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Peter knew about the witch in the woods, had seen him in both his little cabin and around town. He'd even talked to him the one time he'd come to the pack house to see Talia.
That had been a beautiful moment. He'd stared Talia down, calm as could be, and spoke to her like she was a child when she tried to tell him that he couldn't move into her territory.
The way he'd pointed out that not only had he grown up in Beacon Hills but that he was only telling her that he was a witch out of courtesy and not because he had to had sent shivers up Peter's spine.
He'd even offered to fix up the wards around the house because "Who ever had the nerve to add to the original wards is a hack."
Peter had practically swooned.
It didn't hurt that Stiles was lovely.
Unfortunately his first impression on Talia had left her hating him with a passion she usually reserved for PTA meetings. She'd seen the way Peter was looking at Stiles and had had the nerve to order Peter to stay away from him.
Peter had obeyed the letter of the law if not the spirit. Meaning he stalked Stiles shamelessly but never spoke to him again.
He supposed he should have put up a bigger fuss about the wards but now that the house was burned down to it's bones it was probably too late.
But not too late for Stiles to smugly tell Talia "I told you so."
Peter knew the only reason Talia was putting up with him at all was because she knew they'd all be dead if he hadn't intervened.
All the dead hunters almost pushed her over the edge but even she had to admit it was better they were dead than having them try to kill them all again.
Peter himself was furious he hadn't noticed anything coming for the pack. He should have seen that Derek was up to something when he got a secret new girlfriend he refused to introduce to anyone. Peter knew he should have spent less time stalking Stiles and more time keeping tabs on his pack members.
As it stood, Peter might have maybe a little bit fallen in love with Stiles when he'd dampened the flames with a single flick of the wrist.
He had to be more powerful than he'd originally let on to be able to do that and Peter was man enough to admit he was impressed.
Peter heard the soft whoop of sirens coming. The Beacon Hills fire department response time really needed work.
Stiles must have heard them too because he suddenly snapped his fingers and the bodies of the hunters disintegrated into dust.
Peter felt a breeze against his legs and the little piles of dust floated off into the darkness of the woods.
Peter was even more impressed by the display of competent body disposal.
Stiles turned to Talia with a sweet smile on his face. "I'll find you in a couple of days to discus my payment for saving your pack."
She snarled at him. "How dare you-"
Stiles didn't even let her finish. "If you'd listened to me in the first place you would still have a home, but no, I had to come down here and do what your emissary should have done." Stiles paused before he went for the kill. "Where is he by the way?"
Talia spluttered in indignation but Stiles didn't give her a change to give any excuses for Deaton. "Whatever, I'll talk to you later."
He turned and walked off into the woods without a backwards glace.
Derek was standing next to his mother, arms wrapped tightly around himself, no doubt in shock after seeing his girlfriend get murdered and turned into dust. And finding out she was a hunter that wanted to murder his whole pack.
"What do you think he'll want for payment?" Derek asked in a whisper.
With absolute confidence Talia said "Money."
Peter rolled his eyes so hard it hurt. "I'd be shocked if that's what he wanted."
Talia ignored him, turning instead to go talk to the firemen who had finally showed up.
While Peter couldn't guess at what exactly Stiles would want he was positive it wasn't money. If he was going to bet he would say it was to become Talia's emissary, if just for the extra power he would get from bonding with an alpha werewolf.
Not that Talia would accept.
No, she would make someone else in the pack pay the debt and Peter suspected the person pay would end up being Derek. But there was just one small problem with that. Talia would never sacrifice her baby boy, which mean that the person who would really end up paying would be Peter.
***
The pack had leased a house closer to town while they waited for the old house to get torn down and rebuilt.
It had only been a week of living in a smaller house and already Peter knew he'd go crazy if he had to share a room with his brother James for one more day.
The whole pack had had to double up in rooms and Peter knew the only way he'd get to sleep alone was if he moved out. The absolute terrible mood Talia was in was making the idea more and more appealing as the days passed.
Peter was tempted to go out to Stiles' cabin in the woods and drag the witch to Talia just to get it over with. Until Stiles asked for his payment Peter was stuck with the pack, not fully trusting either Stiles or Talia not to throw him under the bus when he wasn't there.
Finally Stiles showed up, he’d taken so long that the rest of the pack had actually started to get a little nervous and definitely fed up with Talia’s attitude.
Peter opened the door and Stiles smiled brightly at him. "Good afternoon, Peter." he said, looking pleased with himself for some reason.
"Stiles." Peter said coolly, stepping out of the doorway so the witch could come in.
Stiles walked past Peter and while he did he slid his fingertips against Peter's bicep.
Peter felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise and a shudder run up his spine.
