A/N: First off, THANK YOU for all of the wonderful feedback! I'm incredibly overwhelmed at the response I've gotten in the form of favorites, follows, and reviews. You all are wonderful and I really cannot tell you enough. Second, many thanks and all my love to my beta Valerie! I hope you all enjoy reading the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!

The others in the kitchen didn't look surprised at Derek's abrupt departure; instead they showed varying degrees of guilt and sadness. Stiles shifted his gaze to each of them in turn and when he found that none of them could look him in the eye, he spoke up quietly. "Okay, what did I do?"

Isaac looked up from the ground and started, "Derek lost-"

"Isaac," Lydia interrupted, a warning threaded into her voice. "He deserves to hear it from Derek." She looked at Stiles with the corner of her lips turned up encouragingly. "Go ahead, Stiles. He'll explain." Lydia made a shooing gesture, so Stiles stood timidly and headed off toward the sound of Derek's heartbeat. It was quick and unsteady.

Stiles found the alpha at the staircase. Derek was sitting with his hands laced together in his lap, head down and eyes clenched shut. Stiles moved cautiously to sit on the stair next to him and when Derek didn't try to stop him, Stiles counted that as a small victory.

"So," Stiles began lamely. Derek didn't look up. "What was that all about?" He gently nudged Derek's knee with his own and waited. Stiles counted exactly forty-three seconds before he heard Derek give an audible sigh. Good thing too, because Stiles was going to start rambling at forty-five.

"Six years ago, a hunter named Kate Argent took my family from me," Derek said in an even tone. "This house was full of people, human and werewolf – my parents, siblings, cousins… All of them. Then that- that bitch burned them alive." He stopped and looked up at Stiles, eyes hard. "I just hate being reminded that mine isn't the only life hunters have ruined."

Stiles gaped. Yes, he'd lost his mother. It had been devastating and Stiles was never the same afterwards. His father had succumbed to alcohol and depression. It took all of Stiles'considerable effort to get his dad through it, but at least he still had his dad. Derek lost everyone. He reached out without thinking and touched Derek's arm in consolation. The alpha started at the contact but didn't pull his arm out of Stiles' grasp.

"I get that my apology doesn't mean anything, and it sure as hell can't take back what happened, but I am sorry," Stiles replied calmly. "I know how it felt to lose my mom. It's something no one should go through, and you've gone through even worse."

Stiles didn't expect a response. He was about to move to return to the kitchen when Derek spoke up again. "I'm sure you understand this better than most, but the hunters are bad news. There's an entire family living here in Beacon Hills permanently, but they have their code. While we're still cautious of them, they're not the ones to worry about. There are others, stragglers. They pass through every once in a while, and they have no reservations about killing any wolf they come across."

Stiles nodded, understanding the seriousness of Derek's warning. It sounded as if this pack had dealt with quite a few hunters, and that implication scared Stiles. What if he had been spotted earlier today in the woods? Would he have been able to protect himself? How many hunters were there? "Is your pack safe here?"

"Safer than anywhere else. The pack has ties here; they all have families. If I were to uproot them, everyone left behind would be exposed. Right now the hunters don't know the identities of any of the pack – Except for Isaac and I. Anonymity is our best defense."

"Right, that makes sense. What about that family you mentioned? How do they not know by now?" he queried. If they lived here, they would notice which of their neighbors were werewolves, right? The hunters Stiles had seen were extremely well-trained in spotting lycanthropy.

The corners of Derek's lips curved upwards for a moment. "They do. But like I said, the Argents have their code. Their youngest is part of the pack, so they know better than to harm any of us without reason."

Stiles' eyebrows knitted in confusion. A hunter was part of the pack? Well that was something he'd never thought possible. Which of them was it? His best guess so far was the human Lydia. Although there was still one more human that Stiles hadn't met yet, according to what Derek said earlier. Lydia didn't give off that sort of vibe. She was sassy, sure, but not homicidal. Not dangerous.

Stiles didn't know how to take this news. He didn't understand how a werewolf could allow a hunter to be a part of a group as intimate and familial as a pack. What if he or she turned on them? That person would know everything he or she needed to take a pack of werewolves down. It was such a major issue of trust - one Stiles never would have been able to makehimself. After losing his mother to a hunter, he couldn't bring himself to let one of them get so close.

