Chapter Text
“Oh Derek, I told you I’d like to meet you again.”
If Derek hadn’t been watching Deucalion with shocked wide eyes, he might have mistaken the Alpha’s words for a warm, friendly greeting.
But Deucalion’s face had it’s typical smirk of supremacy; arrogant and dangerous. His jaw clenched tight, the muscles in his cheek twitching. His eyes flashed ruby red with a cold, wild glint and something about him felt very off to Derek. Something that made Derek’s wolf get fidgety.
Derek couldn’t smell him.
Deucalion had suppressed his scent and Derek could only wonder why. A chill ran down his spine, raising the tiny hairs on the back of his neck.
Derek’s gaze warily scanned their surroundings. He noticed that four other pairs of glowing red and yellow eyes followed Deucalion. They all glared at Derek, matching the expression on their Alpha’s face.
Derek couldn’t smell them either.
Danger! Run! Danger! - Derek’s wolf cried out.
“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for two days,” Deucalion started when Derek didn’t respond. “Finally today, we managed to catch you alone…” his gaze slid away from Derek’s face and halted a few inches to his side. “Well, almost alone.”
Stiles…
Derek felt his heart drop to his stomach. Instinctively, his hand flew out, blindly catching a hold of Stiles’ body and heaving the boy behind his back.
Stiles shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be involved in this chaos. He should be safe.
“Stiles,” Derek rasped. His eyes still pinned on the Demon pack, on alert, calculating every twitch of their muscles.
He heard Stiles’ heartbeat pounding hard against his back. His hands cold and sweaty on Derek’s uncovered arms as if he’d sensed the danger too. Of course, he must have sensed the danger. He was facing a pack of wolfed out Alphas who looked like they would eat them both alive.
“Go home Stiles,” Derek muttered urgently and took a step back, shoving Stiles further behind him. He wished he could just hide him somewhere, away from the vicious gazes of this crazy pack.
“What’s going on Derek?” Stiles asked. His voice wavering with concern.
“Nothing,” Derek cut him off. He didn’t miss the way Kali chuckled at that. Derek ignored her. “Just go,” he added to Stiles, sharp, insisting.
“No!” Came Stiles’ firm retort. What was Derek even expecting from Stiles?
“I’ll handle this, Stiles.”
“I am not leaving you.” Stiles pressed closer, digging his fingers into Derek’s shoulders to make his point clear.
“This is cute,” Kali interrupted them. A smug smile lingered at the corners of her mouth. She strolled forward and stood just two steps in front of Derek, glaring at them.
“I don’t think your friend has an option Derek. It’s his bad luck that he’s here with you. He can’t leave,” she declared. Her eyes flashed glowing red, challenging them to try and disregard her command.
“What do you want?” Derek hissed. He felt Stiles shuffle behind him, his heartbeat spiked as the Alphas stepped closer.
“We’ve already told you that,” Ennis butted into the conversation, snarling into Derek’s face. “We want you to stop building that fucking training institute.” He cracked his neck and twitched his shoulder muscles to add to the impact.
Of course, Derek remembered their last meeting. They had cornered him in a parking lot and threatened him to stop all proceedings regarding Nemeton. Derek couldn’t help but wonder why a pack of Alphas was going to such desperate lengths to destroy his organization, which still only existed on paper.
“Are you talking about Nemeton?”
Stiles suddenly pushed forward, moving around from Derek’s back.
“Stiles! No,” Derek tugged at Stiles’ hand to stop his advance.
All the flashing eyes immediately focussed on Stiles, tracking his path. Derek’s heart started thudding as if it was going to burst out of his rib cage.
Not good…Danger…Stiles…not safe…
“Are you Stiles…Stilinski?” Deucalion eyed the boy up and down, lingering on his Omega features with interest and a grumble escaped Derek’s throat, even before he realized that he was actually challenging an Alpha.
Deucalion smirked, unbothered. But, he slipped his eyes away from Stiles, shooting Derek a careless glance.
“Ethan,” the Alpha called instead. “Is he the one who started this equality shit in your school last year?”
The twin Omegas, Ethan and Aidan, came forward. Derek didn’t miss the pack slowly moving to circle around him and Stiles, taking their positions.
