Fic: Discovery Channel (8/12) Part 2
Part 1
Everyone was staring at them on Monday. Allison had assumed it would get out eventually, but from the looks she was getting she could only begin to imagine what story was going around. It didn’t matter in the end though, because when she sat down at lunch Lydia, Stiles and Danny all pretended like they couldn’t hear anything being said, and she knew at least Stiles was capable of hearing everything.
It gave her the strength to keep her back straight and ignore the whispers and looks and just focus on their group.
“So are you going to tell us what happened at the hospital or am I going to have to start with some torture?” Lydia asked Stiles as they all leaned in to the center of the table so no one would overhear them.
He frowned. “I really don’t want you guys involved in this.”
“Tough shit,” Danny said. “Did you find the alpha?”
Allison watched Stiles’ face contort before he finally gave in and nodded. “We did.”
“And?” Scott asked. “Who was it? They didn’t hurt my mom so I mean that’s good.”
Stiles closed his eyes in frustration. “Listen. You guys really shouldn’t be a part of this. Derek and I have this under control.”
“Uh, I beg to differ,” Lydia said, holding up Stiles’ phone.
Allison couldn’t stop herself from letting out a laugh at Stiles’ face as he checked his pockets to see if she really had swiped it. He stared at her. “How? When?”
“Chemistry class.” Lydia pursed her lips. “You think I would volunteer to be your lab partner for any old reason? I had ulterior motives, and some of those were to see how good you two were at hiding, and the answer is not at all.”
“Hey!” Stiles said, reaching across the table and snatching his phone back.
“I’m serious, Stiles,” Lydia said in a hushed whisper. “Do you need to save every text from Derek? Did you need to label him with his actual name? What do you think would happen if someone got a hold of your phone? You two named the alpha in your texts this morning. Would you want the hunters to find out who he was?”
Allison looked from Lydia to Stiles, confused. “Wait. What’s wrong with the hunters finding out who the alpha is? That just means they’ll take him out right? That’s their job.”
Lydia gave Allison a look. “Because that’s not Stiles and Derek’s game plan, is it?”
Stiles slumped down in his seat, but he didn’t say anything.
Scott looked hurt. “Why did you tell Lydia your plan when I didn’t even know you had a plan? I’ve been with you since the beginning!”
“I didn’t tell Lydia anything,” Stiles muttered. “She’s just got a big head and thinks just because she’s read some stupid texts she knows complex pack dynamics.”
Lydia snorted. “Oh please, it’s hardly complex. You only need to watch a pack of puppies for a few minutes to figure out how it works.” She looked at everyone else, and dropped her voice as she spoke. “Derek needs to be the one to kill the alpha. If he does that then he’ll become the alpha, and he and Stiles can establish themselves as a small pack, and if they don’t cause any problems, theoretically no hunters will bother them.” She shot Stiles a look for confirmation, which Stiles gave with a nod of his head.
Danny let out a low whistle. “That’s a little morbid.”
“It’s the only way,” Stiles muttered. “The alpha, he’s completely out of his mind. He killed his own niece and has absolutely no remorse for it. He claims it was for the better, because at least that way he was able to heal. He’s the one who committed the murders that have been happening, those animal attacks? He won’t tell us why, mostly because he doesn’t trust us.”
“I wonder why,” Lydia muttered. “I mean, you two have been trying to kill him. I’m surprised he’s even accepted you.”
“He needs them,” Danny reminded her. “An alpha needs a pack, just like betas do.”
Stiles pointed to Danny. “Exactly. And we’re playing nice. Or at least, as nice as we can. We somehow managed to talk our way into a situation where he thinks we’re going to be semi-cooperative now that we know who he is, as opposed to before when we had no idea who to answer to. Derek did some fast talking, brought up some old memories, and I guess the guy isn’t completely gone because he might even have softened a bit.”
“Derek knows the alpha?” Allison asked, mouth a little dry. She was a mix of emotions right now, adrenaline rushing through her veins at the talk of what was going on, and apprehension because she didn’t know where it would all lead.
Stiles nodded, looking at his lunch forlornly. “The alpha is his uncle. Peter. Hence the whole he killed his niece. Laura. Derek’s sister.”
Scott blew out a loud breath. “Talk about awkward family reunions.”
Stiles cracked a smile and punched Scott gently in the shoulder. “That’s my line, buddy.”
Scott rubbed his shoulder as he laughed. “I’m just saying.”
“So you think the alpha knows you two are plotting something?” Danny asked, looking at Stiles.
“Probably, but like you said. Nothing he can do. We all need each other. It’s the great circle of life.”
A silence fell over the table after that comment as they continued to at least try and eat their lunches. As lunch drew closer to ending Allison finally got up the nerve to ask the question she’d been wanting to ask.
“What happens after?” She tried to sound confident when she spoke but she wasn’t sure it came through. “After we win?” She looked at Stiles, who let out a big sigh.
“We’ve been trying not to think that far ahead,” Stiles finally said. “But it’ll definitely be better than this situation.”
The bell rang and Lydia stood up, giving everyone a short wave. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she pointed a finger at Stiles. “Wipe your phone and tell Derek to do the same or else I’m coming and doing it for him.”
Stiles nodded absently as Allison arched an eyebrow. “Where are you two going?”
“Jackson is out of surgery and he might be conscious soon, so we’re heading down to the hospital in Sacramento to see him,” Danny reminded him.
“It’s also damage control,” Lydia said patiently, smiling at them sweetly. “If he wakes up and tries to say anything to expose you I’m going to smother him with a pillow until he learns better.”
Danny laughed and steered Lydia by the shoulders out of the cafeteria, leaving Allison with just Scott and Stiles. Scott watched them leave and then turned to the two of them. “I feel like Lydia has gotten scarier since finding out, or is that just me?”
Stiles slung his backpack over his shoulder. “If I had known she was this homicidal I would have gotten over my crush a long time ago.”
Allison covered her mouth with her hand. “I think she’s just finally getting comfortable enough with us to show who she really is. It’s a good sign!”
“Yeah sure,” Stiles muttered, giving the two of them a wave. “See you guys later.”
Allison shuffled her feet after him, grabbing Scott and placing a quick kiss on his cheek as she passed him, before hurrying up because she didn’t want to lose Stiles. “Hey, Stiles! Wait up.”
He turned to her with an impatient look on her face, waiting for Allison to catch up with him. “What’s up?”
She clasped her hands together in front her body as they started heading towards Stiles’ locker. “I had a question for you. A couple actually, but most of them can wait.” Stiles made a go on gesture as he started to open his locker. “Well, I am planning on going into the woods to practice some archery today and I wanted to know if you thought it would be safe.”
Stiles gave her a look. “It should? The alpha shouldn’t bother you. Why are you practicing anyway? I didn’t know you did archery, and then Lydia mentioned it yesterday.”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Allison took a deep breath. “It’s to help you guys.”
Stiles slammed his locker as the warning bell went off. “No.”
Allison’s face dropped. “Excuse me?”
“No. You aren’t getting more involved with this business, Allison.” He stalked off and Allison chased after him, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him to turn. She knew he was letting her do it, but it still meant he was willing to listen.
“I don’t just mean for the alpha, Stiles. I mean after, too. Think about how useful it would be to have someone with an in to hunters as a friend. An ally.”
The final bell for class rang and Stiles looked around the empty hallway in frustration. Allison wouldn’t let this conversation end though, and she grabbed him by the forearm, dragging him towards one of the lesser used hallways in the school so they could finish talking.
“Allison. Let go.” He shook his head free. “This conversation is over. You can go into the woods, and you’ll be safe, especially if you’re with Scott because he’s pack and so if he’s within five miles of me I’ll know if something happens to him, but you can not get more involved with this.”
