A Hundred Echoes (Chapter Five)
Title: A Hundred Echoes
Author:
hunters_retreat
Artist:
destielwinchi
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 23,000+
Summary: In the wake of life altering events, the Beacon Hills pack is trying to settle into some semblance of normal. After the nogitsune, all Stiles wants is to be able to breathe easy and know that his friends are safe. When Stiles begins to dream of his friends though, they turn out to be something extraordinary. Stiles is a spirit walker. The dreams leave him empathic and unable to control himself, but salvation comes in the unlikely form of Derek Hale. Stiles just needs to know two things. What is stirring in the woods of Beacon Hills to cause the entire pack to dream of horrific things? And can Derek help him learn to center himself and control his empathy before it’s too late?
“There’s someone pulling up to the building.”
Stiles looked up from the computer where he and Lydia were doing research. He kept begging them to let him go home and grab his laptop but Chris and his dad were pretty adamant about keeping everyone together until they figured out who this new threat was.
Until then, he was stuck sharing the computer. Not that he minded sharing with Lydia but they could get twice the work done with another laptop.
“Peter,” Chris said as he looked up at the others. “And it looks like he’s brought company.”
Stiles could feel the anger seeping from Derek at the mention of his uncle’s name. Underneath were a lot of emotions that were harder to read. Betrayal was high among them, but also disappointment and an overwhelming sadness. Nothing showed on Derek’s face but Stiles knew better.
The pack stood to face the door but Stiles held Derek towards the back. His father and Chris were there as well. Derek didn’t look happy about it, but then again Stiles wasn’t happy that they were letting Peter into the loft at all.
The door to the loft creaked open and Peter walked in with ten betas at his back. Stiles could feel Derek’s reaction to each one and it was only Peter himself that worried Derek.
“What do you want, Peter?” Scott asked abruptly.
No one could blame him for disliking Peter after all this time. Peter had only become more and more of a creeper over the years and it wasn’t like he’d started off on a good foot with them.
“Look at that. The True Alpha himself. I knew we didn’t send enough betas to deal with you.”
“It looks like you didn’t send enough betas to deal with any of us,” Scott answered smugly.
Peter smiled widely. “Oh I don’t know about that Scott. You’re all here, aren’t you?”
“Stop playing games, Peter. What do you want?” Derek asked. Stiles took a step closer to Derek but Peter’s eyes zeroed in on them.
“What I’ve always wanted. I am the Alpha,” Peter’s eyes blazed red and Derek stiffened at Stiles’ side. Stiles felt the wave of horror but he had his own fear growing steadily. “This pack is mine. I bit Scott. I was the Alpha and you had no right to steal it from me, Derek. No right to hand our family’s territory over to a sniveling brat who doesn’t know how to wield real power.”
“And you thought you’d what? Kill an alpha and bring his pack into the territory? Kill us all?”
“I’m willing to make a few concessions for family. You can keep your pet if you’d like. I offered Stiles the bite once before and I have to admit that I’ve regretted not just doing it ever since. It would have to be a term of his survival of course, but I’m sure he’ll survive the bite.”
“I think we have to say no,” Scott interrupted.
“I wasn’t talking to you!” Peter screamed at Scott.
The betas with Peter shifted and the pack reacted as well; the wolves shifted as the others pulled weapons.
“Wooohhhooo!” Stiles yelled into the room. “Everyone calm the hell down.”
“Stiles, stay back,” Derek warned him softly.
“Yes, Stiles, do stay down like a good pup. The grown-ups need to have a talk. Now, Derek, as I said you can keep Stiles. Scott will have to go of course but I’m willing to let you take care of that loose end so long as you submit to me as your Alpha. The rest of the pack will be on probation if you will. Those that follow me, remain. Those that don’t will be put down.”
“Do you think anyone in this room would ever trust you enough to follow you, Peter?” Derek asked.
“Well, I did try. Remember what I said boys,” Peter said to the betas behind him. “Derek and Stiles unharmed.”
Everything was in motion then and Stiles was pushed back behind his father. The betas were fast and though the pack wasn’t outnumbered the other pack was full of fighters. Lydia’s wolfsbane mace might be genius but it didn’t work when she was close to their own. Stiles couldn’t get to his bat and neither Ken nor Melissa were trained to fight.
Derek joined the fight and Stiles was left dizzy with the pure force of his anger. He felt his father move away, but he couldn’t follow. Whatever had happened between he and Derek, the empathy was too much and he felt the pain Derek felt as one of the betas swiped across his chest.
Derek growled and Stiles reeled but before he could lose his footing he felt a hand pressed around his neck as he was pulled back against someone’s chest.
“Derek!” Peter yelled across the room.
Stiles wanted to curse because he’d been the weak one again, the weak link that got the others caught but he didn’t have time to deal with his own bullshit yet.
“Really, Peter? You’re not going to kill me,” Stiles said, just to keep Peter talking. Derek might prefer to shut his uncle up but Stiles was good with words so long as it meant no one was killed. Noshiko and Kira were holding their own against a couple betas with Melissa and Ken behind them. Jackson looked worse for wear and blood seeped down his leg and across his shoulder but Lydia stood as his side, Stiles’ bat in her hands. His father and Chris were back to back in the middle of the room close to Isaac and Derek.
