The Wolf Within
Summary: Having a pack was nice, having her family together would be nicer but Sydney was well aware that things weren't going to be easy when it came to piecing her life together. This was Beacon Hills after all… Season 6: Peter Hale/OC
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Teen Wolf, Sydney however is all mine.
Chapter 29:
The idea of meeting up with the intolerably optimistic true alpha named Scott McCall was not something that Peter wasn't particularly fond of doing at this moment but if this could help him gain some sort of advantage in the future then it was worth it, right? If he could get the upper hand without putting in much effort, if he could keep his family safe, a night out to meet Scott would be a piece of cake. Plus part of him was hoping that he could help out Malia in whatever way possible, gain some of her trust, or at least get her to tolerate him a little more than she did already.
Leaving Sydney out of it wasn't a bad thing either, at least if she was at home with Bruin, his youngest daughter would be safe, and Sydney would remain out of harm's way too. He had every ounce of faith that she could handle keeping Bruin and Sam safe, especially in her own home. It was a win-win situation all around, okay, except for the fact that Peter knew he was being tailed the second he had pulled out onto the main street of Beacon Hills.
Good god the new wave of hunters were so obvious and clearly lacking the ability to be stealthy at all. Not only had he seen the headlights in his rear view mirror as soon as the vehicle had pulled in behind him, he had heard the car, loud and clear. Did they know nothing about the superhuman skills that he had? Did they not realize that he had super hearing, and heightened senses all around?
Well no matter, Peter wasn't about to let a hunter be a part of his little meet up with him and Scott, not in a million years.
Peter was perfectly capable of handling this little inconvenience, hell it wasn't even worth calling a threat. All he needed was a place to take them down, a place that he was familiar with, a place that he knew like the back of his hand– the preserve.
Slowing down, Peter pulled off the road, holding the car steady as it skidded slightly on the gravel shoulder. He continued to ride the brake and brought the vehicle to a complete stop, throwing it into park before turning the engine off, letting the silence take over. He couldn't see the hunter's car but he could still hear it, his prey wasn't too far off.
All Peter had to do was get himself into the preserve and lie in wait. This would almost be too easy. These people were no Argents, not a Gerard or a Kate, hell, not even Chris Argent, who was pathetically aligned with Scott, would be this careless. Something wasn't right here, and Peter was going to figure out what the hell was going on, just as soon as he eliminated the tail he had gained.
Pushing the door open, Peter set his foot on the ground and hauled himself out of the front seat. He tucked the keys into the pocket on his jacket and shut the door gently. He peered up at the moon and focused his attention on the rapidly beating heart of whoever was out here with him.
They were nervous, and rightly so. Peter was vicious, he had once been a ruthless alpha who had ripped his own niece in two. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do to protect what was his and if that meant ending this novice hunter's life, well Peter was prepared to do just that.
It was a nice night for a hunt of his own.
Without hesitating, he took off in a brisk walk, starting off on the trail just in front of the car. Soon enough though, he veered sideways and craned his neck, using his senses to pinpoint the exact location of his follower.
It wasn't hard, hell, the so called hunter was even more obvious now that he wasn't in the car. What the hell was this guy doing? It was like he wasn't even trying to maintain a sense of cover.
He was going down for sure.
Slipping behind a tree, Peter pressed his back against the rough bark, letting his eyes fall shut as he tuned in to the rapidly increasing footfalls that were quickly approaching. He continued to listen as the footfalls came to a stop and Peter knew that he had outwitted the dense hunter that was following him. The inexperienced nimrod had to figure out where Peter had gone, but he wasn't going to get that far.
Taking in a deep breath, Peter rolled his body sideways and surged away from the tree, coming to stand in the middle of the trail. His eyes landed on the very person who had been trailing him on the road but Peter wasn't scared, not even with the large gun in the man's hold. Seriously?
This was what Gerard was using now, this was the new brand of hunter?
Did they not know anything? Like how to be quiet, how to lure out their prey or set up a trap? Were they relying simply on the sheer fire power that they could hold in their hands?
"You're one of them."
Peter cocked his head sideways and tried to understand what the hunter was getting at. One of them? Hmm, well, he wasn't entirely sure what this guy was talking about, but he certainly wasn't going to give him any sort of break. When the hunter raised his gun even higher, pointing the barrel directly at Peter's face, he rolled his eyes and let out a grunt.
