Chapter 23

Sheriff Noah Stilinski was having a good day. The last week had been rather enjoyable as he managed to make FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall's last few days in Beacon Hills the most excruciating that he possibly could without actually doing anything wrong. First, he had a very leisurely coffee and Danish at Celeste's and had a wonderful conversation with both sisters who promised not to tell Stiles about his visit. They did of course, but when they added what he was doing to Scott's father, Stiles felt his dad deserved the indulgence. He did make it back only two hours after FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had arrived after making sure that everyone in his office was both polite and very respectful to the man. Tara was very appreciative of the to go box that he brought her.

That led to one very irate FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall who then proceeded to argue, complain, and generally be an ass about being kept waiting. Noah was happy to let the man rant for nearly forty-five minutes before Tara knocked on his door reminding the Sheriff of his appointment with the mayor. He was apologetic of course, but this did take precedence to an unscheduled visit about a closed case. After he left, Tara happily encouraged him to make an appointment for the next day as the Sheriff would not be back after the meeting which drove McCall up the wall.

His meeting with the mayor went as well as can be expected. He didn't have the heart to tell her that he was fairly sure that the whole Stark Industries visit was more cover story than real, but he was appropriately excited and supportive while she talked. Normally Noah avoided politics whenever he could but that day he enjoyed sitting back and letting her talk.

Tara had happily recounted the absolute meltdown that FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had after his departure and Tara's continued reply to anything with "So did you want to make an appointment?" finally got through on the fifth try, so he had his 9:00am appointment. Not 8:00am, because he had to speak with the shift change and other scheduled work with the deputies.

FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had cooled off somewhat the next morning when he arrived at 8:58am exactly, but his disdain was clear. He came in and proceeded to demand copious amounts of materials on the Barrows case including field notes, video footage, and lots of other incidentals. Noah happily agreed and said they would start on it and then stopped, staring at FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall for the next step. It took three minutes for the man to break demanding to know why he hadn't started. The sheriff had politely asked if their meeting was officially over and when FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall shouted it was, the Sheriff, at his most polite, kicked FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall out of his office and station until everything was ready, though he did offer to allow FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall to sit in the waiting room.

When FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall demanded a desk and office, the sheriff had politely, but firmly declined. By the end of the day, FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had returned only to discover that Noah had emailed the FBI branch for formal confirmation for the full list of materials that he had requested and the office had not yet replied, so the Sheriff's station had not started work yet. And of course, it was too late for FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall to reach anyone so he had to wait until the next day.

He called and got permission from the office for the materials and he called, didn't visit this time, confirming that Stilinski had gotten 'permission'. He was told it was and then hung up after telling Tara that he would be back by 4:30 that afternoon to pick it all up.

FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall arrived at 4:30pm on the dot only to discover his materials were not ready. When he demanded to know why not, Deputy Tara Graeme informed him that it normally took several days to get materials from the archives in Sacramento. Which led to a screaming match before Noah cut him off demanding to know why everyone was screaming.

The man had lost it, yelling about the materials. Noah had told FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall that all the materials for the Barrows case was sent to cold storage in Sacramento for Law Enforcement already. When he demanded to know why it had been sent, Noah had happily told him that they had limited storage, especially for closed cases. But they had sent in the request and he was sure it would be retrieved soon enough, assuming that nothing else was too pressing.

Noah had learned that FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had driven to Sacramento to try and get the materials but Tara had not put his name on the request so even after harassing the storage staff, they refused to give him the materials but instead had them couriered back to Beacon Hills Sheriff's Department when he was finally able to get them this morning. Tara had reported that FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall looked about ready to have an aneurism when he finally got the box, but she assured him she had been nothing but pleasant.

What wasn't pleasant was the man's hotel. Apparently, his son had been rewarding several of the local brownies to visit FBI Agent Raphael McCall's hotel room between 1am -5am to make all sorts of noise in the walls, floors, pipes, etc. The man had changed rooms six times already and the hotel staff was baffled by the situation as none of the rooms had any issues before or after FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall had stayed there.

But Sheriff Noah Stilinski was nothing but helpful. He didn't have space available for FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall to work, but the Bureau could happily arrange something. Instead they had instructed FBI Special Agent Raphael McCall to work in his hotel room. So the man was sleep deprived, hungry, and beyond irritated, but he had his materials. Now they just had to wait until he made his next move.

"Sheriff, we are getting some weird reports about strange birds in the Preserve" Parish tells him sticking his head in the Sheriff's office door.

Noah looks up "By the Hale House?"

"No sir, over on the south side."

Noah frowns. That is on the opposite side of town away from most of the craziness but "wait, did you say birds?"

Parish looks sheepish. "Yessir. Mr. Thompson called. Said one swooped down and ate his dog."

Noah's eyes widened at that. "What he thinks an eagle or hawk grabbed his little dog?"

Parish manages to look thoroughly confused. "Not exactly sir. He said his dog was a, well sir, he said it was a full-grown lab."

Noah groans. Dammit. "Take Graeme with you and figure out if you need to call the pack. You have the number?"

Jordan nods. All of the deputies 'in the know' knew both Isaac Lahey and Allison Argent's cell numbers in case they needed to call something in. He headed out and he was fairly certain he heard the Sheriff muttering under his breath about 'what next'.

"What's wrong, can't you keep up?" Jackson taunted as he ran through the woods. He didn't want to be here, well not that he would admit to anyways, but he was trying to let them know he was having fun. The wolves had taken turns working with Eddie over the last few days and today he and McCall had taken the kid to run the borders on semi-patrol. It was only semi because one, it was the middle of the afternoon and two, Stiles hadn't sensed anything dangerous recently so they thought it was fairly safe to do so.

"Watch me!" Eddie yelled and with a burst he almost managed to catch up to Jackson when Scott rushed by leaving both of them in the dust. "No fair!" he yells.

