Chapter Three
"Heroes and Villains"
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Scott's jaw clenched and he gave his head a shake, his eyes on Peter. "I have to go."
"What's your hurry?" Asked Peter calmly, stepping nearer. Scott was forced back a step despite his best effort not to move. "No one will be missing you yet, except that animal doctor of yours."
Scott tried to maintain a strong stance, his shoulders squared. "We've talked already. There's nothing you can say to change my mind. I won't be a murderer."
Peter chuckled benignly, his eyes flickering over Scott's face. After a moment of tense silence, he closed the gap between them with a harmless air, putting his arm around Scott's shoulder and turning him around, away from the stairs. "Listen, Scott. I know how you feel," he said as he gently walked Scott back across the room. "I know how you think your whole self-worth now is rooted in what kind of monster you choose to be."
Scott didn't resist at that moment, and he said nothing. He threw an uncertain look in Derek's direction. The darkness in the basement made it hard to make out the other beta's expression.
Peter pushed him backward against the chair, and Scott sat reluctantly, turning to look back up at Peter.
Peter stared down at him with an eerie light in his eyes as he took his hand off Scott's chest and straightened up. He walked a slow circle around the chair. Scott felt the alpha's hands close on his shoulders from behind in a firm grasp.
"I have to go," Scott repeated on an exhale, with a low growl of frustration in his tone. He yanked his shoulders and tried to get back to his feet.
Peter tightened his grip and quickly leaned over the back of the chair, effectively holding him in place. "Not yet, Scott," he said firmly beside Scott's ear. There was a hint of a growl in his voice too. "You'll hear me out."
Scott could hear Derek's foot steps get a little closer from the shadows, and then stop.
"You don't want to be a murderer, Scott. You don't want to be a monster, which is what you think I am, and you miss your life as a human. An innocent human." Scott could practically hear the smirk on Peter's face. "But these are words we could throw around all day... innocent... monster... heroes, villains... none of it is anything more than a matter of semantics."
"That's not true," said Scott tensely, leaning slightly sideways away from Peter. "Murder isn't a matter of semantics."
Peter loosened his grip on Scott's shoulders, and straightened up partially, so that his breath no longer hit Scott's neck when he spoke. "Murder is what the Argents did to my family," he said, quietly but dangerously. "I know what murder is, much better than you do. You're missing my point, Scott. Someone could call themselves a hero, and go around killing people. Someone else could be called a villain for trying to put an end to it." Peter let go of Scott's shoulders completely and walked back around the front of the chair to look down at him once more. His gaze was intent, and Scott met it unwaveringly. "Do you see what I'm saying, Scott? Plenty of humans are monstrous... and plenty of 'monsters' know how to play at being human."
Scott was listening, even though he was trying not to. He shook his head shortly without faltering eye contact. "None of that means you get to kill anyone," he said and his voice cracked slightly. He cleared his throat and in that sound, if not in his demeanor, his discomfort was clear. They could probably smell it on him.
Peter appeared to experience a moment of forced patience. He straightened up and took his eyes off Scott, rolling his shoulders and flexing his fingers, before slipping his hands into the pockets of his slacks. Another hint of a smirk arranged itself on his face as he glanced down at Scott, starting to walk slowly around the chair. "You know..." he paced a slow circle around Scott. "I see a lot of myself in you. You're determined, you're stubborn. And you just know that you're right." He completed another circle around the chair where Scott sat. "You think you know exactly who you are, Scott. But the fact is... you have no way of knowing if the person you think you are has anything to do with who you really are, in truth."
"I never said I know anything, except I know I won't kill -"
"Are you really a decent boy?" Peter continued, interrupting. "Decent, but with the potential to become an evil monster like me some day? Or..." He let out a chuckle that made Scott's neck hairs stand on end. Peter stopped his pacing momentarily and faced Scott. "Are you an evil monster that only thinks it's a decent boy?"
Scott didn't say anything for a second. He was trying to control the flood of anger that threatened to bubble up from his chest. He stood up slowly from the chair, facing Peter. "I'm none of that." His voice was raised a little, his eyes flashing in the dim light. He turned abruptly toward the stairs, intending to barrel right through the alpha if he needed to.
But before he had time to blink, Peter was already in front of him again, standing at the base of the stairs. Scott halted sharply. "Get out of my way..."
Peter leaned idly against the sideboard. "The answer is neither of those," he intoned softly. "You're a monster just like the rest of us, and you know it."
Scott advanced a few steps, then stopped again. "You don't know me." Seeing that Peter didn't react to his advance, he took a few more steps toward the stairs.
"I'm not done with you yet, Scott McCall."
"Yes you are. I mean - I am, I'm finished," stammered Scott angrily. "I'm leaving. If I don't get to the school by nine I lose my phone until Monday."
"Oh," said Peter with a crooked smile. "This phone?" He pulled something out of his pocket and held it up so Scott could see it in the dim light.
