The Wolf Amoung Us
Summary: After having lost Peter to his obsession with power, Sydney was sure of one thing and one thing only: she needed to pull her life back together. With unexpected news that will change everything, will she become the strong alpha that she desires so much or will she struggle to keep it together until it's too late? Season 5: Peter Hale/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Sydney however is all mine.
Chapter 4:
Sleeping at night hadn't gotten any easier since Sydney had visited Doctor Steve, and even if her nightmares weren't quite as gruesome, they were still very present and very terrifying, waking her up nightly from the horrifying images swimming in her head. If Steve hadn't rightfully informed her that she was pregnant, then Sydney would have come up with a plan of her own, potentially bringing in the twins to help her, and she knew that it wouldn't have been pretty.
The idea of having them spar with her until she nearly passed out had crossed her mind more than once but she had to protect the baby, it wasn't just about her anymore. Being reckless wasn't going to fly and she knew that she had to step it up, she had to start being a responsible adult, even that was something she wasn't entirely familiar with.
The twins had been very helpful lately, Aidan spending most of the nights with her curled up in his arms as he tried to draw out her pain. All she wanted to do was sleep peacefully but the nightmares, the chills, the heartache, was far too much for her to handle on her own and she found the tiniest bit of comfort within Aidan's hold, at the very least, he provided her with the knowledge that she wasn't alone and there were other wolves counting on her.
When Friday rolled around, she had managed to pull herself together well enough to make the lasagna that she had planned on making. It had started smelling delicious soon after she had thrown it in the over and with the only thing left to make being the garlic bread, she took a seat at the kitchen table and let out a sigh.
Ethan, who had been helping her make the dinner, wandered over and flopped down into the chair next to her, reaching his hand out and running his palm down her arm. She flashed him a small, sad smile and scooted her chair closer to his, letting him take hold of her hand in a comforting gesture.
If he really knew how much she was hurting, how badly her entire body truly ached, then he was well aware of how difficult it was for her to try and keep it together. His fingers gave her hand a gentle squeeze and she carefully lowered her head down, resting her chin on the surface of the table.
"I feel bad." Ethan admitted softly and she tipped her head the tiniest bit to look him in the eye.
"Why?" She was utterly confused. It wasn't like Ethan played a part in her getting pregnant, nor had he been involved in the whole situation that had caused her to lose Peter in the first place. In her head, there was absolutely no reason for him to feel bad, not when she had managed to get herself into her current position on her own.
"For not being able to help you." He answered and leaned down so that he was a little bit closer to her. "I hate that you're hurting and I can't do anything to help. Aidan feels the same way."
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to picture Peter's face but when all she could manage was his screwed up werewolf visage, she shook her head, leaned back in the chair and opened her eyes to look right back at Ethan. The face that she had seen was the face of betrayal, a face that broke her heart knowing that he had chosen power over being with her.
"You guys are probably one of the only reasons why I'm not going right off the deep end completely." She admitted with a small sigh. "So please don't feel bad, it'd be so much easier if we all just pretended that there's nothing wrong with me."
"Well there isn't really anything wrong with you. You're pregnant." Ethan pointed out with a teasing grin and she rolled her eyes at him in response. "As for the whole withdrawal thing, we're trying to come up with some sort of solution, at the very least maybe there's something we can do to help you."
She sucked in a breath and held it for a few seconds, twisting her hand under his hold and intertwining her fingers with his. He shifted his chair closer to hers and moved to sit on the edge of the seat before bringing his free hand across her back, moving it over her shoulders in a soothing motion.
"It's not your problem." Sydney remarked nonchalantly, knowing that they didn't owe her anything when it came to things involving Peter Hale.
"Well, maybe not technically but you are our alpha, I think we owe you at least an attempt at a solution, especially after everything you've done for my brother and I." Ethan explained and she shrugged her shoulders.
Maybe they did owe her, maybe together the two of them could come up with a way to help her but would it really make a difference in the end. All she wanted was to be close to Peter, to have him love her as much as she loved him, for him to need her like she wanted him too.
She had outright told Peter months ago that she was aware he'd never be able to love her as much as she loved him but there had to be something that could change that?
He had seemed genuinely upset at the idea of leaving her to spend his days in Eichen House and maybe he hadn't thought his whole plan through completely, but the look in his eyes, the demand to see her alpha reds one more time before being whisked away to his room, that had to mean something, right? Maybe he was just scared of what was really going on between them?
