FIC: Get Out Alive, Part One

[dream_mancer]

“We’re not prepared for this.”
Peter glanced up at Derek, his eyebrow raised. “We’ve known that for weeks. You saying it out loud isn’t a revelation.”

“Exactly,” Derek replied, clenching his jaw as he looked over Peter’s shoulder at the laptop screen. “And we’re never going to be prepared for this. That’s the whole point. The Alpha Pack circled in close and quick. We’re not meant to be prepared.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “If it was supposed to be easy, there wouldn’t be a point to this little test; not that we know the reason for it in the first place. The only ones who know why the alphas do what they do are the alphas themselves.”

That was true. The only thing Derek knew about the Alpha Pack was the names of the wolves from their first interaction and the fact that they had Erica and Boyd. Derek hadn’t even known about his betas’ capture by the Argents until Stiles reluctantly revealed the origin of his injuries at the hand of Gerard Argent. Chris relayed the message that when he released Erica and Boyd, the betas said they were coming back to the warehouse for protection and forgiveness. When they never showed, the Alpha Pack arrived, smugly taunting at the betas’ capture.

Derek didn’t care that they ran in the first place. He just wanted them back safely.

He huffed and pushed away from the table, starting to pace behind Peter’s chair. Peter’s files on the Alpha Pack were very bare, simply because the Alpha Pack never visited the Hales before. There was never a need. The Alpha Pack were enforcers that monitored new alphas and unruly packs to make sure they were being safe and smart. Derek knew the rules he needed to follow, but the universe seemed to conspire against him. Peter’s revenge murders, the kanima murders, the massacre at the Sheriff’s station, and then Jackson’s murder on the lacrosse field, which had garnered national news coverage and made coming up with a reason why he wasn’t actually dead a bitch to pull off… Everything that happened in the past few months was another mark in the column for why every wolf in Beacon Hills needed to be exterminated. If Derek could just get the Alpha Pack to see that he was working on it, he thought they would spare the pack.

“They won’t listen to us,” Derek said with a sigh. “They’ve already written us off; they made their decision.”

“I wouldn’t blame them for the outcome they wish for .”

Derek growled. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” All of this was Peter’s fault in the first place. All their problems could eventually be traced back to Peter, but Derek kept his mouth closed. Stirring up animosity wouldn’t help anyone.

Peter didn’t even bother turning around. “I mean that to an outsider, we’re a wildfire waiting to happen-dry brush and kindling ready for a spark of a match, and the alphas would love to see us burn.” He leaned forward and cupped his chin with his palm as he kept looking at his laptop. “Personally, I’m tired of being turned to ash.”

Derek huffed. Peter kept making fire analogies to be funny, and Derek was going to throw him through the stairs again if he didn’t shut up. “Well, what could we do to convince them otherwise?”

“You said it yourself: they won’t listen to us and there isn’t anyone to advocate on our behalf. The alphas only listen to other alphas, and who would put their reputation on the line for us? We’re the epitome of horrible on paper.”

Derek stopped pacing, running Peter’s words over in his head. The alphas only listen to other alphas. There was one person who wasn’t afraid to go against the Alpha Pack for him. At least, he hoped so.

Peter noticed his pause and turned around, his eyebrow raised as he glanced over. “I can practically see the light bulb turning on over your head.”

Ignoring the smartass remark, Derek pulled out his phone, but hesitated. “Laura found a group in Boston that… Well, they connected the dots about the people involved in the fire. One of them was-”

“An alpha,” Peter finished with a hard voice. His easy demeanor vanished as he stood from his chair. “An alpha who used to be an enforcer with the Alpha Pack. I remember her mentioning him. I believe she called him exceedingly violent. Why would you consider bringing him here?”

“Because he helped us once!” Derek snapped, finally looking at Peter. “And he’s strong. He offered to help us back when Laura first made contact, years before she came back. He left the Alpha Pack because he didn’t agree with their methods. They would listen to him.”

Peter scoffed. “If he voluntarily left, why would they listen to him?”

Derek smirked. “Because he’s Eliot Spencer. Exceedingly violent doesn’t even begin to cover it.”




