Two Pack II: Teen Wolf Season Four

by lordtrayus

The Nogitsune is gone, Scott and Isaac are back together, and Stiles has gone back to normal. But, rather than deal with the grief of losing Allison, Scott's pack has to contend with Derek's imprisonment, former foes of the twins trying to settle scores, and taming Malia. But worst of all is a new enemy coming to town, bringing with them an old friend who could destroy them all...

47. Episode 12: Wildfire Part 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf

Two-Pack II

The other dogs turned and looked at her in confusion, however, she raised herself to her feet, her eyes glowing blue, her whole body shaking in anger as the news hit her, a savage growl rolling from her throat as she stared at Agravaine, who looked at her, totally at sea.

"Right, what about?" he demanded, turning to look at his pack, his crazy eyes alight in the gloom.

"Everything. And she's not alone, is she? They're all affected." Scott whispered nastily, and Agravaine suddenly felt a vice like grip of terror around his stomach, and turned to the boy, who was looking at him smugly as Isaac held his hand, both of them looking at the Corrupter, who suddenly looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Shut up." Agravaine ordered, as Stiles wrapped himself around a weak Malia, both of them looking at him.

"What's he talking about?" Malakai asked in confusion, and Agravaine snapped his head back towards him angrily.

"Nothing!" he spat, the dogs recoiling, but it was now Scott they were watching, and despite the fact that his life could most likely be measured in minutes, he commanded the entire room, even those struggling to ward off Agravaine's evil flames were watching him, enraptured.

"I'm talking about all of it," he explained, his voice taking on the same hypnotic effect as Agravaine's did, because while Agravaine had defeated him, now that he had this knowledge, he had at last beaten the Corrupter, "about how, one night, a young shepherd was taking his sheep in for the night. But his sheep weren't settling, so he went out to explore, to see what was agitating them. And as he went outside, he was bitten, by a werewolf which was tearing through the area. You didn't know what it was, certainly not at the time, you dismissed it as a dog, or a wild wolf. You didn't know it was a werewolf. But this was the last night of the full moon, so nothing really happened, no transformation, no anything, except heightened emotions and smell.

See, you'd always been a little monster: torturing the sheep under your care, ripping the flies off insects, all that sort of thing. But you hid it well. You explained what had happened to your best friend, who believed, like you, that it was just a dog. But on the next full moon, you started to transform as you got your sheep inside. You became a werewolf, just in time for the Alpha who had bitten you before to come back through town. He thought he had bitten someone, but wasn't sure. But as he explored the area, you, overcome by the power of the full moon, and because of your malicious nature, you caught him by surprise as this werewolf came bounding out of the forest, catching him totally unawares. You ripped his throat out, and you became the Alpha."

The undead were outside, battling the Calaveras, having retreated when their master had trapped the rest of the pack in the centre of the firestorm. Everyone within the steel mill was focused on Scott, and the increasingly horrified looking Agravaine, as Scott explained his origins, and it seemed as though in his horror, the Corrupter was rooted to the spot.

"You still didn't know what you were. You ran to your best friend, to try to explain, but your bloodlust was up. And you took his life that night too, when he called you a monster, you lost all control, you loved him, and he rejected you, so you ripped his head off. Horrified and terrified about what you'd done, you fled, taking only your hip flask with you.

You travelled around, unable to settle, unable to find peace, terrified of what you were, and you killed more in your travels as you couldn't control your transformation. But then you found Thane. Thane realised immediately that you were an Alpha, and he helped you learn control. But your dark, sadistic side appealed to him, and he started to develop feelings for you. You weren't interested in that, Thane wasn't your sort after all. But the two of you fell in together, the Alpha and the Grim. Thane explained what you were, and with his help, you eventually mastered yourself, but you were still, evil.

The two of you together gave in to your most sadistic urges, killing innocents at will. When the heat got too much, you fled to Ireland, and stayed in a bed and breakfast while things in Britain cooled down. There, you met Hollis and his wife, and their child. There, you found some measure of peace. Thane didn't like staying there, he didn't like Hollis, but that was because he could see that you liked him. Hollis was much younger than you, much more attractive as well. You wanted him. When you stayed with him, you fell for him, while Thane watched on in envy. Hollis' influence calmed you, stopped your murderous ways. One afternoon, you worked up the courage to tell Hollis how you felt about him. Hollis was flattered, but kindly let you down, saying he was a happily married man."

Scott's storytelling, his voice little more than a whisper due to the pain he was in, had taken in everyone, his whole pack who watched in fascination as the fire burned through them, killing them all, even Jackson, his skin now burning black as the curse overcame him, and Agravaine's pack, even an increasingly horrified Agravaine himself, stuck fast due to his horror at finally being exposed.

"He rejected you. He rejected you, and you despised him for it. So when he went to run an errand, you returned to Thane, to the B&B, and murdered Hollis' wife and child in your rage that he dared reject you. You slaughtered them! You slaughtered them in cold blood, as an example to Hollis as to why he shouldn't have spurned your advances. You and Thane, returned to normal, fled, just as Hollis returned home to find his wife and son butchered." Scott spat venomously, the whole story was so horrible, it was making him feel nauseous just telling it.

"He deserved it!" Agravaine screeched, and Scott raised an eyebrow, giving him a humourless smile in response.

"No, he didn't. None of them did. But you ran, and as Hollis' wife took her final breaths, she used the ring, her wedding ring, to curse you, to make you as foul on the outside as you were on the inside. Only thing was, it didn't work the way she intended: you enjoyed it. Your evil, sadistic ways turned you into a Gwyllgi, and you didn't feel any repentance at all.

You were now a Gwyllgi, and now, Hollis was after you. He wanted to kill you for what you'd done to him, for the murders you'd committed, for the love you'd taken from him. He became a hunter and pursued you relentlessly, and he nearly got you, so many times. You were a wolf, cursed to become a dog, but you knew to beat Hollis you needed help.

Thane was only one person, and strong though you were, you couldn't beat Hollis alone. You needed a pack, but you were a dog now, a corrupted one at that. But you had noticed one little skill the curse had given you: you found it easy to turn people into the worst version of themselves. You could goad people, manipulate them with your power, into doing things they would never ordinarily do, make mild-mannered people into murderers. But that only gave you a little power boost, not nearly enough to overcome a determined and ruthless hunter. You needed a pack, but no wolf would follow you, you were a dog after all. That didn't mean a dog wouldn't follow you though, did it? It was then that you discovered another weredog, you found Bonnie. She had a husband, and a young son, but you needed her. You needed another weredog, to give you the power you needed to overcome Hollis. But she would never leave her family. But you saw to that, didn't you?" Scott asked darkly, and Bonnie let out a savage bark, and the whole dog pack turned to look at her as she looked at Agravaine, as though truly seeing him for the first time.

"Bonnie wouldn't leave her son. But one day, when she went out for a break from the baby, you snuck into her house, and cornered him. You poured your Baleful Breath down his throat!" Scott screamed, repulsed as Agravaine let out a low snarl, "and then you made it look like he'd swallowed bleach. She came home to find her child dead. See, when you attacked me, it made Bonnie realise what had really happened, she realised it was you. You murdered her son. She came home and found her son dead, and distraught, she ran. And that was when she found you."

Bonnie was shaking in anger, but Ciara had stopped her from leaping onto the leader of their pack, though her own face was horrified, and there was a look of dawning realisation on Eoghan's face, and the same expression was on Rhyley's as well, while Malakai looked on uncertainly.

Agravaine was shaking his head, he raised his hand frantically, desperate to shut him up, but he couldn't really do it, the hypnotic effect of Scott's voice was robbing him of his motivation, how was he doing this?

"You took her in, calmed her down. And then you made her 'realise' that her son was dead because of her husband. You twisted her, corrupted her, made her believe that her husband had been responsible for her son's death. And then you stood back and watched as Bonnie murdered her own husband.

It worked perfectly. With everyone she loved dead, Bonnie had no place else to go, and followed you simply so she could feel something, feel anything. You got Bonnie to join your pack, and you didn't just get the power from her joining you, you also got the power boost from corrupting her, from making her into a murderer, just like you.

Hollis tried to fight you, but you had gotten stronger. It was around then that he started to play with magic, and he became the Owlman, and he attacked you again, and he nearly got you, several times. You still needed more power."

Ciara and Eoghan exchanged a horror-stricken look as they looked at Agravaine in rising fury, their minds working overtime as they put the pieces of the puzzle into place, and Agravaine, bound by his own power that Scott was using against him, just looked dumbstruck as Scott continued his story.

"You found two more weredogs, Eoghan and Ciara. They lived in a small village, and had just had a child. You knew what you had to do, weredogs added to your power, but corrupted weredogs, that was even better. So you snuck into town, waiting for your chance, while avoiding Hollis. You needed more power, you needed Eoghan and Ciara, but there was their kid to deal with, they would never leave her. So one night, you watched as they headed out for a night on the town in the next village over, leaving their daughter with a babysitter. And you then used your Alpha power to make the kid's eyes glow. The babysitter panicked and took her to the local priest, but they were a small village, very devout, and they were all terrified, as you knew. Your presence corrupted them, made them even more terrified than usual. They acted on their terror, and killed their daughter, as you wanted them to." Scott told him, feeling bile rise in his throat as a terrified, furious Agravaine backed away from Eoghan and Ciara, both of whom were snarling viciously, the reason for all their pain finally revealed.

"They came back home, and found their daughter dead. As the villagers surrounded them, trying to stop them from fear, you showed up, and encouraged Eoghan and Ciara to kill them all. And they did, they had murdered their daughter, no one could blame them. They murdered them all, but they weren't just weredogs when it was all said and done, they had become Barghests. You were fascinated, and got a greater power boost than you ever could have imagined. You corrupted them, twisted them, and because of your power, they transformed as a result of the malignancy you put in them, they became monsters, aberrations of themselves, all thanks to you. But you didn't stop there did you?

You still wanted more power, you still wanted to stop Hollis, you still wanted to see how your powers worked. And it wasn't long after that when you discovered Malakai. You didn't care about Rhyley, you only wanted his brother. You wanted the one most like you, the attractive one that you were lusting after, despite being old enough to be his grandfather. You got more powerful with every person you made betray themselves, every person you twisted, you got stronger, but it was the weredogs who gave you the most power. You wanted more, and you found a family of three weredogs. A sister, and two younger brothers."

"Daisy?" Malakai demanded weakly, as Rhyley let out a low growl, it looked as though he had figured it out already.

