Title: Wolf Moon

Summary:Fantasy/Supernatural AU: He had devoted most of his life to her, the princess, the future queen, the last of her line. But a modern, human city was not exactly where they intended to set down roots. And nothing, ever, goes according to plan.

Disclaimer: Degrassi is the property of Epitome Pictures and Bell Media.

Chapter Title: Anything But Ordinary by Avril Lavigne.

Starting in season nine and generally following canon events but with a supernatural twist. I hope you enjoy.

And if you prefer, you can also read it on Archive of Our Own under the same title.

01 Anything But Ordinary

His paws hit the ground, damp earth giving way and churning underneath, the smell of the forest filling his lungs. His ears flicked and twitched, alert to every sound; the snap of a branch, the wind in the leaves, the flutter of wings. And, in the distance, a long howl. One that pulled at his heart and drew him onward.

The chase.

He wound his way through the trees; sometimes following the trail, sometimes a quick flash he could catch through the gloom, sometimes a change in the scent on the air or a mark in the dirt or bark. Always, always the same, a flash of silver, the feel of warmth and home and mate and mine.

The white wolf.

He caught up, was allowed to catch up, and tackled the other to the ground. They shifted, rolled, a tangle of human limbs and skin and leaves. Wrestling in the grass, a happy howl, a nip to a shoulder. The other boy laughed, he was faster but pinned, smiled up at him, happy. He leaned down, to brush their lips together.

What the hell man?

Horror, disgust, rejection, distrust. Standing in the middle of the loft, heart hammering in his chest, hands shaking at his side. The sickening crash of the memory over what could, should, have been. He ran again, fled like a coward, and at the door took one last look.

Peter.

Riley woke with a start, soaked through with sweat. He was panting, shaking, could feel his heart racing against his chest. He ran both hands through his damp curls and flopped back onto the bed, covering his face with his hands. It would be useless to try and get back to sleep now. He let out a long sigh and rolled over so he could stare at the brilliant red display of his alarm clock.

4:23. Great.

From the corner of his eye the flash of his phone caught his attention. Not Peter but...

"Hello, pup, what's wrong?" He would worry but to not answer would be to have the kid at his window within the hour and sneaking out of the group home after curfew, well... Riley couldn't make him explain that one again. "You should be in bed, school tomorrow."

"So should you. What happened?" Don't tell him, you'll just worry him. He didn't need that on top of everything else.

"Nothing. I'm fine."

"I can hear you lying , even over the phone. Nightmares, I get them too sometimes." A pause. "And you always call when I do. Always."

"That's because I'm supposed to be taking care of you. I'm not- I shouldn't be waking you up in the middle of the night."

"I don't want you to leave me in the dark all the time. Isn't that the point of a pack? To look out for each other? Or at least that's what you told me. That we're connected. I felt..." A growl from the other end of the line. "You were scared and sad and I just- I needed to call you."

"KC..."

"Was it about Peter again? About... What happened?"

"Course it was." He stood and crossed over to the window to lean his forehead on the cool glass. "I'm- I'm fine. I will be fine. I'll just... Maybe I'll go for a run."

"Do you want company?"

"No. I mean-" he said quickly, when he heard a pained whimper from the phone. "Yes, pup, I'd like to run with you. But your group home has rules and I need you to stay out of trouble. Can you do that for me?"

"I don't care about my stupid curfew-"

"But I do." He was sterner this time, commanding, and KC's protest died out almost as soon as it began. "It's not about what I want, it's about keeping your head low and-"

"Not revealing myself to the humans. As you've said, many times."

"And how many times do I have to say it before you start listening to me?" He shook his head at the sound of KC's laugher. "Yeah, yeah, just remember that the next time you decide to punch a hole in a wall. That it's-"

"Hard for you to fix, I know."

"And hard for me to explain."

"Yeah, how did you spin that one?"

