"Did you ever hear of the beast Peter?"
Adam had asked him that question some years ago when Derek had still been a little boy.
"The beast?" Peter asked him. "I presume you mean the Beast of Gevaudan."
"The same," Adam replied, in a voice very like Derek's was now, but deeper. "The beast was our ancestor Peter. The legends say he could do remarkable things. No Hale alive today has a tenth of his power."
Peter had become rather fascinated with the myths himself after that particular conversation with his brother. He tried to recall everything they'd discussed that day.
"Don't you sense what's happening to us Peter?" his brother had asked. "Our family... "
Peter had known, had sensed it. He knew.
"The Hales are becoming weaker Peter with every generation that passes. We both know Derek and Laura don't have but a fraction of our power. We have only a fraction of what our grandparents had. We come from a great family, a very old family, but our time is drawing near to its end."
If only his brother could have known how true those words were that he had spoken. Had he forseen the fire? Peter sometimes wondered about that now.
"Derek has a very interesting destiny," Adam had said. "I cannot see it all now."
"Derek?" Peter asked with a laugh like he thought his brother was a little silly. "We both know Derek's only a child, and as you say, a very average werewolf in power. He'll never be anything more than a beta at most."
"You're wrong Peter," Adam disagreed, shaking his head. "Derek has something to do. I can see that much. He's the key, whatever that means."
The key. Peter had kept those words always in his heart as he'd watched his nephew grow. Adam's words... the time of the Hales was coming to its end. How ironic that it had been the very family that had slain their great ancestor, the Argents. Adam had been gifted with foresight in life. Different werewolves have different gifts. Adam's sight had been very limited, but he had been able to sense things. Derek was the key. What had that meant? As though to prove his brother's sight true, Adam had been right on the mark about two people who would be bound up with Derek's destiny, Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski. It had been a cold and damp night, but not raining. He and Adam had been taking a walk. They always were very close brothers. Sometimes they took walks to get away from their very large family. It had been large then. They walked by a house that Peter now knew to be the Stilinski residence. A young couple, the younger sheriff and his wife had been carrying an infant in a car seat. Adam had watched it strangely, Peter knowing his eyes were on the infant.
"He will be part of my son's destiny," Adam had muttered with some interest.
"How can you know such things?" Peter asked skeptically.
"I see the pattern Peter," Adam replied seriously. "Not perfectly, but I see it. Already I see my son's thread intertwining with his. You remember, the life thread of Greek mythology? A person's life."
What had Adam seen? Had he seen some flash of Stiles in Derek's pack? Stiles as Derek's mate? Derek as alpha even? Peter would never know. Adam had liked to keep some of his knowledge to himself. He carried it to his grave. Even if he had known about a fire, he hadn't known when it would take place. Peter remembered Derek and Laura leaving that morning. They'd left early. He remembered the smell of smoke, the screams. Adam's corpse terribly burned...
"Peter you must promise me..."
Peter still remembered the promise he'd made to his brother once. A promise he wasn't keeping now.
"Promise me Peter if anything ever happens to me you'll look out for Derek and Laura. Promise... "
"Of course Adam."
Wasn't this breaking his promise? Not necessarily. Besides the alphas wouldn't let him off now...
ooOoo
Jackson hesitated at Scott's front door. He wasn't sure he should tell Scott what he knew. How would his alpha react to knowing that Isaac had planted wires in his house? Still his wolf wouldn't leave him alone. It was important Scott know this. Derek could use whatever information he could get through those wires against Scott. Jackson inhaled to brace himself for whatever outcome would be and knocked. The door opened and Scott eyed him, waiting for whatever he had to say.
"I need to talk to you about something."
"Well sure," Scott said. "Come in. What's up?"
Jackson walked past him, Scott following after closing the front door.
"I know something Isaac did last night Scott. Derek sent him. Our first suspicions were right."
"How do you know that Jackson?" Scott asked him.
Jackson walked over to the TV, reaching behind it and removing something that looked like a very tiny magnet. He held it out to Scott.
"Its a wire Scott."
"Why would he... " Scott whispered. "Son of a bitch... "
His eyes flashed red. Derek thought he'd get the upper hand did he? The Hale pack were enemies now. There's no telling what Derek could have heard through the device.
"There's another one on your X-Box," Jackson told him.
Scott eyed him, pupils still red with rage.
"How do you know?"
