New Council Headquarters
"So, let me get this straight. Three gay werewolves are going to end the world?" Captain Leif Thorbardin asked. After twenty years in the mercenary game, this was by far the weirdest mission he'd ever been sent on.
Gallows glared at him through his one good eye. "Who they sleep with has no relevance; the fact of the matter is that there is a solar eclipse tomorrow. Six days after that there will be a lunar eclipse. If they are still alive by the time that happens, and if they manage to find the prison of the Chained God, then the world…as we know it…will end. Have you ever owned a dog?"
Thorbardin was caught off guard by the odd question. "Yes, when I was a teenager."
Gallows smiled indulgently. "Have you ever seen that dog play with a chew toy? One shaped like a ball, perhaps?"
'He's insane. The money is righteous…but he's definitely a few sticks short of a bundle.' thought the muscle bound mercenary. Out loud, he said: "Yeah, sure."
Gallows nodded, still smiling. He was suddenly right in front of Thorbardin, picking the hugely muscled soldier up by the neck. The grizzled commander was impossibly strong.
"THAT'S WHAT THE GOD-ROTTING WOLF WILL DO TO THE WORLD, YOU MEAT-HEADED IMBECILE! NOW STOP ASKING MORONIC QUESTIONS AND GET YOUR MEN TOGETHER TO FIND THEM AND CUT THEM IN HALF!" he bellowed right in Thorbardin's face.
Gallows released Thorbardin and dropped him to the ground, where he lay choking and nursing his bruised windpipe.
"I'm sorry, son. These endgames…they always bring out the worst in me. The traitors decimated the Council; as luck would have it our finest Hunters were all gathered there for the briefing when the complex was destroyed. I had one small team of commandos left…and they were killed in the line of duty by a boulder thrown at their helicopter. Do you have any idea how much boulders weigh?"
Thorbardin's sarcastic side wanted to ask if that was a moronic question, but his windpipe (perhaps in an effort to save his life) remained stubbornly closed. He merely shook his head 'no'.
Gallows embarked on a lecture as if he were teaching a freshman seminar for a community college.
"The average sandstone boulder weighs 150 pounds per cubic foot. This boulder was granite, weighing 175 pounds per cubic foot. The complete unbroken spheroid was measured at 64 cubic feet…roughly 10,240 pounds. That is over 5 tons, I might add…and it was thrown like a goddamned baseball! The velocity of the boulder was estimated to be just over 100 miles per hour…a speed that would put your average baseball pitcher in the Guinness Book of World Records, faster even than Ron Guidry who played for the New York Yankees…and had the nickname 'Louisiana Lightning'. That is why you are being paid such an enormous sum, and that is why you are not to underestimate your quarry for any reason. These beings are the most dangerous predators the world has ever known, and the three I want you to destroy make the average werewolf look like the Pokey Little Puppy!"
Gallows leaned down and glared into Thorbardin's face once more.
"So the very least of your concerns should be whether or not they'd want to 'tap your ass'. Am I understood?"
Thorbardin nodded again.
"Excellent. Now, the two young wolves and the adult Alpha will be doing their best to remain human until after the lunar eclipse. Sheer idiocy, since this will deliver the victory into our hands. If we can kill even one of them, they lose the war. Therefore, you are to kill none of the other Betas until one of the Big Three is dead, since this would trigger the appearance of the Avatars. Then you can wipe them out at leisure. Should you succeed in your mission, your names will be glorified for all time…you will have carried out the grand objective of an ultra-secret order that began under the auspices of Pope and King…and which now consists of myself and four bloody computer geeks. I have provided you with satellite maps of the protected forest land of Beacon Hills…and I can find no trace of the prison that holds Fenrir. Once we have dealt with the wolves, we will find and destroy the cage… and the being inside it…forever. The weapons that your men will need are in the armory on level three. Do not waste a single round of ammunition…it is costly and difficult to procure since our supplier…went over to the other side. That concludes your briefing. If you have any further questions…please feel free to ask me!"
"What…what about human casualties?" Thorbardin gasped out.
"The scopes I gave you will let you and your men tell a werewolf even in human form. The data we gathered before we lost the spy tech tells me that none of the families of these monsters are human anymore, with the exception of the Bradley boy's parents. However, they are no longer in Beacon Hills. So feel free to cut down any human that gets in your way."
