A/N – Again for those who were following this story (if there are any still around…hello?...Bueller?...hello?) I've been through a few months of personal/family problems and I was in no way able to write anything. I missed it more than anything though, and those of you that sent emails to check up on me…well, you're the best. I promise not to disappear without warning from now on. I want to reconnect with everyone soon. In the meantime, here's the next chapter… and some pretty big changes are happening. Try to hold on to your hats as the entire Teen Wolf world is turned upside down.
Erik filled in the circle for the last answer on the physics exam. Some of the others were still frantically searching for their pencils. These tests bored him, asking him to prove he knew things that were old hat before he reached puberty. He turned the test in to Mr. Brighton who was long used to this phenomenon. He asked, and was given permission to wait out the rest of the period in the library. This was the last period, and he would be free to go as soon as the bell rang.
A low voice broke the forbidding silence of test time.
"Geek." A few of the students chuckled.
Erik froze. He turned and gave the offending boy a Glare worthy of his father. In the last few weeks, many at Beacon Hills High had learned to back down from that forbidding gaze. This boy was, however, braver than most…perhaps because he knew Erik was madly in love with him.
"Three o'clock, by the bike stand!" Erik growled the classic bully threat softly at Robin before stalking towards the door. Robin smirked and drew a heart in the air before pointing at himself and then Erik. Erik rolled his eyes and walked down the hall to the library, a huge grin on his face.
Robin sighed softly and stared at the closed door for a full minute before focusing on his test once more. Three seats over, Laurie rolled her own eyes. Crumpling a paper full of impossible physics formulae into a ball, she chucked it smartly at the head of a rather tall boy who, as it happened, was madly in love with her. The class chuckled more loudly this time.
Moose Bradley did not respond with words, but made a Ralph Kramden-esque 'Bang, Zoom!' gesture that Mr. Brighton failed to spot. Laurie chuckled softly. He was way too easy to tease. His ears were red, a sure sign he was embarrassed. Laurie felt that all was right with the world only when those ears were flaming. Humming contentedly, she devoted all of her concentration once more on failing her physics test.
She was almost done when a flash of something even redder than Moose's ears caught her eye. Looking out the window, she spotted Vivian Argent walking regally towards the main entrance of the school. A sense of panic rose in Laurie's stomach then, and she quickly filled in the last few answers without even looking at the questions (thereby increasing her chances of getting them right) and turned it in before fleeing the class room.
Vivian met her at the security desk. Laurie confirmed that this was a friend of her family and that this was a family emergency. The bored guard waved Vivian through after she signed the visitor log.
"Where's your brother?" she asked softly.
"Um, er, he's in the library. Should I get Robin and Moose, I mean Aaron?" she blurted out.
"That depends. Have either of them been…initiated into your family?" Vivian's ice cold blue eyes seemed to be trying to pull the answer from her by osmosis.
"Robin…yes. Aaron knows all about it, but is still…normal." Laurie was getting more flustered every second those eyes bored into her.
"Bring them both then. Lead the way." Vivian gestured grandly, as if expecting to be taken on a tour of her own private kingdom.
Laurie was about to text the boys, when she saw them emerging from the class room, probably having panicked when they saw her hasty exit.
"Everything okay Laurie?" Moose asked her. He gave Vivian a wary look. Vivian was almost a foot shorter than him, and he still felt like a bug under a microscope from the way she took him apart with her eyes.
"I don't know. Robin, Moose, this is my Aunt Allison's mother. She's a good friend of the family."
Vivian looked at her, and that harsh gaze softened in surprise. "Your fathers are very generous if they gave you that impression of me. It's more than I deserve, frankly. I've… recently realized that everything I've believed in for years…things that have led my own family to hurt yours…were all a lie." The blue of her eyes got even sharper as tears seemed to threaten for a moment. Then they cleared. The loss of control had been for less than a moment.
Laurie became even more worried. This woman never cracked…there weren't even rumors.
"C'mon…let's go find Erik." Laurie led them through the maze of hallways until they finally reached Erik's home away from home.
Of course Erik, Alpha that he was, had smelled them all coming. He ushered them in and led them to the back where they might have some privacy. He needn't have bothered; Ms. Pince the librarian had ruled her domain for nearly fifty years and was quite deaf. The place was otherwise deserted at this hour.
