Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf
Two-Pack III
Two vicious roars split the night air, echoing through the forest and high above the preserve that made up so much of Beacon Hills. Frost and last remnants of snow clung on stubbornly throughout the woods, and there was a but more snow in the large clearing that the sound had emanated from. The snow was yet another legacy of the bizarre cold snap that the entire area had been suffering for the last several weeks, which had given the area an influx of bizarre storms and more recently snow, frost and ice, to the great dismay of the inhabitants who had been entirely unprepared for a sudden change into such unfamiliar and wintery weather.
The clearing itself was at the base of the promontory, from which the Alpha liked to survey his town. Tonight, the clearing was filled with several dozen people, all of them forming a ring around the two battling wolves, both of which were roaring at each other in challenge, their eyes glowing crimson.
The one with the largest number of supporters was a small woman of regal bearing, of Japanese descent. Her black hair was styled into a neat bun held in place by two elegantly crafted hair sticks, and she was clad in a loose and flowing purple kimono, adorned with white and black flowers. Her eyes were glowing red, her claws were at full length and she was displaying an elegant, fluid like fighting style as she sprang at the much younger Alpha facing her.
The Alpha facing her could feel the eyes of his pack on them, some of them were slightly afraid for him, but he knew he had the upper hand. His fangs and claws were extended, his eyes glowing red as he answered the challenge of the other Alpha. He was clad in a white v-neck tshirt and a tan coloured jacket, his brown hair styled up at the front. He circled around his opponent and with a last earth-shaking roar, he sprang at her.
The two Alphas were like lightning, battling each other with such ferocity that the entire clearing was shaking with the intensity of the battle. Scott's style had become much improved since the pack's training under the Scuffock, Martagh, and his power had also increased following the defeat of Peter Hale and Agravaine, along with his entire Ghost Pack. He was fluid and adaptable, neither offensive or defensive and simply reacting to the needs of the moment. His style was simplistic, but as his opponent, Satomi, closed in on him, he gave her a cocky grin and unleashed a mix of offensive and defensive moves, catching the older Alpha off guard as he suddenly forced her to fall back as he now pursued his advantage. Satomi's pack clamoured with alarm as the young Alpha forced back their own, and despite the alarm, Satomi allowed herself a satisfied grin herself. She moved in a similar way to the Oni when they had fought them, letting Scott get in close before launching blinding and lethal attacks as she struck back at him, forcing Scott onto the back foot, to the groans of his own pack. Both packs were surrounding the two Alphas and were proving quite a good audience, very vocal with their supporting noises.
The two packs watched with rapt attention as both combatants tried to overcome the other. Satomi and Scott were both starting to sweat as they continued to battle, neither side gaining the advantage, both of their packs egging them on until…
Scott and Satomi roared and sprang at each other one last time, both colliding with a crunch and dropping to the ground. The packs looked on nervously for a minute until they heard Satomi laughing as Scott sprang back to his feet, grinning, offering her a hand up which she gratefully accepted.
"That was a good spar Scott, I thank you, it's been a while since I last flexed those particular muscles." She said kindly, and Scott smiled at her as he dusted himself off.
"It was actually, and it makes such a pleasant change being able to fight another Alpha who actually isn't trying to kill me." He mused, and she chuckled.
"Yes I can imagine, after all, your reputation precedes you my young friend." She told him with a slight smile as their packs started to intermingle.
Not long after the defeat of Agravaine, Scott had received a handwritten letter in the post. Rather flummoxed as he rarely got mail of any sort, let alone handwritten, Scott had opened it, the letter having been revealed to be from Satomi. Satomi Ito was known as one of the oldest Alphas in the world, and what was more, she also had the distinction of having the largest pack in the world. In her letter, Satomi extended her formal greetings to Scott, her condolences over the loss of both Allison and Mason (along with an explanation that she had wished to reach out before now, but had opted not to as a mark of respect to allow he and his pack to come to terms with their losses), and her wish to meet him in person due to them controlling neighbouring areas that their packs were dominant in, Scott obviously being the Alpha of Beacon Hills and its surrounding area, and Satomi controlling Devenford and its surrounding area, controlling an area much larger and also accommodating several of the smaller townships that extended into her territory outside of Devenford itself.
Rather at a loss as to what to do next, and without an Emissary due to the fallout with Deaton and Morrell still seeking her older brother (Braeden had also been out of town doing something for the US Marshals), Scott had asked Derek what the hell he was supposed to do next, and to his surprise, Derek proved quite knowledgeable as his mother had been the sort of social hub for many of the local werewolves, and he also had met Satomi before. Derek explained that Satomi liked to know her neighbours, and that a wise Alpha (which he himself hadn't been) made alliances with local packs, and Satomi, being one of the wisest and most respected Alphas there was, on top of her having the largest pack in the world, was a very good ally to have on side.
As a result, the summit had finally been organised, with Scott inviting Satomi and her pack to his territory to officially meet each other. Odd though the whole thing was, Scott had kind of enjoyed organising it, it felt nice, grown up and kind of fun for want of a better word to assemble the summit. With his pack ready to greet their guests, food provided by the café Isaac worked at (for a discount which had certainly helped) and a clear if cold night, the summit was now well underway.
"Yeah could do without that reputation, it causes more trouble than it's worth." Scott complained and Satomi laughed.
"I'm afraid you can't put the genie back into the bottle my young friend. Ah, this is my Prime Beta, Reed, and one of my Betas, Demarco." Satomi said, indicating the two men who had just approached, and both extended their hands towards Scott, who shook.
Both men were quite large and burly, though Reed had a sort of military haircut while Demarco had a beard and shoulder length black hair. Scott had seen Demarco at a couple of parties, usually providing alcohol for teenagers who weren't yet old enough, he briefly wondered if Satomi knew her Beta had a hand in supplying underage kids with booze.
"Nice to meet you, and it's nice to be introduced to another pack, it's been a while since we were officially invited by the Alpha of Beacon Hills." Reed mused with a grin, and Demarco clapped Scott's shoulder, waving a hand airily towards some of his pack members.
"A gift, from Satomi's pack to yours." He said, and curious, Scott looked over to where two young blonde girls about Scott's age were dropping two large kegs of beer.
"You see, it is customary for the visiting pack to bring gifts to the local pack. However as you are the youngest Alpha there's ever been, to my knowledge," Satomi explained, and Scott sighed a little inwardly, yet another distinctive moniker he didn't particularly relish, "it's rather difficult to know what to give you, and as you now have a translated bestiary even our own knowledge would pale in comparison to that of the Argents," she admitted, and Scott grinned at the little irritated inflection in her voice, "so I was left wondering what to bring you as a gift. Demarco in his less than professional capacity," she chided as though she were a disappointed mother, but Demarco just rolled his eyes while Reed chuckled, "suggested some of my own home-made brew, as some of the girls heard of the party your friend is having and felt that it would be a shame for the shapeshifters among you to entirely miss out." She explained, and Scott looked at her curiously.
"Home-made brew? You made this?" he asked, and Demarco chuckled.
"Guaranteed to put hair on your chest if you're not a shapeshifter, and also to get you good and buzzed if you are." He told him, and Scott noticed several pairs of ears of his pack perk up at this promise.
"Wait, we can get drunk on this?" he asked, and Satomi shook her head, smiling a little.
"Not entirely, it won't get you wasted but it'll get you closer than that of a mere mortal brew." She promised, and he smiled.
"Thanks Satomi, that's really kind." He said, and she waved her hand airily.
"You're more than welcome. I see your twins are behaving themselves." She said with approval, indicating the two twins who were speaking to the two blondes who had delivered the kegs.
Scott smiled a little as he watched them, they had both come a long way. He was also profoundly glad that Satomi hadn't came the week before when Aiden had been hanging out with Garrett and Violet. Regretfully, his formerly murderously inclined Beta who had a bit of an arsonist streak should not have been allowed to hang out with the girl who could whip up a Molotov in her sleep, however by the time that it had occurred to anyone that that was a bad idea, it was too late to do anything about it, and now, his formerly murderously inclined Beta with an arsonist streak now knew how to make Molotovs. Scott had a horrible feeling that would come back to bite him in some way in the foreseeable future, but for now, Aiden was thankfully interested in the more academic part of it, and as a result his chemistry grade was improving.
Every cloud and all that.
"They've come a long way." He informed her proudly as the two of them started walking around, Satomi introducing him to several members of her pack, and him doing the likewise with members of his own.
"I knew their former master," Satomi said in an undertone after she had shaken hands with both twins, "I think you're a better fit for them really. You've done well." She told him, and he shook his head modestly.
"They did it on their own, and it's more to do with Lydia and Danny than me." He told her, pointing to where the two aforementioned pack members were speaking with a girl called Lori, who they knew from around town.
"You're far too modest Scott, you've done well with them. I understand Jacqui gave you a little hassle regarding their presence in your pack?" Satomi asked worriedly, and Scott nodded.
Jacqui was another Alpha who's territory was further south than both his and Satomi's. A beautiful, tall blonde woman, she was quite well respected within the supernatural community and other than their first initial encounter during which she had attempted to kill the twins due to their former roles as Deucalion's enforcers, it had nearly led to a fight before he could smooth things over.
