Chapter 21

Scott walked into the vet clinic but didn't see anyone at the counter, even though the bell had rung and the front door was unlocked. The rowan counter was closed so he had to wait for Stiles as the guy walked in behind him. "Scott?" he heard the vet's voice coming from the back as Deaton walked out to see them. "Stiles. What can I do for you two boys?" he asks with his usual expression that always seemed to hover somewhere between general suspicion of what the two of them were up to and resignation at their antics.

"Hey doc, we wanted to ask if you had a sister. Maybe working at the school?" Stiles says bluntly and Scott gives his best friend a look of exasperation.

Deaton, if he is surprised by the question doesn't show it, however he does give them a raised eyebrow which Stiles is going to count as a point. "Though we don't often share that fact, yes I do" Deaton answers. "Why?"

Just then the door opens and Derek, Lydia, and Marin Morrell all walk in the clinic. Deaton looks up and nods at the woman. "Marin" he acknowledges cautiously. He turns back to the others with a curious look.

"The Darach took my mom, another nurse, and two doctors last night" Scott says and Stiles, watching the vet, sees the honest surprise and concern on his face.

"What? Do you have any leads?" he asks before he pauses and looks at his sister "and why are you here?"

"You mean after we found out your sister is working with the Alpha Pack?" Stiles says looking at the woman with suspicion. Alan is surprised by the angry emotion in the teen's voice. He also notices that Derek's claws are out and are dangerously close to his sister.

"Yes. After that" Alan answers and Stiles just nods at the confirmation that the vet not only knew what his sister was doing, but that he purposefully didn't tell them.

"We are giving her a chance. She said she can help us with a problem and if she does Derek won't rip her throat out" Stiles says causing the vet to look at him with a disturbed expression. "If not, she dies" he tells the man.

"Stiles" Alan looks very unhappy "things are often more complicated than they often appear. And I would appreciate it if you would refrain from threatening my sister" he tells them.

Stiles looks at the vet and shakes his head in disappointment. "I'm sorry doc, but you knew that someone from the Alpha Pack was at our school watching us, giving them information about us, and using that information to target us and our families and you didn't bother to warn us or anything. Ms. Morrell has made her choices, whatever the reasons, so she will have to live with the consequences." Alan watches as the others silently support the suddenly furious teen "The Alpha Pack came to my house to kill my father and whether or not she was directly involved, she has been helping them which in my mind makes her just as guilty" Stiles adds looking particularly angry with the woman and the vet. "The two of you have been playing a game with the rest of us and it is going to end now one way or the other."

"Stiles" Scott's voice is not quite a whine but Stiles knows his brother and he knows how unhappy he is right now.

"If Ms. McCall or anyone of our pack or family is hurt by the Alphas that she is supporting, she won't leave Beacon Hills alive" he promises with a voice of steel that causes both druids to look at him in shock. Stiles' tattoos on his arm appear and start glowing as he gestures and Alan flies backward to slam into the wall.

"Doc!" Scott yell competes with Marin's "Alan!" but Stiles doesn't pause for either of them.

"Now!" Stiles says coldly, barely loud enough for anyone to hear and Alan, just starting to step away from the wall suddenly feels razor sharp claws close on his throat.

"Hello Alan. So nice to see you again" Peter whispers dangerously in the vet's ear as he grabs the man's arm with his other hand effectively pinning the vet in the werewolf's grip.

Alan immediately recognizes the voice and freezes in place. Stiles turns to Marin. "You said you could free him?" he bites out.

Marin, appearing unaffected by the scene before her, just nods. "He should have what I need among his supplies" she tells the teen and Stiles nods and gestures her towards the room where Deaton keeps most of his herbs and miscellaneous equipment. Deaton looks around at everyone and stops on Scott.

"Scott, can you explain what is going on?" Alan asks sounding almost unconcerned about the werewolf holding him.

"You are under the Darach's control" Lydia answers and at the man's look of disbelief she looks thoroughly done. "Don't feel too bad. She cast her mind twisting magic on all the wolves and me as well. Stiles and Allison were able to free us and now it is your turn."

