"It was ours." Deucalion spoke.
"What?"
"The dream of peace. It was Viv's dream, but it became mine. I believed in it not just because she did. It was our dream, only made stronger after Selene was born. A product of both hunter and hunted. After what happened I tried again with the Argents to stop something like what happened to her and our daughter happening to someone else."
"And her husband? What did he think of your dream?"
"It was a... delicate matter." Deucalion said carefully. "A hunter and an alpha werewolf. She found out she was pregnant and... her marriage had to stay in place. For the sake of the child. If other hunters ever found out then it would have put her in danger as well. We decided to wait. Wait a few years and then she would leave him."
"That doesn't sound all to fair for him."
"Vivienne was a kind person, but when it came to her children nothing would get in her way. She did what she had to, to protect Selene."
"Only the Calaveras found out."
"And I'm a fool for thinking it was the other pack all this time. I should have known."
"No. If you had known you would have died."
"And hows that?" He asked, with an eyebrow raised.
"You said you went after the pack you blamed for their deaths before trying for peace again. You killed them. If you had known the Calaveras were to blame you would have gone after them instead. You would have gone after your daughter. The Calaveras are a little harder to take out. I think they may be worse than Gerard if pushed to it. And they certainly have more fire power, more numbers. Hell they run their own little town. Araya Calavera killed one of her own men while she sat at a table on the side of the street talking to Lydia. Not a single person battered an eyelid. Selene was raised among that. By her. You may not be able to see the silver lining, I doubt Selene does and she definitely wouldn't if she knew the truth. But from an outside perspective, someone whose not involved and aside from feeling bad for what happened has an indifferent stance... It worked out for the best. The best for the circumstances you were given. If you found her, took her with you... the hunters would have known she was missing. And considering they knew she was potentially a werewolf... they would have hunted you both and they would have succeeded. If you had known and gone after her in Mexico, you would have gone in blind... metaphorically. They would have killed you and Selene never would have known. You could have trained her growing up, Deucalion, but you never could have trained her the way they did. A wolf can't train a human because a wolf can't fight the way a human does. You would have trained her to be a human among a pack of wolves, striving to be more, but never able to reach it. Araya trained her to be human equal in strength to those stronger than her. It's what the hunters are and you never could have given her that. And maybe now that you know where she is you can seek her out. With a clear mind that has had years of separation from what happened in France."
"Only one problem." He said. I was surprised he did go straight to trying to defend himself in saying that he would have succeeded and that I was wrong, he could have trained her better. But he didn't. I took that as a sign that he thought I was right or... maybe, and this was reaching when concerning Deucalion... he respected what I had to say.
"And what's that?"
"She's still with the Calaveras."
"Yeah... except she's not a little girl anymore. She's a hunter, Deucalion. And right now, she's not in Mexico. She's hunting down Kate Argent. And she's a lot more like her mother than you know. I can tell you all I know about her if you want. Most of it, I suspect, you won't like. You might feel angry at the Calaveras more than you already do. You won't be any more fond of Peter Hale. But at the end... if you promise to let everything that has already passed be... and simply try and start again... no revenge, no getting even, none of it... I can tell you how to find her."
"You don't think I can do that on my own?"
"You don't know her, Deucalion. You might recognise her when you see her, but until then you don't know what you're looking for. You don't know her scent. You don't know how she hunts, you don't know what to say to stop her from shooting you... or believing you. But she'll believe us."
It took a moment, a long silent moment, but he nodded. "Tell me."
And so I did. I told him everything I knew. From the Hales, to the fire, to Kate... to her reeducation and scars. I told him about Peter and then I told him about her sending word to Jordan. And how I wasn't sure, that he said it was an anonymous tip, but it could have only been her. It had to have come from someone within the Calavera's ranks and she was the only one that would. I told him everything I had ever been told about Selene Corbeau and everything I had seen in Mexico. And he listened. He never said a word, he simply listened. It was only when I was done, finishing off with how I wasn't sure if she had been the one to give Jordan the anonymous tip, that he finally spoke.
"How do I find her?" He asked.
"You haven't promised yet, Deucalion. And considering the negative history between you and all of us... you're going to have to do something a little more substantial than making a verbal promising."
