Chapter 19

Deucalion was getting seriously annoyed by everything that was going wrong in this damn town. He had planned, prepared, and studied carefully before they came here and nothing had showed up that even suggested that dealing with this pack would be that much of a challenge for them, let alone cause the problems they have encountered so far. The boy Alpha was weak and foolish and had barely had the power of an Alpha before they arrived. He had chosen a group of children as his pack and had allowed not one, but two omegas to occupy his territory without submitting to his authority. The boy had also allowed the wretched Argents to occupy the place with their hunters. The only thing the boy had done worthy of note was defeating Argent and possibly causing the old man's death.

He growled at that thought. Gerard Argent was his to kill! He had betrayed the packs that had come to the treaty table and blinded the eldest werewolf before Deucalion was able to escape the trap the hunter had set. His own beta had betrayed him by attempting to take his power but Deucalion had killed the beta instead and felt the rush of power that was like nothing else. It didn't take long before he had wiped out his entire pack for the power they represented, leaving him stronger than any werewolf, Alpha or not. Convincing Kali and Ennis, both of whom were betrayed by Argent at that summit to follow his example when they saw the power he had gained by his acts, was easily done and they were quick to duplicate his actions. Kali even killed her Emissary and lover to gain the power of an apex Alpha.

It had taken a few years before Deucalion had pieced it all together and realized that Argent had killed his own men for the 'justification' of his attack. The man had spread that story to hunters far and wide who viewed the survivors as the oath-breakers instead of that damned man. He growled again when he remembered Talia Hale's warning not to trust him and how she would not bring her pack to treaty with Argent.

"What did you find?" he finally asks turning to the calm and distant woman who was waiting for his questions with neither fear nor irritation.

"Ethan had told me of their plan so I provided a distraction to empty the part of the school where they were going to confront him. As soon as I finished, I left for the day but when I returned this morning I discovered that there had been damage done in the area, broken windows and doors and such" she explains calmly.

"There was no sign of them?" he asks already knowing the answer.

"No. The principal thought it was random vandalism, but the signs were there of a struggle. I also checked and Ethan, Aiden, and Mr. Stilinski were all absent from school" she tells him.

"The others?" he asks trying to find some explanation.

"All there. They didn't seem nervous or worried, but I am not exactly in a position to know their thoughts" she said with a shrug. "I did find something of interest."

Deucalion looked up at the woman's serene expression and thought, not for the first time, that taking her offer to serve as his Emissary to spare her pack was perhaps not the best decision he had made. "What did you find?" he finally asks.

"There were signs of druidic magic at the scene of the struggle and wolfbane plants were all over the area. Plants that were not there yesterday" she adds.

"The vet?" Deucalion ponders.

"No. I would recognize Alan's magic and it wasn't him. But I did speak with him and learned something that may be of concern. There have been a number of people killed recently by what appears to have been a ritual method. The police are keeping the details out of the news, but it appears that they were sacrificed using the Three Fold Sacrifice. Alan is almost certain that it is the work of a Darach" she tells the Alpha.

"A dark Druid?" Deucalion muses. He had heard of the Darach of course, but he had never encountered one before. "What would a Darach be doing here?" he asks Morrell.

"That's the question. Alan doesn't know its goal, but the sacrifices are to give it power, lots of power and, well a Darach is never a good thing. Beacon Hills has power and to some beings, claiming this place would be a temptation very difficult to resist. With the death of the Hales, the guardians, that power is no longer protected…or at least not as it once was" she finishes.

Deucalion frowns. That was one thing that caused him to hesitate. He was furious with Talia Hale for refusing to help them but the Argents, thrice damned hunters, had destroyed her entire pack in their own den, something that struck even him as deeply wrong. Though the discovery that it was the daughter who had done the deed, Deucalion had never doubted that it was Gerard's hand behind it all and it was yet another point to be balanced when he finally found the man who had managed to disappear so completely. "Talia Hale was foolish" he muttered and could tell by how the Emissary reacted, though she tried to hide it, that she disagreed. "You disagree?" he said calmly but with the air of danger in his voice.

Marin Morrell looked contemplative before she responded. "Talia Hale was a powerful Alpha, not a fool. She warned you that Argent could not be trusted" she said simply and paused as she observed the slight shift in the tension of the Alpha's body. "Gerard Argent was driven by hate and anger and the presence of her would probably have been an even greater motivation to attack. He was twisted, cunning, and determined. You were trying for peace, he wanted extermination." Morrell's voice was flat, no judgement or valuation in her words, just facts. "But in the end, even she underestimated how dangerous the man was and it cost her everything" Morrell added sadly.

Deucalion frowned. He had accepted the woman as his Emissary for two reasons. One, she was actually rather gifted and while she always sought to minimize any 'collateral' damage, she obeyed his instructions. Second, while he would not accept a traditional Emissary like he previous one, he knew the value that they brought in dealing with others. "Did you have Kali check out the scene at the school?" he asked.

Marin hesitated for the first time and Deucalion was quick to catch it. He leaned forward. "She was limited because of the wolfsbane, but she did detect the blood of both Ethan and Aiden at the scene but Stilinski, while his scent was present, there was none of his blood" she finally admitted.

"No blood from the boy" Deucalion muttered. "Why?"

"It is possible that the Darach targeted him or the twins" she suggests and Deucalion looks uncertain. "The Darach sacrifices for power, the power of two Alphas such as them would be substantial. Even the boy's death would give the Darach power to advance their goal."

"And what is the goal? Why here and now?" he asks her slowly.

