Renounce

Daryl couldn't sleep; between Carol's sobbing in her sleep and Andrea fidgeting with her gun, trying to put it back together the noise was terrible. He gets up off the RV floor where he slept and grabs his crossbow and a flashlight.

"

I need my gun and my clip now." He tells Andrea; she hands it to him. "I'm gonna walk the road, shine a light in the woods so if Sophia is out there, she's got something to focus on."

With a nod to Carol who just wipes away her tears, the Beta woman follows him out, not wanting to be stuck on Carol duty again. She also has a few things that she wants to talk to Daryl about. They inform Dale as he was the one on watch and take off, making sure they don't wander to far away. They walk in silence for a while, but Andrea couldn't stand it anymore.

"Do you really think that we're going to find Sophia? The pup has been missing for two days now." Daryl shines the light in the Beta's face, giving her a stupid look.

"Of course, we're going to find that little girl. What the hell's wrong with you people, we just started looking."

"Well do you or not?"

"It ain't the Mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia. She's probably hiding in some farm house or somethin'."

"She's only 12, Daryl. You can't expect her to be able to protect herself or anything. She's away from the group and probably scared."

"I was younger than her and I got lost." Daryl kicks the dirt with his heel and spits, Andrea scowls in disgust at it but stays close. Dixon didn't open up lightly and if Andrea knew something about the ruff Beta that no one else knew- Daryl continued, "Spent a little over a week lost in the woods, eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak."

"They found you I'm guessing." Andrea snorts. Of course, Dixon would compare his great story against a baby Omega's tragic one.

"Hell no." The Beta woman looks at the hunter in surprise, "My old man was on a bender with a Beta waitress he met; hadn't seen him in a couple of months. Merle was in another stint in Juvie. Both of them didn't even know I was gone, though I doubt they would have cared if they had. I found my way back, went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich."

"I'm sorry, but poison oak?" The two of them laughed.

"Only difference is Sophia's got people looking for her. I call that an advantage." Daryl says after they stop.

"Why didn't they care; what about your mother?"

Daryl's voice dropped and took on a raspy thick southern accent, "The world ain't evea gonna be givin no shits 'bout some Dixon boy. Don't expect it to, them how the weak get weaker, and die. Yer a Dixon boy, Dixons ain't weak. You take after yer whore of a moth'a and I shoot ya meself. I ain't raise no bitch."

Andrea stops walking, staring at the other man. Daryl didn't notice, yet he stopped to look for movement in the trees. "He would have done it too my old man. It's how he was raised, no bitches unless they're yours."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Andrea gasps.

"My family didn't take Mates or wives, only Breeders." Daryl swallows, "Dad only had one; he went against the rules, got attached. Never took another after my mom died, it would've killed him. He loved him, my mom. My uncle had six. He kept killing them when they "stepped out of place." First one I remember was Shelley, his fourth. I had a cousin from her, my uncle loved the kid; only boy he ever had. When he presented my uncle went to his room, saw the mess he made with his slick- Omega- old man shot him in his bed. Went and sat on the porch and had a beer with my dad. No bitches but yer own. Shelley came out with his shotgun, didn't say anything and blew her brains out. The two of them laughed and went and got my uncle another one. He fucked the new woman on the porch next to the corpse with the whole neighborhood hootin' and hollerin'. Took her inside and knotted her over his son's body. Told her she better never give him another bitch. I still hear her screaming in pain and fright."

"I thought you said you were raised Traditional. That's beyond Traditional, that's barbaric." Andrea stutters.

"Let me put it to ya this way; compare it to Christianity. New School is Baptist, Traditional is Old Testament. My neighborhood was somewhere between Jehovah's Witness and Amish."

"What?"

"I don't know, thought they were different enough for you to understand the severity of their rules and beliefs. Let's head back."

"I thought you said he was on a bender with a Beta when you got lost, but he never took another after yer mom?"

