| CHAPTER ONE |

Blou beaarde amaryllis (Afrikaans), also known as blue veined amaryllis, is a species of bulbous perennial plant native only to a small grove of land in the Klein Swartberge mountain range just north of Vanwyksdorp, South Africa. Like many of its Amaryllis cousins, Blue Veined Amaryllis flowers in April but only on the day of the "Seed Moon." The small grove produces only a dozen pheromone-laden flowers arranged in a spiral. They begin red-pink in color, and become darker over time; however, their veins turn blue on full fruition and some of the pigment seeps into the leaves. According to Alan Deaton, the druid emissary to the Hale Pack, Blue Veined Amaryllis was conceived by indigenous South African sjamaane hundreds of years ago in order to help cure those inflicted by the kanima 'disease.' When Stiles Stilinksi, the druid emissary to the McCall Pack, asked his former mentor about the plant's usage, Deaton would not respond and only explained that its effects are too strong and should be avoided, especially in the presence of werewolves.

Stiles didn't seem to heed that advice…

They'd been planning this trip for almost two months now: the entire pack, Lydia, and the twins would go into the Mono Basin National Forest and stay on Mono Lake to enjoy the Harvest Moon safely away from Beacon Hills. There were eleven of them going, almost 13 had there not been some problems when the invites were going around. But eleven was probably enough, maybe even more than enough given the past conflicts with the twins.

"Stiles, Lydia wants to know if she can borrow your phone again," Aiden said from the back of Stiles' refurbished jeep.

"Aiden, can you tell Lydia that if she wants to borrow my phone again, she can ask me herself," Stiles replied. As a rule for the trip, it was decided that the only people that could have phones were the drivers and when they got to the time share they would leave all the phones in the car.

Aiden sighed to himself and turned to Lydia next to him in the right passenger seat. "Stiles said that you're gonna' have to ask him for the phone himself."

"Can you please tell Stiles," Lydia began, "that I would ask him myself if he would keep his mouth shut the next time I get off the phone with Allison and not berate her when she isn't here to defend herself."

Stiles rolled his eyes and looked into the rear-view mirror. "I did not berate her," Stiles said, breaking the childish game they'd been playing for an hour.

"Stiles, just give her the phone," Aiden begged in protest to ending this stupid game.

Stiles surrendered and lifted it back so Aiden could grab it. Instead, Lydia snatched it and began to dial Allison Argent's number. "Same as before: five minutes." Lydia glared at him and brought the phone to her ear.

"Allison," Lydia began, sounding pleased that she finally reached her friend … "I know I'm calling on Stiles' phone," she said, glaring up at him. "Like I said in my message, I'm not allowed to have my phone with me on this trip." … "Thank you, but I really think you should join us. I know it's last minute and all but I only found out a week ago." … "Yes, Aiden's with me." … "Allison, please, if I actually cared about what Scott thinks don't you think I would have only left one message?" … "I know I'm right now, please, hop in the car and start driving. We're only an hour out of Beacon Hills so you won't be too far behind." … "Bring him; it's not like they don't know." … "Well now's a better time than any to break the news to him don't you think? Not really a secret you can keep for long now is it?" … "Perfect. I'll see you then."

Lydia ended the call and handed it to Aiden who passed it to Stiles. "I thought Scott knew she was dating someone," Aiden said.

"Oh, he does. Though, Allison hasn't broken the news about her…family history and all. And they've been dating for almost a year now."

"Oh," Aiden only responded with.

"Aiden," Lydia began with a sarcastic and snarky tone, "could you please tell Stiles that I'd really appreciate it if he didn't text while driving. That'd be great, seeming as I'd like to keep on living."

"Aiden," Stiles replied before Aiden could even open his mouth, "could you tell Lydia that Stiles doesn't care. Not to mention that since someone invited Allison Argent that someone else has to tell Scott."

"Will you both just grow the fuck up," Gage Rains said from her until-now-assumed slumbering state against the front-right car door. Neither Stiles nor Lydia responded and once again Aiden quietly sighed to himself.

| MONO |

They stopped for lunch reluctantly at Subway in Sonora, all eleven of them swarming the small location, sending the only two workers into a bit of a frenzy. No one seemed to be happy at the moment…well, no one except for Danny and Ethan. Tensions had yet to die down in Stiles' jeep, and those tensions carried over into Isaac's BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo (for obvious reasons). While Scott tried to take the not-so-delightful news as best as he could, Isaac seemed to take it rather bad as he immediately went on a tirade about Allison, about her "fucked-uped-ness" and how now that she was coming the trip was going to be ruined. This of course caused a minor fight to break out between the couple.

During the first rest stop, Isaac had to kick one of the Clare siblings out of his car as their fighting, which predated that morning, began to get even worse; ultimately, Allison Clare moved over into Danny's blue Toyota Yaris. And Cooper, well Cooper never really seemed to be happy or sad…just solemn. Solo riding Scott's old dirt-bike—which he'd bought from Scott, fixed it up, and customized—was certainly not out of character.

