Fic: we've cracked the code || PG-13 || Stiles/Derek
Author: marishna
Title: we've cracked the code
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Stiles/Derek
Character/s: Stiles, Derek, Malia, Scott, Ennis
Summary:
When he rounded the corner only seconds later he stopped short because the alley was empty. He sniffed and couldn't track Stiles' scent anymore, and his heart sank.
He let his guard down for a second- just enough- and then everything went dark.
Warnings: None
Content Notes: Follows we crave a different kind from the "royal" prompt in August, emissary!Stiles, pack interactions, alpha!pack, beta!Derek
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 2760
Prompt: 198 - politics
Derek was stunned, to put it mildly.
Never in his life had Derek met someone so forward and open, and yet a complete mystery at once. He finished his beer quickly, gulping it down and resisting the urge to grimace at the bitter tang of the wolfsbane. He threw some bills on the bar top, more than enough to cover the two drinks, and was off his stool in seconds.
As he made his way through the crowded bar he could sense some eyes on him, noticed some other werewolves track him with recognition but he didn't slow down or acknowledge them. If he waited too long Stiles would be gone and he'd never know where this night could go.
He breathed in deeply as soon as he stepped outside and caught Stiles' scent, looked to his left and saw the back of someone wearing plaid disappear around the corner of the building. Derek followed, heart pounding.
When he rounded the corner only seconds later he stopped short because the alley was empty. He sniffed and couldn't track Stiles' scent anymore, and his heart sank.
He let his guard down for a second- just enough- and then everything went dark.
***
Opening his eyes hurt.
Derek groaned as he blinked and tried to focus, not able to see much because wherever he was it was dark.
"Shhh," someone hissed beside him. Derek looked to his left and could see the top of a head, familiar hair.
"'tiles?" Derek mumbled, breathing shallowly to catch the brief but familiar scent.
"Yeah, it's me," Stiles whispered. Derek could feel Stiles working at something behind his back and realized he was bound and sitting in a chair. He moved his head stiffly, slowly coming back to himself and realizing he was in an incredibly dangerous situation.
"What the fuck happened?" Derek asked quietly, taking mental stock of how he felt. One of his feet was kind of numb and his arms ached at the shoulders from being bound. "How did they get me? Who got me?"
"I'll explain in a second, just shut up," Stiles replied. Derek frowned but he didn't have much choice and did as he was told.
Derek shifted enough to his beta form to be able to see better in the dark and peered out into the blackness. He strained to listen for anything that might give him a clue but all he heard were sounds he didn't recognize-echoing, machinery, some kind of dull shrieking of metal.
"Finally," he heard Stiles breathe and then Derek's arms were free. He almost tipped forward at the sudden release but Stiles was there to steady him with a strong hand on his shoulder. Stiles crouched down and started whispering right into Derek's ear, tickling there and Derek had to remind himself that this was not the time to feel anything more than a desire to escape.
"I can give you the full story later but all you need to know right now is that you were grabbed by another alpha. His name is Ennis and he's in this building somewhere. My alpha, Scott, is tracking him with Malia. I'm sorry. I got you caught and couldn't do anything," Stiles said hurriedly.
Derek turned his head to be able to see Stiles, who didn't even blink at his eye color. "Why are you sorry?"
"Like I said, I'll explain later. Right now we need to get you out of here before Ennis realizes we found you. I think they used some kind of wolfsbane-based sedative on you so you might be a little wobbly," Stiles said as he urged Derek to stand.
Derek was about to scoff and say he felt fine but as soon as he was upright he swayed and, if not for Stiles putting himself under Derek's left arm, he probably would have tipped over.
"Don't try to be a hero, okay? Let us handle this," Stiles instructed and guided them a few steps ahead.
"Do I have a choice?" Derek grumbled, not used to being so helpless and dependent on someone else, especially a human.
