Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Stiles is officially D.O.N.E. He’s still emotionally raw from his hallucination at Lydia’s party the other day. Then everything with Matt and the kanima at the sheriff’s station happened. And then last night was game night, which ended in him getting kidnapped and then realizing that Scott doesn’t care. Gerard had tortured him because of Scott and when he brought Lydia to help her get Jackson back, Scott was too concerned with Allison, who knew he was getting tortured in the basement, to care that his best friend smelled like pain and blood.

He ignores the curious/concerned look that Derek throws him when he takes his dented jeep and leaves. He just wants to go home, take some pain medication, and pass the fuck out. Thankfully his dad still isn’t home when he gets back, he really doesn’t want to answer questions about why he looks like shit. He knows that he has a black eye, a scrape on his chin, as well as the more painful wounds hidden under his clothes. Knives, heated or not, and whips are definitely now on his list of “Things the Supernatural World Has Taught Me to Hate.”

After taking some pain meds left over from getting his tonsils out, he shrugs out of his jeans and his over-shirt and falls onto the bed, trying to get comfortable. His side ends up being the best bet since his back and front are messed up now. After being uncomfortable for a while, exhaustion finally takes over and he passes out, descending into a restless sleep. He doesn’t know how long it has been since he fell asleep, but he wakes up to the bed dipping. He opens an eye to see Erica crawling into the bed in front of him, making him pretty sure that the person behind him is Boyd.

He groans, “I’m so sorry, I completely forgot all about you.”

Erica gives him a tentative smile, “That’s okay, after what you went through that’s not surprising.”

Stiles turns to look at Boyd and then back at Erica. “Wait, how did you get out?”

“Chris Argent let us go,” Boyd says behind him. That makes Stiles flail a bit.

“Why-”

“No idea,” Erica interrupts.

Stiles takes a moment to think about it. “I’m assuming you don’t know what else happened tonight?”

Erica tilts her head, reminding Stiles very much of a dog.

"Jackson died at the game but that was only so Gerard could get him to the kanima’s alpha form which has fucking wings. Derek, and Scott, fought the kanima so he was kinda dead again but not before Lydia got to him. And because Lydia was able to bring back Jackson human side or whatever, he’s now a werewolf. Scott forced Derek to give Gerard, who was dying, the bite-”

This is interrupted by two growls but Stiles keeps talking. “But Scott switched Gerard’s pills to mountain ash at the station. So, we think he’s dead but his body disappeared.”

“Holy shit,” Boyd whispers behind him and Stiles chuckles.

“Yeah, these past couple of days have been batshit crazy.”

"Are you okay?” Erica asks after a moment of silence.

This causes Stiles to laugh. “I’m exhausted, I hurt like a mother fucker, and my best friend ignored me, not even asking about my visible wounds, to go after Psycho Argent.”

Erica whimpers and both her and Boyd scoot closer to Stiles, hoping to provide some portion of comfort. The time they had spent in the basement with Gerard and Allison had bonded them apparently, they were all now acutely aware of each other’s emotional and physical pain.

Before anyone can say anything else, Stiles phone chimes twice on the dresser.

Stiles groans, sitting up to get it. He smiles at Erica when she hands it to him. Stretching over her probably wouldn’t be good for the gashes still closing on his back.

The two texts are from Lydia and Derek. Lydia’s read: Bring Boyd and Erica to the old Hale house. Now. And Derek’s read: Something is happening at the old Hale house.

“How the fuck does Lydia know you guys are here?” Stiles mutters. He shrugs, “Maybe she just thinks I’d know how or where to find you.”

Boyd and Erica sit up on either side of him, peering down at his phone. “What’s wrong?” Erica asks.

“Both Lydia and Derek texted me, Lydia demanding I get to the Hale house now and Derek saying that something is happening at the Hale house. We should go.”

They all get up and dress in silence, no one mentioning how weird the entire situation is. Stiles puts his over-shirt and jeans back on, while Erica and Boyd just shrug their jackets on, leather because their pack apparently has a smoking hot and leather wearing policy. When he lets out a pained breath bending down to put his shoes on, Erica gently pushes his shoulder so that he is sitting back up and Erica slips one shoe on while Boyd slips on the other. He really shouldn’t be as surprised as he is that they were acting this gentle toward him, not with the games that Gerard played with all three of them in that basement.

Stiles ends up giving his keys to Boyd to drive, still hurting and still affected by the pain meds enough that he doesn’t wanna risk the jeep, and they speed the whole way there.

When they pull up to the burnt remains of the of the Hale house, Lydia is looking dazed on the porch. He gives her a questioning look and she just points inside. Boyd goes in first, then Stiles, then Erica, keeping the human between them. What they see when they enter is Derek, his eyes wide and glistening with unshed tears. Stiles almost wants to go to him but there is a naked girl in front of him, murmuring to him as she holds him. Stiles quickly averts his gaze. Boyd growls slightly, placing himself between the mystery woman and Stiles and Erica. When Stiles looks back up, though, he looks at her face and gasps. He saw that face in the woods that fateful day when his whole world got turned upside down.

“What did you do to our alpha?” Boyd asks.

The woman looks up at him, and then she looks past Boyd to Stiles, whose eyes widen even further, and she sends a small but confident smile his way. She seems to exude power, he can definitely see that she was meant to be an alpha from birth.

“My brother here passed the alpha power back to me. He has chosen a lovely pack but he was never meant to be the alpha, he was meant to be the right hand of the alpha.”

Boyd stops growling but he still looks at her, almost distrusting, and keeps himself in between her and the human and his girlfriend.

When Stiles is done with the silence and the naked alpha, he strips off his plaid over-shirt and tosses it over Boyd to her.

Laura Hale catches it easily, “Thank you, Stiles.” She looks at everybody else, which is just Derek, Stiles, Erica, and Boyd, and Isaac who he just noticed in the corner. “Now, I believe this is everybody so how about we take this somewhere else. I’ll explain it all when I’m clean, clothed, and in a place that isn’t condemned.

Stiles snaps out of his revere to snort. She gives him a sharp look. “Derek doesn’t have any place not condemnable.”

She turns to Derek, giving him an exasperated but fond look. “Of course not. If we can’t use any of your places then we can get a room a motel or an inn.” She gives each one of them a meaningful look.

“I’d let you use my place but there’s no telling when my dad will be home. There is a nice affordable B&B near here, much cleaner then the motels here. I know the daughter of the owner, I might be able to get you a discount.”

Laura sends him a wider smile this time, still just as confident. “That would be lovely Stiles. Money isn’t really that important. Derek probably hasn’t touched that much of it.” She turns to look at Derek, “You still have access to the money, correct?”

Derek looks up, eyes looking a little less moist, and takes a second before he responds. “Uh, yeah. Yeah, the card should still be good.”

“Good,” she says definitively and then looks down at herself. “The next matter that needs addressing is that I need clothing.”

After a moment of silence, Stiles rolls his eyes and then answers. “I’m not sure if Erica’s clothes will fit you. If they don’t, we can go shopping. Or rather, me and Derek or me and Erica. Whichever you think will chose better clothes for you.”

She smiles again, a glint in her eye that says she knows something Stiles don’t. She looks over to Erica and scrunches her nose, “I’ll have you and Derek go once we check into that place you were telling us about. My brother will know what style I like, I’ll write the sizes down once we get settled.”

She looks down at Derek and gives a sad smile, then grabs one of his arms and yanks him up. “Up you go, little bro. I’m assuming since the red head left that we only have Stiles’ jeep?” A small nod from Boyd. “Hmm? Can we all fit?” She asks as she looks at Stiles.

He thinks for a minute. “I think so, the back will be a squeeze, but if, like, Erica sits on Boyd’s lap, it shouldn’t be too bad.”

"Can Erica and Boyd get away with the seating if they’re in the passenger seat?”

Stiles shrugs, “Don’t see why not.”

Laura claps. “Fantastic. In that case Isaac can drive and me, Derek, and you can sit in the back.”

With that, she walks with the grace and confidence of an alpha out the door and gets into the jeep. After a moment, everyone follows after her. Everyone silently files into the car and Stiles ends up squished in between Derek and Laura, and the weird thing is that he feels safe. He feels safe for the first time since before the whole supernatural aspect of his life came into existence.

Stiles gives directions every once in a while, but for the most part everyone is silent. Laura seems content, as does Stiles, though he’s itching to ask a million questions. The beta’s seem a little tense, eyeing the strange woman, their new alpha, suspiciously. Stiles wonders if she even smells related to Derek with all the dirt covering her. He has sweat pants in the back that she can borrow, and it’s late enough that hopefully sneaking her in won’t be too difficult.

They finally pull up to Green Thumb Bed & Breakfast (a play on the owners last name and the fact that they have a really nice garden). They, or rather Stiles, with the approval of Laura, decide that Stiles and Derek will go in, get the room and then the beta’s will smuggle Laura in while the other two go shopping for clothes with Laura’s hastily scrawled list.

When Stiles and Derek walk in, Stiles is relieved to find that Caitlin is working the front desk. The mothers in Beacon Hills gossip like nobody’s business and it would take no time at all before the story of the sheriff’s son coming into a local B&B with an older guy, not to mention Derek Hale, reaches the sheriff’s station. That would land him into some boiling water that he is not prepared for.

They pass the beta’s and Laura going in, Laura throwing a smile at them, so different than her broody younger brother, while the beta’s looked confused and torn. Stiles probably would be too if he found out that his alpha is not his alpha anymore and a woman who they thought dead and know nothing about is their alpha now.

After Derek offers to drive, they sit quietly for as long as Stiles can handle it.

“So… Laura’s back from the dead. That gotta be nice, right?”

Derek grunts, then after a moment gives him a real reply. “Yeah… She’s my sister and my alpha. It’s been a while since I’ve had family, had a real pack.”

Stiles nods and licks his lips nervously, this is really the deepest he’s gotten with Derek. “Well, that looks like it’s gonna change now. She looks set on a pack, maybe even reestablishing the Hale pack here.”

Derek nods. “I hope so,” he almost whispers. “Though, Scott “True Alpha” McCall won’t like it at all.”

Stiles snorts. “Well, Scott hates being a werewolf except when it is convenient for him, i.e. lacrosse. And he’d have to get his ass out of Psycho Argent’s ass to notice.”

Derek sneaks a glance at Stiles, hesitating. “Yeah, I noticed that you were hurt, I’m assuming the Argent’s?”

Stiles swallows roughly and nods, “Yeah, Grandpa and Little Miss Argent played some games with me, Erica, and Boyd. Ones that included quite a bit of pain.”

Derek nods. “I didn’t realize that Erica and Boyd were even gone, the last I knew, I sent them to check out the woods for some weird scents.”

“I’m assuming they were hunters. Allison and Chris had some with them when they captured the other two, though apparently Allison was closer to killing them.”

Derek was quite for a moment and then he let out a breath. “I’m sorry, you shouldn’t be involved in this. This is all my fault.” He reaches out and lays his hand over Stiles’, draining some of his pain.

Stiles feels some of the pain and the soreness seeps out of him and he lets out a relieved breath, head a little wonky because of the pain drain. “Not your fault, Peter’s fault, Kate’s fault. But not yours. And just because Kate tricked you doesn’t mean what she did was your fault. She was psychotic, she would have found a way. And god, that feels really nice.”

Derek’s eyebrows scrunch up, “How did you-”

Stiles waves his other hand at him, “I have access to all the files at the station, plus Peter said some things, and finally, I’m a kick-ass detective/researcher.”

“I don’t think Peter was ever a reliable source.”

“Peter definitely was not a reliable resource, but I know that he preferred to manipulate the truth instead of outright lie, makes people easier to manipulate. Probably also helps with werewolves being lie detectors.”

Derek nods and the finally pull in to the Walmart, the parking lot pretty empty. They get out of the car and head straight towards the women’s clothes section after grabbing a cart.

“What kind of stuff does she wear?” Stiles asks. He might as well try to help.

Derek gives him a look, going back to scanning the clothes as he answers, “Kind of Bohemian, more natural colours. She likes the kind of dresses that kind of look like long shirts, she likes long flowy skirts, and she also likes long dresses, more form fitting though.”

Stiles gapes at him. “Damn, that’s specific.” With that, Stiles hands Derek the sizes list, he already memorized it, and went in search for a couple things that Laura might like. After about ten minutes he finds Derek again and asks him if the things he picked out are something Laura will like. He grabbed a short white dress with longer sleeves, another one in a similar style in light turquoise, a long light blue and brown dress that is really pretty, and two long skirts, one crème coloured with a brown belt detail, and the other is a white and green tie dye looking skirt, with details at the bottom that look like a forest. Derek looks through each one carefully, nods and sends Stiles a shy smile that makes his heart stutter.

“Do we have everything?”

“The only other things I need to get are undergarments and socks.”

Stiles follows behind Derek in the women’s underwear aisle uncomfortably. After grabbing some colourful bikini style panties, then some plain sports bras and a couple regular bras, he grabs some colourful patterned ankle socks, and they finally check out. Derek had grabbed some regular tshirts, a few other flowy dresses in slightly varying styles and in browns, greens, or blues with the occasional white or pink, and a few flowy shirts, and a couple long and medium length skirts, all in similar colours. He also grabbed a couple fluffy pajama bottoms and long, colourful night shirts.

They certainly spend a pretty penny, but it’s Derek’s only remaining family. The Hales were well off before the fire had happened, so the insurance money would have left Laura and Derek with far more than enough to get by.

The ride back is quite, both just wanting to get back. Derek so that he can be near his alpha/sister and Stiles so that he can get answers from Laura.

When they pull back up to the B&B, Isaac is waiting out front to help with the bags. Isaac trades a shy, uncomfortable smile with Stiles and then they haul the bags up to their room. The room is a really good size, with two decent sized beds and a loveseat. Laura’s sitting near the headboard of one bed, smiling and chatting amicably with Erica and Boyd, who looks much more comfortable now and are sitting in the middle of the other bed. Everyone looks up and smiles when Derek come in with Stiles and Isaac trailing behind him.

Laura takes the bag with a “Thanks, guys!” and starts to go through them. There are definitely some that she really likes, Stiles is pleased that the long blue dress and the white skirt he chose are one of the one’s she favors. While she deems the clothes worthy, Isaac sits at the bottom of Laura’s bed and Derek and Stiles sit in the loveseat.

After getting dressed in pajamas, she folds the rest and puts them back in the bags and into the closet. “Okay, now I know you have some questions so why don’t I get started.” Stiles leaned forward a little bit.

“So, when Peter attacked Lydia, his bite transferred some information that allowed her to resurrect him. Because of this, Lydia has been hallucinating Peter for a little while. Thankfully I was able to influence this reality enough so that she ended up resurrecting me instead, with a spell that used the blood of a relative and an alpha and the light of the full moon.”

Stiles scrunched his brow. “This reality? So that means that you were in a different reality? Like limbo or heaven or something? And how did you influence this reality?”

Laura just smiles kindly at him and answers as best as she can. “Yes, from my understanding, it was a type of limbo. I was able to, let’s say, tune in, every once in a while. Look over my little bro,” she sent Derek a sad but warm look, “as well as see the damage that Peter was doing. The only reason I was able to interfere here, I think, is because of my will and the power that I hold since I was born to be an alpha.”

“Damn,” Stiles whispers. Since the whole supernatural world was exposed to him, his mind has definitely been open but he’s never really thought about the afterlife. It makes him think about his mom, if she’s looking down on him like Laura had for Derek, maybe she’d even influenced his life for the better, she was always the strongest person that he knew.

Stiles thoughts were interrupted by Derek talking. “So, you know what’s been going on?”

Laura nods, “Pretty much everything. Though I wouldn’t mind getting your guys’”

That certainly was a very long story. After the initial hesitation, Stiles nudges Derek to start with what happened after Laura left New York and the others adding their version of events along the way. They talked about Derek coming here and finding Laura dead, the unknown alpha that turned Scott and ended up being their uncle Peter. The return and death of Kate. The Argents, Allison and Scott, and Victoria’s death. Derek becoming the alpha and creating his betas. Gerard coming back for revenge and everything else fucked up that happened in their little town.

Laura stays quiet throughout the whole thing, shaking her head every once in a while. After she processes the whole story she claps her hands, “Well, that was sufficiently depressing. The only thing we need to deal with though is the Argents and this other ‘pack.’ Scott is definitely going to be an issue, especially with Deaton whispering in his ear. The man rubs me the wrong way, plus he cut all ties to the Hale pack after almost all of us were killed. Jackson might be trouble as well, if he’s as much of a…” she looks at Stiles with a smirk “douchebag as you say he is. But werewolves need an alpha otherwise they go crazy and are put down, so if they want, we can give them a probationary pack period until they prove that they fit well and are useful to the pack. Those here don’t have to worry about that,” Stiles lets out a small, relieved breath at this. “But it’s late and I’m tired so why don’t we go to sleep? You guys can crash here since it’s so late.”

Stiles looked nervously at the two beds and was about to say that he was fine going home this late before Laura interrupted. “We have two beds. Erica, Boyd, and Isaac can share one and myself, Stiles, and Derek can share the other. As long as everyone is okay with that.”

Everyone was quick to say that it was okay except for Stiles, who hesitated before he saw Derek looking at him and caved. In the end, Stiles somehow ended up in boxers and his undershirt on the right side of the bed with Derek curved slightly around him. By morning, he had no doubt that their limbs would be tangled together and he got a warm feeling just thinking about it and tried to scoot closer to Derek as discreetly as possible. That, apparently, was not that discreet since Derek huffed, blowing air near the back of his head and send a shiver down his spine, and pulled Stiles flush against him, leaving one arm under his head and the other wrapped around Stiles’s waist.

