Chapter Text
Stiles gulped and braced himself as he entered Peter’s study. Peter looked up from his laptop and smiled as Stiles shut the heavy oak door behind him.
“Stiles? I’m working, was there something you needed?” Peter asked.
“I don’t mean to bother. I can come back…” Stiles trailed off, unsure.
“No, I have a moment. Come, tell me what you need.” Peter motioned for Stiles to sit in one of his two plush office chairs.
As Stiles sank into the cushions of the antique chair, he scratched the back of his buzzed hair and looked around the room. Peter’s heavy oak desk was covered in papers and books. The room was small but elegant and the walls, when not covered in floor to ceiling bookcases, were covered in expensive blue silk wallpaper. Heavy drapes covered the window behind the desk and backlit Peters smile as he waited to hear his lover’s question.
“I, um, well I was wondering if I could maybe…” Stiles stumbled over his words, worried about Peter’s reaction. “I could get a job.”
Peter stiffened and narrowed his eyes. He closed his laptop and leaned back in his office chair.
“A job? What do you need with a job, Stiles? Your place is in the pack. I provide you with everything you could possibly need or want. You will not be getting a job.” Peter scoffed.
“But, why?” Stiles pled. “I’m eighteen years old, Peter. I can’t help but feel like all I do is take. I don’t contribute anything to this pack! One day I will have to take some responsibility for this pack. How can having a job hurt? I have nothing else to do. I’m out of high school and you don’t want me to leave for college. I know the pack doesn’t need the money. I just want to… I’m going to be…”
Stiles looked at his feet as he lost steam, seeming to accept that he would not be getting his way. Peter stood up from his chair and walked to where Stiles was carefully examining his fingers. He took Stiles chin and forced the boy to look at him.
“You are going to be what?” Peter coaxed.
“I-I’m yours, and being yours means that I have a responsibility to this pack. One day I’m going to have to deal with that responsibility and there is no way that is going to happen if I don’t have any experience being in the real world. I just want-”
A knock sounded from the door, cutting stiles off. Peter looked at Stiles intently for a moment before he straightened and said, “Come!”.
The door opened to Carl and three of Peter’s other betas. “Alpha, the emissary for the Hale pack is here. He says he was expected?”
“Yes, thank you. The three of you can wait in the study and I will be there in a moment.” Peter turned to Stiles, “You have heard my decision, Stiles. I don’t want to hear about it again.” He turned to leave, but Stiles grabbed his hand.
“Please Peter? I just want to be worthy of being your mate. I don’t want to disappoint you.” He pleaded.
“You are not my anything, Stiles! You are nothing! And you will NOT be getting a job. Return to our room. I don’t want to hear about this anymore.” Peter hissed.
Stiles went pale and stood from the chair. “Yes Alpha”, He whispered and left the room, passing the wide-eyed betas standing just inside the doorway. Peter frowned and watched him go, then shook his head and turned to the betas.
“What?” He asked, noticing the haunted looks they all shared.
“We don’t mean to question your decisions Alpha, but do you know what you just did?” James, one of the other betas, asked.
“By not letting the boy get a job? It is my decision. What business is it of yours?” Peter glared at the trio.
“No, while we believe that it would cause no harm for you to allow the boy to take on some responsibility, I believe James was referring to your declaration that the boy was not yours. I am well aware that you intend to mark the boy as your mate when he is ready and that you have not done so already for the boys benefit, but your proclamation that the boy is ‘not your anything’ did more than just hurt the boy’s feelings.” Carl said.
“Stiles and I,” Paul the third beta jumped in, “have been studying pack law. Your disownment of the boy in front of witnesses in the pack reduces his rank. Before, Stiles was the unofficial second of this pack. Now, instead of reducing him to a normal beta like it would have had he been a wolf. Stiles, being an underage human and new to the pack as he is, is now… the omega.”
“What? That wasn’t my intention. I was just trying to keep him from bringing this topic up again. You know how the boy is, he could argue his way out of Alcatraz.” Peter defended.
