Work Text:
Teen Wolf || Stalion || Teen Wolf || Running From the Hills || Teen Wolf || Stalion || Teen Wolf
Title: Running From the Hills – Stiles Summer Stories 2026
TW Disclaimer: All rights reserved to Jeff Davis and MTV. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: m/m, post s05e10: Status Asthmaticus, the Alpha Pack is a Regular Pack, Good Deucalion, Erica Lives, Boyd Lives, Spark Stiles, Stiles Leaves Beacon Hills, hurt/comfort, fluff, f/f, m/f
Main Pairing: Deucalion/Stiles
Side Pairings: Boyd/Erica, Ennis/Kali, Braeden/Marin, Stan/Carol, Mieszko/Gosia
Teen Wolf Characters: Mieczysław 'Stiles' Stilinski, Erica Reyes, Vernon Boyd, Deucalion Blackwood, Ethan Steiner, Aiden Steiner, Kali, Ennis, Marin Morrell, Braeden, Noah Stilinski, Mieczysław ‘Mieszko’ Gajos
Original Characters: Małgorzata ‘Gosia’ Gajos, Stanisław ‘Stan’ Gajos, Caroline ‘Carol’ Gajos, Margaret ‘Mags’ Gajos, Miriam ‘Mirka’ Gajos
Writer’s Month Prompts 2026: moon + mountains
Summary: Stiles leaves Beacon Hills, after Scott rejects him in front of the vet clinic, after he finds his dad heavily injured. He goes to Silver Lake, where his mom’s family lives, and meets the local Alpha, Deucalion. Turns out that this was the pack Boyd and Erica had run to years ago.
Running From the Hills
Stiles Summer Stories 2026
Stiles was wide-eyed and out of breath. He was also shivering. He’d been soaked through by the rain in front of the vet clinic only hours ago. Never had the chance to take a hot shower or get changed. Everything had happened so fast. Had escalated so fast.
Theo had beaten Stiles to the punch. Told Scott about Donovan, with twisted words. And Scott chose to believe those twisted words. Rejecting Stiles in front of the vet clinic, even as Stiles was pleading with him, trying to fix things. Scott just turned around and walked away. Left Stiles out alone in the rain. No longer pack. And now there was no longer a McCall Pack.
Kira was in the desert, trying to fix her out of control kitsune. She wasn’t pack right now, who knew if she ever would be again. If they were even alive still when Kira came back – not even just in a morbid ‘Beacon Hills kills people’ way (though that too), but because she would be living for centuries and she had no idea how long this trip was going to take. Decades, maybe. Maybe this could have been avoided if Scott had told her from the get-go when he noticed something was off with her. If he had trusted Kira, but then he’d plainly told Stiles he didn’t know if he still could.
Malia was more busy trying to track down her murderous mother with Peter’s help than be involved in pack things, had been for weeks now. He wondered if she would still consider herself part of the pack even, but then she had ever only joined the pack because of Stiles.
Lydia was catatonic in the hospital, had been found at the Nemeton with claw-marks in her neck. Stiles knew, even without knowing, that those were Theo’s claw-marks. This wouldn’t have happened if Scott had believed Stiles, or even just not trusted Theo so blindly. If Stiles’ words and worries had been heeded as a warning, instead of falling on deaf ears.
Liam had tried to kill Scott. Because Scott had refused to give Hayden the bite, to give her even just a chance at survival. Even if it had failed and she’d died, there would have been a chance that it took. By refusing, he’d just sentenced her to a slow death. So Liam tried to kill Scott to take his Alpha spark, so he would be able to give Hayden the bite. Stiles highly doubted that after today, Liam would even still want to be a part of Scott’s pack. Not with Hayden dead.
And… that was it. That was the whole McCall Pack. Everyone else was already dead or had left long ago.
Stiles’ hands on the steering wheel were shaking. Stiles was alone. There was nobody. Scott had rejected him, Kira was in the desert, Lydia was in the hospital, Malia was off with Peter hunting Corinne, Derek had left for Mexico to be with Cora, Isaac was in France with Chris, Allison was dead, Jackson was in London, Boyd and Erica had high-tailed it out of town after the basement.
And Stiles’ father was in the hospital. In critical condition. Because of Theo. Theo had sent someone to hurt Noah, the same as he had sent Donovan to hurt Stiles. It had been a distraction. He’d given Stiles the choice to go save his father, or go to Scott. That wasn’t even a choice. Even less so after Scott had turned his back on Stiles. Even Stiles’ loyalty had a point of snapping.
And this was it, that was his personal breaking point. Nearly losing his father because of Scott – and somehow, worse yet, Scott trying to twist the truth, accusing Stiles that he too had trusted Theo, which simply wasn’t true. But instead of admitting he had misjudged Theo, or apologizing for what had happened – not believing Stiles about Theo, not believing Stiles about Donovan, generally for the fact that Noah had gotten hurt – Scott hadn’t owned up to anything.
Stiles’ father was in the hospital and it was Scott’s fault. If Scott had heeded Stiles’ warnings about Theo, had believed him at least enough to stay suspicious of Theo, instead of inviting Theo into the pack, sharing all of their secrets and progress with Theo, instead of trusting Theo more than he trusted Stiles, then Noah wouldn’t be in the hospital now. Lydia wouldn’t be either.
Stiles nearly swerved off the road. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
He really shouldn’t be driving. Especially on a winding mountain road, at night.
But he was alone, in Beacon Hills. He had no pack. No friends. His dad was in the hospital, unresponsive. He needed help. He couldn’t do this on his own.
