Archive of Our Own ^beta

The sheriff’s head snaps up at the noise off his office door opening and slamming shut very quickly. He almost relaxes when he sees it’s Stiles but when he looks at his son's face dread runs through him.

“They’re here.”

The next day Stiles and Scott go to a warehouse where the hunters and Derek and his betas are. Stiles takes a deep breath before entering with Scott by his side. Derek’s pack is already here and so are the hunters.

Stiles stands beside Derek and Scott goes on his other side. Stiles looks over at Derek and sees the man staring right back, they hold eye contact for only a second but Stiles saw what he needed.

“Welcome, welcome. We aren’t here to hunt you wolves, we are here for the kanima the Argents told us about. So we thought an alliance would be beneficial for both parties. What do you say?” The hunter keeps his eyes on Derek as he talks and Stiles raises an eyebrow.

“Well as representative of the wolves not in Derek’s pack I would like to converse with him and his pack before going any further.” Stiles puts on a fake smile as the hunters look at him like they just realised he was there.

Stiles subtly pokes Scott in the side, one of their codes that stands for trust me. Scott doesn’t say anything so Stiles hopes he’s trusting him with this. With Scott on his side he just needs the others on his side as well.

He turns to Derek and looks the werewolf in his eyes as he desperately hopes that Derek too will trust him. If only for a few minutes.

Derek turns back to the hunters and when Stiles thinks he’s going to continue talking to them Derek let’s out the best words Stiles has heard in a while.

“I would also like to talk to him so that we don’t agree to something we aren’t all on board with.” Stiles could kiss him he’s so happy Derek listened to him for once.

“Scott, why don’t you stay and talk to these lovely gentlemen.” One more poke in Scott’s side and Stiles turns to walk out the door with Derek and his betas following him.

Once outside and out of sight off the hunters Stiles turns to look at the werewolves in front of him. They look confused and annoyed but Stiles needs them to listen so he doesn’t say anything about that.

“We can not trust them.” Derek’s face stays almost the same except for the small raise of a brow that Stiles has categorised as surprise.

“Why not?” Derek is clearly not happy with being told what to do and Stiles really can’t blame him. But he’s also very annoyed that he needs an explanation at this point.

Stiles opens his mouth before closing it again. He almost just told them what he is in his desperation to get him to agree.

“Hunters like them killed my mother.” This time the shock isn’t hidden on any of their faces and if they were in any other situation Stiles would make some sarcastic comment then laugh at them but now's not the time for that.

“What kind of creature are you?” Stiles curses Boyd for being so attentive but he knows this is probably one of the best ways to get them to listen. He looks at the others in front of him who are all looking at him with curiosity.

Stiles looks down as he contemplates. His inner fox is telling him to trust them so he does. He looks up at them and they all gasp. His eyes are a burning orange so different from any color the wolves have seen on someone before.

“You didn’t answer Boyd’s question Stiles.” Erica is glaring at him in an attempt at scaring him into telling them but he just huffs a laugh.

“I’ll tell you when these hunters are out of town. I may trust you with my life but I do not trust you to not throw me at them the second it becomes the best option for you.” He responds with his own glare, he also lets his voice drop just a little bit to show them that he’s serious.

He looks at Derek who is looking right back at him with a thoughtful look on his face. Stiles lets a bit of his desperation show on his face and Derek must pick up on it because the next second he’s nodding his head. Stiles responds with his own nod and they head back.

Scott is being himself and chatting happily with the very uninterested hunters as they come back to their previous places.

Stiles can’t help but get a little anxious. What if Derek changed his mind? What if he just wanted him to stop talking?

“We have talked and came to the conclusion that while we appreciate the offer we haven’t got the best track record with hunters and would like to keep hunter in out lives to a minimum.” Stiles feels himself calm just a little bit as he looks at the nodding hunters.

“We understand. We’ll stay out of your hair as long as you stay out of ours.” Stiles is really surprised that he can’t detect any deceit in the man's words. But he won’t look a gift horse in the mouth and thanks the hunters for understanding before putting his arm around Scott’s shoulders and walks out with Derek and his betas just behind them.

“Stiles.” He looks back at Derek and tilts his head, silently asking what he wants. “Follow my car. We need to talk.” Stiles gives Derek a nod even if he can tell that Scott is very confused at the short conversation.

Stiles shoves Scott into the passenger seat and hops into the driver's seat. Sends a small prayer that Roscoe will start and thanks whatever god listened to him when it starts. He pulls out after Derek and follows that damn beautiful car to… a train depot.

Stiles and Scott share a confused look before shrugging and walking in through the door they saw Derek and his puppies go through.

“You know it wouldn’t hurt to get a place that isn’t filthy.” Stiles looks over at Derek with a grin and as he sees the glare he gets his grin grows bigger because that glare definitely had less murderous intent than some of the others Derek has sent him.

Before anyone can say anything someone clears their throat from the shadows. And look it’s everyones favorite murder uncle. The wolves are all growling while Stiles waves at the man who gives him a confused wave back before turning to his nephew.

And he bares his neck pulling a small gasp from both Stiles and Derek.

“I’m not here to hurt anyone. I’m in hopes of getting forgiveness and a place in your pack.” Stiles looks intently at Peter but he doesn’t detect any trickery or deceit so he hums which brings some attention to him.

“What. He’s not lying, did you not listen to his heartbeat?” Derek looks him up and down before turning to his uncle. Derek seems torn in his decision so Stiles sighs before walking up to Peter.

“Do you plan to betray any of us?” he ignores Scott trying to get him to go back as he stares at Peter.

“No. I know what I did but to be honest I don’t really remember much of what I did so I’m here to make up for whatever I did.” Stiles nods his head and turns his head to Derek giving Peter very easy access to his throat.

“I know it’s hard but don’t throw away your family. Especially when it’s the last family you have left.” Stiles knows he’s doing a bit of a low blow but he really needs Derek to understand that it’s okay to forgive his uncle.

Derek’s eyes bore into his looking for something which he must find because he starts nodding slowly. He walks over to Peter and Stiles moves out of the way as the two of them look each other in the eye before enveloping each other in a big hug.

Stiles lets them have their moment as he walks back to a bewildered Scott. He gives him a clap on the shoulder before turning to look at the other betas. They seem pretty indifferent except for the fact that Derek’s hugging someone, that seems new and Stiles wants to scold Derek very much right now.

Before he can come up with a good speech though Derek has returned and is looking at him once more. Stiles lets a small nervous smile grow on his face. It doesn’t help.

“So what are you?” Derek really doesn’t beat around the bush does he?

“I told you. Until those hunters are out of Beacon Hills I will not tell you.” Scott has turned towards him and is looking confused and hurt. Stiles ignores him for the time being though, Derek is the one he needs to convince. Stiles also ignores Peter’s very curious eyes that seem to be trying to figure everything out.

“Swear to me you won’t tell anyone. If you tell the wrong person I am dead and maybe all of you too if they decide to hurt me more.” He lets his fear show, showing them that he is terrified of these hunters and that he needs to know they won’t tell.

When the lot of them agree to not tell anyone Stiles lets just a bit of trickery into the promise so that if they ever try to say he is anything they will lose their voice for a few minutes.

Scott seems to think this is over now as he turns to leave but Stiles just hits him in the back of the head.

“You really think we’re leaving? Because we’re not, we are going to talk to Derek and his pack because I have a feeling some of us are going to die if we don’t work together.” Scott is taken aback by the seriousness of Stiles’ statement so he stops walking.

Stiles hears one of the betas mumble something about Scott being just like a dog and he turns towards them with a heated glare.

He doesn’t need to say anything as they all flinch a bit at the power hidden behind those eyes. Stiles is pleased to tell you that even Derek flinched just a tiny bit. Speaking of Derek.

He walks up so that he’s in front of Derek before he takes said wolf's hand and puts it by his pulse point on his neck.

“I’m joining your pack whether you like it or not. Just be glad I’m not yelling at you about not telling your mate that they’re your mate.” He gives Derek a pointed look and Derek nods a bit and lets his hand stroke Stiles’ neck a bit. Scent marking him.

The others look on in shock. Derek is being nice to someone and letting said someone boss him around.

Peter is in shock for a different reason though. Since he is the only one that knows what a mate is he fells guilt and shame and before he can stop himself he is walking up to them.