“Be that as it may, Stiles knows what the unintentional effects are. As far as he is concerned, you just told him he is a useless waste who is worth nothing to this pack. With all due respect, I would suggest that if you don’t wish the boy to stay in this position, you either formally make him your second, or mate him. I would do it soon. The pack will scent the change in his status. The longer you wait the more he will smell of omega. Either way, he seemed a bit hurt. It’s none of our business of course,” he gestured to James and Curt. “But it kinda sucks to see the kid sad. Anyway, we will be waiting for you in the study.”
The three betas left and Peter went in search of Stiles, intent on taking the boy before the entire pack and proclaiming him the second to the alpha. He ran into Sarah, James’ mate, after searching nearly the whole mansion.
“Have you seen Stiles?”
“Yeah, he left around thirty minutes ago. Looked kinka down. Said he had a present to buy for ‘the Alpha’. He smelled strange. Have you been scent marking him properly? It was almost as if…” She trailed off.
“Thank you. Find me in my office when he gets back. We’re having a pack meeting tonight. Mandatory.” Peter didn’t wait for a response before stalking up the stairs and slamming the heavy door to his office.
Stiles gulped and braced himself as he entered Peter’s study. Peter looked up from his laptop and smiled as Stiles shut the heavy oak door behind him.
“Stiles? I’m working, was there something you needed?” Peter asked.
“I don’t mean to bother. I can come back…” Stiles trailed off, unsure.
“No, I have a moment. Come, tell me what you needed.” Peter motioned for stiles to sit in one of his two plush office chairs.
As stiles sank into the cushions of the antique chair, he scratched the back of his buzzed hair and looked around the room. Peter’s large stained oak desk was covered in papers and books. The room was small but elegant and the walls, when not covered in floor to ceiling bookcases, were covered in expensive blue silk wallpaper. Heavy drapes covered the window behind the desk and backlit Peters smile as he waited to hear his lover’s question.
“I, um, well I was wondering if I could maybe…” Stiles stumbled over his words, worried about Peter’s reaction. “I want to get a job.”
Peter stiffened and narrowed his eyes. He closed his laptop and leaned back in his office chair.
“A job? What do you need with a job, Stiles? Your place is in the pack. I provide you with everything you could possibly need or want. You will not be getting a job.” Peter scoffed.
“But, why?” Stiles pled. “I’m eighteen years old, Peter. I can’t help but feel like all I do is take. I don’t contribute anything to this pack! One day I will have to take some responsibility for this pack. How can having a job hurt? I have nothing else to do. I’m out of high school and you don’t want me to leave for college. I know the pack doesn’t need the money. I just want to… I’m going to be…”
Stiles looked at his feet as he lost steam, seeming to accept that he would not be getting his way. Peter stood up from his chair and walked to where Stiles was carefully examining his fingers. He took stiles chin and forced the boy to look at him.
“You are going to be what?” Peter coaxed.
“I-I’m yours, and being yours means that I have a responsibility to this pack. One day I’m going to have to deal with that responsibility and there is no way that is going to happen if I don’t have any experience being in the real world. I just want-”
A knock sounded from the door, cutting stiles off. Peter looked at Stiles intently for a moment before he straightened and said, “Come!”
The door opened to Carl and three of Peter’s other betas. “Alpha, the emissary for the Hale pack is here. He says he was expected?”
“Yes, thank you. The three of you can wait in the study and I will be there in a moment.” Peter turned to Stiles, “You have heard my decision, Stiles. I don’t want to hear about it again.” He turned to leave, but Stiles grabbed his hand.
“Please Peter? I just want to be worthy of being your mate. I don’t want to disappoint you.” He pleaded.
“You are not my anything, Stiles! You are nothing! And you will NOT be getting a job. Return to our room. I don’t want to hear about this anymore.” Peter hissed.
Stiles went pale and stood from the chair. “Yes Alpha”, He whispered and left the room, passing the wide-eyed betas standing just inside the doorway. Peter frowned and watched him go, then shook his head and turned to the betas.
