Broken Family Tree

17 - Discovery [edited]

"No! You're staying here, got it?"

Thomas paused, turning his head to look at Scott. He got down onto his stomach and crawled over to Scott, whining and pleading with him. Despite his size, he pulled off the best puppy eyes any of them had ever seen be expressed in an animal. Most of the group were won over when they saw his eyes, cooing and awing at the monster of a lycan.

"No, I'm not changing my mind," Scott said, standing steadfast. So, I still have sway on him as an Alpha. That's good to know. He internally smirked, thinking of all the situations he could use this to his advantage.

"Come on, Scott," Stiles joked, "Poor puppy probably just wants to play and roll around in the dirt. I say let him be."

"Are you the Alpha, Stiles?" Scott snapped at him. Stiles took a step back, confused and hurt. All of a sudden, low but loud growling was heard all around, and Thomas stood at his full height looking down at Scott, ears pinned back and fur standing on end, golden eyes visibly shining in the daylight and piercing him with an angry stare. Scott stood tall, but those who looked closely could see his hands shaking.

He's scared, Malia thought as she looked between the two boys. He should be. "Thomas, calm down, he didn't mean anything by it." Malia spoke softly, calming Thomas down almost instantly. Seconds later, she had handfuls of wolf fur in her hands as Thomas curled himself around Malia at an angle that made it seem like he was forming a wall between Scott and Malia, tail wagging quickly and knocking over the few that couldn't dodge it in time. Speaking of the former, it upset Scott how easily Malia defused a possible fight when he should've been the one to do that as the Alpha.

"What's going on out here?"

Derek asked out loud through the groanings of the ones on the floor, him, Peter and Braeden walking to the youngsters.

"Just petting my brother, and apparently that made him too happy and he knocked some of us over with his tail," Malia answered from Thomas's other side, his tail still wagging.

"We didn't even hear him get up," Braeden commented, "were we sleeping that deeply?"

"Not necessarily; he snuck up on us, too."

"Did he?" Derek said, amazement in his voice, while Peter walked to near Thomas's head, where Malia was scratching behind his ears. His eyes were closed in content as she did this, leaning into her hands.

"G'morning!" Malia greeted Peter in a semi-cheerful manner, not taking her eyes off the pleased wolf.

"Good morning, Malia," Peter greeted back, passing a hand over Thomas's neck. "Good morning, big guy."

At Peter's voice, Thomas opened his eyes and leaned toward him, whining pitifully.

"What's wrong, buddy? Why're you upset?" Peter wondered, scratching behind the werewolf's head, "Is the big bad Alpha not letting you explore your new home?" Peter guessed in a joking manner but became surprised when he and the other youngsters answered in the affirmative. "Seriously?"

"I'm not letting him run wild through the town!" Scott defended, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Who said anything about letting him run wild?" Peter looked at Scott as if he was an idiot. "Of course we'd be there to keep an eye on him. And if he crosses a line, his outside privileges will be suspended until he can behave himself better." This elicited a sad whine and small howl to come out from Thomas, turning on his stomach and putting on another show of puppy eyes. Peter was impressed by the intensity in them and wondered where and from whom he had learned it from.

"There won't be any issue if you behave," Peter reassured the large pup, "Besides, you can't go anywhere right now. I called Deaton and he agreed to do a house call to check on you."

At the mention of Deaton's name, the wolf straightened into a sitting position and growled, his destroyed teeth bared.

"I know the first visit wasn't the best experience, I heard from Derek." Peter gently scratched under Thomas' jaw. "But you've got a host of problems that need to be fixed and he's the only one who can do it. Behave when he gets here, okay?"

Thomas stopped growling but looked away, moving away from Peter's scratching. Peter let his now-free hand drop and walked over until he was directly in front of Thomas. He looked up at Thomas and repeated his request. Thomas stared at Peter for a moment before letting out a huff and resting his head at Peter's feet.

"Daddy's boy," Malia muttered with a roll of her eyes, but a small smile.

"I have absolutely no problem with that. Do you?" Peter directed the question to Thomas. As an answer, Thomas shook his enormous head once which made most of the group laugh under their breaths, thinking both males absolutely shameless. A few moments later, Deaton arrived in his van. He parked and got out, stopping momentarily to nod at Thomas in greeting. Thomas only glared at him from the floor, ears back and growling low in his throat. Peter stayed by his side trying to calm him down, shushing him and reassuring him with a repeated "it's okay" and "relax," along with a few pats to his head. Deaton started taking out a number of bags and cases, and everyone came forward to help him with them all.

"Thank you," Deaton said, making his way over carrying two cases in his hands, "I appreciate the help. I had suspected he would still have some injuries, even after transforming, but not at this level. And it seems I grossly underestimated his connection to his wolf; not once did I think I'd ever see a werewolf of his size in my lifetime."

Listening closely, they could hear a small croak in his voice, drawing attention to the damage he had taken himself at Thomas' hands.

"Your throat's still not fixed?" Malia frowned in concern. He only smiled and explained, "I sustained some permanent damage from Thomas his first visit. Fortunately, it was only minor, and I'm still able to talk." He put the cases down on the floor a little distance away from Thomas and Peter, the latter barely able to calm the former down as he growled louder when Deaton got closer. "The feeling's mutual, Thomas," Deaton stated, everyone else bringing the rest of his bags and cases. "Now, shall I get started?"

Thomas scooted closer to Peter, growl dying in his throat.

~○~○~○~

Four hours later, Deaton, sitting down with a water bottle in hand, was done treating Thomas. Thomas's scars were deep but had healed completely, his fur had been shaved in the most matted places before the little machine had turned to pieces in Deaton's hands and he had had to switch to shearing scissors, some of his irritated skin had developed blisters with some of them infected, so cream and antibiotics were applied and covered with gauze, and his teeth were slathered in dental cream, with instructions from Deaton to brush Thomas' teeth on a daily basis. The worst of it were his ears. What they mistook for ear mites were actually large, swollen sores from scratching for so long. Deaton applied some topical medication into his ears, but also prescribed some anti-inflammatory medication and antibiotics to be sure.

"He needs to take those two medications orally," Deaton informed Peter who was revising all the instructions Deaton had given, "and make sure you change the gauze and reapply the cream every three days the latest, understand?"

"Yeah, got it," Peter said, looking up from reading the labels. "Thanks Deaton, really."

"It's what I'm here for," Deaton said, getting up and grabbing the last of his already-packed cases. The pack, seeing how exhausted Deaton was, made sure to pack his equipment in their respective cases. He put them in the back of his van, said goodbye to everyone, and drove off. Once he was out of sight, everyone turned their attention to Thomas, who was pawing his ears curiously, marveling at the comfort he felt. Derek walked in front of him and said, "Thomas, I thought you said you and your wolf were one entity. Why is it that your wolf has damage separate to yours? It just doesn't make any sense to me."

Thomas stopped pawing his ears and looked down at Derek. He growled, yipped, and howled for a bit at him in answer. During that, Derek stumbled back in shock, eyes wide. Malia gasped in surprise too, and Theo froze on the spot, eyebrows shooting up like rockets. The rest looked at them, wondering what was going on. Mason was asking Theo what was wrong until he was interrupted by Derek shouting, "You can talk?!"