"If I didn't have you two here with me then I'd basically be a sitting duck anyways so don't think that I'm not just as grateful that you're here."
"For protection?" Ethan asked in an attempt to clear up his slight confusion.
"Yeah, and for company. I don't do well on my own for long periods of time. If you two weren't here with me, I think I'd probably go a little crazy."
"You mean crazier." Ethan prodded with a smirk. She let out an amused scoff and turned on her chair to face him directly. "You're a good alpha but right now, you're a little distracted, and that's okay. We get it and we're not going to abandon you, not for anything, you know that, don't you?"
"I…I think so." She sighed at her total lack of confidence and dropped her gaze down to the floor. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Just being here." She nodded her head and tried to hold back the overwhelming emotions that were trying to take over. "You and Aidan are really good betas."
"Aidan might argue that he's a better alpha but I appreciate the sentiment." Ethan teased and gave her a gentle nudge on the back with his hand. She let out a tiny chuckle and shoved her chair back, making her way to her feet and tugging Ethan out of his chair too.
He took a step forward and slipped his arms around her, holding her tight against his chest as she relaxed in his hold.
"You can do this okay, no matter what, we're not going anywhere."
Without another word between them, she gave a nod of understanding and reluctantly pulled away. He followed her lead and headed over to the counter where the bread was waiting to be turned into garlic bread.
She started to cut the crusty loaf in half, Ethan standing not too far away from her, his eyes glued on her actions. He watched her fluid movements as she sawed at the bread, the muscles in her arms squirming slightly beneath her skin. When she had managed to get the entire loaf apart, he set his hand on her back, directly between her shoulders, and gave her skin a gentle pinch.
"I'll go tell Aidan to put on his Sunday best." Ethan joked and Sydney turned her head to the side to glance at him.
"It's Friday." She pointed out but the smile on her face told him all he needed to know. Maybe she wasn't doing as bad as he originally thought.
"Well his Friday best would usually consist of tight jeans and no shirt, so I think in this case-"
"Ah yes, dress pants and a tie." She cut him off and giggled at Ethan's smile. "Don't forget to make sure he's wearing his blazer too."
"You got jokes now?" Ethan couldn't help but laugh. She shook her head with a smile and let out a sigh as his hand moved away from her back.
As silence fell over them, she focused her ears in on the house and merely listened as Ethan wandered away. Their guests would be there soon and she knew there was no turning back now.
If all went well, she'd have, yet another, beta in her pack.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Having Steve and Charlie for dinner wasn't even close to as bad as Sydney thought it would be, in fact, the two of them seemed rather nice and not totally psychotic, which Sydney had become used to living in Peter's apartment.
As far as people went, they seemed as normal as they could be and when she had brought the tray full of lasagna out and set it on the table, their eyes had lit up as though they hadn't eaten a home cooked meal in forever. When the garlic bread, which had been thrown into a napkin lined basket, joined the lasagna on the table, Charlie's hand immediately reached out and grabbed a piece but not without a glare from her father.
"Sorry." Charlie muttered as she released her hold on the piece of garlic bread, letting it fall back into the basket.
"What for?" Sydney looked at the younger girl in confusion and wondered what the hell she was apologizing for. It was a few seconds later that it hit her. She was a guest and guests were supposed to behave in a decent manner, but that wasn't how Sydney worked, not at all.
Without a word shared between them, Sydney reached into the basket, grabbed a piece of bread and set it on Charlie's plate with a smile.
"Thanks." Charlie smiled up at her and kept her eyes trained on the alpha as she made her way down into a sitting position at the chair next to Charlie. Sydney then reached out and nabbed a piece of garlic bread for her own plate, motioning towards Ethan to get started on serving up the lasagna.
Minutes later, when everyone at the table had food on their plates and drinks in their glasses, she glanced around the table and smiled at the guests she was about to share her meal with.
Steve cleared his throat and brought everyone's attention to him, Sydney looking at him with a curious expression, wondering what he was going to do now.
"I'd just like to thank you for welcoming us into your home and cooking us this lovely meal. It's been a long time since Charlie and myself have had a meal that looks and smells this delicious!"
Sydney shied away from his gaze and stole a look at Charlie, who was grinning at the alpha. She broke eye contact with the young beta and looked towards the twins, who were also both grinning at her, clearly knowing how wonderful a home cooked meal could really be, which was something both of them were thankful for now that they were living under the same roof as Sydney.
