Chapter Text
The day Scott didn’t come back to the loft was the day that sealed the fate of the pack. It had been several hours without any news from him. He had left to get food for everyone, then nothing. It didn't take hours to get Chinese after all. No calls, no yelling to warn the rest of the pack, nothing. That same day was the start of Stiles' relentless pursuit for his best friend, despite the protests from a certain person who insisted on waiting, and that there was no reason to worry.
"It's Scott, I'm sure he's fine, he's an alpha. The strongest of us,” Derek had insisted. His hand on the emissary’s shoulder tightened after he said so. He himself doubted the truth of his words, he just wanted to reassure his mate. And then, when he went to check the Chinese restaurant, he couldn't find Scott. The employee had confirmed to him that a young man with tanned skin and crooked jaw had come to order for a dozen people almost four hours ago.
"Derek." The human put his hand on his, still on his shoulder, and gently took it off. Caressing the skin now at his reach, the druid raised his golden eyes to plunge them into those of the wolf. "I have a bad feeling. I know you have one too.” He kissed each of his fingers before letting go of the hand, the cold filling the distance that separated them the most the druid was walking away. “I'll bring him back. Wait for me here. If I don't come back within 12 hours well ... well ... "
The young man thought for a moment, picking up his magic powder jars that only he knew how to use. Motionless, he was looking for the right words.
"Stiles," Derek walked over to him again. The emissary still didn't move, his lips silently mumbling the choices available to him in the lexicon of words in English. "It's not a good idea. Who knows, Scott may be coming through that door in the next few seconds.”
Stopping to mumble, Stiles tilted his body to the side to stare at the door that was behind the wolf for several seconds. It remained closed, which answered Derek's concerns in the negative. Stiles pointed to the closed door with a raised eyebrow before returning his attention to what he was doing.
"We have no proof he’s missing!"
"He's not answering his phone, and I can't locate him, something’s wrong. It’s probably even serious.” Seeing the wolf’s expression getting even more worried, the human quickly rectified himself. “Or it's nothing! Probably nothing at all, so no need to come, I can go alone.” Then he finally found the sentence he wanted so much to say by suddenly snapping his fingers. The sound echoed in the empty loft. "AH! If I don't come back in 12 hours, gather the pack and come and save me!” Without giving his lover time to answer, Stiles left a kiss so fast on Derek's lips that he only felt a slight blow of wind. And like that, Stiles was gone.
---
Derek was right to worry.
Less than an hour had passed since Stiles left when the large doors of the loft opened, leaving a long, unpleasant creak that echoed too long in the large room. Since the pack meeting was done a long time ago, only Derek and Peter remained in the loft, the latter probably dozing upstairs. Derek turned to the door as soon as he heard it start to move, the hope of seeing his mate already back invading his mind. But he didn’t need to see the person on the other side to know the worst had happened.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Scott walked into the loft after closing the door, many paper bags in his hands, probably from the restaurant. The young wolf was intact, without a scratch, and had no idea what disaster he had just set foot in.
Furious, and above all worried, Derek rushed towards Scott who made a backward movement when seeing him. His red eyes glowed furiously. "Where were you, damn it!"
Caught off guard, the young man placed the bags on the table before raising his hands in innocence.
“I went buying the food, remember?” Seeing that the alpha expression still didn't change, Scott began to worry. "Where did everyone go?"
"The meeting has been over for hours, and you ... you were ..."
“For hours? I left just 15 minutes ago! ”
The supernatural tint left the pupils of the alpha as he tried to understand. Scott was not lying, otherwise he would have heard. The young wolf was convinced that he had only been gone for about 15 minutes. Something was wrong. Because Scott was anything but stupid enough to mix up minutes and hours.
"Do you remember if you came across someone suspicious?" Derek asked as he approached the bags of food that was still waiting on the table, looking in it quickly. The food was cold.
"No I don't think so ... Why are you asking? What's going on?” When Derek didn't answer, Scott started to get impatient. "Derek!"
But the alpha was no longer listening, he was on his phone and had already dialed the hyperactive teenager's number and placed the handset on his ear. He fell on his voicemail.
"Derek?"
Pacing back and forth, the alpha started again and again, and always came across the same pre-recorded message. Hi, this is Stiles, and you missed me.
"What's happening?"
Scott was now in front of Derek, immobilizing him instantly. The young alpha had his eyes glowing red, the concern starting to make its way into his body as well. Derek had to resolve, from alpha to alpha, from friend to friend, he owed him the truth. It was with anxiety that he didn't know he had that he murmured painfully the words he would have liked never to have said in his life.
"It’s Stiles. He’s missing."
---
The emissary had been missing for a week. A pack meeting took place almost every night at Derek's so that everyone could say what they had discovered, or what they were working on. A week later, and no one had found any clues.
"We have no evidence he’s missing," Malia finally murmured that evening, actually saying out loud what everyone was thinking. Stiles had left searching for Scott and had never given any news. But to think that someone kidnapped him and wanted to hurt him was having trouble making its way into the minds of the pack members.
