AN: Sorry for the delay. I wont make excuses; let's just get right to it.
In this chapter I do something weird… I change POV. I don't plan on doing this often but in order to keep the story moving while the pack bonds and moves everyone to Wolf's Run I think it was necessary. This POV gives you the first glimpse of the 'Bad Guy/s' of this tale.
News: instead of 12-15 chapters, I think this tale might be closer to 15-18 chapters. So yay for that?
I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own TW or the characters, just my AU/AR. (and MY OCs). Also FYI, this is un-betaed, so all the mistakes are mine
Alpha She-Wolf
Chapter Six
As most of the pack was cleaning up from dinner (even though most of them weren't on the schedule for tonight) Allison and Derek caught Erica up on what happened during the time she was asleep. Apparently she had been out for nearly three hours, in that time Melissa gave her a clean bill of health, Connor and Rose healed and began interacting with the pack, and Lydia, Kira and Malia came back with and SUV filled with clothes and toys for the pups. Raul's demeanor became less wary once he felt the pack bond and he and all the kids didn't put up much of a fuss at being bathed and put in new clothes.
"Lydia has plans on going all out in decorating their rooms." Allison warned, "She has already begun drawing up plans and has consulted each pup on what they like the best. Except Connor, he still won't talk. As soon as we find out who is adopting the kids, you can expect a large dent in the pack expense account to be made."
"I think they have already chosen their adoptive families by themselves." Derek rolled his eyes. "As for Lydia, she doesn't have access to the pack expense account without my say so. So she can forget about an over the top shopping spree."
"Lydia doesn't have access but Malia does." Erica reminded him.
At this Derek let out a groan. Malia was not a 'girly-girl' and disliked shopping, but she was Peter's child, and inherited her father's love of annoying Derek at all costs. If an over the top shopping spree with her step-sister caused Derek a headache, then Malia would participate.
"What do you mean they have already picked their adoptive families?" Allison asked after a moment.
"Pups are more instinctual, especially if they are orphaned and have been through trauma." Derek explained, "They are able to sense the most powerful and compatible couples in a new pack and instinctually chose which pair would be the best protectors and parents for them. The alpha-pair or pack elders, as they are typically the strongest and most stable mate-bonds in a pack, get the option to take the pups in before any other mated pairs, but if the pups don't find them compatible they wont take them in."
Erica thought over what she had observed during dinner. "Our Elders are John, Melissa, Peter and Sarah…and the pups seemed to have gravitated towards them. Do you think they sense the bond too? Or that Melissa and John know what this means?"
"I explained the possibility of this happening to Sarah, John and Mel earlier when the pups took a nap after their bite." Peter said waltzing into the room followed by Melissa. Melissa carried a half-asleep Connor with in her arms and was smiling. They both sat down near Allison and Erica before Peter continued. "And then we explained it to our adult children. I knew since I am the oldest wolf and Sarah is a powerful banshee, the older boys would gravitate towards us because they have witnessed more traumas and need strong protectors. Since the younger two are mostly human they would be more likely to gravitate toward Mel and John."
Erica nodded. Allison and Derek had already explained that upon further examination and questioning of the pups they found that Raul and Diego were pure born wolves and Juliet and Connor were not. Raul and Diego's mother and father originated from a pack in Texas, and a hunter killed their father before Diego was born. Juliet and Connor's mother had a wolf father and a human mother, and both her children's fathers were human. Due to some sort of genetic quirk the youngest Betas had all the perks of being a wolf but did not have the ability to shift into wolf form.
"So I take it you and your partners are okay with taking the pups on as your own?" Derek asked Melissa and Peter.
Melissa nodded. "Absolutely. Stiles, John and Danny are working on a back-story and leaving a trail of records, so John can take Peter, Sarah the kids and I to the station and city hall tomorrow to begin the adoption process. Raul said that none of them were born in a hospital so they had no paper trail. Danny is creating one now."
Derek looked to Peter and raised his eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that nephew. I always wanted pups. You know that. Sarah is pretty pleased as well. As for our biological children…well Malia and Lydia are ecstatic for little brothers."