Stiles ignored him and kept them walking. He obviously knew where they were going because he led them directly to a wall and helped Derek lean against it while he fumbled around in their surroundings, searching for something.
Derek's foot tingled as it woke up so he thumped it on the ground, trying to speed up the process. He'd curse himself later because, once again, his guard was down and he was distracted from hearing someone walk up on them.
"Emissary Stilinski. You should know how rude it is to enter someone else's lair without a proper invitation."
Stiles immediately stepped in front of Derek who was trying to shift to no avail. Whatever his captors dosed him with was messing with him and he suddenly felt icy fear grip at his heart that he couldn't protect Stiles.
Ennis was tall and clearly worked out, possibly even more than Derek. He was in a black tank top and tight jeans and showing off that even if he wasn't a werewolf he'd be a scary guy to run into in a dark alley.
"Pretty sure 'abandoned factory' doesn't fall under anyone's definition of a domicile so you're outta luck there, Ennis," Stiles replied lightly. The little shit was making fun of an alpha.
Derek noticed something hitching up the hem of Stiles' shirt and saw what looked like some kind of putty knife sticking out of the waistband of his pants. Derek had the instant thought to grab it and use it to defend them but as soon as he tried to reach out for it he experienced what felt like a slap across his knuckles. Derek blinked and shook his head, wondering what hallucinogenic properties the strain of wolfsbane Ennis used on him.
"You think you can hold me off until McCall gets here?" Ennis sneered at Stiles. "You don't even know who you bagged in that bar, you moron."
Stiles shrugged. "What can I say, I like 'wolves who don't look like they swallowed enough steroids to make all the meatheads in Des Moines jealous before they got the bite."
Derek reached out and grabbed Stiles' shoulder before Ennis even started snarling, knowing this was going to end very, very badly and he didn't want to watch Stiles be ripped apart in front of him. If Stiles had a death wish that was on him, thanks very much.
But Stiles easily shrugged him off and stood defiantly in front of Ennis whose eyes flashed red dangerously as he shifted and bared his teeth at them. Derek considered his options, eyes scanning the darkness for a weapon or shelter, anything that could defend them until Stiles' alpha showed up.
"I've heard that steroids making your dick tiny is just a rumor, confirm or deny?" Stiles continued. "Or did you not notice a difference because..."
Stiles trailed off and made a wincing face while glancing down Ennis' body. Derek wanted to pull Stiles away and hide with him as he was sure all the pieces of their bodies would never be found once Ennis got his hands on them.
Ennis let out a roar that echoed in the large factory and charged at them, claws out and fangs dripping. Stiles held his ground while Derek panicked behind him and he struggled with his own shift but his fear forced it painfully.
Before he could leap in front of Stiles to try to shield him from the brunt of Ennis' attach Stiles reached back and whipped the putty knife out of his waistband and slashed at his hand. At the same time Malia, the wolf from the bar, and a dark-haired alpha who must have been Scott jumped out of the shadows and pounded on Ennis.
Stiles was quick and while Malia and Scott distracted and held Ennis down he moved forward, pressing his cut palm to Ennis' forehead and whispered something under his breath that Derek couldn't catch. Ennis collapsed to the ground with a smear of Stiles' blood on his skin and was passed out in his human form almost instantly. He twitched every few seconds and his fingers clenched and unclenched spasmodically.
Derek knew his share of emissaries over the years but he couldn't recall any of them being able to perform magic or anything similar. Most of all they were usually well-connected negotiators who aligned with alphas to secure them more power or land. What the hell had he gotten himself mixed up in?
"How much time do we have?" Scott asked while Malia glared down at Ennis and Stiles ripped part of his plaid shirt off to wrap around his bleeding hand.
He shrugged while he bound his wound. "Ten minutes, tops."
Scott looked grim but he offered Stiles a smile. "Good work. Knew you could do it."