Derek bit his lip as he looked down at his phone. After Boston, Laura made him memorize the number to McRory’s Pub in case they needed to get in touch with any of Eliot’s team again, but Derek hadn’t called, not when Laura was murdered, not when he became the alpha, and not when the kanima was an issue. He thought the training Laura put him through after they ran, the basics of becoming an alpha just in case, was enough to get him through anything that could be thrown at him, a thought he believed fully until he saw the symbol for the Alpha Pack on the Hale house door.
Derek heard the stories when he was younger. The Alpha Packs that monitored new alphas were strict, harsh, and sometimes cruel. If Derek was faced with the Alpha Pack before the fire, with his family standing behind him, there was no question that they would win. But they were weak now, not even a full pack. He needed to do something. He needed help, and as Peter stated earlier, the alphas wouldn’t listen to them.

He punched in the number for McRory’s and took a deep breath. After a few rings, the line picked up.

“McRory’s Pub,” a light, Boston accent said across the line, “what can I do ya for?”

Derek bit his lip, his nervous tick from his high school years, and let out the breath he was holding. “I need to speak with Eliot Spencer.”

The voice hardened. “And can I ask who’s calling and for what reason?”

He paused, starting to pace. “He helped me and my sister once. They all did.” Derek didn’t bother expanding on ‘they’. “My name is Derek Hale.”

The voices in the background of the call faded for a bit as they woman walked away from the bar. He remembered the phone being located there for pick-up orders. “Hale. The name sounds familiar. Your sister was with you, you say?”

Derek’s throat closed up. “Laura.”

The female on the other end made an aha noise. “Ah, I remember her. Armed a bastard into the bar when he got handsy on a customer. She talked with Nate after that. How is she?”

He resisted snapping dead into the phone. Instead, he cleared his throat. “Is Eliot Spencer there?”

“Not right now,” the woman said after a moment. “If you give me your number, I’ll pass on the message.”

Derek gave her his phone number plus a short, simple message to have Eliot call as soon as possible, trying to convey that there wasn’t an emergency but he did need to talk about something important. He ended the call. He had done all he could.




Three days later, Derek was glaring at Stiles, who planted himself in the middle of the burnt-out living room in the Hale house, with Isaac and Peter watching from the sidelines cautiously, not getting involved in any way, which was smart.
The teenager showed up, using his words to run circles around all of them, throwing out the words solidarity and pack like he understood the concept somehow. Even the wolves in the pack he created didn’t understand. How could a simple human using Scott as his alpha understand?

Just as Derek was about to interrupt, his phone rang, and he yanked it out of his pocket. Anyone he was remotely interested in talking to was already at the house, and he didn’t recognize the number on the screen. With a growl, he answered the call. “What?”

There was a pause and then a chuckle. “Glad to hear that your personality is still shining.”

Derek let his head fall back slightly and his shoulders drop. “Eliot,” he said lightly. “I wasn’t sure you’d get my message.”

Peter tensed, his arms tightening around his chest, but he didn’t move toward Derek or make a noise. Isaac was confused, as was Stiles.

“Yeah, well, we moved locations so it took a while for me to get it. It’s been what, two years?”

Derek clenched his jaw. Had it really been that long since Laura first heard about a group of people not afraid to get their hands dirty to help people who were wronged? The information that Nate Ford’s group had provided them with was monumental, things he hadn’t even known, as close as he had been to the fire, and Laura had held on to the details as long as she could before coming back to Beacon Hills. “I guess it has been.”

“How’s Laura?”

This time, Derek saw Peter move away from Isaac and toward the front door. He wasn’t going to run, but he would give Derek space if he needed, something that Derek was both grateful for and irritated with at the same time. He was coping better, and besides, he already had his vengeance. “She’s dead. I need your help, Eliot.”

“Dead?” Eliot snapped. “What the hell happened? Hardison!” Eliot snapped and then there was the familiar sound of a keyboard clicking in the background.

Derek tried to get the words out, but this was the first person who knew Laura, who knew about their family, who didn’t know she was dead. How was he supposed to explain Peter, how he was back from the dead and that Derek himself now held the mantle of alpha?

“Wh-you were arrested for Laura’s murder?” Eliot growled over the phone and Derek sighed loudly.

“It was a misunderstanding.”

“How is that a misunderstanding?”

Derek glared at Stiles. “The sheriff’s kid is an annoying and inquisitive thorn in my side who likes to frame me for murder when he gets bored.”

