Rosalind McCall sighed, stretching out her limbs and listening to the sounds of her brother moving around doing his nightly exercises. Scott had been working out and practising all school break to try and get to play on the field in Beacon Hills High School's Lacrosse team. It wasn't that her brother was bad, he was in fact quite good at the sport, but Rose occasionally got the impression that Coach Finstock didn't want to have to deal with Scott's asthma.

When Scott finished up for the night, Rose decided she had had enough of last-minute studying and would turn in. It was alright for her brother, only a sophomore, but she was convinced senior year was designed to kill off students before they could clog up the higher education system. It might have been that she had a job, nothing special, just stacking supermarket shelves, and had also taken on volunteering at the hospital, which would look good when applying for further study or a job, both of which took up a decent amount of her time. Rose wasn't willing to give up either of those, despite the potential effect they could have on her studies. Although her mum assured her that her work as a nurse supported them just fine, both Rose and Scott had gotten jobs to help out.

The volunteering at the hospital was something she enjoyed. The location was convenient for transportation, as the family only had the one car, and her mum had put in a good word for her. Originally it had just been going around with the food and tea trolleys, but when another volunteer had moved town, Rose had been asked if she would take on their job. So for 8 months now, she had been spending a little time each week with the patients in the long term care facility of Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital.

Some patients were easier than others. One elderly lady, Mrs Margaret 'call me Peg, dear' Goodall, liked the chance to just talk at someone and tell stories. Janice Dole was deaf as a post but loved doing puzzles with her. While twenty-two year old Tony White, who had been paralysed waist down in the same car accident that had killed his parents, was usually in an understandably bad mood, stuck there until arrangements could be made. And, as bad as it sounded, Peter Hale was probably her favourite visit. Almost completely catatonic, but according to doctors making very slow, minute improvements, she sometimes used the visits as an opportunity to purge. Just sit with him and rant about whatever was bothering her that week.

~{•.•}~

What was bothering right now however, was the yell of what sounded like Scott's best friend, Stiles Stilinski. Rose sighed again, trudging down the stairs to see what the fuss was about, or at least tell the boys to pipe down a little so she could sleep. Stepping out the front door onto the veranda in her pyjamas, Rose heard the end of Stiles' excited sentences,

"-a body in the woods." What?!

"A dead body?" came the familiar sound of her brother.

"No, a body of water. Yes, dumbass! It's a dead body!" It was always fun to hear Stiles' sarcasm when directed at someone else.

"You mean like murdered?"

"Nobody knows yet. It was a girl, probably in her twenties…"

"Hold on," Scott said with a hint of confusion, "if they found the body, then what are they looking for?"

"That's the best part…" Stiles grinned excitedly. "They only found a half! We're going."

"Whoa, hold up," Rose cut in from where she was leaning against the wall of the house and making the oblivious pair jump. "I thought Scott was the idiot for asking what type of body it was, now I see it's you", she pointed at Stiles, "for this idiotic plan."

"Oh, come on Rose," Stiles whined. Rose shook her head.

"No. Going into the preserve looking for half a body when the one that did it might still be out there? Not a good idea."

"But..." Stiles trailed off, not having yet come up with a reply to that. Rose stared at him, Scott watching his best friend argue with his sister. Rose sighed for the third time that night, pinching her nose.

"You're going to go anyway," she said to the younger teens, more statement than question.

"Yeeess," came the sheepish and drawn out answer from Stiles, while Scott just shrugged.

"Fine," she said, throwing up her hands in dismay. "Fine. I'll be back in a moment, just let me get changed."

"You're coming too?" Scott asked surprised. Usually, when he and Stiles were up to mischief, the older teen left them to it.

"Yep. You can look for the dead body, I'll make sure you two don't end up dead." Rose turned back to the house. "I am so going to regret this" she muttered under her breath.

~{•.•}~

"We're seriously doing this?" Scott asked his friend as they all got out of Stiles' beloved blue Jeep.