“I don’t remember what I did to you exactly but I know I did something horrible. I’m truly sorry Stiles.” Derek growls at the mention of his uncle hurting Stiles but when he sees Stiles nodding at his uncle he stops mainly out of confusion.

“I know you’re a good guy Peter. The man who told my mom about Beacon Hills can’t be a bad guy can he?” Stiles knows everyone is shocked at what he’s saying but he focuses on Peter who seems to remember.

“I told Claudia to come live here. I was so confused when she wasn’t with you and your father when you came here. I didn’t believe your story about her being sick but I never pried.” Peter’s eyes are looking all over Stiles’ face as if he was looking for the similarities between him and his mom.

“Yeah mom always said that we would move to Beacon Hills when she felt the time would be right. She never got to feel that the time was right. We moved here after mom died, it was the safest pace we knew of. Me and dad were so paranoid that we didn’t tell Talia and when we finally felt safe enough to do so your house caught on fire.” The remaining Hales stare at him with sad eyes as they see someone else that knows the pain of losing someone to hunters.

Stiles can feel the confused stares he’s getting from the others so he shakes off the sad feelings and turns around to explain to them. He doesn’t do that though because when he sees Scott he knows something is about to happen. He can’t be sure if it’s good or bad.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You could’ve told me when I turned and I would’ve believed you so much faster Stiles.” There’s a hint of betrayal in his confused voice.

“I wanted to tell you Scott and I was going to but then you left for your date with Allison and I wanted to believe I was being paranoid so I didn’t tell you. Then things kept happening and it just never felt important.” Stiles shrugs as he looks at his best friend.

“How is this not important? Stiles you are in just as much danger as I am if not more and you put me and my bullshit over your own safety.” Scott is crying, realising he’s been such a bad friend and before he knows it Stiles has his arms full of a crying wolf.

It doesn’t take very long for Scott to calm down and when that happens Scott looks at Derek and asks if they can go talk. Stiles grins. It seems it went the good way.

Erica lets out an annoyed huff as he watches her alpha walk away but Stiles turns to the betas/puppies and nods to himself before walking over.

“So what do you guys know about tracking?” The betas look at him like he’s crazy but he takes that as his cue to sit down in front of them and start talking. It takes a few minutes but soon the betas are sitting in front of him listening with rapt attention as he teaches them things about being a wolf. Peter even gives some comments here and there.

Derek and Scott come back from the walk they went on and are confused for all of two seconds before realising that Stiles is teaching the betas about scent marking and why it’s a big part of being pack. The two of them glance at each other before walking over and sitting down on either side of Stiles who doesn’t even acknowledge them as he keeps talking.

Peter starts inching forward, scared he’s not allowed to sit down but feeling the need to join his pack in their bonding.

“So then you-sit down Peter-burn the wolfsbane before putting it on the wound infected with it.” Peter looks at his nephew who gives him a nod and he slowly sits down by his nephew.

The pack loses track of time so when Derek tells them that they really need to go home since they have school tomorrow they all look a bit surprised. Well Scott doesn’t look surprised, he’s barely awake.

Stiles snorts at the sight of his best friend trying his hardest to stay awake before taking pity on him and helping him up on his feet. Derek and the others stare at him as he almost carries his best friend out of the train depot without the usual struggle. They look at each other and all realise that Stiles has been acting weak to keep suspicion of himself.

The next day seems to be ‘let's get all of the pack in detention day’ since at least half of them are right now putting books away. Stiles is making small talk with Erica when he hears a noise, snapping his head up he doesn’t manage to stop the kanima from taking down Erica. he thinks the kanima is writing something on a blackboard but Stiles is to preoccupied with Eriica who’s in his lap having a seizure.

He barely hears Erica telling him to get her to Derek and not thinking of the others he grabs Erica and tells Scott that he’s driving before leaving the library. Scott joins him with their backpacks and they speed up when they see they’re alone.

Scott helps him get into the backseat with Erica before jumping into the driver's seat and lady luck is on their side Roscoe starts and before Stiles knows it they’re at the train depot.

They get Erica out of the car and as soon as they open the door Derek is there instructing them on where to go. Stiles watches as Derek drains the poison out of the beta in his arms. He looks away from the blood and looks down on Erica.

“Stiles, you’d make a great batman.” Stiles gives her a smile, she’s getting better.

“And you’d make an even better catwoman.” Erica gives him a grin before she falls asleep. Her body rejoicing at the fact that she’s no longer having a seizure by shutting down.

The others look like they’re about to scream at him for letting her fall asleep but he is quick to tell them that it’s very normal to fall asleep after a seizure and that they should let her sleep.

“How did you know it was okay for her to fall asleep?” Erica is over on one of the makeshift beds as the rest of them sit as far away as they can so they don’t accidentally wake her up.

“When I learnt that Erica had epilepsy I learnt everything I could about it so that I knew what to do in case something would happen.” Stiles is shrugging like it’s no big deal but the others are looking at him with awestruck faces as they see how much he cares for everyone.

Stiles is not in the mood for being nice so the moment he sees Jackson the next day he grabs him by the arms and drags him to the boys locker room. Jackson struggled for two seconds before stopping because he was confused about how Stilisnki could drag him without even looking like he’s struggling.

Stiles lets go of Jackson then takes a seat on one of the benches. Jackson raises his eyebrow and Stiles sighs before he points at the bench opposite him. It seems that Jackson is curious about what he wants since he sits down with only a little grumble.

“You’re not a werewolf because you turned into something called a kanima.” Jacksons mouth opens before he shakes his head.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, it’s just taking a while.” Jackson tries to play it off but Stiles can see that he’s unsure of what he’s saying so he presses on.

“You have memory gaps, you wake up in places you don’t remember walking to, you aren’t turning into a werewolf Jackson. You are turning into a kanima and you are being controlled to hurt people. Let us help.” Stiles doesn't think he’s ever seen Jackson make the face he’s making right now but after a few minutes of waiting patiently Jackson nods his head and they head off to class.

Jackson looks very unimpressed as they step out of their cars in front of the train depot but Stiles just smiles at him before grabbing his arm and dragging him inside.

“Jackson this is Derek the alpha, have respect for him or die. Erica, Boyd and Isaac you probably don’t know since you’re a douchebag but they are classmates and betas. That creeper over in the corner is Peter, he’s cool and you already know Scott.” Jackson looks unimpressed when Stiles is introducing him to the pack but Stiles ignores him for the time being.

“How are all of you going to help me?” Jackson’s eyebrow is raised and his voice is very condescending. That gets him a slap to the back off the head from Stiles who ignores his protests and turns to Peter.

“You don’t happen to have any mountain ash do you?” Stiles knows Peter has mountain ash because he’s smart like that so he’s not surprised that Peter gives him a very confused nod.

“Go get it.” His patience is running thin and Peter must detect that because he leaves right away and Stiles nods to himself.

As he waits for Peter to get back Stiles listens to what the others are talking about. When he deems their conversations boring he lets his mind wander. He thinks about his mom, how beautiful she was and how kind she was to everyone she met.

“What are you thinking about?” Stiles looks over at Derek who’s stepped up to his side and when they make eye contact he can’t help the grin that spreads on his face.

“My mom. I think she’d be happy to see me with people I trust.” Derek’s eyes soften as he nods his head in agreement.

“What was she?” Stiles gives Derek an unimpressed look and he chuckles. “Worth a shot.” The two mates continue talking and joking with each other for a while but stop when Peter comes back through the door.

Stiles claps his hands together. “Okay let’s do this. Jackson, stand over there.” Jackson looks very annoyed at being ordered around and doesn’t move. Stiles tilts his head back and sighs before making eye contact with Scott who nods at him before walking over to Jackson and dragging him much like Stiles did earlier to the spot Stiles pointed at.

“Thank you Scott.” His best friend throws him a grin as Jackson scowls. “Peter the mountain ash.” Stiles looks over at Peter who gives him the jar he has with confusion all over his face.

“Who’s gonna lay it down?”

“I am.” Stiles ignores the Hales looks of disbelief and tells Scott to move and when he’s out of Jackson’s space Stiles starts pouring the ash out of the jar.

As he finishes his perfect circle he stares at him and tells the mountain ash to help him with a trick, he feels the black circle of ash responding to his command and he nods his head.

