Work Text:
Outdated Arrangements
“Absolutely not!” Peter shouted, his voice echoing in the foyer.
“Peter… Listen, can you come into my office? We really need to discuss this more,” Talia sighed, motioning for Peter to follow.
Instead of listening, Peter dug his feet in more, refusing to move from where he was standing. The shouting caught Derek and Laura’s attention, who decided to peek around the corner.
“Please don’t be a child about this,” Talia hissed.
“If I’m being a child, I suppose this whole thing won’t work then, will it?”
“Peter!” Talia actually shouted this time, damn near stamping her foot on the ground.
Peter could nearly taste the frustration rolling off of her, and normally he’d feel bad, as he usually only enjoyed causing slight inconveniences for his beloved sister, but not this time. He refused to do this.
“Talia, do you really expect me to marry a man I’ve never met? Really? This is an outdated tradition among packs, and I can’t believe you’re actually entertaining this,” Peter said a bit more evenly, but his tone was conveying his disbelief of the request.
Arranged marriages was an old concept that werewolf packs would use to form strong alliances. It died out during more modern times for… obvious reasons, in his humble opinion. Now, packs just used written treaties and verbal agreements. The fact that Talia was asking him to marry a man from the McCall pack really just… it was concerning.
“It’s… you know I wouldn’t be asking you if I didn’t have to, can we just talk upstairs? Away from wandering ears,” Talia stressed, sending a glance to the growing crowd of eavesdroppers.
“Yes, yes. Lead the way,” Peter relinquished, following after Talia.
“Okay, so,” Talia began as they sat down in her office. “You know how much I hate Rafeal McCall, yes?”
Peter just nodded. Of course, he was very well aware, and did not blame Talia (or anyone for that matter) for any negative feelings directed towards that man. Rafeal McCall was the Alpha of the McCall pack. Their territory was directly next to the Hales’, and he had caused a number of issues over where those boundaries lie. Regardless of that, the man was an asshole. Peter never liked how the man spoke to his wife, or the betas in his pack, and overall, the man’s ego was way. Too. Big.
But…
His emissary was very talented and powerful. Despite how young Stiles Stilinski was, the boy had powers that druids twice his age could never dream of achieving. And despite what many packs had tried… there was no poaching the boy. He was best friends with Raf’s son, Scott, so, despite his obvious dislike for the alpha, he stayed with the McCall pack.
“Well… I need something from him, namely, Stiles’ help with the wards,” Talia continued.
“What’s wrong with the wards? Can’t Deaton fix them?” Peter asked, confused.
“No, he can’t. Listen… after everything that went down with… Kate and Gerard Argent, it made me realize how weak our defenses were.”
It still pained Talia to say those two names. After Kate had seduced, manipulated, and abused Derek, her plan to burn down their house failed miserably. Still, with the fallout and subsequent attacks, Peter couldn’t help but agree with Talia. Their wards were weak, barely worked at their best.
“What’s brought this concern back up?”
“I have it on good authority that Kate Argent may be back in the area.”
“On how good of authority?” Peter asked sharply, sitting up ram rod straight.
“… She tried to call Derek last week on a new number. He picked up, heard her voice, and hung up immediately,” Talia sighed, closing her eyes.
Her migraine was clearly growing. Peter felt his own starting.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I am now! I contacted McCall to see if Stiles could update the wards, make them stronger. He agreed… with the caveat that we do a traditional arranged marriage. I said no… but the more I think about it, the more we need this. Peter, I promise I wouldn’t have asked you if I didn’t think this was absolutely necessary, but…”
“But it’s absolutely necessary. Uhg, God. Do you at least know who it is? I’m not marrying a child, am I? I draw the line at that Talia,” Peter groaned.
“No, no. I know most of the pack members are children, but they do have adults. Many actually. Raf promised it was an adult,” Talia assured.
“Okay… okay. When do we meet them?”
