Work Text:
“What the hell is a Marrok?” asked Peter, frowning and looking completely clueless next to a panicked Reed.
Namor, who looked on the verge of hyperventilation, got up and snapped his fingers.
“That's it.” he announced, looking dead serious, “I'm leaving the city, hell, even the continent. I knew this day would come, I just had hoped that it wasn't such extreme conditions that would force me to go back to my homeland.”
“Cut the crap Namor.” said Jim, rolling his eyes, before grabbing him by the arm and forcing him back down on his favorite chair. “No one's leaving the fucking continent, everything's fine.”
“Yeah, we're just all gonna die a horrible death because of Victor.” replied Ben.
He wasn't texting nor cackling for once, but his sentence made Peter pale.
“Why? Why are we gonna die?”
“We're not gonna die Peter,” sighed Sue, squinting down at her phone and reading once again the e-mail she had received that morning.
One of the Marrok's son was coming in town to see them, because apparently forgetting to tell the Alpha of all Alphas that one of your wolf was going crazy, you had acquired a new beta and everyone was mating was a very bad thing to do.
To be honest, she was kind of freaking out too, because the Marrok had two sons and the meeting could go either way depend on which one was visiting.
Thor was known to be nice but pretty intense about some things, while Loki was super cold, uninterested in social contact and sometimes snapped and killed people.
Sue really didn't know which one was better.
“I still don't understand what is going on.” said Peter.
“The Marrok is the Alpha of all the alphas in the country.” replied Jim, who was glaring at Namor but speared one second to smile gently at Peter. “His name is Odin and he's one of the most powerful werewolf in the world.”
“Okay, what does it have to do with us?”
“Sue answers to him, and apparently he's not very happy with what has gone down in this pack for the past few month.”
“Victor almost killing you kind of is a big deal.” supplied Ben.
Peter nodded, face screwed into an expression of deep concern.
“So, if I understand correctly, he's sending one of his son to check on us?” he asked after a few seconds of pondering.
“Yes.”
“We should all hope for Thor to be the one stepping into this house because I swear to god, if it's this bastard of Loki...” started Namor, getting up again, but one scowl from Jim stopped him dead in his tirade as he crossed his arms and frowned at Jim.
Jim raised an eyebrow, Namor took a step in his personal space, and Sue decided to stop them before they started fighting for real.
“Guys.” she called, immediately catching everyone's attention. “Everything's going to be fine. Victor is better now, and the Marrok just wants to make sure of that. He also wants to get some info on Peter and everyone's matings links. There's no need to worry.”
“Then where the hell are Von Doom and Johnny?” asked Namor.
“Johnny wanted to take Victor to the barber shop. Don't ask me, I have no idea why or if it was code for something.”
Namor looked very unimpressed but Ben snorted at what she said, took his phone out of his pocket and started furiously tapping on it.
“Are you absolutely sure that nothing is going to happen to Victor?” asked Reed, looking slightly less panicked now but still pale and a little shaky.
“Yes. We just got him back, I'm not letting anyone, even the Marrok, take him away.”
Reed nodded and Sue crossed the room to squeeze his shoulders and smile reassuringly at him before ordering everyone to start cleaning up the house for their guest.
***
“I don't know what the fuck you've done Storm, but I swear to god if Loki Laufeyson starts to stir shit around, I'm blaming you, cause you're the one who drew him close!” exclaimed Stark, pointing an index in the vague direction of her left shoulder.
Steve didn't say anything.
In fact, he hadn't talked at all since Sue had invited the both of them inside, and this was starting to worry her – she was used to Stark shouting and acting like a sulkier Johnny most of the time, but a silently brooding Steve was never a good thing.
“What do you want me to say, Stark?” she asked brusquely, “I almost lost two pack members, without counting Peter who left us for a while, I had other things to worry about than if the Marrok was going to send his terrible son.”
“They're both terrible.” commented Tony, making Steve snort. “This one is just worse than the other.”
Rolling her eyes, Sue chose to not answer.
