***DEREK***

Could this werelynx kid be any more presumptuous? Here he is, inviting everyone and their sister - almost literally - into my loft. My living space. Who gave him the right to...okay, Derek, I think, kneading my forehead. Calm down. No need to start snapping necks and rolling heads just yet. Hunter and Skylar aren’t that evil. Yet.

As soon as we’re all safely inside the loft, I round on the two Brits - Skylar, who has to keep her hood up and her back turned to avoid the sun streaming through the large window on the other end of the room; and Hunter, who’s leaning casually against the wall, unwrapping a Tootsie Pop and sticking it in his mouth, holding it like a cigarette the whole time.

“All right, you guys need to explain yourselves,” I say, looking between Skylar and Hunter.

“Gee, it’s a long story,” Hunter says sweetly. He pauses to lick the blood-red lollipop as long as possibly. “Where would you like to start, O Alpha Of The Pack?”

“First, I’d like to know how you can be a werelynx and a vampire and still be siblings,” I say. I look around and see Scott, Stiles, and Allison leaning forward attentively, waiting for the answer just like me.

“I’m adopted,” Hunter says.

“No, you’re not,” says Isaac. “You guys have the same-shaped ears, same eye color. There’s no way you’re not related.”

“Then where’d I get my eyebrows from?” Hunter asks, raising his huge, bushy ones. “Her mum and dad don’t have them, and-”

Skylar holds up her hand. “Enough,” she grumbles. “Hunt, you need to learn when to stop running with your jokes, even when they fall flat.”

“‘I get knocked down, but I get up again!’” Hunter sings. “‘You’re never gonna keep me down! I get knocked-’”

“Cut it out!” I yell, baring my fangs for a split second. “You’re already almost as bad as Stiles.”

“Don’t act like you don’t like that song,” Stiles says, grinning.

I spare a moment to glare at him instead of Hunter. “Stiles, you weren’t even born yet when that song came out. And it was friggin’ everywhere. You have no idea.”

“I think I can guess, though,” Stiles says, crossing his arms. “We do still have viral hits these days. Ever heard of ‘Gangnam Style?’ ‘Do the Harlem Shake?’” He says that one in a deep voice, then puts on a higher, funny-accented voice for his next title drop: “‘What Does The Fox Say?’”

I shake my head. “Stiles, believe it or not, I do have internet access, so I know a thing or two about viral videos. And let me tell you this - they’re all annoying as shit. That’s the most important thing to learn.”

“Even ‘Gangnam Style?’” Stiles asks, pouting.

“I think ‘Gentleman’ is better,” Jackson says. “But that’s just me.”

“It’s easier to do the ‘Gentleman’ dance anyway,” Hunter says. “‘I’m a mother-father gentleman!’”

“What did you just say?” I ask. Then I roll my eyes as, rather than answer my question, Hunter starts doing a weird-ass dance, swaying his hips from side to side and holding his chin in one hand. Then he raises his hands in the air, his elbows bent at roughly ninety-degree angles, repeating the not-really-curse from before.

“Is it out of your bloody system yet?” Skylar asks, shooting her own glare at Hunter.

“‘I’m a mother' - all right, it’s out of my bloody system,” Hunter says.

Skylar scratches her head under her hood. “Finally. Okay, well, to answer your question, Derek - Hunter and I really are blood siblings. He was born a vampire, but slept with a werewolf girl who then proceeded to turn him into one of them. Sort of.”

“Because the lynx, clearly, is my spirit animal,” Hunter says. I see him briefly shift his ears, allowing the long, pointed tufts of hair to sprout on top.

“And he’s actually the second reason why I’m down here in this town,” Skylar continues, sighing heavily until Hunter reverts back to full human form. “Because he ran away, and I’m supposed to bring him home.”

“But you won’t, will you?” Hunter says. “I can see it in your subconscious, sister. You don’t want me suffering under Mum and Dad’s control any more than I do.”

Skylar turns away from Hunter - as much as she can turn away without getting exposed to the sun, that is.

“Can we save the remanding of the wayward British teen werelynx for after we help Skylar take care of her first order of business?” Hunter asks.

“And that is…?” Scott asks.

Skylar turns again so she can look at us all. “I’m here to find an Alpha Pack that’s been hanging around this town. Hunter said he’s here for the same reason, but of course that’s bloody bullshit.”

“Says you,” Hunter says.

“Sure. Sure. Okay, but the Alpha Pack...I understand those twin werewolves we encountered before were part of it?”