"B-but…"
Gallows dismissed him, and the merc crawled through the automatic doors with barely a whimper, leaving his question unanswered: Weren't they doing this to save humans?
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Stiles looked up from Eowin Radcliffe's book, his expression grave.
"No…please no…" his voice broke, and the book fell from his fingers. He leaned back in his office chair, and gave himself over to a despair greater than he had ever known…greater even than when he lost his mother to cancer at a mere six years of age. Great racking sobs broke forth from him, and his lungs felt as if they had become giant pieces of jagged glass. The book contained a revelation he utterly failed to see the significance of when he first read it nearly twenty years before. He had no idea at the time that the prophecies the book spoke of referred to his beloved son.
Erik was going to change the world.
He was alone in the house. He walked slowly up the stairs to the bedroom he shared with Derek, and looked at a framed picture that never left his bed table. A picture of his mother.
"Mom…what am I going to do?" he moaned. If only she were here, she would have an answer. But she was dead and gone…and soon, a lot of other people would be dead and gone too.
He looked at another picture that hung between the two closets…a beaming Stiles and Derek standing side by side with Erik and Laurie (both 6 at the time) on their shoulders. That day…and so many since then… had been the happiest days of his life. Stiles felt cheated by the short time he had with his mother, had never forgiven the universe for taking her from him. And now that same universe was planning to take everything else away too…had been planning to take it all away for hundreds of years. The end of the world waited for Stiles Stilinski to show up just so it could kick him in the teeth.
He felt it build up inside him, and quickly left the bedroom, marching down the stairs (pulling his shirt off and dropping it to the floor) and out the back door (leaving his shoes and socks behind) just as he went full Beta and took off into the woods clad only in his black shorts. His eyes burned a hellish amber, and the denizens of the forest fled from the predatory reek his body exuded. The instructions in the book were simple. Find the stump, and follow a pathway whose design had been etched into his brain since he was sixteen years old…the first time he had seen it tattooed on the back of his future mate.
He felt the forest change around him even after he completed the first circuit…it looked and smelled different, just slightly, and he was sure that if he tried to find the house again, he wouldn't be able to…at least, not in the usual way. The sun had an orange cast.
Completing the second circuit confirmed his suspicions; no trees existed like this on Earth. The leaves were no longer solely green, many were a blend of pink and white, and the earth had gone from a dark brown to almost a light red. The dappled sunlight was nearly blue. The path was taking him through some barrier in reality to a place that was close by, yet infinitely far. The triskelion was not only the map, but the road itself.
The third circuit took him through a dying wood growing from blackened earth. The trees were gnarled and tough…but their life force was ebbing. Soon, they would be petrified monuments in an arboreal graveyard. A small white weak sun hung dejectedly in the sky, which was the gray of ash from horizon to horizon. The clearing the stump had been in was replaced by a lake that contained no life. Stiles waded through the water until he reached the island of black rock in the center.
"NO." Stiles said to the being that slept beneath the stone.
Nothing happened. Time passed slowly; there was almost an expectant silence in the air…the sense of waiting that would soon come to an end.
"Did you hear me? I said NO!" Stiles stomped his bare foot.
The ground seemed to tremble slightly. Stiles looked up and realized that the shoreline around the island was completely ringed with hundreds of wolves. They sat and stared at him, making no move to advance and attack. Nor did they retreat.
"You don't need the wolves; I am not going ANYWHERE until you agree to keep my family out of whatever game you're playing!"
The tears started again, pouring from the glowing amber eyes.
"Damn you! Derek lost his whole family! I lost my mother! We've already had everything taken from us once! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO US AGAIN!"
Stiles fell to his knees, once again wracked with grief…not for losses that he'd suffered…but for losses that he knew were inevitable.
He fell forward, placing his ear to the rock, trying to see if he could hear anything, any acknowledgement from the Beast that his cries were being heard. There was nothing.
Stiles pounded his fists bloody, screaming incoherently as his life force soaked into the rock.
The island began to shake.
Stiles rolled over onto his back, terrified. Something under the rock speared upward, penetrating his neck. He shouted as darkness took him.
