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It had been a hell of a day. No, check that, it had been a craptastic day. Lydia, the love of his young life, still had no idea who he was. He saw that as only a minor problem, and tried to ignore the fact she was dating the co-captain of the Lacrosse team. Again, minor problems. Add to that the fact his Chemistry teacher was riding his case again and it was a day he’d like to forget.
Stiles tried to talk to his best friend, Scott, but all Scott wanted to talk about was Allison. After about ten minutes Stiles felt like beating his own head against the desk. Scott was great, and Stiles would do anything for him, but there were times when he just wanted to drop kick Scott off the roof of the school. Practice had been canceled thanks to Greenburg giving pink eye to not only half the team, but the coach as well. So Stiles didn’t even have that to take his mind off things. So he decided to go for a walk in the only place he knew he wouldn’t be bothered…The Forbidden Woods.
Personally, he thought the whole “Forbidden Woods” thing was a crock. Just because centuries ago Wolves ruled that area didn’t mean diddly today. There hadn’t been a Wolf sighting in years. Well, not a legitimate one. Lots of people said they saw one, but Stiles didn’t believe them. He’d walked these woods a hundred times and never saw even a flash of tail. But that didn’t stop everyone in town, including his father the Sheriff, from hiding inside at night during The Season of the Wolf. It was a stupid tradition held over from a long time ago. Back when the Wolves would come out of the Woods to hunt. Sometimes they’d kill and eat a few people or livestock. Sometimes they’d take someone from the town, and no one ever saw them again. Their body never found.
So all that just meant that Stiles had the Forbidden Woods to himself. Which was perfectly fine…normally. Right now he could have sworn there was someone close by…watching him. He shrugged off the feeling, telling himself not to give into the old stories like everyone else. He shoved his hands into the front pockets of his red hoodie and crossed into an open glen. This was one of his favorite places in the Woods. Wide open field surrounded on every side by trees. He could hear the sound of a stream not too far off…and the sound of a breaking branch behind him.
“There’s nothing there, Stiles,” he told himself. “You’re being stupid. The Wolves left a long time ago. You’re alone. Just a dead branch falling…and then a rock hitting it so it broke. Or a fat owl.” He took a breath and turned towards the sound. Nothing there. He let out a relieved breath and chuckled at himself for being silly. The laugh turned into a strangled “eep”, that most certainly did not sound girly at all, when he saw a pair of red eyes blinking at him from the shadows of the tree line. “Aaaaand now we’re running.”
He tore off across the glen and burst through the trees at the far end. He could hear the distant sound of something getting closer. His feet pounded into the soft earth as he ran. If he had a thought to spare, he’d marvel over how he hadn’t managed to trip over a root or something as he chanced a look behind him. And that was when he ran into a wall. At least, it felt like a wall. He managed to only stumble back a few feet instead of falling flat on his ass, so huzzah! When he brought his attention back to the wall, he saw the wall was a wall of muscle in the shape of a guy. A big guy. A dark, brooding guy. And, let’s face it, a hot guy.
“Hi. Hello. Yes, hi…um…hi,” Stiles said in a flustered stammer.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” the man replied. His voice was a mixture of displeasure, warning, and something Stiles couldn’t quite place.
“Yes. True. I am not. Aaand I’ll just be going now.”
“Why were you running?”
“I thought I saw…exercise,” he said, changing mid sentence.
“You thought you saw exercise?” the taller man said, raising an eyebrow in disbelief.
“What? No. No I was running for exercise. Cardio. Good for the heart.” He pursed his lips in a forced smile. He didn’t want to say that he’d thought he’d seen a Wolf and sound like the other yahoos in town.
“You should leave,” he said. He either dismissed what Stiles had said or seemed not to care.
“Yes. Right. Leaving. Good plan. I’ll be doing that. Right now.” He gave another forced smile and side stepped around the stranger. He paused after a couple of feet. “You know you shouldn’t be…” the rest of the sentence dying mid turn. There was no one there. Stiles finished whipping around and looked around him. Not even a flash of leather jacket or jet black hair to be seen. Nothing. “Ooookie…now I’m really going,” he said to the emptiness. He turned on his heel and hightailed it out of the woods.
He skidded to a stop at his jeep and leaned against the passenger side door. He leaned his head back against the window and stared up at the sky. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he sighed. His mind drifted back to what he’d seen in the woods. He could almost convince himself that he’d imagined the glowing red eyes. That it had just been a trick of the light. He’d just been thinking of The Wolves and the superstitions that still surrounded them. His mind was just playing tricks on him, that was all. But what about that guy? That was not his mind playing tricks on him. Though his mind was not opposed to conjuring up images of that guy later. What? He was hot.
There was no denying that the guy had just up and vanished. The trees in that area weren’t big enough to hide behind, not to mention the fact that he didn’t see the sort of person to try and hide behind a tree. So where had he gone? Hell, where had he come from? The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he had the same feeling he had in the woods…like someone was watching him. Slowly, he lifted his head from the jeep window and looked at the trees in front of him. No red eyes, no hot mysterious stranger, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something out there. “Right…really, really going now,” he muttered and pulled the keys from his pocket. He was in the jeep and pulling away before his brain caught up with him.
One thing was certain; his walk in the woods had served as the distraction he’d been hoping for.
~*~
“What’s ‘The Season of the Wolf’?” Allison asked, nodding to a sign on the window.
Stiles had met up with everyone later that day at a pizza place. He really hadn’t been paying much attention to what they were saying until he heard “Wolf”.
“Huh?” Scott mumbled as he looked up from his slice of pizza. He followed Allison’s eyes to the sign in the window.
Closing early due to The Season of the Wolf
“Oh, well you know about the Wolves and the Woods, right?” Scott asked.
“Yeah. Dad told me about it before we moved here. Something about how centuries ago the Wolves ruled this area. But I mean, that’s not still true.”
“It’s still their land, and this is the time of year they come out and remind us.”
“Please,” Jackson scoffed from across the table. “You ever see a Wolf?”
“I’ve heard them before,” Scott frowned.
“Heard but not seen. Could have just been a dog.”
“I did,” Stiles said before he caught himself. Everyone turned to look at him.
“You did what?” Jackson frowned.
“See one. I think. When I was in the Woods today-“
“What were you doing in the Woods?” Scott squeaked.
“I saw these red eyes. I took off running, never saw anything else. Ran into this guy, so maybe it was just him I heard.”
“There’s a legend that the Wolves could take human shape,” Lydia said. “That it made it easier to seduce people into coming to the Woods with them.”
“Great, so now you’re saying not only are there Wolves still living in The Forbidden Woods, but they’re shape changing wolves?” Jackson mocked.
Lydia rolled her eyes. “No, I’m just bringing up an interesting anecdote.”
“Ane-what?” Jackson frowned.
“Anyway, this time of year everyone pretty much stays inside at night,” Lydia said, ignoring Jackson. “And everything closes early. Speaking of which, we need to get to the movie store before it closes,” she said.
“I am not watching The Notebook again,” Jackson growled. Lydia stood and gave him a look that said quite clearly they would be. Jackson cursed and slapped some money down on the table before following her out.
“Yeah we should get going too,” Scott sighed. “I don’t want Allison’s dad giving me another tour of his gun collection.”
“Oh it’s not that bad,” Allison laughed and got up.
“You coming?” Scott asked Stiles.
“I’m gonna finish the pizza and head home. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Scott nodded and slid his arm around Allison, leading her out. Stiles sighed and grabbed another slice of pizza. “The fifth wheel alone again. Which would make me more of a unicycle.” He sighed, snarfed down the rest of the pizza, and went home.
