Chapter Text
Peter sat at the conference table staring at the screen of his laptop. Derek was out somewhere, (brooding out in the woods probably) and Isaac was at school. At first he thought about getting a place of his own but that would just slow down what he was trying to do. So he started to reach out to some old pack allies instead. What he found out, was that three of the packs that once had an alliance with the Hale’s were gone. Killed by a pack that called it’s self the Alpha pack. This pack was going around crisscrossing the country taking out all the smaller packs. Any pack with less then ten Betas was at risk, the leader of this pack was a wolf by the name of Deucalion.
He had met the man about eight years ago when he had come to Talia for help with a treaty between hunters and Werewolves. It had not gone well, never trust an Argent. After that Peter heard rumors that Duke had killed his own pack, to this day Peter could not understand how an Alpha could do that. Even at his most crazed he never would have killed Scott and he had, had plenty of chances.
He sat there reading some of the e-mails he had gotten. It seemed that both Kali and Ennis had joined this pack, he could see Ennis following this lunacy, he was as dumb as a bag of rocks. But Kali, she had a good pack, loyal and strong, with an emissary that didn’t talk in circles. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the lift until the doors were opening.
Peter looked up to see Stiles trip into the loft, the words were out of his mouth before he could think better of them. “Even after I learned about Laura working with Kate to kill everyone just so she could steal Talia’s Alpha hood. I never would have killed Derek.”
Stiles stared at Peter gob-smacked, his mouth opening and closing a few times before any words came out. “Laura helped Kate kill your pack?”
“Stiles.” Peters eyes went wide.
“That’s why you killed her?”
“Stiles.” Peter was on his feet now, he had to do damage control.
“Why didn’t you tell Derek? Did you tell him?” Stiles ran his fingers over his buzz cut.
“Stiles!” Peter rounded the table.
“Is that why he let you stay? Because he feels guilty about it?” Stiles started to pace.
Peter grabbed the teen by the shoulders, giving him a little shake. “Stiles!” When he had the boys full attention he continued. “I did not tell Derek and nether will you.”
“What? Why not!?”
“Because it would break him to know that he left the only real pack he had, to go live with the one who killed everyone he ever loved.” Peter locked eyes with Stiles.
Understanding dawned on the lanky teen. “Oh, God. That would be like learning that he went to live with Kate.”
Nodding once Peter lessened his hold on the teen. “And that is why we are never going to tell him. I don’t care if he hates me for the rest of his life. I don’t mind being the pack Omega again, I just want a strong pack. Can you help me do that?”
Blinking a couple times Stiles asked. “What do you mean again?”
“Don’t worry about that. I just need to know if you can keep my secret.” Peter never looked away from Stiles’s eyes. Or stopped listening to his heart.
“Yeah, yeah I can do that.” Stiles let out a shaky breath. “What brought this on in the first place?”
Releasing the teen’s shoulders Peter went back to the table, where his laptop sat. “It’s nothing. Why aren’t you at school?”
“I don’t know. It was lunch and I have a free period after that, then Mr. Harris’s class. I didn’t feel like getting another detention so I left.” Stiles shrugged. “Well that and I felt like something was wrong with you.”
Stiles mumbled the last part so low that if Peter wasn’t a werewolf he wouldn’t have heard it at all. Smirking he shut his computer. “You are already beginning to feel the pack bonds.” Tilting his head to the side he narrowed his eyes. “I wonder if that’s a Spark thing or just a you thing.” he ponders.
“What do you mean pack bonds?” Stiles rubbed his hand over his chest, like he could feel something there.
“Well werewolves make strong bonds with their pack mates. If we concentrate on them we can tell how our pack members are feeling. If they're hurt or in distress. And when they die it’s like having a part of your heart ripped out. Some will even die if they lose to many bonds at once.” Peter watched as Stiles came to the other side of the table, sitting on the stool there.
“You didn’t.”
