Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

November 2004

Derek knocked on the door to his mother's office. She was a busy alpha so she didn’t always have time for him, but Cora thought this was important that he talk to his alpha about the issue with their teacher.

“Enter,”

Derek opened the door and he entered the office, he let the door swing shut as he approached his mother's desk. He nervously asked, “Can I talk to you, please?”

Talia looked up from the alliance contract she was reviewing and she asked, “Is it important? I have some important paperwork that needs to be finished today.”

Derek nodded, “Yes, it’s important. Please, Mom.”

“Ok,” She stood and moved them to the sofa she had in the room for more casual chats and she patted the seat beside her, “What’s going on?”

Derek took a deep breath, “We got a new teacher at school this semester, she took over from Mrs. Gladstone, our French teacher.”

Talia looked at him with a confused look and she asked, “And that’s relevant to this discussion how?”

Derek said, “She’s been touching me, even after I asked her to stop.”

Talia said scornfully, “Touching you?”

Derek nodded, “It started out with just light touches on the shoulder, or the small of the back as she leaned over to read my work. It’s been building up slowly, but today she tried to kiss me. Cora said I should report it to you as my alpha.”

Talia raised an eyebrow, “You’re telling me a teacher tried to kiss you. You’re 13 years old, why would a teacher want to kiss a child.”

Derek shrugged, “I don’t know. I didn’t like it, and I ran when I could get her to let go without giving away my strength.”

Talia stood and she said angrily, “Just because you don’t like a teacher, doesn’t mean you come to me with lies about them. I know this is more schemes by you and your twin and it stops now.”

Derek stood and he yelled, “I’m not lying. Why would I lie? I don’t want her gone, I just want her to stop hitting on me. It makes me sick.”

“Enough!” Talia growled, “Get out of my office. And don’t come to me again with your lies. Tell your twin that goes for her too.”

Derek left the office making sure he slammed the door to express his disappointment in his alpha. He made his way to his twin’s bedroom shutting the door firmly before climbing up beside her on the bed.

She whispered, “She’s such a bitch.”

Derek nodded, “Wait, you heard?”

Cora nodded, “Every word, the door wasn’t shut Bun.”

“Shit,” Derek whined, “So everyone heard?”

She nodded, “Yeah, but you know what they are like. The rest of our family think she’s god’s gift to werewolves.”

Derek snuggled into his sister as he despondently asked, “What do I do now? I can’t drop out of French, it’s too late to change my language requirement. I can’t see Mom agreeing to let me switch schools.”

Cora asked, “Is it that bad?”

Derek nodded, “She makes me feel sick. My wolf knows that she’s not the right one for me and her continued attention even after I asked her to stop is pushing at him. He’s pushing me pretty hard to get rid of her. It’s hard to explain.”

Cora shrugged, “That was pretty clear. So we need options.”

Derek muttered darkly into his sister's hair, “We need a new family. They all overheard us and yet no one is trying to help us.”

Peter carefully opened the door and slid inside without making a sound, as soon as the door was closed he faced two sets of golden glowing eyes from the bed. He pushed the door to make sure the soundproofing was active before he said, “I am, but you’re right about the rest of them. I think though we need ice cream. There is that new ice cream shop in town, it’s a fancy shop with the best ice creams and lots of flavors to chose from.”

Cora pushed at her twin, she could sense the urgency from her uncle that her brother was not picking up in his misery. She cajoled, “Come on, let’s go drown our sorrows in ice cream. Maybe Uncle Peter can help us come up with a plan for your teacher.”

Peter put his finger to his lips and they snuck through the house to the garage where Peter had several high-end cars stored, including Derek’s favorite, the Aston Martin Vanquish. Peter led them over to the Subaru WRX STi he had near the exit that he used as his daily driver. It was fast enough to have fun with, but standard enough to keep him out of trouble… most of the time.

Halfway to town, Peter pulled over on the side of the road and he turned so he was facing his nephew. Cora had let her brother call shotgun since he was so upset by what his mother had said, at least that’s what she was telling herself.

Peter said, “While the offer for ice cream is still on, I would like to take you to talk to a friend of mine first.”

Derek narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

Peter looked at him and he said seriously, “What your teacher is doing is illegal. If she’s hitting on you, how many other boys has she done this to?”

Cora reached through the seats and held her twin's hand, as she said, “I was worried about the same thing. I mean you looked pretty grossed out when she kissed you.” She looked at her Uncle, “Do you trust this friend?”

Peter nodded, “With my life. He is the sheriff, he is someone who can listen without judgment, and he will be pissed at Talia blowing you off.”

Derek asked, “Does he know about us?”

Peter shook his head, “No, but I can see him working it out eventually. Talia has denied me permission to tell him.”

Derek nodded, “Ok, you trust him, and I trust you. Let’s go.”

Peter sent off a quick text message before he pulled back onto the road. As they drove towards the station Cora muttered, “You’ll owe us both triple scoops after this.”

Peter grinned, “Of course, Lil Bit. I even made sure they stock your favorite mint chocolate chip.”

He drove the rest of the way to the station in silence, and when he pulled in to park he drove around the back and parked out of sight of anyone driving past. He didn’t want to risk someone from the pack seeing his car and reporting them to Talia.

Sheriff Noah Stilinski was waiting out the back near the garage entrance when they all piled out of the Subaru. He asked, “What’s going on, Peter?”

Peter wrapped his arm around Derek’s shoulders and he said, “Derek’s got a teacher hitting on him and today she tried to kiss him. Cora witnessed it.”

“Fuck,” Noah asked, “Was this at Beacon Hills High?”

Peter shook his head and with a laugh, he said, “No, my sister would never send her precious children to public school. The twins both attend Devonford Prep, over in Beacon Valley.”

Noah nodded, “Ok, let’s go inside and we’ll have a chat in my office.”

He took them through the garage and down the hallways to his office and he shut the door once they had all taken a seat. Noah asked, “So before we get started I should explain. We are just going to chat in here so I can get an idea of what’s going on, then I may take it into an official interview room. For that, I’ll get one of my trusted deputies to interview both you and Cora separately. Ok?”

The twins both nodded so he asked, “So, first up, what’s the teacher's name?”

Cora said, “She’s Katey Arianell, and she replaced Mrs. Gladstone, our French teacher.”

Noah wrote down the names of the two teachers in his notebook after clarifying the spelling with the twins, then he asked, “Ok, can tell me what’s been happening.”

Derek went through what he had explained to his mother earlier. He also let the sheriff know he had tried to report it to his mother.

Noah asked, “How did she react?”

Derek shrugged, “She accused me and Cora of making it up to get rid of a teacher we don’t like. She said a teacher wouldn’t hit on a 13-year-old.”

Noah nodded, “No, a normal teacher wouldn’t. But there is definitely something not right going on there.” He stood, “I’m just going to get Tara, she’s my second in command ad a lady I trust implicitly. I’m going to get her to interview you both formally,” He glanced at his friend, “You too Peter. While you’re doing that I’ll be looking into the two teachers.”

He left the room to explain the situation to Tara before he came back to get the kids. Tara wanted to interview them both together so that Derek would be more comfortable.

When they all left the room Peter asked, “What’s going on? Your reaction seemed a bit off.”

Noah sighed, “The former teacher Mrs. Gladstone? She didn’t resign, she went missing during the summer break. A missing persons report was made in mid-august by her family.”

“Well fuck,” Peter asked, “So what? You think maybe she got rid of the teacher so she could get close to the kids?”

Noah shrugged, “It’s not entirely out of the realm of possibility. I know the schools do background checks, but I am going to run one myself of Katey Arianell while the kids are being interviewed, see what pops.”

He got the background check started as Peter checked his phone. Noah asked, “Worried about your sister?”

Peter shook his head, “Pissed off actually. She basically called him a liar and told him to stop attention-seeking when he said that the woman’s attention made him feel sick.”

Noah frowned, “He meant that literally?”

Peter paled, “I can’t…”

Noah held up his hand, “You don’t have to.” He looked down at his computer after a few minutes of contemplating the issue, “The background check is done.”

Peter moved so he could read the details over the sheriff’s shoulder, “How did she get hired? While fairly convincing it would fail the background checks required for working with children. She doesn’t even have a teaching degree.”

Noah opened the system that was used by the schools to request background checks from the county. He pointed at the screen, “It looks like a background check was requested in August,” He pulled up what had been sent through to the school administrator, “That’s not right.”

Peter agreed, “They don’t even look similar. It’s no wonder she was hired with these credentials.” He asked, “Do you want me to get my boss over here, I can ask to keep it all non-official. At least for now.”

Noah nodded, “One of my deputies sent this through to the school. So I can’t trust that an official request to the DA would be lost somehow.”

Peter nodded, “I’ll go out to my car and call him.” He looked pensive and he said, “Why do I get the feeling that this is bigger than either of us realize.”

Noah sighed, “Because you have usually good instincts, Peter. Get that call done and sneak him in through the back if you can.”

Peter nodded, and he was about to exit the room when Noah asked, “Is it possible she got the job to target Derek specifically?”

Peter shrugged, “Anythings possible, but it’s unlikely. I don’t recognize her name at all.”

He went out to his car and he called through to his boss. DA Stanton was a very no-nonsense kind of man, he was also aware of the history of the Hale family. When Peter briefed him on what was going on, he agreed to head to the station right away.

The Town Hall was only a few minutes' walk from the station so it didn’t take long for Daniel Stanton to arrive. He’d been using the quietness of the weekend to get some of his paperwork done. “Lead the way, Peter. Let’s find out what the hell is going on in this town.”

Peter nodded and led him through the same route Noah had used in the hallways. He could hear that Tara was still interviewing the two teens and he hoped the interview would last a fair bit longer.