Peter knew what magic felt like, knew what spells being cast on him felt like, and while Stiles hadn't used any magic on Peter he was spilling magic into the air around him, like he couldn't stop himself.
It made Peter want in a way he'd only ever wanted the power and strength that came with the alpha spark.
Suddenly the idea of Stiles swooping in to take Peter off into the woods with him didn't sound so bad. As long as it didn't end with Peter dead or maimed he thought that he might be okay with a mutually beneficial relationship with Stiles.
Talia came racing into the living room, Derek and half of the pack hot on her heels.
"I thought you had changed your mind." she said, sounding like she was trying to be in charge of the situation but it was obvious to Peter that Stiles would be making the choices over the next few minutes.
Stiles smiled sweetly at her. "I was giving you some time to get everything settled and your affairs in order."
Her expression quickly turned thunderous at the implication Stiles expected her to pay the price for saving the pack. "My affairs!" she practically shrieked and Peter fought an eye roll. She really wasn't handling the situation very well.
Derek, who had been terribly depressed and had spent the last week trying to avoid the whole pack straightened himself up and stepped in front of his mother. "It's... my fault the hunters got so close to us... you should take me..."
Stiles gave Derek a slow look up and down before snorting. "Yeah I don't think so." he said dismissively.
Talia, who seemed like she'd been about ready to grab Derek and make a run for it relaxed marginally and said "Well I have plenty of cash to pay you for your help."
Stiles smirked at her. "I don't want your money. I want a wolf."
Almost in unison the pack looked right at Peter.
Stiles though, Stiles kept staring at Talia. It was like he was waiting for her to do something.
"You want a member of my pack?" she asked, sounding strangled.
Stiles shrugged. "It's a fair trade. One pack member for the whole pack."
Talia licked her lips nervously. She looked at Peter.
He stared her down. He wanted to hear her say it before he volunteered.
Finally she said "Peter."
Stiles turned to look finally at Peter, a little smirk of what might have been triumph on his face.
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Peter sighed like he hadn't been expecting exactly what had happened to happen. "I'll get my bag."
He saw a little flash of surprise on Stiles' face before he walked past him to get to the stairs.
That was interesting, apparently Stiles' hadn't thought Peter would have been waiting for him.
It took him only a minute to grab his small pre-packed bag and the few belongings he had left.
No one said anything as he walked past them and out the front door, Stiles following right behind him.
He paused for a moment, not sure if he should get his car or not but Stiles walked right past him to lean against the passenger door of his bentley.
The drive to Stiles' cabin was quiet except for Stiles humming softly under his breath.
It was only as he parked in front of the cabin that he realized Stiles hadn't given him any directions which mean that now Stiles knew that Peter had already known where Stiles lived.
But Stiles didn't seemed phased in the least. Peter wondered if he'd already known.
They walked inside and Peter felt... calm. The whole place was soft and homey, and cozy.
Gently used furniture, thick rugs on the wooden floor, pleasant smell of plants in the air, and books stacked absolutely everywhere.
Peter's fingers almost burned with the need to put the books away in bookshelves.
"So!" Stiles said, clapping his hands together, startling Peter. "I'm sure you're wondering what I need a wolf for."
"To help you either center yourself while casting or to help add power to your spells." Peter said, voice confident even though that's what he was hoping Stiles wanted, and not a living sacrifice for some ritual. Or a never ending supply of ingredients. Peter knew he could live with a bit of bloodletting but he didn't want to have to find out if he could grow back appendages just so Stiles could use them for...something.
Stiles blinked at him for a moment before he grinned brightly. "Both, actually." he said, sounding pleased. "There's really only one tiny setback."
Peter fought back a sigh. But before he could get too worked up over what else Stiles needed, Stiles kept talking.
"My magic is most compatible with an alpha." He had a huge grin on his face, like he knew that that was exactly what Peter wanted.
Peter stared at him. That would be a truly wonderful form of compensation.
"You do realize that you would have to fill in for my pack if I became an alpha." Peter said, almost hesitant to talk Stiles out of the idea.
"Oh yes," Stiles said grin turning into a pleased smirk. "The pack bond is what would help me most with centering myself. See, if your sister hadn't been such a goddamn jerk about the whole thing I would have been totally fine just being a member of her pack but noooo." Stiles rolled his eyes and Peter felt himself start to smile back.
"You knew it would be me."
Stiles huffed. "Yeah, it was pretty obvious in the way the pack interacted with you. Besides," he paused and looked at Peter from under his lashes, his smile turning sly and sweet. "I specialize in sex magic and you were really the only member of the pack I could picture putting my hands on."
And well, Peter suspected he was about to become a very satisfied well kept alpha wolf.