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Talia Hale was at an impasse. Four of her strongest wolves had fallen to their latest, and in her opinion, greatest, big bad. She was unwilling to risk anymore of her family. That was unacceptable. It was time to call in the big guns.
Death was the name they called him. Oh not to his face, you see, but he was known to sow a trail of corpses wherever he was called. Death, with a face no one spoke about. Death, with a true name no one knew. He was a man for hire; A Spark, with no ties.
Talia wasted no time getting in touch with the mysterious Death. Every Alpha worth their title had the number. The number that no one used. The number that was always your very, VERY last resort.
The phone rang and went straight to voice mail. Of course Death was busy. She wouldn’t expect him not to be. She left a detailed message with her name, rank, location, and problem. She hung up and said a prayer that he would deem them worthy to help. Demons were serious business, and she was terrified for her pack.
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Two days later Talia heard a disturbance outside. It sounded like someone had just tripped up her stairs. It was no one from her pack, no one from town, and to be very honest, no one that smelled human from what she could tell. Worried, she rushed to the door ready to fight a demon, if it was necessary, and if it wasn’t, wondering who in the world would just waltz up to the Alpha’s home unannounced. There were rules, you see, about encroaching on Territory.
The Alpha threw open the door with a snarl on her face, but stopped abruptly at what she saw. A boy of no more that 18 lay at the foot of her stairs caught up in a scarf and cursing the blue blazes out of it. There was a backpack thrown haphazardly against the rails, and was that a shoe on her welcome mat?
Who in the world was this kid?
Talia cleared her throat loudly, causing to the boy to startle with a yelp. He flailed a bit more before gaining his bearings and ripping the scarf from around his legs. How it even ended up like that, she did not want to know. The boy stood up swiftly and looked down at her with wolf eyes. Talia paused at the sight. No, they weren’t wolf eyes; they were just a bright golden brown. How peculiar. Continuing her assessment, she noticed that he was lanky, but well built and strong in the shoulders. He was about six feet tall, with nicely coiffed brown hair and a trickster smile. He was wearing tight jeans with a long sleeved red t-shirt and a black vest. He wore black boots on his feet.
The boy fidgeted slightly at her gaze, as if he wasn’t used to being assessed on such a critical level. He held out his hand to her and introduced himself.
“Hey! Uh, I’m Stiles. Nice to meet you! Sorry about falling off your porch. Sometimes I can be pretty clumsy, and it didn’t help that my damned scarf decided now was a good time to take it’s revenge! You must be Alpha Talia Hale. I can tell by the, you know, red angry eyes you were sporting when you open the door.”
Talia blinked rapidly. She had never heard someone speak so fast before.
Shaking Stiles’s hand Talia answered. “It’s very nice to meet you as well Stiles, though I’m not sure how exactly you knew my name. What brings you into my Territory?”
It was Stiles’s turn to blink. “Uh, you called me? Something about a Demon problem?” He picked up his backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulder. “Sorry it took me so long to get here. I had to walk most of the way. My jeep kind of crapped out on me last week.” Stiles moved past Talia, where she stood frozen, to retrieve his shoe.
Talia turned around sharply to watch him. “You mean to tell me that YOU are Dea--, I mean, the man I hired?”
“Yep!” Stiles chirped, wrangling his shoe on his foot. “Don’t worry I get that look a lot. I’m not really what anyone expects, but I’m damn good at my job.” He finished tying his shoe and stood up.
Talia wasn’t convinced. The problem was, if no one knew Death’s face, and no one knew Deaths name, how was she to know if this “Stiles” was lying to her? He knew about her Demon problem. He knew she was a werewolf. And if he was lying, he knew how to hide the skip in his heartbeat, because she had not noticed one.
Talia decided to err on the side of caution. Not wanting to anger the man (boy!) who may be Death, and wanting to hope that the answer to her prayers had come, she decided to introduce him to the Pack and get stared on their plan. She would just keep a very sharp eye on him.
Nodding decisively Talia walked towards the door. “Very well Stiles. Welcome to the Beacon Hills Pack House. I will show you to the room we have prepared for you to stay in and then I can introduce you to my Pack.”
Stiles looked a bit taken aback, as if he had not expected her to welcome him into her home. “Alpha Hale, a room is not necessary! I can put myself up in a hotel for the duration of my stay. I don’t want to be a bother!”
