Stiles stepped out onto his porch and took a deep breath of the air all around him. Beacon Hills smelled different from the last time he had been here, but that had also been when his mother had died. He tapped his phone screen to start up the music that was being piped to his headphones. He stopped when he glanced around his porch, and he found a huge assed dead deer on the walkway to the porch.

"Huh," Stiles said. He turned off the music and bit his lip before pulling a headphone out and turning off the Bluetooth. He tapped the buttons needed to call his father, who he knew was at work right now.

"Stiles, this had better be an emergency," Noah Stilinski said.

"Well, kind of yes. Do you have contact information for the local butcher, and do they come and pick up kills to process?" Stiles stepped closer to the edge of his porch, and he laughed a little when he saw no blood. There were cuts from the takedown, but they had been sealed.

"Dear Lords Above, you've already been sighted and found worthy enough for a Werewolf to start to court you?"

"Oh, Daddio, it gets better. They made sure there is no blood. They know that I don't do blood." Stiles crouched down. The deer was massive. Had to be one of the biggest in the herd in the Preserve that had slowly been coming up in numbers. "And they also picked one of the biggest, and that means that the Hales know, and they approved this."

"No, I figured that out as soon as you said deer. They control the entire area out there now after a few issues with hunters."

"Oh, I remember people getting pissed about needing permits to run in there. This also has stopped most of the accidents that take place out there, and the permits are free, and there are like what fifteen shops they can go to and pick one up. The only one who has been denied was that idiot who wanted to run deep in the Preserve in the areas only for the Hales. I mean, I got a fucking permit by just walking up and asking about it yesterday."

"Is that where you were headed?" Noah asked.

"Yeah. So...contact?"

"I'll get ahold of him, and we will both go there and get it. I know that you see no blood but leave it to us."

"Sure thing, Pops. I'll head out and get my run in and figure out what life in the Preserve is like, and then I'll get ready for the luncheon at the Hale house."

"Try and figure out who is doing this. I don't arrest anyone for doing what they need, but I will not tolerate wolves just hanging out at your house."

"Well, I have to assume if they know my issues with blood, they knew me when I was here, and that means they know not to fuck with me. I assume they will be respectful of you and of me. The Hales will have an issue if they don't."

"Well, don't get Werewolf married on your run."

"I would never do that before getting human married, father mine." Stiles heard his father laughing, so he hung up and got ready to read out again. He looked at the deer. That would stock the freezer he hadn't stocked yet with meat to do him a while. He walked down the stairs and touched the flank of the dead animal before letting his magic surround it. Nothing would touch it until his father got there, but it was also going to be invisible to anyone but those who were in the know. He was pretty happy with it as a first gift. Now he just needed to find out who the person was who gave it to him.

The trail in the Preserve that Stiles liked the best literally ran right behind his house. The back gate wasn't functioning at the moment. This week, he had people coming to fix up the gates and fence all along his backyard, but he would have to use the front door and walk around until then. It was still an hour until the sun was going to start to rise above the trees. He had more than enough time to run in the dark. His magic touched everything as he got ready. He couldn't see as a human, and he sure as hell didn't have night vision like the Wolves that were all around Beacon Hills, drawn to the Hale Pack. No, he had something that was all the better for him. His magic allowed him to see the land's magic, and the trails took up magic that the humans who ran the paths dropped. All humans had a little magic, and interacting with nature made that magic flare. Most humans couldn't do anything with the magic that they had in them.

Stiles was pure magic, and it was why he had gone to Poland to train as soon as his magic had fully manifested with his mother's death. He had lived there with his father coming to him as much as he could, which was easier considering that a portal had been built in the basement. It had made the years bearable to them both.

Half a mile away from the house, beacons of light started to appear all around Stiles, all about three hundred feet away from him. They were all keeping a distance like they were trying to not be seen. Stiles grinned, and when one of them had to circle toward him, he sent a gust of wind that had the wolf tripping and rolling down a hill. When it landed on the bottom, it let out a howl, and the others joined in, and Stiles knew that the game was on. The one wolf that was behind him put on some speed and lunged at him. Stiles used his magic and the ley lines in the town to boost himself up to where he could grab a branch and swing over the gully in front of him.