It was just starting to get dark as Stiles pulled up into the driveway. His walked out of the house and pulled on his coat with the sheriff’s department logo on the front.
“Stiles, I’m on duty tonight so I want you to promise you’ll stay inside the house.”
“Oh come on, dad,” he sighed and got out of his jeep. “When was the last time anything happened?”
“That’s not the point. The point is, if something does happen, I don’t want it happening to you.”
Stiles let out a breath and nodded. Not like he had anywhere to go right then anyway. He started towards the house but stopped when a thought occurred to him. “Dad, no one new has moved in near the Woods, have they?”
“New? Try no one period. You may not believe in the stories, but a lot of other people do. Why? Were you in the Woods again?” he frowned.
“What? Me? Pffft. Pfffffft.” Stiles waved a hand, brushing off the question and slipped into the house. He heard his dad get into his car and drive away. He thought about watching some tv, but decided to head to his room and refresh his memory on the Wolf legends.
It wasn't like he didn't know about them, he did. Everyone did. It's just he hadn't needed to study them in a long time and it being the Season, and all, he should know. It had nothing to do with the glowing red eyes or the hot stranger in the Woods. And he was hot. Really, really hot. Stiles had always known he was bi. Why lust and dream after one sex when the other was just as tasty? Besides, with his luck, giving himself such a narrow playing field wasn’t the best of ideas. And since it was looking like his dream about Lydia was really just that, a dream, maybe it was time to branch out. Of course, branching out to some hot lurking stranger in the woods probably wasn’t the best of ideas either. And what was that guy doing in the woods, anyway? He’d said Stiles wasn’t supposed to be there, but what about him? He shouldn’t have been in the woods either? Maybe he didn’t know about the Wolves, or maybe he didn’t care about the myths, like Stiles.
The blood in his veins nearly froze as he heard the sound of howling outside. He turned around slowly and looked out the window. He saw a dark figure standing out on the sidewalk. A dark figure with about four huge wolves standing around him. Stiles turned off the lamp on the side table as quickly as he could. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he realized the dark figure was the guy from the woods...and he was staring up at Stiles' window. A car turned down the street and Stiles watched as the mystery guy and wolves slipped out into the darkness.
"Ah crap."
~*~
"What are you talking about?" Scott frowned as he sat down with Stiles at one of the cafeteria tables.
"I mean last night I saw that guy from the woods with a bunch of wolves."
"Are you serious? I mean...are you sure?"
"No, I hallucinated the whole thing and thought I'd try to convince you. Yes I'm sure."
"Wow...Wolves."
"What about Wolves?" Lydia asked as she, Allison and Jackson sat down with them.
"Hey, Lydia. You look great today. I mean you always look great," Stiles smiled.
"Thanks...um..."
"Stiles," he said, his smile faltering.
"Right. So Scott, Allison was telling us about the plans tonight."
Stiles sighed as the foursome started to talk about their double date. He tried to cut in a couple of times but they were too engrossed to care. After a bit he gave up and left. They didn't seem to notice. On his way down the hall he glanced out to the parking lot. A few people were milling about, getting a bit of fresh air before having to go back to the recycled air of the class rooms. His eyes strayed to the far end of the lot and he froze in his tracks. The guy from the woods was leaning against the fence. He was talking to one of Stiles’ lacrosse teammates. A new player that only joined that year. What was his name...Isaac? Suddenly Stiles had a great need for fresh air. He shrugged his backpack more comfortable over his shoulder and hurried across the parking lot. They looked over at Stiles when he was half way across the parking lot. The guy from the woods said something to Isaac before turning and walking away. Isaac slung his bag over his shoulder and started back to the school.
“Hey!” Stiles called out and hurried over to Isaac. It didn’t look like he’d be able to catch up with the mystery guy. “Who was that?”
“Who was who?” Isaac asked.
“That guy you were talking to just now.”
“A friend.”
“Yeah but-”
“Class is starting,” Isaac said a moment before the warning bell rang. “Better get inside.”
Stiles sighed and followed Isaac inside.
"Stiles, I'm just saying maybe you shouldn't keep carrying that torch for Lydia," Scott said as they packed away their things for the day. "You know I think she's great, but she doesn't remember your name half the time. She's nuts about Jackson."
"I never said my plan didn't have flaws."
"Yeah, big flaws."
"Thanks," he drawled.
"You want to come with us tonight?"
"Yeah no. That's okay."
"Okay. Just think about what I said, okay?"
Stiles nodded and walked off towards the parking lot. Maybe Scott was right. Maybe chasing after a girl that barely remembered him was some sort of punishment. Hell, late at night when he couldn't sleep he would think about one very dark thing. Maybe he chased after because he knew he could never have her, that way he could never lose her. Not like he did his mother. So maybe he should just keep reaching for that unreachable star. He jumped into his jeep with that thought and drove off.
A song started to bound around in his head, something had triggered a song he'd heard a long time ago. Something about never giving up. Never stop questing. He frowned as he tried to remember the words. The tune came to him easily enough, but the words were escaping him.
"To dream...the impossible dream. To fight...the unbeatable fight. To...to...crap what's the..." It would drive him nuts if he couldn't remember so he he pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out his phone. It didn't take long for him to pull up the lyrics and he started the speak/sing them to himself. A message popped up from his father wanting to know if he could grab something from the house for him. He shot off a quick reply and started the jeep back up. He thought for a moment he saw that same guy standing off by the trees, but when he took a better look there was nothing more.
"Yup, definitely hallucinating," he sighed and pulled back onto the road.
Derek watched from the shadows behind a tree as Stiles pulled away. A large brown wolf walked over to him and shifted to a human form. He was very handsome in his own right, and looked to be about ten years older than Derek. However that was only in human years.
“Why am I not surprised to find you lurking,” he smirked.
“I’m not lurking,” Derek growled.
“Alright, you choose the word. Creeping, stalking, gazing with unspoken longing...”
“Did you want something, Uncle?” he growled a bit louder.
“Oh so many things. Right now I’ll settle for basking in your cheerful presence.”
Derek cast him a dangerous look which his uncle merely smiled at.
“So what’s so special about his human?” he asked and nodded towards Stiles had been parked.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Peter.”
“Right. Of course. What could I have been thinking? In any event, the pack is waiting for you.”
Derek sighed and pushed off the tree. He started to take one more look towards the street until he saw Peter smirking at him. He growled something and stalked off.
Stiles set himself in his favorite booth at the coffee shop. The one right against the front window. He needed a distraction from his thoughts about Lydia and how his best friend was way more focused on his girlfriend than to talk to him about what he’d seen the day before. And what better distraction than trying to figure out what it was he’d really seen? He pulled out his laptop and started searching. Lydia had been right, there were several stories mentioning Wolves taking human form to either lure out prey or even sexual partners. Histories also said that sometimes the Wolves would leave one area for years, traveling from one part of their territory to another. There didn’t seem to be any hard evidence, though. Just myths and legends. Stories passed down from one generation to the next.
One idea was that the Wolves weren’t anything more than normal canines, trained and controlled by humans. Men and women who chose to live in the woods rather than in the growing cities and towns. Escaping from normal day life. That made a lot more sense to Stiles than Wolves taking human form. And that would explain seeing the guy out on the street the night before with the wolves. What it didn’t explain was the pair of glowing red eyes he’d seen in the woods. When light hit a canine’s eyes it reflected white or sometimes yellow, never red. And it had definitely been a set of blinking red eyes...hadn’t it?
“Here’s your drink, sweetie,” the waitress said as she brought him his tea.
