Lydia silently watched her sleeping boyfriend. They were in his bed and after the last two days, the banshee realized just how much one could have but not know until they lose it. She planned to live life to the fullest and appreciate everything she had just as much from now on, starting with showing her boyfriend how much she appreciated him.
Lydia got out of bed and took out the spelled sage candles Scott kept in his bedroom and lit them before returning back to bed. She didn't miss the clothes leading to the bathroom, some of which were torn, but she had a boyfriend to please before giving him a piece of her mind for his recklessness.
The she-alpha knew now why he did that and what he found out, which was quite a surprise, but it didn't excuse his carelessness.
They spent sometime catching up just before they slept, Lydia showing Scott what happened while he was out and he allowed her to see some of what he experienced although not before giving a warning to not dwell on seeing Gerard as he was in his last moments. After that they slept, they had quite the night after all.
While Scott woke up to a rather pleasurable morning, Isaac was already in the kitchen preparing breakfast with Malia. Although they had their assigned pairs and partners, the pack alternated and mixed things up, so it was the she-coyote and he-wolf's turn to team up and make breakfast for everyone.
Allison joined them a few minutes before Melissa arrived from work, the nurse was more at ease after Scott passed by the hospital to see her before going home the night before. She didn't wait for today to give Scott a piece of her mind for his recklessness like Lydia did, she needed to express her worry so she let him know just what was on her mind after giving her son a very long hug.
Melissa greeted the teenagers that seemed to have taken over her house, heading for her bedroom. It was a little weird being the only adult in her own home, it used to be just her son and herself just a year ago, but now... Scott had a pack consisting of his friends who owned bedrooms in the house and Melissa had a boyfriend...
That sounded weird even to her although she smiled a bit at the thought. Her lessons with Alan ended up being more than they were meant to be. The man just had a bit of... Something, and the way he spoke, his voice, it just drew Melissa in.
When Alan Deaton let his guard down, his indifferent and clinical demeanor made way for a rather simple, passionate and down to earth man that the woman couldn't help but be attracted to him. It helped that they had a few things in common and after years of being single, finding someone you could relate to like they did was something they didn't take for granted.
Alan got to know Melissa the woman and not Scott's mother and Melissa got to know Alan the man instead of her son's mentor and employer, it was amazing how much a change of perspective could lead you to.
The nurse was pulled out her thoughts by Lydia and Scott greeting her on their way to the kitchen, passing her on the stairs while holding hands.
"You used protection, right?" Asked Melissa, causing the teenagers to falter.
"Mom!" Scott exclaimed, embarrassed and Lydia wasn't any different.
"What? I'm just making sure we don't have a dire banshee baby just yet." Said the nurse, resuming her course.
Lydia and Scott shared a look, they hadn't thought about that but now that Melissa mentioned it...
"Don't even think about it!" Interrupted Stiles, startling the couple. "I'm too young to be an uncle and babysit for you, so no dire banshee babies for at least 10 more years of awesome ass kicking."
"Like I'd let you babysit our baby." Retorted Lydia, and led her boyfriend to the kitchen, leaving a stunned Stiles at the base of the stairs.
Isaac and Allison stifled their laughs when they heard that from the kitchen.
"What?!" Exclaimed Stiles, he followed the couple. "Scott would let me, wouldn't you, Scotty?"
Silence was all he received. That was just too much for the beta pair to hold their laughter in. The pack had their breakfast in relative peace after that. It felt nice having their he-alpha back and seeing the smile on Lydia's face.
The alpha pair seemed closer than before, figuratively and literally, which was saying something considering how they weren't against public displays of affection.
When they finished eating, Allison and Stiles collected the dishes and set to work before Lydia telepathically called them the sitting room. Scott asked Stiles to bring the case file on Gerard's murder that he knew was a copy his omega got the special deputies to make for them, he was good like that.
The true alpha silently studied the case file while his pack waited before he put it down and looked at his pack.
'Show them.' He told Lydia.
The banshee knew what he was referring to since they discussed it after she gave him some piece of her mind. There were a lot of things Scott learned from Gerard. The man dying caused an unexpected side effect of transferring all his memories to the dire wolf, which contributed to his mental breakdown.
