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catierambles · 6 months

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Feral Instincts Ch.21

Pairing: The Rogue’s Gallery (Geralt, Syverson, Mike, August Walker, Walter Marshall) x Stephanie Daniels (OFC)

WC 2270

Warnings: Anxieties

After coordinating with Heather's Alpha Peter, Stephanie and he arranged for them to get together in the local state park on a Saturday around late morning, that way they could get the introductions out of the way before they started cooking for lunch. The day of the cookout was gorgeous, the sun bright and warm, the air slightly cool but too much where there was a chill. Geralt had needed to go out of town a couple days prior, borrowing Sy's truck, but said he would be back the day of, and would meet them at the park.

August and Walter went in August's black SUV, while Sy, Stephanie, and Mike piled into Walter's dark four door pickup truck, Sy's grill and a couple coolers filled with food and drinks secured in the back. The others were already there, including her pack from the apartment buildings, when they pulled into the park and August helped Sy unload everything as Stephanie, Walter, and Mike went over to them, Stephanie seeing Heather standing with an older man that honestly reminded her of Tom Selleck circa Magnum PI.

"Hey, you!" Heather said, giving her a wide smile as she saw her and they shared a hug. "Oof, haven't seen you since before you were infected. Shit, were we wrong about you being a Beta."

"Heather, this is Walter Marshall, one the Alphas I told you about, the former cop." Stephanie said and Peter extended a hand.

"Nice to meet you." Peter said and Walter shook it briefly.

"You as well." He said and Peter turned his attention to her.

"That was rude, sorry. Shaking his hand before yours." He said, "Peter Danzig, pleasure to meet you."

"You too, nice to put a face to a voice." Stephanie said, shaking his hand with a smile, not failing to notice how Walter's arm looped around her waist and he tugged her closer slightly. She just gave him a look and he pulled an apologetic face. "This is my Beta, Mike Syverson." She looped her arm in his, laying her head on his shoulder.

"Hey." Mike said, moving his head at him in greeting.

"There were four Alphas, right?" Heather asked and Stephanie nodded.

"August and Sy are getting things unloaded but should be---there they are." She said, smiling as they joined them. "This is Markus Syverson, we all call him Sy--"

"Howdy."

"And August--"

"Walker." Peter finished, his pleasant expression faltering slightly.

"Do you two…know each other?" Stephanie asked, picking up on the sudden tension.

"Not that I'm aware of." August said, giving Peter a steady look.

"Your reputation precedes." He said and August made an understanding sound, nodding slightly.

"Well, don't worry, I'm not here on business." He said and Stephanie looked back and forth between them with an arched brow. "I'll explain later, sweetheart."

"That's three," Heather said, "Where's the fourth?"

"Oh, Geralt had to go out of town, but he's meeting us here." She said.

"Geralt…Rivian?" Peter asked and she nodded, "You have August Walker and Geralt Rivian in your pack?"

"Another preceding reputation?" Stephanie asked and Peter nodded. "I know he's a Tracker for the Pack Council and hunts down Ferals, but I don't--"

"I'll explain later." August said again, his gaze not leaving Peter.

“August.” She said but he didn’t look at her, “Blink.” That made him look at her and he gave her a soft smile, pulling her in and pressing his lips to her forehead. “And, I don’t know, bond over your mutual mustachness, or something.” Mike and Sy gave a snort, August giving her a look that she returned. “Now, if that’s all, I need to be tackled by a bunch of kids.” She pulled away from them, heading over to where the families were sitting, opening her arms wide. “Kiddos!” There was a high pitched chorus of her name and she was suddenly surrounded by children of varying ages. She made sure to greet each of them in turn with a hug, picking up two of the smallest and settling them on each hip as she went to greet the parents. August, Sy, and Walter watched all of this with a fond smile and Mike cleared his throat.

“It ain’t happening, remember?” He reminded them.

“We know, Mikey.” Sy said but they didn’t take their eyes from her.

“Steph had a sterilization procedure done a few years before she was infected.” Walter explained, catching Peter’s confused look. “She can no longer have children.”

“A female Alpha that can’t have kids?” Peter asked, “No offense, but then why are you all with her?” They looked at him in unison, their stares hardening.

“Offense not meant, but offense taken.” Sy said, “We’re with Steph because we love Steph, she’s our Mate. Would it be nice to have pups with her? Yeah, it would, but it’s her body and her choice. Female Alphas ain’t baby makin’ machines, good for nothin’ else.”

“Ignore him,” Heather said, rolling her eyes, “He grew up in a traditional wolf family and is kind of old fashioned, makes him a bit of a dick sometimes.” Mike snorted at that, rolling his eyes and breaking away from the group. Going over to Stephanie, he dodged children to press a kiss to her cheek, making her look up at him with a smile.

Despite the rough start, the day went on a bit better, the two packs mingling and friendships forming. A game of touch football was proposed that made Sy light up, Mike telling her that he had been the captain of their high school's football team and had played during college while he was going through ROTC for the Army.

"Did you ever play, babe?" Sy asked.

"Football?" Stephanie asked, and shook her head. "I played sports in high school and college, but not that."

"Let me guess," Sy said with a smirk, "Softball."

"Rugby." She said with an unamused tone and Walter snorted into his soda can. "A bit like football, only we hit harder and don't wear protection. Went through almost an entire match once with a broken nose. Caught an elbow early on."

"Is that why you have that scar on the bridge of your nose?" Walter asked and she nodded.

"Got it set at the hospital once the match was over." She said, "Didn't let it stop me from playing the next match, though."