"Yeah, but she's fine with them now at least. So how did you wind up with such a large pack?" Scott asked curiously as the two of them walked over to where the food was (Scott had chosen the pack member in charge of the snacks most carefully, and had chosen Kira to babysit the snacks figuring that she was the most trustworthy to watch the food (she had already picked out her cakes as payment) and her boyfriend being Liam meant she was less likely to be guilted into slipping him extra food as he didn't have a deceitful bone in his body), and Scott handed Satomi a plate as they talked.
"The war was hard Scott, particularly on our kind. You see I was an Alpha before I left Japan to come here, and as you no doubt know from Noshiko I wound up in Oak Creek. As you know from your own experiences if an Alpha isn't able to use their powers properly, they atrophy. I allowed my powers to atrophy as my pack was all split up with the war. After Oak Creek and the…unpleasantness that occurred there, I craved company again. Post war, combined with the rising tensions of the Cold War, led to me creating a much larger pack than I had originally anticipated, we became a sort of support group for each other, and it has continued ever since. Though your own pack's story continues to grow Scott, and you have built quite the unique little pack for yourself here. Your pack is odd to say the least, which is part of the reason it's attracting increasing amounts of attention." She explained, and Scott mused on what she said.
He supposed his pack was odd, three former Alphas who were all his Betas, an adopted Beta, a former kanima turned Beta, a banshee, a coyote, a kitsune, two trainee hunters, a cute mascot (that was what people had taken to calling Liam behind his back), an archer and a Stiles. And while he did love his pack, their uniqueness attracting attention was also getting to be a bit wearing.
The last few months had seen a steady stream of supernatural visitors, other packs, other creatures, and while the majority were friendly there had been a couple who had been less so, and had either wanted to just cause trouble, or the more benevolent ones had just wanted to test their strength but either way it was quite irritating at times, people wanting to challenge his eclectic pack.
"How do I stop this attention?" Scott asked, nettled, and Satomi chuckled.
"I told you Scott, we're stuck with it now. It's good to see you again Satomi." Derek said amiably, approaching and favouring the elder Alpha with a smile, and she gripped his hand fondly.
"Derek, it's good to see you, you look well. You also seem lighter, less angry at the world than before. Perhaps something to do with your Missionary friend?" she asked, and Derek grinned.
"She might have something to do with it, you look well yourself Satomi. Braeden's sorry she couldn't be here tonight, she has to tie something up with the Marshals." He explained, and she waved her hand airily.
"Don't worry Derek, long gone are the days when a pack would take offence and start killing people just because a pack member isn't present, our lives are much more involved now than they used to be." She admitted, and he grinned as he fell into step beside them.
"I'm glad you've finally learned how to bring a decent gift to these meetings, a keg of beer is much better than that horrible tea you used to bring my mother when you came to visit." He taunted, and she affected a look of mock outrage.
"How very dare you, my purple reishi tea was highly sought after, and besides, your mother enjoyed it as well. I do miss her." Satomi admitted, and Derek grinned as he looked at Scott.
"She'd have loved you by the way." He told his Alpha, and Scott blushed a little, while Satomi chuckled, nodding.
"Yes she would have, the two of you are quite similar. She too defended this town from whatever threatened it, until the treacherous actions of Kate Argent got her killed." Satomi spat, and Scott allowed himself a grim smile.
"Well fortunately, she's gone, just like Peter." He told her, and she nodded, an approving look in her eye.
"Yes, as I said Scott, your legend grows. Defeating not one but two Argents, scions of one of the most well-known hunter families in the world, one of which being the geriatric sociopath Gerard himself, defeating the Calaveras, defeating a rogue Alpha, the Renegade and the Corrupter, along with being the first True Alpha to survive in a millennium. You are gaining quite the amount of street cred." She told him, and Scott looked at her curiously.
"What do you know about this True Alpha stuff? The Bestiary doesn't have much information, and all I've basically been able to find out is that it's very rare." He told her, and she chewed her lip thoughtfully, mulling over her words before deigning to answer his question.
She had also noted Derek looking at her with interest as well, it was true, information on True Alphas was notoriously hard to come by, with much of it hidden away by the Beasturo for fear of them missing one and one getting ideas above their station as a result. She knew Scott had met the Emancipated Scuffock Martagh, who had trained the pack and likely filled in some of the gaps, but truth be told a True Alpha was still quite unknown, at least in the role they played, as usually one of the three factions had had them assassinated by now.
She was the closest thing Scott had to a werewolf neighbour other than Jacqui, and Jacqui was far younger and also had had far fewer dealings with the Beasturo and their ilk over the course of her career. And while Scott was likely becoming increasingly aware of his role in the plans of the powerful, he was still a boy, and what was worse, he was a boy who didn't really know what he was.
"A True Alpha, as you doubtless know, doesn't kill to become an Alpha, they do so through sheer force of will. To many, that gives them an air of legitimacy that most Alphas, having seized power through murder, lack. However, they are a very rare thing, one comes along once in a century or so." She explained, and she noticed that Stiles had edged towards them, his curiosity clearly getting the better of him as he did so, and she smiled at him, beckoning him closer.
"Then why does everyone keep saying I'm the first one in a millennium if one appears every century?" Scott asked in confusion, and she raised a finger as she worked towards her point.
"There is one True Alpha in the world Scott. Only one. His name is Lycomer," she explained, and Derek's eyes widened in alarm, "and he is the king of the Beasturo, and hence, the king of beasts." She explained, and rather than feel awed, Scott actually felt relieved, he was finally getting some answers!
"Wait, so the king is a True Alpha?" Stiles asked, abandoning all sense of subtlety, and she nodded in confirmation.
"Yes, it is a little-known fact but when you've been around for as long as I have, you tend to attract the attention of the powers that be. Lycomer is a True Alpha. You see, a True Alpha becomes an Alpha through sheer force of will, that much you know. However, their will, their power, their charisma, their leadership skills, all of these pool together. Do you know what makes up a traditional pack Scott?" she asked curiously, wondering how much he knew about their societal norms.
"An Alpha, three Betas, and an Emissary." He replied, and she nodded, that was in essence correct.
"That is what makes up a traditional, bare bones pack. Obviously, it all changes depending on how many Betas and things you have and all, but usually that is as varied as a pack gets. Occasionally, there's another creature within a pack, for example, a pack could have a werecoyote like Malia over there," she said, indicating the former coyote who was flirting with a kid called Jiang, "as they are essentially wolf-adjacent. But a True Alpha isn't constrained by just recruiting canine creatures. True Alphas can form a pack from anything, for example, a nagual, a naga, a kanima, any creature could well join the pack of a True Alpha. That is what you can do Scott, through your own force of will, you could very well create a large and varied pack, the likes of the world hasn't seen since the king formed the Diktat, and by extension, the Beasturo. You can do what only one other werewolf on this planet can do. And as such, they feel…threatened."
"But I haven't done anything!" Scott protested indignantly, and she fixed him with a pitying look.
"I know Scott, but the fact remains you have the capacity to do something, and that is part of the reason they're focusing so much on you. They fear the rise of a True Alpha, they're like…biblical figures, arising once a century, but because of the danger they represent to the status quo, they are usually assassinated before they upset things too much. And that is why you're so unique Scott. You haven't been assassinated, and what's more you have overcome virtually everything that has come at you, and you're still standing. People are starting to get nervous, all three sides have allowed you to exist, to survive, and your own legend grows by the day. That is why you're so unique, of such interest, you're a True Alpha yes, but more importantly, you're a True Alpha who's been allowed to survive."
Scott shot an irritated glare at Stiles, who couldn't quite keep the smirk off his face as he met the gaze of his Alpha. It was all well and good being a True Alpha and hence some sort of folk hero to the shapeshifter masses, but at the end of the day there were now some very powerful people looking towards Beacon Hills and towards Scott himself, who was just trying to get through high school in peace, and no matter how you span it, with such powerful individuals wanting to rope them all into their nonsense, the chances of Scott being able to go about his life and graduate in peace were looking less and less likely, especially every time some other hellish supernatural threat came rampaging through the town.
"Well, I know more than I did, thank you Satomi." Scott said, and she smiled, nodding.
"You have been rather stoating about in the dark, I figured it would be a disservice to allow that to continue. So Scott, tell me of your various adventures, it's traditional for packs to swap stories at these meetings." She informed him, and he grinned.
To her credit, she and her pack members who were listening were an extremely good audience, very attentive, suitably horrified in places, enraptured in others. As Satomi and her pack continued to mingle, the meeting clearly started to wind down, most of the food they had provided was gone, the attendees had met the other pack and started to get to know their nearest werewolf neighbours, but now the meeting had nearly run its course, with Satomi's pack members all starting to look at her questioningly as though seeking her permission to start to disperse. However, having met all of Scott's pack members she and Scott were now standing on top of the promontory, overlooking the glittering lights of Beacon Hills, their breath swirling in front of them in the cool night air as the cold wind blew around them.
"You've assembled a good pack Scott, your friends are clearly very dedicated to you." She complimented and he looked fondly over his shoulder at where his pack were still chatting with Satomi's pack.
"We've been through a lot together since I became a werewolf. Your pack seems cool too, how do you keep track of them all?" he asked curiously, and she smiled slightly.
"The benefit of decades of experience and most importantly of all, patience." She replied, and he laughed as the two looked out over his town, and she looked at him, a guarded expression on her face.
"Tell me Scott, have you learned anything about these disappearances that are plaguing the town?" she asked, and he frowned as he considered his answer.