"If the Darach is after the power of the Nemeton, they will be able to draw enormous power from all over the area. The ley lines that merge here extend for hundreds of miles. Normally, a healthy Nemeton would refuse something as corrupt as a Darach, but the Nemeton here is not healthy, not anymore" she adds.

Deucalion frowns. He knows some of this from his earlier life, but magic and mysticism has long passed his attention. "Why not" he finally forces the question out, almost against his will being interested again.

"The Nemeton was centered in a large Oak tree in the preserve but it was poisoned and cut down" she pauses for a moment "by Gerard Argent." Deucalion snarls as yet another problem is laid at the man's feet!

Jennifer stepped into the parking lot and smiles when she sees the man pull up and get out of his car. A doctor at Beacon Hills, Jacob Danniger, had moved to the small town nearly thirty years ago and had spent almost his entire medical career serving the people of Beacon Hills. He was perfect for the first of the Healers she would need. Stepping up to his car just as he closed the door, Jennifer cast her spell on the unsuspecting man and he swayed, disoriented and unable to resist. "Get in the back seat and lay down" she told him as she took his keys. Jacob shambled into the car, laying down without complaint. "Sleep" she whispered and he was out like a light.

Smiling she turned back to the hospital and figured that she would try for a second tonight. It was quiet enough and she was getting short on time. Walking in to the Emergency Room she glanced around and saw a rather empty waiting room, surprising her a bit as she looked around. Spotting a nurse sitting at the desk she walked up to the brunette woman and with a twist of her magic, made her arm appear bloody and tore up. "I need some help" she said with a break in her voice, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

The nurse looked up and spotted her arm and immediately started moving. "Come with me" she said confidently as she guided Jennifer to one of the exam rooms. "We will get you taken care of, what happened?" she asks staring at the wounds.

"I was going to my car when this animal attacked me. I didn't get a good view but I think it was a dog" Jennifer says as she sits on the table.

"Mel, you need any help?" a young nurse says walking in to the room.

"Has Dr. Danniger shown up yet?" she asks the other woman who shakes her head. "Okay, we can page Dr. Michaels" she decides and pulls out bandages, swabs, and tape before turning back to face Jennifer.

Jennifer wonders if she should just take the nurses or wait for the other doctor when she spots the woman's nametag. 'Melissa McCall'. "McCall? Would you happen to be Scott McCall's mother?" Jennifer asks innocently.

Melissa smiles that smile that mothers do. "That I am. How do you know Scott?" she asks as she reaches for a clean set of gloves.

"He's in my class at school. I teach English" Jennifer says easily. Jennifer is watching when Melissa freezes for a second before glancing up at her.

"Oh. That's nice" she says but Jennifer sees the fear in her eyes. Narrowing her eyes she casts her spell on the woman but she sees it shatter before it can reach the woman.

Jennifer Blake smiles and her hand shoots out and grabs the nurse's neck and suddenly she feels a sharp burning in her hand. "Argh" she cries letting go and tossing the woman aside. "You are protected!" she snarls at the woman.

Melissa looks afraid but Jennifer is not expecting the metal tray that the nurse swings, slamming into her head and knocking her into the wall. "Tracy, run!" Melissa yells but Jennifer is faster. If she can't touch McCall, there is another nurse here. Tracy had frozen in shock and she barely whimpers when Jennifer grabs her throat and twists her around.

"I was going to take you both, but maybe I should just kill this one" Jennifer says looking at Melissa with a smile. "Would you like to watch this little bird lose its wings?" she teases as she presses on the girl causing her to sqeak.

"Let her go, please" Melissa begs, hands up to show that she is unarmed.

"Remove your protection, and I will let her live" Jennifer offers and Melissa pauses but then Jennifer tightens her grip causing Tracy to cry out again.

"Okay! Okay" Melissa agrees and lifts off the necklace, placing it on the counter top. There, I took it off, let her go" she tells the woman.

Jennifer smiles and gestures and Melissa goes flying into the wall behind her, slamming into it and sliding to the floor unconscious. Jennifer turns to the trembling girl beside her. "Now I believe that you were going to call the doctor?" she purrs.

Derek found himself fighting to wake up, the smell of some kind of incense still heavy in his nose, along with the familiar combination of the scents of junk food, Adderall, and body wash that Derek knows equals Stiles. Opening his eyes, he sees that he is laying on the ground and he sits up slowly as he looks around. He spots Stiles, sitting with his back to Derek, hunched over something, with that tree tattoo prominently visible on his back with the Triskelion in the center. Derek watches for a moment before he sees the wolf. The black wolf walks around Stiles' side to stand at the base of the tree and it turns and stares at Derek. The wolf then turns and runs up his back and down Stiles' arm.

"What?" Stiles suddenly says looking at his arm. "What do you want? Is Timmy in the well?" he says with a chuckle before he glances over and meets Derek's eyes. Turning around fully he looks at Derek with a sad smile. "Hey…welcome back" he says carefully.

"You drugged me" Derek growls as he stands up shaking off the last of those fumes.

"Yes" Stiles agrees simply. "I found a recipe for a knockout smoke and added some wolfsbane so it would work on you guys."

Derek stared at the teen who didn't look guilty, but at the same time he didn't exactly look happy or proud either, which Derek would have expected. "Why?"

Stiles sighs and takes a deep breath. Looking at the Alpha he wets his lips before speaking. "I needed some of your blood and I couldn't take the chance that you would use the opportunity to break the barrier."

"I said I trust you" Derek reminds him with a slightly strained voice.