Two hours. There were two hours between Beacon Hills and Silver Lake. Two hours weren’t a lot. He spent every summer there. They went there for Christmas, Easter, birthdays. Two hours were nothing. He remembered his mom singing along to the radio, laughing whenever his dad would attempt to sing with her. He remembered more subdued trips after her death.
When the sign for the Red Oak Ranch came into sight, Stiles felt like he could breathe again for the first time since – maybe even since Donovan’s attack. There was that trusted, dark-blue truck that uncle Stan drove and Stiles heaved a breath, because they were home. He wasn’t going to be stranded alone. It wasn’t a given, auctions or other ranch duties often took the family away.
He parked haphazardly and stumbled out of the Jeep. Still shaking. Not just his hands. Too long in wet clothes, not having eaten in too long, not having slept in even longer. It was a miracle he’d made it here in one piece.
He struggled with his keys, but sighed relieved when he entered the house. There were voices coming from the dining room. Laughter. The warm, cozy home and relaxed, happy atmosphere was jarring and suffocating for Stiles, who was still stuck in the rain, still in the school. He followed the noise and stumbled into the dining room, flooded by the morning light, filled with people.
"Mietek? What a nice surprise! Or did we know you were coming?” Stiles’ grandpa asked, the smile still evident in his voice. “Come, join us for brunc… Mietek, are you alright?”
He’d trailed off for a moment, then his voice took on that concerned, warm note. Stiles choked on a sob and shook his head so fast, he got dizzy from it. He’d been bottling it all up for hours – no, days, no, weeks, really – but now that he had somehow made it safely to Silver Lake and to his family’s house, he cracked and broke down. There were arms around him immediately.
“Easy, Mietek,” Mieszko murmured warmly, holding him close. “It’s alright, I got you.”
Sobs wrecked him as he clung onto his grandpa and dissolved into tears, letting everything out that had been boiling over. He was aware of movement around him and noises, voices, but nothing was distinct, everything was a blur. Aunt Carol approached at one point, gently talking him down from his panic attack. She’d always been really good at that. Uncle Stan brought him something to drink, a glass of water. And grandma wrapped him up in a huge, fluffy towel.
“You are clammy, my boy,” Gosia chided with a frown. “Why are you clammy?”
“Rain, grandma,” Stiles croaked out when he found his words again. “There was rain. And I didn’t… I didn’t have time to get changed.”
“What does that mean, kiddo?” Uncle Stan sounded concerned. “It’s early, just when did you get up to come here? Did you drive? You don’t look in any condition to drive. Is your father here?”
“Let’s slow down, honey,” aunt Carol requested, cutting her husband off before he could overwhelm Stiles with even more questions. “Sweetie, can you tell us what happened?”
“Dad,” Stiles took a shuttering breath as he tried not to cry again. “Dad’s in the hospital.”
A variety of Polish curses met his words and grandpa’s hand was on his arm, rubbing. “What happened, Mietek? Did he get injured on the job?”
Stiles shook his head and was ready to cry again, because how could he explain to his human family that his dad had been hurt by a Chimera, sent by a crazy werewolf who was trying to become Alpha of Beacon Hills? Stiles curled in on himself and sobbed again.
“It’s my fault. It’s my fault. If Scott hadn’t, I should have never gone into the woods with him,” Stiles mumbled, knowing he wasn’t making any sense to his family. “We would still be the uncool outcasts and we’d still have each other and everything would be alright and dad would be safe.”
“Kiddo, you are not making a lick of sense,” uncle Stan admitted. “Did something happen in the woods? Is Scott alright, or is he injured too…?”
“It’s his fault,” Stiles snarled out, shaking his head. “Scott, if he were a better… a better everything – if he were a better wolf, Theo wouldn’t have been able to lie to him, if he were a better Alpha, he would have trusted me as his Right Hand, if he were a better friend, he would have been there for me instead of dismissing my concerns. And then dad wouldn’t be hurt.”
“Alpha werewolf, you say,” a voice spoke very slowly and then there was murmuring.
It took Stiles a moment to realize the voice didn’t belong to any of his family. But it was a pleasant voice, with a British accent. Ah, fuck. Now Stiles wasn’t just outing the supernatural to his highly confused family, he was also telling whatever guests his family had over for brunch. Aunt Carol’s book club? The pastor from church? That could be a fun conversation he’d like to avoid.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that, I didn’t mean it,” Stiles muttered. “I’m just tired. Talking… Talking nonsense. I didn’t… I’m not…”
He couldn’t even find it in himself to come up with a halfway convincing lie. Gosia sighed deeply and cupped his cheeks and he gladly leaned into his grandmother’s comforting touch.
“Sweetest heart, you know about werewolves?” Gosia asked softly.
...Well, that wasn’t exactly what he had expected. Stiles blinked wide-eyed at his grandparents.
“…You know about werewolves?” Stiles asked tentatively, holding his breath.
A chair scraped and Stiles turned to look at the British gentleman. If he was more mentally put together, he would have appreciated the view. Right now, he was still in fight or flight mode.
“As this is a family emergency, I think it’s time I bid my goodbye,” the man spoke with a smile, but he did approach them and crouched down next to Stiles. “Hello, sweet boy. I’m Deucalion Blackwood, I’m the Alpha of Silver Lake. And once you’ve had… a hot shower and a hot meal, I would like to speak to you about whatever breach of trust the neighboring Alpha committed, mh?”