The five of them took seats around a large table. Vivian gave each of them a passing glance as if assessing whether they were ready to hear what she had to say.
"You are all aware of the fact that the Argent family were hunters? That for years we have tracked down and slaughtered those werewolves who we felt were to rabid too be allowed to live? And you are also aware that…some…had decided that all of the wolves should be…exterminated?"
Laurie and Erik both swallowed noisily. Robin's eyes were wide, and Moose clenched his hands into fists. A flush rose up his neck…a sure sign he was furious. Laurie had known for a while that his skin was like an incredibly accurate mood ring.
"We heard the story about…your sister-in-law. None of us hold that against you or…Uncle Chris." Erik said in a steady voice.
Vivian gazed at him, and the loss of control was more evident now. "But you should. My husband was always a staunch follower of the code…but neither of us shed a tear after the fire that destroyed your father's family. We didn't suspect Kate…we really didn't! But then again we never tried very hard to find out the truth. We had files on everyone in that house. I…I made myself look at the pictures for the first time, this morning. The children…the expectant mother…the whole family, some of whom were completely human, not that it makes a difference. And it hit me. It hit me for the first time in my life what we…what I was responsible for. I should have seen it coming. The attitude had always been there and no one ever tried to change it. It started out as a noble cause…there have been wolves who were rabid, who killed innocents. They were too powerful back in the old days for most people. A family known for a pivotal role in the Crusades was selected, given the blessings of Crown and Church to hunt them down. The…training process…was severe. In a way, we lost our own humanity. We destroyed the Beast of Gevaudan, one of the worst monsters in history…and it made us proud. We wanted that feeling again…and again. We slaughtered the Garniers and the Greniers, the Stumps and the Talbots. Then an ancestor of ours met a werewolf who was not only good, but heroic. A werewolf named Theiss, of Livonia. He helped the Argent clan leader at the time save the world, sacrificing his own life in the process. No one knows the details, but Tristan Argent created the Code at that moment, a treaty made with Theiss' family on behalf of all werewolves. 'Children…and those who had never spilled human blood were to be spared.' The Hunter family had grown large by this time, and not everyone was happy about this new creed. But Tristan held absolute authority, and every Argent had to swear to this Code or else be banished from the family. Those who had fought with Argent and Theiss swore readily, but they were a small number. Over the centuries, fewer and fewer of us have followed the Code…as it was meant to be followed."
Vivian took a deep breath.
"There was a Council…one made up of the Argents and other families who married into our line. It's influence…it's wealth and power made it a governing body unto itself. Leadership of the Council passed from our family to the Gallows clan, the most rabid of those who felt extermination was the right idea. This past weekend, they declared open war. The wolves were to be finally hunted down to the last…even the Hales."
Save for Erik, they all gasped. Erik merely narrowed his eyes at her. "You said there was a Council? What happened?"
"Erik…I have a daughter, and a granddaughter…who are…"
"Werewolves." Erik said shortly.
Vivian glared at him. "I was going to say 'who are more precious to me than my own life'. The Council threatened them." She stood up in her chair, slamming her hands down on the table, and the full force of who she was made them all shift their chairs back as her eyes blazed at them. "And now there IS no more Council! Did they dare to forget our creed along with the Code? Argents hunt that which hunts us!"
They all gaped at her. Vivian blinked and held a trembling hand to her forehead as she sat back down.
"I'm sorry. Please forgive my outburst. Recent events have been trying." She sounded as she were apologizing for not having enough biscuits at tea time.
"Uh, no problem lady." Moose muttered.
"So what do we do now?" Laurie asked her.
"Now? Now there is a war on our hands. No doubt the entire Hunter nation is being gathered. Beacon Hills will be Ground Zero for the last stand of werewolves versus hunters." Vivian said as if it should have been obvious.
"Last stand?" Robin squeaked. "There aren't any more anywhere else?"
Vivian shook her head. "The Council has been busy with this extermination project for years now. Chris and I were not informed of it because the Council felt we were compromised in our beliefs. They were right, of course. Your new father recently showed us the details after he hacked into the Council's databases, Robin. All over the world, every recorded Pack has been destroyed. Many of them were innocent. Many of them were children. You and your families are all that is left."
The group was speechless.
