KATE ARGENT.

Kate fricken Argent.

I was in shock. I couldn't comprehend that after all this time she'd been alive. For while I hated her with every fibre of my being, it always made me feel fractionally better knowing that she was dead. It was really the only comfort I could find in my mothers death — knowing the one responsible for it was also dead. I'd struggled to really accept my mom's death following the revelation that the 'house fire' wasn't just a house fire... that we weren't just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It had been arson, attempted murder... murder—whatever you wanted to call it, it was deliberate. The electrical wires weren't faulty.

Peter had gotten his revenge on everyone who played their part in the fire. What we had thought to be random killings at first turned out to be him giving them their just deserts... everyone except Adrian Harris but eventually his caught up with him in the form of ritual sacrifice. Peter Hale did have a heart though it had been burnt and scarred from the fire. He managed to get justice for what had happened to his family—our family—but he'd lost himself within the rage along the way.

The night he killed Kate I felt nothing but satisfaction. For a few weeks I hated myself for being glad that someone had died but when I truly processed what damage she'd caused it was easier.

My mom hadn't died in a freak accident, she'd been murdered and the only way I'd been able to make peace with that was knowing that the woman behind it had suffered an intolerable fate.

Knowing she was alive after all this time filled me with rage. My fingers were shaking and not even my hand pressing against my head could stop the tremors because they just started in my legs. I knew Malia was aware of it, too, considering her body was pressed tightly against my own — trapped in a two seater back seat with myself, Kira and Lydia.

I wanted to take things into my own hands...then I'd know she was really dead like she deserved, rotting in hell.

Her name, her face...everything she ever did—it was running on a loop in my head. It intensified my rage yet clouded me with sadness at the same time.

Though now she had Derek and what she wanted with him perplexed me to no end. How had she managed to drag him across state lines to Mexico and keep him captive for over a month? What did she want with him in the first place. 

I had no idea what we were about to face but if it was her I was afraid how I'd react.

Malia looked at me, her eyes burning into the side of my skull. She didn't even try to hide it. I had a feeling she didn't know the meaning of discrete or how to act it. All she knew was blunt and straightforward—something was I going to have to get used to. I knew she could see my hands shaking and she looked down to my leg as they bounced up and down too. We'd been crammed in this car for god knows how long and the tension had reached an extreme level. There had been nothing said since we'd all gotten in and since then I'd had the opportunity to slip into a pit of rage.

"Okay." She said eventually. I could tell she had something on the tip of her tongue and I was glad she'd finally spoke up, "I'll ask. Who's Kate Argent?"

I take that back, I wasn't glad she'd spoken up.

Kira's sheepish voice sounded next and in my mood I almost wanted to lean over Malia and Lydia and punch her, "Uh, I'd like to know, too."

An abundance of eyes fell on me and I was well aware of them. Stiles was looking through his rear-view mirror and Scott was turning back to me. Lydia glanced over occasionally but she kept her gaze mainly focused on the desert terrain we drove through.

"Well, everyone is looking at you, Alex." Malia said, no change of tone, "So...are you gonna tell us?"

"No." I said. I looked through the window and shook my head, "I don't want to talk about her."

Stiles swallowed hesitantly before he said, "Well, we were at her funeral. So, I'd like to know how she got out of a casket that was buried six feet underground."

"She was never in it." Scott responded.

"She was Allison's aunt...and a total sociopath." Lydia said to Malia then.

"You don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to." Kira said politely and I died inwardly hearing it. It was obvious she was talking to Scott only, her eyes did not see anyone except him—that much was obvious when she was turning the electricity up earlier. She was a love-sick puppy but what enraged me the most was she was talking to Scott like this only effected him.

"Um, yes, he does." Malia butted in incredulously.

"No. He doesn't." I shook my head. I'd reached a breaking point, my blood was boiling by now, "He might have a past with her but she didn't tear his entire family apart."

"Well now I really want to know." Malia deadpanned.

"Malia." Lydia hissed, like a mother scolding her child.