"You knew Daisy would never agree to work with you, but Malakai, angry at the world, he would work with you, and it was him you wanted, him you fancied. So you followed Daisy when she met the rector, knowing you had to get her out the way. And once she was alone, you ambushed her, and killed her. Malakai and Rhyley were devastated, and that was when you arrived. You twisted them, warped them, and set them loose. They didn't just become Barghests, no, they became Gytrashes, a further sign of how much more powerful and evil you had become, and how easy it was for you to corrupt them all. You goaded them into killing the rector and everyone else who got in the way, and you finally had Malakai, that's why he's your favourite, because you're lusting after him. You kept Rhyley around to keep Malakai happy, but you had won, you had corrupted so many people, and you were strong enough to hold Hollis off now as well. And that was fine, until you found out about me."

Scott broke off into a fit of coughing, and also noticed Isaac involuntarily absorbing some of his pain, but he had to keep going, he had to explain the last of it, even if it did kill him.

"You knew Hollis was dying, and you were terrified that he was going to take you down with him. Even more than that, you were terrified that even if he didn't die, you would go back to being a regular old Alpha, and your pack would desert you, particularly Malakai before you'd really gotten your claws into him. You were scared, but then you started to hear about me, a young, teenage True Alpha. And even better, I was in Beacon Hills, with the last neutral Nemeton. If you came here, you could take the power of the Nemeton to help you through Hollis' death, and corrupt me. Either way you would win. If I refused, you would kill me and absorb the power of the True Alpha, and in theory would have survived the end of the curse. If I joined you, if you corrupted me, you would cast Malakai aside as your favourite as you were hoping I would become a Gwyllgi like you. You wanted to see exactly how corrupted I would become, if you could create another Gwyllgi, just like you. But, I would never let you do that in a thousand years, and as for your perverted obsession with me, that was never going to happen. So you worked with Peter, to accumulate the power you needed to survive the end of the curse and bring me down if I refused you, which you can't stand. I'll never be a monster like you." Scott vowed, his voice tailing off, he wanted to much to just close his eyes, but a low warning growl filled his ear from beside him, and he struggled to wake himself.

"You're a narcissistic, malevolent sociopath, who's murdered dozens of people, including children, just to make yourself feel better, and to save your own skin. You deceived your pack, manipulated them and corrupted them, giving them no choice but to serve you after you took away the thing they all loved the most, the thing that kept them human. You're a monster, through and through, but you're also extremely arrogant and can't deal with rejection. You're pathetic, and have ruined countless lives to keep your own, and revelled in being a Gwyllgi. It's over Agravaine. I did warn you I would destroy your pack, because now, they all know what you are. They all know how you murdered their children," he spat, and Agravaine growled, "how you murdered their sister, all to twist them into something they weren't, and make sure they had nowhere to go but to you. You're a psycho, and now that they know the truth, you'll be left…all alone…all over again." Scott breathed, it was so hard to speak, so hard to think, he just wanted to stop the pain, to let go, but Agravaine was still here, his friends still needed him, his mother, Stiles, Isaac, they all still needed him and he brutally tried to suppress the pain once again, and Jackson who's breaths were coming further and further apart, his skin almost all black and pulsing yellow and green...

Agravaine stood in the centre of the steel mill, surrounded by the defeated members of Scott's pack, watched by the others, and his own dogs were growling mutinously behind him as he breathed heavily, having been thoroughly ripped apart by Scott, his entire truth exposed, his lies laid bare.

"Bravo Scott," Agravaine hissed, the name becoming a savage, guttural growl as he conjured a ball of flame in his hands, and Isaac recovered enough to try and pull his boyfriend away from the Gwyllgi, "you know it all now. You and I could have been great together, but no. You had to defy me! Constantly! I wanted to make you great, make you like me, and you refused me, ME, time and again! I am beyond you boy, I am the Corrupter, I am the Great Gwyllgi, and I will not be dictated to by an immature little brat, I won't be rejected by the likes of you! You don't want to join me, fine. I'm going to enjoy watching you die…just one question though, why did you allow Hollis to kill Thane?" he asked suspiciously as he advanced towards Scott, Stiles and Malia dragging themselves closer to try and intervene while Isaac tried to struggle to his feet to protect his boyfriend and Alpha.

Scott snorted a little, groaning from the effort, and took Isaac's hand as his boyfriend looked at him in terror as the Gwyllgi bore down on them.

"He was your version of Isaac. He would never betray me, and Thane would never betray you. And Hollis hadn't really hurt you all these years. Two birds, one stone." He sneered, and Agravaine growled viciously, then laughed.

"Aren't we a cleverclogs? But why…?" Agravaine began, and then stopped short as he heard a savage growl behind him, and Scott smiled nastily, peering through his now almost entirely yellow glowing eyes.

"Why? Because no matter what, Thane loved you because you were a maniac like him. He must have known all along how you betrayed your pack, forced them to be with you, he would always defend you. But with him gone, when I heard from Bonnie that you had lied, I realised that you stitched her up, manipulated her. And as you're a psychotic maniac, it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out you likely did it to all the others too. But now, Thane's gone. And what's more…they all know what you did!" Scott told him with a sort of malevolent glee as all five of the remaining dogs growled menacingly.

Agravaine turned in alarm as Scott passed out, to find that Bonnie, Eoghan, Ciara, Malakai and Rhyley had all surrounded him, their eyes glowing their various colours, savagely growling as they all circled around him, entrapping him in the centre of the circle they had formed.

"You murdered my son!" Bonnie spat furiously, froth appearing in her mouth as fangs, bigger than ever before, developed, and Agravaine opened his mouth to refute her when Eoghan and Ciara, also circling, chimed in.

"You, it was you, you made them murder our daughter!" Eoghan roared, and Ciara's eyes flashed.

"It's because of you that our little girl is gone!" she screamed at him, her eyes going a deep black and Agravaine turned, smiling hopefully, towards Malakai and Rhyley, but it was Malakai, shaking with rage, his face etched into a mask of hate, who made the bottom collapse out of Agravaine's stomach.

"You murdered our sister, to get me! I would never be yours in that way!" he declared, revolted, his eyes shining their eerie red.

"You're a monster!" Rhyley stormed, and Agravaine rolled his eyes in annoyance, and threw his hands up in exasperation.

"Alright fine! I did do all of it, but you know what? I would do it all again! I made you all great, I made you all unique! It's because of me that you're all here together, freed from a life of mediocrity! I made you all what you are!" he raged, and Bonnie nodded darkly, exchanging looks with her pack.

"Yes, you made us into monsters. And I think we would all much rather be…mediocre than your corrupted playthings!" she whispered, the entire room silent as Lydia raised her head up, the feeling not going away, she knew what was about to happen…finally.

"Look, enough of this. Fine, now you know the truth. Now, let's finish them off and we can forget all this ever happened, who cares what I've done in the past?" he demanded, though his voice was shaking in genuine fear now, and his stench was becoming more and more terrified by the second.

"Who cares? When you murdered our daughter? WE CARE!" Ciara roared, it was going to happen, and Agravaine let out a nervous little laugh, his eyes bulging madly as he turned to face each of his pack in turn, his expression desperate and terrified, turning each way in case any of them attacked him when he couldn't see them, he was getting ever more frantic by the second.

"Look, enough. You forget yourselves! Malakai, I saved you, both of you!" he cried crazily, and Malakai snarled as the dogs continued to circle him, getting incrementally closer with each second.

"Only because you turned us into monsters in the first place, you murdered our sister, all for me!" he stormed, and Rhyley barked in agreement, and Agravaine lost his temper.

"Oh so what? What are you going to do huh? I did what I had to do, to make you all great, to make you all unique, to save the only life that matters, mine! Now, enough of this! You forget yourselves! I AM YOUR ALPHA!"

"Just…two…problems…Agravaine…" Scott breathed from the floor, and horrified and furious, the Gwyllgi turned to look at Scott, his skin now turning black, as was Jackson's as the curse finished them off.

"What?" he demanded, and Scott squeezed Isaac's hand as his boyfriend struggled to recover from the fire burning inside him to help Scott.

"Your ring," he whispered, his voice little more than a croak, and Agravaine looked at the shining ring on his finger, "immortal isn't the same as invincible." He told him, and Agravaine shuddered in terror, realising what that meant, what this mere boy had manipulated him into doing, oh god…

"And the other…they're dogs…"

The five dogs circling then started to transform, and all spoke a word as they did so as they became their monstrous forms as a petrified, shaking Agravaine turned to look at each of them in turn, spluttering in outrage, in disbelief:

"And!"

"Dogs!"

"Don't!"

"Need!

"AN ALPHA!"

With a vicious, bone-chilling bark, the weredog, the two Barghests and the two Gytrashes sprang at their master, Agravaine screaming in terror as they did so. Roaring in denial, fire blasted from his hands, but as Rhyley bit down onto one, it sent the current of flame careening into the rafters, where smoke started to billow, embers falling around them as the fire began to spread through the roof above them.

"NO!" Agravaine screamed as his pack turned on him, all of them ripping into him, their claws and fangs going for his throat, no, he wouldn't let this happen, it wouldn't end like this!

Eoghan's monstrous form ripped into the backs of his legs, and Agravaine collapsed to his knees, the Barghest's jaws heading right for his head. Agravaine screamed frantically and stabbed upwards, his claws slashing into Eoghan's neck. Eoghan gave a defeated whimper as blood soaked through Agravaine's claws but to Agravaine's horror, he fought through the pain, and bit down onto Agravaine's shoulder, ripping into him with savage ferocity.

"Get off me!" he begged, as Ciara also joined her husband, ripping into him as fire fell from on high, a girder melting with the sound of screeching metal above them, and it swung down, impaling Ciara through the chest.

She gasped, but exchanged a last bloodied look with her husband before the two continued to rip into the screaming Agravaine, even as their lives flooded out of them, the Gwyllgi shrieking in pain as they tore into him.

Malakai sprang into the fray, not caring about anything else, and as Eoghan and Ciara tore Agravaine's body apart, he sprang onto his shoulders, his corrosive fangs dripping as he bit down. Agravaine emitted a gurgling scream as Malakai started to tear out his throat, a cloud of Baleful Breath erupting from his mouth as he did so. Malakai couldn't do anything to avoid it, and the fireball drilled right through his neck, choking as his neck was rent asunder.

"NO!" Rhyley screamed as Bonnie looked on in horror as Agravaine made sure their pack died with him, but he wasn't yet done, a last jet of flame puncturing through Rhyley.

The others, it was too late for, but Rhyley…

She leapt into the frenzy herself as Malakai looked apologetically at his brother, who collapsed down to the ground in pain. And with a last grunt of effort as the air started to burn around them, molten metal raining down around them, Bonnie's fangs bit down on Agravaine's outstretched finger, severing the bone and spitting the ring finger away.

Agravaine screeched in furious denial, no, no, NO!

Martagh watched as the ring finger rolled across the floor as the steel mill started to melt and collapse around them. She turned desperately to the others, and gave them a frantic nod.

"Hold the line!" she ordered, before disappearing in a swirl of leaves and appearing outside the bubble.