"McCall!" Jackson snarls out at the laughing alpha. Even after getting the bite, McCall had managed to get a boost by becoming an alpha as well. Though if he was being honest, Jackson thought it wasn't worth it. Lydia had shared some of the new training their younger alpha had to do and it seemed that Derek, Peter, and Lydia were enjoying loading him down with reading and new training. This was his first real 'free' afternoon in a while.

Looking over at the snarling Eddie, Jackson held back a laugh at the intense expression on the kid's face in full beta shift. He was already making serious strides in dealing with everything. Sure, he was still pretty traumatized by his family's deaths, but he definitely felt welcome here. The first stumbling block had been Derek himself. Their alpha had wanted to take responsibility for the kid but he knew that his standing in the community wasn't that great yet and he already had sort of responsibility for Isaac. Peter was definitely out as a possible guardian for the boy for so many reasons, but Derek was willing to try. That was until Melissa McCall had found out.

Jackson chuckled remembering the scene when she had arrived at the loft after McCall had apparently told her about everything. She came in, started 'inspecting' and within five minutes had absolutely dismissed Derek's plan. She had given the kid a check up at Deaton's before he woke up, so she was already prepared. It was pretty impressive watching her come in and pretty much cut off their alpha every time he tried to get a word in. Jackson had heard Stiles trying to warn Derek to give up but it took nearly an hour before he finally did.

The next day Eddie was fully settled in what once was the guest room of the McCall house and is now Eddies room. Peter had arranged for some paperwork to appear showing Melissa had been appointed responsible for Eddie after the deaths of his parents. By that point, he was a fully under her care and Derek had apparently given up fighting her on that. At least until she got an alert from her bank.

It seems that the High Alphas had agreed to give in Melissa's demand to take care of Eddie, but they weren't about to give up entirely. Derek had transferred money into her bank account for "costs and care" of her new 'son' and Jackson was luckily enough to be there when she arrived demanding answers. He was impressed how cool and relaxed Derek had been. He had simply informed her that Eddie was the responsibility of the pack and since she was taking care of him, they were providing for his expenses.

"Derek! You put double my monthly salary in my account!" she yelled.

Jackson truly admired the way Derek managed to look concerned. "Was it not enough?"

Melissa tried to look angry, but she ultimately conceded. "Fine, I suppose that was fine to get him settled" she eventually agreed.

Derek smirked at her. "Oh, that wasn't to get him settled. That was the monthly allotment. It will be paid from now on directly to your account on the first of the month."

Melissa had frozen in shock and then started to try and fight, but Derek was as firm as she had been when she had declared that Eddie wasn't going to live in 'a half rundown industrial building' with a 'questionable home environment'. Derek had further explained that part of the money was for Eddie's monthly expenses and the rest was in recognition of Scott's status as a new alpha and to ensure that he could focus on his training without having to worry about family costs.

She really had tried to fight, asking Derek about the others, but Derek had just shrugged it off and not budged an inch. Stiles had finally stepped in and pretty much told her what he had earlier told Derek, that this wasn't a fight she could win. "Well what about you? Why isn't Derek paying Noah?" she had asked.

Derek had smiled easily. "I was recently arrested. Probably wouldn't look to good if people thought I was bribing the sheriff. Besides, once Stiles and I get married officially, he won't ever have to worry about money either."

That had been a shock to both Stiles and Melissa, but Derek had slipped away in the confusion and ultimately Melissa had been grateful. She was now able to turn down the extra shifts that she took to be ahead of things.

"Scott!" Eddie calls out just as Jackson smelled it. Something earthy, like rocks and soil all mixed up with a thick musk. Jackson spotted Scott who had stopped looking a bit uncertain. Despite being an alpha and being a wolf longer than the rest of them, Scott struggled with interpreting what his senses were telling him sometimes. Eddie was a born wolf though and he knew it was something else.

"Do you recognize it?" Jackson asks the kid.

Eddie shook his head. He didn't but he did smell traces of something else, something magical that was wrapped up in the earthy smell. "No, but I do smell magic…I think."

"Should we call Stiles? Or Derek?" Jackson asks looking over at the alpha.

Scott frowns, he smells it too, but there is something else there. Something that doesn't feel like a threat. "Let's check it out first" he finally decides and the other two nod in agreement. They start moving again, but a lot quieter and trying to avoid being detected. Following the increasing scent they go for another ten minutes before coming to the small stream that cuts through the Preserve.

"Anyone?" Scott asks looking around. The water is making it much harder to smell anything, it had been getting stronger, but the smell of the water and stuff in the river had pretty much overwhelmed the trace.

"I think so" Eddie says tentatively. He smells something, but the river smells are strong. Between water, mud, fish, frogs, and plants he is struggling to hold on to the unique smell from before.

"Do you think they went in the water?" Jackson asks looking at the edges of the stream for any signs. "And up or down?" he adds looking along the bank in both directions.

"We could split up?" Eddie suggests but both Scott and Jackson snuff that out.

"Dude, don't you watch movies? You never split up" Scott looks at him in disbelief. "The minute you do crap happens."

Eddie and Jackson both snort but Jackson adds "Besides if we did split up, it would be you and me. Mr. True Alpha can go it alone if he wants."

Scott is about to argue but he catches the smell again coming from upriver. "There" he says looking up.

"Which side?" Jackson hisses looking for anything but spotting nothing. He really hopes it isn't that damn spider.

Scott frowns for a second and looks at the small stream. It is barely ten feet across at the widest and not very deep in most places in this part of the Preserve. He knows it gets deeper further along before it gets to the small lake, but here is pretty safe. "Jackson, you and Eddie take this bank. I will cross over and we can come up both sides. Stay in sight of each other" he adds looking at the beta who flashes his ice blue eyes and nods. Scott grabs Eddie's shoulder in assurance before making a quick run and leaping to the other side, easily clearing the water and mud of the banks.