The man smiled charmingly and flashed his eyes Alpha red. Stiles nodded numbly. Grandpa was having brunch with an Alpha werewolf. How did his family know about werewolves?
“Deuc’s right,” aunt Carol declared. “You, upstairs. Shower, then eat and then… rest. Even if you don’t sleep, you look like you haven’t had any rest in days, honey. Shoo.”
“But. Werewolves,” Stiles argued, his eyes on Deucalion’s retreating back, when something in his mind clicked. “You’re a friend of Talia’s.”
Deucalion paused at that and turned to look at him intrigued. “And how would you know that?”
“Peter told me. Peter Hale. He told me about you,” Stiles blinked slowly. “Gerard Argent tried to kill you and he failed. He told me about that.”
“Mh,” Deucalion tilted his head intrigued. “I think we have even more to talk about, then.”
Stiles just nodded, stilted. What was Talia Hale’s friend doing in his grandpa’s house?
/break\
The shower, food and nap helped, actually. He didn’t manage to sleep, couldn’t turn off his mind, but just resting his eyes and body made him feel a little less tightly wounded. He was bundled up in uncle Stan’s college sweater from Silver Lake University, and had a fluffy blanket wrapped around himself on top of that, as he wandered downstairs again.
“Why was there an Alpha werewolf at your brunch?” Stiles asked.
“Fair question,” Mieszko nodded and regarded his grandson. “Come, sit. We answer your questions first, and then you answer ours, that sound fair?”
Stiles just nodded. The rest of the family gathered with him. Gosia sat next to her husband, on one side of Stiles’ grandparents sat his aunt and uncle, on the other side sat his two cousins, Mags and Mirka. Mags was Stiles’ age, Mirka was a couple years younger. Both as blonde as their mom Carol, while uncle Stan had the strong Gajos genes – just like his sister Claudia, just like Stiles, the same bright-brown eyes and dark-brown hair.
“Went to school with Deuc,” Stan offered. “We kinda bonded over getting bullied for our names. Deucalion and Stanisław. The kids whose names nobody could pronounce, you know. Kinda stumbled into all that werewolf stuff when we were teenagers.”
“Deucalion’s mother Theia, wonderful woman, went to my Bible group,” Gosia added. “She was the Alpha of Silver Lake before her son. I had known that for a long time, but I’d tried to keep it from my family, especially the children, for as long as I could. Until Stan and Deuc had to get into trouble as kids and we were forced to have the tough conversation.”
“When you say ‘the children’,” Stiles drawled slowly. “Do you mean mom too? Mom knew?”
Grief crossed Gosia’s face. “Yes. Yes, your mother knew Deucalion too. She knew about them too. There is… more to our family, sweetie. I am a Spark. I used to be the Spark of Beacon County, before they cut down my Nemeton. And though weakened, your mother inherited that power. That… magic. That is what being a Spark means. She had that connection to magic and when she was a couple years older than you, she started to show a potential and I started teaching her.”
“Mom had magic too?” Stiles’ eyes widened in shock.
“Too, as in, like your grandmother…?” Mieszko asked with narrowed eyes.
Stiles shook his head hard and balled a fist before opening it, letting mountain ash fall from it and pile on the table. “No. Like me. I’m a Spark.”
It got very, very quiet as the entire family stared at him and at his mountain ash in bafflement. Sure, that was kind of the whole trick he could do, but it was useful when fighting the supernatural. Well. Until the Dread Doctors started making mountain ash resistant Chimeras, of course. Which, what a sentence, how was this his reality. He reached up to rub his face.
“Y… You just made that,” Gosia whispered, her voice shaking.
“Yeah,” Stiles shrugged. “It’s kinda the thing I do. I make and control mountain ash. I know it’s not a lot, but it’s been coming in handy on a couple occasions.”
“Not a lot,” Gosia repeated baffled, then shook her head. “No matter now, we’ll talk about this later, yes, dear? Put a pin on it. Focus on the werewolves for now.”
“Yeah, would love to hear why Mags and Mirka got the introduction to the supernatural and I didn’t,” Stiles glowered just a little. “Is it just because they live with you?”
Mags grinned at him, baring some fang and flashing her eyes golden. “Nope. Was out camping with my friends two years ago when we were attacked by a feral Alpha. Kinda forced mom and dad to tell me and also Mirka, because the untrained turned wolf in the house was kinda hard to hide.”
“Peter Hale bit you,” Stiles muttered stunned. “Right on. Gonna kick his ass when I see him next.”
“...Isn’t he, like, dead?” Mirka asked with a frown. “Erica said he’s dead, right?”
Stiles’ eyes narrowed and then widened. “Erica. Erica Reyes?”
Mags tapped her fingers against her cheek. “Figures. Erica and Boyd did say they came from the Beacon Hills pack. If you know about werewolves, you gotta be involved with that pack, right?”
“Erica and Boyd are here?” Stiles stared wide-eyed. “They’re alive and here?”
“Yeah,” Mags shrugged. “You can talk to them, when you go see Deuc. They moved here a year and a half ago, joined Deuc’s pack too. Said their Alpha sucked. Same Alpha as the one who did whatever put uncle Noah in the hospital…?”
“Different Alpha,” Stiles shook his head, then paused. “...Worse Alpha.”
“Okay,” Mieszko looked at him with steeled eyes. “Tell us everything, Mietek. Everything.”
/break\
When Deucalion returned home, he was greeted by parts of his pack. Ennis was doing push-ups with his mate Kali sitting crosslegged on his back, reading a book. His Emissary Marin and her wife Braeden were in the kitchen, arguing about something. But in the living room, Deucalion found the ones he had really been looking for. Vernon and Erica were playing video games against Ethan and Aiden. By the looks of it, the twins were losing against the young couple.
