Fic: Discovery Channel (6/12)
Title: Discovery Channel
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Rating: Overall R
Warnings: eventual knotting
Summary: Stiles is the best werewolf ever. fork in the road au. (were!stiles)
Notes: We have hit the halfway mark at 66,000 words (fml I never wanted this fic to be that long >.>) That said this chapter is the shortest one I've written at 9400 words so this is a good thing!! Or at least I think it is!
[Read on AO3]
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Whoever said the first time was the most memorable had very obviously never had a second, or a third, and most definitely never a fourth time, because while Stiles had enjoyed his first fumblings with Danny, the times following just got better. They were more comfortable with each other every time, learned what one another liked, and Stiles had thought he had been self aware before, but having someone else touch him opened up so many different avenues.
When he touched his own hip while pulling down his pants nothing happened, but if it was Danny a shock went through his body causing his hips to arch and him to let out a moan that he used to be embarrassed about. The moans made Danny smirk cockily and it was the only reason Stiles had changed his mind about the sounds he made. Danny looked hot when he was smirking and if Stiles could get him to wear that all the time when they were alone together he would.
He knew he had plenty of time tonight to do that though, since his dad was working until eleven and Stiles had made it very clear to Derek that he needed tonight off. They’d had an unproductive full moon the night before which involved Derek driving them almost fifty miles away from town so they could run off their energy without drawing the attention of the hunters, and this wasn’t even counting the lack of alpha that they had seen.
Stiles deserved this break. He’d put his nose back to the grindstone and go on patrol later, but for now all he wanted was Danny. He wanted Danny laid out under him like he was right now, cheeks flushed and shoulders blooming with bite marks, because the full moon was still running through his veins and his wolf liked biting. Danny didn’t mind, and he even bit back sometimes.
Stiles was going to take his time, regardless of how much Danny begged, and he was begging, arching his hips as Stiles kissed down to his hipbone.
He glanced up, trying to judge Danny’s reaction as he teased. He could smell the anticipation coming off Danny in waves and Stiles grinned, taking it slow as he kissed Danny’s inner thigh. He’d been so nervous the first time he’d done this, and his heart was still pounding in his chest but Stiles had a better idea what he was doing now.
He licked the underside of Danny’s cock, one hand wrapping around the base, and Stiles closed his eyes as he let himself listen to the sound of Danny slowly losing it. He was curling his fingers into Stiles’ bed sheets, trying desperately not to give in and grab the back of Stiles’ head.
Stiles paused, letting out a laugh as he remembered Danny complaining about his short hair. Nothing to grab on to, he had said.
“Don’t stop,” Danny panted, thrusting his hips up, his cock brushing against Stiles’ cheek, getting spit and pre-come on his skin.
Stiles grinned impishly, licking the head teasingly just to hear Danny let out a whine. He was close, Stiles could tell, and he loved it, holding him right on this edge. Stiles was getting good at sensing when Danny was about to come, and he knew if he wrapped his lips around the head that in a moment Danny would come hard, head thrown back.
“Please,” Danny pleaded and Stiles gave in, swallowing him down as Danny’s gasps filled the room.
Stiles was glad they didn’t have to be quiet.
He crawled up to Danny’s shoulder, wrapping him in a hug and settling down in the afterglow. He hadn’t come yet and his cock was tenting in his boxers, but he could wait the few minutes it took Danny to stop shaking. He ran his fingers down Danny’s arm, enjoying the way goosebumps appeared in the wake of each touch.
Danny pressed a sloppy kiss to his chest, lazily moving his hand down to Stiles’ cock, and Stiles groaned. A part of him wanted to say it was okay, that he could wait, but the other part wanted the contact. He listened to it, shifting so he could kiss Danny before he got too gone to do much else but pant helplessly.
Danny’s hand felt so good on his cock, fingers tight enough to create a hole for him to fuck and Stiles moaned, wrapping himself around Danny as he humped his way closer to orgasm. He didn’t care what he looked like because Danny was urging him on, and it felt good and -
Let me hear you say this shit is bananas
fuck was that-
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
It was.
They both had stopped; the only thing filling the room was the sound of Danny’s ringtone.
“Someone should get that,” Stiles said, burying his face in Danny’s shoulder. He was still hard but he couldn’t do anything about it because the mood was ruined.
Danny patted his shoulder, reaching over him to grab his phone from where it had fallen on the floor. “I have no clue why he’s calling,” Danny said as his phone started to go off again. “He’s out with Lydia, and he knows I’m with you-- Hey. Jackson! What’s up?”
Stiles closed his eyes, but he couldn’t block out Jackson’s voice, or the sirens coming from the other side of the phone.
“I got attacked is what happened,” Jackson practically yelled from the other end of the phone and Danny shot up.
“What?”
Stiles’ eyes opened in surprise as Jackson rambled off about how he had just been going into the video store to get a movie for Lydia and then he was being attacked by some animal.
“Jackson- Jackson. Calm down,” Danny said, reaching over Stiles for his pants. He shot him an apologetic look, mouthing an I’m sorry. “Are you okay? Is Lydia okay? She wasn’t in the store with you, was she?”
“No,” Stiles could hear Jackson take a deep breath. “No, she wasn’t. She was in the car, but she’s shaken up.”
“Hey, do you need me to stop by?” Danny asked, but Stiles could tell that Danny was going to go see Jackson either way.
Stiles reached over and grabbed his clothes, his erection gone after hearing about the attack. His mind was already whirling, trying to figure out what he could do. The alpha had attacked Jackson? For what purpose? Stiles froze. Had? Had Jackson been bitten? He turned to Danny, and he could only imagine the look of horror on his face at the prospect that Jackson had been bitten. Stiles was not ready to deal with that.
“Was he bitten?” Stiles asked, unable to stop himself, and Danny looked at him oddly, grabbing his wallet from Stiles’ desk. He was still on the phone with Jackson, listening to him ramble on.
What? Danny mouthed and Stiles made a few vague hand gestures that he personally thought meant lycanthropy, but to someone else probably looked like he was drowning.
“Jackson,” he hissed in frustration. “Was he bit?”
“What? No- not you, Jackson, I was talking to Stiles. He wants to know if you were bit.” Danny rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why, probably so he can laugh at you.”
Stiles let out a frustrated groan when Jackson just derailed the conversation, not answering the question. Stiles grabbed his own phone, skimming through the texts from Derek.
tracking the alpha
no hunters out tonight
i lost him
That text had been sent twenty minutes ago and Stiles sighed, following Danny out of his room. He sent a quick text back to Derek saying he knew where to pick up the alpha’s trail, but he didn’t mention Jackson. Maybe if he didn’t think about Jackson being bit it would just go away and have never happened.
Hey, maybe the bite would kill him! That was a good thought, but then Stiles looked over at Danny talking quietly on the phone to Jackson, trying to calm him down, no doubt, and Stiles took it back. He hated Jackson, but he couldn’t take Danny’s best friend from him.
There were cops and ambulances at the video store, and it was taped off. Stiles had originally thought that was a little much for an animal attack, but he quickly realized Jackson hadn’t been the only victim. Actually Jackson hadn’t been a victim at all. The owner of the store though, he was dead.
Stiles could only stare in horror at where he knew the dead body was, and he felt sick to his stomach. He could smell the alpha mixed in with the death, and if he hadn’t been sure before he knew now that it had been responsible. Danny ran over to where Jackson was sitting against a police car, Lydia in the backseat with a blanket around her shoulders, staring blankly at her hands. Stiles hung back, trying to catch his bearings. He couldn’t smell anything except death and alpha so he couldn’t even tell if it was safe to search out Derek, because he didn’t know if hunters were around.
They’d no doubt be attracted to the news of an attack, so if Derek showed up Stiles would have to plan how to run off with him to continue tracking the alpha. This attack was too public, and it would no doubt have repercussions.
“Stiles?” He jumped as a hand came down on his shoulder, but when he turned around it was just his father.
“Dad! Jesus you scared me.” Stiles ran a hand over his face, trying to get his senses back. He focused on his father, and then reached out for Danny, because they were comforting scents. He could smell Derek too, and he glanced over quickly, catching him creeping outside the yellow tape.
“What are you doing here?” Stiles flailed and pointed in the direction of Danny, Jackson and Lydia. His father’s face softened and he let go of Stiles with a sigh. “You’re a good friend.”
Stiles flushed as he shrugged. “Just checking in on them. Jackson called saying he’d been attacked.”
His dad snorted. “He was just shoved to the side while the mountain lion ran out of the store. That’s it. Besides a little bruising and cuts on his hands he’ll be fine.”
Stiles let out a rush of air, so relieved to hear that. “Are you sure? He wasn’t like, bitten or clawed at?”
“Not that we can see.” His dad sighed. “This is gonna be a long night, though.”
“But you said it was a mountain lion attack right?”
“Yeah, but that’ll be the hard part. Second animal attack in a few months? Tends to freak people out. I’m going to be doing damage control with the local papers and news channels all night.”
Stiles shuffled from foot to foot. The scent of the alpha was lessening and while that meant he could smell other things now, it also meant Derek and he were losing their lead. He glanced over at Derek, who looked agitated, head ducked and collar pulled up on his leather jacket. “I’m gonna go see if Danny needs a ride home, and then I’ll head home, okay dad?”
His father nodded, turning to one of his deputies and demanding that they clear people off. Stiles nodded at Derek slightly, raising a finger to tell him he’d be right there, before he ran over to Danny, Jackson and Lydia. Danny had an arm around Jackson and was holding Lydia’s hand, trying to coax her out of the car.
“Everything okay?” Danny asked, nodding towards Stiles’ dad.
“Yeah, yeah everything is cool.” Stiles looked Jackson up and down, sniffing discreetly to make sure that the bite hadn’t healed over already on Jackson’s body. He smelled like the alpha, but under that was the scent of pure human, and Stiles let out a sigh of relief. He really couldn’t handle having another beta running around.
“What are you looking at, Stilinski?” Jackson snapped and Stiles’ lips formed a tight frown.
“You couldn’t have mentioned that someone had died? That didn’t cross your mind at all?”
Jackson gave him a look. “What of it? The guy’s dead, he’s not coming back. I, however, was attacked.” He shrugged off Danny’s arm, stepping into Stiles’ personal space. Stiles’ wolf growled in a way that he hadn’t felt in a while. He had found balance, and was able to control himself almost all of the time, but with Jackson in his personal space, it was harder.
“I don't know, maybe I like knowing when I have to see a dead body, Jackson,” Stiles snapped back, and he felt fangs in his mouth. He was so close to snarling at Jackson.
“Not everything’s about you!” Jackson said as he shoved Stiles.
Stiles stumbled, trying to center himself as he stared down Jackson. “Don’t shove me.”
Jackson pushed Stiles again, ignoring Danny’s protest. “Why? I won’t like you when you’re angry?”
Stiles arched his eyebrow in surprise at the reference and then looked down at his shirt, which was in fact the Hulk smashing. “So clever. You recognized a comic book character and made a joke about it. I’ll give you a--”
Jackson cut him off with another shove and Stiles fell to the ground in surprise. Something inside him snapped when he hit the concrete and he pushed himself back up, shoving Jackson before he could run away. He was ready to do more to Jackson when an arm wrapped around him.