He signals to Jackson and they start moving forward. They make it about a hundred yards or so before they have to pull back a bit to get around some trees blocking the way. Jackson frowns knowing they will be out of sight of each other but Scott gives the 'go ahead' so they move out and if he pushes a bit, he won't admit it. Seconds later he is around the blockage, Eddie right behind, and they keep moving. Scott shows up a few moments later. Luckily the ground, though rocky in places, is opening up now. "Anything?" Jackson whispers loud enough for McCall to hear, barely.

"Nothing, just the scent" Scott whispers back.

Eddie frowns as he follows Jackson, something about the scent feels off but he can't place it. He slows down for a second when he notices a small piles of rocks that look strangely like a bird. Stopping he stares at the rock when he realizes that it is not a pile, it is only one rock. "Jack-" he starts to say when he feels it, something behind him, but he isn't fast enough. The huge hand grabs him and pulls, and Eddie goes up like he weighs nothing. "-SON!" he screams and sees the beta spin around and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Eddie!" he roars and starts to leap when Eddie sees a huge shadow step out of the trees behind the beta and reach out, snatching Jackson out of the air by the back of his shirt. Jackson roars, a roar that is quickly answered as Scott leaps the river, landing a few feet away an expression even more surprised than Jackson's.

"What the hell?!" Scott snarls and then he rears back and lets out an alpha roar that reverberates across the preserve. Eddie knows the pack must have heard that one.

"Loud" a deep voice comments and Scott snarls but instead of leaping like he was attempting to, he face plants into the ground, hard.

"McCall!" Jackson roars trying to spin around the giant holding him. He reaches out with his claws but the thick fur on the arm is like armor and he feels his claws just slide along not cutting anything. Feeling a sharp pain at the base of his spine he focuses and with a burst of clarity he feels his tail. From when he was the kanima. Just like that! He flicks it at the arm and feels the tip connect.

"Hey!" the giant holding him shouts in surprise but then Jackson is falling, and he hits and rolls over. Looking up he sees his former captor standing there holding his arm that now hangs uselessly from his shoulder. Huh, he still has his venom. Staring at the thing, he first notices that it must be nine feet tall! It is also twice as wide as Boyd and covered in shaggy fur from head to its HUGE feet!

He glances at McCall, who seems like he still can't get up, and Jackson realizes that the Alpha's feet are sealed in rock! Like seriously sealed in the rock. Looking over he sees the other shaggy brown giant holding Eddie, the beta's arms pinned but the kid looks almost like a doll in its arms.

"What happened?" a deep bass voice says and Jackson sees the fourth giant looking at his former captor. This one has some grey in its fur so he assumes it might be the leader?

"I can't feel my arm. I think that one poisoned me" he says indicating Jackson who is bracing to fight. The giant's voice sounds both sad and disappointed and for some stupid reason Jackson almost wants to apologize.

"Wolves don't have poison" the older ones says, but then looks closer at Jackson "but they also don't have tails" he adds. "What are you little wolf?"

Jackson snarls but there is a much louder roar when Scott manages to straighten up some, though his feet are still stuck. "What are you?!" Scott roars, his eyes flashing red.

The giant stares at Scott for a second before replying. "Alpha. But you are not connected to this place, not truly. You do not feel of the land."

Before anyone can figure out what they mean there is another roar and all three wolves spin around just as Derek, Boyd, and Peter crash through the trees, eyes flashing, claws and fangs out and ready to fight. The four giants don't look surprised and with a gesture Jackson sees it seconds before the others do. Another five giants appear behind the three new wolves. That makes six to nine with Eddie and Scott out of the fight. This doesn't look good.

"But you Alpha, you feel of this land" the elder says looking at Derek. "Are you the Alpha of this land?"

Derek doesn't change back, but he does stand up a bit which isn't saying much as the giants still tower over all of them by at least three feet. "I am Derek Hale. High Alpha and Alpha of this territory. Who are you?"

The giant nods like it means something. "I am ĜřĦœdžǣɮɉʨ." All the wolves look at the giant. It sounded like someone put rocks in a blender! "But you can call me Dave."

Derek is trying to shake off the name. "Dave? How did you get Dave from that?"

Dave laughs and it sounds like a small avalanche. "Oh, I didn't. An old human friend gave it to me. He gave up figuring out how to say my name."

Peter raises an eyebrow at that. "You are extremely well spoken in our language considering you don't seem to be a very…sociable being" Peter delicately says. His eyes widen and he stares at all of them. "Oh my god tell me this is not for real. Sasquatch?"

Dave laughs again. "Afraid so. But thanks for not calling us that other name. Having your entire identity focused on your foot size is rather demeaning." He signals and the one giant lowers Eddie to the ground. Another steps up to Scott and places it's giant hand on the ground. The stone seems to suddenly shift into mud and Scott pulls free and then it is rock solid again.

"How did you do that?" Scott asks looking down where he was just trapped, tapping on the now solid rock.

"We are earth shapers. Rock and clay and soil all are ours to sculpt. This is my clan" he indicates the others who all nods politely.

Derek, now fully human along with the others as it appears this isn't going to be a fight, nods at the clan of Sasquatches…Sasquatchi? "What are you doing here? We haven't had any of your kind in this territory for as long as my family has been here. And aren't you normally farther north?"

"Yes. Normally we tend to avoid the humans. They….smell" he finally says looking embarrassed. The pack looks insulted and surprised at the same time. "But the earth has been whispering to us that something has changed. That the ground is changing and calling to us."

Derek relaxes a bit at that. "That would probably be my mate, Stiles. He is…special. He is tied to this land and it is changing because of him."

"We know of no wolf that could do such a thing" Dave says skeptically.

"Stiles isn't a wolf. He is human, but he is magic."