"She?" Deaton asks sounding curious.

"Yes. It is Ms. Abernathy, the home economics teacher at the high school" Lydia says and Deaton looks confused.

"What…really?" he asks looking confused. Ms. Abernathy is close to sixty.

"No, not really. It's Jennifer Blake" Peter sasses and feels the druid go rigid in his grip.

"Are you insane? You damn fleabags. I would have thought you at least had enough brains to deal with real problems but now I see that I was wrong. You are too crazy to think things through. I told you that I checked her out already and she is nothing, no magic whatsoever. And that is why you are threatening me and my sister? And you Scott" he almost snarls causing Scott to flinch "I should never have wasted my time with you, you will never amount to anything."

Scott suddenly looks angry and his eyes flash and there is a general look of surprise when there is a suddenly a flash of red among the gold in the teen's eyes. "Now I know you aren't in your right head doc. But you will be" he says confidently.

"Scott" Lydia starts but Derek grabs her arm and shakes his head when she glances at him but he is staring at Scott.

Before anyone else can say anything, Stiles and Marin return and she is holding a steaming cup of something that smells terrible. "Peter, force his mouth open" she instructs and the beta smiles wickedly as he does and she pours it down the vet's throat causing the man to choke and cough but he swallows most of it.

Stiles gestures and Peter let's go of the vet just as Marin places her hand on her brother's head and shouts "Athchóirigh an t-iarmhéid i gceann seo!" The vet's eyes roll back in his head and he almost collapses but Peter is back and catches the man and lowers him to the floor carefully.

"What happened?" Scott demands as he crouches down beside the vet. He can hear Deaton's heartbeat slowing and his breathing almost stop.

"His body is throwing off the Darach's spell. Druids are responsible for maintaining the balance in nature and a spell such as the one she used on him only works because it disturbs his own natural balance. The potion I gave him causes his body to destabilize itself which will cause his own natural powers to react by correcting his imbalance. By doing so, it will break her spell and free him" Marin explains. "It will take about half an hour" she says looking at Stiles carefully.

"Good" Derek says causing the woman to look at him "that gives us time for you to tell us everything you can about Deucalion."

The Sheriff arrives at the scene with Tara, Parrish, and Rodriguez right behind him and he spots the three teens standing beside Jackson's Porsche. Stepping out the car he walks over to them and they all look slightly sick. Boyd had called in that they found the doctor's missing car and they needed the Sheriff. "You found the car?" he asks and they all nod, the Sheriff sees how even Jackson seems off kilter. "What else?" he asks.

"Three bodies" Boyd tells him and the other deputies all look sick. "Ms. McCall isn't one" he adds quickly.

The Sheriff follows the teens to the spot with the bodies until they arrive, then keeping the teens back as he eyes the scene. "Okay, Graeme, I want you to take these three and get their statements" he says with a look that Tara easily understands. "Parrish, get a hold of the station. I want a full team out here. Rodriguez, I want you to secure the scene." He turns and walks over to Dr. Danniger and looks down at the body and feels his blood chill. That crazed woman had Melissa McCall and they had no leads.

"Ohhh" Deaton groaned as he opened his eyes and winced at the horrible taste currently taking residency in his mouth.

"Here" he heard his sister's voice and he looked over and saw her handing him a bottle of water. He took it and drank it down in one go as he sat up on the table that he was laying on. He looked around and saw Scott, Stiles, Derek and Peter Hale, and Lydia Martin in addition to his sister. He vaguely remembered…something?

"What's going on?" he finally asks looking at Marin.

"Raehm's Elixir" Marin tells him and the pack sees the vet's eyes widen in surprise. "You were under the Darach's control."

He looks around at everyone "You know who the Darach is?" he asks and sees the looks of concern on Scott and Stiles' faces. They nod. "Who?"

