A/N: Young Deucalion and Talia fic. As a lot of people know Deucalion is often called Duke on Tumblr because of his hard so spell name and after last night's episode I couldn't resist writing some fluff between the two of them so here we be. With no dead human children, that'll come along later with Talia's kiddos. I seriously am starting to ship these two so much but I wanna meet Talia's real mate and her children's father (unless of course that oddly turns out to be Deucalion cause that'd be tragically cute [and sad cause uh, trying to kill your own children is not very high up on the cute list; in fact neither is killing Talia's children in general Deucalion stahp you're nonsense]).

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or any associated characters. This is a work of pure fiction.

Summary: ... But you can call me Duke. Young Deucalion and Talia. Twice a year packs from all around come to celebrate the solstice and rejoice in the freedom of their wolfish desires. Talia Hale has come along with her pack for the second time and this solstice she runs into a certain young boy. Slightly AU.

They Call Me Deucalion by FlyingNymphLady

June 21st, Summer Solstice

Talia stood amidst a great hoard of werewolves, most all of them taller and much stronger then she; yet Talia felt no fear. Tonight was a night for celebration for all the packs along the Pacific coast, they rejoiced at the prospect of the solstice and the promises it brought along with it. Tonight the different packs would meet and mingle among one and others, swapping stories of their home ranges and past adventures. For one night all pack responsibilities were lifted from the wolves and they could run freely without the burden of properly embodying their packs status.

This was Talia's second solstice but the last one had yet to leave her memory. All around wolves of various eye color and pack allowed their claws to unsheathe, casually continuing their conversations without aggression or fear. Here in this protected grove wolves could be themselves without having to constantly look over their shoulders for hunters. The feeling was exhilarating.

Talia herself allowed her eyes to shine a beautiful golden honey, her pinprick set of fangs just beginning to form into those of an adult wolf. Talia was especially proud of them because her mother had told her that not many pups her age had fangs as well developed as hers. Talia was curious to know if her mother had been telling the truth and so she casually flashed her fangs to fellow children hoping they might grin back at her, allowing her to catch a glimpse at their set of teeth.

Continuing to snoop around the older pack members Talia didn't notice when her search led her to edge of the pack's circling, into tumbling betas who were reenacting a fight they'd witness a few weeks before. Standing in the middle of the field Talia went surprisingly unnoticed until a solid pound of werewolf slammed into her side, knocking her to the ground. She shook her head and looked around her, slightly disoriented by the fall. Above her stood her father in all his alpha glory, nuzzling her gently. She felt his sigh of relief course through her as he helped her to stand.

The beta who had knocked her over looked horrified by his actions and bowed himself as low to the ground as he could possibly get. Her father was calm above all things however and pressed his hand lightly against the betas shoulder until he rose to his feet once more, "It's alright Francis. I know what happened was not intentional. My daughter should not have been out in the competition field anyhow."

Talia father removed his hand and let it drift onto her own shoulder as we walked away from the field, his pulse as steady as ever. She was a bit afraid he would be mad with her for being so reckless but when he crouched down to talk to her, Talia could only see his immense love for her reflecting in his burgundy irises.

"Talia you must pay more attention to your surroundings; betas are dangerous when they let themselves go in a fight, even a mock one. You must always be alert to the wolves around you for they are both your greatest strength and your greatest weakness all in one. Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Her father asked, the soothing look of a teacher attempting to show a struggling student what they're missing. Talia thought about it and then nodded back to him, this was one of his lessons in being a good alpha. Whenever there was an opportunity to share a bit of knowledge with her, her father would do so and she absorbed his lessons with vigor; determined to be the best alpha she would be when her time came.

"Good girl," Smiling down at her he gave Talia a quick hug before swatting her off in the direction of other pack cubs. The people she'd been looking for before the beta had crashed into her.

Running up to the other pups Talia felt another burst of excitement seeing so many new faces her own age. At the last solstice many of the parents had found their children still too immature or young for the celebration of the Winter Solstice and had opted to keep them at home with beta-sitters (an inside joke between her own nanny and her from long ago).

