DISCLAIMER: I Do Not own Teen Wolf (unless you count Seasons 1 & 2...in the future also 3) and if I did Derek and Stiles would be locked in a room for the majority of it so they can get the UST out of their systems.

A/N: I have no excuses for how long it took me to get this out. All I can do is apologize and hope that you all don't hate me too much.

Kate cringed as she stepped in yet another mud-hole, for about the hundredth time that night, getting even more crud on one of her most comfortable pair of hunting boots.

She fucking hated Werewolves.

They were the cause of her now traipsing through the woods with her guns, instead of sitting at home, 4500 miles away, all snug in her bed, in her own Werewolf free city. Werewolf free thanks to her, of course, she smiled inwardly.

She had been surprised that it had taken no time at all to dispose of that town's Alpha and had had the woman's pack scattering like cockroaches. That Alpha had been weak and from her weakness had followed the weakness of her pack.

Eventually, they would find and kill every last Werewolf on this planet and soon she wouldn't be out in the middle of Nowhere, California knee-deep in gunk, searching for overgrown poodles.

The brunette moved through the woods as cautiously and quietly as she could and cursed at this new Alpha that had arrived on the scene. Murdering people left and right and becoming a thorn in her family's side.

Her brother had been desperate for some decent help to catch this particular baddie and had called her. She was all for her brother taking care of his own business and was going to tell him kindly where to shove it when he had casually mentioned the return of Derek Hale.

No twisting of her arm was needed for that decision. She was packed, ready, and in her car an hour later. On the road and ready to finish a job she had started three years earlier.

She should have never left without finishing but circumstances had come up with her father and she had to leave before she could take care of Derek and his sister Laura. She was a bit disappointed that

this new Alpha had taken care of the female Hale for her.

She would have liked to have seen who would have won the final showdown from all the spars they had had in school.

Thinking back, to when she had had to endure High-school, aside from being the new kid in town, all of the other girls had been either too jealous or just too...feminine for her to ever consider hanging out with and all the men had just wanted to get into her pants. So Kate didn't really have anyone in High-school to be even semi-friendly with.

Then she had met Laura Hale.

The moment their eyes locked, something had just clicked inside and she knew that the auburn haired girl would fill that void. Even if the only interactions they had were heated debates in the classrooms, verbal spars in the lunch room, and 'accidental' hits in gym class. They all made up for her lack of friends and that had suited Kate just fine. It had all changed, for the better as far as Kate was concerned, in a day with a particularly challenging game of Dodgeball their coach had insisted upon.

Both Laura and Kate had been picked as Team Captains and as soon as the teams were divided the carnage had begun. Both girls had been ruthless in their attempts to get the other out and many of the other girls had been sacrificed. When it was three on one, Kate's team to Laura, was when the dynamics of their basic highschool rivalry had escalated into a till-the-death type of rivalry.

Kate and her two teammates had thrown the last of their balls at a lone Hale, only to be disappointed when all three balls missed their target. Laura, in an obvious moment of freedom, had forgotten herself and allowed her eyes to show red. The older Hale had then smiled ferally and took them all out one by one with a fierceness that could only have come from a Werewolf.

After that game, Kate had taken the old adage of 'friends close, enemies closer' to heart and had gone after the final bell to congratulate Laura on her 'win', which had led her to meeting Derek and well, Kate had lived Happily Ever After.

Voices broke through and into her train of thought and Kate stopped, glancing past a couple trees, Kate caught a sudden glimpse of a fire's light only about 10 yards out. As quietly and as quickly as she could, she made her way over towards the light and was pleased to see a few campers sitting around a campfire. They looked like they were teenagers so she doubted any of them were the Alpha, but they might be Betas in training. She put on her best fake smile and walked out from behind the trees that had been concealing her and right into their campsite, "Hello there."

A burp broke the silence of the after dinner haze of Camp Hale. Three pairs of eyes looked over in amusement and surprise at the only female in their party.

"Excuse me, but that was the best fish I've ever had." Lydia smiled and sighed in contentment, leaning back against the log and John's leg, which the Sheriff was trying really hard to pretend wasn't happening.