Allison laughed, because her other option was getting upset and she refused to get angry over this. “Stiles, I already am. And I just want to help. If I had known that night, and had a bow and arrow, I could have helped you and Derek.” She bit her lip in frustration. “Lydia and Danny are good for research, and Scott was the one who kept Jackson from serious harm, but I could have been fighting alongside you two, and we would have won.”
She watched a bunch of emotions play over Stiles’ face until he finally spoke. “The alpha is our fight, Allison.” Her shoulders dropped. “But, and I’ll need to talk Derek, after. You can help with things that come after, because then we’ll be a stronger pack and Derek and I will be able to protect you better.”
Allison let that sink in for a minute before she broke into a huge smile. It hadn’t been said in so many words, but she was sure that was an offer of an alliance. She’d read about those when she studied her family’s history, and they were normally shaky at best, but this was different. She wasn’t a hunter, just the kid of a hunter. They wouldn’t play by the same rules, and they would be better for it.
“Thank you,” she said, shuffling forward and wrapping Stiles in a hug.
He returned the hug until they heard a discreet cough. They broke the hug to see the vice principal standing right beside them. They both jumped and Allison saw Stiles looking for a way out.
“Get to class, you two.” He said shooing them off. “Of else I’m going to have to write you up.”
Allison let out a breath, and Stiles saluted before they both took off for their classrooms.
Her dad was cooking dinner by the time she got back from the woods. The last few days had been invigorating as she rediscovered her form. Monday her accuracy had been a little off, but by this afternoon every shot struck exactly where she was aiming for.
Even Derek had seemed impressed, and it had shown on his face. She knew she’d never wear Stiles down on his stance about her helping kill the alpha, but she might stand a chance with Derek.
“Hey daddy,” Allison called, heading up the stairs to change.
He stuck his head out of the kitchen, and whatever he was about to say was cut off by the look of surprise on his face. He recomposed himself quickly though. “Hey Allison, where were you?”
Allison shrugged, going for nonchalant. She had been planning for this moment all week. “Out in the woods,” she kept going even her father’s face tightened, “with my friends. I told Lydia about the archery and she wanted to see it for herself.” She gave her dad a huge smile. “She even tried to fire my practice bow today.” Which had been a failure of epic proportions, in all honesty.
Her father looked confused. “I see. Who were you with?”
“Just the normal group. Scott, Lydia, Danny and Stiles. Once Jackson recovers he might start coming along.” Allison was actually pretty sure Stiles would have a huge fit over Jackson getting involved with their werewolf business, but according to Lydia he didn’t remember anything so they could ease him in if they wanted to.
“You kids are aware there’s a murderer on the loose, right? So you shouldn’t be out in the woods so late.”
Allison waved the bow. “Hence weapon. And I mean, the boys are kinda capable of handling themselves, so really it just leaves Lydia, and she can scream with the best of them so we’ll be fine.”
Her father did not look amused. “I would really prefer it if you didn’t do that. At least until the killer is caught. Just for your own safety.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure we leave the woods before dark then.”
Her dad opened his mouth, and then shut it, obviously fighting with himself. “Try to stay out of the woods entirely. If you want to practice you can do it in the backyard. I’ll put up the targets and your friends can come over.”
Allison blanched. “Not really ideal, no offense dad.”
“I could always just ground you,” he reminded her and Allison gaped in shock until she saw him give her a smile. “I’m kidding. Mostly. Dinner will be ready soon, so clean up.”
Allison gripped the handle of her bow and continued up the stairs. She was almost positive he had bought the story.
***
Stiles was not looking forward to this full moon. Derek had offered to drive them out to the ocean so they could run around unhunted since the full moon fell on a weekend, but Lydia had shot that down the moment she had heard about it.
“The hunters are going to be on high alert,” she had said while they were out in the woods watching Allison being a complete animal with her bow and arrow. “They’ll notice if someone is missing.”
Danny had agreed with her, and then Allison had spoken up. “A lot of guys have been coming in and out of my dad’s office. I think they are bringing in other hunters for this weekend. I can snoop around if you want.” She had looked right at Derek when she said that, like she knew that Stiles would immediately tell her no. Derek on the other hand, had agreed, because having an in with hunters was a good thing.
Somehow the entire discussion turned into everyone but Stiles and Derek agreeing that they would spend the full moon together, and with Scott, Lydia, Allison and Danny putting their feet down it wasn’t like Stiles and Derek could really argue. Allison had brought up the idea that if her parents thought she was with the entire group, they wouldn’t think anyone was a beta.
“You’re all clinically insane,” Derek had declared as they walked back to their cars. “Leaving out the hunters, my uncle, the alpha? He’ll probably be watching and you guys being with us would be flaunting your ties to us. It will only put you in danger.”
“Or maybe it will protect you,” Lydia had reasoned. “He’ll see you two aren’t alone and you have people to lean on.”
Derek had snorted. “No offense, but my uncle wouldn’t think much of humans taking his place even before the fire, much less now.”
“Who says we’re staying human after you become alpha?”
Stiles had sucked in a breath, because Derek and he had not talked that far ahead. Sure he had a list of pros and cons hidden away in a notebook, and one day he’d found neat handwriting in green ink marking up the page with agreements and disagreements, but they didn’t talk about it.
“You’ll need three betas at least,” Lydia had continued like she hadn’t just stunned both of them, “and it’s better for you to pick from people you trust. Ones you know have your back.”
Derek had looked away from her. “We’ll talk about this after.”
Stiles was sure that Lydia wasn’t going to back down, and Derek and he would need to talk seriously about who they were going to pick to be their betas once this was all said and done.
But the more pressing matter was the fact that he was going to be spending the full moon with people other than Derek. He had known eventually that he would have enough control that he didn’t need to shift, Derek didn’t need it, but it felt too soon. He hadn’t even been a werewolf for six months, he was in no position to be around humans.
It was going to happen though. In about six hours his friends would be over to give him a cover during the full moon.
Stiles was preparing himself by spending the morning with his face buried in Derek’s neck. Since his dad wouldn’t be home Derek was going to be the only thing that would be there to link him to his humanity.
That and he enjoyed it, but Stiles tried not to think about that. He tried not to think about how much their relationship had shifted since the night at the school. They had been sleeping together for a few weeks now, but after the attack it felt different. It was different and Stiles didn’t want to talk just in case he was reading it wrong.
He was pretty he wasn’t though. Stiles had done a lot of research on pack dynamics and while play biting was something that happened, play biting didn’t seem to include doing it while lying in bed for hours on end, hands practically up each other’s shirts.
“What’s with the biting?” Stiles asked as he felt Derek press his teeth against his shoulder.
Derek grunted in lieu of answering and Stiles shut his eyes. In the end it didn’t matter what answer Derek would have given, because Stiles knew anyway. He twisted so he could return the bites. Neither of them were biting too hard, and at points Stiles turned his bites into light sucking, leaving dark red marks for a few moments before they healed.
It just encouraged him to leave more, to try and make them last.
Derek rolled them so he could be on top and Stiles arched his hips so they fit against Derek’s. He was distantly aware of his cock getting hard as he started to rock against Derek, but it wasn’t registering fully. He was too focused on Derek biting harder and longer.
Derek’s hand dropped to Stiles’ waist, forcing him to move how Derek wanted. Stiles gasped into Derek’s shoulder and when he bit down next he knew he did it just a bit harder than he had intended. He tasted blood for a moment, and he licked the wound until it had healed over.
Stiles heard Derek moan, and he turned his head, pressing his cheek against Stiles’ as he picked up the rhythm of his hips.
Their panting filled up the room. Stiles could feel the wolf right at the surface but he didn’t need to push it back. Derek would be able to handle him. Derek wouldn’t mind if Stiles’ claws came out or if he shifted.
