but took Derek’s hand.

“Arjun Fuller,” the man said before Derek could ask.

“Nice to meet you,” Derek said gently, feeling the tension in the man’s hand. “Any questions?”

Arjun shook his head, before nodding. “Does it hurt?”

“Not long enough to worry about,” Kapono spoke before Derek did. “Uh, if I can speak.”

Derek shrugged and glanced over at him. “I was born into a pack. I never had to do this. And yes, you can speak. Just uh, try not to when we’re in the middle of everything. The words are ritual, they don’t affect the bonding, but it helps everyone relax.”

Kapono nodded but didn’t say anything else. Derek smiled again before turning back to Arjun, taking his hands, and tugging him closer. Arjun stumbled, but as he got closer, Derek watched as something determined filled his eyes, and he pressed his forehead against Derek’s a little harder than necessary. Derek bit back a smile, taking the minor hit a lot easier than he would’ve earlier in the day.

He felt like a fog had lifted, and he could see the world again. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, beginning the ritual again.

Derek didn’t know how long it took, but he watched as the last person, Sean, moved along the pack line, the echo of the howls fading slower than it had been before. Sean kept moving down, everyone careful not to break the connection until he was standing on Derek’s right. Derek looked around the pack. He could feel the energy thrumming in him, could feel the emotions of everyone building as people did their best to stay still, but the more people they added, the harder it had gotten.

He looked around the pack again and smiled, tugging up his sleeves, so his forearm was on display. “This part is different for each pack. In my pack, there were either two Alphas or an emissary to complete the circle.”

“We used our emissary,” Natalie spoke up.

“Two Alphas,” Lea offered.

Derek nodded. “There’s no right way to do this last part, but this is a new pack, and so we have to create our own traditions.”

He looked down at his arm before he bit his forearm. The pain flared, and he held on for a second, making sure the blood welled before he pulled his mouth away. The cut healed instantly, but the blood stayed there, creating an impression where his teeth had bitten. He knew he had to look a sight, with the blood of eighteen werewolves on his teeth, but he didn’t care. He could feel something primal building inside him, stoked by the blood.

The bonds were stronger than he thought they would be, and he felt like he had a live wire running through his body, buzzing at his insides, making him feel jittery. He glanced around the pack again and grinned, knowing what was coming, and he knew most weren’t prepared for it.

“Get ready to run,” Derek said softly, looking around the rest of the pack before looking back at Sean, who still looked nervous. “Take my arm, the same way everyone else has. Complete the circle.”

Sean looked at him for a moment before determination flared, and he reached out, pressing a hand against the blood on Derek’s arm. Something snapped into place inside of Derek, and he threw his head back and howled louder than he ever had before, the rest of his pack joining him as their voices rose higher and higher. Derek felt something surge in him, and then the energy flowed out between them, the bond between them all growing stronger. For a split second, Derek felt like he was all eighteen of them, and they were all him; they were one person.

He threw his head back and howled again, and everyone else joined, the sound music to his ears. Derek grinned, looking around at his pack, feeling the connection, the freedom, and the happiness that bounced between them. He felt the shift take over him, the sound of clothes tearing a background noise to the relief that it didn’t hurt. He shook his head, getting rid of the tatters of shirt and jeans, and kicked out of the shoes as best as he could.

He took a step back, looking up as his pack’s faces shifted into their beta form. With one last howl, they ran.

---

Hours later, Derek collapsed in the town center, panting as he looked around as the rest of his pack came in, laughing and smiling and breathing heavily. Derek didn’t know how far they had run, but the sun was starting to set by the time they made it back into town. He watched as everyone collapsed around him, fingers and hands reaching out until they connected again. Derek looked over as some of the other townspeople began to make their way over, walking toward friends or family.

He looked up as Alice and Celia walked over and crouched down in front of him. “Good?” Alice asked, a soft smile on her face to match Celia’s wide grin.

Derek nodded his head, still panting as he looked around. He knew he needed to change back and talk, but he could see kids around, and now that he wasn’t overcome with the sensation of the pack, he could think clearer. He didn’t want to get naked right then.

Alice smiled as if she knew what he wanted and waved a hand at someone. Derek turned his head to see Sai wander over, a blanket held in his hands.

Sai grinned at him and spread it out on top of him. “As much as I appreciated the view, I think this would make it easier.”

Derek nodded, waiting for the blanket to settle before he changed back. The difference was amazing. He felt like he flowed from one form to the next, with no pain, no issues. It felt natural in a way it never had before. He wrapped the blanket around himself and tugged it closer as he looked around at the pack. He couldn’t stop grinning, couldn’t help the smile as he looked around his Pack.

“If this is a weak bond, I’m nervous for the Full moon,” Lea said from where she was half leaning against Sean, the two of them smiling wide.

“This isn’t weak,” Derek replied. “I…”

He stopped and turned to look at Celia, who grinned. “Told you there was power here,” she said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. “Made the bond full. It’s how our wolves managed to not go feral until you came.”

Derek nodded and pulled the blanket closer. “That’s good,” he said softly. He let out a grunt when he felt someone drop down behind him and collapse against his back. He turned enough to see Kapono, shirtless and grinning up at the sky.

“That was amazing,” Kapono said, shaking his head. “Always heard stories, you know, but I never actually got to experience it until now, and it’s just. Wow.”

Derek could see people nodding, and he rubbed the side of his face, his cheeks hurting from how much he was smiling. “I’m sorry most of you didn’t get that experience beforehand. Wolves aren’t meant to be alone.”

“We’re not, not anymore,” Natalie said from the edge of the group, where she hugged her two kids, Elia resting a hand on her shoulder.

Derek tilted his head back, resting against Kapono and letting himself inhale deeply and let it out in time for his stomach to rumble loud enough even the non-supernatural could hear it. He heard chuckles, and he smiled.

“Come on. We cooked up some food. This is cause for celebration,” Alice said, clapping her thighs and standing up, looking around the group.

“I need pants,” Derek said, watching as everyone stood up. Sai held out a hand for him, and Derek took it, letting Sai pull him up. The blanket flapped in the light breeze, and he grabbed it quickly, hearing the chuckles at his antics. “I’m going to get pants.”

“Please,” Alice said, wrinkling her nose slightly. “We’re out by the barn, it won’t be hard to miss. Follow your nose.”

“I can make sure he gets there,” Sai said, shoving his hands in his pocket.

Derek looked at the other man, raising an eyebrow and blushing when he got a wink in response. “Sure,” he said, looking back at Alice and around the group.

No one missed the blush on his cheeks, and he could see a combination of grins and concern, and he pushed the sensation of contentment out along the bond, watching as people reacted. Some touched their chest, some frowned, and some looked around for a moment before everyone looked at him.

“Sending emotions along the bond is a conscious choice,” Derek explained. “So don’t worry about any odd feedback for your emotions. The only time it is an unconscious choice is when you’re hurt or scared. It’s in a wolf’s nature to want pack, and you’ll naturally reach for pack in those moments.”

Derek looked around, watching as everyone nodded their heads, but no one made a move to stand up and go. Everyone was watching him, and he pulled his blanket tighter around himself. “Well?” he asked, glancing around again. “Go, get food. I’ll be there soon.”

“You gonna be okay?” Kapono asked, looking at Sai and back at Derek.

Derek sighed. “You all remember that I’m a lot older than I look?”

Kapono shrugged. “Also, remember you sayin’ something about not having the best luck.”

Derek could appreciate the word games Kapono was playing, but he nodded. “I’m okay, promise. Go.”

Derek pushed a feeling of safety down the bond, and slowly everyone got up and left, falling into packs of two or three as they wandered away from the town center in a direction Derek hadn’t gone yet. He watched them go until only Alice, Celia, Sai, and Kapono remained.

