Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Ready, Stiles? Did you forget anything?” the Sheriff called out as he moved the last box into the moving truck.

“ Me forget something? Ha! Good one oh father of mine, but I, the amazing Stiles ----“

“Forgot to pack his only pillow”, the Sheriff replied with a slight grin.

“If you must know, I was just testing your memory, old man. Besides, I was distracted because someone was trying to kill himself! ” Stiles called out with his arms resting on his waist and a slight pout on his lips.

“A slice of bacon will not kill me, Stiles,” the Sheriff said while rolling his eyes.

“It was two slices and you will be eating salads for the rest of the week!” replied Stiles with his tongue sticking out. While silently grumbling about over protective sons and nasty tasting salads, the Sheriff headed off to the car. After checking that he had everything, the Sheriff called Stiles to hurry up.

Stiles turn around and took one last look at the house he stayed at for the past 8 years. That’s all it was, a house. They ran away from their true home. Escaped the home covered with memories of Saturday mornings filled with pancakes and laughter in the air. Of rich, smooth jazz music filling the night as his parents danced and he watched enrapture by their love. Escaped the reality that his mom was no longer there to wipe away his tears and envelope him in her warm embrace. They tried to escape will all their might, to avoid the pain, to leave behind the tears. But, she never left their minds, the pain never left. Stiles gently shook himself out of his revere and got inside the car.

It’s been eight years, but finally he’s going back. Back to Beacon Hills, back to Derek.

Chapter Text

Within a blink of an eye, a week flied by before Stiles even noticed. Suddenly, it was that time of the year again, the dreaded first day of school.

“Stiles, are you ready? If you don’t leave soon, you’re going to be late,” the Sheriff called out from the kitchen.

“I’m coming! I’m coming,” yelled out Stiles as he yanked on his black skinny jeans and favorite red plaid shirt over his stud muffin t-shirt. Grabbing his backpack, Stiles raced down the stairs.

“Hey dad, are you dropping me off?”

“No, Stiles. I told you I have to get to the station early today. Can’t be late for my first day as Sheriff.”

“Righto – Daddio, but about that… You see that yellow spot waaaay over there. I think it might be a bit hard to catch it. Just sayin…” Stiles replied with an innocent look on his face.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I know my son so well. Look outside.” said the Sheriff with a slight smile tugging on his lips.

“You?! You didn’t!!” Stiles shot right out the door, almost falling flat on his face in his excitement. As he stepped outside, he paused in amazement. He was greeted with the most beautiful blue jeep sitting on the driveway.

“Is that? Roscoe?”

“Yeah, we were able to get her all fixed up. I know it’s been tough couple of years, kiddo. But, I’m – no we’re really proud of you,” said the Sheriff with misty eyes as he handed over the keys.

Stiles felt as if his heart was being squeezed within an inch of his life. Roscoe was more than just a jeep; it was his mom’s. That Jeep was by her side when she went to college, when she first met the handsome deputy who pulled her over, even when she brought home her precious kochanie. Stiles’ eyes watered lightly as he remembered how bright Claudia Stinlinski shined leaning against Roscoe. The sun stood no chance. It’s been eight years, but the mere mention of his mother brings back the pain, the yearning, and the love. Stiles ran back to his dad and hugged him tight. Stilinski men weren’t the most emotional type, but damn if their hugs weren’t the best.

As he released his dad, Stiles smiled and replied with a tight “Thanks dad.”

“Alright kiddo, now you got me all emotional. You’re going to be late. Get going. Also I will be home late today, so here’s a twenty for dinner.”

With a spring in his step, Stiles scrambled into the jeep and waved his dad bye. The Sheriff waved him off with a fond smile and couldn’t resist looking up at the blue sky.

He’s getting more and more like you everyday, Clauds.

Chapter Text

Stiles headed to the main office to receive his schedule.

“Good morning, young man. I am Principle Thomas and I welcome you to Beacon Hills High,” greeted the principle with bright smile.

“Thanks,” Stiles replied.

“Alright, so here is your schedule. Ms. Argent is waiting for you outside to give you a tour and show you to your locker. I hope you enjoy it here at Beacon Hills High and keep your nose out of trouble. All right? Any questions?”

“Ah no sir. All good. Well, I’ll catch you later. I mean not later later. But like if I do, but I won’t cause I won’t cause any problems and… Now I’m gonna go,” Stiles rambled while quickly tossing his backpack on and jumping for the door.

As he stepped out, he noticed a pretty brunette sitting in the waiting area. She looks up at Stiles and flashes a sweet, innocent smile with a dimple poking out. Stiles could practically see a giant Disney princess sign flashing behind her back.

“Hey, I’m Allision Argent. I was actually the most recent transfer student here, so I can show you the ropes without you being overwhelmed.”

“Hey, I’m Stiles Stilinski and cool, thanks.”

“No problem. But, is your name actually Stiles Stilinksi? Like really?” Allison questioned with a laugh hinting on her lips.

“Yes…well no, but my first name is like someone just decided to slam their hand on a keyboard and whatever came out would be the bane of my existence. So I decided on Stiles.”

“Ha ha. Well, Stiles suits you. Alrighty then, first we can stop by your locker and…Oh, can I look at your schedule?” asked Allison as she held out her hand. Stiles hands over his schedule and hoped that he could at least have one class where he knew someone.

“Hmm… Let’s see, you have Bio and Euro with me and Lydia, English and economics with Scott. You’ll be on your own for chemistry, but don’t worry I’ll drop you off and we can all chill at lunch.”

Stiles felt like he could breathe again. Let's just say that he wasn’t the most popular kid back in Hillwood Heights. Apparently when you’re 147 pounds soaking wet with sarcasm as your only weapon, you tended to make many enemies. Who knew? But, so far Allison seemed genuinely interested in being friends with him. Hopefully, he won’t screw this up.

“Thanks Allison, you are a literal angel!”

“Haha no problem”, Allison laughed as she started to head down the hallway. Just like any high school hallway, it was lined with lockers with various groups of students lingering and catching up. However, as Stiles was walking he noticed a tense almost threatening atmosphere enveloping a group of students near the emergency exit. A blonde bombshell with a black leather jacket was sneering slightly while lean against a tall, African American boy, built like a house. Standing in front of them, with his back towards Stiles, was a dark haired boy, also in a leather jacket. But unlike the other boy, his back was hunched, with tight fists curled slightly out of his jacket pockets, looking ready to fight at any second.

Just as Stiles was about to ask who they were, Allison grabbed his elbow and showed him to his first class.

As he walked into the classroom, he saw the most beautiful, strawberry blonde goddess leaning against a desk with a bored look upon her face.

“Hey Lydia!” greeted Allison, as the goddess turned her head. A slight grin crossed Lydia’s face before she turned to face the boy next to Allison.

“And what is this?” questioned Lydia with her eyebrows arched.

“This is Stiles. I mean I am Stiles. Stiles Stilinski,” replied Stiles with a nervous grin.

“Stilinski? Why does that sound so familiar?” questioned Lydia with a slight curl on her lips. Her pink lushes lips and her emerald green eyes tightened with each second passing by, getting more and more annoyed. Snap out of it Stiles!

“Ah yeah. I used to go here a while a go. I sat behind you during math with Mrs. Turner.” said Stiles while rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hmm...” said Lydia, before her eyes opened in recognition. “You’re the kid that punched Jackson for pushing that asthma kid.”

“He totally deserved it. But it's good to be back in the beautiful and genius presence of the one and only Lydia Martin,” replied Stiles with a bright beaming smile.

“Wait, you used to go here?” Allison cut in before the conversation completely derailed into uncharted regions.

“Yeah, but we moved like 10 years ago.”

“Oh, I guess you aren’t exactly new then.” Allison teased.

Stiles laughed in response.

“Hmm…what’s your gpa?” Lydia asked with a sharp look in her eyes. If she was remembering right then this Stilinski was the weird hyperactive kid who was always second in class. First being her, obviously.

“Well that was quite a jump from memory lane to gpa but 3.92 I think. I would have gotten 4.0 but apparently one needs to have functional eye hand coordination for gym. Who knew right?” answered Stiles with a nervous tilt to his head.

Lydia fully examined Stiles head to toe. She twirled her finger around, telling Stiles to do the same. After a brief moment, a smirked appeared on her faced as she stated, “you’ll do”. Then she turned to Allison and linked their elbows together as she walked towards their desks. Stiles stood frozen for a second, unaware on how to proceed. But, just as he started to panic, Allison turned back and said, “Congrats, Stiles! You have officially passed Lydia’s vibe check.”

“Oh don’t encourage him Allison. He barely passed, especially with that plaid monstrosity, but I always wanted a gay best friend. Since Danny is obviously taken he'll have to do,” replied Lydia. However, despite her nonchalant words, her eyes held a hint of mischief and approval.

Stiles started spluttering, “How did you…? I mean I’m not… well I mean I might…um.”

Stiles continued to stammer as heat rushed up his face, leaving his cheeks red as a fire hydrant. Lydia showed some sympathy on him, by lightly patting his face and saying, “Honey my gaydar is never wrong. But don’t worry your secret is safe with me.”

Stiles let out a sigh of relief. This was only first period and he already felt exhausted, but also a bit excited. Maybe this was a sign that things were finally looking up.

Chapter Text

First and second period flew by, but now it was time for chemistry. He was all on his own. Stiles squared his shoulders and let out a deep breathe. After waving bye to Allison and Lydia, Stiles entered the chemistry classroom. As soon as he entered the classroom, he felt a tension in the air. You could feel the air being sucked straight out of one’s lungs. At first, Stiles thought he might be the reason for the change in atmosphere. But as he looked around he noted that none of the students were looking at him. Rather all the eyes were focused on someone else entirely.

Isolated at the far back seat, was a dark haired boy. His head rested on folded arms, while all the students were whispering and glancing warily back at him. As Stiles walked further into the room, he noticed that all the seats around the boy were empty as if the classroom itself was slowly pushing him out of existence. Stiles felt his heart tighten in unease at the sight, especially when he glanced at the tightly clenched fingers wrapped around the boy's arms.

For some unknown reason, Stiles felt a pull towards the boy. It was as if he was a magnet and Stiles was made of metal. Stiles walked closer to the leather jacket cladded boy, while his heart beat faster and faster. Just as Stiles was about to introduce himself, he felt someone grab his shoulder.

“Woah, buddy! You new or something? I’m Tyler an’ let me warn you. You do not want to sit there, dude. That guy is psycho, like, with a capital PSYCHO. Like, he seriously tried to kill his whole family in a fire and got his friend killed in the process. I don’t understand why animals like him are even allowed here. Like God! He ---.” The guy squeezing his shoulder was abruptly cut off by a loud bang. After slamming his chair into his desk, Leather Jacket guy started to prowl toward them.

His mouth was open in a snarl, his nose flaring in anger, and his eyes were screaming murder. However, the most prominent feature were the two big, dark caterpillars on his forehead furrowed in a deep v, promising pain. In that instance, Stiles felt as if a bolt of lightening came crashing down, freezing him instantly. He could feel the air inside him escaping and his knees starting to shake. He wanted to move, reach out, cry, anything, instead he was glued to the spot. Stiles mouth twitched, but no sounds released as he looked at Derek. Derek Hale.

It had to be Derek. Stiles could never forget those ocean green eyes shimmering with flecks of gold. And he definitely wouldn’t forget those bushy brows! Everything else was forgotten. Stile could only focus on gathering his wits to form something resembling a sentence. Derek stalked over to Tyler and lifted him by the collar.

“You say one more word and I’ll rip your throat out… with my teeth,” Derek sneered as he let Tyler drop to his feet. As he turned to leave, he felt a soft touch upon his sleeve. Filled with frustration and fury, he shrugged off the hand and turn to glare intensely at the latest nuisance. As he looked up, he noticed the most beautiful, whiskey brown eyes staring at him in awe and happiness. Derek flinched back in shock. It’s been so long since any type of positive emotion was directed at him. The boy had a slight upturned nose and tiny moles across his face, like constellations. But, the most distracting part of this boy was his pink, pouting lips opened into a wide watery smile.

“Der?” the boy questioned hesitantly. “ I can’t believe it’s really you! It’s me ---“

“All right, everyone get into your seats. We don’t have all day. My name is Mr. Harris and here is your syllabus for the year. Now no talking or interruption or else I’ll see you in detention. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Mr. Harris,” the class replied. “I’m going to start attendance. Carly Adams?”

“Here”

Stiles zoned out after that. This entire focus shifted to the boy next to him. Was it really Derek? Or was Stiles completely losing it? No way, it had to be him…right?

“Derek Hale?” A grunt was heard in response.

Oh my God! He was right! Stiles almost squealed in excitement. He couldn’t believe that he met Derek so fast! And he totally ruined their long last meeting, standing there like an idiot with his mouth wide open. Arghhh! Stiles curled up in his arms and wished he had his pillow to scream into. After taking a breath, Stiles slowly peeked out of his arms to look at Derek. He was facing the windows with his chin resting on his fist. The black leather jacket tightens, almost obscenely around his biceps. They were almost as big as his head and damn, what he would give to take a nice, big bit---

“Mzi no Mif ah forget it Stilinski?”

Stiles head shot up with a slight flush on his face. “Here, ah you can just call me Stiles.”

Mr. Harris lifted his eyebrow is wariness, but continued with roll call. Stiles let out a sigh of relief and looked back down at his desk. He took out a notebook and started planning. He was going to make his next meeting with Derek perfect. Lost in his writing, Stiles was oblivious to sight of Derek silently looking at him with a slight bit of curiosity lingering in his eyes.

Chapter Text

Beep! Beep! BEEEP!!

A hand thrusts out from dusty sheets searching for the incessant noise with quick aggressive motions. Finally, reaching the phone, Derek yanks off the covers and slams the off button. One look at the date turns his mood from slightly grumpy to down right irritable. Great, another year of claustrophobic hell is restarting. Just thinking about those grating voices and disgusted looks makes Derek’s fangs ache in anger.

“But any place would be better than here,” Derek whispers to himself. As he gets up from bed, Derek takes a look around his room. The window is slightly open and muddy footprints are left all over the room. Other than some claw marks left on the back wall of his bed, the walls are a bare white. Some cardboard boxes are cluttered in the corner, but that was it. There wasn’t a hint of warmth or personalization. It’s just a room, a place where he sleeps, nothing else. After taking a deep breathe Derek opens the door.

He stands there for a second with his ears perked wide open, hoping to catch a sound. Any sound. Yet, all he hears is silence. No sound of his dad scrambling to make a special breakfast for the first day of school. No sound of his mom yelling Nate to hurry up or Aunt Emily teasing Laura about her new crush. Not even Ava---

Derek firmly shakes his and continues on to the bathroom. As he finishes getting ready, he eyes the leather jacket lying in one of the cardboard boxes. When he pulls the jacket toward his nose he could catch the fading smell of sandalwood and a hint of vanilla. Derek could fell the tears trying to escape as desperate as the struggles of someone drowning. But, this person didn’t deserve to be saved. Derek pushes back the tears and swings on the leather jacket.

With his bag on his shoulder, Derek walks to the elevator at the end of the hall. Trembling fingers click the 1st floor. After getting off, Derek hesitantly knocks on the door to the first floor. A 9-year old Cora Hale opens the door slightly before lifting her eyes to meet Derek’s. A flicker of anger sparks in those baby brown eyes and hint of fangs peek out her mouth, before fully opening the door. Without even a look back, Cora hurries upstairs to her room.

Despite his best efforts, Derek couldn’t hold back the slight whimper that escapes his clenched mouth.

“Derek? Do you need something?” Laura calls out while walking towards him.

Derek gently shook his head. “I just wanted to let you know that I might be late because classes are starting today.” Derek keeps his eyes low and head tilted in subversion.

“Oh, you didn’t have to come here to tell me that. Do you need any money?” Laura asks while scratching her cheek. Laura shifts her feet back and forth as if she couldn’t decide to step closer or to run away as far as possible. Despite the 3 feet distance between the two, it felt wider than the ocean.

“No, I still got the cash you gave me last week.” Derek replies with a weak smile.

“Good, good. Well. Let me know if you need anything else.” Laura answers with a strained smile in return. After a few more moments of awkward silence, Derek turns around to head toward the car.

“Oh, yeah. Derek?” questions Laura as Derek was leaving. His heart almost stops for a second. Derek quickly whips his head around, like a puppy in excitement. Looking at his face Laura was filled with a mix of conflicting emotions.

“Ah…. well…. the Sheriff’s office received reports of some howling last night.” Laura then straightens her shoulders and looks directly into Derek’s eyes. “We can’t have any more problems. We need to be really carefully right now. I’m just getting used to working at the Sheriff’s office. I can’t have you making any more mistakes. Do you understand?”

Any evidence of happiness drains right out of Derek’s face.

Any evidence of happiness drains right out of Derek’s face. “…I’m s-so … sorry Laura. I j-just… I wanted to…” Derek tries to stutter out an answer, but nothing comes out. Swallowing the rest of his words, Derek nods his head and hastily leaves the loft. Running towards the Camaro, all Derek can see is his past self standing frozen in front of his burning home.

Blazing, hot fire. Cries of agony and despair surround him. Thick heavy smoke saturating every pore of his being. But, being unable to do anything. Always nothing. Derek could feel the dark pit inside him growing with each harrowing recollection. Haunting whispers in a velvety voice start to bloom. Worthless. Pathetic. Disgusting. The voice changes. It starts to laugh, a high-pitched grating laugh. Monster! You're a fucking MONSTER! You're useless, always fucking useless. Hahahaha! Slowly the laughter dies down and Derek is left standing once again with claws gouging deep into his palms, but still, even now unable to do anything.

