I was tracking the Alpha. Alone. Again. I didn't care what Derek had to say, I was gonna find him and kill him with or without Derek.

Yeah, I heard the gunshots. No, that wasn't gonna stop me. And when I heard the Alpha howling, that only feuled me to catch him even more.

I saw him. I finally saw the beast that he became, and I jumped onto the building that he was crawling across, and I noticed him looking behind him at something or someone, but I didn't pay attention to who or what it was. I was following it.

I ran across the roof, trying to keep track of it, but when I heard yet another gunshot and someone falling to the ground, I stopped. Who had gotten shot?

I heard grunting and breathing that had sounded way too familiar, and I looked away from the Alpha for a split second, and when I looked down the side of the building, suspcion confirmed, I saw Derek laying on the ground. When I looked back at the Alpha, it had already disappeared.

I growled, letting out a very annoyed and pissed sigh out, but I was jumping off of the roof anyway, going into a somersalt and rolling over my head and on my shoulders and back on the ground, stopping with one knee on the ground, one foot, that knee pointing up while I looked at Derek next to me.

He backed away to the wall that was behind us, grunting the whole way, pulling up the sleeve of his shirt to reveal the bullet wound, and it glowed purple, purple smoke rising from it while blood was on the bottom half.

The purple smoke . . that had to have been wolfsbane.

Derek looked at me. "What did I say about you taking off after the Alpha alone?"

"Says the one who got shot," I said

I helped him up, and helped him home.

I woke up in the morning when Derek was trying to walk out of the door. "Where are you going?"

"I need Scott," he said, looking way more weak than he had yesterday.

"Wait--why?"

"Wolfsbane bullet," he said. "He's dating Argent's daughter. I need him to--"

"Yeah," I cut him off, nodding. "I get it. You need help? I can drive." 

"No. Not the car." 

"Okay?" 

He started to walk for the door, and when he left, I knew that I wasn't going to let him go alone and end up dead in a ditch somewhere, so I stood, following after him more slowly. He had been so weak that he hadn't even noticed that I had been following him until we walked into the school. "What are you doing here?" 

"You're the one that's always saying I need to come here," I said, looking around. "Not the reason, but I can tell I'm not missing much." 

"Go--" 

"Derek, you look like you're dying, just let me help." 

Derek nodded. "Okay." 

He walked over to some kid that was putting books into his locker, then closing it. He was wearing a long sleeved dark red shirt, had short, spiked brownish hair, blue eyes. "Where's Scott McCall?" 

"Why should I tell you?" the kid asked.

"Because I asked you politely. And I only do that once." 

"Hmm. Okay, tough guy. You know, how 'bout I help you find him if you tell me what you're selling." I looked at him with furrowed brows, standing a few feet back, so he didn't notice me. "What is it? Is it, uh, dynabol? Hmm? HGH?

"Steriods," Derek said.

He was about to walk around him when the kid said, "No, girl scout cookies. What the hell do you think I'm talking about? Oh, and, uh, by the way, whatever it is, your, uh, selling, I'd probably stop sampling the merchandise. You look wrecked." 

I rolled my eyes, stepping forward when I saw a drop of Derek's blood drip to the floor. We so didn't have time for this. 

"I'll find him mysefl," Derek said while I started to follow him, and the kid turned to Derek, grabbing his shoulder.

"No, we're not done here--" 

I pulled him away from Derek, mad enough to actually claw him in the back of the neck, though I hadn't meant to, and I took them out, turning to Derek and nodding for him to go on.

Derek couldn't go far, leaning against the wall while I slowly followed, not really sure what to do. I had never been the over-coddly sister. I wasn't starting now.

"Find Scott," Derek breathed, and I nodded, knowing what he meant.

I spread my senses around, mainly my hearing. I heard chalk writting on a chalk board, someone listening to music and another on the phone, someone trying to unlock a combinaton lock, and another one texting.

I finally heard something relevant. "Scott's coming over? Tonight?"  one girl asked.

"We're just studying together," another said, and I figured that this girl was the one that Derek had been talking about, Argent's daughter.

"'Just studying' never ends with just studying," the other girl was saying. "It's like . . getting into a hot tub. Somebody eventually cops a feel."

"Well, so what are you saying?"