Stiles shrugged it off. "The hard part hasn't happened yet." He moved to sit on his knees behind Ennis' head and pressed his fingers to his temples.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Derek asked, surprised that his words were a bit slurred and realized he was speaking around his fangs. He had to push his shift back, realizing that the fear must be screwing up his wolf.
Stiles, Scott and Malia all looked up at him with varying degrees of surprise and sheepishness, as if they forgot he was still there.
"Hey man, I'm Scott." The young alpha reached his hand out but Derek had to stare at it for a second before accepting. He felt like he was in some kind of elaborate prank that couldn't possibly be real.
"Derek," he replied slowly. Scott nodded and turned back to Stiles.
"Is it working?"
Derek watched Stiles, whose eyes were closed and his face screwed up while he concentrated. His jaw was set and Derek could see beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead.
"Why can't you just use your claw trick again?" Malia asked and Derek actually jerked back at the idea of someone referring to an alpha's power so cavalierly.
"Stiles says Ennis would know I was in there and it's too hard to try to cover. This way Stiles can be in his head and cover his tracks as he goes. With any luck Ennis won't know who it was at all, or not for a while."
"What the hell are you people doing?" Derek burst out, unable to restrain himself. Stiles cracked one eye open and looked up at him disapprovingly.
"We just saved you from the person who kidnapped you and you're on his side?" Stiles asked and Derek felt dumb.
"I just... one violation doesn't excuse another," Derek mumbled and Stiles snorted before shutting his eye again. Scott and Malia watched their exchange but stayed quiet.
"Kali's the one with him," Stiles said. "They're traveling together but staying apart, I think. She's not looking for him but I don't think we've got much lead time here. Deuc's still near the border."
"Anything about their plans or the timeframe?" Scott asked.
Stiles tilted his head questioningly. "Deucalion hasn't said anything official to Ennis. He has some resentment about that, it seems. File that away for later. I think their plans hinge on the conference this weekend. They couldn't strike while we were here because they'd get their asses beat by too many over packs. They considered striking the rest of the pack in Beacon Hills but it seems they're not in that great a rush."
Ennis jerked on the floor where he lay and Stiles fell backward as if he were shoved. Derek was quicker than even Scott to leap forward to help him up. As he hauled Stiles to his feet Stiles seemed to sway and Derek tightened his grasp on him.
"You okay?" Scott asked worriedly, taking Stiles' other arm while Malia went through Ennis' pockets.
Stiles nodded and smiled wanly at his alpha. "He closed down on me. Time to go, it seems."
"Can you still hide us?" Scott asked and Stiles nodded, reaching for the putty knife again. Derek watched with morbid curiosity as Stiles jabbed at his already cut palm to make it bleed again. He sank to the ground again and Derek went with him, holding on to make sure he didn't fall over. Stiles didn't shake him off and so as he worked, whispering words Derek vaguely recognized as latin, Derek could feel the energy coursing through Stiles just under the skin. Derek's wolf was interested and felt like it was pacing around them, trying to understand what was going on.
When he was done Stiles was leaning into Derek's hold more than he'd likely admit but he nodded, then wiped all the blood from Ennis' skin. "Our tracks are covered as well as I can. I can't wipe this place and make it look like we were never here but I put a glamor on him instead. As long as he's still a little out of it when he wakes up it should be foggy enough for him to be totally unaware we were here."
Scott sighed. "It's more than we had before. Good job, Stiles."
"Think Danny could get into his phone?" Malia asked, holding up Ennis' smartphone she found in his jeans pocket.
Scott shook his head. "Not enough time, I don't think. If we can set something like this up again I'll make sure Danny's on standby so maybe we could get something."
Malia nodded and shoved it back into the pocket with all the delicateness of a toddler using pots and pans as a drum set. With Scott's help they dragged Ennis into a random store room across the factory floor, leaving Derek and Stiles alone.
"I feel like I should say thank you for saving me but I'm pretty sure it was your fault I was taken so..." Derek started and Stiles laughed a little even though Derek could see circles developing under his eyes to illustrate how exhausted he must have been.
