A/N – Thanks so much to the most incredible collection of people in the world, namely those who take the time to review my own and other stories on this site. Some people reviewed that I've never seen before, and many more consistently comment on everything I produce and I want you to know I will always love hearing from you! Now the story enters the 'training' phase, where the kids figure out they have a great deal to learn from their parents after all, as well as the rest of the Pack that I've not given any real face time to. Don't worry, that changes.
Derek faced off against his son, leaning over and growling with eyes aflame and claws and fangs fully extended. The two wore only running shorts so as not to get their clothes covered in blood. He wouldn't push past the Beta phase for this part of their training…but even that seemed to be a bit much since Erik hadn't phased at all…
Derek stood up straight and sighed. "You aren't shifting."
Erik folded his arms across his thin frame, so like Stiles they could have been twins. "I know, Dad. I still can't control it yet."
"I can't teach you how to fight if you can't shift at will. You have to have two things to hold on to at all times. One thing that makes you furious, and another that makes you calm. Here, put on this heart monitor. Werewolves shift when their heart rate reaches 165 beats per minute."
"Wow, that's high. Can we have coronary thrombosis, occlusions or infarctions?"
Derek's eyes were wide. "What?"
Erik rolled his eyes. "Nevermind."
"So, you're going to teach yourself how to get your heart rate above or below that mark, at will. Understand?"
"Of course! This is Biofeedback, which is becoming aware of various physiological functions using devices that provide information on the activity of those same systems, with a goal of being able to manipulate them at will. Processes that can often be controlled include brainwaves, muscle tone, skin conductance, pain perception and heart rate! Changes occur in conjunction to thoughts, emotions and behavior. Eventually, I'll be able to do it without the heart monitor. Awesome!"
The only word Derek understood in the entire tirade was 'Awesome'.
Lydia brought them out some bottled waters from the house. Noting the heart monitor, she brightened. "Biofeedback! Awesome! You know Derek, Biofeedback is becoming aware of-"
"LEAVE NOW!" Derek roared, the muscles under his skin rolling like waves on the beach. His water bottle exploded in his crushing grip.
"I guess I'm your trigger, I'm flattered. Good luck, boys!" she wandered back to the house while Derek fought the urge to just let go and rampage through the forest. When he was sufficiently calm, he turned back to his son, and tried not to be irritated at the huge smirk on his face. Erik quickly wiped it off and drank down his water.
"You ready? Go ahead son, shift."
Derek waited about 30 seconds. Nothing happened. "You're not trying hard enough. I've never met a teenager that wasn't enraged about something. What were you thinking about?"
"When they took the Discovery Channel off our cable package."
Derek rolled his eyes. "Think of something even more annoying."
"How about Laurie?"
"How about the night your father got shot?" Derek said quietly.
Erik growled, and the heart monitor beeped frantically. Derek watched with a mixture of pride and sadness as the remark sent his son into the Beta phase. It was a low blow.
"I don't want to use that!" he said through clenched fangs.
"Erik…there is a rage in our people that's almost as old as we are. We have been hunted and persecuted by ignorant humans for hundreds of years. They think nothing of taking away that which is most precious to us. That is exactly what you have to tap into to control your change."
"You want me to hate human beings." he said flatly. He shifted back.
"No. Just those that would hurt us." Derek replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's like at school. There were kids you got along with and…um, there were kids you got along with?"
Erik's eyes smoldered. "This is the 'Erik Evil-Eye' you're seeing right here."
"Terrifying. I should never have told you what your Pop and I call our Glares. Anyway, some kids were your…I mean they didn't bother you…and other kids gave you a hard time. How did you feel when they were picking on you?"
Erik sulked. "Not great."
"Why not? Because they called you names? Nerd? Weakling? Geek? Dork? Sissy?"
Erik's eyes flared at the last one. There was a beep from the device.
"Did kids call you that, Erik?" he asked quietly.
"No dad. They…"
"What? Tell me."
"They called you and Pop that. Other names too, worse names."
"Have you two gotten a lot of flak because of us?" Derek fought the urge to grab his son in a hug and comfort him. Later, after training he promised himself.