“Possibly,” I say. “They were in my old house, and they’d marked it with their symbol.”

“Yeah, isn’t that the same symbol you’ve got tattooed on your back?” Jackson asks.

“No, it’s not,” I say. “But it’s similar only ‘cause it has the same number-three motif. Mine’s a triskelion, not that triple-triangle spiral. Whatever it’s called.”

“A triskelion, you say?” Skylar asks. “Could we see it?”

I stare at her in surprise. “Uh…”

“I mean, i-if you don’t mind, that is,” Skylar says, holding up her hands.

I turn around, thankful that none of the others can see how pissed off I must look right now. I’ve been trying to make it a habit of actually wearing a shirt when others are around, but now I guess I’ll have to break it.

As I pull up the back of my shirt, I hear Hunter wolf-whistling (haha, how ironic) behind me. I clench my teeth and fists, feeling uncannily (and uncomfortably) reminded of the time Stiles had me change shirts in front of his friend Danny. Another “Cousin Miguel” moment for the list.

“Interesting,” Skylar says. “Wait...aren’t spirals supposed to be a symbol of revenge or something?”

“That’s usually just a spiral by itself,” I say, pulling my shirt down again. “This triskelion, it’s a family thing. Otherwise, I’d look pretty foolish wearing that on my back for the rest of my life.”

“Ever heard of laser ink removal?” Stiles quips. Trust him to go there.

I shake my head at him. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”

“You big baby,” Stiles teases, sticking his tongue out at me.

I decide not to engage him any further on stuff he doesn’t know about. If I remember correctly, he almost passed out at the sight of my blood that time Kate Argent shot me with a wolfsbane-laced bullet. If he knew that my tattoo wasn’t made by ink, but rather by a blazing hot blowtorch applied to my skin...just the thought of that agony might be enough to make him faint for sure.

“So, we know why Skylar’s here,” I say. “What about her brother?”

Hunter turns to me, looking pretty butthurt. “I do have a name, you know.”

“We know that,” I say. “But what are you doing here? Without permission, from the sound of it.”

“I don’t need permission to meet my online date,” Hunter says, crossing his arms.

“Oh, so that’s why you’re here,” Skylar says. “And I thought you were just here to scope out the local wildlife.”

“Nah, that’s your job,” Hunter laughs. “And obviously, you’re not gonna tell our parents about this either. They probably know already anyway - I’m sure they’ve got a hacker or two on their payroll to call in and crack my laptop on command.”

“Who says I won’t?” Skylar asks.

“Your thoughts says,” Hunter says. “Don’t try to hide them from me.”

“Heaven help whoever your date is,” Stiles says. “If this is what they’re gonna have to put up with…”

“Oi! Don’t act like you wouldn’t creep out your first date by just being yourself.” Hunter sneers at Stiles for a moment. “That’s my speciality - being myself, and if the date goes badly, well, I know that person isn’t the right one for me.”

“Exactly how many people have you tried that strategy with?” Skylar asks suspiciously.

“Two,” Hunter says.

“Oh yeah, that werewolf girl and her brother,” Skylar says.

Hunter looks shocked at this. “The girl, yes, but not her brother,” he says hastily. “He was only twelve! And besides, he looked like that baby-faced dude from One Direction.”

Stiles snaps his fingers. “What is it?” Scott asks.

“I was trying to remember the name of that boy band earlier,” Stiles says. “Don’t ask why - I don’t even know myself. But thanks anyway, dude,” he says to Hunter.

Hunter turns to Stiles and nods pleasantly. “You’re welcome.” He then turns back to Skylar and says, “The other one - you remember him, right? The closeted swimmer?”

“He wasn’t closeted,” Skylar says. “It was an open secret.”

I clap my hands to get the siblings’ attention. “Hunter, maybe you should go out and find your date, then?”

“Are you just trying to get me out of your hair?” he asks, tilting his head. “That doesn’t sound like such a good idea. Not with those monstrous Alphas running around.”

“Oh, please,” Skylar hisses, adjusting her position so she can avoid the changing angle of the sun. “Like you’ll let a measly pair of merged twin Alphas stop you from having some lovely little sexy-time.”

“I’m not gonna have sex today!” Hunter gasps, looking scandalized. “Do you really think I believe in sealing the deal on the first date? Hell no!”

“Well, this time you’re meeting someone you’ve already chatted with online,” Skylar says.

