High Infidelity [Midnights #2]

chapter 1

Everything around Peter Hale appeared to be moving in slow motion. Including himself. And everywhere he looked, the less sense the scene before him made.

He stared up at the burnt out husk of his sister's formerly glorious home. A home he had helped her build. Two stories. Columns. All whites and creams and all the shades of gray. Even a wraparound porch. And that last one had been her only real requirement. She wanted to be able to stand there and see the majestic forest that surrounded that home from every angle available.

Now, it was all gone.

The smoke that enveloped him, and every goddamn firefighter in Beacon Hills, made his eyes water. Or maybe he was crying. It didn't matter and he couldn't tell anyway.

"Tal!" he called, advancing toward the house finally. "Talia!"

The ashes of the place were still smoldering, but he didn't mind. He had to find them. All of them. He had to know they were safe, that they had made it out of the wreckage. That they were waiting on him in a nearby ambulance, wrapped up in those blankets that always reminded him of aluminum foil.

They would hug and she would tell him everything was okay. She would insist that they had their work cut out for them with this one, but they would be together and it would be all right.

"Sir, Peter Hale is here!"

He didn't recognize the voice. Again, it didn't matter. He wasn't about to stop. He didn't have it in him. The way his legs were moving as if they were made of lead or he was wading through quicksand told him if he didn't keep going, he'd never make it.

And he had to make it.

"Talia!"

No answer. No sighs of relief. Nothing.

His eyes darted around some more, the usual speed of the world returning rather violently. All the sounds overwhelming him at once as he stretched out with his supernatural senses to try and find his sister.

Then he searched for a familiar face. Even just one. Nothing. Nobody. But that didn't make any sense, damnit. The entire pack had been in that house. All of them. And he, Peter Hale, the Beta to his sister's Alpha, was going to get there later than all the rest because he had just finished his last final for his first semester in college. Talia was supposed to be waiting up for him. They were going to celebrate. And then tomorrow was the big meeting.

They were making it official. Derek's older sister had passed on being the next Alpha when Talia stepped down. She and his niece had talked until they were both blue in the face, each giving their best arguments, and in the end, Talia had folded. She only wanted the best for her children, never forcing them into roles like their parents before her.

They were going to surprise Derek. Let him know that it was his if he wanted it. And Peter would be his Beta, if his nephew would have him.

Now... nothing. It was all gone.

"Talia!" he screamed again, refusing to give in to the idea that he was truly alone. He would find them. There were no body bags, so there must be hope. "Someone go inside and get them! Please! They're all inside."

And then, Peter was on his stomach, clawing at the ground, struggling to break free from the immovable force that kept him planted.

"Son, it's okay," another voice called back. "We got you. I got you."

He was being held in place. Three large men were holding him back, keeping him safe. The smoke was too much and the fire wasn't entirely extinguished, but it was over. It was all over.

After another minute, when all the fight was gone from his body, they lifted Peter up and sat him on the edge of the nearest fire truck.

"Peter, my name is Captain... I mean, Sheriff Stilinski. But you can call me Noah."

Peter stared ahead, not saying a word. He was focused solely on breathing now as his mind wrapped itself around the idea that they were gone. And he was alone.

"I am so sorry, son," Noah continued.

The man hung his head and Peter furrowed his brows. He had said those words recently to someone else. Peter could feel it. And he wasn't sure how he knew it to be the truth, but it was. It just was.

Peter remembered how he had voted for this man. His first election. At the time, even though it was only for their small town, it felt like a momentous occasion to him. He was doing his civic duty. And he had done his research. Noah Stilinski was a good man. He would fight for what was right.

But this man, the one before him, was rundown, as if life had simply become too much since Peter had last laid eyes on him. Something he also intimately understood now.

He wished he didn't.

He wished neither of them did.

"What happened?"

Peter's voice was hoarse from the screaming, and likely a little from the smoke too, but he had questions and needed so many answers.

"We don't know," Noah admitted. "Someone called in the fire. No idea who it was. Someone camping close by, if I had to guess. But when we got here, it was already so bad."

"Talia?"

Noah shook his head, and while Peter knew what it meant, he needed the sheriff to speak the words. Make it real.

"Gone," he finally replied. "Smoke inhalation. We found them in their beds."

"Them?"

He nodded. "Talia, Laura, and Cora." He swallowed hard. "And a few others."

Yeah, a few. The rest of the pack. And now Peter had inherited the power of Alpha, though he had never, ever wanted it. Second-in-command was where he did his best work.

"I'm so sorry, Peter," Noah repeated. "Someone, uh, needs to go pick up Derek, though. I can have some of my deputies get him off the bus and take him to the police station. You can meet him there or..."

"Derek?" Noah nodded slowly. "Derek wasn't at home?"

"No. He had an away game," he confirmed. "He wasn't going to get in until late. They're heading back now. We already called Coach, but he said he would let us tell him. He... he has no idea."

"Derek is alive?"

He nodded again, just as slowly, as confusion crossed his features. He seemed concerned at how easily Peter had accepted that he was alone, but not that there was someone left. And Peter didn't blame him. But with the way his life had gone, it made sense. Peter always lost everything.

"I have to tell him?"

"I'll go with you, kid," Noah promised. "I got you."

And Peter believed him.

They stood up together, the newly downtrodden sheriff and the grief-stricken wolf, and headed toward the police cruiser that would take Peter to Derek and the most difficult conversation he would ever have.

Suddenly, Peter sucked in a lungful of air as his eyes darted around again. He wasn't back there anymore. It had been a nightmare. One he relived frequently. But it didn't seem his current predicament was much better.

He was in a dank basement he had never seen before in his life. Most of the space was bathed in darkness and even his usual abilities were muted. He couldn't see into the shadows. Instead, he could barely make out a workbench and a lamp. And even that was blurry.

Peter looked upward, noticing he was suspended by his arms with a rope that was positively soaked in wolfsbane. The smell alone burned his eyes. But then it dripped in his face, getting in his mouth, which caused his whole body to seize for the longest, most excruciating moment while he struggled to catch his breath again.

And fuck did it sting everywhere.

"Nice to have you back with us, Peter." He tried to clear his mind, place that voice, but he came up empty. "Guess it's time we got started."