Yeah, Stiles definitely had a good feeling about this pack, his pack. The rest he could worry about tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Stiles woke up warm and comfy, wrapped Derek. That wasn’t the strangest thing that he noticed when he woke up. In his head, he felt this… warmth. Several warmths. He sat up, lightly touching the back of his head.

“It’s the pack bond,” Derek said, still lying down. “That’s what a real pack feels like, even to the humans.”

“Huh.” Stiles closed his eyes and ‘looked’ at the bonds. There was persian blue coloured one. In his mind, it felt like loss and grief, hope, the want to help, and sarcasm. “Derek,” he breathed. Derek chuckled lowly, “yeah.” The next one was bright blonde. It felt like fiery passion, newly discovered strength and sexuality, vulnerability and the need for family, and cunning. “Erica.” The next was a deep brown. It felt grounded and like silent strength, need for family, and protectiveness. “Boyd.” The next was baby blue. It felt like fear and vulnerability from the past, newfound strength (both physical and mental), sass, and compassion. “Isaac.” The last one was a vibrant red. It felt headstrong and like Alpha, fun and laughing, responsibility and protectiveness. He opened his eyes and looked towards Laura who was awake. “Alpha.”

She smiled kindly at him. “This is what a real pack feels like. Derek felt it with Isaac, Erica, and Boyd. Even without an alpha, Scott and his… ‘pack’ should have these bonds. Though I’m assuming that’s not the case by how you’re reacting. The bonds are incredibly useful, especially in dangerous situations. You’ll be able to feel through the bond if any of us are experiencing strong emotions or are in danger.”

Stiles shook his head. “Yeah, we definitely didn’t have that.” He touched the back of his head again, “It’s amazing. You can feel who someone is through their pack bond.” Stiles shifted more towards Laura, his alpha. “What do I feel like?”

Laura closed her eyes and thought for a moment. “You’re red, not like alpha red but like… red riding hood. You feel like curiosity and intelligence, anxiety and ADHD, strength of mind and will, and loyalty.”

“Huh.” Stiles was definitely not blushing. It was nice to be appreciated though. That was the nicest things anybody had said about him. Even Scott just saw him as weak and a liability.

After everyone showered and got scent marked at the hotel, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac piled into Stiles jeep. They stopped by each of their homes so that everyone could quickly change before they went to school. Stiles was nervous, he knew that deciding to join Laura Hale’s pack wasn’t a betrayal towards Scott, but he also knew that Scott would think of it that way. Especially since Deaton told Scott that he was meant to become a ‘True Alpha,’ Scott felt that he had a claim to the people around them as Alpha even though he wasn’t one. Everything he did, he justified through his sense of right and wrong and being meant to be an alpha. Stiles wasn’t looking forward to whatever run in he had with Scott today, smelling like the Hale pack and like an alpha unknown to him. He was especially nervous about interactions with Allison. Scott may be enamored with her, but she was just as bad as Gerard, and the part that she had in the torture in the Argent basement is not something that he could forget.

A hand was placed on his shoulder and he jumped. “You okay?” Erica asked from the backseat.

“Yeah, I just… I don’t want to deal with Scott at school today and I don’t know what I’m gonna do when I see Allison.

Erica and Boyd nodded in silent agreement. “We’ll make sure to stick together. We’re pack now.”

Stiles smiled warmly back at her. He could definitely get used to this. Though showing up at school was strange. It was weird arriving with people that he knew would have his back, with pack. He’d never had that. Not even when Scott was still his best friend, which he hadn’t been since he was bitten. Maybe even before.

He saw Scott at his locker but all he got was a weird look and then he just scurried off after Allison.

“Always the obedient little puppy,” came Erica’s snider remark.

Stiles nods. “We all know the Argent women are manipulative. Scott just made it super easy.”

“He’s gonna get himself killed,” Isaac added. “Allison may be fine with him now, but she didn’t seem to have a problem with you until she kidnapped you guys and tortured all of you. She’s a hunter by blood and no way is she not eventually gonna realize that her family hunts werewolves, not date them.”

Stiles had way more classes with his new pack then he was originally aware of. At least one of the three betas were in each of his classes and they all had lunch together (though, the school only has two lunch periods so that wasn’t surprising). At lunch, Stiles took one look at the table with Scott, Allison, Lydia, Jackson, and Danny. After receiving a glare from Allison, Stiles huffed and chose a free table in the corner farthest from the others and Erica, Boyd, and Isaac followed.

Erica is the first to speak. “I can’t believe that Scott is with Allison right now, who is glaring at us by the way, after everything she’s done. Even if he doesn’t specifically know what happened, he should have realized that you were hurt.”

Stiles scoffed. “We all know that the only thing that exists in Scott McCall’s World is himself, his hate for Derek and being a werewolf, his love for the perks of being a werewolf, and Allison.”

“Hey,” Isaac interrupts, “why the fuck are Lydia and Jackson glaring at Stiles?”

Stiles turns around, and sure enough, both Lydia and Jackson are looking at him. “Oh, for the love of fuck,” Stiles mumbles. “Who knows. Jackson has always hated me, and Lydia is really set on this Regina George, Queen Bee persona she has going on. Plus, we all know that Allison is close with Lydia, who knows what she told them.”

All the wolves head slightly tilted, listening to something and Stiles totally did not want to make a dog joke. When Stiles looked over, Jackson was talking, and everyone was watching their table except for Scott who had his head down but didn’t do anything else. Whatever was said made the three betas angry and anxious because he could feel it through the pack bonds.

They all looked hesitant to repeat whatever was just said. “Guys. I wanna know whatever he just said.”

After a moment of hesitation and looking at each other, Boyd was the one to finally speak up. “Jackson just said that they all just realized that you’re a useless ‘wolf slut,’ defecting over to the Hales as soon as Laura, an alpha with power and experience, was resurrected, and helping them even though they killed Allison’s mother and grandfather, and it was the Hales fault that people are dead, Scott was turned, and Lydia was in the hospital.”

Stiles looked over at the table with the people who he used to think of as his friends, as his pack of some kind. Allison was just sneering at him, looking all too pleased with herself. Lydia and Jackson looked at him like he was nothing but dog shit and Scott had finally looked up. Stiles flinched at the site of the hatred in his eyes. This replaced the wave of hurt with a stronger wave of anger.

He looked over at the table, making eye contact with Allison. “Maybe all that shit is the Argent’s fault. Kate was the one that killed a house full of people, human and werewolf, old and young. She was the one that put Peter in the hospital, in a coma because his injuries were so bad, and ended up going crazy. And Allison’s mother is dead because she killed herself, not Derek or the Hales. And even though Allison’s evil grandfather convinced her mom that she needed to kill herself so as not to ‘dishonour’ the family, he plotted to get Derek to turn him and then murder him so that he was an alpha. He was also the one that used the kanima to hurt people and then manipulated Matt and Scott with the promise that he would let them have Allison. To me, that sounds an awful lot like it’s the psychotic and evil Argent’s faults.”

When Jackson turned full towards Allison, presumably to tell her the rest of what Stiles said, Stiles looked over at his pack mates. They all looked and felt viciously proud and Stiles couldn’t help the flutter in his stomach that that created.

Stiles looked down at his trey to find that it was almost all gone, and the others were completely gone. “I’m pretty sure we’re done here,” he threw a look over his shoulder to look pointedly at Scott and his entourage who all looked piss (Except for Danny who was looking between them and looking very confused). “I think I’ll hang out in the library for the rest of the period, maybe we can get some work done.” He stood up and grabbed his trey. “You guys coming?”

They all quickly agreed and got up to leave. They put their trey away and were headed towards the exit when Erica, who was behind him and Isaac with Boyd, urged them to go faster. “Lydia is following us, no one else is with her though.”

They were almost to the library when Lydia finally intercepted them in the hallway. Boyd shifted a little in front of Isaac while Erica did the same to Stiles.

“What?” Erica said, looking incredibly bored despite her defensive stance.

Lydia looked Stiles directly in the eye. “I know that your obsession with powerful women has shifted from me to Laura Hale, and I’m not surprised that all it took was seeing a woman naked who didn’t absolutely abhor you as a person. She’s probably giving you attention and we all know you’re desperate for someone to acknowledge and be kind to you in all your loserdom. But I just want you to know that eventually, the Hales will turn on you and you’ll get hurt. And when you come crawling back, begging Scott for forgiveness and a place with him again, begging us to let you come back, the answer will absolutely be a hell to the no. You’ve made your choice, now you gotta live with it. Good luck. You’re gonna need it.” She flipped her hair over her shoulder in the most obnoxious way and then stomped away in her heels.

“What a bitch,” Erica spat. Stiles was still too stunned by the display to really process what she said. Did his friends really think him so pathetic, so easily manipulated, so desperate for attention? His eyes started to sting and his breath started to come quick. He realized that the others were crowded around him and that they were speaking but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. Someone starts to pet his hair and then a hand grips his chin and gently guided it up. He made eye contact with warm brown eyes.

“…-ey, hey. You’re okay. Just breath. In… Out… In… Out…” She made the breathing n and out movements for Stiles to follow along and focus on. “Okay. Just keep breathing. Let’s play a game while you focus on your breathing, okay? Okay. Now why don’t you tell me five things that you see, they can be as big or small as you want. Now, one thing.”

Stiles took another deep breath in, closing his eyes and then opened them. “One. You.”

Erica smiled at him softly. “Good. Four to go.”

Stiles looked over Erica’s shoulder. “Two. A locker.”

“Good. The colour?”

“Blue.”

“Three to go.”

“Three. Poster for the school paper.”

“Good. Two more.”

“Two.” Stiles looked beside him and saw Boyd. “Boyd. And one. Isaac.”

Erica gently rubbed Stiles shoulder. “Great. Now how about four things you can hear?”

Stiles took a deep breath before he answered. “I can hear people in the classroom behind us. I can hear your breathing. I can hear an electronical buzzing sound from the lights as well as the door that just slammed down the hall. I can also hear that someone just flushed.”

“Two things you can feel?”

“The denim of my pants and…” Stiles reached up and carded his hand through his hair, “my hair is kinda greasy.”

“It’s not too bad,” Erica chuckled, “Now one thing you can smell.”

Stiles sniffed the air, “I’m assuming that it’s your perfume of something that smell like lavender.”

“Good,” Erica carded her hands through his hair, “You better now?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“No problem, batman. I used to have panic attacks as well. That trick helped me out a lot.”

Thankfully, there were no more confrontations the rest of the school day, just nasty looks. Of course, though, as soon as Stiles had to run back in because he forgot his science textbook, Allison cornered him.

“What exactly are you doing with the Hale betas and what exactly does Laura Hale want here?”

Allison had cornered him right as he got to his locker and shoved him against the wall. He was kind of regretting telling the others to stay in the car while he ran back in. But if he was gone too long they would come find him. And really, who knew what the fuck Allison was going to do, the last time he saw her, he was getting tortured. “I don’t really think that that’s any of your business. And I sure as hell don’t owe you an explanation since the last time I saw you, you and your grandfather beat the shit out of me.”

Stiles tried to shoulder past her, but he was shoved back again. “I think it is. There’s a new alpha here that hasn’t gotten permission from Scott or us as the local hunting family. Obviously, she’s a threat, otherwise she would have made her presence known.”

Stiles bared his teeth as he ground out, “First off, Scott isn’t an alpha. Second off, Derek was the local alpha and then Laura was resurrected and he passed the alpha spark back to her. And finally, it’s not been that long since Laura was resurrected. She really hasn’t had time to contact the family who had a member that burned her family alive. Now if you would excuse me,” Stiles shoved Allison hard and she finally stepped back, “I have to get back to my pack. Not that any of you guys really knows what that means.”

Thankfully Allison let him go when he stormed off. He was almost home free when another voice stopped him. Thankfully he was in werewolf-hearing distance of the betas so he felt much safer now.

“I heard that you caught a glimpse of Laura Hale’s everything,” Jackson taunted. “How was your first time seeing a real woman naked?” When Stiles simply ignored him, Jackson continued to follow him. “She must have had some tits for you to betray your best friend. I say good riddance though, now you can perve on someone else, make the Hales weak. I’m sure eventually they’re gonna come to us, begging us to take you off their hands.”

Stiles grit his teeth and clenched his fists. He was contemplating punching Jackson, which probably would have left him more beat up than he already was, when Boyd appeared.

“Let’s go.” Boyd dragged Stiles back to the jeep as fast as Stiles’ clumsiness would allow, ignoring anything else that Jackson was trying to throw at them.

“What the fuck happened to them?” Isaac asked as Boyd herded Stiles into the back, probably a good idea since he was so emotional.

“No idea,” Stiles mumbled before he slumped over, resting his head on Isaac’s shoulder who promptly started to card a hand through his hair.

“Let’s go hang out with Laura and Derek, they are still at the inn.”

Stiles was freaking exhausted when they finally arrived at the inn and he was super thankful that it was Friday and that he didn’t have to have a repeat the following day. The day had really taken an emotion toll on him. His whole life was completely different now. At least he had a pack, a real one, not the sad excuse for a pack that Scott has gathered around him and deemed himself alpha of.

Derek greeted him with a smile when he came in. He then dragged him over to the love seat and started to scent mark him. Laura simply chuckled and slid a hand across Stiles’ back, scent marking him as well.

After Derek was done distracting Stiles, the highschoolers told Derek and Laura what had happened at school today. Derek was especially pissed (Stiles knew he eventually had to talk to Derek about what they were) and Laura was definitely not pleased. Stiles steered the conversation away from his horrible time at school to what they wanted to do. Eventually they all agreed that watching a movie was a good idea. Stiles had his laptop in his backpack so they had plenty of options.

While looking through Netflix to find something everyone might like, Stiles said “We should have a pack movie night every week. And we can, like, rotate who gets to choose each week.”

“That sounds like a fantastic idea, Stiles. Pack bonding is really important and we’re all relatively new at this, at least with each other. How about you choose the movie this week?”

Stiles sent Laura a big grin. “We’re totally watching Doctor Strange then. Sadly it’s one of the only Marvel hero movies on Netflix.” Stiles waved everybody over to one bed, it was a bit of a squeeze but comfortable.

“Sounds perfect,” Derek said, waiting for Stiles to start the movie before placing the laptop on Laura’s lap before manhandling a giggling Stiles into the position of little spoon.

Pretty much everyone, except Laura, was nodding off when there was a banging on the door.

Erica, Boyd, and Derek let own growls at the same time. Stiles made a confused sound, “Who is it?”

“Scott,” Derek said simply before going to open the door. Laura got up and pulled him back before he could, so that she answered instead. Derek begrudgingly let his alpha handle McCall, he went back to the bed and wrapped himself around Stiles, prepared for if things went sideways.

Stiles thought that it was incredibly rude when Scott started to growl as soon as the door opened. “You must be Scott McCall. The local beta who thinks he’s an alpha.”

“I will be,” he spat at her. “Once my pack is stronger. Maybe it was a blessing that Stiles got seduced by your pretty face, now he can be a nuisance for your pack now.”

Stiles took a shaky breath. He knew that he hadn’t been as close with Scott recently and that he didn’t say anything when he was harassed at school today by the others, but hearing it and seeing it for himself was another thing. Derek curled around him even tighter and the three betas each placed a comforting hand on him.

Laura scoffed. “Obviously you have no idea how a pack really works Scott. Just because Stiles is human, that doesn’t mean that he weakens the pack. Quite the opposite really. Human pack member are good for keeping the ‘wolves grounded, reminding them of their humanity. Since you so stupidly treated Stiles like trash and slip through your fingers, you could obviously use a human element in your pack.”

Scott tried to take a step forward but Laura put a hand out to stop him, claws flashing menacingly. “We do have human members, Allison and Lydia. Except they are actually helpful.”

“The Argent girl may be human, but what she lacks is humanity. And Lydia is not human. Can’t you smell it on her?”

Scott growled again, flashing his eyes at Laura. “Just because you had a bad experience with one Argent, that doesn’t mean that the rest of them are bad. Allison is the best there is, Argent or otherwise. We’re lucky to have someone so skilled and useful in our pack. And what do you mean Lydia isn’t human? What did you do to her?”

Laura scoffed. “Relax. Nobody did anything to Lydia. But my pack’s known her family for generations. While the supernatural gene skipped her mother, she definitely has it. And you aught to be careful with the Argent’s. Others have trusted them before and look where that got us. Learn from others mistakes Scott, otherwise you’re not gonna last long in this world.”

Scott flashed his eyes again. “Allison helps us to survive. But this isn’t what I came over here for. While we tolerated Derek, barely, because of his help in the past, you’re an unknown alpha who has invaded my territory”-he punctuated each word with a finger jab-“and that we won’t tolerate. I don’t want you here. I’m giving you all, very generously, a week to vacate the territory.”

Laura flashed her eyes, the first time that Stiles had seen her do it as a display of power and anger. “Listen close, Scott McCall. This is Hale territory, always has been, always will be. And I am willing to tolerate you on my territory as goodwill for what happened to you as a result of my uncle. However, if you continue to act as if you have a claim to this territory and terrorize my pack members, I will be forced to act in reaction to blatant displays of disrespect. As a real alpha, my priority is to my betas, werewolf or human, and while you may not understand that at all, continuing to act this way toward my pack will not end well for you. Now if you will, my pack and I were bonding before you so rudely interrupted.” And with that, Laura slammed the door in his face.

Scott apparently had the good sense not to try anything else after clearly having been dismissed.