“Dude!” Stiles said loudly. “That was Scott!”

“Shut up, Stiles.”

“Derek,” Eliot growled and everyone in the room heard it, cowing. Even Derek clenched his teeth in irritation. “What the hell happened? Who’s the alpha?”

“I am.” Eliot paused and Derek rushed to explain, knowing that Eliot wouldn’t understand the details. “She was killed by another werewolf and I killed him.”

Eliot sighed. “You’re in Beacon Hills again?” he asked wearily, and Derek blinked in surprise.

“Yes. How did you-”

“Hardison,” he replied. “Although, he didn’t have to look far. All the town can talk about is these mountain lion attacks, Kate Argent’s death, and the psycho kid who killed a dozen people.” Eliot paused, sighing. “They’re coming, aren’t they? With all this media attention, Beacon Hills probably hit their radar quick.”

“They’re here,” Derek murmured. “They have two of my betas and threatened the others. They already decided against us, and I just wanted to know if there was anything that I could do… Or if you had any advice to help, anything at all that you could tell me to fix this.”

“They’ve got your betas? They actually kidnapped your betas?” Eliot asked angrily.

Isaac and Peter were blatantly listening in and Stiles kept creeping closer, trying to keep an innocent expression on his face as he strained to hear Eliot speak. “They were captured by hunters and tortured for hours. When they were finally released, they were coming back to me, but the Alpha Pack got to them first. I don’t even know if they’re still alive.”

Eliot’s growl was just as severe as he remembered. The wolves flinched back and judging by Stiles’ surprised expression, he heard it as well.

“We’ll be there tomorrow night. We’re finishing up a job and we’ll leave right after.”

“Eliot, that’s not why I called. I just want advice. I don’t want to pull you away from-”

“This isn’t a discussion, Derek. This is not what the Alpha Pack does. This is not how they operate. I want to see for myself. We’ll be there tomorrow night.”

Derek’s brow furrowed. “Wait, what? How are you going to get here from Boston by tomorrow?”

Eliot chuckled. “You aren’t the only one who moved to the West Coast. We’ll drive down tomorrow. Don’t let them know we’re coming. The less they know the better.”

Derek hung up the phone and sighed. He met Peter’s eyes.

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Derek.”

“I’m helping.”

Peter didn’t say anything, instead just walked out the door, leaving Derek alone with Stiles and Isaac. Stiles’ foot started to tap as he warily watched Peter exit, only turning back around when he was sure Peter wasn’t coming back. He wasn’t a total idiot.

“Dude, who was on the phone?”

“An alpha,” Isaac said softly, crossing his arms. “I could tell by the way he talked. He’s an alpha. A strong one.”

Derek nodded. “It’s just one wolf, but he has a team of people who help him.”

Stiles looked at Derek curiously. “How do you know them? And how does an alpha handle being around just humans? Doesn’t he need the power and stability of a pack?”

Derek shook his head. “Eliot doesn’t need the power and stability that comes from a traditional pack.”

“But you said he was a strong alpha,” Stiles replied, looking at Isaac.

“Eliot is a born werewolf and was born to be an alpha. He’s trained his whole life to fight and he has since he was eighteen. The people he considers pack right now help people, ordinary humans, and they helped Laura and me.” Derek looked down at the ground as he paced away from them. “They’re the ones who connected all the dots for the fire. Laura went to them for help. They found out about the insurance agent, the two arsonists…” He trailed off. “They told Laura, but she refused to tell me. Instead, she came back to Beacon Hills and when she visited Peter, she told him, but not so he would…”

Derek sighed loudly. “She didn’t want to kill them. She was gathering evidence to take to the police. If she had known what Peter would do, she would never have told him.”

“How did they get all that information?” Stiles asked. “That was…a lot of that stuff was either sealed or wasn’t written in official records.”

“They aren’t the traditional good guys. Their methods…aren’t really legal.”

Stiles’ eyebrows went up. “Dude, did you get mixed up in the werewolf mafia or something?”

“Isn’t that what the Alpha Pack is?” Isaac asked. Stiles stopped to think about it.

“Nah, I think they’re the enforcers of the mafia. So is this Eliot guy part of the mafia or part of the enforcers?”