As they all stood in the slothish line, none of them said a thing to each other…well, again, except for Ethan and Danny. Finally, after Scott and Isaac made it to the cashier, Scott pulled out his wallet when Isaac spoke again. "I got it," Isaac said tersely, quickly digging out his wallet.

"I got it," Scott replied having already dug out his debit card and handing it to the cashier.

"You always get it," Isaac replied, putting the wallet back into his pants.

Scott didn't reply at first, focused on the person-to-person transaction in front of him. When he picked up the tray and Isaac moved to take it from him, Scott just let him take it, putting his hands up defensively. They walked over to a new table, as the one that had been filling up with members of their party was now full, and Isaac sat down first. Scott picked up the two large-sized cups and looked at Isaac. "What do you want?"

"Whatever you're having," Isaac answered, not taking his eyes off of one of the napkins to look at Scott. Scott sighed to himself and walked over to the fountain machine. He filled both of the cups with ice and Mello Yellow and sat down across from Isaac and next to David Clare—who had his headphones in his ears.

"Look," Scott began softly, "I don't want to fight, okay?" Isaac didn't look up from the paper his sandwich laid upon. "Isaac, c'mon. I don't want her to ruin this for us. This is supposed to be fun. About getting away for a week. And Allison…she's just a minor blip in the trip. She won't ruin anything for us if we don't let her. Okay?" Isaac paused before nodding, his eyes looking up into Scott's face. Scott covered Isaac's hand with his own and Isaac returned the gesture by rubbing his thumb along his alpha's. "If it makes you feel any better," Scott began, a smirk forming across his lips, "I've been thinking of a couple ways to get back at Lydia. For inviting her." Isaac smirked, too, and the rest of the lunch seemed to be what they needed to simmer down.

| MONO |

The three cars and the motorcycle finally pulled up to the larger cabin near Mono Lake around two in the afternoon. Everyone seemed to pile out at the same time, Allison Clare getting out of Stiles' jeep as she and Aiden and Lydia switched after lunch, the couple having been forced by Stiles to move to Danny's car. Isaac stretched and Scott walked up behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around the taller beta's abdomen, snaking his hand under Isaac's shirt, his hand rubbing over Isaac's happy trail. Isaac smiled and leaned his head back, taking in the mixing smells of the area with Scott's.

"So this is it, eh?" Ethan spoke first, the question directed at Stiles.

"Yep, this is it," Stiles replied. The cabin was his late mother's cousin's house, a member of the family Stiles still kept in contact with because of the man's closeness with Stiles' mother.

"How far is the lake from here?" Danny asked.

"A couple miles," Stiles answered. "Shall we?"

The group immediately began to unload the cars and bring stuff into the house. The inside smelled of salt, sage, and sweet pine and looked as though it hadn't been inhabited for a few months. Nonetheless, it was roomy. Clearly enough for eleven—now thirteen people staying there for a week. There were two floors: the main with the kitchen, living room, dining room, laundry area, and two bedrooms, and the upstairs with four bedrooms and a small communal space with a pullout couch where Cooper would be sleeping. Scott and Isaac, and Stiles and Gage took the ground-floor bedrooms while the rest shuffled upstairs. Cooper mumbled something like a curse against Lydia for inviting Allison…bumping him out of a bedroom and onto the pull out sofa since 'they're a couple.'

"This is going to be a long week," Isaac said, sighing as he collapsed back-first onto the bed.

Scott put his heavy backpack on the ground and crawled on top of Isaac. "A long week with me you mean," Scott said with a grin before planting a light kiss on Isaac's lips.

"Great…now it's gonna' be even longer," Isaac teased, pulling Scott down so the smaller alpha's full weight rested atop Isaac's body. Isaac kissed the side of Scott's head and just breathed, basking in the very present moment to take in all in.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Isaac groaned.

"Do you guys wanna' go down to the lake today?" Stiles asked from the other side of the closed door.

"Do you?" Scott asked Isaac, his head resting against the side of his boyfriend's.

"Wouldn't hurt. Kinda' why we're here," Isaac replied.

"When do you wanna' go?" Scott called out after shifting up so he was arched over Isaac.

"Twenty minutes?" Stiles paused for only a brief second before adding, "Before Allison gets here."

"Definitely," Isaac replied. Scott grinned down at him before laying back down on top of the taller beta, planting another kiss but just above his ear.

| MONO |

Lydia, Aiden, and David decided to remain at the house while the others took off for the lake; Aiden and David had formed a friendship since Aiden and Ethan reemerged in Beacon Hills and seeming as he was fighting with his sister, and she was going to the lake, he figured it a good time as any to hang with Aiden. Fitting into Danny and Stiles' cars, the other eight members of the group were eager to get to the lake before Allison Argent and her new boyfriend's arrival; not many of the McCall Pack enjoyed her company, nor did Ethan or Stiles.