When they entered the office Peter and Daniel both took a seat on the sofa and Peter let the two men chat about the issue. He was surprised out of his musing by the DA asking, “Peter, does he know about…?”

Peter shook his head and he explained, “I can’t tell him. Literally can’t.”

Daniel scowled, “Seriously, why?”

Peter shrugged, “Two reasons, I nearly told my girlfriend in high school so Talia restricted me from telling anyone without her explicit permission. When she found out I was friends with Noah she added a new order restricting me specifically from telling him and his family. Most of the pack now have that restriction.”

The DA growled, “She didn’t have the right to do that. Right, will you be forced to stop me if I tell him?”

Noah was looking between the two men curiously, he was happy to wait if it meant he finally got to know what the hell was going on in his town. There had been nothing major, occasional animal attacks that didn’t seem quite right, out-of-town vagrants being found dead in the preserve with no obvious cause of death.

Peter eventually answered with a shake of the head, “No, her orders were purely to restrict me from exposing the secret, once someone knows, the order no longer stands.”

Daniel smirked, “You’ve tested this theory?”

Peter nodded, “Yes, and I wanted to use the loophole to inform Noah, but I couldn’t find anyone in the pack who hadn’t already been ordered not to talk to the sheriff or his family.”

Daniel asked, “Mischief is included in the embargo?”

Peter nodded, “She’s afraid he’ll figure it out for himself if he’s around the pack.”

Noah snorted, “She’s not wrong. He’s smarter than Claudia and I put together. The only reason he had to repeat a year in school was because he missed nearly half a year with his ADHD issues and being with Claudia in the hospital.” He looked at Daniel, “Tell me, please.”

Daniel huffed, “The Hale family are werewolves.”

Noah raised an eyebrow at Peter who was now able to shift in front of his best friend. He let his claws out slowly as Noah watched, when Noah seemed to take it well he let the rest of his beta shift come in.

Noah nodded, “Impressive. I knew you were something but Claudia wouldn’t tell me and I didn’t have the knowledge to figure it out for myself.”

Peter let the sentence roll around in his head before he asked, “What was Claudia?”

Noah grinned, “She was a spark, apparently quite a powerful one, at least until she got sick. And I suspect Stiles may be following in her footsteps.”

Daniel said, “I thought she died of a brain disease.”

Noah wiggled his hand in a so-so motion, “It was a disease of the brain, yes, but not in the traditional human sense. She had been poisoned somehow. Her spark was turned against her. Either way, she was killed but not in any way I can use.” He looked at Peter and he asked, “Now I can see the bigger picture I’ll ask you again, is it possible this woman is targeting your family?”

Chapter Text

November 2004

Peter shrugged, “Arianell isn’t a name I have heard of before, so I doubt it.” He gave Noah a serious look, “It is entirely possible it’s a false identity so who knows.”

Noah asked, “Daniel, based on the information from Derek and Cora do we have enough to arrest her?”

Daniel nodded, “She’s at least in her twenties and she’s hitting on a child. They might not have had sex but she’s definitely grooming him for it. We can at least arrest her for molestation and search her apartment to see if we can find evidence of why she’s targeting Derek.”

He looked at Peter, “Are they nearly done?”

Peter grinned, “Derek said they finished ten minutes ago and they’ve been waiting for us to sort our shit out.”

Noah asked, “Tara knows?”

Daniel nodded, “Yeah, she usually works it so that she takes the supernatural cases. She used to date one of the Hales, and he accidentally wolfed out on her.”

“Good to know,” Noah said, “Do you know a judge that will give us the warrant and keep it quiet?”

Daniel nodded, “Yeah, Judge Chambers should do it. The hard part will be stopping him from taking Talia to task.”

Tara prodded the twins into the office and she handed over the written statement to Daniel. “I’ll type up the official statement this afternoon and send it across.”

Daniel folded the statement and put it in his breast pocket before he said, “I’ll head to the court now. If I can catch the judge in his chambers we should have everything in place so we can do the search first thing tomorrow.”

Noah said, “I think the best thing to do would be to catch her when she gets home from work on Monday. She will be tired after a day at school.”

Derek said, “I don’t have French on Mondays, so I have no issues with that.”

-x-

Peter took the twins home and he implored them to act like nothing was wrong. He reminded them that it was important that Derek and Cora showed that they had accepted their mother’s edict, and that she thought that he would do nothing about the teacher. 

  They decided the best they could do was act like sullen teenagers and hide in their bedrooms, well, mostly Cora’s bedroom. They also both had homework to complete for school the next day.

Peter, however, spent the night in the library, he wanted to see if there was anything he could do to get around the other orders his sister had given him. Orders that prevented him from acting, even if it was in defense of the pack. He had found a few things but they were more nuclear options, so he saved those as a last resort.

-x-

Noah had decided they would wait until Katey had left the school for the day before leaving to serve the warrant. He didn’t want to risk her rabbiting if there was a higher number of cruisers in her area.

They gave her time to get home and settled before they arrived at the small apartment complex not far from Beacon Hills High School. He and Tara parked in the visitor's spots outside and they waited for the two other deputies that Noah trusted, he had worked with them since he started at the station. Daniel was also with the group to make sure there were no issues with the search. He sent Tara and one of the deputies to watch the fire escapes, just in case the teacher tried to run.

They approached 3B and knocked sharply. 

The door was answered by a tall blonde woman who took careful note of the uniforms as she said, “Can I help you… Sheriff?”

Noah handed over copies of the paperwork, “We have a warrant here to detain you for questioning in a case of molestation of a minor. We are also here to search your residence.”

The deputy stepped forward, “Please put your hands behind your back.”

When she made a move to run Noah said in a bored tone, “Running won’t help, we have deputies on the fire escape, and it will just add a charge of resisting arrest to your list of charges.”

She turned and let the deputy cuff her and he pushed her down into the sofa as he read her her rights.

Noah called Tara up to the apartment and left the deputy to guard the fire escape just in case the woman tried to run.

Tara took one look at the woman when she arrived before she dragged Noah out to the hallway. She whispered furiously, “That’s not Katey whatever name she gave. That’s Kate Argent, she’s a member of the Argent hunting family. They are supposed to have a treaty with the Hales. There is no way this hasn’t broken the treaty, coming into the territory and working with the pack pups under a false name. Talia should have picked up on this as the alpha.”

Noah asked, “How bad is this?”

Tara said, “If Peter finds out, he’s going to want to kill her.” At Noah’s shocked look she clarified, “Look, Peter is the pack left hand. It’s his job to deal with threats to the pack, she is very much a threat.”

Noah gestured to the apartment, “Let’s get the search done, and we can decide next steps from there.”

They started methodically going through each room in the apartment, they found a few journals in the study that they hoped would contain information useful to them, they just bagged and tagged them for further investigation.

Tara was going through the bedrooms as Daniel stood in the hallway monitoring the pair. Tara called out, “Boss, you need to see this.”

Noah walked into the spare room she was in and he froze at the door, “Fuck.”

Tara nodded as she had open cases of weapons all over the room, boxes containing explosives and herbs, and the most important bit of evidence seemed to be in Tara’s hands.

Noah asked, “Are those blueprints?”

Tara nodded, “Yep, they are the plans for the Hale House in the preserve. She must have somehow got these from City Hall. There are also a couple more journals and a stack of IDs.”

Noah sighed, “Log it and we can examine it all back at the station. I’ll call in the prisoner transport as it has enough room to transport everything. Make sure you grab any laptops or computers you find. There wasn’t one in the study so it must be hidden somewhere.”

She nodded and continued searching the apartment.

She saw Kate pale when she carried out the journals and blueprints to take down to the cruisers. A few minutes later Noah came out with more journals and a box full of letters from the study. He said, “Jeffers, can you take her down to your cruiser and get her settled. We are just going to get everything down to the van before he we head to the station to process everything. When we get to the station I want you to process Ms. Argent and let her make her call to her lawyer.”

“Yes, Sir,” Jeffers agreed before he pulled Kate up from the sofa, “Come along Ms. Argent.”

Kate had been silent through the whole search but now she was raging, “You have no right! I don’t care what that boy said, he’s lying.”

Noah took Daniel through to the office and he asked, “How do I log the Aconite? As a poison?”

Daniel nodded, “It’s fatal to werewolves. It’s also fatal to humans but it takes a lot more to put them down. So definitely as a poison. Hopefully, there will be information in the journals that will point to why she had so much of it.”

It took nearly an hour to load up the various guns, rifles, and explosives into the van with Kate raging the entire time. She snarled as they shut the van, “You better not damage any of those. They are stock for my job at Argent Arms.”

Noah shook his head, “If that was the case, Ms. Argent, they’d be locked in an approved locker. Not just sitting in a spare room in your apartment.” He made a note to get in touch with the person in charge at Argent Arms International to find out her current employment status, he was also curious if they knew why she was in Beacon Hills.

They finally got her booked at the station under her real name and were logging in the evidence. Tara suggested, “I think you need to change the code for the evidence room. Someone altered her background check to get her the job at the school, that’s not something you should ignore.”

Noah nodded, “I know. I was planning to change the code after we have everything logged.”

They logged everything except the journals, Noah wanted to skim read them before her lawyer arrived, so he had more of an idea on what to ask in her questioning.

He and Tara locked themselves in his office and started to go through the five different journals they had found. Tara was halfway through the first one when she paused, “Boss? This one talks about setting fire to a house in Stallion Oaks.”

Noah asked, “Does it give a date?”

“May,” Tara said, “It doesn’t give any further details. Maybe google it? She mentions it’s a small town with only one school.”

