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Stiles knew when Scott and his Pack were returning to Beacon Hills only because Malia had asked Peter to pick them up at the airport.
"Oh." Stiles looked at his phone. "I blocked Scott when he called for a ride and wouldn't take no for an answer. I may not remember that I did that.." He gave a grin.
"You are evil," Kira laughed. "I love it."
"Scott is going to be upset," John mused. "Will you be okay?"
"Peter and I have figured out a couple of things. I should be able to protect myself," Stiles admitted. "And Peter'll drop everyone off at Mel's and then come straight here. I won't be alone."
"I can be there, too, if you want," Derek volunteered.
"Nah," Stiles waved a hand. "We'll be good."
"I want to hear all about it!" Kira said.
"Don't worry, I'll share!" Stiles promised.
Scott's Pack was returning to Beacon Hills from Hawaii against the time zones, so they wouldn't be arriving until dinner time. Adding the travel from the airport meant they wouldn't be in Beacon Hills until early evening.
John stopped on his way to work to see Stiles. "I know you'll be okay but, well, call me after?"
Stiles went and hugged his dad. "It's nice that everyone worries about me."
John held on tight for a moment.
"Call if you need me," John said, looking Stiles in the eyes.
"I will," he replied.
Stiles watched his dad leave and went back to the reading Peter had found for him in the Hale Vault.
Peter came in to his apartment at dusk. "They've been delivered to Melissa's house, even if she's not home. Scott didn't say two words to me the entire time. Malia talked a little about what they did, mostly food and beach related things. Liam and Mason were polite but only answered questions Malia sent their way."
"Scott didn't notice, did he?" Stiles asked. Peter was now an Alpha and most 'wolves should notice that.
"Not at all!" Peter nodded.
"Malia?"
"She's not a 'wolf so she's less likely to notice," Peter shrugged.
"Liam?" Stiles asked.
"Maybe? But he's bitten, and we know Scott doesn't know enough to teach them anything," Peter shrugged. "He wouldn't know how to interpret what he was feeling."
"Too true," Stiles nodded.
It was fully dark when Stiles heard thudding footsteps approaching his door. A fist pounded on the door.
"STILES! OPEN THE DOOR!" Scott bellowed. More pounding. "STILES!"
Stiles suspected he was supposed to be quaking in his boots. He rolled his eyes but went to the door.
"Scott! No need to annoy the neighbors," Stiles chided. "What do you want!"
Stiles only moved away from the door enough to let Scott close the door behind him. He didn't invite Scott in.
"You... you... you did it all!" Scott accused, pointing a finger at Stiles.
"I was here. I wasn't invited, remember?" Stiles protested mildly. "What did I do?"
Scott threw up his hands. "Everything!"
"Scott," Stiles said patiently. "That doesn't tell me anything."
"You cut off the credit card!" Scott snarled.
Interesting that Scott went for the money first.
"I was counting on that for spending money," Scott went on. Oblivious.
"What is the card connected to?" Stiles asked.
"The Pack Fund," Scott replied.
"The Pack Emergency Fund," Stiles emphasized softly. "How does needing spending money for yourself on a vacation equate to either an emergency or to something for the Pack? And what would happen if there was an emergency tomorrow that you needed money for, after you spent it all?"
Scott at least had the grace to blush slightly. Then he got the mulish look that Stiles had expected up front.
"I spent what money I had on hand, paying for airfare and the hotel," Scott defended himself. "I needed more to pay for drinks and meals and souvenirs."
"What happened to the ten thousand dollars that used to be in the fund?" Stiles crossed his arms.
"Not everyone could pay for the trip, so I used the money to help them out!" Scott shrugged. "It was for the Pack!"
"Why go on a trip you and the others couldn't afford?" Stiles asked. "Why not go to... Ensenada? You could have driven, and it would be cheaper than Hawaii."
"Malia thought Hawaii would be fun!" Scott shrugged.
"It might be, but the money you spent wasn't yours to spend!" Stiles said firmly.
