Perigee

Chapter 12

Calix woke me up with his cries. I started his feeding and sat in a rocking chair with him. Stiles stirred. “Is Calix alright?” he asked groggily.

“Yeah,” I replied softly. “Go back to sleep.”

“Let me know if you need me,” he said before turning over and fading back out of consciousness.

Only a week old, I already couldn’t imagine my life without Calix in it. When he was finished eating, I put him in position and started gently patting his back to burp him. Once everything was settled, I laid him back in his crib and watched as he slept before I finally crawled back into bed and cuddled up next to Stiles.

I hadn’t slept a whole lot since Calix was born, but I didn’t mind. Stiles was still very weak from the birth. Mom and Laura would, on occasion, force me to go take a nap but I never slept for more than an hour or so. When dawn finally broke, I got up and joined my family for breakfast.

Once we were all settled, Dad asked me to go get Stiles. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

I hated conversations that started that way, but I went back upstairs and roused my Mate and helped him downstairs. Calix was sound asleep, so I decided it was best to let him rest. Stiles was barely able to walk on his own, but his strength was slowly returning and he always seemed slightly stronger when he and I were in close proximity to one another.

When we were finally back down in the dining room, we began eating. Dad let us finish our meal before speaking. “There’s a shift in the pack,” he began. He mentioned it before when Calix was born.

“But Stiles is alright… Deaton said it would take him a while to regain his strength…” I said.

“That’s not what I meant,” Dad replied. “I felt this shift when Calix was born and it took me a while to figure out what exactly that shift meant. At first, I thought it was because we had a new Pack member… but this was different.”

Dad shot a look at Mom who picked up the explanation. “When you were at Stiles’ side, there was a moment when your eyes flashed.”

“I was pissed! I thought I was going to lose him…”

“Your eyes flashed red.”

I looked around to my family members. Mom, Dad, and Uncle Peter looked proud, Laura looked pissed, and Cora seemed somehow bored.

“I thought that Alpha had to be passed when a beta stole it, or the pack’s existing Alpha died of natural causes…” I said.

“Usually, that’s how it gets passed. But there are moments when a wolf rises to the occasion At that point, the power of the pack will shift and the current Alpha can pass the title on,” Dad told me.

“What would happen to you?” I asked. I didn’t want the title if it would cost me my father.

“I would still be an Alpha until you were trained to take over in my place. After that point, I’ll be your Beta.”

“How does it work?”

“It’s as simple as you accepting your new role in the pack,” he replied. He leaned forward, his eyes flashing red. “Do you accept your new role?”

I looked around at my family once more. All but Laura were encouraging me to take it. At last I looked at Stiles. “I told you that you were destined to become a great Alpha.”

“I accept,” I said. I felt a sudden surge of power. I felt stronger than I had ever felt before. Everyone seemed to shift slightly. It seemed that having two Alphas in the pack boosted everyone at least somewhat, just as adding Stiles and his magic did. That rush of power was only punctuated by a sharp searing sensation in my back. I winced against the pain. I knew instantly that the third part of the triskele had faded from Stiles’ back and etched its way onto mine.

“How is this fair?” Laura asked. All of our eyes shot to her. “Just because he is Mated to some magical person and has a child… that makes him worthy of being the next Alpha?”

“Laura!” Peter scolded. I knew that he likely understood her sentiments though. It had never been lost on me that he had wanted to be Alpha, but it went to my dad, his younger brother. “He is your new Alpha. Show respect.”

“No!” she protested, staring at me.

Dad grabbed her wrist as she tried to leave the table. “The fact that you’re acting like this is probably a very good reason.”

Stiles decided to share the information he had on the subject. “Derek was destined to be an Alpha before there was even a Hale line of werewolves. I’m sorry if you’re disappointed, Laura… but Alpha was never intended to pass to you or your sister.”

“And I’m supposed to trust your word, Stiles?” Laura shot back. “Until it happened, you had forgotten you were supposed to be his Mate. Excuse me if I’m a little skeptical. How do we know you didn’t use your magic to influence this from the get-go?”

“Laura, stop it!” Mom ordered. “You were perfectly fine with Stiles and everything when you became an aunt.”

“I understand how you feel, Laura,” Uncle Peter said, trying to calm tensions. “But you need to think of the Pack before you think of yourself. I was convinced I would become the next Hale Alpha. I was angry. I felt robbed. And you know what, I didn’t deserve it. Look what your brother has done… everything he has accomplished. If I hadn’t gone through what I did… I never would have been able to be there for him when nobody else was. There may come a day when Calix needs you. Wouldn’t you want to be there for him?”

I could tell Laura was fighting back tears. She shot a defeated glance at me and whispered, “I’m sorry,” before retreating to her room. I was hurt. I loved my sister and I didn’t want her to be angry with me for this.

“Cora, is there anything you want to get out because after this, no more,” Dad said.

Cora shrugged. “Ever since I can remember, Derek has talked about becoming an Alpha. I never thought it’d go to me so I’m alright.”

“This definitely didn’t go as I expected,” Mom sighed, pouring herself some juice. “Are you alright, Derek?”

“Yeah,” I replied softly. “I’m fine.” I could hear Calix’s cries and excused myself to tend to his needs. 

*********************************

When Cora graduated from High School, we threw her a party. Some of her friends came. All of them seemed to be misfits, but as a werewolf with a Mate who could perform magic, who was I to judge?

She was nervous about leaving for college, but mom and dad were adamant that she go. “Derek didn’t have to go to college!”

“Derek had other things on his plate,” Dad said.

She didn’t like that answer, and honestly, neither did I. It wasn’t fair to her that she was held to a different standard than I was, but I agreed that it was in her best interests. She got high scores on her exams and got into every college and university she applied to.

The fight to get her to go became even more complicated when Laura met the man who we discovered was her Mate.

He was a human. But, remarkably, he was fine with the fact that his girlfriend and her family were werewolves. Laura and I weren’t close… especially not since I became the Alpha, but I made sure she knew I was happy for her. Having a Mate was an amazing experience.

Our fight with Cora became more complicated, still, when Laura announced that she was pregnant. I was consumed with baby mania in the same way Laura had been when Stiles was pregnant. We bought her everything she’d need. The prospect of being the sort of uncle to her child that Uncle Peter was to me excited me more than anything. I had one goal for the next generation of Hales. I wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, the succession of Alpha wouldn’t tear them apart like it did me and Laura.