Chapter Text
He carries on with another question, “Having been in the company of those hunters, and the hunters here in this hotel, discounting the Cadre, which group would you choose to go to if you were in trouble with any supernatural creature? And yes you can choose neither if you do not trust either group.”
I wasn’t expecting that and I mull it over. Caitlin may have only helped us because Mr Argent was there, but she seemed genuine in wanting to help, in wanting to live up to her new Code. “Um, maybe Caitlin? I’m not sure. Definitely not the hunters in this hotel, they’d kill me, or use me and then kill me. Sorry, I guess neither is my answer?”
“So you would not turn to the hunters here in this hotel, but you are open to the idea of the other hunters, but you’re currently not sure if you could trust them,” He summarizes and I nod agreeing with him. “Overall which group do you trust the most, the hunters, or the werewolves?”
Well this one is easy, and I up the level of answer I give, I want to know how he’ll react, “Werewolves. The majority of them that I’ve met, that I know are werewolves, are cool. The majority of hunters I’ve met are homicidal assholes.”
“The land that your husband bought here in Miami. If you had a choice what would you do with it?” And these are some pretty random questions. I pause to let my pack and me think about it.
Melissa is tapping a finger against her lip, “I’d dig it up. The hunters are hiding something there. They’ve allowed people to buy the land for decades, but then stop them doing anything with it.”
No one has any objection to the idea so I parrot it back, the man nods again, “Yes Matriarch. With the events of both hunters and supernatural creatures in Miami very fresh in your mind, how would you judge the hunters that set the bomb?”
“Judge how?” I ask cautiously. I’m not sure what he actually wants from me and all my pack are watching him carefully.
“In the event of any trial being brought against them, what crimes would you say they’ve committed? And what verdict would you give? Innocent or guilty?” He isn’t making a huge amount of sense to me.
My Chris steps forward, “Matriarchs often have to sit in judgement over other hunters, if they’ve stepped over lines, broken the Code, or just screwed up. They make sure we toe the line.”
Oh. I flick my eyes to dad and he wanders closer to me. I’m fairly certain I know what I want to say but I let him sort through it and with his help I try to get it out correctly, it won’t mirror normal police and justice because they’d never see the insides of a normal courtroom. “The hunters that set the bomb would have charges of domestic terrorism, murder, kidnapping, and torture brought against them at the very least. They built a bomb with the express purpose of killing a large multitude of people, many of them harmless and helpless civilians, innocents with no known link to anything supernatural.
“Kidnapping, because they took Peter when he didn’t die in the initial attack. Also because of the hunters they took, and tried to place the blame on,” All I get is a single blink from the man opposite. “They tried to get the other hunters here in Miami into a war with the various supernatural beings that live here,” and they came damn close to it too. If the ghouls’ researchers hadn’t found those video clips, the ghouls would have simply charged in and started slaughtering any hunter they could get their hands on.
“Multiple counts of murder in the first degree. They knew the bomb would kill, and they knew the cloud of aconite released would kill anyone in the vicinity, including the first responders on scene,” And that really pisses me off, not only would all those hundreds of people die, but those like my dad would be murdered, just because they were doing their jobs and helping the victims.
“And kidnapping with unlawful detainment, with added torture for what they did to Peter when they had him in their merciless clutches,” I have to cling to my wrist a bit because I’m still shocked at how bad a state Peter was in when we got to him. My Mark flares where Peter starts touching his and it’s kind of comforting, he’s still alive, he’s still there.
I fall silent and wait for the next question, “Matriarch Stilinski. What would be your official verdict on those charges? Innocent? Or guilty?”
Another easy one, I open my mouth to say ‘Guilty’, to see Scott give me a disappointed look, and I snap my mouth shut again. Damn, I can’t just go guilty, “I don’t know, evidence would have to be gained. If they’re not guilty then whoever did it, did a bang up job of framing them. They’d have to go to trial,” In New York it looked like the Clan was guilty and under their Lore they would die, but it turned out to be Martin’s real Alpha. Real Scott and me threw the real Derek under the bus, twice, and he was innocent both times. The old Sheriff of Wolf Creek completely ignored and broke the laws.