“Everything’s happening so quickly,” Derek said softly, glancing around the group and back in the direction everyone had gone. “I don’t even know where that leads. I haven’t been there. There’s so much I haven’t seen.”

“Goddess provides,” Alice said simply. “We needed an Alpha, and you needed a safe place and a pack. Seems to me moving fast was the right thing to do.”

“She knows what she’s doing,” Celia agreed.

Derek was skeptical about that, but he looked back at Alice. “Can you still look and see? I want to know why she needed me to come back,” he said, wanting to know what was so important he got sent back in time.

Alice nodded. “Three days, the night before the full moon. The wolf will be on the cusp, so you’ll be teetering at the edge. It’ll be easier to get to your soul.”

“Get to my soul? That sounds terrifying,” Derek said dryly.

Alice laughed. “Soul’s the blueprint for our lives. Good, bad, it’s all there, caught up in the body. Memories, sensations, everything that makes us who we are. The Goddess sent your soul back so we can use it to find our way forward. It’ll show us your old world, even things you didn’t know. What do you think ghosts are?”

Derek shrugged. “I don’t know. Do you know why they linger?”

Alice frowned slightly. “You see them?”

“When I’m a wolf,” he explained. “I never tried it in a big city.”

Alice nodded, chewing her bottom lip. “We don’t know why they’re there, can’t always see ‘em, but they ain’t hurtin’, and not many see ‘em. Maybe if you see the Goddess again, you can ask her.”

Derek nodded. “Sure, let me just get right on that.” He sighed and tugged the blanket around himself. “Three days.”

Alice nodded and reached out a hand, resting it on his shoulder and squeezing. “Talk to Lacie before then. She means well, and you need to be prepared for what’s comin.”

“I’ll try.”

The hand squeezed tighter for a second, fingers digging in with more strength than expected. “See that you do,” Alice said before she turned and left, snagging Celia’s hand to drag her behind her.

“I’ll save you a plate,” Celia called back, waggling her fingers at Derek.

Kapono dropped an arm around Derek’s shoulders and pulled him into a half hug. “Gonna be okay with having your soul examined?” he asked.

Derek nodded his head. “I need answers, one way or another.”

Kapono tightened his arm before he nodded. “Alright, don’t be too long. Otherwise, I’ll be sending the kids to find you.”

Kapono glared pointedly at Sai, who held up his hands. “I just wanna talk,” the man said, shrugging his shoulders.

Derek had no clue what Sai wanted to talk about. They had had two and a half conversations since Derek had been back, and he didn’t know what the other man wanted. He had an idea, but Derek was long past the age he would assume something. He had been hurt too often not to be blunt about the situation.

He turned to look at Sai, who was watching him with a half-smile on his face. “So,” Derek said as he began to walk, keeping a tight hold on the blanket.

“So, you’re hot,” Sai said bluntly.

Derek stumbled slightly. He hadn’t expected the bluntness in return. “I never know what to say to that,” Derek admitted. “Thank you?”

Sai chuckled. “Yeah, there’s no good way about it. You say thank you, and you sound conceited; you smile and nod; it looks shy. No good way to do it. Might as well go hog wild.”

“I know,” Derek said.

“You know?”

“I know I’m hot,” he offered, rubbing a hand over his jaw. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how young he looked when he saw himself in the mirror. He had only just started being able to grow the full beard he had grown before, and he was glad for it. He had liked the five o’clock shadow.

“Right,” Sai said, nodding as they got to the bottom of the building Derek had been staying in. “Well, I know it’s all sort of new and stuff, but I would like to see if you wanted to go on a date. Get to know each other, that sort of thing.”

“Isn’t that moving fast?” Derek asked, feeling a little out of sorts. He hadn’t been asked on a date since high school, and he had said no to all of them.

Sai shook his head. “Not here. Not a lot of new people. Gotta shoot your shot, or you’ll lose it.”

“Oh,” Derek said, tugging the blanket tighter around himself as he looked at the other man.

Sai was attractive. He was taller than Derek and lean, with dark eyes and a bright smile. In the few days Derek had seen him around, everyone liked the man, and he was friendly with everyone. Derek wondered how often the man had to do his job.

“You can say no. It’s okay,” Sai said, smiling gently.

Derek grimaced. “No…I uh.” He pressed a hand against his face for a second with his free hand before jerking his thumb over his shoulder. “Let me put pants on, okay?”

Sai laughed and nodded. “Sure thing. Want me to wait for you, or do you need some time to think about it?”

Derek looked at the Sherriff, his hands hooked into his belt with an easy smile. Sai seemed kind, the sort of kindness that came from a good life that hadn’t known much pain or loss. The kind of life Derek had never led in either lifetime. He opened his mouth to say no, but then he stopped himself and closed his mouth. It was the sort of life Derek had never had, but he could feel the warmth from the pack bonds in his chest and the way he felt complete for the first time in a long, long time.

“Wait,” Derek said before his mind caught up. “I uh…well. It’s been a day for new things for me, so what’s one more?”

He knew he sounded unsure, but Sai was nice, and he was Derek’s type even though it had been a long, long, time since Derek had looked at someone and wanted them. Even if that want was just to try to start something new and good, he knew it might not work out, but Derek’s love life was a history of abuse, and now, Sai was smiling at him with an openness Derek had never seen before from someone. Most of his memories were clouded with the realities of what had happened to him.

Derek remembered his parents, the first time around before Kate had killed them, and how in love they had been. The way they looked at each other every day with so much love that it had grossed him out. Even this time around, they had been close, Talia looking at his Dad for reassurance when she didn’t think anyone was watching. Derek wanted something like that. Laura had called him a hopeless romantic when they had been in New York as he constantly tried to find someone to make him happy.

It had taken being thrown back in time to realize that he couldn’t be happy with someone else because it had been a long time since he had felt true happiness. There was a warmth in his chest that he thought might be the start, but it had long enough that he didn’t know if he could trust it. But he wanted to.

Derek nodded his head a little more firmly. “I’d appreciate the company,” he said, trying to smile and knowing he failed.

Sai grinned. “Alright then, I’ll just wait here. A gentleman caller, as it were.”

“Well, we’re in an old frontier town. I’d expect that’s how it goes.”

“You’re sleeping in an old brothel,” Sai pointed out.

Derek snorted, rubbing a hand over his neck, and nodded, looking behind him. “I suppose I am. I fit right in then,” he said, looking down at his lack of clothes. Distantly Derek could hear laughter, and the smell of food was beginning to drift over. He looked towards where the rest of the town had gone and then back at Sai. “I’ll uh…be right back.”

Sai smiled. “I’ll be here.”

Part 5

May 18th, 2008

“You sure about this?”

Derek looked up at Kapono, who had his arms crossed as he stared at Alice, Celia, and Lacie. The sisters were wandering around the center of town, chanting in unison as they sprinkled something on the ground that made his nose itch. They were wearing identical white dresses, which Celia had informed him were made out of linen because it was magically neutral.

“Yes,” Derek said, but he could hear the hesitance. He sighed. “I need to know.”

“Do you? It’s not always good looking in the past,” Kapono said softly. “Sometimes, you just get hurt all over again.”

Derek swallowed and thought about Kate and the wolfsbane smoke, the look in her eyes right before he snapped her neck and nodded. “You can live through everything twice and sometimes still end up hurt,” Derek said softly. “The Goddess pulled me from my world, and I don’t know why. I need to know if saving my family helped or if there was something else I needed to keep an eye out for. I need to know that I made the right choices.”

Kapono sighed, dropping an arm around Derek’s shoulder and leaning against him. Derek took the weight easily. Derek had spent the past three days getting used to having a pack again. He had how good it felt to have a pack bond. He slept better, he was hungrier, and his moods didn’t swing from side to side. He felt strong. He was ready for this.