***
Whoever Peter was expecting, it was not the previous Sheriff, John Stilinski. In fact, he had run through all of his options on the drive over here, but he had never met this man before. He was a little taller than Peter, but slimmer. He had sandy blonde hair and bright blue eyes. Based on the lines in the man’s face, Peter would have to guess he was a little older than Peter, but it was hard to tell when the man looked very, very, very unhappy, frown lines creasing his face. Raf and Stiles also stood with the man. The tension was palpable, Stiles and his father clearly upset with Raf, but of course, the Alpha didn’t seem to care at all. They had agreed to meet at the McCall house two weeks after Peter and Talia’s initial conversation. The three men were stood on the porch of a beautiful Victorian home. Peter would never say it out loud, but he loved this house. And it was terrible that it was being wasted on Raf.
“Ah, Alpha Hale, how are you? I’m impressed you got Peter to agree to this,” Raf said in greeting, an infuriating smirk on his face.
“Raf, cut the bullshit,” Peter growled.
It was small, but Raf flinched. He was scared of Peter, something he would never admit, but it was obvious. He never addressed Peter directly and would drop arguments if Peter interjected. It was something Peter tried to use sparingly, as he didn’t want Raf to get used to him, but today he was too annoyed to try for niceties.
Just because he agreed to this doesn’t mean he’s happy about it.
“Yes, I told Peter the terms,” Talia nodded, tone short and curt.
“Relax, will you? This is a good thing! I think our packs could really benefit from a strong bond like this. We are neighbors of course,” Raf’s expression tightened for a moment before it returned to the faux confidence mask he often wore.
“… I sadly agree. Would you like to head inside to talk terms?”
“Of course. Peter, John, why don’t you two stay out here and… get to know each other. You are going to be married after all.”
Peter had never wanted to punch a man in the face so badly. Stiles apparently agreed, as he sent a swift, hard kick to the Alpha’s shins before stomping off, grumbling. Rubbing his shin, Raf winced before leading Talia inside. Once Raf was gone, John relaxed a considerable amount.
“Hi, John Stilinski,” John introduces himself, holding his hand out.
“Peter Hale. Are you… Stiles’ father?” Peter asked, feeling strange introducing himself to a man he technically knew of, but had never met.
How exactly was he supposed to make small talk with him?
“Yup! Although I refuse to be held accountable for how he acts sometimes… that’s entirely him,” John joked, grinning.
“Soooo the kicking of your Alpha…?” Peter prompted.
“Oh, I taught him that. Asshole deserves it.”
“And you don’t care that he definitely heard that?” Peter asked laughing.
“Don’t care, I’ll say it to his face when he gets back. I have been saying it to his face for the past week,” John admitted, shrugging.
“Makes sense… may I dare ask why you agreed to this? I’m not taking it personally, but you look very… angry about this whole thing.”
He needed to know what John’s motives were. He knew his own: to protect the pack. But what did John get out of this? He wasn’t a wolf, he clearly didn’t believe in this traditional practice, and honestly? Peter wasn’t even sure if John liked men based on the scents of unhappiness, frustration, and despair coming off the man.
“Raf is… very good at convincing people. Can we just leave it at that? I’m not sure I really want to get into it right now,” John sighed, looking tired.
“Of course, of course,” Peter agreed. “So… where do you think Stiles went? I haven’t seen him causing trouble in town in a while, I assume college is keeping him busy?”
John seemed grateful for the subject change, launching himself into a rant about how his son was trying to do too much at once but refused to cut back. Peter focused on John’s words, trying to ignore the growing feeling of frustration and anger he was getting from Talia’s side of the pack bond. He knew this was hard for her, having to ask Raf for help but… Peter couldn’t help but focus on how this was all affecting him. She just had to speak to Raf a couple of times; He was going to be married to John for the rest of his life.
The thing with these arranged marriages is that typically, divorce was not an option. It was seen as breaking the connection between the two packs. There were exceptions, of course. Peter had been pouring through books and old pack histories since agreeing to this, and there were a number of times arranged marriages were broken up due to abuse. But in general, it seemed that if the couple was unhappy, they just… worked out their own agreements. Peter had never considered himself the romantic type, but he had always wanted to find someone that he truly loved. The idea of being stuck in a marriage of indifference, maybe even contempt, it didn’t sit right in his stomach.
