Human is Just a Word 69/85
Chapter 69
Derek had known that this day would come. Lydia had been living with them for weeks now, she was a friend of Stiles and together they were planning to murder Peter. Sometimes they spent hours in the war room that Stiles' room had become.
Lately John joined them quite often.
Lydia becoming pack had only been a matter of time. Like John and most likely Sean and maybe even Melissa one day. It didn't come as a surprise but still.
However, when Derek woke up one morning to a new bond forming in his mind, he could feel the whole pack shifting in his mind to make room for another member, he got totally blindsided by it.
Stiles was feeling it as well, he could tell, but he doubted that the rest of the pack knew. Yet.
Derek's first instinct was to run so he did just that. He had enough sense to change from fur to running clothes before he bolted out of the loft, though. He needed space. And time to think.
It might have been a coward move but he made sure that Lydia and Stiles were at school by the time he got back. The rest of the day he hid behind his work and for once the pack let him be. They might not sense the new bond yet but through their own connection with their alpha they could tell that he was in distress and needed to be left alone for a while.
Dodging Stiles was harder but with a pack this big and still so much to do, it was rather easy to avoid a serious conversation.
He knew that time was running out and judging by the looks Stiles gave him, his mate knew exactly what this meant for the pack.
Derek liked Lydia, that was not the problem. He just wasn't sure if he could trust her. He had trusted before and had lost everything.
He had just lost Laura. And a lot of people he had called pack at one point. He had to thank Lydia that he hadn't lost Laura's whole pack along with his sister but that was also part of the problem.
Lydia had been pack by association before and she had betrayed her alpha. She could do it again.
She could still be working for Peter. Her actions spoke against it and Stiles trusted her but deep down Derek wasn't sure.
Kicking her out would be the safe option and his pack would accept his decision, even Stiles, but he knew that she had nowhere to go. She couldn't go back to her family in Beacon Hills and even if Derek gave her enough money to start over somewhere else, Peter could easily track her down. He had a good foothold in the sheriff's department in Beacon Hills and connections all over the country, Peter could find a person if he wanted to. And Derek had no doubt that he would kill Lydia if he ever got the chance.
The only safe place for her was in a pack. Besides, the bond wouldn't have formed if Derek wasn't ready to take her in on some subconscious level. She came in through association with Stiles but in the end it was the alpha she formed a bond with.
Stiles didn't push and Derek was grateful for that. They both probably knew that he had already made his decision. He just needed to build up the courage to actually do it.
So Derek took a leap of faith and accepted Lydia in his pack.
After the symbolic bite he led her to the den where the pack welcomed her.
"I'm proud of you." Stiles whispered in his ear and clung to him just a little more tightly than usual, hands buried deep in his fur. Derek let out a huff and flicked an ear but let his head drop to Stiles' shoulder so that his mate could reach that spot behind his ear more easily.
The next few days Derek waited for things to go south. He didn't know what exactly he was waiting for, just something. He doubted that Lydia would kill him in his sleep, though. She had more than enough opportunities for that before she had become pack, she had lived with them for weeks.
Stiles' room became Sean's for the times he stayed over night and Lydia joined them in the den every night. That was the only visible change in their arrangement and it was kind of anticlimactic.
They hadn't interacted much before she became pack, she spend most of her time with Stiles or Megan, and now they weren't quite avoiding each other but Derek wasn't seeking her out either. Which he probably should, she was his newest pack member and the bond was still forming, but this time Derek dropped that task on Stiles and he only felt a little bit guilty for that.
He had, however, not counted on Lydia having her own opinion on that.
The apartments were in different states of renovation and when Derek had asked Isaac where he could get useful his beta had sent him to the one they had barely touched so far.
"The kitchen has to go out." Isaac had said and so now Derek stood in the middle of the destroyed kitchen in his wife-beater and old jeans, covered in sweat and dust, but with a satisfied feeling in his guts. Sometimes ripping something apart just felt good.
Now he only had to carry all the broken pieces out to the container Isaac had standing behind the building for weeks now. Derek had no idea how often Mark or Isaac had made the trip to dump all the debris but for sure they hadn't made their last trip yet.
But he had to say, the apartments came around nicely. Since they had focused on the one for John and Melissa, the others were a bit behind but they were getting there.
Derek put his hands on his hips and took in the sight around him. He would carry out the heavy stuff like the fridge, dish washer and oven but he was tempted to leave the shattered pieces of the cupboards for somebody else to take care of.
