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After a restful night the pack awoke and had breakfast at the local 24 hour dinner then headed to the preserve. Together they saw the framing for the new pack house. It was a huge plot of land 3 stories tall with 20 bedrooms, Derek called it being prepared.
After seeing the house Derek walked them out to the side of the house and showed everyone a large section of forest that was marked off with orange construction tape. Inside the large rectangle was a smaller section.
“This is our newest project, I got our foreman to add this on to our permits when Jackson agreed to join the pack last week.” Derek told them all motioning to the area.
Even Stiles wasn’t privy to the information, they looked around in confusion before Derek finally cut the suspense.
“The large area is going to be a pool, Stiles told me that you used to be on the swim team and love going to the lake, and the small yellow taped off area is going to be a hot tub area to relax. Plus Chris mentioned it may help you Laura since you still are running a bit colder than us.”
Jackson who was used to only Lydia and Stiles caring about him was taken aback. He hadn’t been on the swim team since elementary school and he only took Lydia to the lake house a few times.
“Thank you Alpha.” Jackson told him while taking in the large project.
“Now let’s show you the territory’s border. We normally run this once every few days, in pairs. Keeping an eye out for other scents.” Derek educated Jackson and Lydia while walking toward the closest border, pack following close behind. About 30 minutes later they came up to the the unmarked edge they claim, Derek looked around for a second and then looked to Stiles shaking his head no.
The smell of sadness and slight anger came from Stiles, clearly the rest of the wolves caught it but Jackson just wrinkled his nose.
Stiles took in the pack looking between him and Derek before he conceded “I invited Scott, told him we were hanging out as a pack and going to see the territory. He just said he would think about it but he hasn’t even opened any of the emails with information I’ve been sending him.” Derek took his boyfriend into his arms and just held him for a minute.
The pack knew Scott had turned but that they were giving him time to adjust, but they didn’t know he was ignoring Stiles.
Allison squeezed herself inbetween Derek and Stiles arms, “You are trying, and that is more than enough. I know he doesn’t care for Derek much but that doesn’t mean he gets to ignore you.”
Feeling much better Stiles shook off the feelings of sadness; understanding that he can’t control how Scott acts.
Since everyone except the sheriff was there they decided to walk the south half of the border today.
Since it was so remote they felt comfortable enough to shift a little now and then on the walk; whenever they smelt or heard something. The couples naturally paired up, Cora happy that she could hold hands with Parrish since they were out so far from people. Stiles walked with Derek then held out his elbow for Allison to take. A half mile into the walk Laura knew she was running out of steam.
“I’m going to head back to the house and wait for you all there. I’m feeling pretty tired.”
Cora jumped in “me and Jordan can go with you, I don’t want you alone until you can shift.”
Derek was about to interject becuase he wanted Parrish to learn the border but Chris beat him to the punch.
“I’ll go with Laura, you guys need to learn and mark your territory.”
Before Cora could make a fuss about a protection detail for Laura, Chris lifted his jacket and showed the two pistols on his side.
“I know you haven’t seen me in action but I am a hunter, trained by Gerard and former member of the Council. I can hold my own and watch her back.” Chris spoke firmly and without hesitation, turning to the alpha to see what he decides.
Allison jumped up and down for a second in excitement “Ooohh I have an idea, if you are interested Laura.” She took off the back pack she carried and pulled out a collapsible bow and a handful of arrows. Within seconds she had the bow expanded and ready to fire. “Maybe my dad could train you on the bow, not to hunt but for control, endurance and focus.”
Chris smiled at the future matriarch feeling like a proud parent, it was a good idea.Derek also had the same look in his eyes.
“Laura take Chris with you, you can train with him however you like. We will howl at halfway mark.” The pack nodded and the Hunter and Beta walked off.
Derek, Stiles, Allison, Cora, Jordan, Lydia and Jackson walked off. With the Hales leading the way since they knew the border, Stiles could feel the rough outline as he could feel the Ley Lines below him.
2 hours into the walk Stiles felt a strange pulse in his magic, the falter in his step was caught by all the supers. Stiles was a klutz but in the forest he was always as graceful as a ballerina . In an instant Derek was facing him about to ask what’s wrong, Stiles has a hand over his heart and confusion on his face.
He took a moment closed his eyes and reached out to his magic, his hands glowing a soft white light.
He felt the pull of the land and he dropped down to place his palms on the ground. He reached out with his magic again and the ground responded. He felt a soft pull and he reached back out, he felt an aura of innocence and panic rushing toward him.