“No, I clung to hate and thoughts of revenge. That’s what got me through.” Peter knew that his eye had flashed their unnatural Omega blue. “But for a human to feel them, they either have to care deeply for a werewolf or have magic in their blood.”
“Magic blood. That’s it, it has to be.” Stiles glances around the loft looking for an escape.
“I don’t. Have you felt the emotions of any of the others in the pack? Like Derek’s brooding, Isaac’s nervousness or even Jackson’s self doubt?” Peter gave the teen a once over, leering at him, then he licked his lips slowly.
Standing quickly Stiles headed for the loft doors. “Well I can see there is nothing wrong here so I’m going to go. I’ll see you later, not that I want to see you later. Nope not at all.” He closed the lift door making his retreat.
Peter watched him go, opening his laptop he clicked on a old file. He need to find someone to take care of this little Alpha pack before it became a problem for him.
~~~
Stiles’s heart was racing a mile a minute as he drove down the road. There was no way he had a deep bond with the psychopathic un-dead werewolf. He was just the first one he could feel, that had to be it. Peter had helped him after Gerard beat him, he brought him into the pack. Peter was also the one that he had spent the most time with.
In that moment he decided to spend more time with Isaac, Erica and Boyd, even Lydia and Jackson if he had to. Anything to make the bonds stronger and prove Peter wrong. He pulled into the school parking lot, he would wait till his pack mates got out of class.
Sitting in his Jeep he pulled up the book on the Faoladh on his phone to read more on pack bonds. He read until there was a knock on his window. At the sound he jumped, peering out to see Scott smiling at him.
“What’s you doing sitting out here? Why weren’t you in class?” Scott glanced around the inside of the Jeep, like he was going to find someone.
“I wasn’t looking forward to any more detention this week so I ditched. Just waiting for Isaac, Boyd and Erica to see if they wanted to hang out. Want to go with?” Stiles’s eyes light up, he hasn’t gotten to spend any time with Scott in weeks.
Rubbing the back of his head Scott gave his best friend an unsure smile. “They don’t want to hang out with me.”
“Oh Scott, old buddy, old pal. You’ll never know if you never try.” Stiles batts his eyes at Scott, a stupid grin on his face.
Laughing Scott shoves Stiles in the shoulder, they are both laughing and cutting up when the other werewolves show up by the Jeep.
“Hey, Batman. What are you doing?” Erica leans into the passenger side window, Boyd just behind her.
Isaac was standing next to Scott. “Where were you at lunch?”
“Ditched.” Stiles shrugs. “Want to do something fun?”
“Like?” Boyd raises an eyebrow.
“I know just the thing.” Stiles turns, righting himself in his seat so he can drive. “Get in.”
The werewolves glance around at each other for a moment before they all piled into the Jeep. It’s a tight fit, Erica road shotgun while Scott, Isaac and Boyd sat wedged in the back. Thirty minutes later Stiles was pulling into one of the preserve parking lots.
“Stiles, man I don’t know about this.” Scott is looking around unsure as he got out of the Jeep.
“I want to try something.” Stiles is all smiles, as he gets out of the driver side door. “Stay here, count to fifty then come find me.”
“What is this hide and seek?” Isaac asks, glancing around.
“I read that werewolves can track just about anything. This should be easy.” Stiles turned heading into the woods.
He made a point to touch as many trees as he could at first, in the book this was how young pups were taught to track. He tried to make sure to change direction every so often and near the end he tried not to touch a thing. He ducked behind a fallen log and began to count, with their speed it should take them less then a minute to find him.
It took them a minute and a half, so he had them track him again and again and again. By the eighth time they could find him in about forty seconds. Each time they had gone farther into the woods. After an hour Stiles was starting to get hungry, having skipped lunch.
He turned in a circle then looked at the other teens. “Okay, which way do we go to get back to Roscoe?” Now they were all turning this way and that.
“How do we find your Jeep?” Scott gave Stiles puppy eyes.
“The same way you found me.” Stiles flails his hands around his face, to indicate his nose. “It should smell like me and I don’t know, metal.”
