More Than Just A New Beginning

Chapter 19


A sudden smash had Harry yelping, twisting around, wand pointed at his bedroom door, a spell half way out his lips. Minding himself just in the nick of time, as a coyote jumped onto the bed, bounding about playfully. Shredding the bedding with her claws as she did so. Heart pounding erratically, as he calmed down. There was no threat, it was just Malia who clearly didn't like her way being barred from her cousin.

"Your cousin is annoying…what time is it?" Harry grumbled, wincing a little, he'd jerked so roughly that he had twisted something. Rubbing at his side absently, slowly getting up, glancing at the clock finding that it was still the middle of the night.

Derek though, didn't care, he was just smiling like nothing could touch him in the world. Cousin, he had gone from thinking he and Laura were the only ones left…to having two sisters (even if Laura wasn't with them) his Uncle Peter back and a cousin he hadn't known he had. Brushing his hand over Harry, barely touching him with his fingertips, he removed the pain without a second's thought.

"Thank you," Harry said, closing his eyes and stretching out, kissing Derek in a physical show of how much he appreciated it. The blinding smile he received was…Derek was absolutely stunning, brushing his hand over his face, it made him vulnerable, people would always want him for his looks regardless of whether he was taken or not. Whether he wanted it or not. Would Derek even be able to heal with people constantly at him?

A sheepish grin appeared on his handsome face, cheeks slightly red. Playing with Malia, uncaring of the claw marks or blood that she caused while they played. He healed up right away, and with magic the bed would be put to right…he assumed.

"Malia? Come on, time to return to your own bed," Peter said, appearing at the doorway, dressed in only a pair of loose-fitting shorts. Not at all bothered by that fact either, or that technically it was his daughter seeing him in a state of undress. It was a natural state of being, humanity has made it seem something foul and disgusting to bear yourself. Werewolves were not prudes.

"She slept a lot this afternoon," Derek confessed, he had kept Malia well entertained, and werewolves did that by letting off excessive energy. There was plenty of room to have fun with a coyote, especially a young one which Malia was.

"Has she even given a single indication that she might change back?" Harry asked, his hand scuttling across his bed, mimicking a spider, causing Malia to pounce.

"No, unfortunately not," Peter said, a look of worry on his face. So far, any time he'd attempted to convince his daughter to shift back…it was met with sheer silence, as if she couldn't hear.

Derek snorted, "Guess we know where she got that stubbornness from." Giving his uncle an amused look. Even with his Alpha (their Alpha) Peter had been obscenely stubborn, especially in the face of a Beta Werewolf in face of an Alpha. "I wonder what she looks like." He couldn't help but ponder, his family all always looked alike. You could tell his family were all related without needing to be told. The Hale gene was strong, although, it was no guarantee to be a werewolf.

Peter stared pensively at his daughter who was gnawing on Harry's fist. He'd never see his daughter as a child, or know what she looked like. Her first word, her first tooth, her first change…all of that had been stolen from him. He rather hoped she didn't look like whom she was named after. There was no doubt he had named her Malia after Talia. Unfortunately, he didn't even know if he had named her. "I've never heard of a child changing their species so young. Is it possible that her animal brain has taken over permanently?" she was on her own for such a long time. "She isn't even giving a single indication that there is even anyone remotely human in there." If he didn't know any better, he'd honestly think she was an actual coyote.

"Her hindbrain has taken over, she was alone, traumatised, with powers that she didn't know or understand. Peter, she transformed into a coyote, she had a normal upbringing that's just about as abnormal as you can get for her. The shock of it probably caused her to retreat into herself." Harry explained, as Peter sat on the edge of the bed, teasing his daughter by tugging at her tail.

"Which is why you've insisted she be slowly allowed to emerge," Peter conceded, giving him a nod, he knew he was right, he just…felt very impatient.