“Thanks,” Stiles smiled and looked up at her. He blinked as he caught the reflection of the street in the mirror behind her. Tall, dark, and sexy was standing on the other side of the street. Stiles jerked around to get a better look but a bus had just pulled up and blocked his view. “Oh come on!” The bus finally pulled away but the guy was gone.
“You alright, sugar?” the waitress asked.
“Did you see a guy standing over there? Six feet, black hair, blue jeans, black shirt and jacket, really hot?”
“Sorry, didn’t see anyone. But I wouldn’t mind seeing someone like that,” she laughed.
“Yeah,” he sighed and looked back outside.
“You need anything else?”
“Huh? Oh. No, I’m good. Thanks,” he said with a small smile.
Stiles looked back down at his computer as she left. He was starting to think that he wasn’t going to find the answers there. No, maybe he needed to back to the Woods. If he hurried, he could take a good look around and get back to the house before it got dark. He didn’t want his dad to freak out about him being out at night. Normally it was fine, but with it being the Season of the Wolf, why take the chance? At least, that’s what his dad would say. So he drank his tea and did a bit more research before heading out to the Forbidden Woods.
As usual, there was no one else in sight. The Woods seemed a bit quieter, fewer birds and such. But then it was fall, so there weren’t usually a lot of birds chirping anyway. The air was crisp and starting to take on a bit of a chill. Winter was slowly eeking into the air even though it was at least a couple of months away. He always liked this time of year. It seemed more peaceful. Like everything was resting.
His thoughts were derailed as he heard the sound of a snapping twig off to his side. The trees weren’t very thick in that area so he had a clear view, but there wasn’t anything there. No handsome lurker, no giant Wolf, nothing. He let out a soft breath and looked back ahead of him...and let out a yelp of surprise.
“Hello to you too,” the man in front of Stiles smirked.
“What...didn’t your parents ever tell you not to sneak up on people?”
“No, they actually encouraged it.”
It was a different man than the day before, but Stiles thought there was something familiar about him. He had brown hair and was dressed all in black. He too was rather handsome, but was a good bit older than the first guy.
“Yeah...well...alright,” Stiles grumbled.
“You shouldn’t be out here, you know.”
“So people keep telling me.”
“Not much for taking sound advice, I see. Good. What’s life without a few risks? I’m Peter, by the way.”
“Stiles,” he said cautiously.
“Stiles...interesting. So what are you doing out here all by your lonesome?”
“Just, you know, taking a walk.”
“Taking a walk? So you’re not out here looking for someone or something in particular?”
“What? No. What would I be looking for?”
“Wolves.”
“Wolves?” he squeaked. He tried to cover it with a cough and brushed his hand through the air. “Nope. Nope, just walking.”
“I see. So you don’t believe in the legends, then?” Peter moved and started to slowly walk around Stiles.
“Anyone ever tell you that you shouldn’t believe everything you hear?”
“And you shouldn’t dismiss every legend,” he warned.
“What are you doing here?” A growling voice asked from behind them. They both turned to see had spoken. “Oh nothing, Derek,” Peter grinned. “Just stumbled upon a little lost lamb.”
Derek, Stiles thought. So the mystery guy had a name. Now that he saw Peter and Derek he could see why he thought Peter was familiar. There was a slight family resemblance.
“I told you that you shouldn’t be here,” Derek said as he stepped closer to Stiles and ignored his uncle’s comment.
“Yeah, that’s all either of you seem to do. But you’re here, so why should I leave?”
“It’s getting dark. You need to leave.”
“Hey, I’ve got just as much-” he froze as Derek stepped into his personal space and growled down at him.
“Leave. Now.”
“Alright, alright. Sheesh. I’m going.” He stepped around Derek and walked off. He was almost out of earshot when he heard Peter say something.
“Wow, Derek. You have a very strange way of playing with your food.”
“He’s not food,” Derek growled.
“You’re right. Not enough meat on him. More an appetizer.”
“Don’t even think about touching him!” he snarled.
“Right, of course not,” Peter chuckled. “And I see what you mean before. Obviously he’s not special to you at all.”
The last thing Stiles heard was Peter laughing softly. Food? Special? What the hell?! Stiles didn’t feel like waiting around to find out just what they meant. He got back to his jeep in what had to be record time. Gravel kicked out from the tires as he sped away. What the hell was that about? He’d gone there for answers and had left with more questions. Slightly horrifying questions. Scott...he really needed to talk to Scott. His phone was out and hitting speed dial before he could even finish the thought. Unfortunately, like so many times recently, he got Scott’s voicemail.
“Okay, seriously? Again with the voicemail? Listen, I need to talk to you so stop what you’re doing and call me back. Like right now. Something just happened...I was in the woods and...just call me!” He punched “end” on the phone and tossed it into the passenger seat. This was a perfect example of why it might be a good idea for him to expand his friend base. It would be nice if he had someone that he could count on to be there for him no matter what. For instance, someone who would answer their phone even when they were out on a date! He let out an exasperated sigh and rubbed his face.
By the time he got home it was just starting to get dark and Scott still hadn’t called him. He paced around his bedroom as he listened to the sound of the phone ringing in his ear. When he heard Scott’s voicemail start he felt like screaming.
“Seriously? SERIOUSLY? You can’t take two seconds to look down at your phone and check your freaking voicemail? What the hell, man? I need to talk to you! Something happened in the woods and I don’t know what’s going on. You need to freaking call me back or...or I don’t know, but I’ll do something! And it won’t be pleasant. So just call me back!” He threw the phone onto the bed and gripped the back of his desk chair.
He looked out his window and watched the bugs start to dance around a nearby street lamp. The tungsten light cast a pale yellow glow over the surrounding area. Streetlights always seemed to make the night seem more still. As though you were looking at a snapshot rather than an actual moving moment in time. Stiles froze as he saw something large and furry slinking around, avoiding as much of the artificial light as possible. He hurried closer to his window, shutting off his lights as he did. It was hard to tell from that angle, but it looked like the wolf was moving towards the front of his house. His heart started to pound in his chest, but before he could decided what to do the wolf was hurrying away. He watched as the wolf paused in its retreat to glance up towards his window before vanishing into the dark. Stiles could have sworn that the wolf had even smirked at him.
~*~
There was a note tucked under the wiper of Stiles’ jeep when he left the next morning for school. He frowned and shoved the piece of toast he was holding into his mouth. It was a simple hand scribbled note that read, “Beacon Hills Library. Legends and Mythology stacks. You’ll find some of what you’re looking for”. Stiles frowned and looked around hoping to see who’d left the note. It was an exercise in futility, of course, as there wasn’t anyone around. He shoved the note into his pocket and climbed into the jeep.
Classes didn’t afford Stiles much time to filter through the previous days events, or even much time to talk to Scott.
“Dude what the hell?” he whispered at the beginning of one of their classes.
“Huh?” Scott frowned.
“Why didn’t you call me back?”
“Oh, sorry. I had my phone off and forgot to turn it back on until this morning. Why, what did you need?”
Stiles rubbed a hand over his face and counted to ten before telling Scott a cliffsnotes version of what had happened. “And then this morning there was this note on my jeep,” he said and pulled the paper out for Scott to see.
“You’re not going to go, are you?”
“To the library? Yeah.”
“But what if, I dunno, what if they’re just some crazy people who-”
“Who what, want to bludgeon me with a mythology book?”
“I’m just saying it might not be a good idea.”
“Come with me, then. Safety in numbers.”
“I can’t, I’m studying at Allison’s after school.”