A twisted smile appears on Derek's face and he lets out an air of contempt. I really am useless. What was I thinking? That patrolling the woods would protect his family? Hah! You’re the cancer to this family, eating away at any possibility of happiness… What can you possible do?

As Laura watches Derek running out, she could do nothing but stand still. With a hand rubbing her temple in frustrations, she looks to the ceiling for answers.

What am I suppose do, mom?

Chapter Text

Incessant knocks against the car window jerk Derek out of his mind. One minute he was standing frozen in front of the car and the next minute he’s in the school parking lot. The day barely started and Derek was already losing his mind.

When he turns his head towards the noise against his window, Derek sees Erica flashing him a big, bright smile. Bent next to Boyd in a tight leather jacket and purple mini skirt, Erica yanks on the door handle and presses her face against the window. Despite himself, a slight smile escapes his lips while watching her antics. The icy-numbness from this morning’s interaction starts to melt.

As soon as he steps out of the Camaro, Erica pounces.

“DEEERRREEEKKK!!! You got the Camaro?! And you didn’t pick me up? How could you? You know I was planning to slay those halls this year. I already got the arm candy with my beautiful boys, all I was missing was some killer wheels! Can I drive it?!”

A large hand lands on his shoulder and Boyd slowly shakes his head.

“She’s been this hyper the whole morning. Just go with it.”

While looking at them, the smell of lavender and cloves slowly flows toward Derek. Each deep inhale of his pack, pulls Derek out of his memories and into the present. However, underneath the scent of his pack and their excitement, lay a hint of anxiety. Reminding Derek that this was going to be their first time at school after the change. This wasn’t the time to be depressed. He failed his family, his pack, his sisters but he can’t fail them. He can’t.

“Laura is taking the cruiser so I got the Camaro. And no, you can’t. She is a lady and she deserves to be treated with respect.” Derek replies with a forced upon smirk. He needs to be strong. As the pseudo Alpha at school, he has to be a strength they can lean on, not a useless weakness. A blanket of forced confidence envelops Derek.

“Derek, that is a machine. Like it cannot feel anything. At all.”

“Oh she definitely does not deserve such a queen, Derek,” Boyd teases.

“Thank you, Boyd. Finally, someone with keen eyes of appreciation.”

“Argh, I can’t deal with you guys anymore. Now, come with me while I slow strut down those halls.” Erica puts her hands through both of their elbows and starts walking towards the school. Listening to their banter eases the need to be a strong perfect leader.

With the warmth of Erica’s hold and Boyd’s silent laugh, Derek feels the facade of bravery fade and replaced with the reassurance of pack. Rather than put up a front, Derek allows himself to slightly loosen up and get lost in their happiness, at least for the moment.

“Why is he even here?”

“Murder is a good look on him. Hahaha!” “Ew that’s nasty! Haha!”

“How could they let some like that in here?”

“Hey, do you think he got any tips to get the crazies?” “Dude!” “Haha, just kidding!”

“Poor Paige…”

“How could he even live with himself?”

Leaning against the emergency door, the warmth starts fizzling away. Despite Erica and Boyd’s presence, the whispers were invading. Each new comment, giggle, and insult kept piling one after another. Shoulder hunched and fists clenched, Derek could hardly stand under the on slaughter. Each taunt replaced the warmth with a chilling cold until it covered every single inch of his body. Soon, Derek felt nothing.

“…rek….Derek,” Erica calls out. “You ok? Don’t listen to them. They’re just a bunch of DUMBASS VULTURES!” Erica finishes off with a shout while glaring at the students around them.

The crowd quiets for a quick second, before the whispers grow in strength.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Derek replies with a bored tone. With eyes glazed, Derek turns his head when he suddenly gets a whiff of … cinnamon? But before he could focus on it, it was gone.

“Right, well what’s your schedule? Because I don’t want to…” Derek feels his concentration slipping away for the rest of the conversation. Soon they went their separate ways for their classes.

Every class was the same. Derek chose the seat furthest to back and everyone scrambled for seats as far away as possible. Derek stretched his arm and people start flinching like he was waving a gun. He was done. Hell, he didn’t even get to begin. With his hands wrapped around his arms, Derek lays down his head on the makeshift pillow. All Derek wanted was to get to the end of the day without any problems.

“…a capital PSYCHO. Like, he seriously tried to kill his whole family in a fire and got his friend killed in the process. I don’t understand why animals like him are even allowed here. Like God! He ---.”

Ah, spoke too soon. Derek feels a burning fire of rage rush up his veins replacing the ice. With a slam of his chair into the desk behind him, Derek focuses on the idiot who was using his painful, plaguing memories for entertainment. Derek moves with a purpose, stalking like a wolf upon its’ prey. His mouth is open in a snarl, his nose flaring in anger, and his eyes screaming murder. With a quick twist of his wrist, Derek grabs Tyler’s shirt and lifts him off the ground.

“You say one more word and I’ll rip your throat out… with my teeth,” Derek sneers as he lets Tyler drop to his feet. As he turns to leave, he feels a soft touch upon his sleeve. Filled with frustration and fury, he shrugs off the hand and turns to glare intensely at the latest nuisance. As he looks up, he noticed the most beautiful, whiskey brown eyes staring at him in awe and happiness. Derek flinches back in shock. It’s been so long since any type of positive emotion was directed at him. The boy has a slight upturned nose and tiny moles across his face, like constellations. But, the most distracting part of this boy was his pink, pouting lips opened into a wide watery smile.

“Der?” the boy questions hesitantly. “ I can’t believe it’s really you! It’s me ---“

“All right, everyone get into your seats. We don’t have all day. My name is Mr. Harris and here is your syllabus for the year. Now no talking or interruption or else I’ll see you in detention. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Mr. Harris,” the class replies. “I’m going to start attendance. Carly Adams?”

“Here.”

As the rest of roll call continues, Derek can barely pay attention. Who was that kid? Why did he call me Der?

“Derek Hale?” He grunts out a response, but all he could focus on the weight of those piercing eyes on him. Yet, these eyes weren’t the eyes of mistrust and disgust that usually surround him. Instead he could almost feel the eyes begging for attention.

Rather disturbed by this new experience, Derek takes in a deep inhale to get a feel for the new kid. Under the heady smell of teenagers and hormones, Derek focuses on the amber-eyed boy’s scent of cinnamon…vanilla? No…it’s…like the Snicker doodles his dad used to make on Christmas morning!

Home? A voice deep within Derek asks. It’s almost been a year since he last heard from the wolf. The last time he heard from it was when it howled in agony again and again the day of the fire. Waiting for the pack to answer, but only receiving a deafening silence. Derek almost shot out of his chair in shock.

What are you talking about? Derek questions the wolf. But before he could hear a reply, the heartbeat of the boy next to him spikes up.

“…ah forget it Stilinski?”

“Here, you can just call me Stiles.”

What kind of name is Stiles? It sounds vaguely familiar. When he turns slightly, he notices how the boy pulls out a notebook and starts scribbling away like a madman. Home, huh? Derek silently ponders the significance of his wolf’s first words in months, while gazing at Stiles.

Chapter Text

While planning for the most perfect reunion, Stiles remembers his first meeting with Derek. It was definitely not perfect. Probably the furthest from perfect, but he wouldn’t change a thing.

“Mom, where are you? Why didn’t you come to pick me up?!” shouts an eight year old Stiles while searching the entire house franticly. Sadly, this hasn’t been the first time his mom has been missing. It’s been happening more and more often recently. First, it was forgetting his lunch. Then, his stories at bedtime and now she wasn’t even picking him up anymore. Stiles did not like this. Not one bit. He wants his old mom back!

With honey, brown eyes on the edge of tears and lips quivering, Stiles opens his parents’ bedroom. The room looks as if a tornado tore it apart. The mirror was broken, pillows were shredded to pieces, and all the clothes were thrown everywhere. This wasn’t right. Mommy would never leave a mess. She always said, ‘If you don’t clean your room the Baba Yaga will come and take you away, kochie.’ This can’t be mommy. He has to find her. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Stiles looks around for his mom.

TRIGGER WARNING!! (Unintentional attempted murder, choking) (Look at end of chapter notes for a summary of what happens) TRIGGER WARNING!!

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A faint, eerie chant starts to grow in volume from the closet. “kill him, Kill Him. KILL HIM!!” In that instance, Stiles feels every single molecule of oxygen leave his body. His whole body begins to tremor in fear. That didn’t sound like his mom at all. Suddenly, a thought comes to his mind. Oh no! What if the Baba Yaga got her? He has to protect her! Despite the overwhelming fear, Stiles tightly clutches the front of his shirt in two tiny fists and hesitantly moves towards the closet.

As Stiles turns the closet knob, a click is heard. The chanting stops abruptly. Silence descends onto the room. When the closet door is fully open, Stiles is greeted with a horrifying vision. There is a woman with a ripped white gown curled up in the corner of the closet. She is covered with bleeding scratch marks all over her arms and legs. As she turns her head, Stiles notices that it’s his mom!

“Mommy! What’s wrong?” Stiles cries out with tears threatening to pour out. He rushes towards his mom and goes to grab her arm.

Just as he is about to reach her, Claudia turns her blood shot eyes on Stiles. With her mouth wide open and her face twisted into fury, she screams.

“You!!!” In a flash, Claudia grabs Stiles by his jacket and throws him across the room. Before he could get up, Claudia climbs on top of him and traps him under her. Her hands encircle Stiles’ neck and she begins squeezing.

“Give me back my son! You DEMON!!!”

Stiles couldn’t believe what was happening. This couldn’t be possible. no no no no No! NO! What’s going on?! This can’t be his mom. It has to be the Baba Yaga. It has to be! His mommy would never hurt him. Never. His visions starts to blur and white spots begin flashing. Tears streak past his face like a waterfall. While gasping for even a breath of air, Stiles squeezes Claudia’s wrist and begs for his mom to come back.

“om…mmmo…om” help me! Please mom! Mommy! Save me! Stiles pleads with a raspy voice. This couldn’t be happening! Mom gave him kisses where he got hurt, she scared away the monsters at night, she…she. Stiles felt an overwhelming sorrow burn through him. As if it was burning him alive. Mom! Mom! MOOMMY! Stiles screamed and screamed, but she didn’t come.

Drool mixed with tears cascaded down his cheeks, pooling like blood on the floor. His breath matched that of a fish out of water. Hah… hah……hah… Just as everything turns black, Stiles feels the warmth of his dad’s hugs and the determined eyes of his mom shouting, ‘Fight, Stiles! With a sudden shot of adrenaline, Stiles struggles turn more violent. His body starts trashing and jerking at every direction possible. This was NOT his mom! His nails pierce the forearms of the Baba Yaga, blood gushes down her hand. Rather than loosen, Claudia tightens her hold and moves closer to Stiles’ ear.

“Don’t worry, baby. Mommy’s here. It will all be over soon. I’ll get you right out, my sweet sweet kochie,” Claudia whispers in a honey soft voice.

In a fit of terror and frenzy, Stiles hand shoots out and drags his hands across her face in desperate horror. Blood starts to spurt out rapidly down Claudia’s face from the large scratch stretching from her forehead to her cheek. Claudia jerks back in shock.

In a moment of crystal clear clarity, Stiles feels all the confusion and fear melt away to be replaced with strength. Mustering up all the energy left in his wrecked, choked up frail eight-year-old boy, Stiles pushes the Baba Yaga. The abrupt force of the push startles Claudia causing her to slip. As she falls, she hits her forehead against the bedpost.

Leaning against the bedpost, Claudia feels as if the heavy fog crushing her brain finally lifted. However, when she looks up, all she sees is the petrified eyes of her sweet little kochie. With a strained groan, Claudia reaches out towards Stiles.

“S-Stiles?...k-kochie…You ok?” Claudia barely stutters out.

Listening to her voice, Stiles sits completely still like a deer in headlights. While inhaling big gulps of air, Stiles comes to daunting conclusion. That wasn’t the Baba Yaga.

Claudia attempts to crawl closer to Stiles. She’s never seen her baby so frightened. All she wanted to do was envelope him in her arms and promise safety.

Unfortunately, all Stiles could focus on blood flowing down her forehead like water and the throbbing of his throat. Stiles stays frozen. But, one look at Claudia leaning towards him, awakens his fight or flight instincts. In the next second, Stiles scrambles up and races down the stairs faster than if the real Baba Yaga was chasing him.

TRIGGER ENDED!! (Unintentional attempted murder, choking) (Look at end of chapter notes for summary of what happens) TRIGGER ENDED!!

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With his heart up in his throat, Stiles runs without any regards to his surroundings. He sprints out the house, through the backyard and towards the forest.

His heart pounds against his ribs fighting to escape. His breath is uneven and choppy. He could feel his arms and legs screaming in pain and exhaustion. Yet, he still clambers for escape despite slipping multiple times. His knees are bleeding through his jeans and his hands are a mixture of dirt, twigs and blood. But, he keeps going. He had to keep going. Too many thoughts rush around his mind. His mom tried to hurt him. But she stopped and then he hurt her!

“ARGHHH!!!!”

Stiles mind was all jumbled up. He couldn’t think straight; everything was a mess of fear and confusion.

Just when he was on the brink of crumbling, he hits something. Arms hold onto his shoulders. Mom! She’s back! Stiles felt as if a million ants were crawling all over his body. Every time he crushed some off, hundreds more took their spot. There was no escape! He was trapped. Using every ounce of strength remaining, Stiles lets out a blood-curdling scream filled with dread and fright.

“ARGHHHHhhhhhh!!” With his eyes clenched tight, Stiles starts to swing his fist in uncontrollable hysteria. Tears flood down his face in an unquantifiable volume. Despite his struggle, the exhaustion from this devastating nightmare catches up to him. His fists tremble in fatigue and his shoulder begin to shake.

The body doesn’t move. It doesn’t try to squeeze the life out of him again. Unexpectedly, the hands like a cage around his shoulders shift positions. One hand gently combs through his hair as if he was a priceless jewel. While the other hand, wraps firmly, but loosely around his waist, providing a sense of security. An unknown warmth, hotter than the sun but gentler than a feather, steadily spread through out his body. Stiles clenches the shirt in front of him in a death grip. This person was his oasis in the hostile desert. Stiles releases all his frustrations and fears onto this warm body in front of him.

As the tears slow down to a trickle, Stiles feels his throat tighten up and takes short, shallow breaths. However, before the panic can set in again, a quiet, soothing voice reaches him.

“Hey, shhhhh. You’re okay. I’m here. I’m here. You’re okay. Breathe with me. Just follow me. Inhale 1,2,3 Exhale 1,2,3.” He kept repeating those words over and over. After following the instruction, Stiles regains his breath step by step. As soon as his breathing returns to normal, Stiles feels his savior trying to move back. NO! Stiles hurriedly tugs him back towards himself.

“Don’t leave me,” Stiles begs. When he turns his big, watery eyes up at his savior, he meets the most beautiful pair of eyes. They are like a mix of sapphires and emeralds with hints of gold. The owner of those gorgeous eyes is a dark-haired boy with olive toned skin. He barely looks a year or two older than Stiles.

“I’m not going anywhere, kid.” The boy replies with a sweet, but nervous smile. Stiles was wrong. His eyes were not most beautiful things he’s seen. No, it was this boy’s smile with the most adorable bunny teeth. Hehe.

Listening to the boy drains the last bit of tension remaining inside of his body.

“I’m Stiles and I am eight-years-old, not a kid.” Stiles answers with forced bravery.

“Haha, well Stiles. I’m Derek and since I’m 9 you’re still a kid to me. But, seriously are you ok?” Derek questions with genuine concern and tenderness.

In an instance, all the memories of this afternoon come rushing back. Stiles body starts to shake.

Stiles whimpers out a feeble “No.” Before fear and sadness can run havoc on his body, Derek tightens his hold.

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t know what happened but it’s going to be ok, Stiles. Who are your parents? Maybe they can help.” As soon as the word parents leave Derek’s mouth, Stiles struggles away frantically.

“No no no let me go! Let me go!”

Derek clamps his hands down on Stiles’ shoulders and tries to comfort him.

“Ok, ok. No parents. Just us.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, now calm down. Let’s go sit down on that log over there.” Derek then holds out his hand. While looking at Derek’s hand, Stiles is reminded of how his parents would extend their hand to Stiles during a thunderstorm to sleep in their bed. After releasing a deep breath, Stiles nods slightly and holds onto Derek’s hand.

Hand in hand, both boys walk to the log and sit down. Derek looks around his pocket and pulls out a half opened Reece’s chocolate packet.

“Here, you look like you need it.”

Coincidently, Stiles stomach lets out a loud rumble at the exact moment. Stiles whole face turns fire truck red. But, his hunger wins over his embarrassment. Derek laughs and unwraps the Reece’s. After taking the chocolate, Stiles splits it in half and gives it to Derek.

“mm…mom said it’s always polite to share and…thanks.” Stiles whispers out.

Derek couldn’t help but be charmed by this boy. He looked as if he fought death and barely escaped. Yet, he was still so strong and caring.

“Thanks, Stiles.”

Stiles simply smiled gently and focused on eating. As soon as he finished eating, he felt all the adrenaline of the day leave and was left exhausted. The speed of his blinks gradually slowed until they closed fully. His body leaned against Derek’s. With his head on Derek's shoulder, Stiles fell into a deeper slumber than Sleeping Beauty.

The next thing Stiles knew, he was wrapped tightly in his dad’s arms and Derek was waving goodbye.

Recounting their first meeting leaves a bittersweet smile on Stiles’ face. Although it was a heart-wrenching beginning, there wasn’t a single thing Stiles would change. It was definitely not a perfect. But it was their first meeting, making it perfect anyway. Stiles lets out dreamy sigh. This time it was going to be even more per-

RIING!