Stiles remembered Scott telling him once that the mad Alpha Peter Hale had once stabbed his claws deep into his neck and shown him a vision of the Hale fire, and those who were responsible. It was a phantasmagoric montage of images that Scott could barely comprehend, and he'd been overwhelmed by the raw grief and anger that colored Peter's memories. He experienced such a vision now, but it was cloudy and distorted…as if the memories were incredibly old.
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The Time Before Time
The Wolf had been born of malice, as had his siblings, in a realm not of Earth. A god of spite and mischief fathered them in an attempt to overthrow the old order and establish a new reign. The others were banished, having colluded with their treacherous father in his plans and been caught out by the god King who was both wise and cunning. But the Wolf had refused, and such was his power that he was safe from his father's wrath. The Wolf attempted to befriend the gods his father sought to destroy (since he despised oath-breakers), and at first it seemed as if they accepted his pledge of loyalty. He hunted with them and fought by their side. With Fenrir, no prey escaped and no battle was lost. His strength and power grew over time, and there seemed to be no end to it. He grew ever larger, ever fiercer…but still remained bound by his oath. Eventually, he found a mate and whelped his first litter…two proud pups he named Hati and Sköll. Together, their names formed the creed by which Fenrir lived: 'He Who Hates Treachery' The Wolf rejoiced in his new family, and vowed that his own ever-increasing might and that of his pups would forever be at the disposal of the gods who had befriended him; a devoted lineage that would insure their divine reign would last forever. He would have gone against his own father in accordance with this oath had the malicious deity not already been imprisoned.
Fenrir celebrated each victory with the gods in the mead hall…though with every day that passed they seemed more troubled by his presence. He had grown large, true, but surely they would know they had nothing to fear…or so he thought. Eventually only one of the gods, the youngest, was brave enough to approach him, or bring him food, though all seemed to welcome his company.
They played a game with him, bringing him ever stronger chains to bind him with and laughing delightedly when the great Wolf broke the bindings with ease. Fenrir himself was amazed at his own strength…nothing they forged could hold him. They told him his fame could only increase with each test of strength.
Then one of the gods said they had something special to show him…they brought him to a black lake…to the island in the center and pointed to what at first seemed to be a golden spiral etched into the earth. The Wolf looked at the spiral intently; it seemed to be a slender golden thread. The odor of magic permeated the air. Far in the back of his mind, he felt the first scratching of an almost alien feeling…suspicion.
"Let us bind you, great Wolf, with this golden thread as a jest. Your fame will be far-reaching if you do this."
Fenrir responded "I will gain no fame from it if I tear apart such a thread, but if it is made with art and trickery, then even if it does look thin, I will not allow this cord to bind me."
The oldest and wisest of the gods stepped forward. "If you cannot break this slender thread, then we have nothing to fear from you and will set you free."
Fenrir thought before he spoke again. "If I cannot break free, you might choose to leave me bound. But rather than that you question my courage, let someone put his hand in my mouth as a pledge of good faith."
The old wise one chided him then, reminding him that they had pledged loyalty to each other. Still, Fenrir refused until the youngest god that was his friend offered his hand to the Wolf. Fenrir took it gently in his jaws, not wishing to even scratch the skin of his friend. The Wolf submitted then, and the golden spiral was wound around his form. He kicked once, twice, three times. The bind grew stronger. He waited then, not wishing to tangle himself further, giving a growl to show that he could not break the cord.
They laughed at him then and, enraged, the Wolf bit off the hand that once fed him. He jerked on the cord and pulled the old wise god towards him, the cord wrapping around his neck as he fell. Fenrir struggled mightily to strangle him, but the other gods rescued him. Then the cruel gods brought out Fenrir's mate and his pups, and slaughtered the young wolves before his eyes, severing their bodies in half with a gleaming sword. In fury, his mate clawed out the eye of the old god before she was subdued. She was bound and tortured for nine days. When she finally lay dead, the gods approached (more wary than ever). The Wolf opened his jaws wide and tried one last time to bite and tear, but they stuck the sword that had slain his family into his mouth and he howled in pain.
