Reading Time: 100 Minutes
Title: The Last Change
Series: True Guardian
Series Order: 4
Author: Lalaith Quetzalli
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Genre: Dimension Travel, Established Relationship, Family, Menage or More (aka Threesome), Romance, Slash, Time Travel
Relationship(s): Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Peter Hale/Sheriff Stilinski/Claudia Stilinski,
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: *No Mandatory Warnings Apply, Minor Character Death, Murder, Discussion – Rape (Canonical, Kate Argent), Discussion – Torture, Violence – Canon Level
Author Note:
Beta:
Alpha:
Word Count: 24,784
Summary: If small changes to the past can already change a good number of lives, what will a big change do? Alan Deaton thinks he knows why Scott’s attempts to make things ‘right’ failed, he thinks he can do better… he has no idea the kind of forces he’s playing with. The nemeton will get their guardian, no matter what it takes!
Artist: Twigen
Chapter 1
It’s well known that for nemeta, time, like most mortal constraints, is relative. This is not an absolute, nemeta do not actually exist outside of time, if they did they wouldn’t be alive at all. No, they have a beginning, and they will have an end. Same as the rest of the world (in fact, the exact same…). There are also points that are… fixed. Things that cannot be changed. Points where any given nemeton suffers a change so intense, so primordial, there’s no going back from it.
The covenant that led to the creation of the Hale Pack (back then going by a very different name) as they became the guardians of Hop and were in turn granted an Alpha Spark, is one such moment. Another is the death of Hop’s last Atco, Maji, which marked the beginning of the decline of the Hale Pack, as they failed to fulfill their duties to the territory, and to the nemeton.
(One point, one that only exists in a single version of the timeline, the universe, is the death of the last Hale Alpha, Derek Hale. Or rather, what followed, when Arch-Magus Mieczyslaw ‘Stiles’ Stilinski finally took the position of guardian, and the first thing he did was restore the Nemeton in full and secure the territory to the best of his considerable abilities…)
One very important point is the cutting down of the ancient oak tree that has served as the nemeton’s physical manifestation. There is a before and an after of the cutting down of the great tree.
(And now there are also several afters in relation to changes done to the original timeline).
Hop watches as Alan Deaton, veterinarian, druid, and a man who’s long since desired to possess power, fame and regard opens his eyes to find himself in a studio apartment located above the vet-clinic where he works. The building is one of so many owned by the Hales (through a corporation) and they’ve always made sure that his rent will be as low as they can make it without risking insulting the man’s pride, or calling the wrong sort of attention from the authorities.
As things happen, some the same, and some very different from how they did in the original timeline, Hop cannot help but ponder on a few things. They know, in a way that only a creature with a certain omnipresence (at least within their own territory) can, that Alan Deaton has always desired certain things: riches, fame, recognition, power. And truth is, who doesn’t? The thing is, Alan Deaton was not born with the innate magical talent, or indeed any other supernatural ‘power’ to allow him to achieve any of those in the way that he’s always tried to, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have his own opportunities.
Despite not being born in the best of circumstances, he was afforded all sorts of opportunities. His step-father coming into his life, and his younger half-sister’s connection to a well-known, well-placed pack, opened all sorts of doors to him. Yes, his magical level was very low, but that need not have been a deterrent. Alan Deaton could have grown up to be one of the best scholars in the Shadow World. With his talented brain, his ability to absorb and retain knowledge, to comprehend all sorts of things; put together with the way he managed to make a reputation for himself as he studied in various places and gained access to all sorts of libraries and archives and repositories of knowledge, Alan Deaton had the potential to be the kind of scholar individuals the length and breadth of the world would have sought. Individuals from every species, from all corners of the planet would have sought him out, sought his knowledge, his advice… And yet, because he believed that there was only one way in which he could gain what he wanted, one way that he could not access because of a single talent he did not possess (high-magic), he ruined himself…
And, the most terrifying thing of all, is that he also came dangerously close to ruining the world…
xXx
Born the youngest daughter of the youngest daughter of a huge magical family, Claudia Gajos never expected her life to be particularly extraordinary.
She was born as part of the Wójcik Line, the biggest, most powerful magical family in the world (one of the few to make it almost untouched through the witch trials, either in Europe, or America). Part of what allowed the family to keep themselves safe was the fact that, despite being matrilineal (like most supernatural lineages) they all still took their husbands’ names, and gave them to their daughters. So, while there technically are no more Wójcik in the world, and haven’t been for over a millennia, at the same time, they’re still all there: Warrens, Halliwells, Owenses, Danverses, Constantines, Garwins, McCulloughs, Bennets, Meades, Chamberlains, Howards, Gajoses…
There are a great many words that can be used to refer to a magic-user: witch, mage, enchantress, druid, sorceress, spellweaver, spark… It’s commonly believed that sparks are rare, that only the most powerful in the world bear that title. It actually has very little to do with power. In fact, most of the magical titles are less related to power, and more to specialty. Those who specialize in potions are often referred to as witches (whether they’re male or female), the ones who favor rituals are druids, while those with a penchant for battle-magics are often referred to as warlocks… and so on and so forth.
Claudia is often called an enchantress because her specialties are the chanting of spells (always in a soft, mellow tone where it seems like she’s half-singing them) and the creation of enchanted objects, like talismans, amulets and rune-stones (the latter of which could be used to create wards). She’s good, talented, with a considerable amount of power, even if nothing particularly extraordinary, coming from a family such as hers.
Claudia is in her late teens and attending vocational school in her hometown of Poznań, Poland, when she first meets one Noah John Stilinski. A military man, young (barely older than Claudia herself) posted in the nearby US army base. He’s handsome, dashing, polite, well-spoken, kind, respectful of her, her family and her culture… and doesn’t have a drop of magic in him!
The two fall madly in love and are marrying before they’ve even known each other a year. By then Noah is well-aware of the supernatural, and not only that, but who and what Claudia is, exactly (they often joke about the magic Claudia used to ensure she and Noah would ‘happen to meet’ whenever he was off-base), her family (even if he doesn’t yet grasp just how famous they are); and of course, the high probability of their children being magical.
“Most likely daughters,” Claudia explains. “According to our own records, when people from two magical lines have children together, it’s highly likely their children will be magical in some way. There are exceptions of course, but it’s rare. Magic is… you could see it as a very dominant gene.”
“And when a magical woman has children with a mundane man?” Noah asks, knowing that’s what matters for them.
“It becomes a throw of the dice,” Claudia shrugs. “Girls or boys, they might be very magical, like me, have magic but on a lesser scale, or have no magical power at all.”
“And you don’t mind that?” Noah wants to check.
“I fell in love with you Noah,” Claudia reminds him. “Handsome, loyal, loving, and perfectly mundane. Whatever our children end up being, I won’t care. I’ll love them anyway. We both will.”
Yes, they will.
The miscarriage takes them completely by surprise. Noah was sent to Iraq, and when Claudia (living in military housing) hears about his squad being attacked, communications being down and how hard it is to tell who survived, if anyone… The stress is so high that Claudia can’t help it and has a miscarriage. She’s six months along, a baby girl, Claudia had chosen the name Miriam for her, after her mother, who’d passed away.
Noah didn’t even know about the pregnancy, not until it’s all over. As the stress of him having been sent to Iraq made it so even Claudia herself didn’t realize she was pregnant until she was well into her second trimester. The communications were so bad… and more than once attacks to the base, or somewhere nearby took away their chance to talk.
Noah survives. Though half of his squad doesn’t. He returns to Poland shortly after that particular attack, with an honorable discharge and ready to make a new life for himself, and his family. He’s devastated to find out about their lost baby-girl and holds Claudia every night as she cries herself to sleep, the two of them mourning their baby. Then they start planning the new chapter in their lives. One that’ll bring them to a whole new country…
It’s a combination of things which brings them to (in Noah’s case back to) America: Noah’s father passes away, with him as the sole heir. Noah was willing enough to buy a house there in Poznań, or even in some other city in Poland, but Claudia likes the idea of starting over somewhere else. So they move all the way to Beacon Hills, California, to Noah’s childhood house. It hasn’t been a home, not since his mom died and his father became a vicious, violent alcoholic (there was a reason Noah chose to enlist in the army straight out of high-school). And yet, Claudia, with all her charm, her kindness, her joy, she turns the place into a true home.
Noah took some college classes in criminal justice while in Poland (almost managed to finish his bachelor’s degree, actually) which help him, and he’s offered a job as a deputy at the Sheriff’s Department. Claudia takes a job as an assistant librarian.
And then they meet Peter Hale.
Peter Hale is a recently graduated lawyer, working for ADA David Whittemore. He first starts going to the library because he’s sure there is an obscure piece of legislation that could allow his boss to win his current case without ever having to go to court, but he needs the proof. Claudia, who loves reading anything and everything she gets her hands on (she knows so much about lots of topics, despite the fact that she never actually went to college, proper), helps him find the right book.
It isn’t the last time Peter Hale goes looking for a book reference to help him with a case, and after the third time he makes sure to always ask for her help, rather than anyone else’s. And so Claudia and Peter become friends.
Peter meets Noah late one night. The library is closing. He’s been working hard on a case and ends up staying until closing time. So he’s there when some brat with more brawn than brains (and probably high on something) decides it’s a good idea to mug the assistant-librarian, not realizing she isn’t alone. Peter knocks the kid on his ass before he can so much as touch Claudia. Then he stays around until deputies arrive to cart him off to a cell… one of those deputies ends up being Claudia’s own husband.
It starts off as friendship. But it ends up becoming… more.
If asked, Claudia will never be able to explain the when, the how, or even why, she comes to fall in love with Peter Hale. It’s not like she stops loving her husband, she does! She loves Noah so very, very much. It’s not like he’s not perfect… or well, he might not be perfect, exactly, because nobody is, but he’s just perfect for her… Nothing is missing in her life, there’s nothing her husband doesn’t give her, or wouldn’t give her if he knew she needed it, or even just wanted it. It’s not even the fact that Peter’s supernatural and Noah’s not (she’s never cared about that!). And yet that doesn’t change the fact that she does fall in love with Peter… all while still being very much in love with Noah. And then she finds out that Peter is very interested in both of them!
Had anyone ever told a young Claudia Gajos that she’d one day find herself in the middle of a three-way relationship, that she’d find it in herself to love not just one man but two, and that seeing those two men as in love with each other as they’re with her would not make her jealous (it makes her feel all hot and bothered, actually!) she’d have thought whoever said it was off their rocket! Yet that’s exactly how things turn out.
She’ll never forget how the three of them begin…
Peter and Claudia (being the mature adults they are) talk things out. Confess their attraction for each other; and the fact that Claudia believes Noah to feel the same. And once they agree to actually do something about it… they begin planning what, exactly.
It’s a good plan, simple (easier not to ruin it, that way). They check their calendars for the next night both men will be free. Then when the time comes Claudia takes the day off. She spends hours preparing dinner, a mix of something traditionally Polish, and something more American. A variation of her mom’s Pierogi, more savory than her mom probably ever made them. Also, the sweet ones are totally Peter’s idea (who leaves the office early enough to arrive in time to help her), and Claudia is quite sure it’s no coincidence that he focuses on very specific fillings: like strawberries, chocolate and figs. Clearly he’s hoping to get lucky! Claudia isn’t sure it’ll be that easy. Even as confident as she is about Noah’s own attraction to the wolf, that doesn’t mean her husband will be willing to act on it. At least not immediately.
In the end they all end up quite surprised, in one way or another: Noah is clearly shocked by the fact that they have a guest over for dinner. Claudia is bewildered by the way Noah just stares at each of them, then at the food, like he’s trying to solve a puzzle, and Peter… Peter is more than a little stunned when Noah says nothing, just goes to Claudia, kissing her tenderly if briefly on the lips; then turns to Peter, grabs him by the back of his neck and pulls him in for a kiss. It’s no less brief than the one he shared with Claudia, though certainly more than enough to throw the wolf completely off kilter. Enough that he reaches for something, anything, to hold onto in the aftermath (ending up holding onto the closest counter!).
“Noah!” Claudia exclaims, sounding more than a little breathless.
“What?” Noah arches a brow in near-defiance. “You gonna tell me you had a different plan for tonight?” He signals to the items on the counter. “I can see all the aphrodisiacs!”
Peter doesn’t even bother trying to apologize, really, Noah might be human but the wolf is quite sure he’ll still know if he even considers lying. Claudia for her part just laughs, like a hyena. Really, the whole day spent planning, and worrying and almost going nuts, trying to think of the best way to bring things up with Noah, to convince him that it’s a good idea, that a relationship between all three of them has a chance at working… and Noah just goes and throws it all out the window with a single kiss (or two)!
They do get to their dinner… eventually. They start with dessert though…
It’s Peter who ‘throws her name in the ring’, so to speak, when it comes up that his sister and alpha, Talia Hale, is looking for a new emissary, since her current one: a witch by the name of Irena Novak, is planning to retire soon.
“Emissary?” Claudia asks, head tilted to the side as she considers things.
“Yeah…” Peter looks confused by her tone, by her confusion. “Is there something wrong with that?”
“Not wrong…” Claudia exhales slowly. “It’s just… I know nothing about pack emissaries.”
“What?!” that leaves Peter more than a little stunned. “Truly? But how’s that even possible?”
“Yes, truly,” Claudia nods, seeking the best way to explain things. “In Europe… The loup-garou pack is pretty much the pack there. Their views of humans are… yeah. There are rumors that the alpha has even made a habit of hunting down the humans that displease him in some way.” She shakes her head, that so isn’t the point. “The only reason he hasn’t tried the same with magicals is… well, I think he’s terrified of Nana Marika.”
“Nana Mari…” Peter trails off, shocked. “Wait, wait a second, Marika Katz, the Lady of Justice, is your grandmother?!”
“Yes…?” Claudia looks honestly flabbergasted, not just by the title itself but the inflection Peter uses when saying the words. “Lady of Justice? Do people really call her that?”
“In some circles they do,” Peter nods. “At least those who aren’t too terrified to make even an oblique reference to her, afraid she might show up if they do.”
