{001}

"All I am saying is that this probably isn't one of your best ideas, Stiles," Alex Moore pointed out logically as she hopped out of the back of his weathered blue jeep. The frigid night air whipped around her causing her body to shiver involuntarily.

The beacon Hills Preservation sign looked eerie when lit up against the backdrop of the dark forest that loomed before them. Alex hugged her hoodie closer to her body; the chill nipping at her exposed skin. Once again Stiles had dragged her from the house barely allowing time for her to grab proper footwear let alone a warm jacket. This was how all their escapades started—dragging her kicking and screaming from her warm bed.

It had been this way for as long as she could remember. The three of them had practically grown up together. Even before his father, the Sheriff, had taken her in, they had been inseparable. They had been called the 'Three Musketeers' by their parents. A fancy way of saying that trouble followed them whenever they were together.

Tonight, she found herself half-asleep in the middle of the woods searching for a dead body. Something that was not all too high on her bucket list of things to achieve. Stiles had ripped her from her bed before she had a chance to protest.

"We're seriously doing this?" Scott whined as he stared at the entrance of the preserve his red hoodie vibrant against the bleak background. Red was never a color she had liked. It had too many memories attached.

"You two are always the ones bitching that nothing ever happens in this town," Stiles asserted as he clapped Scott on the back. He took off deeper into the preserve with their only source of light. Sighing, Alex bounded after them; struggling to match their long strides with her short ones as Stiles charged ahead. From a distance she could hear Scott complaining to him about Lacrosse practice. He was determined to make first line this year. Stiles, however, had his mind set on something and there wasn't any dissuading him.

Alex felt a small surge of sadness as she looked at her two best-friends shadows. Ever since she had graduated things hadn't been entirely the same. Although graduating hadn't necessarily put a strain on their friendship things were certainly different. No longer could she share in the pains of over piled homework or the stress of horrible teachers. It wasn't like she still didn't see them. As assistant coach of the Lacrosse team she saw them quite a bit. It just wasn't the same, however.

Most of her time was spent on running Coach Finstock's errands, making up rosters, grading homework assignment, and that was all on top of her online college classes and her work at the vet clinic with Scott and Deaton. It was times like these that she wished her parents were still alive. Although she thought of Stiles' dad as her own, there were times when all she wanted was to see her own parent's faces smiling at her.

Alex let out a frustrated huff as she attempted to match the boy's pace. At 5'5 she was at a bit of a disadvantage when it came to stride pattern. The dirt beneath her shoes was wet from the recent rains and without the glow of the flashlight she kept stumbling over raised tree roots and random sticks. Alex swore colorfully as rain began to fall, soaking her within minutes. This was exactly what she didn't need. Alex's pace quickened.

"Out of curiosity," She breathed heavily, finally catching up to them. Alex linked her arm with Scott's so she wouldn't fall behind again. "Which half of the body are we looking for?"

"Huh," Stiles contemplated, slowing his pace a bit. "I didn't even think about that."

"And what if whoever killed the girl is still out here?" Scott pointed out, jumping on her bandwagon of thought. Stiles nervously bit his lower lip.

"Also, something I didn't think about." He stammered continuing up a deep embankment. Alex held out her hand to help Scott up as he reached for his inhaler. His breathing was becoming steadily worse as his asthma kicked in.

"Its…" Scott huffed taking the last large step. "Comforting to know you've planned this out with your usual attention to detail."

"I know," Stiles admitted nonchalantly still charging ahead. Scott slowed down to administer his inhaler while dragging Alex along behind; all the while screaming at Stiles to stop. It was no use. Scott's asthma was getting worse and they were too far behind Stiles for him to really hear.

The sharp sound of a dog bark broke the silence sending Stiles shrieking to the ground. Alex shoved Scott roughly behind a tree just as one of the officer's flashlights hit her face.

"Hang on! Hang one!" Sheriff Stilinski yelled; his flashlight trained directly at Stiles. "These two delinquents belong to me."

"Dad," Stiles greeted his father casually as he stood up disoriented by the light in his eyes. "How you doing?"

"So," The Sheriff asked his son pointedly. "Do you listen in on all my phone calls?" Stiles gulped as Alex struggled to maintain a straight face.

"Where is your third musketeer in crime?" The Sheriff asked pointing his flashlight at Alex who shrugged nonchalantly, trying not to give Scott away.

"Probably home sleeping," She smiled sweetly at the Sheriff. "First day of Lacrosse and all." Stiles and her traded a nervous glance as his father called out for their friend. They both breathed a sigh of relief when there was no response. The Sheriff let out a disappointed sigh.

"Well young man," He put his arms around his son's shoulder and began walking them back towards Stiles' jeep. "I am going to walk you two back to the car, and you and I are going to have a conversation about a little something called invasion of privacy." Alex snorted a laugh.

"And you, young lady," The Sheriff turned his attention to her. "I thought I could count on you to keep them in line. You are the adult now." Stiles smirked.

"What can I say," Alex shook her head and tried to look as disappointed as he was. "You can lead a donkey to water, but you can't make them drink." Sheriff Stilinski laughed as he opened the passenger side door to the jeep for her to climb in.