"Now," she continued. "Chris and I have a choice before us. An army of trained Hunters is closing in on us. The Hale Pack is powerful, but has no training or defense against the weaponry the Hunters can bring to bear…much of which was designed by my husband. Chris and I could hold our own in an evenly matched fight, but we would be hopelessly outnumbered. We are also…" Vivian gave a rueful smile. "…not as young as we once were. My husband is even now meeting with the entire Pack, save for Dylan and Christine. It appears that some efforts at…recruitment will have to be made if we all want to survive. Starting…with us."
"No way!" Laurie and Erik gasped at the same time.
Vivian gave a slow nod.
"I believe the term is 'yes, way'. As the Alpha of his Pack, Derek will have to make an oath that he and all Betas under his command will police themselves and hunt down rabid members from within now that…the Hunters will be no more."
"You're sounding like you're sure we'll win." Moose whispered. Ms. Pince was looking over at them.
"I'm not in the habit of losing, young man. But there will likely be…casualties."
Even as she said this, the Hale siblings grabbed the hands of their mates, and squeezed them tight.
The strident claxon of the school bell made all of them jump, even Vivian. She held one hand over her heart.
"Now there is no time to waste. Everyone is meeting at Derek's house. They have all been filled in by my husband by now. When we're all together, we can devise a plan of attack."
They filed out one by one.
"Does anyone need a book?" Ms. Pince called after them.
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Erik and Robin turned off onto a small side street. Pulling up next to the curb, Erik shut the engine off and looked out of the windshield at the bright sunshine bathing the neighborhood in a glorious pre-summer gold.
Robin waited, taking Erik's hand while his mate lost himself in thought.
"I'm sorry. I had no right to bring you into this…" Erik began haltingly.
"Erik, I love you, but shut up. You know what I came from. You're not telling me you wished you'd left me in Red Falls with Stucky, are you?"
Erik looked horrified. "Of course not! But I had no right to…"
"If I died tomorrow, I'd be a lot happier than if I never met you. This Hunter thing has been going on forever; it started before we were born, though it looks like we may have to finish it. I know if one of us dies, the other does too…so we'll be together no matter what. As long as I know that…I'm okay. But I really want both of us to stay alive, and our families too. Once this is over, we can get on with our lives in peace. So if you love me, then you'll help me kick their asses and live to take me to the movies afterward. Now let's get to this meeting before that lady finds us and scares the crap out of me again."
Erik gunned the engine and drove on in silence. Deep inside him, something braced itself for the inevitable.
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"Laurie, I think…" Moose began. His hands gripped the steering wheel, hard.
"No." she said, hoping it would end the discussion before it began.
"But Laurie," he tried again.
"NO!" she practically screamed. Normally, when she reached that level of volume, Moose would back off and let her have her way. Not this time however.
"It's not your decision. So we can talk about it or not, but the choice is up to me!" The neck flush was back, and higher this time.
Laurie began to cry, hating herself for being too weak to stop it.
"No, please don't do it Aaron! I've given enough to the damn wolf as it is! It can't have you too! I swore I wouldn't change when I found out, and lately I've been doing it all the time! I swore I wouldn't let myself fall in love because the wolf chose someone for me, and now I can't imagine being without you!"
Moose gave her a look, his mouth open in surprise. "Really? You really mean…"
The scream of a car horn yanked his attention back to the road.
"Of course I mean it, you great big jerk. And not just because of the wolf, either."
"Then why are you so against it? Laurie…why do you hate it so much? Really?"
Laurie hoped he wouldn't ask that question. It took a great deal of self-exploration before she finally came up with an answer that seemed to fit. Frankly, the answer was not a flattering one to her. She wondered what he would think about it.
"It was the first…and only thing in my life that I couldn't control." She turned away from him.
"Except for me, right?" he grinned. She remained facing away.
"Except for you. Just now."
She thought he would be disgusted with her. Their relationship had been a case study in domination, one that would have made her Aunt Lydia proud in the good old days. She justified it to her conscience by telling herself over and over again that she was never cruel as well as controlling. Not that it mattered in the end.
"You don't honestly believe that I always go along with you because I think you're the boss, do you?" he asked quietly. She risked a glance at him. No redness anywhere.
"Why else would you?"
"I don't know, you dope. Maybe because I love you and want to make you happy? But this…this goes beyond just us. I need to do this, Laurie, even if it makes you angry and even if it makes you…love me less. I wouldn't be worthy of you unless I were willing to sacrifice for you…whether you liked it or not."
