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Preter enters the Nemeton clearing to find Stiles naked, smudging as he walks counterclockwise around the area. “Is there a reason you are naked, darling?” Smiling, Peter leans against the nearest tree and admires the firm, naked ass that is doing who knows what.
“Wait until our Alpha is here.”
Sniffing the clearing. “McCall is not my alpha.” A snort from the younger man. “Why are you smudging sage and cedarwood?”
“Palo Santo as well.” He finishes the seventh counterclockwise rotation around the stump of the Nemeton.
“Hmmmm,” Peter crosses his arms and chokes on his own spit when Stiles bends over to dig through a duffel bag on the ground. “Purification, protection, and renewal?”
“Of sacred and spiritual places.” Stiles stands up, holding what appears to be a spray bottle. “The Nemeton needs to be healed.” Smirking at Peter, he walks over to the tree Peter is leaning on. The older man holds his breath as the young, naked man approaches. “Excuse me.” Peter stands up and steps aside. Stiles sprays several runes carved into the tree Peter was leaning on.
“Frankincense, myrrh, and pine? Are you cleansing the Nemeton, dear boy?” Stiles moved to the next tree, and Peter examined the runes carved into the trunk and base of the tree.
While he examines the runes, trying to identify them, Stiles speaks up as he continues his counterclockwise walk around the clearing. “Holy Basil, Dragon’s Blood, Pine, Spruce, Frankincense, Myrrh, and moon cleansed water.”
“So you are cleansing, purifying, protecting, and locking down the clearing around the Nemeton?” A soft hum is his answer. “The runes you chose. I recognize Algiz, Thurisaz, Hagalaz, Berkano, and Uruz, but not the rest.”
Some of the clusters are meant to create a sacred space—a place for spiritual healing and protection—while the rest help the Nemeton grow and recover from all the damage it has endured.” Peter turns back to Stiles. “Sowilo, Bjarkan, Kenaz, and Laguz to complete the protection, healing, and cleansing.”
“But that is not all. Is it Stiles?”
Derek walks into the cleaning and nearly runs into a tree upon seeing a naked Stiles. “No, this will reaffirm the Hales’ claim to the land as protectors and guardians. Anyone connected to the Nemeton will no longer have that connection.”
“Which means Deaton and McCall?” Derek might be a man of few words, but no one ever called him stupid.
“Exactly, my dear Alpha.” Stiles finished the trees in the clearing and worked his way counterclockwise around the Nemeton and its base, giving both men a full view of his pert ass.
“Stiles, I am not an alpha.” Derek moved into the clearing. He could smell the various scents there. It was a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but if the scents were necessary, he would suffer through them.
A laugh at Derek’s comment. “Oh, but you are. That is another reason I called you both here. Now get naked.” Stiles smirked at the Hale men.
“Oh dear boy. If you wanted me naked, all you had to do was ask,” Peter snarked and began disrobing.
California is currently going through an unusually warm spell. Even near dusk, the temperatures were still around the mid-60s.
Derek was still standing there, nearly fully dressed; at least he hadn’t put on his leather jacket. “Until you tell me why, I won’t be as quick to get naked as Peter.”
Stiles finished spraying the last set of runes and was making a final trip around the Nemeton, pouring the liquid from the spray bottle at the base of the tree. Once he was done, he tossed the spray bottle toward his duffel bag and approached Derek. “Deaton has corrupted this sacred space for decades. Long enough that the Nemeton can’t heal itself. She asked Scott for help, but he ignored the call because Deaton said he would handle it.” Stiles shakes his head and puts his hands on his hips. “When I was home last summer, she appeared to me in dreams—begging for help. It took until the winter solstice to gather everything and purify all the ingredients through rituals that lasted months. If we don’t shield the Nemeton and purify and heal her today, we’ll be waiting until the summer solstice to try again.”
Peter understood immediately and could see Derek contemplating Stiles’ words. “If we shield the Nemeton, Deaton and McCall cannot get to the tree?” A nod from Stiles. “And if we do it today, what will happen to us?”
A smile, “Well, there will be a Hale alpha who will protect this territory and the Nemeton. We will need to do a renewal ritual four times a year on the solstices and equinoxes, plus a few other things, but if we keep that up for a few years, she will be healed enough to grow.”
