Lydia and Meredith were in sync on a level that only banshee could reach and that was where the latter was teaching the former. It was safer and more practical to train the young banshee on a psychic level because of the place they were in and Meredith wanted Lydia to find balance between her conscious and subconscious.
She wanted Lydia to be able to have access to her subconscious while conscious because it would make it easier to interpret premonitions and use their powers on freewill. Since Lydia wanted to master telepathy, they had to train her mind to be able to handle the stress and all that came with using that ability freely.
It helped that Lydia was an exceptionally powerful banshee and her mind was quite sharp. Meredith was confident that the Martin was going to redefine banshees and set a new standard for their kind. The woman noticed that they had a visitor and a quick check confirm it to be Marin.
Marin spent sometime watching the two banshees and came to the conclusion that Meredith was teaching and training Lydia.
She thought about helping the young banshee too. It would go a long way in forming an alliance with the McCall Pack. Although the pack was young, it was promising and if given the right training, it could be capable of filling the void the Hale Pack left in Beacon Hills.
With that thought in mind Marin interrupted Lydia and Meredith with a proposal for the former.
While Lydia and Scott were busy with their mentors Lydia, Allison, Isaac, Malia and Stiles were busy with their own thing. Allison decided to be Malia's Lydia since she knew what it was like to be the new girl at school, not forgetting that she also lost family members not so long ago but she wasn't going to take she-coyote shopping, that was Lydia's style.
Instead, the Argent took Malia to the woods since they were both athletic and they could learn a thing or two from each other. Isaac and Stiles chose to tag along and ended up being part of the girls' plans, they didn't mind although Stiles was guaranteed some pain at the end of the day.
Rafael finally got a chance to talk with his son again the following day, evening to be more precise. He arrived at his former house to see a shirtless Scott kissing Lydia beside her car before she left. The man was about to comment on that but stopped short when he noticed that Scott had a tattoo, two bands, one thicker than the other.
"I didn't know you had a tattoo." Commented Rafael.
He couldn't help but recall having seen his grandmother with that very same tattoo during his youth. Two bands, one thicker than the other. What was the chances that his son had the same tattoo as his late great grandmother?
The dire wolf bit back the ready retort that his father didn't know a lot of things about him, he was in too good a mood to antagonize the man, so...
"I got it at the beginning of this semester. Have you got any?" Revealed Scott before asking.
The agent was pleasantly surprised by the friendly reply and took it as a sign that hope was not all lost. The thought about the tattoo was replaced with hope and was forgotten.
The father and son entered the house and Rafael was further surprised to find books laying around the dining table with Scott's shirt just hanging on a chair.
The true alpha wore his shirt before packing the books and moving them to his bedroom then went to the kitchen to start making dinner, some of which he would deliver to Melissa at the hospital later.
The father of the demon wolf true alpha chose to just take in the sight in silence. He didn't want to ruin the moment or improvement and Scott seemed to appreciate it. Baby steps.
"Um, you've killed on duty, right?" Scott suddenly asked, catching Rafael off-guard.
How did you respond to that kind of question from your own child? Tell the truth? Lie? Change the subject and ignore it all together?
"Yes." Rafael gave a short answer.
"How do you deal with it?" The young McCall further inquired.
He wanted a different perspective from Deaton and Deucalion's so that he could better help his pack when the time came.
They dealt with things so differently that the alpha wanted to be able to connect with each of his pack mates and the only way to do that was to ask people who've gone through the ordeal, learn from their experiences and formulate way that could suit the individuals in the pack.
Scott dealt with his own first kill by using Deucalion's own methods and taking comfort in knowing that Melissa, Derek and his pack and allies were alive. They were his strength. Deucalion's mindset of being the alpha of alphas and the apex of apex predators made him feel like guilt was beneath him.
He thought showing remorse was like exposing a weakness to be exploited by opportunists like Gerard and he wasn't about to let that happen again. Although Scott couldn't just kill his remorse for the life he took, he was able to compartmentalize it with that mindset and his love for his mother and pack, not forgetting duty.
He was the apex of apex predators and alpha of the McCall Pack now and any threat to his would be dealt with, preferably permanently.
"It's always difficult to kill regardless of the reasons but you learn to compartmentalize to deal with it." Replied Rafael, interrupting Scott's thoughts.
"But how do you compartmentalize?" Scott asked.