"Jennifer Blake" Peter replies and Alan gets a sudden rush of Déjà vu and a feeling of choking around his neck. They told him this earlier! A sudden rush of memories hit him and Alan now remembers everything. He looks stricken as he turns to the teens.

"Scott, I am so sorry I said those things. Derek, Peter, Stiles, all of you, I am sorry, I don't know how she did it" he frowns looking at his sister. "You threatened Marin" he remembers.

"Well she did free him, so I'm going to guess that you are not going to still consider the option of killing her" Peter says with a heavy sigh looking at Derek in disappointment.

Scott frowns but Derek and Stiles pause to look at each other. "We aren't, are we?" Scott yelps.

Stiles sighs. "No. She did free Deaton so she earned herself a pass for that, but we have to figure out what to do with her. We can't risk her going back to the Alpha Pack now. Derek, I'm not sure what to do here?" he says looking unhappy.

Derek looks at the woman before turning back to Deaton. "Is there something we can do other than imprisoning her?" he asks the man who looks back at him with gratitude.

"Yes. There are some oaths she could take that don't conflict with any she has with Deucalion. But we would need to know what she swore to him" he explains.

The next few minutes are spent with Marin sharing what she can of the Oaths that she took. Deucalion was very careful in his choice of words for the Druid. Her previous pack was safe and protected by it, but she was severely tied to the man. She could take no actions against him, nor could she keep silent about any information she learned. "However I am only required to share what I know, not what I conjecture or guess" she says with a slight smile that Derek sees reflected in Deaton.

After they figure out the parameters, Deaton and Stiles set down a few oaths of their own to protect the pack. They can't stop her from actively helping the Alphas, but Lydia gets the idea to have her swear that any spell she casts or magic she attempts will fail for the next three days and that she will not be able to explain it until the time is up. That creates a loophole to help and inform that does not conflict with her oath. Deucalion did not include a timeliness element when she first swore.

Finally done, Derek turns to Marin and gives her the final instructions they had agreed upon. She nods and leaves the clinic to deliver Derek's ultimatum to Deucalion. Turning back to Deaton, Derek glances at Stiles and the teen nods and takes off his watch, setting it down.

He will admit it. The look on Deaton's face when he senses Stiles' magic is priceless and Stiles can't help but feel some vindication. "Stiles! Your spark, it…it's so strong. How did you…" he pauses and looks at the watch and reaches out with his senses and feels the magic in the item. "Are you an Enchanter?" he asks looking excited.

"Not exactly. You might want to sit down, we have a lot to tell you" Stiles says just as Derek's phone rings.

The Alpha looks down and sees Jackson's name on the phone and decides to step out of the room to answer. Stiles begins to talk to Deaton, explaining what's been happening with the Darach and that he has been learning magic. The story comes in bits and pieces, but Stiles tries to cover the major points.

Derek walks back in looking miserable causing all of them to stop and look at him. He looks at Scott and the teen pales and shakes his head at the Alpha. "They found the bodies of the Healers. Melissa wasn't there" he says quickly and Scott starts panting nervously.

"So she was definitely taken as a Guardian" Lydia mutters and Stiles moves to embrace Scott as the teen tries to get himself under control.

"Where were they?" Deaton asks Derek.

"Near the Hansom Trail end point. About fifty yards in, moving north, north east" he says.

Deaton suddenly looks concerned and moves to his cabinets and opening them, rummages until he pulls out a large map and spreads it on the table. They all gather around the map of Beacon Hills and the Preserve and Deaton moves till he finds the spot Derek mentioned. "Here?" he asks pointing at the trail marker. Derek follows the line and indicates roughly where the bodies were found. "Where were the other bodies found?" he asks and Stiles pulls out his phone and after a few quick taps, he starts marking where the other bodies were found.

When he finishes he looks up and sees Deaton looking sick. "Doc, what is it? Does this mean something?" he asks.