“Erica, Vernon, do you have a moment?” Deucalion requested.
“Only if you brought leftover buns,” Erica frowned at him. “Oh, come on. When Carol bakes, you gotta bring something. Like, I get they can’t deck out for the whole pack, the poor woman would never get done baking, but steal a girl a bun or two.”
“Does the name Mieczysław mean anything to either of you?” Deucalion asked instead.
“...No?” Erica frowned, looking at Boyd to make sure.
“Isn’t that Mieszko’s first name?” Boyd asked after a moment. “I think I heard Gosia yell that once when she was really, really pissed at her husband. ‘There is a tornado brewing in the sky’ mad.”
Deucalion smiled bemused at that and nodded. “Yes. It’s also their grandson’s name and the boy has apparently decided to pay them a visit. Mieczysław Stilinski.”
“Stilinski?” Erica repeated slowly and zeroed in on her mate. “Wait, is that why he goes by Stiles? Because nobody could possibly pronounce all of that on the first try?”
“Stiles,” Deucalion repeated that, tilting his head.
“Wait, Mags and Mirka have another cousin besides Mietek?” Erica frowned. “How are they cousins with Stiles and haven’t brought it up once?”
“Fairly sure those two are the same thing,” Ethan piped up.
“Huh?” Erica turned toward the twin quizzically.
“Mietek’s short for Mieczysław,” Deucalion explained. “Traditionally Polish though. I’d assume that Stiles is much like Stanisław’s Stan. A more American sounding nickname. Since I know that Stan only had one sister and Claudia only had one son.”
“Oh,” Erica nodded slowly. “I guess that… makes sense. Huh.”
“I know the two of you don’t like to talk about your time in Beacon Hills, but I would like to hear more about Margaret’s cousin before I meet the boy again,” Deucalion requested.
“Well, Mags’ cousin is… Batman,” Erica stared, biting her lip.
At that, Deucalion tilted his head and settled in for the full picture. When the young couple had come stumbling out of the woods, wounded, frightened and alone, Deucalion had taken them in and tended to them until they were ready to share at least a little. They said they’d been turned by Derek Hale, but hadn’t expected how bad things would get. That they had been abducted by Gerard Argent and tortured, together with a pack mate that Erica only referred to as Batman. He came up a few times. Otherwise, they didn’t really speak about individual people, didn’t like to bring up their old pack. They had given Deucalion the name of their Alpha, as a point of reference, but that was it.
They wanted to leave it all behind and Deucalion, a leader of a pack of broken people who had lost their packs, been abandoned and betrayed by their packs, he accepted that. Until now, because now, their past had come back to haunt them and Deucalion would like to be prepared.
/break\
Stiles still felt a little shaky when Mags and he arrived at the Blackwood pack’s house. His cousin bumped shoulders with him to make him relax, before opening the door. She gave a soft howl to summon her pack downstairs. This was still wild. His cousin was a werewolf. Was there some alternate reality where he would have gone on supernatural adventures with her these past two years? Where Peter had tried to get her into his pack as much as he’d tried to get Scott? But it… it made sense. An Alpha needed three Betas to make a pack. Derek and Scott had always only been two and it had always bothered Stiles that Peter hadn’t bitten and turned someone else.
“Hello, Mieczysław,” Deucalion smiled as he approached.
“Stiles,” Stiles cut in with a frown. “Absolutely nobody calls me Mieczysław. Not even big, bad intimidating Demon Wolves get to call me Mieczysław.”
Some members of Deucalion’s pack laughed at that. And when everyone was gathered in the living room, Stiles’ whole focus was on Boyd and Erica. He stared at them for probably a whole minute, just taking them in. They’d changed. Erica wasn’t dressed as over-sexualized as she had after first being turned, she seemed to have settled some. Her hair was shorter too, curling up to her chin. Boyd was broader, muscle-wise, like he’d been doing a lot of physical labor, there was a dusting of a beard around his jawline and he had hair. It wasn’t overly long, but he had about an inch long twists that looked damn good on him. Overall, they both looked… better. Happy, settled, grown up. Once he came to that conclusion, he kind of lunged forward and collided with them in a hug.
“I didn’t know if you were alive,” Stiles blurted out. “You just disappeared! We got out of the basement and then there was the kanima-show-down and things got messy and you were gone.”
“Yeah, we… we definitely weren’t going to stick around after the stint in grandpa Argent’s torture basement,” Erica huffed, her voice muffled by his shoulder.
“We ran,” Boyd muttered. “Walked for hours. Probably took us nearly a whole day to get to Silver Lake. Maybe running on foot wasn’t the wisest choice. Or without money. But… We were young, foolish and scared out of our minds. Deuc took us in.”
“Uncle Stan’s friend from school,” Stiles shot Deucalion a look. “You knew my mom?”
“Yes,” Deucalion inclined his head. “I have been friends with your uncle for a long time.”
“A lot of stuff makes more sense now,” Stiles muttered. “Mom talking about demons and monsters when the dementia really hit. Because she knew about the supernatural.”
Deucalion’s face softened at that and he nodded. “Yes. I’m… very sorry for your loss.”
Stiles just nodded. The hug ended and everyone settled down on the couch, though Boyd and Erica joined Stiles and Mags on the same couch. Stiles’ eyes wandered over the others, curious.