"I know. And I hope you still will after tonight, but you are under a spell and I am not sure what it might make you do as I try to free you. It may make you attack us. When we freed the others they all reacted badly, lashing out. I'm afraid that it will be worse with you" Stiles said with a heavy sigh. "I think I figured a way to break it, but…you may never forgive me" he says so quietly that Derek barely hears the words.

"Stiles…what are you going to do?" Derek says feeling a touch of fear among the uncertainty. He has never seen the teen so serious, so still, so…determined.

Stiles looks up but shakes his head. "Peter should be back soon. Once he is and the pack leaves, I will explain it to you. Just wait a little longer, please" Stiles begs.

Derek stares for a moment, staying quiet. Stiles grabs his book and lays it down in front of him, reviewing the spell again. He knows he will have this one chance and he has never tried something like this before but it's the only thing he can think of to do. Standing up, Stiles grabs the bag of baseball line chalk he picked up earlier and begins laying out the summoning circle and symbols. He uses Derek as one point and creates a second circle for Peter that he lines with more ash, though he doesn't close that circle. Once done, Stiles begins placing the candles in front of where he and Lydia will be standing.

"Stiles…what is this? What are you doing?" Derek asks as he watched the teen and Derek is feeling the air charged with….something.

"Soon" Stiles promises as he goes and gets the tea and pours it into four mugs. Placing them by the spots for the others he gets the censer out and puts in the bamboo charcoal to start burning. Once it gets hot enough he will add the incense.

"Stiles!" Allison's voice calls out and Derek looks over as the brunette walks up to them. "Scott called, they are on the way back and they have the claws. Should be here in five."

"Good. Once Peter is here, have Lydia join us. Tell the rest of the pack I want them to form a protective circle around us, but make sure that they stay outside of normal hearing range. I want them to be watching for anything. We can afford for anything to interrupt" he tells her as he glances at his phone. "Make sure they don't eavesdrop okay?" he pleads. Twenty minutes to go.

Allison nods gravely before she smiles. "I didn't just fake our prep Stiles. There are quite a few booby traps out there if we have any uninvited guests. I will also make sure everyone stays away, but after seeing how Lydia reacted, I'm pretty sure no one wants to actually be here" her look is understanding as she glances over at Derek and nods at him before disappearing back to the woods.

Derek stares at Stiles for a moment before he asks. "Stiles…what claws?" he asks slowly and deliberately.

Stiles looks fearful as he looks back at the Alpha. "You mother's claws" Stiles finally answers and Derek's nostrils flair and Stiles can see the barely repressed fury. "You might want to wait on the anger until you hear everything" Stiles suggests with a tired voice.

Derek doesn't respond, he just watches and waits. Stiles finishes his preparations and is standing up when Peter and Lydia walk up. "Here they are" Peter says holding out the box and Stiles takes it carefully and opens it seeing the five claws, the only remains of Alpha Talia Hale. Carefully he goes over to his supplies and paints the necessary symbols on the box. Standing up he turns to Peter.

"Step into that circle, I will close it once you are in. Lydia, you are over there, close your own circle" he instructs and Lydia moves but Peter hesitates. "Problem?" Stiles asks.

Peter looks at the teen. "Why the ash circle. I said I would help."

Stiles stares at the older werewolf with a disbelieving look. "One, I don't trust you to keep your word, especially once things start happening. Second, the barrier doesn't just keep you in, it will keep others…out. All of us will be in ash circles along with the protections I laid down" Stiles replies with an arched look and waits for the man to make his decision.

"I am not under her spell, why do you need me?" Peter finally asks looking nervous as he glances at Derek.

"You need this. As much as he does Peter" Stiles tells the man. "Get in the damn circle" he says with no anger or heat and Peter just makes a noise and walks over. Stiles closes Peter's circle before moving to his own and laying out all but one part of the final circle. With a gesture, the four mugs of tea all raise up and float to their respective person. Stiles looks at the other three. "Drink it all" he tells them and downs own his mug. Lydia does just a quickly while Derek and Peter hesitate. Stiles looks at Derek without saying anything, just watching him, and watches as the Alpha sniffs cautiously at the mug but with a sigh he drains it down.

"Peter?" Lydia prompts and the older man looks unhappy but after a glance at Stiles he drinks it down, wincing at the bitter taste.

"Lydia, are you ready?" Stiles asks the redhead who looks nervous but she nods. Opening her mouth she begins chanting in Latin. It's not complicated, just a single phrase repeated over and over again.

Stiles steps out of his partial circle and moves to the outer most ring around the entire group and as moves in a clockwise motion around them, he places the eight totems in each of the cardinal points. North, Northeast, East, Southeast, South, Southwest, West, and Northwest. At a gesture the six candles all ignite and Stiles steps back to his circle and closes it. Finally he tosses the incense in the censer and watches as the fragrant smoke rises up and seems to surround the four of them.

Closing his eyes, Stiles focuses on his chest tattoo, that symbol of spiritual balance and begins to recite his summoning spell.

"Haie familiae spiritus invoco per totems quoque conantur. Exaudi orationem meam, et dicam transire mundos. Audi hymnum Banshee vocavit vos causa huc tibi. Ego sum, et vocavi te in nomine Mieczyslaw Stilinski."

Stiles opens his eyes revealing them shining with a solid white light. Derek feels the hair on the back of his neck stand up as the temperature around them drops very noticeably as the teen takes a deep breath.