"Goodnight KC, try to get some sleep. And-" He paused, smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Thank you, for calling. It means a lot. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Can we talk about basketball again? About me trying out for this year?" Of course he wanted to talk about that, especially after the last time they'd broached the subject. "Riley, please."

"We'll talk tomorrow, pup."

"Okay. Goodnight. You should try to sleep too." And the line disconnected before Riley could disagree with that suggestion. He tossed his phone onto the bed and, as quietly as possible, slid open the window and popped out the screen. Having to walk past his parents' bedroom on the way out would wake them for sure and this wasn't exactly something they would approve of.

And pining over a boy was definitely not something he could talk to them about. Not them.

But there was someone he could talk to, needed to talk to.

A stone hit the window, a light tap on the glass. Two more before he got any response, a flicker of light behind the curtains, a bedside lamp. Another stone.

"Anya!" It came out louder than he expected and he glanced around to make sure he hadn't woken anyone in the surrounding houses or, worse, the MacPhersons. The curtains slid open and, back lit by her lamp, he could see her smirk and the quirk of one raised eyebrow. He bit his lip to stifle a laugh when she shook her head and rolled her eyes before she opened her window and leaned out. "Hi."

"Hi," she whispered and he had no trouble hearing her. "What are you doing here?"

"I needed to see you." He climbed up onto the air conditioner, to get high enough to grab onto the edge of the roof and pull himself up. "You know, I liked the old place better. You had that tree, the one that was right outside your window."

"Well sometimes you have to work for the things you want." She leaned down to grab his hand and hauled him the rest of the way onto the roof. "Not that I'm not happy to see you but this couldn't have waited until morning?" He watched her hair flip around as she looked at something to her right. "Riley, it's four-thirty!"

"Technically I waited until morning. And I couldn't sleep." She backed up and took a seat on her desk chair to give him enough room to slide inside.

"So you decided that I shouldn't be sleeping either?" He took a spot on the floor, leaning back against her bed so he was looking up at her. "What happened?"

"Like I said, I couldn't sleep." His palms rubbed against his knees and he ducked his head down so his curls fell into his eyes. Maybe this had been a bad idea. He couldn't tell her, had no idea how she would react. Terrible, stupid, idea. "It's-"

"Peter?"

His heart sank. She couldn't know, not that, not her. She couldn't-

"You're right. It's really late, I shouldn't have woken you. I'm sorry Anya, I'll-" She caught his elbow when he stood to make it for the window. He could have shrugged her off but-

"Are we really going to keep pretending that I don't know he's your mate?"

The words hung in the air and his hands started to shake again. He set them on the window sill, still facing away from her, and the cool night air passed across his face. He didn't want to look at her. After everything they'd been through, if this was what tore them apart- And he couldn't lie to her, never could.

A warm weight hit his back, arms wrapped around his waist and chest to pull him close, and he felt the touch of her nose against the side of his neck.

"Anya..."

"Riley, you're my best and oldest friend, why would knowing that you're gay change that? It's not the Middle Ages anymore."

"I just... It would change things at home. I know that. And I can't afford to have that happen, not after they took me in. And... I didn't want it to change anything we have. I didn't think..."

"No, you didn't." He knew she was trying to make a joke and a dry laugh escaped him at the attempt.

"So we're... We're cool then? Still?" He felt some of the tension leave his shoulders at her quiet laugh. She took his wrist and led them both over to the bed, taking his hand in hers and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Of course we are. You'll have to do a lot more than come out of the closet to get me to turn away from you Riley. Never, never ever," she said and wrinkled her nose in that mischievous way he'd recognise from a mile off. "Am I... Am I the first person you've told?"

"Yeah. Well... You and Peter." He paused a long moment, not looking at her, just leaning into her warmth. "I sort of... Kissed him." And he shook his head when she giggled and tried to meet his eyes. "No, don't laugh, it wasn't- Just no..."