"How are Stiles and Scott with this?" Erica asked.
Melissa and Connor giggled. "Stiles and Juliet are currently fighting over Scott. Juliet refused to let Scott put her down and keeps sticking her tongue out at Stiles whenever Scott isn't looking." Melissa informed them. "They are both quite the drama queens."
Connor took his head out of Melissa's shoulder and turned around in her lap to face the rest of the group, smiling at them and swiping the messy brown curls from his eyes. "Sti is funny." He said with a giggle, and tilting his head to the side in confusion at the perplexed looks his audience was giving him. "My new brother Sti. He funny. Sti and new brother Scotty make Julie smile." The little wolf clarified.
Melissa's grin got wider and she began tickling her adopted son. "Can you speak now handsome?" She teased as Connor giggled and nodded. "You have such a beautiful voice."
"Julie talks enough for me and her." Connor told Melissa. "Julie not here now."
Stiles came running into the room. "Mom? Did little brother utter my name before anyone else's?" He said with a grin.
"Hi Sti!" Connor said excitedly.
"Hi Con!" Stiles said scooping the boy from his mother and walking towards the door. "Sorry Mom, I'm stealing this adorable little wolf. That redheaded menace is stealing the heart of my best bro, I need a new one and Connor just volunteered to be my favorite." He told them while he carried Connor from the room.
"Bye-Bye Mama Mel!" Connor waived over Stiles' shoulder, prompting Melissa to tear up and follow the pair.
"For the amount of crap that is hanging over our heads there is a grotesque amount of joy in this den." Peter quipped watching Melissa and her sons leave.
Almost as soon as he said that a giggling Malia (with laughing Raul on her back) and a smiling Lydia (with a laughing Diego on her back) ran by the study with Sarah chasing after them, carrying the boys' pajamas. "You four get back here! Girls don't rile them up, they need to go to sleep soon!" She sighed stopping at the doors and glaring at Peter. "Peter! Do something with your children! They are hooligans, all four of them, especially the ones that are supposed to be adults. They just got finished tying people's shoelaces together in the kitchen! Who knows what the four of them will do next!"
Peter smiled, standing up, walking towards the door, "Pranks are practical bonding experience, my love. You should let them have their fun." Peter then turned to the room. "Do you want this closed?" He asked.
"Yes." Derek said with a grin.
"Shut up with your grinning you brat." Peter said.
"He didn't say anything." Sarah said slapping her husband.
"His smug little grin said it all." Peter responded closing the door.
Erica sighed and turned to Allison, it was time to get back to pack business. "So, Derek says you want the bite and your parents are coming back to town. Which do you want to address first?"
Allison sighed, "I've been wanting the bite for awhile, now. Both my mates are wolves, most of my family… I mean my pack is some sort of supernatural creature. I just feel this longing to be more connected with all of you, solidify my bond further, be able to run under the moon with you, be able to keep up with my friends and mates. Not to mention the strain my humanity has put on my mate-bond. Scott and Isaac can barely hug me without accidentally harming me. They beat themselves up about it constantly, and I hate that I am not on equal ground in my relationship. Lydia's not a wolf, but she heals faster than I do and only has one mate, I'm a human with two." She said near tears. "It would break us up if the three of us weren't so insanely in love with each other."
"I didn't know it was this bad." Derek said, "You said everything was fine."
"Derek, every time you look at me you grimace. You smell Argent, and your body language screams you don't want to be near me. The only reason I haven't asked before now was because I was afraid if you bit me you would reject me and I would die, strictly because of my biological family." Allison told Derek. "I wanted to give Erica some time to season up as an alpha, and I wanted time to talk it over with you both, but things have changed."
Erica was having a difficult time processing this, Ally had never given any indication of her relationship with her mates or how left out and powerless she felt in the pack. But now that is was just the three of them, Erica could hone in on her bond with the former huntress and sensed it all. She wanted to help her friend. Allison wanted to be a wolf more than anything; she wanted a firm place in the pack and wanted to be an equal with her pack and mates.
"What prompted you to ask Derek about it last night?" Erica asked.
