Once Peter left, Lydia spoke telepathically to the whole pack, except for Malia, whom she didn't want to hear what she was about to say, and Chris, Rafael, Aiden, and Parrish, who couldn't use telepathy yet. [Peter is Malia's father.]
Cora responded telepathically. [That makes her our cousin.]
Lydia continued. [Yes. Her real name is Malia Hale, and her mother is a werecoyote named Corinne, better known as the Desert Wolf. She's a highly skilled assassin. Talia gave Malia up for adoption and erased Peter's memories of her and Corinne to protect Malia.]
Stiles asked. [Protect her from what?]
Lydia answered. [From her mother. Remember what Scott said when we first found Malia? He mentioned that a werecoyote loses some of her strength to her child. Corinne didn't like that at all, she wanted to kill Malia to reclaim her lost power.]
Stiles sighed. [I see. So, what now? Are you going to tell Malia? You know how badly she wants to find her biological mother and take revenge for the Tate family.]
Lydia responded. [That's not up to me. It's up to Chris and Victoria. They're Malia's parents now.]
Victoria said. [I think we should tell her now. If she finds out on her own and realizes we knew but didn't tell her, she'll hate us. And I don't want her to hate me.]
Scott made the final call. [Okay then, tell her. She deserves to know.]
Malia, noticing the silent exchanges, frowned. "What's going on? I feel like you guys are talking about me. What is it?"
Victoria sighed, stood up, and sat beside Malia. "Peter is your real father. The child Lydia was talking about… is you. Your real name is Malia Hale."
Malia blinked in disbelief. "Seriously? That guy is my father?"
Victoria nodded. "Yes, sweetheart."
As if something clicked, Malia's eyes suddenly glowed red. She stood up, turning toward Lydia. "Then you must know who killed my adoptive family. Tell me Lydia, who is she?"
Lydia met her gaze. "Her name is Corinne. She's better known as the Desert Wolf, a highly skilled assassin. Talia gave you up for adoption and took Peter's memory of you and Corinne to protect you from her."
Malia clenched her fists. "Do you know where she is?"
Lydia shook her head. "Unfortunately, no."
Victoria took Malia's hand and gently pulled her back down to sit beside her. "Calm down. Now that we know who she is, we'll find her sooner or later."
Malia let out a deep breath. "I know… I just want to find her and make her pay for what she did."
Victoria squeezed her hand. "Let's not talk about that for now. Tell me Malia, do you want to have a relationship with Peter? Do you want to go live with him?"
Malia looked at Victoria, her expression firm. "No. I don't care about him. I have you and Chris as my parents, and that's enough for me. Unless… you don't want me. I can leave if..."
Victoria cut her off with a warm smile before pulling her into a hug. "Of course, we want you. You may have only been with us for a year, but I love you just as much as I love Allison. In fact, you're more like me than Allison is."
Allison pouted. "What? Mom, do you love Malia more than me?"
Victoria chuckled. "No, sweetheart. I love you both the same. You're just more like your father, too emotional. Malia, on the other hand, is more like me."
Chris huffed. "Hey, I'm not emotional!"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. Says the man who was so lost in his emotions he got possessed by an evil fox."
Derek raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what? Say that again. What happened while we were in Mexico?"
Chris quickly shook his head. "Nothing. Nothing happened."
Stiles smirked. "Actually, Chris got..."
Chris shot him a glare. "Stiles, do you still want to date my daughter?"
Stiles straightened up. "Yes, sir."
Chris said. "Then shut your mouth."
Allison laughed, then walked over to Malia and hugged her. "Like Mom said, we're your family. You're my sister, unless you don't want me."
Malia sighed. "Alright, fine. You guys are my family too. Now, can you please stop hugging me? It's making me uncomfortable."
Allison grinned. "Nope."
Malia rolled her eyes but didn't push Allison away. Instead, she turned to Scott. "Scott, you said before that you'd help me find that woman. Are you still going to help me?"
Scott nodded. "Of course. But I'm not the one you should be asking for help, I have no idea where she is, just like you."
Malia raised an eyebrow. "Then who should I ask?"
Scott pointed at his father. "Him."
Malia looked at Rafael with skepticism. "Your useless father?"
Scott smirked. "Yes. But he's also an FBI agent."
Rafael chuckled awkwardly. "I have heard of the Desert Wolf before, and while I don't know where she is, I'll try to find her when I go back."
Noah chimed in. "I've read about the Desert Wolf too."
Stiles asked. "What do you know about her?"
Noah leaned back. "When I did a background check on Braeden, I found out that she used to be a U.S. Marshal. She specialized in tracking high-profile fugitives, but one case—hunting down an assassin known as the Desert Wolf—turned into an obsession. Eventually, she lost her job over it, though she somehow retained her badge and credentials."
Stiles nodded. "Then we should hire her to help us find the Desert Wolf."
Scott agreed. "Stiles, call her tomorrow. Ask her to come back to Beacon Hills and tell Malia everything she knows about the Desert Wolf."
Stiles nodded. "Alright."
Rafael asked. "And when you do find the Desert Wolf, what are you planning to do with her?"
Scott said. "That's Malia's business. No matter what she decides, we'll support her."
They continued talking for a while until Noah stood up and stretched. "Alright, I'm heading home. Parrish, do you need a ride, or are you staying here?"
Parrish shook his head. "I'll spend the night here."
Scott looked at Noah. "Uncle Noah, when you go back to work tomorrow, check if there are any missing person cases or any recent deaths where the victims were drained of blood."
Stiles frowned. "Wait, you think a vampire is in town?"
Scott sighed. "I don't know. But Lydia said she felt something bad when Peter mentioned vampires. So we're probably dealing with one."
Noah nodded seriously. "Then Parrish and I will go through the recent cases tomorrow and see if anything matches that pattern."
To be continued... 😊