Wolf Moon

 

 

 

Chapter 33

 

 

“Um…  Hi.  I’m Penelope Garcia.  I uh…  I work with Hotch and Reid.”  The woman said, staring at the kitchen full of strangers.

And Ralph and Bev stepped out onto the patio, followed by Martin Bernadette, Amani Bastian, Onatah Anaktokan, Anicka and Doboromir Moravec, Vivienne and Fabien Delacroix, and Madhukar Vishnavi, and then several wolves Reid recognized from the pack compound, but he didn’t know them by name.  Nervous at these strange wolves, Reid stepped sideways to hide himself behind his mate.

Ralph eyed Garcia, then looked at Hotch, quirking a brow.

“Um…  She just showed up.”  Hotch shrugged, sheepishly, and then grinned.  “She’s spontaneous like that.  And…  she knows.”

“…  Excuse me?”  Ralph growled, narrowing his eyes.

“You TOLD her?!”  Bev blurted, her eyes widening.

“Well…  not exactly.”  Hotch said, slowly.

“Hotchner…”  Ralph snarled, clenching his fists and glaring, advancing threateningly on the Unit Chief, gold flashing across his eyes.  “This is a serious transgression of the Laws.  And you had better start explaining just what possessed you to—“

“He didn’t.”  Reid snapped, startling everyone by stepping forward and placing himself squarely between Hotch and Ralph.  “I did.”  And then, downright shocking everyone, he bared his teeth, fixed his golden wolf eyes on Ralph and snarled “Back.  Off.”  And even then, there was an ever-present growl vibrating through Reid’s chest.



“Hey!”  Hotch gasped, grasping Reid’s shoulders and pulling him back.  “Hey hey hey…  it’s okay.  Calm down.”  He pleaded earnestly, taking Reid’s face in his hands and forcing him to look him in the eye.  “Calm down…  Ralph isn’t gonna hurt me.  It’s okay.  Just calm down.”

“…  Oh, I like him.  He’s got fire.”  Bev blurted, and Ralph rolled his eyes.

“You WOULD.”  He snorted, and Bev smirked. 

“I like his spunk.  He’s got heart.”

“So…  what happened, then?”  Ralph asked, this time remaining calm after sending a few furtive glances at Reid.

“Noriko happened.”  Reid snapped, pushing past Hotch to face Ralph head on.  Hotch threw his hands up and spun around in helpless frustration; apparently Reid was more than ready for another Alpha Swing…

“Reid!  Calm down!”

“HE WAS THREATENING YOU!!!”  Reid nearly shrieked, pointing an accusing finger at Ralph, and nearly poking the man in the eye in the process.

“Okay.”  Everyone jumped when the one human in the mix suddenly bustled forward in a colorful whirlwind, pushing past even the Alpha Pair.  “Come on now, Butter Cream.  Calm down, sit down, and have a cupcake.”

“What?!  I don’t WANT a cupcake, I--  ummph!”  Garcia shoved Reid down and shoved a cupcake into his mouth, saying “Of course you do.”  And then she turned and faced Ralph, offering him the plate.  “Cupcake?”

Hotch was barely able to bite back a groan as he let his face fall into his hand.

“Thank you, dear.”  Bev said, taking two cupcakes and shoving one into her mate’s hand.  “Now…  we can sit down and talk about this like CIVILIZED folk.”  And she sat down at the patio table.  The other wolves glanced around at each other, and then moved in for cupcakes.  Once everyone was situated, Garcia smiled at them.

“First off, it’s an honor to meet some of mon capitan’s…  OTHER friends.”  She said, nodding to the wolves, who looked flabbergasted.  “And…  Reid kind of…  OUTED them because…  he was protecting Hotch.”

“…  I’m starting to notice a theme here focused around that…”  Ralph drawled, eying Reid.  Reid, whom Hotch expected to look appropriately embarrassed, GLARED at Ralph in a very…  un-omega-like fashion.  Of course, the glare wasn’t NEARLY threatening when Reid had some baby blue icing and sprinkles on his face.

