Broken Family Tree

16 - Full Moon Reveal

After being given his medicine and playing with Bunny—the toy Melissa gave him, which he was completely in love with now—Thomas fell asleep for the night, at eight-thirty. This left the others to ponder over what he had said, though it was Peter who had the most to think about.

"Even wild animals have feelings. Even wild animals have souls."

Thomas's words were swirling in his mind on an eternal loop. And not just this phrase, but bits and pieces of his whole argument:

- "You accept your wolf and then use him for whatever you want in the moment, like murder and senseless attacks that can get you killed."
- "A wolf is more than a killer the same way that humans are more than monsters."
- "They also love their family, playing and caring for each other while also forming their own little families."

The first one was a tiny slap to the face at the reality that was his current existence as a werewolf—born with incredible power but used only to attack and kill whomever he felt deserved it. The second sounded a lot like Scott talking to him, even though Scott hasn't talked to Thomas ever since he came here, leaving him a little uncomfortable. And the third left a dull ache of regret and anger in his chest. If Talia hadn't decided on her own that his own children would be better off without him, taking his memory of them for good measure, he could have had what she had—a family. It wasn't just that, though—if he hadn't been who he was then—who he still kind of is now—Talia would never have considered doing what she did out of a need to protect them.

Peter was sitting on the one seat right now, next to the long couch (it had been permanently moved to that spot when the others started coming to the loft to talk to Thomas more often), reflecting on everything that had happened so far in his life, all the way from growing up with Talia and the Hale pack, to a few months ago when Scott and Malia had their argument. His reflecting was interrupted when Melissa grabbed his attention by starting to talk to him.

"When I first saw Scott as a werewolf, I thought I had lost him to the monsters you all were. That the supernatural world had killed my son. But after taking it in and absorbing the...change, I saw that Scott was still the same; he was still my son—goofy, irresponsible, loyal, and caring."

"Sure you don't want to add to that list?" Peter muttered, earning him a smack on the arm.

"The thing is," she continued, "Scott was raised a certain way and in a certain environment that allowed him to believe in his own things, leading up to the choices he's made today. Thomas is the same, only different: he was raised an awful way in an unforgiving environment that forced him to make some tough choices leading up to today. This is what he believes and what he knows. To him, this is right, and to you, this is wrong."

"And your point is, Melissa? Not meaning to sound rude or anything," he added in passing, waving his hand and fractionally impressing the other four souls.

"Try it his way tomorrow night. Just because it's different from what you know...doesn't necessarily mean it's wrong."

Everyone else looked at her with wide eyes, shocked to their cores. Did they hear that right? Was this Melissa McCall talking to them right now?

"Melissa McCall, nurse at Beacon Hills Memorial Hospital, encouraging a full-on werewolf Shift on the full moon?" Peter marveled, staring at Melissa with unbelieving eyes, "The world must've come to an end and I didn't realize it."

"I agree." Derek chimed in and Malia nodded in the affirmative right after his statement. Braeden scolded Derek for what he said, but he wasn't listening; he was already up and striding over to Melissa, placing his hand over her forehead and checking for a fever.