***DEREK***

The first rule of my pack is, you don't talk about my pack.

The second rule of my pack is, you don't talk about my pack.

And the third rule, which almost goes without saying, is that you don't fuck with my pack. Period.

I bare my fangs and flash my eyes at the twins. One of them backs off right away, instinctively. The other, the one holding Stiles and about to break his arm, barely flinches. I concentrate my efforts on this one, because the last thing I want to see is Stiles - or anyone else, for that matter - getting hurt on my watch. He doesn't back off as quickly as his brother, but eventually he does when I get within easy biting range. Yeah, I know, biting him would be redundant, but that doesn't mean it wouldn't be an effective deterrent.

"Hands off the human," I growl, the sound rumbling from deep inside me. My eyes flick over to Stiles long enough to see him glare at me - but I'll just assume, for now, that it was an expression not of anger, but of pain. He's still holding his arm gingerly in front of himself. I didn't hear anything break or tear, but does that mean there's still some subtle damage? If so, I'll gladly go medieval on the pretty-boy Alpha's ass.

The pretty-boy Alpha in question sneers at me. "What do you care? He's not one of us. But he could be."

"Stiles is off-limits to you," I growl, sneering right back at him. "And the same goes for everyone else in this room."

The Alpha tilts his head back and does a huge, dramatic sniff. "Tell that to the tall brunette chick," he says. "Aiden, you bit her yourself, right?"

"She's much more my type than she is yours," says Aiden - it's nice to have a name to put to the face at last - his own nostrils (not to mention his pupils) dilating as he lopes Allison's way. Automatically, Scott gets in front of her, raring to fight - and, unbelievably, so does Isaac. They look at each other in surprise, their eyes still flashing gold.

"Boys, please," Allison says, pushing past them. "I appreciate the gesture, but I can defend myself."

"See, Ethan?" Aiden snickers. "Definitely more my type. Unlike you, I never did like 'em submissive."

"You know, 'bottom' doesn't necessarily equal 'submissive,'" Ethan says. "And what about you, brother?" He switches to a Scottish accent on that last word, no doubt attempting to imitate Desmond from Lost. But his Scottish accent is piss-poor, and the Renards, as genuine Brits, respond by smacking their foreheads in disturbing unison. "What about that one you tried to screw and turn in Hill Valley? Taylor, was it? Yeah, total submissive."

Aiden raises his eyebrows. "Taylor was in Central City, not Hill Valley. Get your facts straight, why don't you?"

Ethan snorts into his hand. "The facts are the only thing either of us can get straight."

"Screw and turn, you say?" Hunter asks out of nowhere. "You mean, like, how I got screwed and turned? Granted, the werewolf I slept with was a girl, but still, same basic principle, right?"

The twins exchange glances and scoff at each other. Then Ethan (I can tell them apart because Ethan has a small beauty mark above his eyebrow, which Aiden lacks) asks, "Dude...what the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to relate to you, of course," Hunter says, grinning rakishly at the twins. "Before the fists, fur, and fangs inevitably start to fly."

"How can you relate to us?" Aiden laughs. "You're not a werewolf, you're a werelynx. How does that work, I wonder? You don't have packs, do you?"

Hunter shakes his head. "Nope. Lynx are usually solitary creatures. I don't even think there's a term for a group of them."

"Lynx are solitary?" Skylar asks. "Well, I guess that explains a lot. Like why you never tried to make friends as a kid. Or why you went looking for love online instead of in person."

"It's an easier lifestyle for me," Hunter says, clicking his tongue. "And hey, Danny's already aware of who and what I am - he's seen pictures of me like this." He grows his ear tufts out. "'Cos seriously, who can resist these babies?"

"I can," Ethan growls. "You're cute, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna bust you up."

"Aww, but why?" Hunter asks. "What did I ever do to you?"

Honestly, I'm not enjoying Hunter's nearly endless chatter either. But as long as he keeps the twins distracted with it, I can stealthily circle around behind them and land a sneak attack. It helps that they're standing almost side by side, so I can easily grab the sides of their heads and knock them together like a pair of coconuts.

As soon as I do that, I yell to everyone else, "Let's get out of here!"

"And go where?" asks Scott as we all make a break for the door.

"Just follow my lead!" I stand back from the door for a while, making sure everyone gets out of the loft safely. Allison and Skylar both look askance at me for doing so, but they're not going to stop me from being a gentleman in the face of danger. It's not like I get too many chances to do that, so let me have my fun, ladies. Please and thank you.