The sudden influx of information and Gerard's brain activity shutting down was too much for Scott to handle, way too much. It would have killed anyone else instantly and Scott eventually but Isaac saved his life in more ways than one. What Scott wanted Lydia to show their pack was Gerard's memories of what happened to him before they arrived and who did it.
"What I'm about to show you is Gerard's memory of the attack and who did it. Allison, this might be hard for you..." Lydia warned but Allison gave the go ahead.
She had been set on killing Gerard before all this happened after all. It didn't take long for Allison to regret that decision. The memory started with Gerard hearing scratching on his room door, getting irritated and finally opening it.
The moment he did he received a blow to the head that knocked him out. Gerard woke up a while later on the floor, paralyzed, with no one in sight. Well, until a figure came into his line of sight and received an unpleasant surprise. A figure of someone he thought was dead, his only daughter, Katherine, commonly known as Kate.
Oh, he knew immediately what that meant. The man concluded that Kate escaped from the Calaveras, somehow, and was now there for revenge. It seemed like she found his hidden stash of kanima venom and used it against him. Since Gerard was paralyzed and unable to speak, Kate began her monologue.
She began by telling him that she was going to kill Gerard for multiple reasons and that she would tell him while she tortured him and the prolonged torture began. Kate said that the first reason she was going to kill Gerard was because of what he did to Allison.
She learned of his actions since arriving in Beacon Hills. When Kate learned of how Gerard manipulated everyone in town, especially Allison, she realized that that was the exact same thing he did with her.
It all started when her mother was killed by a werewolf on a hunt and slowly but surely her father built her to be his faithful little soldier with "natural talent". He tried the same with Chris and succeeded although only partially.
Kate's true and final test was seducing Derek Hale for information and burning the Hales. 6 years later Gerard sent her to Beacon Hills to capture the alpha. For what? She didn't know. That was the true reason behind Kate's presence in town and to introduce Allison to their family legacy but Peter ended up killing her.
Kate's death, kind of, gave Gerard an opening to see things himself. The final reason was that the she-jaguar wanted to repay her father for his betrayal. Selling Kate out to the Calaveras was the last mistake the man would ever make and she saw to that.
She had been in the final moments of her revenge on Gerard when Allison, Isaac and Scott arrived, so she had to leave and that was the last of the memory. Allison couldn't believe that her aunt was alive and was now supernatural, a werejaguar.
Peter turned her by scratch, although unintentionally. The question now was what Kate would do. Allison was confident over her resurrection although she sympathized with her aunt when it came to Gerard manipulating the both of them.
The girl was glad her manipulative grandfather was dead and he died a painful death. She had to tell her father that his sister was alive, but her pack gave her support in the meantime.
In the two days the Calaveras have been in town, Severo noticed his mother's stranger behavior. As hard as she tried to hide it, it was quite obvious that Araya was restless, especially after their hunter contacts in the area expressed their concerns over hunting Scott McCall in his own territory with his pack and allies.
The McCall Pack was building quite the reputation in Beacon County. Severo recently heard that they massacred a pack of 11 werewolves in one attack, leaving no survivors. That was not forgetting the fact that the pack was lead by a powerful alpha pair, a werewolf and a banshee.
There was a rumor that the banshee also killed a man the same night the true alpha killed Gerard, so Severo kind of understood why his mother would be restless. The McCall Pack was so young yet it was proving to be a force to be reckoned with.
It didn't help that they had a legendary werewolf hunter family on their side, regardless of their reputation taking a hit from the rumor that turned out to be true that they killed the Hale family, children and all, and Gerard's defeat, they were good allies to have.
Katherine "Kate" Argent, hunter turned werejaguar, was furious that Scott ended up being credited for killing her father.
It didn't take even a day for the news to spread like wildfire in the supernatural world, specifically amongst the supernatural community of Beacon Hills, werewolves and werewolf hunters, that True Alpha Scott McCall viciously killed the notorious werewolf hunter Gerard Argent and that the remaining Argents were now loyal to him and his pack.
The damned Calaveras tried to get assistance from their fellow hunters with that announcement, knowing that the news would motivate the hunter community to hunt down the McCall Pack and Argent family, and that included Kate since she didn't commit suicide to prevent herself from turning and killed half a dozen of Calavera men to escape, but something happened last night.
Kate was sure some of the hunters in the area were ready to support the Calaveras but backed off when they heard the McCall Pack officially claimed Beacon Hills as their territory.
