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“Stiles!”
The tree was hard at his back and the ground was so goddamn cold. Stiles’ fingers scraped at the earth as he tried to stand, using the tree as leverage. Shakily, he managed to get to his feet. He stumbled a few steps as he tried to walk and pain shot through him, making him curl in on himself again.
The long gash in his side wasn’t so much life threatening as it was wildly painful. It was a sad fact that by now he’d gotten hurt enough that he was able to determine if an injury was life threatening based on how numb he’d start to feel. And the screaming pain was definitely not numb. It was more like a really large paper cut: hurt like a bitch, but would heal. On the bright side, he was pretty sure he’d already stopped bleeding.
“Over here!” Stiles managed to gasp out as he stumbled back against the tree. He hoped like hell the rescue party had at least one werewolf who would be able to hear him.
He didn’t have to wait for long. For someone who was born with the natural grace of a wolf, Derek had a tendency to slam his way through things pretty loudly. This time it was a lot of foliage, and even though Derek wasn’t exactly one of Stiles’ favorite people, he was just glad that anyone was out in the woods tonight at all.
“Hey, nice timing.” Stiles was going to stop using the tree as a prop as soon as he stopped feeling like he’d fall over. “So, rogue hunters, totally hunting omegas in these woods. You knew about that?”
Derek looked angry, which was pretty par for the course for him, as he stepped forward to slip an arm under Stiles’ shoulders. “All of us did. We talked about it and agreed to handle it as a group once the Argents were able to get more information,” Derek growled, and that shouldn’t have been soothing as it was.
Derek’s skin was hot against Stiles and he leaned into it, soaking up what warmth he could. Even with his sweater, the middle of the woods in January was really freaking cold.
“Next time I hear something on my scanner I’ll call before I investigate,” Stiles promised, letting Derek lead him through the woods, trusting he knew the way out of there.
“Or you could not investigate at all,” Derek suggested.
Stiles laughed, pulling away as his head stopped feeling like it wasn’t connected to the rest of his body and his feet got better at holding his own weight. The hand Derek had pressed against the skin by Stiles’ wound slipped away, and Stiles regretted putting distance between them immediately as his side started to twinge in pain again.
“The Omega…” Stiles started, concerned for the young woman he had collided with earlier in the woods. She was the one responsible for the cut in his side, thinking him a hunter. She’d caught on pretty fast to the fact that he wasn’t and her hands had been shaking as she’d tried to take the pain away. She was either very new to the whole werewolf thing or just not in the right frame of mind because it hadn’t worked. They’d heard the hunters catching up to them, and when Stiles had seen the terrified look in her eyes he’d shoved her back in the direction of his jeep and took off the other way, hoping to lead them away from her. He was pretty sure it had worked, but in the process he’d gotten a bit lost.
“She’s fine,” Derek interrupted, steering them around roots and rocks, following a path only he could really see. “She’s with Scott and the others.” And Stiles was relieved. She’d seemed nice, if a little terrified out of her mind from being hunted for sport.
They broke through the trees and Stiles followed Derek to where his Camaro was parked hazardously in the dirt. The driver’s door was still open, like Derek had been in a hurry. Derek was already reaching for his phone as Stiles collapsed into the warmth of the passenger seat, petting the dashboard. He liked this car so much better than the mom van Derek had been driving for a couple of months while the Camaro had been in the shop. Apparently, a part of the Alpha Pack’s scare tactics had been damaging shiny and perfect cars.
Stiles closed his eyes and listened as Derek reassured Scott that he’d found him. It sounded like one of the others would be driving his jeep back to his place, and the gesture made Stiles love his friends all the more. He was pretty sure she was parked clear on the other side of the woods, and that was pretty far. They really were the best. He didn’t want his dad to come home to one of his deputies telling him they’d found his jeep abandoned in the woods.
He drifted off a little as he felt the car start up and only jerked back into awareness when the engine stopped rumbling. Derek had pulled up in front of his house and was pocketing his keys as he got out of the car.
Stiles scrambled after him. “Oh, thanks for the ride, but you don’t have to stick around.” He was grateful for the rescue, but the thought of Derek sitting around glaring at him while he bandaged up his side wasn’t exactly a fun one. He wasn’t exactly in the condition to give any of his best material.
“Your dad isn’t home,” Derek pointed out as Stiles pulled the keys out of his pocket to unlock the door.
“Uh, yeah, gone for the weekend at my aunt’s. Hence the whole using the scanner I borrowed from him to chase down leads thing.”
Derek followed Stiles inside, shrugging out of his leather jacket and placing it over the back of the couch. He started fiddling with the thermostat on the wall, and Stiles was confused, but actually a little grateful. Stiles and his dad kept the heat low when they were both out of the house in an attempt to save on bills, but Stiles was pretty sure the gash in his side was going to start sending chills through him any minute now.