Roughly a dozen pairs of eyes meet Talia's and she introduced herself to each one customarily, breathing in their scents deeply as they bared their necks to one and other. Talia hesitated to greet one of the children, her eyes glowing with a brilliant blue hue but decided that refusing the gesture would be inexplicably rude, "I am Talia."

"And I, Sierra," the she-wolf responded, her claws reacting into her nails as though she could sense Talia's well hidden discomfort. The rest of the children were easily greeted and a mutual game was decided upon called Hunters vs. Pack. Sierra claims hunter matriarch and I choose to be the Alpha for the first round. We run and play fight according to the game until a pair of pups from different packs get into a squabble and we have to review the rules again.

Sierra and Talia decide what the rules should be for this game because they're supposed to be the matriarchs but secretly they like being able to decide how the game should go. After a bit, the two decide that the wolf player was wrong but both of the squabbling cubs have to sit out until the round is over.

The wolves win multiple times much to Talia's pride but she doesn't let herself gloat about it, she knows her parents would frown upon such displays. They were not becoming of a future alpha. Sierra takes her losses with a surprising dignity that Talia's not entirely sure she expected. For a wolf with blue eyes she doesn't seem to have much of a vicious temper to Talia.

The groups decides it's time for a much needed break and the pups splinter into different clutches, many of them from similar packs Talia notes to herself. She doesn't know why it's an important thing for her to notice but she does and it saddens she slightly, seeing the separation between the packs. Tonight was supposed to be a night for the packs to lose all segregation and run freely among each other. These cubs were sticking too closely to their traditional packs.

Talia decided to wait for the other pups to return on a large rock, sitting herself daintily upon its slanted side. She didn't happen to notice the scent of a wolf approaching her and jumped when a voice from behind her spoke,

"Hey Princess."

Talia looked up to see a boy about her age, if not a bit younger, standing beside the rock. He had been playing Hunters vs. Pack and it mildly irritated her that he hadn't bothered to use her name. Frowning down at him she was met with a impish grin, "It's Talia."

"I heard you before," He told her, scrambling up onto the rock beside her and planting himself right next to her, "I just figure Princess fits you better. You should do act like one."

Talia looked appalled by the suggestion, "I do not. Whatever gave you that smart mouthed idea? Better yet who are you to tell me what I act like?"

"They call me Deucalion and I didn't mean any offense," The boy told her, folding his arms against the tops of his knees in order to form a headrest for himself, "I meant the way you handled those two pups back there. Only a true leader could've have done it so well."

Talia thought about it for a moment but scoffed back the boy, "I still don't like Princess."

Deucalion's laughter floated in between them, his young but changing voice swooping low into his vocal cords before resurfacing a boy's laugh once more. He brushed a tear away from the corner of his eye as he recomposed himself upon the rock, steering his shaken body from the ground.

"That'll be pretty hard Princess, I think I like calling you that already," He said looking into her eyes.

She looked back at him slightly startled but her impulses kicked in for her and a response was tumbling out of her mouth before she knew what she was saying, "If you don't stop calling me Princess, I'm gonna start calling you, Duke!"

Deucalion raised a dusty blonde eyebrow toward her before smiling even wider, "Alight, Princess."

"Alright, Duke." She retorted hopping down from her roost. The group of pups slowly beginning to trickle back into view.

- Teen Wolf -

The car ride home was filled with a lot of babble from the pack's younger betas, their frenzied sharing secession was halted suddenly when Talia's father looked into the rearview mirror, his gazed zoned in on his daughter, "What did you like best about tonight's celebration Talia?"

Talia looked up for a moment to think about the night's event before placing her stare directly into her father's eyes, "I met a boy tonight; his name's Deucalion but he said it's alright if I called him Duke. I liked him the best."

The howling laughter of the pack followed the Hales all the way back to Beacon Hills.

- End -

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