Inner Beasts

A Teen Wolf fanfiction

We are what we create.

Enjoy.

The heartbeat started at eighteen days, before there was ever a corporeal form, but following after the newly created soul. In the formless void, there were waters that sprung free from fertile ground which was the womb and a connection made between mother and child. Each passing day, hour, minute, second saw the contours of body and being as it was caressed into perfection by development's hand, the small fetus growing as if underneath its own volition.

Its heart pumped with a passionate purpose.

He wanted to live.

And so it was, the seed basking in warmth of both body and love, sheltered by the same two who had come together to help create it. Mother and father, husband and wife, lover and lover. Nurtured in the haven of heavens, the only home known to it, the woman whose voice was like a choir of angels.

His heartbeat was hers…

She adjusted herself to try and help alleviate her discomfort, quickly being chastised by Derek. "Hey – hold still you. I'm having a moment here." Maia smirked from where she was propped up on her pillows, looking at her husband. He was laying alongside her body, his hand and ear pressed firmly to her stomach, the female reaching down to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"Sorry. How's it going in there anyway, Derek," she asked before twisting to grab the spoon and half of cantaloupe sitting on the nightstand.

The Alpha male kissed her small, but prominently rounded belly before pulling down her tank top and propping himself up on an elbow, his eyes turning to look at her. Maia was dressed in only a shirt and boy shorts, her thick waves pulled into a messy knot at her crown in a way that made her look much younger than her twenty-five years. She was smiling faintly, just as wrapped around and pleased with the baby as he often was. "Well, you sound like a seashell in there with the way your heartbeats overlap and how your blood sounds rushing through your body. Kinda like the waves crashing inside of you: I can hear all the moving."

"Yeah, and I can feel it – if I'm not prepared for it, it can really freak me out. What felt like a series of somersaults caught Momma Bear off guard the other day when I was at the store with Kali…"

They shared a laugh before Derek rubbed her stomach, knowing that his mate liked the affectionate gesture. True to kind, she wolf-hummed, stretching out her toes as she lengthened her body in response to him.

His eye then caught the clock when it strayed from watching her eat, the male sighing, "You should go ahead and get some sleep, sweetheart. You've got work in the morning and when duty calls-"

"Derek, I'm busy incubating right now. Give me a break and let me eat this cantaloupe in peace – I'll sleep when I'm dead," Maia replied disobediently, knowing that he would back down at the mere thought of what was growing inside of her. He did what he could to keep from upsetting her so as to keep her happy and comfortable, which she had been thus far into her pregnancy.

"Seventeen weeks down, twenty-three left to go."

Maia looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes, knowing that for him the next few months wouldn't be nearly as difficult as her own, "You say that as if its going to be a cake walk from here on out."

He scoffed and got out of the bed to take off his sweats before he went to sleep, feeling her eyes on him. "Yeah, no. Nothing is ever a 'cake walk' with you – your last name is Hale, remember that," Derek retorted with a grin, walking back to his side of the bed. She couldn't help how her eyes roamed his nakedness, Maia setting down the leftovers of her late night snack and licking the juice from her sticky fingers. "How could I ever forget it? I have your body in my bed, your blood in my veins and your bloodline in my womb: baby, being a Hale is as much a part of me as my wolf is." Derek chucked once before letting his head hit his pillow, seeing her scrolling through her iPhone intently.

"So what's in the docket for tomorrow?"

She sighed and reached up to scratch the back of her neck, seeming strangely evasive. "I have two board meetings in the morning, a committee proposal presentation, an interview… uh, business over lunch, review and decisions on policy. Busy day, but it should go quickly," Maia murmured as she set her phone down to charge and moved to turn off the lamp.

"Lunch with who? You hardly ever take a lunch break as is and you only do so when its one of the pack."

"I'm having lunch with Scott, babe," she replied, her voice quiet as her hand stilled on the lamp.

The two of them looked at each other, Derek's eyes narrowed as he searched her face. There hadn't been much contact between the youngest pack members aside from whenever Maia needed to talk to them – other than that, they kept to themselves and the pack let them be, on their leader's orders, of course. "He just called me a few days ago and asked me if I wanted to have lunch with him downtown. It did come out of the blue after he asked me to respect his privacy, but I guess he's getting bored with summer school and all that other teenage angst. I'm not complaining though, I kind of missed the dweeb." Derek sighed and bunched his pillow up on his bicep, thinking about the other lone wolf in his pack.

"What are we going to do about Jackson," he questioned almost innocently, as if he did not know the laws and protocol. Jackson's father had not been happy about the events of the past few months, especially the whole practically-unexplainable situation with his death and was now sending the young teen to London to keep him from running with what he considered a bad crowd. "Don't think its fair for him to be punished for something he can't control."

Maia turned to look at him, her eyes searching his face, "We'll discuss our options with the others over dinner… After all, he is my fledgling too, Derek and despite my shitty way of showing it, I love all of the wolves in my life. Even if they want to leave me."

"Whoa! Was that a personal jab, babe?"

She smiled at his slightly offended tone as he chided her and pulled the lamp string, plunging the room into shifting degrees of darkness. "Of course it was. I hope you didn't think my being with child would soften me up," his wife remarked, Derek rolling over and laughing quietly into the silence.

"Never – you're mean as shit and hard as nails. That's engrained in you," he replied as she threw her arm over his waist and snuggled into his back.