As I close the door behind me (not that it'll stop these bastards for long), the twins are starting to get up again, groaning and rubbing their heads. I did knock them pretty hard, didn't I? But I don't regret it. I direct you again to the third rule of my pack.

Downstairs, I'm about to grab the keys to my car when I remember it's sitting in the parking lot at Deaton's office, having been damaged by the twins in their super-wolf form. Just as well - not everyone would have fit in the Tahoe, anyway. But now it's going to be harder to outrun these twins long enough to get to our eventual destination - the old cabin. I may have left it, and Scott may have reported that it was being squatted in by the twins, but there should still be some weapons left behind there in places too secure for the twins to have discovered them. In other words, the cabin should still have some good old tricks up her metaphorical sleeve. And it'll also take us a while to get there on foot anyway, especially since we have to travel at the speed of Stiles - as the only regular human, he's probably the slowest one among us. Well, maybe Lydia's slower - Stiles looks like he has some athletic prowess and potential, if only he weren't so clumsy.

The other major concern of mine is that we might get spotted running back to the cabin. It's very unusual for supernatural-related threats to rise up in broad daylight like has been happening today with the twins. Somebody in this town has to have seen us fighting with, or running from, the twins by now. I can only hope that nobody calls the sheriff - even if he is Stiles' dad, and especially because he's Stiles' dad. The umbrella of my protective instincts covers a pretty wide range - just about everyone in this town is related to, or friends with, someone in my pack. And by "pack," I don't just mean the Betas I've bitten. I also mean those who've fought alongside me, even if they wouldn't be considered pack members by the usual rules. People like Scott, Stiles, Allison, Lydia...and now Skylar and Hunter too, from the looks of it. Hunter's already proven himself by managing to somehow scare off the twins with his lynx face - I think there may have been some telepathy involved, though. And as for Skylar, she's forced to stay hooded and keep to the shadows. But by doing so, she can easily escape detection for a short time - I don't see her at all until she lashes out, kicking the twins at the knees one by one. Then, for good measure, her foot connects with each of their solar plexuses (or is that "plexi?"), making them double up and hit the ground.

Damn, I have to pay more attention to this girl. She's dangerous. In a great way, too.

Before we get to the cabin, something else comes disturbingly to mind. Because Aiden was the one who bit Allison - and I know he and his brother were telling the truth about that - the only way for her to return to normal would be for her to kill him. Her, and only her.

This is unusual for me - the last time a Beta had the opportunity to kill his undeserving-of-life Alpha, I stole that opportunity from him and became the Alpha myself. I'm sure Scott's more than gotten used to it since then. But somewhere in the back of his mind, he's probably never forgiven me for permanently locking him into his supernatural place in the world. Imagine how he'd feel if Allison, who's had even less time to come into her own as a werewolf, was similarly deprived of the chance to return to human. He'd never trust me again, and I need everyone in my pack to trust me. Otherwise, it's not much of a pack at all, is it?

So, with that in mind, I reach a decision on how to handle the twins. Ethan, for his threats to Stiles, will have to answer to me personally. And Allison can do what she wants with Aiden. Chances are, she won't go so far as to kill him, and nobody's going to force her to do so. Except maybe Aiden himself, and even then, she'd kill him only in self-defense, I would hope.

At the cabin, though, everything immediately starts going to shit when we're confronted by yet another unexpected - and unwanted - surprise guest. He flings the door open seconds before we arrive - I can hear it happen from a hundred yards away - and then ambles out with the sort of swagger reserved for villains or rappers. The fact that he has a cane - he's blind, if his Daredevil-style sunglasses are any further indication - helps.

Ethan and Aiden practically skid to a halt behind us, then run around us so they can talk to this guy more directly. "D-Deucalion?" Ethan asks. The way he trips up when saying the guy's name cannot be good. "What are you doing here? We can take care of this ourselves!"

"Boys, boys, relax," Deucalion says in an English-accented voice. He waves his free hand airily, but tightens his grip on his cane with his other hand. I'm really not liking where this is going, and I almost want to get my pack the hell out of here before we can all get massacred. But instead, I settle for spreading my arms as I get everyone behind me.

"I fully expect you to take matters into your own hands," Deucalion continues, tapping the bottom of his cane against the step he's standing on. He should be careful with that thing - the way he's abusing the old wood, it could give way at any moment. "What I admittedly didn't expect, though, was for you, Aiden, to bite the spawn of my old nemesis."

I turn to Allison, as do Scott and Stiles. We're all on the same wavelength - Allison's hunter parents have crossed swords with this Alpha? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, though. The Argent family has always had a twisted history. Just ask Kate. Or Gerard. Or Victoria - she was only an Argent by marriage, but you have to be unstable to marry into that family. No offense to Allison, of course. She's the only sane one, except maybe her dad.

