CHPT 48: New Blood, New Foe

Tuesday March 28th, Industrial District somewhere on the outskirts of Beacon Hills…..

Marco never would've considered himself a teacher, but after entering Beacon Hills, it was necessary. Hell, it was required for survival.

He could always remember the days his sister would spend hours training them. Whether it was hunting strategies, combat— or the abilities that came from being fully synthesized. She knew just what to say. She was a natural— as most True Alpha's were.

Maybe all that watching and waiting was fate forcing him to take in aspects and pieces of her. For what was to come.

He'd made himself into a teacher of sorts in his own right.

He was more like his father and oldest sister in that regard, though.

He was rough…. Harsh. Lessons learned through pain stayed like scars on the skin.

Victoria Argent had no scars on her skin. She was unblemished…. Born again. In other words, she had a lot to learn.

He watched her from the shadows, stalking his way through the metal framework of the industrial warehouse ceiling as she tested the limits of her power.

A day from the next full moon meant those limits were sky high. And it wouldn't end in the morning. That too would give her power as it did for all Grey Lions.

She worked in the silence, assumedly thankful to finally be out of the basement of his home. He set up the grounds as an obstacle course. Cars, low rise walls, poles and support beams filled the area. She ran through it all. Leaping, flipping, climbing— even throwing aside the pick-up truck that once sat in park in front of her.

Her muscled legs carried her through the course multiple times at blurring speeds.

"She doesn't have your fear…..or hesitance." Marco whispered to the shadow almost as massive as himself that crouched on the ceiling beam beside him.

Boyd didn't say anything to that.

"Maybe it's because you kept her in a basement for a week, Marco...gotta get the cat out of the bag earlier next time. She looks feral." Erica said from his other side.

Marco's eyes— reflecting the scarce amount of light in the room, turned to look at Erica. Her eyes dropped immediately.

"Terrible pun. And no. She would've been feral if I let her out prematurely. She's driven." Marco replied as Victoria skirted to a stop on bare feet.

When the dust settled she was looking straight up at them, the yellow glow just fading from her eyes. Unlike the others, she hadn't changed much. She looked a decade younger but fiesty all the same with her short fiery hair.

"If I was feral, you'd know a lot sooner, young lady." Victoria said coldly.

"You promise?" Erica teased before Marco placed his hand on the back of her neck to stop her from jumping down.

"You…. Will not interrupt my lessons. Or we'll strength train for the entire night." Marco snarled, "And you, keep working. You need to exhaust your excess energy or this Full Moon will be harder to work through than you can imagine."

"Why don't we all lock ourselves up? That's what you're supposed to do." Victoria questioned.

"No, that's not what we're supposed to do. We're not animals incapable of reason. Another lie fed to you by your ancestors. We just need training….. you need training, Victoria. You're not queen of the Argents here. You're bottom rung pack material. You're a beta. But you could be more. You may find that you have more in common with my kind than you think— as disgusting as that might have once seemed. The women in Prides of Grey Lions tend to be the primary hunters and leaders. You could become that without being a genocidal dumbass."

Victoria made an angered face, "…. And you expect me to become a…. Primary hunter and leader by running? You're all no smarter than children. This isn't how you—"

"No. I want you to run, so I can see how you fight exhausted. But you seem to be doubting me again…. Like I didn't give you life and power. Like I don't have more experience than most adults will over multiple lifetimes. We can start the fight now. That feeling you had when you decided to eat the raw meat in the basement…. To survive. I suggest you start remembering that now. Remember Alison."

Marco dropped down to the floor. Victoria snarled instinctively.

***

"AHHHHCK!" Victoria roared in pain as Marco kicked her across the warehouse floor.

Boyd and Erica's faces were stuck in a permanent state of cringe that started at the beginning of their fight five minutes ago. Short and…. Sour, some would say.

Like every other time she got up fast and got her bearings, eyes always scanning the area one quick time before settling on him. Searching for weapons he assumed.

Marco squatted next to the pick up truck in the middle of the warehouse and pulled a silver blade out from under it.

Victoria didn't budge. It made him change his mind. He tossed it to her.

"Showing off?" She asked after catching the blade with bloody knuckled hands.

"Showing." Marco corrected.

Victoria charged after him slashing in repeated wide arcs. Each one Marco dodged until she fainted a strike and came down on his head with a heavy chop.

Marco raised his arm, letting the blade bite into his skin.

Erica and Boyd hissed as their Alpha's skin began to steam from the silver.

Faint, like the spirals of steam rising from a pot of stew left on simmer. Nothing like what should've happened to a shifter cut by silver.

"Another lie. Silver is only as bad as you are lacking in discipline."

Victoria looked up at his partially transformed arm in horror.

"Like Fully Synthesizing, Silver Tolerance takes work. Why do you think I have these?" Marco raised his other hand, showing the painted nails. Black and silver. "My family fought with silver for decades to lessen its bite over time. If our healing factors were any worse it wouldn't be possible. I say all this to say, we are not the children you claim we are. If we were what would that say about you being so dead set on killing us?"

Victoria stammered before steeling herself and holding her chin high, "It was neccesar—"

Before she could finish that sentence, Marco tossed the blade aside and grabbed her by the throat.

He didn't have words for her. It was more of a knee jerk response to a Hunter telling him the decimation of his family was necessary. The markings on his arm had a similar reaction, as if his siblings were rolling in their graves.

But she wasn't…..

Victoria wrapped her hands around his arm. Even with two she couldn't fully wrap it. Still, she squeezed— even as the pain made her human. Even as she lost consciousness.

"Y-you…. already made….. me into w-what..—ERCK.. i used to see as the enemy. You already took me past death. If you sudden-ly want…t-to do it… you better….d-… do it now. Nothing e-else stops me from getting back to my daughter."

There it was again. That tenacity. That motherly intensity he could spot a mile away.

Marco dropped her.

She fell backward, leaning onto the pickup to remain standing as she spit blood out of her mouth.

"Only time will show you how wrong you are about my kind, Victoria."

She straightened herself out and nodded. "If that's true I'll bite my tongue. And mistakes from you won't be tolerated. Don't think just because of what you made me I won't put a bullet in your skull for going rogue."

Marco could've laughed. She wasn't much different.

"And what would rogue be, exactly?" Erica asked as her and Boyd approached soundlessly.

"The Argent family rules remain. We hunt those who hunt us. You kill an innocent, I kill you." Victoria explained.

"Oh we don't do that anyway.." Boyd replied with a forced nervous smile.

"Depends on what innocent counts for." Marco explained, "Keep your stringent family rules for now, we've got bigger issues. Issues I need to fill you in on."

Victoria watched him with interest as he pulled a phone out of his pocket and pulled up a picture. A trisklion took up the screen, only given a malicious edge.

"Deaton says it's a death omen for us. He told us to be ready, forces are coming that we've never seen before. And you aren't just a Hunter in this. You're a Shifter now, Victoria…"