Landing on his feet, Stiles touched the magic of the Nemeton running through the land. He laughed as he heard the wolves making the jump. He took off as fast as he could, bolstered by magic. He was able to stay ahead of five of the wolves that were chasing. The sound of a far-off wolf had the tone of the chase changing. Stiles turned toward where that new call came from. The Alpha and Stiles knew it, and the wolves were torn between chasing him and going where the Alpha called.

There was a huge clearing around the Hale house, and Talia Hale was standing on the porch when Stiles broke through the trees.

"I could feel that my pack was having a lot of fun, but I never thought I would see this. Welcome home, Stiles."

"Thank you."

A low growl was the only warning that Stiles got before he was tackled by a wolf. He rolled as he went down to have the wolf on top of him. The look in the eyes told him that it was Cora.

"It looks like they never caught you."

"No, he used magic to boost himself," another said.

Stiles looked to the side to see the man who was standing there. The smile on his face showed his bunny teeth, so that was Derek. The other three wolves all trotted up to the house in wolf form. One of them had to be Laura, but he was unsure about the other two. He had only ever interacted with Cora, Spencer, Derek, and Laura. To a lesser extent, Talia and Greg but what child interacted with the adults in their friend's life. He was happy that he was home, though.

Cora dropped down to lay on him. Like she was never going to get up.

"Your siblings will eat all of the food, Cora," Talia said.

Cora huffed, but she got up and walked into the house.

"And Derek, clothes, please."

"Yes, mother," Derek said. He laughed and winked at Stiles when he walked past him.

"You are welcome to breakfast, Stiles. I would have offered it, but I was unsure of what your schedule was like. I figured that lunch was a good compromise. I'm surprised that Cora wasn't at your door last night. I think that her uncle kept her busy to stop it."

"As long as you don't mind me like this. And I'll call my father. He's taking care of a slight issue for me this morning along with the butcher."

Talia nodded and then stopped. Her eyebrows raised up in question.

"Ah, so someone didn't get permission to bag a huge buck and drop it on my lawn?"

"Dear Gods, I have eighteen men and women at the moment who had asked permission to hunt a deer for courting, Stiles. None of them have asked since you fully moved back, but there were four after you visited the house for that one night."

"Because of me?"

"No, no. Well, I can't say, but who knows. Come on inside. Greg went to pull some books for you as soon as he knew you were coming. I will probably have to pull him out of the library."

"I could snag him and bring him to the kitchen." Stiles ran up the stairs, and he smiled as he crossed the threshold, and the house seemed to shudder in happiness about it. He had been by the house a lot, short visits using the portal when no one but Talia was home. He had warded the house as part of his training, and his aunt had been happy with how quickly he progressed.

The library was full of books just like it used to be, and Greg had an armful of books when Stiles found him.

"Stiles! I have so much to talk to you about."

"After breakfast," Stiles said. He turned to leave, knowing that Greg would follow for the chance to talk to him.

Greg grumbled, but he laid the books down and followed.

Stiles smiled.

---

Stiles knew there was something in the house. He knew that it was a thing, not a person. It wasn't something to be feared either. Yet, that someone had got past his wards to get into the house narrowed down who was courting him by half. He got up and looked around his bedroom. It was still the afternoon, but a huge spell he had done in the Preserve with the help of the Nemeton had left him wiped. He was expected at the Hale house for dinner since Talia didn't want him trying to cook.

Cooking was something that Stiles loved to do, but when he was tired, it was hard for him not to burn things down. Whatever the thing was, it wasn't on the top floor of the house, so Stiles crept down the stairs, and he listened. It wasn't until he was in the kitchen that he realized that it wasn't moving. It was staying in the living room. He walked in there to see the thing on the back of the couch, and it was looking at him. Few people in the world knew what Stiles was. He was touted as a strong Mage, but that was it. The Gajos line was known for dropping strong as hell mages every little while. Stiles' grandmother had been one. Yet, Stiles' two family lines had combined into making him the strongest magic user in the world.

With the strongest magic user in the world came something that no one else could do. Bond with a fire drake, a very rare creature that was born the day a Spark was. Stiles had searched for his drake for a year before coming home. Yet, here it was in his house when he hadn't called it. That means that it had gone to someone else when he had called for it before.