"Oh, now he asks the questions," Rose muttered reading the small wooden sign in front of them that said 'Beacon Hills Preserve: No Entry After Dark'. Lovely, those sorts of signs were usually there for a reason.

"You're the one who always bitches that nothing ever happens in this town!" Stiles pointed out, pulling out a torch and walking into the tree line.

"I was trying to get a good night sleep before practice tomorrow," Scott explained in a half moan as the three teens moved further into the trees. Stiles scoffed.

"Right, because, sitting on the bench is such a gruelling effort!"

"No," objected Scott. "because... I'm playing this year. In fact, I'm playing first line."

"Hey, that's a spirit," Stiles clapped him on the back. "Everyone should have a dream. Even if it's an unrealistic one," he added. Scott, choosing to ignore him and just prove him wrong tomorrow, decided to change the subject.

"Just out of curiosity," he said. "Which half of the body are we looking for?" There was a drawn out moment of silence before Stiles gave an answer.

"Huh... I didn't even think about that." Rose pressed her palm to her forehead in exasperation, but her brother gave a half smile at his friend's response.

"And er... What if whoever killed the body is still out here?" he asked.

"Also something I didn't think about," Stiles replied blasé as they started up a slope in the forest.

"It's comforting to know that you planned this up with your usual attention to details." Stiles happily agreed with Scott, ignoring the small insult insinuated by his sentence.

"I'm going to be killed" Rose despaired. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

Part way up the slope Scott stopped, leaning against a tree as he pulled out his inhaler, the damp forest air causing his asthma to start playing up.

"Maybe the asthmatic should be the one who holds the flashlight, huh?" he suggested breathily before taking a pull of the medicine.

Upon reaching the top of the slope, the three immediately dropped to the ground as they could see and heard ahead of them the flash of searching torches and the bark of the police dogs. Stiles quickly turned off the torch and got up running as quietly as he could along the top of the slope they had just ascended. Rose and Scott exchanged a glance before running after the boy who ignored their soft calls for him to wait, instead, calling for them to hurry up.

It shouldn't really have come as a surprise to any of them that one of them soon got caught. In this instance, it was Stiles, who was a fair distance ahead of the siblings. Fortunately for them, the distance meant that when the police called out for Stiles to freeze, the two had time to hide themselves behind trees which were only just wide enough for the task. Luck was also on Stiles' side, despite him having a barking police dog nearly in his face.

"Hang on," a very familiar voice called out. "Hang on. This little delinquent belongs to me." It was Noah Stilinski, local Sheriff, Stiles' dad, and effectively a second father to Rose and Scott after their own had left them.

"Dad, how are you doing?" Stiles said out of breath and trying to act casual, as if they had only met in the shops or something. The Sheriff was not so impressed.

"So, you listening to all my phone calls?" he asked pointedly.

"No!" Stiles grinned. "Not the boring ones…"

"So, where is your usual partner in crime?"

"Who, Scott?" Stiles asked innocently. "Scott's home. He said he wanted to get a good night sleep before the first day of school tomorrow. There's just me... In the woods... Alone…"

The Sheriff evidently did not fully believe Stiles, as he swung his torch out into the surrounding forest and called out for Scott. Rose and Scott stayed hidden behind trees, out of sight of the search party, and hoping the dogs wouldn't sniff them out. When Sheriff Stilinski didn't get a reply, he grabbed his son by the scruff of his neck and steering him away and ignoring Stiles' 'ow's.

"Well young man," he said sternly. "I'm gonna walk you back to your car, and you and I, we're gonna have a discussion about something called invasion of privacy."

As the search team moved away from where the siblings were hiding, Scott thumped his hand against a tree in frustration, cursing under his breath. Rose quickly shushed him. She understood his reasoning, Stiles was both their way home and the one carrying the torch, but it would not do to be caught now.

