Chapter Text
“Derek,” Stiles mumbled, “it’s four in the morning!”
“Sorry,” his mate grumbled as he got back under the covers. Despite his best efforts to be as quiet as possible, he’d tripped over a pair of Stiles’s sneakers on the way back to the bed when he had snuck back in through the window, earning himself a barrage of curses from the irritated human.
Stiles yawned and sniffed. “I guess I’m never going to get a good night’s rest on Full Moons,” he said resignedly. “Congratulations, I’m awake now. But can’t you sleep in the guest room if it’s during the week?”
Derek whined and nuzzled the brunet.
“Oh, God, okay. Yes, yes, yes. Raging hormones and inner wolf needing bonding yada yada yada. Do you need to ravage me again? Not that I mind, full moon sex is awesome, but I’ve hardly slept at all and I have to wade through a whole pathology prac later without drowning myself in the formalin bucket…”
Derek chuckled and grabbed Stiles and spooned him. “It’s okay, my love,” he growled. “Can I just snuggle and maybe nip you a bit…”
“Fine, Sourwolf. I’ll wear a collared shirt tomorrow just for you.”
“Stop complaining. I know you love it too.”
“Okay… ow! Not so hard.”
“Sorry.”
“Yeah, I know. Full moon. Was it at perigee tonight?”
“Yeah.”
“No wonder you’ve been so moody the last few days…what’s that smell?”
Stiles turned around and saw a stain at the corner of his mate’s mouth. He noticed there were red smears on the werewolf’s stupidly buff chest as well.
“What is that? Blood?”
“Maybe,” said Derek, sheepishly.
“Yours?”
“No. Uh. Damn. Didn’t get all of it off.”
“Oh no, Derek, you didn’t seriously go and hunt something? We’ve been doing high protein for a long time now!”
Derek frowned. “It’s not like that… I… I…um, brought you something. I meant for you to find it in the morning, but…”
Stiles sat bolt upright. “No way. Do I really need to know? Am I going to have nightmares for the rest of my life?”
Derek sighed. “I knew this wasn’t going to be a good idea…but it’s traditional for a werewolf to…”
“I’m going to regret this,” Stiles sighed, “but tell me anyway. I’ve got tranquillisers I can take just in case. Spill it.”
“So yeah, um, since you’re my mate, I brought you a… ahem… gift, to show that I can be a good provider…"
“What kind of gift? Oh. My. God.”
“It’s more of a symbol…”
Stiles rolled his eyes and in spite of himself, patted Derek’s head. “Good boy, then, I guess,” he said. Derek growled at the dog joke, but not unpleasantly. “Please don’t tell me you brought it into the house…"
“I left it at the kitchen door.”
“Fine,” said Stiles, getting up. “I might as well have my big freakout now so I can go back to bed and get whatever rest I can before I spend a whole morning pondering the delights of the abdominal cavity.”
He shuffled down the stairs while Derek blew out his cheeks. This was probably not going to end well. But he had followed the old ritual anyway.
His wolf demanded it.
Stiles’s shriek was decidedly girly and ricocheted through the house. Derek knew better than to race down, it would be better for Stiles to calm down first.
Sure enough, he heard his mate storm back up the stairs.
“A bunny, Derek, really? Which you murdered where?”
Derek shrugged. “It’s a traditional gift for new mates. There’s loads of them in the woods. I haven’t made anything extinct.”
“And how do I know it didn’t suffer?”
Derek flashed Stiles a grin of razor sharp fangs.
“Never mind,” the human said, rolling his eyes.
“So, um,” said Derek. “Is it…”
“Does it meet with my approval? Well. Um. Nobody’s ever given me a dead animal before as a gift. I guess it’s a good… er… specimen, but what do I do with it? It’s not like I can just chew on it like you can…”
“Not like that. Ever had roast rabbit?”
“No, but I think I’m going to later today.”
“It’s very nice,” said Derek, resting his head on his arms. “I have my grandmother’s recipe.”
“I’m not skinning and gutting it,” said Stiles, scowling as he got back into bed.
*
That evening, in spite of himself, Stiles cleaned his plate, and kinda wished Derek had caught more than one rabbit. As Derek poured them each another glass of wine, Stiles chuckled to himself.
This one’s definitely a keeper.
*
Slow Roasted Rabbit (In a Little Werewolf Oven)
1 rabbit, cut into 6 to 8 portions
1/2 cup olive oil
1 rabbit, cut into 6 to 8 portions
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
15 medium-size mushrooms, quartered or sliced
2 shallots, minced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch dried thyme
Pinch dried parsley
1 bay leaf
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup red burgundy wine
1 to 2 cups beef broth
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F / 180 degrees C
To a large warmed skillet over medium heat, add 1/4 cup of olive oil. Sprinkle the rabbit with salt and pepper, to taste. Add the rabbit to the hot oil and brown on both sides. Remove the rabbit to a medium-size casserole dish.
In that same skillet, over medium heat, add more olive oil. Add the mushrooms and shallots and saute for about 2 minutes. Transfer the mushroom mixture to the casserole. Sprinkle the flour, thyme, parsley and the bay leaf over the rabbit and stir in the tomato sauce, wine, and the beef broth. You may add a pinch more of salt and pepper if you wish.
Cover with foil and put in the oven to bake until the rabbit is tender, stirring every hour, about 2 to 3 hours. Rabbit meat should pull off easily from the bone with a fork. Remove from the oven and serve.