Scott sighed deeply and I could feel his eyes on me. I didn't meet them, I already knew his gaze had moulded into an apologetic glance. I'd known him too long now, I knew how his brain worked. I knew how he came to his decisions, how he weighed out the pros and cons... the thing with Scott was that he sometimes put facts over feelings.

"You guys should know. You need to know." He spoke.

I closed my eyes, shaking my head as I reclined further into the seat. I knew that would be his response. I knew him well enough by now. He wasn't very attuned to anyone else's feelings but his own. He would rather tell his girlfriend and Malia about his small issues with Kate Argent and bring to light my literal childhood trauma than tell them in private later on.

What difference would it make if we waited a few hours?

I was enraged when Stiles was the one to say it, however, "All right. Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of..Derek's family."

My fingers were trembling and I clenched my fists. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic in this car and I did everything to stop myself from shifting.

"And Alex's family." Scott said sheepishly before saying, "Some of them survived, like Cora, and Peter."

"A very angry Peter." Lydia quipped.

"Yeah, he's the one who bit and turned me." Scott said.

"And the one who finally caught up to Kate and killed her."

The memory flashed raw in my mind like it only happened yesterday. It had been months since Kate died. With everything we'd been through it truly felt like it was years ago but it wasn't. It was hard to believe it was just coming up a year since my dad and I moved back to Beacon Hills in the first place...when Scott was first bit, when Laura died. It was crazy how much we'd overcome—how much we'd suffered in those long twelve months.

"Well he couldn't even get that right, could he." I murmured, my voice sharp. I could hardly believe it to be honest. Out of all those people he killed Kate was the most important one and he dug his claws in too deep. It was ridiculous but it was entirely our luck. For while I couldn't believe it, I absolutely couldn't. If I wasn't so enraged I'd be laughing hysterically, it was one of those moments.

"We saw her buried." Stiles said, glancing fleetingly to Scott. His tone was one of disbelief, that he didn't fully believe that this was true, either.

"No. We saw a casket, remember?" Scott said to him. "She wasn't in it. The Calaveras heard that Kate had been killed by an Alpha's claws. They wanted to make sure she was really dead. Her body was healing. More and more, as she got closer to a full moon. She was coming back. So they switched out the bodies. If a hunter is bit, they have to take their own life before they change. The Calaveras, they treat the code like law. They make it their responsibility to enforce it."

"Good for her." Malia said dryly, "I wouldn't do it either."

"Would you kill half a dozen people to get out?" Scott asked her, "Because that's what she did."

Silence followed Scott for some time while we all reflected on his words. It didn't surprise me one bit that she'd killed several people in order to escape. It was what made Kate so selfishly her. It was her entire personality. She didn't play by the rules of life, she played by her own and when no one saw the playing field it was so, so, unfair.

"So...Kate's a werewolf now?" Kira asked after some time.

"I don't know." Scott responded, "You know, there's a saying, sometimes the shape you take reflects the person you are."

"What kind of shape is a sociopathic bitch?" Lydia said.

No one had the opportunity to respond as something blew in Stiles' car, the loud explosion took us all by surprise and the Jeep veered off the the right immediately after. Stiles struggled to control it, barely managing to pull it over on to the side of the road as the six of us all grabbed on to whatever we could. The second the old Jeep was stationary the six of us were fighting to climb out, elbows in stomachs and asses in faces while muttering profanities. It wasn't pretty.

Scott and Stiles ran round the car to check it out as I jumped out, the wind taking my hair and blowing it crazily. I held my hand to my eyes as the dusty air flew towards us.

"What happened?" Braeden asked as she walked over from her motorbike.

"I don't know. It felt like we hit something." Stiles responded.

"Scott, we need to get there by night." Braeden said to my friend, "It's too dangerous otherwise."

Silence followed as we all looked at Scott in the middle of a crisis. I saw the gears turning, the pros and cons weighing out and I looked at the sky to see the colours merging into a dusky yellow colour. The sun was setting that much was clear. It wouldn't be long until night fell upon us once more.