“So you’re going to go make out with your girlfriend instead coming with me to fight off murderous book wielding psychos?”
Scott didn’t have a chance to answer before the teacher demanded everyone’s attention and started class. After class wasn't much better. Allison ran into them in the hall and Stiles knew it was pointless to try and fight for attention. He thought about talking to Lydia. She was brilliant, after all and it would give him an excuse to talk to her. But she was busy with Jackson, so that was very much out.
"Did I hear you say you're going to the library after school?"
Stiles looked around his locker door to see Isaac standing there. "Uh...yeah."
"Can I bum a ride?"
"To the library? Sure, I guess."
"Great. I'll see you after school," he smiled and pushed off the metal doors.
Stiles watched him walk away, trying to figure out what that was about. They'd talked a couple of times in class or in the locker room, but it wasn't like they hung out. Though this might give him a chance to talk to Isaac about Derek. He was talking to him the day before, after all.
Stiles was jumpy the rest of the day. More anxious for the day to be over. He felt like the time he'd eaten three bags of Halloween candy by himself. His parents thought they were going to have to tie him down he was so wired. Isaac was waiting for him by his jeep when school got out. Stiles actually caught himself looking around for Derek. He didn't know why, but just felt like he was being watched lately. Granted he had caught Derek lurking more than once only to vanish in thin air.
"You alright?" Isaac asked. "You look like you swallowed a live wire or you're waiting for a piano to fall on your head."
"Huh? What...no. I'm fine. Sorry. Weird few days." Stiles unlocked the jeep and got behind the wheel.
"Ah."
"So why did you need to go to the library?" Stiles asked as he pulled away from the school.
"Just needed to pick up a couple of books. You?"
"Research."
"Yeah? On what?"
"History..."
"History of?"
"Just thinking, what with it being Wolf Season and all that I might look into some of the history."
"Makes sense. They don't really teach much about it once we get into High School." Isaac looked out the passenger window as he spoke.
"Hey who was that guy you were talking to yesterday? He looked familiar."
For a moment Isaac didn't say anything and Stiles thought he was going to brush off the question like he did before.
"Family friend." Stiles grabbed onto that tidbit of information like a drowning man to a life raft. He started to ask more but Isaac changed the subject to lacrosse and they talked about that until they got to the library.
"Are you gonna need a ride home?" Stiles asked as they got out.
"No, I'm good."
"You sure? I don't mind."
Isaac smiled and shook his head. Stiles nodded and followed him inside. They separated as soon as they got inside and Stiles hurried over to the mythology section. He dropped his bag and red hoodie on one of the tables and started to look through the stacks. He wasn't really sure what he was looking for, it wasn't like whoever left the note had been specific. Nothing was jumping out at him either, no notes sticking out of books, nothing upside down or obvious. He thumped his head against one of the shelves. "Nancy Drew I ain't."
"Shouldn't that be one of the Hardy boys?" a familiar voice asked from the other side of the stack. Stiles jerked his head around and pushed at some of the books so he could see who it was. He blinked as he saw Peter standing on the other side looking down at the book in his hand.
"Not a fan of crewneck sweaters."
Peter smiled at that. "I see you got my note."
"That was you? Why?"
"Besides loving to poke at my nephew with metaphorical sticks, I have some questions that need answering. Helping you will get me those answers."
"How?" Stiles nearly jumped out of his skin as a Librarian came up behind him and shushed him. "Sorry," he mumbled and looked back through the shelves at Peter, but he was gone. "Son of a..." He hurried around the stack to the other side but there was no sign of him. He looked all over the library but Peter was gone. When he got back to his things, however, there was an old leather bound book sitting on top of his bag. It didn't have a name anywhere on the cover and no markings on the inside to identify it as a library book. The inside cover had the title. "Histories and observations of The Great Wolves." Stiles' eyes widened. He shoved the book into his bag and hurried out. Once he got to his jeep he pulled his phone out to call Scott. He frowned as he remembered that Scott was going to be busy. So he decided to go to the one person who always had time for him.
The cemetery was pretty quiet. But then it wasn't like there were raging keggers going on usually. But he only passed a few cars on his way in. There were usually more people on the weekends, which is why he liked to come during the week. He grabbed his bag and the flowers he bought on the way and got out of the jeep. His footsteps were silent on the soft grass. There weren't any mourners or visitors in that area...he had it all to himself.
"Hi mom," he said softly to the headstone in front of him. "Sorry I haven't made it out here since last month." He laid the flowers on her grave and sat down beside it. "So some pretty weird stuff has been happening. I think the Wolves are back, and I think some of the legends are true. I'm not sure which, but there's this guy and he keeps showing up everywhere. He's hot, so I don't really mind...but I think he's got something to do with the wolves, if he's not one of them. And his uncle left me this book I think," he said and pulled the large tome from his bag.
"I've tried talking to Scott about everything, but he's too busy with Allison. And I can't tell dad cause he'll freak out." Stiles sighed and slid his hand over the leather cover. "I wish you were here. I miss you." He closed his eyes and let out a slow breath. He was not going to cry at his mother's graveside. Well, at least not today.
"I'm sorry about your mom."
Stiles looked up, more than a bit surprised to see Derek standing next to him.
"Thanks...it's been a little while but..."
"But it doesn't really feel like that much time has passed."
"Yeah...um, what are you doing here?"
"What was she like?" Derek asked as he sat down in the grass beside Stiles.
"Mom? She was...she was great. Always had time for me. Always listened to me. I can be a bit hyperactive and spastic at times..."
"Moms are good like that. It's hard when you lose them."
"You, uh...you sound like you're speaking from experience."
"I've lost a lot of people. Some blood, some just felt like they were. But family is family."
"You'd think it would get easier to get over losing people."
"Loss is always hungry," Derek said softly. "It's always ready to feed on you."
"Well that's just just a cheery thought, right there. I feel like I just slid down a rainbow."
Derek smirked. "Sorry."
"So...um...I'm Stiles."
"I know."
"Of course you do. So...not that I haven't always wanted my own hot stalker but-"
"Hot stalker?"
"Oh yeah, like you don't know you're hot. Why do you keep following/watching me? Planning on eating me?" he said with a half hearted laugh.
"What? No. Why would...I'm not going to eat you."
"Cause I heard Peter say-"
"You shouldn't listen to everything Peter says."
"Why not? Right now he's been the only one actually talking to me."
"What did he say to you at the library?"
"How did...Isaac. He's one of you, isn't he? What are you anyway?
"You shouldn't ask so many questions. The answers can be dangerous."
"Wow, watch a lot of noir do you? 'The answers can be dangerous'," he mocked. He coughed a little as he saw the death glare Derek was giving him. "Anyway, not having any good reasons or answers, I'll look where I have to."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why are you so interested?"
"Are you kidding? I've been living with the myths of the Wolves and the Forbidden Woods my whole life. Now I find out they might be true and you think I'm not going to find out?"
"You may not like the answers. And I meant it, when I said it was dangerous."
"Well danger is my middle name," he smirked. "Well not really its-"
"Where did you get that?"
"What?" Stiles looked down at the book in his lap. "This? I think Peter left it for me on my stuff at the library."
"Give it to me," Derek growled.
"What? No."
"Stiles, give me the book."
"Not happening."
"Give it to me!" he snarled, flashing his fangs and bright red glowing eyes.
Stiles scrambled away from him. "Holy shit! You...you're...you really..."
Derek recoiled and got up. "I'm sorry."
Before Stiles could collect his thoughts Derek had run off. He let out an exasperated sigh, flailed his arms, and collapsed back onto the grass.