"My cousin Reed texted me from a burner his parents don't know about yesterday. He's the only one in the family that did not disown me, but he's sixteen so he can't be caught being in contact with me. He eavesdropped on a leadership meeting a few nights ago, since Kate went off the rails and I was disowned there is no female heir set to be the next leader. Argent's are a matriarchy; this is a huge problem for them. They don't want to merge with some other hunting families, so they elected my dad leader until another female was born into the family. One of my uncles suggested that since the Hale Pack has gotten so large that someone come here and keep an eye on them and 'the traitor'. Keep the pack in line and see 'if the traitor produces something useful'."
Derek gulped audibly. "They wouldn't. They have no claim!" He growled.
Allison let a tear fall at this. "They will try."
Erica was utterly confused. "What does that mean?"
"It means that they will stay to make sure we are on our best behavior, and keep an eye on Allison in hopes she produces a female child. So they can take the child from us and raise her as a hunter." Derek growled. "And they call us monsters."
Erica shot out of her chair and began pacing the room. "But the odds of having a human and female child are not that high right? Scott and Isaac are wolves!"
"When the mother is human and the father is Bitten? The child is almost always human, as for gender, that's the same odds no matter the species." Derek said.
"But a Bitten mother and father, that gives higher odds for the kid coming out a wolf, or at the very least they'd like Juliet and Connor, which is werewolf enough for the Argents to lose interest in stealing a child." Allison said, "Werewolf genetics are fascinating, I've been reading up on it the past week."
"But even if the kid were human, and a girl, they aren't your parents. They scrubbed your identity. They have no legal reason to take your child from you." Erica growled, the thought of the hypothetical pup being torn from its parents made her skin crawl.
"A DNA test would fix that, and the fact that I live with a suspected cult would give them a fighting chance in court." Allison said with a sigh, "Look, Isaac, Scott and I aren't planning on going off contraceptives anytime soon, so my parents baby-napping any future daughter is not an immediate concern, just something we have to keep in mind. But a bite will give us less to worry about when we are ready for a child and I want to be a wolf. I know I am useful as a human, but I can protect my pack as a wolf and salvage my bond with my mates."
Erica sighed. "Did your cousin mention anything about Argents hunting pups? Do you have any clue why any Argents would hunt down children who have harmed no one?"
"No." Allison sighed, "Raul mentioned that his brother and mother lived outside of Seattle, and Juliet, Connor and their mom lived a few houses away. He says he remembers his mother being threatened and a few weeks later Juliet and Connor's mom are hiding the pups and telling them to run south when the sun came up. If they were close relatives of mine, he would have smelt the family relationship and be wary of me. He isn't. These hunters are either distant relatives or people who used to work for my old family."
Erica looked to Derek. She needed another adult beta, especially if there were new hunters in town. Every alpha needed two lieutenants. It helped stabilized the pack and gave a clear chain of command when the alpha was absent. Derek had Cora as his Second and Malia as his Third. Erica had Rosalyn, but she could not make one of the pups her Third, and have Rose as a Second would only cause more tension for the merging of the packs. Allison was trained to be a hunter and was almost as good as a strategist as Malia or Peter. Giving Allison the bite would not only strengthen the pack and help with the merge, but it would end the grief being human was causing her friend. But she did not want to cause more problems with Derek. Allison's mates were Derek's betas, making Allison part of Derek's pack; Erica didn't want him to feel like she was stealing her mate's beta.
"I want her to be my Second." Erica told him, finally stopping her pacing. "I want to know how much trouble this will cause our relationship."
Derek raised his eyebrow, stood up and walked over to Erica. "I'll send Rosalyn, Isaac and Scott in. Her mates will want to be here when you give her the bite and an adult pack-mate's presence is helpful when changing a human to a werewolf." He said kissing her forehead before heading towards the door. "You, Rose and Allison might want to rest together while she is transitioning, so I'll deal with the logistics of moving everyone back into Wolf's Run, getting the pups settled and figuring out what the hell the hunters want."