"It was for the Pack!" Scott exclaimed. "You're just being selfish."
"Who went?" Stiles asked.
"Why do you care?" Scott asked.
"Am I Pack?" Stiles asked baldly.
Scott hesitated, which told Stiles what he needed to know, then shrugged. "I guess." No.
"Then why wasn't I invited?" Stiles asked. "I'm nothing more than an ATM to you."
Scott scuffed the floor. "You wouldn't have agreed," Scott admitted reluctantly. "You would have made us go someplace lame."
"Someplace you could afford," Stiles countered.
Scott shrugged, looking mulish again. "The money was for the Pack and it was spent on the Pack. That should be good enough."
"Since most of it was my money, I chose to close it down," Stiles said. "Sure, some of the Pack put in a few hundred dollars but almost all of that money was mine."
"You gave it to the Pack!" Scott ground out. "You have enough! You should share!"
"Not for a fucking vacation!" Stiles raised his voice for the first time. He took a breath and took a step back. He flicked a finger at Scott, not that Scott noticed. "You should go. I've shut down the fund. You're on your own. If I'm not Pack, I'm not going to pay for it."
"Stiles! What am I going to do for Pack meetings?" Scott whined. "You're being unfair! You're tearing this Pack apart!"
"I. Do. Not. Care."
"Stiles!"
"You should go," Stiles said, taking another step back.
Scott didn't move. He hesitated for a moment. Then blurted. "I'm not an Alpha anymore! What happened?" He flashed his eyes. Gold.
"How the fuck should I know?" Stiles challenged.
"You know everything!" Scott waved his arms.
"When did it happen?" Stiles asked. Mostly because he was curious about what did happen.
A small huff. "On the night of the full moon."
"Where did you go that night?" Stiles asked, pretending to investigate.
"Mostly up and down the beach of the hotel we were staying at," Scott admitted. "There was a small forest that we spent some time in."
"Did you contact the local Alpha before you went there? Or at least make an effort to find the local Alpha?" Stiles asked.
"We were on vacation! Why would we do that?" Scott was honestly puzzled.
"Scotty, Scotty, Scotty," Stiles sighed and rubbed his forehead. "You always ask permission. Especially as an Alpha and traveling with most of your Pack. One Beta could get away with traveling through another Pack's territory. An Alpha that was in and out in a single day, maybe, but likely not. An entire Pack and the Alpha? You always ask permission."
"Well, we didn't," Scott admitted. The mulish look was back.
"We didn't? Or you didn't?" Stiles pushed.
"No one did!" Scott growled. "Happy?"
"Well, that alone may have triggered something," Stiles mused. "If you unknowingly offended a Pack with a magic user, they could have taken your Alpha spark."
Well, not really, but Scott didn't have the resources to check on that. But it let Stiles deflect attention away from Beacon Hills.
"What can I do?" Scott whined.
"I don't know!" Stiles threw up his hands. "I've never seen anything like it either!"
Scott sighed and slumped slightly. "What am I going to do? I'm supposed to be the Alpha!" There was something pitiful about that complaint.
"I can't-- " wont "--help you with that," Stiles replied.
"Everyone knows," Scott admitted. "They saw it while we were there."
"What did they say?" Stiles was definitely curious.
"Some of them are concerned," Scott admitted. "A couple of them plan on leaving Beacon Hills."
"That's only fair," Stiles nodded. "Most 'wolves need an Alpha and if you're not an Alpha any more, they're allowed to seek a new Pack."
"But... I should be the Alpha!" Scott protested.
"Nothing I can do!" Stiles said firmly.
Scott huffed. "Can you research it? Can I be an Alpha again?"
"I can look," Stiles said. "But no idea what I'm looking for or if I can even find anything. And even if I find anything, I have no idea what might be involved."
Scott looked away.
"Go home. Get some sleep," Stiles said. "Don't you have to work tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Scott replied. "I hate these part time hours."
"Why not look for a full time position?" Stiles asked. 'You can't tell me there aren't vets looking for full time help."
"But... not in Beacon Hills!" Scott protested.