Derek snorted. He didn’t want to say the truth, which was that Eliot was a bit of both. “He’s a friend of this pack and you’re to keep your mouth shut, got it? The last thing I need is you sailing across the yard because you made a smartass comment.”

Stiles grinned, ignoring the warnings. “As long as he doesn’t slam my head into steering wheels, I think we’ll get along fine.”

“He won’t bother with the steering wheel,” Derek said over his shoulder. “He’ll just snap your neck!”

It wasn’t true; Eliot would never hurt a human who didn’t deserve a punishment, but Derek did grin when Stiles’ heartbeat rocketed up as he quickly yelled after him, asking if he was joking.




When Derek received a text from an unknown number with a room number and the name of a local hotel, he didn’t question who sent the text or why. He made his excuses and ignored the pointed glance Peter sent his way-full of warnings and doubt-so he could drive to the hotel. It was close to the edge of town and relatively near the main roads, but not so close that their vehicles would be noticed.
The black van was different than the one he remembered Hardison having, but Derek knew that Hardison wouldn’t be without one. Parked next to it was a new orange and black Dodge Challenger, shining and gleaming. Both had Oregon plates and both smelled faintly of Eliot. He still wanted to know how the alpha was able to cloak his scent so easily.

The room was on the top floor at the corner, close to the stairs with extra windows-multiple getaway routes and quick access to the parking lot. It was easily defensible and escapable. With a sigh, Derek knocked on the door. The gesture was a courtesy since Eliot would have been aware of his presence the moment he drove into the parking lot. The door swung open to reveal Parker, bright-faced and wide-eyed. She looked over him with a smile. “Derek!”

He grunted in surprise when she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on tight. With a confused look over her shoulder at Hardison, he managed to peel her arms away. “Parker,” he replied gruffly. Derek didn’t remember her hugging much, or at all, really.

“Hey, man,” Hardison said, walking over with a grin and nudging Parker out of the way gently. They shook hands and Hardison pulled him into a half hug but immediately backed off, putting his arm around Parker’s shoulders and pulling her close.

Eliot walked in from the back of the room, wiping his hands on a hand towel. “Derek,” Eliot said gruffly. For a moment, he forgot how strong Eliot was, how powerful his alpha presence was, even since Derek became an alpha himself, but that quickly faded when Eliot held out his hand for Derek to shake. Traditionally, alphas coming onto another alpha’s land followed a protocol, asking permission to stay there and promising not to infringe on the pack or the territory, but Eliot and Derek weren’t traditional alphas.

When they grasped hands, Eliot pulled him into a hug, much like Hardison had, but Eliot placed his hand on the back of Derek’s neck, not as an admonishment or threatening gesture, but as an anchoring presence. Derek hadn’t realized how tense he was until he relaxed from Eliot’s touch. Parker and Hardison probably didn’t realize how dangerous the situation they were walking into was, but Eliot did, and was offering support. Knowing that Eliot was at his back brought him comfort.

Even when Eliot pulled back, he kept his hand on the back of Derek’s neck. It was a gesture that his own father had done plenty of times, even Peter had soothed him with a brush over his shoulders and neck before the fire. Laura calmed him the same way his mother had, by placing a palm on his cheek or brushing over his forehead like he was a little boy.

“Tell me what happened with Laura,” Eliot said. “Why did she come back?” He led Derek to the small table in the corner of the room that was covered in Parker’s locks, brushing them aside, focusing completely on Derek. Hardison and Parker took a seat on the closest bed.

Derek dropped his eyes with a sigh. “Laura and was going to take took the information you found out about the fire to the Sheriff’s office. Before she did, she stopped to see Peter.”

“Your catatonic uncle Peter who was kidnapped by his crazy nurse who was found dead in a car trunk a week after his disappearance?” Hardison asked, pulling up something on his tablet while Parker looked over his shoulder.

Derek snorted. “That’s what the papers say?” He hadn’t paid any attention to the headlines since he arrived in Beacon Hills, too busy with everything else that had happened. Derek shook his head. “Peter wasn’t nearly as catatonic as we thought. Apparently, Laura told him everything you found, but sitting for six years alone, practically unable to move, drove him mad, and he thought that the police wouldn’t be able to handle the situation. He killed Laura and decided to take his revenge by himself. Peter became the alpha and the extra power allowed him to finish healing. Then he started to take down everyone involved in the fire.”