“Yeah, he’s the one,” Ethan confirmed, scrutinizing Stiles for a long moment.
“Oh, I see the connection now.” Deucalion’s gaze flicked between Stiles and Derek and halted on their linked hands.
Derek pushed sideways, closer to Stiles. He couldn’t smell Deucalion, but the way the Alpha’s mouth flattened from its mocking smirk to a cruel thin line, meant Derek knew it was coming.
In a heartbeat, Deucalion’s hand was up in the air, grabbing the momentum and then it dropped, flashing, slashing into Derek’s linked hand.
Derek wailed, hunching over his injured side, struggling for balance.
“Derek!” Stiles cried out.
Their hands still curled into each other’s grip, tight, inseparable, even after the ghastly strike from the Demon Alpha. And…that must have infuriated the man.
“Get the Omega out of here,” Deucalion bellowed, grinding his teeth.
“No! no…” Stiles wrestled against the twins’ grip. “Derek!” he screamed. He kicked his legs, hauling his body nearer his mate, angry, desperate…helpless.
The twins were stronger, combining forces against the trembling Omega. They dragged him away.
“St…” Derek whimpered, then leapt forward to grab onto something of Stiles. Kali and Ennis moved fast, stretching towards him on either side with inhuman strength, enough force to rip him in half.
And…Deucalion’s hand rose again, slicing right into Derek’s chest…once, twice...three times.
Derek collapsed onto his knees, howling in pain. A white light flashed before his vision as the Alpha’s claws cut through his tender flesh multiple times. His ears buzzed with a ringing sound as blood started gushing from his wounds, making his head spin.
His cuts were not healing. They were Alpha’s claw marks that had been engraved onto his torso and Derek knew it was going to take a long time before they started to subside. A very long time.
Suddenly, a howl reverberated, cutting through the night; sharp, mournful, snapping Derek’s focus back. He forcefully lifted his heavy head to track the source.
It was Stiles, all wolfed out, straining his neck at the dark sky, howling for help, for his pack.
They all froze on the spot.
Derek felt the Alphas’ hands go still around his arms. Even the twins ceased their retreat suddenly and just held onto Stiles, startled and waiting.
They all waited for an answering howl.
There was none.
Derek didn’t get it.
“Do you have any idea how far you are from the city’s perimeter?” Deucalion broke the profound silence with a teasing remark.
Derek looked at Stiles.
The boy’s shoulders slumped, releasing his stretched neck muscles. He gazed back at Derek, tired and pained, as if the Alpha had slashed his heart.
“Derek…” Stiles mumbled, again, breaking into hitching sobs. He struggled against twins’ hold while tears started bleeding onto his cheeks, non-stop.
“You think your tiny meow is enough to reach your Alpha from this far away, huh?” Deucalion’s face twisted with mock amusement.
Derek didn’t get this, at all. Why was John not responding to Stiles, why was Scott not already there following Stiles. They had a house full of freaking werewolves, so why was no one there thrashing the Demon pack to pieces. Wait…he knew the reason.
Derek distinctly remembered John’s voice as he’d barged out of the Stilinski house – ‘Let them sort this out…’
Fuck.
The pack was just allowing them some privacy to resolve their stupid misunderstanding. No one was coming looking for them. Not now, not immediately. Maybe they would start getting worried after an hour or so, when Stiles hadn’t returned and the way things were going, Derek was not sure if he would survive that long. He was not sure if he could survive the next fifteen minutes.
He clenched his eyes shut, pressing his shivering hand over his wounds, panting.
Like a bolt of lightning, the pain gnawed at his chest. He grunted, snapping his eyes open with a burning ache. His palm stained with his own blood. A sweat drop trickled from his forehead seeping into his thick eyebrow and then following the lines of his sharp jaw. He lifted his heavy eyelids and tried to hold Stiles’ gaze. The boy looked equally wrecked.
Kali tugged at his arm, making Derek’s hand slide away from the cuts. Agony shot straight into his brain with just that light movement, making him lose his focus again.
“Why…”
Derek coughed, spitting out blood. He tried to take in an aching breath, raising his eyes to Deucalion’s. “It’s just an institution…for kids. Why is it bothering you…so much?”
