Crossposted on AO3 under same username
Chapter 1 - A little intro
As said on the tin
Tony POV
Ok, so I may not be entirely human. Well, what do you expect when you have shifter genes in your blood that runs over ten generations on both sides of the family? Or more specifically, WolfBlood?
Throughout my childhood, I learnt the history of wolf-shifters - or more commonly known as Werewolves - from my Mother. How it started as a genetic anomaly. This rare genetic trait passes from both the mother and the father to the child. From my mother, I also learnt how to tell another's emotions by just their smell - the chemosignals.
From my Dad, I learnt control. How to act more human, how to resist the moon's pull and - of course later - about ruts and heats and how the full moon can trigger a heat or a rut, especially if your mate is nearby. How wolf-shifters develop earlier than their human counterparts even though pregnancies are the same length of time. That is why I learnt how to build a circuit board at four and a fully working engine at six - although that may be the geniusness in the family too. I also learnt to never fully trust Obadiah Stane that I supposedly lovingly call Uncle Obie. He always carries the smells of lies and deceit.
From both parents, I learnt how to control the company as I knew from a young age I would eventually have to overtake it. But not in my - so far - young life did I expect my parents to be ripped away from me. Or should I say murder? Yes, I knew as soon as I got to the 'crash'-site that it was a murder, the smell of fresh-winter snow in rocky mountains told me that HYDRA's Winter Soldier was the cause of their murder and not the 'drunk-driving' that was supposedly to have happened. They were supposed to have come to see me at MIT before taking me back home for Christmas break. Later on I knew the cover up was made by Stane.
Wolf-shifters have the ability to have a low-level telepathic connection with the rest of the pack family. It aids the pack when having to hunt or when being split up long distances. So when I felt that connection scream and then, suddenly cut-off? I knew. I knew that they were killed. I roared with anguish before taking off towards the site 50 miles away - after, of course, putting on the appropriate running gear for the winter weather. The Christmas of 1991 will ruin Christmases forever.
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You see, just before my fourteenth (14th) birthday, I exceeded way past high school level education and my parents and I agreed that it would be better to go to University and try and challenge myself. Granted, I knew I would probably the youngest there to ever attend, but it was never too early to let a young wolf-shifter learn to fend for them-selves by being partially away from home. The pack-family knew that I could always move out of the provided dorm-room that was provided and move into one of the den-homes in the area that we brought.
I moved into my dorm room a day early so I could both grab my semester's timetable and mark my territory get used to the area that would be my home for the next four years. So, when I heard a small argument outside the dorm room at eight in the morning and the majority of the Rhodes Clan - a whole family of widely-known Borders - came through the doorway, I knew that I would be good friends with them. That is when I identified my new roommate as James Rhodes. As soon as the large clan-family came through the doorway and closed the door to the rest of the building, I did the formal shifter-to-Border greeting - a dip of the head followed by a flash of my shifter eyes while standing. They all soon followed by a dip of their own heads before showing their Border-Clan charms - An oval wooden charm on a leather chain with a triskelion within two circles.
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After that, the next 20 years or so came and went fast. My parents died on the 21st of December, on-route to MIT. I graduated summa-cum-laud with two Doctorates and 5 Masters and James Rhodes - who Lovingly nicknamed Rhodey - second with one Doctorate and one Masters, with the Family Butler and his wife - Edwin and Ana Jarvis, who practically raised me alongside my parents - coming to attend as well as the entire Rhodes clan, and my Godmother, pseudo-Aunt and Director of SHIELD, Margret 'Peggy' Carter, in attendance. My main SHIELD agent bodyguard baby-sitter (and pseudo uncle) Nick Fury also made an appearance
After that, we all celebrated Rhodey's last day before military school while I took a more prominent role within Stark Industries in the R department and secret-security consultant at SHIELD, protecting soldiers, spies and civilians alike, while keeping my parents' promise and keeping an eye for 'Uncle Obie' (makes me want to gag at that). At 21, I became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company (officially at least, we all know that i started helping when I was 16), creating a better future through new tech. Couple months later, I met Vignina Potts, storming into my office with a can of Pepper spray declaring there was a mistake in the accounting books, already having gone to her direct superior but being turned down. I made her my PA and gave her the nickname Pepper. (Le gasp yesssss)
She also may, or may not, be my Mate…
Thereafter, time flew by quickly - until 2008.
You know the rest.
I was captured by the Terrorist Group known as the Ten Rings which was organised by my loving Uncle Obie (*gag*) for three months. Apparently, I didn't keep a tight enough leash (ha) on him and was selling MY weapons under the table, killing our own soldiers. Oh, how I wanted to rip his throat out with my teeth. I defeated him though. Then Director Uncle Nicky came reminding me about the Avengers Initiative and warning me that he is gonna send a mole undercover in Stark Industries. I reluctantly agreed, also asking if he can check for any other moles within the company and any of my father's files still left in SHIELD's volts.
In 2010, I was dying of palladium poisoning, then I wasn't. I discovered - or rediscovered - a new element. I tried to call it Badassium, only to have found it to actually be synthesized Vibranium.
Oh, well, you win some, you lose some. (Lmfao)
Gave Rhodey a suit.
Crashed my own Stark Expo and then saved it. Blasted Justin Hammer's tech. Turns out he hired Ivan Vanko, known Border criminal and held a grudge against the Starks specifically. This time I did rip his throat out, not with my teeth - though I was very tempted to - but with my shifted claws. Saved a kid from the drones - I think I saw a Border charm, but I'm not fully sure - oh well. ()
Not even a year later, I got a notification from SHIELD that the Great Captain America was found - I never pulled the funding. Now the funding has ceased, it has been redirected to aid all SI foundations and charities as well as a few other charities across the globe. Oh, apparently he was a border - I did not do the traditional greeting, he doesn't deserve it, he didn't properly greet my father when they met for the first time. (He and Howard were friends?).
Not properly treating a shifter/or fellow border is an insult to the entire bloodline.
Fast forward another year and there is an alien invasion. Met a pair of Alien/God Brothers. I think the Alien/God Brothers noticed I wasn't human, but only time will tell. Flew a nuke through a portal, got yelled at by both Pepper and Rhodey, followed by a bone-crushing hug. Got shawarma, then invited the Avengers team to the tower to rest and another invitation to actually live there - I have over 10 free floors, what am I meant to do with them?
Don't worry they dont have a floor each. Nat and Clint share a floor (though Clint has room for his pack family for when he decides to tell the rest of the team [I think everyone in SHIELD other than Uncle Nicky forgot that my father was one of the founders and that I am actually the owner of the organisation as it was in my Father's willI mean, come-on, it was a weekly occurance to see a toddler/child/tween run around HQ]) and Thor and Steve also share a floor. Bruce has his own floor, though it is equipped with hulk-proof safety features and a lab. Of course, I share the Penthouse with Pepper with rooms for Rhodey and Happy for whenever they need to bunk over. The other free floors are empty and will eventually become guest floors for the SI staff if they have a longer experiment thats running.
Had my first full moon with them in the tower. That went splendidly (not).
One thing about werewolves on full moons, after we have found our mate, we are incredibly horny, leading to being really tired in the morning. (Uhh well that explains last week)
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Now, back to the story.