Board Thread:WARNING ALL USERS False Info\Spoilers/@comment-11696876-20130725233922/@comment-26914000-20150821174114

I have an alternate theory about this - "somebody" chose Derek over Peter and Peter set up the whole thing in response but that "somebody" was Talia, not Paige. I'm basing this on a few things we saw through the episode.

1. We know that Peter was secretive and manipulative even before the fire - so it wouldn't be much of a stretch to think that he was power hungry too.

2. Paige died bleeding black goo.

3. Derek was very similar to Scott at that age.

So, here's my theory. Talia was thinking of grooming Derek to be the next Alpha for the Hale clan. Given his similarity to Scott, its likely that he was shaping up to be a good, kind and responsible Alpha - atleast, a better choice than Peter. Knowing this, Peter, who wanted the power to himself, arranged for a little fall from grace for Derek. He convinced him that turning Paige was a good idea and that Talia shoudn't be a part of the decision making. Its likely that if Derek had gone to his mother at any point for advice, she'd have put a stop to the whole thing, so Peter convinced Derek to keep it all from her, even going to the trouble of finding another Alpha for the bite. Here, he was playing both Ennis and Derek - on one hand, he convinced Derek that his mother would never turn Paige, on another, he convinced Ennis that turning Paige would be a favor for Talia.

However, Paige becoming a werewolf was never part of the plan. So Peter made sure that the bite would fail by poisoning her with mountain ash. Being a werewolf, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to sneal into her house and put mountain ash in her food or drink and like Gerard, it wouldn't affect her until she is bitten by an Alpha. So, as soon as the bite fails, Peter goes to Talia and tells her about the botched turning. Tensions were already high between Ennis' pack and the hunters and a civilian being killed under those conditions (because what else would Ennis do with her) would turn it into an all out war - unless Peter and Talia defuse the situation together. Whether or not they are able to avoid war, Derek comes out looking like an immature and irresponsible beta who almost killed the girl and Peter out as the responsible one who tried to protect everyone. He gets to play the hero and come a step closer to becoming the next Alpha.

However, Peter miscalculated how much Derek loved Paige and that he'd rather kill her himself than see her in constant pain. So, when Derek kills Paige instead of Ennis, Peter doesn't have a fall guy anymore. Maybe Talia no longer thought of Derek as a suitable successor, but if she figured out Peter's role in it, he'd be further away from his goal of becoming the Hale alpha.