Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Blood splattered the wall as a chunk of Derek’s shoulder gave way to the force of the shotgun pellets. He internalized his shout and ignored the pain as he braced himself for the next shot.

Erica suddenly darted in between them, quick and vicious, as she slashed at the hunter taking aim.

Derek took the moment to examine his shoulder; the missing chunk would heal, he could go on fighting. With a roar he launched himself at Erica and the hunter, his warning early enough for her to dodge out of the way before he eviscerated his enemy.

Across the room Scott and Isaac were crouched on each side of a doorway, a group of hunters separated and trapped in the room behind them. Unfortunately, the room came with an ammo stash, and the two betas flinched as bullets pounded into the other side of the wall.

After he removed his claws from the hunter’s immobile body, Derek took a step over to them prepared to intervene when the sound of broken glass and a loud thump stopped him; Allison had found her vantage point.

A quick check showed Boyd had knocked out the hunters that had cornered him upon their entrance to the warehouse; Erica already by his side to check for injuries. With Allison’s help Scott and Isaac had made headway against their trapped group. The only threat left was the one that had originally drawn them to the warehouse. They had cleared the way for Stiles to head straight to the back of the warehouse; his grasp of magic made him the best chance against the ritual Gerard had started right as they made their entrance.

Hand pressed against his wounded shoulder, Derek headed straight for his mate, determined to check on him while he had the chance. Derek could feel the younger man’s stress building up, a buzz in the back of his head that grew as he neared his mate. “Have you figured it out?”

“He’s immobilized by whatever he started, but I don’t know what he’s going for. All I know is that we have to stop it.” Stiles’ hands had flown as he traced runes into the ground around Gerard’s magic circle. Derek leaned forward to examine the symbols, the dark nature of the old man’s intent obvious as every symbol Stiles finished was promptly destroyed.

“All clear.” Isaac called out from the front of the warehouse, already placing unconscious hunters in restraints.

“Get Lydia in here!” Stiles called back, knowing Jackson could hear them from where he was guarding Lydia with the rest of their supplies. Maybe the banshee would see something he didn’t. The magic force holding Gerard had built itself up enough for a faint glow to surround the old man, and Stiles could tell that was only the start.

It was only a moment before Stiles heard the clatter of heels across the warehouse floor and Lydia dropped a duffle bag beside him. “What have we got?”

“I caught something in the ritual about strength and power. The rest was too garbled for me to understand and the circle makes no sense.” Stiles rubbed at his forehead, clearly frustrated with the tenacious hunter.

Lydia hummed an acknowledgement, moving around the side of the circle to try and read the design Gerard had etched onto the floor. The old man was clearly determined that he wouldn’t be stopped by something as simple as someone breaking a line of mountain ash. The two worked urgently; there was no telling how much time they had before the rest of Gerard’s unknown plan went into effect.

They had already managed to dispose of his first distraction, some type of chimera he had set loose in the woods near some of Beacon Hills’ most populated areas. The group of hunters was the second and where the chimera had failed they had succeeded; the Hale Pack had been held off long enough for Gerard to be safely cocooned behind his magical barrier.

As Stiles and Lydia worked the majority of the betas wandered up behind them, carefully studying the threat. Aware that the situation was well out of his depth of knowledge, Derek had settled against some nearby crates and focused on his wounded shoulder.

“I think Gerard is the battery for whatever this thing is doing. If we could take him out it would probably stop it.” Lydia concluded, a grim look settled on her face as Stiles sighed.

“I was hoping you’d say something different. I haven’t figured out how to get past the barrier.” Stiles briefly chewed on his lower lip before he continued, “We’ve never been up against a barrier that blocked both humans and werewolves; I have no idea where to start.”

Erica scoffed from behind them, transformed back into her beta form and threw herself at Gerard, grunting as she came in contact with the magic barrier. She managed to press against it for a few moments, but, when there were no signs of progress, she let herself fall back panting. “Okay, so now we know that won’t work.”

Stiles darted to her side and a smack was delivered to the back of her head before hands ran down her body to check for injuries. “Idiot, I could have told you that wouldn’t work!” Erica huffed, but indulged Stiles by submitting to his ministrations.