"I'm just saying . . you know . .make sure he covers up." The girl who I assumed to be Scott's girl didn't answer. "Hello, Snow White! Do it with him with a condom." 

"Are you kidding?"  the girl laughed. "After one date?"

"Don't be a total prude. Give him a little taste."

"Well, I--I mean, how much is a little taste?"

"Oh, God. You really like him, don't you?"

"Well--he's just different. When I first moved here, I had a plan: no boys til colledge. I just move too much. But--Then I met him, and--he was different. I--I don't know. Can't explain it."

"I can. It's your brain flooding with phenylethylamine."

"What?"

"I'll tell you what to do. When's he coming over?"

"Right after school."

"Hmm."

Derek flinched wildly when the school bell rang, and I was really starting to worry about him.

I looked over the crowd of over-flooding students, but I didn't see Scott anywhere. "Derek, I--"

I looked back over to where he had been, and groaned with annoyance. He had disappeared.

I turned around and started to push the crowd out of my way. I ran out the door, looking for Derek, but didn't have to look hard because a ratty blue jeep was honking its horn, Derek in front of it. I ran over to him as he was falling, and I heard Scott following me.

"Derek, come on," I said through I hushed whisper before Scott and his friend were next to me.

"What are you two doing here?" Scott nearly demanded.

"I was shot," Derek said, weakly.

"He's not looking so good, dude," his friend was saying.

"Why aren't you healing?" Scott asked.

"I can't," he said.

"It was a different kind of bullet," I explained to him.

"What--silver bullet?" Scott's friend asked.

"No, you idiot," I said, barely turning my head.

"Wait, wait--" Scott said, looking at me, then him. "That's what she meant when she said you had 48 hours."

"What?" I demanded.

"Who--Who said 48 hours?" Derek asked.

"The one who shot you," Scott answered. Derek grunted, closing his eyes, and when he opened them, they were flashing blue. Scott looked around. "What are you doing? Stop that."

"I'm trying to tell you I can't."

"Derek," I said, grabbing his shoulder. "Get up."

His eyes were flashing and flickering blue and then normal as more car horns beeped more furiously.

I turned to Scott. "Help me put him in his car."

Scott nodded. "You're gonna have to go to."

"I know," I said, climbing in first and then grabbing Derek's leather jacket and pulling him in while Scott pushed.

Scott shut the door, and his friend was starting to circle around the jeep.

"I need you to find out what kind of bullet they used," Derek said.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Scott asked.

"She's an Argent, she's with them."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because you need him," I answered for Derek. "I can't help you on my own."

Scott looked away, and then back. "Fine. I'll try." His friend got into the jeep, closing the door. "Hey, get them outta here."

"I hate you for this so much," he replied before he started the engine and drove us away.

Riding with them wasn't exactly the highlight of the last year. The kid driving threw down his phone, then turned to Derek. "Hey, try not to bleed out on my seats. We're almost there."

"Almost where?" I asked.

"Your house."

"What?" Derek asked. "No, you can't take us there."

"I can't take you to your own house?"

"Not when I can't protect myself."

The kid started to pull over on the side of the road.

"What am I to you?" I asked.

"You'd be too busy trying to protect me than caring about yourself."

Oh, right. He knew me too well.

"Yeah, her protecting you? Yeah right," the kid said.  I glared at him, and he said quickly, "Not that I'm saying that you couldn't, it's just looks like you wouldn't care enough to." I rolled my eyes and he said, "All right. What happens if Scott doesn't find your little magic bullet? Are you dying?"

"Not yet," Derek said. "I have a last resort."

I knew what the last resort would be, but this kid wouldn't like it. "What do you mean? What last resort?" he asked, sounding like a demand. Derek was pulling up his sleeve, showing the bullet wound. "Oh, my God. What is that? Is that contagious? You know what, you should probably just get out."

"Start the car," Derek told him. "Now."

"I don't think you should be barking orders with the way you look, okay? In fact, I think that if I wanted to, I could probably drag your little werewolf ass out into the middle of the road and leave you for dead."

I leaned forward, closer to his seat, grabbing the back of his neck. "Ow," he said. "Ow, ow."

"Start the car," I said. "Or I'm gonna rip your throat out. With my teeth."

He turned his head away, and I let go of his neck, pushing his head slightly forward as he started to car again.

