I silence seemed to settle in the animal clinic, the only real sounding coming from Scott who was still struggling to even out his breathing. Deaton studied me for a moment, almost like I was an old friend that he thought he would never see again. And though the man looked young there also seemed to be so much wisdom reflected in his eyes. 

"What do you want to know?" Deaton finally asked me as he removed his gloves and I was actually surprised that he seemed willing to give some answers that I was at a loss of words. All the questions that I had left my mind entirely. 

"Well..." I began to say not really sure of where I wanted to start or if I really wanted to know as much as I believed myself to. The truth was had to learn, and there was no knowing just how much this man knew about us. "How do you know about us?"

Deaton looked up at me clearly amused as he chuckled. "I'm letting you ask you me anything you want and that's what you come up with?"

"Well there's so much I want to ask...I just thought that it would be easier to start with the simple questions." I defended a hint of anger lacing its way though my voice. "But that's not the point!"

"Yes, but you don't have to worry about anything." He assured me, but that only created more questions in my head. Questions that he didn't seemed ready or willing to answer just yet.

"What does that..." I stopped as a dog's whining cries of pain distracted me. It was odd being able to feel that the animal was in pain. That was always one of the abilities that I disliked the most. Being able to to feel whenever someone or something was in physical or emotional pain. 

The dog was laying down in the cage with a cast around it's paw as it looked up at us with wide eyes. It was like it knew that Deaton could help it.

Deaton look at me carefully before smiling. "Come here let me show you something." Looking at him hesitantly I joined him as we both bent down in front of the dog's cage. "After everything you've been through, you've probably been taught to use your abilities to protect yourself," Deaton began as he extended his hand towards me. "trust me."

I looked down at the man's hand with uncertainty, yet I the fact that Scott trusted him was what made me place my hand on top of his. He guided my hand and placed it on the dog allowing me to feel its soft fur. "I don't understand...what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to think about its pain and the rest will just come naturally." He told me and I did exactly that as I felt myself taking its pain away, it was a feeling that I had never felt before. It came with a small sting of pain but it was the relief that came from the animal that made it all worth it. The dog stopped whimpering and I couldn't help but smile at the feeling of being able to ease some of the pain that the animal felt. For my entire life I had felt the being a werewolf was a curse. It was the reason why my entire family was murdered. It had only brought problems and pain. But knowing that my abilities could do some goo brought me relief. "See, you can use your abilities to help others as well."

"I don't feel like I'm much help to anyone."

"Your senses are heightened aren't they?" He asked me and I looked up at him mostly in surprise wondering how he could possibly know. "Who is it? Who's in trouble?"

"My brother." I told him slowly, trying to keep my tone even. The last thing I needed was to show a hint of weakness to a man that I didn't even know. "He was captured by the hunters. The Argents."

"What you don't understand is that you have the ability to find him."

"But how?" I asked beginning to feel desperation take over at the fact that I had to leave my brother. That I made the decision to flee instead of staying behind and fighting with him. It all came back to Derek being the only person I had left in my life, and that if he had gotten captured I should have to. Consequences be damned. 

There was a groaning from the table and we both looked over at Scott who was beginning to wake up. "Welcome back to the Iand of the conscious." Deaton greeted as we walked to his side. "You doing okay?" Scott attempted to sit up but ended up groaning at the pain at his side. "Maybe you should sit down, huh?"

In that moment the  bell from the front of the animal clinic rang, and I immediately froze realizing that it was Peter who had entered the clinic. His presence infecting the air around us like a disease. But the power that radiated from him called to my instincts of needing an alpha. "Hello?"

I took a step forward but Deaton held his hand up signaling for me not to move as he left the room. "I'm sorry, but we're closed." I heard him say once he got to the front counter.

"Hi there. I'm here to pick up." Peter replied and Scott immediately sat up, and pulled me with him to the other end of the room, attempting to get the farthest away from the entrance as possible. Scott was more afraid than ever now that Peter had gotten to his mother. My uncle had made his point, but he didn't know Scott.

Didn't know that Scott was the kind of person to always do the right thing even if he ended up getting hurt in the process. Nothing that Peter did would ever get Scott to follow him, not even Derek had been able to crack Scott. 

"I'm not sure I remember you dropping off."