"This is kinda frank but, well, if you're not the Alpha, do you have to stay here?" Stiles asked, holding his breath. He needed to lay the groundwork, if nothing else.
"I need to be here!" Scott protested.
"Really?" Stiles challenged.
Again, the mulish look came out. "Yes!" Scott nodded.
"Okay, but you should think about it," Stiles said. "Look somewhere else. If you need to, you can always come back." Over Stiles' dead body.
Another huff.
"Get some sleep. Go to work," Stiles said. "Maybe things will look better tomorrow."
Scott shook his head. "It's been like three days."
Stiles blew out a breath. "Pish! Three days is nothing!"
"It feels like forever!" Scott whined. "I'm not as strong as I was."
"Get some sleep. Go to work." Stiles repeated. He wasn't going to pet Scott's feelings any longer.
"If you find something, will you tell me?" Scott demanded.
"I will," Stiles nodded. Not that he was going to look.
Scott rubbed both hands over his face. "I don't know what to do!"
"Go home," Stiles repeated. He put a thread of command into that. He didn't want to pet Scott's feelings any longer than he had to.
"All right,' Scott nodded. "I need some sleep."
"You do," Stiles agreed. "Hope you had a good time in Hawaii."
Scott brightened. "We did!"
"Good," Stiles nodded. "Call me and maybe we can do lunch and you can tell me all about it." Not that Stiles cared, but it was the sort of thing Scott would expect him to say. As if Stiles would be interested in hearing about a trip he was deliberately left out of.
"Good night!" Scott said as he left.
Stiles waited for Scott to leave and drive off before he moved away from the door. Scott never realized he hadn't gotten further than the doorway of Stiles' apartment. Not that Stiles really lived here any more. His lease was up at the end of the month and he had already largely moved out.
Peter was Stiles' side instantly.
"He didn't even know you were there," Stiles said.
"Your wards are magnificent!" Peter said. "He didn't know there was another person in the room, much less an Alpha."
Stiles turned to fall into Peter's arms. Peter held Stiles close as silent tears fell.
"You handled that well," Peter said softly. "You never lied to Scott, and he went away without having to push him away."
The line of mountain ash would have kept Scott away, but he never came that close to Stiles.
"He won't be interested in leaving Beacon Hills," Stiles sighed. "He's invested in the True Alpha persona and it will be hard to get him away from that."
"Meh," Peter shrugged. "He brought up the money first. He can be seduced by money."
Stiles nodded. "It likely won't be hard. Once the Pack starts to dissipate, it will be easier to use money to distract him."
"I'm suspecting Malia will be a sticking point," Peter admitted.
"We can set Kira on her," Stiles said. "Women are complicated. Let's let them work it out."
"Probably for the best," Peter nodded with a small chuckle. "Let's go home."
Home was, for now, an apartment in Derek's loft building. The apartment needed work but it was behind wards that protected them the entire building. Scott wouldn't be able to get in, if he tried.
Peter understood Stiles' attachment to his friend and gave Stiles the space to grieve the friendship that had finally crumbled to dust.
But, as the Alpha of Beacon Hills, Peter needed to take responsibility for the area. And he needed a larger Pack to do that. Stiles was still learning what a Spark was and what he could do. Luckily, Scott had not attacked Stiles and the mountain ash line that Stiles had laid down was never needed.
But some of the members of Scott's Pack that might otherwise leave Beacon Hills might be worth recruiting for the Hale Pack. Stiles had identified a small handful of members of Scott's Pack that would likely be willing to join the Hale Pack. Mostly older 'wolves, men and women who knew they needed an Alpha and only joined with Scott because he was the only option available. They likely had not gone on the trip, either.
"Come on, you need some food yourself," Peter said firmly.
"Can we get it to go?" Stiles asked. "And can we put everyone off until tomorrow?"
"Yes, to both of those," Peter said. He got out his phone and pressed 'send' for the order he had organized earlier. He had suspected Stiles wouldn't want to stop to eat. He sent messages to John and Derek that everything was fine but that Stiles needed some time alone.