“You’re causing a scene,” Derek whispered in his ear, and Stiles dropped against his chest, the anger still burning in his chest. “Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Your eyes just flashed and your claws are coming out.”
Stiles did as he was told, turning his head so he could focus on Derek’s scent. It helped center him, and remind him that he didn’t need to fight Jackson. He was stronger. He had a pack, and Jackson was alone.
“Fuck you, Stilinski,” Jackson growled and Stiles’ eyes opened to see Danny holding Jackson back, pushing him into the backseat of the car.
He sighed, shrugging off Derek’s arm. “We need to get going,” Derek reminded him, and Stiles nodded, feeling drained all of a sudden as his wolf retreated at seeing Jackson put in his place.
Danny looked frustrated, and he looked at Stiles, and then Derek. “You shouldn’t push his buttons.”
Stiles glanced over his shoulder at Jackson sitting in the backseat of the cop car with a petulant look on his face. “Maybe he should stop having so many buttons.”
“Or maybe you shouldn’t push them,” Danny repeated, giving him a look. “He’s a drama queen, but he was actually freaked out. Give him a break.”
Stiles sucked in a breath. “You’re right,” and as much as it took to say that, seeing a faint smile cross Danny’s face made it worth it. “Do you need a ride home?”
Danny shot a look at Derek, and then looked back at Jackson and Lydia. He opened his mouth, then shut it and just shook his head instead. “It’s fine.”
Stiles knew it would be polite to double check, and make sure Danny wasn’t just saying that but the trail was getting cold and he and Derek needed to find the alpha soon. He kissed Danny quickly and turned to leave. “I’ll see you on Monday, okay?”
Danny gave him a weak wave, and he might have muttered something but Stiles was too focused on trying to get back to his car and get Derek into it without anyone noticing to worry about it.
***
“Don’t even start,” Danny said when he opened the back door of the cop car and pushed Jackson into the middle, Lydia barely moving closer to the other side of the car.
“I am not getting bitch,” he protested weakly, but Danny just glared at him.
“Yes. You are. What the hell was that?” Danny dropped his voice, but it was still angry and Jackson couldn’t understand why he was so upset. So he had almost gotten into a fight with Stiles. It wasn’t like he was going to hurt him. It wasn’t like Stiles was more important to Danny than Jackson.
“He just pisses me off! What was all of that Oh, woe is me bullshit? I was the one who was attacked!”
Danny’s glare softened. “Did you ever think he wanted to know because his dad is the sheriff and that kind of thing affects his life?”
Jackson opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the words. He hadn’t expected Danny to pick Stiles’ side. He had expected him to understand Jackson like he always did.
“Where did he go?” Jackson asked instead of admitting anything. He couldn’t let Danny see his confusion, his hurt.
Danny shrugged, looking out to the parking lot. “Back home. He gave Derek a ride.”
Jackson felt rage bubble up in his chest, but he tried not to explode. He didn’t think Danny would appreciate it. “Derek? What was he doing here?”
Danny shrugged again. “Dunno.” He looked over Jackson and sighed. “Move over, you idiot. And take off your jacket.” Jackson stared at him confused and Danny just pushed him closer to Lydia. “Give it to Lydia, she looks like she’s freezing. I would give her mine but you’re in my way.”
Jackson fumbled with his jacket, slipping it around Lydia’s shoulder. She was still shaking, and she had a blank, terrified look on her face. Jackson sighed, wrapping her up in his arms and leaning back against the car seat, Lydia’s head pressed against his chest. As he closed his eyes he felt Danny’s arm sneak behind his head, giving him a place to curl up too. Jackson tried to resist it for as long as he could, but he felt so drained.
He’d been powerless to stop the attack from happening. He hated that feeling, and now Lydia was in shock curled against him, and there was nothing he could do because he hadn’t been good enough.
It was an awful feeling, and Jackson really wanted to get rid of it.
***
“Police are officially reporting it as a mountain lion attack,” Kate confirmed as she sat down across from him at the kitchen counter.
Chris didn’t give her a second glance because he needed at least two more coffees before he was awake enough to handle this. He had been running through the woods all night after the damn alpha, and then Harvey, a new recruit, had said he’d spotted Hale sniffing out the crime scene. Chris didn’t know why Kate had people tagging Hale still. He wasn’t leading them to the alpha, and all signs pointed to him not knowing anything. They’d basically neutered him after killing the other beta, proof enough because there wasn’t a single sign of werewolves during the full moon.
“Of course they are. What else could it be?”
Kate grinned at him. “You’re so funny when you’re playing normal. Harvey lost Hale last night, but there weren’t any indications that he was with anyone.”
“We knew that already,” Chris said, keeping an ear out for Allison. It was early in the morning and she had been up late with the boyfriend but she could still wander down, and he really didn’t want her to hear about this. “I don’t get your obsession with him. He’s a dead end.”
Kate pursed her lips. “I’m not so sure. How long’s he been here? Almost two months? Without his sister? I heard reports from New York that they both cleared out, and no one’s seen tooth or claw of the bitch since last year.”
“They’re keeping a low profile. Fine by me,” Chris said, reaching for the Sunday paper. He needed a distraction because Kate had her hunt face on, and it never lead anywhere good.
“But what if it’s more. What if his sister went rabid? I hear the fire was a nasty one.” Chris gave her a look and she returned it with an innocent smile. “I’m just saying. He’s obviously invested in this alpha. It just got me thinking. The other beta was his pack. What if his sister bit someone and got a little bloodthirsty, and now Hale has to play damage control.” She scrunched up her face in twisted delight. “And now she’s struck again. Must suck.”
“Our only interest is the alpha,” Chris reminded her. “Hale didn’t kill anyone.” Kate grinned and it unsettled him. “We leave him alone.”
She clucked her tongue. “Of course brother, whatever you say. You know best.”
He could hear what she wasn’t saying though. The snide comments about preventative measures, but Chris could never understand those. There was a code for a reason, and he stuck by it. It was ingrained into him, just like it had been drilled into Kate. He watched her take a sip of her own coffee and wondered.
***
You need to get here asap was the text that Stiles had sent Derek at 3:30 in the afternoon after he had gotten back from Lydia’s. He’d only gone over there to check on her because Danny had thought it would calm him down since he’d pawned his nervous energy off on feeling worried about Lydia. And he was worried about her, but he had been more concerned about the alpha and the fact that they were never close to finding it. Stiles had resigned himself to the idea that the alpha would only let them see him if he wanted them to, and it was a shitty idea.
He hated being out of control, and going to see Lydia had been an act of getting back in control. Even drugged up she could still make witty comments, and she’d read him the riot act the moment had entered her room, talking about how he had no right to come bother her on a school day. It had been amusing, partly because it was midwinter break, and partly because halfway through her lecture she dropped off to sleep, but then he’d been an idiot and checked her phone and seen the stupid video.
Thirty-four frames of the alpha in HD, captured from Lydia’s phone. No wonder she was freaking out. Stiles was freaking out. He had only seen the alpha from a distance, but it hadn’t been enough to be hit with the full effect of terror that the alpha gave off.
And that was why Stiles needed to talk to Derek, because he’d been researching and the things he’d read about alphas pointed to bad things. Stiles was rereading a passage from one of the books he had temporarily misappropriated from Derek’s room when Derek finally came through his window.
“Thank god,” Stiles said, swinging around to face him.
“What’s the matter?” Derek asked, dropping onto Stiles’ bed.
“The alpha, and before you say anything, I am aware it has been our problem since the beginning, but hear me out.” Derek made a motion with his hand to have Stiles continue and Stiles sighed. “I went to see Lydia today, just to clear my head. She was at the video store you know, but outside.” Derek nodded, urging him to keep going. Stiles didn’t know how to say it so he just tossed Derek his phone, already opened to the video. “She caught this on her phone. I deleted it! But still,” he frowned. “I thought you’d find it interesting.”
Derek gave him a look as he watched the short video, looping it a few times. “It’s the alpha.”
“Yes. Except did you notice anything?”
Derek frowned. “Stiles, it’s the alpha. I know what the alpha looks like.”
Stiles let out a huge sigh. “How is it that I know more about this stuff than you do, and you’ve got like twenty years on me in the werewolf department.” He snatched the phone back and paused on a frame of the alpha snarling, eyes blood red. “I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on, and everything I’ve read about alphas say that their shifted form reflects their state of mind. Most alphas just shift into full wolves, because they are balanced, in control, because alphas generally have to be.
“But that doesn’t have to be the case. Some alphas can go mad, drunk on power or something. And it shows in their forms. The older myths? The ones where the image of the Big Bad Wolf comes from? Monstrous creatures? Those were alphas too, ones who weren’t in control. They were the ones who got noticed.”
Derek was looking at him oddly, a mix of surprise and apprehension. “And? We have an out-of-control alpha on our hands. We knew that already.”
Stiles huffed. “No. You are severely underestimating the level of crazy, Derek. Like this amount of deranged requires severe trauma.” He spun around and pulled out a book someone in Derek’s family had taken the time to translate from Italian to English. “Packs rebel against this type of alpha, which explains how you and I can get away being alpha-less and not go slowly crazy from being omegas. Because we aren’t alone, it’s you and me as a pack and we are fighting against our alpha. Our instinct to submit is being overridden by the urge to buck against this kind of alpha, because they aren’t good for our pack.”
“So you’re basically saying that we can kill the alpha.”
“I’m saying we need to kill it,” Stiles said fiercely. “It’s been playing with us, because even if it’s crazy out of control, it’s in enough control to not let us find it. But we need to bring it to us, and fast.”
Derek sucked in a breath, and he looked uneasy. “Stiles, you know it won’t be that easy.”
“Yeah, it would be much easier if it were a vampire, because stake through the heart and all, but I’ll take what I can get.” Stiles blew out a breath. “And we need to kill it. We can’t let a hunter do it.”
“I know.”
Stiles shot him a look. “You know?”
Derek shrugged. “If we don’t, we’ll be alpha-less.”
Stiles nodded. “But if you do it you’ll be the alpha. Problem solved.”
“No. Problem not solved, Stiles.” Derek ran a hand through his hair, dropping the book.
“Well I sure can’t be alpha.”
“I’m not saying that. I’m saying this will take planning. This is an insane amount of power we are talking about, and we can’t just dive right into it.”
“That’s why I’m bringing it up now,” Stiles argued. “There’s no other option.”
“I know. But things will happen if I become an alpha.”
“So I read,” Stiles said, nodding to the pile of books on his desk.
“This is crazy,” Derek muttered.
“Did you really think there would be another way?”
Derek was quiet for a long while before he answered. “No.”
***
Allison spent most of midwinter break wondering when the inevitable implosion was going to happen in her life, and whether the catalyst would be from her Aunt Kate or Scott. Avoidance had been the route the two of them had taken with the entire “Scott stole a bullet that had some kind of plant inside it from Kate because Stiles needed it to live” situation, and it was working. Scott could look her parents in the eye even, which was more than she had been expecting from him.
