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Growing up as a werewolf, he had a strong bond with his Pack, his family. Even from a young age, he knew that he wanted to feel the same thing with whoever he fell in love with and married. When he would talk to Uncle Peter about it, his uncle would tell him to be sure and fall in love with a ‘wolf or a human raised by ‘wolves then because humans didn’t understand undying loyalty.
“Humans are fickle creatures,” he would say. “You can’t trust them to stay forever. They change their minds and hearts with the wind. Never trust a human.”
Derek thought his uncle was a little bit prejudiced, but he nodded and tried to date members of other packs. He never found someone that made his heart race or his spirit soar like his mom always described happening with his father.
His uncle used the fickle argument when Derek had fallen in love with Paige. Admonishing him for falling for a human and then telling him the only way to save her was to have her changed. He’d listened and then lost who he had been convinced was the love of his life. The pain of that loss was the only thing that made him susceptible to Kate Argent’s ministrations.
After losing his entire family, except Laura and Peter, he adopted his uncle’s attitude towards humans. He didn’t trust them, and most of the time, the thought of being with one made him sick to his stomach. He kept the attitude all through his years in New York and even as he headed back to Beacon Hills to find out what had happened to Laura and why their Pack bond had suddenly snapped.
Then he’d stumbled across a newly bitten ‘wolf and his best friend. A human who barely looked Derek in the eye but caught his attention in a way that no one ever had. Not even Paige had consumed his mind and soul the way that Stiles did. Derek hated his heart for falling for a human and fought it at every beat. He would not put himself out there for someone that would wake up one day and change his mind.
Except, Stiles was like no other human Derek had encountered. His loyalty to those people he cared about, and even those he didn’t particularly like, was unending. He went to great lengths to help Scott when he got bitten, make sure his father ate healthily, and even saved Derek’s life on more than one occasion. He ran into the line of fire to protect his family, his own rag-tag pack.
Stiles was flighty, brilliant, gorgeous, impulsive, and slightly crazy, but he was definitely not fickle. If he liked you, he liked you for life. Even Uncle Peter held a begrudging admiration for him and gave his approval when, after six years of dating Stiles, Derek showed him the ring he’d bought for him.
As Derek proposed and Stiles screamed, “Yes!” loudly enough to wake his father, who had been sleeping on the couch in the living room, he knew that he would never have to worry about Stiles waking up and changing his mind. Stiles was steadfast, constant, faithful, and true. Forever with a human was finally a reality, and Derek couldn’t wait for the adventure with his mate by his side.