“Oh, I know. And so do they. But that doesn’t mean I won’t bite you Stiles. What do you think? Would you be strong enough to defy your Alpha?”
Derek roared from across the room and the betas cowered with shock. As Stiles watched, Derek’s eyes turned from brilliant blue to alpha- red just as they had in the dreams. “I am his alpha!” Derek charged before Peter could get over his shock and he barely released Stiles to run before Derek was there. Derek pulled Stiles against his chest, cradled him there as if he’d been hurt, but he roared again and two of the enemy betas cowered again beneath his anger. Chris put bullets in both of them but Stiles couldn’t see much more of the fight.
He heard Peter fleeing from the pack but not without throwing out a threat as he did. Scott and Isaac ran out the door to try to track them at Chris’s orders but Derek clung to Stiles. He wasn’t shifted human yet and Stiles didn’t think he was capable of that level of control at the moment.
He had felt the moment Peter threatened him, felt the pull of their connection as Derek’s eyes turned red and his alpha powers returned to him. He’d never expected to see Derek’s red-eyed gaze outside his dreams again but he was so fucking grateful for it now.
“Derek?”
He looked up at Derek who tried to keep Stiles face buried away from the danger but Stiles pushed and prodded until Derek let him. “Derek, shift back buddy. Come on. You can’t do something like that and not talk to me.”
“Stiles, are you sure it’s such a good idea to talk to him right now?” his father asked.
“He’d never hurt me, Dad,” Stiles reminded him. “Derek, come on. Peter is gone.”
Derek growled low in his throat but Stiles watched as his face shifted. His eyes remained red but he was no longer in werewolf form.
“What the hell just happened?” Scott didn’t come closer, which Stiles was immensely grateful for, but Derek pulled Stiles tighter against his body in response to the other alpha in the room.
Derek looked up at Scott, at all the others with his red eyes. “I’m an Alpha.”
“How the hell did that happen?” Jackson asked.
Derek looked down at Stiles. “I have no idea.”
Stiles let out a deep breath. “Good thing Deaton is coming in the morning.”
“I think I’ll get him sooner than that,” Scott said as he pulled out his phone. As much as Stiles wanted to argue that he really wanted some sleep he knew that was out of the question. Instead, he pushed Derek down onto the couch and made sure he was pressed against him from shoulder to ankle as the others began to pick up their pieces again.
**
In the end, Deaton didn’t show up until morning because - as Stiles had predicted - it all sounded very interesting, Deaton had no idea what could cause any of it, but he needed to do some research before he came over. The Sheriff picked Parrish up from the station and then went to the clinic to pick up Deaton in case there was any trouble but Deaton seemed to have been the only one that wasn’t attacked in some way that night.
They all sat around Derek’s loft and pulled in close when Deaton arrived. “It sounds like you’ve had an eventful night. Scott told me about it over the phone but I think there is more he isn’t aware of. Stiles? Derek?”
Stiles looked at Derek and as much as Derek wanted to pass this along to Stiles to explain, the younger man was still dealing with the newfound empathy between them. It hadn’t actually shut off between them since the bite. Derek had more practice controlling his emotions than Stiles did so he seemed to have an easier time keeping what he felt from Stiles in context.
Derek nodded to Stiles and let out a deep breath. He jumped straight into the details of the last dream and the differences between it and the others. He didn’t leave out any of the things he normally would. As much as Deaton often held back information, Derek knew there were good reasons for it. When he could, Deaton shared. Derek just needed to give him all the information there was.
“And you woke up with this connection?”
“It was there. It became stronger after we got to the loft,” Derek confirmed.
Deaton tilted his head ever so slightly. “How so?”
“Stiles,” he hesitated as he looked at Stiles. Stiles nodded, thought Derek could feel the turmoil in the younger man. “Stiles bit me. When I bit him back the empathy that Stiles usually has after the dreams came full force between us, though not to anyone else.”
“May I?”
The pack was uncomfortable with the fact that they’d bitten each other even if they didn’t know what Derek thought it was about. Derek pulled his shirt collar aside and Deaton looked down but quickly looked back up at Derek. “This happened last night?”
Derek just nodded.
“It isn’t healed yet.”
“I’m aware.”
“The wounds you received when Peter and the other pack attacked have healed though.”
“Yes they have,” Derek confirmed.
“You know what this means?”
“I have a good idea.”
“Stiles, may I see your bite mark?”
Derek nodded encouragingly and he could feel Stiles’ hesitation but the young man pulled his collar to the side as well. At the base of his neck where Derek had bitten him was a healed scar.
“Fascinating,” Deaton said softly.
“Want to share with the rest of the class, Deaton?” Chris asked.
Deaton looked at Derek who shook his head slightly, just enough for the vet to notice. “The bite is nothing to worry about. It’s a way for the two to anchor themselves amid the emotional impact of the attacks. I think Ms. Martin was correct when she mentioned over the phone that Peter had to be directing the dreams somehow. There have been some signs in the area that I couldn’t understand and in context, I think I have an answer.”
“And that would be?” Stiles broke his silence to ask.
“I don’t know how Peter could control one, but I believe he’s gained access to a nocnitsa, a spirit who captures the unknowing in their nightmares and feeds from their life force.”