"They sacrifices were all on ley lines. She's after the Nemeton" he says after a moment's hesitation and the rest of the group looks at him confused. "In the Preserve, there was a large Oak Tree that was the Nemeton, or guardian, of the magical energies of Beacon Hills. All the ley lines in the area, and for almost three hundred miles in every direction, all channeled into the Nemeton. It took in the power, tamed and cleansed it, and used it to help the land flourish. But it was cut down shortly after the fire and ever since, the ley lines have become unstable and erratic, twisting the magic of the land. Blake must be using these sacrifices to corrupt what's left of the Nemeton in order to get it to accept her and give her access to all of the power it has." He looks at them with a deadly serious expression "If she succeeds, she will be able to use the Nemeton to gather and twist that power for her own designs, I am not sure how anyone will be able stop her."

Marin Morrell walks into the room with a sense of nervousness that didn't reach her face as she glanced around the warehouse lair of the Alpha Pack. The betas were out but all of the remaining Alphas were there and it appeared that Kali was arguing for a frontal assault on the pack. Ricardo was suggesting that they should pull back to take time to gather more information.

Deucalion 'looks' over towards the Druid as she walks in and gets a smirk on his face. "Perhaps our resident Druid has an opinion" he says confidently. The rest of them all turn and look at her as she stops in front of them.

"I ran into Hale and some of his pack at the school" she begins and sees the sudden shift as everyone is paying much closer attention to her. "Hale had protections on him and he surprised me. To be honest, he captured me and demanded to know if I served you or the Darach."

Kali snorted at the woman "If he knows you serve us, then why are you still alive?" she demands of the Druid.

"It turns out that the Darach had Alan Deaton under her spell. I agreed to help free him in exchange for my life" she answered simply.

"Her? They know the Darach is a woman?" Deucalion asks much more interested in this bit of news.

"Yes. It was a teacher at the school. Jennifer Blake" Morrell tells them blandly. "It seems that she is exceptionally gifted. I met the woman more than once and never picked up on her identity."

"So they spared your life for helping them, why didn't they imprison you?" Ricardo asks genuinely confused. Removing her from the field would be the smarter move.

"Hale wanted me to deliver a message to you" she says looking over at Deucalion. "As your Emissary, he offered to let me carry his message to you."

"And what message does the Hale scion have for me?" Deucalion asks sounding amused.

"Get out" she said clearly. "Your pack has committed crimes in his territory and your life is forfeit for those actions. If you don't leave, never to return" Marin paused as she saw the fury on Kali's face and the amusement on Deucalion's "you will meet the same end as Ennis, Ethan, and Aiden" she finishes.

At the mention of the missing three Alphas, the mood shifts. Kali roars in fury and Deucalion looks beyond irritated. Lisa is snarling beside Kali but Marin notices that Ricardo looks seriously concerned, the only one unfortunately.

"I refuse to believe that cur defeated Ennis" Kali snarls and Lisa growls in agreement but Deucalion doesn't look quite so sure.

"What did you see of their pack?" Deucalion asks the Druid shrewdly.

"The information you received about them was apparently flawed. They are as united as any pack I have seen, including both of the Hales. They also have aligned with several non-wolves and their Emissary is significantly more than I expected" she says carefully.

"You didn't know your own brother's capabilities?" Deucalion asks with a dangerous undertone to his voice.

"My brother is not Hale's Emissary. The Stilinski boy is" she says and sees the sudden surprised reactions.

"You said he was worthless" Kali accused the Druid.

Marin looks at the Alpha with a disinterested expression that clearly conveyed her opinion of the unstable woman. "I said that I did not detect magic from him but that was because he was being protected from detection. However it turns out that he is more than I believed" she turns back to Deucalion "if you want my honest opinion?" she asks and he nods with permission. "Run. It is not Hale you should worry about, it is him. There is an aura around him that I have not encountered before. While Hale may allow you to leave, I would not trust that the boy will not seek your end. You sent Ennis to kill his father and I think that it is only that he is dealing with the Darach that has kept him from repaying that action."

"The Human? What? Is he is going to attack with twigs and berries? Maybe grow some flowers to throw at us" Kali scoffs in derision at the thought of running from a pathetic kid.