All the supers turned to the bushes on their left and Stiles did too, reaching out more with his magic.
A small blur of red tumbled out of the bush and locked eyes with stiles. It was a small red fox, not quite fully fully grown. It was then that a flash of brown caught his eyes. A small scrap of fabric was tied around his back leg, it was the baby he rescued the day he met Derek. The fox rushed to Stiles and spun in circles, then ran to the bush, it turned back and stuck his head out looking back at the pack.
Derek walked over to the fox and stuck out his hand, the fox ran up his arm and rested on his shoulder looking into the woods.
Stiles got up and walked toward the two of them reaching out to feel the foxes aura, it was needing help.
“We need to follow him, he needs help I can feel it. “ Stiles called out moving forward, he petted the fox on Derek’s shoulder then scooped him up and onto the ground.
The fox darted forward only looking back once to see them moving with him and he sprinted off. The pack broke into a run followed him. After about a mile run Cora called out “It reeks of pain this way.” Following the fox across a wide stream and up hill.
When the pack made it to the top of the hill they heard the soft whining. In the valley below them was a series of animal traps. There was four foxes trapped by the legs while theLarger mother fox was stuck in a cage. The pack raced down and Allison disengaged the metal leg clamps while Derek and Cora each took two foxes and drained the pain.
Stiles was working with Jackson to unlock the cage confining the Mother.
Jordan looked around trying to find names or info on the supplies, not only was it not hunting season but the preserve was off limits.
He and Lydia walked the camp looking for more traps.
Allison looked at the item and called out “these are cheap and mass produced, it’s a run of the mill town hunter not anything we need to worry about.”
Stiles had just removed the mother from the cage when he took off his backpack and broke out the first aid kit. The mother fox and torn her claws off trying to get to her pups. He wrapped her paws up and handed her to Jackson. He watched what the other betas did and began to take the pain away as well.
Lydia called out to Jordan holding up a garbage bag containing trash and receipts from the hardware store and gas station. Jordan took the items and dropped them on the ground next to the cages. He pulled out his cellphone and took photos. He managed to snap a shot of the foxes injuries while Stiles made his rounds to the other foxes and bandaged them up as well. All four has lacerations to a leg. He called over to the sheriff and advised he would be heading in to work this one with him.
Lydia saw the shape the animals were in and walked over to Stiles “there is no way they would survive out here. Not like this.”
“Parrish are you still on the phone with my dad.” The deputy noded and handed the cell over to him.
“Sooooo Daddio, Papa Stilinski how would you feel-“
“you will build them a run outside and they go in crates over night. I’m not cleaning up fox pee. Understood.” John commanded Knowing already what was going on.
“Sounds good, love you pops. I’ll send snacks with Parrish.” He finished hanging up and tossing the phone back to Jordan.
The pack pulled out the tarp from Allison’s backpack and loaded all the traps inside then tied it up to carry away. They decided to cut the loop off and head straight back to Laura and Chris.
After filling in the pair they loaded up into the cars and headed to the Stilinski house, Jackson and Lydia headed out to buy supplies for the foxes and Parrish left to work. Deciding to ignore his dad Stiles took an old comforter and made a small nest in the middle of his bed. He pushed his magic onto it and made it a calm safe space, before calling in the Hales to lay the foxes down. The runt of the litter sat on Derek’s shoulder with his flannel covered leg draped over his neck. Since he refused to let go of Derek they couple decided it was time for a nap.
Jordan had just gotten to the station, changed into his spare uniform and went to meet up with John. With the debris containing credit card information and knowing that the stores had cameras they knew they had a solid case. Allison had worn gloves as she disassembled to prints would not be an issue. When running the information it came up under Lahey.
John didn’t know wether to feel glad or not, the whole town knew Mr.Lahey, and not for being a nice guy, he had done a handful of follow ups for domestic abuse and neglect but no one would testify against him. He knew he had to go but Isaac was a minor and had no one. Stiles has was one of the few people that was kind to the shy boy.
John and Jordan loaded up into the police cruiser and headed over to the Lahey household. When they drove up they noticed the old Ford truck in the driveway and knew he was home. They knocked on the front door and a minute later he opened the door, they both smelled the bottom shelf whiskey coming from him.
“What do you want.” He slurred out to the deputies his stance wavering.
