the_debt_of_time

Mia nodded, wide-eyed after dispelling her Disillusionment Charm. "Greyback,"
she said in a terrified whisper.
"What're we standing here for?" James demanded. "We have to go after him! He's
got Remus!"
"We have to be smart about this, Jamie." Mia nervously paced back and forth, trying
to think. "We were lucky we were downwind. Remus only smelled us because we were
familiar and so close. If Greyback knew we'd heard everything, we'd be dead. Or Remus
would be."
"And Higgs, that prick!" Sirius growled dangerously.
James grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her hard. "Mia, we have to go before
Greyback and Remus get away!"
"Jamie, the full moon rises in less than a few minutes. They'll both transform." He
looked confused, so she tried again to explain, "Greyback is Remus's sire. And worse, an
Alpha. Which means if we go into that forest to bring Remus back, even on the Wolfsbane,
Remus won't be able to help us. Moony's instinct will be to submit to Greyback."
"We can take that bloody werewolf!" Sirius snapped.
"No, we can't, not in human form, and even then.. ." She paused before
continuing in a voice she tried to make as clear and rational as possible, given the
circumstances, "As big as the two of you are in Animagus form, you still have trouble
reining in Moony when he gets out of control. We're talking about a fully grown, fully
embraced werewolf. Did you see his face? His hands? He stays mid-transformation so he
can maul and infect people in between moons. It wouldn't create werewolves, it just scars
them for life and induces wolfish behaviours. He does it because society fears werewolves
so much. He's as savage as it gets. Being an Alpha only makes him stronger."
Peter shifted back into human form, looking positively terrified. "What'll we do,
Mia?"
"What makes him an Alpha?" James asked.
The solution thrummed under her skin, and Mia smiled. "A pack."