![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bethanys_hexGenre: Teen Wolf
Words: 813
Rating: R
Victoria Argent was a regal woman. She had made sure of this. She stood tall, and strong and dealt out judgement with an iron hand. She'd learned early the harsh lessons about holding onto power.
Their family may have been advanced in their philosophy, but the rest of the world was not. Outside the Argent fold, patriarchy still ruled with a subtle, pervasive pressure. It meant she had to be faster, smarter and harsher then any man to keep the respect her position demanded. While a man was taken at his word as a leader, and a soldier, she had to prove herself, over and over. She loved the challenge though, and savored the defeat of every victim whether it was a monster, a principle, or a boutique client.
She'd never been very maternal, and was glad to hand the baby rearing over to Chris as soon as she squeezed one out. The two of them had an equitable arrangement. She, more suited to the role of a General managed their businesses, and hunting strategies. He managed their daughter.
Victoria was grateful modern medicine allowed her to have only one child, instead of five. In ages past Argent women had needed to produce whole broods of children, because the odds of survival were so low. Even if the babies lived, the mothers were just as likely to die in childbirth, surrounded by bloody sheets. In some ways their family was progressive, as Chris liked to say, but in others it was still as archaic as the Crocodile Shears that Victoria kept in the basement with her shock sticks. Their family relied on secrecy, and leadership had to be passed down to maintain that. The women were as duty bound to continue the family, and their traditions, as they were to lead it.
She had done her part with that, and even if she hadn't hit menopause Victoria was not willing to start over from scratch. Allison simply had to step up, and the first thing she needed to do, was keep away from that boy.
Scott McCall was the last creature on earth Victoria wanted her daughter seeing. She had liked him well enough at first, and been proud of her daughter's taste. He was soft and seemed like he'd have a pliable personality. There'd be no contention over her daughter's position.
She'd disliked his mother almost instantly though. The woman had a sharp tongue that clashed with Victoria's sense of the world. In Melissa she saw a woman that wasn't worth her time, yet she felt compelled prove herself better and stronger anyway. She respected warriors, and Melissa was a healer. The woman had instilled neither strength nor discipline in her son. That was all fixable though, Chris could teach Scott about violence. That had been her plan anyway.
When she learned what Scott was, she'd almost gone blind with rage, and it wasn't a clean, righteous hate either.
Allison should never have dated him. She should have been prepared to hear the truth about his kind, and her glorious family history. She should have learned their traditions, and learned that she was better then them before she ever saw a wolf. She hadn't. Kate, stupid girl, had sprung the family secret before Allison was ready and now, because of Scott, whenever her daughter thought of werewolves Victoria could see her thinking of a sweet high-school romance. Not the rabid animals she should be. Allison saw people, not monsters, and she cared about them. Victoria couldn't have that.
She could care about the beasts when it was good strategy, but only as much as strictly necessary. The pack of Beacon Hills had become cancerous, once the wolves had a taste of blood they'd never stop. The whole territory needed to be cleared, before more shape shifters came looking for Derek Hale, and his power grew, and war descended on them all. For her husband and daughter's sake she was willing to spare Scott from the culling, but no more than that.
She needed Allison to follow in her footsteps. She would be head of the family one day, when Victoria had grown old and vulnerable, and Allison couldn't do that while she was pining after a beast. If Allison never let Scott go... Victoria shuddered at the thought. She was not going to have half mongrel grandchildren leading this family when she was gone. She'd drown them first.
Luckily she had many years left in her, and she'd have Allison whipped into shape before she lost her rule. Her girl just needed to start dating someone else. There were plenty of human boys at school. Surely one of them would catch her daughter's eye eventually, and they'd be far more appropriate. Argent women had always hunted down what they wanted. Victoria was no exception and she'd make sure her daughter wasn't either.
