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teleios } { for peter parker
Neither of them trust her. She honestly doesn’t blame them.
She’s not really sure she trusts them either.
They say they’re from Derek’s pack, and that makes sense. She heard the rumors that there was a new Hale alpha and he was building a pack, and she knows that Deucalion wants Derek to be part of his. He wants to complete his patchwork pack of the rarest and the strongest, and if he can’t have their mother, he must believe that Derek is the next best thing. And if he has to use Cora to do it, so be it. Cora wants to tell them all to go to hell – and she has – but she also hasn’t done anything either. It’s a fight she knows she’d lose.
If anything, Cora knows how to survive. If she’s angry enough, she’ll run at any obstacle that comes her way. But this, right now? This isn’t a fight that’s going to get her anywhere. So she sits and she waits, feeling them strip more and more of her control away with every full moon, and yeah, that made her angry, but she was saving it, hoping that the one moon they let them loose will be them time when they’ll be able to strike first.
The problem is, Erica and Boyd aren’t good at playing a long game, especially Erica. They’re impatient teenagers who haven’t been on the run for most of their lives and know the value of time. The distance from the full moon doesn’t help that either, making them all increasingly more twitchy and agitated. They want out, wolf and teenager alike and that makes things harder to control.
(It’s also probably part of the fact that Cora is trying to control them too. She’s trying to take charge, use her experience over theirs and there are times when Erica looks at her with a look that says she’s handling things the way Derek does – though she won’t really understand the full extent of that until later, when she has her brother again. Right now, all that matters is that they’re her friends – probably one-sided – and they’re her brother’s betas and she wants to make sure that they get back to Derek safe. Kind of like a peace offering or a coming home present. She probably shouldn’t be the one giving them but she’s also been an omega for most of her life. She’s gotten used to being the one having to prove her worth, not the other way around.)
Today’s worse than normal, though. Erica is sitting across from Cora, with her back against the security gate. Boyd is temporarily out of the vault – the bathroom is the only small bit of privacy they’re allowed, so long as it’s not a full moon. Erica is twitchy, antsy, her eyes tracking each of the alphas like she’s sizing up the competition, and Cora intends to cut this off at the pass.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Erica turns on her with a glare, eyes sharp and shrewd as she watches her with that same calculating gaze. “I’m not going to be their cannon fodder. I wasn’t going to do it for Derek and I’m sure as hell not going to do it for them.”
Cora grits her teeth as she shifts closer, dropping her voice, even though she knows this vault transmits sound like a giant megaphone, and the alphas can hear every word. “They will kill you. They don’t need all three of us to get to Derek. Kill one of us, send a message to the rest that they step out of line, we won’t go home.”
“So we just sit and wait for the full moon and tear each other apart then?” Her voice is low and calm, but Cora can hear the determination in it as Erica shakes her head. “No. I’m tired of waiting.” There’s another pause as she turns to look at Cora again. “Maybe we can do it together. They can’t kill all of us, they’d have no leverage over Derek.”
Cora could see the logic in it. Bum-rush the alphas, try to get out, try to get home, and when the full moon comes, they’ll deal with the fall out, but at least they won’t be trapped in this box, where the only people for their wolves to tear apart would be each other. But Cora knows that’s not how the game will end. She knows that for better or worse, they’ll be dead and she hasn’t come this far to die on an alpha’s claws. Die at the hands of people who used to be her mother’s friends. She wants to see her brother, not be another body he has to bury. She doesn’t want to have come this far for nothing.
“It’s a dumb plan.”
That’s the last words she’ll say on the matter as they bring Boyd back into the vault again. Kali follows soon after, with the tray of minimal food they get every day, just enough to keep them alive, and Erica’s eyes still track her like a hawk. Cora hopes that it’s mostly out of self-preservation, but that all flies out the window when she starts to speak, loud enough that she knows Kali can hear her.
“Boyd, what do you think will happen to us on the lunar eclipse?” Boyd glances to her, confused, not privy to the conversation she and Cora had had moments prior. Erica ignores the questioning look and continues. “They last for hours, you know, cuz it’s just the earth’s shadow. I wonder what will happen to us. Maybe it’ll make us stronger.”
Kali turns back at that point, glancing over her shoulder with a look that isn’t as much curious as it is meant to discourage whatever plan Erica was looking to make. Erica’s eyes flash gold, bright and challenging, and there’s that determination in her jaw that tells Cora how this is going to end long before she gets to her feet.
“I hope it’ll make us stronger.”
The words are an open challenge and Kali knows it. She turns, eyes red as though to say back down now but Erica won’t. Boyd starts, making as though he’s going to try and get between them, but Cora’s hand finds his shoulder to pull him back, knowing what’s coming but unable to look away or try and shield either of them from it. It doesn’t even last that long, either, not with a fight that’s so mismatched. Erica charges at her, eyes glowing and claws out but two well-placed slashes from Kali and she drops to the ground, the smell of blood permeating the air far too quickly for it to be something she can heal from.
Cora can feel the tension in Boyd next to her, fingers gripping tightly against his thighs as she did her best to use that hand to keep him in place. He wants to go to her, help her, but there’s nothing they can do and she won’t let Boyd die here too.
(Erica’s still alive though. It’s in her eyes, and the way she reaches out her hand to the both of them, calling for Boyd. It doesn’t last long after that, though. Her head drops and her hand stills and then death hangs in the air, thick and cloying.)
Kali just glances over at the both of them, proving the point that Cora knew she would make. They aren’t strong enough to take her. She then turns away again, claws clicking against the floor as she steps out of the vault and back into the bank itself.
“I’ll send someone to clean that up.”
She’s proud of them for keeping out of hearing distance before they break.