"Yeah, a bit. I don't care though, they don't get how you guys are! I can't imagine either of you with anyone else! I wouldn't change anything about either of you!" Derek knew his son was telling the complete truth, and he felt an unfamiliar surge of affection for him…not just because he was Derek's son, but because he was Erik…a young man he wanted to get to know a lot more.
"I'm glad to hear you say that, son. But I am sorry you had to go through that. You know, among werewolves, I mean the old families…it's no big deal. Mating is sort of like fate or destiny. You can't make the wrong choice…deep down, you always know." Derek looked into the sunset, his thoughts un-guessable to his son.
"Dad…let's try again." Erik finally said.
"All right. Shift."
Erik closed his eyes. Whatever he was thinking of was obviously effective, because in less than ten seconds, the monitor was beeping rapidly. Erik opened his eyes, and they were a smoky golden amber. He gave an open mouthed growl at his father, revealing long white fangs.
Derek nodded grimly. "Good, son. Now…come at me!"
Derek barely had time to shift himself before Erik was upon him.
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When they returned to the house, Stiles gave them both his Stun-Gaze. The two were covered in claw and bite marks.
"Derek! I said you could train our son, not eat him! Couldn't you hold back a little, he's new at this!"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. For your information, he gave as good as he got. Turns out our son has a lot of repressed anger! I wonder who he gets it from?" Derek sighed heavily as he settled into a wooden kitchen chair and pleasurably drank three bottles of water while Erik drank two. Despite his injuries, Erik bounced around the kitchen, grabbing cold fried chicken out of the fridge and ripping into it like Ghengis Khan.
"I totally kicked Dad's ass! Well, almost. It was all over when he went Alpha. But Dad taught me how to shift whenever I want, and I think I have it down! I can't wait until tomorrow!"
Scott looked bemusedly at the two of them. "He's enjoying his training a hell of a lot more than I enjoyed mine! Look at him, Derek! He's really into it! I can't wait to send Christine over to you when she comes of age. I personally think she will tear you apart, Alpha or not!"
Derek groaned, remembering his last encounter with Scott's terrifying daughter. That girl was born with her rage trigger locked firmly in the 'ON' position.
Jackson smirked. "I love that Pack rule that the Alpha has to train all cubs. Dylan will probably shift at the same time as Christine, Derek. He's at least as rabid as she is."
"Did the four of you do heavy drugs while you were pregnant with those kids?" Derek groaned, thanking his lucky stars he still had three or four years before that nightmare became reality. "Besides, we ALL have to train all of the cubs. Scott, your specialty is one on one combat. Ted and Danny are the best at tracking. Lydia and Allison can teach guerilla tactics and environmental warfare. Jackson, what can you teach them?"
"Make sure your claws aren't out when you watch porn. You'll dice yourself up like an onion."
"Uncle Jackson! Eughhh!" Erik clapped his hands over his ears and fled the kitchen.
"Jackson, you will be eating a bar of soap if you ever talk to my son like that again." Stiles said grimly.
"Chill out, Stiles. Believe me, I wish someone had given me that advice!"
Despite his pain, Derek just had to laugh.
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Laurie walked into the bathroom while Erik was still cleaning his wounds.
"In some cultures, typically Western ones like the United States, it is frowned upon for more than one person to be in a private bathroom." Erik remarked, in between hissing at the sting of the antiseptic.
"In some cultures, people would just say 'Get out!' Why are you bothering with that? Dad says we just heal anyway. You can't even find Pop's bullet wound." Laurie replied.
"Let me try another tactic. Asking you to talk about your feelings usually sends you running…how do you feel, Laurie?"
"If you want me gone, I'm gone." She turned around, and Erik had to drop what he was holding and use his new extra speed to get in front of her.
"Whoa! I didn't think you were really upset! I like our back and forth teasing banter. What's up?"
"I feel like I'm the only one in the world who's upset by all of this! Look at you, all this shifting is giving you muscles you never had before! The kids are going to freak and accuse you of being on steroids the next time you're in gym!"