Noah slid his keyboard across to Tara as he held his hand out for the journal. He had a sick feeling in his gut when Tara mentioned the school. He asked, “When you’re done googling can you see if the other journals mention fires?”

Tara nodded, “There was a fire on May 16th, it killed most of the Steiner family. The only survivors were twins, Aiden and Ethan Steiner. It looks like they went into the foster system as they were only 11.” She sighed, “There was another survivor, their older brother, Ruben. He died a few days after the fire. I’m pretty sure they were werewolves, the fire was on the night of the full moon.”

Noah asked, “Does it say how the older brother died?”

Tara shook her head, and they both knew what that meant. Noah said roughly, “Let me guess, Ruben was under 15?”

Tara nodded, “He was only 14.”

Noah said, “I think we need to get her charged for molestation of a minor with the kiss. I am sure Daniel can label her a flight risk based on the false IDs we found in her apartment.”

Tara agreed, “Do you want to call him in here? Let him know what we’ve found? This might end up becoming a federal case and he’ll need the warning.”

Noah said, “I’ll call him. He said he was going to find a case to keep Peter busy while Kate is being held here. He didn’t want to risk Peter attacking her for trying to seduce his nephew.”

She nodded, “While you get that done I’ll go out and get the paperwork on her initial charges started.”

-x- 

After the call with Daniel, Noah sat and read through each of the journals. It seemed that each one was based on fires she had lit in other towns, one in Arizona and the rest in California. Four were successful and one had her chased out of town by the alpha after she targeted the wrong beta. She seemed to prefer targeting boys between 13 and 15, and he’d found evidence that two of the boys had died after the fire.

Tara came in and she said, “The judge granted our request to hold her without bail due to her being a flight risk.”

Noah nodded, “Good, I think we need to call in the FBI. She’s a serial killer that’s crossed state lines, if these journals are to be believed. When I looked up the fires the cases had all been reported to the media as accidents. I can almost guarantee that’s what she had planned for the Hales.”

Tara scowled, “And Talia just dismissed it. Someone has to tell Peter. She might be behind bars, but I’m sure she had others helping her. He’ll want to ask their emissary to put stronger wards on the house.”

Noah closed his eyes, “He tried, he went to the Emissary after he dropped the kids off at school. The emissary refused, he said it was the alpha’s place to request those wards.” He looked at her and he asked, “Can you take Stiles for a few nights a week? I want to set up a watch on the Hale house, make sure no one tries to finish what she has planned.”

Tara asked, “Sure. Have you told Stiles what’s going on?”

Noah shook his head, “No, he’s not even met Peter. Talia and Claudia hated each other so Talia essentially banned her family from associating with us. I never realized until now that she must have made it an alpha order.”

Tara nodded, “You’ll start to understand a lot of things that didn’t make a lot of sense before. It’s why Peter always left the station when Stiles stopped in after school.”

Noah chuckled, “It’s a shame really, I think they’d get on like a house on fire. They are both sarcastic sassy assholes.”

Tara agreed, “You’re not wrong there. If the FBI is going to end up with the case, can we get her transferred to one of the federal prisons until her arraignment?”

“Daniel is looking into it.” Noah confirmed, “We would prefer she was in a more secure holding facility, to be honest.”

Tara asked, “How’s Peter taking it?”

Noah shook his head, “He’s pissed. Argent hunters are supposed to follow a code, it comes down to they respond to attacks. The Hales are one of the most well-respected packs in North America, there is no need for the Argents to take action, and certainly nothing that justifies such an underhanded attack. He’s looking into the other fires to see if they were also werewolf packs and if they were justified hunts.”

Tara asked, “There is no justification that could warrant killing an entire family by trapping them in the house. Even if there was a feral pack member.” She huffed, “Any word on how Talia is taking it?”

Noah laughed, “She’s ignored it. Peter said she’s not even asked Derek if he’s ok after one of his teachers was arrested.”

“Hell,” Tara asked incredulously, “She’s got her head in the sand?”

Noah nodded, “Yep. I mean Peter tried to explain how Kate had the blueprints from City Hall, the ones that include the tunnel maps under the house. She didn’t want to know. She said it must be a misunderstanding.”

Tara winced, “Peter won’t take that well at all.”

Noah agreed, “No, he really didn’t. He’s sticking close to Derek and Cora when he’s not at work, they are even spending time at the DA’s office to get some work experience. Something else Talia didn’t protest.”

Tara nodded, “Well, let’s hope the FBI turn up soon and they get her out of our hair.”

Chapter Text

November 2004

Noah arranged for Peter to visit him at home after he had finished reading the journals. Mindful of the alpha order, he asked Tara to take Stiles for the night and he made his kid promise not to sneak home, no matter how tempted he was to know what was going on.

Peter turned up at his back door which told Noah he had run through the preserve to visit rather than drive over. He asked, “You didn’t want to be seen?”

“No,” Peter agreed, “Talia is on a rampage. She’s pissed that the teacher was arrested, she doesn’t even know the Argent connection yet. She seems to think it will draw undue attention in our direction.”

Noah rolled his eyes as he led the beta through to the den. He opened his liquor cabinet and he asked, “Whiskey?”

Peter raised an eyebrow, “Your news is that bad?”

Noah nodded, “I know now that it doesn’t affect you, but the comfort might help.”

“Ok,” Peter took a seat on the sofa and he accepted the drink as Noah sat beside him. “Spill, please.”

With a sigh, Noah explained, “She was planning to set fire to the house, by the sounds of it she was aiming to have everything ready for the Wolf Moon in January.”

Peter asked, “Seriously? She had all that written down?”

Noah nodded with a laugh, “Yeah, she also had journals dedicated to the other four fires she’s used to kill entire families before coming to Beacon Hills. Also, the one failure, where the alpha found her and chased her out of town.”

“Wow,” Peter sighed, “I wonder why word of this isn’t getting out?”

Noah pulled the folder on the coffee table closer as he said, “The fires have all been labeled accidents for one thing. And I think she was choosing packs that prefer not to associate with others. They are all in isolated locations.”

Peter asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Noah pulled out photos of young teens from the folder, “She seduced a young beta from each pack. Made sure that they were not at home when the fire was lit. Two died not long after the fires, both took their own lives.”

The beta went through the information in the folder and the photos of the boys and he asked, “She was planning this for Derek?”

Noah nodded, “Yeah, she does a slow seduction. Starts with small touches and she works her way up to full-on statutory rape. She uses this time to pump them for information about the pack, secret escapes, that sort of thing.” He pulled all the papers back into the folder and he said, “Talia has refused us a second interview with Derek and she’s threatening to sue for us taking his statement without her there.”

Peter said, “I think I am going to have to deploy one of my nuclear options. Her actions are not that of a worthy alpha.”

Noah asked, “What are you planning?”

Peter shook his head and put a comforting hand on the sheriff’s knee, “Nothing for you to worry about. If it works, it should cut Talia off at the pass.”

“Is River at least keeping an eye on the twins?” Noah asked, “I know Laura is very much on the Talia-knows-best side of things.”

Peter shrugged, “As much as he can, sure.” He leaned into Noah and he said quietly, “No matter what happens from here on out I will do my best to keep the fallout away from you and Stiles. Especially Stiles.”

Noah kissed the top of his head and he asked, “Is Talia why you’ve never agreed to date me?” When the silence stretched he sighed, “I guess that’s an answer in itself. I guess what I want to know is was it an order, or a threat.”

Peter said roughly, “Both. I couldn’t risk it, I couldn’t risk you.”

“Fucking bitch,” Noah said quietly, “Do whatever you can to protect yourself and those kids. I’ll be here if you need me.”

Peter turned and he gave Noah a gentle kiss before he left quietly out the back door and into the preserve.

-x-

When he got back to the Hale house, Peter waited in the shadows until all the heartbeats inside the house had slowed to a sleep rhythm. He carefully entered the library and he pulled out the book he had been reading over the last week. The one he hoped would return the pack to the protectors they once were. 

He flicked through it to make sure the ritual he was looking for was noted, before he left the house again to find the nexus of the land.

It took him several hours to find the giant stump he was looking for. Especially since Talia had removed the memory of its location from his mind the year before. He had sheltered in the root cellar under the Nemeton with Derek when they were being pursued by a group of rogue hunters. Thankfully he was connected enough with his wolf and he followed his instincts, in a very roundabout way, to the Nemeton.

As always he felt welcomed by the large tree stump that lay unassuming in the middle of the preserve. When he found out Talia had had the tree cut down, the first thing he did was go out and apologize for not being in town to stop her.

He settled on the stump with the book in his lap and he thought about all the reasons he had for doing the ritual he was planning. He knew it would change everything and that his sister was likely going to try and kill him. But he couldn’t leave things as they were, he could leave this unchallenged. He knew he wouldn’t win going up against his sister, and he knew if he tried to challenge her that others from the pack would stop him or kill him on her behalf. 

No, he knew he had to go directly to the source of the alpha spark, he had to petition to magic itself, to the Nemeton to challenge her worth as the alpha of Beacon County. He didn’t know if it would work, but he had to try. He was sick of the twins being ignored because they weren’t the alpha heir, he was tired of being prevented from being with his mate, the other half of his soul. He was done.

He sat on the stump and sliced through both his hands placing them palm down on the stump before he recited the words required for the ritual:

Mother Magic, hear my plea,
I call judgment on an unworthy alpha,
I call for judgment for the one that would refuse me my mate,
I call for judgment for the one that would ignore her betas in favor of her heir,
I call for judgment for the one that refuses to protect her betas, her children,
I call for judgment for the one that no longer protects this land.

He sagged on the stump and closed his eyes as he murmured, “Mother Magic, please just help me.”