"Come on," she hissed, pulling her brother back the way they had come.

~{•.•}~

Rose and Scott stumbled back through the woods, not speaking in their concentration of trying not to injure themselves in the dark. Although the sky was reasonably clear, the moon was only half full, and the trees cast long shadows over the ground, further disguising fallen twigs and branches hidden amongst the leaf litter. The damp air was cooling faster now, and mist was starting to form in the stillness of the night, further adding to their difficulty.

Scott noticed the noise first and stopped in a small clearing to listen. Pausing as well, Rose could make out a growing rumbling sound chasing away the silence. The pair barely had time to consider what it could be before dozens of deer burst out the surrounding forest, their momentum carrying them between the two, forcing the siblings away from each other. Panicked, Rose pulled herself up against a tree, out of the path of the stampede, but Scott was knocked down and tumbled along the ground.

Rose stayed leaning against the rough bark of the tree, taking deep breaths to try and calm her racing heart. It was Scott's startled yell and the rustling sound of leaves as he fell that made her scramble up. It quickly became apparent what the shout had been about. Her brother had found the missing half of the dead girl's body, entrails and all, her eyes blank and staring, unseeing in death. Rose reached forward and gently shut the poor girl's eyes. Knowing there was nothing she could do, Rose turned away from the body and crouched, looking down the incline Scott had fallen down.

"Scott?" she called, squinting in the dark to try and see him. "Are you alright?" An answering groan told her that he was at least conscious.

"That doesn't tell me very much," Rose huffed.

"I'm good," Scott grunted, "just gimme a mo."

"Okay. Nice scream by the way. Very high pitched." Rose grinned to herself, but the smile soon faded from her mouth as she heard a low growling noise from behind her.

Rose turned slowly to see a huge, red-eyed creature staring across the clearing at her. Almost wolflike in nature, it stood at least shoulder high on all fours, it's face pulled into a snarl, showing long pointed teeth that would have no difficulty ripping her to shreds. Rose could feel her heart thumping rapidly in her chest as she futilely tried to press herself into the ground. The beast sniffed the air and prowled steadily towards the terrified teen on silent paws. Rose scrambled backwards, not trying to be quiet as the thing had already seen her. She quickly hit a tree, which rather than providing shelter as the earlier tree had, instead formed a trap, a place from which she could not get away.

Rose closed her eyes, turning her face away, not wanting to see what was going to happen, just hoping it would be over quickly. She could hear its breathing drawing closer and soon felt a hot breath against her face as it sniffed at her. The creature nosed at her a couple of times before pulling back. Wondering what it was doing Rose opened her eyes, only to be met with the creature lunging towards her, sharp teeth clamping down painfully on her waist. As they pierced her side, Rose let out a gasping cry, and Scott, hearing his sister, called out to her, going up the slope as fast as he could.

By the time Scott had reached the top of the incline, the wolfish creature had let go of Rose, nosed her once again, and, seemingly satisfied, loped off to the other side of the clearing. Scott stared at the thing that had attacked his sister, flinching back when it growled at him warningly. The creature huffed at him, then turned away, running off into the night. Scott raced over to Rose, ignoring his own scratches and bruises. Pulling her up, he ushered her away, and out of the clearing, both of them hurrying out of the forest in case the animal came back.

The siblings slowed as they reached the road, narrowly avoiding being hit by a car, and nearly laughed in relief as their adrenaline wore off. Somewhere out in the preserve, a wolf howled, and while Scott shrugged it off, Rose stared off into the forest, captivated by the deep sound, until a tugging on her sleeve pulled her away towards home.

~{•.•}~

When Rose woke the next morning, what the night before she had assumed to be a bite was only pink lines on her skin, like she had scraped her side on something rather than been bitten by inch long teeth. Deciding that she had imagined the severity of her injury last night, Rose got ready for school. She cycled in behind Scott, mostly ignoring him and Stiles' as they got into an argument about whether there was a wolf in the forest last night or not, Stiles' expressing his affections to an oblivious Lydia Martin, and Stiles' blaming Scott for being too nerdy and causing him girl troubles.