It had to be said, it was a quite complicated pack, since it contained two alphas as members. Derek wanted his own pack with his mate, but Stiles was Scott's emissary. Even if the human was Derek’s mate, he couldn’t bring himself to choose between his best friend, and his mate, so he himself chose to simply be everyone’s emissary. An intelligent choice, since he was the only one capable of reigning harmony and friendship between everyone. It was the anchor of the packs. And without him, it was like everyone got lost.
"He never gave any news," Derek was getting impatient. His other half was gone, and all they could do was complaining. Stiles may have been injured, or even dead, for God’s sake!
"Yes, and it's suspicious. You know Stiles, he's the first to text us when he does something. He even texts us when he's doing laundry,” Liam commented, rubbing his chin, thoughtfully, a small smile appeared on his lips at the thought of the strange texts of his clumsy friend.
"And then there’s my memory lost..." Scott murmured. "As if someone wanted Stiles to go looking for me, making me a bait... to keep him away..."
"But why take so much risk and make it difficult just to have Stiles?" Lydia added, staring at an invisible point in front of her, probably listening to voices in the hope of getting some clue.
“We already know all that!” Derek got angry, slamming his fist on the table. Everything on it started shaking, and a crack appeared on the wood. “We are no closer to finding Stiles…”
Scott knew how much Stiles meant to Derek. Losing your mate wasn’t only painful, but it was unbearable. He knew it. He had been in pain every day since Allison died. And he refused to let Derek experience this pain as well. And then, he owed it to his best friend.
"Leave us," the young alpha ordered his pack. “Continue your research, we'll meet again tomorrow.” Without arguing, everyone left the loft, leaving only the two alphas in the large room. The silence was all the more painful. Stiles was the one who always filled it. "Do it."
“Do what?” Derek turned to Scott, his expression of anger disappearing when he saw the young wolf. It was a huge favor he did to him. Hands flat on the table, Scott's head was bent, exposing his neck. For an alpha, it was the most humiliating sign of submission there was. Derek didn't need an explanation to understand. "Are you sure?"
“Stiles has been missing for long enough. Just… Promise me.” Derek nodded, hope finally dawning in him. “No matter what you see. Bring him back. Whatever it takes.” Looking up, Scott lit his red eyes. He was as angry and determined as Derek. The older of the two returned his gaze and approached. As soon as he was positioned behind Scott, he pulled out his claws and didn’t hesitate for a second before planting them in the young wolf's neck. He tensed up, the pain more intense than he remembered. Derek's eyes suddenly lit up as Scott's memories spilled into his head. Derek didn't have to search long to find the memory grossly erased.
"Yes, then, I would like two Thai chicken, one vegetarian, one super spicy ..." A piece of paper was in the person's hands. Derek saw through Scott's eyes like a first-person video game. On the sheet was written what each member of the pack wanted to get at the restaurant. Then, as if Scott's eyes were a camera, he looked up and looked at the cashier. He seemed to be deeply bored and listened to the order with a distracted ear. Scott finished, paid for the meals, and left the restaurant. It was still clear outside.
"Psst."
Scott turned his head to the left, where his werewolf ears had picked up a sound. It was a dark alley, too dark for the clear weather. That must have been what troubled Scott enough for him to let his guard down and walk toward the alley.
"Who’s there?"
"Psst, over here, Scott."
The voice was familiar to Scott and it was familiar to Derek. He would have sworn it was the voice of ...
"Allison?"
It didn't take more for Scott’s usual caution to disappear. The voice of the deceased girl had awakened something in him, an imprudence that he hadn’t had for a very long time. Scott ventured into the darkness of the street, following the voice. Then, as suddenly as it had started, it disappeared, engulfed him in silence. The darkness surrounding Scott disappeared when he used his wolf eyes to see in the dark, illuminating the image as if he had turned on the light in a dark wardrobe, finally allowing him to see what was in front of him .
And what Derek saw was so terrifying he suddenly pulled his claws from Scott's neck and took a few steps back. The young wolf let out a sigh of pain and placed his hand on his neck before turning to Derek.
"So? What did you see?” He hastened to ask. But soon, the hope that the sacrifice and the pain was worth it was dashed when he saw the expression his friend had. His eyes were wide open, his face pale, unable to speak, in shock. “Derek?” Scott approached cautiously.
"It's impossible...."
"What’s impossible? Derek!” Scott put his hand on his shoulder, trying to bring his attention back to him no matter where it was. Derek frowned before placing his eyes on Scott's. And the fear he saw there was so strong Scott felt his legs shake.
"Allison ..."
"What?" Scott stepped back, shocked to hear the name of his first love come out of Derek's mouth. Especially since it had no connection with the current situation. "What do you mean… Allison, you… You saw her?” No answer from Derek. But yet, it answered Scott anyway. “She’s...It’s impossible ... She’s ..." He couldn't finish his sentence, the mourning still too painful for him to be able to speak reality out loud.
"I know, she's dead," Derek continued, swallowing hard, swallowing the words he was about to speak with difficulty. "Yes, she was too ... She was ... It was ..."
"What? What was she?” Scott grew impatient, all the buried pain coming back stronger than ever. He could literally feel his heart hurt with each beat
"... Decaying ..."