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Alex paused. “ Allison, who is Scott’s girlfriend. And uh, for sake of completion, what is this Allison’s last name? ” She had an idea, but just wanted to be sure.

That would put a wrench in the plans, too, and she didn’t want Ben’s perception of his friend to be tainted by what her family does. Or did.

“Well, kind of. Scott asked her out to Lydia’s party and then just left her there, guessing that was a werewolf thing, and now she’s kinda mad at him over it. But he’s trying to make it up to her.”

“ Okay. But, another thing we need to consider is Scott. As a bitten beta, he has an innate pull to the alpha who turned him. It’s an instinct, a desire for safety and stability. ”

Alex pursed her lips, “ You can draw the spider out by plucking the threads that prey falls in. And right now, we have at least one clear bit of silk. ”

“ Yeah? ” She wasn’t going to deny, she had no idea where this was going but she was intrigued. Any new perspective on this would be useful.

“So there’s the sticky strands that catch the bugs and spiral out from the center out to the edges, but there’s also the non-sticky strands that work like spokes. They use those strands to walk across the webs so they don’t get stuck in their own traps. But when bugs get caught the spider can feel the tension change and the vibration in the web of the bugs trying to escape.”

This was such a hard thing to articulate. “I feel like we’re trying to figure out where the spider is, but we have no clue where the strands are and which ones are which so we don’t cause a tension change.” He was still staring out into the trees, as if he could see something she couldn’t. But he couldn’t just get a read like that.

Yes! Success! Diplomacy, baby. “ Okay, so, I did some digging and reached out to some people and everything I got said focus and practice. ”

Alex pulled out her phone, checking her notes. “ It helps when reading a person if they concentrate on what they want you to see. For objects, it’s kinda like meditating on the past of the thing. Specific time periods, or if there’s footprints you might focus on that in order to see who or what left them. ”

That made sense, but he couldn’t help but see some flaws in the logic. Nobody was going to actually focus on their own guilt if he was trying to get a read off them for that. Couldn’t he do the focus since he was the one reading? Oh well, he’d worry about that later.

That was super rough, she could imagine. It’s a common story, though, but at least Ben’s mom managed to get out of that cycle. Restraining orders were hard to get, harder to prove anything was broken, so moving was sometimes the only option.

Her heart broke at his question. “ I wouldn’t blame her if she did choose to move you guys. But we’re trying our hardest to find him before it gets to that point. ” One dead body was enough.

Yeah… He’d definitely try to see what he could do. But he couldn’t be super obvious with it, if word got to his mom that he was helping hunt down a killer then they’d definitely end up moving. And then he couldn’t help with anything.

Alex snorted, “ Oh my God, I will literally pay you to do that in front of him. ” She would, too. It was hilarious. Derek wouldn’t find it funny but she didn’t care about that. She was very good at getting back in his good graces.

Alex followed, pace leisurely. If he felt he needed to go that way she wasn’t going to stop him. Psychics, man.

“ Ouch, that’s rough. But sometimes when you take toxic people out of your life that may include your parents so, kudos to her. ”

“I don’t think there’s enough money in the world to make me feel confident doing that in front of him.” Ben turned back to facing the house again and rubbed his thumb along the side of his ipod.

“Yeah, well Mom’s judgment wasn’t the best back then. Moved out to move in with my dad, and apparently he was just a really bad guy. Most she’s said about him is that we left when I was two, and she’s been really careful about him not knowing where we are. It’s why we moved out here. We moved a few times when I was little before we came here.” Once he got close enough he was moving to sit on the porch and look out into the trees.

He was thinking for a long moment. Should he get involved? Hone his abilities and get better, try to help them get more information?

“ That’s… I don’t know what Laura was doing out here. You’d have to ask Derek about that. I just followed the rumors that he’d shown back up after almost ten years of no contact. ” It felt longer than that. Years of dreading that he was dead, trying to move on, succeeding in that only to-not now, Alexandria!

