Sitting at a breakfast table full of Shifters and legacy-born Hunters was not ever what Marco had planned for his future…. or any other point in time.
Hell, he devoted his whole life to slaying a particularly nasty and magically infected variant of Shifter Huntsmen.
And there he sat.
Boyd and Erica sat to his left and right. Plates full of sausage and eggs. On their left and right, Scott and Stiles ate comfortably…. Hungrily as they scarfed down waffles.
Isaac, Derek and Cora weren't so frenzied. Maybe they held themselves back because they sat closest to the humans.
Chris, Alison and Lydia.
It was a full house. And yet, Marco could bet money it was rarely so silent.
"ERHM….. since we're already burning through our groceries do you guys want any waffles?" Chris questioned, "Uhmm…. What was it?"
"Marco." Boyd and Erica answered for him.
"We can't process carbohydrates very well. Proteins are fine." Marco replied as he swallowed down a whole egg. The granules of hot salt on his tongue paled in comparison to the searing blaze he felt only a day ago.
"Right…. Cats." Chris mumbled.
"Lions." Victoria corrected. Trying for a pleasant smile.
Chris robotically looked down to his plate and cut up his sausages. His beard seemed to be greying further in real time.
Marco stopped observing the old Hunter and dug in. For the next ten minutes all the blessed their ears was the sound of cutlery, swishing orange juice and the two lovebirds heart beats. Scott and Alison.
Marco was never a team player, but they were on his land. Tense. Ruining the air with their discomforted smells.
Marco growled and put down his fork near his empty plate.
"Who's got problems? Say them now before you ruin my next plate."
Stiles burped, quickly covering his mouth beside Erica before talking, "Uhhm…. Uhh… Isn't the whole thing that we all have problems?"
Marco's dreads were tied at the back of his head, causing them to brush against his back muscles as he shook his head, "No, Stiles. Not like him.."
Everyone looked at Chris following the point of his finger from across the table.
Chris eyed him. Victoria grabbed his hand. Scott looked caught between teams as he eyed Alison and Marco.
"What? What's your problem?"
"You changed… my wife." Chris said through gritted teeth.
"You have a wife." Marco repositioned the discussion, "That wouldn't have been true if I listened to my baser instincts and just killed her for getting in the way of us stopping a Warlock-Powered Kanima."
"We were doing our jobs. We know the risk—"
"You know bigotry." Marco spat, "You cling onto old beliefs made in old times as if you aren't part of a new world. As if we're all just wild beasts without control and you're the last stand stopping us. I stop us. Me. An Alpha. And what are you doing? Getting in the way. Refusing to look at your wife in all her glory. Splitting her from your daughter. You're playing in my face. I would…. Give everything to be in your position, Chris."
The table only got more silent.
Now nobody ate. And everyone stared.
"Fuck…"
"That wasn't half bad." Deaton called to them as he came down the stairs. "I mean.. for someone who's been alone for the better part of a decade in their most formative years, enunciating your emotions in such a way was…. almost impressive." Deaton said as he dropped down the last step and stood at the head of the table beside Chris.
"Forgive him. He's better with his hands." Deaton smiled, "But he does have a point. If I were to offer any guidance to any of you in this moment it would be just that. BE in this moment. Understand how fortunate you all are to be here. We've endured two significant…. Well, wars, in less than a year. Now is not the time to foster bad blood and anger. We should be reconnecting. Learning how some of us have changed and others have been broken. If life keeps on as it is, then we're not long for our next battle. Not long at all…."
They all nodded in the silence.
"I…. Get why the wolves follow you." Chris said as he looked up at Deaton once.
"Oh no…. Like the Ravens, we follow them."
"Not very bird-like anymore though, are you?" Derek questioned.
Deaton shook his head, "I probably can't access my tools anymore. A parting gift from Deucalion. But he leaves more in his wake. That's what I'd like to talk about."
"What?" Scott seemed lost.
Isaac seemed to be trying his best to swallow down the lump in his throat.
"Let's go over the battle once. Marco, if you will…"
Everyone was looking at him again.
"Deucalion attempted to goad and bait us… me, by covering the bank in feline shifter corpses. Then he sent in hoardes of Berserkers. We handled it. Then he came. We handled it."
"Berserkers…. I thought it was just WereWolves!?" Lydia itched her head.
Alison put an arm around her, "I'll fill you in later."
Deaton nodded at Marco's previous words, "We're missing a few members from the original alpha pack cast."
"I killed one." Marco replied.
"Good on you." Deaton nodded, "But three others live."
"Two of them are in our English class…." Scott realized.
"You think they're coming back to school? Marco put the fear of god in them." Stiles reminded them of the thrown Buck… and threats of global erasure.
"We have to prepare for the worst. Some of you really can't afford another drawn out battle of fantastical proportions…." Deaton eyeballed Marco.
"Then we'll make it an ambush." Marco announced.
"How so?" Deaton questioned.
"Derek and Victoria don't go to school. Boyd can go another day. I can too. We'll be on standby while the rest of you go through the day. If the twins…. Or the other try something, you call it in."
"I want in too. They kept me in a cage." Cora added.
"Nothing is certain, but that's a start." Deaton announced.
"Ok well, I have some ideas beyond that.." Stiles began rambling off counter measures.
Scott questioned his every move along the way . Alison stepped in where she could while Lydia looked horrified at every buzzword. Erica joked and Boyd laughed silently.
The house didn't seem so tense…. Despite them preparing for yet another possible Alpha attack.
Marco got up and went to sit with his mother. Alone.
"I listened, mother. I'll fix this…. Soon."