The gods fastened the end of the magic cord through an enormous stone and pounded it deep in the earth. They crushed his body under an enormous black slab and there left him to his fate. Fenrir howled and vowed revenge. The gods bound the spot away from the Nine Worlds, planting a sapling of the World Ash tree that was the source of their power to keep the way closed. To this day all the seedlings of that great tree had the power to bar the way of Fenrir and his brood. Thousands of years passed before the land around the entry point to the great prison was settled by Europeans who ignored the warnings of the natives that the land was cursed. The Ash Tree was cut down, and a way into the prison was opened. A river began to flow from the black lake emerging from the roots beneath the tree stump, a river contaminated with saliva pouring from the open mouth of Fenrir.
And the men who drank from that river were changed.
They gained the power of the werewolf, and were in turn betrayed and hunted by their own brothers. Their cries were heard by the Wolf, who spoke to them in dreams. They came to serve him, and some even sought to free the Beast, but this they could not do.
"One day, my sons will return…one will devour the sun, the other will devour the moon…and the strongest of your breed, one forged in the flames of blackest betrayal…he will bear the sign of my revenge…the god-King will be paid back three-fold for his crimes, and the men who hunt you at his command will be destroyed."
They listened long to the Wolf and the secrets were passed along to each new werewolf that was bitten or born.
But the gods did not fare well. War came to them, but without the Wolf on their side, the enemies of the gods attacked with new ferocity, and one by one the gods and their enemies fell in battle until only the old one remained… the last Power in existence but for the Wolf. Now he regretted his betrayal and imprisonment of the Wolf, and knew that if freed, the Wolf would finally have his revenge. The old god could no longer rely on his magic…a strange thing had happened. The men that once worshipped these gods and made them strong were no more. The old god in time became nothing more than a mere Immortal, a fraction of the being he once was.
But the Wolf only grew stronger as he gathered to him the souls of every werewolf that died in his name, and before long his strength far surpassed what he had even when free…and dwarfed the might of the god that had imprisoned him. One day, the bond would break, and he would finally hunt his prey…
…and devour him whole.
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Stiles slowly woke up. The slaughter of the young cubs, the torture of the female and the rage of Fenrir filled his mind as if he had lived through it himself. He spoke aloud, not even knowing if he would be heard.
"Now…you're going to take away my mate…my child and his mate! I read it in the book…the next time they change into those monsters, it's going to be forever! All three of them will be gone! Well? What do you have to say about that? How do you justify what you're DOING TO ME?" Stiles roared at the end, wondering if he were pushing the creature just a bit too far.
One of the wolves was sitting next to him. He didn't see it approach; it seemed to materialize out of thin air. It was black furred, and looked at him with intelligent crimson eyes.
Stiles gave it a cautious wave. The wolf cocked its head and almost seemed to grin at him. Then, a voice spoke in his mind. It was more growl than voice, and the words were tinged with a barely noticeable female aura.
"I speak for the Great Alpha. His voice would shatter your mind were you to hear it. Your cub and his mate would already be slaughtered if not for Him, along with the Beta who sought to protect them. By His will, the cub Robin was spared even before this when your son became the Avatar the first time. Your own mate was kept from harm when the fire took his family. You would already have lost them! Rejoice that you will have your daughter to console you in your grief. When Fenrir has settled with the traitor and paid him back for an eon of pain and despair…when He has pulled to pieces any who dared to raise arms against those of His blood…the rest of you and your descendants will live out your lives in peace, protected by three Immortal Avatars. No power in the world can stand against them…nay, not even with the dread world-destroying weapons human-kind has fashioned in their madness. It is worth the sacrifice, is it not? Do not interfere, or the Hunters and their mad fallen god will destroy you all. The Great Alpha does this to protect as well as avenge."
Images flashed through his mind; Erik being tormented at school, Derek betrayed and tortured by Kate…and Robin, who had spent more than ten years in Hell. Stiles knew it was telling the truth; by its nature it was incapable of lying. The idea of his friends and loved ones living free and without worry was like an intoxicating drug…but the sacrifice would destroy him. The wolf in each of them was never more ferocious than when something threatened or hurt one of their own. Even Peter Hale had been driven by that all consuming passion, to the exclusion of all else. If the rest of them could be safe and free forever…the Whittemores, the Martins, the Argents and McCalls…his father, Scott's mother, Danny, Ted, Maria Kean…the children they would have, their children, wouldn't it be worth it?