“You do know when was the last time the Marrok sent his sons here though, don't you?” asked Steve then.
Sue guiltily looked down at the floor.
“It was when you found Tony, I know.”
Steve nodded, lips pursed, and he looked down at his feet, visibly tensed and starting to look sad.
“If our pack suffers from this visit, and knowing Loki it will, this is all your fault.” said Stark one last time before getting up from the couch and walking right out of the house.
***
Victor looked extremely blasé for someone who had his mate draped over his laps like a blanket. His lips were pursed and his eyebrows slightly frowned, a far cry from Reed who was smiling smugly with his eyes closed, pretending to be nodding off.
Loki Laufeyson, on the other hand, was completely blank-faced, borderline bored-looking, as his eyes swept through the living-room, pausing for a long moment on their DVD collection, before he finally turned to Victor and raised an eyebrow.
“So. You have a mate now.” he declared.
Victor's lips thinned and he very slowly put his left hand on Reed's shoulder, squeezing gently.
“I do.” he replied, “What about you?”
Loki squinted at him, obviously pissed, and Sue sighed as she walked back out of the living room to join the rest of the pack in the kitchen.
Namor was waiting for her on the other side of the door, arms crossed and eyebrows doing the furious thing they did when he was on the verge of snapping someone's spine.
She knew ordering them to stay in the kitchen was childish but it as the only way she could think of to keep them away from Loki while he assessed Victor.
And the only way to keep Namor from bitching about Loki in front of Loki.
“What is going on?” asked Namor once she had entered the kitchen and closed the door behind her.
“Victor's sassing him and Reed is trying to be smug.”
“So nothing new.” commented Jim.
Sue shook her head and joined Ben who was sitting at the breakfast nook, eating cherry tomatoes.
“What did he say?” pressed Namor, following Sue and sitting next to her, his eyes never leaving her face.
“Nothing. He did the whole protocol thing where he tells me his whole family tree and the reason for the visit, then he asked who the hell had picked the color to paint the entryway before walking to the living-room to glare at Victor.”
Namor scoffed, receiving a very stern look from Jim, and got up to go back to standing next to the door like some guardian dog.
“The hell's wrong with him?” murmured Ben.
Sue shrugged, sent a glance to Johnny and Peter who were too busy hugging and whispering sweet nothings to each other to pay attention to anyone else, before her gaze met Jim's.
His eyebrows shuddered, and he very pointedly glanced at Namor, then at the hallway past the door, before turning his eyes back to her.
Okay, so she wasn't completely wrong when she thought that something fishy was going on between Namor and Loki. That was good to know – and completely not reassuring.
“Namor, how do you know Loki?” she asked, keeping her tone as light as possible but making sure to put enough power into it that he couldn't lie even if he wanted to.
“He's the one who bit me.” he said.
Everybody in the room tensed – including Namor, who slowly spun around to send her a horrified look.
“Fuck.” breathed Ben.
Jim guiltily bit down on his lip, making Sue wonder if he had something to do with it too, but Namor started talking again before she could ask another question.
“He also probably wants to kill me since I broke up with him back in 1926, so we should all hope that he doesn't know I'm here, because this is one conversation I really don't plan on having, ever.”
“Namor...” sighed Jim but one sharp look from him shut him off.
Silence fell on the kitchen, awkward and suffocatingly tense, until Peter broke it by loudly asking:
“Was this pack super complicated before I joined it or is it just because I'm here?”
“I'm pretty sure we've always been like that, it's just gotten worse since you've arrived.” replied Ben.
Sue nodded when Peter glanced at her, and she rolled her eyes at the way Johnny possessively wrapped his arms around Peter's shoulders and kissed his cheek.
“How long is Loki even going to stay here?” asked Ben.
“No idea.” replied Sue, putting her elbows on the table and leaning over. “I just hope it lasts less than a week, because Steve is going to kill me if he stays longer than that and starts putting his nose into their business.”