It would have been a sweet moment if the light surrounding Gerard hadn’t decided to suddenly intensify. Stiles scrambled away from Erica as foul language poured from his lips. He threw himself next to their bag, digging his hands in and shuffling through supplies before discarding each one as useless.

“I’ll try Deaton!” Scott called out, cell phone already in hand. Jackson had immediately stationed himself by Lydia’s side, trying to tug her away. A nod of Derek’s head had his original three betas spreading out around the circle while the Alpha stationed himself in front of his mate. It would put him at the center of any blast, but it was well worth any pain to protect Stiles.

“Allison’s arrows!” Stiles suddenly called out, supplies abandoned as he looked to Scott. His best friend didn’t even need to be told, just ran out to bring his girlfriend back in from her perimeter check. Almost as soon as the beta left the room the light started pulsing.

“Hurry with Allison!” Stiles cringed, a hand flung over his face to block out the light. Whatever play Gerard had decided to make would be made soon. The pulse of light quickened as hum started from nowhere imbedding itself into their brains.

Over it all Stiles still managed to hear Lydia’s gasp.

Cora slipped over to Stiles’ side, a hunter’s shotgun held loosely by her side, “Or we could try this?” Without a pause she aimed the shot gun and pulled the trigger, Gerard’s body immediately tumbling to the ground, thrown back as the magic was no match for the hole in his chest. The light that had threatened to overwhelm them all went out, silence and darkness finally returned to the old warehouse. Whatever it was, the light was now gone.

“Fuck! What are they loading in those things?” Erica crowed out, flinging herself at the nearest pack member. Isaac laughed before his arms fell around her for a hug.

“Who cares as long as it worked!” Isaac smiled, before sending a compliment Cora’s way, “Nice shot.”

Cora glared at him as she tossed the shotgun to the floor, “I was aiming for his head.”

Without another word the younger Hale crossed her arms and settled against a crate, a mirror image of the position her brother had been holding.

Boyd had made his way around to the far side of the circle, even if it was no longer powered it was not safe to try entering it, before falling into a crouch long enough to have searched for a pulse. With a shake of his head for the rest of the pack, he stood above Gerard’s body and finally allowed his claws and fangs to retreat.

At Boyd’s nod, Derek let himself relax, eyes quick to examine each member of his pack. It was apparent that his own shoulder injury was the worst of the lot, something he had expected when he had thrown himself after the most experienced and armed section of hunters. One quick swipe of his hand down Stiles’ back later, Derek moved over by Cora, letting his presence reassure her. Gerard had been the last of those involved with their family’s death alive, and while Derek had healed enough not to need it he knew his younger sister didn’t feel the same way.

A hint of lavender drifted in through the open warehouse doors and Allison quickly followed it. Bow already prepped, it took Allison until halfway across the warehouse floor to register that the threat was done with, Scott catching up to her right as she paused to stare at the dead body.

Allison’s jaw tightened, knuckles going white where her hands gripped her bow. Scott hovered by her side, on watch for any signs of distress. Her mother and Kate’s deaths had been seven years ago, but every encounter with Gerard since then had managed to bring up those old hurts. At least this time they had a body that ensured it was over.

After a tense moment Allison turned away from her grandfather’s dead body, marching over to Stiles and Lydia. “Have we figured out what he was trying to do?” Her eyes and voice were cold, but both of her closest friends knew it was her way of coping with the situation.

“I felt it,” Lydia hesitated, still not entirely comfortable with the nature of her powers. “… Death. It would have killed us all.”

Jackson pressed himself along her back, hands settled at her hips in an attempt to reassure the pale woman. She had had years of practice, but scenes of large death still hit hard.

“I’m going to take a closer look now that the barrier is down.” Stiles fought to keep himself from offering comfort to his fellow human; Allison wasn’t ready for it yet. “I don’t know if I can figure out exactly what he was going for, but maybe I’ll get how he kept us out.”

With a sharp nod, Allison headed for Gerard’s body, stationing herself between it and the magic circle. Stiles hurried to the circle, it was clear she was going to stand guard until he was done, but Stiles didn’t want his friend to have to stare down the body of her grandfather for long.