Stiles head shots up from where he was presently doodling D.H plus S.S in hearts. The class was already over! Oh no, he was too busy thinking about Derek that he didn’t even have a concrete plan, yet. Curse you distracting green-eyed Adonis! Stiles shakes his fist in the air. Suddenly, remembering that the same Adonis is sitting next to him, Stiles quickly pulls his fist down and turns. Only to find an empty seat.

Hmm, well that’s actually better. He has time to actually think up a plan now. Because no plan means no perfect reunion, which means no Derek. No Derek means no white picket fence, 2.5 children and a DOG! Oh a golden retrieve. No, a German shepherd!

“Mr. Stilinski?” Mr. Harris interrupts Stiles daydreams.

“Oh Hey! You’re still here. I mean I’m still here, but um… I’m gonna go now. Byeee!” Stiles grabs his bag and hightails it out of the classroom. Once he is outside he brings out the schedule for the day. Let’s see, oh it’s lunch. Yes! Oh, I hope they have chicken nuggets, my one true love! I mean second! Second true love after Derek of course. Softly chuckling to himself, Stiles heads to the cafeteria. 

Chapter Text

After grabbing his lunch, Stiles enters the cafeteria. It looked like a scene straight out of Mean Girls. Each clique gathered like groups of animals around the watering hole. And sitting in the center were the kings of the jungle laughing like they heard the world’s funniest joke. Looking down on the glob on his tray, which most definitely was not chicken nuggets, Stiles pondered the most important decision of his high school career.

Where was he going to sit?

Letting out a sigh, Stiles starts to scan the sea for any familiar faces. He couldn’t find Lydia or Allison anywhere. Just when he was about to give up, he saw something that he would never forget. Not in a million years. Hunched over in a table was a crooked jaw that shaped most of his childhood.

Without an ounce of hesitation, Stiles vaults over to the boy.

“SCOOOOTTYYYYY!!!!” Stiles shouts while racing towards the boy. Large, chocolate brown eyes widen in alarm, just before he is enveloped in a bone-crushing hug.

The only thought running through Scott’s mind was what the heck was going on? Here he was eating alone again, when suddenly someone yells his name with so much excitement that he hadn’t heard in years. Overwhelmed with both the voice and lack of air from the hug, Scott pushes back the body presently trying to kill him. Scott opens his mouth to give this individual a firm talking to on personal space when he locks eyes with familiar honey brown eyes and a slight upturned nose. Scott rubs his eyes in disbelief.

“STILES?!?! Is that really you?!”

“Ahhh Scotty, my boy! How I missed you so!” Stiles resumes squeezing the life out of Scott. But this time, Scott returns the favor double fold. Laughter and tears fill the atmosphere. Last time Scott saw Stiles was the day before he went to his dad’s for the summer. When he came back, Stiles was gone and all he was left with was a letter.

“Ahem. Are you going to be done anytime soon?” A voice interrupts the reunion.

Both boys turn their heads while still firmly interlocked. Lydia was standing if her arms crossed and a slight smirk upon her face. Allison was standing next to her barely holding back her laughter.

“Aww you made them stop Lydia. They were so cute.” Both boys tilted their heads at the same time like puppies.

“Huh?” They replied simultaneously.

“Well, we were going to take you to our table, but it looks like you’re busy.” Lydia answers and begins to turn away.

“Wait!” Stiles calls out. “We’re coming! Right, Scotty?”

“Ah, yeah.” Scott says with a dazed look on his face. But, reality quickly catches up and Scott whispers to Stiles in alarm while walking behind the girls.

“Stiles! That’s Lydia and and ALLISON! We’re sitting with THEM?! Oh god, I lost it! First, I imagine Stiles and now Allison and I are eating together. Nope, not possible.” Scoot starts to shake his head violently. Stiles laughs heartily in response.

“Scott, this is real. I’m real. I just moved back last week, I was gonna surprise you but apparently you guys were visiting family? I just can’t believe you’re the same adorable Scott McCall that I remember. I missed you!!” Stiles pulls Scott’s cheeks in happiness.

Scott lets out the dopiest smile and replies, “ I missed you, too!”

Before they could catch up on their years apart, they reached the table. As they were about to take a seat, a blonde haired, blue-eyed. all-star American boy slams his tray on the table.

“What are you losers doing here?! Did you get lost? I’ll show you out.” The boy snarls out while cracking his knuckles.

“Jackson, I invited them. Now can you relax with the alpha male posturing?”

“What?! Seriously Lydia, these freaks? One can barely breathe and I don’t even know what the other one is.”

“Oh Jacky boy, still haven’t changed huh? This maybe really complicated but I’ll try to simplify it. We… are… human...beings. Was that too fast?” Stiles replies with a cocky smile. A handsome, tan Hawaiian boy next to Jackson lets out a slight chuckle.

“What did you just say?!... Wait a minute… Stilinski?!!” Jackson’s mouth opens up in shock. Jackson remembers that ball of fiery rage without an inch of self-preservation. His hand subconsciously moves towards his nose.

“Aww you remembered! Missed me, Jackson?” Stiles questions while moving closer until they were eye to eye. The two boys stood inches apart while glaring intently at each other.

“Oh the UST is strong in here. Lydia you might have to keep an eye on your boy here,” the Hawaiian boy points out.

“Hmm, I might enjoy the show as long as I’m included of course,” replies Lydia with her face in her hands and a smile on her face.

Both boys jerk apart and turn towards Lydia with faced red like a fire hydrant.

“Oh HELL NO!” “Eww gross!” Both boys splutter out frantically denying the claims. The whole table laughs at their reaction. The initial tension of the table is slowly replaced with amusement and happiness.

“Don’t even think about sitting next to me, Stilinski!” Jackson glares at Stiles halfheartedly before moving next to Lydia.

“Not even in your dreams, Whittemore!” Stiles sticks out his tongue and goes to sit between Allison and Scott.

“It’s been a while since someone got Jackson that red. I’m Danny, his more well-mannered best friend,” Danny introduces himself to Stiles with a bright dimpled smile.

“Stiles I am. I mean I Stiles am. Argh I mean, my name is Stiles.” The cute dimpled smile completely flustered him. Way to go, Stiles. Where is a hole to bury one’s head when you need one?

“Stiles? That’s unique...”

“Haha, you’re definitely the well-mannered one. My original name is Polish and filled with all the letters of the alphabet, so Stiles was born.”

“Polish huh? Can’t be harder than Latin. Tell me.” Lydia demands.

“Sorry my Strawberry Blonde Goddess, but that is a secret, I am taking to the grave.”

“Stop flirting with my girl, Stilinski.” Jackson threatens while wrapping his arms around Lydia.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist Jackson. My admiration for the great Lydia Martin is purely platonic.”

“Were they always like this?” Allison asks Scott who was looking like a fish out of water as the conversation flowed around the table.

“Me? You’re talking to me? I mean Oh ah. Yeah. Stiles is always a like that. Has a motor mouth, but loyal to a fault. He would do anything for his friends. And Jackson is well Jackson.” Scott replies with a sheepish grin.

Just looking at Allison’s face was like a getting a jump-start to his heart. The pounding was getting faster and faster. Other than giving her a pen last year, this was the their first real conversation. Scott could feel the sweat building under his armpits and the blush rising on his cheeks. Oh no, she has dimples! Poof! There goes every single thought in his brain. Just before he could become a bubbling mess, a warm hand clams on his shoulder.

“Aww, Scotty! Thanks buddy! But, I’ll have you know Allison. This guy here has a heart of gold. Like he would be the good moral main protagonist of any TV. Shows that’s how awesome he is.” Stiles sends a tiny wink towards Scott.

Scott thought Stiles didn’t see those little heart eyes being sent towards Allison. Well, don’t you worry Scotty, your buddy Stiles got this. The rest of lunch flew by. There were some tense moments, but as time went by they began to smooth out.

However, on the opposite end of the cafeteria trouble was brewing.

Chapter Text

Chapter 9: Paige

The day was barely half over and Derek was exhausted. Rather than stuck in this prison listening to grating teenagers, he could have been doing something actually useful like patrolling. Instead he was going to lunch like everything is normal when each second away from his family was another second his family could be in danger. With his head low, Derek trudged towards the cafeteria.

Walking into the cafeteria, Derek was greeted with pandemonium. It was chaos of energy with kids laughing, talking and enjoying their hour of freedom. Yet, suddenly as if they were being held at gunpoint, the entire cafeteria comes to an abrupt stop. Pin drop silence descends upon the room. Each student freezes in wariness of Derek’s actions, some huddle into groups, others move back in fear, but not a single one takes their eyes off him. As their stares pierce his skin like knifes, Derek spots his pack sitting near the exit.

Derek raises his head in fake bravado and moves towards his pack with careful, but confident steps. Noticing that his attention shifted to somewhere in the back of the room, the cafeteria slowly came awake. Hesitant whispers returned to norm and a lightness returned to the atmosphere.

As Derek approached the table, he noticed that Isaac was sitting in front of Erica and Boyd. Closer inspection of the blonde haired boy showed the faint line of sweat upon his forehead and the slight tremor of his right hand hidden under the table. His pleasant lemon scent was soured with anxiety. Without a second thought, Derek places his palm on the back of Isaac’s neck before sitting down next to him. The tension instantly drains from Isaac’s body, his head bows down in relief.

“Thanks, Derek.” Isaacs says while slightly turning his head towards Derek.

“No problem, Iz. What happened? Was the weekend rough? He didn’t do anything right?!” Derek’s concern and agitation grew with each question. He could feels his claws begging to come out and destroy anything that was a threat to his pack.

Isaac lets out a silent laugh and leans back on the hand acting as an anchor.

“After what you and Laura threatened to do to him. Hah. I’m surprised he can even talk to me without shitting his pants. But, no it’s not him. Its just Cameron’s anniversary is coming up and the full moon is not helping a bit. I keep feeling as if I’m burning up.”

Erica and Boyd lean in apprehension. Erica places a hand over Isaac’s and gives it a reassuring squeezing.

“We’re hear for you Isaac. Whatever you need we’ll do it.” Boyd gives a reassuring nod while gazing at Isaac with warmth. Erica suddenly shoots up in excitement.

“Oh! We can have a pack night It’s been forever! Oh hush Derek, I can feel your eyebrows from here one school day bonding session is not going to hurt. Pleaaaassee.” Erica turns to Derek with big puppy dog eyes and her lips jutted out in a pout. Isaac also turns his head. Now it was two adorable blonde puppies.

Derek simply sighs and shakes his head in defeat.

“Alright, but as long as everyone finishes all their work or else Laura is going to kill me.” Listening to his response, the whole pack perks up in happiness.

“Oh and Isaac?”

“Yeah, Derek?”

“That burning sensation, there is a werewolf terminology for it.”

“Really? What is it?” Isaac tilts his head in curiosity.

“Hipster nesting or maybe drowning by scarfs?” Derek places his thumb and index finger on his chin while pretending to be in deep thought. The table erupts in laughter. Isaac turns bright red and starts to stammer a reply. He shoves Derek with his shoulder in retaliation. Erica is banging her fist on the table, with tears forming at the corner of her eyes. Even Boyd’s shoulders shake in barely concealed amusement.

Nothing lasts forever. Every day turns to night, laughter into tears, light to darkness. Just as one starts to relax, demons rise and drag one to the pits of hell. These demons care not for your happiness or that one moment of salvation. They take that moment of security and break its legs, leaving you stranded and alone.

Euphoria filled the table, as tension of the day drain from the pack. All of a sudden, a black projectile rushes towards. Within seconds the objects hits Derek straight on the head. In an instance the light is gone. All can feel is a light pink liquid flowing down his face like a waterfall. His hands are coated in the pink substance. In the back of his head, he has vague recollection that it was strawberry milk. However, the instant Derek gazed at his red soaked hands his was teleported back to the worst day of his entire life.

Derek was frantically pounding on the barrier. He claws and punches the mountain ash barrier in frustration and fear. The cries of his pack keep resounding in his ears. Little Ava crying for her Daddy. His mom howls losing in power and slowing in occurrence. His dad whispering sweet nothings to Cora and Nate. The rest of his pack sobbing and wailing in agony and fear. Screaming for salvation, any salvation.

Derek starts banging his head anguish against the barrier for his uselessness. Blood begins to steep down his face, but all Derek could focus on was that this was all his fault. All his fault! Derek’s tormented screams fill the forest, rousing every single creature with a haunting sadness. He begs every god, goddess, deity, anyone at all to help his family. His calls of assistance are ignored. Falling on his knees, Derek howls with all his might throat burning with tears and pain. No one answers.

Someone help me! Please! Please!

With bleeding tears, Derek watches as his family, his pack, his solace is being burst to a crisp.

“Derek? Oh my god Derek!? What’s going on?”

Just as if all his prayers were materialized into this angelic form, Derek lifts his head to see Paige rushing towards him. Like a man lost at sea for months who finally sees a rescue boat, Derek feels the fading hope start to burn brightly. His eyes relight with the possibility of saving his family.

Paige reaches Derek and kneels in front of him. She frantically touches his face shoulders in need of immediate reassurance. In her haste, she doesn’t notice her shoe breaking a line of ash surrounding the house. The barrier was down.

Derek felt as if this was a mirage. This was a false hope to a truly hopeless situation, a way to hammer in the final nail. However, even if this was a deal with the Devil, Derek would gladly take it to save his family.

“p…Paige? You’re here? Oh god really here?” Derek reaches her with a trembling arm.

“What’s going on Derek? You had a weird call and rushed out of school and now your house is burning! Did you call the cops? God oh my god! I.. I ..” Paige’s eyes fill with tears and she cups Derek’s face with such tender care.

Derek gently shakes his head and tries to push himself up before collapsing back on his knees.

“Paige please help me! Please! I need you to break that circle! Hurry! Please! Stop looking at me and BREAK THAT LINE!!!” Derek shoves Paige towards the barrier in panic.

“I.. what? Derek? You’re not making any sense? What line? What’s going on?” Paige questions with equal panic. But looking at the desperation in Derek’s eyes, Paige ignores everything else and focuses on finding the line. Her eyes widen in recognition.

“Oh! Derek is that it?!” Paige moves toward the line in rushed determination. Derek lets out a sigh of relief and begins to smile. Yet, when he looks up at the house, he sees a black monstrosity speeding up toward the line. It was at least 6 feet tall, pitch black, and mouth open is a furious snarl.

“Wait, Paige DON’T!” Derek scream in warning. Right before touching the line, Paige turns toward Derek.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaa” Before she could even finish her question, the beast shot right out the barrier and straight to Paige. With a single swipe, the beast slashed across Paige’s stomach and slammed her against a tree. A mighty roar was released. With ferocious gleaming red eyes, the beast ran to Derek. As it came closer, Derek could feel his pumping in hyper drive. It raised its claws, but before it could connect its nose twitches in interest. It lowers its claws and move to scent Derek. With a huff of its snout, it circles around Derek before losing interest and leaving.

As soon as it disappears behind the tree lines, Derek scrambles toward Paige in haste. He trips just before reaching her. Crawling to her side, Derek gathers Paige and cradles her in his lap. He glances down and all he can see is red. Red everywhere and the smell of iron coating his every breathe. Her torso is ripped to shreds with intestines almost spilling out. Derek heaves at the carnage in front of him. Shaking hands cover her torso to at least keep her whole.

“Paige? Paige?” Derek cries out desperately. He brushes the hair from her forehead and pleads for her to answer.

“……Derek….what….ah….it…………hurts” Paige whimpers out. Her normal rosy complexion was completely washed out. Tears cascaded down from her warm chocolate brown eyes, her mouth was open in a grimace and her face was convulsed in unimaginable pain.

Derek felt as if someone just ripped out his heart.

“It’s ok. It’s all gonna be okay. Okay? Nothing is going to happen to you.” Derek tries to reassure her desperately. While cradling her face, dark blue veins start to appear across his hands.

Paige felt like she could breathe for the first time since she followed Derek. She glances down at the grotesque image of her body sliced to piece. An overwhelming horror rises like a tide inside her. No no no no no no!!!! Her fingers clench Derek’s wrist in a death grip.

“ No no NO! oh god! I’m gonna die! I’m gonna die!! Noo Derek! Save me please! Please. I don’t want to die! I DON’T wanna DIE!” Paige bellows out hysterically. She claws at Derek’s arm leaving bleeding scratches in her desperation. She just wanted to make sure Derek was ok, that doesn’t mean she wanted to die for it. She never got a first kiss, play at Carnegie Mellon, or get married. She was left with a mountain of regrets as always with young taken before their prime.

“NO! you will be fine Paige. Listen to me! You’re going to get through this. Just give me a second, my mom can help you.” Derek implores Paige. Just as he starts to rise, the pain descends in unrelenting waves. Paige felt agonizing pain like being lit on fire spread through out her body. White spots filled her vision. She could barely hear Derek’s voice, like her ears were stuffed with cotton. With the last of her energy, her blood soaked hands gentle cup Derek’s face.

“I love y….” The light snuffs out of her eyes in an instant. Her arm crashes down. The warm of her skin is slowly replaced with ice.

“Paige? Paige? Please wake up! Pleeeaassseeeee! Noooooo!” Derek clutches her to his body in iron grip hold with blood-drenched fingers. He lets out a blood-curdling scream.

When will this nightmare end?

“How could you be happily laughing while Paige will never get to? You murder!” The assailant shouts out while clenching her fists in fear and uncontrollable anger. Her friend grabs her shoulder and gives her a restraining squeeze.

“Don’t, Heather. You know he didn’t kill her.” She tries to pull Heather away from possible danger. Heather shrugs off her friend’s hand.

“If she didn’t go after him, she would still be here. Instead she’s dead and he’s alive!” Heather ends with gut-wrenching sob. Her friend pulls her close.