Hell, it might happen to Derek too, and Stiles was okay with that.
Stiles let out a whimper as he felt Derek’s hips stutter to a stop, but there was no scent of release that flooded the room. Stiles whined and tried to move his hips so Derek would start again. He was so close, his cock was aching in his pajama pants and it wouldn’t take much more for him to come.
Derek held his hips still.
“Someone’s at the door,” he whispered.
Stiles’ eyes popped open. “Are you fucking kidding me?” And as if to prove Derek right the doorbell rang. Stiles groaned, reaching for his phone so he could yell at whoever had shown up early. It was just past noon, no one should be here.
“It’s not one of them,” Derek said, holding Stiles’ arm.
Stiles looked at him for a moment, and then actually tried to calm himself down enough so that way he could smell more than just Derek and himself. It took a moment for him recognize the scent, and he only could make a guess because it smelled like Allison and man, which meant it could only really be one person.
Chris Argent rang the front door again and Stiles scrambled out of bed, because his jeep was in the driveway so it was obvious someone was home. He gave Derek a half thumbs up and decided to try for casual as he ran down the stairs. He had faced the alpha, he could handle one hunter. A hunter who probably wasn’t even after him.
He opened the door and pasted on his most teenagery smile. “Can I help you?” Chris’ face broke out into a slow smile, but he was taking too long to answer and Stiles knew he needed to get his act just right. “Are you looking for my dad? Cause he’s totally on shift until like, ever, but I can take a note. Or something. And have him get back to you?”
“There’s no need for that. I was looking for you, actually.”
Stiles blinked and he felt his heartbeat pick up. He heard Derek shift upstairs, probably listening to everything just to make sure Stiles was okay.
“Is everything okay?” He heard Derek whisper, and Stiles forced his heart to slow down so Derek would know he was alright.
“Oh. Me? Uh, what for? I’m totally not old enough to answer anything legally.”
Chris gave him a faint smile. “Sorry. I forgot we’ve never been introduced. I’m Mr. Argent, Allison’s father.”
Stiles let out a loud breath. “You are aware that I am not the one dating Allison so any condoms that you may or may not have found in Allison’s trash can, totally Scott’s fault, not mine.”
He closed his eyes in frustration because that was totally not what he had meant to say, but it got the desired reaction out of Chris, which was for him to drop the game face he had been wearing for something actually genuine.
“What? No. I’m here to talk to you about what happened last week.”
“Last week? Oh, you mean at the school?” Stiles patted the back of his head. “Wow, yeah. That was a crazy night. You are probably super pissed about that.”
“Well, that’s one way to put it. I’m trying to understand what happened. Allison didn’t really want to talk about it, and I was just curious what you thought had gone down. I’ve already spoken to your friends, Danny and Lydia. Scott, of course, I was going to talk ask later tonight when he came over for dinner.”
Stiles laughed awkwardly, leaning against the doorframe. “Awkward. You know I was just joking about that whole sex thing. I’m sure he and Allison have totally abstained.”
Chris didn’t look amused. “Could you just tell me a little about what went on? For my own peace of mind.”
Stiles shrugged. “Not really sure what to say. I mean. I told my dad everything. Had to.”
Chris nodded. “For the police statement about Derek Hale’s sister right?”
Stiles narrowed his eyes. He’d assumed the hunters knew about this, but he hadn’t expected Chris to show his hand. “I didn’t think that information had been released to the public.”
“What can I say? Concerned citizens can find out things.”
“So you admit to breaking into police records?” Stiles asked.
Chris at least had the smarts to look sheepish. “I merely asked around and got vague confirmation. So you’re close to Derek Hale?”
Stiles crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t think I want to answer these questions and there’s not a lot you can do to make me.”
“Stiles,” Chris said his name like he had been practicing. “That’s your name right?”
Stiles shrugged. “Is it? Dude, you’re the one who came here asking questions. I figured you’d know who you were asking.”
“Listen. I’m just concerned. My daughter was put in danger and I just want answers. No one has been able to give me any.”
Stiles arched an eyebrow. He was unimpressed. “Dude, there’s nothing to tell. We were locked in a classroom the whole time.”
“Why did Derek lock you in the classroom?”
“Uh, probably because there was a murderer on the loose and he has like, a brain the size of a walnut so he thought he could be a hero?”
Stiles was glad to see Chris’ face break for a moment at that description. “You’re friends with Derek, then?”
“You already asked that.”
“And you haven’t answered.”
Stiles huffed, and made a big show about shuffling his feet before he finally answered. “We’ve hung out a few times. You seem to be more interested in him, though, so why don’t you bother him?”
He watched Chris’ face, waiting for a sign that he was going to snap. Chris grinned tightly. “He never seems to be home.” Stiles snorted, unable to stop himself. “If you’d rather I talk to him maybe you could tell me where he is? Since you two are so close.”
Stiles held up his hands. “You keep saying we are close, but this is so not true.”
“Then why have you been helping him?”
Stiles took a deep breath and when he let it out he tried to sound like Chris was finally getting someone. “Derek and I kinda knew each other before he left. So I don’t know dude, just - he obviously didn’t have anyone and he needed help.”
He watched as Chris reacted to his lie, and it looked like it was working. Stiles smiled inwardly, this was it, make Chris think he was getting somewhere, that Stiles was cracking and giving away the truth.
“You did some pretty illegal things for someone who was just a friend.”
“I have a crush on him, okay?”
That seemed to trip Chris up. “You have a crush on him?”
“Oh my god why does this surprise anyone?” Stiles asked, because seriously, if neither of them were aware of the whole werewolf thing it would make sense. It had been what his dad had thought. “Yes, have you seen him? Of course I like him, is this a crime?”
Chris had the smarts enough to look sheepish, and Stiles was mildly surprised he was buying this. “I think in this state it is.”
“I have been made aware by my father, thanks.” Stiles leaned heavily against the doorframe. “Is there anything else you want to know, or is my hopeless crush on my friend enough to satisfy your parental needs?”
Chris shook his head and he was, wow, he was actually relaxed. He didn’t see Stiles as a threat. “No I’m, I’m sorry. I was just worried about what could have gone on. You do know it’s strange, hanging out with people older than you. It would have a lot of people curious about what was going on.”
Stiles shrugged a little. “Yeah, well. Not like anything will come of it, so. Let’s just not talk about this.”
Chris nodded and stuck his hand out, before he realized that probably wasn’t a good idea and dropped it. “It was nice talking to you, Stiles.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles muttered, and gave a jaunty wave as Chris stepped away from the house. He waited until Chris was in his car before he backed up and shut the door.
Derek was at the bottom of the stairs, face white in fear, when Stiles turned around and it only took a beat before Stiles was wrapped up in his arms again.
“I’m fine,” Stiles assured him, but Derek’s heart was still pounding and Stiles didn’t know how to calm him down except to keep holding him until he felt better.
Derek lifted his head from Stiles’ shoulder after a moment and kissed him on the lips briefly. “Do you think he bought it?” Derek asked.
Stiles blinked, a little dazed from the unexpected kiss, but then he nodded. “Yeah. I think. At the end he seemed a little thrown.”
Derek was still shaking a little, but his heart wasn’t racing anymore. He kissed Stiles again, and this time Stiles was expecting it so he was able to respond instead of just receiving.
“We’re going to be fine,” Stiles reminded him. “Now I need to send Allison a text telling her we conquered her father, and then we are going back to bed, okay?”
Derek didn’t looked pale anymore and it made Stiles feel better. He didn’t like Derek worrying about him, there had been enough of that already. Stiles leaned over for one more kiss before they headed upstairs.