It was hard for even humans to miss their battle cries after all, especially where they originated from. A lot of people didn't know where the nemeton was exactly, especially humans although supernaturals could find it if they sought it out, but those who were aware of the supernatural instinctively knew that that was where the McCall Pack was and what it meant.
The werejaguar knew that everyone knew about Gerard's defeat at Scott's hands close to a year ago and how the Argents, Chris and Allison, bowed out of the hunting business shortly afterwards, but they came back allied with the McCall Pack and recently changed their code, so even though hunters were incensed, they were likely to hesitate after the true alpha claimed Beacon Hills.
Araya could try all she liked to incite a war but everyone knew how powerful self-preservation was. The only thing that got to Kate was that Scott was credited for killing Gerard when it was her who killed him. Now, the boy had one more claim to his name to make hunters fear him, his pack and territory.
Kate killed Gerard for a few reasons and one of them was to warn hunters to back off and stop hunting her but Scott ended up reaping what she sowed. All because of Araya and Severo's assumptions!
The she-jaguar didn't understand how they came to that conclusion and why Araya wanted the man power to eliminate the McCall Pack and her family, but what she did know was that there was no way the Calavera matriarch was going to get the army she was hoping for.
That was good news, it meant less people out to kill her. All that was left now was how Kate was going to reveal herself to her brother and niece, that was if she was going to in the first place. It didn't seem like Araya told Chris about her being alive and supernatural status.
As much as Kate would like to think otherwise, she was scared of her family's reaction. Gerard, her own father, gave her body to the Calaveras to make sure that she was dead when he leaned of how Peter killed her and that she was slowly healing and turning, so she was a bit nervous about Allison and Chris' reactions.
"So, what now?" Asked Isaac, after Allison calmed down, her head on his lap.
"Nothing. We're on school break and I'm planning to make the most of it. Scott already has eyes looking for Kate and the Calaveras, so, the usual. In the meantime we'll live our lives and enjoy the break." Replied Lydia, head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
'Except I have to go see Chris about his half brother and talk to Deaton and Marin about my idea before I can enjoy the break with you.' Scott reminded his girlfriend.
"Don't remind me." Groaned Lydia, out loud.
The pack had gotten used to hearing one sided conversations so there didn't bat an eyes when Lydia suddenly said that. It annoyed Stiles big time because sometimes they would say something quite interesting but he wouldn't be able to make sense of it because of not knowing the other half of the conversation.
"Don't remind you of what?" He asked, hoping it wasn't training.
"Scott's crazy idea." Said Lydia.
"Buddy, you can't have a crazy idea and not tell me! Out with it, Scotty." Scott pitched Lydia for selling him out, It was supposed to be a surprise!
"Ow!" Exclaimed the banshee, narrowing her eyes on the dire wolf.
"It was meant to be a surprise, and that's if it's even possible." Said Scott, kissing Lydia's forehead.
"You're going to try it anyway." Lydia countered, smiling at him.
"Will you two stop stalling? What are you talking about?" Malia entered the conversation while running her fingers through her boyfriend's hair.
"Scott wants to grant all of us venomous claws." The banshee revealed.
It took a moment for what she said to register, and when it did...
"What?!" Allison, Stiles, Malia and Stiles asked in unison, turning their full attention on the alpha pair.
"Gerard removed Jackson's kanima claws during his time as his master and kept them intact for later use. He was planning on making a sword and a dagger with them after becoming a werewolf but those plans were ruined, obviously. Scott knows where they are and wants to use them to grant us a neurotoxic claw each." She explained, stunning her friends.
She had been stunned too when Scott told her the idea just before they came downstairs for breakfast.
"How?" Asked Allison.
"Don't know, yet. I have to speak with Deaton and Marin and do some research... " Began Scott, but was interrupted.
"I'm helping!" Declared Stiles.
Malia facepalmed. Only her boyfriend would rather spend school break doing research. She could see now how Scott and Stiles ended up in the woods and the former receiving the bite.
"Thanks, buddy!" Said Scott, leaning forward a little to give his best friend a high five.
"You two are idiots." The she-coyote announced, causing Lydia, Allison and Isaac to laugh, it was true, though.
"You won't be saying that when you have a neurotoxic claw, Malia. I've been on the receiving end of those things and let me tell you, it's not fun, but they are definitely useful." Informed Stiles.