Maybe going into the woods without an experienced tracker wasn’t the best idea. A moment later all the wolves heads snapped to the right, Erica, Isaac and Boyd’s shoulders relaxed. While Scott seemed to become more tense, eyes narrowing. After a few seconds Stiles could see what had gotten their attention.
Derek came through the trees looking more grumpy and scowly then ever. “What are you five doing out here?”
“Tracking practice.” Stiles was trying for innocent, the look on Derek’s face told him he failed.
“By yourselves?” Derek arch an eyebrow.
“We’ve done stupider things.” Stiles realized that was not the best argument after he said it.
“I know.” Derek walked past the teens heading into the trees.
“Are you going to take us back to my Jeep? Or leading us farther in to the woods so you can kill us without anyone hearing.” Stiles along with the rest of the teens trailed behind the Alpha. “I hope your taking us to my Jeep. I don’t want to die out here.”
“Stiles.”
“Yes, Sourwolf?”
“Shut up.”
Fifteen minutes later they were back at his Jeep. On the ride back to town Scott rode shotgun while Erica and Boyd sat in the back. Isaac went home with Derek. Stiles dropped his friends off one by one, the last was Scott.
“Hey, Stiles, man.” Scott was half way out of the Jeep, before he turned back. “Are you sure it’s okay for you to be in Derek’s pack. I mean, I know, I messed up with Gerard and all. But this is Derek and Peter.” He sneered the older wolf’s name.
“I didn’t do this because of what happened that night. Well it sort of is but it wasn’t you. It was a lot of things.” Stiles shook his head trying to clear his thoughts.
“I’m just worried about you, man.” Scott hit Stiles again with the puppy eyes.
“If your worried join the pack. It’s safer if we stick together.” Stiles smiles at his best friend.
“Safe from what? Peter’s no longer an Alpha, Jackson isn’t killing people any more and Gerard is dead. What could happen now?” Scott got out closing the passenger door, with a wave he jogged up to his house.
~~~
Peter was sitting in the desk chair in Stiles’s room, he was waiting for Stiles to get home. He had decided to visit the teen when Derek come back to the loft equal parts pissed and proud. The pups had taken it upon themselves to train but got lost in the preserve in the process. The whole thing reeked of something Stiles had thought of. When he open the door Stiles jumped back with a squawk, a hand on his chest.
The noise brought the Sheriff up the stairs. “Stiles you Okay?”
“There’s a creeper in my room!” Stiles stared daggers at Peter.
Noah come to the bedroom door, gun in hand. When he saw Peter his eyebrows come down in confusion. “How did you get in here?”
“The tree next to the window is quite helpful. And before you ask why I am here. I just wanted to talk to Stiles about getting lost in the woods today.” Peter smiled at the boy, watching his turn red, the scent of shock coming from him.
Stiles’s mouth fell open is disbelief. “It wasn’t like that!”
“Lie.” Peter remarked. “Even if Derek hadn’t told me that he found you and the rest of the pups out there. Your heart just skipped.”
Crossing his arms over his chest, Noah eyed his son. “Well?”
“Okay, yes.” Stiles held his hands out to stop his dad from talking. “Let me explain. You see we were working on Scott, Isaac, Erica and Boyd’s tracking skills. When we looked up we realized we didn’t know where we were exactly. And before we even had a chance to find the right path Derek showed up. We would have found our way out.”
Sighing Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. “Stiles, no training with the werewolves...” He held up a finger when Stiles went to protest. “No training with the werewolves without Derek or Peter. I don’t want you guys hurt or lost in the woods.”
Letting out a little huff Stiles nodded his head. “Okay.”
Turning Noah pointed at Peter. “You have thirty minutes then I want you out of the house.” With that he turned, going back down the stairs.
Peter waited until the Sheriff was out of earshot before he leaned forward giving Stiles a lascivious smile. “He obviously doesn’t know what I could do to you in just thirty minutes.”