Stiles collapsed onto his bed with the the leather book. He'd been reading it since he got home and...well..his brain hurt. Apparently not only were Wolves real, they never left Beacon Hills. Oh, oh and they could, in fact, change into human form. The territory spread down the length of California up to Alaska and across part of Canada. There was a Central Pack, a ruling family as it were, that traveled throughout the territory. Each area of the territory was watched by a sort of lieutenant, a favorite Beta Wolf, that took care of things while the Alpha and the Central Pack were off. The Central Pack moved throughout for various reasons. Breeding, ruling, checking borders, and such. There was also something about keeping the Scavengers at bay, but it never explained who or what the Scavengers were. But it seemed the Wolves and the Scavengers had been going at it hammer and tong since time immemorial. Was this what Derek meant about dangerous? These Scavengers? Stiles was jarred from his thoughts when someone knocked on his door.
"Hey, you alright?" his dad asked.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good."
"I haven't seen Scott for a while," he said as he leaned against the door jam.
"Yeah...he's been busy."
"Ah. The girlfriend...Allison?"
"Yeah."
"He's young and it's his first real girlfriend. I remember what that was like. I could hardly think of anything else."
"Thanks, dad. Helpful."
"Sorry kid. Maybe it's time you branched out."
"Yeah...maybe "
"Listen, I'm on duty again tonight."
"I'll hold down the fort. Dad..." Stiles sat up and looked across the room at his father. "You ever feel like the universe is mocking you?"
"Universe makes fun of everyone, Stiles."
"Yeah...yeah...it must be really insecure," he sighed and flopped back onto the bed.
He heard his dad laughing as he walked away.
"Branch out...branch out. Braaaaanch out. Everyone keeps telling me that. Must be the universe, mocking me and trying to tell me something. Alright. I'll branch out." He jumped off the bed and grabbed his keys.
~*~
The tree made a loud cracking noise as Derek shoved Peter against the trunk. Peter's teeth felt like they rattled in his head. He'd laugh if the bells currently ringing in his head would stop being so loud.
"Why did you give him the book?" Derek snarled.
"Which book? Who were we talking about?"
"Peter..."
"Of yes, that book and your human obsession."
"He's not my obsession!"
"No? Tell me what he is to you and I'll tell you why I gave him the book."
Derek snarled louder but it didn't frighten Peter. He knew Derek wouldn't kill him. At least not over this. Derek let go of him finally and took a few steps back. Peter waited, knowing he'd pushed enough for the moment.
"Do you remember when I came back early last year?" Derek sighed.
"When Isaac was sick, I remember."
"One day I took a walk to clear my head. I ended up near the town cemetery and Stiles was there alone. I don't know why but I started listening to him."
"Who was he talking to?"
"His mom's tombstone."
"Ah, well that does explain some things right there." Peter knew how hard Derek had taken the loss of his parents and then more recently, his sister. Pack deaths were always hard, but when that pack member was blood it was even harder. Derek rarely talked about it. As Alpha he wanted to show a strong front for everyone. Be the one they could lean on. What Peter could never get his nephew to understand was that even an Alpha needed someone to lean on.
"Yeah...so I listened to him...and I don't..."
"You empathized," Peter offered.
"Yeah..." Derek sighed and rubbed his face. He sank to his haunches and looked out into the woods. "I started watching him when ever I could. I never talked to him, but I watched him. It helped. Sometimes I thought about telling him...telling him..."
"That he wasn't alone? That you understood?" Peter's voice was soft, caring. Derek nodded. "You could tell him now. He knows about us and didn't run."
"Is that why you gave him the book?"
"He was going to keep looking for answers. It might have taken a while and he might have gotten the wrong answers. I sped things along."
"Humans don't handle things like this very well."
"Not all, but some." They both froze as a scent met their noses. Peter smirked and looked down at Derek. "And it seems like he's one of them."
Derek got up and followed the scent until he found Stiles trekking through the woods.
"You seem to have a difficult time understanding the term 'Forbidden Woods'."
"Sheesh, don't be such a sourwolf."
Derek suppressed a smirk at that. "I'm sorry I frightened you earlier." Stiles shrugged. "I take it you've read the book."
"Yeah..."
"And?"
"So...do you like your belly rubbed like other dogs?"
Derek blinked at the question then let out a rich laugh.
"I'll take that as a yes," Stiles smirked and moved over to stand closer.
"This really doesn't bother you?"
"Well, I'll admit that it's not what I thought I'd be doing this week and it was a bit of a surprise at first but...no...I guess not." He held out the large leather bound book.
"Thanks," Derek said softly as he took it.
"So are part of the Central Pack?"
"I'm the Alpha."
"The A-...wow...yeah...okay. So you-"
"Do you want to go someplace and talk? It really would be better if your jeep wasn't seen so close to the Woods."
"Oh, yeah. Good point."
Derek stepped past him and started towards the edge of the woods. He could practically hear his uncle smirking from where ever he was. Stiles hurried after him. "So where do you want to go? We've got a few hours before it starts getting dark and everything starts to close. We could get something to eat. Or drink."
"Drink?" Derek asked with a raised brow.
"Yeah, you know. Coffee, tea or me? I mean...not me, me. It's a book. I was just..."
"Tea's good."
Stiles nodded and pulled out his keys. They climbed into the jeep and road off mostly in silence. Stiles kept trying to think of something to say that would make him sound like an utter tool. He also tried not to think about just how damn hot Derek looked sitting in his jeep. Well, he looked hot standing in the woods. Or, well anywhere. Derek, on the other hand, was trying not to think of how good Stiles smelled and how much he really just wanted to roll in that scent.
"So, why have you been watching me?" Stiles asked once they got to the coffee shop and slid into the booth. "You have been watching me...right? Cause I was thinking I was hallucinating for a while."
"No, I've been watching you. You just started to notice me recently."
"Wait, so you've been doing this for a while?"
"On and off for a year."
"Yeah that's not creepy at all."
Derek let out a soft huff of a laugh. "We watch a lot."
"I'm getting that, yeah. But why me? I'm nothing special-"
"You are," Derek said in a rather insistent voice.
Stiles looked down at where Derek's hand was suddenly covering his.
"Hey Stiles," Allison said as she walked by with Scott, Jackson and Lydia.
It startled Stiles so bad he banged his knee against the table. "Hey," he winced. "Hey guys." He pulled his hand from Derek's to rub his knee. Derek frowned across the table at him. "Thought you guys were studying."
"We're taking a break," Scott said.
"Hey Lydia," Stiles waved.
"Hey Steve," she smiled.
"Stiles..."
"Right! Sorry."
Stiles nodded and looked down at his cup of tea.
"Are they your friends?" Derek asked softly.
"Most days."
"You...smelled different when you said girl's name. Lydia."
"Sm-smelled?"
"Is she special to you?"
"To me? Yes. But I'm not special to her, as was just proven."
"Why not?"
"$64,000 question right there, my friend. I've had this crush on her for years, but I'm so far off her radar I'm in a different galaxy. I've come to the realization recently that I should try to let that go."
Derek decided he did not like the redhead female. "Maybe you should."
"Yeah...I'm getting that," he sighed as he caught sight of Lydia fawning over Jackson.
Derek reached over and touched Stiles' had to bring his attention back. This time, though, Stiles didn't draw his hand away. Derek gave Stiles one of his rare brilliant smiles which widened even more as he saw Stiles start to relax.
"Yeah...very much getting that," Stiles grinned. "So, um, do you, you know, always stay in the woods? Well, other than when you're stalking me?"