The bubble contracted as Kaisha and Batwoman struggled to maintain it against the fire themselves, but it didn't matter. Martagh raised her staff above the ring finger, and feeling Agravaine's horrified gaze upon her, she chanted a final spell, and then slammed her staff into the ring.

The ring shattered, just as Malakai, Eoghan, Ciara and Bonnie all joined together, ripping the screaming body of Agravaine apart, the Gwyllgi's screams fading to nothing as they tore his throat out. His bulging yellow eyes faded into Alpha red as a pulse rolled across town and with a last gurgle, Agravaine, the Corrupter was no more as his body was ripped asunder by the pack that he had manipulated and betrayed from the beginning, his last, gurgling, terrified scream lingering on the air as his head rolled away from his body.

The pulse blazed across town, the curse finally over. The undead attacking the police station all collapsed to the ground in a heap, and the ones in the hospital dropped to the ground as though their strings had been cut. As Eoghan and Ciara wrapped each other in a last fond hug, whispering about seeing their daughter again, their eyes turned to a glowing blue, their Barghest faces becoming those of a mastiff as they gave a contented sigh, their injuries overcoming them. Malakai reached across to his brother, patting his cheek lovingly, his eyes glowing blue as he turned into a greyhound like visage before he too was gone. Bonnie wrapped a howling Rhyley in her arms as she forced him out of the steel mill, casting a last, devastated look at the death Agravaine had caused even at the end.

The fire encapsulating the pack members finally stopped, and a very relieved Batwoman and Kaisha stood panting as the torrent came to a stop. They looked on as their shield collapsed, but fire, unbound by Agravaine, though no longer cursed, ripped through the old steel mill, girders collapsing to the ground as the whole building screeched and groaned as it struggled to remain upright.

The fiery wounds that Agravaine had inflicted on the defeated pack member's healed as the curse was banished with a puff of smoke, all of them getting back to their feet. Scott and Jackson gave a last, ragged breath but then dark energy streamed from within them, their bodies returning to normal as their eyes snapped open, free of the curse that was seconds away from killing them.

Fire ravaged the building, the whole place getting hotter by the second. Boiling embers fell around them like molten rain, causing more fires to erupt as they landed. Clanging sounds filled their ears as the ceiling started to collapse.

"Let's go!" Scott ordered, leaping to his feet and chasing his pack out of the burning building.

The pack turned and fled, as fire belched across where Lydia had been standing just seconds before. The pack fled through the destroyed doors, out into the cool night air, and Scott turned and took a last look at the death that Agravaine had wrought.

"Thank you, we can see our daughter again." Ciara whispered contentedly, her head resting on Eoghan's shoulders as they resigned themselves to their fates, Scott's eyes filling with tears as he watched them.

Malakai gave an almost imperceptible nod as he too was consumed, but he favoured Scott with a last thankful smile before he too was gone.

Thane's body was now being consumed in the flames, as was Peter's torched skeleton. Hollis skeleton passed into the fire, and with a last blaze, the scattered pieces of Agravaine were incinerated, the long gruelling fight with the Corrupter finally over.

With a last sorrowful look at all that had happened, Scott hurried outside, joining the rest of the pack as they all turned to see the final demise of the old steel mill. With the fire having started and spread before the end of the curse, normal fire had caught hold everywhere, and the entire mill was now ablaze. The windows were smashing and the metal was grinding as girders continued to collapse, fire melting parts of metal and creating a molten waterfall. More plumes of fire blazed out all over the steel mill, the entire building groaning and creaking with the fire and the heat, and with an echoing roar, the whole building collapsed in on itself, and with a final mushroom cloud of fire, the building collapsed, incinerating the bodies of their enemies all left within.

The pack was silent as they watched the flames, surrounded by the deactivated whists and revenants, everyone watching silently as the orange glow licked at their faces. Isaac wrapped his arms around Scott's waist and Scott leaned back into his boyfriend, as Isaac rested his chin on his shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was finally over.

XX

The battle within the police station had been intense, with whists and revenants both having entered the station. Natalie had taken a fire axe to one revenant, and after having got the hang of it rather seemed to enjoy herself truth be told. Finstock had been just bemused by the whole thing, and had found a spare bat in the sheriff's office and had thrown himself into the mix with reckless abandon, even saving Natalie at one point by doing so. Dexio had shown some serious moves, moving with a fluidic grace that clearly couldn't be human, but right now Parrish was too tired to care about it, so was letting it slide. Henry had fought bravely, and was now sitting tiredly on the steps looking at the defeated undead side by side with Elba.

"You know…I hate this town." Elba commented, taking a swig from a bottle of the sheriff's stash of whisky, and Henry chuckled and joined him in a sip. They then passed the bottle to a rather beat up but very thankful looking Braeden, who grinned at them thankfully.

Inside, Parrish yawned tiredly as Gareth, looking just as worse for wear as the rest of them did, came and clapped him on the shoulder as both of them shared a grin, they had won.

XX

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief in the doorway to the hospital, the bodies of the undead piled fairly high. It had been rather a fraught night. She had done her best, but if it hadn't been for the presence of Morrell and Noshiko, she would have been overwhelmed. Morrell was currently being tended to by a rather bemused Dr Killian. Kira's father, armed with an iv stand, had been quite effective at trapping whists she had to say, and he was sitting on a bench, looking exhausted.

Most curious of all was the arrival of a bizarrely dressed newcomer. She was clad in a burgundy suit accented with gold, and her face was covered with a hood and gold-coloured panels for her eyes. She had arrived in the midst of all the fighting, and moved with a almost aquatic elegance, and Natasha would have been very impressed had she not been up to her ears in the undead. The girl whoever she was had helped turn the tide, and though she looked a tad roughed up, it was clear she was fine. Natasha gave her a nod, and once she had reciprocated, the girl disappeared into the mist of the night, the smoke from the stele mill now rising into the sky, she could see it.

They had done it, interesting, the locals of this town.

Now, a rest was called for, and a good, stiff drink. She headed inside to find Dr Dunbar on the floor, flanked by two halves of a whist, while a tired but beaming Noshiko standing above him, sword in hand, having clearly severed the beast before they had all dropped dead.

"Dr Dunbar yes? I believe your son is seeing our daughter?" she asked happily, extending her hand to the very bemused doctor, and Natasha snorted in amusement as he rather bemusedly took and shook her hand.

XX

Kate watched the roiling fire reaching high into the sky, a disbelieving smile on her face. He had done it, little brown eyes had done it again, Peter was dead, Hollis was dead, Agravaine and most of his pack were dead, and Scott was still standing. How the hell did he manage it?

No matter, it was done. And now it was time to blow this popsicle stand.

Just one last thing to take care of…

"Alright boys, let's go. But first…kill the Calaveras! And bring Ricard and whoever is closest to him, to me." She purred with dark satisfaction, then positively skipped away into the night.

Revenge was very sweet.

XX

A bullet lanced out over the pack and they twirled to see the remaining members of the Calavera clan, having been pushed back by the whists and revenants, resurging, coming towards them, weapons raising to slaughter them all. Oh for god sake couldn't they get a break?

Ricard gave a war cry, this was the pack that had killed Araya and Severo, now they could wipe them all out!

And then, out of the shadows, the four hulking Berserkers which had fallen back when separated from the steel mill, came roaring into view, and Ricard realised what was going to happen a second before it did.

The Berserkers fell upon the Calaveras, their claws and bone swords ripping his remaining family members apart. Ricard screamed in horror as he was sprayed with the blood of one of his comrades, as the Berserkers ripped through them as though they were corn. Before a second had passed, all bar him and Vargas, the person who was standing closest to him, were all dead, having been butchered by the Berserkers.

"NO!" Ricard screamed, as a howling Vargas opened fire on one of the Berserkers only to be punched in the mouth and knocked clean out.

It was only him left, he was surrounded, he wouldn't let them kill him, it was La Loba, they still hadn't killed her and now she was behind this!

He fired at a Berserker, who yanked his gun from his hand and bent it in two. Ricard then yelled in surprise as he was grabbed from behind and slung over the shoulder of one of the Berserkers, and while he struggled and screamed, he couldn't escape the brute as he ran off with him into the night, the other carrying Vargas, and they vanished into the darkness, and once Kate was done with them, it would be the final end of the Calavera clan.

XX

The pack turned and watched in shock as the four Berserkers returned from the shadows, and slaughtered the remaining Calavera clan before disappearing into the darkness with the last two, including their ringleader Ricard who's screams faded in short order as the brutes vanished into the night.

Well, that was weird.

"Should we do something?" John asked, but Argent shook his head, looking nervously at where the Berserkers had disappeared.

"I don't think so, they kind of had it coming. Besides…something makes me think that one way or another, we haven't seen the last of the Berserkers." He concluded grimly, Ricard's screams of terror fading away as the pack all turned back as one to the pyre that was once the steel mill.

It was finally over. The Ghost Pack was destroyed, the Owlman was dead, the Calaveras routed, the Berserkers had vanished, the Pombero had been destroyed, Ifrit had been vanquished, and lastly Peter had been stopped. It was over.

Scott sighed tiredly, he was so totally exhausted, he wanted nothing more than to just go to sleep right here and now. However, before he could even think of that delightful prospect, he was then wrapped in a tight, fond hug, by Jackson of all people.

"Oh, ok." Scott said in surprise, and hugged his Beta tightly in return, and Jackson, his arms still wrapped around him, muttered into his ear.

"Thank you, Scott. You saved me, again. You saved all of us, but me in particular. Despite all the trouble I caused. Thank you."

Scott grinned, hearing the genuine affection and gratitude in his voice, and hugged tightly back.

"You're welcome. I'm not doing it again though!" he warned, and Jackson broke away from him, laughing.

"Fair enough." He replied, wrapping an arm around Scott's shoulder, as they all turned to see that Stiles was rather cornered by the rest of the pack.

"So he isn't a traitor?" Danny asked happily, grinning as they looked at Stiles, who looked very nervous, and Isaac shook his head, a slight grin on his face.

"No, he's just an idiot who was undercover yet neglected to inform us. I'll give him his due though, he helped save the day." He said, and with a happy laugh, the pack wrapped Stiles in a tight embrace, though Aiden did look slightly regretful that they couldn't kick his ass.

"You…" John said, shoving through the others and taking his son by the shoulders, "are never going undercover again. Got it? Good." He said gruffly, and then with a happy laugh he wrapped his son in a loving hug.

"Yeah," Melissa said with an amused smile as she held Scott to her, revelling in the fact that her son was here, beside her, smiling happily, still alive, "when I get done inserting a massive shoe in your ass mister, you'll regret the day you were ever born." She told him, and Scott laughed as he hugged his mother, and Stiles grinned.