She, on the other hand, couldn’t. Maybe it was because she had no idea what was going on and it made her imagine the worst possible things. She could only begin to think about what kind of world Kate was mixed up in, and how it involved Stiles, Scott, and obviously Derek. Did it expand further? Did her parents know?
She didn’t even know where to start with research. She had these clues: the bullet, the plant, but no way to use them. She couldn’t identify the plant since it was ground up, and barely had any odor. She’d need something like that mass-whatever that was on all of those CSI shows to even begin, and she definitely didn’t have those.
It made her feel closed off, especially when Scott would come over every day acting like nothing was wrong. She played along, but it didn’t stop her from giving Stiles an extra long look every time they were together, just to see if he would slip up.
Whatever trouble he was getting into it would most likely pick up over break, while he had free time, which is why Allison was going to be extra vigilant when they were all hanging out later that day. She didn’t know what the group of them were going to be doing but she knew it was a chance to see Stiles, and see if anything was going on.
Allison was half-heartedly googling police interrogation tactics to make herself feel like she was being somewhat productive when she got a text from Lydia.
Jackson is picking you up in twenty minutes! Be ready with a smile!!!
Allison shook her head. Looked like Lydia had recovered from the animal attack, and Allison was happy for her. Scott had said she wasn’t doing so well, and Danny had backed that up when she texted him the night before to smooth out plans for today. She pushed back from her desk to go change out of her pajamas when something caught the corner of her eye. Her heart was pounding as she snapped her to head to the side only to see Kate leaning against her door, smiling faintly.
Allison let out a huge sigh of relief. “You scared me.”
Kate grinned and knocked softly on her door. “Sorry, you looked pretty focused.” She inclined her head towards Allison’s computer where three different windows were opened describing interrogation tactics, and one about popular plant based drugs.
Allison shut her computer. “Yeah. Just doing a little studying.”
“You’re so dedicated. It’s adorable,” Kate said, coming into her room and taking a seat on her bed. “You do know you’re on break, right?”
Allison nodded, looking her aunt up and down. It was strange. She used to think Kate was someone she understood, but now it felt like she didn’t know her. She didn’t think she knew anyone. “Yeah. Just a little extra research.” She waved her hand dismissively, mind racing to try and think of how to be casual.
Be vague, too specific and it’s obvious it’s a lie, the one website had said, or wait, was it the other way around? It was all getting muddled up in her head. Allison could understand now how Scott probably felt.
Kate didn’t give her a chance to test out which one it was though, because she just continued, pulling something out her pocket. “Well. I know it’s early, but I figure the day of you’ll be busy with all your new friends. And who knows, I might not even be here.” Allison blinked, mind still whirling from before that she couldn’t think what Kate was talking about. Kate held out the box with one hand, smiling at her. “Happy early birthday.”
Allison stared at the box, and then slowly reached for the box. “Thank you,” she said even before she opened it, still stuck on Kate’s words. “What do you mean you might not be here?”
Kate shrugged, head tilting to the side. “You know how work is. I might be finished here earlier than I expected, and then I’ll just be moving on.” She nodded towards Allison. “Open it.”
Allison looked down at the box, lifting the top off to reveal a silver pendant, with an engraving on it. It was in a crude circle, obviously handmade, with what looked like some kind of animal in the middle, and what could be a sun, or a starburst on the side. “Wow,” Allison breathed out, picking it up.
“It’s our family crest.”
“We have a crest?” Allison asked, turning the pendant around.
Kate was giving her a nostalgic, faint smile. “Yes, we do. You should look it up if you want to know more about us.”
Allison looked from Kate to the pendant, and then slowly put it on, feeling the heavy weight of the necklace around her neck. “Thank you.”
Kate’s smile changed to a wide grin, and she stood up and wrapped Allison in a hug. She tensed, and then forced herself to relax. This was just her aunt, not someone else who did whatever Allison thought she was capable of. “Now you have a good time with your friends okay?” She kissed Allison’s forehead. “Who all are you hanging out with again? That cute boyfriend of yours’, Scott? Your pretty girl friend Lydia?”
Allison nodded, fingers running over the pendant. “Yeah, and Jackson, Danny and Stiles.” She said Stiles last just to see if the name did anything for Kate, because she needed to know.
Kate just grinned at her. “Have a blast, alright? You’re young and no matter what my stupid brother says, you deserve to have a good time.”
Allison nodded again as her phone went off, a text from Jackson saying he was outside and if she wasn’t in his car in thirty seconds he was leaving her. Allison looked at her pajamas and sent back a :-P before heading to her closet to change. She wasn’t feeling any better about this whole situation and she wasn’t sure she would unless she got details soon.
***
Derek smelled them well before they knocked on his door, but he didn’t try to leave from where he was sorting through one of the many boxes he still hadn’t bothered to unpack. He hadn’t thought he would ever need them, but after Stiles’ insistence that they get moving on the whole Kill The Alpha plan sooner rather than later, it was best if he started looking through some of the things he had ignored before, just in case they had any answers.
He ignored the first knock on his door, and the second. He even ignored it when it became obvious that someone was using their boot instead of their fist to try and get his attention. If they wanted to knock down his door they could deal with his angry landlord, and drawing attention from his neighbors.
That’s what he told himself at least, but his shaking hands told the truth. He was scared, and about two seconds from bolting for his bedroom window and climbing out that way. He refused to give in to that instinct though. He was not going to back down.
He moved on to the next box that had a suitcase he had found in the rubble of the stairs after Scott had fallen through them that first night. He hadn’t given it a second thought, just grabbed it as he was combing through the house, but now was as a good a time as any to open it.
His front door opened with a click and Kate Argent stood there holding a lock pick with a wide grin, two men behind her.
“And that, boys, is how you break into a werewolf’s lair.”
One of the guys snickered, and Derek could see the tasers on all three of their hips. They were at least smart enough to know not to carry any guns in public.
“Get out,” he said, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking as much as he was afraid it was.
“Shut the door,” Kate ordered, stepping into his apartment and Derek froze. He had trapped himself behind the counter, and he couldn’t get out without some sort of fight. A fight would draw attention to them, and Kate’s grin told him she knew that. She clucked her tongue, walking to the other side of the bar counter that divided his kitchen from his living room, fingers trailing over the boxes.
The two men she had brought were already going through the things he had laid out in his living room, not caring that they were knocking things over. Derek was glad he had been unable to unpack his family pictures, because he didn’t want them to see those.
“Now what do we have here?” Kate asked, tapping her finger on her lips.
“Get out,” he repeated.
She tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to him like she thought it would affect him. “I don’t think so.”
He wasn’t sure if he had moved or not, but suddenly he was on his back, the ends of the taser hitting into his chest. He gasped, not expecting the jolt of electricity to go through him. He distantly heard one of the men she had brought with her laughing.
“Now. We can do this easy,” Kate said, and then another jolt went through his body. “Or we can do this hard.”
Derek wasn’t given a chance to answer before a third jolt shot through him, causing his body to arch him involuntarily, and this time Kate laughed.
“Wow, this is a lot more fun than I was picturing.” She turned to the two men. “You two finding anything?”
“No ma’am,” one of them answered and Kate hummed.
“Go check in the bedroom. Maybe he’ll have something there.” She turned back to him, finger moving away from the trigger. Derek could barely see her when he opened his eyes because of the white dots in front of his eyes. “Now. What did I want?” She tapped her finger over her mouth. “Oh, that’s right. Unger and Reddick.”
“What?” Derek gasped, because she accompanied that sentence with a shock of electricity.
“That’s the third murder in a week Derek. That’s sloppy, don’t you think?”
“What?”
Kate didn’t seem to be paying attention to him. “I mean, at least this time you let your alpha get to them in the woods where an animal attack makes more sense, but really? You couldn’t wait a little while longer?”
“What?” Derek asked for a third time, but she didn’t respond. Instead Kate came around the counter, dropping down so she was crouching beside him. He felt her pull the pins of the taser out of his chest, but he still couldn’t move, his limbs numb.
“Have I broken you?” She stroked his forehead and he shivered, trying to get away from her touch. Her eyes were roving over his body and she grinned. “You grew up well, I have to admit. Even if you did get stupid. Oh well, what can you expect with your kind?” She asked before she stood back up. Derek gasped as she delivered a kick to his ribs. There wasn’t enough force to break anything, and it hurt his dignity more than anything. “Tell your alpha I’m going to kill it, and when I’m done with him I’m going after you, okay?” She gave him another kick, and then flashed him a smile that was all teeth before barking to the two men to follow her out of the apartment.
They didn’t even bother to close the door, just left it wide open with Derek on the kitchen floor. He couldn’t move yet, and it was a terrifying feeling. Their scents were everywhere in his apartment, and it made him nauseous. He felt torn up. They had come into his home with no regard for his cares. It was worse than when Chris had shown up. At least then the scent had never entered his place, his bedroom.
He rolled over coughing. He wasn’t safe here, and one look at his living room, never clean to begin with now that Stiles didn’t stop by, made him need to leave. The boxes were overturned and the few books he still had left were thrown all over the room, left open. He could see one had been stepped on and ripped in two.
Derek needed to leave.
He stood up shakily and grabbed his phone from the counter. Thank god Kate hadn’t thought to look in there. He had texts from Stiles and Scott saved there, with their names. Incriminating texts that would blow their covers.
Derek ran a hand over his face. He needed Stiles, but he couldn’t leave his apartment just yet. There were things he couldn’t risk leaving alone, and so he quickly packed those few boxes (the pictures of his family, the books Stiles hadn’t stolen, and the box of stuff he had salvaged from his house) and transferred them to his car. He kept one eye out for the hunters, but they seemed pleased with the damage they had already caused so they weren’t lingering around.
He still made sure to take the scenic route to Stiles’ house and to park half a mile away, walking the rest of the way so no one could link them together. He didn’t need this coming back to Stiles. He’d already gotten Stiles shot, and Derek didn’t like thinking about it, but it was true. He’d been the one to not look out for Stiles, and if anything else happened to him, if Kate knew he was also a werewolf-
Derek didn’t like that train of thought so he shut it down.
Stiles was home alone when Derek showed up, mindlessly tapping away at some videogame on his computer that had a lot of flashing arrows that may or may not have been fitting to the beat of whatever techno song was coming out of his speakers. Before Derek even opened his mouth to speak Stiles had turned his head, nostrils flaring as he abandoned his computer.
“What happened?” Derek looked down at himself, wondering what had given it away. “You stink of hunters and burning flesh,” Stiles said harshly, hands reaching for Derek to pull him into the room. As he helped Derek get his shirt off so he could see if the burns had healed he snapped, “tell me everything.”
It was like it finally hit Derek what had happened, the shock making his body go numb, and he dropped his head. “I don’t- they stopped by and completely ransacked…” he trailed off, remembering what his apartment had looked like.
“Who’s ‘they’ Derek? Allison’s dad? One of his muscles?”