He could still remember how it felt to be paralyzed by kanima venom, twice! The human was glad Jackson was no longer in town, he didn't want for there to be a third time. At that thought, an idea struck him.
"Do you think we could find a way to be immune to kanima venom? I don't plan on suffering it's effects a third time." Stiles asked.
"Well, Lydia and Scott are immune to it, what with Lydia's natural immunity and Scott's siphon nature... It's just the four of us vulnerable." Noted Isaac.
"Didn't you guys hear? We're royalty, you can't expect anything less from royalty." Lydia informed.
She was Queen Alpha Lydia Martin of Beacon Hills, after all. Marin and Deaton informed them of what they unintentionally did last night and the banshee liked the thought of having her own kingdom to rule.
It helped that her boyfriend was a true alpha, as in king alpha, making his and their claim to Beacon Hills authentic. There was a reason why no one claimed the town in the last 6 years, after all.
"And we as noble members of your court, Queen Alpha Lydia, cannot be seen as weak by the kingdom, least commoners get any ideas." Stiles played along.
That seemed to amuse everyone.
"There's nothing noble about you, Lord Omega Stilinski, but my husband and your king, King Alpha Scott, will see what he can do for his loyal subjects." Said the banshee, queenly.
They all fell into silence before bursting into laughter. It felt good laughing together after the scare Scott gave them, it was reassuring and eased their worries. The true alpha debated informing Allison about her uncle, Severo, now or after he talked with Chris.
'Now. She already knows about Kate, might as well tell her about her uncle. It might cause problems if we wait, otherwise.' Said Lydia, locking eyes with her boyfriend.
Scott sight when Lydia maintained the eye contact.
"Uh, Allison. There's one more thing you need to know about Gerard and the Calaveras." He began, causing the laughter to come to an end. "Severo is Araya and Gerard's secret son."
Silence reigned once again, but this time, it was not followed by laughter. The others were surprised to hear that. It seemed like old man Gerard couldn't keep it in his pants in his youth.
Allison didn't know how to take the news, especially knowing that Severo and his mother were out to kill Kate and from what her father found out, her pack, her father and herself. Chris received a call from an old hunter contact who alerted him of the Calavera family's plans.
He informed the pack while Scott was out of action that the hunter family was looking for reinforcement and were telling people that Scott was the one who killed Gerard and that they, Chris and Allison, were now on the true alpha's side with a change in code.
The Calaveras were trying to incite a war between hunters and the McCall Pack and it's allies, specifically Argents. So, Allison didn't know how to feel about Severo being her uncle except cautious, very cautious.
The teenagers spent some more time together before going separate ways, with Scott following Allison to her apartment to explain things to her and Chris. Though Lydia showed the pack Gerard's last moments and Scott told them about Severo, it was precautionary, that's why he didn't explain things in detail, he saved that for Allison and Chris as it was family business.
Scott noticed that someone was tailing him halfway to the Argent apartment and a quick use of kenning identified the person as Araya Calavera. The dire wolf was curious about that.
He decided to park on the side of the road and see if she would approach him. From what Lydia showed Scott, it seemed like the Calavera matriarch blamed Gerard's murder on him and that's why she was out for blood, calling for her fellow humans to join forces to get rid of him, his pack and allies.
Scott didn't have a problem with that, it just made people more afraid of him and his pack, afraid enough not to provoke them, which was a good thing. Araya narrowed her eyes when she saw the dire wolf park his car on the side of the road before getting out and looking in her direction.
That was good, it meant that she would finally get her answer after days of trying to find out where he was. The Calavera parked her own car behind the boy's and got out. The dire wolf and human met each other halfway, each tense.
"Wolf." Greeted Araya, after a long moment of them just staring at one another.
"Human." Scott returned the favor. "What do you want?"
He followed that with a question, taking led of the conversation.
Araya narrowed her eyes further. There wasn't any fear in the boy or nervousness, just plain disinterest although the human could tell he was ready for an attack.
It was quite insulting to be honest, for a young wolf such as Scott McCall to be so unaffected by the presence of an experienced werewolf hunter such as herself, 40 years of experience! Araya had planned on intimidating Scott with the man power she called in but that plan wasn't working out as expected, so, she had to improvise.