Peter frowned, apparently completely lost, but he didn't ask any more questions.
***
Namor left the house as soon as Sue lifted her order of staying in the kitchen and, about two seconds and a half after he had slammed the door close behind him and disappeared in their giant backyard, Loki was marching into the kitchen, as proud as a peacock and his long coat floating behind him like a cape.
He swept one glance over the kitchen and all the people inside of it before sharply turning to look at the backdoor, scowling.
“You should tell him that he can't avoid me for ever.” he announced before swiftly turning around and leaving the room.
Peter sent a scared look Sue's way but she dismissed his worried – and Loki and Namor's drama – with a shrug.
***
It took three days for Loki to finally corner Namor in the hallway, right next to the stairs where Sue was standing and hoping very hard that this wasn't going to turn into something weird or a fight – she was pretty sure she couldn't win against Loki in a one on one fight and it had taken her too much effort to get Namor into the pack for her to let him get killed by anyone, Marrok son or not.
Namor's first instinct when Loki pushed him against the wall and crowded into his space was to flash his eyes and bare his definitely not-totally-human teeth.
“Stop that.” ordered Loki without putting any power into it, “We both know what those blue eyes of yours do to me.”
Namor smirked, his eyes staying blue and his teeth growing longer until they were definitely in the Fangs category, before he wrapped a hand around Loki's right forearm and very casually waited for his nails to grow into claws to plant them into Loki's skin.
Sue jumped in surprise, feeling her pulse quickening because there was no way Loki wasn't going to at least break some of his bones now, but the exact opposite happened.
Loki's smirk grew larger, his eyes turned red and he attacked Namor's mouth with his own, earning a muffled groan from him.
Things got weird very fast after that and Sue stopped spying on them when Namor grabbed Loki by the hair and pulled hard, making Loki moan in something that was far from pain.
“Guys, don't go downstairs.” she warned Johnny and Peter when she ducked back into their bedroom that she had just left a minute before. “Namor and Loki are dry-humping against a wall while trying to scratch and bite each other to death.”
“No way!” exclaimed Johnny, his eyes bulging in delight, “I need to see that!”
Peter grabbed him by the back of his t-shirt before he could jump away from the bed and narrowed his eyes at him until Johnny huffed, rolled his eyes and sank back down next to him.
“Is that normal?” asked Peter, his eyes still turned to his mate.
“Not exactly. Especially since it's Loki we're talking about.”
“He's exactly the type of guy to have steamy hate-sex with Namor in the middle of the house, stop lying to yourself.” muttered Johnny.
Sue wished she could disagree, but her brother had a point there.
She waited an hour before trying to step down the stairs again, just in case, but there was no one kissing and no trace of what had happened in the hallway apart from a dent in the wall. Namor was sprawled on the couch, watching TV and wearing a shirt for once when she stepped into the living-room, his resting bitch face no different than usual.
“You okay?” she still felt the need to ask.
“Hm hm, why?”
“Nothing.”
He sent her a curious glance before turning back to the cooking show he was watching.
That didn't stop him from reeking of Loki's cologne all through the rest of the day – and from Reed to ask him whose shirt he was wearing, earning a glare and a very detailed threat for his life.
Sue had to force Victor out of the room so he wouldn't kill Namor, then spent fifteen minutes scolding everyone except Reed because they were cackling like hyenas and you don't make fun of Victor, he's gonna snap again and kill someone damn it!
***
Sue was seriously wondering if someone hadn't cursed the pack.
Victor's wolf was in control that morning, his blue eyes replacing Victor's usual black ones and his body tensed to the point of breaking.
“I don't know what to do.” murmured Reed when she cornered him after breakfast.
He looked on the verge of a panic attack, yellow sipping into his eyes.
“First of all, you need to breathe. We can't help him if you lose control too.” she said, grabbing his shoulders and squeezing comfortingly.
Nodding, Reed closed his eyes and did some breathing exercises for a minute before looking at her again, a little more in control.
“Alright.” he sighed, “So what do I do?”