“Try to leave the circle.” Jacksons face has not stopped being confused and annoyed but he rolls his eyes and starts to take a step as if it’s the easiest thing ever.

His foot stops at the line of ash and he looks down at it in bewilderment. Jackson lifts his hand and tries to get out but his hand stops just like his foot did.

“Great, it worked.” Stiles knows everyone is staring at him and he takes a deep breath but before he can start his explanation two voices talk over each other.

“How did you do that?” Derek and Peter’s voices are confused and they give each other a glare when they realise they asked the same question. At the same time. Stiles ignores them and turns to the others.

“This is mountain ash, it can be used to trap a lot of supernatural creatures but you can also use it so that no one can get in. Go on try to join Jackson.” He looks on as the betas start without any pressure and laughs when they all try to tackle it at the same time.

“I am once again asking, how did you do that? I don’t know of any supernatural creature who can lay a line of mountain ash.” Stiles probably shouldn’t have ignored the Hales who are now glaring at him but all he does is look over his shoulder before answering.

“Spoilers.” He can see the frustration on their faces and is about to try to calm them down when Isaac speaks up.

“Fuck yeah I love River.” Stiles’ head snaps over to the beta who’s looking a little shy but he ignores that as he asks what episode is his favorite.

The others look on in bewilderment as the two of them talk as if they’re not here. Well Scott just gives Stiles a fond smile before taking a seat on the ground.

“Stiles, Isaac.” Scott lets out a snort at Derek’s attempt at getting their attention which earns him a glare from the alpha.

“You won’t be able to talk to them until they want to talk to you. Trust me I’ve been to comic con with Stiles.” Erica looks jealous and scandalised.

“You’ve been to comic con?” She really sounds like it’s the hardest thing to ever grasp.

“Yeah,” he gives a shrug before continuing. “Stiles didn’t want to go alone. So I went even though I only understood half of the words he said whilst we were there.” Scott shakes his head fondly as he remembers the most confusing and fun weekend of his life.

A few hours and several way to competitive rounds of go fish Jackson lets out a grunt of pain and before any of them can react he’s fully turned, banging on the barrier as he tries to get to his master.

The lot of them tenses before letting out a breath of relief when they see that Jackson isn’t getting out. It seems whoevers controlling him realises this and Jackson starts talking, two voices in one.

“Let us out!” Stiles walks over to stand in front of Jackson whilst letting his trickster out.

“I don't think so. Why did you kill those people?” He keeps his voice steady as he stares into the eyes of the kanima in front of him.

“They killed me, they deserve to die!” Stiles’ eyes widen as he hears the second voice as clear as day thanks to his trickery.

“What’s your name?” Immediately as he finishes his sentence Jackson turns back to his normal confused self.

“It’s Matt” They all look at him confused at his sudden words. Well Scott looks exasperated as he turns to Stiles ready to once again tell him that he can’t be sure just because he doesn’t like the guy's vibes.

What Scott isn’t expecting when he looks at Stiles is looking at him with a look that says please at least listen to what I have to say. So Scott decides to listen.

“We all know Matt is a weirdo and he was at detention with us which is kind of suspicious if you ask me.” No one looks convinced so Stiles sighs
“Jackson borrowed his camera to film himself the night of the full moon because he wanted his transformation on camera for some reason. When Jackson got the video back from Matt there was nothing on it but then Danny found a small glitch showing that someone cut out part of the video and I’m betting that Matt did that after he found out what Jackson was to try and cover his tracks.” They look a bit more convinced but he still hasn’t won them over so that leaves.
“One of the abilities I have is being able to tell when someone is.. let's say being shifty because if I say too much you’ll figure it out. So I can tell Matt is doing something and I can tell it’s connected to Jackson now that I heard him through Jackson.” The only one who seems convinced is Derek. The others can tell that he’s telling the truth, sure, but really.

“Look I know you all don’t like that I haven’t told you what I am and I apologise for that, but if you believe me and help me sever the bond between Matt and Jackson I think we can make Jackson into a werewolf and send Matt to a mental institution at the very least because I’m pretty sure he’s also stalking Allison.” Stiles eyes go wide, he did not mean to say that last part. Turning to Scott he can see the wolf is about to lose control so in an attempt to make sure Scott doesn’t hurt anyone he throws himself at the beta wolf and holds on. Scott growls and scratches at him but Stiles refuses to let go, never wavering in his hold on his best friend.

Derek is immediately moving towards the two of them but is stopped by his uncle's arm in front of his chest. Derek growls at him but Peter just shakes his head.

“You won't be any help. You are a wolf that’s not pack. The only reason Stiles is able to keep Scott from killing Matt is the fact that he’s pack.” Derek lets out an annoyed growl before nodding at his uncle who drops his arm and refocuses on the boys on the floor.

“Does anyone have Allison’s number? Scott needs her.” Jackson nods his head and throws his phone through the mountain ash barrier. Derek picks it up and finds the young Argents number and with a sigh presses the call button.

“Jackson? Why are you calling out of the blue?” Allison sounds oh so confused as to why Jackson would be calling her. Derek sighs once more but a quick glance at Scott and Stiles convinces him he needs to do this.

“Allison, it’s Derek and before you go tell your dad Scott needs you. He thinks your hurt so he’s going out of his mind. I’ll text you the address, okay?” Derek really isn’t liking the fact that he’s inviting an Argent to his home but one of them is hurting and this is the only way to stop it.

It’s quiet for a few seconds but Derek gets an okay from the girl and they hang up. Derek immediately types in the address of the train depot and prays that she won’t bring her family.

When they hear Allison's car a few minutes later they all let out a sigh of relief and before Derek can send one of his betas to get her she’s slammed the door open and as soon as she sees Scott she runs down the stairs to her boyfriend.

It works for all of two seconds before Lydia who’s standing in the door watching this all go down let’s out an annoyed sound before shouting.

“Is someone going to explain what the hell is happening?” Her voice make s all of them look at her and Stiles realises his mistake as Scott tries to get out of his hold to neutralize a threat. He’s not in his right mind so Stiles does the only thing he knows will work.

He grabs his best friend by the throat and slams him into the floor before making eye contact with the thrashing wolf and letting out a growl that could only rival Derek’s. Stiles looks on as Scott goes limp in his hold and promptly passes out, he lets go of Scott’s throat, overcome with emotions he’s not sure how to categorize.

Stiles isn’t aware he’s crying until someone is gently pulling him off Scott and all he can do is turn around into the person holding him and sob into their chest.

He shouldn't have done that. Making someone submit like that by flashing his power. He’s a fuck up. He really is a monster.

Stiles manages to calm down enough to feel the body under him taking exaggerated breaths as they try to get him to follow their lead. Stiles gasps as he takes his first real breath, in he doesn't know how long.

They do this for a few minutes and Stiles finally becomes aware of the fact that it’s Derek who's holding him. This calms him further and he thinks he’s okay so he turns to look over at Scott but the moment he sees Scott holding Allison and telling him that it’s okay he breaks again. He lays his head in the crook of Derek’s neck as he holds the man, desperate for an anchor to reality.

“It’s okay Stiles. No one got hurt thanks to you. It’s okay.” Derek is mumbling right into his ear and Stiles shakes his head when he first hears the words but after Derek gets more insistent he nods a little and lets himself relax. He did it to keep people safe. Scott is okay. No one is mad.

“You back with us?” One of Derek’s hands is rubbing his back whilst the other one is holding the back of his neck, shielding him from the others in the room.

Stiles smiles into his mates neck and lifts his head to look at the man. They stare at each other for a few seconds, getting lost in each other for a moment.

“Thank you.” The words barely come out of his mouth but Derek gives him a small nod in response. Stiles looks the man in the eyes before taking a deep breath and without leaving Derek’s lap he turns towards the others who are looking at him with varying degrees of worry.

He and Scott make eye contact and thanks to having known each other for so long they don’t need to say anything to reassure the other they’re fine. Once that’s over he looks around again and catches Lydia's confused but worried gaze.

“Did anyone bring you up to speed?” His voice is croaky and he can feel the fact that he probably screamed a bit in his panic, he shakes off the fact though. He knows his panic attacks can make him black out. He also knows they’re at their worst when he’s blacked out.

“No, they all told me you would be the best at explaining so do that… Please?” Stiles ignores the surprised faces the others pull as they hear Lydia ask for something. He just gives her a reassuring smile before looking pointedly at the floor, she sits down and he gives her a pleased nod.