Laura crawled back in the bed. “We need to find an actual place soon. This place has served its purpose but I don’t want Scott being able to invade my den. We’ve already looked at a few places, but I want you guys to look at the places as well, I want someplace that everyone likes since we’ll be spending a lot of time there. I’ll show you guys this weekend so hopefully we’ll have a place next week.”

They all beamed at that. Having a place of their own, a place for pack, would be amazing. They would eventually have to deal with Scott and Allison and the others, but for right now, all that mattered was the comfort of pack.

Chapter Text

They spent the weekend looking at apartments and houses. Money wasn’t an issue since the life insurance policies of the fourteen people, seven humans and nine wolves (not including Peter), that had been inside the Hale house during the fire, had went to Laura and Derek. They also had the accumulated the wealth that the pack had earned over the around 200 years that they were settled in Beacon Hills. They were effectively filthy rich and never needed to work a day in their lives anymore.

While Isaac and Boyd didn’t really seem to have an opinion on the places they looked at, Erica and Stiles were much more opinionated. Stiles absolutely needed a large kitchen since he wanted to make pack lunches and dinners a common thing. And Erica deemed herself the ‘only one with taste.’

By Sunday, they got it narrowed down to three places. One was an apartment floor with an open design, eight bedrooms and three bathrooms. Erica deemed it cool enough and Stiles definitely approved of the kitchen but it was nearer to the middle of the city and people lived below and above the apartment, so it wasn’t the best choice of locale for a werewolf den.

The second place that they looked at was a house that was closer to the forest but still in a pretty populated area. It was a six bedroom and two-and-a-half bathroom with two floors and a basement. It had a really nice kitchen and had a nice design but something about the area felt off.
The last place they looked at was a light blue, five bedroom, two bathroom house near the forest with a good sized basement and a little attic, plus a kitchen and dining room that Stiles deemed adequate. All in all, it was a much better fit for their den even though it was smaller.

They decided to go with the last house, the distance to the forest was definitely an important factor for why it was chosen. The realtor was going to put their offer in and was confident that they would be able to start moving in by Tuesday.

The other thing that they dealt with was telling the sheriff about the supernatural. While Stiles was resistant, Laura told him that it was for the best that he knew the danger that was out there in order to not only protect himself but the town better as well.

“Well, damn,” the sheriff said, dragging a hand down his face. “I was really hoping you weren’t involved but you’re so much like your mother.”

Stiles leaned forward. “What do you mean? What about Mom?”

The Sheriff sighed and leaned back. “I don’t know if you two were old enough to remember,” he addressed to Derek and Laura, “but Claudia and your mother, Talia, were pretty close. Claudia actually grew up in a pack as a human born to werewolf parents. She gave up pack life after her parents died but it was always a big part of her. Talia offered a place in the pack for us, but your mom really wanted you to have a normal life. After the. . . fire, I didn’t think I had to worry about you getting involved in the supernatural. Sadly, you get your curiosity and stubbornness from both me and your mom, plus your wolf dna might have made you more predisposed to seek out the supernatural.”

Laura and Derek nodded thoughtfully near him as John got up, going up to his own room and coming back with three thin and well used notebooks as well as a much older looking tome.

“A pack can balance what you are, and Talia offered a place in the pack for us, but exposure to the supernatural and working closely with a pack is one of the ways that her and your power is activated. With a pack it’s much less dangerous, you have the pack to anchor you and you can use your abilities to help your pack. The danger is in suppressing your abilities, it can eventually eat you away from the inside. Losing a pack, even one that you’re not officially bonded to, can also have a similar effect for what you are. Your undeveloped abilities may also have something to do with your ADHD. I had an inkling but I wasn’t sure.”

The sheriff gingerly handed over the four books and Stiles looked down at them reverently. “I never could bring myself to read those, even when she was alive I tried to ignore the supernatural as much as possible. But they should be of good use to you. . . She would have been proud you know. You found a pack, a place you belong. You were her final, her ultimate accomplishment. She used to say that you were the reason that she lived so long. You were the legacy she left behind to make the world a better place.”

Stiles had no idea how it happened, but he ended up crying in his father’s arms. He’d never heard him talk so much about her. She was the love of his life and that grief followed him everywhere, painful to even think about her, much less talk about her.

After several minutes, the father and son finally separated. Stiles promised that he’d cook dinner tonight, the whole pack would probably be there as well. Stiles then ordered Derek to take him to the grocery store, ignoring Laura and Erica cackling over the former-alpha being bossed around by the skinny human (well, not-so-human now, apparently).

Over the weekend, Stiles had noticed that Derek was coming out of his shell more and more. The emotionally-constipated man that was broken by Kate and the fire, was healing under the guidance of his alpha as well as a stable pack. Stiles could still see the self-loathing flit across his face every once in a while, still blaming himself for the fire, and Stiles knew they would have to work on that, but at least it wasn’t almost constant now.

The sheriff was grateful for the meat that he was allowed (“I’ll let you have one steak but only this once!”) and got on fantastically with the pack. Thankfully the sheriff never mentioned Scott, or the lack-thereof, because Stiles honestly wouldn’t have known what to tell him. Having everyone eating and having fun and then moving to the living room to play video games reminded him if the counteless times that he had done that with Scott, but Scott had chosen a side. It was like he had been brainwashed by Allison and Deaton. Two people he very much did not trust and he just knew wouldn’t blink twice at double crossing Scott.

“Hey,” Derek said next to him, bumping shoulders and knees, “you okay?”

Stiles hummed noncommittally. “Just thinking.”

“About?” Derek asked with another bump.

Stiles bit his lip before he decided just to tell the truth. “Scott.” Derek growled low. “He’s letting Deaton and Allison brainwash him. I mean, he was always a follower, but this is extreme.”

Derek wrapped an arm around Stiles’ waist and pulled him in closer. “I know he was you best friend. But he’s made his choice. His chose to give his trust and allegiance away to people who didn’t earn or deserve it. You can’t make his choices for him, even as much as you want to.”

Stiles snuggled closer, resting his head in the crook of Derek’s neck. “I know,” he sighed, “He’s just so fucking blind.”