“No. Kate. Allison’s-“ he cut off his words as Stiles climbed into his lap, pushing him further back on his bed. Stiles cupped his chin, forcing him to look at him, and when Derek finally did he saw Stiles’ bright golden eyes. “No. Don’t,” he said quickly, stopping Stiles before he could even get the words out. “You aren’t going to look for them. This isn’t how this works.”
Stiles growled low in his throat, wrapping his arms around Derek’s shoulders and burying his face in his chest. “You smell awful.” He pressed himself closer and Derek returned the hug, needing Stiles against him. It reminded him that he had a pack, that he had someone to look out for him and he needed that. Stiles was babbling into his neck, talking about how he smelled like fear and how it wasn’t right, and that Derek was safe with him.
Derek shut his eyes and squeezed Stiles closer. He was right, Derek was safe with him. It’s why he had to come here.
“I can’t go back,” Derek said numbly, and Stiles nodded against his shoulder.
“Of course you can’t. Those fucks just broke into your house! God, a part of me wants to say that I’ll get my dad on them, but that won’t help, will it?”
Derek shook his head, pushing Stiles away from just enough so he could see his face. “It’s alright. It was stupid to think I’d be safe there anyway.”
“Did they take anything?”
“No,” Derek said. “They just... wanted to show their dominance.” He snorted, because Kate had already proven she was the bigger bitch six years ago. “They ransacked the place, but they weren’t interested in anything.” He licked his lips. “I packed up the important things and put them in my car.”
“I’ll hold onto them,” Stiles said immediately, his fingers tracing Derek’s face and then going up to run through his hair. “Okay?”
Derek nodded, leaning into the touch. “I just- thank you.”
“No problem. I understand that you don’t feel safe in your den.”
“Don’t call it that,” Derek muttered, dropping his head forward so he could bury himself in Stiles’ chest.
“What? A den?” Stiles shrugged, shifting a little in his lap. “Why? Hell, I call my room my den. Not out loud!” He clarified quickly, “But like, it’s just, how it is. It’s my den. Your apartment was your den. It’s how it goes.”
Derek felt like he had been shocked again. “You’ve really just embraced this. Haven’t you?”
Stiles pulled away to look down at him. “Huh?” His finger absently traced down Derek’s cheek again. “What?”
“This,” Derek didn’t know how to describe it. “Us. What we are. The wolf. You’ve just. It’s you.”
“Uh, yes?” Sitles gave him an odd look. “What do you want me to say? There’s no cure, it’s not like I’m going to stop being one, and like I’ve said even if there was I wouldn’t give this up.” He pulled Derek back into a hug as he shifted them around again so they were laying curled up on the bed together. “So there’s danger, it comes with the territory. But it’s our territory and we don’t go down without a fight, right?”
Derek nodded dumbly, not sure what else to say. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t expected a bitten werewolf to take to the bite so much, to be so accepting. When he’d seen that someone else had been bitten he hadn’t thought he would get an ally out of it, much less a pack mate.
“Now. You really need to shower, because no matter how much we cuddle that scent of hunter is not going away, and I don’t want it on my bed,” Stiles said, disentangling himself from how he was wrapped around Derek. “While you do that I’m going to try to save my DDR score,” he glanced at his computer which was flashing angrily at him, “even though that looks pointless.” He sighed. “And then we are grabbing your stuff and moving it in here, okay? And you’re staying here. I don’t want you going back to your place for a long period of time, alright?”
“Stiles,” Derek started only to get cut off by him.
“Don’t start. I can’t even begin to think about what I would do if something happened to you. So you are staying where I can keep an eye on you, okay?”
Derek couldn’t stop the faint smile. “I was just going to ask for a towel.”
Stiles blew out a breath. “Sure. I’ll go get you a towel.”
He stood up to do just that, and Derek stared at the ceiling, unsure how he felt. He knew exactly how he felt, actually. He felt safe, and all he’d had to do was be with Stiles. He didn’t want to think too hard on what that meant, but he knew, and he shut his eyes in frustration. He could smell Stiles and Stiles’ boyfriend mixed in the room, and that was the only thing he was going to focus on, because any other thoughts were dangerous, and could risk him losing the good that he had.
***
In retrospect Stiles should have foreseen the problems that would come along with having Derek stay with him, but he hadn’t been thinking straight at the time, and he fully admitted that to himself. The biggest problem of course was explaining to his dad why he was suddenly using the third bedroom they had to store boxes of things that he had never had before. And then there were the logistics of Derek actually staying in the house without his dad finding out, because his dad worked long shifts, even longer with the animal attacks going around, but then his dad had long breaks where he was home.
Stiles was pretty sure if Derek didn’t have super hearing and super scent it would be impossible to pull this off. As it was, there were a few close calls, and Stiles’ dad had asked a few times over breakfast if he was sneaking Danny into his room at night, but nothing too bad.
Scott was the only one who knew that Derek was staying with him, and his eyes had gotten wide when he heard what had caused Derek to need a place to crash. Stiles didn’t blame his shock, since he was the one who had to go have weekly dinners with Allison’s family. Stiles wasn’t sure how he did it, and he purposefully avoided Allison’s house at all costs, because he hadn’t met her aunt yet, and he really wasn’t sure if he wanted to.
The things Stiles hadn’t accounted for though were the small ones, like Derek and his clothes getting mixed up, which he hadn’t thought was possible because of the color difference, but when he was fumbling around in the morning while Derek was still asleep, blue and grey looked kinda similar, and it was nippy so he had just been happy to find a long sleeve thermal.
This would have been fine, except for the fact that even though he had some of the least perceptive friends, he also had two of the most perceptive people for friends too.
“Is that a new shirt, Stiles?” Lydia asked over lunch.
He looked down at his shirt for the first time, frowning. “Huh. Guess I grabbed the wrong one this morning.” He blinked when everyone just stared at him, and he shoveled another spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth. “What?”
“Whose shirt did you take instead?” Lydia asked, smiling way too brightly to be anything but fake. Stiles could smell a low-grade anger coming from someone, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.
He shrugged, choosing his words carefully. “My dad’s. Guess it got mixed up in the wash.”
He felt the tension at the table drop and he frowned, not understanding why that had happened. He looked around the table, trying to see what was off. Even Danny looked upset and Stiles couldn’t understand why. Stiles followed him to history, holding his hand while Lydia and he talked, and he never seemed to cheer up. Sure he was happy but his scent was off, like he was unsure.
Stiles nudged him finally during math class, working up the nerve to ask him what the problem was.
Danny just looked at him blankly, and then smiled one of Lydia’s fake smiles. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Stiles frowned. “Are you sure? We can talk after school.”
Danny shook his head, but he said, “Okay. We can go to your place, alright?”
Stiles bit his lip, thinking about the fact that Derek was probably still there. “Sure.” He pulled out his phone to send a text to Derek asking him if he was home, but as he did he felt Danny’s scent shift. He looked up at him and saw he was looking at Stiles’ phone with a sad expression. “What?”
Danny’s eyes flicked back to him and he just shook his head. “Nothing.”
Stiles looked back at his phone, and sent the text message to Derek.
Danny didn’t get better on the car ride to Stiles’ house, he just got more and more withdrawn into himself. Stiles couldn’t imagine what was going through Danny’s head. He thought they were having a good time, and everything was okay. Everything had been okay last week during Danny’s birthday. They’d had a good time together, cuddling and watching more bad movies, and then they had gone and actually seen a movie in theatres, which had been novel. Stiles had almost gotten them kicked out of the theatre when he started to yell at the screen during the climax of the movie. They’d had a good time though! Stiles hadn’t even run off. He couldn’t understand what had changed. He reached over to hold Danny’s hand as he continued to drive. Danny’s hand was lax in his, and no matter how much Stiles tried to squeeze his hand to get a reaction, he didn’t respond.
Derek was long gone by the time he got home, but the room still smelled like a mix of the two of them. Stiles took a deep breath, and turned to Danny.
“What’s the matter?”
He watched Danny stand there, backpack still on his shoulder as he looked around. His eyes fell on the stack of books that Derek and he had been going through, and then moved on to the pile of clothes that Derek had moved into his room. Danny was ridiculously closed off and Stiles reached for him.
“No.” he said, closing his eyes. “Let me say this.” Stiles dropped his hand, his stomach knotting up. “What are you hiding from me?”
Stiles stared at him. “What? Nothing!”
Danny’s eyes got hard, and he gripped his backpack strap. “Don’t lie to me, Stiles. Those stories about my exes aren’t just for laughs, I did actually learn things from them. I learned how to spot liars, and people who aren’t good for me and,” his voice cut off and he had to take a moment to recompose himself. “I didn’t want to think this, but Stiles you don’t seem like you’re very good for me.”
Stiles was left speechless. He hadn’t seen this coming. He wasn’t prepared for this. “What?”
“And it’s not, like what Lydia said, because I think you’re cheating on me or something-“
“I’m not!” Stiles latched onto the one thing he could. “I would never do that.”
Danny shook his head. “But what you’re doing is worse Stiles. There is an entire part of you that I don’t know, that you aren’t sharing with me.” He dropped his head. “And, okay, you share it with Derek and that hurts.”
“What does Derek have to do with this?”
“You’re wearing his shirt, Stiles! I know you said it was your dad’s but I just,” Danny pointed to the shirt, and the way it hung off of Stiles loosely. “It’s too big to fit him, and I’ve only seen Derek twice but I know how broad his shoulders are.”
Stiles swallowed, caught in his lie. He looked down at his shirt. “I didn’t want to hurt you, and I thought-“
Danny sighed. “A little late for that one, Stiles.”
“I’m not, I’m not cheating on you. I would never- and with Derek? Danny, you should know me better than that!”
“This isn’t about Derek!” Danny raised his voice. “This is about you keeping things from me. This is about trust and me not knowing what is going on with you.”
“So if I just tell you will you calm down?”
“Maybe? It depends on what it is!”
Stiles ran his fingers through his hair. He needed to get it cut soon. “What if I just can’t tell you?”
Danny’s face shattered. “Don’t say that.” His voice had dropped to a whisper. “Stiles, please. I want this to work. Just give me something.”
“I can’t,” Stiles said. “I can only promise you that what I’m not telling you will not affect us ever, okay?” He took a step closer to Danny, reaching out for him when Danny didn’t move back. “Okay?” He grabbed Danny’s hand in his and squeezed. “I really like you, Danny.”
“I like you, too,” Danny whispered, squeezing Stiles’ hand. “I just don’t want to get hurt.”
“I would never hurt you. Ever.” Stiles said it fiercely as Danny let him step into his personal space. “I promise.” He stroked Danny’s face, trying to get him to look at him, but Danny kept staring at the ground.
“I’m not sure I can believe you.”
“Try?” Stiles pleaded. Danny swallowed, and Stiles wasn’t sure if he was tricking himself but he swore he felt Danny’s resolve wavering. He hugged Danny, and felt the knot in his stomach relax when Danny melted into him. “Please?”
“Please don’t break my heart, alright?”
“Never.” Stiles kissed his forehead, before hugging him tighter. He wasn’t sure if he believed himself or not.