"A druid?" Dave looks very doubtful but it does feel like earth magic.

"No. Stiles is…difficult to explain. We should all talk together" he looks around at the nine giants and knows that won't work. "Scott, tell Stiles to meet us at the circle. And to bring the girls."

Scott looks confused for a second before he nods quickly. Sending off a text he tells Stiles to come to the circle and bring Lydia, Allison, Erica, and Kira if possible. That will definitely even the odds if they need to.

Derek walks up to Dave and politely indicates the way and the clan of Sasquatch follow, moving much quieter than any of the wolves, even Derek and Peter. Jackson shakes his head. Another day in Beacon Hills.

Tara steps out of the car and looks over at Jordan with an unspoken instruction to let her take lead and he nods quickly in agreement. She had interacted with Thompson before as the man was notorious for ignoring the fire warnings and burning trash on his property even in times of drought. They had been lucky with the rain for the last month, it seemed that the whole of California was getting rain almost every day so not only was fire risks down, but lakes and rivers were filling up. The forest people were very happy about it. So since this was the first time in years they weren't complaining, that was a win in her book.

"There you are! Well? What are you going to do about my dog?!" Mr. Thompson was yelling as he came out of his house. Spotting Tara he quickly headed for her. "Damn thing took Rocky!"

Tara nodded politely. "Mr. Thompson. Can you please tell me what exactly you saw? Why do you think a bird took Rocky?"

The man glared for a second. "Well? What else could it be? I was in the back yard" he starts around the house, heading for the small barn behind it, leaving Tara and Jordan to race after the rather quick old man. "I was working on my cabbages, they are almost ready you know, and Rocky was barking something fierce. I looked over but he was running around in circles, barking at nothing. Told him to shut up, but he kept right on. I ignored him and a few seconds later I heard him yelp out. By the time I looked back around he was gone. I heard another bark, this time from above me and looked over there" he points back to the house "and saw him being dragged off by some damn big bird!"

"About how much did Rocky weigh?" Jordan asks as he writes everything down.

"About 70 pounds I guess" he answers.

Tara nods politely. There is no bird she knows that would pick up a dog that big. "And it wasn't just me. Mike Brown said he lost one of his goats!"

Tara sees Jordan taking notes so she has the man recreate exactly what happened as best as he can remember. She even takes a few pictures with her phone, promises to let the rangers know, and that they will follow up with Mr. Brown down the road. All in all, they only take about 25 minutes with the man.

"So…Mr. Brown?" Jordan asks as he starts up the cruiser.

Tara nods absently. There is no way an eagle could take off with a dog that big. But after some prodding, Thompson finally admitted that he hadn't actually seen the bird or the dog over his house, he only heard it barking from what he thought was above the house. By the time he ran around the house, the dog was long gone. "Let's see if Brown has anything better."

He didn't. Mike Brown was putting up a new fence for the small field where several goats were running around. He hadn't been outside when something had taken Bruiser, one of the more irritable goats with a habit of attacking just about anything. He was also nearly 200 pounds so when Lee Thompson had thought it was a bird that took his dog, Mike had brushed the older man off.

"I think it was probably a mountain lion" he told the deputies. "I was in the house when all of sudden there was a whole bunch of noise coming from the goats including a loud scream. I grabbed my gun and ran out but there was nothing there. All the goats had run off and were hiding in the barn, it took a bit to figure out that Bruiser was gone, but I did find a big splash of blood in the field along with several others heading towards the trees" he pointed to the woods.

"You didn't have them in a fence?" Jordan asks looking at the strange fence. About a third of it was a little over three feet tall and half was almost twice that, the rest was open but there were signs that something had been there before.

"No I did, but it apparently wasn't tall enough if that damn thing could jump in and out carrying Bruiser. Since it wasn't damaged, the thing had to jump but he won't jump that" he pointed to the newer, taller fence. "Once I get the new one up it should be good. No mountain lion is going to jump a six-foot fence."

Tara and Jordan thanked the man and headed back to their car and drove off. "Can a mountain lion drag a 200-pound goat over a six-foot fence?" Jordan asks the senior deputy. He had never been in wild areas before coming to Beacon Hills.

Tara shook her head. "Nope. So, it sounds like our bird may be behind both."

"I thought you said no bird could lift the dog, let alone the goat."

"Yep. Which means we call the pack. I mean we will also call Dana and Martin (the head rangers for the state parks nearest to Beacon Hills) but I know that they will shoot down the eagle or condor theory. What I am worried about is what if whatever took a goat decides to grab a kid" she says with a frown.

Jordan blinks. He never thought about that. Oh hell, the Sheriff isn't going to like this!

Randolph Davies walks into the office building following Argent's man as he leads them to the old hunter. He walks in and sees the man, coughing, and sitting in a chair with several books in front of him as well as a laptop.

"I take it you moved without being seen?" Gerard coughs out.

"Yes. We had identified your son's man. We left and headed North for several hours heading towards Idaho before we turned around. I even switched the vehicles out after our first stop. You were right about the trackers."

"Of course I was. I taught him everything he knows. Slipping trackers on your cars would have been his first move. Unless you do something stupid, you should be able to stay hidden until its time to strike. How many men do you still have?" He coughed up more of that smelly black bile, but his glare told Randolph the man was still dangerous.

"We lost two who were called back by families but I had them take the cars with the trackers and they didn't know our plans. That leaves me with sixteen men and women. What about your allies?" he asks showing he has sources of his own.

Gerard laughs. "I have nearly a dozen men loyal to me" he answers and Randolph nods knowing that he has at least half again as that many. But our allies have nearly three hundred. Unfortunately, we need them for other actions but when the time comes, they will give us at least a hundred. They don't know the truth of course, so they will be limited, but they can take out Hale's allies."

Davies frowns in confusion. "Who?"