"Et sumoneas Talia Hale, Alpha, mater, custodem saltus. Et sumoneas Robert Hale, beta, pater, virum. Et sumoneas Daniel Hale, beta, filius, fratis, ultimo natus est. Et sumoneas Hannah Hale, beta, uxorem, et mater est. Et sumoneas Laura Hale, Alpha, filiae, soror, trademini autem a domo. Et sumoneas Ian Hale, beta, fratis, avunculus, virum, pater. Et sumoneas Margaret Spencer, filiae, mater, amita, magister. Et sumoneas Andrew Hale, filius, patruelis. Audi me, et venite ad me voca!" Stiles voice rises and falls as he chants the spell from beginning to end. Taking a breath he nods at Lydia.

Lydia pauses in her chanting, taking a deep breath, and wails. It isn't a scream like before, it can only be described as a wail that causes both werewolves to slam their hands against their ears. Stiles hears the pack howling in the distance at the sound. Stiles begins the spell again and when he reaches the end Lydia wails a second time. Stiles recites the spell the third time ending with Lydia's third and final wail.

The clearing suddenly goes quiet, no chanting, no spell, and no wails. Stiles blinks his now normal amber eyes carefully and looks around but doesn't see anything. He is about to groan when he realizes how quiet it is. No sounds at all. He can't hear crickets or frogs or birds. Nothing. "Is that it? Rather disappointing performance" Peter looks at the teen mockingly.

Derek however is trembling. From the first time Stiles spoke his mother's name he had a cold dread about what was happening. He saw the bones that Stiles had placed around them and even through the haze of the incense, Derek could smell that smoke on them. He had listened at Stiles had listed seven of his family who had died that night and Laura and he had desperately wanted to run away and but for the ash barrier, he isn't sure he would have been able to resist the driving urge to flee. Peter had reacted when Stiles had called for Peter's wife, and he was sure that the man's demeanor was more defensive than a real challenge.

"Oh, Peter. You never did have faith that there was more in the world than that what you could control, did you" a woman's watery voice comes from the shadows. Derek spins around as he watches a soft white light seemed to coalesce under the trees until it takes the shape of a woman and Derek's heart races as he watches her step out of the shadows and he goes cold with fear at the sight of her. Her familiar eyes flash red, just for a second, before shifting to their normal green while the breeze moves her black hair slightly in the breeze as Talia Hale walks up to the four of them. She looks over at Stiles and gives him a gentle smile and nod before turning back to Peter. "Oh Peter, you killed my Laura" she says with the saddest, most disappointed tone. Peter flinches and steps back, as far as he could retreat in the circle.

"No. You can't be here" Peter whimpers.

"Only you can cross back is that it?" Talia Hale says with a knowing look. "I think that you will have to face a great many uncomfortable truths this night Peter." Peter trembles at his sister's words, gently said, but with the steel of an Alpha still present.

"Oh my dear sweet Peter" this voice, too, too familiar, calls out of the shadows, a voice thick with grief and raw emotion. Peter goes white, eyes wide, as he slowly turns around as sees a soft light form into a beautiful young woman who steps up to stand beside him. Her golden hair is done up in a long braid down her back and she appears to be in her early twenties and Peter's sudden gasp of pain drives the beta to his knees.

"Hannah" the man sobs desperately as he stares at the ghost of his dead wife walking up to him, a sad smile on her face. She stops at the ash line, her hand held up to rest just outside. She smiles so gently at him it hurts to even see the love in her eyes as he tries to hide from that penetrating gaze.

"Oh Peter, you messed up really badly this time didn't you?" a man's voice calls out as a tall man, close to Talia's age steps out beside Hannah. "Was your revenge really worth the price you paid for it?" he asks sadly and Stiles watches as Peter sobs again at the sight of his older brother.

Derek is watching his aunt and uncle as they talk to Peter, desperately wanting to avoid looking back at his mother but so wanting to look at her again. His throat is thick and hard to breathe as the wind shifts and he smells the scents he will never, could never, forget. Mother! Pack! Brother!

"Hey Der" a young male voice calls out and Derek pales again but he has to look. He tears his eyes from his uncle Ian and looks over at the young boy, no more than five years old, who has stepped forward to stand next to Talia. "I really missed you big brother" he says in a piping voice and Derek goes to his knees, tears running down his face as his breathing hitches.

"Daniel" Derek whispers reaching out but the spirits stay outside the ash barriers. Another figure, this of a teenage boy of about fourteen, steps forwards and puts a hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Andrew" Derek whimpers.

"Hey cuz. So…you are an alpha now, that's cool" he says with a smile. "And you got the Camaro too?" he smiles and winks at his cousin. "Man I always loved that car. I remember when Laura..."

"That's enough Andrew. Derek, son?" the man who appears causes Derek to bury his face in his hands, his shoulders trembling as he breaks down. "Son, it's okay, we're okay. We are together and we love you" Robert Hale reassures his son as he kneels down to look at the Alpha in the eye.

Derek sobs as he sees the love and truth in his father's eyes. They don't know! They don't know how it was all his fault. All of it! When they learn...he sobs again shaking his head at the kindness coming from them.

"Oh my dear boy, I only hope that you can forgive us for failing you" Talia's voice is thick with emotion as Derek looks up to stare at her in shocked surprise. "Derek, you were a child. We were supposed to protect you but we failed and that woman was able to hurt you. I let you down my boy, my sweet son, and I am so, so sorry" she tells her son, eyes glistening as she kneels down beside the ash barrier, lifting her hand to hover just outside. She knows! Derek looks at his father and sees the love, the understanding. Daniel and Andrew both look at him like they always had. They all know!