"I kind of have this ability," Jackson shrugged. "You remember when I sank my claws into Isaac's shoulder last night? That was so I could implant some of my essence into him. I have a kind of link with him now. I took a look inside of his memory last night when I sensed he was asleep."
Scott's fingers clenched into a fist at his side. Isaac had lied, had betrayed him. He knew Isaac was Derek's pack, but he'd also thought they were friends.
"I'll kill Derek," Scott muttered. "I'll rip him apart with my bare hands for this! "
"Scott are you sure... " Jackson began.
"Don't try to talk me out of it Jackson! Am I your alpha or not? Get Danny over here. Tonight we do it my way."
"What about Stiles, Scott?"
The alpha looked a little less hostile, but he thought about it. Stiles had said as much himself, they were over. He'd chosen Derek. The thought made Scott's blood boil all the more.
"Stiles is nothing," Scott spat angrily. "He chose Derek. He betrayed me!"
Scott not only felt anger at Stiles for choosing Derek, he felt pure hate. For the first time in his life they weren't anywhere near friends in his mind. They were truly enemies. Scott wanted to make Stiles pay... make him suffer. Rejection and betrayal had turned to anger and hate. Thoughts of his best friend arose in his mind, but the boy's laughter only angered him more. Scott imagined Stiles was laughing at him. The alpha's rage boiled over.
"Calm down Scott," Jackson spoke, watching him with concern. "I can feel you over here."
"Do you know what I'm going to do Jackson?" Scott hissed at him. "I'm going to make Stiles suffer for choosing Derek. Death is too good. I'll rip Derek apart, then I'll make Stiles suffer. He'll learn what its like to have me as his enemy."
"You really mean this?" Jackson asked with slight surprise.
"I mean it Jackson. Stiles is a selfish prick. He chose Derek over our friendship. He wouldn't talk to me this whole time. I tried to get him to see reason. He's just another pawn of Derek now. If I can't get him to see that... we're enemies. He's Derek's puppet."
Something told Jackson this was all just anger. Scott didn't mean it. Or did he? Jackson got something else too. Scott was in a lot of pain over losing Stiles. It was killing him inside. It was making him bitter and hard. He'd lost Allison too not long before. The knock at the door broke him out of his thoughts. He went to open it. Sure enough it was Danny. His best friend looked nervous. He knew something was about to go down too.
"What's going on Jackson?" Danny asked, his facial expression worried.
"I think we're fighting Derek's pack," Jackson told him. "Tonight."
ooOoo
The legends about the beast had driven Peter to seek power. He'd wanted Adam's power, his place as alpha, even when his brother had still been alive. That would never have happened. Adam had always been a much stronger werewolf than Peter with a ruthlessness that put Derek to shame. Still the Beast of Gevaudan fascinated Peter. He had read nearly a hundred books on the creature, some of them in French. He'd often envisioned what his alpha form would look like, and he had at least attained that. When Peter had been alpha his alpha form had mimiced the beast's very closely. He'd come so close to the power. Peter had been a powerful alpha. He'd thought Derek would serve him as a beta, but instead his nephew cheated him. Only Peter knew a secret that even Derek didn't know. Laura hadn't known it. He pulled open a certain dresser drawer, knowing where he kept it. Adam had first shown him the relic years ago and told him what it actually was.
"The Argents think they killed the beast Peter," Adam had said. "They didn't kill him completely. The Beast of Gevaudan sealed some of his essence inside of this locket. He lives still, but ever its prisoner. There's an old saying that goes with the locket. Some of it has been forgotten, but I still know the gist of it."
Peter opened the old chesnut box, taking that same locket in his hand now.
"It is said Peter that as long as the locket remains with the Hale family, so does the beast's spirit. The Hales will last as long as the locket lasts. The key can unlock it Peter. Derek will do it, but I know not how."
Derek would unlock it. A wave of bitterness swept over Peter. His nephew would have the beast's power? Not on his watch. Derek would never know about the locket. He'd never see it. Peter would be alpha again, and then he'd figure out how to unlock it himself, or otherwise force Derek to do it. He had a weapon to use against Derek now, to make him do anything he'd ask- Stiles. Peter would have the Beast of Gevaudan's power, not Derek. He would never let someone so unworthy as his nephew have it.
ooOoo
Author's Note: The locket and legends play a very important part in the plot, especially later. The next chapter will heat up on the action, and it will be revealed that the alphas have their own agenda behind helping Peter. The alphas didn't come to Beacon Hills only for the Hale pack. They want something much more.