Work Text:
“How?”
Derek is standing on the porch, staring at the lawn in front of him, and his heart is beating so loud, he’s almost sure that even Stiles can hear it. He probably can now, thanks to his magic, but right now it wouldn’t take an Emissary or a wolf to hear the rabbiting fast beats.
“I… how?”
It’s the only word that he can manage without his brain short-circuiting, without his voice breaking on the sound. Because what he’s looking at should not be possible, not even with the amount of magic Stiles has uncovered in himself. Not even with the help of another Emissary, or a Druid. Derek’s brain is trying to form words, but they’re failing.
“You didn’t… Stiles,” Derek whispers, a frightening thought crossing his mind. “Not fae.”
Stiles, who’s walking towards him, shakes his head. When he reaches the porch and takes Derek’s hands in his own, Derek realizes that they’re shaking. All of his body is thrumming with something he can’t place, a feeling of fear because he doesn’t understand mixed with power he almost forgot.
His eyes flash, and he sees red for a second. It’s not the angry kind that he still has nightmares about, not the same red as when he was Alpha the first time. It’s warm, strong, and it’s a red he is comfortable with this time around, only stronger than it was only a few hours ago.
“Not fae, not sacrifice, not time travel,” Stiles says, his voice firm and heart steady without any sign of the tell-tale blip of a lie. “I found them. That’s all. I found them for you.”
“But how?” Derek repeats his earlier question, because none of Stiles’ words explain anything. “I get Isaac, but...” he adds, and looks towards the Beta he hasn’t seen in years.
“Yeah, that one was easy,” Stiles says, and a grin is playing on his lips. “Well, kind of easy, comparatively. Harder to place without the scarves and the lingering scent of Argents, but still the easiest of the three.”
Isaac steps forward, and when he reaches the first step leading up towards the porch, he bends his head. Derek accepts it as the submission and request to extend a pack bond that it is, and a short growl later, Isaac nods and looks up to meet his Alpha’s eyes with a smile.
“But…” Derek starts, but Stiles stops him with a squeeze of his hand around Derek’s wrist.
“Let them,” Stiles says quietly, and beckons the two others to come closer.
Boyd is first. He repeats Isaac’s gesture and smiles when Derek automatically accepts, not considering anything else than the overwhelming feeling of mine, pack, Beta that’s coursing through him.
“It didn’t kill me, when they made you…” Boyd starts, and Derek lets out an involuntary unhappy sound at the memory. “It seemed like it in the moment, and the shock of the change contributed. But I was human again after, and Deaton helped me get out of town.”
“You’re a wolf again, though,” Derek says incredulously.
“Stiles’ doing,” Boyd says with a nod. “Turns out, there are ways to restore the process, as long as the original Alpha is still alive.”
“I wasn’t Alpha though, not until last year,” Derek says, and his eyes narrow at Stiles.
He doesn’t get to say anything else, because Erica steps up, and stands between Isaac and Boyd at the bottom of the stairs, head bent down. When she looks up again, Derek takes a second to adjust to the feeling of having three Betas in front of him, three wolves who are his pack now. He still doesn’t understand how, but his mind has moved on, and he turns to Stiles.
“Why?”
Stiles slips his hand down lower, and links his fingers with Derek’s.
“Because you’re my Alpha, and they’re your pack. They’ve always been your pack, even when you weren’t Alpha, and even when they weren’t here. You all are bound together in a way that nothing can break,” Stiles says, his voice steady. “Because when you bit them, the odds of keeping them and building a pack for real were stacked against you. Because you deserve a chance to do it again, and do it the way I know you can. Because I know why you didn’t try for a new pack.”
Derek stares, still lost for words and thrown off by what’s happening. But he shakes his head, and a fond smile makes its way to his lips.
“You brought my pack to me,” he whispers.
“I did. And I promise you’ll get the details of the long and insane process that it was to get them back,” Stiles says, his voice lighter. “But they’re here now, and it’s movie night, so how about we start the pack bonding?”
Derek is not surprised when Stiles’ words make the three Betas perk up, and he laughs in a way that makes them startle.
“Yeah, pack movie night sounds good,” he says, and he shakes his head at Erica’s mischievous look. “Come on in,” he says to all three of them.
They rush up the stairs and into the house that he and Stiles only finished building a few months ago. Derek takes a deep breath, and then he pulls Stiles closer.
“You’re insane. You’re crazy. You’re amazing. You’ll tell me how this was even possible,” he frowns at the last sentence, but his face brightens up a beat later. “You’re getting the snacks for tonight. And I love you,” he adds, his voice low as he leans closer, and closes the gap between Stiles’ face and his own. “I love you,” he mumbles again, lips brushing against Stiles’. “Thank you.”
It’s the sound of laughter and what seems like a pillow fight that draws both of them out of the kiss, and they head inside, hands still linked.