Derek looked at Stiles and asked, “And you say I will be the alpha?” While he was healing and feeling healthier than he had since the fire, thanks to his therapy and working with Satomi to protect Beacon Hills because McCall wouldn’t, Derek was still wary.
“No, Derek, you misunderstand. You are the alpha,” emphasizing the words.
Peter was the first to realize. “The spark he gave up for Cora. While the ritual I said was ‘giving up his alpha spark,’ it was metaphorical. The spark was never meant to leave him.” At Stiles’ nod, Peter growled, “And perhaps that ‘missing’ spark was stolen while the spark and Derek were healing?”
“Bingo.”
Derek looked devastated. “Deaton stole the Hale spark and put it in McCall?” At Stiles’ nod, Derek’s growl joined Peter’s, but the dark-haired man started to remove his clothing. “Okay, let’s do this.”
Once all three men were naked, Stiles gestured toward the Nemeton stump. “We will be standing on the Nemeton while I say the ritual words. The words are superfluous; it is the intent that matters. So when I begin chanting, I want you to think of a feeling or memory that makes you feel safe, secure, and most of all protected from anything that could harm you.”
“It’s going to be hard to do that, Stiles.” Derek looked sad.
“My memory is of the time my parents and I went to the beach for the last time before Mom was diagnosed. We spent a whole week there playing in the ocean, building sandcastles, and running through the waves. I felt safe, secure, loved, and protected because the two people who loved me most were there.” Stiles smiled softly. “I chose a time when I was innocent in the purest sense of the word. My parents could do anything, and I would always be loved and protected.”
A nod from Derek. He understood now. Peter looked at the young man. “I remember when my parents used to take the four of us up to Yellowstone. My siblings were all teenagers, and I was just this little five-year-old tagalong. But last year, when we went, they included me even though I was almost twelve years younger than Talia. Robert and Lindsey were eighteen and seventeen, and Talia was just about to turn fifteen. That year, we all ran and played together as a family. It did not matter that I was ‘the baby’ of the family. We were together, and I knew I was loved.” Peter looked down at his feet as he shared his story. Hopefully, it would help Derek understand what their memories were.
Staring at his Uncle, Derek realized on a deeper level how much Peter had lost in the fire. Derek had lost his innocence and sense of security because of Kate’s lies and horrific actions. But Peter had lost all his brothers and sisters, just as Derek had, as well as his fiancé and nieces and nephews. Sometimes Derek still struggles with guilt over his role in the fire, even though it was innocent. Now he is supposed to find a memory or feeling that makes him feel loved, safe, and protected. How?
Seeing Derek’s struggle, Stiles took a breath. “Derek, think of a time when you felt completely loved and safe. It could be the day you started kindergarten or a family trip, like the ones Peter and I remember. Or a day when you discovered what love was. Something so powerful that it will destroy the ill intent that Deaton and others have harmed the Nemeton with.”
Suddenly, Derek remembered something, but it wasn’t an innocent memory; rather, it was of feeling safe and protected, even though he denied it. “Would a moment in time work?” Thinking about when Stiles held him up in the pool for two hours.
“Did you feel safe, loved, secure, and protected?”
“Yes.” The word was resolute.
Nodding, Stiles smiled. “Perfect. Hold onto that moment in time. As I chant, remember that memory and those feelings. We want the Nemeton to feel our love for her. Our desire to protect her and keep her secure from negative outside forces.”
With that, he stepped onto the stump. “There are three rune groups up here on the stump. Peter, please stand on the group to my right. Derek, you stand in the group to my left.”
Both men joined him on the stump. “Alright, grab hands and hold on to those memories and feelings.” Holding tight to their memories and feelings, Stiles began to chant in Celtic. While he could have done the chant in Polish or English or any other language, he was using the power of the Druids to banish Deaton’s ability to access the Nemeton. Neither man needed to know that. As the chant grew stronger, a soft green glow started to form around them on the tree and in the clearing.
By the seventh repetition, a reddish golden ring was encircling the clearing.
In the twelfth repetition, the glow was so bright that none of the men could see.
At the thirteenth and final repetition, a clanging sound echoed through the clearing, and the Nemeton vibrated beneath their feet as the last words were spoken; the noise, vibration, and glow ceased, leaving the men in complete silence. No wind or animal sounds entered the clearing. Suddenly, Derek threw back his head and howled. Peter joined in. Stiles added his human warble to the howling that seemed to come from more than just the three of them.