For the past couple of months, several disappearances had rocked the town, all teenagers. What was strange about the whole thing was that there didn't seem to be hide nor hair of those who were missing whatsoever, no hints to what had happened, hell, it looked like they hadn't been there at all.
The pack had first noticed a week or so after the death of Agravaine, when Garrett had remembered that Mason's boyfriend, Corey, had never actually shown up at the winter formal. That had obviously been the night that Agravaine had killed Mason, and all thoughts of his elusive and unknown boyfriend had been driven out of their mind by their grief. It wasn't until his parents, who lived in Oregon, contacted the sheriff station that they had even realised that Mason's boyfriend had never actually made it to town. What was most strange was that his car was definitely seen entering Beacon County, and approaching Beacon Hills itself, however the car seemed to have vanished on approach. And they didn't mean crashed, or driven off-road or anything, it had literally vanished, there was no sign of the car or indeed of Corey in the entire preserve. The pack had helped the sheriff try and track him down, but had found no sign of him whatsoever, and as a result, the sheriff was forced to declare him just as a missing person, but they all knew the longer he was missing, the less chance they had of actually finding him.
Unsettled by this weird disappearance, but unable to confirm or deny any suspicions in any direction, the pack had been forced to let that one go. But for the last couple of months, more and more people had vanished. Brett Talbot, the star of Devenford's lacrosse team, had vanished without a trace. Hayden Clark, the sister of one of the sheriff's deputies who hated Liam, had also vanished. They weren't the only ones either, in fact the number of people who was missing was now over ten, and what was more, there was literally no sign of any of them. The pack had tried to help the sheriff track them down, but to no avail, hell they didn't even have so much as a lead, and even Malia, with the best nose in the pack, had been totally unable to find any trace of any of the missing teenagers.
It was unsettling, and as a precaution, Lydia's mother, now principal of the school, had asked that everyone go to their destinations in pairs just before school had split up for the Easter holidays. This was because they had no idea who was capturing these kids, or indeed, doing much worse. The fact that there was little to no evidence of any of the missing kids even existing made it all the more insidious. The pack had been trying to find any trace of the missing kids to no avail, however as it didn't seem that they were being directly targeted, well, at least not yet, and they were all kind of at a dead end, frustrated and unable to progress any further. Scott still had them all searching for the missing kids, however with no evidence of what happened to them one way or the other, he knew that they were kind of pissing into the wind with the whole endeavour.
"We've looked into it, but we can't find anything. The best leads we have is Corey and Brett, Corey definitely came towards town, we wondered if something happened to him on Devil's Corner," he explained, referencing an extremely dangerous turn on the road into Beacon Hills from the north which had been the downfall of many a driver, and a far more than acceptable number of people didn't come away from that corner if it outfoxed them, "but there's no sign of him, or his car, no sign of him ever having been here whatsoever. And Brett, he apparently started talking to some woman, but we can't find anything to follow up on, and we've looked, believe me. So has the sheriff, and the cops are at just as much of a dead end as we are. People don't just vanish, I know, and chances are it is a supernatural wackjob we're dealing with, but there's literally nothing we can find that'll help us find them." He lamented bitterly, and she clapped his shoulder reassuringly.
It was frustrating to say the least. He had gotten stronger, his pack was more coordinated, in fact they were all stronger than ever, a combination of Martagh's tutelage and the benefits, nebulous as they were, from fighting the Ghost Pack and the other villains that had plagued the town a few months before. However, despite their growth in strength and prowess, and even with Scott passing the various Trials of being an Alpha (as told to him by Braeden and Martagh), it still felt like they were losing. Beacon Hills was his town, and something, or someone, was hunting and kidnapping teenagers who hadn't been seen since, and they were powerless to stop it.
Hell, they weren't just powerless, they were lost and powerless, with no idea of how to improve on either aspect. People were disappearing, likely dying (it was Beacon Hills after all) and they had no clue how to stop it, or even what the hell they were trying to stop.
Satomi frowned as she looked out across the town, her chin in her hand as she mulled it over.
"I vaguely remember something like this happening, hmm, must be just under twenty years ago now? Several teenagers disappeared from Beacon Hills, Devenford, Dillimore, many of the towns, nearly a dozen, two dozen perhaps. It culminated when three babies vanished, and after that, bizarrely, it just seemed to stop. They never found any of the kids, but it was like someone had flipped a switch, it all went quiet, and everything was fine, other than those missing kids. They were never found. I wonder, could this perhaps be the work of a copycat?" she asked, her eyes narrowed as she mulled over the implications, and Scott chewed the inside of his lip thoughtfully.
"We've considered it, and the sheriff did find old files of this, it was an interim sheriff at the time, grandma had just left the post, and Stiles' dad hadn't filled out all the paperwork and training stuff to take over yet, it was just a caretaker one. But either way they were all clueless, ate the interim sheriff up, he quit the job as he couldn't do anything about what was happening at the time. We just, we don't know Satomi, I don't know, I'm meant to protect Beacon Hills, and there's something in my town doing this, and I don't know how to stop it." He complained bitterly, his eyes flashing red, and she laid a comforting hand on his wrist, a rueful half smile on her face.
"I told you that you were very much like Talia. Scott, you are the supernatural guardian of Beacon Hills, but you cannot take every single burden onto your shoulders. You are far too young for such responsibility, and the weight of all that responsibility could well crush you. Yes, terrible things happen, a lot actually, especially around here. But you cannot shoulder the blame for every foul thing that happens in Beacon Hills, which had enough foul events running through it even before your reactivation of the Nemeton. I know this is hard to hear, hard to accept Scott, but you can't save everyone, and in the long run, you hurt yourself and others a lot more if you try." She told him wisely, squeezing his wrist sympathetically, and he looked at her, his brow furrowed.
"So what do I do Satomi?" he asked, and she turned her arm over to show him the tattoo she had on her wrist, of three stones stacked on top of each other.
"Always remember that three things cannot be long hidden Scott; the sun, the moon, and the truth. Eventually the truth will come out, with or without our direct intervention. You do what you can to help, by all means, and to mitigate the damage. But you cannot shoulder the entire burden yourself, and you cannot make yourself the only thing standing between success and failure, if you do that, then by trying to help everyone, you're actually no help to anyone."
He thought it over for a second before offering her a smile.
"You know Satomi, when Derek explained about you, he left out how badass you are." He told her, and she chuckled.
"You're very kind. Truth be told, I feel a little sorry for you, you kind of got thrown into the deep end of all this, and yet you're still keeping your head above water. And like you said earlier, I have been an Alpha for a very long time, and if I can give some pointers, I certainly will." She told him sweetly as they turned back, descending the promontory back towards their packs.
"Derek said you would want to talk about the caves up near the old telecommunications tower?" he asked, and her eyes flicked over to Derek, who was speaking with Reed.
"Ah, the actual negotiation part of our summit. Truth be told the caves up there have always been a bit of a grey area, even when Talia was alive we disagreed repeatedly on who's territory they belonged to, we can leave it to another time if you want?" she asked hopefully, feeling a little bad, he was a bit young to be doing a pack territory negotiation, and besides it wasn't like it was Alsace-Lorraine or anything, it was just a little grey area in the jurisdiction areas that the pack use, an undecided territory.
Scott shrugged.
"Well, it doesn't really bother me that much anyway, I'm not going to war over it, but I was thinking, why don't we make it neutral ground? That way, is anything happens to either pack, which it has before with the likes of Gerard, then we both have somewhere we can retreat to, meet up and work together, saves running off. We lost friends that way, running off with no clear plan, this way, we both have a place to retreat to if someone does come gunning for us." He reasoned, and Satomi felt a proud smile blossom onto her face, along with a hint of irritation (really, all these years, why had it never occurred to her or Talia to make it a neutral meeting ground?) The Beasturo would be clamouring for Scott's talents before too long, young, wise, smart, could inspire loyalty, and already quite a sensible diplomat, which was something that was sadly lacking nowadays.
"A good idea Scott. I've enjoyed our summit, it's so nice to have an Alpha closer by again, it's a bit of a trek to Jacqui's territory." She commented, and he looked at her nervously.
"So I did alright?" he asked, and she chuckled.
"I would say you passed with flying colours Scott," she assured him and he grinned, feeling an immense sense of relief.
When he had become the Alpha he had had no idea that he would have to host summits or any of the like, but he was quite relieved to find out that his first one had gone quite well.
Satomi started chivvying her pack together as they all started to bid farewell to Scott's pack, and Stiles came to stand beside Scott, as did Derek, and Satomi turned to them and inclined her head towards him respectfully.
"Thank you for having us Scott, and for providing us with such lovely food, conversation, and a good brawl, it's been quite some time since I had a decent spar. I'll keep you appraised if I hear anything about the missing kids, and please keep me informed if you discover anything more as well. I hope our next meeting will prove just as fruitful." She said, shaking his hand and he smiled at her.
"Thanks Satomi, and hopefully next time you can meet all my pack, since some of us aren't here." He mused sadly, making Derek and Stiles exchange glances then roll their eyes in unison, and Satomi smiled.
"Yes, it would be nice to meet your Prime Beta, as you clearly miss him," she teased, and both Stiles and Derek groaned, "but regardless, it was nice meeting you all. Derek, it's nice to see you looking more at peace with yourself, and you as well Stiles, I'm glad to see you have recovered from your possession by the Nogitsune. I truly regret my role in allowing that monstrosity to roam free." She growled, as Reed and Demarco came and flanked her.