"One of them…" Peter trailed off and shut his eyes for a split second, forcing his icy blue irises to come to surface. When he glared back at the hunter, he tried desperately to fight off a smirk but it was just too funny. This guy, this amateur standing in front of him had no idea what he was doing. "You mean-"
"Tell me, what exactly do blue eyes mean?" The hunter demanded and gripped his gun a little tighter. From where he was standing Peter could see that it was some sort of hard core automatic weapon and it didn't take him long to recognize it. It was precisely the thing that Argent Arms could provide, a nice, sturdy, quick firing G36 assault rifle.
"If I told you, then I'd have to kill you." Peter countered, a sarcastic tone to his voice, but the hunter didn't budge, he didn't even flinch. Okay, well, Peter was growing tired of this bullshit, he wanted to go ahead and meet up with Scott, get it all over with so he could get back to his mate.
"I'd like to see you try."
Peter gave the man a slight shrug and jerked forward, diving at the man's chest and wrapping his arms around his waist, tackling him to the ground like an NFL quarter back. The impact the man made against the ground was way too satisfying and one of the nicest take downs that Peter had ever managed to do.
For god's sake, the hunter went down like a sack of potatoes and once he was on his back on the ground, it didn't take much more to get the weapon out of his hold. Peter merely kicked it sideways, breaking the man's grasp on it and then hopped up to his feet, standing over the guy, staring down at him with his still glowing blue eyes.
"Too easy. You know, if you had done a little more research, asked the right person what blue eyes mean, you might've stood a chance." Peter offered up, an amused smirk gracing his features as he took in the sight of the man slowly raising his hands up in surrender. "Then again, probably not."
With a hard knee to the hunter's head, Peter knocked him out cold and planted a hand on his hip, looking down at the guy. Too easy? Was it too easy?
No, no it wasn't, it couldn't be. This man, who had the balls to call himself a hunter, was just terribly inexperienced, and anyone who was even remotely trained would be going after Scott and his little band of misfits, right? If Gerard had any sense, that's where his focus would be.
Yes, of course, that was all it was. Peter wouldn't even register as a threat on their list, not when Gerard had a hard-on for the true alpha of Beacon Hills, a vendetta against the measly teenager who had stumbled into their world. Peter Hale would be nothing more than a blip on their radar.
"Well," Peter let out a soft sigh, kicking the hunter's leg roughly, "you and I, we've got places to be, people to see, so, let's not waste any more time."
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Getting the hunter into the cell in Eichen house had been a lot more work than Peter had been anticipating, in fact, at one point, he had paused, let the hunter fall lax on the floor and debated calling in Aidan, to see if Sydney's beta would help him, but that would be bruising to his pride, and Aidan certainly wouldn't have ever let him live that down.
Sucking it up and shaking it off, Peter had struggled all on his own to get the unconscious hunter tucked away in a vacant cell in the basement of the nut house where he had once been a prisoner. Being back here caused him to shudder but he shook it off, knowing that he wasn't here as a prisoner this time, no, he was the warden, and he was going to show this hunter that he was tougher than he appeared.
Leaning against the wall just outside the cell, Peter rolled his eyes as he listened to the man coming too. He was groaning, grumbling even, but he wasn't yet fully conscious. Thank god, he didn't want to start his meeting off having to explain to Scott why there was an angry hunter locked away yelling at him.
No, that just wouldn't do, instead, Peter liked the idea of introducing the man once he had already established a line of communication. He would spring it on Scott but he would do so once they were already talking. There was no point in scaring him off right from the start. Maybe Peter could even show Scott that he was skilled in taking on hunters, maybe he could prove to the true alpha that he was a force to be reckoned with and make the teenager regret ever crossing him.
Blowing out a breath, Peter pulled out his phone and looked at the screen, re-reading the text messages that he had sent to both Malia and Scott, which read simply 'Eichen'. He knew they wouldn't need much more than that, they were both very capable at tracking him and he had made sure to take the easiest path to his current position.
Dragging his finger across the screen, he closed the text message and peered at the photo that he used as his background. It hadn't been his idea, not at all, but he wasn't about to change it.
