A.N - This chapter has been revised as of 11/22/12.

Erica huffed into the sleeve of her black and pink hoodie, her mass of blond curls covering her face as she watched her father hold out another really ugly shirt for her brother to try on, her tiny eyes crinkling in displeasure as Isaac took yet another stack of potential school clothes toward the dressing room.

"Daddy, I'm bored." Her brown eyes stared up at him, pleading for their retreat from the store. They had been there for almost two hours, shifting from store to store in a vain attempt to find clothes for Issac's first week of fifth grade. Erica groaned in annoyance as she watched her dad pick up another stack of shirts, eyeing them hopefully as he started to turn back toward her.

"It won't be too much longer; Isaac only has a few more shirts to try on." Derek offered her a small smile as he turned back toward the doorways that lead to the dressing rooms. "Practice your skills for a little bit princess, we'll be out of here before you know it."

"Isaac doesn't even like those clothes." She grumbled bitterly, watching him disappear from view. She listened briefly to their conversation from her spot at the front of the store; she was getting much better at using her senses ever since her father had suggested she train them whenever she needed something to occupy her time. She tapped her newly clawed fingertips on a nearby metal shelf and wiggled her tongue against her fangs, giggling to herself as she watched her eyes flash amber from the mirror on the wall.

"Erica!" Derek's head popped out from the dressing room, shooting a flash of red in her direction, "Inside skills!" She grumbled, retracting her claws and fangs as he disappeared again, sulking toward the front of the store. She watched the store attendant fold a few discarded shirts on a board before being distracted by an angry rumble from her stomach.

Erica leaned against the thick metal rim of the store's doorway, holding her small hands over the source and watching people pass in front of the store, paying her no mind. "Man is there anything better then mall pretzels?" A couple walking on the other side of the hall caught her attention, the glorious smell of buttered dough and nacho cheese wafting into her sensitive nose. Whining softly she began zoning her werewolf senses in on random passerby's and imagining making them her servants, because that's simply how she believed her powers would work as she grew older and servants meant food.

"Why yes hooman, you can get me a pwretzle from the stand." Erica gestured toward the source of the smell invading her nose, her stomach growling in response as a woman passed by, smiling at the game she thought the small girl was playing out. Erica growled in displeasure and tried not to flash her amber eyes, her skills obviously weren't working properly yet, she would just have to find a more willing servant. She chewed her lip softly, glancing back at the dressing room briefly, debating staying near her family or taking matters into her own four year old hands before finally stepping out into the walkway of the mall with a determined look on her face.

She could see the pretzel stand on the other side of the mall, it wasn't horribly far from the department store and she knew her dad would be proud if she could get a human under her control before he even realized she was gone, maybe they could even take the human home as a pet. With a furrow of her brow, she concentrated on the best way to pick out her target, she eyed the people passing by her and examined the different sounds and smells circling around her. Finally breathed in deeply she pulled all the different scents into her nose, picking out the ones that seemed to coincide with her goal of tasty pretzels and eager servants.

Erica's heart thudded softly in her ears as her senses zoned in a soft earthy smell laced with sugar and accompanied by an erratic heartbeat. Her wolf rattled against her rib cage, surprising her but urging her toward the source. She crossed the crowded hallways without too much trouble, catching the attention of a few people but avoiding them easily enough. She continued past her original goal of mouthwatering mall food and continued weaving in and out of the crowds until her eyes zoned in on a man in a bright red hoodie. She watched him get closer and closer as she padded silently toward him, her wolf getting more and more anxious as the earth laced scent got stronger.

Finally reaching her small hand up to him as she entered the store where he stood, examining a shirt and talking energetically to himself a few feet away, she let out a soft cry when a pair of hands circled around her. Erica looked up to see a woman with a concerned expression staring down at her, "Where are your parents honey, are you lost?"

Erica pushed her hands frantically against the woman, her eyes widening and letting out a shrill cry of distress as she fought to get toward the man in the hoodie, "NONONO, I DON'T WANT YOU!" Her brown eyes filled with tears as she turned toward him, her hands making grabby motions as her wolf whined with desire.