"Aaron, can you please promise me one thing if I let you…damn it…if you decide to go through with it?"
Moose chuckled at her discomfiture. "Anything."
"Don't be a different person. Don't let it change you…the way it changed me."
Moose sighed. "I have no idea what you're talking about. But if it makes you feel better, I promise."
Laurie tried not to smile in smug satisfaction as that hidden part of her exulted that it had gotten its way once again. Sighing, she leaned her head against his arm while he drove.
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Erik was shocked to see blood dripping from his father's mouth when he opened the door. Robin blinked and stepped back from the door, reminded forcibly of Carl for a reason he couldn't name.
"Dad, what the hell…" Erik began.
Derek wiped his mouth with his hand and looked at the blood on it. He wondered when he'd stop seeing it on himself, and on people he cared about.
"Just come in. The others are here." Derek turned and walked away.
Aunt Vivian's car was already there. Laurie and Moose pulled up behind them, arriving last. Ever since the night of Stiles' wild hell-ride to rescue Robin, Moose seemed reluctant to come close to breaking any speed limits. Erik wondered how Laurie's inner speed demon put up with it. He waited with Robin for them so they could go in together. Laurie looked upset, and Moose looked grim. They made for the living room, the multitude of scents bombarding the senses of the three werewolves. There was quite a gathering assembled.
Danny and Ted stood almost protectively behind Danny's mother, Maria Kean, who was seated in a wing-back chair. Thomas and Catherine Martin were conversing rapidly with Roger and Martha Whittemore on a large sofa. Lydia and Jackson were sitting across from them on a loveseat listening intently to their conversation.
Grandpa Stilinsky slouched against the nearby wall, while Melissa McCall brought him a bottled water. He cradled his arm which was newly bandaged. Stiles was nearby fussing with a first aid kit, looking pale and scared. Chris and Vivian Argent were looking at the Sheriff with wide eyes.
"Damnit Der, did you have to bite him so deep?" Stiles finally pulled out the bottle of antiseptic he was looking for. Derek grabbed his arm. "Stiles, are you trying to kill the infection I deliberately gave him? Put that away, it's useless now anyway. If it takes, he won't need it. If it doesn't take…he still won't need it."
"It was my fault, Stiles. He told me not to flinch, and I did. Shoulda warned me your teeth would be so big, grandma." Steven gave Derek a half-hearted chuckle.
Stiles snapped the kit shut and stormed out of the room.
"Give him time, Derek. He didn't want me to do this. But if an army is going to invade this town, as a police officer I need to be ready for it."
"The bite's never been given to someone…your age, Steven. Stiles didn't want you to be the guinea pig." Derek began to adjust the bandages, Stiles' worry for his father seeping into his own thoughts.
"What Stiles wants and what's best are rarely the same thing, and definitely not in this case. I'm the oldest one here, so if it works on me it should be safe for the rest of you. Ow! Damn, that smarts."
"Dad? You're trying to turn Grandpa? What's going on here?" Erik looked around at all of the middle aged grandparents in the room.
Derek turned back to his son.
"Your Aunt Vivian filled you in on the problem. We need a Pack, a large one for what's coming."
Laurie was pale. "Dad…you're going to turn all of them?"
Derek nodded. "If Steven…well, if he makes it, then yes. If not…we're getting them out of town along with Christine and Dylan."
Moose approached Derek. "Um, Mr. Hale…Sir…I want to fight with you. I mean, against the Hunters."
Derek looked up at him warily. "Aaron…if I had ten more like you, I'd be a lot less worried. Do you know what you're asking? Have you discussed this with my daughter?"
Laurie was facing the wall. "It's his decision, Dad." She couldn't look at any of them.
Derek looked at her with troubled eyes. He knew very well that if anything happened to Aaron, he could lose her too. Even if they all survived, his daughter could resent him forever. He closed his eyes.
"All right. Aaron, come with me. I don't think anyone in here needs a repeat performance until it's their own."
Aaron followed Derek nervously out the back door and into the yard.
Laurie got her fingers in her ears just in time.
"Whoa! Oh my G-" the oath ended in a loud scream. Derek walked in a minute later carrying his enormous future son-in-law and laying him on the only other empty couch in the room. The grandparents all looked at him with wide staring eyes.
"Laurie, why didn't you tell me he faints at the sight of blood?" Derek grated, gasping for breath.
