Wolf Moon

Ahmose Inarus

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor do I make any profit off of writing this.

SLASH WARNING! Hotch / Reid

Written for the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Halloween Horrors Challenge. The moderators supplied a number of titles of the novels of the Master of Horror himself, Stephen King. We were to pick any title and write a fic using that as the prompt. I chose, "Cycle of the Werewolf".

Chapter 1

Quantico, Virginia

The first time Aaron Hotchner caught a whiff of that scent, he felt his ears perk and his hackles bristle… even though he wasn't even in his pelt. And to his confusion, the faint scent had come off of Gideon, who had just come from the Academy. Hotch could only come to the conclusion that the scent had come from one of the Cadets. Over the next few months, he caught a faint whiff of the same scent from time to time… and he didn't like it. As an Alpha Wolf, he didn't like others encroaching on his territory. With luck the young cadet wolf would be shipped off after graduation. And soon, the graduation day came.

Not long after, Hotch got a whiff of that scent again. At first it was faint. Frowning, he stood from his desk and stepped out of his office. And he got another whiff.

"Hey Hotch!" He looked at Gideon, who was down by the doors to the bullpen. And then Hotch spotted the boy beside him. Ah. The new team member. Dr. Spencer Reid. The boy was a certified genius, and as Gideon told it, a brilliant profiler. Hotch made his way across the bullpen.

"And this is Aaron Hotchner." Gideon announced. "Hotch… This is Dr. Reid." Derek Morgan stepped aside, and the young man turned and faced Hotch. And that scent filled his senses. It made his nostrils flare, his eyes widen and his pupils contract. He could feel his blood racing in his veins, and took all his self control not to bare his teeth and snarl at the young wolf before him.

Reid stared back, eyes wide in… fear. Hotch was surprised, but satisfied to see that fear. He stared the boy down, and felt that satisfaction swell when the boy lowered his eyes, admitting his submissive status to the larger male…

That evening, Hotch paced in his home.

Most of their kind lived in packs. He did when he was young. But DC and the surrounding areas were Neutral Territory. As it was not a state, but it's own district, so his kind adhered to that as well. No pack could claim it as its territory, every wolf was to respect one another, and these rules were not to be broken, on pain of death… But even so… it was wolf's instinct to claim his territory. And as such, no wolf really lived near another in the neutral territory… But now, a young male had moved into the area that Aaron Hotchner considered to be his territory, and this was NOT to be taken lightly.

The boy had showed the proper submission that day, but Hotch had to make sure that the boy KNEW his place…

He snorted and shook his head, collapsing onto the sofa and picking up his glass of bourbon, sipping it slowly. He rolled it around on his tongue before letting it slide down his throat. As he did, he let his head fall back onto the sofa and he stared at the ceiling. Once dark brown, his eyes were now a brilliant amber color, and he could feel his sharp teeth in his mouth, against his tongue. He longed to stretch his body out, slither out of his clothes and allow his sleek black pelt to overtake his form… to run through the dark on long legs, tasting the cool autumn air, and the hot blood of a kill…

But he had to work in the morning. Running was not an option. And so he subdued the wolf within him, and retired to bed…

The next day, he snarled as he entered the bullpen. The boy's scent was strong in his nostrils… a young male, still a pup for God's sake, and here he was… in HIS territory. Hotch wondered how long this whelp would last… He was pathetic. He was hardly material for the FBI. OR for the wolves. And yet, he was one. Obviously, he was the runt of the litter. And he was, by far, the most submissive looking wolf Hotch had ever encountered. But he had to have something to him, to have survived for this long… the boy had left his territory to attend college… wolves just didn't do that. He had taken a big risk, entering the territory of another pack…

Of course, maybe he had done what Hotch had done. When Hotch had decided that he had wanted to go away to college, he had tracked down the Alpha of the pack that controlled the territory that his school of choice was in, and had written him a letter, explaining who he was, what he would like to do, and swearing that he held no ill will towards the pack. He had received a letter back, asking for a formal meeting. And so he had gone.