The woman made small shushing noises, trying to calm her as Erica screamed and reached away from her, "Sir, is this your little girl?" The woman eyed him skeptically, already knowing the answer since she had recently been in the store where the Hale family was doing their school shopping.

"Uh…no, I don't think I've ever seen her before." Erica made a small cry of joy when her hands connected with his hoodie as he knelt in front of her, "Well hello beautiful." The man smiled at her, holding his hands out welcomingly "Are you looking for your parents?" Erica shook her head, making more frantic grabbing motions and whimpering until the woman finally released her and she practically tumbled into his arms.

"I was looking for you." She stated matter-of-factly, her wolf compelling her to bury her face into his neck, her nose pressed into the bright red of his hood as her tiny arms snaked around his neck and hugging him tightly to her, "You smelled like home and sugar."

He laughed, petting her hair lightly and making a reassuring face to the woman, who was looking more and more concerned by the minute, he turned back to the small girl in his arms trying not to feel disgusted with her expression. "The sugar is perfectly explainable, I assure you. How about we try and find whoever you belong to, how does that sound little beauty?"

Erica pulled away, fixing him with her best no nonsense stare, "You have to come home with me, we can have tea parties, and you can teach daddy how to pick out clothes that aren't ugly." Pulling her tiny hand out from behind his neck and breaking her hold on him she shot him a toothy grin as he chuckled at her and ruffled her hair fondly, "My name is Alpha Erica." Her grin was infectious and she was pleased to see the man return it with just as much enthusiasm.

"Well my name is Stiles, not an alpha of any kind but it's a very good pleasure to meet you little Alpha. As awesome as a tea party sounds I really don't think I would be very welcome at your home, so we had better find your parents before I get in a lot of trouble. I bet they'll be super pleased to see what a little ninja you are, a regular little Catwoman." Erica's grin spread even wider.

"Silly Stwles, I'm not a cat, I'm a wolf. And you have to come with me, someone has to save Issac from daddies bad fashion choices. Awnt Lydia says fashion is very important for a growing boy." Stiles picked her up, cradling her against his hip as her shook with contained mirth, allowing Erica to cling to him and giving the woman an apologetic look.

"Well, I think little Erica and I have at least one concerned parent to locate, I don't suppose you have any idea which direction she came from?" Stiles tried to grin through the distrustful stares he was receiving, "You're welcome to tag along if you want to make sure she finds her way." He was pleased when the woman merely sighed, resigning herself that he didn't seem to be a threat and explaining what store she had seen her family shopping in. With a good idea of their destination in mind they started their way, "Well little Alpha, let me tell you about all the awesome benefits of being Catwoman."

Derek held out a small stack of shirts toward his son, smiling hopefully at Isaac's bored expression, "These might not be so bad. Look! This one has a wolf on it." Isaac held up the shirt to view the graphic spread across the light blue fabric, giving his dad a glance that reminded Derek every so often he had no idea what he was really doing.

"Why don't we try shopping another day? Maybe Aunt Lydia can take you next time." Derek breathed out, already tired with the failure of the shopping trip and ready to admit defeat. He just didn't have it in him to complete theses shopping trips and he could already hear Lydia's voice ringing in his head that he should have just consulted her to begin with.

The ten-year-old grinned, nodding his agreement, "That would be awesome; she always knows the best places!"

Derek couldn't help but scoff lightly as he ruffled Isaac's hair affectionately, "That's because your Aunt is a shopping Nazi and every shop keeper in a hundred mile radius treats her like their business depends on her approval."

Moving a small stack of shirts out of the way and slipping on his Beacon Hills Lacrosse jersey he looked up at his father with an innocent glance, "Aunt Lydia said they do depend on her approval." Derek groaned, his hand sliding across his face as he ushered Isaac from the fitting rooms. Isaac complied easily, eager to move onto more interesting things in the day, jogging up to the checkout counter and giving the store clerk a shy smile as Derek followed close behind to pay for the few items they had been able to agree on. Derek offered an apologetic glance at the woman as she eyed the larger stack of clothes that had been dismissed.