***
Derek woke up in bed alone. Stiles’ side, if you could really call it that, was cool, but it still smelled like him. Like them. It was strange how comforting that had become, except maybe it shouldn’t have been. They were moving faster than Derek had wanted to. He’d planned on them establishing the pack first before they focused on what they want, but it wasn’t bad. They were adults. They were allowed to choose this, and their pack would be stronger for it.
He mushed his face in the pillow, taking a deep breath. The weekend had not been the relaxing time they had hoped. Allison had come over early after hearing her father was interrogating her friends, and apparently she had made a big deal about it, throwing it in his face about who she was seeing. Derek hadn’t thought it was the smartest move, but later that night when the group of teens had returned from parading a human Stiles around downtown they had been pleased to announce that there had been three separate hunters looking at them.
Then Derek had been the one to go out, and had immediately picked up a tail after visiting his old apartment. He let the tail stay on him for a while before he thought he had proven he was officially alone. Then he had headed back home, and back to bed with Stiles.
Sunday had been no better. Peter had called them early in the morning and they’d had to run almost fifty miles before he let them catch him. It had seemed pointless, but he called it pack bonding.
“Not that you two seem to need it,” he’d said with a smirk.
Derek was about to roll out of bed and shower when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He froze. He had learned the tread of the sheriff’s steps in the month he had been hiding at Stiles’ house. He listened for a moment, trying to judge where the sheriff was going before he moved anywhere. The sheriff had been pretty good about not entering Stiles’ room, and most days Derek could hide out in Stiles’ room while he was at school without fear of being caught.
He still let out a sigh of relief when the sheriff carried right on past the door. Derek waited a few more minutes, but it sounded like the sheriff was here for good today. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to shower.
Derek got up anyway, and got dressed before he leapt out of window.
He was eighty miles out of Beacon Hills when Stiles called.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” he asked as he compared two different canned soups, trying to see which one had less sodium so Stiles’ dad could eat it.
“I got kicked out.”
Derek put the soup down. “Why?”
“Hell if I know. I walked in, Harris took one look at me and was all be gone. I think my dad spoke to him last night. Anyway, now I’m sitting in in-school suspension, and Senora Barton didn’t really care cause she loves me, so she just left me here unsupervised.” Derek shook his head, finally settling on a soup and putting it in his cart. “So what are you doing? I think my dad is off this morning, especially if he was chasing leads all night.”
“Grocery shopping.”
“In town?”
Derek rolled his eyes, though it didn’t benefit anyone. “No, do I look stupid? I’m up near Redding and some town had a knock off Safeway so I figured it’s as good as any.”
“Oh okay.” Derek kept pushing his cart down the aisle while he listened to Stiles breathe.
He was in the cereal aisle when Stiles finally spoke again. “Are we going to talk about this thing?”
“Do we need to?”
He could hear Stiles lick his lips through the phone. “I’m just worried this is going too fast. I know you’re like super anti-relationship.”
Derek pushed back the thought of Kate. There was no reason to mention that ever. It was in the past, and he had moved on. “It’s fine Stiles. This. This is okay.”
“Okay,” Stiles whispered back. “That’s good.”
“Yes. Now do you want Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries or peaches?”
“Strawberries,” Stiles said immediately and Derek grabbed the box and put it in the cart. Derek heard him about to speak when there was a commotion in the background, which culminated in Stiles going “Lydia! What are you doing here?”
Derek heard Lydia’s response over the phone. “The lab was boring, and as adorable as Scott and Allison are, working with them makes me want to stab myself with my pen, so I lit Harris’ tie on fire.”
Derek face palmed, even as Stiles and Lydia continued talking. “No way! I didn’t even know we were using bunsen burners. Man, I miss all the cool labs.”
“Relax,” Lydia said. “We weren’t. I just made fire.”
That didn’t surprise Derek and he continued to listen as he reached to the top shelf for a little old lady.
“You terrify me sometimes.”
“As I should. Now is that Derek? I want to talk to him.”
Derek could hear a brief scuffle over the phone, and Stiles complaining as Lydia apparently stepped on his foot.
“Derek?” Lydia asked and Derek grabbed some milk as he grunted. “This is your daily reminder that you need to erase your phone history.”
“Is this why you skipped class?” Derek asked.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since you took chemistry, but I can guarantee they have not updated since at least our parents were in school because this is so unbelievably boring.”
“I highly doubt it. And maybe you should actually pay attention so that this way when you try to make me an explosive it actually explodes.”
Lydia huffed over the phone as Stiles let out a triumphant laugh. “I blame Jackson, speaking of!” Derek heard a distant thud. “Jackson is coming home on Wednesday. We need to figure out if we’re telling him or not.”
“No,” Stiles said firmly, and Derek had to agree. The group that was involved was enough.
He heard Lydia sniff. “Fine. Danny and I will think up something.”
Derek listened as Stiles’ phone traded hands and Stiles came back on the line. “Sorry about that.”
Derek grunted in response, grabbing bread before heading to the checkout. “Is there anything else you think we need?”
“Did you buy all the green vegetables?”
Derek took a look at the cart, spotting the lettuce and a few other greens. “Enough.”
“How domestic,” Lydia muttered in the background. “Don’t forget to wipe your phone!” She called.
Derek rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you at home, okay, Stiles?”
“Yup, have a safe drive back,” Stiles said before hanging up. Derek looked down at the call log before going into his settings and deleting his call record the way Danny had shown him.
Derek didn’t mind Danny now that he and Stiles weren’t together, though it was obvious that the boy had issues with him. He was getting over it. Maybe Allison had been onto something when she had cheerfully announced that the truth had brought them all closer together. Derek had initially worried about tension between Danny and Stiles, but they were doing okay. Better than anyone had expected.
Derek packed the groceries in his car and glanced at the time on his phone. He had a few hours to get back home, but it probably hadn’t been the smartest move to buy milk when he had a long trip back, but hopefully it wouldn’t expire in the hour and a half it would take him to get home.
He took the interstate as far as he could before he got off and started on the back roads. About fifteen miles out of town Derek had turned on his CD player and was listening to that stupid CD Stiles had put in his car as a joke, but Derek had never removed because he ended up liking it.
He was even singing along to the lyrics, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel while the lead singer purred about how she got off on you, getting off on her. He was in a good mood, the day was looking up. And of course that’s right when the pickup with a snowplow attachment slammed into the side of his car.
Derek felt himself lose control of the car as it flipped into the woods. It rolled over three times, the car denting around him with each spin and Derek’s arms shot out as he tried to stop himself from going with it. The groceries were a lost cause, the milk exploding around him, but the seatbelt did its job and kept him safe, even though he heard his arm snap.
He howled in pain.
The car stopped when it crashed against a tree. All in all it must have been thirty seconds at most, but Derek felt like he had been spinning for longer. The car was upside down and even though he knew it would suck he had to undo his seatbelt so he could get out and see what dumbass hit him.
He managed to get his seatbelt undone and he slumped against the roof. He whimpered when he tried to move his arm, but he knew it would only be a few minutes before it healed. He should probably make sure it was set correctly, or else it would heal wonky.
His senses were in overdrive and he felt himself wolf out. He tried to pull it back because whoever hit him probably see that. Derek heard footsteps coming to the car, but he wasn’t sharp enough to know how many people were coming to his rescue.
“Get that door open,” a sharp feminine voice ordered. Derek whimpered again. Kate’s voice. “He won’t be dead but a wounded werewolf is still dangerous.”
Derek let his instincts take over because now he knew this wasn’t an accident. He could fight. He should fight.
He tensed up, ready to lunge, broken arm and all, when the door was pried open.
He got pushed back.
They had been prepared for him and electricity shot through his body.
Derek collapsed back against the other door, and blacked out.