"Derek?" Lydia pulled him out of his thoughts. She stood in the doorway, or what was left of it since somebody had already ripped out all the door frames, and she looked out of place with her expensive shoes, dressed in skirt and blouse.
"Yes?" He turned towards her and wiped his hands on his jeans. If it was late enough for her to be back from school, he should probably finish up here anyway.
"I wanted to say thank you." She stepped closer, carefully making her way over the clattered floor. "For, you know, letting me stay."
"Lydia." He let out a sigh. He never really wanted to talk about this but the fact alone that she had sought him out with no-one else around made it clear that she wanted to talk about it. "I'm not letting you stay." He restrained himself from making air quotes, Stiles was definitely rubbing off on him. "You're pack, you belong here."
"But you don't trust me." It wasn't a question. They stood close now and she was studying his face. "I know about Kate."
So she understood.
"It's not your fault." He washed a hand down his face. "I just …"
Suddenly she slung her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. For a second he just stood there, not sure how to react. For a stupid moment he wanted to point out how filthy he was and that she would ruin her blouse but then she started talking.
"You're not like Peter." She said in a soft voice. "You let me stay even when I wasn't pack. You treat the humans in your pack like you treat the wolves. Even the claimed ones, Stiles told me."
Reluctantly Derek closed his arms around her shaking frame.
He knew how Peter treated the humans in his pack. How he claimed them as some kind of sick punishment or just for his own entertainment. But Lydia was different. Stiles had told him about how Peter had tried every way he knew to bind her more firmly to him. How he had tried to claim her without her consent which was rape, plain and simple, and how he had tried to turn her. Which had ended with her running naked through the woods for several days when her body rejected the bite.
And after all that she had not only helped Stiles save Laura's pack, she had sought refuge in Derek's pack. She had no reason to believe that he was any better than Peter. Given, she had seen Stiles and knew that he was treated well but that didn't guarantee that Derek would treat her the same way. And still she had stayed.
Derek closed his eyes and hugged her closer. Maybe it was time to trust again.
"I'm here." He said. "You're safe now."
Something in her broke open and the first sob escaped her lips.
"It's okay, I'm here." Every sense told him in how much distress she was, even through the bond he felt it, and the wolf in him whined in need to make it better.
He rubbed her back and stroke her head and just let her cry. When her legs gave out under her, he gently eased her down without letting go of her.
When Stiles came looking for him, he found them still in the ruins of the kitchen. Derek sat with his back to the oven he had been about to carry out, his legs stretched out and Lydia nestled into his chest. Like an overgrown toddler she had cried herself to sleep in his arms.
"Derek, you in here?" The last word died on Stiles lips when he caught sight of them. Then his whole face lit up in awe.
Derek didn't dare to speak, he didn't want to wake her, and for once his mate kept his mouth shut as well. He just stood there for a moment longer, looking at them.
Stiles mouthed a "I love you" and then he turned on his heel and left.
Derek heard the other members of his pack in the building, some were working in the other apartments, some where upstairs in the loft, but nobody came in here. He wondered if Stiles had put a do not disturb sign at the front door. He wouldn't put it beyond his mate.
He held Lydia in his arms until darkness crept into the room. His ass had gone numb a while ago and he didn't really feel the piece of plaster digging in his thigh any longer either but he didn't move. He didn't want to wake her.
He didn't know how well she had slept while she had stayed in Stiles' room but he was sure that it hadn't improved since she spent the nights in the den with the rest of the pack. They were all still grieving. There wasn't a night without nightmares and more or less silent tears.
He doubted Lydia that had a good night's sleep in a very long time. Sleeping like this, on the dirty floor of a demolished kitchen with him as a pillow didn't sound that comfortable but he got that she needed to be close to her alpha. The rest didn't matter.
It was dark when she finally stirred.
"Where are we?" She asked groggily when she finally sat up. She brushed the hair out of her face with her fingers, looking around as if she needed time to figure out where she was. To her human eyes it must be completely dark by now.
"Careful, there's a lot of stuff on the ground." Derek got to his feet, his ass and leg tingling when the blood started to flow again.
"Did I fall asleep on you?" The horror was clear in her voice even if Derek couldn't really make out her features in the dark. She stated to move backwards and stumbled over a chunk of a cupboard.
"It's okay." Derek grabbed her wrists to stabilize her. She went very still at that and for a moment the only sound was her rapidly beating heart.
"Just don't move, you'll break your leg." He let go of her and she immediately relaxed and even gave him a shy smile.
In the end he carried her out of the kitchen bride style and if he used the opportunity to nuzzle her throat, she didn't complain.
Chapter 70
Masterpost