"Yeah, thanks for having us." Charlie added and flashed an appreciative smile in Sydney's direction.
Sydney bowed her head, acknowledging that they were welcome, then she picked up her fork, looked around the table one more time and watched as everyone else dove in before poking at the lasagna on her plate. As soon as everyone else was enjoying the meal, she finally lifted the fork up to her lips and took the lasagna into her mouth, savoring the vibrant flavours that hit her tongue.
"So…" Steve broke the silence and set his fork on the edge of his plate, half of his lasagna now gone. "Maybe you three can tell us a little about yourselves and where you came from?"
Aidan followed Steve's lead and set his fork down too, looking towards Sydney for some sort of permission to go ahead. When she flashed him a smile, he accepted this as a signal and opened his mouth to tell them where they had been before showing up in Colorado.
"We were in Beacon Hills, California, dealing with a Darach-"
"A Darach?" Charlie cut in and looked between her father and Aidan, confusion very evident on her face.
"It's basically a dark druid." Sydney supplied. "This particular druid was a little on the vengeful side and she tried to wipe out the alpha pack, which is where the twins came from."
"Right." Charlie hummed, still clearly confused but accepting of the information provided with the hopes that it'd become clearer later on. "What exactly is an alpha pack?"
"It's exactly what it sounds like, a pack of werewolves made entirely of alphas." Sydney explained. "Two of the alpha pack members are gone now, one of whom I killed, but the leader is still out there, somewhere."
"We lost our alpha sparks though." Ethan threw in and flashed his blue eyes in Charlie's direction, letting her see the true nature of his wolf.
"How?" Charlie spat out in response. "And why did you kill one of them?"
"We were injured really badly." Aidan answered. "In order to heal, it took away that extra power within us."
"If I didn't kill him, the leader would've, I seized my opportunity and that's how I got my alpha status." Sydney added once Aidan had finished explaining his portion. "Maybe it wasn't necessarily the right thing to do but it's certainly helped get me to where I am now."
"I guess I don't really have too much to say about your past, so long as there was an explanation," Charlie paused and looked over to her father, who nodded at her, urging her to continue, "what colour were your eyes then Sydney, before you became an alpha?"
Sydney sucked in a breath and tried to imagine this conversation going smoothly in her head. She had no doubt that Charlie might be a little hesitant to join her pack if she knew that she had killed an innocent but the girl had also stated that as long as there was an explanation, there wasn't much she could say about her past.
"Blue." Sydney answered simply, giving Charlie the opportunity to digest this information.
"Okay, what happened then?" Steve piped up.
"Some guy tried to assault me when I was younger, I freaked out and before I really knew what was happening, it was too late." Sydney explained and sucked in a breath, trying to keep the horrifying memories at bay. "Derek helped me bury his body."
"Derek Hale, right?" Steve had his undivided attention on Sydney. She could tell from the look in his eye that he wasn't judging her, not yet at least, but merely trying to gain as much information as possible from her before officially letting his daughter join her pack.
She didn't blame him, if she was in his position, she'd be doing the exact same thing. Charlie was his family and from her understanding, she was all he had left, he just wanted to protect her, to make sure that she'd be okay under Sydney's leadership.
"Yeah, Derek Hale. He's my best friend, I lived near him until I was ten." Sydney replied. "His family took me in when my parents were slaughtered."
"Wait, your parents were slaughtered?" Charlie's eyes nearly bugged out of her head, a stare so intense that it made Sydney flinch.
"Killed by hunters." Sydney replied softly. "I spent a few days with the Hales before coming here to spend most of my teenage years under my grandparents' supervision."
"Right." Steve nodded, so far, so good, at least he understood her connection to Colorado. "You mentioned that you're mated to Peter Hale though, may I ask how he fits into all of this?"
Aidan let out a snort and immediately received a slug in the shoulder from his brother. Sydney rolled her eyes at them both, sucked in a breath and tried to form the words in her head before speaking them out loud.
"I headed to Beacon Hills during the whole Kanima ordeal to help Derek out. He had just become an alpha in his own right and had turned three teenagers, which turned out to be a bit of a handful for one person, so there I was. We got into it a few times and he ended up saying some things that I didn't appreciate, so I left his place, which was where I had been staying, and then realized that I didn't really have anywhere else to go."
"So she went to Peter." Aidan supplied, sensing the discomfort that recounting her tale was causing Sydney.
