Chapter Text
For once, the pups were playing inside--which meant the adults of the Hale house had escaped outside for some semblance of privacy. Peter wasn’t quite sure what the point of it was, since he could clearly hear the movie playing in the living room and he knew Talia could, too. Sometimes he was jealous of his husband...he could just leave the room and not have to listen to the constant Disney songs that were blasting from their television. Peter felt like he couldn’t get away from them.
“Chris, you’ll come with me to meet with Satomi on Saturday?” Talia asked in a voice that made it clear she wasn’t really giving him a choice. Peter was glad that Christopher was her Right Hand instead of him, because it meant that he had to accompany her much more often. Peter was usually only forced to go to the meetings when they were with packs who did not have peace agreements with the Hales.
“Of course,” Christopher agreed easily. Peter loved how seriously the man took his role in their pack. Something about the way his face and posture always became so professional and his voice hardened just slightly to convey that he wasn't someone to be messed with was just...it was sexy as hell. When they were teenagers, Peter called it his 'sexy badass hunter' mode and it accounted for a very large portion of the reason Peter threw caution to the wind and fell in love with him. Well, that and the mate bond. “I think Noah said something about coming over, so he and Peter can manage to keep the pups from killing each other for the day.”
“You have too much faith in Noah and I,” Peter said, absentmindedly tapping his fingers on his thighs as he mimicked the piano notes to the Beauty and the Beast song he could hear playing in the living room. He had to admit, out of all of the songs Allison asked (forced) him to learn, that was his favorite.
Christopher rolled his eyes at him, which caused him to smile lightly. He loved seeing Christopher pick his mannerisms up--especially ones he always razzed him about doing.
"I need to go to the grocery store," Talia said, looking at the watch on her wrist.
"Oh, I actually need to get some things, too. Could I accompany you?" Christopher asked her.
"You're always welcome on my shopping trips."
Peter would never understand how Christopher was able to handle being around Talia. He was pretty sure he hadn't voluntarily spent time with his sister since he was about six and realized that she was the most annoying, self-involved, egotistical person he had ever met--and that was coming from him. It had to mean something awful if Peter Hale thought it was bad. He had never been a huge fan of his sister and the two of them had been at each other's throats since Peter learned to speak. It all got so much worse when she was appointed as Alpha, because not only was did he think she was the last person to be in charge of a pack, but he actually had to give her the respect of being his alpha. It was much easier for Christopher to just deal with her instead.
Christopher had similar thoughts about her, though, so that should have meant even more. He was married to Peter and he thought she was worse. Christopher's problems with her were less about her personality, though, and more about disliking her as an alpha...or a mother, for that matter. He and Peter had practically raised Derek and Cora after Talia decided to put all of her love and attention into Laura as the next heir. It was ridiculous and the topic of many late night drunken rants.
Peter’s attention snapped to the woods as he heard the rustling of two people coming towards the house. He listened for a moment, trying to decipher if it was a potential threat, then relaxed as he recognized the familiar sound of Derek’s dragging feet and the sharp tapping of Laura’s nails against her phone screen.
Relief washed through him at the realization that there had been no phone calls home and Derek had gotten through his first day of public school without any principal's office level issues. He and Chris had been more than a little worried about sending him, due to his lack of control and overall aloofness, but Talia had insisted that sixth grade was when the pups needed to get into the real world. Home schooling could only last so long.
Laura emerged from the trees without looking up from her phone and Derek trudged behind with his hood over his head and his hands in the pockets of his red zip-up sweatshirt. It was several sizes too large for him, but Peter knew that he liked the way it allowed him to hide. He was rarely seen outside without it since he and Christopher had given it to him the previous Christmas.
Before Peter even had the chance to make a move to greet them, a blur raced past him from within the house. Laura side-stepped to avoid getting trampled, allowing Stiles to leap into the air towards Derek, who quickly yanked his hands free and caught him. The force sent the older boy stumbling back a couple of steps, but he regained his balance quickly. Peter watched interestedly as Stiles tilted his head to the side and Derek immediately ran the corner of his mouth and his cheek down Stiles’ neck twice, before setting him down. It only lasted a moment and Peter wouldn’t have even noticed had he not been paying such close attention.