Marin looks sad as she shakes her head at the woman. "Tell that to Ennis. It doesn't take much to guess that it was him and his father who killed Ennis. And his house's protections will prevent any attack there." She turns to Deucalion "I thought it might have been a chance happenstance, but now I believe those protections were very much intentional and if he can do that, I cannot guess what he is capable of" she concludes.

Deucalion smiles. He takes a deep breath and looks immensely happy "Perhaps you cannot guess, but that just means that he is even more intriguing. He will submit or die, it doesn't matter which" Deucalion shrugs and orders Marin to go over everything. Luckily most of what she has is not facts but conjecture so she shares only those few facts with an occasional bit of conjecture, clearing indicating that even if most of her conjectures were knowingly wrong. Luckily her oaths did not require her to reveal secrets of her order so she did not have to reveal that Stiles had been touched by the Morgaine. She had finally perceived it when they were preparing the cure for Alan and she nearly fainted in surprise. The touch was clear to any druid who looked at the boy as was the message he carried from her; 'This one is under my protection, all who see shall render aid'. Marin had smiled when she realized that her very first oaths, the most binding of all, were to her order and superseded any later ones which means that ultimately she could help Stiles over Deucalion's pack without any magical consequences and that might be the thing that finally allowed herself to be rid of the odious man once and for all.

"So what's the plan?" Scott demands looking around the room desperately. The others all look concerned for the teen.

Derek seems to be thinking but he finally turns to Stiles and Deaton "Can you do anything to protect the Nemeton?" he asks and Deaton looks uncertain.

"I put some spells to make it difficult to find the Nemeton long ago but we might be able to add some protections to try and keep her out. Though I cannot guarantee anything working, Blake is exceptionally gifted" Alan tells the Alpha. "Her sacrifices have probably already given her some degree of access to it."

"I might be able to help with that plan as well" Stiles tells the Alpha who nods.

"Try your best" Derek instructs the druid. "Lydia, stay here and help them out. The rest of us will join with the others and we will try to track Melissa from where they found the car and the bodies. Taking her through the woods will make it difficult to hide their trail" he says with determination and Peter and Scott both head out the door while Derek looks back and Stiles and looks like he is about to say something before he stops and follows the other two out.

"So what are we doing?" Lydia asks the vet. Deaton starts explaining some options for helping wrest the Nemeton's control away from the Darach and possibly removing the taint of her sacrifices but he warns them that with twelve sacrifices made, she will be powerful.

"Mr. Stilinski" Deaton says carefully. "I am concerned about this sudden willingness towards violence." Deaton looks concerned and worried all in one.

Stiles rolls his eyes and looks over at Lydia "You want to tell him?" he asks with a smirk and sees an answering one on her face.

Lydia smiles at the vet "When your sister goes back what will she tell them? That she was told 'help Deaton or die'? Did we give any indication that we were working in collusion with her or did she manage to save herself without breaking any oaths or having to lie" she says with an arched look.

Deaton pauses for a second before he gets a slight smile. "You lied to her so she could tell that lie to Deucalion without it being a lie when she says it" he repeats and sees both of the teens look smug. "You are getting skilled" he praises.

"That doesn't mean that what we said didn't have truth in it" Stiles says looking serious. "If the Alphas hurt our pack and your sister is part of them, then she shares their guilt. I get that she made oaths to protect her pack, but how many innocents have Deucalion killed in his rush to power? How many of those were possible because of her?" Stiles shakes his head sadly. "I get that she was a victim too in some ways but that doesn't erase things nor does the fact that you knew about her and let her gain access to us" Stiles tells the man with a definitely unhappy look.

"Stiles..." Deaton begins but he stops at the look from the teens. "It isn't that simple" he settles for saying.