"I was 8 when I got lost, 11 when my cousin presented. My mom had killed himself when he found out dad was runnin off playing hookie. My mom might have been a Breeder, but he loved my dad too. It hurt him because he always thought he wasn't enough."

"Daryl? Why are you different? You don't believe in that stuff, I know you don't. Why?" Andrea watches the Beta's face.

"Because even though he was an asshole, Merle wanted the best for me. He raised me to be better than my dad, got me out of there after I presented and into a New School district. Made sure to beat all my dad's lessons out of me when he could. Still had to stay with the old man when Merle got picked up and served time, but Merle did alright by me."

"That why you don't trust Shane?" Daryl didn't say another word, but Andrea had her answer.

Carol and Dale are waiting for them to get back. When Carol sees them without her daughter, she starts crying, getting down from the RV and heading inside. Daryl sees her and says nothing when Dale comes down and looks at him. He turns off the flashlight and goes inside to comfort the Omega, while Dale gives Andrea her gun back.

...

Glenn and T - Dog arrive at the farm after dark in Carol's jeep. They walk up to the door slowly, stiles came run let T - Dog leaning on him and Glenn heavily. Reaching the steps, they see blood. Glenn swallows and tries to joke it off, making sure T-Dog could hear him. "So, should we ring the bell or...?"

"We're past this aren't we?" T - Dog grunts as he walks up onto the porch, "Having to be considerate?"

"Did you close the gate up the road when ya drove in?" Maggie asks, smiling. Glenn moves in front of T - Dog and bares his teeth, surprised by the other Alpha. When he realizes what he did he whines an apology, throat bare but he stays in front of his hurt Packmate.

"Sorry, hi. Yeah we closed it." Glenn glances at T - Dog. "We came to help. Anything we can do?"

Maggie glances at the Beta and the cut on his arm. "It's not a bite. I cut myself pretty bad though."

"We'll have it looked at; I'll tell them you're here." The two of them follow Maggie inside with the promise of food. Glenn could smell Rick, Lori, and Carl the second they stepped in. He whines, looking between Maggie and the room, not knowing if he could see them or not. T - Dog moves closer too, and Maggie smiles tightly, gesturing to the room. Glenn runs over just to stand in the doorway, watching.

Maggie looks at T - Dog in question. "We think he comes from a big family of Alphas, so he's Suppressed, badly. First time I've seen him act on his Alpha instincts was out there on that porch and you saw how quick he was to submit after it. Rick has done some good things for him and he ain't even been with us that long."

Maggie gives Glenn a little nudge towards Rick and the Alpha whines to get his Prime's attention. Rick turns around and stands up, going to his Packmates. He hugs them both and scents them, nodding to T - Dog's cut. "It getting any better?"

"Yeah. Daryl gave me some good ass painkillers and stuff. They're going to stay on the highway tonight, make a sign for Sophia, leave her some supplies and stuff." Rick purrs softly and rubs their necks when T - Dog tells him what the Packs were doing for the pup. Glenn steps behind Rick with a whimper when Hershel stands up from checking over Carl. Lori looks up at the noise and cuts off whatever the Elder Alpha was going to say.

"If they-"

"I'm sorry but Glenn," The Asian Alpha flinches at the way the Beta woman says his name, drawing Hershel's attention with a frown, "my son is lying here, internally bleeding and I don't have the patience to deal with your games. Grow up or get out of this room."

Drawning a growl from Stiles as he sat at Glenn's feet in wolf form still not being able to shift back.

"LORI!" Rick roars, eyes black. "Be quiet. Now is not the time for your insensitive, Traditional Beta hierarchy shit. Keep my Pack out of your mouth."

Rick turns to Glenn, the Alpha's lip was bleeding and his throat was shaking with all his efforts not to make a sound, so he could stay in the room with the pup. Rick rumbles loudly and threatening towards Lori, but he massages Glenn's neck, trying to loosen the muscles before the Alpha cuts off his airway trying to please the Beta bitch. When that doesn't work, and Glenn's breathing turns shallow he moves.