“I’ll give you the short version right now.” Lydia looks kind of annoyed at that but must realise this is not the time for arguing because she nods at him, telling him she’s ready to listen.

“Scott got turned into a werewolf by crazy Peter who had in his craziness killed his niece for her alpha powers. Derek showed up and together, me, Derek and Scott tried our best to work together to bring him down. We do that, Derek turns into the alpha after slashing Peter’s throat and turns Isaac, then Erica, then Boyd. Except he actually bit Jackson first but because of reasons I don’t think he wants me to say out loud. He turns into the kanima and is being used to kill people by someone who became his master. Peter came back as a normal guy. We’ve been trying to help him but until today didn’t succeed so that’s why he’s in a circle no one can enter or leave. Allisons family are werewolf hunters and they are annoying as fuck except for you and your dad Allison. Okay so what’s happening right now is that Allison’s family called some rare supernatural creature specialist hunters for help with the kanima problem. Which is bad because I am a rare supernatural creature and we need them gone or they’re going to kill me just like they killed my mom.” Lydia nods her head when he finishes and Stiles is really impressed she understood that.

“So we need to fix Jackson to get them out of here so that the two of you are safe?” Stiles gives her a big grin as she stares him down.

“Yeah, pretty much. I don’t know why they wanted me to tell you though. Did you all forget I ramble very easily?” Stiles turns to look at the others, some have confused looks while some look thoughtful and Derek just looks impressed by Lydia.

“Well it would’ve been a little hard to tell her while you were screaming your lungs out.” Derek 'isn't good with people’ Hale gives him a shrug as if that’s obvious and Stiles gives him an understanding nod.

“Did I scream anything special?” He tries to sound curious but he knows his nervousness creeps through.

“No, just overall screaming.” Stiles lets out a big sigh of relief, they at least didn’t have to listen to him panicking and feeling like he was losing his mind.

“But really how do we help Jackson?” Lydia is looking at her ex with pain and love pouring out of her. Together the pack starts thinking about what to do. Which is when Matt is brought up.

Stiles looks over at Scott but once he sees he’s in control as he holds Allison in his arms he turns back to Lydia and explains his theory about Matt being the kanima master. He scrunches his nose as he tells the two girls who weren't here when he told the others about the fact that he’s pretty sure Matt is stalking Allison. Who in turn just nods her head.

“Oh yeah I’ve been kind of suspecting that for a few days now, good to know I’m not just paranoid then.” Allison says this as if it were obvious and when her boyfriend lets out a low growl she just kisses him on the cheek before turning back to their discussion.

“Wait, are you listening to Stiles without hearing all his proof?” Erica looks at the other girls with confusion as they just raise their eyebrows.

“Stiles has been right almost every time when it comes to these things and honestly if it isn’t Matt then we can at least be sure after checking it out.” Stiles looks at Allison as if she hung the stars before he gloats to Derek and Scott about finally being believed. The two of them just roll their eyes at him as they listen to him talk.

Stiles goes still as he starts thinking about their situation again.

“What’s going on in that big brain of yours?” The others probably think Derek is being mean to Stiles but he can hear the genuine question hidden behind the walls of snark. Stiles looks over at Allison and makes sure she’s looking at him.

“You should tell your dad about Matt.” Everyone but Allison starts questioning his statement but Stiles keeps his eyes on her as she looks at him with shock.

“You trust my father?” Allison's voice is small and shocked as she looks at Stiles who nods his head at her question.

“Yeah, he isn’t crazy like the rest of them and he’s just doing this to put down feral werewolves. The only thing I don’t like about your father is how oblivious he was about what Kate did.” Stiles feels Derek stiffen under him and instinctively takes Derek’s hand and starts playing with his fingers without looking at him. Derek relaxes a bit and Stiles feels proud of the fact that he can help his mate.

“Who’s Kate?” Isaac looks at him with those big puppy eyes of his and Stiles would love to give him a smile but all he can manage is a grimage.

“Kate was my aunt and she hunted werewolves who did not need to be hunted.” Allison sounds sad and a bit unsure of what she’s saying and Stiles realises that she probably never heard what happened.

Stiles feels Derek nudge him with his nose at the back of his head as well as squeezing his hand and Stiles holds on tighter as he gears up to tell them what she really did.

“She killed Derek’s family.” He ignores the shocked and hurt faces as he powers through.

“When Derek was 15 Kate Argent posed as a substitute teacher and she… took interest in Derek. She groomed him into a realtionship that was mostly just her making him tell her secrets about his apck and raping him. She used the information she tricked Derek into giving her to light his family's house on fire. Derek and his sister Laura were the only ones not there and Peter was the only survivor.”

The others are looking at him with shock and sadness in their eyes as Allison tries to hold in her sobs. Seems no one ever told her exactly what Kate did.

“I’m sorry.” Stiles whips his head to Scott who is sitting beside his girlfriend with guilt all over his face. “I said all those terrible things about your family. I didn’t know… Im so sorry Derek.” Scott is very close to crying at this point.

“I know Scott, I’ve been to therapy about this so while it’s still hard it’s not as bad as it was at one point. When she showed up a few months ago… I just never thought I’d see her again y’know.” Stiles gives Derek's hand a squeeze and as he gets one back in just a moment Stiles calms down a bit. If he can respond to that he’s not getting lost in his own mind at least.

“So, has anyone finished the chem homework?” It’s very clearly a desperate attempt at changing the subject but Stiles can tell they all want to change the subject so they all grumble and go get their homework. Well Peter doesn’t, but he does look Stiles right in his eyes before with the most monotone voice saying. “Oh no I totally forgot about it.” Stiles is kind of mad that he laughed at that joke but he’s pretty sure everyone was amused by it so he doesn't feel too bad.

“Wait how old are you Peter? I never checked.” Stiles is confused at the embarrassed and annoyed huff he gets from Derek as Peter’s eyes light up.

“Oh I’m only a year older than Derek. You all should have seen the look on his face when he realised that his grandparents were having sex. It’s still one of my favorite memories. The two of us grew up as brothers though which was very fun because Derek has always been a little shy. So when he became a teenager and he started getting horny. You only had to look him in the eye and raise an eyebrow and his face turned the shade of an alpha's eyes.” Peter looks off into the distance with an amused smile as he recalls the look on his nephew's face.

Derek is grumbling from his place under Stiles but he doesn’t make any attempt at stopping his uncle. Stiles suspects it’s because everyone is laughing and he’s happy to be a bit embarrassed if they are happy.

The happy aura that came from the story stays for the whole night, through the teenagers doing homework and through their weird game of go fish. Allison and Lydia stay the whole night and the lot of them fall asleep in the early morning.

Stiles opens his eyes and sees his mother telling him that the second he meets his mate he should befriend them. He sees his mom explaining what creatures roam in the night, which one’s to trust and which one’s to run from. He sees her talking to him about anchors. “Remember Mischief, remember that no matter how lost you feel there will always be someone who loves you enough to guide you back.”

Stiles snaps awake as he thinks about what his mom had said. He sits up as he starts contemplating on what she said. It could be one of his most stupid ideas yet or it’s the smartest plan ever. Stiles thinks about if he should tell anyone when he remembers his dad always telling him to trust his gut so he nods and starts poking the arm that is laying in his lap.

Derek looks up at him with tired eyes but when he sees the look on Stiles face he quickly gets up and sits beside the boy.

“Are they all asleep?” Stiles keeps his voice as low as it will go. Derek tilts his head for a second before nodding his head.

“We need to be quiet though, Isaac is a light sleeper.” Stiles nods at Derek before launching into his explanation. Derek asks questions and together they ultimately come to the conclusion that Lydia gets to choose if they should try his plan.

The two of them start chatting about nothing and everything, conversation flowing like a calm stream in spring. Stiles even gets a little brave and grabs Derek’s hand again, intertwining their fingers and getting a stupidly big smile on his face when Derek squeezes his hand as he continues arguing with Stiles over if pineapple is acceptable on pizza.

Peter is first to wake up after them and Stiles asks him to go get breakfast at the diner. He nods and gets up to leave when Stiles whispers screams at him to mention Stiles’ name so that they know what to make. He also tells him to get just a bit of everything else in hopes of everyone being happy with their breakfast.