“Jesus,” Eliot said, rubbing a hand over his face. “We read about the murders. They were ruled mountain lion killings?”

He nodded. “I didn’t know he was the alpha at the time, because his scent as an alpha was different than his beta scent. The only way I could track him was through the beta he turned a few days after he killed Laura, and even then, the beta fought me at every turn because Peter turned him against his will.”

“You’re the alpha now,” Eliot said, looking over him closely. “Has the beta fallen in line?”

Derek scoffed. “I thought he had. For a while he joined my pack, but then I found out he was working with the hunters against me.”

Eliot growled, his gaze hardening. “Is he dead yet?”

Derek shook his head. “He double-crossed us both. The hunter is dead, but the betrayal is still too…” He cleared his throat.

Eliot nodded and changed the subject. “The papers also mentioned a local student going on a murder spree. That still true?”

“Sort of,” Derek replied. “He was controlling a kanima.”

Derek could tell Eliot was on the edge of an outburst. He was getting more and more frustrated, and Derek didn’t blame him.

“And where is the kanima now? How did a kanima even get here?”

Derek looked down at the table, running his fingers over a nearby lock. “The kanima was a local student named Jackson. He was my first bitten. He was guided out of his kanima state and is now in the pack.”

He could hear Eliot clench his fists but thankfully the other alpha didn’t remark on Derek’s first bitten becoming an abomination. “He’s fully transitioned now?” Derek nodded and Eliot let out a deep breath. “All right. How many betas do you have now?”

This time, Derek clenched his fingers into a tight grip. “I mentioned that the Alpha Pack has two, but I turned one other and he’s still with me, along with Jackson. Scott, Peter’s beta, he’s gone omega. He refuses to acknowledge me as alpha.”

Eliot nodded, his gaze flicking to the side as he took everything in. “The alphas have two and you have two, plus the omega-”

“Three,” Derek interrupted softly. “I have three betas with me.”

“I thought you said that other kid went omega?” Eliot asked with a frown.

Derek was dreading this. He honestly didn’t know how Eliot would react to the news that Laura’s killer was alive again and the prospect of Peter and Eliot meeting face to face was rather daunting. There was a good chance Peter would be dead a second time.

“He did.” Derek took a deep breath. “Peter’s alive.”

Eliot’s eyes widened, but Hardison was the one who spoke first.

“Now hold up. I thought you said you killed your uncle. Since you’re rockin’ the red eyes now, I’m guessin’ he was dead-dead and not just mostly dead. Are we talking bellows to the mouth with declarations of true love here?”

Everyone stared at Hardison strangely. “Seriously? Princess Bride? Anyone?” When no one said anything, he shook his head and crossed his arms. “There’s something wrong with all ya’ll.”

Both Derek and Eliot looked at him curiously. “How the hell is someone mostly dead?” Eliot asked before turning away to face Derek again. “Just, forget it, Hardison. How the hell is Peter alive again?”

Derek rubbed his temples. He couldn’t get a headache, but he could feel the phantom pain anyway. “Hours before I killed him, he attacked another student. She was immune and when he bit her, he placed a bit of his essence in her to live on. He used her to come back in a ritual.”

“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Parker shouted, nearly jumping on the bed. Hardison looked at her in amusement as she raised her hand. “It’s like Harry Potter! He’s totally the no-nose guy who used Harry to come back to life.”

Hardison made an irritated face. “You know Voldemort but not Princess Bride? That’s just wrong, now. That’s wrong.”

Derek had to bite his lip so he wouldn’t grin. The moment Peter had sidled up behind Stiles at the warehouse after he helped claw Jackson, Stiles had pointed a finger and shouted that Voldemort was back. The first, and last, time Stiles had called Lydia a horcrux, the retribution was swift. He’d run from the Hale house screaming and refused to come back inside for the rest of the night.

Eliot shook his head with a sigh before turning back to Derek. “So your uncle is alive because of a girl he bit, who just so happened to be immune?”

“He’s alive because of a ritual,” Derek replied. “I don’t know if the Alpha Pack knows the details, but since they have Erica and Boyd, they could have gotten the information.”

Eliot’s expression hardened. “They should have approached you first before ever taking a step near your betas. That’s how it’s done. They also shouldn’t be torturing them for information. When they take betas, they’re just testing the bond between beta and alpha.”