"I'm so sorry you got involved in this, Derek," Stiles replied. "We had a plan how we were going to approach you but it never worked out and then this happened."
Derek went stiff and he felt a wave of betrayal flood through him as he processed the words. "What?"
Stiles looked at Derek's face and swore. "Sorry, I just realized how that must have sounded. Please give me a chance to explain before you gnaw my face off."
Derek considered dropping Stiles to the floor and running but there weren't any lies in his statement. The whole weird exchange with Ennis the alpha was totally above-board, as well. He eyed Stiles warily who looked back at him tiredly but also openly.
"I wouldn't gnaw your face off," Derek replied quietly. "That's not the most effective way to disable an attacker and is poor show to the pack council."
Stiles snorted and shook his head. "You sound like you're an official werewolf handbook."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand proper protocols. You and your pack clearly have no regard for--"
"Hey, now," Stiles cut in. "My pack has all the regard. But we never realized there was a 'protocol' for situations like this and werewolf politics to deal with. We're doing what we can with the hand we've been dealt."
"And what's that?"
"We're up against an alpha pack," Stiles replied simply and now it was Derek's turn to snort.
"That's not a thing," Derek said, shaking his head.
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "You think so? Because we've been their target for a couple months now and Ennis is part of it. They're coming for us." Stiles took a deep breath and looked Derek in the eye. "And that's where you come in, Derek Hale."
Derek blinked. Apparently Stiles knew exactly who he was and had since the bar. So much for that unexpected moment from the bar where he thought they were two unknowns meeting for the first time.
"How so?" Derek asked.
Stiles made a face. "We need you to come back to Beacon Hills with us. And I'm really sorry, but if you say no we're going to have to kidnap you again."
The kicker for Derek? None of it was a lie. Not the alpha pack part, or going back to his birthplace, or that they'd take him by force if they had to.
Dammit.
Title: we've cracked the code
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Stiles/Derek
Character/s: Stiles, Derek, Malia, Scott, Ennis
Summary:
When he rounded the corner only seconds later he stopped short because the alley was empty. He sniffed and couldn't track Stiles' scent anymore, and his heart sank.
He let his guard down for a second- just enough- and then everything went dark.
Warnings: None
Content Notes: Follows we crave a different kind from the "royal" prompt in August, emissary!Stiles, pack interactions, alpha!pack, beta!Derek
Submission Type: Fic
Word Count: 2760
Prompt: 198 - politics
Derek was stunned, to put it mildly.
Never in his life had Derek met someone so forward and open, and yet a complete mystery at once. He finished his beer quickly, gulping it down and resisting the urge to grimace at the bitter tang of the wolfsbane. He threw some bills on the bar top, more than enough to cover the two drinks, and was off his stool in seconds.
As he made his way through the crowded bar he could sense some eyes on him, noticed some other werewolves track him with recognition but he didn't slow down or acknowledge them. If he waited too long Stiles would be gone and he'd never know where this night could go.
He breathed in deeply as soon as he stepped outside and caught Stiles' scent, looked to his left and saw the back of someone wearing plaid disappear around the corner of the building. Derek followed, heart pounding.
When he rounded the corner only seconds later he stopped short because the alley was empty. He sniffed and couldn't track Stiles' scent anymore, and his heart sank.
He let his guard down for a second- just enough- and then everything went dark.
***
Opening his eyes hurt.
Derek groaned as he blinked and tried to focus, not able to see much because wherever he was it was dark.
"Shhh," someone hissed beside him. Derek looked to his left and could see the top of a head, familiar hair.
"'tiles?" Derek mumbled, breathing shallowly to catch the brief but familiar scent.
"Yeah, it's me," Stiles whispered. Derek could feel Stiles working at something behind his back and realized he was bound and sitting in a chair. He moved his head stiffly, slowly coming back to himself and realizing he was in an incredibly dangerous situation.