"So you've never been here before?" Scott asked Isaac as they stepped ankle-deep into the lake.

"Nope," Isaac replied. "Dad never took us on many trips, even when my mom and Camden were alive."

Scott squeezed Isaac's hand. "Did he ever take you anywhere?"

"When I was a kid we went to Disney Land. And after mom died he took us to LA to see our grandfather…her dad."

"Is he still around?" Scott asked, the couple having broken away from the group during their walk through the shallow shore.

Isaac shook his head. "He passed away a couple years after she did; they were pretty close and I think losing her was pretty hard on him." Scott unclasped their hands and wrapped that arm around Isaac's torso.

"Do you miss him?"

"I mean…yeah. We were never all that close because of the distance. But I have a lot of fond memories of him. Whenever we did visit him. Or vice versa."

"Tell me about him."

So Isaac did as they continued to walk, not looking behind them to see that they'd gotten quite far away from where the group remained. After at least 15 minutes Isaac was finally interrupted by Stiles' voice. "Do you guys wanna' play some frisbee or is it 'alone' time?" Stiles was still all the way back with the group but his normal-voice reached the two werewolves' ears just fine—and Stiles knew that.

"It's up to you, sourwolf," Scott teased, stealing Stiles' once-used nickname for Derek.

"We'll be right there," Isaac began, knowing Gage would convey what he was saying to Stiles, "after I'm done destroying Scott." And with that, Isaac lifted Scott up by his torso and knees and, before Scott could react, tossed him into the water. Scott emerged with a huge smile across his face and chased after Isaac, who was already sprinting out of the water and back towards the group.

"You're dead, blondie!" Scott called after his boyfriend.

| MONO |

The group only spent a couple hours at the lake, most of them, especially the drivers, pretty tired from the long drive. When Danny and Stiles pulled up to the house, they found a Sapphire Metallic Blue with a Red convertible top Porsche Boxter sitting next to Isaac's Imperial Blue BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo.

"She's not dating Jackson is she?" Stiles asked as the closed in on the front door, noting the Porsche.

Scott and Isaac only shrugged as they entered the house. Off to the left they found David passed out on one of the couches. Coming from the dining room further on the right they heard voices: Lydia and Allison Argent's. Stiles completely ignored them, walking straight by them and into his and Gage's room on the right. As everyone else stopped by to say 'hi,' Scott pulled Isaac aside briefly.

"You don't have to say anything, y'know," Scott said. "I'm over what happened earlier…obviously." Isaac smirked at him, thinking back to all the fun they'd just had at the lake. "I'll understand if you don't want to."

"I know," Isaac replied, kissing Scott's forehead. "That's why I love you. You're so damn understanding all the time."

"I try."

Isaac looked to his right at the front door. "I actually think I'm gonna' go back outside. Read my book under the gazebo." Scott nodded, understanding as he'd promised. Isaac winked at him and opened the door, heading outside. Scott took a breath, warming up for this moment before walking in view of the dining room. There he found Danny at the far end of the table, Ethan and Aiden sitting perpendicularly on either side, Lydia next to Aiden and an unfamiliar male next to Ethan…and Allison Argent next to him. Allison Clare excused herself to head back upstairs and Cooper had already done that very thing.

"Hey, Scott," Danny said, looking from his alpha to Allison Argent. Allison turned to look up at Scott. Their exchange of looks wasn't all too friendly: Scott moved his eyes back to Danny's face when her eyes met him and she looked back down at the table. "This is Luke," Danny said, rolling his eyes after having to take up the role of introducing Allison's boyfriend.

"Nice to meet you, mate," Luke said in a very Kent (British) accent, standing and holding out his hand to shake Scott's. Not wanting to be rude, Scott took it. "Allison's mentioned you a couple times: Scott…McCall right?" Scott nodded.

Scott looked away from the jockish blonde and turned back to Danny. "If you guys need anything, I'll be in my room." Danny nodded, watching Scott as he walked towards the back of the house and into his room. He laid on the bed and took a deep breath. As his mind began to calm, the sound of a shower starting in the bedroom next to his entered his ears and then some hushed moans.

Before he could say anything he heard Danny's voice again. "You can at least act like civilized people," he said, knowing Gage could hear him. The side of the shower, which was right up against the dining room, thumped, signaling her response of not caring. Scott rolled over and tried to catch a short nap and shortly he won.

Author's Note: OC Visualizers:

Allison Clare: Sophia Myles

Cooper Standen: Alexander Ludwig

David Clare: Max Irons

Gage Rains: Spencer Locke (w/ strawberry blond hair)

Luke Thomas: Freddie Stroma