"Where the hell is Scott?" I practically demanded as he pulled over in an empty parking lot. I was getting moodier because of the way that Derek was starting to smell, and I had smelt it sooner than the kid, and I smelt it stronger. "He needs to hurry."

"I'm not really sure," the kid said sarcastically. "Maybe it has something to do with saving your brother."

I rolled my eyes. "Call him."

'What--?"

"Call him," I repeated, cutting him off.

He let out a very annoyed sigh, but got his phone and dialed the number. "Hey, Stiles--" I heard Scott say.

Oh. So this was Stiles? Oh, well. "What am I supposed to do with him?" Stiles asked impatiently, cutting him off.

"Take him somewhere. Anywhere."

"And, by the way, he's starting to smell."

"Like--like what?"

"Like death."

"Okay, take them to the animal clinic."

"What about your boss?"

"He's gone by now. There's a spare key in the box behind the dumpster."

Stiles let out a very annoyed sigh, starting to hand Derek the phone. "You're not gonna believe where he's telling me to take you."

Derek took the phone, putting it up to his ear. "Did you find it?"

"How am I supposed to find one bullet? They have a million. This house is like--the frickin' Walmart of guns."

"Look, if you don't find it, then I'm dead, all right?"

"I'm starting to think that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"Then think about this. The Alpha called you out against your will. He's gonna do it again. Next time you either kill with him or you get killed. So if you wanna stay alive, then you need me. Find the bullet."

Stiles raised the door from the ground while I helped Derek in, and put him on a stack of bags as Stiles' phone rang. "Does 'nordic blue monkshood mean anything to you two?" Stiles asked

"It's a rare form of wolfsbane," I said.

"He has to bring me the bullet," Derek told him.

"Why?" Stiles asked.

"Because I'm gonna die without it."

I got Derek inside the clinic and he pulled away, taking off his shirt so that we could do what needed to be done if Scott didn't get back with the bullet in time. "You know, that really doesn't look like anything some echinacea and a good night of sleep couldn't take care of."

"When the infection reaches his heart, it'll kill him," I said, Derek turning around to look around for what I knew he was looking around for.

"'Positivity' just isn't in either of yours' vocabularies, is it?"

"If he doesn't get here with the bullet in time--last resort," Derek said.

"Which is?"

Derek held out the hand saw, nodding to me. "She's gonna cut my arm off."

I turned to Stiles. "And you're gonna hold him down."

Derek slid the hand saw over to me and I took it, and Stiles said, "Oh, my God, what if you bleed to death?"

As he wrapped the blue strap around his arm with his hand and teeth, I said, "It'll heal if it works."

"Ugh. Look, I don't know if I can do this."

"Why not?" Derek nearly demanded.

"Well, because of the cutting through the flesh, the sawing of the bone, and especially the blood!"

"You faint at the sight of blood?" I asked.

"No, but I might at the sight of a chopped off arm!"

"All right, fine," Derek said. "How 'bout this. Either you hold me down while she cuts off my arm, or I'm gonna cut off your head."

"Okay, you know what?" Stiles said. "I'm so not buying your guys' threats any--" Derek reached across the way and pulled him closer, like he was really gonna do it. "Oh, my God. Okay. All right, bought, sold. Totally. I'll do it. I'll do it. What? What are you doing?" Derek was coughing up his own black blood, letting go of Stiles. "Holy God, what the hell is that?"

"It's my body--trying to heal itself."

"Well, it's not doing a very good job of it."

"Now. We gotta do it now," I said, grabbing the saw.

"Look, honestly, I don't think I can--"

"Just do it!" Derek and I snapped at the same time.

"Oh, my God. Okay, okay." Stiles held Derek to the table while I started the saw. "All right, here we go!"

Before I could make the first cut, we heard Scott. "Stiles?"

"Scott?"

He came in and looked at me with the saw and Stiles holding Derek down. "What the hell are you doing?"

I put down the saw to the side, Stiles saying, "Oh, you just prevented a lifetime of nightmares."

"Did you get it?" I asked.

Scott dug into his pocket, handing the bullet to Derek, who straightened up and held it out in front of us. "What are you gonna do with it?" Stiles asked.

"I'm gonna--" Derek cut himself off. "I'm gonna--"

He dropped the bullet before he hit the ground, and Scott said, "No, no, no, no, no."

