Chapter 1

Chris Argent hated having to rely on anyone. And there he was, helped by an Alpha werewolf to get up after the fight. Scott McCall kept pressure on the wound while the Stillinski kid drove like a maniac to the hospital. Thanks to the two teenagers, the hunter was now walking on his own feet towards a hospital bed instead of being carried on a gurney towards the morgue.

"Mom, he needs help," Scott said quietly to the woman who approached them.

Chris nodded in greeting certain that he looked to all the world like a man who sprained his ankle and needed a bit of support. He was used to putting on a good façade so that the enemy wouldn't know just how badly he was hurt. It was one of the many tricks that kept him alive. Although it didn't appear so, at this point Scott was pretty much carrying him. Something was definitely very wrong because he could barely see anymore. He followed the white blur that was probably Scott's mother. A few minutes later he was laying on a bed while his shirt was being cut away from his wounds.

"Is there anything special I should know? What did this to him?" a female voice was asking.

"It was something that looked like a bear. I called Deaton on the way here and he said that we don't have to worry about anything in particular. Just stop the bleeding and fix his wounds. No poisoned claws this time."

The woman's hands were moving swiftly over his body. Chris could feel the blood still gushing from the wound.

"I have to call a doctor. He needs surgery, Scott," she was saying.

"No doctor," Chris said in a steady voice. "It's not that serious."

To prove his point he managed to sit up and even to swing his legs off the bed. It hurt like hell and probably made him bleed even more, but he needed to convince her.

"If you die, I'm going to kill you," she said and pushed him back in bed.

He passed in and out of consciousness after that. When he woke up, he felt sore all over. On closer examination he saw that he was wearing only a hospital gown. He moved his arm tentatively and the IV's needle stung him. He debated taking it out, because he didn't like not knowing what substance was being dripped into him, and at the same time, grudgingly admitting that he trusted Scott with his life so he could assume it was something helpful and not a poison. He saw the woman in the chair next to his bed. She was sleeping with her head on the table and her arms around head trying to find some comfort in what looked like an extremely uncomfortable position. He couldn't see her face, just her long brown hair, in a loose braid over her back.

He decided he didn't need the IV and took the needle out slowly. It hurt but he refrained from making any noise. He looked around the room and saw his clothes on the other chair. The plan was to get dressed and leave quietly. He managed to get out of bed but the plan fell apart when he stumbled noisily at the first step. The woman startled awake. Her head snapped up and he heard her neck cracking at the sudden movement. She groaned in pain but didn't hesitate. In a split second she was next to him, supporting his weight just like Scott had.

"Get back in bed and promise to behave or I'm calling an orderly and have you tied to this bed," she told him.

Her voice was level, with no trace of humor or threat. He didn't like to be bossed around. The women in his life had always taken the strategy decisions, but they never told him what to do. Chris remembered that despite not telling him what to do, they all managed to get him to do exactly what they wanted. His wife and his daughter used a sort of sweet manipulation, based on the sincere love that bound them. His mother and his sister, had manipulated him into doing darker things.

He obeyed the order, and went back to bed, trying to push away memories of his dead mother, his dead sister, his dead wife and his dead daughter. Why had he even thought about them at all, he wondered. How long had it been since a woman had addressed him in any other capacity than hunting related?

"Thank you, Mrs. McCall," he said after she helped him climb into bed.

She smiled briefly. It was a nice smile, and it lit her face but Chris noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. She was a good looking woman, and for a split second, he wished he could make her truly smile, not just as a polite, standard response.

"Now that you're awake, I'm going to get the Sheriff. He wants to talk to you."

The nurse walked out, and soon the Sheriff walked in. It was the beginning of a routine that would go on for months. The kids moved away to college and all the battles that followed, with all the creatures attracted by the beacon, Chris Argent faced alone after that.