"Derek," she began exasperatedly.

The fifteen year old reluctantly turned away from the stairs, his shoulders hunched at the implied reprimand clear in her tone. Talia held back the sigh that threatened and reminded herself that this was her son, her baby boy, as well as her beta. She could figure out a way through the minefield of puberty that changed (no pun intended) her son into a moody brat.

"Mom," he replied quietly, his eyes downcast and his head turned away enough to bare his neck to his Alpha. The sight immediately soothed the agitated wolf, though the mother in Talia wasn't as easily placated. Derek wasn't devious like Laura or daring like Cora, but he was cunning enough to get away with skirting the fine line of the law without actually breaking it.

"Where were you this afternoon? I know basketball practice was canceled so don't attempt to lie about that."

She felt satisfaction about cutting off that line of escape and relished the tiny flare of panic that briefly lit up Derek's face.

"Uh, I was with, uh Camden."

"Camden? Really? That's the lie you're going with right now?"

Derek straightened, though not enough to be confrontational, and nodded silently.

"So the fact I saw you at the diner with Miss Campbell having a snack was merely my old age playing tricks on my mind?"

At this, Derek's eyes flew up to meet hers (not really hard since he was rapidly closing the distance in their heights).

"The same Miss Campbell you were expressly forbidden from dating because...oh...I don't know...she's from a hunting family!"

Talia wasn't proud of the Alpha roar that split the air between them as she hadn't really intended to press her will upon her youngest, but it honestly couldn't be helped.

"I love her! She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, Mom, and you can't expect me to ignore my-my-m-m-mate."

The bravado nearly collapsed beneath Talia's glare, but Derek stood against it as he rarely did. Of all her pack, Talia worried about him the most and hoped Laura would keep him as her beta once she became Alpha.

"Mate? You're not old enough for a mate!"

"You said you knew the minute you laid eyes on Dad. Well...Hale genes breed true because I knew it too."

Talia could hear her dearly departed mother's laughter ringing in her ears as Talia's fairy-tale lies came back to burn her at the most inopportune moment. The truth was simple: Talia had fallen for a fast-talking beta who didn't believe in monogamy despite the ring on his finger and she hadn't discovered his affairs until she's whelped three kids with the bastard. Despite his utter failure as a husband, he was a fantastic father, and she hadn't the heart to show her pups his clay feet. Fortunately - which sounded awful even in the privacy of her own mind - she never had to end her marriage as Andrew had died in a border dispute with an aggressive pack. His death had produced fantastic returns as she was able to claim a weregeld on them and expanded Hale land even further.

"Derek - no - that's - urgh."

Not exactly her finest moment as a mother or an alpha.

Talia believed in mates, knew they existed, but had never experienced the phenomena herself. She had given into Derek's romantic illusions about his parents' relationship in a desperate bid to make sure her son wouldn't understand exactly how terrible her marriage actually was. Talia was pretty sure Laura suspected, or even knew the truth, which meant Cora did as well. Derek, on the other hand, was oblivious to most undercurrents and happily believed what he was told irrespective of what his senses would detect. It was a quality she both loved and loathed in equal measures.

"Derek James Hale, you will obey your Alpha and end this liaison with Paige Campbell, or you will not like the consequences."

Derek's green-gold eyes widened at being three-named and muttered acquiescence with a dip of his head. Talia could only hope this would deter her son from the path of destruction he set himself on. Peter's research had discovered that Paige was from a cadet branch of the illustrious Campbell family tree, which meant she probably didn't have an inkling about the supernatural. The Campbells, while not as widely recognized or respected as the Argents, were still a force to be reckoned with even if their focus was more demons than 'wolves. Talia intended to keep her pack from their notice as long as possible, even if she had to break Derek's heart to keep him safe.

Talia sent her son to his room mostly because she had no real idea of what to say to him that wouldn't devolve into a shouting match. She didn't trust her son's heart in this matter and resolved to set Peter on his nephew, to make sure he was kept in line. It was a role that Peter would relish and would annoy the everliving hell out of Derek in the process. A win-win scenario in her book.

Later, of course, Talia would look back at this afternoon as the turning point in her and Derek's relationship, but there was nothing she could do to change or even regret it because in some ways it saved him, even if it lead him onto stranger paths than she could've predicted.

That was later. This was now.

And in this now, she had her emissary telling her about the intrusion of one Eilidh NicAmhlaigh, the bitch who broke her little brother's heart.

At least she now had an appropriate outlet for her anger.