Scott wakes up next with a growling stomach and a grumpy face that gets wiped off when Stiles tells him breakfast is on it’s way.

It goes almost the exact same way with the rest of them. They wake up grumpy, hear breakfast is coming and calm down.

When Peter walks through the door carrying several bags of breakfast they all cheer like he’s some god showing of his powers. Stiles grabs the bag Peter hands him, thanking the man as he opens the bag to see his breakfast and what he assumes to be Derek’s because when his mate looks over his shoulder, peering into his bag and mumbles about loving sausage for breakfast. Stiles gives Derek his share of their food and takes the rest for himself.

Casual conversation between them all, it’s nice. At least that’s what Stiles thinks.

“Lydia, me and Derek need to talk to you.” Lydia nods at him before getting up despite the others demanding to know what it’s about.

“Do you all not realise that maybe it’s supposed to be a private conversation?” Stiles never thought he would ever be thankful for Peter being around, but here he is giving the older man a smile of gratitude before walking out of the train depot with his mate and former crush.

The trio walk for a bit before Derek gives them a nod and tells them the others won’t hear them.

“So what did you want to talk about?” Lydia's voice is curious and suspicious as her eyes flicker between the two mates, searching for an answer in their expressions and huffing when she can’t.

“Well, last night I had a dream that gave me an idea for how to save Jackson.” Lydia's eyes light up as she turns her full attention to Stiles. “We think that if you can reach out to him with memories of the two of you together and just you showing him your love. Well we hope that it might work.”

Lydia’s face has scrunched up in a way she never would’ve let anyone see just yesterday. She looks at the two of them before looking at the ground, mumbling to herself if their theory is good or not. She seems to come to a conclusion as she looks up at them with a determined look.

“I’ll do it but I refuse to do it in front of the others. You two can be there but the rest of them need to go.” Derek and Stiles share a look before turning to her and agreeing. She smiles at them before walking up to them and putting herself in between them, holding onto their arms as she starts asking more in depth questions about werewolves and their behaviour compared to normal wolves.

Telling the others that they need to leave when Jackson turns next time does not go well. They argue for half an hour before Peter who’s been watching silently points out that the three of them are some of the most stubborn people ever and together. They’re not gonna be able to change their minds.

The make-shift pack tries for five more minutes before throwing their hands in the air and giving up. The trio of not changed opinions share a smug smile before joining the rest of them, starting up a game of go fish that quickly turns into cheating and rula adding every round.

Their game is finally stopped when Jackson groans and turns into the kanima, Stiles ushers the others out as Lydia slowly walks up to Jackson. She looks at Derek who gives her a nod, confirming that the others are far enough away to not hear anything.

Lydia takes a deep breath and reaches into her shirt, grabbing her key to Jackson’s house and holding it tight as she starts ranting. She talks about watching the notebook while Jackson grumbles as he holds her in his arms. She talks about the times they both stopped acting like their school personas and laughed and joked like hte teenagers they are.

Tears stream down her face as she takes the necklaces holding the key.

“You don’t have to love me Jackson just please come back.” Her voice breaks and the kanima tilts its head and they watch as the kanima slowly turns back to a crying Jackson who looks desperate to hold the crying girl in front of him.

He turns to Stiles and pleads him to let him out so that he can hold her. Stiles looks at Derek and when he sees the relief in the alphas face he tells Lydia that she can break the circle.

She scrambles to do so and Jackson falls through the circle, into Lydia's arms and they tumble to the ground. Crying and giving gentle kisses as they declare their love for each other.

Stiles and Derek let them have their moment, taking some time to talk about how they should get in contact with the hunters to tell them that the kanima issue is resolved.

“Derek.” The two of them turn around to look at Jackson who’s looking ashamed and embarrassed. “I’m sorry.” Derek rushes forward and grabs the teenager by the back of the neck as he starts reassuring him that nothing that has happened is his fault.

“Hey Jackson, my inner alpha is telling me to bite you. Do you want that?” Derek keeps his voice soft and gentle as he looks the former kanima in the eye. The teenager starts nodding.

“I can feel it too. I can’t explain it but it feels like the right thing to do.” Jackson’s voice trembles as he talks. Derek takes hold of Jackson's arm and after getting another nod from the boy lets his fangs fall and his eyes go red as he bites down into the flesh.

Jackson tenses at the pain and when Derek lets go and looks him in the eyes with his alpha ones and Derek lets out a happy growl when Jacksons electric blue eyes flash in response.

After getting a go ahead text from Stiles the rest of the makeshift pack come rushing back to the train depot desperate to find out what happened.

When the door slams open Jackson startles and lets out an instinctive growl as he flashes his eyes at the people pouring into the enclosed room. The people pouring in don’t care about that though as they look at him.

“Hey, that’s no fair. I want blue eyes too Derek they’re much cooler. How do I get blue eyes?” Erica has a big pout on her face as she complains to her alpha who has gone still as he looks over at Jackson.

Stiles walks over to him and puts a supportive hand on his mate’s arm, silently telling him that it’s okay to tell them and that he’s safe. Derek looks down at him with doubt but when Stiles squeezes the hand on his arm Derek takes a deep breath and nods.

“Blue eyes on a werewolf signify that said werewolf has taken an innocent life. Jackson, I need you to understand that you were used and can not be more blamed than a gun that was used to hurt someone, okay?” Derek doesn’t look away from the newly turned beta who looks at him with doubt that fades when he can tell Derek isn't lying.

“Wait weren’t your eyes blue though?” Scott’s eyes widened when he realised he spoke out loud. The information seems to put the others on edge, Allison looks ready to shoot and his betas look confused as they find out their alpha has killed someone.

Before anyone else can say anything Peter has walked over to his nephew and stood in front of him effectively shielding him from the others except Stiles.

“Derek, you do not need to tell them this story, okay? You can just ask them to not ask and move on.” Peter is making his nephew look at him as he reassures him but even though Derek nods his head at him he asks his uncle to move.

Once they can see Derek they all let out small shocked gasps at the hurt and vulnerable look that’s so foreign on the alphas face.

“Her name was Paige.” Derek’s voice is sad and small as he tries not to cry from the memories rushing in his head. He leans into the arm his uncle has put around his shoulders and at the same time grabbing Stiles’ hand.

“We met at school and we fell in love. I was scared she would break up with me if she found out I was a werewolf so in my stupid teenage mind I came up with the idea of turning her. My mom refused so I went behind her beck and asked a visiting alpha to bite her.” You could hear a pin drop as they all hold their breath, listening to the alpha who’s telling them something so private.

“Her body rejected the bite and I as I held her, draining as much pain as I could she told me she knew. She knew I was a werewolf and she was okay with it. She was dying and all I could do for her was fulfil her last wish and I… I took all the pain I could as he killed her.” Derek has tears falling down his face as he looks at the stunned pack in front of him. Derek takes a big breath as he looks over at Jackson.

“It’s why I was so sure you couldn’t be the kanima, you were bleeding just like she did and I didn’t know what to do. I thought my first beta was going to die just like she did.” Derek’s voice finally breaks as he finishes his sentence. Stiles can’t take it anymore and lets go of Derek's hand before pushing Peter's arm off him as he takes the bigger man in his arms.

“It’s why I didn’t tell you. The first person I loved died because of me and the second one manipulated me so that she could kill my family.” The two of them are both crying by this point.

“I wanted to tell you so bad, I wanted to tell you and fall in love with you but I was so scared you’d get hurt.” Derek’s forehead has found his as he explains why he didn’t say anything. Stiles is trying not to smile as he runs his hands through the alphas hair.

“That was all past tense.” His voice is light and a little teasing and Derek huffs a laugh at his ridiculousness.

“Hey, I’m not Paige and I’m definitely not Kate. I’m your mate and you’re mine so whether you like it or not you are not getting rid of me.” Stiles has let his voice drop to a whisper, forgetting the fact that there are other people in the room since his focus is all on Derek who is holding back a smile whilst listening to Stiles talks.

“Okay.” Derek nods just a tiny, tiny bit and Stiles celebrates by kissing the taller man on the nose which scrunches up at the affectionate gesture making Stiles giggle.

A few seconds later he realises that he’s not the only person giggling; he whips his head around to see looks of surprise, wonder and love. Well Scott’s jaw is on the floor as he looks at them, when he and Stiles make contact he unconsciously blurts out.