“You shouldn’t have gone out alone. Part of being in a pack is safety in numbers.” Derek crossed his arms as he turned to Stiles, his face a study in sheer stubbornness.
“No, that’s really sweet. You caring about me, and all. And I get it, you and Scott are doing this whole co-parenting the pack thing. But neither of you have a good track record of answering your phones and I had it handled.”
“Clearly,” Derek snorted. “You shouldn’t be alone tonight. We think some of the new hunters might have been scooping out the town and we don’t know if they recognized you or not.”
“Oh, okay.” Surprisingly, Stiles found himself not really minding if Derek stayed. It had been a long, adrenaline-filled night, and if Derek wanted to be his personal guard dog, he could knock himself out. It’d be nice not to have to worry about being kidnapped or attacked in his home for once. “Make yourself at home; there should be leftover pizza in the fridge. I’m going to sleep for about forever.”
He patted Derek on the arm a little harder than necessary, taking a moment to delight in the annoyed expression on his face before heading upstairs to where his bed awaited him.
*****
“It’s fine.”
Stiles only jumped a little, turning away from where he’d been leaning forward to read the display to where Derek was laid out on the couch. His eyes were closed and Stiles could see where his jacket was rolled up under his head as a pillow. Clearly, in his hurry to reacquaint himself with his mattress, he’d failed at being the kind of host to offer his unexpected overnight guest a pillow and blanket.
“Are you sure?” Stiles could already think of about a hundred different possibilities for the chill that were more complex than his perfectly fine-working heating. Which, given how much they paid for the heating, was a relief at least. “Don’t ghosts make things cold? We could have attracted a ghost. Or, hey, some creature that mass-freezes a town to eat them?”
“No.” Derek opened his eyes, and he looked about as tired as Stiles felt. He got to his feet and herded Stiles back up the stairs. “It’s not that cold. It’s likely just the gash in your side talking. You should get some sleep – Chris wants to meet with us tomorrow about Rachel.”
“I’m too cold to sleep.” Stiles managed not to trip as he went up the stairs and to his room, Derek right behind him. “Also, Rachel?”
“The Omega.” Derek closed the door to Stiles’ room behind them, pushing Stiles towards the bed. “She’s staying at Lydia’s tonight. She told her mom she’s a friend from college. Scott dropped off your Jeep.”
Stiles darted around Derek and craned his neck to look out his window, seeing the blue of his baby parked behind Derek’s Camaro. “So I see.” He tucked the blanket around him tighter to keep out the cold air. “I’m pretty sure my car is like, in love with your car. Not that I blame it, cause I think I might be a little in love with it. You really don’t deserve a car like…” He turned back to Derek and immediately lost his train of thought.
Derek had already stripped out of his shirt and was unbuttoning his pants, pushing them down his hips. You would think four years in a locker room full of athletes would have made Stiles comfortable with his own physique’s inferiority, but nope. Anytime Derek Hale stripped down in front of him, Stiles was back to feeling like he shouldn’t have eaten that fifth slice of pizza. And also feeling that he’d need an extra hour in the shower the next morning.
“Uh.”
The pants hit the floor and Derek kicked them off, reaching for the band of his briefs.
“Oh my god, you can’t take your clothes off in my room! What are you doing? I’m not that easy, you didn’t even buy me dinner!”
“Turn around,” Derek growled, a blush creeping up his neck, and, in shock, Stiles did so. “You said you were cold, right?” Derek’s voice sounded uncertain. “I can keep you warm better in my other form.”
“Wait, what other form?” Stiles asked, and got no answer back “Derek?”
He turned, and he was struck speechless. Where Derek had once been now stood a giant, fluffy black wolf. Emphasis on the fluffy.
“Holy crap,” he breathed, and the wolf’s – Derek, the wolf was definitely Derek – head dropped as if he were embarrassed. “No, it’s cool! Awesome, actually, so freaking awesome. When did this happen? Why didn’t you tell us? I thought only alphas could take on an actual wolf form. Oh my god, I bet it’s a Hale thing, Deaton said your mom could do it. You think Cora can?”
Derek huffed in what could only be annoyance and jumped on Stiles’ bed, watching him expectantly.
Stiles only considered him for a moment before grinning and approaching the bed. He lay down tentatively and Derek huffed again, nudging up against him and sticking his nose in the crook of Stiles’ neck. Stiles flinched at the momentary chill against his skin, but got with the program and tossed the blanket over the both of them.
He soaked in the warmth as his hands trailed across Derek’s surprisingly soft fur. “You know, your tail is really bushy.” A growl vibrated against his skin and Stiles laughed, closing his eyes.
“You are totally buying me dinner,” he murmured, and he drifted off to sleep with Derek warm against him.