"Go." Stiles urged Scott after some time.

"Not without you." Scott responded.

"Dude, someone needs to find Derek." Stiles responded, "We'll think of something, we always do. Just go."

I could see how Scott wasn't convinced and he shook his head, "But—"

I rolled my eyes and interrupted him, "Stay here then." I said to him, "I'll go."

Stiles rose his hand toward me and began to shake his head, "Alex, wait—"

"He's my family at the end of the day." I responded with a shrug of my shoulders, "Not any of yours."

Stiles threw his arms out in exasperation and he groaned. We'd done this too many times in our relationship by now for him to know there was nothing he could do to stop me. He could try but it wouldn't work and knowing that I made my way over to Braeden and her motorbike, meeting the woman's gaze as I did. She held it fleetingly before he looked over my shoulder again to Scott and Stiles. I was unaware, however, of the way Stiles was silently pleading Scott to go with me. If I had seen it there was no doubt I'd of been furious.

"Wait." I heard Scott say after a few more seconds and I heard his heavy footsteps echo as he jogged over to catch up with me.

"Scott!" Kira's voice interrupted us however. We both turned to see her run over to us and I rolled my eyes before walking away before she had the chance to arrive.

I reached Braeden's bike and took the helmet she offered me, "Been on the back of one of these before?" She asked me.

"Yeah." I mumbled, memories whirring to life inside my mind, "Plenty of times."

I didn't dare tell her my best friends had been the cause of her falling from one a few months prior.

I waited by the bike for Scott, watching he and Kira interact while hearing everything she was saying to him before they hugged.

"Are they always like that?" Braeden asked me, a hint of disgust on her face.

"Yeah." I nodded, "It's painful."

She hummed in agreement before clearing her throat and shouting, "Scott, the suns going down."

I almost wanted to tell him to hurry his ass up but I kept quiet and watched them break away before Scott ran over to us. He climbed on after Braeden and I followed, the three of us squeezing on as I pulled the helmet over my head and we drove away, the sound of the bike engine revving as we left the others behind.

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By the time we had reached La Iglesia the sun had set and darkness had surrounded us like a blanket once more. What once stood a small town was now nothing but ruins caused by an earthquake surrounding the church which still stood. We didn't know why but the belief was because it was built over an Aztec temple that belonged to a people called the nagual—or more commonly known as were-jaguars. I'd heard of were-jaguars before, early on in this strange life of supernatural when Stiles and I were trying to find out about werewolves. I'd seen them in one of the many books we'd read as well as the Bestiary that the Argent's had created.

I didn't think Kate Argent could be a were-jaguar. It wasn't confirmed but it was looking likely and like Scott had said earlier even he wasn't sure. I don't know what part of Kate's personality would make her a were-jaguar. I'd of opted for more of a demon to be honest, the sociopathic traits were in line with that a demon would possess.

The three of us walked across the grounds of the desolate town, Scott shining a flashlight ahead of us as Braeden clicked the chamber of her gun in place between us.

Scott slowed to a stop, looking at the large gun she held in her hands and he asked, "If you find Kate in here what are you gonna do with her?"

"Hopefully put one of those bullets in between her eyes." I responded, looking sideways at Braeden.

I didn't miss the disapproving stare Scott fired my way.

Braeden glanced between us both before saying, "Bring her back to the Calaveras. That's what they paid me for."

"That's disappointing." I mumbled as we began waking forward again.

"What happens after that?" Scott asked her.

"Not my problem." She responded.

Scott furrowed his brows, "You don't care?"

"Do you?" Braeden retorted, "She's a mass murderer."

"And you're a mercenary." Scott posed.

She didn't even bat an eyelid as she said, "Girl's gotta eat."

"If you were paid enough, would you kill her?" Scott asked curiously.

"How much?" I asked her, "Just out of interest."

Braeden glanced at me before she shook her head and turned to Scott and stopped, "If the money was good, I'd kill you." She said before she walked away and left us behind.