“Anyway…  We were all at a co-worker’s house for a barbecue.”  Garcia began.  “When…  these…  WOLVES, just came out of nowhere and…  attacked my poor baby genius.”  And she turned and took Reid’s hand.  “Well, everyone started grabbing their guns and Rossi turned the hose on them and after they shot a few, they began to scatter.  And then this OTHER wolf appeared out of nowhere and…  My handsome hunk of sexy man, Derek Morgan, shot the wolf.  And the wolf went down.  And…  he was moving in for the kill shot.  And we didn’t know it but, the wolf was Hotch, and he was coming to protect Reid...  All I know is that Reid was screaming and running towards Morgan, and then it was this great big…  MONSTER standing there and…  PROTECTING the wolf and…”

“I had to change.”  Reid said softly.  “To clear that distance in time to save Hotch.”

“So you changed in front of humans.”  Ralph said in a low tone.  “Knowing the consequences.”

“No.”  Reid said, shaking his head.  “First off…  I never knew there was a…  LAW about that, or that there were consequences among the wolves.  But I know that even if I had known, I would have done it anyway.  Because I trust my team with my life.  I would trust them before I would ever trust any one of you.  And…  I also knew that…  life wasn’t going to be worth living if I didn’t stop Morgan from…”  He trailed off.

“And it was NORIKO who ordered the attack in broad daylight in front of humans.”  Hotch snorted, scowling.  “And the team has done nothing but be the family they always have been to us.”  Hotch looked Ralph straight in the eye.  “THEY are our pack.” 

Ralph eyed Hotch up and down.  “Indeed.  I will…  need to meet with these people before I can come to any conclusions about this.”

“What conclusions are there to come to?!”  Hotch demanded to know.  “You’re Alpha on your compound.  NOT here!  Here we are in neutral territory.  Here, you do NOT outrank me.  And this is MY home.”

“I must do what I must do for the good of our kind.  Call them.  Now.”  Ralph said.

“…  Fine.  But YOU’RE getting the extra steaks.”  Hotch snapped, pulling out his phone and turning his back.

“Steaks?”  Reid perked, turning around and eying the cooler that Amani had carried out and set beside the grill.

“Oh…  none for me, thanks.”  Garcia said, waving a hand.  “Vegetarian.”

ALL the wolves made a face at that, Hotch and Reid included.  Garcia huffed and pouted.

“There will be plenty of steaks.”  Ralph smirked, and Amani opened the cooler and started passing around the beers while Garcia giggled and wiped the blue frosting off of Reid’s face. 

Hotch held the phone to his ear.

“Hey Hotch.”  Rossi greeted.

“Dave…  I need you and the team to come over right now.  It’s important.”

“Everything okay?”

“…  I’m not sure.”  Hotch said.

“I’ll be right over.  I’ll call Prentiss, she and JJ were going to have dinner after doing some shopping this afternoon.”

“I’ll call Morgan.”  Hotch nodded, and hung up, turning to call Morgan.  The phone rang and rang, and Hotch was afraid that it would go to voicemail, but at the last moment, Morgan answered.

“Case?”  Morgan said.

“Not exactly.”  Hotch said.  “But I need you to come over right away.  Rossi and the girls are on their way.”

“Is Reid okay?!”

“Yes, he’s fine.  But I need you here NOW.”

“I’m there.”  Morgan said, and hung up.  Hotch turned back to the wolves on the patio.

“They’re on their way…  Penelope?  What are you looking at?”

“…  Possibly my new hot hunk of sculpted chocolate thunder…”  She purred, gazing at Amani over the rims of her winged, rhinestone covered glasses.  Amani blinked, and then gave her a wide, toothy grin, before turning to Ralph and Bev.

“Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!”  He blurted, and the wolves all groaned.

“PLEASE…”  Vivienne pleaded in a weary tone.  “Don’t encourage him.”  Reid just blinked and looked at Garcia, then shrugged in confusion.  A moment later, a buzzing sound came from the kitchen.

“Those would be the baked potatoes.”  Reid sighed, standing and heading inside.

“I’ll give you hand, dear.”  Bev said, smiling and walking next to him.  Inside, Reid turned off the oven timer and picked up the oven mitts.  “What was it like?”  Bev asked.  Reid turned and blinked in confusion.  But she was giving him an honest smile, filled with wonder.  “An Alpha Swing?”

A moment later, Reid’s own face split into a smile.  “It was… incredible.  Both invigorating and terrifying all at the same time.”

“How did you do it?”  Bev asked, noting her husband standing at the door, listening in.

