Work Text:
1-
Scott was feeling bad because, really, he had started this thing. But what could he do? When Deucalion left Beacon Hills, he knew better than to hope it was over and preferred to keep tabs on him, and started an e-mail correspondence with the Alpha.
It was good, because Deucalion was experienced and sometimes gave him tips on being an Alpha; and even if Scott didn’t really want to be this kind of Alpha, knowledge is knowledge, as Stiles often says, and it was still good to know where Deucalion was and what he was up to.
Except that this time, Deucalion was planning on training emissaries, a lot of them, to sell them to other packs afterwards and create powerful alliances. Not that Scott was opposed to this plan, it was clever and also a lot more peaceful than the crap Deucalion once pulled on them, but the guy was asking about Stiles.
Yeah, Stiles once kinda manipulated mountain ash, but was it enough to start training him as an emissary?
Scott was sure it was Deaton who told Deucalion about Stiles’ abilities, and really the guy had the worst timing ever to start spilling secrets around, he thought, contemplating the e-mail still open on his laptop. He wasn’t able to focus on the issue with his pack obliviously chatting all around him, happiness radiating from them- and he really wanted to get his answer over with to join them and watch the last Marvel movie.
So he had to find quickly a diplomatic answer to tell Deucalion that Stiles wasn’t available, and Derek was eating pizza with Stiles in the kitchen at the same moment, so it wasn’t his fault if the only excuse he was able to come up with was “I’m sure he would be thrilled to become an emissary, but he is newly mated to Derek and we can’t really put them apart right now”.
So yeah, he felt a bit guilty to use Derek as an excuse, but he needed his best friend, and Deucalion was so far away that he wouldn’t even think of checking if the McCall pack was telling him the truth, so he just sent the e-mail. What Derek and Stiles didn’t know couldn’t hurt them, and Scott had to protect his pack members.
He got up to get a slice of pizza before the newly fake-mated pair ate it all.
2-
So maybe he didn’t count on Deucalion being so proud of his relationship with a True Alpha that he was telling all about the McCall pack to his new customers. It was a good selling speech, Deucalion explained later, to say that he was buddy with a True Alpha who even had a Mated Pair in his pack, and it helped a lot to gain the trust of foreign packs when he wanted to convince them that his emissaries were reliable.
Scott received e-mails from packs all around the world, asking to meet him, for advice, or just to make a peace treaty with them. It was all good, the Alphas were all very respectful and wanted nothing more than to please a True Alpha, but they were all a little bit too much interested in the Mated Pair.
Apparently it was a pretty rare thing, and combined with his True Alpha status, it brought a lot of attention to Beacon Hills.
But he was dealing with it graciously- it was his lie, and he was going to assume the responsibility, even if it means that he had to create a whole romantic story to tell when he was asked how they met, how they decided to mate and were they going to have babies?
He tried to stick to the truth as much as possible, and it wasn’t really difficult because Stiles and Derek really had an interesting relationship. For example, Derek still had issues with physical contact, but Stiles had apparently found a way to be the exception to the no-touching rule. Scott’s heart was melting every time Stiles put a comforting hand on the Beta: the scene was too cute for words, the human protecting the werewolf, the pack being united, his best friend being useful.
Scott loved to tell this kind of stories in his e-mails to the foreign packs, who all loved to read the anecdotes about the Mated Pair.
The thing is, they were really fond of them, and a memorable day when Scott told them how Derek went to five pizzerias to find the one Stiles wanted, the one with the pineapple (and really, they were disgusting sometimes), they asked for pictures of the couple.
It was an innocent thing to ask for; Scott had already sent some pictures of him and the pack when he first started the e-mail thing with the friendliest packs, so he couldn’t refuse without it being weird.
He was sure it was going to be difficult to take pictures of them looking like a couple, because even if Stiles was allowed to touch Derek, they weren’t exactly the cuddly type, but he had a plan. He invited the whole pack for a monopoly night to lure them in the same place, hid some chairs, prepared wolfsbane-spiked drinks, and told them that he wanted to take some pics during the night to make an album dedicated to their pack.