Derek didn’t squirm, but he sure as hell wasn’t comfortable with the conversation. “Before they were captured by hunters, Erica and Boyd were leaving. That’s how they were captured in the first place. They were away from the pack. They’re new.”

Eliot’s jaw clenched. “How new?”

Derek’s gaze dropped to the floor. “They’ve only had one moon, one transformation.”

He heard Eliot sigh and could feel his frustration in the room. His scent was thick with it, but Derek was readying himself for the disappointment and the condescending lecture. His head shot up when he felt Eliot’s hand on his shoulder, steady and firm, grounding him. “You said they were coming back to you when the Alpha Pack grabbed them.”

“But they were running away in the first place,” he said through clenched teeth. “And I just let them.”

“Just because you let them leave doesn’t mean they left the pack. They’re teenagers, Derek. They all want to run.”

He looked down at that, because he remembered being fourteen and pounding his feet into the ground as he tracked his way across the Preserve, nearing the borders of Hale land, fully intent on just leaving because Laura was making fun of him again, he was having trouble controlling his shift and his dad said that he wouldn’t be able to try out for lacrosse if he didn’t anchor himself more firmly, and he just wanted to go away.

Derek came back after Peter, of all people, found him on the outskirts of the land and calmly informed him that dinner was ready and if he didn’t return in time, then he wouldn’t get leftovers, but before that, Peter had simply sat on the log next to Derek and let him get readjusted to pack.

“You know I took off as soon as I hit eighteen, Derek,” Eliot said. Everybody runs. I don’t blame them for being overwhelmed, or you, for that matter. They’re going to be fine and you’ll get them back.”

Derek sighed and relaxed into the chair as Eliot squeezed his shoulder and then let go, moving back to his own seat. “Who have you been in contact with?”

“Deucalion is clearly the leader. I remembered his name from…” Derek trailed off, knowing that Eliot would understand that Derek meant he recognized the name during the training he received under his mother. She always warned that Deucalion was cunning and ruthless. Now that he had experienced Deucalion’s tactics up close, Derek knew his mother hadn’t been exaggerating. “I’ve also seen Cora, Ethan, and Aiden. He’s mentioned a Kali and Ennis, but I haven’t seen them yet. I’m not familiar with the names.”

Eliot sat back with a frown. “Cora, Ethan, and Aiden are new, but I know Kali and Ennis. Ennis is a brute, a tank fighter meant to wear down enforcers of a pack. I’ve fought him before. He’s nothing more than Deucalion’s pawn. Kali, though, she’s vicious. Be glad you haven’t seen her yet. That’s a good thing.”

The room was silent for a moment while Derek let Eliot think. “I know that I called asking for help, but I didn’t mean for you to-”

Eliot cut him off with a look. “You helped me once. You and Laura both. It’s only fair that I return the favor. Plus, I know Laura would have wanted me to help. And it does us well to get out of Portland for a while. We need a change of scenery.”

Hardison snorted. “You mean we need to lay low because of the drug ring we just busted within a local police station? Yeah, that sounds about right.”

Eliot growled at Hardison, but Derek didn’t feel any anger in it, only mild irritation. Hardison just grinned in return. After rolling his eyes, Eliot turned back to Derek.

“Don’t tell anyone I’m here. Not even your pack. Who knew I was coming?”

“Just Peter, Isaac, and Stiles.”

“Isaac and Stiles?” Eliot asked, and Derek nodded. “Who are they?”

“Isaac is the beta still with me.”

“And…Stiles?”

Derek grinned at the face Eliot made when he pronounced the name. “The son of the local sheriff. He’s human and Scott’s best friend. He’s done most of the research for Scott. He also is the one who figured out Scott’s anchor.”

Eliot’s eyebrow went up. “Sounds like he’s pretty integrated.”

Derek scoffed. “He’s part of Scott’s pack, and my life would be a lot simpler if he wasn’t around.”

He didn’t mention all the times Stiles had saved his life, or kept his betas safe, or gone above and beyond what was asked of him for Derek’s pack. He also didn’t mention that out of all the teenagers in the group, Stiles was the smartest when it came to supernatural lore, not that he would ever tell Stiles that.