She headed inside the church, kicking a wooden door down and walking in. Scott and I glanced at each other fleetingly, our facial expressions saying the same thing that resembled something along the lines of 'what the actual hell?'

We didn't say anything else as we followed after her into the church, looking around the dark space as Braeden trekked forward with no fear, "Can you catch Derek's scent?" She asked us.

"Yeah." Scott responded, "Already on it."

As I looked around I heard something echo faintly in my ears—movement of some sort and I noticed Scott had already put his arm out across Braeden to prevent her from moving any further forward. As he did so, a low, threatening roar I'd never heard before reverberated off the walls of the empty church. It wasn't loud enough for a human to hear but certainly loud enough for Scott and I to pick up.

"What?" Braeden snapped.

"There's something else in here." Scott responded.

"Something like what?"

I looked around closely, eyes searching every crevice of this open space and I swallowed thickly before saying, "Something not human."

We proceeded with caution, taking tentative steps while being sure to check our surroundings constantly. Knowing that we weren't alone was unsettling to say the least and the last thing I wanted to do right now was engage in a fight with an unknown creature, especially when my body still felt so weak after nearly being electrocuted to death mere hours ago.

I kept myself focused on Derek's scent and how it continued to grow stronger the closer we got. He couldn't be far—I hoped he wasn't far...

Braeden broke the silence again as we ventured deeper down a passageway of old stairs, "So.. how come you didn't kiss her?" I wasn't sure if it was a way break the tension that continued to build between the three of us or if she was genuinely curious. I doubted it was the latter, she didn't really seem like the person who was interested in the going-on's of other peoples lives.

"What?" Scott responded.

"How come you didn't kiss your girlfriend?" She responded.

"You mean, Kira?"

"Whatever her name is." Braeden responded uncaringly and I knew then that this was just to ease the tension.

"Well, she's not really, uh..." Scott began before he stopped, "I mean, we've never actually... She's not my girlfriend."

We reached the bottom of the stairs into what must be the grounds underneath the church. The walls were tall and lined in dust—old and worn away and for a moment the thought that this all could crumble at any second crossed my mind. It barely looked stable.

"So if you die down here, are you gonna regret not kissing her?" Braeden posed, looking at him before she deadpanned, "You should've kissed your girlfriend."

"I should've kissed Stiles." I whispered, mainly to myself but I knew they heard me, while clutching the flashlight in my hand as I looked around.

The scent grew stronger and along with it, my anxiety. I could feel it bubbling in my stomach as I followed Scott down into another tunnel. If it weren't for the flashlights in our hands we wouldn't be able to see a foot in front of us and the eerie chill that swept across the grounds forced a shiver to run down my spine.

You didn't have to be supernatural to feel it. There was something off about this place.

The tunnel was small and decaying. Thick and old routed vines clung to the walls and hung loosely—thick spiderwebs spiralling from them and hanging only to collect dust. I forced myself not to look at them because I knew the moment my eyes caught sight of a spider I would freak, no matter how big or small it was, though judging from the size of the cobwebs here they were big enough.

I strained to listen out for anything close by but all I could hear was the two heartbeats of my companions—both erratic and fast. I shook my head as I hung in the back, constantly turning and looking behind me feeling like something was following us.

"I don't like this." I whispered quietly.

Braedens finger curled tighter around the trigger of the gun in her hands as we continued until a horrible feeling washed over me.

I stopped and turned around, shining my flashlight down the corridor we'd walked down and I used my enhanced vision to really search the darkness.

In a whisper, Braeden said, "What?"

When I didn't respond, Scott urged me, "Alex?"

I swallowed thickly, not daring to look away, "Just had a feeling like something was behind us."

Braeden rose her weapon, almost cradling it to her chest as the three of us looked around. We were trapped amongst the darkness and once again I faced my worst fear. I didn't matter how scary the monsters we faced were, nothing would ever beat my intense fear of the dark—especially when I was stuck in an abyss of nothingness facing the unknown like I was just now. I could hardly control my breathing enough to keep it steady. Regret piled in and flooded me.

I shouldn't of come down here.