In Beacon Hills I used to bend a few laws myself, I used to fret at them getting in the way, now I can see that if you make a mistake, the wrong people get caught and the real criminals get away. Like Kate and the arson, or Gerard and all the murders he did, or even Coach Lahey and his crimes. Sometimes the laws get in the way, but they’re there to protect everyone, so mostly they should be obeyed.
After all I can always bend the rules if lives are at risk. The moment lives are at risk the laws are more like guidelines.
“Yeah, I can’t give a verdict on this, this is too freaking big. I’d need to be really sure that they were the right people, that everyone involved was caught, and that they weren’t framed for it,” I’m fairly sure I’ve given the wrong answer, hunters don’t wait for anything like that, they just shoot first and burn the bodies.
Scott circles behind the man and starts sniffing, “Hey bro, he’s really excited and happy right now.”
The other werewolves are sniffing the other men in the room, they have the same opinion and now I really don’t know what’s going on. These are hunters, and they’re the hunters that the hunters are scared of.
“Even though it was your husband, your Mate, that was kidnapped and tortured?” He asks me.
“Yeah. Holy mother of god, because it’s Peter I’d have to be really sure. I mean if I screw up and get it wrong, then the real criminals get away. The people that hurt Peter would walk away and all those families that have lost loved ones won’t get any justice. Plus, what’s to stop the real criminals from doing it again, and again?” It’s an effort not to wave my hands around to emphasise my points, but Peter’s still touching his Mark, so I hang on for dear life to my wrist.
“In that case Matriarch, I thank you for your time, and help with this matter,” He taps his screen and stands up. “Your transport will be ready in moments. My hunters are ready and waiting to go. Good luck,” He walks around the table and holds his hand out to me.
Staring at it, I get gingerly to my feet, and then shake his hand wondering what the hell is going on now. His hand shake is firm, neither too hard, nor too soft, and there are callouses on his hand.
“Okay?” I’m completely baffled. Hunters don’t make sense on a good day, right now they are so freaking crazy it simply doesn’t compute.
Instead of being allowed to go to bed, and sleep, I’m hustled off towards the door. Then I’m lead down a corridor to a fire exit. A Cadre is already waiting for us and he’s disabled the alarm on the door. I have to go down the stairs and I’m really worried about what’s going to happen to me.
They take me to the garage area. There are four men in biking leathers waiting for us. Behind them are four sleek looking bikes. I really hope I'm not on the back of one of those, the thought of having to hang onto a guy isn't that pleasant, plus I really don't want to have to spread my legs around any man, except Peter.
Another man is leaning against a dark coloured car, it's not the usual hunter SUV, it's way sportier, he nods to the Commander, “We managed to find a vehicle with the required safety specs for the Matriarch to travel in sir.”
“Good,” the Commander nods. “You know your mission. The Matriarch must survive, no matter the cost. The rest of us will search and destroy all threats to the Code. There will be no stone left unturned. All those who have been breaking the Code will be punished.” His already cold voice is Arctic now and I stand as still as possible so as not to attract anyone's attention.
Turning slightly the Commander nods to me, “Matriarch Stilinski, good luck on your journey. I hope we meet again. If not, the Cadre driving you is my replacement.” With that he leaves and I'm ushered over to the car by the guy I'm guessing is my driver.
Sliding into the plush leather front passenger seat I still can't work out what type of car this is, it's like nothing I've ever seen before. The seatbelts are like racing car ones. The windows are tinted but only slightly. The accents details are bright blue and as the guy settles into his seat and turns the car on I see why, the LEDs are all in blue too.
Moments later and we're leaving the hotel garage in the middle of the bikes. The formation they're in suggests they're escorting us, or guarding us, and I wonder where the hell I'm being taken to now. I just hope Peter can find me and get me out of this mess.