"You two get home and stay there." He pointed his finger at them in warning.

"Yes sir!" Stiles saluted comically before closing his door and starting the jeep.

"That was close." Alex whispered before letting out a sigh of relief. Stiles nodded as he pulled out of the preserve and onto a small dirt road.

"You're telling me," He laughed nervously. "Think Scott will be okay?"

"He doesn't live far from here," She shrugged reaching up to touch the pendant that hung around her neck. "I'm sure he'll be…Stiles stop!"

Stiles slammed on the brakes of the jeep causing the back end to slide in the mud before they came to a halt just before the main road.

"Oh my god!" Stiles exclaimed looking around frantically for something he might have hit. "What the hell was that for?" Alex couldn't feel her necklace. Hastily, she turned on the jeep interior lights searching for her lost pendant.

"I can't find my pendant!"

"Your pendant?" Stiles spluttered. "You almost killed us because of a necklace?" Alex shot Stiles a dark glare as she continued to tear his jeep apart.

"It was my mother's," She stressed. "It's the only thing I have left of hers. The fire took everything else." Stiles' face fell as she hopped out the jeep. He should have known that, but Alex had never been one to dwell on the past. Especially when it came to her parents. Ever since they died in a fire Alex hadn't been as open as she once had been. Even before their death Stiles had always sensed that she never gave him the full truth. If Alex had one major talent it was making it seem as if she was telling you everything without telling you much at all.

"It's okay," He reassured her as he joined the hunt. "We'll find it." Alex shook her head.

"It must have dropped off on the trail," She surmised. "I'll have to go back." Stiles shook his head.

"My dad has already caught us once," He reminded her. "If he catches us out there again it won't be pretty." Alex grabbed her house keys from Stiles' cup holder and smiled at him.

"Don't worry," She assured him, grabbing the flashlight he had thrown in the backseat earlier. "I'm not taking you with me. I'll grab Scott, find my necklace, and we'll be gone before anyone knows." Stiles rolled his eyes before hopping back in the jeep.

"Call me if you need me," He stressed. "I'll make sure your window is cracked so you can get in without dad noticing." Alex nodded and waved as he drove off towards the main road. Sighing, she turned on the flashlight, pointing its ray of light into the dense black canopy of the forest.

She made her way into the inky blackness cursing herself the entire way. The clasp had been weak, and she had been meaning to get it fixed. Something always came up. Her mother had given it to her the day of the fire, telling her that it would protect her wherever she was, just as it had protected her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about the last time she saw her parents. Their happy smiling faces bright as they waved at her from the front porch as she came home from school. Their warm laughs as they told her a bedtime story. Even at the age of 14 she loved to hear them. Stories of magic and adventure. Of creatures and monsters. Stories they had told her since she was a babe.

Alex stopped at the sound of rustling leaves. Fog had risen up around her. Adding a quiet mystique to her current surroundings. She thought she could feel a pair of eyes watching her. Alex looked around. She was alone. Shaking off the paranoia she trained her flashlight on the forest floor sweeping the light back and forth in an organized fashion. The problem was that the pendant, a wolf's head carved from oxidized copper, would easily be missed in the autumnal foliage.

Immersed in her mission, Alex was unaware of the stampeding herd of deer hurtling her way. By the time she noticed it was too late. Dropping the flashlight, Alex closed her eyes bringing her arms up to protect her face. One moment she was awaiting the onslaught of serious injury and the next she felt herself wrapped in a warm tight embrace. She stood crushed against the chest of her savior as the onslaught of deer continued to stampede by. It wasn't Scott, whose body lacked the size and build of the one she was currently wrapped in. The scent was familiar though. Cedar wood and campfire.

Her rescuer released her. The scene around them safe. Alex took a step back. She looked up smiling. It quickly faded into astonishment.

"Are you okay?" His voice was gruff, deep. Deeper than she remembered. Alex's eyes widened in surprise as she took a step back unsure if what she was seeing was real.

"That's impossible." She whispered, mostly to herself. The man that stood before her gave her a worried frown. "You're dead." His eyes widened as if he was surprised by the information.

"Alex," He whispered her name as he took a step towards her. Her heart was thudding like a jack hammer in her chest. Her breath quickened with every step he took towards her. Gone was the awkward high school boy she had known. Replaced by a confident, tall, well-built man whose look of concern elicited a small sob from her lips.

She reached out a hand to touch him. Alex snatched her hand back in surprise when it came in contact with human flesh. None of this made sense to her. He had been in that fire. That was the only reason she could think of that he never called or wrote. Never checked on her in the hospital.

Alex couldn't deny, however, that the man in front of her was real. She felt frozen. As if time had somehow stood still with them at the center. He took one last step towards her before drawing her to his chest. He took in her scent. The same smell of lavender and vanilla.

"Derek." It came out as a sob. Her head was spinning. Her thoughts racing a million miles an hour. She couldn't seem to control her breathing as she sobbed against his chest. Six years of pain and loss bursting to the surface. The next thing she knew darkness overtook her…