“Wait is this what you meant when you said mate?” They all look over at Scott but soon they all turn to Stiles and Derek with curiosity clear on their faces.

Stiles looks back to Derek to find the man already looking at him. He can’t stop himself and boops his nose before turning back to Scott.

“Well brother of mine if you had read all the research I gave you, you would know. I had like ten pages on mates in there with different theories and questions.” He is giving Scott a jokingly glare as his brother in all but blood looks a bit bashful that makes Stiles laugh.

“The simplest way is to think of it as soulmates. You are perfect for each other and while some decide to stay platonic most mates end up together.”

“How do you know someone is your soulmate?” Jackson looks up from where he was looking thoughtfully at Lydia. Stiles smiles as he nudges Derek in the side, telling him to take over.

“As a werewolf we have something that we call an inner wolf, the better control you have the more you can communicate. They tell you when they either first find out or you’ll be able to smell them. Like let’s say me and Stiles go to a festival with a million people and we’re on the opposite side of all the people, I would be able to smell where he was without trying all that hard. They are your top priority, I could tell something was happening to Stiles when Kate had me and the only reason I wasn’t there with him because I physically couldn’t.” Stiles nods as he listens, happy when some of his theories are proven right.

“How is it for whatever you are?” Lydia must’ve noticed his reaction and deduced that it’s not the same for him.

“Well…” Stiles looks around and once he spots his backpack he starts walking over to it whilst talking. “My mom always talked about this red string that appeared, linking her and dad together the moment she met her. I thought it was bullshit, just some stupid story she told me. That is until I met Derek and a red string just like she described appeared.” He jumps up when he finds his red sharpie and walks back to his mate. Taking said mate's left hand and drawing a ring on his pinky just like the string before doing the same to his right pinky. When he leans into his mates chest with his back he links their fingers together and stares at it.

“I’m pretty sure that’s where the red string of fate thing came from. What I am is… pretty possessive so if there isn’t a direct way to get to their mate after finally finding them and let me tell you when my kind can’t get to their mate… It’s not pretty.” He stares at their hands and smiles at the fact that Derek can kind of see their bond like he does.

“That’s why you threatened Allison’s father at the hospital isn’t it?” He looks over at Jackson a bit confused before he remembers and his eyes go wide.

“Oh yeah… That.” Stiles squints his eyes as he remembers what he said to the older Argent.

“What?” Derek hooks his shin over his shoulder which means that the question is right in his ear and he knows he won’t get away without explaining what happened.

“Well when I was going to help you guys kill Peter, Allison’s dad showed and said some stuff that made me mad.” He tries to be as unspecific as he can but Derek squeezes his side, not satisfied with the answer.

“Okay, he asked me how I took care of Scott during the full moon and me being me asked him if he would have prefered if I locked him in the basement and burned down the house around him.” Derek stiffens a bit behind him and the others look at him in surprise.

“Are you crazy? Threatening a hunter like that.” Isaac looks like he genuinely is questioning Stiles’ sanity but all Stiles does is scoff.

“The only crazy one in this story is Kate. Also Chris didn’t even know what she had done until I told him that night so be grateful I was being a little shit because if I didn’t Dere, Scott and Peter would be very dead.” They all let out a shiver at the thought.

“Also he was being a bitch, slamming me into walls, calling werewolves rabid dogs. He was being stupid and I am going to have a conversation with him and his wife after these huners leave… Also I’m totally going to kill Gerard.” Everyone but Scott and Peter look at him in shock at his vicious statement.

“Stiles I know you don’t like him but you don’t have to kill him.” Scott sounds exasperated and annoyed as he looks at his brother with a disapproving look.

“Why not? Because he’s trying to manipulate Allison? Because he was the one who gave Kate the order? Because he wants to kill all of you? Huh, Scott? Give me one good reason that has nothing to do with the fact that he’s Allison's grandfather and I won’t do it.”

Scott opens his mouth as if to say something then scrunches up his face in annoyance when he realises he doesn’t have a good argument. The others look shocked at what he said while Allison looks confused and disbelieving.

“Yes Allison he is trying to manipulate you, also I’m pretty sure your mom is going to kill Scott soon.” Her eyes widen as she listens to what he’s saying.

“My kind are harder to track than werewolves so I regularly use that to my advantage and check your families armory. So imagine my surprise when I find pulverised wolfsbane and a humidifier standing side by side. I don’t know about you but those things together sure could make it look like someone had an asthma attack. But what do I know.” He gives her a nonchalant shrug while staring her in the eyes.

“She’s also being manipulated. Gerard has just had his filthy claws in her for so long that she honeslty can’t see what’s bad about planning to murder her daughters boyfriend.” No one dares say anything as they look on at the tense staring contest between Stiles and Allison.

“How do I help her?” She sounds desperate and the look in her eyes tells him he might’ve said too much at once.

“After we get these hunters out of town I’ll help you with that speaking of which we should probably contact them seeing as the kanima problem is no longer a problem.”

The hunters were happy to hear that they’d fixed the problem but they also demanded they meet so that they can make sure for themselves before leaving. They agree on meeting at a warehouse and Stiles tells them that they will bring Chris who’ll support their claim.

Stiles looks pointedly at Allison as he says this and she immediately steps away to call her dad.

The meeting seems to be going great as the hunters seem satisfied with their story. The hunter who’s not talking has been looking at Stiles all throughout the meeting and Stiles is trying his best to seem calm but he knows his shoulders are a bit tense.

“You look just like you did all those years ago.” Everyone stops and turns to the man who started talking but he doesn’t look away from Stiles’ face, not even acknowledging the others as his lips turn up in a disgusting smile.

“You look just like you did when I slit your mothers throat.” Stiles tries to look confused but he knows he isn’t succeeding as he feels his body tense a little at the memory.

“You know, I left you alive that night so that I could kill you when you were bigger. The bigger fox pelts sell for so much more.” The pack let out a synchronised growl but Stiles actually feels himself calm down when he hears what the man is saying.

“Yeah? How much would my pelt go for?” The growling stops abruptly as the pack stare at him with confusion.

“Depends on what color you are pup.” The hunter is looking at him like he wants to eat him.

Stiles tilts his head as he looks the hunter over as if he was thinking of a way out before he lets out a chuckle and lets the smirk he’s been holding back grow.

“Silver.” The hunter looks at him in shock before shaking his head in disbelief.

“No way.” Stiles flashes his eyes at the man who is looking at him with big scared eyes.

“Promise to never come back and I’ll let you live.” The hunter shakes his head as he grabs for his gun.

“I said.” The man stops and looks up at Stiles again. “Promise me to never come back and I’ll let you live. You know I’m serious so I’d take the out I’m giving you” The hunter starts nodding his head frantically. “Say it.” Stiles’ voice has dropped to a deep growl.

“We promise to never hurt anyone ever again.” The hunters are both trembling as they look at the smirking fox. Stiles looks them over as he feels the promise being made and he nods his head before shooing them away. Someone clears their throat behind him and he slowly turns and gives them a shy smile.

“How did you do that?” Lydia looks like she just found a hard math equation that actually challenges her.

“Well foxes are tricksters so I can do pretty much anything as long as I can wave it off as a trick. Like I just tricked them into promising to never hurt anyone ever again so if they ever try to they’ll be in a lot of pain. Like when you all promised to not tell anyone what I am I put a trick on you that would make you lose your voice if you ever tried to actually say it. I could do it without you saying anything but it’s more fun this way.”

“What else can you do?” Peter’s eyes are filled to the brim with curiosity and Stiles gets a fun idea.

“I could kill all of you without having to move.” They all blink at him in shock which cracks him up.

“I’m a trickster. I can lie to almost everyone, I never really use that ability though. Feels weird not being able to be found out.” Stiles basks in their relief before he turns to his mate.

“I want to try something.” Derek nods his head at him. “Do you trust me?” When his mate nods once more he walks over with a smile and stands in front of the man. “Close your eyes.” Derek obeys without question and Stiles is filled with happiness as he sees the pure trust for him Derek has.

Stiles leans forward and kisses the man who responds immediately, grabbing him at the waist to pull him a bit closer.

Derek pulls back a few seconds later though. “As much as I enjoyed that, why did you kiss me?” The second his sentence is over he feels his wolf clawing to the surface and he doesn’t do anything to stop it once he sees the look on Stiles’ face.