Erica smiled as he left the room and went to sit next to Allison. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes." Allison smiled. "Would you mind doing it before they all come in? Scott and Isaac will make it a whole deal, and Rose is nice but I'm not a wolf yet, I can't feel the bond with her, it would just be odd to have a stranger here."
Erica was suddenly frightened. "What if you reject it? We can't lose you."
Allison smiled. "Erica, trust your wolf."
She's our Beta. Bite her before the male alpha does. He had his chance. Her inner self growled.
Suddenly Erica felt her inner wolf take over and she shifted, quickly biting Allison on her right forearm. She'll be strong. Our Beta. This is right.
And boy did it feel right. It was a power rush making someone pack who was born a wolf, but changing someone from a human to a wolf it felt like she was soaring. All the exhaustion she felt from the day melted away.
As soon as she bit Ally, Isaac and Scott rushed in the room followed closely by Rosalyn.
"You didn't wait for us!" Scott cried indignantly as he and Isaac inspected their mate's wound.
"I didn't want her to." Alison told them with a smile. "The two of you would have fussed."
"How are you feeling?" Isaac asked.
"I still feel human. But I can hear everything... I thought the change would all happen at once." Alison said with a yawn.
"She's going to be fine guys. I can feel it." Erica assured her friends. "I'm going to pull out the couch she's on into a bed and her, Rose and I will sleep here, make sure our pack-bond settles and by morning her transformation will be complete…aside from the few weeks it takes for a transformation to settle."
The boys nodded in understanding and kissed their mate goodbye. "Take care of her for us Erica. She's our everything." Scott pleaded when he and Isaac began to leave the room.
Erica nodded in understanding, and followed her pack-brothers to the door. "She is not rejecting the bite. She will be okay. She just needs rest."
After Erica shut the doors behind Isaac and Scott she turned to her betas, only to find they were cuddling each other and giggling. Erica couldn't help but smile. Rosalyn radiated happiness and Allison looked completely content.
"You made me a pack-sister Alpha!" Rosalyn said in glee. "Not only did you bring me into an extended pack filled with pack-brothers and pack-sisters, that would have been enough but you went and made me a little pack-sister!" Rosalyn cradled Allison as if she were a gift from the heavens. "A sister to coach in the ways of the wolf, to share in the burden of being an adult beta, to stand at my side as we stand at yours. This is wonderful."
"It does feel pretty great." Allison said sleepily.
Erica instructed Rose to support the sleepy beta while Erica made the pull-out couch into a bed, and retrieved the linens and blankets from the cupboard to make up the bed. Within a few minutes she and her two adult betas were curled up on the bed, cuddling, before drifting off to sleep.
For the first time since she received Alpha power, she felt like an actual alpha. She had her own pack within the Hale Pack, she had her own Second and Third and she had four tiny betas that called her Alpha. She wasn't just the mate of the Hale Alpha anymore; she had people who would follow her no matter her connection to Derek.
Erica woke slowly the next morning, not at all bothered at the six other heartbeats that were in the bed with her or the giggles. It seemed that during the night, her four puppy-betas had crawled out of their own beds and into the makeshift one she shared with Allison and Rosalyn.
"Alpha." Juliet said poking her side. "Wake up quicker Alpha! We have a big day today! Mama Mel and Daddy are adopting Connor and Me today!"
"And Diego and I are getting adopted by Sarah and Peter." Raul said from the other side of the bed. "Is it okay that we don't call them mom and dad? We had a Mom, and I still remember my Dad…"
Before Erica could say anything Rose cut in. "I'm sure they don't mind Raul. You decide what you are comfortable with calling them, they will care for you no matter what."
Finding the response acceptable, Raul responded to Rosalyn with a "You are comfy Rosie" before becoming silent again.
Erica finally opened her eyes and sat up a bit. Alison, Diego and Connor were piled in the center of the bed and all had looks on their faces that told her they did not intend on moving. Luckily, Erica would not have to wake up them alone, she heard the rest of the pack making their way into the Den from their homes or down the stairs from their bedrooms, soon the majority Reyes-Hale Pack would be on the first floor of the Den.