"Thank you, Satomi, see you soon." Scott said, and with a last wave, she led her dozens strong pack back through the woods away from the promontory, and Scott breathed an internal sigh of relief as his pack relaxed around him.
"That was really good Scott, especially for your first official summit with another pack. Satomi left happy." Derek told him, clapping him on the shoulder, as Scott breathed a sigh of relief.
"And full as well, they decimated the food." Ethan complained, he'd been hoping to take some leftovers home, and Scott rolled his eyes in amusement.
"There was about thirty of them Ethan, what do you expect? If anything they were quite restrained not eating all of it in about ten minutes. So it was alright?" Scott asked nervously, and Stiles wrapped an arm around his shoulder, patting him on the chest reassuringly.
"Scott, you met and made friends with a new pack, and even better, none of them tried to kill us!" he told him brightly, and he had to admit, that was a benefit for them, made for a refreshing change of pace.
"We also didn't have a diplomatic incident this time." Kira pointed out as she started the clear up, sending a nettled look at Malia, who looked supremely unconcerned.
Malia, who had developed a genocidal hatred for squirrels during her time as a coyote had nearly triggered a diplomatic incident. A Scandinavian pack had been passing through, having been visiting relatives in St Olaf in Minnesota and were heading to Los Angeles for a bit of shopping. While the pack had been perfectly present, Malia had found to her irrational fury a human sized squirrel and proceeded to chase him all over the preserve. Most unfortunately, his name was actually Benji and he was a weresquirrel, for want of a better term, known as a Ratatosk. Thankfully, his pack, led by an older lady by the name of Rose, had been quite amiable, and Benji had apologised for being in his squirrel form, but he had lost control in his excitement at seeing the Nemeton (now the size of a fully grown man), which had obviously triggered Malia. Either way though the pack had spent a long night chasing down Malia as she was always just out of reach (damn she was fast when she wanted to be, she had learned that after accidentally returning to her coyote form due to her father's machinations that she could now transform into a full coyote at will) as she pursued the hapless squirrel, who Scott was fairly certain had rather enjoyed the experience, hence the lack of reaction from the pack, however, it had been rather fraught on the nerves. Nothing more so than making a glowering and very petulant Malia apologise to said weresquirrel, and it was only when Jackson had threatened to crowdfund a save the squirrels organisation that she had finally relented and apologised, and Rose's pack had gone happily about their business.
However, that being said, that had been the only major issue in their pack life recently, and other than that one little blip things had been fairly smooth the last couple of months. The defeat of Agravaine had brought them all closer together, as had defeating Peter, and the pack had become much closer and more effective as a group as a result.
Scott smiled as his pack started to clean up the mess that had been made by their summit. In the last two and a half months, things had been quite good, really. The wounds that had been inflicted on the pack by Agravaine and Peter's machinations had healed, and while the losses of Allison and Mason still stung, they were moving towards a better place, all of them.
Scott had finally accepted his role as an Alpha, and had also passed the Druidic Trials, and as such was recognised, for want of a better term, as a fully qualified Alpha. No longer resisting the role had made him considerably stronger, and he felt more confident in his role as the leader of his pack now as well. Clad in a tan jacket with a white tshirt, his hair in its usual style, he had grown a little over the last few months as well, and had also developed a little bit more muscle as well.
His eyes flicked over the pack as they all chatted and cleaned up the signs of their summit, feeling rather pleased with himself. Satomi had left happily, and he felt, for the first time, that he had truly formed an alliance with another pack. He'd made passing acquaintances with other packs, particularly Jacqui to the south, however the tall and very beautiful Alpha was a little too out of town to be considered a neighbour, as opposed to Satomi, who's territory was right next door, and the large number of wolves in her pack meant she could always be called upon to lend a hand should the situation require.
Scott's eyes flickered to Stiles and Malia, both of them chatting happily. After breaking up with her to protect her during the fight with Agravaine, the two of them had had a heart-to-heart, and had eventually decided to just be friends as opposed to being a couple. However, neither of them seemed to particularly lament the end of their relationship and seemed quite happy just being friends. They would always have strong feelings for each other, they were essentially each other's first loves and each other's anchors, but now, they were content to explore who they were without being part of the same whole. Well, at least in theory, as there was still the occasional friends with benefits thing going on, but it would be interesting to see how that would play out after Camden's party in a couple of days.
Stiles was wearing a grey and blue hoody, his hair spiked up at the front (much more sedate than the utter mess that the Nogitsune had preferred), his hair still had lingering hints of the blond he had tinted his hair with following the defeat of the Nogitsune. He had come a long way, feeling that by using the little dark remnant of the Nogitsune to help defeat Agravaine, that he had finally started to atone for all he did during his possession. He had been much more honest and open than he had been during the possession fallout, which had been one of the things that helped contribute to the disintegration of the pack, and he and Scott were back to normal, with Stiles no longer hiding everything from his best friend like he had been. Scott knew he still blamed himself for the loss of Allison, and for all the other deaths the Nogitsune caused, and that he was obviously still traumatised by the Nogitsune's actions, but he could see that his best friend, his brother, was finally coming through his depression and was starting to be more himself again, continuing to try to atone for what he felt was his fault, and that Stiles was much happier as a result.
Malia meanwhile had transformed herself a little since the defeat of Agravaine, and her evil father Peter, who had orchestrated the entire Ghost Pack affair to try and kill Scott, only to be killed by Agravaine himself in the end. Clad in a light blue denim jacket with a purple sweater beneath it, she had also cut her hair so that it hung only to her neck with a slight wavy look to it. Her makeover had naturally been supervised by Lydia (who had been very pleased with her work until she noticed that, as usual, Malia was still not wearing shoes and had proceeded to have a very minor breakdown as a result (which likely had been Malia's plan all along)) and recently she had been bonding with Derek, her birth cousin, and to everyone's great surprise, especially the two Hales themselves, they actually enjoyed each other's company. Derek had been teaching her trade secrets of being a werewolf, about their family, and had also been helping her hone her skills, and had actively encouraged her learning to shift into her coyote form at will. He had also promised that when she could drive, he would consider letting her drive his sport car (he had later revealed to an amused Scott and Stiles that there was absolutely no way in hell that was happening, as Malia wasn't just a bad driver, she was a horrifying driver, and there was no way he was going to let her anywhere near his car while he still drew breath).
Derek himself had also been a lot more present than previously with the other members of the pack. With Agravaine defeated and Derek's name cleared (though they were still no further forward in figuring out who had framed him to begin with) he had become a much more active member of the pack, acting in an advisory role to Scott. As Satomi had said, he was no longer his usual brooding and ever so slightly menacing self, he was more happy, more upbeat, and lighter than he had been previously. Much of that was admittedly to do with Braeden, as the Druid Missionary seemed to have gotten right under his skin and the two of them had become quite the couple (though they weren't allowed to be described as 'cute', as Stiles had learned to his detriment). Derek had been invaluable in preparing for the summit with Satomi's pack, and had been giving Scott other advice as well. In addition, he had also been, to everyone's surprise, a good cousin to Malia, giving her an insight into her family origins without the evil father aftertaste. And since the defeat of Agravaine, he had opened his home to the twins who now stayed with him, and despite everyone's initial reservations, the three of them seemed to be enjoying staying together, with him keeping an eye on the twins and a home, while they also dragged him into the more social aspects of pack life. Indeed, rumour had it that between them, the twins and Braeden had not only managed to convince Derek to come to Camden's party (especially as it was just downstairs), but also to even go so far as to dress up. Admittedly he was doing the dressing up under duress, but he was doing it. Scott watched him, clad in his leather jacket and a red top, his hair in his usual style, as he helped the twins haul the kegs of beer towards Stiles' renovated and now fully repaired jeep, Roscoe.
After Ifrit had torched the jeep, Stiles and his father, after Stiles' return following Agravaine's defeat, had worked together to bring Roscoe back to his former glory. As the jeep was such a part of their lives, the entire pack had wound up chipping in, with Scott, Isaac, Liam, Garrett, Malia and due to his work at the local garage, most importantly, Ethan, all chipping in, complete with the help of the sheriff, Roscoe had now had a facelift and a makeover, and was back to his former splendour, indeed, he was actually probably operating now than he ever had before.
The twins had also taken to living with Derek quite well, and the three of them had formed a strong bond. Ethan continued his work at the garage, and after doing well in his PSATs, he had started for the first time to seriously consider going to college with Danny's help. Ethan was currently clad in a cream sweater and jeans, his hair styled into a slight quiff as he helped his twin load up Stiles' jeep. His twin, having now fully recovered from his near death at the hands of the Oni, had finally stopped suffering the ill effects of being run through by the demon that had nearly killed him. Aiden's hair was more spiky, and his right eye sported a scar across it, a relic from their first battle with Agravaine. He was clad in a blue v-neck tshirt with his leather jacket, and despite being the slightly more murderous of the two, he had come on a long way, they both had, with neither of their default position to be do kill anyone anymore. Admittedly, Aiden had the slightly alarming obsession with fire, but so far that hadn't materialised into anything too lethal. Lydia had been a large part of that, as the two had reconciled after the defeat of Agravaine, when Lydia had finally admitted that she had only been so foul to him to try and harden her heart to him so it would hurt less if she had lost him. Fortunately, she had now seen sense, and he too had performed well in his PSATs, though he wasn't quite so keen on the idea of college but was exploring his options with an excitement they hadn't seen before, as both twins were now free of their pasts and had progressed so well since joining Scott's pack.