He had met the local pack Alpha at a diner on neutral territory. The young, eighteen year old Aaron Hotchner had lunch with the alpha, a large brown timber wolf, who at the end of the meal, had shaken hands with the young male and granted him permission to enter his territory for college, and extended him an invitation to run with his pack on the Full Moon. A strict boundary was set… should Hotch meet a female of his liking, he was to seek the permission of the Alpha before pursuing her.

Hotch had attended college, and had run with the pack, but had never really been interested enough in any of the females to want to woo them.

For Reid to leave his pack's territory and enter another's to go to college, he would have had to do the same. But he had NEVER asked permission to enter the territory of Aaron Hotchner!

Hotch snarled to himself. Oh, he would be having a talk with that boy…

A few days later, he finally got the opportunity. Most of the team had gone home. Reid was just finishing up. And Hotch had been waiting.

"Reid." The boy looked up at the call. "My office. Now." Reid's eyes widened, but he nodded and slowly stood, skittering up the stairs. Hotch held the door open. Reid shuffled in, eyeing him nervously. Then, in the sudden blink of an eye, the door had slammed closed, Reid was grabbed by the collar of his shirt and shoved up against it. Reid stood there, eyes wide in fear. He stared into a pair of blazing yellow eyes.

He trembled as a deep growl rumbled from Hotch's chest as the man bared his sharp, lupine teeth. Then, Hotch leaned in closer and inhaled deeply, taking in the young man's scent. Then he snarled.

"You have a lot of balls coming here without permission, pup." Hotch growled.

"I… I thought that… that DC was Neutral Territory!"

"But we're not IN DC, are we?!" Hotch snapped. "We're in Quantico, VIRGINIA!"

Reid winced and whimpered as Hotch shook him, and then slammed him against the door again. And he turned his head to the side at the threatening growl.

"I'm sorry!" He cried. "I… I didn't know!"

Hotch let out a sound that seemed to be a cross between a bark and a roar, and he turned and flung Reid down onto the floor of his office. Reid landed with a yelp, and then whimpered as he saw the larger male advancing on him. Immediately he rolled onto his back and turned his head to the side, exposing his throat and belly in a submissive fashion. Hotch was soon kneeling by his side and hovering over him threateningly, eyes darting back and forth between Reid's closed eyes and white throat.

The room was silent for a long time, save for the continuous low growl and the soft whimpers from the two wolves…

Finally, Reid gathered up the courage to speak up.

"Sir… I swear it… I'm no threat to you. I… I'm no threat to anyone! I'm not here to challenge you for anything! Please!"

"Then why ARE you here?!"

"… I… I just… I'm here to… work."

"Werewolves don't leave their pack. Why did you?"

"I… I don't HAVE a pack." Reid whined. And Hotch paused. The growl faded. Slowly, Reid opened his eyes and turned to look at Hotch. The man looked baffled.

"What?" He asked.

"I don't have a pack," Reid whispered. Hotch studied Reid for a long moment, and then he backed off. Reid remained where he was on the floor, watching the man. And the man watched him. Finally, after a long while, Hotch extended a hand. Reid eyed it for a moment, and then slowly reached out. Hotch clasped his hand in a tight grip, and pulled him to his feet. He stared at Reid, his eyes his normal human brown once again.

"Come on. I'll drive you home." He said. "Go get your things."

Reid nodded and scampered away. Hotch watched him go and sighed, frowning in thought. Then he gathered his coat and briefcase and left his office, turning out the lights.

Reid watched the sleet fall beneath the light of the streetlamps as they drove by them, one at a time. He wrapped his arms around his middle, glad to be in the warmth of the car, rather than walking to the subway in the cold icy rain.

"So." Reid blinked and turned when Hotch spoke. "You said that you have no pack." Hotch glanced over at Reid, and the boy stared back, blinking his wide brown eyes. "What did you mean?"

"Just what I said." Reid answered, his voice soft. "I don't have a pack."

"How can you not have a pack?" Hotch asked, frowning.

"… My mom." Reid answered softly.

"Is she one of us?"

"No." Reid admitted. "She's human."

"I've read your file. I know she's… sick."

"Yes. My father didn't know when he married her. And when they found out… well… the pack decided that she wasn't acceptable, as a mate, or to bear offspring. My father… he was told that as long as she was his, he was not welcome. He was… going to leave her. But then they found out that mom was pregnant."