When the howling stopped echoing, Peter and Stiles looked at Derek with their eyes, a glow—Peter’s in gold, not that he knew that yet, and Stiles in a soft violet. Derek flashed crimson eyes at the two men and choked. “Peter, your eyes!”
Stiles’s eyes returned to their natural whiskey color, and Derek’s once again turned hazel. Peter’s blue eyes looked concerned. “It seems we did more than heal the Nemeton. Or she granted us a boon.”
“Huh?” That was all Peter could say ineloquently.
“Uncle, your eyes were gold,” Peter said, gazing directly at Derek. “Really, Peter. I would never lie about that,” Derek replied.
Peter couldn’t believe what he heard. His eyes had been blue since he killed a hunter to protect his mother when he was fourteen. “Derek?”
Stiles stepped forward and placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “He tells you no lie, Peter. The Nemeton has restored the innocence you once felt. She has given us all a boon for swearing to protect her.”
“My eyes, Derek’s alpha hood returned. What is your boon, Stiles?” The other two men looked at Stiles.
“I am supposed to be her guardian until I pass the mantle to someone else.”
Exhalations from the Hale’s. There hadn’t been a guardian of the Nemeton since she had been cut down. Her last guardian died as a result of the tree being cut down. “Truly?” Peter was in shock. He remembers the loss of his aunt, who had been the last guardian of the Nemeton. Derek had never known her.
A soft smile, “Truly, Peter. We will, together, protect this territory and the Nemeton. I shall now be able to protect and heal her much more easily. Also, help her grow strong and tall.” A chuckle from the younger man. “We shall be vicious in our protection of this territory and our pack.”
Laughter bubbled up from the other two men. They were still feeling the joy that the Nemeton gave them. “Will we always feel her?” Derek bent down to touch the stump.
“In a limited way. She will warn us when trespassers with bad intentions enter the territory, but until she grows stronger, we will need to protect it ourselves. Once she regains even some of her strength, I will be able to set up territory-wide wards that will run along the ley lines. She will be much more effective at communicating with you two, and with whoever else is part of the pack once she is healed.”
Peter smiled. “Well, I, for one, would like to get dressed and get some food.” He hopped off the stump and headed to his clothing. He was eager to see his new eye color. Well, old eye color.
The other two followed him down from the tree and began getting dressed. “I know it isn’t in your repertoire, but maybe the diner? I could really go for a milkshake or five.”
The other two laughed. “I could go for a burger. Peter?” Derek asked as he pulled his shirt on.
“I shall allow my palate to be harmed just this once.” They all laughed. Peter was not as snooty as he pretended to be. He loved a good burger and fries like everyone else.
As they were leaving the clearing, Derek asked, “What will happen with Deaton and McCall?”
Stiles shrugs. “Honestly, I don’t care what happens to them. All I care about is the safety of our pack and these lands. We’ll need to let the nearby alphas know about the change in leadership here, but beyond that, Deaton and Scott can rot for all I care.”
“Good riddance to bad rubbish,” Peter said. He had never trusted the Druid and admitted his mistake in biting McCall all those years ago. Derek nodded. “Let’s eat.”
Meanwhile…..
On a lonely road leading into Beacon Hills, a motorcycle crashed into a tree. The man was in his mid-twenties, with brown hair and only part of an offset jaw. The tree he collided with ensured his head was torn from his body, preventing him from harming their territory again. It took nearly a week for a local hiker to find the man. The tree may have helped ensure that the motorcycle and the man’s body could not be seen from the road.
The few betas that his poor man had never known died, since there were no pack bonds between them. The betas eventually moved on, never knowing what happened to their Alpha.
At a veterinarian’s office across town, an older man suffered a massive heart attack. He sat at his desk, trying to call an ambulance, but the attack overtook him too quickly. When his vet’s assistant found him the next day, the phone had ‘9-1’ dialed, but the second ‘1’ had not been added. His death was unusual because there had been no signs of heart issues during any of his previous medical visits. The heart attack might have occurred when Nemeton and the power he had stolen were suddenly ripped from his body, leaving his magic unable to keep him alive.
Fin…