“Yeah! Now he surrounded by a bunch of freaks and losers. Whatcha trying to do Derek? Make a future murder’s club?” A masculine interrupts with a nasally voice.

The insult towards his pack breaks Derek out of his frozen state. In an instance, Derek is out of his seat and grabs Matt by his shirt. This actually pervert had it out for Derek ever since he broke Matt’s camera for taking shady pictures of Laura. Without a second thought, Derek flings Matt against the wall. Matt crashes against the wall at high speed and collapses immediately.

Derek rolls his shoulders and turns to glare with burning fire in his eyes.

“I don’t give a FUCK what you say about me. But if any of you mess with my friends, I will personally show you if the rumors are true.” Derek addresses the entire cafeteria in deathly chilling voice, making sure to connect with as many eyes as possible. Then he swiftly turns and starts heading for the exit. The rest of the pack hurry to follow. Every single person in that cafeteria held their breath until the sound of the door closing echoed through the room.

The thought racing through everyone’s mind was “What just happen?”.

The Sheriff was just finishing up the shift for the night when the phone rings.

“Hello, Beacon Hills Sheriff Department.”

“Hey Sheriff, It’s Parrish. We got a possible 10-54 in the forest.”

“Got it, I’m coming in. See you in 20.”

A dead body? The Sheriff wonders while getting ready to head out.

Chapter Text

Stiles glances to the back of the cafeteria where the sudden commotion is happening. A crowd of students acts like a wall hiding the shouting and yelling. Suddenly, a kid goes flying towards the back wall. People should not be capable of just hurtling someone like a baseball. Stiles mouth opens wide open as he gawks at the scene unfolding. A familiar muscular leather clad back is seen prowling towards the exit. Three leather clad ducklings scramble after him.

“Derek?” Stiles silently whispers to himself.

“Damn! Did Hale just throw that loser like nothing? Hah! We totally need him for lacrosse this year.” Jackson spoke with eyes widening in admiration. Danny nudges him in the ribs while shaking his head in half hearted disappointment.

“Are you serious, Jackson? He should be locked up! How could he just throw a kid like that? I can’t believe they let him back rather than get him some help.” Allison exclaimed with a disgusted twist of her lips.

“Please, Allison. You’re just sore that your Aunt fucked an underage kid.” Jackson retorted while crossing his arms in contempt. Allison stands up and slams both palms on the table.

“God! Can you get anymore messed up? He fricken stalked my Aunt until she had to leave town. Don’t go mixing up your sick fantasies with reality.”

“Ok you two settle down. This shit is so last year. Who care about some pyscho that burned this house down? We need to start planning for homecoming.” Lydia flipped her hair and glared at the two into submission. With a huff both Allison and Jackson quieted down after a final visual showdown.

Stiles feels as if a thousands stories are fighting for his attention. A young Derek, warm summer days filled with laughter and safety. A violent, leather jacket wearing boy lifting and throwing people without an ounce of remorse. A psycho who burns his family. A hazel-green eyed prince who protected him from his fears. There was no making sense of this situation. What if this wasn’t his Derek anymore? The fear crept up his body faster than Venom on Spiderman. He could feel the beginning of a panic attack starting.

As he feels his throat close up and oxygen start to get blocked, a warm palm wraps around his clenched fist.

“Stiles? You ok? You look really pale.” Scott questions with concern swimming in his eyes. He leans closer and squeezes Stiles fist in reassurance. Looking at Scott’s calm and caring expression, slows down Stiles’ anxiety. Taking a deep breath, Stiles returns the squeeze with a grateful smile.

Right, there was no need panic when one didn’t have all the details. Jumping to conclusions always hurts someone in the end. He remembers the haunted look his mom wore when he ran away from her. He can decide on what to do after he understands the complete situation. Time to gather some clues. Channeling his inner Sheriff, Stiles pulls out a pleasant smile and shifts closer to the table.

“Okay, what just happened? Some dude threw another dude like he was the Hulk and now your talking about fires? Aunts? A secret cult of vampires? Am I getting close?” Stiles questions them while keeping the atmosphere light.

Lydia rolls her eyes in annoyance.

“Alright, I’m going to give you the sparknotes version, but after this I don’t want to here anything other than what color comb my campaign should be, got it?” Lydia arches her eyebrow in challenge, daring Stiles to contradict. Stiles nods his head faster than a bobble head.

“Ok, Derek Hale king of high school as a sophomore. Play boy extraordinaire. One day he leaves school early and most of his family dies in a house fire and a dead body allegedly killed by a mountain lion is found in his arms. Now he’s some bad boy wanna be with a tacky leather jacket gang.” Stiles open his mouth with a thousand questions.

Lydia lifts her finger up is a shush manner.

“Nope, now baby pink and jasmine white or icy blue with purple undertones.” Understanding that the rest of the discussion will be left unanswered, Stiles covers his curiosity and anxiety with enthusiasm.

“You would look gorgeous in either my strawberry haired goddess. And I am not just saying that because I have no clue what your talking about. Because pink and blue are like um…woah…right Scott?” Stiles turns to Scott for assistance.

“Ah yeah, pink is um…good?” Scott replies with a slight shrug. Allison laughs at his adorable confusion. Rest of lunch was spent talking about homecoming, but in the back of his head Stiles was been constanly bombarded with questions. He was left with even more questions after Lydia’s summary. Mild panic starts to rise up with doubts, but Stiles pushes them down. Now was not the time to have a melt down, heck he didn’t even talk to Derek yet.

Before he knew it, he was at home waiting for his dad to come back home. The sound of his phone ringing breaks him out of his thoughts.

“Heeeyy Daddio, where are you? You better not be out late to avoide your very healthy dinner prepared by yours truly.”

“You didn’t get pizza?”

“Of course, I got pizza dad. I’m not crazy to cook after my hell of a first day. But, I got you a chicken salad.” Stiles beams a smile across the phone.

“Haaa….only you stiles would go to a pizza place to get me a salad. But never mind that, I’m gonna be later than I thought today.”

“Does this have anything to do with the possible 10-54 in the forest that I have absolutely no idea about?” Stiles teases through the phone.

“How? Wait…nope. I don’t even want to know. If I see even a single mole in the woods that school is the only thing you’ll be seeing till college. Got it?”

“Mole, school, college, got it! See ya dad! I mean in the morning! Like duh hahaha ok byeee!!” Stiles hangs up in a hurry. Before the call even fully cuts off, Stiles is already dialing another number.

“Scooottttyyy!!! Guess what?!”

“…Stiles is that ….you?” A yawn could be heard between words.

“Did you not save my number Scotty? Oh we are going to have words about that. Buuuut not now. There’s a body in the woods!!”

“ah… that’s bad?”

“NO! that’s awesome!... I mean bad for the person yes but hello mystery! It’s time to make my mark in Beacon Hills Scott. I’ll be there in 10.”

“Wait! Stiles … and he hung up on me.” Despite the abruptness of the call and creepiness of looking for a body in the woods at night, Scott could not help letting out a smile of excitement. Ever since Stiles left, Scott was treated even more as an outcast with a divorced mom and asthma. At least with Stiles, he had a friend to share the loneliness with.

Scott didn’t know what was going to happen, but with Stiles next to him, he wasn’t afraid. Letting out a quiet laugh, Scott got out of bed and started to get ready for a night to remember.

Chapter Text

A soft tap against the window echoes in the silent night. Scott creeps toward the window to look for the source of the sound. After lifting up the window, he peers into the darkness. Standing with a pile of pebbles in one hand and a flashlight is Stiles with a giant smile on his face. After dropping the rocks, Stiles puts a finger to his lips. Then, he signals his head towards the woods and disappears behind the trees. A loud snap is heard in his wake.

He tells me to be quiet and wakes the whole forest in the process. Scott shakes his head is amusement. After making sure that his mom is completely knocked out, Scott sneaks out the house to meet Stiles. As he enters the woods, a shiver travels down his back. The woods are oddly quiet tonight. No owls hooting, no annoying insects chirping, just silence. Surrounded in darkness and stillness. The whole forest seemed to be in enshrouded in mourning.

“Stiles?” Scott whispers into the dark. His voice pitched in anxiety. He looks around frantically, for any sign of his hyperactive friend.

“Stiles, come out. This isn’t funny.”

Silence.

“Seriously? I’m going back. Stiles!” Scott raises his voice while shoving his hands deeper into his jacket pockets. Still no answer. With a huff, Scott turns back annoyed. Just before he could take another step, a hand suddenly clamps on his shoulder. Scott’s heart swiftly drops to his stomach.

“AAaaahhhh!” Scott yelps in fear before quickly turning to punch his attack. As he peaks open his eyes, he sees Stiles bent down wheezing.

“Oh god, I can’t breathe. You trying to kill me Scotty?!”

Scott’s lips upturn in a slight smirk. “Well, you shouldn’t have tried to scare me.”

Stiles tilts his head up while holding his side. The instant both boys made eye contact, laughter filled the quiet forest. As if a bubble of happiness encircling the boys formed separating them from the solemn woods.

After catching his breath, Stiles stands up and goes to hug Scott warmly. It’s been eight years, but a single phone call and Scott was out in the middle of nowhere for Stiles. It made him realize why Hillwood Heights could never became home.

It could never compare to the gentle memories of his mom, the tight friendship that transcends years, and the soothing support of the one and only Derek Hale. Even if the last one is clouded with rumors and doubts, the one who pulled Stiles out of the darkness was Derek and he was going to find him. His Derek.

Scott returns the embrace with equal warmth and relief. Words couldn’t come close to describing the feeling of having a piece of his heart back. Stiles was the first to orchestrate a Release Scott campaign, so that he could play with everyone outside despite his asthma. He was a body of terror towards bullies and at the same time a pillar of support when his parents were getting divorced. Scott’s only regret was not returning the support when Stiles’ mom was fighting cancer. He didn’t even know what happened until the day he came back from spending the summer with his dad to his mom saying that Stiles was moving.

Knocking out the cold memories, Scott separates from Stiles to look at him clearly.

“I really missed you, Stiles.” Scotts voice cracks with emotion. Stiles eyes water with repressed happiness and he smiles with a small sincere smile. “Same.”

With arms across each other’s shoulders, they began moving through the woods. They spent the night more focused on catching up than discovering the dead body.

However, as the conversation slowly died down, a loud thump was heard. Followed by the sounds of dogs barking at a distant and the snapping of wood drawing closer. Both boys turn to look at each other, one in excitement and the other in apprehension.

“This is it, Scott. I bet the body is around here.”

“Oh god, can’t we turn back Stiles? I’ll be in so much trouble if we get caught.”

“We can’t turn back now Scott. We are so close to making the discovery first! And if we get caught, I’ll make a diversion and you can go home. It’s fail proof.” Stiles ends with a beaming smile. Shaking his head, Scott follows Stiles toward the noise.

The snapping of branches get louder. A roar is heard nearby followed by more thumps.

“Was that a bear?!” Scott exclaims with his eyes bugs out.

“Of course not! There aren’t any bears in Beacon Hills, but there are plenty of mountain lions.”

“Mountain lions?! Stiles! Did you brings us to look for a body in the dead of night with a forest filled with mountain lions?!”

“Oh relax Scotty, it’s not filled with mountain lions, more like one or two. And it’s not a mountain lion…Probably.” Stiles finishes with shrug.

“Ok that’s it, field trip is over. Let’s go back.” Just as Scott is about to turn around, he trips over something. Landing on something wet, Scott’s face scrunches up in distaste. Stiles turns the flashlight towards Scott and his eyes widen in shock.

Lying in a pool of blood was Scott, next to a body. The body was beyond disturbing. The throat was slashed across, hands were ripped off and the body was covered in scratches as if she was running for her life. Scott feels bile barrel up his throat and he rushes up to his feet. He goes to the closet bush to hurl his disgust. Stiles face drains of any color and he remains frozen at the gruesome scene.

Before they could regain their senses, growls could be heard coming closer.

“Scott? Scott! Get up! Let’s go. I think I heard something.” Stiles runs to Scott and grabs his arm. He starts to pull him back when piercing red eyes peer above the bushes. It looked bigger than any bear Stiles ever heard of. Its mouth was wide open filled with glistening white fangs bigger than his fingers. There was no emotion in those eyes, only an unrelenting blood lust.

Stiles tightens his grip on Scott and sprints away from the beast as if the hounds of hell were chasing them. He could feels his legs burning with effort, but the growls kept getting louder.

Scott squeezes Stiles’ hand while his breath turns to gasps for air.

“Stiles…hah…I can’t…bre..athe…leave me…hah aha.”

Stiles brain fires in frenzy. He scrambles for an idea, any idea. Argh! This was all his fault! Stiles whips his head left and right looking for a sign. Nothing. He looks back and sees the beast about ten feet away and gaining with each second. Taking a deep breath, Stiles pulls his hands from Scott and sends a strained smile his way.

“Ok Scott, same plan, different person. I’ll distract, you run.” Before Scott can interrupt, Stiles peddles on. “Listen to me, I’ll be fine. We’ll meet up tomorrow and talk about how crazy last night was. But I need you to trust me. Ok?”

Stiles eyes pierce into Scott begging for him to believe in Stiles. With a hesitant nod, Scott lets go of Stiles.

“You better… be ok… or else I’m going… to burn all your DC comics!”

“Scott! Don’t even joke about that! Now I have to make it back, if only to save my precious from your cold blooded heart.” With a more sincere smile, Stiles grabs a rock on the ground.

“ You go right, I’ll go left.” After shouting his instructions, Stiles turns around and heaves the rock at the beast.

“Hey ugly! Sweet juicy human over here! Come and get it!” Stiles takes an abrupt left U-turn and draws the beast’s attention. The beast takes a quick look at Scott, but Stiles throws another rock fully capturing its attention.

With a single-minded purpose, the beast chases after Stiles. Stiles dashed across the forest floor, darting between trees. Although it looked like a random scramble for survival, he moved with resolve and a clear aim.

The sound of dogs barking draws closer. Stiles sprints faster. Just as he is about to breech the last couple of trees, he turns back. The beast is gone. A hysterical laughter bubbles past his lips. He did it!

While mentally celebrating his dramatic escape, Stiles rams into a solid body.

A young man with brown hair and calming blue eyes holds on to Stiles’ shoulder to stop him from falling.

“You alright?” His voice was warm and soothing.

“Ah yeah. Yup! A-okay, that’s me. Nothing wrong here good sir.” Before Stiles could continue rambling, a clear voice cuts across the police site.

“Stiles!”

Stiles hand moves to the back of his neck and he slouches while turning towards the voice.

“Dad hey. What are you doing here? Haha.”

“Working. What are you doing? At an active crime site?!” The Sheriff lets out in exasperated tone.

“Woah?! This is a crime scene. Who knew? I was just taking a walk like you know kids do and boom I’m here. Well it looks like you guys are busy so I’m gonna goooo.” The Sheriff grabs the back of Stiles’ shirt before he could escape.

“Not so fast kiddo. Even if I believe what you just said, which I don’t by the way, I’m not letting you go back alone in this situation. You are in so much trouble when I get home.”

“Hey, Parrish. Can you take my nosy kid back home?”

“Sure, Sheriff.” Deputy Parrish looks down at the sheepish teenage and can’t help the hint of smile the peaks out of his mouth. This one was going to be trouble all right.

While sitting in the back of the cruiser, Stiles could do nothing but pray that Scott made it back safe. With his head leaning against the window, Stiles watches the moon pass by.

Scott watched as the beast chased after Stiles in fear. He pulls out his inhaler and takes a deep puff. While taking a moment to gather his breath, his hears the growls fade into the dark. Hoping that Stiles will make it back okay, Scott begins to head back home.

For a while, he is surrounded with the familiar quiet of the forest. An occasional breeze rattles the dry leaves, yet the forest remains relatively calm.

But just like a rock thrown into a placid lake, the sound of a breaking branch ripples though the forest.

With his heart in his throat, Scott turns around. Standing on its two hind legs, the beast lifts its claws and slashes across Scott’s side. Falling down in pain and shock, Scott couldn’t do anything but stare at the beast in horror. With a single ear-shattering roar, the beast moves to hover over him. Red ruby eyes fill his vision before Scott loses consciousness.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As dawn was approaching, the police officers gathered at the 1^st crime scene.

“What the hell is going on?,” The Sheriff whispers to himself. “What's the complete report?”

“Three females in their mid 20s, sir. All three with their throats slashed, hands ripped off, and signs of being hunted.”

“Hunted? What could possible do that to not one but three people!?”

“We don’t know, sir.” An eerie silence descends upon the group.

Chapter Text

Stiles spent the whole night staring at his phone, waiting for Scott to reply back. Morning came, but still nothing. No call or message back. Fear was gnawing at his insides, tearing up any hint of peace. Before the alarm could ring, Stiles was out of his bed. Getting ready in record speed, he rushed over to the McCall’s house.

With his head lying against the steering wheel, Stiles tried to steel himself. He’s fine. He probably just forgot. It’s fine, everything is just fine! With a firm slap to his cheeks, Stiles jolts up.

Eyes brimmed with determination, Stiles approaches the McCall’s door. After taking a breath to steady himself, Stiles rings the doorbell. After a few moments, the door creaks open to an attractive middle-aged woman with curly brown hair in nurse scrubs. She squints her eyes in confusion as she looks up at the random teenager in front of her house on a weekday at 6:30 in the morning.

“Yes? Do you need something?” The woman’s gaze turns from confusion to suspicion. Her sharp look was scarier than any of the Sheriff’s interrogations.

While rubbing the back of his head, Stiles let’s out a nervous laugh.