"These two wandered in on their own." My uncle continued and I began to worry about what he would do to Deaton if he didn't do what he was asking. And I simply didn't understand what Deaton had to gain from helping us. 

"Even if they did, I'm afraid I can't help you. We're closed."

"I think you can make an exception this one time. Don't you?" Peter stated his words making it clear that it was a threat and he wasn't here to negotiate.

"I'm sorry. That's not going to be possible." Deaton replied politely and surprisingly calm for a human confronting an out of control alpha like Peter. "Maybe you could come back during regular hours."

"You have something of mine. I'm here to collect it."

"Like I said, we're closed." Denton repeated in a stern tone and suddenly a crashing sound came from the other room causing both Scott and I to jump.

"Mountain ash. That's an old one." Peter said with a chuckle.

"Let me be as clear as possible. We are closed."

"There are others who can help me get what I want, Scott. More innocent and far more vulnerable." Peter said in a whisper that was meant for only Scott to hear. "And Alexis, we both know that you need me to get your brother back."

Deaton returned with a serious expression on his face. And as safe as we were in here, now was not the time to hide. The feeling that this was coming to an end was suffocating. Peter was done playing games, and it was only a matter of time for the final confrontation. 

Stiles and I sat on the bed as we watched Scott run around his messy room making it an even bigger mess as he desperately tried to locate his phone. "Call it again." Stiles suggested probably just as irritated as I was of watching Scott run around the room.

"It's not here." Scott said as he began to look under his bed pulling out random socks and shoes.

"So you Iost your phone. Why don't you just get a new one?" Stiles continued, I wasn't feeling up to arguing with either of them considering that I wasn't here willingly. At the moment trying to find Scott's lost phone was a completely waste of our time. There were more important things that we had to worry about. Derek was still missing. 

"I can't afford a new one. And we can't do this alone. We have to find Derek."

"Well, A, you're not alone. You have me and Alex." Stiles stated. "And B, didn't you say Derek walked into gunfire? He sounds pretty dead."

"He's not dead." I muttered slowly, mostly trying to convince myself of the fact. I knew that he was alive I could feel it, but that didn't mean that he was okay. "Argent's plan was to use him to get the AIpha. They're not gonna kill him."

"All right, so then just let them do what they're planning, you know?" Stiles exclaimed as Scott continued looking through his drawers of clothes causing his shirts to fall on the floor. "They use Derek to get Peter, problem solved."

"Not if Peter's going after Allison to find Derek!" Scott yelled as he continued to look through a pile of duty clothes at the corner of his room. At this point I wouldn't have been surprised wit he found dead animals under the piles of trash scattered though the place. "I can't protect her on my own. Which means we need to find Derek first. Just help me!"

"You know, you probably lost it when you two were fighting. You remember that, when he was trying to kill you? After you interrupted him trying to kill Jackson?" Stiles told us as if the memory wasn't clear. "Are you starting to see a pattern of violent behavior here?"

"He wasn't going to kill anyone. And I'm not letting him die." Scott said as he looked at me and I pressed my lips together giving him a small grateful smile. I wanted to find my brother and after Deaton told me I had the ability to find him on my own I couldn't feel more useless for not being able to tap into an ability that should have come naturally to me. The small amount of hope that I had before was practically gone after not hearing anything from my brother for almost a week.

Scott suddenly stiffened as I look towards the window. 

"What?" Stiles questioned as he sat up almost like he expected danger at any moment. Considering the turn him life had take in the last couple of weeks I couldn't blame him for being a little paranoid.

"My mom just got home from work." He mumbled softly as he tried to concentrate on whatever he was hearing, and although I was curious about what he was listening to I also knew it wasn't my place to. It was an invasion of privacy, and I really did respect Melissa. 

"Is she okay? What's she doing?" Stiles asked as Scott's face fell and I could feel the guilt that he was feeling at the moment. It was a guilt that was ripping him apart. It was the realization that there was still so much about his life that he had no control over. 

"Crying." Scott muttered taking a seat on the chair at the corner of the room.

"Scott, you can't protect everyone." Stiles told him with a sigh.

"I have to."

"Well you won't do it alone." I reminded him, sharing the feeling of not being able to do protect the people we care about. The worst feeling in the world was feeling defenseless, and as powerful as we were I always felt that I was never strong enough. "Like Stiles said, you have the both of us."