"The local police, my son and granddaughter, the friends and families of all of them. The hunters will be free to deal with the pack."

"Then you will be even happier to hear the latest" Davies says with a smug smile.

Gerard frowns at the man. He hadn't heard anything beyond that damn Interdict that came down from the Council, damn them. "What?"

"Seems young William Parker got himself into some trouble. He and his team dealt with a pack in Montana but didn't clean up fully like they should have. Left one of the dogs alive to go running to Hale. That's what triggered the final move to declare Hale off limits. Seems he embarrassed the Parsons Matriarch in front of the others or something. She was furious and is demanding that he answer to her. His dad got a heads up so he warned his eldest to lay low and well after he heard about missing one of the dogs, he reached to me and is on his way. In a few days we will have another 14 hunters to add to the party. I also got a call from another friend who said he might stop by as well. But don't think he is bringing anyone."

Gerard nodded in satisfaction. Things were definitely lining up. Davies and now Parker would bring his total of hunters up to over four dozen. The Hydra forces would be able to take out the Sheriff, he growled. McCall was supposed to do that but the man was apparently running the agent around in circles over some stupid prisoner and his scheme to get the fool fired, which had backfired spectacularly. The Sheriff's 'heroics' had made him even more popular and had made McCall even less effective with law enforcement. Luckily, they still had some people in positions of power who were watching out for him. The man was ready to snap. If Gerard managed things right, McCall would not only eliminate the sheriff and his men, but would then be set up to take the blame for it letting the Hunters and Hydra slip away. Of course, if they could manage it, they could also make him look like a hero to the Bureau and that would give them someone solidly in the ranks that would serve Hydra well. Either way he would be prepared to use him whichever way ended up working best. He would be a high value asset or a scapegoat taking the attention and fall. Dead men didn't give up secrets after all.

He wishes he could say that he made a rather impressive appearance, but being completely honest, he didn't. Stiles had got the call to come to the circle as they had 'guests' and to bring the girls. So, he gathered them up and had opened the portal for Erica, Lydia, Kyra, and Allison to go ahead of him. Luckily the girls were all together so that part was easy as he was stepping through he spotted the rest of the pack approaching and smiled but then he saw their guests.

"OHMIGOD!!! SASQUATCH!?!?" he yells in surprise causing Derek, Peter, and Lydia to all look completely embarrassed.

"At least he used the right word" Peter says looking at Derek with something close to despair.

"What? What do you mean?" Stiles asks.

"They don't like the other more commonly used descriptor" Peter explains looking at Dave's feet surreptitiously.

"Stiles rolls his eyes. Dude, the name comes from the Salishan language groups of the Pacific Northwest. Sésq̓əc was the oldest known use of the term. It was only when people with cameras showed up that they called them that" Stiles snorted and then noticed the rather surprised looks on his pack's faces. "Oh come on! I get warned that magical and supernatural beings are going to be drawn here and you actually think I didn't go on a research bender for every possibility?"

Stiles turns to the Sasquatch with the most grey in his fur. "I am Stiles Stilinski. Are you the elder for this clan?" he asks politely.

Dave nods. "I am and I believe you are the one we have been feeling. Your Alpha feels like the land but you, you are so much more."

"He smells of earth" the one that freed Scott says almost as an accusation.

"But also of fire and water" a female voice says surprising everyone.

"What?" Erica startles but manages not to say what she was thinking. They all look alike but the voice had a definite female quality to it.

"Agreed Peggy" Dave says "But there is more." Dave leans forward, staring intently at Stiles who holds his ground. "How are you doing this little one? We have not sensed the elements in one of your kind for many generations."

Stiles was still looking at Peggy when he realized that Dave was talking to him. "Me? Oh…you smell the elements?" he asks and Dave nods slowly. Stiles concentrates and that blue white light comes to his eyes and he draws in a deep breath and his tattoos glow. The tattoos on his right arm glow red and Dave steps back.

"Fire" he said looking carefully at Stiles.

The red faded and his left arm glowed a yellow-green. "Air" Peggy says leaning forward.

His right leg glows golden and the first one leans forward inhaling deeply. "Earth" he says almost reverently.

Finally, his left leg glows blue. "And water" Dave says nodding. "You wield all the elements. We have a legend of one like you from before the Sundering but we did not believe it was truly possible."

"The Sundering?" Lydia and Peter said at the exact same time.

Dave nodded unhappily. "Long ago, we lived across the ocean with our cousins. They preferred the icy wastes of the mountains while we preferred the deep forests, but we were family. We lived in peace together but the world began to change so we left those lands to find new ones. We crossed the ice bridge many millennia ago and came to this land where we have lived, but we kept contact with our cousins for many generations, until humans came and made it impossible to stay connected."

"The Yetis!" Stiles whispered excitedly to Derek while grabbing his arm but not interrupting Dave.

But he had heard and smiled. "Yes. Your people call them that. They are rock shapers like us, but they prefer the great mountains. I remember learning of a story they told of a powerful mage, one like no other, who came to be in that land and she was both friend and ally to them. She could wield magics like no one else before or after" he explained.

"That would be the second Arcanist" Stiles says with excitement but noticed the Sasquatch looked confused. "Several millennia ago there was a woman with powers like mine and she lived in what is now China" he explained. "We only learned she existed a little while ago but we don't have any details."

Dave looked sad. "I am sorry to say we do not either. Our cousins may remember more but we have not spoken with them in centuries."

"You said the earth called you here" Derek asks trying to refocus the group.

"Yes" one said.

"Phil" Dave introduced the one who captured and freed Scott. "We find it easier to use your language and names.

Stiles looked embarrassed. "That doesn't sound right. We should try to learn your names" he says to Dave.

"Of course, my name is ĜřĦœdžǣɮɉʨ."

Stiles looked stunned and stared for a second before looking desperately over at Lydia who was looking at the Sasquatch in shock. No help there.

