Chapter 14: Laughter Isn't the Opposite of Crying
Sheriff Stilinski tries to end it but nearly loses everything. Scott's a hero (of course), and Chris has to reassess his daughter's boyfriend. Derek does his best to not be a hindrance.
Chris was already lifting his gun, but the big Alpha had momentum and mass. It would take more than a handgun to change its trajectory. Chris tucked himself low, ready to roll out of the way. One of the SWAT Team—he thought it was Aggersen—stepped in front of him. Before he could yell at the guy as an idiot, Ennis landed, claws out. He dug into the deputy's body, and tossed Aggersen away. The deputy landed against a wall stud and the hit made the metal sheeting boom.
Chris couldn't see if Aggersen got up, he was too busy shooting Ennis. He aimed for center mass, but Ennis dodged, and the bullet just clipped his left arm.
Chris was going to die.
A small figure came flying through the entrance right into Ennis. "Get away from him!" Claws dug in and spun the Alpha away.
Chris straightened incredulously. The voice belonged to his daughter's goofy boyfriend, but the body belonged to a werewolf. "Scott?"
The two wolves rolled together, raising dirt and rat droppings, until Ennis got a grip on Scott and tossed him across the room. Ennis stalked towards the downed Beta. "You're protecting him? What kind of wolf are you?"
Scott—definitely Scott behind the teeth and gold eyes—replied, "A human one." He was back on his feet, crouched and ready to tackle Ennis again.
"ENOUGH," the sheriff roared. Everybody, even the Alpha Pack members, flinched. The old building creaked as if in agreement. One of the tin sheets that made up the roof fell, catching on the rafters.
"It is done," Stilinski stated. "Gerard Argent is dead. It's a police-involved shooting, so it's unlikely any of you civilians—" He glared at each of the Alphas in turn. "—will be charged with felony murder."
"Charged?" Deucalion laughed. He hadn't reverted back to his human form and his eyes gleamed like an expensive Halloween decoration. Stilinski had balls though. He gave every indication he didn't notice how messed up Deucalion's appearance was—features like a wolf's skull, red-flame eyes, and skin as dark as death. He just kept talking as if the Alpha's opinion was secondary to his.
"As for Kali's attack on Derek, if he doesn't press charges there is no reason any of you need to stay in Beacon County."
"I won't press charges if they leave," Derek groaned from his position on the ground. He was lying in a pool of his own blood, and Kali had one foot on him as if he were a trophy-hunting prize she'd taken down. From what Chris could see of her, her skin was covered in purple-black lines from the wolfsbane in her veins, but she was fighting off the effects in a way that should've been impossible.
"And never come back," Stiles added.
Deucalion ignored both of them, stepping closer to the sheriff. "Who are you to order us to do anything?"
The sheriff's eyes glowed red, brighter and more solid than Deucalion's flickering irises, as he stood up to the other alpha. "I am the Sheriff of Beacon County, duly elected by the five hundred thousand people who live here," he declared. He stepped forwards, crowding Deucalion— "I am part of over one million men and women involved in law enforcement in the U.S.A." —one slow step at a time. "I am the Alpha of Beacon County, and I am tired of this grandstanding bullshit."
It wasn't a roar, wasn't as loud as his earlier shout, but it still had all the wolves—and most of the cops—crunching small. Yet, aside from the eyes, some claw, and a little extra facial hair, the sheriff looked completely human. Victoria and Gerard had seriously underestimated the man.
"As I said, Deucalion. Legally, you haven't broken any laws. Yet." Stilinski leaned over, close enough to be bitten, or to bite. An unspoken challenge. "Don't change that."
Deucalion swayed backwards—a half-step.
Deucalion pulled himself back, reclaiming that lost half-step, but he had already lost.
Deputy Bungalon raised his weapon, making sure everyone still alive in the shed could see it. "The next person to make a move against our sheriff will be shot." The rest of the SWAT team echoed him.
-o0o-
Noah felt that acceptance right through to his spine. Hell. It felt like the ground shivered, but if anyone but him felt it, they weren't letting it show.
"You're going to let us go?" Deucalion said in disbelief, his lip lifted in a sneer. "Either you're a fool or you're weak."
-o0o-
Above him, Kali growled and Derek knew she was going to attack Sheriff Stilinski while he was handicapped by holding Deucalion down. Her fangs were fully extended, her claws all the way out, and she had that crazy grin that she'd had when she attacked him at his old house.
He could let it happen. He was hurt. There were cops all around and the sheriff was strong.
But he couldn't.