Stiles walked over and held out his hand. Someone else in the world knew who and what he was, and he had no idea who they were. The fire drake licked his fingers before disappearing in a flash of flame and appearing wrapped around Stiles' neck. It was mature enough to be able to do what it wanted. They grew up fast, just like their humans, and then settled into a stage of not aging like the rest of the world. Stiles would live twice as long as normal humans because of his magic.

"Where have you been?" Stiles asked. He reached up to pet, and he felt affection. Pure and deep affection, and it wasn't the fire drake's emotions. The drake was very, very intelligent, and it could speak if it wanted to.

"Here," the drake said.

"And what is your name?"

"Well, your wolf called me Mischief when he found me. He said I was nothing but a troublemaker, and he took me home to protect me. I've lived in his house. I felt you call for me, but he needed me more."

"Why?"

"He missed you, and he couldn't follow you, not until you became of age."

Stiles had wondered about that. If his wolf was older than him and wanted him to go into things with open eyes.

"And so you stayed with him, sharing the connection you had with me with him?"

"Yes. He's outside, probably a coward, and is in his wolf form."

Stiles danced his fingers down the drake's back, and it shivered. "Then Mischief you shall be. So do you like him?"

"He's okay. He's an asshole, but then you can be as well, from what I can tell. You are evenly matched on wit."

Stiles opened up the back door, and he found there was indeed a wolf lying in the backyard. He was curled up in a ball, sunning himself. Stiles walked down the stairs and looked at the yard. It was all better now with the fence and gates fixed. Everything would be easier for him to do his magic to keep it all up and allow the Fae in when they wanted in. He would have to figure out which window he wanted them in and out of as well. He would rather have them in and out of his house than trying to find a housekeeper or something. He might be gone for long stretches, and the Fae would love to help him in return for a place to live and to feed off his magic. The local queen was more than happy about it for the lesser Fae that was in the area.

"You just gonna ignore me?" Stiles asked.

The wolf huffed and turned his head to look at Stiles. He lumbered to his feet and moved over to rub all along Stiles' side.

"I remember you. You are the one that tried to get me, and I had to jump the gully. Hmm, so a Hale. I never did find out who was who of the three. I know Laura, and I know Cora's forms. I didn't see Derek change, and I didn't see the other two well enough. So, I don't think you are Derek. While he looked like he might like a roll in the sheets, I don't think he wants a guy for the long term. So that means one of the other two. Hale bites are good at learning the full shift, so it doesn't really narrow anything down. Adult, I know that from Mischief."

The wolf got behind Stiles and knocked him a little. Stiles stumbled and caught himself before he did what the wolf wanted. He settled on the ground. The wolf draped over his lap and all but made sure Stile wasn't going anywhere.

"You know I'm going to yours for dinner tonight, right? I'm going to find out." Stiles poked the wolf in the side, and it only huffed at him. Stiles dropped back to take a nap again, Mischief moving as Stiles did to where he could settle on his chest. The sun was warm, and he felt safe.

---

Waking up and not knowing where he was, was something that Stiles didn't like. He tried to move but found he was kind of trapped. There was a snuffling, and then fur along his body became skin. Stiles remembered waking up and walking with the wolf to the Hale house and settling in there so that they were close when the call for dinner was made.

"Sleep," the man behind him said.

Stiles wasn't really tired anymore, so he just stayed there, wrapped in his wolf's arms. Stiles looked at the arm wrapped around his chest and had a feeling he knew who it was. He had racked his brain to try and figure out which of the wolves was his, and there were only two who hadn't been around him a lot since he had come back and checked in with Talia. Peter, Talia's brother, and another wolf that had joined the pack just before Stiles had moved to Poland.

"Peter, get dressed. My father is coming, and I don't want him finding you cuddling me naked."

"Derek got me clothes, and I'll get into them if your father's car pulls up the drive before I am ready to get up."

"Where is Mischief?" Stiles asked.

"He went to bother Cora, I think. He loves to stare at her and piss her off, but she knows not to do anything to him except throw popcorn, which he then eats."

"Oh my god. It's like I never left."

"Yes, she tells him all the time that he is exactly like you. She said she never got a chance to miss you."