“So I’m not a spirit walker?”
Deaton shook his head. “It’s not as easy as that, Stiles. You are a spirit walker which is why we’ve seen the dreams manifesting as we have in the pack. However, I think the reason you’re having so many problems with Derek is that the nocnitsa is feeding from him.”
Derek looked up in surprise. “The dreams aren’t any worse than I normally have. Wouldn’t there be a change if something started feeding off me?”
“Derek, how many nights do you wake from nightmares?” Deaton asked.
Stiles was quiet at his side but his hand brushed against Derek’s knee as he noticed how uncomfortable the question left him. “A couple times a week, usually.”
He didn’t mention how bad the nightmares had always been, how they left him breathless and unable to sleep after. How he’d gotten into a routine of working out and running so much because he needed to be completely drained physically to face sleep each night.
“Have you ever talked to anyone about it?” Deaton continued.
It was too personal but as much as Derek would have liked to avoid it they needed to realize it wasn’t an unusual pattern for him. It revealed too much that he didn’t like to talk about but Stiles gave him an encouraging smile and Derek answered.
“I did in New York. PTSD. It was getting better. I was sleeping better.”
“What happened?”
Derek shrugged. “Laura died. Peter woke. Hunters. The Alpha Pack. All of it. The nightmares came back.”
“The darker the dreams, the stronger the pull would be for a nocnitsa.”
“So was I helping or hurting by being in Derek’s dreams?” Stiles asked.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what effect a spirit walker would have on a nocnitsa’s eating patterns. If I were to guess, she would have tried to feed off the both of you. As a spirit walker you would have protected dreams, but in someone else’s nightmares, it’s quite possible she fed off your fears as well.”
“If they weren’t Stiles’ dreams, what fears would she have fed off?” Scott asked.
“That I was hurting everyone by being in their dreams,” Stiles answered. “I have a lot of anxiety in your dreams. I’m desperate to get you awake and out of there so I can’t hurt you.”
“So how do we get rid of this thing?” his dad asked.
“Iron,” Deaton answered.
“Alright, so the nocnitsa works with Peter to attack us on the same night as he attacks everyone else. Peter wants us alive for some reason. So what does that have to do with the nemeton?” Stiles asked.
Deaton shook his head. “It could simply be that you manifested the tree in order to help you survive. Perhaps the nocnitsa intended to kill you and not just to hold you back from joining in with the others to fight.”
“I don’t believe that,” Stiles said adamantly.
“I don’t either,” Derek agreed. “I would never dream of the nemeton as something safe.”
“What would you say then?” Deaton asked.
“We need to check out the nemeton,” Derek said.
“And about the other thing?” Scott asked.
“What thing?” Derek asked.
“You’re an Alpha.”
“That,” Derek could have gone a while without having this conversation.
“How is that possible? I thought you could only become an Alpha by killing another? Or the whole force of will crap,” Jackson asked.
“I have a theory,” Deaton said.
Derek bit his tongue at the flash of smug annoyance from Stiles. He looked at the young man and Stiles rolled his eyes.
“Derek gave up his alpha spark to save his sister Cora, however that didn’t take away the power that was inherent to him. I think when Peter endangered Stiles, Derek used their connection to access the Spark in Stiles to bring forth his alpha powers.”
“Say that again,” the Sheriff said as he moved closer to Stiles.
“All humans have the ability to do magic, but few have the spark to do so without aid. We say those people have a Spark. Without a Spark, humans can use other aids such as spells or tokens to reach magic. The same is true for werewolves. All werewolves have the ability to become alphas. There are few true alphas, but any beta can become an alpha by killing an alpha. Derek was an alpha but he gave up that spark to save Cora. When his need for that strength was at its greatest, he used Stiles’ spark to become an alpha again.”
“And why was that the moment of his greatest need?” the Sheriff asked.
Derek looked at Stiles but the younger man was staring up at his father. Deaton didn’t flinch from the other man though. Of course he didn’t. He wasn’t the one that had to worry about being shot with wolfsbane bullets.
“Because Peter endangered his mate.”
“His what?”
The loft erupted in noise but Derek was too focused on Stiles to pay attention. He hadn’t said anything about what it all meant but even when he wanted to deny what it was, he’d known down deep. Stiles didn’t seem scared or freaked by the revelation though. He seemed relieved. Derek let out a snort when he realized Stiles had been afraid Derek hadn’t known. He’d been worried that Derek would run when Deaton outed that aspect of their relationship.
Stiles shifted closer to Derek on the couch next to him and leaned in. “Think anyone would notice if we made a run for the nemeton right now?”
“Yeah,” Derek huffed out a laugh. “It might be worth it though.”
The sheriff glared at Derek but the fond amusement from Stiles buffered it for him and he gave the other man an innocent smile.
“Oh, good Lord,” the sheriff walked away but Derek counted it as a win. Stiles had his head buried in Derek’s shoulder to suppress his laughter and in that moment, Derek felt he’d won his first real battle in a long time.
**
The forest was quiet around them and it became even more so the closer they got to the nemeton. Stiles wasn’t happy to be there, but in Derek’s last dream it had given him aid and he had to take that as some kind of sign, right?
