Work Text:
Stiles whistled to himself as he drove to the 24 hour convenience store. He and his father had been so busy that week, there had been no time for either of them to get to the grocery store. Stiles had been craving something to munch on while he played his online video games, and there had been practically no food in the house. So he was on a quick run to get enough food to last them until he had time to do a more thorough grocery shopping.
As he drove down a long, mostly deserted street, he realized that the turn that led into the preserve towards the Hale house was coming up. He grinned as he thought about Derek Hale. His werewolf boyfriend Derek Hale. He still felt giddy every time it came to mind.
Derek was currently still living in the loft in the middle of town, but he’d finally decided it was time to rebuild his family home that had been burned by the fire that had killed most of his family. The horribly charred shell of the original Hale house had been demolished, which had been difficult for Derek to watch. Stiles had been right there with him, though, holding him and telling him how proud his family would be of him. How proud Stiles himself was of him. The builders had already finished the first floor and were currently working on the second floor, which was mostly just bedrooms for the whole pack..
Movement to his left caught his eye and he slowed down to see what it was. There were several figures sneaking into the trees, and a flash of light reflected off of something one of the figures was holding. Stiles knew that they had to be hunters carrying guns and possibly more weapons. He wasn‘t sure if the hunters already knew about Derek rebuilding or thought that the current Hale pack was living in the preserve. But even if the pack itself wasn‘t in any danger, Stiles was worried about Derek losing another house. Alarmed, he stopped the jeep and quickly sent off a text to his boyfriend.
He was just sending off a second text to someone else when he heard several gunshots being fired, at least one of them hitting his jeep. He was about to start the jeep up again, but he could hear the air leaking out of his front tires. Since his beloved jeep wasn’t going anywhere now, he darted out of the passenger’s side and ran as fast as he could into the preserve towards the Hale house. But the voices behind him told him that the hunters were quick on his trail.
Stiles slipped through the preserve, trying to make as little noise as possible, despite the fact that he could barely see in the late night darkness. The thin sliver of moon shining high in the sky barely provided any visibility. The footsteps of the men following him were still audible over his heart pounding in his ears. He wished that he had his baseball bat with him or something he could use as a weapon.
A gunshot sounded behind him, and he ran faster, no longer caring if the men could hear him. He needed to get to the house before the hunters did. He tripped over a low tree root growing out of the ground, but managed to stay on his feet while still running away.
A long howl rang out through the night, growing louder by the moment, and Stiles immediately recognized it. Derek was in the preserve, had sensed them all, and was coming their way.
Another shot was fired, hitting the tree next to Stiles, causing some wood to ricochet off of the point of impact. Either the hunters were getting closer or they were firing with more accuracy. “Hey!” he shouted as he jumped over some larger roots. “Human here!” He had the distinct feeling that that line wouldn’t work on these hunters, but he wouldn‘t be Stiles Stilinski if he didn‘t try.
Laughter came from behind him, and it was much closer than he was expecting. The hunters were catching up. “You’re in a werewolf pack,” one of them said. “You’re as good as a werewolf yourself!”
Yeah, Stiles was right.
But before he could fire off another retort, a pair of red glowing eyes appeared from within the darkness between the trees in front of him. Stiles breathed a sign of relief, recognizing Derek’s distinctive alpha eyes.
When Derek burst out of the trees in front of him, though, it wasn’t the tall, handsome, and stubbly man, but the large black wolf that he could transform into since his evolution. He rushed past Stiles and stood protectively between him and the hunters who had just about caught up with them.
Stiles turned around and hovered behind Derek, finally getting a good look at the hunters. There were three of them, all men. Two of them were around his father’s age, while the third was a younger muscular man who was more around Derek’s age.
“Look, it’s the Alpha!” the younger one said as Derek growled and flashed his eyes at the hunters.
“Good,” spat one of the older hunters, raising his gun. “Let’s put the dog down.”
Derek growled and leaped at the hunter who had spoken, sending both of them crashing to the ground. He lunged at the man’s arm that was holding the gun, biting down hard on his forearm, causing the hunter to cry out in pain. The wolf then tried to grab the gun out of his hand with his teeth while the hunter was held down by his heavy weight.