He figured Derek would've had a similar problem with this, but he was reluctant to voice his concerns. The alpha must have had a good reason. For whatever reason, Stiles trusted Derek's judgment.

"Who?" Stiles asked shakily. He had to know. "Who is it?"

"Her name is Allison. She's the mate of one of the Betas, Scott," Derek answered and Stiles felt slightly relieved. Being mates with a werewolf would make her far less likely to betray Derek's pack. "I know it's hard to grasp, but she's proven herself."

Before Stiles could answer, the door opened again and a muscular teenager walked through the door. The guy looked strong, capable, and calm. He had a thickly-bound book in one hand and a leather jacket slung over his arm. Stiles knew immediately that he would get along with him well.

"Right on time, Boyd," Derek greeted with a nod. He got to his feet and Stiles followed suit, standing a few feet away. "This is Stiles. He's going to participate in the meeting this evening."

"It's good to meet you. You going to be around long?" Boyd asked.

Stiles looked at Derek for a moment imploringly before clearing his throat. "Uh… not sure yet." He'd stay as long as he was welcome, but that didn't mean he knew when that welcome would expire.

Boyd gave a small smile and tilted his head politely before making his way toward the kitchen where the others could be heard talking. Stiles watched Derek pull his phone out. He then frowned and muttered to himself, "Damn it, Scott."

"Something wrong?" Stiles asked cautiously.

Derek sighed. "Scott is late. He and Allison should've been here before Boyd." Derek started pacing as he quickly typed a message into his phone. He stopped and ran his fingers through his hair before pursing his lips. "Lydia?" he called out.

"Hmm?" she hummed from the kitchen, ignoring the urgency in her alpha's voice.

"Try to get in touch with Allison," he told her authoritatively. It was clear that Derek was worried, and that made Stiles nervous. Stiles watched anxiously as Derek kept walking through the room. The minutes ticked by, and Derek's heartbeat grew steadily quicker. Lydia came in and informed them that there was no answer.

Finally, Derek's head snapped up to look toward the door. Then Stiles heard it too. A car was approaching the house and judging from the slight slowing of Derek's heartbeat, it had to be the two missing pack members. Derek stormed out onto the porch before Stiles could even blink. Stiles of course - being the nosey teenager he was - watched stealthily from the window. Or, he thought it could pass for stealthy if no one was paying any attention. Luckily they weren't, because Derek was marching out towards the two figures, face furious. One was a tall, slim girl with dark hair and fair skin. She had a bow held tightly in one hand but held her other hand up in a placating gesture. The other figure was a lean guy no older than Stiles with messy hair, an uneven jaw, and a deer-in-the-headlights stare that made Stiles want to go out and hug it right off of his face. Stiles tried to hear part of the conversation, but it was useless. They were talking quietly enough that even Stiles' werewolf senses couldn't overhear. After a few more minutes of discussion that seemed to be more of an argument, the three of them started for the front door. The girl looked anxious, but her mate looked relieved. Stiles scrambled backward and tried to look innocent. He fumbled with his fingernails and when they stepped over the threshold, Stiles tried to convey an expression that didn't make it blatantly obvious that he'd been eavesdropping. It was totally working, he could tell.

Derek gave him a glance and slid past him to go to the kitchen. The girl he assumed was Allison nodded curtly at him and followed the alpha. The guy, who must be Scott, gave him a goofy smile and held out his arms. "Hey, I'm Scott. It's Stiles, right?"

Stiles easily returned the smile and let himself be hugged by the other werewolf. Yep, Stiles liked Scott already. "Yeah," Stiles chuckled. "It's nice to meet you, Scott."

Scott let his arms drop and stepped away. It should've been awkward, but it wasn't. Scott pointed toward the kitchen and Stiles nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way with a wide sweep of his hand. Scott obliged and Stiles fell into step behind him.

Their carefree smiles were quickly wiped from their faces as they walked in and heard, "What in the hell does that mean?"

Everyone else in the room looked tense, and Scott looked confused at the drastic change in the room's mood. Clearly he was as out of the loop as Stiles was. Stiles just stood silently, expecting to hear any number of things. What he didn't expect was to hear that a new duo of hunters wasafter the pack right this moment, and Allison had no idea how to stop them. Stiles' day just kept getting better and better.