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Derek sat in his usual corner of the library, book open in his lap, eyes on the page. However, his mind was on the conversation, or rather an argument, that the librarian was having with someone on the first floor. Most days, Derek loved being a werewolf, but he wished he would have normal senses when it interfered with his leisure time.
As he listened to the young man sass the dour Ms. Shafer about their lack of heart-healthy cookbooks in stock, he had to bite back a chuckle. His laugh turned to a frown at the following comment as the identity of his entertainment became clear.
“Do you not care about the health and well-being of your local Sheriff? I know you voted for him! You worked the campaign alongside me, Dolores!”
The Sheriff’s son, Stiles Stilinski, the town troublemaker with a heart of gold that had first come onto Derek’s radar when they’d competed against each other in a baking contest in high school. Derek had won, but Stiles’ volcano cake had been impressive until it exploded and covered the entire judging panel in scalding chocolate. He chuckled at the memory and the face of the young man that ventured through Derek’s head whenever he let his guard down.
So, Stiles was worried about his father’s diet. Derek could offer to teach him some heart-healthy recipes. He’d gradually been integrating them into his family’s restaurant menu. He stood from the chair, planning to make the offer, and then realized how creepy it would be if he just walked up and offered out of the blue. He shouldn’t have been able to hear the hushed argument from where he was sitting. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair and came up with an idea.
Sneaking over to the copy machine, he pulled out a piece of blank paper. He wove past the children’s section librarian’s desk and snatched a pack of colored markers off the corner before hurrying to one of the study carrols in the far corner of the library. Five minutes later, he could still hear Stiles muttering from over in the cookbook section. Derek approached Ms. Shafer and asked, a bit too loudly, if he could post a flyer for the “Hale Heart Healthy” cooking class his family’s restaurant was offering the following Saturday.
Stiles ducked out of the stacks and hurried to Derek’s side, making grabby hands at the flyer. “Can I copy this?” he asked.
“I’ve got an extra copy,” Derek said, pulling it out from behind the first one. “You can keep it.”
“Thanks! Count on me being there,” Stiles said, taking the copy and racing out the door.
Derek smiled, watching him go, his plan working. He jumped when the other flyer was pulled out of his hand. “I’ll post this right away for you,” Ms. Shafer said and turned to the bulletin board.
He opened his mouth to stop her. He hadn’t actually planned to teach a class. He’d been hoping he could convince Stiles that he had been the only one to sign up, but as she pinned it to the board and he saw a couple of single mom’s eyes drift between him and the board, he resigned himself to his fate. He just hoped Stiles would be impressed enough to stick around afterward so he could get to know him.
He’d planned the class for the following Monday when the restaurant was closed. His sister, Laura, had expressed her surprise when he’d told her but eagerly helped him choose recipes, suggesting he sticks to snacks for the class. If things went well, he could do other classes for meals. Derek didn’t think he would be doing any other classes unless Stiles wanted private lessons. He ducked his head to hide the heat in his cheeks, but he felt Laura’s eyes on him. Thankfully, she kept her mouth shut.
Twenty minutes before the class was due to start, Derek heard a car pull into the parking lot. He groaned, hoping it wasn’t one of the moms that had been eyeing the flyer, but he made his way to unlock the door. As he drew closer to the entrance, he picked up his pace, recognizing the voice muttering to himself on the other side of the glass.
“Keep your cool, Stiles. Don’t go popping a boner when he bends over to put something in the oven,” Stiles said, taking deep breaths.
Derek stopped with his hand halfway to the door. He ran Stiles’ words over in his head again, and his face heated up even more. He heard Laura chuckling behind him, and he fought the urge to flip her off. Instead, he unlocked the door and yanked it open.
Stiles whirled around, stumbling and nearly falling. He would have hit the ground if Derek hadn’t reached out to grab him by the arm. “You made it,” Derek said with a smile.
Stiles nodded his head, staring at Derek before shaking his head and taking a deep breath. “Dude, I’ve been looking forward to this since I saw you at the library.”
“Derek.”
“What?” Stiles pointed to himself. “I’m Stiles. You probably don’t remember me-”
Derek chuckled. “No. I’m Derek. Not ‘dude.’”
“I know who you are! You totally whipped my ass in the baking contest in high school.” He winced at the memory. “You don’t happen to have the recipe for that butter cake you entered with, do you?”
“That’s not very heart-healthy, is it?” Derek teased, gesturing for Stiles to head back to the kitchen. He glanced back to the parking lot and let out a relieved breath that no one else seemed to be pulling into the lot. Maybe he lucked out after all.
“Hey, I want to make the healthy stuff for my dad and maybe some of the officers at the station, but I’m still young and in excellent heart health!” Stiles said, slapping against his chest with a grin.
“Not for long if you keep eating butter cake,” Derek said, smiling as Stiles entered the kitchen and said hello to Laura.
“Don’t mind me. I was just leaving,” she said, walking past Derek and running a hand over his shoulder, scent-marking him as she went. Surprisingly, she did the same to Stiles, who grinned at her and called out goodbyes.
“Your sister’s really nice,” Stiles said before clapping his hands together and studying the ingredients set out on counters in the kitchen. There were tortillas, fruits, stevia sweeteners, nuts, spices, and many other items on display. “What are we making?” He picked up the cinnamon stevia sweetener. “What is this?”
“Well, I was going to offer some options and have people vote, but if it’s just you, we can probably make a couple of different things.” Derek frowned at the door. “I had honestly thought this would be a bit more popular.”