Deucalion laughed, thunderous and menacing, dropping his head back.
“Ennis, do you hear him…Kali? Do you?” He crouched down at Derek’s eye level, his pupils widened as if the situation intrigued him. His lips curled up into a creepy smile, flashing his pointed fangs.
“The Hale pup doesn’t know.”
Derek scowled at him.
“You think you can make some bullshit press announcement about no discrimination and equality and things would end there?” Deucalion hissed, tilting his head to side.
“You’re a Hale, after all. Everyone’s thinking it’s the start of fucking revolution. Do you think you low ranked Betas could form a stupid army of a few rebels and snatch our status?”
The information shocked Derek. He’d lost touch with the outside world while he’d focused solely on Stiles for the last couple of days and he had no idea what Deucalion was talking about.
Revolution? An army of rebels?
“We all worshiped Abraham Hale. Of course we did. But after him, the Hales didn’t reach the bar, didn’t match up. You think you can just flash your family name and change the world?”
Derek growled at the insolent statement about his family and Deucalion stepped forward, baring his fangs.
“Look at you…you’re howling for your Alpha to come and save your little ass. You’re just a fucking damaged Beta who can’t even protect a friend. You are weak. You can’t protect yourself. You. Are. Nothing!”
Deucalion bellowed, huffing out a fuming breath into Derek’s face. His nostrils flared with seething anger and disgust.
Derek clenched his jaw. He didn’t drop his eyes from the livid Alpha’s.
You. Are. Nothing – Derek had heard that before. So many times that he didn’t even blink at its mention.
“So you thought you’d kill me and everything would stop?” he asked in a flat tone.
Derek was already dizzy with the continuous loss of blood, but he wouldn’t back off now. Not when his so-far-useless life was inspiring so many others. He was ready to die, if things came down to it.
Deucalion smirked. “Or we can just tweak your memories a little.”
Derek’s heart skipped a beat. He searched Deucalion face, with wide eyes, feeling numb.
“I know, you must have heard about how Alpha’s claws can suck your memories out.”
“No….No…Don’t touch him,” Stiles screeched out a panicked cry.
Derek’s eyes flicked to Stiles for a moment, moving back to Deucalion’s face, checking if this was some kind of a cruel joke. Hoping.
Deucalion’s grin widened at getting the expected response out of Derek.
He’d just started to realize what Deucalion’s actual plan was. The Alpha could manipulate his memories and leave him to wander off somewhere in a half dead condition. Maybe, that would buy them enough time to stop this revolution, even before it started. They had masked their scents and come prepared.
Derek realized, this situation would not end in his death. Death was easy. It would end in a bizarre, disoriented life, which would be a lesson to all other protesters, who were trying to change society’s prejudiced rules.
A life without Stiles…
Derek’s stomach rolled as if he was going to be sick.
He watched as Deucalion folded his shirt’s sleeve up, getting ready. He felt the grip tightening around his arms, as Kali and Ennis adjusted their feet to prepare for the impact.
This was it.
Derek swallowed a thick lump in his throat and searched for Stiles.
He wanted to spend every single moment of his sane life watching his mate, hoping that he could just imprint Stiles’ image onto his brain so hard that no fucking Alpha-claws could wipe it off. Ever.
He couldn’t feel the ache of his wounds. Maybe, he had lost so much blood he’d crossed the limit. He watched Stiles tussle with the twins struggling to escape, shouting Derek’s name continuously.
Then, as if as a last resort, Stiles kneed one of the Omegas in the groin, hard.
The Omega yelped in pain losing his grip. One moment of distraction was all it took for the other to get a solid punch, cracking his nose.
“Run!” Derek screamed at Stiles, gathering every ounce of strength left inside his limp body. Stiles was fast. He could probably outrun the pack.
And…Stiles ran…towards Derek…
The next moment, his mate was kneeling down right in his space, throwing his arms around his neck, clutching, shivering and sobbing out a wet, aching breath.
Derek couldn’t even reach out to soothe him.
Desperate, he sucked in thick gulp of Stiles’ scent, a scent which was choked with fear and distress. Maybe, his last scent of Stiles. He tried to bury his face into the Stiles’ neck aching for contact.