“…  I…  I’m not sure.  I guess it was a matter of reaching my breaking point.”  Reid admitted, pulling the pan of potatoes out of the oven and beginning to open the foil to allow them to start cooling, then headed to the fridge and pulled out the toppings.  “I was just…  so sick and tired of it.  And she had made it clear that she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way.  Hotch thought that…  she would back off once we had mated, but all she saw it as was another obstacle.  She was going to kill me.  So it was also a matter of coming to the realization that it was life or death.  One of us was going to die.  But…  I didn’t WANT anyone to die.”



“Would you have killed her?”  Bev asked, taking the bacon that Reid had set on the counter and beginning to toss it in a pan on the stove, while Reid chopped the chives.

“If she had forced my hand…  yes.”  Reid nodded.  “But only if that was the only way.”

Bev sighed.  “I’m glad it didn’t come to that.”

“It still might.”  Reid said.  “If she hasn’t given up yet.  If she went to you trying to get you to side with her.  She would try and use YOU to kill me.”

“Oh, I know.  I think that she is trying her final play with this.”  Bev agreed.

“…  I’ll do anything…”  Reid admitted softly, setting up bowls of chives, cheese, butter and sour cream, “to preserve what I have now.  I won’t let her take it away from me.  Aaron is…  worth dying for.”

Bev smiled.  “Our mates always are.”  She told him, and he returned her smile.  Ralph slipped out of the doorway and headed back out onto the patio with the other wolves.  A moment later, the doorbell went off.  “You get that, I’ll get these outside.”  Bev said. 

Reid blinked, turning and heading to the front door, opening it and smiling at JJ and Emily, and glanced at Morgan walking across the lawn as Rossi pulled up in his car.  He noted that Morgan and Rossi were wearing their firearms.

“Hi.”  He said, stepping aside to allow the team in.  “We’re all out back.”

“…  All?”  Rossi asked.  Reid glanced back at them, and a moment later Hotch stepped into the foyer, his eyes hard and his face like stone.  The team took one look at him and immediately went from friends, to agents.

“I need you all to listen to me closely.  VERY closely.”  Hotch said, and Reid moved to stand with him.  “Everyone out on that patio, is a wolf.”  The team stared.  “They are friends and allies, but Reid broke the Laws of our kind by revealing our existence to you.  This is a matter of the Alpha needing to see if you can be trusted.”

“And if we can’t be?”  Morgan asked, frowning.

“…  Don’t ask.  You are.”  Hotch said.  “But I need you to watch them all VERY carefully.  Most of them are dominant.  I trust you to know what to do.  If you need to exert your own dominance, do so.  This is a wolf pack.  But whatever you do, do NOT challenge the dominance of the Alpha Pair.”

“Ralph and Bev.”  Reid supplied.

“You do that, and we’re ALL in trouble.”

“But…  we can challenge others?”  Morgan asked.

“It’s a pack.  The pecking order must be established.”  Hotch nodded.  “And so YOU must find YOUR places.  And THEY will have to know where you stand to know how to handle you.  Just… watch yourselves, watch the wolves and be smart.”  And he turned and led the way to the back patio. 

The team filed out, their eyes hard and focused, startling the wolves.  They stared at the humans of the team of FBI Profilers…  Alphas, all of them.  They noted the little blonde…  She looked as though she were once a Beta, or Delta, but the scent of motherhood was all over her, and with it, a rise in her domination rank, which she developed to protect her offspring…  and her pack.

The brunette looked like she was a veteran Alpha.  She was no stranger to exerting that dominance either, surrounded as she was by Alpha males who often thought that being male made them more of an Alpha than she…  and she wasn’t a stranger to proving them wrong, either.  Vivienne felt her lips quirk up; she liked this brunette woman already.  She wanted to invite her out to a She-Wolf’s Night Out…  because human or not…  this woman was a She-Wolf.

The dark skinned man with the fierce eyes seemed perfectly comfortable in the presence of the other human Alphas, and yet was standing slightly apart from them, showing that the was perfectly capable of being a lone wolf as well.  He looked wary of the wolves around him, but  did not look intimidated.  He was carrying himself like an Alpha, and were he a wolf in his pelt his head would be up, ears erect and tail held high.