"Hmm." Stiles wasn't sure how much he had missed Cora. He had in the beginning, but he was so busy learning everything that he could after a while. Greg brought her and Spencer to see him every single summer, so the fact she had kept the drake from him didn't really upset him.

"He showed up about three hours after you left. Right in the middle of the living room, setting the coffee table on fire. Spencer tried to pick it up, but the fire grew brighter until I walked over to pull Spencer away. It took me two weeks to figure out what it was and what it meant. Then this woman visited me and had me to go the Nemeton; I took Mischief with me. I didn't know who she was until she smiled, and I knew that smile."

"Mom," Stiles said. He had talked with her a few times as her spirit had been in the Nemeton until he had claimed it when he was nineteen.

"Yes. She told me that I was to guard your heart. That your drake was ready for the world but not to be with you. That he would rather stay with me and make sure I wasn't alone. It was scary to know that the draw I had to you was what it was. It's why I stayed away. I made sure that you were safe and good but made sure that I wasn't around when you did visit. Mischief and I usually went on a vacation."

"I can see that. My aunt told me that my heart was in Beacon Hills, and I never knew what she meant, but I guess she meant you and Mischief."

"No, the heart of you is your father. I made sure he was safe."

"Like that time you accidentally ran into the guy who was chasing him."

"Well, it wasn't on accident at all."

"No, even my father knew that, but no one really pressed it. I mean, the guy ran right into the road on a busy street. How did you know?"

"Well, Mischief likes your father. He also likes to spy on him."

"Oh my god. He is like me."

"He is. Don't worry; we still have room for you," Peter said.

Stiles couldn't take it; he rolled over. He didn't look down even though he didn't figure that Peter would mind. Most packs didn't have issues with nudity in outside spaces. Bedrooms and bathrooms no one went into without invitation. It had been that way in his aunt's house and how it was here when he had been young.

"So you knew I was a Spark without your sister telling you?" Stiles asked.

"I did. I kept it a secret, though, and said you had sent your familiar to the family to watch over. No one questioned it, and no one questioned me having Mischief after the first time someone stepped on his tail."

Stiles laughed. He tipped his head down to rest on Peter's shoulder.

"I've never dated," Stiles admitted.

"Yes, I'm well aware. Your father told me that I was paying the butcher bill."

"He knew it was you?" Stiles asked.

"I told him a long time ago. He said he would keep it a secret since you were a world away, but I had two weeks after you got home to make my wants to be known. The courting takes as long as it takes. There are no big steps after the first overture. You've liked my gifts so far, and that has made me happy, but we can go slow as hell for all I care. I know you are not a virgin, though I wouldn't care if you were. Your father was horrified when he heard you had been caught in the middle of a magical orgy and came to have us explain that to him."

"My aunt never let me live that down. It's still brought up as the most stupid thing I have done. I was careful. We were all careful. There were enough magical spells on all of us that there wasn’t a chance of a baby or an STI. It was the third one we had done."

"Third? What kind of magic were you doing there?" Peter asked.

"Healing. It was part of our classes for the most part. We had a ley line that was diseased from a ritual sacrifice that had taken place. We were working on it. Hell, we did two more after it. Nothing came of it, well everyone came, but nothing bad happened."

"You are a little devil, aren't you?"

"I am."

"Well, I like my lovers to have a bit of devil in them."

"Good. Now, get up."

"Yes, your father just turned down the road. He'll be here in about three minutes. Close your eyes, Mieczyslaw. Let me keep a few secrets," Peter said.

Stiles closed his eyes, and he rolled to his back. He would honor the wishes of Peter, who had honored him for years to allow him to become who he was. He smiled as he heard Peter and his father talking as they were getting closer.

"He's a cat. He likes the sun," Noah said.

"I do like the sun. Peter's been cuddling with me in it for hours. I think he might have also carried me here. I can't remember. I know we walked some of it, but I don't remember the whole trip."

"Yes, I carried you some. Let's go. It's dinner time."

"I could eat a whole moose right now."

"Well, we only have steak."

"That will work." Stiles opened his eyes and looked at his wolf. Peter was looking at him with such a fond look on his face. Stiles knew that he already had Peter wrapped around his finger just by existing, but he wanted to earn their love instead of just falling together as many couples did in this situation.

Stiles would honor Peter just as Peter honored Stiles.

The End