Even for the first day back from holidays, the day seemed to Rose to drag on. The tedium that was school did not seem to have miraculously changed over the break, and the general gossip was only broken by the news of the body found the previous day. The teachers each gave a generic ramble about the dead girl and reminded students that it was really none of their business, implying that a murder would have no impact on the teacher expectation for student work.

Worse for Rose was the headache she had by the end of first period. It was like someone had plugged in all the sound around her straight into her brain. By the end of second period, she knew from whispered conversations that her classmate Jessica had broken up with her boyfriend of eight months, that Christine from the class next door had hooked up with a guy from Beacon Hills Community College, and that Andrew from the year below had cheated on Michelle with William. Before lunch, she had found out that the door to the staff toilet creaked when opened, that the freezer in the cafeteria had a whine that no one else could hear, and that dripping pipes in the walls were all bordering on driving her insane.

At lunch, Rose discovered that there were far more smells around the place than she really wanted to know about. The slight burning smell from the school cafeteria she could put up with. The itch that strong perfumes, colognes, and deodorants caused, she could do without, but it was bearable. The male change rooms however, Rose vowed to try and avoid for the rest of her life, even if that meant taking a far longer route to her classes.

Discovering there was a new girl, Allison Argent, in her brother's year was found out by just observing. The ever-popular Lydia Martin, a girl in the same year and girlfriend of the captain of the lacrosse team, had already approached her and was either fishing around for gossip or making her a new friend. That wasn't really all that surprising, as the new girl was very pretty and dressed well too. What Rose did find amusing however, was the dopy look on Scott's face when she saw him at the end of the day. Seeing him staring across the corridor at a girl she didn't recognise, Rose decided that she would leave him to it. Either he wouldn't get the girl, or Stiles would get sick of his mooning over her and force Scott to do something.

~{•.•}~

By Wednesday, Rose had gotten most of her senses under control by focusing only on what was immediately around her, although particularly strong sounds or smells would break her concentration. She hadn't told anyone what was going on with her. Her Mum and brother would only get worried, Stiles would ask hundreds of questions, and her school friends would just think it was something weird. Besides, she hadn't had any side effects since the headache on Monday, and it was useful in finding things out, like that her geography teacher was going to give them a pop quiz on Friday.

School was going well, her job was still dull, and everything, aside from half a missing body, was going normally for this time of year. Including the dismal weather, which was currently dropping water out of the sky in a manner that made Melissa McCall worry about her children on their bikes. So Rose had gone to get Scott at the end of his shift, thankful that she was inside a dry car, and not even noticing she didn't have the lights on until she was halfway there.

Rose pulled up to the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic as another car left the lot and was met with the sight of a slightly damp Scott with a silly smile on his face. Rose laughed at the goofy expression on his face as he stared after the other car. He didn't even notice her until she nudged him with her elbow.

"Rose! What are you doing here?" he asked, a touch nervous.

"Come to pick you up. Mum didn't want you riding home in this weather. I offered to get you so she could go to bed" Rose explained in an amused tone. "Now why are you standing there looking like a lovesick puppy?"

"I think I might have a date," Scott said, almost disbelievingly. Rose decided to refrain from teasing her brother, and instead simply said,

"Congrats. You ready to head off?"

"Nearly." Scott turned back to the clinic. "I've got to feed the cats and put up the dog Allison brought in."

"Allison being the date?" Rose asked, following the younger teen inside.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Come on lover boy. Let's get locked up for Deaton and then we'll go home."

The sound of barking met their ears as they entered the building, and Scott sighed. Rather than asking, Rose shooed her brother towards the cat cages, as he knew what each cat needed, and walked towards the examination room. It wasn't the first time an animal had been brought in when Rose was picking up her brother, as rare as that was, and depending on the reason for their visit, the animals sometimes got a bit unsettled in the strange place.

