We Live in Shades of Grey

Peter watched the teenager, blue eyes filled with so many emotions. He looked down. “No, Cora, it was my fault. I made a promise to you, after your father died. You were curled in my bed, holding your bear and you’d cried yourself to sleep while I sang to you. I promised that I would never let you be hurt like that. And I failed. I broke that promise and I can never fix that.” His voice was rough, and his eyes were glossier than his usual clear gaze. He leaned to kiss her forehead, eyes closing. “Cora, I can’t fix any of my mistakes. I can’t bring Laura back, I can’t fix that you were alone all those years. But we can build a future as a family. You, Derek and I. We even have Stiles among our ranks, and he’s not even a wolf. We can be a family again. And I swear to you, Coraline Alicia Hale, that you will never, ever be alone again. I will not let anyone take us away from you.” his voice cracked just faintly, eyes watching her. “You don’t have to do anything alone ever again, Little Wolf. You’re home and Derek, Stiles and I will protect you, take care of you. As a pack should.” he promised. 

Peter nodded. “Well, being an enforcer was no good if when we spotted subtle threats, no one valued our thoughts. When I was younger, I just wanted to prove that I wasn’t like my father. That I could lead without abuse.” He explained. “Maybe we could move the town, get a fresh start.” He chuckled.

This kind of thing is just a mess, either way. You are either too protective or you aren’t protective enough, there is no way to win. I can understand not wanting to be like your father, I surely wouldn’t want to be like my own either. Moving the town isn’t the worst idea, honestly.

“I’m not saying to run away. I’ve never run from a fight, and I won’t start now. I was referring to after the current fight is done. We will win this.” Peter replied, calm. “Once it’s over, there are places we can go. I won’t turn my back on these kids in the middle of a fight we didn’t even ask for.” His eyes flashed unknowningly hands moving faster than normal as he moved to work on getting everything ready. “This whole town is just a big pile of trouble, even before the fire.” he replied. “There was always something happening that we had to fight, and all because my abusive father had a large enough pack and power that it was sought after by outsiders, a threat to others despite the fact we never killed innocents.” The knife in his hand made chopping noises as he stared at the salad he was cutting. He stopped and moved to the table, reaching to run a hand along Chris’ shoulders. “Chris, why are you drinking? I want to help.”

“You want to leave this place?” He questioned, looking around the house, thinking about the town. He didn’t comment on the fire, knowing a little about it from stories and what he was told and he didn’t want to drag up bad memories. 

He stayed silent, watching the other man. “Fine. We make sure that everyone is safe first and then we’ll get out of here.” He agreed, staring at the werewolf as he cooked .

Peter looked down. “Enforcers were basically the preemptive strike from the alpha. We followed orders and our ooo ions were typically brushed aside. Our job was to destroy threats that showed themselves. I should have killed Kate when she first came back and started after Derek.” He looked down, wondering what life would have been like. Would the family have grown? Would Laura, with all her strength and love, have found a mate and had a family of her own? Would the family have been burned alive? Would he have been able to fight for his daughter? He gave a sad laugh, shrugging. “It’s the draw of the nemeton. Always seeking balance.” He looked at the room, sighing. “Maybe when this is over we’ll get a break.”

I can understand that. In the military there was a chain of command as well, and we were all required to listen to those above us. Although, it is the military as a whole that takes care of any threats not just the select few in power. Granted, my branch of the military was all incredibly well trained. I suppose destroying to the Nemeton is just going to make things worse. A break would be great but honestly I think that as long as we all live here we are going to have to deal with it.

Peter hummed, nodding. “Do you know what a pack Enforcer is?” he asked, watching the hunter. He looked down. “That’s what I was, but not by choice. My father - Anthony - he made that decision because of my control. I didn’t want that life, I wanted my own. And yet this town just keeps…taking more from us than I ever imagined it would dare.” he managed to repress the grin, turning it into a smirk. “I don’t intend to show her any mercy; she didn’t show my family and I any when she torched us alive; humans and all.”

Yeah, I know vaguely about different pack positions. I think there are a lot of people around here that didn’t like the places that they have been forced into. This town just has  a habit of making everything as bad as possible for everyone in it. [Nods]. The death count is far too high for my liking, and I need for it to stop. I’ve got no issue with you showing her no mercy, because if I was the one who was taking her down I wouldn’t have shown her any mercy either.

She sighed softly, leaning into her uncle’s touch. “It wasn’t your fault, you know.” It was in the way he looked at her. The shame and regret…  But being alone only made her stronger, taught her that in this world you needed to defend yourself and be strong. That was the only way to survive. Cora shrugged, though a smile emerged at the news. “Really? That’s… great. That’s really, really great.”