"Continue talking to her, explaining everything to her, get her to want to change, desire the change. Perhaps by making her want to do something she can't without opposable thumbs it might…cause a temper tantrum and she might turn back." Harry said, "Being an Animagus is difficult, takes a lot out of you, try after dinner, a big meal might be what she needs to get the energy to try."

"Could she have forgotten what it's like to speak? To understand?" Derek asked, pensively, feeling stupid. He should know all this, but it was truthfully, not something he was knowledgeable about. Luckily though, they now had the books from the Hale vaults, well, everything from the Hale vaults. "I hate not knowing…"

"The information might not be there for you to find, Derek," Harry pointed out, "You have a lot of books yes, and a lot of them are actually written by the Hales, but understand this…they might not have come across something like this before. Don't just look to the past for answers, there might not be anything to be found."

"So far, your statement is holding true," Peter sighed, petting the coyote firmly, "I've not found anything like it. Not surprisingly, it wouldn't be something that happens often. The pack pups are guarded zealously, most adults would die for them." most, not all, he knew, there were werewolves who are assholes.

Harry nodded, it's the same wizards when it came to kids, or at least a minority.

"There was a time when even hunters wouldn't touch a child," Peter said, unfortunately, it wasn't the case anymore. There were more and more cases than he wished to see, involving children. "Those files…turned my stomach." And for the life of him, he couldn't work out why Kate Argent was doing it, working with first generation hunters as Harry called them. Other than the fact she was just a sadistic bitch who got off on hurting people.

Harry inhaled before grudgingly nodding, "I know," agreed, "I didn't think they could get any worse than they were…taking this job, handling this department showed me how wrong I actually was." Although, this case he had just put to bed? Was one of the worst, and he prayed to hell and back that he never had a case like it again.

If he did, he wasn't sure how long he'd be running the department. He wasn't a cold unfeeling sociopathic bastard. No matter how much he compartmentalised, it got to him. It didn't need to be family for you to empathise, they didn't need to be friends either. You can grieve for strangers just as easily.

"It's not an easy career choice, but…there was never another career option for me." Harry said sincerely, leaning against Derek, enjoying the warmth of him. He was like his own personal furnace. Much better than any warming charm could hope to achieve.

Peter gave Harry a speculative look, given what he'd learned, he couldn't say he was surprised. He was a good man, good wizard, good Alpha thus far. He had the ability to use an Alpha voice on any of them, and Peter suspected even now he'd succumb to it. Stronger than he was when he first woke up, and that was…a shock to the system.

"Here, try one of these," Harry said, flinging over a chocolate frog. Not at all tired despite it being the middle of the night. His shifts at work left him nigh on exhausted all the time, so this was nothing new although, truth be known, he wasn't tired overly much despite the emotional upheaval.

"I am not one for chocolates," Peter told him, handing it back over.

"You'll like this one," Derek told his Uncle with a knowing look.

"Did you explain everything to her?" Harry asked Peter, as he petted the tired coyote, she was going to fall asleep soon he reckoned.

"Yes," Peter answered, "Unfortunately, I am not sure how much she understood." More versed in dealing with humans as animals than he cared to remember. His sister and niece had been capable of the full shift and now his daughter could too.

"There's a freedom in being an animal, or so people like to believe. Free of responsibilities, cares and they can do whatever they like. The reality is, they aren't free of responsibility, and they most certainly aren't free, or able to do whatever they please, humanity saw to that." Harry said, "At the same time, depending on where you are…you could believe it especially if you're young." Malia may believe she was safe there, and they had yanked her away from her home, the horrible humans she might think.

"You aren't going to suggest we let her go? Give her…what freedom?" Derek asked, a little stiff, knowing instinctively that it wasn't what Harry was aiming for but nonetheless worrying it might be.

"Merlin, no," Harry vehemently and immediately shook his head, "Her Coyote family will have moved on, with humans in the area. We might never be able to find them again, they accepted her, others might not. I think going back there to find the car gone could cause a psychotic break."

