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The door bell rang as Stiles hurried down the stairs. He opened the door.
"You don't have to lurk out there in the tree like a creeper," Stiles said. "Especially in the rain."
"I..." Stiles was amazed at the sight of a discomfited Peter Hale. Much less a Peter Hale who didn't have something snarky to say.
"Get in here," Stiles sighed. "Come on, you can help me make dinner."
"What are you going to make?" Peter asked.
"I have a new recipe," Stiles said. "It's Chicken Parm, but it's baked and not fried."
"Sounds interesting," Peter admitted.
"Come on, you can be my sous chef," Stiles led the way to the kitchen.
"Let's see your recipe," Peter asked.
It was both comfortable and weird going through the recipe with Peter. They made some changes in the seasoning, and Stiles thought it would make the dish better.
Peter was making a salad when John came home.
"Oh. Hello," John said. He looked at Stiles. "Were we expecting company?"
"It's a long story," Stiles sighed.
"When is it not?"
Stiles laughed. "How about over dinner?"
"Smells good, anyway," John nodded. "Sure." He went up stairs, to clean up and change out of his uniform.
Peter's uncertainty slipped out for a moment as he and Stiles set the table. Stiles placed a hand on Peter's arm, which settled Peter down. He gave a wry grin, then poured water in the glasses Stiles had set out.
The chicken was resting when John came down.
"Let's eat while it's hot," Stiles said. He served the chicken out, handing over a bowl of spaghetti so everyone could serve themselves.
"This is good," John commented.
"There should be leftovers, you can take that for lunch," Stiles said. "Peter helped."
John waved a fork at them. "So. What's going on?"
"I told you about Scott giving up his Alpha Spark to save Allison the other night," Stiles started.
John nodded warily.
"What I didn't tell you, mostly because I wasn't sure what it was, but well, a piece of that Spark broke off," Stiles went on. "It didn't look like much, like a small spark, and there was so much going on that I had to let it go."
"Like it knew what it was doing?" John asked.
Stiles nodded. "Yeah. It made sure I saw it, but I don't think anyone else did. They were all focused on Allison at that moment."
"What did it do?" John asked.
"Just kind of danced around to make sure I saw it, then darted off," Stiles said, his hands illustrating the words.
"And?" John persisted.
"That was it," Stiles said. "Until today."
"What happened today?" John asked.
"First of all, Scott pinned me against a locker and accused me of doing something," Stiles said. "Of course, he didn't know what he was talking about and couldn't tell me what I had done. He's more upset because he hasn't been able to talk to Allison. Even though he's been dating Kira lately."
"That boy is a mess," John sighed.
"He certainly is," Stiles agreed. "He hasn't been to class in the last couple of days, I know that much. But I don't know what he's been doing."
"He's been lurking about the Argent house, pretty much around the clock. I don't think he's been home much at all," Peter offered. When Stiles looked at him, he shrugged. "I was watching him watching them."
"I'll talk to Melissa," John said. "If Scott's skipping school, she needs to know."
"I was on the way home, hoping to beat the rain, and I suddenly know how to make it not rain," Stiles admitted. "But that if I did that, it's like there's a price to pay. No rain here means maybe something worse somewhere else."
Stiles saw Peter's eyes narrow at that admission.
"Then creeper wolf here was in the tree outside my bedroom and I told him to use the door," Stiles went on. "And to stay for dinner." He paused. "Oh. And he's an Alpha again."
John sat back and rubbed his face for a moment. He looked at Peter. "Are you okay?"
Peter stared for a moment. "No one's asked me that in a long time."
"Which means we've been neglectful pack mates," Stiles said firmly. He paused. "Oh." He rubbed his chest.
"A pack bond," Peter said softly. "An amazingly strong bond."
Stiles nodded. "Good. You deserve that."
John rubbed his own chest. "Is that what that is? It feels... odd, but good."
Peter nodded. "It's pretty robust if, as a human, you can feel it."
"This works in both directions, doesn't it?" John asked. "We can feel you and you can feel us?"
"It's not an exact science, but, yes," Peter admitted.
"Good," John grinned. "That means you're in charge of Stiles."
"Hey!" Stiles protested automatically. But the thought of someone caring about him felt good.
"We need to have a talk about that rain thing," Peter said. "That's... unusual. And powerful."
"How powerful?" John asked before Stiles could.
"Too powerful," Peter said. "Any references to controlling weather that way are more legend and myth than actual fact."
"Oh, man!" Stiles groaned.
"What happened that night?" Peter asked. "With the Nogitsune?"
Stiles took a drink of water to gather his thoughts. "It was like, after all the chaos it caused, something about that night made it... move on, is the best I can describe it. It told me to believe in myself and I would do well and then, well, it just left."
"It's just gone?" John asked.
"I don't really know," Stiles admitted in frustration. "It lay quiet a few times while it was causing its chaos but, well, it really does feel like it left."
Peter flicked out a single claw and held it up. "I can see if I can find anything."
Stiles groaned. "Oh, man. Really?"
Peter shrugged and the claw disappeared. "Only with your express permission. But the robust Pack bond could not have formed if the Nogitsune was still inside you."
"That's a good thing, right?" John asked.
Peter nodded. "There's an underlying magic that deals with Pack bonds. It's... difficult if not impossible for a person to have as robust a Pack bond as Stiles and I have if there's a... let's say, third party involved."
"That's good to know," Stiles nodded.
The Pack bond with Peter was warm and happy.