“Mr.Lahey we have a search warrant here to search your property for your hunting equipment, weapons and for information on poaching. I need you and Isaac to step out here with Deputy Parrish while I take a look around.” The sheriff explained calmly motioning him out to the porch.
The drunk looked at them for a second and replied “Isaac isn’t here.”
Jordan heard the lie in his heart rate and smelled him getting nervous. He had to remember to thank the Hales for training him to use his senses better.
“Sir, we need to see Isaac he cannot be in the home while we search.” Jordan ordered taking a step towards the door frame, realized Jordan knew something more the Sheriff changed his stance ready to follow.
Mr.Lahey stubbles back into the house “I told y’all the little shit isn’t here!” He yelled back using a pointer finger to poke at Jordan’s chest. Jordan saw the man’s heart rate rise and flicker to the basement door, he took a second and focused his hearing.
He heard a faint whimpering coming from behind the door. Without hesitation he grabbed the hand currently poking his chest and used it to spin him around. Using a little more force than necessary he cuffed him and pushed him down into a sit, only sparing a glance at John before rushing to the basement.
John thought it best to follow his deputy so he took Mr.Lahey and pushed him back using another set of cuffs to hook him to the radiator. Then he rushed to the deputy, when he ran down the stairs he managed to just catch Jordan grabbing a crowbar and breaking a lock off a large chest freezer.
Jordan ripped the lock off the freezer and threw it open, inside was Isaac, his nose bleeding, t shirt in shreds and he was curing into himself in fear.
John took charge and slowly placed his hand on the boy who flinched and then slowly opened his eyes when he realized he wasn’t getting hurt. When he locked eyes with the sheriff tears burst from his eyes and he struggled to breath.
John just patted his arm and slowly pulled the boy out of the freezer. Giving him time to get his breathing under control. John turned to Parrish and in a soft voice said “put him into the cruiser and call this in. I’ll stay here with Isaac until I hear the door close.”
Jordan left the basement and manhandled the drunk into the car and radioed in their finding.
John heard the door close and took Isaac to the living room, placing him onto the couch and grabbing him a glass of water.
“Isaac would you like a blanket or something? Food?”
Isaac flinched when his name was called but just shook his head no.
“I know this is a lot but I want to let you know what’s going to happen now..” he prepared himself to go into the long speech about Child protective services, the assault case he could file, the people that would come into his house.
Jordan had just finished radioing into the office when his phone rang and it was Derek, he left the cruiser and locked it. Stepping around to the hood so he could watch Mr.Lahey but not be heard. He answered the call and heard the pack mumbling in the background but Derek spoke first.
“Jordan are you alright, we feel your distress.”
Jordan smiled a little especially since he could hear Cora whining in the back clearly not liking how his pack bond felt.
“It’s the case we are on. The poacher was Mr.Lahey. We got here and..” Jordan got a bit choked up which didn’t happen often but he just couldn’t stand how Isaac smelled and felt and was treated for who knows how long. “His son was in the basement. He lied about him not being in the home, so I listened and I heard crying from the basement. I had heard rumors you know…” a tear had slipped out and he could now hear Cora And Derek letting out a low rumble of anger “he had him… he had him locked in a freezer.” Jordan kicked the car tire in anger “ it was covered in scratches, it wasn’t the first time. We should have caught this sooner, we could have stopped this.”
Surprisingly it was Jackson who wrestled the phone out of Derek’s hand .
“Parrish has CPS been called?” He asked urgently
“Yes, we are waiting for them but it could be hours. He has no other family so he has to deal with them.”
“No he won’t.” Jackson spoke calmly even thou the pack could see his eyes glow slightly “Get him to pack a bag, he will do the CPS and assault interview with representation. He has a lawyer and will be turned over to a certified temporary home.” Jackson have the phone over to Stiles then walked away to the next room.
He pulled out his phone and called his dad’s emergency legal phone line. It rang only twice before he answered.
“Jackson this is my emergency line. What happened.” Mr. Whittmore barked out.
“I need you to go to Sheriff’s office, you have a new case. Isaac Lahey, minor clean cut abuse case, child endangerment neglect and caught in the act. You need to be there now and getting him signed over to mother as her temporary state ward effective immediately.”
“Jackson I am an hour out of town heading to a golf thing. I will help get your friend into a decent group home when I get back in next week.”
“Father you turn around right now, or I will file emancipation documents with your biggest competitor and will cite abandonment and neglect maybe some added emotional damage. How would that look? Rich lawyer couple abandons adopted son. How many birthdays have you missed, holidays? Could you defend yourself in court from yourself. What if they ask you when my birthday is, how old I am ? The last time you actually SAW me.”