Erica got out of the bed as quietly as she could and rushed towards the study door before flinging them open as quickly as possible, sending the eavesdropping Stiles and Cora hurdling towards the floor. "Should we call it Reyes-Hale Pack, Hale-Reyes Pack, or simply the Hale Pack and have the sub-packs be Derek's Pack and Erica's Pack?" She mused to her friends on the floor.
"Hale Pack would be simpler, less confusion, more unity of the two sub-packs into one." Derek said rounding the corner, smiling at his sister and brother-in-law on the floor. "You two cannot give Allison a moment to breathe before you plan her puppy pile?"
"Tradition is sacred big brother." Cora muttered helping herself up, while Stiles still sat on the ground pouting at being caught eavesdropping.
"Alpha! You hurt my big brother!" Juliet yelled in horror running towards Stiles and inspecting him for injuries, her concern was enough to rouse Connor and have him running over to Stiles as well.
"I'm fine Julie." Stiles assured her, "Nothing bruised but my ego. You two however…" He said as he pulled her and the newly arrived Connor into his lap. "I specifically remember Mom and Dad tucking the two of you into bed in the room next to theirs last night."
"Needed to be near Ally." Juliet said in explanation.
"John! The kids are gone! Someone help! Juliet and Connor are missing!" Allison heard Melissa yell from the third floor.
"Mama Mel can't hear we are down here?" Juliet asked confused.
"No Sweetie." Cora said. "Her and your Daddy are human. They don't have senses like you and I do."
This alarmed the two youngest pack members who started running towards the panicking voices of Melissa and John yelling, "We're okay! We're coming!" Stiles and Cora followed them making sure they didn't trip over themselves.
Erica saw that Raul and Diego looked slightly panicked. "Peter knows where you are, you aren't in trouble. But you should go to your room and find a change of clothes before your new sisters decide to dress you." this got the eight and ten year old boys moving quickly towards the backdoor and Peter and Sarah's house.
Rosalyn and Allison were already folding away the bed and putting the linens back were they were to begin with. "I'll see you two at breakfast." She said turning towards the stairs to go to the bedroom she shared with Derek before pausing when her mate didn't follow.
"I'm on breakfast duty this morning." He explained, as he made his way toward the kitchen. This made her disappointed and excited at the same time. On one hand she wanted some alone time with her mate, but on the other hand Derek was one of the best cooks in the pack.
Once she got to the bedroom, she plugged her cell-phone in on Derek's charger and proceeded to shower and dress for the day. Once that routine was through she went to the phone and saw she had a voicemail waiting for her from an unknown number. She played the message in interest.
"Hello Erica. This is Marin Morell. I was wondering if you would be willing to accept me as Emissary to your pack. Braeden has told me that you have rejoined with the Hale Pack, but have betas of your own and she is concerned that she will be an acceptable Emissary to a pack that large. I miss my niece and my hometown greatly, and believe that I was wrong in blaming you and the rest of the Hale's for my brother's death. Alan and my mother loved the Hale Pack, I never felt that kind of caring or devotion to the packs I've served in the past. I hope you will accept me."
Erica sighed. This just seemed like another situation to add to her 'Problems To Solve' list. This situation had the potential to cause more problems for her with Derek. But if Bray really was worried about fulfilling duties to a pack as large as theirs, then she saw no reason to deny Ms. Morell's request. So she decided that she would need to have a discussion with Derek and Braeden before she gave Marin Morell a response. Having her own druid would be nice, especially sense Ms. Morell had a degree in child psychology and Erica had four young betas that might need counseling in the near future.
Hearing the squeals and laughter of a puppy-pile coming from the living room, Erica stood up and headed downstairs ready to start the day.
After breaking up Allison's puppy-pile and eating breakfast as a pack, everyone decided to chip in with the clean up as they all discussed their duties for the first half of the day.
"So Sarah, Peter, Melissa, John and the pups are going to get the adoption and custody paperwork started, then they are going to the elementary school to get the pups enrolled for classes." Erica said in clarification, ignoring the groans that Raul and Diego gave at the mention of school. "You have your back-story and the paperwork ready? The pups know what to say?" She asked the group.