“That’s my pack,” Mags chimed. “You know Boyd and Erica and now also Deuc. That’s our Emissary Marin, her wife Braeden, our Left Hand Kali and our Right Hand Ennis, and those are Aiden and Ethan. Aiden is the cute one.”
“Fuck you,” the twin who was most likely Ethan said.
“So…” Stiles had no idea where to even start. “What do you want from me?”
He turned to look at the Alpha, a little lost. Deucalion inclined his head, his eyes way too intense as they fixated Stiles on the spot. There was some scarring around his eyes, a physical reminder of what Gerard had tried to do to him but failed. And sadly not paid with his life for.
“Beacon Hills has always been Hale territory, just as Silver Lake has always been Blackwood territory. The last I had heard, from Vernon and Erica,” Stiles snickered a little when Deucalion referred to Boyd as ‘Vernon’, earning a glare from Boyd. “Was that Derek, Talia’s only son, had been Alpha and… had done a… less than stellar job.”
“Dude was only twenty-one and he was never meant to be an Alpha,” Stiles shrugged. “Like. He only became an Alpha because he killed Peter, after Peter became a problem. He’s not anymore.”
“Tends to happen when someone dies,” Braeden muttered.
“Oh, no, he got better,” Stiles waved a dismissive hand. “Huh. In two ways, I guess.”
“Got better… from… dying?” Marin asked confused, leaning in some. “I’m sorry?”
“Oh, yeah. Right, Boyd and Erica had already run for the hills. Or… from the Hills, I guess,” Stiles snorted softly and shook his head. “Yeah, Peter resurrected himself. Helped tremendously with his sanity. He’s currently on a father-daughter bonding trip. Oh, right, he has a daughter. Apparently Talia gave her up for adoption? Her mother is the Desert Wolf, so, uh, the bonding trip is trying to kill mother dearest. It’s… not going too well?”
Braeden’s eyes sharpened at that and she went to get a business card. “Pass on my number, maybe I can help. I’ve tried tracking the Desert Wolf before.”
“Ri—ight…” Stiles stared at the business card doubtfully.
“Mercenary. Killer for hire, if needed,” Braeden offered with a sharp smile.
Deucalion cleared his throat. “Far as your grandparents are concerned, Braeden does regular work at the ranch, just like the rest of the pack, sans Marin.”
“Sure,” Stiles nodded slowly and pocketed the card. “Anyway. Peter got better. We found another lost Hale, Cora, Derek’s younger sister. Derek gave up his Alpha spark to save her life, then left with her for Mexico. Peter went with them for a bit, but then came back for Malia – his daughter.”
“What the fuck, we haven’t been gone that long,” Erica muttered.
Stiles snorted out loud. “...Catwoman, I haven’t even fully caught you up to the end of last year. Settle in, so much shit went down since you guys left.”
And they did. The whole pack got comfortable and listened to him rambling about the Darach, the Nogitsune, the Deadpool, the Dread Doctors. Though that was when things became more stilted. More raw. It was all still very fresh. Reluctantly, he even told them about Donovan, Theo, about Scott kicking him out of the pack yesterday and him finding his dad heavily injured shortly after.
“So, yeah,” Stiles cleared his throat, his voice a little wobbly. “Pack’s kind of… gone. There is no pack anymore. You two left, Jackson moved to London, Peter’s off chasing his murderous ex with Malia, Derek and Cora are in Mexico, Isaac went to France with Chris, Allison’s dead, Lydia’s in the hospital, Kira is… in the fucking desert, doing who knows what, and… I got kicked out.”
Stiles paused for a moment, his fingers rapidly tapping against his knee. “Liam is… Liam is a concern, I mean, Theo is trying to use him, he admitted it to me. He wanted Liam to take Scott’s Alpha spark, because only a Beta bitten by a True Alpha can take a True Alpha’s Alpha spark – and, like, who made these rules? That shit is so specific and weird. I don’t want Theo to kill Liam. Liam was… Liam was the only one in the pack who believed me about Theo, who backed me up, tried to investigate him. And now… now Liam paid for it by losing his girlfriend, losing the pack. I don’t want him to become feral, like Peter. Scott is… I… Right now, I don’t even care, but I guess a feral Alpha would be a much bigger problem, huh. Which, an Alpha without a pack would be.”
The finger tapping became more erratic and Stiles supposed that his heartbeat matched that too, because suddenly, there was a large hand covering his hand, stopping the tapping. When Stiles looked up, he met the Alpha’s gaze. Deucalion’s smile was weirdly reassuring. Weird because Stiles didn’t even know the guy. But Deucalion radiated a calm confidence that spoke of his competence as an Alpha. He was what Stiles always imagined an Alpha should be. Nothing like Peter trying to rule with fear, Derek fumbling and growling his way through it, Scott smiling and winging it.
“I would appreciate if you could give me Derek and Peter’s numbers, I’d like to talk to the Hales. It is still Hale land, after all,” Deucalion spoke calmly. “You don’t become feral over night, I think that is a problem we still have some time to deal with and figure out together how to handle. These Dread Doctors, this Theo character and your father seem the most pressing matters, for now.”
“And Lydia,” Stiles added. “She’s not just… She’s in the hospital because Theo tried the claw thing. The memory thing. I don’t know why, I don’t know what information he wanted from her, but I know the werewolf claws in neck trick. Peter’s really good at that. Theo… has never done it before and fucked it up and now she’s catatonic. But I believe that if someone who knows what they’re doing tries again, they should be able to… to wake her up?”