The book he had wasn’t clear on what would happen after the petition was made but he was definitely not expecting to find himself still sitting on the stump of the Nemeton in a large endless white room.

He saw a tall woman with stark white hair standing near the stump, and beside her was Talia, sitting on a basic wooden chair near the stump, apparently screaming her head off, but she wasn’t making a sound.

The woman smiled at him and she said, “Well Beta Hale, it’s about damn time. I have been hoping you would do this after she prevented you from being with your mate.”

Peter sighed, “Honestly, I thought judgment would still fall to her side. My actions…”

She cut him off, “Your actions have always been to protect the pack. The few times it wasn’t, you had been ordered to act, to kill, by your alpha.” She glared at Talia, “It’s the sign of a good alpha when the left hand isn’t the only one doing what needs to be done to protect the pack.”

She turned to Talia, “Your beta has claimed you prevented him from being with his mate. How do you plead?”

Talia sneered, “Mates aren’t real. He was just looking out for himself, and being with the sheriff would have given away our secrets.”

Peter’s jaw dropped, “Wow, you’re seriously telling the manifestation of Magic herself, that mates aren’t real. Mate’s that she gifts us as her favored children.”

“Quiet Peter,” Talia snarled, “You have no say here.”

Mother Magic raised an eyebrow, “He actually has a lot to say here, he is the one who petitioned me to judge if you are still worthy of the alpha spark. As your pack symbol states, ‘Alpha, Beta, Omega, any can rise, any can fall.’ You have been perilously close to falling for many years. I was just waiting for you to push someone hard enough that they would do the ritual.”

She glared at the unrepentant alpha and she demanded, “Your beta has accused you of not protecting your betas. How do you plead?”

Talia growled, “I protect them just fine.”

Mother Magic shook her head, “You ignored your son reporting when a teacher was abusing him. You told him he was lying and implied he was doing it for attention. That teacher, she’s a hunter, she was planning to sleep with your son to get information on the pack. Your son was scared and he came to you as his alpha for reassurance and protection. You provided neither.”

Peter said, “That hunter has killed off four other packs after seducing young betas. Her plan was to burn the pack to the ground on the night of the Wolf Moon. The one full moon where you require full attendance. The FBI is now involved as she is being treated as a serial killer.”

Talia hissed, “Derek brought this on himself. He should have just ignored it and she would have moved on.”

Both Peter and the woman gave her incredulous looks. 

Mother Magic said, “The last crime I lay at your feet is the Nemeton, you allowed your emissary to cut it down. Do you have any idea what this has done to the land?”

Talia shrugged, “It was poisoning the land, it had to go.”

Mother Magic looked at her scornfully and she said, “You’re a heartless bitch.”

She stood in front of Talia and reached into her chest pulling a red writhing ball out of her chest, “Talia Hale, it is my ruling that you are no longer worthy to be the Alpha of Beacon County. You are no longer worthy of the full shift that was bestowed by me on the Hale Pack. You are no longer welcome in Beacon Country. I further rule that you shall never be an alpha again. Should you kill an alpha, their spark will go to the next available beta in their pack. Should you find an alpha willing to pass on their alpha spark to you, the same thing will happen.”

Talia snarled, “You have no right, this is my territory!”

Mother Magic yelled, “I have every right, you insolent child. Be thankful I haven’t killed you outright for your crimes!”

She said to Peter, “I want to be clear, it is just Talia who is no longer welcome in Beacon County. This is still Hale Pack territory.” She looked down at the writhing mass in her hands, as she watched it the mass seemed to calm and grow brighter, she looked at Peter seriously and she asked, “Beta Hale, it is my wish that you take over the pack as the new alpha. Are you aware of all that entails?”

Peter nodded, “Loyal to protect the land, to protect and nurture the Nemeton, and do all I can to protect the pack.”

Mother Magic asked, “Will you take on the responsibility of being the next Hale Alpha? Do you vow to protect the territory, the land, the Nemeton, and the pack?”

Peter smiled, “I so vow.” 

She smiled as she pushed the newly cleansed alpha spark into his chest and she watched as he roared in acceptance of the alpha power. 

As he settled he looked down at the stump and he asked, “Is there anything that can be done to restore the Nemeton to its former state?”

Mother Magic nodded, “You need to find a magic user you trust enough to examine the tree, they will be able to find and cleanse the corruption.”

Talia said, “Alan said it was corrupt and not worth saving.”

Mother Magic snorted indelicately, and she said, “As I said, you need to find a magic user you can trust. One who actually believes in helping the land. The one that serves as Talia’s emissary is only out for his own gain.”

Peter nodded, “I’d believe that.” He sneered at Talia, “You can take him with you when you leave. I’ll give you 48 hours to pack and go.”

Talia said, “It will take time to sell the house before we can leave.”

Mother Magic tilted her head and she asked, “How can you sell something that doesn’t belong to you? The land and all of its holdings are automatically transferred to the next Hale Alpha. The only thing you get to keep is your individual trust funds, and just so you’re aware, they have been corrected from your manipulations.”

Peter frowned, “Manipulations?”

She nodded, “Talia had altered the terms of the trust funds so that her daughter got everything that was intended for yourself, Derek, and Cora. The trust agreements have been put back to rights, with Derek and Cora regaining the trusts that were removed from them. They will gain full access when they turn 18. I’m sure the pack lawyer will be in touch with you soon to explain everything.”

Mother Magic turned to Talia, “If I was you, I would do everything in my power to stay off my radar. If I see you again, Talia Hale, you will not survive the experience.”

“Doyle,” Talia said determinedly, “Talia Doyle. If I am no longer the Hale alpha then there is no point keeping my birth name.”

Mother Magic nodded regally, “That’s fine.” She could see the direction of Talia’s thoughts, “However, your children must remain Hales. They may opt to change their last name after they are of age when it is their decision, however, any attempts by anyone else to change their last name for them will fail.”

“Fine!” Talia bit out, “Anything else you want to take from me while we are here?”

Mother Magic gave her a pitying look and she said, “I could always just take your life. It was a fifty-fifty choice with the actions you’ve taken over the years. I was lenient as I hope you will find it in yourself to change and improve yourself.” She muttered, “I’m not holding my breath.”

Peter inspected his claws as he asked, “What if she challenges me for the alpha spark before she leaves town?”

The older woman shrugged, “She’ll die. It is my ruling that she is not fit to be the alpha of this territory, if she attempts to overturn that ruling either by her own hand or by pushing someone else to do it, she’ll die and anyone who helped her will join her in death.”

She glared at Talia, “Do not anger me, child. You are on your last chance, at least try and learn from the experience.”

With that, she flicked her wrist, and Talia was sent back to her bed where she woke gasping and trying to catch her breath.

Mother Magic approached Peter, “You will be a great alpha in time. Take the time to rebuild your pack, starting with your mate and his son. My gift to you and your mate is Mieczysław’s survival from the bite, the bite would have killed him otherwise due to his latent magic. He will be a magnificent wolf.”

She kissed his forehead and he woke on the Nemeton in the clearing.

Chapter Text

November 2004

Peter made his way back to the Stilinski house, wanting to share the good news. He knew the next few days would be hard but he wanted to tell Noah he was finally free.

He scaled the side of the house and stole into the open bedroom in Noah’s room. The sheriff was sitting up with a gun pointed at him when he entered, he said quickly, “It’s just me.”

Noah slid the gun back under his pillow and he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Peter flashed his red alpha eyes and he said, “I’m free. We’re free.”

Noah reached up and cupped his cheek, “What happened? When you left here you sounded almost defeated, like you weren’t sure you would come out of whatever you were planning in one piece.”

Peter chuckled, “I wasn’t. I petitioned Mother Magic for judgment. She can be harsh if she feels there wasn’t a good enough reason to call for judgment. If she deemed me calling for something minor, she probably would have killed me.”

Noah said, “Clearly it all went well.”

Peter nodded, “Yep, Talia Doyle has 48 hours to leave Beacon Hills. If she challenges me to try and get the alpha spark back, she and anyone assisting her will die. She’s also been deemed unworthy of ever holding an alpha spark. Even if one is given to her willingly, her body won’t accept it.”

“Wow,” Noah said, “That sounds serious. What I want to know is, can we finally go on that date?”

Peter chuckled, “Sure, but I need to tell you something. Something Talia refused to let me tell you before.”

Noah asked, “What’s that?”

Peter decided to be blunt and just rip off the bandaid, “You’re my mate.”

Noah asked, “Like soulmate kind of mate?”

Peter nodded, “Exactly like. Werewolves are gifted a mate, that one person who will be just the right person for them. Often it’s another werewolf, but occasionally it’s someone human, and for me that human is you.”

Noah asked, “Is this a forever kind of thing?”

Peter nodded, “Very much so, if you’ll have me.”

Noah pulled Peter hard so the alpha lay sprawled over him on the bed and he said, “I’ve wanted you for a long time, Peter. I really hate your bitch of a sister for keeping us apart all these years.” He gave his mate a quick kiss before he asked, “So, what happens now?”

Peter rolled so he was lying beside his mate and he explained, “I’ll need to rebuild the pack. I can see quite a few of the current pack going with Talia, this will leave us vulnerable to those who think they would be better guardians of an active Nemeton.” He smirked, “Mother Magic said I should start with you and Stiles, she even gave me a gift for young Mieczysław.”

Noah gaped at his mate, “Wow, you can pronounce it correctly.”

Peter admitted, “I had help. He’s your son, so I wanted to make sure I didn’t butcher it.”

Noah nodded, “He goes by Stiles or occasionally Mischief, mostly because everyone butchers it. He’s going to be happy when he finds you in here.” He frowned, “Wait, you said Mother Magic had a gift for him?”