“It’s not like she’s a demon they can summon by saying her name three times or something,” Noah scoffs, then seems to think something over before turning to his wife. “She cannot show up if you just say her name, can she?”
Claudia just laughs, uproariously.
Truth be told, while she’s always known that her family is important. That some people see them almost as living legends (and most of them don’t even know the true origins of their line, the fact that the Mother of their line, the actual Wójcik Spellweaver, was the half-blood daughter of the last Seelie Queen to leave the Earth for Faerie…). She still finds the reactions some people have to the family, and especially to the better known members of it, like her grandmother, absolutely hilarious.
It takes some cajoling (and a few sex acts) but Claudia does manage to convince Peter in the end not to tell his sister and alpha that Claudia is related to such famous people.
“If I’m chosen for this, I want it to be on my own merits, and not my grandmother’s.” she explains.
Peter agrees because it makes sense. And also, it isn’t like they can’t do the ‘big reveal’ after Claudia has been chosen. He has no doubt that regardless of how many candidates may be brought forth, no one could possibly be better than Claudia.
That certainly seems to be the case, as most of the other emissary-candidates give up pretty quickly in the following days. Some take the time to thank Talia and Irena for the opportunity, though a few just leave without saying a word (which is unspeakably rude!). In the end there are just two candidates left: Claudia, and a druid called Alan Deaton.
Claudia herself considers dropping out more than once. Especially when she learns she’s pregnant at last. She and Noah have been trying to conceive again for some time now (longer than either of them will ever admit) and while several times she became hopeful, it just didn’t seem to happen, until now… She’s so very excited, and terrified at the same time.
“This isn’t like before,” Noah reassures her. “I’m not off at war. I’m here with you. And we have Peter as well. We’ll always be here for you, love. You’ll be a marvelous mother, and a wonderful emissary, I’m sure of it.”
Claudia still has doubts, though. Not of her capabilities. While there is a lot she doesn’t really know of packs (especially with how different packs in America seem to be from the loup-garou one in Europe), Peter’s made sure to teach her all she needs to know so that when Talia and Irena talk to her about things she knows what to expect, and especially the kind of answers they’ll expect (though she’s not going to even try to lie, she wouldn’t do that; she’s been honest with both women that she’s still learning). Also, she certainly has the power necessary to take on the role (certainly more power than Alan possesses, or even Irena). It’s not lack of knowledge that’s the problem, nor of power. It’s something else entirely. Something that can perhaps be called intent…
In the end Claudia decides to talk things out with the one person who will care. So she phones Alan Deaton and invites him to lunch. He offers his own place, saying it’ll be more private than any diner or restaurant, and since Claudia does want to have a private conversation with him, she agrees.
When Claudia arrives at Alan’s place the man looks a bit disheveled. She says not a word about it, though. She supposes he may have been working on a ritual of some kind, and knowing that the man’s powers are limited, she doesn’t want to appear insulting, or dismissive of his work, his efforts, if she makes the wrong kind of comment.
“Apologies,” Alan says vaguely. “I’m afraid I was meditating and lost track of time.”
“Oh, no, no problem,” Claudia assures him. “I can always return later, some other day, if you prefer?”
She considers offering her help, with whatever it is he’s working on, but in the end decides not to, not wanting to hurt his pride.
Claudia has learned that most packs do not take quite so long when choosing a new emissary. From what Peter has told her, in most packs, either the previous emissary, or the alpha, will choose someone, and that’s that. But with the Hales being as prominent as they are, and since Irena doesn’t actually have a daughter, or apprentice, or something along those lines, that she could nominate for the position, the two women decided to ‘open applications’ so-to-speak. Which is how they ended up with over half a dozen individuals applying for the position.
Claudia knows Peter was kind of hopeful that his sister would choose his candidate for no other reason than that it was Peter suggesting her, but at the same time, he understands his sister wanting to get the best possible person for the job. He’s still convinced that person is Claudia, though.
On the other hand, Alan Deaton, while he might not have even a fraction of the power Claudia can call on (and on that front, she used to believe she was nothing special, and perhaps she still isn’t, when compared with some other members of her own family, and yet when compared to those not of her bloodline…), he has knowledge on packs and shifters and the status of the supernatural in America… all things Claudia hardly knows at all. She could learn of course, she’s been learning, but that doesn’t change the fact that he knows all that already. What’s more, he’s grown up with it, which has given him a level of understanding that she won’t have for some time, if ever. Also, the man is well-known to be an expert on nemeta, something very important considering the sacred grove deep in the Beacon Hills’ preserve…
“No!” Alan refuses the idea immediately. “I was already planning on calling for take-out. I will admit to not being particularly talented in the kitchen.”
“That’s just fine,” Claudia assures him. “We all have our talents.”
The man nods. He still looks more than a little tense for reasons Claudia cannot begin to imagine and she can only hope it has nothing to do with her.
“We could have tea in the meantime?” she offers, starting to feel uncomfortable, just standing there in the middle of the tiny apartment.
“Tea!” Alan exclaims, seeming to relax, if only minutely. “Yes, of course. What a brilliant idea. Give me a minute. I have some new blends I got…”
The two make some idle chat about tea-blends. Claudia has always loved her teas (which is probably to be expected considering her family; and then there’s the fact that her mother’s specialty was as an herbalist). While she certainly has her favorites (some from her mother, others she’s discovered throughout her life), she’s never had a problem trying new blends. So when Alan tells her the tea is a new blend he got from a contact in Taiwan, she’s honestly interested. It’s always a little ‘magical’ to be able to try things from foreign countries and cultures! It’s also why she doesn’t mention it when the smell of the tea makes her want to sneeze (it also makes her a bit queasy).
When Alan hands her the cup, the first thing Claudia thinks is that it looks… interesting. She assumes it must be some sort of black tea, though it doesn’t look quite as dark, almost gray actually, with a hint of blue? With an almost metallic sheen on the surface. She’s never seen a tea that’s that color.
“What is in this tea?” she asks as she blows a bit on the surface, it’s very hot. “Do you know?”
“Not exactly,” Alan answers vaguely. “It’s a blend, and I have a paper with the ingredients listed but I cannot hope to pronounce them.”
Doesn’t sound impossible, but at the same time, there’s something about that answer that just doesn’t sound… right, to Claudia. Or perhaps it’s just the way Alan says it. She has no idea what that’s about. Still, she decides to push it aside for the time being. She’s there for a reason, after all. She needs to talk to Alan. And she supposes that she can always take a sip from the tea and then set it aside, say it doesn’t sit right with her, even blame her pregnancy if she needs to (she mentally apologizes to her baby for blaming them for something they haven’t done). In any case, with how the mere smell keeps making her queasy, there’s no way she’ll be able to drink much of it anyway, she knows. And she’d rather not be sick when she’s only just started keeping her food down again. Though, at the same time, she doesn’t want to just push it aside, because she doesn’t want to offend her host…
So with that in mind, she brings the cup to her mouth. The liquid has barely touched her lips when she suddenly… seizes. It’s almost as if something has just grabbed at her insides with a strength and suddenness that makes her drop the cup before she even realizes what’s going on. She gasps. Bursting to her feet and away from the small table they were sitting out without even being fully aware of it; in seconds she’s on the other side of the apartment’s common area, holding onto the single couch with one hand, at the same time she holds her pregnant belly with the other.
“My baby!” she cries out, suddenly desperate. “My baby!”
Alan just stares at her, he seems to be just frozen in shock or something.
“Call 9-1-1!” She yells at him.
When, seconds later, he still seems to be too shocked to assist her in any way, Claudia forces herself into action, as she moves away from the sofa and back to the table (carefully avoiding the spilled tea without even realizing she’s doing it) and reaching for her bag and the mobile phone she’s stashed in the bottom. She doesn’t know if there’s a landline in the apartment, but she doesn’t really care. Granted, when Peter and Noah kept insisting that she should start carrying one of those new mobile phones around she thought they were crazy (those things are heavy! And bigger than she prefers to be carting around) at this moment though, she’s beyond grateful. And so she pulls the phone out of her bag and manages to call for help herself.
The next hour is probably the most terrifying of her whole life. Even though she doesn’t feel any pain, or any seizures again, she cannot push aside the terror she feels, that she might be about to lose another baby. It’s bad enough that doctors even start discussing options for a safe sedative. She vehemently refuses them all, and when one of the nurses, Melissa McCall, suggests a soothing tea as an alternative option Claudia’s violently sick.
That’s also when everyone (Claudia included) realizes Claudia’s upper lip is burned. Which, why? The tea couldn’t have possibly been that hot, could it?
“If I didn’t know any better, I would think you got frostbite,” Dr. Geyer comments softly a few minutes later as he treats her lip carefully.
That does give Claudia pause. She thinks back on her family history. It’s not exactly common knowledge, the origins of the Wójcik bloodline, though she’s aware a lot of people, especially magic-users might have their suspicions. Also, it’s not like they’re the only magical line descended from the fae (they’re just the only one descended from a Seelie Queen…). Regardless, there are some important and rather… delicate things that come with having fae blood. On the one hand, it means that they’re less affected by dimeritium, a material that is used to block magic (in human magic users); criminal magic-users are often shackled with dimeritium upon capture (and later imprisoned in cells with bars made of cold iron and locks infused with dimeritium). With those who’re part-fae, the dimeritium can block them from their magic, but only if they’re in constant contact with it, or if it somehow becomes bonded to them; though it’s not as bad as it can be for purely human magic-users, whose magic can atrophy permanently if too much dimeritium is used on them. Cold-iron on the other hand doesn’t just affect their magic, it’s outright poisonous to them.
Being part of such a family… Claudia was taught the signs of cold-iron poisoning from a young age. She was also taught how to heal it, and when no healing would have helped (when the damage is too extensive for anything to work and death is all but assured, even if it will not be immediate, and certainly not painless at all). What’s happened to her… She knows, inside her, that the cold-iron had to have been in the tea (where else?!). And the thought of someone not just having cold-iron, but actually making a point of turning it into a powder fine enough for it to then be able to be used in tea without just… ending up at the bottom of the cup or something… that part is terrifying. Also, absolutely flabbergasting!
Why? Why would Alan do something like that to her? Why would he poison her? What has she ever done to him?!
xXx
Days later Claudia, Noah and Peter come together to talk (argue) about what happened. They’re sitting in the living room, Claudia basically curled up around her own pregnant belly, while according to the doctor her baby’s perfectly alright, and was never in any danger, she was still terrified, and a part of her still is. Probably will be until she can finally hold her baby in her arms and know they’re alright. That they’re hale and whole and…
In any case, once Claudia knew what had happened it wasn’t hard to get herself discharged from the hospital (not like there was anything truly wrong with her beyond her stress levels and the minor burn to her lip). Once home Peter made sure to do pain-drains on her while she worked on a paste to heal the cold-iron burn, and until it fully healed. Claudia was well-versed in the necessary treatment, the various pastes that could be used and could make the very best of them all practically with her eyes closed. This was because, back in Poland she’d been one of the girls who were often tasked with creating the pastes, and in the case of the best of them, it was a variation of the oldest recipe of all, which had been created by her mother: Mirele Gajos nee Katz.
So, by now Claudia is no longer hurt at all. But while the pain may have passed, the fear, the absolute terror, remains. She’s having issues being around other people, even just leaving her house makes her nervous, and she absolutely refuses to eat or drink anything that’s given to her by someone who isn’t her husband or Peter. Which is an issue considering how all the old ladies of the street keep trying to give her treats and offer her tea, insisting that this or that kind they favor will help her (everyone can see that something is stressing her out, and that can’t be good for the baby!).
Noah’s about at the end of his rope with it all. And with the fact that he cannot even take his anger out on the man responsible for everything, since he cannot go after him with any charges that will actually stick! (Seeing how his wife is alright, the poison that was used against her isn’t one humans would be able to identify, or know anything about, and no human court would even understand what motivated such an attempt on a good woman’s life).
“He wanted so badly to be your emissary that he tried to kill my wife for it?!” Noah’s practically growling, despite not being a wolf himself, he’s beyond furious.
Claudia’s just crying quietly from her spot on the couch. Noah wants to hold her, he does, but at the same time he’s too angry for it, and they know it’s no good for him to touch her when he has such negative emotions running under his skin. The last time he tried, he was shocked for it! They don’t actually know if it’s something in Claudia’s magic, a sort-of self-defense mechanism, or perhaps even the baby, if they might be so powerful, even while still in the womb, that they’re trying to protect their mother from anything that may hurt her, even negative auras (and considering what happened with the poisoned tea…).
And really, it’s precisely the thought of her baby that makes Claudia cry most. Her baby is an innocent. They have absolutely nothing to do with this… this bizarre power struggle that Claudia stumbled into without meaning to. If her baby weren’t as powerful as they already are… they’d be dead, both her baby and Claudia herself probably. And if Claudia hadn’t died right away the mere loss of her baby would have destroyed her!
And of course then there’s Alan. Claudia won’t say that she thought they were friends exactly, but that’s only because the man never seemed interested in answering to any of her overtures of friendship. At first she thought it was simply that the man was shy, not very well versed in how to be social (something pretty common with magic-users, she’s found). And yet after what he did…
“I was going to give it to him!” she blurts out.
That makes both her beloveds turn to look at her.
“What…?” Peter’s the one most shocked by that announcement.
“What do you mean you were going to give it to him?” Noah asks, head tilted in curiosity.
“I… I’m sorry Peter,” Claudia murmurs gently, turning her whole attention to her wolf-lover. “But I just… I don’t know enough about packs, here in America, I mean. About what all you might need, in a pack, from the emissaries. I’ve been learning, yes, but… And it’s not even just that, but. Alan cared. He knew all those things, and more, and he cared, he wanted to be your emissary in a way I just…”
“You didn’t fully care to,” Peter finishes for her, bowing his head slightly.
“It’s nothing against you!” Claudia hurries to reassure him.
“I know it’s not,” Peter nods in understanding, taking Claudia’s hands in his. “I never really told you why I wanted this, did I? Why I suggested you as emissary-candidate in the first place?”