“What?” He asked, noticing the haunted looks they all shared.
“We don’t mean to question your decisions Alpha, but do you know what you just did?” James, one of the other betas, asked.
“By not letting the boy get a job? It is my decision. What business is it of yours?” Peter glared at the trio.
“No, while we believe that it would cause no harm for you to allow the boy to take on some responsibility, I believe James was referring to your declaration that the boy was not yours. I am well aware that you intend to mark Stiles as your mate when he is ready and that you have not done so already for the boys benefit, but your proclamation that he is ‘not your anything’ did more than just hurt his feelings.” Carl said.
“Stiles and I,” Paul the third beta jumped in, “have been studying pack law. Your disownment of him in front of witnesses in the pack reduces his rank. Before, Stiles was the unofficial second of this pack. Now, instead of reducing him to a normal beta like it would have had he been a wolf. Stiles, being an underage human and new to the pack as he is, is now… the omega.”
“What? That wasn’t my intention. I was just trying to keep him from bringing this topic up again. You know how he is. He could argue his way out of Alcatraz.” Peter defended.
“Be that as it may, Stiles knows what the unintentional effects are. As far as he is concerned, you just told him he is a useless waste who is worth nothing to this pack. With all due respect, I would suggest that if you don’t wish the boy to stay in this position, you either formally make him your second, or mate him, and soon. The pack will scent the change in his status. The longer you wait the more he will smell of omega. Either way, he seemed a bit hurt. It’s none of our business of course,” he gestured to James and Curt. “But it kinda sucks to see the kid sad. Anyway, we will be waiting for you in the study.”
The three betas left and Peter went in search of Stiles, intent on taking the boy before the entire pack and proclaiming him the second to the alpha. He ran into Sarah, James’ mate after searching nearly the whole mansion.
“Have you seen Stiles?”
“Yeah, he left around thirty minutes ago. Looked kinka down. Said he had a present to buy for ‘the Alpha’. He smelled strange. Have you been scent marking him properly? It was almost as if…” She trailed off.
“Thank you. Find me in my office when he gets back. We’re having a pack meeting tonight. Mandatory.” Peter didn’t wait for a response before stalking up the stairs and slamming the heavy door to his office.
Stiles got out of his jeep and walked into the only pawnshop in Capol County, California. It was in a strip mall in downtown Beacon Hills, a small town about forty minutes from the Hale mansion and the Deacon pack that Peter had recently become the alpha of. A tiny bell jingled merrily as stiles walked into the little shop. The inside was brightly lit with a U shaped counter that separated customers from merchandise that lined the walls. A pale boy stood behind the counter with shiny blue eyes and a mop of curly blond hair. The boy, who had to be about Stiles age, beamed as the door closed and Stiles stepped up to the counter.
“Hi! Welcome to ‘Hale of a Pawn Shop’! I’m Isaac. Can I help you with something?”
“Um, Hi. I’m Stiles. I have this bracelet. It was my mom’s before she died. I kinda need some money to get a present for someone I like, so I guess I should sell it.” Stiles clutched the bracelet tightly before slowly placing it on the glass countertop.
“Wow, your mom’s huh? Are you sure you want to sell it? Maybe you should just pawn it so you can get up the money to get it back later?” Isaac suggested as he picked the bracelet up off of the counter and examined it. It was beautiful. The band was silver with a large ruby in the center of the cuff and a string of tiny sapphires in both blue and yellow trailing out in spirals from each side. “Huh, red blue and yellow stones. Silver cuff. Spirals.” Why Isaac thought that was amusing, Stiles was unsure, but the amused glint in his eyes only made the boy more likeable.
Stiles pondered the thought of pawning the bracelet but remembered his conversation with Peter earlier. “Nah. I’m not allowed to get a job so I couldn’t make the payments. Thanks, though.” Stiles shrugged.
Isaac gave a rueful smile. “Yeah I guess you wouldn’t be allowed to. Being an omega sucks, huh?”