Peter nodded, “His survival from the bite. He apparently has latent magic, and magic users don’t survive the bite.”

Noah smiled, “I’ll leave the decision up to him, but I am pretty sure he’ll agree.”

Stiles entered the room and sat on the end of the bed, “Agree to what, and why is there a strange man in your bed.”

Peter snarked, “Technically I’m on it, not in it.”

“Semantics,” Stiles said with a wave of his hand, “Who are you, and what are you doing in our house at god knows what o’clock?”

Noah rolled his eyes, “Stiles, this is Peter Hale. Why aren’t you at Tara’s house?”

Stiles ignored the question as his eyes lit up in glee, “Oh did the bitch finally kick the bucket?”

Noah and Peter both gave him disbelieving looks, so Stiles huffed, “I’m not stupid. The fact that Peter always left the station as soon as I got within range for him to hear my heartbeat, that he wouldn’t date you despite the fact you’re both hot for each other. The only thing I couldn’t find out was what he looked like since that bitch of an alpha wouldn’t let me near any of her pack. Mom said she was going to eventually go down and I had to be patient.”

Noah asked, “Claudia knew?”

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, she was a spark. She suspected I was one as well but it wouldn’t manifest until after I was done with puberty.”

Peter confirmed, “You’re definitely a magic user, although, according to Mother Magic it’s currently latent.”

Stiles asked, “Is this relating to the decision you mentioned?”

Peter nodded, “Mother Magic has suggested you and your father for the pack. She has assured me that you will survive the bite even though you are a magic-user.”

Stiles asked, “Will I lose my magic?”

Peter shrugged, “Sorry, I don’t know. All she said was that her gift to me for you was that you would survive the bite.”

Stiles nodded, “Ok. I’ll do it. When?”

Noah said, “I would rather wait until Argent is with the FBI before making major changes that would require time off.”

Peter nodded, “I agree. I would also rather not be dealing with two new turns as Talia is leaving town.”

Noah asked, “She’s leaving town?”

“She’s been banished,” Peter explained, “Mother Magic has given her 48 hours to leave the territory.”

Stiles asked, “Damn, I thought she had died.”

Peter shook his head, “No, I petitioned Mother Magic for judgment, Talia was found wanting and Mother Magic made me the new Hale alpha. Talia has renounced the Hale name, and is now Talia Doyle.”

Stiles asked, “What about Doc Deaton? Was he banished?”

“No,” Peter replied, “At least not by Mother Magic. I’ll be visiting him to let him know that I am the new alpha, and that his services are no longer welcome in this territory. I’ll do the official banishment ceremony in two weeks. Give him enough time to start selling his practice or at least get in a temporary replacement.”

Noah asked, “Do you want me to escort you out to the house to make sure Talia doesn’t pull anything on her way out of town?”

Peter nodded, “It would be good to show a united front to the pack, god knows what she’s told them since she woke up.”

Noah said, “Stiles, you should go try and get some more sleep. You have school in the morning. We’ll talk more tonight, ok?”

Stiles nodded, “Sure. Just stay safe, Mom said she was power-hungry. I wouldn’t put it past her to try and force you to give up the alpha spark again.”

Peter laughed, “If she tries, she dies. It’s that simple, and if she tries via a proxy, they die too. Mother Magic has decreed that she shall never again be an alpha.”

Stiles nodded, “Good. Right, I’ll try and get some sleep. I assume you’ll be gone when I head to school?”

Noah nodded, “Yeah, I’ll text David and ask him to pick you up on the school run. Did you at least leave a note for Tara this time?”

Stiles nodded, “Yeah, I don’t really want her panicking again.” He turned to leave the room but paused before he shut the door, “Don’t drop your guard for a second. She can’t be trusted.”

Peter waited until he could hear Stiles settle in his bed before he said, “We’ll need to have a longer discussion about what Claudia knew. He might know more about why Talia was so adamant that Stiles be kept away from the pack.”

Noah said, “We should probably head out there now. I’ll text Tara and let her know I’ll be a bit late for my shift. She’ll understand when I update her and Daniel later.” He stood to get dressed into his uniform, “Do you know who will go with her?”

Peter sighed, “No, not really. Kirsten will, and Tiffany will want to as she’s best friends with Laura. Derek and Cora won’t want to go, but they are only 13.”

Noah finished getting dressed before he said, “Come on, let’s get this over with.” 

-x-

By the time they got to the house in the preserve, it was nearly 6 am. However, the house was bustling with activity. Peter stood out the front and he roared to get everyone's attention, to call them outside.

When no one came outside he roared again, this time putting his full alpha voice behind the roar. Noah stood by his side with his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face.

Everyone came outside slowly with Talia leading the charge. Noah snarked, “Wow, she must have been lying out her arse for them all to be that afraid of you.”

Peter nodded, “I wonder what she went with? Attack, threats, maybe blackmail?”

Noah looked at the group as they reacted, “I’m going to go with threats.”

Peter held up the book he used and he said, “I just want to make things clear before we go any further. I used a ritual in this book to petition Mother Magic for judgment on our former alpha. She was found wanting and has been banished from Beacon Hills for her actions, or lack thereof.”

Kirsten sneered, “What actions? All of her actions have been to protect the pack.”

Noah asked, “Including banning Peter from being with his mate? That’s me by the way.”

Peter asked, “How does ignoring a hunter trying to seduce her son protect the pack? That hunter has been charged with 4 counts of arson, 1 count of attempted arson, 5 counts of sexual abuse of a minor, and 25 counts of murder by arson. If I hadn’t acted the pack would have died at the hands of an Argent on the Wolf Moon.”

Robert asked, “Talia, is that true?”

Talia scoffed, “Of course it’s not.”

Derek yelled, “It is true. Uncle Peter helped me report her after she kissed me when I didn’t want her to. I tried talking to Mom but she called me a liar and said that me and Cora were just causing trouble.”

River asked, “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”

Derek laughed, “Because you will do whatever Mom tells you to do. Mom said drop it, so you would have ignored it just like she did.”

Peter yelled, “Hey!” Once everyone was paying attention to him again he said, “I want to make it clear. The only person who has been ordered by Mother Magic herself to leave the territory is Talia. Everyone else is welcome to stay, provided you accept me as your alpha. The only person I plan to banish myself is our former emissary.”

Robert asked, “You have no issues with us staying in your territory?”

Peter smiled, “As long as you fully accept me as your alpha, then I have no issues with anyone staying.”

His big brother said, “Thanks, Peter.” He looked at his scowling wife and he said resignedly, “I’ll let you know.”

Peter knew Robert wouldn’t want to leave, he had a good job in town that he enjoyed, something he wouldn’t find in Maryland, where Talia would undoubtedly go, but he also knew that Tiffany wouldn’t want to stay if Laura left.”

Noah whispered, “I need to head into the office to deal with the FBI. They turned up to take over the case. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

Peter gave him a kiss and he said, “I’ll be here.”

Talia approached as Noah drove away. She said, “We’re leaving in a few hours.”

Peter scowled, “Are you even giving your kids a choice? Or are you just uprooting them from the lives they are used to?”

The former alpha shook her head, “I am their mother, it’s my decision.”

He looked at the twins who looked pissed, “As long as the kids know they are always welcome in my pack. No matter what.”

Derek and Cora chorused, “Thanks, Uncle Peter.”

-x-

Peter went up to the office and he started to go through the pack documents, he wanted to review the current alliances. He found the trust fund paperwork on the desk in a state of disarray. He started to go through it all as he remembered Mother Magic stating she had fixed up what Talia had tried to change.

He found the most recent statements and wrote down the balances on a handy notepad before he called through to the manager at the bank they used to request up-to-date balances. There was quite a large difference between the figures given by the manager and the figures on the statements in front of him. He wrote down he adjusted figures so he could see just how much Talia had tried to screw over her own family before he discussed changes with the manager.

The most important change he made was that he locked down the accounts, they were now set so the only people who could make changes or withdrawals on the minor's accounts were either the named minor or himself. He also restricted the main pack accounts to just himself until he knew who was staying and who was going before he canceled all the credit cards attached to the account.

He quickly reviewed the alliance contracts he could find and he left a few out on the desk to deal with later. They were alliances that seemed to be unbalanced and he would need to renegotiate the terms asap.

Before he went downstairs he pulled out a piece of notepaper for each pack member and he wrote their current trust fund balance and the contact details for the bank. He wanted to make sure Talia know that her manipulations had truly been undone by Mother Magic, and more importantly, that she could no longer meddle in her children’s trust funds.

He handed out the sheets of paper and he said to Derek and Cora, “Any requests for withdrawals will require my approval until you are 18. The same goes for any minor of the Hale family.”

Derek asked, “You’re sure we will be welcome to return any time? We want to stay here in Beacon Hills, but Mom won’t let us.”

Peter pulled the twins into a hug, “Definitely. Take care of yourselves and look out for each other.”

Talia scowled when he handed over the piece of paper with her new balance and he said, “Any withdrawal requests from any of the minors will require my counter signature. If I suspect you’re using their funds I will deny the withdrawal. Just so we’re clear. I’ve also closed access to all the other accounts and canceled all the cards.

In the end, it was just Robert and his kids that stayed behind. Tiffany refused to stay in Beacon Hills and she filed for divorce. She offered to take the kids, Daniel, Eric, Gavin, and Daisy, but they wanted to stay with the pack and their father who they were much closer to. Peter was happy to have the support

Chapter Text

November 2004

Noah arrived to find the station in a state of chaos. Tara was trying to assist the FBI agents, but two of his deputies were getting in her way, it looked like they were trying to prevent Kate’s transfer into FBI custody.