"Hello, Allison," Deucalion says. "Yes, I know you're here. I can smell so many Betas here, but the smell of a fresh one is unmistakable." I narrow my eyes at him as his nostrils dilate. What a sicko. "Especially when they also have Argent blood. I'm honestly surprised you haven't died yet - wouldn't your parents have made sure you couldn't be turned? Wolfsbane in your hair products, silver in your tea? That sort of thing?"

"Nope," Allison says, her voice barely wavering despite her slight increase in stress. "Still alive and kicking. Sorry to disappoint you."

"Quite the contrary, my dear," says Deucalion. "See, part of the reason why my pack consists of Alphas is because I've learned - by accident, mind - that by killing my own Betas, my own powers increase." He looks down at Aiden. "Unfortunately, Aiden has yet to experience that feeling for himself - other than the time he and his twin killed the rest of their pack, including their previous Alpha."

I expect the twins to look proud of themselves - but they don't. If anything, they look freaked out, and if they can see the same thing coming that I do, I don't blame them.

"The trouble is, both twins have bitten many people in their time in my Alpha pack," Deucalion continues. "I applaud them for using their sexuality to their advantage - and envy them for it too, because that's an advantage I've long since lost. But everyone they've 'screwed and turned,' as they say, has died in the process. But now...now, Aiden can kill his own Beta and take her powers."

"If that's what you've got in mind," I say, my claws coming out, "you've got another thing coming."

Deucalion shakes his head, making a sad clucking noise with his tongue. "Derek...why do you insist on protecting these literal and figurative underdogs? More Betas than you can shake a stick at, a hormonally-crazed werelynx, a vampire, a banshee, and a human? What kind of pack is that? It sounds more like the setup for a joke about walking into a bar."

I can't resist the urge to roll my eyes. "Spare me-"

"Someone, please, rise up and murder the rest, then join me. I'm always looking for power players - to keep under my thumb, of course."

"My pack may be a bunch of misfits," I say firmly, "but they're my misfits. I'm responsible for them, like it or not." I step back a bit, enough to put my arms around Allison and Scott. "I didn't bite either of them, but they're part of my pack anyway. Because unlike you, I care about people."

"Yeah," Stiles says, projecting extra strength into his voice to make up for that which he lacks physically. "He's just got a funny way of showing it."

"I hate to turn your own words against you, but I feel I have no other choice," Deucalion says, his voice growing bored. "'Spare me.' Aiden, you may kill Miss Argent when ready."

I move Allison behind me once again. "Don't even think about it, kid."

"Who says I'm gonna kill her, though?" Aiden asks, crossing his arms in defiance.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ethan asks, looking just as stunned as I feel. "It's you or her!"

Aiden steps closer to Deucalion. "Someone's gotta stand up to you," he says. "I can't believe I'm the one who finally had the balls to do it."

"You think you're so brave," Deucalion scoffs.

"We're not brave," Aiden says, gesturing to himself and his twin. "We're just complicated."

Ethan's jaw drops. "Aiden, seriously, if you're gonna turn your back on the pack like that, leave me out of it!"

"No," Aiden says, setting his own jaw. "We're in this together, brother."

"Perhaps not for long," Deucalion says, twisting the cane in his hand. "Last chance, Aiden. Kill your Beta, or face the consequences."

"Maybe I wanna have a living Beta," Aiden says. "The only reason Ethan and I joined your Alpha pack is 'cause we had nowhere else to go. Not anymore. Now I see the truth. You know what they say - 'it's my way or the highway.' That's your philosophy, right, boss? We choose 'highway.'"

"You mean 'I,'" says Deucalion. "Your brother isn't on the same page as you are."

Aiden snorts. "Wanna bet?"

"I'm not a gambling man." Deucalion cracks a nasty grin for a split second. "I know one thing, though, Aiden - you're impulsive. You don't stick to what you know will work, not like Ethan. Ethan would gladly be a loyal lapdog for the rest of his life, given the chance." He taps the cane against the step a few more times. "There's no challenge there, though. It makes my decision almost too easy."

That's when he strikes, showing just how enhanced he truly is. With lightning speed, he rushes up to his chosen victim and sticks the red-tipped bottom of the cane (clearly concealing a poison spike of some kind) into his chest.

Ethan gasps, then looks at Aiden with horror-struck eyes.

Finally, Deucalion removes the spike from his body. "I'd rather have courage than loyalty," he says as his victim falls with terrifying slowness.

Ethan is dead long before he hits the ground.