Kyle's hand twitched yet again, silencing our conversation as I quickly moved back over to him.
"Kyle?"
Theo and Stiles.
Stiles ran after Theo, following his lead to Lydia as the werewolf tracked her by sound. Hers and Valak's voices echoing through the pipes.
"This teenager, Lydia, is the last genetic Chimera." He was saying. "A young man or a young woman, maybe even someone you know. A success where Theo and the others were failures."
"But we went through the list of genetic Chimeras. There's no one else."
"There must be one you missed. Another way they could have two sets of DNA. If you could see the face of this teenager, discover its identity, then your friends would have a fighting chance."
"There. In there." Theo nodded to a door at the end of a corridor as he and Stiles rounded the corner.
"The mask can help you see." Valak said.
"Lydia!" Stiles yelled as Theo begun to slam into the door, trying to break it down.
"What the hell are you doing? Get the door." Stiles turned on Theo who was failing at trying to open it.
"I'm trying." He shot back as the sound of a banshee was beginning to rise on the other side, growing louder and louder until the sound broke free, causing both the human and wolf to cover their ears.
Then it cut out, ringing dead silent as a thud was heard on the other side. Theo reached for the door again and this time the handle effortlessly broke off. Theo looked down at the handle in his hand as Stiles charged through, swinging the door open and running past Valak's dead body that looked like a shot gun had blasted off the corner of his head.
Stiles grabbed Lydia, muttering at her to just shut up and let him save her life while Theo looked down on the dead body and the blood that surrounded it. He continued to stare even after Stiles had run out the door with Lydia, his attention drifting to a mask that looked like it belong to one of the Dread Doctors.
Anna POV.
"Kyle, I need you to calm down." I was saying as he crawled backwards, flipping off the table and then half running back a few more paces.
"What happened? Where am I? I... I..."
"I know. I know it's confusing, I know you're in pain." Almost on cue he winced as his hand cramped and he opened and closed his fingers. His blood was still trying to regenerate his body and there were pieces that still weren't healed properly, but for the most part he was okay.
"My parents... I remember..."
"I know." I found myself saying again. "But that wasn't you. I've felt that before, I've done it, I know what it's like and it wasn't you."
"But it was."
"Only in body. It feels like crap. You hate yourself. There isn't anything you wouldn't give to take it back, but you can't... You can't take it back. All you can do is learn from it and maybe by doing so save someone else's life in the future." His breathing deepened as he began to shake his head. "Kyle, if I could bring Jake back to life... I would. If I could bring your parents back I would, but I can't. I can only bring you back."
"Why?" He breathed.
"You need something to work with." Deucalion's voice interrupted. "I assume because you're both Nix's you removed their hearts... rather a signature of your kind. No heart... no heartbeat, no life. Your body was at least in tact and hadn't been dead too long."
"Do you have to be so blunt?" I turned on him.
"He killed his own parents and remembers it. How do you be subtle about that?" Deucalion asked rhetorically.
"Kyle." I turned back to him. "I know this is hard and I'm probably the last person you want to be seeing right now, but I can help you. I've lost control and you suffered because of it. But I have control now. I can help you."
"What if I do it again? What if I lose control again."
"Then you'll get it back. It will happen again, Kyle; loss of control. You can only learn to control yourself when you know how to recognise when you're loosing it."
"And if I kill again?"
"Your parents are dead, Kyle. You did that." I stated. my voice was more stern now, more blunt. Deucalion did have a point, subtlety wasn't going to get us anywhere. "You've already done the worst thing you could possible do and guess what... you're still breathing. And there's people willing to give you a chance. Keep feeling bad about it. Cry over it every so often. Use it to stay human... and you will." He looked back, his breathing steadying. "I will do everything in my power to never let you become what you were before, what I have been... but I need you to trust me. And to come with me now."
"Where?" He whispered.
"Home. We need to get out of here. We need to leave before Theo gets back."
"Theo?"
"I'll explain everything on the way, but we have to go." Kyle stared for a moment before nodding. "Good. Now see that line of ash." Kyle followed my gaze to it. "It's called Mountain Ash. I need you to break the circle."
He gave me a look like he thought I was insane. I didn't want to explain what it did or why he was the one that had to do it until it had been done. I wasn't going to give him an opportunity to run. But he did it and I stepped over the threshold before turning back to Deucalion.