Stiles stiffened and stared at Isaac with wide eyes. “What?”
“Yeah, Um… I’m a werewolf. It’s cool, I’m not going to hurt you or anything. I just kinda felt like you should know with me being able to scent you and you being human. I’m not big on unfair advantages.” Isaac took a jeweler’s visor from behind the counter and examined the stones on the bracelet.
Stiles relaxed a little. “Thanks. It’s nice to meet a werewolf that isn’t plotting power plays and blackmail.”
“So who is this present for, anyway?” Stiles asked.
“The Alpha” Stiles couldn’t help the hint of derision in his voice. He had been with Peter since he was sixteen. It hurt to realize that Peter thought so little of their relationship. Stiles had turned eighteen two weeks ago and had been waiting for Peter to approach him about mating. It seemed like that would never happen now.
“Woah. What happened?”
Stiles gave Isaac a rundown of his morning in clipped angry words.
“Huh. Well, this may be a bit premature seeing as how we just met twenty minutes ago, but you are more than welcome to join our pack. We need a Second, so it’s not like you would be trading one hell for another.” Isaac offered. “Not that we treat our Omega like shit or anything. Lydia would murder us all. And get away with it.”
Stiles eyes widened and he jumped as another customer entered the store and began quietly perusing the walls on the other end of the shop, ignoring them both. “I’m not sure…” He hesitated.
“Come on! It would be great! Were a small pack so you won’t have much responsibility or anything and all you would have to do is put up with Derek and his ‘grr I’m the alpha and I talk with my eyebrows’ face. He’s harmless though, I swear.”
Stiles smiled and considered it. He had just talked himself into it (cuz anything’s better than being an omega who is just used by his alpha for sex, right?) when something seemed to occur to Isaac.
“Oh! And it’s not like our last Second was murdered or anything. Turns out Scott is ‘A True Alpha’ and he came into his eyes. It was very dramatic. And since Scott can’t stay Derek’s second as an Alpha without the two of them getting mated, ew by the way, he is just a lone alpha who shares Derek’s territory. And he attends all of the pack meetings, of course. The rule is if Scott approves and Derek accepts you as pack, which he will no matter how much he complains, then your position is solid.”
Stiles takes another minute to consider the offer then says, “So where do I sign up?”
Isaac grins widely and pulls out his cellphone but suddenly remembers the bracelet in his hands. He hands it carefully back to Stiles and says, “Derek’s birthday was two months ago, so you won’t have to get him anything and he won’t have a problem with you getting a job anyway. I guess that means you don’t have to sell this.”
Stiles eyes go a little foggy for a second before he swallows, nods, and clips the cuff onto his wrist, resolved to wear it from now on. He hated to think that he had almost sold the precious piece for a man he now detested. He watched as Isaac called someone on his phone.
“Scott! Hey, man! I found a replacement second for you. What? No, a human. His name is Stiles. Just walked into the shop. Oh? Sure, see you in five.” He hung up the phone and looked up at Stiles and he tucked the phone back into his pocket. “He will be here in a minute. He was already on his way when I called.
They chatted for a while until someone opened the shop door, the other customer having left unnoticed sometime earlier. The man who walked in was muscular. He had floppy brown hair and a slightly uneven jawline. His brown eyes locked on Stiles where he stood across from Isaac at the counter. Stiles swallowed audibly as Scott walked over without a word and scented Stiles, violating his personal space without comment. He pulled back after a moment and said, “Why are you leaving your pack behind, Omega?”
Stiles winced at the new title and retold his story about the morning’s public rejection and denouncement. Scott gave him a sympathetic frown before nodding.
“I approve. I was worried when you picked a human, but if Stiles has been with wolves for such a long time, he should be well suited to the position. All I have to do is introduce him to Derek.” Scott said to Isaac, who frowned.
“There’s something we need to do first.” Isaac stepped around the counter and went up to Stiles, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Stiles’ neck. Stiles stood motionless as both Isaac and Scott scent marked him. When they were done, they paused and sniffed him thoroughly before nodding.