The symbols that had been so blurred before were now clear. Still, the formula below him barely made any sense. He stepped carefully around the circle, unwilling to accidentally activate it, identifying what he could recognize. Gerard had clearly been after power.

“Dude, look at this weird knife!” Scott called out, a weird twisted knife twirling in his hand. Of course, Erica and Jackson had promptly wandered over (the latter finally feeling secure enough to untangle himself from Lydia).

It only took one instance of “Give it here McCall or else” before Stiles lifted his head to check out the situation. It was still relatively peaceful, but he knew how easily Jackson and Scott could get into a fight when their adrenaline had been pumping, plus it was never smart to wave something sharp and shiny so close to Erica. Movement out of the corner of his eyes showed Derek had decided to settle the matter himself so Stiles felt free to go back to examining the circle.

“Put those down,” Derek growled, eyes red as he descended upon his betas. “You have no idea what the hunters have done to any of these weapons!”

“Cora just went and picked up one of their shotguns, how is this any different?” Jackson burst out, clearly irritated by the reprimand.

Stiles snorted from across the room, it was different because magic stuck easier to blades than to guns. Something the entire pack should have been well aware of by now. With a sigh he had taken a couple steps back out of the circle. Better to just snap a picture and hit the research books then keep everyone cooped up here.

It was only after he had pressed the camera button that Stiles noticed the speck of gold in the black of one of the symbols. As he watched the spec grew bigger and Stiles knew they had a problem.

“Derek!” He had made come on gestures at the pack members on his side of the circle before running around towards Derek. Clearly he hadn’t been loud enough since his mate was just continuing with his lecture.

“Derek!” Stiles grew more insistent, Derek’s shirt sharply tugged in his impatience. Derek gently swiped a hand at Stiles, focused on getting the betas to behave. Usually Stiles would have been cool with watching his mate get his Alpha on, but when you were in a mostly abandoned warehouse with multiple dead bodies and one freaky-ass magic circle people needed to listen when someone called their name.

“Derek!” Stiles loved the man, honestly he did, but moments like this always reminded him of why it had taken so long for the two to become friends. Derek Hale had failed a lot of lessons in kindergarten.

“What?” Derek had spun around, still riled up from reprimanding his betas; Stiles swallowed past the dryness that had suddenly invaded his mouth.

“Something is happening, I think we should-” The small ball of magic suddenly burst; darkness bleeding through the room, sucking all the light with it, while a violent wind originated from the circle. Stiles had frantically reached out to grab at Derek’s arm, the knowledge that he hadn’t been powerful enough to protect his pack burned in the human’s mind.

And then there was nothing.

Chapter Text

Derek Hale was going to be grounded for the rest of his life. Well, he would be if they found him… Assuming he wasn’t already dead with his body discarded in a random ditch somewhere.

Talia growled at a passing beta; if they had time to hover near her then they had time to be out there searching for any trace of her son. She forced herself to keep her arms by her sides instead of wrapped around herself like she ached to do. Her poor, sweet Derek, the teenager had only just gotten a handle on his grief over Paige’s death, he didn’t need anything else to happen right now.

Her ears twitched, a vehicle had caught her attention, it had only just passed the edge of the preserve but deep in her gut Talia knew that they came with news about Derek. A stiff walk took her from the office they were using as command center to the porch just in time to watch Laura throw herself from the SUV. Laura, her strong beautiful firstborn child, next Alpha of the Hale Pack, and the one who had found the bloody scene that smelt like her younger brother. There would be much to fix after this whole thing was over with.

“Mom, I’ve found Peter!” Laura hauled her uncle out of the passenger seat, blood running down his head as he tried to keep himself on his feet. Laura’s lack of care definitely didn’t help, but Talia could understand her child’s urgency.

Peter, oh Peter… There had been no sign that Peter had been there. No sign that Talia should have also been looking for her younger brother. So much younger than herself, but with the intelligence of men twice his age, her brother had always been so much closer to her son than to his own sister.