“Hey Mrs. McCall, it’s me Stiles. Ah do you remember me? Scott and I used to play a lot. Like who could fly by jumping off the roof? Which obviously did not go well, like at all. My stitches would agree. But I actually think that I might have done it if I had more velocity…”

Before he could get lost in his ramblings, a sharp, bright laugh interrupts his train of thought. Melissa looks at the teenager in front of her and memories of a mischievous little rugrat leaving mayhem in his wake flowed one after another.

“Stiles! It’s so good to see you! When did you come back?” Melissa opens the door wider and engulfs Stiles in a warm embrace. At first, Stiles freezes and his hands hover in the air, unsure of where to put them. It’s been so long since he was enveloped in a motherly embrace filled with warmth and love. Letting out a slight sign of relief, Stiles returns the hug, fingers clutch at the scrubs tenderly. Pulling back a bit to look into her affectionate eyes, Stiles lets out an earnest smile.

“Ha ha, yeah. We came back last week, but you guys weren’t here or else I would’ve here way sooner. I met Scott yesterday, so I came to pick him up today.” Stiles finishes with a beaming smile.

An amused smile graced her lips.

“So it’s only been a day and you two are already attached to the hip. Well, that boy doesn’t wake up for another hour, but you can try. I’m going to head to bed.” Melissa points to the stairway, while yawning.

“Got it! See ya later Mrs. McCall.” Without a second to pause, Stiles scrambles up the stairs. It’s been a long time since someone was over at the McCall household. It looks like the quiet days were coming to a close, and Melissa couldn’t bring herself to regret it.

Despite the years, the McCall house was the same. Picture frames along the stairs, cozy blankets on the back of the sofa, and an overall cozy atmosphere. Down the hall was Scott’s room, apprehension filled every bone in Stiles’ body. Sweaty palms turn the knob. As the door opened wider, Stile’s heart beat faster.

With fear and hope circling frantically, Stiles scans the room. Lying in the middle of the floor, dead to the world, slept Scott. Light snores filled the room. Walking closer, Stiles could see the pool of drool seeping into the carpet. But more alarming was the state of his clothes.

Mixed with dirt and blood, Scott’s shirt was in tatters. His pants were caked in mud and grass stains. Yet, Stiles’ eyes were only focused on four diagonal scratches stretching from his spine to the front of his hips.

Stiles runs over to Scott and abruptly drops to his knees. Trembling hands run all over Scott’s body looking for any more damages.

“Scott! Scott! Wake up!” Vigorous shaking follows the desperation in his voice,

A low grunt followed by a low murmur answers Stiles’ call. Scott’s eyes flutter and he blinks awake. Locking eyes with Stiles, Scott lets out a sleep smile.

“Hey. Stiles.” The shaking stops.

“Hey Stiles? Hey Stiles! Seriously! Here I am freaking out that you became a chew toy and you have the audacity to say hey?!” Despite the severity of his words, his voice was filled with relief.

“What happened, Scott? I thought you were ok? Where did you get those scratches?” A bombardment of questions spilled from Stiles’ mouth.

“Mmm…huh? Scratches?” Scott slowly rises from the floor and glances down to see the dried blood and fading scratches. Sleeps leaves his body faster than he can blink. In its’ place is shock.

“Woah! Where did those come from?”

“That’s what I wanted to ask you Scotty. Was it the beast? I thought I got it away from you Scott. I’m so sorry, this is all my fault. Are you ok?” Stiles voice quivers in concern. Scott moves closer and grasps his shoulders.

“Hey, it’s not you fault Stiles. I choose to come with you and you even tried to save me. And oh…”

“What?”

“It doesn’t hurt. Like at all.” They both look down at the scratches and notice how the marks look days old rather than hours.

“Weird…Ok let’s get you cleaned up. Take a shower. Where is the first aid kit?”

Scott moves to the bathroom, while Stiles heads to the closet downstairs. After addressing the wounds, both boys marvel at how light the wounds looked.

“I guess it didn’t attack to deep.”

“I ‘m glad you’re okay, buddy. But, seriously what was that thing?”

“Yeah, it was definitely bigger than a bear.”

“Hmm…but it didn’t kill us. Oh well, guess what?!”

“What?”

“There wasn’t one body, but three! And all three had their throats slashed and hands ripped off. Just like the one we saw.”

“Oh no. That’s horrible! How did you find out?”

“Ah well, I can’t reveal my sources Scotty my boy, But trust me this source is very reliable. Yup.” Stiles nods his head with mocking intent.

“You looked at your dad’s files, didn’t you?” Scott raises one eyebrow.

“Whaat! No! It’s classified Scott! And we have to get going anyway. Come on, let’s go! Our place of imprisonment awaits,” Stiles starts to march out the door. Scott rushes after him before coming to a sudden halt. Looking back, Stiles notices how Scott frantically pats all over his body, searching his pockets and bag.

“What’re you looking for?” Scott head jerks up and his eyes widen in anxiety.

“My inhaler! Oh no, I think I dropped it last night. This is not good, Stiles. It was my last one, and it takes at least a week before I can get a new one.”

“Okay, don’t worry. It’s going to be fine. After school, we can go look for it. Alright?”

“What about the beast?”

“It’s daytime, that thing is probably sleeping or far away from civilization.”

“Urgh, fine. But, just because I really need it. I don’t want to stay in those woods for a second later.”

“No problem. We’ll be in and out real quick.” With a clear goal in mind, both boys headed to school.

The rest of the day moved relatively quickly. But for Scott, it was an endless. Through out the day, he was haunted with moments of sounds like nails to a blackboard and smells straight out of one’s nightmare. With a pounding headache, Scott burrowed his nose into the front of his jacket while waiting for Stiles by the Jeep.

“Scotty! Hey…woah! You do not look good. Are you ok?” A hint of cinnamon and mint waft past Scott, briefly pulling him out of his jacket shield. His nose twitches with interest.

“Oh thank god. You don’t smell horrible, can I have the mint in your right pocket?”

“Ah thank you?” Stiles hesitantly pulls out the mint-flavored gum from his pocket in shock.

“How did you know that was in there? I don’t even remember putting it there.”

Scott just shrugs his shoulders and lets out a sigh of relief while chewing the gum.

“Don’t know, just smelled it I guess.”

“Oh you smelled it. Right that makes sense, who can’t smell gum from like five feet away. Totally normal.”

Stiles moves toward the driver’s side while arching his eyebrow in wary confusion. After reaching the woods, both boys look for inhaler. While searching, Stiles breaches the topic of Scott’s newly enhanced senses

“Any other new discovers buddy? Like seeing through walls or running faster than a speeding bullet. Anything better than smelling gum.” Stiles lets out a teasing smile.

“Ha. Ha. Stiles. No, I don’t have any new “powers”. Today, actually sucked a lot. I kept hearing things like people were shouting right next to me, but no one was there. And everything smelled horrible like sweaty socks. Oh except Allison, she smelled like jasmines.”

“ Hmm sounds to me like you either are losing it or gained a heightened sense of hearing and smell. I’m leaning towards the losing it side, by the way. Oh yeah, how are the scratches?”

Scott lifts his shirt and pulls back the gauze, but all he sees his smooth tan skin.

“Ah, Stiles? You saw those marks too right?”

“Of course Scott, you don’t forget seeing you best friend with his side gorged out….who miraculously healed with out a single mark.” Stiles mouth drops down in awe. He rubs across Scott’s side, but nothing. Not even a single bump.

“Ok, I take back the losing it. You heal real fast, can smell from far away and are apparently hearing things. Did you get bit by a radioactive spider and not tell me?!” Stiles exclaims in excitement. “Obviously it can’t be a spider, because they don’t have ears, but something.”

Before he could devolve further into his theories, a voice cuts through their conversation like ice.

“What are you doing here? This is private property. Get out.” The owner growls out with his arms crossed and pinched look of irritation upon his face.

Gazing at those hazel-green eyes, Stiles was rooted to the ground. Oh god! It’s Derek. If he were a dog his ears would be perked up and his tail would be wagging furiously back and forth.

Scott glances at Stiles, but he remains frozen.

“Um…sorry we didn’t know this was private property. We were looking for my inhaler, I lost it last night.”

Derek’s eyes swiftly cuts to Scott.

“You idiots were out alone in the woods. At night. Are you serious? Do you have a death wish? Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t hang out in the woods.” Derek glared at the absurdity of their actions. Laura just told him this morning that three women were killed last night and these morons were moving through the woods like it was a park. Before he could continue about the recklessness of their actions, he felt a finger push at his chest.

Calm down, Stiles. You got this! Just be cool and relaxed. Stiles zaps out of his frozen state and moves in front of Derek.

“Ok big guy. You listen here. We are not idiots. We had a perfectly good plan, thank you very much. So you should calm down.” Stiles taps his index finger at the end of each statement.

“And… and wow. Your chest is so bouncy, do you work out? Don’t answer that of course you do.” Without an conscious action, Stiles fingers continues to tap at Derek’s chest.

As a sneer spreads across Derek’s mouth, he grabs the finger and shoves the boy to closest tree. With one hand wrapped around the finger, his other hand slams down hard next to Stiles head. Derek leans down with eyebrows furrowed and face inches from Stiles face.

“You touch me again and I will rip your throat out. With my teeth.”

Instead of a terrified face and the smell of fear flooding his senses, Derek takes in the enraptured face. Whiskey brown eyes are blown open, pupils dilated until the iris is barely visible. His tongue swipes across baby pink lips in a nervous gesture, coating them with saliva. His heart was beating fast, but the acrid scent of fear didn’t follow. Rather a lovely shade of pink blush was traveling up his neck to his cheek, casting a healthy glow to the pale skin. His breath was coming out in breathy puffs.

Each breath, released a gush of warm air across Derek’s face, sending a shiver down his back. The scent of cinnamon flooded his every sense, wet and melting. It invaded every pore of his being, begging him to come closer. Just a bit closer. Close enough that he could taste the delicious flavor dissolve into his mouth. Derek angles his head lower to stare into those mesmerized honey-brown more clearly. He could feel his thigh shift between the boy’s legs without control.

Stiles lets out a breathy, “Der…”

Head stuck is a cloud of cinnamon, vanilla, and arousal, Derek could feel himself being pulled in. A cough jolts him out his trance. Jerking back in horror, Derek quickly steps away from Stiles.

With a grunt of frustration, Derek throws an inhaler at Scott.

“Leave and don’t come back.” Without even a second glance at Stiles, Derek stalks back into the forest.

Scott takes in Stiles wreaked appearance and calls out, “You ok, Stiles?”

Straightening himself out of one of most mind-melting encounters, Stiles responds with a slight pout, “Yup, fine. I was doing better than fine almost perfectly when someone coughed and ruined everything.”

“What?! How was I supoose to know? He looked like he was going to eat you.”

“Ah what a way to go.” Stiles sighs out.

“Huh? Oh no, Stiles. No. Wierdos who threaten to ripe out throats are not good. At all.”

“Mhmm, let’s go Scott.” Stiles replies absentmindedly. All he could focus on were those glaring eyes sparkling with life and heat invading every part of his being from just one hand wrapped around his finger.

“Stiles? Stiles are you listening?”

With Scott’s concern fading into the background, Stiles could only focus on Derek.

Chapter Text

Despite walking for the past 10 minutes, Derek was drowning. The sticky-sweet cinnamon scent was invading his senses. His eyes were filled with melting chocolate eyes fluttering with anticipation. His ears were shivering from the way those pink cupid lips uttered out his name. Even now he could taste that snicker doodle scent melting in his mouth. He was sinking deeper and deeper.

Home? A voice whispered out with flickering hope.

Quiet! Derek pushed that voice down. Deep down. Where it couldn’t hurt anyone.

With a disgusted snarl, Derek furiously swiped his hands across every single inch of his face. Not even a hint remained. Now that his head was cleared, Derek ran toward the loft. Something was weird about the other kid and he had to let Laura know as soon as possible.

Barely out of breath, Derek arrived at the loft, only to be greeted with bell like giggles. Derek paused out of instinct, wanting to savor this melody for as long as possible. He knew that he didn’t deserve to listen, but his feet were rooted to the ground. Just as it came, it faded.

Derek releases the breath he was unconsciously holding and goes for the door. He was greeted with a sight that seemed almost out of place in the cold metal loft. Laura was curled up in a worn beige armchair, a warm cup of tea in her hands. Her hair was down and her eyes were open and unguarded. A pleasant smile curved up her mouth as she looked fondly at Cora and Peter. Cora had her arms wrapped around Peter’s shoulders while leading against his back. Her excited shatter was meet with warm indulgence. Even Peter’s permanent smirk was drawn back and replaced with a softening of his lips.

As if icy-cold water was suddenly thrown, the warmth was doused out. The happiness of the groups was snapped out in an instance. Calm faces shifted to alarm, guards were up, and muscles tensed apprehension. A line was drawn and it was quite clear that Derek was on the outside.

“You’re back.” Derek barely grunts out.

Peter turned to place his complete focus on Derek. A slimy sliver of a smirk grew upon his face. Twisting the once pleasant face sinister. With a stroke of his hand across the left side of neck, Peter brings to focus the pink, shiny burnt scars scattered across his body. Each bump and depression of the keloid scars, reinforce how pathetic and useless he is. Derek could feel his heart start to beat faster and his breath quicken.

“Why yes, my dear nephew. You didn’t get rid of me yet. Although you did try your best, didn’t you Derek?” An icy glint flashes through his eyes.

“Peter.” Laura calls out. Morphing his face to the picture of innocence, Peter responds with a smile.

“I was just joking, Laura. Anyway, what did you call me for? I was just on a lead when I got your call about bodies, was it?” With a turn of his body, Peter flicked away Derek’s presence.

Peter just nonchalantly shoved the knife in Derek’s heart deeper without remorse. All Derek could do was stand there frozen while being gutted with guilt, sorrow and despair.

Laura could smell the scent of flesh rotting spreading throughout the loft. Laura wished there was something she could do, but now wasn’t the time. After sending Cora back to her room, Laura told her about last night’s gruesome murders.

“So there were three females in their mid 20’s with throats slashed and hands ripped off. I go away for a couple of weeks and this happens. Three is a very specific number, well I have to get in contact with some people before I can say anything else.”

Laura could already feel as if a weight was lifted off of her.

“Thanks, Peter.” Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, she leaned back onto the armchair. Her head was killing her but at least now she could get some answers. A voice startles her out of her thoughts.

“…Laura. I don’t know if this is important, but I think it might be important.”

“Oh just spit it out Derek. We don’t have all day.” Peter interjects.

With claws piercing into his palms, Derek firms his stance and shoots Peter a glare. Turning back to Laura recounts his encounter in the woods.

“They were talking about healing fast and smells becoming stronger,”

“Oh wow, teenager talking about smells, great work Derek.”

Pushing past the snide remarks, Derek continued to present his concern.

“One of the boys, smelled weird. Like dried up blood but also a…wolf?”

Laura jolts up in surprise. “What?! Are you sure? You might have been confused.”

“Yes, Laura. I know what a wolf smells like.” Derek could feel his frown deepen. Recently, it felt as if anything he said was always clouded in suspicion or completely disregarded. He knows that he lost their trust, but he was trying. Damn it!

“Hmm…what do you think Peter?”

“I think we have more important things to focus on Derek’s latest paranoia.”

With a hesitant smile, Laura gazed at the drops of blood dripping from Derek’s clenched fists to barren ground.

“It’s probably nothing Derek. Don’t worry. Why don’t you clean up and we can all eat dinner together.” Her eyes glued to Derek’s hands.

“Unfortunately, I’m busy dear. Tell Cora I’ll see her later.” Without even a spare glance at Derek, Peter left the loft.

Derek felt as if he was screaming and screaming but they all just looked at him before turning away. Alone. He could be drowning in his tears but not a hand would reach out. Enshrouded in the silence, Derek left the first floor and went back to abandoned room he called his bedroom.

Chapter Text

Chapter 14:

Scott could feel himself running through the woods. His feet were bare, sinking into the soft blades of grass with each step. There was an excitement in the air. He feels his head tilt up and a captivating scent filled his flared nose. Drool begins to pool in his mouth and he picks up his pace.

Licking his lips in anticipation, he spots his prey. A middle-aged man limping with claw marks spanning his entire back. His heart was pounding faster than jackrabbit. The stench of fear mixing with blood was absolutely intoxicating! Ah so beautiful, run little rabbit run!

Scott jolts in revulsion. Those are not my thoughts! He tries to stop himself from chasing after the poor man, digging in his heels as deep as possible.

But, nothing.

His legs kept moving, not a hint of hesitation was present. With one last thrust of his legs, he was airborne. He tackles the man down on to his knees and turns him over. Tears are pouring down his face like rain, greasy hair is swept in disarray. Beady, black eyes are pleading and his lips are bitten down to a bleeding mess.

“Please, please. Oh God! Why is this happening to me?!” He is trembling and attempts to crawl back. Scott lifts himself of the man, watching a glimmer of hope shine in those eyes. Amusement envelops Scott, before he jumps down on the man again.

“What are you?! Please god let me go! I should’ve never answered that call.” His words become blubbering jumbles of begging and pleading.

Red, blazing vision clouds Scott’s eyes. He bends his head down until he completely fills the man’s field of vision. Mouth open in a sinister smile that stretches from ear to ear. A single word is yanked out of his mouth.

In a deep timber growling with repressed anger, he utters, “Fire.”

A light of recognition flashes through the man’s eyes; before Scott feels his teeth sink deep into the man’s throat. In a single motion, he rips out a chunk of the man’s throat and lets out a triumphant howl.

Scott hurls off his bed in his haste to the bathroom. Lacking the strength to even stand, he collapses over the toilet and heaves. And heaves. Again and again. Until there was nothing left. Using the last of his energy, he leans the wall and swipes his arm over his mouth. The rancid metallic taste still filled his mouth. He didn’t understand what was going on. It couldn’t be real.

