The last thing James "Jay" Hale ever imagined was to begrudgingly return to Beacon Hills, find out his older sister was murdered, and then be forced to go on a wild goose chase after an enigmatic Alpha that seemed to have a particular interest in ru...
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
Hesitation Is For The Weak
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Peter Hale hadn't quite anticipated his youngest nephew, the Hale baby, to try and murder him and almost get away with it, yet there they were.
Or, more accurately, here he was, being tackled suddenly and lying on the flat of his spine, blinking up at the face of his rageful nephew. There was a stupid cross hanging off the chain on James' neck, swinging in his face as if it were mocking him, and Peter couldn't help but think about how odd the whole situation was even though he had five sharp claws seconds away from tearing through his throat.
He couldn't help but think about how odd the sight of James Hale, snarling in his face and somehow managing to overpower him, was in light of the little boy Peter remembered him to be. There was grit where there was once only softness, anger where there was only baleful glee, and a hollowness where there was only full content.
Peter growled back with teeth that were sharper and a deeper timbre of pure power that would make any other werewolf or animal shake in fear, but James didn't move a muscle to submit. Rather, it only seemed to fuel his emblazoned fury, and Peter found himself somehow overpowered despite his higher Alpha status.
After all, an Alpha could still be killed. He wasn't the God he thought he was; he was a creature whose power he'd stolen and whose power would be stolen. All it would take was one quick move he couldn't counteract and all of his efforts would be for nothing.
Rage had always been the greatest tool for a Hale in that regard. It was all-encompassing and, ironically, burned brighter than even the highest flame. At a young age, the Hale pack urged each young wolf to reign in their fury first, and only then control would follow suit. Talia lived by the lesson, while Peter scoffed at it. But the lack of Talia's guiding presence was apparent now. Without her, and without Laura to take her role as an equally calm and wise carbon-copy, both of Peter's nephews were evidently a mess of broken wires and complex parts.
As much of a mess as himself, apparently. The anger is what they all had in common. The fervent need for a reckoning after being wronged was the path they were all set on going down, in one way or another—Peter with his revenge against the Argents, James and Derek with their need to avenge Laura.
It was just surprising, is all. To see James follow down the same destructive path.
James had always been a slippery child in the past, that much was undeniable. As soon as he knew how to toddle his little legs into some form of a hobbled baby walk, he was gone like the wind. There were many times in the past that Peter could remember the entire Hale house panicking trying to find whatever hole or small space the youngest boy had crammed himself into during those terrible twos when, if someone looked away for one second, he'd have disappeared like some sort of phony magician. There were many times when Peter would have to sit through a scolding like he was a child whenever James slipped his sights during babysitting duty.