"Uh" Stiles started to say but then stopped not knowing where to go.

Everyone was quiet for a few moments. "So…Dave it is. Now Phil" Stiles finally said sheepishly and all of the Sasquatch laughed that rocky laugh of theirs at the teen "you were saying?"

Phil smiled at Stiles. "We heard the earth singing like it hasn't since before humans came here. It sang of joy and hope and healing. We started moving down here to find its source."

"And no one saw you?" Allison asks in disbelief. She knew that they were not in the Bestiary and her dad was probably going to lose it about this.

"We shaped tunnels and walked. We stay underground most of the time so humans don't see us but occasionally we need to cross paths with your kind and we take precautions" Phil explains.

Everyone was trying to process the idea that apparently there is now an underground tunnel from Beacon Hills to Canada when Lydia interrupts their thoughts. "What kind of precautions?"

Dave chuckles and then he gestures and the other eight all join in. Their arms move with surprising grace and ease, despite their huge size when a golden glow surrounds them for a few seconds and then there's a flash.

When everyone's eyes clear the Sasquatch are gone. Instead there are five rather large human men and four woman that look like a bad comedy movie version of lumberjacks down to the plaid shirts, boots, and overalls. They would probably pass for human if the smallest of them wasn't six foot six!

"You can turn human?" Peter says in shock as he recovers before everyone except Stiles who snorts.

"Not exactly. The legends say that they can appear human but their shadows give them away" he says and points to the ground. Everyone stares and sees that the sasquatch shadows are still there but now attached to human lumberjacks. It looks really strange. "That why it's safer for them to be out at night or away from lights."

"You are well informed little one" Dave says in approval.

"Lizzie and I talked about you briefly and I read up afterwards. It's how I know that your clans are peaceful and not a threat. But you haven't really answered Derek. You said the earth called you, but called you to what?"

"To find a haven. A place where we can live safely" Dave looks sad. "It is difficult for our kind to be too crowded together. We live very long compared to humans and we seek solitude and peace to connect with our forests and stones. Our clan grew too large so we split and were planning to seek out a new home farther north but then we heard the calling. We seek a home" he says simply and Stiles smiles and looks at Derek for his opinion and the Alpha nods.

"Well then" Lydia says with a smile stepping forward. "Allow me to formally welcome you to Beacon Hills, territory of the Hale Pack and the Lands of the Arcanist Stilinski. I am Lydia Martin, Emissary to the High Alphas. I offer you refuge and sanctuary to rest in our lands. If you wish to remain, I would be happy to speak with you further" she intones formally.

Dave nods respectfully. "Thank you, Emissary. I accept your offer of rest and refuge. On behalf of the ɌɆȼӂӌdžǣɮɉʨ Clan, we wish to make formal entreaty to make our home in these lands."

Lydia smiles and looks over at Derek and Stiles and looks smug. They can tell she is excited to have another sit down. The other Sasquatch start talking to the pack members introducing themselves. Stiles has to bite his tongue to keep from laughing. Their names are so not what he expected!!

"So then Lydia asked them about the construction of the tunnels and all, Dave was really happy to talk about it. She got Kreyna to come join along with some of his herd who have been talking with Derek and Lydia about constructing the new house. Dave said they would be happy to help so now him and Phil are working with the Centaurs on some new design elements" Stiles told his father as he set the salad down on the table.

"We have nine-foot tall sasquatch here now?" Noah repeated still not believing everything after his son had started his recounting of the day. "Where are they going to live?"

Stile snorts. "That's easy. They are creating a cave system under the Preserve. Lydia also introduced them to Merek and Thalin."

"The dwarven brothers who were causing all those problems in the industrial district?"

Stiles looked sheepish. "Sorta. I mean yeah that was them, but they have mellowed a bit now that their clan has shown up. They have been setting up their forges and workspaces before starting to mine but now with Dave, Phil, and the other Sasquatch, they can combine efforts. Dave said that they often encounter seams of metal and other ores in their rock shaping but they don't really use it for anything. Lydia is going to negotiate a trade deal between them. The sasquatch will give the dwarves the ore they find as they make their homes and afterwards aw well, but they will do it in an environmentally respectful way. Dave was very concerned about that. In exchange, the dwarves will provide them some finished metal work as well as 'credit' to buy other things to improve the caves."

"Too bad Kreyna isn't getting anything" Noah says biting into the lasagna his son had cooked. "How are they doing with their situation?"

Stiles smiled. "Actually pretty well. Derek and Peter have purchased several tracts of land next to the preserve to extend it and created some storage buildings that the herd can use. They don't really like buildings or caves, but they do like covered spaces for their possessions. The dwarves have agreed to provide them with weapons and some metalwork in exchange for some design work and the centaurs are trading with Dave's group by coordinating on some sustainable harvesting of the forest. It is cool to see everyone getting along nicely" Stiles says happily.

"Except for the fact that there are now a large number of Bigfoot" he quickly apologizes for the term when Stiles looks about to interrupt "sorry, Sasquatch, roaming the Preserve."

Stiles shakes his head. "Dave promised that they will use their illusions whenever above ground. They will just look like hunters or loggers. Peter is planning to establish a nature conservatory in the Preserve to provide a 'cover' for any of our friends. The place will be doing ecological preservation along with sustainable management techniques so he will have a number of 'interesting' characters as employees. He is also setting things up so no one bothers Kreyna and the herd."

"Any real people going to get jobs?" Noah asks with a snort.

"Well" Stiles drawls out. "Both Erica and Isaac expressed some interest and Peter thinks that he could hire some of the druids and witches that want to come and live here. He originally figured it would be mostly cover for them, but after he and Lydia put their heads together, he now thinks that it could actually be profitable."

"It really makes me nervous whenever those two agree about something" Noah says shaking his head.