"What can I say? I'm one beast of a woman."

Scott looked down at his cell phone to check the time, looking around for Maia. They had agreed to meet at twelve for lunch at her favorite restaurant, and for as much as he knew about her, she was always prompt-

He turned back to take his glass of water and was startled to see her sitting before him, smiling as she took of her shades. "Jesus, Maia! You scared me- I thought you were running late," Scott said, hearing her laugh quietly. "Of course not, McCall. Just wanted to see that scared animal look you get on your face anytime you're with me," she replied, running a hand back through her hair before resting a hand on her stomach.

Maia didn't miss the look he gave her, the corners of her mouth curving up slightly, "Its not like my belly is going to bite you. Now myself, on the other hand…"

"Isn't it weird? Feeling something inside of you moving and growing, and having its presence take over your life?"

"I'm not sure this conversation is about mine being pregnant, more than it is about your wolf," Maia replied knowingly, pausing as the waitress came to greet her and get her order. When they were alone again, she inclined her head curiously towards him before moving her chair closer towards his and reaching out to take his hand. Scott didn't resist as she brought his hand to rest on the curve of her stomach, confused until he felt a small movement against his palm. It continued almost leisurely, the teen quiet as he felt a strange sense of bonding with the unborn wolf, hearing Maia chuckle. "It's pretty cool, isn't it? And the presence of a children in one's life does not mean that it is devoid of meaning or that the meaning has changed: its enhanced, Scott. The meaning in my life has become something much greater than myself or Derek, my pack even- I would die, a thousand times over, because I realize that being a mother is what makes me… me. Being a werewolf is what makes you… you, along with all the other things in your life that keeps you grounded and defines you."

He looked at her and swallowed, settling back in his seat as she continued to talk. "Don't get me wrong though sweetheart, I understand what its like, having no control over your future, having no say in your life. And it sucks… But you have to make a choice, to be bitter or better. And you're not going to do that moping around about Allison," Maia said, seeing how his eyes widened.

"Are you having me followed?"

She looked at him as their food came, startled by his question, "What, you think I'm having my pack trail you? No- I can smell it on you, though. Your sadness and how badly you're… grieving: what else would you be hurting over? That whole Allison statement was a hunch."

"What does sadness smell like," Scott asked as he picked up his fork and began to play in his pasta. She looked sad for a moment before tucking her hair behind her ears, sighing quietly. "Like the earth after it rains. Because rain is peaceful and cleansing, but there is no peace or end to the sadness we create ourselves. And so when people long for something, for long enough, they take on that essence." He watched as Maia began to cut up her food, unsure if his next statement would anger her, "I've never paid much attention to scent without needing a cause too. You smell like I do, sometimes."

"We all have things we're sad about, honey," Maia replied, the conversation lulling for a moment.

When she put down her fork and touched her temple, Scott looked at her nervously, seeing the look on her face. "What's the matter?" Maia rubbed her stomach as she inhaled deeply, seeming to try and calm the baby, "Full moon is coming and unfortunately, with every passing moon, the beasts inside of me get stronger. My wolf is driving me crazy…"

"Would it be okay if I started coming around more? With everything that happened with Jackson, I kinda got used to the whole… pack life. To you and the others; hell, even Stiles misses Derek," Scott said, the both of them laughing. She nodded and looked at her young pack mate, seeing how much the past few weeks had changed him. He seemed more confident in himself and his abilities- something she knew stemmed from his stint in summer school as he answered the challenge of getting life back on track. Scott had done good for himself as of late and she had no problem having him around, Maia reaching out for her seltzer water. "Scott, you don't ever have to ask to be with your family. When you're with us, you're home."

They continued lunch with small talk about the coming school year and her continued work as mayor, Scott interested with the new changes that were coming to Beacon Hills. When it was time to leave, she paid for their meal despite his insistence to do so, standing to crack her neck and shake off her discomfort. Maia smoothed down her sheath dress over her growing stomach, looking at the black Chrysler Three Hundred that pulled up to the curb.

Scott watched as she started walking towards the car, seeing a huge hulk of a man step around to grab the door. He was dressed in a nice suit that fit tightly over his arms, Scott sensing some familiarity with the stranger before him.

"Hey!"

Maia turned around with her clutch in her hand and jacket over her arm, almost looking like a model on a catwalk, curious as to why Scott wanted to say, "Yes?" He gestured to the car and smirked, thinking it strange that she would let herself be chauffeured around town. "Never pegged you for the whole bodyguard and bulletproof car kind of thing, Mai." She laughed and shook her head, moving towards the man.

"Trust me, I'm not that girl. However, Derek just insisted about me not being behind the wheel for the next few months and unfortunately for me, Ennis here agreed."

The young wolf was shocked that the huge man was in fact the same huge wolf that had steadily refused to shift back for everyday life, standing before him quietly as he looked at Maia almost lovingly. "You are going to be late for your meeting, love," Ennis said with the slight inflect of an accent, Scott almost embarrassed that he had thought him incapable of speech.

"Well, that's my cue then Scott. Come over for dinner tomorrow night: Derek's marinating about a hundred racks of ribs that are to die for. I'll save you a place," Maia said, handing Ennis her jacket before stepping into the car and immediately pulling out her cell phone. He closed the door for her and turned to Scott, Ennis smirking almost menacingly.

"See you tomorrow, pup."