Lydia snorts and both men look at her. "It actually is pretty simple. You didn't swear any oaths to keep things secret did you? Even if you were attempting to 'stay neutral' in all of this, that means you balance both sides, but the fact was that they had the advantage and you stood by willingly and didn't tell us. You know that Derek will never trust you now? First his family and now this? He knows that you are willing to sacrifice anyone to keep your status 'unblemished' or clean" Lydia says with a shake of her head.

Alan looks extremely uncomfortable at the redheads words but he doesn't argue against them.

"This is a discussion for another time and place" Stiles says to both of them. He knows that Scott is very attached to the vet as both a mentor and guide and Stiles doesn't plan to make it more difficult for his bro. They just need to re-evaluate Deaton to being closer to a book or other resource, it's not all-knowing or perfect, but rather they know and deal with the limits that come with him. "So what do we need to do to make this work?" he asks politely.

Deaton seems to appreciate the change of topic and begins going over some of his ideas with the two of them. Lydia asks some questions and makes suggestions of her own as they try and create a list of best possible options. The biggest concern out there seems to be who to prepare for, the Alpha Pack or the Darach? It is stretching them too thin. Stiles frowns. He doesn't like this. There are too many things going on which could go wrong. Listening to Lydia and Deaton talk he makes a decision. "I need to take care of something" he says interrupting the conversation causing both of them to look at him. "I will back within the hour" he says and starts to walk out.

"Stiles?" Lydia surprised voice stops him and he looks back at the redhead. "Where are you going? Why?" she asks confused.

"I have an idea to help us but I need help. I will be back before you have to head out. I know Doc needs time to get everything ready. Trust me" he says with a smile and heads out for his jeep, jumping in and taking off across town.

Deaton turned to look at Lydia who only rolls her eyes. "I think I liked it better when he wasn't quite so mysterious." She gets a sour look on her face and glances at the vet "you are a bad influence." Alan, wisely, doesn't respond other than to smile slightly.

"Call the others" Deucalion orders Kali. "Once the betas are back, I want you to take them and strike against the Whittemore, Boyd, Reyes and Martin family members that they have identified…and bring them back to us alive…well at least most of them" he clarifies.

Kali smiles wickedly at the Alpha and nods as she walks out to call the betas. Deucalion turns to Morrell and smiles. "Once we have our hostages, Hale's pack will disintegrate and they will be easy to destroy."

Marin does not respond but her concern is overwhelming. Attacking that many families, including two as well-known as the Martins and Whittemores will not be ignored, it will be national news. Deucalion's plan will bring down every Hunter in the western US down on them, howling for blood. Marin feels her blood freeze as she realizes what he is planning. By doing this, Deucalion can still flee if he has to and Hale and the others will be left to deal with aftermath. If he wins, he will blame Hale's pack for the killings and claim that he put them down to punish them. Win or lose, he will still destroy the Hale pack.

Stiles walks up to the house and takes a deep breath. He's pretty sure that Derek would definitely not approve of what he is planning. He rings the bell and doesn't have to wait long before the door opens. "Mr. Stilinski" Chris Argent says sounding surprised.

"I need your help" Stiles says simply and Chris steps back to allow the teen to enter and closes the door behind him. Walking into the living room Stiles sees the large group of men and woman gathered there, all looking rather determined.

"Stiles?" Allison asks, surprised to see him but he just signals for her to wait and is thankful that she does.

"Mr. Stilinski is a human member of the Hale Pack" Chris says introducing Stiles to the others. Stiles can feel the tension in the room suddenly increase but he tries not to show any offense. "You were saying that you needed my help?" he asks the teen.

"I need you to do some killing, specifically the Alpha Pack" Stiles says simply and notices that he has everyone's undivided attention. "I'm not exactly expecting you to succeed, and I don't want you to take any unnecessary risks, but I need you to hit them and hit them hard. Everyone you take down is one less for us to deal with" he tells the group.

"There are rules" Jacqueline Argent responds carefully as if trying to avoid any potential disagreements while exerting her authority.