Eliot shook his head but didn’t make any comments. “Just have them keep quiet. Parker and Hardison can recon and I’ll find out why the alphas are being so aggressive, although with a kanima around and all the public recognition from the murders, I can see why they were quick to rush over here.”

Derek nodded and stood up when Eliot did. “The number that texted you earlier is mine. If you need to get in touch with me, just call. We’ll stay stationed here, but if you see us around town, look the other way.”

Derek left the room tremendously more relaxed than when he entered, but there was still a black cloud of worry hovering over him.



Three days later, when his phone rang, Derek looked at it strangely. He didn’t recognize the number, but still hit the answer button and brought the phone up to his ear. “Yeah?”
Derek easily heard the growls and fists hitting flesh. He clenched his hand around his phone so tightly the glass cracked on his screen.

“So the alphas are done sitting by.”

He frowned when Parker’s voice came through the speaker. “Parker? What are you talking about?”

“They attacked two of your puppies, or tried to, at least. Eliot’s talking to them now. And by talking, I mean Eliot’s version of talking, which involves less words and more fists.”

He grabbed his keys and was out the door before she finished speaking. “Who?”

“Who what?”

Growling, Derek rushed into the Camaro and started the engine. “Who was attacked, Parker?!”

“Oh!” she said. Derek rolled his eyes as he gunned the engine and kicked up gravel as he sped off. “The one with the weird looking jaw and the one who won’t stop rambling in my ear at high speeds.”

Of course, of course, Scott and Stiles would be the ones to be confronted by the Alpha Pack first. Granted, there weren’t many people to attack since Boyd and Erica were gone, but Scott distanced himself from Derek. Then he had the worrying thought that perhaps the alphas weren’t after Scott, but Stiles, since the human had been pestering Derek for a while. The alphas may have thought he aligned himself with Derek.

He pressed down on the accelerator, gunning the engine. “Are they okay? They didn’t get hurt, did they?” Derek asked, trying to get his heartbeat under control. He was already gripping the steering wheel too tightly.

“We’ve been keeping an eye on everyone. Eliot stopped the alphas before the kids were hurt.”

Derek let out a breath of relief. “Where are you?”

“Corner of Main and Sears Streets, in the alley between the two big buildings.”

“I’m on my way,” he supplied. Instead of ending the call like he normally would, he kept the line open, trying to listen through the phone, but the sounds of fighting were dying down. Luckily, the alley where they were located was on the same side of Beacon Hills as the Hale house. He was there in a few minutes.

Derek slammed on the brakes, not caring about the burning rubber from his squealing tires.

Stiles was the only one who spun around at his approach, but his shoulders sagged in relief when he saw that it was Derek and not another alpha. The teenager was pale and Derek noticed a slight tremor in his hands, but didn’t comment on it. He walked up to Parker and Hardison, who were standing in front of the teens. He looked to the alley ahead, where Eliot was beating the living hell out of three alphas.

“Nice to see he hasn’t lost his touch,” Derek said, his eyebrow raised. Parker grinned when Hardison snorted.

“I got facial prints before Eliot started throwing punches and I’m running them through every database I can think of.” He looked up from his tablet toward the end of the alley, his expression distinctly bored. “At this point, he’s just playing with his food, man.”

“Jesus, he’s like the hulk but smaller and less green,” Stiles said, tentatively walking up beside the group. Scott joined him shortly, warily looking down the alley.

“Yeah, but he’s not wolfed at all. No claws, fangs, or red eyes. Nothing. He hasn’t shifted.”

“He never does,” Derek replied, shoulders tense. He knew that if he jumped into the fray, it would end quickly, but Eliot was doing just fine on his own.

With a final kick to the last alpha, Eliot took a step back and brushed the hair away from his face. Ethan, Aiden, and Cora-all the wolves Eliot didn’t know, which explained why they hadn’t backed down when they saw him-growled, but backed away. “You tell Deucalion that Eliot Spencer is in town, and I’m not here to play nice. You got that?”

The twins looked at each other warily, but Cora took a step forward, prompting Eliot to growl again. “You’re Spencer?” When he nodded, she joined her packmates. “Fine. We’ll tell him. But he won’t be happy.”

“Do I look like I care if he’s happy or not?” Eliot snapped before turning his back to them. s.