It’s been a week since his trip to the woods ended with an empty memory and miraculously fast healing claw marks. Now these weird dreams. First, it was just of running through the woods. But, now, it was like it wasn’t even Scott’s body. It’s probably some weird trauma from being chased by that thing.

Hoisting himself up, Scott cleans up and looks up at the clock. It was 3 am. Sighing in annoyance, Scott hauls himself to bed. He had lacrosse tryouts today and he had to do well. It was his only chance to impress Allison. With thoughts of her sweet, dimpled smiles, Scott drifted back to sleep.

It’s been almost a week since Stiles met Derek is the woods. He could still feel those piercing hazel eyes peering into soul and that burning furnace of a chiseled body pressing closer and closer. Stiles swears that Derek leaned down but, Scott just had to speak up and ruin everything! With a frustrated swipe of his hands over his hair, he looks over at his best friend.

Now that he gets a closer look at Scott, he notices the bags surrounding his eyes and even his skin is chalk-white.

“Scotty? You ok there?” Stiles moves closer and squeezes Scott’s shoulder in concern. Scott lets out slight grimace.

“Yeah, just nervous. I have to make the team, Stiles.” Scott’s eyes widen in earnest.

“Scott, relax. You got this, and if you don’t it’s fine. I mean how hard can it be to throw some balls right?” Scott’s face suddenly contorts into anger. He shrugs Stiles’ hand off in irritation.

“No Stiles. Not ok! God this is my only chance to impress Allison. You’re not even taking this seriously!” Stiles’ eye widen in surprise. Looking at his face, Scott feels instant regret.

“Sorry, Stiles. I don’t know what happened. I just feel like I been on edge these last couple of days.” Putting down his head in shame, Scott lets out a deep breath.

“Alright, buddy. We’re going to make you stand out so well that Allison will come down to ask you out herself, got it?

“Really?” Scott lifts his head with hope swimming in his big, chocolate eyes. Stiles stands with resolution.

“Of course! Ok, here’s the plan. I did a little research, and our golden opportunity will be during the scrimmage. Jackson being the selfish ball hoarding Ken doll he is, will not pass the ball when he is near the goal. That’s when we strike! I’m gonna distract him and you’re going to steal the ball. Then you are going to run! Easy.”

“Haha, yeah easy. Only you would tell an asthma kid that running is easy, thanks Stiles.”

Loosening himself, Scott shakes off the tension in his body. The boys look at each other with determined smiles and go out into the field.

Stiles could feel his soul leaving his body. Wheezing over his knees, Stiles tried to get oxygen into his lungs. This was actual torture. Lifting himself from eminent death, Stiles stares in shock as Scott calmly walks over with a water bottle.

“You’re already done?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t so bad.” The answering grin was almost blinding in its brightness. This wasn’t the first time Scott surprised him. Over the last week, Scott hearing and smell heightened, and now it appears so has his stamina. Stiles knew something hasn’t been the same since that night in the woods, but he didn’t know exactly what. Yet. But, he will. Grabbing the water bottle, Stiles chugs half and pours the rest over his head.

Letting out a hum in pleasure, Stiles looks toward the bleachers. Lydia is there blatantly ignoring everyone’s existence and Allison shooting a thumbs up at Scott. It seems that Stiles didn’t event have to do anything. As his eyes rolled over the rest of the field, they land an intimidating leather clad figure. His arms are crossing and the glower on his eyes could be felt across the field. Derek! Stiles could feel himself perk up like a puppy.

He starts to hastily wipe his the water off his face and push his hair back.

“Scott! Scott! How do I look? Tell me!!! Derek is here!” Stiles grabs onto Scott’s jersey and yanks him back and forth.

“Derek’s here? Why? Oh, I see him. God, he looks like he’s gonna murder me!”

“What? Huh? Oh no, that’s just his concentration face, see how his eyebrows are not that deep and his lips are slightly up.”

“…Okay…”

“Alright everyone huddle up. Except you, Greenberg. Another lap for you.” Coach Finstock called out to everyone scattered across the field.

“Aww man. Anything for you Coach.”

“There is seriously something wrong with that kid. Anyway, we are going to have a scrimmage.”

After splitting the group, multiple short scrimmages began to happen. Finally, it was Jackson’s team against Scott and Stiles.

“Ready to get wrecked, Stilinski?” Jackson mouth opened in a sneer.

“Not by you, Jacky boy.” Stiles taunts back with sugar sweet smile. Jackson face flushes red.

“You’re going down.” He grits out before focusing on the ball. The game was brutal. Like a man on a mission, Jackson pummeled through anyone in his way. Cradling the ball with such precision, he didn’t give anyone a chance to even touch the ball. As he was drawing closer to goal, Stiles signaled Scott to get ready.

Just as Jackson was about to shoot, Stiles comes silently behind him through his blind spot and yells out “Snake!” sharply into his ear. Falling back in fear, Jackson drops the ball.

Using the moment of surprise, Scott scoops up the ball and sprints towards the goal. He could feel the air rushing past him. Just like in the beginning of the nightmare, his whole body tingled with energy and excitement. Before he even knew it, he was in front of the goal. While lifting the stick, he notices Danny shift slightly to the left in anticipation. In an instance, Scott scores by throwing right.

Stiles laughs in astonishment. He didn’t think that they would actually pull that off! Sprinting towards his best friend, Stiles jumps and wraps his legs around Scott’s back.

“Woohoo! Scotty!!! You did it!” Yet, before they could relish in their accomplishment, a hand grabs the back of Stiles’ jersey and yanks it down with force.

“What the hell, Stilinski?! What kind of shitty game are you playing, huh?” Fists curl around Stiles front, face filled with indignant anger.

An entity within Scott shoots up in protective fury. He feels the tips of his hand extend and adrenaline skyrocket. Rushing over to Stiles, Scott snactchs Stiles out of Jackson’s hand and pushes him behind himself. A silent growl vibrates for deep inside. Just as Jackson was about to push him, Scott knocks his hand out and pushes without remorse.

Jackson sails over to the goal and winces in pain as he hits the post. Scott takes a menacing step toward him, but a hand grabs his glove. Jolting out of his protective frenzy, Scott looks up at eyes filled with fear all around him. In a panic, Scott sprints toward the locker room.

He runs over to the shower and turns on freezing cold water to cool the burning sensation inside his body. But, rather than calm it down, it infuriates the beast within.

Suddenly, a voice calls out to him.

“Scott? Hey, you in here? Scotty, are you in the shower? I’m coming over.”

“DON’T” A gravelly voice answers.

“Ok, Scott. I don’t know what Hulk move that was out there, but I’m here ok?”

Before he could even process the reassuring words, a cinnamon-vanilla scent enraptured his senses completely. Sweet, licking his lips in anticipation, Scott lunges.

Entering deeper into the boy’s locker room, Stiles notices the gloves and the rest of Scott’s gear thrown in haste throughout the area. As he was about to call out once again, the shower curtain is thrown wide open. Standing in front was Scott. Heaving deep breathes, with golden eyes blazing and fangs protruding past his lips.

Once minute his was just standing there and the next moment he was lunging after Stiles like a man to water in a desert. Purely out of instinct, Stiles turned and ran before he could make any sense in the scene before him.

“Scott?! Is that you?!”

Stiles scrambled out of the shower area like dogs of hell were after him. In his hurry, he hits a locker knocking him off balance. Falling on his back, Stiles could do nothing but stare as Scott opened his mouth wide open and jumped. With his arms bracing against his face, Stiles squeezed his eyes in terror.

Nothing. Two, Three, still nothing. Hesitantly peeking his eyes open, he’s greet with a sight that will forever me ingrained into his memory.

The familiar leather clad, muscular back was tensed in action. Jeans straining at the seams, as the figure lunged back. Biceps bulging under the weight of holding Scott of with his bear arms.

“Derek?” Stiles whimpers out in relief.

With a constrained rumble, Derek grits his teeth and turns his head slightly to gaze at Stiles.

“Run!”

Chapter Text

It’s been over a week since Derek encountered the two bumbling idiots in the woods. Although Laura told him to not worry about it and Peter basically told him that he was crazy, all Derek wanted to do was to protect his family. If there was even a tiny bit of chance that those boy from the wood were a danger then Derek will do anything to keep them safe.

That’s why for the past week, he was keeping a close eye on the crooked-jaw kid. So far the kid seemed harmless, but there were times when he moved just a bit to fast or turned up his nose at random times. He could smell the wolf inside the kid growing stronger but at the same time it smelled wrong. Corrupt and muddy, but still wolf-like. Since he couldn’t go to Laura or Peter for help, he was on his own.

Which is why he is stuck watching a bunch of freshman run suicides at lacrosse tryouts rather than doing something actually useful like patrol the woods. Crossing his arms in irritation, Derek tried to concentrate on Scott as he finished his run much faster than any kid with asthma. Yet, each time he tried to focus on Scott, his eyes drifted.

Gasping like a fish out of water was his current distraction. His brown hair was doused with water. Droplets of water glided down his pink, wet cupids lips, past his chin, down his collarbone disappearing under his soaked shirt. Derek could barely make out his perked up nip---

Focus, Derek! He abruptly shifted his focus on to Scott. The ever-constant darkness that lurked on the edge of his mind crept forward, launching its ugly attack.

Oh you, poor pretty little thing. A high pitched screeching voice fill his head. You didn’t actually think you deserve happiness do you? You served your whole family on a platter and now you want that sweet little thing? How horrible, Derek! Hahaha! Of course, I wouldn’t expect anything less from a mutt like you.

Derek let his claws pierce deep into his palms, the pain jolting him out of the darkness. Taking a deep breath, he looked out into the field, just as Scott was racing out of the field and back into the locker room. Something was wrong.

Jumping into action, Derek rushed into the locker room. As soon as they went he saw Stiles on the floor with his hand wrapped around his head and Scott wolfed out in front of him. Before his brain could even process what was happening, his body moved in front of Stile.

Partially wolfed out, Derek grabbed onto Scott to stop his attack. His arms were bulging with strain and he lunged back under the pressure.

A voice filled with complete relief and hope whimpered out, “Derek?”

With a constrained rumble, Derek grits his teeth and turns his head slightly to gaze at Stiles.

“Run!”

However, a glimpse of his bright blue eyes and fangs bared out turned those hopeful eyes into ones filled with fear.

Stiles yelled with terror and began to scramble back in haste.

Derek could feel a well of disappoint me start to swell up, but he pushed it down with a vengeance. What did you expect from a human?!

Turning his focus onto the boy in front of him, he noticed how Scott appeared to be partially shifted. His eyes enveloped in a bright, golden glow characteristic of a beta. But, that wasn’t possible, Laura was the only Alpha around here and there was no way she was his. He didn’t smell of her or anyone at all. His was a large colluded mess of smells with no clear origin.

Letting out a fierce roar, Derek tried to force Scott into submission. However, there was no hint of fear or understanding in those eyes. They were void of any human emotion, completely consumed by the raw hunger of the hunt. Scott struggled relentlessly, thrashing and lashing out against Derek. A powerful, tug loosened his hands and Scott took his chance to slash across Derek’s chest.

Wincing in pain, Derek took a step back. Rolling in his shoulders in anticipation, Derek waited for the attack. Within seconds, Scott was upon him arms raised to maim. Derek grabbed his arm out of the air and slammed him down on the floor. Scott yelped in pain as his back crashed with a bang. The air was knocked straight out of him and he could feel blood spilling from his mouth.

Derek climbed onto of Scott; he wraps his claws around Scott’s throat and flares his eyes in a show of dominance. With his mouth open wide, he roars with all his power bringing the wolf out from deep inside.

Scott whimpers out in submission, he could feel himself come out out of the foggy daze. But, just as suddenly a hint of cinnamon drowned him back into the madness.

Derek felt the fight die out of Scott as his roar reached the out of control wolf. Yet, just as he was relaxing, Scott jolted with sudden energy and reversed their position. With his legs wrapped around Derek’s waist, Scott raised his claws to slice deep into the competition.

Without warning, Scott felt something hard wacked over his head. He had just the time to see amber-brown eyes widen in apprehension and holding a fire extinguisher before he blacked out.

Derek could feel his heart still pounding from adrenaline pumping out. He should be analyzing the situation. He should be trying to figure out how Scott became a werewolf. He should be thinking of how to explain this situation in case someone comes in. He should be doing a lot of things.

But all he could actually do was stare in a complete daze as the kid that outright abandoned him was standing before him looking like an avenging angel holding an extinguisher. He was completely bewildered, chest heaving, eyes bugged out, but still he stood before him. Protecting him. Him. Even after seeing him wolfed out. Derek didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. A human was protecting him! Oh the irony.

Derek shoved Scott off of him and stood up to face this discordant human. His whole body language was screaming anxiety and despair, fingers trembling and mouth agape. But still he came back.

“Ok, mister. You have a lot of explaining to do. Like a lot. Oh god, I didn’t kill him right? Please tell me I didn’t kill him. Ok that’s it, I’m gonna puke.”

Before Stiles could freak out anymore, Derek grunted out, “He’s not dead.”

“Oh, good. That’s good. That’s good right?” Stiles voice dims into hesitation by the end.

“Yeah, it’s good.”

“You’re bleeding!” Stiles rushes over and briefly touches the claw marks across Derek’s shirt. But, they start to heal right under his finger. Other than a bit of blood, the skin is completely smooth again.

“Woah and now you’re not.” Stiles continues to run his finger over the newly healed wound.

“Does it hurt?” Stiles questions as he peers into those glowing blue eyes. His hands slowly move towards his forehead, brushing gently as if he was a precious gift.

“There gone!” Stiles giggle as he over the area where his eyebrows are supposed to be. That sound was smoother than chocolate and lighter than the chimes of bells. The feeling of light and rejoice filled the room. Even the darkness creeping at the back of his mind took a second to appreciate the sheer, unadulterated brightness that filled the room.

With a slight upturn of his lip, Derek pushes the change back and grabs Stiles’ hand.

“Hands off. Now.” Despite the harsh words, Derek’s voice was contrastingly gentle. After dropping Stiles’ hand, Derek goes down to pick up Scott. He heaves Scott over his shoulder and begins to walk out.

“Wait! Where are you going? You stop right now Derek Hale! You do not just get to leave without telling me anything! Oh! And with my best friend, too. Get back here!”

Stiles grabs both his and Scott’s stuff and scrambles after Derek. He was going to the end of this mystery one way or another! Oh believe him, even if he already knows and just needs a confirmation! Just you wait Derek Hale! Oh and Scott!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sheriff, there was another 10-54 in the forest. A middle-aged man completely mauled this time.”

The Sheriff rubs his head in frustration, this was the fourth body in as many weeks. What on earth was going on with this town?

Chapter Text

Derek could feel the bursts of anxiety and nerves coming in rapid waves from behind as he walked towards his Camaro. But, there was nothing he could do to quell the fear from the other. He didn’t even know what just happened. How could there be another werewolf in Beacon Hills? Does that mean there is another Alpha? How did he not notice? Was Scott connected to the recent killings?

…Why did Stiles help him?

Lost in thought, Derek dropped Scott in the backseat and contemplated on what to do next. Considering all options, Derek decided to bring him home; Laura would know what to do with Scott.

Just as he was about to get into the driver’s seat, a hand clasped his shoulder. Turning his head, Derek is met with molten chocolate eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“Where are you taking him?"

A sigh released from Derek’s lips in a mixture of frustration and irritation. Derek turns his body to give Stiles his full attention.

“That’s none of your business. I’ll take care of him, so it’s best you just forget this ever happened and carry on with your life. Leave.”

“What?! No way, buddy! That’s my best friend and I’m not leaving him alone.” Stiles crosses his arms and stands in outrage.

Taking a step closer, Derek points to the back seat, “That’s not your best friend anymore. Did it seem like your friend when he tried to slash you to pieces?”

Another step. “With a twist of his hand, he can break your neck.” Stiles unconsciously steps back as Derek looms over him like a dark shadow.

Leaning closer, Derek’s face twists into a sinister sneer, “You’re a human. Useless and weak. Pathetic really how desperate you are for attention. You can't help. You can't do anything. Just run along home, you’re not needed here.” As each word wrestled passed his lips, he could feel his heart being squeezed tighter and tighter in pain. Yet, images of cold, lifeless brown eyes made the pain bearable.

Each insult was like a whip slashing at each of Stiles’ insecurities, shredding his happy-go-lucky mask to pieces. Revealing the desperate little boy, that struggled to regain an ounce of love from his deteriorating mother and busy father. That same child worked day and night to cloak his despair in a coat of happiness and sarcasm. Now here was the haven that once sheltered him from the same pain, causing it. Reminding him once again why he shouldn’t be loved.

Catching the moment of weakness, panic starts crawling up his throat in a frenzy. Stiles felt as if hundreds of hands were taking turns to strangle every last inch of oxygen out of his lungs.

Derek’s fingers twitched as the color in Stiles’ face drained and his heart started to quicken to near impossible speeds. However, he stood his ground. The frightened heartbeat was grating on his ears, but it was much better than listening to the silence. Anything was better than that deadly quiet.

Looking at the terrorized figure in front of him, Derek decided that should be enough. Only an idiot would try to come after all that. With one last huff, Derek turned back to the Camaro. Just as he was about to grab the door, a hand roughly grabs his jacket and yanks him back with force.

Have you ever been confronted with a mama bear? One that was completely terrorized, out of options, but desperate to protect what's hers? Yeah, that was Stiles right now.

His eyes were lit like the flames of hell. His mouth was frothing with anger and defiance. Yet, his hands curled into fists around Derek’s jacket were shaking.

Leaning until there was not even an inch of space between, Stiles glared unflinching.