Noah demanded, “What the hell is going on here?”

Deputy Haigh said, “The FBI have arrived to take custody of Ms. Argent. But it’s our case.”

Noah raised an eyebrow and he asked silkily, “So we deal with federal cases now Deputy Haigh? Since when?”

Haigh demanded, “How is kissing a kid a federal crime? It’s a misdemeanor at most. She should have been out on bail days ago.”

Noah crossed his arms and asked, “How exactly do you know the nature of her charges, Deputy Haigh? Have you been snooping in files you shouldn’t have been? I know for a fact I locked down her file.”

Haigh paled, “I heard it from one of the guys in the locker room.”

The FBI agent standing closest to Noah asked, “Do you want him added to the questioning list?”

Noah nodded, “Yes, please. It’s clear he’s been snooping in her files, files I definitely locked down to myself and Deputy Graeme’s access only. Now, let me take you through to my office so we can do the case handover.”

The agent followed him through to his office and when he shut the door he said, “I’m SSA Douglas Jennings, please call me Doug. I have been trying to find the evidence to nail Kate Argent for the last year. We have suspected she lit the fires, but couldn’t find the evidence to gain a search warrant.”

Noah nodded, “We were just lucky she had everything out in the open in her apartment.”

Doug asked, “How did you get the search warrant? The details didn’t come through in the transfer request.”

Noah leaned back in his chair and he said, “She was working at the local private school, Devonford Prep. One of her students came in with his uncle to report she was touching him inappropriately and had tried to kiss him. He and his twin sister were quite upset by her actions, and the fact that their mother told him he was making it up. His family was next on the list to be targeted. We found blueprints for their house, and enough ordinance to supply a small army in her spare room.”

Doug frowned, “Doesn’t she work for Argent Arms?”

Noah nodded, “Yep, but she’s on leave and none of the weapons were locked away. Arms dealers have strict rules they have to follow for storage of weapons.”

“They do,” Doug asked, “Who is currently the head of Argent Arms?”

Noah opened the folder in front of him and he said, “I spoke with Christopher Argent. He’s the current CEO, he apparently inherited the company from his mother, Brigitte Argent, when she died.”

Doug made some notes on his phone before he asked, “Are the guns from Argent Arms? Have they been traced?”

“They have,” Noah confirmed, “And they aren’t all from Argent Arms. There are also several that have been illegally modified and several boxes of ammunition are filled with the aconite.”

Doug swore viciously, “Fucking bitch didn’t want to give them a chance. I’ll be putting in a request for Argent Arm’s to be audited based on this information. They’ll be lucky to keep their license at this point.”

They got started on the paperwork to transfer the evidence and Kate Argent into FBI custody. They also took Deputy Haigh with them so they could formally interview him in regards to his inappropriate interest in the case.

-x-

Peter took Robert with him to visit their former emissary, Dr. Alan Deaton. He was one of the local vets for Beacon Hills. The first thing Peter had done after Talia had left was to reach inside himself and forcefully break the Emissary bond he had inherited from his sister. He had never trusted the doctor.

They entered the clinic at the end of the day and they found the doctor bidding farewell to his final patient for the day. 

After they had left Dr. Deaton, with his usual calm mask, asked, “How can I help you, gentlemen.”

Peter said, “I’m sure you felt the pack bond-breaking earlier today. I’m here to issue a formal notice that you are no longer welcome in the Beacon Hills territory.”

The mask broke for a split second before the calm settled again. He asked, “You don’t have the right to banish me from the territory.”

Peter let his eyes flare red and he said, “I am the new Hale Alpha.”

With a grin, Robert murmured, “Long live the king.” 

Peter glared at him before he said, “Talia was stripped of her position by Mother Magic herself for crimes against the pack, against magic, and against the Nemeton.”

Deaton said coldly, “I fail to see why that would see me banished from the territory I have made into my home.”

Peter smirked, “No, I doubt you would. However, I think you should be thankful you still have your magic. Mother Magic was very clear that it was your influence that saw the Nemeton cut down. An action it may never recover from.”

Robert said, “You had her convinced the tree was unimportant to the territory. We all tried to tell her otherwise but your word was law.”

Peter growled, “No longer. You have two weeks before I perform the official banishment ceremony. That will give you enough time to notify your clients and move your practice out of town.”

Deaton said angrily, “You have no right!”

Peter roared, “I have every right! This is my territory, I am the alpha and I find you lacking. You have two weeks. If you stir up trouble I will perform the ritual earlier. Don’t test me.”

They both turned and left the practice to head back to the pack house. As they were driving Robert asked, “Do you want me to put feelers out for a new emissary?”

“Yeah,” Peter agreed, “I have some contacts but not ones I would trust to be our emissary. I was going to talk to Satomi, see if she knows anyone looking for a new pack.”

Robert asked delicately, “I guess you’ll also be renegotiating some of our alliances?”

Peter’s eyes widened as he nodded, “Hell yes. What was she thinking?”

Robert shrugged, “She’s not really listened to either of us for a few years now. For some reason, only Laura was trusted as a sounding board.”

Peter said sadly, “I know why she didn’t listen to me. She wanted a left hand, but she didn’t want to acknowledge that what I did was necessary. She had a very pollyanna view of the world.”

Robert said darkly, “I just hope it doesn’t bite us in the ass later.”

-x-

It was a few days before Peter could introduce the remains of his pack to Noah and Stiles. Noah had been dealing with the fallout of finding out one of his deputies was being bribed by Kate to get her off the charges. Haigh was now in the hands of the FBI, and Noah had been going through recent applicants trying to find a replacement on board asap.

Stiles was having a blast getting to know the pack kids that had stayed behind. Daniel and Eric were closest to him in age, being 15 and 14 to his own 13. Gavin and Daisy were both late babies to Kirsten and Robert, and they were 7-year-old twins.

Peter, Noah, and Robert were sitting on the stairs as Robert asked, “Are you planning to expand the pack beyond this group?”

Peter nodded, “I do. At least an emissary to start with.”

Noah asked, “Would you accept kids?”

Peter asked, “What are you thinking?”

“One of the fires Kate set,” Noah stated, “There was a pair of twins that survived. Their older brother was one of her victims and he took his own life a few days after the fire. They went into foster care and from what I’ve been able to find out they’ve just been bouncing between foster care homes. They are born wolves and I was thinking we could offer to take them, maybe even adopt them.”

Robert asked aghast, “Human foster care homes?”

Noah nodded, “They’ve slipped through the system. I’ve already put in a request to be a foster parent for them. They are the same age as Stiles.”

Peter said, “We’ll need to look into hiring someone to be a stay-at-home nanny for all the kids. Even with just this lot, we’re all working, and it’s too much to ask Daniel, Eric, and eventually Stiles to be babysitters.”

Robert suggested, “I know someone who might be interested. Her daughter is a prime candidate for the bite.”

Noah asked, “Lara Reyes?”

“Yeah,” Robert agreed with a grin, “She is currently a stay-at-home mom because of Erica’s epilepsy. Her husband, Ernesto, works two jobs just to try and stay ahead of the medical bills.”

Peter asked, “How bad is her epilepsy?”

Noah called out, “Stiles, front and center.”

Stiles trotted over and he asked, “What’s up, Daddio?”

Noah asked, “How bad is Erica’s epilepsy?”

Stiles shrugged half-heartedly, “She’s one seizure away from permanent brain damage. They have been getting more severe as she gets older and she has been hospitalized a few times this year. They have been trying to adjust her meds but it’s just not working.” He looked down at his hands and he said, “If you take Erica and me into the pack, you’ll realistically need to look at the rest of our friends. Our group is smart, they’ll figure out we’ve changed fairly quickly.”

Peter asked, “So who are we talking about?”

Stiles said, “Erica comes with Boyd and Isaac, her two best friends. My best friend is Jackson, and he comes with Lydia and Danny.” He frowned when he remembered some of his mother's teachings, “Mom warned me that you can’t bite Lydia. She’s a banshee, but she won’t come into her powers until puberty is done, like me. She’s currently unaware and completely dismissive of anything not normal, her mother’s fault, I’m sure.”

Noah nodded, “Yep, Natalie probably knows about Lydia’s banshee side and wants to ignore it and hope it goes away on its own.”

Peter said, “Thanks, Stiles. I’ll let you know if we decide to bring her into the pack.”

Knowing a dismissal when he heard one, Stiles ran back to rejoin the game of tag he was playing with the Hale kids.

Robert asked, “Can I switch the kids to the schools in Beacon Hills now that she’s gone? She refused to let the kids attend Beacon Hills High School, and even the younger ones were prevented from going to the elementary school because it was too close to the high school.”

Peter nodded, “More manipulations to keep the pack away from a budding spark. I wonder how much of that was Deaton’s influence?”

Noah shrugged, “I’m not sure he knew about Stiles. I just know that Talia knew Claudia and they hated each other. Claudia always went to the vet in Beacon Valley when Stiles’ snake got sick. When Noodle died, Claudia was determined to stay pet-free after that.”

Peter said, “So it’s early enough in the school year to transfer them without too many issues. Eric will probably join Stiles at the middle school, Daniel will be on his own at the high school.

Robert nodded, “Sounds good. I’ll talk to the schools tomorrow to arrange the transfers. At least we won’t have to do the school drive to Devonford every day.”

-x-

Deaton moved out of town without any issues, he found a buyer for his clinic with help from Satomi Ito, a neighboring alpha. One of her betas, Dennis Strong, was keen to take over the practice and move to the Hale Pack. His wife, Louise, was a witch and she was recommended by Satomi as a potential Emissary. Louise offered to monitor Stiles for magic after he takes the bite, and if his magic does manifest she offered to give him training in how to use his spark. She has been trained by a spark back when she first discovered her magic, so she knew what to expect.