Part of him wanted it to be over. Part of him was sick and tired of the constant worry, fear and all around anxiety one suffered when the people you loved happened to be werewolves. There had been Wolves and Hunters for so long…what would a world be like when the battle had finally been won? All Stiles needed to do to find out was give up three people he cared about. Could he really do that? Or should he risk stopping the cataclysm and lose his family to the Hunters and that crackpot with the eye patch?
"The Great Alpha bids you take the youngest cubs away until this battle is decided. The female without a mate will take them and care for them. They will have our Father's protection. Now go."
The world seemed to tear apart, and Stiles found himself sitting near the old tree stump. He walked home, his heart heavy in his chest.
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Since Derek was the Alpha and had the largest house, and since it was constructed like a fortress with the ever-present threat of Hunters on his mind, it was decided that that the werewolves would all use it as their headquarters until the crisis was over. Danny went over the entire house, and checked everyone's cell phones for bugs and secured their Internet connection beyond any hope of spying by hostile forces. Stiles told Maria Kean would she would leave in the morning to take both Dylan and Christine and go into hiding with a false identity. She would keep them safe until she was given the all clear to return…if things worked out well. Dylan and Christine became hysterical, not wanting to leave their families…but in the end they had no choice. Funds were transferred into a secret account from all of the families to make sure they would be taken care of.
As they ate their last meal together, Stiles informed the group of what he had learned. Stunned silence met him.
"You can't be serious!" Ted exclaimed.
"You were there when it happened the second time, Ted. How else do you explain surviving an aconite bullet wound? How the helicopter was destroyed? How that car at the mall was smacked away before it could hit Robin? Erik turned once…he and Robin turned the second time. Next time it will be Erik, Robin and Derek. When they decide to 'get large' on someone, they stay that way forever and Big Daddy gets free. Then they eat up all the Hunters and Captain Eyepatch and we get to be safe and happy forever."
"I won't let that happen, Sty." Derek said earnestly.
Stiles gave him a sidelong glance. "Sure thing, Der. All you have to do is keep from losing your temper for a whole week, no matter which of us gets hurt or killed. Your record of longest time without blowing your top is oh…six or seven hours."
Derek paled. He knew better than anyone how difficult it was to keep an Alpha's temper in check…and Derek wasn't exactly cool-headed as a Beta either. "I can do it. For you, for the kids…I'll do it."
"Der, anything happens to me or the kids…you won't have any reason to hold back…and you won't. Remember the night Porlock shot me?"
Derek growled, his eyes flashing crimson. Even Erik and Laurie shifted somewhat.
Stiles rubbed his mate's hand, and at his touch Derek turned both human and red-faced. "See what I mean? All three of you use that as your freaking trigger image. You've all got to keep cool from the time of the solar eclipse tomorrow until the lunar eclipse six days later. If you don't shift…the Wolf stays in jail and you guys avoid getting permanent fur coats."
"But if that happens, the Hunters will kill all of us. Dad, Pop…if it were just me and Robin….we'd do it for the rest of you. As long as we were together, it would be okay."
Laurie smacked her brother on the head. "Maybe I would be upset if you were a giant wolf forever bro! Maybe Pop would be upset to lose his husband and son! Stop talking nonsense, this absolutely cannot be allowed to happen!"
Moose spoke up. "I uh, came out to my parents…I mean, as a werewolf." He blushed as quite a few of the assembled werewolves smirked at him. Laurie rolled her eyes. "I also told them that there was a pretty good possibility something would happen to me. They are staying away until I give them the all clear to come back, but it's really only hitting me now that something is going to happen…some of us are going to die. I can feel it. I'm going to do my best to stay alive and kick some Hunter ass, because I know Laurie…I can't even say it."
Laurie took his hand and squeezed it. "You guys are going to see a side of me you've never seen when we fight. We have to take out the Hunters before Dad loses it. Agreed?"
Melissa McCall spoke up next. "We all have to fight for the people we love…I feel like I've been doing it my whole life. Scott…don't mourn me if anything happens. If I die, it will be doing what any mother would gladly do for her child. I wouldn't have it any other way."
