In case anyone missed it, this story now gets updated AT LEAST every Sunday. I may update more throughout the week depending on my work schedule, but I always have Sundays off, so it's time for weekly updates. 

Also, I am SO pumped to start writing over the movie. Right now I'm thinking I'll call the new book "The Hale Code" and I have so many evil plans and you all are gonna love them so much. And, since I can't help it, I will tell you all that I am bringing Stiles back for the movie. I have it all planned out how he's gonna come in and when and y'all are NOT ready and you'll never expect what I have planned.

Okay, now onto the new chapter. Join my Discord if you want more spoilers and teasers and wanna help shape the book. Link at the end of the chapter.

(3rd P.O.V.)

"So when is the adoption process gonna start?" Isaac asks before shoving a spoonful of cookie dough ice cream into his mouth.

"Hopefully soon." Lyrica says, taking a much smaller bite of double fudge brownie ice cream. "We know your biological father was arrested and is currently being held while awaiting trial, but we don't know yet when the trial itself will be, and until then we can't file because you're legally under his care once the protective custody expires. It shouldn't be long, though, because the trial legally has to happen within 30 days of the arrest date. After that, we have to file and there's a bunch of background checks and home visits that have to happen but since you're a teenager, it should only take around 3 months."

"What'll happen to me between then? Do I have to go to a foster family or something?" Isaac worries, looking away from the T.V. to look at Lyrica.

"Probably not. We should be able to get temporary custody instead of protective, which lasts up to 2 years instead of 3 days. You don't have anything to worry about, Isaac. We won't let them take you that easily." Lyrica wraps her arm around the teen in a side hug, and he lays his head on her shoulder.

"Will we have to change my name?" Isaac asks, scooting closer to her for comfort as his eyes drift back to the T.V.

"We can if you want, but you don't have to, no. That part is entirely up to you. Legally we could force you to, but that's messed up." Lyrica shrugs, moving her hand to run her fingers through his hair.

"I think I will. Isaac Hale has a nice ring to it." He smiles, feeling sleep start to tug at him.

"Whatever you wanna do, Kiddo."

"Would I have to call you 'Mom' and 'Dad', or just your names?" He mutters, and Lyrica chuckles, knowing he's starting to fall asleep because Derek always did the same thing when she ran her fingers through his hair.

"That's up to you too. You do whatever feels right for you."

"Thanks, Mom."

The words are barely audible as Isaac falls asleep, but Lyrica easily hears them, turning to kiss the boy's head and pull the blanket up higher around him before she turns back to the movie playing.

---------------------------------------------------

Scott McCall runs through the preserve, following the scent of the girl he was quickly falling for. His yellow eyes glow in the dark as his newly heightened senses tell him where to go.

His bare feet slide through the dirt and the leaves as he skids to a stop, staring up at the familiar jacket hanging from a tree branch. His pointed ears pick up on the nearly inaudible footsteps and a growl sounds from his chest as he recognizes the scent.

"Where is she?" He calls, voice slightly deeper than usual.

"She's safe. From you." The calm voice seems to echo around the teen and he whips his head around, trying to find the source.

"You're one to talk. You're endangering Mrs. Hale."

The source of the voice comes running up to the teen, picking him up by the shoulders and moving to throw him down a hill. However, Scott grabs hold of his arms and they both go tumbling together. As soon as they stop rolling, Scott finds himself pinned against the base of a tree, Derek Hale snarling down at him.

"She's one of us too, you idiot." He says. "And keep her name out of your mouth."

"What did you do with her?" Scott cries, Allison taking over his mind once more.

"Shh, quiet." Derek snaps, looking around them. "Too late. They're already here. Run."

Before Scott can blink, Derek's gone. The teen quickly jumps to his feet and runs after him, only to fall as a bright light explodes before his eyes, leaving him temporarily blind. He stumbles around in a circle, only to scream as an arrow flies through the air, pinning his right arm to the tree behind him.

Three men walk into his sight, two holding guns and one holding a crossbow.

"Take him." The man holding the crossbow demands, only for one of his men to scream as he's thrown through the air. He turns to look and while his back is turned, his other man goes flying, landing against a tree with a sickening crunch. Dropping his bow and pulling a pistol, he spins the other way. While he's distracted, Derek snaps the arrow pinning Scott to the tree before leading him away, moving as fast as possible.

Once they're far enough, Scott falls against a tree, his wolf features disappearing as he pants, clutching his arm.

"Who were they?" He gasps, looking up at Derek who cautiously checks their surroundings.

"Hunters. The kind that have been hunting us for centuries." Derek answers once he deems their location safe.