His pack was happy, and their happiness infected each other. Derek’s cheeks ached from smiling more than he had in a long time. Even the conversation he had had with Sai was comfortable, the other man content to just talk to Derek for the time being. It had been awkward, but the other man’s patience with him made Derek relax, and they had started to bond over a love of old books and mysteries.

Derek wondered if he was happy. He knew he wasn’t alright. Mornings were still hard, and he knew he needed to talk to Lacie. Actually, talk to her and see if she could help him. But he thought he might be happy. It was so foreign a concept that he didn’t even know if what he was feeling was real anymore.

“Well,” Kapono said when the silence stretched out. “At least you got us.”

Kapono waved a hand, indicating the pack arrayed around the edge of the town square. Derek hadn’t expected anyone to be there, but as the three sisters began to work, people slowly started to show up, arranging themselves outside the circle they had drawn.

“Full moons tomorrow. Everyone’s on edge,” Derek said, waving back to a few of the pack members who waved at him. He was still getting to know everyone’s names, and he wondered if he could get them to wear name tags. “First time run with a pack on the full moon. It’ll be an experience.”

“I remember my first full moon,” Kapono mused. “It wasn’t good.”

Derek hadn’t asked anyone what had happened. He wanted them to come to him and tell him when they were ready. He knew what it was like when something got dragged out of you without your intention. Lacie had apologized, and Derek had accepted. Her intentions had been good, and while it had hurt at the time, the knowledge that everyone here knew what had happened to him made him feel like a weight had been lifted.

“I was born in Hawaii,” Kapono said softly. “Raised there, the whole family is there. We don’t have werewolf packs there, got a lot of shifters, though. A lot of kitsune, all sorts. Always knew about the supernatural world. My sister even ended up marrying a kitsune.” Kapono paused and inhaled slowly. “I got a job for a tech company in California, fully paid, benefits, the whole nine yards. So I went because it was a good opportunity. Spent two years working there and ended up going camping with some friends in Yellowstone one summer for fun.”

Kapono fell silent, and Derek wrapped an arm around him, supporting his new friend. A silence had fallen over the square. No one wanted to disturb Kapono.

“Got bitten, never saw who, never understood why. Got found by a local pack who had been hunting the rogue Alpha. They helped me out, got me under control, but they were insular and didn’t want any newcomers, especially someone who looked like me,” Kapono said with a tight smile. “They wanted to blend in, and I stood right out in Wyoming. So, they sent me packing after I had some control. I went back to California and tried to fit in, but I lost my mind on the first full moon. Didn’t kill anyone, but it was a close thing. I hurt some people. It all got blamed on mountain lions, of all things. I got lucky, but I knew I wasn’t safe, so I quit my job and started wandering around. I knew I couldn’t go home. No packs there, so it wasn’t safe for anyone. I kept getting shunted from pack to pack until I ran into Rosie, Alice’s kid, outside Charleston.”

Kapono nodded his head towards Alice. “Rosie told me about this place, and I came here a few years back and never left.”

Derek turned and hugged Kapono tightly. He knew that the stories people would tell him weren’t going to be happy ones, but it still hurt each time. “I’m sorry,” he said softly, knowing the others could hear them. “I told you before, and I’ll tell you now, that’s not how it’s supposed to happen.”

Kapono hugged him back, resting his chin on top of Derek’s head in a way that reminded him of when Laura had hugged him before he had had a growth spurt.

“It’s all good, brother,” Kapono said after a moment. “It all worked out in the end, didn’t it? Got a pack now.” Kapono pulled back and ruffled Derek’s hair. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Derek said, swatting the hand away absently. “Yeah, you do.”

“Derek, we’re ready.”

Derek turned to see the three sisters standing in a line at the circle’s edge, holding hands. They were glowing faintly, and the light was brighter where they were holding hands.

“What do I need to do?” Derek asked, swallowing down the instinctive urge to turn and run away. The three sisters smirked slightly, and Derek sighed. “Naked, right?”

Alice nodded. “Sorry, kiddo,” she said, sounding apologetic despite the amusement on her face. She reminded him of Peter, this worlds Peter, and he missed his uncle something fierce.

Derek looked around the group and watched as a few of them began to shuffle the few kids away. Derek sighed again and dragged his shirt off, kicking off his shoes. He was comfortable in his body but being on display in front of so many people still made him feel awkward. He rubbed a hand over his neck before pulling off his jeans and dropping them into the pile with everything else, leaving him in the boxers.

“Do I uh…can I…”

“You need to be free of everything before you step into the circle,” Alice said. “Sorry.”

“Right.”

Derek sighed and stripped off, fighting the urge to cover himself as he stepped into the circle. He ignored the people behind him and focused on the sisters, glad when Alice kept her eyes up and on his face.

“Come with us,” they intoned in unison, their hands beginning to glow brighter.

With Alice in the middle, they turned, their dresses spilling out to the side in a flare of white. He followed them as they walked to the middle of the town and stood in a half-circle around the bed of power they had been creating. He could see herbs, ashes, and something wet in a bowl. He remembered what Alice had said about the four forms of power and wondered how they were going to add air into the mix,

“Lay down,” they intoned again.

Derek laid down before he thought too much about it and stretched out on his back, ignoring the sensation of something wet sticking to his back. The sisters knelt, and Derek watched as Lacie picked up the bowl and held it out so Celia could scoop it out. Derek grimaced as she began to paint symbols onto his skin. Whatever was in the bowl was cold, wet, and smelled faintly of mildew. It dried quicker than he had expected and started to itch.

“Don’t move,” Alice chided softly.

Derek stilled and stared up at the sky, forcing himself not to move as Celia kept painting him.

“Can I ask what you’re doing?” he said softly, not wanting to disturb them, but he wanted to know.

“Binding you to the Earth,” Alice said, watching her sisters work. “It’s the easiest way. This way, we can use that binding to connect your soul to a soul from your past. Someone you had a connection with. That connection will allow us to walk in a future gone.”

Derek nodded, thinking of Scott and the bond they had shared, albeit reluctantly. He settled down on the ground, staring at the stars in the sky, and ignored the sensation of hands on him. After a few moments, Derek realized they were following the lines of his arteries and veins, painting along his body. It was hard when the painting went down over his hips, he had always been ticklish, and he was glad when she painted along the sides of his hips, skipping his groin as she kept painting over his thighs and feet.

“Palms up,” Celia said softly.

Derek turned his hands carefully, not wanting to disturb anything. He felt fingers press down on his palms, and he glanced to the side, curiosity getting the better of him, but he couldn’t make out what it was. Finally, Celia set the bowl down and wiped her hand on the ground before they sat back on their heels, their hands glowing even brighter.

He looked to the side as best as he could as they started chanting again. The words sounded familiar, like a thought just out of reach in his mind, but he couldn’t understand them. The words kept spilling out, and Derek could feel whatever they painted on him begin to chill and heat in random pulses over his body. As one, Lacie and Celia pressed something smooth and cool over his chest, and he lifted his head, frowning at the sight of a wolfsbane flower sitting in the muck painted over his chest. He half expected it to burn, but the flower just started glowing like the sisters.

The sisters stood and began to walk in a circle around him, still chanting. He followed them with his eyes as best as possible without moving, feeling the alternating chill and heat move into a steadier rhythm. It took a moment to realize it was pulsing in time with each thud of his heart against his chest. Finally, the sisters stopped by his head, still chanting and slowly beginning to glow brighter and brighter. They knelt again, Alice by his head and Celia and Lacie on either side of him.

Alice leaned down and pressed her forehead against his, still chanting, and Derek could make out that it was the same thing, over and over again. The cadence was the same, as was the intonation, but he still couldn’t make out the words. They never seemed to take a breath as they spoke faster and faster, the words running together into a string of noises. Alice leaned up, and Derek inhaled sharply as their eyes began to glow a deep orange-red the color of fire.