Still Talia loved him with all her heart, it hurt to know that he had been injured for hours without them even thinking to search for him. ‘Peter has always handled himself well in a fight and is clever enough to deal with most problems, Derek is still too young to have been trained yet’, said the voice she always associated with her Alpha powers, a traitor to the part of her that thought and felt like a human. It would have felt like a betrayal, but it was the power of the Alpha she needed to ensure her son came home.

Talia shoved all the feelings of a sister and mother down, concentrated on being the Hale Alpha, “Where is Derek?”

Peter looked up at her from lowered eyelids, blood threatening to run into them, “Not even a how are you from my dear sister?”

Laura had been quick to react; her grip tightened enough on Peter for him to wince from the pain. Her heir was still too emotional and brash, traits only time would resolve. At least she had managed to keep herself from a verbal outburst; a true feat since from the moment she had learned to talk Laura had been mouthy.

Peter growled softly at his niece, before his eyes returned to Talia’s still form. “It was a witch. He already had Derek knocked out when I got there, but he smelled…” He trailed off, eyes lowered to the ground before his Alpha, “He smelt like those warehouses in the industrial district.”

They had a location. Talia ripped the dress she wore up and over her head, a quick toss getting it out of her way before she let loose a roar, her pack would come and they would destroy this man. In one smooth change, where there had been a woman there stood a wolf and then where there was a wolf there was nothing but a blur of motion. The hunt was on.
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The Hale Pack was one of the largest in California, the entire United States even, so it was no surprise that they had it narrowed down to one warehouse within an hour. Normally, Talia would have cautioned that it was suspicious how easily they found the place, but her impatience had reared its ugly head. Besides, if the witch thought he could get away with grabbing a member of the Hale Pack than he was clearly an idiot.

There were only a couple entrances, which severely limited what they could do. In the end any planning didn’t matter, as soon as her wolves burst into the place, Talia could smell her son again and found herself only able to focus on getting to him. The others could have been flying in on broomsticks as far as she cared.

The warehouse was large and open inside, the few walled off offices all located on a second floor. All her wolves had immediately sprinted toward the back half, where a figure in robes was standing. The smell of indistinguishable herbs and the tingle Talia always associated with magic tickled her nose; it had to have been why so many of her people plowed right into the barrier instead of noticing the dark line of ash they had all learned they couldn’t cross.

It looked like the mage had laid a mountain ash barrier, but based on the howls of pain the kidnapper must have laced it with something else. Apparently their foe wasn’t enough of an idiot to completely forget to werewolf proof his hideout. Despite all her fears that she would arrive too late, Talia was at least able to spy Derek crumbled against the back wall.

A third of the warehouse lay beyond the barrier, a giant magic circle covering the floor. She had made sure to stay educated, but the circle was more complicated than anything she had ever seen before. It didn’t bode well for her son’s future.

In frustration Talia threw herself at the barrier; there had been a few that her Alpha powers had let her breach in the past. The pain that rippled through her body the longer she remained in contact with the magic dispelled all belief that this was one of those. With a whimper she backed away, whining as members of her pack brushed against her for comfort.

“What’s wrong doggy, can’t get past the leash?” The mage challenged.

Talia decided right then and there that the first chance she had she would claw off the smug bastard’s face. A glance at the smirk on his face and the knife that moved back and forth between his hands was enough for Talia to swallow any smartass remarks she had. “Send your wolves away or I’ll go ahead and slit his throat.”

Between the sick look of glee on the lunatic’s face and the prone body of her son Talia had very little choice. With a flick of her hand the majority of her pack fell back, leaving only Laura standing with her. As they left the warehouse she heard their whispered assurances that their emissary was on his way, and while she wanted to send Laura out with them she knew her daughter wouldn’t leave without a fight. This man had already made her weak by kidnapping her child, Talia refused to give him any else.

“What do you want?” She had been Alpha for over twenty years, but Talia still managed to impress herself with how cold she could make herself sound when needed. Any ritual that required a werewolf to complete was dangerous to more than just one child; it was a threat to all of them.

“Power,” answered the mage. He didn’t hesitate to waltz up close to the barrier, confident in its ability to protect him, “Power a little like yours.”