"But Riley," she sounded hesitant but the smile she gave him was too sly for him to really believe it. "This is exciting, isn't it? You and Peter, finding your mate after all these years. That's wonderful."

"You're forgetting the part where he's just a friend and really, really straight. You should have seen his face when I kissed him... He- No, it's never going to happen." He stood, shook out of her hold and started to pace around the room. "How... How did you know anyway? Am I that obvious?"

"To me, to someone who knows what you are, yes. It's the way you look at him. Like he's the only one who matters and ever will matter."

"That's not true. You matter, you always matter. More than-"

"Thank you. But I'm not your mate. You told me once that it's not a one-sided thing. That you're drawn together. Romantic or not, you need him in your life. So you need to stop doing things like freezing him out because you're afraid of liking him. He's your friend and you need him, talk to him." He groaned and folded his arms against his chest. Did she always have to make sense?

"I'm so tired, Anya." He sighed and she caught his arm on his next pass to topple them both onto the bed.

"Of course you're tired, you woke us both up at four in the morning. I though the point of living as normal teenagers was that we got to be human; sleep in, bug our parents when they try to get us up, sound familiar?"

"It's not that, well okay, it's not just that." He was quiet for a long time, trying to sort out how to say it to her. "I'm lying to them, to everyone at school, to you, and-"

"You're lying to yourself."

She had this way of cutting right to the heart of his problems.

"It's... Exhausting." His nose brushed hers when he turn to look at her. "It took me so long to... Even now, knowing that I want to be with him. It's hard sometimes."

"Five hundred years of running and hiding and being told that it's wrong, that's bound to take its toll. You're allowed to take the time you need to heal."

"How is this so easy for you? We-"

"I'm older than you Riley. Things were different when I grew up, where I grew up. It was a different age. As is this one, you're not alone in this."

"Yeah, people like Sam? Larissa? I was horrible to them. To Peter."

"You always have me."

"Always." He kissed her cheek and nuzzled his nose into her neck, enjoying the giggle he got in response. "But... You're not going to say anything right? This has to stay between us. I can't come out at school, I'm not scared of what they'd do to me but... If I lose my temper on them, I'd..."

"I know, I hate it too. But we have to keep our heads down, not draw too much attention."

"And it can't get back home. I'm the one who made us settle down here, I can't be the one who gets kicked out."

"You really think they'd make you leave?"

"When they took me in... I was the perfect, athletic son they'd always wanted. Their perfect straight son. When I told Ma about finding my mate she got so excited that I was finally going to get a girlfriend and I didn't correct her... I don't know how she'd react." She crossed an arm over his chest and set her hand on his shoulder. "And I can't leave, I have-"

"You said that KC was in a group home, we would take him with us. If we had to run again." Would, not could, she'd been thinking about it too. "You gave up everything when you ran away with me that night, we'll make it work if we can't stay here. And isn't Peter living on his own too?"

"He's not going to leave his loft to travel the world with us. Not-"

"If you continue to not tell him. About you, about being mates, about-"

"About you? I have no idea how he'd react to knowing what I am, let alone me telling him that we're predestined soul mates. And there's no way to tell him the whole story without telling him yours. The fewer people who know that the better. I can't..." He sat up and ran his hands through his hair. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"It would be better coming from you." She was still laying down, her eyes drooped in fatigue, but her hand found his back to rub slow circles into it. "Just don't let him find out from someone else. Why don't we talk about this in the morning? You must be as tired as I am. Lay down, go to sleep."

"Oh yeah, so the MacPhersons can find a boy in your bed in the morning? That won't go over well, at all." He pulled her into a quick hug before standing back up.

"Yes but I know that you're not going to try anything." She stretched out on the bed, looking up at him.

"But they don't know that. And you promised not to tell anyone, didn't you? You gave me your word and I hold you to that." He made his way back over to the window before turning to look over his shoulder at her. "Speaking of boys and your bed, how's-"

"Don't say it, Riley."

