Chapter Text
Noah Stilinski drummed his thumb to the beat of the song playing on the radio in his cruiser. He didn't recognize it, figured it was some hip new song that the kids were listening to but he had to admit that it had a catchy beat.
Suddenly he is forced to swerve as a shadow darts in front of his vehicle. However, he is too late and there is a loud ‘ thud . Letting out a string of curses, he tries to compensate and righten himself on the empty street. He pulls off onto the side of the road before taking a moment to calm himself before stepping out of his vehicle and pulling his flashlight from his utility belt.
Slowly walking back to where he had heard the thud. Sweeping his flashlight beam side to side, he studies his surroundings, frowning when he finds nothing out of the ordinary.
Just as he is about to turn and walk back to his cruiser he hears it. At first, it's faint but as he strains his hearing and focuses on listening, it grows louder.
The sound of a crying child.
Immediately he begins hastily walking towards the origin of the sound once again moving the beam of his flashlight around to try and find the child.
As the sobbing and whimpering grows louder he feels his heart rate quicken in anticipation.
He stops a few moments later when he finds a young child, a boy by the looks of it curled in on himself sobbing for all he’s worth.
Stepping forward, Noah winces at the sound of a twig breaking underneath his boot.
The child reacts immediately. Rolling into a crab walk he tries to scurry away from Noah but pauses when he recognizes the uniform he wears.
“It's ok,” Noah tries to assure him, holding up a hand. “I'm not going to hurt you,” he promises.
The boy only sniffles in response as he continues to study Noah.
“I hit something a few yards back with my car...was it you?”
The boy once again says nothing for a moment before shaking his head.
“Well that's good then,” Noah breathes a sigh of relief. As an afterthought, he sits down on the ground in front of the boy and wraps his arms around his knees.
“My name is Noah,” he introduces himself. “Can you tell me yours?”
The young child hesitates for a moment and looks in the distance behind Noah who quickly glances over but relaxes when he finds nothing. Turning back to the kid he raises a brow.
“Dewek...Dewek Hale,” the kid says, obviously mispronouncing his ‘r’s. Though his name has Noah wincing and sucking in a breath.
The Hale house was where he was just coming from...what was left of it anyway...all that remained now were smoldering bones of a beautiful manor.
“I'm sorry,” Noah says evenly.
The boy looks down at the ground as more tears manifest in his eyes.
“Tell you what,” Noah begins. “Why don't you come with me and I'll get you something to eat...you can sleepover at my house..hows that sound?”
Derek says nothing for a moment before arching a brow. “I ‘tay wit’ you?”
Noah holds the boy’s gaze for a moment before smiling. He knows deep down the protocol would be to give the child over to social services but part of him looks at this child and hates himself for even thinking of giving this kid over to total strangers...granted right now he too is a stranger to Derek.
“Yeah,” he finally settles on. “You can stay with me, though I do have a newborn son, would that bother you?”
Derek shakes his head simply.
Noah nods and leans forward to lift Derek into his arms. The boy wraps his own arms around Noah’s neck and settles his nose into the crook of the deputy’s neck before inhaling deeply as he is carried back towards Noah’s cruiser.
---
Noah lays Derek down on the bed in the spare room, it's a little large for a child, but it will have to do until Noah can fix it up.
He watches as the young boy situates himself under the covers before looking up at him.
Smiling, Noah leans down to plant a kiss on the boy’s forehead.
“If you need anything, I'm just down the hall,” he says earning a nod from the boy.
Making sure that Derek is firmly and sufficiently tucked in, Noah wishes him goodnight before leaving the room to go check on his infant son in the next room over. Approaching the crib against the left wall, he looks down at the baby boy who subconsciously clenches and unclenches his hands in his sleep.
Readjusting the blanket that covers his son’s small body, Noah hums as he leaves the nursery and walks back to his own bedroom.
As he removes his uniform he looks at the picture of Claudia that he keeps on his bedside table and smiles.
“I miss you every day...I love you,” he says before laying down and closing his eyes.
---
In the end, the process of adopting Derek is long and takes a toll on Noah, but it pays off when the adoption papers are approved and he is declared the legal guardian.
It means even more to Noah whenever he sees the young boy, now eight years old, break into a large smile whenever he sees Noah.