"I'm sorry guys, I didn't really think it through. But it did work though!" he told them brightly, though his face fell as his gaze turned onto Malia, who was standing right in front of him, and he hesitated for a second…

Which Malia used to ram her knee into his groin, and he groaned with pain, going slightly cross-eyed as he sank to the ground.

"Ok, deserved that!" he wheezed, and Malia crouched down in front of him angrily.

"Damn right you did. But I get why you did it." She told him, grinning a little, and he allowed himself a small grin as she kissed him softly, before wrapping her in a hug, rocking her body as he stood back up.

"So, you feel better now?" Scott asked curiously, and the smile Stiles gave him reminded him of how Stiles had used to be, and it made Scott feel a thousand times lighter.

"Yeah, actually, I think using that part of me to help do something good actually helped. I am sorry Scott." He told him, and the two best friends hugged each other fiercely as the last of the tension finally broke as it sunk in, they had won, they had survived.

The pack embraced each other, laughing and smiling, feeling so tired yet relieved that it was finally, truly over. Jackson happily hugged Danny, relieved to even be alive. Liam wrapped Garrett and Violet in a tight embrace, while Derek hesitantly enveloped Malia, and to his surprise his younger cousin reciprocated eagerly. Lydia, laughing, laid her head on Kira's shoulder as the Kitsune blew out a sigh of relief. The twins hugged their Alpha, while John and Argent hugged. Melissa tightly hugged Isaac, while Camden brought a very tired looking Rakaisha to him as they held one another, both of them exhausted.

"We all are, we never should have done what we did to you." Lydia said to her Alpha ashamedly, and he grinned before he wrapped her in his arms tightly.

"Oh I know. But you did, and I'm so going to enjoy getting back at you all for that." He warned happily, as the twins and Danny also hugged him apologetically, allowing the Alpha to turn his attention to their newest addition.

The Batwoman also looked, much like the rest of them, a tad worse for wear. Her clothes were ripped, soot and grime marred her face, but the bizarre addition to their team did fix him with a happy smile as she beheld him.

"Thanks for the help back there." Scott said to her, and she inclined her head respectfully.

"You are quite welcome Alpha. You did well." She told him kindly, and he looked very tired and old all of a sudden, her features, obscured by her mask, in an expression of condolence.

"I didn't want it to end like that, with so many of them dead." He said regretfully, and she sighed, and laid a hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly.

"You did all you could. I know this wasn't how you wanted things to end, especially when so many of them were just more of Agravaine's victims, but you gave them some measure of peace before the end. Take solace in that." She advised, and he nodded, though he still looked troubled before he turned his attention back to her.

"So, who are you? Why did you help us?" he asked in confusion, and she smiled.

"Consider me an interested party. After all, I'm the one who gave the Emancipated One," she explained, gesturing to Martagh, who inclined her head, "the ritual to purge the Nemeton. You did well Alpha. I expect we'll be seeing more of each other. Sheriff," she called, and John looked at her in surprise, "don't worry about the clean-up. My superiors will have it dealt with by the morning, you can be assured of that, including hiding the existence of the supernatural. Until next time Alpha, I shall be watching your career with great interest." She promised with a last smile, before extending her wings and shooting up into the night air, flying away into the darkness.

"Um, what the hell was that?" Garrett asked in confusion, and Derek pursed his lips, his guts churning worriedly as he exchanged a look with Martagh.

Whoever that was, if they could indeed hide all that had transpired here, and clean up the mess in such a short order, they were very powerful, very powerful indeed, and that could mean only one thing: Beasturo.

But they'd had enough drama for the time being, so after nodding slightly at the Scuffock, he kept his peace.

"A very powerful person." He explained elusively, ignoring Stiles' questioning look as he stood with his arm around Malia.

"Just as well, there's only so many times I can use the old PCP excuse." John lamented, making Argent and Melissa snort with amusement.

"What do you make of her?" Stiles asked, noticing that both Aiden and Jackson both seemed rather taken with the new arrival, and Scott yawned tiredly.

"Whatever she is, she can wait till morning, like the Berserkers. So even Agravaine didn't really know about them?" he asked, and Stiles shook his head.

"No, or if he did, him and Peter didn't let on enough about it to let me figure out where they came from. We still don't know who set sourwolf here up." He complained, gesturing to Derek, who glowered at him while Malia smirked.

Scott looked at where the Batwoman had vanished, and also where the Berserkers had vanished with the last of the Calaveras, and figured darkly that it was only a matter of time until both of those answers came back and bit them in the ass, but until then they had more than earned a break.

"Something makes me think we'll find out eventually." He concluded grimly, and Isaac grinned a little and Scott took his hand, squeezing it and raising it to his mouth to kiss it.

"Do you guys usually party like this in Beacon Hills?" Rakaisha asked curiously, slinging her arms around Scott and Isaac's shoulder, smiling happily as she did so as she hugged them to her.

The two of them looked at each other and smiled ruefully before Scott nodded.

"Kind of, yeah." He admitted, as Camden came and slung an arm around his shoulder, grinning tiredly.

"I do not remember this town being this is exciting, it was a lot more boring when I left." He mused, as Kaisha smiled and leaned her head on his shoulder, only for a noise to distract them, it was coming from the bins...

Images of more whists, of Agravaine, or Peter, returning from the dead, filled their heads, Scott growled, he was so tired he just wanted to go home to bed was that too much to ask!?

However, rather than some fresh harbinger of death or herald of the apocalypse, it was in fact a very small and extremely dirty Papillon dog, who's presence made Lydia's face light up with joy.

"Prada!" she exclaimed, and the little dog gave a joyful bark before she ran to her owner, who bent down and scooped her up, hugging to her…before promptly holding her at arms length, her face one of disgust.

"I'm so happy to see you but damn you need a bath!" she exclaimed in revulsion, and everyone else laughed as Prada barked happily.

"Thank goodness you finally found her." Martagh said, extending her hand to pet the dog before thinking better of it once she got a good whiff of her, and Lydia looked hopefully at Scott, who rolled his eyes, and though he got a nose full of her rather potent bouquet (honestly, Agravaine's fiery breath had smelled better) but he did nod.

"As far as I can see she's a little malnourished, but a few days of food and rest, and a much needed bath," he advised, wafting the air in front of him to try and dissipate the smell, "I reckon she should be fine, but Dexio and I can check her properly later if you want."

"Thanks Scott." Lydia said sweetly, leaning her head on his shoulder and he grinned and nuzzled her a little, which he then regretted as the happy little dog's odour was still rather overpowering.

"I don't get it…how did you figure out how to stop Agravaine?" Jackson asked curiously as he looked at Scott, and his Alpha gave him a tired smile.

"Well it occurred to me when I figured out Peter was behind the whole thing. Peter was manipulating everyone, so why not Agravaine? You'd told me about how Eoghan and Ciara had lost a kid, and then when Bonnie showed up at the hospital, it made me wonder too, especially taking into account that he's a narcissistic sociopath with a deadly fear of rejection. Once Stiles told me he was once a werewolf, it made it all kind of obvious, he had to have manipulated his pack into existence, and as none of them would leave their kids, doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happened." He lamented as they all stared at the smouldering steel mill.

"So that's it, it's over, the curse is broken?" Melissa asked as she wrapped her son in a one-handed hug, and Martagh nodded, smiling in satisfaction.

"Yes, other than perhaps slight heartburn while their healing factor kicks in and removes the rest of the cursed wounds, everyone will be fine by the morning." She assured her kindly, and Melissa smiled happily, hugging Scott to her.

"You did it honey. And thank god I don't have to call your dad and tell him you died." She mused, and he laughed before turning to his pack.

"Ok, what do you say we all go home?" he asked tiredly, because collapsing into bed and not moving for a week sounded pretty damn good right about now, and Melissa smiled.

"That reminds me, we can actually go home." She told him excitedly, and it took a second for him to realise what she was saying before his mouth dropped open in surprise.

"Wait, we can go 'home' home?" he asked with a smile, and she nodded, grinning as she revealed the keys to the house, pulling them from her pocket.

"Yes, we can. The house is liveable again, they've fixed the smoke and the water damage, even repaired the roof. Obviously its very bare bones at the moment, but upstairs is near enough back to normal. I got the call when we were at Malia's, and I snuck some stuff home while we were gearing up. We can go home, the insurance company was remarkably compliant once I namedropped your grandmother, seems like they still fear her after their last run in with her. They even sprang for new mattresses, which are sitting…waiting for us…yeah, you're right, let's go home." Melissa said happily, having zoned out imagining the freshly made bed waiting for them at home, and they all turned to head home, Lydia still holding Prada at arm's length to offset the smell.

"So downstairs is basically empty?" Camden asked worriedly, and Melissa nodded, but that didn't bother her, after all, her son was still alive, her first adopted son was actually still on their side, and everything finally looked as though it was going to be alright.

"Well yea, it all needs painted properly, they've painted it magnolia for god sake, but once that's done we can claim everything else, it won't be expensive or modern, but it'll be nice." She told them, and Argent looked at her kindly.

"Well, I'm a dab hand at decorating if I say so myself, so if you need a hand…" he offered, and John nodded as he hugged Stiles and Malia to him, leaving the smouldering ruin of the steel mill and the numerous defeated enemies behind them (they were officially tomorrow's problem).

"I can lend a hand too, but there is a certain other project that needs done, especially now we know my idiotic son isn't a traitor," he growled, throwing a nettled look at Stiles, who smiled bashfully, "a jeep that needs restored." He tailed off mysteriously, and Stiles stopped dead and looked excitedly at his father.

"Wait, Roscoe isn't a write-off?" he asked hopefully, and John shook his head, smiling.

"No, he isn't. The insides are torched, but the structure remains mostly sound. We can get him back to working order again I reckon." He explained, and Stiles let out a whoop of joy, his ever-faithful jeep, like all of them, had survived death once again!

"My dad's good with cars, we could help if you want?" Malia offered with a sly grin, and Stiles grinned and nodded excitedly, before John rolled his eyes and turned back to a smiling Melissa.

"But yeah, when I'm free, I'll help too." He promised, but Scott laid a hand on his shoulder, an evil little smile playing on his face and a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Don't worry sheriff, we won't be short of volunteers to help get the house back into working order, after all, I have numerous treacherous pack members who need to be taught an object lesson. They'll be doing a lot of the redecorating." He purred maliciously, thoroughly enjoying himself as the affected pack members came to a stop and looked at him in disbelief.

"Wait, like, slave labour? Manual slave labour?" Lydia asked in horror, and Isaac and Camden grinned in delight as Scott surveyed his fingernails, grinning playfully as he did so.

"Oh yeah, I think it's the least you can all do, you know, having nearly gotten me killed." He teased, grinning, and Lydia's mouth fell open in horror, but to her surprise, Jackson nodded, a rueful smile on his face.