"To tell you that there will be consequences for killing one of my own, especially in such a vicious manner." Araya forewarned, voice grave before turning to leave.
"You think that was me being vicious?" Scott asked rhetorically, causing the Calavera to pause. "Come after mine and I, and I'll show you my definition of vicious. This is my domain, human, behave yourself. Be gone by sunset and never return, or I'll add a Calavera to my food chain."
Scott threatened, before turning his back on the seething woman and though she tried to hide it, she was unsettled.
Try as she might, there was no way Araya could hide her chemo-signals. Scott stopped when he reached his car door.
"Leave the jaguar to me, she's in my territory, and so are you." With that, he left.
Araya felt a little relieved when the boy left, especially without saying anything about her secret although she was unnerved and surprised by how he addressed her and that he knew about Kate. At least it seemed like he didn't know about Severo's parentage and that was good.
She still felt insulted, though. The hunter leader was used to getting her way. Did Scott not know that he was dealing with a Calavera? Just as that thought crossed Araya's mind, she received a text message informing her that another group of hunters was withdrawing their support.
No one was willing to go up against the Argents and McCall Pack anymore, not after they claimed Beacon Hills as their territory, and it looked like the true alpha knew that very well. Damned wolf! Araya resolved to let things be, for now.
Kate witnessed the whole thing. She had been following Araya for sometime now, trying to figure out what the woman was planning now that she wouldn't be getting an army as she expected. The werejaguar received quite the surprise when she saw Araya getting out of her car to meet Scott. Scott!
The boy developed well since she last was him, extremely well. There was this air of authority and power about him now, a certain level of maturity and confidence he didn't possess almost a year ago. It was quite attractive. Kate wouldn't mind getting a little taste of him since Allison wasn't in the picture anymore, but those thoughts were for later.
The she-jaguar was interested in how skillfully Scott played on Araya's belief that he killed Gerard. His threat to Araya only implied that he killed Gerard, but he didn't admit or refuse the claim outright. Kate also noted that Scott used "human" to address Araya, just as the woman addressed him by species and it caught the Calavera off guard even if she tried hiding it.
More often than not, hunters didn't refer to the supernaturals they hunted by name or anything that would be taken as acknowledging them as more than animals and monsters. It was a psychological move and worked well to help hunters not acknowledge their racism and crimes against the supernatural.
It also used in the psychological warfare against supernaturals and helped develop the general fear they had of hunters. Scott just reversed and used that very method on Araya and Kate knew for sure that it left the woman uneasy.
But more to the point, the werejaguar was curious about how the true alpha found out about her because it was obvious Araya say anything about that if her reaction was anything to go by. That thought led Kate to conclude that if Scott knew that she was alive and a werejaguar, then so did her family.
It seemed like it was time to pay Allison and Chris a visit. Kate wondered what Scott intended to do with her, the last time she saw the boy was when she tried to kill him and was only stopped by Chris.
When Allison arrived at her apartment building, she waited in the parking lot for Scott to arrive since he was behind her. After a few minutes of waiting, the girl gave up and decided to go ahead without him. She found her father in his office going through some papers and greeted him before giving an update, leaving the Severo part for last.
Scott arrived just in time to explain the Severo story in detail. He told the father and daughter duo that Severo came to be as a result of a secret affair Araya and Gerard had in their youth after they were both married. Before they were married to their respective partners, the two used to have flings when they were in the same area.
It was nothing serious, just two fellow hunters enjoying themselves. They met sometime after getting married and one thing led to another which ended up with Araya pregnant.
It was around the same time Gerard's wife got pregnant and Araya wasn't keen of abortion nor losing her husband, so she decided to keep her baby and they both reached an agreement to keep the whole thing a secret.
Neither wanted to ruin their marriages and cause a feud between their families since Araya's father didn't like Gerard. It was quite hard for Chris to hear all that the former couple had to say. Scott then informed Allison and Chris that he gave Araya till sunset to leave town.
He didn't want the Calaveras causing trouble in his town like they were trying to. Chris knew that if Araya and Severo left Beacon Hills just as Scott instructed, it would send a message to everyone and add to the McCall Pack's reputation just like Gerard's and the rumor that Scott killed him did, that the McCall Pack was a pack not to be messed with.