Still… at least John seemed tolerable.
“Alright! So, John, you’ll leave with Peter today, you can move all your stuff in tomorrow and the wedding will be in a week!” Raf cheerily announced as he came back out of the house with Talia.
“WHAT?” Stiles shouted from where he had returned from… well, Peter didn’t actually know where he had stomped off to.
“Stiles, I told you that was a possibility…” John sighed, looking desperately at Stiles.
“This is insane, I can’t believe he strong armed you into this!” Stiles continued, looking furiously at Raf.
Scott came from around the corner of the house then, looking concerned. He placed a hand on Stiles’ shoulder for comfort, but it did little to help calm the other boy. His face was thunderous, an angry glare sent Raf’s direction, refusing to back down when the Alpha sent him a warning growl.
“It’s what we agreed on, Stiles. It’s fine, I promise,” John stressed, shoulders slumped in defeat.
“Yes, Stiles,” Raf sneered. “Maybe you’d like to go the other direction? I’d be happy to contact-”
“No,” John interrupted. “Stiles, it’s fine. Peter, let’s go.”
The tone was hard to argue with, so Peter just followed, towards the man’s car. He sent Talia a look that told her he was going to figure out what was going on. While Talia wanted this alliance, both Peter and Talia were worried that whatever Raf was threatening, it was going to risk the integrity of the deal. Peter wouldn’t put it past the asshole Alpha to go back on the deal if he decided he wanted to.
Sliding into the passenger side, Peter stayed silent. He wanted to ask, to pick at the loose thread he saw and get answers from the other man, but the scent of the man’s anger burned his nose. It made John’s normally warm scent full of notes of coffee and leather sour, like an old, burnt pot of coffee. They drove for a couple minutes before John sighed, relaxing back into the seat and easing up on the gas pedal.
“I guess I need to ask you where you live, huh?” John asked quietly, a small, sad smile on his lips.
“That may help,” Peter agreed before giving the man directions.
John parked in front of Peter’s modest two-story home. He had bought it with the idea of one day getting married, with no intention of it being a pack home, so it was much smaller than Talia’s or even Raf’s. His nieces and nephews knew they were always welcome, so he made sure the living room had a large sectional, the spare room had a large comfy loft bed, and he had enough sleeping bags and air mattresses to cover all the floors in his house. The outside was a muted shade of blue, and ivy had begun crawling up the side. He loved this home, and all of a sudden, he had a strange fear that John wouldn’t. IT was selfish, that fear, because he didn’t want to change anything. He didn’t want to have to close his door to his family, he didn’t want to rearrange his house, and he just… he really didn’t want his life to change. Peter understood that he was getting married, and that obviously some things would change, but he had just been struck with that sudden fear and panic when he realized things were happening too fast.
“Really cute house,” John muttered, seemingly to himself.
“Oh, thanks,” Peter said, smiling, that little phrase easing some of the tension that had been building. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”
John nodded politely through the tour, quiet, but his eyes showed interest and relaxation as Peter showed him through the house. The first floor was quick as the floor plan was relatively open. Living room, dining room, kitchen, and library. Up the stairs was when Peter got a little nervous, the two guest rooms and the main bedroom potentially bringing up some… uncomfortable questions.
“And this is the guest room,” Peter said, opening the door to show the full bed under the lofted bed. “I always allow my nieces and nephews to use the space if they want to. I hope that won’t be a problem…”
He said the last part a little hesitantly, looking at John who was taking in the room in front of him. It took John a moment, but he caught on to the anxiety rolling off of Peter. If he hadn’t known better, Peter really would have believed that the man was a wolf.
“Of course! Peter, I know… I know this isn’t what either of us really want, but I’m looking for this to have the least amount of impact on your life as possible. Plus, I’m used to the pack house, so honestly any kind of activity is fine with me. As long as you’re good with Stiles-”
“No questions asked,” Peter agreed. “In fact, I’d be happy to turn the other spare room into more of his permanent room when he comes home for breaks? I’d like it to be available when he’s not here, but other than that…”
John’s eyes softened and his smile morphed into something that was much more genuine than he had seen all day.
