It's a Werewolf Thing

‘A warrior knows death is always a hairs breadth away, but he doesn’t dwell on the possibility of his death when he goes into battle. A warrior just fights. He fights to protect his family, his home, his people, himself, and often, the good of man. The wolf never gives a passing thought to the possibility of his death. For the wolf, he will fight to the end if need be, solely to defend his territory. Neither of these things are necessarily a reason to enter into battle when you are already weakened. They just are what they are. They live in a warrior’s heart, in a wolf’s heart. And both, for me, are in my heart’

Kacey smiled as she read this, looking over at the pack that had become a huge part of her life since finding out about the existence of werewolves and other supernatural beings. At first it had all been too much and she had cut herself off from all of them, not wanting any part in such a dangerous world. Now, the supernatural was her world and she found herself in a constant whirlwind of emotions.

Watching as the pack used Stiles as a prop for their tracking exercise, she realized that her life could easily be mistaken for a horror movie and at first that was kind of how Kacey saw it all herself, but for her it was reality. Glancing over at Derek from her seat on the porch steps, Kacey watched as he dodged a perfectly aimed hit from Isaac and manoeurved expertly around his betas with ease.

As alpha, it was his job to keep the pack safe and ready for whatever threat came along next. Kacey's mind wandered back to the night the pack had killed Peter... the night Derek had ended his uncle's life and became alpha. Glancing back towards the pack, she noticed that Derek was watching her and offered him a smile that he returned.

Being part of a pack made each of the wolves physically stronger and more powerful, but it was the alpha who kept everyone sharp. Kacey knew that there were moments when Derek doubted his ability to lead, after all, he hadn't killed his uncle to gain power... he did it to stop Peter's killing spree.

He chose to protect others, rather than protect his uncle and she couldn't imagine how hard that decision had been for him to make. After losing most of his family in a house fire years before, his uncle was the only real family he had left and he killed him anyway. Of course, no-one would ever really know how he felt, since he kept his feelings to himself and would change the subject as soon as his uncle was mentioned.

Many people found his demeanor unsettling and there was a lot of speculation among the towns residents in regards to the fire, but they'd never know the truth. What they saw was a front to hide the guilt he felt, he was guarded around people and he had built walls thick enough to halt troy, but nobody seemed to see what Kacey did. Beneath that façade beats the heart of a great guy... one that just needs to find something worth fighting for and that something, as an alpha, would be his pack.

It was an hour, before everyone headed inside and Kacey slowly followed with her eyes still glued to her book.

"Who's going to volunteer to go get pizza?" Stiles asked as he flopped down into a seat.

"It was your idea, why don't you go get it?" Scott replied, earning nods of agreement from the others.

"I just spent nearly two hours being sniffed and hunted by a pack of savage dogs," Stiles argued, "I think I've done my fair share of helping out today, don't you?"

"I'll go get the damn pizza," Kacey announced, putting her book in her bag and holding her hand out for Stiles' keys, "Just shut up already."

"Thank you," Stiles shouted, chucking her his keys and grinning as she caught them with a glare.

Kacey rolled her eyes, before leaving and climbing into the jeep that Stiles cherished. It didn't take her long to reach the pizza place in town, parking the jeep on the road and making her way towards the small establishment. Hearing the sound of loud voices coming from inside, Kacey walked in and immediately felt uneasy as the group of people inside fell silent. Pushing the unease away, she approached the counter and placed her order.

"Hey there pretty thing," one of the guys said, stepping forward and moving towards her with a smirk. Kacey ignored him, until she felt his hand slide across her lower back and spun around to glare at him, "It's not nice to ignore people," he growled, getting close enough to whisper it into her ear and causing Kacey to flinch.

"My parents taught me to never speak to strangers," Kacey told him, keeping her voice neutral and trying her hardest to keep her heartbeat steady.

"That's a lot of pizza for one girl to handle," the guy commented as Kacey's order was placed on the counter behind her.

"I have friends waiting for me," Kacey replied truthfully, "They won't be too happy if they get their food cold."