The kids settled in at the Beacon Hills schools easily, they were joined a month later by Aiden and Ethan Hale. The twins were glad to be rescued from their string of human-run foster homes. They were almost desperate for pack bonds by the time they were rescued. Peter had taken one look at them, and he decided that he and Noah would adopt them. He was able to use several of his favors with his boss to arrange the private adoption, making them their kids. Stiles was happy to have new brothers.

Noah and Stiles moved into the pack house a few weeks after Talia had left, and the Reyes family moved in just before the start of the winter break. Lara and Ernesto Reyes were quick to accept pack life, Lara was given a job as the pack nanny, looking after the kids around their schooling and Ernesto was able to drop one of his jobs so he could spend more time with the pack and family. However, they both turned down the bite. They wanted to spend more time to see how the kids and Noah handled the bite, before they made the leap. They were excited for the cure for Erica’s epilepsy and they discovered her doctor was in the know, so he was able to help them play off her changes as her growing out of her epilepsy.

Peter did the bites for Noah, Stiles, and Erica at the start of the winter break. This would give them all plenty of time over the holiday break to adjust to their new abilities, and learn how to keep them under control. 

Lydia took to pack life like a goddess, she was quickly taken under the wing of Louise who recognized her potential for certain magics as a banshee. She let Lydia know how dangerous it was to be untrained when she came into her abilities. By the time Lydia started to sense things from her other side as she liked to call it she was already accepting of her other nature. She and Stiles became the main tutors for the pack study group with help from Daniel who was preparing to follow his uncle into a law degree.

After a year Lara, Ernesto, and David Whittemore all took the bite, and Olivia Mahealani followed them a year later. Sam Mahealani was happy to stay human, but he was a great help in teaching the kids self-defense and how to fight effectively.

Boyd, Isaac, Jackson, and Danny all took the bite a few years later when they turned 16, with the permission of their parents or guardians. Issac was now living with the Whittemore family and Boyd with the Mahealani family after it was discovered by the pack that both boys were being abused by their families. 

Peter was quick to put them both into therapy, so they wouldn’t have issues when it came to getting the bite. When Jackson heard about why they were getting therapy, he asked if he could do the same. He was still coming to terms with finding out he was adopted. His therapist helped him discover that his parents hadn’t abandoned him and helped him come to terms with their death from a car accident.

Chapter Text

January 2009

Peter stood from where he had been snuggling his mate on the sofa. The rest of the pack were all out at the movies, they had decided to give their alpha an afternoon free from their crazy antics. He could hear a car coming down the long access road to the house, and it wasn’t any of the pack member's vehicles. It definitely wasn’t one he had heard before.

Noah asked, “Who is it?”

Peter shrugged, “No idea. We should go outside and wait.”

They sat on the top step together as the car approached slowly. Peter whistled, “That’s a nice Camaro.”

Noah waited, ready to defend his mate when the doors of the car opened and two teens stepped out. 

Peter asked hesitantly, “Derek? Cora?”

The twins both nodded and Cora asked, “We wanted to see if your offer was still open? We left the Doyle Pack as soon as we turned 18.”

Peter walked slowly down the steps as he asked, “Was your former alpha ok with that?”

Derek nodded and he said, “The alpha had been expecting us to leave, and he understood completely. He helped us break the pack bonds gently, so it was less of a drain on us.”

Noah asked, “What about Talia, is she aware you’ve left?”

Cora shrugged, “We don’t actually care. We haven’t spoken to her in months. Not after she petitioned the alpha to force us to stay in the pack after we turned 18. He declined and reminded her that he is not the kind of alpha who rules by being a heartless dictator.”

Derek said, “We let Dad know we were leaving. He actually apologized and said he wished he had done more for us.”

Cora put her hands on her hips and she demanded, “So Alpha Hale, can we come home. You promised.”

Peter nodded and he held his arms out and both the teens rushed in for a hug. 

Cora asked, “Where’s Uncle Robert?”

Noah said, “They are on their way back now, they were at the movies with the rest of the pack. They are all pretty excited you’re both here.”

Derek asked nervously, “All?”

Peter grinned, “Oh yeah, all. The pack is pretty big. We took on some new members after you all left and they brought in their friends. So with you guys, the pack has 24 members.”

Cora asked, “Anyone we know?”

Noah shook his head, “I don’t think so. The kids all attend Beacon Hills High School, so I doubt you would have met any of them. They’ll be here soon though. Grab your gear from the car and you can stow them in your rooms, they are as you left them.”

Derek pulled his uncle in for another hug and he murmured, “Thank you, Alpha.”

With that confirmation, they both felt the pack bond slot back into place and Derek breathed easier than he had in the last five years. 

Peter looked at Cora and he asked, “Lil Bit?”

Cora smiled tremulously, “Of course, Alpha.” She smiled as her pack bond filled the void where it had been missing for the last five years. She had a pack bond with their mother's alpha in the Doyle pack, but it just wasn’t the same.

Noah asked from the door, “Are you both hungry?”

The twins both nodded and Cora said, “We decided to drive from LA in one push rather than wait. It was like we knew we were nearly home and we just wanted to get here.”

Noah suggested, “Why don’t you both head upstairs and freshen up a bit, I’ll get some lunch sorted for you both.” They were both still back in Peter’s arms and looked reluctant to leave so he said, “Peter, you have to let them go so you can help me with lunch. Come on.”

Peter let them go and they grabbed their bags from the trunk of the Camaro before they ran upstairs to shower. The dive they were staying in the night before had the most disgusting shower either of them had ever seen and they worried that even they would catch something if they used it.

Peter asked, “Are we doing lunch for the whole pack?”

Noah nodded, “They have skipped lunch to head home to see the twins.” He looked at his mate and he pondered, “I wonder how many other packs have three sets of twins.”

Peter chuckled, “Even when we had just the two sets it was pretty rare. Talia refused to have more kids after she had Derek and Cora. She absolutely hated the jokes about her having a litter.”

Noah snorted, “What? That’s a thing?”

Peter shook his head, “No, but it didn’t stop us teasing her about it. We did the same to Tiffany when she was pregnant with Daisy and Gavin.”

Derek and Cora entered the kitchen, “I think Tiffany accepted it with more grace than our mother ever did.” 

“It’s about the only thing she did with more grace,” Peter admitted, “Robert’s been much happier since she left. The kids too.”

Derek asked, “So who all is in the pack now? Aside from Uncle Robert and his kids?”

Noah smiled, “My son Stiles. He’s a senior at Beacon Hills High with our adopted kids Ethan and Aiden Hale. They were victims of another one of Kate’s fires. The other seniors in the pack are Erica, Boyd, Isaac, Jackson, Lydia, and Danny. Daniel and Eric are both off at university, although they are home for the winter break, and Daisy and Gavin are at Middle School.”

Peter said, “We also took on some of their parents as pack, so Lara Reyes is our pack mom, in a manner of speaking. She deals with the kids, makes sure everyone gets the homework done, and does the school run for the younger twins. We also have her husband Ernesto Reyes, they are Erica’s parents, Sam and Olivia Mahealani, Danny’s parents and they have guardianship of Boyd, and David and Maria Whittemore, Jackson’s parents and guardians of Isaac. Maria and Sam have both opted to stay human unless they are fatally injured.”

Derek said, “Wow, that sounds like a lot. Even with us joining, the Doyle pack was still quite small.”

With the sound of several vehicles approaching Peter grinned. He put another plate of sandwiches on the table and he asked, “Are you ready? The pack are about to descend.”

Derek and Cora nodded, they were fairly sure they could face the hoard. Derek moved his chair closer to Cora, it had been them against the world after they left Beacon Hills. It was going to be strange to get used to being out from under their mother's thumb. She may not have been an alpha but the threats were there. She made it clear if they ran they would be dragged back kicking and screaming by the police, and she had threatened to have their uncle arrested for kidnapping if they ran back to Beacon Hills.

The pack slowly entered the kitchen until Gavin and Daisy rushed at the twins to hug them as they shouted, “Cora! Derek! You’re finally home!”

Cora pulled Daisy out to arm's length and she marveled, “Wow, kiddo, you got big.” She looked between the pair of them, “You both got so tall. You’re going to outgrow your mom by a long shot.”

They both nodded and Daisy whispered, “We are going to be taller than Daniel, and Eric.”

Derek asked, “Why don’t you introduce us to everyone, pup?”

Daisy went around the room and introduced everyone and how they related to others in the pack, until she got to the last person and she looked around confused. She said, “Stiles and Jackson aren’t here. Where did they go?”

Danny laughed, “They are both outside looking over the Camaro. You know how car-mad the two of them are.”

Jackson sauntered in, “It’s nice, but not as nice as my Porsche. Stilinski is still out there drooling.”

Cora laughed as Derek ran outside to check on his new baby. She explained, “He’s still overprotective of his dream car.”

Outside Derek found a tall lithe teen slowly walking around his car. He sat on the top step and called out, “It doesn’t bite.”

The teen turned to look at him and he was stunning as far as Derek was concerned. Moles dotted the side of his face drawing the eye down to his neck. He had more of a runner's build, but it was hard to tell with all the baggy layers the teen was wearing. He said, “You must be Stiles.”

Stiles nodded as he approached slowly, “And you are?”

“Derek,” he replied, “Derek Hale.”

Stiles smirked, “The prodigal nephew, finally home.” He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, “Are you here to stay?”

Derek walked slowly down the stairs and he smiled as he realized, “I am. Especially now I’ve found you.”