"I used to drink." Said the elder McCall with a healthy dose of guilt and shame.
Oh, the dire wolf could smell it.
"And now?" He inquired.
Rafael took out his phone to show Scott the answer to that question. Scott was confused to only see the home screen until he saw the wallpaper. Rafael's phone wallpaper was a picture of a younger Scott in his arms with both laughing and that broke down a piece of the wall Scott had up when it came to his father.
Seeing that picture affected the alpha more that he would have expected and Rafael took notice but said nothing. Just seeing that gave him a little bit more hope.
"Why do you want to know all this, anyway?" Asked McCall after giving Scott sometime to recompose himself.
Scott had an answer ready the moment he began his inquiry. It would have been careless of him otherwise. There was a reason why his father was sent by the FBI to be the one to investigate the impeachment case against Stiles' father after all.
A few days after Malia joined the McCall Pack Scott called for a pack meeting at his house. The pack spent the last few days getting to know Malia and vice versa. It was surprising how easily the girl fit in and found her place among them.
Allison, Isaac, Malia and Stiles were wondering what the meeting was about. They never an official pack meeting before and every other gathering was done because of certain events.
Scott started the meeting by announcing his species to the pack, shocking them. They didn't know about the existence of dire wolves and when their alpha explained why, they understood. Isaac recalled what happened when he told Scott about the oni's when he arrived back in Beacon Hills after a week away.
He realized that it was caused by Scott unconsciously and the alpha confirmed, telling his beta that it was likely that he used telekinesis in his anger at the time. It was one of his abilities that he discovered with Deaton. Including siphoning magic, spell casting, potion making, pain infliction and pyrokinesis and his true alpha abilities.
His weaknesses were the same as all other canine werecreatures excluding mountain ash. Lydia found out her abilities too, telepathy, compulsion that could be defined as spell casting, a banshee scream as a weapon and focus, harbinger of death, premonitions, astral projection and a psychic connection with hellhounds.
The past few days were quite busy for the banshee and dire wolf. Scott surprised even Lydia with his second announcement. He announced Lydia as his mate, officially making her the alpha's mate and secondary leader of the McCall Pack.
The true alpha followed that up by informing everyone else on their ranks in the pack hierarchy. With Scott and Lydia as the alpha pair and leaders of the pack, Isaac and Allison were the beta pair while Stiles and Malia were the omega pair and leaders of their respective ranks.
They were the inner thinner band or circle of the McCall Pack just like their alpha's species symbol and new pack symbol indicated and everyone else that would join their pack in the future would have to follow the hierarchy and chain of command, being the outer and thicker band or circle.
Scott's third announcement was that they would all start training from the weekend. They were pack, they ran as one, they stood as one. They had to learn just what that meant and how they would conduct themselves as such.
Scott made it clear that his word was law and if they didn't like it to either look him straight in the eye and challenge him or leave the pack. Everyone needed to know their places and roles within the pack for their survival depended on that. When Allison, Isaac, Malia and Stiles thought that was all Scott dropped the boom.
"Lydia and I are going to kill Brunski and Gerard." He said.
Malia didn't have a problem with that. From what Stiles told her, they should have been handled a long time ago, especially Gerard. Stiles and Isaac were shocked to hear that but found that they shouldn't be.
Not with Scott's declaration on his first day back at school after a week of absence and Stiles was still a little sore about getting his ass kicked by Gerard, but they turned their eyes on Allison since she was the one who was personally affected by the alpha pair's decision.
It took a moment for what Scott said to register in Allison's mind and when it did she didn't know what to do or feel. She tried to find a reason for her alpha's decision and it didn't take long for it to come to her.
When Lydia told them about what Meredith revealed the young Argent thought about how Gerard manipulated her and what he could do with someone like Meredith. Genocide of supernaturals on a far larger scale than the one the banshee heard from Peter's thoughts and planned on enacting.
It didn't help knowing what she knew about her manipulative grandfather. Allison confronted her father about her mother trying to kill Scott which led to her death. Well, kind of. Chris revealed to Allison that it might have been Gerard's doing.
It was quite obvious that he wanted Allison to take leadership of the family and it's allies and manipulate her but the only way to do that was by permanently removing Victoria.
As much as that woman had been rather harsh and cold no one could disagree with the fact that she would have done anything to protect her daughter if she knew her father-in-law's plans for her and Gerard knew that very well.