The bullet dropped into a floor draining pipe, and Derek fell to the ground, and I walked over to the draining pipe, sliding down to where I had seen it go. My fingers didn't fit through though. "Derek," Stiles said. "Derek, come on, wake up.Scott, what the hell are we gonna do?"

"I don't know!"

"I can't reach it," I said.

"He's not waking up!" Stiles said. "I think he's dying. I think he's dead."

No. I wouldn't lose my brother after I had lost everything else. "Just hold on!" I snapped. I could already feel my claws growing, and I knew how to use these well, so it didn't take a second before the two claws were on either side of the bullet, and I was pulling it up. "I got it," I said almost calmly. "I got it."

I moved away from that spot, Stiles saying, "Please don't kill me for this." He reached his hand back and punched him in the face, waking him up instantly. "Ow! God!" He shook out his hand.

Derek looked over to me with the bulet. "Give me--"

I helped him up, Scott on the other side of him, lifting too. "Up," Scott said.

Stiles was still shaking his hand when we were all standing up. "Ow. God."

Using his teeth, Derek tore the bullet in half, dumping the powder onto the table. I got out the lighter, lighting the powder, sparks flying for two seconds before it stopped and purple smoke was rising from it. Derek pushed the powder into his hand, and taking a deep breath before he did, he shoved it into the bullet hole, digging his finger in deep to make sure it all got it there, screaming and falling past Stiles to the floor. His body lurched while he screamed more, the last scream turning into a growl.

Then the veins, the blood, the purple smoke and the bullet wound were melting away.

"That--was--awesome!" Stiles exclaimed. "Yes!"

Derek was starting to get up, leaning up from the ground. "Are you okay?" Scott asked.

"Well, except for the agonizing pain," Derek answered.

I reached my hand down to him and he took. I pulled him up as Stiles said, "I'm guessing the ability to use sarcasm is a good sign of health."

Derek and I turned to glare at him, and Derek started to take the blue strap off. "Okay, we saved your life," Scott said. "Which means you're gonna leave us alone, you got that? And if you don't, I'm gonna go back to Allison's dad, and I'm gonna tell him everything--"

"You're gonna trust them?" Derek cut him off. "You think they can help you?"

"Well, why not? They're a lot freaking nicer than you two are."

I scoffed a scoff that was barely audible, thinking back to Peter and the rest of our family. "Yeah, I can show you exactly how nice they are."

"What do you mean?"

Derek and I took Scott to see Peter in the camaro, Scott in the back seat when we pulled up to the hospital. I got out, and then Scott was let out, Derek getting out on the other side. "What are we doing here?" Scott asked.

We didn't answer, walking to the hospital, and he had to run to keep up. I led the way to Peter's room. I had been here just the other day. I opened the door, walking in and Derek and Scott following after me.

On this side, Peter just looked like a person who couldn't move in a wheel chair, but Derek and I knew better.

"Who is he?" Scott asked, quiet.

"Our uncle," I answered. "Peter Hale."

"Is he--like you, a werewolf?"

"He was," Derek said. "Now he's barely even human.Six years ago, my sister and I were at school, and our house had caught on fire. 12 people were trapped inside. He and Tara were the only survivors."

"You were in the house?" Scott asked.

I nodded, never looking away from Peter. "He had been the one to get me out."

"So--what makes you guys so sure that they set the fire?"

"'Cause they're the only ones who knew about us," Derek answered.

"Well, then--they had a reason."

I finally looked away from Peter, looking at Scott with an incredulous glance. "Like what?"

Derek looked down at Peter, reaching down. "You tell us what justifies this." He turned Peter's wheelchair, Peter's head falling to the side and revealing the burn marks that he had gotten because he had save me, shielding me from the fire. Scott's eyes widened.

"They say they'll only kill an adult, and only with absolute proof, but there were people in our family that were perfectly ordinary in that fire," I said. I remembered Lucy, and how I had to have put her out of her misery, begging me to kill her so she didn't burn alive.

"This is what they do," Derek said. "And it's what Allison will do."

"What are you doing?" Peter's nurse called from the doorway. "How did you get in here?"

"We were just leaving," Derek said, taking my arm and pulling me along and letting me go, doing the same for Scott, Scott looking back at Peter before we left.

Maybe this would be enough to convince him that an Argent would never be a werewolf's friend.