"Mama Mel and Daddy have been trying to adopt us for a long time. Our caseworker dropped us off at their house yesterday without explains if we were legally their kids." Juliet said. "Right?"
Melissa nodded. "Good job Julie."
"And Raul and I are Peter's God-sons. We have been living here for a week, and haven't heard a thing from our parents." Diego told Erica. "We are going to the police station to see if there is any news about our parents, since we haven't been able to get a hold of them. They'll look up the fake names and see that they died in a car accident. Then, after Raul and I stop crying, Peter and Sarah will state that they want to adopt us since we are family and they don't want us going into foster care."
Sarah nodded. "Exactly. But I'm not sure I'm entirely comfortable with making them lie and cry for this to work. They are children." She said in exasperation.
Raul shook his head. "You are not making us do anything. We want to stay with you. This is the way it has to happen. It's the least suspicious way to explain the four of us showing up out of the blue."
All the pups nodded in agreement.
Erica sighed, it had to be done, but no matter how they played this they would look even more like a cult in the town's eyes after this weekend. With the kids showing up and Braeden, the Sheriff and Melissa moving to Wolf's Run, the Beacon Hills gossips would have endless things to speculate about.
Apparently Melissa and John had already been convinced of the benefits of moving to Wolf's Run before the arrival of the pups, and had begun the process of packing their things. They were a bit worried about what living with a 'cult' would do to John's position as Sheriff, but were willing to risk it for the safety of pack and to be close to their kids. The fact that Juliet and Connor needed to be close to their Alpha only helped to finalize their decision.
"So while that is happening, Cora, Allison, Isaac, Scott and myself will finish up the packing at Mom and Dad's house and help the movers move everything from their house to the brand new house here." Stiles explained. "How you got movers on such short notice amazes me, Derek. Must be nice to be rolling in dough."
Derek snorted and rolled his eyes at Stiles. "Danny, Aiden, Ethan, Boyd and Jackson. I need you to pack up Braeden and Erica's dorm room, bring everything back here and bring the things to either the master bedroom or Braeden and Rosalyn's house. As I understand it, most of Braeden's things are still packed, so half some of the work has been done for you."
The guys rolled their eyes at this, not looking forward to moving duty at all. "And Braeden and Erica can't help move their own shit because?" Jackson asked.
"There is a torture worse that moving in store for me." Braeden answered him, shivering dramatically. "I'm being sent to the mall."
"Bray," Rosalyn said with a grin. "I think it sounds fun. We are in charge of buying a few outfits for me to last me until my things from home arrive, and furniture for our house while Malia, Lydia and Kira are going to buy furniture for the puppies' bedrooms."
"You have never been shopping with Lydia Martin, new girl." Jackson said. "I'd choose moving duty any day."
Most of the people on moving duty nodded in agreement, while Lydia grinned sinisterly, Malia held up three credit cards (two in Derek's name and one in Peter's name) with a grin and Kira giggled. Peter and Derek paled a bit at the cards in Malia's hands; Erica could do nothing but pat her mate's back in comfort.
"Please, try your best not to go over board." Derek pleaded. "Get the basics for the kids and save the decorations and what not for a day when they can go pick out things with their parents."
"Fine." Lydia sighed dramatically. "That is reasonable I suppose."
At that point the dishes were finished and everyone was getting ready to leave on their respective missions. John and Stiles were trying to get the car seats strapped into John's cruiser, some of her pack brothers were fighting over who was the unlucky person that had to drive the van to campus, everyone else was debating on weather to take their own cars or one of the packs' four SUV's on their trips. Lydia had already snagged an SUV for herself Malia and Kira, and Braeden had once again stolen the keys to Erica's truck.
Soon Isaac, Allison and Scott were waiting in their sedan with Cora for Stiles to finish with the car seats, Peter was being chastised by Sarah for beeping the horn of his car impatiently while their two boys laughed, Jackson was behind the wheel of the van and driving it like it was his Porsche down the driveway while Danny prayed for his life, and the Twins and Boyd followed them.