Derek wasn’t the only one that feared the nemeton. If it featured in either of their dreams it would have been a looming menace, not some kind of base in their fucked up game of tag with the fog.
Stiles could feel Derek’s anxiety and he stepped closer until his shoulder brushed against Derek’s back. Derek gave him a sharp look before he turned back at the huge stump of tree.
“Nothing comes here anymore,” Derek said quietly. “The animal tracks have all grown wild around here and it’s too quiet.”
Chris, Scott, Kira, and Isaac had come with them and he knew the others had heard Derek’s words even if they were softly spoken.
“What happened when you were here in your nightmare?” Chris asked.
There was something in the way he asked that made Stiles look over at him. They’d been through the details enough when they decided to make their way to the nemeton that morning. Chris didn’t forget things like that so Stiles knew he was looking for something else.
“I was running from the fog, trying to get to Stiles before it caught up to him. I heard him coming this way. When I got here the fog had cut me off from him but Stiles seemed safe because he was close to the nemeton. It seemed to give off a power that the fog refused to cross. I had to climb above the fog and I ended up trapped. Stiles used dried leaves from the nemeton to make a path I could cross.”
“So, that’s how you made it to safety.”
A new voice caused Derek to push Stiles behind him but Stiles side stepped so that he was slightly behind Derek but still in a position to see the old woman who had suddenly appeared at the edge of the nemeton’s clearing.
“The nemeton has never been particularly friendly to anyone trying to siphon off a little power. I should have remembered it might take an active hand.”
“Who are you?” Derek demanded.
“I have many names, Derek Hale. None of them are true.”
“What do you want with us?” Stiles demanded.
She laughed as she looked at the two of them together. “Power. Oh, the taste of his pain was so sweet but the desperation when you found him was almost addictive. I had to pace myself so carefully so I didn’t drain you both too quickly. No one noticed the subtle shift in your sleeping patterns, the loss of energy.”
“How did you find us?” Derek asked. He wasn’t curious though. He couldn’t care less how she found them. He needed to let the others get close enough to her though.
“Oh, well the nemeton was very good for that. Your young friends made a sacrifice and it tied your pack to this tree. I found the alpha’s nightmares but I couldn’t get to the spirit walker. Imagine my joy when I began feeding off the pack and found you were his mate. Just by stepping into your nightmares I was able to feed off the both of you.
“Why here?” Stiles demanded. “Why now?” He needed to know even if Derek didn’t.
“The alpha…” the nocnitsa said with a cackle. “The other alpha,” she clarified. “He found me and offered me a home here in exchange for giving him the blue-eyed wolf and the boy who ran with him. He also said I could feed off you for years if I wanted, and oh how I want to. You two are so delicious.”
“You didn’t really believe he’d do that, did you?” Stiles scoffed.
“If, and when, the alpha comes for me, I will be so strong he won’t be able to get rid of me. I don’t fear him.”
“Maybe you should fear this,” Chris said. He brought his gun up to bear, iron rounds in the chamber but the old woman screeched and they all had to cover their ears from the sound. She ran as the sound echoed around them but when Stiles was finally able to hear again, she was gone. Isaac and Derek ran after her, Chris right behind them. Stiles stayed with Kira and Scott.
“Okay, that was a little crazy,” Scott said with a smile.
“She reminded me of our third grade teacher,” Stiles confessed.
Scott laughed at that but Kira looked up at Stiles. “I thought the bite last night was the mating. She said you were already mates? In the dream?”
Stiles let out a deep breath as he looked back down the path the others had taken. He’d have preferred no one else caught that but he was surrounded by too many smart people. Yeah for the lifesaving, but not so great for keeping secrets from them.
“It wasn’t … like that. Derek and I have always been sorta connected. In the beginning it was a hate-hate thing. It changed and became … this. I didn’t know what to call it before the bite but then it became obvious what was going on between us. I don’t even know what Derek thinks about it. We haven’t really had much of a chance to talk.”
“But you can feel what he’s feeling, right?”
“First, violation of privacy is not cool to use against your mate. Second, that tells me what he’s feeling, not what he’s thinking. I mean right now he’s pissed. He could be pissed because they caught her or because they didn’t or because he can hear me talking about this or just because he stubbed his toe.”
“Oh,” Scott said with a sigh.
“Yeah. Empathy is only marginally helpful and that’s when it isn’t completely overwhelming me.”
He felt Derek’s arrival before he saw him and he turned to look up the path Derek came trotting down. The others weren’t far behind.
“Alright?” Derek asked.
“I’m guessing she got away?”
Derek nodded and Stiles could feel the anger in the werewolf. “Hey, she’ll be back soon enough in our heads. At least we know how to fight her now.”
Derek gave him a tight lipped smile. “Yeah. Let’s get back. We still need to figure out where Peter is and how to deal with him.”
It was a shitty truth and Stiles hated that they were going to have to take Derek’s uncle from him, again, but if anyone deserved to die or be exiled as many times as Peter had been, it was Peter. He just hated making Derek lose his family again.
Derek looked at him with a questioning gaze and Stiles didn’t answer but he reached for Derek’s hand and twined his fingers there. Derek looked at their hands for a second but he didn’t pull away as they began the walk back to the Camaro. In fact, he felt a fond amusement and happiness from Derek.