“ It can be, but it can skip generations. An eccentric grandparent who always seems to have an uncanny sense for where things are or if there’s going to be a visitor. Or it’s just a random quirk of the genetic lottery. ”

“Derek doesn’t really seem like the talkative type.” That afternoon after Scott was bitten, Derek had barely put more two words together to form a sentence. “Longest sentence I heard him say was,” Ben deepened his voice a little to imitate the elder. “This is private property.”

The mention of a grandparent just made him sigh a bit. “I don’t know my grandparents.” Ben started to walk to the house, why he didn’t know. “My mom always said she didn’t get along with them and she left as soon as she could. I’d ask sometimes but she always found a way to avoid answering.” He turned to look at her, now walking backwards. He was too trusting of the terrain after running it so long.

Alex followed, pace leisurely. If he felt he needed to go that way she wasn't going to stop him. Psychics, man.

“ Bingo! On all counts. Look at you, being smart. ” This was such a relief. He would have put it together on his own, she was sure of that, but it was to everyone’s benefit if this conversation took place now.

“ Right. And before you ask, I am able to turn people. Derek isn’t. Red eyes are the alphas, again it’s far more complex than I’m explaining but you don’t need to know the intricacies of werewolf society right now. Just know that I get informed consent. And then take responsibility for those I have turned. ” Granted that was just Kiernan, but boy was he a responsibility for a while.

Ben could be smart at time, but overall he was still oh so confused. He looked towards the house and shuddered a little bit. He’d always liked the preserve but the house itself just seemed… He didn’t have a word for it.

“What was Laura even doing out here? And at night? Even without the signs I wouldn’t wanna be out here at night. That’s why I come here straight from school, so I can be on my way home before dark.” This all seemed so strange.

The fire was arson, he and Alex knew this. But, nobody seemed to have been caught for it. So was Laura investigating? Why wait ten years to investigate?

“ Oh no it absolutely is. Me, Derek, Laura. We’re born wolves. Whoever killed Laura is also a wolf and now has the ability to turn others into werewolves. Like your friend Scott McCall. ”

She shrugged, “ Derek and I decided to clue you in because you would’ve found out eventually due to your powers. At least this way you can ask questions. ”

“Laura, she was the one that got torn in two?” More than just the idea of it being a common name, it rang a bell but Ben couldn’t really recall why. “Now has… So they didn’t, but they do now. So not every wolf can turn someone.” Now he was just thinking out loud.

“ Most don’t have red eyes if it makes you feel better. Gold’s the most common, some have blue. ” She was not going to go into the reasoning behind blue eyes, of course.

Oh, that was the reference. “ It’s more ‘full moon is on the sky and he’s not a man anymore’. Except it’s way more complicated since we’re our own species. ”

“Honestly, I’m not sure if that does.” Ben took a deep breath in through his nose and out the mouth, rolling his shoulders in an attempt to ease his tension.

At the scent of fear she shifted back. “ Hey, shit, I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to scare you like that. ” She gave a weak smile, totally human teeth back in her mouth.

“ Guess you were right about the “scary teeth” thing. “

“The uh… The eyes were a little unsettling too.” Though it was a comfort seeing her back to the face he was used to (even though he barely knew her), his body was still ready to run. He was pretty fast, and if she was also fast maybe he could win out based on agility? Then again, all it’d take is one slip in the leaves for him to be done for.

Alex frowned at the reference, not quite getting it, but shrugged it off. “ Nope. Born this way, Mama Monster approved. ” May not have exactly been what Lady Gaga was talking about but still. To prove her point she adjusted her stance, letting her fangs drop and eyes change to their alpha-red glow.

Oh, that was… That was not great. He got into some freaking monster’s truck and now he was in the woods and nobody else knew where he was.

But, he was also mildly offended he didn’t get his reference.

Alex pointed at him, grinning. “ Bingo. Although I don’t find my teeth to be scary but I’ve had them all my life so I suppose I’m used to them. ”