"They have been declared code-breakers by the pack and the local police" Stiles tells the woman and sees her expression of surprise. "The Hunters have full permission for any actions against them. However, their Emissary, is to be left unharmed." Stiles turns to look at Allie "Ms. Morrell" he says simply.

"Our Guidance Counselor?" Allison demands in shock and Stiles sees the tic in Chris' cheek at that bit of news. "Is anyone at our school just a teacher?"

"Well, it does seem that you have to have a secret agenda to work there, you know it seems to be a favorite place for crazy people to infiltrate" Stiles says sarcastically and he is pleased to see the wince that comes from Chris Argent at that one. Stiles hasn't forgotten that Chris fully participated in attacking their principal so that Gerard could take over.

"Okay, we can do that. But what do you want exactly?" Chris asks. Stiles asks for a map of the area and once it is laid out, he pulls out a small piece of fabric tied to a piece of string.

"What's that?" Allison asks looking at the bag in the teen's hand.

"When we were talking with Morrell I snagged a piece of her clothing. This spell should show us where she is and since she was going to the Alpha Pack to deliver Derek's message…" Stiles trailed off as he pulled out the scrap of paper with his notes. Swinging the string with the scrap over the map, Stiles believed, he focused on the belief that this piece of clothing wants to reunite with its source. He allows his energy to flow until he feels the reaction and he opens his eyes. "Far a bheil e mo chall pìos" he chants and the piece of fabric jerks down and lands on the map right over one of the abandoned warehouses in the industrial district on the far side of town.

"That's where they are" Stiles says looking at the Allison and Jacqueline who suddenly looked very interested. "I imagine they probably stay in during the day to keep from being spotted, going out after dark" he offers.

"We have some time before sunset" Allison says looking at her cousin with a smirk. Jacqueline smiles back and the others start talking.

Stiles waits for a bit, answering a few questions, before Allie gives him the signal and he heads back to clinic. He smiles as he gets in his jeep.

Derek steps out of the Camaro with Peter and Scott right behind him. He looks over and spots Erica, Boyd, and Jackson and surprisingly Isaac. Walking over to the group he looks at the curly haired beta "What happened? Why are you here?" he asks quickly.

Isaac explains that he was assisting the deputies back at the station when the Sheriff called in about the bodies. He hitched and ride and had only just beaten Derek to the scene. Jackson, Erica, and Boyd take turns explaining their efforts and what they found. Derek nods and spots the Sheriff coming out of the woods. Spotting Derek, he shifts his walk and comes over to them. "Hale" he says with a tired expression. "This has to stop" he says furiously.

Derek nods in sympathy, he can smell the blood from here but he knows any words would be empty. "If we can pick up any scents, we may be able to trail her to find where she is keeping Melissa" he tells the Sheriff while ignoring the growl-whimper that comes from Scott. "Hiding out here is actually harder, even with her magic" he tells the man.

Noah nods and signals Tara to come over. "Graeme, they are going to search the perimeter for any clues. Why don't you walk with them to keep them away from the crime scene" he says formally and the deputy nods smartly and leads the pack off. It takes them a few minutes to get to the far side of the crime scene when Tara steps back and indicates for them to do their stuff.

"Spread out and find Ms. McCall or Blake's scent" Derek orders and the pack moves quickly through the brush. Tara is left standing alone when she hears a sudden growling that sounds furious. Moving quickly she gets to the source to see Derek Hale restraining a wolfed-out Scott McCall, whose eyes are glowing amber as the teen growls loudly. In a few seconds the rest of the pack converges on them and Derek turns to the others.

"Scott found his mother's scent. Pick it up" he says indicating the side of the tree which the entire packs sniffs and Tara feels an atavistic chill as each of their eyes flash with that inner light, amber in all but Jackson Whittemore and Peter Hale, whose eyes are an icy blue. "You have it?" Derek demands and they all nod "Then let's go" he yells and lets Scott go who takes off, the rest of the pack tearing off behind him leaving a very startled Tara Graeme in the dust.

