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Peter and Stiles spent the next day driving around West Okoboji Lake and also Silver Lake, a little to the west. Silver Lake had a small town on the east side of the lake, so they stopped there for lunch before scouting the lake.
"I'll have a tuna salad sandwich on toasted whole wheat, fries, and... ice tea," Stiles ordered.
Peter looked at him over the top of his menu.
Stiles shrugged. "I should pretend to eat reasonably well once in a while," Stiles grinned.
"Whatever you think, sweetheart," Peter said. He looked up at the waitress. "I'll have the same thing, please."
Stiles laughed.
"This is a cute little town," Stiles observed.
"There are enough people in the area to have its own high school," Peter observed. "Although I suspect the class size is relatively small."
"For all that Beacon Hills was a small town, there was a pretty decent class size," Stiles replied. "There were kids I didn't know at all. I wonder what it's like to go to a school where you know everyone."
"It would be different," Peter agreed.
On the road again, they found it interesting that Silver Lake wasn't as easy to drive around as the lakes they had already explored. They had to backtrack a couple of times and there was one section of the lake that wasn't developed at all.
"Private property," Peter replied. "It was farmland long before it was anything else, and either it hasn't been worthwhile to develop or someone is sitting on it. Selling lakefront land is their retirement plan."
"Sounds reasonable," Stiles agreed.
They went back to their hotel to clean up for their mysterious dinner appointment.
At exactly five, there was a polite tap on the door. They opened the door to find the waitress from the restaurant they had eaten breakfast in.
"Small town," she grinned. "I'm Louise Markison."
"Pleased to meet you," Peter nodded. "Peter Hale and Stiles Stilinski."
Louise's eyes got a bit wider at the Hale name but otherwise she simply nodded at them. "We have a room in the back of the diner that we use for Pack meetings."
"Certainly," Peter agreed. They walked with her to the nearby restaurant. She guided them through the public space and took them through a door at the back.
"Alpha Markison," she greeted the blonde woman sitting at the table. "Peter Hale and Stiles Stilinski."
"Hale? You're a long ways from home," Alpha Markison stood up. "Please, I'm Teslin Markison. You've met my sister Louise. I wanted to chat with you before the rest of the Pack comes in."
"Glad to meet you," Peter said.
"Please, have a seat," Teslin said, waving a hand at the chairs around the table.
Stiles and Peter sat across from Teslin and Louise sat at the end of the table. Stiles realized they had positioned themselves to allow him and Peter access to the door, as a matter of trust.
"What can we do for you?" Peter asked.
"Some context first, I think," Teslin said. "The Markison pack has been here before the land was settled. Under different names, of course, but our written histories goes back over four hundred years."
Peter tilted his head in thought. "The Hale histories are about as long. Interesting."
Teslin nodded. "The pack was primarily Native American, although from a number of tribes over time. The number of 'wolves on the plains was never large but we have been here for as long as anyone remembers."
"There is likely some inter-marrying somewhere a long the line," Peter added. "There are stories of Hale 'wolves going east to join other packs."
"We also have stories of 'wolves going west, for the same reason," Teslin nodded. "That is a story for another day."
"My apologies for the interruption," Peter said.
"Not a problem, please do ask questions," Teslin gave a quick grin. "About a hundred and fifty years ago, the pack settled in this area, around Spirit Lake." She saw Stiles roll his eyes. "Yes, that is as obvious as it seems. But the spirit of the lake is purported to be an evil spirit."
"That is... unusual," Peter frowned.
"The spirit has been generally benign for a long time," Teslin said. "There is the occasional unexplained drowning, bad fishing years, bad weather. Nothing specifically evil. Then, about ten years ago, our Emissary had a vision."
"What kind of a vision?" Peter asked.
"A fight, between a young man who represented a tree and a monster from the lake," she said.
Stiles sighed. "Great!"
Peter leaned into Stiles' shoulder. "That was ten years ago!"
"I was a kid!" Stiles exclaimed.
"My Emissary has had time to draw up a sketch," Teslin said. She pushed a sheet of paper across the table to them.
They stare for a long minute.
"Okay, I guess that answers that question," Stiles admitted.
The human shape in the picture was definitely Stiles, down to the moles on his face. There was the drawing of a tree on his left shoulder, one that was not there currently. The monster was less precise, but dark hued with multiple limbs that were pulling Stiles into the water.
"My Pack has been waiting for you, for a long time," Teslin said.
"No pressure," Stiles said as he sat back in his seat.
From the end of the table, Louise asked, "We know you have seen some of our lakes, have you been in the water at all?"
Stiles shook his head. "It's too cold for that," he said.
"I will be right back, then," Louise said. She got up and left the room.
After she left, Teslin explained. "Louise is my Right Hand, even if she is not a 'wolf, and she is married to the Emissary."
"That is a powerful couple within your Pack," Peter commented.
"That has served us well," Teslin admitted. "They have foreseen issues and have been able to deal with them with minimal disruption to the working of the Pack."
"I do hope you are training your successors well," Peter said. "That was the... downfall of the Hale Pack. Talia was so focused on one person being the next Alpha and that did not serve us well."
"You were the Left Hand," Teslin said. "That is well-known among the Packs."
"I was," Peter said.
She turned to Stiles and tilted her head in consideration. "You are... human, but not."