Erik lifted an arm and kissed one of his own biceps. "Yeah, I have filled out quite nicely into a near Olympian ideal, a prime example of delectable masculinity…"
Laurie laughed at him. "You're a nerd with muscles."
"I've asked you not to call me names like that." he growled, his eyes flaring.
Laurie's face got serious. "You never minded it much before, not from me! You would just call me names back. You're changing, Erik, and I don't mean into a wolf! You're more confident now, and you have all of this ego and self-esteem-"
"And that's a bad thing? You sound like you're upset I'm not a little weakling that people can just push around anymore! Or is it that you don't get to play 'Supergirl' and rescue me from the clutches of evil bullies?"
Laurie turned pale at seeing how angry he was, at how angry she was making him…at her. This was not what she wanted when she came to see him. "No, of course not! But… where does it end? Are you going to become a completely different person? Am I? Even Pop's changing a little bit! He puts up with a lot less crap than he ever did before, even with Dad! I'm freaking scared, Erik! Can't you see that? Damn it, I don't want to change!"
She left him, and this time he didn't stop her. He looked into the mirror and saw that all of the minor cuts and scratches were gone in just the time he was talking to Laurie. Sighing, he stared at his reflection, and tried to see the subtle changes she was talking about. For the life of him, he couldn't…he felt like the same person. He put away the antiseptic and locked the bathroom door before tossing the bloody shorts in the hamper and hopping in the shower.
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The next day saw Derek again clad in running shorts, while Laurie wore some crazy designer military-looking outfit that her Aunt Allison bought her. The shorts and top were made of very tough material that was difficult to tear, while also looking fashionable. The card read 'For the Sarah Connor in all of us!'
"All right, Laurie. Shift." Derek fully expected to have to repeat yesterday's lesson in full, and he had the heart monitor ready.
Laurie came for him.
"You're not shifting-" he began before she reached him, and with an expert foot-sweep had her father lying on his back, the dirt and pebbles digging into his bare skin. She jumped up and slammed her elbow into his chest like a pile driver, the whole weight of her body behind it. The air whooshed out of Derek's lungs and he curled into a fetal position. She stood over him, grinning triumphantly.
When he recovered, he stood regarding her warily. "Was that supposed to prove a point?" he asked.
"Yes. I don't need to be a werewolf to kick anyone's ass. I can do it myself!"
"Laurie…a werewolf is not something you become, it's something you are. You have always been a werewolf, and you always will be one, even if you never shift again in your life! You have to get over this attitude problem if you're ever going to-"
Laurie jumped and whirled in the air, connecting her LadyKed sneaker solidly with her father's jaw. He crumpled to the floor. When he stood, his eyes were flashing a menacing crimson. She looked at him calmly. No fear smell at all, and her heart rate was elevated, but not enough for a shift…she was keeping it leveled off intentionally. Despite her resistance, she was learning to control the shift…just for a different reason than most werewolves.
"Young lady, you will not attack me again unless I give you the go ahead, and you are in your Beta form."
"I can't promise anything." She folded her arms in her typical gesture of defiance.
"Then we are done here today." Derek turned and walked back to the house, leaving her standing alone in the clearing.
"Sore loser!" she called after him. There was no reply. She heard the back door slamming from too far away. Either her wolf hearing was turned on, or he was furious with her. Her stomach turned at the idea that she would lose the close relationship she had with him…the two had been thick as thieves ever since she could remember. In her baby pictures, he held her more often than not, that look of savage pride plastered all over his features. Now, he was spending way more time with Erik while she found herself clinging to Pop. He never forced her to do anything; if she told him she was done with training for the day, he just nodded and said he was there to talk if she wanted. She never took him up on the offer, but she appreciated it just the same and found every excuse to be near him. He enjoyed the new attention, that was obvious, but she knew he was worried about her.
She went inside after about half an hour. They knew better than to force her. One sniff told her that Dad and Erik were gone. She cursed the fact that the heightened senses were almost impossible to turn off. Pop was at his computer, working on some spread sheets for the company.
