Chapter One

Derek knew Scott was reluctant to work together on this. Even if they'd worked together in the past, it didn't stop the teen from voicing his obviously long list of reasons why Derek was incompetent. Derek got it. He really did. Scott was all for the 'Save everyone- harm no-one' approach and Derek respected that, but realistically out in the real world- a place Scott McCall had never seemed to have heard of- people died. It was inevitable, and the only way to make it better was to kill the bad people first- before even more people died.

Luckily, though, Isaac and Boyd had convinced the teen to at least hear Derek out before he ran off on his own and started acting hero.

What Derek had said to him, though, was enough to convince him that this time, maybe it would be for the best if a couple of people (read as monsters) died.

You see, Ghouls were technically already dead. Mindless creatures that'd died thousands of years before, resting peacefully in whatever grave they'd had…until some witch decided to resurrect them into something very non-human.

Ghouls were basically living off of animal instinct- eat, sleep, empty bowls, repeat process. It would've been relatively harmless if it weren't for the fact that a Ghouls' favourite snack was a juicy freshly killed human body. Yum.

When Derek had heard reports of body snatching- he knew what was going on. It was the first sign that one or more (since they seemed to move in groups) of the un-dead had migrated into Beacon Hills. When a Ghoul first moves into a new territory, it starts off relatively calm- digging up and stealing month-old bodies from the local graveyards. The problem was, that every. Single. Time. Ghouls escalated. Humans usually started to go missing, never to be found again, more and more and more until the next migratory season came up and the Ghouls moved on to a fresh area.

When a Ghoul kidnaps a victim…it doesn't just eat them straight away, they kept their dead bodies for at-least a week before consumption. Ghouls don't like live things- people have often speculated that it reminded them of their once-human lives. But Derek knew better- Ghouls wee mindless, they remembered nothing.

So, after a very lengthy breakdown of how Ghouls were not live creatures and felt nothing but the need to fill their stomachs- Scott buckled and agreed to help them solve the town's apparent infestation.

Seriously, every single body that had died less than two-months prior had gone missing from their graves. The families were distraught, but Derek knew, sadly, that there was no way they'd get even a scrap back. Ghouls consumed everything- even the bones. He also knew that the police wouldn't find anything and hadn't found anything. In fact they'd even given up their stake-outs at the cemetery and since their cameras seemed to short circuit every night they tried (but not before a sound much like a dying whale was picked up) to catch the perps on film, they'd given up on that too. Basically they were just waiting for the body snatchers to stuff up and accidentally reveal themselves.

So now it was up to Derek and the others. The others being Scott, Isaac, Boyd, Cora and Peter. He'd been asked by the twins if they needed any help- but he was still a bit murderous towards those two. Even if they'd proven their change-of heart in the end.

So now, now was the annoying moment where Isaac, grave-digger extraordinaire(Derek knew it'd come in handy biting one of those) was giving them a grand tour of the local BH cemetery- out in broad daylight as to not look suspicious. Isaac had already been questioned by the police- and because of this he knew all the names of every body that went missing.

"This one here is Mia Shulpton's grave, she's the most recent body to be snatched." Isaac declared sadly, staring at the headstone with a pitying expression, Scott doing the exact same. Derek didn't feel sad though. He felt angry.

Mia Shulpton had died as a seven-year old car-accident victim. She'd been buried in a coffin painted with flowers and angels while her family had finally felt peace when seeing her put at rest. All to have that taken away when they'd shown up to visit her grave and found It dug up- the painted coffin split open and splintered everywhere. It was barbaric and cruel- but Ghouls had lost all human emotion the moment they'd died- they simply didn't care who their actions affected.

"Uh- over here," Isaac led them over to a tall, plain slate grave, of which the ground looked freshly replaced "This is Julia Donahue's. Someone visiting another family member saw the grave dug open and the coffin ripped apart…but for some reason the ghouls left the body that time." Isaac seemed confused by that- but Derek didn't.

"How did she die?" Peter asked, obviously thinking the same as Derek.

"Uhh…lung cancer? Or was in pancreatic?" Isaac informed, rubbing the back of his head and looking at the ground as if he was guilty of forgetting the woman's cause of death.

"That explains it." Cora said from where she stood, also looking at the grave sadly like the others, "Ghouls don't eat 'spoiled' flesh. I.e.; The sick and the diseased."

Boyd, Scott and Isaac looked over at her questioningly.

"What? My mother used to tell me all about that kind of stuff- I used to dress up as a warrior princess. I wanted to go out and fight the supernatural, protect the town from evil!" Cora had a small smile on her face. Derek and Peter shared a rare knowing smile with her at the memory.

Scott looked like he was seeing her in a whole new light. Why was it that no-one considered that, before the fire, they'd been different people. People who could act stupid and have childish ideals?

Boyd and Isaac just laughed at her. The three had grown pretty close since the ordeal with the alpha pack, usually conspiring against Derek and his 'grumpiness', which was not the way Derek thought betas should behave towards their alpha- but whatever.

Derek was about to break it up- tell them to get back on task, when he heard a familiar cha-chug-clunk rhythm growing steadily louder.