"No," he smirked. "In fact I was hoping to watch one of your lacrosse games but Isaac said there was some sort of eye infection going around."
"Pink eye, yeah but that won't stop us from playing a game just put a pause on a couple of practices - whoa, wait. Isaac? He's...like you, isn't he?" he said in a hushed whisper. Derek just nodded. "Wow. Okay, you know what this might have not been the best place to pick to talk about this."
"We could talk about something else," Derek suggested.
Before Stiles could ask for an example Scott and co. were standing at the edge of their table. "Looks like there aren't any more tables," Allison said. "Can we join you?"
"Take it," Derek said. "We were leaving."
"We were?" Stiles asked. "I mean, right, we were, yes. See you guys tomorrow."
Derek slid out of the booth and Stiles followed along quickly.
"Where are we going?" Stiles asked when they got back in the jeep.
"It's getting late. You should probably take me back to the Woods."
"Right," he said with obvious disappointment.
"We could...talk tomorrow, if you wanted."
Stiles smiled at that and started the jeep. "Yeah, okay. Besides, you're probably just going to be watching my house tonight anyway."
"Maybe."
"Well...if you want to talk more I'll leave my window open...stalker."
Derek smirked and looked out the passenger window. It had been a long time since he'd had more than a moment to smile. He hadn't been a carefree pup in years, but right now he felt like...a ghost of that had come back to him. Being Alpha and always looking to the welfare of your pack was rather straining. That thought reminded him of something.
"Stiles, it would be better if you didn't tell people about us. I know you already told Scott some."
"Keep it a myth and legend, right?"
"Yeah. Helps protect us and you."
"Yeah, I can see that. I don't want to lie to Scott about what I've already told him, but I won't tell him anymore." He pulled up in a secluded spot near the woods and let the jeep idle. Derek grabbed the book Stiles had returned and started to get out.
"Um...so I'll see you tomorrow?" Stiles blurted out.
"Yeah. I'll come find you. Night, Stiles."
"Night, Derek."
Stiles waited until he couldn't see Derek anymore through the trees before he pulled back onto the road. It had been quite a day, and his mind really hadn't processed the whole thing. There was a lot he still didn't know. A lot of questions he wanted answers to. He still didn't know why Derek was interested in him at all. Not that he'd complain much about that. And while Derek did sound quite adamant about not letting Peter or anyone eat him, he didn't know really anything about Derek to be certain. He couldn't talk to Scott about everything now, but maybe Isaac. Although, what was to say Isaac would tell the truth?
"Damnit Stiles, you've got to trust someone at some point," he told himself.
Decision made, he parked in front of his house and slipped inside. His dad wouldn't be home for a while yet, so he just went straight to his room. Is laptop was beeping at him for attention. Scott was trying to get ahold of him for video chat. Stiles decided to ignore it and just got ready for bed.
"Let's see how you like it when people don't return your calls," he mocked.
he flipped off the lights and took a quick look outside his window. No sight of lurking Wolves in any shape. Probably for the best, more often he was there the more chance of someone else seeing them. He closed the curtains, flopped onto the bed and settled in for the night.
"Why am I not surprised to find you here?" Peter mocked as he stepped beside Derek in the shadows of a large house.
"Shut up," Derek grumbled, still looking up at Stiles' house.
"Are you ever going to tell him?"
Derek just shrugged one shoulder.
"You are such a grand conversationalist, Derek. Have I ever told you that?"
In reply, Derek just gave him a dark look.
Peter smiled brightly at that. "As much as I'd like to continue to mock you and your infatuation with the human, we need to get back to the Pack. You can lust after him tomorrow." Derek growled at him, but Peter just laughed and walked away. Derek looked back at the house one more time before following his uncle.
~*~
“Hey,” Isaac smiled.
Stiles blinked a he watched Isaac take Scott’s usual desk in front of him. “Hi...”
“Coach said we’ll be back to practicing tomorrow.”
“Yeah I heard.” Stiles leaned forward over his desk so Isaac could hear when he whispered. Granted, as a Wolf it was probably unnecessary. “What are you doing?”
“I’m talking to you,” he smirked.
“You rarely ever talk to me. Is this because...”
Isaac shrugged. “I don’t talk to a lot of people here. Can be difficult when you make friends but can never tell them where you live.”
“Yeah, how do you pull that off? Third tree on the left and straight on ‘till morning?”
“We own property, and I stay there sometimes. But it’s more a hassle. Anyway, I figured since you know now and Derek said it was alright-”
“Derek talked about me?” he asked excitedly only to cough and quickly try to regain composure. “I mean...uh...you were saying?”
“Hey,” Scott said as he came over. He looked between Isaac and Stiles before taking a different seat next to them. “Why didn’t you answer your phone or video chat last night?”
“Sorry, I was busy,” Stiles said and leaned back in his seat.
“Well everyone was wondering who that guy was you were with last night.”
“What guy?” he feigned and opened his textbook.
The bell rang and he was saved from anymore questions. He and Isaac traded a look. Yeah, they were going to need to talk alright. He’d told Derek that he wouldn’t tell Scott any more, but also really didn’t want to have to lie if he didn’t have to. So, he had until the end of class to figure something out. Luckily for him, he didn’t really need to.
“He’s my cousin,” Isaac said at the end of class.
“Who, the guy with Stiles yesterday?” Scott frowned.
“Yeah, he’s visiting from out of town.”
“What were you doing with him?” Scott asked Stiles as they left the class.
“Just talking. What’s with all the questions?”
“Just curious. Listen, can I talk to you for a second?” Scott nodded down the hall a bit, obviously wanting to talk to Stiles alone.
“I’ll see you in class,” Isaac said and walked away.
“Stiles, I just wanted to say I was sorry for blowing you off a bit lately.”
“A lot. Not a bit, a lot.” It actually still bugged him that Scott hadn’t been there when he needed him.
“Yeah...yeah, I know. And I’m sorry. But hey, if you still want to talk about-”
“Hey Scott!” Allison beamed as she bounced in beside him. “What are you guys talking about?”
“Oh it’s nothing,” Scott smiled and took her hand.
“Okay. So I was able to switch lab partners to you!”
“Hang on, I’m his lab partner,” Stiles frowned.
“Yeah, but I knew you wouldn’t mind. Hey, who was that guy you were with yesterday?”
“A friend,” Stiles said.
“He was really cute!”
“Come on, we better get to class,” Scott said and led her off. He looked over his shoulder and mouthed “Sorry” to Stiles.
“I’ll be your lab partner,” Isaac said at lunchtime.
“You really don’t need to switch.”
“I don’t mind. I think my current partner wants to go work with Danny, anyway.”
“Thanks, Isaac.”
“No problem,” he smiled.
They sat down across from each other and if drawn by magnets Scott and co. (as Stiles had started to think of them as) joined them.
“So I hear that was your hot cousin last night,” Lydia beamed.
“Yup,” Isaac nodded.
“What were you doing with him, Steve?” she frowned.
Stiles was about to answer but Isaac beat him to it. “Maybe he likes talking to people who can actually get his name right.”
“Huh?” she blinked and looked at the others. Allison mouthed “Stiles” at her. “Oh. Well whatever. What were you doing with him?”
“Playing parcheesi,” Stiles replied.
“Well, you should bring him to the party tomorrow night,” she smiled.
“He’s not really a party goer,” Isaac frowned.
“Oh please, everyone loves a party. So you’ll bring him? Good. Allison, we're still going shopping after school, right?"