Stiles shrugged. He looked at Peter. "What do you think?"
"Up to you, sweetheart," Peter said.
Stiles sighed. This was already way over his head and they needed all the help they could get. "I have recently discovered I am the Guardian of the Nemeton. Like, all of them, essentially."
Teslin stared. "I... I never would have thought that."
"Neither did I!" Stiles laughed. "Someone is trying to take over the Nemeton in Beacon Hills and I have learned that is also the master node for all the ley lines."
"All of them?" she asked faintly.
"Yup!" Stiles nodded.
"Who would dare?" she growled. "Is it safe for you to be away from there?"
"Meh," Stiles said. "The Nemeton protects itself, to some extent. Being the Guardian, I give it access to a few tricks it wouldn't have on its own. So I am concerned but not worried, if that makes sense."
"It does," Teslin replied.
"And we have others in our Pack who are protecting both the town and the tree," Stiles went on.
"And I have put out notice to the Hunters that anyone who helps go against our town is going against the Guardian," Peter added. "Those that follow the Code will not assist the rogue elements."
"There are too many rogue elements," Teslin shook her head.
"True," Peter agreed. "But it is as protected as we can make it for the moment."
"Something else drew us here," Stiles said. "Even as my home and my Nemeton is threatened, I was drawn to this location. So there is something that makes this more important."
"There are many forces at work," Teslin said. "I will ask my Emissary to see what they can find."
"Any help we can get will be welcome," Stiles nodded, voicing his earlier thought.
Louise came back at that point, with a small bucket in her hand. She set the bucket in front of Stiles.
"This is from the lake," Louise said. "Touch the water."
"Put my hand in it?" Stiles asked.
"No!" she shook her head. "Barely touch it. I needed more than a small amount for this bit you only need to skim the surface."
"O-o-kay," Stiles drawled.
"It is important you do not immerse yourself," Louise said.
Stiles blinked at the sincerity and the concern. "Just barely. Got it!"
Stiles put his hand over the top of the bucket, checking to see if he could feel anything. He slowly lowered his hand toward the water and then curled his fingers so that only one finger would touch the water.
At first it was surprisingly cold for water in a small bucket in a warm building. Then the rage hit. Stiles jerked his hand away from the bucket and backed his chair up from the table, all without thought.
"What?" Peter asked worriedly.
Stiles shook his head, still dealing with the mounting anger that coursed through his body. It started at the finger that touched the water and moved up his arm and bounced along his nervous system. He jerked away as Peter reached out to him.
"Don't touch me!" Stiles said firmly. "I need to... process this."
Stiles held the rage in his body, gathered it into his core, smoothed the rough edges, caressed the energy, and held it firm. He soothed the rage and it eventually diminished. He let it go and it fluttered into the air. Rage turned was turned into ashes that would feed the ground that grew seedlings that would bring new growth into the world. There was a cycle there, one that had been interrupted.
Stiles let go a breath he didn't realize he was holding.
"What was that?" he asked, wide eyed.
"Water from the lake," Louise said. "I am sorry but not. For all that you fit the prophesy, you need to know what awaits you. You have barely touched the spirit of the lake and it all but consumed you."
Peter glared at Teslin. "You have harmed my mate!"
She held up a hand. "You have not claimed him, and he is open to the spirit of the lake. While he may be the one prophesied to take on the spirit, there is no guarantee he will win the battle they will fight."
"Then he will not fight!" Peter declared, standing and ready to defend Stiles. "We will leave!"
Stiles put a hand on Peter's arm. "Give me a moment." He said it softly. "Please."
Peter looked at Stiles.
"It was... unexpected," Stiles admitted. "But the Nemeton needed to take the measure of the Spirit of the Lake. It was the only way."
"You could have been hurt!" Peter declared hotly.
"And I am not," Stiles replied.
Peter sat down and moved closer to Stiles. "What do we do now?"
Stiles took Peter's hand and held it between his. "We have been invited for dinner. I'd like to have something to eat."
Peter stared.
Stiles leaned in and placed an impossibly soft kiss on Peter's unresisting lips. "We are safe here. That I know in my heart. We need to learn more and this is where we will learn it."
Peter place his other hand on top of Stiles'. "My life is your life. I will protect you all of my days. I will give my life so that you may live, so that you might tell our tale."
Stiles leaned close and placed his forehead against Peter's. "I accept your life and pledge mine to you. We will protect those who are ours and live our lives to the fullest. Our tale will be one told for time untold."
Another kiss. They did not see the flow of magic around them that settled on their hands.
Teslin cleared her throat. "I am honored to stand witness to the bindings you have pledged to each other. May Mother Moon bless your lives and may you find the happiness you deserve."
Peter gave Stiles another kiss. Then grinned. "You need to explain to your father."
"Oh, man!" Stiles laughed. "You can be mean."
"These are... unusual circumstances," Teslin said. She looked at Stiles. "You need to know that Peter will always be here for you. He is your anchor and will help to keep you grounded."
"Sweetheart," Peter said softly. "When, not if, we get back to Beacon Hills, will you marry me?"
"Of course!" Stiles nodded. "Oh. Right. That will make dad happy."
"Then we need to deal with whatever is in the lake," Peter said. "That is what brought us here."
Stiles nodded.
"Do you know what it might be?" Peter asked.
Another nod. Then, reluctantly, he said, "Nogitsune."