Derek laughed and nuzzled at Stiles' neck while his hands rubbed soothingly over his boy's stomach. The older man was sitting on the ground, leaning up against the other log in their campsite and he had Stiles tucked snug against his chest and in-between his legs. Stiles' hands meanwhile were resting on Derek's thighs and his eyes were closed, a small tinge of pink on his cheeks and a smile on his face.

Derek's wolf was almost purring like a cat it was so happy.

Needing to keep his hands busy so he wasn't tempted to murder Hale for touching, John took out his knife and grabbed up a stray piece of wood. "So where'd you learn to fish like that Hale?"

The leg Lydia's head was resting on shifted when John leaned over to grab up the wood, causing the red-head to lose her pillow at the motion. The Sheriff let out an inaudible sigh that she wasn't touching him anymore when Lydia just scooted closer and repositioned herself to the way she was before. Her head once more resting comfortably against the older man's thigh. John's knife bit a little harder than necessary into the wood and Lydia's lips quirked up into a little smile.

Derek tried not to laugh as he answered Stillinski Sr.'s question. "My Dad. He learned it from his dad, my Paw-Paw, and my Paw-Paw learned it from his dad."

"You called you're Grandpa Pa-Pa? That's so cute." Lydia squee'ed. "I called mine Grandpa Alf."

Stiles cracked an eye open and smirked, as he asked, "Is that because he was short, hairy, and liked to eat cats?"

"Yes." Lydia dead panned then added, "I think you'd of liked him Derek."

Stiles let out a loud laugh, Derek shot her a glare, and John just looked confused.

Choosing to ignore the estrogen of the group, Derek asked Stiles, "What'd you call your's?"

Stiles wiped away the laughing tears that had formed at the corner of his eyes and looked back at his...boyfriend-lover-partner-mate, "Pop-Pop. He was the epitome of awesome."

John smiled at Stiles. "Yeah. My old man made a pretty cool Grandfather, but he was a strict S.O.B. while growing up. I'm much more lenient when it comes to you."

Stiles sat up, wide-eyed. "I object!"

"Excuse you?"

"You're always yelling at me for stuff I haven't even done yet."

"That's cause I know what you're thinking."

Derek and Lydia laughed.

"I still object."

"Stiles...Exhibit A is sitting right behind you. My old man certainly wouldn't have let me date a presumed murderer." John went back to his carving. "Not to mention all the crazy sh—crap that's happened lately that I've found you loitering around. That school animal attack, for one." He pointed his knife in Stiles and Derek's direction. "Would your Father have let—he gestured to the two of them-this slide?"

Stiles felt Derek's muscles tense under his hand, his family would always be a touchy subject, Stiles knew. "He would've understood about Stiles and I. As long as I was happy and healthy and careful, he would've listened to me and understood. Just like how you are with Stiles."

"Yeah, maybe."

The Sheriff went back to his whittling and a brief tense silence reigned over the camp, before John let loose an exhale. "I'm sorry...about your family. Your father, he was a good man, helped me out a bit over the years that I knew him."

John looked up, catching the younger man's eye, "He helped me out with a lot of lost hikers when I was first elected Sheriff. We kind of became friends and when...when Stiles' mom died, he got me through some tough times. Your Mother...she was always sending over food. Came over once or twice to watch Stiles too when I needed a minute to myself."

"I don't remember that." Stiles said, confused.

"Those first few weeks after your Mom passed, you slept a lot, because you didn't...you couldn't stop crying. You cried yourself raw. I think those first few weeks were the only times the house had been quiet the whole time we've lived there."

Lydia and Derek chuckled and Stiles pinched the arm Derek had wrapped around his stomach.

"I'm not surprised you don't remember, but she was there." John looked back at Derek, a frown marring his face, "What happened to them was-John squeezed his knife and his knuckles turned white, he shook his head-they were good people. I'm sorry."

"Thanks." Derek was quiet, content, his arms around Stiles. "I didn't kill Laura."

"If I had thought you did, you'd be in a holding cell right now and not wrapped around my son like an octopus."

Stiles blushed and asked, "Then why'd you arrest him a month ago?"

"Technically, I took him in for questioning. He wasn't arrested."

"Sure felt like I was."

"The handcuffs were for my Deputies benefit. He was adamant that it was you, so I placated him." John smirked, "After we let you go for lack of everything he was really pissed. He still thinks you had something to do with it. It's driving him crazy, so thanks for that."