Scott was crying unabashedly at his mother's words, hoping they weren't a foreshadowing of what tomorrow would bring. Allison hugged him tightly.
"These guys will get everything I can throw at them, as a Hunter AND werewolf!" she growled.
"Same goes for me." Spoke Chris.
"I second that." murmured Vivian.
"As an officer of the law, I cannot allow a vigilante group like these Hunters to disgrace my town with their presence. So, let's eat them."
Stiles laughed at that. "I never thought you'd eat anybody for me, Dad."
Ted was wiping his eyes with a napkin. "Shit, I thought I'd one day have to tear apart some rightwing nutcases to protect my family, but I never expected this."
Danny wrapped his arms around his mate. "We'll both do our best for Robin…for all of us."
"I feel like I shouldn't be leaving…" began Mrs. Kean.
"You have to," Derek told her. "You don't have a mate, so you won't suffer the Wasting if anything happens to us. In fact, in the worst case scenario where we are ALL killed…you'll inherit the Alpha position. You'll start a new Pack with Dylan and Christine and find somewhere to build again. Don't try to avenge us…just keep yourselves safe."
"P-please…take care of my son." Jackson said in a broken voice. "I made a book for you to give him when he comes of age. He…he'll know Lydia and I did this for him. He'll know giving him up was the hardest thing we ever had to do, but that we did it because we loved him more than anything."
"I will! And I will tell both of them how brave all of you were…if the worst happens." Mrs. Kean's faltered at the end.
"And tell him his mother was the baddest bitch the world ever saw." Lydia added.
Mrs. Kean, who disliked the use of profanity, colored slightly. "Um…yes, all right."
"I can't think who she gets that attitude from," said Thomas Martin.
"You'll see tomorrow." growled Catherine.
"This will be my first actual fight." Martha Whittemore said wonderingly. She looked around at the assemblage. "So, I guess…" her voice lost its usual timidity and deepened suddenly. "I'll be stripping the meat off their bones before I crack them in my teeth!" Everyone looked at her, shocked, until she responded in her normal voice: "I spent all night thinking that up! It was good, wasn't it?"
Her husband Roger patted her hand. "That was excellent, sweetheart. Practice it on those hags at the Ladies Auxiliary next week, would you?"
The anxiety triggered Pack instincts in everyone, causing them to spend the night in Derek's home where they knew they were safest. Only Maria was missing, having taken Dylan and Christine away to their new (and hopefully temporary) life. All of the mated pairs clutched each other in their beds, feeling the enemies circling in closer and closer. And although they were one and all afraid of what tomorrow would bring, the deepest and most wolfish parts of them relished the slaughter…and eagerly anticipated the release of the Great Alpha from his prison.
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Jackson was asleep (having taken a dose of the purified aconite tea to get him there) while Lydia sat up wide awake and wondered what Dylan must be feeling right at that moment without his mother by his side.
There was a soft knock at the door, and one sniff told her it was the son she had long ago given birth to for her Alpha. She checked the clock. Three freaking a.m. 'Oh well, I'm not sleeping anyway.' she thought.
"What is it? And…why are you guys in tuxedos?" she asked him. Robin stood nearby, fiddling with his necktie.
"Aunt Lydia…you're ordained, aren't you?" he asked pensively.
"Um yeah, but I haven't done anything since…oh my God…you want me to marry you two?"
Erik blushed. "Please. The world could end tomorrow."
Lydia opened and closed her mouth. Being rendered speechless was not something that happened to her often.
"Go wake your parents. If I did this without them, they'd kill me."
Erik sighed with relief. "They're already out back, with Moose and Laurie. You still remember the ceremony?"
Lydia tapped the side of her head. "Nothing escapes here. Let's go." She grabbed her suitcase and followed them into the back yard.
Derek and Stiles sat on a bench across from Danny and Ted. All four men were wiping their eyes with handkerchiefs. Moose and Laurie stood on either side of a makeshift podium, ready to act as witnesses. Lydia took her place behind the podium, while Erik and Robin joined hands in front.