Stiles sort of tuned out after that. There was a day, not too long ago...possibly it was yesterday, that Stiles would have been overjoyed to be invited to one of Lydia's parties. Any excuse to be near her, talk to her, bask in her strawberry blonde beauty, would have been enough for him. But now...well he'd thought a lot the night before about what Derek had said. About him being special. He was cute, lovable, and gosh darnit, people liked him! Plus, the was the universe again, demanding he pay attention that it was time he let go of his crush and move on. Possibly to bigger, hotter, Wolfier things.
"Stiles," Isaac said and nudged him his foot.
"Huh? What? What'd I miss?"
"Nothing, you just zoned out. I was asking if you wanted to go to the field after school and work on your aim."
"Yeah, that'd be great!"
"Yeah I feel like I've been losing my game without practice," Scott chimed in.
"You have to have game to lose it, McCall," Jackson drawled.
"We'd better talk to Mr. Harris a out switching lab partners before class starts," Isaac said as though no one else at the table had spoken.
"True. He gets miffed at me enough," Stiles agreed and got up.
"Wait, you're switching to him?" Scott squeaked.
"You switched to Allison," he replied and followed Isaac out. The last thing he heard was Jackson's mocking voice.
"Awwww, did McCall lose his boyfriend?"
Stiles sank onto the grass, panting softly. Isaac had run him through several drills to help him improve on his shooting and maneuvering. He’d taken so many shots at the goal he felt like his arms were going to fall off.
“You’re really not as bad as you think,” Isaac smiled as he sat beside him. “You just need more confidence. Your aim got a lot better once you started to feel comfortable.”
“Confidence. Right. On it. Added to shopping list. Check.”
Isaac chuckled and tossed a water bottle onto Stiles’ chest. He grinned as Stiles let out a little “oof”.
“Can I ask you something?” Stiles asked after taking a long drink of water. He tried to sit up but his body wasn’t having any of it.
“Sure.”
“What’s with Derek?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why’s he Mr. Broody Sourwolf all the time?”
Isaac almost choked on his water. “Wow, I’d call him that if I wasn’t afraid of maiming. You have to realize that being the Alpha isn’t easy. It’s a lot of responsibility and he’s pretty young compared to past Alphas.”
“How do you get to be Alpha? You vote or something?”
“No, it’s a family thing. Parents to children.”
“So if Derek’s the Alpha...” Stiles let the rest of the sentence hang. If Derek was the Alpha, then that meant he’d lost his parents. He could relate to that. “I guess that makes Peter the Scar to Derek’s Simba.”
“Peter’s not that bad. And I think he enjoys to be more the man behind the curtain.”
Stiles nodded. He could see that. “Man, I don’t think I’ll be able move again. Ever.”
“Hey,” Derek smiled.
Stiles jerked up at the sound of his voice as though pulled by a string. He regretted it a moment later as his head spun. Derek grinned and sat beside Isaac.
“You two looked like you were having fun.”
“Just helping Stiles with his technique. We have an actual practice tomorrow if you want to watch.”
“Should be able to. I’ll let you know. How did everything go today?”
“Everyone was asking who you were,” Stiles said sheepishly.
“I told them you were my cousin, which is technically true.”
“I didn’t think of that. Maybe it’s not a good idea for people to see us together,” Derek frowned.
“Or an option that feels less like exile if for people to see the three of us together,” Stiles offered. “Cause, it’s a little late to try and shove the cat back in the bag. I mean, Lydia already wants me to bring you to the party tomorrow.”
“Party?” Derek’s brows shot up.
Stiles felt the heat creep up his neck and across his face. His ears would be beet red for sure. “Y-yeah. Lydia’s throwing one of her parties tomorrow night.”
“Lydia...she’s the one that you have a crush on, the one from last night.”
“Technically...”
Derek let out a low growl and Isaac quickly tried to defuse the moment. “I’m hungry. Are you two hungry? Let’s get pizza. Come on Derek, let’s go be seen in public. It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah...yeah pizza would be good,” Stiles nodded and got up on his now functioning legs.
Derek seemed to take a moment before getting to his feet. There was something on his face that Stiles just couldn’t read. Whatever it was, he was pretty sure he liked it. Especially since Derek was walking so close their arms brushed.
The rest of the afternoon went by rather quickly and uneventfully. They were, in fact, seen together but only by Danny and Jackson. The two teammates didn’t come over to their table as they would have if the rest of the scooby gang had been there, so that was nice. Danny did seem rather distracted, but that was understandable. There was no way you could look at Derek and not feel...something. He had freaking rainbow eyes, for the love of Mike! Well, okay not rainbow, but close. Stiles wasn’t sure how one person could have that many colors in their eye. But maybe it had something to not being human. And of course, Isaac was a looker too with that floppy hair of his. The conversation was mostly just Isaac and Stiles but Derek would chime in or answer questions directed at him. And whenever he wasn’t talking, Derek’s full attention seemed to be on Stiles. Stiles should probably be embarrassed, but it was nice to be the center of attention for once. When it started to get late and everything was closing, Stiles drove them back to the woods. Isaac pointed out a few of the houses the pack owned. All of which bordered the Woods. Stiles couldn’t get over the fact that he thought Derek wanted to tell him something, but for whatever reason could get it out. He dropped them off at the house Isaac said was his. Apparently they stayed in the houses at night, which he couldn’t blame them. Caves didn’t really sound all too comfortable.
Stiles got home just as his dad pulled up. After having dinner and watching a bit of tv together, Stiles went up to get ready for bed. He let out a startled yelp when he flipped on his bedroom lights and saw Derek sitting on the foot of his bed.
“Stiles?” his dad called from downstairs.
“Fine dad! Stubbed my toe!” he called before shutting the door. “What is with you an lurking?”
Derek rolled his eyes and looked up at him. Stiles waited for a reply but when he didn’t get one he let out a sigh.
“What is it?” he asked in a slightly softer tone.
“I’ll go with you to the party tomorrow.”
Stiles blinked. That was not what he was expecting. Not that he really know what he’d been expecting. “Um...really? Cause you didn’t seem-”
“I don’t want you there alone.”
“Alone? It’s a party. There will be lots of people there. Lots. Looooooots.”
Derek gave him what Stiles was now sure a patented scowl. “I know you still like her.”
Stiles was even more confused now. “Wha-huh? Who? Lydia? Oh. Ooooooooh. Derek, are you jealous?” he smirked.
“No,” he growled. “Do you want me there or not?”
“Yeah. Yeah I’d like you there.”
“Then I’ll be there.” And with that, he got up and crawled out the window.
Stiles rubbed his face and chuckled. Well, it seemed like the first time since...well ever, he’d have a date to one of Lydia’s parties. He flopped down on his bed and smiled up at the ceiling. Yeah he liked that a lot. It took him a moment of laying there to realize that his pillow didn’t smell like him anymore. Neither of them did...or the blankets.
“What did he do, roll around on everything?” he chuckled to himself.
~*~
The next day passed in sort of a blur. Stiles vaguely remembered classes, talking to Scott, hanging out with Isaac and Isaac teasing him, but other than that not so much. It was all a wash in his mind as he really only focus on two things: 1. He would be going to a party that night with a hot guy who was really a Wolf; and 2. The memory of waking up in a bed that didn’t smell like him, but rather said hot Wolf guy. He supposed he should probably have an issue with the whole Wolf thing, but really once you accepted that all the stories you grew up hearing were true, what was there to freak out over?
Practice didn't give him much to focus on either. Coach had him warming the bench the whole time, focusing on first line instead. Isaac told him that Derek wasn't going to be able to make it either. That was fine, actually, as he didn't want Derek just watching him sitting around. Not that he was trying to impress Derek, of course. Which is exactly why he didn't spend hours getting ready for the party that night. No...of course not. They hadn't really made plans on meeting up at his house or at the party, so Stiles wasn't really sure what was happening. And now that he thought of it, maybe it wasn't a date.
