A Place to Hide Away- Sterek

A Grief That Can't Be Spoken

Sooo, like, I'm so tired of school rn. I caaaant. Loving all the comments you guys are leaving. Bless all of you!

Claudia hadn't even gotten out of her car before Talia was running out, Derek close at her heels. The werewolf Alpha was breathing in deeply as she approached the car, and the Stilinski Alpha couldn't help the feeling of shame that rose in her. She knew that what they were smelling was the lack of were on Genim. Her fox had almost come out in its panic when Merlin had managed to perform the spell to suppress Genim's werefox genes. Even now she could feel a phantom pain as if her son was dead, despite the obvious evidence that he wasn't.

    "What's wrong with Genim?" Derek demanded, tearing open the car door and crawling into the space, curling himself around the young boy, his nose running up and down the nape of his neck. "Why does he smell weird?" There was a whine to his voice, so animalistic in its pain that it made Claudia wince. The young Stilinski wrapped his arms hesitantly around Derek, but he didn't nuzzle back like he usually would, although he did make comforting cooing noises. The Alpha werewolf looked at Claudia with a horrified look on her face as it clicked.

    "Derek, please take Genim inside to your room. Alpha Stilinski and I need to talk." Talia's voice wavered as she sent a side look to the young boy who was looked confused as to all the worry evident on people's faces. Her son nodded, unbuckling Genim and taking him to the house.

    Claudia couldn't even get out of her car. On the way to the Hale House, she had rehearsed what she was going to say, but it all escaped her now. All the careful explanations and reasonable justifications were so jumbled up now. Talia went around the car and slid into the passenger seat, waiting until Derek had closed the door behind himself that she turned to Claudia, hand on her arm.

    "Who did it?" Talia growled, her red eyes flashing. "What kind of messed up witch took away Genim's fox? Why didn't you call or send John?"

    "John doesn't know." Claudia looked away from the inquisitive look the other Alpha was giving her.

    "How could he not know?!"

    "I haven't told him." With this, she slumped forward, leaning her head against the wheel of the car. "There's a new hunter in town."

    Talia snarled, clenching her fist.

    "A hunter did this to you?"

    "No, Talia, listen." Claudia snapped angrily. "I did it. I had a friend of mine who is a sorcerer perform the spell on Genim." At the following silence, she barged on. "There's a new hunter in town who was in the same town we were in before we moved here. She's ruthless, Talia.  She managed to convince the other hunters to abandon the code, telling them that we were animals, and I just.... I don't want my son to die. This is the only way I could think that he be safe."

    "Claudia, you took away a vital part of Genim." Talia seethed, her anger now directed to the other mother. "That is so wrong. How could that be the only way to keep him safe? What about us, Claudia? The Hale Pack?! We're one of the strongest packs of North America and you thought we couldn't protect Genim? He's part of our pack, Claudia. We would've died protecting him."

    All the pent up grief and anger finally burst free and Claudia covered her face as she began crying.

    "But I didn't want you to. This is the safest thing to do, Talia. This way no one gets hurt. No one had to get hurt-"

    "But someone did get hurt." The werewolf's voice chilled. "In fact, two people got hurt during this. God, Claudia, did you even think to ask someone about what that spell entails?"

    "I know that it'll take a long time for it to wear away-"

    "His fox died, Claudia." Talia shook her head. "You've probably been feeling like your son has died, right? It's because when you do this spell, it turns the genes dormant yes, but it also completely does away with his fox. It's...it's the only spell that can revert a were back into human. We will never know what it's like to not have our were side in us because we were born weres, but humans are a completely different story. The second a human is turned, it's like their were is born. However to be able to have a were inside you, the genes need to be active. This is why there's always a fifty fifty chance of a human surviving the bite. Genim's were side needs the genes that are now dormant to survive."

    "But...but he seemed fine. He didn't even cry."

    "Well, then you better thank whoever it was that performed this spell for you, because most people die from it." Talia looked torwards the house with a sad look on her face. "The worst part in all this is that Genim will start to notice the little signs that his fox is missing when he can't feel the pack bond anymore." There was an edge there, pointed in its accusation of Claudia.

    "I don't regret doing it." Claudia said defensively. "I want my son to be safe."

    "I will never condone this, Alpha Stilinski." Talia replied curtly and the other flinched at the title. "I believe that what you did was wrong, but I also understand that it's your choice. However as I said, you hurt two people in this. The grief you're feeling for your lost son is the grief Derek's werewolf is going through for his lost mate."

    Claudia blinked in surprise then her mouth fell open in horror at what Talia had just said.

    "But Stiles is still his mate."

    "Yes." Talia pursed her lips as she turned away from the werefox's wide eyes. "But Derek's werewolf will still feel the grief of losing half of his mate."

    Almost on cue, the front door slammed open, revealing a furious Peter who was stalking towards the car where the two Alphas were sitting in. He ripped open the driver's door, leaning down with a growl, his eyes shining blue as his fangs dropped. Talia felt a sense of pity for her older brother. In all of his life, he had never been interested in children. The only reason he probably tolerated her children was because they were family. So when Stiles had befriended with bright golden eyes and huge smiles, totally unafraid of the dark aura Peter usually gave off...well, it was no surprise that Peter's walls went tumbling down. It had come to the point where Peter's wolf had recognized Stiles as his own son, something Talia always took advantage of rubbing in his face.

    Now though-- now it was breaking her heart, because she hadn't even considered the pain Peter must be going through. Her brother tore open the driver's door, making Claudia's heartbeat skyrocket.

    "Who did this?" Peter snarled, cutting his lip on the sharp edge of one fang. "Tell me, Claudia, and I'll go rip their fucking throat out. Who fucking does this to a child?" The werefox glanced desperately to Talia who simply averted her eyes away, leaving her alone to face Peter. The beta seemed to have the caught the exchange and understood the implication if the sudden screech of metal bending was any indication.

    "No." Peter said, shaking his head. "Claudia, tell me you didn't." The werefox only looked down ashamed. The other seemed to want to drag the mother out of the car, but just as it looked like he was going to roar out of anger, his face completely shut down.

    Claudia didn't know what was worse. His vicious anger or the cold look that he sent her. A silence followed, none of them moving from their spot or saying anything. It was a broken with Peter's chuckle.

    "I was right." He said, almost as if to himself. "You were going to be a liability."