TBC
Everyone was staring at them on Monday. Allison had assumed it would get out eventually, but from the looks she was getting she could only begin to imagine what story was going around. It didn’t matter in the end though, because when she sat down at lunch Lydia, Stiles and Danny all pretended like they couldn’t hear anything being said, and she knew at least Stiles was capable of hearing everything.
It gave her the strength to keep her back straight and ignore the whispers and looks and just focus on their group.
“So are you going to tell us what happened at the hospital or am I going to have to start with some torture?” Lydia asked Stiles as they all leaned in to the center of the table so no one would overhear them.
He frowned. “I really don’t want you guys involved in this.”
“Tough shit,” Danny said. “Did you find the alpha?”
Allison watched Stiles’ face contort before he finally gave in and nodded. “We did.”
“And?” Scott asked. “Who was it? They didn’t hurt my mom so I mean that’s good.”
Stiles closed his eyes in frustration. “Listen. You guys really shouldn’t be a part of this. Derek and I have this under control.”
“Uh, I beg to differ,” Lydia said, holding up Stiles’ phone.
Allison couldn’t stop herself from letting out a laugh at Stiles’ face as he checked his pockets to see if she really had swiped it. He stared at her. “How? When?”
“Chemistry class.” Lydia pursed her lips. “You think I would volunteer to be your lab partner for any old reason? I had ulterior motives, and some of those were to see how good you two were at hiding, and the answer is not at all.”
“Hey!” Stiles said, reaching across the table and snatching his phone back.
“I’m serious, Stiles,” Lydia said in a hushed whisper. “Do you need to save every text from Derek? Did you need to label him with his actual name? What do you think would happen if someone got a hold of your phone? You two named the alpha in your texts this morning. Would you want the hunters to find out who he was?”
Allison looked from Lydia to Stiles, confused. “Wait. What’s wrong with the hunters finding out who the alpha is? That just means they’ll take him out right? That’s their job.”
Lydia gave Allison a look. “Because that’s not Stiles and Derek’s game plan, is it?”
Stiles slumped down in his seat, but he didn’t say anything.
Scott looked hurt. “Why did you tell Lydia your plan when I didn’t even know you had a plan? I’ve been with you since the beginning!”
“I didn’t tell Lydia anything,” Stiles muttered. “She’s just got a big head and thinks just because she’s read some stupid texts she knows complex pack dynamics.”
Lydia snorted. “Oh please, it’s hardly complex. You only need to watch a pack of puppies for a few minutes to figure out how it works.” She looked at everyone else, and dropped her voice as she spoke. “Derek needs to be the one to kill the alpha. If he does that then he’ll become the alpha, and he and Stiles can establish themselves as a small pack, and if they don’t cause any problems, theoretically no hunters will bother them.” She shot Stiles a look for confirmation, which Stiles gave with a nod of his head.
Danny let out a low whistle. “That’s a little morbid.”
“It’s the only way,” Stiles muttered. “The alpha, he’s completely out of his mind. He killed his own niece and has absolutely no remorse for it. He claims it was for the better, because at least that way he was able to heal. He’s the one who committed the murders that have been happening, those animal attacks? He won’t tell us why, mostly because he doesn’t trust us.”
“I wonder why,” Lydia muttered. “I mean, you two have been trying to kill him. I’m surprised he’s even accepted you.”
“He needs them,” Danny reminded her. “An alpha needs a pack, just like betas do.”
Stiles pointed to Danny. “Exactly. And we’re playing nice. Or at least, as nice as we can. We somehow managed to talk our way into a situation where he thinks we’re going to be semi-cooperative now that we know who he is, as opposed to before when we had no idea who to answer to. Derek did some fast talking, brought up some old memories, and I guess the guy isn’t completely gone because he might even have softened a bit.”
“Derek knows the alpha?” Allison asked, mouth a little dry. She was a mix of emotions right now, adrenaline rushing through her veins at the talk of what was going on, and apprehension because she didn’t know where it would all lead.
Stiles nodded, looking at his lunch forlornly. “The alpha is his uncle. Peter. Hence the whole he killed his niece. Laura. Derek’s sister.”
Scott blew out a loud breath. “Talk about awkward family reunions.”
Stiles cracked a smile and punched Scott gently in the shoulder. “That’s my line, buddy.”
Scott rubbed his shoulder as he laughed. “I’m just saying.”
“So you think the alpha knows you two are plotting something?” Danny asked, looking at Stiles.
“Probably, but like you said. Nothing he can do. We all need each other. It’s the great circle of life.”
A silence fell over the table after that comment as they continued to at least try and eat their lunches. As lunch drew closer to ending Allison finally got up the nerve to ask the question she’d been wanting to ask.
“What happens after?” She tried to sound confident when she spoke but she wasn’t sure it came through. “After we win?” She looked at Stiles, who let out a big sigh.
“We’ve been trying not to think that far ahead,” Stiles finally said. “But it’ll definitely be better than this situation.”
The bell rang and Lydia stood up, giving everyone a short wave. “We’ll see you guys tomorrow,” she pointed a finger at Stiles. “Wipe your phone and tell Derek to do the same or else I’m coming and doing it for him.”
Stiles nodded absently as Allison arched an eyebrow. “Where are you two going?”
“Jackson is out of surgery and he might be conscious soon, so we’re heading down to the hospital in Sacramento to see him,” Danny reminded him.
“It’s also damage control,” Lydia said patiently, smiling at them sweetly. “If he wakes up and tries to say anything to expose you I’m going to smother him with a pillow until he learns better.”
Danny laughed and steered Lydia by the shoulders out of the cafeteria, leaving Allison with just Scott and Stiles. Scott watched them leave and then turned to the two of them. “I feel like Lydia has gotten scarier since finding out, or is that just me?”
Stiles slung his backpack over his shoulder. “If I had known she was this homicidal I would have gotten over my crush a long time ago.”
Allison covered her mouth with her hand. “I think she’s just finally getting comfortable enough with us to show who she really is. It’s a good sign!”
“Yeah sure,” Stiles muttered, giving the two of them a wave. “See you guys later.”
Allison shuffled her feet after him, grabbing Scott and placing a quick kiss on his cheek as she passed him, before hurrying up because she didn’t want to lose Stiles. “Hey, Stiles! Wait up.”
He turned to her with an impatient look on her face, waiting for Allison to catch up with him. “What’s up?”
She clasped her hands together in front her body as they started heading towards Stiles’ locker. “I had a question for you. A couple actually, but most of them can wait.” Stiles made a go on gesture as he started to open his locker. “Well, I am planning on going into the woods to practice some archery today and I wanted to know if you thought it would be safe.”
Stiles gave her a look. “It should? The alpha shouldn’t bother you. Why are you practicing anyway? I didn’t know you did archery, and then Lydia mentioned it yesterday.”
“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk to you about.” Allison took a deep breath. “It’s to help you guys.”
Stiles slammed his locker as the warning bell went off. “No.”
Allison’s face dropped. “Excuse me?”
“No. You aren’t getting more involved with this business, Allison.” He stalked off and Allison chased after him, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcing him to turn. She knew he was letting her do it, but it still meant he was willing to listen.
“I don’t just mean for the alpha, Stiles. I mean after, too. Think about how useful it would be to have someone with an in to hunters as a friend. An ally.”
The final bell for class rang and Stiles looked around the empty hallway in frustration. Allison wouldn’t let this conversation end though, and she grabbed him by the forearm, dragging him towards one of the lesser used hallways in the school so they could finish talking.
“Allison. Let go.” He shook his head free. “This conversation is over. You can go into the woods, and you’ll be safe, especially if you’re with Scott because he’s pack and so if he’s within five miles of me I’ll know if something happens to him, but you can not get more involved with this.”