"We still have the painters coming in an hour to paint the pup's bedrooms, and the McCall-Stilinski home." Malia said as she passed Erica and Derek, making her way toward the SUV Lydia sat in. Lydia, like her stepfather, was also honking the horn impatiently. "You have to stay here to show them where to go…Shut up Lydia! You are acting like Dad!" Malia yelled as she opened the door to the vehicle. Lydia stopped honking immediately.
"Rose, are you sure you and Bray don't want your house painted?" Kira asked, ignoring the Martin-Hale sisters that were glaring at her for making them wait. "All the walls are beige if you don't."
"I'm content with beige." Rosalyn said looking towards Erica's truck where Braeden was humming along with the radio, like she had not committed any crime by stealing Erica's keys. "I like colorful furniture, instead of walls, and Bray doesn't like much fuss. We will be fine with beige, and most of the furniture coming from my place in San Francisco."
"How is that getting here?" Kira asked while sticking her tongue out at the Martin-Hale sisters and smiling.
"I'm calling a moving company today, and Braeden's aunt has agreed to supervise the packing and moving." Erica told Kira. "You two should go, Malia and Lydia look like they are going to burst a blood vessel."
The Beta and the Kitsune laughed and made their way to their respective vehicles. Seconds after Kira was in the car, Lydia took off down the driveway, and Bray and Rose followed behind them at a much slower pace.
Stiles, finally finished with the car seats, got into the McCall-Lahey sedan and the vehicle left. And as the Sheriff and Melissa figured out how to strap Connor in correctly, Juliet ran over to where Erica and Derek stood admiring the chaos that was their pack.
"Alpha! Boy-Alpha!" the little girl squealed. "What do you get to do today? Scotty said that everyone had very important tasks today, what are you two doing?"
Derek kneeled down to the little she-wolf's level, "We have very important Alpha business to attend to. One of the things we have to do is look for clues about the people who were hunting you."
Juliet nodded solemnly. "That's very important. The Doctor knows things, Boy-Alpha… does that help you?"
Erica kneeled down as well. "That is very helpful Julie. It gives us a place to start."
The she-wolf grinned and ran back towards the Sheriff's cruiser so Melissa could place her in her car seat. Erica and Derek stood and watched as Peter and John drove their families down the driveway.
"The Doctor knows something?" Erica mused, "Could it be the same doctor that used to give me the creeps and you decided to confirm the existence of wolves to him?"
Derek glared at her. "We already established it wasn't my best decision."
Erica smiled, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "That we did. Unfortunately, we cannot leave the property unattended today, so you will have to invite him to our home so we can have a chat with him."
Christopher Argent sighed as he put down the phone.
He hadn't wanted to go back to Beacon Hills but the family had voted, and in the absence of a matriarch the family became a democracy. The Hale Pack needed to be watched, with the spike in murders of a few months ago in Beacon Hills, and talks of cult activity, Hale had drawn the attention of the FBI. The Argents needed to make sure that no humans would die if the FBI decided to apprehend Hale as a suspected cult leader. A pack of Bitten wolves like the Hale Pack could get very unstable if their only alpha was threatened and Chris hoped he wouldn't have to exterminate them all if Hale was arrested.
They had no clue how large the pack was exactly. All they had was rumors from friends they still had from when they lived in Beacon Hills. They had no clue how many of the people linked with 'Derek Hale's Cult' were wolves and how many were human. Victoria was prepared to fake reconciliation with Allison to determine how large the pack was and how each one of them related to one another, but Chris was reluctant to do that. They had already broken their child beyond repair by disowning her, and already had plans to steal any human daughter she produced, faking reconciliation for intelligence seemed unnecessarily cruel.
"Chris? Who was that on the phone?" Victoria asked while walking into the sitting area of their hotel room.
"Matthew." Chris sighed.
"And why was your brother calling?"
"He was calling around some men that worked for Dad, hoping to give us and our men reinforcements when going to Beacon Hills. Apparently, four of them are already on a hunt… with Henry."
"Katherine's crazy ex-fiancé Henry?" She asked. "I thought he only hunted rare supernatural creatures, and sold them on the black market?"