"But it's all my fault" Derek starts to say but is cut off.

"No son" Robert says forcefully and Derek sees the others all looking at him with kindness and gentle smiles "it wasn't. We knew about the Argents, the danger they represented and we failed to prepare you kids. We thought that you would be safe from them. You were just kids. We didn't realize how bad they were and how far they would go in their hatred."

"What she did to you was evil Derek" Ian said forcefully. "She abused you and used you and twisted you up. She took joy in making you suffer because she was so full of hatred and rage, and, cultivated by her father, she embraced her madness as righteousness. You need to forgive yourself."

"How can I?" Derek yelled. "I got all of you killed!" he screamed, emotion choking him.

"Oh little wolf" Hannah said shaking her head. "You didn't do this thing. You didn't want it to happen. We never blamed you and once we saw the truth…we were so upset that you all had to endure the aftermath of that evil day. We love you so much and were heartbroken for the suffering that she laid upon all of you who survived that night." Hannah looks down at the devastated Peter who is staring at her desperately. "It is true that evil exists in the world. You can't deny it and often it strikes cruelly and unfairly. You can only choose whether you will chose to stand against it or if you will let it break your spirit."

Peter whimpered at his wife's words and she moved down to him and began whispering to him as Ian and Andrew both drifted over to join her. Talia glanced at the two humans and smiled gently. "You have found a new pack my son, friends and allies who will stand with you. You can build something new here. These two challenged death itself to free you from the dark spell that was twisting you. That you inspired them to take such a measure speaks of how much they care" she says with a smile as she leans down, Robert and Daniel moving with her.

Stiles looks over at Lydia and tries to distract himself while both Hales speak quietly with the shades of their family, giving them as much privacy as they can while they speak. He isn't sure how long it takes him to notice, but when he does he frowns and looks around. Finally Stiles realizes that there are only seven apparitions in the clearing with them, not eight. Spinning around, Stiles double checks before he finally looks back to Talia Hale. "Laura didn't come" he says questioningly as he looks to the Hale Matriarch. "I had hoped that she might show. I wanted to apologize for digging her body up" he says with a wince.

Talia smiles knowingly as she looks at Stiles. "She knows cub. Laura's spirit has chosen to move on to serve a new purpose" Talia looks back at her son "but I know she was so sorry for leaving you alone. She did not think of that when she came and she was very angry with Peter for a long time for leaving you alone."

"She wasn't angry at the killing part?" Lydia muttered but Talia just smiled easily.

"Death is not something to fear Banshee. To the wolf, it just…is. All that lives must eventually die and end. It is the way of nature and the way of wolves. When it is time, you put aside all of the anger, rage, grief, and fury and leave it behind. We do not carry that forward into the next realm so no, Laura easily forgave Peter his madness. She did not blame him for his fury, or even his acts. She only grieved because it meant that her beloved brother was left alone…until now" Talia smiles at her before turning that powerful gaze to Stiles.

"You are walking down a very dangerous path cub" she says with a sad look in her eyes. "I am not sure that you can even step away from where it will take you, or that you even would if you could see what's coming. I can give you this bit of advice: you will face a choice, a terrible and final choice, but if you are strong enough to bear the cost, it could be a very good choice. I will not be able to help you again but I will give you this. You chose to bear my family's mark, the Triskelion" she says with a confident nod. "Know this; you have my blessing. To our family, you will always be pack young Mieczyslaw" she says pronouncing his name perfectly and her voice is wavering with that watery quality again.

Stiles watches as each of the spirits look back to their mortal family members as they start to fade away one by one until Talia, the last one there, nods at her son and brother before fading into the shadows. It is only a few seconds before the nighttime sounds of the forest return and Stiles' eyes roll up and he collapses in a faint.

"Stiles!" Lydia screams and runs to the teen. Derek and Peter are both still trapped so they can't help but Lydia screams out knowing the wolves will hear and come running.

"Lydia!" Derek yells looking over at the redhead as she holds the unconscious body of the teen. "Let us out!" he demands.

Lydia relaxes a bit as she finds Stiles' pulse and sees that he is breathing fairly normally. His complexion is pale but he appears to be stable. Looking up she sees the two werewolves, both looking more wrung out than she has ever seen them before, staring at her. "Derek, I can't. Not until we are sure it worked" she suddenly pales and gasps. "Oh god! We forgot the powder" she whispers looking at Derek in shock. He looks confused but they all hear the groan coming from the unconscious teen.

"I got him with it while he was knocked out" Stiles mutters causing the three others to all look at down at the teen as he groans. "That sucked so much" he moans.

Derek looks up as he sees the rest of the pack entering the clearing, each of them slowing as they approach the scene before them. "Stiles!" Scott yells and runs up to him and Lydia.

"Too loud!" Stiles groans as he flinches as the noise. Scott drops down beside him and, placing a hand, he tries to pull pain but nothing happens. "Sorry buddy, don't think you can take this kind of pain" Stiles mutters.

"Stiles…did it work?" Allison asks looking at the two older men, her bow and arrow still loaded as she looked at both of them.

"Peter was never under her spell, and Derek…I'm not sure. It was so different than the others" he admits tiredly as he finally manages to sit up with help from Scott.

Allison steps over and breaks the circle around Peter before stepping up to Derek. "Derek" she says loudly causing him to look at her suspiciously. "We figured out who the Darach is" she pauses as she watches Derek but he doesn't react. "It's Jennifer Blake."

