Chapter Text
When Laura had died, she had expected that there would be a white light and an emotional reunion with all the family members she had lost in the fire years ago. Instead, she had just become a spirit stuck in the living world, seeing life go on in a jumpy haze where she could never really tell how much time was passing.
Laura had always been protective. She’d always taken care of her younger siblings and cousins even before she knew that one day her mother would pass on the Hale family’s alpha spark to her. Her mother had always told her that she had been born to be an alpha, had the right qualities to be a good alpha. She had started alpha training as soon as she’d been allowed to. Unfortunately, nearly her entire family had died, including her mother, well before her training had been anywhere near complete.
All that had remained of their once large family was her younger brother Derek and her uncle Peter, the only survivor of the fire with horrific burns and in a coma that he’d been in for years. She had taken care of Derek in the years since the fire, trying to be the best alpha she could for her brother who had blamed himself for the fire, maybe even was still blaming himself for the actions of an evil sadistic hunter.
Peter eventually woke up several years later, insane with pain from the loss of his pack and hungry for revenge. In fact, he was the reason that Laura had died.
But Derek was still alive and he needed her. In fact, he needed her more than he had ever known because his only living relative had killed her and stole the alpha spark from her. She had been suspecting that it was her desire to watch over Derek that had been keeping her tethered to the living world.
Unfortunately, Laura wasn’t able to interact with Derek or anyone else as a spirit. And looking at the living world was like looking at it through a deep fog. Sometimes she was able to focus on a scene in front of her, but it was mostly like living in a haze. And she couldn’t warn Derek about their uncle, who had apparently bitten a teenage boy the night that she’d been killed and Peter had become the alpha. And Kate Argent, the hunter who had killed her family. was back along with other hunters in her own family.
Eventually, Derek had killed Peter. Laura was glad that Peter wasn’t out in the world anymore, hungry for power and revenge, but was sad that Derek had to live with even more guilt than he already did, killing his last family member. And now he was the alpha. And Kate was dead as well, though the other Argents were still around.
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Despite the fact that the dangers of Peter and Kate had passed, Laura still remained in the living world. The other Argents remained in town and she just couldn’t let go of her protectiveness.
She watched as Derek chose several teenagers to give the bite to to expand the growing Hale pack. Laura personally would never have given the bite to the first boy. He was full of pride and generally a jerk. The power of the wolf would make those traits even worse. Oddly enough, she had never really seen him after Derek had first bitten him. The few times she saw him after, it was with a redheaded girl, not the other bitten kids.
It was clear that Derek wasn’t meant to be an alpha. His training methods weren’t effective and he did not take care of his pack. Even though Derek was indeed an alpha, he had never gotten any sort of training for it. He should have been one of Laura’s betas, maybe even her second.
She occasionally saw Peter wandering around. She wasn’t sure if he had even seen her back, but he always had that look on his face that meant that he was plotting something. That face had always meant trouble for somebody. She would have to continue to look out for him, even though he was dead just like her.
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There was something definitely going on with the redheaded girl that hung out with Derek’s first bite. Peter apparently had bitten her when he was alpha, but she had never turned into a werewolf or something else. That was extremely suspicious, but nothing that Laura could do anything about.
One night, Laura watched as the redhead dragged an apparently wolfsbane-dosed Derek back to the dilapidated remains of their burnt house. She saw Peter watching as the redhead dug up his own grave. Laura was horrified. Was Peter trying to use this girl and Derek’s healing power to come back to life? Of course, Laura realized. The redhead must be a banshee, one who was attuned to death and could indeed bring someone back to life.
Not if Laura could help it. Derek and everyone else would be in danger.
“No!” she growled, moving to block Peter from his body. “You’ve hurt enough people already!”
Peter looked at Laura in shock as if seeing her for the first time. Perhaps he really was. “No, niece,” he said, sounding more like the uncle that she once knew and loved. “I probably don’t. But I do want to live again. I wasn’t myself for a long time.”
Laura was surprised by his frankness. Peter wasn’t always known for speaking the truth. In fact, he’d been known for being a trickster and joining the younger wolves in playing pranks. But it seemed like death had returned the man to what he was before the fire.
“For what it’s worth, I am sorry for what I did to you.”
And Laura believed him. Peter truly did look regretful. The man had not been sane when he had woken up from his coma. “I know you are,” she said gently. “I forgive you.”
Suddenly, Laura felt a tug that jolted her from where she stood. Her eyes widened with fear as she looked to Peter.
Peter‘s own eyes were wide as well. “You’re the one being brought back now,” he said.
“What?” was all that Laura could manage to say.
“I don’t know how this is going to work because it’s my body there and your spirit,” Peter continued, thoughtfully resting a hand on his chin. “But if you are in my body, do keep me looking as handsome as ever, would you?”
Laura was not expecting this turn of events. But perhaps it would be for the best. She could take back over the Hale pack as the alpha, now with five possible new betas in the pack. She would be a better alpha for all of them and Derek could go back to being a beta again like he was meant to be.
Peter, Derek, the banshee, and the Hale house were all fading around her. “Maybe you’ll see me alive again some other time!” Peter’s voice called out.
The next thing she knew, she was in pitch blackness, the scent and feeling of dirt all around her and the most agonizing pain in her abdomen that made her want to curl up in a ball and die again. It almost like her stomach was being knitted together once again. She felt like she was going to be sick when she remembered the state that her body had been in when Derek had buried her.
She was buried alive now.
Her hands tore at the dirt in front of her, letting loose her claws and being surprised that they were actually there once again. She knew she was going to pass out from panic and lack of oxygen, so she did the only thing she could think of and howled while still frantically trying to dig herself out as long as she was conscious, but the dirt kept caving in on her. And she was only just alive again…
Suddenly, there was a crack of light in front of her, then another, and then another until all the dirt fell away and she could barely make out her brother’s frantic face. Before she was going to pass out from pain and panic, she flashed her eyes at Derek in an effort to calm him down. He automatically flashed his eyes back at her.
His eyes were still alpha red…
What color were her eyes?
Passing out was almost a relief.