“Nonsense!” Talia stated waltzing into the house, knowing he would follow. “If you are going to help out my Pack with this problem you will stay here and tolerate my hospitality!” She winked at him. Stiles flushed. Poor thing, he must not be used to kindness at all.
“Thank you Alpha Hale. You are being very kind.” Stiles stammered, fidgeting with the strap of his backpack.
Talia smiled. “Please call me Talia. Now, “ she stated walking up the stairs, “your room will be the last door on your right. My husband and I have the room directly across from yours if you need anything at all while you stay with us. My son Derek’s room is the door right before yours, and my daughters Laura and Cora’s rooms are on the third floor. The rest of the rooms have been claimed by various pack members for when they decide to spend the night during full moons, or if they just want to be close to the pack.” Talia opened the door and led him through it. The room was extremely spacious. It had a queen-sized bed tucked into one corner, a dresser for Stiles to store his clothes, two large windows adorned with white curtains, and a private bathroom.
Talia smiled at Stiles’s wide-eyed expression. She coughed lightly to get his attention. “Make yourself comfortable. Dinner is at 6 o’clock. I will introduce you to the pack before we eat. As I said, if you need anything just let me know.” Talia exited the bedroom and quickly walked towards the kitchen. She had a large meal to prepare, and a pack to gather.
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Not much could be heard over the excited, but nervous chatter of her pack. Derek had just arrived dragging behind him the last of their unruly group. Erica and Isaac looked overjoyed at the prospect of meeting Death, while Scott looked a bit apprehensive. Talia couldn’t blame him. The stories they had heard about him were terrifying. Derek seemed completely unruffled about the newcomer. Of course, at 24 years old he was one of her front line wolves. He blamed himself for not being able to save the four that were killed, but knew it was just part of keeping their territory safe. Talia worried about Derek sometimes and the weight he kept on his shoulders.
Laura and Cora jumped on Derek as soon as he walked into the kitchen, as if they had not seen him right before he left to go pick up the others. Talia allowed them to play fight for a moment until she heard Stiles’s room door close. She whistled to catch everyone’s attention and calmly asked them to stand in position. Talia’s husband to her right, Derek to her left and the rest of the Pack scattered behind them.
Talia could here Stiles muttering to himself as he walked toward the stairs. Something like ‘Ok, be cool. Be calm. It’s just a pack of werewolves. You’ve done this before.’ She stifled a laugh when her husband looked at her with questioning eyes. She was getting used to Stiles’s antics. She still wasn’t quite sure if he was Death, what with his apparently natural clumsiness and general look of innocence, but she guessed they would see how he handled the Demons when they went to confront them.
The pack collectively flinched when they heard a loud curse and a bang as Stiles tripped down the stairs.
“I’M OK, I SWEAR!!” Stiles called as Talia and Derek rushed to go help him. It looked like he had tripped over thin air. Derek was scowling more than usual as he helped Stiles lift himself up making sure to dodge his flailing limbs. The poor boy was a menace to himself.
“Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I’d like to say this doesn’t happen often, but it totally does. Ask your Alpha!” Stiles brushed himself off while speaking to Derek. “The first time she met me I was tangled in my damn scarf. Oh man, and then there was that one time that I was helping some Fae and all of a sudden out of no where…“
“Stiles, it’s ok.” Talia jumped in, knowing he would ramble for ages if she let him. She gave Derek a significant look over Stiles’s shoulder. He was making a ‘WTF SERIOUSLY MOM’ face, which unfortunately, Talia was very familiar with. “We have all had our mishaps. Let’s just get you introduced to the Pack so we can eat dinner and then get to planning.”
“Sure, sure, that sounds great! Lead on grumpy face!” he said to Derek as he ambled past. Derek’s face did this thing like he was confused and lividly angry all at once and Talia had to stifle another laugh. ‘Oh god, this kid is going to drive everyone bonkers’ she thought, following behind them.
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Once everyone had been introduced and dinner had been eaten, Talia, Derek, and Stiles, headed into the study to begin planning the attack on the Demons. They planned to lure them out with Derek as bait, since he was the only one alive of his group of scouts. Stiles figured they would want to complete their unfinished business. Demons hated leaving survivors.
Suddenly Stiles became very quiet. He tilted his head slightly to the side, as if trying to hear something. A wicked smile lit his face as he spoke. “Looks like we don’t have to plan anymore. They’re here.”
Talia shivered. That was not the look of the innocent boy she had come to know. That was the malicious smile of a killer. That was Death.
