"I'm allowed to come over all protective. It's in the laws of fatherhood."

"There's no need to meddle in her affairs, Christopher. Every Argent woman knows how to lead a man exactly where she wants him."

"Regan, thank you for joining us. Any progress?"

"Not much. But I have their scent now. Which means I should be doing nightly patrols of the town and the preserve. They can't hide for long."

“Agreed. And the beta?”

"He was there. Which we already knew. Whether he was in control of himself of not, there is no evidence either way. I'm willing to trust Allison's intuition on this. But we can't let this happen again. An alpha without a pack is weak. We need to cut them off from each other."

“Scott is willing to cooperate. I know that werewolves can’t be trusted to control themselves, especially with a murderous alpha, but if we do this right, I think Regan could teach Scott the right way to manage it. We have a chance here to save one of them, for once, instead of just letting them be until they kill.”

“We need to proceed with caution. You haven’t seen what a motivated alpha can make them do, Allison. Even Regan hasn’t seen that.”

"I've seen enough." She pauses. "May Allison and I be excused? I think we have a lot to talk about before we make any decisions."

"Of course you may," she says

at the same time as their grandfather.

"...be sure to come back and finish your dinner when you're done."

"Save us some dessert too." And upstairs they go. She takes a seat on her own bed and waits for Allison to close the door. "How long have you been holding onto this?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've obviously put a lot of thought into this. Me teaching the beta. Being responsible for him."

"It's just an idea. I think it's the best way to stick to the code. You know that mom can be rash when it comes to protecting the community, and you know that dad cares too much about honor; he'll say we should give mercy and she'll ask for swift justice and I don't want to be pulled between two extremes just so granddad can act while I'm taking too long to decide. He doesn't respect us as leaders, Regan. We need to prove we can do this right."

"Why are you so sure this is right? There are so many ways this could go wrong. So much on the line. People have already died. This risk - and it is a risk - could hurt so many more. Us included. Why should we do that? He was there at the bus. He could have killed all those people. Are you willing to take responsibility for someone like that? Bring a murderer into this family, one that doesn't have control over himself."

"You think what we do isn't murder? It's necessary, but if a single ordinary person heard about what they were doing, do you think they'd be wrong to be afraid of us? We have one chance with a beta who doesn't have to go the way of every other beta with a bad alpha, or every other lost omega, and you want me to sacrifice that? 'Nous chassons ceux qui nous chassent'- that boy is not a hunter, Regan. He needs us."

"They should be afraid. Afraid of what's out there. We protect them for the evils of this world. It's a sacrifice." She pauses. "If we do this. Take this beta into our family - because that is what you're suggesting - you need to understand what you're choosing, of the consequences. If he hurts anyone. If I hurt anyone. Are you willing to put us down? Step between us and the people you have sworn to protect and put a bullet in our brains."

"If he hurts anyone? Yes. That's what we do. If you hurt someone, we'll come after you like we would any hunter. I'm not the naïve little girl mom thinks I am. If I didn't think I could marry a man and kill him when needed, I would leave this house right now and never come back."

"Good. Okay. I'm willing to back you on this. It's dangerous, but if you think it's worth it and you understand... our parents and Gerard aren't going to be around forever. We need to be ready for that. And we need to understand where we stand. If this is what you really want, then we should do it."

"It is. Scott...he didn't even turn willingly. If someone chooses to become a werewolf, then I'll admit there's usually no saving them. But for people like Scott, good people caught up in something that we didn't prepare them for? I can't let them down."

She stands and hugs her sister.

"I guess... I'm just worried this will backfire on us and -- I don't want you to hate me. If this doesn't work out and I have to kill him. I will do it. It's everything I've been training to do. I just don't want to lose you."

Sigh. Hug.

"I know. I just want one win where we don't have to bury someone's loved one, you know. Just once."

"Guess there's a first time for everything. Well, second. I am apparently a shining example. Hopefully I can live up it."