"He was already crazy." Stiles said, as he rolled his eyes.

"You know your sister saved my life once." Lydia piped up out of nowhere.

"Hello, left field." Stiles stated as he looked over at the redhead.

Derek's eyes caught hers and his arms tightened on Stiles, "When?"

"I was ten or eleven, I think. One day after school I had decided to try and take on that big downhill over on Knott Street."

All three men looked at her like she was crazy and Lydia's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "Yeah, yeah, I know, silly."

"Idiotic you mean. Scott and I haven't even been brave enough to try that one and we're manly men."

"Manly?"

"Shut it Hale."

Lydia and John laughed before the redhead continued, "Anyways, I went down it faster than I should have and the brakes on my bike wouldn't work when I tried to slow myself down. Then, I saw this big old red truck coming from the opposite way, he wasn't stopping and I couldn't. I barely had enough time to scream when I was snatched from my seat. My bike skidded and tumbled right in front of the truck, it wrecked. I remember, this- Lydia's right arm would around her middle- unnaturally tight grip around my stomach and I looked over to see this girl. She was breathing really hard, like she had run full out for miles and there were these tight lines around her eyes. She asked me if I was okay and then she said some things to the truck driver that I don't even want to repeat. She took me to the hospital and stayed with me till my parents came. I had three bruised ribs and a long ugly looking bruise going across my stomach where her arm had wrapped around me. I found out later from one of the nurses who she was."

Derek smiled as she finished, "I remember that. She came home with a broken arm and a story about some stupid daredevil kid."

Lydia squeeked, "A broken arm?"

"Yeah. From the force of her grabbing you at such a high rate of speed. It broke Laura's arm in two places. Our Dad was so pissed, but he didn't stay mad when he found out the whole story."

"She never even acted like she was hurt!"

"Well, that was my sister for you. She could've been bleeding out and she wouldn't have let on to how much pain she was in."

"So, what's your story Derek?" John asked. "What happened to you after you left Beacon Hills?"

Stiles took note that this was the first time his dad had actually called Derek by his first name and counted this little trip down memory lane as a small victory.

"Nothing much to tell. After the...fire, Laura and I traveled around a bit, then we went our separate ways for a year. She told me she was coming back to Beacon to sort out what happened to our family, said she needed closure and before I could meet her here she was-" Derek trailed off, his ears twitched and his body tensed.

Stiles turned to look at his Wolf's face and saw worry, agitation, and confusion in them. "I have to go." Derek said tersely, before pushing Stiles away and getting up. Stiles scrambled up after him and caught his arm before he could walk off and into the woods.

"What's wrong?" He whispered, face questioning and worried.

Derek turned and gave Stiles a tight hug, whispering in the younger man's ear. "I heard something not too far off. I need to go check it out, it doesn't feel right. I'll be right back." Rough lips pressed a kiss to Stiles' cheek and then to his lips, before Derek turned and disappeared into the night.

"Where's he going?" John asked, who had stood at Derek's quick exit.

Stiles didn't turn around, a bad feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. "He needed a minute. I don't think he really grieved for his sister. He'll be back later." I hope, Stiles thought, as he turned and walked back to the camp. His dad nodded and sat back down to continue his whittling, but Lydia's grey eyes went right through the excuse and she gave him a worried look.

Derek was about 20 yards away from his pack, listening intently for the noise he had heard before, the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. He moved slowly, ears attuned to the noises of the wood, but he didn't hear any far away gun shots or any other noises.

In fact it was a little too quiet for normal.

The other animals knew something just as dangerous as himself was around and had made themselves scarce.

A breeze floated past Derek and as it did it brought a scent so undeniably familiar that Derek's nostrils flared and his eyes bled red. He growled low and deep, then took off running in the direction the scent had come from.

The scent of one Kate Argent.

Kate made mock gagging noises as she left behind the third campsite she had found that night. A sickeningly sweet couple, whom were on their second honeymoon and who had thought it would be oh-so-romantic to sleep under the stars.

Puh-lease, Kate scoffed.

A twig snapped to her right and Kate grabbed her gun quickly from her hip, cocking it and aiming right between the eyes of...a dumbass.