Chapter 7
Author: kayevelyn
Fandom: Teen Wolf
Pairing: Stiles/Derek
Rating: Overall R
Warnings: eventual knotting
Summary: Stiles is the best werewolf ever. fork in the road au. (were!stiles)
Notes: We have hit the halfway mark at 66,000 words (fml I never wanted this fic to be that long >.>) That said this chapter is the shortest one I've written at 9400 words so this is a good thing!! Or at least I think it is!
[Read on AO3]
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Whoever said the first time was the most memorable had very obviously never had a second, or a third, and most definitely never a fourth time, because while Stiles had enjoyed his first fumblings with Danny, the times following just got better. They were more comfortable with each other every time, learned what one another liked, and Stiles had thought he had been self aware before, but having someone else touch him opened up so many different avenues.
When he touched his own hip while pulling down his pants nothing happened, but if it was Danny a shock went through his body causing his hips to arch and him to let out a moan that he used to be embarrassed about. The moans made Danny smirk cockily and it was the only reason Stiles had changed his mind about the sounds he made. Danny looked hot when he was smirking and if Stiles could get him to wear that all the time when they were alone together he would.
He knew he had plenty of time tonight to do that though, since his dad was working until eleven and Stiles had made it very clear to Derek that he needed tonight off. They’d had an unproductive full moon the night before which involved Derek driving them almost fifty miles away from town so they could run off their energy without drawing the attention of the hunters, and this wasn’t even counting the lack of alpha that they had seen.
Stiles deserved this break. He’d put his nose back to the grindstone and go on patrol later, but for now all he wanted was Danny. He wanted Danny laid out under him like he was right now, cheeks flushed and shoulders blooming with bite marks, because the full moon was still running through his veins and his wolf liked biting. Danny didn’t mind, and he even bit back sometimes.
Stiles was going to take his time, regardless of how much Danny begged, and he was begging, arching his hips as Stiles kissed down to his hipbone.
He glanced up, trying to judge Danny’s reaction as he teased. He could smell the anticipation coming off Danny in waves and Stiles grinned, taking it slow as he kissed Danny’s inner thigh. He’d been so nervous the first time he’d done this, and his heart was still pounding in his chest but Stiles had a better idea what he was doing now.
He licked the underside of Danny’s cock, one hand wrapping around the base, and Stiles closed his eyes as he let himself listen to the sound of Danny slowly losing it. He was curling his fingers into Stiles’ bed sheets, trying desperately not to give in and grab the back of Stiles’ head.
Stiles paused, letting out a laugh as he remembered Danny complaining about his short hair. Nothing to grab on to, he had said.
“Don’t stop,” Danny panted, thrusting his hips up, his cock brushing against Stiles’ cheek, getting spit and pre-come on his skin.
Stiles grinned impishly, licking the head teasingly just to hear Danny let out a whine. He was close, Stiles could tell, and he loved it, holding him right on this edge. Stiles was getting good at sensing when Danny was about to come, and he knew if he wrapped his lips around the head that in a moment Danny would come hard, head thrown back.
“Please,” Danny pleaded and Stiles gave in, swallowing him down as Danny’s gasps filled the room.
Stiles was glad they didn’t have to be quiet.
He crawled up to Danny’s shoulder, wrapping him in a hug and settling down in the afterglow. He hadn’t come yet and his cock was tenting in his boxers, but he could wait the few minutes it took Danny to stop shaking. He ran his fingers down Danny’s arm, enjoying the way goosebumps appeared in the wake of each touch.
Danny pressed a sloppy kiss to his chest, lazily moving his hand down to Stiles’ cock, and Stiles groaned. A part of him wanted to say it was okay, that he could wait, but the other part wanted the contact. He listened to it, shifting so he could kiss Danny before he got too gone to do much else but pant helplessly.
Danny’s hand felt so good on his cock, fingers tight enough to create a hole for him to fuck and Stiles moaned, wrapping himself around Danny as he humped his way closer to orgasm. He didn’t care what he looked like because Danny was urging him on, and it felt good and -
Let me hear you say this shit is bananas
fuck was that-
B-A-N-A-N-A-S
It was.
They both had stopped; the only thing filling the room was the sound of Danny’s ringtone.
“Someone should get that,” Stiles said, burying his face in Danny’s shoulder. He was still hard but he couldn’t do anything about it because the mood was ruined.
Danny patted his shoulder, reaching over him to grab his phone from where it had fallen on the floor. “I have no clue why he’s calling,” Danny said as his phone started to go off again. “He’s out with Lydia, and he knows I’m with you-- Hey. Jackson! What’s up?”
Stiles closed his eyes, but he couldn’t block out Jackson’s voice, or the sirens coming from the other side of the phone.
“I got attacked is what happened,” Jackson practically yelled from the other end of the phone and Danny shot up.
“What?”
Stiles’ eyes opened in surprise as Jackson rambled off about how he had just been going into the video store to get a movie for Lydia and then he was being attacked by some animal.
“Jackson- Jackson. Calm down,” Danny said, reaching over Stiles for his pants. He shot him an apologetic look, mouthing an I’m sorry. “Are you okay? Is Lydia okay? She wasn’t in the store with you, was she?”
“No,” Stiles could hear Jackson take a deep breath. “No, she wasn’t. She was in the car, but she’s shaken up.”
“Hey, do you need me to stop by?” Danny asked, but Stiles could tell that Danny was going to go see Jackson either way.
Stiles reached over and grabbed his clothes, his erection gone after hearing about the attack. His mind was already whirling, trying to figure out what he could do. The alpha had attacked Jackson? For what purpose? Stiles froze. Had? Had Jackson been bitten? He turned to Danny, and he could only imagine the look of horror on his face at the prospect that Jackson had been bitten. Stiles was not ready to deal with that.
“Was he bitten?” Stiles asked, unable to stop himself, and Danny looked at him oddly, grabbing his wallet from Stiles’ desk. He was still on the phone with Jackson, listening to him ramble on.
What? Danny mouthed and Stiles made a few vague hand gestures that he personally thought meant lycanthropy, but to someone else probably looked like he was drowning.
“Jackson,” he hissed in frustration. “Was he bit?”
“What? No- not you, Jackson, I was talking to Stiles. He wants to know if you were bit.” Danny rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why, probably so he can laugh at you.”
Stiles let out a frustrated groan when Jackson just derailed the conversation, not answering the question. Stiles grabbed his own phone, skimming through the texts from Derek.
tracking the alpha
no hunters out tonight
i lost him
That text had been sent twenty minutes ago and Stiles sighed, following Danny out of his room. He sent a quick text back to Derek saying he knew where to pick up the alpha’s trail, but he didn’t mention Jackson. Maybe if he didn’t think about Jackson being bit it would just go away and have never happened.
Hey, maybe the bite would kill him! That was a good thought, but then Stiles looked over at Danny talking quietly on the phone to Jackson, trying to calm him down, no doubt, and Stiles took it back. He hated Jackson, but he couldn’t take Danny’s best friend from him.
There were cops and ambulances at the video store, and it was taped off. Stiles had originally thought that was a little much for an animal attack, but he quickly realized Jackson hadn’t been the only victim. Actually Jackson hadn’t been a victim at all. The owner of the store though, he was dead.
Stiles could only stare in horror at where he knew the dead body was, and he felt sick to his stomach. He could smell the alpha mixed in with the death, and if he hadn’t been sure before he knew now that it had been responsible. Danny ran over to where Jackson was sitting against a police car, Lydia in the backseat with a blanket around her shoulders, staring blankly at her hands. Stiles hung back, trying to catch his bearings. He couldn’t smell anything except death and alpha so he couldn’t even tell if it was safe to search out Derek, because he didn’t know if hunters were around.
They’d no doubt be attracted to the news of an attack, so if Derek showed up Stiles would have to plan how to run off with him to continue tracking the alpha. This attack was too public, and it would no doubt have repercussions.
“Stiles?” He jumped as a hand came down on his shoulder, but when he turned around it was just his father.
“Dad! Jesus you scared me.” Stiles ran a hand over his face, trying to get his senses back. He focused on his father, and then reached out for Danny, because they were comforting scents. He could smell Derek too, and he glanced over quickly, catching him creeping outside the yellow tape.
“What are you doing here?” Stiles flailed and pointed in the direction of Danny, Jackson and Lydia. His father’s face softened and he let go of Stiles with a sigh. “You’re a good friend.”
Stiles flushed as he shrugged. “Just checking in on them. Jackson called saying he’d been attacked.”
His dad snorted. “He was just shoved to the side while the mountain lion ran out of the store. That’s it. Besides a little bruising and cuts on his hands he’ll be fine.”
Stiles let out a rush of air, so relieved to hear that. “Are you sure? He wasn’t like, bitten or clawed at?”
“Not that we can see.” His dad sighed. “This is gonna be a long night, though.”
“But you said it was a mountain lion attack right?”
“Yeah, but that’ll be the hard part. Second animal attack in a few months? Tends to freak people out. I’m going to be doing damage control with the local papers and news channels all night.”
Stiles shuffled from foot to foot. The scent of the alpha was lessening and while that meant he could smell other things now, it also meant Derek and he were losing their lead. He glanced over at Derek, who looked agitated, head ducked and collar pulled up on his leather jacket. “I’m gonna go see if Danny needs a ride home, and then I’ll head home, okay dad?”
His father nodded, turning to one of his deputies and demanding that they clear people off. Stiles nodded at Derek slightly, raising a finger to tell him he’d be right there, before he ran over to Danny, Jackson and Lydia. Danny had an arm around Jackson and was holding Lydia’s hand, trying to coax her out of the car.
“Everything okay?” Danny asked, nodding towards Stiles’ dad.
“Yeah, yeah everything is cool.” Stiles looked Jackson up and down, sniffing discreetly to make sure that the bite hadn’t healed over already on Jackson’s body. He smelled like the alpha, but under that was the scent of pure human, and Stiles let out a sigh of relief. He really couldn’t handle having another beta running around.
“What are you looking at, Stilinski?” Jackson snapped and Stiles’ lips formed a tight frown.
“You couldn’t have mentioned that someone had died? That didn’t cross your mind at all?”
Jackson gave him a look. “What of it? The guy’s dead, he’s not coming back. I, however, was attacked.” He shrugged off Danny’s arm, stepping into Stiles’ personal space. Stiles’ wolf growled in a way that he hadn’t felt in a while. He had found balance, and was able to control himself almost all of the time, but with Jackson in his personal space, it was harder.
“I don't know, maybe I like knowing when I have to see a dead body, Jackson,” Stiles snapped back, and he felt fangs in his mouth. He was so close to snarling at Jackson.
“Not everything’s about you!” Jackson said as he shoved Stiles.
Stiles stumbled, trying to center himself as he stared down Jackson. “Don’t shove me.”
Jackson pushed Stiles again, ignoring Danny’s protest. “Why? I won’t like you when you’re angry?”
Stiles arched his eyebrow in surprise at the reference and then looked down at his shirt, which was in fact the Hulk smashing. “So clever. You recognized a comic book character and made a joke about it. I’ll give you a--”
Jackson cut him off with another shove and Stiles fell to the ground in surprise. Something inside him snapped when he hit the concrete and he pushed himself back up, shoving Jackson before he could run away. He was ready to do more to Jackson when an arm wrapped around him.