Scott smiled as he watched Lydia come over to help Aiden with the second keg. Since her training under Martagh and her victory over the Pombero that had come to town specifically to kill her, she had become much more attuned to her powers. Her strawberry blonde hair, currently styled high in a sort of bun, was still marked with the streak of white she had developed when tapping into her powers during her final duel with the Pombero. Since her training she had become much more attuned to her powers, now able to much more confidently discern the voices that were a hallmark of the Banshee species. She was able to scry, read tarot among other skills, and she had spent the last few months waging her endless war with Malia to try and get her to wear shoes (everyone except her realised she was losing) and becoming more versed in her Banshee abilities. She had also been a great help with administering the pack, as there were quite a few of them, and it was thanks to her that Scott had been able to set out a clear rota for patrols. She had also worked tirelessly to help everyone else have a chance at their PSATs, as their education was invariably affected by the various supernatural problems that had plagued the town. She had also fully reconciled with Aiden, and was trying to convince her boyfriend to think about his future in ways he never would have done before.
Liam was helping clear away the trays of sandwiches, wraps and other foods that Scott had provided for Satomi's pack to nibble on. The youngest member of the pack, he had experienced one hell of a learning curve since he had become ingratiated into the pack, mainly due to the actions of Agravaine and the rest of the Ghost Pack. Having been forced to witness his best friend's murder at the hands of the Corrupter, he had remained a stalwart part of the pack, and had remained loyal to Scott throughout. Dressed in a denim jacket with a black tshirt and jeans, his hair was cut close at the sides and spiked up, and was chatting amiably with Garrett. However, while he was continuing to clear up, his gaze kept drifting to Kira, both of them giving each other sunny smiles as they did so.
Garrett was one of the other newest additions to the pack, and had also been present when Mason had been killed. As opposed to Liam, who stuck with Scott figuring he was their best bet to stop Agravaine and the rest of the dogs, Garrett had taken a more pro-active approach. As a result, Garrett was well on his way to becoming a neophyte hunter, under Argent's careful tutelage. Having been adopted by the Dunbars at the close of the dog crisis, he was now officially Liam's brother, and best friend, and while there had been some issues as they settled in as they learned to live with each other, they had gotten into a good rhythm now, and what was more Garrett had taken to the official role of Liam's big brother with gusto. Clad in a black jacket and scuffed and frayed jeans (they were meant to look like that), his blond hair quiffed at the front, he was one of the few who had come legitimately armed to the summit.
The other one who had been armed was Violet. Having been caught up in the supernatural problems plaguing the town by trying inadvertently to rescue Lydia's missing dog, she had been beset by the Owlman who was in town trying to kill the Ghost Pack. As a result, she too had remained loyal to Scott during the mutiny, and had also taken a more gung-ho approach to the supernatural, and had thrown herself into Argent's tutelage along with Garrett. Now, armed with all manner of weapons at any time, along with her natural skill in chemistry (hence her proclivity for Molotov cocktails) made her a very dangerous member of the pack. She was currently helping Garrett, who was trying to get Liam to be a bit more helpful but as his brother was a bit too busy making eyes at Kira, he gave up and focused on Violet, clad in a pink top with leather pants and a black leather jacket, her long silky black hair tied back into a ponytail.
Kira had cleaned up all the rubbish but rather than putting it in the back of one of their cars, she had clearly been waylaid flirting with her boyfriend, both of them smiling at each other so much so that they were lighting up the clearing that had been the summit site. The two of them had fallen in together during the Ghost Pack crisis and had started going out as a result. The two of them were still in the innocent puppy love stage, with a side-line in hot sweaty workouts. As Liam wasn't quite so keen on the hunting aspects that his two compatriots were involved in, Kira had started to teach him fencing. To everyone's surprise, he was actually coming on very well with it, however they did think it was something to do with his teacher. Her long black hair was currently styled into ringlets, which Liam had said he really liked, and she also had lighter highlights running through her hair towards the bottom as well.
Danny was going around with a rubbish bag, making up what rubbish had fallen off the tables or hadn't already been collected. Since Jackson had moved back to town officially, he had his best friend back and as such the two of them spent a lot of their time together. The rest of Danny's time had been spent helping Ethan, along with the others, getting their grades back up to scratch with so many lessons being lost after the fight with the dogs. He had also been working overtime to try and rebuild some of the damage some of his less than inspired choices during the mutiny had led him to, and despite Scott in particular assuring him that everything was fine between them, he was still trying quite hard to try and repent. He was clad in a navy pullover hoody, his hair sort of quiffed to the side as he collected the rubbish lying around.
Jackson had finally returned to Beacon Hills. After being kidnapped, poisoned and sent to town as part of Agravaine and Peter's scheme, Jackson had prevailed upon his parents to move them back to their hometown. As a result, he had gotten his way and he had now settled into being back at home. Furthermore, he had been less antagonistic since his return, partly due to the gratitude he felt to Scott and his own guilt for his role in the mutiny, which he had played a prime part in. He still wasn't close friends with a good chunk of the pack, but he had gotten closer to them and things were much better than they had been between the pack, though there were still a couple of people who had less than complimentary views of him. In the past few months he had acted on the attraction he had felt for Melody, the new girl at school, and was now dating her. Messing around one night had led to Jackson's hair being dyed platinum blond, which he had had cut to its previous length, though his fringe was now less spiky and messy, and more conservative, slicked back a bit. He was wearing a black tshirt and light-coloured chinos, with a stylish mottled brown jacket to boot.
His girlfriend, Melody, was the newest member of the pack. Not long after they had started going out, Scott had gone to Jackson and said that if he was serious about dating her, it was unfair to her to not tell her everything. Despite some arguments, upon being reminded of how well learning the entire truth had gone with Lydia and Danny, Jackson had finally relented to her and explained about the supernatural. With that done, she had become an active member of the pack, and had caught up extremely quickly, having pulled numerous all-nighters just so she could understand what the hell her boyfriend and his friends were. Beautiful and smart, she was similar to Lydia though didn't hide what she was in order to spare Jackson's ego like Lydia had. Quite tall, slim, smart, with long brown hair which had highlights of blond running through it, with brown eyes that were strangely not nearly as warm and kind as Scott's seemed. Despite that she had proven quite useful to the pack with her quick wits and seemed to naturally grasp how diplomacy worked, which she had explained was down to her mothers both being involved in a multinational company that had had to do many a cooperation with different companies and powers across the world. Tonight, she was dressed in a long warm pink jacket, complete with a cream coloured top and black jeans, and she had been one of the ones who had been complaining the most about the bizarre weather recently.
There were some pack members missing as well. Braeden was out of town, dealing with something for her actual job, a US Marshal, she had been looking for someone who was codenamed the Desert Wolf. Isaac, Camden and Rakaisha, Cam's Djinn fiancé, were all in New York for a family holiday, hence how Isaac had missed the summit, though he had organised the catering for it with the café he worked in before he left. Argent was also out of town, ostensibly to meet a client who was looking for some weapons. However, when Scott had joined Isaac in visiting him before he left (Isaac was nagging Argent to get an eye test which the hunter seemed rather reluctant to admit he may need), Argent had also revealed that he was going to check on some rumours, particularly to do with Jacqui's pack to the south of Beacon Hills as nothing had been heard from them in some time. Argent had also informed him that packs were starting to vanish from their territories across the world, which would only serve to antagonise the Beasturo more than it already was.
The last few weeks had been rather odd to boot. The numerous disappearances plaguing the town were bad enough, but the weather certainly wasn't helping much either. For the last several weeks, it was like the weather had taken on a life of its own. An unseasonable cold snap, complete with frost, ice and indeed snow had pummelled the town recently, as had thunderstorms, there was even signs of small tornados developing as well. The rapidly changing weather had caught everyone on the hop with the advent of the cold weather (everyone except Isaac who had looked supremely smug, wrapped up warm in his scarf while Stiles shivered after being refused permission to borrow one due to his previous mocking), with the snow and ice necessitating many an emergency shopping trip for winter clothes which nobody had anticipated. What was more, the constant storms plaguing the area also hadn't done much to improve anyone's time of it recently either, with thunder, rain and jagged green lightning all rocking the town.
Fortunately, tonight had been clear and dry, if cold, allowing the summit to go ahead with impunity.
"So is that you friends with the pack next door now then?" Melody asked curiously as Jackson wrapped his arm around her waist as the pack all stood clustered together in the clearing, ready to head home.
Melody of course knew full well what had been going on tonight. As the Princess of the Beasturo she was well aware of summits and their purpose, and truth be told she was actually quite pleased to see Scott growing more into the statesman role of an Alpha. She had been singularly impressed with his organisation of the summit and his handling of Satomi, and bless him, he was a natural born diplomat. Hell, give it a few years and the Diktat would be wetting their frillies, wanting Scott to represent their interests on the global stage.