For a moment she considered offering him the bite in hopes it would kill him, but he was clearly one of those assholes that liked to hear themselves talked and continued on, “It’s actually possible without all the side effects, you know. I will in fact be stronger than you once I kill your kid.”

A growl escaped her as she banged her palm against the barrier, “If getting power was as simple as killing a child we would have none left!”

“True,” He sounded delighted in her protests, proud to prove her wrong. “Unless you’ve happened upon one of the rarest spellbooks in existence, spent years gathering all the incredibly rare ingredients, and managed to get your hands on an Alpha’s heir. It’s pretty simple actually, I kill the kid and all the power that would have gone to him goes to me.”

Talia snarled and prayed her willful child would keep her mouth shut; the only thing that could make this worse would be handing over the pack’s real heir. “That’s bullshit. It doesn’t matter what you do, if you hurt him, harm so much as one hair on his head then the moment you step out of your pretty little barrier, I will rip you to shreds. There will be nothing left of you once I am finished!”

The witch threw his head back and laughed, “You’re hilarious! Trust me sugar, you won’t be able to touch me.”

Her eyes glowed red, like the blood she envisioned pouring out of his pathetic throat after she got her claws in him. From the moment she was born it had been drilled into Talia that losing control was unacceptable, but she ignored the chiding voice that sounded strangely like her mother. Her fangs burst forward as Talia snarled, throwing herself once at the barrier once again as the witch laughed. It would be worth any pain as long as the man hadn’t realized that she had been doing all this to keep him from noticing that her child was twitching awake behind him.

A sharp gasp foiled her plan, a dead giveaway of what she was seeing from the child guarding her back. Sweet, stubborn Laura, determined to be brave even as she struggled to keep her control while faced with her alpha’s own loss of it, had just alerted his executioner.

“No!” It would have been better to have seen it in slow motion, because maybe then Talia could have convinced herself that there was something she could do to help Derek. Instead all she had done was throw herself against the barrier once more, the pain ignored as she scrambled for a way through.

The witch had automatically turned and hurled himself at Derek, knife raised and ready. All Derek could do was scramble and try to throw himself further away from the man. It meant they moved across the circle, practically crossing the entire sealed space before the scent of blood shouted that the knife had finally found its mark and Derek cried out.

There had been enough time for her to see Derek land outside of the circle before a flash of golden light blinded her, before an explosion sent her flying back. There was a sharp white noise grinding in her ears and an impact that suggested she had just hit Laura, but Talia couldn’t get back to her feet before another explosion rocked the warehouse, bringing with it fierce pressure.

Eventually the white noise and pressure faded, although she couldn’t be sure of how long they had suffered under it, and Talia found herself finally able to struggle to her feet. For a moment she swayed, soreness in her head signaling exactly where she landed after being blown back. With a glance to a slowly rising Laura, Talia ran back towards the magic circle, roaring with rage as she once again came into contact with the barrier. No one could have seen her as anything but frantic as she fought to see past the dying light for Derek.

What she found made her feel both significantly better and worse. Whatever force that had blown her back had clearly done the same to the witch; if Derek didn’t appear to be knocked out again she would have considered herself happy. Except…

On the farthest side of the circle she saw a large shadow, slightly shifting in the returning shadows. Behind her several of her pack members burst back into the warehouse, too frightened for their Alpha’s safety to stay away longer. She blocked them all out to concentrate on the summoned creature, while the barrier might keep it from her for now Derek was still on the other side.

Incomprehensible whispers and slithering movements drifted to her ears, whatever the crazed witch had done had summoned more than one creature. Tension made her healing body ache as Talia moved as close as the barrier would allow her to Derek.

“Derek, you need to get up.” Talia tried to keep her voice low, improved hearing was not as common among supernatural beings as human literature liked to believe. “Derek, get up!”

It worked! Derek jerked his head up, groggy but trained to respond at the urgency in his mother’s voice.

At the same time a form suddenly rose up across the room, a growl accompanying it, and fear once again stabbed at her heart. She would have returned to beating at the barrier if it also hadn’t brought with it a strangely familiar smell. “… Derek?”