Had Derek always scented Stiles that way? Peter knew it was common to scent pack members--especially pups--but he had only ever seen his nephew do it a few times in his life. Specifically, twice to Cora, once to Malia, and once to Peter himself...all of which were in response to being scented. He had never seen him scent someone first .
Scenting was often used as a greeting between pack members, but it wasn’t something done just for the hell of it. It meant that you cared about the person and you were claiming them as yours by making them smell like you. Derek was claiming Stiles so casually, it was as if it wasn't even a big deal.
“I started first grade today, Der!” Stiles exclaimed. Derek tried to take a step back in an attempt to regain some personal space, but Stiles reached forward and grabbed onto the white strings of the sweatshirt to hold him close. “And you went to school for the first time! Did you have so much fun? I had so much fun!”
“Not really,” Derek answered.
“What happened?”
“Lotta people.”
“They were mean to you?”
Derek shook his head. “They talked to me.”
“Oh, Derek!” Stiles giggled as he tied the strings into a knot. “They were trying to be your friend, probably.”
“Don’t want friends.”
“I’m your friend,” Stiles countered.
“You’re different.”
“I met a boy named Scott and he was really nice...his jaw looked kinda funny, but I didn’t tell him.”
Derek grunted in acknowledgement and allowed Stiles to lead him towards the porch by holding onto the knotted strings like a leash as they walked. Peter wondered how Derek seemed completely fine by this--he would have been bothered at being pulled around that way.
“You can’t be grumpy all the time, Der,” Stiles told him.
“Watch me,” Derek said, a hint of a smile playing at his lips.
They made it to the porch and Derek looked over at his uncle, his smile disappearing off his face instantly as he seemed to notice his presence. Peter tried not to feel offended, since he knew it was likely just because he didn't appreciate being sneaked up on. Not that Peter was hiding or anything...Derek was just oblivious around Stiles, which probably wasn’t good. He had the habit of blocking everything else around him out whenever the younger boy spoke to him.
“How was school?” Peter asked him.
Just because he had been eavesdropping and had already heard that school was not Derek's favorite, he fully intended to act like he wasn't listening. That was rude, even in werewolf culture.
“Fine.” Derek shrugged. He swatted at Stiles' hands lightly and the boy let go of his strings.
“No problems?”
“No.”
“Okay, good.” He smiled at him. “I think there’s cheese and crackers on the table, if the pups haven’t devoured them yet.”
Derek nodded and watched as Stiles ran into the house. “Thanks, Uncle Peter. I’ll go look.”
Peter reached out and ran his hand through Derek’s hair, which he leaned into for a few seconds, before inching away. Derek was always that way. He was affectionate, but in moderation. Peter was rather surprised by how long Derek had allowed Stiles to hold onto him. He watched the young werewolf hurry into the house, once again being left outside alone.
It had been nearly six months since Christopher had made his world-changing claim that he believed Derek and Stiles were mates and Peter hadn’t meddled at all. Before now, he didn’t eavesdrop on their conversations or stare as they interacted or anything , and he was genuinely impressed with himself.
He lasted almost half a year before deciding that he just couldn’t hold his curiosity off anymore. Because Derek had scented Stiles so casually that it was making Peter wonder just how long it had been going on. How many times had Derek claimed Stiles without Peter noticing? He was around his godson all the time --in all honestly, he was probably closer to Stiles than most of his pack-- so how had he never smelled it? How had he just missed Derek’s scent on him?
He wanted to think that maybe this was an uncommon occurrence between them, but Stiles tilted his head for him. He expected to be scented. Perhaps he was just used to the girls doing it, but Derek didn’t even hesitate. It seemed as if it were second nature.
Now Peter was curious, which meant his six months was for nothing. But damn it, he was going to find out if Chris and Laura were right about their theory of Stiles being Derek’s mate.