Celia and Lacie grabbed his hands in their free ones before the sisters slammed their connected hands down over his chest. The heat from the muck across him flared up. It felt like fire licking across his skin, followed by an ice-cold bath, a never-ending cycle. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to stay still, his muscles tensing and aching as he forced his body not to jerk away from the pain.

Suddenly the sisters stopped speaking, the sudden silence jarring in the wake of the never-ending stream of words. He felt the fire and cold begin to build, and he couldn’t stop the cry of pain as it felt like he was flayed open. He arched up, unable to stop himself as he screamed, the pain worse than anything he had felt before. The hands gripping his tightened as the hands on his chest pressed him back into the earth.

Derek forced his eyes open to see past tears streaming down his face as the blurry figures of the three sisters inhaled deeply, and then they blew air across his body.

Derek turned his head around, the pain gone so suddenly it almost made him nauseous. He turned his head the other way and stopped as he looked at the sisters standing next to him, still holding hands. He looked down and saw Alice holding his hand, but it was Celia standing next to him when he looked up. A blink, and then it was Lacie, the three of them changing in time with the beat of his heart.

“What…”

“Shh, Derek Hale,” the three sisters said quietly. “We are here to observe.”

Derek turned and looked around him, finally realizing where he was.

Beacon Hills.

He could see the dilapidated ruins of his house on the hill, nature beginning to creep onto the burned-out husk and tear it down. He could hear yelling, but he could barely make it out. He looked to the side, to the sisters staring at him before turning back and heading towards the house.

They were inside suddenly, and Derek looked around, taking in the pack. He recognized Scott, Lydia, Stiles, and Ethan, but the others were unknown to him. Derek stepped closer, wanting to know what they were saying. They were ghosts, apparitions with their edges fraying every time they moved.

”Stiles, c’mon, man. This isn’t gonna work,” Scott was saying.

Stiles shook his head. “It’s gotta, the worlds dying, Scott, and we don’t know why.”

“It’s dangerous,” Lydia said, her voice hoarse.

“So? We have to know. We have to fight it.”

“What if we can’t,” Scott said.

“We have to. I can’t let…I can’t let my Dad’s death be in vain,” Stiles said, his voice cracking on the word.

Lydia opened her mouth suddenly and screamed, her back arching up. Ethan was there instantly, grabbing her and holding her tightly as she screamed and kept screaming. Suddenly she stopped and slumped to the side. Stiles opened his mouth, only for Lydia’s back to arch as she screamed again, this one longer and harsher. The sound kept going on and on until she collapsed to the side, unconscious. Ethan set her down, and one of the other women in the group rushed over, helping Ethan. No one looked worried about what had happened; they all looked resigned to the fact.

“It’s getting worse,” Scott said, his head hanging down between his arms. “Fuck, Stiles.”

“I’m doing this,” Stiles said, spreading a map across the table. He was pale, his skin drawn tightly across his face like a skeleton covered by a funeral shroud. “We need to find where this started so we can fix this. We have to fix this.”

Derek inhaled sharply and stepped back, away from the scene in front of him. The hand in his tightened, and he turned, seeing the sisters shake their head before tugging him back in closer to see.

Stiles cut his hand open and pressed it against the map, mumbling under his breath in the same language that the sisters had used. His voice was shaky, and he had none of the strength that Derek remembered. Suddenly the map glowed a faint sickly green light that made Derek ill just to look at it.

The light faded, and Stiles stumbled to the left, caught by Scott, who helped him sit down. Stiles ran a shaky hand over his face, panting harshly, looking even paler.

“It’s getting harder, isn’t it?” Scott asked, crouching down in front of Stiles.

Stiles nodded, his eyes wide and full of fear as he grabbed Scott’s arm. “I can barely feel it, I have to drag it out of the Earth, and it’s so wrong. It feels so sick. The Earth is dying.”

“We knew that,” Scott snapped, his eyes flaring a muted red for a half-second before he collapsed forward, inhaling and wheezing as he did so.

Another person moved, grabbing something and passing it to Stiles, who stuck it in Scott’s mouth and pressed down. An inhaler, Derek realized a second after Scott inhaled, the wheezing sound fading as he breathed deeply.

“Why?” the woman helping Lydia asked.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said, stumbling to his feet and over to the map. “All I know is that it started here. This is where there’s still magic, so maybe someone will know what’s happening. We need to go here.”

He tapped a spot on the map and looked around the room. Derek stepped forward with the sisters and looked down at the map. His eyes widened as he looked at the spot, and he heard one of the sisters make a noise, and he turned, meeting their eyes.

“That’s the middle of nowhere,” Scott said, voice hoarse.

“So? We go. What else can we do?” Stiles demanded. “Stay here as more people die? If we take turns driving, we can make it in three days, maybe two if we’re lucky. We need to go.”

“So we go,” Lydia spoke up from where she had been reclining against Ethan, her face a mask of pain. “I can feel more death; it keeps coming. It’s not going to stop unless we stop it. So, we go.”

The scene shifted, and Derek stilled as he looked up at the burnt-out husk of the parlor house he had been living in for the past few weeks. The house looked macabre in the dark of the night, the shifting shadows of the moon and clouds making it hard to see what happened. He heard another cry, and he turned to see the sisters with tears running down their faces as he finished turning with them, looking around at the ruins of the town. There were bodies decomposing across the ground, all shapes and sizes, with burnt-out husks of buildings standing guard. The four of them began to walk towards the center of town, where the most bodies were.

“What happened here?”

Derek turned, seeing Scott and Stiles there, and it was daytime. The pack was walking around carefully, and they all looked even more worn out. Lydia had a hand pressed against her throat, and tears were streaming down her face. Stiles stumbled every other step, Scott not much better, his eyes flashing red even as he gripped the inhaler in his hand tighter.

“I don’t know,” Stiles said softly, crouching next to a body and pressing a shaking hand against the shoulder.

Derek drifted closer, feeling the tug on his hand, and he turned to see the sisters shaking their head. He knew that pain; he knew it well, and he knew it wouldn’t ever get better. He stepped close, pressing a hand against their arm, and pulled them into a hug. He could feel the body shifting underneath him as they switched between the three sisters, and he kept holding for a long moment before he let go and started to walk towards the body, the sisters not stopping him this time.

He crouched down next to Stiles and watched as he slowly rolled the body over, revealing Sai’s desiccated face. Derek could tell that he was older, but that was it. His skin was stretched over his bones like the mummies he saw in action movies.

“Someone shot him,” Stiles said, reaching down to trace shaking fingers over the rip in his clothes.

“So was this person,” someone else called. Derek stood and turned, walking over to where the woman who had been helping Lydia earlier was. “I think she was a werewolf. She’s got wolfsbane poisoning, I think.”

Derek looked down at Natalie, worn and tired with the telltale black lines under her skin. He looked up and around, trying to see anyone alive.

“Kira, do you see anyone alive?” Scott asked from across the center.

The woman, Kira, looked up and around and shook her head. “No, do you?”

Derek felt the hand gripping his tighten, and he stood up, letting the sisters lead him over to the well. He drifted to a stop when he recognized the body lying in front of it. It was hard to miss Kapono, even in death. He was covered in cuts and bruises that never had a chance to heal, and his face was half-shifted and in agony in a way none of the others were. One hand was stretched out towards the wall. Derek could see ropes hanging over the sides of the well, pulled taut, and he swallowed against the revulsion.

He stepped closer, not wanting to see, but he knew he needed to. He needed to see what had happened. He paused and looked behind him at the sisters, and their hand tightened on his own. He turned and leaned over the edge of the well to stare into the darkness. It took a second for his eyes to adjust, and he wished he hadn’t seen.