"He took me in." Sydney nodded. "It was only supposed to be for a little while but then things happened between us, I fell in love with him and it just sort of went unspoken that I'd stay with him, until everything went down not too long ago."
The table remained silent and Sydney took in a breath, daring herself to look around the table. She knew that it wasn't necessarily the most exciting story and for anyone who knew Peter, they'd certainly find themselves wondering how she could possibly have fallen in love with the man, but it was true.
No one seemed to make a move to say anything, although there was a clearly confused expression on Charlie's face that Sydney was starting to think was going to be around for quite a while. The girl was unfamiliar with a lot of supernatural creatures and if she was going to become part of her pack, well then Sydney would have to fill her in on all the creatures that she'd encountered thus far.
"Before I came here, Peter just went completely off the deep end, he tried to go after Scott McCall, Beacon Hills' true alpha, and in the process managed to get himself locked up in a mental institution." She went on, hoping that someone would ask her a question just so she could pull herself out of her own memories.
"Is he still in the mental institution?" Charlie questioned but her voice was low, holding less confidence than Sydney had heard with her previous questions.
"As far as I know." Sydney nodded. "I didn't stick around once he was admitted."
"And now you're pregnant, with his kid?" Charlie pressed and Sydney nodded her head yes. "Plus you're mated to him, which is why you're going through the withdrawal, right?"
"Yeah." She sighed. If she had known how hard it would've been to just be with Peter to start with, she might've seriously considered holding off on the mate bite, at least if she had, she wouldn't be suffering as bad now that he was locked away.
But was that seriously something she would've wanted to give up? She did love him, and she knew he loved her, and maybe they had rushed into things, but there wasn't a single person that she could imagine being with who wasn't Peter Hale.
"Is he an alpha too?" Charlie inquired and looked between Steve and Sydney.
"No. He was but things happened." She murmured.
"Syd here got stabbed during a fight, we were both there." Ethan motioned to himself and then to his brother. "From my understanding, he forfeited his alpha spark in order to save her."
"Oh, I get it." Charlie smiled and nodded her head. "He's just a total tool when it comes to everyone else but with Sydney here, he's not such a bad guy, am I right?"
"You're not wrong." Aidan threw out with a laugh. "He tried to annihilate Scott on more than one occasion, there was a time when he tried to kill his own nephew and before I even got to Beacon Hills, he went on a bit of a murder spree and killed everyone who had a hand in the deaths of his family."
"There was a fire." Sydney threw in.
"Right." Charlie smiled. "His eyes are blue too then?"
"Yup." Aidan replied.
"Got it. I still have one more question though." Charlie straightened up in her chair and leveled her gaze on Sydney, who went rigid at the girl's look. "What the hell is a Kanima?"
Letting out a low whistle, Sydney felt herself relax in her chair. Yes, she could definitely handle answering that question, so long as Charlie didn't delve too much into her personal life or the choices she had made. It was easy to see that from an outsider's perspective, Sydney wasn't exactly the best choice for an alpha, but she knew that she was a better option than some others.
She wasn't a murdering psychopath hell bent on revenge, like Peter had once been, nor was she a power hungry alpha who sought out the best and the brightest before forcing them to kill their own packs to become part of something bigger, like Deucalion. She also wasn't an alpha who failed to protect virtually everyone in her pack, like Derek had done. In her mind, she was a decent alpha so far and she hoped that she could continue to be the best she could be.
"A Kanima is a lizard like, murdering snake shifter who's controlled by a master." Ethan tossed out and caught the look that Sydney flashed him. "See Peter bit this kid named Jackson and instead of turning into a werewolf like any normal person would, he turned into a Kanima instead."
"So Peter's bite can turn people into Kanimas?" Charlie questioned, Steve studying Sydney's face, hoping for an explanation.
"Yeah." Sydney shrugged. "He made a werejaguar too, and his kid is a werecoyote."
"Wait, what?" Steve spoke up and leaned forward. "How did he make a werejaguar?"
"Kate, who was part of the group of people responsible for the fire, was his primary target way back when. He ripped her throat out with the intention of killing her but she turned up months later as a werejaguar." Sydney tried to explain but she knew that the deeper they got into Peter's history, the more complex things seemed to get.
"So he turned her…how?"
"Technically by scratch." Sydney nodded.