"So, what are you suggesting?"

"She's used to being outside, camping trip?" he suggested, "There's plenty of woods and forest in New York."

"Where?" Peter asked arching a brow not believing it for a second. "There is nowhere in New York we could go to in order to run free without risking exposure. Unless, you're talking about that place…"

Harry nodded, "It's there all year around for anyone who wishes to use it, I apologise if I had you believing it was only to be used during the full moon. It's used by everyone, you could create alliances, gather allies while you are there. Every kind of Were' is there. Bear, Wolf, Panther, tiger the only ones we don't see a lot of are Werecoyote but that's self-explanatory."

"You intend on gathering alliances?" Peter turned to look at Harry again, more intently this time.

"No, you are," Harry stated, "I wouldn't be able to gain their trust the way you can, I might be a wizard…part of the supernatural…but I'm not a Were. They would trust you, and truthfully? I would end up insulting them by having to leave at the worst possible timing. Unfortunately, my work cannot be ignored, it's far too important." One day they would trust him wholly, he was becoming known within the supernatural world. Or more accurately MACUSA was, there was still a lot of time before it was fully trusted though.

The way they were going through cases they certainly would be trusted very soon.

Peter stiffened, glancing at Derek who didn't seem perturbed, "You want me to be your second and right hand?" slightly dazed, "As well as the left hand?"

"You hopefully won't need to be the left hand often…and when and if you can't…" Harry said darkly, "I certainly can." He wasn't afraid to get his hand dirty. "It's an Alpha's duty to protect the pack is it not?" everyone liked to forget that now they were civilised but a pack was only as strong as it's Alpha.

Peter glanced at Derek quickly and unobtrusively, there was no mistaken the scent wafting from his nephew right now. Not that he could blame him, it was a visceral reaction. An Alpha prepared to fight, to do what must be done…and had the power to back that up too. The resources to do whatever it took. He'd always been left hand…never right hand, or the second-in-command.

That was a trust that had never been placed in him before.

"But as I was saying, being outside with you all might encourage her to feel safe enough to shift, especially if she's understanding that she's actually meant to be on two legs a…"

His phone going off, interrupted their cosy conversation, it was the middle of the night. Harry knew there was only one person it could be, so he answered it immediately with a, "Hello?"

"I'm sending you coordinates, boss," Zane said grimly. "I need you there, immediately." Basically, informing him that it was safe to Apparate.

"Is there a case?" Harry asked sitting up, brow furrowing in confusion at the suddenness and oddness of Zane's words. He wasn't saying his distress word so it surely couldn't be that unless he's going to say it.

"No, it's part of the ongoing one," Zane sighed sounding incredibly tired.

"Have you caught Argent?" Harry asked, he felt the Hales turn their attention to him intently.

"No, but this is important, boss," Zane said, glancing at the baby stomach churning, not daring to say anything over the phone knowing without a doubt the Hales were all there.

"Alright, I'll meet you in a few minutes," Harry stated, already sliding off his bed, avoiding jolting the sleeping Coyote, rubbing his hand up and down Derek's back, before squeezing Peter's shoulder. "I'll see you later." He murmured, the sound of him picking up his backpack and checking he had his ID card with him then the sound of Apparation was all that was heard in the silent house.

It would not remain quiet for long, for this whole Argent mess was far from over.


A/N – Hmm will Harry be turned in this one? Because I have it go every other way 😊 it would be fun to write Harry changing his species for love 😊 he might age slower but not as slow as a werewolf who can live up to 500+ years I think that's what age Satomi was anyway. So, werewolves do live longer…it's a good a reason as any 😉 what do you think Zane found? What does it have to do with the Hales? And when do you want to see a time skip? How far into their relationship do you want to see it? Since I think I have this marked as Stiles/Peter but that will happen when Stiles is an adult and many years in the future 😊 and yeah, I didn't get as much written as I would have liked Read and Review please!