Allison laughed, because her other option was getting upset and she refused to get angry over this. “Stiles, I already am. And I just want to help. If I had known that night, and had a bow and arrow, I could have helped you and Derek.” She bit her lip in frustration. “Lydia and Danny are good for research, and Scott was the one who kept Jackson from serious harm, but I could have been fighting alongside you two, and we would have won.”
She watched a bunch of emotions play over Stiles’ face until he finally spoke. “The alpha is our fight, Allison.” Her shoulders dropped. “But, and I’ll need to talk Derek, after. You can help with things that come after, because then we’ll be a stronger pack and Derek and I will be able to protect you better.”
Allison let that sink in for a minute before she broke into a huge smile. It hadn’t been said in so many words, but she was sure that was an offer of an alliance. She’d read about those when she studied her family’s history, and they were normally shaky at best, but this was different. She wasn’t a hunter, just the kid of a hunter. They wouldn’t play by the same rules, and they would be better for it.
“Thank you,” she said, shuffling forward and wrapping Stiles in a hug.
He returned the hug until they heard a discreet cough. They broke the hug to see the vice principal standing right beside them. They both jumped and Allison saw Stiles looking for a way out.
“Get to class, you two.” He said shooing them off. “Of else I’m going to have to write you up.”
Allison let out a breath, and Stiles saluted before they both took off for their classrooms.
Her dad was cooking dinner by the time she got back from the woods. The last few days had been invigorating as she rediscovered her form. Monday her accuracy had been a little off, but by this afternoon every shot struck exactly where she was aiming for.
Even Derek had seemed impressed, and it had shown on his face. She knew she’d never wear Stiles down on his stance about her helping kill the alpha, but she might stand a chance with Derek.
“Hey daddy,” Allison called, heading up the stairs to change.
He stuck his head out of the kitchen, and whatever he was about to say was cut off by the look of surprise on his face. He recomposed himself quickly though. “Hey Allison, where were you?”
Allison shrugged, going for nonchalant. She had been planning for this moment all week. “Out in the woods,” she kept going even her father’s face tightened, “with my friends. I told Lydia about the archery and she wanted to see it for herself.” She gave her dad a huge smile. “She even tried to fire my practice bow today.” Which had been a failure of epic proportions, in all honesty.
Her father looked confused. “I see. Who were you with?”
“Just the normal group. Scott, Lydia, Danny and Stiles. Once Jackson recovers he might start coming along.” Allison was actually pretty sure Stiles would have a huge fit over Jackson getting involved with their werewolf business, but according to Lydia he didn’t remember anything so they could ease him in if they wanted to.
“You kids are aware there’s a murderer on the loose, right? So you shouldn’t be out in the woods so late.”
Allison waved the bow. “Hence weapon. And I mean, the boys are kinda capable of handling themselves, so really it just leaves Lydia, and she can scream with the best of them so we’ll be fine.”
Her father did not look amused. “I would really prefer it if you didn’t do that. At least until the killer is caught. Just for your own safety.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure we leave the woods before dark then.”
Her dad opened his mouth, and then shut it, obviously fighting with himself. “Try to stay out of the woods entirely. If you want to practice you can do it in the backyard. I’ll put up the targets and your friends can come over.”
Allison blanched. “Not really ideal, no offense dad.”
“I could always just ground you,” he reminded her and Allison gaped in shock until she saw him give her a smile. “I’m kidding. Mostly. Dinner will be ready soon, so clean up.”
Allison gripped the handle of her bow and continued up the stairs. She was almost positive he had bought the story.
***
Stiles was not looking forward to this full moon. Derek had offered to drive them out to the ocean so they could run around unhunted since the full moon fell on a weekend, but Lydia had shot that down the moment she had heard about it.
“The hunters are going to be on high alert,” she had said while they were out in the woods watching Allison being a complete animal with her bow and arrow. “They’ll notice if someone is missing.”
Danny had agreed with her, and then Allison had spoken up. “A lot of guys have been coming in and out of my dad’s office. I think they are bringing in other hunters for this weekend. I can snoop around if you want.” She had looked right at Derek when she said that, like she knew that Stiles would immediately tell her no. Derek on the other hand, had agreed, because having an in with hunters was a good thing.
Somehow the entire discussion turned into everyone but Stiles and Derek agreeing that they would spend the full moon together, and with Scott, Lydia, Allison and Danny putting their feet down it wasn’t like Stiles and Derek could really argue. Allison had brought up the idea that if her parents thought she was with the entire group, they wouldn’t think anyone was a beta.
“You’re all clinically insane,” Derek had declared as they walked back to their cars. “Leaving out the hunters, my uncle, the alpha? He’ll probably be watching and you guys being with us would be flaunting your ties to us. It will only put you in danger.”
“Or maybe it will protect you,” Lydia had reasoned. “He’ll see you two aren’t alone and you have people to lean on.”
Derek had snorted. “No offense, but my uncle wouldn’t think much of humans taking his place even before the fire, much less now.”
“Who says we’re staying human after you become alpha?”
Stiles had sucked in a breath, because Derek and he had not talked that far ahead. Sure he had a list of pros and cons hidden away in a notebook, and one day he’d found neat handwriting in green ink marking up the page with agreements and disagreements, but they didn’t talk about it.
“You’ll need three betas at least,” Lydia had continued like she hadn’t just stunned both of them, “and it’s better for you to pick from people you trust. Ones you know have your back.”
Derek had looked away from her. “We’ll talk about this after.”
Stiles was sure that Lydia wasn’t going to back down, and Derek and he would need to talk seriously about who they were going to pick to be their betas once this was all said and done.
But the more pressing matter was the fact that he was going to be spending the full moon with people other than Derek. He had known eventually that he would have enough control that he didn’t need to shift, Derek didn’t need it, but it felt too soon. He hadn’t even been a werewolf for six months, he was in no position to be around humans.
It was going to happen though. In about six hours his friends would be over to give him a cover during the full moon.
Stiles was preparing himself by spending the morning with his face buried in Derek’s neck. Since his dad wouldn’t be home Derek was going to be the only thing that would be there to link him to his humanity.
That and he enjoyed it, but Stiles tried not to think about that. He tried not to think about how much their relationship had shifted since the night at the school. They had been sleeping together for a few weeks now, but after the attack it felt different. It was different and Stiles didn’t want to talk just in case he was reading it wrong.
He was pretty he wasn’t though. Stiles had done a lot of research on pack dynamics and while play biting was something that happened, play biting didn’t seem to include doing it while lying in bed for hours on end, hands practically up each other’s shirts.
“What’s with the biting?” Stiles asked as he felt Derek press his teeth against his shoulder.
Derek grunted in lieu of answering and Stiles shut his eyes. In the end it didn’t matter what answer Derek would have given, because Stiles knew anyway. He twisted so he could return the bites. Neither of them were biting too hard, and at points Stiles turned his bites into light sucking, leaving dark red marks for a few moments before they healed.
It just encouraged him to leave more, to try and make them last.
Derek rolled them so he could be on top and Stiles arched his hips so they fit against Derek’s. He was distantly aware of his cock getting hard as he started to rock against Derek, but it wasn’t registering fully. He was too focused on Derek biting harder and longer.
Derek’s hand dropped to Stiles’ waist, forcing him to move how Derek wanted. Stiles gasped into Derek’s shoulder and when he bit down next he knew he did it just a bit harder than he had intended. He tasted blood for a moment, and he licked the wound until it had healed over.
Stiles heard Derek moan, and he turned his head, pressing his cheek against Stiles’ as he picked up the rhythm of his hips.
Their panting filled up the room. Stiles could feel the wolf right at the surface but he didn’t need to push it back. Derek would be able to handle him. Derek wouldn’t mind if Stiles’ claws came out or if he shifted.
Hell, it might happen to Derek too, and Stiles was okay with that.