Rose entered the exam room speaking softly to the white and grey dog that was lying on the metal table in the middle of the room. The dog let out a growling bark at her, not knowing where he was or who the strange people around him were. Rose felt something small shift within her as she looked at the dog, and if she had been able to see her reflection, she would have been startled to see golden eyes staring back at her where normally eyes of brown did. The sensation passed almost as quickly as the dog quietened down, now content to let her scratch behind the ears.

"Alright then, let's get you settled in for the night," Rose said softly, picking up the dog and carrying him out the exam room to the kennels, careful not to bang the leg wrapped in plaster. She quickly settled the dog and, after making sure he had water and a little food, left the kennels to go home, ignoring the soft whining the dog made as she left him.

~{•.•}~

Friday was when things for Rose started getting strange again. She had gone to sleep on Thursday evening in her bed but had woken up in the grey pre-dawn outside in the middle of the preserve on a very different bed made of leaves, several of which were caught in her riot of curly hair. It was not as uncomfortable as she might have expected it to be, nor was she as cold for being outside in winter in only her pyjamas. Rose didn't recognise where she was, not that she really expected to, but she did know that she would need to go east to get back to the town.

It was as she was getting up, carefully avoiding the rocky overhang above her head, that Rose started to sense something else other than her nearby. Not seeing anything, but deciding that staying in one place was not going to get her anywhere, Rose set out through the misty forest back towards civilisation. Thankfully she was on the right side of the creek and so didn't have to soak herself in the freezing water.

Rose was halfway back through the preserve, and all the way awake, when she started to hear a rustling following her out on her left. Peering through what was quickly becoming fog, Rose noticed a familiar outline of what seemed to be the same large wolflike creature as bit her less than a week ago. The teen froze, heart pounding in her chest as her mind automatically thought back to the last time she saw it. While the beast had not been aggressive, it had bitten her, and that was the start of all the strangeness of this week.

Rose started slowly moving away, guessing that running would set off a chase instinct in the animal, and she wanted to avoid being hurt again if she could. Rose didn't even realise that she was letting out soft whimpers as she backed up, but did notice that the creature had stopped following her. She almost thought that she heard it let out a whine the further away she got, but ignored it in favour of getting home again before she was seen missing. It wasn't far for her to go, but she was confused and tired, even so, she somehow felt fit to burst with energy.

~{•.•}~

The traditional start of term party, now usually held at Lydia Martin's house, was when everything tipped over the edge for Rose. Scott went with his new date, and having been given the car keys by their mum, leading to a hilariously awkward conversation, Rose opted to hijack the lift that he was going to have been provided by Stiles. The party was a typical high school party; teens dancing, making out in corners, or not in some the case of some couples, drinking deliberately, drinking accidentally after someone spiked the punch, and the occasional drunken stumbling.

It was part way into the night when Rose started to feel uncomfortable, dizzy and restless and like she couldn't get enough air. Knowing that she hadn't had much to drink and that it was extremely unlikely that she had been drugged, Rose staggered her way through the house, partly ignoring and partly not hearing people asking if she was alright, and went out onto the front steps to get some air. Feeling cold and clammy, she fumbled for her phone as she sat on the bottom step, trying to message her ride and see if Stiles could take her home. She hadn't even gotten to the contacts when a large leather jacket was draped over her.

"You alright?" a rough voice asked. Rose looked up from her phone and saw a dark-haired guy crouched in front of her. He looked to be in his early twenties, but that wasn't too unusual, as there were often a couple of non-school aged people at these sorts of parties. He had a solid build, tall and well defined, and though his face was slightly sullen, his blue-green eyes were concerned. Rose nodded in response to his question, which she immediately regretted, as another wave of dizziness hit her.