Derek just pulled Stiles in closer and nuzzled the top of his head, scenting him. Stiles fell asleep with a smile on his face, feeling safe and content in Derek’s arms.

~~~

Stiles spent most of Monday sticking close to his own pack and avoiding Scott and his band of misfits. Thankfully, the only interaction with the other ‘pack’ was glares across the room. Stiles had also brought one of his mother’s notebooks to school with him to read over. They were all addressed to him, written for him, his mother knowing that she most likely wouldn’t be around when he came into his powers.

She had been training to take over as her parent’s pack emissary when her parents died, and she didn’t feel like she could stay. She moved to Beacon Hills to get away from her past, but the pack here was so nice to her that she started to work as their unofficial emissary. In the journal, she expressed her concerns of Deaton, how he didn’t act the way that a real emissary was supposed to; he was part of a new order that believed in maintaining the balance even when it was harmful. There were certain times where Deaton refused to act, and she had a inkling that he may be in contact with a sect of extreme hunters.

That definitely pissed Stiles off. If his mother was correct, then Deaton may have had something to do with Kate Argent and the fire that killed most of the Hale’s, some of them barely children.

Chapter Text

They got through the rest of the day and immediately went back to their temporary pack meeting place. Derek was stunned when Stiles brought up what he found in his mother’s journal. Deaton had been their mother’s emissary, he was supposedly bound to the Hale pack. Laura on the other hand was not surprised. Their mother had also been suspicious of Deaton, all packs knew about the danger of emissary’s who felt that the balance was more important than the vow they made to serve their pack, and there were circumstances where Talia believed that Deaton could have helped but chose not to.

“If this is true,” Laura said, “Deaton may be playing something again. The way he explained True Alpha’s to Scott isn’t correct. Even extremely powerful magic uses won’t know who is supposed to become a True Alpha. He may be playing something with Allison and Scott, working with them or manipulating them somehow. There is simply too much peculiarity surrounding them for something else not to be at play. Whatever it is though, we’ll find out.”

Putting that aside for the moment, the pack piled into one bed and put on The Incredibles, a childhood favorite in the Hale house. They all knew that trouble was eventually going to find them, but for the moment, they were all content simply being near pack.

~~

Allison Argent pulled up to the veterinary clinic right after closing. She got out of the black SUV and went through the back entrance and through the building to one of the back rooms that was supernatural proof.

“Ms. Argent,” Dr. Deaton said as he stepped out from the shadows, “what is it that I can do for you?”

“The wedge between the two packs is solidly in place,” Allison said, her Disney princess façade completely gone. “Soon Scott’s pack will be fueled up enough to actually try to attack the other pack. I just need a little help finding and manipulating the right place so that no supernatural gets out.”

As Allison’s eyes bore into Dr. Deaton’s, the man simply smirked. This was turning out to be much more entertaining than he originally expected. “You certainly are an Argent. I know a place, sturdy and with wards already in place. All you need is to surround the building with mountain ash, which I’m sure your family will have, and then show up late or sneak out during the confrontation to close the circle. Then you can do with them as you please.”

Allison simply nodded, looking pleased. “Text me the address. I’ll tell you when it’s gonna happen just in case,” she said before she turned around and left.

~~

The following days were very quite, much too quiet for Stiles’ liking. He didn’t know what was going on but he didn’t like it.

Stiles mentioned it to Derek on Wednesday while they were sitting next to each other on the couch in the living room of the pack house, Stiles researching random information on his laptop while Derek was reading. Derek said, “Be that as it may, there really isn’t anything you or any of us can do. We’ll keep an ear out for anything funny going on, but for right now let’s just focus on our pack.”

Stiles nodded but was still quite uneasy. “How about,” Derek added after a moment, “a date to take your mind off of it?”

Stiles gulped, “Uuh, and who exactly would be taking me on this date?” He asked, part playful and part dumbfounded. He knew that he and Derek were something, yet still he was caught offguard.

Derek placed his hand on his chin. “Weell,” he said teasingly, “Boyd isn’t an option, and neither is Erica. Maybe Isaac-”

Stiles thwacked him in the stomach while chuckling. “If that’s what’s on offer I might have to decline.”

Derek pretended to think again, “Well, I don’t seem to have any plans for the rest of the day.”

“Okay,” Stiles replied, leaning back and to the side to get a better look at Derek. “What exactly do you have in mind?”

Derek stood up, closed Stiles’ laptop and put it on the coffee table, before holding his hands out for Stiles to grab. “I have someplace I wanna showed you,” he said as he hauled Stiles up, looking him up and down, “there will be a bit if walking involved.”

Derek merely chuckled when Stiles groaned. “It won’t be that bad. It’ll be worth it.”

After fighting over whose car to take, which Derek won (which Stiles let Derek win), and a quick drive deeper into the Preserve, Derek grabbed a bag with some food and started walking.

As Stiles followed behind, grumbling light-heartedly, he did have to admit that the view was beautiful. And a lot different from the reason why they were usually in the woods (usually danger and death).

They walked for like an hour, “Really, Stiles? It was only a twenty-minute walk, stop being such a baby,” before they finally arrived at a small stream.

Derek sat down on a boulder at the edge of the stream. “We used to come here all the times as kids’ Laura, Cora, Eric, and me.” Stiles remembered Derek mentioning Eric briefly, he was their little brother, only six at the time and human. “Cora would sneak out of the house all the time to play by the stream. I can’t remember how many times Mom had either me or Laura go and find her, and every time she was always here.”

Stiles walked as quietly as he could and gingerly sat beside Derek, a hand resting on his shoulder. “That’s really nice,” he said quietly, almost afraid to interrupt the moment.

“Yeah,” Derek said so quietly Stiles almost couldn’t hear it. He then looked up at Stiles, staring into his eyes with a soft expression, “I really wanted to show it to you.”

They both leaned forward slowly, both unsure about the moment, but sure about them. When Derek’s lips touched Stiles his eyed closed and he felt so cared for, not pack but something more.

After lazily making out for a couple minutes, they broke the kiss to simply enjoy the moment, the view, and them. Derek leaned back and Stiles rested his head on Derek’s chest.

“Cora really would have liked you,” Derek said quietly. When Stiles looked up he saw that Derek had a small smile. “She was always a trouble maker, loud and oh-so-talkative,” Derek looked down at him. “A lot like you,” he said with a teasing tone.

Stiles smiled and snuggled closer onto Derek’s chest. “She sounds like she was awesome.”

Stiles could hear the big smile when Derek said, “She certainly thought so.” Derek wrapped his arms tighter around Stiles and a couple minutes later, both were asleep.

~~

The reprieve from drama didn’t last very long though. When Stiles, Erica, Boyd, and Isaac got to school on Friday, Stiles instantly knew that something was wrong. The other pack left them pretty much alone, except for looking at them throughout the day. Stiles almost wanted to say that there was an anticipation in the air and in their gazes. He should have been more cautious when, during last period, Scott approached him.

“Scott,” Stiles said, 100% tired of the shit with the other pack, “I-we really don’t want any trouble.”

“Maybe not you,” Erica muttered behind him.

“I just wanted to talk to you,” Scott said, an emotion on his face that Stiles couldn’t interpret. “Alone,” he said looking back at Erica, Boyd, and Isaac.

Stiles hesitated. After a moment, he decided to talk to Scott, after all he used to be Stiles’ brother, and they’d still be in the hallway of the school. Some students and teachers were still there. “It’s okay,” he said to the others, their faces, especially Erica’s, told him that they didn’t agree. “We’ll still be in the school, other people are still around here. Just wait around the corner for me. I won’t take more than a couple of minutes.”

When they turned the corner, Stiles finally turned back towards Scott. “So what is it Scott?”

“I just wanted to tell you that isn’t super personal,” Scott said as he started to menacingly stalk towards Stiles.

Stiles stumbled backwards, kicking himself for sending the others away. “Wh-”

Before Stiles could finish his sentence, a hand clapped over his mouth and a needle plunged into his neck, plunging him into darkness.

Chapter Text

Deaton had to admit, he was impressed with the Argent girl. The level of manipulation that she had been wielding was on par with Katherine Argent.

Ahh, little Kate, he thought nostalgically. He had done very well with her, not that he had to do all that much. Gerard Argent was already at the tipping point, not yet at the point of purposefully hurting innocent ‘wolves but willing to hurt a ‘wolf with minimal proof. When he had first started to mold little Kate into an ultimate weapon, he knew that Gerard would be soon to follow. Then again, it was his opinion that hunters were always so easy to manipulate. There were those that were hunters because they wanted to help people, others liked it for the honor, and quite a big percentage just had the blood lust, even more dangerous than a werewolf’s.

He still remembers Cologne and Bedburg so fondly. It was the first time he encountered a real hunter. Aythe had been the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. After bedding her, he decided to stick around for a while. He was hearing tales of large wolves in the forest and animals had always interested him. Aythe and her family had hunted it down, and she had let him poke around inside the wolf. What they didn’t know was that it had not been alone. Its blood had come, distraught to find one of its pack dead and cut open on a table. The wolf had howled in grief and then attacked the nearest person, Aythe’s older brother. The wolf had sunk its teeth into the meat of the man’s neck and then it seemed as if the wolf’s fur was receding. After a minute, the transformation was complete and in front of the villagers stood a naked woman, eyes glowing red. She wrapped her hand around the man’s waist, supporting his weight. ‘You have taken one of mine, now I shall take one of yours,’ the woman had said. ‘Unlike you, however, I am no monster. I will not murder your kin, but he will be mine all the same.’ Then she had left, dragging the man behind her, too fast for anyone to catch her.

This was not the first time that the druid had encountered a wolf like her. When he was barely a man, about to be wed, he was horrified when the night before the wedding he had seen his fiancée dragged into the woods by wolf-men. He had truly believed the woman to be the love of his life, his soulmate. He had fell to his knees at the edge of the forest and wept that night, swearing to the gods that he would hunt down not only the beasts that had murdered his love, but the rest of its kind as well.

Aythe was distraught over the loss of her brother, and over the course of a month he taught her what she needed to know, from the bloodlust to stealth to torture. He taught her so well that even when her brother begged her to stop she kept going. Screaming that he was a monster and that she wanted her brother back. He was sobbing and telling her that he was her brother, but she wouldn’t listen. It really was a sight to behold and he had finally found his calling.

Allison reminded him a lot of Aythe as well. He knew the bloodlust that the little Argent was capable of and it was absolutely delightful.

“Everything is almost all in place,” Allison said coolly. “Scott is right on the precipice, one more well-placed lie will make everything irreparable. The others were a lot less work. Lydia is easily convinced when ego stroking, if something will benefit her she’s on board. And Jackson follows wherever she goes.”

Deaton leaned forward. He really was impressed, Mr. McCall and Mr. Stilinski were best friends, a little on the rocks, but certainly not this damaged. “I am curious as to what lies you’ve told Mr. McCall to make him so at odd with Mr. Stilinski.”

Allison smirked. “Many little slips about some-” Allison’s voice changed into one that sounded so innocent and upset- “horrible things that Stiles has been saying. Not just about me but about everyone else in the pack. Talking about how his new pack is so much better than us, that Scott is a terrible alpha, that’s he’s not even an alpha at all. That Lydia is a bitch who uses her looks to make other people do whatever she wants. That Jackson is a bully who will always be a lizard on the inside. And even about me! He told me that I’m just a huntress whore,” Allison sniffled, “and that everything is my families fault that so many people have died-” Allison’s voice changed back into her real indifferent tone- “Coming not only from his girlfriend who would never, ever lie to him,” she sneered, “as well as Lydia and Jackson. Plus a few other things that I’ll keep secret for now. But he’s been so compliant for me, I’m almost tempted to keep him as a pet. He’ll be good for a fuck as well as for torture. But first I have to deal with the other pack,” Allison said irritably. “It seems that the Hale’s just won’t die off. And an Argent never leaves a job unfinished,” she said with a smirk and a hardness in her eyes.

Chapter Text

Stiles slowly came to, groaning when he registered the pounding in his head and the pain in his wrists. When he opened his eyes, he had to first let his eyed adjust to how dark it is before he could see anything. The first thing he really noticed was that he was strung up by his wrists and his feet could barely touch the ground. When he looked around, it looked like he was in an abandoned warehouse of some kind.

Finally, his eyes settle on a figure seated in front of him.

“Well, well. Little red’s finally awake,” Allison Argent drawled and smirked up at him, “I was afraid you weren’t gonna be awake for the big finale.”

Stiles grit his teeth, of course Allison was just like her aunt. “And what exactly will that finale be?”

Stiles cried out when all of a sudden, he felt an electrical shock course through him, lighting his nerves on fire. “Well, we certainly can’t continue to let rabies-ridden dogs run around this town.” Allison replied, raising her voice over his pained panting. “And the Hales are starting to get on my nerves, it’s like they just won’t die off.” Allison is starting to look angry, “There’s always seem to endure, and then Laura Hale gets resurrected and starts building a new pack,” Allison got up and struck him across the face with the back of her hand. “On Argent territory!” Allison then pulled out a dagger and gently dragged it across the same cheek she struck, drawing blood.

Stiles squeezed his eyes shut, straining his neck away as far as he could, waiting for the dagger to be pulled away. “This is *Hale* territory,” Stiles bit out. “They were here long before the Argents moved to town and they actually protected the innocent people that live here, instead of killing people because of what they are.”

That earned him another shock, stronger and longer than the last. When the electricity and the pain stopped, it was immediately replaced with the sharp pain of the dagger being dragged from his shoulder to his elbow, much harder then the cut on his cheek.

“Tsk, tsk, Stiles,” Allison hissed, pressing the tip of the blade under his chin, hard enough to sting but not hard enough to break the skin. “You seem to have forgotten that I am the one with the advantage here. This warehouse is set up to my specifications. Scott and his “pack” of rejects are under my thumb. I have allies more powerful than you tiny brain can comprehend. And you pack,” she spat the last word in his face, “won’t be here until I want them to. First, they have to get word that you were taken, which will have taken a while since I had them knocked out. They will have woken up not that long before you, but then they’ll still be trapped at the high school. They can call Laura and Derek Hale but they’ll need a human in-the-know to break the circle.” Allison was circling him now, dragging the blade around his body, not breaking the skin or piercing his clothes but the threat was implicit. “And I really can’t think of people in-the-know who would be able to handle mountain ash that aren’t in this pack or on my side. Maybe they could call Deaton,” Allison smirked at him, obviously unaware that they knew that Deaton was corrupt or that his father knew about the supernatural, which was a problem in and of itself, but hopefully his father would come prepared. “But Deaton is much more than your pack of animals think that he is.” Allison’s voice then turned light, almost innocent sounding if you didn’t know who she was or what she was talking about. “But don’t worry, once they’re here we’ll fight for a little bit, or rather the animals will fight for a little bit, hopefully kill a few people off, and then, when everything is in place and I’ve seen enough entertainment for one night, I’ll leave, and the rest of you will burn.” The smile Allison sent him was chilling, freezing his thoughts for a moment. “Don’t worry,” she winked at him, “your death will be as painful as possible.”

Before Stiles’ brain recovered enough to respond to what she was saying Scott burst through the door, “Why do I smell blood?” He yelled loudly.

Allison sent Stiles another evil smirk before turning back to Scott, her face changing back into the innocent Disney princess and dimples that the public saw. Before she opened her mouth, her bottom lip started to quiver, “I know that he’s been saying awful things about all of us but even now, he’s still sprouting about how I’m a whore and a murderer and how you’re nothing but a confused beta failwolf.”

Scott’s eyes flashed before he briskly walked towards Allison, wrapping her in a hug before turning back to Stiles.

“I knew that you were a coward, Stilinski,” Scott growled as his claws unsheathed, “But I didn’t know you were a jealous coward who didn’t know his place. I didn’t know that you were a traitor,” the last word he spat in Stiles’ face, uncomfortably close. Stiles eyes widened, and he tried to pull away when Scott placed his clawed hand at Stiles’ stomach. Scott flashed Stiles a cruel smile that Stiles had never seen before and started sinking his claws slowly into Stiles. Stiles realized that this monster wasn’t his brother. Even if he was being controlled to the point where forgiveness was even possible, things would never be the same. After this, Stiles wasn’t even sure that he would ever be able to look Scott in the face ever again. “You are just so jealous that those around you are so much better than you. Smarter,” Scott twisted his claws in Stiles, not enough to do real damage but enough to hurt. “Stronger,” Scott used his other hand to reach up and bend his pinkie back, eliciting a pained shout from Stiles. “Just all around better than you will,” Scott reinforced what he was saying by using his free hand to grab Stiles face, claws digging into his chin.

“Children!” Lydia’s voice interrupted Scott’s rant and show of dominance. “Stop playing with the bait,” she continued as her heel clicked and clacked on the cement floor and her air of superiority and apathy punctured the previous air of anger and violence. “Jackson just texted me, he’ll be here in a couple minutes and the other pack will be here about ten minutes after that.”

Scott just snarled and stalked over and started scenting Allison, who rolled her eyes. Lydia answered with a ‘hmph’ and flipping the hair over her shoulder.

True to Lydia’s word, Jackson arrived only a few minutes later, throwing a disdainful look in Stiles direction, not seeming concerned with the bleeding and whimpering mess that Stiles was, before taking his place behind Lydia. Everyone stood in tense silence until Scott and Jackson tensed, eyes shifting and claws unsheathing.

Allison looked at Scott who nodded and then she looked at Stiles, smirking, “Show time, bitches,” advancing on him and putting a ball gag in his mouth, “Wouldn’t want the resident wolf bitch to interrupt our fun, now would we?” She said sweetly.

Stiles just half-heartedly snarled at her, dizzy from the pain and blood loss.

Stiles felt his body relax slightly when he saw Derek, Laura, Erica, Isaac, Boyd, as well as his father burst through the door. He then tensed when he remembered that Allison had a plan to somehow trap them in the warehouse and then set it on fire.

Stiles tried to make eye contact with Derek, but all the wolves were focused on the other pack now, standing across from them with Stiles hanging to the side in between them. His father on the other hand was looking at him and was looking positively pissed off. He tried to communicate with his eyes that he had something important that he needed to tell them, which must have gotten across, or at least the sheriff wasn’t too keen on leaving Stiles strung up like that and started to discreetly cross over to where Stiles was.

“Uh-uh, Sheriff,” Allison called out, bow aimed at his chest. “I don’t think that would be the smartest move.” Stiles dad simply put his hands up in (temporary) surrender and glared at Allison. When Stiles swept his gaze over the opposing pack (he couldn’t really think of them as former pack or friends anymore) he noticed that the other three seemed hesitant with a weapon pointed at the sheriff. A part of Stiles was pissed that they were okay with him getting hurt, a former friend and pack mate, but his dad they were hesitant about. But then again, Allison probably manipulated all of them so that they turned against him, she didn’t count on the sheriff being supernaturally aware yet since Stiles used to be hesitant in involving his father in dangerous supernatural business. He thought that this may be used to their advantage if they played their cards right.

Stiles tried to catch his dad’s eye again, hoping that he would be able to figure out what he was trying to convey. When their eyes met, Stiles flicked his gaze over to Lydia, then back, then Jackson, then back, then Scott, then back. After a moment of searching the other teens features, realization dawned in the sheriff’s eyes and he nodded at Stiles before stepping forward, no longer allowing Laura and Derek to stand in front of him, though they flanked him when he stepped in front of them, with Erica and Isaac flanking Derek and Boyd flanking Laura.

Instead of directing his words at Allison, the clear leader in the group even though Scott was supposedly the alpha, the sheriff directed his words toward the others, mainly Jackson and Lydia who seemed most on the edge. “Now kids, I know that this supernatural stuff can sometimes get tricky, and I was okay looking the other way on the ‘animal’ attacks for others to handle, but I really don’t think hurting the sheriff will be something that I can just ignore.” H looked at Jackson, “Now your dad’s is a lawyer, kiddo,” Stiles noted that the sheriff strategically used the word on Jackson, who was probably the most susceptible to it because of his parent issues, “and I think that you’d know that word getting around that you were involved with something that hurt or killed the sheriff won’t look good, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to stop those rumors from flying.” When he saw the torn look on Jackson’s face he pushed on. “Now I know you’re a good kid. You get decent grades, you’re a star athlete and the co-captain of the lacrosse team and I know how badly you must want to leave Beacon Hills after all the shit that it’s dropped on you. I know you probably wanna start fresh somewhere, maybe even somewhere outside of the country,” that was good thinking since Stiles had mentioned that Jackson was looking at schools in London, “but keeping your nose clean is important kid, especially when scouts have already started to come looking. You can’t really have a good future when you’ve got some horrible shit hanging over your head.” When the sheriff noticed that he was looking nervous and incredibly unsure, looking from Allison and back to the sheriff he moved on to Lydia, who already looked slightly unsure.

“And you Lydia, I’m sure you want to leave Beacon Hills just as badly. I know your smart, even if you try to hide behind the queen bee façade in high school. But college will be different for you. You won’t be judged ’cause you’re pretty and into mathematics of physics. You can pursues whatever the highest degree is or whatever the largest award is in the field that most interests you. I bet that you could have an incredible life, not only making your mark on history with your intelligence and what comes out of it, but I know that you won’t have trouble finding someone to spend the rest of your life with, and you won’t have to struggle because smarts get paid well when someone is as smart as you. I need you to think about what you are doing because soon, you are going to cross a line that you cannot uncross and that will change your life forever.”

After deeming that Lydia was dealt with enough, he moved on to Scott who he knew would be one of the most difficult to get through to. If he could be turned against his own friend, his brother, what hope did the sheriff have? “And Scott. Kiddo,” the sheriff said, voice felt with heartfelt emotions, “you were like a second son to me, a brother for Stiles. Me and Mellissa practically raised you two together. I know that turning must have been really traumatic for you, you should never have been forced into a life that you didn’t want and knew nothing about, but you gotta think about you mom, kid. She wouldn’t be able to recognize you if she saw you now. She raised you by herself after kicking out your abusive and alcoholic sperm donor. She wanted your life to be so much better than hers. She wanted you to find someone to love you forever and rais a child together, without having to struggle to give your child everything they need and want like your mother did. Kiddo,” the sheriff sighed, pulling out the big guns, “she wouldn’t want you to turn into Raphael. She wanted you to be so much better a man than he ever was.”

That seemed to break through to Scott, who looked physically ill. Both Stiles and the sheriff knew that Scott had a mile-long soft spot for his single-mother.

When all three were looking at Allison uncertainly, Allison screeched and stomped her foot. “No!” She pointed her bow right back at the sheriff, causing Stiles to growl and struggle in his chains. Thankfully though, the other pack seemed to be moved by the sheriff’s words and Scott grabbed a hold of the bow, pushing it down to make sure that if it accidentally released it wouldn’t hurt anyone.

Scott directed his puppy dog eyes at Allison. “Ally,” he said in a conflicted voice, “This doesn’t have to be the answer. There has to be some way that we can resolve this. Maybe it won’t be so bad, two alphas sharing a territory.”

Allison screeched again. “Ugh! Don’t you get it!? That’s not what this is really about! GOD! Can none of you do ANYTHING right!?” With that, Allison reached into her pocket and pulled out a yellow dust, blowing it into Scott’s face first and then in Lydia and Jackson’s. “You are here to do MY bidding,” she said firmly as the other pack’s eyes started to glaze over. “You don’t NEED a reason. All you need to know is that THEY,” Allison pointed a finger at the Hale pack, “are the enemies and we CANNOT allow them in our territory!” Allison’s voice and face morphed back into her sweet Disney facade when she looked back at Scott, “I love you, Scott,” she placed her hand at the back of her neck, much like an alpha with her beta, “And you love me even before all this supernatural stuff came up. You have to trust me.” Her grip then tightened on his neck, fingernails drawing blood as he whimpered, staring wide-eyed and blankly at Allison, “Now, all of you are going to attack.”

With that she let go of Scott and readjusted her grip on her bow, taking aim at the sheriff. The arrow was grabbed out of the air by Laura, eyes flashing alpha red as she snarled and then charged toward Allison, who simply laughed as Scott intercepted. On the other side of the room, Jackson charged Isaac, claws swiping Isaac stomach, slicing through his shirt. Isaac growled and then charged at Jackson, dropping at the last minute and swiping Jackson’s legs out from under him. Lydia and Erica were facing off not that far from them, Lydia wielding a wolfsbane coated knife. Thankfully, Laura and Derek had been making the betas practice their fighting technique, so none of the lands had hit so far. As Lydia stood her ground, simply slashing the blade around wildly, Erica went in for an attack, trying to get Lydia to drop the knife, before withdrawing and then waiting for another opening. It didn’t take long for Erica to finally disarm Lydia, grabbing the wrist with the knife and twisting it behind her back before tightening her grip and twisting at the wrist to make her drop the knife, Erica kicking it away almost immediately.

Laura and Scott slammed into each other full force, Laura’s alpha strength working in her favor when she barreled him into a wall, the concrete shattering where it met Scott’s back. Scott growled and tried to slash at Laura, who dodged and then quickly rolled behind Scott, swiping her claws across his back and then slamming his head against the floor again. When she was satisfied that he was gonna be out for a while, she turned her attention back to Allison, who was fighting hand-to-hand with Boyd, who was keeping his own even though one of Allison’s wolfsbane coated arrows had clipped him.

Thankfully he was providing enough distraction for Derek and the sheriff to go help Stiles, though Allison’s gaze snapped over to the two humans whenever she could. They unwrapped his hands from the rope that draped over a hook on the ceiling. Stiles didn’t feel so good when they got him down, the movement made him even more dizzy and the blood flowing back into his hand all of a sudden was painful. He only lost himself in the ache for a moment before he realized what he needed to tell them.

“Allison,” Stiles said, mouth and throat dry and scratchy, “she was talking earlier about how Deaton was helping her, but also that she was gonna get her entertainment, hopefully kill a few people, and then burn everyone alive.” Stiles gripped Derek’s hand tighter and then looked at his dad. “That’s probably why she was so focused on you. Other than me, who is a little incapacitated, you’re the only other human here. She probably lined the place with mountain ash, but since she was here before the supernaturals, she probably left a space that she could quickly fill and trap everyone in here.”