"Sav?" She groaned, loud enough he worried again that they would wake up her parents. A smile curled his lips and he sat up on the window sill, eyebrows raised at her.

"I thought I said that we don't talk about the S-word anymore."

"Trouble in paradise? Again?"

"I thought you were leaving?" She stood, walking over to where he was sitting and gesturing at the open window behind him. "Riley."

"I told you my boy problems. I can't believe I just called them boy problems but we talked about them. Come on, it can't possibly be worse than you trying to convert to monotheism for a human boy. They were doomed to see through that, Anya. And you did take him back after your double standards speech, I thought that was going to be the end of you two honestly."

"I thought so too but..."

"He's Sav and he's sweet and he plays the guitar, I get it."

"I can feel you judging me. Besides, Sav and I are over. For good this time," she said sternly and he laughed before he slide backwards out onto the roof. "I mean it."

"I believe it when I see it. I'll see you in about three hours." He leaned in the window and kissed her cheek. "And thank you, for listening to me."

"Always. Go home, get some sleep."

"As my lady commands."

"Riley!"

"Ah, good morning, KC." He caught him around the shoulders as the younger boy ran up to him and ruffled KC's sandy brown hair.

"Hey, let go." He growled and tried to twist out of the grip but Riley was still bigger and stronger than him and he didn't quite manage it until Riley let go. "You said that we could talk. About-"

"Basketball. What does your group home director think? Did you ask him yet?"

"He said it was fine," KC said, too quickly and he didn't look at Riley.

"Fine?"

"Okay, he said he was okay with it as long as I stay out of trouble, which I have, and keep my grades up."

"Which you have, thank you Clare."

"Ha ha, very funny. But seriously, I have and I will. I'll be good, really good. I'll be careful, no one will know that I'm not-" He paused, glancing around them, but Riley had circled them around to the side of the school and there was no one in sight. "That I'm different. I mean, you play football, why can't I do this?"

"Because you're young and you punch holes in walls when you get upset." KC's lips set in a hard line and he glared up at Riley from under his arm.

"And you don't."

"Not at school in front of everyone. Now, I know how much basketball means to you and I know that this is all a really big change-"

"How would you know? When have you ever had to change in your life?" KC twisted out of Riley's grip and crossed his arms over his chest, moving so he was facing him instead. Riley sighed, he'd known this would get dragged up again. "When, Riley, honestly-"

"You're right. I don't know what it's like to be human one day and not the next. I know that's where you're going with this. But believe me, this, having a pack, this is a change for me. Something I've never had before. And I know that I haven't been there for you like I should be." He took KC by the shoulders and the boy's tense posture slipped a little. "If I can trust you not to make a scene, not to-"

"Wait, is that a yes? Are you saying yes?"

"Well, your legal guardian has said that you can so I can't really-"

"You're the best, best Alpha ever! I promise you won't regret this."

"I'm the only Alpha you know, that's not really a fair comparison. If you break anything-"

"I have to quit. I know. I won't. Thank you." He bounced up onto the balls of his feet to pull Riley into a quick hug and got a laugh from the older boy. "What?"

"Just a minute ago you looked like you were going to punch me in the face and now you're calling me the best Alpha ever. I should ask Anya if I was as impulsive and emotional when I was your age."

"You're still impulsive and emotional." KC didn't quite duck the playful swipe Riley aimed at his head. "Hey, we're at school, you could get detention for that. But I need to go, Clare will be here soon and I want to walk her to class."

"Of course, go have fun with your human girl."

"Rumour has it that you might have a shot with your human too." KC had nearly walked away completely before his statement really hit home and it forced Riley to jog to catch up. He caught KC by the elbow and the boy gave him a confused look. "What's wrong?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Mia."

"What about Mia?"

"You didn't hear? Mia's moving to Paris in a few days, some big modeling thing. Peter's taking it pretty hard. You should go find him, I think he needs his best friend right now."