“Peter…?” Claudia trails off, a bit at a loss.
It’s something he’s never explained to her, and to be fair, she never asked, neither of them did. Truth be told, neither Claudia nor Noah thought much of it, seeing it simply as something Peter wanted, that he thought Claudia would be a good emissary for his pack, and that’s that.
“Talia is…” Peter hesitates before explaining as best he can. “My sister is not a bad sister, but she’s always put being alpha first. Which, we’re taught is how it’s gotta be, always the pack comes first. We don’t bring just anyone into the pack. Even when mates are involved.”
“Mates…?” Noah asks, softly.
“You must know that what we have… it’s not just…” Peter hesitates.
He’s so nervous, so hesitant as he tries to explain things, when he’s usually such a confident, outspoken man, both in a courtroom and in his everyday life, that his lovers cannot help but find the whole thing incredibly endearing.
“To me it’s about more than just sex…” Peter goes on. “Not saying that the sex isn’t fantastic, just…”
“We get it,” Claudia cuts him off gently.
“Really Peter, do you think that I… that either of us would risk our marriage over sex?” Noah scoffs dramatically, then shakes his head more gently. “Of course it’s more. It’s always been about more!”
“Multiple mates are… not frowned upon, exactly, but not entirely normal either.” Peter finally gets to the point. “Also, human mates, while perfectly normal, most alphas do prefer for them to take the bite. It’s… a matter of security within the pack.”
This is mostly because it’s believed that there’s less risk of newcomers either accidentally or intentionally doing something to break the secrecy, or bring hunters upon the pack, if they’re as much at risk as everyone else in the pack.
Sadly, the belief is not completely unfounded. There was a hunter clan, centuries ago, who made a point of training young people to not just seek out wolf packs, but also trained them so they’d act in ways that said wolves (or other shifters) would find them… alluring, would want them as part of their packs. Of course they wouldn’t accept the bite, but kept ‘putting the decision off’ while the hunters made arrangements to come after the pack, usually using said human as an excuse, having them claim that the pack had been harassing them, sometimes that their shifter-lover had been in fact a stalker, perhaps even had raped them.
In the end, so many packs ended up being affected, that the remaining ones chose to close ranks, most of them banding together, coming under the umbrella of the oldest, strongest pack in Europe, who then proceeded to go after the hunters, effectively hunting them down to near extinction. When it was all said and done a council of supernaturals determined that the hunters had been in the wrong and there would be no repercussions for those who’d gone after them, they also erased the names of those hunters from all records, erasing them from existence. As for the pack… Well, that was how the loup-garou came to be the pack in Eastern Europe.
Such punishment can be a good thing and a bad one. The hunters lost their legacy, but at the same time, it has made it so others did not get to learn from past wrongdoings…
“I wouldn’t be opposed to the bite, one day, after we’ve talked about it,” Noah offers. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with what we already have, all three of us.”
This, the prospect of Noah being a wolf one day, makes Peter’s mood brighten up. It’s not like there’s anything wrong with him being human, like Claudia is (aside from the magic), Peter truly doesn’t care what his lovers are, as long as they love him. He just… he really likes the idea. Also, the fact that Noah being a wolf would make him at least a bit safer when he’s out there chasing down those who break the law certainly doesn’t hurt!
“So if I become the emissary, I’ll be part of your pack,” Claudia gets to the point.
“You’ll be given the option,” Peter specifies. “Which in turn would allow me to finally introduce you, both of you, to my alpha, and my pack, properly.”
“What are we waiting for then?” Noah asks.
And so it happens that Claudia Gajos-Stilinski becomes the new Hale Emissary. And on the following new moon both she and her husband: Noah Stilinski, are welcomed into the Hale Pack, not just as members of it, but as Peter’s mates.
xXx
As stated before, Claudia’s knowledge of American shifter packs is very limited. It’s something she, and everyone else, knew from the start. That doesn’t mean she cannot learn.
Being the kind of person she is, so thirsty for knowledge, wanting to know everything she possibly can, to read whatever she might get her hands on, it’s of no surprise that Claudia has never been too proud to admit when she needs help with something. Irena Novak, a witch, and the one Claudia is succeeding, offers to teach the younger woman the ropes, for which the woman is very grateful. All the same, she decides she needs, and wants, more than that.
It’s not easy, and takes more time than she’d have truly preferred, but eventually Claudia manages to convince Talia and Peter to give her a hand, so she can arrange audiences with the emissaries from a number of allied packs.
At the beginning it’s just a young, new emissary wanting to learn everything she can about her new position. Getting a few tips and suggestions from those who’ve been at it longer than her so she can see what works and what doesn’t for her and her pack. It doesn’t end there though. Because even when she’s more confident, more settled in her new position, Claudia doesn’t stop calling the emissaries she’s gotten to know. Sometimes she invites them for tea, or lunch. And soon enough they go from being ‘contacts’ to actual friends.
It’s the start of a communication’s network that hasn’t been seen in America in all the years that the packs (and the hunters) have been around.
“It’s dangerous,” Peter tries to explain when Claudia questions why such a network didn’t exist before. “With hunters and… you might not fully realize this Clau, but there are quite a few people who’d like nothing more than to destroy our pack, all these packs you’ve been getting in touch with. Who would not care that we’re peaceful, that we protect our territories, that we help humans… to some we will never be more than animals, beasts, monsters…”
“I know,” Claudia’s own tone is incredibly somber, almost stone-hard, like Peter has never heard from her before. “I too have lost family to cruel, vicious individuals. It’s funny because humans claim to be so pure, to hunt us to protect themselves, their own. Like you said, they’ll call you a beast, an animal, and me? Heretic, devil-worshipper, Satan’s bride, witch… Truth is, some humans simply will take any excuse to kill.”
“So you understand,” Peter nods.
It almost saddens him more, that she does. It’s not that he thought her innocent, or naive, not really. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t pain him, for her to have experienced enough to be so aware of the darker side of the world they live in.
“I understand,” Claudia agrees. “I even understand why you all might think that all this secrecy, all this… keeping your distance from each other, might protect you. But it doesn’t. It only makes you more vulnerable. For if you’re always keeping each other away, who will come when you need help most?”
And thing is, while Peter might not want to admit it, he knows Claudia’s right.
(Alpha Talia Hale might never admit it, but she does too.)
Claudia has known there’s a nemeton in Beacon Hills from the start. It’s one of the things that made Alan Deaton seem like such a good candidate for pack emissary, even more so than her. She did not, however, know just how damaged the physical manifestation of the ley node; in this case, a dark stump of what must have once been a huge, gorgeous, ancient oak tree, was.
The woman blanches instantly when first laying eyes on the nemeton, then immediately pulls out her phone. She might know next to nothing about nemeta. But she does know there’s something very, very wrong with the one in front of her. She also knows that there are a few people in her family with considerably more information than her on this particular topic. Particularly her aunt, Alexandrie Blanc (she’s actually a cousin several times removed, but for convenience’s sake ‘aunt’ works better!). The woman is a very powerful witch, the head of the Lyons-la-Foret coven; and most importantly, the guardian of the Lyons’ nemeton.
It takes a while to make the necessary arrangements for Alexandrie to make the trip to the United States. Enough that Claudia makes it to the end of her pregnancy, gives birth (it’s a boy!) and even manages to fully recover from the long, exhausting delivery before that happens.
Then there’s the fact that her cousin refuses vehemently to go anywhere close to Beacon County. The closest she will get is, in fact, Los Angeles, so the meeting ends up taking place in the outskirts of the city (away from any possible eyes). Claudia travels there with her whole family: Mischief, because of course she’s not about to be separated from her baby when he’s not even three months old yet, Noah who takes a few days off as he refuses to let his wife and son go anywhere without him; even Peter makes arrangements to accompany them (officially he’s there as pack escort, unofficially, he’s not letting his mates go anywhere where there’s even the slightest chance of danger, without him!).
Alexandrie Blanc turns out to be a woman with light skin, wavy gray hair that barely brushes her shoulders, dressed in dark pants, an off-white blouse, dark-blue blazer, dark calf-high boots, a long pale blue scarf around her neck and big dark sunglasses on. It’s those same glasses which she immediately pushes up onto her head when she sees Claudia and her family approaching outside the small cottage she’s renting, not far from the Santa Monica pier.
“Well, well, well, ma petite (my little one),” the woman states, looking at each male at Claudia’s sides in turn, then back at her, mouth upturned in an almost mischievous smile. “Your life has certainly taken an interesting turn since you left Europe!”
Claudia, surprisingly (or perhaps not so much), laughs; Noah blushes almost to the roots of his hair while Peter… he just smirks. He has a feeling he’s going to like this cousin of Claudia’s!
The first thing Alexandrie does is explain why they had to meet in LA.
“Nemeta can be very territorial,” she tells the trio seriously. “And yours is in a very particular position. Being so old, so powerful, yet so damaged and vulnerable at the same time. Things would be very different if it had a guardian at this time, or if it weren’t so hurt, but well, things are what they are. And it’s quite likely that it having chosen its new guardian already, yet not being able to lay claim to him yet is not helping things any…”
“It’s chosen a new guardian already?” Peter perks up at that (because, that’s gotta be good news, right?). “Who?”
Mieszko. Their baby boy, who’s not even three months old yet, has been chosen by the oldest nemeton in the world to be its next guardian. What has the world come to?!
None of them can know of course, that the nemeton didn’t actually choose a newborn baby to be their new guardian. No, that choice was made long before, lifetimes (and timelines) ago… Time is, after all, very relative, where nemeta are involved…
Chapter 2
Mieczysław Jan Stilinski is born just past midnight on September 8th, 1994. His parents are Noah John Stilinski, American of Eastern European descent, a deputy sheriff and former military man; his wife: Claudia Sabina Stilinski nee Gajos, Polish woman, the youngest child and only daughter of the Gajos Family, one of the branches of the most ancient and powerful magical line: the Wójcik, who some still remember as being descended from the Seelie Queen’s half-blood child. Then there’s his third parent: Peter Hale, a werewolf, member of the Hale Pack (the once guardians of the nemeton) and left-hand of the Alpha (his sister) Talia Hale. While Peter might not be Mieszko’s parent biologically, he is in every way that counts, he’s also Noah and Claudia’s mate.
While not unheard of, for the Wójcik line to produce a son (the families living in the Ipswich area are all carried on by sons) for the most part, the bloodline is still a matriarchal line. The most surprising part is how powerful the child proves to be, pretty much from the moment of his birth. (Even before, in fact, considering that Claudia remains convinced that it was her baby that caused the small seizure that led to her dropping the cup with the tea poisoned with cold-iron, which could have potentially killed her and her baby both).
The boy’s great-grandmother (Claudia’s quite famous grandmother): Lady Marika Katz, née Magiosik visits the baby after the official announcement of his birth is made and declares there’s a storm brewing under his skin…
“What is that supposed to mean?” Noah demands, not liking the sound of things.
His tension is not without cause, considering not only how hard it was for Claudia to conceive at all, but there was also Alan Deaton’s attempt on their lives. Also, in the man’s experience, storms are rarely used to describe good things. More often than not they’re used as metaphors for trouble…
“Your son need not fear any storm, Noah,” Marika clarifies. “For he is the storm. It’s in his flesh and his blood. And his bones? Those are of the earth, they will keep him grounded, will keep him safe.”
Noah’s still not sure he quite likes the allusion, but he supposes that the assurance that his son will be safe will have to be enough. Also, he supposes that, given the world they live in (and by that he means the world as a whole and not just the Shadow one), the fact that he’ll be powerful enough to fight back if (when) anything happens, is a good thing.
Everyone in the Stilinski(-Hale) household is very surprised when Claudia finds herself pregnant again, not even six months after the birth of Mieszko. Truth is, while Claudia always wanted to have several children; perhaps not as many as her grandmother did, or some of her aunts, but she did always imagine herself having at least three. Then, after the loss of Miriam, and all the other failed pregnancies she came to see Mieszko as quite a miracle. The last thing she expected was to become pregnant again, especially so soon afterwards, so she wasn’t really keeping an eye on things. Which might explain why she doesn’t realize anything’s going on (going as far as blaming her brief bouts of nausea weeks earlier, and every other symptom, on various things) until Peter is standing before her, holding her by the shoulders, and staring at her as if he were waiting for something to happen.
“Love, wha…?” Claudia begins.
Only to be shushed! By Peter! She’s annoyed enough by it that she opens her mouth to snap at him when he raises his head and the look on his face is enough to leave her mute.
“I can hear it,” he murmurs, softly. “I can truly hear it, it’s there…”
“What?” Claudia demands. “What is there?”
“Is she sick?” Noah calls as he enters the kitchen (he’s only just arrived home after his shift, still in his uniform, hasn’t even put his gun away just yet). “Do we need to get to the hospi…?”
“A heartbeat,” Peter cuts them both off rather effectively. “A second one, I mean.” There almost seem to be tears in his eyes. “Clau, dear-heart, you’re pregnant.”
Claudia doesn’t faint at this news, because she’s not the kind of woman who faints. But she’s shocked enough that for a moment she just stands there. She doesn’t move, she’s not sure she breathes at all, and then Mieszko is crying from his high-chair in a corner of the kitchen and that at least is enough to get Noah moving, as he goes to pick the baby in his arms. It’s clear he can sense the tension in the room, and he doesn’t like it.
“Pregnant…?” Claudia asks, voice thready.
“Yes,” Peter nods. “I can hear the heartbeat very clearly now.”
“How far along do you think?” Noah inquires, curious.
“I’d been hearing something the last couple of days, didn’t truly realize what it was until I dropped by to see Talia,” Peter explains. “When I saw her with Cora in her arms I remembered, the last time I heard a sound like that was back when she was still pregnant with the little hellion.”
Really, there’s a reason he doesn’t drop by the pack house more often, that baby has a set of lungs on her and is capable of raising hell far more effectively than even Mieszko, despite the boy being in fact, younger than her, and human!
“A couple of days,” Claudia repeats, doing some math in her head. “So I’m probably, what? Six or seven weeks along, something like that?”