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She’s not really sure she trusts them either.
They say they’re from Derek’s pack, and that makes sense. She heard the rumors that there was a new Hale alpha and he was building a pack, and she knows that Deucalion wants Derek to be part of his. He wants to complete his patchwork pack of the rarest and the strongest, and if he can’t have their mother, he must believe that Derek is the next best thing. And if he has to use Cora to do it, so be it. Cora wants to tell them all to go to hell – and she has – but she also hasn’t done anything either. It’s a fight she knows she’d lose.
If anything, Cora knows how to survive. If she’s angry enough, she’ll run at any obstacle that comes her way. But this, right now? This isn’t a fight that’s going to get her anywhere. So she sits and she waits, feeling them strip more and more of her control away with every full moon, and yeah, that made her angry, but she was saving it, hoping that the one moon they let them loose will be them time when they’ll be able to strike first.
The problem is, Erica and Boyd aren’t good at playing a long game, especially Erica. They’re impatient teenagers who haven’t been on the run for most of their lives and know the value of time. The distance from the full moon doesn’t help that either, making them all increasingly more twitchy and agitated. They want out, wolf and teenager alike and that makes things harder to control.
(It’s also probably part of the fact that Cora is trying to control them too. She’s trying to take charge, use her experience over theirs and there are times when Erica looks at her with a look that says she’s handling things the way Derek does – though she won’t really understand the full extent of that until later, when she has her brother again. Right now, all that matters is that they’re her friends – probably one-sided – and they’re her brother’s betas and she wants to make sure that they get back to Derek safe. Kind of like a peace offering or a coming home present. She probably shouldn’t be the one giving them but she’s also been an omega for most of her life. She’s gotten used to being the one having to prove her worth, not the other way around.)
Today’s worse than normal, though. Erica is sitting across from Cora, with her back against the security gate. Boyd is temporarily out of the vault – the bathroom is the only small bit of privacy they’re allowed, so long as it’s not a full moon. Erica is twitchy, antsy, her eyes tracking each of the alphas like she’s sizing up the competition, and Cora intends to cut this off at the pass.
“Don’t even think about it.”
Erica turns on her with a glare, eyes sharp and shrewd as she watches her with that same calculating gaze. “I’m not going to be their cannon fodder. I wasn’t going to do it for Derek and I’m sure as hell not going to do it for them.”
Cora grits her teeth as she shifts closer, dropping her voice, even though she knows this vault transmits sound like a giant megaphone, and the alphas can hear every word. “They will kill you. They don’t need all three of us to get to Derek. Kill one of us, send a message to the rest that they step out of line, we won’t go home.”
“So we just sit and wait for the full moon and tear each other apart then?” Her voice is low and calm, but Cora can hear the determination in it as Erica shakes her head. “No. I’m tired of waiting.” There’s another pause as she turns to look at Cora again. “Maybe we can do it together. They can’t kill all of us, they’d have no leverage over Derek.”
Cora could see the logic in it. Bum-rush the alphas, try to get out, try to get home, and when the full moon comes, they’ll deal with the fall out, but at least they won’t be trapped in this box, where the only people for their wolves to tear apart would be each other. But Cora knows that’s not how the game will end. She knows that for better or worse, they’ll be dead and she hasn’t come this far to die on an alpha’s claws. Die at the hands of people who used to be her mother’s friends. She wants to see her brother, not be another body he has to bury. She doesn’t want to have come this far for nothing.
“It’s a dumb plan.”
That’s the last words she’ll say on the matter as they bring Boyd back into the vault again. Kali follows soon after, with the tray of minimal food they get every day, just enough to keep them alive, and Erica’s eyes still track her like a hawk. Cora hopes that it’s mostly out of self-preservation, but that all flies out the window when she starts to speak, loud enough that she knows Kali can hear her.
“Boyd, what do you think will happen to us on the lunar eclipse?” Boyd glances to her, confused, not privy to the conversation she and Cora had had moments prior. Erica ignores the questioning look and continues. “They last for hours, you know, cuz it’s just the earth’s shadow. I wonder what will happen to us. Maybe it’ll make us stronger.”
Kali turns back at that point, glancing over her shoulder with a look that isn’t as much curious as it is meant to discourage whatever plan Erica was looking to make. Erica’s eyes flash gold, bright and challenging, and there’s that determination in her jaw that tells Cora how this is going to end long before she gets to her feet.
“I hope it’ll make us stronger.”
The words are an open challenge and Kali knows it. She turns, eyes red as though to say back down now but Erica won’t. Boyd starts, making as though he’s going to try and get between them, but Cora’s hand finds his shoulder to pull him back, knowing what’s coming but unable to look away or try and shield either of them from it. It doesn’t even last that long, either, not with a fight that’s so mismatched. Erica charges at her, eyes glowing and claws out but two well-placed slashes from Kali and she drops to the ground, the smell of blood permeating the air far too quickly for it to be something she can heal from.
Cora can feel the tension in Boyd next to her, fingers gripping tightly against his thighs as she did her best to use that hand to keep him in place. He wants to go to her, help her, but there’s nothing they can do and she won’t let Boyd die here too.
(Erica’s still alive though. It’s in her eyes, and the way she reaches out her hand to the both of them, calling for Boyd. It doesn’t last long after that, though. Her head drops and her hand stills and then death hangs in the air, thick and cloying.)
Kali just glances over at the both of them, proving the point that Cora knew she would make. They aren’t strong enough to take her. She then turns away again, claws clicking against the floor as she steps out of the vault and back into the bank itself.
“I’ll send someone to clean that up.”
She’s proud of them for keeping out of hearing distance before they break.
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