Three bloated faces stared up at him, their eyes wide open and staring up at him in recrimination. He stumbled back away from the dead sisters and turned with wide eyes, seeing them living right next to him. Alice, Lacie, and Celia tilted their head at him and tried to go around, but he stopped them with a shake of his head, trying to take a few steps away, but he was jerked to a halt and dragged back towards the well.

Derek kept shaking his head, not wanting them to see, but he knew it was fruitless. He could see them stiffen in shock when they looked over, their hand reaching out as if to touch, but they stopped at the last minute. They curled their hand back and stumbled back into Derek, who pulled them into a hug, resting his chin on their head as he watched as Scott’s pack slowly checked everyone.

No one was alive. It was another ghost town.

“No one,” Stiles called out across the town center before he coughed, a deep nasty sound that hadn’t been there back in Beacon Hill.

“Stiles,” Lydia said, her voice higher pitched and echoing like a fading scream in a canyon. “Sit down. Breathe. You need to rest.”

Stiles sat down but let out a harsh laugh. “Rest for what? We don’t even know what happened.”

A howl pierced the air, and everyone turned as a blur of faded denim and flannel sped into town, yellow eyes wide and feral. Scott was there before the wolf could attack, pinning whoever it was on their back and roaring in their face. Scott’s face was half shifted, mouth bleeding in a way that Derek remembered from his time without a pack.

The sisters tugged him closer, and he went, stopping only when he recognized the person Scott had pinned. Julia May, the chef from the diner, her hair matted down and face scratched up. Her eyes were wide and feral. She looked nothing like the perky woman Derek knew.

“Who are you?” Scott demanded, wheezing as he spoke.

“No one, just no one, only no one,” Julia said, shaking her head before giggling. “Just a ghost. A lonely ghost floating by.”

“What happened here?” Scott tried.

“The sick one came. He came with the woman whose face was made of mountains, and they burned and hung them, and it all went bad,” Julia said, still laughing as she struggled. “He burned and burned them all, and he hung them, then he burned, and he killed them. And she laughed.”

The laughter turned into tears as Julia shook her head. “Death. Death came, and he took us all. It was supposed to be a sanctuary, but it was more death. The sisters are gone, all gone. We therefore commit this body to the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, death comes for us all. There’s no water here now. It’s dry, dry dry dry…”

Scott stumbled away from Julia, who kept alternating between crying and laughing even as she didn’t move. She just kept repeating dry over and over again. Scott grabbed his inhaler and took a deep breath, the red fading from his eyes as he panted.

“Hunters,” Stiles said softly, walking over and dropping into the dirt next to Scott. “And I bet I know exactly which hunter it was.”

“He’s dead,” Scott said. “I made sure of it. Derek bit him, and he was filled with Wolfsbane, and he died.”

Derek stumbled back away from Scott and shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but a hand covered his mouth and stopped him before he could. He looked down at the sisters as they mouthed ‘no’ at him.

“And Derek’s dead. Kate killed him. Maybe she did it to bring Gerard back. We don’t know; we never found her,” Stiles said softly. “This, all of this. The burned-out buildings and the wolfsbane? We know that. That’s Argent work. Allison and Victoria are dead, Chris is off somewhere, but he wouldn’t do this.”

Scott shook his head even as Stiles kept speaking, his voice stronger than before.

“It’s Gerard. It has to be. There’s no other Argents who would do this.”

Stiles turned his head, looking back at the well behind Derek. Stiles frowned, taking another step forward, his head tilting to the side. For a brief second, Derek swore Stiles was looking right at him before the world shifted, and they were in a clearing. Derek turned around, looking at the trees around them. The hand in his own tightened and turned to see the sisters as individuals again, all three of them looking around in confusion. Derek turned and looked towards the center, spotting a campfire crackling away merrily. He looked back at the sisters and raised his eyebrows, not sure whether he could talk yet or not.

The sisters frowned, and Derek felt worried as he looked back at the campfire. He looked back at them. “Where are we?” he slowly mouthed the words at them.

Alice slowly shrugged and tightened her hand in his.

“Come sit.”

The voice was all around them, and Derek knew that voice as he turned and spotted the woman sitting there, dressed in a green dress that flowed out of the ground and surrounded her. He could see flowers along the shoulders, and he was sure he spotted a bug crawl across its front. A flash of something caught his eye, and he leaned in to see a small trickle of water running down the side of the living dress and into the ground.

His arm yanked, and he stumbled to the side, glancing around in shock only to stop as he noticed the sisters kneeling on the ground, their heads bowed.

“No, don’t bow. Sit.”

The woman’s voice was firm and nicer than Derek had remembered it. It felt like a warm fire on a cold day instead of the angry steel the last time she had talked to him. The sisters stood, and they made their way over and sat down on the hewn trunks. Derek shifted carefully, suddenly very aware he was still naked as he felt the wood bite into his skin. He never knew how real these experiences were, and he didn’t want to get a splinter somewhere unfortunate.

“You can speak here,” the woman said.

For a moment, no one spoke, and Derek glanced to the side to see the three sisters staring at the woman with wide eyes.

“Why are we here?” Derek asked when it was apparent none of them were going to talk.

“You wished to see your past.”

“But why are you here?”

The woman shifted and lifted a hand, a butterfly taking flight from the back of her hand, its wings fluttering in front of her before it flew away. “I was dying, and I sent you back with the last of my power because you were the axis on which my destruction hung.”

“Why me?”

“You were the last Hale Alpha. When you gave up your spark to save your sister, it started the world down a horrible road.”

“Why does that matter? We’re just one pack.”

The woman shifted, her head turning to look around her. “Foundations are shakier than people want to believe. A crack in the right place can bring the world to its knees.”

Derek shook his head, wanting to rub his face with both hands, but Alice was still gripping his hand tightly, and he settled for pinching the bridge of his nose. “And the Hales are foundational?”

“You are part of the whole,” the woman said, looking back at him. “Your bloodline is.”

“Magic has been around a lot longer than wolves have been,” Derek said softly. “No matter who you attribute as the first wolf, magic was always there before us.”

The woman inclined her head. “Magic has been around since I first looked down upon my children, yes. Without magic, we would not have wolves, and without wolves, we would not have the bonds that flow across the earth and connect everything.”

“What?”

“Werewolves are the only magical creature to create pack bonds as you do,” the woman explained as if Derek were a small child. “None of the others do, not naturally. Even these three need to work to keep their bond strong, but you, Derek, and your kind have the bond built into everything you are. You are children of the moon, and I am the Earth. We need each other. And when the Hale line ended, that ability ended, and the world came crumbling down.”

Derek leaned forward, bracing his elbow on his knee as he tried to understand what she was telling him.

“The Hales have never accepted their position as the First, but it is true,” the woman continued. “You are the touchstone for the werewolf community, and when the Hale Alpha spark is gone, the world will die.”

“That’s why you sent me back?” Derek asked softly, looking back up at her.

The woman inclined her head. “I had one chance to fix what had been done to me, and you were the best option. Your actions started us down this bloody path, and you needed to fix what you had started.”

Derek felt the sinking sensation of guilt press down on his shoulders, and he closed his eyes again, unable to look at the woman and her endless, unblinking gaze. “I’m sorry.”

He felt Alice’s hand squeeze his own, and he turned his head and opened his eyes to look at the sisters, feeling pinned under their gazes. He looked back at the woman who was watching him impassively. “Is it fixed? Did I fix it?”

The woman tilted her head to the side before she nodded. “Life is always at the precipice of ending, balance is what makes the world keep moving forward, and for now, we shall keep moving.”

“And the town? Lost Cove? Is it saved?”

The woman tilted her head the other way. “For now.”

Suddenly Derek was pulled back into his own body. He stared up at the tear-streaked faces of the three sisters, trying to put everything he had seen back into place in his mind. He tried to make sense of everything. Derek sat up quickly, ripping his hands away from them as he jerked his body away and looked around. He could see the buildings standing tall and proud, and he could see Kapono pacing the edge of the circle as Elia rubbed a hand over Natalie’s back. He could see Julia with both hands pressed over her mouth and tears streaming down her face.