"Breathe, Stiles. Breathe," he sighed and knocked on Lydia's door.
"Hi," she smiled as she opened the door. The smile faltered though as she saw Stiles was alone. "Where's your friend?"
"He uh-"
"Right here," Derek said from behind Stiles.
Stiles turned and beamed at both him and Isaac...but mostly Derek. "Hey."
"Hi," Derek said with a smile that could melt stone.
"Perfect," Lydia smiled. "Well come on in."
Stiles got his feet moving and led the trio inside. The was pretty normal for one of Lydia's shindigs. Seemed like everything was there. Isaac got pulled away not too long after getting in there by some of the teammates and a few lacrosse groupies. Stiles stuck with Derek, though it was obvious most everyone wanted to try and get Derek alone. He was looking extra scrumptious. Derek was very pleasant with everyone, smiling brightly and making everyone within an twenty foot radius melt. Stiles was sure there were a few panties bursting into lust fuels flames. He couldn't get over Derek's smile and how it just lit up his face. After a little while Stiles was waylaid by Scott who was trying to apologize again. Stiles listened and told him it was alright, he understood. Libidos and all that. His attention was slightly pulled away, however, when he saw Lydia trying to corner Derek on the other side of the room.
"Stiles, did you hear me?" Scott said a bit louder.
"Huh? Yeah. I told you, it's fine. You're just the kinda guy that's always going to choose the girl over friends. Now that we know that, we can plan accordingly and move on."
"Stiles-"
"Listen, I got it. I'm going to go rescue a friend now from a maneater. Allison's trying to get your attention anyway." He slipped passed Scott and started to work his way through the crowd. He knew he was abrupt with Scott, but he was still a little bit stung how his best bud always blew him off. Even when it was really important. They'd get passed it, and Stiles would always be there for Scott. It was just obvious to him that it wasn't going to be mutual.
He frowned when he got to the other side of the room and there was no sign of Derek. He slipped this way and that, working passed people again. He asked a couple of people if they'd seen Derek but no one had. Finally he came across Isaac and pulled him aside. Isaac looked around then took a couple of subtle sniffs.
"He's out back. That direction," he gestured with his head.
"Thanks," Stiles smiled and went out into the backyard.
it looked liked there were nearly as many people in the backyard as there were in the house. He found Derek sitting in a relatively quiet area near the hot tub. With his hunched shoulders and eyes trained on the glass in his hands, Derek was giving off the "don't talk to me" vibe rather well. That changed silently once he noticed Stiles. He gave him a small smile and edged over a bit on the little step he was sitting on so that Stiles could join him.
"Hey, sorry I lost you in there."
"It's alright," Derek said as he looked back down at the glass. "Just not big on parties anymore."
"Which hints that you used to be."
"Yeah," he said with a sad laugh. "Used to love them. But that was before everything fell on my shoulders."
Stiles nodded. "Isaac filled me in a little on that. I know what it's like to lose family. Not that I'm saying I know what you're going through. I just-"
"I know," he said gently. "And it means a lot. More than you know."
"I'd know if you told me."
He was sure that Derek wasn't going to say anything, that he'd stepped to far over the line of...whatever this was between them. Burgeoning friendship? But then Derek started to talk, very softly at first so that Stiles had to lean in to hear.
"It was about a year ago. You were in the cemetery like the other day, talking to your mom. I didn't...I didn't mean to listen, but...you were really upset. I didn't hear why, but you were saying how alone you felt and how you really needed someone to talk to. I couldn't help it...I listened because I felt the same way. I wanted right then to go up to you and tell you I knew exactly how you were feeling. I went from a young, carefree Beta to the Alpha of the Western Wolves. Everyone looking to me. Everyone needing me. I had...have no one. Not that I can lean on heavily. Peter has helped me a lot but...I needed something else and I didn't know what. Then I saw you. I knew I couldn't talk to you...so I pretended to. I'd tell you things in my head, pretend we were friends. Then I found you walking through the woods and I would walk with you. Far off so you couldn't see me, but I was there. I'd walk parallel to you and tell you things. Sometimes I'd hear you talking and I'd answer. I started seeking you out, needing to know if you were...if I'd imagined you right. You...you made it better. You made me think I wasn't alone." He let out a shuddering breath and drained the contents of his glass.
Stiles blinked. It was the most he ever heard Derek speak. But it was more than that...it was what he said. How did he respond to that? He could hardly process it all. Derek and been walking around for a year thinking about him, building him up, leaning on the mere thought of him. Seriously how do you respond to that? His body reacted in reply before his brain could catch up. Derek's lips were soft and warm against his but the startled noise Derek made did not go unnoticed. His brain finally caught up and he pulled back slowly. Derek couldn't have looked more surprised if Stiles had jumped in the pool naked.
"Um...sorry...I don't know wha-" Stiles was cut off by Derek's mouth covering his. Stiles was a lot faster on the uptake this time. His lips softened and he leaned into the kiss. It didn't last long, but it still left him a bit breathless. "Yeah...okay...wow."
Derek smirked and leaned back. "Pretty much."
"So...I was your imaginary friend?"
Derek let out a bark of a laugh at that. "Sort of."
"Think about doing that?"
"Kissing you? Time or two. Plus other things," he smirked.
Stiles felt heat rush up his neck and across his face. He marveled how it was able to do that even as a surge of blood rushed Southward. "You'll have to tell me about that sometime."
"I think I've got a lot I need to tell you..."
"Yeah, same here. And...if I'd been there, I would have listened to you."
"I know," Derek whispered.
“Guess there’s only one thing to do now,” Stiles said solemnly.
“What’s that?”
“We get more drinks and enjoy the hell out of this party,” he beamed.
Derek huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, alright.”
Stiles bounced to his feet and beamed down at Derek. He wasn’t sure where this was going, but as long as it meant he got to kiss (and maybe more) Derek then he was all for it.
Peter was leaned against the railing of the back porch when Derek got home. He listened as Derek helped the slightly drunk Isaac into bed. He had been trying to figure out what to say to Derek all night. How did he explain things without Derek going off the rails? Or, more importantly, did he tell Derek now and ruin a possibly good night?
“You’re still up,” Derek commented as he stepped out on the back porch.
“Observant as ever. How was the party? Or should I ask how was Stiles since I smell him all over you?”
“It was fun.” He moved over to stand at the rail beside his uncle.
“You are such a chatty Wolf. Really, it’s hard to get a word in edgewise.”
Derek scowled at him but it wasn’t as menacing as it normally would have been. “I told him.”
“Ooo, really? And did he scamper off like you were worried he would? I’m guessing not since, as I said, he’s all over you.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Peter nodded and tucked the folded paper he’d been holding into his pocket. “Good.”
“What’s that?” Derek asked and nodded to the now out of sight note.
“Nothing that can’t wait until tomorrow.”
“Peter-”
“Derek, you really need to learn to enjoy the good moments when they come along. The bad ones will show up soon enough without you looking for them.”
“So it’s bad news,” he growled.
“Seriously, you hate life don’t you?” he sighed. He pulled out the note and held it out to Derek. “Scavengers were seen crossing into our territory. A few slipped passed the sentries and we think they’re headed here.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know. But we’ll find out and we’ll stop them. They won’t hurt anyone ever again.”
“No,” Derek growled and looked out towards the shadow laden trees. “No they won’t.”
TBC in “The Scavengers”