"The talons." He stated.
"You said Theo wouldn't know they were missing."
"I did."
"I'm not going to like the reason why, am I?"
"I think you already know the reason why." Deucalion said back.
"Can't you do it?" I asked, all too hopeful.
"No I can't do it." He said back, unimpressed. "and your friend over here certainly can't for obvious reasons, being part Garuda himself. Plus you have a small added bonus trick which will make this work and for this to work, Anna, everything must play out smoothly. Which means your part is required. Go on." He nodded to the jar. "A Garuda's Talons are that of a harpy eagle. Think you can manage that?"
"Yes. I can manage that." I shot. "That's not the issue." I muttered before taking a deep breath and walking over to the jar, unscrewing the lid and emptying the claws into my hand before placing them in my jacket pocket and then staring down into the empty jar.
"That was step one." Deucalion said.
"Your commentary really isn't helping." I snapped, before adding "They won't glow."
"Doesn't matter. It's the best we have without giving him the real thing. I doubt he'll question it until he tries to use them and realises that they aren't absorbing power. By which time it'll be too late. If he uses them at all."
I placed the jar back down and then held out my right hand, allowing just my claws on that hand to grow out. I had never shifted just one part of my body before. I had never needed to, but it strangely enough was no different to completely shifting. You just focused on one part and stopped before it spread to the rest. And that's what happened. My claws grew out on that one hand and then kept growing until they were the long taloned claws of a harpy eagle.
"You're sure they'll keep the shape?" I asked.
"Claws hold a lot of power. But they're useless unless attached to someone. Their ability to change form comes from you however. And they will not change back until you give them the power to do so. If you were to give them to Kyle over here he could transform them, as he is part nix, a werewolf could only work with what he's given."
"What do you mean? What are you doing?" Kyle asked.
"Seriously questioning my sanity." I whispered as I lifted my left hand up to meet the other, gripping the edge of my nail before quickly ripping backwards, wincing in pain and then ranking it from my finger.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Kyle yelled this time.
"That's one." Deucalion commented.
"You going to count every time?" I shot back at him through gritted teeth from pain.
"Just four more." He said. "And don't forget to clean them after, can't have any blood on them if you're going to fool Theo."
I groaned in annoyance before moving onto the second talon and then the third, forth and finally the fifth. As i gripped my right hand in pain after dropping the now cleaned talons into the jar and closed the lid, Kyle continued to look on in horror, shock and utter bewilderment.
"Don't worry, they'll reattach just fine once this is all through with." Deucalion said as I looked at my own claws in the jar. "Now get out of here. The both of you. Leave the rest to me." I looked over to Deucalion and then back to Kyle before nodding for the door. "Annabelle." He called after me just as I was about to walk through the door. I didn't even know he knew my full name, but the way he said it was like a bullet. There was no tease, no amusement, but a very hard coarseness. "I hope by the end of all this... it'll be enough to make that promise."
I didn't need to say anything, only nod in a silent pact before running out the door with Kyle.
Theo.
"I said it was for emergencies only." Theo said to Hayden as he placed the empty syringe of kanima venom back on the table.
"I had an emergency."
"Don't worry, Theo. A little dissension in the ranks is perfectly healthy. Did you find what you were looking for?" Deucalion, who had now resumed his position of the weak, blind and paralysed alpha, asked.
"No." He answered before holding up the mask. "But I think I might have found something better. A way to answer the question."
"Who is the Beast?" Deucalion said.
"Mmm." Theo nodded before glancing over to the broken Mountain ash circle that once contained Anna. "If you were paralysed, you would have still had your senses. So can you tell me why Anna left you and the talons."
"She wants you to use them, of course." Deucalion said.
"Doubtful." Theo shot back.
"They could kill you." Hayden spoke. "That's what he said." She nodded to Deucalion. "He said they could kill you. She heard it."
"And as far as I'm concerned," Deucalion continued, "Anna and her pack aren't exactly friends of mine. She was a little preoccupied in getting that dead boy out of here and keeping an eye on him. She couldn't very well do the same with me effectively. She at least knows where I am and that I'm detained for the time being."