"What the fuck happened?" Derek asked quietly, taking mental stock of how he felt. One of his feet was kind of numb and his arms ached at the shoulders from being bound. "How did they get me? Who got me?"
"I'll explain in a second, just shut up," Stiles replied. Derek frowned but he didn't have much choice and did as he was told.
Derek shifted enough to his beta form to be able to see better in the dark and peered out into the blackness. He strained to listen for anything that might give him a clue but all he heard were sounds he didn't recognize-echoing, machinery, some kind of dull shrieking of metal.
"Finally," he heard Stiles breathe and then Derek's arms were free. He almost tipped forward at the sudden release but Stiles was there to steady him with a strong hand on his shoulder. Stiles crouched down and started whispering right into Derek's ear, tickling there and Derek had to remind himself that this was not the time to feel anything more than a desire to escape.
"I can give you the full story later but all you need to know right now is that you were grabbed by another alpha. His name is Ennis and he's in this building somewhere. My alpha, Scott, is tracking him with Malia. I'm sorry. I got you caught and couldn't do anything," Stiles said hurriedly.
Derek turned his head to be able to see Stiles, who didn't even blink at his eye color. "Why are you sorry?"
"Like I said, I'll explain later. Right now we need to get you out of here before Ennis realizes we found you. I think they used some kind of wolfsbane-based sedative on you so you might be a little wobbly," Stiles said as he urged Derek to stand.
Derek was about to scoff and say he felt fine but as soon as he was upright he swayed and, if not for Stiles putting himself under Derek's left arm, he probably would have tipped over.
"Don't try to be a hero, okay? Let us handle this," Stiles instructed and guided them a few steps ahead.
"Do I have a choice?" Derek grumbled, not used to being so helpless and dependent on someone else, especially a human.
Stiles ignored him and kept them walking. He obviously knew where they were going because he led them directly to a wall and helped Derek lean against it while he fumbled around in their surroundings, searching for something.
Derek's foot tingled as it woke up so he thumped it on the ground, trying to speed up the process. He'd curse himself later because, once again, his guard was down and he was distracted from hearing someone walk up on them.
"Emissary Stilinski. You should know how rude it is to enter someone else's lair without a proper invitation."
Stiles immediately stepped in front of Derek who was trying to shift to no avail. Whatever his captors dosed him with was messing with him and he suddenly felt icy fear grip at his heart that he couldn't protect Stiles.
Ennis was tall and clearly worked out, possibly even more than Derek. He was in a black tank top and tight jeans and showing off that even if he wasn't a werewolf he'd be a scary guy to run into in a dark alley.
"Pretty sure 'abandoned factory' doesn't fall under anyone's definition of a domicile so you're outta luck there, Ennis," Stiles replied lightly. The little shit was making fun of an alpha.
Derek noticed something hitching up the hem of Stiles' shirt and saw what looked like some kind of putty knife sticking out of the waistband of his pants. Derek had the instant thought to grab it and use it to defend them but as soon as he tried to reach out for it he experienced what felt like a slap across his knuckles. Derek blinked and shook his head, wondering what hallucinogenic properties the strain of wolfsbane Ennis used on him.
"You think you can hold me off until McCall gets here?" Ennis sneered at Stiles. "You don't even know who you bagged in that bar, you moron."
Stiles shrugged. "What can I say, I like 'wolves who don't look like they swallowed enough steroids to make all the meatheads in Des Moines jealous before they got the bite."
Derek reached out and grabbed Stiles' shoulder before Ennis even started snarling, knowing this was going to end very, very badly and he didn't want to watch Stiles be ripped apart in front of him. If Stiles had a death wish that was on him, thanks very much.
But Stiles easily shrugged him off and stood defiantly in front of Ennis whose eyes flashed red dangerously as he shifted and bared his teeth at them. Derek considered his options, eyes scanning the darkness for a weapon or shelter, anything that could defend them until Stiles' alpha showed up.