“Enough! Jackson drop this at-“
“Fine but don’t be surprised when the Partners at the firm find out about that conference in Phoenix you know the one… with the intern who suddenly got hired full time..”
“Jackson fine I’ll do it. But your mother can’t be his keeper. She isn’t licensed.” He heard the tell tale screech of brakes and knew his father had turned around.
“Yes she is. I made her do it years ago after you both missed my middle school graduation to go to the Maldives. Bad thing about being around Lawyers, you learn to be a shark.” Jackson hung up and immediately called his mother. He wasted no time being nice, if his father was lawyer his mother was worse.
“You are returning to Beacon hills right now. You will stay within an hours drive unti the case father is working on is closed. You will be filing paperwork to get a temporary ward by the state. If you are not here in an hour father about the affair and illegitimate child. Understood.”
“Jackson hone-“
“I read the Prenup. We both know what happens.”
“I will be at the manor.” Mrs.Whittmore knew she had lost this.
Jackson went back to the pack, he knew they all heard him. He liked Isaac and no one deserved that. His home was big enough and his parents were never actually home so as long as he had a guardian on paper things would go great. Jordan had already hung up and the pack was just staring at him.
Stiles rushed him and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you.”
Jackson knew that Isaac would not have enough things so he excused himself from the pack to run the store, grappling some t shirts and sweatpants and some easy snack foods and he raced home. He knew his parents stayed at the Whittmore Manor clear across town but this smaller home was the one he preferred, plus a certain Banshee lived two streets away.
Jackson finished putting things away and realized it was later than he expected. He laid in bed and kept tossing and turning. Something was off, he realized the smell wasn’t right, so he opened the window thinking maybe it was just stale.
He laid back down and reached instinctively for Lydia and to press his back against someone but realized he was alone. The smell was not wrong it was just him, and faint traces of Lydia.
He tossed and turned again before looking over at the clock on the wall 1030pm. Not too late but the preserve run and stress of the day wore him out.
He reached for his phone and loaded up the Pack group chat that Lydia put together.
“Puppy Pile at my place. It smells wrong.” He typed out and hit send.
In a second his phone started going off
Buttercup: I’m one step ahead. Already in your driveway Love.
Jasper Cullen : Hales & Me are down
Huntress: Took the Tahoe I’ll swing by for y’all.
K9: With your father at station. John and I will be here all night. Isaac won’t be released until we finish up here and your mother shows up.
Jackson felt at ease knowing they were coming, rolling out of bed he went to meet Lydia who had her own key but still liked being let in. A few minutes later they were in bed. He was cuddling Lydia when he got the best idea but was a bit shy still.
He sat up looked at his beautiful banshee “love can I ask you something?”
Lydia laughed while propping herself up a little “you technically already did but go ahead.”
He fiddled with his collar and then slowly took it off.
“Will you wear my shirt to bed?” He held out the soft fabric.
Lydia smiled at the Kanima knowing that most Supers really like having their partners smell like them. She rolled out of bed and slowly striped off her matching pajama suit. Jackson couldn’t help himself and he reached out to touch her soft abdomen, watching as her muscles moved when she lifted her arms above her head. Realizing she was motioning for Jackson to dress her he pushed the t shirt over her head. It engulfed her small size and was more dress than shirt.
Seeing his woman in only panties and his shirt made him incredibly happy. He realized that all of a sudden he could see her more clearly in the dark room.
“Like what you see?”lydia teased seating herself on his lap “your eyes are shifted love I guess I now have two ways to tell when you are happy.” She kissed his cheek with a giggle.
Jackson had just reached up to hold her waist when he heard the car door slams outside.
The two broke away and met the pack. Clearly they were all ready for bed. Laura was first in wearing fuzzy pajama pants and a hoodie, Cora wearing an oversized Beacon Hills Police academy shirt as a dress, Allison had on shirts and an Argent Arms shirt, Stiles walked in with a large cage with 3 small foxes plus big momma, and Derek ended the parade with the runt fox on his shoulders.
They all headed up to Jackson’s room, glad he had his own master room so they all squeezed in, fox cage left in the corner but the runt fox refused to leave Derek. After they got all settled the fox laid its self on top of Derek and Stiles cuddling bodies. Now that the pack was together they quickly fell asleep, all the worries for tomorrow could wait.