Derek watched the dark haired teen closely as she groaned. He had initially thought that it was one of the boys that he could smell having been bitten, but seeing the longer haired boy earlier with no ill effects, and now seeing what smelled like his sister and who definitely smelled like a were, he changed his mind. There wasn't any doubt in his mind about who the new wolf was. Now he just had to get her out of here before anything happened.

"My name is Derek Hale," he said helping her up and receiving a murmured offering of her name in response. "Let's get you out of here."

Derek helped Rose into his black Camaro just in time. Her features were already shifting and changing into that of a werewolf in a partial or beta shift. Her eyes were flickering between a dark brown and bright gold, and her fingers were slowly sharpening into claws. She didn't even notice when, instead of taking her to her house, he drove towards the preserve.

They reached the edge of town just as Rose settled into her first ever change under the full moon. The new wolf took off almost immediately, twitching with new instincts and without a pack or even an Alpha to guide her. Derek could tell he would have his hands full keeping her corralled, but the fact that she went towards the forest rather than back to the town was always a good sign. Derek sighed, setting off in a steady lope after Rose, relying on his own knowledge of the preserve, even if he had been away for many years, and the pack instinct of wolves to keep her within reach.

~{•.•}~

Unfortunately for both the wolves, the night did not go as smoothly as Derek had hoped it would. Sometime later, after Rose had burned off most of her energy and was instead wandering around in circles methodically investigating different smells, much to Derek's internal amusement, he heard a sound that did not match the rest of the forest. Moving quickly over to the other wolf's side, he hissed at her to be quiet, straining his ears to listen.

"Too late," he swore. "They're already here. Run!" Derek cursed himself for not being more aware, even as he set off at a run himself. Of course there would be hunters out on the full moon. He did however notice the flash bomb that the hunters set off, and the pained yip that Rose released when the bright light swept through the surrounding forest, briefly illuminating the trees, wolves, and hunters. Mercifully, Rose had had enough time to settle into her new form and instincts, so when the second bolt came from the hunters, Rose's instincts took over, and she dodged away, setting off at a fast pace away from the danger.

The pair of wolves ran until they felt safer, instinctively checking on each other as they ran, not as much as they would were they pack mates, but far more than most would expect from two lone wolves.

"Who were they?" Rose asked shakily after they finally stopped, her human form returning as her adrenaline wore off and she slumped against a tree.

"Hunters," Derek said shortly. "The kind that have been hunting us for centuries."

"Great" Rose groaned, banging her head back on the tree. "Just what I need on top of all the crazy that my life seems to be turning into. People want to kill me for something I can't help." Derek ignored her for the moment, keeping an ear out for the hunters. When he didn't hear anything, Derek grabbed Rose's arm and pulled her along, not wanting to stay in one place for too long, just in case the hunters did catch up.

"Is it really so bad, Rose?" he asked, continuing the conversation as they walked. "That you can see better, hear more clearly, move faster than any human could ever hope? You've been given something that most people would kill for. The bite is a gift."

"One that I didn't exactly ask for," Rose huffed. Derek stopped, turning to face the new were.

"Asked for or not, you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it," he stated. "Come on," he started moving again, "being in a familiar place will help you now you've settled. Keep your window open and you'll be fine."

"That's it?" Rose asked uncertainly. Derek nodded.

"For now. Welcome to your new life, Rose McCall."

~{•.•}~

So this came out of reading too many fics with sister characters that either did or didn't get bitten when being dragged into the wood's by Stiles and Scott and me wondering what would happen if they got bit INSTEAD of Scott.

Obviously, this could go AU at any moment. Who knows. I certainly don't yet. I might get stuck (I hope not).

(Updates may be slow, I am meant to be studying, but I'll try and be fairly prompt-ish.)

PS. how's this for typos: "there wasn't any doubt in [Derek's] mind about who the new WAFFLE was."
or
[Derek] received a QUACK response.

perhaps typing while dozy is not a good idea for clarity.