Derek flinches as his eyes widen. "What? Your English Teacher? Why do you think it's her?" he asks sounding confused. Allison sighs and breaks the ash line before she puts away her bow and arrow.

"Stiles figured out it was her and we got some help from some druids to break her spell. She had cast it on all the wolves, Lydia, and Deaton to prevent any of you from even considering her as possible threat and made it so that you would even protect her from others. She used her place at the school to find her victims" Allison told the Alpha who just looked more uncertain.

"Why would she target us?" Derek finally asks. "I mean we barely met her and you all only had her for class. I spoke to her once but she didn't seem unusual and nothing the Darach has done seems to have been aimed at the pack."

Everyone looks extremely uncomfortable but no one seems too excited to explain. "Derek, what do you mean you spoke once? You have gone on several dates with the woman" Peter finally says sounding more tired than he ever had before.

Derek startles. "What? No I haven't. I met her one time at the school when I went to get Isaac and I helped her carry some boxes to her car but I don't think I've even seen her since."

"Derek" Stiles says looking sick "you kissed her. Right before she got in your car and you drove off together."

Derek looks at the teen, whose heartbeat never wavered. "That's not...I mean I…I don't remember that" he finally says looking pained.

"She seems especially gifted with spells to mess with people's minds" Lydia says trying to sound reassuring but suddenly she looks determined and turns to Stiles. "I've decided. I want that tattoo" she tells Stiles.

"What tattoo?" Erica asks confused.

"Stiles and I have a tattoo that prevents us from being possessed or charmed. It protects your identity from tampering" Allison explains and moves her hair to show the blonde the Kanja.

"Is it explanation time yet?" Scott whimpers and then everyone turns to look at Stiles who sighs and suggests they head back to the Hale house and get comfortable. Luckily his dad and Scott's mom are both on the night shift so they being out after midnight won't be a problem.

"So…spill. What the hell are you?" Jackson says to Stiles as the group all gathers around the steps of the Hale House. Stiles has sat down, still feeling a bit drained from his spell work. Holding the spell for so long was exhausting and he was so ready to crash but he knew that the pack had trusted him to do a lot of things without knowing the whole story up to now, but now that everyone was free, their patience was pretty much used up. Even thought they needed to figure out how to deal with the two threats, there were too many questions buzzing around them. The rest of the pack grumble at Jackson's crassness but they don't really protest as they want to know too.

"Okay, let's see. It all started shortly after we freed Jackson from Gerard and being the Kanima. I was feeling a bit antsy, everybody was really busy with other things, so I went back to Deaton to ask him about my Spark. If I could train with it so I could maybe do more, be more useful" Stiles told them. He continued explaining Deaton's findings and how it led to Stiles meeting Martinique and Kiran and how they helped him understand the six domains of magic, which he had to explain as well. He shared his studies and training while everyone else was busy all summer until he met Stephen and how the sorcerer figured out Stiles magic and started training him more directly. He explained about Wong and Kamar-Taj and how they helped continue his training when Stephen left.

"How did you train in Nepal?" Lydia demanded when Stiles mentioned traveling there and to New York regularly.

"Um…well, like this" Stiles says and slips on his sling ring and gestures and a portal opens up and the pack sees the Himalayan mountains lit up with a bright blue sky through the fiery portal. "I can pretty much go anywhere" he says and then shuts the portal trying not to preen at the looks of awe on the pack's faces.

"That is so cool" Isaac mutters and most of the pack nods in agreement.

"It's a really cool way to travel" Allison says with a smirk which causes everyone to argue about how she got to go somewhere already. Derek finally calls them all down to refocus on Stiles.

Stiles then moves on to explaining how he started getting sick at school and how he came to realize that it was dark magic and how when he cast his 'true-seeing' spell, he saw the true face of the Darach. That led to him trying to tell the pack about her and how they lashed out and he figured out that they were under her spell.

"That's when he came to me and we discovered that I wasn't affected" Allison added and shared her impressions, not sparing how she initially didn't believe him until he showed her his powers and glowing tattoos.

"Wait, when did you get the tattoos?" Scott asks and Stiles has to go back and explain how he found the tools in a shop and started creating designs for tattoos that would help strengthen his magics. Once he found Kelsey, she put the tattoos on and Stiles explains the purpose of each of them.

"How do they move?" Isaac asks curiously.

Stiles pauses and then laughs. "I have no idea. Kelsey did the tree on my back and when she finished it started swaying in the breeze. I think it is because I infused magic in them but I'm not totally sure."

"What about the wolf?" Erica asks looking fascinated.

"Kelsey and I were talking and I decided to cast a spell to summon my spirit animal. Kind of like a familiar but a real animal. I saw a black wolf and described it to Kelsey and she added it to the base of the tree. That's when we found out that it pretty much has a mind of its own. It can ignore my tattoo that hides the others and pretty much does whatever it wants" Stiles tells them just as the wolf walks down his arm and pauses just above the elbow and looks around at the pack before sitting down.

"That is…fascinating" Peter muses from his spot on the edge of the pack. Stiles notices that for the first time Peter seems to want to be included but he isn't pushing too hard.

"Did you, by chance, have anything to do with those witches who cursed Erica?" Boyd asks Stiles and the rest of the pack looks at the flushed teen.

"Oh…that. Well okay, after I figured out about the other cursed victims, Stephen and I figured out that when Deaton freed them, that would cause their spell to backlash. I tried to call you but no one picked up so we went out to deal with them" Stiles continues and explains how he arrived just as Deaton and the pack freed the people and how they attacked Stiles. He skipped the story of his ring as he still didn't exactly understand that, but told them how the three leaders killed their own people to get power to attack Stiles and how he turned it back on them, killing the three.