Eliot may not have been worried about being attacked again, but Derek clenched his fingers into a tight fist until the alphas were out of sight and far away enough that he could barely hear their heartbeats. He finally faced Eliot. “What were they doing here?”

“More importantly, who the hell is this?” Scott asked, stepping forward in front of Stiles and gesturing to Eliot. Derek glared at him.

“They’re too forward. I don’t like the new alphas, not with that attitude and not when Kali and Ennis are taking orders from Deucalion,” Eliot looked over his shoulder with a shake of his head before turning to Hardison. “There’s something else going down here. You get anything?”

“Running pictures through my database right now.”

Eliot nodded. “Focus on rural area news. Packs don’t stay in big cities and if they do, the alphas don’t visit. Too many omegas or small packs pass through to warrant it.”

Derek noticed Scott looking between everyone and becoming more confused by the second. He turned to Stiles, either to rant or whine-he didn’t care, but Stiles silenced him with a sharp hand motion without taking his eyes off Eliot.

Scott didn’t take kindly to that and Derek thought for a moment that he would stomp his foot. “Dude, what-”

“Scott, shut up,” Stiles hissed, finally looking at his friend.

“We don’t know who this is!”

Eliot looked at him with an eyebrow raised, but Derek rolled his eyes.

“Yes, we do,” Stiles said firmly. “His name is Eliot Spencer and he is a kick-ass alpha who just saved our hides from dark side Barbie and the Wonder Twins because Derek called him asking him for help, which he does for a living, and has done for Derek and Laura when they lived on the East Coast.”

Scott looked more and more lost the farther into the explanation Stiles went. “How do you even know that?”

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Because I pay attention, Scott. I actually listen when people talk to me. I also care more about my friends and family than my psycho ex-girlfriend who has tried to kill me and my friends numerous times.”

“But you don’t have a girlfriend.”

Derek stepped in between Stiles and Scott when Stiles looked like he honest to God wanted to strangle his friend. “Scott, it’s true. Now both of you-shut up.” He glared at Stiles when the teen opened his mouth. “Stiles.”

“Jesus, fine,” he muttered, sulking to Derek’s right.

Derek turned back to Eliot, who was watching the exchanges with amusement on his face. He quickly switched mental gears and gestured back to Derek’s car. “Get back to the house. We’ll follow you. They’re going to rush back to Deucalion and he’s going to want to meet as soon as possible. Call everyone home.”

Derek nodded and turned to his car, gripping Stiles’ arm and dragging him.

“Dude, wait,” Stiles said, squirming in his grasp and trying to turn around to watch Eliot, Parker, and Hardison. “What’s going on?”

Scott growled at Derek, but Derek honestly didn’t care what the other wolf’s damage was. Stiles had been the one to help with research, approach a plan to work together, and actually make the effort, so he was the only one Derek was concerned with.

“Derek!” Stiles snapped, bracing his hand against the passenger side door when Derek tried to open it. He huffed, but didn’t force him anymore. “What’s going on?” he asked more firmly.

“The alphas made their move,” he replied, looking at Scott when he slowly joined them. “And if we don’t act quickly and precisely, they will kill us all.”

He tried to impress the severity of the entire thing on them in a look.“We’ve got to be smart about this. Eliot knows what he’s doing and, Scott, I don’t care if you hate me until the day you die and never want to see me again, but if you come with us, if you work with us, you shut your mouth and keep your head down.”

Stiles bit his lip and looked between Derek and Scott cautiously, and Derek was grateful for the silence as Scott mulled things over instead of immediately bucking against whatever Derek ordered.

“Do they still have Erica and Boyd?” Scott asked, looking up at him.

“Yes, and Eliot is my only shot at getting them back in one piece. If you stand with us, fine, if you don’t, that’s fine, too. I don’t care, but you make your decision now and you can’t change it later if something else catches your fancy. This isn’t Gerard and the kanima. This isn’t Peter and Kate.” Derek’s throat burned as he listed off his past mistakes, his errors in judgment, but he plowed through.

Scott was quiet for a moment longer. Stiles was the first to speak as he subtly stepped toward Derek, standing by his side, not necessarily against Scott, but making his choice known. Derek stood a little taller.

“Fine,” Scott said, nodding to himself, not looking happy about where Stiles was standing. “I’ll come.”

Derek opened the passenger side door of the Camaro. “Get in.”