Chapter Six
Author:
hunters_retreat
Artist:
destielwinchi
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 23,000+
Summary: In the wake of life altering events, the Beacon Hills pack is trying to settle into some semblance of normal. After the nogitsune, all Stiles wants is to be able to breathe easy and know that his friends are safe. When Stiles begins to dream of his friends though, they turn out to be something extraordinary. Stiles is a spirit walker. The dreams leave him empathic and unable to control himself, but salvation comes in the unlikely form of Derek Hale. Stiles just needs to know two things. What is stirring in the woods of Beacon Hills to cause the entire pack to dream of horrific things? And can Derek help him learn to center himself and control his empathy before it’s too late?
“There’s someone pulling up to the building.”
Stiles looked up from the computer where he and Lydia were doing research. He kept begging them to let him go home and grab his laptop but Chris and his dad were pretty adamant about keeping everyone together until they figured out who this new threat was.
Until then, he was stuck sharing the computer. Not that he minded sharing with Lydia but they could get twice the work done with another laptop.
“Peter,” Chris said as he looked up at the others. “And it looks like he’s brought company.”
Stiles could feel the anger seeping from Derek at the mention of his uncle’s name. Underneath were a lot of emotions that were harder to read. Betrayal was high among them, but also disappointment and an overwhelming sadness. Nothing showed on Derek’s face but Stiles knew better.
The pack stood to face the door but Stiles held Derek towards the back. His father and Chris were there as well. Derek didn’t look happy about it, but then again Stiles wasn’t happy that they were letting Peter into the loft at all.
The door to the loft creaked open and Peter walked in with ten betas at his back. Stiles could feel Derek’s reaction to each one and it was only Peter himself that worried Derek.
“What do you want, Peter?” Scott asked abruptly.
No one could blame him for disliking Peter after all this time. Peter had only become more and more of a creeper over the years and it wasn’t like he’d started off on a good foot with them.
“Look at that. The True Alpha himself. I knew we didn’t send enough betas to deal with you.”
“It looks like you didn’t send enough betas to deal with any of us,” Scott answered smugly.
Peter smiled widely. “Oh I don’t know about that Scott. You’re all here, aren’t you?”
“Stop playing games, Peter. What do you want?” Derek asked. Stiles took a step closer to Derek but Peter’s eyes zeroed in on them.
“What I’ve always wanted. I am the Alpha,” Peter’s eyes blazed red and Derek stiffened at Stiles’ side. Stiles felt the wave of horror but he had his own fear growing steadily. “This pack is mine. I bit Scott. I was the Alpha and you had no right to steal it from me, Derek. No right to hand our family’s territory over to a sniveling brat who doesn’t know how to wield real power.”
“And you thought you’d what? Kill an alpha and bring his pack into the territory? Kill us all?”
“I’m willing to make a few concessions for family. You can keep your pet if you’d like. I offered Stiles the bite once before and I have to admit that I’ve regretted not just doing it ever since. It would have to be a term of his survival of course, but I’m sure he’ll survive the bite.”
“I think we have to say no,” Scott interrupted.
“I wasn’t talking to you!” Peter screamed at Scott.
The betas with Peter shifted and the pack reacted as well; the wolves shifted as the others pulled weapons.
“Wooohhhooo!” Stiles yelled into the room. “Everyone calm the hell down.”
“Stiles, stay back,” Derek warned him softly.
“Yes, Stiles, do stay down like a good pup. The grown-ups need to have a talk. Now, Derek, as I said you can keep Stiles. Scott will have to go of course but I’m willing to let you take care of that loose end so long as you submit to me as your Alpha. The rest of the pack will be on probation if you will. Those that follow me, remain. Those that don’t will be put down.”
“Do you think anyone in this room would ever trust you enough to follow you, Peter?” Derek asked.
“Well, I did try. Remember what I said boys,” Peter said to the betas behind him. “Derek and Stiles unharmed.”
Everything was in motion then and Stiles was pushed back behind his father. The betas were fast and though the pack wasn’t outnumbered the other pack was full of fighters. Lydia’s wolfsbane mace might be genius but it didn’t work when she was close to their own. Stiles couldn’t get to his bat and neither Ken nor Melissa were trained to fight.
Derek joined the fight and Stiles was left dizzy with the pure force of his anger. He felt his father move away, but he couldn’t follow. Whatever had happened between he and Derek, the empathy was too much and he felt the pain Derek felt as one of the betas swiped across his chest.
Derek growled and Stiles reeled but before he could lose his footing he felt a hand pressed around his neck as he was pulled back against someone’s chest.
“Derek!” Peter yelled across the room.
Stiles wanted to curse because he’d been the weak one again, the weak link that got the others caught but he didn’t have time to deal with his own bullshit yet.
“Really, Peter? You’re not going to kill me,” Stiles said, just to keep Peter talking. Derek might prefer to shut his uncle up but Stiles was good with words so long as it meant no one was killed. Noshiko and Kira were holding their own against a couple betas with Melissa and Ken behind them. Jackson looked worse for wear and blood seeped down his leg and across his shoulder but Lydia stood as his side, Stiles’ bat in her hands. His father and Chris were back to back in the middle of the room close to Isaac and Derek.
