"Maia, what did I say? Go sit down and stay off of your feet."
The Alphamega looked up at Kali with eyes narrowed, her arms submerged up to her elbows in dishwater as the pack prepared for the cookout, "I cannot just sit around when I am perfectly able to help out. Just because I am pregnant does not mean that I am incapable of doing anything for myself."
"And just because you are my Alpha does not mean that you scare me," Kali replied, taking a dish towel out of the drawer and handing it to her. "You'll go sit willingly, or I'll have Ennis take you upstairs and lock you in your room."
"You are insufferable."
Kali brushed her lips against Maia's with a smile as the mother-to-be moved to do as she said, taking her place at the sink.
She looked out of the window at everyone in the backyard, most of the younger pack members in and around the pool. Careful eyes scanned the faces there before she sighed, calling out for Ethan. He joined her and searched her face, seeing the severe expression, "What? What is it?"
"Where is Deucalion?"
"Out running an errand," the younger Alpha replied, moving to run a hand through his hair. "He told me to apologize to Maia about it, but it slipped my mind… Is that a problem?"
Kali began scrubbing the dishes furiously, glancing over her shoulder at Ethan, "It won't be if he gets his ass back here. Maia has had it up to here with the way he has been acting-"
"Can you blame him Kali?"
They were both quiet as she let the plates sink back into the water, bracing her hands on either side of the sink. "No, of course not. And believe me Ethan, I feel the same way but Deucalion knew- he knew what he was getting himself into with her. He knew that nothing aside from death would change the way things were and are now, and still, he put himself in that position. He set himself up for absolute failure!" Ethan snarled almost angrily, gesturing quietly to the bedroom where he could hear Maia moving around, forcing Kali to look at him, "Didn't we all? In a way, did we all not let her power and her love and her wolf draw us in? Maia brought us to our knees and put us at her absolute mercy and we just let her!"
"He made a choice- we all made choices we have to live with. Deucalion needs to pull himself together and deal with it because she made her choice too. And she chose Derek," Kali replied through her teeth, seeing the slightly wounded look in her brother's eyes. "But it is not just the fact that it is Derek: it's the fact that its not him. If it was anyone else, even myself, he would still be acting like this. So call him and tell him that he is expected to be here when we eat, or that things are going to get very ugly for him."
Maia came downstairs and moved to get the door after hearing a car coming up the driveway, expecting to see Scott. "Hey, thought you had decided to bail-" She paused as she looked at Jackson, the young man smirking quietly.
"I mean, I'll be on the next flight out of here but that's just semantics," he replied, looking at her and shrugging. "I got your text- can I come in?"
"Sure."
She stepped aside to let him into the house, Jackson looking around to take in his surroundings carefully. He paused in the foyer and turned to stare over his shoulder at Maia, seeing her dressed in a loose tank top and leggings with her hair pulled into a high ponytail. "I heard about your demon spawn from my dad- congrats. How's it going," Jackson questioned lightly, the older woman rolling her eyes as she scoffed.
"Still incubating," Maia replied as she led him through the house to the backyard.
Derek was manning the grill, seemingly undisturbed by the flames leaping towards his face as he turned the food over. He looked up as he caught Jackson's scent, the others seeming to do much of the same, "Well, look who it is, the black sheep of the family."
"Aren't you just sassy?"
Jackson smirked as he got a laugh out of Maia, the woman moving from his side to open the cooler. She tossed him a beer and urged him to relax and have a good time, "Drink that for me. In my condition, even standing on my own two feet is frowned upon and I'd rather not incur the wrath of the Alpha male for having a brew."
"I can't stay long: I have some unfinished business left to handle," Jackson replied, meeting the eyes of Boyd, Erica and Isaac as he felt their gazes fall on him. "Lydia? If so, you and Scott should get together, cry and watch chick flicks," Derek smirked joking, chuckling when his wife popped him in the shoulder. She moved to wrap her arms around his midsection, still talking to the newly returned wolf. "He's just being his usual sour wolf self, Jackson, though you shouldn't worry about him being punished for acting this way- I'll give him a good clawing for you later. But have your beer and go do what you need to do: it means a lot you even came."
"What the hell is this? A class reunion or a party?"