“Try three or four,” Peter corrects. “While the ultrasound might only be able to pick up on the fetal heartbeat, six to seven weeks into the pregnancy, shifter ears are much more sensitive than any human machine, we start hearing it no more than a week after it starts beating. At least that’s been our experience in the pack.”
“Three or four weeks,” Noah repeats, then nods. “Then it’s most likely yours.”
That throws the wolf for a loop, as he turns to look at Noah.
“Well,” Noah explains. “Four weeks ago I had that really big case in Beacon Valley, remember? And then there was the trip to Sacramento and to San Francisco when it turned out that my case was connected with things going on in those places…”
Claudia and Peter can both remember that. Noah had barely slept at home the first three or four days as he handled that case, and once the Sacramento PD got involved, not even that. He’d been away for almost three weeks. So chances were he was right and the baby Claudia’s carrying this time will turn out to be Peter’s.
He is right, of course. Malia Vilda Stilinski is born on November 28th, 1995, right as the moon rises over the horizon. It’s obvious right from the start that Malia is Peter’s, she has a lot of his same features, down to the color and texture of her hair, and the shape of her eyes, though the eye-color she gets from Claudia (just like her brother). Also, her eyes flash beta yellow at a very young age, as is usual with born shifters.
Noah offers to have the baby recognized as Peter’s in the paperwork, and to give her the Hale name. While their three-way relationship might not be exactly legal (it cannot be), it’s not like everyone in town doesn’t know already! The only real ‘issue’ they’ve ever had was when a small group in town, led by Nurse Melissa McCall, made some pointed comments about the kind of example they were giving to the ‘impressionable youths’ of Beacon Hills (clearly implying that it was a very bad one). They were shot down pretty quickly by pretty much everyone else; though the most vicious response came from the old ladies of Beacon Hills, who had some things to say about what kind of authority the nurse thought she had, when everyone knew of her constant shouting matches with her own husband, while the Stilinskis on the other hand (all three of them!) were a wonderful example of a well-matched, harmonious relationship, even if it might not be entirely traditional.
In the end Peter refuses Noah’s offer, stating he’s happy enough for Malia to be a Stilinski. Claudia’s half convinced that the main reason for that, is the exact same for his enjoyment whenever old Mrs. Carlysle, or one of the other neighbors refers to Peter as Mr. Stilinski. It’s a way of showing that he’s family too. That they’re all together, that they belong.
Claudia’s third and final pregnancy is more planned. Not so much in the ‘who will father the child’ as, on that front all three of them decide they don’t much care as long as the baby’s healthy, it’ll be all of theirs anyway. What they do plan is on when it’ll happen. Waiting until a good few years after Mieszko and Malia, wanting to have some time with just the five of them, before adding another child to the family. Or as it happens, two.
It’s the one thing they could not have planned for, and it happens. While twins aren’t unknown on Claudia’s side of the family, they’re a rare occurrence; Noah cannot think of there having ever been twins in his family; while on packs it does happen every so often, but only ever in couples where both parents are shifters. They don’t even realize that she’s having twins until Claudia’s in her second trimester, when her belly starts growing too much, too fast. The symptoms didn’t give it away because they happened so differently in each pregnancy, that she didn’t think too hard about why her nausea might have been worse than even when she was pregnant with Mieszko!
Finally, on April 8th, Claudia takes to the birthing bed for the third time and gives birth to Alina and Sabina Stilinski. The precious little girls are their mother made over in everything from their delicate features, petite sizes, skin-tone, all the way to the beauty marks doting their skin. All except for their eyes, which are blue. At first it’s believed that it’s just the classic baby-blue and they’ll change color eventually, but while the shades do change, they remain blue. They’re not the exact same shade though, not even between the two, and Claudia privately wonders how long it’ll take her husbands (Peter might not be such legally, but she’s been referring to both as such for years and is not about to stop!) to notice that the girls have got their eyes this time…
Claudia’s warned, following the twins’ birth, that she should not get pregnant again, that it could kill her. She bled a lot, after the second baby was delivered, and while the midwife found the bleed pretty fast and dealt with it, things were still touch and go for a little while. All three of them agree right away and arrangements are made so there will be no risk of Claudia getting pregnant again. They’re happy enough with their four children, more than happy, even.
xXx
Everyone knows that the twins are magic users practically from the moment they’re born. They have no idea what they’ll be; whether enchanters like their mama, herbalists like their grandma (may she rest in peace), witches, sorceresses, or so many other things. They may not even end up being the same. Even being twins, even if they might have the exact same magical potential, that doesn’t mean it will develop the exact same way, they’re still their own people. It’s clear though, that while their potential is certainly great, it doesn’t truly compare to their brother’s. Which everyone’s just fine with: one child with a big destiny is enough for the family!
Malia is the only one from the four who is a shifter. It’s because of her that the Stilinskis start spending more time with the rest of the Hale Pack, especially on the nights of the full moon. Though nothing could have possibly prepared them for what happens one night, when Malia is eight.
It’s her first shift. While she’s popped a claw here and there before, and has been flashing eyes almost since birth. That night is the first time she truly shifts, and she goes the whole way, the full shift, into a chestnut colored wolf-pup that has her parents and siblings cooing and petting her, while almost everyone else stares in shock.
Everyone except Laura. For some reason that the Stilinskis cannot parse, the seventeen-year-old looks incredibly pissed off.
Claudia waits until most of her family is thoroughly distracted playing with Malia and the other kids (some who seem to be trying and failing to shift the way she just did), to confront Laura (and, even if not quite as directly, Talia) about the matter.
“What’s the problem?” she asks, sharply but quietly.
“She can do the full shift!” Laura snaps.
A voice in the back of Claudia’s mind points out that she sounds incredibly whiny, and while Laura is a teenager, shouldn’t she be more mature than that by now? Isn’t she training to one day be the alpha? Claudia would think that a certain level of maturity would be expected to be a part of that…
“Okay,” Claudia nods agreeably. “And?”
It’s… Claudia knows that she came into things, into being the Hale Pack Emissary, pretty ignorant. But she’s learned since. She’s learned a lot, actually. More than most might expect, all things told. She knows that the full-shift is a rare talent, at least in America (In Europe pretty much everyone from the loup-garou pack can do it; but then again, they’re said to be the oldest wolf-pack, the original one…). But it’s a Hale Pack trait, and Malia is a Hale, so what’s the issue, exactly? That Malia achieved it before Laura did (at least, Claudia assumes, since she’s pretty sure that if the alpha-to-be could do it, she would make a point to show off every full moon).
“She’s not the alpha!” Laura snarls.
“What has that got to do with anything?!” Mieszko yells from the other side of the backyard.
Which goes to show that the kids aren’t quite as distracted as Claudia might have thought they were. Or at least, Mieszko isn’t, which is no surprise really. Her son has always been very protective of Malia. She was his first sister, and she’s the one closest in age with him, so perhaps it’s normal. Claudia would swear he can sometimes be even more overprotective than Peter, and that’s saying something!
“Only alphas can do the full shift!” Laura yells, in the theatrical tone of a dramatic teenager (and Claudia really thinks that that is something Talia needs to nip in the bud, soon, if the girl is to be their next alpha).
“Says who?” Claudia asks right back, not missing a beat.
And really, Claudia’s read everything she could get her hands on, regarding the Hale Pack, has talked to all her contacts in the other packs, even communed with the nemeton! The full-shift is a Hale trait, and when she says a Hale trait, she means, of all in the Hale Pack, even bitten wolves, so where does Laura get the idea that it’s an alpha-thing?! Unless… unless Talia’s the only one in the pack who can do it, not because the others haven’t ever tried, but because they truly haven’t been able; or did no one else ever try because they were so sure they’d fail so what was the point?
She probably needs to investigate more!
Turns out that Claudia is right, the full-shift is meant to be a Hale-trait, and yet it’s not a matter of others never trying. It’s that they’ve been losing it. Ever since the last ‘sacrifice’ died and a new one wasn’t chosen, and then the following alpha did not even try to offer one. But especially, ever since the Hales, who were once the guardians of the nemeton and the territory, began failing to fulfill their duties. The nemeton has slowly but surely been taking away that which they’d given when the covenant was first made.
It’s even quite possible than when Malia first does the full-shift, that it isn’t something she’s able to do due to being a Hale, but because she’s a Stilinski, because she’s the sister of Mieszko (the new, chosen guardian, even if he hasn’t yet taken on the full duties).
Peter eventually finds some old records and journals in one of the Hale Vaults, and between that and Claudia communing with the nemeton every so often (keeping them happy, so her son will be given the time he needs to prepare, to live his own life, before he has to devote himself to his duties to the ley node). This helps because Talia leads his pack into doing pack runs, and patrols, walking the edges of the territory, and visiting the nemeton and, in short, all the things that her predecessors had been pushing to the wayside in recent generations, seeing it as pointless and unnecessary.
The last important thing she does on the matter, is offering the nemeton their choice of ‘sacrifice’. Peter isn’t sure there’s much point to that, seeing how the Hales aren’t the guardians anymore, and Talia knows it, but he lets it go. And in the end the nemeton does choose, two in fact, one for each of the current generations of Hales: for the younger one it is Derek, and for the older one: Peter.
It is explained to Derek what being chosen as the ‘sacrifice’ means; at least in as much detail as the journals allow. Peter actually finds a single journal, old, written by the younger brother of the second alpha of their line, the very first ‘sacrifice’. Only, he doesn’t use that word to refer to himself. No, he uses the word Atco, ‘friend’ and seems to imply that it’s the word that the nemeton chose to call him.
All in all, things are pretty good. Derek doesn’t mind at all being the ‘sacrifice’ or Atco. Not much is truly required of him, really. He spends a fair amount of time walking or running in the preserve, and at least once a week he can be found sitting by the slowly but surely growing oak tree.
“What are you doing here?” his father asks him once, curious more than anything else.
“Nothing,” Derek shrugs. “I think they just like the company.”
Zachery Hale opens his mouth to say something, then closes it again, having said nothing. It makes about as much sense as anything in their life, so his father doesn’t insist. And it’s not like it’s hurting Derek any, being there. If anything, the lengthy times spent in the preserve, and especially around the nemeton seem to have helped settle him, settle the wilder side of him. Derek is certainly the youngest of the pack children to stop shifting at the slightest shift in their emotions.
Peter makes a point of bringing Malia around, and even Cora and some of the other children, once that last part becomes evident. And while it doesn’t seem to help the rest of them as much as it does Derek, in the end it doesn’t hurt them either (and Derek does tell him that the nemeton likes the children being around more).
There’s a part of Peter that knows, has known for years, that if he were to try the full shift, he’d be able to do it. Yet he’s never attempted it. In part because he’s never felt he needed it, but also… he knew it’d ruffle more than a few feathers. Talia is so convinced that her eldest daughter will make a wonderful alpha. And who knows? Maybe one day that will even prove to be true. But Laura is too young still. She’s a teenager, and as selfish, self-centered and immature as most teenagers are wont to be. The issue is that along with all of that, she’s entitled. She sees the alpha as something she has a right to, rather than understanding it’s a responsibility, a burden she’ll one day have to bear, for the sake of the pack, and the territory as a whole.
Peter cannot imagine the kind of alpha his niece would make, at least as she is, at eighteen. If the worst were to happen and she inherited the power in that very moment… He’s pretty sure it’d be an absolute disaster. It’s probably a good thing that since Claudia became their emissary and Deaton was locked-up there haven’t been any big issues in the territory. (The worst was the ‘thing’ that almost happened with the Argents, and that wasn’t even a danger for their territory; their only involvement in that was when the network set up by Claudia years ago helped those who were actually at risk). They’re as safe as can be (and Peter will ensure they stay that way!).
It ends up taking years (more than most might have expected, though less than Peter thought it would). Laura is actually the last of the pack to achieve the full-shift, though thanks to several others choosing not to reveal theirs until after she’s managed it, she never realizes this. Peter does though, as do his mates (Noah himself has been a wolf since shortly after their mating, and was one of those who earned the full-shift but kept it a secret). Even Talia realizes it, but she remains confident that Laura will make a fine alpha when the time comes.
Talia is proud as a peacock, once her whole pack can do the full-shift. Convinced more than ever that they’re the greatest pack in America.
“I’d read about it in the old stories, you know?” She says to Peter one day. “Back when the Hale Pack first came to be, back when we first became the guardians of this territory, and of the nemeton, every single member of the pack, from the oldest wolf to the youngest pup, was said to be able to do the full shift. That skill dwindled throughout the years. By the time of our great-grandparents only the alphas, and sometimes their heirs could do it. Our own father never could…”
Peter knows all that already, of course, he read the same journals that she did. Though that doesn’t explain… He gets it then, it’s in her mention of guardians…
“You think it’s because of Mieszko,” Peter murmurs in realization. “Because the nemeton has chosen him as the next guardian.”
Peter himself isn’t sure. While it probably is important, Mieszko being the new guardian (the nemeton having a guardian at all… or a potential one) and especially the fact that said individual is part of the Hale Pack. He doesn’t see how it could affect the rest of them in such a way. Unless of course it’s in the fact that Mieszko being the (future) guardian, and being part of the pack at all, is what’s led to the pack going back to actually guarding the territory as they ought to.
“Maybe, or maybe it’s because of the terrible fate we avoided when Alan Deaton failed to become our new emissary,” Talia says in return. “He was our favorite candidate, you know? Claudia, as good as she’s proven to be, she just didn’t know enough about packs, about being an emissary and… and I wasn’t sure a woman who lived the life of a mundane was what we needed…”
There they go again! Peter can hardly believe that even after everything that’s happened his sister still fails to grasp what to him has long been so obvious…
“You’ve always held on too tightly to our father’s old notions,” he states with an emphatic roll of his eyes. “The whole idea that humans are less simply for being human.”
“Not less, just… different.” Talia tries to excuse.
