ANCHOR¹ {Isaac Lahey | Teen Wolf}

Prologue

"Uncle Peter!" she giggled, carefully trying to extract herself from his grasp. "Put me down!"

"What do you say to the big, bad wolf?" he joked, setting her down slightly so her feet were tantalisingly close to the tiles.

Louisa huffed loudly, before resigning herself to saying a muted, "Please."

"That's better," Peter replied, finally letting her go. Sensing her frustration, he ruffled her dark braids affectionately, lowering his voice so it was barely above a whisper. "How about you come down with me?"

Her face lit up, a wide grin curling onto her lips. "Really?" she asked. "You'd do that?"

"Of course I would," he answered, straightening to his full height. "Ready?"

At his question, she began excitedly bouncing on her heels and nodding so fast that he was worried her head could come off. "Ready!" she echoed eagerly.

Peter let out a mirthful laugh and took Louisa's small hand in his own. Gently pushing her behind him, he slid the metal door across its rollers etched into the floor and into the wall, the pair of them staring at the black abyss opening out below.

Leading the way down the stone steps, he would squeeze his niece's hand reassuringly whenever one of their family's pained howls reverberated up from the basement. And after what felt like an eternity consumed by the darkness, they emerged at the bottom end of the stairs.

All along the wall, young betas were hanging limply from manacles chained tightly around their wrists. Eyes blazing yellow, they hissed and spat at their mentors, who were trying their best to calm them and impart their knowledge of controlling the shift, though none of them seemed to be having much success.

Spotting Cora shackled nearby, unaided due to her being the youngest werewolf in the family, Louisa pulled her hand from Peter's as she cautiously tiptoed to her twin's side.

"Louisa," Peter warned lowly, reaching out a hand to grab her arm.

She either couldn't hear him due to the growls around the room, or chose to ignore him, instead slowly seating herself cross-legged in front of Cora. "H-h-hey," she stammered.

"You shouldn't be here," Cora snapped, grinding her teeth loudly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't," Louisa said, suddenly finding the courage within her to rest a hand on Cora's shoulder. Even with the claws, fangs and glowing eyes, she was still looking at her sister, after all. "Because I made something for you that will help you control it."

She pushed both of her hands into her pockets, fishing out two identical bracelets, one woven together with different shades of blue thread, the other in pink. "I know Derek uses anger, and so does Peter, so I was hoping love would work for you," she admitted meekly, tenderly fastening the blue one around Cora's wrist just below her handcuff.

She had meant it as a present for their upcoming birthday, when they would both turn eleven, but there was a glimmer of hope within her that was willing her sister to learn not to submit to the pull of the moon. Tying the pink bracelet around her own wrist, she nodded encouragingly at Cora.

And slowly but surely, the yellow glow ebbed out of Cora's eyes, until her usual light brown were staring into Louisa's leafy green.

Talia watched them with a small smile, having been coaching her next youngest child after Derek, a fiery girl named Isla, with the triskelion. Clambering to her feet, she calmly paced towards them, kneeling beside them and placing a hand on each of their shoulders. "Your bond is truly special," she said proudly, "and no one can ever take it away from you. Because alone you are strong, but together you are unstoppable."