“Oh, I know. And so do they. But that doesn’t mean I won’t bite you Stiles. What do you think? Would you be strong enough to defy your Alpha?”
Derek roared from across the room and the betas cowered with shock. As Stiles watched, Derek’s eyes turned from brilliant blue to alpha- red just as they had in the dreams. “I am his alpha!” Derek charged before Peter could get over his shock and he barely released Stiles to run before Derek was there. Derek pulled Stiles against his chest, cradled him there as if he’d been hurt, but he roared again and two of the enemy betas cowered again beneath his anger. Chris put bullets in both of them but Stiles couldn’t see much more of the fight.
He heard Peter fleeing from the pack but not without throwing out a threat as he did. Scott and Isaac ran out the door to try to track them at Chris’s orders but Derek clung to Stiles. He wasn’t shifted human yet and Stiles didn’t think he was capable of that level of control at the moment.
He had felt the moment Peter threatened him, felt the pull of their connection as Derek’s eyes turned red and his alpha powers returned to him. He’d never expected to see Derek’s red-eyed gaze outside his dreams again but he was so fucking grateful for it now.
“Derek?”
He looked up at Derek who tried to keep Stiles face buried away from the danger but Stiles pushed and prodded until Derek let him. “Derek, shift back buddy. Come on. You can’t do something like that and not talk to me.”
“Stiles, are you sure it’s such a good idea to talk to him right now?” his father asked.
“He’d never hurt me, Dad,” Stiles reminded him. “Derek, come on. Peter is gone.”
Derek growled low in his throat but Stiles watched as his face shifted. His eyes remained red but he was no longer in werewolf form.
“What the hell just happened?” Scott didn’t come closer, which Stiles was immensely grateful for, but Derek pulled Stiles tighter against his body in response to the other alpha in the room.
Derek looked up at Scott, at all the others with his red eyes. “I’m an Alpha.”
“How the hell did that happen?” Jackson asked.
Derek looked down at Stiles. “I have no idea.”
Stiles let out a deep breath. “Good thing Deaton is coming in the morning.”
“I think I’ll get him sooner than that,” Scott said as he pulled out his phone. As much as Stiles wanted to argue that he really wanted some sleep he knew that was out of the question. Instead, he pushed Derek down onto the couch and made sure he was pressed against him from shoulder to ankle as the others began to pick up their pieces again.
**
In the end, Deaton didn’t show up until morning because - as Stiles had predicted - it all sounded very interesting, Deaton had no idea what could cause any of it, but he needed to do some research before he came over. The Sheriff picked Parrish up from the station and then went to the clinic to pick up Deaton in case there was any trouble but Deaton seemed to have been the only one that wasn’t attacked in some way that night.
They all sat around Derek’s loft and pulled in close when Deaton arrived. “It sounds like you’ve had an eventful night. Scott told me about it over the phone but I think there is more he isn’t aware of. Stiles? Derek?”
Stiles looked at Derek and as much as Derek wanted to pass this along to Stiles to explain, the younger man was still dealing with the newfound empathy between them. It hadn’t actually shut off between them since the bite. Derek had more practice controlling his emotions than Stiles did so he seemed to have an easier time keeping what he felt from Stiles in context.
Derek nodded to Stiles and let out a deep breath. He jumped straight into the details of the last dream and the differences between it and the others. He didn’t leave out any of the things he normally would. As much as Deaton often held back information, Derek knew there were good reasons for it. When he could, Deaton shared. Derek just needed to give him all the information there was.
“And you woke up with this connection?”
“It was there. It became stronger after we got to the loft,” Derek confirmed.
Deaton tilted his head ever so slightly. “How so?”
“Stiles,” he hesitated as he looked at Stiles. Stiles nodded, thought Derek could feel the turmoil in the younger man. “Stiles bit me. When I bit him back the empathy that Stiles usually has after the dreams came full force between us, though not to anyone else.”
“May I?”
The pack was uncomfortable with the fact that they’d bitten each other even if they didn’t know what Derek thought it was about. Derek pulled his shirt collar aside and Deaton looked down but quickly looked back up at Derek. “This happened last night?”
Derek just nodded.
“It isn’t healed yet.”
“I’m aware.”
“The wounds you received when Peter and the other pack attacked have healed though.”
“Yes they have,” Derek confirmed.
“You know what this means?”
“I have a good idea.”
“Stiles, may I see your bite mark?”
Derek nodded encouragingly and he could feel Stiles’ hesitation but the young man pulled his collar to the side as well. At the base of his neck where Derek had bitten him was a healed scar.
“Fascinating,” Deaton said softly.
“Want to share with the rest of the class, Deaton?” Chris asked.
Deaton looked at Derek who shook his head slightly, just enough for the vet to notice. “The bite is nothing to worry about. It’s a way for the two to anchor themselves amid the emotional impact of the attacks. I think Ms. Martin was correct when she mentioned over the phone that Peter had to be directing the dreams somehow. There have been some signs in the area that I couldn’t understand and in context, I think I have an answer.”
“And that would be?” Stiles broke his silence to ask.
“I don’t know how Peter could control one, but I believe he’s gained access to a nocnitsa, a spirit who captures the unknowing in their nightmares and feeds from their life force.”
“So I’m not a spirit walker?”