And yet the truth is… well, there’s a reason why there are no true purely-human Hale pack-members. Even Kyle’s girlfriend, she was only truly brought into the pack when she agreed to the bite. Peter wonders if his sister knows how close she came to losing not only Kyle, but his own mother, Talia’s favorite cousin, over it. She would have, if the girl had refused the bite. Kyle would have absolutely chosen her over the Hale Pack, and his mother would have gone with him (Peter knows Claudia followed the whole thing carefully and silently; she would have given them directions and a contact to help them join another pack, had it been necessary).
“Noah was no less extraordinary when he was human, than he’s now, as a wolf.” Peter states seriously. “Had he chosen to remain human, to never take the bite, I wouldn’t have loved him any less.”
“I know,” Talia nods and while she doesn’t sound quite as dismissive of things as she probably would have in the past, Peter’s still not satisfied.
“You know, but do you understand?” He presses.
“I’m trying,” Talia tries to pacify him, though at least he can tell she’s not lying. “Though you’re wrong about one thing. I never saw humans as less, not really. I saw them as… fragile, more vulnerable than us. I saw them as needing our protection. It’s why we Hales have always been so involved in public service, in helping as many people as we can in this, our territory. Humans need us.”
“No, don’t make that mistake Talia.” Peter shakes his head for emphasis. “Humans may be grateful for us, yes, or well, they would be if they knew about the supernatural, but you get my point. Whether that is for the supernatural threats we handle, most of which they’ll never have an inkling about; or because of the number of scholarships, and grants and other programs our family has implemented to help those in the county. But that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be able to survive, and even thrive, just fine, even without us.”
“Well, I’m grateful they have us anyway.”
“So am I.”
He’s grateful they are there for the humans to ‘have’ at all…
xXx
Mieszko first comes in contact with Hop at a very young age. Young enough that he doesn’t really notice that there’s anything just… not-normal about Hop, and the way their friendship works. Like the fact that they’re never around when there’s adults present, or the pack. Also, Mieszko never stops to consider a few things, like the fact that he and Hop never really ‘talk’, or at least not in a way others would understand it, or how the boy doesn’t even know what his friend looks like!
It works for him, and Mieszko is aware of his own magic, has been pretty much his entire life (he’s heard the story of how he supposedly saved his mom’s life, and his own, from the womb; it terrified him and filled him with pride at the same time).
Noah chalks it all to Mieszko having an ‘imaginary friend’ and leaves it at that (children having those is pretty normal, right?). It helps that Claudia isn’t concerned. Even if his wife doesn’t see imaginary friends the same way he does. As Nana Mari explains it to Claudia (and many of her aunts confirm it), more often than not what mundanes see as a child’s ‘imaginary friend’ is, in truth, a fairy, or a nature spirit, or some other magical creature. They’re harmless, and there’s really no need for Claudia, or anyone else to worry about it (if they were not, she’d know it already, would be able to sense it).
Even then, it never occurs to her what ‘Hop’ might actually be.
Mieszko learns the truth about his oldest friend the summer before he starts High-School. It’ll be his first time actually attending school of any kind, as he’s been homeschooled his whole life up to that point. At first it was because, with Malia being a shifter, she needed it, and they didn’t want either her or Mieszko to feel like one of them was less than the other, because of their different needs. Also, it’s seen as a Hale tradition, and with them being Hales as much as they are Stilinskis, some of those in town might have found them doing things any differently odd (of course most people in town do not know why homeschooling until high-school is a Hale tradition exactly, but that part isn’t important). In any case, it ended up being a good thing when Mieszko was diagnosed with ADHD and had to learn to deal with it, since none of the meds ever did more than take the edge off (certain teas, moving meditation, and running through the preserve every day ended up working much better to help control the symptoms).
Mieszko has known from a very young age that the nemeton in Beacon Hills chose him from the time he was but a baby (might have even happened before he was even born!) to be their next guardian. He’s never understood why (no one does), but he knows.
So the summer before he starts high-school, Mieszko follows his mom, as well as papa, Alpha Talia and her son: Derek, into a place he’s only ever seen in his dreams…
Claudia opens her mouth to say… something. But before she can, Mieszko’s eyes go very wide and there’s a big smile on his lips.
“Mom!” he exclaims, exuberant. “This is Hop! Hey Hop!”
Claudia and Talia can only stand there, speechless. They’ve kept the boy away from the nemeton for all those years, not wanting him to accidentally bond with the ley node before being ready and then finding that his options for his future (especially in regards to his college education) have suddenly become quite limited. They could have never expected this.
Mieszko honestly doesn’t know why his mom and alpha are so shocked but he doesn’t really care. He jumps onto one of the pieces of the broken stump that remain around the growing oak that is the nemeton, that is Hop (it might not be quite so grand as his original tree, the one that was cut down on Deaton’s poisonous recommendation, but then that tree had centuries to grow that size, this one has barely had a dozen years or so, since Claudia and Peter found the right rituals, and the right people to help them put them into motion, without involving Mieszko). Hop even knows why they didn’t involve his young guardian in things, and while that would have given more of a boost to the nemeton, it also would have meant binding a child to the ley node, to the territory, limiting the options for his future greatly (which is precisely what his parents have never wanted), so Hop allowed it.
Mieszko is really happy to finally be able to see his oldest friend. Granted, a part of him is a tiny bit miffed that Hop never saw fit to tell him that they were the nemeton, he would have understood! Or well, it at least wouldn’t have seemed that strange to him (he has one mama, one dad and one papa, his sister turns into a wolf, as does his very best friend… who’s also six years older than him!).
Mieszko has known Derek for most of his life. While he was one of the older kids, Derek used to be very shy, almost as much as Trystan, he also liked reading a lot, and from a very young age Mieszko liked just… sitting beside Derek and listening as he read out loud from whatever book was in his hands at the time. It was Derek who got Mieszko into Tolkien’s works, and when the first Lord of the Rings movie came out in 2001 Peter bought the two boys tickets for the premiere in Sacramento (which they thoroughly enjoyed).
So the two boys have known each other for almost as long as they can remember, and been friends just as long. Every time Mieszko has hit a new benchmark with his magic, learned to do something new, Derek’s been the first person he’s told (others might have found out first, because they were there when things happened, but telling Derek was his choice). Mieszko is the first one to find out when Derek achieves the full-shift for the first time; and for the longest time he (and Peter) are the only ones who know (Derek doesn’t want to risk Laura turning on him out of jealousy, or if she feels threatened by the development).
The two boys tell each other everything, always have. Their trust in each other is absolute and unshakable. So it comes as no surprise that when Mieszko extends a hand to Derek, wanting to introduce his two friends, the older boy takes it…
By that point Derek has been the nemeton’s Atco for years, and even if that day is the first time Mieszko has set foot in that clearing, has physically touched the nemeton, he’s been in contact with Hop for much, much longer, pretty much his whole life really! And yet, the two of them, right then, right there, holding hands and touching the nemeton, together… it changes something. They don’t know exactly what, at that moment, and neither does anyone else in the clearing with them, but it does.
Chapter 3
If asked, neither Mieszko nor Derek would be able to say when it is that they fall in love with each other, exactly. The two boys have always been close, and their difference in ages was never more than a background issue for them.
When Derek joins the basketball team in high-school Mieszko is always there to watch him play, usually with his mom, who likes basketball a lot too. Peter and Malia even join them sometimes, with several of the other pack-children, and Derek does no more than blush the slightest bit when they cheer louder than anyone else (even when he fails to score).
Derek dates a girl called Paige Krasikeva for a few months during high-school. Mieszko’s the one who listens all about it when he crushes over her, being too shy to say a word about it. He’s also the one who ends up going to Paige while she’s on a tutoring session with his mom (Paige has magic potential, and while her power is very low she wants to learn the basics; she’s also a somewhat distant cousin, though not on the Wójcik side) and asking her if she’d go on a date with his best-friend. Paige seems to find the whole thing funny and agrees to go on a date with Derek. It goes well and the two end up dating for several months, until she’s offered a scholarship to Juilliard. What begins as a summer camp ends up becoming a permanent thing and she never returns to Beacon Hills. Derek is a bit heart-broken but moves on eventually.
It is Mieszko who Derek goes to when he decides that while a part of him still wants to write books and perhaps even publish them one day, a Degree in English might not be for him after all.
“What was it you truly disliked about it?” Mieszko asks, honestly curious. “I mean, is it the theory, the way it’s all taught or…”
“A bit of everything, I think,” Derek admits. “I mean, knowing what it’s called when I write a certain kind of story, or scene or character won’t make me any better or worse at it, I don’t think. Also, I’ve learned I find the theory behind writing somewhat… boring.”
“Fair,” Mieszko nods. “So what are you going to do now?”
“No idea,” Derek exhales loudly. “It’s kind of why I haven’t told mom and dad yet that I’m dropping out. While I don’t think they’d hate me for dropping out of college or anything I do think they’d probably prefer it if I framed it as changing majors, or something, instead.”
“Tell me something you wanna do then,” Mieszko suggests. “I mean, honestly, and without thinking too hard about it. What is one thing you can truly see yourself doing for a living?”
“I think…” Derek thinks it over for a moment before finally blurting out: “I’d like to help people.”
They talk it out for a while longer, Mieszko basically throwing out ideas for jobs he could have that’d have him helping people, and what he’d have to study in order to get them. They go through everything from doctor (too long and Derek isn’t too good at the sciences), lawyer (he’s heard his uncle Peter complain enough about stupid people and he’d never be able to stand working with or for them), social worker (watching kids being hurt and never being able to help them all? Helping one yet there always being more and more and… yeah, nope); some he just doesn’t like the idea of, even if he doesn’t have a specific reason for it: like firefighter, counselor, veterinarian, nurse, teacher… Even Mieszko seems to be running out of steam when Derek notices something:
“Wait, say that again?” he asks.
“Human resources manager?” Mieszko asks.
“No, the one before,” Derek shakes his head.
“Deputy?” Mieszko inquires.
“Yes, that,” Derek nods. “I like that. Think I’d be any good?”
“I think you’d be magnificent,” Mieszko assures him.
Then again, he’s pretty sure Derek will be magnificent no matter what he ends up doing, so…
By the time Talia and Zachery Hale hear anything about it, the news isn’t so much that Derek is dropping out, but rather that he’s decided to change his major, he’ll be studying Sociology instead. He doesn’t yet state his final aim of one day being a deputy right there in Beacon Hills. His plan is to keep studying at Sac State and hopefully even doing whatever courses he needs for being a deputy and sending a blind application from there. More than anything he wants to know that he got the job (if he does) because they want him there, not because of who he is, or the connection between his and the sheriff’s families.
xXx
Mieszko experiences a fair amount of bullying during his time in high-school. It comes as no surprise. In between the non-traditional Stilinski household, the years home-schooled, his ADHD, and his genius… and of course, the fact that he begins high-school at twelve! Mieszko knew from the start that more than a possibility, bullying was a given. He still did not expect how far things would go.
Derek is the only one who hears the complete story about what went down with Debra Hastings. Their parents mostly hear that the girl made some comments and unfounded accusations against Mieszko and when Coach stepped in and demanded proof of her allegations (which of course, she did not have), she was forced to apologize to him and then suspended for malicious gossip. The only reason the parents find out at all is, as usual, because of the insane rumor mill that seems to be going on in Beacon Hills pretty much all the time (and especially when it’s something that involves either a Hale or a Stilinski, if for different reasons).
Derek, who skips his last class of the day and drives straight to Beacon Hills despite it being the middle of the week, goes straight to Mieszko’s room where he pokes and prods at the younger boy until the whole story comes tumbling out. How the green-eyed, pale-blonde queen of the school asked Mieszko out a few times, pretended to date him for a few weeks before dumping him very publicly less than a week before prom. As Mieszko explains, she made a whole production of their breakup, reciting a clearly rehearsed speech, loud enough that people would hear and approach to see what was going on. It’s also clear she expected to get some kind of reaction from him, and when he failed to deliver she called him an unfeeling sociopath.
“What was even the point of it all?” Derek asks when Mieszko finishes telling him the whole story.
“The point of her speech or the point of me dating her?” Mieszko asks in turn.
“Well, I was gonna say her speech, but now I’m wondering about you dating her at all,” Derek admits.
“Mom’s been… nagging,” Mieszko admits. “The first couple of years she said nothing, when I didn’t attend any of the dances. But ever since I started junior year she’s asked me every time if I’m going, if there’s some girl I’d like to take, if I need to go clothes’ shopping for something formal…” He exhales. “I think… I think a part of her is just, well I’m her eldest, and the only boy! And the way she sees it, she’ll soon run out of chances to have pictures of me in formal wear, of my attending my first dance, that sort of thing. But also… more than that, I think she’s worried that I might have attended high-school too young…”
It’s been a worry of his parents since his mom first revealed, the summer before his twelfth birthday, that he’d finished the middle-school curriculum. She could have continued home-schooling him, but then he’d have ended up not going to school at all until college, and that’s not what his parents wanted.
Noah and Claudia are both firm believers that school is meant to be about more than just what is considered as traditional education. It’s also meant to help children socialize, mature. If a person is not taught how to… co-exist with their peers from their formative years, how can they be expected to manage it as adults? Of course, the Stilinskis never counted on Mieszko being ready for high-school at an age where he should have been getting ready to attend middle-school; that is, if he hadn’t been attending elementary school still!
“You’re very mature for your age, always have been, that’s not a bad thing,” Derek defends him.
“No, but some do see it as… well, as me not being normal.” Mieszko admits. “They see me not joining the lacrosse team, or going to parties, or doing all sorts of crazy things with everyone else, and think that there’s something wrong with me.”
“You didn’t join the lacrosse team because you don’t like lacrosse, you did pretty good at cross country and I know Coach loved having you on the team the last few years because he cheered your wins even louder than we did, and we’re a pack of wolves!” Derek points out with a bit of a smirk. “There’s nothing wrong with not going to parties or doing stupid and often reckless stuff at those disasters some people like to call parties. Some tend to not end up being a good idea…”
As they well know, considering what happened during a certain party at the Lahey place… Cameron Lahey was the Swim-Coach back then, the team had done especially well that year, and after the last meet, he had a party at his place, his pool, to celebrate them all. In a very bad move on the man’s part, he allowed the teenagers to drink and then… No one knows what happened, exactly but one kid (a friend of Mr. Lahey’s younger son, apparently) either fell or was thrown into the pool. It so happens that the boy didn’t know how to swim, and almost drowned. Coach Lahey tried to keep the whole thing a secret but Kyle, who was part of the swim-team refused and told his mother, who in turn took him to Noah so a formal complaint could be made.