“Derek.”

He flinched at the sound of his name, and he turned, seeing the sisters wrapped up in a hug, a hand outstretched towards him. He looked at the hand and the welcoming faces of the sisters despite the pain in their eyes, and he stumbled towards it, letting himself get pulled into a tight hug as they tried to come to terms with the wasteland they had glimpsed and what the woman had told them.

Part 6

May 21st, 2008

Derek stared up at the sky as the sun slowly began to crest over the horizon. The Full moon had been good, and the town had a party. He had felt the bonds solidify even more. The pack had run, played, and hunted down a buck that was large enough it had fed the entire town by the time they had dragged it back. The humans in the town, at least. Derek and his pack had decimated the rabbit population the night before. He rubbed a hand over his chest, glad he had washed off in the stream before he had turned back into a human.

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Derek turned his head to watch as Natalie dropped down next to him, looking more relaxed and younger than when he had seen her. No one had asked him what they had seen during the spell, and he figured no one had asked the sisters. As far as he could tell, they had been still for an hour or so before the sisters started crying, and they had woken up.

His pack had gotten an echo of his pain, but none of them felt the full brunt of what Derek experienced, and he was glad. None of them needed to know the pain he felt, nor the guilt he was carrying.

“Thinking about what’s next,” he said softly, turning his head to look back at the sun, glad for the shade of the parlor house so he could watch it rise easier as he relaxed against the side of the building.

“What do you mean?”

Derek sighed. “I did what I was supposed to do, and now I’ve got a whole life in front of me, and I don’t know what to do with it.”

“What did you do? Before?”

Derek shrugged. “Worked odd jobs here and there. I tried college and graduated, but I don’t know how much use an English degree will be here. My family is rich, and Laura and I lived on the interest we got from one of the family accounts.”

“One of?” Natalie asked.

Derek looked up at her. “Really rich.”

She snorted and pulled her knees up, resting her chin on them and wrapping her arms around her legs. “What did you want to be as a kid?”

“Basketball player,” Derek said immediately. “I wanted to go and play with Michael Jordan on the Bulls. My Mom would always give me this look when I told her that. I never understood.”

“Do you now?”

“Yeah. I’m strong. Even if I was still a beta, I was too strong. I couldn’t bring that attention down on myself,” Derek said softly. “I had the dream, and then my family died, and it became about putting one step in front of the other and praying that the hunters never found us.”

Natalie reached out and took his hand, and Derek squeezed her hand back. “They won’t get us here,” he said, looking at her. “I promise.”

Natalie nodded, letting the silence lapse as the town moved about their business. He watched as the kids ran screaming around the town, people walking in twos or threes. He could see a large group laughing over something through the diner’s window.

“You know what I hate?” Natalie asked finally.

“What?”

“That we have to rely on humans who have no concept of what we are to police our world,” she said softly. “They don’t understand pack. They don’t understand why we need an Alpha to feel whole. They don’t know the difference between a witch, a spark, or a druid. They police a world they don’t understand, and we just let it happen.”

“They can do things we can’t,” Derek said, but he knew it was a fruitless argument.

“So? You can do things Alice can’t, and she can do things you can’t,” Natalie snapped. “Elia doesn’t need a pack, and Sai has his whole luck thing going on. Being able to do something someone else can’t doesn’t mean shit. And it’s an excuse a bunch of bigoted assholes use to try and keep us in our place.”

“So, what do we do? Let the Alpha who go wrong kill people, or allow the druids who turn into Darachs wander around?”

Natalie shook her head. “No, that’s…we need balance. There’s another answer, but the hunters aren’t it. By the time they realize what’s happening, it’s too late, and they make it worse. They throw fuel onto a flame and try to put it out with pretty words and stupid codes none of them live by.”

Footsteps sounded, and they both turned to watch Elia walk over, carrying one of their twins on her hip, the other kid was running behind Elia, chasing something only he could see. Derek still didn’t know who the father was, but the kid was cute with a head full of dark curls and bright brown eyes that were always looking around.

“Mama!” the kid said, reaching out with both hands. Derek still couldn’t tell them apart.

“Hey Caleb,” Natalie said, letting go of Derek’s hand to take the kid from Elia, who smiled down at the two of them.

“Taking my girl, Alpha?” Elia asked.

Derek shook his head. “Couldn’t if I wanted to. Family always wins,” he said, looking at the two kids. Caleb watched him solemnly; his thumb stuck into his mouth. He turned and looked at the other kid, Nicholas, who was hiding behind Elia’s legs. “How do you tell them apart?”

Natalie laughed and shifted Caleb, tugging up his sleeve to show off a gold band. “Caleb is gold, and Nick is white. We got them the day they were born and put them on as we named them. We have to keep getting a size up, but it helps. You can tell, well I can tell, and so can Elia, but it helps other people.”

Derek nodded his head. “That’s definitely helpful. Hello Caleb, Nicholas.” He turned and waved at them, smiling when they hid their faces away from him.

“Say hi to the Alpha boys,” Natalie said softly. “He might be yours one day.”

“They’re wolves?” Derek asked, smiling a little wider as Caleb turned and stared up at him.

“Hopefully, I carried them. They haven’t shown anything yet, so they might be. But I keep hoping,” Natalie explained. “El is gonna carry the next time.”

Derek glanced up as Elia sat down next to them, Nicholas crawling into her lap and sucking on his thumb as well. “Mind if I try something? I won’t hurt them, but it might scare them slightly.”

Natalie looked at him for a long moment, and Derek let her look her fill, trying to look trustworthy. Finally, she nodded her head. “Okay.”

He could sense her wariness, and he didn’t blame her. He smiled at Caleb. “Hey buddy, can you look at me?”

It took a second, but finally, Caleb looked at him, and Derek flashed his eyes at the kid. Caleb jerked back, his own eyes flashing gold for a second before it faded as he began to whimper and turned, burying his face in Caleb’s shoulder. He looked up at Natalie, who had wide eyes. “He’s a wolf.”

He heard a growl, and a second later, tiny fists were banging at his back, and he turned to see Nicholas snarling at him, his eyes flashing gold. Derek grinned down at the kid who was still glaring up at him.

“What?” Elia asked softly, crouching down.

“Pack always responds to the Alpha,” Derek said, letting out a soothing noise from the back of his throat he remembered his mother making to Grace when she had been a baby. He watched as Nicholas settled down, still glaring at him before running over to his brother. “They’re too young for more than the eyes right now, but their teeth will come in around five or so. Full face shift usually hits around eight, and then the claws always come out during their first full moon after puberty.”

“I’m thankful for the teeth,” Natalie said dryly. “Why didn’t they do that before?”

“They felt safe,” Derek said, holding a hand towards Caleb and smiling when the kid grabbed his finger and tried to pull it to his mouth. “And when they saw me, I was the Alpha, so they instinctually felt safe. But, family will always come first, so when I scared Caleb, Nicholas responded as well.”

“Do you feel them?”

“Sort of, it’s more like an extension of you,” Derek explained. “I won’t be able to feel them normally until they’re older. Your bond with them is more important than my bond with them.”

“And what about me?” Elia asked, her voice rough.

Derek looked at her and shrugged. “You’re pack as well. We can build a bond, it’s a little harder, but it is possible.”

“Why harder?”

“Werewolves naturally form packs,” Derek explained, thinking back to what the woman had told him. “But anyone can be pack. We just need someone to build the bond on your end, an emissary.”

“Is that so?” Natalie asked. “My Mom never told me that.”

Derek nodded. “Mine didn’t either, but I know it’s the truth, here,” he said, tapping his chest, “anyone can be pack, doesn’t matter what. It’s just a matter of building the bond.”