Tonight had been a risk she had to admit. Her magic and her pheromones were all well and good for the pack, indeed by now they were second nature. The real question was if she could hide her presence in such a large group without attracting any undue attention, and she seemed to have passed the test. Truth be told, of Satomi's pack, the only one she really had suspected might have been able to identify her as something other than a mild-mannered schoolgirl was actually Satomi herself. One of the oldest werewolves in the world, and the Alpha of the largest pack on the planet, not to mention being highly respected she had encountered the Beasturo at various points over her illustrious career, however it seemed as though the aged Alpha hadn't twigged at all as to her true identity. She had been busy speaking with Scott admittedly, but she had kept her distance from the Alpha to be on the safe side and it seemed to have paid off.
This whole thing was rather strange. It had been rather amusing when Jackson had came to her after dating for a few weeks and told her all about the supernatural, she had struggled to maintain her poker face at times. However, at times she had been ever so slightly, not alarmed per se, but…unsettled by exactly how much the pack had been able to piece together about their world, particularly in light of the absence of an Emissary of any sort. It bore watching, but the pack didn't seem particularly threatening, they just seemed to be learning a touch more about the world and in different ways than she had anticipated.
She had learned much about the pack in the last couple of months, reporting dutifully back to her mothers as they continued to monitor the True Alpha and his pack, in preparation for their own eventual plan.
"Yeah, he did pretty well all things considered." Derek complimented, and Scott blushed a little, while Kira flicked an amused look to her Alpha.
"And we nearly avoided all mention of Isaac, and hence Scott's endless moping." She teased, while Liam sniggered.
Scott shot her a dirty look.
"I have not been moping, thank you very much. Derek's been moping, not me." He said with dignity, indicating his oldest Beta, who looked at him, his proud expression reverting to his usual sourwolf one.
"I haven't pouted at all!" he protested, but it was then that he sensed the real danger he was in, forgetting he had two flatmates with big mouths.
"Oh really? If the sappy phone call two nights ago wasn't moping then I don't know what is." Ethan wheedled, and Derek growled, his eyes glowing blue.
"You want to live on the street? It can be arranged." He warned darkly, and Aiden smirked as he wrapped his arm around Lydia's shoulder.
"Ah, but then what do you tell the girlfriend who you're moping over when she comes back and asks where her two favourite tenants have gone?" he pointed out, looking extremely smug while he did so, and Derek's face contorted in silent fury before admitting defeat and going silent, scowling out at the trees while the others all laughed.
"And I haven't moped either, I haven't even talked to Isaac since he left." Scott admitted, sounding a bit miserable, and Danny looked at him questioningly.
"That isn't like you two, everything alright?" he asked worriedly, they had had quite enough drama without the couple that was essentially the cornerstone of the whole pack, and Scott looked a little anxious.
"Well yeah! When he left I said I'd give him a few days space, bond with Camden and Rakaisha without me constantly breathing down their necks, that's all. You think that was a bad idea?" he asked nervously, and Stiles gave him a pitying glance, smirking a little as he did so.
"So, you sent him off to New York, one of the biggest LGBT community hubs in the country, with hot guys and hot girls all over the place, and you didn't even want to keep him constantly reminded of the boyfriend he has back home? What was the last thing you said to him?" he asked, a mischievous smirk on his face, while Scott started to look increasingly alarmed.
"I told him to have fun!" he cried, panicking now, surely a few days without hearing from Scott wouldn't convince Isaac to go looking for someone else?
But then Isaac's myriad of issues, which Scott had unintentionally added to at times, what if he took the lack of communication as a sign that Scott was losing interest, or didn't want to be with him anymore? Isaac might think, well he didn't want to think what he might think!
"Malia, when we were dating, if I told you to go and have fun, what would you think I meant?" Stiles asked, flashing a smirk at his ex-girlfriend, and she smirked herself.
"That I should go do frat guys." She replied easily, and Scott's heart started hammering in genuine alarm as he looked frantically around his pack, desperate for reassurance.
"He wouldn't, I don't want him to do frat guys!" he protested in a panic, and Lydia shot Stiles a filthy look (seriously, he really needed to get over his constant jealousy and fear that his position as Scott's best friend was threatened as Isaac was his boyfriend), and she hugged herself to Scott, gently tilting his face to look at hers.
"Scott, you need to remember, you are the badass one True Alpha, who also happens to be Isaac's knight in shining armour. You are the badass who's seen off every bad guy we've faced, and what's more, Isaac couldn't be more into you. So relax, Isaac is hardly going to find someone to replace you with in New York." She soothed, and their Alpha did look slightly relieved, while she continued to glare at Stiles, who grinned, it was so easy to wind Scott up.
"Yeah, Isaac got it good when he hooked up with you, I bet he's in New York worrying you'll run off with someone as well, in case you haven't noticed, you guys are kind of erotically co-dependent." Ethan pointed out with a grin as Scott relaxed a little, but it was clear that Stiles had wound him up and gotten him all agitated about Isaac.
Scott fixed Isaac's best friend with a glare.
"We are not erotically co-dependent, look, nearly ten days and we haven't even spoken to each other!" he objected, though the effect of his point was rather ruined by the slightly alarmed tone he tailed off into.
"Stiles does realise of course that when Isaac finds out he said that, he'll kill him." Liam commented, none too quietly, and Stiles affected an unconcerned expression.
"Yeah, but by the time he comes back, they'll have their happy reunion and forget all about it. I was just winding him up." Stiles complained, jeez, nobody could take a joke round here anymore.
"Yeah, you're awfully cavalier for someone who still has nightmares of Isaac trying to kill you in Eichen." Jackson pointed out with a smug grin, and Melody sniggered as well, while Stiles' face contorted in fury.
"I had one nightmare of that, and besides, you try being ambushed in the dark by a werewolf berserker who won't listen to reason, while standing in the basement of the nuthouse." He complained bitterly, and Malia affected a pout, her eyes dancing mischievously.
"You make it sound like it was all bad in Eichen," she purred, and he grinned, yeah, that part had been fun, "besides, no dice, I may have let it be known that you have that dream at least once a fortnight." She told him, feigning remorse, and he looked at her furiously while the others laughed.
"Why would you tell them that?" he demanded, and she shrugged.
"Hey, we split up, now we're just friends with benefits, no obligation to keep stuff quiet anymore." She taunted, while Violet looked at the coyote in concern.
"Um, Malia, you do realise that friends with benefits aren't meant to be getting together nearly every week?" she pointed out, and both Malia and Stiles nodded.
"Yeah, but we are good when we do it, we kind of owe it to sex. Besides, that's what we're waiting for Camden's party for." He explained, although did throw a filthy look at his ex, who simply smirked maddeningly.
"I don't get why it's a comic book party." Danny mused, and Scott shrugged, turning around from fixing his bike to get ready to leave.
"Well, despotic father who would never let him, his own place, first time being host, Rakaisha's first fancy dress party, Isaac's too probably, it's a no brainer." He explained, thoughts travelling to his absent boyfriend and still worrying about if he had found someone else in New York, he was going to kill Stiles!
"Will you relax, this jerk's just winding you up," Garrett advised as he beckoned Liam and Kira towards the car, and Aiden looked at the Alpha nervously.
"Shouldn't we still patrol?" he asked, but Scott shook his head.
"No, Gareth's still in town, he was going on patrol with Parrish." He explained.
True, it was less of a patrol than he would normally like to deploy, especially with so many missing kids, but with the entire pack here for the summit he had been kind of restricted, particularly with Argent also out of town. Natasha, the other hunter that Argent had recruited to help deal with the dogs was also out of town, though the pack wasn't quite so bothered about that, she was a very cool customer, and also, as Liam had described, a very scary lady, similar to the vibe Scott had used to get from Allison's mother.
Gareth was the more amiable and much more pleasant of the two, and had struck up a friendship with Parrish as well as several more of the pack, and was generally more pleasant to be around.
"Things are starting to get weird again. Something's coming." Lydia commented idly, but enough for several of the others to hear her, and Scott barely suppressed a groan.
He hated it when she got all ethereal and mysterious, as she was usually right, and their lives usually went to shit as a result.
"Satomi said that disappearances like this had happened before, about twenty or so years ago, like the sheriff said as well. Maybe whatever caused it could be coming back, or getting copied?" Scott suggested hopefully, as the pack mulled it over.
The thing was, with the people who were missing they didn't have the remotest clue how to even search for them, having no idea where they might have disappeared to in the first place, which made them feel all the more impotent. The worst thing she was right, but they were kind of stumbling around in the dark, as per usual, until something else happened.
"Like Satomi said, yeah I was listening in," Malia explained, correctly deducing the questioning look on her Alpha's face, who rolled his eyes while her ex sniggered, "you have to take a break from shouldering all this responsibility Scott, you'll go crazy. Much as we'd like to, we can't save everyone from every foul thing that's out there." She told him wisely, and he smiled and looked at her proudly.
"You know Malia, you've come a long way." He told her proudly, and she smiled, going a little red as she did so and looking quite pleased with herself.
And she had done well, and not just in terms of her attitude towards other people. Since joining the pack, she had become much less mercurial and had started to adapt well to pack life. Furthermore, since the battle with the dogs, she had developed the ability to control her ability to shift into her coyote form. The whole thing with the driver's ed class, however, was a different story for another time.
"Doesn't change the fact though that there are people going missing." Derek pointed out, mulling it over in his head as he did so.
As the pack of Beacon Hills, it was their job to protect the people of the town, and something was clearly going on here. However, they were kind of stumbling around in the dark until they knew more.
"Have you tried scrying for them?" Kira asked Lydia curiously, and Lydia made an unpleasant face.