Stiles ate what was put in front of him and Peter tucked him into bed. Stiles fell asleep instantly.
As he woke, Stiles let himself lay in bed. Mostly because Peter was also there and holding him tightly. It was the first time Peter had slept with him. Stiles laid a hand on Peter's hand, entwining their fingers. Peter woke instantly.
"Hey," Stiles said, not looking at Peter. "Thought, umm... maybe we could talk? Umm.... before the chaos of the day."
Peter manhandled Stiles -- not that Stiles minded -- so they were looking at each other.
"Chaos is not allowed to happen before I have had coffee," Peter said primly.
Stiles laughed. And relaxed.
"I knew that," Stiles grinned. He looked Peter in the eye. "Not that I mind, but why are you and I sharing a bed?"
"First of all, while you easily fell asleep last night, it was a decidedly restless sleep," Peter admitted. "You settled when I came to check on you, and I decided if my presence was comforting, then I'd stay."
"And?" Stiles asked. "You said 'first of all.'"
"I did, didn't I?" Peter teased. "My 'wolf has always liked you. From the first time you told me 'no' and even though you helped kill me. Now that I'm an Alpha, that has... ramped up. We get along well and you seem comfortable with me." Peter grinned. "And you are no longer a teen-ager, which makes the difference in our ages less... skeevy."
"You idiot!" Stiles said, surging up to kiss Peter. "We could have been doing this for... okay, at least a couple of years."
Peter held Stiles close and kissed him thoroughly.
"Sweetheart, you were very young when we first met," Peter reminded him. "You needed time to grow up, go to college, to meet other people."
"You stayed for me?" Stiles asked.
"Don't be so surprised," Peter said. "I stayed for you and Derek."
Somehow, that made sense to Stiles. Even if he wouldn't admit it, family was important to Peter.
Stiles poked Peter. "And Malia."
Peter shrugged. "She's kind of a bonus."
"Come on, I'm hungry," Stiles said. "I don't know if getting the bathrooms or the kitchen is more important." Both rooms were only roughed in, waiting on decisions. Derek had told them to make it their own, if they wanted. Even if they didn't stay permanently, Peter would make sure it was nicely done.
Kira wound herself about Stiles when they went up to the loft.
"No matter what happened, I know it was hard," she said softly and she hugged him tightly.
"Thank you." Stiles appreciated her sympathy.
"Coffee's ready," Derek announced. "There are pastries and a quiche is almost ready to come out of the oven."
"Is dad coming?" Stiles asked.
"In a bit," Derek replied. "He got called in for something."
"Then we'll eat without him!" Stiles decided. "I only want to tell this once."
John showed up almost an hour later. "Domestic gone bad," he said. "The wife was verbally abusing the husband and he finally snapped."
Stiles winced. "Never good," he said.
"We took them both in," John shrugged. "The wife didn't understand why she was being arrested. Not going to be pretty."
Derek slid a plate of food and a huge mug of coffee in front of John, who grinned. "This is why you're my favorite!" John exclaimed.
"Hey!" Stiles protested. Then shrugged. "Right now, fair."
John laughed as he sipped the hot coffee. "Thanks!" he said to Derek.
Stiles took a breath and they all focused on him.
"Scott came in shouting, all high and mighty about everything being my fault," Stiles said. "He didn't even realize he didn't get much past the doorway. He never noticed Peter, either."
Stiles took a sip of his orange juice. "Interestingly enough, he went after the money first. He was upset that I had closed down the account because, as we speculated, he was counting on that for spending money."
"I checked Malia's credit card and it looks like she used it on his behalf," Peter said. "I don't mind but it's more that Scott turned to the next person who had access to money."
"I outright asked if I ever was Pack and he kinda waffled and didn't say 'no' but he definitely meant 'no'," Stiles went on. "That made it easier to tell him that I was done and not to count on me for anything in the future."
"That will last until the next Pack meeting he has," John said.