"Yeah, that's fair." He admitted, though he had a feeling Scott would be exploiting this for quite a while, and with even his forbearance, the twins and Danny also nodded, looking at their shoes in shame (albeit with slight grins on their faces, thank god Scott didn't bear a grudge).

"But I don't do DIY!" Lydia protested miserably, though did nod reluctantly, kissing Scott's cheek affectionately as she did so, and Scott felt someone tap his shoulder, and turned to look at a very nervous looking Stiles.

"Well, technically, I didn't actually betray you…" he began hopefully, but Scott simply flashed him a bright smile…before shaking his head.

"Nice try, you're doing it too." He ordered, and Stiles sagged comically, while Liam, who was holding hands with Kira, looked at their Alpha curiously.

"Well, we didn't betray you, what about us?" he asked nervously, and Scott winked.

"Mom and I will need associate supervisors, to crack the whip when they're all slacking off." He told them cheerfully, and they laughed as the former rebels groaned, with no real malice.

Scott looked around at his pack, they had done it, they had survived. The Ghost Pack was gone, and his pack had survived and remade itself through the hellish crucible they had been put through the last few weeks. And he had a good feeling inside him (not just due to the fact that he was no longer cursed), a pleasant, warming feeling, feeling all of his pack united beside him, and he felt that after all this was finally said and done, they would come out of this stronger than ever.

"I could get used to this, how long will this indentured servitude last?" Melissa asked brightly, and the former rebels looked at their Alpha nervously, a look that changed to terror when Isaac whispered something in his ear, sniggering as he did so.

"As long as it takes." Scott said with a maddening air, thoroughly enjoying himself, and the others laughed, after all, after the last few weeks, they could hardly begrudge him.

"We really are Scott, you didn't deserve what we did to do." Aiden told him, the guilt and self-loathing radiating off him in waves, and Ethan nodded, looking shamefaced at his Alpha.

"Yeah, you gave us everything, and we threw you under the bus." He lamented, smelling equally guilty.

"And you were only trying to save me, to save all of us." Jackson mumbled, and Danny nodded too, looking sickened with himself.

"And we treated you like that, I'm surprised you're not trying to kill us, or kick us out or something." He said sadly, and Scott smiled at them.

"Hey, we all make mistakes. But the whole point of me being an Alpha is that I want to be different than all the other ones we've fought, can't do that if I kill my idiotic friends for making a couple of bad choices." He told them softly, and the twins, Jackson and Danny wrapped him in a hug eagerly, smiling ruefully as they did so.

"You forgive them?" Kira whispered to Isaac, and he grinned, shrugging.

"It comes and goes." He told her mysteriously, and she sniggered as he extracted one of his knives and twirled it in his hand to the twin's alarm, and to Lydia's as she hugged Scott and whispered another apology in his ear.

"I think you're right you know?" Stiles asked, standing beside his best friend, who smiled at him, "I was an idiot, I always had you guys. But at least something good finally came from the Nogitsune. But I'm sorry too, for ever making you think I'd turn on you, I mean I'm not Derek." He said, and the older wolf looked most affronted as Scott and Stiles hugged enthusiastically.

"No arguments here, you were always an idiot." Derek said without venom, and Stiles glared at him, and Lydia, to Aiden's surprise, laid a hand on his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"He isn't the only one who's an idiot. I am too. Aiden, I'm so sorry. I-I felt Allison die, and not twenty-four hours later, I almost felt you die," she explained tearfully, and everyone suddenly busied themselves looking everywhere but at the two of them, "and I know what I did to you was horrible, but I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand the thought of losing someone else I loved, so I thought...I thought that if I pulled away from you, then if something happened, it would hurt less, and I'm so, so sorry." She sobbed, and he smiled sadly, before wrapping his arms around her and leaning his head against hers.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere, not anymore. Just…why didn't you talk to me?" he whispered, and she sniffed into his shoulder.

"I…I knew that you almost got yourself killed while trying to prove something to me, and I thought that if I talked to you, it would just make it worse, I'm sorry Aiden. I know that you've changed, you're…you're becoming a hero," she told him proudly, and he went scarlet with pleasure, "but I wanted to try and protect you, and I'm such an idiot, I love you." She cried, and he grinned and tilted her head to meet his.

"I love you too." He whispered, and pressed his lips against hers, and the pack let out a collective breath it didn't realise it had been holding while Prada barked happily.

"Alright…" Argent began gruffly, allowing the lovebirds a chance to compose themselves, "what do you say we all go home?" he asked, and they all agreed eagerly.

Scott let out a contented sigh. It was over, his pack was back together, and would come out of all this stronger. He watched as Camden and Rakaisha wrapped their arms around each other, as Derek clapped Jackson on the shoulder, as Garrett and Violet linked arms, as Malia hugged herself to Stiles who hugged her desperately back, as Liam and Kira held hands, as Danny and Ethan started chatting, as Lydia rested her head on Aiden's shoulder, as his mother wrapped her arms around both John and Argent, and then felt a hand in his own and looked up to see Isaac smiling at him proudly.

"Told you that you could do it." He whispered proudly, and Scott grinned and kissed Isaac softly as the sounds for the approaching fire engines started to fill their ears, bound for the smouldering remains of the steel mill.

XX

The truck trundled out of Beacon Hills, the radio blaring as it did so. Inside the cab, Kate was happily singing The Wanderer by Dion, as her Berserkers sang along in their own language in the back of her truck (she had ordered them to do so, but still, she was enjoying herself).

"Oh I'm the type of girl who likes to roam around, I'm never in one place, I roam from town to town…" she sang loudly, before catching sight of her now six Berserkers in the rear view mirror, "you know, it's a real pity that if I put you on TV it would lead to mass panic and exposure, I mean you boys would be huge." She mused, as the now six Berserkers (Ricard and Vargas had now also joined their ranks) looked at her curiously, and she mused on the missed fame and fortune a woman and her band of monstrous bone clad backing singers would have had, they'd have been huge, just for the novelty.

But never mind, it had all worked out just the way it was supposed to, well, kind of. The Djinn and the Pombero were both dead, the Calavera clad had finally been wiped out, so that was all well and good. And despite all odds, little brown eyes had done it again, pulling off a last-minute reversal of fortune, saving the town, his pack and also managing to completely dismantle the Ghost Pack and put paid to the Corrupter all without spilling any blood himself. She had to admit, the kid was good. And even better, the man who had murdered her, her killer, the person who had turned her into a Nagual, was also now dead. She luxuriated in the thought, grinning with pure satisfaction. Speaking of Peter…

He was inside her, using a little-known werewolf technique, which he was only able to do because he was the one who had turned her, but by so doing he could ensure that he would once more live again. It was similar to how he had managed to escape his first death at Derek's hands all that time ago, part of him had imprinted within her, and after his rather…unpleasant and untimely, but highly deserved (at least in her humble opinion) demise, the little shard of him inside her started to grow. He hadn't said or done anything yet, sulking and feeling sorry for himself most likely.

And now, he was inside her, and she was the one calling the shots this time, not him,

This was going to be fun.

"Are you in there Peter? Yeah, I can feel you," she assured the malevolent presence within herself, relishing it as she did so, "and as you can undoubtedly tell, since you're now floating within me like a parasite," she teased, and she felt a surge of rage from the presence that was the embittered werewolf, "ya lost! Little brown eyes figured you out and beat you, all over again. And now, you and I are going to be bunk buddies for a while. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful to you for teaching me how to control the transformation, but, well…you're still a werewolf, a dickhead, a reminder that I didn't get you all like I wanted to all those years ago," she goaded, and she could hear him scream in rage within her if she really concentrated, "and let's face it, you're a pain in the ass for what me and daddy have planned. What we have planned needs sweet, adorable little brown eyes alive, and that's where you come in. See, you want him dead, and that just doesn't play with what we're after. So, while I did agree to be your vessel until you resurrect again…you didn't put a timeframe on it." She told him smugly, and she heard him roar in fury, but as he was little more than a shadow, he could roar all he want, she was the one in control now.

"Dear dear, such a nasty temper. But yeah, dad and I need the kid alive, at least for now. Which means, you're in time out until I decide the time is right to let you back out again. Don't worry, I'm not going to double cross you, I will help you resurrect yourself…" she promised, and she could feel it, he was apoplectic with rage, spluttering inside her, "but only when I decide to, when I decide the time is right…and you want to know a secret? Methinks it'll be a while!"

Peter raged inside her, storming away in impotent fury, and she laughed, thoroughly savouring this moment.

"Consider it partly payback, for screwing me over and trying to feed me to the Calaveras. And the rest…just because it's fun. We'll deal with Scott, but only when we're ready, and that means, you need to wait until I'm ready. So Peter…roomie," she taunted, savouring his enraged shrieking inside her, "you ready to get this show on the road?" she asked maniacally, bursting into laughter as the piece of Peter inside her started to rant and rave at her.

Still cackling with savage delight, she turned the radio up as high as it would go, slowly coming around the bend that was known locally as Devil's Corner, before gunning the engine of her truck as she drove through the night, the lights passing overhead, and getting the Berserkers to join in once again.

"Oh, I'm the type of girl who likes to roam around…"

XX

Melody came to a very tired landing as she entered the balcony door of her apartment, only to find Luana sitting sprawled on the couch, kicking off her gold-coloured boots, still clad in her burgundy suit. The subterfuge the two of them had to go to in order to keep their covers in this town was ridiculous, but it had been worth it.

"How did things go at the hospital?" Melody asked her friend and handmaiden tiredly, plopping down onto the couch beside her and casting aside her red wig as she did so, and Luana yawned as she pulled off her gold hood, allowing her long black hair, tinged pink at the bottom, to fall about her shoulders, looking happy but tired as she looked at the princess.

"Well enough, that Natasha was eyeing me up, but I helped hold the line so she gave me a pass, this time at least. How did you get on?" she asked, running her hand through her hair in exhaustion, and Melody smiled, kicking off her own boots.

"He did it, Scott won, the Corrupter is dead, his pack imploded, Peter Hale sent screaming back to hell where he belongs and Scott didn't kill anyone himself. It all worked out rather well in the end, I have to say." She mused, and flicked her fingers, magic bringing a bottle of wine from the fridge along with two glasses, and Luana sighed in relief as she saw the bottle approaching them, eagerly taking it and pouring them both a glass.

"So everything's back to normal?" she asked hopefully and Melody nodded, feeling rather satisfied.

"Yep, they're all one big happy family again. Now we just need to deal with the clean-up, which reminds me…" she said, using her magic and creating a circle of five candles, lighting them with another flick of her finger.

"Do you want me to leave?" Luana asked worriedly, but Melody shook her head, smiling.

"Loo, you helped save the day as well. You can stay, besides, they'll be heading to bed themselves soon, it won't take long." She replied, as an image flickered to life of the Queen of Beasts.