Chris nodded. Henry Maxwell was a madman. So crazy and brutal even he gave Chris' insane baby sister the creeps. If the person who trapped the entire Hale family in their home and burnt them alive thought you were insane, then you probably should be in prison, locked away from the rest of the world.
"Matt says that they are hunting a Seer, have been since Seattle. The she-wolf that they thought was the Seer and her friend killed themselves before Henry and his crew could determine which woman was the Seer. Henry is convinced that one of the children of the women is a Seer now. They chased the kids to the outskirts of Beacon Hills. I don't think they know about the Hale Pack."
"That man plans to capture a child and sell him or her off to the highest bidder? Wolf-children are innocent until they kill a human, they do not deserve to be hunted." Victoria said in disgust.
"I know. It seems we have to move back sooner than expected. We might have to stop Henry and his men or warn the Hale Pack about them. I cannot have that child's life on my conscience." Chris said.
Victoria nodded and sat down on the sofa next to him. "We leave in the morning."
"Vikki?"
She snorted at the nickname he only used in private. "Yes?"
"Do you regret what we did to Allison? I mean honestly, do you regret that we disowned her and turned our backs on her?" He asked.
"Most of the time, no. She chose to stay with the wolves. She decided to be polyamorous. She turned her back on the way we raised her and her birthright as an Argent matriarch. She tells us she loves us in one breath and in the next tells us she needs us to quit hunting in order for her to have a relationship with us. We really had no other choice." Victoria said, while tears formed. "But sometimes I catch myself missing telling people about my amazing daughter, or cringe when one of the family refer to her as 'The Traitor', or wish that we were able to do what she asked of us and leave hunting behind so we could still be her parents…I don't regret our choice, we have been trained that hunting was more important than anything since birth, that we had to uphold the code at all costs. We are incapable of any other choice. But I wish we could still have our child, know that she is happy, share in her life."
Chris pulled his wife close as he cried with her. He was glad that she felt the same as he did regarding their Allison. They were always hunters first, then parents. They loved their daughter immensely and wanted her to be happy, but were emotionally incapable of choosing their child over hunting. Maybe if they had raised her as a hunter from birth like they were raised, instead of waiting until she was ten to begin her training, Allison would have never gotten involved with wolves. But they waited, they let her make her own decisions, and stopped monitoring her daily movements and cell-phone activity once she went to college so they did not know about her werewolf romance until it was too late. They hated her choice to run with the wolves, but they loved her still.
"She is going to have hate in her eyes when she sees us back in town isn't she?" Victoria asked.
"Yes, but maybe we can make up for not being the parents she needed us to be by protecting her and her pack from Maxwell. You know that Hale took those pups in if Maxwell hasn't found them yet, and Maxwell will be going after the Hale pack to get to the Seer." Chris said. "We will protect her as much as we can... and maybe that will get her to understand that we love her but cannot be her parents."
"And if Hale ends up going to jail, and his pack goes rabid?" Victoria asked.
"Then we kill all the wolves, and get our child back when her mates are dead." Christopher said. "She'll be upset, but she'll understand once she sees that an Alpha-less Bitten Pack get murderous when their Alpha is taken away from them."
Victoria nodded. "Even if that doesn't happen, at least we can watch her from afar… I just want her safe and happy."
"Me too."
AN: The Argents don't know anything specific about the pack. Allison did not give them any info beyond what they say when Peter killed Kate and Derek killed Peter. They know who is associated with the "Hale Cult" by rumor, but not if they are born or bitten, if they are human or not. They don't really believe that Cora and Malia are Hales because as far as they know all Hales besides Peter and Derek died in the fire, they think they are fake identities to throw suspicion off the amount of people that live at the Hale House, they think that Peter is still dead. The definitely know nothing about Erica being Derek's mate or that she is an alpha.
Special thanks to my friend Allie for helping me through my writer's block and giving me feedback on this chapter, one chunk at a time. I was really having a hard time and her feedback helped me gain confidence in my writing again and realize which parts could be left out until the next chapter.
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