---
Noah sips the last of his coffee as he walks down the hall towards his bedroom. Opening the door to Stiles’ room he smiles at the image of his son softly snoring with his fox plushie held tightly in his little arms. The rays of the full moon shine through the window, acting as a natural nightlight. Slightly closing the door, Noah moves on to check in on Derek, only to freeze when he opens the door and finds an empty bed with an open window.
Fear consumes Noah, pulling out his phone, he immediately Tara from the station, remembering that she is at nightshift. He asks her to come and watch Stiles while he searches for Derek. He also asks her to send some deputies out to help him find the young boy.
An hour later finds Noah running through the nearby woods calling out Derek’s name, the moon hanging above him and lighting his way.
As he ducks under a branch, he hears the sound that takes him back those five years to when he was on the side of the road thinking he had hit an animal.
Nearing the sounds of a crying child, he stops and looks on with wide eyes as a small boy, who he knows to be Derek, however, what has him startled is the sight of the young boy’s glowing red eyes as he looks to Noah with obvious fear in his crimson orbs.
“It hurts,” he says with a broken sob before curling in on himself.
Shaking off his stupor, Noah rushes forward and brings the younger boy into his arms. He isn’t entirely sure what is going on, all he knows is that Derek needs him and he will be damned if he doesn’t help the young boy through whatever he needs.
Gently rocking the child, Noah whispers assurances to him to calm him down.
After a few moments, he feels Derek relax against his chest and let out a relaxed breath.
“You ok now?” Noah asks.
The young boy nods against his chest, pulling away, Noah looks down and momentarily furrows his brows when he finds Derek’s natural hazel orbs staring back at him despite knowing that he saw red eyes a few moments ago.
“Alright then, let’s go home,” Noah says as he stands to his feet and lifts Derek into his arms.
Together, they make the trek back home, Noah calls Tara on the way and lets her know that he found Derek and the search can be called off. He thanks her as he breaks through the treeline and beelines it for home.
After his deputy leaves, Noah turns to Derek who sits at the dinner table.
“Do you have any idea how scared I was?” he asks, although he is frustrated, Noah keeps his tone even.
“I...I'm sorry,” Derek says as he bows his head.
“Why did you run Derek? You know if you need anything you can come to me,”
“I..didn't want to be a bother,” the young boy says as he continues to look at the table.
Noah sags and moves to sit next to the young boy. “Derek, you will never be a bother, it doesn’t matter what it is that you need, you can always come to me and I will help you, I promise...is that understood?”
Derek nods as tears begin to fill his eyes before throwing himself against Noah’s chest. “I'm sorry...I'm so sorry,”
Noah hums as he rubs a hand up and down Derek’s back and the other through the young boys’ hair.
“It's ok.” Noah sighs. “Let’s just...go to bed and we can talk more tomorrow ok?”
Derek nods into his shoulder before pulling away. Noah once again lifts him up and carries him up the stairs, as an afterthought, he places Derek on the ground before going to lift a still sleeping Stiles into his arms.
Together the three make their way to Noah’s room. Noah lays in the middle of the bed with both boys on either side of him. He knows that Derek is getting older and soon will be too old to want to sleep in his bed, but he knows that tonight is one of those nights where he needs to know that there is someone close and there for him.
---
Noah opens the door to the vet clinic and enters the building.
“Hey Doc,” he greets with a smile.
“Sheriff, you hear to pick up Zash?” Deaton asks with a smile.
“Yeah, how’s she doing by the way?”
“Well,” Deaton begins as he leads Noah to the back room. “I managed to retrieve the bullet from her leg, but the cast will need to stay on for about four to six weeks, after that it can come off and she can start her physical therapy to be able to work again.”
Noah nods with a smile as the german shepherd of his K-9 unit hobbles out with Deaton helping to keep her upright.
Accepting the leash, Noah nods his thanks to the vet and turns to leave.
“Though I do have a question for you sheriff,” Deaton stops him.
Turning to face the other man, Noah arches a brow.
“The full moon was two days ago,” he says simply. “How’s he doing?”
Noah furrows a brow. “How is who doing?”
“Derek?”
Immediately Noah flashes back to the night Derek went his nightly stroll...the vision of the glowing red orbs fills Noah’s mind.
“I don't know what you are talking about,” he says, adjusting his stance to disperse his weight evenly and his jaw clenching tightly.
The vet studies him for a moment before smiling. “You know...lies are usually told when the person who tells them is hiding something...so what are you hiding sheriff?” he questions. “Perhaps the fact that Derek Hale had glowing eyes on the night of a full moon?”