"Hold on. Are you telling us that you are the demon sorcerer of California?" Peter demands of the blushing teen.

"I wouldn't say that…exactly" Stiles mutters but the pack is looking pretty shell-shocked at the news of how he drove the coven out. Remembering how Chris told them about how the coven had reacted made them all stare at Stiles with uncertainty.

Isaac coughed causing everyone to look at the curly haired beta with uncertainty. "Look, that's all really impressive, I know, you took out some bad witches, yay you. But the bigger question is how did you figure out how to free all of us from the Darach's control?" Isaac asks quietly.

Stiles takes a deep breath. "Well, I had taked to Wong about it and he had an idea of asking for help so he sent a message to the Merlin and the Morgaine, the heads of the druids, and they actually replied. Allie and I went to England and met them and they told us how to free you" Stiles says and he turns as he sees Peter choking in surprise.

"You met the Merlin and the Morgaine!" he screeches.

"Did you remember to mention that Stephen is the Sorcerer Supreme?" Allison asks Stiles and glances over to see the look of disbelief on Peter's face.

"Guess not" she mutters. "Anyways..." Allison and Stiles take turns explaining their time in England how they came back and freed the other members of the pack up until they had caught Derek and Peter.

"But how did you know all that stuff about us that you used to free us? I mean I know you know me better than anyone else does, but the others?" Scott asks still confused on that point.

"That's a bit complicated but it was when I was creating protections on my house to keep out any supernatural being but I wanted a way to make sure that it would still allow the pack to enter. It was the night Ennis broke in and attacked my dad and I" Stiles starts but the others all start yelling.

"Stiles, why didn't you tell us?" Derek demanded, his eyes flashing in anger and Stiles saw the other wolves look just as furious.

Stiles looks at Derek and shrugs. "It all happened really fast and then it was over. It didn't seem important with everything else going on."

"Stiles they attacked a human, that isn't supposed to happen! And if we knew, we could have helped protect you" Derek said controlling his anger.

Stiles suddenly looked dangerous. "He threatened to kill my dad" Stiles says in a deadly calm voice as his eyes flare a fiery green that cause the others to startle. Stiles activates the shield on his right hand and while everyone but Lydia and Allison jump back, Stiles stands up and he turns and throws it. The disc flies across the open space and slices through the 'No Trespassing' sign, cutting it in half. Stiles turns back to Derek with a smirk. "Question…can werewolves re-grow a severed arm?" he asks and sees the shock on everyone's faces.

Derek shakes his head in the negative and Stiles smiles "Then I guess we will be calling Ennis lefty from now on."

"You cut his arm off?" Scott squeaks. "Oh my god! Then what happened?"

"After I hit him with a fireball? Well I was going to kill him but my dad asked me not to, and I didn't want to upset him since he had just been attacked so I opened a portal to a deserted island in the middle of nowhere and threw him through it" Stiles said looking at his best friend with a shrug.

"Was that the same place you sent the twins?" Lydia asks with a curious look that caused more excitement which led to Stiles and her explaining Stiles encounter and defeat of Ethan and Aiden.

"You defeated three Alphas, you are mentored by the Sorcerer Supreme, and you are friends with the Morgaine and the Merlin" Peter summarized with a stunned expression. He looks carefully at the teen "what a wolf you would have been" he mumbles.

Stiles just smiles and Peter swallows nervously. "Anyways, after Ennis attacked I put a shit ton of protections on my house but I needed a way for the house to recognize you all. I thought about doing a blooding, but that has problems of its own so I decided to use a necromancy spell that allowed me to create a sigil for each person. Basically, the spell created a magical image that was the physical representation of your soul. So it revealed certain things about each of you as I watched it form. I was able to use that information to figure out how to push you to break the spell."

"So why wouldn't that have worked with Derek?" Isaac asks thoughtfully. He had been shook up by seeing his dad and hadn't quite gotten over it.

"Derek…" Stiles paused and looked at the Alpha and hesitated. "All of them were hard, but Derek's was really...complicated. I created his sigil, but once I really saw it I knew that what I did with you wouldn't work. Look, each of you hadn't really had to face your worst fears. Scott, for you buddy it was seeing everyone you loved killed because of your actions and choices. Facing that scenario freed you from her control. It was the same with the rest of you and that's what we used to help you break free. But Derek…he had already faced his worst fear and was still haunted by it. I realized that I had to go in the other direction."

"You wanted to help him face that fear, to remove the pain. You wanted to help him forgive himself for what happened" Lydia says softly. "You wanted to free him from the guilt and blame" she said looking at the teen carefully. "And you included Peter for the same reason."

Derek stares at the redhead before turning back to the teen who suddenly looks very uncomfortable. "You saw my…soul?" Derek asks slowly, looking pretty uncomfortable himself.

Stiles pauses but ultimately nods. "It's hard to put in words but yes, I learned and saw things that I know are very private, but I learned some things that are good too" he says carefully.

"Like what?" Derek's voice is pained and Stiles sighs knowing that the man would react this way to the violation of his privacy, even if it was done for the right reasons. He knows the Alpha's emotions are probably way too raw at the moment.

"I can see connections between people, such as the link between you and Peter. When I focused, I was able to see that your sister is alive, since she is younger than you, I think it must be Cora" he says and sees both Derek and Peter go white.

"What?" Derek gasps. "No. She died in the fire. She can't be… How can you know that?" Derek asks desperately grabbing on to the idea.