“It would have been awkward to introduce you if you smelled like some other pack. The scent is still there, but it’s not quite as obvious as it was before. You and Scott should get going. I have to stay here and man the shop, so call me and tell me how it goes.” Isaac gives a small wave and returns to his position behind the counter. Stiles follows Scott outside where Scott gets on a dirt bike. Stiles dives behind him carefully until they come to a large two story house only marginally smaller than Peter’s mansion.
Scott led Stiles up the front steps and into the house. He lifted his head and said, only slightly louder than normal, “Pack meeting in the living room, guys!”
Stiles was unsurprised when people started to come down the stairs and from the other doorways. Scott led him into the living room. A large flat screen TV and gaming system, mounted above a cheerily crackling fireplace and mantle, was bracketed on one side by an overstuffed chair and the other by a loveseat of creamy brown leather. A long couch sat between the two in front of a shiny chrome and glass coffee table. People began to file into the room and take up positions on the seemingly comfortable array of furniture while Stiles stood awkwardly next to Scott and tried to ignore the stares he was receiving.
The first to speak was a rather attractive but pissy looking blond who sat alone in the overstuffed chair.
“What is this about McCall? I have a date to get to.” The blond sneered and crossed his arms impatiently. Stiles assumed this was his normal behavior from the fact that no one in the room reacted to the outburst.
Scott, who refused to rise to the bait, said to the room in general, “I have come today to submit to the alpha the person I have chosen to replace me as pack Second.” This statement made Stiles the unwilling recipient of even more intense stares from the people around the room. From the couch, sat a strawberry blonde and a slightly uneasy looking guy holding the hand of a dark haired boy who sat between beside him. From the girl came, “Him? We don’t even know him. He’s human isn’t he? Why should we accept someone we don’t trust into our pack? Let alone into a position of power?” The girl who had spoken raked Stiles with a critical eye. He got the impression that she could murder him in town square with dozens of witnesses and get away with it. He shivered.
“Isaac trusts him.”, Was all Scott said in his defense. It seemed to be enough though, because her expression eased a bit. “He is an Omega from another pack. Recently, he was the unofficial pack second. He was reduced to Omega this morning because his alpha publicly rejected his claim on Stiles in front of several members of the pack.”
One of the pack members winced. Stiles wasn’t sure why his omega status would endear him to the guy. The rest of the pack seemed sympathetic.
The black haired boy smiled at him. He seemed uncaring of Stiles origins or rank.
A dark haired man in a leather jacket sat on the loveseat alone. He regarded Stiles silently with piercing Hazel/Green eyes. He made no move to contribute to the conversation, letting them hash Stiles’ presence out on their own.
“Stiles agreed to join our pack to escape his alpha. I support him. All I need is the pack’s acceptance.” Scott waited for the reaction of the room.
“I think I can speak for the four of us when I say we are willing to give him a shot.” The strawberry blonde said from the couch, gesturing to its occupants.
“I don’t much care for the thought of letting some strange human boss me around. So don’t fucking think because I agree to this it means that you can boss me around. It doesn’t. So, whatever. Do what you want.” The blond griped from his chair.
The silent man on the loveseat only looked him up and down once more before nodding.
Scott smiled widely and said, “Great, so Stiles, these guys are Jackson, Lydia, Ethan, Danny, and Derek.” Stiles eyes locked with Derek’s for a fraction of a second before the alpha was out of his seat. Scott had gone and sat in a previously unnoticed recliner of worn blue cloth that had been shoved between the couch and Jackson’s chair. He was sitting and had begun a conversation with Lydia.
Derek walked closer and thrust out his and to grasp Stiles’. They shook and, without releasing him, Derek took another step and entered Stiles’ personal space. “We will all need to scent you for you to officially be a member of the pack.” Derek leaned into his neck and began to rub his stubble against Stiles’ exposed throat. He had just finished and was moving to the other side when he inhaled, long and deep. Derek froze and scented the air again. Jerking back from Stiles, Derek took him by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall beside the fireplace and TV. He hit the wall so hard the picture frames and clock on the mantle rattled from the impact.