"I can smell them all over you, you're extremely nervous for a girl who runs with wolves... it's a mouthwatering aroma."

"Wolves... Seriously? Everyone knows that there hasn't been any wolves in this part for years... you, kind sir, are clearly barking up the wrong tree," Kacey pointed out, causing the guy, who she guess was an alpha, to growl deep in his throat.

"You think..." He started, bringing his hand up to touch her face and running his fingertips across her cheek.

Kacey shivered as he touched her, but was saved any further discomfort as the door opened and Stiles' dad walked in.

"Everything okay here, Kacey?" Noah inquired, scanning the group and settling his gaze on Kacey.

"Everything is fine sheriff, just picking up some pizzas for the gang," Kacey replied with the best smile she could muster, "This guy was saying something about wolves though."

"Why don't you head on back?" The sheriff suggested, "That lot are probably starving by now, I'll deal with this and put the pizzas on my bill."

Nodding, Kacey collected the pizza's off the counter and headed out to the jeep, noticing how the alpha sniffed her as she passed him. Waiting until the sheriff left in one piece, Kacey started the Jeep's engine and sent Derek a text telling him to meet her at her house. Going back to the Hale house could lead the new pack there as well if they decided to follow her, and the last thing she wanted to do was put the people she cared about in unnecessary danger.

Pulling up to the two-storey house, Kacey scanned the dark windows for any sign of the pack and felt herself relax a little when she saw the light on in her room. Since her parents were away on business, Kacey was staying at the McCall house and that meant that her house was the best place for them to meet.

As soon as she climbed out of the jeep, Derek was out the front door and rushing over to meet her. He paused as he reached her, straightening a little as anger spread across his face and Kacey knew that he had caught the other packs scent.

"You smell different," Derek stated as he followed her into the house closely.

"Firstly, I don't think I will ever get used to the whole smelling thing and secondly, I think we may have a problem."

"There's another pack in town," Scott added, suddenly by her side and watching her concerned.

"I think so," Kacey replied, scrunching up her nose in distaste and continuing, "I also think I got up close and personal with their alpha."

"Where did you run into them?" Isaac asked through a mouthful of pizza.

"In the pizza place, I walked in and it was like someone had thrown a piece of meat in front of them. Their eyes were glued on me and I'm pretty sure, that had they not been in such a public place, then there would have been drool."

"They could smell me and the pack on you, so they probably felt threatened," Derek offered, although it was obvious his mind was elsewhere.

"If you feel threatened you run the other way, trust me, they weren't feeling threatened... I do now know for a fact that all werewolves have no regard for personal space," Kacey announced, looking over at Stiles and chuckling at the 'I told you so' expression on his face.

"Well, if they're planning on sticking around town for a while, you, Allison, Lydia and Stiles need to be extra careful," Derek told them, "Especially you Kacey... they have your scent now."

"I gathered, since the alpha sniffed me before I left," Kacey mumbled, "I am the girl who runs with wolves after all."

"What did you just say?" Derek inquired, snapping his head up and watching her expectantly.

"I'm the girl who runs with wolves," Kacey repeated with a frown, "It's just something the alpha said to me during our little chat."

"Does that mean something?" Isaac asked as everyone turned their attention to Derek.

"That phrase has a couple of meanings in the supernatural world, but then again they could have just been using it because it's relevant to you."

"I'm totally going to regret this, but what are the meanings you know?" Kacey said, watching Derek closely and noticing the hesitation as he answered.

"It could either be a threat, meaning that they're planning on turning you or the other meaning is to do with magic, but it's not extremely common."

"I prefer option two," Kacey stated, only then realizing that there were a few people missing, "Where are the others?"

"Lydia and Allison are having dinner with their parents, and Boyd is patrolling with Erica, but I've filled them all in via text," Scott replied with a smile.

Everyone was quiet for a while after that, giving Kacey time to think... if the other pack already had her scent, then she was putting her pack in danger by being around them and she couldn't do that.