"Maggie, please, help me get him in the other room, T - Dog, stile make sure he's keeps breathing, we have to get him away from Lori. Now move, move!" The Prime shoves Glenn gently out of the room and they make their way to the couch. Once Glenn is seated Rick hits his knees in front of him, dragging Glenn's head forward and rubbing their scent glands together, purring as loud as he could. The others stay back and watch, even Hershel who had followed them in case the Alpha need medical help, because none of them knew what to do. How do you help an Alpha that is so Suppressed, he takes orders from a Beta that wasn't even a part of his own Pack?

Glenn clings to Rick and when he starts to purr back, the Prime gestures for T - Dog to join in Stiles sit at their feet the 10 ft wolf wasatch his father. The Alpha pulls Daryl's rabbit's foot out of his pocket and holds it up to Glenn's nose as well. The smell of the four men helps, and Glenn finds the strength to speak.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to stay for Carl, I didn't mean to-"

"Hey, look at me." Rick waits until Glenn looks him in the eye, "I'm your Alpha right? Not Lori, not Shane, not Dale, me, right?"

Glenn nods. "So, who do you listen to?"

"You and anyone you put in charge. But Lori's his mother and she has a say about-" Glenn whimpers and Rick cuts him off. "-But I'm his father and if I say you can be in there, Lori can't do shit. Now, if it makes you feel better, I'll take you and T - Dog in there later when Lori comes out, so you won't have to worry about her saying anything to you, ok? You listen to me, not Lori; my orders, not anyone else's unless it's for the good of the Flock. We're going to listen to Hershel and his Pack because we are on their property, their rules. Both of you understand?"

"Yes, Alpha." Glenn and T - Dog reply. Hershel raises a brow in surprise that the younger Alpha was going to defer his Pack to another Alpha's decisions. It was a refreshing bout of manners the older Alpha hadn't expected.

"Now I'm going to go back in there to check on Carl, and deal with the Beta." The way Rick said that made the Greene Pack wonder how the pup could be the two of theirs if they didn't get along well. Rick ignores the other Pack while he purrs at Glenn, making sure the Alpha knew he wasn't in trouble, "But I need you to do something else for me. T - Dog's hurt right now and my son isn't turn back into his human for while his little brother is hurt, so I need you to take care of them while I take care of Carl, ok? Can you do that for me; take care of T - Dog and Stiles? Be their Alpha right now while I deal with the puppy? Can you?"

"Yes! I can do that. You will be able to help if I need it, I know where Carl's room is. But you need to be there for the pup, Maggie can help show me and T - Dog around, right?" Glenn looks at the other Alphas, hopeful. Rick looks at Hershel, pleading, who nods his consent. Maggie goes over to T - Dog and helps him stand, Glenn rushes forward to grab his other arm, the injured one. He looks to Rick one more time.

"You know where I am." Rick purrs softly and waves them off.

"If that boy had a tail, it would be wagging so hard, I'd be scared he would sprain it." Rick laughs at the image and turns to the older Alpha.

"I mean it, my Pack will defer to you and yours. But Shane has his own Pack, and our Flock tend to fight amongst each other on what's right and wrong. I can't promise anything with them or the ones that stay unattached, but you have my word that I will speak with them and warn them about any rules you set up. They look to me, even Shane, as their Prime, so they are my responsibility. I hope we can come to an understanding." Rick holds out his hand for Hershel to shake, and he does. "Now, can we return to Carl and Lori? You were trying to tell us something about our son.... my pup and I want to know anything we can get."

....

Lori ran when Hershel tells them he was going to have to operate without the respirator if Shane and Otis didn't get back within minutes. Rick finds her on the porch, crying silently, with her arms wrapped around her sides as if they were the only things holding her together.

"Maybe this isn't a world for children anymore." Lori sighs.

"Yeah well, we have a child. And he's here now, so I guess-" Rick tries to joke off, not liking where the conversation was already going. Lori cuts him off with a scuff.