One night, while Peter had been busy, Sydney had hijacked his phone and had taken a selfie with the two girls. Sam was grinning ear to ear, Bruin's eyes were wide with wonder and Sydney was pressing a kiss to the side of their baby girl's head. It definitely wasn't a picture that he'd want others to know he used as a background, but it was certainly a picture he would never get tired of looking at. They were his girls, they would always be his girls.
"Why did he want to meet here?" Scott's voice echoed from around the corner and Peter made quick work of tucking his phone into the pocket on his jacket. His mind drifted to Sydney and he wondered what she was up to while he was out meeting with Scott.
Was she playing with Sam and Bruin, were they watching a movie or were they still reading?
What Peter wouldn't give to be back home already, to be near them and be with them. He wanted to spend every free minute that he had with Sydney and Bruin, not be standing in the basement of Eichen House leaning against the open gate waiting to lay eyes on his grown daughter who seemed to not care about him much at all.
"Why did he agree to meet at all?" Malia countered, breaking Peter out of his thoughts. He rolled his shoulders back, clasped his hands together behind his back and prepared himself for a face to face with Scott and Malia. They wanted to talk to him, they had contacted him, had wanted to meet up, but this was his choice of location. This was where he had the advantage if he needed it.
"Curiosity." Peter announced, the two in question rounding the corner and coming into his line of sight. He gave them both a nod, acknowledging their presence before adding, "mostly."
"Okay." Scott breathed out after giving Malia a quick look. He began to move forward, closing the distance between them, but Peter remained still, waiting for him to speak. "We need your help."
"With what? Another suicide mission? Not interested." Peter shot back, leaning slightly to the right as his eyes trailed over Malia, taking in the sight of her. "Or do you need my help?"
Well if Malia was the one that needed his help and not purely Scott-
"I'm here for moral support." Malia broke in, Peter blinking a few times to clear up his mind. Okay, well that wasn't exactly what he had been expecting, then again, he was talking about Malia, so was he really all that surprised?
"For him or for me?" Peter countered, a small sense of pride welling in his chest. Had she come here for him? Had she wanted to see him?
"You'd need to have morals." Malia pointed out with a slight shake of her head. Peter fought off the urge to roll his eyes and instead settled for giving her a disapproving look, though she wasn't entirely wrong.
She just didn't know the new Peter, the Peter who had Bruin and Sydney to look after. Malia had no idea what kind of person he was now. He was a family man, a beta to a fierce, strong, savage alpha female, not to mention the mate of one of the most wonderful women he had ever laid eyes on.
Surely they had to know that he wasn't the same Peter who had attacked Scott to start with, who had destroyed the peace of Beacon Hills, killed people before having his throat ripped out and his body lit on fire. It was obvious, wasn't it? He wasn't that man anymore.
"You helped us fight the Ghost Riders." Scott pointed out with a nod of his head.
"Self preservation." Peter retorted. The Ghost Riders, okay, he was going to bring that up. Well he would never let Scott know but the reason he had fought them was for him and Sydney. He had missed out on far too much being locked away in Eichen House and then stolen right out from under everyone.
He wasn't going to let the Ghost Riders get in his way, and fighting side by side with Sydney had been exhilarating. She was brilliant, she was ferocious, and most importantly, she was his.
"But we couldn't have won without you. You're stronger than all of us, you were the real reason the Wild Hunt-"
"Stop." Peter cut him off, lifting his hand up, not exactly a fan of where Scott was taking this. "A solid effort, you don't need to appeal to my ego. It's quite healthy. You're going to need to work a lot harder than that if you want my help."
What did Scott want with him? Why hadn't he gone to Sydney? What did he need that he couldn't get from her?
She was a team player, much more than he was, and she was definitely just as strong as he was. Was it that Scott didn't know her like he did Peter? Was it that he didn't trust Sydney?
Did it really matter? Well, no, but it did bring a lot of questions to surface. Sydney had been right there helping with the Ghost Riders, in fact, she had been there when he had been locked away. He knew she had helped handle the Dread Doctors, and the Beast, so why, why didn't Scott go to her for help?
"What do you want?" Scott pressed, a lightness to his tone that Peter hadn't expected. Was Scott really here to bargain with him, to give him what he wanted in return for his help?