“I'm not going to lie, I've never been mated so I'm a little out of my depth, but you should spend time with him since you're basically the only thing keeping him in line.”
Determination and something undoubtedly soft crossed his face before he nodded again and marched out of the kitchen to join Victor and the others in the living-room–
–except that in the living-room, both Loki and Victor were standing face to face, eyes flashing and fangs bared, looking ready to kill the other.
Like she had said, they were cursed.
“Victor.” she called, sounding at least as anxious as she felt.
Victor started growling, the sound starting deep into his chest and rumbling up until it was almost too much to bear for sensitive wolf-hearing, and there was no missing the way his hands were closed into fists tight enough that his palms were bleeding.
Ben sent her a panicked look as everyone took two huge steps back – except for Reed, who stepped up to Victor and wrapped his fingers around his wrist instead.
Loki looked away from Victor to glance at Reed and the reaction was immediate: Victor stepped to the right to shield his mate from the other wolf.
“Victor.” tried Reed, barely above a whisper and pulling at his arm.
Victor blinked, his eyes snapping to Reed.
For two long beats, no one moved nor breathed, Victor's loud growling the only sound cutting through the strained atmosphere.
When Reed slowly let go of his wrist to reach up and cup his face between his palms, Sue's heart missed a beat, and she jumped a little in surprise when the growling abruptly stopped as soon as Reed's eyes flashed yellow.
Victor's hands unclenched and he sprawled them on Reed's hips, finally turning away from Loki to fully face his mate and push him flush against his chest, starting to nuzzle under his jaw as Reed's hands slid down his face and gently gripped his nape.
Sue ducked her eyes down to the floor when Reed closed his eyes and tilted his head to the side to give his mate more room.
***
“He passed my test, you don't have to worry about me or anyone trying to kill him.” announced Loki at diner.
He had invited her to one of the most expensive restaurant in the city, the kind that didn't let you walk in unless you were wearing the right kind of clothes, and she had to admit that despite his cold exterior and the fact that Namor had flaunted through the house with a giant hickey on his jaw until the thing had healed and she knew Loki had been the one to give it to him, it was nice to have a quiet and extremely expensive meal with him.
God knew she hadn't had a quiet meal in a long time.
That didn't stop her from being angry at him.
“You could have warned me.” she replied, narrowing her eyes. “I thought I was going to have to step between the two of you and there's no way I could have been able to restrain him.”
Loki's lips curled into a tiny knowing smirk.
“But his mate did, and that's the only thing I needed to know.”
“And he's going to be scarred for life now.”
“He's mated to Victor Von Doom, he's either already scarred or about to be anyway.” he replied, eyes rolling.
Sue snorted into her wine.
“You can't be one to talk, though,” she said once she had stopped chuckling and a server had brought their desserts over, “you've scarred for life about everyone in the pack with the way you and Namor just can't keep it in your pants for long enough to get behind a closed door. And you've only been here for a week and a half.”
“What can I say?” he shrugged, wrapping his long fingers around a spoon and sinking it into his banana split. “We just hate each other that much.”
“I guess there could be worse ways for you two to show your hatred.” she replied, pursing her lips to hide her amusement as she watched him start to eat a piece of banana covered in chocolate ice cream.
There was something totally ridiculous about watching this man, with his tailored clothes and I-am-better-than-everyone air, the Marrok's son, one of the most powerful wolf of the continent, eating such a childish dessert in such a high-end place.
“I have to be honest though, I am not here to talk about Namor, or even Victor.”
Sue tensed, her eyes flickering over his face, looking for something, maybe a clue about what he meant, to find out if whatever he was about to say was going to affect her pack badly, but apart from the fact that he was looking down at his banana split like it contained the answer to the Universe's secrets, there was nothing on his face that could have helped her.
“If this is about Stark–” she started but he stopped her by raising his hand and his shockingly green eyes.
“I want to submit to you and become an honorary member of your pack.” he said, dead serious.