“You’re causing a scene,” Derek whispered in his ear, and Stiles dropped against his chest, the anger still burning in his chest. “Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Your eyes just flashed and your claws are coming out.”
Stiles did as he was told, turning his head so he could focus on Derek’s scent. It helped center him, and remind him that he didn’t need to fight Jackson. He was stronger. He had a pack, and Jackson was alone.
“Fuck you, Stilinski,” Jackson growled and Stiles’ eyes opened to see Danny holding Jackson back, pushing him into the backseat of the car.
He sighed, shrugging off Derek’s arm. “We need to get going,” Derek reminded him, and Stiles nodded, feeling drained all of a sudden as his wolf retreated at seeing Jackson put in his place.
Danny looked frustrated, and he looked at Stiles, and then Derek. “You shouldn’t push his buttons.”
Stiles glanced over his shoulder at Jackson sitting in the backseat of the cop car with a petulant look on his face. “Maybe he should stop having so many buttons.”
“Or maybe you shouldn’t push them,” Danny repeated, giving him a look. “He’s a drama queen, but he was actually freaked out. Give him a break.”
Stiles sucked in a breath. “You’re right,” and as much as it took to say that, seeing a faint smile cross Danny’s face made it worth it. “Do you need a ride home?”
Danny shot a look at Derek, and then looked back at Jackson and Lydia. He opened his mouth, then shut it and just shook his head instead. “It’s fine.”
Stiles knew it would be polite to double check, and make sure Danny wasn’t just saying that but the trail was getting cold and he and Derek needed to find the alpha soon. He kissed Danny quickly and turned to leave. “I’ll see you on Monday, okay?”
Danny gave him a weak wave, and he might have muttered something but Stiles was too focused on trying to get back to his car and get Derek into it without anyone noticing to worry about it.
***
“Don’t even start,” Danny said when he opened the back door of the cop car and pushed Jackson into the middle, Lydia barely moving closer to the other side of the car.
“I am not getting bitch,” he protested weakly, but Danny just glared at him.
“Yes. You are. What the hell was that?” Danny dropped his voice, but it was still angry and Jackson couldn’t understand why he was so upset. So he had almost gotten into a fight with Stiles. It wasn’t like he was going to hurt him. It wasn’t like Stiles was more important to Danny than Jackson.
“He just pisses me off! What was all of that Oh, woe is me bullshit? I was the one who was attacked!”
Danny’s glare softened. “Did you ever think he wanted to know because his dad is the sheriff and that kind of thing affects his life?”
Jackson opened and closed his mouth, trying to find the words. He hadn’t expected Danny to pick Stiles’ side. He had expected him to understand Jackson like he always did.
“Where did he go?” Jackson asked instead of admitting anything. He couldn’t let Danny see his confusion, his hurt.
Danny shrugged, looking out to the parking lot. “Back home. He gave Derek a ride.”
Jackson felt rage bubble up in his chest, but he tried not to explode. He didn’t think Danny would appreciate it. “Derek? What was he doing here?”
Danny shrugged again. “Dunno.” He looked over Jackson and sighed. “Move over, you idiot. And take off your jacket.” Jackson stared at him confused and Danny just pushed him closer to Lydia. “Give it to Lydia, she looks like she’s freezing. I would give her mine but you’re in my way.”
Jackson fumbled with his jacket, slipping it around Lydia’s shoulder. She was still shaking, and she had a blank, terrified look on her face. Jackson sighed, wrapping her up in his arms and leaning back against the car seat, Lydia’s head pressed against his chest. As he closed his eyes he felt Danny’s arm sneak behind his head, giving him a place to curl up too. Jackson tried to resist it for as long as he could, but he felt so drained.
He’d been powerless to stop the attack from happening. He hated that feeling, and now Lydia was in shock curled against him, and there was nothing he could do because he hadn’t been good enough.
It was an awful feeling, and Jackson really wanted to get rid of it.
***
“Police are officially reporting it as a mountain lion attack,” Kate confirmed as she sat down across from him at the kitchen counter.
Chris didn’t give her a second glance because he needed at least two more coffees before he was awake enough to handle this. He had been running through the woods all night after the damn alpha, and then Harvey, a new recruit, had said he’d spotted Hale sniffing out the crime scene. Chris didn’t know why Kate had people tagging Hale still. He wasn’t leading them to the alpha, and all signs pointed to him not knowing anything. They’d basically neutered him after killing the other beta, proof enough because there wasn’t a single sign of werewolves during the full moon.
“Of course they are. What else could it be?”
Kate grinned at him. “You’re so funny when you’re playing normal. Harvey lost Hale last night, but there weren’t any indications that he was with anyone.”
“We knew that already,” Chris said, keeping an ear out for Allison. It was early in the morning and she had been up late with the boyfriend but she could still wander down, and he really didn’t want her to hear about this. “I don’t get your obsession with him. He’s a dead end.”
Kate pursed her lips. “I’m not so sure. How long’s he been here? Almost two months? Without his sister? I heard reports from New York that they both cleared out, and no one’s seen tooth or claw of the bitch since last year.”
“They’re keeping a low profile. Fine by me,” Chris said, reaching for the Sunday paper. He needed a distraction because Kate had her hunt face on, and it never lead anywhere good.
“But what if it’s more. What if his sister went rabid? I hear the fire was a nasty one.” Chris gave her a look and she returned it with an innocent smile. “I’m just saying. He’s obviously invested in this alpha. It just got me thinking. The other beta was his pack. What if his sister bit someone and got a little bloodthirsty, and now Hale has to play damage control.” She scrunched up her face in twisted delight. “And now she’s struck again. Must suck.”
“Our only interest is the alpha,” Chris reminded her. “Hale didn’t kill anyone.” Kate grinned and it unsettled him. “We leave him alone.”
She clucked her tongue. “Of course brother, whatever you say. You know best.”
He could hear what she wasn’t saying though. The snide comments about preventative measures, but Chris could never understand those. There was a code for a reason, and he stuck by it. It was ingrained into him, just like it had been drilled into Kate. He watched her take a sip of her own coffee and wondered.
***
You need to get here asap was the text that Stiles had sent Derek at 3:30 in the afternoon after he had gotten back from Lydia’s. He’d only gone over there to check on her because Danny had thought it would calm him down since he’d pawned his nervous energy off on feeling worried about Lydia. And he was worried about her, but he had been more concerned about the alpha and the fact that they were never close to finding it. Stiles had resigned himself to the idea that the alpha would only let them see him if he wanted them to, and it was a shitty idea.
He hated being out of control, and going to see Lydia had been an act of getting back in control. Even drugged up she could still make witty comments, and she’d read him the riot act the moment had entered her room, talking about how he had no right to come bother her on a school day. It had been amusing, partly because it was midwinter break, and partly because halfway through her lecture she dropped off to sleep, but then he’d been an idiot and checked her phone and seen the stupid video.
Thirty-four frames of the alpha in HD, captured from Lydia’s phone. No wonder she was freaking out. Stiles was freaking out. He had only seen the alpha from a distance, but it hadn’t been enough to be hit with the full effect of terror that the alpha gave off.
And that was why Stiles needed to talk to Derek, because he’d been researching and the things he’d read about alphas pointed to bad things. Stiles was rereading a passage from one of the books he had temporarily misappropriated from Derek’s room when Derek finally came through his window.
“Thank god,” Stiles said, swinging around to face him.
“What’s the matter?” Derek asked, dropping onto Stiles’ bed.
“The alpha, and before you say anything, I am aware it has been our problem since the beginning, but hear me out.” Derek made a motion with his hand to have Stiles continue and Stiles sighed. “I went to see Lydia today, just to clear my head. She was at the video store you know, but outside.” Derek nodded, urging him to keep going. Stiles didn’t know how to say it so he just tossed Derek his phone, already opened to the video. “She caught this on her phone. I deleted it! But still,” he frowned. “I thought you’d find it interesting.”
Derek gave him a look as he watched the short video, looping it a few times. “It’s the alpha.”
“Yes. Except did you notice anything?”
Derek frowned. “Stiles, it’s the alpha. I know what the alpha looks like.”
Stiles let out a huge sigh. “How is it that I know more about this stuff than you do, and you’ve got like twenty years on me in the werewolf department.” He snatched the phone back and paused on a frame of the alpha snarling, eyes blood red. “I’ve been reading everything I can get my hands on, and everything I’ve read about alphas say that their shifted form reflects their state of mind. Most alphas just shift into full wolves, because they are balanced, in control, because alphas generally have to be.
“But that doesn’t have to be the case. Some alphas can go mad, drunk on power or something. And it shows in their forms. The older myths? The ones where the image of the Big Bad Wolf comes from? Monstrous creatures? Those were alphas too, ones who weren’t in control. They were the ones who got noticed.”
Derek was looking at him oddly, a mix of surprise and apprehension. “And? We have an out-of-control alpha on our hands. We knew that already.”
Stiles huffed. “No. You are severely underestimating the level of crazy, Derek. Like this amount of deranged requires severe trauma.” He spun around and pulled out a book someone in Derek’s family had taken the time to translate from Italian to English. “Packs rebel against this type of alpha, which explains how you and I can get away being alpha-less and not go slowly crazy from being omegas. Because we aren’t alone, it’s you and me as a pack and we are fighting against our alpha. Our instinct to submit is being overridden by the urge to buck against this kind of alpha, because they aren’t good for our pack.”
“So you’re basically saying that we can kill the alpha.”
“I’m saying we need to kill it,” Stiles said fiercely. “It’s been playing with us, because even if it’s crazy out of control, it’s in enough control to not let us find it. But we need to bring it to us, and fast.”
Derek sucked in a breath, and he looked uneasy. “Stiles, you know it won’t be that easy.”
“Yeah, it would be much easier if it were a vampire, because stake through the heart and all, but I’ll take what I can get.” Stiles blew out a breath. “And we need to kill it. We can’t let a hunter do it.”
“I know.”
Stiles shot him a look. “You know?”
Derek shrugged. “If we don’t, we’ll be alpha-less.”
Stiles nodded. “But if you do it you’ll be the alpha. Problem solved.”
“No. Problem not solved, Stiles.” Derek ran a hand through his hair, dropping the book.
“Well I sure can’t be alpha.”
“I’m not saying that. I’m saying this will take planning. This is an insane amount of power we are talking about, and we can’t just dive right into it.”
“That’s why I’m bringing it up now,” Stiles argued. “There’s no other option.”
“I know. But things will happen if I become an alpha.”
“So I read,” Stiles said, nodding to the pile of books on his desk.
“This is crazy,” Derek muttered.
“Did you really think there would be another way?”
Derek was quiet for a long while before he answered. “No.”
***
Allison spent most of midwinter break wondering when the inevitable implosion was going to happen in her life, and whether the catalyst would be from her Aunt Kate or Scott. Avoidance had been the route the two of them had taken with the entire “Scott stole a bullet that had some kind of plant inside it from Kate because Stiles needed it to live” situation, and it was working. Scott could look her parents in the eye even, which was more than she had been expecting from him.