It was the best strategy ever.
Except that Allison decided to sit on Isaac’s lap when they realized they were a chair short.
And when he suggested playing in pairs, Lydia declared that she wanted Stiles in her team.
It was a disaster. Allison and Isaac were too busy seducing the hell out of each other to pay attention to the game, Lydia and Stiles were playing dirty and Derek was cranky because he was losing (who knew the guy was so passionate about monopoly?).
But Scott was nothing but resourceful, so he asked Stiles and Derek to go get them something to eat, and fortunately they started arguing in the kitchen (something about werewolf senses and knowing that Stiles was cheating), and as soon as Stiles was pinned against the wall by a murderous Beta, Scott took discreetly a picture.
He was feeling bad about doing this.
But all the guilt was forgotten when he saw the surprisingly erotic result. It looked like a very hot session of dry-humping, or at least some serious foreplay- the Alpha of the New York pack was going to love it.
3-
It was starting to get out of hand when Cora contacted him to see if she could come to his house for Christmas, to let Stiles and Derek alone together at the loft. She sounded amused, even if it was her new Alpha who had told her the news and not her big brother, because she always thought that something was up with these two, and “I swear, Scott, even Peter asked me once if Stilinski wanted a piece of Derek’s ass, because he was always asking questions about him and his past.”
Scott told her she would always be welcome in his house and blessed his best friend’s curiosity for making his lie a credible one.
He then started to freak out because Cora was coming and she was going to see them interact and she was going to see right through his lie.
He was the worst Alpha ever, but the other packs loved Stiles and Derek so much now, they even send presents to the pack, and some very useful emissary stuff for Stiles because he wasn’t able to train with Deucalion, being recently mated and all.
Scott was grateful for the expensive herbs, the wards, and all the amulets. Scott wanted his new allies to like his pack.
Scott really wanted Cora to believe in the true love even he was begin to see when he was looking at his two packmates.
It was important. Cora’s Alpha was one of the most fond of the little everyday stories he was telling them about Stiles and Derek (it wasn’t his fault if Derek took the habit of walking a step behind Stiles to catch him when his unbalanced body decided to fail him, or if Stiles gave Derek his mom’s plaid to put on the couch of the loft to bring something that didn’t look “dark and creepy” in it).
And Cora’s Alpha was also on the verge of introducing him to some Fairies. He just couldn’t risk losing that occasion.
So he bugged Stiles again and again with Christmas, rambling about Derek’s dead family, pointing that the Sheriff would be at the station that night, and wouldn’t it be very good of Stiles to stay at Derek’s for the occasion?
One day, as they were playing video games, Stiles argued:
“But Derek only have his crappy couch, and just sitting on it gives me back pain!”
“Then maybe you can share the bed?”
Stiles looked at him like he had lost his mind or given his brain to eat to a zombie. He needed more arguments.
“And this is a very large bed, I’m sure you can fit at least four people in it”, he added.
On the screen, a shark ate Stile’s head.
“I don’t mind, but I’m not sure Derek would allow me to put my scent all over his sheets.”
“I’ll talk to him, I’m sure he’ll be OK with your scent as long as you take a shower before”, he assured, and Stiles blushed.
“I’m not taking a shower at Derek’s!”
“Then don’t complain if he decides to shower you himself because you stink”.
Stiles didn’t talk for a long time after that.
~
“You know his father won’t be here for Christmas, and he always gets a bit depressed during the holidays, because of his mom…”
Derek shifted, looking uneasy.
“You wouldn’t let him alone? You know more than anyone how hard it can be… To deal with that.”
“You think it could help him?”
Derek really looked concerned.
Scott nodded seriously.
When Cora came, it was all settled.
(They exchanged presents; Derek offered a lot more to Stiles because he was worried about him feeling lonely, and Stiles sat on the love sit next to him all night with a hand on his thigh to show his support. Cora looked at them fondly when they left to sleep at Derek’s. A week later, Cora’s Alpha was giving Scott the phone number of a fairy.)