“So, which poor unfortunate soul is it?” I ask. “Just so we know who else we might need to protect.”

“Why?” Hunter asks. “It’s not as if the Alpha Pack cares about me.”

“Considering you were able to scare them off just by doing that little kitty-hiss in their faces,” I say, “they’re gonna start caring about you soon enough.”

Hunter actually pales a bit upon hearing this. “Oh really?” he asks, trying to keep up at least some of his bravado.

“Yeah, really.”

“Okay,” Hunter says, wringing his hands. “Um...well, I’m not sure how to pronounce his last name - it’s something long and foreign - but he’s the same age as some of you guys.” He gestures to Scott, Allison, Stiles, and Isaac. Jackson, somehow, doesn’t get gestured to - but that’s probably because he could pass for something closer to my age if he wanted to.

“Don’t tell me it’s Danny,” Stiles says.

“That’s him,” Hunter says, snapping his fingers. “He’s Samoan or Hawaiian or some other Pacific Islander - that’s why I’m not so sure about his last name.”

“Mahealani,” Jackson says.

“Yeah, thanks,” Hunter says, grinning at Jackson. “So you guys know him after all.”

“He’s good with computers,” Allison says. “He’s helped our people out with tech-related issues a bunch of times.”

Hunter’s eyes gleam with mischief. “Well, bloody hell. Hopefully, Mum and Dad won’t ever find out about that. They’d probably want to hire him as their resident hacker. Depending on how skilled he is, of course. And how much it would take to pay him to betray me.”

“You give our parents such a bad name in front of these strangers,” Skylar says.

“They deserve it for not supporting my dreams and desires,” Hunter says. “And I’m not just talking about finding a good partner regardless of gender. I’m talking about me wanting to not be a vampire-”

“Which you no longer are-”

“Or wanting to do like in that old song and ‘play the guitar on the MTV,’” Hunter adds, followed by a five-second air-guitar routine.

I try not to laugh - not only at his ridiculous antics, but also at his reference to an old favorite song of my childhood. I wonder, however, if he remembers that the same song talks about “that little faggot with the earring and the makeup.” Not that that rude stereotype describes Hunter, but I’m sure that he’d be at least somewhat offended by it anyway. Even if it’s meant to be sung in the character of a rough-hewn New York hardware-store employee.

“And where were you gonna meet Danny?” I ask.

“Where all the good little teenagers in this town hang out,” Hunter says. “Or so I’ve heard.”

“The Jungle?” Stiles laughs.

“What? Erm, no. We’re gonna go to the cinema to see Age of Ultron.”

“Then we’re all gonna go there too,” I say. “Just in case.”

“Serve a little werewolf guard duty, huh?” Isaac asks.

“I think I can handle that,” Scott says. “Heh, guess that means we’ll get to see the movie after all, huh, Stiles?”

“If I get to come along for the ride, that is,” Stiles says grumpily.

“Why not?” I say. “Just ‘cause you’re human doesn’t mean we can’t use your help.”

Stiles smiles deviously at me. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I was just fishing for compliments there.”

Allison, however, doesn’t look quite so happy or enthusiastic. And I can easily figure out why. I walk up to her and take her hand, half-expecting Scott to get all freakishly possessive - oh, but they broke up not too long ago. Which might explain why he doesn’t react badly to my gesture. Or perhaps he knows as well as I do that it’s just a comforting gesture. Totally innocent.

“I promise,” I say, looking Allison in the eye, “as soon as this little date of theirs is over, we’ll get back to looking for the Alpha twins. We haven’t forgotten your problem.”

“No,” Scott says. “These intrusive Brits just made us, um, reprioritize.”

“I’ll thank you not to insult us,” Skylar says pointedly.

“And I’ll thank you to direct us to the cinema,” Hunter says. “I’ve actually not had too many trips to an American one, so I can never wait to stuff my face with greasy popcorn and cold soda pop. Or however you say it around here.”

“We don’t say ‘pop,’” I say. “Not in California.”

“Good to know,” Hunter says. “Well, maybe not so much for Sky, ‘cause she can’t stay here long term. But for me...oh well. Onward and downward, my good men! And women,” he amends, looking at Allison and Skylar.

I look around at the others, then assume my leadership role once again. “You heard the man,” I say. “To the cinema.” I say the last word in an imitation of Hunter’s accent, complete with adding an extra “r” sound at the end.

“That’s not how I’d say it,” Hunter says, “but you did well anyway.”

Without another word, I lead the way out of the loft.