Noah feels his breath catch in his throat as he stares in shock at the other man. “How.”
“I've worked with his kind for quite some time...I was an advisor of sorts to his mother.”
“His...his kind?”
“Werewolves, Noah,” Deaton tells him. “You are currently acting as the legal guardian to the only remaining member of the Hale werewolf pack.”
“How do you know that he's the only remaining member,” Noah questions.
“What color were his eyes?”
“Red,” Noah answers quickly.
“Red indicates his status as an alpha...his mother used to be the pack alpha until she and her family died...it would have gone to the next of kin but as I said...he's the only remaining member meaning he became the alpha.”
“But he's just a kid,” Noah says with sadness in his voice.
“Indeed, and it's saddening that he is having to go through this without another wolf to help him...however, I suspect that his wolf has already formed an attachment to you...sees you as its ally and teacher...his control may waiver but so long as you are his guardian...he shouldn't go over the edge?”
“The edge?” Noah prompts.
“Wolves can go feral...become mindless killers...picture it...a beast that kills merely because it can and it thought its victim was in its way...regular bullets wouldn’t be able to stop it...it would leave nothing but bodies and carnage in its wake.”
“Why are you telling me this? Derek is a good boy...he wouldn't hurt anyone.” Noah grits out.
“No, he wouldn't, so long as you and your sone are there to help him maintain control,”
Noah takes a breath and nods. “He's family,” he says.
Deaton smiles and nods. “Then we have nothing to fear,” he says before turning back to look over some paperwork
Noah stands there for a moment before sighing and turning to lead Zash out of the building before lifting her into the back seat of the cruiser.
---
Noah pulls Derek into his room and closes the door, they had left Stiles in the living room watching the television to give them some privacy while they talk.
“Am I in trouble?” Derek asks with worry in his voice.
“Not at all,” Noah shakes his head before sitting down next to Derek as soon as the door is closed.
Taking a breath he steadies himself.
“So you’re a werewolf?”
Immediately he feels Derek tense next to him before the boy is whirling to face him.
“Please...I haven’t hurt anyone...I won't...I won't hurt anyone, please don't get rid of me,” he pleads.
“Derek.” Noah tries but the boy keeps cutting him off. “Derek...Derek!” he finally raises his voice causing Derek to flinch and duck his head.
“Derek I'm not going to get rid of you..you are not a thing to get rid of,” Noah assures him. “I'm just letting you know that I know.”
“H..how?” Derek asks quietly.
“Deaton told me, he said he used to work with your mother,” Noah explains before taking a breath.
“Is that what happened on the full moon? You turn into a werewolf?”
“Shifting...yeah,” Derek nods.
Noah hums and rests his hand on Derek’s shoulder. “I'm not mad Derek...but there will be some rules,”
Derek nods in understanding and waits.
“If you feel yourself start to shift...you get ahold of me and I will help you ok?”
Derek nods.
“Ok, the next rule is obvious. We have to keep this hidden.”
“What about Stiles?” Derek asks.
Noah bites his bottom lip as he thinks.
“Not yet...he's too young and can't keep his mouth shut to save his life,” Noah says earning a giggle from the younger boy. “But when he gets older, we will tell him. I know you don't want to keep a secret from him and I don't either but we have to,”
Derek nods.
“Ok then. Is there anything I should know?”
Derek thinks for a moment.
“I can smell, see and hear better than humans...I'm faster and stronger than humans and…” he pauses to take a breath before closing his eyes to remember what his uncle peter taught him. Derek remembers when his mother had told him that he was an early shifter, able to achieve his beta shift on his third birthday...he had immediately begun training on how to control it. It was his uncle’s lessons that had kept his secret from Noah for this long.
Letting the shift course through him he turns to look back at Noah with his red eyes.
To his credit, Noah doesn’t even flinch. Instead, he looks down at the young boy who stares at him with worry and concern and smiles. “Well alright then,” he says simply. “Anything else?”
“Wolves mature at a faster rate than humans?” Derek says as he shifts his features back to human.
Noah grins and nods. “Good to know now let’s go downstairs and make sure that Stiles hasn’t made too much of a mess,” he says as he stands to his feet and leads Derek out of the room.
As they descend the stairs, Noah knows that even though Derek isn’t his biological son...he would fight till his dying breath to protect the young boy from any and all harm that could possibly come to him.