178 CHAPTER 174

Satomi and Derek, severely bruised and battered, stood nervously on either of Deucalion, waiting for his next action; whether or not he'll give chase to Tristan and Jennifer.

"My pack is dead." He stated; more like a factual observation than someone who just lost his last two pack members. "I expected it to some extent, so I'm not too surprised."

"Is there any more reason to continue this senseless fight, Deucalion? Your Alphas are dead. Jennifer is weakened and will need a stroke of a miracle to escape Tristan as he is." Satomi's bestial features slowly disappeared and what was left was the pale face of an extremely weak old woman.

"And you think you can stop me from killing the boy in your current state?" Deucalion snorted, but his movement betrayed no intention to attack… yet.

"I know the reason why you keep wanting to confront me and Hale at all cost; you think we failed you after Gerard ambushed you and your pack." She said softly, her voice tinged with regret and a silent plea of reason.

Derek quickly made his way over to Satomi as he felt Deucalion's anger spike as soon as she spoke those words.

No one needed to point out the fact that only a slaughter would follow should they continue fighting Deucalion. No matter how bitter the memory of what Deucalion did to his pack was, Derek knew it was a pill he had to swallow. To their current strength, Deucalion was simply an insurmountable foe.

"Were it not for the pacifism she learnt from you, we could have convinced Talia to finally drive out the Hunters from Beacon Hills. Our werewolves wouldn't have been slaughtered, nor would we have been denied our rightful vengeance. Your influence, Satomi, started the snowball effect that we're currently in."

Faced with the mix of Deucalion's malevolent and righteous anger, Satomi had nothing she could use as a retort.

Was it wrong for people like her, old wolves, to prefer the hope for an understanding coexistence with the Hunters, especially with all she's seen and lost? Her answer was a natural 'no', but she understood that why it was a better option, it wasn't always the right one.

"Lost your bite, Satomi?" Deucalion taunted with a hateful snarl. "None of us will be here and the young cubs wouldn't have to suffer meaninglessly if only we, their predecessors, had not been too cowardly to shy away from what we should have done."

"You were also one of us, Deucalion. Advocating for peace with the Hunters, just like Talia did-"

"And I only realized how foolish our hopes were when it was already too late." Deucalion's sharp words cut hers short, "I and my wolves were ambushed; Gerard killed them while they were defenseless, and settled for taking my eyes. Ironically, blinding my eyes finally allowed me to see the truth… but Talia and her family ended up getting burned for it."

Caught between the sudden dialogue between the two old Alphas, Derek felt lost at the sudden unexpected turn that was a retelling of their history, back when Beacon Hills was still a supernatural beacon.

"… Yes, she did. A tragedy I still regret to this day." She replied, her voice weak and frail.

Seeing her still reluctant to accept the truth as she knew it; they were wrong – Deucalion shouted angrily, dangerously on the verge of lashing out. "And yet you did nothing but hide!"

Realizing the answer Deucalion was looking for, Satomi shook her head resolutely, even when she knew her next words might push him over the edge. "It would have caused a repeating circle of unnecessary bloodshed. A blood debt is not always the right way – even an Alpha as young as Derek realized that even before he killed Gerard."

Seeing that they were at an impasse, Satomi changed her approach. She didn't want an enemy in Deucalion, not because he was stronger or that her children succeeded in killing three of his Alphas, but because she felt that she could convince him to be the man he was once. A pioneer of peace.

As they were talking, the howling winds blowing through the forest turned into a soft breeze whisper and the dark sky above started clearing.

Instantly, the three Alphas knew that Tristan had killed Jennifer, like Satomi said he would.

Looking back at Deucalion, Satomi regarded him as not the Alpha he was now, but the friend he was in the past.

"Killing each other solves nothing. I killed Peter, my own blood, out of vengeance. And for the same reason killed Kate and Gerard." Derek said, breaking the silence. "I hate and fear you, but I also think there's a way forward apart from the one that ends up with either one or the both of us dead."

"Heh, appealing, but what about when we have no choice but to kill each other?"

"Then we kill each other." The young Hale Alpha easily replied. "We are human first, before beast; my mother taught me that. She also said that just because we are predators doesn't-"

"-Doesn't mean we have to be killers; I remember her saying that a few times." Deucalion said as he shifted back to his human form, with his eyes being the last to lose their glow.

He looked at the both of them, chuckled to himself, before turning around to leave, his last words echoing as his form faded away into the darkness of the night sky.

"Truce. But remember, just because I'm stepping away doesn't mean I'm your ally, as I'm more likely to kill you should we cross paths again after this."

Derek focused his senses in search of Deucalion's presence, and it was only after he confirmed that the man was gone did his tensed shoulders slump down in relief and his heart finally relaxed.

"Was he always this scary?" Despite being an Alpha himself, Deucalion felt unreal to him that standing against him and confronting him head on took more than just confidence.

Satomi shook her head weakly, "Young Ennis was a lot scarier than Deucalion back then."

Picturing the image in his head felt funny just like it did hearing it. Knowing the monstrosity that was Deucalion's true form made it harder for Derek to believe that Ennis, at any point in the past, was more threatening than Deucalion.

Even remembering Deucalion's calm and accented human form did not help, instead it made it ever weirder.

"Let's go back. The night has been a long one." Derek looked up at the moon to ascertain the general tune, frowning as he realized how young the night still was. "It's barely past 9pm."

When they got back to the site of the Nemeton, they saw Victoria tending to her husband's more serious injuries with an angry scowl on her face, and Tristan lying next to Malia with his eyes closed, seemingly resting.

Victoria was about to say something when she saw them, her hand already on her gun, but a look from Chris managed to stop her; doing nothing to increase the scowl on her face.

The entire site around the Nemeton, including the stump itself, was covered in blood and bodies scattered about.

Satomi hurried over to where Malia and Brett laid, which was next to the body of a mutilated teen. She didn't bother with the gory sight of someone ripped open by a wild beast, only focused on checking if they were in any state to heal themselves. Malia was, which wasn't too surprising given what she suspected, but Brett wasn't.

Just taking away his pain would do little to nothing for Brett as he was closer to dying than feeling sensations of any kind. He wouldn't even feel a thing if she broke his bones right now.

"Scott and the girl are fine, brutally banged up, yes, but are pretty much okay." Derek came to her side with Lori in his arms. The wounds and bones will heal naturally, anywhere from a few hours to a day or two.

"Brett's case is a lot more severe, but he'll survive the night thanks to Tristan's blood. Thank you, Derek."

She was immensely relieved at the miracle that none of her betas were dead, even when she had somewhat expected to be faced with the death or deaths of her children at the end of the night.

Pushing her worries to the side, she joined Derek as he went over to the Argent couple.

"Is he…"

"If you're talking about Deucalion, then no. He's still out there, but I don't think we'll be facing any hostilities from him any time soon." Derek remarked, answering Chris' unfinished question.

"That doesn't sound too reassuring." Chris replied with a grimace.

This time it was Satomi that spoke, after an understandably tired sigh. "No, it doesn't. But we should be thankful that we didn't lose anyone tonight. I'll accept that as a suitable consolation any day."

Chris and Victoria shared a glance, looking over at Malia and the stirring form of Tristan, as the former answered, "Yeah, you're right. It is a soothing consolation."

If Satomi or Derek had an idea of what the Argent couple were probably thinking, they only nodded and said nothing else. They could worry about the compiling complications in the morning.

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