Stepping forward, Peter crossed his arms over his chest and got right down to it, at least, he was going to tell Scott what he wanted him to hear.
"Everything pretty much is the way I want it." Lie. Sydney and Bruin were in danger, and if they weren't directly in the line of fire now, they would be soon. "My penthouse apartment is filled with mid-century furniture," Lie, another lie. He was quite content living with Sydney in her house, he loved waking up next to her and seeing his baby girl every morning, tucking her in at night before curling up with his mate and sleeping soundly through the night. "My passport has more stamps than the post office-" Lie number three- "and did you see the car parked out front? That's a Shelby 1000 Cobra; there are only a hundred in the entire world. I have two. Two."
None of it mattered though. Aidan was living in his apartment and Peter hadn't been out of the country since his little impromptu trip to Mexico (unless being in the Wild Hunt counted as being out of the country, but there was no stamp for that on his passport). He wanted to be with Sydney, he wanted to watch Bruin grow up, he wanted to teach her everything he knew and witness his daughter grow up to be a strong, independent woman.
Could he do that if the threat of Gerard was lingering around Beacon Hills? Could he really let Scott lose this war? And if Sydney caught wind of what Gerard was planning, well, it wasn't like Peter had ever been able to tell her what to do. She wasn't the type of person to lie down and die, and when it came to Gerard, he knew she wouldn't run away.
"But Gerard has an army, and every single one of them want you dead." Scott explained.
"And you think that means I'm going to enlist in your little endeavor? Because you're going to defeat Gerard? You're not going to beat him, Scott and let me show you why." Peter paused in his movements, and his words, and he set his hand on the lever on the wall beside him. This was the moment that counted and Peter just hoped that his unconscious hunter was ready to prove his point. When the lever was flipped and the lights in the cell illuminated, Peter turned his attention to the hunter, who was sitting up against the wall, the empty gun on the bed near the man's feet. "When I found him, that was pointed at my face. That is a G36, which fires seven hundred fifty rounds per minute and it's empty, for the moment."
Shoving his hand into his pocket, Peter freed the cartridge of ammo from the jacket and held it up in front of the window to the cell. He stole a glance at Scott and watched as the teen's eyes widened slightly, wondering what the hell was about to happen here.
Without hesitating for another second, Peter flipped down the slot in the door, much like one for mail, and made a move to toss the cartridge to the man.
"Peter, wait." Scott called out.
"What the hell are you doing?" Malia followed it up and Peter let the ammo fly, the hunter catching it, nearly fumbling it, but managing to keep his hands on it. Within seconds, the cartridge was loaded into the gun in the man's hands, the barrel aimed at the glass window, the only barrier between them and the hunter.
"That homicidal guinea pig is going to kill all of us unless you do what's necessary, and I don't feel like dying today." Peter remarked, quickly lifting his hands up to his head and plugging his ears with his index fingers.
The rapid fire gunshots were much louder than he was anticipating but he was definitely glad the he had plugged his ears. Scott would not be so lucky and all it took was a quick look to realize that the true alpha was confused as hell. Okay, so maybe there was a less intrusive way to prove his point, but it was too late now, the gun was going, the hunter was trying to kill them and there was nothing any of them could do to stop it, not just yet anyways.
"There's something wrong with him." Scott called out, trying to be heard over the loud, ear piercing shooting. The true alpha was crouching, trying to avoid the gunshots but it wasn't hard to do just that. The hunter had a narrow window, literally, in which he could shoot at them.
"Yes, he's shooting at us." Peter yelled back, turning to look at Scott once more before locking his eyes back on the frantic and cornered hunter. "If you can't even kill him, how do you expect to win this war?"
Gunshots continued to ring out in the hallway, breaking into the glass and leaving little holes in the transparent barrier. It crackled and splintered from the impact but it didn't break, instead, the hunter continued to shoot, at least he did so until the gun jammed.
The hunter tilted the gun sideways and ran his finger along the trigger, trying to figure out what was wrong. Peter knew exactly what the problem was and suddenly his mind flitted to Sydney. What would she have done if she was here with him, what would she have said to him?
Would she have been able to kill the man? Would she have given the man an opportunity to prove them all wrong, to give him a second chance at life? Peter found himself at a loss, knowing that he had no idea what she would do in this situation.