That was on top of all that they did before. Defeating Peter, Gerard and the kanima, the darach Jennifer Blake, the Alpha Pack, the oni and the Beta Pack, and just recently claiming Beacon Hills as their territory.
Anyone stupid enough to attack an unconventional pack with a track record like the McCall Pack deserved what they had coming to them. Chris never thought that he would ever be proud of a pack, but his daughter's pack was really something to be proud of.
Scott interrupted the Argent's thoughts by asking for the kanima claws Gerard hid at the Argent Arms International warehouse and the man was glad for the distraction. It actually reminded him of his decision and since Scott had Gerard's memories, it made bringing the boy into the arms dealership and security consulting firm business easier.
Chris decided to involve Allison in the discussion of the partnership agreement between Scott and their family since she would be taking over from him when he retired from the business.
The two teenagers were the future of Argent Arms International which they decided to rename Argent-McCall Arms Dealership and Security Consulting Firm, AMAS for short, Argent-McCall Arms Security. Scott was investing most of the money he was left with from Deucalion's last will after he shared some of it with Malia in the business and bringing in Gerard's private clients since he was the one in charge of Argent Arms International before his defeat.
The dire wolf wasn't interested in directly running the business since he wanted to be a veterinarian, so it's day to day management was going to be handled by the Argents although he would be getting a weekly update. He didn't have a problem with working there part-time between school and the animal clinic just as Allison didn't.
Chris just wanted to prepare Scott and Allison before sending them to their first gun deal. The training he gave the pack helped prepare them, he just wanted to refine some of their skills.
After they were done with the discussion, the experienced hunter took Scott to the warehouse and they found Gerard's hidden safe. There were a few things inside it beside the kanima claws but they weren't Scott's target, so he left them to Chris.
Isaac received a text message from Scott telling him to get to the Argent building but to cover his scent and not reveal himself unless he felt Allison's visitor was a threat to her. If she was a threat, he had to treat her as such and respond accordingly.
The beta knew what that meant and was prepared to do as instructed.
A few minutes after Scott and Chris left the Argent apartment Kate presented herself to her niece and Allison didn't know whether to run to her aunt and hug her or not.
The last time Allison saw Kate was when Peter slit her throat right before her eyes and before that, Kate tried to manipulate her and kill Scott, so she wasn't sure where she stood with the werejaguar regardless of Gerard's memories.
The young Argent didn't expect to met her aunt so soon, anyway. Kate knew that things weren't going to be easy but when she saw Chris and Scott leave, she took the chance. She didn't know when she would get Allison alone again if she missed the chance, so she took it. But now... Kate could only think of one thing to say.
"I'm sorry." She apologized, and meant it, catching Allison off guard.
Those very words were the last words Kate said before Peter slit her throat. Hearing them again... It brought that memory to the forefront of Allison's mind although she quickly compartmentalized it. They had a lot to talk about and she couldn't allow herself to be overwhelmed and distracted.
Lydia wondered what Meredith planned after leaving Eichen House. The older banshee sent her a message through their connection saying that she left the mental hospital and was safe. The Martin girl grew pretty close to the woman since they first met, she was glad to hear that Meredith was now out and about.
At the moment Lydia was checking an empty book she bought for her boyfriend to use as his grimoire. He was currently writing his spells on a rather simple book and the girl couldn't have that, so she put an order a while back to have a new one that fit his status and power made.
It just arrived so the banshee was checking it out, seeing if it was as she specifically asked and up to her standards. Conclusion? She was satisfied. With that done, Lydia turned her attention on getting ready to spend the rest of her day with her mother.
She spent the last few days at the McCall house, so it was only fair that the banshee showed her mother that she appreciated her and was grateful for allowing her to sleep at Scott's house.
Natalie wasn't too keen on her daughter's supernatural life but she was trying to understand and support her as much as possible while also encouraging Lydia to live as normal a life as she could. It wasn't easy being a human mother to a supernatural child, Natalie and Melissa could relate to one another in that.
They talked about it and Lydia and Scott's relationship, and they concluded that it was better to be in the know and support their children than to forbid them and end up in the dark and out of the loop.
Because of that, Melissa and Natalie knew more about their children's whereabouts and activities now than they did before they were informed of the existence of the supernatural.
They no longer had to stress as much about their children's strange behaviors and connect it to the absence of their fathers in their lives. It was just better knowing.