"I can't exactly explain it, it's hard to put in words but I was able to see that her connection to you is still there, still healthy. I could tell that she is alive and that she is not in any distress. I know that she is very far away, but that's all I was able to figure out." Stiles looks over at Boyd and smiles gently "It's how I know that Boyd's sister is also alive and seems fairly happy, but she is also really far away" Stiles says as he looks at the stunned beta.

Erica grabs Boyd's hand as he seems to have some trouble breathing. "She's alive?" Boyd pleads and Stiles nods gently.

"While Stiles was doing that" Allison says awkwardly into the silence as everyone seems to be struggling trying to absorb the impact of the latest revelations "Isaac and I briefed the Sheriff and some of his deputies about how to fight werewolves."

"You revealed us to the sheriff?" Derek looks horrified.

"Dude, Steroid Alpha broke in to our house and threatened to kill me and my dad while all wolfed out and dad kinda noticed when I blasted the bastard with my magic. Cat was definitely out of the bag then. Then Chris and Deputy Graeme came by my house and saw the wreckage of the attack after I portaled dad to the hospital. He was pretty pissed about everything" Stiles pauses and looks really uncomfortable "and he also wants to talk with you and Peter, privately. Fair warning, he has wolfsbane ammo now, so just giving you a heads up. Allie and Isaac trained four of the deputies about this stuff so they can be prepared" Stiles finishes.

Derek shut his mouth and glared, arms crossed, but he didn't say anything else which Stiles decides to classify as a win. "So the sheriff not only knows about us, but he also knows about the hunters?" Peter asks knowingly and sees Derek's look of surprise.

"Yeah" Allison snickers. "Apparently the Sheriff pulled my dad in and basically ripped him a new one. Told him that if his, and I quote, 'band of murdering thugs', crosses the line in Beacon Hills again he would end him. Then demanded wolfsbane ammo and our family bestiary and books for Stiles. Apparently the Argent Grande Matriarch pretty much told dad to make the Sheriff happy and that dad should do whatever he needed to keep the Sheriff on our side." Allison smiled at the look of pride on Stiles' face.

"Dude! Your dad is so badass!" Scott saying smiling happily at his friend.

"Dad did say that the Alpha Pack and the Darach were clearly code breakers so he gave Chris and you Derek, his full support to end them" Stiles told the surprised Alpha.

Stiles finishes his story telling them about the charms they made and gives out the final ones. "Now we need to figure out how we are going to deal with everything."

"There is one still one little detail that does not add up" Peter says looking at Stiles studiously. "How all of this ties together. Deucalion and his pack are here to challenge Derek, probably because he is still furious about Talia refusing to join him at the summit so now he can finally get his claws on the last of the Hale pack, but how does the Darach figure in to things?" he asks the group.

"Do we even know that they are connected?" Scott asks looking back at Stiles.

Stiles looks over at Lydia and Allison before glancing at Derek and seeing the agreement there. "Technically no, I mean we don't have any proof, but the odds of all of this hitting Beacon Hills all at the same time would be a pretty big coincidence. Packs have Emmisaries…could the Alpha Pack have a Darach as theirs?" Stiles asks uncertainly.

"I have never heard of one before, but then Darachs have been more rumor than real for several hundred years as far as we know" Peter admits.

"I don't think so" Derek says slowly and the others look at him curiously. "I heard my mother talking about Deucalion and sharing power was never his strong point. Even now he is the Alpha of Alphas, not just an Alpha. I don't see him sharing power with a Darach."

"So…we will need to figure out how take them both out. But as for now, I am wiped out" Stiles says looking at Derek and the Alpha can see the exhaustion in the teen's face.

"You said that your house was protected from everything?" Erica asks in a tentative voice and Stiles nods. He's not sure exactly how it happens but the entire pack decides to stay together so they all pile in to their cars and head towards the Stilinski house. Stiles smiles as he drives the jeep and wonders how his father is going to react.

Haie familiae spiritus invoco per totems quoque conantur. Exaudi orationem meam, et dicam transire mundos. Audi hymnum Banshee vocavit vos causa huc tibi. Ego sum, et vocavi te in nomine Mieczyslaw Stilinski.

I call on the spirits of the family Hale, by these totems of their bodies. Hear my plea and cross the worlds to speak. Hear the song of the Banshee calling you, giving you direction and purpose. I am Mieczyslaw Stilinski and I summon you in my name.

"Et sumoneas Talia Hale, Alpha, mater, custodem saltus. Et sumoneas Robert Hale, beta, pater, virum. Et sumoneas Daniel Hale, beta, filius, fratis, ultimo natus est. Et sumoneas Hannah Hale, beta, uxorem, et mater est. Et sumoneas Laura Hale, Alpha, filiae, soror, trademini autem a domo. Et sumoneas Ian Hale, beta, fratis, avunculus, virum, pater. Et sumoneas Margaret Spencer, filiae, mater, amita, magister. Et sumoneas Andrew Hale, filius, patruelis. Audi me, et venite ad me voca.

I summon Talia Hale, Alpha, mother, guardian of the wood. I summon Robert Hale, Beta, father, husband. I summon Daniel Hale, beta, son, brother, last born. I summon Hannah Hale, beta, wife, mother to be. I summon Laura Hale, alpha, daughter, sister, betrayed by family. I summon Ian Hale, beta, brother, uncle, husband, father. I summon Margaret Spencer, sister, mother, aunt, teacher. I summon Andrew Hale, son, cousin. Hear my call and come to me.