"Me too" Stiles agrees but then laughs. "Of course Lydia had apparently created an 'arcanist tax' in all of our agreements with everyone that Peter was extremely surprised to discover applied to him as well."

"Arcanist tax?" Noah says looking at his son with concern.

"Close enough. We wanted to make sure all the supes who came here agreed to help support the place, share knowledge, all that stuff. What I didn't realize until a few days ago, that there was a 5% tax on any money made in the territory by anyone with 'official sanction' by Derek and me. This was to support the new sanctum but also to make sure we didn't drain all the Hale funds to help out when we needed to. Everyone has been on board, which was a surprise to me, but Peter hadn't realized his new venture, if it made money, would be expected to pay as well. Lydia had enjoyed springing that on him as the Hale Emissary" Stiles snorted. Watching those two was always entertaining, if stressful.

"So why isn't Derek joining us tonight?" Noah asks, deciding to press after Stiles had dodged his question earlier.

Stiles sighed. "Derek, Cora, and Peter are all going to the Hale Vault to take an inventory and see what we need to do with what's in there. And if there are any other 'surprises' that we need to know about."

"Are you worried about anything in particular?"

"No. It's just I think it is going to be difficult for all three of them to go there and see so much of their family's history. It will remind them of everything they lost. Derek, well all of them, really took it hard when we found that trunk at the house, so though there probably won't be as much there that's sentimental, it will still be hard."

"And you didn't want to go with them?" Noah pressed.

Stiles looked miserable. "I do and I don't. I want to be there to support them. I want to see what there for myself and Derek said he would take me later, but I think that they all needed this to be just for them tonight. Peter has been there recently to get Talia's claws and later to return them, but he admitted to avoiding spending any more time there than he needed. It would like us going up to the attic" he added.

Noah frowned. After Claudia had died, Noah had managed to pack up a lot of her stuff and put it in the attic because it was so hard to see every day. Since then, he hadn't looked at any of her stuff, and he didn't think Stiles had. They both had avoided being up there very often in order to avoid seeing all of that. He felt for the Hales tonight as it was going to be rough.

"You know I never came here before" Cora says as they walked down the stairs to the Hale vault underneath the school.

"Only a few of us ever did my dear" Peter replies easily. "Outside Talia and I, our mother and grandmother were the only ones who ever bothered. Everyone knew it was here, but it was viewed more as a storage unit than anything. None of the pack particularly cared to be honest."

"Laura came down to put mom's claws down here before we left" Derek tells them with a sad twist to his voice. He hadn't really talked about it but seeing the spirits of his family had been amazing but he couldn't help but feel cheated that Laura wasn't there. At the time it didn't seem to matter but afterwards, her absence really bothered him.

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Cora decides not to go down that minefield and tries to redirect their attention.

"Well, first we need the log book" Peter says moving towards a small desk with several large leather tomes sitting on them. "Here" he points to the books and opens the first to what looks more like an accounting ledger.

"What does it mean?" Derek asks looking at the scribbles.

"It uses the Hale cypher. We will have to translate it but each entry gives the item description, history, and other key information about everything that's in here" Peter explains.

Derek looks around at the large room and then back at the books. "Peter, there is no way that matches up. This room is big, but not that big. There are five large books."

Peter nods with excitement. "I know. Whenever we came down here, we only used this book" he points to the one he currently has open. "The others were never used. I glanced at them, but they were much older. Two of them are not in the same cypher or if they are, they are not in English. I could never figure it out but I think they may be the inventories of the other vaults."

"Wait, other vaults?" Cora asks looking confused.

"Oh yes" Peter almost purrs. "The family has others and I have found hints of the other Hale vaults out there, most long forgotten, that may have much more in them."

Derek frowns but nods. "Take the books Peter. You, Lydia, and Stiles can figure out what to do with them later. Let's look around a bit and see if there is anything else we need" he instructs and seeing both agree, they move off in different directions.

"Did you want any cash?" Peter's voice calls out a short time later and Derek frowns and heads over, ignoring the shelves of strange items before he finds his uncle by a large safe.

"Cash? Why?"

"Well, the family has a rather large collection of bearer bonds here. Over a hundred million if I remember correctly."

Derek rolls his eyes. He knew about the bonds of course; the whole family knew that they were there even if they didn't know how much. He admits to being a bit surprised by the amount. "Do we need it?" he asks looking at his uncle.

Peter pauses to think about it. "Well, until we free up some of our assets, it would help with some of the projects you and Stiles keep throwing my way. I wouldn't want to go too deep into it. Maybe five million for now?" he asks looking at his nephew who nods after a moment's thought.

"Make it six. I want you to set up funds for the pack for college while you are at it" Derek says after he thinks about it.

Peter snorts. "A million for tuition is way more than they need, but I am sure we can use it eventually. I have already reached out to our finance people to get some of the family money moving again. What did you and Laura do with the insurance money" he asks looking like he just thought of it.

"Laura didn't really want to touch it but knew she had to do something. She set it up in a small fund to cover basic needs, mostly paying for your care and for emergencies. She invested the rest pretty heavily I think but I haven't checked in a while. A couple million if I remember right. She was really excited about some tech stocks that she wanted to invest in I think" Derek told him.

"We can find out later. Give me the information you have, and I can make some calls" Peter says with a thoughtful stare. Laura had been very interested in economics and had been working with her mother on learning how to manage money. However, she was also a bit too emotional. She tended to make her decisions on emotional reactions. If she liked something personally, she would often believe it was better than it was. He didn't know what tech stocks she bought, but he hoped it wasn't any of the many that went belly up, but it probably was. He would chase it down and let Derek know.