“Okay,” Deucalion nodded with a smile. “Tonight, I’ll call Derek and Peter and talk to them. Tomorrow, we’re driving to Beacon Hills together.”
“...We…?” Stiles spoke slowly, unsure if he was included in that.
“You, me, the pack and your grandmother,” Deucalion paused, unsure.
“Spark, she told me, not a secret anymore. Also a Spark,” Stiles pointed at himself. “Guess the whole family could have done more communicating and less trying to keep each other safe.”
“Wait, you’re a badass witch like Gosia?” Erica asked stunned. “Oh, we missed so much.”
“It’s not…” Stiles shrugged. “I’m not really impressive. Grandma looked impressed, but you know, that’s a grandma-thing. I can barely do anything, I don’t even really know what it means.”
“Your grandmother and I will be able to help you with that,” Marin offered with a smile.
Stiles stared at her in surprise. “Thank you. That’s… Thanks.”
People rarely offered to help him, without gaining anything from it. Slumping back in his seat, he rubbed his face. He was so exhausted from everything. Deucalion gave his knee a gentle squeeze.
“You’re not alone anymore,” Deucalion promised. “We’re going to help you.”
“…Why?” Stiles looked at the Alpha with more vulnerability than he was comfortable showing.
“For one, because I am the Alpha of these lands and this… incompetent Alpha is right next door,” Deucalion pointed out. “I do feel like it’s my responsibility to… intervene. Beyond that, your uncle and I have been friends for a very long time. And you, personally, are very important to three members of my pack, that alone is reason enough to help you, isn’t it?”
Stiles’ eyes flitted between his cousin, Boyd and Erica. Right. That made sense. Though… he was important to Boyd and Erica? Sure, being happy to see someone again, but they’d left. Him. Not just him, he knew that, rationally he understood all the reasons they had to leave. But on an emotional level? He’d been down in that basement, getting tortured with them, for them – trying to protect them from Gerard, because he feared the wolves in the room wouldn’t make it out alive otherwise – and then they just… left and never looked back. They’d only been two hours away.
“Why do you care?” Stiles asked with furrowed brows, looking at Boyd and Erica. “We were never friends. The majority of the time, we stood on directly opposed sides. You just… You just fucked off after we got out of the basement. Gerard might have come to finish the job, what would you have known, you left and never checked in again.”
Both Boyd and Erica looked somewhat chastised by that. Erica curled a little against Boyd, who laid one arm around her and… yeah. Those two were definitely more than friends. They got to comfort each other about all of this. Stiles had spent the summer dealing with it all alone.
“They did send me to take care of Gerard,” Deucalion answered in their stead. “After they told me what had happened and who had done that to them, I paid Beacon Hills a little visit. I… was long overdue for my own revenge on Gerard Argent. So, rest assured that this particular threat has been eliminated for good.”
All Stiles could do was nod, because what did one say to that? What could he say to that? Gerard was a frequent feature in his nightmares, mostly because the man had been the first time Stiles had felt truly powerless and weak. Even with Peter, even with the kanima, Stiles had felt that they got the hang of it. But in that basement, Stiles had been nothing but a victim.
“We just wanted to get away, Stiles,“ Boyd didn’t meet his eyes. “You gotta see how fucked up things in Beacon Hills were. And we wanted to leave even before we got kidnapped and tortured by a classmate and her grandfather.”
Stiles turned to look at the floor. “I do get that. But… Silver Lake’s two hours away. You could have… You could have reached out. Let me know you were alive and that Gerard’s hunters didn’t track you down and killed you.”
“Yeah,” Boyd agreed after a moment. “You’re right. We… weren’t thinking about that. We just wanted to leave Beacon Hills behind.”
Stiles’ stomach felt like a stone had settled in it at that. They wanted to leave Beacon Hills and everything in it behind. He knew he had no right to take that personal. Just as he’d told them, they weren’t friends. Had been enemies for a long time. He heaved a sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.
“Sorry. I don’t know why I care why you care,” Stiles blinked. “Guess it’s just been kind of too much of a rotating door of people in my life lately.”
Well, that was a bit more honesty than he was comfortable with. He really needed some rest. Leaning forward, he put his face in his hands and sighed again.
“How about you go back home and rest some for now?” Deucalion suggested in that very soothing voice of his. “Tomorrow, we go to Beacon Hills.”
Stiles nodded and got his phone out, holding it out to Deucalion. “Gimme your contact info and I’ll text you Derek and Peter’s numbers.”
Deucalion accepted the phone and typed quickly before handing it back. Their hands touched and Stiles shuddered a little at how warm the touch was. He was still freezing cold from the rain.
“Will you be fine driving home, Margaret?” Deucalion asked. “Or would you like Ennis to accompany you?”
“I’m fine,” Mags rolled her eyes. “I do not need a bodyguard.”
“Tough luck, pup,” Ennis clasped a hand over her shoulder. “I wanted to head to town anyway. Babe, you coming with?”
Kali tilted her head before nodding. “Sure.”
Stiles felt like he had just been assigned babysitters. He was torn between feeling offended by this and feeling warm because the Alpha worried about him despite not even knowing him.
/break\
Peter Hale was back from the dead. A very Peter thing to do, for him. So was having a daughter with a ruthless, feared killer and then taking said daughter on a trip to try and kill said ruthless, feared killer. Deucalion arranged for Braeden to meet them and help out with that; Braden had tried to end this particular threat before, unsuccessfully. Perhaps the three could work together.