Ignoring the pain of doing even a limited transformation, Derek forced his claws as long as they'd go. Then he grabbed the leg Kali had placed on him—as if he were her footstool—and dug in. He used his claws to drag himself up her leg. He wrapped himself around her calf and hung on. He wanted to swear and scream as his body protested and still-healing wounds started bleeding again, but if Kali wanted to attack now, she'd have to drag him along.
It opened a memory of when he was small. Him and Cora sitting on his mother's feet as she shuffled around the house, and giggling as she made monster noises like King Kong. He breathed deep against his grief, and dug in deeper.
He'd underestimated Kali's determination. Or overestimated her sense.
"No," Kali screamed at him. "I gave up too much to get here!"
She kicked her other leg into his gut. His vision nearly blacked out as pain exploded everywhere from his eyeballs to his knees. "Let go, you stupid, little..." Kali attacked his arms with her claws, cutting deep. It would take so long for them all to heal.
Kali lifted the leg he clung to—not high, but enough to jerk him around just like his mom had done decades ago. Except Talia had done it carefully, with love. Kali didn't care what damage she did to him.
Kate hadn't cared...
Fuck Kate, Derek thought.
And fuck Kali! Neither of them gave a shit about anybody other than themselves, and he was tired of being a fucking doormat for people like that.
He shouted his anger back at the alpha. He clutched harder, dug in deeper, deep enough to scrape bone, and refused to give up again.
-o0o-
Scott—the mysterious second Beta they'd been looking for—didn't really know how to fight. He didn't have the weight or the power of Ennis. All he could do was cling, be an annoyance for a while, and then get tossed off and hurt. Again and again.
Yet he never hesitated to put himself back into danger to protect them.
To protect Chris.
-o0o-
"You're going to let us go?" Deucalion said in disbelief, his lip lifted in a sneer. "Either you're a fool or you're weak."
The sheriff recognized the signs of someone talking themselves into attacking. Drunks of all ages did it. Young men in groups did it. He hadn't expected it from an adult werewolf, but he wasn't unprepared physically or mentally. When Deucalion leapt at him, Noah had already loosened his control. He didn't fight the claws or the teeth. He didn't even fight the god-awful facial hair. Instead, he merged the powers and skills of the werewolf with those of a cop, combining what he'd learned from Derek with what he'd used while fighting Kali.
Deucalion didn't stand a chance.
Sidestepping easily out of Deucalion's path, he took the alpha's arm by the wrist, grabbed him by the back of the neck, and slammed him facedown into the ground. Deucalion squirmed and Noah forced the alpha's arm up at an unnatural angle.
The Demon Wolf faded from his features.
That should've been the end of the showdown. It could've been. Their leader was down—immobilized. But neither Ennis nor Kali seemed to care. Instead, Kali was snarling and Ennis was growling.
A quick glance showed Scott tackling Ennis again, and he heard Patterson muttering about how McCall had messed up her shot. McCall wasn't strong, but he was young and stubborn.
More worrying was Kali. She actually could fight. Derek had slowed her down, but she hadn't stopped. She wasn't stopping for anything: not Derek, not wolfsbane bullets. How could Noah fight her and Deucalion without sacrificing any of his people?
Rage at the dilemma had his grip on the Alpha Pack leader tightening until he felt bones crunch and skin break. "Why couldn't you have listened?"
He wanted to kill the other alpha.
He could kill the invader.
It wouldn't be hard...
-o0o-
Ennis peeled the teen off his back and threw him into Chris and Deputy Patterson, one of Stilinski's SWAT team.
Patterson seemed to be okay, but Chris landed wrong and that was a broken rib—and fuck, he couldn't pass out now. He panted like a woman in labor until the weakness passed.
Scott was back on his feet, despite a limp and a bleeding head wound. He took up position between Chris and Patterson, and the Alpha. Scott was still protecting the humans from Ennis. Unthinking, he jumped on Ennis' back, wrapped his legs around the Alpha's waist, and tried to either strangle Ennis or hug him to death.
"Damnit, kid. Get out of the way," muttered Patterson.
The deputy had her weapon trained on the pair as they wrestled. She blinked away the effects of having even a small werewolf thrown at her. Chris envied her resilience, even as his mind raced through the possibilities. He couldn't go over there and drag Scott off Ennis—he'd barely managed to get to his knees. He couldn't shoot at Ennis—his vision was still greying in and out, and his hands were shaky.
However, (and he was going to talk to Allison about this later) he was the father of Scott's girlfriend. It had to count for something.
He took a deep breath, ignoring the way his vision dimmed at the edges as his broken rib screamed. "Scott McCall!" he shouted across the small space, putting every bit of irate father into his voice that he could manage (and considering his daughter was dating a werewolf, it was a lot). "We need to talk about Allison. Right now!"
That made Scott freeze. It was enough for Ennis to dig the teenager off him and toss him towards the twins.