"Hello darling, a little late for a call isn't it?" she asked, and Luana bowed as much as she could from her current position, looking terrified at the fact that she wasn't bowing properly before the queen, and seemed to hesitate a little as though contemplating getting up and doing it properly, only for the queen to give her an amused look and wave a hand, indicating for her to stay where she was.

Melody, who had only inclined her head towards her mother, rolled her eyes in amusement as Luana relaxed beside her, and she smiled as she addressed the queen.

"Good news mother, the Ghost Pack has been annihilated, the Corrupter, Owlman and Peter Hale are all dead, and Beacon Hills is restored to it's former state. At least it will be once you send the cleaning crew in." she told her proudly, and the queen smiled, and nodded.

"The Wild Hunt will be there and back before morning," she promised, and Melody relaxed, the Wild Hunt would hide all signs of all that had happened except for those who genuinely needed to know, "and the True Alpha?" she asked curiously, and Melody smiled.

"Fully recovered, and back to his usual, happy-go-lucky self. It's over mom." She told her, and the queen smiled broadly.

"You have done well honey, and so have you Luana. Relax, you've earned it. The True Alpha remains alive, and his power grows every day, and thanks to you and your assistance, that will continue. Maintain your current approach sweetheart," the queen advised, and Melody nodded, "and Luana, help keep my daughter out of mischief." She ordered playfully, and despite still looking terrified to be sitting so casually in the queen's presence, she did manage a smile and inclined her head.

"I'll try your majesty." She replied, and the queen nodded, smiling proudly, her eyes dancing in the light of the candles that allowed her image to be conjured.

"Good work, both of you. And so, the young True Alpha has triumphed once again, and now will have passed all the trials an Alpha must face," she purred, her eyes glowing a feral orangey yellow as she extended her fangs in anticipation, with both Melody and Luana inclined their heads, their hearts pounding in excitement as she did so, as she hissed, "and every triumph of his brings us that much closer to ours."

XX

The next morning dawned with the first frostless day of the year, as the sun edged over Beacon Hills. The streets were quiet and clean again, and true to the word of the mysterious Batwoman, nobody other than those directly involved in all that had happened seemed to recall that had happened (the how of that particular one was going to have to wait until a later date) but for all intents, Beacon Hills was finally back to normal, the only sign of something being amiss was the sounds of hooves and horses whinnying on the air that night.

The dead bodies of the whists and revenants had been made to disappear, and despite the damage done by the fire, the forensic officers of the police station had confirmed the bodies caught in the fire, identifying Agravaine, Peter, Thane and the other dogs among the wreckage. Nobody seemed to remember all that had happened, only that it had been a bad few weeks, but now, with the start of spring just around the corner, it seemed as though it could be attributed to a case of winter blues, and everyone seemed to be going back to normal.

Jackson woke up in Danny's room, which he had all to himself, feeling better than he had done in weeks, and eagerly bounded over to the mirror. He examined his body, smiling with relief and gratitude as he saw no sign of Agravaine's poison that had been immolating him from the inside out. Scott had done it, he'd saved him again, and he was going to be alright.

Danny woke up in Ethan's bed, his boyfriend's head buried into his neck…well at least it was until Danny pressed his lips against Ethan's, and the former Alpha grinned, one part of him had certainly woke up, and he pulled Danny on top of him, kissing his neck hungrily.

Lydia and Aiden were both in the bathroom, a very dirty Prada in front of them, as Aiden climbed into the shower to start giving the little dog her bath. Contrary to popular belief, Prada actually quite enjoyed her bath, sitting preening as Aiden fussed over her (Lydia felt a little silly being jealous of her little dog as she was clearly loving the attention that Aiden was bestowing upon her), but Aiden grinned and looked hungrily at Lydia, who flashed him a flirtatious smile, before covering Prada's little ears and promising that once the dog was done, she wanted the same treatment, to which he grinned in response, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Malia woke up to find Apollo waiting for her, tail wagging happily to see her back, and Henry smiled as he came to fetch his returned daughter for breakfast, Malia's phone pinging with a request from Stiles to speak to her, which she noted with a small smile before she headed through for the sausages (venison naturally) that her father had made her for breakfast before the dog swiped them.

Violet came down the stairs to find her foster family waiting for her, and they beckoned for her to sit at the table. Her guts churned worriedly as they asked her if she was into girls, and fearing the worst, she shrouded herself in fiery armour, prepared to go back up the stairs and pack her things before things got really nasty and out of hand. She admitted that she was, and her foster mother then assured her that it was quite alright, and that she had had also been there herself and with that her two foster parents started to chat away with her quite animatedly, though regretting she didn't feel secure enough to tell them but understanding totally why she didn't. And as her foster mother described a particularly eventful night out, Violet, a smile on her face, began to think things might just actually be alright.

Camden and Kaisha woke up on top of the brand new mattress in Melissa's spare room, sunlight shining through the window, and Kaisha breathed a sigh of relief as she rolled over to kiss him good morning, and she found that her fiancé was rather more awake than she had anticipated, giggling as he took advantage of their good mood.

Stiles found his dad sitting on the couch with his feet up, cup of coffee in hand, ruminating on the rather understandable return to retirement of Elba. Stiles sat down beside his father, and with a look from his father, started to explain everything, all of it, and for the first time in a very long time, Stiles truly felt like himself again.

Kira woke and made her slow, ambling way through to the living room, happily smiling at the last sweet text Liam had sent her the night before. She found a very satisfied yet happy Noshiko and Ken sitting at the table, a platter of pancakes steaming hot waiting for her, and eagerly awaiting to share their own adventures from the night before and to find out exactly how it had all happened.

Derek stood wearing only his trousers, looking out over the town happily, a mug of coffee in hand. Braeden, who had returned to the loft and had promptly crashed down into bed beside him, smiled as she came out of the room, her hair tousled and she wrapped her arms around his waist, grinning as he passed her her own steaming mug of coffee, and for the first time since his arrest, he felt…well he couldn't say happy, he had a reputation to uphold, but he did feel awesome.

Liam and Garrett stumbled down the stairs, Garrett having stayed the night. Liam's parents then called them into the kitchen, and they found the two of them sitting at the table, a strange look on their faces. Liam exchanged an alarmed look with Garrett, they were about to start asking a lot of awkward questions that they so couldn't answer, not without the rest of the pack. However, the two of them were sitting with a large brown envelope in front of them as the two boys sat down.

"What's all this?" Liam asked, as Jenna turned her attention to Garrett.

"It's something we've been trying to do for months actually. Your dad and I talked," she said softly, looking at her husband, who smiled back and winked at Garrett, who was looking between the two very confused, "months ago, before Liam even left Davenport. But then obviously all that happened, and kind of delayed what we wanted to do. But, things have been good for a while, and we finally got all the paperwork through." She said with a mysterious smile, and slid the envelope to a very confused Garrett, who exchanged a bewildered look with Liam before opening it hesitantly.

"We've been trying for the better part of a year, but various things and paperwork snafus kept upending the whole thing. But it finally came through." Dunbar told them happily, and watched as Garrett read the documents, his mouth falling open in surprise as he did so, and he swallowed several times before he looked up at them in disbelief.

"You…you want to adopt me?" he asked, his voice constricting as Liam's jaw dropped open in incredulous delight as he turned to look at Garrett, then back at his parents.

"We've been trying for ages honey, just things kept getting in the way. We actually got the confirmation just before…Mason, but you both had enough on your plates without us adding to it, but…yeah. If you'd like us to be your parents, we want to adopt you." Jenna said sweetly, and Garrett's throat constricted, tears flowing down his face.

They actually wanted him, they actually wanted to adopt him. He'd always figured he would be in the orphanage until he couldn't be there anymore, but the Dunbars actually wanted to adopt him, to finish raising him, to give him a home. He wouldn't be an orphan anymore, he would be…their son, and Liam's brother.

"O-of course, tha-thank you!" He stuttered, and Liam punched the air in delight.

"I get a brother!" he cried in delight, as Garrett hurried around the table to wrap the Dunbars in a hug, and as he felt Jenna wrap her arms around him tightly, Dunbar doing the same, he felt it…change he supposed, now, he wasn't just Liam's orphaned best friend, but he was also going to be their son…

Liam then barrelled into them, hugging Garrett tightly as Garrett cried happily, he was finally going to have a family, and he saw the radiant smile Jenna gave her husband as she turned to start making them breakfast, and Garrett looked around the kitchen in awe, taking in what was now his home, his family.

Melissa watched as Isaac snuck back into the house, and when she looked at him curiously, he revealed he had been grocery shopping (a good idea, they had all just crashed as soon as they came in, though she had heard (and contributed to) the moans of pleasure as they broke in their new mattresses) and said that Scott was still asleep. Eyes widening in realisation, she set about helping him happily, just as Camden and Kaisha came down the stairs, clearly attracted by the smell of food.

Scott woke up slowly, the sun shining into his room, and he was so warm and happy that he considered just rolling over, hugging Isaac and going back to sleep in his nice, comfy new mattress. However, he started to become aware of a rather conspicuous lack of his boyfriend (his cool body wasn't leeching the heat off him like he usually did) and opened his eyes groggily to see no sign of Isaac. Yawning, but feeling the best he had in ages, free of the curse and of the burden of having to deal with the dogs, he reached for his phone to check the time and suddenly startled himself more awake, it was eleven o'clock for god sake!

"Hey sweetie." Isaac purred from the doorway, and Scott looked over to his boyfriend in vague alarm, before he realised his boyfriend was carrying a tray complete with a plate of hot food and two cups of coffee.

"Hey…what's going on?" he asked in confusion, as Isaac smiled and crossed the room towards him as his covers fell down as he sat up, Isaac's eyes lingering on his boyfriend's shirtless body as he did so before handing him the tray, and Scott smelled the aroma of bacon, eggs and fried bread, his mouth watering as he did so, and he looked at Isaac curiously.

"What's all this?" he asked, kind of at a loss, and Isaac grinned as he nestled into bed beside him, pinching the extra bit fried bread off the small plate as he did so.

"Breakfast in bed. We figured it was best to let you sleep, you'd earned it, so when I woke up, I snuck out to get some food. Don't worry, the others are stuffing their faces downstairs," he assured him, as Scott went red with delight, he'd never been made breakfast in bed before, "but after you almost died, single-handedly kicked Peter's ass, orchestrated the defeat and downfall of the Owlman and the Ghost Pack, defeated and exposed Agravaine," Isaac counted off on his fingers proudly, grinning as he did so, "saved Jackson," he lamented slightly, and Scott sniggered, "and to make sure you got rid of the end of the curse and had no side-effects, I'd say you more than earned it." Isaac whispered into his ear and kissed his cheek, and Scott blushed, which made a smirking Isaac nuzzle his nose into his cheek.