"And he has a kid? Who doubles as a werecoyote?" Steve continued to press her for answers and Sydney gave him another nod. "She's not your kid, is she?"
"No." Sydney shook her head. "He didn't even know about her until recently. I think this time it has something to do with genetics though and not his uncanny ability to create weird supernatural creatures…her mom is the Desert Wolf, whoever that is."
"Has he created any other unusual creatures?" Steve asked.
"Well Scott McCall, his first attempt at a beta, is now a true alpha, but I'm pretty sure that's because of his character and not because of Peter." Sydney explained. "I don't think he's tried to turn anyone else since Scott though, so I don't know…"
"In theory then, you could be having a dragon baby." Charlie offered up nonchalantly and suddenly all eyes were on her, staring at her intensely. "What?"
"What are you talking about?" Aidan scoffed, the idea of Sydney having a dragon baby sounded completely absurd, there was no way she'd have anything other than a werewolf, right?
"Well, based on the fact that the guy who is the father, at least I'm assuming he is," Charlie paused and Sydney nodded her head yes, "has made everything but a normal werewolf, I think it's a decent assumption that whatever Sydney here gives birth too could easily be something other than a werewolf."
Sydney cocked her head to the side and let Charlie's words sink in. Was it possible for that to happen? Was there a remote possibility that her baby wouldn't be a werewolf? Charlie did have a good point, Peter apparently created creatures that weren't simply werewolves but this was different, wasn't it?
"That's a fair hypothesis but I think that a dragon baby is a little out there." Steve said calmly, sensing the uneasiness emanating off of Sydney. "Genetically it's probably safe to assume that the baby will most likely be born a werewolf, or the very least, some sort of canine shape shifter."
"What if it's not?" Sydney asked in a scared tone. "What if it is a dragon?"
"Maybe the ultrasound will show us something good, I highly doubt you're going to give birth to a dragon." Steve was clearly trying to make her feel better but the idea had already been planted in her head. So maybe her baby wouldn't be a dragon, what if it was something completely different, what if it wasn't a werewolf at all?
"How cool would a dragon baby be though?" Aidan broke out into a fit of laughter. "Best possible outcome in my eyes."
"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out." Ethan remarked, his tone soothing to her fears. Yes, they would figure it out, that's what they had been working towards, that was why they were creating their very own bestiary, no matter what her baby turned out to be, she'd have her pack to back her up as they tried to figure out what it could possibly be, if it wasn't a werewolf after all.
"Can we move on to a different topic of conversation?" Sydney's voice was slightly uneasy but her words were still firm.
"Sure." Charlie motioned for Sydney to continue.
"I was hoping that you and your dad would let me look into your memories after dinner, obviously you can say no but I think it might help us both establish some sort of trust. I'll only look at what you want to show me but I really think this is a good way to get to know each other."
"I'm up for it, but only if you promise me you've done this before." Charlie locked her eyes on Sydney, who tilted her head in Aidan's direction. Aidan gave the younger girl a reassuring smile, implying that he had been one of her test subjects.
"I've done it to Peter too." Sydney added quickly.
"Well then I'm in. Dad?" Charlie peeled her eyes away from Sydney and looked towards her father, who was already smiling from ear to ear.
"I think I've got some things tucked away in my head that Sydney here would be happy to see." He smiled in response. "Now, I say we save the serious conversation for after dinner and we all get back to this delicious lasagna!"
Sydney couldn't help but smile at the doctor's suggestion. He certainly reminded her of her own father, even her grandfather, and suddenly she knew that this was the right call.
Not only would she be gaining a beta, she'd be gaining a valuable ally too.
XxxxxxXxxxxxXxxxxxX
Do you guys think Sydney's pack is decent? Do you like her aligning herself with the twins and now Charlie?
Charlie is not my character, she belongs to poorxbrokexcollegexkid and if you want to read more of Charlie, then please go check out her story!
What are you guys hoping happens when it comes to the baby? Boy, girl, any thoughts at all? What about whether its a werewolf or something else? Thoughts, ideas?
Thank you to those that added this to their alerts and favourites!
poorxbrokexcollegexkid: A little girl aw, yes, that would be sweet! As for her and Charlie, well she might just be the female presence she needs!
sarahmichellegellarfan1: thank you so much!
musicluver246: why thank you so much!
Just to let you guys know, the more reviews that this chapter gets, the sooner I'll update and if anyone wants a sneak peek of the next chapter, leave me a review so I can PM you!