For a few seconds, Sue didn't react, expecting someone to jump out of nowhere and scream that this was all a joke, or for Loki to flash is eyes and make her look away, but none of this happened. Loki just kept on looking her right in the eyes, looking expectant and almost a little shy.
“Can I ask why?”
“I need to get away from my father and there's no other Alpha that I trust.”
“You don't even know me that much.” she replied, surprised.
“That's true, but I know that one of your wolf attacked an innocent, and instead of killing the both of them like so many other would have, you welcomed Peter into your pack and helped Victor find a part of his sanity again. Steve also told me about what you did when Peter accidentally mated your brother, how you came to get him even though two alphas were in the way.”
Putting his spoon down, Loki put his elbows on the table, laced his fingers together and put his chin on his hands, lips pursed.
“I understand that you think this demand bizarre and even a little dubious, but I promise you that this has nothing to do with you or anyone from your pack. My father doesn't even know that I'm doing this. I'm asking you as an Alpha, to another one.”
“How long do you plan on staying? I can't be just for a few weeks, or you wouldn't submit.”
His little knowing smirk made a comeback and he nodded, apparently pleased.
“You're right. I don't know how long I want to stay. Probably a year, maybe even more if I can't overcome my conflicts with my father.”
It was Sue's turn to nod.
“I'm going to be honest,” she said when he raised an expectant eyebrow, “I have no reason to say no, but I'm pretty sure the pack is going to disagree with me on this.”
“I know. Which is why I don't plan on living with you. I'll stay in my hotel room and will only join you during Full Moon Hunts if everyone is okay with it. My goal isn't to upset anyone, I'm just taking a sabbatical.”
“Oh, I am so telling Stark that you said that!” she grinned.
***
“How dare you do this to me, Susan?” asked Namor, his best glare turned to her.
She rolled her eyes, feeling a headache coming, caused by the state of annoyance Namor and Stark were putting her into.
“Yeah Storm, how dare you.” parroted Stark, not outwardly glaring at her but almost.
“Like I've already said, I'm not doing anything to anyone, just granting Loki the right to stay on my territory in exchange of his submission. Now if anyone has any problem with it, they can directly go to him and tell him all about it.”
Tony narrowed his eyes but didn't add anything, unlike Namor, who apparently didn't care anymore about the fact that Sue could totally kill him with only one hand.
“I do not want him in the pack!” he cried out.
“He's not a real member of the pack, you won't even see him most of the time!”
“Knowing that he's here is enough.”
“Well I don't care.” she replied, crossing her arms.
Namor's jaw flexed and for a second, Tony looked at Sue like he was expecting her to punch her wolf in the mouth, but then Namor thundered out of the room.
“Well, someone's got an attitude.” commented Tony after two blessed seconds of silence.
Sue raised an eyebrow at him.
“You mean like your other Alpha, who stormed out and slammed the door behind him as soon as I told him?”
“Exactly!” grinned Tony, snapping his fingers.
Sue rolled her eyes but she couldn't bit down on her smile as she let herself fall down on the couch next to Tony, who nudged his knee against hers.
“Tell me I'm not doing a terrible mistake.” she sighed.
“You probably are, but everyone is starting to get used to your pack fucking up so it's okay, we won't yell too much when it all blows up in our face.”
Rolling her eyes, Sue pinched him in the side, making him yelp and flail, but in the end they just snorted at each other, turned the TV on and spent the rest of the morning watching shitty romcoms.
***
It took Loki three lunar circles to finally join the pack during the Full Moon Hunt and everyone pretended that everything was totally normal when he ate breakfast with them the next morning, looking smug while Namor sat down next to him and grimaced the whole time.
Johnny high-fived Loki and started babbling about full Moon sex until Peter slapped him on the back of the head and shoved a pancake in his mouth.
Sue tried to not freak out too much at the fact that this all felt extremely normal but Jim gave her a smirk from the other side of the table, a sure sign that she was as easy to read as an open book.
She didn't really care, as long as her pack was okay.