"Isaac, I…" he mumbled, very touched by the sweet gesture, and Isaac hushed him and reached for his coffee as he settled in beside him.

"Come on, it'll go cold." He chided, and Scott didn't have to be told twice, when he hadn't really eaten properly since Mason's death, he savoured yet devoured every morsel hungrily, and then leaned back on his pillows, coffee in hand.

Isaac was about to lean back beside him, but Scott made a pointed little moan in his throat, and Isaac smiled but rolled his eyes, and stripped off the white tshirt he was wearing before nestling in beside Scott with his own coffee, leaning his head on Scott's shoulder.

"You're amazing you know." Scott whispered softly, and Isaac's pale cheeks went a bit pink, looking a bit pleased with himself.

"All I did was cook breakfast." He replied, and Scott grinned, nuzzling him.

"Yeah, but you also kept me together. So, thank you. And thank you for breakfast, it was amazing." He crowed, and Isaac smiled contentedly as the two of them sat there in the late morning sun, sipping their coffee.

"Told you that you would figure it all out." Isaac teased, and Scott smiled as he nodded.

Yeah, he had. And Scott had figured it all out, had engineered the defeat of Peter, and his Ghost Pack allies. While he didn't like how it had happened, with so many lives lost, but the Ghost Pack was finally gone, he and Jackson were free of the curse, and everything was going back to normal, and he had a feeling his pack would be stronger than ever as a result of all this.

"It's over." Scott moaned happily, feeling the exhaustion leave him as he did so, and Isaac nodded, kissing his cheek.

"Yeah, it finally is. You saved the day, you and Jackson aren't dying anymore, put the pack back together, and beat the bad guys. It's over…and your mom is taking Cam and Kaisha to the hardware store to get what she wants to get downstairs looking good again before our errant pack arrives for their slave labour." Isaac explained smugly, and Scott grinned, yeah, he was kind of looking forward to making them miserable.

"Yeah, I'm so glad I came up with that idea, why spend money on decorators when I've got lousy pack members standing idle?" he asked, and Isaac laughed, quite liking the evil grin his boyfriend flashed him.

He was right, he reckoned, he had been resisting his power as the Alpha, but it seemed like now, he had fully accepted it, and even better, now that he had he was…well hot girl didn't quite do him justice anymore. It was like Scott had evolved, similar to how he had evolved from a Beta into an Alpha, now it was like he had evolved from an Alpha and had finally become the True Alpha, and was more accepting, more at peace with himself.

"Good point, got to say, I'm liking this little vindictive side to you…I'm a supervisor right?" he asked nervously, and Scott grinned and leaned into his boyfriend, kissing him softly, his tongue entering Isaac's mouth, who moaned a little in response.

"Deputy director." He whispered, and Isaac took Scott's now empty cup from him and sat them, and the tray, both aside, as he heard the sounds of a car door shutting outside.

"I like that…and from the sounds of it, your mom and my brother have left, which means we have the place to ourselves, and we haven't had any fun time in, well, ages," Isaac whined, nuzzling Scott eagerly, and Scott grinned, pulling Isaac to him roughly, and kissed his boyfriend's neck hungrily before getting to his feet, pulling Isaac to his feet too as he felt his shorts collapse in a heap around his ankles.

"Maybe we should fix that, what do you think?" Scott purred, getting harder by the second as Isaac stood a little slack jawed as he stared at his naked boyfriend before disposing of his own joggers, and allowed himself to be pulled into the bathroom by his very, very pent up, and then very much released boyfriend as they both stood in the shower together, Isaac groaning in ecstasy, so loud the room shook when he did so, as Scott pushed him against the wall, holding him against it as Isaac realised just how long it had been since they had last had sex.

XX

"So you guys are sticking around then?" Argent asked as he helped evacuate their stuff from his apartment, and Gareth nodded cheerfully.

"Yeah, why the hell not, you get all the good stuff coming through here man. Ghost Pack, Alpha Pack, Nogitsune, you name it, you guys have got it. And your pack, they ain't so bad, figure it could be fun to stick around for a while, suss things out." He explained, and Argent looked cautiously at Natasha.

She wasn't nearly as happy-go-lucky as Gareth, and only worked with other supernaturals when it suited her aims. Truth be told, while she was a damn good hunter, he wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of her staying here as opposed to Gareth, who was quite happy to work with supernaturals.

However, the dangerous hunter met his eyes, and shrugged.

"I won't hunt your pack, provided they stay the right side of the rules," she warned, and Argent felt his protective instincts freeze his insides over, vowing that if she came after the pack, she would have to go through him first, "but Chris, your pack aside, that's the least of your worries. That Batwoman chick, and the girl at the hospital, they're powerful, they had the entire town cleaned up in about six hours, hiding all evidence of anything going down. You know what that means: Beasturo, and not some grass roots level operative, someone very powerful is in town."

Argent nodded grimly, the same thought had occurred to him when Batwoman had revealed she could hide the evidence of all that had happened, and had had it confirmed when she had actually come through on it. Natasha was right, the Beasturo were in town, and likely watching Scott very closely, which meant they would all need to be very careful.

Scott had just defeated yet another illustrious renegade, and his power had increased significantly as a result. What was more, neither the Beasturo or Fivefold had many overt moves towards Beacon Hills or towards Scott either, and their silence spoke volumes. Both sides were watching and waiting, their eyes fixed solely on Beacon Hills and it's young Alpha, the first True Alpha in a millennium who hadn't been assassinated as a matter of course.

One thing was clear: the world was changing, and it seemed to be doing it around Scott and his pack. And that thought terrified Argent, chilling him to the very bone, as it meant that some very dangerous, very powerful people would likely be coming for them…and soon.

"Which is why I'm glad you guys are staying," he told them, though was already beginning to wonder if perhaps he should start preparing contingencies just in case, "sure you don't want to stay here?" he asked, and Gareth shook his head.

"It's ok, this is your base, we'll get our own. Catch you later!" he called, leaving the apartment, but Natasha turned a last worried look onto the man who had brought them halfway across the world.

"They're coming Chris, the Beasturo, and the Fivefold. Chances are, the Artemisia aren't far behind either, they've let too much slide here as it is. Beacon Hills has only just started to get dangerous." She warned darkly, and he clasped her hand in a firm handshake, nodding as she left, Argent's mind already abuzz with how he could help protect the pack from what was sure to be coming.

Outside, Natasha lowered her box of things into the rear of her car, then headed into the driver seat. She was right, she knew she was. Powerful forces would soon be gunning for this quaint little town of Argent's, and his pack would be in serious danger when that happened. And when threatened, would his pack be as tame as he seemed to think they would be?

Argent had lost his edge, he'd been defanged by his affection for the pack that his daughter had been part of, and was loyal to the boy Alpha, which meant he was blind to their faults. The young Alpha may not have killed anyone himself, but he had still manipulated the downfall and destruction of the whole Ghost Pack, and the rogue Alpha. The boy was dangerous, and when you added in the fact that he was the True Alpha on top of it, it made him all the more significant, all the more dangerous.

When the time came, she would be ready.

She put the keys in the ignition, and checked her rear-view mirror, leaping in fright as she did so as she saw the figure sitting in the back seat, a smile on their face as they saw Natasha looking at them.

Composing herself, as the unexpected appearance of a face she hadn't seen in years sitting quite the thing behind her had jarred her a little, Natasha allowed herself a fond smile.

"I did wonder when you were going to show up. You're here aren't you?" she asked, and the person in the back seat smiled wickedly.

"Oh yes, we are very much here Natasha." She replied darkly, passing a card to the hunter, and with a cheery wave vanished from the car, and Natasha entered the phone number on the card into her phone to set up a much more appropriate setting for a rendezvous.

Natasha smiled to herself, a sort of predatory smile, matched by the cold look in her eyes. So, they were here. And that meant that she had been more right than even she had thought: there were extremely dangerous people in this town, and those people certainly wouldn't not allow a pack of deviant supernatural teenagers to stand in the way of them and their goals.

Goals which very much coincided with Natasha's own.

Her predatory smile played across her face as her visitor replied to her text with an affirmative, and Natasha smiled. Her dream, their dream, could well finally be in their grasp, and all that stood in her way was an idealistic, overly noble Alpha who refused to kill.

This was going to be fun.

XX

The vast majority of people in the world knew Stonehenge simply as a fascinating archaeological and tourist site, though it did have resonance for some religions. However, what most people did not know was that there was an entire secret world behind Stonehenge, which served as a doorway, a conduit, a portal to the world that remained behind the real world. Accessed through the freestanding set of double pillars that formed a doorway, within, behind the veil, was the capital of the Fivefold.

Behind the veil, Stonehenge was actually a bustling metropolis, the centre of power for the worlds Druidic and Celtic creatures. A powerful, earthly current of energy, the greatest intersection of lay lines in the world (not that most knew about it) intersected here, powering the various protective enchantments that housed the Fivefold's centre of power.

Elegant and handcrafted trees were everywhere, forming awnings and coves all through the busy cobbled streets in which various merchants peddled their wares. Shops and cafes littered the entrance to the realm, and the place was alive with the hustle and bustle of a small city, everyone dressed brightly, hurrying from place to place, while little magic tricks were performed left, right and centre.

Beyond the entrance level which formed a large, round, freestanding dais, it floated freely in a chasm with the night sky twinkling below it, streams of dark blue and purple rolling haplessly by beneath the large stone circle that was the very foundation of the city. Streams of water coming from on high flowed off the edge of the dais, pouring water in glistening waterfalls into the night sky below. The round dais was filled with the shops, vendors, cafes and restaurants of the realm, however, about a third of the way in, a finely carved wooden staircase led to a second level. This one was not made of stone, this one was made of wood, by massive branches that had been weaved and interlocked together to form a solid platform, upon which stood numerous places of religious significance to the Druids, along with the workplaces of doctors, healers, spiritual advisors and vets. Flowers formed a ring around the edge of this dais, and on the opposite side of the level, in the point opposite the staircase leading up, another exquisitely carved staircase led up to another level.

This level was filled with houses, small houses, and still had a few restaurants and things overlooking the next level, giving access without having to descend into the main thoroughfare. This level too had been carved on a platform of branches, but thick hedges which served as both aesthetic and as a wall surrounded this dais, with strategic gaps in them which formed watchposts for defensive purposes.

The next level, atop another staircase, was carved on another wooden dais, however the branches here were much thinner, and the entire platform swayed much more in the gentle wind that blew through the realm. It also creaked with pressure, however it was perfectly safe, to the relief of those who lived on this level. Houses, apartments and townhouses consisted of this level, with various people coming and going, the majority of whom were heading down to the lower levels. This wall was surrounded by a fence of thick, interlocking branches that formed an intricate pattern of both beauty, and also had the benefit of defence. Little cloisters surrounded the entire network of the branch wall, where guards in silver armour, etched with green and purple, stood, their eyes ever alert for any perceived threat to their kingdom.