Stiles let out a whimper as he felt Derek’s hips stutter to a stop, but there was no scent of release that flooded the room. Stiles whined and tried to move his hips so Derek would start again. He was so close, his cock was aching in his pajama pants and it wouldn’t take much more for him to come.
Derek held his hips still.
“Someone’s at the door,” he whispered.
Stiles’ eyes popped open. “Are you fucking kidding me?” And as if to prove Derek right the doorbell rang. Stiles groaned, reaching for his phone so he could yell at whoever had shown up early. It was just past noon, no one should be here.
“It’s not one of them,” Derek said, holding Stiles’ arm.
Stiles looked at him for a moment, and then actually tried to calm himself down enough so that way he could smell more than just Derek and himself. It took a moment for him recognize the scent, and he only could make a guess because it smelled like Allison and man, which meant it could only really be one person.
Chris Argent rang the front door again and Stiles scrambled out of bed, because his jeep was in the driveway so it was obvious someone was home. He gave Derek a half thumbs up and decided to try for casual as he ran down the stairs. He had faced the alpha, he could handle one hunter. A hunter who probably wasn’t even after him.
He opened the door and pasted on his most teenagery smile. “Can I help you?” Chris’ face broke out into a slow smile, but he was taking too long to answer and Stiles knew he needed to get his act just right. “Are you looking for my dad? Cause he’s totally on shift until like, ever, but I can take a note. Or something. And have him get back to you?”
“There’s no need for that. I was looking for you, actually.”
Stiles blinked and he felt his heartbeat pick up. He heard Derek shift upstairs, probably listening to everything just to make sure Stiles was okay.
“Is everything okay?” He heard Derek whisper, and Stiles forced his heart to slow down so Derek would know he was alright.
“Oh. Me? Uh, what for? I’m totally not old enough to answer anything legally.”
Chris gave him a faint smile. “Sorry. I forgot we’ve never been introduced. I’m Mr. Argent, Allison’s father.”
Stiles let out a loud breath. “You are aware that I am not the one dating Allison so any condoms that you may or may not have found in Allison’s trash can, totally Scott’s fault, not mine.”
He closed his eyes in frustration because that was totally not what he had meant to say, but it got the desired reaction out of Chris, which was for him to drop the game face he had been wearing for something actually genuine.
“What? No. I’m here to talk to you about what happened last week.”
“Last week? Oh, you mean at the school?” Stiles patted the back of his head. “Wow, yeah. That was a crazy night. You are probably super pissed about that.”
“Well, that’s one way to put it. I’m trying to understand what happened. Allison didn’t really want to talk about it, and I was just curious what you thought had gone down. I’ve already spoken to your friends, Danny and Lydia. Scott, of course, I was going to talk ask later tonight when he came over for dinner.”
Stiles laughed awkwardly, leaning against the doorframe. “Awkward. You know I was just joking about that whole sex thing. I’m sure he and Allison have totally abstained.”
Chris didn’t look amused. “Could you just tell me a little about what went on? For my own peace of mind.”
Stiles shrugged. “Not really sure what to say. I mean. I told my dad everything. Had to.”
Chris nodded. “For the police statement about Derek Hale’s sister right?”
Stiles narrowed his eyes. He’d assumed the hunters knew about this, but he hadn’t expected Chris to show his hand. “I didn’t think that information had been released to the public.”
“What can I say? Concerned citizens can find out things.”
“So you admit to breaking into police records?” Stiles asked.
Chris at least had the smarts to look sheepish. “I merely asked around and got vague confirmation. So you’re close to Derek Hale?”
Stiles crossed his arms in front of his chest. “I don’t think I want to answer these questions and there’s not a lot you can do to make me.”
“Stiles,” Chris said his name like he had been practicing. “That’s your name right?”
Stiles shrugged. “Is it? Dude, you’re the one who came here asking questions. I figured you’d know who you were asking.”
“Listen. I’m just concerned. My daughter was put in danger and I just want answers. No one has been able to give me any.”
Stiles arched an eyebrow. He was unimpressed. “Dude, there’s nothing to tell. We were locked in a classroom the whole time.”
“Why did Derek lock you in the classroom?”
“Uh, probably because there was a murderer on the loose and he has like, a brain the size of a walnut so he thought he could be a hero?”
Stiles was glad to see Chris’ face break for a moment at that description. “You’re friends with Derek, then?”
“You already asked that.”
“And you haven’t answered.”
Stiles huffed, and made a big show about shuffling his feet before he finally answered. “We’ve hung out a few times. You seem to be more interested in him, though, so why don’t you bother him?”
He watched Chris’ face, waiting for a sign that he was going to snap. Chris grinned tightly. “He never seems to be home.” Stiles snorted, unable to stop himself. “If you’d rather I talk to him maybe you could tell me where he is? Since you two are so close.”
Stiles held up his hands. “You keep saying we are close, but this is so not true.”
“Then why have you been helping him?”
Stiles took a deep breath and when he let it out he tried to sound like Chris was finally getting someone. “Derek and I kinda knew each other before he left. So I don’t know dude, just - he obviously didn’t have anyone and he needed help.”
He watched as Chris reacted to his lie, and it looked like it was working. Stiles smiled inwardly, this was it, make Chris think he was getting somewhere, that Stiles was cracking and giving away the truth.
“You did some pretty illegal things for someone who was just a friend.”
“I have a crush on him, okay?”
That seemed to trip Chris up. “You have a crush on him?”
“Oh my god why does this surprise anyone?” Stiles asked, because seriously, if neither of them were aware of the whole werewolf thing it would make sense. It had been what his dad had thought. “Yes, have you seen him? Of course I like him, is this a crime?”
Chris had the smarts enough to look sheepish, and Stiles was mildly surprised he was buying this. “I think in this state it is.”
“I have been made aware by my father, thanks.” Stiles leaned heavily against the doorframe. “Is there anything else you want to know, or is my hopeless crush on my friend enough to satisfy your parental needs?”
Chris shook his head and he was, wow, he was actually relaxed. He didn’t see Stiles as a threat. “No I’m, I’m sorry. I was just worried about what could have gone on. You do know it’s strange, hanging out with people older than you. It would have a lot of people curious about what was going on.”
Stiles shrugged a little. “Yeah, well. Not like anything will come of it, so. Let’s just not talk about this.”
Chris nodded and stuck his hand out, before he realized that probably wasn’t a good idea and dropped it. “It was nice talking to you, Stiles.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Stiles muttered, and gave a jaunty wave as Chris stepped away from the house. He waited until Chris was in his car before he backed up and shut the door.
Derek was at the bottom of the stairs, face white in fear, when Stiles turned around and it only took a beat before Stiles was wrapped up in his arms again.
“I’m fine,” Stiles assured him, but Derek’s heart was still pounding and Stiles didn’t know how to calm him down except to keep holding him until he felt better.
Derek lifted his head from Stiles’ shoulder after a moment and kissed him on the lips briefly. “Do you think he bought it?” Derek asked.
Stiles blinked, a little dazed from the unexpected kiss, but then he nodded. “Yeah. I think. At the end he seemed a little thrown.”
Derek was still shaking a little, but his heart wasn’t racing anymore. He kissed Stiles again, and this time Stiles was expecting it so he was able to respond instead of just receiving.
“We’re going to be fine,” Stiles reminded him. “Now I need to send Allison a text telling her we conquered her father, and then we are going back to bed, okay?”
Derek didn’t looked pale anymore and it made Stiles feel better. He didn’t like Derek worrying about him, there had been enough of that already. Stiles leaned over for one more kiss before they headed upstairs.