Derek growled at that and the sheriff looked like he just about wanted to. The sheriff scanned the room and then looked to Derek. “Help me get him over to the corner farthest from the fighting. I’ve got my gun and some wolfsbane bullets,” both Stiles and Derek gave the sheriff almost identical confused looks. “Hey, I still have some sources in the supernatural community. Anyways, I’ll stay with Stiles over their while you help the others to subdue Allison’s minions and inform Laura is she wasn’t already listening in.” While Derek and the sheriff started to lift and basically drag Stiles to the other side of the warehouse, they heard Laura call out, ‘I heard it, my most loyal subjects,’ to which all three of them chuckled. Derek had always noticed that Laura was good with lightning up dark situations.

While helping Stiles, Laura had come up behind Allison while Boyd distracted her. As Boyd dodged another swipe from Allison’s blade, thankful that he had been able to get the bow out of her hands, Laura grabbed Allison by the base of her hair and swung her on the opposite side of the room from Stiles and the sheriff. Allison grabbed over Laura’s hand and twisted in the air so that she spun a couple of times while horizontal, quickly recovering into a crouch when she landed.

Across from them, Erica had Lydia bound with the same ropes that Stiles had been tied up with, using the ball gag as well since Erica didn’t want to chance leaving a banshee ungagged. She then went over to help Isaac, who had been more than holding his own to Jackson. Isaac had Jackson on his stomach on the ground with his hands bent almost to the snapping point on his back. Erica came over after cutting part of the rope with her claws to tie up Jackson as well. Erica wasn’t as squeamish as Isaac was, so she slammed Jackson’s head on the concrete ground three times, satisfied that he wouldn’t be able to cause trouble for a while now before Isaac tied his hands in the rope.

Laura dodged when Allison charged at her, poisoned blade held firmly in her hand. Boyd had shifted around so that when Laura had dodged, he was able to surprise Allison, grabbing her left arm and twisting it behind her back before reaching around and placing his other hand around her own with the dagger and squeezed tight enough that she cried out. When Boyd released his grip, Laura was able to pry the dagger away because Allison wasn’t expecting that. Finally, with everyone disarmed, Laura nodded at Derek, who wasn’t needed over with them after the quick fight, letting him go back to Stiles. Laura and Boyd manhandled Allison over to where Lydia and Jackson were, using some of the leftover rope to tie her up but making sure that one of the werewolves was with her, not trusting that the huntress would stay tied up.

While Laura went to check the perimeter, not sure how involved Deaton had been in the plan, Erica and Isaac had moved the unconscious McCall over to the others as well. They then went over to check on Stiles.

The sheriff was holding up Stiles, examining his wounds while Derek took his pain away, making Stiles flash him a grateful smile and starting to rub his thumb over the skin of Derek’s joined hand that he could reach.

“Yeah, some of these look like they need stitches,” the sheriff was saying as Erica and Isaac jogged over. “And it looks like some of these might scar.”

Both Isaac and Erica whined as they heard that, pained that one of their own had been hurt. Thankfully they could tell that he was riding the pain-drain train because of Derek over the pack bonds. As well as the dopey look on his face. The betas crouched down so that they could have some physical contact with their injured pack mate as well as scenting him, making sure that he smelled like their pack through and through instead of having the other scents on him.

Derek looked over to Isaac. “Can you pull the car up closer to the front door? We need to get him to the hospital.”

Isaac nodded earnestly and jumped up, running out to get the car. Erica caressed Stiles cheek before looking back over to Laura, who had just gotten back from her perimeter run, Boyd and the McCall pack. She looked towards her alpha when she asked, “What are we gonna do with them?”

Laura inhaled and sighed. “I have an idea but no one’s gonna like it, not even me.” Laura grimaced and then added, “We also have to figure out what we’re gonna do with Deaton. I can already feel a headache coming on,” Laura said, rubbing her brow. “But our first priority is Stiles. The sheriff and Derek are obviously gonna go with Stiles to the hospital. I’m gonna have everyone else stay here with me to make sure that the McCall pack is under control and that this idea of mine doesn’t royally fuck us over.” At the end she added quietly, “Not that we really have much of a choice with options.”

As the sheriff and Derek gingerly led Stiles to the car, Laura pulled out her phone and dialed a number that she hadn’t had to use in a very long time, praying that she was making the right call.

Chapter Text

Stiles slowly woke up to hushed murmurings and a steady beeping sound. He groaned and tried to roll over only to feel a painful sting in his arm. Stiles made a confused sound before he felt someone stop him from messing with his other arm, interlocking their fingers with his.

Stiles slowly opened his eyes to see Derek’s worried face. “Derek?”

Stiles looked to the other side of the bed where his dad pressed his hand to the top of Stiles’ head. The sheriff smiled down at him, looking both relieved and exhausted. “Hey, kiddo. You gave us a bit of a scare.”

He grimaced when he remembered what had transpired yesterday and then looked down to take stock of his injuries. He could feel that his left arm, from shoulder to elbow was bandaged, as well and his wrists, and his… neck? He reached up and- yep, that was a bandage. He looked up at his dad and Derek, confused. The sheriff was the first one to answer, “The shock collar. It did a bit of damage.”

That made Stiles grimace again, the shock collar had definitely been unpleasant. Derek squeezed his hand tighter.

“I’m assuming everyone is okay?” He asked Derek, looking him over until he was content and then doing the same to his dad. The sheriff simply chuckled.

“Yeah,” Derek answered. “The training sessions have really helped the betas-” Derek ignored Stiles murmur of ‘puppies,’ shaking his head and rolling his eyes as he tried not to smile- “And it certainly helped that the others weren’t that experienced.”

“What are we gonna do about them?” Stiles asked. “What *can* we do about them?”

It was Derek’s turn to grimace at this. “We haven’t decided long term what to do about Lydia, Jackson, and… Scott,” Derek seemed hesitant to say the name, rightfully so if Stiles’ flinch was anything to go by. “We know that the yellow wolfsbane made them suggestable and aggressive, but… she’s been saying that she barely used the powder. She’s saying that all she had to do to turn them against you was words and well placed lied.” Stiles closed his eyes and breathed in deeply at that. He knew that Scott was too trusting and gullible, and positively obsessed with Allison, but he had never thought that it could ever come to this. He didn’t want to believe Allison- but a part of him was convinced that it had really been that easy.

When Stiles looked back up, Derek continued. “For now, they’re being kept at Eichen House.” When Stiles tried to interrupt Derek gave him a look before continuing to talk. “Eichen House was a place where my mom used to hand over the care of dangerous opponents that we had, the ones that she wasn’t willing to kill but also wasn’t willing to let go free. I’ve gone there a few times and it seems like…” Derek struggled to find the right words, “Not nice, but the best they could do. Sometimes they can actually rehabilitate the tamer cases.”

Stiles nodded, head swimming. That was… good. Hopefully there they could figure out if Allison was telling the truth. “What about Allison?” Stiles asked, looking at Derek.

Derek shrugged. “She said that she had an idea of what to do with her but that we probably wouldn’t like it. She took care of the supernatural ones first with the betas while me and your dad got you to the hospital.”

“How long have I been out?”

This time his father answered. “Only a couple of hours. It is…” the sheriff stretched the words out as he looked down at his phone, “9:21pm now.”

“You and the betas were out for several hours before they came to. Allison and Lydia surrounded them in mountain mash, knocked them out with some type of wolfsbane, and then dragged them into the janitor’s closet and surrounded them with mountain ash again so that no one found them for a while,” Derek said, answering Stiles confused look.

Stiles nodded and them looked back down to take a stock of the rest of his injuries. He could feel a bandage on his stomach as well as his pinkie being wrapped up. “What’s the damage?” Stiles asked, knowing that it probably wasn’t serious.

“You’ll probably be able to leave in a day or so and there shouldn’t be any permanent damage. I’m sure you’ve noticed you broken pinkie, your bruised and raw wrists, the electrical burns from the collar, the shallow cuts on your stomach, your arm, which needed a couple of stitches in the deeper places, and then the shallow cut on your cheek and the scratches on your chin. They mainly want you to stay just to make sure that they start healing properly, don’t get infected and all that.”

Stiles nodded and the sheriff noticed that he was starting to get tired, his head nodding and eyes drooping. He simply smiled and leaned down, kissing Stiles on the forehead. “Get some rest, kiddo,” he said gently before Stiles drifted off to sleep.

When Stiles was finally asleep, John pulled Derek over to the uncomfortable hospital chairs that were in the room. “You should probably get some rest too, son,” the sheriff said. “And since I know how unlikely it is that you’d leave him to so that, you might as well get comfortable.”

Derek looked hesitant before sitting down in the chair next to John.

After a moment of silence, Derek finally spoke. “I just wanted to say, sir, that I’m sorry Stiles got dragged into our world, the world of the supernatural, and that he’s getting hurt.”

Sensing that their was some self-blaming going on, John just sent the other man a small grin, “First off, it’s not your fault that any of this happened. The Argents started this off with their hatred for werewolves, and Peter was a victim that reacted horribly to that tragedy and his subsequent coma. He bit Scott and that’s how my son got dragged into this supernatural mess. And it’s not like he wouldn’t have gotten involved eventually. It’s in his blood.” After studying Derek’s uncertain face, he added, “And you can call me John, son. I have a feeling you and Stiles are gonna be bothering each other for a while.”

John hid his grin when Derek mouth dropped open, and his ears started to turn red. Yeah, they weren’t fooling anyone, John thought as he drifted off to sleep.

~~

After transporting the two wolves and banshee to Eichen and passing them off to a wolf that Laura remembered her mother trusting when she had conveyed to Laura what the responsibility of an alpha meant.

After explaining the situation and promising to visit the three when they were properly settled in, Laura herded her two youngest betas into the car where Allison was still tied up with Boyd watching over to her.

“You’ve got your serious face on,” Erica said, popping her head up between the front seats.

Laura simply nodded, she did have her game face on. “Did you guys hear my phone conversation earlier?”

They all shook their heads. “We didn’t know who you were talking to, so we made sure not to eavesdrop,” Erica said.

Laura smiled. Her brother certainly had chosen good betas. They were taking the guidance in not only fighting but pack politics and etiquette very well. “We’re heading over to Chris Argent’s.”

After a tense moment, Isaac broke the silence. “Is it simply going to be explaining what Allison has done, or is it something more?”

Perceptive little pup, Laura thought. “Have you guys ever heard of the Hunters Council?”

She wasn’t surprised when all she got were confused faces, Derek hadn’t really been exposed to the hunter side of the supernatural when the fire had happened. “There is actually a council that polices hunters, making sure that they follow the code.”

It was Boyd who asked this time, “Why didn’t you go to the council when the fire happened?”

Laura grimaced at that. “Neither me or Derek were in a good place after the fire. I sort of just… panicked and left. I wasn’t sure if Kate Argent or whoever she was working with would come after us. All I knew is that the only pack bond I really had was a traumatized beta and that we needed to get as far away from the hunters and the memories as possible.”

Her betas nodded their heads in understanding. “What will the council do about Allison?”

After a moment of silence, Laura finally responded. “I don’t really know. Sometimes it’s simple as fostering her with a trusted hunter/hunter family or a council member, or they may resort to something more… corporeal.”

Chapter Text

Laura strode up to the Argent house with as much confidence as possible and knocked solidly on the door. After a moment, Christopher Argent opened the door, hands immediately crossing over his chest and lips set in a firm line.

“What can I do you for, Hale?”

Laura simply raised an eyebrow. “I’ve come to talk to you about your daughter.”

Chris’s arms dropped, and his expression flickered before settling back on unreadable. “Go on,” he said, motioning for her to continue but still blocking the doorway.

“She somehow got it into her head that she was going to manipulates Scott’s pack, turning them against Stiles, and then getting our packs to destroy each other.”

After a pause, Chris said, “Where is she?”

Laura motioned to the car that Erica and Isaac were leaning against. “She’s currently tied up in the back.”

Chris hesitated for a moment before he said “Come in,” turning and leaving the door open and Laura on the doorstep.

Laura then turned and nodded at Erica and Isaac, who had heard and opened the door for Boyd to drag Allison out, who had her hands and feet bound. They quickly followed her into the hunter’s house and into the living room, pushing a viciously glaring and struggling Allison into a chair. Laura took Chris’ lead, sitting opposite the chair he was in, positioning Allison in the middle of them. Erica was leaning on the edge of the couch to Laura’s right, Isaac and Boyd flanking behind their alpha.

Chris flicked his eyes to Allison, grief already flickering in his eyes, before he looked back at Laura. “What exactly happened tonight?”

“Well,” Erica started, “it started when Scott and his pack kidnapped Stiles after school while Allison and Lydia were knocking us out,” she motioned to the other betas, “and left us trapped in mountain ash.”

“She had a warehouse set up for after that,” Laura took over. “Where she then tortured Stiles for a little bit and then manipulated Scott into attacking him as well. She had become good at manipulating Scott and his pack with words. When me and my pack arrived with the sheriff, the sheriff was talking Jackson, Lydia, and Scott down. It was working until she blew yellow powder,” Laura noticed the slight widening of Chris’ eyes and the clenching of his jaw, “into their faces and then they did what she told them to do. Apparently, she had been planning on sneaking out while the fight took place and finish the mountain ash line that was already in place around the warehouse and she then planned to set the place on fire.”

Chris’ jaw tightened even more after hearing about the end to her plan. “You haven’t killed her, so I assume you have something else in mind?”

Laura nodded, paused, and then said, “We were planning on contacting the Hunters Council.”

Chris looked scared and like he wanted to protest but them he sagged in resignation. “Fine.”

“Do you have a number that I can get in contact with to call a tribunal?”

Chris silently got up and disappeared upstairs. Not that long after, he came back downstairs and handed Laura a business card. He hesitated a moment before asking, “What are you guys going to do with her until the council gets here?”

At this Laura hesitated as well. She would have liked to just keep her chained up, the safest option, but the man deserved some comfort. “Well, we’ll remove the duct tape so that you can talk to her for a little bit. And then either she can stay here along with either me or one of my betas until the tribunal is set. Or she can stay with us and you can visit whenever you want.”

Chris hesitated as well, “Can I speak to her?”

Laura nodded, flicking her eyes over to Boyd, who move around the couch towards Allison. As soon as Boyd ripped the tape off, she continued glaring at Boyd and bared her teeth before turning to her father, expression changing from a ruthless hunter to that of a scared teenager.

“Daddy!” she called, “Why are you believing her?! Her pack,” she spat the word, “attacked me and Scott and Lydia and Jackson for *no reason!* They’re monsters, Daddy!”

This entire time, Chris was looking at his daughter with so much pain in his eyes that the werewolves in the room were uncomfortable. He obviously loved Allison, but he knew that his sister and father had gotten into her head and poisoned her. He knew her, or at least he used to, and he knew that this was all an act.

“Allison, please,” he said quietly, sounding tired. “I thought that you understood that the way Gerard and Kate operated wasn’t right. We don’t hurt innocents, least of all an innocent human.”

During her father’s short speech, Allison face slowly morphed in to one of rage. She started baring her teeth and struggling against the rope binding her hands and feet.

“You’re weak,” Allison snarled at her father. She jumped up to her feet and leaned towards Chris. “You’re weak. Your father knew it. Your sister knew it. Your wife, my *mother* knew it. She died because of a *Hale* and you did *nothing!*” Boyd was now holding Allison back from lunging at her father who looked at his daughter like he had finally lost her, like he had no idea who she was any more. “Grandpa and Aunt Kate died because of the Hales and you did *nothing!* *Everything* is the Hales’ fault! Don’t you see?! They’re monsters and they’ve destroyed our family!”

Chris looked like he was going to be sick, taking a step back and a mix of disbelief and guilt flashing across his features. “Allison,” Chris whispered, his voice breaking. “You’re dating Scott McCall. You know that werewolves aren’t monsters, much less the Hales. The Hales were a peaceful pack and your grandfather and aunt were the actual monsters. There were humans and children in that house, Allison. Did they deserve to die?”

“Yes,” Allison snarled. “Any human who willingly associates themselves with monsters is no longer human! All they are is wolf bitches! Why don’t you understand?!” Allison yelled. “They’re the monsters! This is a WAR! Human against Werewolf; Argent against Hale! Us against Monsters!”

“No, it isn’t Allison!” Chris yelled back. “We have a code! Hunters have a code! We do not hurt innocents, especially not human innocents! Do you even know what there is a Hunters Council? What it is? You’ve brought the Hunters Council down on yourself! If they had ever been called for Gerard or Kate they would have been executed! *You* could be executed or any number of horrible things that the Council can do in the name of justice! You don’t know what you’ve done!”

Despite the gravity of what her father was saying, Allison either wasn’t listening or didn’t care.

Chris turned his back on them. “You can take her,” he said quietly. “I’ll see you when they hold the tribunal.”

Laura nodded, feeling bad that this man had lost not only his father and sister, but his wife and daughter in a war that didn’t exist, that he didn’t believe in. Now they were taking the last of his family away.

Chapter Text

Three days later, the Hunters Council had finally arrived in a line of black SUV’s. The two lead cars headed straight toward the preserve while four broke off, with individual destinations in mind. One of the four cars that peeled away headed towards the home of the sheriff, only one individual getting out of the car to hand a letter directly to the sheriff when he answered the door. One of the other cars was headed toward the Hale pack house, hand delivering another letter. The third SUV headed toward the home of Christopher Argent, and the fourth delivered a letter directly to Eichen House.

The sheriff stared after the SUV, opening the wax sealed letter:

‘Dear Sheriff Stilinski,
We have been informed of events that have transpired in Beacon Hills, both recently and in the past, involving hunters who are supposed to abide by the code that we live by and supposedly did not. The Hunters Council would like to deeply apologize that we were unaware of damage that these alleged rogue hunters have caused, both to the peaceful local pack, as well as the innocent human that is in said pack.

We will be holding a Tribunal to bring to justice those that we can now.

Please be ready at your home in two hours, at which time, we will be sending an SUV to pick you up and transport you to the location of the Tribunal.

Adreanna Belrose
Head of the Hunters Council’

He immediately pulled his phone out and called Stiles, who he knew was going to be with Derek and Laura and the others.

~~

Laura Hale had just read the letter she had just received out loud for the pack when Stiles phone went off.

“Dad? What’s up?” He answered.

All the werewolves in the room could hear his reply, “I just got a letter from a… Adreanna Belrose about the Tribunal that they will be picking me up for in two hours.”

“We just got a similar letter,” Stiles told his father, “Apologizing about what we’ve dealt with as well as telling us that they will pick us up at our house in two hours.”

The sheriff grunted on the other end. “Well, you kids come on over then. We can all freak out a little bit together.”

Stiles laughed at that. He looked over at the pack who nodded. “We’ll see you in a couple minutes than.”

~~

At the same time, Chris was hand delivered a letter as well.

‘Dear Christopher Argent,

We have received word of the trouble that has been caused by alleged rogue hunters and kin of yours recently and in the past. We are saddened by your losses, but we must address not only the actions of the Argent matriarch as of three days ago, but also the actions of Katherine and Gerard Argent, and to a lesser extent, Victoria Argent, and how they had gotten away with their traitorous actions for so long.

We will be holding a Tribunal to bring to justice those that we can now.

Please be ready at your home in two hours, at which time, we will be sending an SUV to pick you up and transport you to the location of the Tribunal.

Adreanna Belrose
Head of the Hunters Council’

Chris stared at the letter and prayed that his daughter would not be lost to him because of this.

~~

At the same time as the arrival of the other letters, the Director for the supernatural portion of Eichen received a letter as well.

‘Dear Director Parker,

A Tribunal is being held as a result of the actions of alleged rogue hunters in the area that refused to follow our code, both recently and in the past. Scott McCall, Lydia Martin, and Jackson Whittemore, who are currently in Eichen custody, were involved in the actions and events of said hunters.

We will arrive in two hours with an SUV and a trained team of hunters to pick said individuals in custody up and transport them to the location of the Tribunal.

We thank you for your cooperation and will transport them back when the Tribunal is over.

Adreanna Belrose
Head of the Hunters Council’

Director Parker groaned, waving an orderly in and informing him of the situation.

~~

Deep in the preserve, Adreanna Belrose, a beautiful woman in her fifties with black hair and silver eyes, nodded acknowledgements as the hunters in the four additional SUV’s arrived back at the site for the Tribunal. The letters had all been delivered which meant that the Tribunal would be taking place in two hours.

Adreanna watched as her magic user put up the large white tent where the Tribunal would be held, satisfied that everything was going according to plan and justice would soon be delivered.

~~

Two hours later, the sheriff and the Hale pack, with Allison Argent, exited one SUV; Chris Argent exiting another; and out of the last one the remnants of the McCall pack her ushered out, one hunter for Lydia Martin, and two for the werewolves.

As they all treaded over the forest floor and into the large white tent, they were greeted with a simple wooden bench (without a back) to the left, where the McCall pack was led, and two of the same benches side-by-side on the right side, where the Hale pack and the sheriff were led. To the right of the Hale pack, Chris Argent got a bench of his own. Allison Argent was cuffed to a stool located in the middle of the tent, between the McCall pack and the Hale pack.

In front of them, a portable stage stood. On each side of the middle of the stage, two rows of benches were placed, six people on each side, with Adreanna Belrose standing at a lecture stand in the middle.

“Hale pack,” Belrose spoke clearly, concisely, and loud enough for everyone, human or not, to understand her, inclining her head toward where the Hale pack stood. “Sheriff Stilinski,” an incline of her head, “Christopher Argent,” another nod, “and McCall pack,” a smaller nod. “A Tribunal has been called by Laura Hale and Christopher Argent and it has come to our attention that many of the events in Beacon Hills have gone unnoticed and unreported to the Hunters Council. Behind me are the heads of the six large hunting families and their seconds. The Rendall clan is represented by Alastair Rendall,” a forty-something man with black and silver hair and silver eyes stood and bowed shallowly, “the Cana clan is represented by Bedelia Cana,” a woman in her late twenties stood up, copying the Randall bow, with light brown hair and golden eyes, “The Cuan clan is represented by Gavin Cuan,” a man in his mid-twenties with green eyes bowed, “The Woolsey clan is represented by Aaron Woolsey,” an older man with blonde hair and blue eyes bowed next, “The Uwais clan is represented by Fahdi Uwais,” a dark skinned man, with dark brown hair and eyes bowed, “and the Ulrich clan represented by Nele Ulrich,” an older woman with white hair and hazel eyes gazed regally upon their audience as she bowed slightly.

“Three days ago,” Belrose continues, “I was informed of the rogue Argent matriarch going against the code, not only in torturing an innocent human, but also trying to manipulate and pit two peaceful packs against each other with the end goal of killing both packs.” Belrose’s gaze turned cold as she turned toward the girl in front of her. The head of the Hunters Council nodded towards the hunter that was hovering behind Allison and he removed her gag. Allison Argent simply glared at the older woman.

“What say you to these accusations, Argent matriarch?”

Allison simply snarled at the woman. “I don’t have to be here. You hold no power over me! I am doing my *duty!*” Allison yelled at Belrose. “I don’t see how you can stand there, *lording* above us. *I’m* the one that is actually protecting us against the monsters masquerading as humans!”

“What of the human boy that kidnapped and tortured?”

Allison scoffed. “He’s a wolf bitch! I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole pack uses him! A human who willingly submits to a monster, especially a HALE, is a monster as well!”

“These are not the rules, not the *code* that we follow, Argent. We do not hunt the supernatural because of what they are, we hunt those who have or are going to kill innocents and cannot be defended against those who are ignorant of out world. We are only the judge, jury, and executioner when we must, when lives of innocents hang in the balance. And innocence is not something that we limit to one species.”

Allison stood up and tried to lunge forward, the hunter behind her catching her and holding her in place. “Ugh! You’re stupid! You’re all so stupid! How can you not see that they’re monsters!?”

Belrose simply raised an eyebrow, “How about you tell us your side? Tell us about the code that you learned from your father, from your mother and aunt and grandfather.”

Allison barked out a hollow laugh. “My *father*,” she spit the word, “is weak! My grandfather and aunt and mother knew it! He wasn’t capable of doing what had to be done. Werewolves are beasts that cannot control their instincts! They can parade around, pretending to be human but they aren’t. And ones like the *Hales* are the worst kind! They played at being upstanding citizens yet every full moon they were undeniably beasts! My aunt did Beacon Hills a favor in burning those monsters alive!”

“Ms. Argent!” Belrose bellowed. “Control yourself! Werewolves are not so different from us, because the way I see it right now, you are the one acting like a beast!” The hunter had to stop Allison from lunging at Belrose again. “Do you simply not care that there were children in the house that your aunt burned? Do you not care that there were humans?”

“They sided with werewolves! The chose their side and became necessary casualties in this war!!”

“There is no war, Argent. Your grandfather and aunt may have believed that, maybe even your mother, but that is not the way that the majority of the hunting community sees it. I’ve heard enough of your morality. Now you will tell me about what you had planned for the Beacon Hills packs, how you accomplished your goals, and who was involved.”

Allison laughed another hollow laugh. “I would have burned them alive, made my family proud from beyond the grave! I turned the McCall pack against Stiles, and as a result the Hale pack, and it was so easy. McCall cared so little for his ‘best-friend,’ his ‘brother,’” Allison said, mockingly, “that all it took to turn them against him so much that they’d harm and kidnap him, were pretty words, ego stroking, and sex.” Allison cackled. “I didn’t even have to use yellow wolfsbane till just before the kidnapping, and even then it was so little. I did have to use quite a bit when the sheriff,” Allison snarled the last word, glaring at the man to her right, “started to talk them down, appeal to their ‘humanity,’” she mocked. “I did have a little help from a certain druid, one that my aunt was also intimately familiar with” Allison smirked cruelly. “It would have been so beautiful!” Allison continued to crow and cackle.

“ENOUGH!” Belrose yelled when she had had enough. “I’ve heard enough to make judgment. I will confer with the other main clans and then judgement for Allison Argent will come due.”

Belrose motioned for her magic user, hidden in the back, to make sure that none of the werewolves would be able to hear their discussion. After telling the other clan leaders her decision, they all agreed. When she returned to the stand, motioning for her magic user to drop the sound barrier, she straightened her back and shoulders, eyes hardening as she delivered judgement.

“Allison Argent, matriarch of the Argent clan. You have been found guilty of breaking the basic code that all hunters must follow lest they wish the Hunters Council to seek judgement. You have not only harmed an innocent human, you planned to burn two innocent packs, and manipulated one with words and body as well as wolfsbane. You are deemed as having gone officially rogue. As you have not yet taken innocent life, we will not require that your life be forfeit. However, rehabilitation and fostering will not be enough for the corruption that you have undergone. You are a master at the bow, holding it dear to your heart and your skill, the punishment that we have deemed fit is the removal of your pointer and middle finger on your right hand.” That caused Allison to start yelling and snarling, lunging toward Belrose, the hunter assigned to her wrapping one arm around her waist and the other hand covering her mouth. “Once you have relearned the code from the Bedelia Cana and have been deemed trustworthy, you will be allowed to relearn how to handle a weapon.”