Scrying didn't work the same way for her as it did for other creatures with that ability. Witches, Druids, Scuffocks etc could use anchors to a person or even just their willpower to scry for the people who were missing. Banshees scrying worked rather differently, as they had to listen through the din of voices that only they heard, listen for the death (whenever it may be) of the person they were seeking, and use that to try and scry for a person. She didn't like doing her scrying much, as it involved her essentially forcing a death premonition in order to use it.
"I did try," she admitted, which hadn't exactly been a pleasant experience, "but I don't think I've got enough knowledge of the people who're missing for it to be any use, it's weird, it's like somethings blocking me, I can sort of hear them, like a whisper, but I can't go any further." She complained, and Scott looked at her in interest.
"Did you ask Martagh?" he asked, referring to the Scuffock who had come to town to train them, and Lydia pursed her lips.
"I haven't heard from her." She admitted, and Aiden, who had been the only one who had known that she hadn't heard from her mentor recently, looked significantly at his Alpha.
"What, at all?" Jackson asked, the irascible Scuffock had likely saved them all with all her training, and it seemed quite bizarre that she hadn't been in contact with her apprentice at all.
"Nope, nothing." Lydia replied, and while she tried to look unconcerned, they all knew better.
A pain though she had been at times, Martagh had been an important ally for them, she had also endeared herself to them all, growing on them all during her time with them. And while Lydia had been, bratty to put it mildly, towards her teacher, the two had forged a strong bond, and it seemed rather bizarre that the Scuffock hadn't contacted her at all since her departure.
"She's probably busy training whoever needs trained now," Kira offered hopefully, as that was probably the best they could hope for in their lives.
"Hopefully, it's just weird. Either way though, Martagh can't help us find the missing kids." Lydia complained irritably, and Scott frowned.
At the end of the day, Satomi was right, they didn't know enough to be able to help the missing kids, which sucked but there it was. And besides, with their lives, and more importantly, their luck, chances were they were going to find out what was going on eventually anyway.
"So if they happened before, does it mean it's a human wackjob we're dealing with?" Violet asked curiously, and Stiles shrugged.
"Well, if it is human, maybe, or a copycat. But if it's something supernatural, who knows?" Stiles reasoned, and Scott sighed, this was getting them nowhere.
"Much though I'd like to say otherwise, there's not much else we can do about it at the moment, and if this place is all tidied up, we might as well head home. We're getting nowhere, and we still have a few days of the Easter holidays left so we might as well make the most of them." He mused, and Aiden threw a sly look at Derek, who, bizarrely, went a little pink.
"Yes, like Derek was the other day. Unfortunately, he forgot I was in." he said tartly, and Lydia looked at him curiously as Derek went red, trying to avoid the gaze of the others.
"What's this?" Danny asked, grinning, and Derek threw a filthy look at Aiden before relenting,
"Well, I thought both of them were out, I thought Aiden was at Lydia's. He wasn't, and I bumped into him coming out of the shower." He admitted through gritted teeth, and Aiden shuddered dramatically.
"Without the benefit of a towel I might add." He complained and the others all laughed while Derek went scarlet and gnashed his teeth, glaring at the world in his usual sourwolf self.
Scott shook his head in amusement, and looked around his pack as they all started to disperse: Stiles was taking Malia home (as Violet had said, they were having trouble grasping the friends with benefits part), Liam was going home with Garrett while Kira took Violet home, Lydia and Derek were heading their own way while the twins escorted them on their bikes, Jackson was giving Danny and Melody a lift home as well, leaving Scott to go home himself.
Now, he mused ruefully, if only he wasn't going home to an empty house. At the thought of Isaac still being away, and now with what Stiles had said running through his head, he sighed irritably, took a last inspective look across the clearing to make sure they hadn't left anything behind, and mulled over the fact that while he might be missing his boyfriend like crazy, at least the summit with Satomi had gone well.
XX
Jackson looked across the road to the house that had been Isaac's place before his father had been killed. A removal truck was outside, and there were three people helping unpack it as he pulled up in his Porsche (that had been a happy reunion when it had been shipped back from London). He got out his car, and figuring that if they were neighbours, it might be polite to at least greet them if nothing else, especially if he wanted a better relationship with them than his last ones, since Isaac still resented him at best and hated him at worst. He waved a little, and one of the three waved back while the other gave a thumbs up to indicate they didn't need a hand (thank god, not really his thing), and the other one just nodded at him in greeting, though as they had their hands full with a large box, that was understandable. Jackson headed into the house, getting out his phone to text Melody to see if she fancied Facetiming, shutting the door behind him as his new neighbours continued to unpack the van in the rapidly fading daylight, their breaths billowing out in front of them as the air turned more frigid.
Over the street, Jackson's new neighbours continued to unpack the van. One of them was a woman in her sixties. A handsome woman, the touches of age were just starting to get to her, with her auburn neck length hair, tied into a small ponytail at the back, she was handing boxes to her son-in-law while looking curiously over the street at where the other teenager had went into his house. A tall man, he was modestly built. His eyes were quick and clever, and his shaved head would make him give insidious vibes to anyone coming across him in the street. However, the man had a bright friendly smile, and he exuded an air of calm and kindness and had nodded to the boy over the road while he negotiated the boxes in his arms.
The other one, the one who had given the thumbs up upon being told by his dad that they could manage was a teenager, perhaps a bit younger than the boy in the house opposite. Of moderate height, he helped his father hoist another couple of boxes. The boy was quite pale, especially in the early evening light as the moon was just starting to rise just as the sun was almost finished setting. He had dirty blond hair, spiked up into a slightly messy style at the front. He was wearing a white sweater with a light blue jacket on top of it, while also wearing white and black chinos which gave the illusion that his chinos were divided into boxes. As the cold unseasonable wind blew, the boy suddenly stopped, as his eyes glowed a shining golden-brown colour, scenting the air.
"Dad…I think that guy's like me." He muttered softly, desperate for the boy over the road not to hear, after all, his wasn't a species that was that great at fighting.
His father chuckled, though his eyes did flick over to the other house before he laid a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder.
"I highly doubt he's like you, Neo, we didn't come here all the way from South Africa for nothing you know, in fact, you're probably the first one to ever leave Africa," he assured his son, and Neo smiled a little.
True, his kind didn't really go for a lot of travelling. However, after his mother had been killed by hunters six years before, he and his father, Johan, had never really fit in in their small town of Clarens, in which they lived on the outskirts with Johan's mother, Retha. Clarens was a beautiful little mountain town near the Lesotho border, close to the Maluti mountains. Nearly a year ago now, Neo had felt…something, and had tried to explain to his father and grandmother how he felt. He had said that he felt something weird, like a calling, and he had expected to put it down to some weird supernatural inclination and then have it forgotten about. However, to his surprise, both his father and his grandmother had seriously started to consider it, and now, here they were, in Beacon Hills, California of all places.
It was so odd, but his father had long tried to move them away from Clarens anyway, even when his mother was alive. A good man, he was a natural born healer, and worked as a paediatrician, though there wasn't much work in their idyllic mountain region home. His father had nearly broken up with his mother because of it, figuring they were just incompatible, as his mother had wanted to remain out where it was much less cluttered than city living. It was only then that Neo's mother had finally came clean and had revealed her supernatural heritage to the man she had fallen in love with. She had consented to give him a day to think about it, and she had thought that she would never see Johan again. She had been extremely surprised and delighted when Johan had returned the day after, complete with an engagement ring and proposed to her on the spot, and they had been together happily for ten years, with Johan running the local clinic and specialising on children's health, to allow the wife he so loved and his son to be who they truly were.
But now, his mother had been dead six years, and when Neo had said about the weird feeling he had, both Johan and Retha had agreed, and had looked into it, and had elected to move to Beacon Hills for a fresh start, where Johan could be the paediatrician he had always wanted to be, and Retha could take up her tutoring lessons once again. And Neo, who had had few friends due to living so close to the outskirts of town and having kind of retreated into himself upon the death of his mother, would hopefully finally find some friends to be himself around.
And they would just pray that there would be no supernatural ramifications of their move here, or worse, hunters. Yet that guy over the road…
"Easy bokkie," Retha chided, a slight smile on her face, and Neo groaned, hoping that that kid over the road didn't hear her calling him that, one it was embarrassing, and two it was kind of on the money as to how is translated, "fresh start, remember? Let's get the last of the stuff in, then we can have our first taste of America, and have pizza for dinner, how's that sound?" she asked, and Johan chuckled.
"Sounds damn good to me. Come on son, let's go." He told him, and Neo grinned, following them dutifully into the house, though as he breathed in the night air of Beacon Hills, he did wonder if that boy was indeed supernatural, just like he was…and if he was the only one in town.
XX
Braeden hissed in pain as she finally collapsed onto her bed, back in the room of the motel that she and her fellow US Marshals were renting in Arizona. That mission had gone south, to put it mildly. They had received a tip-off from an unknown source (though Braeden suspected she knew who had sent the tip-off) that the Desert Wolf had been seen in the area.
