She can feel the monster inside her rage, it tears through her skin, angry and hungry and bloodthirsty -- it is weak, fragile and human and useless. Its prey is out there, taunting it. Hiding like a pitiful dying thing. It mocks them.

-- no. She is in control here. It does not belong.

Her palms bleed but the claws are gone. She locks that cage inside her, the beast rages and wants out, but she is strong and she has family and they have plans. She will not lose everything because it is a sore loser.

"Nothing," she says to whoever is listening.

"Another day, then. Thank you, Regan. We appreciate your unique skillset."

Back to their cars.

Chris stays close to his daughter.

"Try not to over-exert yourself. Dealing with the alpha matters more than dealing with it soon."

"And how many people will it kill in the meanwhile? You said it has a target. A plan. We can't afford for it to succeed."

"Your father makes an interesting point. Let's hear him out."

Regan takes that to mean he wants her to let her dad talk and then disregard anything he says. She can do that.

Her dad talks. He is blissfully unaware that he is being disregarded. They part ways when they get back to the cars.

He puts the key in the ignition before asking her.

"What do you recommend, Miss Argent?"

"We need to figure out what it wants and set a trap. It's cautious, knows we're here. But if we have the right bait... it won't be able to resist."

"How do you propose we find that out?"

"The Hales. They'd left town years ago. There was nothing left for them here. Why did she come back? It could have just been a coincidence, an attack of opportunity. She came back to walk down memory lane? I doubt it. No way a lone omega could kill a Hale alpha without something giving them the advantage. Find the connection between the Hale alpha and the bus driver. It could lead us to our next target. Our bait."

"It's not uncommon for werewolves to act opportunistically. If they thought there were no hunters to stop them...but no, you're right. We might want to look for a local emissary that she would have tried to contact, or another pack in the area. You haven't sensed any other werewolves yet, have you?"

"Just McCall. But I'm pretty sure the school counselor is a druid. Could be our emissary."

"During the day, try to get some quality time with your guidance counselor. During the night, the two of us can continue the hunt. I'll work on researching the Hale angle."

She has a fleeting thought of her dad giving his brother a call, but throws out that thought and nods.

"When do we bring the beta into this?"

"When he's most likely to be useful. It could be useful to bring him into the fold before the alpha has been killed, from one perspective. From another...he's new to being a werewolf. A loose cannon is only helpful as long as you stay far away from it, and your enemies do not."

"An alpha with a pack is more powerful. It turned him for a reason. We could use that."

"An alpha without a pack is an omega," he counters.

"Killing him might be the most expedient solution, but it sacrifices a potential resource. If there were a way to protect him from the alpha's influence- there is a theory that I've never quite been in a position to test, but it might put you at risk."

- Regan has enough control over herself that she doesn't flinch from that punch to her status.

"I'm at risk everyday. I can handle it."

"Supposedly, werewolves can leave one pack and join another. I don't know the process, but if you could secure the beta's loyalty by providing him an alternative, we might be able to take away a major resource at a critical juncture."

"That's... might be exactly what we need."

"It is a serious risk. The alpha might notice what we're attempting before you can manage it, and you know what an alpha can do with a beta under their command. Besides that, there's the concern of your mother's reaction to you taking betas. It's never been explicitly discussed, but I imagine Victoria would disapprove."

Regan shifts uncomfortably. She doesn't like the idea of disappointing her mom. She's put so much faith in her already, messing that up...

"Mom trusts me. And we've already accepted that bringing McCall into the family is a good idea. This is just an extension of that."