"Maybe he shouldn't be. Maybe this is for the best." Lori turns to the Alpha and gasps. Rick's eyes were completely black, white fist tremble by his sides with veins popping out like it was taking everything in him to hold back. The Alpha turns around, clenching and unclenching his hands, taking deep breathes through his nose. He snarls when she tries to call his name, and Lori seems to realize that MAYBE she had finally pushed too far. Once he's calmed down and his eyes are no longer black, Rick addresses the Beta woman. "You can't mean that. That boy in there is OUR SON."

"Why? Why would we want Carl to live like this? So, he can see more people be ripped apart in front of him? So, he can run.... and run.... and run.... and run? So, he can run away until he's- he's going to have to go to sleep with one eye open, hungry and scared and tired, every night for the rest of his life, for however long that will be? And if he does survive- what then? He lives as an ANIMAL, living off instincts? If he dies tonight, that's it. He doesn't have to be scared anymore. Jacqui and Amy and Jim; they don't have to-"

"ENOUGH." Rick growls angrily. "I won't- I will not listen to this anymore. THAT IS OUR SON! And you-"

Rick's voice breaks, his eyes water. How could he have ever loved this woman; how could Shane still? Rick shakes his head and walks away, ready to hit the Beta and knowing it would be wrong. Hershel's Pack wasn't like his and they didn't know their story. The Alpha couldn't risk them not treating T - Dog and Carl because he couldn't control his temper around his ex.

"Rick!" The Alpha stops, holding the door open with one foot inside, waiting for Lori to continue, "You have to understand, I can't have my son growing up in a world like this one."

"Then maybe Carl shouldn't be your son." Rick leaves her to sob on the porch. The nerve of that woman.

.....

Carl wakes up later, not knowing where he was. Rick and Lori calm him down and introduce Hershel before Carl goes into a seizure. Rick hits his knees, crying as he watches his pup shake in pain. He offers his arm before Hershel even says anything, "You're wasting time. Help my pup, please."

The others come in with the noise, All of Hershel's Pack and Rick's. And Lori chooses that time to make things worse. "I renounce my Claim."

Rick freezes and the group stares at her in shock. Lori wraps her arms around herself as Hershel asks, breathless in disbelief, "What do mean you renounce your Claim; Claim to whom?"

"To Carl. I don't want any child of mine to live in a world like this. What would they think of me?"

Rick knew where she was going, it was where she always went. The opinion of how others would view HER. The Alpha snaps. He turns to Lori with a snarl, "They're dead! Your friends, your family, your MOTHER. Their opinions don't matter anymore, because they're gone! How we raised Carl was never any of their business in the first place, it damn well isn't now. THIS IS YOUR SON."

"He was my son." Lori sniffles, "This is hard enough for me, Rick. I don't need you villainizing me-"

"You're his mother. He needs you now more than ever and your- your going to-" Beth, Hershel youngest daughter and an Omega, starts sobbing. Patricia herds her out, shushing her and glaring at Lori. Rick ignores everyone else and begs Hershel to take more blood.

"I can't take anymore from you Rick, you'll die."

"I can't lose my pup, please-"

"Take mine." The two men look at Glenn who was already moving to the seat next to Rick, rolling up his sleeve.

"Young man-"

"He's A Positive, I'm O Negative; I can donate to anyone. Take mine." The Asian Alpha insists, "Carl's a part of my Pack, my family. We take care of our own."

It was an obvious dig at Lori, and the Beta was quick to retaliate while Maggie rushed to get him set up.

"I'm not going to apologize for MY parenting choices to some-"

"That's it." T - Dog comes up and grabs Lori by the back of her neck, dragging her from the room, "I've had to listen to the bullshit comin' out of yer mouth for the last five months and now that the pup ain't your no more, I'm done. I'll guard the door." it shut behind the two of them and the ones left can hear them argue.

Hershel turns to Rick who was purring and Scenting Glenn softly in thanks. "I'm sorry but I need an answer. If I'm going to operate I have to do it now."

"Do it."