Surely if her life was threatened, she'd handle it, but was she corrupted, was she as corrupted as Scott, or Malia? Was she on the 'let's try to save everyone' bus, or would Sydney be able to identify that this man needed to die, or that the only way to stop him would be to kill him.
Peter cautiously moved his fingers away from his ears and locked his eyes on the crazy hunter in the cell. What exactly did this man know about them? What was Gerard telling people? Did he know the true abilities that people like him and Scott had? Did he realize that supernatural creatures had families just like human beings?
"Don't worry, it's just jammed. It tends to happen with automatic weapons that haven't been serviced regularly." Peter stated to the man behind the glass. He tried to keep his mind focused on the task at hand and not drift to thinking about Sydney. "Just slide the bolt back."
With a smirk on his face, Peter lifted his hands back up and plugged his ears once again.
"Thanks." The hunter said, doing exactly what Peter instructed him to do.
"We're not going to hurt you." Scott called out to the man but he didn't listen, he didn't even give Scott a chance to say anything more.
The gun started firing again, round after round breaking through the glass and embedding in the wall behind them all. Scott remained out of the way and Peter kept his stance in front of the door, watching, waiting, hoping that he'd get his point across. This wasn't a war that was cut out for Scott, this was a war cut out for people like him, people who had no qualms about killing people that hunted them.
This was his town, this was his home and his family was here. He wasn't going to let the hunters win, but he also wasn't going to side with a nauseatingly optimistic idiot like Scott McCall.
"He can't be reasoned with, Scott." Peter shouted over the gunshots. "He's not only shooting at us because he's afraid, he's trying to kill us because he hates us."
The gunshots seemed to stop once again but this time the hunter didn't hesitate, he didn't look to Peter for instructions, no this time he leapt at the shattering, weakened glass and broke right through it, landing on the floor roughly. Scott was already one step ahead of him though, grabbing the gun and holding it sideways, trying to force the hunter back and away from him and Malia.
"Why are you doing this?" Scott demanded, trying to hold his own against the man.
"Because she wants you dead." The hunter ground out, not giving Scott an inch. No, this man was fighting back with everything he had, he wasn't scared of what Scott was capable of, hell, if Peter had an theory, he figured the man had no idea what Scott was capable of, Scott probably had no idea what he was capable of.
But Peter, oh yes, Peter could kill this man if it came down to it. He would break his neck, rip out his heart and not stop until the man was a pile of carcass at his feet. If it meant that he could live, if Sydney and Bruin and Sam could live, then he'd kill everyone that got in his way.
"See? Blind obedience." Peter stated matter-of-factly.
Scott continued to struggle with the man for a few seconds longer before twisting the gun in his hold, forcing the hunter around and smashing his back into the cold, concrete wall of Eichen House. The stranger crumpled to the ground and, for a second time that night, was knocked unconscious.
Would Scott take it further, would Scott kill him though, or would he simply walk away, letting Gerard's army remain at the same number instead of dwindling it down one by one.
"Hmm, he never gave up. I would fight with him." Peter stated, jabbing his finger in the fallen man's direction. "I like him. That's how you win a war."
"You were never going to help us, were you?" Malia growled, shaking her head slightly.
"One day you'll learn you can't save everyone." Peter replied.
"Yeah and you can't kill everyone either Peter." Scott countered, trying to catch his breath from his little melee with the hunter. "Look, you can fight with us or fight alone, but one way or another, you'll end up fighting."
Scott turned his back to Peter and took a step towards the end of the hall. Malia's eyes bored into his but Peter didn't flinch. If she was naïve enough to side with Scott, then who was he to stop her?
"I'm guessing it's going to be alone." Malia tossed out before following Scott's lead.
"You made it this far without getting your hands dirty, Scott. No one makes it through a war with clean hands. If you won't start killing," Peter had started off calling after them but he quickly lowered his voice, no longer yelling at Scott's back, "you better find someone who will."
With one last look at the fallen hunter, Peter turned his back to Scott and made his way down the hall in the opposite direction. All he could do now was head home and let Sydney know what was coming for them.
He just hoped that she was a little more willing to kill than Scott was.
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Thoughts?