The last staircase which led to the final level was heavily guarded by these guards, and the staircase itself shown almost gold in the nebulous light of the evening sky that was bleeding blood red above them. The various waterfalls started up there, trickling, weaving and thundering their way down the various levels beneath them. The final level was essentially a treehouse, for the great city of Stonehenge was actually carved into a colossal tree, with the stone dais that was the basis for the city settled on the free-floating roots of this great beauty of nature. The tree was as high as a mountain, and had been here since time immemorial, when the Fivefold had first set up their capital here. In the highest branches of this land, atop a concourse of rigid, golden wood, stood the Autumn Palace.

Nestled in the high branches of the great tree, the shining golden wood hung atop a basin of branches, sealed and made watertight, essentially giving the palace a moat, and it was from here that water thundered into the levels below as water from the sky and from the tree itself filled the basin. The palace had a commanding view of the entire realm, with vast gates defending the inner workings of the Fivefold's kingdom.

The palace itself was constructed of pale blonde wood and stone, a modest affair really compared to the Alcazar of the Beasturo, and other than the vast entry hall that formed a welcoming block where visitors would be greeted, the entire building was constructed and made into a circle. Here was where the Fivefold, or the Knot Council that led them, held court. Within the circle, at the very centre, was a last stone dais, away from prying eyes. The stone circle within the Autumn Palace was where the Knot Council would meet to discuss matters of import, to adjudicate or administrate their world. The circle was surrounded by five old yet still healthy and beautiful trees: an oak (which grew over the door from the queen's private quarters), an ash tree (which extended elegantly above the doorway which was the door to the mysterious Cliodna's sanctum), an apple tree (a doorway had been carved into the bark, and sand blew through and around this tree, and it was through here that Aridis made his entrance), a hazel tree (this one was the doorway into Morozko's quarters, and always glistened with a touch of frost) and lastly, a yew tree (which was the tree upon the entrance to Puck's room. In the centre of the stone circle was where the Knot Council would meet, and a bubbling natural fountain was at the centre of the stone circle, surrounded by the five great trees of their religion.

However, Deaton hadn't been shown the inner workings of the stone circle within the palace. Upon his arrival here at the Autumn Palace, which he had been summoned to upon his arrival in the UK, he had been met by a young man, probably around Scott's age, if not slightly older. He was clad in all black, which was strange for a realm where greens, browns and purples were the norm, but there was an underlying sadness to the young man that made Deaton frown in concern, but the boy simply beckoned to him, and had him follow him deep into the palace.

Various servants and dignitaries rushes past them as they travelled, Deaton's heart pounding with trepidation as the young man led him through the gentle curve of the palace. After all, while he had been beholden to the Queen of the Beasturo, by abandoning Beacon Hills, he had violated the terms of how the Druidic peoples were enslaved. Furthermore, the information he had was the sort that was only useful to the people who knew how to use it, so he didn't even have knowledge that could save his skin should whichever Knot he was being taken to see take issue with his departure from Beacon Hills.

He had been such a fool, consumed with his own ambition and hopes for Scott's future, and by so doing, he had undermined everything that he, his people, had hoped to achieve. However it wasn't that which bothered him the most, it was the alienation between him and Scott that was tormenting him the most, Scott had been like a son to him ever since he had first asked for his job in the animal clinic, and had been one of the greatest gifts of his life. And Deaton had tarnished it with his actions.

Shaking his head in dismay at his own stupidity, he mused about the message he had gotten just before the guide had came to fetch him. Scott had sent him a text, telling him that the Ghost Pack was defeated, Peter was dead, and Beacon Hills was finally restored to normality, well, at least as normal as it ever got. Scott had offered him the chance to talk, to see what they could do about their relationship, and Deaton had considered turning around and fleeing back to California (the weather was a damn site better back there, it was chucking down with hail when he had arrived, and it had only transformed into drizzle in the time he had been here, it was freezing as well) when this boy had come and found him.

He had been trying to suss out exactly where he was being taken to no avail. His guide, who was moderately tall, had platinum blond hair, slicked back to achieve a natural look, suddenly came to an abrupt stop, and Deaton gulped, the feeling of foreboding in his stomach increasing significantly as he realised the make of the wooden door they were standing in front of. It was made of dark yew, and that meant he was being brought before the creepiest of the Knots, Puck.

The boy opened the doors and they emerged into a shadowy room, however another door which glistened silver in the twilight of the room stood behind a black throne, and Deaton cursed the dim lighting, he couldn't see a damn thing.

The boy then bowed, and raised his head in the direction of the throne.

"Emissary Alan Deaton for you, Liege Puck." He called into the darkness, and a voice responded somewhere from the aether.

"Thank you, James, you may go."

The platinum blond gave a last look at Deaton, as though wishing him luck, then turned and left, shutting the door behind him, locking Deaton in with Puck. Deaton had heard enough stories about the unpredictable nature of this shapeshifter come doppelganger that he knew that any misstep with him could lead the Fivefold's head of intelligence to make him a head shorter.

"Alan Deaton…abandoning your position, where you have been ordered at the behest of your master. You do realise the trouble you have caused?" Puck asked, their voice changing from that of a man, to a woman, and then back again, and Deaton suppressed a shiver, he still didn't know where Puck was, but he kept his back straight, determined to look them in the face when they eventually presented themselves.

"I apologise my liege, but I…made several errors in judgement, that resulted in the pack forcing my removal from the town." He explained in shame, and a dark, feminine chuckle filled the room, closer this time.

"Oh we are well aware of your errors in judgement, Emissary," they spat in a feminine voice, "however…you undoubtedly have much knowledge of the young True Alpha," they admitted, their voice becoming deeper, "and you did successfully engineer the reactivation of the North American Nemeton, so it isn't all bad." They finished in a masculine voice as they seemed to be edging closer, but Deaton still had no idea where they were, cursing the dim lighting of the room.

"Well, yes my liege. I did reactivate the Nemeton, and by so doing, I stayed the hand of Queen Amara, and the rest of the Diktat, however, I-" he began to explain, however a harsh voice then snapped in his ear.

"ENOUGH! I know of all that has transpired in Beacon Hills," they growled in a man's voice this time, near enough to see, well at least they should be, "I am the Director of Intelligence after all. Truth be told, other than your ignominious departure from the town, you did rather well," they purred in a woman's voice, "your zeal is what landed you in trouble, your desire for change, and you can hardly be blamed for that, can you?" Puck asked, and at last, Deaton could finally see them as they emerged into the silvery moonlight just starting to shine through the windows.

Puck was wearing a black, formfitting smock, which seemed to be morphing with their body. At the moment they were a small and demure woman, stoutly built, with brittle long fingers and deep red tied back hair, their eyes glowing a myriad of rainbow colours as they changed form, and a second later they had morphed into a tall man with black curly hair streaked with grey and a rather rubber looking face.

"Well…" Deaton began, and Puck span, clasping their hands behind their back as they paced, turning into a woman again, this time a tall blonde woman with a slight limp.

"Now, the Queen hasn't officially registered your absence from you duties," they said, turning into a big, bearded man as they paced around Deaton, "likely to avoid a hint of a scandal, it would reflect badly on her," they mused, stroking their beard as their hand turned to that of a child and they transformed into a small child with pigtails with shining blue eyes, and so far that was the creepiest one they'd changed into, "which frees you up for other duties, my dear Alan." They concluded, and Deaton gulped, looking at the childish monstrosity as they morphed into a small boy with a crippled arm and alarmingly a moustache, clearly enjoying freaking him out.

"Other duties my liege? I-I had hoped to speak to the queen…" Deaton began, and Puck barked with laughter as they turned to face Deaton and clamped a rough hand on his shoulder, and Deaton noticed it was old and wrinkled as Puck turned into a stooped, balding toothless old crone.

"The Queen? Her Majesty is far too busy to meet with a rogue agent," they croaked, before turning into a little girl again, "and besides, I am the one with the vested interest in Beacon Hills, and it's young Alpha. You see," they explained, turning into a skinny and unnaturally tall man with a pointed, sallow face, "I have a set of allies in Beacon Hills. They've just got back to town, and I need someone to keep an eye on them, they get a bit too…excited," they explained with a hiss as they turned into a musclebound and heavily tattooed man with a bald head, "and I need someone to make sure they keep their focus."

Deaton felt a sudden sense of foreboding as Puck started to pace around him again, and he suddenly developed a very bad feeling about this. Whatever would cause Puck to take such an active interest in Beacon Hills, it meant they were taking an interest in Scott, and that meant Scott was in danger.

Damn it, he had swapped one megalomaniac for another! And for all her faults, at least the Queen wouldn't actually harm Scott, but whoever these allies of Puck's were, he had a horrible feeling that they wouldn't be quite so benevolent.

"You want Scott." Deaton ground out, and Puck, now a sweet looking old woman, smirked, and contrary to their form, the smile wasn't sweet at all, in fact, looking at it, Deaton saw that it was the sort of smile a psychopath had.

"Dear Deaton," they teased, turning back into a little girl again, shaking their head in disappointment, their eyes alight with malice, "we all want Scott. And before you think of alerting your little friend," they purred as they transformed into a model like redheaded woman, "just remember…your sister is still in Beacon Hills."

Deaton glared at the Knot member, who laughed as he tensed his fist.

"Don't you dare hurt Marin, or Scott." He demanded, and Puck sighed dramatically as they turned into a human boy, throwing him a disdainful look.

"That very much depends on you Deaton, and how well you serve me. Now," they said, turning and morphing into an aged blonde woman, "first things first. You are going to tell me everything you know about Beacon Hills," they ordered, shifting into a short balding man, "and the pack inherent within. And before you think of resisting," Puck hissed, transforming back into the middle-aged man with the rubbery looking face, and with a gesture, a chair constructed of thorns erupted from the ground behind Deaton, and he cried out in alarm as it ensnared him, the vines tightening around his chest, arms, legs and neck, "remember, the lives of your little wolf friend and your sister hang in the balance. And besides, my friend," they hissed, still in that form, and with a whistle a small black snake, the size of a finger slithered from within his smock, "my nathair here will make sure I get everything I need…and more."

The nathair then struck, leaping at Deaton and slithering into his protesting mouth, and Deaton screamed in agony as the little snake burrowed into him, Puck laughing hysterically as it did so, and Deaton's screams didn't abate for many hours.

It is done, the Corrupter got his just desserts at long last. I hope you enjoyed the final battle, and the dust finally settling, but there's one chapter left to go, so do please read on!

Couple of bits of music for this section

Crack of Doom from Lord of the Rings for the end of the battle
Beautiful People by Thomas Bergersen as the pack watch the fire
The Queen is Back from Once Upon a Time for Melody's conference call

Ooh, also, bonus points if you know what the nathair came from!