Shane gets back just as they're moving Carl to the table for surgery. Glenn stays where he is while Patricia gets the supplies ready. Rick runs out of the room to meet the two, Hershel following. Lori is already by the other Alpha since she was sitting outside with T - Dog when he pulled up.

"Carl?" The man pants, praying he wasn't too late. Hershel and Maggie grab the stuff and head back in, T - Dog taking the bags from Maggie, telling her to go greet the guys and thank Otis for getting the stuff, before running after the Elder Alpha as fast as he could. Maggie goes down where Rick and Lori are filling Shane in when she notices that something was missing.

"Otis? Is he-" she chokes back tears when Shane shakes his head, "no one tells Patricia. She needs to help daddy and she can't do that if she knows-he's-"

Maggie goes back in the house without another word. Rick pulls the Alpha that had risked so much for his pup into his Scent glands and just breathes, allowing his scent to calm the man. Lori has disappeared when they pull apart.

Glenn was released from blood duty after Hershel comes back in with the stuff from Shane and Otis, T - Dog right behind him. He goes to check on his Alpha, when Maggie comes through the door sobbing. He follows her instead and lets her tell him about Otis. His death, how the Greene Pack knew him; she told him about the others she had lost to the New World, whose pictures hung on the fridge. And when she couldn't talk anymore, he lets her use his shoulder to cry on, hoping his scent was as comforting to her as Rick's has been for him.

.....

Rick goes with Hershel to tell Patricia about Otis once Carl is stable enough. Shane watches as the woman breaks down at the table, before he goes sees the pup. He finds Lori in there, after not seeing her for hours.

"Why didn't you come see him after Hershel told Rick he was going to be ok?"

"I did something stupid; said something I regret but can't take back." The Beta takes a deep breath.

"I renounced my Claim; I couldn't bear the thought that he was going to die the same way he thought his father had. If I had just said it in front of Rick it would have been one thing, it could have been played off as both of us being over emotional because our son was dying. But I said it in front of everyone else and I just-" Lori stands up sniffing and wipes her hands on her jeans, petting Carl's hair one more time. Shane fights down the feeling to rip her hand off the boy. You don't abandon your pup, ever. "-There's a shower upstairs and your clothes and some towels are already in there."

She walks past him and places a kiss on his cheek, wiping more tears away and heading towards the porch. Part of the Alpha wants to go after her; his Mate was upset and in emotional pain. Another part of him thinks she deserves to be. He decides to go take the shower; hopefully it will wash away the feeling of guilt he has for sacrificing Otis. He shaves his head, praying no one had noticed the patch of hair the Beta had ripped out, trying to keep Shane from leaving him there, the Alpha's last bullet in his leg, preventing him from getting up.....

.....

Stiles watch maggie treat T-Dog arm and went he flinches it cause a growl or whimper to be drawn from the omegas lips... stile 10 ft form curled around glenn and T-Dog tail thumping against the couch.... while glenn pet stiles head..

" so why is his wolf form so big... I know there is only a few people out there able to shift into wolves but I never head of them being as big as his..... ... he is 10 ft tall in wolf form " maggie ask...

" we dont really know only that his a purebred... lori is a half-blood and isn't stiles mother... rick had a mate before lori and she was a full blood ... and rick is a full blood too so when they made Stiles... a purebred baby..." glenn said

" oh so I get it people like us are half-blood.... we dont have a wolf only a abo will stiles mother and father develop wolves making them a full-blood..." Maggie's said looking at the wolf.

" what happen to rick first mate..." the female alpha ask

Stile whines and whimpers at the mentions of his mother...

"Rick said claudia had died.. shesuffered from frontotemporal dementia and died from it about 8 years later, rick said stiles never left her side and held her hand when she did and suffered ....." T-Dog said.

Stiles whimper and gets up and walk off glenn look at t-dog and Maggie know now the boy still was hurt by it.

Stiles found himself outside at the horse barn the horse didn't care for his appearance as long as he stay as far as he could away from them he hide in the haystack...

" stiles come on ..... please ..." glenn kept walking around calling for the omega... but he wasnt going back...