"Whoa! It's just me! Don't shoot!" Jason, one of her brothers lackeys whispered in defense, his arms raised in surrender.

Kate glared and lowered her gun. "Idiot. I should shoot you here and now if you're going to be a noisy little shit. Fucking best back-up my ass. My brother is going to get an earful when I get back."

Jason's blue eyes scowled, "You're just one big bucket of sunshine ain't ya. So did you find anything?"

"Why, yes, I found a shitload of Were's and took them all down with one tranquilizer." Kate rolled her eyes at the ass-hat her brother had demanded go with her.

"Damn, woman, you don't have to be so sarcastic."

"Oh, shut the fu-" A long, deep howl filled the night, shutting Kate up mid sentence.

A sickening, happy smile blossomed on her face. Oh yes, she knew this howl. The beautiful brunette turned and looked at Jason. The blonde haired man shivered at the murderously happy look on the Argent's face and backed up a few steps. "Well, looks like an old friend of mine wants to play. Let's move." Kate took off running and Jason let out the breath he was holding as he followed after the psychotic hunter.

Derek was high up in a tree, his eyes and hearing trained on the expanse of foliage around him, waiting for the bitch who stole his life. He had run over another 150 yards after hearing her shrill voice screaming at someone. Even though they were over five hundred feet away, he was a little mad at himself for letting her get this close to his mate and his pack. It was unacceptable and his wolf wasn't too happy.

He needed to take care of this problem before she got any closer to what was his.

Derek's mind raced, trying to think of the best possible way to go about this. He'd have to take out the male with her first and then deal with Kate...but he needed them to come to him.

Not thinking twice, Derek threw his head back and let out a howl, telling his prey 'here I am, come and get me'.

His ears twitched as he heard Kate's response and he could sense the smile that must have been on her face as she spoke. The sound of running footsteps pounding on the dirt towards his location, got Derek up and into action. Jumping down, the Alpha took off running towards a giant Oak tree he had come across earlier. The clearing surrounding the base of the tree would be the perfect place for the encounter Derek wanted to happen.

When he reached the thick trunk, he clawed up to the first thick available branch, about 15 feet up, and gave another long beckoning howl. Kate and her companion's footsteps trampled dirt and twigs as they raced through the woods, coming closer to him with every second.

Derek's eyes had died down to an electric blue, it would do no good for Kate to see his scarlet colored eyes and know he had moved up in the world.

Some squirrels scurried up a tree next to his just as the duo emerged from a cluster of trees in front of the little clearing. Derek's claws tensed and his nails curled into the bark of the tree. Anticipation of tearing through the flesh of the one who had taken his family from him coursing through his belly.

Kate had her gun in her hand and so did her partner.

Derek smiled in satisfaction as he heard the fast erratic thumping of the man's heart. Apparently, he wasn't as tough as the Argents considering the scent of fear that was dripping off of the man.

Kate walked slowly towards his tree, her brown eyes searching the area around her. The man was slower to move, but when he did Derek was pleased to see that he was moving too right under the branch the wolf was perched on.

"Why'd we stop? He's not here."

"I know this Werewolf. He's close."Kate had the tranquilizer gun held up and ready to use, while Jason's heartbeat slowed down and as the minutes ticked by the blonde haired man started to lose his fear and only to gain irritation in it's place. In his agitation, the apprentice hunter lowered his weapon and walked right into the position Derek was hoping for.

"Argent, he's not here."

"Shut it Barrett!" Kate hissed as a the tiniest snap of noise to her left caught her attention. She swung around and headed towards a thicker patch of trees. Ignoring her irritable companion's scoff.

When Kate turned, Derek made his move and jumped from the tree, landing right behind the younger hunter. He placed his hand over the man's mouth and his arm locked around the man's throat. Blocking the flow of air. Jason's eyes went wide and he tried to kick out and get Kate's attention but Derek picked him up so the man's feet wouldn't make a noise on the ground to alert the Hunter.

Barrett's heartbeat slowed down to an almost non existent beat and that's when Derek removed his hand from the man's mouth and placed the unconscious man back behind another tree and out of sight.

He chanced a glance around the trunk of the tree he was now behind and saw Kate's body hidden a little behind the Oak he had jumped from.