The Alphas just stood there clutching Derek, watching, laughing, enjoying every single moment of their agony.
“I guess, I should start with the Omega then.”
The words cut like another slash of claws.
“No…” Derek huffed out, frozen in terror.
When the words finally made sense to his dizzy mind, he twisted vigorously to get free, to grasp at Stiles.
Deucalion grabbed Stiles’ hair, snatching him away from Derek. The boy screeched at the loss of contact. He tried to jerk from Deucalion’s clasp, to dive towards Derek, writhing like a fish out of water.
“Leave. Him. Alone.” Derek roared, suddenly feeling a surge of fury burst from his brain. Someone hit him on the back to stop him from leaping forward. But he was too numb to feel any pain.
Deucalion ignored him. He dragged Stiles up, his legs skidding against the rough ground, flailing and helpless.
“You little…” Deucalion tried to make him stand on his feet. Ethan and Aidan ran to his aid.
Stiles swung his hands everywhere, clawing their skin, furious and disoriented.
Deucalion struggled for his hold. The next moment, he slapped Stiles right across his face. Something cracked…
[Tag: No, I'd like to read it]
And Derek lost it.
He started shaking with uncontrolled rage.
He clenched his eyes shut as his veins filled with a sudden rush of seething blood. His muscles stretched out. His bones snapped, rupturing his skin. He felt like every tiny part of his insides had torn into a million pieces, excruciating, but knitted back together slowly, reassembling.
His body temperature shot up. He felt heavy, as if he’d suddenly grown extra chunks of body mass. His heart banged against his ribcage at a crazy pace. He felt every single bodily organ swelling, breaking and weaving into the surrounding tissue. His legs trembled under the weight. He dropped onto all fours, struggling to keep his balance, sucking in heavy breaths.
His fangs dug into the soft tissues of his mouth, elongating. His jaw twisted at a peculiar angle making him gurgle out a weird sound.
His eyes shot open.
His vision was different, discolored, but sharp and clear. There was a massive paw right in front of his eyes.
A massive, black, hairy paw with curved, razor-sharp claws. A paw the size of a man’s face…
His paw.
“Fuck!”
“This is im…impossible…”
“Holy shit!”
He snapped his head up at the voices around him. No one was holding him down now. No one was capable of holding him down now.
His vision zeroed in on the hand clenching Stiles’ arm.
Mate…Mate…Mate….
He…the wolf, arched his back, stretching his neck towards the sky and he howled, piercing and angry.
A howl that reverberated for miles around, cutting through every barrier, passing the city limits. A howl that was enough to make your hair stand up on end with a chill, enough to cut sharply through your eardrums. A howl that shook the ground beneath your feet.
The wolf lunged at the hand that was still clutching his mate. He ripped a big chunk out with his sharp fangs and spat it out onto the dirt below.
Deucalion dropped down, wailing and petrified. He pushed backwards, scooting away from the gigantic animal in front of him, trying desperately to escape.
The wolf stomped towards him. Thick layers of his shiny back fur ruffled with the passing wind. He dug his claws into the man’s shirt, heaving him closer.
Danger…Kill…Kill…Kill
The wolf planted his huge paw on Deucalion’s chest. The paw covered half of his torso, pinning the man down to the ground. He glared into the Alpha’s red eyes, furious, challenging and bellowed out a deafening roar right into his face.
Deucalion shuddered under his grasp, shivering with terror.
The next moment, the Alpha’s eyes faded back to their human form. He lowered his gaze in submission, surrendering to the ultimate miracle of nature.
“Please forgive me…I…I was wrong. I won’t do it again. I submit…please,” Deucalion begged for his life.
The wolf was not calming down. He was too animal to react to the man’s pleas. He snapped his teeth at him and let out a loud rumble, surging forward.
“Derek!”
The voice stopped the wolf’s advance suddenly. A soft, soothing voice that tugged right at his heart.
Mate…Mate…Mate….Stiles.
The wolf released the Alpha, who scrambled up to his feet, ready to flee with his shitty pack.
The wolf watched as the pack vanished into the dark woods, still quivering with fright.
“Derek?”