Derek had left Peter to keep looking and reaching the end of the shelves he spotted some sheets covering something up against the walls, smaller shelves perhaps. He wandered over and caught the smell of leather and paper. Curious he walked over and pulled on the sheet which came off rather easily revealing a set of bookshelves with glass covers over the shelves. Looking in none of the books had anything on the spines but appeared to be made rather well. He reached to open a shelf when it resisted and he realized their was a small lock on the shelf. Surprised he looked at the others, but they all had similar locks. Why would something in the vault be locked? "Peter, Cora?" he calls out and in a few moments they both converged on him.

"Derek what did you…" Peter trails off in shock and Derek looks at his uncle completely surprised by the look of almost reverence on the man's face.

"Peter?" he asks carefully, but the man doesn't hear him. He is gently touching the shelves whispering something even Derek is not able to catch. He looks up and sees Cora who thankfully looks as confused as he does. "Peter!" he doesn't quite yell, but he does shout, a little.

Peter shakes his head and looks at Derek, eyes glistening which shocks the hell out of Derek. "This…this shouldn't be possible" he whispers before looking back.

"Peter what is it? What are these books?"

Peter suddenly starts moving around, trying to examine each of the shelves but quickly gets frustrated. He tests a few locks but doesn't even come close to damaging them. "Keys! We need to find the keys!"

"Peter!" Cora barks out and grabs his arm shaking him. "Tell us what's going on!"

Peter takes a deep breath and looks at both of them. "Derek, I swear I thought these books were in the house. There was a secret bookcase in the library behind one of the other bookcases. When I finally had a clear enough head, I even went and looked but that whole section of the library had burned so I thought they had all been destroyed. I never even knew they had been moved. The last time I saw them was nearly a year before the fire and they were there. How and why they were moved here I have no idea."

Cora looks on the verge of growling. "But what are they?" she demands.

Peter looks at his niece and then at Derek before smiling. A real smile. Not one of Peter's typical smirks or his 'I'm better than you are' or 'I know something you don't know' expressions. No. This is one of near joy. "These are the Hale Chronicles. The family history Derek. All of them. These are the ones Mirabelle kept and maintained, and that my mother did after her." He looks back at the glass shelves with a near religious expression. "This is our everything."

All three Hales stare at the shelves with varying degrees of surprise, appreciation, and hope but finally Derek takes a deep breath. "No Peter, it isn't" Derek says calmly and both Peter and Cora, who had become transfixed by the books, look at him in disbelief.

"What?" Peter whispers in horror. Cora looks equally shocked.

"Our family is everything. This is not us, we are. And our pack. Take away our house, this vault, our money, our territory, these books. It doesn't matter. As long as we are here, fighting for our family, that is our everything" Derek says the words with determination and certainty and at the end his eyes flash for a second but it's enough for both Cora and Peter's eyes to respond. "But, it seems this is going to be a rather significant project to understand and Peter you don't have the time to do it."

Peter suddenly looks furious. He thought Derek didn't understand their importance until he explained this thoughts, but these were too important to leave them here! There could be details on the other vaults, allies they once had, more information than any Bestiary, and more. He would make time!

"Cora" Derek says turning towards his sister with a formal tone. "We need a new Hale Chronicler. Someone to take on the role that Grandma Abigail had that has been lost too long. I know it is asking a great deal, and it may not be to your liking, but would you accept this duty?" Derek's voice is calm, forceful, and reassuring. Peter is suddenly reminded of his sister and looks over to see Cora's stunned expression.

"Derek" Cora's voice almost breaks but she looks over at Peter. "I don't know if I'm the right person for this."

Derek nods. "I understand. But this is our family's history. I would rather it be managed by one of us three but neither Peter nor I have the time to properly devote to it. In the past it was always an elder, often the previous Alpha or Alpha mate. And if necessary, we can wait until we have someone who can do that. But I do believe you can do this. You would have to not only read all of these, and find information to help Peter, Lydia, Stiles, and myself, but you would have to determine what to share. You would also be responsible for writing the new Chronicles taking up from where grandma left off." He frowns. "How do we figure out which is the most recent?" he asks looking at Peter.

Peter is looking at his nephew rather proudly. He was set to fight and argue, and Derek cut him off before he had the chance. Cora would be perfect for the responsibility and if Peter was any judge, his niece would agree fairly quickly. He remember her growing up and having all of those stories at her command was something she couldn't resist for long. "I have no idea. But we will need the keys for certain. I am fairly confident that those marks in the glass are rune sigils. I don't think we should try to break the glass or something bad could happen. I wouldn't put it past my mother to put some kind of self-destruct or booby trap on them."

Cora looked at the cases with a yearning expression, but she didn't test the glass or the case. "Will these work?" Derek asks pulling out a set of strange keys on a rather familiar looking keyring.

Peter and Cora stare in shock at the keys in Derek's hand. "Where did you get those?" Peter demands as he grabs them and sees they do look like they fit. He puts one in and it turns easily opening up the glass front and pulling out one book and handing it to Cora.

"They were in the trunk Stiles found" Derek says softly, and both of the others look at him in surprise. "I caught mom's scent on them and recognized her key ring, so I had them in my room. When we decided to come, I grabbed them at the last second since they were the only thing I couldn't figure out why there were there." He shrugs. "Guess it was a good idea?"

Peter smiled and Cora gasped. "This is the book for 1870-1873" she tells them and regretfully puts it back up and moves down a few books and pulls it out. "1881-1884" she confirms and then starts moving. They started near the end closest to the center of the room so they quickly hone in on the more recent volumes and with the key ring that Peter graciously hands over with a respectful "Chronicler", Cora finds the Chronicles for the ten years before the fire and grabs them before locking back up. Peter looks constipated at leaving any of them behind. "I would rather they stay here until we have a more secure place. Derek, can we discuss some changes to the house and library?" she asks as she puts away the books in her bag.

Derek smiles and nods. She never officially accepted but he knows she did in her heart. Peter grabs his books and they head out. Once again he thinks of his mother and everything she seemed to know to do and wonders if he will ever measure up.