Chris told Allison how Gerard might have pushed for Victoria to go after Scott knowing that he was part of Derek's Pack on his orders and that Derek would save him and likely kill her. Then the old hunter pushed for Victoria to commit suicide and fulfill their code and got Chris to help her which opened the way to manipulating Allison.
Allison wasn't listening to reason either back then, only focusing on getting revenge on Derek for her mother's death that was fueled by her grandfather and Scott wasn't saying anything, too scared for his own mother's life that was being threatened and not wanting to ruin Allison's memory of her mother even if the woman tried to kill him.
It was heartbreaking how Allison could figure out the reasons behind Scott wanting to kill her grandfather without asking for them or thinking at all. The current situation with Gerard reminded Allison of the story about the first Argent hunter, well, huntress to be more accurate, Marie-Jeanne Valet the maid of Gevaudan and her brother, Sebastien Valet the beast of Gevaudan.
Oh, she learned the truth behind the myth Kate introduced her to their family's secret life with. Now Allison was faced with a situation that was kind of similar to that one. She was faced with the choice of supporting Scott in killing her sick and manipulative grandfather or trying to stop him, or...
"No." Allison finally said, not really surprising her pack, Scott and Lydia were expecting the challenge after all.
"I understand why Lydia wants to kill Brunski. I understand why you want to kill Gerard too, Scott, but I have to be the one to kill him." Said the Argent, eyes locked with the McCall's.
Now that, that shocked her pack. She noticed how Scott said that Lydia and he were going to kill Brunski and Gerard, it was kind of implied to be respective plus Lydia had reason to want to kill Brunski more that Scott.
Isaac was dumbfounded and he wasn't the only one. Stiles wondered if they would all be killers by the end of the semester.
"Allison..." Scott started but was interrupted.
He couldn't help but wonder what it was with the girls in his life. They were too stubborn and strong-willed for their own good.
"You have been trying to protect us all this time, protecting me, and I was too blind to see it then but I'm not now. Thank you for that, but I have to do this." Said Allison. "There's a chance Gerard set my mother to kill you at the party knowing that Derek would likely kill her to save you.
My dad said that Gerard pushed for her death, saying that if she didn't kill herself one of them would have to do it before she became a werewolf, most likely himself. Gerard manipulated all of us to get what he wanted since he set foot in Beacon Hills and he was willing to even kill my father and I.
Whose to say he didn't manipulate things to get my mother out of the way so that he could manipulate me like he did Kate and to make getting the bite easier?" She presented her reasons.
"Wait... So your mom is the reason Derek bailed out on the plan to capture kanima-Jackson and Matt to save Scott at the party last semester?" Asked a shocked Stiles in the silence that followed the Argent's speech.
He wasn't the only one shocked by the news. Neither of the wolves commented on that when Isaac and Stiles asked Derek and Scott respectively about the latter almost dying so they knew nothing about it. Scott's behavior started to make sense to Lydia.
Why he had been uneasy about going to her house and tensed when her mother arrived at home on Sunday. Malia wondered just how many of their family members her alpha had to face so far to get to where he was now, her own biological mother was still pending.
Allison was surprised that even Stiles didn't know about her mother trying to kill Scott. It seemed like Scott really wanted to keep the whole thing a secret. Just for her. The girl couldn't help but ask herself if there was more the true alpha kept to himself just for her sake.
It seemed like the pack meeting revealed more than Scott wanted and he guessed it couldn't be helped. Like Deaton told him just a few days ago, that some things had a way of revealing themselves.
"Yes, Stiles." The dire wolf answered for Allison before she could. "Now, are you sure that's what you want, Allison?"
He followed up, closing the matter entirely. Allison affirmed her decision although she didn't know how she was going to carry it out or how she was going to face her father. Isaac held his girlfriend's hand to give her some support.
"Alright then, but we have some serious training to do before that." Said Scott.
"Gerard is a well known hunter, his death will draw other hunting clans to Beacon Hills for his funeral. We're almost guaranteed that at least one of them will want to retaliate. We need to be ready for that." Explained Lydia when she saw Isaac about to asked about the wait.
The McCall Pack spent some time at the McCall house after the pack meeting before going their separate ways. The alpha pair stayed at the house while the beta and omega pair went out, each wanting to spend some time with their partners.