“How do we start?” Elia asked.

“We already have,” Derek said with a grin. “I’ve got your wife and kids after all.”

Elia rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder. “You ain’t got shit.”

Derek turned as he heard a laugh and watched as Sai walked over and crouched down in front of them, waving a hand at the twins, who jumped towards him. The man caught the twins and hugged them close before letting them down.

“How’s everyone doing?” Sai asked, looking around before meeting Derek’s eyes and holding them.

Derek still didn’t know what to make of the man. It felt quick, too fast, but no one had blinked an eye at it. Unless you counted Celia and her incessant winking anytime she saw the two of them near each other. He had enjoyed the dinner with the other man, and Sai had left it open for him to take the next step forward. Derek wanted to, but there was the worry that it would turn to shit and he would lose his home. Sai was family with the Amis’ and Derek couldn’t compete with that.

“Good,” Natalie said with a smile. “Found out the twins are wolves.”

“Well, that’s a good thing,” Sai said, still not looking away from Derek.

Derek dropped his eyes, unable to meet the openness, and turned to look around the town. He could see the pack in varying states of undress as a nod towards the early summer heat. People were sitting close to each other, and he could feel and hear the joy.

Derek smiled at the happiness he saw and felt something like peace himself. He had been on the run for a long time, and he missed this feeling. Missed being part of the pack. It hadn’t happened since before the fire.

“Derek was trying to figure out what to do now,” Natalie said, bringing Derek’s attention back to the small group.

“Oh?” Sai asked, shifting and sitting down, resting his elbows against his knees. “What are the options?”

Derek shrugged. “Never had an option before, not really.”

“Had a dream then?”

“Basketball,” Derek said.

“Ah.”

Derek rested his head against the wall, eyes drifting back to the sky as the shadows shortened as the sun rose. “I don’t even know what I can do.”

“Be a cop,” Sai said suddenly.

Derek turned to look at the other man. “What?”

“Well, every Sherriff needs a deputy, right?”

“Won’t that be a conflict of interest?” Derek asked before his mind caught up. “With uh…well…”

Sai smiled softly and leaned forward, raising an eyebrow. “Will it be? A conflict, that is.”

Derek blinked at the other man and felt his cheeks heat. “I uh…yes? Maybe?”

Sai’s smile turned into a grin. “Good to know. But it’ll be fine. It’s a small hidden supernatural town. I doubt anyone’s gonna call us on it. And besides, as the Alpha, you’re already doing the job.”

Derek grimaced but nodded his head. “I suppose.”

“It’s something to start?” Elia offered.

“What’s starting?” Kapono asked, appearing out of nowhere and dropping down to sit next to them, a bowl of something steaming in his hands.

“Derek’s job.”

“What job?”

“What are you eating?” Natalie asked, leaning closer. “And where’s mine.”

“Oatmeal,” Kapono said, holding the bowl out of reach, inadvertently bringing it closer to Derek. “Alice’s got a pot. So, get your own.”

Derek grinned and leaned in, sniffling the oatmeal as well. It did smell good. He could smell the sugar, spices, and an undercurrent of a fruit he didn’t recognize, but it smelled good. “What fruit is that?” he asked, trying to get a look.

“Rhubarb,” Kapono said, wiggling to shift away from them. “And it’s mine, go get your own.”

Derek dropped back against the building, watching as Kapono started to shove the meal into his mouth, glaring at all of them. “Calm down. I’m not going to steal your food.”

Kapono glared at him. “Uh-huh.”

“I’m the only boy in my generation. I learned the hard way not to steal food.”

Everyone looked at him. “Seriously?” Natalie asked

Derek nodded. “I’ve got four sisters, and I’m the middle child. I’ve got ten cousins, all female.”

“That’s rough,” Kapono said with a grimace. “I got more cousins than I can count, but it’s a whole mix.”

Derek nodded. “It’s just my generation. I’ve got aunts and uncles on both sides, but for some reason, I’m the only boy.”

“Both times?” Natalie asked softly.

Derek appreciated how carefully everyone talked about his past, but he was sick and tired of hiding from it. Everyone in the town knew, and he knew they would tell the town what he and the sisters had seen. Maybe not about Lost Cove, but the world.

“Yeah, same sisters. Same cousins. The only difference is they’re all older now. Except for Laura and Cora. Everyone else died in that fire.”

“Everyone?” Kapono asked somberly, putting his bowl down for the moment.

“Everyone, there was an Alpha summit, and my Dad’s sister is the Alpha of her pack, and so she came to support, ended up as a sort of faux-family reunion,” Derek explained. “We had almost thirty people in the house.”

He pressed a hand over his face and inhaled deeply. “Kate Argent trapped my family behind a mountain ash barrier and burnt them to death. Laura and I were at a school event, and Cora had gotten into an argument with my sister Jenna and was sulking in the woods. I don’t know how Peter survived, but he was so badly burnt he was in a coma for a long time, and when he came out of it, he was crazy.”

He felt someone press up against his side, and he knew without looking it was Natalie. A second later, he felt Kapono’s broad shoulder press up against his other side, and he was boxed in by his pack. He couldn’t take his hand away from his face.

“They all died, and it was my fault.”

“No,” Natalie said immediately. “We…I don’t know what happened to you, but a woman tried to get close to my brother, but he wasn’t having any of it. He was gay, and he told my Dad, and we took precautions, and they still managed to kill my family. It wasn’t your fault.”

Derek wanted to believe her, but it was hard after so many years of thinking it was his fault. Even now, in this world where he could call his family at any time, it was hard to believe. Kate Argent was dead. He had killed her, and he still didn’t feel an ounce of remorse. He only felt relief when he thought about it. The sensation that he had done something right. Especially in the face of finding Natalie and hearing her story.

“You’ll believe me one day, I promise you,” Natalie said, her voice low.

“That sounds like a threat,” Derek mumbled, still not pulling his hand away from his eyes.

“Oh, it is,” Natalie said, tugging his arm down and holding it.

A hand touched his ankle, and he opened his eyes, seeing Sai leaning forward, frowning as he gripped Derek’s ankle. Derek was glad when the other man didn’t say anything, just held onto Derek’s leg. He was surrounded by pack, his pack, a pack that he liked and could grow to love. But it wasn’t his family.

“You know what the worst thing is?” Derek asked softly, looking down at his hands so he wouldn’t have to look at them. No one spoke, but Derek knew they were listening. He inhaled deeply, knowing that everyone around them would listen as well. He flashed back to the conversation with Alice after he had turned and run away from everything. “I still lost them. My family is alive and happy, and I still lost them because I woke up an Alpha, and my Mom couldn’t handle it. She didn’t know what to do, and so I left so they wouldn’t be stressed out, and they could relax and be a pack.”

“They’re alive,” Natalie said, pressing even closer like she was trying to climb into his skin and keep him grounded. “You can call them and talk to them, and they might not be your pack anymore, but they’re still your family. You still have them. You’ve got us, and you’ve got them. I…my family is gone, and even if they magically appeared, I couldn’t be pack with them anymore. What I’ve gone through? What we both went through, changes a person. Do you think you could go back to being the Derek Hale they knew, even if you had been a beta instead of an Alpha?”

Derek wanted to say yes, but he forced himself to stay quiet and think about it. Waking up with all his memories but in his sixteen-year-old body had been hard. He still felt like he was in the wrong body. He felt gangly and awkward, and there was an itch between his shoulder blades where he wanted to get the tattoo. School seemed pointless. Everything that had stressed him when he had been in high school the first time was gone. The world was bigger than high school prom, and he didn’t fit in there anymore.

“I don’t know,” he said finally, shaking his head. “Everyone just attributed my personality change to being an Alpha. It would’ve been worse if I had been a beta.”