The whole thing blew wide open in the following weeks. Pretty much everyone in town had known that Coach Lahey had a habit of drinking, and pretty heavily too. Most of the town knew too about the parties he organized for the swim teams whenever they did especially well, the fact that he didn’t supervise them as well as he should have. It was even a sort-of open secret that there always ended up being some kind of alcohol consumed by the minors in those parties. And yet nothing had ever been done about it. Nothing until a boy almost died…
“In any case,” Mieszko continues. “Debra asked me out a few weeks ago. She was pretty insistent about it, actually. Claimed that she liked my maturity, that it made me better than the rest of the boys, that I looked like the kind of guy who’d treat a girl right… etcetera, etcetera. I eventually gave in because I thought, why not? Didn’t seem like such a big deal. And mom seemed happy enough when I went on a few dates with her, to the diner, and the movies and the mall. Papa didn’t seem to agree but I suspect dad told him to keep his opinion to himself; and to be honest, I thought that his disagreement was less about Debra, and more about her father.”
Her father, Douglas Hastings, a corporate lawyer and someone Peter would say is one of the stupid people he’s forced to work with sometimes.
“I never expected it to last, you know?” Mieszko murmurs thoughtfully. “I thought she was… I don’t know, maybe she’d lost a bet, or was trying to show off, saying she was the only one who dared to date the freak, or whatever.”
“You’re not a freak,” Derek mutters.
“To them, I am,” Mieszko points out. “And it’s okay, Not like I care what any of them think of me.” He shakes his head. “I always knew she was gonna break up with me. I’m not even surprised she’d do it just before prom. She was probably even expecting me to ask her to come back, to at least come with me to the dance or whatever. I’ve seen other girls do that sort of stuff before, breaking up with their boyfriends shortly before an important date or event, or just playing hard to get so they’ll try harder or something.”
“Sounds utterly ridiculous.”
“It is. Which is basically why I completely ignored her speech when she was breaking up with me. Didn’t even listen to more than a few words here and there.” He stops to consider something. “To be honest, it almost sounded like she might have been repeating something she heard in a movie or something. But I cannot even tell you which one it was, as I really didn’t pay enough attention for even that.”
Derek actually guffaws at that. Because really, for Mieszko, who’s an expert at knowing all sorts of details and minor trivia that most cannot fathom how he even remembers everything; the fact that even he didn’t retain the speech says something about the attention he was paying her.
“And how did things go from a bad-movie speech to the false accusations Coach mentioned to our parents?” Derek wants to know.
He’s heard what the accusations were, of course. She called Mieszko an unfeeling sociopath, stating that if he hadn’t cracked already it might not be too long before he did.
“She implied that you were a murderer?” Derek hisses, abruptly furious.
“She implied that I might become one,” Mieszko corrects with a shrug. “It’s a ridiculous accusation. Can only imagine what kind of movie or tv show she got that idea from. In the end, she wanted me to beg her and I didn’t, that made her angry. She lashed out like a little girl having a tantrum. Hopefully the consequences she’s now experiencing will be enough to make her think twice next time.”
“What are the consequences?” Derek wants to know.
“Well, Coach made her apologize, publicly, since her insult was very public too.” Mieszko explains. “Then he took her to the Principal. From what I heard from the rumor mill, her parents were called, and what she’d done was explained, in detail. She’s suspended, and forbidden from attending prom. I think there was also talk of her doing a paper on sociopathy so she’d learn what it actually is and not go around throwing words she doesn’t even understand.”
It’s not a bad punishment, all things told. Derek’s pretty sure that if the girl is even half as bad as she sounds, being forbidden from attending the stupid dance will be the worst part for her. Still, the wolf cannot help but feel that it’s not enough. Not after what she did. She hurt Mieszko, Derek’s Mieszko!
Derek’s…? Oh…
xXx
Mieszko misses the junior prom, his mom doesn’t even ask about it.
He does end up attending his senior prom though. Derek visits that weekend (despite being in exams himself) just to escort him. No one comments on it, seeing it as something Derek is doing to give his best friend an experience he might not have had otherwise. (Claudia still cannot stop smiling wildly as she takes over a dozen pictures of the two boys in their suits).
To say that Beacon Hills High, Class of ‘09 is shocked when seeing Stiles (as he’s known by at the school, since only the pack and his extended family call him Mieszko) Stilinski and Derek Hale enter the gymnasium in matching dark suits and with white flowers (moonflowers) would be putting it mildly. There are some cut-off whispers of ‘gay’ and other… not-so-nice words, but nothing loud enough to be heard by Mieszko, or the chaperones, and the whispers do stop pretty quickly (no one wanting a repeat of the ‘Debra incident’ the year before).
To their own surprise (especially Mieszko’s) the boys both have a pretty good time at the dance. They don’t stay for too long, but they still get the chance to look around, dance together to a few songs and try some of the food and drinks. The food is bad, but they knew already it’d be, and they planned on going to the diner (like many others, actually), the drinks aren’t much better, and the punch is of course spiked. Mieszko tries it anyway, mostly so he can say that he had ‘the complete prom experience’… somewhat.
“That tastes even worse than dad’s whiskey,” Mieszko hisses after almost spitting out the drink.
“And how do you even know what your dad’s whiskey tastes like?” Derek inquires, his judgmental tone only half faked.
“Actually, dad allowed me to take a sip once, last month,” Mieszko admits. “I think I’d bothered him enough times about it, and papa pointed out that I’m going off to college and… yeah. Mom agreed that it might be better that I at least know what it tastes like. Mostly so I know if someone spikes my drinks or stuff like that. I hated the taste.” he sniffs the cup with the punch disdainfully. “Hate this too, wonder what’s even in it.”
“Nothing you wanna know, I’m sure,” Derek deadpans.
“Yeah, I bet,” Mieszko agrees.
They leave the dance shortly after that, heading for the diner, where they have some burgers, with extra curly fries and big milkshakes. It’s a great night all around.
xXx
Mieszko attends Berkeley, studying Business, while at the same time taking every single Shadow Class he can fit into his rather loose schedule.
Mieszko had a plan, from the moment he began attending high-school. He could have taken more classes and done extra-credit and extracurriculars and graduated early. Instead he chose to do all four years, not only so his mom wouldn’t worry about him going to college too young, but the time he could have used for that, instead he spent it doing college-level classes online. Mostly the basics, so he could get them out of the way.
And yet, that doesn’t mean he plans on going through college particularly fast. The whole opposite in fact. The plan is for him to take the bare minimum of the official classes that will allow him to get his Business Degree. He’s also signed up for every single Shadow Class he can take.
It’s something that was revealed to him from the moment he started planning his college education. Some of the colleges in the country (in every country), especially the old ones, have entire curriculums which mundanes do not know even exist. Classes meant solely for those who are supernatural, who are part of the Shadow World (hence the name of Shadow Classes). Mieszko makes sure to take classes not just related to his magic (like Herbology, Potions, Spell-crafting, Runing, Warding, etc) but also in things like Supernatural History, Creature Theory, Pack Protocol, and so much more.
By the time Mieszko’s ready to graduate he’s well known around campus, both by mundane and supernatural students. While the mundane students might not know what the supernatural classes are, exactly, they don’t think that students like Mieszko and others are just wasting their time, most of those classes even have ‘alternate names’ that can be used around mundanes (like calling some of the more advanced potions and herbology classes ‘Alternative Medicine’, or referring to runes as ‘Ancient Languages’…). So everyone at Berkeley knows Mieszko to be a very dedicated student who’s been working really hard on several degrees at the same time (even if only the Business one is ever truly mentioned).
The other thing that’s often mentioned at Berkeley, is Mieszko’s boyfriend…
At first it seems to be a bit of a running joke. It’s no secret that Mieszko is fifteen when first arriving in Berkeley, turning sixteen in early September, while Derek, people soon learn, is six years older than him. The two explain that they’re childhood friends, and at least for the first couple of years nothing seems to contradict that statement. Even if the two are very close, and can sometimes get especially touchy-feely (to the point where one guy even whisper-asks someone once if finding the two of them hot together makes him gay…), nothing ever seems to happen to really move them from ‘very tactile friends’ to ‘romantic’. And then Mieszko turns eighteen…
The busybodies living in the same floor of Mieszko’s dorm notice immediately when Derek Hale arrives on the night of September 7th (a Friday) and then when morning comes, the door to Mieszko’s room remains firmly closed and neither of the two come out. They do not come out at all, until early Monday morning, when they leave before even the earliest risers of the dorm wake up, and Mieszko’s only seen as he arrives for his first class, kissing Derek Hale goodbye (on the mouth!) before going in for his class.
“You go Stiles!” one of Mieszko’s friends calls loudly.
Everyone laughs. Mieszko just smiles.
What none of them know (and never will), is of the hours the two young men spent curled against each other in Mieszko’s tiny dorm-bed, talking in quiet whispers about all the things they never had before:
“Mischief,” Derek is the only one to call him that (even his mom making the shift to Mieszko when he became a teenager), and only very rarely. “What do you know about mates?”
As it turns out, a lot. Though a lot has never made a lot of sense. Some of the stuff he’s read regarding mates has always sounded to him more like some sort of fairytale, while others read more like an almost horror story. And then there’s all the stuff that seems to contradict each other, or just doesn’t fit with the few things Mieszko knows for certain.
His parents are mates, this Mieszko knows, has always known. Once, when he was much younger, Laura told him that his papa only truly loved his dad and not his mom. That distressed Mieszko as he didn’t understand how it could be possible. At the time Peter explained it saying:
“Mother Moon chose to give me your dad as my mate, and I chose to make your mom my mate as well. They both chose me in return and thus we all became mates.”
Which as a kid, and especially one who’d already come across his parents being… especially lovey-dovey once or twice (they weren’t having sex or anything, but it had still been almost enough to traumatize him at that age!) was enough of an answer. Later on he’d needed more, so he set to researching mates as much as possible. Which was when he started finding contradictory information.
There are those who believe that mates are a gift of Mother Moon (or whichever mother goddess applies for them in particular). That it’s someone that was chosen for them long before they were ever born. Someone that they were always meant to meet, to fall in love with, to make a future with. Mieszko has a problem with some of the implications of this interpretation, because it suggests that whatever makes a person, a person, everything they do, that they go through, was meant to be from the start. It’s a level of predestination that erases all possible free-will. Because in order for that kind of soulmate to be real, they must be able to be what their other half will need. And how can that be decided from the start. How can any entity, divine or not, have decided already what each individual is gonna go through, good and bad, as they’d have to know in order to be able to pair them correctly.
To Mieszko, believing in this version of mates means believing that everyone who suffers from something terrible, who has some terrible thing happen to them, was meant to go through that all along. Same with those who do horrible things and… well, everything else. Where does that leave free will? Or the idea that people can change?
Then there are those who approach Mates from the other extreme. Seeing them simply as a fancy word some people like to use to refer to a loved one when they feel like the usual words might not be enough of a descriptor. Because to some boyfriend/girlfriend might be just too juvenile, wife/husband/spouse might not be enough when divorce still exists and lover tends to have the wrong connotations. To them there’s nothing especially magical about a Mate, it’s all in the choices they’re making.
“What about a bit of both?” Derek suggested quietly when Mieszko finally finished blurting out everything he knew about mates.
“What do you mean?” Mieszko inquired.
“I like to believe that Mother Moon chooses someone for us,” Derek explained. “Someone who can be what we need. It can be one person, or two, or many. And it doesn’t necessarily need to be a romantic partner. If I’m a lonely child she may give me someone to be my best-friend, or a sibling; or if I need someone later on, perhaps a confidant? And maybe one day she’ll even send me someone she knows I can learn to love, and who’ll come to love me. And it won’t be because she chose it, but we did. She’ll have given us the potential, while we’ll make the choice to do something with it.”
Mieszko hummed quietly, he liked the sound of that, actually.
“Like I said, it can all be different people, or a single one,” Derek continued. “The choice is ours.”
Yes, the choice was theirs, it always had been. And they made it.
xXx
Derek graduates from Sacramento State with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Science and a Masters of Public Policy and Administration. By then he’s also done all the courses to become a deputy in the Sheriff’s Department, he was even offered a spot, right there in Sacramento but turned it down. He knows there isn’t an opening in Beacon County just yet, but has no doubt there will be one sooner or later (hopefully due to someone choosing to either transfer somewhere else, or retire rather than any more tragic reason…). So in the meantime he decides to get working on other things. Like setting up things for the future he wants.
While his mom used to want to have pretty much everyone in the pack living at home, she’s relented on that in recent years (the fact that the pack has grown to the point where it’s no longer feasible to have all of them living in the same place might have something to do with it). So when Derek expresses his desire to have his own place, he’s sat down with his parents and Uncle Peter (who, as a lawyer, is the one to oversee the administration of most of the real estate owned by the Hales in one way or another). Eventually he finds a building he likes, a warehouse in the edges of the Business District. The company who built it originally left Beacon Hills years prior, selling the property and the surrounding land to the Hale Trust; they’ve had offers to turn the building into a set of loft apartments but Peter turned them all down. The proximity to the preserve made it an ideal place for someone in the pack, and either he knew already that Derek might want it one day, or he’s just been holding it in case anyone else did.
At first his mom finds the idea of Derek wanting to buy the property a little ridiculous, but Derek is pretty insistent, especially because he wants the property to be his, personally, in his name, rather than to be considered as Hale Property. In the end Zachery convinces her to agree, the price is much cheaper than it probably should be, but it’s all handled legally.
The moment the building is his, Derek gets in touch with some friends he made in college, guys who own a supernatural-friendly construction company and talks to them about what he wants to do with the building. And so they get to work.