"It was just a fox. Maybe you're right and he's not-" Kate turned and saw that Jason was no longer behind her, "-Barrett?"

Derek moved back behind the tree and moved back along the treeline. His steps were sure and quick, so as not to alert the Hunter to his presence until he wanted it.

"Jason you idiot! Get out here right now!" Kate hissed.

A twig snapped to her right, then her left, then behind her, Kate twisted her head at every slight sound. Trying to follow the movement of who was stalking her, playing with her. She would not let Derek get the best of her.

A rustle directly behind her had her swinging around, gun drawn, ready to fire, when a sharp pain in her neck made her drop her gun.

Her right hand grasped Derek's wrist, while her left reached for the knife she always kept at her waist. His electric blue eyes pierced into her brown and he snarled, tightening his grip, nails digging into her throat.

The Bowie Knife was in her hand and she brought it up, plunging it deep into Derek's abdomen. He howled in pain and with his right hand grabbed her left wrist before she could twist the knife in and pulled. It came out of him with a sick little squirting sound as it was pulled free.

Derek squeezed Kate's wrist until hir grip on the knife lessened and it drop to the ground below them, landing in a small pool of Derek's blood.

As he looked into her eyes and saw the blazing inferno of his family's home in their depths, Derek lifted Kate off the ground and- Bang! Bang!

Suddenly his side and shoulder were pricked with pain.

He became dizzy. His eyes flashing between blue and green as he tried to keep them open and keep his grip on Kate.

As his vision blurred, his grip became lax and he let go of his hold around Kate's neck.

His prey fell to the ground, gasping and drawing in air, her hands holding onto her throat as she realized how close she had come to death.

Derek growled and reached for her again as another loud pop sounded through the air and another sharp prick of pain hit him in the chest.

He fell to ground.

The last thing he saw was the sight of black boots walking towards him, a small chuckle and the voice of the other hunter say, "I'm not that easy to put down mutt."

Jason smirked, the tranquilizer gun lowered to his side and a drugged-up Werewolf at his feet. Kate was on the ground, hands on her throat and shock in her eyes. He would remember that look on her face for the rest of the night.

The Argents may be good, he thought, but the Barrett Family Line was better.

Stiles had been playing 'Go-Fish' with Lydia while they waited for Derek to return when he suddenly felt sick to his stomach. His cards fluttered to the ground as he got to his feet and ran to the just outside of the camp.

He barely made it, falling to his knees as the contents of his stomach came hurtling out.

A hand was suddenly rubbing up and down his spine. Lydia's manicured nails lightly scratching at his back in a soothing manner.

"You okay son?" His father asked from somewhere behind them.

"No." He dry-heaved a few times before he was able to calm down some.

He looked up into Lydia's grey eyes as tears leaked from his eyes and ran down his face, "Something's wrong...Derek."

Lydia's eyes widened and they both turned to look out into the forest.

A/N: I want to send an extremely BIG HUG and shout out to every single one of you have reviewed and every single on of you who has read but not reviewed. I really love that you guys like my story. It makes me happy in my heart and in my face. Also, I am going to answer some review questions down here, only some of the more recent ones though. So if you asked me a question read on, if you didn't well than I hope it was worth the wait and as always Reviews welcomed, but not mandatory. :-)

Black-Misty-Sky you mentioned that you liked my little end note up above about Reviewing and I wanted to thank you. I feel exactly the same.

NJFerrel, Maybe I'll mention something in the Epilogue when I get that far but for right now I'm just trying to focus on Derek and Stiles. I get sidetracked way to easily in stories and want to try to keep this one on track.

LittleBoyRed, I have you're one-shot written on paper it just needs to be typed out and polished up a bit. :-)

Phoenix8351, It will definitely be a happy ending. I am a happy ending kind of gal and have a hard time writing anything else. If this spoils anything for someone I'm sorry.

FallenAngelicWolf, I've been playing with the idea of a Werewolf Stiles, but I do believe Stiles is perfect just the way he is as a human. :-)

OffWithMyHeads, you didn't ask a question but I loved your review. It kind of made me blush and smile all day after I read it, you flawless creature you...lol

Anonymous Santana Black Lydia will be staying protective of her new BFF. Always.

RavensTalon permission granted. Lol.