It was enough to give the SWAT team the opening they needed…
-o0o-
The enemy alpha howled. Anger. Denial. Frustration. He exulted in the enemy's defeat, but he still heard the hunter call to his beta.
-o0o-
Kali bent down, dug her claws into his spine, and his brain sheeted out to white.
A SWAT guy called, "Marshall. You, me. Open fire," and Derek hoped they were in time to save the sheriff.
-o0o-
"Go for head shots," Chris said.
"Wolfsbane bullets," the deputy grunted back, and pulled her trigger.
Pandemonium. The three SWAT members near him opened fired on Ennis, and two others on the other side of the shed, also fired their weapons.
The shed was thin, and there were holes in the walls and the roof.
It was still deafening.
-o0o-
Two shots, nearly simultaneous, hit Kali on two different sides of her head. Her claws jerked out of his spine and everything came back into sharp, sharp focus.
Reacting faster than any human, Derek tucked impossibly tighter, releasing Kali's leg to cover his head with his arms. It didn't help. The SWAT team used large caliber weapons, and Kali's head had essentially exploded right above him. His ears whined from the sound of gunfire, but he could still feel and smell Kali all over him.
He wanted to throw up.
The hole in his stomach prevented it.
-o0o-
The beta…
That was Scott. Scott was here.
If Scott was here then Stiles was around, and Stiles was important.
He was Stiles' alpha… No. His sire...
He was Stiles' father.
And he was a cop.
Noah was back in control of his body and his instincts.
He saw the blood where his claws had punctured the side of Deucalion's neck, and felt the grating of broken bones where he held the alpha's wrist. The werewolf would heal, but it was still excessive force.
He would feel embarrassed by his loss of control later. For now, he sensed that Kali was gone and Ennis was close to it. If he could feel it, disassociated from them as he was, how bad was it for Deucalion who'd been their alpha? It would explain the howling…
Deucalion was fighting, twisting on the ground, kicking up his feet, but Noah had been a lawman too long to be shifted. it only took moments for the sherrif to have both Deucalion's arms twisted up behind his back and zip-tied together.
The alpha didn't stop struggling, so Noah pressed more weight onto the middle of Deucalion's back, right where the diaphragm would be on the other side, compressing the rib cage and restricting his breathing. On a normal human, it would be very dangerous. Damage the diaphragm and they could die. It wasn't something the sheriff worried about with the alpha werewolf.
As Deucalion lost breath he lost power. His struggles weakened. His features reverted to human. His body went slack. The sheriff lifted his knew. He didn't want Deucalion unconscious, because he actually needed Deucalion awake for the next bit.
He opened his mouth to say the words he'd been saying for nearly two decades. What he was supposed to say when he had a perp in handcuffs. The Miranda warning. After so long, the words were beyond memorized. They were automatic. Inevitable...
"Yield."
Deucalion attempted to buck him off.
Futile.
"You will yield," Noah said through teeth that could chew through bone.
The alpha huffed. Panting, trying to get a proper breath. The sheriff let more of his weight settle back onto the alpha's spine.
"Your pack is destroyed. The target of your rage is dead. Do you yield?" He shifted one hand so that his claws pressed lightly on Deucalion's carotid artery.
"Yes."
It was like a popped balloon. The intensity that had surrounded the Alpha Pack leader dissipated, and somehow Noah knew that Deucalion would never again be able to assume the power of 'Demon Wolf'. He'd won, but…
He still wanted to rip Deucalion's throat out.
He'd zip-tied him, handcuffed him, and wrapped him in chains, but the sheriff knew Deucalion was right: no jail could hold him. The man might not be the Demon Wolf anymore, but he was still a werewolf, an alpha, with all the strength and powers that entailed. The only sure way was to kill him, and that was an instinct Noah was fighting hard against.
It was easier when Stiles came pelting up to him. "Dad! Dad! You okay? Oh my god, that was... Awesome! But scary. I mean, wow! But, Jesus!" Stiles stopped his babbling to stare intently at Noah. "Don't ever do that again."
"How eloquent," Deucalion sneered from his position at the sheriff's feet. Noah ignored him.
Instead, fully human inside and out, he grabbed his only-slightly-damaged son in a tight hug. Noah buried his nose in his son's neck and breathed in Stiles' scent. "Don't you get kidnapped again."
-o0o-
It was over. Kali and Ennis were dead. And Gerard, too.
Deucalion had submitted to the sheriff, and Derek had felt the power flow out of the evil alpha. It had felt weird. He couldn't remember anything like it, but it was unmistakable. It meant the sheriff was safe.
Now he could relax. He could rest.
He could shut his eyes…
Just for a minute...