"I've heard that steroids making your dick tiny is just a rumor, confirm or deny?" Stiles continued. "Or did you not notice a difference because..."
Stiles trailed off and made a wincing face while glancing down Ennis' body. Derek wanted to pull Stiles away and hide with him as he was sure all the pieces of their bodies would never be found once Ennis got his hands on them.
Ennis let out a roar that echoed in the large factory and charged at them, claws out and fangs dripping. Stiles held his ground while Derek panicked behind him and he struggled with his own shift but his fear forced it painfully.
Before he could leap in front of Stiles to try to shield him from the brunt of Ennis' attach Stiles reached back and whipped the putty knife out of his waistband and slashed at his hand. At the same time Malia, the wolf from the bar, and a dark-haired alpha who must have been Scott jumped out of the shadows and pounded on Ennis.
Stiles was quick and while Malia and Scott distracted and held Ennis down he moved forward, pressing his cut palm to Ennis' forehead and whispered something under his breath that Derek couldn't catch. Ennis collapsed to the ground with a smear of Stiles' blood on his skin and was passed out in his human form almost instantly. He twitched every few seconds and his fingers clenched and unclenched spasmodically.
Derek knew his share of emissaries over the years but he couldn't recall any of them being able to perform magic or anything similar. Most of all they were usually well-connected negotiators who aligned with alphas to secure them more power or land. What the hell had he gotten himself mixed up in?
"How much time do we have?" Scott asked while Malia glared down at Ennis and Stiles ripped part of his plaid shirt off to wrap around his bleeding hand.
He shrugged while he bound his wound. "Ten minutes, tops."
Scott looked grim but he offered Stiles a smile. "Good work. Knew you could do it."
Stiles shrugged it off. "The hard part hasn't happened yet." He moved to sit on his knees behind Ennis' head and pressed his fingers to his temples.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Derek asked, surprised that his words were a bit slurred and realized he was speaking around his fangs. He had to push his shift back, realizing that the fear must be screwing up his wolf.
Stiles, Scott and Malia all looked up at him with varying degrees of surprise and sheepishness, as if they forgot he was still there.
"Hey man, I'm Scott." The young alpha reached his hand out but Derek had to stare at it for a second before accepting. He felt like he was in some kind of elaborate prank that couldn't possibly be real.
"Derek," he replied slowly. Scott nodded and turned back to Stiles.
"Is it working?"
Derek watched Stiles, whose eyes were closed and his face screwed up while he concentrated. His jaw was set and Derek could see beads of sweat starting to form on his forehead.
"Why can't you just use your claw trick again?" Malia asked and Derek actually jerked back at the idea of someone referring to an alpha's power so cavalierly.
"Stiles says Ennis would know I was in there and it's too hard to try to cover. This way Stiles can be in his head and cover his tracks as he goes. With any luck Ennis won't know who it was at all, or not for a while."
"What the hell are you people doing?" Derek burst out, unable to restrain himself. Stiles cracked one eye open and looked up at him disapprovingly.
"We just saved you from the person who kidnapped you and you're on his side?" Stiles asked and Derek felt dumb.
"I just... one violation doesn't excuse another," Derek mumbled and Stiles snorted before shutting his eye again. Scott and Malia watched their exchange but stayed quiet.
"Kali's the one with him," Stiles said. "They're traveling together but staying apart, I think. She's not looking for him but I don't think we've got much lead time here. Deuc's still near the border."
"Anything about their plans or the timeframe?" Scott asked.
Stiles tilted his head questioningly. "Deucalion hasn't said anything official to Ennis. He has some resentment about that, it seems. File that away for later. I think their plans hinge on the conference this weekend. They couldn't strike while we were here because they'd get their asses beat by too many over packs. They considered striking the rest of the pack in Beacon Hills but it seems they're not in that great a rush."