4-
After that, it became a habit to see Stiles leaving pack meetings to sleep at the loft. Derek was even more relaxed around him, and the love sit was now theirs; even Allison and Isaac had never tried to sit on it since, not even once.
Scott tried not to preen when he smelled Stiles all over Derek’s loft, or when he came at school smelling like he had been cuddled by the werewolf all night long.
Their weird relationship was even weirder now. Stiles changed his deodorant because the smell bothered Derek- they even chose the new one together. Derek’s kitchen was full of junk food Scott knew the Beta would never eat.
All his instincts as an Alpha were pleased with the change. He loved to see his packmates taking care of each other.
Things were good, and his pack was well established, with powerful allies now that he had bonded over e-mails with other packs around Beacon Hills- until the fairy decided to come unexpectedly.
They were all training in the woods, Isaac fighting with Derek, Stiles doing his homework, Lydia and Allison taking bets on who would win, when she appeared out of the blue.
Scott knew who she was- they skyped once, so he just waved at her, but when he looked back at his pack, Allison had an arrow pointed at the fairy, Isaac was hiding behind him, Lydia seemed ready to run and Derek was crouched protectively in front of Stiles.
“Alpha”, she saluted him with a nod, ignoring the hostility of the pack.
“Konde”, he responded. “Guys, this is the fairy I told you about…”
They relaxed a bit and a smile played on Konde’s lips as she looked more attentively at Allison.
“I see the rumors are true, you really have a hunter in your pack”.
Scott tried to decipher if it was a good thing or not, but her tone was neutral. Allison held her eyes and the fairy seemed pleased, looking at Lydia.
“And a banshee”. This time, she clearly seemed impressed. Lydia offered her one of her seducing smiles.
“Your wolves are really beautiful, too”, she offered graciously, and Stiles got up and put a hand on Derek’s shoulder; that made her laugh. “Don’t worry, Spark, I won’t try to steal your wolf”, she winked.
Stiles removed his hand vivaciously, as if only noticing were it was, and mumbled:
“I wasn’t worried”.
All the wolves heard the lie and Derek’s face softened.
“Maybe we can take it to my place?”, Scott proposed, trying to be polite, and the fairy agreed:
“I’ll meet you there”.
He didn’t ask how she knew where he lived and they all walked back to his house, Lydia listing the questions she wanted to ask the fairy, Allison complaining that the bestiary never described the Fairies like that and that she’d need to update it.
The walk back was entertaining and Scott was ready for the meeting when they arrived.
The fairy was already settled on the couch and watched them sit, Scott carefully choosing the bigger armchair to show his position but still smiled warmly at her when she told him that his house was lovely.
They made some small talk, but soon Lydia lost patience and asked her about the hierarchy in fairy courts, and Allison if they could take different forms because “in my bestiary, they say your skin should be blue…”
Konde didn’t take offence and answered politely, before asking Scott all about True Alphas: how did he became one, what triggered it, what kind of power was that?
He tried to answer as best as he could. Isaac was quiet but looking at him proudly and it was a really good support.
She then oriented the conversation to Stiles and his Spark, and Derek tensed visibly on the love sit.
“I don’t really think about it, I just use mountain ash from time to time”, Stiles told her honestly.
“But there is potential for much more. We fairies are really interested in all magic things, we could teach you a lot.”
Derek’s eyes flashed but he calmed down as Stiles took his hand in his.
“I’m happy as I am, I don’t want power.”
Scott didn’t hear a lie, and Stiles had answered calmly, but he heard Derek’s heart beating strongly in his chest and saw his grip on Stile’s hand, solid, firm. He realized that he didn’t need to ask them to fake. They looked exactly like a mating pair.
He wondered briefly when it had started, and if they were even aware of that, before reporting his attention to Konde- after all, she was offering to put some protections around Beacon Hills instead of training Stiles, and it wasn’t the kind of peace offering you can refuse.