Derek roared into Stiles face and yelled, “Who is your alpha?”
Stiles, to his credit, didn’t even flinch at the rough treatment. “I was under the impression that it was you.” Stiles said calmly, ignoring the snort of laughter from Scott’s corner of the room.
“From what pack are you running?” Derek asked, annoyed but no longer yelling.
“The Deacon Pack.” Stiles answered.
“And the alpha?”
“His name is Peter.”
“His last name?!” Derek demanded.
“I don’t know. He said that he removed himself from his family. I don’t think he ever took another surname. It wasn’t a subject one was permitted to talk about.”
“What did he look like?”
“Older than you. Thirty-five? It’s hard to tell with werewolves. Brown hair, graying a little? Muscles? He has grey eyes.”
Derek roared into Stiles’ face again. His hands moved to Stiles’ throat. He struggled, but there was little he could do against the sheer strength of the alpha before him.
His world went dark.
Stiles got out of his jeep and walked into the only pawnshop in Capol County, California. It was in a strip mall in downtown Beacon Hills, a small town about forty minutes from the pack house and the Deacon pack that Peter had recently become the alpha of. A tiny bell jingled merrily as stiles walked into the little shop. The inside was brightly lit with a U shaped counter that separated customers from merchandise that lined the walls. A pale boy stood behind the counter with shiny blue eyes and a mop of curly blond hair. The boy, who had to be about Stiles age, beamed as the door closed and Stiles stepped up to the counter.
“Hi! Welcome to ‘Hale of a Pawn Shop’! I’m Isaac. Can I help you with something?”
“Um, Hi. I’m Stiles. I have this bracelet. It was my mom’s before she died. I kinda need some money to get a present for someone I like, so I guess I should sell it.” Stiles clutched the bracelet tightly before slowly placing it on the glass countertop.
“Wow, your mom’s huh? Are you sure you want to sell it? Maybe you should just pawn it so you can get up the money to get it back later?” Isaac suggested as he picked the bracelet up off of the counter and examined it. It was beautiful. The band was silver with a large ruby in the center of the cuff and a string of tiny sapphires in both blue and yellow trailing our in spirals from each side. “Huh, red blue and yellow stones. Silver cuff. Spirals.” Why Isaac thought that was amusing, Stiles was unsure, but the amused glint in his eyes only made the boy more likeable.
Stiles pondered the thought of pawning the bracelet but remembered his conversation with Peter earlier. “Nah. I’m not allowed to get a job so I couldn’t make the payments. Thanks, though.” Stiles shrugged.
Isaac gave a rueful smile. “Yeah I guess you wouldn’t be allowed to. Being an omega sucks, huh?”
Stiles stiffened and stared at Isaac with wide eyes. “What?”
“Yeah, Um… I’m a werewolf. It’s cool, I’m not going to hurt you or anything. I just kinda felt like you should know with me being able to scent you and you being human. I’m not big on unfair advantages.” Isaac took a jeweler’s visor from behind the counter and examined the stones on the bracelet.
Stiles relaxed a little. “Thanks. It’s nice to meet a werewolf that isn’t plotting power plays and blackmail.”
“So who is this present for, anyway?” Stiles asked.
“The Alpha” Stiles couldn’t help the hint of derision in his voice. He had been with Peter since he was sixteen. It hurt to realize that Peter thought so little of their relationship. Stiles had turned eighteen two weeks ago and had been waiting for Peter to approach him about mating. It seemed like that would never happen now.
“Woah. What happened?”
Stiles gave Isaac a rundown of his morning in clipped angry words.
“Huh. Well, this may be a bit premature seeing as how we just met twenty minutes ago, but you are more than welcome to join our pack. We need a Second, so it’s not like you would be trading one hell for another.” Isaac offered. “Not that we treat our Omega like shit or anything. Lydia would murder us all. And get away with it.”