"You're going to have to tell your mom about all this, you know." Scott said to his girlfriend.
They were both laying on his bed, the banshee's head on the dire wolf's chest listening to his heartbeat. Lydia knew what her boyfriend was talking about. It was just a matter of time before her mother started asking the right questions after all.
"I know, but not now. I want to get a better handle on my abilities before I tell her." Said the girl.
Scott kissed the top of Lydia's head. He knew why she was procrastinating. It was the same reason as his for not telling his mother. But...
"We both know it won't be long before you have your abilities mastered. You're that good." Commented the true alpha.
They knew he was telling the truth, and with Marin and Meredith mentoring her, the Martin banshee was truly coming into her power quite beautifully. It helped having a psychologist/therapist as a mentor after all.
"How about I find out how good you are with that guitar?" Lydia proposed, pointing at the said music instrument by the wall of the boy's bedroom.
The Martin hadn't taken notice of it the first time she was in Scott's bedroom last semester but that changed the day she slept at his house and she wanted to know if he could really play it. Scott smirked, it was a nice distraction but he didn't mind showing off a little.
Chris noticed that something was up the moment Allison entered his office. She had her game face on and her shoulders set just like the day she came up with their new code; we protect those who cannot protect themselves.
Seeing his daughter like that reminded Chris of Victoria. He really missed his wife especially during these moments. Chris had no idea just how much Allison resembled her mother until she said something that had him seeing a younger Victoria in Allison's place.
Scott had to stop his car on his way to the animal clinic the following day because of spike strips that were laid out in the road. His keen sight was the only thing that saved him car tires.
The moment Scott got out of his car he saw Chris Argent driving his way before he got out of his car and removed the spike strips, making it quite obvious that he was the one who put them there. The dire wolf just stood by his car and watched before he approached the man after he was done.
There wasn't anyway Scott was going to allow the Argent near his car, not after that display. He was young not stupid.
"Mr Argent." He greeted quite friendly.
There was no need for him to be hostile just yet after all. Oh... If Chris didn't want to break the dire wolf's face before, he did now.
"Are you really going to get Allison to do your dirty work for you?" He questioned in place of a greeting.
The McCall's friendly demeanor disappeared immediately but he remained silent even as he saw Chris' fingers twitching probably for his gun. He looked around and saw that the road was deserted apart from them.
"Answer me!" Yelled Chris, getting in Scott's face.
Scott closed his eyes for a moment before opening them to reveal his wolf eyes and snarled, making the hunter recoil, not expecting that. It was Scott's turn to get in the humans face.
"Ever wonder why it was so easy for Gerard to manipulate Allison or why she was with Kate at the former Hale house when you arrived, her bow not far from her?" The alpha asked, voice a little deeper and darker.
He didn't give the Argent a chance to answer.
"I've thought of that, multiple times and I came to the conclusion that aside from wanting revenge Allison also wanted to feel like she was in control and take action for once since being enlightened about the supernatural." He continued. "Allison turned her grief for her mother into anger so that she could finally stop feeling so weak and Gerard knew that very well!
He fueled that anger and then gave it direction, Derek! I'm sure Kate did the same thing but using Peter's attack on Lydia so that Allison could be motivated and join her. Do you see a pattern, Chris? You have to stop thinking of Allison as that sweet and innocent little girl who you kept in the dark for 17 years while frequently moving place to place without her rebelling!
This is a stronger and braver Allison Argent! Remember why you're continuing her training and keep that in mind! I'm just as terrified of losing her as you, you know. We might not be dating anymore but I love Allison. I'll love her till I die."
Scott took a pause from his monologue and laughed a little hysterically with tears running down his cheeks. He didn't realize that his eyes shifted back to human form mid monologue.
"Who am I kidding, I've already died and I still love her. I was going to kill Gerard but Allison wants to do that and I support her. Her reasons are valid and you know it. But I want to know why haven't you killed Gerard yet." He pressed on. "Why haven't you?
I'm not trying to manipulate you into doing it I just want to know. Is the reason holding you back from killing that man the same reason you let him kill that omega werewolf in the woods? Oh, I saw it and It makes me wonder... Now, I'll answer your question.
No, I'm not going to get Allison to do my dirty work for me. I'm going to let her do what no other hunter has ever had the balls to do and I'll destroy anyone who comes after her. I'll not tolerate attacks on my pack, especially from hunters. Don't warn or kill Gerard now, you've had your chance and you failed. Just make sure you train Allison well and I'll do my part."