"Well, that was the... lucky part of the discussion," Stiles went on. "He admitted to not being an Alpha and wanted to know if I knew anything about it. I, of course, could point out I wasn't there and didn't know anything. But it definitely was the night of the full moon. And, even better, it happened in front of the Pack, so everyone who went on the trip knows. And you know they shared that with everyone else."
"I made him admit that he had not asked permission from the local Alpha and maybe they had a magic user that caused him to lose the Alpha spark," Stiles said.
"Oh! Very clever!" Kira nodded.
"I pointed out that now that he's not an Alpha that he doesn't need to stay in Beacon Hills," Stiles went on. "Scott fought that but at least I planted the seed."
Peter hummed for a moment. "If Malia is his new sugar mama, maybe I can offer to send her to... New York City for a couple of months," he said slowly. "If she goes, maybe he will go with her."
"That's an investment in sanity for all of us," Derek nodded.
"Let's think about that," Peter said. "It would be even better if I sent her to do something for the Hale family. Something real would be good for her to do."
"You're always looking for investments and bolt holes," Stiles said. "How about you set her up with a real estate person you trust and ask her to look at apartments or homes in the greater New York City area. You can give the real estate person enough info to make sure she doesn't show Malia any dumps but you want Malia's impression about the apartment and the neighborhood. She's not to make a snap decision, she should take her time. And tell the real estate person to slow roll, you'll make it up to them down the road."
"That may work," Peter nodded.
"And New York isn't as sticky about Pack business," Derek added. "But you can do a, umm, discussion about protocols and what she should and should not do. So that she knows and hope it rubs off on Scott. Assuming he'll go."
"Good point," Peter replied.
"We know Malia can be slightly oblivious, you may want to make it clear that it's okay to take Scott with her," Kira added. "Especially since Stiles is upset about being left behind on the Hawaii trip. It'll give Stiles a chance to cool off. And you know perfectly well that she'll figure out that you and Stiles are... living together."
John looked up at that for a moment. He stared at Stiles in a we will talk later way that Stiles was familiar with.
"Actually, if we can get Malia going in the next week, that would be good," Stiles said. "That gives us a chance to approach the people that were in Scott's Pack before they leave town. Maybe not all of the younger members right away, since they'd talk to Scott right away. But the adults will want to know there is an option as soon as we can get to them."
"Will Scott go so soon?" John asked.
"I can, umm, ask the vet to reduce Scott's hours," Derek said. "She's... something supernatural and if I drop a hint that there's a Hale Alpha taking over, she'll listen." He shrugged. "If he's not working that much, a free trip anywhere should look attractive."
"Does that leave her short handed at all?" John asked with a frown.
Derek shook his head. "She has at least one more person she can call and has managed while Scott was gone. Deaton did it on his own for years. But I'll tell her that if she's struggling to let me know and we'll find someone for at least the short term."
Stiles snapped his fingers. "Deaton! Who can we tell that Deaton was maybe seen in New York?" Stiles asked.
Stiles and Peter knew perfectly well that Deaton would never be found again. That had been one of their first 'adventures' together. John was annoyed because it was an 'open' missing person case for the department.
"One of the adults in the Pack," Peter said. "We can tell them a bit but they don't need to know the entire story, yet Scott would believe it from them. They have a 'cousin' who was traveling in New York who met an interesting man who admitted to being from Beacon Hills. The cousin was amazed to meet someone else from Beacon Hills."
"Yeah, and since the cousin is no longer in New York, Scott can't interrogate them," Stiles nodded.
Derek nodded. "Let me do that," he said. "I have a good connection with someone and, well, the less you-all know maybe the better."
John held up a hand. "Good by me!"
They laughed.
"What else do we need to do?" Peter asked, looking around the table. "I mean, right away."
"If we can get Scott out of here for at least two weeks, we can get a lot done. A month would be better," Stiles said. "So, that's the biggest thing."
"True," Peter said. "Anything else?"
They shook their heads.
Stiles raised his juice glass. "Here's to the new Hale Pack!"
"Hurrah!" Kira cheered.