She, on the other hand, couldn’t. Maybe it was because she had no idea what was going on and it made her imagine the worst possible things. She could only begin to think about what kind of world Kate was mixed up in, and how it involved Stiles, Scott, and obviously Derek. Did it expand further? Did her parents know?
She didn’t even know where to start with research. She had these clues: the bullet, the plant, but no way to use them. She couldn’t identify the plant since it was ground up, and barely had any odor. She’d need something like that mass-whatever that was on all of those CSI shows to even begin, and she definitely didn’t have those.
It made her feel closed off, especially when Scott would come over every day acting like nothing was wrong. She played along, but it didn’t stop her from giving Stiles an extra long look every time they were together, just to see if he would slip up.
Whatever trouble he was getting into it would most likely pick up over break, while he had free time, which is why Allison was going to be extra vigilant when they were all hanging out later that day. She didn’t know what the group of them were going to be doing but she knew it was a chance to see Stiles, and see if anything was going on.
Allison was half-heartedly googling police interrogation tactics to make herself feel like she was being somewhat productive when she got a text from Lydia.
Jackson is picking you up in twenty minutes! Be ready with a smile!!!
Allison shook her head. Looked like Lydia had recovered from the animal attack, and Allison was happy for her. Scott had said she wasn’t doing so well, and Danny had backed that up when she texted him the night before to smooth out plans for today. She pushed back from her desk to go change out of her pajamas when something caught the corner of her eye. Her heart was pounding as she snapped her to head to the side only to see Kate leaning against her door, smiling faintly.
Allison let out a huge sigh of relief. “You scared me.”
Kate grinned and knocked softly on her door. “Sorry, you looked pretty focused.” She inclined her head towards Allison’s computer where three different windows were opened describing interrogation tactics, and one about popular plant based drugs.
Allison shut her computer. “Yeah. Just doing a little studying.”
“You’re so dedicated. It’s adorable,” Kate said, coming into her room and taking a seat on her bed. “You do know you’re on break, right?”
Allison nodded, looking her aunt up and down. It was strange. She used to think Kate was someone she understood, but now it felt like she didn’t know her. She didn’t think she knew anyone. “Yeah. Just a little extra research.” She waved her hand dismissively, mind racing to try and think of how to be casual.
Be vague, too specific and it’s obvious it’s a lie, the one website had said, or wait, was it the other way around? It was all getting muddled up in her head. Allison could understand now how Scott probably felt.
Kate didn’t give her a chance to test out which one it was though, because she just continued, pulling something out her pocket. “Well. I know it’s early, but I figure the day of you’ll be busy with all your new friends. And who knows, I might not even be here.” Allison blinked, mind still whirling from before that she couldn’t think what Kate was talking about. Kate held out the box with one hand, smiling at her. “Happy early birthday.”
Allison stared at the box, and then slowly reached for the box. “Thank you,” she said even before she opened it, still stuck on Kate’s words. “What do you mean you might not be here?”
Kate shrugged, head tilting to the side. “You know how work is. I might be finished here earlier than I expected, and then I’ll just be moving on.” She nodded towards Allison. “Open it.”
Allison looked down at the box, lifting the top off to reveal a silver pendant, with an engraving on it. It was in a crude circle, obviously handmade, with what looked like some kind of animal in the middle, and what could be a sun, or a starburst on the side. “Wow,” Allison breathed out, picking it up.
“It’s our family crest.”
“We have a crest?” Allison asked, turning the pendant around.
Kate was giving her a nostalgic, faint smile. “Yes, we do. You should look it up if you want to know more about us.”
Allison looked from Kate to the pendant, and then slowly put it on, feeling the heavy weight of the necklace around her neck. “Thank you.”
Kate’s smile changed to a wide grin, and she stood up and wrapped Allison in a hug. She tensed, and then forced herself to relax. This was just her aunt, not someone else who did whatever Allison thought she was capable of. “Now you have a good time with your friends okay?” She kissed Allison’s forehead. “Who all are you hanging out with again? That cute boyfriend of yours’, Scott? Your pretty girl friend Lydia?”
Allison nodded, fingers running over the pendant. “Yeah, and Jackson, Danny and Stiles.” She said Stiles last just to see if the name did anything for Kate, because she needed to know.
Kate just grinned at her. “Have a blast, alright? You’re young and no matter what my stupid brother says, you deserve to have a good time.”
Allison nodded again as her phone went off, a text from Jackson saying he was outside and if she wasn’t in his car in thirty seconds he was leaving her. Allison looked at her pajamas and sent back a :-P before heading to her closet to change. She wasn’t feeling any better about this whole situation and she wasn’t sure she would unless she got details soon.
***
Derek smelled them well before they knocked on his door, but he didn’t try to leave from where he was sorting through one of the many boxes he still hadn’t bothered to unpack. He hadn’t thought he would ever need them, but after Stiles’ insistence that they get moving on the whole Kill The Alpha plan sooner rather than later, it was best if he started looking through some of the things he had ignored before, just in case they had any answers.
He ignored the first knock on his door, and the second. He even ignored it when it became obvious that someone was using their boot instead of their fist to try and get his attention. If they wanted to knock down his door they could deal with his angry landlord, and drawing attention from his neighbors.
That’s what he told himself at least, but his shaking hands told the truth. He was scared, and about two seconds from bolting for his bedroom window and climbing out that way. He refused to give in to that instinct though. He was not going to back down.
He moved on to the next box that had a suitcase he had found in the rubble of the stairs after Scott had fallen through them that first night. He hadn’t given it a second thought, just grabbed it as he was combing through the house, but now was as a good a time as any to open it.
His front door opened with a click and Kate Argent stood there holding a lock pick with a wide grin, two men behind her.
“And that, boys, is how you break into a werewolf’s lair.”
One of the guys snickered, and Derek could see the tasers on all three of their hips. They were at least smart enough to know not to carry any guns in public.
“Get out,” he said, hoping his voice wasn’t shaking as much as he was afraid it was.
“Shut the door,” Kate ordered, stepping into his apartment and Derek froze. He had trapped himself behind the counter, and he couldn’t get out without some sort of fight. A fight would draw attention to them, and Kate’s grin told him she knew that. She clucked her tongue, walking to the other side of the bar counter that divided his kitchen from his living room, fingers trailing over the boxes.
The two men she had brought were already going through the things he had laid out in his living room, not caring that they were knocking things over. Derek was glad he had been unable to unpack his family pictures, because he didn’t want them to see those.
“Now what do we have here?” Kate asked, tapping her finger on her lips.
“Get out,” he repeated.
She tilted her head to the side, baring her neck to him like she thought it would affect him. “I don’t think so.”
He wasn’t sure if he had moved or not, but suddenly he was on his back, the ends of the taser hitting into his chest. He gasped, not expecting the jolt of electricity to go through him. He distantly heard one of the men she had brought with her laughing.
“Now. We can do this easy,” Kate said, and then another jolt went through his body. “Or we can do this hard.”
Derek wasn’t given a chance to answer before a third jolt shot through him, causing his body to arch him involuntarily, and this time Kate laughed.
“Wow, this is a lot more fun than I was picturing.” She turned to the two men. “You two finding anything?”
“No ma’am,” one of them answered and Kate hummed.
“Go check in the bedroom. Maybe he’ll have something there.” She turned back to him, finger moving away from the trigger. Derek could barely see her when he opened his eyes because of the white dots in front of his eyes. “Now. What did I want?” She tapped her finger over her mouth. “Oh, that’s right. Unger and Reddick.”
“What?” Derek gasped, because she accompanied that sentence with a shock of electricity.
“That’s the third murder in a week Derek. That’s sloppy, don’t you think?”
“What?”
Kate didn’t seem to be paying attention to him. “I mean, at least this time you let your alpha get to them in the woods where an animal attack makes more sense, but really? You couldn’t wait a little while longer?”
“What?” Derek asked for a third time, but she didn’t respond. Instead Kate came around the counter, dropping down so she was crouching beside him. He felt her pull the pins of the taser out of his chest, but he still couldn’t move, his limbs numb.
“Have I broken you?” She stroked his forehead and he shivered, trying to get away from her touch. Her eyes were roving over his body and she grinned. “You grew up well, I have to admit. Even if you did get stupid. Oh well, what can you expect with your kind?” She asked before she stood back up. Derek gasped as she delivered a kick to his ribs. There wasn’t enough force to break anything, and it hurt his dignity more than anything. “Tell your alpha I’m going to kill it, and when I’m done with him I’m going after you, okay?” She gave him another kick, and then flashed him a smile that was all teeth before barking to the two men to follow her out of the apartment.
They didn’t even bother to close the door, just left it wide open with Derek on the kitchen floor. He couldn’t move yet, and it was a terrifying feeling. Their scents were everywhere in his apartment, and it made him nauseous. He felt torn up. They had come into his home with no regard for his cares. It was worse than when Chris had shown up. At least then the scent had never entered his place, his bedroom.
He rolled over coughing. He wasn’t safe here, and one look at his living room, never clean to begin with now that Stiles didn’t stop by, made him need to leave. The boxes were overturned and the few books he still had left were thrown all over the room, left open. He could see one had been stepped on and ripped in two.
Derek needed to leave.
He stood up shakily and grabbed his phone from the counter. Thank god Kate hadn’t thought to look in there. He had texts from Stiles and Scott saved there, with their names. Incriminating texts that would blow their covers.
Derek ran a hand over his face. He needed Stiles, but he couldn’t leave his apartment just yet. There were things he couldn’t risk leaving alone, and so he quickly packed those few boxes (the pictures of his family, the books Stiles hadn’t stolen, and the box of stuff he had salvaged from his house) and transferred them to his car. He kept one eye out for the hunters, but they seemed pleased with the damage they had already caused so they weren’t lingering around.
He still made sure to take the scenic route to Stiles’ house and to park half a mile away, walking the rest of the way so no one could link them together. He didn’t need this coming back to Stiles. He’d already gotten Stiles shot, and Derek didn’t like thinking about it, but it was true. He’d been the one to not look out for Stiles, and if anything else happened to him, if Kate knew he was also a werewolf-
Derek didn’t like that train of thought so he shut it down.
Stiles was home alone when Derek showed up, mindlessly tapping away at some videogame on his computer that had a lot of flashing arrows that may or may not have been fitting to the beat of whatever techno song was coming out of his speakers. Before Derek even opened his mouth to speak Stiles had turned his head, nostrils flaring as he abandoned his computer.
“What happened?” Derek looked down at himself, wondering what had given it away. “You stink of hunters and burning flesh,” Stiles said harshly, hands reaching for Derek to pull him into the room. As he helped Derek get his shirt off so he could see if the burns had healed he snapped, “tell me everything.”
It was like it finally hit Derek what had happened, the shock making his body go numb, and he dropped his head. “I don’t- they stopped by and completely ransacked…” he trailed off, remembering what his apartment had looked like.
“Who’s ‘they’ Derek? Allison’s dad? One of his muscles?”