With his monologue done, Scott purposefully turned his back on Chris and went to his car, got in and drove away. He had a job to get to then training. Chris stood there for a long time after the boy left. Replaying his words over and over and over again. That was not how Chris saw the confrontation happen.
He was the one who was supposed to confront Scott, not the other way around. It seemed like Allison wasn't the only one who was stronger and braver. Chris Argent got into his car and drove away. He had much to think about.
Deaton watched as Scott absentmindedly and successfully deliver him a test tube he'd asked for telekinetically. It the first time the boy used telekinesis so smoothly since they began his training but it seemed like there was a lot on his mind to notice his achievement.
The druid waited until he had the test tube secure before he disturbed the distracted dire wolf.
"May I have the test tube, Scott?" Deaton asked
"Huh? Oh, um, sorry." Said Scott.
He turned to get the test tube but found the one Deaton asked for missing from the stand.
"Looking for this?" Asked the veterinarian, holding it.
Scott was a little confused since Deaton couldn't have gotten a hold of the test tube without moving away from the microscope and passing by him and he was quite sure he didn't move from where he was.
"You gave it to me, telekinetically." Doctor Alan Deaton revealed and enjoyed the disbelieving look Scott gave him. "I've been tell you to let it come naturally, as natural as you breath and you did that while distracted but before you try it again, what's on your mind?"
"I had a run in with Allison's father on my way here and it just threw me off. I keep asking myself if I'm making a mistake by allowing Lydia and Allison to kill Brunski and Gerard. I've thought of just doing it on my own when the pack is ready to handle the potential fallout without them knowing until afterwards." Said Scott.
"But..." Led Deaton.
He could hear the but just waiting on the dire wolf's tongue.
"But then I would be taking away the one chance I'm guaranteed to be there for their first kills. What if I take this chance away and their first kills happen in an uncontrolled environment and they freeze or panic afterwards? You know the risks of that. It would leave them vulnerable for our enemies to kill and I can't have that." Explained the true alpha.
"Then it seems like you have your answer." Said Deaton.
He gave the boy sometime to fully compose himself and in that time the druid completed his task. Afterwards they worked on Scott getting a more firm handle on telekinesis.
His self confidence regained and holding firm, the true alpha was glad by the progress he made by the end of the day although he still had some work to do to master his telekinesis ability. Scott wanted to master telekinesis to an "art" like his girlfriend was aiming with telepathy.
That girl was a perfectionist and Scott was doing his level best to complement her.
The weekend saw Allison, Isaac, Lydia, Malia and Stiles hating Scott McCall. Oh, they hated him. He wasn't training them at all. He was torturing them to the point that even Isaac and Malia complained but the alpha was hearing none of it.
Lydia tried getting out of physical training but was unsuccessful so in retaliation Scott received the worst of her scream attacks during combat training although she softened the blow with kisses at the end of the sessions. Every member of the McCall Pack was required to read the bestiaries and learn about all kinds of plants and herbs.
Since Allison was their weapon and gymnastic expert she took charge of that portion of their training. Stiles got his father to get him access to old cases for him to work on to improve his detective skills.
Aside from Scott, Isaac was the fastest so he took charge of the pack's running and obstacle course while Malia took charge of their hunting and hiding course because of her keen sense of smell and tracking skills.
Lydia worked on telepathically coordinating and synchronizing the pack while Scott brought his telekinesis into their obstacle course among other things.
While the McCall Pack was training Parrish finally met with Doctor Alan Deaton. As it turned out, Cerberus was the hellhound spirit that possessed Jordan during the explosion in Afghanistan making him a hellhound.
They weren't in sync so Jordan couldn't use his hellhound abilities or regain any memory from Cerberus' take overs. Deaton had Lydia come over to get Cerberus to merge with Jordan to make things easier for both the amortal and mortal.
Cerberus was a little stubborn about that but ultimately gave in. It was quite the experience for Jordan to be merged with the spirit. It was weird to say the least. He was a bearer of death and guardian of the supernatural, the black dog.
The bearer part was a bit terrifying to acknowledge but it was balanced out by the guardian part. The McCall Pack had a hellhound secured as an ally and that was more than other packs could claim.