“No. Not a chance. I may be a weak, useless human. But, I don’t care. I don’t care if I might get ripped to pieces, I don’t care if I get hurt. I’m not leaving Scott. I left him once in the woods and this shit all happened because of me! Call me pathetic or whatever you want, but I’m never leaving him again! You can either take me with you or you’ll find yourself at the barrel end of the Sheriff’s gun. Got it, Hale?”

Chest heaving, Stiles dared Derek to try him with piercing eyes.

Listening to his words submerged Derek in a sea of emotions. Confusion. What was wrong with this kid? How could he not be afraid? Awe. Despite his terror and anguish, he wanted to protect his friend. Anger. Why?! Why couldn’t he leave? He was just going to cause more problems down the line. Fear. Derek didn’t want any more blood on his hands, god no more.

A smaller and darker emotion without a name also lingered behind the others. Who was Scott, that Stiles would risk his life for him?

Raking his hair in frustration, Derek glances upward and releases a sigh that almost lasts a decade. 

Derek grips Stiles’ wrist to remove his hand from his jacket. Then tightening his grip, Derek lets out a warning.

“Fine. I don’t know why you got a death wish, but fine. You can come with me but that’s it. You’re going to follow and sit quiet. You won’t question anything or get involved. Got it?”

Grimacing in distaste, Stiles shakes off the hand on his wrist.

“Yeah, whatever, Hale. But, if I see that any point Scott is any shape or form of danger, I’m bringing him home. Got it?” Stiles ends mockingly.

“What are going to do, Stilinski? Yell ‘snake’ and run off?” Derek replies with a smirk.

“Don’t test me, Hale. You’ll regret it.” Stiles answers with his teeth bared out. Almost wolf like thought Derek in passing.

“Hmm… we’ll see.” A few seconds passed with charged eye contact that felt almost hot to the touch. Abruptly turning, Derek heads into the Camaro. This day turned out much worse than he anticipated. Taking breath to strengthen his resolve, Derek sends a text to Laura to meet him at home and drives away without a single look back.

Chapter Text

A throbbing pain resonated throughout Laura’s head. It felt as if people were taking turns to grind her brain to dust with large jagged rocks. Moments of relief were fleeting with each passing hour.

Heaving a great sigh of agitation, Laura gathered the files for the latest murders and prepared for the meeting.

The new Sheriff seemed to be hellbent on finding answer, running them around in circles for any possible lead. But what could she do? Tell him, ‘Oh sir, have you considered a supernatural element? I could help! How I could tell you ask? Well, I’m a werewolf of course! Haha!

Laura grimaced at the mental image of the Sheriff shipping her off to the psych ward. Pushing herself out of the chair, Laura headed off to get some coffee before the meeting. She was going to need it.

The Sheriff entered the room radiating tension. It hasn’t even been two months since he transferred to Beacon Hills and he already has four dead bodies.

“Alright, everyone. You all know why we’re here. On September 15, three females in their mid twenties were found with their throats slashed, hands ripped off, and signs of being hunted. Not even three days later, man was found attacked with his throat ripped barely 100 yards from the previous incident. Do we know who they are and if these are related? Hale?”

Laura shifted upright and flipped open the folder with the latest data.

“Yes, Sheriff. After checking our database, we were able to identify that the three females were from the county next door, Hillwood Heights. Aimee Skylar, Tasha Stone, and Emily Woods were all reported missing from an underground club two days before the incident. On the other hand, the man was…”

Laura abruptly stops. Noticing the intense stare from the Sheriff, she takes a deep breath and continues the report.

“Garrison Myers, a local bus driver. Based on the coronary report this seems to be an unrelated animal attack, probably a mountain lion.”

“Were there any links between the three girls?” The Sheriff questioned.

“Nothing so far, Sheriff. It seems to be a coincidence, but we still haven’t gone through all the data yet.”

“Damn that’s not much we can go off on that. Alright, Parrish?”

“Yes, Sheriff?” replied one of the newer Deputies. A handsome young man with brown hair and simmering green eyes. He fit the image of an all American solider to a T.

“You and Hale look to find any locations or people all three girls connected to. I want that information yesterday, got it?” Sheriff’s stern gaze pushed Hale and Parrish to answer immediately.

“Yes, sir.”

“As for the animal attacks, does anyone know any local hunters or experts in that expertise?”

“Of course, we would know. It’s not like we’re some outsider trying to run things here.” Countered Deputy Sheriff Haigh arrogantly leaning on the back two legs of his chair with a twisted smirk on his face. Before the Sheriff could reply, Officer Lindsey interjects a possible solution to appease the tense atmosphere.

“Ah, Chris Argent might be our best bet, sir.” As the Sheriff took a moment to look at the rest of the staff to calm himself down, he noticed how Deputy Hale was drained of color at the mention of Argent.

“Any problems, Hale?”

Piercing her nails into her palms, Laura pushes her mind back to the present. With a sheepish smile, she replies, “Ah, no, sir. Ha ha. Just Argent is known for being a little trigger happy, we don’t want anymore problems, right? My uncle is back in town and he knows those woods like the back of his hand. I thought I would recommend him if you want him.”

“Argh that burnt up creep is back?” Haigh intrudes once again into the conversation like a particularly unpleasant cockroach.

“Haigh, unless you have anything meaningful to add to the conversation, I would suggest you staying quiet.” Sheriff crossed his arms and directed his entire attention to Haigh daring him to speak up again. One could almost feel the temperature dropping a couple of degrees in the face of the intimidating aura radiating off the Sheriff. With a grunt, Haigh rolled his eyes and returned to staring up at the ceiling while leaning back on his chair.

“As for the animal attacking, we need as many sources as possible so Hale call your uncle. Officer Lindsey you can contact Argent. Every minute we delay, more people are being put at risk. We need answers and we need them fast. But I have the utmost confidence in you all.” The Sheriff finishes off with a warm smile.

“Yes, sir!” All the officers replied with much gusto.

Just as Laura was walking out, Parrish caught up to her.

“Hey, Hale. How are you doing? You been chugging coffee like water for the past couple days.”

“You been staring at me, Parrish?”

Visible flustered, Parrish scrambles out, “What?! No! I mean yes, well you know it’s just part of the job and and we have to keep an eye on each other. No that you can’t take care of yourself of course. But um..”

“Calm down, solider boy. I got it. I just have this killer headache, can’t even think straight without coffee.”

“Oh, I know this remedy that’s perfect for headaches. I can ma---”

Beep! A sudden text alert cut the conversation short. Laura looks at her phone to see a text from Derek. Mild confusion graced her face as she wondered what he needed? He barely texted or even called. Wait when was that last time he reached out to her? Six months ago? A year? A piercing pain intruded upon her thoughts. Argh this headache was getting worse.

Heaving a sigh in agitation, she opens the text. Only three words, but the panic that followed after was like reading a ten-page suicide note.

Emergency. House. ASAP.

Fuck! Fuck! What did you do Derek?! What could you have done now! Her heart was pounding faster than jackrabbit. Thoughts of fire, blood and death poured out in an endless flow like a waterfall.

Gripping her phone in a death grip, she swiftly turned to Parrish.

Grabbing his shoulders in a rush, Laura speaks with urgency, “Hey, an emergency came up at home. I have to go now. Can you cover me?”

Slighly shocked by the turn of conversation, Jordan replied back with sincere eyes. “Yeah, don’t worry. I got this covered. Do you need me to come with?”

“No that’s fine. Thanks! I got to go.” Like a whirlwind, Laura zipped out the office and into the car. As she clenched her fingers around the heel, only one thought was played on repeat.

What the HELL did you do now, Derek?!

Chapter Text

After the tense drive from school, all Derek wanted to do was curl up in his blankets and sleep until this whole mess magically fixed itself. Instead, Derek was stuck babysitting a feral, hormone ridden werewolf. All the while being glared at by molten-brown eyes boring into the side of his face.

Derek released a slight cough before tugging at the top of his shirt. Glancing down at his phone, he noticed that Laura read his message, meaning that she should be here shortly. Huffing, Derek released a short breath before confronting the doe-eyed hellion in front of him.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s not like you just made this big speech about how only you could help Scott and that us puny human are useless. But all I see is you handcuffing my best friend and just sitting there. Wow, I would’ve never thought of this. Brilliant Derek absolutely brilliant.” Stiles finishes with a mocking smile bordering onto hysteria.

Barely fighting back the urge to roll his eyes, Derek glares back at Stiles.

“Those are mountain ash reinforced handcuffs, he won’t be able to break out of them. Also, like I said before we are waiting for my Alpha.”

“Oh your Alpha, that make perfect sense.” Stiles snarls back with this arms tightly crossed.

“Yes, my Alpha, Stiles. Laura, my sister, will know what to do. If you got a problem with that you can get o—” Derek abruptly ends his sentence when sounds of tires approaching get louder.

“She’s here. Sit over there quietly and don’t make a sound.” He points at the armchair near the edge of the room.

“Ah—”

“Sit.”

“I thought you were the dog in this relationship.” Stiles replies with a pout on his lips. After grumpily flopping upon the armchair, he mimics sipping his lips.

This time giving into temptation, Derek rolls his eyes before heading to the door.

“Laur----”

The door is slammed open. In a whirlwind of motion, a half-shifted Laura rams into the room in a fury. Without a pause, she grabs Derek and hurls him against the closet wall. Derek barely lets out a grunt from the force of the hit, before he is picked up by his throat. Blazing red eyes blared up to his face, not an ounce of kindness could be found in those red pools of resentment and disgust.

Her mouth twisted into a grotesque grimace and roared out.

 “ What the fuck did you do Derek?!! Why is there a strange wolf in our den covered in blood?! Why do you keep endangering this family over and over again!” Her voice quivered with raw emotion by the end of her sentence. Tears filled her eyes, but the anger acted like a dam. Restraining sorrow so that only an icy coldness remained.

The hand that was fighting against Laura’s grip suddenly freezes like it was ruthlessly stabbed in the heart without an inch of mercy. Derek’s struggles and words collapsed like a lifeless corpse. Eyes dimmed in realization that there was no solace and maybe never will be in with his Alpha, his pack, his sister.

“HEY! Let him go!”

A shout swiftly breaks the crumbling confrontation before it could go into irredeemable territory. Suddenly, Stiles runs over in haste and rams his shoulder hard into the female chocking the life out of his Derek! Not on his watch!

A surprised Laura shifts back in bewilderment as she falls hard on the ground with human teenage boy on top of her. Derek gasps in desperation once he is released from Laura’s grip. Before she could get her bearings, two hands firmly grip her shirt and yank her up to confront two scorching brown eyes prodding into her face.

“You touch him like that again and I will end you faster than you can say sorry. I don’t even care that you’re a fucking werewolf, I will make mountain ash filled bullets and shoot your furry ass to kingdom come. Did. I. Make. Myself. Clear?!” Throughout the entire exchange, Stiles voice didn’t even raise over a whisper. Yet, his glimmered with the utmost sincerity.

Laura could only gape in confusion.

“I said, did I make myself clear?” Stiles reiterated while pulling her even closer until she was almost cross eyed.

As if a defibrillator suddenly jumpstarted his heart, Stiles’ words pumped blood back into Derek’s lifeless state. Yet, Derek knew that he didn’t deserve such warmth, he lost that right a long time ago.

Stiffly getting back on his feet, Derek grabbed Stiles off of Laura.

“That’s enough, Stiles.” Despite the gruff words, a slight glimmer of gratitude swam in those broken hazel eyes.

“What?! Did you not see that messed up psycho go for you like a slice of meat?”

Ignoring Stiles freak-out, Derek pulls Laura up to her feet.

With his head bent and angled to the side, Derek pleaded to her instincts.

“Laura, please listen to me. I never want to hurt my family ever again. Please just listen to the whole situation and then you can do whatever you want.”

“Fuck. Fine.” Grunting in displeasure, Laura rubs her forehead in frustration. The throbbing was getting worse with each passing moment.

Soon, all three were moving to the sofa to talk. Rather than move to the armchair, Stiles chose to sit right next to Derek. Shoulders brushing with each twitch. Despite running a higher temperature than human, Derek could feel the heat from Stiles like the warm sunlight on a perfect spring day. It radiated reassurance and enveloped him in a blanket of security. Unknowingly using Stiles’ presence as strength, Derek disclosed all that happen this afternoon.

After listening to the entirety of the situation, Laura slumped in defeat.

“So let me get this right. That kid is a werewolf and we don’t even know what or who cause it. And now we have another kid, a human one that not only knows about werewolves but you all so told him about mountain ash. Great…. Just Great. That’s your problem Derek. You never think of your actions or who might get hurt.”

“Ha. Okay wow. Excuse me. But from recent events it is very clear that I was the one to save him. While you the supposedly trustable sister just tried to kill your own brother. Without even a second thought, so I don’t think you are the paramount of rational brain power.” Stiles admonishes.

Laura turns to Stiles in shock. It’s been so long since someone stood up to her and even worse make her feel ashamed.

“I-I was never going to k-kill him. God, what’s wrong with you? I was just momentarily overwhelmed, you wouldn’t understand, human.”

“From my very human perspective, anyone with even a shred of humanity would make sure their brother is okay and –-“

“He’s a werewolf kid, that was nothing. Right, Derek?” Laura questions with a huff of annoyanace.

“Ah, yeah. I’m fine. Ha, all good.” Derek releases a slight laugh.

“AND you didn’t even sorry for your mistake.” Stiles interjects again.

“Seriously? Derek knows I didn’t mean it. My instincts just took over from the smell of blood and another wolf on my territory. Right, Derek?”

“Yeah. It was my mistake for not warning you sooner. Sorry, Laura.” Derek bows his head in disappointment.

“Are you seriously just going to let her—”

“That’s enough Stiles. We have more important things to deal with. What should we do know Laura?” Derek tries to deflect the conversation to something that he can actually fix.

Laura straighten ups and starts to formulate a plan.

“First things first. As soon as Scott wakes up, we have to find out who his Alpha is. Then we can focus on his training and getting that rogue Alpha off our territory. Before all that let’s call Peter. Maybe he will know why Scott smells weird.”

“Peter? Who’s that? And what do you mean Scott smells weird? I don’t know if you know but teenage boys are not known for their rosy fragrance.”

“Do you have something to say about everything?” Laura mutters under her breath. “Derek I’ll text Peter so he should be here soon. I’m just going to rest up until then, my head is killing me. Stiles, we will take care of your friend, so why don’t you head back home. Your parent are probably worried sick.”

“Oh yeah, with how you treat your brother, my friend is in good hands. But you know what I think I’m going to stay. Don’t you worry about me, I already told my dad I’m staying over at my newest friends the Hales.” With wide grin that almost looked menacing, Stiles waved Laura bye. With a sigh of pure distain, Laura left to her room.

As soon as Laura left, the two were left in silence. So many words desperately crawled up their throats and fought to pass their lips, yet not a word was uttered. Brown and hazels eyes were locked in a trance, emotions flittering faster than a express train trying to make up for lost time. Soon both pairs of eyes smoothed out, each releasing their alert stance until only a silent companionship remained.

Chapter Text

After shutting her door in frustration, Laura could only slide down the door in dismay. Banging her head back against the door, she tried to shake the images of Derek flooding her eyes. His desperate hands clawing at her hand to breathe. The way he was gasping for air, with eyes bulging out and lips turning blue. But. But the worst image was not his struggle; it was his resignation.

The instant he stopped fighting back, Laura felt something snap. Their relationship has already been through one of the worst things possible, yet that bond connecting them was still there. It was definitely weathered and frayed, but somehow still hanging on. But today it felt as if it was cut in half. The most humiliating part was that she was the one holding the scissors.

Laura drags hands down her face, leaving faint bloody lines that heal in seconds. Pulling her feet close to her chest, she hugs her knees in desolation. Why? Why was this happening to her? Why can’t she be even half the Alpha her mother was?

Every time she sees Derek, she wants to remembers her sweet, annoying brother. The one who would tease her, but run as soon as she chased after him. The cute little brother who would pout for a whole day if you made fun of his bunny teeth. The one who she could fearlessly bare her back to because she knew that he would do anything to protect her.

Yet, that picture perfect brother who could do no wrong was burned along with the rest of her family. Now, every single time she sees Derek, all she can see is a bright, orange fire and pitch-black smoke rising higher and higher. Cries of agony pile one after another, each tinged with confusion and helplessness. Images of her father, Henry huddling over six-year-old Matty. Both of their faces smudged with ash and him rocking a wheezing Matty with tears cascading down his face. Grandma and Grandpop who laid down in each other’s arm were laying motionless. Ava’s desperate wails resonated throughout the basement like an endless echo. Aunty Emily trying to calm Ava in vain, as her heart beat starts to get less and less frequent.

None of these images bring as much grief and rage, as the proud Alpha of our family Talia Hale, howling, clawing, and ramming against every each of the basement for a means of escape. Roar after roar. Bones breaking and healing one after another. Skin peeling, claws breaking, but nothing. Absolutely nothing. Until the most excruciating and nauseating feeling of Alpha power started to surge through Laura’s veins.

Laura abruptly snaps her eyes open. She couldn’t think about this anymore. Retaining the last bit of energy, she crawls to a stand. Yanking out her phone, she shoots Peter an emergency text and throws the phone on the nearby stand. With a single-minded purpose, Laura digs through her dresser until her hand wraps around a bottle. A wry smile creeps upon her face. She jerks out the bottle of mountain ash laden alcohol and gulps down as much as possible until the burning throat sensation overwhelms her. After tugging the bottle out of her mouth, she collapses onto her bed and allows the numbness consume her.

Until she feels nothing. Not her grief. Not her anger. Not even her guilt. Just numb.