The deputy stares after the pack before she turns and heads back to inform the Sheriff. Remembering that they lost their liaison, she decides to send a message to Stiles. Found scent. Chasing. She smiles at the text. If anyone ever looked at her phone, she doubted that they would be able to make any sense out of the message. God, this is her life now. Shaking her head she walks back to the Sheriff.

Derek was furious. The pack had been chasing Melissa's scent for the last hour and it only took half that time for him to determine that they were not only no running a straight chase, but were crisscrossing their path. They had ran through this clearing forty minutes earlier and there had been no secondary trail then but when they arrived this time, the first trail was now gone. It was like it was disappearing as they ran. Deciding to change tatics, he split the pack up. Peter, Jackson, Scott, and Isaac followed down the main scent trail while Derek, Boyd, and Erica circled out from them to create a circular border around the main group. Derek hoped that if the Darach was laying a false trail, maybe they could catch it.

Stiles walked into the vet clinic looking determined but more at ease than he had before. "Everything taken care of?" Lydia asks with a slightly annoyed expression.

He smiles at the redhead. "Yep. I just sicced Argent and his hunters on the Alpha Pack. They should give Deucalion something to focus on besides us right now. Luckily Chris and Alli had some out of town family visiting so there are even extra hunters to help out.

"You do realize that you are breaking all kinds of crazy rules by using Hunters to stave off an invading wolf pack? I willing to put money on Derek not being happy about this" Lydia complimented but then stared "but how are they going to find them?" she asks archly.

Stiles snorted. "Pretty sure Derek wouldn't be happy no matter what but I promise you, if I could, I would bring in the Avengers if I thought it was necessary. I didn't agree to any of these 'rules' so I don't particularly feel obligated to follow them now" he told her with an expression that he usually applied to his rather flexible morals about snooping on his dad's cases. Then he grinned "And how I found them? I snagged a piece of Morrell's clothing and used it to track her to a warehouse. The Argents are going to hit it tonight" he says looking extra proud of himself. Deaton walks in as he is explaining and he adds "I've told them to avoid Ms. Morrell, but even if they manage to take out one or two of them, it should be enough to mess up their plans or at least give us some time to deal with Blake" he turns to Deaton. "Are we ready to go?" he asks the vet.

"Yes. Ms. Martin and I have assembled everything I think we will need" Alan responds and then he looks worried for a moment. "Stiles, Lydia say you spoke with the Morgaine and the Merlin" he says carefully, obvious trying to be exceedingly diplomatic.

"Yes. They gave us the powder we used to free the pack" Stiles tells the vet and sees the hesitation there. "What is it?" he asks.

Deaton looks really uncomfortable but he takes a deep breath. "Stiles, the Morgaine has marked you. It's like a message to all druids to let them know that you are…favored" he explains and sees the teen's surprised reaction. "You didn't know" he says looking at Stiles. "She didn't just help you Stiles, she basically ordered all druids to help you as well."

"So why didn't Ms. Morrell know that?" Stiles asks sounding confused. "I mean she was going to turn us over to the Alphas."

"Your watch hid your aura from others so it also blocked her touch on you" Alan told him. "Once you were no longer actively blocking it, it became clear to us but that means that if you face her, that Ms. Blake will also see it."

"So?" Stiles asks confused especially by the look of concern on Lydia's face. "She is already after all of us, how will this change anything.

"Stiles" Lydia says slowly "a Darach is a twisted corruption of everything a Druid stands for. Seeing you 'blessed' by the top druid will be like waving a red cape at a bull. She will probably come after you more than the rest of us."

Stiles holds up his hand and flashes his watch "Uh…I still have this" he reminds them but they both shake their heads sadly.

"Stiles that only works if you don't use your magic. If you actively use magic in her presence then it won't prevent her from realizing who and what you are" Deaton warns. Stiles looks unhappy but they don't really have time so they head to Stiles Jeep and he drives to the old Hale House where they will park and start walking. Pulling in the clearing with the burned down house, Stiles grabs the bags of supplies and follows after Deaton who leads them right up to the house.