5-
In January, Trolls attacked them. In took them a whole month to get rid of these things, and Scott was relieved they didn’t have to call for his allies, because it was beginning to be fucking stressful to tell them all about Stiles and Derek, knowing that they still hadn’t realized the obvious feelings they had developed for each other.
February came, and in one of the e-mails from the New York pack’s Alpha, she asked him what the Mated Pair had planned to do for Valentine’s day.
This fake relationship was going to kill him. At this point, he was considering writing books about Stiles and Derek. It would be a best-seller and he wouldn’t have to work ever again.
He was also feeling bad for his best friend. The guy was spending at least two nights a week at Derek's, was cuddling with him at every pack night. Derek even finger-fed him pizza the other day because Stile’s hands were covered in sugar from the pop-corn he ate earlier and he didn’t want to mix sugar and salt in his mouth.
Even Isaac and Allison were starting to look like platonic buddies compared to them, and they still didn’t seem to be conscious of the fact that they were acting like a couple.
Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing that Valentine’s Day was coming soon; maybe Scott should help them get together once and for all.
He wanted to go on holidays with the pack in Hawaii, and another pack was ready to receive them there, but they just couldn’t go if Stiles and Derek hadn’t got their heads out of their asses. He needed to present a mated pair to this pack, so he was going to organize an amazing Valentine’s Day for his packmates and go in Hawaii this summer. His little Alpha heart was fluttering just thinking about it.
Calling Lydia was the thing to do. She answered her phone with a bored tone.
“I need your help.”
“Scott, I swear, if the trolls are back…”
“It’s for Valentine’s Day”, he cut her.
“Scott, I won’t go on a pity date with you. You’re a great Alpha and all, but…”
“I need to know which is the most romantic restaurant in town to book a table for Stiles and Derek.”
“Thank god”, she whispered. “The sexual tension is killing me. Derek had the most obvious boner the other day when Stiles decided to scent mark him with his tongue to see if it really was a werewolf thing.”
Scott flinched at the memory. Stiles had really put his saliva all over Derek’s neck. He had a lot of admiration for Derek’s self control. Although this one time he suspected Stiles was doing this on purpose. Derek wasn’t the only one with a boner, if he remembered well.
He had to put a stop to it before they decided to bang on the kitchen table.
“So, your thoughts?”
“You can’t go wrong with Italian”.
“And if I tell them that we’re all going there, maybe you can call me with a car emergency so I can leave them alone?”
“Or what about you tell them that we really need them to spend the night alone and get their shit together?”
“I don’t know if it would work, isn’t it a bit blunt?”
“Scott. Be an Alpha. Take care of this problem.”
So Italian it was.
(The New York pack’s Alpha was thrilled about the idea of Italian. She asked if the Mating Pair ate their spaghettis like the dogs in Lady and the Tramp).
+1
Maybe it was the comparisons with Disney movies, but Scott was done with this lie. It was going too far, and he was ready to tell the other packs the truth.
So he invited Deucalion, who was the worst gossip ever, being in touch with everyone and all. He didn’t warn the pack- he wanted them to act normal so Deucalion would see that Stiles and Derek weren’t a mated pair, even if they were really close.
He had to come clean.
So he greeted Deucalion, thanked him for coming to visit an old friend, and told him that he was sorry his pack wasn’t home, but maybe they could go to Derek’s to see them?
Deucalion agreed.
Scott knew that Stiles was at Derek’s- he had told him they were working together on his Spanish because Lydia didn’t want to waste her time on Stiles’ poor linguistic skills.
He opened the door without knocking, and regretted his decision immediately.
Because there, in front of him, was Derek pressing Stiles against the wall- nothing new- in a definitely no threatening way –and that was new.
Deucalion looked at him like he was the stupidest Alpha for not knocking on a Mated Pair’s door, but on the bright side, his lie wasn’t really one anymore.
In front of them, lost in each other’s mouths, Stiles and Derek still hadn’t notice that they had company. He quietly closed the door.
They could still talk about it later.
Preferably in Hawaii.