Peter has a strange set of skills. He knows when to freeze and seem harmless, or blend with the interior so well, no one seems to see him there. He knows how to be aggressive enough to intimidate a Kree soldier into submission. Peter seems to know all the weak spots on the body.
Sometimes Rocket will find a stash of food in an obscure place on the Milano. After the first time he took it for himself and Peter had looked at him like he was a traitor, the Raccoon leaves those alone.
Peter will playfully bite Gamora. He will never pierce skin, but he will sometimes roll her over and squeeze his teeth on her nape, leaving her almost helpless, bucking into his cock, and mewling with pleasure, while he laughs without letting go.
When Peter sees something as his, you better not touch it. Because a fierce protective side will make sure that the man gets it back, and gets you back as well. Those he considers his, remain so until he says otherwise.
While Peter still sometimes defers to Yondu when they see each other, it is obvious that there is a tension there, brought on by the fact that both men are leaders, and neither wants to give up their share of power. So Yondu never stays too long on the Milano, and Peter hasn't spent over a day on the Eclector.
He never lets them have the first bite. The one time Rocket tried to grab the food first he got smacked on the paw, and glared at furiously, until he finally settled down with a grumble and waited until Quill got the first piece. He later joked that he's using Peter as his personal poison tester. No one brings up the fact that they can not remember a time when they saw Peter eat second.
To Peter himself, things are as they should be. He learned a long time ago that there was a strict order to things, and he intends to stick to it for as long as he can. And he can do that until he dies, the Terran thinks.
When he was first brought to the Ravager's ship he did not see anybody. Crying, sniffling, on the verge of mental exhaustion and a psychological breakdown, the boy was chunked into the cargo hold. Unfortunately for him, or not depending on the point of view, the place was not empty. There was a shipment of a rare Terran beast being transported as well, placed in the spacious hangar along with some prey for it, and greenery to survive. A water source was constructed as well, in hopes of preserving the animals' instincts. The pack of wolves ordered by the Collector to be delivered in their natural habitat.
And the little terrified child that was chunked in with them.
It took the Ravagers 7 month to get out of the sector system of Terra, and back to the civilized Universe. At that time nobody remembered feeding or even looking after their humie cargo. By the time they did and started looking, many thought it was too late.
It was Yondu, the Second Lieutenant, who, in the end, was smart enough to check the hanger with the Terran predators. He half expected to see a pile of bones somewhere in the corner as he stepped inside. He did not however expect a silent slash to his ankles followed by a small weight slamming into his side, bringing him down. And while he did not stay down long, it was enough to glance at the visage of wild eyes, mattered hair, and bared teeth, as the missing kid leaped at him with a loud howl, echoed from every side.
Casting his eyes to the constructed relief, the Centaurian could almost feel like he was back on his home planet, hunting once more for the survival of the tribe. Wolves, 5 of them, stood on various high points of the fake heels, teeth showing and hackles raised, as a child crouched in front of him, clutching a thin sharpened wire in his skinny hands.
It took the Lieutenant 3 hours to slowly, so very slowly, get close enough to the kid, without killing his wolves, and disarm him. But when he finally has him in a chokehold and drags the boy, kicking and screaming out of the hangar, the shrill cries turn desperate. The Terran tries with all his might to break free and get back into the room, but Yondu doesn't let him.
For a few more months after they finally get him out, Peter is wild. He doesn't talk, he doesn't eat in the cantina with the rest, and he doesn't want to let go of the wire. That turns out to be a part of some primitive device the kid had in his pack. Same pack one of his men was sent back into the hangar to retrieve. Unfortunately fro him, the Xandarian did not possess the same instincts as Yondu an ended up feeding the pack. After that, another was sent in, with better results, getting away with only a bite to his tendons and the tattered cloth bag.
It's Kraglin that gets the child to talk in the end. He does it with the surprising use of kid's device, which turns out to be for playing music. As soon as he makes it work again, the boy's ears perk up, and he lights up, lunging for the man. Slowly, holding the player in his hand, Kraglin coaxed words out of the boy. One, followed by another, followed by another. Then they just don't stop and one day it turns out, hey! The kid can talk, he can even sing.
And after a few more months, when the decision to keep him has already been made, and Quill is learning the insides of the ship's coils and engines, something comes up.
A Ravager tries to take something of his. And suddenly Yondu is right back at the green mossy hangar, with wolves staring at him. Because the child crouches and takes off, slicing the man's tendons with a knife he begged of Yondu himself, and then sinking his teeth into his jugular. And the Centaurian thanks the Gods he doesn't believe in, for apparently not letting Peter be high enough in the old wolf pack to be allowed to do that to him when they first met.
It takes 3 men to pull roaring Quill off the gurgling crewmember, and he only lets go once a decent chunk has been taken out. Pulling out of the hands nervously holding him, Peter stands up, looks at the dying man and demonstratively chews and swallows the flesh. The terror and fear in the eyes of the others is not at all hard to see. Especially once the kid turns around and holds the second chunk out to Yondu.
One has to give credit where credit is due, the man doesn't even flinch when he accepts and takes a bite of his own. He's earned respect in the boy's eyes that day, and fear in every Ravager's.
Peter Quill never loses the knowledge he gained by living the most stressful time of his life with the pack of Terran wolves. He made his own pack, and respects his old. He bares his teeth at his old Alpha, and doesn't let Yondu dominate him anymore. And for all of his carefree attitude, he will never let another control his life.
Peter's eyes shine bright in the darkness of the Universe, lighting the way for his pack.