The ground floor, the part of the building that actually looks like a warehouse, has twice the height of a normal floor and is completely empty except for a number of walkways that crisscross half of the floor and an office that is suspended on several columns in a corner. Derek is turning that into a new Auto Shop. He doesn’t intend to compete against Rogers’ Autoshop, he loves Hank and Phil, they’re his pack-mates and as good as family, even if they’re not actually Hales. But Beacon Hills has been growing considerably over the last decade and they can no longer handle all the business they get. And the other Autoshop in town is apparently handled by a shit of a man who has a bad habit of taking longer than he should on even the most basic job, and overcharging his customers. Him, Derek has no problem stealing customers from.
The second floor Derek has set up with a storefront, an office and a workspace and storage space. He’s planning on offering it to Mieszko, he’ll be able to set up his store the way he wants, with more than enough space for whatever he wants to sell; then there will be an office where he can work on his books, and maybe meet clients, if he does something for specific clients or something. The workspace he leaves empty for Mieszko to set up however he wants.
The top floor (which is technically two floors, actually) is to be Derek’s apartment (his and Mieszko’s) and the wolf plans every inch of it very carefully. From the huge kitchen where his mate will be able to cook and bake whatever he wants, whenever he wants (with top of the line appliances, and probably more pots, pans and stuff than he’ll even know what to do with). There’s a kitchen nook for cozy breakfasts, a formal dining room in case they’re ever entertaining guests, a huge sitting room and a half-bathroom in a corner. Also, floor to ceiling windows with reinforced one-way glass on one wall. That floor also has a guest-room with an en-suite bathroom. The second level holds the master bedroom with a huge en-suite bathroom, two smaller bedrooms that share another bathroom and access to the rooftop. One half he’s set up with some basic furniture for whenever he and Mieszko want to spend time up there. He imagines Mieszko might be interested in turning the other half into a garden for whatever herbs he cannot get from the preserve, and which are dangerous, or simply special enough he might not want to plant where anyone can reach them.
He has plans of turning one floor, either the one immediately underneath them, or the one above the store, into a library/archive/magic room for his beloved but doesn’t know which option he’d prefer, so he has made no plan for either of those floors just yet.
As for the rest of the building, he plans on having apartments and eventually renting them out, though only to those who’re either supernatural, or supernatural-adjacent. The building will be a safe place for them (especially once Mieszko arrives and sets up the wards he’s planning on using on the homes of everyone who’s pack).
The last part of the plan will take a while, perhaps even a few years, but that’s alright. They’re in no hurry. His friends really like having so much work, they like knowing that the apartments will be for supernaturals (one of them has even asked to rent one of the units, once it’s finished, so he can finally move out of his parents’ place), and of course they’re all getting well paid. Really, as long as his and Mieszko’s place is ready by his graduation from Berkeley, Derek doesn’t really care how long the rest of it takes.
And of course it is ready. The Autoshop and the future-store as well.
The day Derek hangs the wooden triskele (made from wood gifted by the nemeton!) over the apartment door… that’s when he knows he has a home (now he only needs to fill it).
xXx
Mieszko finally returns to Beacon Hills the summer prior to his 22nd birthday (with everything he’s been studying, he barely made it back for the Christmas holidays, important birthdays and celebrations, spending most of the summer and winter break at Berkeley). He’s driving his mom’s old Jeep, which was restored by Derek and his dad as a gift when he got his permit at sixteen. The vehicle is runed enough that it’d take a tank or other weapons on a similar level to so much as scratch it and it’s next to impossible to crash in it. It was his master project for Runes and Warding, while the one for Herbology and Potions was the creation of a potion which, along with a single drop of any shifter or magical, could be added to a basic healing potion and ensure it worked for that specific individual, no matter what they were.
Healing potions tailored to specific supernatural beings can be prohibitively expensive, especially with the rarer mixes; and the stronger one is, the faster they tend to burn through anything they are given, which tends to make the use of such potions pointless. Thanks to Mieszko’s new creation, that’s no longer the case.
In between all his works and creations he’s considered a master in so many different disciplines of magic that the supernatural can’t seem to make up their minds what to call him. Most have settled for calling him simply: Spark, due to some old legends.
According to some old stories (legends so ancient most assume them to be more myth than anything else) there had once been a classification of magic-users separate from the known wicca, druids, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, enchanters, etc. They were called Sparks, supposedly because they weren’t just capable of doing magic, but they were believed to be magic personified. Some believed that any individual, with enough power and training, could be a Spark, others that it was a gift very few could hope to possess. Even the oldest stories can’t seem to agree on which one it was.
Also, it seemed that either Sparks were incredibly rare, or most of them chose to never make themselves known. Either way, their mention was pretty sparse, and eventually the old stories went from using that word to refer to individuals of great power, to using it for those who simply did not belong to any one discipline, mostly people who refused to commit to a single ‘path of magic’.
At some point that interpretation apparently shifted again, and the word then started being used for those who did not belong to any one discipline, not because they didn’t want to, but because they just did not have enough power to truly train in any of them.
It’s impossible, even for the most dedicated scholars to tell which of those ancient stories is true and which are mere stories, but in the end most people take to calling Mieszko a Spark, and that’s that.
Mieszko drives straight home. Not to his parents’ place, or to the Hale house, but to the home he knows Derek’s been building for them the last couple of years. Because of course he knows all about it. Derek has told him about his plans for the place, and how they’ve progressed. Even if Mieszko hasn’t been there physically, he’s still been a part of things every step of the way.
He even sent a bunch of rune-stones to serve as temporary wards for the building. He’ll do something much better, something permanent, once he’s fully installed, but for the time being those are good enough. They’re actually more than that, considering he’s made a small fortune thus far selling such runes for warding; still, in his estimation, they’re nowhere near enough for what will be his home, his and Derek’s…
Derek is, of course, waiting for him when Mieszko enters the apartment. Neither of them say a word. There’s no need. They’ve spent the last four years saying everything they’ve ever needed to. Mieszko might still not know if the two of them were born for each other, if they chose each other, or both at the same time. But in the end he supposes it doesn’t really matter. It is what it is.
Two days later the couple arrive together at the Hale house for the usual full moon party. Hand in hand and with matching mating bites on the crook of their necks.
Chapter 4
Mieszko has always been aware of the existence of Alan Deaton. Not because he felt something in particular regarding the man, he just… knew of him. Alan Deaton, veterinarian, druid, with very low power levels but very knowledgeable in the theory. The man was one of the last candidates for the post of emissary for the Hale Pack when the previous one: Miss Irina Novak (a witch) retired. The man was considered the closest thing one could be to an expert on nemeta, without being the guardian of one (and thus in close contact with one of the ley nodes).
He’s also well aware of the fact that Alan Deaton tried to murder his mother (and indirectly Mieszko himself) back when his mom was still pregnant with him. And all because, what? He wanted that badly to be the Hale Emissary! It sounds ridiculous to him! It’s not that he doesn’t love his pack, he does, but in what universe could being part of one matter enough that one would be willing to murder innocents to get the post?! Also, how deluded did the man have to be, to believe that Peter Hale wouldn’t have found him out and killed him for daring to touch Claudia?!
Mieszko has heard the story a great many times. While his parents don’t like talking about it, enough people know by now, and for some reason they like telling it over and over again. They used to tell it especially whenever someone questioned Mieszko’s power, whether he was anything special at all, or if he might have been born utterly mundane… Which, Mieszko knows there’d have been nothing wrong with that! He could have been completely human and that wouldn’t have stopped him from running with wolves, from being a part of the pack (from being with Derek!). But yeah, some people are stupid.
In any case, by now he’s old enough, and he’s done enough in recent years (especially during his time in Berkeley) that people in the Shadow World are well aware just how powerful he is. And still, some like listening to the story (or telling it). How Alan Deaton invited his mom for tea, a matter of days before one or the other would have been picked to be the next Hale Emissary. He served her a cup of what he claimed was a new blend of tea, from the Far East. Claudia Stilinski did not like the smell of the tea, but she was just too nice to turn it down, so she decided to take a sip and then put it aside, perhaps even claiming ill. Only, before she could do more than touch her lips to the edge of the cup, her body seized involuntarily. The ‘tea’ sloshed slightly before she dropped the cup.
In the end the brief seizure was enough to make her afraid that something might be wrong with her baby and she called 9-1-1. Once in the hospital the doctors told her her pressure was elevated, but her baby was alright. The only issue with her? The slightest burn on her lip, a reference was made to it almost being like frostbite. And that’s when she knew. When she realized what had truly been in that cup, and what Alan Deaton tried to do…
And of course, because the seizure that kept her from taking even the smallest of sips from that cup was involuntary, it had to be because of him! Yeah, because it’s perfectly rational to believe that a baby, or no, not even that, a fetus(!) might somehow know something their own mother doesn’t, and somehow (how? Who knows?!) be capable of taking over the mother and forcing her body to move. Like, in what universe does that make even the slightest bit of sense?! He knows that magic can be quite incredible, and some people (himself included) are quite capable of extraordinary feats, but this hypothesis has always sounded quite foolish to him. Might as well call it luck and be done with it!
In any case, if there’s one thing that Mieszko has always found even more stupid than the thought that unborn-him took over his mom’s body and kept her from drinking poison, it’s the fact that Alan Deaton was apparently so confident in his own plan. Even in failure, he was so sure that no one would find out what he’d done, would even think of going after him, that he didn’t flee, didn’t even do anything to try and conceal his actions, or his plans. Which is how, more than a week later, when representatives of the Supernatural Council finally got around to responding to the demands that the matter be investigated and justice be dealt (Mieszko’s quite sure that his Papa must have threatened to kill everyone he might consider to be even tangentially involved, and that’s what finally got those lazy bastards moving), Alan Deaton was still right there, looking more than a little taken aback that people knew about the attempt to poison Claudia Gajos-Stilinski, much less that he was involved.
At least, one point in favor of the Council, is that once they finally got moving, the matter was handled pretty swiftly. It was discovered that not only had the man tried to murder Mieszko’s mom in order to ensure he’d be the only possible candidate for Hale Emissary, but he’d also manipulated Witch Novak into convincing Alpha Hale that the nemeton should be cut down.
The nemeton! Cut down! Like it was any random oak tree that could just be cut down without consequence! Like a nemeton being damaged, possibly dying, didn’t mark the beginning of the end of the world! Just how insane does a man have to be to be working so hard for something like that?! And for what? Power?!?!?! What good would any sort of power have been for him if the world went to hell shortly afterwards?! That would have killed him too! Did he even realize… Wasn’t he supposed to be an expert on nemeta?!?!?!
Anyway, what matters is that the whole mess was discovered. Alan Deaton was arrested and he was sent to the supernatural prison that was the top-secret level of Eichen House.
And why are they there? Well, because Mieszko’s Papa decided he wanted to drop by for a visit before the twins’ birthday party. Why? Mieszko hasn’t the faintest idea, but since Mom’s using Papa’s car (she hasn’t had her own vehicle since she passed on the Jeep to Mieszko; it hasn’t been a priority since someone is always willing and ready to drive her, and whenever she can, she likes walking places. Still his mom needed the car so she could get some last minute things for the twins’ birthday party, and for some unfathomable reason his papa just had to go to Eichen House that very day… so Mieszko offered to drive him. (He did promise his mom, and his baby sisters that they’d be back before long).
Mieszko doesn’t go in, of course he doesn’t. He hates Eichen House. The place has an aura that makes Mieszko feel cold just standing in its shadow, cannot imagine actually going inside…
At least his Papa doesn’t take too long before coming back out. Alina and Sabina might have screamed at him, if they weren’t there in time for the start of the party. Or worse, they might have cried, and Mieszko never knows what to do when a girl cries! And if it happens to be one of his sisters, that only makes him homicidal. If he were to be the reason for their tears…? Yeah, nope!
His papa doesn’t really say anything as he steps out of the facility, just walking towards Mieszko and the Jeep, seemingly lost in thought. In the end Mieszko just has to speak up:
“Are you satisfied now, Papa?” He asks.
When there’s no immediate answer before his papa just looking at him, Mieszko tries a slightly different approach:
“Has the threat been dealt with?” He inquires then.
Because he knows his papa. Mieszko might not be a wolf, might not be Peter Hale’s by blood, but he still understands the older man. Some people have always found it funny, commenting on the fact that the one child he had no hand in ‘creating’ is the one who’s most like him. To be honest, Mieszko’s not entirely certain that’s true: Malia can be very much papa’s daughter when she truly wants to (even if most of the time she doesn’t care to make the effort, just enjoying being spoiled), and the twins… those girls might look the images of perfect little angels, but like Mieszko told his parents once, the only reason they still have halos is because the things are hanging from the devil horns they keep hidden in their chestnut curls!
“Not yet, but it’ll be soon,” is all Papa says in the end.
Both know what that means. Mieszko isn’t quite certain how he feels about the idea that a man is soon to be dead, even if it’s a man who tried to kill him and his mom once, more than twenty years ago (before Mieszko was even born!), but at the same time, does he need to feel anything about it? It’s not like he’s doing anything to the man at all. Even his papa isn’t. If the man dies, that’ll be on him, so… As long as his family is safe, Mieszko decides he doesn’t really care.
“There’s one thing I’ve never understood,” the boy says thoughtfully as they get into the Jeep and begin the drive back home. “In all these years. You’ve done so many things, started a number of rumors, made sure to propagate others, both true and false. And you’ve always made sure that the right rumors reached even that place. Not to mention all the ways you’ve kept yourself informed on how the man’s been doing while locked up.”
“I don’t hear a question there,” Papa points out.
“Why?” Mieszko finally inquires. “Why such interest? I mean, I know he tried to kill mom…”
“And you, he tried to kill you too, do not forget,” his papa cuts in. “It’s not like your mother’s pregnancy was a secret.”
“So yeah, he’s a bastard, and a wannabe murderer, but that doesn’t explain this,” Mieszko insists. “I’d have understood if you had arranged for him to be killed while in lock-up. If you couldn’t do it yourself, or did not want to be connected to it. But this… it doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense, because you don’t have the whole picture,” Papa admits.
Truth is Mieszko assumed as much. Doesn’t explain what it is he’s missing, exactly.