The other hunters had backed up as the two fought, holding their guns but not yet aiming. “Don’t shoot yet,” the older of the two warned. “Or we could hit Dave there.”
“I know!” the younger growled.
The hunter, Dave, managed to backhand Derek across the snout, causing the wolf to whine and fall off. He got unsteadily to his feet, blood dripping down his arm.
Not wasting a moment, Derek turned to the younger one and knocked him down before either of the uninjured hunter could shoot at him. But he was a much tougher opponent who was able to wrestle with the wolf with ease.
Stiles glanced around him quickly for a branch or something to help Derek fight the hunters with, but he kept an ear out in case Derek was in distress. It was only a few moments before Stiles heard something that made him look up in alarm.
“Get him now!”
The hunter that Derek was fighting had just thrown Derek off of him into a tree, causing the wolf to be dazed and stumble around.
Stiles was terrified for Derek, especially since he didn’t have any wolfsbane antidote on him. There was nothing around Derek that could make the hunter miss, and his boyfriend would be dead in an instant with a well-placed bullet. Stiles couldn’t let that happen.
“No!” he cried out, running forward protectively in front of the wolf.
Stiles reached Derek just as the hunter fired his gun and he felt an agonizing pain rip through his shoulder. He fell forward onto the ground to the sound of a mournful howl. He felt a wet nose nudge his side with a soft whine.
“Derek,” Stiles murmured to the wolf, turning his head to look at him. “Get out of here… Save yourself, ‘kay? Don’t want you… to get hurt…”
Derek merely moved himself on top of Stiles protectively, and a warm feeling filled him despite his injury.
The hunter who shot Stiles aimed his gun again. “And now we kill you, monster! And if you move, we’ll shoot the boy first.”
Derek let out a loud growl but remained on top of Stiles.
“Derek, no…” Stiles whispered in a panic.
“Hold it right there.”
Everyone turned their heads towards the new voice and saw Chris Argent stepping out of the shadows, his own gun aimed at the hunters.
“Argent.” The hunter who shot Stiles acknowledged, though he didn’t lower his gun from Stiles and Derek.
“Derek and his betas haven’t attacked anyone in this town unless they have attacked the wolves first. They‘ve done nothing wrong according to the Code,” Chris continued, advancing toward the hunters. “In fact, we work together.”
“You’ve gone soft, Argent,” the hunter who spoke before spat viciously. “They’re monsters and they need to be put down.”
Derek’s hackles rose as his growled menacingly at the hunters.
Stiles was having difficulty staying awake. His shoulder was in so much pain, and he was sure he was going into shock. The voices who were talking right now were all blurring together. Vaguely, he could hear a siren in the distance.
There was a black blur in front of him with a couple of smaller red blurs mixed in that he thought might be Derek.. The blur started whimpering pitifully and nudged him. The little nudges were keeping him from sleepin
A human-shaped blur came up next to the other blur. “…be okay, Derek…. …father coming…”
**********
Stiles floated in and out of consciousness the whole day. He’d been vaguely aware of the bullet being removed from his shoulder, the wounds being bandaged, and his arm being held against his side in a sling. But there was no pain, so he was still under the effect of some amazing pain killers.
There was also something warm and heavy laying on top of him. The weight was strangely comforting. He blinked his eyes open slowly and looked into the concerned red alpha eyes of Derek‘s wolf.
Stiles smiled dopily. “Hi, Sourwolf,” he murmured, moving his good arm to pet Derek on the back. “’M glad you’re alright.”
Derek gave a small whine and nosed gently at Stiles’ injured shoulder.
“I’ll be okay,” Stiles said, trying to fight off the sleepiness a little longer. “’Cause you were there. My Sourwolf…”
Derek turned away at that, and Stiles didn‘t have to be a werewolf to sense the shame and guilt rolling off of him in waves.
Stiles struggled to fight off the sleepiness wanting to pull him under again, but he had to make Derek understand. “You’re a good wolf…” He slurred, petting the black wolf again. “A good man… No monster…. Never… a monster.”
He was curious about what happened to the hunters who’d shot him, if his father had come and arrested them. He’d ask about that later. For now, as he slipped into sleep once again as the wolf gently licked his face, he was content in knowing that Derek was there to protect him.