Derek Hale seemed to have returned to being a Beta, indeed having given up his Alpha spark for his sister. He had settled in well in Mexico, with his sister’s foster pack. It was good to hear that the Hales, despite everything, were still thriving and surviving. Talia would be proud.
They also both gave Deucalion a more rounded picture of Scott McCall. Together with what Stiles had told him, Deucalion found himself concerned. True Alphas were usually quite the problem. The fact that their Alphahood stemmed from some supposed moral purity and virtue often corrupted the werewolves. These things weren’t in a werewolf’s nature, after all. They were apex predators and killers – it was how one classically gained Alphahood. So these True Alphas tended to get a little too obsessed with their morals.
Judging from everything he had heard so far, that seemed to be the case. Once upon a time, the boy had been willing to kill Peter to cure himself of his wolf. Now, he couldn’t even budge when his best friend killed someone in self-defense. It had already become a problem.
The fact that the boy had alienated or abandoned every member of his pack sans the one person who wanted to see him dead was also a problem. A potentially quite large problem. Stiles was right, of course, a feral Alpha was something they wanted to avoid.
The Gajos family was quickly dropped off at the hospital, though Deucalion promised to be by and see if he could help Stiles’ friend Lydia later on. And then the pack made quick work of tracking down Theo Raeken, Scott McCall and Liam Dunbar.
The twins were sent to check on the traumatized pup.
Kali and Ennis went to track down and interrogate Theo.
And Deucalion and Marin had a nice, long talk to Alpha McCall and the boy’s mother.
Boyd and Erica went to visit their parents, while in town. The families had been put in the know by Deucalion and had allowed their children to go to school in Silver Lake, once they settled with their new reality. Deucalion made note to go and visit his Betas’ families too before they’d leave again.
For now, Deucalion had a very serious decision to consider. One he wasn’t going to make without the former members of the McCall Pack. An Alpha who successfully chased every single Beta of theirs away was not fit to lead and before letting him go feral, removing his Alpha spark would be the most sensible course of action. The boy wasn’t a fan when Deucalion suggested it, but his mother seemed somewhat relieved.
Deucalion texted Peter and Derek to keep them updated and also to get their input on the matter. How he understood it, the Hales had been pack-adjacent for months before ultimately leaving.
Once everything was said and done, he returned to the hospital with Marin. Stan and Carol were outside the hospital room, arm in arm, with their daughters Margaret and Miriam at their side.
“How is Stiles’ father?” Deucalion asked when he approached them.
“Still not conscious,” Stan replied with a shake of his head. “Dad’s talking to the doctors. Mom is inside with Stiles. We… didn’t want to overcrowd the room. But it’s… it’s not looking good.”
Deucalion frowned and entered the room after briefly knocking. Stiles looked even more exhausted than he had when Deucalion had first seen him yesterday. Being here, at his father’s bedside, seemed to drain the boy as he clung desperately to his father’s hand. Deucalion went to sit next to Stiles, resting his hand on the sheriff’s arm to drain his pain.
“Thank you,” Stiles whispered softly.
“Of course, dear,” Deucalion briefly looked at Gosia and Marin, who were now talking softly to each other. “Do you have any idea what’s wrong with your father?”
“He was attacked by a Chimera,” Stiles didn’t look away from his father. “A Berserker hybrid. There was a splinter, a fragment of bone. They… They got it out, but…”
Deucalion nodded and reached out to rest his other hand in Stiles’ neck. He’d meant to drain the boy’s exhaustion-symptoms but there was some severe pain too, much to his surprise.
“Are you alright?” Deucalion asked. “You’re in pain.”
“You’re in what?” Gosia asked, immediately cutting her conversation with Marin off.
“It’s fine,” Stiles shrugged and shook his head. “I’m fine.”
“Young man, do not force this old lady to wrangle you like a disobedient fowl,” Gosia warned sternly. “What’s wrong with you?”
“A Chimera, different Chimera, bit me a… couple days ago,” Stiles replied reluctantly. “It scarred over and barely even hurts anymore.”
“Let me see,” Gosia demanded, tugging on Stiles’ hand. “Where? How bad is it?”
“Grandma,” Stiles glared and tried to twist his arm out of her hold. “I’m fine, it doesn’t matter, we need to fix dad!”
“Stiles,” Marin’s voice was soft. “This isn’t an either/or situation. We know what’s wrong with your father, if you give me your address, I can get started on an antidote for him. And your grandmother can take a look at your injury.”
Stiles stared at her in confusion, like he couldn’t comprehend having multiple competent people available who could help. Stan cleared his throat from the doorway.
“How about we drive you over to the Stilinskis’, Marin?” Stan offered.
“If you’d like, me and the girls can do a grocery run. Food for everyone and anything you need when it comes to ingredients available at the store,” Carol suggested.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” Marin smiled and joined the couple.
Once the door closed behind them, Stiles reluctantly peeled his shirt off. Gosia started cursing in Polish as she laid eyes on the scarred bite-mark on Stiles’ shoulder. Deucalion reached out for the boy’s hand to siphon more of his pain.
“Oh, Mietek,” Gosia’s voice was heavy with guilt. “I am so sorry you have been shouldering all of this alone, thinking you can’t come to us. We… We wanted to protect you from this world, precisely because of things like this. I wish I had known, I wish I could have been there for you…”
“It’s fine, grandma,” Stiles looked up at her, tired. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” Gosia cupped his face and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. “But you’ll get there and we’ll help you. For now, we go to your house so I can tend to your injury.”
“But dad,” Stiles argued with a frown.