Those in the audience gasped as another hunter came forward, placing Allison’s right hand flat on the stool and swinging a knife down, severing two of her fingers immediately.

Chapter Text

Chris winced as he saw the blade cut clean through skin and bone. He was relieved that they had not given her a death sentence, but he also knew the type of person that Allison was now, what Gerard and Kate molded her into, and he was afraid that this act of justice, brutality perhaps, would push her over the edge. Hopefully the fostering with Bedelia Cana would do her good, unraveling the web of lies that his father and sister had spun in her head.

Chris watched as Adreanna Belrose waved Allison away, the hunter in charge of his daughter dragged her away, disappearing behind the stage of the council. When Belrose turned to him, he stood, straightening his back and pressing his lips together.

“As for you, Christopher Argent, we find it hard to believe that you had no idea of the leanings and actions of your father, sister, and then your daughter. We know that you yourself have never broken the code, but you have stood by and ignored the clear signs that those you held dear were breaking the code. For now,” Belrose pinned him with a cold look, “we will leave you be. However, we will be watching, and if you step one foot out of line, actions will need to be taken.”

Chris nodded, his features steeled, answering “Yes, Madame Belrose.”

Belrose continued to look at him, through him, for a minute, sending a shiver down his spine. When she was satisfied at what she saw, she then turned her back to him, a clear sign that she was done with him, and he sat.

Chapter Text

The haze that the yellow wolfsbane had created in Scott, Jackson, and Lydia’s minds cleared after two days. Finally, the pack was hit with what they had done. Scott felt horrible and oh so confused, not knowing who was telling the truth. Sure, Stiles had been his brother, but he had chosen *Derek,* Scott thought internally with venom, and than had thrown Scott away. Allison was the love of his life, they were made for each other, and even though Allison was an Argent, that didn’t mean she was liker her grandfather or aunt. She was sweet and kind, brave and strong. If she said that Stiles was talking shit behind their backs, boasting about how much better he was than them, then it was obviously true. If she was truly trying to take care of the other pack she obviously had a good reason and had just gotten confused again, manipulated by her family. She certainly had some reasons to be mad at the Hales, they are the reason that her family was destroyed; Derek basically killed her mom, Peter killed her favorite aunt, and then Gerard losing it when he found out that his daughter had been murdered. Her world had been ripped apart by the Hales and Stiles had sided with them. And of course he’s upset that Allison used the powder stuff on them, but she probably felt like she had no choice. Everything would have been fine if Stiles didn’t goad and antagonize Allison, making both her and Scott lose their tempers. Stiles just needed to understand that Allison was having a hard time and he was making things worse, he had made his bed when he was being so horrible to her when she was so fragile. Scott stewed in the cell that he had been thrown in at Eichen, just wanting to see and make sure that Allison was safe.

Lydia, on the other hand, was upset that Allison had fucking manipulated her into a fight that she didn’t want to be involved with, one that she *wasn’t* involved with. As soon as Peter Hale was dead, may he burn forever, and the programming he had put into her head was taken care of, she was officially not involved in Hales anymore. Than Stiles had to go and start panting after the Hale siblings, pissing Allison off with her family’s little vendetta against the Hales. Truly, everything that had gone wrong in their lives since the supernatural reveal had to do with the Argent’s and the Hales. She should have known that Allison was going to be trouble; she knew that she had the possibility to be trouble, Allison is very pretty (though not as beautiful as Lydia), but she thought all that trouble could be is competition in the social latter at high school, not werewolves and psychos. And now Lydia was fucking trapped in *Eichen,*stuck in a little cell that she wasn’t getting out of. At least they had the decency to give her her own cell, she wouldn’t have been able to survive being in a small cell with a crazy person or a psychopath. Lydia wondered what had happened to Allison, because if she wasn’t punished soon, Lydia was going to do them all a favor and destroy Allison; she’d never be able to show her face in all of Beacon Hills again when she was done.

Jackson felt similarly to Lydia; he was fucking pissed. This was all Stilinski’s fault. Allison would have been fine with the Hales if Stilinski hadn’t started drooling after the Hale ‘wolves. He knew how psychotic Argents got when the Hales were involved, *everyone* knew that. Yet Stilinski had rubbed it in Allison’s face that he was in the Hale pack, flaunting how much ‘better’ or a pack they were. No wonder Allison had lost it, she had been dealing with so much stress, especially with her family and all the deaths she had to deal with, and then Stilinski was going around school, hanging out with the ‘wolves that Derek Hale had turned, getting picked up or dropped off by Laura and/or Derek. He was relishing the fact that he had attractive friends, much more attractive than Stilinski, and people who didn’t seem to mind that Stilinski was an annoying fucking spastic freak. And now Jackson was stuck in a tiny ass cell with McCall. Jackson was definitely fucking pissed.

~~

After three meals and countless hours staring at a white padded wall, another day had gone by and orderlies who could handle supernatural patients were sent to retrieve Scott, Lydia, and Jackson, injecting Scott and Jackson with a mixture that made them unable to shift and weaker, leaving them with a little less strength than an average human their size would have, ones that didn’t work out as much as an orderly and most certainly not hunters. They were transferred to hunters and shoved into a black SUV. Lydia didn’t struggle, that was beneath her, but Jackson and Scott did.

They both promptly stopped struggling when one of the hunters in a seat in front of them casually pointed a gun at them. Lydia scoffed but Scott and Jackson froze, eyes wide. “Don’t worry. We’ll just be escorting you to the Tribunal about the Argent. I’m sure you’ll not be killed,” the man drawled in a southern accent.

“What?” Scott asked, sounding worried. “Are you talking about Allison? What’s she done wrong? What’s a Tribunal?”

The hunter gave Scott a look that said he thought he was stupid. “She tried to kill werewolves who were innocent and was intent to do the same to an innocent human, having already injured him. The Hunters Council has been brought in to rectify the situation and punish her.”

Scott gaped at the hunter. “What,” he sputtered. “Punish her how? And again, why? The Hales and her family has history and have been the reason that her mother, grandfather, and her aunt is dead! She loved them and the Hales killed them!”

The man next to the southern hunter turned around, “What the fuck is wrong with you?” He asked in a cockney accent. “That isn’t ‘ow ‘unters are supposed to act. The Hales ain’t done nothin’ wrong. We only kill those who deserve it, and we never go after innocent ‘umans.”

Scott sputtered and both hunters looked on him with a mix of pity and distaste. “She’s really done a number on you, eh?”

The conversation was effectively over when the hunters turned their attention away from them (as much as a hunter ever does) while Scott is still sputtering.

“Honestly, Scott,” Lydia says with a scoff. “Sometimes I forget how dull you are. The hunter that you think you’re in love with is the same as her aunt, except a little less rapey. She used her feminine wiles on you so that you’d do anything for her, and you have. You turned on your supposed brother and best friend because of the things Allison has been saying, clawing him up because of lies that she’s said.”

Scott shook his head vehemently. “No!” he said, voice colored with disbelief. “She wouldn’t do that! We’re soulmates! The only reason that we even got to this place is because Stiles wouldn’t leave well enough alone. He kept antagonizing Allison, knowing how fragile she is and that the Hales are the reason that her family and life turned to shit.”

This time Jackson scoffed. “Oh please, McCall. We all know that Kate and Gerard started this with their psychotic tendencies and hatred for werewolves. Her mother was going to kill you! Allison has been lying to you, to all of us, and she planned on getting us all killed!”

“No!” Scott yelled. “She wouldn’t do that!”

Before Scott and Jackson could continue to argue, the English hunter turned around and glared at them. “Oi! Shut it! You’ll know the truth well enough when the Tribunal is underway,” the last part was mainly directed at Scott, who pouted, crossed his arms, and slumped down into his seat. Jackson scoffed and folded his arms, and Lydia just flipped her hair over her shoulder. The rest of the ride was in silence.

When they finally arrived to the hunters’ destination, Jackson got out of the car after some hesitation, whereas Scott had to be manhandled and Lydia gracefully and quickly got out of the car. They were herded into a large white tent and made to sit in a bench on the left side, in front of a large stage with intimidating-looking people- hunters with the hunters that transported them hovering behind them.

Not that far to their left, Allison was cuffed to a stool. Scott started to call to her but the southern hunter from the car stopped him, giving him a significant look and then the people on the stage before silently saying ‘shhh.’ Scott wanted to protest, but the hunter just gave him an unimpressed look and raised an eyebrow, making Scott fold his arms and pout. The woman that he loved was cuffed to a stool, what the fuck did they want him to do.

Behind Allison, they saw the Hale pack with Stiles and the sheriff were sat at benches as well. Scott glared at them, specifically Stiles and Derek. If it wasn’t for them, everything would have been fine. Scott should have been able to get his ‘happily-ever-after’ with his Allison. They ruined everything! Jackson simply gave them an unimpressed look, and Lydia glanced at them for a second before raising her chin, smoothing the horrible jumpsuits that they had been forced to wear, and looked back towards the stage. Scott and Jackson quickly averted their respectively loathe filled and disgust filled gazes when the sheriff looked over.

The Tribunal, as it was called, seemed to move at the same time too quickly and too slowly. The ‘Hunters Council’ revealed truths that Scott did not want to face. At first, he was fine in his ocean of denial, but then Allison said that werewolves were all monsters and that her aunt had done the right thing in burning them alive. Scott could still try to defend that she was just talking about born wolves, which even he knew made less sense to hate or fear then bitten, or that it was just Hales. Even when the children that were in the Hale fire brought up, Scott still tried to deny that Allison would ever be that cold or malicious. But then she had talked about how she had manipulated all of them, basically saying that she felt nothing real for them. Jackson was mad, another pretty face for a psychotic bitch. Lydia was angry as well, after everything Lydia had done for her, Allison did this to them, to HER? Allison was a nobody before Lydia had deemed that she was worth her time. *This* is exactly why Lydia couldn’t trust girls, why she surrounded herself with boys. Boys were easily manipulated, but girl were the manipulators, if you let another one close, they would eventually try to steal the power that was *yours,* that you had worked hard for. Beside them Scott was stricken. No, he thought. This can’t be right, this isn’t Allison, this isn’t *my Allison.* She wouldn’t do this. She *wouldn’t* *do* *that.* The longer it went on, the harder Scott’s brain worked. This wasn’t his Allison and he was going to prove it. Someone had done something to her, like the yellow wolfsbane had done to them. This wasn’t her. This *wasn’t* *her.*

Chapter Text

When the knife came down, Laura looked on with grim satisfaction and a feeling that finally this threat was taken care of, that at least her pack was safe from this (hopefully). Derek was satisfied with the punishment as well, though he was also a little nauseous at the brutality of the punishment. Erica was more vicious in her satisfaction, Isaac’s more resigned, and Boyd’s simply accepting. The sheriff was battling the idea of justice that the Hunters Council had, not necessarily one that he disagreed with, and the idea of justice he had as an officer of the law, that oftentimes didn’t work. Stiles, on the other hand, was smugly satisfied with their brand of justice, though he was also watching how Scott and his pack, as well as Chris Argent, reacted. He felt bad that Argent was so close to losing the last of his family, though there was another part of him that felt gratified that his ex-‘brother’ and his pack were proven wrong. But that was quickly replaced with resignation and exasperation when he saw that oh-so-familiar expression of stubborn denial on Scott’s face that followed his shock and horror. After everything that had happened, Allison was still the most important thing to Scott and Stiles was nothing. Stiles leaned into Derek, seeking comfort which was gladly and easily given to him.

After Allison was dragged away and Chris Argent was addressed by Belrose, the intimidating woman turned her attention to them.

“Christopher Argent will be watched, by ones who know the importance of the code. Victoria Argent is no longer a problem, and neither is Kate Argent, who has been taken care of on your side, though we have made sure that she has been properly disposed of,” no one dared to ask how she knew or what she did. “All that leaves us with is Gerard Argent, who I have heard went missing with a case of aconite poisoning.”

Laura piped up at this, “Gerard will no longer be a problem, Madame Belrose.” The pack exchanged confused glances, not having known that their alpha had taken care of the threat that they had, honesty, let slip to the back of their minds with everything that had happened as of late.

FLASHBACK
(note: just cause this bothered me, the pack has to sleep at home sometimes so Stiles is at home, with Derek duh, and Erica, Boyd, and Isaac switch between sleeping at Erica or Boyd’s house when they have to.)

Laura was still wrapping her head around the fact that she had gotten resurrected and it still felt weird, being back in her body. She remembered limbo, as Stiles had called it, and it had been peaceful but not exactly right, she could tell that she was waiting for something. Her family wasn’t there so she assumed that they had moved on, but she hadn’t really known what to think. She had tried her hardest after her family had died not to think about what happened after death. But she also knew that many born ‘wolves believed that Selene would usher her children, children of the moon and the night, toward the next realm of life by the moonlight, viewing death as another beginning, perhaps the last beginning that lasts for eternity, where Selene judges the heart of her children and bestow unto them what they have earned and what is rightfully theirs. Sometimes she thinks about Selene and the next life. The family that died in the fire would definitely have earned their happily ever after. But she also thinks about Uncle Peter, about how he was before the fire, their favorite uncle, sarcastic and fun, always spoiling them, taking them to the mall or to do any number of fun things when their mother was too busy for them, doing Selene knows what for her pack, and their father tried, but he had a business to run. How the fire and his prison of fire and pain and death in his mind had changed him after being trapped for so many years. The Peter before and the Peter after, she wondered how Selene would judge him.

Shaking her head and trying to clear her mind, Laura pushed her legs and body harder through the woods. She knew that she was weaker after her resurrection, but her strength was slowly building up, especially when she was almost constantly surrounded by pack. She set out after Gerard Argent as soon as she felt able to. She found a day-old scent of what she assumed was Gerard and wolfsbane and ‘wolf death. Eventually, the trail leads back to a hidden road, where someone was obviously waiting for him. At first, she thinks that he had a car hidden there, but then she realized that from what she had been told, he would not have been able to drive successfully. Then she thinks that he had some of his radical hunter groupies helping him but then she scents another person. This one smells familial. The only Argents that were alive, that she knew of, were Christopher and Allison Argent.

F~~B

The doorbell rang and Chris Argent put down the papers that he was going over, part of the legitimate part of his job.

He opened the door to find a very intimidating-looking brunette woman. She was obviously a werewolf.

As he tensed, his hand slowly inched back toward where he had a gun hidden.

The woman sent him a smile with all teeth. “Tsk, tsk, Mr. Argent. That’s probably not a good idea right now. I’ve just about had it with the Argents.”

Chris narrowed his eyes, “And just who might you be?”

The woman chuckled darkly, “I’m a little hurt you don’t recognize me. After all,” she said, looking him up and down and then staring him dead in the eyes, “your family murdered mine.”

The ‘wolf, Laura Hale, Laura not-dead Hale, had to have heard the way his heart skipped and then started beating faster. He had really hoped that all the drama with his father and sister and the Hales had been over. “Laura Hale,” he said. “What an… unexpected surprise. You look well for a dead woman.”

She winked at him, “Resurrection does that,” she said, and she brushed past him and went to sit down in his Livingroom. “We have some business to discuss,” she continued once she sat, waving for him to sit as well, which he begrudgingly did.

“And what exactly might that be?”

“Your father,” she said, and he instantly tensed. “He’s disregarded the code long enough, and you’ve let him get away with it long enough. You will take me to him so that I can deal with him.”

Chris’ face scrunched up in annoyance at the bold woman in front of him, ordering him around. “And why exactly will I do that?”

Laura fixed him with a look that was part ‘don’t even try that shit with me’ and part ‘I will rip my enemies. ’ “You know why and this has gone on long enough. I’ll make it quick,” her face scrunched up in distaste of the idea, “and I won’t call the Hunters Council like I should have when my family was first burned alive. I had no idea what I was doing at the time and was afraid, but that is not the case this time. I *will* have justice for my family.”

After a moment of silence, Chris’ shoulders finally sagged, knowing that she was right even if he didn’t want to admit it.

F~~B

The man’s son had been keeping him in a home. Part of her respected his devotion for family, knowing that he hated the methods that his father and sister used, yet another part of her was angry. Because of this man’s *love*, she thought the word with venom, he had ignored his conscious and looked away when innocents were slaughtered, *children* barely old enough to walk burned alive in the worst way possible. She put aside her feelings for the moment and focused on Chris taking his father from the home.

When they got back out to her car, which Chris had swung around to get for her, he placed the man’s wheelchair in front of Laura, black goo dripping down his face and no awareness in his eyes. She almost felt pity, but then she remembered the feeling of her pack bonds burning alive, sending nineteen-year-old her to her knees, sobbing, when she first felt it. She also remembered the way that when they first moved, Derek had been a hollow shell of himself, taking so long to tell her about Kate who prayed on him when he was just fifteen. She had never wanted to kill someone as slowly and painfully as when she heard that. But she had to stay, take care of her brother, who eventually started coming out of his shell of guilt and pain little by little. Then the consequences of the fire had come back again in the form of the shell of their uncle, leaving Derek alone, turning cold again. He still saw that flash of the post-Laura Derek, before he would come back to himself, always breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Laura again. It broke her heart to see her brother so broken by all the horrible things that he had to go through.

After nodding to each other, ‘wolf and hunter parted ways and Laura had to decide what to do with each other. A part of her wanted to bury him near the Hale House, in some weird ironic karma, but she decided to bury him several miles away.

When she got an area that was good enough, Laura hauled the man out and dropped him on the ground like he was worthless. She did end up keeping her word about a quick death, clawing his throat out while he sat there, and it was just as unsatisfying as she thought it would be. She heaved a sigh as she threw the last shovel of dirt over the makeshift grave and made her way to the car, reminding herself to clean it so that no one, well, no ‘wolf, would be able to smell what had transpired that evening. It wasn’t that she didn’t want them to know, it was just that she wanted this time to be focused on pack bonding and healing together. And they all really had a lot to heal. Her and Derek from everything that happened with hunters and their family, and Derek from everything that had happened after she had dies. Isaac from the abuse that he had suffered at the hands of his father, every now and then, still slipping into the mindset of when his father was beating him. Then there was Erica, the girl who had never been able to truly be herself because of a disease that wrecked her body and humiliated her. Boyd, who had been so lonely before being turning and having friends and pack, though he was the one who had grown as a werewolf the most. Then there was Stiles, who walked around like the world was on his shoulders, taking blame from whoever decided to place it on him, dealing the betrayal of the boy he though he would have by his side forever, and doing everything he could to keep those he loved safe, even when he was the one most breakable, yet somehow one of the strongest. They all had a long way to go, but they were pack, and they seemed to fit in a way that none of them ever thought they could, never thought they would have. She was the alpha and she would do everything to keep them safe and happy.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Belrose nodded, looking satisfied with the answer after Laura told her where she had buried the body so that she could make sure the body was properly disposed of.

“The next thing that needs to be discussed,” Belrose said, turning away from the Hale pack, “is what is to be done about the McCall pack.” She rolled her fierce over the group of two omega ‘wolves and a banshee. Scott somewhat curled in on himself at the gaze, Jackson stiffened, and Lydia flicked her hair and averted her gaze. Belrose then turned her gaze back toward the other side of the room. “If anyone has any opinions…” she splayed her hand and trailed off, opening up the floor to their comments.

Laura looked at each member on the opposing side with a critical eye before turning her eyes back toward Belrose. “I believe that while some of the more extreme violence came from Allison and her powder, I was under the impression that the torture of Stiles, a human and from another pack, they did willingly after Allison’s manipulations. There should be a much less severe form of punishment than what Allison had, as well as some form of retraining. They’ve lived long enough trying to deny what they are, the negative sides and the responsibilities especially, and I feel that they need a mentor. Obviously no one from my pack or directly associating with us would be appropriate or appreciated on their side. I’m sure you know of some ‘wolves that would be appropriate for the role.” Everyone else, including the sheriff and Chris Argent nodded their agreement.

Belrose nodded, “I was thinking much the same thing. In fact, the mentor that I had in mind will be a punishment all on their own.”

Before the three could finish opening their mouths in protest, Belrose waived them away and the guards assigned to them hauled them up, angry mutterings trailing behind the three.

“The last piece of business that we still need to discuss is that of your supposed Druid Alan Deaton who acted as emissary to your mother’s pack,” Derek and Laura squeezed each other’s hands, reminded of their old pack.

“Supposed?” Stiles muttered, wincing when he saw the look his father flashed him. Luckily, Belrose seemed only mildly amused.

“Yes,” she answered. “He seems to have a history that dates back farther than we can track. His magic is not that of a druid, it is something much different, much darker and more powerful. Traced beyond medieval times. He seems to have had a hand in the existence of hunters and connected to the very first werewolves. He seems to have connections, or quarrels, with every major type of sentient supernatural beings that we know of, some of who no longer exist. From the information that we have gathered, he seems to have a deep hatred towards ‘wolves because of something that is what he uses to justify the types of dark magic, blood as well as chi stealing and manipulation.” Stiles, as well as his pack, dad, and Chris Argent, definitely knew the horrid implications of ‘chi stealing.’

“My magic user as well as associates that we know, have been working this problem since it came to our attention. Hopefully he won’t become directly malignant towards you, but either way, my magic user will be keeping an eye on the situation here and we shall keep you updated.” The pack and the older two shifted uncomfortably in front of Belrose because there didn’t seem to be all that much that they could do. “For right now,” Belrose went on, “the best thing for you to do is to steer clear of the man you know as Alan Deaton. We will be gathering all the information that we need and can find so that hopefully we will be able to handle him independently of your pack, the sheriff, and the local hunter. We will get in contact with you if there is anything that you need to be aware of or anything that you can help us with. And I believe that your alpha,” she said looking towards the pack, “and Mr. Argent has the number that you can use to contact us if there is information that needs to be shared with the council.” She looked over all of them, sensing the increduality of leaving the threat in the territory that each person feels is their own, wither pack, hunter, or sheriff, as well as letting an outside influence take care of it for them while most likely leaving them out of the loop. “We *will* take care of it. This is our problem now.” With one more stern look in their direction, Belrose turned her back to them and they were escorted out.

Chapter Text

Back at the pack house, Stiles and Derek were cuddled up on one of the couches in the living room while Erica, Isaac, and Boyd were on the other couch, and Laura was watching over then over than while they waited for the Chinese food to arrive.

Stiles snuggled closer to Derek when he thought back on what happened that night as well as the series of events that had led them to where they were. It had all started with finding half of Laura’s dead body in the woods in the middle of the night with his then best friend, and now here he was, just back from the trial of the girl who, time and again, he was thrown aside for, who had manipulated his best friend into torturing him, cuddling with a man he once accused of murder and later held up in a pool for hours, with an alpha and a pack who he could *feel* within him. The darker vibrant blue was the strongest, pulsing with contentness and warmth. Then there is the vibrant alpha red of the thread connecting him to his alpha, who was still slightly on edge since there was one mayor threat to the pack still loose. Then there was the blonde, deep brown, and baby blue chords connecting him to the three betas that Derek had turned, in synch with each other and at peace with each other and their pack so close.

After the Chinese food had arrived and the pack had finished eating while chatting comfortably in the each other, everyone retired to the rooms that they had claimed for themselves, or rather, retired to the room they slept in at night. For Erica and Isaac, that meant piling into Boyd’s bed, his personality soothing their still slightly unbalanced since the change ones. Stiles, of course, more often than not slept in Derek’s room they had only made out a few times and had not yet defined what they were to each other, but they both felt the almost instinctive pull to the other. Sometimes Laura joined them, needing to be close to her last living family member. Derek often needed the reassurance ever more, having lived so long wallowing in grief and guilt. A stable pack, especially Laura and Stiles helped him to not fall back into old and unhealthy patters, but it was a long process of healing and there were bad for all of them. But that was what pack was for, to help and be there for you. Whether help meant a kick to the bum that was needed, or if all that was needed was an ear and a shoulder.

Once they were both striped down to their boxers, they crawled under the covers and Derek curled around Stiles. Nuzzling at the back of Stiles neck, Derek murmured, “Today was pretty rough.”

Stiles scooted further back in to the feeling of warmth and safety that Derek held for Stiles. “Yeah,” he murmured right back. “I… I don’t really know what’s gonna happen with Scott and the others. He was my best friend but there’s no way we can ever come close to going back but I also saw his face. He’s in denial, and I know better than anyone else how stubborn he can be. I really hope that the alpha the Council has in mind will actually help him.”

Derek hummed and nodded against the back of Stiles’ neck. “And then hopefully we’ll never have to deal with him again.”

After a moment of silence, Stiles squirmed out of Derek’s firm hold to turn around so that he was face to face with Derek. “Derek?” Stiles whispered quietly.

“Yeah?”

“I think… I think that I might love you,” Stiles stammered out, sounding nervous, like he expected for Derek to rebuff him.

Derek simply smiled down at Stiles, tipping the younger man’s head up with one hand while carding the other through his hair. “I love you, Stiles,” he said, staring deeply into Stiles eyes so that he knew that Derek was serious.

Stiles let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding and burrowed his face into Derek’s throat. “Night, Der.”

Derek kissed the top of his head, “Good night, Stiles.”