“Yeah...about that….” Stiles said, rubbing a hand over his hair. “I might have snuck back into the library and stolen the other flyer.”
“Why would you do that?” Derek asked, impressed with Stiles’ sneakiness since he’d remained at the library for a couple of hours after Stiles had left. He’d never heard or smelled him reentering the building.
Stiles shrugged. “Will you think I’m crazy if I was hoping to spend some one-on-one time with you?”
Derek’s face heated, and he could hear his sister laughing in the office at the other end of the restaurant. “Only if you don’t think I’m crazy for coming up with the idea of the class for the same reason,” Derek responded, biting his lip and holding back a groan when he heard his sister on the phone relating the whole story to someone.
“How did you hear that? You weren’t anywhere near the reference desk; I would’ve seen you!” Stiles said, eying Derek carefully. He looked him up and down before lifting a hand and running it over his shoulder where Laura had scented him. “Holy shit!” he shouted before dropping his voice down to a whisper. “You’re a werewolf.”
Derek heard something hit the ground in the office and shatter. Less than a second later, Laura stood in the doorway of the kitchen, eyes flashing red. “You’re the Alpha!” Stiles said, looking excited and his hands reaching out like he wanted to touch them both but shrinking back when Laura began to growl.
“Relax! I’m not going to out you or anything, I promise,” Stiles said and moved closer to Derek when Laura started advancing. “I’m not a hunter either!” he hurried to add before taking a deep breath and snapping his fingers.
Small balls of light appeared around Stiles before exploding and falling in a circle around himself and Derek, leaving Laura on the outside. When Derek blinked away the flashes, he felt the thrum of magic and knew what he had done. Opening his eyes, he saw a line of dark powder where the lights had been.
Laura howled and threw herself at the barrier, pushed back by a blue light. “I’m not going to hurt him,” Stiles said. “I would never hurt anyone unless they were trying to hurt me.”
Derek’s hackles rose because Laura was trying to hurt him. He started to growl, and Stiles threw his hands up again, this time in frustration, and the ash line disappeared. He stepped back as Laura fell toward him when the barrier disappeared.
“Okay, just listen to me. I’m a Spark. I’ve been training with Deaton since I was sixteen, and my best friend got bit by a rogue Alpha. I didn’t know there were any other ‘wolves in town.”
“A Spark?” Laura calmed herself enough to ask. “Those are a myth.”
“Pot. Kettle,” Stiles quipped, gesturing between them, and Derek chuckled.
“Why wouldn’t Deaton tell us? He was our mom’s Emissary,” she said, frustration bleeding into her tone.
“Sparks are rare enough to be considered a myth. Deaton didn’t tell anyone, afraid that someone would come after me,” Stiles explained.
“Sparks are revered by ‘wolves. He should know that,” Laura argued. “I am so calling him.” She turned and left, heading back to the office, and Derek could hear her cursing Deaton as she went.
“Wow,” Derek said, turning back to Stiles. “Wait, so Scott McCall is a werewolf?” Stiles nodded. “Is that why he left town your junior year?”
“He went to live with Satomi’s Pack. I go visit a couple of times a year,” Stiles explained.
“If he left, how did you find out you were a Spark?” Derek questioned, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms over his chest.
“I took over Scott’s job at the vet’s office. I got nosy one day and started poking through Deaton’s secret storeroom, and the mountain ash reacted to me. He found me in a cloud of mountain ash, and the rest is history.” He shrugged as if he hadn’t just made a massive revelation to Derek and Laura.
Derek opened his mouth to ask more questions, but Stiles started poking at the ingredients again. Stiles grinned and reached for the bowl of mixed nuts that Derek had planned for Sweet and Fiery Roasted Nuts and dug his long fingers into it before withdrawing a walnut and studying it carefully. “My dad’s allergic to walnuts,” he commented.
“Then we probably shouldn’t make anything with those. I can put them away for something else,” Derek said, taking a step forward, confused by Stiles’ change in subject and demeanor but not complaining because he was still there. He’d learned Derek’s biggest secret, and instead of running away, he’d remained.
Derek’s relief switched to unease when Stiles’ eyes sparkled, and his scent took on a firecracker tinge. “What are you planning?” he asked, but he knew as soon as Stiles raised the walnut in the air. A second later, the walnut bounced off his forehead, quickly followed by two more.
Derek let out a playful growl, and Stiles’ grin grew as he reached for the bowl of grapes. “Oh no, you don’t!” Derek shouted, using his werewolf speed to grab Stiles by the wrists and stopping him, but pinning him up against the wall, arms down at his sides. He inhaled deeply when Stiles’ scent changed to spicy chilis and cinnamon hearts.
Raising his eyebrows, Derek smirked as he glanced down at Stiles’ lips and back up to his eyes. Grinning, Stiles tilted his head slightly, baring his neck and sending Derek’s senses reeling. Eyes glowing blue, he captured Stiles’ lips in a kiss. Something in Derek’s chest snapped into place, and he felt warmth flow through him, and he knew that Stiles was his mate. When he pulled back, Stiles lifted a hand to his chest, and Derek knew he’d felt the same thing.
Smiling, Derek leaned in for another kiss. It broke when Laura strode into the kitchen and threw a book at his head. “That’s not very heart-healthy!” she shouted. “Or hygienic! Take it out of the kitchen!”
Stiles winked at Derek and started pulling him towards the door. “I think your sister just told us to ‘get a room,’ and I think that’s an excellent idea.” Derek didn’t even argue when Stiles shoved him into his Jeep. He didn’t care where they were going; he was just going to enjoy the ride.