"Okay. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in the middle of the night to join these men in the bonds of holy matrimony, two years earlier than is reasonably thought acceptable."
Stiles rolled his eyes.
"Do you, Erik Steven Hati…" Lydia stopped, looking stunned.
"Um, my name's Hale, Aunt Lydia." Erik whispered.
"That was weird, the word just slipped in there. Ugh…anyway, do you Erik Steven Hale take Robin Taylor Sköll-" Lydia actually jumped.
"Dammit! What is going on here?" No one had an answer for her. The tone of the wedding went from the usual sad/happiness to almost fearful.
Lydia stamped her foot. "Do you take Robin Taylor Stark as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse…hmm, we can't get sick so that next part's out…for richer or…even more richer, until you two become gigantic wolf-gods?"
Laurie face palmed herself. Moose was gaping at Lydia in shock. The parents were all glaring at her.
Erik rolled his eyes. "I do."
"Do you, Robin Taylor Stark take Erik Steven Hale as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for…well, you're rich too…hope you signed pre-nups…until you both become gigantic wolf-gods?"
Robin seemed oblivious to the insanity of Lydia's improvised marriage ceremony. "I do."
Erik unfolded a piece of paper he took from his pocket.
"Robin…the day I met you, I knew you were the 'one', because the wolf inside me told me so. I gave my heart to you before I even got to know you…but even if I had been human…I believe that it would have taken no time at all to fall in love with you the usual way. You are everything I ever wanted before I knew what I wanted. I fell in love with your smile, your laughter, your courage, your selflessness, your warmth, your touch and the look you give me that says I have all the answers to every question and the solution to every problem…you make me feel that I can be anything, not only in your eyes but in the eyes of the world as well. I love you, and I have treasured every second we got to spend together.
Robin was crying silently, as was Erik. When they looked around, they saw they were not alone. Lydia was rubbing her eyes and sniffing furiously, Stiles was bawling, and Danny and Ted were shaking while they hugged each other.
Robin pulled out his own slip of paper, and began to read from it. Every few seconds he had to wipe his eyes with his sleeve to clear away the tears.
"Erik, the day you found me was like the day I was born. You pulled me from the dark place that was only just a shadow of life, and you brought me into the sunlight. I saw the world that I'd been missing, and it was more beautiful than I ever imagined because I got to see it through your eyes. You gave me my life, and I almost feel that giving you my own heart is not nearly enough to pay you back. You told me once that I was yours, and you have always treated me like I was the greatest gift you had ever been given. You are my protector, my friend, my lover, my companion, my brother, my other half…my mate. No matter what happens…I want us to be together forever, and I know we will be. No power on earth can separate us."
Lydia composed herself as best she could.
"Since Derek would rip out the throat of any objectors, I now pronounce you mates! You may…you may…oh, just start making out already, I don't know how you lasted this long anyway!" So saying, Lydia ran crying her head off back into the house and locked herself in her room next to her husband who had never picked a better night to drink the sleeping tea.
As requested, Erik and Robin kissed, and when it seemed obvious that they had no intention of coming up for air anytime soon, the three other couples went inside and gave them some privacy.
They finally broke apart some time later and looked at each other, unable to believe that they had really done it; they were now officially a couple.
Erik took out two ring boxes. The bands were a silvery-gray metal that seemed polished to a high gloss.
"Are these silver?" Robin asked. They had no effect on his skin.
"No, they are made of tungsten. They don't melt in anything less than 3,422 degrees Fahrenheit and they are scratch resistant and retain their shine forever. They are harder than steel, and are made from an ore called wolframite-"
"Do you have any idea how sexy you get when you get all science-y on me?" Robin interrupted him, proving his point with another lengthy kiss.
"That must be why everybody else hits me when I do it. Too much sexiness for them." Erik murmured around the kiss.
"Well, I love it. And you. Let's get to bed and see how fast we can claw these tuxedos off each other." Robin said huskily.
Without another word, Erik swooped his mate up in his arms and carried him through the patio door before setting him down and locking the house up and setting the alarm. Then he picked up his mate once more, and carried him to his room. As he slammed the door shut and they began to shred their tuxes off each other, Erik thought randomly that if this was going to be their last night on earth, the least the gods could do was make it last a thousand years.