~~~

Since the following morning was still the weekend, everyone was slow to get up and insisted that they were gonna have a *normal* day, hopefully do some fun stuff with the pack.

Breakfast was a pack effort, each member contributing something to the mess of a table, from something as simple as coffee, to actual cooking. Stiles and Derek cooked side by side, chatting and giggling and blushing like young love, Stiles cooking some eggs and Derek cooking bacon. Beside then, rolling her eyes, yet a small genuine smile on her face, was Laura cooking pancakes. Erica had decided that she was just gonna grab some orange juice from the fridge and some glasses and plop down watching the others actually work. Boyd, who was secretly amazing in the kitchen, had made omelets before Stiles had stumbled his way into the kitchen. Isaac had made coffee as well as toast since he wasn’t “lazy! Really, Erica? Glasses and orange juice?” Isaac had called over to where Erica was being lazy, simply smirking back. “Evil,” Isaac muttered, earning a cackle from Erica and small huffs of laughter from the other ‘wolves who had heard Isaac.

After everyone had finished cooking, everyone settled into the living room, Erica, Isaac, and Boyd in their designated couch with Stiles, Derek, and Laura in the other. Boyd got to choose what was on the television while they ate, ending up on a documentary, Round Earth, causing food to fly out of the heavier laughers every now and then. As well as resulting in Stiles or Erica yelling ‘Tabitha’ every now and then, making the other descend into a fit of giggles.

After everyone had finished eating and then finished the episode they were on, Isaac shyly suggested that they play some board games, something that he had loved to of before his family had turned into a horror show. Laura had kindly smiled at the abused boy, “I think that’s a wonderful idea, Isaac,’’ Isaac preening under his alpha’s approval. They then set out to the store to see what kinds of board games they wanted to get. They obviously got all the classics, Jenga, Operation, Battleship, Yahtzee, Chess and Checkers, Monopoly and Clue, Connect Four, Scrabble, and Guess Who, as well as the pop culture board games having to do with popular movies and series. Though since they had all committed to a relaxing day, Monopoly wasn’t going to be played. While at the store, Laura decided that they’d get some other things for the house and the pack while they were there. They got some stuff for the actual house, some bean bag and saucer chairs as well as some cool things to hang on the wall. “Ohh, we totally need, like, a pack family portrait done!” Laura just looked fondly at the human of the pack, “that actually sounds like a wonderful idea,” both her and Derek remembered how obsessed their mother and alpha had been about pictures of the pack, the walls of the pack house had been cram packed with photos of the pack, there had barely been any wall exposed in the communal rooms and hallways by the time they were in there teens. Derek had wrapped himself around Stiles, smiling fondly into his hair, amazed at all that this human had done, from keeping the people he cared about alive since the supernatural had been revealed to him, but also on bringing the pack together, being the human element in a pack full of broken people and helping all of them to heal. Truly, Stiles was so much better than the boy who was convinced that he was so much better than everyone else. Laura also had them grab some books and movies for the pack house so that it felt a little more like home as well as some more blankets, pillows, and sheets. then they also got food and practical supplies, like flashlights and batteries, plus some fire extinguishers, as well as food since most in the house was a werewolf and thusly had black holes as stomachs.