"Clothes shopping is never easy with kids, huh?" The girl offered, ringing up their purchase while eyeing Derek a little more than necessary, making him a shift uncomfortably as he tried to focus his attention elsewhere. He looked back toward the rest of the store, calling Erica's name softly knowing her wolf ears would pick up his voice before his ears picked up the distinct lack of his daughters heartbeat. He tried not to let his eyes bleed red in panic as he turned back to Isaac and the woman folding their purchases into a bag.

"Have you seen my daughter?" He tried not to let a thousand bad scenarios run rampant through his head as he was given twin negative answers, he tried not to let the world feel like it was crashing down around him as he grabbed Isaac's wrist and pulled him from the store. The physical contact with his son helped keep him in control, helped him focus even though his wolf was doing anything but.

"Dad?" Isacc's soft voice pulled him back as they almost crashed into a kid typing a text into his phone, Derek's hyper aware senses hearing every press of the keys before letting his eyes land on Isaac's calm features as he pulled himself around, "Dad we're gunna find her." His wolf whined, low and urgent behind his teeth as he pulled his son close to him into a crushing hug, Isaac was one half of his whole anchor, the calm, rational and observant Beta that he was. Even at ten years old Isaac seemed beyond his years in wisdom when it came to calming his father's Alpha side, Derek was pretty sure he would have fallen apart years ago without him. Isaac shot his dad a soft smile as he pulled away, pointing in the direction of the pretzel stand down the hall.

"That's probably where she went. You know how she is." Derek couldn't help but make a small huff of a laugh as they resumed walking, still with purpose but with a little less 'fleeing a crime scene' feel to it. His wolf was anxious and his whole body was vibrating with need to transform and find his pup, he could smell her faintly where traces of her touching objects along the way still lingered. He made sure to keep contact with his son, his heartbeat steady in his head as his heart dropped as the stand came further into view. Erica's blond mess of hair was nowhere to be seen and he was having trouble not shifting. His free hand was just starting to reach toward his phone when his ears picked up a familiar giggle and Isaac tugged on his wrist alerting him he wasn't just hearing things out of desperation.

Derek scanned the crowd frantically, his eyes finally resting on Erica's soft blond curls and toothy smile. He could feel himself visibly deflate as his grip on Issac's wrist loosened; "Erica…" the word barely came out a whisper, relief dripping from every letter of her name.

"Dad, who is she with?" Isaac clenched Derek's hand a little tighter, concern etched onto his face as he stared in Erica's direction making Derek look past the immediate relief of seeing his daughter safe and sound. Erica was happily clinging to the side of a young man, listening to him ramble on about something or another, her tiny fist balled up in the bright red fabric of his jacket acting for the entire world like she belonged there.

The Alpha didn't even realize he had been growling until Isaac softly whispered that people were starting to notice, moving around Derek like he was parting the red sea itself, a regular werewolf Moses he was turning out to be. It turned out his new found biblical powers were something he would have to examine later, as he was currently stalking toward the man holding his daughter with murderous intent, in fact his wolf was thinking of all the ways he could turn him into some kind of nutritious meal for his pack while Derek himself was thinking about just ripping him limb from limb and leaving him as some sort of example for anyone who ever wanted to touch either of his children again. See if they went shopping again anytime soon.

About 20 feet away from the red hooded child-napper, a wonderfully timed air conditioner vent decided to kick into action and sweep the mans' smell directly into Derek's nose. A moment later he found himself standing dead in the middle of the mall, staring into a pair of honey brown eyes that he was pretty sure a compass could get lost in, while his wolf was practically trying to chew every last shred of self-control he possessed in his life into mush. His entire thought process was repeating a few choice words over and over in his head like a mantra.

HOME.

MATE.

MINE.

For a minute Derek was pretty sure he actually felt jealous of his four year old daughter, who was still hanging from this guy's hip like she had been there her whole life. Seriously, where were his priorities right now? Oh that's right, they were sitting up in the tree that Derek suddenly wanted to climb, that tree just happened to look suspiciously like a 20 something year old male who was holding his daughter like Derek was going to eat her.

Erica, being the ever persistent four year old she was, brought the (extremely) awkward moment to an end, fixing her brown eyes on Derek's, her wolf flashing through in a show of amber, "Daddy, this is Stwles. He's coming home with us."

Derek was pretty sure his life was over.