"You're so cool!" Mike said with a defeated tone and she snorted, pulling him in by his shirt and pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

"You guys go have fun, I'll be cheering from the sidelines." She said and they each gave her a kiss in turn, heading off to where the others were gathering. August wasn't participating, as he really wasn't wearing the right footwear for it, so he stayed off to the sides with Stephanie. Despite the cool air, they still worked up a sweat as they played and soon the shirts were shed and she would admit to watching them just a little more intently as they played. Sy and Walter were bulky with muscle, but still agile as they moved around the field. Mike had more of a runner or swimmers build, slender but still defined and he was almost fluid as he dodged the opposing team.

She wasn't the only one who noticed them, however, and she caught a few other women watching them just as intently. They were a couple Betas and Omegas from Peter's pack, and they were pretty, conventionally so. She couldn't hear what they were saying amongst themselves as they were too far away, but with the giggles and the looks, she could hazard a guess. Patting August's low back, she moved away from him, skirting the edges of their makeshift field and heading over to a cooler to get something to drink. It just happened to have been located by them, but far enough away to where they wouldn't notice her there.

"Damn, those Alphas from that mountain pack look good."

"The Beta isn't hard on the eyes either."

"Didn't they come here with a female Alpha?"

"Yeah, but it's probably nothing. Did you see her? Oof." Their laughter was catty.

"I heard she was their Mate."

"Yeah, and I also heard that she can't even breed, so they're wasting their time if she is."

"Think we should take a shot?"

"Probably wouldn't be difficult." She moved away after that, heading back to August with her bottle of water.

"You okay?" He asked, picking up on her soured mood.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She said, giving him a small, well trained smile. The game ended and she watched as they headed over to the coolers, the women approaching them. Again, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but she got the feeling the flush to Mike's cheeks wasn't just from the physical exertion. An Omega reached out, touching Sy's tattoo gently and the small smile he gave her twisted her heart. She wasn’t jealous. She wasn’t. She was…preparing herself. "Hey, can I have your keys?"

"Of course." August said, not looking up from his phone as he dug in his pocket, handing her the fob. "Are you okay?"

"Need some quiet. Getting a little people'd out." She said and walked away from him, heading for his SUV. The doors unlocked as she touched the back door handle and she pulled it open, crawling into the backseat and closing the door. Sounds were instantly muffled as she laid against the leather.

"Did you see her? Oof."

"She can't even breed. They're wasting their time."

"Wouldn't be difficult."

Tears stung at her eyes and she blinked them away. She wouldn't blame them if they went elsewhere. She couldn't give them kids, even if she wanted to, and besides, she wasn't exclusive to one of them, why would they be exclusive to her? Wouldn't be fair.

The nagging doubts built in her head again and she curled in on herself. They wouldn't be with her if she wasn't a wolf, she was sure of it now. Mike said he would be, but she was already infected when they met, so how accurate was that?

Mike sputtered a little on his drink, his eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" The female Beta he had been talking to asked, but he ignored her, looking around for Stephanie but not seeing her. He moved away at a quick jog, heading towards August on the other side of the field.

"Where's Steph?" He asked when he got to him.

"In my truck, why?" He asked.

"Is she okay?"

"Just needed some quiet." August said and caught the look on his face. "What's going on?"

"I can't feel her anymore." He said and took off, running across the park towards the cars. Going up to August's truck, he didn't see her in the passenger seat so he pulled up the back door, his eyes immediately going to her curled up on the bench seat. "Sweetcheeks." He crawled into the car with her, wrapping her in his arms and maneuvering them so she was half laying on him.

"You deserve better than me." She sobbed and his heart broke just a little bit more, "All of you. Someone stable, someone undamaged. Someone who can give you what you want. I can't, Mike, I can't give you those things."

"Babe." He said, his arms tightening around her. Anger built as did his sorrow, but not at her, at the Feral who messed with her head and hurt her, who was still hurting her.

"Hey, Geralt just sent me a text." Sy said, coming up to the truck, "He's about five minutes--what happened."

"I can't feel her, Sy." Mike said, his eyes closed tight. "She's not there anymore."

“Doll?” Sy asked, reaching out and touching her. “Baby, come on back to us.”

“What’s--” August stopped when he saw them, “This again? I thought we were past this.”

“Don’t you fuckin’ dare, Walker.” Sy said, turning on him. “She’s goin’ through a goddamn war in her head right now, she don’t need you throwin’ a grenade.” He just sighed, his hand coming down on the doorframe and she flinched.

“Did you just flinch?” August asked and Sy pushed him away with a snarl.

“Walk away.” He said and August looked like he was about to say something but Sy cut him off, “Now.” He watched him walk away before giving them his attention again. “How many Omegas we got in the pack?”

“None she’s close with.” Mike said, sliding his hand into her hair and pressing his lips to her forehead, needing to physically feel her as there was a yawning void where she should have been. There was the sound of tires on gravel, a peace settling over her heart making her sigh.

“Geralt’s here.” Sy said, but she already knew that.

“You want to greet him, babe?” Mike asked and she nodded. There was more maneuvering and they slid out from the SUV, Stephanie still sniffling, running her fingers through her hair to try to tame it some.

“Hey.” Sy said, “We got--holy shit.” She looked up, seeing Geralt standing there but he wasn’t alone.

“Sy…” Mike said, his eyes going wide.

“Yeah.” Sy said, going over to their guest slowly. He was young, maybe around sixteen, with pale skin and short, shaggy black hair. They stared at each other for a moment before Sy pulled him into his arms, holding him tightly, the young man returning his embrace and she saw his shoulders shake.

“Mike?” Stephanie asked.

“It’s our baby brother, Steph.” Mike said, “It’s Albert.”

#henry cavill #captain syverson #walter marshall #august walker #hellraiser mike #geralt of rivia #feral instincts

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