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The gathering enjoyed a three-course meal that Stiles seemingly pulled out of thin air. Nothing more was discussed about future plans until they saw whether Steven survived his Turning Bite, as that would decide their course of action. For the first time ever, every guest bedroom in the home was filled up that night.
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To say that Steven woke up the next morning a new man was an understatement. He yawned and hopped out of bed…literally. He waited for the twinge of chest pain that plagued him lately whenever he exerted himself. It didn't happen. He sighed in relief, sure that any day now his ticker would give out. He looked down at his bandaged arm, suddenly recalling getting bit by his son-in-law. He ripped it off in a panic. The skin was unbroken…and strangely smooth. Steven stared at his hand, bringing its mate up beside it. The liver spots, the tracery of blue veins, the thin and near-transparent skin that were the hallmarks of old age were gone.
Steven slowly raised his eyes until he was looking in the small mirror that hung on a wall across from the bed.
"Holy Mary!" he breathed. Then he whooped for joy.
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Stiles burst in, nearly taking the door off its hinges. "Dad! You okay? Dad…wow, Dad! You look awesome!"
Nearly everyone was awake and eating breakfast. Stiles left Lydia and Allison in charge of the kitchen to check on his father and they were still bringing out trays of food. Melissa McCall nearly choked on a piece of scrambled egg when Steven emerged from his room with a jubilant Stiles. The rest of the grandparents…especially the women…cheered at the sight of him. Steven once again matched the picture of himself taken when he was a new recruit at the Police Academy. His hair was full and thick, and completely missing the gray that had crept up over the years. His skin was wrinkle free and taut as a bowstring. He had even lost weight during the night, his new metabolism burning up the calories stored in the fat at a rapid rate. After a few changes, he would even start to get muscle tone again.
"Anyone else have any doubts about this?" he asked the assemblage.
"Hell, no!" Melissa was the first to call out.
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Moose opened his eyes and looked over at his sleeping mate. Derek was normally against sleepovers these days, but felt Aaron would be too out of commission for them to get up to any mischief. Boy, did he underestimate them.
Moose put his arm around Laurie and pulled her in close, marveling at the nuances of her scent that he'd never noticed before. She smelled simply heavenly. She woke up slowly and giggled at his repeated attempts to smell her neck and in the spot behind her ear.
"Aaron…that tickles…" she poked him in the ribs, almost hurting her finger.
"Then stop me." He said in a low voice.
"All right, but you're going to regret it." Laurie whispered back. She grabbed his wrist and tried to move it so she could escape. Nothing happened. She tried again, grudgingly allowing her wolf to help her more and more until she was sure she was completely shifted. Still nothing.
"What the hell?" she growled. She turned her head and gasped. Aaron's eyes were glowing a bright amber. They met the bright blue of her own wolf.
"Hey, babe." he murmured around new fangs. "I think our relationship is going to explore some uncharted territory in the near future."
"Oooh, I knew this was a bad idea." She tried escape plan B and reached down under the covers.
"Laurie!" he screamed a moment later. 'How cute!' she thought to herself as she hopped out of bed. He even flushed in his Beta form…
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"Damnit, Erik! I thought I told you two that you had to sleep in separate rooms!" Derek shouted.
Erik feigned innocence. "We did sleep in separate rooms! You never said we couldn't be in the shower at the same time!"
"Aaaaarrggghhhh!" Derek screamed, storming off. "Stiles! We have to talk, NOW!"
"Robin, I think you know what's coming next!" Ted said with his arms folded, and only the smallest hint of a smirk on his features.
Robin hung his head. "Grounded for a week. Can we put it off until after the war?"
"Put it off? You already owe us about twelve years!" Danny pulled Robin into a hug.
"DANNY! TED!" Derek bellowed from the living room.
"You do realize you boys are going to get us killed by our Alpha, don't you?" Danny said, looking fearfully over his shoulder.
"Sorry, Dad!" Robin said. Danny, Ted and even Robin all looked surprised at his words.
"You called me 'Dad'!" Danny said, tears welling up in his eyes.
"I guess I did. It felt…right. You guys are my fathers. I'm lucky to have you." Robin hugged them both.
"C'mon, Ted. Let's go fight the Alpha for our son." Danny walked into the living room to face his leader.
"We want to be buried together!" Ted called back to the boys.