"Hey, sweetheart." She could tell he wanted to ask more questions, but experience told him that was the easiest way to get her to clam up. He just waited expectantly until she was ready to speak. How could it be after all these years that he had such an understanding of her?
"Dad's pretty mad, huh?" she asked in a small voice.
"Oh, I've seen him in worse moods over the years. Once or twice. You should have seen him before we were married, I thought his eyes were going to pop out from all the Glaring. He was always either snarling or clenching his teeth. I was usually the cause of that, early on. If I had a nickel for every time he slammed my head into something…"
"Dad did that to you? That's horrible!" Laurie exclaimed. When Derek dragged her out for training tomorrow, she was going to pile drive him extra hard.
"He was falling in love with me, and didn't know how else to express it. He never really hurt me, and I'm not just saying that. He used to brutalize your Uncle Scott when he first got bitten, and I knew your Dad was practically using kid gloves with me, despite how much my ADHD pissed him off. Dad had to save my life once, and I never saw him so furious. That's when I knew. When he finally confessed how he felt, he never did any of that again. This sounds twisted, but I kind of missed it. You have no idea how Badass and sexy he was when he- oh, Geez, honey. I'm sorry." Laurie's face was green. "Anyway…in order for you to really understand him, I think it's time for you to learn some of the family history."
Stiles pulled out an enormous family album, a different volume than the one with all of their baby pictures.
He flipped through it until he found a large family photo. The only person Laurie recognized was her Dad, at an unbelievable fifteen or sixteen years of age. It was hard to imagine him that young.
"Who are they? Obviously they're Dad's family, but how come I never heard about them?"
Stiles named each of the figures in the photo, along with their relationships. "You never heard about them because they died in a fire set by Kate Argent…your Uncle Chris' sister. Please don't bring her up to him. He's still touchy."
Stiles flipped to a page that contained a newspaper clipping describing her death and role in the arson. Laurie found herself chilled by the empty gaze in the dead woman's face.
"The only survivors were your Dad, and his sister Laura…the new Alpha. I wonder sometimes if the reason why you guys were so close is that you remind him so much of her…it must be like having her back in a way." Stiles flipped to a photo of her, and Laurie was shocked at the resemblance between them.
"And this…is his Uncle Peter." Another picture of a smiling man with his arms around his brother and sister-in-law.
"Peter survived the fire, but was crippled for six years before his healing factor caught up to the damage. I can't imagine what it was like for him. Anyway, some murders began happening in town, and Uncle Scott got bitten. As his best friend, I tried to help him out…then we ran into your Dad, who wanted to find out who killed his sister. It turned out that Peter had become an Alpha by tricking Laura into coming to see him…and killing her to get her power. He also killed all the people who had a role in the fire, including Kate at the end of everything. He bit Scott to have a Pack to help him, though he regretted that decision early on. Uncle Scott is such a lousy werewolf."
Stiles laughed a little, but Laurie could see the tears coming down his cheeks.
"Your Dad lost everyone in his life. He had to kill Peter, his own uncle, which made him the Alpha. After that, he was so afraid to reach out to anybody… because the pain of loss was something he couldn't bear to feel anymore. He wouldn't turn me because of the risk, and I understood…though it always felt like it was a club I wasn't allowed to join. Your Dad is putting a lot of pressure on you to train, because he worries that you'll get hurt if you don't master it…or that you'll hurt someone else which could lead to all sorts of unpleasant consequences for our whole family. He would die defending you, Laurie. He would kill to protect you. I would too…and that was the case long before your Dad ever bit me. Those feelings never change. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
Laurie nodded, her throat had closed and she was quite unable to speak.
"Well, you make your own decisions about things, and you make them in your own time. I'm going to have a talk with him, and tell him to lay off your training until you feel you're ready for it. You didn't ask for any of this." He folded the album and put it away.
Laurie gave him a hug. "Don't worry about it. I think I am ready to train with him. Tell him I won't give him such a hard time about shifting tomorrow…but I won't go easy on him! He just better bring it."
Stiles laughed out loud. "He wouldn't expect any less."