After the sheriff finished his shift, he stopped by the pack house, knowing that Stiles would be there, not fond of a house that held so many memories of his mother, good and bad, on memories of a distant and drink father after they had lost a mother and wife. When Stiles saw his father come in, he jumped up and smiled. “Hey, Pops!” he said as he hugged him. “What one you doing here?”

John sent his son a tight smile. “I was going to check on you guys anyway after the . . . trial,” he was still having a difficult time with rectifying the trial and its form of justice to the sense of justice imbued in him because of his status as Sheriff. “But someone, I believe they said their name was Jason Hughes, said he come on behalf of his father and alpha.’’

Laura's brow creased at that. "I think I remember that name, the Hughes pack was allied with the Hales. After the fire and getting out of Beacon Hills, I forgot about how many packs we were allied with. I was a new alpha and had just lost most of my pack that I couldn’t really focus on anything else.” Laura also remembered how wholly unprepared to be on alpha she was. She knew now that she could have done a lot better by her brother and especially by the uncle. Sadly, there was nothing that she could do now other than protect the pack she had now and do the best she and by them. Derek, sensing his sister’s mood, drifted toward her, pressing his side against hers in comfort.

“What did he have to say?” Stiles asked.

John looked uncertainly at Stiles, and then Laura and Derek. “They would have contacted you earlier, but they just heard that Lara was back and before all they knew was that Derek had been brought in for questioning concerning Laura’s death,” Stiles looked down guiltily at that. “Apparently they’re heard word of another Hale having escaped the fire. A woman now, with dark brown hair and hazel eyes.”

Laura gasped, grabbing onto Derek’s hand, and Derek just looked at John with wide eyes. “Cora,” he whispered in shock and awe, cautious hope pulsing from the pack bond. Brokenly, he whispered “She’s alive?”

Chapter Text

As Laura and Derek walked toward the Hughes pack house, they held tightly on to each other’s hands. They had just heard about the alpha of the Hughes pack reaching out towards the sheriff. He had only given very limited information and then said that they could visit the next day during the early evening and he would give them the rest of the information that he had found out, after making sure that Laura really was alive, and Derek was not responsible.

They made their way down the last stretch of the gravel drive way on foot. They were allowed two others to bring with them into the other alpha’s territory. Derek chose to bring Stiles with them, keeping him close and holding on to Stiles’ hand with his opposite hand. Laura chose to bring along Erica, having grown close since they were the only two women in the pack. Once they were fifteen feet, the door swung open to reveal a man in his fifties with black hair and a salt and peppered beard. His eyes were open and friendly but with a underlying calculating look. Beside him stood a boy in his mid-teens, the same black hair and brown eyes, presumably the alpha’s son.

“Alpha Hale,” the Hughes alpha greeted and then nodded at the other members of Laura’s pack. He led them in through the front door and towards a large living room with a sectional, a couch, a loveseat, and two chairs. The alpha sat in one of the chairs, beside him, in the other chair, was a woman with tan skin and brown eyes and hair in her thirties, obviously her second hand. The teen sat on the other side of the alpha, joined by a dirty blonde-haired woman in her forties. Across from them, Laura sat immediately across from the other alpha on the couch with Derek on her right, Stiles beside him, and Erica on her other side.

“I have heard that Beacon Hills has been busy as of late,” Alpha Hughes started.

“Yes,” Laura replied. “My brother had to deal with a rogue alpha, our uncle, who was biting teens and killing those responsible for the fire. As a result of the death of the hunter responsible for our family’s deaths, Kate Argent, her father, Gerard Argent came back with a vendetta in mind and no qualms about hurting innocents. They also had to deal with a kanima, who was eventually turned into a werewolf because of the love of his girlfriend, a banshee, and the first beta who was turned resisting Derek at all turns, and then resisting me, and who all refuse to recognize that being in a pack, a proper pack with an alpha, would be for the best, even after my resurrection, which was a plot that my uncle implanted into the banshee when she was bitten.”

Alpha Hughes looked partially impressed and partially horrified. “Beacon Hills certainly has been in busy. I’m assuming then that the rumors that your brother was the one who killed you were false?”

“Correct,” Laura said with a thin lipped smiled. “I was sent information of someone in the territory trying to take over the territory and steal my alpha power. It wasn’t until after I was killed, and I hadn’t checked in with my brother for a while that he finally returned to Beacon Hills.”

“Good,” Alpha Hughes responded, some tension bleeding from his shoulders.

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Laura said, probably louder than need be but her patience was wearing thin. “You told us that you think you heard about a Hale escaping the fire.”

“Yes,” Hughes said, leaning forward. “I’ve heard word of one such woman in South America. The pack she is staying with reached out to us once they heard rumor of a Hale alpha returning to Hale land, since our territory is closest to Beacon Hills and we were good friends and allies to the Hales. I do not believe that they have told her yet, not wanting to give her false hope.”

“But you know where she is?” Laura asked, trying to hide the urgency and desperation in her voice. Her younger sister was alive, their Cora was alive.

Hughes nodded. “I do,” he responded gravely, standing and grabbing a map to Laura. The map had the name of the closest village as well as the coordinates of the pack’s territory with more detailed directions on the side. Once both alpha’s were standing, so were their present pack members. “I’m assuming that you’d like to leave as soon as possible.”

“Yes, thank you,” Laura said genuinely, tipping her head almost imperceptibly to the side, in deference and thanks to the alpha.

“I hope that once you are reunited, the land is settled, and your pack is stable that our packs can continue the relationship and alliance that we once had when your mother was alpha.”

Laura smiled and nodded. “I would be honored, Alpha Hughes.”

“As am I, Alpha Hale. If you’re even a quarter the alpha that your mother was, you’ll be a great one. I’m sure she would have been proud of what you’ve accomplished.” Alpha Hughes then looked over to Derek. “She would have been proud of both of you.”

With that, Alpha Hughes led them out. Laura and Derek pressed as close together as they could get, Laura grasping the map like a lifeline, Erica and Stiles pressed against their other sides.

Laura looked down at the map that would lead to her only other family. “We need to buy some plane tickets.”

Chapter Text

Derek gritted his teeth, grasping onto the seat chair on one side and Stiles hand on the other.

Stiles leaned in to Derek. “Hey, it’s fine.”

Derek just growled under his breath. “I’m a werewolf, Stiles,” he whispered. “I am a land animal and we are in the fucking sky,” the last part he whisper shouted at Stiles.

Stiles just chuckled. “Omg, the big bad wolf is afraid of flying.”

“I swear to god, Stiles,” Derek said through gritted teeth, eyes still squeezed shut. “I will rip your throat out-”

“With your teeth,” Stiles said, patting Derek’s shoulder. “Yeah, big guy. That’s still scary.”

“Stiles,” Laura said teasingly, chuckling at them. “Stop it, you’re embarrassing him.”

“I swear to god, sometimes I really wished that you two didn’t bond.”

“But baby brother,” Laura cried out dramatically. “We’re your family! It’s well within our rights to tease you.”

“Exactly, Der,” Stiles added. “Would you really begrudge us our favorite pastime?”

Derek just growled and then ignored them. By the time that the plane touched down in South America, Derek was just about ready to jump off the plane, or maybe just push Stiles and Laura out. He really doesn’t know what kind of monster has been created by those two being introduced and in the same pack.

Stiles had to basically pry Derek out of his seat. “Poor baby,” Stiles cooed at his boyfriend. “It’s okay. No more scary plane rides for a couple days.” In retaliation, Derek smacked his ass, causing Stiles to yelp. Derek just chuckled as Stiles blushed. Stiles got even redder when Erica cat called him and Isaac whistled. “Rude,” Stiles pouted.

Waiting for them outside of the airport, an employee from a rental company was waiting for them with the van that they had paid for online. After they stopped to buy the supplies that they would need, they would drive most of the way until they were a couple of miles from their destination and from there they would hike on their own. The South American pack that Cora was with was reclusive, they were almost fully self-sustaining as well as incredibly hard to find if you didn’t know what you were looking for or where.

The entire trip was surreal for the pack. Not only were both the Hales still in shock that Cora was alive, but it was like some weird road trip/vacation. It was, however, a good bonding experience for the pack. Erica and Isaac were bickering in the back, Boyd watching them with a mix of exasperation and fondness. In the middle, Derek and Stiles were cuddled up together, Stiles napping while Derek tried to read, unsuccessfully so since his mind always wandered back to Cora, worried about what her reaction to them would be. Right before they had left, the pack’s alpha, Cora’s alpha (and didn’t that make him worried, they had immediately assumed that she would join them but they didn’t stop to think about what her life here was like), had informed her that Derek and Laura were alive and that they were coming to South America with their new, albeit small, pack.

Once they couldn’t drive any further, they parked the car so that it wouldn’t be easy to see and then grabbed the packs that they had packed with some stuff they had brought as well as supplies that they had bought. Derek and Laura seemed to be excited for the hike, whereas Stiles was committed to complaining the whole way. Erica and Isaac whimpered every now and then, only for Boyd to roll his eyes and push or drag them forward a little bit and then let them go.

By the time that they arrived at the beginning of a dirt road, Stiles was panting and still complaining loudly, Laura just chuckling and Derek rolling his eyes.

“Great,” Stiles panted. “I’m gonna die and my alpha is laughing at me.” Stiles eyes widened, trying to look as innocent as possible, causing Derek to roll his eyes even harder. “I can’t believe this betrayal.” That just caused Laura to laugh even harder.

When all the ‘wolves tensed and looked in one direction, Stiles knew that they had incoming. Three people came out into the open, all with dark skin and hair. The one in the lead, as well as the oldest one, was a woman in her late thirties, her face a mask of intimidation. On her right, a teenage girl that looked remarkably like the older woman stood with her arms crosses, the same stern expression on her face. On the other side of the woman was a man in his mid-to-late twenties with a much more friendly appearance.

“Alpha Hale, I’m assuming,” the woman said in accented English.

Laura nodded. “As well as my brother and right hand, Derek Hale, and the other four members of my pack. Alpha Flores?”

The woman nodded. “As well as my daughter, Camila, and my right hand, Mateo Alvarez.”

“I’ve heard that my sister found her way here after the fire?” Laura asked, too anxious to wait through the small talk.

“Si,” Alpha Flores answered. “She was very excited to hear they you survived and were coming. She has been staying with us for a while but she has never truly been pack. It always seemed like she was waiting for something.”

Derek squeezed Laura’s hand, relieved that one of his greatest fear was unlikely to be realized. Alpha Flores turned around, the other two ‘wolves turning around a couple seconds later, and then started to head down the dirt road, the Hale pack following behind. What they saw at the end of the long road was a village with around thirty buildings as well as a large building that was either a pack house or a meeting/recreational building. Most people seemed to be staying in the buildings, quite a few people peeking out of the windows, and a few exceptions were outside.

In front of the main building that they seemed to be heading toward at the middle of the village, an anxious looking teenage girl with brown hair the same shade as Laura’s and hazel eyes, similar to Derek’s eyes, was pacing and biting her finger nails. Her facial features were distinctly Hale as well, especially her eyebrows. Once Laura and Derek caught sight of Cora, it seemed like the world slowed down for them. It felt like they stayed rooted to one spot for hours, simply staring at Cora, a woman now, who stared back at them. Cora looked as though she was seeing the best thing in the world, and to her, she probably was, eyes full of hope. Laura was relieved and in shock of the woman that her baby sister had turned into without her to help. Derek looked the most wrecked, guilt in the back of his mind, but most of his thoughts simply filled with Cora, Cora, Cora, Cora.

All at once, time came back to all three of them and they started racing toward each other, all with tears either starting to bubble over or already streaming down their face. None of them tried to catch themselves or try to stay upright when they finally collided in a group hug where normal humans probably would have broken bones. They clung as close to each other as they could get, smelling each other and basking in each other’s presence and their very existence. Soft sobs drifted out from the reunion puppy pile towards those watching them.

Stiles, Erica, and Isaac were tearing up, cuddled up close to each other as they saw the wreck that became of their alpha, right hand bets, as well as the new Hale beta who would most likely be joining their ranks. Boyd was standing close by, pressed up against the other three, though not as tightly, and letting his hands wander every now and then to squeeze someone’s shoulder or neck in comfort.

When the Hales were finally done with their initial reunion, they got up, dusting themselves off but still clinging on to each other.

“How about we take this in to our pack building?” Alpha Flores said gently, expression softened from the reunion that she just saw as well as the fact that finally Cora would be where she belonged.

Laura and Derek were on each side of Cora, holding each of her hands. Stiles, Erica, Isaac, and Boyd followed close behind them but stayed close enough so that they could focus on each other. Alpha Flores, her daughter, and right hand brought up the rear.

Cora led her sister and brother into the building which was basically one large room with a large kitchen in one back corner, a pile of blankets and mattresses across from it, presumably for puppy piles and pack bonding, there was also a good section of wall that had books. Another corner had electronics, with two tv’s and gaming systems, as well a bookshelf full of video games and movies. In the middle of the room was pool, ping pong, and foosball tables, as well as lots of chairs and several couches spread throughout the room.

“Damn,” Erica whispered.

“Yeah,” Stiles murmured back, “this is one sweet set up.”

Cora immediately went toward a coach, pulling Laura down on one side of her and Derek down on the other. Stiles, Erica, and Isaac chose a couch not too far from them, with Boyd standing protectively behind them, uneasy in another pack’s territory for the first time.

“I can’t believe that you guys are alive,” Cora said in awe and shock. “For so long I thought that I was the only one that survived.”

“No,” Derek murmured, nuzzling closer. “Me and Laura weren’t home when the fire started. I had a basketball game and Laura was hanging out with some friends.”

“Peter survived as well,” Laura added hesitantly, “But he was in a coma until recently. When he woke up he was feral, and he had to be killed.” Cora caught the look that Laura sent Derek, so she leaned in closer to him.

“I heard that you didn’t return to Beacon Hills until recently?” Cora asked.

Laura nodded. “We fled to New York, worried about other hunters as well as not really being able to stay in the town so soon after… everything.”

“Why did you eventually return?”

“I got a message about someone trying to take over the territory,” Laura gaze flicked over to Derek’s, silently asking if she should tell her about everything that had happened since her return to Beacon Hills. After a moment, Derek gaze a jerky nod.

Slowly, Laura started to explain. “When I got back, at first I didn’t know that Peter had woken up. Once I did though, I didn’t realize how far gone he was, not that that was surprising, the last thing he remembered was burning alive and his alpha pack mates dying. He lashed out at me, killing me and stole the alpha powers.”

That caused Cora to jerk up. “He- You- but-”

Laura just sent her a cheeky smile and shook her head, “It didn’t stick,” which caused Cora to snort out a laugh. “He then went on a killing spree, killing anyone involved with the fire. The last person he killed was Kate Argent, who orchestrated the whole thing,” Laura sent another look at Derek, and after a moment he nodded. “She had seduced an underage member of the pack, tricking them into thinking that she loved him and revealing information. Though,” Laura stressed, looking straight into Derek’s eyes, “she would have found a way to accomplish her goal even without seducing a child, who was in no way at fault.” Cora, catching on to what was happening, made a wounded sound and then wrapped Derek up in a crushing hug, whispering ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘It’s not your fault.’ Derek let out such a sad and broken whimper when she did, Laura leaning over to join the hug and whispering the same kinds of things.

After a moment to simply comfort Derek and make sure he knew they didn’t blame him, they took another moment to compose themselves before Laura continued. “Peter also turned one boy before Derek killed him. He also bit a girl, who didn’t turn because she’s a banshee,” Cora made a curious noise at that, “and implanting instructions on how to resurrect him. Derek killed Peter, taking the alpha power and then turned four people and they and to deal with one turning into a kanima and being controlled to kill people, as well as Gerard Argent, Kate’s father, coming back and looking for revenge. After I ‘intercepted’ the transport back through the banshee, Derek gave me his alpha power, and I killed Gerard. We also called in the Hunters Council to deal with Allison Argent, Kate’s niece, and the two ‘wolves and banshee that she was controlling, who are ‘mentoring’ under another alpha per their sentence.”

“Jesus,” Cora muttered. “When did Beacon Hills turn into a supernatural drama tv show?”

Derek snorted, “Seriously. But what about you, Cora?” Derek asked, looking intently at his little sister, “how’d you end up here? How have you been? You’ve grown up so much since the last time I saw you.”

Cora snorted at that. “Yeah, I’m definitely no kid anymore. Though to be honest, I haven’t been a kid since the fire.” Laura and Derek knew exactly what she meant. “And to answer how I got here, the night of the fire we were playing hide and seek and I hid outside. The next thing I knew, the house was on fire and the pack bonds were snapping. I was hidden in the forest, just in shock, numb and in so much pain at the same time. By the time I came back to myself, everyone was dead and I could smell hunters. I just started running, just running and running, and I didn’t really stop until I made it here, exhausted and more wolf than human, and Alpha Flores found me. She helped me, taught me all that I needed to know and let me heal, slow as it was.”

Laura and Derek cuddled in closer. “I’m sorry that we only just found you. If we had any idea that you were still we wouldn’t have stopped until we found you.” Derek made a noise of agreement.

Cora gave them a small smile. “I know. I would have done the same for you.” Cora face morphed into one of determination and fierceness. “But we’re together now and I won’t let either of you go. There’s a Hale alpha back in our ancestral territory and we’ll build our pack up. Make ourselves as strong as the pack was when Mom was alpha.”

Laura sent her a smile with more teeth than necessary. “I like the way you think, baby sister. But speaking of pack,” Laura’s gaze flicked over to her beta’s on a nearby couch, “there’s some people that I’d like you to meet.”