Stiles eyes widened and he jumped as another customer entered the store and began quietly perusing the walls on the other end of the shop, ignoring them both. “I’m not sure…” He hesitated.
“Come on! It would be great! Were a small pack so you won’t have much responsibility or anything and all you would have to do is put up with Derek and his ‘grr I’m the alpha and I talk with my eyebrows’ face. He’s harmless though, I swear.”
Stiles smiled and considered it. He had just talked himself into it (cuz anything’s better than being an omega who is just used by his alpha for sex, right?) when something seemed to occur to Isaac.
“Oh! And it’s not like our last Second was murdered or anything. Turns out Scott is ‘A True Alpha’ and he came into his eyes. It was very dramatic. And since Scott can’t stay Derek’s second as an Alpha without the two of them getting mated, ew by the way, he is just a lone alpha who shares Derek’s territory. And he attends all of the pack meetings, of course. The rule is if Scott approves and Derek accepts you as pack, which he will no matter how much he complains, then your position is solid.”
Stiles takes another minute to consider the offer then says, “So where do I sign up?”
Isaac grins widely and pulls out his cellphone but suddenly remembers the bracelet in his hands. He hands it carefully back to Stiles and says, “Derek’s birthday was two months ago, so you won’t have to get him anything and he won’t have a problem with you getting a job anyway. I guess that means you don’t have to sell this.”
Stiles eyes go a little foggy for a second before he swallows, nods, and clips the cuff onto his wrist, resolved to wear it from now on. He hated to think that he had almost sold the precious piece for a man he now detested. He watched as Isaac called someone on his phone.
“Scott! Hey, man! I found a replacement second for you. What? No, a human. His name is Stiles. Just walked into the shop. Oh? Sure, see you in five.” He hung up the phone and looked up at Stiles and he tucked the phone back into his pocket. “He will be here in a minute. He was already on his way when I called.
They chatted for a while until someone opened the shop door, the other customer having left unnoticed sometime earlier. The man who walked in was muscular. He had floppy brown hair and a slightly uneven jawline. His brown eyes locked on Stiles where he stood across from Isaac at the counter. Stiles swallowed audibly as Scott walked over without a word and scented Stiles, violating his personal space without comment. He pulled back after a moment and said, “Why are you leaving your pack behind, Omega?”
Stiles winced at the new title and retold his story about the morning’s public rejection and denouncement. Scott gave him a sympathetic frown before nodding.
“I approve. I was worried when you picked a human, but if Stiles has been with wolves for such a long time, he should be well suited to the position. All I have to do is introduce him to Derek.” Scott said to Isaac, who frowned.
“There’s something we need to do first.” Isaac stepped around the counter and went up to Stiles, wrapping his arms around him and burying his face in Stiles’ neck. Stiles stood motionless as both Isaac and Scott scent marked him. When they were done, they paused and sniffed him thoroughly before nodding.
“It would have been awkward to introduce you if you smelled like some other pack. The scent is still there, but it’s not quite as obvious as it was before. You and Scott should get going. I have to stay here and man the shop, so call me and tell me how it goes.” Isaac gives a small wave and returns to his position behind the counter. Stiles follows Scott outside where Scott gets on a dirt bike. Stiles drives behind him carefully until they come to a large two story house only marginally smaller than Peter’s mansion.
Scott led Stiles up the front steps and into the house. He lifted his head and said, only slightly louder than normal, “Pack meeting in the living room, guys!”
Stiles was unsurprised when people started to come down the stairs and from the other doorways. Scott led him into the living room. A large flat screen TV and gaming system, mounted above a cheerily crackling fireplace and mantle, was bracketed on one side by an overstuffed chair and the other by a loveseat of creamy brown leather. A long couch sat between the two in front of a shiny chrome and glass coffee table. People began to file into the room and take up positions on the seemingly comfortable array of furniture while Stiles stood awkwardly next to Scott and tried to ignore the stares he was receiving.
The first to speak was a rather attractive but pissy looking blond who sat alone in the overstuffed chair.