Scott's eyes widened angrily, and he took a few quick strides toward Peter. "Why do you have my phone?" He demanded, trying to take it from Peter's hand, but the alpha tucked it behind his back, out of reach.
That oily smile still played on Peter's lips. "To make this easier," he answered simply.
Scott stared at him, his chest heaving, his eyes livid. "What?" He growled.
There was no time for Scott to react. His wolf senses alerted him but not soon enough, and Peter was much faster and stronger. In an instant, the alpha had leaped forward and shoved Scott hard, wrapping a thick arm around his neck from behind and cutting off his air. Scott choked, eyes glinting gold as his nails scrabbled against Peter's arm, sharpening, but barely scratching him. His body shifted and his canines grew long and sharp as he fought to breathe.
Another growl thundered from the other side of the room.
But Scott wasn't paying attention. His nails gouged Peter's arm deeply, and he tried to kick the older man's legs, but he couldn't draw a breath, and Peter was forcing him to his knees.
"You're not going anywhere, Scott," snarled Peter into the boy's ear. "You're with me, whether you want to be or not. I know who you are better than you do, better than anyone does... because you're mine."
Peter kneeled down behind Scott as the boy continued to fight the strangle hold. With his knees other either side of Scott for balance, he tightened his grip around Scott's throat, his eyes flashing bright red.
Scott was starting to black out, his struggles weakening.
"Uncle," came Derek's voice, as if from far away. "Let him go."
"Calm down, Derek, I'm not killing him."
Scott's hands dropped away from Peter's arm and his head rolled back against the alpha's shoulder as the room swam into darkness. His face returned to human form, his skin covered in a light sheen of sweat.
Peter saw this, and with a grunt he pushed the boy face down to the floor.
Suddenly he could breathe again, and he drew in sharp gasps. His eyes started to work again and the world slowed its spinning. He could feel the alpha's hand holding him down by the base of his neck, and something else was keeping him from moving... He realized Peter was straddling his lower back.
"I told you to let him go," growled Derek's voice.
Scott couldn't see either of them; his head was turned the opposite way and Peter's weight stopped him from being able to turn.
"If you can't handle what has to be done, then get the hell out of here," came Peter's return growl. He pressed more weight at the base of Scott's neck, forcing a pained sound from the boy's chest.
"I'm on your side, but not like this. I won't let you do it like this." Derek's tone was low and full of warning.
Peter's nails dug painfully into the skin on both sides of Scott's neck. "You don't have a choice."
"I mean it," snarled Derek, "I'll stop you."
"Don't be an idiot, you can't stop me. Shut the hell up and let me do what I have to do."
"No..."
Scott used his arms to push himself up just enough to turn his head. Derek had lowered himself down into a defensive crouch, his bright blue eyes fixed on Peter.
There was a prolonged moment during which no one said a word. There was no sound except for Scott's labored breathing.
Then in a flash, Peter had jumped up and flung Scott toward the wall like he weighed nothing at all.
Scott hit the wall and dropped, landing on his side and trying to roll.
Peter was on him again before he could get his feet under him. There was a flash of metal as the alpha forced Scott's arms behind his back, and then the sound of a sharp metallic click.
In that same moment Derek let out a roar of anger, and came barreling forward. Peter was already prepared for him. He leaped away from Scott and met Derek mid-air, their bodies clashing violently.
The sound of their roars and their snapping teeth rang in Scott's ears as he registered what had happened. His arms were fastened behind his back. Some kind of heavy-duty handcuffs secured his wrists to the metal pipe along the wall.
Scott breathed hard as he tried to break the cuffs. For some reason he couldn't; he couldn't even bend the pipe he was cuffed to. His bare feet slipped on the musty floor as he kept fighting, trying to keep an eye on the fight at the same time.
But it didn't take long for Peter to deal the final blow. With a vicious strike, Peter's hand collided with the side of Derek's bloodied face.
Derek's eyes rolled back as his head jerked sideways, and he veered into the wall, crumpling to the floor. He groaned deep in his chest. He stopped moving, his eyes closed.
Scott knew the alpha's roar of victory as if it was something he had heard before. It was unlike any other roar, louder and stronger than any of Derek's roars, and strangely compelling... But Scott did his best to get it out of his mind, focusing on his restraints. He knew if he couldn't find a way to get free that moment, it might be over for him. And it might even be over for Derek...
Peter grabbed hold of Derek's leather jacket by the shoulder and dragged the beta heavily into the center of the room. He crouched over Derek's prone form, one clawed hand spread firmly on his nephew's chest. He raised his head and another bone-chilling howl of victory reverberated around the room. Then Peter lowered his head, and turned slowly to fix his gleaming, red eyes on Scott.
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Big Scott-whumpage on the menu for the next few chapters, I hope you can handle it! Also prepare for protective!Derek. Leave a review ;)