The bearded man had been an Alpha all his life, and was now so comfortable in his role that he didn’t feel as anxious about establishing his dominance as the younger males; he knew that the way he carried himself expressed it enough.  He was cool, confident, and looked amused at his surroundings, inspecting the wolves with a trained eye that gave him as much information as a wolf’s nose would have.  Indeed, he was not a man to be trifled with.

The mutual inspection between the team and the wolves ended when Garcia chirped out a happy “Hello, my fine furry friends!”  Everyone turned and looked at her.  She blinked, and her face fell.  “Oh…  well…  I guess that term would be more appropriate for everyone out here OTHER than the people I just directed it towards, huh?”

A moment later, everyone broke into laughter and the tension dissipated.

“Amani Bastien.”  The wolf greeted, his long dreds swaying as he shook hands.

“Derek Morgan, man.”

“Wanna help me on the grill?”

“You got it!”  Morgan said, and the pair moved over to the grill and started popping the steaks onto the heat, chatting away.  Garcia quickly joined them, unable to pass up the hotness, apparently.

Rossi, in the meantime, sauntered up to Ralph and said “Let me guess.  Alpha.”  Ralph looked startled.

“…  How…?!”

“I’m good at what I do.”  Rossi stated, simply.  Ralph just looked unnerved.

“…  What you do?!”

“I’m a profiler.”  Rossi said, then turned and walked away, calling “Aaron, I hope you have the GOOD scotch!”  And he stepped into the house, Hotch glaring after him.  Reid just snickered.

“Vivienne.”  The female wolf said, holding out her hand.

“Emily.”  The Agent greeted, smiling and accepting the blonde’s hand.

“This is my husband, Fabien.”  Vivenne said. 

JJ was smiling and shaking hands with Doboromir and Annicka, being diplomatic, as usual.  Hotch was chatting with Madhukar and Onatah and the other wolves from the compound, telling them about the serial killer werewolf that he and Reid had taken down a while back, that had led to him taking the pup under his wing.

Martin, in the meantime, had struck up another conversation with Reid on molecular biology, and the pair were chattering away.  Ralph and Bev sat side by side, beers in their hands, watching the wolves and humans interacting.

Rossi returned a few minutes later with his scotch, and moved to sit with Ralph and Bev.  Once he made sure that Hotch was sufficiently distracted, he leaned in.

“Alright.  Let’s talk.”  He said, and Ralph frowned, looking angry, but uneasy.  “That man there,” Rossi said, pointing at Hotch, “Is one of the finest people I have ever met.  And no matter what happens to him on the full moon, I love him like family.  I get that you are just doing what you feel is necessary to protect you and yours, but I will do whatever I can to protect MY family.  And that is this team.  So you do anything…  ANYTHING, to hurt Aaron, or Spencer, and believe me, I’ll give you something to worry about.”  And he lifted his glass and took a slow sip, savoring the whiskey.

Ralph leaned in.  “Are you threatening me?”  He growled.

“If you threaten those two, then yes.”  Rossi said in an amiable tone.  “Look.  Werewolf or no, I’m not afraid of you.  I’m too old to allow fear to rule me.  But I protect my own, and if I think you are a threat, then I will take whatever steps are necessary to do so.  No matter where that threat is coming from.  So…  do we have an understanding?”  And Ralph froze as he found himself pinned by one of the  most intimidating Alpha Stares he had ever seen…  hell, the only other one he had seen similar to it was the one he had seen only once or twice on the face of one Aaron Hotchner.  Bev raised her eyebrows as her mate slowly swallowed, and then nodded.

“Good.”  Rossi said, now smiling and leaning back in his chair, calm and relaxed.  “Smells like dinner is ready!”  And Morgan and Garcia walked over with a platter of steaks.  Everyone turned and headed over to the table…  and waited.  All eyes were on Ralph.  After all…  the rules of the pack were simple at meal time…  the Alpha always took his share first.

But Ralph didn’t move.  He stared at the steaks, and then slowly, he turned and looked at one very relaxed David Rossi.  Rossi sipped his scotch and looked at Ralph.  And then, to the shock of everyone present, Ralph lowered his gaze.  Rossi smirked, then sat forward and forked a steak onto his plate.

Hotch’s jaw dropped.

Ralph, the Pack Alpha, had just acknowledged David Rossi’s dominance…

This was going to be very interesting...