Deaton shook his head. “It’s not as easy as that, Stiles. You are a spirit walker which is why we’ve seen the dreams manifesting as we have in the pack. However, I think the reason you’re having so many problems with Derek is that the nocnitsa is feeding from him.”
Derek looked up in surprise. “The dreams aren’t any worse than I normally have. Wouldn’t there be a change if something started feeding off me?”
“Derek, how many nights do you wake from nightmares?” Deaton asked.
Stiles was quiet at his side but his hand brushed against Derek’s knee as he noticed how uncomfortable the question left him. “A couple times a week, usually.”
He didn’t mention how bad the nightmares had always been, how they left him breathless and unable to sleep after. How he’d gotten into a routine of working out and running so much because he needed to be completely drained physically to face sleep each night.
“Have you ever talked to anyone about it?” Deaton continued.
It was too personal but as much as Derek would have liked to avoid it they needed to realize it wasn’t an unusual pattern for him. It revealed too much that he didn’t like to talk about but Stiles gave him an encouraging smile and Derek answered.
“I did in New York. PTSD. It was getting better. I was sleeping better.”
“What happened?”
Derek shrugged. “Laura died. Peter woke. Hunters. The Alpha Pack. All of it. The nightmares came back.”
“The darker the dreams, the stronger the pull would be for a nocnitsa.”
“So was I helping or hurting by being in Derek’s dreams?” Stiles asked.
“I don’t know. I have no idea what effect a spirit walker would have on a nocnitsa’s eating patterns. If I were to guess, she would have tried to feed off the both of you. As a spirit walker you would have protected dreams, but in someone else’s nightmares, it’s quite possible she fed off your fears as well.”
“If they weren’t Stiles’ dreams, what fears would she have fed off?” Scott asked.
“That I was hurting everyone by being in their dreams,” Stiles answered. “I have a lot of anxiety in your dreams. I’m desperate to get you awake and out of there so I can’t hurt you.”
“So how do we get rid of this thing?” his dad asked.
“Iron,” Deaton answered.
“Alright, so the nocnitsa works with Peter to attack us on the same night as he attacks everyone else. Peter wants us alive for some reason. So what does that have to do with the nemeton?” Stiles asked.
Deaton shook his head. “It could simply be that you manifested the tree in order to help you survive. Perhaps the nocnitsa intended to kill you and not just to hold you back from joining in with the others to fight.”
“I don’t believe that,” Stiles said adamantly.
“I don’t either,” Derek agreed. “I would never dream of the nemeton as something safe.”
“What would you say then?” Deaton asked.
“We need to check out the nemeton,” Derek said.
“And about the other thing?” Scott asked.
“What thing?” Derek asked.
“You’re an Alpha.”
“That,” Derek could have gone a while without having this conversation.
“How is that possible? I thought you could only become an Alpha by killing another? Or the whole force of will crap,” Jackson asked.
“I have a theory,” Deaton said.
Derek bit his tongue at the flash of smug annoyance from Stiles. He looked at the young man and Stiles rolled his eyes.
“Derek gave up his alpha spark to save his sister Cora, however that didn’t take away the power that was inherent to him. I think when Peter endangered Stiles, Derek used their connection to access the Spark in Stiles to bring forth his alpha powers.”
“Say that again,” the Sheriff said as he moved closer to Stiles.
“All humans have the ability to do magic, but few have the spark to do so without aid. We say those people have a Spark. Without a Spark, humans can use other aids such as spells or tokens to reach magic. The same is true for werewolves. All werewolves have the ability to become alphas. There are few true alphas, but any beta can become an alpha by killing an alpha. Derek was an alpha but he gave up that spark to save Cora. When his need for that strength was at its greatest, he used Stiles’ spark to become an alpha again.”
“And why was that the moment of his greatest need?” the Sheriff asked.
Derek looked at Stiles but the younger man was staring up at his father. Deaton didn’t flinch from the other man though. Of course he didn’t. He wasn’t the one that had to worry about being shot with wolfsbane bullets.
“Because Peter endangered his mate.”
“His what?”
The loft erupted in noise but Derek was too focused on Stiles to pay attention. He hadn’t said anything about what it all meant but even when he wanted to deny what it was, he’d known down deep. Stiles didn’t seem scared or freaked by the revelation though. He seemed relieved. Derek let out a snort when he realized Stiles had been afraid Derek hadn’t known. He’d been worried that Derek would run when Deaton outed that aspect of their relationship.
Stiles shifted closer to Derek on the couch next to him and leaned in. “Think anyone would notice if we made a run for the nemeton right now?”
“Yeah,” Derek huffed out a laugh. “It might be worth it though.”
The sheriff glared at Derek but the fond amusement from Stiles buffered it for him and he gave the other man an innocent smile.
“Oh, good Lord,” the sheriff walked away but Derek counted it as a win. Stiles had his head buried in Derek’s shoulder to suppress his laughter and in that moment, Derek felt he’d won his first real battle in a long time.
**
The forest was quiet around them and it became even more so the closer they got to the nemeton. Stiles wasn’t happy to be there, but in Derek’s last dream it had given him aid and he had to take that as some kind of sign, right?