"Us? You mean you! You did this to me!" Scott yells, pulling himself to his feet.

Derek looks at him a moment before stalking closer. "Is it really so bad Scott? 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."

"I don't want it."

"You will. And you're gonna need me if you want to learn how to control it." Derek sighs. "Or more, my wife." He leans forward and pins the teen closer to the tree. "So you and me, Scott... we're brothers now."

Derek moves to walk away, only to stop as Scott speaks.

"Why would I need a 21-year-old teacher obsessed with music and besties with a man nearly twice her age?"

Without missing a beat, Derek spins on his heel and walks back to the teen, smacking him so hard the sound echoes through the trees. Scott shouts in pain and raises his uninjured arm, cradling his burning cheek.

"Speak like that again, and a little slap won't even compare to what I'll do to you."

With those words, Derek turns and stalks further into the woods, leaving Scott alone, cradling himself.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

-The Next Day-

"So how'd it go last night?" Lyrica asks, leaning forward in the bathroom mirror to apply her eye makeup.

"It was fine. I found him, hunters found us, I knocked out the hunters and got us out." Derek shrugs, wrapping his arms around her waist and leaning his head on her shoulder.

"So what aren't you telling me?" She smirks, picking up her tube of mascara.

"I may have slapped him in the face." He grins sheepishly and Lyrica moves her wand, nearly doubling over in laughter.

"Oh, to have seen the look on his face." She grins, finishing her lashes when she's calm enough.

"It was pretty great. Did you talk to Isaac while I was out?"

"Yep, and he's happy with everything as far as I can tell. He said he wants to change his name to ours, but that can always change between now and then. And he called me 'Mom'. I don't know if it was an accident or not because he was half asleep, but yeah."

"That was a quick jump for him." Derek notes.

"It was, yeah. It almost definitely has to do with our bond, though."

"Add it to the list of things we don't know about mates." Derek sighs, tucking his face into her neck.

"We should look through our records. See if we can find the name of your mom's old emissary. They might have some answers."

"I can look while you guys are at school. I've been putting off unpacking the office, anyway."

"That sounds perfect." Lyrica nods, pulling out of his arms. "Until then, I should probably get Isaac to morning practice before he and Finstock go crazy."

"That man scares me."

--------------------------------------------------

"I'll see you soon, Kiddo." Lyrica says as she walks towards her classroom, Isaac waving while running for the locker rooms.

She turns on some classical music to fill the silence as she begins bustling around her room in preparation for the upcoming day. She's in the middle of writing out the day's lesson on her chalkboard when her phone rings from her desk, cutting off the classical music. She drops her chalk and goes to answer the device.

"Hey, Babe. Is everything alright?" She greets her husband, turning back to her board.

"You need to get to the boy's locker room. Scott is shifting and Stiles is taking him there."

"Shit."

Lyrica ends the call and races out of her classroom, high-tailing it for the locker room. She hears snarling and clanging the closer she gets, along with a frantic heartbeat. Stiles. She reaches the room in time to see Stiles fumbling with a fire extinguisher by the door, Scott in the rafters snarling down at the human. Just as Scott dives for Stiles, Lyrica steps in front of the human and catches Scott by the throat, slamming him onto the floor and roaring loud enough for him to snap out of his trance.

"Oh my God, that was awesome!" Stiles exclaims as Scott staggers away from the woman, who turns to give the human a smirk, her steel blue eyes fading to her normal brown.

"Stiles? Mrs. Hale?" Scott pants, sitting on a bench and pulling his helmet off. "What happened?"

Stiles sighs in relief, dropping the extinguisher and pulling his gloves off. "You tried to kill me. It's like I told you before. It's the anger. It's your pulse rising. It's a trigger."

"But that's lacrosse. It's a pretty violent game if you hadn't noticed."

"Well, it's gonna be a hell of a lot more violent if you end up killing someone on the field. I mean, Mrs. Hale isn't always gonna magically show up to save my ass. You can't play Saturday, you're gonna have to get out of the game."

"I'm first line." Scott protests.

"Not anymore." Lyrica says, crossing her arms.

"How did you even do that, by the way?" Stiles turns to the woman. "Changing him back like that?"

"You boys have a lot to learn about werewolves."

"Mrs. Hale to the front office please. Mrs. Hale to the front office."

All three people look up at the speakers in confusion after the announcement ends.

"What's that for?" Scott frowns.

"No clue." Lyrica shrugs.

"Probably Isaac. He got tackled during practice and messed up his leg." Stiles shrugs.

"What? When?" Scott asks.

"Just before your turn."

"Okay, well, I need to go." Lyrica decides, turning towards the door. "Find me if you need anything."