Stiles stood in the doorway beside Scott, the two of them grinning from ear to ear. They immediately gravitated towards the others, Maia reaching out to mess in Stiles hair as she pressed her lips against his best friend's cheek, "Welcome home sweetheart."
"Good to be back, Maia."
Derek was quiet as he talked to her, moving to throw the food onto the massive platters on the food table beside him. "You are insanely pleased with yourself, aren't you," he questioned, seeing her smile widely. "Oh hell yes- I got the band back together baby." He chuckled and bent down to kiss the apple of her cheek, Maia releasing him.
"I'm going to go and attempt to set the table if I can evade Kali for long enough. Get that food of the grill and come inside to wash up when you're done," Maia said, seeing his eyes on her backside as she turned.
"Love you."
She smiled and opened the sliding door, giving a tantalizing wiggle for his benefit, "You better."
Maia moved towards the dining room and sighed as she saw Kali already there, the knowing female having already set the table. "You are the most hardheaded woman I have ever met." She rolled her eyes and smoothed down her shirt, feeling the awe-inspiring movements underneath her fingertips.
"I don't have to go on maternity leave from sitting in an office until I'm twenty-six weeks- I think I can set a table and wash a few dishes without spontaneously going into labor, Kali," Maia replied sarcastically, moving to fill up the pitcher on the table with water.
Kali smirked and followed after her, reaching to take the pitcher from her, "For all of your intelligence Mrs. Hale, you seem to have no idea how much we all care- and worry- about you. Look at Derek: he refuses to let you out of his sight unless you're with Ennis or myself. And speaking of Ennis, he actually gave up living as a wolf to make sure you're taken care of. There is a lot more than just your happiness riding on this pregnancy, I'm afraid."
"I wish it wasn't like that."
The Alphamega heard the door open and moved to stick her head out into the foyer, her eyes landing on Deucalion. She stepped out, seeing the look on his face and reaching up to smooth the baby hairs at her hairline back. "Hey, you look like you could use a drink- I'll grab you a bottle of wine," Maia said, giving him an unspoken command to follow her.
She turned to look at him clasping her hands together and pressing her knuckles to her lips before sighing. "It has been almost two months Deucalion- in the beginning, I understood, I did. A lot of things changed for me too when I found out that I was pregnant and I realized that I couldn't be the same person that I was before. That meant letting go of a lot of anger, stepping back from my problems with Derek and allowing my other relationships to settle. You needed time and I knew that: I gave you that. And now I need you to accept that the way things were, that the way we were… is not the way that we're going to be now."
"Do you not remember that very first night we laid together, when you told me about everything: who you were, where you had come from, what you had been through? We bonded that night, body, mind and spirit Maia- you said that. And you promised me that you would rid yourself of the mate bond, kill Derek Hale, and bind yourself to me," Deucalion replied furiously, baring his teeth at her.
"I was angry then, a vengeful, wounded animal. And I'll admit that just as soon as I would admit that up until very recently, I still felt that way," she snapped before placing her hands to her stomach and forcing him to look at her. "But our lives have changed and I have changed! You cannot live in the past-"
He scoffed and shook his head, looking away from her, "How strange it is to hear that sentiment coming from you? You, who spent two years grieving for a baby that was not, who spent anniversaries of his death curled up in a ball, so deep in your depression you could not move. How dare you tell me not to live in the past?"
Maia threw him into the nearest wall and pinned her arm against his throat, holding up a dangerously clawed hand. "I will tell you once, brother, that if you ever discuss my son in such a manner again: I will kill you. I will behead you, I will dismember you and I will gladly devour you for that. I told you several times since that night that loving you was not above me, that it was not an impossible feat. And I have also told you that if things were different that you would be the one by my side. But they are not different: things are the way they are for a reason, Deucalion and I will not tempt my own misery by allowing myself to hold on to what I cannot have!" He grabbed her face and shook her lightly, looking down at her. "I have you- I will always have you Maia. And I will have this longing, this burning jealously, this overbearing protectiveness, this raging anger inside of me as long as I am bonded to you! I may not be your mate, but I am bonded to you and you to me through the lines of this pack. That will not change, no matter how much time passes," he bellowed, hearing the door of the wine cellar open.
They both turned to look as Derek stood at the top of the stairs, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. Maia was breathing hard, her vision blurring with unshed tears as her hands held Deucalion's fingers to her face.