Stiles whispered, “What’s so special about me?”

Derek smiled, “You’re my mate. If you’ll have me.”

Stiles said, “Sure, if you can wait a few months. Dad will kill both of us if we are mated before I’m 18.”

Derek nodded as he moved closer so there was less than a foot between them, “I can wait. I’ve waited this long.

Peter and Noah had overheard the conversation around the cacophony that was in the kitchen during mealtimes and they decided to join the boys outside.

Noah asked, “Is this why Talia wanted to keep us away from the pack?”

Peter shrugged, “Technically only the wolf knows who its mate is. So there is no way Talia could know.”

Stiles said, “Unless mom knew. You know she had that thing where she would know things before they happened. It’s possible she made an offhand comment to Talia and she took it the wrong way.”

Derek snickered, “Like that’s hard. You could say ‘Hi’ to her, and she’d take it as a personal attack.” 

Stiles murmured, “I have to admit, I’m glad I didn’t meet you until now. It would have made the last five years unbearable.”

Noah whispered, “They are going to be as bad as us, aren’t they?”

Peter nodded, “It’s a mate thing.” He cleared his throat, “Inside you two. You can snuggle on the sofa later.”

-x-

Cora asked, “So where are we going to go to school? We brought all our transcripts with us.”

Peter said, “We’ll get you registered for Beacon Hills High. Have you started your college applications?”

The twins both nodded. Cora pulled a folder out of her backpack, “We both have recommendations from our teachers at our old school. They said changing schools in our final year was risky, but they understood our reasons.”

Derek explained, “Laura said we should talk to you about colleges before we send off our applications.” When Peter gave him a look of surprise he said, “She’s mellowed. She’s not the high-strung clone of Talia that you remember. She’s still a mama’s girl, but she understands how our mother fucked up.”

Peter nodded, “Well she’s not wrong. As the alpha of one of the oldest packs in America I have contacts at several Ivy League colleges, it’s how Laura got into Berkley and I got into Yale. This can open doors that would not normally be open to regular students.”

Stiles said, “Most of us are planning to go to Stanford or Berkeley, depending on our degree track. Eric and Daniel are both at Stanford.”

Derek grinned, “Stanford is on my list of colleges, and I think I saw Berkeley on Cora’s list.”

Cora nodded, “Yeah, they do the best Ecosystem degree programs. It was on my list, but only if we could come home. I want to know how to take care of the preserve. I know the bullshit Talia pulled did damage to the preserve.”

Derek said, “Stanford, Yale, and Harvard are on my list. I want to go into contract law.”

Stiles grinned, “I am going to Stanford Law, but I will be going more for criminal law with a side major of corporate law.”

Derek looked around, “What about everyone else?”

Jackson said, “I’m going to get my MBA. I’m already working with the pack’s portfolio manager to learn the ropes.” He gestured to the others, “Danny is going into cyber security, Aiden and Ethan are both going into Criminal Justice, Isaac is planning to do a psychology doctorate, Erica wants to go into pediatrics and Boyd is going into engineering. Lydia is the odd one out, she’s being recruited by MIT and Caltech for her math skills.”

Lydia flicked her hair over her shoulder, “I’m not sure though. I could do the same thing at Stanford.”

Cora laughed, “Yeah, no you can’t. MIT and Caltech will give you the best opportunities after you graduate. Even I know that.” She looked closely at her uncle and she asked, “What’s the plan with all of us studying in the same place?”

Peter smiled, “We are looking into buying a house between the two colleges near the BART route. Right now we’ve just rented a small apartment for Daniel and Eric while they are studying.”

Derek asked, “What happened to the teacher after we left? Mom refused to let us look for the details.”

Peter sneered, “You wouldn’t have found anything. We suspect her father paid off the judge to put the whole trial under a gag order. They used the reasoning that Argent was not a common name and it would do the business harm, at least that’s what went into the court documents. She was given a life sentence for the four fires and the two attempted fires. Her journals had enough detail for the FBI to link the evidence needed to convict her.”

Derek asked, “Where they pissed they couldn’t interview me?”

Peter shrugged, “It’s fine. They had enough from your interview with Tara.”

Aiden said, “We also testified, as we had seen Ruben with the teacher. We didn’t have time to tell anyone, as the fire was later that night.” 

Stiles nudged Derek with his elbow as they were cuddled up on the sofa and he reassured his mate, “You did the right thing, dude.”

Derek muttered, “Don’t call me dude.”

Stiles grinned as he continued, “Trust me, she had detailed out her plans for both you and the pack. It was the stuff of nightmares.”

Cora wanted to change the subject so she asked, “Is there anything we should know before we start school?”

Jackson snorted, “Pray you don't get Harris for Chemistry. He hates all things Hale. He’s been a complete asshole to Ethan and Aiden.”

Lydia said with a small giggle, “If you get Finstock for Economics, write really well-researched essays for your assignments. They don’t even have to be on-topic as long as they are well researched and entertaining. Stiles got an A for an essay that detailed the history of male circumcision.”

Stiles laughed, “The one thing I didn’t lose when I became a wolf was my ability to get lost in research spirals. It comes in handy for Finstocks class.”

Lydia nodded, “And it taught us all how to get good grades from him. Most of us ignore the assignments now. Oh, and whatever you do, if you get Collins for any of your math classes, do not correct his work. He will grade you down from that point on. I had to ask for a transfer to a different teacher after I kept proving he didn’t actually understand what he was teaching.”

Peter nodded, “We are still working on getting him fired, he really doesn’t know his subject. Lydia tutors all those who have him for math.”

Cora grinned, “I should be ok. I was acing math before I left our last school. I can’t wait to be in a school with the pack. It was just us back in Maryland.”

Isaac said, “We tend to stick together as we are quite a large group. Somehow we magically always seem to get the same lunch break.”

Danny coughed, “Yep, it’s totally magic.”

Peter gave him a stern look, “I hope it’s magic. The last thing we need is you getting caught doing something digitally again.”

Danny grinned, “Like I would get caught. What do you take me for, Alpha.” He looked at his watch, “I’m going to bed, I want to be up early for a run before school.”

The teens all headed for bed knowing that Danny would make sure they were up early for their daily run. Cross country season was coming up and Danny wanted to beat their rivals at Devonford Prep.

Chapter Text

January 2009

The twins settled into school with the rest of the pack. Derek and Stiles were almost inseparable, something that didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the students. 

They were sitting at lunch on the first day and Jackson snarked, “So Stilinski, you appear to be the hot topic of conversation today.”

Stiles looked up from his lunch and he asked, “What?”

Jackson nodded, “Yep, apparently it’s not fair that you already snagged the hot new guy before anyone else got a chance.”

Derek snorted, “Seriously?”

Stiles chuckled darkly, “I would just ignore it, it’s part of living in a smaller town. They will get bored after a few days.”

Derek said, “I’m not the only new student though.”

Lydia agreed, “No, I had a new student in my calculus class, I don’t recall their name though.”

Boyd said, “I had one as well in my biology class. I texted alpha to warn him.”

Stiles asked, “Why?”

Boyd shrugged and he admitted, “I thought having an Argent at the school was concerning.” 

Stiles asked, “Aren’t they supposed to request permission from our alpha before they move to town? They would have warned us.”

Erica nodded, “They would have, and since they didn’t, we have to assume that they didn’t know.”

Stiles agreed, “So we keep an eye out, on any new students. It’s possible the other newbies are with the Argent hunters.” He looked around at the group, “If you have a newbie in your class, pay attention to their name and we’ll regroup back at the house.”

-x-

After dinner, Stiles said, “So we have new students at school.” He checked his list, “Allison Argent is the most concerning. It is my understanding that hunters are supposed to request permission to settle in a wolf-held territory. Then we have Jessica Dixon, Phillip Roche, and Daniel Thorn.”

Peter asked, “They all started today?”

Stiles nodded, “Yep, but only two of them smelled like wolfsbane. Allison and Jessica.”

Peter asked, “Noah, can you do background checks on them?”

“I can, I’ll get them started when I get to the office.” Noah confirmed, “When are we going to visit to find out why the hell they moved to Beacon Hills without following protocol?”

Peter said, “I can call Chris, set up a meeting. Maybe you and Robert could join me?”

Robert shook his head, “I’m good, I need to help the twins with their homework.”

Noah nodded, “I’ll join you, let's get it done now.”

They stood and headed to their soundproofed office. It was Talia’s old office that had been completely stripped bare and remodeled after she left. Before he left the room, Noah turned to the kids, “How about the rest of you get on with your homework, get it out of the way early. I think the weekend will be spent training. Can everyone let their parents know to stay alert?”

Noah shut the door when he arrived and he sat on the sofa beside Peter’s desk rather than sitting at his own desk. Peter asked, “Speaker?”

“Yeah,” Noah agreed, “Sounds good.”

Peter put his phone on the edge of his desk between then as the call connected. 

Chris sighed, “Peter. How can I help you?”

Peter asked, “You can start by telling me why you have ignored protocol and moved to Beacon Hills without asking for permission.”

Chris asked, “What makes you think I’ve moved to Beacon Hills?”

Noah said, “The fact that Allison Argent was in class with our kids today.”

“Oh,” Chris said quietly, “Well that’s something you’ll need to raise with Victoria. We divorced a few years ago, she has full custody of Allison and her niece Jessica.”

Peter asked, “Should I be worried by the complete disregard of territory laws?”

Chris was silent for longer than anyone was comfortable before he agreed, “Yes. Victoria is very much under Gerard’s thumb. It’s why we got divorced. I wanted nothing to do with him and his fanatical rhetoric, but Victoria is a diehard hunter.”