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PACK’S DECLARATION
AUTHOR’S NOTE/DISCLAIMER
S.H.I.E.L.D. is full of werewolves. The team is Coulson’s Pack and Grant is the new guy. I have not decided their Pack Dynamic as of yet, so this may come out in other stories. HYDRA was defeated in the forties so no one is HYDRA. Takes directly after the Season 1 episode “Yes, Men” which means there is discussion of rape. All familiar things belong to Marvel and anyone else associated with the creation of Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. They are not mine.
Grant Ward didn’t understand what was going on: the playful cuffs to the head, the pulls into the dogpiles….it was weird. And not at all what his family had done when he was younger. Hell, no one else did these things with him. Not even Brock Rumlow or Jack Rollins, both S.T.R.I.K.E. agents under Fury’s command who had taught him the proper way for a wolf to socialize when he was younger. It wasn’t that actions were bad or hurt. They were just….confusing. Especially since they seemed to happen more after a tough mission. Such as their latest one, where that Asgardian, Lorelei had put Grant and Fitz under her spell. Something that had sickened Grant once he had woken up from the fog that she had put him under. How can I be around this pack after everything I did to them? he wondered. He had betrayed them all.
“Grant, come on!” Leo called and the specialist walked up to the scientist, only to be pulled onto the couch where the others were and almost immediately, they all nuzzled against him, causing the specialist to frown in confusion as they spread their scent over him.
“What’s wrong?” Jemma queried, her voice laced with concern. “Is this too much? Are we overstepping?” she checked.
“Overstepping?” Grant echoed. “What do you mean?” he wondered. I don’t understand. What is she talking about? he wondered.
“After Lorelei? What she did?” Jemma asked hesitantly. “Putting you under her spell?”
“What, you mean the sex? I’m---”
“Sex? Sex!? She raped you!?” Skye yelped and the older man blinked as she started to rise. “Skye,” Coulson said sharply, his Alpha voice prominent and the younger girl sat back down, a frown on his face. “You didn’t mention the sex in your report,” he stated. “Is that why Garrett was trying to get me to make you an appointment with one of the S.H.IE.L.D. psychiatrists?”
“You talked to John?” Grant asked in surprise. Why would he do that? Did he think that I had turned on them for real? he wondered. At the change in the specialist’s scent, the two scientists quickly nuzzled against him.
“I did. He’s worried, so you might get a call from him,” Phil responded. At this, Grant flushed and ducked his head. Don’t like it when I’m fussed over, he thought to himself. John knew that, so why would he make a big deal about it?
“Why? Because I let her get the drop on me? I tried to fight,” Grant stated.
“We know that,” May replied. “She took away your choice. Skye’s right. She raped you,” she continued, her tone dark. And if Lady Sif hadn’t taken her into custody, I would’ve killed her, she thought to herself.
“But she---”
“If the situation had been reversed and some guy had whammied Skye, Jemma, or me into helping them and then we had sex---” May stopped as the low emitted from his chest and into his throat. “Exactly,” the woman deadpanned.
“That’s how we feel about what she did to you,” Jemma stated, pointedly scenting him.
“You’re ours,” Phil stated. Then it hit Grant. Scenting, cuffs to the head, pulls into dogpiles…That was pack behavior. John hadn’t done it with him after getting him out of juvie because he had been too on edge, so he had chosen other means of being an Alpha: teaching him how to hunt, teaching him about the mental bond between packmates and what to expect when it happened properly, that it was okay to show emotions….they were a Pack. And they had been inviting him into it. They wanted him to be Pack? He bit his lip. Would that be so bad?
“What are you thinking?” Leo queried. He shrugged.
“I just….I’m not really sure why you’d want me. You guys seem to be a pretty solid pack by yourselves,” came the response.
“We are solid, but there’s always room for more,” Jemma replied.
“She speaks for all of us,” Phil stated.
“I don’t know if I’m ready for that. At least…not officially,” Grant admitted.
“Okay,” Phil replied.
“We’ll be here when you are,” May promised and the others made declarations of agreement. At this, Grant nodded and leaned back with a smile. A Pack. He had a Pack. That sounded…nice.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
In case it’s confusing, the team is upset that Grant was used against them and they’re scenting him to get Lorelei’s scent off of him. In my head, they probably did this to Fitz as well, but Grant just doesn’t realize this because his upbringing has skewed his view on Pack Dynamics. The actions they’re pulling him into is their version of roughhousing, playing, which isn’t something he grew up with. If you study wolves, you’ll find that they are actually very social creatures and so that’s what all my werewolf stories involve.