I was upstairs asleep, falling asleep to the sound of rain.

When the alarm started to go off.

Derek and Braedan were awake. Derek was in shorts. Braedan was in a bra and shorts. They both had guns.

Derek saw me on the spiral staircase, raising the gun toward me. He lowered the gun when he realized it was just me.

Braedan nodded to the door.

I walked to the door, my hand resting on the handle, looking at Derek and Braedan. They nodded.

My eyes glowing blue, I slid the door open, all of us turning toward the one who triggered the alarm. Derek and Braedan raised their guns.

Derek and Braedan lowered their guns, the glow fading from my eyes when we realized it was just Lydia.

Lydia was drenched from the rain. She looked up at us, screaming a Banshee scream.

*

Scott had brought a gym bag full of $500,000 from the vault, payment to Garrett from the dead pool.

I was standing next to the table and the couch, looking at Scott.

Derek was standing on the couch, sliding the bag on the table. "Okay."

"Don't you guys want to know why it took so long to return it?" Scott asked.

"How much do you make at the animal clinic?" Derek asked.

"Minimum wage," Scott answered.

"That's why," I told him. "Everyone can be tempted, Scott. Even a True Alpha."

"Neither of you are angry?" Scott asked. He looked at me. "You . . . You, I expected especially to be angry at me, after all the secrets I kept from you . . ."

"If I compared the secrets you kept and the consequences that came with it, this would be the last on the list," I told him.

Scott shook his head in confusion. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Because it's not even ours," Derek answered. "It belongs to Peter."

"Where's your money?" Scott asked.

"You're standing on it," Derek told him.

Scott looked down at the floor. He looked back up. "There's another vault?"

I smiled, looking down.

Derek chuckled. "No. I own the building. And I have my own bank accounts."

Scott looked at me. "So where's yours?"

"Laura left me a huge settlement for when I turned 18," I answered. "All of the money taken from the vault was Peter's. I think we'd actually be better off if the rest never came back."

Derek stood, zipping the bag closed.

Scott looked between us. "I know Lydia was here last night." Derek looked down. Scott looked at him. "Deaton's still working on figuring out what Kate did to you. If anyone can find an answer, it's him."

I looked at Derek.

Derek looked back at me.

I didn't want to lose him. I didn't know if I could.

Derek knew that.

*

Scott opened the door to the loft after dark, the lights completely out as he led the way in, closing the door behind us. "So, the first date has gone well so far. The movie at the theaters . . . Could've been better." I smirked. "The dinner after. . . But it's not over yet."

"It's not?" I repeated, smiling a little.

Scott shook his head. "Nope."

I looked around. "And how do you know Derek won't show up to ruin it all?"

"I just know," Scotr told me, taking my hand and leading me forward.

"Why are you trying so hard?" I asked.

"Because, even though you already forgave me about the whole Malia thing, I want you to know how sorry . . ." Scott trailed off, putting our hands on a light bulb in front of us. "I really am."

Scott twisted our hands to turn the lights on.

There were light bulbs hanging from the ceiling everywhere, at different lengths.

I smiled in surprise, looking around.

Scott looked at me. "Consider this the best apology I've ever given." I smiled. "Did I do okay?"

"On the apology or the first date?" I asked.

"Both," Scott answered.

"For all of the apologies I've been given, this is definitely the best," I told him. Scott smiled. "For the first real date, it's a start."

Scott smiled wider, his hand resting on my cheek, kissing me.

My arms slowly raised, resting on his shoulders, wrapping around his neck, holding him closer.

Scott lifted me from the floor, slowly walking forward, carrying me to the couch, sitting down. I pulled back, looking at him.

Scott gave me a look like he was asking to go on. I nodded. He leaned further back on the couch, pulling me closer. Kneeling above him, I kissed him.

Scott pulled back, kissing my cheek, trailing down to my neck. He slowly pulled my leather jacket sleeve and bra strap down, sliding it gently over my shoulder, looking up at me as if to ask if I was okay with it.

I didn't object.

Scott pushed my hair back, kissing my shoulder.

I held his chin, bringing him back to kissing me.

And I stopped, pulling back when I heard something, looking behind me to the window.

"Tara?" Scott asked.

Kate and a Berserker shattered through the window.

I stood, turning to face them immediately.

They stood.

Kate was shifted, tilting her head and smirking.