“What am I missing?” he asks, wondering if his papa will tell him.
He does.
“I was the one who went through Deaton’s apartment after he was found guilty of attempted murder against your mother… and you. I went through everything with a fine toothed comb. Of course, because I’m not a magic-user myself, there were things I could never understand. According to what Irena was able to put together, Alan Deaton, while not being particularly powerful, was well-known for two things: one was his knowledge of nemeta… From what I was told, few outside of the guardians have ever devoted so much time and effort into learning about them.”
“And what was the other one?”
“The other was a particular ritual, a trance. It’s… like I said I’m not magical, but according to Irena it’s something that has its roots in shamanic magic, rather than druidic, whatever that means. Most people, especially scholars, use it as a way of revisiting memories, to try and find things they might have missed the first time around. Or well, that the conscious part of their minds might have missed. That, she said, is the inherent danger in such magics. As you cannot really see more than you did the first time around. You might notice things that you were only vaguely aware of, but if there were things that you truly didn’t see, then they won’t be there.”
“Makes sense,”
“It does. However, that’s where things get tricky. Because what happens if you’re not very observant in the first place? I mean, someone with near perfect recall would probably get a lot from such trances, but everyone else?”
“Like the difference between how you take in a room whenever you go in, noticing all possible exit and entry points, the most protected spaces, the most dangerous, notice possible threats, or where one might be hiding… as opposed to most people stepping into a room and just seeing… well, a room.”
“Exactly. What do you think happens when someone who doesn’t have an especially detailed recall, tries to use a trance such as this?”
“Oh…” It hits Mieszko then. “They start filling in the blanks, don’t they? That’s what imagination’s all about, after all. That’s why eyewitnesses can be so untrustworthy. Because there’s a lot most people just don’t notice, however, if questioned on it, they’ll most likely try to look better than they actually are, and that will lead to them making shit up. Like claiming that the guy who mugged them was six feet tall when he was barely 5.6 or something, just because what he did to them made him seem bigger, or like he should have been bigger…”
“Which is only made worse when you add people’s own fears, racism, etc.”
“Okay, I get all that. But what does any of that have to do with Alan Deaton?”
“He used the trance a lot, presumably to consult his memories. According to Irena, like a lot of magic, this one works based on you asking a yes or no question…”
“… and getting an answer that’s pretty much anything but a yes or a no.” His son finishes
Mieszko’s always found that particularly irritating. What’s the point of asking a simple question when magic cannot be bothered to give you a simple answer?!
“Exactly,” Papa agrees. “And well, this wasn’t her idea exactly, but what do you think would happen if someone got it into their head to ask a question that concerns the future, rather than the past?”
“I… suppose it might depend. I mean, someone with enough power, or some psychic blood might actually get an answer…”
He knows that psychics do exist. He met a few while in Berkeley. And then there are those who, while not being psychic, exactly, their powers have psychic elements: like banshees…
“But the likelihood of Deaton being psychic is infinitesimal, and we know for sure his power isn’t that great,” Papa cuts his line of thought off. “Which leaves us with…”
“His mind filling in the blanks.” It’s the obvious answer.
It might not be the true one, but does it really matter, in the end? The man still did the (wrong, terrible) things he did, and he’s been paying for them, will pay for them until the day he dies (and if there is an afterlife, probably there too!).
Regardless, Mieszko has much better things to focus on. Like his baby sisters’ birthday!
xXx
It’s a year after his return from university, and two and a half months after the twins’ birthday party, that Mieszko makes his way to the nemeton. He’s finally ready. Having finished his education, fully trained physically, mentally and magically, having now fully settled into his business (both of them), and quite happily married and mated to the love of his life, he’s finally ready to take his place. To embrace his Fate, once and for all. As guardian of the Beacon Hills nemeton, and the territory.
Derek is with him (because of course he is!), walking side by side with him, as always. Their parents and siblings follow after them, and after that, the rest of their pack, which has grown in recent years, with significant others, friends and children born to the pack.
A lot has changed in recent years. Laura has become an EMT, with plans on transitioning to an emergency nurse eventually. She met, fell in love with and eventually married a deputy: Jordan Parrish. She’s expecting their first child.
(Derek knows, though Laura hasn’t told anyone yet, that his sister is seriously considering asking to relinquish her position as heiress. In the years she’s had to grow up and mature she’s come to realize she doesn’t actually want to be alpha. If she had to, she’d do it, and she’d do a good job, but she’d rather not have such a responsibility, such a burden. All she wants is to be able to focus on Jordan and their children, nothing more. She’d be quite willing to serve as right hand to either of her siblings, or even one of her cousins, or Uncle Peter, whoever ends up being a better choice for alpha. She has plans of talking things out with her mother once the baby is born.).
Cora never attended college formally, though she did take a few photography classes at Beacon Hills University and has since become a well-known photographer. Famous especially for her landscapes, her ability to showcase views that are said to be ‘magical’. There are a number of magazines and websites from all over the country that feature her work and pay her very well for it. She’s also since moved out of the pack house and into her own apartment in her brother’s building.
Malia never went to college. She decided at some point during high school that formal, standardized education just wasn’t for her. While her dad couldn’t fully understand it, her mom and papa were very supportive of her choices and gave her their blessings when she decided to go backpacking across the country. She met lots of people, made friends who were human and others supernatural. Eventually another girl joined her on her trip: a kitsune called Kira Yukimura.
Little is known about her, except for her being a thunder kitsune, and that the girl is apparently at odds with her parents, because they didn’t tell her a thing about the supernatural until the girl’s powers unexpectedly manifested when she was in a car accident in college. Kira claims that meeting Malia saved her, the wolf helped Kira understand herself in a way she never had before. So the kitsune decided to drop out of college (she was attending NYU) and joined the other girl on her trip, before the two eventually made it to Beacon Hills, to stay. The two girls are now dating and have recently moved into an apartment, which they helped design themselves, in Derek’s building.
The twins are about ready to go to college. They’ll be attending Berkeley, just like their brother did, studying magic and a degree of their choice at the same time.
Everything is ready for the ritual that day.
The pack take their places, forming two loose circles around the nemeton. Those who are direct family are close enough to almost touch the peeking roots of the original, ancient oak tree; while the rest of the pack is further back, on the edges of the glade.
Mieszko offers both of his hands to Derek, who makes a single, deep-but-but-not-too-deep slash on each palm with his claws. They wait a moment, as blood starts pooling in the center of his palms, and then they’re walking, slowly but purposefully around the tree, letting Mieszko’s blood fall from between his fingers to form an approximation of a line around the nemeton.
On the second circuit, Derek slashes open both his palms, focusing hard so they won’t heal too fast, before following his mate, letting his own blood join the ceremony.
Through the whole thing Mieszko murmurs quietly nonstop. The words are not a spell, not exactly. But then again, as he’s discovered in the years he’s spent training his magic, he doesn’t actually need formal spells to make things work. He’s a Spark, all he needs in the end, is faith: in what he’s doing, in his magic and in himself. It’s not easy, but he’s always been one to believe that the impossible can happen if one only tries hard enough so… that helps.
After the third circuit, Mieszko and Derek climb onto pieces of the old stump that was the nemeton’s original vessel, using those to help them reach as high as they possibly can, before they place their still bleeding palms on the trunk of the new (but not so new by now) tree.
There’s a bright flash of light that only Mieszko and Derek seem to truly be able to see, and then from one moment to the next the mates find that while they’re still standing on the old stump, hands still pressed against the nemeton, their surroundings are no longer what they used to be. No longer the clearing deep in the preserve, with their pack all around, but instead a stark white room that seems to extend into infinity.
A voice that they know belongs to the nemeton, to Hop, despite the fact that neither Derek nor Mieszko can claim to have actually heard it before, rings all around them. Seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at the same time…
“Welcome, Guardians…”
Mieszko and Derek learn a lot during the time spent in limbo, talking to Hop. They learn not only what their duties are, but also why they were chosen… why Mieszko was chosen.
They learn about the lives of Stiles Stilinski, and another Derek Hale. Starting from one that was so filled with tragedy, that even when they won in the end, the losses were still greatly felt. And they learn about how it all was allowed to change, not once, but three times.
The two men don’t quite get it at first, why Hop would allow something like that. Why they’d take such a risk. And yet to hear the nemeton tell it, it’d seem that things went so much better, not just in their timeline, but in every single one that was changed. The way Hop sees it, the key to things wasn’t exactly the changes the other individuals made (Mieszko and Derek know Alan Deaton is one of them, but not the identity of the other one, only that he’s young, and in their own timeline knows nothing of the supernatural at all), but rather the fact that, once they pushed Mieszko (and Derek) away, or pulled away from them, Hop’s guardians got the chance to do all the things they never could in the original timeline. Got the chance to make things right.
Also, it’d seem that Hop has decided to ‘keep the door open’, so-to-speak. The other timeline, the other worlds, still exist, and will continue to do so, side by side, as parallel realities. There’s no chance for more timelines to be created, or for anyone to move from one reality to another anymore, because the only ones who knew of the possibility are either dead or unaware of things by now, and anyway, it’d require Hop to allow it to happen at all… or their guardians, and the nemeton knows Mieszko and Derek will never do it.
“I could never do it,” Mieszko murmurs quietly. “Could never risk the pack, the territory, the entire world just for… for my heart.” He presses his face into his mate’s chest briefly. “I’m sorry, my wolf.”
“Don’t apologize,” Derek shakes his head. “I understand. Just like I’m sure the other version of me must have understood that Stiles’ choice. The pack comes first, always.”
It’s a lesson they’ve learned well.
(Mieszko and Derek might not know it yet, but Peter has no doubt that once Laura and Talia finally get talking about things, Derek will be the one chosen to be the next Hale Alpha. He’ll do a good job. And he’ll have the support of a wonderful mate, and the whole pack as well).
There’s a brief moment of panic, when Derek and Mieszko learn about the existence of the nogitsune, and just how bad things went because of that creature. But Hop hurries to reassure them that such things will never happen in their reality. The nogitsune was one of the many issues that were handled, with help from Claudia’s family, back when Mieszko and Derek were still children. It helps that, in their world, while the nemeton was cut down, it wasn’t left to languish, to rot; also, all the terrible tragedies that strengthened the demon never took place. It’s quite possible that the void fox could have remained imprisoned in that jar in the nemeton’s roots for a very long time yet, but in the end, Hop and Claudia decided not to risk it and the matter was dealt with.
Mieszko almost breaks into giggles as he remembers his talk with Papa and wonders how the older wolf might react if he were to learn that Alan Deaton wasn’t making things up when he wrote all that stuff in his journals. Peter might be right, that the old druid is no psychic, but well, Mieszko supposes that things like time-travel, or interdimensional travel, weren’t really among the possibilities that were ever considered, were they? And it’s not like any of them would have ever imagined the nemeton being in any way involved!
There’s another flash of magical light and as it clears out Mieszko and Derek find themselves once again standing on the stump, in the middle of the glade, deep in the preserve. The two exhale in unison and Derek takes a step back and off the remains of the old tree, while his mate jumps clear off it.
They’re about to turn around when something totally unexpected happens. The mates feel it, like a subtle, invisible caress, it makes them look up at the nemeton.
“Mieszko…?”
“Derek…?”
“Boys…?”
The calls from the family, the pack, for them, ring from all around them.
Mieszko looks slightly to the side, to where his mom’s standing, at his right, only to notice that she’s not looking at him, or at Derek, but instead at the stump. The Spark turns right away, freezing at what he finds. Because there, right on the very spot where he and his wolf were standing just seconds before, is now a bundle.
A gurgling noise, followed by babbling, prompts Mieszko to approach, bending down to pull at the edges of the simple but beautiful, and extremely soft blanket. A baby blanket, in a mix of pale green and off white. Swaddled in the blanket is a boy, no more than a few months old, with messy brown hair on his head, piercing green eyes, pale skin and a smattering of moles on it.
Derek drops to his knees beside his mate, he recognizes that boy, just like Mieszko does. They both know him from the flashes they received of the original timeline while talking to Hop in limbo.
“Eli…” Derek breathes out, something almost like reverence in his voice.
Derek’s always known he’d love to have children. Both he and Mieszko do. They even talked about it, before ever marrying. Talked about perhaps talking to their sisters about the possibilities of them agreeing to carry at least one child for each of them. If Malia carried a child from Derek, and Cora one from Mieszko, they’d be the closest the two mates would ever come to having children of their own. They were interested in adopting too, of course, one day. But there was a part of them that just… really wanted a child that was theirs. And it felt like someone that was needed, someone to carry on their legacy, as guardians of the nemeton, once they were gone.
They never expected something like this. Even after having heard about Eli’s existence in the original timeline. They never expected it.
Far as they knew, in the original timeline Eli was created so he might one day take on the mantle the nemeton believed Stiles would never be able to claim. That’s not the case in their own timeline. Mieszko is the guardian of the nemeton. And granted, he’s not immortal, someone else will have to take his place eventually, but still. The situation isn’t what it was in the original timeline. And yet…
Before Mieszko’s mind can spiral and push him into a panic attack (he’s never even had one of those! Not in this timeline, at least), he feels Hop’s touch once again, as a single word gets transmitted: ‘gift’. Eli is a gift, for him, for them both, for the pack…
Derek scoops the baby, who’s apparently just waking up, pressing his bristled cheek to the little boy’s very gently, scent marking him.
Instantly, Mieszko’s on his feet, doing the same thing on the other side of the boy’s head. Already the boy smells so much of the two of them, and a bit of the nemeton as well. Seems right, somehow.
“And who is this little one?” Claudia’s the first to approach the little family, very excited.
Mieszko wonders if she heard Hop as well, or at least was able to sense enough to realize what’s going on. What Eli is…
“Our son,” Derek announces, without hesitation. “Eli Stilinski-Hale.”
Talia opens her arms, taking gentle hold of the baby when her son hands him over. She scent marks him too, being very careful not to take away from his fathers’ marks, just adding her own.
“Eli Stilinski-Hale,” she murmurs gently, with a huge smile. “Welcome to the Hale Pack.”