After Laura left the room, a visible tension was left behind in the room. Stiles could only stare as Derek tried every way possible to avoid having a conversation. With arms crossing, body shifted away, and eyes looking at everything, but Stiles; it was quite clear that Stiles was not going to get a nice, clear discussion on what he just witnessed.

“Ahem.” Stiles attempts to clear his throat while attracting Derek’s attention. Other than a slight twitch of his eye, Derek was unresponsive.

“Fine, then.” Stiles grumbles while getting off the couch. He heads to the armchair he was sitting as previously and begins scrambling through his backpack.

Unknown to Stiles, Derek’s every sense was attuned to Stiles’ every move. His eyes wandered over Stiles bent figure. His ears caught ever little tick of his heart. His nose was invaded with the cinnamon scent tinged with the burnt smell of his anger. His fingers trembled with a need to hold those long hands. And his mouth…

As he was spiraling down the well of regrets and guilt with no end in sight, a single shout from Stiles wrapped around him like a rope. He was used to Laura ignoring him, avoiding him or even dismissing his existence entirely. Yet, this was the first time she showed her raw anger at him. Not a short burning flame of outrange. But, a chilling flame of wrath that wouldn’t die down until only ash remained. He could still feel the claws piercing his throat, but being unable to do anything.

Although, Derek was a werewolf with super strength he was like a helpless rabbit before a starving wolf. Rather than him it was the powerless human who fought and won. This wasn’t even the first time. What was wrong with this doe-eyed motor mouth? Did he not have any survival instincts?

Before he could finish gathering his thoughts, a sudden shout jerked him back.

“Aha! Found it.” Stiles turns around with a beaming smile and a small first aid kit in his hands.

“Tada.” Stiles walks over until he is directly in front of Derek.

“…” Derek eyes the box warily.

“Don’t … me.” Stiles snaps back with a glare.

Releasing a sigh, Derek rolls his eyes, “ Stiles, I am a werewolf with super healing. What are you even doing with a first aid kit anyway?”

“If you must know, I am always prepared. Paper cuts? Easy. Zombie attack? Boom bandages and a weapon.” Stiles haughtily replies.

“Zombies? Really, Stiles?” Derek huffs out a light laugh. His mouth curves ever so slightly.

“Yes, really! Werewolves are fine, but zombies are too much? Really Derek, you’re telling me there is no crazy bat group of witches with spells to resurrect the dead? Hmm?” Stiles hums while inching closer.

Staring into those hypnotizing honey brown-eyes, Derek almost forgets what they were arguing back.

Letting out a deliberate cough, Derek leans back to create some space. “Well, I guess it could be possible. But that’s not even the point. Why do you have a first aid kit? I’m fine. And you … wait a minute!”

Derek suddenly jerks to his feet. He starts to runs his hands over Stiles frantically. He grabs Stiles’ chin and turns it left and right.

“Laura didn’t hurt you, did she?” Derek question as he unconsciously holds Stiles tighter. Instantly, Stiles’ cheeks turn bright red. Visibly flustered, Stiles wraps a hand around Derek’s wrist.

“I’m fine. She didn’t do anything to me. But, are you ok?” Stiles gives the hand a light squeeze in reassurance. That question instantly quelled Derek’s worry and brought him back to reality. Realizing that his hands were wrapped around Stiles’ waist and holding his chin, Derek pull them back and took a step back.

“I’m fine.” His tone was tight and devoid of any emotions.

“But-“

“I said, I’m fine Stiles. Really.” Despite the firm words, Derek’s eyes were pleading Stiles to not push.

Heaving out a big sigh, Stiles takes a step forward and shoves Derek back onto the couch. Then he crawls to Derek’s side, until his knees were touching Derek’s left thigh.

“Fine don’t tell me. I’ll get it out of you eventually. For now, clean up! Although you are Mr. Big Bad, who heals, you have blood all over your neck.” Stiles pulls out a disinfected wipe.

“Oh…”

“Yeah, oh. Now don’t move.” Stiles holds Derek’s head and tilts it back. Derek could feel heat spread from the places Stiles touched. Each swipe of across his throat, just reminded how utterly vulnerable Derek was under this human’s hand. Instead of fear, a pleasant sense of safety and comfort that he hadn’t felt in a long time glided down his throat. He didn’t want this feeling to end. But, just like everything recently, it ended too soon.

After Stiles finished, he tilted Derek’s face down again to look at his handy work. He was met with the most ravenous set of hazel eyes. They glued him in place with a heated enraptured gaze. Stiles could feel his heart to pick up speed. Licking his lips in nerves, Stiles opened his mouth.

A click of the door promptly captured both of the boys’ attention. They swiftly separated and looked at the door with concern.

In walked Peter without a care in the world as if the word emergency was just a polite reminder to stop by.

“I was summoned?” Peter question with smirk that stretched wide across his face.

Chapter Text

 Peter glided deeper into the room like a lion hunting its’ prey. As he stared at the frozen teenage boys in front of him, a cheshire smile widened across his mouth.

“My, my, what do we have here?” Taking a slight sniff, Peter bends down until he is eye level with Stiles.

“Ah, one could practically choke on the smell of desperation and teenage hormones here. You would think after killing most of your family, one would start to think with their head instead of the little one down there. Yet, you continue to surprise me Derek.” As the smile melts into a feral lift of lips tinted with malice, Peter grabs onto Stiles’ chin. “Oh but, I can see why you couldn’t resist. This one is much prettier than your last one.”

Before he could utter another word, Stiles clutches Peter’s wrist and gives it a firm tug.

“Yeah, ah hell no. Keep your nasty hands to yourself, creep. This whole body is my no no square, got it? Touch me again and your furry ass will be getting shot by the Sheriff’s shot gun, capishe?” Stiles leaned back with his arms crossed and let out the smuggest grin.

“Oh, a feisty one, huh? I like that.” Peter lips reverted back to their plastic version of a pleasantry grin, as he stood up. “And he already knows what we are. I am presuming this was your fine work, Derek?” Peter’s eyebrows lift in mock surprise.

Shooting out an indifferent grunt, Derek crosses his arms and looks up at Peter in irriation.

“No, I didn’t tell him Peter. But, remember when I clearly said there was something up with the McCall kid’s scent and you didn’t care. Well, he turned out to be a wolf, too.” He glared up at Peter daring him to comment on his mistake.

“Hmm. Did he really? Well, isn’t this exciting. But that doesn’t really explain why the human is here.”

Before Derek could explain, Stiles interjects into the conversation.

“The human’s name is Stiles. Stiles Stilinski who is also very much a part of this conversation. Thank you very much.”

“Stiles was there when Scott changed and tried to attack him. I stopped him –"

“with my help” Stiles interrupts again. Derek slightly rolls his eyes and turns to give Stiles a side eye.

“…Right. Stiles helped me and then we brought him here. We called Laura and –”

“Then I called you.” This time Laura interrupted Derek as she descended the stairs. With each interruption, the nerve on Derek’s neck starting throbbing in annoyance.

With gritted teeth, Derek continued. “…Yeah. Scott doesn’t seem to be normal werewolf, there’s something off about his scent.”

“Well well, looks like I missed some exciting stuff. Let’s wake up our little guest and see if we can get some answers.” An almost possessive glint flashed across Peter’s eyes before disappearing in an instant.

As if knowing someone was talking about him, Scott suddenly jerked awakes. Half shifted, he started to thrash around the couch and yanking on the cuffs around his arms. Snarls and grunts of frustration filled the air.

“Force him back, Laura.” Peter instructed while his eyes remained fixated on Scott, almost hypnotized.

Hearing the sound of voices, Scott abruptly froze and turned toward the noise. Yet, as soon as Laura came near him, as if a spell was suddenly broken, Scott went on a rampage. Growling, biting and snapping up at Laura.

With a look of cool indifference, Laura took a breath and gathered up her inner wolf. Letting out a roar so fierce that it shook the air around them, Laura forced Scott’s wolf into submission.

“Shift!” She growled out.

Slowly, the golden-tinted eyes faded into warm chocolate eyes filled with confusion. In place of a feral werewolf was a young man completely lost as to why he was tied up with four people staring at him with various different expressions.

Suddenly, he was covered in warmth.

“Scott!! Man, you don’t know how much I missed that crooked jaw!” Stiles tighten his arms around Scott with tears in his eyes.

“Stiles? What’s going on? Weren’t we at tryouts?” Scott pulled back and noticed how distraught Stiles looked.

Despite putting on a strong front since Scott’s transformation, Stiles was like a fully wound-up doll that had finally been let loose at the sight of his Scott back to normal. Tears would not stop flooding down his face.

“As touching as this is, we have business to attend to, Stiles,” Peter said without removing his eyes off Scott.

“You alright Stiles?” Scott asked with concern.

Wiping away the tears in haste, Stiles stood up with a bright grin. “Never better, Scotty!”

“Alright, Scott, was it? Tell me everything that happened before you transformed.”

“Transformed?” Scott questioned with a tilt of his head.

“Oh great, we’re going to have to start there. Congratulations kid, you received the fine honor of becoming a werewolf.” Peter clapped his hands in mock enthusiasm.

“Werewolf?! What? That’s impossible!” Before he could go deeper into his melt down, Peter jerked his head at Derek.

With a heavy sigh, Derek rolls his shoulders and shifts into his beta form.

“Aaahhh!!!!” Scott shouts and grabs onto Stiles.

“I know buddy, I know. I don’t know where those eyebrows went either.” Stiles pets Scott’s head while smirking at Derek.

With a low growl, Derek eyes pierce into Stiles’ before transforming back.

“Great, now that’s done. Werewolves exist and you are one too. Tell me, were you ever bit by wolf?”

Scott was scrambling to understand what was going on. One second he was out on the field impressing Allison and now he was a werewolf? It’s impossible. He was a normal kid, these types of things were never supposed to happen to him. He could feel all the air leaving his lungs in a rush, not even an ounce remained.

Just as he started to gasp for air, a gentle hand began combing through his hair in a rhythmic pattern. Scott could feel a calm, comforting air envelope him as he tried to match his breathing to the pace of the hand.

Noticing Scott’s body shuddering for breath, Stiles pulled Scott closer to him. He then tenderly brushed Scott’s hair back and forth until his breath evened.

Then Stiles recounted their encounter from the woods until the latest incident at the locker room. All the while, Stiles carded his long fingers through Scott’s soft, silky hair.

As Derek watched the compassionate action his body burned with a cocktail of emotions. He didn’t know why but an overwhelming feeling of anger flooded every pore of his being directed at the floppy haired, recently turned werewolf. A pang of unknown emotion also resonated within him, a mix of envy, longing, and something else.

After finishing his tale, Stiles looked up at their faces for any reaction. Peter’s was very carefully blank while Laura’s was clearly distraught. Despite Derek’s blank face, his eyes were a flurry of emotions that weren’t directed at Stiles’ face rather his hands.

Raising his head from Stiles shoulder, Scott turned towards Stiles in earnest.

“Did I really do that, Stiles?”

“Yeah, Scott. Sorry man, but we’ll find a way to fix this right?” Stiles peered at the werewolves as if daring to tell him otherwise.

Laura slumped down into the armchair with a heavy sigh, “This is going to suck. I just barely survived training three wolves, now another? And from some unknown alpha. Fuck…” She starts rubbing her forehead in dread.

“What do you mean train?! Isn’t there a way for me to turn back human?!” Scott shoots up and demands the others.

“It is highly unlikely, my boy. The only way I heard of was from some myth a long time ago about killing the alpha before one’s first full moon. The next one is not even ten days away and we don’t even know who the alpha is. Also, there is the fact that those who tried to kill the Alpha went crazy, but who knows?” Peter ends with an emotionless chuckle.

“It’s not bad being a werewolf. It’s a gift.” Derek tries to soothe the boy.

“It’s not a gift! I never wanted this!” Scott heaves out. As the whole situation crashes down on him, he runs past Derek to get some air.

“Scott!” Stiles yelled after him, but Scott ignored him and sprinted into the woods.

Before Stiles could chase after him, Derek grasps his arm. “Stay,” he utters softly. “I mean, he needs some time to process. So, give him some space and he’ll be back.”

Huffing with exasperation, Stiles tugs out of Derek’s hold and glares at Peter and Laura.

“Alright you two. Tell me everything you know about werewolves. I got all day.”

Chapter Text

Sometime in the future: Halloween Night, Hale Pack House, 9 pm

Derek was done with Halloween, absolutely done with it. All those screaming kids, the sticky-sweet scent of candy everywhere, and the disgusting number of teenagers on his property was making Halloween climb high on his list of least favorite holidays. Right after black Friday.

Visible shuddering, Derek shakes out his thoughts and parks his police cruiser in front of the pack house. It’s been a couple of rough years, but the sight of his family home standing strong again still made him just a little misty-eyed.

Before he could make it up the driveway, he noticed a couple of kids bravely trudging up to the door. They looked no bigger than eight years old. As he crept closer, he noticed how the smaller one was swinging their joined hands in excitement.

“Oh my god! I can’t believe we’re actually going! Hee hee!” The kid giggled in excitement, his other hand coming up to cover is giant smile.

“Calm down, Ollie. You know what they say about the Hale house.” The other child seemed a bit older than the other. His back was stiff and movements like a robot. Derek could smell the anxiety steaming off the kids from ten feet away.

“They have the king-sized candy bars!” The younger kid yelled with a little hope in his step. But his hand stayed firmly in his friend’s palm.

“No, dummy. There’s a monster in that house and it only comes out on Halloween night. It’s huge with big red eyes! Argh!” The older one finishes with a weak growl.

“I’m not a dummy, Conner! I’m going without you; you can stay here with the monster.” With a pout and huff, the younger one ran toward the house.

“Ollie! Hey! Wait up!” The other kid chased after the upset child.

Now, as a reasonable adult, Derek should make sure those kids make it to the house safe and sound. Yet, after the grueling day of chasing off drunken and horny teenagers, he wanted, no needed some fun. An evil smile graced upon his face as he shifted into his half wolf form.

Stiles was becoming a bad influence on him was the last thought in Derek’s head before he ran through the woods. Just as Ollie slowed down, he heard a slight rustle of leaves coming from the woods.

“Conner?”

“…”

“That’s not funny, Conner.”

“…”

“…Conn—AHHHHH!” Before he could get a closer at the forest, a figure with bright, red eyes suddenly jumped out in front of him and roared so loud he could feel his teeth shake.

Letting out a frightened shout, Ollie fell back in shock. Hearing the scream, Conner pushed his legs to the limit. This was all his fault! He shouldn’t have teased Ollie; oh god Ollie was going to be eaten by the monster!  

As he got closer, he noticed Ollie on the ground and a huge figure standing above him. Without a second thought, Conner dropped his candy and ran with all the fury his little 9-year-old body could hold.

“Leave him alone!! AHHHH!!” With his arms spinning like windmills, he punched the monster’s legs. Ollie could only watch in awe as Conner stood against the monster without any fear. One could practically see the sparkles of admiration in his eyes glow brighter. Just as Conner was getting tired, the monster started shaking.

Soon a boom of laughter escaped the monster, before it crouched down.

“Happy Halloween, kids. Did you get scared?”

Ollie shot up to his feet and stared at the monster in shock with his mouth wide open.

“Wow! That looks so real!” Ollie reached out to touch Derek’s face.

“Ollie! Careful!” Conner yelped grabbing on to Ollie’s hand before they touch Derek.

“It’s fine, Conner. Are you a werewolf?! How did you get your eyes to look so red? Where did you eyebrows go!?!” The kid was question machine with no sight of stopping soon.

Letting out a slight sigh, Derek mumbled under his breath. “Why does everyone always ask about the eyebrows?”

“Well, I can’t really tell you, but let’s say it’s just a bit of Halloween magic. For the brave superman who came to rescue his friend, and the strong batman who didn’t cry, here’s some king-sized Reece’s.” Derek pulled out the two bars that he stole of the Sheriff and gave it them. Looking at them, reminded Derek of his and Stiles’ first meeting.

“Yes! Thanks, Mr. Werewolf!” Ollie smiled with a giant grin with a hint of mischief. He elbowed his friend who looked completely put out by the whole ordeal.

“…ya, thanks.” Conner let out.

Yup, these kids were definitely reminding him of Stiles and himself as kids. Just as he was getting up, Ollie suddenly jumped forward and punched Derek is the place where the sun don’t shine.

“JUSTICE!!!” With one last shout, both of those kids shot back down the driveway hand in hand. Laughter filled the air as they went on with their night.

Despite the pain, a slight smile appeared on his lips. Oh yeah, that one was definitely going to be a handful. Good luck, Conner. But with each step, Derek slight pain reminded him exactly why he hated his holiday.

With a sigh, Derek opened the door and was graced with the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.

“Like what you see, Big Bad?” Standing in front of him was a vision straight from heaven. With sexy, black leather heels enveloping those silky white calves until they finished just a above his knees. Next, Derek’s eyes feasted on the sinful pale gap filled with small constellations. Just before coming in contact with the smallest red skirt in existence. Black ribbons pulled up from the sides leading to a corset top.

Derek could feel the breath sprint out of him as the figure in red took a breath. Stiles’ chest had a rosy sheen on them as they fought escape the cage. Derek wanted to be the one to do it. He volunteers!

Yet, before he could collect the drool slipping out of his mouth, Stiles gave a graceful little twirl. Just like that all thoughts vanished and Derek could feel the wolf take over. A deep rumbled echoed throughout the house.

“Hmm, looks like you reaallly like it Derbear. Why don’t you show me exactly how much you like it?” Stiles red lips curved in a seductive smirk. Then without wasting a second Stiles started to run up the stairs with a tail swishing back and forth.

Only one thought flashed in Derek’s mind before the hunt began.

I FUCKING love Halloween!!!