She's out the door before either teen can respond, making her way to the main office as fast as possible.

"There you are." Lonnie, the main receptionist, says when the teacher enters. "Sorry about the announcement, you weren't answering your room phone."

"It's fine. Is everything okay?" Lyrica replies, glancing towards the nurse's office.

"Isaac's in the nurse. He hurt his leg at practice."

"Thank you." Lyrica says before going into the office, spotting Isaac sitting on one of the cots, left leg raised on some pillows, arms crossed, and an angry look on his face.

"Mrs. Hale." The nurse greets from by the freezer, filling up an ice pack.

"What happened?" The werewolf questions, moving over to the teen's side.

"Jackson Whittemore happened." He huffs. "We were doing 1 on 1's and when he tackled me, I twisted my ankle."

"How bad is it?"

"I'd guess he's got a sprain at least. The office is already calling a sub in so you can take him to the hospital." The nurse answers, bringing the ice over and carefully laying it on Isaac's ankle.

"Thank you." Lyrica nods before turning back to the teen. "Will you be alright if I go get our things and call Derek?"

"Yeah." Isaac sighs and the woman kisses his head before leaving, moving to her classroom as fast as possible.

Lyrica has her items packed up in seconds and as she goes to dial her husband's number, there's a knock on the door frame. She looks up, sighing in relief at the sight of the man she was about to contact.

"How did you know?" She asks, pulling out her lesson plans and setting them neatly in the middle of her desk.

"I was watching lacrosse practice. I wanted to make sure Scott didn't do anything stupid or hurt anyone this close to the full moon. That one arrogant-ass kid tackled Isaac but then Scott tackled him and shifted." Derek explains with a sigh. "Is he okay? I got a call from the secretary."

"We gotta take him to the hospital to see if it's a sprain or a break, but it's definitely messed up." Lyrica explains, shouldering her bag and picking up Isaac's. "He's waiting in the nurse."

"Well, let's go get him fixed up."

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"I can't believe I have a sprained ankle." Isaac whines as the trio exits the hospital, Derek helping him walk while Lyrica holds several papers and a bottle of pills. "Stupid Jackson. Now I can't play. I hope Scott fucked him up when he tackled him."

"Hey, it's only a grade 1 sprain, you should be back on your feet in no time." Lyrica tries to cheer him up. "You'll be back to playing as soon as you're cleared. Bad sprains only take 6 weeks to heal, yours should only take a couple, so long as you take it easy."

"But what if Coach takes me off First Line completely for this?" Isaac fears as Derek opens the back door of the Impala, easing the teen into the vehicle.

"He won't, we'll make sure of it." Derek replies, carefully closing the door once the teen is securely inside. He rounds the vehicle and climbs into the passenger's seat, reading over the papers from the nurse as Lyrica starts the car in the driver's seat. "I think these pain meds are a little strong for a sprained ankle."

"I think that's an understatement." Lyrica chuckles, pulling out of the crowded parking lot. "Maybe we should have him try half pills when it flares up and he can take more if needed."

"That's not a bad idea."

"Are we almost home?" Isaac asks from the backseat, words slightly slurred.

"We got about 10 more minutes, Kiddo." Derek replies, turning around to look at him.

"You guys are the best parents ever, ya know?"

"What?" Lyrica frowns in confusion, glancing at the teen through the rear-view mirror.

"You heard me. You guys are awesome. I mean, even before my brother and mom died, my parents sucked." He says. "My parents always focused more on Camden. They hated when I messed up and my dad always got too eager with the punishments. My mom and Camden never stopped him, either. After they died, he just got worse, blaming me for their deaths, even though Cam died in combat and my mom had cancer. And I dunno, something about you on the first day of school told me that I could escape, and I did. I mean, I was terrified when that cop picked me up, but I was so happy when you both walked into the station. And I couldn't believe how lucky I was when you offered to take me in. I was terrified of Derek at first, yeah, but then I saw how he acted around you, how he treated you. I knew there was nothing to be scared of. Now look at me. My new parents are werewolves and in the days you've had me, you've treated me more like a son than my biological parents had in 15 years. I wanna call you guys 'Mom' and 'Dad' but I'm scared that it's wrong because you aren't even my legal parents yet."

"You do what feels right, Kiddo." Lyrica chuckles. "We'll support you and be okay with whatever you decide."

"Thanks, Mom." Isaac mutters before his head lolls back, fast asleep.

"Yeah, definitely starting with half pills." Derek says, but his grin is evident. Lyrica reaches over and takes his hand in hers.

"Well, the trial is in a week. He's officially ours after that." She grins.

"Please, we both know he's not going anywhere."

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