“No. Kate. Allison’s-“ he cut off his words as Stiles climbed into his lap, pushing him further back on his bed. Stiles cupped his chin, forcing him to look at him, and when Derek finally did he saw Stiles’ bright golden eyes. “No. Don’t,” he said quickly, stopping Stiles before he could even get the words out. “You aren’t going to look for them. This isn’t how this works.”
Stiles growled low in his throat, wrapping his arms around Derek’s shoulders and burying his face in his chest. “You smell awful.” He pressed himself closer and Derek returned the hug, needing Stiles against him. It reminded him that he had a pack, that he had someone to look out for him and he needed that. Stiles was babbling into his neck, talking about how he smelled like fear and how it wasn’t right, and that Derek was safe with him.
Derek shut his eyes and squeezed Stiles closer. He was right, Derek was safe with him. It’s why he had to come here.
“I can’t go back,” Derek said numbly, and Stiles nodded against his shoulder.
“Of course you can’t. Those fucks just broke into your house! God, a part of me wants to say that I’ll get my dad on them, but that won’t help, will it?”
Derek shook his head, pushing Stiles away from just enough so he could see his face. “It’s alright. It was stupid to think I’d be safe there anyway.”
“Did they take anything?”
“No,” Derek said. “They just... wanted to show their dominance.” He snorted, because Kate had already proven she was the bigger bitch six years ago. “They ransacked the place, but they weren’t interested in anything.” He licked his lips. “I packed up the important things and put them in my car.”
“I’ll hold onto them,” Stiles said immediately, his fingers tracing Derek’s face and then going up to run through his hair. “Okay?”
Derek nodded, leaning into the touch. “I just- thank you.”
“No problem. I understand that you don’t feel safe in your den.”
“Don’t call it that,” Derek muttered, dropping his head forward so he could bury himself in Stiles’ chest.
“What? A den?” Stiles shrugged, shifting a little in his lap. “Why? Hell, I call my room my den. Not out loud!” He clarified quickly, “But like, it’s just, how it is. It’s my den. Your apartment was your den. It’s how it goes.”
Derek felt like he had been shocked again. “You’ve really just embraced this. Haven’t you?”
Stiles pulled away to look down at him. “Huh?” His finger absently traced down Derek’s cheek again. “What?”
“This,” Derek didn’t know how to describe it. “Us. What we are. The wolf. You’ve just. It’s you.”
“Uh, yes?” Sitles gave him an odd look. “What do you want me to say? There’s no cure, it’s not like I’m going to stop being one, and like I’ve said even if there was I wouldn’t give this up.” He pulled Derek back into a hug as he shifted them around again so they were laying curled up on the bed together. “So there’s danger, it comes with the territory. But it’s our territory and we don’t go down without a fight, right?”
Derek nodded dumbly, not sure what else to say. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t expected a bitten werewolf to take to the bite so much, to be so accepting. When he’d seen that someone else had been bitten he hadn’t thought he would get an ally out of it, much less a pack mate.
“Now. You really need to shower, because no matter how much we cuddle that scent of hunter is not going away, and I don’t want it on my bed,” Stiles said, disentangling himself from how he was wrapped around Derek. “While you do that I’m going to try to save my DDR score,” he glanced at his computer which was flashing angrily at him, “even though that looks pointless.” He sighed. “And then we are grabbing your stuff and moving it in here, okay? And you’re staying here. I don’t want you going back to your place for a long period of time, alright?”
“Stiles,” Derek started only to get cut off by him.
“Don’t start. I can’t even begin to think about what I would do if something happened to you. So you are staying where I can keep an eye on you, okay?”
Derek couldn’t stop the faint smile. “I was just going to ask for a towel.”
Stiles blew out a breath. “Sure. I’ll go get you a towel.”
He stood up to do just that, and Derek stared at the ceiling, unsure how he felt. He knew exactly how he felt, actually. He felt safe, and all he’d had to do was be with Stiles. He didn’t want to think too hard on what that meant, but he knew, and he shut his eyes in frustration. He could smell Stiles and Stiles’ boyfriend mixed in the room, and that was the only thing he was going to focus on, because any other thoughts were dangerous, and could risk him losing the good that he had.
***
In retrospect Stiles should have foreseen the problems that would come along with having Derek stay with him, but he hadn’t been thinking straight at the time, and he fully admitted that to himself. The biggest problem of course was explaining to his dad why he was suddenly using the third bedroom they had to store boxes of things that he had never had before. And then there were the logistics of Derek actually staying in the house without his dad finding out, because his dad worked long shifts, even longer with the animal attacks going around, but then his dad had long breaks where he was home.
Stiles was pretty sure if Derek didn’t have super hearing and super scent it would be impossible to pull this off. As it was, there were a few close calls, and Stiles’ dad had asked a few times over breakfast if he was sneaking Danny into his room at night, but nothing too bad.
Scott was the only one who knew that Derek was staying with him, and his eyes had gotten wide when he heard what had caused Derek to need a place to crash. Stiles didn’t blame his shock, since he was the one who had to go have weekly dinners with Allison’s family. Stiles wasn’t sure how he did it, and he purposefully avoided Allison’s house at all costs, because he hadn’t met her aunt yet, and he really wasn’t sure if he wanted to.
The things Stiles hadn’t accounted for though were the small ones, like Derek and his clothes getting mixed up, which he hadn’t thought was possible because of the color difference, but when he was fumbling around in the morning while Derek was still asleep, blue and grey looked kinda similar, and it was nippy so he had just been happy to find a long sleeve thermal.
This would have been fine, except for the fact that even though he had some of the least perceptive friends, he also had two of the most perceptive people for friends too.
“Is that a new shirt, Stiles?” Lydia asked over lunch.
He looked down at his shirt for the first time, frowning. “Huh. Guess I grabbed the wrong one this morning.” He blinked when everyone just stared at him, and he shoveled another spoonful of mashed potatoes in his mouth. “What?”
“Whose shirt did you take instead?” Lydia asked, smiling way too brightly to be anything but fake. Stiles could smell a low-grade anger coming from someone, but he couldn’t pinpoint it.
He shrugged, choosing his words carefully. “My dad’s. Guess it got mixed up in the wash.”
He felt the tension at the table drop and he frowned, not understanding why that had happened. He looked around the table, trying to see what was off. Even Danny looked upset and Stiles couldn’t understand why. Stiles followed him to history, holding his hand while Lydia and he talked, and he never seemed to cheer up. Sure he was happy but his scent was off, like he was unsure.
Stiles nudged him finally during math class, working up the nerve to ask him what the problem was.
Danny just looked at him blankly, and then smiled one of Lydia’s fake smiles. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Stiles frowned. “Are you sure? We can talk after school.”
Danny shook his head, but he said, “Okay. We can go to your place, alright?”
Stiles bit his lip, thinking about the fact that Derek was probably still there. “Sure.” He pulled out his phone to send a text to Derek asking him if he was home, but as he did he felt Danny’s scent shift. He looked up at him and saw he was looking at Stiles’ phone with a sad expression. “What?”
Danny’s eyes flicked back to him and he just shook his head. “Nothing.”
Stiles looked back at his phone, and sent the text message to Derek.
Danny didn’t get better on the car ride to Stiles’ house, he just got more and more withdrawn into himself. Stiles couldn’t imagine what was going through Danny’s head. He thought they were having a good time, and everything was okay. Everything had been okay last week during Danny’s birthday. They’d had a good time together, cuddling and watching more bad movies, and then they had gone and actually seen a movie in theatres, which had been novel. Stiles had almost gotten them kicked out of the theatre when he started to yell at the screen during the climax of the movie. They’d had a good time though! Stiles hadn’t even run off. He couldn’t understand what had changed. He reached over to hold Danny’s hand as he continued to drive. Danny’s hand was lax in his, and no matter how much Stiles tried to squeeze his hand to get a reaction, he didn’t respond.
Derek was long gone by the time he got home, but the room still smelled like a mix of the two of them. Stiles took a deep breath, and turned to Danny.
“What’s the matter?”
He watched Danny stand there, backpack still on his shoulder as he looked around. His eyes fell on the stack of books that Derek and he had been going through, and then moved on to the pile of clothes that Derek had moved into his room. Danny was ridiculously closed off and Stiles reached for him.
“No.” he said, closing his eyes. “Let me say this.” Stiles dropped his hand, his stomach knotting up. “What are you hiding from me?”
Stiles stared at him. “What? Nothing!”
Danny’s eyes got hard, and he gripped his backpack strap. “Don’t lie to me, Stiles. Those stories about my exes aren’t just for laughs, I did actually learn things from them. I learned how to spot liars, and people who aren’t good for me and,” his voice cut off and he had to take a moment to recompose himself. “I didn’t want to think this, but Stiles you don’t seem like you’re very good for me.”
Stiles was left speechless. He hadn’t seen this coming. He wasn’t prepared for this. “What?”
“And it’s not, like what Lydia said, because I think you’re cheating on me or something-“
“I’m not!” Stiles latched onto the one thing he could. “I would never do that.”
Danny shook his head. “But what you’re doing is worse Stiles. There is an entire part of you that I don’t know, that you aren’t sharing with me.” He dropped his head. “And, okay, you share it with Derek and that hurts.”
“What does Derek have to do with this?”
“You’re wearing his shirt, Stiles! I know you said it was your dad’s but I just,” Danny pointed to the shirt, and the way it hung off of Stiles loosely. “It’s too big to fit him, and I’ve only seen Derek twice but I know how broad his shoulders are.”
Stiles swallowed, caught in his lie. He looked down at his shirt. “I didn’t want to hurt you, and I thought-“
Danny sighed. “A little late for that one, Stiles.”
“I’m not, I’m not cheating on you. I would never- and with Derek? Danny, you should know me better than that!”
“This isn’t about Derek!” Danny raised his voice. “This is about you keeping things from me. This is about trust and me not knowing what is going on with you.”
“So if I just tell you will you calm down?”
“Maybe? It depends on what it is!”
Stiles ran his fingers through his hair. He needed to get it cut soon. “What if I just can’t tell you?”
Danny’s face shattered. “Don’t say that.” His voice had dropped to a whisper. “Stiles, please. I want this to work. Just give me something.”
“I can’t,” Stiles said. “I can only promise you that what I’m not telling you will not affect us ever, okay?” He took a step closer to Danny, reaching out for him when Danny didn’t move back. “Okay?” He grabbed Danny’s hand in his and squeezed. “I really like you, Danny.”
“I like you, too,” Danny whispered, squeezing Stiles’ hand. “I just don’t want to get hurt.”
“I would never hurt you. Ever.” Stiles said it fiercely as Danny let him step into his personal space. “I promise.” He stroked Danny’s face, trying to get him to look at him, but Danny kept staring at the ground.
“I’m not sure I can believe you.”
“Try?” Stiles pleaded. Danny swallowed, and Stiles wasn’t sure if he was tricking himself but he swore he felt Danny’s resolve wavering. He hugged Danny, and felt the knot in his stomach relax when Danny melted into him. “Please?”
“Please don’t break my heart, alright?”
“Never.” Stiles kissed his forehead, before hugging him tighter. He wasn’t sure if he believed himself or not.
Chapter 7