"Was it a single birth or a litter?"

"… A litter of three." Reid answered. "I was the only survivor."

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"… Her illness… Mom rejected my brothers. My father tried to get the others in the pack to help, but… they wouldn't. It was nature, they said. If my mother was so sick that she would turn away her own pups, then they were just as flawed. My brothers died within two days of their birth."

"And you?"

"My mother coddled me. And my father was furious. He had begged her to take one of my brothers, and leave me to die instead."

"Why?" Hotch asked.

"… I was the runt." Reid admitted. Hotch nodded. "And so I was… even less desirable. The runt of a flawed mother, who wasn't even a wolf?" Reid shook his head and looked out the window again. "My father… he tried. But… my mother raised me to be human. That was all she knew. And my father already resented me, so he didn't teach me much. And a wolf without his pack… well… eventually, he'd had enough."

Hotch glanced at Reid as his voice broke. He watched one lonely tear trail down Reid's face.

"… He left us." Reid finally whispered. "When I was ten. He abandoned me and my mom, rejoined the pack, and took a new mate."

Hotch was silent for a long time, rolling this sad story over in his mind… for a pack to abandon a pup like this… his pack never would have allowed it… He frowned, hoping to God that the Las Vegas pack was under better leadership… to abandon a pup like that was reprehensible! Why… it was medieval!

"How did you survive when you went to college?" Hotch asked.

"I stayed on campus. I was there for several months before the local pack knew that I was there… when they found out… they… they set up an ambush. They intended to kill me…"

"What happened?" Hotch asked.

"I was walking home from a late night tutoring session. It's how I made extra money… Campus was virtually deserted…"

"How old were you?"

"Sixteen." Hotch nodded, and remained silent as Reid continued.

"I caught their scent at the last moment… but it was too late. They came out of nowhere and I was dragged to the ground. They were all around me… I don't know how many there were… at least a dozen. I was on the ground… my books were everywhere, my clothes were torn, and I was hurting… and then there was a hand on my throat, and the Alpha was over me…"

Hotch frowned again, thinking of how had been hovering over Reid just like that earlier that very evening.

"And he… asked me to give him a reason not to kill me."

"And what did you say?"

"… I just… cried."

"So what happened?"

"He finally asked me who I was, and what I was doing there. And I told him… and he demanded to know how I had the balls to presume that I could just waltz onto pack territory without asking for his permission. And I told him that I didn't know that I was supposed to. And I explained my situation, that I didn't grow up in a pack… that I… didn't know the Laws of our kind. I told him everything. And he… let me go."

"He just… let you go?" Hotch asked, skeptical.

"He kept tabs on me after that…" Reid added. "By the time I left, we were almost on good terms."

"Almost?" Hotch asked, and Reid finally smiled.

"Almost." He nodded.

"You're lucky."

"… I know. And… thank you."

"For what?"

"For giving me a chance."

"Who says I have?"

"You did." Reid said confidently, and Hotch glanced at him. "When you didn't kill me."

Hotch snorted, and a slight smirk came to his lips. "I guess so."

And slowly, the car pulled to a stop outside of Reid's apartment.

"I'm only here to make a life for myself." Reid said after a moment. "And I respect your position. I'm not here to challenge you in any way… And besides." He gave Hotch a smile. "I'm still a runt."

Hotch blinked, and then chuckled.

"Thanks for the ride home, Hotch."

"You're welcome." Hotch nodded. But Reid didn't get out of the car. Hotch looked at him.

"So… we… we're good. Right?" Reid asked, looking up at him. Hotch blinked, and then smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. We're good, pup." He said, and Reid grinned.

"See you on Monday." Reid said, and then slipped out of the car and ran up to his apartment. Hotch pulled away and headed home.

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Generally, I make it a rule that I do not being to post a story until it is completely finished. That ensures that you, the reader, gets regular quality updates. However, the due date for the posting of this story is October 31st. While this story was intended to be a one shot, it has taken on a life of it's own. While I will do all I can to see that you get the regular weekly updates that you have come to expect from me, I cannot guarantee it.

Thank you.

Please review!