***
Derek woke up in bed alone. Stiles’ side, if you could really call it that, was cool, but it still smelled like him. Like them. It was strange how comforting that had become, except maybe it shouldn’t have been. They were moving faster than Derek had wanted to. He’d planned on them establishing the pack first before they focused on what they want, but it wasn’t bad. They were adults. They were allowed to choose this, and their pack would be stronger for it.
He mushed his face in the pillow, taking a deep breath. The weekend had not been the relaxing time they had hoped. Allison had come over early after hearing her father was interrogating her friends, and apparently she had made a big deal about it, throwing it in his face about who she was seeing. Derek hadn’t thought it was the smartest move, but later that night when the group of teens had returned from parading a human Stiles around downtown they had been pleased to announce that there had been three separate hunters looking at them.
Then Derek had been the one to go out, and had immediately picked up a tail after visiting his old apartment. He let the tail stay on him for a while before he thought he had proven he was officially alone. Then he had headed back home, and back to bed with Stiles.
Sunday had been no better. Peter had called them early in the morning and they’d had to run almost fifty miles before he let them catch him. It had seemed pointless, but he called it pack bonding.
“Not that you two seem to need it,” he’d said with a smirk.
Derek was about to roll out of bed and shower when he heard footsteps coming up the stairs. He froze. He had learned the tread of the sheriff’s steps in the month he had been hiding at Stiles’ house. He listened for a moment, trying to judge where the sheriff was going before he moved anywhere. The sheriff had been pretty good about not entering Stiles’ room, and most days Derek could hide out in Stiles’ room while he was at school without fear of being caught.
He still let out a sigh of relief when the sheriff carried right on past the door. Derek waited a few more minutes, but it sounded like the sheriff was here for good today. Which meant he wouldn’t be able to shower.
Derek got up anyway, and got dressed before he leapt out of window.
He was eighty miles out of Beacon Hills when Stiles called.
“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?” he asked as he compared two different canned soups, trying to see which one had less sodium so Stiles’ dad could eat it.
“I got kicked out.”
Derek put the soup down. “Why?”
“Hell if I know. I walked in, Harris took one look at me and was all be gone. I think my dad spoke to him last night. Anyway, now I’m sitting in in-school suspension, and Senora Barton didn’t really care cause she loves me, so she just left me here unsupervised.” Derek shook his head, finally settling on a soup and putting it in his cart. “So what are you doing? I think my dad is off this morning, especially if he was chasing leads all night.”
“Grocery shopping.”
“In town?”
Derek rolled his eyes, though it didn’t benefit anyone. “No, do I look stupid? I’m up near Redding and some town had a knock off Safeway so I figured it’s as good as any.”
“Oh okay.” Derek kept pushing his cart down the aisle while he listened to Stiles breathe.
He was in the cereal aisle when Stiles finally spoke again. “Are we going to talk about this thing?”
“Do we need to?”
He could hear Stiles lick his lips through the phone. “I’m just worried this is going too fast. I know you’re like super anti-relationship.”
Derek pushed back the thought of Kate. There was no reason to mention that ever. It was in the past, and he had moved on. “It’s fine Stiles. This. This is okay.”
“Okay,” Stiles whispered back. “That’s good.”
“Yes. Now do you want Honey Bunches of Oats with strawberries or peaches?”
“Strawberries,” Stiles said immediately and Derek grabbed the box and put it in the cart. Derek heard him about to speak when there was a commotion in the background, which culminated in Stiles going “Lydia! What are you doing here?”
Derek heard Lydia’s response over the phone. “The lab was boring, and as adorable as Scott and Allison are, working with them makes me want to stab myself with my pen, so I lit Harris’ tie on fire.”
Derek face palmed, even as Stiles and Lydia continued talking. “No way! I didn’t even know we were using bunsen burners. Man, I miss all the cool labs.”
“Relax,” Lydia said. “We weren’t. I just made fire.”
That didn’t surprise Derek and he continued to listen as he reached to the top shelf for a little old lady.
“You terrify me sometimes.”
“As I should. Now is that Derek? I want to talk to him.”
Derek could hear a brief scuffle over the phone, and Stiles complaining as Lydia apparently stepped on his foot.
“Derek?” Lydia asked and Derek grabbed some milk as he grunted. “This is your daily reminder that you need to erase your phone history.”
“Is this why you skipped class?” Derek asked.
“I don’t know how long it’s been since you took chemistry, but I can guarantee they have not updated since at least our parents were in school because this is so unbelievably boring.”
“I highly doubt it. And maybe you should actually pay attention so that this way when you try to make me an explosive it actually explodes.”
Lydia huffed over the phone as Stiles let out a triumphant laugh. “I blame Jackson, speaking of!” Derek heard a distant thud. “Jackson is coming home on Wednesday. We need to figure out if we’re telling him or not.”
“No,” Stiles said firmly, and Derek had to agree. The group that was involved was enough.
He heard Lydia sniff. “Fine. Danny and I will think up something.”
Derek listened as Stiles’ phone traded hands and Stiles came back on the line. “Sorry about that.”
Derek grunted in response, grabbing bread before heading to the checkout. “Is there anything else you think we need?”
“Did you buy all the green vegetables?”
Derek took a look at the cart, spotting the lettuce and a few other greens. “Enough.”
“How domestic,” Lydia muttered in the background. “Don’t forget to wipe your phone!” She called.
Derek rolled his eyes. “I’ll see you at home, okay, Stiles?”
“Yup, have a safe drive back,” Stiles said before hanging up. Derek looked down at the call log before going into his settings and deleting his call record the way Danny had shown him.
Derek didn’t mind Danny now that he and Stiles weren’t together, though it was obvious that the boy had issues with him. He was getting over it. Maybe Allison had been onto something when she had cheerfully announced that the truth had brought them all closer together. Derek had initially worried about tension between Danny and Stiles, but they were doing okay. Better than anyone had expected.
Derek packed the groceries in his car and glanced at the time on his phone. He had a few hours to get back home, but it probably hadn’t been the smartest move to buy milk when he had a long trip back, but hopefully it wouldn’t expire in the hour and a half it would take him to get home.
He took the interstate as far as he could before he got off and started on the back roads. About fifteen miles out of town Derek had turned on his CD player and was listening to that stupid CD Stiles had put in his car as a joke, but Derek had never removed because he ended up liking it.
He was even singing along to the lyrics, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel while the lead singer purred about how she got off on you, getting off on her. He was in a good mood, the day was looking up. And of course that’s right when the pickup with a snowplow attachment slammed into the side of his car.
Derek felt himself lose control of the car as it flipped into the woods. It rolled over three times, the car denting around him with each spin and Derek’s arms shot out as he tried to stop himself from going with it. The groceries were a lost cause, the milk exploding around him, but the seatbelt did its job and kept him safe, even though he heard his arm snap.
He howled in pain.
The car stopped when it crashed against a tree. All in all it must have been thirty seconds at most, but Derek felt like he had been spinning for longer. The car was upside down and even though he knew it would suck he had to undo his seatbelt so he could get out and see what dumbass hit him.
He managed to get his seatbelt undone and he slumped against the roof. He whimpered when he tried to move his arm, but he knew it would only be a few minutes before it healed. He should probably make sure it was set correctly, or else it would heal wonky.
His senses were in overdrive and he felt himself wolf out. He tried to pull it back because whoever hit him probably see that. Derek heard footsteps coming to the car, but he wasn’t sharp enough to know how many people were coming to his rescue.
“Get that door open,” a sharp feminine voice ordered. Derek whimpered again. Kate’s voice. “He won’t be dead but a wounded werewolf is still dangerous.”
Derek let his instincts take over because now he knew this wasn’t an accident. He could fight. He should fight.
He tensed up, ready to lunge, broken arm and all, when the door was pried open.
He got pushed back.
They had been prepared for him and electricity shot through his body.
Derek collapsed back against the other door, and blacked out.
TBC