The pack sees Derek starting to lose control and try to pull Stiles away but he just glares at them before telling them to wait.

Derek’s eyes snap open, red as blood as he looks at his mate who flashes his eyes back at him and he feels something in him snap. Their bodies transform and not long after a silver fox the size of a wolf is standing beside a black wolf the size of a small horse. Before anyone can get over their shock Stiles is human again.

“Don’t turn back yet yeah?” Stiles looks at Derek who nods his head as his tongue rolls out of his mouth.

“Peter.”

“Yes dear nephew-in-law.” There are some growls at Peter’s nickname but Stiles just laughs at him before flashing his eyes at the older wolf. Peter’s eyes widen and the next second a gray wolf, size just between Derek and Stiles’ full shifts.

“Fuck yeah!” Stiles lets out a celebratory woop as he pumps the air, the fully shifted wolves start chasing each other and Stiles’ smile grows. He looks at the other wolves with his grin still in place. “Anyone else wanna try?” His voice is casual and doesn’t help the others in theri shock.

Scott is first to snap out of it before bounding over to his brother. “Do it.” Stiles lets his fox eyes out and Scott is turning just like Derek and Peter did. Scott is brown and a little fluffier than the other wolves so far. Scott turns a few times before running over to Allison, showing off a bit. She laughs at him before petting him a bit.

So half an hour later Allison, Lydia and Chris watch a bunch of wolves chasing a fox who outsmarts them over and over.

Stiles is first to turn back a few minutes later.

“I’m used to doing the full shift so I’m not as into just running around for no reason. Wait for when one of them turns back.” The human trio give him confused looks which he ignores as he walks out of the warehouse to root around in all the cars for every piece of clothing he can find.

Scott’s first to turn back and is immediately letting out a squeal of surprise as he realises he’s not wearing any clothes. Stiles laughs loud and obnoxious as he walks over to his brother.

After giving his brother his clothes Stiles puts down several piles of clothes for when the others want to turn back. One by one the wolves grab a pile in their mouth before going somewhere private to change.

As they gather Scott looks over at his brother, face red and reeking of embarrassment.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” His voice is high pitched and very annoyed.

“I honestly didn’t know. I knew Derek’s mom didn’t have any clothes when she turned back but I kind of thought it was more of a thing about power than not being able to. She showed that she was powerful through not being scared of being naked in front of others.” He looks over at Peter who’s nodding along to what he’s saying.

“It was a part of it. But none of the other wolves in out pack could do the full shift so how the fuck did all of us just do that?” Peter’s voice raises as he gets frustrated at not understanding what's happening.

“I don’t know if this is something you werewolves know anymore but my mom always told me that the pack takes after their leaders. Aka the Alpha and the alpha's mate. So since that’s me and Derek when I kissed him he could do the full shift because y’know love and all that. It makes sense if you let it. Also my mom had a lot of books about everyone and everything so I’ve learnt a lot. Helped with a lot of stuff.” He is very aware that he’s ranting but he doesn’t really care, he’s happy.

“Why couldn’t my whole family do it then?” Derek looks very curious and Stiles has to hold back the coo that threatens to come out of his mouth.

“Well your dad couldn’t do it right” Derek and Peter nod at him. “There you have it, both of your leaders have to be able to do it. It’s something that started happening when different creatures started mixing more. If one of the mate’s could do it then the other mate could too and if said mate was an alpha of a pack then said pack could also do it to not have such an imbalance of power. You can’t be too powerful or you could hurt your pack. Not that you would do that but it was a real problem in the beginning so they adapted and tada full shift creatures.” Derek, Lydia, Peter, Chris and Boyd seem to be the only ones who could keep up with his rambling whilst the others just look at him a bit dumbfounded.

“How come I’ve never heard of this before?” Peter’s voice has a bit of a growl in it, signifying his annoyance at not knowing something so important. He used to be the one with all the knowledge in his old pack, why hasn’t he heard of this?

“They…” Stiles looks over his pack with sad eyes, trying to smile but knowing it’s not helping. “The hunters started killing those that could do the full shift so they could sell their pelts to the highest bidder.” Everyone is silent as they listen to the bad things that hunters have done. Allison and Chris both look outraged as well as ashamed.

“There hasn’t been a full shift pack since…” He has to stop talking in an attempt to not start crying though he doesn't really succeed. Before he can try and wipe the tears away Derek is already doing it for him before tugging him into a hug. Stiles puts his face in the crook of the alphas neck as he tries to calm down enough to keep talking.

“Everyone was scared of being killed so… Packs started killing the alpha's mate before they could all do the full shift, they were trying to keep themselves safe but that was stupid since an alpha who’s lost their mate like that doesn’t come back. 99 out of 100 times the alpha would go crazy and the pack would have to put them down before the hunters did.”

“Don’t get me wrong but it was one of the reasons I never said anything. I wasn’t sure how much you knew and I thought that maybe you’d end up killing me in a desperate attempt to keep yourselves safe. I know you won’t, that's why I did this but it’s been one of the only things I could think of. My mind kept going ‘What if I tell Derek and in his need to keep his pack safe he’ll kill me or maybe his pack will do it once they find out’.” He starts shaking as he talks and once he’s finished Derek is stroking his back as he tries to calm him down. Stiles lifts his head from where it’s been hidden in his mate’s neck and looks up at the man, love and relief wash over him as he comes to the conclusion that he’s safe and that he doesn’t have to worry anymore.

“How come you have clothes when you turn back?” Boyd is clearly trying to change the subject but he also sounds genuinely curious about the answer so Stiles laughs a wet laugh before maneuvering himself and Derek so that they’re standing in front of the others while Derek hugs him from the back.

“I’m not wearing any clothes.” Derek’s hand clenches a bit at his sides and Stiles smile’s a little at his mate’s reaction.

“Yes you are, did you hit your head?” Scott is looking him over with a look of genuine concern as he tries to think of a time where he could have hit his head. Stiles laughs at his brother's concern before closing his eyes and letting go of a bit of his trick. He hears gasps and opens his eyes to see the others staring at his naked torso.

“It’s a trick, I’m not wearing any clothes I’m just tricking you into thinking I am.” Peter is squinting his eyes at him.

“How come it still works even though we know it’s a trick?” Stiles tilts his head to the side as he tries to come up with a good way to describe it whilst also tricking his shirt back on.

“Because I know you do, if you figured out one of my tricks without me knowing then you’d be able to see it but I always put a warning in my tricks that inform me when someone figures it out. It’s like a magician, you know that they’re tricking you, doesn’t mean you can see what they’re doing or know how they’re doing it.” Peter begrudgingly nods his head at the explanation. He’s not very happy about not being able to get the upper hand in this but he lets it go.

Thinking about Peter makes him think of Chris so he turns his head towards the older Argent who looks startled at the eye contact they’re making.

“I always knew you were a good guy. Whenever the others talk about murdering someone who’s in control you stink of disgust and sadness, whilst the others smell like excitement and smugness.” Chris is very clearly uncomfortable with everyone staring at him but he nods his head at Stiles.

“When you have time I’d like to talk to you and Derek about forming an alliance between at least me and Allison and your pack.” Allison is looking at her dad with proud surprised eyes as Stiles looks at the man with calculating eyes.

“I would love that but first your dad needs to be taken care of and I’m talking, slit his throat, salt his remains and burn his body, get rid of him. That man will never do any good and I will not have someone so willing to hurt my pack in our territory and even if he were to leave he’s been here and done enough for me to be able to justify killing him in a supernatural court.” Chris lets out a breath of what sounds suspiciously like relief as he nods at the fox who’s turned to look at Peter.

“Also you are the mate of one of the wolves in my pack.” Chris’ eyes widen and looks over to Peter who’s looking at Stiles with a shocked and betrayed look. Stiles winces when he realises what he just said.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to. Fox side effect.” Peter is very not okay with that explanation and Stiles rushes to explain more in depth.

“Foxes are mischievous so if I don’t do a little mischief every day then I’ll go crazy. I also can’t help it sometimes, it’s why I’m always in trouble. I can’t help it.” Stiles shrinks in on himself as he looks at Peter who’s got a weird look on his face.