“I’d really appreciate that.”
They moved on to the other spare room before Peter finally showed him the master bedroom. He stopped for a minute, realizing that he wasn’t even sure if John would be comfortable sharing a room. As he opened the door to show John the room, a new wave of anxiety hit him.
He was starting to get really sick of this feeling.
“And this is my room… our room? Whatever you’d be comfortable with,” Peter rushed out, his anxiety making him uncharacteristically nervous.
“If you’d like… our room,” John smiled.
“Well, great! Uh anyway, we should probably get some sleep tonight. Tomorrow we can get your stuff packed up, figure out what you’ll want to take from your house and what you want to get rid of, and then we can contact a real estate agent and-”
“Uh, we’ll just need to back up my stuff. No furniture, no real estate agent,” John interrupted.
“Oh, you live in the pack house?” Peter asked, trying to keep the confusion out of his voice.
Typically, only the direct family of the Alpha permanently lived in the pack house. Pack members who needed more help, were sick, needed temporary housing, or another similar emergency were always welcome to a room and for pack aid, but they very rarely lived in the house full time.
“I have for a couple years now…” John trailed off before sighing, looking uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Peter assured, his voice gentle.
“No, no, you should know,” John nodded, seemingly steeling himself.
Peter grabbed his elbow, gently guiding him so that they were both sitting on his bed. He waited quietly, giving John the space to speak when he was ready.
“Before Stiles magic manifested properly, he was showing signs of… psychosis. I thought he was too young for that, but at 15 the doctor said that he was technically in the range for these episodes to develop. Anyway, we racked up quite a bit of medical debt between tests, appointments, and then his brief stay at Eichen… And then I got shot on the job and it just kept piling up. Raf wasn’t… He wasn’t willing to help with the bills, which I get, but he was willing to let me and Stiles move into the pack house permanently. The sale from the house helped pay off most of the debt, which is good because I can’t work as much as I used to.”
Peter had to suppress a growl at that, but he just managed to hold it in. Talia would have paid those debts off in a heartbeat or would have at least helped if she couldn’t. Pack alphas typically did stuff like that, and the fact that Raf refused to spoke to how shit of an alpha he really was. Despite the anger, Peter kept a lid on it, staying quiet. John didn’t seem like he was done.
“That’s um, that’s part of why I agreed to the marriage. Raf said if I didn’t… Stiles and I couldn’t stay in the house. We wouldn’t have anywhere to go. Plus… Raf threatened to send Stiles off to another pack. Kid is powerful, a lot of people want him.”
“What?!”
Peter couldn’t contain his outburst at that revelation, standing suddenly from the bed to pace in front of John.
“He can’t… Stiles isn’t a pawn; he can’t just force him to another pack. That’s not how emissaries work. They haven’t worked like that is hundreds of years,” Peter nearly shouted, voice elevated and angry.
“Raf still does it like that, and the packs he’s threatening to send Stiles to do as well. I don’t think he would actually manage to send Stiles anywhere, but he would be able to make Stiles’ life very, very miserable. I just… Peter, I can’t let my kid go through that. So, I really appreciate you agreeing to this. I’m not sure what you get out of this, but I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
Peter’s heart broke looking into John’s eyes. He had never hated Rafael McCall more than in this moment. Not only for making John feel trapped in a decision, but for also making Peter feel guilty and dirty being involved in this deal. Sitting back on the bed next to John, he pulled the other man into a tight hug, gently scenting the man. Despite not getting the same satisfaction in the scent like Peter did, John accepted it gratefully, melting into Peter’s embrace.
They stayed like that for a moment before Peter pulled away, insisting that John shower while he made dinner. He took that moment to call Talia and fill her in, but neither of them knew what exactly to do. There wasn’t much they could do at that moment without invoking a very serious pack conflict.
All Peter knew in that moment was that he was going to destroy Rafael McCall.