“You can’t do anything sitting at his bedside, dear,” Deucalion interjected. “You need to take care of yourself. I’m sure it’s what your father would want too if he were awake. Before you leave, I’d like you to show me your friend’s room and stay, until she is responsive again, so she doesn’t get startled by the stranger’s claws in her neck.”
“That, and afterward, we’re taking the boy home,” Mieszko declared as he entered the room. “I believe Marin is already working on something for Noah, yes?”
Gosia looked at her husband and nodded briefly, before the four of them headed to another hospital room. This was quite the mess that Deucalion had involved himself in. But the Gajos family stood under his protection and that extended to Claudia’s husband and son too. They were his to take care of and they seemed to be in dire need of it right now.
/break\
Lydia was on the road to recovery. She’d also discovered that Parrish was a hellhound. But what Theo had wanted from her was the location of Stiles’ Nemeton. With that information, Stiles, Gosia and Deucalion rushed to the Nemeton. Where they found not just dead bodies but also revived Chimeras. This was a whole mess but it… wasn’t Stiles’ mess to clean up. Not anymore.
Deucalion had Noah transported to Silver Lake, so the family could be close by. Aunt Carol and Mags helped Stiles pack up enough of his stuff that he’d need and then they were on their way back home. It felt weird to leave the big problems in someone else’s hands, but for the first time, there was a competent Alpha in Stiles’ life, with a pack of mostly actual adults.
Marin and Gosia managed to help Noah, but he’d still need time recovering. The Lakeside Recovery Center in Silver Lake was good. Expensive but good. Stiles’s grandpa footed the bill. Stiles didn’t even have to ask. He wasn’t used to that anymore either. Help without asking.
The Chimeras needed an Alpha’s bite to stabilize. After thorough investigation, Deucalion – with Gosia’s help, as she was the Spark of these lands – removed Scott’s Alpha spark. It was passed on to Liam, as Scott’s successor. Deucalion agreed to mentor the boy, teach him how to be an Alpha to his small pack. Mason, Hayden, Corey, Tracy and Josh. His human best friend and the Chimeras who’d now been turned into proper wolves, by Liam’s bite. Under Deucalion’s guidance.
Lydia was a banshee, she never needed pack. Had only gotten involved for her friends. Malia was still off with Peter and Braeden, to hunt Corinne. But the way it was going, Stiles guessed she’d leave for Mexico with her father, to be with the Hales, to get to know her birth family. And Stiles…
“What’s on your mind, kiddo?” Noah asked softly. “You’ve been unusually quiet.”
They were sitting outside, on the porch at the Gajos Ranch. Wide lands stretching out before them. This was where Stiles had learned how to ride a horse, his mom had taught him. He’d learned a whole lot of stuff in Silver Lake. Had so many good memories here.
“I wanna stay,” Stiles whispered. “We’ve been here for over a week now. I should… school. But I have enough credits to graduate early. The only reason I did senior year was because I wanted to do it with my friends. My pack. I… missed this. This feeling of family. Of someone having our backs. And them knowing about the supernatural is a game changer. Grandma and Marin want to teach me about my Spark. Silver Lake University has a great librarian program that I’ve been considering anyway. If I graduate early, I’d buy myself some time to… I don’t know, deal with shit, before college. Here. With our family. With the Blackwood Pack.”
“I’m out on leave for the next couple months,” Noah huffed, then paused. “I’d like to be here, with the family taking care of me, so you don’t have to. I know you would, but… Stiles, you’re still struggling with so much of what has happened recently. You don’t need to take care of me too. And even if I get better, I am sheriff of Beacon County. That includes Silver Lake. I could transfer to the Silver Lake Sheriff Station. If you want to go to college here, and not just because it’s close to Beacon Hills so you can visit regularly, if you want to go here because you want to be here, then I want to be here too. We can sort all that out later. But I’m staying if you’re staying.”
Stiles hummed softly and leaned into his dad’s side. Noah wrapped an arm around Stiles’ shoulders, pulling him closer. Yes. Stiles wanted to stay here, because he wanted to be here. When he’d first picked Silver Lake University, it was because it was close. Because he could be there if the pack needed him. Liam would be fine, Deuc was mentoring him. It’d be fine. He could be here. Lydia was leaving for MIT too, soon enough. He liked it here. Liked getting to know Boyd and Erica, the twins too. He liked Deucalion’s pack. He loved being close to his family again. This could be home.
/break\
The full moon stood high above the mountains that separated Beacon Hills and Silver Lake. Among the dark trees, Stiles could see the shapes of his pack running around, could hear them howling. He smiled when he saw two red-glowing eyes approach him. A majestic, white wolf approached him.
“Hey, Alpha,” Stiles grinned and reached out to caress the wolf’s head.
Deucalion turned from his full-shift into human and Stiles couldn’t resist running his eyes over the naked man. The werewolf chuckled amused, reaching out to demand his clothes. With a mild pout did Stiles hand them over, before leaning in to kiss his mate.
“You’re late, love,” Deucalion whispered. “Did you get distracted at the library again?”
Stiles hummed into the kiss. His first semester at SLU was nearing its end, he had exams to study for. But he did still always make time to accompany his pack on their traditional full-moon runs. After all, he was the Emissary in training, had started that position some two months ago. Around the same time that Deuc had first asked him out. Stiles grinned as he nuzzled into Deucalion’s neck. It had felt near natural. Deuc had been there for him every step of the way, became his Alpha and friend and then more. For the first time in too long, Stiles was genuinely happy.
~*~ The End ~*~