“Mischief.” Stiles scrunches his face in confusion and Peter continues. “It’s what your mom used to call you.” Stiles smiles at the memory of his mom's voice calling him by his childhood nickname.

“Yeah well it’s the closest I ever got to saying my own name as a kid.” His eyes widen and he slaps a hand to his mouth, cursing his inability to stop talking.

“What is your name?” Everyone looks at him expectantly and his body goes rigid. He tries to think of a way to explain himself.

“You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.” Derek has hooked his head over his mate’s shoulder as he strokes said mates sides. The pack nod in agreement, making Stiles calm down just a little bit.

“As a fox I have things I have to keep secret. Like y’know ninetails the pokemon” Some nods and some confused shakes of their heads indicate that maybe it’s not the best comparison. “Well I kind of have metaphorical tails. If I tell someone one of my secrets I have to trust them with my life because if a hunter knows of one of the secrets they can cut them off from me.” No one seems to understand so when he feels his fox telling him it’s okay he takes a deep breath.

He dislodges himself from a confused Derek and walks so that he’s standing far enough away. He turns to his pack and closes his eyes, he checks with his fox once more before turning into his truest form.

Standing where Stiles was is a big silver fox with four big tails swaying behind it. The pack are all mesmerised at the glow of power on the fox. He doesn’t let them see it for too long though as he quickly turns back to his human form.

“You only had four tails though.” Isaac looks a little confused, he must've taken the ninetails comparison to heart.

“The older I get the more I have to hide, I only have four secrets I never tell anyone and I just showed you all one of them so please never tell anyone.” He looks at the people in front of him with a desperate pleading look. They are all quick to agree to never tell anyone else and he lets out a sigh of relief.

“So you can show us that but not tell us your name?” Lydia sounds and looks annoyed which earns her a glare from the fox and she raises her hands on instinct.

“In fox culture, it’s tradition to only ever tell your mate and your children your true name. It’s our first and most powerful secret and telling someone that name gives them a lot of power. So yes I can show you all that but none of you except Derek will ever know my name.”

“But I knew your mom's name.” Peter sounds very confused as he tries to put everything together.

“My mom's name wasn’t Claudia, she just chose to use a more normal name and I followed my grandfather's example and let Stilinski turn into the nickname Stiles.” Scott looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

“Stiles, I know your name. I’ve seen your drivers license and hell I even saw your birth certificate that one time. I know your name.” Scott is freaking out as he looks at his brother.

“Nah that’s not my name.” Scott blinks his eyes.

“What.”

“Just because it’s my legal name doesn’t mean it’s the name my parents gave me. It would be very easy to find out my name if it was on my legal documents so they put another name.”

“But you’ll tell Derek?” Lydia’s voice is filled to the brink with disbelief and what Stiles thinks is hurt.

“Yeah. He’s my mate.” He says it like it’s the most natural thing, which it is for him. He looks over at Derek and he can see the way he’s fighting with thought that Stiles trusts him with something like that.

“Yeah but how can you trust him just because of that?” Lydia was not happy with his answer.

“Lyds, when you look at Jackson you get this warm fuzzy feeling?” Lydia nods her head slowly. “You can almost tell when he’s coming closer?” She nods again, a bit more confident but still confused. “You look at him and feel content, like you would be happy to spend the rest of your life with him?” Stiles isn’t looking at Lydia anymore, he’s looking at Derek who’s watching him with so many emotions Stiles doesn’t think he’d ever be able to repeat them out loud.

“It’s the same for me with Derek except that for me it's five times more, not because you don’t love Jackson but because us foxes are possessive and when we see that red strand for the first time. You just know there’ll never be anyone else, a fox can’t just be friends with their mate for a longer time. It will destroy them, drive them crazy and the bad parts of the fox starts coming out to play. You start tricking people into doing more and more dangerous things until you just snap and start killing people and… and you start raping them…” Stiles stares at his hands in shame as he thinks of all the stories he’d read.

“I made a deal with my dad when I was 12.” He can hear some of them gasp.
“We made a deal that the second I think I’m going to lose it I’m to drink a potion we got from a witch that would kill me within the hour and even though I know my dad sometimes holds it and cries. I don’t ever want to become that so I begged him to make sure that I never hurt anybody, he agreed a few weeks later when he found the books I’d been reading. The stories in those books describe foxes who get rejected by their mate’s and end up killing entire villages. I knew that if that happened I would go insane and start hurting people and I refuse to ever do any of that.” He feels someone grabbing his face, wiping away the tears that have fallen. Stiles opens his eyes to see Derek right in front of him with a soft look on his face.

“I think we can get rid of that potion now though.” Stiles keeps his voice hopeful as he looks at Derek from beneath his eyelashes.

“Yeah, you can get rid of it.” Derek’s voice is soft but determined and Stiles can’t help the smile that stretches across his face before he launches himself into his mate’s arms whilst squealing. So what if it sounds cliche, Stiles’ mate wants him. He starts rubbing his face all over his mate’s neck, scent marking him as his. Derek responds by doing the same to him.

He doesn’t know how long they stay like that but eventually Peter clears his throat very loudly and Stiles looks up from where his head was buried in his mate’s neck. The pack is looking at them with fondness and a bit of annoyance. He gives them a huge grin and the annoyance turns into happiness as they see just how happy Stiles is.

Scott is looking at his brother and realises that this must be the Stiles from before his mom died. Scott was always aware that his mom dying mellowed Stiles out a lot but seeing him now he can truly see how much. He’s happy for his brother.

“Oh.” Stiles looks away from the pack to look at his mate from where he’s perched in said mate’s lap. “We need to tell my dad, he’s gonna cry so much. We also need to have that talk with Victoria and Chris. We should bring Allison so that we have some leverage.” His mate is nodding along to what he’s saying with a fond grin on his face.

“We also need to get you a good place to live because you need somewhere that’s not just some abandoned place. Maybe a loft, I’ve always loved the aesthetic of those. We also need to make a better training plan because yours sucks.” Derek looks like he’s about to argue. “No don’t argue with me they didn’t even know what scent marking was before I told them so I’m taking over, you are a horrible teacher.” Derek pouts at him but Stiles just gives him a quick peck to the mouth before continuing.

“We also need to figure out what Lydia is because have you smelt her since Peter bit her, she doesn't smell human anymore. What else do we need to do?” Derek waits for a few seconds, making sure Stiles is done before answering.

“We need to start plans on rebuilding my old house.” Stiles is a bit shocked but when he sees the serious and content look on his mate’s face he nods.

“Okay, so does anyone have an architectural degree?” He looks over at Chris and Peter since they are the only adults beside Derek.

“Yes I do.” Speaking of the devil Stiles looks down at his mate and bites his lip a bit.

“That’s hot. Well where do we get the money for doing all of this though because I’m broke as fuck dude and you need a place to stay whilst the house is built.”

“My family had a lot of money before the fire and then the insurance came in and just added to that. Laura always dreamed of rebuilding it one day.” Stiles looks at his mate with fond eyes before giving him a small kiss. He clambers out of his lap before extending his hand for his mate to take and helps him to his feet.

Together they turn and start walking out of the warehouse whilst discussing that loft idea.

“Hey!” Stiles and Derek look over their shoulders to see the pack looking annoyed. “What about us?” They just roll their eyes at them before beckoning them over.

Just like he predicted his father cries a lot when he tells him the news. He holds onto Stiles for a long time before walking over to Derek and hugging the werewolf who goes rigid at the hug but eventually he sinks into the hug.

“Thank you for accepting him.” In any other situation this would sound weird but Stiles knows this has been one of his fathers biggest fears since he was born.

“I was always going to tell him. I just wanted to wait until he was eighteen.” Stiles lets out a snort at that and before Derek can get offended he’s responding.

“Oh I’m eighteen.” Derek’s face goes blank as he looks at his mate.

“What.”

“It was a security thing, if I wasn’t the age the hunters thought I was then they would have a harder time finding me so dad forged some papers and tada I have a new birthday and I’m 2 years younger.” Derek looks over at his father who nods in confirmation and he lets out a small sigh of relief.

“Thank god, I don’t need to worry about your father shooting me then.” The Stilinski men laugh long and loud at Derek’s genuine relief.

A week later the two mate’s are laying in Derek’s new bed in his new loft, enjoying the feeling of holding each other.

“I love you.” Derek looks down at his mate whose head is on his chest.

“I love you too.”