Kapono dropped an arm around his shoulders, tugging Derek closer into a tight hug that reminded him of the ones his dad used to give him. Back when he had been shorter and ignorant of the world at large. Derek had seen more than he ever wanted to since then.

Sai gripped his ankle, getting Derek’s attention. “The thing is those memories of yours ain’t ever going to go away. They’re a part of you, and you’re the only one burdened with them. No one else will ever know the world you came from, and that’s a hell of a thing. But this place? It’s a sanctuary, and you’ve got a pack and people who can help and all the time in the world to come to terms. It’s not gonna happen overnight. We all know that. But we’re all here to help you.”

“Sai’s right,” Kapono said, shaking him slightly. “Everything you’ve told us about the Alpha is how you help us, and it does. I feel better, and I didn’t even realize I had felt bad, to begin with. I don’t ache anymore, and I had gotten so used to it that I thought it was normal.”

Derek turned to look up at Kapono, wondering what the other man was getting to. Kapono stopped himself and sighed.

“Point is, you helped us, so now it’s time to let us help you,” Kapono said, squeezing Derek into a tight half hug.

“He’s right.”

Derek turned and watched as Alice crouched down next to Sai, smiling at him softly. “That world you came from? Wasn’t your fault. You were a kid, and that bitch took advantage of you. The world died, and I know you might think it’s your fault, but I can guarantee there was more goin’ on than you realized.”

It was hard for him to meet Alice’s eyes, and he looked down at his hands. Part of him had come to terms with what had happened to him, and he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong. But seeing the world, seeing Stiles, Lydia, and Scott struggle, made him feel worse. He had taken the first step down that bloody path. He had started that path. The guilt constantly felt like it was clawing at his throat.

“Derek, look at me.”

He felt Natalie and Kapono press in closer and felt Sai squeeze his ankle. He took a deep breath and looked up, letting himself meet Alice’s eyes. They were so much older than the rest of her, but he still had difficulty coming to terms with how old she was. She looked like she should’ve gone to school with Laura. Instead, she had been alive when his Great-Grandparents had been alive.

“What?” he asked, voice hoarse, wishing they hadn’t ever gotten on this subject.

“You gotta talk to Lacie, we all want to help, and we will do anything we can, but she’s the one who knows what the hell to do,” Alice said softly.

“Didn’t turn out too well last time,” he muttered.

“Sure, but now we know,” Alice said. “We all know. You’ve been through a lot, kiddo, and you need help.”

Derek dropped his head back against the wall. “Easier said than done.”

“Not really. I bet you’re feeling guilty as hell. I would be. I think anyone would be. Being able to trace a path you walked to the end of the world is a hard road, but you made it better. Look around you, Derek. Look at your pack and the people here. We got a big pack, they’re friends with most everyone, and we’re all happier because you’re here,” Alice said, shaking his leg slightly. “So now, it’s time we make you happier. Just let us try. For pack’s sake.”

“For pack’s sake?”

Alice grinned. “There’s a kid here.”

Derek glanced to the side to see Caleb sleeping against Natalie. “Right.” He looked back at Alice. “For pack’s sake?”

“For pack’s sake,” Alice said softly.

Derek wanted to argue. He didn’t feel like he deserved to be happy, not when his actions had destroyed so much. But deep down, there was a small voice begging him to agree. Despite the ache that had lifted when he had the pack bonds again, a part of Derek was still exhausted. He felt like he had been on the run for most of his life. He looked past Alice to the people mingling around, pretending they weren’t listening to every word they were saying. He could see the mountain in the distance, the well in the center, and the bright sun overhead. It was peaceful here.

Derek breathed in deeply and held it for a long time, looking out across the peaceful town square before nodding, slowly letting out a breath. “I’ll talk to her.”

He knew it was a small step, but from the way everyone around him smiled, Derek felt like he had taken a giant leap. Alice slapped his leg and stood up. “Good, now get your asses out to the food, it’s breakfast time, and we got chores later.”

“We gotta find out what Derek’s gonna do,” Natalie said, holding a hand up to Alice, who pulled her up. “Sai thinks he should be a cop, but I got a better idea.”

“What?” Allice asked, eyebrows raised.

Natalie turned to look down at Derek. “We need someone to police the supernatural before the hunters stick their dick in it and make it worse.”

She let the sentence hang, letting them finish the thought for themselves. The idea wasn’t the worst one Derek had ever heard of. He knew the supernatural world. He had spent a long time studying it, and he had seen some of the worst of it in his two lifetimes. But the thought of leaving Lost Cove didn’t sit right with him.

Derek shook his head. “Not yet,” he said softly, rubbing his cheek. “I can’t…leave. Not yet.”

Natalie watched him for a moment before she shrugged. “Gotta learn how to be a cop first, I suppose.” She watched him for another second before picking up Caleb and joining Elia and Nicholas, heading toward the communal kitchen.

Kapono stood up next, clapping Derek on the shoulder as he stooped to grab his bowl. “C’mon, I need seconds.”

Sai stood next, holding out a hand to Derek. “Breakfast with me?” the man asked, the same smile on his face.

Derek looked up at Sai and took the hand, letting Sai pull him off the ground. He brushed off his pants and stretched his arms out overhead, feeling like a small weight had lifted. He knew he had a long way to go, and he wasn’t sure he could reach a point where he was happy, but he still felt like things were slowly moving in the right direction.

“Yeah,” he said, turning towards Sai and smiling. “Sure.”

Sai grinned and started walking, and Derek took a step to follow when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled it out and looked at the screen, befoore answering.

“Laura?”

“Baby bro! It’s been two weeks. You clearly haven’t died. What gives?” Laura demanded.

Derek could hear noise behind her, shouts of different people. “Been busy.”

“Good busy?”

“Yeah, good busy,” Derek said, looking around at the group that had paused. Derek waved them off, and most of them started walking as Derek sat back down on the stairs. “How about you?”

“Super busy,” Laura said, happiness in her voice. It was the sort of joy Derek hadn’t heard since before the fire, and it still made him smile. She sounded nothing like the person she had been when it was just the two of them. She had tried, but they had both been broken. “I graduated!

Derek smiled, glancing up when he felt someone sit down next to him. Sai smiled back at him and leaned against his knees, looking out across the town, clearly content to wait. “That’s amazing, congratulations,” Derek said honestly. “Ready to take over the whole station then?”

Laura scoffed. “I’m a probie, I’ve gotta do my time learning on the job now. And then I get hired for real, and then we’ll see. I give it five years, and I’ll be running the place.

“Five years? Getting slow there,” Derek teased. “How’s everyone else?”

“Good. Jenna is off in the middle of the woods, helping some scientist do something. Cora and Stiles are working on a project together. One of Stiles’s friends, Isaiah or something, is helping them, and they’re meeting some of his other friends later. I don’t know. Grace is at a sleepover, and she thinks me, and Jenna didn’t hear her talking to her friends about sneaking out to see some boys. So naturally, we’re going to follow and scared the shit outta her,” Laura said, giving him a quick rundown. “Get this, Peter’s on a date!

“With who?”

“Dunno, won’t tell anyone. Not even Mom, it’s a whole thing he’s hiding,” Laura said, sounding put out. “Mom and Dad are good, but enough about them for now. What about you? Almost three weeks, and no one heard anything. You told Jenna you’d call when you got back into service range again.

“Sorry, yeah, things have been a little hectic,” Derek said, grimacing as he remembered the promise.

“You good?

Derek heard the genuine concern in her voice, and he smiled again, looking out around the town. “Yeah, Lou, I am, I really am.”

There was a long pause before Laura cleared her throat a few times, and when she talked, her voice sounded thicker than it had been before. “You found what you were looking for, huh?”

Derek looked around the town and over at Sai, who smiled back at him. Derek smiled and titled his head up, looking towards the backdrop of mountain over the town, and nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I did.”

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