*

Since they had gotten here, Kate and the Berserker had been fighting us, been hurting us, making us bleed.

Scott had blood covering a corner of his forehead, blood trailing down from his lips, had even fallen unconscious.

The Berserker carried him toward the door. Scott woke, looking around in confusion, beaten, bleeding, weak. The Berserker growled, snarling, throwing him into the door. Scott rolled over the stairs, falling to the floor.

My head was bleeding, my hair matted to my head with blood, slashes over my face and body, blood trailing from my nose and mouth.

Kate looked at me, kicking me back into an iron gating several feet behind me.

Beaten, bleeding, weak, I wiped away the blood from my lips, glaring at Kate.

"Experiencing some deja vu, Tara?" Kate asked tauntingly, walking closer.

"You mean you cheating?" I asked. "Using a Berserker when you know you can't beat us on your own?"

Kate growled in anger.

I spun around into a standing position, kicking Kate's head to the side. I slashed toward her. She took my arm, twisting it till it broke. I kicked her back onto the floor, holding my arm as it healed.

Scott was facing the Berserker, jumping onto the table. It slashed toward him. Scott ducked, flipping off of the table, kicking the Berserker back.

I turned back to Kate. She slashed toward me. I spun around, behind her. She turned around, slashing toward me. I spun behind her again. Kate turned around, running toward me. I turned away from her, running up a support beam, back-flipping over her, landing behind her, facing her. Kate spun around, kicking me back.

The Berserker hit into the back of my head with as much force as it had, making me fall.

Scott ran forward, standing, trying to help.

Kate punched him, pushing him back into the beam, punching him again. Scott tried to stand. Kate pushed him back, his head hitting the beam, making him fall.

Scott sat up, breathing heavily, looking toward me. "This went a lot different in my head." The Berserker growled, pulling me up, pushing me to my knees. Scott looked at Kate. "What do you want from us?"

"I want a little bit of insight, Scott," Kate answered.

"To what?" Scott asked.

"My family," Kate answered. "The Argent family has been around for over 400 years. A powerful, wealthy, aristrocratic family of werewolf hunters. But yet somehow, in less than a year, this great family is decimated by a teenage boy."

"It wasn't just him . . . Kate," I told her. "You know that."

Kate looked at me. "You're absolutely right, Tara. It was you, Derek and Peter, too, three members from a nearly extinct family of werewolves." I glared toward her.  "So my question is simple. What the hell is so special about Scott McCall and the Hales?"

"You want me?" Scott asked. "Take me. Just me."

"Oh, no, we're all going," Kate told him. She looked at me. "We're all going to church!"

Kate looked at Scott, roaring.

*

I woke in a dark, giant room, laying on a floor covered in bones. I pushed myself up off the floor, looking above me to the ceiling too high to climb out, patched over with metal. "Scott?" I walked toward the iron grating, trying to lift with as much strength as I could, groaning in exertion. I looked outside, looking around in recognition. "Oh, my God. You've gotta be kidding me." I tried to lift again, grabbing the gate. "Scott?" I looked through the spaces between the bars. "Scott!"

I knew where I was.

La iglasia.

The Church.

I was in an Aztec temple in Mexico.

*

I held the gate, closing my eyes, listening to Kate and Scott, somewhere else in the building.

"Tell me, Scott," Kate said. "They ever teach you the myth of Artemis and Actaeon in school? No? I didn't think so. Well, Artemis was a goddess.,And Actaeon was a hunter that happened to see Artemis bathing naked one day. This did not make the goddess too happy. In fact, she was so angry, Artemis turned Actaeon into a deer and this sent his own hounds into a frenzy. He was actually torn apart by his own hunting dogs."

"What are you doing?" Scott asked.

Kate chuckled. "I'm not gonna turn you into a deer. But you are about to become something unrecognizable to your friends. They won't know what they're fighting. Or killing."

I opened my eyes, realizing what she was doing.

Kate was turning Scott into a Berserker.

"No," I said, trying to lift the gate. I let go, backing away, kicking it with all the strength I had. "No!" I kicked again. "Scott!"

"Kate, hold on . . ." Scott trailed off. "No, Kate, no. No, Kate. Don't." I kicked again. "No, no. No! Wait. No, no! Kate, don't! No! Stop! Wait, no!"

Scott screamed, never-ending.

I kicked with as much strength as I could.

I could still hear Scott screaming.