“You two stay here. Tell the Pack not to leave the house. I’ve got this.” He started to walk towards the door when Derek grabbed his arm.
“Stiles, you can’t go out there alone! They will eat you alive!”
“Derek.” Stiles said in a flat voice, his golden eyes glinting as he looked down at Derek’s hand and then back into his eyes. “Let. Go.”
Derek dropped his arm as if he had been electrocuted. Stiles nodded his head and ran out the door to the front yard, pulling his sleeves up as he went. Talia followed behind him, heedless of Stiles’s warning. She might not be able to interfere, but she would watch this boy as he engaged her greatest foes.
Stiles stopped right before the porch steps and surveyed the yard with quiet contempt. There were twelve Demon’s lined up about twenty yards front the first step. Stiles straightened his back and gracefully descended the stairs.
The tattoos on Stiles’s arms, that she had not realized were there before, began to glow as he walked. Talia had never seen anything like them. They looked like runes and shown blue as they pulsed. Stiles muttered the word “Christo” and Talia was surprised to see all the Demons flinch and flash black eyes. It was as if that was the deciding factor. Two of the Demons rushed toward Stiles assuming him to be an easy takedown. Stiles sidestepped the first one, twisted around the second and ruthlessly dragged a jagged knife across it’s jugular. Talia had no idea where he had gotten the knife, but the Demon dropped to the ground in a flash of light and wet gurgling. The first Demon Stiles sidestepped looked shocked, but quickly regained its composure. It moved quicker than Talia had ever seen any creature move, but Stiles was ready for it. Hand and knife dripping in blood, he ducked under the Demon’s arms and planted the knife in it’s stomach. The Demon let out a horrible scream as Stiles twisted the blade and wrenched it up towards its heart. The creature was dead in an instant.
Stiles stood up and turned to look at the remaining ten Demons. They looked terrified as they realized whom they were dealing with. Death was infamous throughout the world of creatures. They were fucked. They were turning to run when Stiles lifted his hands, cackling.
“Oh, now where are you guys going? We were just staring to have some fun!” Bolts of light shot out from Stiles’s hands, ensnaring all ten of the Demons. They screamed so loudly the windows in the house shattered as Stiles dragged them into a circle around him. His eyes glowed an eerie silver as he began chanting what sounded like an exorcism in Latin.
Their screams continued as light pulsed from Stiles’s body into the Demons. Talia had to shield her eyes from the brightness. Stiles’s voice grew louder in his chanting until he made a jerking motion with both fists. The inhuman shrieking from the Demons cut off abruptly. All ten of the bodies hung limply in the air. None of the Demons had been exorcized as Talia thought. Nothing had come out of the bodies as Stiles chanted. They had been burned inside the bodies of the humans they had possessed.
Talia watched in complete shock as Stiles gradually lowered the bodies back down to the ground. Stiles looked around, pushed his sleeves back down his arms, and grabbed the knife that was still covered in blood. He vanished it as he shook his head.
He turned around slowly and locked eyes with Talia. “I’m sorry for the mess Alpha Hale. If you will give me a moment to recuperate, I will gladly clean it all up for you, and then be on my way.”
Talia nodded her head still stunned. What even do you say after witnessing something like that? Stiles nodded as well and walked towards the step, obviously wanting to sit and rest. Talia beat him there. She wrapped him up in a hug. “Thank you so much Stiles. You have saved my family, and you are more than welcome to stay as long as you wish.”
Stiles stiffened at the contact and then barked out a depreciating laugh at her words. “Really Talia, after what you’ve just seen you want me to stay? I can’t possibly impose on you any longer. I’ve done my job, and now I must move on.”
Talia tightened her grip. “Absolutely not! The only thing I have seen is a man willing to help out those in need. Someone who gladly uses his gifts for good; even if that good deals with killing evil creatures. Please stay. I hate begging.”
Stiles heaved a sigh. “Fine, but under one condition.”
Talia stepped back and looked him in the eyes. “Anything.”
Stiles grinned and looked over her shoulder. “I want to take Derek out on a date.”
Talia grinned as she heard Derek’s started and embarrassed yelp behind her. She turned around to see her son wide eyed and blushing in the open doorway.
“If you can convince him to get out of the house Stiles, I give you my full permission.”
Talia and Stiles cackled together at Derek’s huff and scowl. Whatever came next, Talia knew she would never again have a dull moment now that Death had become her friend.