Ennis jerked on the floor where he lay and Stiles fell backward as if he were shoved. Derek was quicker than even Scott to leap forward to help him up. As he hauled Stiles to his feet Stiles seemed to sway and Derek tightened his grasp on him.
"You okay?" Scott asked worriedly, taking Stiles' other arm while Malia went through Ennis' pockets.
Stiles nodded and smiled wanly at his alpha. "He closed down on me. Time to go, it seems."
"Can you still hide us?" Scott asked and Stiles nodded, reaching for the putty knife again. Derek watched with morbid curiosity as Stiles jabbed at his already cut palm to make it bleed again. He sank to the ground again and Derek went with him, holding on to make sure he didn't fall over. Stiles didn't shake him off and so as he worked, whispering words Derek vaguely recognized as latin, Derek could feel the energy coursing through Stiles just under the skin. Derek's wolf was interested and felt like it was pacing around them, trying to understand what was going on.
When he was done Stiles was leaning into Derek's hold more than he'd likely admit but he nodded, then wiped all the blood from Ennis' skin. "Our tracks are covered as well as I can. I can't wipe this place and make it look like we were never here but I put a glamor on him instead. As long as he's still a little out of it when he wakes up it should be foggy enough for him to be totally unaware we were here."
Scott sighed. "It's more than we had before. Good job, Stiles."
"Think Danny could get into his phone?" Malia asked, holding up Ennis' smartphone she found in his jeans pocket.
Scott shook his head. "Not enough time, I don't think. If we can set something like this up again I'll make sure Danny's on standby so maybe we could get something."
Malia nodded and shoved it back into the pocket with all the delicateness of a toddler using pots and pans as a drum set. With Scott's help they dragged Ennis into a random store room across the factory floor, leaving Derek and Stiles alone.
"I feel like I should say thank you for saving me but I'm pretty sure it was your fault I was taken so..." Derek started and Stiles laughed a little even though Derek could see circles developing under his eyes to illustrate how exhausted he must have been.
"I'm so sorry you got involved in this, Derek," Stiles replied. "We had a plan how we were going to approach you but it never worked out and then this happened."
Derek went stiff and he felt a wave of betrayal flood through him as he processed the words. "What?"
Stiles looked at Derek's face and swore. "Sorry, I just realized how that must have sounded. Please give me a chance to explain before you gnaw my face off."
Derek considered dropping Stiles to the floor and running but there weren't any lies in his statement. The whole weird exchange with Ennis the alpha was totally above-board, as well. He eyed Stiles warily who looked back at him tiredly but also openly.
"I wouldn't gnaw your face off," Derek replied quietly. "That's not the most effective way to disable an attacker and is poor show to the pack council."
Stiles snorted and shook his head. "You sound like you're an official werewolf handbook."
"I wouldn't expect you to understand proper protocols. You and your pack clearly have no regard for--"
"Hey, now," Stiles cut in. "My pack has all the regard. But we never realized there was a 'protocol' for situations like this and werewolf politics to deal with. We're doing what we can with the hand we've been dealt."
"And what's that?"
"We're up against an alpha pack," Stiles replied simply and now it was Derek's turn to snort.
"That's not a thing," Derek said, shaking his head.
Stiles raised an eyebrow. "You think so? Because we've been their target for a couple months now and Ennis is part of it. They're coming for us." Stiles took a deep breath and looked Derek in the eye. "And that's where you come in, Derek Hale."
Derek blinked. Apparently Stiles knew exactly who he was and had since the bar. So much for that unexpected moment from the bar where he thought they were two unknowns meeting for the first time.
"How so?" Derek asked.
Stiles made a face. "We need you to come back to Beacon Hills with us. And I'm really sorry, but if you say no we're going to have to kidnap you again."
The kicker for Derek? None of it was a lie. Not the alpha pack part, or going back to his birthplace, or that they'd take him by force if they had to.
Dammit.