We continued slowly, Scott moving to walk behind me to try and ease some of the fear building within me but it didn't help as much as I thought it would. I could still feel my heartbeat ricocheting in my palms and behind my ears.

We couldn't of moved more than ten steps before I heard what sounded like the creaking of bones or rocks falling down a wall followed by a deep and chilling exhale.

It forced the three of us to stop dead in our tracks and turn back again, "You hear that?" Braeden asked us.

"Is this why you never get that far?" Scott asked her in a rushed tone.

The breathing grew heavier and footsteps running pounded in my ears, warning me of the approaching threat. It came fast and was followed by a deep growl.

Braeden rose her weapon into the air, "Get ready!" She warned us before she fired blindly ahead.

We walked backwards as she did, our heads turning in a million directions while searching for the threat. The loud growling of the creature warned us it was close but we could not for the life of us see a thing.

"Where is it?" Braeden shouted, firing another chamber, "Do you see it?"

"No, I don't know!" Scott yelled, "I can't see anything!"

Braeden loaded her gun again as I grabbed Scott's arm and squeezed it tight, "We need to get the hell out of here."

I chilling roar of the creature echoed again, closer than ever before and I heard fast footsteps follow.

"It's coming back!" Scott said, "It's coming back!"

We waited and waited, the tension high between us as it grew nearer until Scott stepped forward and passed Braeden.

"Scott get behind me." She warned him lowly but he didn't respond and as the creature sounded to be right ahead of us, she shouted, "Get behind me!"

Scott, however, did not and he took his stance in front of Braeden and I protectively. He faced the darkness of the tunnels before us and he shifted, roaring loud and threateningly—the sound reverberating off the walls so harshly the structure around us began to crumble. Scott's authoritative yet threatening warning forced me to shift and I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt my claws elongate in line with my teeth sharpening.

I didn't have to succumb to his authority for long. As soon as he started, it ended and I was left to straighten my body out and look ahead, breathing deeply as I felt my body return to normal.

Scott panted as he turned to face us, the remainder of the walls still crumbling as clouds of dust scattered through the air.

"I think I scared it." He said.

With wide eyes, Braeden responded, "I think you scared everything."

Scott's eyes lingered passed us as the crumbling of walls finally drew to an end and his brows furrowed deeply together, "What is that?"

I turned around as he picked his flashlight up from the ground and walked forward seeing a parting wall had appeared. An Aztec symbol was engraved into the parting wall and we walked forward, passing through into a small squared space.

"Tezcatlipoca." Braeden said as we drew closer, "The nagual jaguar God."

I swallowed thickly, glancing at Scott behind Braeden's back. It was starting to seem more and more likely that Kate was a were-jaguar. In fact, this just screamed it.

The three of us stopped in front of the wall where Braeden wiped away the dust that had collected over the however many hundreds of years. She turned to us and said, "I think we found Derek."

I hurried forward, pressing my ear against the wall tightly and listening...waiting. I didn't think I'd hear anything until the faint sound of a heartbeat echoed in my ears.

I looked back to Scott and nodded once, "It's him."

He stepped forward and ran his fingers across the wall I had my ear pressed to. When he placed his hand over my shoulder I looked at him again and watched as he said to me, "Stand back."

I did as he asked, raising to my feet and taking two steps backward while watching him form a fist. I stood next to Braeden as he punched the wall with every bit of strength he had, the wall crumbling to pieces where his fist had collided. He drew back and put his hand in, pulling away at the unstable structure and after a second I rushed forward to help him, tearing a huge hole in the wall.

Braeden stepped in with a flashlight in her hand, standing between us as we saw a hand reach out to us though the second my eyes locked on Derek's frame the air stormed out of my lungs.

"Oh, my, god." Scott mumbled.

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A/N; I don't know if it's just my brain but I don't think any of that actually made sense? It was also a pretty shitty chapter but I've got a few more lined up. I'm trying to get myself back into the swing of it but Netflix is taking Teen Wolf off at the end of May so I'll be absolutely scooby-doo'ed when they do.