Scott, tilting his head, looked like he must've noticed it too.

"That's Stiles' Jeep!" Scott informed them all. Derek could see now that everyone was closely listening to the sound of the familiar engine.

"Quick- we gotta hide! I told him I couldn't hang with him today 'cause I was studying. Didn't want him getting stressed out over supernatural stuff again." Scott explained and then quickly dashed to hide behind one of Beacon Hills' old family crypts.

Derek and his pack reluctantly followed and went to hide, Cora snorting at Scott's skittish behaviour while she did so.

They could see the blue vehicle now, making its way into the small, bare car park of the Beacon Cemetery.

"Why's he here anyway?" Cora asked, looking at Scott judgingly, "Did you tell him what we were doing?! I thought Derek specifically said no humans on this one!"

Scott seemed as if he was trying his hardest to look insulted. But a guy like Scott would never be able to pull off such a look- not when he was so bubbly and forgiving. He almost reminded Derek of a puppy sometimes.

"No! I didn't tell him anything! Like I said- he thinks I'm at home studying!" Scott glared half-heartedly at Cora, like she was evil for even thinking such a thing.

She just shrugged and rolled her eyes, making Peter smile at both of them.

"Look, he's getting out! Make sure he can't see you." Scott stage whispered. Which, by the way, was completely unnecessary considering Stiles was almost three-hundred metres away and had human ears.

They all watched as the lanky boy climbed out of the vehicle, his converse making scratchy noises on the gravel as he walked up the Cemetery's path.

He, of course, was wearing plaid, this time in a blue variety, and wore his usual token comic T-shirt underneath. The boy held a handful of bright, purple flowers that reminded Derek of wolfsbane.

They kept watching as Stiles made his way up the path, seemingly by habit as he didn't even scan the names on the gravestones. He kept walking until he'd passed by the crypt they were 'so expertly' hiding behind and then he turned and started walking down the row directly in-front of them. The positioning was almost perfect, especially since the crypt was surrounded by thin, but tall trees. Stiles couldn't see them, but they could definitely see him. And hear him.

What was he doing there anyway?

The boy stopped suddenly, standing in front of a grave, but with his back blocking their view so they couldn't read the name on the stone.

Scott took in a shuddery breath beside them.

"Guys I think we should go." He whispered, just as Stiles sat down cross-legged in front of the grave-stone and with a little wave of his hand said, "Hey mum!" cheerily.

Oh. That would explain the flowers then.

Scott was looking at them like he was in physical pain, but Derek knew that he was well aware of the situation. Werewolves, especially Hales were curious, and there was no way the three Hales (plus Isaac and Boyd) were going to stop watching.

"So- uhh" Stiles said rubbing the back of his head nervously and obviously talking to his mother's grave, "I-uh, couldn't get Dad here today. I tried though! But, you know, same story." Stiles seemed a bit awkward and Derek felt like he was missing something.

"And- and It's not like he doesn't try either. 'Cause he does and he loves you." Stiles was talking fast, but quietly…Defending his father to a dead woman. Most wouldn't get it- but Derek got it. He got it so much it hurt.

"But I think it's 'cause he loves you…that it's just gonna take him a while, you know? I mean…after you, uh…left" Stiles' though Derek could only see the back of him, looked sad, shoulders slumped and head bowed.

He felt the others tense near him, keeping absolutely still and quiet. It was now that they all felt like they were intruding on something.

"Afterwards dad- he, Dad slept on the couch. I get it, you know. The room still smelled like you and had all your stuff and all…Hell I couldn't go in there for three weeks without having a panick attack!"

Derek wasn't surprised at the information. After the fire, even when almost everything had burned- it physically pained him to see anything his family had left behind. It was like a reminder of what things used to be- who those people used to be.

"So yeah. Dad didn't actually sleep in your room for like six months after and even then we had to get him a new bed and move out all your stuff." Stiles chuckled, "Sorry 'bout that by the way- you'd probably be really embarrassed with what we found too. There was literally the torn-off head of a stuffed penguin! And I know it was you! I looked for that thing for days when I lost it. I guess you must've accidently done something and tried to find the evidence." Stiles giggled.

"Covering up your penguin massacre- nice mum. Nice."

Derek was almost jealous with the ease in which Stiles spoke. Derek had tried to talk with his family- he had, but every time he'd opened his mouth all he'd ever think about saying was sorry. He was just so sorry.

"Anyway- ahh, Dad's doing well. I'm making sure he eats healthy and anything- no processed junk for him! Not that he doesn't try- if I don't cook for him every-night and make sure he's full, he tries to sneak out to Jesse's Diner for curly-fries." Stiles was laughing at his dad's antics.

"I don't think he realises that I bribed the severs like, a month ago, not to serve him anything with salt and/or sugar in it."

Derek could see the others in the corner of his eyes. Scott looked resigned, but he was probably used to this, Boyd looked sad, Isaac looked borderline sad/acknowledging, Peter looked interested and Cora just looked plain shocked.

Derek knew, that if anyone could have seen his face in that moment- It would have been as emotionless as slate.