Derek wasn’t the only one that feared the nemeton. If it featured in either of their dreams it would have been a looming menace, not some kind of base in their fucked up game of tag with the fog.
Stiles could feel Derek’s anxiety and he stepped closer until his shoulder brushed against Derek’s back. Derek gave him a sharp look before he turned back at the huge stump of tree.
“Nothing comes here anymore,” Derek said quietly. “The animal tracks have all grown wild around here and it’s too quiet.”
Chris, Scott, Kira, and Isaac had come with them and he knew the others had heard Derek’s words even if they were softly spoken.
“What happened when you were here in your nightmare?” Chris asked.
There was something in the way he asked that made Stiles look over at him. They’d been through the details enough when they decided to make their way to the nemeton that morning. Chris didn’t forget things like that so Stiles knew he was looking for something else.
“I was running from the fog, trying to get to Stiles before it caught up to him. I heard him coming this way. When I got here the fog had cut me off from him but Stiles seemed safe because he was close to the nemeton. It seemed to give off a power that the fog refused to cross. I had to climb above the fog and I ended up trapped. Stiles used dried leaves from the nemeton to make a path I could cross.”
“So, that’s how you made it to safety.”
A new voice caused Derek to push Stiles behind him but Stiles side stepped so that he was slightly behind Derek but still in a position to see the old woman who had suddenly appeared at the edge of the nemeton’s clearing.
“The nemeton has never been particularly friendly to anyone trying to siphon off a little power. I should have remembered it might take an active hand.”
“Who are you?” Derek demanded.
“I have many names, Derek Hale. None of them are true.”
“What do you want with us?” Stiles demanded.
She laughed as she looked at the two of them together. “Power. Oh, the taste of his pain was so sweet but the desperation when you found him was almost addictive. I had to pace myself so carefully so I didn’t drain you both too quickly. No one noticed the subtle shift in your sleeping patterns, the loss of energy.”
“How did you find us?” Derek asked. He wasn’t curious though. He couldn’t care less how she found them. He needed to let the others get close enough to her though.
“Oh, well the nemeton was very good for that. Your young friends made a sacrifice and it tied your pack to this tree. I found the alpha’s nightmares but I couldn’t get to the spirit walker. Imagine my joy when I began feeding off the pack and found you were his mate. Just by stepping into your nightmares I was able to feed off the both of you.
“Why here?” Stiles demanded. “Why now?” He needed to know even if Derek didn’t.
“The alpha…” the nocnitsa said with a cackle. “The other alpha,” she clarified. “He found me and offered me a home here in exchange for giving him the blue-eyed wolf and the boy who ran with him. He also said I could feed off you for years if I wanted, and oh how I want to. You two are so delicious.”
“You didn’t really believe he’d do that, did you?” Stiles scoffed.
“If, and when, the alpha comes for me, I will be so strong he won’t be able to get rid of me. I don’t fear him.”
“Maybe you should fear this,” Chris said. He brought his gun up to bear, iron rounds in the chamber but the old woman screeched and they all had to cover their ears from the sound. She ran as the sound echoed around them but when Stiles was finally able to hear again, she was gone. Isaac and Derek ran after her, Chris right behind them. Stiles stayed with Kira and Scott.
“Okay, that was a little crazy,” Scott said with a smile.
“She reminded me of our third grade teacher,” Stiles confessed.
Scott laughed at that but Kira looked up at Stiles. “I thought the bite last night was the mating. She said you were already mates? In the dream?”
Stiles let out a deep breath as he looked back down the path the others had taken. He’d have preferred no one else caught that but he was surrounded by too many smart people. Yeah for the lifesaving, but not so great for keeping secrets from them.
“It wasn’t … like that. Derek and I have always been sorta connected. In the beginning it was a hate-hate thing. It changed and became … this. I didn’t know what to call it before the bite but then it became obvious what was going on between us. I don’t even know what Derek thinks about it. We haven’t really had much of a chance to talk.”
“But you can feel what he’s feeling, right?”
“First, violation of privacy is not cool to use against your mate. Second, that tells me what he’s feeling, not what he’s thinking. I mean right now he’s pissed. He could be pissed because they caught her or because they didn’t or because he can hear me talking about this or just because he stubbed his toe.”
“Oh,” Scott said with a sigh.
“Yeah. Empathy is only marginally helpful and that’s when it isn’t completely overwhelming me.”
He felt Derek’s arrival before he saw him and he turned to look up the path Derek came trotting down. The others weren’t far behind.
“Alright?” Derek asked.
“I’m guessing she got away?”
Derek nodded and Stiles could feel the anger in the werewolf. “Hey, she’ll be back soon enough in our heads. At least we know how to fight her now.”
Derek gave him a tight lipped smile. “Yeah. Let’s get back. We still need to figure out where Peter is and how to deal with him.”
It was a shitty truth and Stiles hated that they were going to have to take Derek’s uncle from him, again, but if anyone deserved to die or be exiled as many times as Peter had been, it was Peter. He just hated making Derek lose his family again.
Derek looked at him with a questioning gaze and Stiles didn’t answer but he reached for Derek’s hand and twined his fingers there. Derek looked at their hands for a second but he didn’t pull away as they began the walk back to the Camaro. In fact, he felt a fond amusement and happiness from Derek.
Chapter Six