Her mate looked at them both, the look in his eyes letting Maia know that he had heard everything that had been said between them, "Dinner is ready." Deucalion let go of Maia's face and took a step back, trying to clear his head. He then snatched a bottle of wine off the nearest rack, starting up the stairs with a hand rubbing his jaw.
"I think I'll be drinking dinner tonight…"
Derek stopped her as she met him at the landing, his eyes searching hers carefully before he looked her over to make sure she was alright. When she saw that he was satisfied, she laced a tight arm around her neck and stroked the hair at his nape, sighing quietly. "You're mad baby," Maia stated matter-of-factly, her mate taking her hand in his and bringing it to his mouth to kiss her fingers.
"Furious, actually: he took a three-hundred dollar bottle of Merlot."
"I need to go eat before the demon spawn decides to rip open my insides," she said, leading him back into the dining room. The others were already there, Deucalion's empty seat a painful reminder to Maia of how badly their relationship had soured.
Still, she put on a smile and sat down, Derek pouring her a glass of water.
Kali looked at the twins before clearing her throat, Maia looking at her, "What? Why do the three of you keep looking at each other like that?"
"Well, Aiden and Ethan came to me in order to broach the topic of this upcoming school year."
The Alphamega was still confused, turning to the youngest Alphas in the pack. "What about this upcoming school year? You want to enroll at Beacon Hills High?" Aiden nodded and looked to his brother, leaning back in his chair. "There's nothing else to do in this town when you look as young as we do and have to flash an ID that clearly shows we're underage: besides, we need to keep up with appearances. Its strange to have two seventeen year olds running around without any parental guidance and not a care in the world," the young wolf said, Ethan agreeing with him quietly.
"Wait, seventeen? I knew you were young but not that young," Derek replied, Kali and Maia grinning at him. "You think you're surprised, brother? Imagine the three of us- Maia, Deucalion and myself- stumbling into their territory to find out these two pups were the Alphas we were tracking," the female said, reaching over to pat Maia's knee. She laughed quietly and sipped on her water, remembering how drastically pack life changed after that.
"How does sophomore year sound? I'll… adjust your birthday to make it seem like you just missed the cutoff for the previous class and you'll evade some good suspicion that way. You'll also get to start looking at new prospects and keeping an eye on our younger pack members," Maia said as she adjusted herself in her seat, running her hands over her stomach.
Ennis looked at her, speaking quietly, "And our very youngest?"
She smiled at how startled the others were anytime he spoke, seeing Derek's eyes narrow slightly.
"Two of our retirees, Ana and Karen, have offered to take care of them. The pack's children are in good hands, brother."
Derek put down his fork and looked at Ennis, shaking his head. "This is weird, having you sitting here with us and being… human," he said, the others chuckling. Even the larger male cracked a smile and nodded, looking at Maia. "Before all of this, I lived a normal life, working a nine-to-five job I hated and with a wife that had two children in the course of our marriage that were not my own. Being a wolf gave me the release I needed, the life that I wanted: freedom. You can understand my not wanting to go back to the way things were, can you not," Ennis questioned, seeing the small woman beside Derek fold her legs up underneath her as she looked at him fondly.
"So I'll get your documentation ready, boys and put Kali down as your guardian. It shouldn't be difficult for you two to get back into your schooling. In the meantime Kali, I need you to start getting everyone integrated in society: I want the pack to be in Beacon Hills as new citizens and neighbors by the end of this year. We'll move slow, keep the attention away from ourselves until it is time to reveal our presence to the others of our kind. This town is going to be a mecca for wolves, and they're going to help build our power as the Alpha pack. I can't wait for the day that there are no more fucking hunters, no more scaly creatures, no more… hiding," Maia said hopefully, the others agreeing with her silently.
"And myself?"
She turned to look at her husband, a rueful smile on her face, "You have the most daunting task of all, sweetheart. Its not a secret to anyone that I'm back in town, that I'm back with you but unfortunately, I didn't expect the response that I would get from my parents."
He blanched, settling back in his chair and folding his arms across his chest. "They're coming, aren't they," Derek asked through his teeth, seeing the sentiment echoed in her eyes.
"Day after the full moon."
Derek reached out for the bottle of wine, filling his glass until it was threatening to run over, "And on that note, I need a drink…"