"And why should I believe you about the talons?" Theo asked, moving to the jar and picking it up, inspecting them.
"Only ever been a speculation. The exact science behind what the Dread Doctors do... I don't know. But if you want to risk it, then by all means." Theo stared at them for another moment before placing them back down on the table.
"If you thought she'd leave with the talons and him," Josh started, "why did you bring her here. Or why leave her alone."
"She wasn't meant to be alone." Theo shot a glare at Hayden, "But even if she had to be we weren't meant to take as long in Eichen and I thought Kyle would take longer to wake up, or at the very least longer to talk around into trusting her. He wanted her dead before he died, more than anything."
"I think you'll find that Miss Fields has always had a natural ability to gain pack members." Deucalion answered, but Theo looked like he didn't really need him to speak.
"Don't you mean allies. She's not an alpha." Tracey spat.
"No?" Deucalion asked. "Scott was an alpha long before his eyes were red. And you Theo... you just handed her over her own little beta. You wait... before long Isaac will come running back to the one person he always listened to. And I promise you Derek would choose her over Scott and with Derek comes Cora. You've just given yourself two packs to fight, Theo."
"I think you're getting a little ahead of yourself."
"Am I? I always thought of myself as quite the visionary." Deucalion smirked.
Anna POV.
I was going to take Kyle back to my house first before ringing the others, but a loud banshee like scream stopped me in my tracks.
"What was what?" Kyle asked.
"Lydia. I think it came from the animal clinic."
"How do you know?"
"There are a few regular check points in this town that you'll learn and it was coming form that direction. Come on."
We jogged the whole way there, no mode of transportation accessible. When we walked through the front door of the clinic, I gestured for Kyle to stay put while I stepped forward heading to the back room. Lydia was in her mothers arms, seemingly stable while Deaton, Scott and Stiles all looked on happily. They hadn't yet noticed me, too engrossed and perhaps worn out to hear the bell chime, but eventually Scott did, looking up to the doorway.
"Anna." He breathed before quickly stepping forward and pulling me into a hug. "You're okay."
"I told you I was." I stated as he let go and Stiles came over, repeating Scott's actions.
"No, Theo told us you were. Not the same thing." Stiles answered.
"But you got the message." I turned to Scott who nodded.
"We were still going to come looking once we got Lydia out." He nodded to where she sat next to her mother. I smiled and she smiled back with a nod, as did Mrs Martin. "Malia didn't think you were in any danger." He added.
"I wasn't." I replied. "Scott... I saw Deucalion."
"Theo told me he found him." It was Stiles that spoke.
"I wouldn't worry about..."
"I'm not." I cut Scott off. "He told me. About your plan. That you contacted him before the Chimeras found him. He let them take him. Hayden was the only one Theo left behind tonight. To guard both me and Deucalion, but she left to help Liam. Paralysed Deucaion with some of Tracy's venom and left me in a circle of Mountain Ash."
"How'd you get out?" It was Lydia that asked in a small and clearly still weak voice.
"I had some help... from another Chimera who broke the circle. Not one of Theo's... someone else... someone... I brought back." I said slowly.
"What?" Stiles asked.
"I had a conversation with Theo about it before things went down with the Desert Wolf and... he brought him to me. So that I wouldn't go out and try and do it on my own."
"Anna..." Scott started, not at all liking where this was going. Stiles was staring in horror, probably praying that I wasn't about to reveal Donovan.
I nodded for them to follow me into the front room and they did, with Deaton who had remained quiet right behind them. Kyle stood in the corner almost shyly, but mostly out of what appeared to be shame. Like he thought he wouldn't be welcome.
Scott looked to him and then me while everyone else just stared at the guy who not so long ago wanted me dead, who outed my biggest secret... who had ripped out the hearts of his own parents before succumbing to the mercury infused death of a chimera.
"Theo let you bring him back?" Scott asked.
"He gave me the serum and said it was my choice. I know what you're thinking, but... he's my problem, Scott. Not yours. I can handle this."
Scott gave him another look before turning back to me and then slowly nodded.
"Okay." He whispered.
"I don't want you to give me your approval because of that promise, Scott, because any disapproval isn't going to stop me from helping him. So I only want it if you mean it."
"It's what we do right?" He asked. "Help people." And I smiled.