Snapping his head around Stiles narrowed his eyes at Peter. “My dad might not have silver wolfsbane bullets but he can still shoot you in the head.”
Smirking Peter sat back in the chair, he watch Stiles toss his backpack next to the desk, kick his shoes off and flop back on his bed. His eyes landed on the patch of bare skin on Stiles’s stomach, he had a sudden urge to lick the exposed skin. Closing his eyes Peter took a deep breath, which didn’t help, all it did was fill his lungs with the scent that was all Stiles. It was like the forest floor at sunrise, with morning dew and damp under brush. Standing Peter went up next to the bed, taking a clawed finger over the lovely pale skin. Stiles sat up with a jerk, wincing in pain at the action, putting a hand over his injured ribs.
Turning Peter walked over to the window, he looked back at Stiles. “You should never show your under belly to a predator.”
“God your such an ass.” Stiles gritted through his teeth.
“We are meeting up on Saturday at the old house. We need to work on finding the pups anchors. Any ideas?” Peter knew Stiles had help Scott find his anchor and right now he would take all the help he could get. He did not like knowing that when the moon rose in two weeks they would have three out of control Betas. He never liked being out numbered if he could help it.
“I have a few.” Stiles smiled with a mischievous glint in his eye.
What ever the boy had in mind Peter was pretty sure the Betas were not going to like it. He stepped out onto the easement outside the window, dropping to the ground. He had come over here on foot to which he was glad, the walk back would get some of the scent of arousal off of him. He did not want to give his nephew any more reasons to glare at him, at least not yet.
~~~
Stiles pulled onto the road that lead to the burnt out shell of the old Hale house. He parked in front of the porch next to Derek’s Camaro, he didn’t see any other cars. Jumping out of his Jeep, he went around to the back, pulling out his lacrosse stick, along with a bag of rubber balls. When he came to the porch steps he saw Peter and Derek with matching raised eyebrows.
“What?” Stiles ask innocently.
“We are here to help Jackson, Erica and Boyd find their anchors. Not practice lacrosse.” Derek practically growled.
Before Stiles could answer he heard the sound of a car coming up behind him. Turning he spotted Jackson’s Porsche pulling in next to his Jeep. He watch Lydia and Jackson get out looking up at the old house.
Jackson glanced over at Stiles and groaned. “I don’t want to be pelted with lacrosse balls.”
“Sorry dude, but we got to get you mad so you can focus on your anchor.” Stiles shook the mesh bag in front of him.
“You intend to launch rubber balls at the Betas to piss them off? How is that going to help them find their anchors?” Peter studied the mesh bag, then peered at Stiles.
“I get them mad, then they use their anchor to calm down.” Stiles explained like it was simple, he knew this wasn't traditional, but he knew that it worked.
“But they don’t know what their anchors are.” Derek crossed his arms over his chest.
“Jackson’s is Lydia, I mean she brought him back from the dead, literally. And Erica and Boyd are each others. That’s obvious. I mean they hang all over each other.” Stiles huffed slinging the mesh bag over his shoulder, heading for the back of the house.
When he got to the rear of the burnt out shell of a building he put the lacrosse gear down pacing out where to practice. Not long after he heard another car pull up out front. A few minutes later six wolves and Lydia came around the side of the house.
“Okay, this is how this works. I tape your hands behind your back” Stiles pulled a roll of duct tape out of the mesh bag. “Then I use you as target practice. Once you are good and mad you have to focus of your anchor.” Holding his lacrosse stick up he smiled at the Betas. “Who’s first?”
“Fuck it. I’ll go first.” Jackson walked over to Stiles turning around.
“Why are you volunteering?” Stiles narrowed his eyes at his arch enemy.
“I’m not letting McCall out do me. If he can do it so can I.” Jackson motioned for Stiles to tape his hands. “This should be fun for you, since you heat me.”
“I don’t hate you man.” Stiles wraps the duct tape around Jackson’s wrists a couple times. “I’m just not particularly pleased that you exist.” He patted the wolf on the shoulder, turning him around.