Stiles called again, checking.
The wolf turned his head to the source of the familiar voice. His mate’s voice.
“Oh my G-”
Stiles barged forward, leaping up at the wolf’s neck. He dug his long fingers into the wolf’s coat, wrapping himself around him, his feet barely touching the ground, flailing for balance.
The wolf crouched down.
“Derek…Tell me you’re okay. You’re not hurt. You –” Stiles choked against his hitching sobs. He was now standing on his feet, but barely hanging there, completely leaning into the wolf’s body.
The wolf calmed down as the thick, sweet scent of his mate tickled his nostrils, acting like an instant anchor. The wolf yapped with delight.
“Tell me…talk to me…change back. Can you? Please…please,” Stiles begged, tears seeping into the soft, black fur as he buried his face into it.
The wolf rumbled, unsure. Not willing to transform while his mate clung to him, so close.
“Please talk to me…” Stiles tightened his grip, pushing closer.
The wolf nuzzled at Stiles’ shoulder, shoving him away, to a safer distance. The boy stumbled back, whining at the loss of contact. But he understood and didn’t try to jump him again.
Change…change…change.
The wolf closed his eyes trying to concentrate. His ears twitched to grasp the soothing sound and focused on the steady thudding of Stiles’ heart. That helped.
He felt his muscles cramp, a piercing ache erupting from every inch of his body, which gradually subsided. His tissues and bones rearranged, but this time, relieving the massive pressure that had been on them. His body felt light after losing the heaviness of his wolf form. He felt his head spin, almost knocking him to the ground.
Two hands immediately grabbed Derek, supporting his balance.
“Stiles…” he huffed out, feeling completely drained.
“You’re okay…you are okay,” Stiles muttered, his cheeks red and wet with tears. He cupped Derek’s face in his palms, searching him, as if seeing him for the first time.
Yes, Stiles was okay. They were okay. Derek let out a shuddering breath. He felt relaxed and wonderful and well…naked.
For the first time, he noticed shredded pieces of his favorite shirt and jeans hanging helplessly all over his body and he tried to shuffle.
Stiles held him tight.
“You scared the shit out of me, y’know that?” Stiles said, tired and agitated.
“Did I scare you?” Derek blurted out, uncertain and hurt. “…because I turned into a wolf?” he asked, ducking his head. He couldn’t handle the fact that Stiles was scared of him, because he was a...
“Yeah, yeah that too,” Stiles eyelids blinked rapidly. “I can’t believe my soulmate is a six foot tall, enormous black wolf…a beautiful, full wolf. Of course, you scared me,” he said, teasing.
Derek narrowed his eyes at him.
“But you scared me more, when you didn’t believe that we’re mates and…and ran away after I kissed you.” Stiles’ look suddenly flattened from light and teasing to dead serious. For a tiny moment, his eyes flicked to Derek’s mouth, then back to his eyes instead.
“I thought you were rejecting me. I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I felt like I was going to die. Like…like I was going to miss the bus, again…for the fourth time.”
And that gained a loud laugh from Derek.
Of course, he knew how Stiles must have felt. And he was so ready to correct his mistake.
He grabbed Stiles by the back of his neck and pressed his lips to his open, still chattering lips, muffling his remaining words with a hot kiss.
Stiles tugged at Derek’s bare shoulders and responded with hungry, slick movements, moaning into his mouth.
Then suddenly, he bit into Derek’s bottom lip, as if punishing him for making him wait for so long. Quickly, he flicked his tongue over the swollen lip, offering comfort.
“I sense you,” Derek whispered against Stiles’ mouth, soft and fond.
Stiles gazed at him, his eyes still half-lidded and dizzy.
“My wolf can sense that you are my mate,” Derek explained, pressing quick, loving pecks all over Stiles’ face.
“Wha-” Stiles mumbled between Derek’s wet kisses, surprised.
Derek could make out the exact moment when Stiles grasped the meaning of his statement. His Omega suddenly grabbed his bare ass, with a wholly new-found passion.
Well, you could not blame the boy when his mate was making such pleasingly beautiful sounds right into his ears. After all, he’d just won the jackpot on his eighteenth birthday.
And the party had only just begun.