Peter Hale had been in love before. Back then he had loved generously, sharing
his home, his heart and his pack without conditions or limitations. He had loved unselfishly, putting his wife first
and allowing her needs and desires to hold court over his own. Even though it was contrary to his nature,
Peter had loved graciously. He’d never demanded to be the sole focus of her
attention and was only the slightest bit resentful when he’d had to share her with
others. His love for Carmen had softened
his rough edges, stripped him of (most) of his manipulations and machinations,
and left behind a man who had been (almost) wholly content to simply love and
be loved in return.
There were many things about his life before the
fire that Peter was more than willing to leave behind but Carmen and the love
they’d shared wasn’t one of them. He’d
vowed to never forget the taste of her coffee flavored kisses in the early
morning, the sight of sleek coils of black silk spread out across her snow white
pillowcase as she slept or the smell of the jasmine scented perfume she used to
dab onto her warm brown skin. My Tumblr
The only thing about Carmen that Peter couldn’t
remember was the sound of her voice. There
were no videos that survived the fire and any voicemails or recordings had been
lost to him while he’d been healing, held prisoner inside of his own body. Every time he tried to conjure up her sweet
southern drawl from memory it faded away, drowned out by the sounds of her
screaming in agony as she burned to death.
Yes, Peter had loved before. He had loved gently, kindly, sweetly. He had loved the correct way. He had loved the
moral way. He had loved the healthy way. His love for Carmen
hadn’t been tainted by such things as obsession or jealousy. Peter had deliberately turned away from his
darker nature and allowed Carmen and her love to transform him into a better
man, an almost but not quite virtuous man.
He had abandoned his ambitions and turned his back on his inclinations
all in the name of love.
And his reward had been to have that love snatched
away along with his good intentions, both consumed in a fire started in malice
and fueled by madness.
Peter knew now what he hadn’t known then. He understood that his love for Carmen had
been all wrong. He had been too willing
to compromise rather than conquer. He
had allowed known threats to remain unchecked, unwilling to rock the boat lest
she be caught in the crossfire. He had
championed coexisting with the enemy rather than demanding their capitulation. The
way he’d loved Carmen had been too soft, too passive, too human and in the end she had been lost to him because of it. Peter was determined not to make the same
mistake twice.
He had loved Carmen as a man and that love had
failed to protect her.
He would love Derek and
Stiles as an alpha and shield them from all.