“What is this about McCall? I have a date to get to.” The blond sneered and crossed his arms impatiently. Stiles assumed this was his normal behavior from the fact that no one in the room reacted to the outburst.
Scott, who refused to rise to the bait, said to the room in general, “I have come today to submit to the alpha the person I have chosen to replace me as pack Second.” This statement made Stiles the unwilling recipient of even more intense stares from the people around the room. From the couch, where a pair of twins sat one with a strawberry blonde in his lap and the other holding the hand of a dark haired boy who sat between the twins, came, “Him? We don’t even know him. He’s human isn’t he? Why should we accept someone we don’t trust into our pack? Let alone into a position of power?” The girl who had spoken raked Stiles with a critical eye. He got the impression that she could murder him in town square with dozens of witnesses and get away with it. He shivered. She was obviously the omega Isaac had mentioned earlier.
“Isaac trusts him.”, Was all Scott said in his defense. It seemed to be enough though, because her expression eased a bit. “He is an Omega from another pack. Recently, he was the unofficial pack second. He was reduced to Omega this morning because his alpha publicly rejected his claim on Stiles in front of several members of the pack.”
The twins winced simultaneously. Stiles wasn’t sure why his omega status would endear him to the pair. The black haired boy smiled at him. He seemed uncaring of Stiles origins or rank.
A dark haired man in a leather jacket sat on the loveseat alone. He regarded Stiles silently with piercing Hazel/Green eyes. He made no move to contribute to the conversation, letting them hash Stiles’ presence out on their own.
“Stiles agreed to join our pack to escape his alpha. I support him. All I need is the pack’s acceptance.” Scott waited for the reaction of the room.
“I think I can speak for the four of us when I say we are willing to give him a shot.” The strawberry blonde said from the couch, gesturing to its occupants.
“I don’t much care for the thought of letting some strange human boss me around. So don’t fucking think because I agree to this it means that you’re superior or something. I don’t take orders form anyone. But, whatever. Do what you want.” The blond griped from his chair.
The silent man on the loveseat only looked him up and down once more before nodding.
Scott smiled widely and said, “Great, so Stiles, these guys are Jackson, Lydia, Ethan, Aiden, Danny, and Derek. Cora and Malia are out, but they will come back eventually.” Stiles eyes locked with Derek’s for a fraction of a second before the alpha was out of his seat. Scott had gone and sat in a previously unnoticed recliner of worn blue cloth that had been shoved between the couch and Jackson’s chair. He was sitting and had begun a conversation with Lydia.
Derek walked closer and thrust out his and to grasp Stiles’. They shook and, without releasing him, Derek took another step and entered Stiles’ personal space. “We will all need to scent you for you to officially be a member of the pack.” Derek leaned into his neck and began to rub his stubble against Stiles’ exposed throat. He had just finished and was moving to the other side when he inhaled, long and deep. Derek froze and scented the air again. Jerking back from Stiles, Derek took him by the shoulders and slammed him into the wall beside the fireplace and TV. He hit the wall so hard the picture frames and clock on the mantle rattled from the impact.
Derek roared into Stiles face and yelled, “Who is your alpha?”
Stiles, to his credit, didn’t even flinch at the rough treatment. “I was under the impression that it was you.” Stiles said calmly, ignoring the snort of laughter from Scott’s corner of the room.
“From what pack are you running?” Derek asked, annoyed but no longer yelling.
“The Deacon Pack.” Stiles answered.
“And the alpha?”
“His name is Peter.”
“His last name?!” Derek demanded.
“I don’t know. He said that he removed himself from his family. I don’t think he ever took another surname. It wasn’t a subject one was permitted to talk about.”
“What did he look like?”
“Older than you. Thirty-five? It’s hard to tell with werewolves. Brown hair, graying a little? Muscles? He has grey eyes.”
Derek roared into Stiles’ face again. His hands moved to Stiles’ throat. He struggled, but there was little he could do against the sheer strength of the alpha before him.
His world went dark.