The Desert Wolf was, in some ways, Braeden's white whale. A highly skilled warrior, assassin and terrorist, when Braeden had joined the Marshals her first case had been directly linked to the Desert Wolf, who had murdered an entire room full of people, who were also US Marshals including Robert, the one who had recruited Braeden to begin with, without so much as firing a shot. It had been a bloodbath, and Braeden had been one of the first on the scene, discovering her mentor lying having drowned in his own blood, his throat slit open, and his eye ripped out. His companions had fared little better, and they had been trying to locate the Desert Wolf for numerous other crimes over the years and believed they had finally had her cornered. However, inexplicably, she had turned the tables on them, slaughtering a room of eight US Marshals without even firing a shot. The horrified owner of the motel, who had proceeded to shut the place down afterwards, had only been able to report hearing a guttural growl before the screaming had started. Indeed, such was her speed and ferocity that the majority of her victims were still in their seats which is where they had found their bodies.
That had been six years ago now, and Braeden, determined to bring the murdering terrorist bitch to justice, had been hunting her ever since, hoping to hear any information that would finally lead to her whereabouts. To her shock however, it had been discussing with Morrell that she had discovered more.
Desert Wolf wasn't just a codename, or even a moniker, it was actually a true description of her. The Desert Wolf was a chimera, both a werewolf and a werecoyote, and was an expertly trained assassin and terrorist. However, to Braeden's surprise, she wasn't just a terrorist and assassin to the real world, she was also an infamous terrorist, assassin, murderer and worst of all, self-proclaimed freedom fighter of the supernatural world. She was a revolutionary, determined to topple the Beasturo, and the Fivefold too to be fair, and remake the world in her image or something like that. All Morrell had told Braeden, indeed all it seemed that she knew, was that the Desert Wolf had been someone quite far up in the Beasturo hierarchy, but something had happened, and she had left the shadowy rulers of the supernatural world in disgrace. She had vanished for a year or so, only to return at the head of her own paramilitary force, the Panzers, which she used to undermine the Beasturo and use them to advance her aims.
The Desert Wolf had proceeded to unleash a brutal campaign against the unseen overseers of the supernatural world, slaughtering dozens of beasts in her wake and recruiting more and more into the Panzers as she used her natural charisma, her unique platform, and of course her bloodthirsty, revolutionary nature to recruit dozens of others to her cause, forging the Panzers into a deadly, highly skilled and extraordinarily lethal organisation. However, despite her strength and that of her followers growing in power, she had disappeared following a trip to India, and had never been seen for the better part of two years. The next time she had been seen, however, she had been fleeing through Beacon Hills, and had fled the town. However, this time the Desert Wolf had been wounded, and to everyone's great shock, she had also been pregnant recently.
While there had been no sign of the Child, the news that the Desert Wolf had a child which she likely had left somewhere to protect it had rocked the supernatural world to its core, the most dangerous revolutionary they had ever seen, and what was more, she was breeding. It had spawned a massive manhunt to once again try and find her, but the Child had been hidden very well and none of the big factions had had any luck finding them. The Desert Wolf had also remained elusive, though anyone who had gotten close to her had encountered the Panzers who had killed virtually everyone who had been pursuing them. The manhunt had eventually been called off, though not before the three factions had agreed on one thing: the Panzers had gotten even more dangerous and ruthless, and someone, or multiple someone's had been helping them. The rumours had persisted over the years, though it wasn't until the encounter with the US Marshals that had precipitated the chain of events leading to her becoming involved in Braeden's life that they had started to become confirmed.
Someone was indeed helping them, as the Panzers had started to learn not just terrorist techniques, or revolutionary tactics, or even just being trained to kill. No, now, they were smart, they were infiltrating, weaponizing the populace against the Beasturo, the Fivefold, the Artemisia, and they were getting more dangerous by the day. Two years ago, Braeden and numerous Marshals, along with a kill squad that had been sent by the Artemisia under the guise of a private security firm, had closed in on their position in Nicaragua. It was there that the Panzers had ambushed them, but with the help of the Artemisia, they were able to stand their ground. That had been until the roar of a creature that was certainly not a wolf or coyote had terrified them all, and in the darkness of the warehouse they had encountered their prey in, a creature with glowing eyes, consisting of Alpha red, diluting into a circle of glowing amber, and encircling a ring of green-blue glow that surrounded the pupil had simply chuckled and retreated, allowing their fears to do the rest. The panicked survivors had opened fire with everything they had, however when the terrified team, now with barely a quarter of them still alive, had restored power, there had been no sign of any of them of the Panzers, or their unseen support. All that remained of them were the bodies of the few they had gotten, and a symbol on the wall; a sword, ensnared by a ribbon, and bordered by ancient runes. However, after that there had been no other sign of it, but all three factions agreed on one thing: whoever that symbol belonged to, they were the ones that had been making the Panzers that much more dangerous than ever before.
There had been sporadic sightings of them, of the Panzers over the years, but no sign of the Desert Wolf, just some of her minions. This tip had come out of the blue, but it had been sent through all the proper channels, which made Braeden suspect it was indeed legitimate, and that the Desert Wolf was here, or at least had been here. The Beasturo was likely behind the tip-off, but regardless, by the time the Marshals had arrived, she was no longer there.
However, some people were, but whoever they were, they certainly weren't Panzers, no this lot…they seemed more ruthless, more calculated, and altogether much more dangerous, it was a miracle they had gotten out of there alive.
"That could have gone better." Clint Howard, her superior in the Marshals, muttered as he poked his head into her room, entering with a knock, and she groaned as she sat up to face him.
"Yeah, no kidding." She remarked drily, and Clint clapped her shoulder consolingly, he had been friends with her mentor for years and was nearly as obsessed with bringing the Desert Wolf in as she was.
"We will get her, but clearly, she's been recruiting." He grumbled darkly, and Braeden nodded, her mind somewhere else.
That was the thing, they had been attacked by a mixture of werejackals, coyotes, wolves and the likes, the most common of shapeshifters. However, their leader, a large hulking brute had certainly not been any of the above. To Braeden's shock, their leader, a bulging mass of muscle with a shining bald head and wicked eyes, was actually an Emela-Ntouka, which was, for want of a better term, a wererhino. Extremely strong, he had been nigh unstoppable, and had crushed one Marshal's head in his bare hands before throwing another one through a wall with a single punch which had killed him too. Outgunned if not outnumbered, he had retreated, an evil smirk playing on his face while he did so, he and his companions having killed far more Marshals than they had any business doing.
The presence of an Emela-Ntouka was alarming. They were quite a rare species, and by and large, they were also quite pleasant. He however hadn't been, for obvious reasons, but to her consternation, it was the tattoo on his bulging biceps that had attracted her attention as he had made good his escape. The tattoo was the same one as that of the unseen organisation assisting the Panzers, which meant they had interrupted a training cell, and the wererhino was teaching the Panzers.
And that led to so many more, even more alarming questions.
"Yeah, our intel was lousy on this one, if she was there, she's long gone by now." She complained bitterly, and Clint nodded dolefully, rather akin to the bloodhound he unintentionally resembled.
"True that. Get some rest, you got hammered when he threw that crate at you, you were lucky he didn't crush you, he must be on steroids of some sort. Might as well head back to base in the morning, I'll go check on the rest of the team." Clint assured her, clapping her shoulder and she watched him leave, shutting the door behind him.
Braeden groaned as she flopped back down onto the bed. The whole thing had been a bust, there was no denying that, and the Desert Wolf was long gone by the time they had gotten there. All she had received as a result of her trouble was more questions. The Panzers were still out there, as was the Desert Wolf, and whoever her unknown support was, their ranks included an Emela-Ntouka, which was alarming on many levels. But once again, the Desert Wolf had vanished.
It seemed to be a recurring theme for her recently.
Following the defeat of Agravaine and his Ghost Pack, Morrell had left town, Braeden had supposed she had gone off to track down her older brother, who the pack had exiled from the town for lying to them and keeping vital information from them one time too many, information this time which had led Scott's pack to implode. However, after the battle, Morrell had departed to find her brother…and Braeden hadn't heard from her since. No sign of her anywhere, no communication, nothing.
Braeden was trying not to be alarmed, her mentor had disappeared before. After all, she had been Emissary to the Alpha Pack, tormented by Deucalion and his minions, and while Braeden didn't know for sure, the bizarre appearance of a highly skilled vigilante in Beacon Hill during the final battle led her to think that there was a very powerful Beasturo operative in town, who may also be something to do with it. But it was weird, it was unsettling she had to admit. Morrell's own curiosity about Scott and the twins to an extent had kept her in town, and while she did care about her brother, the fact that the two of them had completely gone off the radar made Braeden uneasy.
It was weird. Yet she hadn't told any of the pack, not even Derek. They had earned the break that they'd had ever since the defeat of the dogs, and the disappearances in town aside, things still seemed to be calm for now, and Scott was now busy forging alliances with other packs as well, which could only be a good thing. And now, with this operation over, she could go back to Beacon Hills, to the pack, to Derek, and to see how he was getting on with his costume for Camden's party.
Oh, it had been worth it joining forces with the twins just to see the look on Derek's face when she told him they were going to his neighbour's comic book party in costume. Smiling to herself smugly, she laid back in the bed, wondering just how much fun she was going to have when she got home.
Here we are, with the first part of episode one!
As you can see, some things have changed for the pack since the end of my season four, and Scott is making friends with the neighbours, Isaac's away and things are already getting a bit suspicious
In addition to aesthetic and relationship changes, and best of all, poor Scott finally has some clue about being a True Alpha!
Anyways, still another three parts of this episode to upload, so please read and review!
